Chapter 3: -the new principal (3)

Chapter 3 – The New Headmistress (3)

“H-Headmistress…”

“It’s dangerous. Only three minutes left!”

Griezmann froze at the sight of her, but time did not freeze with him.

At the urgent cry that time was running out, she ignored Griezmann and stepped forward, standing before the magic bomb.

“It’s impossible. This is completely different from previous ones…”

“You mean a bomb with a completely different structure and method? I know.”

Griezmann tried to stop her, but she only nodded, not listening.

Instead, she reached out her hand towards the bomb, as if she had a solution.

‘No way.’

He held his breath unconsciously as he watched her.

It was also his first time seeing her, the new Headmistress who arrived this year.

It was the moment he would personally witness the power of a being he had only heard about through rumors until now.

[Ice Wheel Technique: Absolute Zero]

And at that moment. From her body, a bone-chillingly cold blue power erupted as if exploding.

“Uwaaah!”

“G-Get back! You’ll get caught in it!”

Those nearby gasped in horror at the power that seemed to freeze not only the floor and surrounding objects but even the air, and they scrambled backward.

Griezmann was no exception.

Even as he backed away, he couldn’t take his eyes off her power, which ultimately froze even the mana contained within the magic bomb.

‘That’s the Ice Wheel Technique, the only magic formula whose creator is still alive, and which only the current Headmistress can use…’

Learning the magic formulas left by previous sages and mastering the essence of magic to create one’s own magic formula is akin to every magician’s dream.

Though he was an old professor who had already achieved much, Griezmann felt his heart pound like in his youth as he watched her.

****

“Still, I’m relieved things worked out. If that bomb had exploded, it would have caused city-wide damage and given an opening to undesirables.”

“If the Headmistress hadn’t arrived, even belatedly…”

After the bomb was neutralized, the urgent atmosphere quickly dissipated, and cleanup began.

It was certainly chaotic, but not the near-panic confusion of moments before.

The professors of Ragpedia who had exited the inn also watched the scene, sighing in relief like everyone else.

The one person who changed the atmosphere so swiftly was a lone figure.

It was the small, slender girl who, at the inn’s entrance, had thrust the still-radiating-cold magic bomb onto the flustered administrator as if tossing it.

“Honestly, I was skeptical hearing only rumors, but it seems they weren’t unfounded after all.”

“…If they were unfounded, she wouldn’t have been able to come here in the first place, but it was hard to believe regardless.”

Griezmann nodded at his colleague’s words.

The rumor that began circulating just a year ago was that a girl, dormant in ice, had been discovered in a long-neglected imperial forbidden zone.

When they first heard the rumor, everyone was in disbelief.

However, she, who identified herself as Eve Restra Avalanche, was a being sealed in that state for hundreds of years, and she successfully proved it.

No one knew what conversations transpired in the secret talks after she awoke, but somehow, the Emperor of the Empire succeeded in bringing her under his command with immense support.

‘She said it was her own will to be appointed Headmistress here, but I don’t understand why. She could have claimed so much more.’

Griezmann’s mind was quite complex, as he now realized that she had become his superior.

Of course, even a Headmistress couldn’t ignore existing professors and act entirely as she pleased, but a ominous feeling that she wouldn’t care about such things was steadily growing within him.

****

“Your Excellency, let’s return now. The sun will rise soon.”

“Very well.”

I had so many things to think about that I got lost in thought, and before I knew it, much time had passed.

I was fine, but I felt a bit sorry for those who came with me, like Illia and Albert.

Thanks to me, they couldn’t rest and were up almost all night.

“A-Are you returning?”

“Indeed. Just as you wished.”

I openly embarrassed the administrator who approached hesitantly.

Nevertheless, the thought that if I hadn’t come, the bomb would have exploded and caused great damage, kept him from saying anything, and he closed his mouth.

However, that was merely a hypothesis.

Would this bomb really have exploded even if I hadn’t come?

This ‘bomb in the inn’ is not an event mentioned in the original work.

