Chapter 5: The Plan and the Current Student Council President

Six years have passed since I was born into this world.

I stand before the mirror, adjusting my clothes. The face looking back at me isn't that of an average young man… but a cute little girl.

“…Haaah. I really am a little girl.”

I raise my right hand and strike a pose, greeting myself with a cheerful, “Good morning, little girl!” …It’s undeniably lolicon bait. It doesn't feel like I’m looking at myself at all.

Well, with Kivotos’s level of science, maybe I’ll be able to return to being a man someday. Probably… no, that day has to come…!

I mean, seriously! To be thrown into a world full of beautiful girls and not even be able to date anyone—what kind of cruel joke is that?

“Sigh… but that’s not even the real problem.”

I take a fresh look at my reflection: glossy dark-brown hair, deep green eyes, and a halo shaped like a crown of thorns. And then, there’s the heterochromia. One eye is white, the other black.

Yep. Heterochromia.

“…Haaah.”

In the original story, there were only three characters with heterochromia: Takanashi Hoshino of Abydos High School, Sunaookami Shiroko, and Arona, the main OS of the Shittim Chest.

“This just screams trouble…”

Hoshino was one of the greatest mysteries in Kivotos, nicknamed Horus of the Dawn. She was ridiculously strong, incredibly durable, and a target of Gematria.

Shiroko, who possessed the second-greatest mystery after Hoshino, was called the Wolf God. She could stand in Hoshino’s place and was treated as a form of insurance by the Black Suits.

As for Arona? Needless to say, she was the main OS of the Shittim Chest—an outright anomalous artifact.

In other words, heterochromia is rare to begin with, and every character who has it is neck-deep in troublesome baggage. Nothing good ever comes with the trait.

“…So I probably have more ‘mystery power’ than the average person. My body is also absurdly tough and strong.”

Compared to other children my age, my strength is ridiculous.

There was an incident a while back where I got caught in a gunfight. I even took a tank shell and wasn’t completely incapacitated.

…Seriously, the public safety in this world is a disaster.

That event is probably proof that I possess more mystery power than most, and that my body is unnaturally durable.

You could call that a benefit… but honestly, it doesn’t feel good at all. If anything, it just paints a target on my back for the Black Suits. It’s a total debuff.

“Well, there’s no point whining about it…”

One way or another, if I want to stop the civil war, I have no choice but to act.

The reason I was getting dressed was for my new school.

I’ve been enrolled in an educational facility—something informally called “Arius Elementary School.” That isn’t its official name, but it’s close enough.

Technically, I was already living in a dorm-like building on the premises, but today made it official. What a crappy trap to be stuck in.

Today is the entrance ceremony.

On stage, a tall woman with long blue hair is delivering a speech to the new students. Here, we will learn how to handle firearms, receive a general education, and master the basics of combat. Eventually, we will advance to the Arius Branch School.

In return, we are provided with housing, food, and clothing. The meals aren’t anything to brag about, but they’re regular. We can also requisition supplies to some degree—ammunition, books, workout gear, and so on.

…Honestly, by the standards of this world, I’m probably considered lucky.

Even if the motive is just to secure manpower, receiving a formal education along with guaranteed food and shelter is about as fortunate as it gets here.

“To you all, who will carry the future of Arius—”

This woman really loves to talk. If I recall correctly, she’s the Student Council President of Arius Branch School.

She bears some resemblance to Atsuko Hakari, maybe? It’s hard to say; the art style here is much more realistic.

…No, on second thought, not really.

“…And that concludes my address to the new students. Work hard.”

Finally. It took her long enough.

“Now then, follow your teachers by class. Once you arrive at your classrooms, remain there.”

The teachers are adults with halos—graduates of Arius Branch.

“This row, follow me—”

“Aaaaahhh!!! I’m so tired!!!”

I flop onto the bed and scream.

Seriously, I’m exhausted. Being stuck in ceremonies like that is torture on this tiny, childlike body.

“I don’t have time for this… I need to move quickly…”

For information gathering.

For the past three years—well, really just the past two since I could finally move properly—I’ve been sneaking out at night to gather intel both inside and outside the autonomous district.

To put an end to the civil war, and to prevent Beatrice from ever coming here.

And the result of all that?

“I can’t do a damn thing!!!”

Yep. Absolutely nothing.

I’m not the daughter of some influential figure. I don’t have overwhelming power compared to high schoolers.

A kid like me has no chance of stopping a civil war in advance. That was the conclusion I reached.

