Before long, Professor Reina arrived at the scene.
Judging by the fact that Alkiné had carried her on her back, it was almost as if she had flown here. It was quite impressive that not a single hair on her was out of place.
Anyway, as soon as Reina arrived, she began using her abilities to heal the injured, and their grotesquely twisted limbs began to return to their original forms.
*Crackle crackle—*
Of course, there were some eerie sounds during the process, but since no one was screaming, it seemed like there was no pain involved.
So, it actually works. Well, if she can regenerate even after being cut, fixing something that’s just bent out of shape must be nothing.
Still, seeing it in person for the first time was pretty fascinating. In games, no matter how good the effects are, it’s just text descriptions. The actual performance you see is just stuff like health bars filling up or status effects disappearing.
But seeing her abilities in real life… it was almost miraculous. No wonder even the royal family doesn’t dare mess with her.
The whole serious situation was resolved in just a few minutes, as if it had never happened.
After healing everyone, she glanced around and her eyes met mine.
“Rudion? Why are you here?”
“It just kind of happened.”
“…Alright, whatever. You don’t seem hurt. Take care of yourself.”
Huh? Why is someone who usually enjoys gaining experience even if it means getting hurt saying something like that?
I didn’t get it, but I still nodded and said I understood.
“Is there anyone else in pain? If not, I’ll be going now. If anyone has aftereffects, come see me again… Student Council President? Make sure you write the report properly and submit it.”
After that, she seemed to decide there was nothing else to worry about, and with those words, she left.
Her demeanor made it seem like this level of crisis was nothing, which left me in awe.
Just what kind of life has she been living…?
After that, things moved quickly.
Among the healed, those who had lost consciousness began to wake up one by one, and we shared another moment of joy. Then, we all returned to the Student Council Building for a final health check before finally disbanding.
During the process, Alkiné announced that she would suspend Student Council activities for a while to ensure everyone could rest, but since the Rift had been dealt with, there wasn’t much to do anyway, so everyone just went along with it.
One by one, people left, and soon only familiar faces remained inside.
Me, Alkiné, Diggerus, and Grain.
While me and Alkiné had things to talk about, why were Diggerus and Grain still here?
Alkiné stepped in to clear up that confusion.
“Vice President. Didn’t I tell you to go back and rest?”
“I can’t just leave the President to handle everything alone. I’m really fine, so don’t worry about me.”
“…Alright. If you insist, I won’t stop you. Then, Grain. Why are you still here?”
“I’ve got some business with this junior here, so don’t mind me.”
Suddenly, why me?
Being abruptly singled out was flustering, but honestly, there were a lot of things that came to mind.
Like that time I wrote a mocking letter and ran away… And when I came out of the rift after this whole mess, the first person I locked eyes with was Grain.
Whatever it is, there’s definitely something bothering me.
Guess I won’t have time to chat with the president now.
I haven’t even thought of an excuse yet, but that’s fine. I’ll just slip away quietly and wait for the next opportunity.
“Then, I’ll head back with Grain, senior.”
“What are you talking about? Rudion, you need to help with the report, so come along.”
“…Why should I help with that? The vice president is right here.”
“Starting today, you’re the secretary.”
“Huh?”
Wait, isn’t the student council just the president and vice president? What’s this about a secretary all of a sudden?
Look at this. The vice president’s eyes are rolling, and she’s glaring at me now.
Even if it’s not the vice president, if a newbie like me suddenly gets an executive position, everyone’s going to side-eye me. There’s no way I can handle that.
So I tried to refuse…
“I really don’t want to do it.”
“Then you can just leave the student council. Is that what you want?”
“…Why are you being so extreme?”
An unexpected threat came my way.
Honestly, from her perspective, it’s not that strange.
After all, I’m the one who single-handedly took down a demon that even she couldn’t handle.
In the student council, strength is the top priority, aside from basic character.
If word gets out about what happened today, I might even gain a status higher than the president.
So, in the president’s mind, I’m already sitting pretty at the top of the food chain.
Thinking about it that way, giving me an executive position isn’t completely unreasonable.
The problem is, the rest of the student council doesn’t know what happened today.
Bringing in a new member is one thing, but suddenly giving a newbie an executive position?
Even if the president’s status keeps overt opposition at bay, there’s bound to be some discontent.
She must know that, so why is she being so stubborn?
No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure it out.
In the game, my interactions with her were limited to the president and member dynamic, and the setting book only had fragmented info, so it didn’t cover these deep emotional shifts.
Well, let’s just set that aside for now.
This isn’t something to take lightly, but let’s just move on for now.
Just taking on an executive position is already a huge hassle.
Secretary. In the end, the job is what you make of it, but usually, it involves recording meeting minutes and such.
But from what Alkiné is saying… it sounds like I’ll also have to organize exploration records and write reports.
Honestly, I already know most of the rift environments, structures, the habits, traits, and weaknesses of the monsters inside… but still.
