Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Beginning of the Mission

Keiko knew that Lance was helping her get acquainted with the class. After all, these students had no idea what distinguished the pro-war faction from the pro-peace faction, and could only glean the disputes between the Celestial Empire and Area 11 from propaganda films. Lance’s act was unintentional, simply helping her gain favor, and he was merely curious because he’d never seen a “transfer student” in real life—the kind that frequently appeared in anime.

“Hello everyone, my name is Keiko Sasaki.” After speaking, she wrote her name on the blackboard, turned, and bowed. “My hobbies are flower arranging and kendo. My favorite people are—well, honestly, aside from those voice actors, I don’t really know anyone…” After finishing her simple self-introduction, Keiko glanced at Lance.

“I think this is when we take questions, right?” Lance gazed at the ceiling and abruptly asked Keiko.

“Huh? Ah! Yes.” She had expected to be done, but Lance suddenly spoke up. Though she wanted to correct his claim—since the question session actually took place after class—she remembered how Lance had just been clowning around earlier and smiled softly. “Alright, everyone, please ask away,” Keiko said generously.

“Keiko, do you have a boyfriend? You’re very pretty.” A boy who already had a crush on Keiko stood up and asked, prompting everyone to turn their gaze to her at the podium.

She glanced awkwardly at Lance beside her. “Teacher…”

“Ahem, classmates!” Lance cleared his throat, drawing all attention to himself. “According to our constitution, we cannot casually pry into others’—” For the sake of favorability, Lance was putting himself out there, now earnestly introducing the law.

“Teacher, did you forget your medication today?” As Lance got more and more into his lecture, a “harmonious” voice chimed in.

“Who said that? I’ll show him what real pain is—” Lance’s retort was swallowed as he caught sight of a pair of eyes that seemed to say, “If you keep talking nonsense, you’ll be finished!” Somehow, Lance felt he’d read those words. “Thank goodness I’m not a sis-con or a masochist, otherwise I’d never recover in this lifetime.” He wiped his brow in secret.

“Well then, let’s continue the new student’s introduction.” At least Lance had successfully diverted everyone’s attention away from the subject of “boyfriends.” In truth, he simply wanted to leave an impression in her mind. According to the god’s advice: “Whether good or bad, as long as you leave an impression, the first step of conquest has begun.” He couldn’t recall the exact wording, but it was close enough, and now he intended to deepen that impression.

During the subsequent question session, Lance repeatedly used his “shamelessness” to help Keiko out of many awkward situations.

This introduction, thanks to Lance’s various quips and interruptions, turned out to be a joyful affair. At the very least, the entire class now welcomed Keiko warmly.

“Alright, class is over. If any student wants information on Keiko, I’ll be waiting in the office—remember the usual rules!” With Lance’s final words, the bell rang.

After Lance left, Keiko turned to Chizuru beside her with her doubts. “Ye, what did the teacher mean just now?” As the newcomer, Keiko was unfamiliar with most class matters, and Chizuru, being the class president, naturally had to explain. At this moment, Keiko was clearly intrigued by the peculiar teacher—at least in her eyes, he was quite amusing.

---

“Ah, that idiot—he’s always like this,” Chizuru said, rubbing her head.

“Whenever there’s a new student, the teacher always takes responsibility for organizing their information. Of course, us old students did this at registration,” another girl peeked out from behind Chizuru.

“Shin!” Chizuru ushered the companion to the front.

“And let me tell you, the teacher has a wicked sense of humor. I simply admire beautiful things, but he wrote ‘Beware of yuri’ on my introduction, so I haven’t been able to find a little sister yet,” she complained bitterly about Lance’s actions.

“Well, who told you to be such a female pervert, always messing around in the girls’ changing room?”

…

Meanwhile, ignoring the girls’ chatter, the boys gathered together.

“What should I do? My points aren’t enough.”

“Mine too—damn it.”

“Why doesn’t the teacher allow point trading?”

A group of boys took out Lance’s compiled records. As long as they did something Lance approved of, he’d award them points, which could be exchanged for various things: stationery, books, information, even rare models. Thus, his students both loved and hated him.

“Lance, did you forget your medication today?” As Lance munched food on his way to the office, a discordant voice rang out.

“Cui Guo, you’re dead!” Without even turning, Lance delivered a karate chop behind him. “Damn, looks like it’s not that he forgot—he took the wrong pills!” Mingchan blocked Lance’s attack with an expert barehanded move.

“Come on, since I can’t teach her a lesson, vent your frustration on me!” Completely ignoring the odd looks in the hallway, Lance launched a flurry of punches and kicks at Mingchan.

---

“Phew, that felt good.” Lance calmly hoisted the fallen Mingchan and walked to the nurse’s office.

“Hey, Mystic, come save her—Mingchan is out cold.” He tossed his things onto the sofa and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“That idiot went to your place to seek death again?” Mystic, accustomed to this, dabbed medicinal wine and sat beside Lance.

“Well, who knows?” Lance spread his hands.

“Enough fooling around. Viper, I’m curious—what’s made you act this way?” Mystic took a sip and asked.

“Why? Don’t you think life is boring now? For the sake of politics, none of us have anything to do. I’m just finding something to amuse myself.” Unable to speak about that “world,” Lance didn’t know how to explain it to his companions. Although Lianhua never stated what couldn’t be said, he knew if those lunatics found out, he’d be dissected at best. In another world, sacrificing a soldier like him meant nothing.

“Alright, I should head back. I’ll take over Mingchan’s assignment this time. Though I can’t compare to that great one, I have other advantages. Leave it to me.” Lance drained his coffee, opened the door, and left.

“Still the same idiot—he’s even clumsy drinking coffee.” Mystic chuckled, took a small sip, and listened carefully to the coughing outside.

Honestly, I truly don’t know how to write about these things. Well, just a few chapters—don’t worry about it, consider it a bit of relaxation. If any of you have thoughts, feel free to share them in your reviews.