Chapter 4: A Little Girl Walks and Gets Hit by a Bullet

So, what do I do from here? Do I follow the original story, or do I alter it?

If it’s the former, then I don’t really have to do anything—I could even just run away. But honestly, I don’t want to, not for personal reasons.

As for the latter… well, that’s a whole different can of worms. To put it bluntly, there are way too many concerns. Zero certainty.

For starters, Blue Archive’s main story is already like walking a tightrope. Who could predict you’d get a bad ending just for not licking a student’s feet, or not robbing a bank?

…Which means if I go down the route of altering the story, I have absolutely no way of knowing what might happen.

And then there’s the biggest problem of all…

Where exactly am I? Which timeline is this?

The world of Blue Archive has, at the very least, repeated once. That much was often speculated among players.

In fact, there were enough scenes hinting at it, not to mention the little teases from the official side.

…So then, the world I’m in right now—is this the main storyline? One of the loops? Or… somewhere else entirely?

If—if this world isn’t the main story, then there’s probably very little I can do. More than anything, there’s just not enough information.

There is technically a way to check which world this is. But I wouldn’t know until thirteen, fourteen years from now—when Sensei comes to Kivotos, and the Federal Student Council President (GSC President) either disappears or doesn’t.

Even then, that wouldn’t be a guarantee. And even if my guess turned out right, it still wouldn’t confirm that this is the main timeline.

Honestly… trying to alter the original story under those conditions is terrifying…

"Uuuuugh…!"

What the hell am I supposed to do!? Am I not already cornered here!?

"Should I just keep quiet and behave…? But then again… no, but still… gaaaah! Screw it!"

Enough! There’s no guarantee things will play out according to the original story anyway! So if that’s the case, I’ll just go all in and make sweeping changes from the start!

Even if it ends up being meaningless, that’s no reason to do nothing. Vanitas vanitatum. The spirit of vanity matters, after all.

"I’ll show you, you damn bastard…!"

And so, I decided—I’ll alter the original story. First order of business…

"Let’s stop the civil war!"

Stopping the civil war. The most surefire way to deal with Aunt Bea—make sure Arius never even gets involved.

But that alone won’t do much. Aunt Bea already has her eyes on this facility, so she’s bound to find some way to claim Arius for herself. Damn hag.

Honestly, there’s no way to prevent it outright. In this body that’s not even three years old, there’s practically nothing I can do.

And even three, four years later, I’ll still be just a kid, even if the civil war is raging… ugh, what now? No matter how I look at it, there’s not enough time.

How did Aunt Bea even manage to resolve the civil war in the first place? Did she go all kaiju and use some giantification power to side with the radicals? Or did she provide them with supplies?

Knowing her personality, I’d bet on the latter.

If that’s the case, then supplies… that’s probably the farthest I can realistically go. Stockpile resources inside Arius ahead of time, then provide them early in the civil war…

"Ah, yeah, that probably won’t work."

From the people I’ve spoken to so far, the radicals and moderates feel about fifty-fifty, maybe with a few less moderates.

If supplies could be provided, sure, the war would end quicker. But there’s no guarantee it would end before Aunt Bea catches wind of it.

And if she does find out, the situation flips. After that, things would just proceed like the original story.

"In that case… I really need to find a way to stop it before it even begins."

Maybe by telling Trinity where Arius is located…?

…No, I want to avoid that if I can. It’d only make the Arius students’ resentment toward Trinity worse. Actually, it almost certainly would.

"Hmmm…?"

This is tougher than I thought.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Dinnertime~"

"Ah, coming!"

So it’s that time already, huh. Guess I’ll stop here for today.

Well, it’s true the civil war isn’t that far off, but I still have three or four years. I’ll just keep thinking things through.

"…Suou-chan?"

"I-I’m coming now!"

After finishing my meal, I returned to my room to think alone.

…Come to think of it, being able to eat this much without worry is probably a huge luxury in this school.

After all, everyone in Arius Squad used to be street children.

Of course, part of it is just the small stomach of this three-year-old body.

"But still…"

I pulled a notebook down from a nearby shelf.

It was the plain, unmarked one I’d been given for doodling when I turned one.

Flipping through the pages, you’d find timelines, information, maps, and all sorts of details about Blue Archive—the most dangerous item in this world.

I’d written everything down to make sure I didn’t forget the original story.

For the maps, I’d based them on the school illustrations shown on the schedule execution screen, so they weren’t the most reliable.

"If this ever got found out, I’d be done for on the spot…"

Is this how that one certain “New World God” with the Death Note felt?

I barely remember the trick where the notebook burns itself, but maybe I should try making one later…

Well, for now I can’t do much. I just slipped in a little remote explosive I “borrowed.”

"Anyway!"

With a sharp motion, I stepped into the bathroom of my room and locked the door tight.

…Not because I needed to pee or anything, okay!?

"Ungh—"

I pushed open the bathroom window and slipped outside.

At this hour, a three-year-old like me was supposed to be asleep. No one would be coming by my room.

Notebook in hand, I made my way toward the Arius branch school building.

"Let’s gather some intel!!!"

I slapped my cheeks for courage—and then,

"Ugh—!!?"

Whether there’d been a scuffle nearby or something, a stray bullet hit me in the head and I collapsed.

"…Sigh."

Clutching my throbbing head, I forced myself back up and kept walking.

This is a world where even a little girl walking around ends up catching stray bullets. It’s a shitty place to live—
But I’ll keep going anyway!!!