On the top floor of the Defense Office building, in a rest area that no one without the Director’s authority can enter, lay the semi-conscious Hua Ye.
“Phew… this should do it… Good thing Niji told me there’s a Director’s private rest room in the Defense Office… Thank you all very much.”
After helping the limp Hua Ye off the stretcher and slowly carrying her to the medical bed in the rest area, Teacher wearily straightened his back, rubbed his waist, turned around, and sincerely bowed to the emergency squad members who had helped move Hua Ye here.
However, those children who had been acting extremely strange just now—
Shoving each other and refusing to settle Hua Ye, forcing Teacher to carry her himself—
Were now all blushing, their eyes wandering, as they pretended to be nonchalant while whistling completely off-key.
The children pushed and shoved, finally pushing forward one child whose eyes weren’t so strange.
Blushing, she stammered a response to Teacher with eager enthusiasm:
“Ahaha, no problem, no problem. Just helping a love match, hehe. You two have a good rest together, okay?”
The other children hiding behind her also eagerly chimed in.
“Advisor, you’d better take good care of the Director. Even though it’s just self-induced hibernation from overwork and stress, if you don’t take care of her, it’ll affect her bodily functions. Yes, that’s right.”
“Ehehe… Momotalk never lies—so there really are roles like the prince and the princess… Next, will the sleeping beauty be awakened by the prince’s kiss… Ohohoho! That’s what I want to see!”
‘Are these kids misunderstanding something?’
As an adult, Teacher immediately sensed the strange look in those children’s eyes as they kept twisting their bodies and giggling weirdly.
If his instincts were right, these pubescent kids probably misunderstood his relationship with Hua Ye.
Sure, he had hugged Hua Ye and carried her a short distance, but that was only out of a sense of responsibility toward his students…
Did they really think an adult like him would make a move on a kid whose height only reached his chest and whose mind was still developing?
‘Are the children of Kivotos this mature?’
He rubbed his unconsciously furrowed brow with a headache, a little embarrassed, and interrupted these dreamy idiots with a half-serious, half-joking tone:
“Kids, that’s not funny. If I, your teacher, made a move on Director Hua Ye—or on any of you—I’d probably get kicked out of Kivotos by the President, okay? So it’s not like that. Also, where did you kids learn about these things?”
But these kids, already lost in fantasy, clearly didn’t listen.
They just “mm-hmm” and “ahh” while giggling and chattering.
Finally, the least strange child stepped forward proudly.
“That’s how it is in Momotalk! When facing an evil dragon, the prince will surely ride a tall white horse, cut through thorns, charge straight to the dragon, slay it, and then live happily ever after with the rescued princess! That’s how it is!”
Then the child glanced shyly at Teacher’s face and his slightly disheveled white suit, which somehow gave off a mature charm, and stammered:
“And, Advisor—I mean, Teacher—mm… hehehe!”
‘These idiots must have come up with something terrible—and it’s definitely not something I or Hua Ye would want others to know. Sigh, Kivotos’s education still has a long way to go… But maybe this is part of their youth. Though I wish they wouldn’t think that way…’
So Teacher answered half teasingly, half admonishingly:
“I, your teacher, can’t be a hero. You guys are the real heroes—strong and unstoppable, cutting through every enemy. I’m just an ordinary person, not as powerful as you all… I, and Hua Ye, probably don’t want any other kids thinking this way. So, I hope you won’t think that, and you won’t tell others that.”
But after hearing this, those kids got even more excited!
Their faces reddened even more, they glanced at each other, and then let out strange cries from their throats, whispering excitedly in voices they couldn’t contain.
The guns tucked under their arms jiggled.
“Ooh! Got it! So it’s the Director?!”
“Right! The Director of the Defense Office, who never backs down in the face of evil and is dedicated to her duties, voluntarily lowers her guard…”
“So the princess is Teacher? No… that’s not right… it’s a beauty saving a hero! Mmhm, how delicious! A new romance manga idea for Momotalk keeps flooding into my head! Ohohoho! Perfect!”
Maybe it was naivete—
These kids, though embarrassed by such romantic plots, still openly and shamelessly yelled out their weird ideas right in front of the “rumored” Teacher.
Perhaps, to them, these speculations were just fun.
“Cough!… You… Advisor… We…?”
The small figure lying on the bed suddenly cut off everyone’s thoughts with a cough and a dazed, tired mumble.
They instantly looked at the person on the bed.
In Teacher’s eyes, Hua Ye’s stunning golden halo, which had dimmed as if overdrawn, flickered back to life.
Moreover, two of the four crosses surrounding the ring now had shallow cracks in the center.
