Frire felt like an ominous future had just flashed past her, but she put it off for now.
What was more important now was to explain the situation to the teachers who’ve just recovered their sanity.
During that time, the rescue squad arrived, and the ‘official’ explanation given for the berserked students and teachers was mass hysteria, though the exact cause was unknown.
All the affected individuals were to be brought to a hospital outside the fields for checkup.
After all that was done, Frire turned to the four people with her and asked them to keep quiet about this incident.
“I’m sure you all know already, but not a word of this to anyone, okay? Nakamura’s group just happened to be present, so they can be exempted from questioning, but Braun, you and I need to get our stories straight,” Frire said.
“Yes, of course. I’m the only one who saw the whole thing from start to finish, so it’s a given I’d be questioned. I’ll make sure to keep the use of the mind skills, the culprit, and Nakamura’s actions a secret,” Braun said.
He never hoped to get out of this without being questioned given his involvement.
He also understood how important it was to hide the truth when they still didn’t know who from the school was the culprit.
Shinichi made a glum face when his ‘deeds’ were mentioned, but he had enough self-awareness to keep quiet.
“I’m counting on you. Also, unfortunately, we’re going to have to postpone the exam of technology class 3 – B. It would actually be best to suspend the whole exam, but without being able to give an appropriate reason, it’s just not possible. Anyhow, you should visit the headquarters on your unit,” Frire said.
With a sigh, Frire made it clear that they had no choice but to continue the exam. She meant that for Shinichi, actually, then she turned to the two girls and yelled.
“And you two better go back to your respective exam areas! Things ended up like this, so I’ll give you a pass this time, but if you try to do as you please again, I’m giving you two a demerit! By then you better be prepared to fail! Understood?”
They helped pacify the situation and they also weren’t the loose-lipped sort, but as a teacher, Frire had to scold them for doing as they pleased when they were in the middle of an exam.
The way she glared at them as she scolded them would scare anyone who saw her, but…
“…I’m sorry, Fudonecchi, but I think we’re past the point of you making scary faces, right?” Myuhi said.
“Huh? Ah, umm…. Please don’t turn to me for confirmation!” Aristel said.
“What was that!?” Frire said.
Once a person’s reputation for menace has been torn off, it’s not something that can easily be recovered.
The fact that Frire also calmed down after the teacher and students were taken away also worked against her.
Myuhi was full of smiles, and while Aristel was unsure how to act, she wasn’t scared.
They weren’t at all like the students and teachers who would easily be scared by Frire.
But that was only a given. After all, they had seen just how pathetic she was after she attacked Shinichi and was beaten black and blue.
“UUU… This is all your fault!”
Just an hour ago, Frire’s angry voice was enough to scare these students, but because of a certain boy, her once terrifying reputation has been turned into a joke. Frire glared at Shinichi with tears in her eyes, but it was in vain.
“That just means you never fit the role of a demon instructor,” Shinichi said.
“As if I could change now!!” Frire retorted.
Shinichi was right, but Frire knew it was already too late for her, so she yelled and shook Shinichi, but he only replied with a, ‘that’s true too.’
Frire had been doing her best to try and fix her relationship with her older brother, so when all of these was piled up on her, it was no surprise that she finally broke.
Unfortunately, her cries only roused Shinichi’s mischievous side.
Still, Shinichi was decent enough to hold himself back. Of course, with much regret.
“…Hey, you two, mind doing me a favor?” Shinichi asked.
That’s why Shinichi decided to ignore her and ask the two girls something he had in mind.
“On your way back, I’d like for you to check the other classes under the same pretense you used to visit me,” Shinichi said.
Shinichi was implicitly asking them to check if there were other students and teachers affected by the skill. Of course, the girls immediately understood his intentions and that they were indeed the most suited for the job.
“Of course, we’re the only ones who can do something like this, after all. Any other student wandering around during an exam wouldn’t be so easily accepted,” Aristel said.
“Well, it’s more like they just won’t be able to refuse, but yeah, if it’s us, no one will suspect anything. Leave it to us.””
With Frire’s reputation having taken a hit, there was no one left to stop the school’s top two girls.
Even if the perpetrator were to be among those, no one would find the two girls suspicious.
Shinichi told the two girls to contact him or Frire if they found out anything, but when he turned to where Frire was just a moment ago, she was nowhere to be seen.
When a sobbing voice reached Shinichi’s ears, he found the missing teacher sulking on the ground.
“Y-You won’t even listen to anything I say… UU!”
While Frire had lost her reputation, the girls were meekly listening to Shinichi’s orders. Because of that Frire suffered a different kind of defeat from her mock battle with Shinichi this morning.
“Sigh… Get yourself together. This isn’t anything like that. Besides, don’t you have things you’re supposed to do too?” Shinichi said.
