The supervisor went inside the prison, but he didn’t stay inside for very long. Before the group of transformed adults could figure out what to do—which honestly wasn’t unexpected because group decisions take an extremely long time—the supervisor came back out with Senior Fluffytail following behind him. Her head was hanging, and it was hard to discern the expression on her face. It was still easy to tell how she was feeling though judging from the way her tail dragged along the ground. I’ve seen many classmates walk that way after finding out they failed a test. Senior Fluffytail must feel as if she’s been defeated, and the only thing left for her to do is accept her punishment.

“Teacher Fluffytail!” Branchtrimmersson Three said, waving his front paw at Senior Fluffytail. Unfortunately, she was too lost in her own thoughts to hear him. “Hey! Are you alright?”

Trying to get her attention was pointless. Besides, what was Branchtrimmersson Three expecting? For her to say, “Yes, absolutely”? The other students chattered, calling out to Senior Fluffytail, but she was too focused on the ground in front of her. For some reason, it didn’t seem like she had given up yet. It was probably the faint wisps of steam coming off of her head, a result of thinking too hard. Since she’s part human, she can’t be a complete moron, right? A plan must be formulating inside that brain of hers; unfortunately, even I, a genius squirrel, don’t see a way for her to escape from the supervisor. Speaking of which, what’s the supervisor doing?

The supervisor floated into the air, and behind him, Senior Fluffytail twitched as her body flew up as well. The supervisor crossed his arms over his chest and looked down on the crowd of squirrels. “Alright, you lot,” he said and swept his gaze across the crowd. “You didn’t believe me when I told you this criminal was a meat smuggler. Will you believe me when she tells you it herself?”

“No,” a squirrel said. “You probably intimidated her into this! Even if she says she’s a meat smuggler, I won’t believe it.”

“Yeah! We know how you operate!”

“Shut up!” the supervisor said, his voice thundering through the crowd with the help of his spiritual energy. He glared at us with a dark expression. I could practically see black lines coming vertically down from his forehead. “If this criminal were innocent, then she wouldn’t have a problem swearing an oath to the heavens, but she won’t do it.”

“There’s no way that’s true!”

“If she’s not willing to swear to the heavens, that’s because you made her bribe you beforehand! Why don’t you swear to the heavens that you’ve never abused your position of power?”

The supervisor’s eye twitched, and he glared at the squirrel who had just spoken. “You claim I abuse my power?” he asked, his tail flicking back and forth. “Why don’t I show you what an abuse of power looks like?” He snorted, and dozens of cracking sounds rang out as the squirrel that had spoken was flattened against the ground by an invisible force. “Since none of you are willing to listen to reason, maybe you’ll listen to force!”

“Isn’t this bad?” Devourersdottir Three asked in a whisper. “Should we run away? What if he goes on a rampage and kills us?”

This is really strange. Why is the supervisor behaving this way? If the ruler finds out, the consequences won’t be good for him.

“I’m tired of having to act like a goddamn saint all the time,” the supervisor said and swept his right arm to the side. Squirrels screamed as part of the crowd was swept away, leaving an open space in the middle of the crowd. “When I say something, you don’t believe me. When I get proof, you still don’t believe me. Since that’s the case, why should I bother trying to convince any of you?” He swung his left hand down, and Senior Fluffytail let out a short shout as she was slammed into the empty space on the ground. “You wake me up for this nonsense, but none of you are capable of stringing two cohesive thoughts together. You’re so convinced that you’re right when it’s painfully obvious that you’re wrong. There’s a reason the ruler put me in charge and not any of you.”

The air crackled and distorted as a giant fist formed in the sky above the supervisor. I think he’s going to execute Senior Fluffytail right here in front of everyone. The supervisor stared down at Senior Fluffytail. “Any last words?”

Senior Fluffytail took in a deep breath, her expression hardening. “I swear to the heavens that I haven’t sold any meat to any squirrels in the immortal realm! I swear to the heavens that I’ve never intentionally bribed any squirrels with meat in the immortal realm!” Even though I was far away, I could tell she was squeezing her eyes shut. After a bit, she sat up and looked around as if she were surprised she hadn’t died.

“How about burning down the school?” Smithsson Seven asked. “Can you swear to the heavens on that too?”

Senior Fluffytail cleared her throat, pretending as if she hadn’t heard a thing. She stood up and looked at the supervisor, who now had a frown on his face. She pointed at the supervisor. “Now, it’s your turn! Swear an oath to the heavens that you didn’t falsely accuse me of a crime because you were jealous of me! Weren’t you the one that said not swearing an oath was the same as admitting guilt?”

“This is ridiculous,” the supervisor said and clenched his hand. The translucent fist in the sky punched down, cracking the air around it as it descended. It slammed into Senior Fluffytail, and like a nail struck by a hammer, her body instantly sank into the earth. “For intentionally trying to make a fool out of me, I’ll beat you to the edge of death. Don’t worry. Afterwards, I’ll punish myself with some community service.”

“I made you a supervisor, and this is how you behave?”

The supervisor froze, and his neck creaked as his head slowly tilted up towards the sky. “…Ruler?”

The ruler’s here? Did my letter work?