Although we say they are old friends, in reality, they are very familiar individuals.

With Aliyah and Oyado in tow, we made our way through the residential area and soon found ourselves in a secluded corner where Fran had shown me the secret base before.

"I should say it's more like a haunted house," remarked Aliyah at first glance.

"Are you bringing us here to do something naughty? You pervert," she teased.

"You have quite the imagination. Just look at me, so upright," I said with an innocent expression.

"Alright, alright. So, what's in this place? Old friends? Former lovers?"

"Oh, come on. How could an upright person like me have former lovers? Okay, let's stop messing around and go inside."

Pushing open the door of the haunted house...I mean, Fran's secret base, we walked straight in, passing through what looked like a ruined living room and entering Fran's underground base through the door to the basement.

Well, Fran is indeed an old friend of ours, but actually, I was referring to someone else.

Opening the door to the basement, sure enough, besides Fran, another familiar figure was inside.

"Hey, Ona, feel good skipping class?"

Yes, the person inside Fran's basement at this moment was the girl I had a brief encounter with before, Fran's sister, Honoka in Ellen, the spy planted in the Empire - Ona Honoka.

Just like Fran, she had changed her last name as well, and now she should be called Ona Fran as well.

I mean, even if you want to change your name, why change it to something that sounds so similar? Where's the fun in that?

But what's even scarier is the issue of her identity at the moment.

Yes, you wouldn't understand the expression on my face when I saw this person's name on the class list, so I specifically asked Fran about it and found out she was also here.

Even though she had been absent from class for months.

"Oh, isn't this Fir who almost never does missions? What's up? You actually had time to come by today?"

Ona still had the same weird attitude as before, but that was fine. I smiled and said, "Of course, I came to see my student who's been absent from class for months."

Upon hearing this, Ona paused for a moment, pointed at Fran with a finger, and when she went to point again, she realized that Fran was actually pointing at herself at that moment.

"Me?"

Ona's face turned pale all of a sudden.

"How could... I don't need you to be my teacher..."

Even though she said this with a proud expression, her face betrayed her.

Fran, who was next to her, had been suppressing his laughter the whole time. Although she was his own sister, he was still very amused by the situation.

Especially after we told her about our experience in the demon world before, of course, we slightly altered the story, saying that I was abducted to the abyss and that Aliyah and the others came to rescue me.

Most importantly, when she heard that we had returned, Yabber and the others had only been inside for half an hour, she was so thrilled as if she had hit the jackpot.

Well, at least Yabber is also your friend. Is it okay to laugh like that?

But later, when I asked her to help find Ona, she immediately agreed, and most likely the reason was just to witness the scene unfolding now.

Thinking of it this way, Fran's personality really is quite terrible. But all in all, we did get the result we wanted by bringing Ona back.

"Sister, why did you set me up!"

"How did I set you up? Your mission was clearly to protect the princess and engage in cultural exchange. Instead, you ended up fighting orcs in the fractured mountain range. What's wrong with bringing you back?"

Fran said with an iron-hearted expression.

True, Ona is technically a member of the Ais Empire military, meeting all the criteria for a soldier except for one... she's too young. So, after a series of boring processes, this dark mage girl from the military was sent to study at this academy. Of course, this also had to do with Princess Cher, whose other task was to protect her.

"But she's supposed to be my teacher? I refuse to acknowledge that."

"As if I wanted you as a student."

I looked disdainful.

"I have Aliyah to be the lolita teacher, Oyado to be the lolita student. I don't need you."

Before I could finish, Aliyah’s fist landed on my waist, but after years of fighting, I was immune to such attacks by now. Not that my body had become tougher, but I could create miniature ice shields in the spot of an incoming attack before it hit at close range.

"Can you stop saying weird things without a filter?"

Aliyah said with a slightly red cheek.

"Just trying to lighten the mood... Anyway, that's the story. It took some time, but at least I managed to bring you back to class... By the way, do you have any clues about the other person who left the academy to train like you did?"

I showed her the class roster.

"Her name seems to be... Kenilia Kirk... The descendant of the Sword Saint."

"That guy..."

Ona shrugged.

"He rarely comes to school, never talks to anyone, acts like the whole world owes him money."

"Yeah, full-blown chuunibyou. Probably has something to do with the Sword Saint, but the records say he's dead. Well, we'll ask the informant later."

"Hey, I don't acknowledge you as my teacher, okay?"

Ona said very defiantly.

"Fine, fine, you're in your rebellious phase. But I think you'll change this view soon enough."

"What? Where's this confidence coming from?"

"Because by doing so... we might even stumble upon the treasure of the dragon race."

When dealing with kids, you've got to use candy.