BA, I just want to save the world

But he looked at the victim next to him again, giving an awkward yet polite smile.

"Ah... forget it. Since Baizi-chan said so, what else can uncle say? After all, uncle also wants to accumulate Baizi-chan's favorability~"

Hoshino, who was sighing at first, changed his tone halfway through his speech. He even winked at Baizi and showed a smile that was obviously not serious.

....If he didn't look like a loli, he would look like a weird uncle.

Although he is still not quite clear now, why Hoshino speaks in an uncle's tone and has the habit of calling himself uncle.

But the fatigue that came over him after taking a shower made him not have the energy to investigate further. He went straight to the health room under Bai Zi's guidance, and as soon as he lay down on the bed, he fell asleep out of exhaustion.

Chapter 17: So cute, could it be a boy? Justice's Skirt Lifting

After I closed my eyes, I didn’t know how much time had passed.

In a daze, Mo Lu felt an inexplicable itch on his face and was forced to open his eyes in exhaustion.

What comes into view is a delicate and slightly childish face.

The girl with long pink hair - Hoshino Takanashi was leaning over to observe him. Her hair, which smelled pleasant, brushed against his cheek, silently explaining the source of the itchy feeling.

"Wuhehe~Are you awake? Is it uncle's fault?"

Seeing him wake up, Hoshino seemed to feel a little guilty, but there was a happy smile on his face, and his playful little fangs were exposed.

"....What are you doing?"

"This is where the uncle usually sleeps."

"...I see. Are you here to drive me away?"

"No, no, no~ How could uncle be so stingy? And I heard that you haven't eaten anything, so Baizi went to cook, and uncle also specially got some snacks from his collection for you!" Hoshino took out a large bag of snacks from behind him as if he was presenting a treasure.

"Oh, thank you..."

"What? Is the teacher embarrassed?" Hoshino covered his mouth and laughed.

"Not really, it's just that you were so prickly before, and now you've changed so much, I haven't really adapted to it yet."

"Hmm... a change in personality?" Hoshino sat down next to him, swinging his legs freely while staring at his toes and murmured, "Baizi-chan and Meng-senpai also said so. I myself... have some feelings about it~"

"What happened? Ah, because I disappeared?"

"To be honest, even I doubt that the teacher is dead, right? And Meng Senior will graduate soon and join the defense room. Although he is in the Abydos branch, as the oldest person in this school, he must mature... or something like that, that's what I think."

"I see." He nodded silently, but with a look of doubt on his face: "But, even if you want to be mature, does it have anything to do with calling yourself an uncle? And you are a girl, right? There is no need to undergo a sex change if you want to be mature, right?"

"Oh, teacher, don't you know?"

"Uncle is uncle~" Hoshino narrowed his eyes and smiled meaningfully.

"What are you saying...wait, wait a minute..." He held his forehead with one hand and tried to sort out his thoughts, and asked, "Are you trying to say that you are actually a man?"

.....So cute, could it be a boy? ——Obviously wearing women's clothing, although the chest is indeed very flat, but no matter how he looks at her face, it is undoubtedly a beautiful girl.

Could it be that because all humans in this Academy City are female, when an alien appears, they have to dress up as women in order to blend into the group?

He always felt that he couldn't believe this, but he was also somewhat annoyed why he had never carefully looked under her swimsuit before... Although if he really stared at her, he would probably be regarded as a pervert, right?

Seeing his expression of doubt about life, Hoshino raised the corners of his mouth slightly to reveal a fleeting smirk, and then gently lifted the hem of his skirt and fanned it without exposing himself: "Teacher, do you want to confirm it?"

"....What are you talking about? I'm a proper adult, how could I possibly do something like that." He held down the hem of her skirt and said righteously, "After all...I've never had very good luck. If I really lift it up and someone sees it, what will happen to my reputation? Even if you're really a man, it will be hard for me to explain it clearly, right?"

"But~ among the cute students, there is a guy dressed as a woman, isn't it extremely dangerous~? It is the teacher's responsibility to eliminate such danger~!"

Seeing him in such a difficult situation and trying to pretend to be upright, the girl found it particularly interesting and deliberately instigated him with a smile on her face.

"..."

If she were a real girl, she wouldn't dare to take this risk. Could she be such a cute girl? - Facing Hoshino's teasing, he couldn't help but hold his head in annoyance.

