Chapter 60: The branch conspiracy failed! Just let it go?
Arthur, carrying Kurogane Ouma like a broken doll in one hand, slowly strolled back to the vicinity of the coffee shop.
The lingering smell of gunpowder and blood in the air had not yet dissipated, and the battles of the others had already concluded.
Stella's power after awakening her Dragon Concept completely exceeded the cognitive scope of a student.
Coupled with Kurogane Ikki, who mastered Ittoshura and Magic Conduction, and Toudou Touka, whose strength was already considerable, among others.
The other academy students seemed aggressive, but under the absolute disparity in strength, they were merely struggling in vain.
They arrogantly came to Hagun Academy to challenge, but ended up all bruised and battered, collapsing in disarray.
The smoke of battle had not fully cleared from the academy when Shinguuji Kurono, held back by the old foxes on the committee, arrived late, fuming with anger.
On her way back, she had already roughly understood the beginning and end of the incident through her mobile terminal.
Now, witnessing Hagun Academy turned into a ruin and the teachers and students groaning and covered in injuries, Shinguuji Kurono's face was so dark it looked like it could wring out water.
She quickly gave instructions, first arranging for people to take away all the uninvited guests for strict supervision, and simultaneously organizing forces to rescue the injured teachers and students.
After dealing with the urgent matters, her sharp gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Arthur and Saikyō Nene, and she said in a deep voice.
"You two, come with me."
Inside the Chairwoman's office, the atmosphere was stiflingly oppressive.
Since sitting down, Shinguuji Kurono had been chain-smoking, and amidst the swirling smoke, her tightly furrowed brows showed extreme indignation and hesitation.
Saikyō Nene, on the other hand, seemed more at ease, her legs casually propped on the polished coffee table, gently fanning herself with an iron fan.
She intently studied the exquisite patterns on the fan's surface, as if they were not ordinary designs but runes that could unlock the mysteries of the universe.
Arthur had no interest in this tense atmosphere and was too lazy to play their childish 'whoever speaks first is a puppy' game, so he was the first to break the silence in the office.
"The O洲 Branch will likely soon receive news of Kurogane Ouma and their failed challenge."
"Instead of wasting time here, it's better to quickly discuss countermeasures."
Shinguuji Kurono fiercely crushed the burnt-out cigarette butt in the ashtray, forced a smile uglier than a cry, and reminded them unpleasantly.
"Arthur, what do you mean by that? What does this matter have to do with the O洲 Branch?"
"Cough cough ~"
Saikyō Nene timely put away her iron fan, lightly covered her mouth and nose, her narrow, peach-blossom eyes gleaming with a faint light, and her voice carried a hint of laziness.
"Little Kuro is right, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say anything."
So, was Arthur talking nonsense?
The facts proved otherwise.
Nagi Arisuin, now a prisoner, did not need to be tortured at all to spill the beans on the Rebel Army's upcoming plan, revealing everything.
He held nothing back.
The O洲 Branch, an organization nominally overseeing seven Magic Knight academies, appeared to be infinitely glorious on the surface.
However, the actual control of these educational institutions was firmly in the hands of the International Alliance.
The O洲 Branch had only the title of supervision, without actual control, and was explicitly prohibited from privately training Blazers.
In a world where an A-rank Blazer could easily sway the outcome of a war, not having its own armed forces was undoubtedly a huge hidden danger.
Thus, the O洲 Branch and the Rebel Army hit it off, secretly reaching a dirty agreement.
They planned to infiltrate the elite of the Rebel Army and local Japan talents into the seven Magic Knight academies, with the goal of securing the main representative qualifications for the Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
Once successful, they would order these representatives to act at the appropriate time, completely defeating the representative teams of the seven Alliance academies!
Then they would publicly announce their withdrawal and establish a brand new institution fully controlled by the O洲 Branch.
In this way, this new institution, which rose on the corpses of the seven major academies, would surely become famous.
It would not only severely damage the legitimacy and prestige of the International Alliance but also easily incite the emotions of the uninformed public, gaining widespread support.
Look!
The geniuses cultivated by our own country easily defeated the so-called elites under the International Alliance!
What right do they still have to monopolize the authority to cultivate and manage our country's talents?
'What a foolish provocative plan, but it does align with the usual intellectual level of those guys on the committee.'
Thinking of this, Arthur's lips curved into an undisguised sneer, his tone flat, yet every word was cutting.
"So, you plan to admit defeat?"
"How dare you speak like that!"
Shinguuji Kurono slammed her hand on the desk, her face full of indignation.
"Kid, I am the Chairwoman of Hagun Academy!"
