Slender fingers danced over the keyboard, moving as quickly and precisely as a machine.
With the girl's rapid motions, new characters constantly appeared on the screen, forming line after line of code, a dizzying sight to behold.
"Sensei." The blue-haired girl, back to me, suddenly called out, but she didn't take her eyes off the screen, nor did she slow her hands. "Do you need something?"
Though she couldn't see me, I shook my head from behind her. "No, I'm just looking."
Chihiro nodded and asked, "Can you actually understand what I'm doing right now?"
I answered honestly: "No, I can't."
"…Although I don't really mind," she said, carefully choosing her words, "You're not… really that free, are you?"
I felt like she actually did care a little.
After all, any young girl with a budding crush would naturally feel flustered if someone she admired, especially someone so handsome, was staring at her.
I laughed and apologized, then returned to my own work, no longer watching Chihiro's focused expression, immersing myself in the heavy paperwork.
As I concentrated, it felt as if the world consisted only of the pages before me, the bitter taste of coffee, and the sounds of typing and pen on paper.
After an unknown amount of time, having completed most of my work, I set down my pen and rubbed my tired eyes, only to suddenly realize that the continuous "click-clack" sounds had completely stopped. The room was silent.
I turned my head and, through my glasses, met a pair of yellow-green eyes.
Chihiro pushed up her glasses and said softly, "I remember you said you were pretty free before, didn't you?"
"Compared to the average workload at Schale," I replied.
Having answered so righteously, I frowned. Was Chihiro casually revealing that she'd been watching me just now?
But then, considering my appearance and the natural attention it drew from students, I relaxed my furrowed brow and silently forgave Chihiro's little transgression.
I switched to a gentle smile and asked the girl holding a coffee cup, "All done?"
"Yes. There wasn't really any problem," Chihiro nodded. "I was just clearing logs and checking the cache. Fortunately, there's no record of any server breaches yet. No suspicious viruses either."
"Server breaches leave records?"
"Of course. Everything on the network leaves traces, whether they're visible is another matter."
I thought for a moment, then cautiously asked: "Could there be a hacker skilled enough that even you, Chihiro, wouldn't detect their traces if they hacked Schale's servers?"
Chihiro thought for a moment, then reassured me: "Don't worry. Himari may be eccentric, sometimes I don't even know what's going on in her head, but she has basic privacy awareness."
"You mean she wouldn't do something like that?"
"I mean, even if she did, she'd make sure it was flawless and no one would ever know."
Ah, she meant protecting Himari's own privacy!?
Sensing my reaction, Chihiro's lips curved slightly into a faint smile:
"Sorry, just a little joke."
I was surprised, then chuckled: "This might be the first time I've ever seen you joke."
Normally, she always gave off an impression of serious precision, especially in contrast to the other members of Veritas.
"Really rude of me, I'm not a humorless old fuddy-duddy," Chihiro said, slightly annoyed, then thoughtfully added, "But… I guess I've let my guard down a bit. Have I been influenced by the atmosphere around you, Sensei?"
Meaning my calm, gentle presence naturally makes her relax?
"Yes, and that's the biggest security issue…" Chihiro's expression darkened. "Your lack of security awareness, Sensei."
"…Huh?"
Seeing my confused expression, she sighed: "Sensei, your password strength is way too low."
I hesitated. I had simply used my first day at work as the computer password for convenience. "Is… is that really a problem?"
"Of course. It can be easily cracked with a simple macro. If someone with ill intentions appeared, not only you and Schale, but even students' data connected to you could be leaked…"
I was shocked. "What should I do then?"
Normally, it wouldn't matter. Due to my looks, status, and the rumors surrounding me, most of the data stored on Schale's servers about me would probably already be widely known, so leaks aren't a big deal.
But I absolutely couldn't allow the data of my important students to be at risk.
"Well… no need to panic. As I said, things are fine for now. Just pay more attention in the future."
Saying this, Chihiro set down her coffee and placed her hands back on the keyboard and mouse. "Come, Sensei. I'll help you change your password. Something easier to remember, but include special characters, mix uppercase and lowercase."
"Easier to remember…" I thought for a moment, then cautiously suggested, "Chihiro@0426…?"
"…Wait!?" Chihiro reacted immediately, flustered, her cheeks reddening. "That's my name and birthday combined!?"
"Ah, you said it should be easy to remember… it has special characters and mixed case…"
"What are you thinking!? Never mind why you think that's easy to remember, this password will be known by everyone who uses Schale's computers! No! Absolutely not! Please think carefully and choose a normal one!"
Due to Chihiro's unexpectedly intense objection, I reluctantly changed it to a combination of "Arona" and my employment date.
After helping me update the password, she either still held a slight grudge about earlier, or just wanted to spend more time with me. She then spent several tens of minutes lecturing me on security awareness before she seemed satisfied.
After sending off this network security expert, it was finally time to check on the tactical security expert I had left in the lounge for hours.
Upon entering the lounge, my eyebrows lifted.
The silver-haired girl was lying in the massage chair, her sleeping face adorable, relaxed, and completely unguarded.
Seeing this, I could no longer resist my desire and reached out my sinful hand...
Grabbing my phone, I opened the camera.
With a sharp click, Azusa jolted awake.