The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16
An earsplitting boom tore through the air.
Henry moved with practiced urgency, positioning himself in front of Rachel in a defensive stance.
“Yelp!”
“Miss!”
Colo burst into the Headmaster’s Office. The ends of his hair were singed, and black smoke rolled in behind him.
There was a fire.
Rachel understood at once, by pure instinct.
“Miss, you must evacuate immediately!”
When Henry grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her from the office, Rachel wrenched her hand free.
“The children—where are the children?!”
If the school was burning, she couldn’t simply save herself. This Mansion was a Knight Academy with seven children in it.
“Get the children out first! Now!”
With that cry, Rachel bolted from the office and ran frantically down the Corridor. Colo and Henry followed close behind.
The children couldn’t be hurt. Not under any circumstances.
Rachel raced up to the Third Floor and threw open the first door—Noah’s room.
“Noah! Out, now!”
Roused by the commotion, Noah blinked himself awake and stumbled up; she grabbed his hand and pulled him straight into the next room.
“Mare!”
She kicked the door open and called out. Mare was sitting dazed on the bed. Rachel seized Mare’s hand with her other palm and rushed them both out.
Looking down the smoke-filled Corridor, she noticed all the other children’s doors were already open.
Colo and Henry must have gathered the rest and gotten them downstairs.
Rachel ran toward the Stairs, clutching Mare and Noah’s hands in both of hers.
The smoke grew thicker, blurring her vision. Her eyes burned. Tears streamed uncontrollably, and her legs felt weak.
Mare and Noah’s faces, held in Rachel’s grasp as they descended, were rigid with fear.
“Don’t you dare let go of me—do you understand?!”
The children couldn’t answer, only clung to her hands.
On the first floor, Colo and Henry were ushering the children out of the Mansion. Roka, Eckard, and Chase. All three looked unharmed.
After shepherding all the children outside, Rachel spun toward Colo and shouted.
“Where are Kana and Theo?!”
Seven students total. No matter how she searched the group, two were missing.
Rachel felt all the blood drain from her body. They weren’t in their rooms?
“Both were absent from their quarters. Perhaps—”
Colo’s voice came tight and hurried. Before he could finish, Rachel was already sprinting back up the Stairs.
“Miss!”
Henry shouted after her, but Rachel didn’t slow, pulling her sleeves over her nose and mouth as she ran.
“Kana!!! Theo!!!”
She screamed madly, hoping perhaps they’d hidden in another room, waiting for her in their terror.
“Please answer me! Children!!!”
Smoke choked her throat; breathing was nearly impossible. Tears poured without cease, obscuring everything before her eyes.
Rachel climbed the Stairs coughing, her head pounding, each step a struggle.
“T-teacher….”
As she reached the Third Floor, a thin voice came from somewhere. But the smoke was too thick to see where it came from.
Rachel felt her way along the wall of the Corridor, and suddenly her hand caught something that blazed with brilliant light—the wall itself lit up in a single radiant line, like a runway.
Rachel didn’t stop to wonder what she’d done, only used that light as a guide, dragging her heavy steps forward.
“Children… you’re…”
Kana and Theo came into view—trembling, locked in each other’s arms. The moment she saw them, Rachel moved to them and grabbed their hands.
“Do you trust me?”
Even as tears streamed down her face, both children nodded.
“Don’t let go of my hands. Follow me exactly.”
Rachel pulled them to their feet and ran toward the Stairs. The children stumbled after her as fast as they could.
“Miss!”
As she descended toward the second floor, Henry and Colo appeared. They’d followed her up.
While Henry hoisted Theo and Kana onto his shoulders, Colo supported Rachel. With the strength of his years, he pulled her forward easily.
It was a desperate flight.
The moment they escaped the Mansion, relief—beyond price—flooded through them all.
“We’re all out, aren’t we?”
Collapsed on the Courtyard ground, gasping for breath, Rachel looked up and asked. Her legs still trembled. Beside her, Colo and Henry—both breathing hard—confirmed the headcount and nodded.
“Thank heavens….”
Rachel smiled faintly through the haze of relief.
And that was the last thing she remembered.
* * *
When consciousness returned, she found herself on a bed. Rachel forced open her eyelids, which felt as though they’d been glued shut.
“Are you alright, Miss?”
“Colo…?”
“Yes, it is I, Miss.”
Tears welled in his weathered eyes. She could feel how much he had worried during the time she lay unconscious, unable to open her eyes.
“I shall fetch the Doctor.”
Henry’s firm voice sounded from behind her, followed by the sound of him leaving the room. Rachel blinked her dry eyes repeatedly.
“The children…?”
“All safe and sound.”
A breath of relief escaped her at those words.
Soon the Doctor entered the room, checked her condition thoroughly, and after confirming there were fortunately no serious issues, departed.
……
A long silence fell. Rachel struggled to arrange her thoughts about what to ask first. There was more than one thing she needed to know.
“You will likely have questions, Miss. Allow me to explain first.”
Henry broke the silence. He drew a deep breath before speaking.
“I believe you are aware that Kana had been working on various inventions.”
How could she not know? There had been no end of trouble because of it.
“Kana intended to create an Eternal Firecracker, it seems. Theo procured a Magic Stone for that purpose.”
“A Magic Stone…?”
“Yes. One that the Imperial Palace itself uses.”
The situation became clear enough.
One of Kana’s strange inventions had caught fire, and when combined with the power of the Magic Stone, it had sparked a large conflagration.
“Fortunately, despite the heavy smoke, the flames were not severe, and the Mansion’s losses are minimal.”
“That’s a relief…”
“However, everyone has been deeply concerned because you remained unconscious for four days.”
“Four days?”
She had thought she’d slept fairly deeply, but it seemed she’d slept far longer than she realized. At her wide-eyed surprise, Colo turned away to wipe his tears.
“I thought something terrible had happened to you, Miss.”
His voice was thick with moisture. Rachel raised her heavy arm and grasped Colo’s hand tightly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Going forward, you must not act so recklessly alone. Please entrust dangerous matters to us.”
“Reckless…?”
Her actions had indeed been reckless. Yet Rachel did not regret what she had done. Even if she could return to the past, she would act the same way. If it meant saving the children.
“Theo and Kana have been waiting for nothing but your awakening. I have already administered sufficient discipline to them both.”
Henry approached the door and grasped the handle. The two children must be waiting on the other side.
Rachel managed the brightest smile she could. She did not want to show the children a tearful face.
The door opened, and Kana and Theo appeared. Both children were visibly tense.
“Why are our friends so nervous?”
Rachel spoke playfully. At that, Kana burst into tears. Colo quietly rose from his chair and stepped away.
“T-Teacher…?”
Kana rushed to Rachel and gripped her hand firmly.
“Kana, you’re not hurt anywhere?”
“Teacher is… *sob*… the one who’s… hurt the most.”
Kana seemed to have suffered considerable shock from the incident. Tears dripped onto the back of her hand that Rachel held, tears that squeezed so tightly they ached.
“I… I just…”
Kana couldn’t form proper words and could only weep. Rachel gently stroked her back in soothing circles.
*Sob…*
“What you did wrong, you have surely already heard fully from Henry. But I have something different to say to you.”
Rachel looked between Kana and Theo in turn.
“Life holds all manner of things, both great and small. But you must never do anything that puts someone else in danger. Never.”
“Yes…”
“You understand, don’t you, Theo?”
Rachel asked the question toward Theo. Then, having hesitated until now, he spoke at last.
“I… might I have a moment alone with you, Teacher?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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