After returning to the office, the first thing I did after sitting down was take out the almost forgotten credit card from my chest pocket.
Card-chan, you still remember to grant new abilities?
It has been almost half a month without any movement. Are you deliberately targeting me?
At least tell me what condition Hina failed to meet to be conquerable. It cannot be that she has not fully let her guard down around me yet, right?
I indignantly questioned it, and naturally received no response. I figured that even if the card could not speak, this silence might as well be a sign of guilt.
As I focused my attention, both annoyed and expectant, and began to check the newly acquired ability, I fell into silence.
——
Solidify Ability: [The Knack of Climbing Trees]
Description: The holder will gain an enhanced aptitude for climbing trees.
Source: Hanamiya Fubuki conquer successful
——
…What am I seeing right now?
I even went out of my way to ask Fubuki on Momotalk whether she was particularly good at climbing trees, but her reply was full of confusion and surprise.
Alright then, Card, you finally slipped up, did you not?
Did you withhold Kaede's ability and accidentally mix it up with Fubuki's?
All I could do was swallow my complaints. No matter what, having something is better than nothing. At the very least, it is a symbol of the bond between me and my student.
With a try-it-out mindset, the next morning on my way to the station, I attempted to climb a large tree in the park.
It did feel somewhat smoother than expected, but at the same time, it did not feel much different from before. The key issue was that I had never tried it beforehand, so there was no real comparison to make.
And more importantly, in what kind of situation would this ability even be useful?
Carrying that question with me, I boarded the train bound for the Abydos Home District.
If I wanted help exploring the Abydos desert, then naturally, the most suitable people to ask would be the local students.
Just as I passed through the school gate and was about to head toward the Foreclosure Task Force's activity room, I spotted a familiar girl standing on the field in the distance.
"Ayane," I walked over and greeted her, "good morning."
"Ah, sensei! What brings you to Abydos all of a sudden?"
"I thought I would give you all a surprise."
In truth, I just felt that not notifying them beforehand made it easier for interesting things to happen.
Suppressing my curiosity, I asked, "By the way, what are you doing here, Ayane?"
"Ah, about that… this drinking fountain has stopped working…"
"Is it broken?"
"We do not know the exact cause yet… but this kind of thing happens often."
Ayane said, "After all, our school is already quite old, and now there are only five of us students left. We cannot properly maintain everything, so lately, facilities have been breaking down one after another… Yesterday, we even had a power outage for two hours."
A power outage for that long in the middle of summer, and in a desertified place like Abydos…
I could easily imagine Takanashi Hoshino wandering around the school in search of shade for a nap, melting from the heat.
I frowned slightly. "You are not planning to hire someone to repair things?"
"If we were to ask professionals to inspect all the places that might have issues, the repair costs would be quite high…"
Even though their debt burden had been reduced somewhat, Abydos was still financially strained. I knew that much.
But the problem was…
The money they spent on aquarium tickets to stop Hoshino from sneaking off would have been more than enough to fix the infrastructure.
And the souvenirs back then too. Since they were not expensive to me, I had intended to pay, but I was firmly stopped.
After all, as girls with self-respect, how could they casually spend a man's money without giving something in return?
Still, priorities matter. Reviving the school cannot be rushed. Besides accumulating sufficient funds, what they really need is a steady influx of students…
Which means they will just have to have them with me.
Looking at it that way, everyone has already set their sights on the next generation. Their vision is truly far-reaching. How could Abydos not prosper?
"Even so, you cannot just leave it like this."
I was about to take the opportunity to suggest that the Foreclosure Task Force join tomorrow's Decagrammaton investigation as part-time work, and then have the Seminar step in to arrange for the Engineering Department to conduct inspections as payment.
Handled like that, Abydos could also build a connection with wealthy Millennium, and maybe even earn some extra income from it in the future. A perfect win-win situation.
But Ayane nodded and said, "That is true. So I was thinking of using my free time on rest days to repair things little by little myself…"
"Repair it yourself?"
I was a bit surprised. I did not expect the literary girl Ayane to have this kind of skill.
Adjusting her glasses, Ayane smiled. "Yes. When we first had a specialist come to fix the drinking fountain, I carefully observed how it was done. After that, I tried repairing it myself a few times, so now I am basically in charge of maintenance… Although club activities have been quite busy these past few days, so I have not confirmed the exact cause yet, I think it should be manageable."
"That is impressive," I praised her sincerely.
Everyone in the Foreclosure Task Force is contributing to the academy in their own way.
…Excluding the plan to rob a bank.
"Ahaha…" the black-haired girl said a bit shyly. "It is just because I have read repair manuals and books about piping… it is not really anything special."
In other words, with just one observation of actual work and some book knowledge, she learned how to handle simple repairs. Should I call it quick-wittedness or a natural talent for machinery?
No wonder Ayane and Hibiki ended up with similar types of abilities.
Seeing that there was still time, I asked, "If you do not mind, let me help out as well?"
"Huh? Is that really okay? sensei is clearly very busy…"
"I am actually quite free right now."
"Then… thank you, sensei."
Without further hesitation, the black-haired girl turned back to the broken drinking fountain and muttered, "Hmm… so the current situation is…"
She reached out and tried turning the faucet, but no matter how much she twisted it, not a single drop of water came out.
"Hmm, in this case… we will have to check the water meter underneath…"
Murmuring to herself, Ayane bent down and crawled under the fountain, rummaging around.
"…Huh?"
After a short while, the sound of rummaging stopped. It seemed she had found the water meter, but she let out a puzzled voice.
"Did something happen?"
"Yes, it is just that... AH!?"
Bang!
With the loud, distinct sound of a hard collision,
As she stood up, Ayane hit her head on the edge of the fountain, letting out a painful cry that made anyone who heard it wince.