Students walked through the park, and unlike the usual calm days, today, while just as calm on the surface, carried something noticeably different underneath.
Normally, their laughter and playful banter revolved around friendships and casual chatter among themselves, but today was different, every student wandering here and there was buzzing about the exact same topic with real enthusiasm.
They spoke with eyes shining bright, occasionally glancing off in one particular direction, then flushing red.
"Who’s that guy? Look, the headmaster came to visit him personally."
"Hihi~ the headmaster’s kind of funny, isn’t she? She said she’d never get married, but what’s this? She’s out here openly dating some handsome guy."
"That guy’s seriously handsome! No wonder the headmaster’s falling for him."
"Doesn’t that go both ways too? The headmaster’s gorgeous too."
One student, seemingly by accident, walked right past the headmaster and the man currently seated together with her on the long wooden bench.
But, to be precise, it wasn’t an accident at all, the student had done it entirely on purpose, quietly bowing his head with a mischievous smirk.
"Congratulations, headmaster! You two look so perfect together!"
The headmaster, Adelle, jolted, her expression tensing up, not even a hint of embarrassment on her face as she glared at the student and snapped at him to leave.
"W-what are you even saying!? Go on, get out of here! Go play with your friends."
The student scampered off, snickering mischievously. Meanwhile, on the other side, Adelle looked visibly pale, breaking into cold sweat as she glanced over at Julian.
’Ugh, why does this have to happen.’
Fortunately, Julian, the hidden master, said nothing at all, simply sitting there in apparent indifference.
Even though, in reality, he was every bit as panicked as Adelle.
’What? How? Me and Headmaster Adelle? That little troublemaker... the headmaster’s going to kill me before that ever happens.’
With both of them equally panicked and drenched in cold sweat, an awkward silence settled in naturally, stretching out for nearly a full minute.
Adelle, normally so cheerful and endlessly talkative, had gone completely silent, which left Julian, who’d essentially become the quiet type ever since arriving in this world, feeling deeply uncomfortable with the awkward quiet.
"...Is the academy park always this busy during break time?" Fortunately, back in his old world, Julian had been an actor who socialized frequently, so he figured he was reasonably skilled at steering a conversation.
"Ah," Adelle glanced around the park, then nodded. "Yes, this park, even when the weather’s hot, always stays cool, that’s exactly why the students love it so much, they come here every day to hang out."
"Ah, I see."
Julian glanced briefly at the children around them, and fundamentally, quite a few of the students he was looking at right now would end up gone in the future he’d witnessed.
Which was exactly why Julian had to prevent it from happening. He wasn’t suddenly stepping up to play the hero, it just so happened to align perfectly with his own desire to make sure Kina and Ilunia stayed safe.
Of course, he could simply tell Kina and Ilunia not to come to the park tomorrow. But that still carried too much risk, Julian wouldn’t be able to feel at ease until that Invader was actually dead.
After a moment’s hesitation, Julian glanced at Adelle. "By the way, what are your plans for tomorrow? I imagine the academy has quite a few Hunters working as professors, but it seems like something’s going on, and tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, isn’t it?"
Julian was curious why, in that vision, not a single professor had been visible anywhere, nor had the headmaster, so he figured they must have been occupied elsewhere.
And somehow, the topic Julian had just brought up made Adelle freeze completely, breaking out in cold sweat.
"Y-yes?" She let out an odd sound without meaning to, then internally cursed herself for how embarrassing that had come out. But Adelle quickly composed herself. "...That’s right, something not exactly pleasant has been happening lately."
’...Just as I suspected, he already knows. But how? How could he possibly know we’ll be launching a specific operation tomorrow?’
That information itself wasn’t something Adelle had ever shared publicly. As it happened, since Lurker was here, the people Adelle had briefed about tomorrow’s operation had only ever been those she trusted directly.
Everyone else had only received vague instructions on what needed to be done. Which was exactly why the academy would be running noticeably quieter tomorrow.
Then, since this hidden Master had already brought it up on his own, Adelle found herself wondering what he could possibly mean by it. She tried to piece it together, but couldn’t come up with any explanation at all.
In the end, she gave up.
"...Do you have something you’d like to say?" Adelle decided to just ask outright, let herself look foolish if that’s what it took, she didn’t want to strain her brain over this any further.
Julian, meanwhile, forced a smile onto his face, hoping desperately that Adelle wouldn’t dismiss what he was about to say as some kind of joke. Besides, hadn’t they grown reasonably close lately?
’So please, just trust me a little here!’
"...Around midday, once morning classes end, please make sure the students don’t come to this park."
Adelle repeated that sentence in her mind. ’Is something going to happen? But what?’
She studied Julian with obvious curiosity, but before she could say anything, Julian spoke first.
"I’ll come by at the same time tomorrow."
’So please, if I end up in danger, you need to come and help me, give me some backup.’
That was the true meaning behind Julian’s final sentence, which, somehow, once again got completely misread, entirely lost on Adelle, who instead took it to mean:
’Leave this matter to me and focus on your operation.’
Adelle didn’t hesitate, nodding her head. She had no idea what exactly was going to happen here, but one thing was clear, this Master had already resolved to help them.
With that, Adelle felt an enormous wave of relief wash over her. She’d been worried earlier about the academy running short-staffed without its professors, but with Julian, the hidden Master, involved now, everything would surely turn out fine.
She could trust this man, someone who’d raised a little monster like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
After that, a girl approached, actually, not just one, but two of them. One was Kina, brown-haired and looking cheerful as ever, and the other was Ilunia, golden-blonde and looking thoroughly adorable.
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