Chapter 35
“Now that we’ve decided on our first mission, today’s class is over…!”
“…I’d certainly love to say that. Unfortunately, we still have one task left.”
Cutting off Miriam’s excited shout, I shook my head.
“What else is left?”
Miriam tilted her head. I slowly looked around at the children and spoke.
“We need to choose a class representative for Practical Class E.”
“Class representative?”
“…!”
“You mean… the class representative?”
The moment those two words left my mouth, the children’s gazes changed.
Class representative.
The student who leads the class and represents it.
That title was practically a symbol of standing at the top of one’s peers—a symbol of confidence and ego.
Even if it was a Practical Class made up of only four students.
No, if anything, that made it even more significant. Of the hundreds of students in the academy, the four gathered here were among the twenty recognized as the best.
Wasn’t this a gathering of geniuses, with the usually timid and reserved Roxanna being the unusual one?
An air of impending conflict began to fill the peaceful classroom.
….”
….”
….”
The three proud geniuses stared silently at one another with their mouths tightly shut.
The opening skirmish had begun.
“…By the way.”
Miriam was the first to speak.
“Is being class representative really that important? There are only four of us.”
Miriam tilted her head nonchalantly.
But she wasn’t being sincere. This was what people commonly called ‘testing the waters’.
She was pretending not to care in order to gauge the reactions of the other students… no, her competitors.
“It most certainly is.”
Charlotte answered while glaring sharply at Miriam.
“The class representative of a Practical Class isn’t a position in name only. During missions, they serve as the official leader, directing the other students and leading the team. It’s an important responsibility that can’t be entrusted to someone mediocre.”
At that, Miriam narrowed her eyes without saying a word. The implication behind Charlotte’s words was clear.
Someone as mediocre as you can’t be entrusted with it. I’m the one who should be class representative… That was what she really meant.
At that moment, Kariya calmly folded his arms and declared,
“As you say. And in a situation like this… surely I, with the most experience, am the best suited.”
“What did you say?”
“Who put you in charge!”
As expected, Miriam and Charlotte immediately objected to his words.
“Why? What a foolish question. What lies immediately ahead of us is real combat. This isn’t child’s play. It’s only natural that the person with the most experience and the highest chance of successfully completing missions should be class representative.”
“Hmph, that’s your opinion.”
Miriam sneered at Kariya’s confident reply and said,
“A leader should be the strongest person, you know.”
“Are you saying you’re the strongest among us?”
“Then has anyone here managed even a single decision victory against Prince Maximilian?”
Miriam grinned as she asked. Kariya was another matter, but compared to Charlotte, Miriam was certain she could beat her.
Though she couldn’t objectively say for certain that she was stronger than Kariya, she at least believed she was.
“Oh, looks like I’m the only one. Well then, I suppose it can’t be helped—”
“A leader can’t be chosen solely on the basis of strength.”
Charlotte had no intention of being drawn into Miriam’s rhythm. She immediately shook her head and replied,
“The foremost quality required of a leader is composure. A leader must be able to remain calm anywhere and at any time and draw the best possible conclusion for the team.”
“Are you saying I’m not calm?”
“Your reason flies halfway out the window whenever you use magic, doesn’t it?”
Charlotte struck directly at Miriam’s sore spot.
“We all know that your fighting style involves letting instinct, rather than reason, control your body and rampaging recklessly. What suits you is being an assault commander on the front lines, not a cool-headed commander coordinating the entire battlefield.”
“Ugh….”
“If we had to choose the person among the three of us who is farthest from the word ‘composure,’ it would be you.”
Charlotte continued to pick apart her argument point by point. Miriam groaned as though she had been dealt a direct blow and backed away. Kariya seized the opening without hesitation.
“I agree with that. But years of practical combat experience are essential for maintaining one’s composure anywhere and at any time.”
“….”
“And I’m the only one here with real combat experience.”
But Charlotte immediately countered him.
“No, I can’t agree that you’re composed.”
“What?”
“You call someone calm when they challenged an instructor head-on from the very first day? There are limits to your lack of self-awareness.”
“…Ha, so that’s how you’re going to play it?”
Kariya growled, a vein standing out on his forehead.
“And that’s not all. You all know your respective year rankings, don’t you?”
“Ugh….”
At those words, Miriam and Kariya simultaneously took a step back.
It was only natural. Charlotte ranked seventeenth in her year, while Kariya was nineteenth and Miriam twentieth.
Roxanna, who had not put herself forward as a candidate, was ranked eighteenth, so the gap between Charlotte and the other two was conspicuously wide.
“R-rankings aren’t everything!”
Miriam objected. Kariya nodded along with her.
“I agree. Besides, if we’re going by that logic, haven’t I defeated Karen, who’s ranked third, twice? The only reason my year ranking is as low as nineteenth is that, as a third-year transfer student, I simply wasn’t given an excessively high ranking.”
