20d - Subtlety x Sadism

Warning: Non-explicit sexual content, hidden sexual activity.

The grounds of Schola Sanctus are vast, with many buildings scattered about.

Ratio and Regina came to one such building, where the Instructor’s Offices were located.

A few days have passed since the incident at the training ground, but once again they wanted to apologize for causing trouble to their instructor, Aloe Ira, and thank her for cooperating with Ratio’s reckless proposal.

“Do you think Ms. Ira will be mad?” Regina asked, uneasy.

“Maybe it’ll be okay…” Ratio said, reassuring her. “She was pretty flip-flop about it.”

After that incident, Regina herself and the people surrounding her changed greatly.

First of all, Regina was aloof at best, and hard to approach at worst, but she became a little timid after experiencing defeat.

Even though she had her pride as a top performer and her ability to live up to that title, she was defeated and exposed to a disgraceful loss.

Moreover, it was broadcast to the entire Mixture space station.

She can’t take the same attitude as before.

In addition, being exposed to the unhinged malice received from Iniuria and the Stulti was also a heavy burden to carry.

Schola Sanctus also has dedicated psychological counselors.

Every year, there is no end to the number of cases where many students make a mistake and end up traumatized for it.

Counselors take care of the students and try to reduce the drop-out rates even by a little.

Still, the reality is that a certain number will ultimately leave.

After the incident, Regina also had a detailed examination and found no abnormalities physically, but she had an interview with a counselor because her mental state was invisible and unknown.

They feared that if things went wrong, even someone like her would be unable to recover, but the results were good, albeit somewhat unstable.

Regina wished to remain in Schola Sanctus and continue her studies.

Even after what could have been a lifelong traumatic incident, Regina persevered with an innate no-nonsense temperament and a little bit of self-respect.

Besides that, the teenage girl’s thoughts of not wanting to part with Ratio, who she had a faint crush on, also had a great effect.

Besides, her classmates welcomed her back warmly.

At that time, her classmates couldn’t do anything and could only watch.

To be completely frank, the old Regina wasn’t well received as she was a snob.

That changed because she saw her crying after being attacked by Iniuria and her Stulti after her machine had been completely disabled.

What if that had been me?

Everyone was trembling with the predictions of what would happen next.

Even just imagining it was terrifying, but how much more was Regina’s fear because she was the one to have experienced it?

Seeing her weak and vulnerable behavior in the classroom, her classmates were sympathetic and approached her gently.

You could say that Regina was treated like a transfer student.

As the whole class accepted her, so did many other students who sympathized with her.

Everyone thought it would be scary if they were attacked like that, so they moved to watch over the victim, Regina.

On the other hand, there are also those who are trying to add more blows to Regina.

Most of them are sponsored by other companies, but among them, the students who have dedicated units and those who are close to them are especially conspicuous harassers.

The other students are often beaten by bringing up their grades and their companies’ powers, and they aren’t strong enough to protect Regina outside of their class.

Then Ratio took the initiative and stepped forward.

Her grades at Schola Sanctus have not yet been announced, but her grades are expected to be excellent because she passed the transfer exam, which is more difficult than the entrance exam. She was a contributor to the recovery.

“Do you have a problem?” Ratio asked.

In the face of those black, empty eyes, they lacked the persuasive power to refute and had no choice but to withdraw in frustration.

Ratio herself promised to protect Regina, so she did.

With this in mind, Regina has been clinging to Ratio for the past few days and is socializing with Ornit and the others.

“Umm, here we are,” Ratio said.

They stopped in front of the office assigned to Instructor Aloe Ira.

Each private office is designed to serve as a shelter in an emergency, so instead of knocking, just press the intercom, as they wouldn’t hear you through the walls.

After waiting for a while, the two of them looked at each other, and when they tried to push the intercom button, the door opened.

And the Instructor Aloe Ira who appeared from the other side of the effortlessly sliding door was… a bit of a mess.

Her cheeks were flushed, her hair clinging to her skin with sweat. Her clothes are also disheveled, and her chest is wide-open, the overwhelming mass there is about to spill out, and she is breathing heavily.

“… What are you guys doing here? What’s up?” Aloe Ira said, leaning her elbows on the door frame as she pulled back, eyes widened as if a bit surprised.

“Umm, is now a good time?” Ratio asked.

“What were you doing?” Regina asked.

Ratio puts aside the rhetorical question and asks with common sense, Regina questions the instructor with a jittery look.

“Fuhn,” Aloe huffs. “I’ve been working out a bit. Well, it’ll be fine if you’re quick about it.”

