Bonus: The Heroes Behind the Scenes

"Mr. Baba! I’ve finished compiling this data! What should I do next?"

Baba slowly swiveled his chair toward the girl’s lively voice. Standing before him was a girl with bluish-black hair that had a greenish tint, her bangs pulled back with a headband, exposing her forehead in a striking way. She was one of GMDW’s sub-commanders, known among her comrades as 『Rinka-sama』.

"…Ah. Reicia and Shiren have already entered combat readiness. Next, we’ll need to investigate the opponent’s information and look for weaknesses. Hmm… Yobou, that’s what they called him, wasn’t it? With an esper of that caliber, he must have left behind research results even before he came ‘here.’ That headgear is a dead giveaway… Can you look into any research data related to telekinesis?"

"Yes! Understood! …Hehe."

Ennai nodded at Baba’s orders, then suddenly broke into a smile. It was hardly the expression of someone preparing for battle, and Baba gave her a slightly puzzled look. Perhaps interpreting his reaction as disapproval, Ennai quickly straightened her posture.

"S-Sorry! It’s just… I thought you’re really dependable…!"

"…Is that so. Guess I really am getting soft."

Baba gave a self-deprecating smile, then sighed deeply as he watched Ennai return to her station.

(…Why the hell am I babysitting these sheltered girls living in their flower-filled worlds? Dependable? You’re always under the protection of a Level 5 esper—Reicia Blackguard herself. Compared to that, you’ll always have someone ‘dependable’ at your side.)

And yet, contrary to his low self-assessment, it was no exaggeration to say this operation was running thanks to Baba’s efforts. The role of the GMDW members, Baba included, was to sift through and analyze intelligence gathered by the dark side’s information network. Though any illegal methods had been banned once they came under Reicia’s command, there was still plenty of information that would be inconvenient if ordinary ‘surface students’ learned of it. Baba’s job was to sort it at the intake stage and only pass along what was safe for GMDW to know.

Of course, it would have been more efficient to handle everything himself. After all, Baba was the one who, during the Daihaseisai, had investigated every single Tokiwadai competitor’s abilities and pinpointed their weaknesses. His analytical ability was such that he could instantly process information from multiple surveillance robots and extract only the critical parts. To do this unaided, without any special machinery, made Baba, though officially a Level 0, no less a ‘monster’—a member of the dark side’s first string.

"…Alright, things are easing up on this end. Let’s see… Maybe I’ll check into that Adabana guy’s opponent. If I recall, they were called Yumiya?"

"Oh? And what are you peeking at?"

"Whoa!"

A voice suddenly whispered in his ear, making Baba jolt his chair sideways in fright. Standing there was Yumetsuki, another GMDW sub-commander like Ennai. The truth was, Baba wasn’t fond of her. Partly because her hot-blooded personality clashed with his, and partly because she had a faint dislike of men that made her attitude toward him sharper than toward others. Not that she outright hated him—she approached him casually enough, like now.

"So this is the one facing Adabana, huh? …Hm? But I feel like I’ve seen them before."

"Huh? Seen before?"

It may have been a throwaway remark to Shirika, but Baba didn’t miss it. The opponent was a dark side operative. For someone like that to feel familiar—it was no small matter. His instincts screamed that this was a major clue.

"I’m sure I met them somewhere during the Daihaseisai…"

"…The obstacle race!!!!"

At that, Baba finally realized.

"I’m an idiot! How did I not notice until now!?"

"Eh? Wha—??"

"They ran in the same first race as Reicia! And they finished second!! Damn it! I saw their face up close, yet until now I never realized… Was my perception interfered with? But no, that one’s definitely a Level 0…!"

"Uh, Mr. Baba?"

"Never thought I’d see a dark side operative at a public school event… Maybe they’re the type who dreams of living a double life between ‘surface’ and shadow? Foolish… There’s no way that’s possible for people like us. But now that we know their identity, we can trace them back. From the school records alone, from the public library—"

"Hey!! Speak so the rest of us can understand, Baba!!"

