Beneath the Millennium Tower, the landmark of Millennium Science School, I paused and looked back.
"Alright, escorting me this far is more than enough."
Izuna, who had insisted on guarding me all the way here, withdrew her gaze from the towering building stretching into the clouds.
"Then Izuna will wait for you here, alright?"
"Izuna." I lowered my tone. "Have you already forgotten what you promised me?"
"Impossible! Izuna will definitely remember Aruji-dono's teachings!"
Seeing the girl once again shamelessly putting on that pitiful, about-to-cry look, my heart softened.
"The real problem is that even I don't know when I'll finish my business. So, let's leave it at that for today."
"Ehehe∼ as expected, Aruji-dono is so gentle… Izuna understands∼ But since Izuna originally planned to follow you today, I made a lot of free time. Going back this early would be too much of a waste."
Izuna narrowed her eyes, her smile bright. "So∼ Izuna will wander around nearby on her own. I won't stay until too late. But, if Aruji-dono finishes early, could you let Izuna escort you to the station again?"
…No matter how simple a fox pretends to be, she is still a fox after all.
She had already said this much. Refusing again would be heartless.
"Alright, just this once."
"Great∼ Nin nin∼"
Izuna looked triumphantly smug, as if she had just won a battle.
I really had no way to deal with her. I shook my head helplessly, though the corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
After parting ways with the ninja girl, I headed into Millennium Tower alone, took the elevator, and went to the floor where my meeting was scheduled.
And in the corridor right outside the elevator, I unexpectedly encountered a girl I had not seen for several days.
"Oh my, Sensei."
Noa, secretary of the Seminar, after showing a brief trace of surprise, greeted me with her usual composed, graceful smile. "It has been a while."
Her relaxed and natural demeanor was as though nothing had happened during her last duty shift at Schale.
Although nothing tangible had actually happened, with Noa's intelligence, there was no way she had failed to understand my hints.
For her to interact with me like this… it was exactly as I expected.
"It has indeed been a while. You are currently…?"
I looked at the stack of documents she was carrying in both hands.
"Hehe∼ I am just moving the meeting minutes to the archives. What is it? Curious about the meeting contents? That is unfortunate, since it was an internal Seminar meeting and classified as confidential, even you cannot read it, Sensei."
Her tone was joking, but the content revealed something else. This clever girl was likely using this way to preemptively seal off the possibility of me offering help.
"Even if you gave it to me, I wouldn't read it anyway."
I looked into Noa's mysterious eyes. "I came today because I have important business."
"My my, is that so?" Noa's smile deepened. "Then please do not let me delay you. I will excuse myself first. Until next time∼"
With that, Noa nodded politely and brushed past me, her figure gradually disappearing down the hallway.
I watched her leave, feeling a faint sense of regret.
But it was fine. Her current guardedness toward me was also part of her charm.
Thinking so, I arrived at the Seminar office and lightly knocked on the closed door.
After hearing a "Please come in," I pushed it open.
The first person my eyes fell upon was Yuuka, who had just risen from her desk and happened to look up at me.
And next…
Standing against the wall, each holding a bucket as punishment, was the entirety of the Game Development Club.
The Saiba twins and Yuzu, captured without exception, all gathered here.
Their expressions varied.
In my impression, Yuzu, the club president and seemingly a severe social-phobe, was trembling violently, looking absolutely terrified.
Yet oddly, despite shaking like a leaf, her hand holding the water bucket was completely steady, not spilling a single drop.
Midori, the more inward and sensitive of the twins, looked depressed. When she saw me walk in, her expression worsened and she turned away.
As for Momoi, outgoing and bold, her face was full of indignation. Upon spotting me, her eyes lit up instantly as though she had found her savior.
How should I put it…
This felt eerily similar to the experience of being called to school because your children caused trouble.
I could not imagine what the Game Development Club had done to make Yuuka angry enough to call me over.
On the phone, Yuuka had not explained details, only saying it was too complicated to explain briefly, that it was not a major incident exactly, but it would be best for me to come to the Seminar if I had time.
At the time, Yuuka had clearly been suppressing her anger, and in the background I could hear Momoi shouting, "The Game Development Club will never surrender!" Then Yuuka had hurriedly hung up.
Since there was fun to watch... no, since the club for which I served as advisor seemed to have gotten into trouble, and since I was quite free anyway, even if I had been busy I would have dropped everything to come observe to come handle this important matter involving my students directly.
"Sensei, you're here." Yuuka looked tired between the brows. "Please sit. Would you like tea or coffee?"
Preferably, I would choose a glass of plain water. But if Yuuka was the one asking, I preferred a different option.
"Coffee, please. Thank you."
A moment later, I sipped the coffee Yuuka had brewed herself and suddenly felt that making coffee was a profound craft. Setting aside the quality of the beans, technique was extremely important.
Otherwise, how could Nagisa's carefully brewed hand drip coffee, made from premium beans after many complicated steps, feel inferior to the instant coffee Yuuka simply poured into a cup and mixed with hot water?
I found myself nostalgic for the days when Yuuka and I worked in Schale's office together, with her patiently teaching me how to handle official duties.
Back then, Noa's remote assistance had also been indispensable.
Looking at the present situation, I felt things were somehow strangely similar.
"Well then, Yuuka." I got straight to the point. "What happened?"
"Sigh…"
Work was never easy. Yuuka sighed. "You can see from here… please come."
