After a long while, Ruby—now sporting a bump on her head—sat obediently back in her seat, pouting miserably. "Ellen was so mean..."
"Who told you to rush up like that? You almost smacked your forehead into Phaga's chin. Here, have a lollipop. Don't sulk."
Ellen slid her chair over beside Ruby, unwrapped the candy, and held the lollipop up to her lips.
Ruby sniffed at it, opened her eyes, and immediately bit down, holding it happily in her mouth. Her hands rested at her chest as she sighed with bliss. "Mmm! Ellen, you're so nice!"
"Tsk."
Ellen clicked her tongue and turned her head away.
Ruby blinked in confusion. "Ellen, why'd you look away again?"
"Because you just acted like a fish that got hooked—and then told the person who caught you, 'You're so nice.'"
The Class President dragged his chair over too, wearing a look that could only be described as the gentle pity one gives a child with no common sense.
He glanced across the aisle at Phaga, who sat quietly reading his book without joining in, and said with a grin, "Phaga, come sit with us! There's still time before class starts."
Not long after entering the classroom, Phaga had borrowed the Class President's notebook. The Class President hadn't really understood why, but he'd handed it over anyway.
"I'm checking what I missed while I was gone. Just catching up."
Phaga kept his head lowered, flipping through the pages. From what he knew, the Class President was the type of natural genius who never needed to study ahead but could still keep up perfectly in class.
So, Phaga was certain: wherever the Class President's notes stopped, that's exactly where the teacher had stopped too. There was no chance of him secretly studying ahead.
But once he actually looked through the notebook, Phaga realized how little had been covered these past few days—just a few thin pages.
Smack!
While Phaga was still thinking, the Class President came over, shut the notebook with a slap, and said, "It's just been test review lately, barely any new material... Come on! The sea of knowledge is endless—chat with us a bit before diving in to drown!"
Throwing an arm around Phaga's shoulders, he pulled him closer. Phaga gave a helpless smile, half-protesting, half-relenting as he dragged his chair over.
"So," Phaga said, "about that assessment of yours, Ruby—since you seem so worked up, is it happening soon?"
Might as well make conversation; he was curious about the investigator exam anyway.
Ruby scratched her head and avoided Phaga's eyes, muttering shyly, "It's still a little while away... about half a month."
Ellen sighed, propping her chin on her hand. "Then why are you panicking already?"
"Because it's important..."
Ruby slumped forward, resting her chin on the desk like a lazy cat showing its belly. "Uncle Seth's been calling me over and over lately. I don't even know why he's worrying about my exam when he's already so busy."
"What can you do? He's that type. You can't let him down."
Ruby puffed out her cheeks, her voice small and dispirited. "Just thinking about failing... and how Uncle Seth would smile and tell me it's fine even though he'd clearly be disappointed—it makes me feel awful."
Phaga and Ellen exchanged glances and nodded.
Yep, confirmed—classic pre-exam anxiety caused by too much expectation.
"Uncle Seth? That Cat-Thiren guy? He looks pretty young."
The Class President glanced down at his phone, frowning in confusion. "You sure it's not weird to call such a young guy 'uncle'?"
Ruby gasped. "Wait—how did you get his photo?! That's illegal!"
"Illegal? Please. Ever heard of the Inter-Knot? Cost me a whole hundred Dennies!"
The Class President put away his phone with a smirk. "Didn't you know? You can buy all sorts of things on there—stuff you can't even imagine!"
"And you still haven't answered my question. Why call him 'Uncle'?"
"What's wrong with calling the law officer 'Uncle'? Even if I live to thirty—or sixty—I'll still call him that. I'm used to it."
Phaga rubbed his forehead, chuckling softly. "You know... that actually makes sense."
"Hehe, right?"
Ruby perked up immediately at his words, practically glowing with pride
After a moment, she added seriously, "Anyway, the investigator exam's about teamwork. You gather a few reliable companions, go into a Hollow, and the examiner hides a signal device inside. You have to find it and bring everyone back—no one can be left behind."