"Eeek!! S-Sorry!!!!"

Chastised by the young lady’s sharp tone, Baba shrank back. Having pulled him back down to earth, Shirika gave a small cough.

"So. Should I investigate this Yumiya Rakko person from here? If they’re a student at the 『Garden of Knowledge』, our information network should dig up plenty of details."

"Y-Yeah. Please. …Looks like I’ve got a new comm line coming in, too. Things are about to get busy here as well."

With that, Baba began operating multiple comm devices simultaneously. Shirika watched in astonishment for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered something.

"…Yumiya… Rakko?"

But there was no time to dwell on it. Shirika moved back to her station. None of them had the luxury to slack off.

There might not be any risk of death.
But this was still, without question, part of a battlefield.

---

Chapter 3 — The Worth of a Soul Is Worthless: Double(Square)_Faith.
Bonus: The Heroes Behind the Scenes

---

"Haa… haa…!"

Breathing shallowly, Adabana—Xochitl—readjusted her grip on her weapon, the macuahuitl.
The situation was… slightly in Xochitl’s favor.

After all, Yumiya’s specialty was assassination. Her surefire strategy was to hide among crowds, whittling down enemies until they were dead. In a close-quarters fight like this one, she could still hold her own, mixing sniping into hand-to-hand combat, but that wasn’t where her true strength lay.

That said—

"Well, it doesn’t matter if you can’t get close."

Yumiya didn’t approach Xochitl. As long as she kept her distance, Xochitl—whose only weapon was her macuahuitl—had no way to harm her. If Xochitl lost her patience and tried to gouge up the ground to fling stones as she had in an earlier battle, that opening would be fatal.

All Xochitl could do was defend against Yumiya’s long-range fire. Naturally, that gave Yumiya plenty of room to act with confidence.

(Still… fighting in an open space with no cover is…)

But Yumiya’s instincts as a sniper made her hesitate to stay put. Her forte was hiding and sniping from safety. Victory over Xochitl alone was already assured, but with Yobou possibly being defeated at any moment and Reicia arriving, she wanted to increase her odds however she could.

(…There’s forest nearby. As expected of District 21—plenty of nature…♪ If I slip into the woods, lure the maid in, and drag her into my usual setup, that’ll be the safest option.)

Pash-sh-shut!! Yumiya fired a rapid volley of bullets. The aim was obvious, and Xochitl managed to block them all—but that wasn’t the point. It was suppression fire, forcing Xochitl to halt in place. Seeing that, Yumiya darted into the forest.

Now the choice fell to Xochitl.

(…She retreated into the woods? No—she’s a sniper. She means to hide and take shots from safety. If I lose sight of her even once, my advantage will be gone, and she’ll be the one pressing the attack!)

Xochitl considered simply abandoning the chase and rejoining Reicia to defeat Yobou quickly. But even then, the problem remained. Even Reicia would find it difficult to fully guard against long-range sniping. And besides, that would defeat the whole point of Xochitl’s role as a guard. No—this enemy had to be neutralized here and now. Only then could Xochitl fulfill her duty.

"…You’re not getting away!!"

Xochitl immediately pursued Yumiya. Yet, she was forced to realize in the next instant that her decision had come too late.

『"Not getting away"? Oh no, no… I didn’t run. I lured you in.』

Papashut!!

A soft hiss like escaping gas rang out. Had Xochitl dodged even a fraction of a second later, the bullet would have clipped her ear. That was how close it had been. Yumiya had already vanished into the forest.

(What!? Not even a second had passed since she entered the woods! What kind of concealment technique is this…!?)

Another miscalculation for Xochitl was the forest itself.

The tightly packed branches and leaves interfered with swinging the macuahuitl. Yumiya had clearly anticipated this as well. At this point, Xochitl was practically disarmed.

