Time to Fall
"Knocking them out was great, Professor. But you're just leaving like that?!"
As I hurried to walk away, Lurua from behind raised her voice in question.
But honestly, I wanted to ask the opposite. Where the hell was she going to hide two guys twice her size, and in such a short time?
"If you can do it, give it a shot. It'll probably be impossible anyway, so it's better to move fast before the others see."
"...Tch. So that's how you think. In that case, even if you're the professor holding my grades, I have to say my piece! How am I supposed to handle you turning this into such a mess without a plan?!"
"Wasn't there no choice...?"
"What do you mean no choice?! Saying 'VIP' for no reason and drawing suspicion—that's what had no choice?!"
Well, in hindsight, yeah, obviously. From what they were saying, if they'd been upfront about the purpose of meeting the boss, they probably wouldn't have let us in at all. And if we hadn't said VIP but just 'regular guests'? We'd have had to disguise ourselves like Lurua said, snoop around asking locals, maybe even actually gamble... Ugh, just thinking about it made me sigh.
"If we weren't going to do it this way, we should've infiltrated properly. I didn't want to."
But fists are straightforward and quick. No wasting time, and for someone like me who hates pretentious crap, it was perfect. Plus, the justification was solid—they were coming at us looking murderous, so claiming self-defense against a threat to life should cover it, right?
But apparently, that explanation wasn't enough for Lurua.
"I really can't understand you... At least when stepping into a dangerous place like this, isn't it obvious you'd do thorough intel and infiltrate meticulously?"
"If it looks that dangerous, I'll wrap it up quick, so wait outside. You'll be safe on a busy street where lots of people can see."
"...Pardon? You're going in alone, Professor?"
I nodded. What else could I do? Turn back now after coming this far and let the guards wake up and the kid go home?
"You've guided me this far, so that's plenty of help. I won't dock your attendance."
"No, you can't! Do you know how dangerous it is in there...? Even the path to the VIP lounge has hidden guards scattered everywhere. You can't punch through all of them like you did just now!"
Really? I doubted it. More importantly...
How do you know that?
"You seem to know this place well, huh, Lurua student?"
"Urk..."
"Hmmm..."
Putting it together, things were starting to click. Stealth. Infiltration. Intrusion... Yeah, this type was definitely...
"—W-Well, no helping it then. I, Lurua Feodosiya, can't leave you alone, Professor... I'll come with you."
But what cut off my solemn train of thought was Lurua's delicate voice.
Oh ho. This girl... I figured she'd bolt at the first whiff of leniency on attendance. Turns out she's got some guts? Or maybe there's a reason I can't be in danger.
"I don't think I need the student's help anyway."
"Hmph. To put it politely, that's an arrogant statement. You'll see my value once we're inside."
And right then, Lurua scrunched her face and added,
"B-But that promise still holds, right?"
"Which one?"
"...That you'll respect the student's privacy."
"Respect upon respect. I get pissed if anyone pries outside class time myself—why would I do it to a student?"
"Then, please don't ask about anything you see from now on."
"Oh? Don't ask anything?"
"...I almost spilled my secrets because you're my professor. It's burdensome, so stop digging into my info like now."
"I see. Fine, then in exchange, you'll attend school properly?"
"Of course—most definitely."
"Deal."
With that, she said nothing more. She just took off her glasses, put on a mask...
"Hoo..."
Her eyes sharpened a bit as she gestured once over the fallen bruisers, camouflaging their bodies.
Ah, light refraction!
It was clearly some space-warping magic. So she could do this stuff? As expected of an imperial assassin!
Of course, Lurua had no idea I'd pegged her so accurately. She just kept up her tough front.
"...Follow me."
Well, everyone has their secrets. Assassin or whatever, I could overlook it—as long as she didn't skip class, cause trouble, and threaten my rice bowl. Even a murderer gets a year's probation under the banner of reform from me.
* * *
With our deal to look the other way, Lurua now led the way without hesitation, like she'd been here a dozen times. She timed the guards' patrols perfectly, guiding us along. At every corner, she wove in subtle, odd footwork—straight-up imperial assassin stealth, slipping through the corridors every which way.
"Wait here a moment. There's an alarm..."
"Aigoo, good job."
"Right ahead now."
Lurua's guiding skills were top-notch, no doubt. Before long, we reached the door to that VIP room I'd been dying to enter.
It looked the part—flashy gilded style screaming what this place was. I swiped the card key from the guard, and
Click—
The metal door slid open smoothly, unbelievably so. Stepping inside, my nose was hit with the stench of strong booze and money.
Oh my god...
This place was such a disaster, I didn't even know where to start criticizing. No academy student should be running something like this.
Ignoring the fancy-looking folks chugging expensive liquor like water in broad daylight, look at those women performing in the big lounge ahead. What the hell were they wearing? I couldn't even describe it.
Swipe—
"Eek?! Professor?! Why cover my eyes?!"
"Against public morals. Students shouldn't see."
"A-Ah... Those women...? Y-Yes, I won't look."
"Sigh, so embarrassing."
The lights around were blasting dramatic effects without a care for mana costs. Finding Valentina at a glance would be tough. Just as I was about to give up,
Lurua spoke up.
"Professor...!"
"What is it, Lurua student."
"Look down there."
Gazing at the lounge below, there was a crazy bitch perched on the massive crystal chandelier, popping champagne with both hands and spraying it everywhere.
"Kyahahahaha—!! Keep betting more! If you're short on chips, come find this Rothschild anytime—!!"
The chain-linked chandelier was even designed to spin in mid-air. I wouldn't sit on that thing out of fear—how was she doing acrobatics up there?
Anyway, even without it, she radiated that vibe. Back in Korea, there were AIs that analyzed expressions from photos... Plug her in, and it'd probably read 100% happiness.
No more words needed. Yeah. That was Valentina Rothschild.
As I stared dumbfounded, Lurua pulled her mask up to her nose tip and explained softly.
"...That's the chandelier show. After Valentina fully took over this casino, it was the first highlight she introduced."
"Definitely entertaining to watch."
"Good review. With the top heiress from the empire's premier trading company hyping things up like that, the consensus is it's worth betting on."
I see. Rare spectacle, for sure. Watching that golden spin of the chandelier had even me jutting my chin out, mesmerized by its devilish charm.
"Show's over."
But sightseeing ends here. I asked Lurua,
"Lurua. Where do they control the lights from?"
I doubted she'd know this too, but given her detail so far, worth a shot.
And sure enough, she pointed.
"From that control panel over there. Not exact, but they always handle the lights from there before shows."
"Got it."
Hearing that, I slowly—oh so slowly—walked to the panel...
"Who the hell are you."
"Move."
"—Hah, some ballsy bastard."
Bam—!!
"Guh...?!"
I knocked out the blocking guard flat.
"No clue what anything does. Just crank 'em all up, I guess. This Valentina chick must be a child of darkness or something..."
With the classic teacher line, I flipped everything on.
Flash—!!
The place, filled with only glowing spotlights in the dark, flooded with white light in an instant—everything laid bare.
"Wait... Professor...! Dangerous...!"
Lurua lagged a bit, calling from beside me, but this was meant to draw eyes anyway. No issue.
And sure enough, everyone in the reveling VIP lounge looked up to this upper lounge with the controls.
Including Valentina, mid-champagne dance on the chandelier.
"...What are you? You?"
She glared up with a far more rotten, vicious aura than the rest.
I just waved once, leaned on the railing, and said,
"Valentina. Sorry to interrupt your fun, but come down now. Time for school."
"Tch........... Another academy pest?!"
"Professor's neck hurting?"
"Cut the jokes."