I paid the price for suddenly giving in to my desire for amusement.
As the Pres of the Prefect Team, someone who considered maintaining order at the academy her duty, possessed overwhelming strength, and had a somewhat stoic personality, Hina had always been an incredibly intimidating presence to students of the same school, especially the troublesome girls who loved breaking the law.
Of course, there were exceptions like Haruna and Akari. Whether they were simply fearless or their thought processes worked a little differently, even if they had actually committed a crime, they could still chat and laugh with Hina as if nothing had happened.
The problem was that not everyone in the Gourmet Research Society possessed the courage to face Hina while remaining even outwardly calm.
"W-what!? Why is the Prefect Team President here!?"
Izumi cried out like that, then proceeded to recreate an accident in Schale's kitchen that closely resembled what had happened earlier in Gehenna's cafeteria.
Especially after Juri, who had just arrived, rushed over without a second thought to help.
Fortunately, this time no one was injured. Even the dishes that had already been prepared remained completely unharmed.
The only casualty was the kitchen itself, which had been damaged beyond normal use by monsters... that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere for no apparent reason, along with Hina's machine gun.
Because of that, when we finally sat down for dinner afterward, despite Fuuka no longer having to focus on speed and quantity and instead displaying her truly masterful cooking, with every dish excelling in color, aroma, and taste, the atmosphere remained extraordinarily awkward.
Even while the girls from the Gourmet Research Society and the School Lunch Club took turns enjoying the long-awaited feeding play with me because my dominant hand was sprained, I could clearly feel how stiff their movements were.
Of course, that probably had something to do with Hina, whom I had enthusiastically invited to stay, silently watching everything with her deep, unreadable gaze the entire time.
I figured it was just Hina wanting to join in herself, but being too shy to say so.
In any case, after everyone bid me farewell and left not long after that awkward meal, what I believed was almost certainly a conspiracy targeting me completely fell apart.
The weight that had been hanging over my heart finally settled, only to leave behind even more ripples across the lake.
I had no idea whether I should feel relieved or disappointed. Thinking about it, relief probably won out.
In any case, after this accident, repairing the kitchen moved to the top of my schedule.
Although, to be fair, when I worked from home, my three daily meals mostly consisted of boxed lunches from the Angel 24 convenience store downstairs, desserts and pastries from the café as supplements, with the occasional lovingly prepared lunch from Sora mixed in.
BUT!
How could I let lovestruck girls who might visit Schale someday lose the chance to show off their domestic skills to the person they loved because of something like this?
And I had to prepare the invoice as soon as possible too, so I wouldn't delay getting Aoi-chan to reimburse it later and cause her unnecessary trouble.
There truly wasn't a more considerate Sensei anywhere in Kivotos.
It could only be said that the reason I was so popular with my students wasn't just because of my face. More importantly, it was because beneath this already dazzling exterior lay an even nobler heart.
"...And that's why I came to see you today."
Early that morning, after arriving at Millennium, I sincerely explained the situation to the girls before me.
"I see..."
Utaha gave a slight nod before apologetically saying, "But I'm afraid we'll have to disappoint you, Sensei. Even though you're our highest-priority VIP client, we just accepted a huge project not long ago, so we really don't have any time to spare..."
Hibiki quietly added from behind her, "We'll be heading to the construction site in a little while."
"Allow me to explain!"
Kotori was as energetic as ever and loved giving explanations.
"We're currently providing technical and equipment support to a branch campus of Trinity to earn research funding! Speaking of that Arius School that's currently being rebuilt, its connection with Trinity goes all the way back to the First Ecumenical Council that led to the founding of what people now recognize as Trinity..."
I'd heard more than enough of this over the past few months already. Let's move on.
I expressed my understanding of their situation and flexibly changed the deadline.
"It's fine. Waiting a little longer is perfectly okay. What's important is that I trust your skills!"
As long as I confirmed both before and afterward that they hadn't suddenly decided to install some bizarre new functions.
Everyone in the Engineering Department seemed touched by my trust, but Utaha still shook her head.
"Sensei, even then, it would probably delay things for far too long. How about this? Let me recommend someone else who's suitable."
"Oh?"
I asked, "Who?"
The next moment, Utaha spoke a name that was both unexpected and, in hindsight, perfectly reasonable.
"Yasumori Minori, head of the Labor Party at Red Winter Federal Academy."
Utaha paused briefly.
"Although she's also involved in the Arius reconstruction project, she commands a large workforce and has extensive connections. She should be able to help solve your problem."
...But when I heard that name, the first image that came to mind was the head of the Labor Party holding a loudspeaker while leading countless students in strikes, demonstrations, and even revolution.
Although, back then, the target had been Cherino.
No matter how I looked at it, she seemed like another dangerous person... or perhaps that was simply what passed for normal in Red Winter.
"Allow me to explain!"
Kotori said.
"You may have forgotten, but the Labor Party also participated in Schale's overall renovation before! So if there's a problem somewhere, besides our Engineering Department, the Labor Party is the most suitable choice!"
"What!?"
My entire body trembled. Only after her reminder did I realize that the place where I lived and worked every day had already been branded with Red Winter's mark.
Hibiki suddenly remembered something.
"Come to think of it, wasn't Arisu-chan working part-time at the Labor Party office before?"
Even Arisu too...
I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed with sorrow. Seeing that they still seemed to have more to say, I hurriedly interrupted.
"I understand! Just give me Minori's MomoTalk contact!"
After getting Minori's MomoTalk from Utaha, I discovered that I had already added her as a friend.
Not only that, her account was actually sitting in my blocked list.
Arona had done it.
As for why she had received such special treatment...
Minori: Red Winter Federal Academy Labor Party / Professional Personnel Dispatch / Long-term? Short-term? Daily Pay / Civil Engineering? Construction? Expansion? Demolition? Renovation?
Any commission welcome anytime!
If you wish to stop receiving messages like this, please notify us through MomoTalk.
After hesitating for a moment, I sent the first message I'd ever exchanged with the head of the Labor Party.
Me: Let's talk business.