Chapter 8: Guns, Gossip, and Guilt

The entrance of the luxurious hotel, with streetlights shining brightly in the dark night, had a certain ambiance.

If there were a bench, I would have taken a moment to appreciate this beauty.

But unfortunately, a blue-haired boy, incongruous with the setting, was standing there, smiling at me.

With a knowing look in his eyes.

…Annoying.

“..Could you tell me why Ao is here?”

I quietly put the sleeping pills in my pocket as I spoke.

I don’t know what he’ll nitpick about if he sees this.

As a precaution, I should hide all weaknesses.

Whether he didn’t see it or not, Ao said with a refreshing smile that someone who didn’t know his true nature would find charming.

“…Why? Does a disciple need a reason to meet their teacher?”

Disciple? I’ve never given him an official lesson.

Even the closest thing to a class was when I couldn’t control my anger and pulled out a sword.

While I was speechless in disbelief, Ao put his hand in his pocket.

After a moment, in Ao’s withdrawn hand, there was a platinum coin shining brightly even in the night.

..There’s no way an ordinary person would carry that around, so I guess this proves that Ao isn’t a commoner.

Ao tossed the platinum coin in the air, caught it again, and said.

“This is a token of my appreciation as your disciple. Will you accept it?”

Is he trying to bribe me now?

I’m only in charge of their health class, and not even their homeroom teacher.

If he wants to manipulate test scores or something, he can just give it to another corrupt teacher.

What is he up to?

“You are not my disciple. If anything, you are a patient I might need to treat if you get hurt.”

I almost added, “And a mental patient too,” but I managed to hold back.

If you have severe mood swings and try to take other people’s things, it’s no different from having an internal disease.

Ao’s eyes slowly lost their light as I refused the bribe.

After a while, Ao seemed to come to his senses, twitched slightly, regained the light in his eyes, and said with a smile.

“..The first plan didn’t work.”

The smile Ao made was truly unpleasant.

A smile as if believing that things will eventually go his way.

“..Huff, Ao? I want to go back to the hotel and rest now.”

It was a statement implying that I wanted him to leave, but Ao ignored it and said.

“I’m running away from home. Can’t you even let me inside your house, teacher?”

It was a shallow trick.

Thanks to the mask, I could easily see through it.

“It’s a shame that I can’t call the hotel my house since it’s not my property, so I don’t think I can do that.”

It took a very long time for Ao to come up with another plan.

I could leave without being rude.

I snapped my fingers in my pocket and teleported to my hotel room.

While he was thinking of another plan, I waved to Ao, who was flustered by my sudden disappearance, and said.

“Farewell.”

“This f*c…”

Oh, that bastard knows how to swear too?

Ao shot magic at me to try and grab me, but my teleportation was faster.

Flash!

The change of environment and the sudden disappearance of the annoying guy felt unreal.

It was a good thing, but it felt somewhat unsettling.

Still, he can’t come this far, right?

Just in case, I cast a barrier and quietly took off my mask.

Rustle

…I still can’t get used to my white hair cascading down when I remove the mask.

Even more so, seeing a beautiful girl in the mirror.

The conclusion I reached after admiring my face for a while was that it was still better than other people who had been TS’d because I had a mask.

Thinking that, I took the sleeping pill.

Clang!

..It seems like there’s an attempt to break the barrier, but I fell asleep peacefully.

Fortunately, Ao couldn’t come to the room, so I got enough rest and was in excellent condition.

Thanks to that, I could walk to my class with a refreshed mind.

Standing in front of the classroom door, I could hear the students chattering.

Even though I possessed a character in the novel, I don’t know what will happen in the future, so it’s important to find out what will happen.

And those things are mostly heard as rumors by the supporting characters…

“Wasn’t that senior so handsome at the entrance ceremony?”

“Seriously~ Isn’t he a cheat?”

“He’s my type~”

“Please be a senior…please be a senior…”

“What’s the use of being handsome? He probably bribed his way to good grades.”

But there were no useful words.

Mostly just talk about Arthur.

He’s the protagonist after all..?

And what is that guy talking about?

Still, I heard some rarely useful words.

“Did you know that the previous health teacher passed away?”

“Yeah, I heard the swordsmanship teacher liked her?”

“They say it was the 1st Demon King Army’s invasion~”

“I heard…they are the weakest of the Demon King’s army!”

“Huh? What nonsense.”

After that, I couldn’t hear any useful words.

If the 1st Demon King Army is the weakest, is there something like a ‘True Demon King Army’?

I wanted to think about it more, but if I kept thinking like this, it wouldn’t be strange if I got fired from school, so I opened the door and went inside.

Creak-Click.

As the classroom door closed, the chatter disappeared as if on cue.

I wonder who the class president is. I told them to decide on their own.

“Attention!”

Ethan stood up, his red hair fluttering.

Well, I didn’t care because he’s a guy who does his job well, whether or not he thought the students might take revenge if they chose someone other than Ethan.

Since the school didn’t tell me to announce anything and there were no exams because it was the beginning of the semester, I decided to just say one thing.

“There’s only one announcement today.”

I called the names of the top two students one by one.

“Ethan Latin, Alex.”

Since I called only two names, the students quietly looked at them.

