Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The end of his final rampage 

Heavy footsteps, ragged breathing, and the squeaking of bloodied shoes -- all were sounds made by a man, who made his way through a hallway of unending, and incomprehensibly tall bookshelves.

Worn by the man, was what once was a black two-piece suit, now tattered, ripped, burnt, and smeared in blood that slowly dripped down. 

The amount of blood that stained his body far exceeded the amount that a single human can have, there was no way to differentiate whose blood it was.  

On his hand was a set of pristine black gloves, which when compared to the rest of his body, seemed to be absolutely clean. 

“Cough Cough... Those fairies felt like they were ripping my guts out…’’

He slowly came to a halt, leaning his body against one of the many seemingly endless bookshelves for support so he could, at last, rest, even if for just a minute, the momentary reprieve allowed him to collect his scattered and jumbled thoughts,

He swallowed a lump in his throat, and slowly slid down onto the floor. It was his final chance to prepare—

‘This is it then, the finish line… after so long’

To face her, who he once considered a friend…

‘I’m nearly there… almost at the end of it all’

He sighed, a sigh of exhaustion, with only embers of his once endless rage that he once fought with…

Yet he remained determined to his cause. 

Attempting to stand up, he reminded himself of the life that SHE took away from him, to rekindle the ANGER , the HATRED , all that he had forgotten after countless brawls with those he once called friends. 

But just this once, for the last time, he needed the fire to burn once again, to ignite like an explosion before flickering out. 

His body struggled to stand up, holding himself up with whatever will , anger , and pain he could pour out. 

He knew he wouldn’t last long in a battle at his current state — but he must finish what he had started, now… Or never.

‘Those librarians took more out of me than I expected…’

He was reminded of the fights he had before arriving at the top floor — The first floor, the Floor of History, used only keypages of the Liu association. 

The rest weren't a big issue. but the one that stood out from the rest of them, was the patron librarian, Malkuth. 

Malkuth never had combat training, but the keypage of Liu Association’s section 1 Director, Xiao, was not only powerful, but also resonated extremely well with the floor’s abnormality pages, the fight left him with several burn marks to his limbs and body. 

Rising to the second floor, he was greeted by the Floor of Technological Sciences, and its patron librarian, Yesod. 

Yesod was known for his meticulous planning, which left no room for mistakes. 

Utilizing the keypages of The Thumb and R Corp Rabbits, he was met with a constant barrage of bullets from his Assistants, before a powerful blow, using one of the floor’s resonating Abnormalities, the Funeral Of The Dead Butterflies, ended up nearly shattering his arm.

The third floor was the Floor of Literature. This floor was one of the toughest floors he faced. 

While their fighting prowess wasn't comparable to the first two floors, it was their way of fighting which was dangerous, they fought not to win quickly, but to exhaust, to weaken, making their enemies die to either exhaustion, or the endless bleeding wounds inflicted on them.  

The blood that shed onto his suit during this fight, unlike the two before it… Was mostly his own. 

The fourth floor was the Floor of Art, Incomparably weak compared to its predecessors… But they weren’t aiming to end the fight quickly. 

Netzach’s floor resonated with Abnormalities that give its librarians nigh invincibility, with them utilizing said abnormalities to provide long, drawn out fights — which the man specializes in, usually, but now, with his body burnt, bleeding, all while having one arm broken… He could never fight at his fullest potential. 

The masked man stumbled, blood marking his path, legs unsteady from fatigue. Netzach’s attacks had pushed him further than the floors before. As he swayed, a voice sounded—source unknown, tone flat. His body changed.

It stretched and warped into a hulking form, covered in mask shaped holes, with a titanic mouth, splitting his torso open, revealing rows upon rows of teeth, as his form shifted, so did The library, The comforting green hues of the floor of arts were almost peeled off of reality, presenting a gray, barren wasteland underneath. 

In the distance, A Six armed figure sat at a giant piano, its back turned to them, and from its maw numerous smaller monstrosities crawled. 

Netzach and his librarians staggered, steps breaking as they saw it happen. In that halt, the beast that he became, swung its colossal arm downwards. 

It fell, pulverizing all five of them. 

Netzach and the librarians… could not handle the shock of seeing their former friend transform into this… thing, causing them to momentarily drop their guards, but a second was all the monster needed to pulverize them with its hulking body. 

