Chapter 127

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The sudden encounter with the Hunting Dog ended with nothing but questions.

Carlos’s habit of omitting parts of his speech was the worst for communication.

It easily led to misunderstandings, and more importantly, the message wasn’t clear.

It’s a remnant of his days as the Family’s hunting dog.

Or, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it trauma.

Since even he can’t fix this habit, I can’t really complain.

Carlos’s younger sibling wants to meet me.

That’s why he came to find me.

But I didn’t get to hear the most important part—why they wanted to meet me.

A few days ago, I might have agreed and followed without knowing the reason.

Class D kids are troublemakers, but they’re not villains.

In fact, they’re quite reliable allies.

But I had just heard about Class D’s suspicious behavior yesterday.

It might have been a trivial matter, or I might have overreacted.

Still, until things are clarified, I need to maintain at least some level of caution.

I’ve had the experience of being completely fooled by blindly trusting the novel.

“Long time no see.”

For that reason, I was looking at the girl in front of me with a suspicious gaze.

Dreamy purple hair.

Dark circles contrasting with her pale skin, accentuating her eyes.

Earrings shaped like full moons that drew attention, and silver rings adorning her fingers.

It was Regina from Class D.

◈

“Alice, come to the counseling room after lunch.”

That was the message Angelica gave after the morning assembly.

The reason was none other than the commotion that shook the hospital yesterday.

Using supernatural abilities recklessly in the academy’s affiliated hospital wasn’t something that could be quietly swept under the rug. 

Eugene was the victim of a one-sided beating, and Alice was the direct perpetrator who misused her abilities. Angelica, who was on the scene, did her best to cover it up, but it could have turned into a major incident.

The fundamental reason why Class D students are classified as troublemakers.

They committed crimes that violated the law using their abilities.

Property damage is also a crime.

Supernaturals are superhumans who surpass human limits.

Because of that, supernaturals are controlled by the law even more strictly than ordinary people.

The crime of property damage using supernatural abilities.

And it was committed in a hospital, no less.

Even Angelica couldn’t completely erase what happened.

Of course, Alice wouldn’t be transferred to Class D because of this.

She might receive some penalty points, but for a genius like Alice, a minor disadvantage is practically nothing.

The academy and the Celestial Corps are meritocracies.

The main task of heroes is to fight monsters on the front lines.

Naturally, combat ability is the primary criterion.

The combination of Alice and Frey has the potential of a captain-level hero.

Losing a few grade points isn’t something to be afraid of.

“Wh-what should I do…?”

However, for Alice, who has never caused any trouble before, being called in like this was a huge burden.

Unable to hide her anxiety, Alice grabbed my sleeve, and I couldn’t bear to send her alone, so I followed her to the counseling room.

The academy’s counseling room is on the second floor of the main building.

Located across from the faculty office.

I tried to go in with her, but Angelica only let Alice into the counseling room.

So, I was pacing in circles on the second-floor corridor, waiting for Alice’s counseling to end.

“Huh?”

A girl with a bored expression that clearly showed her annoyance was trudging down the corridor.

Her face looked familiar. Staring at her, she seemed to notice me and raised an eyebrow.

“Long time no see.”

“Ah, yeah. Nice to see you.”

First Carlos this morning, and now Regina.

Regina looked me up and down, then spoke in a questioning tone.

“What are you doing here?”

“What about you, Regina?”

“Answering a question with a question, you’re such a polite friend.”

Regina let out a dry laugh, amused.

She pointed at the counseling room with her finger and opened her lips.

“Counseling. Regular counseling. The troublemakers of Class D need this kind of care, so we’re called in every two weeks. Annoying, really.”

The reason the academy accepted these troublemakers who caused social uproar is for rehabilitation.

Their abilities and talents are outstanding, but their personalities are messed up.

It’s a waste to discard them, but it’s also uncomfortable to accept them.

They’re truly like a chicken rib—useless yet hard to throw away.

Regularly checking their mental state is part of Class D’s curriculum.

The academy’s philosophy is to nurture even potential time bombs into proper heroes.

“What are you doing in front of the counseling room? Are you here for counseling too?”

“No, I’m waiting for Alice.”

“Ah, that kid…”

Regina frowned as if recalling a bad memory.

She looked around and spoke in a grumbling tone.

“You’re always together, so I wondered why you’re alone this time.”

“Heh, so you’ve been watching me all along?”

“Well, yeah.”

I subtly tried to probe, but she agreed too easily.

Instead, I was the one left speechless.

Regina scratched her cheek and continued.

