Chapter 20: The Outside

“Ah… You’re here early.”

“Yes… Senior Hanekawa, I look forward to working with you.”

As soon as I arrived at Trinity early in the morning, Senior Hanekawa was waiting in front of the vehicle.

Today is the day we’re going to D.U., to the General Student Council, so I greet her and immediately get into the vehicle.

Nagisa said she would take care of attendance separately, so I got into the vehicle without worry.

An unnamed Justice Task Force member was sitting in the driver’s seat, so Senior Hanekawa and I sat side by side in the back seat.

Today, since I came for official business, I came wearing my uniform and Garand, with only Daedalus holstered on my thigh.

“You don’t look well, Sora. Did something happen?”

“Ah… Yes… Well… I guess I’m a little nervous…”

“Haven’t you been to the General Student Council several times for work?”

“Yes… But it’s different this time…”

“…I understand. But don’t be nervous, Sora. This time, we’re not in the wrong, but rather protesting against the General Student Council.”

“Yes….”

Senior Hanekawa saw my expression and seemed to quickly notice my condition.

I’m actually nervous, so I make an excuse that it’s probably because of nervousness.

The reason I’m nervous is definitely different from what Senior Hanekawa said, but I bury it.

If I dig it up, I definitely won’t be able to stand it now.

The area around the General Student Council was quite congested, so we parked the Justice Task Force vehicle nearby and moved separately with Senior Hanekawa.

The Justice Task Force member who had been driving the vehicle stayed behind to guard the vehicle.

Several people were already gathered at the front gate of the General Student Council.

There were also a considerable number of familiar faces.

“Really… What is the General Student Council President doing…? Huh? It’s been a while!”

“It’s been a while, Hayase.”

Hayase Yuuka, the treasurer of the Millennium Seminar.

A person I met and talked to during the cooperation agreement between Trinity and Millennium.

She was precise in her calculations and had a clean way of handling things, so she was a great help when concluding the cooperation agreement.

“Hmm? A member of the Tea Party came too…”

“Hello… Um… I guess you’re from the Vigilante Crew?”

“Oh my, you’re perceptive…”

The only people who were supposed to come from Trinity today are me and Senior Hanekawa.

So, except for the Sisterhood, which doesn’t participate politically, the only people who could move additionally from Trinity for this matter are the Aid Squad and the Vigilante Crew.

The person in front of me is not from the Aid Squad no matter how I look at it, so the Vigilante Crew remains by the process of elimination.

The Vigilante Crew is not an authorized club in Trinity, but their actions and activities are quite helpful in maintaining the security of Trinity, so they were not particularly restrained.

They were just given a nominal warning.

“It seems that people from various schools have already gathered…”

A Gehenna Prefect Team vehicle stopped late, and a member of the Prefect Team got out.

Hinomia Chinatsu, a person I’ve seen when I was indebted to the Prefect Team’s Emergency Medicine Club.

She was one of the executives of the Prefect Team, and I remember that she was also in charge of the emergency team inside the Prefect Team, apart from the Emergency Medicine Club.

We don’t really know each other except for our names, so we didn’t particularly talk to each other.

Senior Hanekawa was also one of the seniors who particularly disliked Gehenna, but she didn’t do anything in particular, perhaps judging that it would be helpful in protesting against the General Student Council for this matter.

“It seems that Trinity is also having a hard time…”

“Yes… I heard that the power plant on the Millennium side also went down some time ago…”

-Tap, tap, tap-

Hayase and I were having a conversation complaining about work inside the front gate of the General Student Council, and we moved our gaze to the sound of footsteps.

Nanagami Rin, the chief administrative officer of the General Student Council, was coming down with a man I’ve never seen before.

..He was quite a handsome man.

If it weren’t for the memories of my past life, I might have fallen for him.

“Wait! Acting President! I found you! I’ve been waiting! Call the General Student Council President!….? Who is the adult next to you?”

“Chief Administrative Officer, I’ve been waiting. You’d better explain this matter well.”

“I came to see the General Student Council President. The Prefect Team Leader is demanding a satisfactory answer to the current situation.”

Starting with Hayase, I and Hinomiya glare at Chief Administrative Officer Nanagami Rin sequentially.

“Hmm… I’ve been caught by troublesome people.

Hello, student council, Prefect Team, and other people with time to spare from each academy who bothered to visit here.”

…That woman, no, the chief administrative officer, just said we were troublesome people.

And other people with time to spare? Does she not know why the people gathered here are gathered?

My expression distorts.

The emotion of anger gradually rises.

It’s ridiculous. The people gathered here are the people in charge of the academies called the three major academies, but to treat us like this is to ignore us, isn’t it?

“I know well why such leisurely…important people have come here.

To hold them accountable for the chaos that is happening in the academy city…right?”

That woman knew.

