Kiana, You Wouldn't Want...

Before entering, Xina, who had been standing at the very edge of the line, deliberately slowed her pace and let the other students pass by her.

Only after all the other students had entered the Gymnasium did Xina turn her head and warily scan her surroundings. Seeing that there was no one around the Gymnasium, and that no one had noticed her, she—

"Now!"

Finally seeming to make up her mind, Xina hurriedly lowered her body and silently darted away through the greenery!

After running over a hundred meters in one breath, Xina braced herself against the trunk of a Camphor Tree by the hedge, panting heavily. No one followed me, right?

Hiding behind the tree's thick trunk, Xina cautiously poked her head out to look around. The several Shaded Paths nearby were completely empty, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like I succeeded!

Inside the Gymnasium...

After leading the entire class through their warm-up exercises, Fu Hua silently returned to the line. As usual, Himeko gave a grand wave of her hand and dismissed the class for free activity.

As the students scattered in twos and threes, Fu Hua and Himeko were soon the only two left where they stood.

"Huh? Fu Hua, you're not going to practice your punches today?" Sitting on a chair, Himeko opened her thermos and took a sip of wheat juice, curiously watching Fu Hua as she looked around.

Even Himeko had never seen Fu Hua like this before.

"Teacher Himeko, ...Xina seems to be missing..." Fu Hua chose her words carefully before speaking with a grave expression.

"Pfft—"

Himeko sprayed out the wheat juice she had just swallowed. Without even having time to wipe her mouth, she sprang straight up from her chair.

"Are you sure?!" Himeko set down her thermos and immediately began searching the surrounding students for Xina alongside Fu Hua.

Unfortunately, even after searching several times, the two still found no trace of Xina.

"Fu Hua, when was the last time you saw Xina?"

Looking at the class roster with the checked-off names, Himeko gritted her teeth and chugged another mouthful of wheat juice. Judging by the veins bulging on her forehead, she was in an absolutely terrible mood.

With all her years of teaching experience, Himeko seemed to have already guessed at one possibility—such an obedient student as Xina had gone astray!

"It was during roll call before class." Fu Hua thought back, then added, "Right at the entrance to the Gymnasium."

"Wonderful!" Himeko screwed the cap back onto her thermos and shouted toward Kiana, who was clinging to Mei on the Tennis Court, "Ki-a-na! Get over here!"

"Huh? Me?!"

A certain clueless paramecium poked her head out of Mei's embrace, staring in confusion at the murderous-looking Himeko as she muttered to herself.

"Why does Aunt Himeko look so angry? Did someone make her mad?"

As Kiana walked toward Himeko, she recalled what she had done recently. "But I haven't really done anything lately! Other than sleeping in class, staying up late playing games, making Mei feed me during meals, getting a zero on assessments..."

After listing her numerous offenses, Kiana's heart skipped a beat. She stopped in her tracks and stared fearfully at the two murderous figures in the distance. Oh no, Teacher Himeko and the class monitor are definitely after me!

Stopping every few steps, Kiana finally reached Himeko and immediately began admitting her mistakes. "I'm sorry, Teacher Himeko, I was wrong. I shouldn't have slept in class, snuck snacks during class, tied Bronya's braids to her chair after class, stayed up late playing games, gotten a zero on assessments..."

"Ah?!"

Listening to Kiana's lengthy list of "crimes," Himeko and Fu Hua exchanged a glance. Both saw confusion and shock on the other's face.

They were confused because they had not even asked anything yet, but Kiana had already begun "confessing." They were shocked because Kiana had done so many bad things these past few days—she was completely out of control!

"I'll settle the score with you over all that later!" Suppressing the furious roar in her heart, Himeko grabbed Kiana by the cheeks and sternly demanded, "Tell me, where did Xina go?"

"Xina?!"

At the mention of that name, Kiana was clearly stunned. But she quickly came to her senses, and the image of Xina asking her to teach her the "Secret Manual" automatically surfaced in her mind.

Oh no, Xina didn't actually skip class, did she?! This is bad, this is bad! I forgot to tell her that she absolutely can't skip class when both the class monitor and Teacher Himeko are around!

Kiana swallowed, and huge beads of sweat slid down her cheeks, dripping onto her clothes and leaving large dark patches.

Seeing Kiana drenched in sweat, Himeko and Fu Hua knew they had guessed correctly. This matter really was connected to Kiana.

"Talk. Where did Xina go?" Himeko released Kiana's cheeks and spoke expressionlessly.

"A Kaslana Knight never betrays her friends! Even if you punish me, Teacher Himeko, I won't tell you!" Kiana took a deep breath and stubbornly lifted her chin.

"You..." Himeko's vision went dark, and she nearly developed high blood pressure from this disobedient student of hers.

At a time like this, she's still going on about knightly spirit! I really want to chop her on the head with a hand strike!

Himeko struggled to resist using her sharp hand strike to split open Kiana's white-haired head and see what else was stuffed inside it besides Mei, comics, games, and knightly spirit.

"Calm down, Teacher Himeko, please calm down. Getting this angry will give you wrinkles." Fu Hua stopped Himeko's swinging hand strike, trying to save Kiana's life, which was hanging by a thread.

After finally holding back the enraged Himeko, Fu Hua pushed up her plain red-framed glasses, turned to Kiana, and said, "Forgive my bluntness, Kiana, but this isn't knightly spirit. You're covering for and indulging a friend's mistakes!"

"Uh..." Kiana lowered her head, not daring to meet Fu Hua's eyes.

Realizing there was hope, Fu Hua's eyes lit up as she quietly unleashed her ultimate move. "Kiana, you wouldn't want Mei to find out about this, would you?"

"Mei..."

At the mention of that name, Kiana's expression clearly changed.

As the saying went: life was precious, and food was even more precious, but compared to Mei, both could be cast aside.

Knightly spirit was indeed precious, and Xina was also her friend, but... that was Mei!

Sorry, Xina. I'll definitely make it up to you later!

Having made up her mind, Kiana told them everything Xina had said to her today, without leaving out a single detail.

"So... you don't actually know where she went either?"

Realizing that Xina had not been led astray, but had gone bad on her own, Himeko's mood became exceedingly foul.

"Then where should we look for Xina?" Fu Hua furrowed her brows, seemingly pondering Xina's whereabouts.