yawn

I let out a big yawn, unable to resist the fatigue.

Ugh, I'm so tired. I feel like I'm going to die.

My whole body was sore, and even though I had just arrived at the counseling office, I already felt like going home.

"What’s up, Sensei? Why are you yawning like that?"

"Because I'm tired..."

"But you just had a break, almost ten days long."

"You don’t understand, Orca... Being an adult means that after resting, you're even more exhausted..."

"Huh?"

Orca looked at me with a confused expression, clearly not understanding. I waved my hand dismissively at her.

Being an adult means that even if you’ve had a break, you’re still incredibly tired when it’s time to go back to work.

But I hadn’t even really rested; I’d been flying all over the place. I felt like I was going to die. I’m not in good shape, after all.

I’d tried to gather all the Illumination members in one place to hypnotize them, but they were spread out across the globe, making it a huge hassle.

I was busy flying from place to place. If it hadn’t been for the hotel massages, I might have given up.

"Well, it’s not surprising. It’s not like this is the first time you’ve been ridiculously weak."

"Weak?! I’m not that weak!"

"Then how about doing a few push-ups right now?"

"Okay, fine, I’m weak."

Push-ups? How could she suggest something so horrible?

If I do more than ten, I might die.

"...So, Orca, did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing much."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I’d been out of the academy for over a week, so I was a bit worried something might have happened.

But it seems everything was fine.

Of course, no matter how many incidents are supposed to happen at the academy over the course of a year, it’s hard to imagine something happening in just a week.

Just as I was thinking that, someone knocked and entered the counseling office.

"Sensei, it’s been a while."

"Oh, class rep, it’s been a while."

"I’m sorry to trouble you right after your vacation, but have you seen Leo?"

"Leo? No, I haven’t."

"I see. Thank you."

"...Is something wrong?"

A sense of unease crept over me.

No way, could something have happened in that short time?

As that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but remember that in this academy, anything seemed possible over the course of a year.

And there’s always a reason for unease.

When the class rep told me the news, I could only hold my head in my hands.

"Leo hasn’t shown up at the academy for three days now. I thought you might know something..."

"...Absent without leave?"

"Yes."

Leo isn’t the kind of kid who would skip the academy for no reason.

He’s a double major; he wouldn’t do something like that.

He must have gotten caught up in something.

"Orca, you said nothing happened?"

"Huh? Maybe he just wanted to take a few days off?"

"..."

I can’t believe this.

Orca’s nonchalant attitude was giving me a headache.

Come to think of it, Orca didn’t exactly have the best school attendance record herself...

She would have skipped classes as often as she ate meals if I hadn’t been around.

"I have a hunch where he might be, so leave it to me, Sensei."

"Really? That’s a relief."

I had planned to take it easy, lounging on the sofa and giving a few counseling sessions to the students.

But now, as soon as my vacation ended, I had to head out on an errand.

I couldn’t help but sigh.

"...So, where are we going?"

"A tavern. We’ll be there soon if we keep walking."

"Huh? A tavern?"

"Leo works there."

Most academy students relax after classes.

The academy’s curriculum isn’t easy, and they’re at an age where they want to hang out with friends.

Even commoners usually have family support, so no matter how bad their financial situation is, they don’t typically work except for maybe a weekend part-time job to earn pocket money. And even that’s rare. Working and attending the academy would be too exhausting.

But Leo doesn’t have that luxury. Compared to other students, Leo has a terrible metabolism.

His food expenses are considerable, and without a family to support his tuition, he has no choice but to work hard while attending school.

"So, if we go there, he’ll be there?"

"No. He won’t be."

"Then why are we going there?"

"It’s clear he got caught up in something, but I don’t know what. I need to find out."

"Tch. That brat’s causing a lot of trouble."

...

I gave Orca a sour look as she kicked a rock down the street, grumbling about how annoying it was.

"...If it’s such a bother, you didn’t have to come, you know?"

"I’m coming."

But why...?

Were Orca and Leo really that close?

