SRC 53

“Where on earth did you hear a rumor like that?”

Rumors were bound to grow legs, sure—but this was on a whole different scale.

Wasn’t this practically grounds for arrest on charges of spreading false information?

If Aiden or my sister found out, they’d definitely be furious.

“They said they heard it from Senior Liam and Senior Noah.”

“You heard it from those two?”

The source was strange.

The two of them were supposed to be going around checking the mana lamps—so why were they spreading nonsense?

They weren’t the type to do that.

“I guess I’ll have to confirm it.”

“Yeah, yeah. You have to tell me if my information’s accurate!”

With Siana cheering me on, I went off to search the building for the two of them.

Fortunately, after grabbing a few second-years and asking around, I quickly found out where they were headed.

As expected, they stood out wherever they went—people were definitely keeping track of them.

They were found in a shabby old magic tool storage room tucked away in a corner.

“Why are you all the way out here?”

“Ah—! You startled me.”

I spoke up while they were deep in serious discussion, and both of them jumped.

These guys were several times stronger than me, and yet they flinched at something like that.

“Oh, it’s Kongkong. We needed somewhere out of sight to talk.”

“What were you two discussing?”

“We were retracing whether any of the students we ran into showed hostility toward Noah.”

“Did you find anyone who could be the culprit?”

Unfortunately, they shook their heads.

No results. That was disappointing.

But that wasn’t the only reason I’d come.

“By the way… is it true that you’ve been telling people the prize for winning the mana lamp lighting event is the right to be appointed one-day student council president?”

“The rumor’s spread already?”

Since they didn’t deny it, it must be true.

“Why are you going around saying things like that?”

“We figured if we dangled some bait, someone might bite.”

“But how can you just spread lies like that? The first-years already seem to believe it.”

“It’s not a complete lie. We’re actively proposing it to Aiden.”

Did they really think that just voicing an opinion meant it would be accepted? Was that confidence—or arrogance?

I pressed a hand to my forehead, trying to soothe the headache forming there.

“What if the student council ends up choosing a different prize…?”

“Then it just ends as a rumor.”

Liam didn’t seem the least bit concerned about his reputation collapsing.

“You’re going to create a culprit where there wasn’t one.”

“We think it’s the right the culprit would want most. If they could become president for a day and change something, wouldn’t they try to abolish the mana lamp lighting event they hate so much?”

“But this year’s event will already be over by then.”

“They could get rid of it next year.”

It made sense, but I doubted whether the culprit had planned that far ahead.

If they were a third-year, they’d be graduating next year anyway—so what would be the point?

“Anyway, please refrain from spreading false rumors. It would be better to wait until the student council officially announces it.”

“It’s also useful as a way to naturally bring up the mana lamp lighting event in conversation.”

Liam didn’t accept my advice right away.

My serious concern for their reputations seemed to lose its force.

“Sorry, Olivia. Instead, how about helping the student council actually make it happen?”

“Me too?”

“Yeah. If you speak up, your sister won’t be able to ignore it. And if it’s Emma’s opinion, Aiden will accept it.”

Noah made a rather difficult request.

I only helped with miscellaneous student council work—I wasn’t an official member. I wasn’t sure they’d listen to me like he thought they would.

Still… if it made their investigation easier, maybe approaching it from that angle was better.

“…All right. I’ll say something.”

Noah’s eyes sparkled as he grabbed both my hands.

“As expected of our Olivia.”

Seeing that, Liam stepped in and separated our hands.

“Since when is Kongkong ‘your’ Olivia?”

Noah narrowed his eyes and glared sideways at Liam.

“That ‘our’ includes you too. Do you really need to interfere?”

“Does it?”

Liam replied awkwardly.

Was it okay to use the word “our” so casually?

It struck me as odd—but somehow, it didn’t feel bad.

Still, in the end, I failed to stop them from spreading the rumor.

Instead, I walked away with an even harder mission.

“I hope your plan works.”

“Don’t get buried in student council work and forget the main point.”

“As if that’s up to me.”

With a sigh, I left them in the magic tool room.

Whether I stayed or left, they were still whispering about their strategy.

Would their lie-strategy really work?

And could we even turn that lie into reality?

I wasn’t sure.

“I don’t feel great about this…”

It seemed like I’d have to put in more effort on the student council’s side.

After clearing my backlog of work first, of course.

As soon as I arrived at the student council room, I reported on Liam and Noah’s recent activities.

I wasn’t tattling. Absolutely not.

“Ah, those punks. So that’s why they suddenly told me to make the one-day student council president appointment the prize.”

It seemed they’d pressured Aiden without explaining the details.

“They seem to have their reasons. What do you think about actually making the one-day president appointment the prize?”

“So you want to take away my absolute authority, Olivia?”

Did Aiden even have absolute authority to begin with?

If anything, the only “authority” he had was the right to wander around instead of working in the council room.

Despite that thought, I answered gently.

“I’m just offering an opinion about a prize that would encourage student participation.”

“You’re on Liam and Noah’s side too?”

“I wouldn’t put it that way. I’m just trying to clean up the baseless rumor they’ve been spreading.”

Aiden looked at me suspiciously as I gave an awkward smile.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”

Just as Liam and Noah predicted, my sister agreed with me.

“Emma, you’re okay with taking away my authority too?”

She shot back at Aiden without hesitation.

“You’re hardly ever in the student council room anyway. If you don’t use that authority, what’s the harm in lending it out for a day?”

“What if they actually change academy rules however they want?”

“They can’t do anything without the headmaster’s approval anyway. Just frame it as a one-day student council experience.”

In other words, she intended to deceive the students too.

Maybe she was even planning to dump all the work on the one-day president instead of Aiden.

For some unknown future victim, I suddenly felt a chill.

“Sniff… I have no allies.”

Aiden forced out fake tears.

“I agree with Senior Liam and Senior Noah as well,” Lucas said. “And what if we also spread a rumor that Senior Noah isn’t as skilled as he used to be? Then instead of trying to stop the mana lamp lighting event, the culprit might participate directly, win, and use the prize to eliminate next year’s event.”

“Hm.”

Aiden actually considered Lucas’s suggestion seriously.

“If it works out like that, we can protect this year’s mana lamp lighting event as requested—without even identifying the culprit.”

My sister agreed with Lucas too.

“We should collect a participant list and observe them, just in case,” I added. “If things don’t go their way beforehand, they might pretend to participate and try to sabotage the event directly.”

We had to consider every possibility.

Eventually, after hearing all of us out, Aiden nodded.

“Fine. I’ll relinquish my authority for one day. You know this is a huge decision for me, right?”

But none of us reacted to his theatrics.

“It’s better to emphasize the student council experience aspect rather than announcing outright that academy rules can be changed.”

“And subtly hint that some presidential privileges can be exercised.”

“I just hope the student takes the bait.”

Lucas, my sister, and I put our heads together, discussing in detail how to announce the prize and observe the participants.

“Is no one listening to my opinion? This is terrible… With treatment like this, who’d even want to be student council president?”

Whatever Aiden whined about, our resolve was firm.

We just hoped this method would finally hook the culprit.

What had started as a simple duty had turned into something involving pride and honor.

“I’m going to catch them.”

Seeing my determination, my sister gently patted my head.

“Don’t overdo it.”

Lucas didn’t even try to hide the envious look in his eyes at that gesture.

I hadn’t meant to, but it seemed I’d hooked another fish.

Heh.