Chapter 162 | Called by the Teacher

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I was called into the student guidance room by the gym teacher, Miharashi Touge-sensei.

“…………”

Why did the teacher call me in? Could it be that I’m getting expelled too…?

“Don't tense up like that,”

Miharashi Touge-sensei said with a chuckle, which eased my nerves just a little.

“Well, sit down.”

“Ah, okay.”

The guidance room only had a table and chairs, along with some bookshelves. I took a seat while Miharashi Touge-sensei sat directly across from me.

“You were surprised to see everyone at school today, right?”

“Yeah, well…”

To be honest, I had suspected that Grandpa would do something about it, so I wasn't as shocked as Rika.

Miharashi Touge-sensei stared intently at me before letting out a small sigh.

“All the students have officially been expelled as of yesterday.”

“Expelled…?”

“It seems most of them left due to their parents' circumstances. Well, Alpicco is a private school and tuition is quite high.”

I see… So Grandpa used the classmates’ parents to exact his punishment on them.

Wait…

“So if most of them are gone, then not all of them are?”

“That's right. Those who were involved in some shady business ended up dealing with the police. Especially those close to Nakatsukawa.”

“Oh…”

It sounded like those who hung out with Imoko and were up to no good got what they deserved.

“And what about Nakatsukawa?”

“…I don't know.”

“What do you mean you don't know?”  

Miharashi Touge-sensei looked straight at me again.

“I really don't know. Suddenly we received an expulsion notice for her; when I asked her parents, they insisted she was no longer there.”

“…………”

“Do you happen to know anything about this, Ueda?”

Well… It was probably the result of Grandpa's actions running rampant again.  

But it didn't concern me anymore.  

“Nope. I don't know anything.”   

Then Miharashi Touge-sensei continued staring at me closely—almost as if peering into my soul.

But no matter how much she pressed for answers, I honestly didn't know what happened to Imoko.

This was all Grandpa's doing; that much was certain. He probably understood everything going on behind the scenes but wouldn't share any details with me.

…Well, he does have a tendency to go overboard sometimes; whatever happened must've been pretty serious given recent events too…

“I see… understood. So Ueda has nothing to do with this situation.”  

Surprisingly quickly, she seemed to accept my answer without question.

“Aren’t you suspicious of me?”

“Nah. My eyes are sharp; I can tell when someone's lying in an instant,” she replied nonchalantly.

“Wow… impressive! Sounds like a special ability!”

For just a moment, she looked startled but quickly laughed off my comment as amusing.

“There's no such thing as special abilities in this world! What are you saying at your age?”  

“I guess you're right.”   

I understood where she was coming from.

“Well anyway, because of all this chaos going on, your class now consists only of you and Matsumoto—just two people left here. Everyone else and even other teachers suspect something went down between you two…but don't worry.”  

She smiled brightly while patting my shoulder gently.

“I know that neither of you did anything wrong. I won't believe those rumors.”

“T-Thank you…”   

It seemed she was willing to stand by us—a true ally indeed…

She'd helped me previously too; how kind-hearted could someone be?

“Oh! By the way—what about Chausuyama-sensei?”  

“Chausuyama? Oh yeah—the bald guy!”

“You can call him bald?”  

I might have called him “bald” myself back then!

“That guy suddenly quit too! Talk about causing trouble for us! Apparently he cleared out his house and everything.”

“Oh…”

It sounded like Grandpa might have had something to do with that too…

He truly showed no mercy towards enemies whatsoever…

What exactly did he do…?

“And Ueda—there’s one thing I need to confirm with you,” Miharashi Touge-sensei said seriously once more,

“What is it?”  

She leaned forward slightly while maintaining her intense gaze upon me,

“It concerns the Blood March Incident.”  

“…………………………Huh?”  

Blood March… incident? What on earth is that…?

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