"Just as Kaede said, I will also lend you my assistance."
Mimori turned to her side and spoke gently. "Tsubaki feels the same way, right?"
Tsubaki replied groggily, "Eh? Mm. It does align with our Inner Discipline Club's principles, and we can help Sensei too."
All of a sudden, I felt that since even Tsubaki had said this much, it proved she was willingly letting me into her heart.
Thinking about it that way, even if Mimori really did help me along, it could not be called betrayal. Rather, it was quietly contributing to the happiness of beloved friends and family...
And could that not also be called a form of training?
"Hehe. You really are something."
Mimori covered her mouth as she laughed softly, seemingly amused by Tsubaki's drowsy demeanor, yet it made me shiver all the same.
I immediately cried out in my heart: I was wrong, I should not have been this arrogant, please, wise and virtuous Mimori, you must save me!
However, Mimori seemed genuinely upset. She said nothing more and simply sipped her tea at her leisure.
At the same time, Kaede, Pina, and Izuna, the ones most interested in striking at Kivotos's criminal forces, began firing questions at me one after another about the enemies we might face.
I could hardly refuse to answer, so I picked out some intelligence I had heard from Momoka, added a bit of dramatic flair, and told it to them. The girls graciously responded with continuous gasps of amazement.
Yet the Mimori I cared about most remained unmoved, which only made me more uneasy.
Even though I had complete confidence in my own charm and in Tsubaki's affection toward me, there was probably still quite a gap before reaching the card's requirement.
It would not be impossible to rely on my own efforts, but if I could get Mimori, Tsubaki's closest friend, to help bridge the gap, it would undoubtedly save me a great deal of time and energy.
...Come to think of it, asking a girl who likes me to do something like this, am I not being a bit too much?
Just then, a sharp phone ringtone suddenly rang out, and the conversation came to an abrupt halt.
So it has finally come.
Under everyone's gaze, I answered the call with a serious expression, and from the other end came a lazy, muffled voice, as if she were chewing on some kind of puffed snack.
"Crunch* Hello hello? This is Sensei, right?"
"Yeah. Work already?"
On the other end, Momoka let out a couple of cold laughs and said rather impolitely,
"Heh heh, that's right. It's finally time for me to use you however I please. Listen carefully, if you do not complete the mission cleanly and beautifully so I can relax and slack off, do not blame me for settling all our previous accounts together!"
Listening to the Traffic Department Director's threats, I could not help recalling the peculiar texture of a dragon's tail.
I teased her. "Then if we do a good job, is there a new reward?"
Momoka seemed shocked by my audacity.
"Y-you! Are you trying to steal my potato chips again!?"
That is what you care about the most!?
Momoka shouted angrily, "You shameless adult! I will not let you succeed again! You should give up already and hurry up and go deal with the trouble!"
Sigh, how mischievous. Good thing I already collected some extra compensation in advance.
"Alright, alright. So what's the mission this time?"
A moment later, a text version of the mission briefing was sent over by Momoka.
I skimmed through it, confirmed it matched what she had already said on the phone, and then forwarded it to the students.
In short, an AI at a munitions factory under the General Student Council had inexplicably gone out of control, causing the security robots to riot.
The factory's security gates had already been lowered, and the staff had been evacuated in time. All that was needed was to break through as quickly as possible, clear out the rioting robots, enter the factory interior, and shut down the AI's power supply.
Since it was a General Student Council facility, Momoka thoughtfully included a detailed map of the factory and several recommended operational plans along with the mission briefing. It could be said that this mission truly was only introductory level in difficulty.
If I could not even handle this, I might as well resign from Schale and comfortably live off others from now on.
After sending Momoka a message guaranteeing mission completion, she replied with an angry pink little dragon sticker.
Next, I confirmed with the students present who would go and who would stay. The result was that aside from Shizuko, who had to remain at Momoyo Hall to fulfill her duties and receive customers, everyone else would participate.
However, the most enthusiastic few seemed to have developed some kind of misunderstanding about the mission due to their unique lines of thinking...
"So that's how it is, so that's how it is..." Kaede nodded as if enlightened. "The enemy we are facing this time is a super AI that invaded and seized the munitions factory, plotting to attack Kivotos to achieve some unspeakable objective, right!"
No, no, no, there is no way it would escalate to that level.
Izuna followed up, "And perhaps it is also guarded by utterly loyal mechanical ninjas at its side, capable of switching between different forms and proficient in escape techniques!"
Pina proposed a new angle. "It might even have already built a massive criminal family underground like in chivalry movies, with as many as two digit numbers of sworn little sisters, each with their own unique skills!"
These girls were really getting more and more outrageous as they went on.
Even in a place like Kivotos, there probably was not anything that mysterious.
In any case, together with the Hyakkiyako students, I headed west. After meeting up in the Gehenna downtown District with Iori's elite Prefect Team squad and the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force, more than ten people in total, we turned north toward the outskirts of D.U., where the target munitions factory was located.
There was nothing much worth mentioning about the mission process itself. Our side's forces were simply overwhelming, and the enemy robots were utterly helpless. It did not take long before we smoothly reached the deepest part of the factory and successfully cut the backup power, resolving the disturbance caused by the out of control AI.
"Hmph, you are pretty capable after all. Crunch*." Momoka said while listening to my report, chewing on chips. Judging from her tone, she was in quite a good mood. "The personnel to verify the results will head over soon. So, for the sake of me being able to laze around and eat snacks forever, next time I will use you to my heart's content too, hee hee∼"
With that, she hung up without waiting for my reply.
That arrogant little brat. One day, I will reclaim all this psychological imbalance with interest.
"Then∼ Sensei, we will be heading off first∼"
Hoshino let out a huge yawn. "This Oji-san needs to go back and catch up on sleep."
Knowing what time she had gone to bed last night, I said understandingly,
"Thanks for your hard work. I will personally deliver the mission expenses and future ammunition supplies to you later."
"Hehe∼ it feels kind of like being kept∼ just kidding. We will accept them then."
After a few more pleasantries, the girls from the Foreclosure Task Force departed, and the busy Prefect Team had already left even earlier.
Inside the munitions factory, only the Hyakkiyako students who had come with me remained.
"Sensei."
At that moment, Mimori, who had been ignoring me all this time, suddenly spoke up.