Vol. 1 - Ch. 10

The next morning, as I ate my breakfast bread, I racked my brain over what to do about the incident with Soutou from the previous night.Incidentally, I had sneaked out of the building and returned home afterward. I was hesitant to call out to her at that time, and it was probably the right decision not to. It was good that I didn’t contact her. I can't have them trying to figure out who I am again.

The question is whether or not I should talk to Ms. Yamashiro about this again. But thinking about it, there is no way I can say, “I infiltrated a building occupied by a criminal organization and found our students fighting inside.”

Okay, let’s just pretend we didn’t see it and see what happens.

Judging from the principal’s meaningful words, I get the feeling that she already knows about Soutou as well as Aookuji. It would be a waste to be a bushwhacker.

Just as I was coming to a satisfying conclusion, the doorbell rang.

I headed for the front door thinking, “What is it so early in the morning?”

When I opened the door, there she was, a girl with her hair in twin-tails and a blazer.

“Eh, Soutou-san?”

“Oh, good morning, sensei. I have something I’d like to discuss with you, excuse me!”

Without waiting for permission, Soutou Kagari came into the apartment.

“Hey… wait! It’s not good to go up to my room.”

It’s a problem that a female student is in the room of a single male teacher, but the very act of bringing a minor into a teacher’s room is wrong in the first place.

When I frantically tried to stop her, Soutou turned around and stuck out her tongue in a perturbed manner. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“I need to talk to you, sensei. About what happened last night.”

“Huh…?”

Does that mean they know I was definitely there?

The “optical camouflage” skill shouldn’t even show up on surveillance cameras, but...

“It’s before school, so I’ll keep this short.”

Saying so, Soutou took the liberty of sitting on the other side of the table. I had no choice but to sit on the other side.

“So, what’s the gist? I think your official absence ended today.”

“I finished what I was doing early, so I will be going to school starting today. So, what I want to talk about is, of course, why you were in that building.”

“What building?”

When I played dumb, Soutou puffed up a little.

It is hard to believe that this petite student was in a shootout against a criminal syndicate last night.

“It’s the Nakatachi Building. The building that Crimson Twilight occupied. Is that right?”

“Right. And how do you prove I was there?”

“It was caught on the security camera.”

“Then show me the footage.”

Soutou made an unimpressed face again, but then she took out a device that resembled a smartphone and showed me the image displayed on it.

Unbelievable, it really did show me walking inside the building.

"I was surprised to learn that you were using an optical camouflage shield. This is still in the prototype stage at our organization. But well, even if you can't see it on the spot, if you analyze it with AI you’ll see what you’re looking at."

Really? What an amazing AI.

“I see. By the way, what’s this ‘organization’?”

“That? Don’t you know? Sensei, you’re from ‘Outfoxed,’ aren’t you?”

“Outfoxed?”

That’s a word I’ve never heard of before. Judging from the context, it seems to refer to some kind of organization or institution…

“You don’t need to pretend not to understand. It’s not like we’re enemies or anything.”

“No, I really don’t know. I’m just a new teacher in this world.”

“What?! Ah, but sensei, you just said ‘in this world,’ didn’t you? What do you mean?”

Oops, I forgot... Oh well, I'm sure someone will ask me about it anyway.

“Before I became a teacher, I went to another world. I was a hero there for a long time. That’s why I have special powers.”

“Huh…?”

Soutou looked at me in confusion for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, so you’re the kind of person who tells jokes like that, sensei. That was quite funny.”

No, no, I’m not joking… but I guess that’s the kind of reaction you’d get saying something like that.

“So, you’re saying your true identity is a secret, sensei. Ah, but tell me this. The CT agent in the hall... the one who defeated the Crimson Twilight soldiers was you, right?”

“Ah, I did take care of those guys in the hall. I just used a spell called ‘Restraint’ to immobilize them though.”

“Oh, so you’re going to continue with that setup, and the way you incapacitated the CT agent is a secret. Also, why were you there, sensei?”

“The only reason I was there was because I saw you on the news footage. I thought you got caught up in it, so I went over to help you just in case.”

“Eh?”

Soutou looked confused again... and then suddenly started fidgeting.

“Ah, that’s… thank you very much.”

“Well, I guess it wasn’t necessary.”

“Not really. I was a bit worried about rescuing the hostages myself. By the way, was that hole in the wall also made by you, sensei?”

“That’s also magic. It’s called ‘Drilling’ and it digs holes.”

“So you even have the technology to easily break through the walls of buildings. I’m interested in the organization behind you, sensei.”

Such an “organization” does not exist.

“However as a teacher, I suppose I should stop you, but you have your own reasons, right?”

“Yes, I do. I appreciate your concern, but I can’t stop this all the same.”

Seeing how she sat up straight and answered with a serious expression on her face, it seemed like she was doing it out of a sense of responsibility rather than because someone was forcing her to do it.

The other party is an “international criminal organization,” so it is not hard to understand her sense of justice.

But what they are doing is a little bit out of the ordinary. Well, I guess I’m not one to say it.

“I’m sure you know Kumagami-sensei and the others, right? In that case, I won’t say anything more.”

“Thank you very much. I won’t talk about you outside of the ‘Organization’ either.”

Saying this, Soutou stood up and slung her bag back over her shoulder.

“And sir, CT agents are not human beings; they are like puppets that only carry out orders. So if you ever have to fight them again, it would be best to disable them.”

With that, she bowed and headed out the front door.