“Enemies… this…”
The panicked silver-haired girl instantly had a few faces flash through her mind. Ah… But honestly, Keti didn’t really have anyone she could call an enemy.
Even those she’d offended here and there didn’t hold enough of a grudge to do something as drastic as kidnapping her students just to threaten her, right?
Even Layla, or even someone like Sylvia… Hmm… Keti figured that even if they wanted to kidnap someone, they’d only target her directly.
Why bother going the extra mile to abduct her students? What would be the point?
But this person obviously knew her, so…
No matter how much Keti thought it over, she still couldn’t come up with a suspect. That was the problem—this whole situation was something she never could have imagined happening in her life.
“I have no clue at all. I honestly have no idea who it is. What do we do? Shouldn’t we hurry up and inform the guards, the school, and the students’ parents or something…?”
Although she said that, deep down, at this very moment, Keti had already started to feel a bit guilty. After all, she’d actually listened to her archrival’s analysis just now.
If the kidnapper’s target really was her, and that was why those two students were taken…
“Shouldn’t I… shouldn’t I take responsibility for this? After all… the reason they were kidnapped might be because of me…”
The silver-haired girl bit her lip in silence and lowered her head. Lynn, beside her, pondered for a moment, then reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair, gently and confidently reassuring her:
“Don’t worry. If you don’t have any enemies, then maybe you got caught up in this because of me. As for this situation… I’ll help you handle it perfectly.”
“There’s no need to inform the guards or the parents just yet—doing that might only make things even more complicated. I took a close look at the letter just now, and I have an idea.”
“Eh?”
Keti didn’t expect her archrival to be so confident and to suggest keeping things quiet for now. But when she thought about it, it made sense.
After all, once they left this room, the news would spread faster than she could possibly control, and right now, they didn’t even know who the kidnapper was…
If word got out and that person caught wind of it, and they really killed the hostages, Keti… just couldn’t accept that.
So…
“You, do you have a plan?”
“Mm, actually it’s pretty simple. The letter told you to go to the meeting place tonight, right? That means the main culprit won’t be watching over the two kidnapped students tonight.”
“If there’s only one kidnapper, then as long as we find where they’re being kept tonight, we can just rescue them! If there are two or more, there might be a guard, but once we know the location, I promise no guard can stop me. Also… I have a strong feeling there’s only one culprit.”
“Eh? But… we only know the meeting place. How do we find where they’re being held? There’s nothing on the photo, and the Imperial Capital is so big, this…”
Keti felt like her archrival’s plan was a bit unreliable—the reason was simple: time was too tight. The culprit had crammed the timeline, with the letter delivered in the morning and the exchange set for the evening.
Clearly, the intent was to leave them no time to locate where the kidnapped students were being held.
“The exchange spot and the hideout should be close by. The ransom note said that after the money is handed over, you’ll be taken to see the students.”
“If the places were far apart, there’d be too many variables. As for how to find the exact spot, don’t worry—I have my ways…”
Why… Why is it that even though he’s just a regular teacher, her archrival actually feels so unexpectedly reliable at a time like this!
Keti was even starting to doubt herself. Was it really okay to trust her archrival blindly on such a big crisis?
Some of Lynn’s assumptions felt a bit naive, like… why did he think there’d be no guards? And even if there were, could he really deal with them so easily?
Acting so rashly—Keti couldn’t help but worry. What if the guards killed the hostages the moment things went wrong? Was this guy really that strong?
But then again, honestly, right now, there really wasn’t anyone more reliable than her archrival. He’d helped her out so many times before, too.
If it were up to her alone, she probably wouldn’t even know where to begin…
So, after a long moment, Keti took a deep breath, nodded, and chose to believe in her archrival!
“So, what should I do? Also, even if we manage to rescue the students, that alone isn’t enough, is it? If we let the kidnapper get away, they might still come after my students. There’s always a risk that someone in my class could be kidnapped again… What parent would dare let their child stay in my class after that?”
“Hmm… you’re right. In that case…” Lynn thought for a moment, then nodded and said,
“I’ll prepare five hundred thousand for you, and tonight you’ll take the Magic Storage Box with you. That thing is incredible—even if you put all the money in, it’ll still be light and compact, so it won’t slow you down. And then…”
“I’ll definitely find the hideout before tonight. When the time comes, I’ll go there and rescue the students myself. Until then, if I don’t contact you, just stick to the plan: bring the five hundred thousand dinars to the exchange site.”
“But don’t hand over the money right away—insist on seeing the students first. I’ll be lying in wait at the hideout, and as soon as the culprit shows up, I’ll take them down!”
“Lastly, if the culprit refuses to take you to the hideout and tries to attack you instead, use this… Staff of Purgatory!”
As he spoke, Lynn suddenly pulled out a small magical staff from his pocket and handed it to Keti.
“This thing is a one-use ultimate weapon. It can unleash massive damage in all directions around you, even at a distance.”
“And it’s noisy enough that the moment you use it, I’ll know instantly and rush over to protect you… assuming, of course, that person is tough enough not to be burned to a crisp.”
“Hiss… Is it really that dangerous?”
The silver-haired girl was so startled by her archrival’s description that she hesitated to even take it. Cough…
But after a moment, she put the staff away. After all, it was something her archrival gave her for self-defense.
“I’ll have someone send you the money later. For now, just stay at school and get ready for whatever might happen tonight. I’ll go find the hideout.”
“Don’t worry—I have my ways! Just… don’t tell anyone else about this, or I’m afraid things will get even messier if more people get involved. If anything really goes wrong in the end, I’ll take responsibility.”
“Uh… th-thank you.”
Even though she was still anxious, after a moment, Keti was moved and nodded. It was strange… How did her archrival become so reassuring to her all of a sudden?
Gulp…
The plan to rescue the students was officially underway!