Chapter 230

Even though I had become a second-year, I was still the Student Council President. The duties I had begun around the second semester of last year continued on into my second year.

Which meant that even with the new semester starting, I was still busy. No, to be precise, with the freshmen entering, I had become even busier.

Of course, the workload itself hadn’t increased that much.

In fact, due to the various incidents that had taken place at the Academy last year, the number of incoming freshmen had slightly decreased, and at the same time, things had become easier with the graduation of the fourth-years.

‘Those damn seniors were the problem.’

That atmosphere that made students harbor serious hostility toward one another depending on which Megacorp they belonged to.

The ones who had made that culture—something I had tried to uproot as soon as I took office as Student Council President—so difficult to resolve were precisely the existing fourth-years.

Wasn’t it said that people were shaped by their environment?

They too must once have been clueless freshmen. But after being exposed to the brutal environment of the Academy, at some point they had become the very ringleaders who spread hatred and hostility more than anyone else.

But that ended this year.

Now that the fourth-years had left, that kind of culture would weaken, at least a little.

Of course, there was no way a culture that had lasted for decades would disappear in just one year, but at the very least, it was my goal to lay the groundwork for change during my term.

But things did not go so smoothly.

Since last year, there had been a certain faction that kept picking fights with me over every little thing because I was from the Fallen Sector, and this year they had once again begun trying to shake up the Student Council.

-Student Council President, step down!

-A criminal as Student Council President!?

-You preach equality while suckling at a corporation’s warm milk? The Student Council President is a hypocrite!

“Haahhh…….”

“I thought things would quiet down once the new semester started, but I guess not.”

“What can we do? We’ll just have to get used to it.”

They put up large posters all over the hallways every single day, and slandered me endlessly on the student community sites.

Even though I was the first freshman-turned-Student-Council-President and had successfully hosted the official festival, the ‘Dawnlight Festival,’ there were still far too many people who disliked me.

But of course, if there were people who bashed you, there were also people who supported you.

Whether it was backlash against the mindless opposition directed at me, or genuine admiration for my constructive and diligent conduct—I couldn’t tell exactly which—but in any case, there was also a faction defending me.

And more precisely.

A ‘fan club’ had been created.

For me.

And I found out about it just the other day. By chance, Raina Alton had been browsing the community site, discovered it, and shared it with me.

“No, what do you mean I have a fan club!”

“Why, isn’t it great? How well must the Student Council President have done her job to get a fan club? Wow~ I’m so jealous~”

The head of the Tactical Combat Department, who was with us in the Student Council Room, teased me in a joking tone.

I glared at her resentfully, but since we had already become close, it didn’t mean much. In the end, I was the first to give up our staring contest.

I sat down at the Student Council President’s desk and grabbed my head.

“This is a university.”

“Right.”

“And I’m just an ordinary Student Council President.”

“‘Just’ might be a stretch, but sure.”

“Then why does a Student Council President have a fan club!? What kind of school even has something like that!?”

“Why not? In anime, you always see things like the top-ranked SSS-level beautiful Student Council President of the province. Every time she takes a step, an escort squad follows behind her.”

“That’s fiction.”

“Don’t call it fiction!”

“Why are you suddenly so serious?”

“Because it’s reality for me!”

“……Ah, I see.”

It took me half a year to realize that the head of the Tactical Combat Department was a hardcore otaku.

No, she was normally a perfectly fine person, so why was she suddenly like this? Maybe two straight days of grinding through Student Council work had fried one side of her brain.

At that moment, the Vice President, Raina Alton, chimed in.

“It’s called ‘Iris.’ They took ‘Iri’ and added an S to make it plural.”

It meant ‘Iris’—as in multiple Iris—and at the same time, if you considered only the pronunciation, it also meant ‘iris flower.’

The iris flower had a vivid purple color, just like my distinctive violet eyes, so it was actually quite an exquisite naming choice.

As Raina muttered that, the other Student Council members fell silent. At their reaction, Raina tilted her head.

“…….”

“Why is everyone like that?”

“Raina, you…….”

“Yes?”

“No. It’s nothing…….”

From Raina’s once lively voice, something that could be called ‘emotion’ had vanished over the past few months.

Her expression was blunt, and her intonation had no rise or fall whatsoever. It almost felt like someone had seated an early-generation Android in her place—she had become that cold.

All of the Student Council members roughly knew the reason. It was because of a male student from the third year—no, now a fourth-year—known as ‘Silence.’

It was no secret to anyone who knew her that during the festival, Raina had confessed to Silence and hadn’t gotten a particularly good result.

Of course, I had been the only one present at the time, but ever since ‘that day,’ Raina’s behavior had gradually become strange, so it was impossible for others not to notice.

Excluding Raina, the Student Council members secretly talked through voice chat.

[Iri, do something about her.]

[What? What am I supposed to do?]

[You don’t know the saying, ‘Love your peers, love your country’?]

[I don’t know any saying like that!]

If such a thing truly existed, then why had I nearly been killed by my own classmates? Maybe it worked at other universities, but it certainly didn’t apply at Trinity Academy.

[Anyway, Raina is the Vice President, your peer, and even a fellow ‘Stingray Special Scholarship Student’ like you! And she’s even in the same affiliation as that ‘Silence’ guy, isn’t she? So you have to do something about it!]

[That may be true, but…….]

It was true, but I had no idea what to do.

What advice could I, who knew absolutely nothing about romance, possibly give to Raina—the so-called love expert(?)—about the pain of love she was experiencing?