Although he knew the possibility was extremely low, out of a spirit of seeking confirmation and a desire to be prepared, as well as a male's spirit of inquiry... after a brainstorming session, he suddenly reached out and lifted the skirt of the girl in front of him.

At this moment, the girl's smile froze, as she had not expected that he would really do that.

The fair face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Mo Lu's expression also followed suit. After careful observation, it gradually began to change.

But just as he was trying to smile and was about to ease the atmosphere before letting it go - the door of the health room was opened without any warning.

Outside the door, a girl wearing the same school uniform as Shirako and Hoshino, with cute animal ears that were black on the outside and white on the inside, and gorgeous black hair and twin ponytails that reached her waist, was about to say something with dissatisfaction, but after noticing what was happening inside the room, she was petrified on the spot as if struck by lightning.

The two people who maintained their original actions at the scene fell into chaos almost at the same time.

..........................

As one of the youngest people in Abydos, first-year student Kuromi Serika had only heard that a strange adult had come and was now lying in the infirmary, where Hoshino was also.

So she planned to capture Hoshino and hold a routine meeting to save the school.

"....Really, being lazy is fine, but actually staying in the same room with an adult, even a male? Aren't you too careless? Even if they are people I knew before, adults are not good people. What if they are attacked?"

Serika, who had been cheated of money by adults before and was deeply wary of adults, muttered to herself as she prepared to break in and drag Hoshino out of the room and give him a good lecture later.

However...she didn't even have the chance to say the lines she had prepared, but happened to witness a shocking scene.

My senior, who had a petite figure... looked like he could easily knock down a girl from a physical perspective, and was having his skirt lifted by a strange man.

Just this scene, even if the police were called immediately and Mo Lu was locked up in the police station for ten days or half a month, it would not be unfair at all, and it might even be a shorter time. After a brief freeze, Ling Qinxiang's expression suddenly turned dark, with an expression of disgust as if she had seen a pest.

Among the three people, Hoshino was the first to come to his senses. He immediately showed an expression that was about to cry: "Qin, Qinxiang-chan~ Uncle was molested~!"

“Pervert, what a pervert——!!!”

Hearing the voice of her senior, the overly angry Serika reflexively pulled out her gun and shot.

"Hey, hey! Are you serious?!" Looking at the muzzle of the gun with flames coming out, Mo Lu, who had never thought that he would be shot for lifting a girl's skirt, subconsciously pulled Hoshino beside him behind him and swung his other hand forward in an attempt to defend himself.

Chapter 18 Can You Please Stop Treating Uncle as a Cat?

When Hoshino saw her companion pulling the trigger impulsively, the flashing fire from the muzzle of the gun made her heart tighten. The scene before her seemed like an intersection of time and space, reflecting her own shadow of being equally immature and irritable.

She subconsciously wanted to stand in front, but as soon as she moved, her wrist was firmly grasped by a force, and she lost her balance and fell behind the man.

Huh? What? What happened? Me? Behind the teacher? Could it be... again? —— Hoshino's thoughts were instantly in chaos.

She tried to make sense of the current situation, but the regret that surged in her heart again swept over her like a tide, leaving her brain blank for a short time and her limbs out of control.

....................

At this critical moment, an unexpected situation occurred.

And the shield that Mo Lu had not been able to successfully cast under Yuxiang's guidance during this period of time suddenly appeared at this moment.

To be precise, it was the AI ​​girl who accompanied him day and night, who used the power of the halo in his body instead of the shield generator, causing a large number of light blue diamond-shaped light blocks to appear in the air and construct an indestructible protective barrier.

However, the bullet did not hit the shield head-on as expected, but instead passed over the top of the shield and shattered the window glass behind it.

This scene made the furious Qinxiang stunned. Her expression changed from shock and anger to confusion. She stared at the red halo appearing above his head unconsciously and said suspiciously:

"You...are you a woman?"

"Huh? ....Well, what do you think?"

Realizing that Serika still had some sense, and in order to avoid being attacked again, he tried to put on a pleading expression: "But no matter what, calm down and listen to me, okay?"

"Wait a minute, why do you have a halo? But your voice and appearance seem..."

"Oh, this..."

That suspicious look made him cover his face and sigh, as if his sore spot had been touched.

After all, he was really worried that the bullet would hit him, and a real man can bend and stretch. Before Qinxiang calmed down, it seemed that there was nothing wrong in being vague and letting the other party misunderstand.

