Operation Payday
The exhibition was alive.
"Alright, let's get started."
At my words, Rone stared at the exhibition entrance with eyes full of fear. She shuffled her feet as if she wanted to bolt right then and there, but she couldn't bring herself to run. Rozaria kept stealing anxious glances at me from the corner of her eye, while even Elaine bit her tightly pressed lips without saying a word. Their gazes brimmed with dread and hesitation for what was about to unfold.
Were they already sensing the terror of the unimaginable horrors and blasphemies that would soon transpire?
"Teacher... do we... really have to go this far...?"
Rone's voice trembled faintly. Rozaria looked up at me with pleading eyes.
"You know we're short on time. And this is the best way."
I gently chided them. I knew exactly what was making them hesitate, but there was no room for second thoughts now. We had to move before the ghost story fully manifested.
"But... how are we supposed to do something like that...?"
Rozaria finally couldn't hold back and murmured. Anxiety laced her voice.
"I'll be straight with you. This won't be the last time. While resolving ghost stories at Everlight Academy, you'll face situations like this countless times over the next three years. So steel yourselves."
"B-but even so..."
"Rozaria. Is that all your noble duty amounts to? As the lady of the esteemed House Soline, heir to noble blood, is your sense of noblesse oblige—your resolve to protect the people—so easily shaken by something like this?"
"...No. I'm sorry. I must have weakened for a moment."
"Yes. I'm ready now too."
Just before stepping back into the exhibition hall, the three who had been so uneasy now wore determined expressions, as if my words had steeled their resolve.
"Then let's begin the operation."
At my signal to start, the group pulled masks from their prepared bags. Masks borrowed without special permission from the drama club's room. Rone donned a brave knight's mask, Rozaria a flamboyant queen's mask, Elaine a whimsical rabbit mask. Finally, I put on a ridiculous clown mask.
And without hesitation, the students charged into the exhibition hall.
BAM!!
"Don't move!! This place is under our control now!!"
"Everyone, hands on your heads and get on your knees!!"
"Any funny business, and we'll kill ya!!"
CRASH!!
The clubs and pickaxes in our hands smashed unhesitatingly into the displayed porcelain, shattering it into pieces that scattered across the floor.
"Kyaaack!!"
Thus began Operation Payday.
To explain how it came to this, we need to rewind a bit.
We'd held a strategy meeting to resolve the ghost story, but no clear solution emerged.
Rone was first to suggest an idea.
"Can't we cancel the exhibition right now?"
"Impossible. If it were before it started, maybe. But it's already underway with thousands of people here— even the chairman of Everlight Academy couldn't pull it off now."
It was the most ideal way to clear the exhibition, but unfortunately, it was too late to make it happen.
Rozaria offered the second idea.
"Then how about buying up every item on display? Teacher Allen is the founder of Allen Trading Company, so if we buy everything and smash it, that should work, right? If money's short, I can guarantee it under my family's name."
"No. You're noble ladies, sure, but even using your family fortunes has limits. Plus, I've stepped down as head of the trading company, so I don't have a huge sum ready to use on the spot. And even if I were still in charge, buying every single exhibit would be impossible."
"Even if we did buy them, we'd only get possession after the exhibition ends. You can't just yank items off display mid-event because they've sold."
But her idea suffered from the same lack of feasibility. It wasn't one or two items—it was everything at the exhibition. Time and sheer volume were the issues.
The ghost story itself wasn't complex, but the tight deadline before it rampaged and the need for a human wave tactic made resolution tricky.
In the end, canceling the exhibition or buying out the exhibits were normal methods that just wouldn't work.
In the heavy atmosphere, Aurora, who had been listening quietly, sighed softly.
"Haah. If only we'd acted before it started—we could've planted explosives everywhere and blown it all at once. Such a shame about the timing. Even scrounging gunpowder now would risk bystanders..."
"No. That's it."
"Pardon? Explosives?"
"Not that—the part about bystanders."
Aurora asked uneasily, sensing something ominous in my words.
"...Why can't bystanders get caught up?"
"Think about it. Do we even need to worry if others get involved? They'll come back to life after regression, memories wiped."
"Uh... are you serious?"
"The key is, regression fixes everything."
This was all to save people, after all. I turned to the group with a smile.
"Kyaaack!! Robbers!! Help!!"
