"A-Amelia. What in the...?"
"I don’t know either! B-but how could anyone have found out?!"
Right after Teacher Claire disappeared.
Amelia and Yu Siwoo were trembling.
And they had every reason to be.
After all, they knew who had gone through the girls’ underwear yesterday.
No, it wasn’t just that they knew.
They were the ones who had planned and carried it out.
From start to finish, the two of them had been the ones behind it all.
"Where did it leak from? ...CCTV? No, we definitely checked all the blind spots. A security guard? Or a student?"
Mutter, mutter, mutter.
Amelia’s voice echoed in Siwoo’s ears.
...But something about what she said felt off.
She already knew the CCTV blind spots?
Just what was Amelia aiming for?
Siwoo’s expression grew more and more uncertain.
Maybe catching Arte wasn’t the right move for society. Maybe catching *her* first would be more helpful.
"Alright. ...Yu Siwoo, our trail hasn’t been exposed yet."
"Huh?"
"We don’t know how our actions were discovered, but they haven’t confirmed the culprit yet. For now, we just act like we don’t know anything. Got it?"
Just as Siwoo’s doubts were solidifying into certainty,
Amelia fixed him with a determined look.
"But it’s already been found out..."
"No. They know *something* happened, but they don’t know *who* did it. If they did, we’d already be in jail."
True.
Someone had gone through a girl’s underwear—it wasn’t exactly a normal occurrence.
If they knew who was responsible, they could’ve arrested them on the spot for indecent intentions.
"So, from now on, we just act like we don’t—"
"You two seem close."
"Hyaa?!"
Thump.
Someone had silently approached and grabbed Amelia’s shoulder.
Amelia’s legs gave out in shock, and behind her stood a girl with black hair.
...Arte.
"Hiiii—!"
"Oh dear. Did I startle you too much? Are you alright?"
Arte supported the flustered Amelia, but Siwoo couldn’t take the scene at face value.
Of all the timing.
Why had she shown up *now*, when he and Amelia were discussing their next steps?
He knew she was watching him.
Lately, she hadn’t been approaching him directly, but...
She *had* to know about his and Amelia’s secret!
"...Arte."
"Yes?"
"What are you doing here...? This isn’t exactly a high-traffic area."
"...Ah. Did I interrupt a secret rendezvous? Oh no, I feel terrible. Hmm, I was just on my way back from the bathroom. Then I saw a familiar face and thought I’d play a little prank."
What a ridiculous lie.
The bathrooms were in the *opposite* direction.
She was lying so blatantly—so she really wasn’t going to tell them the truth?
"Ahaha. Sorry, I must’ve scared you."
"N-no, it’s fine. Right, Amelia?"
"Uh, y-yeah. Haha... I-I’m totally fine?!"
Arte hesitated for a moment, her expression doubtful, before she smiled and began speaking to us.
"That’s a relief. …Still, you should be careful. The teacher mentioned that a criminal has been wandering around inside the Academy, didn’t they?"
"C-criminal…?"
"Yes. They say he ruthlessly rummaged through a female student’s underwear. How shameless! He absolutely deserves divine punishment! …Don’t you agree?"
Sngit.
The corners of Arte’s lips curled upward.
Was she asking for my agreement?
Under her piercing gaze, I almost instinctively begged for forgiveness, but I somehow managed to hold it back and nodded along with her words.
"…Y-yeah, that’s right."
"Ah, if only some brave student would catch the culprit. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?"
Some brave student catching the culprit.
…Did Arte Isis mean that *she* would catch *me*?
"It’d be great if they could."
"Hmm, Siwoo, aren’t you interested? A shameless villain who went through a woman’s underwear? If you catch him, you’d definitely get a big reward."
"…What are you trying to say?"
"Ahaha. Well, I was thinking it might be fun to work together to track down the culprit. What do you say? Want to join me?"
She wanted *me* to catch *myself*?
That didn’t make any sense.
Just as I was about to tell Arte I wasn’t interested, she took a step forward.
Smiling, she naturally bent her waist slightly and asked me,
"So? Doesn’t it sound fun?"
Normally, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.
No, even if I hadn’t released my desires for nearly a month, I still wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
But then, the sensation I’d felt just yesterday—
That scent suddenly came to mind.
…Because she’d bent over, the leotard peeking out from Arte Isis’s neck stirred Yu Siwoo’s senses.
"Huh? Doesn’t it look fun?"
