How to Survive as a Dungeon Manager in Another World

30 – Luke Richter (2)

“The damage is…substantial, Headmistress.”

Eris, the Academy’s treasurer, shook his head, his face a mask of grim concern as he addressed Selena.

“…Surely we can bill the entire amount to the Richter family?”

“Are you even serious, Headmistress? There’s no justification for it. The cost of damage incurred during entrance exams is, by unspoken rule, to be borne by us.”

Selena frowned at Eris’s reply.

There was not a single thing wrong with his words, but nonetheless, a sense of injustice was unavoidable.

When she first saw his thesis, all she could do was laugh.

Frankly, she held no expectations, dismissing it as nothing more than far-fetched drivel.

Faced with the absurd task of resolving the drought, the very notion of manipulating the climate was preposterous.

And yet, he had actually done it.

He had artificially manipulated the climate, summoning forth rain.

This was a first since I became Headmistress of the Academy.

No, perhaps the first in the Academy’s entire history.

Where on earth did he get the budget?

He brought with him a staggering five Empath Stones, so precious and rare. And then there were the resonance stones for the spellwork, and rare artifacts the likes of which she’d never seen.

Even if he were from a noble house, this was beyond what a student could possibly prepare.

Besides, was he not a b*stard son?

How in the world did he manage to amass all of this…

“He claims to have borrowed it from the family.”

“What? That’s preposterous. They provided that level of support to a mere b*stard? Have you inquired with the Richter County?”

“We did, but…”

“But?”

“They refused to answer. They only repeated that we should never contact them regarding Luke Richter.”

“???”

The Richter family detested him that much?

“Just what did he do when he left that manor?”

The Minister of Finance adjusted his glasses, continuing his explanation.

“The entrance exam, that is.”

“…”

“The Headmaster was present, so I trust you witnessed it.”

“I saw it. I’m not blind, am I?”

He actually brought rain.

Unprecedented.

Whatever means he employed, artificially manipulating the climate was nothing short of a discovery on a continental scale.

“Wasn’t that a realm impossible even with magic?”

“Impossible, yes. Of course, one could weave a spell in the sky to force rainfall. But that’s merely dropping water created by magical power, isn’t it? A mere imitation, a false thing.”

“The difference is significant, then.”

“Significant? It’s the difference between heaven and earth. That wasn’t simply mimicking a phenomenon, but manipulating the climate itself. A defiance of principle, you might say?”

Minister of Finance, Eris, tilted her head at her answer.

“Then what do you intend to do about the entrance exam? If it’s as the Headmaster says, then he fulfilled the conditions required by the exam, wouldn’t you agree?”

“He did. Although he did end up demolishing the exam grounds in the process.”

“Then this year’s top scorer will be…”

“Tch.”

Selena clicked her tongue in annoyance, muttering,

“It’s him, without a doubt.”

Selena impatiently closed the documents spread across her desk.

Luke Richter’s entrance exam thesis.

Minister of Finance Eris tilted her head at her reaction.

“Even you can’t understand it, Headmaster? Aren’t you the Deputy Head of the Red Magic Tower, after all?”

“Hey! Even if you brought the Tower Head’s grandfather, he wouldn’t understand this! It’s not that I’m too stupid to understand, you know?”

“…Is it that profound?”

“Yes! Entropy this, nuclear fusion that, filled with unheard-of concepts. Who could possibly understand this?!”

“Then how does Luke Richter know about it?”

“Exactly! That’s why I’m going mad!”

Each detail within the thesis was unconventional and shocking.

I could grasp the general flow, but the minute details of the theories, principles, and those inscrutable equations scribbled in every nook and cranny… that was beyond me, utterly.

The very vocabulary and terminology used in the paper were, without a doubt, *terra incognita*.

“Just what in creation *is* this kid? Did he wander in from some other world or something?”

“Do speak sense, Headmaster.”

“Sense? But then, does *this* make any?!”

“Enough. What about the entrance examination? As the Dean said, isn’t it true he fulfilled, nay, exceeded, the requirements after all?”

The Bursar was right.

The entrance examination’s requirements were more than adequately met.

Famine, a catastrophe threatening the entire continent, was ultimately nothing more than a climatic phenomenon.

And Luke Richter, albeit on a small scale, had actually manipulated the climate.

He had presented the answer closest to the very essence of the problem.

Grasping the absurdity of it all, the two could only exchange a glance and break into involuntary laughter.

“This year’s valedictorian is decided, then.”

“Aye. No helping it, I suppose.”

“Very well, I shall proceed accordingly.”