Not that they didn’t get along, but it’s just that in the game, they weren’t particularly close. They were definitely closer now than they were back then.

But even with that annoyed expression on her face, she insisted on coming. I couldn’t understand why.

She didn’t have to come, but she was determined to follow. I couldn’t tell if they were friends or not.

I decided to just think of it as them being friends.

"We’re here. This is the place."

"Is this really the place, Sensei? No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like a tavern..."

Orca looked around in disbelief.

Well, I couldn’t blame her.

It was an almost dilapidated building with no signboard at all.

This kind of reaction was only natural.

"It does look suspicious, doesn’t it? It’s probably because it’s an illegal establishment, so they don’t maintain it very well."

"What? Wait, illegal?"

"Of course it’s illegal. Do you think they could run a business in a building like this legally?"

As I opened the dusty door to the tavern, it creaked loudly, like the wail of a ghost, revealing the dim interior.

It wasn’t exactly cozy—it was more bleak and dreary.

The interior matched the exterior, with a few pieces of furniture scattered haphazardly around.

"Hello. Are you open for business?"

"...What do you want?"

"Four Old Fashioneds with lime garnish. Hold the sugar."

"Alright. I’ll bring it right out. Wait here."

"Come on, Orca. Don’t just stand there, have a seat."

I led Orca, who was still standing awkwardly, to a table where we sat down. Orca looked at me with a concerned expression.

"...What is this place? It doesn’t look like a restaurant."

"What, are you scared?"

"Of course I am. Do you know how shady places like this are? If you mess with the wrong people, you could end up dead."

"Ah... So that’s what you’re worried about..."

I was planning to tease her a bit, but it turned out her reasons were much more practical than I expected.

Well, considering her background, it made sense she’d know how dangerous places like this could be.

And she wasn’t wrong; this place did attract some rough types.

"It’s a job brokerage."

"...A brokerage?"

"In chaotic times like these, some people need to outsource their problems to others."

To put it bluntly, it’s like a shady detective agency that handles all sorts of tasks.

"Aren’t there mercenaries for that?"

"Mercenaries are expensive. And they don’t take on just any job."

"...So people without money come here?"

"Pretty much."

"And that kid goes to a place like this?"

"He doesn’t have much choice. Mercenary work takes too much time."

Mercenaries charge a lot because they often take on dangerous jobs.

So clients don’t hire them often, and they don’t call on them for trivial matters. Only really dangerous jobs get passed to them.

And dangerous jobs rarely finish in just a day or two. Even the shortest ones take a week.

Leo is skilled enough to be a mercenary, but he’s still a student at the academy.

He can’t afford to take a week off, so he takes jobs from places like this that are quicker to complete.

"Leo’s food expenses and tuition can’t be covered by just a part-time job."

In addition to dirty jobs that mercenaries won’t do, they also handle simpler requests.

It pays much better than a part-time job.

Even without getting involved in dirty work, Leo could make decent money here.

"When I heard a woman was coming in to make a request, I wondered who it could be... But you seem to know a lot about this place."

"Who are you? If no one called you, then get lost."

"Ah, Orca, hold on. I did call him."

"...What? You didn’t say anything."

"I just placed the order. That was it."

Whoever in the game development team liked movies must have had a hand in this.

There were quite a few places like this with unnecessary code phrases that felt like something out of a spy film.

The drink I ordered was a code. It was something that came up in one of Leo’s quests.

It appeared a few times when playing as Leo, and it stuck with me because it was so annoyingly memorable.

Why would you leave the sugar out of an Old Fashioned? That’s just messing with the recipe.

"Well then, what does the client want to request?"

"Oh, it’s not really a request... I just have something to say."

"...Something to say?"

The tavern was in a state of disrepair, with broken furniture piled up in one corner, and cracks running through the walls.

But there was only one reason why a place like this would be so trashed.

"Where did you hide my student? It would be best for you to speak up now if you don’t want to get hurt."

I had left Leo to gain some experience, but these guys decided to mess with him.

I glared at the mercenary in front of me.