Anya's Special Training Ended Before It Even Began

"You're so full of yourself." Listening to Karen's inner monologue, Anya wrinkled her little face in disgust.

"S-s-sorry, Mr. Karen! Anya didn't mean it." Yor hurriedly covered Anya's little mouth and apologized.

"..." All Karen wanted to do was complain inwardly. He had forgotten there was a psychic with Mind Reading standing right beside him.

Maybe I should just silence her for good.

"Waaah-please don't kill Anya!" Anya's little face went deathly pale, and she looked pitifully up at Karen.

Karen rolled his eyes at her. He was only joking. Besides, he was practically the leader of the Anya-and-second-son shippers.

"I don't hurt children. And... I'm a teacher. I don't kill people!" Karen looked over with a smile. "Right? You agree too, don't you, Miss Yor?"

Yor nodded. "Yes, Miss Anya. Mr. Karen is a good person."

No, he's an assassin, Mother! Don't let him fool you!

Wait, Mother's an assassin too!

Anya shrieked inwardly.

Seeing Anya staring blankly, Yor turned to Karen and bowed slightly. "Mr. Karen, what brings you to our neighborhood?"

Actually, I came to mooch a meal, but it looks like you don't even have any groceries.

Karen's gaze swept over the empty shopping basket in Yor's hand. He felt a little disappointed. It seemed he wouldn't be getting a free meal today.

Still, he kept a polite smile on his face. "I came out to buy groceries and cook."

Anya had learned her lesson this time. She pressed her lips together without saying a word, but her wide eyes remained fixed on him, making her disbelief abundantly clear.

It's all just an excuse, mister.

Yor looked at Karen, her voice full of envy. "So you cook for yourself, Mr. Karen? I'm so jealous. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at cooking..."

"Heh heh heh..." Karen turned away and coughed twice, remembering the last time he had cooked.

That had been when he went to assassinate the crown prince of a small country. The scorched kitchen and the food's bizarre colors had made even him, with his immunity to toxins, break out in a thin layer of sweat down his back.

My cooking could be used as poison.

As Karen squirmed in embarrassment, Anya's expression shifted.

Mr. Karen really is a top-class assassin! He can make poison out of ordinary ingredients. Amazing! So exciting!

Karen nudged the unconscious delinquent at his feet, then grabbed the two boys by their collars. "Miss Yor, I'm taking these four delinquents here and in the alley to the police station. By the way, their target was apparently Anya. How pitiful."

You ran into the Thorn Princess, someone even I have to give a wide berth. You poor bastards.

Yor nodded solemnly. "Yes, how pitiful."

If I hadn't happened to come outside, Miss Anya really would have been in danger.

Anya tilted her head and blinked in confusion. One was clearly worried about her, while the other was gloating. Why did their conversation fit together so perfectly?

Seeing no hope of mooching a meal, Karen picked up the two delinquents with one hand, a metal chain flickering into view at his cuff.

Just as he was about to leave, Anya suddenly ran in front of him, tilted her little face up, and tugged at his clothes. "Mr. Karen, can you lend us some money? Mother spent all her money on vegetables, but our vegetables just got ruined again."

She gave him a pleading, wide-eyed look. "To thank you, I'd like to invite you to our house for dinner!"

Seeing Anya's earnest expression, Yor felt her throat tighten with emotion.

Anya had actually taken the initiative to ask her teacher for help to spare Yor's feelings.

Miss Anya is so thoughtful. We could go home to get more money and come back to buy groceries, but she went out of her way to ask her teacher for a loan...

"No problem. Here." Karen handed over his bank card. The big supermarkets around here all accepted cards.

Once Anya had secured the money, she happily handed the card to Yor.

"Thank you so much. We'll pay you back once we get home." Yor bowed to Karen.

"Don't mention it. It's a request from my adorable student, after all. No need to pay me back, either. The Forger family's cooking is worth the price."

Karen dragged the two delinquents away behind him. "I'll take them to the police station, then come back here to wait for you."

"All right. Thank you so much, Mr. Karen."

Karen was strong enough to drag both boys with one hand without any trouble, and he easily delivered all four delinquents to the police station.

Afterward, he went back to the Forger home with Yor and Anya, who had finished buying groceries.

Once they got home, Yor had only just put everything away when Anya ran up to her and struck a fighting stance.

Her two little fists kept punching forward like a boxer's.

"Mama, can you give Anya special training?"

Anya's question stumped Yor. Why was Anya suddenly asking her that?

She crouched down to look at Anya. "S-special training?"

Anya held her little clenched fists in front of her chest, her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"The lady at the tailor's said the academy is dangerous, and now Anya understands too. But if Anya does special training, Anya will get stronger and can be a little less scared. I can try hard not to die at school, too."

She spread her arms and met Yor's eyes. "I want to be as strong as Mama!"

Yor was deeply moved, her eyes growing a little red.

She couldn't do the ordinary things other homemakers could, but she would do everything in her power!

Miss Anya believed in her, and Mr. Forger believed in her too... Her little brother surely felt the same way.

"All right."

"Um... I know this is a lovely moment for family bonding, but I'd like to say something."

Sitting on the sofa watching the mother and daughter, Karen suddenly raised his hand and interrupted their tender moment.

Both of them turned to look at him.

"Actually, you don't have to worry about being bullied at Eden Academy. At the very least, there won't be any fighting, because if you're caught, you'll get three Tonitrus Bolts at once."

Karen then explained Eden Academy's Stella Stars and Tonitrus Bolts to them.

Anya was sorely disappointed. She dropped to her knees in protest. "How could this happen?"

"Anya's special training... is already over?"

Karen crossed his legs, propped his chin on one hand, and smiled with narrowed eyes. "You could say that, Anya. Just like I said, fighting at Eden Academy is a serious offense. The school strictly forbids it."

"You don't have to worry about anyone with bad intentions coming to school to hurt you, either. As your teacher, I'll take care of every last one of them!"

As Karen spoke, his expression grew a little strange.

He licked the corner of his lips, looking rather eager.

Anya suddenly understood why Mr. Karen and her mother had found common ground earlier. She felt sorry for those bad guys. With a freak like Mr. Karen, they'd be lucky to leave an intact corpse.