Chapter 44: Student Council Advisor
Every pair of eyes in the room followed Seris’s gaze. They landed on Alden.
He blinked.
"...Me?"
On the outside, he looked mildly surprised. On the inside? ’What is she planning now?’
"During the journey to the southern range, most of the decisions that actually moved us forward were based on Alden’s observations." She looked at the other council members without rushing it. "Even when the rest of us didn’t know the next step, he found it." Her eyes came back to Alden. "I think he’s already shown the judgment and composure the position needs."
The room went quiet.
Darius nodded slowly. "I have to agree with Vice-President Seris."
He looked at Alden directly.
"Would you be interested in joining the Student Council as its Advisor?"
Alden glanced around the table.
Nathan looked like he’d bitten into something with a bad taste.
Seris was wearing the faint smile.
Augustus appeared to be three-quarters asleep.
Nicholas and Roselle were simply waiting.
Alden shrugged.
"I wouldn’t say council meetings were ever a dream of mine." A small grin. "But I guess it wouldn’t hurt."
Augustus snorted quietly. "Most enthusiastic acceptance I’ve ever heard."
"Then it’s settled." Darius straightened. "As Headmaster of Astral Academy, I, Darius Thorne, hereby appoint Alden as the Student Council Advi—"
"Objection, Headmaster!"
The room turned.
Darius stopped mid-sentence and looked at him. "Yes, Nathan?"
Nathan stood from his chair. "Even if the Headmaster wants to appoint someone, the current council members have the right to object. Don’t they?"
Darius studied him for a moment. "Yes."
"And an objection only holds if it gets the required majority."
"That’s right."
"Then shouldn’t we confirm whether the council actually agrees before making the appointment official?"
The room had gone noticeably quieter. Alden leaned back in his chair.
’Of course. Here we go.’
Darius exhaled softly. "Very well." He looked around the table. "I’ll ask once. Is there anyone who opposes Alden’s appointment as Student Council Advisor? Starting with Nathan."
Nathan raised his hand.
"I object."
"Nicholas." Darius turned.
Nicholas’s hand was flat on the desk. He didn’t move it. His eyes were somewhere in the middle distance, caught between two different things pulling in opposite directions.
Nathan leaned slightly toward him.
"What are you doing?" His voice came out low. "You know what kind of person he is. You saw what happened in the last council meeting."
Nicholas stayed quiet.
He was thinking about the council room. Alden’s tone, the things said, the moment with Daniel.
But he was also thinking about the southern range. Fighting beside him. Watching him track Vincent through a mountain cave.
’Maybe I’ve been judging him too fast.’
His fingers shifted off the desk.
Nathan’s eyes sharpened. "That’s right. Raise it."
Nicholas’s hand began to lift.
Roselle reached over and pushed it back down.
Nicholas blinked.
Nathan’s expression darkened immediately. "What are you doing, Roselle?"
She looked at him steadily. "You’re pressuring him."
"I’m reminding him—"
"You were whispering in his ear while he was in the middle of deciding." She kept her voice even. "If you want to object, object yourself. Don’t make his decision for him." She let go of Nicholas’s hand.
Nathan pressed his lips together.
Nicholas looked at Roselle for a moment. Then gave a small nod.
"I don’t have any objection with that, Headmaster."
Alden’s eyes had gone slightly wider.
’Wait. He’s actually okay with this?’ He looked between the two of them. ’Why are they suddenly—’
Darius moved on. "Roselle, any objections?"
Roselle sat straight. "No objections, Headmaster. I’m fine with Alden joining the council."
Alden stared at her.
’...What happened to those two?’
Nathan’s eyes had moved to the only person left.
Augustus.
’He’s my last chance.’
Darius followed the look. "Augustus?"
Augustus had been sitting with his eyes most of the way closed, chin in one hand.
"Do we really need to go through this?" He yawned. "I have no reason to object to whoever becomes the Advisor." He settled further into the chair. "If that’s everything, can we actually end this meeting? I’d like to go back to doing nothing."
Nathan’s face went completely still. His last hope had declined to even open both eyes.
Darius smiled. "Then it’s settled."
He turned to Alden.
"I, Darius Thorne, Headmaster of Astral Academy, hereby officially appoint Alden as Student Council Advisor."
Alden stood. Placed one hand against his chest and gave a short nod.
"I’ll do my best."
Darius nodded back.
"Good."
The meeting was dismissed.
___________
The Headmaster’s office was quiet after everyone else had left.
Darius, Claire, and Alden.
Darius touched the corner of his eye.
"Thank you so much, Alden." His voice wavered with great theatrical feeling. "I genuinely thought I was going to have to punish my own granddaughter. I’m so thankful to you, I don’t even know how I can ever repay you."
Alden looked at him flatly. "Stop with the fake crying, Gramps."
Darius dropped it immediately.
Alden shook his head.
"Besides. I was just returning what you did for me when we first met. That’s all."
Claire, standing off to the side, had been quiet. She looked at Alden.
"I heard what you did before I woke up." She kept her voice steady but something in it was softer than usual. "And what you did after."
Her expression shifted.
"I think I underestimated you, but to think you did that much to me."
Alden raised an eyebrow. "What were you thinking about me?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, a small grin working at the edge of his mouth. "That I was some hopeless background character with no idea what he was doing?"
Claire shook her head quickly. "That’s not— No. Not exactly."
She looked away. A faint color reached her cheeks that she didn’t seem happy about.
"Anyway." She looked back. "Thank you, Alden." She gave a small, genuine smile.
Alden looked at her for a second.
"...You’re welcome."
He didn’t make it into more than it was.
___________
By the next morning, the academy had started breathing normally again.
Corridors restored. Classes back on the schedule. Students talking in the hallways, some of the first years waving to Alden, greeting him.
Alden walked through it with his hands in his pockets.
Darius’s last words from the meeting had been sitting at the back of his head since last night.
’The final exams will begin in a few days.’ He checked his status panel without thinking about it.
Level twenty. Combat Power seventy-three.
He wasn’t worried about the exams.
He thought about the Dragon Blueprint. The Spider at sixty-eight. Wolf at ninety.
He thought about the third Act. Soul Forge. What he could build with what he had. What he could build with what he didn’t have yet.
He thought about the two Supreme Concepts sitting locked at ninety and one hundred percent in the Dragon Blueprint, and what they were, and how long it would take to find out.
A grin spread across his face without him directing it.
’Exam’s could wait, Soul forge can’t!’ His steps didn’t slow.
’I want stronger beasts. More souls. More Blueprints. Another Soul Forge session with better materials.’ His eyes sharpened.
’And I’ve got a third Act I haven’t fully explored yet.’ He looked at the academy gate ahead.
’I’m going hunting.’ He walked forward.