The incident was over.

The traitor was dead, and though the students had some minor injuries, no one was seriously hurt.

It was, by all appearances, a complete victory for the Academy—or at least that’s what those who only looked at the surface would think.

But those who paid attention to the fact that this incident happened in the first place didn’t see it that way.

Sure, the Academy proved it could handle such unexpected situations, but some people started to question whether the Academy was truly safe, raising doubts about its security.

Our headmaster, too, believed that the incident should never have happened at all.

...Honestly, I don't really care, though.

I think people will just laugh this off later.

Anyway, once it became clear that there had been a traitor among the staff, the headmaster, who had rushed back to the Academy after finishing her work as quickly as possible, immediately started to look at the teachers with suspicion.

The teachers understood this to some extent.

After all, they had just learned that a colleague they’d been chatting with a few days ago was actually a criminal whose goal was to assassinate the princess and the overseer.

Those who knew how the world worked accepted this as something inevitable.

But the teachers failed to notice—or rather, they noticed but deliberately turned a blind eye to it.

And the consequences of their willful ignorance soon caught up with them.

"Ophilia-sensei, are you here? We're not bad people, I swear. Come out, and we’ll give you candy."

Candy, my foot.

They’ll just dump more work on me.

I held my breath, praying that I wouldn’t get caught.

I didn’t even believe in it, but this world clearly had gods.

God, please, don’t let them find me!

"Found her! It’s Ophilia-sensei! Get her!"

"...Oh, come on! I swear I’m never praying again!"

"Catch her!"

Why are the teachers even chasing me?

To explain that, I need to go back in time a little.

The Academy was already short-staffed.

That’s why the headmaster was running around everywhere, trying to recruit more people.

Fortunately, they had a well-organized system, and the teachers the headmaster had recruited were competent enough to keep the Academy running smoothly.

...That is, until that incident happened.

The terrorist attack threw the Academy into chaos.

Worried families started visiting their children, which was only natural.

Complaints from citizens poured in, and the royal family and the church started poking their noses into Academy affairs.

And to top it all off, reporters who smelled a story began swarming the place. Busy didn’t even begin to describe the situation.

With the Academy already short-staffed and the workload piling up after losing a staff member, it became overwhelming.

The remaining staff tried to handle the situation, but the headmaster kept pulling them away for random ideological checks.

The continuous high workload and late nights had the teachers desperately hoping for additional staff...

But there was no way that was going to happen. Not so soon after a terrorist attack.

Of course, there weren’t many volunteers, and even if there were, the headmaster wasn’t about to hire anyone new, not when there was still a chance they could be another criminal.

With the workload piling up, the teachers sighed in frustration, and that’s when I had the misfortune of catching their attention.

As a counselor, I usually had a light workload, making me an easy target for them to dump tasks on.

Even when I said I’d never done those kinds of jobs before, they ignored me. “You’ll learn,” they said, throwing me into the deep end.

At first, I tried my best.

After all, seeing how hard they were working, it seemed wrong not to help.

But everyone has their limits. When the work just kept coming, I made a quick decision.

This wasn’t going to end well for me. So I ran.

"Huff, huff... A dead end..."

Of course, someone as physically weak as me wasn’t going to outrun those teachers.

...So why haven’t they caught me yet?

That’s easy.

They want a break.

They’re using me as an excuse to take a breather.

When they feel like getting back to work, they’ll catch me in an instant.

But now that I’m trapped in this dead end, they’ll just drag me back to the workload.

That thought was terrifying.

Eighteen-hour workdays? No, thank you!

But using hypnosis?

I didn’t like that idea either. ...It would feel like admitting defeat.

Ugh, what do I do...?

"Hide here, Sensei."

"E-Eilyn...?"

As I stood there, unsure of what to do, Eilyn’s voice came out of nowhere.

...There was no one around here, though?

I quickly turned to where the voice came from, but all I saw was a white wall.

"...Did I imagine it?"

"You didn’t imagine it."

"?!"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"H-how could I not be? A person just popped out of the wall!"

Jeez, that scared me.

Is there a space inside the wall...?

Looking closely, there was a very fine crack in the wall.

So fine that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were really scrutinizing it.

And the edges of the wall were perfectly cut. Was this some kind of secret passage in the Academy?

"A secret passage in the Academy? That’s amazing."

"? There’s no such thing."

"Huh? Then what is this...?"

"I made it. It’s a great place to skip out on work, right?"

"..."

"Come inside. I’ll help you hide for a bit."

I was excited for a moment. A secret passage in the Academy that no one knew about. How cool would that have been?

But then, betrayal washed over me as I stared at her.

It didn’t last long, though.

Hearing the voices getting closer, I quickly slipped into Eilyn’s secret spot.

"...What the heck? I swear she came this way."

"You probably saw wrong."

"Hmm..."

Please don’t find me... Please don’t find me...!

For the second time today, I prayed sincerely.

I’ll forgive you for not answering earlier...! Just this once! Please, let me off!

"Oh."

"What? Did you see something?"

"...!"

But apparently, God still wasn’t listening to me.

Through the tiny crack, my eyes met the teacher’s who had been chasing me.

God is dead. No doubt about it...

I cursed God in my heart. Always ignoring my prayers.

I don’t want to work anymore.

I envied the thief I was just a few months ago, who used to steal wages with ease.

"Nah. I must’ve been mistaken. Let’s take our time. Ophilia-sensei, you’re better at running than I thought."

"Be honest, did you see her?"

"Nope. Didn’t see a thing."

"Come on, don’t hide it. Ophilia-sensei! I don’t know where you’re hiding, but take your time! Let us enjoy a break thanks to you!"

"What are you saying? We need to find her so we can get back to work."

"Oh, right. ...Hurry up and find her! The work’s piling up!"

Okay, I take back what I said.

Apparently, God did listen to my prayer after all.

I finally let out a sigh of relief after the teachers left.

"Thanks, Eilyn. You saved me."

"...You know my name?"

"Of course, I do. I’ve heard about you from the princess."

Well, I didn’t actually hear it from the princess.

But saying this would probably make things easier, right?

Judging by her sigh and muttering, it seemed like I was right.

"...Damn that girl. Always running her mouth about useless stuff."

"Haha."

Eilyn, the swordsmanship prodigy.

She had incredible growth potential, but her initial stats were so low they could barely be considered playable.

Maybe it was because of the real-world buffs, but she seemed stronger than Leo.

Anyway, she wasn’t the type to like moving around.

According to her character description, she spent most of her days slacking off.

...I’d always wondered what kind of slacking off she did, and now I knew. She’d neatly cut into the Academy wall and hid inside.

Her swordsmanship was so good that the cut was nearly invisible—what a waste of talent.

"...Why did you help me?"

"Hmm?"

"I’ve heard you don’t like doing things that are...troublesome."

Eilyn had an almost pathological dislike for trouble.

Whenever something happened, she’d rather avoid it than deal with it.

...So why would she help me?

In response to my confusion, she simply replied,

"Oh, I just felt a sense of camaraderie."

"...Camaraderie?"

I hadn’t expected that at all, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

Was I supposed to be happy about this?

I mean, it was nice to get on better terms with her so easily, but...

I had mixed feelings.

Was I really so similar to her?