The atmosphere in the mansion had finally shifted from a battlefield to a home. The dining hall was filled with the rich, savory aroma of a feast being prepared, and the tension of the day was melting away into the steam rising from the kitchen.
Bellona, Lustra, and Ivory were huddled at one end of the long oak table, laughing and gossiping about the day's "training" session. Even Bellona looked relaxed, though she still sat with the posture of a soldier.
At the other end, Haruto and Toya sat side-by-side. Toya looked exhausted—his arms were still shaking from the fatigue—but his eyes were clear.
"Haruto," Toya said quietly, looking at his hands, which could finally rest without crushing anything. "Thank you."
Haruto leaned back, a smirk playing on his lips.
"For what? For letting Bellona use you as a punching bag for two hours?"
"No," Toya replied seriously.
"For making me powerful. For not giving up when my mana was literally melting the room. I feel... different. Stronger than I ever dreamed."
Before Haruto could respond with a witty comeback, a sharp, rhythmic KNOCK echoed from the main entrance. The sound was cold and professional, instantly cutting through the warm atmosphere of the dinner.
Asobi, who was floating near the ceiling with her cigarette pipe, narrowed her eyes.
"Boss, we have company at the gate. Do you know her?"
"Who is it?" Haruto asked, his internal 'Admin' starting to tingle.
Asobi snapped her fingers. A translucent mana-screen shimmered into existence in the middle of the dining room. The image flickered to life, revealing a woman standing at the front door.
It was Professor Elara.
She looked furious. Her arms were crossed, and her foot was tapping rhythmically against the stone step. Even through the screen, her presence felt like a weight. Professor Elara was a Level 40 elite, but level didn't tell the whole story—her mana control was so refined that she could take down opponents twice her rank. And more importantly, she still thought Toya was just a "struggling" student. She had no idea she was standing outside a house containing a Level 60 monster and a team of Goddesses.
The color drained from Toya's face. "The Professor?"
"Everyone, move!" Haruto hissed, jumping into action.
Haruto took a deep breath, smoothed out his shirt, and headed toward the door. He had dealt with glitches and goddesses, but an angry Professor? That was a boss fight he wasn't prepared for.
Haruto's heart was drumming against his ribs like a frantic bird. He opened the heavy front door just enough to poke his head out, plastering a shaky, high-pitched grin on his face.
"Professor Elara! What a... surprise! What brings the pride of the Academy to our humble doorstep?" Haruto chirped, his voice sweating as much as his forehead.
Elara didn't smile. She let out a long, weary sigh, her sharp eyes scanning Haruto from head to toe.
"Cut the act, Haruto. Neither you nor your team showed up for classes today. Absenteeism is a slippery slope to expulsion. Explain."
"Oh, that! Right, school!" Haruto laughed nervously, leaning against the doorframe to block her view.
"Toya had a... uh... sudden case of Flu. Real nasty stuff. Fever, chills, the whole bit. I've been playing nurse all day."
Elara's expression softened for a micro-second before hardening again.
"Flu? At his level, that's rare. Is he here? I should check on him. A teacher's responsibility doesn't end at the school gates."
"Here? No! No, no," Haruto stammered, waving his hands.
"I'm actually home alone right now. I sent him out with... uh... girls to get some fresh air. You know, nature is the best medicine!"
Elara squinted, her eyes turning into sharp daggers.
"Home alone? In a mansion this size? And you haven't even offered me a glass of water after I walked all this way?"
Haruto froze. He caught a glimpse of Asobi floating invisibly just behind the door. He made a frantic, tiny gesture with his hand. Asobi rolled her eyes, snapped her fingers silently, and a crystal-clear glass of water materialized out of thin air, perfectly hidden behind the door's edge.
Haruto grabbed it and held it out through the crack.
"Here! Freshly poured! Please, drink up, Professor."
Elara took the glass, sipping it slowly while staring at Haruto as if she were reading his soul's source code.
"Interesting. This is the first time I've visited a student's home and been treated like a door-to-door salesman. You have a massive estate, Haruto, yet you're keeping me on the porch like a stray cat."
The pressure was becoming unbearable. Haruto could feel the "Admin" alerts in his brain screaming S.O.S. He knew that if he kept her out, she'd get more suspicious, but if he let her in, she might run into a Goddes.
"You're right, Professor. How rude of me," Haruto said, his voice trembling as he stepped back and swung the door open.
"Please... come in. Just excuse the mess. The 'girls' are very untidy."