“…Haaah. Vanitas.”

Vanitas, vanitas.

I refuse to let it end with me doing nothing.

I’ve got a sharper mind than my appearance suggests. Probably the greatest mystery power in Arius. And most of all, I have knowledge of the original story.

I’m not just some child. Mentally, I should already be an adult.

“…Alright. Time to put my possible plans in order.”

I pull open the drawer of my study desk, using the core of a ballpoint pen to trigger the hidden double-bottom lid.

“…Man, I really outdid myself making this thing.”

If you open it wrong, it sets off an electric current and burns the notebook—safe and secure storage.

No one will ever find it here.

Thank you, God of the New World.

Muttering dumb things like that, I flip open the notebook.

Of course, I’ve been gathering information, but that’s not all.

I’ve also been drafting plans to stop the civil war. Drafting only, but still.

“Let’s see… first, ambush the leader of the radicals… yeah, that’s probably impossible.”

Could I even win with my current ability?

Sure, I’ve trained with guns as part of play, and I’ve even managed to escape the Helmet Gang and Public Security a few times.

But beating a high schooler with just that? Not happening.

And since there isn’t even a clear leader, it’s impossible to execute anyway.

“Scrap that. Next… invite outside interference from Trinity or Gehenna, strengthen monitoring systems to suppress movement… Yeah, no way.”

What good would it do to fan the flames of hatred toward Trinity and Gehenna?

That would only ever be a temporary fix.

“Next… just spill everything, huh. That one’s tricky…”

Beatrice showing up and brainwashing this school, huh… Even if I said that, from the extremists’ point of view, if that alone could destroy Trinity, they’d gladly take it.

No way.

Still, depending on the people involved, it’s not the worst plan. If it’s only with moderate faction members I can trust, then maybe.

"Partially approved. Next. Leave the extremists behind and escape with the rest…"

Turning Arius Branch School into a nonfunctional institution. That was one of the methods I’d considered.

But this is impossible too. The extremists wouldn’t allow moderate students—let alone children, who are valuable future assets—to escape. When they caught me trying to slip away once… I’d rather not remember that.

Besides, there’s never a good reason to abandon anyone.

"Sigh… rejected. Next. Use the Helmet Gang to indirectly strengthen security around Arius Branch… Now this one’s viable."

This plan is actually pretty good. The Helmet Gang is, after all, a criminal organization. Some students among them are even wanted.

They’re a fairly large group too, with branches set up inside Trinity. Their base is near the Black Market, not too far from Arius.

If we blew up their hideout, they’d be forced to search for a new one. That would, in turn, trigger an increase in crime. The Public Security Bureau, the Justice Task Force, and Gehenna’s Disciplinary Committee would all tighten their patrols. With that, Arius wouldn’t be able to just start an uprising whenever it pleased.

Basically, it’s a toned-down version of inviting foreign intervention. Temporary, but still effective. On top of that, if we staged things so the blame fell on the Helmet Gang, we could even funnel all the hate toward them.

"Yeah, this one’s approved… Next. Blowing up that facility… Haven’t we already investigated this? Cross it off."

Destroying the facility Beatrice is after, to prevent her from ever coming here in the first place. When I thought of it, I was thrilled—it seemed like the perfect idea, so I rushed to act on it. But that place was only built after Beatrice came to Arius.

At the time, it didn’t exist.

Sure, I’ve got a pretty good idea of where it’ll eventually be built, but… you can’t blow up something that isn’t there.

"Okay… next…"

"Hmm? This is tough…"

I racked my brain, trying to run through everything, but no matter how I looked at it, there didn’t seem to be any great plan. This was way past just a bad start.

"But at least the immediate goal is clear."

What I lack right now. Knowledge, military strength, technology, authority, and everything else… Honestly, I’m lacking in all of it.

Which is why what I really need now is—

"I need an ally I can trust absolutely. Preferably someone with standing, and from the moderates."

With an ally, I could make up for the lack of military power. If they had strong standing, my freedom of action would expand. That’d be a huge win.

Someone I could reveal everything to. Someone I could entrust with carrying out all the actions I can’t do myself.

In other words—a partner in crime.

It’s not like one’s going to fall into my lap, but still, I have to try searching.

"Yeah, whatever I do, that comes first."

So, with that decided, I slipped out of the bathroom as usual to begin my hunt for a partner in crime.

Before I knew it, night had fallen. I strolled leisurely through Arius Training Facility grounds, keeping my guard up.