In the two’s field of view, there was a multi-training machine whose parts could be rearranged to support various exercises, an empty bottle of alcohol that was lying around, probably unwashed clothes, and so on. And they saw a woman in black sitting on the sofa.

They both agreed that the room was dirty.

From the woman wearing the same uniform the Instructors and Lecturers wear, you could infer she was also teaching staff.

The only thing that bothered them was that she looked down, curled up as if hugging herself, and seemed to be trembling.

And what is that faint buzzing like a motor running?

“About the other day,” Ratio said.

“Hmm?” Aloe asked.

“Even though it was an emergency,” Ratio said, “I would like to thank you for allowing me to sortie and apologize for the inconvenience it caused.”

“Thanks to you, Instructor, I was able to return safely like this,” Regina said.

Aloe smiled cheerfully. “Hey, don’t worry about it. At that time, I had no choice but to do that. That’s all.”

“Um… was there any inconvenience?” Ratio asked.

“Inconveniences… about a half-year salary cut, yeah,” Aloe said.

“I’m so sorry,” Ratio said.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about it, kids,” Aloe said.

Ratio thought it might have been possible there wasn’t a punishment but it turns out there was.

At that time, Aloe Ira was in charge of supervision, and depending on how you look at it, it can be said that it happened because she overlooked Regina’s sudden departure and let her head to the training ground alone.

Although it is quite the stretch, they questioned if it could have gone better if Aloe Ira had not tolerated Regina’s arbitrary action and left by herself.

Besides, no matter how much authority was assigned to the Instructors, they moved other Departments to operate passages that were not yet supposed to be opened.

Under the guise of complying with the discipline of the military and the rules of the school, it is unreasonable for the world not to give Instructor Aloe Ira a punishment.

However, because the higher-ups also understood the internal situation, it was only a salary reduction.

If she were expelled from this, the other instructors would have flooded in with protests and the school would have fallen into chaos.

“This job pays very well, you know?” Aloe said as she straightened her posture and put her hands behind her head. “I can go 6 months without pay, no problem.

“Taking responsibility is an adult’s job. You should work hard to explore your potential.”

As Ratio locked gazes with Aloe, she also corrected his posture.

And the first time Aloe looked at Regina, she saw a regretful look in Aloe’s eyes.

“If you leave the nest here, you will have to live on your own feet,” Aloe said. “Then, while you are here, learn all kinds of things to your heart’s content, try them out, and wear them proud. We are here to support you and clean up your mess. That’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“”Roger!”” the two said.

Aloe smiles, satisfied at the enthusiastic reply.

“Okay. Time is finite. Use it meaningfully,” Aloe said.

“Understood,” Ratio said.

“Thank you very much,” Regina said.

“It won’t be for a while, but the next live machine exercise, I’m going to get very strict with you,” Aloe said. “I’ll push you so hard you’ll be ready to head straight to the field.”

“That’s all I ask,” Regina said, her look strong and full of motivation.

Instructor Aloe Ira was relieved to her core.

She too was worried about Regina.

Trainees and recruits have easily broken hearts. She has seen many people who have become frustrated and left the military and school.

She wanted to do something if possible, but even though she is an instructor, she’s still a human being. There are limits to what you can do.

The only choice is theirs.

That’s why even she’s grateful that Regina stuck out and stayed.

“Then, work hard to improve yourself more than ever. Dismissed,” Aloe said.

“”Please excuse us!”” the two said, saluting and bowing before Aloe closes the door.

It should have ended there.

Just before the door closed, the faint sound of the motor running in the room got louder.

“Naaaaaaaa…!”

“Hahahahahahahah-aahahahah!”

Could that first voice be the woman inside? They heard screaming and the even louder laughter of Instructor Aloe Ira.

The door closes completely and silence returns.

“What was that?”

“Do we go?”

They were curious, but they hesitated to ring the intercom again, so the two turned around.

She’s sure they must have failed in some operation and made an expected move. Surprised by that, the woman inside screamed, and Aloe probably laughed at her.

She’s sure it’s a close friendship where they can laugh comfortably at each other’s failures.

With that conclusion, the two walk away.

“We should hurry. Everyone should be waiting for us,” Ratio said.

They were already planning to go to a cafe with Ornit and the others, enjoying sweets while chatting.

“Let’s go,” Ratio said, naturally holding it out to Regina.

“Mm,” Regina said, taking it firmly.

With light steps, the two hurried to the meeting place with their friends.