Chapter 37: Clue

A clear blue sky, dotted here and there with drifting clouds.

Buildings of palatial grandeur, steeped in an air of nobility.

Students with angelic wings and radiant halos, their faces still carrying traces of childhood.

And among them, incongruously—an array of firearms.

To any outsider, the sight would feel bizarre, even unsettling.

But here in Kivotos, and especially at Trinity General School, it was nothing unusual.

"Haa…"

Amid this strange sort of ‘ordinary,’ one girl let out a weary sigh.

Her bag swung at her side, a tattered strap dangling as she walked.

She paused at a vending machine, scanning the lineup of drinks.

"…Milk will do."

From the many options, she chose a carton of milk and pressed the button. A beep followed as she paid with her student ID card, e-money deducted.

The double-layered dispenser gave her some trouble, but she finally retrieved the carton, poked a straw through, and resumed walking.

Her destination: the clubroom.

By some twist of fate, she was the president of a club.

Not that she resented it—resentment wasn’t the word. But she certainly didn’t believe she had the aptitude, or the confidence, for the role.

Her club, founded only a decade ago and still young by Trinity’s long history, bore the name Volunteer Club.

Its activities were simple, as the name suggested: community service. Soup kitchens, daily support, small acts of volunteer work.

Because of that, it was relatively well-known within Trinity.

And yet, in the memories of a certain girl who did not belong to this academy—one who remembered the possibilities of this world—the Volunteer Club had never existed.

If it were purely service and charity, one could simply join the Sisterhood. Which was why the club rarely saw many members or recruits. But for certain reasons, a steady trickle of new members appeared each year.

"Geez… as selfish as ever…"

Her sigh had an obvious cause.

A student from another school had acted on her own—and hadn’t even sent word.

Specifically, Kashiwa Mayumi, president of Millennium Science School’s Student Life Support Club.

"Honestly, Mayumi-chan…!"

On paper, she was just another club president from another academy, with only the overlap in activities linking them.

But for specific reasons, the Student Life Support Club and the Volunteer Club shared a cooperative relationship.

Other academies had similar clubs as well, and those too had forged ties of cooperation.

Yet none of them existed in the memories of one girl—Kirihana Suou.

"SHALE… and that teacher, huh. Can they really be trusted…?"

At the last regular meeting, Mayumi had reported a new cooperative relationship with SHALE.

She said they had also requested that any information obtained about a certain school be reported first to the Student Life Support Club.

Mayumi had agreed without hesitation. But could they really be trusted?

SHALE. An extralegal organization established half a year ago by the General Student Council—essentially, a fixer-for-hire.

But their name was surrounded by scandalous rumors.

That they lured in schoolgirls for shady dealings. That they aided a bank robbery. That they attacked a Millennium seminar.

The ugliest rumor even claimed they forced Gehenna’s Disciplinary Committee officials into “special play.”

Surely that last one was baseless nonsense—or so she chose to believe.

Even so, placing blind trust in SHALE, and especially their teacher, would be reckless.

That was why, if a cooperative relationship was truly necessary, she at least wished Mayumi had consulted them first.

"Haa…"

This time, her sigh was long and heavy, as she resigned herself to what was already done.

Quieting her irritation with the calcium in her milk carton, she glanced at the clock. Club activities were about to start.

Picking up her pace toward the clubroom, she noticed an unfamiliar student frozen in front of a vending machine.

"…?"

The girl looked troubled, glaring at the machine as though locked in a standoff. Judging by her height, she was likely a first-year.

"Um… is something wrong…?"

Asiri Amakawa could never just leave someone behind.

Though awkward, she stepped closer and asked.

"!… Forgive me. This… vending machine? I don’t know how to buy a drink from it."

"Uh, wha… really…?"

A peculiar one, indeed.

Her uniform was lavishly decorated and immaculately tailored, her demeanor refined.

In other words, Asiri quickly surmised, a sheltered daughter unfamiliar with the world.

"I-I see… you have your student ID, right…?"

"Yes, here."

"Okay, then… press the button for the drink you want, and hold your student ID here…"

As Asiri guided her, sipping from her milk carton, a thought crossed her mind.

Had there ever been such a girl at this academy?

She wasn’t one to boast, but she was fairly well-known around campus. And yet not only had she never spoken to this student—she couldn’t even recall seeing her before.

Of course, in a school like Trinity with thousands of students, that wasn’t impossible. But then she remembered.

Ah, right. A transfer student had arrived.

At this time of year, no less. Uncommon enough, but transfers at Trinity were rare in general.

Since they weren’t in the same grade, let alone class, Asiri hadn’t given it much thought.

Which meant this girl must be a second-year.

Chiding herself for her earlier assumptions, she studied the girl more closely.

Short in stature, stretching on her toes to reach the vending machine’s button.

White hair, feathered wings.

Luxurious decorations, ornate yet tasteful, enhancing her natural beauty.