Nor is it mentioned how it was resolved or who handled it.

That’s why I was able to intervene without hesitation.

In a way, it’s a natural conclusion.

Unlike fictional works with clear cause and effect, reality is intertwined with countless interactions like a complex tangle of threads.

In other words, fate is already slightly twisting due to my actions.

“I can’t tell.”

“Did I hear you correctly?”

“No. Let’s go back now.”

Thanks to this, even though one incident ended relatively well, my heart remained heavy.

It wasn’t as if there were no openings, so there must be a way, but finding it wasn’t easy.

Even when I arrived at the residence, took off my clothes, and threw myself onto the soft bed, that heavy feeling remained.

“Headmistress, these are the documents regarding the new students I mentioned yesterday.”

And then, the next morning, I was greeted in that very state.

I began my first duties as the Headmistress of Ragpedia.

“This morning, there will be a general faculty meeting. It’s a session where professors report the year-long curriculum they’ve decided on to the school administration, including yourself, Headmistress.”

“Understood.”

The Headmistress’s office was spacious, luxurious, and filled with antique furniture.

As I sat swinging my legs on the chair in front of the large desk, Illia brought me another stack of documents.

These were things a leader of an organization should naturally know, but honestly, I didn’t quite grasp them.

In essence, the Headmistress, as the coordinator and overall supervisor, is a kind of honorary position with very little direct involvement.

That’s why I couldn’t even remember the name of the Headmistress who appeared in the original work.

But I forced myself to soothe my restless body and crammed those things into my head.

“Illia, what are the Headmistress’s authorities?”

“The Headmistress holds all authority over the entire school, including personnel, administration, and education. You can oversee everything from curriculum and evaluation methods to administrative systems and scholarship programs.”

“Then why did all the previous Headmasters just go along with whatever the professors wanted? I just reviewed Ragpedia’s entire history, and it was all the same, regardless of who the Headmaster was. There are definitely things that need improvement, you know.”

I chuckled and tapped the documents I had set aside on the desk.

Then, Illia’s eyes behind her gold-rimmed glasses wavered slightly, seemingly flustered.

“The curriculum created by our excellent professors at Ragpedia is so perfect that…”

“Stop with the nonsense. Do you know why I personally told the ‘Emperor’ I would come here as Headmistress?”

“T-That’s…”

Unable to ignore my words, Illia forced her mouth open, but then flinched in surprise at my faint smile, which cut off her forced reply.

It was even more so because I explicitly mentioned the Emperor.

To the people of the Empire, the Imperial family is quite literally absolute law.

Considering the secrets contained within their bloodline, it was understandable.

“It’s because I am certain that this place, and the students currently attending it, are the true hope of this world. You probably won’t understand, but that is the truth.”

I had already made a certain decision.

To do my utmost in the given situation.

It sounds obvious, but upon calm reflection, there was plenty I could do right now.

“Go now and notify each professor and department in advance. If they fail to convince me at today’s general meeting, then regardless of how traditional their current curriculum is, everything will have to be redesigned from scratch.”

“Ah, understood. Right away.”

Illia, her face pale, hastily bowed her head, then scurried out of my room with quick, short steps, completely unlike the composed and dignified gait she had when she entered.

“…How should I change it?”

Left alone, I leaned back in my chair and murmured absently.

In any case, it’s true that something needs to be changed.

Only then can the characters seize a different fate.

So, as the current Headmistress, I decided to start by changing what I could.

For example, the system of education students will receive.

This academy, surprisingly, has many rotten parts.

Perhaps it’s a necessary darkness, as it provides trials for the protagonist and creates tension.

However, in the early part of the story, a massive catastrophe that will shake the current order is about to strike the world.

For them to be as unharmed as possible in the brutal war and struggles disguised as an academy story, they must become even stronger than in the original history.

Superficial education, like the current one focused on forming aristocratic cartels, having lost its original purpose, cannot overcome such a crisis.

More importantly, now is not the time to worry about thrilling tension or entertainment.