The fifth floor was the floor of natural sciences, under the control of Tiphereth; it was one of the most arduous floors he had to deal with.

Tiphereth’s Strategic usage of her floor’s Abnormalities, Her librarians, and their respective usage of the Reverberation ensemble keypages, All tailored for long, and exhausting fights. 

The librarians in this floor fought in an unconventional way compared to the others. 

If the previous floors focused on winning clashes against him, Tipheret actively tried to lose them, their strategy did not come from any masochistic tendencies, but from how the Abnormalities of their floor operated, they fed on negative emotions, granting the librarians strength the lower their mental state was. 

But there was a flaw in their strategy, the amount of time it took to accumulate their strength, giving the beast long enough to catch on.

And just as they were accumulating the last pieces of strength they needed to finally strike him down, he ended them, Crushing them like insects, leaving behind nothing but pools of blood as they evaporated into pages. 

Rising to the sixth floor he faced Chesed, head librarian of the Floor of Social Sciences, along with his librarians who were equipped with the pages of the Index’s proxies, a formidable — Yet ultimately average set of keypages. 

However, the assistant librarians were able to slay the beast, but just as they allowed their bodies to relax, a titanic explosion of black smoke engulfed them, killing everyone except Chesed.

 Although taken by surprise, the Beast was weak, and Chesed could match its strength… Yet, ultimately, a dual exchange led to the demise of both parties, ending Act 6 of the Reception of The Black Silence on the floor of Social sciences.

Though it was dead… The librarians on the next floor, the Floor of Language, led by the former color fixer - Gebura, were dispatched anyway… The door which led to their bridge, standing over molten rock and metal, opened…

Two figures emerged from the corpse of the beast, casting off its flesh like chrysalis. One figure was of elegance and beauty. The figure bore a white, humanoid mist-like appearance, looking almost divine in her mist-like form And the other, a pitiful, sorrowful man, his form maintaining the black suit of the man he once was, but his face now covered in dull, grey bandages…. donned an endlessly, eternally deep pit of pitch dark despair, oozing black smoke that charred and tainted the Floor of Language’s bridge.

And the scene changed.

Disgusting, red veins strewn about the floor, walls and ceiling, skeletons and organs of human remains dangling on the walls of an unknown location that laid under a blood, red night.

Yet, Gebura did not falter on the sight. Donning her own specialized keypage – the page of The Red Mist, she and her Librarians took the couple head on.

The Librarians were mere fodder compared to the three powerhouses that fought in the same room they fought in, and before long, stood only Gebura, the pale figure, and the Black Silence. 

Then, a final vertical split torn asunder the form of the pale ghost aside the Black Silence, who looked on with unseeable sorrow. 

And then, it screamed.

Its roar echoed in three voices. The first,  a despairing wail. Second, a shout of burning fury. And the third, was a cry of pure sorrow. 

The howl rumbled throughout the Library, a quake unlike any other the Library has ever experienced. 

The roar erupted, a quake that rocked the Library to its core, outstripping every scream that came before—stronger than the waxen mourner’s, fiercer than the distorted follower, deeper than the dragon’s. 

Gebura and The Black Silence now stood amongst a wasteland filled with nothing but desolation. The environment was colorless, empty, broken , one could say that it resembled an empty canvas, or maybe one who had long since been abandoned…

And then they clashed swords once more, each attack The Black Silence performed upon the woman a grueling reminder of the lives it has taken, lives, many of which were its colleagues, all for this moment. All to bring HER the greatest suffering imaginable.

And it will not let anyone stand in its way.

Gebura’s form crumbled into bright pages, which floated and burnt away into the air, the black figure weeped for one last time, and rose to the next floor.

The Floor of Religion, where one's faith is said to be the most important piece of the mind, whose librarians were using the pages from the Hana associations, greeted The Black Silence, who returned their gesture.

Its movements came to a halt, and descended from the depths of despair itself, emerged 4 copies of his own.

Each a reflection of two Abnormalities it had to face before coming into this position.

The first shadow pulsated, it wanted to prove that it was alive, that it existed.

The second shadow aspired, it aspired to become something greater than it really is, to be allowed of its dreams in this stage it stood on.

