I stretch leisurely in the bed and enjoy the sensation of actually decent back support. A sleeping bag is all fine and dandy, but nothing beats a proper bed. The early dawn sunlight lazily illuminates the room from the window, leisurely seeping in through a gap between the curtains. I haven't felt so comfortable in a long time. Should I take a break? Yeah, I probably should just take things easy for a bit.

"Wake up." The Voice disapprovingly rasps in my ear, "When you asked me to bring you back to the Academy, I was under the impression it was not to laze about in the staff apartment."

"Relax." I shoot back while closing my eyes once more, "There's no point in getting up so early anyway. I'll get going once its working hours and class is in full swing."

"You told me that we would be dealing with the servant using a borrowed knife, Transmigrator." The Voice complains, "I see a distinct lack of knives and little opportunity to borrow them at an educational institute."

I curl up on my side as I give my explanation to The Voice, "Yeah. I sort of jumped the gun there. Before we go about borrowing a knife, we need to figure out who to stab. That's why I wanted to come to the Academy."

The Voice hums as it considers what I said, "Fair enough. Unfortunately, the Hero and the servant are to the best of my knowledge still at the hospital. None of the Heroines are at the Academy either. What good will your visit do?"

"There's someone you're forgetting." I point out while grumpily getting up from bed. Can't go back to sleep while fending off The Voice's questions. Might as well head for the shower.

"Who?" The Voice asks, genuinely puzzled.

"Delinquent. He's drifting away from the Hero now, but that was not always the case." I explain, "If there's anyone who can give us the lowdown on the Hero's contacts and possible identity of the servant, Delinquent's our man."

I step into the shower cubicle and turn on the hot water at full blast. Man, that feels good. The whole urban nomad lifestyle can eat shit as far as I'm concerned. Give me a nice house any day. And plenty of money to actually maintain the place. Can't forget that.

"Not a bad plan." The Voice says, "Unfortunately, there is a problem. Mr Matsui dislikes you Transmigrator, due to that event when you attacked his men on campus. He may not be willing to provide the information we seek."

"I know. That's why I want to go when class is in session." I answer while lathering my hair with shampoo, "He can't get away from me if he's sitting in class."

"Mr Matsui displays an inclination towards violence whenever he is cornered or made to feel uncomfortable." The Voice informs.

"Then I violence him back. Its not going to be a problem at Delinquent's power level. Though I personally don't think things will come to that." I shrug before adding, "Look, I like our chats, but you know ..."

"I know what?" The Voice rumbles, oblivious to what I am hinting at.

"You know you could give me some space?" I grumble, "Like I'm naked here, taking a shower. That's a prime definition of private time there."

The Voice laughs, "How is being naked considered private time? You are rather famous for your public displays of nudity after all."

"Just get out of here." I huff before returning to my shower.

.....

Its not the first time I've walked the grounds of Unity Academy, but it still amazes me how grandiose the place is. The neatly manicured gardens and the historical buildings really make the place a world apart from a regular school. School fees alone must cost the parents an arm and a leg. I breathe in the fresh air, the sharp cold driving away the last of my sleepiness. Instead of entering the building itself, I make a loop around the perimeter, heading towards the back of the campus.

"Why can't we just wait until classes start?" I complain, "Do we need to barge into the school assembly?"

"Stop being lazy. You just want to go back to sleep." The Voice rasps, "Mr Matsui is standing out in the open field with the rest of his class right now. There is nowhere for him to run. You can begin your mission without delaying any further."

"Right. Right." I nod as I approach the large field at the rear of the campus. The entire student body is assembled there in neat rows, listening to an old woman facing them while droning away on a microphone under the shade of the building. Something about excellence, blah, blah, blah. I'm not really interested in listening, left my school going days behind way back then. Flanking the old woman is a row of adults looking thoroughly bored at the deeply uninteresting speech the old woman is giving. The principal and the faculty then, would be my guess.

And that guess is confirmed when one particular member of the staff catches my eye. An attractive, curvaceous woman gasps at the sight of me and hurriedly leaves her place among the staff. She hustles towards me, intercepting me before I can reach the rows of students. Her hand reaches out and secures itself on my arm with a surprisingly strong grip.

