Senior Fluffytail was taken away by the supervisor. That was my first time seeing him in person, and honestly, he didn’t seem that impressive. Yes, he was strong enough to intimidate everyone with his spiritual energy, but he’s also extremely old. Any squirrel that could reach his age would probably be as strong as him. Since every squirrel has almost the same physical potential, a squirrel’s true value is determined by their intelligence, and the supervisor doesn’t seem that smart to me. I’m not saying this just because I’m not strong yet, but I look down on anyone who has to resort to force to win an argument. The supervisor didn’t have any proof, yet he declared Senior Fluffytail guilty, and even if he was most likely right, his actions leave a bad taste in my mouth. And I’m not the only one that feels that way.

“We have to do something to help Teacher Fluffytail,” Devourersdottir Three said. “Her cooking tastes so much better than glue; I haven’t had enough of it yet.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t agree with a glue eater, but I agree,” Nobleheartsson Two said. “My mom is an elder, and I get to eat meat every other day, but Teacher Fluffytail’s cooking was better than anything I’ve ever had before. I was looking forward to eating it today too, but that stupid supervisor doesn’t care about due process!”

“I thought you’d be on the supervisor’s side,” Branchtrimmersson Three said. “Aren’t you more like him than us?”

Nobleheartsson Two snorted. “If he can take away Teacher Fluffytail without evidence, then he can take away my mother or father without evidence. This isn’t a matter of social standing. Corruption from above affects every one of us.”

“But your mom won’t do anything to help Teacher Fluffytail, isn’t that right?” Smithsson Seven asked. “She has too much to lose.”

Nobleheartsson Two shrugged. “That’s why we’re the ones that have to do something about it.”

For a really annoying individual, Nobleheartsson Two sure does have a sense of justice. Well, his father isn’t called Noble Heart for nothing. Even if he’ll ignore Senior Fluffytail’s plight, it’ll be because of his trust in the supervisor and not because he’s a bad person. “What can we do to help her?”

“We can protest,” Devourersdottir Three said. “There’s no school right now because it burned down, so we can get all our classmates and teachers to come together. They tasted Teacher Fluffytail’s cooking too. I’m sure we can use that to our advantage when recruiting them.”

Smithsson Seven frowned. “But we’re too weak. Even if we confront the supervisor, he can beat us all by himself. He’s almost a transcendent beast!”

“I have an idea,” Branchtrimmersson Three said, his eyes lighting up. “What if we snitch on him to the ruler? We can’t beat him, but the ruler can! If we tell her that the supervisor is executing people without due process, won’t she come down and teach him a lesson?”

“Will that work?” Devourersdottir Three asked, turning towards Nobleheartsson Two. “Your family must have some way of contacting the ruler, right?”

“My mom can, but she’s away on a trip,” Nobleheartsson Two said. “Teacher Fluffytail’s execution is in three days, and I don’t know if she’ll be back before then.”

I have an idea. “Why don’t we burn down the mountain range? If we make a really large mess, then the ruler will be forced to investigate the supervisor’s incompetence.”

My classmates fell silent and exchanged glances with each other. Their eyes lit up, and crooked smiles appeared on their faces. “That’s a great idea,” Devourersdottir Three said. “But there’s one problem. If we burn down our houses, we’ll have nowhere to live.”

“We can burn down the neighboring tribe’s mountain range,” Smithsson Seven said. “That’ll be even better. The ruler will definitely pay attention to a war between two tribes!”

“You stupid idiots,” a voice said from above, causing all of us to flinch. Our teacher dropped down onto the small branch the five of us were sitting on. “Are you really the bright students I raised? If anyone hears you plotting to start a war with a neighboring tribe, I’ll be the one that’s blamed for teaching you incorrectly.”

“T-Teacher,” Devourersdottir Three said and took a step back. “What are you doing here?”

“This is a public park,” the teacher said, his expression darkening. “Aren’t I allowed to be here?” He looked at us, and my classmates hung their heads upon making eye contact with him. Of course, I didn’t want to stand out, so I copied their actions. “Teacher Fluffytail’s cooking must’ve been that good, huh? I imagine it tasted even better for the five of you since you’re so young. You must’ve never had anything like it before.” The teacher let out a sigh, and he stared up at the sky. “It wasn’t that long ago, but even I can’t help but reminisce about that taste….”

The teacher’s expression is a bit odd…. “By any chance, are you here to help us free Teacher Fluffytail?”

The teacher scratched his chin. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything. I only came over because I heard you wanted to burn down the neighboring tribe.”

A squirrel peeked his head out from under the branch we were on. “We’re burning down the neighboring tribe?” What was the custodian doing here? No, I suppose lots of people have free time now that the school burned down. As for why they didn’t return home, I imagine their reasons are similar to mine and the rest of my classmates’. There’s something unsavory at home waiting for them, so they’re putting off returning for as long as possible.

“No, we’re not burning anything down,” the teacher said and scowled.

“That’s a shame,” a feminine voice said. “It would’ve been a good learning experience.” The principal was also hanging onto the branch we were sitting on, and evidently, she also couldn’t help but overhear our conversation. How many squirrels are in this park anyway? I looked over the edge of the branch and got my answer. A lot. There were a lot of squirrels hanging around here, and I recognized most of them as people who had a taste of Senior Fluffytail’s cooking.