The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 142 - The Academy Visit of Lormane (8)

"Dian, are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

As I was lost in my thoughts of the past, Celine tapped the back of my hand.

"No matter how much I think about it, I still can’t figure it out. Lormane is just too unpredictable."

Even Celine had given up.

"It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. This is ultimately my problem, so I’ll handle it."

The whole situation really was kind of ridiculous if you thought about it.

Here we were, three members of the Hero Party, all sitting together, racking our brains over one person with a clingy obsession.

It’s probably better to just deal with this the same way I always have.

Head-on.

I’ve always been more comfortable using my body than my brain, anyway.

Maybe I should just go straight to the Church and get the first move in.

But both Linus and Celine, not to mention myself, thought that wouldn’t be a good idea.

What would I even say? Ask her to stop being a bother?

Judging by Lormane’s usual behavior, that would be like fanning the flames of a burning house.

Instead, we all agreed it would be better to prepare thoroughly and first figure out exactly what Lormane’s intentions were.

# # # # #

A special emergency meeting was called by Kirrin to discuss the Chief Administrator’s visit.

Though calling it an "emergency meeting" was a bit dramatic—it wasn’t like the situation was dire.

Sure, the Chief Administrator was an important figure, but she didn’t have any direct stakes in the Academy.

Besides, the Empire, despite being a medieval fantasy world, had a solid administrative structure with very clear, well-documented protocols for handling such visits.

All we had to do was find the Chief Administrator’s rank and prepare accordingly.

According to the protocol hierarchy Ismera had secured, the Chief Administrator was on par with a first-class minister.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised.

A first-class minister in the Empire had more authority than a king from a small kingdom.

I knew the Church had a lot of influence due to its widespread following, but I hadn’t realized it was this powerful.

Just ten years ago, Lormane had been a trainee priestess stationed at a backwater temple, and now she’d risen this high.

I still remember that time.

It was a bitterly cold winter day.

When we first met her, Lormane had been outside the temple, her hands swollen and red from scrubbing rags in ice-cold water.

None of us—neither Lormane nor us—could’ve imagined back then that things would turn out this way. It’s really quite impressive.

"According to the official notice we received from the Church, the Chief Administrator’s visit is for a tour and to offer encouragement to the Academy."

Ismera, seated beside Kirrin, was the first to speak.

"Therefore, we need to show her exactly what our Academy is all about."

"Vice-Headmaster, we should schedule as many activities as possible. Let’s show her the students’ practical exercises as well."

I raised my hand to suggest.

"When they say ‘tour and encouragement,’ it’s basically a way of saying, ‘If you’re doing well, we might give you something.’ So we need to take full advantage of this opportunity and squeeze out whatever we can."

Voices of agreement rose from around the room.

If we can’t avoid it, we might as well turn the situation to our benefit.

The Church is filthy rich, and the Chief Administrator sits at the top of the ladder, managing those enormous funds. If Lormane is in a generous mood, we might receive significant support for our Academy.

And to be blunt, someone of her rank—equivalent to a first-class minister—wouldn’t come all this way empty-handed.

The plan is to give her a grand tour, overwhelm her with what we have, feed her some delicious food, and then I’ll deal with whatever follows.

Kirrin, for her part, just needs to act like a proper headmaster, offering polite and dignified remarks.

But Ismera is the problem.

I can’t stop thinking about the image of a blood-soaked Lormane standing over that succubus’s mutilated body, smiling.

The worst part is, the succubus had long, pointed ears like an elf, making it all the more unsettling.

What should I do with her? Maybe I should ask her to step away for a while during Lormane’s visit.

But Ismera would refuse for sure.

As Vice-Headmaster, she’s more passionate about her work now than she was when she was just a professor.

It wouldn’t make any sense to ask her to leave when a VVIP is visiting.

And saying something like "The Chief Administrator might kill you" would sound ridiculous.

After some thought, I called for Genev, Morton, and Lina.

"I’ve got a mission for you. It’s important."

"What’s the mission?"

"During the Chief Administrator’s visit, Genev, you’ll guard Vice-Headmaster Ismera. Morton, you’ll guard Headmaster Kirrin. Lina, you’ll guard student Knightley."

"Is there a special reason?"

"Yes, there is."

"Understood."

As always, the professors accepted my orders without question.

I’ll be next to Ismera and Kirrin during the formal reception, but I can’t predict what might happen during the Academy tour. Something could occur during the movement between locations, so we need to be prepared.

For all we know, Lormane might suddenly lose it and stab one of them in the back.

And I added Knightley to the list because of the patient ledger that Priestess Maya kept.

Whenever I went to the infirmary, the women I had contact with were Kirrin, Ismera, Knightley, and Sophie.

