The day after completing the government-requested cleanup operation, Kageichi continued his conquest of the “Snowfield Ice Mountain.”
He defeated nearly ten Ice Dragons and a fair number of Monsters, filling in about sixty percent of the map. After estimating that he would reach the Boss by tomorrow, he exited the Dungeon.
To avoid detection by the Labyrinth Agency, he only explored new Dungeons at night. Even so, it wouldn’t take long to clear.
“If only work were this flexible,” he thought, making a wish as he headed home—when he sensed a ripple-like fluctuation of Magical Power. The Magical Power density on the surface was low, making it difficult even for Kageichi to grasp everything. Still, he could distinguish Magical Power he recognized.
As expected—when he arrived in front of his house, Kiraboshi was sitting there in a crouched position.
“What’s wrong so late at night, Kiraboshi-san…?”
Hmm. She was in her usual uniform, but the tears welling up behind her glasses suggested something was amiss.
“I don’t know the reason, but if Kiraboshi-san is comfortable with it, please come inside.”
“…Sensei. I, um…”
“I’ll say this in advance, I don’t have words to encourage a young woman. However, I don’t think I’m so heartless as to leave a crying student in the hallway.”
He wouldn’t forgive enemies who harbored ill intentions towards him, but he wouldn’t ignore people he had a connection with. More than anything, being kind in these situations made him feel better.
Guiding Kiraboshi to the sofa, he picked up tea and instant tea packs, asking, “Which do you prefer?”
After offering her tea with sugar and milk, Kageichi hung his suit in the closet and started fiddling with his Smartphone.
It wasn’t that he was at a loss for conversation. He had a few social niceties at his disposal. But he thought it would be presumptuous to start talking before she opened her mouth.
“Might as well clear today’s social game,” he thought, tapping away on his Smartphone.
“…I might have caused trouble for Kageichi-san… So, I, I’m sorry,” she said.
“Hmm. May I ask what happened?”
In short—a woman claiming to be a friend from school had questioned her about her relationship with Kageichi. A middle-aged man and a rigid, serious Class Representative. It was a perfect topic for gossip.
“And what was the sequence of events?”
“…She said if I didn’t talk about Sensei, she’d hire a detective to investigate… I asked her not to because I didn’t want to cause trouble for Sensei, and she said, ‘Then explain it in front of everyone’…”
So she ran away, huh? It was cliché, but understandable considering her personality. …The reaction was a bit lacking in excitement, though—
“Then I got confused… At that moment, there happened to be a Dungeon at school. So… I attacked her, instead.”
Huh? Kageichi pushed up his glasses, surprised by the unexpected turn.
“I thought they wouldn’t listen even if I explained… So I worried, thought about it, and wondered what Sensei would do. I, I tried to do it well, but… It didn’t work at all.”
Tears welled up in Kiraboshi’s eyes. Summarizing her faltering story, it seemed… she had put on the aforementioned upper-body armor, hid her face, and attacked them with a Chainsaw.
The others were clearly terrified. They rolled around helplessly, unable to do anything against Kiraboshi, who had cornered them to the brink.
But she couldn’t finish them off.
“A teacher from school happened to come to the Dungeon… I thought it would be bad if I was found, so I hurriedly escaped with the borrowed Hide Cloak… After that, I didn’t know what to do… S, so I ran away.”
Finally, large tears spilled from Kiraboshi’s overwhelmed eyes. Her emotions in disarray, droplets fell onto her skirt, and then.
“Will I be sentenced to death?”
Huh?
“I tried to handle it myself, but my head went blank… It didn’t work at all. The school must be in an uproar right now… Everyone’s saying the Class Representative is a Creature, a criminal. I even caused trouble for the teachers at school. So, I, I thought if I got caught, it would cause trouble for Sensei too, so…”
“I see. I understand the situation.”
“Sensei. Should I die? Then, I, I wouldn’t cause any trouble for Sensei…”
Kiraboshi asked Kageichi, forcing a distorted laugh. It seemed she was very confused right now.
She made a big scene against self-proclaimed friends who were causing her trouble, but it didn’t go well, and she caused trouble for the teachers and everyone at school. Her life was over. She would be arrested by the Labyrinth Agency for assault, and since she would cause trouble for Kageichi, she would apologize by dying—or so it seemed.
Well… he could understand her agitated feelings. Unlike himself, who was over thirty, a teenage high school student would be shaken if they had cut up a classmate with a Chainsaw.
And he could easily guess the words she was seeking.
—Don’t worry.
—I’ll take care of everything.
—You did well, there’s no need to cry. It’s all the fault of those self-proclaimed friends who came after you.
Encouragement and empathy. If he sympathized with her situation and comforted her, she would be very happy. While outwardly saying, “No, that’s not what I meant…” she would surely be grateful to Kageichi in her heart.
…However. Even if that was the logical thing to do, she was—Kageichi Futsuu’s student.
If so, the words to give her weren’t comfort. If she was Kageichi’s student, the only thing to ask was:
“Kiraboshi-san. About what you just said. Do you have any evidence?”
“Eh?”
“Evidence that Kiraboshi Yoshiko is the same person as the armored Creature, and the culprit who attacked your friends. Was anyone recording at the time? Did you declare that you were inside the armor, or was there anything that made them suspect you?”
“…That’s…”
Kageichi slowly sat back in his gaming chair and smiled at Kiraboshi, who was blinking.
“Without evidence, neither murder nor assault is a crime. And Kiraboshi-san… You said your head was a mess, but you are much calmer and more ruthless than you think.”
“Eh. But…”
“You properly hid your face during the crime, escaped with the Hide Cloak when the teacher came, and unconsciously confirmed that no one was recording. You probably knew the structure of the Dungeon beforehand, too. If I were the police, I would definitely conclude that it was planned, not impulsive.”
Of course, it wasn’t a perfect score. But it was at least a passing grade.
After that, she just needed to re-examine the plan for any flaws, and if there was any evidence left, dispose of it quickly. “Well,” Kageichi said, picking up a random report pad and grabbing a pen to organize the story once more.
“Now, let’s analyze the details again in chronological order. It’s okay to cry. While crying, while sniffling, properly destroy the evidence. If you do that, you’ll surely feel refreshed tomorrow, as if you’ve just watched a moving movie and cried a lot.”
Safety, security, and no stress. Following that policy, her actions were a wonderful good deed. Everyone, as a human, must have wanted to cut off the limbs of someone they hate.
Kageichi smiled faintly, thinking that planned crime was a good thing, and listened to Kiraboshi as she started to talk about the incident from the beginning again.