Civil Servant in Romance Fantasy

Chapter 287: Crushed by an Unspoken Catastrophe (4)

It wasn’t unusual for foreigners to enroll in the Imperial Academy. While their numbers were small compared to native students and no high-ranking foreign students had ever enrolled until two years ago, the Academy was open to all. It was a place where blue bloods, commoners, imperials, and foreigners coexisted.

So, there was no real need to fuss about the increase in foreign students. If anything, it was an opportunity to showcase the Empire’s exceptional education system and its open-minded nature.

However, despite this supposedly positive development, the Minister of Foreign Affairs personally reached out to me, the Academy’s official inspector, with some urgency.

The highest number in history?

It wasn’t just the phrase that was unusual. Sure, technically, even one more student than the previous record would be enough to break it, but would that be enough for the Minister to get involved?

— It’s likely because of the high-profile individuals who enrolled last year. That’s our guess, anyway.

The Foreign Affairs Minister continued when I stayed silent. His tone, sympathetic as if trying to soften the blow, almost brought tears to my eyes.

At the mention of these ‘high-profile individuals,’ I instinctively bit my lip. Damn it, was it really because of them? I thought things had been quiet lately, but now this?

—Even if they’re royalty far from the throne, royalty is still royalty. Being able to form connections with them is more valuable than which country the academy belongs to.

This was a disaster waiting to happen from the moment they enrolled last year. It was a grim realization, but I couldn’t argue with it.

For royalty, attending a foreign academy might come with significant penalties, but for the nobility, it was a manageable risk. Sure, they’d be branded as nobles who went abroad for their education, but all they had to say was, ‘I was a loyal retainer by our prince’s side during his difficult time abroad,’ and that was more than enough.

Honestly, it wasn’t just a risk they could tolerate—it was an opportunity they couldn’t afford to miss. They likely had solid connections in their own countries already, but it would open doors beyond their existing networks if they could establish ties with royalty while abroad.

It makes sense.

When I looked at it objectively, the situation was clear. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

— And, of course, there are a good number of students from the Holy Kingdom as well. With the next Saint traveling abroad, it’s natural that others would want to follow.

I nodded weakly. That made it three different groups stirring up trouble now. But just as the Minister said, it was only natural, so I wasn’t particularly shocked. It would have been unsettling in its own way if the Holy Kingdom had remained quiet.

But something felt off. If this disaster had been anticipated, wouldn’t there have been some preparation? The Empire’s civil servants might not enjoy their jobs, but they weren’t entirely incompetent.

Is there something more I should know?

I was confused. This enrollment surge had been planned for a year, with both the Foreign Affairs and Education Ministries involved. It was something I should be aware of as the academy inspector, but did it really warrant direct involvement from a minister? The message might be important, but the messenger seemed a bit excessive.

“Thank you for informing me personally. I would’ve been completely caught off guard without this.”

I carefully tested the waters, wondering if there was something else that hadn’t been said yet.

The Minister chuckled at my veiled question.

— Rumors travel fast among the mages.

Ah.

— The Mage Duchess is someone every mage on the continent respects, after all.

Ah…

There was no need for further explanation. The Mage Duchess, the undisputed pinnacle of all mages across the continent, had a vast network beyond the Empire’s borders. Once news from the Magic Tower began to spread, it would travel across the continent in no time. And what had been coming out of that tower lately was enough to send any mage into a frenzy.

The fact that the Mage Duchess’s only disciple was currently attending the Academy, along with the news that the Mage Duchess herself would be coming to teach, was simply unimaginable.

— Haha, who could’ve seen that coming? If someone had told me this last year, I’d have called it nonsense.

I couldn’t bring myself to meet the Foreign Minister’s glassy eyes as he laughed.

Of course, I knew that the Mage Duchess’s visit to the Academy would impact the magic community. However, her arrival had been kept so secret that the start of the school year was already near when I first heard about it through the 1st Manager.

Even I, who was relatively close to the Mage Duchess, only found out at the last minute. So, it was no wonder the mages spread across the continent were equally in the dark. I had assumed that the rush of new applicants eager to see the Mage Duchess wouldn’t happen until next year at the earliest, but—

I was mistaken.

I had underestimated both the network of the Magic Tower and the sheer frenzy of the magic community. If I were a mage, could I have predicted this outcome?

— At least we were lucky. Most of the applicants who tried to enroll were over the age limit, so it was easy to reject them. Thank goodness there are no late-blooming students at the Academy.

His genuine relief made my hands tremble instinctively. I knew mages were eccentric, but had so many applications come in that they were willing to ignore age limits? That meant it wasn’t just mages in their 20s and 30s—there could have been elders with snowy white beards applying, too.

