An Adult's Responsibility Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The paperwork involved in my job was immense and constant, however efficient planning and helpful categorisation by Arona meant that I could actually get through most of it with just one to two hours a day dedicated to going through the piles.

Of course, used to ‘AI’ from my world, I did occasionally double check Arona’s work, but I had yet to catch a single mistake. I will not get complacent, but her competence has been very welcome.

I was busy going through the accumulated paperwork for the day, a duty I performed at SCHALE’s main office. The first hours of the day, up until noon, were open to any and all students to come visit me. Seeing as I was still new to Kivotos, there were very few students who took me up on the offer, thus my usage of the free time. The actual time I had scheduled for the task, in the evening, was instead spent on getting up to speed with the Curriculums of the various schools.

I just finished signing an organisational form for the GSC when I was interrupted by the sound of the door bell. Swivelling in my chair to look at the camera feed on the screen, I saw a particular purple haired student waving at the lens.

Pressing the button for the incoming I spoke, “Yuuka! This is a surprise. The door is opening now, you’re free to come on up.”

She did so, riding up the elevator and entering the office, stopping as she took in the sight of me surrounded by various piles of paperwork.

“Albrecht-Sensei, I’m glad you remember me.” She smiled, “I am here because I wanted to apologise in person.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, slightly leaning back in my seat as I asked, “Apologise? I don’t recall anything that you would need to apologise for.”

She shuffled around the table in the centre of the room, eyes flicking over to the papers with curiosity as she elaborated, “When we received your request for a meeting, I personally handed it over to President Rio myself, but she decided against agreeing to hear you out.”

“Ah, yes.” I replied, before turning around and opening a drawer, memory leading me to pull out a specific document, “I received an official reply from her. Rio’s reasoning was sound, especially dealing with an unknown adult who has as much unaccountable power as myself.”

I smiled at Yuuka, “You have nothing to apologise for.”

“Thank you Sensei.” She smiled back, “But, I still feel a bit bad. I think you are trustworthy, failing to convince President Rio of that left a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Such is the way of things when differences of opinion arise. Still, the thought is appreciated, Yuuka.” I noticed she was fidgeting, looking around the office nervously, “But that was not the only thing you came to ask, was it?”

“Ah.” She stiffened, being called out, “Yes, that’s right. I looked up SCHALE, how it’s set up and the laws surrounding it. Do you know that you can temporarily appoint students to assist you in your tasks?”

“I am aware, yes. I have been using that law when dealing with the Trinity JTF and Abydos. But I’m guessing you aren’t talking about combat assignments?” She looked intrigued at the mention of me working with other Schools, but I was well aware of how documented my movements were on social media so I was merely confirming the rumours rather than saying anything new.

“Yes, that’s right Sensei. I can see you have a lot of paperwork to get through, why don’t you ask some students to become your assistants to help ease the workload? I am Seminar’s accountant, so I am rather confident in my ability.” She played with her hair as she asked this, obviously asking to help without outright saying so.

“Very well Yuuka, I like going through my paperwork myself so I am aware of all the important details, but I am not so proud as to deny help when it is offered.” I smiled at her as I stood, getting a bright smile in return.

I separated several piles and folders, putting them to the side, “This is the accounting work that I have finished for the day. The outstanding things I will have to handle myself, but if you want to go through my work and make sure that it is all in order, that will be a big help.”

“Yes Sensei! I will be glad to!” Seemingly happy to have something she could do to ease her misplaced guilt, she happily took a seat and brought it over to the paperwork I set out, before diligently starting to work through the stack.

Grinning at the sight of a hard worker, I returned to my seat and started working through my own stack. It was mainly assignments, a lot of which I had to postpone due to jurisdiction issues. Technically, I could deputise any student to be a part of SCHALE then deploy them to any academy, but in reality that seemed like a diplomatic incident waiting to happen. I would rather work with the local academy forces instead of bringing in outside enforcers.

