I desperately glared back into those green eyes.

‘If I lose this staring contest, I’m dead. Even if my capillaries burst, I can’t blink!’

All I have is bluff and bravado.

Meanwhile, my opponent is the Model Student’s mother and the kingdom’s most honorable knight, Natasha Tot.

Her spirit alone was on another level.

Wow, I think I might actually cry. My eyes are genuinely starting to feel dry, too.

I want to see our good X-Class instead of these murderous parents. Kids, I miss you so much.

Facing death, all sorts of random thoughts crossed my mind.

Just then, Natasha spoke up, looking puzzled.

“Why don’t you draw your sword? You seem to have something usable.”

Something usable?

Is she talking about the ‘Worn-Out Sword’ from the quest reward?

I had always kept it strapped to my waist just in case, but it was an item with only three uses.

I didn’t want to waste it unless it was quest-related. It was my last resort, I suppose. Unless she struck first, then I’d have no choice.

‘When did she even see that… Ah!’

Natasha was a ‘knight’. I didn’t know what rubbed her the wrong way, but she wasn’t the type to blindly thrust a sword at someone.

Natasha had threatened me after confirming I was armed.

Which meant.

‘If I don’t draw my sword, she won’t attack first!’

Because that was a ‘knight’s honor’.

Holy crap, if I had tried to act tough relying on item stats, my head would have literally flown off!

Thank god I only grabbed a wine bottle. It didn’t seem like much of a threat to Natasha.

A glimmer of hope emerged that I might actually survive this.

Then it should be fine to act out my character a bit more boldly.

I scraped together whatever courage had sunk to the bottom of my gut and moved my lips.

As nonchalantly as ever, with a sigh-like tone.

“The wine at this inn. It’s more drinkable than the ditch water of the Red Kingdom.”

“……?”

Natasha made a face asking what the hell I was talking about out of nowhere.

Hold on, you’re supposed to say something seemingly irrelevant like this before dropping a ‘famous line’. It’s the rule.

I took a short breath and put on the most ‘Chris’-like face I could muster.

You know, the kind worn by the strongest fighter who has seen it all.

“If I draw my sword—this entire area will be destroyed.”

“……!”

“I’m not confident I can hold back my power against a knight of the Tot family.”

It was chillingly calm. As if I were merely stating a fact.

Natasha’s eyes narrowed.

‘Is it just a bluff?’ …I wonder if she’s thinking something like that?

Of course, it’s just a bluff. I’m just trying not to make it look like one.

‘I need to strike fast before I’m caught.’

The ‘truly’ strong ones always cherish very trivial reasons.

Enough to hear things like, ‘All that just for this…?!’

Yes. The strongest are those who protect the world for the sake of a single swaying dandelion.

“Then I wouldn’t be able to drink this wine next year. That would be a shame.”

To drink the tasteless booze of a small inn one more time, one wouldn’t fight back even with a blade at their throat.

“Gasp…!”

For some reason, I think I heard the old innkeeper gasping in awe.

‘What if he thinks it’s actually drinkable and keeps brewing this crap?’

I’m only drinking water from now on. I need to quit alcohol in a world without soju.

Just then, Natasha blinked a few times before bursting into loud laughter.

“Uahahahat! You thought about the inn’s safety first in this situation? You’re quite a baffling person! Uahahaha!”

It worked! If I could, I would have clenched my fists and cheered.

The tension vanished in an instant, and Natasha sheathed her sword just as quickly as she had drawn it.

Natasha then offered a beaming smile and held out her large hand.

“I apologize for my many discourtesies upon our first meeting. It seems you’ve already figured it out, but let me introduce myself properly. I am Natasha Tot, Knight of the Red King.”

Even her tone of voice changed. It was clear I had earned Natasha’s approval.

Then it should be fine to boldly ignore… ignore a handshake, right? Because ‘Chris’ would do that.

Having made up my mind, I looked down at her hand and dropped a single line.

“How shameless.”

“Hahaha! There is no shame in correcting my rudeness. What I’m embarrassed about is the fact that a knight who should protect all people didn’t consider her surroundings as much as you did. And there’s no such thing as a bad person among those who cherish such things.”

Fortunately, Natasha didn’t seem offended at all.

No, she actually seemed… pleased, to the point of plopping down across from me.

Huh? This is a bit problematic.

“Innkeeper! As a token of my apology, I’ll buy all the wine you have. I have a lot I want to share with this person! Serif! Bright Old Man! You two come sit down too!”

“I’ll have water instead of alcohol.”

“Ahem! You just can’t stop a drunkard, I tell you. Well, I’m interested in that one too. Judging by the black hair, you’re from the Eastern Continent, right? I know someone over there…”

The innkeeper disappeared into the storage room saying something like, ‘Oh my, thank you,’ and as two more parents joined us, I started breaking into a cold sweat.

I’m doomed. Are we going to drink all night? With the parents?

I-I need to get out of here…

“You’re not trying to back out now, are you? You said this alcohol is better than our kingdom’s specialty wine.”

I was caught.

…Someone save me.

* * *

Bedallua students cannot leave the academy without permission.

That was the rule.

“But if we say we’re going out to meet the professor, there’s no way they’d give us permission.”

“So you’re saying we should climb the wall? What kind of idea is that…”

Angelina stared at Michael with a look of disbelief.

He used to be a timid and frustrating guy, but at some point, he had learned to push his own opinions this hard.

Of course, Angelina, who wasn’t even a professor, wouldn’t feel any pride about this.

She just found it hard to understand the X-Class kids who acted so crazy when it came to anything related to Chris.

Angelina herself intentionally forgot the fact that she was also standing in front of the wall.

“Especially you, Nika. I can’t believe you’re participating in breaking school rules.”

“Ugh! …But Angelina, with no way to contact Professor Chris, just waiting around is a waste of time.”

“Do you even know where the professor is in the first place? If you just rush in without a plan…”

“Don’t worry about that~ Our Bell is good at everything except attack magic, you know? She can even cast tracking magic.”

At Dolce’s words, Angelina turned to Bell with a half-horrified face.

“Tracking magic without the subject’s consent is illegal! It’s a high-tier spell that a freshman shouldn’t even be able to cast, so how did you-“

“Haha… Let’s just say I have my circumstances. I’m sorry, Angelina. Everyone was just so curious about the professor’s situation.”

“Eing, don’t be mad~ We found out through that magic that the professor is still hanging around the academy, so we’re just going to look for her, just a bit!”

Dolce winked, saying ‘Right?’, and Michael nodded.

“I want to meet her in person and persuade her. If she refuses, I plan to just give a clean farewell and come back.”

No, the moment you go looking for her on your own feet, it’s not clean. It’s quite pathetic already.

“We’ll be back before sunrise! As long as we don’t get caught, there’s no problem! I’ve got everything prepared, so don’t worry!”

Nika shouted while pulling a black robe over himself—who knows where he got it—and Bell, the last shred of conscience in this group, smiled awkwardly.

“If you want, Angelina, you don’t have to come with us. It’s absolutely not forced.”

There’s no winning against numbers. Eventually, Angelina bit her lower lip once and replied.

“…Come back as fast as you can. If something goes wrong, I’m not responsible!”

But as the saying goes, words can become seeds.

Not long after they set out, trouble struck.