Safety Is the Greatest Joy

"Speaking of which, there's one more thing I wanted to ask," Morning said after Roccia finished her summary.

"What did you want to ask?" Xiao Ling smiled, inviting Morning to go ahead.

"To be honest, two and a half hours ago, I heard a tremendous commotion from the bottom of the mall. It seemed like some kind of disturbance, but I was conducting research at an electronics store upstairs and couldn't spare the time to see what was happening," Morning explained. "Was there a serious accident?"

Dania's face suddenly turned pale when she heard Morning, as if she had recalled the helpless terror she had felt at the time.

The other four also showed lingering fear, one after another. Morning immediately sensed that something was very wrong, and Roccia's gaze hardened when she saw her dear students react that way.

"Senior...!"

"It was an attempted stabbing," Xiao Ling said, characterizing the crisis at the convention that afternoon.

He then gave the two "guardians" a full and truthful account of what had led up to the crisis and how it had unfolded.

"...It was my fault." Xiao Ling readily took the main responsibility for what had happened. "I should have stayed with Dania."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a warm, delicate hand grip his left hand tightly. It was Aemeath.

Another small hand, cool but soft, gently took his right hand. It was Dania.

"Don't take all the blame on yourself!" Roccia said, her voice a little stern as she stopped him from blaming himself. "You've already done well enough. At least everyone is safe and sound now, and that's the best outcome."

"Professor Morning, is there a way to use materials from this land to make some small self-defense tools for Sigrika and Dania? There are plenty of things like pepper spray online, but I don't think they'd do much good if the girls ran into someone truly dangerous," Roccia said decisively. "At least until they get their original powers back, those tools would be an important means of protecting themselves."

Morning nodded resolutely, carefully adding the request to the list of tasks in her head.

She cared about the students too, and she didn't want to see Xiao Ling blame himself again for failing to arrive in time.

She wasn't the only one. No one present wanted to see it. That kind of excessive self-blame would only drive him to a breakdown.

They should help shoulder his burdens.

"I was going to ask the professor if she could make something for self-defense too, but you beat me to it, Principal." Xiao Ling quickly recovered his composure and teased Roccia with a smile.

"Doesn't that just mean we're on the same wavelength?" Roccia replied, the corners of her lips curling up.

Seeing Xiao Ling quickly pull himself out of his self-reproach, the students breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again.

But had some strange sound just slipped in?

Roccia had heard it clearly: a "grr~" had just come from someone among them.

She looked at everyone present and, from the subtle expressions on their faces, identified the culprit whose stomach had been secretly rumbling.

"Looks like the little glutton in Dania's tummy is very unhappy, hmm? It's making quite a fuss." Roccia teased Dania with a smile in her eyes as the girl's cheeks suddenly turned pink.

"Awoo~" Dania let out a cute little yelp and immediately buried her head in her arms, leaving only a pair of large, aggrieved eyes peeking out at the others.

Everyone around her broke into indulgent laughter. Even Morning, who rarely smiled, had a gentler curve to her lips.

"Then let's go home. Principal Roccia, Professor Morning, would you like to come too? It's Saturday, so you don't have anything scheduled, right? If you can, you could even stay the night at my place," Xiao Ling suggested.

"Sure. I'm curious what kind of house can fit all six of you at once," Roccia said, perfectly happy to come.

"Since you've invited me yourself, Senior, I'd be delighted," Professor Morning said with a smile.

"Professor Morning, you really don't have to call me Senior... I'm just a student now."

Xiao Ling felt that Sigrika continuing to call him Senior in this world made some sense, but he felt somewhat unworthy of Professor Morning doing the same. After all, he was the one seeking help...

Once they had settled on Roccia and Morning staying the night, the group happily left the mall, only for sudden raindrops to land on the tips of their noses.

"Ah! It's raining!" Lynae was the first to cry out.

"It really is! It just had to start the moment we came out. Does it have a crush on us or something?" Aemeath joked nonsensically.

The raindrops answered Aemeath through their actions. What had begun as single drops kissing the tips of their noses turned into a pattering downpour against their bodies, gradually soaking their clothes.

"Come on, girls, run! We'll be drenched in a minute!" Xiao Ling took the lead, shouting a warning to the girls behind him as he dashed for the shelter of the eaves across the traffic lights.

"Wow, Xiao Ling, that's so mean! You got a head start! Wait for us!"

"A-Yu! That's not very gentlemanly of you! Who leaves the girls behind and runs off alone?"

"Senior, that's mean!"

"Senior, wait for us! And Yaya, hurry up, you're going to get soaked~!"

"You think I don't want to hurry? This thing is heavy! Have a little consideration, Xixi!!"

Roccia and Morning, who had already guessed it might rain, each strolled through the rain under an umbrella... But if you had umbrellas, why weren't you sheltering your poor students?

"This is what youth should look like, isn't it?" Roccia remarked as she watched the boys and girls laughing and racing through the rain.

Morning smiled in agreement with Roccia.

"Yes. For them, perhaps coming to this world by accident was a stroke of luck?"

Something suddenly occurred to Morning. She closed her umbrella and took in the sudden summer-night shower with her whole being.

"This feeling... it's been so long. A gift from nature." She stood in the rain, feeling freer than ever before, even her crimson eyes shining brightly.

Roccia followed her example, feeling the rain for herself, and expressed much the same sentiment.

"They say every kind of weather is a gift from nature to humanity. Now it seems that's true. No matter how faithfully artificial weather is recreated, it can't compare to the vigorous life force in a natural climate."

It was because this world enjoyed peace and stability that they could calm their hearts and appreciate the welcome gift of early summer in this land.

They had no need to dwell on the past or worry about the future. The safety they felt in this moment was the greatest joy in their hearts.