But just when he was thinking that this kid seemed unexpectedly naive and he might be able to get away with it this way... he felt a tug on the hem of his clothes.

He looked down and saw the girl, whom he had instinctively protected behind him, looking at him with a mixture of fear, sadness and an indescribable complex expression.

"What, what's going on? Hoshino? Are you hurt?" He unconsciously patted her all over to see if she was injured.

But Xingye slapped his hand away, and the sound that came out of his trembling lips was full of obvious fear and anger:

"Teacher....what are you doing?!"

"Uh...what's wrong?"

"Do I need your protection too?"

"But you are a girl?" he responded almost without thinking.

This reflexive answer also made Xingye stunned, as if he was a deflated ball, even his anger dissipated in an instant, leaving only a long sigh: "Alas... You are really..."

"what happened?"

"I don't even know why I'm angry now..."

"What's the matter? Is there anything wrong with protecting a girl?"

"You are so weak, but you always take on the responsibility and sacrifice. Aren't you a little too arrogant?" Hoshino stared at him intently, and with a helpless and worried tone, he reproached: "You always dream of protecting us when you have a body that can be killed by a bullet?"

"....What are you talking about all of a sudden? I'm a teacher, it's normal for me to protect my students, right?"

"You can't? Please don't say such arrogant words again. If you die, how will I explain to Bai Zi and Meng Senior?"

Hoshino tightly grasped the hand he placed on his shoulder and looked at him with unwavering eyes. His determination could be clearly seen in his tightly pursed lips and big eyes.

Faced with such a serious expression, he really couldn't refuse - but he couldn't agree.

"You said that to me a year ago, but you have your difficulties, and I have my responsibilities. I also said that I would make you believe it. Isn't this just an adult's boast?"

"I have believed you for a long time, but this is different from you continuing to take risks. Why do you..." His words made Xingye's tone become impatient, but before she finished speaking, Mo Lu reached out and kept touching her hair: "Be good, be good~ Don't be angry, don't be angry~ I will also pay attention and won't act stubbornly, okay? Now you see, everything is fine, right?"

".....I'm sorry, I lost my mind a little." Feeling ashamed of his sudden temper, Xingye took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then slowly said: "What happened to you just now?"

“This is complicated to explain.”

"Well before that... have you touched my hair enough? Can you please stop treating me like a cat and let go?" Trying hard to hold back his shame, Hoshino lowered his face and eyes, but his fair cheeks were still slightly flushed.

"No, it's not enough."

“Ha….Huh?”

Why are you talking about this in this atmosphere? - Hoshino looked up in astonishment, his brain was a little confused.

This farce continued until Qinxiang, who was unable to intervene in the conversation and could only feel the sudden changes in the conversation and was unable to react, finally came to her senses and pulled Mo Lu's hand away, and stopped temporarily.

...

...

Chapter 19: Rather than being a happy pervert, I would rather be a gentleman who carries the burden forward

At first, he was too nervous and Xingye hadn't fully understood the situation. After hearing Mo Lu's second explanation and calling himself a woman, his eyes of different colors stared at him intently:

"Teacher....are you really a woman?"

"Why do you think so?"

"....Because of the halo?" Even after hearing Serika's supplement, Hoshino was still half-believing and half-doubting.

"How should I say this?"

"But I didn't see it just now, and there's nothing there now... Could it be hidden in some special way?"

"Well, this..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but look at the glass next to him, but the halo disappeared again, so he couldn't see what the halo looked like.

The only thing I remember is that in the past, during a battle, I noticed that my pupils had turned scarlet red from the reflection on the blade.

According to Prana, it seemed to be the same color as the princess of the Nameless God... Although he didn't know how he had a cheap daughter, no, should this be considered a stepfather?

And now the stepdaughter seems to be still in the ruined city, and Prana is not sure where she is.

This meant that he could only wait until he had time to explore the ruins. As for now... the most urgent thing was to figure out how to explain his gender in a safe manner.

Otherwise, if he wasn't careful, his adopted daughter would probably become an orphan without seeing her father. And the subsequent disguise went unexpectedly...unsmoothly.

His ambiguous attitude filled the two girls with suspicion. Hoshino's smile always seemed to have some deeper meaning, and Serika was only temporarily persuaded by Hoshino and did not continue the previous topic. But from the common sense of the world, apart from the giant mechanical boss, there seemed to be no humanoid creatures, and apart from the students, there was no one else with a halo.