Chapter 39: The Duty of an Officer Cadet

We finally reached the Remedial Knights. I knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a reply. The girl who greeted me had violet twin tails and wore the Remedial Knights’ uniform.

"Oh, you’re the one from the entrance ceremony? You don't look injured, but what happened?"

"Yes, it's been a while, Asagao-san. The ones who are injured aren’t me… could you take a look first?"

I showed her the truck bed we’d parked at the entrance. Hanae looked at it, then back at me, her eyes widening.

"Wait, is that… Lady Nagisa and Lady Sakurako!?"

"Yes. You’re aware that the Old Cathedral—the site of the Eden Treaty ceremony—was attacked. I happened to be away and avoided harm, but the two of them were caught in the blast and buried under the debris."

"So you brought them here for us?"

I nodded quietly and continued.

"…Please treat them. And at the same time, could you inform the entire academy that they’ve been found?"

"Understood! I’ll report to the senior members!"

Once we saw the two girls being carried away on stretchers by Remedial Knight students, we headed next to the training grounds of one of their affiliated organizations. After securing radios, first-aid kits, and whatever else we could use, I called Maiha.

"Maiha-san, how is the evacuation guidance going?"

〈Yeah, Masa and I have mostly wrapped it up. We were going to start recovering injured students next, but… while we were guiding people, a battle started near the Old Cathedral, and we can’t get close anymore.〉

A battle… probably Tsurugi, Hasumi, and Hina against the Arius forces.

"Understood. Is Masa with you?"

〈Yep, right next to me. Want to talk to her?〉

"No, as long as I can confirm she’s with you, that’s enough. Where are you two now?"

I’d called to hand over the radios we’d borrowed—so I needed their location.

〈We’re in front of Lecture Hall No. 3. Something up?〉

"Yes, I thought I’d deliver a radio to you. It should be more convenient than phone calls in this situation."

〈Makes sense. Thanks~ We'll be waiting.〉

I hung up and started the truck. Lecture Hall No. 3… the opposite direction from where we came. Complaining wouldn’t help—we needed to hurry.

"Ikaa-kaaa~!"

After driving for over ten minutes, we arrived. We found Maiha and Masa with several injured students lying on the floor.

"These are… the injured you recovered near the Old Cathedral, correct?"

"Yes. But we have no way to contact the Remedial Knights and no first-aid tools, so we had no choice but to lay them down."

I pulled out a medical kit from the truck bed, opened it, and began preparing to treat them.

"For now, let’s do everything we can. After that, we’ll use this radio to request proper medical care from the Remedial Knights."

After a short while, a nearby Remedial Knight responded to our call. We left the patients in her care and got back in the vehicle.

I handed one radio each to Maiha and Masa, while I stayed in the truck bed, keeping watch for enemies. Our destination was, for now, the Tea Party headquarters—the same building with that tea ceremony room. We hadn’t been summoned yet, but better to be safe.

"Oh, by the way, Aika-chan, did you find Lady Nagisa?"

"Yes. She had lost consciousness, so I transported her to the Remedial Knights."

The mission entrusted to me by Nagisa… for now, I seemed to be carrying it out properly. I really wished things hadn’t escalated this far.

"That’s a relief. Just confirming she’s alive will reduce the panic level."

While she was saying that, Masa’s phone rang. She answered—it seemed to be an administrator from the Tea Party.

"Aika, the Pater faction has issued an emergency summons. But first, we have to head to Tea Party HQ immediately."

"Understood."

An emergency summons… the words alone felt ominous. Feeling that unease, I let the Royalty roll onward.

By the time the sun had started to set, light raindrops had begun to fall. When we arrived at Tea Party headquarters, a student at the entrance guided us to the conference room. Inside, the air was noisy and unsettled. When we entered, a second-year administrator banged a gavel to call for silence. She appeared to be the acting chair.

"Now that the currently active key members of the Tea Party are present, we will begin this emergency meeting."

Still… I barely saw any third-years from the Tea Party. No way they were all caught in the missile strike… right? And almost everyone present was from the Filius and Sanctus factions. Aside from Masa, only two or three Pater members were here.

"Let’s review the current situation. The Old Cathedral was attacked by an unknown projectile, and the current Tea Party Host, Lady Kirifuji Nagisa, was caught in the blast and is missing—"

She was interrupted by another administrator raising a hand.

"Regarding that, we just received a report from the Remedial Knights. Lady Nagisa has been found, secured, and treated. She is currently stable but gravely injured and unconscious. She likely won’t be able to move for several days."

