Reviving a Bankrupt Academy: My Financial Battle

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A heavy silence hung in the meeting room.

It was partly due to the Headmistress's imposing presence, but it also reflected the atmosphere within the room.

Especially for Professor Alon.

"W-wait a minute, Headmistress? 40% of the investment…?"

"Of course, the demands the Finance Director made still stand. The term is for the next 30 years, and while there's no need for a percentage increase, the donation will be in Professor Alon's name."

"That's not the issue! 40% of all investment, that's just too much…!!"

…too much like robbery, aren't you?

Professor Alon, barely managing to swallow his words, looked at the Headmistress with pleading eyes. As if begging her to say it was all a joke, that she didn't really mean 40%.

But that wasn't going to happen. Even now, the Headmistress was making a V-sign at me under the table.

The Headmistress had played her part. Now it was my turn.

"Professor Alon, is there something wrong?"

"F-Finance Director! Could you say something—"

"40% is a bargain, Professor Alon."

"Finance Director!"

"The Headmistress's time is naturally valuable. Especially since her involvement in the illusion monster attack at the entrance ceremony means giving up other things she could be doing."

"Th-that's."

"Professor Alon, you're well aware of who attends the Grandis Academy entrance ceremony, aren't you? The royal Minister of Education, the principals of other public academies, the heads of large trading companies, high-ranking nobles, even dignitaries from the Empire and neighboring kingdoms. The Headmistress is giving up that time to help you."

"...."

"You made this proposal knowing that very well, didn't you? You wanted to appeal to illusion magic in front of so many dignitaries."

40% might seem like a harsh percentage. One could argue, why would the Headmistress of the academy take such a large portion of the investment in one of its departments?

In fact, I had previously dissuaded the Headmistress from taking the lead in Professor Circe's hair loss cure research. It was to protect the Headmistress's authority, and the current situation wasn't much different, so why did I put the Headmistress forward this time?

It was simple. We had the justification.

"There's only a week left until the entrance ceremony. All events are already in rehearsal, all items have been purchased and prepared, and I'm focusing on approving those expenses. In this situation, Professor Alon, you've requested an event for your department. And it's at the end of the entrance ceremony, a controversial event with an illusion monster attack, no less."

"Th-that's why I offered 20% of the investment! I even talked to the Academic Affairs and Planning departments first…!!"

"And they turned you down, which is why you came to me. You didn't even discuss the most crucial issue of student safety with the 1st Security Unit beforehand, even though this event would be implemented."

"I thought it would be fine to do that after it was approved…"

"What? Hey, you're a professor, you should use your brain! I'm already busy as hell, and now this!!"

"Captain of the 1st Security Unit, please calm down."

"…Tsk."

The Captain's anger was understandable. With dignitaries and guests coming from all over the kingdom and even from other countries, she had to pay close attention to security, and now a large-scale event was suddenly added, so of course, she would be furious.

She would have to deploy more personnel to manage the chaos caused by the students, the possibility of accidents would increase, and there wouldn't be enough time to practice properly. From the Captain's perspective, Professor Alon must have seemed utterly foolish.

But it couldn't be helped.

'Even if he's a professor, he's just an expert in his field.'

Researching magic and planning events were completely different fields. We knew the reality well because we did this every year, but it was a different story for the professors. How many professors would really be interested in the entrance ceremony preparations?

Just as I was ignorant of Professor Circe's research process and achievements, the professors also didn't know much about our work. It was natural since we were in charge of different areas.

That's why the staff of the Academic Affairs and Planning departments subtly turned down Professor Alon's proposal by telling him to go to the Finance Director, but Professor Alon insisted on coming to me directly, making things bigger.

Was it because Professor Alon was clueless?

'No way.'

In the end, a professor was a professor. To be appointed as a professor at the kingdom's top academy, he couldn't be stupid.

It was true that he didn't know much about the process of planning and executing events, but seeing the attitude of the Head of Academic Affairs and the Head of Planning, he must have realized that this event posed significant problems.

Despite that, Professor Alon continued to push for it. The reason was obvious.

'He's out of money.'

As Professor Alon had appealed, it was true that illusion magic was expected to become more useful in the future. However, that was still in the future, and moreover, it was the case in the Empire, a magical powerhouse.

Currently, illusion magic originated from barbarian shamanism and was still looked down upon. The fact that Grandis Academy was the only academy in the kingdom with an illusion magic department spoke for itself.

Moreover, the illusion magic department hadn't produced any tangible results. There were only three professors, the fewest among all departments, their papers were mediocre, and their achievements were better counted from the bottom.

