Specific

“…Did something happen? I heard a dangerous noise.”

“Nothing serious. Just the sound of a useless criminal causing a disturbance.”

“Haa, I see.”

Well, who told them to commit treason?

If they hadn’t done such foolish things, they’d be living ordinary lives by now.

…Of course, I fully understand how disappointing the Imperial Family’s actions have been over the past decade.

It’s only natural for resentment to build up. Regarding that point, I can’t hold my head high. It was undoubtedly the Imperial Family’s fault.

However, committing terror and treason is a different story.

Just because things didn’t go their way, they tried to plunge people into fear and throw the world into chaos.

They reaped what they sowed.

“Ah, Princess-nim. Speaking of which, I have something to report…”

“What is it?”

“A knight visited here earlier. He said he’d gathered information about your request.”

“…I see. Thank you for your assistance until now.”

“No need for thanks. As long as you provide some support to the prison…”

“Don’t worry. This year’s budget will be increased by 30%. Will that suffice?”

“More than enough.”

The Prison Warden nodded with evident pleasure.

What could he possibly be planning to do with the increased budget that makes him so happy?

Employee welfare? Facility expansion? Or perhaps lining his own pockets?

…Not my concern.

The prison budget was extremely tight anyway. A 30% increase wouldn’t make much noticeable difference.

Leaving the happily smiling warden behind, Stella picked up the telephone receiver.

It was time to receive the long-awaited results.

***

As the counseling room door opened smoothly, the anxious students who had been staring at the door all rushed toward it at once.

What happened? Did they find the right information?

Unable to contain their curiosity, they all began pouring out questions.

“Eh, what happened?!”

“Did you find her?!”

Even though this was the most prosperous capital in the nation, it was impossible to know every detail about all criminal organizations.

But even just one finding would be enough.

If Teacher was in one of those organizations, they were prepared to destroy it no matter how powerful it was to get her back.

“…I’m not sure how to put this. We did gather detailed information about criminal organizations but…”

“What? What’s the problem?”

“There’s only one.”

“Huh?”

“There’s only one organization estimated to have at least five members working as a team.”

“…How is that possible?”

“Exactly. I can hardly believe it myself.”

The students who had hoped to find at least one lead stared blankly at Stella, never imagining there’d be only a single organization left.

…How could this be possible?

“But apparently, there’s a backstory.”

“Backstory?”

“Surprisingly, the number of criminal organizations sharply decreased after a certain point… until only one remained. The rest are just individuals or groups of two or three – hardly organization level.”

“…”

“Sounds fishy, right?”

“Extremely.”

As the capital had grown significantly compared to other regions, wealth naturally concentrated here.

And where wealth concentrates, flies smelling money inevitably gather.

But only one fly remained?

The only explanation was that someone had intentionally sprayed pesticide everywhere.

…And we knew exactly who could have sprayed that pesticide.

“Teacher?”

“Right. No one else could pull off such an absurd feat.”

“By the way, the remaining organization is suspected to commit few crimes – countable on one hand – and focuses on caring for abandoned children, which is why security forces deliberately left them alone.”

The students became certain.

Teacher must be in that organization.

A criminal organization that barely commits crimes and cares for abandoned children?

Exactly the kind of thing the Teacher they knew would do.

Especially the unnecessarily sentimental part.

…At this point, the students realized the Teacher they’d known wasn’t fake.

Her actions now are just like before.

“You’ve probably guessed from it being the only remaining organization, but it’s also the same place we paid protection money to.”

“…The darkest place is under the candlestick.”

“Exactly. Who would’ve thought she’d be hiding right in the capital?”

What should we say to Teacher who made such comments before running away?

Grab her pant leg and demand why she did it?

Or just say we missed her?

They weren’t sure what reaction to show.

“…Should we go to that organization now?”

“No, let’s wait a bit.”

“What? Why?”

“You don’t actually think everything will be resolved just by meeting Teacher, do you?”

“…No?”

