Crossing the desert! - 36

Ayane and Serika finally arrived at the Countermeasures Committee's room.

The suffocating atmosphere finally disappeared.

Well, it would be more accurate to say it faded, rather than disappeared.

Anyway, the meeting began since everyone was gathered.

Ayane explained to us what she and Serika had found out.

Honestly, I doubt Serika did much, but I listened quietly.

The overall gist was that the former student council of Abydos had transferred over the ownership of many lands to pay off their debt to Kaiser Corporation.

"Just how incompetent were those student council members...! If only they hadn't been fooled by such a scam...!"

Serika said excitedly.

Hoshino flinched for a moment, but no one except me noticed.

Hoshino's expression began to darken.

"No, that's not it."

"Sensei...?"

Then Sensei opened his mouth.

"The bad guys are the ones who deceived them. You shouldn't blame the ones who were deceived."

"..."

Hoshino looked at Sensei as if asking why.

"...Ah, no. I know that too! I, I sometimes buy Germanium bracelets! I know better than anyone! The ones who deceived them are the bad ones!"

Serika's face is red, perhaps because of what she just said.

"But... I'm just frustrated... Why... Why do such terrible things to Abydos when we're already suffering so much..."

"Serika-chan..."

"..."

"..."

"...People who are suffering become desperate."

Hoshino began to speak seriously.

"Huh?"

"And desperate people... will do anything."

Her usually half-closed eyes looked sorrowful rather than languid.

"Uhe~ It's something I heard from someone. That's just how it is. Serika-chan."

Anyway, it's time to move on to the next topic.

"Teacher."

"Hmm? What is it, Nito?"

"You have something to say, right?"

"...Yeah."

It's time for Sensei to reveal what he heard from Hina.

When Hina revealed the fragmentary information she had learned, the Countermeasures Committee seemed to fall into further confusion.

"In the abandoned desert..."

"Kaiser is..."

"Doing what...?"

Is this the chemistry of a first-year?

"H-how did the Prefect Team Leader of Gehenna..."

"Why did she tell to Sensei...?"

When everyone was confused, Serika stood up.

"This is frustrating! So what are we waiting for!

The Abydos desert is our territory, right! Let's go!

If we're curious about what's there, we can see it with our own eyes!"

"...Hmm."

"Wow, Serika-chan. You're right for once. You've grown up well. This mom is happy. I'm touched."

"Serika is the best."

"What's with this atmosphere! It feels like I'm being cheered on! And why is Nito the only one being half-hearted!"

"Ah, haha... Yes. Serika-chan is right."

"Then let's go right away. To the Abydos desert."

"Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!"

"...Yes."

Everyone spoke energetically, but I was the only one who spoke reluctantly.

I mean, what's the point of being curious when I already know what's there...

Hmm... Anyway...

"...Sensei. Before we leave, can you spare a moment?"

I somehow missed the timing to leave and ended up eavesdropping here...

"...I need to talk to you."

I saw Sensei follow Shiroko into the classroom.

"Here."

Shiroko handed Sensei a piece of paper.

That's...

"...I found this in Hoshino-senpai's bag."

"A resignation letter... From the Countermeasures Committee, Takanashi Hoshino...?"

"It's a resignation letter from the Countermeasures Committee."

Hoshino's resignation letter from the Countermeasures Committee.

"I haven't told anyone... But Hoshino-senpai must know. That I looked through her bag."

"Why did you look through her bag...?"

To rob it...?

"...When we were attacked by the Prefect Team yesterday. Senpai has never been away for that long."

Oh, it wasn't.

"No matter how much I thought about it, it didn't make sense, so I looked through Senpai's bag, and that's what I found."

She's quite perceptive.

Is she really optimized for bank robbery?

"...Let's keep it a secret for now."

...I heard it though.

"Yeah..."

With that, Sensei and Shiroko went outside.

I entered the classroom where the two had been.

Is this it...?

Hoshino's resignation letter was on the desk.

Is it okay to leave it out in the open like this?

I put the resignation letter in Hoshino's bag.

Huh? This is...

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Everyone in the Countermeasures Committee and Nito were gathered.

The resignation letter I saw earlier was making me uneasy, but I didn't show it on the outside.

