A math class could feel endless—forty full minutes of torment. The clock ticked away, second by second. Ellen hadn't even looked at the exam paper, not to mention the conditions on it. The homeroom teacher's sharp gaze swept over her from time to time, making her squirm in her seat. Her heart skipped with every tick of the clock above the blackboard.
But at the same time, a math class could also feel short—barely long enough to finish explaining one problem.
Phaga used a textbook card to prop up his phone, adjusted the angle, and scrolled through the class group chat. Sure enough, the math exam question was there. After copying it down, he propped his head on one hand and listened as the homeroom teacher drew several right angles on the board to establish a coordinate system.
In the last ten minutes, she briefly went over the traditional method of solid geometry—though she didn't recommend it. At their current level, establishing a coordinate system was clearly the most formulaic, least mentally taxing, and fastest method for solving solid geometry problems. Once you mastered that, solid geometry was basically free points.
(PS: For middle schoolers, setting up a Cartesian coordinate system for circle problems is also the simplest approach—but not every school teaches it.)
Ding-ling-ling~~
[Class dismissed. Thank you for your hard work, teachers.]
Forty minutes passed. The moment the bell rang, the homeroom teacher dropped her chalk. Though she hadn't quite finished the lesson, she clearly wasn't planning to continue. Tapping the desk twice, she said sternly:
"Phaga, Ellen—my office, now!"
With that, she turned on her heel and left. Before stepping out, she shot one last glare at the whole class.
The students barely dared to breathe. Only when a brave soul peeked out the back door and flashed an OK sign did everyone finally relax.
Ruby, who'd been tense the whole time, slumped onto her desk with a sigh that sounded almost like her soul had left her body.
"What's up with the homeroom teacher today? She's usually pretty nice. Did the ramen shop this morning accidentally put gunpowder in her soup instead of MSG?"
"Our class average dropped from first to dead last in math. Guess she couldn't handle it," the class president said cheerfully, hitting the nail on the head.
He leaned back on the desk, grinning mischievously.
"But seriously, Phaga, Ellen—what kind of part-time job have you two been doing? You've been gone for days. Don't tell me..."
"Don't get the wrong idea. We didn't mean to be gone that long—it all just happened by accident." Phaga gave a helpless laugh.
Yeah, all accidents!
It had started as a simple commission to protect an old man. Then that old man shoved another job onto them. Next thing they knew, they were heading into the Dead End Hollow to rescue Corin and investigate Vision Industry.
After that, all they were supposed to do was enjoy a combined "Welcome Back" and "Corin's Return" banquet, then the commission would be over and they could go back to school.
But then Rina sent half of them to the hospital, where Phaga and Ellen got yet another commission—this time from Belobog Heavy Industries, passed from Cunning Hares and subcontracted to Phaethon. After all that, of course a ton of time had been burned.
Yeah, all accidents! Totally unrelated to Phaga not wanting to take exams!
"Come on, Phaga."
Ellen dragged her tired body to her feet. "The sooner we get scolded, the sooner we can come back."
"Yeah."
Phaga followed behind her to the office door.
Ellen took a deep breath and pushed it open.
"Teacher, we're here."
They stepped inside. Their eyes lingered for only a moment on the pile of test papers before shifting to the homeroom teacher. The office was large, but only the teacher was there.
She glanced up calmly. "Close the door and lock it."
"Okay."
Ellen obeyed, pulling the door shut as Phaga turned the lock.
When they were about to approach her, the teacher spoke again, "Pull the door curtain down so no one can see in. I'm trying to save you some face."
"Okay."
Phaga did as told, suddenly thinking the teacher didn't seem so bad after all.
"Now close the windows and draw the curtains. Yes, even that one over there. Sure, we're on the third floor, but this is New Eridu—you never know what kind of monsters might be out there!"
Ellen and Phaga exchanged a look. Something felt off, but they went ahead and did it anyway.
Seeing that, the teacher nodded in satisfaction and motioned for them to come closer.
Phaga raised an eyebrow. Her mood really did seem much calmer than it had been in class—none of that earlier irritation showed anymore.
"Teacher, we're here," Phaga said.
The two stood neatly in front of the desk, ready to be scolded.
But the homeroom teacher didn't scold them. Instead, she calmly took down a fluffy plush toy from the wall, removed her glasses, and set them neatly aside.
"Ahhh~~"
Suddenly, she took a deep breath—and then, with lightning speed, flopped face-down onto the plush toy and burst into tears.
"Waaahhh!!!"
"My first place is gone!!!"
"This is my very first class, and now my top spot is gone!!!"
"Waaahhh!!!"
Uh...
Phaga and Ellen both froze, standing there awkwardly with blank expressions—two members of a housekeeping company, completely unequipped to handle a crying adult.
Then Phaga suddenly felt something cool against his hand.
He looked down—it was Ellen's small hand.
When he glanced up, she was giving him a look.
[Gentleman, go comfort the teacher!]
Phaga's face twitched. He frowned and shot a look back: [You're the senior—why don't you go?]
Ellen bit her lip, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, her breath soft and warm,
"Victoria Housekeeping's rule: when on a commission, you must have a 'self-forgetting' spirit. So hurry up and forget about me—and go!"
Then she swished her tail and shoved him forward. Off guard, Phaga stumbled toward the teacher, his knee bumping the back of her chair.
The teacher seemed to sense it and instantly turned around.
Phaga's scalp tingled. Forcing a stiff smile, he said awkwardly, "Uh... Teacher?"
But she completely ignored what he said. Right in front of Ellen, she grabbed Phaga's hand and pointed at the spreadsheet on her laptop screen.
Their class was dead last. The top class's average score was more than three points higher.
Eyes brimming with tears, the teacher pulled Phaga to her side.
"That class next door actually dared to take our top spot!"
"Phaga, take them down for me!"
"I don't want to see them above us!"