Teacher Xia Lai is also teaching in Kivotos today

"Hmm? Where are you planning to go, teacher?"

"...Hoshino, are you interested in meeting the kids at Convenience House 68?"

“…Huh?”

Chapter 33: Tasteless Lin En

"Hmm...it seems like the money is still not enough..."

At this time, in the office rented by Convenience House 68 in Abydos, Aryu sighed helplessly as she looked at the large black bag full of banknotes on the table.

Hearing this, Mutsuki, who was sitting on the armrest of the sofa and swinging his legs, said so with a smile.

"After all, in addition to the cost of repurchasing and renovating the store, there are also medical expenses and other compensation for the store owner."

"And Aryu, don't forget that we still have to pay the rent and utility bills for this office."

Faced with Kayoko's additional attacks, Aruru couldn't help but scratch her head in distress.

"Of course I know about this kind of thing! I'm currently thinking about how to solve these problems!"

"I'm sorry, Lady Aru. It's all my fault...."

"This isn't Haruka's fault. Haruka was just following Aruka's orders."

"Why...why did it become my order..."

Hearing Mutsuki's teasing, Aruna, who was lying powerlessly on the desk, said a little frustratedly.

"However, since we have now rejected the commission to attack Abydos, we should no longer need to rent this office in order to save money."

"Well... this is also a way to save money..."

Just as Aruru was thinking about Kayoko's suggestion, a whistling sound reached the ears of everyone in Convenience House 68.

When they subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, they found a large black bag being thrown in from the window.

"Be careful! It could be a bomb!"

Even though Kayoko reminded him, Arū, who was closest to the big black bag, had already walked up to it and unzipped it.

However, the scene of Aru being blown up by the bomb did not appear. Instead, a bundle of things rolled out of the bag as Aru unzipped the bag.

“Is this… money?”

Looking at the bundle of banknotes rolling out of the bag, Aryu couldn't help but be stunned.

Seeing this, Mutsuki hurried over and opened the bag.

"..."

Looking at the bag full of money, everyone in Convenience House 68 fell into silence.

"This... these shouldn't be counterfeit money, right? I shouldn't be dreaming, right?"

After hearing Aru's slightly self-doubting words, Haruka, who came to her side, hesitated for a moment, said to Aru, "Excuse me", and then reached out and pinched Aru's face hard.

"Wow! Haruka, why are you pinching me so hard all of a sudden? It hurts!"

"Ugh... I heard that when you don't know if you are dreaming or not, pinch your face hard. If it hurts, it means it is not a dream..."

While Aruka and Haruka were playing around, Mutsuki looked at Kayoko who was slowly walking up to them.

“This… should be correct, right?”

Although Mutsuki's words sounded very mysterious, Kayoko nodded as if she immediately understood what she meant, and looked up at the window.

Although the night sky outside the window was still as dark and deep as before, Kayoko felt as if she could see a person wearing a white thief costume, flying in the night sky on a hang glider, reaching out to them and waving hello.

Thinking of this, Kayoko couldn't help but smile slightly as she looked out the window.

"Wow... Kayoko-chan has completely fallen for you..."

Mutsuki looked at Kayoko's profile and whispered to himself, with the same smile on his face.

"But... after all, the other party is that teacher, so this is only natural."

--------

"Are you really not going to say hello to them? After all, they are your comrades who have fought side by side with you?"

Lin En, who was sitting on the edge of the roof of a building, asked Hoshino who was beside him.

Hearing this, Hoshino couldn't help but scratch his cheek, revealing a somewhat embarrassed expression.

"Hmm... Even if I say hello to them, uncle, I don't know what to say to them..."

Originally, Lin En planned to let Hoshino deliver the bag of money to Convenience House 68, but Hoshino thought it was too troublesome, so Lin En had to throw the money to them directly through the window.

"Besides, it's time to go to bed and rest now. It doesn't feel good to disturb them."

Hearing what Xingye said, Lin En, who had been silent for a moment, couldn't help but chuckle.

"So... Hoshino, why don't you go and have a good rest?"

"Hmm? Isn't this because the teacher wants to invite me to experience what it's like to be a phantom thief?"

"No...I'm not talking about now."

Lin En shook his head and turned to look at Hoshino who was also looking at him at some point.

"Last night and the night before yesterday... No, I should say that you didn't get a good rest for a long time before I came to Abydos, right?"

"...Hmm? Why does the teacher think so? Could it be that...the teacher has been paying attention to me for a long time?"

At this moment, Lin En turned his head to look at the distant night sky again, but did not notice that Xingye's eyes, which looked lazy as usual, did flash with a hint of vigilance that had almost never been there before.

"No, I only met you after I came to Abydos."

After answering Hoshino's question honestly, Lynn continued.

"The reason I know this is because I hacked into the surveillance system of the Abydos campus and the surrounding areas. And in the surveillance footage, I can see you, Hoshino, walking out of the campus and 'wandering' in the city almost every night, right?"

"Huh... Isn't it a bit too tasteless for the teacher to do this..."

In response to Lin En's words, Xingye, whose vigilance disappeared in an instant, said this helplessly.

