After parting ways with the Arius Squad, I emerged from the catacombs.
The commotion we'd caused at the nearby playground was bound to get reported, no matter how deserted the area was. Sure enough, even at this late hour, members of the Justice Task Force had been dispatched and seemed to have already put out the fire.
I sent a silent apology to the JTF members who had to work so late because of me and the Squad. On the other hand, I had some things to retrieve, so I had to go back over there anyway.
Still, unlike last time, today brought a definite success, and I was happy. I took out my phone and opened MomoTalk.
[Sat-chan ☆] [Vanitas vanitatum.]
[Hiyori-chan] [Life is just a series of hardships...]
[Misaki-chan] [I wish it would rain.]
[Squirrel] [et omnia vanitas.]
Atsuko, who had borrowed my phone, had added the entire squad as friends and even saved their names for me.
...Hiyori and Misaki are one thing. But why did she save Saori as 'Sat-chan' with a star next to it? And did she really save Azusa as 'Squirrel' just because I said she was nimble? It fits, I guess, but I feel like Azusa herself might find it a little strange if she saw it.
And then there was Atsuko…
[Atsuko ♡] [So flowers can bloom even from concrete.]
"Whoa—? Sh-she's completely nuts!"
Seriously, what did I do to deserve this level of affection? Did I give her Stockholm syndrome combined with the suspension bridge effect when I put a bullet to her temple…? What am I even thinking?
Right, it probably just means she wants to be close friends. I shouldn't read too much into it. Girls use hearts and act all excited when they text their 'onee-chans' all the time, right?
And I need to consider her age. I shouldn't be having lecherous delusions about a girl who's not even in high school yet. Even if she is the type of kid who's curious enough to jokingly ask how babies are made!!! And even if she does wear a leotard under her normal clothes!!!
There are some lines you just don't cross. That's a death sentence. Yep, a death sentence.
Ding!
[Atsuko ♡] [I'll text you often, onee-chan!]
...You know, maybe I wouldn't mind being sentenced to death. If this is what it feels like, I think I could go happily. A fine death, indeed.
Anyway, things went well today, so I'm in a pretty good mood. To think I can bring happiness to these girls with my own two hands. It's incredibly motivating.
So, time to finish up. Now, who's in charge of this unit...?
Hmm, with that incredible height, a less-than-incredible presence, and that incredible outfit… It's the incredibly incredible Hasumi.
"Well, well~! Hasumi-chaaan!"
"...Mika-san?"
"Ahaha, long time no see! Congrats on becoming vice-chief! How have you been?"
"Ah, yes. Good evening. I suppose you could say I've been well, aside from being dispatched in the middle of the night... But Mika-san, why are you in such a deserted place at this hour...? Don't tell me it's what I think it is."
"Ahaha, well! I guess you could say that the reason Hasumi-chan was called out here is... half my fault? So yeah, you're probably right...?"
"..."
"I'm sorry, Hasumi-chan! So please don't glare at me like that! You'll hurt my delicate little heart...!"
I could feel the JTF members, who had been dragged out here in the middle of the night because of Misaki's pyrotechnics, giving me complicated looks. I was, after all, their superior's superior. They had to come out because of me, but they couldn't complain about it. They were probably just hoping Hasumi would say something for them. Too bad for them, Hasumi's in a position where she can't, either.
"Ahaha, why don't we take a little walk and talk? This is pretty important, and it concerns you too, Hasumi-chan. ☆"
"Sigh... Yes, let's. Everyone, you may rest until I return."
Honestly, the JTF girls probably didn't want to rest; they just wanted to go home. And here I was, dragging Hasumi away and making them wait even longer. Not my finest moment.
"Oh, by the way, Hasumi-chan. Did you happen to see a cardigan I left by the swings? I took it off for a minute."
"We have it secured. I didn't realize it was yours, Mika-san."
"H-here it is!"
A JTF member, who must have overheard me, came running over with my cardigan. She's got sharp senses. She'll do well in life.
"Thanks! Now, let's see... Phew, good. It doesn't look like it got singed. A friend picked it out for me, so I'm pretty attached to it."
It wasn't a particularly expensive piece of clothing, just a simple, loose-fitting ivory knit cardigan that Hifumi had picked out for me. Since a friend chose it, of course I cherished it. As for why I wore it on a day when a fight was possible, well, I don't have many other jackets suitable for this early summer weather.
"Hasumi-chan, how many JTF members came with you today?"
"A total of nine. We were dispatched in response to seven reports, so we have a slightly larger team than usual."
"Ten including you... Okay, I get it. Since you all had to go through this trouble because of me, I'll send you a little something later. I think there's a famous macaron shop in the Northern District... A gift set from there should be nice, right?"
"Is that really— Ahem! Yes, I'm sure our members will be delighted. Right, everyone?"
"O-of course, Vice-Chief!"
"...I'll give my share to you, Vice-Chief!"
...Hasumi, are you really going to pressure your subordinates like that over a single dessert? Though, they seemed pretty happy about it, too.
"N-no. You don't have to go that far..."
Uh... you might want to wipe that smile off your face, Hasumi. I knew you liked sweets, but please don't take your subordinate's share.
"Ahaha, I'll get you something separate, Hasumi-chan! So come by the Tea Party office when you have some time. In the meantime, shall we walk!"
I took Hasumi's hand and started walking. Being pretty strong herself, she resisted for a moment before finally following my lead.
You know, Hasumi's presence is a little less overwhelming than I thought. Does she only become ridiculously imposing next year? Her height, though, is definitely on another level. She's a whole head taller than me, which means she's taller than most adult men.
"You know, Hasumi-chan, your outfit never ceases to amaze me."
"E-excuse me? Mika-san, what do you mean by that...?"