『So then… looks like you’ve lost your rooks and bishops, hmm? Oh, feel free to attack by following my voice if you want. It’ll be useless, though.』

(She’s scattered speakers around, no doubt. If I try to track her by sound, she’ll just exploit the opening to rob me of my mobility.)

That left Xochitl with only one option: to never stay in one spot. The forest was a disadvantage for her, but the dark night was also a handicap for sniping. Constant movement was the only way to keep Yumiya from taking clean shots.

"…Tch…!"

A bullet tore a hole no wider than a fingertip through her long apron dress. Proof that the shot had grazed her thigh.

(…Even my outfit’s helping me here. Thanks to the apron dress, it seems harder for her to lock onto my lower body. For once, I should be grateful for Lady Blackguard’s eccentric tastes…)

But little by little, pieces of her maid outfit were being shredded away.

Her strategy of never staying still was barely keeping Xochitl alive.

---

──It was nothing short of a battlefield.

"Chido-san! Dig into Yumiya Rakko’s background! It’s fine if you have to rely on the Shokuhou faction! Just gather up as much information as you possibly can!!"

"Ha-ha-ha, yes! Ikin-san, what about from the Shidarezakura Academy collaborators!?"

"Well~, not so much. It seems there aren’t really any people with strong ties over there~…"

"That’s only natural in a sense… but it really does mean she left no traces behind, doesn’t it?"

The investigation was crawling along at a snail’s pace.

The reason was simple—there was barely any information about Yumiya left at Shidarezakura Academy. She had enrolled like anyone else, lived like anyone else. No suspicious absences, nothing strange. If anything stood out, it was only that she had absolutely no circle of friends. But even then, she wasn’t being bullied or ostracized; if anything, she occupied the position of a “flower on a high peak.”

As for her reputation in the school, comments ranged from “she’s charming” to “her melancholic expressions are attractive.” The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Yet, those evaluations all stopped at “personality.” None of it connected to her skills or abilities.

At best, there was the note that her athletic ability was the best in her grade—and that was about it.

"……Um, excuse me."

"Information from her time after entering Shidarezakura Academy isn’t enough…? Then we’ll just have to look into before she enrolled… Except none of that info ever shows up either! What the hell!!"

"U-Um!!"

Just as Shika was about to grab her head in frustration, someone’s voice called out.

She looked up, and Kiryu Chido spoke.

"Konagi-san. Wh-wh-wh-what’s the matter?"

"W-well… it, it may just be my imagination, but…"

Amiya shrank back timidly as she spoke. Seeing that, Kiryu placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It’s all right. …Back then, it was you who noticed Nurikae’s ‘attack’ before anyone else, wasn’t it? Go ahead and say it."

(…Funny how her stuttering clears up when she’s calming someone else down.)

Smiling wryly at Kiryu’s uncharacteristic gentleness, Shika straightened herself again and pushed the conversation forward.

"Kiryu-san’s right! Amiya-san, what did you notice?"

"Um, well… I-I think there was a third-year in the archery club named… Yumiya-sama."

"…Huh?"

That single sentence left Shika dumbfounded.

Sure, sharing the same surname was unusual, but she couldn’t see what connection there might be between them.

"A-ah! No, I just meant… Yumiya-sama had truly impressive skill with the bow. And since Yumiya Rakko-sama in those videos also has an unparalleled sniping ability… I felt there might be some kind of correlation, that’s all."

"…! I see. You mean her ‘keen eyesight’ might be hereditary?"

"Y-yes… well, perhaps…"

It wasn’t impossible.

Physical traits like eyesight were often heavily influenced by heredity. If the AIM diffusion fields of related abilities were involved, then such a connection might be considered as well. Either way, it was safe to assume there could be some link between Yumiya Rakko and the archery club’s Yumiya.

"…! That’s huge! Nicely done, Amiya-san! We’ll contact the Shokuhou faction right away! If it’s Tokiwadai matters, no one’s faster than them!"

