"Oh, Ophilia-sensei. Where have you been? Sorry, but there's a pile of work waiting for you. Could you please sign these documents?"

With a loud thud, a literal mountain of papers was placed in front of me.

Looking at it, the stack was almost as tall as me.

They want me to sign all of this today? Have they lost their minds? No matter how you look at it, this amount is absurd.

...The even crazier thing is that this stack is probably a fraction of the workload compared to what the other teachers have.

Since I can’t handle professional tasks like the other teachers, they’ve offloaded some of the simpler grunt work onto me.

The problem is, even the grunt work is overwhelming in quantity.

"O-Ophilia-sensei?"

"Sorry. I don’t think I can help with this anymore."

"What? W-What do you mean by that...?"

"I’ve suddenly got my own work to take care of."

But today, this murderous workload ends.

From the beginning, I wasn’t really a teacher here, just a counselor.

I was only helping out because they asked.

I’ve helped enough up to now, so they won’t be able to say anything if I stop.

The tide of unbearable tasks is finally over.

From now on… it's time to return to my original job.

I’m a counselor, not some signing machine!

"O-Ophilia-sensei! What do you mean, you've suddenly got work to do?"

"Just what I said. Sorry, but I won’t be able to help anymore."

"W-What?! But you’ve been helping us so diligently all this time! How can you suddenly say you have other work?"

"It just turned out that way. I’m really sorry."

"W-What kind of work? What..."

The teachers who had been piling work onto me suddenly began grabbing at my pants, begging me to stay.

Mmm, I know exactly how they feel, so I feel a bit sorry for them.

But there’s no helping it.

I have to survive, too. …Sorry!

"You remember the recent terrorist incident, right?"

"...How could I forget? It’s the reason we’re in this mess."

"Haha... well, because of that, some issues have come up."

"Issues?"

"The students are starting to complain of mental distress."

"...PTSD?"

"Yes, something like that."

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

It’s commonly known as a psychological condition experienced by soldiers after war.

It’s frequently depicted in various media, so it’s a well-known condition.

It seems the teachers were thinking along those lines, assuming it must be PTSD when I mentioned the students' mental distress.

"Extreme situations like a terrorist attack… might be something teachers are used to, but not the students."

"..."

Well, that’s all a lie!

The memories that could have given them real PTSD—like watching someone die right in front of them (or parts of their memory about me)—have already been erased through hypnosis.

There’s no way they could develop PTSD if they don’t remember.

At most, a few students might shudder when they see a scarecrow, since I didn’t erase those memories.

But to the teachers who don’t know this, it’s the perfect excuse…!

This is the beauty of information asymmetry!

"I was already worried about not being able to provide psychological counseling for the students."

"...Ugh."

"The academy's main purpose is to nurture and protect the students, so it’s only right to prioritize their well-being, don’t you think?"

"Urgh..."

"What do you think?"

Ah, perfect.

With an excuse this flawless, no one will be able to say anything about me escaping the life of a signing machine.

I looked around the teacher's office, confident.

There wasn’t a single person here who could stop me.

Deep down, they all care for the students and are good people.

No one would dare ignore such a perfect excuse and dump work on me… right?

"Well, if that’s the case... I guess there’s nothing we can do…"

"Sorry. I really wish I could help, but the students have to come first."

"...Right. Goodbye, then."

I maintained a sincere, apologetic expression until the very moment I left the teacher’s office, even as I walked down the hallway to the counseling room.

I couldn’t let myself smile yet—it wouldn’t be well-received.

But once I arrived at the counseling room, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

"Heh... hehehe...! I did it...!"

"Congratulations, Sensei."

"Oh, Eilyn, thank you."

"You acted really well."

"Hehe."

Eilyn patted me on the shoulder, having been ready to barge into the teacher’s office if something went wrong.

It feels surprisingly nice to be praised, even if it’s for something small.

Maybe it’s because the compliment came from one of my favorite characters.

"Is this really okay?"

"Yes, it’s perfectly fine."

I had been a little anxious, wondering if things might go wrong, but... honestly, it turned out even better than expected. It’s almost scary how smoothly everything went.

"That’s good to hear."

"Oh, now that I’m here, maybe I’ll take a break… no, wait."

I almost said something weird.

I smiled slyly at Eilyn and said,

"Why don’t you... have a counseling session?"

