Cryptic words

"Unbelievable. The rumor after first period was actually true? Loli teachers really exist?"

On the rooftop.

Eriri held the lavish three-tier lunch her mother had made, marveling in disbelief.

"I thought that sort of thing only existed in doujinshi... ahem..."

Noticing the looks Luo Shu and Utaha Kasumigaoka shot her when she mentioned "doujinshi," Eriri immediately shut her mouth. After shoveling in some rice, she picked up a piece of cod tempura and asked Luo Shu as she chewed:

"So that Teacher Nangong is the 'teacher' assigned to teach you? But didn't they say this morning that she was a transfer student?"

"Maybe something unexpected came up."

Luo Shu held a chicken cutlet sandwich, the lunch he had bought at a convenience store on his way to the park that morning.

Utaha Kasumigaoka glanced at the sandwich in Luo Shu's hand without commenting. She merely set down her lunch box calmly and asked:

"Could she just be an ordinary teacher?"

"No, that's very unlikely."

Luo Shu paused as he said this, then continued with a rather peculiar expression:

"I can't tell you how, but I actually know Teacher Nangong..."

Halfway through his sentence, Luo Shu's gaze sharpened, and he suddenly looked toward the rooftop entrance.

At that moment, a "young girl" in a black Gothic dress stood at the top of the stairs, watching the three of them. None of them had noticed when she arrived.

"Oh? You know me? Now that's interesting."

Beside him, Eriri made muffled noises as she patted her throat, her hands fumbling around in search of something.

Luo Shu casually picked up the oolong tea beside him and handed it to Eriri. She twisted off the cap, gulped down a large mouthful, then let out a gasp. "I'm alive!!"

Then Eriri narrowed her eyes and stared straight at Natsuki Minamiya.

"How could you eavesdrop on us like that?!"

"Young lady, you should speak respectfully to your teachers. Besides, I wasn't eavesdropping. I merely heard a sentence when I arrived."

Natsuki Minamiya walked onto the rooftop and stopped three meters from them. She looked at the three seated on the bench, her gaze passing over Eriri, Luo Shu, and Utaha Kasumigaoka.

Their seating arrangement was girl, boy, girl-a rather suggestive arrangement, in a certain sense.

"One boy and two girls, on a rooftop, no less. You're surprisingly popular, Luo."

Hearing this, Luo Shu finished his sandwich in three bites, then picked up a tissue beside him and wiped his hands and the corners of his mouth before standing.

"Do you have time to talk somewhere else?"

Natsuki Minamiya glanced at Luo Shu, then said, "There's a landing on the stairs leading to the rooftop. Come with me."

"All right." Luo Shu nodded to Utaha Kasumigaoka and Eriri, then quickly followed.

"What's her deal...?" Eriri muttered, then guiltily shrank back a little.

She suspected that Natsuki Minamiya might have heard everything she had just said. If so, hadn't she just leaked a secret?

After all, her words had revealed that she knew Luo Shu had been assigned a teacher.

At that thought, Eriri grew nervous and couldn't help looking at Utaha Kasumigaoka beside her, only to find her wearing a grave expression.

"Hey, Kasumigaoka... huh? Why do you look so worried?"

Utaha Kasumigaoka, who seemed faintly anxious, answered in a solemn tone:

"I don't think I heard Teacher Nangong's footsteps at all when she came up."

At those words, Eriri seemed to realize the same thing, and her expression froze.

The landing on the stairs leading to the rooftop was on the fifth floor. Since the rooftop stairs weren't directly connected to the flight below, there was a spare space here used for storage.

This was where Luo Shu faced off against Natsuki Minamiya.

They stared at each other for a full half minute.

Natsuki Minamiya suddenly curled her lips into a smile. "Not bad. You noticed me the instant I appeared on the rooftop."

"That's because you went easy on me, isn't it?" Luo Shu replied, neither meek nor arrogant.

Natsuki Minamiya rested one hand on her hip and smiled casually.

"Hmph. An ordinary awakened ability wouldn't let you do that... I'm starting to understand why that woman, Tachibana Kirika, thought you had a psychic ability."

She paused, giving Luo Shu an inscrutable look. "But according to Chisato Nishikigi, you're apparently a Wind Mage?"

Luo Shu smiled faintly at that and asked in return, "How much else do you know?"

Natsuki Minamiya wasn't surprised by Luo Shu's question. Instead, she answered carefully:

"Other than that, mostly just basic information. At most, I know you just established a club at school... hmm, did you arrive in your own body, or as a soul?"

"..." Luo Shu frowned, looking somewhat surprised. "People coming from the Abyss can arrive either physically or by possessing a body?"

"Reincarnation is another possibility," Natsuki Minamiya said with apparent casualness, watching Luo Shu's eyes all the while. "Of course, those capable of such things tend to be 'major figures.'"

Hearing that, Luo Shu immediately understood what Natsuki Minamiya had misunderstood, so he smiled.

"Teacher Nangong, do you think

I'm one of those major figures?"

But Natsuki Minamiya refused to follow the expected script and simply nodded. "Yes, I do."

Luo Shu's expression stiffened, but before he could say anything, Natsuki Minamiya continued:

"Still, whatever secrets you have are the SDS's concern. They have nothing to do with me, a temporary stand-in teacher."

"At that woman's request, I'll teach you some basic occult studies knowledge about this world."

"Basic knowledge?" Luo Shu's tone was rather peculiar.

As far as he knew, Natsuki Minamiya's specialty should have been spatial spells, and the world she came from had a fairly comprehensive magic system.

Clearly, though, she didn't seem to have any intention of teaching him advanced knowledge for now.

"A half-baked novice like you couldn't learn advanced material anyway. Just be good and work on your foundations." Natsuki Minamiya snorted and walked past Luo Shu as if to leave. After a few steps, however, she stopped and said:

"Oh, right. I'm planning to take over as your club's faculty advisor. Unless something unexpected happens, I'll teach you in the Club Room from four to six in the afternoon on school days."

"Besides that, if your two little girlfriends want to learn, they can sit in. But I won't acknowledge them as my students."

"Of course, if you don't want to drag them into this, you'd better make plans early."

"After all... sometimes, knowing the truth is better than not knowing it."

After delivering those cryptic words, Natsuki Minamiya left without looking back.

Luo Shu remained standing there, the corners of his mouth slowly rising into a Light Yagami-style smile that said, Just as planned.