This Time, I'll Be the Villain's Favorite Daughter novel Chapter 125

Chapter 125 General Knowledge

+5 Pearls

Alfred had been sitting quietly beside the others. When he finally spoke, his voice cut through the air like a blade being drawn.

“It’s expensive.”

Vincent blinked, then answered on instinct. “We have money.

“Even so, you need access.

“The best operatives aren’t for hire just because you can pay.

“They have their own networks. Their own circles. Their own rules”

The remark landed like a splash of cold water. Vincent rubbed his chin, unwilling to let it go. “Then what about carrying guns for self–defense?”

There wasn’t a boy alive who didn’t harbor some fascination with firearms.

Still, their experience was limited to beginner–level shooting classes.

“You could,” Alfred said, and something in him seemed to switch on. “My mom prefers compact pistols. A Walther PPK, for example. Easy to conceal.

“My father leans more toward designated marksman rifles and anti–materiel rifles. Though he always complains the recoil on the latter is brutal. Says it’s terrible for his shoulder joint. Claims he’s just a poor overworked office type.”

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“… I’ve been meaning to ask. Why do you know so much about guns?”

Vincent cut in, dragging a hand down his face. “Who memorizes models for fun? What, your house just… stocked with them or something?”

Firearms weren’t unheard of in every household, not exactly.

But nobody flaunted it. Nobody talked this way.

So how did Alfred know all this?

Alfred, having finished the thread of thought that interested him, lowered his gaze again. The conversation might as well have ended there.

Vincent nearly choked.

“There you go again!” he burst out. “The silent treatment!”

That was what made Alfred so impossible.

He spoke only on his own terms, and the reactions of others slid off him like water off oiled steel.

Another boy spoke up hesitantly, voice thin with unease. “… I feel like we’ve drifted way past what

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Chapter 125 General Knowledge

+5 Pearls

elementary schoolers should be talking about. Honestly, our school’s security is pretty solid. It’s not like we’d ever need to carry guns.”

Maya hadn’t meant to start anything. She had only been thinking out loud.

No one wanted to imagine something going wrong at their own school.

But during the last parent–teacher meeting, Raymond had walked her through the place inside and out.

She rested her head on her arms, letting the memory surface. When she spoke again, her voice drifted, half–lost. “Even a well–designed system isn’t foolproof,” she murmured.

“If I were the one planning something…”

She paused, almost dreamy. “First thing, communications. Disrupt signals. Shut down cell service.”

“Then the network. Cut the main fiber line, or breach the control room. For someone skilled, that part’s

easy.

“Landlines are even simpler.

“The school’s switchboard is on the first floor, west wing. It’s behind a keypad lock, but if someone took the time to observe, figuring out the code wouldn’t be hard.”

She didn’t think the teachers had any counter–surveillance training.

“The campus is big, but only a few ways in and out.”

This was, after all, a private academy. Whoever designed it hadn’t built a rabbit warren of exits.

“Main gate, side gate, the underground garage ramp, and the delivery entrance behind the cafeteria. Station a few people at each. Dress them in decent–looking security uniforms. Give them fake radios. Suddenly, normal in–and–out becomes one–way only. You trap everyone.

“The uniforms are custom–made for the school’s security team. Either you threaten the real guards into cooperating, or you have the same outfits made in advance. Neither option is difficult.”

Like that homeless man they’d seen.

Maybe he’d stolen a teacher’s coat, maybe he’d had it made. Once he put it on, no one would questioned him.

Unless someone had a very sharp eye and a suspicious memory, but no one ever digs deep enough.

Phoebe had gone completely still, lips parted, as if she’d forgotten how to close them.

“You’d also need to control key personnel,” Maya went on.

“The most important are the administrators. Grab someone with authority. Someone recognizable, who’s been around long enough that everyone trusts them.

“Have them issue instructions. That alone could keep both staff and students steady, at least for a while.

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