Chapter 41: After Things Finally Settled Down

Cleaning up after the whole incident kept us endlessly busy. With the heads of the Three Great Factions—Seia, and now even Nagisa—collapsing, plus people getting injured in the attack on the Old Cathedral, picking fights with Gehenna on their own, being attacked while defending Trinity from Arius and the Justina Student Council, or being detained for joining the Pater faction’s coup… for one reason or another, nearly half of the Tea Party’s operating personnel ended up out of commission. So even we first-year officer cadets were dragged in to help.

A few days after things had finally settled down, I visited a particular hospital room to see someone recuperating there for a certain purpose.

"How are you feeling, Lady Nagisa?"

"I thought my halo was going to shatter… but it seems I somehow made it through."

Yes—Nagisa had finally regained consciousness, so I’d come to visit her.

"Indeed. At any rate, I’m relieved to see you safe. They say you’re not fully healed yet, so please don’t push yourself."

"…I heard it was Aika who carried me after I collapsed in the Old Cathedral. Thank you."

"Please think nothing of it. Here, a small gift."

I placed the fruit I’d had sent from home onto the stand.

"By the way, did you come because you had some business with me?"

Prompted by Nagisa, I handed her an envelope.

"To tell the truth, Lady Mika wrote a letter addressed to you."

"From Mika…? What does it say?"

"Well, you’re friends, after all… I think it’s best if you read it yourself. All we checked was whether it contained anything dangerous."

Not that I already knew the gist of it thanks to my previous life’s game or anything. Nagisa opened it with a faint look of expectation, began reading… and her brow gradually tightened.

"…Aika."

"Y-yes…?"

"Please inform the prison guards: ‘It’s fine if all of Mika’s future meals consist solely of Swiss roll cake.’"

"Ah—um… alright…"

Nagisa declared that after finishing the letter. If they actually did that, Mika would probably get sick from nutritional imbalance… For now, all I could do was give a strained smile and avoid giving a real answer.

Several more days passed, and now that Nagisa had recovered enough, it was decided that we would finally hold another Tea Party meeting.

"Huh? Maiha-chan isn’t here?"

As I stood by Nagisa’s side, Mika walked in with Masa on her left and a Prefect Team member on her right to keep her from trying to escape.

"Mika…"

"Nagi-chan, why the gloomy face? I mean, sure, things didn’t go perfectly… well, barely any part of it went perfectly, probably."

I mean, the Eden Treaty Nagisa had been aiming for had completely fallen apart… In the end, the biggest goal—reconciliation between Trinity and Gehenna—was buried under the chaos and never came to be.

"That’s…"

"It’s because we still have a mountain of unresolved problems ahead of us, isn’t it?"

Just as Nagisa was about to speak, a girl with golden hair and fox-like ears—Yurizono Seia—appeared, with Maiha following behind her.

"S-Seia…?"

"Seia-chan!?"

"…Hello, Nagisa, Mika. …And you’re Aika and Masa, I believe."

For the first time in nearly a year—since Seia had been bedridden after the attack—the three members of the Tea Party were reunited.

"A long time has passed, and much has happened… But it’s time we finally spoke. About the things we never said, the things we couldn’t say… and the things we truly wanted to say."

While Seia spoke, I took the moment to ask Maiha something that had been on my mind.

"Miss Maiha, had you met Lady Seia before this?"

"Nope, she just suddenly called for me and we met for the first time today~"

Well, she is a first-year, and Seia had already been attacked before Maiha even enrolled, so of course they never had the chance to meet.

"There must be misunderstandings. Things that seem unbelievable. And maybe we won’t reach any kind of answer at all… Even so, we can only face this unverifiable matter called the human heart. We must move forward—bearing that unending homework—and even in this darkness, keep striving toward whatever lies ahead."

"…Yes, that’s true."

When Nagisa nodded, Mika puffed out her cheeks.

"Mm-hm, I totally agree… but honestly, you’re still such a handful. Seia-chan, don’t you think that’s why you have so few friends? Are you aware of that?"

She’s picking a fight right out of the gate—is this fine? This isn’t going to blow up, right? As I wondered that, Seia shot back with perfect precision.

"…If anything, Mika, it seems far more urgent that someone fill that empty little hollow of a head of yours—with some culture and basic dignity, perhaps?"

"Mm-hmm, oh really. By the way, Seia-chan, you’re tiny, aren’t you? Standing next to Maiha-chan really makes it stand out☆"

"Noisy. And that has nothing to do with the conversation. This is exactly what you always do—whenever things get inconvenient for you, you immediately try to change the subject—"

"Um… both of you…"

And just like that, the two of them started bickering again. Masa let out a sigh and began reading a game strategy guide, while Maiha watched with a cheerful smile, saying, "Seia-sama is actually pretty funny, huh~" As for me, all I could do was give a strained smile and wait for Nagisa to somehow calm them down.

A week passed. According to the news, the D.U. District was growing chaotic—students protesting the closure of SRT Special Academy, Valkyrie Police Academy getting attacked… In other words, the events of Kivotos’ Calvados Chapter 1 were now unfolding. But since there was nothing I could do, I ignored it and focused on the present. Right now, I was in a certain classroom…

"M-Maiha… my legs are going numb…"

The four members of the Supplementary Lessons Club were sitting in seiza, courtesy of Maiha. They’d all passed the third exam, and Nagisa’s original purpose in creating the Supplementary Lessons Club—"finding out who was sabotaging the Eden Treaty and betraying Trinity"—had already been resolved. Technically, they should be the former Supplementary Lessons Club at this point, but…

"I just don’t understand. Hifumi-senpai, why did you skip your exam again? I know Peroro-sama is important to you, but a student’s primary duty is academics, isn’t it?"

"Y-yes…"

Maiha, in full serious mode, was lecturing her. From behind, all I could see were her soft, fluffy wings, but I could only imagine the expression she was giving the four of them.

"Azusa-senpai, please develop the habit of studying on your own. Your environment may have been unique, but if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask someone. You have plenty of people who’ll gladly help you."

"…Yeah. I got it."

Then she turned toward Koharu, who jolted as if struck. Her already small frame seemed to shrink even further.

"Koharu-chan. It’s good to build confidence, but there’s such a thing as order, right? Being the only first-year among the four might’ve made you want to skip ahead and stand beside them, but… learn to judge what you can handle and take things one step at a time."

"O-okay…"

Finally, she faced Hanako. Even someone as easygoing as her was sweating bullets in front of Maiha right now.

"Hanako-senpai. Just because the Supplementary Lessons Club disbanded doesn’t mean the four of you will be separated, right? If you want to do things together, there are plenty of ways. Did you really need to deliberately slack off and fail the exam just to come back here?"

"Well, you see…"

Unlike the others, Hanako usually had a sharp tongue and quick wit, and looked like she was preparing a rebuttal—but she was cut down before she could speak.

"No excuses. Take the exam seriously."

"…Yes."

The supervising teacher was there too, but whether they were intimidated or simply chose not to interfere, they remained completely silent.

"U-um, Maiha-san. It seems there won’t be any expulsions this time, the exam covers normal material, and the passing score is only sixty points… so if they study properly, they’ll pass right away. So perhaps this much is…"

"Mm… Aika-chan, maybe I did come down too hard. But if they don’t take things seriously now, they’re the ones who’ll regret it later."

Yeah… today I truly understood that when a normally gentle person gets angry, it’s absolutely terrifying. She went right back to her usual sweet demeanor afterward and helped them study like normal—but the four of them still looked stiff as boards.