“Talia!” Ellen’s excited voice was heard when she stood up. Now that she knew her name, she could stop calling Talia ‘kind big sister’. She walked up to her seat. When she saw Sanya, she lightly opened her eyes as she just remembered something.

“You are the other big sister from yesterday, right?” Sanya smiled a bit wryly. It seemed like Ellen only just noticed her presence. Well, Talia’s impression was a lot stronger so, it could not be helped. Nonetheless, Sanya replied.

“Yes, my name is Sanya Cliff.”

“Sanya.” Ellen repeated the name once to remember it, then nodded. Suddenly, Zesty timidly approached from the side. She wanted to spend the break with Sanya and Talia, but Ellen’s presence made her quite shy. However, she gathered her courage. She was fidgeting with her bangs covering her eyes.

“H-Hum, nice to meet you. My name is Zesty Rösler…W-What is it?” Zesty wanted to talk to Ellen, but the little girl’s disbelieving eyes were stuck on the timid girl’s chest. She then touched her own chest in dejection.

“...I’m still growing. One day, I will also be like this BIG big sister.”

Talia and Sanya, who were on the side had a wry smile. Seeing the clueless girl that had certain parts of her body nicely developed, they could only salute their younger comrade’s bravery to challenge this.

“Anyways, why are you here? Aren’t you a bit too young to high school?”

Ellen chuckled and sat on top of Talia’s desk before flapping her legs in the air. She began to talk in a childish, yet mature way, unbefitting for her age. “I don’t need to go to school. I earn enough money from my work as a researcher for a living. But it has been boring recently, so I thought it would be funny to spend some time at your school. Is it not fine?”

Talia frowned internally when she heard those words. ‘From the way she is saying this, she is independent. What happened to her parents?’

However, she didn’t say her question out loud. There were surely reasons behind this. Finally, she just grinned. “No, it’s fine.”

--------------------------------------

The morning passed quickly. Talia, Sanya, Zesty, and Ellen were walking toward the cafeteria.

Talia’s eyes turned toward the windows, making her slightly change her expression. She then turned back before speaking. “Sorry, I have to go to the toilet. Go ahead, I will catch you up.”

The three other girls nodded, leaving Talia behind. Less than a minute later, Ellen stopped in her tracks. She turned to look behind her with a surprised face. Sanya, who noticed her, asked. “What is it?”

Ellen didn’t immediately answer. She muttered under her breath. “...Really, kind big sister is mysterious.”

‘Talia..?' Sanya understood that Ellen was talking about her girlfriend. She also turned in the direction Ellen was facing. The other students were also making their way in order to have lunch. There was nothing special in the scene. Talia was also nowhere to be seen.

When Sanya was about to ask for more details-”No, it’s nothing. Let’s go!”

Ellen rotated once and started to walk away with a big smile on her face. Sanya and Zesty were looking at each other, wondering what happened. Sanya just shrugged her shoulders. ‘I can always ask Talia about it later.’

Inside the headmaster’s office.

A blue light flashed. After a second, the light faded and Talia appeared from it. Her eyes looked over the room. There was Yui sitting at the desk with black framed glasses on. She had a pen in her hand and a pile of paper in the other. She seemed to be doing paperwork. However, for now she was gasping with her eyes wide open in Talia’s direction.

Talia then looked at the man standing just beside her. He also had some paper in his hands and looked more like Yui’s assistant than anything. But, he still had his smiling poker face despite the fact that Talia magically teleported. Talia opened her mouth with an expressionless face. “I saw you standing and staring at me in the hallway. You seemed like you wanted to talk, right? What is it?

Yui turned toward Garcia with a tilted head, however he responded by looking at her. “Headmaster, you should have something to give her, don’t you?

“Ah!” Yui hit her fist in her open palm as she just remembered something. She stood up and retrieved some sort of card from her drawer before approaching Talia. She took it from her and looked from several angles. The card had her photo and personal information on it. But, there were some codes and numbers that she didn’t know the meaning of.

