Reviving a Bankrupt Academy: My Financial Battle

Click

I closed the door, drew the blackout curtains on the windows, and waited for Beatrice.

Beatrice hesitated for a moment in the darkened room, then approached the bed with a determined look.

"First, please take off your outer garments and sit here."

"…Take off my clothes and sit here?"

"Yes. You can lie down if you wish."

"…I see. So that's what it was. I'm so naive, aren't I? There's no way you'd tell me something like that for free."

Huh?

What was this all of a sudden?

"But if I can be free from this chronic illness that has plagued me all my life, even for a moment…"

"Your Highness?"

"I've made up my mind. I said I would do anything, so do as you please. Although you drew the curtains, this is my first time, so please be considerate…"

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"What?"

Damn it, has she lost her mind?

I simply told her to take off her outer clothes and sit on the bed, and she's putting on a whole show about being prepared and it being her first time.

"It's not like that, so stop with the strange poses and sit comfortably. Do you see me as some kind of sex-crazed dog? I'm truly offended."

"Ah, well…"

"Don't make pointless excuses. Do you realize how rude your words were? I don't mean to be harsh, but I have absolutely no sexual interest in you, Your Highness."

"…Okay."

She's completely out of it. Does she think all men will demand that just because she has large breasts and is beautiful? That's just narcissism.

Beatrice was indeed beautiful. In the online community I visited for the walkthrough, she had the most fan art, including some of that kind. And her breasts were indeed very large.

However, I only played for about 10 hours, and it's been five years since I came to this world. I was no longer excited about a popular game character.

As the Finance Director, she was just a student with a pretty face, and more importantly, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Finance Destruction, the Building Destroyer.

Fortunately, Beatrice seemed to understand that she was being embarrassing and sat quietly on the bed, her face flushed red and her head lowered.

"Now then…"

"Y-yes."

"Use your magic."

"What!?"

"Until you use up all your mana. Scrape it all up and use it all."

"...…."

"Completely empty yourself."

That was the first step to treating her chronic illness.

However, Beatrice seemed quite flustered.

"Finance Director, you saw my chronic illness, so why…? This entire dormitory will collapse!"

"Not with an attack spell. [Illumination] is enough."

"Huh?"

"So, are you not going to do it?"

"Oh, no! I will, if it's just Illumination magic…"

[Illumination]

Illumination, a basic magic spell that creates light.

It consumed a considerable amount of mana, but because of its unique usefulness, it was a spell that all mages learned.

And it was the opening move of Beatrice, the boss in the game.

'When the boss battle starts, she uses Illumination magic and escapes to the top of the clock tower.'

While simply running away, the clock tower is shrouded due to the out-of-control Illumination magic, and you have to avoid it and get through it… It was closer to a platformer than a boss battle.

On the first try, I wondered what kind of boss this was.

Starting from the first floor of the clock tower, the location of the boss battle, you have to break through the interference of the Illumination magic and finally chase her to the top.

Only then does the real boss battle begin.

"Originally, Illumination magic consumes a lot of mana only when it's cast, and it's efficient to maintain, but just keep pouring mana into the spell. Even if it goes out of control, it will just flash in various ways."

"Haa, haa…!!"

Flash!

Beatrice, as I instructed, continuously poured mana into the Illumination magic to empty herself.

Naturally, the Illumination magic, receiving a tremendous amount of mana, went out of control, emitting excessively strong light, flickering weakly, and distorting into various shapes instead of a sphere.

She couldn't even dispel her own magic at will. To make her empty her mana, this brute-force method was the best. Whether it was now or in the original game.

After watching the Illumination magic go haywire in every way, living up to its name, or closing my eyes to avoid it.

"Now… almost…!"

"Continue, don't stop."

About 30 minutes passed, and Beatrice's arms started trembling and she began to sweat.

For a mage, mana was like air. They always had it and could easily inhale and exhale it, but they couldn't last long without it.

Beatrice's reaction was close to an instinctive rejection. Her body, which was always immersed in mana, was rejecting being completely emptied.

But she had to do it. Although I, not a mage, didn't know how much pain she was in, she had to do it.

"Didn't you say you would do anything? Don't forget those words."

"Ugh…!!"

Beatrice, biting her lip so hard it bled, squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the last of her mana into the Illumination spell.

Her body was now devoid of mana.

"Cough!"

"Now! Absorb the mana from the bed."

"Cough, hack."

"I know it's hard to breathe. You must want to draw out all the mana right now. But slowly, carefully, absorb only the minimum amount of mana and leave the rest."

