CH 298

Rafina’s Anxiety

“Lady Rafina, here are the papers that explain how security works. Could you talk to the student council about them?”

“Absolutely. Thank you, Santeri, as always.”

Santeri Bandler bowed his head in respect. He was getting close to old age and had been a guard-priest on Saint-Noel Island for a long time. Since he started working there when he was twenty-five, he had never left the island in the thirty-five years since then.

He seemed like a true craftsman who was proud of his work, and for good reason. It was because of the strong system of police and security protocols he had created that the island was known as the safest place on the continent. On more than one occasion, the Duke of Belluga gave him medals for his work.

Rafina quickly looked over the papers he gave her… and gave a small frown. Almost all of the steps are the same as last year…

“May I ask if any of the rules don’t seem right?”

After seeing her reaction, Santeri asked her nicely.

“I think that these rules are the best way to make sure that you are safe and that nothing bad happens that could hurt Belluga’s good name.”

He had a point. In the documents, the security measures were well thought out. People who wanted to go to the island had always had to go through strict checks. It was almost impossible for someone with bad intentions to get in. Trying to bring in harmful things like poisons or weapons was just as pointless. You could try to swim across, but you might get caught in one of the water traps that surround the island.

If an assassin had the same skills and intelligence as Tearmoon’s best knight, the famous Empire’s Finest, they might be able to sneak in, but that was a very tall order for the average assassin. For all intents and purposes, Saint-Noel was an island haven. Rafina thought the island was a paradise because it was cut off from the rest of the world.

During the Holy Eve Festival, there were also strict rules about what food students could eat. Ingredients were kept deep in the academy, where only the chef-priest could get to them, and they were prepared for the table under his strict watch. Food tasters would also be there, ready to try each dish before it was served.

On the day of the Holy Eve Festival, the island’s security was even tighter than usual. This meant that nothing bad could happen.

So believed Rafina. Or, rather, that’s what she thought when she was stressed out by all the things she had to do as student council president.

Mia was president now, though. Rafina had time to think when she wasn’t busy with her job duties. And because she thought about it, she thought of something.

Even if our security measures are perfect, wouldn’t it be dangerous to never change them?

Imagine that the island’s security was perfect and that no one was able to get in, even though they tried. Would all of these spies be scared away for good? No, many would not give up.

And if they did, wouldn’t they plan around the existing defences on the island?

Elaborate patrol routes… Placed carefully, guards… These were sure to work against foes who didn’t know what they were doing.

But what if the bad people they caught were with other bad people? If they were caught, their friends might learn about how those guards were carefully placed and how complicated their patrol routes were. This would help them plan their next attack.

There might be a weak spot in our security. It’s not impossible, though.

It was a vague worry about a vague threat. But even though it was vague, it made her feel like she had to act quickly. She knew in some way. There was going to be trouble.

She asked the guard-priest about it because she had this feeling.

“Santeri, are you sure that these safety precautions are enough?”

Stiff thinking was the most dangerous thing. People couldn’t think critically about a system if they always believed in it, which made them blind to reasonable doubts about the system’s effectiveness. When it came to safety, being too sure of yourself led to a fall.

She was about to say that the rules should be looked at more carefully when Santeri spoke up.

“I don’t really know what you mean.”

His voice had the stiffness of pride that had been hurt.

“As you know, Lady Rafina, we’ve always followed these rules, and they’ve never let us down.”

“Yes, that’s true, but are you sure there aren’t any mistakes? Any blind spots?”

“There isn’t any. We, priests, who are in charge of protecting this island put our honour and lives on the line for our work,” he said, before adding angrily, “If your ladyship thinks my rules aren’t good enough, you can fire me.”

Well, this is a bit of a mess.

The situation was getting worse and worse quickly. Without Santeri, it would be very hard to redesign the security protocols. Decades of protecting the island had given him a wealth of knowledge that was very important.

It was, of course, also making his mind less flexible, but she couldn’t afford to lose that knowledge because she knew how useful it was.

Problem is, there aren’t any. At least, nothing real. His plans for security are very good. Even if I fire him and try to fix them myself, I can’t be sure that I can do better. They could be a lot worse, though…

It would be pointless to fix something just to break it again. She couldn’t leave things as they were, though. She was sure, but she didn’t know why.

If I tell him to, he’ll probably make me a new security plan, but…

There was also a problem with that, and it had to do with who took the lead. There was no way to compare the quality of work that was done willingly and with passion to work that was done reluctantly and because someone told them to.

If anything, that would just give the Serpents a chance to do something. They know how to take advantage of these kinds of psychological weaknesses. The Chaos Serpents could find sneaky ways to get into people’s hearts. Even a small disagreement between Santeri and her would give them a chance to attack.

So, what she needed was for him to feel the same way she did. She could only use his experience to its fullest by making him see the same danger she did.

Oh, this is really tough. I can’t even figure out what I’m worried about, let alone tell him about it…

If his security procedures had a clear flaw, she could just point it out and tell him to fix it. Unfortunately, her worry wasn’t quite as clear-cut as that. It was more about being ready in your mind to look for flaws than about any particular flaw. In his current state of mind, Santeri probably couldn’t see any problems with the system he had made.

Even if he did, she didn’t think he would say so. Most likely, she would have to use the same protocols again this year. But the Serpents will definitely take advantage of a chance like that.

Rafina’s face stayed sad after Santeri left the room, and she kept thinking about the problem. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed in anger.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a red strip of cloth out of the corner of her eye. It was the sign that people who voted for Mia for student council wore.

She whispered, “Oh, I’m not very good, am I?” and then she laughed softly to herself. “I’m doing it again.”

At that moment, Monica walked in.

“Hm? What are you up to again, Miss Rafina?”

Rafina grimaced.

“Trying to take care of everything on my own. This is something that the student council should talk about. I need to get better at asking for advice.”

She got up, moved her head from side to side, and then went to the student council office.