“The Director… is awake!”
Those kids’ faces immediately changed.
They shed their silly, lovesick expressions, stood straight, formed a formation, and positioned themselves neatly in front of the bed, holding their guns.
Teacher quickly walked to the bedside, leaned down with some difficulty, and spoke to Hua Ye in a comforting and soothing voice as she barely opened her eyes and pressed her lips tightly together.
“Hua Ye, this is the Director’s rest room in the Defense Office rest area. Get some rest. The emergency squad checked your injuries—just superficial bruises, nothing serious. You should recover in about three or four days. Then we can go to Abydos, so don’t…”
However, Hua Ye, just waking from a coma and still groggy, could barely understand anything from Teacher’s words.
But she first noticed his awkward posture and slightly stiff movements…
‘Ah—is he injured? Mm… Ah, I remember… Did I push him too hard?’
Even though her mind was still fuzzy and her whole body ached, a sense of shame and irritation made her dazedly mumble a second sentence:
“Advisor? … You… are you injured too? Damn idiot… Can’t even figure out your own duty. Valkyrie is a bunch of amateurs! Emergency squad!”
Those kids, still standing at attention, jolted and answered in slightly panicked voices:
“Here! Valkyrie Police Department Emergency Squad reporting! Good afternoon, Director Buzhihuo Huaye!”
Hua Ye panted, a little tired.
Her body and mind felt like heavy iron blocks, and worst of all, a dull headache kept throbbing.
“Good afternoon my foot! Take this idiot… huff… huff… to the medical room for treatment. If the Defense Office building doesn’t have a medical room, send him to Valkyrie’s medical room! Just… keep this guy out of my sight! He’s annoying! Get him… out of here!”
‘Anyway, just don’t let him loiter in front of me now… damn it!’
Teacher wanted to say something more.
He was about to lower his head and take Hua Ye’s hand, but before she was fully awake, she instinctively elbowed him hard in the stomach.
“Ugh!…”
Teacher instinctively covered his stomach.
But maybe because Hua Ye was too weak, or maybe she subconsciously held back, the blow barely did anything except startle him.
It just made him straighten up and move away from the bed.
Still, that suited Hua Ye, who was feeling both confused and embarrassed.
With an unfriendly face, Hua Ye gritted her teeth and weakly glared at the increasingly panicked emergency squad members.
‘Are these kids even competent?! They can’t even see the patient in front of them?! How did they become emergency squad members?! Kivotos’s education is flawed!’
Those kids, glared at by the Director, nearly broke out in cold sweat.
They hastily sorted out the medical equipment and other items in their hands, ran to Teacher’s side, whispered a few words, and half-escorted, half-pushed the slightly surprised Teacher out of the Director’s rest room in a stampede, as if escaping.
Not a single word of farewell from Teacher.
Not one word.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!”
An inexplicable anger burned from the bottom of her heart, mingling with shame over her earlier loss of composure and anxiety over whether Teacher would use this as leverage against her…
She tried to swing her arm to hit the bed in frustration, but only felt sore and weak—
Weaker than yesterday when she hadn’t eaten all day and went on an external mission.
It was as if her soul itself refused to move.
Moreover, her physical sensations felt hollow, numb and rough, like there was a veil between her and the real world—
She couldn’t truly feel her senses.
“Ugh!!”
This movement wasn’t drastic, but it pulled at the bruises on her arm and shoulder, hitting Hua Ye’s already hazy mind like a punch, barely forcing her awake—
Pain was still normal.
She lay stunned on the bed, staring at her own hands.
“What… what am I even doing?!”
‘My main goal today was to report to the President, but because of that random helmet gang attack, I signed a humiliating employment agreement with those damn helmet gang members, cried pathetically in front of an advisor I’ve known for less than three days, and accidentally revealed my inner thoughts… What am I even doing?! Why am I so ridiculous and fragile!’
The sudden anger rose, and the unease in her heart gradually faded after Teacher left.
Really, if she had just hidden Teacher and run off quickly, she could have avoided the whole thing.
But she had to confront the helmet gang head-on—
That was just insane.
But then again, Teacher would have been in danger if seen like that…
Tch, really… It’s still Teacher’s fault… or maybe not?
She thought about the subsequent helmet gang attack he mentioned on the communicator, and the disheveled, wrinkled suit he wore when he arrived by her side.
‘It’s not his fault he doesn’t have a halo. As an outsider, he probably talked down the rest of the helmet gang by himself later… His charm is scary. But reliable, too.’
