The roundtable meeting room at the First Military Academy was bustling today. In addition to representatives from the three supreme military academies, there were key figures from thirteen major star system academies, representatives from the Military Department, the Royal Family, and the Information Propaganda Department gathered together.
Their common agenda was to discuss the details of the freshmen competition.
The meeting started with fervor, and the first thing established was the date of the freshmen competition.
It was set for December 8th and would last for twenty days.
Next came the discussion of the venue, which was the most contentious among the academy representatives, as each hoped to host the event on their turf.
Only Elbert seemed disinterested, with a mind elsewhere.
"Song Zheng, is your school just going to write it off as a lost cause, knowing you can’t compete, so you might as well give up?" the principal of the Fengshu Star’s supreme academy didn’t miss any opportunity to ridicule and suppress Elbert’s chances.
The principal from the Hailan Star System chimed in with biting sarcasm, "They gave up ten years ago. The Military Department has given opportunity after opportunity. The Empire pours vast resources and money into it every year, but it’s just a waste."
"Perhaps it’s because certain individuals are lining their pockets that the talent pool is so lacking."
A wave of laughter rang out in the meeting room, with some even joining in.
The comprehensive rankings of the academies from Fengshu Star and Hailan Star have been climbing steadily, surpassing Elbert, and they are also the ones most likely to snatch away the reputation in this freshmen competition.
Needless to say, it’s not just about reputation, but also the Empire’s massive resource allocation every year.
Whoever could take Elbert’s name would step on the old and rise to the top as one of the Empire’s three great military academies.
Many below were watching like wolves, eyes fixed fiercely!
Even the slightest rumor would be infinitely magnified. Many academies had even planted spies and informants within Elbert. After all, military academies all have intelligence majors; it was just a case of supply and demand.
For instance, the nickname "Wushan Flower City Branch" that caused endless mockery was intentionally spread by other star system academies.
"Shut the hell up," Song Zheng cursed irritably.
"We are all principals. Why did Elbert only send over a residential college representative? That’s so disrespectful." The speaker was a chubby middle-aged man, who, after speaking, did not forget to flash a sycophantic smile towards Princess Therese sitting in the place of honor.
Princess Therese maintained a modest and elegant smile the entire time, listening earnestly to everyone’s contributions.
Even as a dozen military academies attacked Elbert together, she didn’t speak, which was quite subtle.
Although Princess Therese said nothing, it was hard not to read between the lines.
Her indulgent attitude was a stance in itself.
Now, even the haughty Royal Starship Academy joined in to kick Elbert while it was down, complaining bitterly about Elbert’s "ten great sins."
Only the exceptionally positioned First Military Command College was unmoved, deeming it beneath them to join the quarrel.
The deputy principal from Elbert, Hodgson, had no choice but to step in, "Even though the principal isn’t here, I am..."
Before the deputy principal could finish, he was rudely interrupted and scorned, "That title of deputy principal; our school has over a dozen of those. Who are you trying to fool?"
Hodgson, red with anger, clenched his teeth, "Our academy has only one deputy..."
"Enough, deputies aren’t qualified to talk. Please leave! You shouldn’t be at an event ," said the principal from the Hailan Star System, who could clearly not ignore that Elbert’s deputy principal was a special case, but precisely because of his uniqueness, couldn’t let Hodgson speak out.