Amau Ako was at a loss.

As the Senior Administrator of Gehenna's Prefect team, it was her job to collect and study any information that she gets a hold of, in the off-chance that it would threaten Gehenna Academy. She had also taken it upon herself to lighten the load on President Hina as much as possible by resolving any problem and removing threats before it reaches her ears.

And right now, she wasn't sure if she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do that before President Hina wrapped up her business on Trinity as she was watching footage of Sensei's fight shortly after his arrival in Kivotos on her tablet. In front of her were Hinomiya Chinatsu and Shiromi Iori, the team's medic and sniper respectively.

"What…" She muttered as she placed a hand on her temple, feeling the rush of a headache. "What kind of monster stepped foot in Kivotos…?"

"Senior Administrator, aren't you overreacting?" Chinatsu asked as she stepped forward. "Sensei isn't the kind of person you think he is."

"What kind of person would traumatize students AND strip them naked?!" Iori exclaimed. "A pervert! That's what!"

"Th-This is a misunderstanding! Sensei is not that kind of person! I think." It hadn't been long since Chinatsu got to know Sensei, hence the hesitation.

"There is no misunderstanding, Chinatsu," Ako said as she lowered her tablet. "What is clear is that Sensei is a threat to Gehenna—No, to Kivotos."

Shortly after that, they received word of Sensei's arrival in Gehenna via car. Then he was spotted talking to Ibuki, a member of Pandemonium Society.

"And now he's colluding with those fools from the Society!" Ako started massaging her forehead.

"But this is Ibuki we're talking about here. She could just be—" Chinatsu tried to refute their words once more, but it fell on deaf ears.

"No buts!" Ako interrupted her. "Mobilize the Prefect team to capture Sensei. And make sure that President Hina does not hear a word of this."

The only one who could possibly stop the Senior Administrator would be President Hina herself, but she had been expressly forbidden from contacting the Head Prefect out of concern for her already busy schedule.

I'm really, really sorry about this, Sensei, Chinatsu thought.

…

…

…

A few hours earlier…

"Wow…!" Ibuki looked on in fascination as Sensei was hosting an impromptu magic show while making use of his abilities. He was making it seem that he was pulling things out of the hat, like playing cards, a handkerchief, and even a toy sword or two at times.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it, Ibuki," Sensei said.

Entertaining a child with his spells was not quite what he had in mind when he first started learning his craft due to the need for secrecy. But in a place like Kivotos where Mystic is out in the open, there was not as much need to hide his own abilities.

"Wow! Show me some more tricks, Sensei!"

"Alright."

So how did he find himself in this situation? He thought about the preceding events that led to his meeting with Ibuki.

…

…

…

Sensei had not visited Gehenna, the last of the three major schools, until now due to prior commitments, such as helping SRT and Abydos with their school's problems, drafting a proposal to the GSC to formalize the plan for the opening of the restaurant, and helping with the GDD with the creation of their new game.

He visited Trinity a while back to have some modifications done to his uniform to include a hidden holster so he could place his gun, as Trinity's Tailoring club was recommended to him by Hasumi during one of her visits to SCHALE.

But it was only now that he had some time to visit Gehenna. He was a little curious as to what kind of school Chinatsu, Problem Solver 68, and the GRS's school was. At the very least, he could tell that it was never boring there if the personalities of the Gehenna students he personally knew were like.

He had heard some not-so-pleasant things about the school from Hasumi, but it was clear to him that she had her own biases regarding their rival school. He decided to see the school for himself before making any conclusions.

"Still…" Sensei muttered as he looked at the massive district with a volcano in the distance while behind the steering wheel. "Freedom and Chaos, huh…"

That was indeed a recipe for disaster. Even now he was still hearing the occasional gunfire and explosions. But he had learned early on that this was a normal day for Kivotos if the students and citizens walking on the sidewalk that he passed by were of any indication.

On one hand, he was still having trouble reconciling with the fact that violence was all too common in the city. On the other hand, Kivotos' brand of violence is treated as everyday arguments between students. Add in the fact that no one truly gets hurt, that deaths outside of old age were basically unheard of. Even Sensei, with his strong desire to help, had to rethink if he was truly helping, or if he was just meddling with the lives of his students.

So he decided on a wait-and-see approach. If his students come asking for his help, he would drop everything to come running their way to help them resolve it. Otherwise he would remain vigilant for any signs of trouble, and mediate if needed.

Seeing a child wearing an oversized coat crying by the side of the road was definitely one of those cases where he should step in, so Sensei quickly parked his SCHALE-issued car and got out to help who he assumed to be a lost child.

The child was walking in circles, and was constantly crying out a person's name.

"Iroha! Where are you?" The child cried out as she was rubbing her eyes

"Hey, are you lost?" Sensei asked.

"I…Iroha told me not to talk to strangers."

What to do… Sensei thought as he introduced himself.

"You're the…Sensei from SCHALE?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then have you seen Iroha?"

"Unfortunately, I haven't met her yet."

Uh-oh, it looks like she's about to cry again. Quick, do something, me! Sensei said the first thing that came to his mind. "Did you know that I'm also a mage?"

Of all the things I could have said, why that?!

"A…mage?" At least he had her attention for now. "You can do magic tricks?"

"Y-Yes I can. And a few more things," he said as he reached into his back, muttering something before bringing back his hand that now carried a handkerchief. "First, let's wipe your tears away, okay?"

"Mhmmm…" the girl muttered. "Did you create this from magic?"

"That's right."

"Wow…" The girl was awed.

She later told him that her name was Ibuki, and that she got lost while walking around the city with Iroha.

Due to the way he introduced himself to her, he had to keep Ibuki entertained by using the meager abilities he honed through many battles in ways he hadn't thought of before.

…

…

…

It really is odd, using my spells like this, Sensei thought. Normally I would clear up her misconceptions and tell her that my brand of magic—Mystic is dangerous but…

His eyes wandered to the halo found floating above her head.

Perhaps there's no need. Ibuki does not need to learn such a dangerous craft when she already has one herself, Sensei decided, before chuckling inwardly. I wonder if this was what the old man thought when I kept pestering him to teach me his craft.

"Teach me how to do what you're doing, Sensei!"

Damn, I really should learn not to tempt fate.

"I…Ibuki, the way I'm using my…Mystic is unique to myself," Sensei said, telling a half-truth. While it is true that he had a variation of the spell unique to himself, what he's currently using was the more basic version that any self-respecting spell user back home would know. "But I'm sure that you'll be able to use magic of your own too, should you learn about your own brand of Mystic."

"Then teach me how to do that, Sensei!" Ibuki pleaded.

He knew he had to turn her down as he didn't know the first thing about Kivotos' Mystic and thus wasn't qualified to teach it, but when confronted by this level of cuteness, all he could do was nod.

"But please give Sensei some time," he said. He had to start learning about Mystic as soon as possible. He was not about to subject Ibuki to the same mistake he did for most of his teenage years because his old man turned out to be a lousy teacher, especially when he's a teacher himself now!

"Are you busy, Sensei?" Ibuki asked.

"Something like that." Sensei gave a forced smile. The reason he was in Gehenna in the first place was because he wasn't busy for once.

"Okay!" But sweet little Ibuki believed his word all the same. "That's a promise, Sensei!"

"Yes, I promise."