The essence of separation of powers and checks and balances is to create or transfer contradictions, shifting the contradictions toward the leader onto colleagues.
This tactic is quite common in the workplace.
‘But it shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be that the President used this on me? According to my own speculation, even if the President doesn’t treat me as a daughter, she values me quite a bit, right?’
Even if I don’t know what the original me was usually like, there is one thing I can vaguely sense—
The original Buzhihuo Huaye almost regarded that President as a god.
‘Because even when I see this document that, in a political sense, almost writes the backstab directly, aside from shock, my heart is filled with confusion and self-blame.’
Yes, my heart is blaming itself, blaming itself for not being able to share the burden of the superperson!
And in the next moment, my heart secretly feels that whatever the superperson does is right, so that advisor must have some outstanding qualities to be appreciated by the superperson—
Buzhihuo Huaye even envies her theoretical enemy!
‘Unbelievable!’
I know that Buzhihuo Huaye is merging with me, but Buzhihuo Huaye, are you too worshipful of that President?
‘As a politician who supposedly holds a key law enforcement power in the executive branch, was the former Buzhihuo Huaye really qualified?’
In my past life, though I was just a corporate drone, I had seen too many senior company executives playing dirty tricks behind the scenes—
Though that might be because my company was small, I had still heard of “dark psychology,” “the weak points of human nature,” “social finesse,” and the like.
‘In comparison, aren’t the high-ranking officials of Kivotos too naive?’
This little girl Buzhihuo Huaye, who completely treats the President as a father figure to admire, is like this.
And Yangui Bumeng, whom I just saw, also seems completely unaware of my probing.
‘Can such children really suppress a group of armed children, beastmen who are vastly different from them, and those robots that look super adept at human relations?’
‘Is it only Bumeng and I who are like this, while the others are normal politicians wearing the skin of girls?’
Or…
‘Is that President the true decision-making core of the Kivotos Federal Student Council? Is that President the only one who truly governs Kivotos?’
She suddenly began to doubt whether her previous self was really worthy of the position of Director of the Defense Office.
The current situation: She is about to have her power divided by an outsider, the President is about to announce some “important matter,” and yet Buzhihuo Huaye herself is still blaming herself for not being able to fully satisfy the President.
Sorry.
There was something wrong with her former self.
Was it because she stepped into politics prematurely without becoming an adult, making her so naive and blindly trusting?
Huaye held her forehead, which was starting to ache dully, and clutched those important documents in one hand.
Her horizontal pupils looked slightly lost at the lamp still lit on the table.
“Why?”
She didn’t even know why she was asking this “why.”
…
But no matter what, since she had come this far, she had to keep going.
Moreover, even if her power was divided, that was a worry for the former Buzhihuo Huaye, not for her.
‘As long as I figure out the reason for implementing child soldiers, stop the opposition as much as possible, and then understand why Kivotos only has girls, I can basically stop and rest for a while. At that time, no matter what excuse I use, I will live my second life well…’
Huaye calmly read the specific contents of the three documents, constantly memorizing points that could be used for questioning—
Why that particular building was chosen as the new base for the Defense Office, whether the Defense Office staff needed to be changed due to the advisor’s joining, and the specifics of the division of power and responsibility between the advisor and herself.
The last question was especially critical.
If unclear, she might be seen as incompetent, or lay the groundwork for a rift between herself and that advisor who came out of nowhere.
“Kivotos…”
Feeling the dull pain in her forehead, Huaye murmured like a groan.
After a moment, Huaye left the data room with the three materials.
Although the President only asked her to bring two documents, since they were laid out there, she’d better take all three.
Three can be reduced to two by removing one, but two cannot be increased to three by adding one.
Boarding the elevator to the top floor, Huaye repeatedly reviewed her gains and the plan ahead.
‘If the President mentions division of power, I will act with a bit of reluctant compliance. If the President mentions the station, I will probe with questions. If the President mentions personnel changes, I will express agreement with both hands to show loyalty. If there is anything else, I will keep silent and only nod.’
She took a deep breath.
With a beep, the elevator arrived at the top floor.
Huaye stepped out of the elevator and effortlessly saw the door made of ebony, which looked solemn and dignified under the gentle light inside the Holy Tower.
She exhaled in front of the door, then took a deep breath, pushed it open, and walked inside.
The room had a long table stretching from the window end to the door.
Three or four people were already sitting at the table, whispering to each other.
At the far end of the long table, facing the door, leaning against the glass wall that offered a view of the entire Kivotos, stood a tall girl.