“T-That’s true, but… I barely had any confidence left, and yet you just had to go and crush that to pieces too,” Frire said.
‘Something like that is better crushed than left standing,’ Shinichi thought to himself, but of course he didn’t say that out loud.
It would be troublesome if Frire were to break any more than this.
“Come on now, teach, I still have a lot of things I need you to explain to me,” Shinichi said as he patted her on the shoulders while sending her a meaningful gaze, reminding Frire of the circumstances when she first tried to reach out to him.
Right. She was supposed to tell him why he had to work as an examiner.
“Hmm, ah, right, that’s right. I still have to talk about tomorrow’s exam. Because of you the draft I came up with has gone to waste,” Frire said.
“Nah, that draft was way too soft. Like I said you really are better off as a nice teacher that gives sweets than a demon instructor that whips his students,” Shinichi said.
They both knew it wasn’t a topic for others to hear, so they signalled each other with their eyes, and spoke only about the things that could be overheard.
“Umm, what do you mean by that, teacher? I get the exam part, but what is this about the exam’s draft?” Aristel asked.
But there was
“Hmm? Ah, didn’t Nakamura tell you? We didn’t have enough hands, so we had him take over as the examiner of 1 – D,” Frire stood up and said with a surprised expression.
Aristel was the top student of the school, but she needed a moment to understand what Frire had just told her.
That was how unprecedented this matter was.
“…E-Ehhhhhh!?!? W-Wait a moment! How could a student be an examiner!? I know this is D Class we’re talking about, but even then no student has ever been tasked to be an examiner!!”
Students of the special class and other brilliant students have helped out in lessons in the past, but never to the point of serving as an examiner.
Aristel could never have imagined that when she went to get food and visited Shinichi that he could possibly be the examiner of 1 – D.
“Ahaha… Hina, Werbra, you two taking notes? This is the right reaction,” Shinichi said.
“Huh?”
“Ah!”
“You might have known about it, but it’s still unacceptable given your position not to act surprised, so that’s a minus two for the both of you,” Shinichi said.
A brilliant yet suspicious smile appeared on Shinichi’s face as he appraised Myuhi and Wernher like an examiner.
It was only for a moment, but the two people he named undoubtedly stiffened.
Myuhi should have asked Shinichi right from the start why he was an examiner, and Wernher should have been surprised alongside Aristel.
Evidently, the two of them realized something that she couldn’t.
“!”
Because of that the both of them gulped and began to sweat buckets.
After all, Shinichi was basically telling them that he knew about their secrets.
Because of that his brilliant smile emitted a powerful pressure that weighed down on them.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, rather than us, shouldn’t you be focusing more on Ari-chan,” Myuhi somehow managed to regain her calm and point at the girl in question with a wry smile.
“Huh?” Shinichi knew she was just trying to change the topic, but he didn’t mind and followed the direction she was pointing. Alas, the sight that greeted him then gave him a strong sense of deja vu.
“Just one month since your transfer and you’ve already been chosen as an examiner substitute? A feat unprecedented since the opening of the school? I knew it! You really are amazing!!”
Before Shinichi was a girl with dazzling eyes and a face full of euphoria.
That was a gaze even more fervent than when he met her for the first time. Understandably, even Shinichi flinched.
Respect, longing, and something else altogether filled that passionate gaze that made it too dazzling for Shinichi to endure.
“Uu.”
Shinichi knew he was a terrible person, so Aristel glorifying him like this made him uncomfortable.
“T-Teach, what should I do?” Shinichi asked.
“So you’ll only rely on me at times like this? Hmph, I don’t know! I have a meeting by dawn, so let’s go already!”
—‘She’s really soft at times like these,’ Shinichi mischievously thought to himself.
At the same time, he thought fondly of her for helping him out. That’s why he let her drag him by the scruff of his neck like he did to her earlier.
“Oh, right.
“…What?” Wernher replied with a stiff voice because he felt as though Shinichi was emphasizing the word ‘fake’.
But Shinichi didn’t act like he noticed any of that and just smiled.
“I had a great time today because you showed me something nostalgic. It’s been a while, so, thank you.”
Wernher relaxed for a moment when Shinichi thanked him, but…
“Consider today’s events as my way of saying thanks, but… If you want to know more, you better be prepared to pay the price, okay?”
—Otherwise, you might just meet the same fate as that dumpling bug.
Even though Shinichi spoke while he was being dragged, the unsmiling smile on his face sent chills running down Wernher’s spine.
It was at this point that Wernher finally realized that he’d just lent his beloved weapon to someone completely out of this world.
He couldn’t budge even an inch as he quietly watched the boy be dragged away.
“Ha, ha ha ha… What a scary guy…”
It was only when Shinichi had finally vanished into the dark of the night that Wernher was able to calm down.
His legs gave out on him, and he laughed hoarsely.
Tl Note: Werner Brown to Wernher Braun.
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