"Uh, y-yeah…"
Damn it.
Siwoo realized what he’d just blurted out.
Sure enough, Arte didn’t let the slip go unnoticed. She grinned happily and said,
"Great! Then I’ll let you know once I’ve got a plan for catching the culprit!"
Unlike when she’d suddenly appeared, Arte now walked away with a light, bouncing step. Watching her go, Siwoo thought,
I’m screwed.
By the way, that’s the direction to the restroom.
She was lying so openly.
If she’d really been coming from the restroom, she’d have been going the opposite way.
"Hah, hah—! J-jesus, I thought I was gonna die. My heart…"
"You okay?"
"No, I’m *not* okay! Wow, that really scared me."
Only after Arte had disappeared did Amelia come to her senses, catching her breath as she tried to calm her pounding heart.
"So, she *is* suspicious of us, right?"
"Yeah. No doubt about it. She might not be *certain* we’re the culprits, but she’s definitely suspicious."
"Phew… I figured as much. This is gonna be tough."
Amelia was right—it was exactly what I’d expected.
And it made sense. After all, the only one who could’ve reported it to the teacher was Arte herself.
She must’ve realized through some method that someone had gone through her locker.
I had no idea how, but it seemed she suspected *us* of being the culprits.
"But why did you accept her offer? No matter how I think about it, refusing would’ve been better."
"Th-that’s…"
I couldn’t say it.
I was so distracted by the glimpse of her leotard when she bent over that I ended up accepting without thinking.
I could never admit that, even if it killed me.
"Well, fine. It’s already in the past. There’s no point dwelling on it. We should focus on what to do next."
"What to do next…"
"How about we wait and see what plan Arte comes up with? …There’s not much we can do right now anyway."
Amelia’s suggestion didn’t seem unreasonable, so I nodded.
Actually, even if it had been a little unreasonable, I probably would’ve nodded anyway.
Yu Siwoo was still feeling guilty about accepting Arte’s proposal.
"Alright. Let’s do that."
"Phew, okay. Let’s head back. I wonder what kind of plan she’ll bring… …I’m already getting nervous."
"Hehe. A complete success, isn’t it, Author-nim? Don’t you think?"
[Of course! A classic development—uncovering a villain who infiltrated the school alongside the heroines, then taking them down! This is a hit!]
I was worried Yu Siwoo might refuse, but thankfully, after a brief pause, he accepted.
As expected, anime never lies.
I tried the trick where a cute girl leans in slightly and makes a request—just like in the shows—and it worked perfectly.
[But you mentioned having a plan. Do you have something in mind?]
"Of course. There’s a setting that would be a shame not to use in this situation, and it’s already been introduced."
[…?]
What?
Did I forget again?
"Sigh… …It’s the club. The *club*."
[The… the club?! Oh, right! I remember now! The Exploration Club! Yes, that was—*sniff*!]
"It’s already been exposed, you know."
[Heh, hehe…]
Seriously, what would Author-nim do without me?
Probably get cursed out by readers for every mistake imaginable. Starting with, “Why introduce this setting and never use it? Is it a MacGuffin or something?” and spiraling from there.
Honestly, I was worried they might still be complaining, but since the story seemed to be going smoothly, I guessed it was fine.
"You never decided on the infiltrating villain’s ability, right?"
[No, I only set the premise that they infiltrated the school.]
"Since they’re a Weaverfolk ability user, how about a chameleon beastkin?"
[…!]
Well, chameleons don’t actually blend into their surroundings so perfectly that they become invisible to the naked eye.
And contrary to popular belief, they can’t freely turn invisible—they just change color based on temperature.
But novels don’t always stick to realism.
As long as people associate chameleons with mastery of camouflage, a chameleon beastkin would always be the king of stealth.
No one would bat an eye if they appeared out of nowhere.
Just the reveal that the infiltrating villain was a chameleon beastkin would open up countless new scenes.
[Reader-nim… you’re a god! Is she a god?! No, she *is* a god!]
"There you go again."
[I’ll add it right now! The infiltrating villain is a chameleon beastkin… Ability: Environmental Camouflage! Done!]
"Good. Then let’s just wait and see."
Once the chameleon beastkin stirred up trouble again, I could approach Yu Siwoo, act like I’d just had a great idea, and lead him to the club.
This time, the plot was sure to go smoothly. A smile naturally spread across my face at the thought.