Chapter 232: Suspicion (1)
Student Council President Dolores L Quovadis.
She had a strange feeling when she heard that the Aristocratic and Noble factions, which had been the eyesores of the student council, had gotten into a lot of trouble due to the recent incident at the bazaar.
Unlike the student council, which is an official organization and wields power on the positive side of campus, the aristocrats and nobles mainly form their power on the negative side of campus.
Whereas the student council operated according to legitimate rules and procedures, the aristocrats and nobles were using connections, favors, and insider information to gain power.
So, student autonomy on campus was divided between the student council, the aristocracy, and the nobility, and Dolores didn't like them because they were always enjoying extrajudicial power, avoiding the responsibilities of official organizations and reaping the benefits of unofficial organizations.
However, since it was the student council that had to collect public opinion and establish policies accordingly, the aristocratic faction and noble faction that led the flow of public opinion were always annoying opponents that had to be watched closely.
...And that's when they drank the water. To one individual, a first-year student named Vikir.
The aristocrats and nobility, who had been secretly growing in power to rival the student council, had lost a lot of face in this one incident, and it had caused a lot of defections.
The weakening of the enemy is the same as the strengthening of the enemy.
Many of the people who were disappointed with the aristocrats and nobility turned around, and some of them even joined the student council.
So the executives in the student council were smiling all day.
"Vikir, why don't you recommend him to our student council?"
"Sure. Who can resist the golden badge of student council?"
"Kya, he's a rising star. I can't believe he's a candidate for student council since freshman year."
"Maybe he could make a run for the youngest student council president?"
"Uh, that's a little too much. I mean, not student council president, but still."
"Anyway. We'll have to move fast, because the aristocracy and the nobility will be trying to bully him and recruit him at the same time."
In the worst case scenario, Vikir would have been a candidate for an executive position as early as second year.
But Dolores didn't think Vikir would accept the invitation to join student council, let alone an executive position.
'A normal freshman would jump at the opportunity to be a student council member, but... he's different.'
No, actually, it was more than different.
Not only did he go out and collect a huge amount of gnoll skins, but he also donated all the proceeds to a scholarship foundation for students in academy.
What's more, he has the nerve to offend the aristocracy and nobility in the process.
'Gnoll skins may not be incredibly valuable, but they're still quite valuable, and to burn them in front of your enemies and then haggle over the price? That's not the boldness of a first year, no matter how you look at it.'
Dolores was intrigued by Vikir's character.
A junior who had received an unusually high number of detentions since the beginning of the semester.
And because of the sincerity shown at orphanage and the kindness shown in resolving the disaster(?) that occurred during a drinking game, I was paying a lot of attention to it now.
'And as it turns out, he was the top student in both written and practical exams.'
A student who is good at studying and has good skills, and moreover, a very conscientious student.
It was a pity that we would have become closer friends if the newspaper club I belonged to had not written a harsh article criticizing The Night Hound.
And now. Dolores found herself feeling more than a little fond and curious at Vikir's behavior, which gave a blow to the aristocracy and the nobility.
Those feelings had only grown stronger after watching the conversation between Vikir and Professor Banshee last evening.
'Let's call the prize 'Nymphet'.'
Professor Banshee didn't understand the meaning of Vikir's words, but Dolores recognized them immediately.
Nymphet. The poor child who had been sacrificed in the fight against Dantalian.
Vikir still remembered Nymphet.
'Don't you think you were too hard on her? Did she get a kiss?'
'No.'
'It's not 'no', it's 'can't'! She wants to give you a kiss like that!'
'It's embarrassing.'
Dolores recalled a conversation she had with Vikir during her last volunteer assignment at the orphanage.
Vikir had rejected Nymphet's kisses because he was embarrassed.
'Maybe it's because of the memories of that day that he can't forget the Nymphet even more?'
If so, Vikir must be hiding a warm heart beneath his blunt outer shell.
No, Dolores was sure of that.
...Jump up!
Dolores jumped to her feet.
For some reason, she felt a rush of urgency now that her thoughts had gone this far.
It seemed like something needed to be said to Vikir right now.
It was probably out of a sense of responsibility and debt as the one who had watched Nymphet's last moments with the Night Hound in the fight against Dantalian, and some other unexplained emotion she didn't recognize.
"Uh, Ms. President, where are you going?"
"Is there anything urgent?"
"What's the agenda for today's meeting...?"
The student council executives look over with puzzled expressions.
"Sorry, everyone! I will handle the agenda even if it means staying up all night!"
Dolores ducked her head and apologized, then hurried out the door.
She left the lecture hall and headed for the dormitories.
Most students would be there by this time.
... But Vikir was not so easy to find.
"Vikir? He's the last one to get into the dorms."
"Shouldn't he be in the library by now? He's a study bug."
"Not in the library? Hmm, then maybe he's in the gym. He looks like he's working out hard... if you look at his body."
"What? He's not in the library or in the gym? Then maybe...."