Closing her eyes, she forced her thoughts away from today’s helmet gang attack and her embarrassing crying fit, focusing on the work ahead…
The President’s three requests, intel on Abydos, and a guide for Abydos.
‘Need transportation, need communication devices, need material support—who knows if Abydos will be kind enough to provide food and lodging. The Finance Office records show this school’s tax revenue has been near the bottom for a long time—they might skimp on meals to save money… Mm, besides that, I need someone for negotiations. Teacher—no, Advisor—is good. I also need weapons to protect myself—from today’s fight, I can tell I’m probably not good at combat. Finally, to make sure Advisor and I don’t get lost, I need a guide familiar with Abydos… A guide, huh…’
“I really need to punish that bastard who shot me.”
Hua Ye thought calmly, adding “punish that bastard” to her preparation plan.
All of this would probably have to be arranged by herself.
From what she remembered of the recovery process, these things needed to be applied for from the Finance Office…
But, hm?
Is that really what preparation means?
Hua Ye wasn’t sure.
Maybe it was.
Still lost in thought, her mind once again sinking into exhaustion, she involuntarily closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, in another rest room, Teacher was being casually handled by these incredibly strong kids, a helpless smile on his face.
“Teacher, your waist is injured too! You need to rest! We really just forgot… Sorry!!”
“Please don’t tell Director Hua Ye that we’re incompetent… We really don’t want to be punished with overtime again…”
“We’ll do anything! Really!”
Teacher looked at the kids gathered around his bed, making pitiful faces at him while he was tied up, and sighed inwardly.
‘These kids… Do they think I’m some rare animal that will die if they’re not careful? Why tie me up like this? But I do need their help with something—’
“Kids, I promise I won’t say anything… But I, your teacher, do need your help with something…”
…
“Got it! We absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent confirm that there is no relationship between Teacher and Director Hua Ye beyond colleagues or teacher-student. In our mission report, we’ll deliberately omit the part about Teacher carrying Director Hua Ye, and we won’t spread any rumors!”
“And! We won’t tell Director Hua Ye or anyone else!”
“Exactly!”
They flatly refused Teacher’s request to be untied, but eagerly accepted his request not to spread gossip.
‘How strange—all I asked was for them not to casually spread rumors about my relationship with Hua Ye. Why does it sound so weird coming from these kids?’
Even though he felt those kids, who were hopping and whispering to each other as they left, probably wouldn’t take it seriously, Teacher still had a strange feeling that he might end up getting arrested.
He frowned involuntarily after they left the room.
“Sigh… I hope everything goes smoothly—Hua Ye’s recovery, our upcoming trip to Abydos, and handling those helmet gang kids…”
‘Is my preparation correct? Is that really what preparation means?’
“Sigh… I hope my body recovers soon so I can be of help sooner… Our preparations aren’t ready yet. We only got authorization this morning. It’ll take a day or two for material preparation, another two days for personnel deployment…”
Tied to the bed with special restraints that supposedly had life-detection functions and would automatically break when his body parameters returned to normal, Teacher sighed helplessly.
And he really was tired.
Compared to the kids with halos, he—
An adult relying only on his physical body—didn’t have the same stamina…
In the two coincidentally facing rest rooms, two drowsy, half-asleep injured people thought about their shared experiences and sighed, muttering helplessly in their hearts.
“Hmph? Is that really what we call preparation?”
[Interlude: Is that really what we call preparation?]
[End]
…
“Oh my my, Hua Ye-chan—no, Director—really cried~ Mm, next time I won’t test those two outsiders like this~ Nnhehe, ah, her halo got a crack… Jeez… Well, it was a necessary sacrifice to eliminate the threat from outside adults. Mm… Poor those three kids—they got the message, but various delays kept them from arriving in time~ Getting on the Director’s bad side means overtime hell. Hang in there~”
“Eh? That bag of strawberry daifuku wasn’t picked up? Hmph, then it’s mine! Strawberry daifuku with strawberry milk is the best~ Wow, so many~ So happy~”
—It was said that later, when the helmet gang leader realized she had left without picking up her hard-won strawberry daifuku, she rushed back to the scene, but found nothing.
At first, she thought the Defense Office Director or staff had taken it, but after talking to the Advisor and Hua Ye, who inexplicably still had no good attitude toward her, she reluctantly concluded that some passing student must have grabbed it.
So she had no choice but to reluctantly recall a line she had read in a book:
“Never hang a Peroro doll on the same backpack,” and lamented her own slowness and poor study habits.
This incident has been recorded in the Kivotos black market bestseller:
How to Become the Best Helmet Gang Delinquent.
Chapter 28: Hmm? Is this really the so-called preparation?