Did you think I told you to sit on the bed for no reason? This bed, it's an artifact.

The Headmistress gave it to me as a gift last year when I was on the verge of collapsing from overwork and all-nighters. I heard it was supposed to help you get a good night's sleep by smoothing the flow of mana.

It wasn't very useful for me, a Rank 1, since I had almost no mana, but I was satisfied with it being a soft and comfortable bed.

And now Beatrice was absorbing the mana contained in the bed artifact in a state of mana exhaustion.

Like a person collapsing from thirst craving water, she could have absorbed it all. But with bloodshot eyes, she followed my instructions and left only a single drop of water in the bottle, the minimum amount of mana in her body, just enough to endure.

Now the preparations were complete.

"Use the mana remaining in the artifact, without absorbing it, to cast a spell."

"Uh… uh…"

"Illumination magic. Focus."

Beatrice, barely able to speak, trembling, raised her hand with difficulty.

Despite her pain-filled expression, she managed to cast the spell using the mana of the bed artifact.

[Illumination]

That light was…

"Ah…?"

"Do you see it?"

"Cough, cough."

"Try moving it as you wish."

It wasn't going out of control, but formed a perfect sphere, emitting a pure light.

Beatrice, her bloodshot eyes wide open in surprise, moved her hand, and the Illumination magic followed. It grew larger, dimmed, and brightened according to her will.

At the same time…

Drip. Drip.

"...…."

"Ugh… ah…!!"

Beatrice was shedding tears.

Despite not being able to properly speak, she kept making tearful sounds at the magic that was being controlled by her will for the first time in her life.

A moan filled with unfathomable lamentation, emotion, and yearning.

After moving the Illumination magic for a while, after the sheets were soaked with her tears…

I left the room for a moment, brought back a bottle of elixir, and handed it to her.

"Here you go."

"…!!"

*Gulp. Gulp!*

For a mage, an elixir that replenished mana was not much different from water. For Beatrice, who had absorbed only the minimum amount of mana in a state of exhaustion, it must have seemed like a lifeline.

After quickly downing the entire elixir, Beatrice was momentarily dumbfounded.

She looked up at me.

Her eyes were filled with trust.

"How…?"

"The Headmistress had a hypothesis. If your magic manifests normally but you can't control it afterward, perhaps the problem lies with your mana itself."

"My mana?"

"To be more precise, I think it's your constitution. Your mana transforms into an uncontrollable state due to your constitution."

This was bullshit. I was just making things up based on what I saw in the game.

Nevertheless, Beatrice was listening to me seriously. After all, she had just experienced a miracle firsthand.

"So, instead of your own mana…"

"Use external mana, the mana contained in an artifact, to cast magic…?"

"That's correct. However, even if you absorb the mana from the artifact, it will immediately mix with your own mana, so it was necessary to empty your mana."

To put it simply, Beatrice's mana was like seawater, and the artifact's mana was like freshwater.

If she needed to use freshwater as it was, but seawater remained, it would mix and become neither seawater nor freshwater. So, we had to drain all the seawater and allow her to use only freshwater.

…That was the tooltip I saw in the game after recruiting Beatrice as a companion.

"So that's why it's not a permanent cure, but a temporary one."

"That's right. Every time you use magic, you'll reach a state of mana exhaustion and have to use the mana of an artifact."

Just a while ago, it took over 20 minutes to reach mana exhaustion, and on top of that, she needed an artifact.

Moreover.

"Feel the bed closely."

"Huh? The artifact…?"

"Since you're forcibly extracting and using the mana contained within it, the artifact's original function will naturally be destroyed. And the efficiency isn't very good in the first place."

Artifacts that had their mana extracted were almost always destroyed, and even if they weren't, the efficiency was abysmal.

Perhaps even if she extracted all the mana from the bed artifact, it would only be enough for a few [Fireballs].

This was precisely why I didn't want to tell Beatrice about this method.

'Simply put, it requires spending a lot of money.'

Of course, Beatrice was a princess, even if she was the fourth. Buying several decent artifacts and carrying them around wouldn't be a big burden.

But that was when she was in her home country. Here at the academy, she didn't have much money. And artifacts were something that even the nouveau riche wouldn't dare to buy carelessly.

'She said she couldn't bring much when she gave me the bribe last time.'

To defeat Chloe in a duel, she would need a considerable amount of artifacts, and to purchase those, she would have to pay with the jewels she brought.

Again, artifacts weren't cheap. Moreover, since I didn't know how many artifacts she would need to defeat a mage of Chloe's level, it was best to buy as many as possible.

