Luna let out a deep sigh.
“Haa… Of all times, you’re our instructor at a moment like this… This is driving me crazy.”
“Huh? What’s wrong? Just tell me. I’ll help you.”
“That’s a shame. This isn’t something a half-hearted worker can handle.”
“Honestly, even if you told me, I wouldn’t help. Too much trouble, you know?”
“You son of a—!”
“Kyaaaagh!”
Luna started biting Ron’s arm.
Ignoring Ron’s screams for help, I fell into thought.
‘First, I need to check what changes have occurred in the story I know.’If I’m lucky, I might find a way to save Dolores in the process.
Like how Dwener ended up as a lightning rod (?) during the defense of Carpathia.
‘Not that I have high hopes.’
This game wasn’t easy enough to achieve the desired ending on the first try.
I always had to keep the option of giving up on Dolores in mind.
Even if Luna cursed at me, even if her favorability toward me dropped, it didn’t matter.
It was a hundred times better than forcing things and messing up the story, leading to death.
“Change him! Get us a reliable instructor instead!”
“Kyaaaagh! Where else will you find a more reliable instructor than me?!”
…For now, saving Ron seemed to be the priority.
I pried Luna off Ron’s struggling body as he writhed on the ground.
“Keke, calm down for now. Overexerting yourself isn’t good for your body.”
“Well, that’s true… Sorry. I just lost control because I’m worried about the kid…”
The kid.
She was referring to Dolores, who was still captured.
Luna visibly deflated.
As expected, our Luna was a good kid.
If you ignored the part where she bit people like a piece of meat.
“Keke, trust me.”
“Zero… Alright. I’ll trust only you.”
Luna gazed at me with deep eyes.
Eyes that signaled she trusted me completely.
Was this how a father felt when receiving absolute trust from his daughter?
‘Well, it’s not a bad feeling.’
I was about to lightly pat Luna’s head when—
“…What exactly do you two mean by that?”
Ron’s voice was unusually low and serious.
We couldn’t help but be taken aback.
That tone meant he had noticed something strange.
‘Damn it, did I let my guard down too much?’
Despite how he seemed, Ron was still an instructor.
I should have been more careful with my words and actions.
‘If Caron finds out we went out at night, I’m as good as dead.’
Breaking orders was one thing, but taking Luna with me was an even bigger problem.
I could already picture Caron kindly explaining as he dismantled my internal organs.
Ron finally spoke, his voice heavy.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you? Right!?”
“…Excuse me?”
“N-No, just think about it! Looking for an instructor more reliable than me is already weird, but then you talk about overexertion being bad for your body, worrying about the kid… That can only mean one thing!”
Luna being pregnant.
What in the fresh hell was this nonsense?
‘Like that would ever happen!’
Even if, by some absurd miracle, we had done something (?),
There was no way she’d be pregnant after just four days.
In short, this was all just Ron’s wild delusion.
But Ron was already trembling violently.
“No! Over my dead body! Not until I’m buried in the ground!”
“This damned instructor! I’m already pissed off, and you just keep making it worse!”
Luna grabbed a handful of dirt from a decorative flowerpot in the dormitory.
Then, she shoved it straight into Ron’s eyes and started rubbing.
“Just die! I’ll use this chance to get a new instructor!”
“Gyaaaagh! So this is what they call a mother’s stress! Everyone, run! I’ll hold her off!”
Right when this ridiculous farce was unfolding—
The dormitory door burst open, and a group of kids stormed in.
“You couldn’t hold back your overflowing love, huh?!”
“So the deed has been done? If so, I must congrat— No, I mean, this is troubling!”
Yuridia and Victoria.
The crazy stalkers who had been hiding near our dormitory every morning since we arrived in Trash Village, monitoring our every move.
Behind them, several kids were whispering and glancing at us.
‘If this rumor spreads, I’m finished.’
The idea of fueling the “Love Aid Club’s” activities was terrifying enough, but if this reached Caron’s ears?