I asked Tudor, Sancho, Sinclair, and others who were familiar with Vikir, but I had no idea where he was.
The sign-in sheets at the front and back gates didn't say he'd left, so he must be somewhere at the Academy.
"...Where the hell are you?"
Dolores stood, catching her breath.
I've noticed this before at the orphanage, but Vikir is really good at getting around.
'Come to think of it, he was also missing when the mysterious black mage appeared at the festival.'
A student who is shrouded in mystery and doubt about everything.
Dolores felt her questions about Vikir grow more and more intense.
Even when I happened to be nearby and tried to smell the soul, I couldn't find anything.
There was no way to tell, as Vikir usually kept his heart far more closed than most people his age.
Suddenly, Dolores remembered Vikir's record of demerits.
'I can't believe he's accumulated so many demerits for taking a wrong turn. For such a smart kid.'
I didn't realize it at the time, but it's strange to think about now.
I can't help but think that Vikir must have accumulated those demerits with some sort of intent.
Dolores opened the chart recorded on the mana stone and took a closer look at Vikir's penalty points record.
<Vikir's Life Attitude Score (Points deduction factors)
-1 point for using the emergency exit on the third floor of the dormitory building.
-1 point for entering the 4th grade private area of the Performance Hall
-1 point for using the central staircase on the 1st floor of the Deadly Poison Experiment Building building
-1 point for entering the smoking area of the Experimental Monster Breeding Center
-1 point for using the central staircase on the 6th floor of the Faculty Research Center
-1 point for using the central staircase on the 3rd floor of dedicated training room Hot Class.
-1 point for entering the physical training room outside of normal business hours
-1 point for entering the restricted area next to the food warehouse in the cafeteria.
.
.
"... these places. I see they're categorized by date. Given the location, what will be the route of movement?"
Dolores decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to find Vikir today anyway, so she decided to follow Vikir's movements so far.
Why on earth. The purpose was to understand whether an ordinary first-year student would have received penalty points for going to a place where he would never set foot.
...And.
After visiting each of the places listed in the demerit book, Dolores noticed an odd similarity.
"A dark, high place?"
They all faced the Academy's high walls.
Dolores looked around.
"...What? Were you planning on crossing the walls of the Academy?"
Why else would he have picked these places? It was a series of increasingly incomprehensible situations.
Just then.
-TING!
A chime sounded from the mana stone.
Dolores quickly turned it on.
<Bikir-Life Attitude Score ( Deduction Points Factor )
-1 point for using the rooftop emergency exit on the first floor of the dormitory building.
A notification popped up that Vikir's demerit had been updated. It was only a few seconds ago.
This meant that Vikir had climbed onto the roof of the dormitory building and had been caught by the supervisor.
"There you are!"
Dolores remembered that the rooftop of the dormitory building was also a very high place.
Wondering why anyone would want to go to such a high place, Dolores started running with all her might.
She soon reached the roof of the first-year dormitory building.
But there was no one there.
Neither Vikir nor the supervisor who had penalized him was there.
"If you were in the dormitory, that means you went to your room, right?"
Dolores hurriedly climbed down from the fire escape and, after getting permission from the supervisor, went in search of Vikir's room.
...But even there, he couldn't find Bikir.
Instead, he met Piggy, who was studying in his room.
"Vikir, did he just come in and then leave again?"
"Well, do you know where he is now?"
"He said he was going to the shower, but why...?"
As soon as Dolores heard Piggy's answer, she was about to leave the door, but stopped for a moment.
This is because I realized too late that if the place was a shower room, I wouldn't be able to meet him even if I went there.
"He'll come back to the room when he's done showering, right?"
"I don't know, Vikir wanders around a lot in the evening."
" ... Is there ever a time when he doesn't come in?"
"Not really, he always comes in, even if it's late."
Dolores nodded at Piggy's words.
Suddenly, her gaze traveled to where Vikir was staying.
A worn wooden desk. Thin blankets and a frayed pillowcase. A cheap matrix that looked like it had a few springs out.
It's hard to tell that anyone was living here.
Piggy's plain bedding above looks as luxurious as the emperor's.
Feeling Dolores's gaze, Piggy smirked.
"Vikir never keeps much stuff in his room, like someone who will always leave."
" ... leave?"
"No, no. It's just a feeling I have, and it's kind of a roommate thing."
Dolores' expression grew serious as she listened to Piggy.
Around that time, the supervisor in charge of the men's dormitory warned Dolores.
He warned her not to spend too much time on the men's floor with underclassmen.
Dolores had no choice but to turn and walk away without seeing Vikir.
"Yeah. Anyway, thanks, Piggy. I'll see you later."
"Yeah. When Vikir gets back, I'll let him know you paid a visit."
Dolores left the room with a polite bow from Piggy.
As I looked back several times.
....
...and.
Alone in the room, Peggy muttered to himself after witnessing this incredible turn of events.
"No way, the student council president... Vikir?"
It was an understandable misunderstanding.
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