I had read the detailed budget report for the magic department before the meeting, and naturally, the budget allocated to the illusion magic department was abysmal. Frankly, it was at a level where it wouldn't be strange if it were shut down not in the future, but right now.

Yes, Professor Alon wasn't clueless or stupid.

He was just desperate. Desperate to imprint illusion magic on the dignitaries and incoming students.

'He must be more desperate than me.'

The academy had three years until bankruptcy, but the illusion magic department might be shut down next year.

In the end, Professor Alon took a gamble for the future of his department.

And the Headmistress and I demanded a hefty price in exchange for accepting that gamble.

"Professor Alon."

"…Headmistress."

"If you'd like, you can withdraw your proposal now."

"...."

"But it doesn't seem like you're going to do that."

The Headmistress truly cared about the students and education, so she treated the departments and professors well, but that didn't mean unconditional support.

Rather, the Headmistress had always ruthlessly cut professors or departments that didn't produce proper results or had low lecture evaluations for several consecutive years. It was thanks to such strong measures that the Headmistress was able to reign supreme.

It was okay for students to be incompetent. They could learn from now on.

But educators must never be incompetent. That was the Headmistress's philosophy.

"I decided to use my time to accommodate Professor Alon's unreasonable proposal, convened a department head meeting, and decided to approve it despite opposition from other department heads, as long as the conditions were met."

"...."

"That's 40%. Professor Alon, do you still think it's an unreasonable percentage?"

It was an ultimatum.

The Head of Academic Affairs, the Head of Planning, and the Captain of the 1st Security Unit still looked at Professor Alon with displeasure. If his proposal passed, they would have more work to do.

I was neutral for now. Putting everything else aside, financially, the gains outweighed the losses. If the proposal passed, I planned to immediately go meet Lisha and the other bribe providers.

And the Headmistress… as always, only had a cold look in her eyes.

Professor Alon, who had been contemplating with his head lowered.

"…40%, 30-year term, the name on the donation."

"...."

"I… accept all of them."

He finally raised the white flag. No, since his proposal was approved, shouldn't he be raising both hands in victory?

40% was certainly a painful percentage, but in return, the illusion magic department had gained an opportunity that no other department had. An opportunity that could potentially bring in massive investment if things went well.

If he were a merchant, he would have jumped for joy, but he was a scholar. Perhaps because of that, he was frowning at the 40% figure in the contract.

If it were me, I would have thanked them profusely and then immediately scraped together all the money I could to prepare for creating the best illusion possible.

Was this too much of a Finance Director mindset?

"Finance Director, thank you for your hard work during the meeting!"

"Ah, Head of Planning."

"I never thought that what I subtly rejected would actually reach the Finance Director… I apologize for that."

As the meeting ended and everyone started to get up, the narrow-eyed Head of Planning approached me first.

The Head of Planning.

"As an apology, I'll treat you to dinner sometime soon—"

"The budget for your department remains the same this year."

"…Tsk."

"Head of Planning?"

"Haha, it's nothing! As expected, you're strict when it comes to work!"

So this is the kind of guy he is.

In the end, he was doing this for his department, so I didn't feel particularly offended.

"Head of Planning, aren't you making the Finance Director uncomfortable?"

"Head of Academic Affairs… sir. That's."

"And even though we're both department heads, the Finance Department is directly under the Headmistress, so address him properly."

"…Understood. Finance Director, I apologize."

"Don't worry about it. Please head back first."

"Yes."

As the slightly grumbling Head of Planning left…

This time, I faced the stern-faced Head of Academic Affairs.

"Finance Director, be careful in the future. Your actions reflect on the Headmistress's reputation."

"I'll keep that in mind, Head of Academic Affairs."

"As fellow close aides, we must work hard. Compared to that, these young ones… tsk tsk."

"I'm the youngest here."

"You're a talent personally chosen by the Headmistress, so naturally, you're different from the young ones these days. Indeed, you've proven yourself with your achievements."

"Thank you."

"Anyway, the Headmistress must have had a brilliant insight for this matter as well. Keep up the good work."

"Understood."

The Head of Academic Affairs, nicknamed the Headmistress fanatic among the staff.

He had served the longest besides the Headmistress and held considerable authority, but he was also a stereotypical old fogey.

40% of my stress when I first became the Finance Director came from this man. It was still a vivid memory.

Just you wait until the department budget allocation meeting.

After the Head of Academic Affairs left, I made eye contact with the Captain of the 1st Security Unit, but…

"Hmph."

She turned her head away haughtily and stormed out. I really wanted to rip that helmet off her head.

Did it make sense to be so prickly just because I saw her face under the helmet when I was a student?