With a rough, gritty grin, Shika shot Amiya a thumbs-up. Amiya, blushing in embarrassment, raised her thumb as well.

──This series of investigations by GMDW.

It would become a major turning point that drastically altered the fate of a certain girl.

---

"Haa…!"

Even now, Xochitl’s breathing was shallow.

Her maid uniform was damaged in several places, exposing glimpses of bare skin beneath, enough to make it somewhat awkward to look at her. But no one seeing this scene could possibly find it “sensual.”

For the injuries she bore could easily be fatal. More than anything, her appearance screamed of a life in imminent danger.

(……Wh-why…!?)

Yet the one growing more agitated was not Xochitl, but Yumiya.

She had hidden in the thicket, used multiple speakers to mask her true position, worn Xochitl down with relentless fire—and still, Yumiya had failed to kill her.

Yes.

She had long ago intended to kill her, and yet even so she had not been able to finish it.

(Once the Jagged Edge arrives, it’ll rip through the entire forest and strip me bare! That’s why, just this once, I’m trying to end things quickly instead of dragging them out… and still I can’t land a fatal blow on the maid!? Why!?)

The strangeness had been there from the start.

The battleground had been open, and the weapon was gunfire. And yet, using only the macuahuitl, Xochitl had escaped Yumiya’s mid-range sniping without a scratch.

From that moment on… it could only mean that “something” had been interfering.

(What was done to me…!? Optical powers throwing off my aim!? No, impossible! I’d have noticed that instantly…! Then, cognitive manipulation…? No, that can’t be. If my cognition were being tampered with, she wouldn’t be forced so far onto the defensive…)

"…Looks like doubt has taken root in you."

"!?"

The moment her thoughts distracted her and her trigger finger relaxed—

Xochitl, holding her macuahuitl loosely, turned unerringly toward Yumiya’s position.

(I…impossible!? She’s reading my position!? Slipping past my concealment techniques…!?)

"You think I can see through your hiding place? No. I don’t actually know your exact location. What I can hear… are only the voices of the dead."

Her voice carried a trace of self-mockery.

"You’ve tormented and killed quite a number of people, haven’t you? They may not be haunting you, but they’ve st-ai-n-ed you. Thanks to that, it’s all too clear… your methods."

(…!! Residual thoughts!? A psychometric ability that reads the dead!? Such a thing could even exist!?)

Yumiya’s breath caught in her throat. And that hesitation was all it took.

"!?"

Straight toward her, Xochitl charged.

Realizing her position had been exposed, Yumiya leapt back.

Bursting from the thicket into the open, she thrust her fingers forward at Xochitl—

"…Ah, I see now. So, that’s the way—the one who killed you must have attacked like this."

The spot Yumiya aimed for—her neck.

Xochitl lifted her macuahuitl to shield it, as if she knew in advance where the bullet would go.

Xochitl was not, by nature, a combat sorcerer.

Her true craft was that of a “corpse artisan”—a magician who listened to the voices of the dead to verify wills, arrange funerary rites, and provide “aftercare” for the departed.

As such, she had little in the way of combat-ready magic—only makeshift body-strengthening spells, her macuahuitl, and a single trump card. But Yumiya’s style of fighting, coupled with her experience, had ironically turned into Xochitl’s advantage.

For Yumiya’s cruel habit of tormenting her victims before killing them had left the voices of the dead all the stronger. Not so much that they carried occult influence on their own—but for a professional like Xochitl, it was enough to clearly read her moves through the voices of those she’d slain.

"…I’ll end this soon. Just wait a little longer."

Clang!! Her macuahuitl was knocked aside by a bullet, but even so, Xochitl’s advance did not falter.

"—Ghh… Aaah, aaaaAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

At the breaking point of desperation, Yumiya flung herself backward with every ounce of strength she had left.

It was a reckless retreat, not even considering a landing—but one step was all she needed. Just that much time was enough to swing her arm and fire “one more shot.”