Ah, good—the Remedial Knights really handled it properly. I’d heard from my previous life's knowledge that the captain and Hanae could be… questionable sometimes, so I’d been a bit worried. And even Suomi Serina, who looks normal at first glance, is apparently dangerous in an entirely different way.*1

"I see. In any case, she is in no condition to issue orders. As for the other leaders… Lady Yurizono Seia of the Sanctus faction has remained unconscious for some time. Lady Misono Mika of the Pater faction is still imprisoned for the incident she caused. Lady Aomori Mine of the Johanne faction is busy providing constant care for Lady Seia. The remaining factions are in disarray and unable to function."

Looking at the situation as a whole… wow, Trinity’s upper leadership was a complete wreck. With Nagisa down too, the entire organization was basically paralyzed.

"We have received word of a commotion near Building No. 14. Who on earth would cause trouble at a time like this…"

"Oh? A message from a Pater sub-faction administrator… what? Martial law? Preparations to declare war on Gehenna? What do they think they’re doing…"

I glanced at Masa. She wore a bitter expression that clearly said, What the hell are those idiots doing…

"What about the Sisterhood? Any updates from the Justice Task Force?"

"The Sisterhood… it seems they successfully secured Lady Nagisa and Lady Sakurako around the same time, but both are in critical condition and unable to move for the foreseeable future. As for the Justice Task Force, we cannot contact either the chairwoman or the vice-chair, and the chain of command is breaking down as no one knows how to respond to the various requests coming in."

What could they even do? Even if Nagisa miraculously recovered and returned right now, this was way beyond something she could handle alone.

"What are the Tea Party’s subordinate organizations doing?"

"The escort units are engaged in combat outside the outer perimeter of the Old Cathedral, fighting… Gehenna? A third party? In any case, casualties are severe."

As the administrators—well, technically middle managers—continued arguing back and forth, another transmission came in.

"Gehenna emergency medical vehicles have entered through Gate 5. Inside is a SCHALE Sensei injured by gunfire."

"Sensei was shot!?"

"Sensei…"

Most likely, they meant Sensei had been shot in the abdomen by Joumae Saori. I’d known about this from my previous life, I knew it was coming, but… Sensei isn’t anywhere near as sturdy as us students. Without Arona’s protection, even a single bullet could be fatal. And that moment… is now.

My body shook. A crushing anxiety overtook me. Calm down. If things follow the original story, Sensei will regain consciousness. They’ll be okay… they have to be.

"Ai—… Aika-chan!"

"M-Maiha-san…"

Maiha tapped my shoulder, snapping me back to reality.

"You went completely pale. Are you okay?"

"Y-yes… somehow."

I took a deep breath and forced my heartbeat to settle. Yes. Sensei will be fine.

"…We’ve received an update from the Sisterhood. Since Lady Sakurako is incapacitated, Urawa Hanako-san is issuing temporary directives."

"That former prodigy? Is she really reliable?"

Former, huh… Well, most students don’t know what she went through. From the outside, she probably just looks like a brilliant student who suddenly started acting strangely, saw her grades plummet, and crashed hard.

"In a crisis like this, she wouldn’t fool around… probably. According to her, we should prioritize treatment for the injured above all else."

"…That is reasonable. What’s the status of the Remedial Knights?"

The administrator made a call to the Remedial Knights, spoke for a moment, and then reported:

"They’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of injured and are relying on Gehenna’s Emergency Medicine Department for assistance. Apparently, both Trinity and Gehenna have many wounded."

"…We should reassign some Justice Task Force personnel to assist with the injured. Their training should at least cover first-aid level care."

Another phone rang—this time from the Remedial Knights.

"…Understood. Chairwoman, we’ve just been informed that both the Justice Task Force’s chairwoman and vice-chair have been brought to the Remedial Knights’ infirmary. Both are in critical condition."

"Very well. Announce that the chair and vice-chair are to remain in bed until further notice, and that the Justice Task Force’s highest priority mission is to assist with emergency care for the injured. Relay this to all members."

The announcement went out over the academy-wide broadcast. It seemed like the confusion was finally beginning to settle… but then another phone started ringing. The acting chair picked it up, her expression clearly showing irritation.

"What now? …Excuse me? A declaration of war against Gehenna!? Enough with these unauthorized actions!"

Another Pater splinter group, no doubt. Hearing that, Masa abruptly stood up.

"Excuse me. I’m going to stop the idiots above me."

"Eh—Masa-san!?"

She hurried out of the room, and I followed immediately. Looking back, Maiha remained seated.

"Sorry! Since all the information gathers here on its own, I’ll leave this side to you two. And if anything happens—look, we have the radios Aika-chan gave us."

"Maiha-san… I’m sorry. Please take care of this."

"Yep. Don’t worry. That’s what I’m here for."

Leaving the meeting to Maiha, Masa and I rushed out to stop the Pater faction’s recklessness.

"Is the declaration of war document ready?"

"Yes, it’s fine."

