NOVEL NEXT After spending some time watching the festival with Izuna, a few students blocked the teacher’s path with swaggering steps as she tried to return to the White Night.
“Ah, found you! Found you! The teacher from Shalle!”
“To be wandering alone in this lawless place without any guard, how careless!”
It wasn’t truly lawless, and there were no threats unless they didn’t want to be the threats themselves, but the teacher kept a cool judgment.
It would be best to stay quiet and comply with their words here. The box of Shiddim was providing some degree of protection, but that didn’t mean it was invincible.
“If you don’t want to get hurt, surrender peacefully! The teacher from Shalle!”
“If you resist for no reason, you’ll get hurt!”
“Our boss has business with you!”
“Oh really? Then there’s no helping it.”
“Hahaha! You’re still resisting in vain… Huh?!”
“You’re complying?!”
Unexpectedly for them, as the teacher chose not to resist but to go along with them, the astonished ruffians shrugged and proceeded to drag her to their hideout.
And witnessing this scene was a fox…
“Oh my. This is… an unexpected situation. Heh heh.”
No, it was two foxes.
At the same time, both the Matsuri Management Department and the Enforcement Division were beginning to quickly move upon realizing the teacher was missing.
*
Dragged to the ruffians’ hideout, the teacher was not particularly surprised to confirm the identity of the mastermind.
“Nice to meet you, teacher from Shalle.”
“Merchant Chairman Nyantema Ru, it was you after all.”
“Hmm? Not surprised, I see. First, let me make one thing clear: I am not Nyantema Ru! My name is Masamune. I am the Poisonous Dragon of the Back Alley, Nyante Masamune!”
“Don’t know why you’re calling yourself a poisonous dragon with your eyes wide open… but I’ll give you points for a decent name.”
“Hmph. You’ve got some knowledge. Anyway… I heard someone with great tactical prowess is getting in our way, and it turns out it’s you, the teacher from Shalle?”
“I’m not that impressive, but yes, I am indeed the teacher from Shalle.”
“Ku ku ku. You seem rather calm in this situation, like you’ve prepared some plans.”
As Nyante Masamune spoke, he waved the teacher’s Hyudaepon saying he had no means of calling for help. He boasted that the Matsuri Management Department would not come for her.
“By the way, you aren’t surprised to see me at all. I don’t recall leaving clues that would expose my identity. Where did you catch on?”
“One of the students from the White Night pointed you out as suspicious. Seems the student’s hunch was right.”
“Hmph. But that’s just baseless speculation without concrete evidence. It must have just been a coincidence.”
“That may be, but Nyantema Ru…”
“It’s Nyante Masamune.”
“Right, Nyantema Ru. Why are you doing this? What’s to gain from disrupting the festival… is it because of that tradition of the festival you mentioned?”
Hearing the teacher’s question, Nyante Masamune replied as if confused, only to realize slowly, bursting into laughter, and fervently denying the claim.
What he had mentioned at the White Night was just idle talk; his real motive was merely money. The teacher expressed doubt about disrupting the festival for monetary gain, which he found entirely incomprehensible.
“Tell me, teacher. When the White Night is held, how much money do you think flows around? And that money is firmly held by the Matsuri Management Department, those kids! I don’t like that.”
Then Nyante Masamune explained how managing the White Night himself could rake in a fortune compared to the Matsuri Department.
By disrupting the festival, the festival would be canceled. The Matsuri Management Department would take the blame and step down from the festival committee.
The teacher thought it straightforward yet simultaneously a rather clumsy plan. Based on the powers of the Autonomous Districts and the Academy he knew in Kivotos, it was hardly likely that the Matsuri Department would have to resign over such an event.
Even if that occurred, the chance of a mere merchant like Nyante Masamune being handed the reins of festival management was… extremely slim.
“And you did all this for just that… to use Izuna?”
“Are you talking about that self-proclaimed ninja kid? Yes. That Izuna was quite helpful. Without spending much money, just a little cooperation with her ninja antics, and she’s been incredibly active.”
The teacher found Nyante Masamune’s words unbearably irksome.
“Wow, she was working solo against dozens of ruffians. Quite a force!”
“Ninja antics, huh…”
“Exactly. Ninja antics. Childish nonsense!”
Nyante Masamune continued speaking downright disrespectfully about Izuna’s dream, words that the teacher could absolutely not let slide as a mentor.
