Chapter 21: A Provisional Curtain Call (Part 2)

Ah… if a god truly exists in this world.

I’d like to punch them in the right cheek. And if, just like that famous saying, they were kind enough to offer their left cheek as well, I’d punch that one with everything I’ve got too.

Then I’d step on that fallen “god” and say this:

"Game balance…! Please… balance it properly…!!"

—something like that.

"Ahaha☆"

This is no joke!!

That thing is practically… mysticism itself given form, swinging straight at us! This is beyond ridiculous!

If we hadn’t prepared—if we hadn’t carefully set the field and even readied a trump card—I could accept it. But this?! This situation?! We knew the enemy’s plan in advance and countered it. We were the ones who arrived early and maneuvered to gain the advantage against the first forces on site. And yet… the entire situation is being overturned by nearly one person—by just one person! How am I supposed to accept that?!

This is way past “balance breaker” territory!

"…I seeee. Yeah, yeah, got it. No wonder everyone keeps saying 'Schale, Schale.' You really are troublesome, 'adults.'"

Despite her words, Mika still looks far too relaxed.

"And Komori-chan was pretty strong too, but it’s pointless, you know? There are reinforcements even stronger than the ones you just took down… see? Looks like they’re already here. So, shall we keep going?"

"...Tch."

While Hanako and Mika exchange words, I toss aside the empty assault rifle magazine and reach into the inside of my coat—then I realize it. I only have one magazine left. Just this one.

The submachine gun. The marksman rifle. Every other firearm is already dry. The baton I used earlier is still usable, but it’s not meant for a wide-open field like this. And the Mystical Reproduction System—the Benedictus Halo—has been destroyed so many times that its remaining energy is unreliable at best.

And yet, from outside the gymnasium, I can hear it without even checking the sub-monitor—countless footsteps. Just as Mika said, enemy reinforcements are coming.

"...Haah… damn it."

Still, I have no choice.

How many hellscapes like this do they think I’ve survived?

To complete the job. To protect Sensei.

And above all… to smash the face of that bird woman who dared insult Problem Solver 68…!!

"Azusa. I don’t know what happened between you and her. But look forward. Right now, we need to get through this—"

An explosion thundered through the air.

"...What was that?"

"Hm?"

"Some Trinity students are moving toward us!"

"...? Why? Anyone who’d defy the Tea Party’s martial law should already—"

The explosion was getting closer—straight toward us—

"...They’re here. A group that even the Tea Party can’t command. An independent faction."

The gymnasium doors were blown apart.

"What—!?"

"Sisterhood…?!"

What appeared was a group utterly out of place on a battlefield—clad in the garments worn by those who serve the divine.

One of the possibilities I had dismissed as impossible reinforcements.

Within Trinity, the largest organization after the Tea Party.

"Sisterhood."

"! Urawa Hanako…!"

"...Well, I made a little promise."

There’s no way those stiff-necked types would move over “a little promise,” I think—yet I can feel the corners of my mouth lifting.

"Cough. May peace and tranquility be with everyone today… cough."

"S-sorry for intruding…"

"Although this goes against the Sisterhood’s long-standing customs… we will be intervening in the Tea Party’s internal conflict."

Light—no, a path to victory—comes into view.

"...Well then, the number of people we need to clean up just skyrocketed."

"...Your expression finally changed, Mika-san?"

"Did it? Well, if I end up being the host anyway, I was planning to clean the cathedral too. Yeah… let’s think of this as a chance to do it all at once."

"...Alright then. Shall we give it a try?"

I load the magazine.

"...I don’t have anywhere left to go. I can only push forward."

The second act begins.

"...What did we misjudge?"

A bent gun barrel. Armor scarred beyond recognition. Spent casings scattered across the floor. Severed cables sparking violently. And our comrades, breathing hard.

But we were still standing—and Mika was the one lying on the floor.

It wasn’t a perfect victory—not even close—but we had defeated her. That single fact existed here, undeniably.

"...Was it because I underestimated you, Hanako-chan?"

On the dark gymnasium floor, she let the words fall one by one.

"No… I knew that 'Urawa Hanako' was an extraordinary existence. But at some point, she became harmless. So much so that she didn’t even need to be calculated as a variable."

Variables. As if retracing the collapse of her own plan, she continued speaking to herself.

Hanako first. Then Azusa, Koharu, Hifumi. And finally, me.

Shirasu Azusa possessed combat power unlike anyone else. But in the end, she was nothing more than a puppet—she could never become a variable in Mika’s plan.

Hifumi was simply a gentle, harmless girl, far removed from anything that could be called a variable.

"Koharu-chan is just a dumb little idiot, right?"

…Her phrasing is harsh, but Koharu, too, couldn’t become a variable.

"And Komori-chan surprised me, sure, but not enough that I couldn’t deal with her."

…Yeah. As humiliating as it is, she’s right. Even if I alone had been standing here, I wouldn’t have been able to disrupt her plan. And if I hadn’t made that “promise” with Sensei… I would still be wandering alone in that pitch-black darkness—trembling, lost, endlessly drifting. I would never have stood witness to this kind of youth, never have spent time together with companions. I would never have bathed in the light of day.

"And yet… how did I lose?"

"Where did it all go wrong?"

There was something about her words—tinged with regret—that made it feel like she wasn’t talking about the outcome of this battle at all.

"...Ah. Right. I forgot the biggest variable of all."