The vast majority of them were in Gehenna, which was just doubling the problem. After all, the only coherent forces I could rely on at the moment were the JTF and the Abydos FTF, both of which would be a bad idea to utilise in such a way. The JTF were a part of Trinity, which had tensions between themselves and Gehenna, tensions that I would only inflame by acting recklessly. The Abydos girls meanwhile, had their own problems, using them to operate outside their district would not only impact their own work, it would leave Abydos completely defenceless.

Still, if my gamble with the SRT Academy paid off, that would be an issue that could be solved soon. I would much rather liaise with the Gehenna Prefect Team than just go in under legal force, but I had yet to receive a single reply from them. Even Chinatsu had yet to send me a message, making me worry for her slightly.

“Sensei?” Yuuka’s voice broke me out of my workflow, causing me to swivel towards her.

“Yes, Yuuka?” I asked, curious.

“Your discretionary fund… Using it this way seems a bit…” Ah, she had found out that little bit of trickery did she?

“Would you like me to explain the reasons why, Yuuka?” I inquired gently.

“No! I wouldn’t ask you to explain yourself to me! It's just… That money is supposed to be for your food and recreation, right? Using it for work…” She took in a breath, searching for the words, “I don’t think that is healthy.”

To explain what she had found, it involved the requisition requests from Abydos. While Ayane was very good at asking for only exactly what they needed for the assignments they undertook for me, wanting to pay their way properly, I insisted of providing extra for them, citing emergency supplies and them doing me a great favour by helping my clean up the dark underbelly of the Abydos district.

As rundown and abandoned as it was, it was a hotbed of criminal activity that we had been rather successfully chipping away at up till now. Ayane had protested the special treatment, but Hoshino and Nonomi had convinced her otherwise, stating that it was kindness that they should accept when it was shown.

Of course, the supplies I funnelled to them still had to be paid for. I could have just lied or doctored the requisitions, but instead I covered the difference with my personal funds. Technically, that was not strictly legal, but as I was in full control of SCHALE’s budget I could allocate the various parts how I wished. The only reason why I had split the money into Operational and discretionary in the first place was to make it easier to organise for myself.

“I enjoy helping out my students Yuuka. Besides, I’m afraid your Sensei is very boring. I don’t drink, smoke or have any vices. The funds would just sit in my account gathering dust if I didn’t use them.” I explained to Yuuka, who hesitantly nodded.

“Well, I am glad you are being responsible with your money. But, this feels so strange…” She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at me, “This is the first time I have ever felt that someone was being too responsible. You have to promise me to take some time and money for yourself, okay? I don't want you to starve.”

“I’m far from that point, Yuuka. If you are worried that I will become that generous, you are welcome to swing by anytime to check and make sure, okay?”

She blushed at my words, “I’ll hold you to that, Sensei.”

---ARARAR---

SCHALE had an in-building store, where I usually got my lunch. The kiosk had been automated, but when I entered the door today, I was greeted by a squeak of a small blond haired girl. Trembling, she stared up at me, my height causing me to loom over the poor thing.

“W-w-welcome to Angel 24! I’m Sora, your new cashier!” She stammered out.

“I was unaware you had been hired.” I mused, “Did you manage to get in fine? I know the security is pretty tight.”

“Yes! I was keyed in and everything by the GSC… Gosh, I’m sorry, you’re really big.” She babbled, “Not that that's a bad thing, it’s just…”

She was cut off by me kneeling, equalising out our heights as I gave her a reassuring look, “Don’t worry, you’re doing a great job. Seeing as you’ll be my first colleague here, let's make sure to help each other, okay?”

“Yes Sensei! Thank yo… Wait! First colleague?! You mean I was alone with a man in this building the entire time?!” Her eyes started to swirl, heat rushing up her face as she panicked.

“Now, I believe you are overthinking things a bit.” I sighed, seeing her work herself up, “How about you calm down and-”

I was interrupted by a call on the Chest. Pulling it out from my jacket pocket, I saw that the caller was Ayane, from Abydos.

“I’m sorry Sora, this might be an emergency.” I looked apologetic to the still panicking cashier, before accepting the call, “Albrecht-sensei speaking, how-”

“Sensei!” Ayane’s hurried voice could be heard through the speaker, “It’s Serika! She’s gone missing!”

