Chapter 26

【 Aura Manifestation 】

“Let’s get started.”

“Yes, understood.”

After dinner, I went to the Disciplinary Committee room with Lisa.

“As I said before, the Disciplinary Committee’s work isn’t easy. Unless there’s a special circumstance, you’ll be working every day.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Weekends are the same. And even if you work hard, there’s no reward for it. At best, you might get a teacher’s recommendation letter. I’ll ask again—are you really going to do this work even though there’s no reward?”

“Yes. The fact that I can build a connection with you, Lady Lisa, is already a great reward for me.”

“Well, you did say you wanted to climb up in life through your connection with me. So, the hardship now is an investment for the future, huh?”

“That’s right.”

“Good. People with clear goals tend to do their jobs well.”

After saying that, Lisa began explaining the duties of the Disciplinary Committee.

“First, after classes end, from 4 to 5 p.m., there’s a campus patrol. All committee members participate together. Originally, it’s done in teams of three, but since there are no third-years right now…”

“Then only two of us will patrol?”

“Until your junior joins next year, yes.”

“Understood. But, Lady Lisa, may I ask one question?”

Lisa turned toward me with an expressionless face.

“What is it?”

“Why didn’t you recruit any third-year members?”

“No one applied.”

“Ah.”

I nodded at her answer.

That was… a convincing reason.

“I heard from rumors that most of the seniors are afraid of me. Normally, a third-year becomes the captain, so if a third-year joined the Committee, that person would automatically take the position. But apparently, none of them wanted to give me orders while having me as a subordinate… Yeah, that’s what it seems like.”

“I understand what you mean. Then, does that mean you’ll remain the Committee Captain until graduation, Lady Lisa?”

“Unless I suddenly decide to quit the Committee, yes. But that won’t happen. Before I graduate, I intend to reform this Committee as much as I can.”

Lisa’s personality was exactly the same as in the game.

Though her family had some eccentric traits, among the three ducal families, the House Balmuth was the most upright.

And Lisa had inherited that uprightness in full.

That was why she couldn’t simply overlook the corrupted state of the Academy’s Disciplinary Committee.

“Anyway, let’s stop digressing. Where was I? Hmm, right. After patrol from 4 to 5, we have dinner until 6, then return here. From 6 to 8, we’ll handle our duties.”

“What kind of duties are those?”

“Mostly paperwork. As you know, the Committee’s role isn’t just to ensure that students follow the rules—it’s also to protect their safety.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“So, if students face any kind of threat to their safety, they can write a letter and drop it into this report box.”

Lisa brought over a stack of papers piled on the central desk of the Committee room.

There were roughly twenty sheets.

“These are today’s reports. We usually get about this many in a day. From 6 p.m., we’ll spend thirty minutes checking these. We read through them, categorize them according to severity, and then go out to the field to resolve the issues.”

“For example, what kind of problems are reported?”

“Hmm, let’s see…”

Lisa began scanning through the reports received today.

“Not this one… this one I can handle alone… Ah. Here—someone reported that wild wolves have been appearing near the Academy lately. In that case, we’ll go check, and if it’s true, we’ll take care of the wolves ourselves.”

“You mean… we’ll personally subdue the wolves?”

“Yeah. If it looks too dangerous for just the two of us, we can request help from a teacher and have the guards assist us. Also… ah, this one. Someone reported that the stairs near the observatory are broken and dangerous. We’ll have to go check that as well.”

“Because it concerns student safety?”

“Exactly. Anything related to student safety falls under the Committee’s jurisdiction.”

Lisa nodded and continued explaining.

“In short, the Committee’s work is to identify and deal with potential threats to students. If we can handle it ourselves, we do it directly. If not, we call in the right experts.”

“It sounds rather complicated.”

“It is. It’s troublesome and exhausting, too. But the good part is that we do have quite a bit of authority.”

With those words, Lisa opened a drawer and handed me a yellow armband.

“From now on, wear this. With it, even teachers can’t ignore you carelessly.”

“Could you tell me what kind of situations I’m authorized to step in?”

“Anything related to student safety. If an incident or accident happens on campus and no teacher is present, the Committee has the authority to take control of the situation.”

I nodded.

Up to this point, everything matched what I already knew.

“The problem before I took over was that the Committee abused this authority. They didn’t use it for the students’ sake, but for their own selfish interests. I hope you won’t do something like that, Gideon.”

“I’ll make sure not to disappoint you, Lady Lisa.”

“Good. Make sure you do. Anyway, after checking the reports and resolving issues until 8 p.m., we rest for a bit. Then, at 11 p.m., there’s the night patrol.”

“To check if anyone hasn’t returned to the dormitory?”

“Correct. If someone hasn’t gone back without permission, we check the list, search for them ourselves, and if we still can’t find them by midnight, we report it to the Academy.”

This too was exactly as I remembered.

Because of this night patrol, I would probably start losing a bit of sleep from now on.

