Ch.130130. Hilarious Hidden Camera Prank

The return journey wasn’t particularly urgent, so we maintained a more relaxed pace than when we came.

Still, we were moving quickly… but at least slow enough to appreciate the scenery.

Mountains, forests, and the sun rising to its zenith in the sky…

“By the way, what time is it now? Is the exam over?”

“The exam finished a long time ago.”

“Oh my, what a mess because of Lilith.”

“Indeed.”

“…Do you two have to tease me even in this situation? I’m the victim here, the victim.”

“Ah, Ms. Lilith. You’re awake. Did you sleep well?”

“Oh my. Yes. Thanks to you, I slept very deeply.”

Though she had been screaming hysterically when we first started flying, Lilith seemed quite calm after waking from her faint.

“I see you have time to chat now? Earlier you were too busy screaming.”

“It’s still scary, you know? I’m just enduring it better than before.”

So she hasn’t adapted—her threshold has just increased after experiencing aerobatics.

Well, I suppose that’s still better than when we started.

I wasn’t the only one thinking this, as Celia chimed in with a comment.

“The shock therapy worked quite well, didn’t it?”

“Celia, I swear when we get back to the academy, you’ll see.”

“Hey, cut her some slack. Despite how she looks, she was really worried when you fainted.”

“Really? Well then… No, wait! You shouldn’t have made me faint in the first place…!”

“Not easy.”

“That’s right. Not easy at all.”

“…You two are seriously annoying.”

After exchanging such meaningless banter for quite some time, familiar scenery began to appear.

It was the forest surrounding the academy.

Before arriving at the academy, I decided to quickly organize my plans for what comes next.

Actually, there’s not much to plan. Once we deal with Fanatic’s colleagues gathered in Ritten, this matter will be concluded.

As for Arpatustu, he’ll come to the academy anyway, so I can deal with him then.

I should catch them quickly before things get out of hand. That was my thinking.

The only problem is that Ritten is quite far… but I’ll just have to ask Celia nicely for a round-trip ticket.

“If we catch them all, will the heretic activities die down?”

“That’s uncertain, isn’t it?”

“True, but I think they probably will.”

“If Ludion says so, then it must be true.”

There’s no other reason for heretic activities to be so active at this point.

So if we round up all of Fanatic’s colleagues, the suddenly active heretic movements will quickly die down.

I’ve been quite worried about this. It’s fortunate that a solution has presented itself.

I should finish this quickly and then sort out the original story flow with peace of mind.

With that, I finished my thoughts.

When we returned to the academy, we were greeted not by the headmaster or Professor Reina, but by Alkine.

She was pacing near the academy’s main gate with a sulky expression, apparently waiting just for us to arrive.

“The student council president herself came to welcome us. What an honor.”

“Honor? What were you doing running away without taking the exam? Professor Reina told me to catch you and drag you to the headmaster’s office when you arrived.”

“Well… the explanation is neither too long nor too short.”

“Fine. Explain.”

I briefly explained the Lilith kidnapping incident, and Alkine quickly seemed to understand.

“Is that floating thing next to you the kidnapper?”

“Exactly.”

As expected of Alkine. She somehow sensed it even though Celia had hidden it from view.

But for some reason, after learning about the whole situation, Alkine began to act awkwardly.

“I… I see it was really urgent. Urgent enough that you chased after without even explaining to the professor.”

“It was definitely urgent. She was kidnapped and could have suffered who knows what.”

“Hmm… I see… Well, shall we head to the headmaster’s office now?”

Why is she being so awkward?

While I was puzzled by Alkine’s behavior, Celia interjected.

“Ludion. Don’t worry about it. Alkine was actually upset that we went somewhere without her, but now that she’s heard the explanation, she realizes there was a good reason and feels embarrassed.”

“I see.”

Thank you, Celia-wagen!

“Don’t analyze me in such detail.”

Alkine, embarrassed by Celia’s accurate analysis, responded curtly.

But somehow, I could already hear exactly how Celia would respond. She would definitely say, “You’re not denying it, though?”

“You’re not denying it, though?”

See? At this rate, I could probably get a Celia language certification.

“…You know, I always notice this. You guys really get along well.”

“Lilith, despite appearances, Alkine is the student council president. What are you two?”

“Don’t you ever get tired of nitpicking the same thing?”

“Wait. What do you mean ‘despite appearances’? What exactly do you think I am, Celia?”

Although there was some division among the women because of Lilith, who always says what she wants while pretending to hesitate, I didn’t bother to intervene.

I’ve learned from experience that if I just move ahead on my own, they’ll follow naturally.

“Just a moment. Alkine, don’t casually stick so close to Ludion’s side. That’s my spot.”

“There’s the other side, isn’t there?”

“Who’s blocking me from going there right now! And Lilith, don’t stick so close behind Ludion!”

“W-when was I sticking close?!”

It was a bit noisy the whole way as they didn’t stop talking for even a moment, but I knew intervening would only make it louder, so I just headed toward the headmaster’s office as quickly as possible.

When we arrived at the headmaster’s office, thankfully they all stopped bickering and found their places.

It was such a coordinated movement that I couldn’t believe they had been fighting until now.

Celia on my left, Alkine on my right. And Lilith…

“Hey, if I’m behind you, I can’t see to greet them properly.”