She looked up at Yui waiting for an explanation. Yui closed her eyes and talked like she was reciting something. “Mmmh, this card is the thing that you had requested. This grants you some immunities and rights. Such as not being detainable or even the right to step into a crime scene. However, do try to not overuse it as we will know each time it has been used. That’s it.”

Talia nodded and flicked her hand once making the card disappear in her earing. ”Got it. Before going, I have a question. Why are you here?”

Suddenly, Yui’s mood seemed to have dropped as her shoulders lowered. She muttered in a low-spirited voice. “...When I went to work yesterday, My superior told me that I had a promotion. But, I know him! He had the same expression when he told me to accompany the captain of the 9th special unit. Before I knew it, I was learning the work of headmaster. Well, at least I have a good coworker who already knows the job.”

The two females turned their attention toward Garcia who was standing still with a smile since the beginning of the conversation. Talia was surprised by Yui’s last remark. “I was wondering, but just who are you? You seem to know who I really am, so you should not be your everyday member of the Educational Department, right?”

Garcia's smile deepened. “Haha, I wonder. Just think of me as someone that love kids, especially high school girls. However, don’t worry. I know my stuff when it comes to how to lead a school.”

""..."" Talia and Yui were looking at him with a deadpan face. They truly didn’t expect this answer coming from a man so calm.

Talia sighed and turned to leave. “As long as you don’t try funny things, I don’t really care.”

“Please wait, Ms.Chevalier.” Garcia stopped her in a calm voice. Talia looked at him sideways.

“Today, I also wanted to talk about something more. You have surely heard about the incoming school tournaments.” Talia lightly frowned in response, while Yui was acting like she was not aware of Garcia's intent.

“During those events, selected students from schools will compete to earn a certain amount of points. The schools with the highest amounts will get prizes and their reputation will skyrocket.” Garcia stopped there, letting Talia reply. She thought for a moment before speaking.

“...Are you implying that you want me to participate? If that’s the case, then I decline. I’m neither interested nor want to spend time doing this. I don’t want to bully children.” Talia was once again about to leave, when-

“I am friend with the CEO of the SugarlyKiss company.” Talia immediately stopped, her steps frozen. This brought a grin to Garcia's face.

“You might already know, but they practically have the leadership over Pacifica in the field of pastries and other sweets. I don’t mind giving a phone call to see if there will allow a visitor or two in one of their factories. A sweet company would be a nice activity for a date, don’t you think?” Talia remained silent for a moment before turning around. Her face was blank, but one could stars flashing in the depth of her eyes.

“How many?”

“Yes?”

“How many events would I have to take part in?” Yui’s jaw dropped in shock by the sight. The all mighty, almost god-like girl had her mind changed only after a few sentences. Garcia still had his grin on his foxy face.

“Don’t worry. Just one. The final event, the battle tournament. From what we found in the office, the last headmaster planned to make Sarah Johnson do it.”

“But, as she is now injured, this will not be possible, right?” Talia crossed her arms.

Garcia nodded. “That is correct. Also, her case is still on hold. In this era, discrimination against ability-less users is a big deal. She might be expelled. However, this doesn’t solve the problem of the last event. We have students that are good in the others, but none of them have a battle-oriented ability. As the ones entering the tournament has to have an ability, a fake identity and a disguise will be given to you.”

“So, you want me to do it because you know that I can easily win while still controlling my strength to kill nobody.”

“Exactly.” Talia seemed to think about something. Suddenly, she held one finger up in front of her.

“I will do it on one condition. The visit to the factory has to be a throughout one.” Garcia approached her and held his hand forward.

“Deal.” Talia took his hand and shook it. “Deal.”

They both had a smile concealing their true intents. After a second, they separated. Blue particles were floating around Talia. The next moment, she was nowhere to be seen.

“...What just happened?” Yui had been on the side the whole time. She had stayed quiet because she had been afraid of disturbing. However, she now could not contain her question.

Garcia still had his smile on his face. “Negotiation, Ms. Haruka. Negotiation”

When Talia joined the other girls in the cafeteria, she was smiling in Sanya’s direction for some reasons. When Sanya asked her, she answered with a thin smile. “It’s a secret.”