Yuuka led me to the window and pointed into the distance. "Sensei, can you see there? The pile of debris in what should be a clean and tidy campus, utterly out of place with its surroundings."
What? Isn't Millennium's campus environment normally full of industrial waste, explosion remnants, and objects that are both?
"I see it. Those are…?"
"In short, they constructed a strange building on campus."
Illegal construction, I see. But in Millennium, cases like this were extremely common.
Engineering's Club, for example, was a repeat offender.
Meaning, if that was all, it should not have been enough to make Yuuka summon me.
Knowing the real problem was coming, I still played along. "Is that all?"
"Of course not."
Yuuka turned back, looking at the punished Game Development Club members with a complicated expression. "They decorated the building like a casino. Then held a gambling event inside."
…Openly setting up an illegal casino inside an obvious unauthorized structure?
This sort of baffling behavior was beyond my ability to comment meaningfully.
"That's too underhanded, Yuuka!" Momoi finally exploded, shouting angrily. "To actually tattle on us to Sensei over such a trivial matter!"
Yuuka retorted, "How is this trivial?! It's a severe violation of school regulations! And what exactly did I say that was incorrect?!"
Momoi choked, then stubbornly said, "A-anyway! Dragging Sensei, who has nothing to do with this, into the matter is going too far, don't you think?!"
That… was not quite correct. I was technically their club advisor, though in name only.
After completing their previous request, I had not visited the club again to play anything besides Mythology Chronicles.
At this moment, I noticed that Midori and Yuzu had both subtly averted their gazes when Momoi said that.
"You have the nerve to say that!"
Yuuka snapped, and simultaneously explained why the other two looked guilty.
"Not only did you open a casino on sacred school grounds without permission, you even used Sensei's name to promote it. Who exactly did that?!"
…Excuse me???
"Objection!"
As I was beginning to doubt my understanding of the world, Momoi argued righteously, "We only wrote a special thanks to Sensei on the flyers for supporting our club activities! We did not use Sensei's name to advertise!"
You distributed flyers?!
And what did I ever support you with?! Do not involve me when you go out causing trouble!
A sad realization struck me. My reputation was probably going to suffer again.
"No, that already counts as using Sensei's popularity to hype your illegal activities."
"Objection!" Momoi yelled. "People misunderstood on their own! And besides, how is our activity illegal?!"
"Haa?" Yuuka frowned. "What, are you not even planning to admit the undeniable facts anymore?"
To this, Momoi spoke with confidence. "Our event was not gambling. It was just an offline gaming meetup!"
Yuuka blinked, as if doubting her ears. "A gaming meetup…? When it involved large-scale money flow, that no longer counts as a game!"
"Hmph hmph∼ I knew you would say that∼" Momoi said proudly. "We only sold tokens used to play the games, you know∼"
Silence fell.
For a moment, I could not tell whether Momoi was intentionally making excuses or if she truly believed what she was saying.
"…So," Yuuka inhaled deeply, "this game of yours decides victory and defeat by probability, correct?"
Momoi nodded. "Exactly. To let more people enjoy the fun of games, you have to reduce mechanical skill requirements and instead focus on randomness."
Yuuka's eyebrow twitched. "Lose and you pay tokens, win and you gain tokens?"
Momoi answered as though it were obvious. "Well, what else would it be?"
Yuuka laughed coldly. "Then you must also… redeem tokens. With cash."
Momoi puffed up proudly. "Of course. Our supply of tokens is limited, after all! And that way, more people will be attracted!"
What could I say…
She wasn't acting.
It was possible Momoi genuinely believed this did not qualify as gambling.
"…Seriously, Momoi, how did you get into Millennium?"
Yuuka, as a Seminar member, seemed to picture a certain pink haired student always going "Nihahaha" and suddenly felt deep concern over last year's admission standards.
"This is absolutely gambling."
"Eh? R-really?"
Momoi looked at us and her two clubmates for validation, but the responses she received were…
"I told you already…" Midori sighed.
"M-me too…" Yuzu said, averting her gaze uneasily.
I also shook my head. Momoi froze like stone, then after a long pause, let out a tragic wail.
"Ugh… why! I refuse to accept this!"
"Hmph hmph∼ now you understand that you violated school rules, right∼"
Having successfully shut down Momoi's nonsense, Yuuka looked rather satisfied.
However, perhaps unwilling to let Yuuka bask in triumph, Momoi suddenly thought of something after struggling mentally, and quickly retorted:
"Then in that case, Yuuka, you violated the rules too!"
"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about now…"
"You're buying those, uh, funds, aren't you?" Momoi raised her face defiantly. "By your logic, funds are another form of gambling!"
Yuuka invests in funds? As expected of my accountant.
"Hah? Of course not." Yuuka huffed. "With precise calculations and sufficient research, buying suitable funds results in stable profit. It is a legitimate financial tool. Don't talk nonsense about things you don't understand!"
"Eh?" Momoi exclaimed. "So you're saying you've never lost money before?"
From the way Yuuka's face flushed red and she fell silent, it was obvious Momoi had accidentally struck a sore spot.
Even an arithmetic mage must be cautious with investments, Yuuka.
"A-anyway! Funds and gambling are completely different matters!"
Yuuka stiffly changed the subject. "Since Sensei is here, you should all be willing to talk now, right?"
The Seminar's treasurer let out a tired sigh.
"Momoi, Midori, Yuzu. Why did you open a casino on campus in the first place?"