The air in the mansion was so thick with tension that Haruto felt like he was walking through knee-deep water. As Professor Elara stepped further into the foyer, her eyes darted around, taking in the impossible grandeur of the place.
"I've heard stories about this estate," Elara whispered, her voice echoing off the high ceilings. "They said it had been abandoned for decades... rumored to be haunted, even. But this... this place feels alive."
Haruto let out a shaky breath. "Because it is."
Elara stopped in her tracks. "Huh?"
Haruto's brain short-circuited for a second. "Huh? Oh! I mean... we keep it alive! With cleaning! You know, dusting, scrubbing... it's a living, breathing job to keep it this clean."
Elara let out a small, rare laugh, though her eyes remained sharp.
"You told me that girls were messy, Haruto. But this place is a hundred times larger and a thousand times cleaner than my own apartment. It's almost... unnatural."
Haruto led her into the main drawing room, hoping the plush chairs and the calming ambient mana would distract her. Elara sat down, visibly relaxing into the velvet upholstery, but her face suddenly turned grave. The "Teacher Mode" was back.
"Haruto," she said, leaning forward.
"Did anyone... anyone at Level 20 or higher approach you after the test yesterday?"
Haruto felt a cold drop of sweat slide down his neck.
"No, Professor. Why would a high-level hunter be looking for a guy like me?"
Elara hesitated, looking around the room before lowering her voice.
"Remember those badges I gave you before the exam? I told you they were artifacts, but I didn't tell you their true purpose. This is super-secret information, but given how shocking your case is, I'm breaking protocol."
She pulled out a small tablet, showing a graph of mana spikes.
"Those badges don't just track your location; they are Mana Recorders. They monitor if a student is being bullied or harmed by someone using excessive power. Most students are Level 5; our top student, Kaelen, is Level 8. But during your test yesterday, your badge registered a mana signature of Level 20—and then it spiked so high the artifact actually cracked. We lost the tracking data immediately after."
Haruto's mind flashed back to the test—to the moment he went into Beast Mode and the sheer power he felt before Lustra wiped everyone's memory. Crap, he thought. The artifact caught the spike before she could erase the evidence.
"I... I think there was a problem in the badge, Ma'am," Haruto said, trying to sound pathetic.
"You saw me. I couldn't even lift the practice sword properly!"
Elara stared at him, her eyes unblinking. "That's the other thing, Haruto. Our records show that when you checked into that old hotel last week, your level was 0. That is the level of a newborn baby. Even on the first day of the school you were level 1, but yesterday a few students reported, you showed them a HUD with level 3, the system updated. You jumped from Level 1 to Level 3 in a single night without passing through Level 2. That is biologically impossible."
She leaned in closer, her voice a sharp whisper. "Even our Chairman, Frederick, has heard your name now. He's interested in the student who lives in a haunted palace."
The air in the drawing room turned ice-cold. Professor Elara wasn't just a teacher anymore; she was an investigator who had caught a glitch in the system.
"Don't play dumb, Haruto," she said, her voice cutting like a blade.
"Chairman Frederick met you at the hotel. He watched you jump from Level 1 to Level 2 right in front of him. And now, Level 3? That's a miracle for a normal person, but for someone living in a mansion like this, it's a red flag."
She stood up, her Level 40 mana beginning to swirl around her like a silent storm.
"Do you even realize who Toya is? He's an elite from City Vulcan. In that city, kids are Level 3 by the time they are five years old. By your age, when normal citizens just get their grinding licenses, Vulcan elites are already Level 30 or 40. Our Chairman is from there—that's why he's a Level 72 monster. For Toya to join your team? That's not just a choice, it's a scandal."
Haruto wiped the sweat from his neck, trying to stay calm.
"Ma'am, I told you... it's just me and some cousins..."
"Enough!" Elara shouted, her voice echoing off the walls.
"How did you know it was me at the gate without opening it? Someone told you. And from here, I can see the dining table. It's set for a full team. I can smell the food, Haruto. It's fresh. It's hot. You were about to eat."
She turned toward the hallway, her eyes glowing. "EVERYONE OUT! NOW!"
Haruto felt his heart drop into his stomach. Game Over, he thought. If the Goddesses walk out, I'm going to have to explain why they are hiding . He scrambled to stand in front of her, waving his hands frantically.
"Wait, wait! Ma'am, I saw you from the window! That's how I knew! And the plates... I was just setting them so everything would be ready when my team got back. I'm just a very organized host, I swear!"
But Elara wasn't listening. She started walking toward the dining hall, her heels clicking ominously on the marble floor.
