“The plan to deal with the cats will be postponed for 24 hours under the vice president’s authority.”
At Iris’s words, the meeting room stirred.
The first to react was, unsurprisingly, her close aide, who was always at her side.
“But, Vice President! This isn’t like your usual judgment!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! It’s completely different! Besides, this ‘cat disposal plan’ has already been announced by the academy with approval from the student council president! For us, the working staff, to suspend its effect isn’t a trivial matter! You’re aware of that, Vice President!”
“Beckett, calm down and listen to me.”
“No! The Vice President must have been deceived by Ian Blackangers! You mustn’t fall for his sly tongue!”
Beckett, Iris’s aide, pointed at me as she raised her voice.
I bowed my head slightly.
“… Thanks for the compliment.”
“Ha! That’s not what I meant!”
Beckett shot me a sharp glare before turning back to Iris.
“I can’t accept the Vice President’s behavior today! This decision has no grounds whatsoever. Right now, you’re being far too emotional!”
With arms crossed, Beckett fumed, clearly upset.
Watching her, Iris let out a deep sigh.
“Beckett.”
“…”
“I am the chairperson of this meeting. The decisions are mine to make.”
Her words were calm, but the content was firm.
It was essentially a declaration of, “I’m your superior.”
Beckett, previously indignant, shrank back slightly, looking chastised.
“And.”
Iris continued with a resolute tone.
“It is an emotional judgment. The Academy’s regulations contain provisions for the temporary suspension of announcements.”
“… Such a provision exists?”
“The regulation regarding the enforcement of ordinances. It states that enforcement can be delayed for 24 hours if there is a gathering of five or more individuals. This is the regulation you’re in charge of managing, Beckett.”
At Iris’s explanation, Beckett fell silent, looking as though she’d been struck speechless.
To be fair, it wasn’t unreasonable for her to feel wronged.
Just because she managed the enforcement of ordinances didn’t mean she had memorized all the related regulations.
The fact that Iris had memorized it all… well, that was unusual.
Or maybe she was just a genius.
The genius vice president turned her gaze to me.
“Ian.”
“Yeah?”
“What you just did—raising your voice in protest—is something I, as the vice president, recognize as a valid gathering. And there were more than five people chanting the same words, right?”
“There were.”
“Then the condition for a gathering of five or more is met.”
“… Looks like it.”
Iris stood up.
She walked over to a stack of documents on the side of the room, rummaged through them, and pulled something out.
“Write this down.”
[Petition for Objection]
I filled out the form she handed me and returned it to her.
Iris returned to her seat and announced.
“As the vice president, I officially accept this petition. The implementation of the plan to capture the cats will be postponed for 24 hours, and no related actions should be taken during that time.”
The attendees, who had been staring at her in a daze—executives and committee members—nodded in unison.
“Understood.”
Iris, looking satisfied, turned to me.
“Does this suffice?”
“Thank you.”
“Now, please leave. There are many other matters to address.”
I nodded and turned to leave. As I was about to exit, Iris called out behind me.
“Ian.”
“?”
“The student council estimates that there are at least 1,000 cats on campus.”
“24 hours won’t be enough, then.”
“Exactly.”
I need to find Danya.
At the same time, I’ll have to think of a way to extend the time.
As I pondered, Iris spoke again.
“If 300 or more people gather, a general assembly will be convened.”
“Vice President…!”
Ignoring Beckett’s voice, Iris continued.
“In that case, the academy, the student council, and the assembly representatives would all convene. Depending on the outcome, any ordinance could be overturned.”
With that, Iris put her glasses back on, which she had briefly removed.
“Although it’ll make the student council busier, give it a shot.”
With a wave of her hand, Iris dismissed me and returned her attention to the documents before her.
◆
[Remaining Time: 24 hours]
Current Time: 6 PM.
“If there’s a place with a lot of cats, it has to be that spot!”
Elena actively suggested an idea.
“That place?”
“Yes! There’s a spot on campus known as the ‘Cat Hill’.”
Cat Hill?
It was the first I’d heard of such a place.
And then there was Elena’s overly confident expression.
For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
“… Brother Ian! Are you doubting me? Your face doesn’t look great right now.”
“To be honest, yes.”
“Gasp! But it’s true…! I walk by there all the time, and I have to be extra cautious! Otherwise, the cats swarm all over me!”
Ah, right.
Recalling Elena’s “cat magnet” tendencies, I let her take the lead.
“Lead the way. I’ll grab a few things from the clubroom first.”
On the way, I stopped by the clubroom and picked up tools that might help capture the cats.
I also grabbed a few things Danya might like.
As I headed off to join Elena’s group, I heard a familiar voice.
“Ian!”
From a distance, Lina was waving her hand and running toward me.
It seemed she had seen the message just in time.
With Lina now joining us, we headed to the location Elena had mentioned.