Sophie’s a polymorphed dragon, so I’m not worried about her, but Knightley’s situation feels a bit more uncertain.

Of course, it’s probably just me being paranoid, but better to be over-prepared than caught off guard.

Genev and Lina are former members of the Special Forces, and Morton is from an elite long-range patrol unit, so their skills should be more than enough for this.

Alright, with that settled, we began preparations to welcome the Chief Administrator under Ismera’s leadership.

The first step was deciding what to show her.

Key Academy facilities, training grounds, the commercial district, various convenience facilities, and even the trolls trapped underground were selected for the tour.

We then conducted a massive cleanup along the tour route, including the headmaster’s office, where the actual reception would take place.

"Wow, what in the world…?"

When I entered the headmaster’s office after a long time, I couldn’t help but let out a mix of amazement and dismay.

The mountain of paperwork on the desk hadn’t shrunk at all.

The trash can was overflowing with garbage, mostly leftover food and wrappers.

I’d heard Kirrin often ate at her desk because she was too busy to take proper breaks, but still, this was a bit much.

And then, in the corners, I spotted discarded underwear.

"Gah?!"

I picked up a garter belt and stockings that Kirrin liked to wear, and she let out a bizarre noise as she rushed over to snatch them from my hands.

"Wh-What are you doing?!"

"We need to clean up! What is all this stuff?"

I pointed at the pile of papers on the desk.

"I thought Vice-Headmaster Ismera had already taken care of those?"

"She did. These aren’t related to ongoing tasks."

Ismera answered instead.

"It’s just outdated paperwork that the Academy had stored. Kirrin took it out to review, and then it just piled up like this."

"Headmaster, we need to clean this up!"

"I-I know…."

Kirrin hesitated, mumbling.

"I just felt bad asking someone to put it all back…."

"Then why don’t you do it yourself? Anyway, get all that sent to the archives, and we’ll overhaul this place."

"No! Wait!"

As I was about to call in the administrative staff, Kirrin let out a scream and lunged forward.

Moving with incredible speed, Kirrin darted around the room, collecting her highly personal items scattered here and there.

Like the still-warm stockings I’d just picked up.

Compared to Ismera’s pristine Vice-Headmaster’s office, the Headmaster’s office was nothing short of a pigsty.

"Ooh."

The administrative staff, watching Kirrin’s agile movements for the first time, applauded in awe.

"Alright, let’s get started."

At my signal, the staff, armed with cleaning supplies, surged into the office.

"Ugh…."

As the staff bustled around, Kirrin stood in the middle, wringing her hands and looking around nervously.

"What are you doing? Leave this to them and go check on the other areas."

"R-Right, of course…."

As Kirrin and I were heading out, something odd caught my eye.

One of the staff members had emptied Kirrin’s desk drawer, and something very familiar fell out.

I looked closer—it looked just like my shirt. Why was it here?

Just as I was about to approach, Kirrin suddenly darted over like a flash of lightning, grabbed it, and stuffed it under her shirt before I could react.

Now I couldn’t take it even if I wanted to.

"What are you hiding?"

"M-My shirt…."

"Really?"

"Really!"

Maybe I just saw wrong. It was just a plain white shirt, after all, and all the professors wore similar ones.

"H-Heheh… let’s go, hurry up…."

Kirrin giggled nervously, trembling like a goat as she hurriedly pushed Ismera and me out the door.

# # # # #

All preparations for the Chief Administrator’s reception were complete.

The main gate was thrown wide open, and Kirrin, along with the entire faculty, stood ready to welcome her.

Behind Kirrin, Ismera stood with Genev and Morton at her side.

"Ugh, I’m so nervous I could die…."

Kirrin kept shifting her weight and fidgeting anxiously.

"As the Headmaster, you should compose yourself. Stand still."

Despite Ismera’s stern scolding, Kirrin kept glancing nervously toward the road leading to the Academy.

"I’m way more nervous than when we met Duke Toulouse…."

"Of course you are. The Chief Administrator outranks any Duke."

At my words, Kirrin’s face grew even more grim.

"Dian, you said the Chief Administrator is your friend, right? Is there anything I should be aware of? Something I should watch out for?"

"There’s nothing special, just don’t act too familiar with me."

"Huh?"

"They’re coming!"

Kirrin was about to ask more when Waver, who had sharp eyes, shouted out.

Off in the distance, a carriage was heading toward us.

"Is that really the Church’s carriage?!"

"The crest on the carriage is the Church’s."

At Waver’s confirmation, Kirrin clenched her hands together tightly and muttered.

"Don’t mess this up, don’t mess this up…."

The Church’s carriage pulled into the Academy.

First to step out was Priestess Maya.

Then, following her, Lormane descended.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]