The violent explosion rang out with a deafening roar, easily carrying to the other decks.
The Odyssey students who heard it could naturally identify the general area where the explosion had occurred and realize that they were under attack.
There were simply too many of them, and they were too far away for something like hurriedly covering their mouths to matter.
As a result, the news had probably already spread throughout the entire cruise ship.
All we could do now was escape the scene as quickly as possible before the guards arrived.
At that moment, a long-forgotten Authority finally proved useful.
"What's that sound? Could there be a leak somewhere!?"
"What!? This is bad! Hurry and report it upstairs!"
"...Wait, doesn't that sound like it's coming from the deck above us?"
"What stupid nonsense are you talking about!? If it's a leak, it'd obviously be on a deck below the waterline!"
The sound of rushing water, as vivid as a hallucination, caused the guards to hastily split up and investigate.
Listening to the commotion below, I stopped using Kasumi's Authority and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this power wasn't quite as useless as I'd imagined.
As long as it was used in the right situation, it could definitely create chaos.
That way, they wouldn't be able to devote all their manpower to searching for intruders for the time being.
"Hm, looks like it's fine now. There probably won't be any pursuers either."
Beside me, Karin said, "The surveillance cameras have stopped working too. For now, we should..."
We're safe. Temporarily.
At that moment, I noticed that Akane, who had made the mistake earlier, had seemed distracted ever since.
"Akane, are you okay?" I asked.
"Ah, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern..."
The gray-haired girl paused before saying apologetically, "Um... I'm sorry. Because of my mistake... Even though I'd been reminded again and again, I still caused such a spectacular explosion... I got carried away after receiving praise, and before I knew it, I acted the way I usually do..."
Sigh, I was partly responsible too.
After all, it was only natural that she'd get excited enough to float on air and act on instinct after finally getting to work alongside me and receiving my praise.
Akane looked visibly dejected.
"It seems our presence has definitely been exposed... This was clearly my blunder."
"It's actually not that bad," I comforted her. "We knocked out so many people along the way that getting discovered was only a matter of time. It just happened a little earlier. Even though we didn't manage to find Koyuki's location, we still achieved our goal of crippling the surveillance system, didn't we?"
As long as our true identities hadn't been exposed, it wasn't the worst-case scenario yet.
"Sensei is right. There's no need to overthink it. We haven't failed yet. Our top priority is figuring out what to do next. Besides..."
Neru sounded slightly irritated.
"I'm getting sick of having to behave like a proper high school girl."
Hearing that, I was first shocked, then delighted.
"Neru, can you still fit into your elementary school swimsuit too?"
"...Huh? What do you mean, 'too'?" The orange-haired girl suddenly realized what I meant and flushed red. "H-Hey, wait a second! What exactly are you implying!?"
She's getting worked up over that? She really is still an elementary schooler.
"Why..." Akane muttered.
I smiled.
"The mission is still far from a failure. We just need to find Koyuki and catch her before the guards discover our true identities, then make a quick getaway, right?"
Akane nodded troubledly.
"That's true, Master. But how are we supposed to find Koyuki quickly now...?"
"Well," I said, "why not ask someone who might know?"
"Huh?"
In any case, following our original plan, we returned to the temporary base we'd set up earlier after the unexpected incident.
The Odyssey student who had seen our faces and had therefore been brought here by Neru was still sleeping soundly on the bed in the guest room.
Riiip~
Neru tore the tape off the Odyssey student's mouth, then casually removed her blindfold and earplugs. Naturally, the ropes binding her remained in place.
The blonde, blue-eyed girl frowned slightly and let out a soft groan as she slowly woke up. Then she bared her teeth in pain.
"Ow!? Around my mouth... it burns... Ugh, huh? What's... going on?"
She tried struggling for a moment, discovered she was tied up tightly, and quickly grasped her situation. Then she turned to look at us and swallowed nervously, her eyes filled with wariness and unease.
Seeing this, Neru raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? You're surprisingly spirited. You've got more guts than your appearance suggests."
Akane smiled and nodded.
"Indeed. It looks like she'll still have the energy to answer our questions after interrogation."
"You don't have to open with interrogation..." Karin remarked before turning to the increasingly terrified blonde girl. "Don't worry too much. As long as you answer our questions, we won't make you suffer."
