Chapter 46: Veniae et Misericordiae

After Sensei helped us heal our wounds and recover from fatigue at Schale, we continued our stay there for several days.

Sensei didn’t particularly avoid conversations with us, but he also didn’t assign us any specific tasks.

Instead, he was friendly, giving Hiyori a magazine and Atsuko a flower pot.

While we continued living like this, Sensei called only Atsuko and me to accompany him to Trinity.

The purpose of our visit to Trinity was…

“Ahem… Then, we will now begin… the trial of the Arius Squad and Arius Branch School students for the previous attack on the Tea Party faction leader and the Eden Treaty terrorist attack.

Defendants’ representatives, Joumae Saori and Hakari Atsuko, do you understand?”

“…I understand…”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yes, Sensei is telling us to take responsibility for the crimes we committed, to atone and atone, and to find the opportunities given to us.

Even if everything doesn’t go smoothly, this is at least a relief. But… I wanted to take responsibility for all the Squad’s children, at least… He’s not lenient in this aspect…

“The defendants attacked the Tea Party faction leaders, Yurizono Seia and Kirifuji Nagisa, under the orders of the Arius student council president, Beatrice. Is that correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

The first sin constricts us. It will surely be an obstacle that blocks us forever, but at the same time, it will erase a little of the guilt engraved on us. Perhaps Sensei wanted the other children, besides me, to be freed from this guilt.

“The defendants carried out a large-scale terrorist attack on the day of the Eden Treaty under the orders of the Arius student council president, Beatrice. Is that correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

The blades created by the sins we have committed are directed at us.

“Is it true that the defendants… have a record of being suppressed, ostracized, and subdued by force by the 1st Council in the past?”

“….Wait…what?!”

“Defendants, please answer only yes or no.”

“…Yes… that’s correct.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Wait, if it’s to question our sins, why are they bringing up this past?

Since high-ranking officials and general students of the Tea Party are included here, it would be more advantageous to not bring up what we suffered if they are to question our sins. Why?

“Sob…sob…”

“How much must it have hurt?”

“I heard they didn’t even have proper food?!”

“Is this really something that happened in reality…?”

“Is it true that the defendants were subjected to beatings, torture, and unreasonable demands by the Arius student council president, Beatrice, and other adults?”

“….Yes….that’s correct.”

“Yes.”

Could it be… this place is not a place to question our sins, but…

“We pronounce the verdict on the defendants and the accused. We sentence the students of the Arius Branch School to transfer to Trinity and merge Arius and Trinity,

and we sentence Joumae Saori, Hakari Atsuko, Imashino Misaki, and Tsuchinaga Hiyori, members of the Squad, to 60 hours of community service each, and all other Arius students to 20 hours.”

“Please raise your heads, defendants, no, Ms. Saori, you all…”

[It’s just that you met the wrong adults, so it would be too harsh to question it as a sin, wouldn’t it?]

That’s right. This place is simply… not a place to question our sins… but a place to forgive us and for us to forgive them.

It’s not our hatred, and it’s not what we suffered, but they also didn’t commit the sins themselves. But… we committed sins against them.

We tried to tear down the tower they had painstakingly built, and we actually succeeded halfway.

We tried to harm their leader and left a big scar on both Trinity and Gehenna. But why can they forgive us?

[You seem to have a lot of questions. Would you mind following me for a moment? Hayami Yuzuki, you’ve worked hard too.]

“Uwaaa… Why am I, a member of the transport club, doing this here… Uwaaaa!!! I hate this stiff stuff!!! I’m leaving!!”

The person who was sitting in the judge’s seat with a serious expression just a moment ago… ran away.

The other people around also quickly left, as if they had expected this. Among them, there were many gazes that looked at us like we were pitiful people. Why…? Shouldn’t they be the ones who should hate us the most?

This situation was absurd…

“Let’s go, Saori.”

“Ah..? Ah… Yes… Let’s go…”

The princess, Atsuko, either already knew or thought it would turn out this way, and accepted it calmly.

The place Sensei led us to was quite deep inside the Tea Party building. On the nameplate… it said, “Host’s Office.”

-Knock, knock-

[It’s me. Are you inside? May I come in?]

“Yes, you may come in?”

A familiar voice from beyond the door, Kirifuji Nagisa’s voice, was heard.

When we opened the door… a mess beyond our expectations unfolded.

“!!!!”

“(Snore… snore…)”

[Hahaha! You really did it in the end, Kirifuji Nagisa?]

“Yes, as the Tea Party faction leader, the sin of bewitching an attendant, who is also a junior two years younger than her, is not light, is it?”

“It just looks like jealousy to me…”

The three Tea Party faction leaders were all in one room… but… it was quite a mess.

Yumetsubasa Sora, she… who had single-handedly stopped our Squad… was sleeping with an infinitely peaceful expression, pillowed on the lap of Misono Mika, who must be her superior.

If it had ended there, it would have been understandable, but… Misono Mika… she was sitting calmly… no, she was wearing a mask and applying an ice pack to the area near her jawbone, applying a cold compress.

“Huh? Seia-san, perhaps… did you eat the extra-large roll cake that Mika-san left…”

“I misspoke, in fact, I also think so.”

“!!—!!! !!!!”

Misono Mika seemed to want to say something, but… it seemed impossible with the state of her jaw.

“Mika, I can’t hear you. I wish you would speak properly?”

“…!!!”

“If you wake up, Sora will wake up.”

