Vol. 1 - Ch. 5

Volume 1 - Ch. 5; The Former Hero Becomes a Teacher“Kumagami-sensei was hospitalized?”

“Yes, that’s right. So I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to take over homeroom for Class 1 for a while starting today.”

When I arrived at work the next day, Ms. Yamashiro, the assistant head of the second-year high school class, called me in.

Ms. Yamashiro was a beautiful teacher of unknown age with her hair tied back in a knot and a sexy mole near her mouth. Rumor has it she is a mother of one, but she doesn’t look it at all. Incidentally, she is also my subject supervisor.

That’s all well and good, but this is a problem. Becoming the substitute homeroom teacher is a bit inconvenient, but I was planning to casually ask Kumagami-sensei about the Aookuji case.

“I'm a first-time teacher myself; will that be okay?”

“Yes, if anything happens, the assistant teacher from another class will cover for you. I won’t leave it all to you, so please don’t worry. But you're so calm that it’s hard to believe you're a new teacher, so I think it’s okay to leave you in charge, Aiba-sensei.”

“That’s a bit much… Is Kumagami-sensei seriously ill?”

“I’ve been told that it’s not life-threatening or anything like that. They just don’t know when he will be discharged.”

"I understand. I'll be attending homeroom starting today."

As I picked up the handouts from Kumagami-sensei's desk, I was trying to decide whether or not to talk to Ms. Yamashiro about Aookuji.

When I went to homeroom in the morning, all the students were there. When I told them that Kumagami-sensei would be absent for a while due to poor health and that I would be their substitute homeroom teacher until he returned, the students had a variety of reactions.

Kumagami-sensei was well trusted by the students, and since he was ill, as expected, none of the students were particularly happy about the news.

They’re so well-versed in this area that I am embarrassed to remember what was. I glanced at Aookuji and saw that she too was acting as usual. Our eyes almost met, so I quickly looked away. This isn't good; if I observe her too much, strange rumors might start.

After I made the announcement and ended homeroom, I was about to leave the classroom when one of the students came up to me.

"Aiba-sensei, I have this for you. I would like to request permission for an authorized absence for three days starting tomorrow. This is the application form."

A lively-looking girl with bright-colored hair in twin tails bowed deeply as she handed me an envelope. Her name is Soutou Kagari. She looks like a cute and normal girl, but she is one of the girls who had a strong gaze at the opening ceremony.

“Oh, I’ll take care of it. The reason is for… family reasons. Did Kumagami-sensei know about this?”

“Yes, he knew. I think Professor Yamashiro probably knows too.”

“Okay, so it’s three days from tomorrow.”

As we were talking, I noticed that she was holding a book in her hands. Come to think of it, Soutou often reads books in her seat during recess.

“Soutou-san, you’re always reading books. What are you reading?”

“Eh, oh, are you interested in it too, Sensei?”

And she removed the cover of the book and showed it to me.

“Special Forces Combat Manual?”

There was a title there that was too oblique for my imagination. Well, what is the right way to react to this? Even using my “Quick Thinking” and “Parallel Thinking” skills didn’t help me come up with that answer.

For the next few days, I remained unsure of how to respond about Aookuji. Normally, I would have consulted with Ms. Yamashiro, the assistant head of the grade, but there was no way I could say “A student was killing monsters with a Katana.”

“Later, maybe even just once, I’ll try following… wait, am I a stalker teacher?"

As I was grumbling on the way home, a voice came from behind me, and to my embarrassment, I flinched. I guess my constant deployment of my detection skills but ignoring the reactions of my students had backfired.

I turned around, and there she was, a beautiful girl with long black hair and a mean look in her eyes.

"Oh, Miss Aookuji. It’s not like that. There’s a nasty cat near my apartment. I was thinking of following it and finding its owner.”

The “quick thinking” skill is useful when thinking of excuses on the spur of the moment like this.

"Is that so? I thought you were planning on following students."

Aookuji looked up at me with a stern look. I felt the sting of her eyes physically hurting me.

“I would never do something like that. Do I look like that kind of person?”

“You can’t judge a person by their appearance.” Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

That's an indirect way of saying "You’re not stalking me are you," right?

“You walk to school, sensei, but is your apartment nearby?”

“Yes, it’s about a kilometer away. That’s close.”

“I see. There is nothing around here during the daytime, but it seems that some places are a little unsafe at night. I think you should be careful.”

“I see, thanks. I’ll try not to make any detours on my way home late.”

Hmm, it would have been a normal conversation if I didn’t know about what happened the other day.

And then I felt a tingling sensation around my ear like an electric current…

Aside from skills, something that could be called a sixth sense cultivated through countless battles was telling me that something was about to happen.

“Sorry, Sensei, I have some urgent business to attend to, so I’ll go ahead first.”

As if in response, Aookuji ran off. Does this mean that the monster from the other day will appear again?

Well, I guess I'll have to try stalking her seriously now. If the members of the hero’s party found out that the hero was following a girl, they would have been extremely angry.