(The maid’s weapon is tied up now! She can’t defend again! If I aim for her skull, at this range—even if she sacrifices her arm, the bullet will punch through and lodge in her brain! Checkmate, maid!!)

"—Let me teach you one thing."

Just as Yumiya raised her arm to fire, Xochitl’s cheek split with a strange crack, and she spoke.

"This form of mine… is only a temporary shell."

A sharp, almost pathetic crack of gunfire echoed.

But the deadly shot Yumiya unleashed instead passed over the head of a dusky-skinned girl who had appeared out of nowhere.

And then—

"Consider yourself lucky. My employer’s orders are clear—you’re to be taken alive."

Thud!!

The flat of the macuahuitl slammed against Yumiya’s head, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

---

"……I see. So you had a modular firearm strapped on over your inner suit like this. …There, that’s better. Now you won’t wake up and die in a hail of bullets."

Having safely neutralized Yumiya, Xochitl inspected her body and made sure to eliminate any chance of a counterattack.

The scene looked somewhat dangerous as a result, but in this situation it was only fair—Xochitl’s maid outfit had also ended up in tatters, leaving her with about as much exposed skin as a social game character.

"Now then… the question is, what do I do with this one? Handing her over to the police in this city would just lead to her being recovered through some backroom deal… Maybe I should imprison her at the Members’ hideout? No, but that would mean all-out war with School… Wouldn’t it actually be simpler in the long run to just wipe out School here and now?"

Xochitl muttered to herself, grumbling, "If only I wasn’t bound by this whole no-killing nonsense…" Still, she didn’t actually dislike her current employer’s soft-heartedness. If following that naïve wish meant enduring a little extra trouble, she was willing to do so.

That was very much like Xochitl—just as she couldn’t bring herself to abandon Saten, she had her own brand of reluctant kindness.

But here, she made a mistake.

She should have left the area immediately.

If she had carried off Yumiya and regrouped with Reicia, she would have arrived just as Reicia was meeting up with Kamijou. They could have retreated while still keeping Yumiya in custody.

And as for School, in truth, they didn’t care that much about Yumiya. There would have been no all-out war, and the danger she posed would have been neatly eliminated.

But because Xochitl hesitated, pondering what to do with Yumiya here and now, one thread of fate was sealed.

"────Step away from her."

A girl’s voice rang out, crackling with violet lightning.

It was a girl who shouldn’t have been here. She should have been spending this night in ignorance, safe in the sheltered gardens of Tokiwadai.

The starting point had been Shika’s decision.

In order to gather intel on the archery-club girl Yumiya, she had relied on the one group best at mobilizing manpower: the Shokuhou faction.

But there was someone there. Someone who happened to know all about Yumiya Rakko.

Turning as she activated her infiltration talisman, her form shifting back into that of her tall, original self, Xochitl spoke in a low voice.

"……You are—"

"My name is Junko Hokaze."

"Yumiya Iruka. …Perhaps it will be clearer if I say I am the sister of the one lying there."

And from behind Hokaze’s lightning-wreathed frame stepped a one-eyed girl.

Both were Tokiwadai students. And from their family names, Xochitl immediately realized the situation she had stumbled into.

『…Ah! Great, the line went through! Sorry, Adabana-san! I think Hokaze-san and Yumiya-san have just arrived over there, but the intel handoff didn’t go smoothly, so they might have… ki-i-i-i-i-nda misunderstood something…』

"No need to worry."

With just that, Xochitl cut the transmission.

It was obvious there had been a misunderstanding. The two girls in front of her had no doubt mistaken her for "a villain trying to harm Yumiya Rakko."

Completely off the mark. At this point it was practically comedy. And yet—

(…Unbelievable. Unbelievable!! Dragging along these naïve little brats—what dark side!? What ‘Darkness’!? You bastards… don’t you dare make a fool out of me!!)

Xochitl’s anger simmered silently.

(I’ll be damned if I just let this slide!!)

