"I was just..." Of course, probing was one thing, but when it truly came down to a matter of life and death, Sogo Doma would still try to reassure her.
"Shut up!" Unfortunately, Shizuka Hiratsuka had no intention of accepting that reassurance. The moment he opened his mouth, she said, "I hope this is the last time!"
"..." Those words might have genuinely frightened someone else, but unfortunately, the hot-blooded female teacher was facing Sogo Doma—a scholar who knew full well that humanity's bottom line could keep sinking lower and lower. So he wasn't intimidated at all and merely changed the subject at once. "Um, what I actually wanted to ask was, why did you suddenly bring up Mashiro..."
"Are you playing dumb?"
"Hm?" In fact, Sogo Doma was genuinely a little confused right now. After all, he wasn't omniscient or omnipotent.
"And you dare say you've studied pedagogy?" Seeing that he did not appear to be faking it, Shizuka Hiratsuka said, "When Mashiro first transferred here, she scored zero on every test..."
"..." Hearing that, Sogo Doma seemed to realize something.
"Do you know how many points Mashiro got this time?"
"..." How could he not know? Those had all been his answers! The corner of Sogo Doma's eye twitched. "Shizuka Hiratsuka just said it herself. She did pretty well..."
"I already said that?" Shizuka Hiratsuka murmured before saying, "Then do you know what that means?"
"..." He had probably guessed. It was just that...
"It means Mashiro is improving..." As Sogo Doma complained furiously in his mind, Shizuka Hiratsuka continued, "And she's shown visible improvement in such a short time. That also proves Mashiro can absorb new knowledge quickly!"
"..." Ah, well... Mashiro really had improved, but it wasn't that exaggerated! Sogo Doma complained wildly to himself.
"I