Members of the Pater faction’s administration and subordinate groups had gathered in a lecture hall, planning to seize the chaos and begin exterminating their hated enemy, Gehenna. But the one who burst through the door was—

"Please wait! Declaring war without a Host is prohibited under school regulations!"

"W-what… Urawa Hanako…? Why are you here!?"

The Pater administrator asked in shock, but Hanako continued without hesitation.

"You saw the footage from the Old Sanctuary, didn’t you? The enemy isn’t Gehenna! It’s clearly some other entity Arius is controlling! The ruins scattered throughout Trinity’s autonomous zone lead down into underground catacombs—"

The administrator cut her off, as if refusing to hear more, ordering his subordinates to restrain her. They pinned her from both sides, leaving her unable to move.

"Urawa Hanako… It pains me that it’s come to this."

"What are you…?"

In response, the administrator began explaining dispassionately.

It was true: the enemy resembled a group related to the Sisterhood—similar to the Justina Saints. And the cruise missile had indeed targeted ruins managed by the Sisterhood. It wasn’t impossible that Arius intended to invade Trinity… however—

"It’s also possible that the Sisterhood is colluding with Arius to seize control of Trinity, isn’t it? The timing of this incident—right when that secretive group suddenly breaks their political isolation—makes that the most natural conclusion."

"…! That’s not…!"

The timing was truly unfortunate. Suspicion falling on the Sisterhood seemed almost inevitable.

"We of the Pater faction have decided to respond swiftly to this crisis. Anyone from the Filius or Sanctus factions who opposes this decision will be detained shortly."

"So in other words… this is a coup!"

"No, it isn’t. One of the Tea Party members, Lady Mika, is still alive. We’ll free her, and with Lady Seia and Lady Nagisa incapacitated, she can act as Tea Party Host and authorize the total war with Gehenna she desires—"

She stopped mid-sentence. The door was blown apart.

"Well now… Aren’t you all having a very in-ter-est-ing conversation?"

"…Honotani Masa."

The moment they saw her blue hair, the Pater members grimaced as if they’d bitten into something bitter. She was said to be the strongest among the first-years. Even veteran Tea Party combatants admitted that even second- and third-years had difficulty defeating her one-on-one.

"…Let her go."

The subordinates hesitated. For them, the orders of an officer-candidate who actually commanded combat units ranked higher than those of an administrator—but the one who had ordered Hanako restrained was an upperclassman.

"Masa, weren’t you guarding the Old Sanctuary with the other officer-candidates? If you were caught in that attack, you shouldn’t be able to move."

The administrator finally asked, voicing the obvious question. Masa answered plainly.

"I got a little thirsty, so Aika, Maiha, and I stepped out to buy drinks. Luckily, we avoided getting caught up in it."

So she escaped by slacking off, the administrator thought, and continued.

"…Since you’re also a member of the Pater faction, you should know what needs to be done right now."

In other words—cooperate with their operation to attack Gehenna. But Masa replied as if the idea itself was ridiculous.

"…Gather accurate information and stabilize the situation. What else would we do? Don’t tell me you seriously intend to declare war on Gehenna in this mess?"

Negotiations instantly collapsed. She was strong, but still just a first-year. The administrator decided they would throw her into a cell with the other dissenters.

"A pity, Honotani Masa. Among the first-years, your martial prowess is exceptional. You could have carried the Pater faction in the years to come… Restrain her."

He gave the order—but the subordinates didn’t move. They stood silently.

"…"

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"

Even when he snapped impatiently, they didn’t budge. Masa let out a sigh.

"Honestly… Who do you think holds command over the combat units?"

"Why, the overall commander of the subordinate organiz—"

"If you mean the commander, she charged into battle with Gehenna without orders and got sniped. She’s unconscious."

Truly idiotic. Because they rushed in without thinking, they only increased their number of wounded. While Masa mocked them internally, the administrator spoke again.

"Then the next in line!"

"The deputy commander was also caught in the incident at the Old Sanctuary. She’s injured and tied to a bed by the Remedial Knights. After that, it’s us officer-candidates. For today only, we have special authority granted directly by Host Lady Nagisa."

In other words: with both commander and deputy commander incapacitated, the one who currently held full operational authority over the Pater faction’s combat units was… Honotani Masa herself.

"T-that can’t be…"

"…By the authority of an officer-candidate, I order you: release Urawa Hanako. And the Tea Party’s security units are not to move even if a declaration of war on Gehenna is issued. Filius and Sanctus should already have received the same notice."

Following the order, the subordinates released Hanako. Just when it seemed the situation was calming down, another Pater member rushed in.

"We’ve finished preparations to free Lady Mika!"

"…Aika, take care of things here."

Masa dashed out again, leaving Aika standing frozen, unable to do anything but watch her go.