Sensing my unease, the Foreign Minister added quietly.

— Even the Principal of Ernesto Academy submitted an application. For the sake of his dignity, we classified it as a top-secret document. Keep it to yourself.

Ernesto was the great mage who played a pivotal role in founding the United Kingdom of Yuben. His name was attached to the most prestigious educational institution in Yuben—Ernesto Academy.

This is crazy.

So this was what happened when mages became overly excited…

***So now we had royalty and students from the three different kingdoms flocking to build connections with the future Saint, mages from across the continent drawn by the legend of the Mage Duchess, and to top it off, foreign students who happened to also be mages—on the verge of fainting from excitement.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Wow, over 30% of this year’s students are foreigners?”

Altogether, foreign students made up more than a third of the incoming students—a record-breaking number, one that lived up to the hype.

“That’s wild. Normally, even 3% is considered a lot already.”

I wanted to grab the 1st Manager’s chattering lips as she skimmed the documents sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but I didn’t have the energy. All I could do was stare blankly at the ceiling and collect my thoughts.

I cursed the heavens. Managing a simple pastry club had been hard enough, but now I also had to deal with a flood of foreign students, each likely to form factions based on their nationality. If it were just a matter of factions, I wouldn’t care. But of course, those factions would inevitably revolve around influential figures like Rutis or Lather, meaning they’d fall under my jurisdiction as well.

And the mages who came just to see the Mage Duchess? Don’t even get me started. The Minister of Foreign Affairs hadn’t mentioned it, but I knew the truth. The Mage Duchess didn’t come to the Academy for the students—she came to see me. If a conflict broke out due to the influx of mages, it would morally fall on me to clean up the mess.

Maybe I should’ve tried to stop this.

That thought crossed my mind belatedly. There was no stopping the foreign students unless we expelled them all, but maybe I could’ve found a way to prevent the Mage Duchess from coming. Should I have tried harder to prevent this disaster?

“I was always so envious of those students. They get to spend time with you while I rarely got to see you even when you were in the capital.”

But then, I remembered how genuinely happy the Mage Duchess had sounded when she said that. Any lingering doubts faded quickly at that.

Yeah, it’d be better if I suffered a little. The guilt would’ve driven me crazy if I tried to stop the Mage Duchess and I saw her looking sad and disappointed.

The mages should be easier to manage.

I should think positively. No matter how eccentric mages were, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble in front of someone as revered as the Mage Duchess. And they definitely wouldn’t ignore me, the Mage Duchess’s future spouse. If they did, I wouldn’t hesitate to report them directly to the Mage Duchess, even if it was a bit petty.

“Uh, excuse me, Executive Manager.”

“What?”

While I was busy steeling myself for such petty resolve, I felt the 1st Manager’s tap on my shoulder.

“If the number of students increases, then maybe we should also increase the number of inspec—“

I grabbed her lips before she could finish. I didn’t need to hear the rest to know where this was going.

“There’s only ever been one inspector, regardless of how many students there are.”

She was clearly trying to worm her way into becoming an inspector now that the Academy’s situation had drastically changed.

But no, absolutely not. The fact that I was even an inspector was already a bit of a stretch, and now she wanted to add more? There was no precedent, and certainly no justification for that. It’d be somewhat understandable if the Executive Manager of the Prosecutors’ Office wanted to take on the role himself, but suddenly multiplying the number of inspectors? That’d just be asking for trouble.

It’d be honestly nice to have extra hands, but we would end up creating even more problems if we broke the protocol now. It would be one of those rare situations where adding more people would somehow make things worse.

We’ll just have to work hard with the people we have.

I sighed, pulling the still-struggling the 1st Manager onto my lap. If we couldn’t add anyone, then the current team would just have to grit their teeth and power through. Me, the Principal, the Vice Principal—

And Sir Villar.

I felt a pang of sympathy when I thought of Sir Villar. None of the four of us had it easy, but his situation seemed particularly unfortunate.

He probably left his hometown with excitement, but now he was dealing with not only Rutis but also other nobles tagging along. He must be on the verge of biting his tongue. On top of that, Sir Villar wasn’t just responsible for Armein; he represented all three countries. That meant triple the challenges and triple the stress.

…I should get him a gift.

Maybe some health supplements or something to help him stay healthy for a long time would do. We only had four people handling this crisis, and it’d be a disaster if even one of us collapsed. If anyone went down, I wouldn’t hesitate to make a run for it without looking back.

Damn it.

Couldn’t Enen just send me at least one reliable person? I swear, I’d treat them really well.