An Unexpected Help Request

“Teacher Aya… is this… a monster invasion, and you fought a fierce battle?” the environmental manager stood in the center of the “park,” turning his neck mechanically.

There were no dungeon traces nearby, right?

When he was young, he had been a hot-blooded youth, charging into dungeons with high spirits. The scene before him was no different from those memories.

Now, the park could only be recognized by the scattered tables and chairs, barely hinting at what it once was.

But only a hint.

The carefully trimmed trees—those tall enough had barely survived. As for the flower beds…

Hah… forget it. Unbearable.

“Uh…” Aya Tone looked guiltily at the battered trees and rubbed his head a little sheepishly.

Too busy cleaning the mess on the ground, he forgot about the sides.

Damn!

They wouldn’t dock his pay, would they?

At the thought of losing money, Aya Tone couldn’t help but panic.

“Sir, this is… this is a new type of floral maintenance. Look, the ground is very clean, isn’t it?”

“You know we’re students from the combat academy. This is our school’s latest launch: combat-style landscaping!” he hinted frantically.

The manager squinted, pondering what answer to give.

As a seasoned businessman who often dealt with the Adventurer’s Guild, how could he fail to recognize this powerhouse?

If he handled this poorly, his life might be at risk.

“A war-themed style? Not a bad idea.” To save his own skin, he chose to cover his conscience and say what was expected.

Not that he had much conscience as a merchant anyway.

“Right?” Aya Tone felt like he’d found a kindred spirit, ready to chat for ten days and nights.

“Since Teacher Aya has created such stunning art for us, it wouldn’t be right for us to be stingy.”

“How about I add twenty percent on top of the agreed price? What do you think?”

Twenty percent!?

Aya Tone blinked in shock. The contract was just over a thousand, so that was an extra two hundred for free!

“Thank you, boss!” This uncle really knew how to handle people!

Loved it.

“No, no, no, we should be thanking you.” The manager quickly bowed, ingratiating himself with a nervous smile.

Those who reached S-rank were usually eccentric.

This guy seemed nice, but who knew if he’d suddenly get pissed off and off him?

****

“Vice Principal, Vice Principal…”

Huh?

Ying Li, who had just finished dealing with a criminal hideout and was returning before the afternoon class, stopped in his tracks.

He turned around and saw a white-haired figure running toward him on short legs.

“Teacher Aya, what’s the matter?”

“Hah… hah…” Half a minute later, Aya Tone finally caught up, panting.

He usually didn’t exercise, relying on teleportation magic. This run had made up for half a year’s worth of activity.

“It’s just… that…” (gulp)

“Can you come and help me with something?”

Ying Li: “???”

****

Girls’ Dormitory

Ying Li stretched his slightly numb wrist and frowned slightly. Beside him lay four girls exuding a chill.

The favor Teacher Aya had asked for—was it to ambush the girls’ dormitory?

But something so simple—why did he need me to come?

With Aya Tone’s strength, knocking them all out silently should have been a piece of cake. Why the extra trouble?

And that girl named Lin Lin, her head was so hard!

Aya Tone seemed to guess what he was thinking and whispered, “I was afraid I’d hit too hard and turn them into idiots. I wasn’t sure if they’d recover.”

“Hmm… still no good?” Aya Tone muttered to himself. Unsurprisingly, another failed memory wipe.

Did the same type of ability have higher resistance?

“Teacher Aya? Are you done?” Ying Li bent down to lower his height, meeting Aya Tone’s eyes.

He was puzzled by Aya Tone’s strange actions.

From the start, Aya Tone had just placed his hand on each of the three girls’ foreheads, then let go without doing anything else.

Was this some new technique?

“A wasted trip. Let’s go.”

Ying Li: “???”

****

The four of them stumbled into the training ground, their heads heavy as lead.

Lin Lin rubbed the back of her neck, groaning without restraint. “My neck hurts so much.”

When her finger pressed into the stiff muscle, she hissed in pain—it didn’t feel like a crick, but rather like someone had hit her with a wooden stick and she’d endured it all night.

“Someone snuck us in the dark!” Huo Wushuang’s face darkened ominously, her voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping rusted iron pipes.

She was always the one to hit others; this was a blatant provocation!

As for the culprit, she had a general idea.

After all, there might be many in the academy stronger than them, but who else but that witch would be so bored as to pinpoint their dorm?

Just as she was about to move, a sharp pain shot through her neck, making her grimace, her hair sticking to her sweaty temples.

“Ye Zi~ why aren’t you saying anything?” Lin Lin pouted. She remembered the two of them had been shouting the loudest at first. Why were they silent now?

But when she looked back, she was stunned.

One hand on her neck, the other trembling in disbelief.

“You’re healed?”

Ye Liu: “…”

In the end, Liu Fei couldn’t take it anymore and said, “We used magic to treat ourselves…”

“Oh, right!”

Meeting Lin Lin’s look of wisdom, Liu Fei sighed inwardly. Linlin hadn’t gotten her brains knocked out, had she?

She turned to Ye Liu and found her also looking back with exasperation.

Their gazes all said, “I told you, don’t bother with her.”

Ye Liu had originally wanted to see how long it would take Lin Lin to catch on. Since Feifei had said it, she naturally wouldn’t just watch.

“Stand still. I’ll reduce the swelling for you.”

She didn’t say anything about getting revenge. Like Huo Wushuang, she could guess who it was.

Knocking all of us out in an instant—Teacher, you’re just too much.

I’ll write this down in my little book. When I capture you in the future, we’ll settle the score!

Hehehe—

At that moment, Aya Tone, basking in the sunlight, suddenly felt a chill run through his body. His eyes snapped open. “There’s murderous intent!”

“No! I’m going to be late!”

Without time to think twice, he scrambled up from the lawn and ran on his short legs toward the training ground.

With the morning’s lesson learned, the afternoon class was held in the training ground.

Yeah, it definitely wasn’t because the environmental manager was afraid he’d mess up the flowers and then refuse to take his order.

Definitely! Not!

****

For a while after that, Fire Finch seemed to have forgotten her plan to turn Aya Tone into an entertainer. No one knew what she was busy with.

And Li Jia…

Aya Tone hadn’t seen her in a long time either. It seemed she’d vanished after the Qian Mian incident.

“Little Jia’er? Her ability hasn’t fully merged, and after her last overexertion, she’s been grounded.”

“Oh, as long as she’s okay.”

“Yin, are you still—”