Something unimaginably horrific would happen.
I had no choice.
It was time to execute that plan.
I shot a glance at Rezé, who was anxiously fidgeting beside me.
Then—
“Ah, no! L-Luna has been with me the whole time!”
“Huh?”
“T-There’s no way that could happen with me around.”
“Then what did you mean by worrying about the kid?”
“D-Dolores! W-We were discussing how to find her.”
“…Then why did you want to change instructors?”
“B-Because you kept whining every day about walking too much! T-That’s all it was!”
Rezé defended me calmly.
Given her usual timid personality, this was practically a miracle.
But I had the power to make it happen.
‘Because we made a deal.’
From the day I arrived in Trash Village, I had been wary of the “Love Aid Club’s” activities happening all around.
I quickly realized I needed countermeasures.
—If you prevent any weird rumors from spreading, I’ll get you fresh carrots from the South.
—F-Fresh carrots from my homeland?!
After all, Rezé didn’t want weird rumors about Luna either.
Hearing that she would also be compensated for her efforts, Rezé had no choice but to accept my proposal.
‘Operation Lawyer Bunny, in full effect.’
Bringing fresh carrots from the barren South was practically impossible—but that didn’t matter.
‘I never said when I’d give them to her.’
Once I eventually visited the South, I could just pull a carrot from the ground and say I was fulfilling my promise. Simple.
“Oh, so that’s what it was? Haha, I thought you guys had made some irreversible mistake or something.”
Relieved, Ron laughed brightly.
“Oh, so that’s what it was.”
“Disappo— Ah, no. That’s a relie— Wait! It’s disappointing yet also a relief.”
“My apologies. We’ll be taking our leave now…”
Yuridia and Victoria politely bowed before exiting the dormitory.
With the furniture displaced from the kids’ sudden entrance, the dirt-covered floor, and Ron sitting in the mess, laughing—
I could feel it instinctively.
Today was going to be yet another eventful, chaotic day.
I continued gathering information around the village.
I spent the entire morning walking around, but there were no significant changes to the story.
“Oh! If it isn’t my beloved fellow instructors!”
“It’s One-Bite Ron! Run for it!”
At the sight of Ron—now infamous as the One-Bite Glutton—the other instructors immediately scattered.
However, these chases always ended with Ron’s victory.
The instructors could never stray too far from the kids.
As I watched Ron and the instructors engage in their usual game of cat and mouse, Luna suddenly approached me and whispered.
“How strong should they be?”
The intent behind her question was clear.
She was looking for a discreet but capable ally.
“I’m not entirely sure myself. First, we should assess their skill level.”
“Hm… Maybe I should pick a fight with them?”
“Keke, no need for that. We’ll have an opportunity soon enough.”
“An opportunity?”
“When new people arrive, there’s always someone eager to prove themselves.”
Any knight, by nature, had a competitive spirit.
And if that knight had once made a name for themselves in the Empire? Even more so.
I was about to further explain to Luna, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression—
“You suspicious lot! You finally show your true colors!”
A booming voice rang out from a stack of wooden crates piled five-high along the roadside.
Then, three children dramatically emerged.
“If you’re curious about who we are, it’s only right that we tell you!”
“To prevent the destruction of our village! To protect the peace of our home!”
“T-That’s right! We are…”
“The Trash Sprout Defense Squad!!”
[Oh no! A wild Trash Sprout Defense Squad has appeared!]
If this were a game, that message would have popped up.
I silently hummed their signature BGM in my head and murmured,
“Keke, looking cool as always.”
“That’s cool to you?”
“Yes. Doesn’t it feel full of passion and romance?”
“Really?”
Luna studied the kids with a serious expression before nodding thoughtfully.
“Their lines and poses… Hmm, incorporating something similar for us might not be a bad idea.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Never mind. Honestly, it’s embarrassing, but… Well, if my friend wants it, I suppose I can do at least that much. I am a great friend, after all!”