The moment Huaye entered the room, the few people who were chatting immediately stopped talking and stared at her in unison.
Their eyes first showed recognition, calm, then when they saw the Pepe the Frog doll in her hand, they turned to surprise and confusion, and finally, after seeing the documents, they glanced at the figure standing with her back to them, gazing at the city beyond the Holy Tower, and then assumed an expression of sudden understanding.
Facing the gazes of several people, Huaye should have been nervous or anxious.
At the very least, under the attention of a group of strangers, the former office worker would have felt uneasy.
But the halo above her head began to rotate, and the four small crosses surrounding the halo also turned slowly.
Then, Buzhihuo Huaye felt an incredible calmness in her heart, as if this was how it should be—
To be looked at by others, to be revered by others.
She slowly scanned the people present.
Near the door on the left, first seat:
A young girl with bright pink hair in bubble pigtails, holding a bag of Meiji potato chips.
Her crown-shaped halo was made of bright pink cross stars, and her expression was lazy and leisurely—
Yuraki Momoka, Director of the Transportation Office of the Federal Student Council, responsible for all transportation affairs in Kivotos.
Near the door on the left, second seat: a girl with lavender hair in a sister-style haircut, with a light blue halo consisting of a large outer ring and a central double ring with a cross structure.
Her expression was serious and earnest, constantly calculating something with a pen—
Ohgi Aoi, Director of the Financial Office of the Federal Student Council, responsible for fund allocation of the Federal Student Council and tax collection from various academies and companies.
Near the door on the right, first seat:
A tall girl with a figure comparable to Yangui Bumeng, with deep blue highlights in her long, straight black hair and a hime cut.
She observed Huaye through her glasses, her brow furrowed, as if in thought—
Shichinon Rin, Director of the General Affairs Office and Chief Administrative Officer of Kivotos, responsible for the administrative committee composed of the directors present and absent.
Finally, there was the familiar Yangui Bumeng.
She was now nervously glancing around, looking tense and uneasy—
Director of the Mediation Office and Chief Administrative Officer’s secretary, Yangui Bumeng, responsible for mediation, communication, and necessary arbitration between academies and offices.
The halo above continued to spin, but those people didn’t seem to notice the anomaly.
They all turned back to continue their discussions.
Buzhihuo Huaye took a deep breath.
A considerable part of her memories had returned.
—
Buzhihuo Huaye, Director of the Defense Office of the Federal Student Council, responsible for armed mobilization and suppression affairs of the Federal Student Council, directly accountable to the President of the Federal Student Council, managing the Valkyrie Academy directly under the Federal Student Council, the Valkyrie Police Department representing the public security of Kivotos, and the Correction Bureau representing the suppression management of Kivotos.
Moreover, under extreme circumstances and with the President’s authorization, she had the power to forcibly mobilize the armed forces of various academies or announce the cancellation of their weapons.
Except for the President’s directly subordinate special armed academy, SRT Academy, none of the people present might have power as terrifying as Huaye’s.
In other words, if Huaye launched a coup, only the President’s unified order from the academy and her SRT Academy could stop her.
In short, a warlord.
However, her power was entirely dependent on the President’s rule.
The so-called management was only carried out because various departments considered her the President’s Director of the Defense Office.
Moreover, since Buzhihuo Huaye herself was a fangirl of the President, a coup was unlikely.
But Huaye, after seeing that document, silently thought to herself.
‘Perhaps the President doesn’t think so?’
Buzhihuo Huaye casually found a chair near the girl with her back to them, sat down calmly, and quietly placed the documents and the doll on the table behind that figure.
After Huaye finished this, and wore a quiet smile skillfully on her seat, the figure in the pure white uniform turned around—
Long, straight sky-blue hair reaching to her knees, with a mysterious blue halo embedded with a cross star floating above.
Her expression was soft and gentle.
Her bangs cleverly covered her left eye, revealing only the soft, light blue eye on the right.
The current President of the Federal Student Council, the supreme power holder who oversaw all of Kivotos and was accountable only to herself, the sole master of this “Tower of the Sanctuary,” the one who theoretically held all power of all institutions and organs…
No one could describe her authority, no one could defy her will.
Her existence itself was stability.
She was the future of Kivotos itself.
Her name—
「 」(muffled)
Although Huaye felt something was off, as if she had forgotten or overlooked something, she still lowered her head to that person.
The President was the President.
No one could deny this.
Even she, upon seeing that person, could understand that she was the embodiment of gentleness and power.
Even though, in theory, the directors present were elected by various academies to form the student council, everyone knew that only she was the core and the sole of the Federal Student Council.
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