After Stephen nodded his head in agreement to accompany them, he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
The three managed to catch eight butterflies that were flying in the air.
They also found several butterflies hiding in random places, such as a wardrobe inside the theater, among wall decorations, under one of the seats scattered around the academy, and other places.
Now there was one butterfly they were chasing, and just as David was about to catch it, it flapped its wings quickly and changed its direction.
It rushed toward a student talking with his friend and entered from his collar under his shirt.
When Stephen saw this, he stopped in his place and turned to leave, but David stopped him with a frown.
"Where are you going?"
Stephen looked toward Nathan, who was heading toward the student.
"Damn it."
Stephen pushed David's hand away, trying to escape, but the sound of clothes tearing stopped him. He sighed while rubbing his temple.
"I will never do any mission ever again."
Nathan had torn the boy's shirt, and the butterfly that had been standing on the boy's waist flew away, but Nathan quickly caught it with the net, and it returned to the form of a page.
The boy covered his chest with his arms and looked at Nathan in disbelief.
Even his friend was staring at Nathan in disbelief, standing in front of his friend whose shirt had been torn, trying to protect him while looking at Nathan cautiously.
People outside the scope of the mission couldn't see any of the butterflies or even the net, so from their point of view, some pervert had torn the clothes.
Nathan didn't look at them again, and David was oblivious to what was happening; all that mattered to them was that they had caught the butterfly.
As for Stephen, who noticed all the reactions of the two students, he just wanted to get away from Nathan now.
Nathan turned to them with a smile and spoke.
"I caught it."
They quickly left the place to search for the other butterflies, and as they were leaving, Stephen could feel the sharp gazes directed at them.
Stephen tried to ignore them; he neither hears, nor sees, nor feels anything.
"Since I came to the academy, everything has ended."
Now the three headed toward the teachers' building.
They stood in front of the building, and David asked in confusion,
"Are we allowed to enter?"
Nathan laughed and waved his hand.
"Come on, don't worry, we're just doing a mission."
David thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, that's right."
Stephen had stopped thinking and only wanted to finish this ominous mission.
So he entered with the two of them, moving lightly and stealthily.
It was now sunset, so there were only a few teachers still inside the teachers' building.
Because of that, they were able to enter several places without being caught.
Stephen slowly opened the door; he felt the absence of movement inside the room, so he was confident that no one was inside.
The three entered the room, and it was the most beautiful and luxurious room they had entered so far.
It contained several neatly arranged sofas, a table, and a beautiful desk with several files and books neatly placed on it.
The three wandered around different parts of the room.
Nathan spoke with boredom.
"It doesn't look like there's a butterfly inside the teachers' building."
David denied it quickly.
"No, I saw it with my own eyes entering…!"
Suddenly, David stopped and looked suspiciously toward the table.
Nathan and Stephen noticed his expression, approached him, and looked at the table.
There were several photos of students spread across the table. There was even a photo of David, Nathan, Kai's friends, and other students.
Stephen's gaze became serious, and he asked while examining the photos,
"Which teacher owns this place?"
David and Nathan shrugged.
"We don't know."
Suddenly, Stephen's hand that was moving the photos froze, and he stared at one photo seriously.
David and Nathan felt curious and looked at what Stephen was staring at.
They found a photo of Stephen, and on it was written, in black ink, a question mark (?).
Stephen thought seriously.
"These are photos of all the talented students."
"It's normal for a teacher to gather information about their students, but this is suspicious."
"And my photo—why does it have an unknown mark on it?"
Suddenly, Stephen heard movement outside the door. He quickly pulled Nathan and David, and they hid behind the desk at the end of the room.
The door suddenly opened, and a large-built man entered, most of his hair covered in gray, with faint wrinkles on his face. It was Andrew, the physical education teacher, and another strange person entered with him.
Andrew closed the door and spoke to the other person.
"One of our plans failed in a very strange way. Was it leaked?"
The other person spoke with a frown.
"That's impossible, and you know that well."
Andrew was silent, then nodded.
"Yes, with that inside every member, no one can betray us."
"But… how did the number of monsters suddenly decrease?"
The two fell silent, thinking seriously.
Suddenly, the other person spoke.
"So how is your 'care' of the students going?"
Andrew laughed mockingly.
"It only took a few words to shatter their morale."
The other person raised his eyebrow slightly and spoke.
"Then everything is going as planned… and that plan, how is it?"
Andrew was silent for a moment, then spoke with a dark smile.
"Very good, despite a strange mouse roaming around."
The other person frowned and asked seriously.
"A mouse?"
Before Andrew could speak again, his brows suddenly furrowed, and he moved toward the table, looking at the photos on it.
When he found that the positions of the photos were different from before, he signaled the other person to be silent and scanned the room carefully.
The three couldn't see the two men, but Stephen recognized Andrew because of his voice, though he didn't know who the other person was.