Luna confidently gave me a thumbs-up, as if telling me to leave it to her.
She wouldn’t actually incorporate something like this into the Dark Beast Squad, right?
‘Haha! No way.’
That was just my imagination running wild.
…Probably.
“What’s wrong? Are you frozen in fear? Even villains fear justice, huh?”
“Yeah, they must be scared!”
“S-So scared!”
Adel, Whale, and Acela spoke one after another.
They were just as adorable as ever.
“Keke, who wouldn’t be afraid of the famous Trash Sprout Defense Squad?”
“Hmph, even shady people like you know of us? I guess our reputation is growing. Keep that in mind—we’ll be watching you closely.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. Now, come with us quietly to the Secret Room for a thorough investigation— Ah! Evade maneuver, now!”
“Evade maneuver!”
“W-Wait, what’s a maneuver?”
Adel grabbed Acela’s sleeve and quickly pulled her behind the wooden crates.
The moment they hid, a group of people passed by.
They were knights of Trash Village.
Luna flinched and quickly whispered to me.
“Those guys… It’s them, right?”
Among them, I recognized two familiar faces.
The composed knight, Pjol, and the one with Anger Control Disorder, Bickerd.
They must have returned to the village early in the morning when the streets were busy.
“Keke, that’s right. Though one of them is missing.”
“Did they leave someone behind as backup?”
“Who knows? They might have even brought in replacements.”
“So there could be more than just the three of them… That’s a problem.”
Once the knights passed by, the Trash Sprout Defense Squad cautiously emerged from their hiding spot.
“Keke, why did you guys hide?”
“Hmph! It’s not that we’re afraid of them! We just don’t want to deal with their filth! Those guys are the worst!”
Adel stomped his feet, looking frustrated just at the thought of them.
“They use the title of ‘knight’ as an excuse to slack off.”
“Yeah, yeah! And whenever something happens, all they do is boss us around.”
“T-They don’t even try to catch the real bad guys!”
I let them continue their rant uninterrupted.
This was all part of the story, after all.
“The only knight worth acknowledging from that lot is Sir Pjol.”
“Sir Pjol?”
“Yeah! The knight among knights!”
He was referring to the composed one.
Adel grinned as he gazed at Pjol’s retreating figure with admiration.
“Single-handedly defeated a high-ranking demon! Took down a magical beast! The legendary 17-to-1 battle! Fulfilled 100% of the residents’ requests! And then there’s also—”
Adel was still listing off Pjol’s achievements when a commotion broke out among the knights.
More precisely, it was between the knights and the instructors.
“Step aside.”
“…There’s plenty of space to the side, though?”
“Do you think a bunch of idlers blocking the main road is appropriate? It’s only right that you make way for those who’ve just returned from an exhausting search.”
“We’re working, too. Doesn’t that mean we have the right of way?”
“Security duty in a village this safe… You must really have nothing better to do.”
“Better than you lot reeking of alcohol in the middle of the day.”
“What? You little brat, acting all cocky like you know something!”
“And who said you could talk down to me? Do you even know who I am?”
A tense standoff erupted between the knights of Trash Village and the academy instructors.
It wasn’t surprising.
Over the past four days, various incidents had chipped away at their patience, and now it was finally boiling over.
“Perfect. Let’s take this chance to erase both sides.”
Luna, what the hell are you saying?
There was no way it would actually come to that, but just in case, I firmly grabbed Luna’s hand.
“It’s finally happening! Let’s go watch!”
“A fight?”
“I gotta get in on this!”
More and more people gathered, and as the commotion escalated, the supervisors finally appeared.
“Everyone, calm down! Step back!”
The supervisor of the Trash Village knights was none other than the composed knight, Pjol.
And the supervisor of the Annwood Academy instructors was…
Crack—
“I was sleeping. What kind of fresh bullshit is this now?”
The Mad Lion, Lowell.
–TL Notes–
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