The World After the Bad Ending

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As I told Card, I have something to take care of.

It’s regarding the Student Council.

Before I knew it, I passed through the Martial Arts corridor and arrived at the central bridge.

Then, I headed straight towards the main building.

‘I won’t be late.’

The main building was where the professors and the Student Council gathered.

As I stepped inside, I looked around.

Since it was lunchtime, the main building seemed quite empty.

The professors must be having their meals.

‘Where is the Student Council room?’

This way.

With a clear direction, I moved down the corridor and soon spotted the Student Council room.

Knock knock—

I knocked twice.

“Come in.”

Hearing the voice from inside, I pushed the door open.

The first thing that caught my eye was a pair of bright green eyes.

She was the Disaster Dragon Maiden.

Nikita Cynthia.

As always, she was radiating her elegant appearance today.

“Junior?”

Perhaps she didn’t expect me to find the Student Council room so quickly.

Nikita blinked, her eyes wide.

In front of her were documents and pens scattered around.

Seeing her handling Student Council matters even during lunch made me realize once again what a hard worker she was.

Nikita tilted her head.

“Junior, we haven’t picked any additional members for the Student Council yet. Aren’t you a bit early?”

“Wherever you’re working, Senior Nikita, I must be there.”

I said the flattery nonchalantly.

Perhaps it was because I had complimented her too much the day before.

She swallowed her embarrassment and cleared her throat.

“Junior, while I appreciate the sentiment, there are many things that shouldn’t be seen until you’re officially selected for the Student Council.”

That made sense.

Given how many noble students there were, the position of student representative was more powerful than one might imagine.

There were indeed many important matters resolved on the razor-thin line of the Student Council.

“Oh, it’s alright. I didn’t come here to help with the Student Council work today.”

“Then?”

“I wanted to propose something to the Student Council.”

Nikita tilted her head again.

“There’s been a recent incident in the Spirit Great Forest, where trees have turned as hard as iron, right?”

“That’s correct. The Spirit Mages are in quite an uproar about it.”

The trees in the Spirit Great Forest were precious, imbued with spirits.

When such trees suddenly became iron, the spirits fleeing from them meant significant losses for the Spirit Mages.

This was already a well-known story among the students, so it wasn’t surprising that I knew about it.

“I’ll take care of it. Can you grant me permission to visit the Spirit Great Forest?”

“You, Junior?”

To enter the Spirit Great Forest without authorization from a Spirit Mage would lead to punishment.

However, the Student Council could enter for the purposes of verifying the issue.

Still, Nikita seemed puzzled by this point.

“Well, it’d be nice if you could resolve it, but…”

She questioned whether I needed to personally step in to fix this.

“I have personal reasons. I’m also preparing for a mock battle.”

“Are you planning to contract with a spirit or something?”

“That’s somewhat the idea.”

Nikita tapped her pen against the desk.

The problem that had arisen in the Spirit Great Forest was troubling her too.

The biggest reason was the absence of a professor of Spirit Studies from Special Studies.

The professor who originally managed the forest had been injured during an incident while assisting with a student’s advanced spirit contract when a spirit rampaged.

As a result, the professor was currently recuperating.

So, there was no one to appropriately resolve the matter.

Although a first-year professor of Spirit Studies was doing their best to handle it, seeing that the problem remained unresolved indicated it wasn’t going well.

The Spirit Great Forest was also a headache for the Student Council.

While resolving this was undoubtedly a helpful thing, Nikita didn’t know much about me.

There would surely be some unease.

“As for that…”

“Oh, just to clarify, I’m not suspicious of you, Junior.”

Nikita corrected my thoughts.

“Since you’ve offered to take on the Student Council work, it would be too harsh to interpret that with bad intentions.”

With that, she smiled gently, encouraging me.

What a mystery—was she an angel?

The wounds from the disdainful glares I had received earlier today melted away at that moment.

“…Would it be alright if I expressed my admiration for you, Senior Nikita, right now?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Nikita quickly covered my mouth.

What a pity.

I wanted to scold her with compliments.

Nikita covered her forehead peeking out from her disheveled hair with a dazed expression.