Here, as long as you stay within the facility grounds and within permitted hours, going outside is technically allowed. But if I just wandered around on my own, I’d probably get scolded badly… I think.

That’s why I’d rather search within the grounds, ideally among the faculty, for someone promising.

Not that I hadn’t already been screening candidates to some extent. Honestly, moderate-leaning teachers are rare. Staying in a dead-end school like this says enough.

Even so, the moderates haven’t disappeared entirely. Probably because there are still plenty of people like me who they’re trying to raise “properly.”

And kids, well… all kids hate strict adults anyway!

"Eehhh…"

"Hm?"

A faint, thin voice drifted in from somewhere far away, and I instinctively perked up my ears.

"Hey… stop it… seriously… I said…!!!"
"No way… what… are you doing?!"

"Hm? Over this way?"

What is that? Some kind of trouble?

"Well… I heard it, so…"

At the very least, I should check. If someone’s hurt, that’d be bad.

"Heave-ho…"

I squeezed my small body through the gap between two school buildings, heading toward the voices.

"Yep, just as I thought, it’s over—"

And then, in the next instant—

"That’s what I’m saying!!! Everyone was staring at me and my heart was pounding like crazy!! I’m not cut out to be student council president!!!"

"Keep your voice down!! What if someone hears you!?"

"Shut up, shut up!! I don’t care anymore!! I quit this school!! I’m done with this hellhole, I’m gonna find myself a wonderful prince right now!!"

"That’s why someone has to do it!!! I’m way too weak to handle it!!! And—pfft… A prince? What, riding in on a white horse, tossing roses, yelling out ‘My honeyyy’? No such guy exists!! The only males you’d attract are Gorilla gorilla gorilla! Go to the zoo!!!"

"Wha—waaahhh!!? Anna-chan, you said the one thing you’re not supposed to say!! You’re awful!! I’ll snap your neck!!"

"Wait—hey, stop!! That’s not funny!! I’m trash-tier weak!! Stat-wise I’m literally Slime A!! I’ll seriously die!!"

"...Uh… what?"

Wait, hold on. Give me a second to process this.

Why is the dignified student council president, the same one who looked so imposing in front of me this afternoon, throwing a tantrum like this…?

And—Slime A? No way. That’s not the kind of line someone from Arius, where there’s zero decent entertainment, would say.

…No, no, impossible. It has to be a look-alike. Yeah, that’s it. Someone who just happens to resemble her. And the “Slime A” thing? Must’ve been a gun name or something.

"—!!?"

Crap. The one getting choked just made eye contact with me.

"Y-you there, little girl!! Save me!! This psycho’s lost her mind…!!!"

"Eh!? U-um… judging by how things went, I think you were the one who said too much…"

No, no, don’t answer seriously, me!! Getting spotted is really, really bad!!

"How could you be so cruel…!? F-fine, whatever…!! This stupid school can just fall apart in a civil war already…!!"

"Hey, hey!? You can’t say that!! I’m forcing myself to push through my fear of people specifically to stop that from happening!!"

…Yeah, this is the president. No doubt about it. She just admitted it herself. So she’s working to prevent an uprising, huh? I see, I see…

…Wait, what did she just say!?

"H-hey, just now—"

"Guehhhhh!!? A c-cobra twist!? Where do you even pick this stuff up…!?"

"I found a pro-wrestling manga!!! It was hilarious!!!"

…She definitely said it. She wants to stop a civil war. And she’s probably the president, too. Authority-wise, she’s more than qualified.

As a potential partner in crime, she might be perfect… Might be. But still…!!!

"Y-you haven’t seen the last of me… Even if I die, the second and third me will…!!"

"How many years ago do you think that game was, huh!!? Don’t assume I remember everything!! …Even though I do!!"

…Can I really trust these people!!!?

Pandemonium Society
— Read as “Pandemonium Society.”
— The student council of a school called Gehenna.

Mysteries
— Apparently something that students possess.
— Honestly, if you asked me “What exactly is this?”, well… who knows?
— In this story, it’s treated as a strange power that strengthens one’s body or weapons. Basically, that thing you see all the time in shounen manga.
— When a student comes into contact with “Colors,” it flips into something else—turning into “Fear.”

The Black Suits
— Members of an organization called Gematria.
— At a place known as Abydos High School, they attempted to conduct research to see if students could adapt to living with Fear.

Shittim Chest
— A tablet-shaped device that can predict attacks through calculation or put up barriers.
— A young girl named Arona lives inside it, serving as the main OS and supporting the teacher.