More than anything, I was in no position to talk.

When I myself was floundering because of my relationship with Aaron, did I even have the right to comment on someone else’s romantic troubles?

At the very least, Raina was honest and bold enough to confess outright. I wasn’t. Whatever I might say to her would probably be of no help at all.

‘Thinking about it like that just makes me more depressed…….’

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t wanted to develop my relationship with Aaron Stingray over the break.

I had even drawn up embarrassing little daydream scenarios and deliberately cleared my schedule for Christmas last year. In my spare time, I had studied makeup techniques and fashion as well.

But what was the point?

The results were zero.

Both Aaron and I were incredibly busy people, and aside from the occasional times he came to inspect students as the Chairman of the Stingray Foundation, we hardly saw each other at all.

Even that was only possible because Aaron regarded me and the other Special Class students ‘particularly’ highly, allowing us to meet him at least occasionally. The other regular Stingray scholarship students probably hadn’t even seen the Chairman’s face throughout the entire break.

‘Even that trip to the ‘Dwarf Village’ was basically work…….’

I had gone thinking it would be a date and had been brimming with anticipation, but what had awaited me was the ‘Chaotic Travelogue of the Dwarf Village.’

I had expected at least a hint of something romantic—some sign that something between a man and a woman might develop—but there had been nothing, absolutely nothing at all……!

‘Ugh, forget it. What’s the point of thinking about it.’

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Dwelling on these kinds of thoughts wouldn’t help in the slightest.

“Let’s just get back to work. Fan club or whatever, forget it.”

“Yes…….”

With that, I silenced the Student Council members and resumed the paperwork. However, in an atmosphere that had already grown restless, there was no way work would proceed properly.

Sure enough, not even ten minutes had passed when the Head of the Science and Technology Department, who had been slacking off, suddenly made a sound.

“Huh?”

“Senior…… please don’t look at weird things…….”

“N-No, I’m sorry for slacking off, but this surprised me. I think you should take a look too.”

“At what?”

“Your fan club site.”

“Senior!!”

I snapped.

The Head of the Science and Technology Department waved her hands, sweating as if making excuses.

“No, no, I’m not teasing you. It’s just fascinating, that’s all. This person looks sooo much like you.”

“Looks like me? Who?”

“Apparently a famous actress from the past. I’ll send you the link—take a look.”

“……You’re not trying to tease me again?”

“I told you I’m not. Have you only ever been fooled in life? Just take a look.”

“Hmm…….”

Even though I didn’t withdraw my suspicious gaze, I checked the link she sent. It connected to a post on the free board of the fan club site.

Title: [Doesn’t the President look a lot like this actress?]

Content: She was apparently super famous back in the day. Specialized in action movies, they say.

The post had uploaded several photos—movie captures and pictures from award ceremonies or news appearances at the time. I began flipping through them one by one.

“There’s no way I look like this pers—”

There was no resemblance at all.

……Or at least, I couldn’t say that.

She looked far too similar.

Nearly white silver hair and distinctive violet eyes. Naturally, there were slight differences due to age, but we were similar enough that calling us family wouldn’t have been strange.

“……W-We do look a bit alike.”

“Right? That’s why I told you to look.”

“Who is this person?”

“It’s written there, isn’t it? Her name was…… I saw it earlier but forgot. Check the comments—there should be an explanation.”

“Hmm…….”

I’d heard you weren’t supposed to read the comments on community sites. I felt a bit uneasy, but I had no choice and started reading them.

Heart: Who is this person?

PresidentLove: If she was that famous, why hasn’t she appeared in any of the movies I’ve seen?

MovieBuff: Ah, I know her. About 20 years ago she was involved in a robbery case—her family was massacred. Fallen-origin drifters killed the actor couple who had been taking care of them. It was a huge mess.

└YeahYeah: That’s insane ㄷㄷ So what happened?

└MovieBuff: They were all caught and executed. Except for one person called ‘PJ.’

People became interested in what the user named ‘MovieBuff’ had said and began posting several old articles.

I read through them as well and frowned.

“They’re complete scum…….”

They killed the actor couple who had been volunteering to help them, stole money, and tried to flee—only to be caught not long after.

The couple’s baby had gone missing immediately after the incident. It was presumed that, like the couple, the baby had been murdered and discarded somewhere.

It seemed likely they had hidden the baby’s body to avoid an infanticide charge and reduce their sentence, but their efforts were meaningless. Every gang member had been sentenced to death.

‘Because of bastards like this, all people from the Fallen Sector get lumped together and cursed!’

I fumed inwardly.

No matter how hard life might be, there were things you could do and things you absolutely could not. And these people had clearly crossed that line. They deserved their execution.

Thinking it was a relief they had been executed, I tried to close the link. I’d seen enough—it was time to get back to work.

But just before I did.

One comment, written half-jokingly by someone, caught my eye in a strange way.

YeahYeah: What if it’s this kind of scenario? What if the President is actually the daughter of that couple who was kidnapped by ‘PJ’?

└ezez: What kind of nonsense is that

└YeahYeah: No, think about it. The President is from the Fallen Sector too. What if that guy PJ took the baby and raised her? And she grew up under him thinking she was from the Fallen Sector.

└IriRightSole: Stop talking nonsense ㄴㄴ

“……What are they even saying.”

Yes, just like the reply said, it was nonsense.

Obviously ridiculous nonsense.

And yet.

“…….”

For some reason, I couldn’t get those words out of my head.

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