Of course, this was not because Lin En had some strange hobbies, but because after the incident with Qian Xiang, Lin En asked Alona to monitor the whereabouts of the people in Abydos through surveillance cameras. In this way, even if an accident really happened, he would be able to know and take countermeasures in the first place.

However, Lin En did not intend to explain so much to Xingye for the time being, but continued to ask her.

"Hoshino... do you patrol the city of Abydos every night?"

Faced with Lin En's questioning, Xingye couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Teacher, do you have some evil taste? You already have irrefutable evidence, but you still want to interrogate me like this?"

After such an unhappy protest, Hoshino sighed softly and turned to look at the dark night sky in the distance like Lin En.

"Oh no... If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen paths that would avoid cameras~"

Chapter 34: The Teacher's Past

After hearing what Hoshino said, Lynn asked with a chuckle.

"…That's why you look so sleepy during the day. Isn't it a bit too much for you to patrol such a large urban area at night?"

"Ah, um...please don't tell Baizi and the others about this!"

As if he didn't expect Lin En to be so straightforward, Hoshino showed a bit of panic for the first time.

"In fact, I really like sleeping, and my sleep quality is very good. I don't force myself! Really!"

Hearing this, Lin En didn't say anything more, but just stretched out his hand and gently pressed it on Xingye's head.

"..."

After Lin En made this gesture, Hoshino was silent for a moment, then scratched his cheek shyly.

"But... I didn't expect the teacher to pay attention to and worry about someone like me. Should I say he is worthy of being a teacher?"

"No, Hoshino, you are wrong about one thing. It's not that I noticed Hoshino, but because Hoshino is also my student, I noticed and worried about you. To me, all students are equally important, whether it's you, Akane, or Nonami, Shiroko, Ayane and the others, everyone in Abydos is my student. It's that simple."

“Huh…”

After hearing Lin En's words, Hoshino was stunned at first, but then he smiled with a different meaning.

Until this moment, she finally understood that this might be the reason why the younger generations of Abydos were attracted to their teacher.

Not only that, she even discovered that her long-silent heart seemed to have undergone some unknown changes.

As Hoshino was lost in thought, Lynn, who hadn't noticed her abnormality, continued.

"Such an irregular schedule has a great impact on you. Although in my opinion, your physique is also very unusual."

"I think the teacher's courage seems to be stronger than our physical constitution. Also, the teacher said that I have an irregular schedule, but when I leave school, I often see the light on in the teacher's room? Doesn't the teacher need to rest?"

"Of course I need to rest... but because of some of my past experiences, it's no big deal if I don't sleep for a few days."

Hearing this, Xingye couldn't help but reveal a somewhat surprised expression. And this time, Lin En noticed the girl's expression.

"Xingye, are you curious about this?"

"Well...if the teacher doesn't mind, can you tell me about it?"

Hearing Hoshino make a request to him for the first time, Lin En chuckled and looked up at the night sky.

"This matter is actually related to my past. In fact, at the beginning, I was not Xia Lai's teacher."

"I've heard that too... I heard that the teacher came from Gehenna..."

"Well... that's true. But actually, before Gehenna, I've been to other places."

Hearing this unexpected information revealed by Lin En, Hoshino couldn't help but blink in surprise.

"It's a little funny, but the place I was at first was actually the black market of Holy Trinity."

"…Holy Trinity?"

Facing Hoshino's surprise, Lin En nodded slightly.

"And in that place, I met a combat team. Well, to be honest... their number is smaller than yours."

"Goooo... I don't know whether the teacher is teasing us or praising us..."

Hearing this, Lynn chuckled and continued.

"Their captain is a very cool person. If I have to describe her in one word, she can be called the 'big sister'. Her three teammates have their own characteristics, but they are all very good kids. As for how I met them... that can also be called a somewhat strange past."

As he said this, Lynn subconsciously reached out and squeezed his right arm.

"I was working in a grocery store at the time. One day, when I was taking a shortcut through the alley to go back to my temporary residence after get off work as I did before, I found an injured student in the alley. I was about to go up to talk to her, but I found that she seemed to have fainted due to her injuries. So I had to carry her to my temporary residence to see if I could take care of her."

At this point, Lin En couldn't help but shake his head slightly as he recalled the original situation.

"It's just that the child's condition is worse than I thought. Although the injuries are not serious, there are many cuts on her arms that are obviously caused by her own cutting."

"..."

After hearing Lin En's description, Xingye immediately understood the meaning of his words and couldn't help but pursed his lips.

Although the aura possessed by the students of Kivotos can protect them from bullets, there is an upper threshold as well as a lower threshold.

In other words, certain damage cannot trigger the protection of the aura.

For example, bloodletting or hunger and thirst.

"After I put her on the bed and simply treated and bandaged her wounds, I went to prepare dinner. However, because of this action, I almost suffered an unexpected disaster at that time."

"...Unforeseen disaster?"

"Yes."

Hearing Hoshino's slightly puzzled question, Lin En couldn't help but chuckle.

"Just when I was preparing dinner, a student who had sneaked into my temporary residence suddenly rushed in from outside the kitchen. He punched me in the stomach without saying anything and pushed me to the ground. Ah, this person is the 'big sister'."