"…Well, fine. If it’s an order, I’ll follow it. But remember one thing."

"What’s that?"

"I can’t do what she does."

With a sigh of annoyance, Eileen pointed toward Orca.

Orca, still unable to calm her anger, was relentlessly kicking the now immobile dummy, its spine completely bent in half. The teacher, who had tried to intervene and stop her, eventually gave up, realizing that Orca wasn’t someone who would be easily restrained by half-hearted attempts. The teacher seemed to decide to ignore her and instead moved to help students who were being attacked by other dummies.

"No one’s asking you to. What she’s doing is something only she can pull off. For us, holding the line is enough. Can you handle that?"

"Haa, why do I always end up in these situations? If the Princess is in danger, shouldn’t you be the first to rush to her aid?"

"That…"

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"…"

Leo couldn’t bring himself to argue.

He wanted to say that all lives are precious and that there shouldn’t be a priority in rescue efforts, but… this incident’s intent was too blatant to ignore.

The dummies swarmed around the Princess and the Overseer.

While a single dummy was fighting dozens of students elsewhere, multiple dummies were converging on the two of them alone.

Leo didn’t know the exact reason, but it seemed clear that the two were being targeted. It was hard to think otherwise, that the other students were simply being kept at bay to avoid interference.

Even without knowing the exact reason, the fact that these two were being targeted wasn’t surprising.

They were both well-known, making them easy targets.

And if either of them were killed or kidnapped, who knows what would happen next?

Leo didn’t even want to imagine it. He could only guess that the world would be thrown into chaos.

"They couldn’t get here because it’s impossible. The dummies are positioned too strategically. It looks difficult to reach us from outside."

"Why did I get dragged into this mess?"

"You happened to be there, and it’s only natural since I know your capabilities."

"How bothersome…"

"Watch your tone, even if it’s an order from the Princess."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I’ll provide reinforcement, so just be a good meat shield."

As he watched Eileen trudge along, Leo couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Surely, the Princess had seen countless skilled individuals.

But no matter how he looked at it, the Eileen he had seen before didn’t seem to possess the kind of skill that would impress the Princess.

"Well, that’s lucky. I didn’t expect Eileen to be hiding here."

"Um, Princess?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"From what I’ve seen, Eileen didn’t seem all that impressive. Is there a particular reason you hold her in such high regard?"

"…When did you first meet her?"

"What? During the friendly match, of course."

"Then you might not know. That girl is stronger than I am."

"What?!"

Leo was shocked.

He distinctly remembered how the Princess, along with the Overseer, Orca, and himself, had managed to fend off the four of them during that chaotic battle.

Honestly, Leo had felt like he was up against an enormous wall at that time.

He had felt that his and Eileen’s presence in that battle had been almost negligible.

…But Eileen is that strong?

"How should I put this… She’s been hiding her strength? Doesn’t like to fight? You could say something like that."

"Now that you mention it, there was one person who forfeited earlier. Could it have been…"

"It’s convenient that you remember. Yes, that was Eileen."

The Princess let out a wry laugh as if she found the situation absurd.

"It’s almost laughable, isn’t it? The girl once hailed as a genius swordsman is now like this. She hasn’t picked up a sword in years."

"Then shouldn’t we stop her?! The dummies are already…!"

Leo had heard that even the most skilled knights would see their abilities dull if they didn’t train regularly.

But for Eileen, a student, it had been years?

He had been somewhat relieved by the Princess’s reassurances that Eileen’s presence was lucky and that they would survive because of her. Now, panic started to set in.

We need to help her right away…!

"Don’t worry. You can trust in her skill."

"B-But you said it’s been years since she last held a sword! Wouldn’t her skills have rusted by now…?"

"That’s only true for most people. Someone like Eileen is different."

"What do you mean by that…?"

As Leo watched, Eileen’s sword began to glow with a faint blue light.

…Is that…?

"Sword aura…"

"Did you see? It’s a shame that she’s letting her talent go to waste, but her skill is something you can rely on."

