The voice that called Shirayuiki’s name was somewhat low for a woman’s. Inside the office was the head teacher for class B of the second year students, Ms. Tsuzuri. Ms. Tsuzuri was a teacher belonging to the Dagula (interrogation) division, and she was sitting in a black, leather chair with her legs crossed, wearing lace-up boots. Shirayuki was sitting in a chair across from Ms. Tsuzuri with her head hanging down.
“Your grades suddenly started dropping recently ...”
Despite being indoors, Ms. Tsuzuri was wearing a dark black coat, and she blew out cigarette smoke in the form of a ring. The manner in which she wore her coat reminded me of how slovenly doctors in manga wear their white coats. I could see the black, leather holster around her waist and the deep-black gun that rested inside it—a Glock 18. Among the teachers at our school, Tsuzuri was at the head of the list for dangerous people. First off, she always had glassy eyes. It was like she was on some sort of drug all year round. I mean, the grass-like smell coming from her cigarette was clearly different from the smell that commercial cigarettes gave off. I had to wonder if it was something a person could legally smoke in Japan. Tsuzuri had thin, black leather gloves over her hands and using one of them, put out the “cigarette” in an ashtray.
“Well, your studies aren’t that important though,” Tsuzuri said with a yawn.
Hey. A teacher isn’t supposed to say things like that. This is why Butei High students’ average deviation value doesn’t get any higher than fifty.
“What was it? Uhh. Oh, right. Change. Change gets you wondering.”
Tsuzuri, with a brain capable of forgetting a simple word like that, and an expression that read as complete apathy, was definitely someone not to be trifled with. But there was one thing at which she was frighteningly adept at as a butei.
Interrogation.
With regard to her skill in that field, she is one of the five most talented people in Japan. It was unclear what she did to the people she questioned, but when interrogated by Tsuzuri, even the most tight-lipped criminals had confessed everything. Apparently, by the time the interrogation was over, the criminal went insane and called her “Queen” or “Goddess,” but I wasn’t really sure what that was all about. Tsuzuri shook her head, tossing around her jet-black, bobbed hair.
“I’m going to get right to the point. Hotogi ... did that person make contact with you by any chance?”
“You’re referring to Durandal?”
Aria’s eyebrows twitched upon hearing what Shirayuki said.
Durandal.
I’d only seen that name in the notification that was e-mailed to us, but I remembered it as well. If I recall, Durandal was a kidnapper that targeted buteis with supernatural abilities—chouteis.
But Durandal’s very existence has been considered to be a rumor for some time now. No one has actually seen Durandal. The majority thinks the chouteis, who were said to be abducted, actually went missing while working on an unrelated case. As things stood, Durandal was just an urban legend that nobody took seriously.
“Nothing of that sort has happened. Quite frankly, even if Durandal does actually exist, I’m sure he would target more powerful chouteis instead of somebody like me.”
“Hotogi, have more confidence in yourself. You’re the pride of our school, you know?”
“T-That’s not true,” said Shirayuki, lowering her gaze in embarrassment and hiding behind her perfectly straight bangs.
“Hotogi, I’ve told you time and time again. Get a bodyguard. A report came from Lezzad mentioned there’s a high chance Durandal is targeting you. The same thing was predicted at SSR, right?”
“But ... a bodyguard ...”
“What’s the problem,” slurred Tsuzuri as she wrapped up some odd grass in what seemed to be a page she ripped out of an English to Japanese dictionary and bound the paper together with a lick of her tongue.
“There’s a childhood friend of mine I want to look after ... and if someone were to follow me around everywhere, it would be kind of ...”
“Hotogi, we teachers are worried about you. The Adsiard is taking place soon, so there will be more people on campus than usual. Even if it’s only for the duration of the event, have a capable butei act as your bodyguard. This is an order.”
“... But Durandal is a criminal that doesn’t even exist.”
“This is an order. I said it twice because this is important. You will regret it if I have to say it a third time,” said Tsuzuri, lighting her cigarette and blowing smoke in Shirayuki’s face.
Hey, Tsuzuri. I don’t care what happens to you, but what are you gonna do if Shirayuki loses any more brain cells.
“*Cough*. Y-yes Ma’am. I understand.”
Shirayuki squinted her eyes as the smoke came near them and finally nodded her consent.
... Taking the conversation we just overheard into account, it made sense why Shirayuki was called to the educational affairs department. Shirayuki, a choutei, had recently been receiving warnings from teachers that Durandal might be targeting her. That was why the educational affairs department wanted her to get a bodyguard. But Shirayuki had persistently refused. You could say I agreed with her regarding the bodyguard. At Butei High, students were often given warnings just like these, but there were rarely any actual instances of said students being attacked. SSR’s predictions couldn’t really be trusted to begin with, and Lezzad was famous for generating rumors. Moreover, the enemy this time was Durandal, whose very existence was doubtful. In other words, the educational affairs department was being overprotective. Being the excellent student that she was, Shirayuki had a lot of expectations placed upon her. If there were even a slight possibility of anything happening to her, the educational affairs department would take no chances. That‘s why they’re overreacting to this unconfirmed information and ordering Shirayuki to have a bodyguard. Shirayuki is the one to empathize with here. It must be really bothersome having your life disrupted for the convenience of adults. Just as I was starting to put a wry expression on my face, I was startled by the noise of Aria punching open the air vent.
“Wha-? Hey!”