Chapter 135
"Honestly! This is why young teachers these days are just hopeless...!"
A carriage rolled along the streets of the royal capital.
Inside was an elderly woman dressed in a gown.
She was Mrs. Veleno, a teacher who taught music at the Royal Academy.
"That man, Burn or whatever his name is, how dare he ignore my advice! I don't care if he's the guardian of a Saint or a Saintess, he's getting way too full of himself, isn't he!?"
"H-Huh...?"
"You think so too, don't you!? Right!?"
"...Yes, madam. I believe you're absolutely right. Entirely so."
The butler riding in the same carriage replied with a strained smile.
Inside the carriage were only Veleno and the butler.
Unlike the younger teachers who lived in the staff dormitory, Veleno commuted from her mansion within the royal capital by carriage.
While staff were generally required to live in the dormitory, department heads like Veleno were allowed to commute with an escort.
"That man even surrounds himself with young female students... It's utterly disgraceful! I'm sure he's seducing them with some underhanded method! Don't you agree!?"
"...I believe you're absolutely right, madam."
"The shrine has really fallen from grace! I can't believe they recognized such a person as a Saint! I'll have to speak with my husband and have this year's donation reduced!"
Though Veleno kept grumbling and complaining... she always left the academy by carriage the moment her working hours ended after school.
Leaving the academy right after classes ended meant students couldn't approach her for guidance, which was one reason they distanced themselves from her... but she never realized that.
Or rather, perhaps it would be more accurate to say she chose not to notice. She ignored anything inconvenient to her and blamed every flaw on the arrogance of the youth... that was Veleno's worldview.
"Really now... I'll have to scold him again tomorrow! He knows nothing about music, yet dares to tread into my domain like some amateur—young people these days just don't know their place..."
As she was ranting, the carriage suddenly jolted with a loud thud.
Perhaps the wheel had hit a bump. The carriage came to a stop, and Veleno nearly tumbled from her seat.
"Wha—what is going on!? What are you doing out there!"
Veleno shouted, but immediately afterward, sounds of a scuffle could be heard outside.
Angry shouts and screams. As if they were under attack.
"W-What...!?"
"Madam, please do not move from here!"
The butler shouted and leapt out of the carriage.
After a short pause, screams began to echo.
Veleno, unable to comprehend what was happening, twisted her face in fear and confusion.
"W-What... what's happening..."
"Hey, get out here!"
"Eek...!"
The door of the carriage was flung open from the outside, and a rough-looking thug stepped in.
The thug grabbed Veleno's arm and forcibly dragged her out of the carriage.
"Hiiie!"
She screamed again.
The carriage had stopped in a narrow alley where foot traffic was sparse.
Nearly ten suspicious men were there, overpowering Veleno's escort, coachman, and the butler.
Fortunately, it seemed no one had died... but it was far from a situation where one could feel relieved.
"...You're the Royal Academy teacher, Veleno, right?"
"W-Who are you people..."
"You're coming with us. We've got some questions for you!"
"Hiiie..."
Being a teacher at the Royal Academy came with a certain level of social standing.
That's why young teachers were required to live in the staff dormitory, and teachers of department head rank or higher were assigned escorts for commuting.
Yet those escorts had been subdued. There was no one left to protect Veleno.
"N-No! Why is this happening to me...!"
"Shut up! You wanna die!?"
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
When the thug pointed a sword at her, Veleno let out a high-pitched scream.
Despite being told not to make a fuss, her volume was outrageous.
"Damn it! This old hag...!"
"Tie her up already! Gag her!"
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Somebody, help meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
The thug pinned Veleno down and began tying her up.
There was no one else around on the street. It was no surprise—they had chosen a spot like this specifically.
Veleno was being abducted by the thugs, facing a desperate crisis.
"Paoon"
However... heroes always appear in moments of dire crisis.
With a swoosh, someone landed in front of the thugs.
"Wha...!?"
"An elephant!?"
"Paoon"
The figure that appeared was a muscular man with the head of an elephant plushie.
He wore white garments and had white wings spread across his back.
"You bastard! You're attacking one of our own—Gugh!"
"Paoon!"
A thug tried to shout something... but the elephant-headed angel landed a lariat on him.
Other thugs drew their weapons and charged, but the elephant-headed angel overwhelmed them with brute strength.
"Guh... ha..."
"Paoon"
After effortlessly defeating the thugs, the elephant-headed angel spread his wings with a swoosh and disappeared.
What remained were the bodies of the fallen thugs, and Veleno and the butlers who had somehow managed to free themselves from their restraints.
"W-What was that..."
Veleno, her voice trembling with tears from the incomprehensible situation, found no one there to answer her.