I originally wanted to discuss today’s tactics with him a bit more, but he didn’t show up at the office all day.
And at night, there was no sign of him in the dorm either. I wonder if Layla and the others helped arrange all the furniture and stuff I got delivered.
“No way~ Didn’t I already promise the little kitty~?”
“Tch… Hey, don’t say it like that…”
Hearing that warm voice from my archrival, Keti’s mouth twitched involuntarily. What’s going on? It’s like he’s here for a sweet little date with me or something!
But in reality, wasn’t it me who asked him to take responsibility?
Ahem… that sounded a bit off. What I really meant was to take on the responsibility as the homeroom teacher.
Homeroom teacher! That’s exactly it. Lin En couldn’t not be responsible for the safety of the students in my class, right?
Thinking that, Keti felt even more annoyed. This jerk acts like he came just for me or something.
He wasn’t even around all day yesterday and, before that… he even bullied me!
“This is something you should do. At the very least, consider it compensation for me. Tch… so lame, I looked for you all day yesterday and you weren’t around.”
The silver-haired beauty immediately glared at her archrival with a look full of resentment, then snorted.
But the more Lin En looked at this little brat’s current sulking, the cuter he found her~
I… I really was busy yesterday. The Magic Tower Council meeting with the five governors lasted all day. I didn’t get a moment’s rest, and I still came straight to see little Keti. Is that not good enough?
Ah… too bad I can’t just come out and tell the little kitty straight away. Lin En was afraid his true status might scare the girl.
So, after a while, he could only quietly reach out to ruffle the girl’s hair, then smiled and said:
“You miss me that much~ No way, has little kitty already reached the point where she can’t live without her master? I get it, I get it.”
“That’s probably called separation anxiety~ Sigh, but I really have been coming to school less lately. How about this… I give little kitty my address, or better yet, little kitty just moves in with me~”
“Ka—”
That line from my archrival immediately overwhelmed Keti. The silver-haired beauty blushed furiously and tightly shut her eyes, playing defense against the strong offense.
W-what is this jerk saying? M-moving in together? Ka ka ka… no way!
“W-who told you my address! Hmph… I-I just missed seeing you go crazy, felt like life lost a little clown’s entertainment, and oh ho ho ho… in short:”
The silver-haired girl pouted, then lowered her head, muttering softly, “Who allowed you, you stinky archrival, to disappear on me and cause me trouble all day, grumble…”
“Hm?”
Hearing this, Lin En seemed to notice the change in Keti’s mood. After a moment, he tilted his head slightly and softly asked, “Did something happen to little kitty yesterday? Did someone bully you?”
“Ugh…”
Keti bit her lip helplessly, recalling the two embarrassing incidents from yesterday. Although she handled them both in the end, but still… cough cough… it was all caused by that jerk!
“Lots of people bullied me. The biggest problem was you, huff… But I did run into some trouble. I’ll probably have to deal with it later. I’ll tell you after I’m done.”
“Mm… alright then. Director Richard, our little kitty is ready~”
Huh?!
Seeing her archrival suddenly look up and address Richard right in front of her, the silver-haired beauty’s eyes went wide and dark. She just remembered that damn Richard was still standing right there!
So what she… just said with her archrival over here looked like… flirting?
Tsk—!
Thinking that, Keti rolled her eyes and couldn’t even bear to look at the leader standing before her. She could only pinch Lin En angrily and complain,
“W-who’s the little kitty! Don’t say nonsense, okay…”
Having gathered enough courage, the girl finally lifted her head to glance at the perpetually stern Richard, only to find him wearing a face of speechless disbelief.
Oh no!
Keti felt like she was about to socially die again. Thankfully, she had just sent the students to line up on their own. Otherwise, if the kids had seen this scene, she’d be even more… ugh!!!
But right now, things were already bad enough. The silver-haired beauty took a deep breath and made a silent vow.
From now on, she would impose a strict “Four No’s” rule on her archrival: no approaching, no touching, no teasing, no talking whenever there are more than three people around!
Otherwise, sooner or later, the whole school would misunderstand the relationship between her and that guy!
Hmph… we’re enemies, after all.
***
After a while, Richard took a few deep breaths and, contrary to what Keti expected, didn’t immediately blow up at them. This guy had always been serious. Instead, as if holding back a sigh, he spoke coldly:
“Lin En… huff, the one being assessed today is Teacher Keti. You following along isn’t really appropriate. Don’t you have other things to do today?”
“Ah~ I actually don’t~ I finished everything I needed to yesterday, and besides, Teacher Keti asked me to come make sure the students are safe. I have to be responsible to the kids and all their parents too.”
Lin En smiled as he said this, but Richard scoffed coldly and shook his head.
“I don’t care, but if I catch you helping Keti before the assessment is over, I will immediately call that cheating.”
“Don’t worry, I’m just following you around like you said. Just following. As the homeroom teacher of Class 25, I’m qualified to participate in the students’ practical training.”
Lin En chuckled and tilted his head, and with that, Richard had no grounds left to stop him. After a moment, he sighed and nodded his agreement.
“All right, I see the students have almost formed their lines. Good, let’s go, little kitty, time to set off!”
“Huff.”
Keti flicked off the hand her archrival had lazily resting on her shoulder with a somewhat tsundere pout. Then the silver-haired beauty took a deep breath and turned to call out to the students:
“Everyone, keep the current formation—groups of three. Watch out for each other’s safety. We’re officially entering the Land of the Beasts!”
With that, the group’s footsteps thundered as they set off deeper into the dungeon. Lin En and Richard exchanged a glance at the rear of the formation, then silently followed.
At the entrance of the Land of the Beasts dungeon, very soon… pairs of bright green eyes began to emerge.