As soon as I arrived in the Public Safety Bureau lobby, I heard Moe frightening Miyu.
"It's totally possible you'll get a punishment even worse than expulsion. Like being dragged into some weird underground facility and forced to do all kinds of things, or being turned into a test subject, or even being USED by Schale's Sensei to vent his frustrations..."
"Eek!? D-don't tell me it's just like those trending posts on the internet... I-I'm done for..."
Miyu trembled all over as she whimpered.
Putting aside whether they'd actually receive that kind of punishment, wasn't the last one more of a reward?
Thinking to myself, I walked over to the girls who had been summoned here to await their sentence and raised a hand in greeting.
"Good evening, everyone. Who would've thought we'd meet again so miraculously, not in the painful depths of hell, but in a place like this?"
For some reason, my witty entrance was met only with deathly silence and a chorus of stares.
Perhaps they were simply so captivated by my charm that they'd forgotten how to speak. I could forgive that.
After quite a while, the only sound came from Miyu, who let out a series of broken,
"E... Eek..."
"...You're still here, Sensei."
Miyako frowned slightly.
"What brings you to Valkyrie? Or... are you actually here because of us?"
That attitude was so cold that it left me with no excuse to comfort myself.
I awkwardly scratched my nose.
"Ahaha. To put it simply, I'm here to inform you of the punishment for this incident."
Originally, the disciplinary measures had been scheduled to come directly from the General Student Council.
Considering the severity of the RABBIT Squad's actions, along with the recent incident involving their seniors in the FOX Squad attacking the Sanctum Tower, the worst-case scenario had been the complete erasure of their student records, leaving them unable to enroll in any academy ever again.
However, after telling me all that, Kaya put on an act of cherishing talented students and made me a request.
As long as I could persuade the RABBIT Squad to transfer to Valkyrie, she'd do everything in her power to protect them.
Honestly, after hearing Kaya's seemingly sincere proposal, I had almost burst out laughing.
Given Rin-chan's and Aoi-chan's stubborn personalities, what Kaya described wasn't impossible, but the odds were practically nonexistent.
At the end of the day, wasn't she just trying to use my name to fulfill her ambition of bringing all of SRT under her control?
The goodwill and guilt I'd felt toward Kaya earlier that morning immediately evaporated by more than half.
After I casually refused, Kaya changed tactics. She simply handed over complete authority regarding the RABBIT Squad's punishment to me, even promising she'd persuade the other bureau chiefs herself if it meant owing me a favor.
The problem was, did she really need to play the benefactor?
Given the contribution I'd made in resolving this incident, along with my relationship with the various bureau chiefs of the General Student Council, the moment they heard I wanted to intervene, they'd probably approve it unanimously.
She was just trying to earn my gratitude indirectly.
Originally, I hadn't intended to interfere too much with the punishment, unless the final decision was obviously unfair.
But since Kaya was clearly plotting something again, as the true master of the FOX Squad, I had no choice but to take responsibility and shelter the RABBIT Squad under my wing as well.
"Eek!?"
Miyu looked from the bewildered Moe to me, trembling even harder.
"D-don't tell me... It's really just like the rumors... Bad students who dare defy Sensei get locked in Schale's basement... Please don't! I surrendered on my own! I confessed everything right away!"
Just where had those rumors come from?
I always conserved my Pyroxenes. I'd barely even gone down to the basement a handful of times!
The moment she said that, Saki exploded.
"What!? Miyu, you actually confessed!?"
Beside her, Moe looked equally dissatisfied.
"Wow. That's so lame."
I had no idea where the two of them got the confidence to criticize her, considering they'd confessed everything themselves as well.
"...You've misunderstood. Listen to me before you start arguing."
I paused before continuing.
"The exact punishment is as follows. You will perform mandatory labor during the upcoming restoration project for Rabbit Park. In addition, each of you will submit a written self-reflection to my office before sunset tomorrow. It must include your reflections on the disturbance you caused, your original reason for joining SRT, and your plans for the future. It should be sincere and contain no fewer than three thousand words. That is all. Dismissed."
Miyako waited for a moment before blinking her violet-blue eyes.
"...Huh? That's it?"
I immediately became suspicious.
"Otherwise, what exactly were you expecting?"
Surely no one actually wanted to be locked in Schale's basement...?
"Hold on. You call that a punishment?"
Saki frowned.
"And writing about our future plans? I can't even imagine a future without SRT."
"Then write about what you're planning to do to restore the academy."
I patiently guided her.
Miyu hesitantly guessed,
"D-don't tell me... You're going to submit a petition to the General Student Council for us...?"
I froze for a moment.
"Not exactly. But I will personally read every one of your essays in front of all of you, so don't even think about trying to fake your way through them."
Hearing that, Moe clicked her tongue.
"What a stick-in-the-mud."
What was that supposed to mean?
Do you know how many people would envy the chance to take up that much of my time?
"...I still don't completely understand, but I think I've grasped the general idea."
Miyako, who had been deep in thought this whole time, finally seemed to reach a conclusion.
Looking at me, she spoke slowly.
"So... authority over our disposition now rests in your hands, Sensei. The victor rules everything. That's only reasonable."
As expected of the squad leader.
She was far more sensible than the other rabbits.
I smiled gently.
"Then, what are your plans from here?"
"What kind of question is that...? What are you trying to do?"
Saki asked warily.
"Since we can't go back to SRT... I guess it doesn't really matter where we go..."
Miyu said timidly.
"First of all, I just want somewhere to rest. I'm completely exhausted..."
Moe rubbed her chest as she complained.
"The place where Sensei hit me still hurts..."
Ignoring the last girl's gesture, I nodded in satisfaction.
Taking in homeless little rabbits was also part of my responsibility.
So I generously extended an invitation.
"In that case, why don't you stay at Schale for a few nights? There are plenty of guest rooms, and the water and electricity are available twenty-four hours a day."
More importantly, it would give them the precious opportunity to spend every day with me.
If it weren't for the fact that I quite liked Miyako, and because Kaya was watching them so closely, there was no way I'd let people I'd only met today move into my home.
Unfortunately, things didn't develop quite the way I'd expected.
What I received in return were four pairs of eyes still filled with wariness and suspicion.