What’s different from a subcontractor who is far past the deadline and says they’ll do whatever they want when asked what happened?

I almost couldn’t hold back and was about to go out, but I have to endure it.

Yeah, they must have their own difficulties.

First, let’s start by informing them of the current situation of our academy.

“If you know well, do something! It’s the General Student Council! Thousands of academy autonomous districts are in chaos! A few days ago, our academy’s wind power plant shut down!”

“There was also intelligence that some of the students who were suspended from the Federal Correctional Bureau escaped.”

“The frequency of thugs like Sukeban attacking our students who are going to school has also recently increased rapidly. Security is not being maintained.”

“The distribution of illegal weapons, presumed to be from unknown sources such as tanks and attack helicopters, and the black market, has increased by more than 20 times.

At this rate, normal operation of the academy is impossible.”

Trinity is actually quite a mess.

Compared to Gehenna, which I visited before… No, I’ll take that back.

Gehenna was a bit out of the norm.

Anyway, the security of Trinity has been rapidly deteriorating recently.

Since Trinity is in this situation, other small academies must be hit harder.

“What is the General Student Council President doing in this situation? Why hasn’t she been seen for weeks? I need to meet her right now!”

“…The General Student Council President is not here now. To be honest, she went missing.”

The rumor…was true… That woman must have known about the current situation of Trinity and Gehenna, no, she must know.

There’s no way she wouldn’t know when Trinity sent so many letters.

There are many things in Kivotos that are maintained by the existence of the General Student Council President.

The peace treaty between Trinity and Gehenna could also proceed this far because she existed.

Something that is so urgent and desperate for me and us has become a trivial matter for that woman, something that can be postponed a little later.

I readjust my grip on the Garand I was holding.

Closer to the muzzle, not the trigger, as if holding a blunt weapon.

The sounds around me gradually become smaller, and at the very end, it doesn’t sound like it’s muted.

Well, whatever. I’m slowly approaching that woman.

Someone stops me by holding my shoulder.

“…I’ll take it from here, Sora. Calm down.”

“…Yes…”

Hanekawa put her hand on my shoulder and stepped forward.

I guess I’ve been very sensitive lately.

If Hanekawa hadn’t been there, I would have definitely swung the Garand.

“In conclusion, the General Student Council is now without administrative control because the final administrator of the Sanctum Tower has disappeared.

We are looking for a way to bypass authentication…but until a little while ago, there was no way.”

It’s absurd that such an important matter was neglected for weeks without any notice.

My head hurts. What am I….No, let’s put this aside for a moment… It’s important to me, but isn’t there one more thing that’s just as important?

“Then does that mean there is a way now, Chief Administrative Officer?”

“Yes, this Sensei will be the solution.”

“That person?”

Hinomia’s and Hayase’s surprised voices and Hanekawa’s question focus on one person.

More than that, was he a teacher?

[Me?]

“Wait a minute. Come to think of it, who is this Sensei? Why is he here?”

“He seems to be from a place outside of Kivotos… He was a Sensei.”

“This person is Seito-sensei. He is the person who will work as a Sensei of Kivotos in the future, and he is the person specially designated by the General Student Council President.

The fact that the missing General Student Council President directly designated a person means that the General Student Council President already designed to some extent that she would hide herself,

the General Student Council would lose administrative control, and Kivotos would fall into chaos.

There is also the possibility that the disappearance of the General Student Council President and the appearance of the Sensei just happened to coincide,

but judging from what I’ve seen of the General Student Council President so far, that doesn’t seem likely.

Therefore, the General Student Council President is also a person who has the ability to solve the chaos of Kivotos, but disappeared while neglecting it.

If that’s not the case, it just becomes a confusing situation with no real meaning.

My evaluation of the General Student Council President has dropped significantly.

“The missing General Student Council President designated….? It’s getting more and more incomprehensible…..”

[Hello? My name is Seito-sensei. Nice to meet you?]

“Ah, hello. Sensei. I’m from Millennium Science School… Ah, no, greetings are fine!!!”

“You don’t have to worry about that noisy woman. Well, then, let’s continue….”

“Who are you calling noisy!! I, I’m Hayase Yuuka! Remember that, Sensei!”

[Nice to meet you.]

“…Sensei originally came here as the role of a homeroom Sensei of a certain club created by the General Student Council President.

Federal Investigation Club Schale, not just a club, but a kind of supra-legal institution.

As a federal club, it can enroll students from all academies in Kivotos without restrictions.

It can also conduct combat activities without restrictions in the autonomous districts of each academy.

I don’t know why the General Student Council President created an institution with this much authority….”

Federal club, supra-legal institution.

Isn’t too much authority concentrated in one institution?

If it’s the General Student Council President, she must have had some idea to create such a club, but it’s strange.

If it goes wrong, it’s an absurd institution where one person can control Kivotos.