It was fortunate that I was a generous person. I added another mark to the Captain of the 1st Security Unit in my mind. If she acted like that one more time, I would cut her budget.

After everyone left the meeting room, I waited on purpose.

"Finance Director! Have you been waiting?"

"I've finished talking with the other department heads, so it's fine."

I had promised to meet with the Headmistress again.

There was no way the department heads would leave before the Headmistress, so she had left without a word. Well, she probably just killed some time and came back to the meeting room.

Unlike her stern demeanor during the meeting, the Headmistress was now smiling brightly.

"This will be a great help to our finances, right?"

"That's assuming the illusion magic department receives proper investment… but even in the worst-case scenario, it will be a considerable amount. By the way, Headmistress, are you sure it's alright? You were going to spend this time talking with the dignitaries."

"Ah, those young ones? It's fine. They all tremble before me anyway."

That's right. Ministers, heads of trading companies, and whatnot, the Headmistress is the oldest, isn't she?

It was because aging stopped when one reached Rank 8, but the Headmistress was over a hundred years old. Could she even be considered human anymore?

Last year, I was surprised by how naive she was, but it seemed that even the dignitaries were nothing in front of the Headmistress.

"I'm more worried about the students' safety."

"What? Didn't you decide to take care of it yourself?"

"Of course, I can guarantee their physical safety, but they could still be traumatized by seeing a manticore, even if it's an illusion. Should I talk to the church…"

Certainly, some students might be shocked if a monster the size of a house suddenly attacked.

But that part… couldn't be helped…

No.

Wait a minute.

"Headmistress."

"Yes? Finance Director! That's the expression!"

"What?"

"The Finance Director always makes that wicked expression when he comes up with a good plan! As expected of the Finance Director, you had a plan all along, didn't you?"

"...."

It was a bit unpleasant, but anyway.

"I have a good idea."

If psychological trauma was the problem…

Wouldn't it be fine if they 'didn't get scared' even when the manticore attacked?

***

"—So, as students of the esteemed Grandis Academy, take pride in yourselves and…"

The Grandis Academy entrance ceremony.

In the midst of the ceremony, a female student who was admitted to the martial arts department was taking deep breaths, her nervousness evident.

'Oh my, I really got into Grandis Academy!'

Although she was called a genius in her hometown, she didn't really expect to pass.

Grandis Academy, the most prestigious academy in the kingdom, comparable even to the Imperial Academy of the Empire.

The female student, who barely managed to pass, couldn't suppress her smile, her face full of pride.

'Alright, at a time like this…!!'

"Um, hey. It's fate that we're sitting next to each other, why don't we introduce ourselves? I'm Mina!"

"…Ruth Spero."

"Ruth, it is! Seeing you sitting here, you must be an incoming student in the martial arts department too, right!?"

"Yes."

"Then we're classmates, nice to meet you! I hope we can take classes together!"

"…We will."

"Huh? Ruth?"

"It's nothing."

The male student was somewhat blunt, but there was a hint of gentleness in his demeanor.

Mina, feeling like she had made a good friend on the first day, looked around and whispered to Ruth.

"By the way, did you get that information?"

"…Information?"

"Don't you know? It's top-secret information! I'll tell you as a special favor for our first friendship!"

Top-secret information that she had obtained by spending half of her allowance sent by her parents back home.

Mina looked at Ruth with a sense of mission.

"Something big is going to happen at the end of the entrance ceremony! They said we're being evaluated on how we respond to it, so don't be surprised!"

"...."

"I'm telling you this as a special favor… huh?"

Rumble rumble rumble.

Mina, who was excitedly sharing the top-secret information with Ruth, suddenly felt a tremor and looked up.

The tremor grew larger and larger, shaking the entire hall.

As if foreshadowing something.

"Ruth, could this be…?"

Crash!

At that moment, one of the walls of the hall exploded, and something massive emerged from the smoke.

With the head of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion.

A gigantic monster, a manticore, large enough to fill the hall by itself.

But Mina wasn't surprised or flustered at all. She had heard the top-secret information beforehand.

'So this is the big something!'

Of course, it couldn't be real; they must have done something. And if she showed herself fighting without panicking in the face of the sudden manticore attack, she would surely receive a high evaluation.

With that resolve, Mina stood up confidently.

"It's finally here!"

"Just like the information said!"

"It was worth the price! …Huh?"

"Wh-what? Why is everyone getting up…?"

For some reason.

Except for a very small number of people, all the students at the entrance ceremony stood up to face the manticore without panicking.

"Huh?"

Mina couldn't understand what was happening.

Other students who had stood up also looked at each other in confusion.

"…Adam."

Only Ruth Spero quietly whispered someone's name.