Reviving a Bankrupt Academy: My Financial Battle

The area where the professors' labs were gathered was one of the worst demon realms in Grandis Academy.

It was partly because it housed the graduate student dormitory and magic labs, the places with the most frequent collapse incidents in the academy, but also because the entire area had a strange atmosphere.

"What should we have for lunch today?"

"You have an appetite after those research results?"

"None of your business. The colleague who joined with you is already preparing for their defense—"

BOOM!!!

"—Aren't you? That's why I'm saying let's just eat."

"Alright, alright. Let's go grab some meat."

A lab left collapsed and abandoned, a sudden explosion from the building next door. Yet, the passersby weren't fazed, using defensive magic or deflecting debris with their weapons before continuing their chatter as they walked.

Calling them passersby was a bit of a stretch, as ordinary students wouldn't dare to enter this area. Those walking around here were all professors or graduate students.

They all had a "whatever" attitude, no matter what exploded where, but…

As they walked, discussing research or chatting, they suddenly stiffened upon seeing someone. Even the graduate students who had nonchalantly deflected the debris earlier were no exception.

"Good morning, Finance Director Adam!"

"Good morning!"

"You're working hard."

They bowed their heads, their voices strangely tense.

The position of Finance Director of Grandis Academy held that much power. It was the Finance Director who decided the budget allocation for the labs and the research funding.

Therefore, even though some might view him negatively, the professors and their graduate students generally treated the Finance Director with respect. If they were seen in a bad light and their research funds were cut, how could they take responsibility?

"Finance Director, the professor would like to meet with you—"

"Finance Director, our research this time—"

"It would be an honor if you could attend our lab's defense—"

"The preparations for this paper are—"

At the same time, countless people flocked to the Finance Director, trying to get even a little bit of research funding. They were like a pack of wolves starved for budget and research funds.

And I politely declined their requests and headed towards the person who had been waiting for me from afar.

As if there was an invisible barrier, the graduate students parted as I approached, and finally, an elderly man with a white beard smiled kindly at me.

"It's been a while, Finance Director."

"Dean Billend. I apologize for not being able to visit you often due to my busy schedule."

"What are you apologizing for? It's a well-known story that the Finance Director is working overtime countless times. Come in."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Dean Billend. He was from the Imperial Magic Tower and was once a colleague and rival of the current Tower Master, the Archmage.

He was a man of outstanding ability, but he was pushed out of the Magic Tower due to internal faction struggles and settled in the kingdom.

After that, he caught the eye of the Headmistress, became a professor, and eventually became the Dean, managing the entire magic department.

Although he was treated as a department head like me according to the academy regulations… due to his strength as a Rank 7 and his experience as the faculty member who had been at the academy the longest after the Headmistress, he was actually treated a step higher than the department heads.

Fortunately, since the reason he was kicked out of the Magic Tower was political factional strife, he didn't want to get involved in any factions or political issues within the academy.

After exchanging pleasantries, I arrived at the Dean's office with Dean Billend and took a seat.

"So, you said you wanted to meet with Professor Circe."

"I believe you are well aware of what happened at this year's research budget allocation meeting, Dean Billend."

"It was a magic reagent that restores damaged hair and regenerates hair on scalps where hair has been permanently lost, wasn't it? Honestly, if it wasn't Professor Circe who said that, I wouldn't have believed it was possible."

"Is it because it's impossible even for the church?"

"At least in the fields of healing and regeneration, the current magic academia still can't keep up with the church. And even the church gave up on developing a hair loss cure."

"So if it's truly successful, the profits will be enormous. That's why I, as the Finance Director, came to see Professor Circe myself."

"Hmm."

"And more importantly…"

As I narrowed my eyes slightly, Dean Billend, who had been maintaining a kind smile, quietly looked at me.

The story that was about to come out was something both the Dean and I knew well.

But it wasn't in the regulations.

"…Professor Circe has already received 'welfare,' hasn't she? For her improved healing potion research."

"You call it… welfare?"

"It's something the Headmistress approved. What can I say about it?"

"Well, I'm grateful for that, but honestly, I was worried. Even considering the 'custom' so far, Professor Circe's case clearly crossed the line."

"Did you think I came here to reprimand or discipline her?"

"Otherwise, why would Professor Circe keep her 'custom' a secret? I'm the only one who knows about it, even as the Dean. That's why I was quite worried, but thankfully…"

Despite Dean Billend's reluctance to get involved in political matters, his insight and perceptiveness were quite sharp. If he had no political skills at all, he wouldn't be able to handle the position of Dean.

And Dean Billend was talking about 'welfare' and 'custom.'