What is this… Is this some kind of sitcom program that we used to watch during our spare time at Schale? Are these really the student council presidents of Kivotos’ three major schools?

[Haha, you’re not even trying to hide it anymore.]

“Ahem… So, Sensei? What business do you have today… Ah, Ms. Saori is here? Then…”

As if she already knew everything, she stared at Atsuko and me and began to speak.

“Hmm… Actually… Sora-chan and Mika-san went through a lot of trouble, you know? Your perception in Trinity was that of terrorists.”

It’s not a wrong statement. In fact, we almost overthrew Trinity.

“To put all that blame on Beatrice… No, it’s not even blaming, since she did most of it.”

“Wait… Even if it’s true that Beatrice led the incident… it doesn’t mean that what we did disappears, does it?!”

“Fufu… Although it’s a bit of an embarrassing secret… We, Trinity, are quite good at burying things, you know? It’s not an ability to be proud of, but it was quite helpful this time, at least.

Yes, we spread everything you suffered throughout Trinity, throughout Kivotos.

So-called framing the perpetrator as the victim. It would have been enough to end it there, but…”

-Rustle-

“Hwaaa…. Huh… Sensei and… Saori-san? It’s been a while… Hwaaam..”

Yumetsubasa Sora, she rubbed her eyes and woke up.

“Hmm… Ah! I understand the situation roughly… Ugh…”

“…You’re not fully awake… Go back to sleep…”

“I’m still okay…(Snore)…”

It was obvious at a glance that she was not fully awake, so I started to worry a little. It’s amazing how quickly humans adapt; I even have the room to worry about others after becoming a little peaceful.

“…!”

Misono Mika grabbed Sora’s head and laid her back down on her lap. Yumetsubasa Sora quickly fell asleep again.

Wait, she was a woman with such high mental strength that she could carry out battles while being on night watch and still care about improving her skills. The fact that she is in that state now means…

“Sora-chan is one of the most sincere people in our Tea Party, you know? Just seeing her so relaxed in a place like this should give you a rough idea, right?”

“Ah… I should repay her later…”

Yes, she shifted a significant portion of the blame we should have received to Beatrice and changed our image from that of unparalleled public enemies to just poor children.

And the one who stood at the forefront was Yumetsubasa Sora, who is sleeping soundly over there… How… grateful.

Since Nagisa-sama and Seia-sama still had work to do, they left the main topic, the work to be entrusted to the Squad, including Saori-san, to me and my sister, so we first came to a nearby cafe.

“Kh..hm… I showed you an unsightly appearance…”

Three days of staying up all night was enough to break my mind. That’s why I borrowed Mika-nee-san’s lap to sleep for a while…

and I woke up in the middle of it and showed an unsightly appearance, so I couldn’t even get to the main point, so I need to proceed quickly now.

“It’s okay… It looked good…”

“…Yes…Yes?! No, that’s… What?!”

“~~!”

My face flushes at the sudden counterattack. No, that’s… that… it’s because I liked it, but… my sister seems to be in a good mood, and she had the >-< expression that I’ve seen quite often. Of course, because of the mask, her mouth was not visible.

[Haha, you were properly caught.]

“Sensei!!!!”

“Yeah, that’s right. I thought you were strangely close… Hmm, it looks good.”

Hakari Atsuko also says it with a pure face, so there’s nothing I can say… Uwaaa…

“Kh..hm… Getting back to…the main point… First, would you please accept this?”

“This is…?”

I put the prepared item on the table.

It’s an armband with the Trinity mark, an armband given to those who are recognized as elite guards of the Tea Party.

I was also given one after this incident, and it’s a device that allows you to know which department someone belongs to at a glance, which is rare even in the Tea Party.

Of course, I feel like I received it just to stick with my sister for about 50%… no, 6… ah, 80%. I can’t concede more than that. No, why am I explaining this?

Anyway, I give these to them.

“The fact that only you members of the Squad have 60 hours, almost three times more than the other students, is, after all… I know it was an unavoidable measure, right?”

“Yes, it’s embarrassing to say it myself, but strictly speaking, the ones who contributed the most after Beatrice were me and the Squad.”

“When are we going to sit and do all those 60 hours~ It’s a kind of special exception, and besides, your skills are outstanding, right? It’ll be quick to gain trust from those around you.”

It’s a kind of loophole, and if you call it corruption, it could be called corruption, but aren’t they deserving of this much reward for the hardships and injustices they’ve endured? Besides…

“I’m affiliated with the Tea Party, but… you’re not necessarily affiliated with the Tea Party. You’ve just come out into the world, shouldn’t you not experience a few things?”

Their youth was stolen too much. So now they have to fill it up diligently. Otherwise, it’s too pitiful.

Therefore, the kind of special treatment applied to them is as follows.

The 60 hours of volunteer work can be replaced with Tea Party guard duty.

They are assigned to guard duty, but their affiliation is treated as an exception, allowing them to increase their friendships and gain experience through other club activities.

Finally… the most important thing is that they are now members of Trinity. No one can treat them carelessly. That would be the same as making an enemy of Trinity.

“Ahem… So… Please take care of me from now on? I’m younger, but I’m your senior~ It feels a bit strange~”

“Yes, okay. Then I’ll call you senior.”

“Eh?! Really?! Saori-san is a first-year on paper, and she’s older than me?!”

“Doesn’t it say that age or position doesn’t matter in learning? It’s like that.”

“Uwaaa, senior is a bit burdensome, so just by name!!”

And so, that day also passed.