Saikyō Nene nodded repeatedly from the side, echoing.
"That's right, that's right, she's the Chairwoman of Hagun Academy!"
Shinguuji Kurono: Σ(°△°|||)
She incredulously glanced at her 'plastic sister' who only fanned the flames at this critical moment, a surge of frustration almost choking her.
Finally, she slumped back onto her office chair in defeat, simply giving up!
"Then you, kid, tell me, what should we do?"
"Are you suggesting I file a complaint with the International Alliance headquarters?"
"Reporting that the O洲 Branch and the Rebel Army secretly colluded, intending to provoke a Third World War?"
Arthur calmly shook his head, his eyes filled with disgust for such political infighting and schemes.
"Even Nagi Arisuin was admitted to Hagun through legitimate means."
"The identities and backgrounds of those representatives have probably already been made flawless, with no problems to be found."
"So, as long as the O洲 Branch doesn't voluntarily step forward to admit to this incident, it will ultimately be classified as a large-scale inter-academy brawl caused by management oversight."
Shinguuji Kurono and Saikyō Nene certainly understood this principle.
It was precisely because of this that they felt so aggrieved by the current miserable state of Hagun Academy.
Yet, they had to suppress their anger and choose to temporarily endure, awaiting the other party's next move.
Arthur took in the gloomy and suppressed expressions on their faces, couldn't help but chuckle softly, and offered words of comfort.
"Why are you all so grim-faced?"
"If you think about it carefully, hasn't their flawed plan already been declared bankrupt in advance?"
"The O洲 Branch's original scheme was to rise gloriously by stepping on the faces of the seven Alliance academies, but what happened?"
"They died before they could even launch their campaign, and instead, they suffered a major setback here at our Hagun."
He walked to the window and pointed to the dilapidated campus outside, where the smoke had not yet cleared.
"It's true that Hagun Academy's buildings are severely damaged, but their current situation will only be more awkward and passive than ours."
"I guess it won't be long before someone from the committee actively contacts you."
Beep—!
As if to confirm Arthur's words, the mobile terminal on the office desk immediately rang with an urgent notification sound.
Shinguuji Kurono reluctantly ground her back teeth, took two deep breaths, forcefully suppressed her anger, grabbed the communicator, and answered.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Oh, really? And then?"
"Heh heh."
"Mm, okay, I understand."
The conversation was brief and tense.
After Shinguuji Kurono hung up the phone, Saikyō Nene and Arthur's gazes simultaneously turned to her, awaiting further explanation.
At this moment, her pretty face was still covered in frost.
"A 'condolence' call from the committee."
Shinguuji Kurono's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth, word by word.
"They stated that they would urge the other six academies to fully compensate Hagun for all losses incurred in this incident."
"But the condition is that we immediately release the captured main representatives of the other six academies."
Arthur raised an eyebrow and pressed, "That's it? Nothing else?"
Shinguuji Kurono gritted her teeth, almost squeezing out two words.
"That's it!"
"Those bastards, in their every word, were trying to intimidate me, implying that if I dared to blow things up, I could forget about continuing to work in this Japan region!"
Hearing these familiar threats, Arthur chuckled wryly.
"This really is the consistent style of those idiots from the O洲 Branch, utterly unoriginal."
He slowly stood up and leisurely walked towards the office door.
"Well, since they are willing to let the matter rest, this attack incident ends here."
"Next, let's first consider how to rebuild the academy."
Shinguuji Kurono nodded heavily, gaining a whole new understanding of the shamelessness of Akaza and his group.
"Oh, right, Chairwoman."
Arthur, who was about to reach the door, suddenly stopped, turned around, and still wore his harmless, relaxed, and signature smile.
The moment Shinguuji Kurono saw Arthur's expression now, goosebumps uncontrollably rose all over her body.
She subconsciously rubbed her arms, her eyes filled with wariness and unease.
"…What new trick are you plotting, kid?"
"Let me make it clear to you first! The issue of your identity can be big or small; if it gets too big before the Seven Star Sword Art Festival begins, I'm worried it will be hard to control the situation then!"
Arthur spread his hands, feigning innocence, his eyes gentle and humble, like a pure and kind noble young master.
"Chairwoman, look at what you're saying, I haven't even brought anything up yet."
Saikyō Nene tilted her head, interjecting with interest.
"Oh? Then what exactly do you plan to do?"
Arthur's lips curved into a meaningful arc, his smile still relaxed, yet it sent an inexplicable chill down Shinguuji Kurono's spine.
"It's nothing major, I just want to ask the Chairwoman to release Arisouin. I have a temporary matter and need to borrow him for a bit."