The art of momentum!

Due to her intervention, it had been decided that we would decide the next class president and co-president through nominations. And due to him already standing behind the teacher's desk, the first one to go was Mike himself.

No matter how frustrated he was with the situation, he still forced himself to keep calm.

"Then... I will begin by nominating Samantha Laowh as the class president. I believe it's a role well-suited for her as she has the most experience out of all of us in regards to acting as a public figure."

'As expected.'

It didn't come as a surprise to me that he nominated the princess, and because of that, it was also no surprise when he spoke about his nomination for the co-president.

"As for the co-president, I will nominate myself, as I am very fitting for that role. I have been educated since I was but a child in the ways of, not only, structuring information, but I am also a very hard worker. Adding on to that..."

It took Mike more than five minutes to finally stop talking about how great he was and go back to his seat with a very, very satisfied smile on his face.

And now, everything went quiet.

Everyone was looking at each other, taking this as a chance to try and determine what kind of people everyone was. On the side, Mike looked as if he was already assured of his victory, simply due to the fact that no one else cared enough, or was brave enough, to nominate anyone.

We had already decided that whoever wanted to was free to take to the stage and present their nominations, which meant that everyone was now waiting for someone to move. And as no one did so, I finally stood up and started walking forward through the classroom.

*Tap*

'Please... please tell me that I am right about this...'

My heart was beating way faster than it was supposed to, and I could feel a cold patch of sweat slowly run down my back.

I did have a plan, but there was no way I could say that it was a good one. In fact, my plan was more like a bet than anything else. A bet on the personality of one of the people inside the classroom.

*Tap*

If that person acted as I wanted them to act, I would be able to walk out of this classroom alive. If they didn't, I would die.

It was a bet made by hoping that my memories of that person from the novel were accurate, which I had no confidence in saying was true. If someone had asked me to make this bet when my life wasn't in lethal danger, I would absolutely have refrained from being part of it.

*Tap!*

Standing behind the teacher's desk, everyone was now looking at me with watchful eyes, seemingly scrutinizing my every move. It was also very clear that most of them appeared to be extremely skeptical of me standing here, almost as if they couldn't even imagine a world where anything of value would come out of my mouth.

That was with the exception of one. There was one student amongst them who didn't seem to share that sentiment, as that student was now wearing a warm smile. And that student was the one who I had to put my faith into.

'If I die just because some dude wasn't picked as the co-president in a stupid school... I don't care if you are a god or a devil, I promise you that I will haunt you for eternity! You stupid author!'

Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself, having no choice but to hope for the best.

"Hi everyone. As you might remember from the roll call a bit ago, my name is Alex Winter. Now, as it was my idea for us to use nomination as a means for choosing the president and co-president, I just wanted to take a few seconds to explain the reasoning behind it before I give my nominations."

As I was speaking, I could see that the students in front of me started to get curious, wanting to hear more of what I was going to say. Which didn't take long at all.

"I wanted us to use nominations as that allows one to nominate even people who might not dare to nominate themselves. I don't think there's anyone among us who doesn't recognize that we have all been admitted to this academy because we are what others would call elites."

A curious Thomas, a slightly confused Lya, and a widely smiling Samantha. The reception was passable so far. But it was not nearly enough.

"In other words, all of us have some kind of special talent, and I believe that even though it might contrast one's origin, it's still our duty to open our eyes to the possibility that inherent talent is more valuable than one's last name."

I wasn't sure exactly how controversial this take was, but I just couldn't think of anything else to say that would be impactful enough to translate into my nominations carrying more weight. Luckily it seemed like the reactions were mostly positive, even though Mike looked like he had eaten something bad.

'Now, bring it home, Alex!'

"Now that you know the reasoning behind my suggestion, I will continue on to make my nominations. First of all, I want to nominate Robert Piper as the co-president!"

"M-me?! What are you...?!"

Ignoring the stupid kid's stupid words that came out of his stupid mouth, I carried on without allowing myself to lose any momentum.

"Robert Piper is someone who aspires to be a scholar, and through those merits alone, he managed to get accepted into the Stellar Academy. In my mind, there is no doubt that he is the most fitting for the role of co-president as a result of his brilliant mind that has allowed him to reach this far!"

Silence.

Despite my amazing deliverance of some amazing lines that I had hurriedly made up, there was not a single comment. Or at least there wasn't, until...

"That makes sense..."

Because of the silence, there was no one who missed the words that came out from the girl with silver hair in the back. It had most likely been a very subconscious act, but Eva was the one who had agreed with my arguments about why Robert should become the co-president.

As if her words acted as the cue, several of the students started nodding a bit, agreeing with her. The only two students who didn't was, of course, Mike and Fred and, in his frustration, Mike couldn't help but open his mouth.

"Then, who do you think should be the president?"

It wasn't hard to recognize that Mike wanted me to hurry up with my nominations so that he had enough time to debate them, as he wasn't about to let go of the co-president post that easily. In his mind, and probably everyone else's as well, it was obvious who I was going to nominate anyway.

There was after all someone of royal stature in this classroom that everyone knew was more than fitting of taking the role of class president. However...

"For the president, I nominate Mike Thorn!"

"What?!"

"What did he say?"

"Mike? But shouldn't the princess be the president?"

Yes, I didn't nominate the princess as the class president, and the reason behind that was simple. If my memories were correct, then...

"Samantha, don't you have anything to say about this?!"

In pure confusion, Mike couldn't stop himself from standing up and turning his head to the pink-haired woman. A woman who was for some reason still carrying a warm smile.

"No, I don't. I think Alex is right. Wasn't it you who took the initiative to lead the conversation in the first place? Wouldn't that show that you are more than suited for the role of class president?"

Contrasting his beliefs about her, Samantha confirmed my suspicions about her. She didn't want to become class president in the first place, and now I had allowed her an easy way out without her having to actively decline that post.

'Bring! It! Home!'

Once again I spoke, this time with a lot more inner confidence than before.

"Then, I suggest we vote! Whoever agrees with my suggestion, please raise your hands!"

The first one to raise her hand was the princess herself as she looked at me with appreciative eyes. After her, Thomas also raised his hand. Following him, Lya, Suzan, Julia... Pretty much everyone had raised their hands in favor of my nominations.

And in the end, even Mike raised his hand, though it was clear that he wasn't too happy about it. The only one who didn't was George, who looked just as sour as Mike did.

I could understand that George didn't like it, but Mike? Hadn't I given him exactly what he wanted? A prestigious post where he could flaunt himself like the peacock he was.

All the while everyone appeared to have forgotten the fact that Robert Piper had officially become the co-president, as everyone was focusing on the fact that Mike was now the president.