Her altered uniform was stitched with golden embroidery. White and gold was hardly an easy combination to make out, but with some effort Asiri recognized the crest on the sleeve: Trinity’s school emblem.

But the embroidery on her scarf clasp was something else entirely. She squinted to make it out—

"…!!? Mmph—!"

Her breath caught.

"Cough! Hack!"

"A-are you okay?"

"Y-yeah… it’s fine. Thanks…"

She hastily dabbed at the milk she had coughed up with a handkerchief, forcing out a reply so her shock wouldn’t show.

A rose and a skull—that emblem.

She hadn’t seen it in ten years.

『…Your sister is fighting. Risking her life, to buy time.』

『I’ll hold them off. You all run while you can.』

『I’m staying behind. I can’t go over there yet.』

"…"

Her hand tightened around the tattered strap of her bag.

From the day she lost her beloved sister—
Not once had she forgotten.

The girl with dark-brown hair, hidden behind a gas mask.

The girl who gave her life so that Asiri and the others could escape.

On that girl’s equipment, too, the same crest had been stitched: the emblem of Arius Branch School.

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to buy my drink safely."

"!? Ah, y-yeah… that’s good…"

"I should repay you somehow…"

"N-no, it’s fine! Really! I’m sorry, I’m actually in a hurry…!"

The excuse was flimsy—but it was also true. The hands of the clock were already closing in on the appointed time. She couldn’t linger.

"Is that so? Still, thank you. You helped me."

"N-no problem at all! I’ll be going now! If you ever need anything, come find the Volunteer Club! I may not look it, but I’m the president! See you!"

Bidding farewell to the transfer student—Azusa Shirasu—she hurried off toward the clubroom at a run.

"I have to tell them…!! I have to…!!"

At last—at long last, she had found it.

The clue she had waited ten long years for.
The clue that might lead her back to that girl.

Even scraps of information about Arius Branch had been nearly impossible to obtain.

And yet—could it be? Could that girl still…

"I have to tell everyone…!! I have to tell the former Arius members!!!"

Suppressing her racing heart and ragged breath, Asiri pushed herself faster, running straight toward the clubroom.

Azusa had transferred into Trinity a week ago.

Today was finally the day of the scheduled report.

Saori had come along with me.

"So, how is it? The information?"

"…Honestly, I haven’t gotten much. Still, I managed to get a rough idea of the Sisterhood’s overall strength and Trinity’s layout. I’ve compiled it here."

I accepted the stack of papers from Azusa and reviewed them alongside Saori.

The notes contained analyses of the terrain, interwoven with details on military groups and combat capabilities—clearly prepared with infiltration and operations in mind.

"Hmm… impressive. In such a short time…"

"Truly. As expected of my little sister."

"You never waver, do you."

Saori’s blunt praise echoed beside me as I continued flipping through the bundle.

"Alright, I’ve gone over it. For now, I’ll pass this directly to Beatrice."

I tucked the papers into my bag and sat down on a nearby pile of rubble.

"So… how’s school treating you?"

"For now, nothing particularly troubling. If I had to say… just that the classes are difficult."

"Ah…"

Figures. The most I’d ever managed to teach her in my previous life was roughly the level of a high school freshman or sophomore.

And this is Kivotos—science here was far more advanced. With only my past-life knowledge, I could cover the bare minimum basics at best.

On top of that, there were probably subjects I’d never even studied.

"I see… And, um, what about the regular exams…?"

"Regular exams? What are those?"

"They’re tests to measure your academic ability. If you don’t score well, you could be forced to repeat the year—or, at worst, be expelled from the school."

"That sounds terrifying…"

"If I recall correctly, the next one is in less than a month."

…Odds are, Azusa will end up in the Supplementary Lessons Department, won’t she?

Not that it really changes much for me. But meeting friends like Hifumi, Koharu, and Hanako will certainly be something to look forward to.

"…Ah, that reminds me."

"Hm?"

"Today, I met a rather unusual person."

An unusual person…?

"I was struggling with a vending machine, and they helped me. Then suddenly, they coughed up a white liquid and bolted away."

"Sounds like a stormy sort of person, doesn’t it…?"

"That’s rich, coming from you."

White liquid… most likely milk. If I remember right, a student named Yutori Natsu was especially fond of drinking it.

Could it be she ran into Natsu…?

"Did that person give their name?"

"Yes… I think they introduced themselves as the president of the Volunteer Club."

"The… Volunteer Club?"

I’d never heard of such a club. It probably hadn’t even existed in my previous life.

Maybe it wasn’t just unreleased content back then—it might not have even been conceived yet.

"Well, in any case, don’t get too close to weird people, alright?"

"Understood."

Hmm…? I’ll check my Notes later, but I’m fairly certain no such club was ever mentioned.

"…Suou?"

"Ah—n-no, it’s nothing. Anything else unusual happen?"

"Let me think…"

Well, it wasn’t the first time I’d come across a club I didn’t recognize. Probably nothing worth worrying about.