"Can you at least use your eyes for a second while you walk?"
Kala turned toward the friend who had been beside him the entire time.
The reddish-brown-haired boy looked both annoyed and amused as he grabbed Kala's arm and pulled him slightly away from the bulletin board.
"I almost walked into the bulletin board?" Kala asked with an innocent expression.
"No. You almost walked into a truck."
"I'm dead, Kay."
Curious, Kayn immediately took Kala's phone to find out what had distracted him so much that he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings.
"Kayn, give it back, damn it." Kala quickly took his phone back.
"You hacked Kaze's account?" Kayn asked in disbelief.
"I-I didn't mean to," Kala said nervously, gesturing for Kayn to lower his voice.
"Dude, what if they come after you?"
"They're a detective group, not a bunch of delinquents."
"Yeah, but they could still do something because you hacked their account."
"Don't wish bad things on me."
"Fine, but you still need to be more careful."
"Relax. I can take care of myself."
"Whatever. I'm heading to class first."
The boy whose full name was Kayn Athala gave a quick wave before leaving, while Kala decided to walk along the corridor because he wanted to buy a drink from the vending machine located beside it.
"Will Asta find out who managed to get into Kaze's account?"
As he thought about it, Kala selected a drink and paid for it.
"I was only able to hack that account because I read Asta's mind, but he never thought about how to find out who hacked the account."
Kala opened the can and took a drink, still feeling uneasy.
"If they find out, what am I even supposed to say?"
While he was thinking, another student came over to buy a drink.
"Daydreaming?" the student teased.
"I'm meditating, Vin," Kala replied flatly.
"Like some kind of shaman?"
"There are no shamans around here. We have the Red Magician instead."
"You mean Agantha?"
"You really had to ask?"
"Good thing he isn't here."
"Even if he were, I wouldn't be scared."
"Sure, whatever you say. By the way, aren't you going to class?"
"I was thirsty, so I came to get a drink."
"Want to go to class together?"
"Sure."
The two of them walked down the corridor toward their classroom.
"Oh yeah, when I passed the student council room earlier, I saw the principal scolding some student council members who were involved in buying next week's exam answer key," Kala said.
"Of course the principal would be furious about that."
"No. I mean, Kaze has taken several school documents to use as additional evidence for their cases. And the only people who know the access code to the records room are the staff and student council members. Doesn't anyone find that suspicious?"
"We always accuse each other whenever Kaze takes school documents. Luckily, I can make good use of this innocent face of mine."
"Damn, now I feel like exposing the fact that one of Kaze's members is actually in the student council too."
"That's evil as hell."
Before they knew it, their conversation had brought them right in front of their classroom.
Kala suddenly stopped when he saw one of his friends already there, sitting at his desk and writing in a notebook.
"What is it, Kal?" Yoga asked curiously, confused by Kala's expression.
"N-Nothing."
Kala quickly went to his seat, hung his bag beside the desk, and distracted himself by playing on his phone.
Every now and then, however, he glanced toward the desk of the blonde-haired student.
~~~~~~
During the break, Kala's group gathered in the storage room in the old section of the school, which they used as their base.
They chatted casually while eating the food they had bought from the cafeteria.
"You know that meatball vendor at the intersection? Apparently, he uses black magic," Darel said.
"I think that's true. I bought meatballs there once, and they tasted really good. But when I took them home, they tasted awful," Yoga said.
"Food tastes worse when you take it home because it gets cold," Yoan replied.
"That's not what I mean, Yon. The taste of the meatballs changed completely."
"There's no way the taste just changes. That's because you've been reading too many horror novels."
"You've never tried them," Darel said.
"Neither have you, Rel. You keep connecting everything to horror stories."
"Why am I getting dragged into this too?" Darel grumbled.
"Just agree with the most logical person here," Yoga teased.
Kala only listened to their conversation, unsure whether he should join in.
Then he suddenly remembered something and looked toward Melvin, who was busy peeking at the iPad Hasta was using.
"Your tablet's okay, right? You look kind of nervous," Melvin asked.
"I-It's fine," Hasta replied with a smile.
"Are you sure?"
"If there's a problem, just give me the tablet. Maybe my dad can fix it," Yoga offered.
"It's fine. You guys know I'm a hacker. I can handle it if there's actually a problem."
Kala watched the situation anxiously.
He turned on his own phone and noticed a notification that immediately caught his attention.
"Tch. He managed to log my device out of Kaze's account. Did he manage to trace my account?"
Although his heart was still pounding, Kala tried to stay calm so he wouldn't look suspicious.
He glanced around the room.
Then something suddenly crossed his mind.
"Damn."
It felt like a coincidence.
He was about to ask where one of his friends was when a disturbing vision of that person suddenly appeared in his mind.
"G-Ghe..." Kala muttered nervously.
"What is it, Kal? Why are you suddenly looking for Gantha?" Yoan asked.
"I-It's... I need to collect some money he owes me. Yeah, that's it. Does anyone know where he is?"
"Probably on the rooftop. That kid usually goes there to smoke."
"Oh, okay. I'll go first."
Kala quickly left.
He returned to the classroom first to grab a pen from his bag.
Yesterday afternoon, for some reason, Kala had suddenly felt the urge to buy a pen at Yoga's father's shop.
Apparently, that instinct hadn't been wrong.
Without wasting any time, Kala headed toward the rooftop.
On the way, he briefly saw Kayn joking around with his group of friends.
Kala and Kayn attended the same school, but because they were in different classes, they each had their own social circles.
Creak.
"Ghe?"
The red-haired boy instinctively turned when he heard someone call his name.
He only glanced at the lavender-haired boy, who was now sitting on the bench beside him.
"Looking for me?"
"Y-Yeah. Were you at the basecamp?" Kala asked, mostly making small talk.
"I forgot to check the group chat."
"I thought something had happened."
"What?"
"N-Nothing. J-Just keep smoking. I'm going back."
"You came all the way here just to make small talk?"
"G-Geez, I thought maybe you'd somehow gotten lost and ended up in another isekai, which is why you didn't show up at the basecamp."
"You make no sense, you demon doll."
"Hey, I've already explained that. So you're the one who doesn't make sense."
Kala walked away.
Agantha chuckled at the boy's nonsensical answer.
He turned around, only to find that the lavender-haired boy had already disappeared from sight.
"Tch. That Esper kid."