Even after emerging out of the gate, Galen still shamelessly held Rhea in his arms without letting go. 

But Rhea wasn't having any of it. 

If this goes on any longer, her embarassment would shoot through the roof and literal smoke might start coming out of her head.

So, she shouted with a sharp look in her eyes.

"Galen ! Drop me off already." 

Acting like he had just came out of his reverie, Galen slowly dropped her from his arms.

Scratching his head with a sheepish smile, he gave her a made–up excuse.

"Pardon me, Rhea. Looking at your beautiful face, I forgot where we were for a moment." 

"Hmph..."

She turned away in response, hiding her flushed face from his view.

Knowing that she was surely enjoying his complements, Galen smiled faintly in response.

Taking multiple deep breaths, Rhea finally composed herself and turned around, asking suspiciously.

"Why hasn't the gate closed yet?~"

"It'll take twenty minutes for it vanish completely after getting broken down into fragments." 

"But, you said we had to get out in 30 seconds.~" 

"Yeah. If we had delayed any longer, the spatial fragments would have ripped us apart."

"This will also give us enough time to leave the place before anyone finds about our involvement in the closing the gate, since no one else in the world can close a gate besides myself." 

Though a bit doubtful about his somewhat  bragging statement, Rhea decided to believe him. 

"Here, your daggers.~" 

With the monsters vanquished for now, she approached Galen to return the daggers he gave her.

But he just smiled and refused to take them.

"I gave them to you as a gift. So I'm not taking it back." 

She bit her lips in frustration hearing that.

"I don't even know how I'm going to reapy you for saving my life. How can I accept these wonderful gifts with clear conscience?~"

"I don't want any repayment form my dear teacher." 

"But if you really insist…"

With a sly smile, Galen added,

"How about treating me to dinner tonight, for starters?"

After thinking for a moment, Rhea agreed.

"Let's go check on the students first. I'm sure they're terrified after everything that had happened.~"

"You can go ahead. I'll just tag along."

With their brief exchange over, the two of them headed straight toward the school gym.

His naughty system called out to him just then.

[ Master !~ ]

"What is it, Beth?" 

[ You might want to cover up your face before approaching anyone.~ ]

"Why?"

[ As you can see, your high charm stat (72)  is already affecting Rhea a bit too much. I know that's exactly what you would prefer, but if anyone else were to see your face right now, they might even fall for you on the spot, including men. You wouldn't want that, would you?~ ]

Galen briefly imagined a scene where multiple hairy men were chasing after him, shouting their love confessions to him with passion – and immediately shuddered in fear.

"NO WAY....." 

The next moment, he spent his remaining 10 origin mana to create a simple mask to cover his face using the system's crafting station.

"What are you doing?" 

Seeing him suddenly donning a face mask, Rhea asked in confusion.

"Nothing much. Just a safety precaution." 

"For whose safety?~" 

"Mine, of course." 

Rhea didn't believe him a single bit, but  decided to let it go, as she had more important things to worry about.

"Whatever..." 

Reaching the entrance to the gymnasium, Rhea lightly knocked on the closed door.

"It's me, teacher Rhea. Can anyone open the door?" 

One of the male teachers present inside opened the gymnasium door after confirming her identity.

Inside, most of the students were huddled together in a corner, with fear etched across their faces. A few teachers were pacing nervously nearby.

As soon as Rhea entered, the headmaster hurried over from his chair, the only one available in the gym and safely placed behind the students.

"Ms. Rhea… Thank God you're safe."

"We were really worried when you ran headfirst toward those dangerous-looking monsters."

"Is everything alright outside? Are the monsters really gone, like that unknown system said?"

"Yes, the monsters are gone, for now..." Rhea replied calmly.

"But the gates are still there, so we don't know when they might return."

The headmaster let out a sigh of relief at her first statement, but it quickly faded at the second.

The school was his livelihood. If an otherworldly gate remained nearby, parents would never send their children here again. The thought alone left him dejected.

Ignoring his visible distress, Rhea continued,

"Headmaster, you should dismiss the students and send them back to their homes. Their parents must've been really worried." 

"Y-Yes… I'll do that…"

Still looking troubled, the headmaster announced the school's closure until further notice.

Many of the students, and even some teachers, who were previously fond of Rhea, wanted to approach her. 

However, the sight of her blood stained clothes made them hesitate. In the end, one by one, all of them left quietly, without even greeting her.

Rhea loved her students, so she didn't take it to heart. Their reaction was only natural.

If she had been in their place, she would've done the same thing.

Once everyone had left, she took out her phone, which had somehow survived the chaos, and turned to Galen.

"Give me a moment. I'll call and reserve a table for our dinner."

She made a call, but no one answered. 

After trying several restaurants with the same result, she frowned slightly.

"Why is no one picking up."

"Maybe they all shut down and ran because of the monsters," he speculated.

"Ah... That might be it." 

"So what do we do now? It looks like I can't treat you to dinner tonight."

"Why not? Can't you just cook for me?"

"From what I've heard, you live alone. So you should have some experience in cooking, right? Or are you saying you can't even make a single dish?"

"Of course I can cook. But..."

"There, rhe problem solved. I'll come to your place at 7 PM. Bye!"

Before she could protest, Galen waved his hands toward her and hurried off.

Rhea stood there, stunned, her mouth slightly open.

"But I never agreed to meet at my house"

With a resigned sigh, she had also eventually left the place, to prepare for the unexpected dinner.

**"

Meanwhile,

[Master, you're a genius.]

[She didn't even know it was your trick and fell for it completely. 

Hahaha…]

Galen smirked in response.

This had been his plan all along. He had never intended to settle for a simple dinner at a restaurant. His real goal was something else entirely.

Knowing that no restaurant would be operating in the middle of such chaos, he just used the idea of dinner as an excuse to get entry into Rhea's home.

"I'm really looking forward to it…"

"The dinner, I mean."

A playful chuckle escaped his lips as he slowed down, walking back leisurely to his apartment.