From my perspective, writing a report that aligns with the actual flow of the investigation wasn’t that difficult.
I actually kind of enjoyed organizing and writing things down.
So, I went all out, from posting various guides online to even creating an Excel sheet for dodge timings.
But, of course, I only did that when I felt like it.
The thought of having to do it as a duty, like being assigned some secretary role, made it unbearably tedious.
So, should I just leave the Student Council like she said?
Well, that’s a problem too. I need to unlock my inventory.
‘You’re so extreme with your either-or thinking!’
Suddenly, a melody I’d heard somewhere started looping in my head.
At the same time, I recalled the window I’d seen earlier but brushed off because the situation was serious.
[Congratulations! You’ve successfully conquered the Rift!]
[Calculating contribution…]
[Your contribution is 79%.]
[This feature is currently locked.]
[Unlock condition: Contribute to conquering 5 Rifts with a contribution rate of 40% or higher (1/5)]
Thanks to me single-handedly dealing with the demons that popped out, my contribution was overwhelming.
Because of that, I’ve already completed one.
But I have to do this four more times… and if I leave the Student Council, I’d have no choice but to run out of the Academy to handle it.
Honestly, at this point where my stats are blocked from growing, staying at the Academy doesn’t mean much.
But then again, considering leaving here… that doesn’t make much sense either.
After all, most of the major events happen at the Academy. There’s no real reason to leave.
I don’t know why they suddenly created roles like secretary and all that, but… rather than leaving the Student Council, it’s better to just endure being a parachuted executive.
Having reached this conclusion, I could only nod with a “crying while eating mustard” kind of feeling.
“Alright. Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Good decision. Then, let’s talk about this report. Follow me for a moment.”
…Wait a second. You’re not just creating a position for me out of nowhere, are you?
Ah, no way. Alkiné isn’t the type to be that reckless.
Probably not. Maybe.
Following Alkiné, I entered a small room inside.
This was a space used as the Student Council President’s workspace.
Though “work” here just meant writing reports, so there wasn’t much else besides stacks of paper, pens, and ink for report writing.
As soon as we entered, Alkiné sat down and started writing something.
The scratching sound of the pen was oddly satisfying.
After a while, she put the pen down and spoke.
“Sorry for making you stand, but there’s no extra seating. Hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s fine.”
“Good, then… let’s start with the important stuff. If you have any requests or thoughts on how to handle this situation, speak up.”
To summarize what we discussed afterward:
First, I couldn’t reveal anything about my powers, so I glossed over that.
She left.
Alkiné didn’t seem to have any intention of digging deeper, so she accepted it with just that one word.
And as for this incident, they agreed that Alkiné had somehow managed to sweep it under the rug all by herself.
I, clueless as ever, followed her in, only to lose her when she suddenly dashed out. I ended up getting lost, wandering around, and eventually played the role of an extra who escaped after the Rift was cleared.
Alkiné, on the other hand, survived the battle with the Demon Race thanks to the creature’s whims, successfully fled, and then played the hero by finding and destroying the Rift Stone.
Honestly, that’s probably the most believable story.
Alkiné seemed to agree, as she didn’t voice any other opinions.
In this process, it might be reported that some demons escaped, but since Crumple didn’t appear throughout the game anyway, it shouldn’t be a big deal.
As the story wrapped up, Alkiné picked up the paper she had been scribbling on and showed it to me.
It had a very neat summary of everything we had discussed.
“Will this do for the report?”
“Perfect. I guess I don’t need to be the secretary anymore.”
“What are you talking about? I showed you this so you can learn and take over from now on.”
“Ugh. I can’t write that well. Keep that in mind.”
“Sure. Anyway, it’s not me but the higher-ups who will read the final report.”
I could see her lips curl up, pleased that I didn’t outright deny it.
But thinking about it, yeah, the report will be read by the dean or professors.
I shuddered at the thought of accidentally spilling too much info and getting love calls from all sorts of professors. I really need to be careful.
Then, as Alkiné started writing something new on another sheet of paper, she casually voiced a question.
“By the way, you didn’t seem to be hiding your power… but you’re saying you did nothing at all. That’s unexpected.”
It’s not that I’m hiding my power, it’s that I have no power to hide.
But explaining that would probably lead to too many misunderstandings…
“With great power comes great responsibility. I’m not too keen on taking on responsibilities.”
“You say that, but you seem quite responsible.”
What are you basing that on? You have a good eye for talent but not for people.
Still, it’s a compliment, so I don’t feel bad.
“Then I’ll head back now.”
“Alright. I’ll handle this report, so our secretary better step up next time.”
With that conversation, I left the room.
And then…
“Can we talk for a moment?”
I was immediately caught by the vice president.
Looking back, Grain was also waiting for his turn, watching me from behind.
Maybe I’m quite popular? Not that I need this kind of popularity…
Well, I was destined to stand out anyway if I wanted to unlock the inventory conditions during the Rift raid.
Since I’m already an executive, might as well shake up the Student Council properly.