That was precisely why I didn't immediately reprimand Professor Circe and why the Headmistress, after much deliberation, acknowledged her actions.

Anyway, knowing that my purpose wasn't to discipline or reprimand her, the Dean breathed a sigh of relief. He seemed to have been quite anxious as well.

"Then, may I go meet Professor Circe now?"

"Of course. I heard she's been busy preparing for her research lately, so please give her my regards. The other professors are also worried about her."

"…Understood. Ah, and Dean?"

"Hmm?"

"The Headmistress has summoned you. She asked you to come by today if possible…"

"The Headmistress? Alright, I'll go right away."

It was normal for the Headmistress to summon the Deans of the magic, martial arts, and administration departments. Therefore, Dean Billend readily agreed and prepared to head to the Headmistress's office.

…Now that the Dean was taken care of by the Headmistress.

It was time for me to do my job as well.

***

Professor Circe's lab was a three-story building.

Not only was she appointed as a professor in her early 30s, but she also continued to conduct various research and accumulate achievements.

It was no exaggeration to say that she was the most famous professor in the entire magic department, often mentioned by Dean Billend in faculty meetings.

There were even rumors that she was being considered as the next Dean of the magic department, so her lab was treated accordingly.

Standing in front of the building, which was more like a research complex than a simple lab, a neat-looking graduate student guided me.

"Finance Director Adam, we've been waiting for you. Professor Circe is in that room over there."

"Thank you."

If it were an ordinary staff member or the Security Unit, who were strict about hierarchy, I would speak casually, but although the administrative departments, including myself, and the professors were closely related, they were considered different categories in the grand scheme of things.

Therefore, the professors treated even the most junior staff members with courtesy, and the staff members also respected the professors and graduate students.

The room I entered was quite well-decorated, as if it were for receiving guests rather than research.

And Professor Circe, who was sitting on a chair with a somewhat anxious look, stood up and approached me.

"Welcome, Finance Director. I apologize for the late reply regarding the meeting. I've been busy with research preparations lately…"

"It's the hair loss cure research that even the church declared impossible, isn't it? I understand. But you did take 60% of the research budget from the magic department this year, so you shouldn't have any financial problems."

"…Yes, that's correct."

I lightly poked at the research fund issue mentioned in the document from the Headmistress, and her reaction was better than I expected.

Was she hoping that I would acknowledge it, or was she trying to hide it?

Anyway, it was meaningless once our conversation was over, so I sat across from Professor Circe with a smile.

"I heard you're busy, so it's best to skip the small talk. The reason for this meeting is the hair loss cure research you're conducting. And I…"

"After the hair loss cure is developed, the intellectual property rights will be jointly owned by the academy, and in the event of future profits, the academy has the right to take 80% of them."

"...."

She's taking the initiative.

Honestly, it was a bit unexpected. Considering Professor Circe's 'goal,' it was a natural course of action, but I thought she wouldn't give up so easily considering the potential profit.

"Isn't this what you came to talk about? I know that the 'custom' I followed last time clearly crossed the line."

Some call it welfare, others call it custom.

In reality, every organization has traditions in the name of custom. Hazing new students in college, initiation ceremonies for new recruits in the military, preferential treatment for senior members of the legal profession, and so on.

These things aren't explicitly stated in rules or regulations, but they are traditions passed down naturally because they have been practiced in the organization for a long time.

Grandis Academy also has several such customs. For example, the top graduate of the administration department is automatically accepted if they apply to work at the academy, commoners entering the magic or martial arts departments receive slightly discriminatory treatment, and new faculty members must serve as juniors for at least one year, no matter what.

Sometimes called custom, sometimes corruption, sometimes abuse, sometimes tradition.

What Dean Billend and I mentioned, and what Professor Circe is talking about now, was also one of those customs.

To be precise, it was a custom created by the Headmistress, a form of welfare for the professors.

"When Grandis Academy was first established, the Headmistress promised high salaries, excellent research environments, and various other benefits to recruit talented professors."

"...."

"And among those benefits, there was one that wasn't explicitly stated but was separately permitted by the Headmistress."

All these problems stemmed from one issue: 'The Headmistress had too much money.'

It's better to have more money, so why was that a problem?

To be precise, in the early days of the academy's establishment, the Headmistress had so much money that she didn't accept any subsidies that an ordinary academy would naturally receive. She even refused donations from graduates.

The academy, or rather, the Headmistress, had plenty of money. So, she probably didn't want to accept subsidies or donations that could potentially lead to interference.

To put it nicely, she was upholding her beliefs about education, and to put it badly, she was arrogant.