Calling it a “hill” was generous—it was more of a grassy slope on campus. At the entrance, Silvia stood, visibly restless.
“What’s wrong, Silvia?”
“I-It’s just, Ian…”
Uncharacteristically, she seemed flustered.
I followed her gaze and quickly understood why.
Atop the hill, a strange yellow ball was rolling around.
No, to be precise.
— Meow!
— Meowww!
— Meoww!
It was a mass of cheese-colored cats, huddled together.
And at the center of it…
“Ahhh! Help me, siblings!”
…Was unmistakably Elena.
A short distance away, Blackie sat watching the scene, its gaze cold and indifferent.
It was a surreal sight, to say the least.
Using Elena as bait, we managed to account for around 70 cats.
Unfortunately, we didn’t find Danya.
◇
[Time Remaining: 18 hours]
Current Time: Midnight
The full moon shone brightly in the night sky.
“Ahhh…”
Elena collapsed face-down on the ground as we walked.
A cheese-colored cat perched on her head like it owned the place.
“There are just too many cats…”
I gently lifted the cat off her face.
Silvia tried using a search spell with some yarn she’d brought from Danya’s house, but there was no reaction.
It wasn’t Danya.
I marked the cat’s neck with a faint black symbol to indicate it had been checked.
“You’ve done well, Elena. Go home and rest now.”
“But… there’s no bait better than me.”
“I’ll give you that, but I’ve brought catnip. It’ll be fine. For now, rest. We need to prepare for the long haul, and you’re crucial to the plan.”
“Then… alright…”
With that, I sent the utterly exhausted Elena home.
“Let’s continue searching, then.”
Silvia said, rolling up her sleeves.
But I stopped her.
“Silvia, you should go home and rest too.”
“I’m still fine.”
While she wasn’t swaying or nodding off like Elena, it was clear she was fatigued.
She had cast dozens of search spells throughout the day.
It would’ve been strange if she weren’t tired.
“I really think you should rest.”
“But wouldn’t it be better to have one more person helping to search?”
“No. Besides, there’s something I need you to prepare.”
“…Prepare?”
“We’ll likely need to move on to the next step soon.”
◇
[Time Remaining: 12 hours]
Current Time: 6 a.m.
We had found around 200 cats so far.
None of them were Danya.
The looming deadline was becoming all too real.
In the distance, the sun began to rise.
“You should go rest now too, Lina. With daylight, it’ll be easier to see.”
“But Ian, what about you…”
“I’m used to staying up all night.”
And I truly was.
After Lina left, I stood alone, facing the next stretch of the hunt.
— Meowww!
Blackie, who had been dozing off on my shoulder, suddenly perked up.
“Alright, let’s give it one more push, shall we?”
— Meow!
◇
[Time Remaining: 8 hours]
Current Time: 10 a.m.
We’d searched through around 400 cats so far.
‘There’s no end to this.’
I’d thought we’d find a lead by the time we were halfway through, but the number of cats on the Academy grounds was far greater than I had anticipated.
Who could possibly have let so many cats loose here, and how did they do it without anyone noticing?
“Let’s stop the search here for now.”
Silvia and Elena, who had rejoined me earlier, turned to look.
“But Brother Ian, there’s still time. We can’t give up yet—”
“Do you have a new plan?”
Their reactions differed, but Silvia’s question aligned with my current thoughts.
“We need a more systematic approach.”
I’d started to notice patterns in the cats’ behavior.
If Danya had turned into a cat, her rationality would likely be on the brink as well.
In this vast sea of felines, a new plan had formed in my mind—one that made sense.
The downside? It would take at least several dozen hours to execute.
“We’ll need more time.”
I nodded.
With roughly 8 hours left until the ‘cat disposal plan’ resumed, the solution to this situation had already been laid out by Iris: a general assembly with 300 or more participants.
The only thing left was to take the necessary preliminary steps.
“I’m here to file for a protest.”
At the student council’s complaint desk, I was met with a familiar face.
The girl who had shown me hostility yesterday—Jeckett.
“You’re here to file a protest? Jeckett.”
“It’s Beckett! At least get my name right!”
Ah, that’s what it was.
“Alright, Beckett.”
“Fine! I figured you’d show up. Here, fill this out.”
Surprisingly, she handed me the protest application form without resistance.
The hostility only returned after I handed her the completed form.
As she stamped the form, she glanced up at me and smirked.
“You know something?”
“What?”
“No protest in the academy’s history has ever reached more than 100 participants.”
She chuckled, amused by her own statement.
“You’ll be no different, Ian. 300 participants? Pfft. You won’t even get close to 100.”
“…”
“And you’ve got less than six hours left. It’s impossible.”
Hmm. That was an interesting piece of trivia.
But I wasn’t worried.
Why?
I leaned in close and whispered to the smug Beckett.
“I’ll show you what a real protest looks like.”