“Follow me to the infirmary after the morning assembly.”

For some reason, the atmosphere became cold after I finished speaking.

I’m not trying to punish them, but to give them a reward.

However, since it was something to be kept secret from other students, I didn’t bother to correct them.

“That’s the end of the morning assembly. Carry on with your gossip about Arthur.”

As I spoke, I saw some students’ faces turn pale.

I guess they think I’m going to punish them, but I’m only going to talk to Arthur.

I gestured to Ethan and Alex and left the classroom.

After the morning assembly, the stairs should have been noisy, but a scary guy wearing a mask was going down, so the students weren’t talking.

I wonder who it is, what a strange guy.

As I entered the infirmary on the first floor, I heard a strange sound.

“Haaah!!”

Why the hell is there a woman’s moaning sound coming from the infirmary?

I quietly stamped my feet in the hallway to make my presence known.

Then, as if answering, I heard a conversation from the infirmary.

“Haa…I think someone’s here?”

“Haha, then I can show you?”

“Gasp!”

The sounds were getting even louder.

This is driving me crazy.

I know one thing that works well on disobedient children.

I quietly took the revolver out of my bag.

And I opened the cylinder and loaded a blank cartridge into the revolver.

And I closed the cylinder again.

Even if I’ve become cold-hearted because of the mask, I wouldn’t kill someone just because they were making out.

Click.

The unique loading sound that only a gun has could be heard.

Alex, a commoner who had never seen an expensive firearm, only expressed curiosity.

Ethan’s face turned pale.

“Teacher! Even if you hear strange sounds, that’s!”

I patted Ethan on the shoulder and reassured him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill anyone even if I get angry.”

I spun the loaded revolver once for show and told Ethan and Alex.

“Cover your ears.”

Then I aimed the revolver towards the sky.

My gloved index finger pulled the trigger.

Bang-

Thanks to the mask, or perhaps thanks to this blessed body, my ears didn’t hurt that much.

The sound, enough to make everyone tremble in fear, even silenced the playground.

As expected of a gun, its performance is certain.

Still, there was a small possibility that they wouldn’t come out, so I whispered at the infirmary door.

“Come out quickly.”

Then two women with disheveled clothes immediately ran out of the infirmary.

….???

What did I just see?

Ethan and Alex, still innocent, watched the two run away with indifferent expressions.

After briefly succumbing to shock, I sat Ethan and Alex on the infirmary beds.

Putting two men on a bed is almost torture, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“So, when do you want to go to the restaurant?”

Ethan and Alex were stunned for a moment after hearing those words, then shouted.

“Y..yes?””

My ears, which didn’t hurt even from the gunshot, complained of pain from the two boys’ shouts.

“Didn’t we make a bet? I said I’d take you to a restaurant if you made me take out my weapon.”

Even though it wasn’t because of them that I took out the weapon, a promise is a promise.

Then Ethan quietly raised his hand and said.

“Wasn’t it the top 5 students..?”

It was one of the answers I had predicted, so I told them quickly and simply.

“Other students were all the same, but you two were exceptional.”

Alex and Ethan scratched their heads shyly.

Since there were no more questions, I asked.

“So, what kind of food do you like?”

Alex said with a bright expression.

Ethan looked like he would eat whatever Alex said.

“Pizza bread!”

Ethan, who had been silent, couldn’t help but be shocked by the pizza bread that Alex said happily.

“Pfft!”

Ethan, who was drinking the tea I had prepared but hadn’t given him, spat it at me.

…It was Earl Grey with a strong aroma, so it was quite unpleasant.

Initially, I would have been upset if he spat tea at me, but…

“Ah..sorry.”

Alex was barely holding back his laughter when he saw the tea dripping from the beak of my mask.

“…It’s okay to have something more expensive than pizza bread.”

Alex thought for a moment and said.

“Th..then…steak…?”

It seems like there’s quite a big difference between the two menus, but I agreed because I thought steak was enough for a treat.

“Well, that’s good enough.”

Ethan also nodded in agreement.

The only thing lacking in this meal was…

“It seems like there are too many of the same gender.”

It lacked women.

Even if these guys don’t know, I found it disgusting for three men to eat together.

…I have a good idea.

I’m all about concepts, right?

“..I’ll send my colleague instead of me.”

Since they have never met the Saintess, I think the scenario I want might play out.

What will their reaction be if they meet her without the mask?

As I came up with this great idea and was about to send Ethan and Alex back to the classroom, Ethan, blushing, stayed behind.

“Is there something you’re curious about?”

Ethan struggled to speak, swallowed, and asked.

“Ahem…that…s*x education…when are you doing it..?”

Ethan blushed even more and waited for my answer.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but s*x education starts from the second year.”

Before I could finish my sentence, Ethan’s face turned as red as his hair.

Could it get any redder?

“N..not that I’m particularly disappointed!”

He looks disappointed, but I pretended to believe him.

“I’ll believe you.”

Ethan said, ruffling his hair as if embarrassed.

“Ugh…I’m really not, you know? I said I’d believe you.”

Before I could finish speaking, Ethan ran away.

Surely, if the conversation had continued here, he would have only been more hurt.

It was a good decision.

Then I’ll…

Go buy some women’s clothes.