“Good timing. I have something to apologize to you for. That chick-like kid has been bothering me, so I haven’t been able to come see you. Even now, just thinking about it gives me the creeps.”

Huh? This is unexpected.

I had heard that Regina and Seri were thoroughly beaten and chased away by Frey.

But hearing it directly from her made me feel uneasy.

Weren’t you hiding it?

“Last time, when you were discharged from the hospital, I came to see you. Remember?”

“Ah, no…?”

“Right. Seri erased it with hypnosis.”

Her explanation was so calm that I wondered if I had misheard something.

Is it okay to talk about erasing someone’s memory so casually?

Lucia, I’m a little—no, a lot—flustered here.

“You probably don’t remember, but there’s someone named Seri. She’s in Class D with me. Back then, you were addicted to my drugs, right? I brought Seri along to help fix that.”

It’s true that the addiction symptoms disappeared completely the day after I was discharged.

I quietly focused on Regina’s words and listened intently.

“Using Seri’s hypnosis ability to remove the addiction symptoms was simple. But she’s a bit… too playful. She tried to play a little prank on you, but then Alice showed up… Well, you probably get the gist without me explaining further, right?”

“Yeah, I think I understand.”

So, to summarize briefly:

First, since the addiction symptoms disappeared, it means I accepted the hypnosis.

If Regina was involved, she could have forced the hypnosis on me, but why would Regina choose such an extreme method?

But it’s surprising. I thought I’d refuse if someone tried to hypnotize me.

Anyway, after using hypnosis to make me forget the addiction symptoms, Seri’s playful nature kicked in, and she tried to do something to me.

But she got caught by Frey, who showed up at just the right time, right?

That also explains why she tried to hypnotize Frey.

She was trying to cover up her prank and ended up getting caught herself.

Wow, so it really was just me overreacting.

I had a feeling it might be the case, but still.

All the worrying I’ve been doing since yesterday turned out to be pointless, which left me feeling a bit empty.

Still, I felt much better knowing the misunderstanding was cleared up.

It’s a little concerning that Seri tried to play a prank on me using hypnosis, but it couldn’t have been anything serious, right? At most, it was probably just a harmless prank. Especially since Regina, the voice of reason and the brake of Class D, didn’t stop her.

To be honest, I didn’t want to suspect Class D from the beginning.

In the novel, they were allies who helped Eugene.

Even if reality has diverged from the story I knew, I wanted to keep believing in them.

Especially Carlos, one of the few students who died in battle.

I didn’t want to doubt a hero who died protecting people.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to, I couldn’t. That kid stuck to you like glue, and I had to be careful. I kept putting it off, and it ended up dragging on until today.”

It seems Frey really gave them a hard time.

Well, back then, Frey was mentally and physically exhausted from Alice’s absence.

If someone was being annoying in front of her, she might have overreacted to vent her frustration.

“I didn’t actively help, but I stood by and watched, so I’m no different from Seri.”

Regina paused for a moment, then straightened her fingers.

The rings adorning her fingers, turning them silver.

She took off the ring on her index finger and lightly tossed it toward me.

“Take it, it’s a gift as an apology.”

The ring was so small I almost dropped it.

The silver ring sparkled brilliantly under the light.

It didn’t have any special decorations, but it had intricate geometric patterns engraved on it.

“Uh, are you sure? This looks expensive.”

“Just take it. It’ll make me feel better.”

I’m not really interested in accessories, but it’s not polite to refuse a gift given as an apology. I smiled and clasped the ring with both hands. I’m not sure if it’ll fit, though. Regina and Lucia’s hand sizes seem similar, so it should be fine, right?

“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”

“It’s nothing to be thanked for. I’ll bring Seri next time to apologize. You can explain things to Alice.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you.”

I nodded happily, but then the events of this morning suddenly came to mind.

Wait, if the misunderstanding with Regina and Seri is cleared up, then there’s no need to be wary of Carlos anymore, right?

And Regina, who’s in the same class as Carlos, is right here.

If I ask her, maybe I can clear up my doubts?

“Regina, can I ask you something?”

“What is it? It’s annoying, but since I’m at fault, I’ll do my best to answer.”

“It’s about Carlos.”

There’s no need to doubt their sincerity anymore, but the questions remain.

I’d appreciate even a small clue.

But if she doesn’t know, then there’s nothing I can do.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Lucia is glad that the misunderstanding was resolved.

She is relieved that she no longer has to doubt the kids of Class D.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Hey author! I won’t stand this chicken rib slander!!