Chapter 156 – Student Council Election (6)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Election season had begun. It had already been a major issue beyond just the academy to begin with. But this election caused an even bigger upheaval.

“That rumor that the mock exam the classes took together last time was for picking a presidential candidate from among the first-year cadets was true!”

“Wow, that’s seriously insane. It really feels like something huge is going to happen this year. At this conservative academy?”

First-year cadets running in the election, no less. And two of them at that! It was an unprecedented major event in the history of the academy.

Still, there was one strange thing. For some reason, the numbers , , and had been skipped over completely.

, , , . The candidate numbers were spaced out like that.

What was the reason for it? There were circumstances at play that they did not know about, but the cadets did not care much. What did something like that matter. In the face of something groundbreaking, the small details were bound to be buried.

Teenagers were the sort to have their eyes light up the more unusual and fascinating something was. They were satisfied just to have new gossip to chew on.

A bulletin board permanently set up in the middle of the academic building corridor.

== ==

No. 6, Leon van Reinhardt

– An academy of the cadets, by the cadets, for the cadets –

== ==

Refreshing, well-defined features, a handsome blond with blazing golden hair. Even though it was just an ID photo, it looked like a painting on canvas.

“How is it that Leon just keeps getting more and more handsome by the day? Seriously, the phrase face genius suits him perfectly.”

“Is that all? He’s already a hero marked as the next Hero. If not someone like him, then who else would sit in the president’s seat?”

A group of female cadets stared at the election poster as if entranced. The brows of the male cadets drew together. They whispered in dissatisfaction.

“Ugh, face-obsessed idiots. The second someone’s good-looking, they go all gooey over him. They really are the type to vote the moment they see a pretty face. Elections are supposed to be about the policies and pledges being put forward. Honestly, those girls know nothing about politics, politics. And what is that campaign phrase supposed to be? Of the cadets, by the cadets, for the cadets. It’s nothing but abstract. You can’t even tell what it’s supposed to mean.”

“Exactly. What does being the next Hero even have to do with being student council president? It’s not like he did anything, he just heard one line of prophecy. If you’re going to vote for Leon, it’d be better to vote for that guy instead.”

The male cadet with his arms folded jerked his chin toward a different campaign poster. The cadet beside him shifted his gaze away from the No. 6 poster and to the one next to it.

== ==

No. 7, Kang Geom-ma.

– Blank –

== ==

“……”

Even though it was broad daylight, the shadows on the election poster somehow seemed especially dark. Their eyes met with the person on the poster. A chill prickled across the skin. If someone had seen this picture at midnight, their pants would have been dyed yellow.

Sure, let us say his impression was naturally like that to begin with. But then what was with that campaign phrase? The male cadet scanned the three posters lined up ahead of it.

Though formulaic, -, , – all of them had at least written something. The male cadet looked back at the No. 7 poster.

Blank. Those two characters were sitting there bold as anything. At that rate, wouldn’t it have been better to just leave it empty? Since it said blank, did that mean it was left empty in a meaningful sense?

His head felt confused. He could not understand the intent at all. But… why did it somehow feel strangely trustworthy?

The male cadet fell into thought. Then he reached a conclusion of his own.

Rather than say things that merely sounded right, it was better to say nothing at all. That was probably the meaning. The person on that poster was Kang Geom-ma.

And also.

‘Sashimi Faster Than Words’

That was a phrase that precisely captured Kang Geom-ma’s personality on the portals and such. His sword moved before his mouth did.

At first, people had thought, what kind of reckless lunatic was this.

On top of that, his weapon was Sashimi. As if lecturing people that experts didn’t blame their tools, he favored using a Daiso sashimi knife. That point was his romantic charm.

The male cadet stopped thinking and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He firmed up his decision on how he would cast his vote.

So what if there was no phrase. He decided to lend his strength to the man who walked the path of the tough man’s霸道.

