Chapter 65

——What a shock!

Levi stood on the open ground in front of the venue, emitting a sorrowful sigh.

In the deep night, the lighting equipment brought by the fans looked like fireflies, surrounding the huge dome-shaped building in the center. Countless tents filled the vast square, and the people inside had to navigate through a maze like the one leading to the demon king's lair in an RPG just to get to the nearby public toilets.

However, even if one managed to navigate the maze unscathed, that didn't mean the ordeal was over. See that almost despair-inducing queue at the toilet entrance? The true test for the brave has just begun.

To ensure the safety of the venue, the Academy Island deployed a large number of personnel to maintain order. Fortunately, no one wanted to see any unfortunate incidents, and the last concert, which used online ticketing instead of on-site sales, saw Levi only involved in maintaining order during the exit.

However, the excitement of leaving after the concert was far from the anxious waiting. He had never imagined that the fans would be so crazy. Just look at the person sitting outside the tent next to him; the length of his stubble clearly wasn't grown in a day.

Levi found the Academy Island's decision very puzzling. He had no objection to holding a concert to enrich the students' lives, but was it necessary to make such a big fuss? Take that stubbled student, for example; it's hard to believe he didn't skip school, right?

These questions lingered in Levi's mind for only a minute before he dismissed them. He was just a teacher, and to be blunt, not a very responsible one. Management issues were for the management to consider; he didn't need to worry about them.

The most pressing issue now was whether he could still get a ticket!

The concert was a one-time event, unlike those that lasted for several days outside the island. If he couldn't get a ticket today, it would mean he had broken his promise.

Imagine the scene: inviting a student somewhat forcefully and then slinking off to apologize? It sounded like something that would happen in a drama, and only to an unknown minor character who provided low-grade laughs.

Should he think of another way? Special channels, perhaps? Levi knew a few influential people on the Academy Island, but could they help? He also had to consider the consequences of asking for their help...

Click.

Just as Levi was considering whether to continue waiting in line, the sound of a camera behind him made him instinctively turn around.

"Black子!?"

Due to the large number of people and his preoccupation with the ticket issue, Levi hadn't noticed someone sneaking up on him. If it had been a spirit attacking him... He immediately dismissed that thought; the aura of a spirit was too obvious, and even if the square had ten times more people, it wouldn't escape his senses.

"Hehe, teacher~"

The suddenly appearing girl held up her phone, her lips curling in a smug smile, her face beaming with the kind of joy typical of her age, as if seeing Levi was the most delightful thing in the world.

Upon closer inspection, something seemed off. The pigtails tied with red ribbons on both sides of her head swayed with her laughter. Yes, it was the laughter. If the image were cut off and the pitch lowered a bit... the girl who should have been a delicate and innocent child looked more like a middle-aged pervert raising a disdainful eyebrow.

So from the moment he saw her, Levi knew it wasn't going to be a good thing.

Levi didn't want any trouble in public, so he quickly grabbed the girl's hand, ignoring her slight resistance, and dragged her to a secluded spot in the jungle outside the venue.

"Why are you here?"

Having successfully broken away from the crowd and a distance from the noisy venue, Levi, without any other audience present, could ask the question he had wanted to ask from the moment he saw her.

"Ouch, teacher, you're so rough, you hurt my delicate little hand~"

The girl acted as if she had been bullied, covering the place where Levi had grabbed her with her other hand. She huddled, her eyes becoming watery, looking innocent and pitiful, like a dog that had been mistreated by its owner.

"This unappreciated acting, and you're overdoing it. If I were a film critic, I'd give you a zero. Answer me, did you sneak out?"

From the tone of Levi's voice, it was clear he had already seen through the girl's true nature and was unmoved by her exaggerated performance.

"Tch, boring."

There are performers in traditional Chinese opera known for their skill in 'face-changing.' Whether the girl had heard of it or not, her ability to change her expression was certainly not weak. In an instant, she transformed from a pleading pet seeking her owner's forgiveness back to the familiar form Levi knew.

"As a member of the Discipline Committee, responsible for maintaining the order and security of the Academy City, I, Shirai Kuroko, am here to ensure the smooth ticket sales for the concert!"

The Academy City did not have a police force like the outside world. The responsibility for maintaining order and discipline was shared by selected faculty and students. These students belonged to an organization called the Discipline Committee, which was generally seen as a mere formality.

The outside world generally believed that relying on underage boys and girls to maintain urban security was just another way to give them some social experience, not much different from the Boy Scouts. Even other students on the Academy Island thought the same.

Only those who had entered the inner workings of the Academy City and truly understood it knew the truth. As the name suggested, the Discipline Committee was the actual organization responsible for maintaining the city's order and discipline.

The students who could serve in this role were, of course, not ordinary. A student like Fujibayashi Misa could manage a class, but Levi would never agree to her participating in police-like operations. So why could Shirai Kuroko, who looked much younger than Misa, join such a dangerous organization?

Her strong sense of justice and her superpowers, which most people considered mere supernatural topics for tea-time conversations, were her assets for operating on the dangerous front lines.

However, this girl, who was universally recognized as an excellent Discipline Committee member, was now being questioned. Levi was staring at her with a clearly distrustful look.

"Could it be... you think I'm following you like a middle-aged man who's tracking his wife's lover because his business is failing?"

A completely absurd analogy. Holding a phone, turning on the camera, and secretly following the target. No matter how you looked at it, this behavior, when applied to a middle school girl, resembled a fan chasing a celebrity on the street. But Levi knew this view was even more absurd.

"Stealthy and sneaky, and even taking photos, you don't need me to define your behavior, do you?"

"It's not sneaking! I just wanted to show the evidence of you meeting female students to my sister, who was temporarily blinded by your facade and didn't see your true nature as a pervert who preys on his students."

The 'sister' Kuroko referred to was a 14-year-old girl, Misaka Mikoto, who attended the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School in the Academy City. Although Kuroko always called her 'sister,' they had no actual blood relation, just like the surnames on their student IDs. Most students believed that Shirai Kuroko used the respectful term out of admiration for Misaka Mikoto, one of the seven Level 5 ability users ranked third in the city. Even Levi initially thought so, but after prolonged interaction, he truly understood the unusual truth.

But now, Levi didn't have the time to argue about this. He had an important task to complete—tickets!