“The night patrol is done alone, so we’ll take turns every other day. Of course, for the first few days, I’ll go with you. If you patrol alone from the start, you won’t know what to do.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“There’s no need to thank me for something like this.”

Lisa replied casually and then sat down beside me.

“That’s about all for the explanation of the Committee’s work. There’s still more to explain, but rather than listening, it’ll be easier for you to learn by doing.”

“Yes, I think I’d prefer that too.”

“In that case… here. These are the reports that came in today. Read them and sort them according to how serious you think the problems are.”

“Is there a specific standard for the level of seriousness?”

“Not really. Just rank them in order from what you think is most dangerous and tell me.”

“Understood.”

That was how my first task in the Disciplinary Committee began.

Reading the reports that had come in and prioritizing them according to the level of danger.

It wasn’t anything particularly special.

“Hmm… good work organizing them. Then for today, let’s keep it simple—drive off the wolf pack, request the facilities team to repair the observatory stairs, and investigate the recent theft incidents happening frequently in the third-year classrooms.”

“Yes, understood.”

I doubted we could finish all that by eight o’clock—and, as expected, we didn’t.

After finding and driving away the wolves, inspecting the observatory stairs, and gathering all the evidence related to the student who had been stealing, it was already ten o’clock at night.

“Sorry, Gideon. It’s your first day, and it ended later than I expected.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

At the late hour of ten, Lisa and I returned to the Committee room, sitting down on the sofa to rest for a moment.

I hadn’t expected to finish early anyway, so it wasn’t a problem for me.

But Lisa, oddly enough, looked a little gloomy—something uncharacteristic of her.

“I feel really sorry. I said we’d finish by eight, but I kept you here for two more hours.”

“Please don’t worry about it. It’s really fine.”

“You might be fine, but… I still feel bad.”

Lisa looked at me with genuinely apologetic eyes.

“I want to make it up to you somehow. Is there anything you’d like?”

“There’s no need. The work was easy, and I actually liked being able to spend more time togeth—”

“That’s a lie. It was way too obvious.”

“Uh…”

“When you’re with me, try not to lie. Just be honest.”

“…Driving off the wolves was a little tiring.”

“I’m sorry. That was my fault. But please don’t quit the Committee because of it.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“I wouldn’t quit over something like this.”

Her tone was slightly downcast, but Lisa still wore her usual blank expression.

Hearing such a sincere apology with that expression felt strangely dissonant.

‘Well, that’s just how Lisa’s personality is.’

A calm, expressionless person who stayed true to her own pace.

She spoke honestly, without caring about others’ opinions.

Even now, she felt guilty that I had to work late because of her and was apologizing in the most straightforward way possible.

“Still, I want to do something to show my apology. Want to skip tonight’s patrol? Or how about I do all the work tomorrow and you take the day off—”

“There’s really no need. I’d rather assist you as much as I can, Lady Lisa.”

“…You’re not lying.”

“Yes, I’m serious. And if you really want to do something for me, then… just help me later when I become a knight. That’ll be enough.”

“…You’re not lying about that either.”

The red-haired girl looked at me with an oddly meaningful gaze.

“Really? That’s all you want? Truly?”

“Yes. From the beginning, the reason I joined the Committee was to build a connection with you and make a good impression, for the sake of my goal.”

“Right, that’s what you said before. I’ll have to remember that.”

Lisa nodded, then moved closer and sat beside me.

“I’ll help you become a knight. Definitely.”

“Thank you.”

“Mm. But still, I want to show some form of apology for making you work two extra hours… so…”

“…Huh?”

“How’s this? Do you like it?”

Lisa suddenly pulled me into her arms and rested her head on my shoulder.

The sudden action left me completely flustered.

“L-Lady Lisa? Why all of a sudden…”

“I heard men like things like this. So I’m doing it to make you feel better—as an apology.”

“Wait, Lady Lisa, this is a bit—”

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“I mean… most men probably do like this kind of physical contact, but…”

“But? You don’t like it?”

“…I’m also included in that ‘most men.’”

“Then it’s fine.”

Lisa hugged me even tighter, and I simply gave up resisting, letting her do as she pleased.

It was awkward, given how sudden it was, but pushing away the next head of the House Balmuth would’ve looked far worse.

‘Besides, it’s physically impossible for me to push Lisa away.’

Considering her monstrous strength, staying still was the better option.

Otherwise, she might actually break my back.

Anyway…

“Lady Lisa, may I ask—who told you that men like this sort of thing?”

“My mother told me.”

“Do you mean Lady Kafka Balmuth?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kafka Balmuth.

The current head of the House Balmuth.

In the game, she was an extremely eccentric woman—and it seemed that hadn’t changed here either.

‘Still, this is getting uncomfortable… how long is this going to last?’

I glanced toward Lisa, but she simply looked up at me with her usual blank face.

It didn’t seem like she had any intention of letting go anytime soon.

So, we stayed like that in the Committee room until eleven o’clock, when it was finally time to get up for the night patrol.

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