Klein was a serious idiot.
The kind of fool who couldn't even tell left from right.
“Why are you in Class One? You can't even tell which way is left?”
“L-Lopez...?”
At least he wasn't hurt yet.
That was a relief.
“Come over here slowly.”
“M-My legs...”
Klein's legs trembled pathetically beneath him.
Letting out a small sigh, I carefully approached him while keeping my distance so I wouldn't agitate the dog.
When I finally stood in front of him, I untied the cloth bundle I had been carrying.
Inside was a single chicken drumstick.
Just before the dog could lunge at us in excitement, I hurled it as far away as I could.
Bark! Bark!
The dog immediately charged after the food.
Taking advantage of the opening, I spun around and shoved my arms under Klein's armpits.
I tried lifting him and carrying him out of the forest—
And failed spectacularly.
“Pffft!”
H-Heavier than I thought.
I had unconsciously assumed I'd be able to lift him because I was an adult on the inside.
The recoil from straining myself threw me off balance.
The next thing I knew, I'd fallen straight into Klein's arms.
Klein looked horrified.
“Hey, are you insane?! What are you doing?!”
“Your legs looked like they weren't working, so I was trying to carry you away...”
“You idiot! Who do you think you're carrying?!”
With trembling legs, Klein forced himself upright.
After taking a deep breath, he abruptly scooped me up instead.
“Huh?”
This kid was that strong?
“If you were going to do this, we should've run away ages ago.”
“...B-But I was alone back then.”
Ah.
So my presence had at least eased some of his fear.
“I don't know! Stop asking!”
Even while snapping at me, he held me securely and started running.
Carried by Klein, I safely made it back to the playground in front of the orphanage.
The moment Anna saw the two of us in our disheveled state, she seemed to realize something was wrong and hurried over.
“You two, why—”
“Damn it! There really was a dog!”
Klein shouted angrily at her.
He had always been arrogant, but not usually to this extent.
The terror he'd felt in the forest must have overwhelmed him.
“Do you have any idea what would've happened if we'd been bitten?! What if we'd been scarred for life?!”
At the word scar, Anna visibly flinched.
As Klein continued fuming, the children who had remained in the forest slowly began emerging one by one.
“T-There really was a dog...?”
Anna hesitated.
Klein immediately snapped again.
“The forest on the left! Why are you just standing there? Go catch it!”
Biting her nails, Anna jumped at his outburst and hurried toward the woods.
I stared after her.
Why is she going in by herself?
Shouldn't she prepare first?
What if she gets bitten?
“Klein, what happened?”
Medina came running from the distance.
Her eyes darted between Klein and me, confusion spreading across her face.
“Lopez? Why are you two...?”
Still breathing heavily, Klein finally seemed to realize he was carrying me.
An awkward silence fell between us.
I broke it first.
“Now that you've noticed, can you put me down?”
Klein's face instantly turned bright red.
Then he threw me.
“Gah!”
My yelp made him flinch.
“No, I—”
“Big Sister!”
Bill ran over and, with all his tiny strength, struggled to help me back onto my feet.
“What happened? Why were you with him...?”
“There was a dog in the forest, and...”
Klein bit down hard on his lip.
Apparently, admitting his weakness out loud was too humiliating.
His entire body trembled.
The thought of Medina seeing him in such a vulnerable state was written all over his face.
As if I'd expose him.
There wasn't a chance I'd reveal something he was so desperate to hide.
“Klein saved me when I almost got bitten.”
“...Huh?”
Klein blinked at me.
“Thank you.”
After offering a simple, sincere expression of gratitude, I dusted off my clothes and headed toward the orphanage.
Anna had gone into the forest completely unprepared.
There was a good chance she'd end up in danger.
And while I was at it—
It was finally time to get her thrown out.
Bill looked back and forth between Klein and Lopez as the latter disappeared into the building.
Medina approached the stunned Klein.
“That's amazing! You saved Lopez!”
“Ah...”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“...No.”
Klein felt dazed.