“What worries me is the safety issue. The Spirit Great Forest dislikes outsiders. You may be in danger.”

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

I didn’t outright contradict her.

Spirits typically detest humans with weak spirit sensitivity.

The character I reincarnated as, Bickamon, doesn’t get along well with spirits, to put it mildly.

Let alone that spirits would particularly despise mages who violate the laws of nature.

Though Bickamon was also affiliated with Magic Arts.

The magic fluctuations coursing through my body would certainly be recognized by the sensitive spirits.

“Then how about this?”

Nikita proposed a new idea.

“There’s a Spirit Mage among the members of the Student Council. I can introduce you to them so you can go together and resolve this.”

Now that sounded like the support of the Student Council.

For me, it was a highly welcome proposition.

“Thank you, Senior.”

I bowed my head deeply.

Nikita smiled and waved her hand.

“I should be the one to thank you for your help.”

Though she appeared dignified outwardly, perhaps due to the compliments I showered her with yesterday, she was surprisingly often smiling.

Truly, people look best when they smile.

“Oh, speaking of which, I still haven’t had lunch.”

I rummaged through the bag slung over my shoulder and pulled out the sandwich I had brought.

“Shall we have lunch together? I brought plenty, so there should be enough for both of us.”

Nikita’s gaze fell on the sandwich.

Given that she hadn’t gone to the cafeteria in a rush to handle urgent matters, it seemed she hadn’t eaten yet.

She often had late lunches or skipped them entirely when in a hurry.

Seeing how there was nothing in the Student Council room today indicated she was likely thinking of skipping another meal.

Meanwhile, the president and other members of the Student Council urged her to eat.

She stared at the sandwich in my hand for a moment, then switched her gaze back to her pen.

“If you’re in a hurry, it’s fine. The sandwich won’t get cold.”

Upon hearing my words, she set down her pen and stood up.

Looks like my plea managed to get through to her.

“Shall we share a carriage? How about that?”

“Sounds perfect.”

It was a rare treat to ride in the vice president’s carriage.

I better savor this.

Thus, I had lunch with Nikita.

And midway, I simply complimented her.

Nikita blushed, but I did it just because I wanted to.

＊ ＊ ＊

In the north, the mountain range of the Great Dragon.

I arrived in front of the entrance to the Spirit Great Forest and checked the time.

‘According to Nikita, this should be the right time.’

The incident of the trees in the Spirit Great Forest turning into hard iron.

To resolve this, Nikita had assigned a Spirit Mage from the Student Council to accompany me.

Now that I thought about it.

‘Was there a Spirit Mage in the Student Council?’

I had repeated the events several times and was well aware of the Student Council’s situation.

Thus, the existence of a Spirit Mage in the Student Council puzzled me.

‘Well, considering the major shift in circumstances…’

With the most important protagonist, Lucas, deceased.

Nothing happening would be surprising.

Preparing for it was entirely my responsibility.

Tada! Tada!

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed in my ears.

It seemed the Student Council member Nikita sent was arriving.

Just as I raised my head to see who it was.

What came into my view was a boy with short brown hair and huge glasses.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I’m late!”

Not as small as me, but a rather petite boy.

As soon as he saw me, he bowed deeply.

I looked at the name tag imprinted on his chest.

A yellow name tag.

He was a first-year.

My name tag was blue for the second year.

A third-year’s name tag would be red.

‘I didn’t expect this kid to be from the Student Council.’

My subtle gaze shifted back to the boy.

That made sense since I knew all about him.

In the second year, during the second semester.

The student council boycotting incident that began in Act 4, Scene 1.

A series of events resulting from Nikita becoming the Disaster Dragon Maiden in Act 3.

Nikita, using the power of the Great Dragon, caused a commotion and ultimately died by the hand of the protagonist, Lucas.

Following the death of Nikita, vice president, the entire Student Council was shaken.

During this process, students dissatisfied with the Student Council’s power engaged in mass boycotts.

‘The truth is that it was a scheme by the ultimate villain, the 3rd Princess Iris Haishirion, to monopolize the Student Council.’

In the third year, in order to completely seize control of the Student Council, Iris secretly incited the students.

