Chapter 26: You Can Cry, Grandpa Abel...

“S-So, Abel, what did you find out from your research?” asked Mia after regaining her composure.

“Oh, right. Here, I figured it’d be easier if I wrote everything down,” said Abel as he produced two pieces of paper and laid them on the desk. “This one lists everything Miss Rafina has done since becoming president, and this one...”

He paused for a second, scratching his head bashfully before continuing.

“This one’s, uh... just some ideas for campaign pledges. Maybe they’ll help you somehow. Or maybe not. I mean, I can’t really see myself coming up with anything good, to be honest, but...”

“Why can’t you? I certainly can. Besides, it was so nice of you just to do this!” she said, tenderly gathering Abel’s pages in her hands.

“Uh, go ahead and start with Miss Rafina’s page. You don’t really have to bother with my ideas. They’re a little embarrassing, now that I think about— Hm?”

Abel’s eyes, which had been wandering from self-consciousness, stopped on the papyrus sitting on the desk. Curious, he picked it up and read through it. Then he looked at Mia, looked back at the papyrus, nodded to himself in comprehension, and turned to Bel.

“Bel, were you helping Mia with this?”

“Yes! It’s a great honor to be able to help someone as esteemed as my grand— I mean, Miss Mia, so I’m trying hard to do a good job!” she answered energetically.

Abel gave her head a gentle pat.

Huh?! How come she gets a pat on the head? That’s not fair!

Mia promptly became jealous of her own granddaughter. So much for the esteemed ‘Miss Mia.’

And why are you even talking to Bel in the first place? I came up with those pledges! That’s my list!

Her arms crossed, she stared at them in a huff until she decided to give Abel’s research notes a read, at which point her indignation turned into horror.

“Wh-What are these... Bold reparations to aging school facilities... Abolish needless school events and plan new ones...?”

Written on the page were... things. Shocking things. Her discombobulated mind couldn’t quite make out their meaning, but she knew that they were on a different level than the ideas she’d come up with. She read through them a few more times, growing steadily more anxious as she began to comprehend what she was seeing. The work described on the page painted a picture of a president who had been attentive to the needs of the student body, heeded their demands, and had the foresight to do meaningful work that would continue to benefit the academy decades into the future. Through an accurate understanding of the academy’s condition, Rafina had devised solutions that were not only effective but simple enough for even Mia to understand...

A-Are you telling me I have to come up with ideas like these?!

Project MSC — More Sweets in the Cafeteria — was, in comparison, literal child’s play.

S-So that’s why he thought Bel was the one who came up with those ideas. I see... Also, is it just me or do Rafina’s campaign pledges sound sort of... Ludwig-y? I can almost hear him saying stuff like this...

Mia had no idea how skilled Rafina was at politics, but if her administrative abilities came even close to matching Ludwig’s, then this fight was already over.

Wh-What should I do? Nothing’s coming to mind!

She wanted to hold her head and curl up into a ball, but before she could, another person entered the library.

“Ah, Mia. There you are.”

“My... Sion?”

Sion held up his hand at them, the faint sheen on his forehead suggesting he’d run there. As he walked over, he gave Bel a curious look.

“Hm? You... Ah, I see. You must be the young lady I heard about from Miss Rafina. A relative of Mia’s, I believe?”

“Yes! Nice to meet you. My name is Miabel, but please call me Bel.”

“Well, you have lovely manners, young lady. I’m Sion Sol Sunkland.”

Bel was visibly taken aback by his self-introduction.

“Th-The Libra King Sion... Wow! The real thing...”

“Libra... King?”

He gave her a quizzical look before glancing at the pages on the desk.

“Are these Miss Rafina’s accomplishments while in office?”

“Yeah, pretty impressive list, isn’t it?” said Abel with a helpless shrug. “She’s not leaving us a whole lot of openings.”

“I didn’t think she would,” said Sion as he skimmed through the other pages. “Oh? And what’s this?”

“Ah!” Mia exclaimed with a start. “That’s—”

Sion picked up the list of her campaign ideas before she could stop him. After reading it, he looked not in Mia’s direction but, again, toward Bel, who stood there with an expression of innocent puzzlement.

“Were you helping Mia out with this?”

“Yes! I respect grand— I mean Miss Mia a lot, so I’m trying my best to help her.”

“Ah. Good girl.”

Sion patted Bel on the head with a gentle smile.

“Ehehe...”

She giggled with delight. It was the same exchange as before, but she seemed to enjoy it far more, savoring the moment with a big grin on her face. As it turns out, head pats were not made equal; getting one from a handsome celebrity like the Libra King meant a lot more to her than one from her own grandfather.

You can cry, Grandpa Abel. We feel your pain.

Well... She’s quite the fangirl, isn’t she? And one with terrible taste at that. But then again, she did cover for me with the campaign pledges...

Mia chewed on her lip, unsure whether she should feel glad or upset with the situation. Her pondering was interrupted by Sion, who asked, “But what about yours, Mia? Where are your campaign pledge ideas?”

What she really wanted to say was “You’re holding them, damn it, so shut up and leave me alone!” But seeing as that wasn’t realistic, she chose a moment’s silence to consider her options. A few seconds later, she had a flash of inspiration.

“My, Sion. If you’re so concerned, would you like to help me with them?”

Her plan: implicate Sion. That way, if something in her campaign ended up angering Rafina, she could claim that Sion had helped her come up with it and thereby lessen her own blame. Moreover, while no Ludwig, he was no slouch in the intellectual department; his smarts could definitely be put to good use. When push came to shove, Mia was willing to use every trick in the book, no matter how distasteful it might be.

“I’d love to, but alas, I’ve decided to maintain my position as a neutral party this time.”

...And her plan fell apart immediately. His infuriatingly oblivious smile drew from her a bitter tsk.

You little... Fine, you got away this time. It was such a good plan, too...

While she grumbled under her breath, Sion shrugged.

“Nothing personal, but consider how it would look to others if I helped you. Surely you do not wish to paint this election as Sunkland and Tearmoon joining forces to overthrow Belluga.”

“Then what did you come here to do?” she asked, her voice tinged with an edge of if you’re not going to help, then go away!

“Ah, yes. I almost forgot.” His expression sobered, and he shot Bel a cautious glance. “It’s about the Serpents. Is she good?”

By Serpents, he of course meant the Chaos Serpents, a secret society plotting evil deeds, whose villainous members wore the camouflage of mundanity and blended into the faceless masses. So long as their identities remained unclear, it was difficult to tell who could be trusted, and discussion should be restricted to a limited set of ears.

Mia nodded.

“Bel’s one of us. You can trust her.”

If anything, she’d rather give Bel as much information as possible.

The Chaos Serpents are almost certainly behind the empire’s future troubles, after all...

“Fair enough. Then we can talk about it right now. First, let me make clear that what I’m about to tell you is not definite information, so take it with a grain of salt... but it seems like the Chaos Serpents have agents in Tearmoon.”

“Ah. I thought so.”

Considering the Serpents blended into society, making it impossible to tell who they were, it made sense that they’d be in Tearmoon as well. She’d expected to hear as much.

“And not just anywhere in Tearmoon. They’re among the central nobility. Specifically, it seems like one of the Four Dukes is connected with them.”

“Th-The Four Dukes?!”

That, she hadn’t expected to hear.