After turning her gaze to each of us in turn, she finally looked back—straight at the one adult who stood there, tablet in hand, watching her with a serious expression.

Schale’s "Sensei."

The protagonist of this world.

And my—our—light.

The moment she involved him, her defeat was already sealed.

And then—someone whose face I didn’t even know, a figure that existed only as information to me. The death of one of the Tea Party, Yurizono Seia, should have made everything certain… for Mika as well. Her mistaken path should have ended right there, cut short completely.

"Yeah… no good. I really messed up."

She gave a self-mocking smile and stared up at the ceiling.

"Mika-san… Seia-chan is—"

"...I never truly intended to kill her. I know anything I say now just sounds like an excuse, but…"

That name—the one that must have been the source of her regret.

"...Seia-chan is safe."

The words Hanako spoke brought a dramatic change to Mika’s twisted expression.

"...!?"

"We’ve been falsifying it all this time."

For the first time, Mika’s face showed raw emotion.

Meeting that gaze head-on, Hanako continued. She explained that Seia had been attacked by an unknown assailant and, for her safety, was hiding outside Trinity. That she had not yet regained consciousness due to her injuries, but was undoubtedly alive. That she was being protected by one of Trinity’s organizations—the Remedial Knights—under the escort of their commander, Mine.

"...I see. She was alive."

She murmured softly.

"Thank goodness…"

She smiled, her expression light with relief, as though a heavy weight had finally been lifted from her heart.

"...I give up. I lose."

"Mika…"

With those words, Seien Mika accepted defeat with startling ease.

I don’t understand her feelings. I’m just a mercenary—hired muscle, nothing more. Unlike the Remedial Class girls, I wasn’t dragged into this and forced to resist with everything I had. Unlike Sensei, I didn’t stand beside the students, trying to support them. Unlike the members of the Tea Party, I didn’t rack my brain over this incident and its implications.

And yet, the look on Mika’s face now was remarkably clear—almost radiant. Like someone finally freed from chains that had bound her for far too long.

"Congratulations, Remedial Class… and Sensei. Let’s say this is your victory. I don’t really care anymore. You can do whatever you want with me."

She threw her hands up in surrender, then turned to face Azusa.

"..."

"Azusa-chan. You know what you’re doing, right? And what’s going to happen because of it?"

"Of course."

Azusa replied without looking away, her gaze fixed firmly on Mika.

"...Do you think Trinity will protect you? You’ll be hunted—from now on, forever. No matter where you go. Do you really think a day will come when you can sleep peacefully? And do you think you can escape Saori? If you’re from Arius, then you know it, right? Et omnia vanitas."

Et omnia vanitas.

A phrase Azusa often used. It meant: All is vanity.

…I can’t deny that I agree with it, at least a little. Living in darkness where no light can be seen, thinking only about survival. Caring nothing for life or death, focusing instead on how efficiently one could kill, how much money could be made. Day after day like that. Anyone would end up believing that everything is empty. No—perhaps it was simply easier to keep repeating those words, to avert one’s eyes from a distant light that could never be reached, no matter how desperately one struggled.

But that’s not right, is it? I found the light. And you always added something after saying those words.

"Even if everything is empty, that’s no reason not to do your best today."

"Even if everything is empty, that’s no reason to stop resisting."

And so, today as well, she speaks—her voice steady—to eyes stained with detachment.

"Yeah. I know. Even so, I’ll struggle until the very end. Right up until the final moment."

…Ah. You really are far too dazzling.

—

The Trinity attack incident targeting one of the Tea Party members, Kirifuji Nagisa, came to a provisional close when its mastermind—fellow Tea Party member Seien Mika—was apprehended by the Justice Task Force.

However, for the members of the Remedial Class, the real battle was only just beginning.

With no time to heal their exhausted bodies, they pushed themselves even harder, racing against the clock to reach the venue—straight into the boss fight.

From the disastrous First Special Academic Examination, through the chaos and schemes that shattered the Second, and finally to their sixth mock exam, where they aimed together for a passing score.

At first, they were a disjointed, uneven group. But even from my detached, third-party perspective, it was clear how they had come together—how they struggled, bonded, and worked toward success.

I only helped a little with their studies, but… well.

"You really came all this way, Komori-chan!"

"...Yeah."

Maybe… just maybe… I can hope that their youth will be rewarded—as a friend.

"..."

"Huh?"

…Haha. Just kidding. That’s too embarrassing to say out loud.

"...I’m going!"

"...Go on."

"! …Yes!"

…Th-that’s enough! Cut me some slack!

"Now then, the Third Special Academic Examination… begins!"

With Sensei’s voice as the final cue, I leave the venue behind.

To all the observers who stayed with us until the end, my deepest thanks.

The youth of one soon-to-be social misfit and four students comes to a temporary close here.

The exam results? Come on—you already know the answer.

Stories are best when they end happily. Tragic bad endings are out of fashion these days. Everyone loves a smile in the end.

And… ah, right. It’s about time I say the closing line.

A familiar phrase—sometimes used in less-than-flattering ways—and a gift of words that points toward what lies beyond the part of the story left untold.

—

Their youth begins here!!

"Oh—wait, I haven’t even finished preaching the greatness of Problem Solver 68 to that idiotic bird who got the wrong idea!"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"Don’t stop me, Sensei! This is my mission, my duty, my—let gooooooo!!!!"

《Eden Treaty Arc, Chapter 2: "IF: Proof of the Impossible" — End》