"What the hell are you doing at the Academy?" the woman hisses.

"Nice to see you too, Alley." I remark, "You're putting makeup on again?"

"Get out of here." Alley snaps, "Haven't you done enough harm already?"

I shake Alley off and continue my way towards the students. Alley stumbles slightly but quickly settles into a comfortable walking pace by my side.

"Here to meet someone. Its not you by the way." I say, "Just need some answers from my man and I'll be gone."

And there he is. I spot Delinquent shifting side to side restlessly in the middle of the crowd of students. Who holds assembly outside during winter? Complete madness, is what it is. As crazy as three pregnant girls saving the world, but there you go. I begin pushing through the students as I home in on my target.

"The Matsui heir?" Alley pulls at me in panic, "Are you crazy? No!"

I ignore Alley and grab Delinquent without giving any warning before dragging him out from the crowd. Delinquent is too surprised to resist as first, but just as we are about to clear the mass of students, he begins to struggle. I send Delinquent a message in the form of twisting his arm hard and covering his mouth to stifle any protests. Delinquent flinches in pain, immediately shutting up and no longer resisting. A few students look at the two of us in alarm but Alley just waves away their concerns, telling them to pay attention to the brain damage the principal is spewing instead. I shift one of my hands to the top of Delinquent's head, forcing him to bend over as I guide him towards the parking area.

"Going to have a chat. That's all." I tell Delinquent, "So relax. Nothing's going to happen to you."

"Screw you." Delinquent sullenly replies, but doesn't bother to struggle.

"Look, I'm serious here." I console, releasing the arm lock over him, "See? Not going to hurt you. Just want to talk."

Delinquent straightens up and rubs his arm gingerly. "Talk?" he mutters, "What about?"

"Your friend. Tensei." I answer. Delinquent's face suddenly flushes and he lashes out with his fist, hitting me squarely in the cheek. Alley gasps in surprise in the background while I allow the artificial core to tank the damage.

"You done?" I ask with a flat look on my face, "Got it out of your system?"

Delinquent rubs his knuckles and shoots back, "Yeah. But why should I answer your questions?"

"Tensei and you are friends." I fire back, "Why are you here by yourself instead of doing friend stuff with him?"

"Tensei. Tensei. Its all about him." Delinquent curses, his hands bunched into fists, "Everybody just pays attention to him. You know how much that asshole cost me?"

"You want to talk about it?" I say, spreading my hands towards Delinquent in a conciliatory gesture.

Delinquent rolls his eyes but he calms down considerably, "I know what you're doing Gallant, don't think I'm stupid. But yeah, you're right. I do want to talk about it."

"OK!" Alley claps her hands behind us after breathing out an audible sigh of relief, "Ken, Gallant, let's have this conversation in my office. Its more private there."

But Delinquent holds up his palm, cutting Alley off. "I'm not going to answer any questions of yours though." he says, "I talk about the stuff I want to talk about. We clear?"

I just give Delinquent a thumbs up as the three of us head back towards the main building.

"Surprised to see me still here?" Alley asks out of the blue as our small group meanders through the rows of trees lining the path to the school itself.

"No?" I reply, "ORPO had no evidence to charge you with. I'm more surprised at your cheek in confronting me just now."

Alley makes an annoyed sound and gives me a disgusted look, "After all the trouble you caused for me, be thankful I am even bothering to talk to you."

"I know you tried to sell me down the river when you were in remand." I smirk.

Alley's face goes white as a sheet. "How?" she breathes.

Delinquent gives a rather indifferent explanation, "Gallant works for ORPO. That's why he's walking about in broad daylight. He's not scared of being arrested."

"Works with, not works for." I grumble to which I only receive a disinterested grunt from Delinquent. But our third companion yields a more interesting reaction. I break into laughter at the aghast look on Alley's face. She's probably thinking of how screwed she is right now with me and her secret blackmailer knowing that she tried and failed to snitch on us.

"Its nice to catch up every once in a while, isn't it?" I manage to squeeze out between giggles.

Alley looks down despondently as she mutters, "No."

"It really isn't at all."