Her rage wasn’t at the two naïve girls before her—but at the role she had been forced into.

"…And if I don’t? Are we fighting here? That’s fine by me."

"Why… why would you…?"

The voice drew her gaze. There stood Yumiya Rakko, holding her bleeding head but awake nonetheless.

Xochitl clicked her tongue inwardly. For all the conditions in her favor, the damage she’d inflicted wasn’t nearly enough. It confirmed that without using her "trump card," actually killing her would be difficult.

"Why…? Why would you? I… I’m just the unwanted child…"

"A moment ago—"

Overlapping her shaken words, Hokaze spoke.

"There was… an opportunity… to reminisce about the past. That internal enhancement project, for example…"

Crackling with violet lightning.

The survivor of that genius workshop, Clonedolly, fixed her gaze on the enemy before her.

"I remembered many things. I was… immature, and until now I had kept the memories of that lab sealed away."

Surely Hokaze was projecting Xochitl onto "someone from her past." Onto an enemy who had taken something precious from her.

…What a thankless role, Xochitl thought. Such a ridiculous misunderstanding—she wanted to brush it aside quickly and knock some sense into this sheltered little lady. But… that probably wouldn’t do.

Not if she wanted to drive out the fool crawling behind her from here.

(…Hah. Maybe the real fool is me. Even though it’s that which left me in this state… Truly hopeless.)

"At long last, I’ve arrived."

Simply resolving the misunderstanding with “It was all a mistake” would never purify a soul.

There were people who cared for her. But that alone could never redeem Yumiya Rakko’s soul—it had been stained far too deeply.

"…I’m sorry I was late. I’m sorry I left you until you ended up here. …But you’ll never be alone again."

And so Xochitl, knowing it was meddling, knowing it was a strategically unnecessary detour, still spoke.

"You’re an eyesore. I’ll kill every last one of you right here."

"…I won’t… let you…!"

──The voice came from beneath her.

Clinging desperately to Xochitl’s ankle, Yumiya Rakko, crawling on the ground, held on tight.

As if to shield the two before her.

"Ahaha… haha… It’s too late… far too late…! You were so late that I… ended up like this…! But… still…!"

With a tearful, twisted smile, it was impossible to tell what storm of feelings whirled within her.

But her actions were clear. She was trying to protect the two in front of her.

"Even so, I’m still… the big sister…! Iruka-chan’s… big sister…!! Both of you!! Run!! This place!! The ‘Darkness’ of this city!! It’s not a realm you should ever touch!!!!"

"…Haa… Just sit still for a while!"

With a weary sigh, Xochitl kicked Yumiya Rakko aside. That alone sent her tumbling across the ground, rolling again and again. Yet even then, unable to let go, she writhed across the dirt like a stubborn caterpillar, clinging to her will.

"…Kept you waiting, idiots. From one hopeless fool to another, let’s have a little fun."

"Rakko-chan… we’re taking her back!!"

"I don’t want to lose anyone anymore. …And I won’t let anyone lose again. That’s why—"

──The violet lightning flared brighter than ever.

"No matter who you are, I will never give up on struggling."

Something shifted.

It was as though another had joined her strength—Hokaze Junko’s power was no longer hers alone.

"…Heh. Perhaps even I’ve been poisoned by my two-faced employer. I could tell right away that you’d ‘changed.’"

The ritual to hear the voices of the dead had been active since earlier. And unbelievably, she too carried the voices of the dead. Which meant, no matter what ability her foe wielded, Xochitl could anticipate and respond.

And that—was precisely why. For this good soul, prayed for by so many dead, Xochitl couldn’t help but play the fool.

"…Double Persona, Square Faith, the Doppelgänger, the Painted Axe Command… and now, ‘Astral Buddy.’"

Grinning with bared fangs, Xochitl leveled her Macuahuitl.

"Truly, it’s a night bound by overlapping souls…………!!"

And thus, the hidden heroes clashed.