Half Eaten Prey

"That should be enough. Let's move on from mathematics now. Emilia is already pretty good, and Dixie's also doing fine. Make sure to practice the questions I marked out for the two of you separately, okay? Don't do it together."

Emilia hesitated a little as she looked at the heroine putting away the mathematics textbook, but decided it would be better to just voice out her thoughts.

After all, one of her purposes in approaching Crystal was to learn things faster. It was pointless to keep it to herself and slow her progress down.

"Um, that's fine. But, Crystal… I'm okay with this kind of basic stuff, but you know, that… 'permutation and combination' and stuff, I really need help with that!"

The heroine blinked, as if confused. "Oh… that's not in the semester's course, right?"

Emilia and Dixie both looked at each other in surprise. That was the topic that both of them had been struggling with the most, after all.

"Uh, didn't Mr. Jefferson—"

Crystal waved her hand, cutting off her argument as if she had heard it a thousand times.

"It doesn't matter what the teachers teach. Only what's the in the syllabus will come in the exams, and our goal is maximize our scores there, is it not?"

Emilia nodded. Although learning more was always good, it was better to understand what was necessary first before spending her spare time on other things.

"So where do I get this syllabus from?"

Crystal smiled, not realizing how smug she looked.

"Normally it's posted a month before the exams on the notice boards, but you can get it in advance by going to the principal's office."

Dixie blinked. "There's such a thing?"

The heroine's smug look was replaced by embarrassment. "To be honest, I didn't know about it. But I've always prepared according to the syllabus, and when I couldn't find one for our exams I just went to ask. The lady there just gave it to me."

Emilia's eyes were shining, as if deeply impressed by Crystal's 'ingenuity'. "That's super smart, Crystal! How come no one else thought of it?"

Dixie scratched her head and spoke up before the heroine could puff out her chest with pride.

"Uh, more like the lady there just made an exception for her since she's the topper in the entrance, you know."

Emilia blinked. "Oh…"

Crystal rolled her eyes. Why does it feel like Dixie's been getting a little hostile to her from time to time? How strange. Well, it's not like she was clueless, but she would rather not believe her conclusions till they were concrete.

After all, it was too absurd. She didn't want to believe it.

"Anyway, doesn't matter. She didn't tell me it was a secret or anything. Here…"

She took out a sheet of paper densely packed with tiny words.

"Take a photo with your phone. I would recommend against sharing it around, though."

There were many reasons for her saying so, but the heroine didn't want them to know her true thoughts.

The students can be incredibly malicious and selfish, after all, and if Emilia shared the syllabus and something in the exam didn't match, they might attack her for sharing a fake syllabus. There was simply no benefit in doing so.

Dixie quickly took a picture using her phone, while Emilia carefully went through the process 'step by step' as the other two girls looked at her weirdly.

"What is she doing?"

Dixie looked a little conflicted, as if unsure if she should reveal the 'secret'.

"I think… she's making sure that the image is perfectly centered, and the photo comes out borderless, and the focus is at its sharpest point."

The heroine blinked in surprise. "What? Is she going to submit that for a photography competition???"

The dark haired girl smiled, but there was a hint of 'showing off' in her expression.

"No, that's just how she is. Maybe you'll understand more, when you're closer to her. But of course, that takes time, you know."

----------

"Is it done?"

"All according to your instructions, young miss. They're on their way to the mines now."

The curly haired brunette leaned back into the leather chair with a sigh of both exhaustion and relief.

Although the small office by their warehouse was far from being as comfortable as the one in the city, the chair felt far more comfortable due to the sheer exhaustion she felt at this time.

"Samantha… are you okay?"

The gray haired lady's worried voice, and the direct use of her name made it clear that she was asking the question in a personal capacity, not as a subordinate.

"I'm fine, Noelle. Just woke up too early, I guess."

Noelle couldn't help but frown in disapproval. She was sure that one of the reasons her hair had grayed out so prematurely, even before she hit her mid-thirties, was because she had to constantly worry about this impulsive, reckless boss of hers.

"I don't understand why you have to overwork yourself like that, and do everything by yourself. A good business lady should know how to prioritize the right things, and most importantly, how to delegate tasks to their subordinates!"

What she didn't say was that if not for her disobeying Samantha directly to drag her away, she would probably even be injured at this point due to her recklessness.

Samantha let out a tired sigh as she closed her eyes. "What are you trying to say, Noelle? I'm too exhausted to figure it out. Just be direct."

The secretary couldn't help but grit her teeth.

"I'm saying that you should have locked up your little sister at home, and then left the handling of those morons to me. It would take a little longer, but I wouldn't be leaving loopholes everywhere like this. After that, when it's safe, you can let her out."

The younger girl shook her head. "No. There is no point to any of it if my little sister has to go through such trouble. It's bad enough that I can't deal with those dastardly Black family wolves, now you want me to turn a blind eye to even these small fries?"

Noelle felt frustrated, but she didn't know what to say.

"I didn't say that… Oh fine, whatever. What's done is done. But you know, this will definitely cause us more trouble."

Samantha nodded. "I know."

Noelle took a seat on the opposite end of the office table. "Moving three hundred special forces like that in the center of the city, a whole gang going missing… and disappearance of two children who had a conflict with your little sister, all on the same day…"

Samantha groaned. "Just suppress it."

Noelle sighed. "I'll try, but given that the Blacks were involved in this thing, they'll definitely not allow that to happen. We have to be ready to face whatever is coming, so… be ready."

Samantha felt as if her exhaustion was slowly wiped away during their conversation as the topic of the Black Tiger came up. She could feel cold fury coursing through her veins already, all her sleepiness gone.

"Those fucking garbage bags! I just don't understand… even though we had the initiative, how come those bastards keep being able to make trouble? Why aren't they on the streets already?!"

Noelle sighed. Although Samantha was brilliant for a girl her age, most things still had to be managed by Mr. White and herself. Samantha's natural business talent was just 'good', which was far from enough to deal with the Black Tiger.

"Young miss, I think you're misunderstanding something. Although your father tried his best to take the initiative, it was never in his hands to begin with. The Black family probably planned to cannibalize all their partners from the start."

Samantha wished there was a punching bag in her sight right now, because her knuckles were itching to send something flying.

Unfortunately, only Noelle was in her sight right now, and although she wished to punch, um, forget it. It would only be more frustrating to get her ass handed to her.

Thankfully, Noelle seemed to think her frustration was directed towards the Black Tiger. If she knew Samantha was considering the pros and cons of punching herself, well… Mr. White had given her the liberty to teach his daughter a lesson when needed.

The gray haired lady continued to console Samantha, oblivious to the younger girl's true thoughts.

"Even if the prey wakes up halfway through being swallowed, it's still quite helpless in the snake's belly. Until we can figure out a way to claw our way through and tear it apart, we can only helplessly watch ourselves melt, little by little."