Theresa learned of Kiana's situation at noon. She set out from St. Freya Academy, which was some distance from Nagazora City, and arrived in the evening. By reviewing some of the surveillance footage on the city's main roads, she had already gathered some extremely important information.
Along the way, the petite Theresa naturally attracted the attention of some kind-hearted "big sisters" who wanted to take the possibly lost child home. However, after Theresa presented some of her identification, the situation was resolved without incident.
These small interruptions didn't matter. Theresa had encountered them often in the past, which was why she usually made a point of bringing Major Himeko with her whenever she traveled. She hadn't brought her this time because the fewer people who knew about Kiana, the better.
Now, Theresa was very glad she hadn't brought Major Himeko, because she had discovered that the young Kiana was secretly living in a male dormitory, with the sole male resident of that dorm. This was undoubtedly a scandal. Family scandals should not be aired in public, and Theresa was already contemplating whether she should make the scoundrel who had seduced her lovely niece "disappear."
Her niece would certainly not be so promiscuous as to fall in love at first sight with a random boy she met upon arriving in Nagazora, let alone move in with him. How could she be so thoughtless?! It must be that boy's ill intentions.
Crossing the street, Theresa headed towards the dormitory's location. Standing at the entrance, she took a deep breath, suppressing her various dissatisfactions for the time being, and prepared to ring the doorbell.
But she found that not only was there no doorbell, the lock on the main door was also broken. It seemed to have been concealed to some extent; one wouldn't notice it without getting very close.
Besides feeling a slight joy at being able to sneak into the dormitory building without alerting anyone, Theresa also felt a strong sense of worry. Since the main door of this outwardly glamorous dormitory was actually broken, did that mean the building was just a facade, with all the rooms inside abandoned and covered in dust and cobwebs? How could Kiana live in such a place!
Theresa's resentment towards the guy who had seduced Kiana grew stronger.
As it happened, Kiana, who was still in her room, heard a noise and peeked her head out from the middle of the hallway. Seeing that the visitor was not Evan but a stranger, she quickly pulled her head back in a panic, secretly glad that the other person probably hadn't seen her move.
Kiana didn't righteously go out and demand "Who goes there?" Instead, she began to think nervously. Having been a lazy bum all day, she now had some energy to use her brain.
Could it be that Tachikawa Academy sent a dorm manager?
That shouldn't be right. Judging by the person's appearance, the visitor didn't look like a dorm manager or a teacher at all, more like a student. However, Kiana didn't think someone of that height was a high schooler; at most, she was in middle school, maybe even elementary school.
What would an elementary schooler be doing in a high school dormitory?!
After silently complaining to herself for a while, Kiana sent a text message to Evan, who should have been out of school for some time now, telling him that a "little brat" had shown up at the dorm and that, as an unauthorized resident, it was inconvenient for her to meet the person, so he should hurry back.
Luckily, Theresa didn't enter the hallway. Otherwise, there would have been no hiding the broken door to Kiana's room. Theresa went straight to the stairs at the end of the hallway and headed up. It seemed she wasn't planning to knock on every door, but to check the upper floors first. In Theresa's mind, the boy living in the dorm probably wouldn't be on the first floor. This line of thinking gave Kiana and Evan some buffer time.
Several kilometers away, Evan was chatting with Mei as usual and enjoying the increasingly delicious snacks she made when he saw the text message on his phone. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Seeing this, Mei, who had been sitting to the side with a faint smile, watching him enjoy her creations, couldn't help but ask.
"Did something happen?"
"In my dorm... well, the whole situation is a bit complicated. I'll explain it to you in detail tomorrow. I have to go back now, sorry."
"It's okay."
Mei watched Evan leave. The reason she just watched him go instead of walking him to the school gate like a good friend was because Evan never used the main road. Senba Academy was an all-girls school, after all, and he couldn't be exposed.
If she were to walk him to a corner of the campus, to the perimeter wall, and then watch him climb over it, the scene would be very strange. So, the ever-so-proper Mei would only go as far as watching him leave.
Evan's departure did not make Mei feel relieved; on the contrary, she felt a little disappointed.
Mei was not the type to get tired of the old and seek the new. She wouldn't get bored of interacting with Evan just because she had seen him a lot. For her, chatting with him, practicing swordsmanship, and watching him eat the snacks she had carefully made after school every evening were all things that made her happy. She had grown accustomed to his daily visits, and now that he had suddenly left early, it felt a little strange.
Thinking about it, it had always been Evan who came to find her. Perhaps she should find an opportunity to visit him instead. Senba Academy was an all-girls school, and it was still a bit risky for Evan to always be climbing over the wall.
And who was it that texted him? Recently, she had done some searching for information about Tachikawa Academy and hadn't heard about any new male students transferring in, let alone living with Evan. This meant the person who texted him was probably a girl, right? If it were a teacher or someone similar, they would have called directly if something was really wrong, not sent a text.
To be honest, Mei was a little concerned about the person who texted Evan, and about the content of the message.