Another week passed.

"Teacher... we failed..."

Helga and Alina stood in front of Julius, shoulders hunched and eyes shiny with worry. They held their test papers out with both hands, as if expecting to be scolded.

"We don’t know why... we tried really hard..." Helga mumbled.

Contrary to what they expected, Julius smiled. He reached out and gently ruffled both their heads.

"It’s alright. You’ll get better."

The twins looked up at him, confused. Helga sniffed. "But... we studied a lot..."

"I know," Julius said. "When something is new, it can be difficult. Everyone makes mistakes when they learn. One bad score does not mean you’re bad at it."

"...."

"...."

They stared at their shoes, looking unsure.

Julius lowered his hand and softened his tone. "Learning takes time. You only need to keep trying."

Alina peeked up. "Are you... mad?"

"No," Julius answered. "Why would I be mad?"

Helga fidgeted with the paper in her hand. "Because we got bad scores..."

"That is why you learn," Julius replied. "If you already knew everything, you wouldn’t need school."

"...."

"...."

The girls blinked at him, surprised at the simple logic.

"Come see me during lunch," Julius said. "I’ll help you practice. Next time, you’ll do better."

"Really?"

"Yes. I promise."

Their faces lit up with relief. They nodded quickly, smiling again, before hurrying off to their classroom. As soon as they were gone, Julius’s smile faded.

Children were easy to guide.

Helga and Alina, even more so.

The more they trusted him, the easier it would be to influence their father. If Lukas truly cared for his family, then getting close to his daughters would become the most efficient route.

Ring——

The bell rang. Laughing students poured into the hallway and rushed past him. Julius walked among them toward the faculty room. Inside, the math teacher flinched the moment he saw Julius.

"H-how did they take it?" he whispered.

"They were upset, but they’ll manage," Julius said. "I’ll handle the rest. Continue with the plan. Make things harder next time."

The teacher nodded quickly. "Yes, sir. I understand."

Julius left without further conversation. He walked down an empty hallway lined with children’s artwork. Crayon drawings covered the walls comprising of little houses, cats, and stick-figure families.

"...."

One drawing caught his attention. Four figures holding hands under a crooked blue sky. Above them were shaky words.

[Mommy, Daddy, Helga, Alina]

"...."

Julius stared at it for a long moment, his expression blank.

Then he turned away and continued walking.

There was still much to do.

* * *

Lukas returned home from work, though for some reason, home no longer felt the same. In the past month, something about his family’s routine changed.

His wife and children were coming home later and later, always offering the same excuse that they were busy. At first, he brushed it off as nothing serious, but the feeling that something was off only grew stronger with time.

What worried him most were the twins. Their grades had started declining. At first, he thought it was just a temporary slump. Children had off days.

But then he noticed that the girls were staying behind after school more often. They said they needed extra help. They said a teacher was tutoring them so they could catch up.

Lukas was not the type of father who obsessed over grades, yet he could see how much it bothered them. The twins had become more serious, spending time hunched over notebooks instead of laughing and playing.

In the end, he decided to visit the school to meet the teacher who had been helping them. He wanted to thank the person personally and maybe understand what was going on.

Now, inside his home, Lukas removed his shoes and sighed.

"I’m home..."

The house was quiet. He glanced toward the living room. No children lounged on the couch watching cartoons on the television. Their backpacks were neatly placed by the door, but the girls themselves were nowhere to be seen.

"...."

However, the extra time alone also gave Lukas room to look deeper into matters that had been troubling him. Over the past weeks, Lukas had discreetly reached out to the surviving Glassheart member from the old mercenary team he once belonged to on the matter regarding the Secret Police lurking around Hamburg.

Even so, before pursuing that thread further, Lukas wanted to speak to the school.

When he arrived, he requested a meeting with the administration. A staff member received him in a modest office.

"Usually, this is not a serious problem, Mister Meinhardt," she said. "Children often struggle at different times. The school is here to help them overcome those weaknesses. They have enough strong grades from the first term to move into the fourth grade without issue. Still, I did some review. They seem very dedicated. If you wish, I can recommend a cram school to support them further."

Lukas listened quietly, nodding along, though the suggestion alone did not address what concerned him most.

Helga had told him that their tutor wanted to keep the arrangement private from the school.

That was suspicious at first, but then there was Alina.

She was the sharper one. If something was wrong, she would have sensed it immediately. Yet Alina trusted the teacher. That alone eased a great deal of his doubt.

More importantly, Lukas trusted how he raised his children. They would have told him immediately if anything strange happened. But they never di. The girls only spoke of studying and wanting to improve. He couldn’t find anything odd in their tone or behavior when they mentioned their tutor.

In the end, everything pointed to simple goodwill.

Just a teacher helping students who wanted to succeed.

Lukas wanted to meet the person.

"By the way, is Teacher Jeremy here?" Lukas asked.

"Ah? Mister Jeremy Stinken, the language teacher?"

"Yes. I would like to speak to him. I noticed that, out of all their subjects, his seems to be the only one my daughters are doing well in."

"I understand," the administrator replied. "He should still be on campus. Let me confirm."

She tapped a message into her terminal. Lukas waited, eyes turning toward the courtyard where students were lining up for dismissal. Children were laughing, waving goodbye to friends, slinging backpacks over their shoulders.

After a minute, the administrator received a response. She stood and gestured for Lukas to follow. They walked down a bright hallway lined with student art and photos, each labeled by class.

"He should be in this room," she said, stopping at a classroom near the end of the hall. "I will let him know you are here."

She knocked twice, then pushed the door open.

"Teacher Jeremy, there is a parent who would like to speak with you."

Inside, Teacher Jeremy sat with a small group of children, helping them finish simple reading exercises. When he noticed the visitor, he nodded.

"That’s enough for today," he told the children. "You did well. You may go."

Lukas waited for the last group of children to file out of the classroom before stepping fully inside. Behind the teacher’s desk, Jeremy raised his hand toward the digital board.

With a slow swipe of his fingers, the glowing text began to clear.

Julius forced himself to continue erasing, pretending to tidy up his lesson. His throat felt tight. He tried to drag out the motion, buying himself a few extra seconds.

Each stroke masked the fear slowly growing inside him.

He kept his back turned, hoping the extra moment would let him calm down his rapid heartbeat.

"...."

Julius took a slow breath and stopped. He let his hand fall to his side, then turned to face the man he had been preparing for since the start of the mission.

"...."

For the first time since the operation began, he was face-to-face with the target.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

Lukas Meinhardt.