“That’s right, that’s right! And the only reason I can’t rise into the upper rankings is the disciplinary action I received in my second year!”
“…I suppose that’s true.”
Apparently willing to concede the point surprisingly easily, Charlotte shrugged and said,
“Well, in that case, it can’t be helped. We’ll decide by majority vote—”
““No, not that!””
Kariya and Miriam shouted at the same time. Miriam pointed straight at Charlotte and objected.
“Then you’ll win for sure!”
“Why do you think that?”
“If the three of us each vote for ourselves, that leaves only Roxanna… and she’s your friend!”
“People tend to favor their own.”
“…Tch.”
Charlotte clicked her tongue without saying a word.
“Sorry, Char….”
Roxanna timidly muttered with a sheepish smile. Taking advantage of the opening, Miriam shouted again.
“A leader is all about strength! The strongest person has to be the leader!”
“No. Experience is what matters. History books are full of countless examples of novices taking command and leading their forces to defeat.”
“Composure is more important than experience! You can’t entrust the team to people who lose their reason in an instant and do nothing but get angry!”
The atmosphere began to heat up. Once they started bickering among themselves, their voices quickly rose almost to the level of shouting.
“Everyooone!!”
-Bang bang!
Having had enough of listening, I pounded on the desk and shouted.
With a snap, the voices stopped.
“Why don’t we all calm down first?”
“Yes.”
“…Yes.”
“…Yes.”
Charlotte was first to fall silent, followed by Miriam and finally Kariya.
“I’m glad that three out of four of you volunteered to be class representative… but this fighting is a problem.”
“I’m sorry.”
“…Sorry.”
“….”
I looked around at the children. Miriam answered glumly, then suddenly raised her head and asked me,
“But why are you happy that so many people volunteered to be class representative?”
“Pardon?”
“Isn’t it only natural for everyone to want to be the big boss?”
“That’s because being class representative is a hassle.”
I began with those words.
Power is never free. In exchange for the authority to command the other students in an emergency, the class representative is given responsibilities heavier than the authority itself.
Generally speaking, the duties of a Practical Class representative are as follows.
They have to come to the supervising instructor’s office and help with work—not to the same extent as Kate, who was performing disciplinary community service—or take the initiative in looking for missions suitable for the students to undertake as practical training.
They must keep track of each student’s progress and remember it, help students who are struggling because their performance is lagging, and consult the instructor about any problems.
They must also write and submit a completion report every time they finish a mission. The report has to include a wide variety of information, such as mission expenses, the details and objective of the mission, participating personnel, the process of carrying it out, whether any unforeseen circumstances occurred, and various other minor details. In general, it’s safe to assume that every mission will produce a report of at least five pages.
And serving as a leader on the front lines is harder than one might expect.
While busy keeping yourself alive, you have to pay attention to everyone else’s movements one by one, issuing and adjusting orders. On top of that, there’s the pressure that even a single mistake could immediately lead to serious injuries or casualties among your allies.
“…That’s what being a leader is. Naturally, as an instructor, I can’t help but be pleased when this many passionate people volunteer to take on such an important responsibility.”
I finished speaking with a smile.
But after hearing me, Miriam hesitated for a moment before replying in a tiny voice.
“…I’m withdrawing my candidacy.”
“What!!”
Charlotte let out a cry of dismay.
“What on earth did you think being the representative of a Practical Class entailed…!!”
“Sorry, I’m sorry! But I really had no idea it was that important.”
Miriam shook her head from side to side and said,
“Honestly… I don’t have the confidence to handle work that specialized. I just heard it meant being the big boss, so I thought it must be a good thing.”
“You really are something…!”
Charlotte’s shoulders trembled, but she soon let out a deep sigh.
“…Good heavens. I hate that I’m already starting to get used to this.”
“Ehehe.”
Miriam grinned awkwardly and plopped herself back down in her seat.
“…Then are there two candidates left?”
It was a little disappointing that one candidate had immediately dropped out. But I set that disappointment aside for the moment and looked back and forth between Charlotte and Kariya.
“Yes.”
“…Yes.”
The two of them nodded simultaneously.
“You both understand exactly what being class representative entails, right?”
“…Of course.”
“Don’t compare me to a fool whose head is full of nothing but fighting.”
Charlotte said this with a deeply sullen expression.
As Miriam awkwardly scratched the back of her head, I continued,
“But as things stand, deciding by majority vote would be awkward.”
“I oppose deciding it by majority vote, at least.”
Kariya shook his head.
“Charlotte is guaranteed Roxanna’s vote because they’re friends… Even with Miriam out of the running, that puts me at a disadvantage.”
“…Hmph.”
Perhaps she couldn’t bring herself to claim that Roxanna might not vote for her, Charlotte silently folded her arms and merely snorted.
I chuckled and offered the two of them a suggestion.
“Then… how about we do this?”