The Princess smiled and started walking, but not in the direction where Eileen was fighting.

"Are you abandoning Eileen?!"

"Don’t say something so foolish. I’m not abandoning her. I’m going to help those who are struggling."

"…Ah."

"Tch. Why is she even there?"

At the end of the Princess’s gaze, the Overseer was busy protecting the students.

But the Princess wasn’t looking at the Overseer—her attention was on the students gathered behind her.

Among them, Leo recognized a familiar face.

"You’re going to save your friend."

"It’s not like that."

"Sure, let’s say it’s not. I’ll go help Eileen."

"…I told you, it’s not like that!"

"Don’t get hurt, okay? Got it?!"

"You… you little—he’s already gone."

"What a mess."

"It’s not too bad, considering no one’s been seriously hurt, right?"

I was watching the situation unfold with the Principal, who was likely somewhere outside the academy, communicating via a video call. Then, out of nowhere, she made that comment.

A mess, huh?

Well, she wasn’t wrong. Why are there so many dummies?

In the game, there was only supposed to be one.

Now, there weren’t just one or two—there had to be at least twenty.

The teachers were urgently trying to control the dummies and evacuate the students, but…

It looked like they were understaffed.

Honestly, I was a bit uneasy.

An enemy that should have only appeared as one in the game was now multiplied by twenty.

Did the game only depict one dummy out of many for simplicity’s sake?

Or did something I did cause there to be more than twenty?

I couldn’t perfectly recall the script, so I didn’t know how to react to this subtle shift in the situation.

"Wow, they’re fighting well. I guess experiences like these help them grow stronger in the future, right?"

"…You know, I’ve asked before, but you’re really not the mastermind behind all this, right? You’re starting to sound way too suspicious."

"What? What could possibly be suspicious about me?!"

I felt wronged. What did I do wrong?

If I were the real mastermind, I wouldn’t have mentioned this incident in the first place.

There was a character in the game who you could point to and say, "This guy is the root of all evil!" after tracing back all the misfortunes of the playable characters.

If that guy were the mastermind, maybe. But me? No way.

"Well, in any case, it’s a relief that the students seem to be handling it well. …Although, I’d love to take care of it all myself."

"You can’t do that. How often do they get a chance to gain real combat experience like this? Unless it’s a truly dangerous situation, it’s better to let the students handle it."

"…That attitude of yours is exactly why you’re suspicious."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"I heard that! Why do you think I didn’t hear that?!"

Didn’t Stella call the Principal an old hag?

…I think I’m starting to understand why.

She seems to enjoy teasing people.

"…So? Are you going to tell me who the traitor is yet?"

"What? Who?"

"The traitor. I’d like to deal with them myself."

"Ah…"

The traitor, huh…

"I don’t know."

"What?!"

"Who could it be? Do you know, Principal Veronica?"

"How would I know?!"

The traitor is a random encounter.

When the game starts, a new seed is generated, determining certain random elements.

One of the teachers randomly has their "Despair" stat set to 1. For all other teachers, it remains at 0.

The one with the "Despair" stat is the traitor.

So there was no way for me to know who the traitor was.

It was literally random—there was no way to predict who it would be.

Since it was a value set at the beginning of a new game, the only way to check it was to open a notepad and look at the "Despair" value.

But this isn’t a game.

There’s no way I could do that here.

All we can do is wait and see.

"Don’t worry. The traitor will reveal themselves soon enough."

"They won’t unless they get caught."

"Unless they have a tragic backstory."

"…A tragic backstory?"

The "Despair" counter.

As the name suggests, the teacher with this counter gains a tragic past.

Enough to make them dissatisfied with society and join an anti-social group.

"Hmm, it’s better if you hear it from them directly. It’s not something others should talk about."

"…"

"Oh, Eileen just pulled out a sword aura. That’s awesome!"

At first, she thought I was joking.

…But now, even Veronica was starting to wonder if Ophelia might really be the mastermind.