"...Ha. That’s a good idea, Sensei. Counseling… I’m all for it."

We both looked at each other and smiled.

...Perhaps a little too suspiciously.

"Yawn..."

Orca dragged her tired body toward the counseling room.

Normally, she would have been more excited to head there, but recently, it hadn’t been a pleasant experience.

"...He’s really busy, huh."

That teacher—lately, even when he’s in the counseling room, he’s always signing documents.

Maybe he doesn’t even have time to burn incense for me anymore. He’s been so busy that he even told me it’s okay to just burn it and sleep on my own.

I could guess why he was so busy.

It’s probably because of that idiot who died, ranting about revenge and all that nonsense.

"Why didn’t you just die quietly without causing trouble, you damn fool?"

Feeling irritated for no reason, she kicked the wall in the hallway.

Not understanding why she was so annoyed just made her even angrier.

It wasn’t like she needed the teacher to burn incense for her. And it wasn’t like she minded that the little kid, the princess, and that blind woman who used to bother her weren’t coming around as much.

So why was she so annoyed? She couldn’t figure it out.

"Tch. Annoying."

The other day, when the demon started talking to her, she tried talking back, thinking it might work. Then, when everyone around her treated her like a crazy person, she yelled at them to go away, and now her throat hurt.

There should still be some yuzu tea in the counseling room's cupboard.

She grumbled to herself as she headed to the counseling room, thinking that a nap on the soft bed might make her feel a little better.

"...Lin! ...Yo! You... not..."

"He, Sensei is really bad at this...!"

"Huh?"

As usual, she opened the door, intending to take a nap on the bed, but she heard voices.

It was the teacher’s voice. Was he done with his work already?

He’s usually much later than this.

Feeling her mood slightly lift, Orca opened the counseling room door.

"Sensei, you're here early tod... wait... what?"

"Argh! You’re too good! Ugh… let’s go again!"

"No matter what you do, it’ll be the same. Sensei, you’re just terrible at this game."

"Eilyn, you’re just too good! How could you throw that line at me?! I won’t let this stand! I’ll crush that arrogance of yours!"

"Try if you can."

"Rrgghh!"

What the hell is going on?

Orca stood there, feeling dizzy as she took in the completely different atmosphere of the counseling room.

Crumbs scattered everywhere. Half-empty cups of drinks.

...And there was the teacher, all riled up, and a girl—one she vaguely recognized—teasing him with a smug grin.

"What the hell...?"

"Huh? Oh, Orca! You’re here earlier than I thought."

"It’s the same time as usual."

"Oh, so it is. Wow, time flies..."

"What the hell is this? It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun, Sensei. I’m heading out now."

"So soon? You could stay and… uh, get more counseling."

"Don’t worry. Taking too much time off... uh, I mean, too much counseling isn’t good either."

"True."

"See you next time!"

The girl, still cheerful and promising a next time, passed by Orca and left the counseling room.

All that remained was the teacher, fiddling with the game controller as if he regretted losing, and the traces of the girl who had been there.

"...Why are you here so early? You’re usually late."

"Oh, I’ve decided to stay in the counseling room from now on."

"Really?"

"Yes. Thanks to Eilyn, I’ve got the perfect excuse."

"..."

The teacher smiled as if it was some sort of secret, but Orca didn’t like that smile.

She didn’t know why, but it rubbed her the wrong way.

Just a moment ago, her mood had been improving, but now, she felt like her mood had hit rock bottom.

"Orca?"

"I’m going to sleep."

"Huh? Oh, okay... Sleep well..."

Orca stomped across the counseling room, lit the incense, and lay down on the bed.

The sweet scent of cookies and the slightly excited atmosphere that lingered after the girl had left really bothered her.

"...Damn it, why is the bed like this!"

"Orca?! I told you, no bad language!"

"Why should I care?! Why are there cookie crumbs all over the bed?!"

"Eilyn brought the cookie tin up with her... I did tell her to put it down right away, but it seems some crumbs fell in the meantime. I'm really sorry. I’ll clean it up right away..."

"Hmph."

It was the bed she always slept on.

But now, feeling annoyed, Orca moved away from the bed she usually slept in and dove onto another one.

"Orca?"

"..."

She felt terrible.

Really, really terrible.

And the fact that she couldn’t understand why she felt so bad just made her feel even worse.