CHAPTER 1181: CHAPTER 1180: MAGICAL GIRL AND CHOCOLATE

Time passed day by day.

Overall, Fang Zheng’s job was quite leisurely, teaching classes, finishing school, training Nanoha and the others in magic, occasionally watching Little Sakura collect Clow Cards, and of course, not forgetting to investigate that shadow creature.

But to be honest, by this stage, the investigation into the shadow creature had reached a stalemate.

According to Precia’s investigation results, these shadow creatures were leaks from another world, absorbing magic power from this world to take shape. Moreover, when enough shadow creatures gather, they form a humanoid BOSS-type entity, simultaneously creating a passage to another space, swallowing the magical girls into another world.

If Fang Zheng wasn’t mistaken, to solve this issue, it would eventually fall upon entering another world.

However, to be safe right now, Fang Zheng planned to wait a while longer, at least until Little Sakura resolved all matters here before considering taking everyone to that other world to see what was actually going on.

But today, when Fang Zheng arrived at school, he noticed something felt off.

How should I say it...the whole school had a festive air, as if it were celebrating a holiday.

A holiday?

But shouldn’t holidays mean no school?

Fang Zheng was somewhat dazed by the passage of time—as a Time Dragon, a being that transcends time, he was naturally the least sensitive to its flow.

"Teacher!"

Shortly after entering the school building, Fang Zheng was called out by two young girls in the hallway.

"Hmm? What’s up?"

Seeing the two little girls hastily running up to him, Fang Zheng stopped to look at them. He knew them; they were in the class Fang Zheng taught and were Nanoha’s friends, Alisa Bannings and Tsukimura Suzuka. As characters from the original work, Fang Zheng had some impression of them, but he hadn’t had much interaction with them.

"Um...this..."

Seeing Fang Zheng, Tsukimura Suzuka looked down a bit shyly, hesitated for a moment, and then handed over a brown rectangular box from her arms.

"Please accept this!"

"What is this?"

Fang Zheng curiously took the box from Suzuka and glanced at it.

"Chocolate?"

"Yes, well... Teacher, you’ve always helped us solve difficulties with our school work, so...well..."

Saying this, Suzuka turned red and looked down.

"So this is a small token of gratitude..."

"And here’s mine."

At this moment, Alisa squeezed over from the side, looking a bit puffed up and handing over a cake box in a huff.

"This is a chocolate cake I made myself! You...have a taste! And...Nanoha and the others have really benefitted from your care, thank you, teacher... Let’s go, Suzuka!"

After saying this, Alisa shoved the cake box to Fang Zheng then grabbed Suzuka’s hand and quickly walked away with a flushed face. Fang Zheng, left holding the two boxes, stared at their disappearing backs, shrugged, and turned back to keep going towards the office.

But what Fang Zheng hadn’t expected was that this was just the beginning.

On his way through the school, Fang Zheng was frequently stopped by students giving him gifts, for a variety of reasons—to help them with homework, improve their grades, being kind... Most were his students, but some were from other grades, and they were all girls...

By the time Fang Zheng reached the office, he had amassed a small mountain of gifts.

"Ah, good morning, Fang Zheng-sensei..."

Seeing Fang Zheng come in, a male teacher at the table next to him quickly greeted Fang Zheng and helped him with the precariously stacked mountain of gifts.

"This is...?"

"Gifts from students on the way to the office."

Fang Zheng casually placed the gifts on the table, tidied them up, and found that most were chocolate, and the rest all seemed chocolate-related: chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, chocolate cookies... Why all chocolate?

"So many? Fang Zheng-sensei is really popular, huh."

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing the male teacher’s comment, Fang Zheng looked at him when suddenly there was a knock on the office door, and a short-haired girl who looked quite composed walked in.

"Terada-sensei..."

"Ah, Sasaki!"

Seeing the girl walk in, Terada-sensei scratched his head awkwardly before stepping forward.

"What’s up?"

"...Please accept this!"

Facing Terada-sensei, the girl named Sasaki hesitated briefly, then pulled out a teddy bear and a box of chocolates from the bag she was holding and offered them.

"Teacher...this is for you..."

"Ah, Sasaki, thank you..."

Clearly embarrassed by this unexpected gift, Terada-sensei chuckled shyly and accepted the gift from Sasaki. Upon seeing Terada-sensei accept the gift, Sasaki smiled happily, bowed politely to both Terada and Fang Zheng, and quickly left the office.

"Seems like Terada-sensei is quite popular too."

Fang Zheng quipped, eyeing the scene, while Terada-sensei chuckled awkwardly and sat back down.

In truth, Fang Zheng noticed that, aside from Terada, many teachers received gifts from students, though naturally, Fang Zheng had received the most by far. Others perhaps looked on with some envy, but it remained just playful teasing.

Given all the teachers received gifts, Fang Zheng decided not to dwell on these odd happenings; perhaps it was Teacher’s Day? Remembering how he used to give gifts on Teacher’s Day, albeit typically collectively from a class, unlike here, where each student individually gifted... Also, why all chocolate?

Japan has Teacher’s Day, right?

For anyone else, this much chocolate would be impossible to eat, but luckily Fang Zheng was a Time Dragon, for whom the amount was inconsequential. He treated it as snack food, eating leisurely and enjoying himself.

However, during lunch break, Fang Zheng encountered something quite surprising upon heading to the club activity room.

"What is this thing?"

Staring at a huge box, Fang Zheng curiously stroked his chin. It appeared to be an oversized gift box with "For Teacher" written on it, yet what exactly could this be?

With curiosity, Fang Zheng extended his hand, undoing the ribbon to open the box.

Whereupon Fang Zheng was utterly astounded.

Inside the box, Fate was curled up ribboned only by a bow covering her chest, resembling a life-sized doll. She was blushing and glanced at Fang Zheng bashfully.

"Uh...Teacher..."

"Um...Fate? What exactly is this supposed to mean?"

Seeing Fate before him, Fang Zheng’s mind went completely blank.

What sort of prank is this?

"Be-because it’s Valentine’s Day today... I wanted to give Teacher a gift..."

This had Fate quickly glancing down self-consciously.

"A gift?"

"Yes, Sister Little Hei said...it would make Teacher happier..."

Nervously looking at Fang Zheng again, Fate questioned, "Are you unhappy, Teacher?"

".........."

Witnessing this, Fang Zheng was completely speechless.

How am I supposed to respond to this?