Chapter: 48. Silent Confrontation
“Nice to meet you for the first time… although I should say we met last night.”
“Yes, you’re the teacher who stayed with me last night…”
“Maria, truly Maria, that’s my name. You can just call me Maria.”
“I understand, Teacher Maria. Thank you for your help last night.” Nagi-no bowed gracefully, presenting an impeccable demeanor.
At that moment, Nagi-no was in the teacher’s office of the Special Department.
“There’s no need to be overly polite. Although I am an elder, I prefer it when others speak to me without honorifics,” Maria waved her hand, signaling the black-haired girl to relax.
“Understood.”
“Well, from now on, I will be your guiding teacher, so being too formal wouldn’t be good.”
“Guiding teacher?”
At Ark Academy, every student in the Special Department is assigned a teacher for guidance, primarily to help those who have awakened their extraordinary abilities and are suddenly thrown into the extraordinary world, trying to adapt to this new reality and master their powers.
Simultaneously, the guiding teacher is the only one, aside from the “guardian students” and Zero District experimental personnel, who understands the true nature and effects of the student’s abilities.
Upon hearing Maria’s explanation, the black-haired girl soon showed a look of acceptance.
Maria secretly gave the girl a high score for adaptability in her heart.
Usually, the students she guided at this point would have various “excessive” reactions, needing repeated explanations or struggling to accept the reality.
However, this girl named Hoshimiya Nagi-no, since Maria’s encounter with her today, her score in Maria’s mind continued to rise.
Unlike the disheveled girl Maria saw last night in Zero District.
Today, Nagi-no appeared before her in a neat and clean school uniform.
Her graceful movements and gentle demeanor indicated she had received a good education, complemented by a beauty that even Maria, who had seen countless beauties, found astonishing, along with a figure that did not resemble an ordinary high school student.
She was the perfect embodiment of the term “beautiful girl.”
This made Maria involuntarily think of other outstanding beauties in Ark Academy.
From the girl before her, Maria faintly sensed a dissonance similar to what she felt with Amihane or Mana, but it was even more subtle and elusive.
Maria had repeatedly tried to dismiss it as an illusion in her mind.
As she followed the guidelines from Ark Academy’s manual, Maria explained to Nagi-no the essential knowledge needed in the extraordinary field.
For example, the existence of magical power, the existence of extraordinary abilities, the existence of magical creatures, and most importantly, the need for confidentiality concerning ordinary people.
These were the most fundamental pieces of knowledge every Special Department student had to know.
After that, Maria pulled out two documents from her drawer.
“This is a confidentiality agreement. Although it doesn’t impose any significant restrictions, I hope you can sign it as part of the normal procedure.”
“I understand.” Nagi-no respectfully accepted the confidentiality agreement from Maria’s hands.
The terms on it basically didn’t require much detailed reading; it was standard procedural content.
The purpose of signing this confidentiality agreement was likely to serve as proof that she had been informed about the need to keep the existence of extraordinary powers secret from ordinary people.
After Nagi-no beautifully wrote her name on the document and handed it back to Maria,
Maria glanced over it and, upon confirming it was correct, her first response was:
“…What beautiful handwriting.”
“Thank you, Teacher Maria, for the compliment~”
Nagi-no’s every move seemed meticulously designed, exuding elegance and grace to the utmost.
“…Now, the next document.”
“This is…”
“Well, how should I put it? It’s somewhat of a questionnaire, or you could say it’s a self-evaluation?” This time Maria’s response was not as smooth and natural as before; it was somewhat vague.
“As your guiding teacher, I need to know more about your abilities, right? So I hope you can fill out this document well—” Maria kept her eyes fixed on Nagi-no’s face, observing her reactions.
“I just want to understand your views on your current abilities, such as whether you feel their effects and uses, and— the names and ranks of any contracted beasts you have, as well as the quantity and effects of the extraordinary tools you possess…”
“Um, what do you mean by minor contracted beasts and extraordinary tools?” Nagi-no asked, showing confusion regarding certain terms.
“…No, there’s no need for you to know about that content just yet, so forget about them for the moment.” Maria withdrew her gaze, adopting a disinterested and lazy attitude: “In any case, just take this document back and fill it out well, only put in what you know and can provide…”
“Okay.” Nagi-no nodded obediently.
“Normally, since you’ve awakened your extraordinary abilities, you should be transferred to a Special Department class, but since the new semester has just started, doing it quickly might raise unnecessary suspicions. So let’s wait until you’ve been in your current class for half a month.”
“But remember, you cannot use your abilities in front of ordinary people or disclose anything about the extraordinary world.”
“Yes, I understand.” Nagi-no nodded again at her words.
Once all the necessary explanations were finished, Maria stretched lazily in front of Nagi-no, completely abandoning the teacher persona, and then signaled Nagi-no that she could leave.
In contrast, Nagi-no behaved as though she were an elegant young lady, even her posture before leaving resembled that of a “high and unattainable flower.”
As Nagi-no turned and slowly walked towards the back door of the teacher’s office,
Maria, who had been acting nonchalantly, slightly opened her eyes without making a sound and stared intently at Nagi-no’s departing figure.
A faint light flashed in her eyes.
“Tsk, I wasn’t wrong after all, this feeling…” Maria murmured to herself.
“What kind of contracted beast could it possibly be…?”
—————–
“Hu~” Once Nagi-no left the office.
Following the agreement made with Amihane last night, during the break, Maria went to the balcony of the teaching building as specifically instructed by Amihane.
Pushing open the iron door to the rooftop,
She spotted Amihane’s slender figure from afar, her silver hair dancing in the wind, and her violet-red eyes were now reflecting a snow-white figure.
“…Master, are you okay?”
