Act Five: Crisis at Crescent Academy

"Cola?" "Funding?"

Teacher Claire and Charlotte spoke at the same time, though their concerns were clearly different. Rainer smiled.

"This drink obviously makes people feel happy, so I named it Cola. As for the funding issue..."

Rainer didn't say it outright, merely glancing at Teacher Claire.

"Let's leave it at that. Everyone should know by next week's morning assembly anyway."

The young dean of discipline shrugged, leaving Charlotte, the only one unaware, completely bewildered.

Rainer picked up the thread and began explaining.

"Actually, Charlotte, this school may soon be shut down."

At first, Charlotte didn't react to those words. But she quickly understood what Rainer meant by "shut down."

"Wait, wait, wait—what does shut down mean?"

Still, Charlotte asked the question aloud. What she really wanted to know was why this was happening.

For the first time, she had found a place where she could gain freedom and live in peace. For the first time, she had found a close friend she could speak freely with. Two happy things had come together, so why did this have to happen?

"You can tell as well. More than half of Crescent Academy's teaching facilities have been abandoned, and fewer and fewer new students enroll every year. This year's class only has three students. The academy's rating has also been stuck at Level Nine for many years. That's a dangerous sign."

Rainer spoke as the information from his memories continued to surface.

Crescent Academy had a history stretching back nearly a thousand years. It was supposed to be an elite aristocratic magic academy. The reason Rainer had been able to buy it so easily wasn't simply because he was the third son of the Ian Gray Family, but because the school truly was on the verge of closure.

A century of poor management had left many school facilities abandoned. Enrollment declined year after year, and its rating had fallen to the lowest, Level Seven. If it failed the qualification inspection, Crescent Academy would immediately be shut down—this was the situation Rainer found himself in.

If the academy closed, not only would all of Rainer's money go down the drain, but he wouldn't even have a place to stay. He might have trouble affording food. And it had been less than a month since he and his brothers had left the family.

"In three months, Crescent Academy will undergo a qualification assessment from the High Magic Council. If it can't meet the most basic teaching requirements, an academy at the lowest rating can no longer continue operating. Crescent Academy will become history, and its current students will be distributed among other academies. Given the school's current condition, the chance of passing the assessment is zero."

Teacher Claire added helplessly.

"Then what do we do?"

Charlotte was at a loss. She was only an ordinary mage apprentice and knew nothing about qualification assessments or academy ratings. She only knew that she didn't want this school to close or to be separated from her friends.

Teacher Claire shook her head. She had grown up at the academy. For an orphan like Claire, this school was her home. She wanted its survival more than anyone, but facts were facts. There was nothing she could do.

"Actually, I've been looking for a way to save the school all this time, and it wasn't until today that I found this opportunity."

Rainer made it up on the spot. In truth, he had only just thought of this plan.

"It's the drink right in front of you."

Charlotte didn't quite understand. This drink called Cola was indeed delicious, but how could it become an opportunity to save Crescent Academy?

Rainer nodded, then explained the two problems Crescent Academy currently faced.

First, Crescent Academy needed money.

As a prestigious academy with a long history, many of Crescent Academy's facilities actually had considerable value. But without money for maintenance, they had gradually been abandoned. To improve the academy's overall strength, the fastest approach was to earn money, repair the campus, and purchase materials.

As for how to make money, Rainer believed Cola, a drink that had created miracles on Earth, wouldn't disappoint him. He only needed to find a factory to produce it and use a few methods to sell it.

The second problem concerned the academy rating rules.

In this world, magic academies used a points system for ratings. Points could be earned through academic competitions and research results, while the simplest way was for a teacher or student to publish a paper.

At the same time, if that paper was cited by others, it would also earn corresponding points. Therefore, publishing an original paper could bring in a large number of points. Academic points were also a hard requirement in qualification assessments, making them Crescent Academy's greatest difficulty.

After all, very few people at Crescent Academy could publish papers in legitimate journals each year. This year's academic points were even still at zero.

Therefore, Rainer's idea was to use the ideas in his Earth-born mind to concoct several groundbreaking academic papers. While earning money and points and improving the academy's academic achievements, he would also put certain Alchemy products into practical use, earning money to support the academy's construction.

And the first paper would obviously be an Oxidation Chemistry paper that overturned Fire Element Theory.

Rainer believed that science and technology were the primary productive forces.

After hearing Rainer out, both women fell silent.

Claire had never known that Rainer possessed such a detailed plan, and from the looks of it, it was highly feasible. She had originally thought he was nothing more than a useless aristocrat who squandered money on drink and women. But now, it seemed that as the third son of the Ian Gray Family, this headmaster truly had some ability.

Charlotte, meanwhile, suddenly felt a little closer to Rainer. Her father held great authority in their household and had dictated nearly all of Charlotte's choices. Coming to Crescent Academy was one of the few decisions she had made for herself. She felt a strong sense of belonging here, so she naturally gained a better impression of Rainer after he proposed such a thorough plan to save the academy.

"I'll put the plan into action over the next few days, so I may need to go out and find a factory capable of producing Cola. Teacher Claire, I hope you'll give me the formula for this potion."

Claire didn't refuse. She had originally mixed the potion herself. Other than treating her illness, it had no great use. If it could be used to save the academy, she wouldn't hesitate at all.

"As for Charlotte, I hope you'll help me complete the paper. At the same time, I'll sponsor your study of Alchemy with the school's funds. Since you were the first to discover this experimental phenomenon, your name will be listed as an author on the paper as well. If I'm not mistaken, you may become the youngest author of an academic paper in history."

Rainer's words made Charlotte's eyes light up, and she instantly found them hard to believe.