“How could that be? As you know, Teacher abandoned us and ran away once.”

Flinch.

The students’ bodies trembled at Stella’s words.

Though the exact reasons remained unknown, it was true she had abandoned them.

“Then isn’t it obvious she’ll try to run the moment she realizes we’ve found her?”

“No, but would she really run away again…?”

“She’ll definitely run.”

“Why? Why are you so certain?”

Eileen grumbled at Stella with clear dissatisfaction in her voice.

She wanted to believe that if they knew why Teacher ran from the students and removed that reason, she wouldn’t run again.

She didn’t want to accept that this belief might be wrong.

Otherwise, what’s the point of finding Teacher?

“No, given Teacher’s personality, she’ll absolutely try to escape.”

“…Ugh.”

“Since you can’t refute that, it seems you thought so too. …How utterly helpless.”

“Wh-what else can we do! So what’s your plan?! Do you have a better idea?!”

“Yes.”

Stella declared to Eileen –

No, to all the students including Eileen:

“If Teacher tries to run, we simply block her escape routes.”

“Block them?”

“Exactly. Like hunters setting traps to lure prey, we’ll capture Teacher completely. Even if she uses hypnosis, we’ll make sure she can’t escape.”

“Is that possible?”

“Why not? So wait a moment. I know you want to go immediately, but if we do that, Teacher will just hide somewhere harder to find. Consider this our last chance.”

“Hmm…”

Teacher Ophelia even abandoned her position as academy faculty to run away.

Did they really think she’d obediently return just because they found where she lives now?

That would be a grave miscalculation, Stella thought.

If they went to Teacher’s location now, she’d immediately escape.

With her hypnosis ability, failure this time could lead to unimaginable complications.

She might even erase the very memory of Ophelia Teacher from their minds. The thought crossed her mind.

…Until they fully understand hypnosis’s capabilities and limitations, rushing in would be the worst approach.

If they truly wanted to meet Teacher Ophelia again, they couldn’t afford regretful actions.

Perfectly.

And cleanly.

They needed to handle it as if they’d anticipated every move from the beginning.

“Don’t be so impatient. Haven’t we located where Teacher is? We’ll meet her soon enough.”

“…But what if Teacher runs away?”

“No need to worry about that. She’s probably just playing games anyway.”

“True.”

“So let’s focus on how to capture Teacher alive.”

Stella, Orca, Leo, and Anastasia put their heads together to begin strategizing.

Had anyone overheard their discussion, they would’ve immediately called the police from the barrage of ruthless terms being exchanged.

***

“…Do I really have to eat this?”

“Boss, are you really complaining about side dishes? Shouldn’t you set an example for the children?”

“Boss won’t eat it! I won’t eat it either!”

“See this? The children are picking up bad habits because of you, Boss.”

Ugh.

I stared distastefully at the food before me.

I really hate this.

I poked at the green-colored thing with my chopsticks.

“W-well, broccoli is at least a little…”

“Boss… Even the children are eating well. What will we do if you refuse?”

“Ugh.”

“You’ve been eating nothing but snacks lately – we’re worried about your health. You need to eat this at least.”

“B-but I only ate those because the children gave them to me! I had no choice…”

“But you still ate them.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“If you really refuse, we’ll have to limit gaming to one hour per day.”

“Th-that’s unacceptable!”

Startled by Jane’s threat, I looked at her in alarm.

A life without games? How could that even be possible?

The only reason I adapted to this world was because it’s somewhat developed, blending medieval and modern elements.

Playing games released in this world helped me endure.

Had I been transported to a purely medieval world, I might not have survived.

But banning games?

An outrageous tyranny.

Yet as someone living under another’s roof, I’d have to accept it if she really banned gaming.

Though I’m called “Boss,” Jane never backs down in these matters.

“Now, hurry up and eat.”

“Uwaaak…!”

No choice then.

I tightly closed my eyes and swallowed the green demon.

…Disgusting.