After receiving Ako's distress message, I hurried over to the Gehenna Prefect Team headquarters.
Pushing open the meeting room door, I saw that the three senior officers of the Prefect Team, Ako, Iori, and Chinatsu, were all gathered there.
Iori raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What are you doing here? We're very busy right now, no time to deal with you…"
"Wait a moment, Iori," Ako, who visibly relaxed upon seeing me, interrupted. "Sensei was invited by me."
"Eh?"
Ako put on a confident smile. "Hehe. Sensei made it just in time. With this, I'm fully prepared. No matter how arrogant those tanuki are, they'll have to mind their relationship with Schale and won't dare act recklessly. Very good. Let them come at us!"
Chinatsu nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Bringing in Sensei, who has extralegal authority, as outside support… that could be called a wise decision. Still, it's surprising that Ako would ask Sensei for help."
Iori also added, "Exactly. Ako, weren't you on terrible terms with Sensei not too long ago?"
Yes, thanks to my tireless efforts, the vicious dog was successfully tamed.
"Hah!? Th-th-th-that's not true at all!"
Ako flustered for a moment, then switched to a composed smile. "As the administrative officer of the prefect team, setting aside personal grudges and considering things purely from the team's interests is basic professionalism!"
Chinatsu inclined her head. "In any case, if President Hina knew about this, she'd probably be very pleased."
At that, Ako let out an awkward laugh, unable to respond.
"I'm glad that when you ran into trouble, you thought of me and trusted me." I paused, then asked in confusion, "But what exactly happened? Could someone explain it to me?"
In Momotalk, Ako had only said that it was something important and urgent, and that she wanted me to come as soon as possible.
"…Administrator Ako." Chinatsu narrowed her eyes, her tone cooling slightly. "You didn't seriously call Sensei over to help without explaining anything about what we're dealing with, did you?"
From Chinatsu's reaction, a bad feeling rose in my chest.
Ako defended herself. "W-well, that's true… but time is really tight, and who knows when those people might show up."
"Sigh… then I'll explain…"
Chinatsu adjusted her glasses. "As you can see, President Hina is not at the Prefect Team right now, she's out on official duties. Because of that, certain ill intentioned individuals who found out about this are planning to take advantage of the timing to do something unpleasant to us."
I nodded in understanding. So that was it.
Given the nature of the Prefect Team's work and Gehenna's free spirited culture, it was inevitable that a considerable number of students harbored dissatisfaction toward the Prefect Team. Normally, Hina's presence alone was enough to suppress them all. Once Hina was gone, some people were bound to think about taking revenge.
"Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to help you!"
"Thank you, Sensei. But the problem is, the people targeting us are…"
Chinatsu hesitated, seeming a bit embarrassed.
But just then, there was a knock on the door.
"…Sigh, too late." Chinatsu looked apologetically at me. "Sorry, Sensei. This time, please help us out, just for my sake."
"I'll definitely find an opportunity to repay you."
Repay me, huh? You finally found a reasonable chance to sneak ahead.
Hearing that, Ako frowned slightly and shot me a questioning look.
However, the Prefect Team's trouble had now officially arrived.
When no one answered for a while, the visitor pushed the door open themselves.
Standing there was a blonde, golden eyed child with an innocent, angelic appearance, a sweet, radiant smile on her face, and a military uniform draped over her that looked far too big for her body.
A middle schooler from a Gehenna affiliated school… no, elementary school? Or maybe a high schooler with a youthful appearance?
The moment Ako saw her, a look of facing a formidable enemy flashed across her face, followed by a practiced, professional smile.
The blonde, golden eyed girl hopped into the room.
"Everyone, good morning. Ibuki and Iroha-senpai are here to conduct an inspection. Since this is a rare assignment from Makoto-senpai, Ibuki will do her best!"
"Sigh…"
Following closely behind Ibuki, sighing as she leisurely entered the meeting room, was a slender girl wearing the same style of military cap and coat, with extremely fluffy red curls. She was probably the so called Iroha-senpai.
Iroha met my gaze, clearly showing surprise.
"Sensei from Schale? Why are you here?"
Perhaps without realizing it, I had already become quite famous in Kivotos, to the point that even unfamiliar students could recognize me at a glance.
That said, as the only human male in Kivotos, I did think I was fairly recognizable in appearance.
"Wow, Sensei? That's amazing. You're the person Makoto-senpai talks about all the time!"
Ibuki came closer, curiously inspecting me. "I'm Ibuki. Nice to meet you!"
Such a polite child. But somehow, their uniforms looked a bit familiar. And the name Makoto also sounded like I had heard it somewhere before.
"What's wrong? There's nothing strange about it, is there?" Ako smiled. "As members of the Pandemonium Society, since you know about Sensei's existence, you should also be aware of Sensei's relationship with our Prefect Team, right?"
…So the ones taking advantage of Hina's absence to come cause trouble for the Prefect Team were actually Gehenna's student council?
Because of the rather shocking first impression the Pandemonium Society President had left on me, I had always tried to avoid the Pandemonium Society whenever possible.
All this time, with the Prefect Team as a comparison, the Pandemonium Society had felt like an organization that barely existed. I never expected to run into them like this.
"Yeah. The intel also said you mobilized forces without authorization and even had a conflict with Sensei."
Iroha shook her head, the corner of her mouth lifting. "Compared to Sensei being here, I'm more surprised that you'd have the nerve to ask for help from someone you attacked yourself."
My lower back ached faintly, and I found myself nodding in agreement.
"…Heh. You're quite sharp tongued."
Ako's expression twitched, but her smile only grew wider. "Even though I have absolute confidence in our management, in order to prevent you from stirring up trouble without cause, some necessary measures are still required."
"That worry of yours is unnecessary." Iroha shook her head. "Even if Sensei is here, I'll still pick a fight."
"…You're not even trying to hide your intentions!?" Ako voiced exactly what I was thinking.
"Ah, then pretend I didn't say that."
Iroha shrugged. "Anyway, the financial inspection will begin now."