Saying that, she moved to my front.

After positioning themselves like Power Rangers getting into formation… we opened the door to the headmaster’s office.

What greeted our perfect formation was…

“I’m truly sorry.”

“…Pardon?”

The headmaster was deeply bowing in apology.

What is this? Some kind of hidden camera prank?

This is quite awkward.

///

Actually, though we’ve been glossing over it until now, there was one more important aspect of Lilith’s kidnapping incident.

The fact that someone had infiltrated the academy itself.

The academy has magic that restricts outsiders from entering, but Fanatic had managed to break through it.

That’s why the headmaster was apologizing to us.

Essentially, Lilith’s kidnapping was due to a breach in the academy’s security.

“We didn’t even realize there was a breach until it was too late. If you hadn’t been there… I’m truly sorry.”

As another apology came with a bow, I gently grabbed Lilith’s shoulder and pushed her forward.

I thought she should be the one to receive this apology.

Suddenly thrust forward, Lilith was a bit flustered but accepted the apology with relative composure.

“Um… Headmaster? I’m fine. As you can see, I’m perfectly okay. And what fault is there in being breached? It’s the fault of the one who broke in.”

“No, once breached, everything becomes our responsibility. We were lucky this time that nothing serious happened, but there’s no guarantee for next time.”

The headmaster apologized once more and began to discuss future countermeasures.

“I’ll ensure the academy’s security is strengthened. And… regarding compensation, we can discuss that separately later…”

“Ah, just a moment.”

I interrupted as soon as I heard the word compensation.

I thought I might as well make a request.

“I need to visit Ritten before the vacation. Could you grant us permission?”

You need permission to leave the academy anyway.

Actually, going during vacation wouldn’t be a big deal, but honestly, who wants to work during vacation season?

If possible, I wanted to finish this beforehand and rest.

However… perhaps it was a request difficult to understand from an uninformed perspective, as the headmaster seemed puzzled.

“…Ritten? Why suddenly there…?”

“I have some business there.”

After saying that, I glanced at Celia.

Understanding my intention immediately, Celia revealed the hidden Fanatic and… unceremoniously threw him onto the floor in front of me.

She could have just held him. She’s really committed to the dramatic effect.

Well, I can’t lose either.

I rolled the collapsed figure with my foot to reveal his face.

Hmm, but he looks too haggard. I hope he doesn’t suddenly die while unconscious.

Whatever the case, I decided to explain first.

“This is the perpetrator of the kidnapping incident.”

“I was wondering what you were hiding, and it’s this…”

“Well, we captured him somehow… but what’s important now is that his colleagues are still out there.”

The headmaster’s expression darkened at my words. He seemed to take it quite seriously, hearing they were accomplices of the kidnapper.

“Are they in Ritten? You want a leave permit to go catch them?”

“Exactly. I don’t particularly need any compensation. And these guys… wait, do any of you need compensation?”

“I don’t need any.”

“I don’t need it either.”

“Yes. Since they don’t need anything either, just give us all leave permits. That should be enough.”

It would only be burdensome to receive compensation anyway. And in situations like this, declining compensation tends to leave a better impression.

‘If I leave a good impression now, maybe they’ll overlook any mischief I might cause later?’

That was the ulterior motive behind my request…

“…Pfft. Hahaha!!”

For some reason, the headmaster burst into laughter.

“Are you stupid? I can give you leave permits without it being compensation!”

“Well, I know that. But receiving it this way has a certain romance to it, don’t you think?”

Though it was an excuse to hide my completely selfish intentions, the headmaster seemed quite pleased with it.

“Hiya, you’re quite the character… Alright, if that’s what you want, I’m grateful. Are you leaving first thing tomorrow morning?”

“No. There’s still the student council president exam tomorrow, so we’ll leave after that’s done.”

Alkine was already upset about being left behind today. I can’t imagine what would happen if we went to Ritten without her too.

After coordinating the timing, we shared more detailed information about the incident.

Various discussions about why Lilith was kidnapped today.

And… since we were at it, I also casually dropped information about Arpatustu.

“A demon will invade the academy?”

“Yes, apparently they negotiated to help with that.”

“…I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

This should be enough.

Even though demons could probably break through any defense if they really wanted to, just having the headmaster know in advance would make things go more smoothly.

Afterwards, we briefly discussed future plans.

“Just in case, I’ll make some movements to search for the missing person.”

“That would be appreciated.”

When I said we would keep the capture of Fanatic and rescue of Lilith a secret, we received such cooperation.

Now I just need to go to Ritten and take them down without any other worries.

“Well then… we’ll be going now.”

“Yes, thank you so much.”

Since there was nothing more to discuss, we concluded the conversation.

After exchanging farewells in an atmosphere quite different from when we arrived, we stepped outside to find Professor Reina waiting.

“Good day, Professor.”

“Not so good for me. Someone ran away without taking the exam, giving me a lot of extra work.”

“…I’ve explained everything to the headmaster about that, so if you go in…”

“No, I have things to discuss with you anyway, so let’s go to my research lab. You can explain there.”

First Alkine, then the headmaster, and now Professor Reina.

How many times do I have to give the same explanation…

“Oh, um. Sorry?”

Alkine apologized awkwardly, having to hear the same explanation for the third time, but that didn’t change the fact that I had to explain everything again.