The exhibition hall turned to pandemonium in an instant. If we'd just claimed to be robbers verbally, they might've laughed it off—but actually wielding weapons and smashing displays gave our act undeniable authenticity(?) as robbers.
Well, truth be told, we weren't smashing exhibits to prove we were robbers; we were robbing to smash exhibits.
Exhibits shattered under our swinging clubs and pickaxes, screams erupting from all sides.
Rone, who had hesitated right up until the robbery began, now dashed about bravely in her knight mask, smashing relics indiscriminately. Clang!, crash!—dull explosions and sharp shards flew everywhere.
"Ohohoho!! These precious exhibits are far more fitting for a queen!!"
Rozaria, imitating a queen, stuffed displays into her bag willy-nilly.
"..."
Elaine silently focused on wrecking exhibits with her weapon.
But our rampage didn't last long. We'd only smashed while people were caught off guard; soon, guards noticed the commotion and rushed in.
"Don't move! Drop your weapons and get on your knees!"
Dozens of exhibition guards surrounded us. Their leader bellowed in fury, looking ready to charge.
But we'd anticipated the guards.
"Hold it!! Can't you see this!!"
I bellowed at ear-splitting volume, unfurling a code of arms.
For a moment, all eyes turned to me. And while attention was on me, Rozaria swiftly removed her mask and leaped into my arms.
"Kyaaack! I've been taken hostage by this wicked robber! Save me! No, stay back! If you take one more step, this robber will kill me!!"
"See!! I've got a hostage!! Any tricks, and she dies!!"
She clutched my clothes in a wail that could've come straight from a rehearsed stage play. I casually pressed a blade to her throat and pulled her close.
"W-wait, didn't the hostage just run to the robber herself...?"
"Back off now!! If you provoke this savage robber and I die, will you take responsibility!? I'm Rozaria Soline! Lady of House Soline! If anything happens to me, can you handle the consequences!?"
"H-House Soline...! The lady of that house—the flower of high society, the Red Ruby! To take a noble lady from such a family hostage..."
"Why aren't you backing off like this robber demands!? Do you want to see me die that badly? Ahh, then I'll leave my last words for Father: I died because of these incompetent exhibition guards! Father! Avenge my grievance on these guards!!"
"N-no, if the robber kills you, why us...?"
"Kyaaack!! I'm not even dead yet, and you're treating me like one!? Are you saying you'd let a delicate, beautiful student like me die just to catch a robber!? You heartless monsters! I won't forgive you in House Soline's name!!"
"D-damn it! Everyone, fall back! Don't provoke the hostage—no, the criminal!!"
At the guard captain's shout, the guards hesitated and retreated. They glanced confusedly between Rozaria and me.
Rozaria glared defiantly at them even under my blade.
Hm. Her acting was flawless.
In this situation, the guards couldn't ignore that House Soline's lady was a hostage.
"Good work, Rozaria. Proceed with the rest of the plan!"
At my shout, Rone and Elaine charged the exhibits again. I held Rozaria hostage, facing off against the guards while we kept destroying displays. Centuries of human history's relics in the human history section were mercilessly crushed under our hands.
Terrified spectators prostrated or fled screaming. Occasionally, a brave one ignored the hostage and tried to subdue us—but Rone was at my side.
Rone's gift was Stage Constitution. Her physical abilities maximized the more eyes were on her.
With hundreds of spectators' gazes here, her prowess surpassed an ordinary student's, reaching a master's level.
Thus, I held Rozaria, Rone knocked down anyone charging us, and Elaine methodically destroyed exhibits in silence, pretending to "collect" them.
"What the hell is this!? Are you insane? Why hasn't anyone been caught?!"
From afar, what seemed to be high-ranking exhibition officials yelled at the guards—but each time, hostage Rozaria screamed to halt them.
"Kyaaack! Are you mad?! What will you do if this wicked robber kills his hostage—me!? If I die and Father rages, do you think your bosses will protect you? Would they even try!? So don't provoke this robber—let them smash the exhibits as they want!!"
"Let them smash the exhibits!?"
Disbelief and despair mixed in the guard captain's voice. But Rozaria's performance worked. They stood dumbfounded, unable to charge.
And so Operation Payday proceeded successfully. Before long, we'd reached the final area of the human history section—the execution platform exhibit, which had claimed the most victims before regression.