Unbeknownst to them, students believed that Nikita had sullied the name of the Student Council and thus boycotted.

Among the key figures behind that boycott was the first-year representative of Spirit Mages, Poara Silin.

The simple boy standing right in front of me.

‘This kid is part of the Student Council?’

Of course, in all the remains of the countless loops I’ve experienced, Poara had never belonged to the Student Council.

Eventually, when the protesting students escalated the situation significantly.

When they occupied the Student Council room and staged a show of force.

Lucas intervened, and when he broke Poara’s glasses, he uttered:

“A Student Council that disregards students’ voices should disappear! I’ll erase it from this world!”

The hateful dialogue he spat remains vivid in my memory.

He hated the Student Council back then.

“Uh, w-why are you looking at me like that, senior?”

Perhaps I had been staring too intensely.

Poara shrank back.

Though I had just transferred here, I was still a senior in Poara’s eyes.

This kind of gaze must have made him uncomfortable.

“Just thought your glasses looked a bit off.”

“Oh, you must have rushed over!”

Poara quickly adjusted his glasses.

Even at a second glance, he still had that clueless vibe rolling off him.

“Poara Silin, right?”

“Yes! That’s correct, senior!”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Hanon Irey. I’m assigned to investigate the Spirit Great Forest this time.”

“Nice to meet you!”

Poara said with enthusiasm.

Instead of darkness from memories, his face radiated brightness.

That made me feel even more out of place.

“Poara, don’t you despise the Student Council, or have any grievances with it?”

“What? N-No! I’ve actually admired the Jerion Academy Student Council for a long time!”

Poara responded, looking utterly surprised.

“I’m just a temporary member now, but being part of the Student Council brings me unimaginable joy!”

“Temporary member, you say?”

“Oh, I became a temporary member because there was a vacancy due to the previous incident. Even though I’m a first-year, I managed to join. Hehe.”

The previous incident.

That must definitely refer to Lucas’ incident.

‘One of Lucas’ party members was part of the Student Council.’

Lucas’ party was wiped out.

As a result, a member who had been nurtured within the Student Council since the first year was lost.

With seniors graduating, it was awkward that a student they had carefully nurtured couldn’t return.

That must have been a dilemma for the Student Council.

They hurriedly and hastily chose someone among the newly arrived first-years to fill the temporary vacancy.

‘Now I understand why they welcomed me warmly when I mentioned the Student Council.’

The Student Council was also struggling with labor shortages.

And just at this moment, Poara was selected as an additional member.

‘Could it be that Poara’s dark transformation—even to the point of boycotting—was due to not being able to become who he wished?’

Had he been unable to attain what he adored most, it’s only natural for resentment to fester and turn to hatred.

Poara must have initially liked the Student Council.

However, when the vice president became the Disaster Dragon Maiden and tarnished the Student Council’s name.

Eventually, his feelings of affection transformed entirely into hatred.

‘What a dilemma.’

As mentioned before, Poara was one of the key figures in the Student Council boycott.

If he was now part of that Student Council, then naturally the strength of the boycott would wane.

In other words, if Poara wasn’t around, the situation would go awry.

‘Given Lucas’ death, the whole narrative became skewed from the beginning.’

This world is a post-bad ending scenario.

It’s naturally twisted beyond recognition.

The protagonist’s death has a significant impact on the world.

However, the boycott incident was crucial to the narrative.

The Fire Butterfly arc is a well-crafted game.

If the incident itself doesn’t occur, the storyline falls apart in an instant.

And the result would be the world’s demise.

If I can’t stop the evil existence in the final ending, the world will meet its doom.

I refuse to die along with the world.

That’s why I’m determined to keep the story from descending into chaos, regardless of Lucas’ vacancy.

Even if I have to patch things up, the flow of the plot must adhere to the main narrative.

‘In the future, I’ll have to find a way to make the Student Council unlikable.’

If all else fails, I might even consider ways to get expelled from the council.

“Right, I’ll be joining the Student Council soon, so please take good care of me.”

“Sure!”

Poara responded energetically.

I hope he gives me such a vibrant response even when I’m eventually expelled from the Student Council later on.