* * *

“Hey! Kang Geom-ma! Have you lost your mind!? Who the hell writes an election slogan like this! They already changed the school rules so we can’t even campaign in person as it is!”

Ryozo shouted angrily. Her straight-extended finger was pointing at the distributed election poster. Breathing hard, she kept speaking.

“No, seriously, if you were going to do this, you should’ve just left it empty. What do you mean Blank, blank! Don’t you know voters can swing over something this trivial?”

Weapon stepped in to mediate. Saki glared at him. Her pupils were vertically narrow like an angry alley cat’s.

“S-S-Saki. Calm down. He’s the club leader. I’m sure there’s some kind of hidden winning strategy here. Right, Leader?”

Weapon whipped around to look at me. The gaze he sent me desperately begged me to say something, anything. But I shook my head.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it.”

“Leader!”

This time it was Weapon who shouted loudly instead. As always, Weapon was fun to tease. The impact response was excellent.

Letting out a low laugh, I added.

“I’m kidding. I just thought it was better to leave it blank than to write something that’s only glossy on the surface.”

In my previous life, I worked at a sashimi restaurant, and from time to time I dealt with politicians too. Among them, there was something a five-term lawmaker once said while thoroughly drunk.

……

– Hey, you. Did you know what the easiest way for a politician to win the people’s hearts was?

The five-term lawmaker thumped his flushed chest and spoke.

– Honesty, honesty! The riffraff who look at the people like they’re pigs and dogs only last one term. But if you don’t speak lies, people acknowledge it in the end.

Hearing the phrase pigs and dogs come out of a politician’s mouth felt very strange.

– Remember this! Rather than lie, it’s better to say nothing at all. If you stay still, you’re already halfway there. When had the wisdom of the ancients ever been wrong? You’re also someone at the pinnacle of one field, just like me, so you know that, don’t you?

‘Are the lawmaker and I really the same? I’m only a cook.’

– Tut, tut, man. If modesty went too far, it only makes you look arrogant. Did you think I wouldn’t know your title, `The Nation’s Finest Blade Wielder`? I hear you were a famed swordsman in this world.

‘Even if you flatter me, there are no extra services.’

– Hahaha, don’t worry. If I’m going to taste the finest skill in the nation, how could I possibly pinch pennies!

A few days later, I got to see that lawmaker on the news. In a scene where he delivered a dropkick to another lawmaker.

Honesty was good, but being too consistent in front and back was a problem too.

……

“…No, but even so. Why would you write Blank of all things. Wouldn’t it have been better to just leave it empty?”

Weapon said with a dumbfounded look.

“Ah, that was a mistake. They told me to write something. Apparently they wouldn’t accept it if I submitted it completely blank. So I just wrote blank. I thought they’d erase it on their own. But I didn’t know it’d end up printed on the election poster exactly like that.”

“……”

Weapon lowered his head and held his forehead. He was about to say something, then stopped. Because he could not sense any lie in the club leader’s words.

The water had already been spilled. Spending time trying to gather it back up would be wasteful. A fast response was what mattered.

“Saki, you made that early voting app a little while ago, right? How are the support ratings for the other candidates right now?”

Tapping away at the laptop, Saki answered. Her hands were dazzling over the keyboard.

“Senior Kim Woo-jin is at 23 percent, Senior Den is at 8 percent, and Leon is in first with 35 percent.”

“Leon’s support is way more overwhelming than we predicted. What about the trend? Do you think the pattern will change much?”

Saki shook her head.

“It’ll probably stay like this until election day. Even with a margin of error, maybe 3 to 4 percent at most? The upperclassmen are doing worse than expected… though that just means Leon’s popularity is that overwhelming.”

“Does that guy live his whole life alone or what? He’s practically the protagonist…”

Weapon grumbled. A faint jealousy lingered even in his sulky voice. He let out a sigh and scratched at his head roughly.