“The Schale club room is about 30km away from here in the outskirts. It’s an empty building now, but we brought something there underground by order of the General Student Council President.

We need to take Sensei there.”

-Static-

“Momoka. We need a helicopter that goes directly to the Schale club room…”

-Static-

“Schale club room…? Ah, the outskirts? It’s a mess there now?”

“A mess?”

“The suspended students who escaped from the correctional bureau caused a disturbance. It’s a battlefield there now.

It seems that they are inciting local thugs with a grudge against the General Student Council and are devastating the surroundings. I heard they even got a cruiser tank from somewhere?

I think they’re trying to occupy the Schale building, which belongs to the General Student Council. I guess there’s something important there?”

“Sigh…”

“Besides, it’s a city that’s already messy enough, so it won’t stand out much… Ah, senior, the food I ordered has arrived, so I’ll contact you later!”

“….Sigh……”

Wow…I’m angry.

I didn’t want to hear the contents of the radio, but it really makes me think, is that person really a high-ranking member of the General Student Council?

It was a conversation.

I had a deep anger towards the Chief Administrative Officer, but I also started to feel a bit of sympathy.

[…Do you want to take a deep breath?]

“….I…I’m fine. A minor problem has arisen, but it doesn’t matter.”

…I feel a gaze.

This gaze is the gaze that my boss at work used to send me just before he was about to make me work.

Do you have a conscience?! Right now, these are the people who gathered because of the incompetence of the General Student Council?!

“What, what are you looking at us for?”

“Since there are excellent and leisurely people representing each academy here, I am relieved.”

I’ll formally protest this later. I mean it.

-Bang, bang, bang, bang-

The closer we got to Schale, the more the number of Sukeban increased.

The command of the man called Sensei was surprisingly clean, and thanks to that, we were able to reach the Schale building quite easily.

“Somehow, I feel like the battle is much easier than usual…”

“Right…?”

“It’s thanks to Sensei’s command. We can fight much more smoothly than usual.”

“Certainly… His ability to grasp the abilities of individual students and his tactical deployment ability are unrivaled in Kivotos…”

“Indeed… This is Sensei’s ability… Well, since he’s the person chosen by the General Student Council President, it’s natural….”

[You’re exaggerating, but I’m flattered~]

“Then please take care of the next battle.”

Certainly, Sensei’s tactical command was excellent.

Compared to those humans who call themselves teachers, who only care about their own interests and fish for young students with sweet talk,

and when they think they will be harmed and it will become troublesome, they cleanly give up and treat them like strangers, Sensei’s ability was definitely excellent.

I can’t trust him yet, but I have to admit his ability.

-Static-

“Now, I found out about the student who caused this disturbance.”

The Chief Administrative Officer on the radio broadcasts the culprit of this disturbance to everyone, including Sensei.

“Wakamo, a student who was suspended from Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy and escaped from the correctional bureau after being there.

She’s a person who has a criminal record of similar crimes several times, so be careful…”

-Boom-

The communication sound coming from the radio is cut off, and a huge explosion sound is heard from the front.

A Crusader, the standard tank mainly used by our Trinity, blocked our way.

“Is it a tank obtained through illegal transactions… I need to eradicate the black market someday…”

Unfortunately, it’s an accident where Trinity’s standard tank was leaked out.

It seems that a paperwork hell is confirmed when I return.

“…Huh… The watchdog of the General Student Council didn’t come in person… Well. It doesn’t matter.

Please disappear from here quietly…!”

Kosaka Wakamo, one of the Seven Prisoners, blocked our way with the Crusader tank.

“….Senior Hanekawa, Sensei, please take care of the tank and Sukeban.”

[Huh? Sora…?]

“Sensei, please trust her a little.”

Hanekawa stopped Sensei, who was trying to stop me for a moment as if it was dangerous.

Hanekawa seems to trust me quite a bit.

No, wasn’t my evaluation of her quite good originally?

Kosaka Wakamo, she is dangerous.

My senses are ringing an alarm bell.

My instincts tell me, preach, and whisper that no one but me can stop that woman.

“Ha- To borrow the power of mere Sukeban like this, the name of the Seven Prisoners has also fallen to the ground?”

“Hmm? You’re quite a cute pigeon… This Wakamo… will deal with you with all my heart and soul!”

I stand at the head of the party, aim the Garand at Wakamo, and provoke her.

She also knows that this is a provocation, but she also takes the bait.

I entrusted the surrounding obstacles to Sensei and the other personnel, so there are no obstacles.

Is the opponent in front of me a monster out of the norm? If you ask that, it’s not.

Fortunately, I needed someone to vent my anger on.

Come to think of it… She called me a pigeon first, right?

“Let’s start the fox hunt…!”

“Ha- How cute.”

Each other’s figures disappeared, and the fight began with a roar.