Ellen frowned. "That sounds kind of sloppy. Too many loopholes. Do they hide it deep inside the Hollow?"
"Nope!"
Ruby straightened up and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That short, blue-uniformed law officer said the junior exam isn't supposed to be too hard. The examiners won't make things difficult."
Ellen relaxed a little, half-lidded eyes drifting toward Ruby. "Then what are you so worried about?"
"Hehe, because I want to make sure I pass!"
Ruby raised her arm high, clenching her fist with determination. "I'll get a perfect score—for Uncle Seth's sake!"
But soon, her confidence faded. She scratched the back of her head, embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject. "Oh, right—Ellen, Phaga, I heard the routine investigation for Hollow Zero is starting again. Interested?"
"Huh? That thing's happening again?" Phaga sounded surprised.
Ruby blinked. "Again? You've been there before?"
"Not personally," Phaga said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "but I heard about it a few times when I was a kid. The head of my old orphanage said you needed to pass an assessment just to enter it."
Hollow Zero—the oldest, most dangerous Hollow.
It was said that all other Hollows stemmed from it, making it the subject of constant investigation. The military would send teams inside from time to time to monitor and prevent it from expanding.
"Yeah," Ruby said, "since the official forces are stretched thin, they've outsourced some investigation work. But you still need to pass the qualification exam to join. Otherwise, it's just throwing lives away."
She spread her hands, then suddenly jumped up in excitement. "But if I can pass the Hollow Zero qualification test, then the junior investigator exam will be no problem!"
"So, will you come with me? Just the qualification test—please, please!"
Ruby clasped her hands together, bowing dramatically first toward Phaga, then toward Ellen, before sticking out her tongue playfully.
Ellen sighed, brushing Ruby's face aside as she looked to Phaga.
Phaga nodded. "Sure, why not? We've got nothing else going on."
Victoria Housekeeping mainly served high-net-worth clients. The pay was great, but commissions were rare. The last one, from that old man in the Outer Ring, was a long-term job that could stretch over a year.
The next job on the list—the one Lycaon mentioned about cleaning a building—wasn't due for another six days. There was no rush.
Seeing Phaga agree, Ellen could only sigh again. She reached out to flick Ruby's forehead gently, pretending to scold her. "Fine. But remember, Ruby—you've just earned yourself at least a million!"
"Yay!"
Ruby didn't fully understand what that meant, but she knew it meant they'd agreed—and cheered loudly.
Smack!
And then she took another hit.
The bump from Ellen's earlier slap hadn't even healed, and now another one rose on top of it.
Ruby turned around, teary-eyed and sniffling, looking pitifully at her homeroom teacher.
"Oh, so now you're feeling sorry for yourself? Didn't you hear the class bell?"
"Impressive! Every other class is quiet, but somehow I can hear your wailing two classrooms over!"
"Sit down! What, did you ace the entrance exam or something?"
With that, the homeroom teacher whipped her head toward Ellen, Phaga, and the Class President, who were still seated around Ruby, and barked:
"You three! What are you doing over there? Back to your seats!"
The trio scrambled back immediately. The Class President muttered under his breath, "No wonder that moody old hag's single."
"Hmm? What was that?"
The teacher's hearing was far too sharp. She turned her glare on him, eyes radiating death.
The Class President ducked his head like an ostrich, going dead silent.
"Hmph!"
Satisfied, the teacher strode up to the podium, slammed the math book onto the desk, and brought her hand down with a thunderous BANG!
"You all think you did great on your exams, huh? Dead last in the whole grade and proud of it?"
"Our class isn't just the worst—it's the loudest! Completely unruly!"
"Class! Stop saluting me and sit down! Open your books to the solid geometry section! Anyone who thinks they're too clever for this, stand up!"
Her sharp gaze swept across the room.
"And you two—Phaga, Ellen—stand up! Come to my office after class!"