“Missing? Have you called her?” I asked, making sure that this wasn’t just panicking.

“Yes, we all did. She isn’t picking up. Apparently she didn’t come home after work last night, we think she might have been kidnapped by the Kata Kata Helmets after we destroyed that base of theirs.” Ayane was rushed, but given the situation that was understandable.

“Kidnapped? Okay, Ayane, call the rest of the girls and go to the Club Room. I will meet you there.” I hung up, turning back to the scared girl, “Sorry Sora, something important came up. Thank you for your hard work!”

As I left, the wide eyed student shouted after me, “What was that about a kidnapping?!”

I have a feeling weird rumours are going to start up around me, but right now, Serika is more important.

---ARARAR---

“This old man taught Shiroko tracking, but if we don’t know where she was taken-” Hoshino was cut off by me opening the door, breathing heavily from the run on the way here, “Oh Sensei, good timing.”

Shiroko waved at me from her chair next to Nonomi, who was looking stressed out. Hoshino was standing by the whiteboard with Ayane, pointing at a map that had been stuck to it. Drawn crudely on the map was the path Serika would have taken from Shiba Seki Ramen to her home.

“I have a plan.” I spoke, leaning over and catching my breath, before straightening, “Hoshino, you are the most senior student present. Can you give SCHALE permission to use the Abydos communication towers?”

There were no laws concerning what I wanted to do, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Ehe, you want permission from this old man?” She acted surprised, “Sure, if you think it can help.”

“Thank you. With the Chest, I can log into the GSC database of registered phones and look for Serika’s number…” I did so as I spoke, moving through the menus quickly as I did so.

“We tried calling her, but she didn’t respond.” Shiroko reminded me, causing me to shake my head in reply.

“That’s not why I am doing this.” I explained, “The communication towers around Abydos are still active. I can use them to ping her phone and find out where it is based on the replies.”

Well, I could do that with a map and a calculator, but instead most of the heavy lifting will be performed by Arona, who gave me a wink from the corner of my screen as I looked her way.

“Oh wow, you know how to do that, Sensei? That’s so cool!” Nonomi seemed really impressed by my plan.

“Nn. What if they threw away her phone?” Shiroko asked.

Hoshino was the one who replied, “Then at least we can search the area we find the phone in for tracks.”

“That’s right. It will give us more than we have to go on right now.” Ayane was watching me nervously, the most obviously worried of the four.

“Besides, it looks like they didn’t do that.” I responded, double checking the sat map on my screen, before turning it around and showing it to the girls, “Her phone looks like it is out in the desert.”

“Hmm…” Hoshino rubbed her chin, “I might be wrong, but it looks like that is in an old supply depot. If the Kata Kata found it, it would have made for a good base.”

Ayane quickly double checked the coordinates on my screen with the map that was pinned to the white board, “Wow, that was quick Senpai! You’re right, there is a truck depot there.”

“Uhe, well this old man has been here for a while…” Hoshino scratched her cheek, before her face turned serious, “But now we know where they are keeping Serika. I have some words for the ones who took her.”

I raised a finger, “Let's not go in guns blazing, that could be more dangerous to Serika than anything. We’ll need to do some recon first.”

“It’s in the desert, Sensei.” Hoshino looked at me like I was being stupid, “If we can see them, they can for sure see us.”

“Not necessarily.” I smiled nefariously.

---XXX---

“Wow sensei, it’s actually working.” Ayane spoke from where she was using the controls for her drone.

Sensei laughed, “It is actually a very common thing. Even if they have binoculars, people don’t look up.”

“Kinda hard to control though. We’re flying it too high up, there is too much turbulence.” Ayane complained.

“Just take pictures, don’t examine the video you’re getting too much.” He advised, causing Ayane to nod and do as he said.

Hoshino wondered how this man knew so much about operations like this. Sure, as a teacher he had access to the curriculum, but there was nothing in there about drone recon or hostage situations. Just what he was getting up to before he became a teacher? Speaking of, this whole thing was far too fishy.