Even the ruffians beside him joined in ridiculing Izuna, and at that moment, the teacher’s gaze turned icy.
[Teacher… I’ve sent your location information to the most reliable student registered with Shalle. Estimated arrival is about 10 minutes from now.]
Nyante Masamune had confiscated his Hyudaepon, but the critical item, the box of Shiddim, remained in his possession. The teacher nodded slightly after hearing Arona’s words.
He knew well who Arona was speaking of. Additionally, the girl next to her had claimed to be of equal strength to him, so it was certain Nyante Masamune’s plans would collapse as the scheduled time approached.
“It seems you were aware that Izuna was following my orders. Knowing that, you still went along with her? Doesn’t that seem a bit foolish?”
However, separate from that, the blatant mockery of Izuna’s dream from Nyante Masamune was something the mentor had to confront.
His plan of using Izuna to track him down and having the ruffians abduct him was bound to work just because he was the teacher.
And lurking above, eavesdropping on this conversation, Izuna felt a pang of guilt.
“Heh heh. Isn’t it amusing?”
“…?!”
Startled by the alluring voice right next to her, Izuna instinctively almost pulled the trigger. If the foe hadn’t caught her hand and stopped it, the bullet would have surely fired.
“Are you not curious about how insignificant that arrogant voice, under the illusion of overwhelming superiority, will become when all plans and situations crumble back into nothing? Heh heh.”
“…Wakamo?!”
“Oh my, there’s no need to be so on guard. Yes, for now, we share the same enemy.”
“Same enemy? Izuna—”
“I have also experienced betrayal from an employer. A bitter experience indeed. I took my revenge and, using that experience as a stepping stone, became who I am now… a bitter but strangely grateful experience. Doesn’t it resonate with your situation, little fox?”
“…That’s.”
“Now, let’s listen to the teacher’s words. Surely, he will have something just as good to say as our Misono Mika.”
As Izuna listened to Wakamo’s words, she turned her ear to the situation below. The teacher’s voice then came through clearly.
“You called it childish ninja antics? But that’s wrong. Being a ninja… is a dream in itself—”
Kaboooooooom——!!!
“Ah, ah?!”
“Oh my…?”
Just when Izuna was on the verge of being deeply moved by the teacher’s words, part of the hideout’s wall collapsed.
“What, what?!”
To the shocked Nyante Masamune, a brilliantly shining star from the night sky descended.
It was the Punishing Star filled with thoughts of retribution.
“Hello? Not the most heartwarming welcome, is it, mastermind☆?”
“You’re… from the White Night back then…?”
“Mika…?”
“Oh, teacher, hello! Did I arrive earlier than expected? Yes, I was already on my way here even without any signal.”
“What’s with your arrogance, coming here all on your own…!”
“Well, I’m not entirely alone. You know, Mr. Nyantema Ru, I thought about it a bit… In situations like this, it’s standard to first tell you to surrender peacefully, right? Yes, following the standard is important. Isn’t that right?”
“What are you talking about?!”
With a smile, sparkling stars began to bloom from Mika’s fingertips.
Seeing this, the teacher couldn’t help but half-acknowledge the justification of Mika’s harem.
Is that why everyone loves her so much, he thought.
It was an undeniably beautiful yet simultaneously overwhelming sight.
“But you’ve touched someone you shouldn’t have.”
The star blooms shot around.
The student who could handle this rarest of wonders better than anyone else in Kivotos was beyond comparison—a one-person army, something even the teacher had realized through several battles.
“What nonsensical…!”
“Attacking one of your henchmen from Trinity makes sense, doesn’t it? Well, I usually don’t get sensitive about things like these juvenile delinquent antics… but my husband almost got hurt. So, you know, you have to take responsibility, right?”
With an air of naturalness in mentioning that title, the teacher noticed the soot covering Mika’s wings.
One of the two students who had been next to him from the White Night… Hina was naturally a great strength on her own, so it seemed likely that she had protected Nagisa and gotten caught like this.
“Trinity, I hadn’t heard about that!”
“Heh, this is the first you’re hearing. Here’s a drink.”
“Damn! Ruffians, subdue her!”
Watching the waves of ruffians pouring out of the hideout, Mika held her gun with a carefree smile.
No one realized it was the last mercy Mika would offer while clinging to her sanity.