Nathan and David were confused; they couldn't comprehend what was happening, but they tried to stay silent and not make any movement.
The three felt the silence of the two men. David clenched his fist nervously and looked at Stephen and Nathan with a questioning look: what happened? Why did they stop talking?
Stephen frowned; he could feel the footsteps of the two men moving around the room.
"They realized someone entered the room."
David shifted slightly in nervousness, and his clothes lightly brushed against the desk.
The sound was faint and inaudible, but Andrew was an S-rank awakened, so he could hear it.
Andrew looked at his desk with a dark gaze and slowly walked toward it.
When he reached it, he looked behind the desk.
But he found nothing, and his expression relaxed.
The other person frowned.
"What happened?"
Andrew waved his hand and spoke.
"Nothing."
"It was probably that girl who does the cleaning."
…..
Stephen had quickly removed his earring and used his skill, and he, Nathan, and David disappeared into the shadows.
The three left the teachers' building and stood in silence.
David and Nathan looked at Stephen. Stephen ignored their gazes and spoke.
"Let's finish the mission first, then we'll talk afterward."
David protested.
"What mission are you talking about?"
"Didn't you hear that? A decrease in monsters, plans, members—what's going on?"
Stephen frowned; his head was hurting now.
"I already knew beforehand, but why do these two have to know as well?"
Nathan smiled and placed his hand on David's shoulder.
"Come on, there are only three butterflies left. Let's finish it first."
David looked at them strangely.
"Are you two in your right minds?"
Nathan pushed David.
"Come on, come on, let's search."
A bald teacher came out of the teachers' building, and on his bald head stood a small white butterfly.
Nathan looked at the bald head, then at the butterfly, and burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha, these butterflies are amazing."
David looked at Nathan with a frown, raised his net, and quickly went to catch the butterfly. He wanted to finish the mission quickly to understand what he had heard. He even found Stephen strange—how could he get them out of there so quickly? Did he have some hidden skill? Was this why his grandfather told him to become friends with him?
There were many questions in his mind.
He jumped and caught the butterfly quickly before it could escape, leaving only two butterflies.
The three wandered around the academy to find the remaining two butterflies but found nothing.
When it became eight in the evening, they spotted the fluttering wings of a butterfly and started chasing it.
The butterfly led them to the street with shops, where students came to relax and stroll.
The butterfly flew quickly and hid under the skirt of a girl walking with two of her friends.
The three stopped in their places.
"….."
"….."
"….."
Stephen cautiously looked at Nathan's expression. When he saw that Nathan had no intention of moving, he felt relieved.
David spoke in annoyance.
"These damn butterflies—why do they hide in places like this?"
Nathan spoke.
"Let's follow the girl. Maybe the butterfly will fly out after a while."
Stephen thought in irritation.
"These missions are just a waste of time, and there's still that butterfly in the girls' bathroom."
Stephen, Nathan, and David quietly followed the girl. After a while, Stephen managed to notice someone, and an idea came to his mind.
...
Alyssa and Eveline had been invited by Ira and Agnes to walk around a bit after they had spent hours training together.
Alyssa accepted and didn't refuse them, which made Agnes and Ira happy.
After walking around the shops inside the academy, Eveline suddenly spoke with a frown.
"What are those three doing?"
Alyssa and the girls looked at Stephen, Nathan, and David.
The three were focused on the girls in front of them, following them.
Ira frowned.
"Are they following the girls?"
Alyssa looked at them curiously and realized they really were following the girls, which confused her.
Then suddenly, Stephen started heading toward them.
Eveline asked in confusion.
"Why is the white one coming toward us?"
Agnes laughed lightly at Eveline's nickname for him.
"Ivy, his name is Stephen, not 'the white one.'"
Eveline shrugged and spoke in annoyance.
"Doesn't matter—white or whatever."
Stephen approached the girls and spoke to Alyssa.
"I need you for something."
Alyssa felt confused. It didn't seem like Stephen would ever need her, so she said goodbye to the girls and went with him.
After Stephen and Alyssa moved some distance away from the girls, Stephen stopped and spoke to Alyssa.
"We're doing a mission."
Alyssa nodded, and Stephen continued.
"This mission requires catching butterflies, but two butterflies hid in strange places, and I need your help to get them out."
Alyssa understood what was happening, nodded, and asked,
"Where did they hide?"
Stephen spoke.
"Under that girl's skirt."
Alyssa felt shocked, then suddenly laughed.
"Really?!"
Stephen nodded irritably and continued.
"And the second one… in the girls' bathroom ."
Alyssa laughed again after she had just managed to stop before.
Stephen felt even more irritated; he had no choice but to ask for her help. She was the only girl he knew even a little.
Alyssa stopped laughing, and her expression turned serious instantly, as if she had never laughed at all.
"Alright, let's go."