Are you pretending not to know, or do you genuinely not know? I'm talking about that ridiculously shameless skirt! Your panty straps and garter belt are completely visible, are you for real?
"Ahaha, if you don't know, never mind. Anyway, it's getting late, so I'll have to get to the point. I assume you have a good idea of what happened here, right?"
"...I suspected it was related to the recent orders from the Tea Party. From what we've gathered, a small-scale battle took place around that church, and one side had set up numerous traps in advance. Two of my members were even knocked out by IEDs; the entire area was a minefield."
"Yep, you're spot on. I'm sure you were wondering about the mission you were recently assigned in the catacombs. We couldn't give you the details for security reasons."
"Yes, you're right about that, Mika-san. Some of our members were even complaining. Especially given the environment in the catacombs..."
Honestly, from the JTF's perspective, the mission must have seemed pointless, so it's natural that they complained. Especially since we didn't give them any information.
"Hmm... Actually, the orders you received were originally for a job I was going to do myself. But then Nagi-chan gave me an earful, so it was passed on to you. Honestly, Nagi-chan treats me like a child who needs protecting."
"...I know you're strong enough to rival Tsurugi, Mika-san, but you are still a Host of the Tea Party. I can understand Nagisa-san's feelings."
"Yeah, I guess so... Ahh~ I wish I could just pass this Host title to Seia-chan already! Things would be a little easier then. Sigh."
"...With all due respect, if I recall correctly, Seia-san's health isn't the best. Even if she became Host, would your situation really change much...?"
"Ah."
She's right. My sickly little fox-eared beauty is absolutely no help at all. Is being cute all you're good for, Seia?
"Ugh, I think I was better off not knowing that..."
"Ahem... Perhaps we should get back to the matter at hand."
"Ah, right. Sorry, I got sidetracked. Back to the original topic. The Tea Party is currently trying to reconcile with the Arius faction, which was expelled from Trinity long ago. After doing a lot of research, I found out that the Arius faction's current district is likely located somewhere connected to the catacombs. But as you were told, the catacombs' structure is constantly changing, so we couldn't just go looking for them ourselves."
"The Arius faction... So, the mission we were carrying out was to leave ciphers in the catacombs in the hopes that Arius would contact us first."
"Ahaha, that's right! Actually, today wasn't the first time we made contact, but the last time, Arius sent some soldiers with no real authority. And I was the one waiting for them."
"You went yourself, Mika-san?"
Hey, Hasumi. Don't you think that "are you out of your mind" look is a bit much? If it were Tsurugi in my place, would your reaction be diff—no, probably not. The moment Arius saw Tsurugi's face, the meeting would have been over.
"Yep. Anyway, that meeting ended without any real progress! The best I could do was tell them to come back next time with someone who had actual authority. It's not like I could just follow those girls back to the Arius district, right?"
"No... I suppose not..."
Seriously! Hasumi, do you not trust me? Did you really think I was crazy enough to go to the Arius district by myself? Besides, if I did something like that, Nagisa might actually lose her mind. Even if I came back safely, I can only see a future where Nagisa stuffs me with roll cakes until I die. There's no way I'd do something that crazy.
...But on second thought, the real Mika might have been reckless enough to follow them. In that case, maybe Hasumi just knows Mika too well.
I stopped in front of a convenience store streetlamp, turning to face Hasumi. If we went any further, it would just be a longer walk back for her.
"I heard about the Arius faction's situation from the students who came today. Apparently, an outsider took over their district a few years ago and is raising the students as soldiers trained only for combat. They beat any student who resists into submission and instill nihilism through twisted maxims to make them give up all hope. It's truly a horrific situation."
"...Are you saying something so absurd is actually happening?"
"Yes, and that's not all. The current ruler and student president of the Arius district is raising the students to be 'murderers.' And at the same time, she's fanning the flames of their hatred for Gehenna and Trinity."
Hasumi's eyes widened in shock. As the future de facto commander of the Justice Task Force, she could easily see where this was heading.
"...It's war. It seems they're raising an army with the intention of declaring war on us. Even if they turned their entire faction into soldiers, I doubt they'd be a major threat, but if they're learning to 'kill,' that's a different story entirely. If this information is true, we can't just stand by and watch. Of course, that's only if all of this is true..."
Hasumi trailed off, looking to me for confirmation. She wanted to know if this information could be trusted.
"I got this information after subduing the students who came from Arius. The mess you had to clean up was the aftermath of our battle. It seems they had a lot of pent-up frustrations."
"That's not surprising. Oppressing students with violence... it would be more strange if they didn't have complaints."
"Yep, and thanks to that, after a long talk, they promised to cooperate. Well... it's impossible to get through the catacombs without help from someone from Arius anyway, so it worked out for us, don't you think?"
"...I see. Is the date of the operation still undecided?"
"Yeah, for now. We're planning a large-scale operation involving not just the Justice Task Force, but also the Relief Knights and the Sisterhood, so we'll need to coordinate our schedules. I just wanted to let you know in advance since we ran into each other! I'd like you to give Tsurugi-chan a heads-up, too. Could you do that for me?"
"Of course, Mika-san. Leave it to me."
Honestly, I don't want to leave Beatrice be for long. I want to free the Arius students from that monster as soon as possible. But that doesn't mean I can skimp on preparations.
"Hey, Hasumi-chan! Before we part ways, want me to buy you something from the convenience store? I heard they have a mochi roll here that's pretty good. ☆"
"...I appreciate the thought, but it's too late, so I'll have to decline."
As she said that, her gaze lingered on the convenience store for far too long. So I just bought her one anyway, and she ended up eating it happily.
...
At that point, I still believed everything would go according to plan.
How naive of me.