I Became an Academy Counselor

Chapter 96

“···Is this the place?”

“Yes, it is.”

Stella and her friends looked around once more, checked the address written on the paper, and were certain.

This is it.

It was a dark night. Unlike the other shops with their lights off and doors firmly closed, this place seemed to have just begun, with a soft light seeping through the cracks.

This was surely the place where Miss Ophelia and that old lady had first met.

“Hmm···.”

“Are you sure we should go in?”

“I’m not sure.”

They had come looking for traces of Miss Ophelia, but should they really enter?

That thought spread among the students.

After all, none of them had ever been inside a nighttime establishment like this.

Except for one.

“What are you hesitating for? We’re going in.”

“Wa-wait···!”

“Hello.”

While the others hesitated, Orca was familiar with establishments open at such late hours.

It was one of the few places where she could safely spend hours during the night.

···Though, it wasn’t always that way.

At the very least, it was a decent place to escape the wind and cold, so Orca had often treated such places as her home.

Not that she did anything in particular—she just used them like a home. It was essentially trespassing.

Some might wonder if anyone would dislike that, but anyone who did was quickly silenced by Orca’s threats.

The chime of a bell greeted them as they entered, announcing their arrival. A voice, surprised, called out.

“Oh my, students?”

“Hello.”

The bartender, with a gentle expression, raised her voice slightly in surprise as she turned to see them. Stella grabbed her head.

Who just walks in without an excuse?

If students enter a bar, they’d normally be thrown out.

“Hmm···. Could I see some ID? You need to be an adult to enter.”

“···Pardon?”

However, contrary to Stella’s expectations, the bartender calmly asked for their identification.

Stella had assumed they’d be thrown out immediately.

“You’re not kicking us out?”

“Well···. I know someone who’s older but looks young. I thought you might be like them.”

Ah, the old lady.

Since she was a regular, it wasn’t strange that the bartender didn’t make any judgments based on appearance and asked for ID first.

After all, the old lady looked younger than anyone else here.

Though she was older on the inside than anyone else here.

“Since you’re not reacting that way, you’re not that kind of person. ···Why are you here? I don’t sell alcohol to students.”

“We didn’t come to buy alcohol. We’re looking for someone.”

“Someone?”

“Yes. Do you happen to know someone named Ophelia?”

Thump, thump.

Everyone’s hearts began to race.

This place was their only clue.

But what if Miss Ophelia’s name was an alias?

What if the bartender didn’t know her?

Those thoughts made the students’ hearts pound even louder.

“Ophelia? Why are you asking about her?”

“···! Do you know her?!”

“Ophelia? ···Ah, are you students from the Academy?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Don’t be so harsh, Eileen.”

“But···!”

“In the end, it didn’t matter. The bartender doesn’t know where she went either.”

“Ugh.”

“···I expected this. With hypnotism as her ability, it would’ve been foolish for her to leave any traces.”

Is this the end of the search for Miss Ophelia?

Eileen probably feels terrible. I might have given her false hope.

With that thought, Stella approached Orca, who was sitting down, looking lost.

“It’s time to go, Orca. I understand you’re disappointed, but you expected this too, right···?”

“I’ve seen them.”

“What?”

“I’ve seen someone like that···.”

Contrary to Stella’s expectation that Orca would remain in despair, she muttered something that immediately got everyone's attention.

“I’ve seen someone who spoke like that···.”

“What, really?! You’ve seen them before?!”

“When Leo was kidnapped, Miss Ophelia went to rescue him. I saw someone like that then···. Their name was Jane. They seemed close with the teacher.”

Memories from that day resurfaced in Orca’s mind as if it had happened just moments ago.

She remembered the voice of the person who had asked her to take care of the teacher, but she ignored it.

“···It’s an organization. We need to find the organization.”

“An organization?”

“Yes. That person said they were there to protect her in exchange for payment.”

“!”

“Leo, do you remember where it was?”

“Yes, I do! Definitely!”

“Then we go there and ask who’s protecting her.”

If that person had taken Miss Ophelia, they had enough reason to go to that organization.

“···Boss, aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I’ll go to bed after this.”

“You’ve said that so many times already···.”

“I don’t care.”

“That’s the fifteenth time you’ve said that···.”

I avoided Jane’s tired gaze.

Well, what can I do?

This game turned out to be more interesting than I expected.

Each chapter ended with such suspense that I couldn’t help but be curious about the next.

“I told you, you can go to bed first.”

“I can’t leave the boss alone.”

“···Alright, fine. I’ll sleep. I’ll continue tomorrow.”

Unable to win against Jane, who had stayed by my side all day, I finally turned off the game console.

To be honest, I wanted to stay up all night and finish it, but I couldn’t.

If I stayed up, Jane would stay up too.

Even if I slept in late tomorrow, I didn’t have much to do other than play with the kids, but Jane was different.

She was busy running around, looking after the kids. Probably doing patrols or something.

If she stayed up all night and ran into danger, it could be a problem.

“Alright, I’m going to bed, so you should too.”

“Oh, but can you pat my head first?”

“···Are you a dog?”

“Hehe, call me your loyal hound, Boss!”

Sigh.

Why does she still love physical affection, even as a grown adult?

I patted Jane’s head.

The soft texture of her hair flowed through my fingers, and Jane gave a satisfied smile.