The tape reached the end, and Ashley’s hand shook as she nearly flung the player away!
What was this?! What the hell was this?!
“Xixi!”
Ashley cried out, not even bothering to change her shoes. She dashed out in her slippers, tears streaming from her eyes.
This was absolutely a world-shaking catastrophe—a whole human city under assault!
No one else could help now. Only the teacher could save everyone, including Xixi.
Clutching the player to her chest, she hailed a carriage and raced straight to Whitehall Street. She jumped off, tossed a one-pound note to the driver, and shouted, “Keep the change!” Then she barreled into the Tribunal’s white building like a whirlwind.
She nearly collided with Amber head-on. “Ash—” Amber’s words caught in her throat as Ashley shoved her aside, sending her stumbling and almost falling.
“Don’t block me!”
Amber was baffled, her gaze following Ashley. She clearly saw the tears flung from the blue-haired loli’s eyes sparkling like tiny crystals in the air as they brushed past each other.
She… she was crying?!
More shocking than the rough treatment was Ashley’s tears!
What in the world had happened?!
Amber wasn’t the type to cry at the drop of a hat!
Startled, a wave of unease surged in Amber’s heart. She hurried after her, trailing her up to the second floor, around the corridor, and to the teacher’s office. But when Amber followed right behind, she found the office empty.
Huh?
Where did she go?
It was broad daylight; she couldn’t have missed her…
Was there a hidden door?
I… I…
Amber suddenly realized something. Her little face paled, her lips trembled, and a strong sense of grievance welled up inside her.
The teacher hadn’t told her about it after all this time!
But Ashley had found out in just a few days!
Wahhh… Teacher, you’re playing favorites!
“Hah… hah…”
The churning emotions in her chest made her blood race, leaving her breathless.
Since she now knew about the hidden door, the “open-book exam” wasn’t too hard. Amber quickly located it.
Her hand rested on the doorknob. She mustered her resolve several times but always shrank back, not daring to open it.
Without the teacher’s permission… I can’t go in… I’m not a bad kid…
But… Ashley went in… Why can’t I?!
In her grievance, Amber bit her lip until it deformed. She stomped her foot and thought resentfully:
I’ll just stand here and watch! Watch you two come out! I’ll stare at you with my big innocent eyes! Let’s see how you explain yourselves!
–
Ashley arrived in the studio but didn’t see the Trial Judge. She hugged the wall and circled the room, finding no second hidden door, but she was certain there was a bedroom.
Her gaze scanned the interior, searching for possible mechanisms.
Found it!
Drawing on her knowledge from her past life of Picasso’s appreciation and Cubism, Ashley approached a geometrically sliced plaster mannequin. She pinched the nose in its upright position and twisted it to the reverse. Once that discordant spot was corrected, a differential gear sound emanated from inside the statue.
Buzz—
A concealed door in the wall depressed inward and slid into the crevice, revealing a small bedroom within.
Normally, Ashley would have hesitated at the threshold, peeking in slyly like a thief. But with the emergency at hand, there was no time for coyness. She charged inside in one arrow-like step.
Her eyes swept the room. It was a minimalist, salt-toned feminine style bedroom. A vanity mirror in a silver-gray frame was secured to the vanity with stainless steel clasps. Solids like face powder and lipstick were stored in metal-gray cubic boxes of varying shades. Liquids such as cleanser, toner, and lotion were kept in starry-gray glass bottles, creating an atmosphere of mysterious elegance with their silky, subdued cool tones.
Aside from the wardrobe, a long clothing rack occupied a quarter of the room’s space for everyday outfits. Letisia had unique taste—picky like a queen in Prada. Her bags and clothes were either custom pieces from famous fashion ateliers or high-end products from tailors and leatherworking dynasties.
Where was the teacher?
Ashley’s gaze darted around as she searched the room. Soon, she spotted a loli tightly wrapped in a twisted bundle of bedding on the bed, like a rice ball squeezed in a towel—impossible to pull out.
