Villain Retirement

"Charlotte'¦ was a leader of the Hope Guild?"

Hannah and the others could only look at each other as they heard Bulwark's sudden revelation, which was followed by an eerie silence as the sound of footsteps lightly echoed through the air as the other staff of the Shaved Ice store all left through the backdoor.

"...I feel like we heard something we shouldn't have," Gary then whispered, "...Are they going to kill us after?"

"Shh!" Hannah then shushed Gary, her hiss louder than Gary's words. And slowly, she, Silvie, and Gary all returned to their seats; their eyes watching the quiet scenery.

Hannah already guessed that Charlotte's identity was not simple. But to think she was the previous leader of the Hope Guild? Then that would mean she was-- Of course, it's all starting to make sense now;

Charlotte was the Shadow Mimic, aka, Madam Mimic. Bulwark referred to her as 'Madam' just earlier. Madam Mimic was able to copy the power of others, like what she did to Hannah's powers during the Rescue event.

Why didn't she think of this earlier? No'¦ of course she wouldn't have even been able to put two and two together. Charlotte'¦ looked the same age as her.

To her knowledge, Madam Mimic was already the leader of Hope Guild when her father joined the team but was replaced a few years later by Empress when she quit.

"..." Come to think of it, Bulwark was also already part of the Hope Guild when her father joined. Then'¦

...How old are these two?

"Why would you even reveal something like that to these kids?" Charlotte then let out a small sigh as she glanced at Hannah and the others.

"You can just erase their memories, Madam Charlotte," Bulwark then casually waved his hand.

"What Madam? You're older than me by at least a thousand years or something!" Charlotte then lightly slammed her palm on the counter, "And I don't have the power to erase memories anymore! And the one capable of doing so died 10 years ago!"

"...Oh," Bulwark then blinked a couple of times as he looked back and forth between Charlotte and the group, "...I guess I have committed a very grave mistake."

"S'¦ shit," Gary then took in a very deep breath as he stretched his arms to the side, "They'¦ they're going to silence us."

"No one is going to silence anyone!" Charlotte bellow as she threw a spoon on Gary's forehead,

"And the answer is no, Bulwark. I am not going back to Hope Guild even if I was 20 years younger."

"But there will be a void in the Hope--"

"A void?" Charlotte did not let Bulwark finish his words, "With the members you have right now? Is that some kind of joke? Even if you leave that Empress brat and Tempo to handle the guild, they will be enough."

"But there has always been 7."

"Why'd you leave then?" Charlotte then sighed, "Just invite some of these kids. Choose Bernard's daughter, she has the most potential to be in the Hope Guild."

The group's eyes all widened as they slowly looked towards Hannah.

"M'¦ me!?" Hannah's eyes started to wander everywhere, "Why'¦ why not Silvie!?"

"Not a team player, she--"

"Maybe after a few years after they graduate," Bulwark's sighs then drowned the entire store, "My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is--"

"Get out of here."

"Well, it was worth a try," Bulwark then said as his eyes darted around the store, "I suppose I will be spending a lot of time in your office, then."

"This is a store!"

"Interesting," Bulwark squinted his eyes as he looked at the menu.

"And what do you mean you'll be spending a lot of time here!?"

"Oh, I spoke with the Prophet boy," Bulwark then looked Charlotte straight in the eyes, "I'll be teaching here now."

"What!?" Charlotte once again slammed her palm on the counter, "What do you mean you'll be teach-- Go away, shoo! This is my territo--"

"Can I try the Strawberry Banana melt?"

"Will that be a Large?"

"Sure."

"Want to try our new-- What the, get out!"

"..."

Hannah and the others could only watch as the two started bickering with each other. Crazy to think that all this time, the one that was serving them was the previous leader of the Hope Guild.

But what exactly was she doing here? During the event, she mentioned to Hannah about Bernard still not paying his debt. Did'¦ Bernard loan money from her? Is that why he could afford all the things he has!?

"Hm'¦" Gary then let out a small hum as he nodded his head, "As expected, even in small ponds, a dragon may reside deep."

"...The fuck are you saying?"

***

"Mommy! Mommy! Look at that woman's face, it has a big boo-boo!"

"D'¦ don't point at people like that, honey! It's rude!"

"Why is she just sitting there, mommy?"

"Hm'¦ This is why you should study more, honey-- to help people like her someday, okay?"

"O'¦ okay! Goodbye, Ms. Stranger!"

The little girl then waved towards a woman sitting quietly on a slightly dark alleyway, surrounded by trash and dumpsters. However, even with all of the dirty things surrounding her, she still smiled and waved back at the little girl, who could not help but smile as she ran towards her mother.

"..." The woman then quickly covered the scars on her face, unveiling only her eyes that reflected the images of the small screen she was watching on.

"You'¦ maybe if it's you'¦" The woman's whispers traveled through the murky air as she continued to watch the news being shown on her tablet-- Riley Ross's trial-slash-press conference.

"If it's you'¦ maybe you'll understand."

The woman then stood up, the cloth covering her face falling towards the ground as she opened one of the dumpsters and seemingly leaning over it. And after a few seconds, she came out'¦ now with a motorcycle helmet in her hands.

"..." A loud whoosh then reverberated throughout the alleyway as the woman shook the helmet, throwing away any dirt that was sticking to it before proceeding to wear it without any hesitation.

"Maybe'¦ you can help me," and with that last whisper, a small explosion erupted as the woman suddenly disappeared.

***

"Mega Girl from Class 1-V!"

"What the-- You're just 4th, Silv!?"

2 weeks had passed since Riley's innocence has been proven; the issue, already almost forgotten as the students now all gathered in one of the Academy's coliseum, their cheers and howls enough to fill the entire campus.

As the instructors explained to them; at every end of the month, a new Mega Student will be chosen to replace the last.

The students of Class 1-V, however, could not help but let out gasps of disappointment as Silvie came out 4th, with 1.83 million votes. Of course, although Silvie was just casually waving her hand, she still could not help but also be disappointed.

"How'¦ how could this be!?"

But out of all of them, it would seem that Gary was the most disappointed as he rolled on the already tight bleachers, "What'¦ what about our weekly steak!?"

"S'¦ Shh!" Silvie quickly covered Gary's mouth as he started garnering the attention of other students.

"And in 3rd place, Julius Reuben of Class 1-P with 1.85 million votes!"

"..." Hannah could not help but raise an eyebrow as she saw the photo of the student displayed on the huge screen in front of them; wasn't this the guy who hit on her?

"2nd place, Gintsune of Class 1-A with 2.9 million votes!"

"!!!" Everyone howled as they heard the massive difference between 2nd and 3rd place. Ginstune was the Mega Student from Japan'¦ just, what did she do to be able to garner that many votes!?

However, as soon as the students saw her getting on stage, a reason popped up in each of their minds--

"She'¦ did she get first place because she's too cute!?"

"Who's the sexist shit that said that!?"

"Why, want to fight!?"

"Everyone, please no stretching of limbs!" The host then asked everyone to calm down, before announcing what everyone was waiting for,

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The first place-- will be revealed after we take a short break!"

And as soon as the host said that, a commercial from a popular coffee shop, Starbeans, started playing on the huge monitor.

[Come on and drink our coffee~]

"What'¦

....what the fuck is this bullshit!?"