CHAPTER 171: CHAPTER 171: FOR HIRE

[Morning Class]

"Are... are we really going inside looking like this?"

"We are already wearing it, Pauline."

And finally, after what seemed like an entire week of a weekend, Riley and the others were back at the Academy. The crew was actually a little hesitant to go back. After all, how could they not when they had just experienced the most thrilling two days they had ever had in their lives?

It flew by so fast, and yet so many things happened to them. After they chose their official Baby Crew uniform, they all went back to rest for a bit.

They had trouble waking Bella up to the point that they had to carry her to the jet.

They were now all in their respective morning classes. Riley and Pauline, in particular, were standing in the hallway in front of their classroom.

Pauline was about to enter, but her hand stopped short of touching the door. She gazed down, glancing at her two-layered skirt and full-body superhero suit.

Yes.

They all made the conscious decision to wear their superhero outfit in class.

"I..." Pauline adjusted her skirt, slightly lowering it to cover more of her thighs. Granted, she wasn’t actually showing any skin, but she still felt uncomfortable walking around like that, especially with how skin-tight the suit actually was.

She lightly brushed her fingers across her thigh, and she couldn’t believe how it felt like she wasn’t wearing anything at all—the suit was so light and soft, it felt like she was just wrapped in bubbles of soap.

"I would understand if we wore this second period," Pauline tried pulling her skirt down even further, only for it to go down below her waist. She quickly pulled it back up, glancing at Riley, who didn’t seem to care about her at all.

"I... I would understand if we wore this during SMM’s class," she repeated. "But this is a normal class? This is—"

Riley suddenly pressed the door open before she could even finish sharing her concerns. And Riley being what and who he is, the other students always turn their eyes toward him whenever he appears.

Of course, they all look away after a while and do whatever it was they were doing prior to noticing Riley. But not this time.

Some of them gasped, the others pulling out their Academy laptops from their bags and immediately pointing the cameras at him. And of course, since Pauline was right behind him, she was included in all of the attention. No.

One could say she completed the look altogether.

It was almost as if they were about to attend some sort of fancy ball, set in a sci-fi fantasy with giant mechanical robots and a main character who could control people’s minds with his special eyes.

Well, that comparison wasn’t that far-fetched, since Pauline could actually control people’s minds if she wanted to.

The two made their way to their usual station. And while Riley was already preparing all of his culinary tools, Pauline was still trying her best not to be drawn out by all the attention they were getting.

"We... we’re the only ones wearing a costume, Riley."

"A costume?" Riley stopped fixing his tools, placing one final knife on the counter as he tilted his head and glanced at Pauline. "This is our crew uniform, Pauline."

"R-right... and we’re the only ones wearing... something like this."

"No?" Riley tilted his head to the other side, glancing at the other students who were wearing their usual casual clothes. "They are all wearing their own uniforms, too, Pauline."

"...No?" Pauline squinted, following where Riley’s eyes were looking. And no matter how much she squinted, everyone else was just their normal selves.

"Yes. They consciously chose to wear what they are wearing now, and could therefore be considered their uniform in their everyday life, Pauline. I suppose you could argue that we just happen to be more stylish, and not to mention beautiful."

"R-right..." Pauline awkwardly chuckled. "I... feel like you said something profound somewhere there."

"The truth can often be, Pauline. It—"

"Alright, alright!"

Before Riley could cause Pauline to lose more of her common sense, Chef Jordan finally arrived. There was more bounce to his steps as he made his way to the center station, and that didn’t escape Riley’s eyes at all.

I suppose I could take you off the list of possible moles planted by the Dark Millennium now, Chef Jordan. After all, they failed their mission to abduct Gracey and Tomoe, and I destroyed one of their obviously expensive submarines this weekend. If you were part of the Dark Millennium, you would not be this... jolly.

Or perhaps... is it an act? To throw us, the Baby Crew, off?

Either way, you are still suspicious.

Riley’s thoughts and suspicions of Chef Jordan filled his head. But of course, not to the point that he couldn’t learn anything anymore from the World-class chef.

And right now, Chef Jordan was teaching them one of the hardest dishes to learn and master in the culinary world—sushi.

It might seem extremely simple, even easy in the eyes of someone outside the kitchen, or someone who has only had sushi bought pre-packed from the supermarket.

But sushi was anything but simple..

Because sushi, to be precise, was not just food—no.

It was an art. A show.

Literally. It was a show.

"Children..." Chef Jordan softly said, preparing everything by himself in front of the students. He filleted a large piece of tuna into smaller portions, doing so gracefully.

"...We, as the chef, have the responsibility to feed those in front of us. Not only their stomachs, but their eyes. Their hearts," he continued, scooping out a short-grain Japonica rice he had already cooked and steamed earlier.

"We have to prepare it right in front of the one who will devour it. Our customer, the consumer, in a way, is part of our dish. Their experience would complete the taste."

Riley was a little confused with his words, but for a reason, he understood.

Watching him right now, he also felt something.

Something he wanted the others to feel too—a sense of... excitement. Euphoria.

Thank you for imparting your wisdom again, Chef Jordan. You are right. It is not enough for people to just see the result...

...they need to see how I prepare it too.

Well... Riley might have slightly misinterpreted where he should apply what he was learning here today.

***

[Afternoon Class]

"Oh ho!"

Spectacular Mustache Man’s breath of approval echoed throughout the entire class. His mustache nodded along with his head as he looked at the Baby Crew.

"I see a group of you who couldn’t help it anymore and finally made their outfits. Good, good. Wear it well, wear it proud." Spectacular Mustache Man nodded again, smiling and chuckling as he stood in front of everyone.

"I’d like to say more, but I’ll leave it when it’s time to talk about your secret identities and outfits. For now, we were asked by the Academy to actually teach you something."

Spectacular Mustache Man’s voice turned deeper for a moment as he scanned the classroom.

"I am sure all of you are aware of what is happening, right?" he asked. "Darkday’s website."

And as soon as he uttered those words, the air inside the classroom turned heavier.

"I know, settle down. Settle down!" Spectacular Mustache Man raised his voice, gesturing for everyone to calm down, even though none of them were even making any noise or moving from their seat.

"We’re not specifically talking about the website, but rather the circumstances surrounding it." Spectacular Mustache Man crossed his arms, once again scanning the students before his mustache extended and stretched toward his desk, turning on the projector.

"Today, we are learning about Supers for Hire," he said as an image appeared on the wall. It... was an image of people from different races, either wearing hemp clothes or fully clad in armor.

"Or, as some would like to call them in history, one of the driving origins of the existence of superheroes and villains. Yes, that’s right—this isn’t a modern concept, but rather an ancient one."

The image on the wall changed, replaced by... ninjas flying above rooftops.

Gracey was about to say something since that was an image from one of the manga she was reading, but Spectacular Mustache Man glared at her before she could do so.

"That is right. Before valiant heroics, before Megawoman, a select few of our kind did some odd jobs for odd people. Now, why exactly am I telling you this? I am telling you this because even now, in our time, hiring supers for odd jobs is still completely legal. There is even a law preventing the future generation from ever outlawing it. Odd, isn’t it? And so, while Darkday’s website may be... unethical and criminal, the authorities can’t just take it down. There’s a loophole being played here. But we will discuss that later. For now...

...why do you think the World Government still has not outlawed Supers-for-Hire? Anyone?"

"Sir."

"Yes, Ms. Ross." Spectacular Mustache Man pointed at Hannah.

"I believe it provides a sense of... equality for our kind and the normal people."

"A noble way to look at it. But, no. While it does provide a sense of equality, it does provide something more intimate—

—Control, or at least a false sense of it."