The covers were pulled up to her chin. Ash-gray soft hair scattered messily over her fair forehead, interspersed with faint silver strands. The densest silver part was a prominent ahoge dangling over her forehead like highlighted dye.
The tip of the ahoge hovered near her nose, rising and falling rhythmically with her breaths.
Ashley froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up. A loli even smaller than me! So cute! It was… the teacher’s loli form~!
The teacher sleeping like this… she’s working hard… wrestling with the blanket… Did she dream of naked-choking a criminal?
But she couldn’t sleep anymore!
Something huge had happened!
Ashley rushed over but was blocked midway by a warning sign.
The sign had an orange-yellow background with bold black printed text:
Go any further, and you’ll die.
Ashley slammed on the brakes, a chill racing up her spine. Her instincts screamed at maximum volume—danger ahead!
After a brief thought, she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table, leaned forward, and lobbed it like a bowling ball.
It rolled along a crooked path.
Ashley’s attention was razor-sharp, the atmosphere oppressive, as if a storm brewed in the silence.
When the apple passed the warning sign, Ashley—highly sensitive to frame rates—felt it slow by one frame for an instant.
Her expression turned grave. She sensed some change in the ether, but the Time Bird hadn’t recorded it—perhaps a lingering effect of an activated ability.
Suddenly!
The apple rotted and decayed at a visible speed!
“Is it something like ‘Glorious Martyrdom’? It ages living things… No!”
Ashley’s eyes widened as seeds in the rotting pulp sprouted leaves. In mere seconds, it completed weeks of plant growth!
But lacking nutrients, the sapling soon withered.
She grabbed an orange and bowled it forward. This time, it didn’t rot but shrank slowly into a small green tangerine, then contracted further into a cluster of ovary and nectar glands.
She gradually realized something, her face turning horrified.
Teacher! You’re a time manipulator too?!
After a few more tests, she confirmed that loli-form Letisia’s ability was Time System—likely a composite of domain-type and another.
If her guess was right, time around the teacher was utterly disordered. If time was a river, then in the domain she released, some areas flowed fast, some slow, riddled with dark surges and eddies. The vortex center was time-stop. Rashly passing through, and a part suddenly halting would tear the object apart with its own momentum.
Ashley didn’t dare imagine what would happen if she walked straight through. It wouldn’t be as simple as failing to climb stairs.
This wasn’t general time manipulation—the world’s timeline remained unchanged. The domain’s effects acted directly on objects. If aimed at destruction, it was pure killing power.
No wonder she was the Trial Judge, Ashley thought. If I had this ability, I’d judge whoever I wanted.
One thing was clear: the teacher wasn’t one to kill in her sleep, hence the warning sign. Of course, it wouldn’t stop someone truly seeking death.
The teacher’s three forms were probably due to this ability—the price of invincibility.
But how to wake her up?
Ashley’s tossed objects all shattered on the time-stop “reefs” in the domain. At a loss, suddenly, the gray-haired loli on the bed abruptly opened her eyes wide, her ahoge shooting straight up!
“Hah…”
Even as a little loli, Letisia wasn’t any cuter or dumber—her gaze remained cold, the pressure even stronger than her previous forms!
“You insolent disciple, getting more brazen by the day—daring to barge into your master’s bedroom…”
Unfortunately, her voice was soft and glutinous, undermining the intimidation.
The gray-haired loli narrowed her eyes. Her little face, red from pressing against the pillow, looked like a steamed shrimp. Her big, watery eyes brimmed with wake-up grumpiness.
She wriggled her legs out from the bedding, turned, and sat on the bed’s edge, dangling her chubby little legs. Her snow-white skin outshone the bedsheets.
She glared at her disciple at the door for a while, seemingly realizing her intimidation fell short. The gray-haired loli ground her little teeth in frustration, jumped off the bed, and went to the coat rack. She pulled a pair of silver handcuffs from the inner pocket of a hanging coat.
Then, she marched up to Ashley and barked:
“Hands on head! Squat! You’re too tall!”
Ashley’s expression turned weird, but she could only squat down, raise her hands, and let herself be cuffed.