But then the additional bribes I would receive would disappear!

On the other hand, if I took more bribes, she wouldn't be able to buy the artifacts needed to face Chloe, so it was a real dilemma… but.

It wasn't like there was no solution.

"With this, can you get it back?"

"Of course, of course! Thank you so much…!!"

"Then—"

"You want me to show my sincerity, right? Don't worry! I'll give you all the remaining jewels and anything that can be exchanged for money!"

"What?"

What? Then you'll have no money.

How will you buy the artifacts?

"You need to purchase artifacts, don't you?"

"I can earn money. No matter how long it takes, if I work hard and save, I'll eventually earn money. But you cured my chronic illness… that's something I can't repay with money."

"How do you plan to earn money when you can't leave the academy?"

"I saw many part-time job openings while going back and forth. Even if artifacts are expensive, if I work hard, I'm sure!"

"Stop with the nonsense and use that to buy enough artifacts."

"Finance Director…?"

Why the surprised look? Did you really think I would accept?

If you were an ordinary student, I would naturally accept, but you're the Building Destroyer. You already have a criminal record of destroying five classrooms.

And it's obvious that you'll start practicing magic from now on, so I can't keep you at the academy for long. If you try to buy artifacts with part-time job money, even if you save every penny for a year, it would be barely enough for one. It's simply impossible.

"I'll try my best to arrange another meeting with the Headmistress. Please get that pendant back as soon as possible."

"…Why?"

"Your Highness?"

"Why are you… doing this? We're just connected by bribes."

Because it's the most financially beneficial for you to quickly duel Chloe and return to your home country!

…I couldn't say that. Let's just give a general answer.

"Although I'm not an educator, I'm also a staff member of the academy. We met through a bribe at first, but in the end, you're also a student of our academy, Your Highness."

"…Ah."

"And the bribe I received last time was quite substantial, so let's consider this as part of that payment."

So please go back quickly. And don't destroy any more buildings, seriously.

The goal of getting more bribes had become impossible, but in the end, the most important goal was for the Building Destroyer to return, so it was fine.

You have to go back so that we can hold out until the investment arrives without any more variables!

"Finance Director."

"If you're really desperate, you can always send a donation after returning to your home country. Although you won't be able to send bribes from the Delphia Kingdom, donations should be fine."

"…I see."

"Pardon?"

"I understand, Finance Director… no, Adam."

Why was she suddenly calling me by my name?

I blinked at Beatrice's sudden outburst, and seeing her determined face as if she had made up her mind, I unconsciously stepped back.

"I won't disappoint you. I promise!"

"Uh… okay."

So you're definitely going back then? You trust me?

Beatrice, who was looking at me with a solemn expression, suddenly tilted her head as if she saw something.

"Huh? Adam, what's in your front pocket…?"

"What? Ah, it's just a cigarette."

"Who carries around just one cigarette? More importantly, that cigarette looks familiar."

"You must have seen it from people who smoke in your home country."

"No, that's not it. Wait a minute."

"Oops."

Beatrice had seen this before? Not just any cigarette, but this 'special order product'?

Well, it must be a mistake. It didn't look that different from other cigarettes.

"This scent… really?"

"Your Highness?"

"Adam, this isn't just any cigarette! It's the military stimulant disguised as a cigarette produced in our kingdom—"

"Shush."

"…Adam."

"It's just a necessary item for work."

"…Not only those books and papers, and living in this shabby dormitory, but now that so-called work cigarette."

"Ahem."

"Adam, are you being properly compensated for your efforts? Are you being treated fairly in this academy?"

Well? The salary was certainly generous. But I was returning all of it except for the minimum living expenses to contribute to the finances.

Is this passion pay? If we overcome this bankruptcy crisis, I'll have secured a lifetime job, so it's fine.

If the Headmistress has any conscience, she won't overwork me after this. She'll just hire more people for the Finance Department and pass the buck to them.

…There was no need to explain all this to Beatrice, nor did I intend to.

More importantly, we were done here, so let's send her off. I had to go back and discuss Beatrice with the Headmistress again, and if she had already spoken with the king, I had to discuss that as well. I still had a lot to do.

"Your Highness, if you want to defeat Miss Chloe, you need to practice hard from now on, don't you?"

"Adam."

"Please practice only in the training grounds or practice rooms. Absolutely no other places. Absolutely!"

"…Adam."

"Well then, I still have some work to do, so I'll be going."

Click.

I forcibly sent Beatrice out of the room and closed the door.

"...."

Beatrice stood blankly in front of the door for a long time before finally leaving.

…Why is she acting like that?