With a cursory nod, Eris exited the Headmaster’s office.

Staring at the empty room, Selena gazed blankly into the void before letting out a hollow chuckle.

“…Agh, what a headache, truly.”

Selena rubbed her throbbing forehead.

The immediate fallout could be managed somehow.

The examination grounds, even the surrounding buildings, had been utterly wrecked, but it could all be covered with the Academy’s budget.

But the real problem started now.

“…It’ll be alright, surely?”

Selena strove to calm her alarmed heart.

Repeating the self-assuring mantra that he wouldn’t, couldn’t possibly, do anything so mad again.

And so, on the day of the entrance ceremony.

As planned, Luke Richter triumphantly succeeded in entering the Academy as the valedictorian of the incoming class.

Of course, Selena was having a miserable time cleaning up the mess, but such behind-the-scenes affairs were of no concern to Luke.

He possessed not a scintilla of magical power, his only ability being the modern-day knowledge he’d gained from toiling like a dog as a laboratory slave in his previous life.

His ambition: to become a bureaucrat of the Crown.

Yet, to become such, one *must* graduate from the Academy.

For him, devoid of magic, weathering the storm of classes and attaining graduation, even through somewhat excessive means, was his only recourse.

Truthfully, he even enjoyed it.

The chemical reaction born from the confluence of otherworldly abilities and modern Earthly inventions was far grander than he had imagined.

“Headmistress! Luke Richter’s caused another incident!”

“What? What now! What kind of incident!”

“You know how he joined the Student Council recently? Apparently, he declared their document processing methods barbaric and started implementing some unheard-of accounting innovations – double-entry bookkeeping? Cost accounting? He’s created all sorts of strange things!”

“And then?”

“Well, a few days later, he claimed to have discovered embezzlement and fraudulent expenditures in the Student Council’s ledgers and reported it to the Imperial Home Affairs Bureau!”

“…What?”

“The targets of the accusation… let’s see. Ayane Telerian of the Telerian Ducal House and Rigon Winphred of the Winphred Ducal House…”

Selena could only be aghast.

That he would join the Student Council and perpetrate such eccentricities – that was plausible.

It *was* him, after all.

But what? Embezzlement? Fraudulent expenditures?

And he reported it to the Home Affairs Bureau, and those accused held such esteemed positions…

“What do we do? To top it off, he filed the report not under his own name, but in the name of the Academy Student Council.”

“Ah… aaah… My head…”

Reporting irregularities within the Student Council to the Home Affairs Bureau was, in principle, the proper course of action.

The Imperial Family did, in truth, encourage such reporting.

The current Noble Faction’s relationship with the Imperial Family was less than amicable, in many respects.

But… but…

Problems occurring within the Academy were, by longstanding custom, to be resolved… nay, concealed within the Academy itself.

Moreover, the evidence was so irrefutable that it couldn’t simply be swept under the rug.

And because the accusation was made in the Academy’s name, he’d neatly avoided all responsibility.

Caught in the middle, suffering the consequences, was none other than Selena, the Academy’s Headmistress.

And yet, Luke Richter’s escapades were only just beginning.

“Headmistress! All hell’s broken loose!”

“Wait. Give me a moment. Let me steel myself first.”

A year had passed since that rascal’s enrollment.

It was that time again, when everyone advanced to a new grade.

Selena instinctively sensed that Luke Richter would cause some trouble.

Each year, a new top student was selected, and from the second year onward, the top student received a massive advantage in credits.

Even if their practical exam scores were low, it wouldn’t be a problem for advancing to the next grade.

Of course, those at the top were bound to have high practical exam scores, so such a generous advantage was granted.

But she was deeply regretting that decision now.

Because, some crazy madman was committing all sorts of insane acts every year to win the top spot.

“Haa. Alright, tell me. It’s Luke Richter, isn’t it? What is it this time?”

“You know that paper the Dean presented to the academic world last year? The title was… what was it again? Multiple Magic Circles…”

“The Effect of Interaction Between Multiple Magic Circles on Resonance Amplification.”

“Ah! That’s it! That was it.”

“So what about it?”

The Vice Dean blinked his eyes.

Then he said.

“It’s wrong.”

“Huh?”

“From the second year on, you get extra credit for publishing a paper, right? And extra points depending on the success of the published paper. Because of that, Luke Richter published a paper in the academic world, and the content described in that paper refutes everything in the Dean’s published paper…”

“What?!”

“The academic world has summoned the Dean. To come with Luke Richter…”

“Crap…”

Selena flopped over with a gurgling sound.