Most of a normal academy's budget comes from subsidies, donations, tuition fees, and research achievements. But she refused subsidies and donations, and tuition fees were kept to a minimum due to her belief in ensuring equality in education. It was something that would never have been possible if she weren't the Headmistress.

And from that stemmed the custom, the welfare, that only magic department professors had.

"For one research project only, a professor can fully own the results of their research."

"...."

"It's a tradition that has continued for decades, the best welfare that only magic department professors have."

The moment I heard it, it was something I couldn't help but question. Of course, research wouldn't proceed without professors, but did that mean the academy, which provided the research funds, facilities, and environment, had no contribution at all?

Professors and the academy had a mutually beneficial relationship in research, and naturally, the research achievements should be shared, not owned by one side… but.

The Headmistress, at the suggestion of the Deans at the time, ended up turning a blind eye to that 'welfare.' Even then, the professors had some conscience, limiting the achievements they owned in this way to personal goals or those that could earn a small amount of extra money, but it didn't mean much.

Not all research could generate profit, and depending on the field, there were many cases where no profit was generated even after a lifetime of research. The improved healing potion research was an exceptional case; research of that level didn't appear often.

And so, 10 years, 20 years, decades passed. During that time, the custom gradually became a tradition, a privilege and deep-rooted evil that any magic department professor was entitled to.

Anyway, did that mean it was a truly foolish and naive idea?

'Of course it was, damn it.'

…However.

It was also true that there were benefits gained from it.

"Thanks to that, Grandis Academy was instantly flooded with professors who wanted to transfer, and in just a few years, the magic department became the best in the kingdom, and the quality of education visibly improved thanks to the high-quality professors."

"…That's true."

For example, suppose a newly established company, to recruit employees, offered benefits like four major insurances, the possibility of working from home, the highest salary in the industry, and various other benefits.

Some might say they were crazy for a new company. The reason other companies didn't do that was that it cost too much money. There was no need to go that far to recruit employees.

However, countless employees would want to work for that company, and the CEO (Headmistress) could gather experienced and talented individuals among them and significantly raise the level of the new company in an instant. And they would rise to the top as a leading company.

The source was unknown, but there were no problems with operation because they had so much money that they could operate the company without any problems for decades even after giving out so many benefits.

And the problem that had been accumulating little by little…

Finally exploded now that the Headmistress's money had run out.

"Professor Circe, you said you knew that the custom you followed crossed the line, right?"

"…Usually, what's owned through custom is minor research for personal satisfaction or research that guarantees a small profit to secure one's retirement."

"But Professor, your improved healing potion research was something that could bring in enormous profits. Naturally, it should have been shared with the academy."

"I… needed urgent funds. The future profits that would come in slowly weren't nearly enough. I needed the money right away."

"Professor."

"That's why I planned this hair loss cure research. To make up for my mistake, even if just a little, with this research!"

Even if I were to be extremely generous, and then generous again, I could understand Professor Circe's thoughts.

She needed urgent funds, so she took ownership of a research project that wouldn't normally be allowed under the custom and sold it to the church.

And knowing that it was wrong, she tried to cover up her mistake by conducting research that could guarantee even greater profits. Even going so far as to offer joint ownership of the intellectual property rights and giving up 80% of the profits.

Considering Professor Circe's abilities, she might have been able to get away with it.

However, the problem was…

"Then what is the expected timeframe for this research?"

"What? Well, the healing potion development took about 10 years since I started it during my master's degree… so I'm assuming about 20 years for the hair loss cure research."

"I see."

…this gap.

Naturally, if the hair loss cure research was successful even after 20 years, it would be a huge change. Professor Circe was a recognized authority in life magic, and since she had already succeeded in a remarkable research project, she would receive support without any problems.

However, the current Grandis Academy didn't have the luxury of waiting 20 years. It would go bankrupt in three years, damn it.

Therefore.

"About the custom, the welfare, that we were talking about earlier…"

"Yes."

"Don't you think it's unnecessary now?"

"…What?"

"Grandis Academy has already secured more than enough professors, its position is unrivaled, and there's no reason to go that far to bring in more professors."

"Wh-what do you mean…?"

"So, I intend to abolish what has continued in the name of tradition, welfare, and custom. As the Finance Director, it only seems like an outdated practice and deep-rooted evil to me."

"Finance Director…!!"

"The academy is not a place that considers personal gain or circumstances. It is simply a place to educate students, conduct research, and advance knowledge."

This was to normalize the finances, and furthermore, the academy itself.

We've done enough for you professors. Top-level salaries, excellent benefits, a research environment that leaves nothing to be desired, and even taking one research achievement in the name of custom.

The academy has sacrificed and dedicated itself to you.

Now it's your turn to do the same for the academy.