"You've already knocked me out, tied me up, and imprisoned me, and you're still saying that!? I've suffered plenty already, okay!?"
Trying to sound tougher than she really was, she demanded:
"More importantly, who exactly are you people!? What do you want!? How dare you do this to me? Don't think you'll get away with it! After this, you're definitely going to..."
"Ah?"
Neru interrupted her with an extremely displeased voice. Narrowing her eyes, she spoke in a dangerous tone.
"After this you'll definitely... what? What exactly is going to happen, huh?"
The blonde girl shuddered but stubbornly held on.
"Eek!? I-If you're after money, then no amount of threatening me will work! I'm just an ordinary security guard... I have nothing to do with that kind of thing!"
"I see. But that's not really a problem." Akane smiled. "Because we're not here for money. We're looking for someone."
"Looking for someone...? Who...?" the blonde girl asked in confusion.
"White..." Karin was about to say the codename "White Rabbit," but shook her head. "No, Kurosaki Koyuki. She should have arrived on this ship recently. Do you know her?"
The blonde girl looked even more confused.
"Kurosaki Koyuki...?"
Neru threatened her again.
"Don't even think about pretending you don't know her. For your own sake."
"N-No, no, no! I really don't know! I'm not lying!" The blonde guard sounded panicked. "Do you know how many passengers are on this ship!? More than several thousand! How could I possibly remember every single person's name!?"
If she had that kind of memory without already knowing Koyuki by chance, she wouldn't just be an ordinary security guard.
"If I find out you're lying..."
"Eek! It's true! Really!"
I stepped in.
"Alright, alright. It looks like she genuinely doesn't recognize the name."
"Tch... Lucky you."
"My luck's already been awful enough today... Uwaaah..."
Akane nodded thoughtfully.
"I see. Then what should we do...? She doesn't seem to have any special authority either. Capturing someone else and having that person happen to remember every passenger's name... that seems unlikely."
"That's true," I suggested, "but she should know who might have the necessary authority, right?"
"But we can't rule out the possibility that she'll feed us false information," Karin pointed out. "And after the disturbance earlier, the ship's upper management has probably already been placed under heavy protection."
Hearing that, the blonde girl couldn't help asking:
"Wait a second? W-What exactly did you people do!? Are you really just here looking for a passenger!?"
Ignoring her, I thought for a moment before speaking again.
"Not remembering a name is normal. But what about physical characteristics? Personally, I think Koyuki is pretty eye-catching."
Karin's eyes lit up.
"That's true... Good point. As expected of Sensei, that's very possible. I don't think she'd quietly stay put either. No matter where she goes, she'd probably stand out."
"Good point. Then give me a moment."
As Neru spoke, she once again put on a fierce expression and warned the blonde girl.
"Don't try any funny business. I'll say it again. If you pretend not to know..."
However, this time the Odyssey student wasn't intimidated at all.
Because her attention wasn't on Neru in the slightest.
Instead, she was suspiciously examining me from head to toe, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
"Hey, are you pretending to..."
"Sensei..." The blonde girl ignored Neru and spoke nervously. "You mean... Schale's Sensei!?"
I was startled.
My face was already mostly hidden behind those ridiculously oversized sunglasses, yet she could still recognize me?
Then I couldn't help but feel a little sad at my own impossible-to-conceal charm.
"Ara ara~." Akane touched her cheek. "Did we give ourselves away when we addressed him earlier?"
"Uh... sorry..." Karin said awkwardly. "It just slipped out."
"Hehe~ I suppose when we're out in public, we really should all stick to calling him 'Master.'"
Karin nodded.
"That's true. I'll change the way I address him. Captain, you should do the same."
"Hah!? It's not like I go around calling him weird things in front of strangers! W-Why am I getting dragged into this too!?"
"Hehe~ Better safe than sorry. Besides, haven't you called him that before?"
"I-I only misspoke that time! It doesn't count!"
"Oh? Then since you've already misspoken once, a few more times shouldn't matter, right?"
"Are you two asking for a beating!?"
Ah, so that was it. They'd accidentally let it slip.
Still, their conversation had essentially confirmed my identity.
At this point, I could only sigh inwardly.
After a moment's thought, under the blonde girl's excited gaze, I personally removed my sunglasses.
"W-W-Wowww!"
This time, the cry that escaped the girl's lips was one of pure, uncontrollable delight.