Aya Tone, meticulously maintaining an expression she believed to be utterly wicked, continued to embody the role of the venomous teacher. She remained oblivious to the fact that the girls’ aggrieved expressions had long since quietly melted away. Adjusting her demeanor slightly, she uttered the villainous words in her characteristically cute voice.
“Are you feeling wronged? Confused?”
“If you must blame someone, blame yourselves for being too weak. You haven’t given me reason to trust you! After all, the premise of trust is that you have a convincing explanation for me, or…”
Her silver hair drifted across the trio’s cheeks, stirring the girls’ hearts. “…you possess the strength to beat me into submission.”
“Understand?” Her small hand clenched fiercely in front of them, utterly devoid of any real menace.
She was utterly fierce! Unreasonable! Fierce!
“Understood!”
“Very well. Since the task is complete, we’ll stop here for today. See you next week.” Retrieving her small, pink fist, she spoke as she turned and walked towards the sealed-off area.
She left the girls glancing at each other, bewildered.
Once the surrounding crowd thickened, Aya Tone finally let out a sigh of relief. ‘Oh, dear! It seems acting the villain with mere performance, rather than genuine emotion, is still too difficult for her. She should have just apologized from the start.’ Alas, there was nothing for it. Who could have known their tears would extinguish the anger in her heart? Without true feeling, she couldn’t act a single bit.
Now, it was time to head back and get paid by the President.
****
“Ye Liu, could it be that the teacher was just embarrassed?”
Ye Liu simply replied, “Mm.”
“Ye Liu, why do you seem so distracted?” Lin Ling looked at her childhood friend with concern.
“Nothing, I was just wondering if what the teacher said about beating her into submission means that if we become strong enough, we could capture her…”
“Stop!” Liu Fei, standing nearby, directly interrupted her train of thought.
But this only piqued Lin Ling’s curiosity. “What? What then, after capturing the teacher?”
“No, quickly put away those dangerous thoughts!” Liu Fei hadn’t expected Ye Liu, the most stable of the three, to harbor such mischievous ideas. ‘And Lin Ling, why are you blindly joining in the fun?’ If the teacher were to overhear them, who knew if they’d all be obliterated that very night.
Ye Liu didn’t continue speaking, but the flickering light in her eyes betrayed her thoughts. ‘As long as we can master that power, the power the teacher taught us! In the near future, we definitely can! Teacher, just you wait!’
Meanwhile, Aya Tone, who was waiting for her payment, thought: ‘Why do I feel like I’m being targeted…’
****
On a small road not far from the apartment.
Having completed her task, Aya Tone glanced at the sky. It was still some time before five o’clock. Returning now should count as having completed Aya Jiu’s assigned mission.
Having changed back into his male summer clothes, Aya Tone stroked his smooth chin, hesitating whether he should go home. Today had truly been exhausting, both mentally and physically. And to have to go out on a Sunday… He’d even made those young girls cry. ‘A person in his twenties, squabbling with little girls? And even saying, “I’m a baby too.”‘
He shuddered. ‘Oh, it’s so embarrassing…’
His eyes suddenly lost their sparkle. He yearned to simply hold Aya Jiu, curl up on the sofa, and watch anime, immersing himself in that beautiful, pure world, forgetting all the troubles of reality entirely. ‘Yes! Go home!’
With that thought, Aya Tone no longer hesitated and strode purposefully towards his apartment. But just then, a slender hand suddenly reached out from behind him, pulling him into the adjacent alley.
“?”
Aya Tone was startled. Before his mind could even process it, he instinctively blurted out, “Holy crap! Bro, I’m a guy! I have no money, just a worthless life, don’t you dare—”
“It’s me.” A gentle voice interrupted Aya Tone’s words.
Aya Tone paused, then quickly took a few steps forward, creating some distance before turning to look behind him. He frowned. “You… what are you doing here?”
Before he could finish his question, Li Jia closed in, pressing him against the wall. Her hands braced on either side of Aya Tone’s body, forming a *kabedon* pose.
“Hey, Sis, watch your image!” Aya Tone’s heart gave a sudden lurch, and his face flushed crimson to his earlobes. In all his life, this was the first time a girl had cornered him against a wall—truly a sight to behold.
Li Jia gazed at him with deep eyes. After a moment, she slowly said, “Aya Tone, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“Gulp…”
Aya Tone carefully swallowed, afraid he might hear some audacious words that would choke him.
“You rested for two months, then went to find three student girls instead of teaming up with me. Are you… looking down on me?” Li Jia’s tone revealed a hint of disappointment. She had heard from the guild staff that Aya Tone had taken three dungeon委托 [TL Note: Dungeon commissions/quests] this morning. Yet, she, his exclusive partner, knew nothing about it. ‘Was Aya Tone… looking down on her?’
“Huh?” His not-so-bright brain immediately went into a state of shutdown. ‘He hadn’t, though.’ One month he’d spent traveling with Aya Jiu, and after that, the President had given him a vacation. Then… well, then he’d simply become lazy and didn’t want to move after being off work for so long. Plus, the number of dungeons in the city was below average, so he didn’t need to worry at all. He had originally planned to rest for two months and resume work once Aya Jiu started school. But the President had surprisingly discovered that with this E-rank dungeon killer finally taking a break, the lower levels had actually revitalized, with more and more new sprouts emerging. So, he had been forcibly assigned to the standby roster, with the nice excuse of preparing teaching materials. With the million-yuan monthly salary as a practical combat teacher, Aya Tone naturally wouldn’t fuss too much.
“Li Jia, you’re overthinking it. They’re my students.” Aya Tone recounted the entire story of Fire Finch recommending him for the teaching position.
“Teacher? You?” Li Jia frowned slightly, meaningfully appraising the ‘lazy fish’ before her. She had heard about Dragon Court Academy, but she hadn’t expected Aya Tone to be one of the four S-rank practical combat instructors. Based on her understanding of Aya Tone, with his indiscriminate attacks, wouldn’t he accidentally damage the future pillars of the nation?
“Of course!” Aya Tone proudly tried to puff out his chest, only to realize that in his current position, let alone puffing out his chest, he couldn’t even stand straight.
“Um, can you let me go now?”
Upon hearing this, Li Jia stepped back two paces with a look of disdain, giving Aya Tone ample space. ‘He’s still cute when he’s small.’
*Phew*~
Regaining his freedom, Aya Tone sighed. How to describe the feeling of being *kabedon*-ed by a girl? It wasn’t as wonderful as he’d imagined. Indeed, when looking for a girlfriend, one really should find someone gentle and virtuous.
“So, you really weren’t deliberately avoiding me?” Li Jia was still bothered by the matter.
“No, Sis, my home is right here. You know that,” Aya Tone retorted weakly. His disguise was already blown, so what was the point of hiding? The world was only so big; where could a single father with a child run off to?
“That’s true.”
Li Jia nodded sagely. “Since I’m already here, adding an extra pair of chopsticks for me is fine, right?”
Aya Tone was about to refuse, but the next second, he met Li Jia’s threatening gaze.
“Let’s go…”
His heart felt even more weary.
Hey Fire Finch be just a bit more territorial will you.