Professor Elara didn't flinch. Instead, she crossed her arms, her Level 40 mana simmering down into a calm but suffocating pressure. She looked less like an angry teacher and more like a lioness surveying her cub's messy room.
"Look, Haruto," she said, her voice dropping into a stern, motherly tone.
"Everyone has secrets. But as an adult, it's my job to guide you. Your parents aren't here. Toya's aren't here. And those three girls I sense in the kitchen? Theirs aren't here either. After the parents, the teacher is in charge. Tell them to come out. I can sense them clearly."
She sniffed the air, her eyes tracking a thin, swirling trail of purple mist near the ceiling.
"Especially this... this purple smoke. Humans can't use this smoke directly in their lungs like a normal cigarette and stay conscious. Even Elves can't handle this concentration. So, who is smoking in my student's house?"
Haruto turned around, sweating bullets. He knew he couldn't hide it anymore.
"Asobi... just come out. She's already figured us out."
The purple smoke began to thicken and spin, solidifying into a physical form. Asobi materialized, leaning against the air as if it were a solid wall, her long cigarette pipe still glowing.
"My deepest apologies, Miss," Asobi said, bowing with a lazy, elegant grace.
"I am Asobi. I serve Haruto as the Spirit of this manor. I was merely ensuring his... comfort."
Elara's eyes widened, but not with fear. She stepped forward, circling Asobi like she was inspecting a rare artifact in a museum.
"A High-Race Spirit? I knew ghosts and hauntings were just folklore, but a Spirit of this caliber is actually bound to a mansion... that explains why this place feels so alive and pristine."
Haruto was bracing for a scream, a lecture, or Elara running out to call the Chairman. He expected her to be terrified or at least shocked. Instead, a playful, amused smirk spread across her face. She looked like she was actually starting to enjoy the chaos.
"Well, well, Haruto," Elara teased, poking him in the chest.
"A Level 3 student with a High-Race Spirit servant and a City Vulcan elite hiding in his curtains? You're much more interesting than your grades suggest."
She turned back to the dining table, pulling out a chair and sitting down comfortably.
"Since the food smells this good and I've already broken protocol by coming here... I think I'll stay for dinner. Haruto, tell the 'girls' to stop hiding. If the food tastes like it smells, I might just forgive you for skipping class."
Haruto realized the situation had completely flipped. Professor Elara wasn't scared; she was in "investigation mode" but with a playful, dangerous edge. Since she had already spotted Asobi, there was no point in hiding the others.
"Alright, everyone... dinner's served. Come out," Haruto called out, trying to keep his voice steady.
Toya stepped out from behind the curtain, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. Behind him, Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona walked out of the kitchen. The room felt crowded instantly, the collective mana of three Goddesses and a Level 60 elite making the air hum.
Elara leaned back, her eyes sparkling as she scanned the group. "Oh, Toya... and you three. I've had my suspicions. You've been acting like a bodyguard to a Level 0 student, and now he's suddenly Level 3? And you, a City Vulcan elite, are following his lead? Tell me, Toya, what is Haruto's secret?"
Toya looked at Haruto, panicked. Haruto gave a microscopic shake of his head—don't say a word about the System or the Goddesses.
Elara stood up and walked over to Toya, circling him.
"And Toya... you look... different. You don't look like you have the 'Flu' at all. In fact, you look more fit than the entire school's athletic students."
Before Toya could stammer out an excuse, Bellona stepped forward with a boisterous laugh.
"Oh, he's fit alright! I just gave him a little 'physical therapy' session to clear out his system!"
To prove her point, Bellona raised her hand and delivered a massive, friendly-looking thwack to Toya's back.
BOOM.
The impact sounded like a cannon going off. The reinforced marble floor beneath Toya's feet instantly spider-webbed and cracked under the pressure. A faint puff of dust and steam rose from Toya's shirt when she hit him. Any normal human would have been folded in half, but Toya just stood there, vibrating from the force.
"See?" Bellona grinned, her eyes glinting.
"He's as sturdy as a mountain now! Right, Toya?"
Toya coughed, his face turning a bit pale as he tried to maintain his balance on the cracked floor. He looked at Haruto, then back at the Professor, and forced a smile.
"Yeah... she... she gave me some rest," Toya squeezed out, his voice a bit strained.
"I'm feeling much better. Haruto's team is... they're my family now. They look after me. I've decided to put my full trust in them."
Elara looked at the cracked floor, then at Bellona's "innocent" smile, and finally at Haruto. She didn't look angry—she looked impressed.