“Well, whatever. At the end of the day, it’s a school election, so it’s a popularity contest. If you add up the support ratings of those three, then our club leader is…”

At that moment, a current flashed through Weapon’s mind. His head lifted on reflex. He looked at Saki.

As if on cue, she was looking at Weapon too. As though they had planned it, the two of them muttered in unison.

“34 percent?”

* * *

…And so time continued to pass, and before long it was the day before the election.

Morning, Star Class.

Abel rested her chin on her hand and blankly gazed out the window. The entire election season had been a succession of gloomy days. There had not been a single clear autumn sky without a cloud this year.

And on top of that, the clouds today were heavier than usual. Gray masses moved slowly. It looked as though thunder might strike at any moment.

“The weather this autumn really hasn’t been good…”

Even in the middle of that, the shrill squeals of the female cadets kept stabbing at her ears.

Abel’s eyebrows curved neatly. She snapped her head around. At the center of the noise was Leon van Reinhardt.

‘They’re at it again.’

They had always been like this, but lately it had grown especially bad. It was because of the upcoming student council election.

Leon’s support rating was overwhelmingly high. He had easily crushed the two upperclassmen from the current student council. It was effectively no different from him already being confirmed as the next president.

‘Why are they all like that about him? I really don’t get it…’

Just as she was about to take her eyes off Leon, who was surrounded by girls.

“Wah!”

Someone suddenly grabbed Abel by the shoulder. A small jolt ran through her. Abel’s reaction was lukewarm. Instead, she merely stared at the other person with narrowed eyes.

“Rachel.”

Abel’s icy voice. Rachel flinched and quickly removed her hand. She gave an awkward grin.

“It was just a joke, a joke. Don’t look at me so scary.”

“Haa.”

Abel let out a long sigh. This happened several times a day, so by now she had gotten used to it.

Rachel promptly sat down in the seat beside her.

“Abel, who are you going to vote for in the election?”

“Don’t you know the three principles of elections? Equality, directness, and secrecy. Who goes around asking who someone is going to vote for…”

“Come on~ between us, what does it matter!”

What between us? Rachel kept on chattering away.

“Then how about this? On one, two, three, we say it at the same time.”

“No.”

Abel answered instantly. She did not want to get swept up in Rachel’s pace. She had to cut it off here.

“Hmm, I see~”

Rachel let out a strange little nasal sound. She gave a shrug, pretending she understood.

“Obviously No. 7! Kang Geom… mph!”

Two hands clamped over Rachel’s mouth. Mmff! Only muffled sounds slipped out between Abel’s fingers. Rachel’s face instantly turned red.

Had Abel’s grip always been this strong? It was to the point of cutting off her breath. Only when Rachel’s struggling died down did Abel finally loosen her strength.

“Cough, cough.”

Rachel coughed hoarsely. The corners of her eyes had grown moist. She wiped away the watery tears.

As if nothing had happened, Abel calmly brushed off her hands. Rachel did not ask any more questions.

Rumble…

The dark clouds trembled, and a heavy crash started echoing from the sky.

“Why is the weather suddenly like this? I can understand it being cloudy day after day, but thunder of all things…”

Rachel muttered. Abel also looked up at the sky beyond the window.

Cloudy weather was nothing new, but this time it felt somewhat different, as if it were not a natural anomaly but the effect of some kind of power.

Whoooong.

A chilly wind battered at the window violently. It shook as if the glass might shatter. The darkness of the sky was deepening in real time.

‘This is definitely…’

A chilling sensation soaked the back of her neck. It was not a mere whim of nature. It was definitely the portent of something. That ominous thought swirled through Abel’s mind.

Abel looked around. The other cadets were too busy crowding around Leon. Rachel was the only one still halfway sane.

Abel asked.

“Rachel, doesn’t this feel familiar somehow?”

“Yeah…”

Rachel nodded too and looked out the window. Letting out a low groan, she said.

“It feels kind of like back during the deserted island survival training.”

That was when it happened.

KWA

GWA

GWAGWAGWANG!