Together with Nito, who came last, we headed to the Abydos desert area.

We all took a train to the Abydos desert.

-We could take a train up to here, but from now on, we have to walk.

However, from the middle, we could no longer take the train.

-Beyond this area is the Abydos desert... a place that was originally a desert even before desertification began.

Ayane is giving a briefing on the current area via communication.

-It's usually a dangerous place because of broken drones, guard robots, and automatons roaming around...

-But we have no choice now. Everyone, please check your personal firearms.

Hearing that it could be dangerous, I first looked at Nito.

"Nito, are you okay?"

"..."

"Nito...?"

"Ah, y-yes. I'm fine..."

Nito seems to be in a daze.

"If it's too hard, you can go back."

"Ah... I'm in good condition..."

She doesn't look like she's in a normal condition no matter how I look at it.

But since Nito keeps saying she's fine, it wouldn't make sense for me to tell her to go back just because I think she's strange, so I just let it go even though it feels uncomfortable.

"Still, if you feel uncomfortable, you have to tell me right away, okay?"

"...Yes."

I've checked this much, so it should be fine.

In the front, there's a discussion about how a student named Hina could have known about the information.

Based on the statements of Ako, the senior administrator of the Gehenna Prefect Team, they even inferred that Ako knew information that we didn't know.

-That means it wouldn't be strange for that Gehenna Prefect Team Leader to know something we don't know...

"Well, we'll know when we get there. We can see it with our own eyes."

Hoshino cut off the conversation at the right time.

"Then let's keep going."

Following Hoshino's words, we headed to the desert.

And the desert we arrived at was truly desolate.

"The abandoned desert starts from here..."

"I've been to the sand-covered city, but this is my first time going beyond that..."

"Wow~ It's been a while."

Hoshino said something that made her seem really old.

"Have you been here before, Senpai?"

"Ah, yeah. I came here a few times on Student Council missions in the past."

Hoshino seems to be excited, perhaps because of old memories.

"Just a little further from here, and you'll come to the oasis where the Abydos desert festival was held!"

"What? An oasis? In a place like this?"

Serika's reaction is understandable.

An oasis, what is she talking about, if there was even a puddle of water here it would be a miracle.

"Well, it's all dried up now. But in the old days, it was bigger than most lakes, so you could even float a boat on it."

Hoshino's eyes were filled with a feeling of longing.

"I've never seen it myself, though."

Was it my imagination?

"Desert festival... I've heard of it. It was the biggest festival in Abydos, so many people came to see it."

"That's right. Even students from other schools came to see that festival. Well, that was decades ago, before the desertification progressed."

"Festival... Crowds... In this desert? People? I can't believe it."

"Well, they say it used to be a good place to live. There was no sand dust back then."

"We still have a bit further to go to reach the sector mentioned by the Gehenna Prefect Team Leader."

While we were talking about the festival, Ayane roughly explained the remaining distance to our destination.

Hmm... But something feels strange.

There's definitely... definitely something missing...

With an ominous feeling that I left something behind, I looked back at the path we had come from.

"Nito!!"

Nito was sprawled on the ground.

"Wa, water..."

It seems she collapsed due to the harsh desert environment.

"Here, take this."

Shiroko handed her a water bottle.

"Nito, drink this."

"Ugh..."

Gulp- Gulp-

"Phew- I'm alive..."

She seems to have drunk all the water inside.

She drank so quickly that it seemed like more water spilled out from the side of her small mouth.

"We need to do something about this...?"

"Yeah... At this rate, Nito will faint from exhaustion."

Everyone agreed that a definite measure was needed for the current situation.

"Um... I'm really okay..."

Except for the person in question.

After putting our heads together and thinking about it, one solution came out.

But that solution...

"Ta-da☆"

"P-put me down!"

Nonomi picked Nito up.

Nito is shouting to be put down, probably out of embarrassment.

Her face is so red that it contrasts with her sky-blue halo and hair color.

"Ugh... I told you not to treat me like a child..."

"But Nito is a child."

"...!"

Nito glared at me.

Even if she looks at me like that... I guess I'm used to it...

She's cute, yeah.

I swallowed the words that would have made Nito go crazy if she had heard them.