Honestly, considering everything he'd done to Lopez up until now, he would've had no right to complain if Lopez had used this incident against him.
Instead, Lopez had protected his secret.
And even thanked him.
...Why?
Lopez had every reason to hate him.
Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to strike back?
Klein stared at Lopez's retreating figure.
What exactly are you planning?
“Klein!”
“Ah.”
“What's wrong? You must've been really scared.”
Medina's worried face filled his vision.
Looking at her, Klein absentmindedly rubbed his arm.
When he'd been carrying Lopez, he'd felt warm.
Now that warmth was gone.
For some reason, he felt cold.
“Still, Lopez was right. That could've turned really dangerous.”
At Medina's words, the children began whispering among themselves.
The misunderstanding that Lopez had simply been causing trouble was finally cleared up.
Even so, none of them wanted to admit it.
Medina placed her hands on her hips and scolded them firmly.
“If you've done something wrong, you should admit it! That's what Teacher Megan taught us!”
The children lowered their heads.
“Let's go apologize to Lopez.”
After some hesitation, they finally followed Medina into the orphanage.
“Damn it! Where is that dog?!”
Anna ran until her feet ached.
She had to get rid of the evidence before the principal saw it.
Grinding her teeth, she pulled out her disciplinary cane.
Target acquired: Megan.
After deliberately messing up my hair, I ran toward her as fast as I could and pretended to accidentally crash into her leg.
“Ah!”
“Oh my! Lopez! Are you alright?”
“T-Teacher...?”
The moment Megan saw my tearful face, she looked startled.
She quickly helped me up.
“What happened? Is something wrong?”
As she gently wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of my eyes, I shouted,
“T-Teacher Anna is in danger!”
The moment I mentioned Anna's name, Megan's expression stiffened before relaxing again.
“Tell me slowly.”
“W-We were playing a treasure hunt game... and there was a dog outside! A really big dog! It tried to bite me, and Klein helped me escape...”
“Wait. It tried to bite you? Were you hurt? Let me see!”
Megan instantly turned pale and began examining me from head to toe.
I shook my head and tried to calm her.
“N-No. Luckily, I'm fine. The other children are safe too.”
“Thank goodness.”
Only after sighing in relief did she ask about Anna.
“Did you tell Teacher Anna there was a dog?”
“Yes. Before the treasure hunt, I told her I heard a dog barking, but she didn't believe me...”
“You mean she didn't even check?”
I nodded, sniffing dramatically.
Then, as though suddenly remembering the real issue, I cried out,
“B-But that's not important! Teacher Anna went into the forest alone!”
Megan stroked my head.
Her expression was one of complete disbelief.
“Instead of making sure the children were safe, she rushed off to destroy the evidence first.”
She bit her lip in disgust.
“First, go tell the school nurse everything that happened. Then stay in the classroom with the rest of Class One. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Teacher!”
After hearing my answer, Megan hurried off toward the fourth floor, clearly intending to report everything to the principal.
Only after she disappeared did I vigorously wipe away my tears.
The rest depended entirely on what Megan chose to do.
She was the kind of teacher who genuinely loved and cared for children.
The moment she'd seen me, her first concern had been my safety.
She couldn't simply stand by and watch children be abused.
At the same time, she lacked the power to stop it directly.
So whenever children got into trouble, she often handled matters herself before Anna could find out and send them to the disciplinary room.
That didn't mean Megan was endlessly kind.
She was gentle with children.
But toward people like Anna—
She was ruthlessly cold.
She had simply been waiting for the right opportunity.
And I had just informed her that the time to act had arrived.
In the original novel, Megan never got that opportunity and was eventually forced out.
This time, things would be different.
Not long afterward, I saw the principal and several teachers heading into the forest carrying nets and weapons.
My job was done.
“Big Sister Lopez... where are you?”
Uh-oh.
The green-haired menace had appeared.
I immediately hid.
That's Lopez's hair!
Even if she hid, it was totally obvious.
Lopez really was an idiot after all!
Bill grinned happily as he followed the trail.