She had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Some random adult suddenly became a teacher of the new division set up by the GSC president before she ‘mysteriously disappeared’? Yeah right, as if. Something shady was going on here, she was sure of it.

However, it was true that he had been helping them out up until this point. For the first time in months, they had not only gained the money to pay their interest payment, but they had actually gathered enough to start working on their debt. It was a weird feeling, to go from hardly making ends meet to suddenly having a surplus. Of course, that was helped by the extra supplies that were sneaked into their requisitions.

That was so odd. Why was this Albrecht guy so happy to help them out, even more than they asked for? What did he get out of it? Whatever it was, she didn’t trust it.

Still, he was useful for now.

A thought that was vindicated as Ayane turned around to give them a smile, “Done, Sensei! Here are the pictures.”

“Hmm, let's see here…” The adult took up his tablet, looking at the pictures Ayane sent him.

Hoshino looked at the screen form over his shoulder, standing up from where they were all sitting on the sand. She immediately noticed something, but was beaten out in bringing it up.

“There is a series of dunes that gets quite close to the wall of the compound here.” Sensei immediately indicated the West side of the target.

“So should we sneak in?” Nonomi asked.

“No.” Hoshino responded, “They will know that too, that will probably be the most defended side.”

“Ah I see.” Nonomi nodded.

“Exactly, well done Hoshino.” Sensei responded, causing her to want to roll her eyes, “We can still use that though. If we attack the East, that will pull away defenders from the West and allow someone to sneak in and rescue Serika.”

“Who will do that then?” Ayane asked.

Hoshino immediately decided, “Shiroko. Nonomi is the firepower and I will need to cover for her.”

“I will make sure Serika is safe.” Shiroko nodded resolutely, before her eyes flicked to Sensei before she looked away.

Hoshino wanted to frown at the sight. Ayane and Shiroko, her precious juniors, had been completely taken with this new Sensei. She might have done too good a job of cleaning out Abydos, as her juniors had not had many chances to learn just how crooked adults could be. She would not break their happiness on a whim, however. She would make sure to gather evidence before she did anything.

“Hmm, that’s odd.” Sensei spoke, causing her to snap her gaze back to his screen, “They seem to have some armoured vehicles.”

“Armoured vehicles nothing, those are tanks.” She spoke, causing Ayane to stare at her in shock.

“What, Tanks?! Where did they get those? How did they get those?” Her voice was panicked.

“First things first.” Albrecht-Sensei calmed her down, “They have them, focus on how to deal with that fact before we worry about anything else. Once we have Serika back, we can investigate where their armour came from.”

“You’re right Sensei, sorry.” Ayane nodded, taking a deep breath, “We aren’t equipped for anti-armour. Those are going to be a problem.”

“Shiroko’s drone will be able to take them out, but it only has one volley before it needs to reload.” Albrecht rubbed his chin, “Hmm, I don’t want Hoshino and Nonomi to have to deal with the other two once we take out the third for as long as it takes to reload.”

“Uhe, Sensei is worried about me, it’s enough to make this old man blush.” Hoshino rubbed her cheek, before sighing.

Whatever his deal was, Sensei did give out good advice. Focus on the most important details first. She would get Serika back, then she would figure out exactly what this weird Teacher’s deal was.

She lifted up Iron Horus, gently caressing the face of the shield, before she locked eyes resolutely with the rest of the FTF, “Leave the tanks to me. Shiroko, you get Serika back, Nonomi, can you keep their infantry off me?”

“You got it~!” Nonomi gave her a thumbs up, Shiroko nodded while Ayane stared at her in shock.

“Hoshino-senpai, I know you’re strong, but three tanks by yourself…?” Her voice was full of adorable concern.

“I know. But just trust me, okay? I wouldn’t have offered it if I wasn’t sure.” She said that, but she knew Ayane would fold. The real obstacle was the adult looking at her consideringly.

“If you are sure.” He said, giving her a nod, surprising her at how much trust he placed in her without her even explaining her plan.

More mysteries, but that was for later. For now, she had a kouhai to save.