The third shadow’s heart began beating, beating so that it could live, a proof of its desire to remain existing in this hell that served as its one and only dream.

The fourth shadow wanted to learn, it didn't know what it wanted to learn, it just did, it wanted to someday learn to head its own way.

Yet, all four shadows could never fulfill their desires.

Hokma, the Patron Librarian of the Floor of Religion, called upon the power of WhiteNight, where he transformed the four other librarians into his apostles. 

In the end, all four shadows perished, along with Hokma and his librarians.

The ninth and final floor, the floor of Philosophy ,marked the end of The Black Silence’s ascension. 

The floor of Philosophy was lead by Binah, an ex-Arbiter with her own unique keypage and powers, whose librarians wore the keypages of the Hana Association, more specifically, Mirinae and Olivier, the director and top  member of the 3rd section of the south section of the Hana association, along with 얀샋ㄷ요무’s Keypage and the purple tears one, one who the now lingering ghost knew all too well .

Binah and her fairies were ruthless, slashing and eating away at the insides of the Black Silence through every wound inflicted on it… And there were many.

The favour seemed to be going in the Librarian's side, until…

It let out another roar… No, it was more akin to a painful screech this time, the sheer frequency and power of the screech alone stunned the five librarians, allowing it to deliver his finishing move… 

Furioso.

With its gloves, it summoned nine weapons, all of which will be used to their fullest…

Using the Atelier Logic, it fired at the librarians, but what came out of the shotgun-like weapon, were not bullets, instead, a black, rune-shaped symbol appeared in front of it, before another, bigger one appeared above the Librarians, showering them in pellets of misty, black bullets, which ended the life of the Librarian wearing Harold's keypage.

On the next strike, it picked up a lance made in Allas Workshop, the lance was being enveloped in a dark cloud of smoke, enlarging its size several times fold, before a powerful step-in thrusted the lance into the librarians, hitting each and every one of them, and ending the life of the Librarian wearing Mirinae’s keypage.

The next strike was then prepared, the hammer that was made by the Old Boys’ Workshop, was also enlarged into a sledgehammer-like shape several times the size of The Black Silence figure, with a horizontal swing, it tore through the Librarians, ending the one wearing 얀샋ㄷ요무’s Keypage.

In front of the two Librarians who remained standing, it dashed towards them, before unsheathing the Katana made by Mook Workshop. Tens, if not dozens of slashes were made in an instant, forming a spherical area of effect which practically dismembered all of the Librarian who wore Olivier’s page’s limbs, before he vanished into burning pages like the rest that came before him.

It turned to Binah, who by now was heavily injured and staggered… Yet she remained smiling? Why… Is its despair… Amusing to her?

Angered, the Black Silence donned its claws and dagger, created by the Ranga Workshop, before performing a triple slash combo towards Binah, which tore her flesh into pieces, causing her to dissipate into pages while she stood, still grinning.

Now… it was all done, all that remained… was her.

The Black Silence stumbled through the balls of the Library, the Fairies inflicted onto it still eating away at its flesh, by the time the fairies finally stopped, it crumbled onto the floor, its bandages and void that it wore on its head quickly dissipating into smoke, returning it to its original form.

After a short break, the man decided that he had rested enough, started to begin walking inside the endless maze of bookshelves, if anybody were to try to make their way inside this labyrinth they would undoubtedly get lost, but he had experience, it was quite easy for him who had lived in the library for years now… Yet something was off…

Why was SHE not reshaping the Library?

Putting those thoughts aside, he kept walking. After a few moments of walking he arrived face to face with a pale woman… No, a Machine turned human, who donned light blue hair. She held an old, leather covered book close to her side, and was dressed in a blue librarian uniform with black boots, her yellow eyes, which once held indifference in them, now was trembling with regret and hopelessness.

"Roland..."the woman mumbled in a teary voice.

Roland shuddered visibly at the way the pale-faced woman addressed him. His face twisted in anger and disgust, but… With also a hint of sadness and nostalgia

“Do not address me in such a sad tone Angela , no matter how much you may try to change my mind, I have decided to go through with this.”

Roland gritted his teeth, his tone attempting to remain serious and emotionless, but despite that, even a machine could pick up the faint traces of hesitation in his voice.

“... I remember when you first called me by my name, hearing you say that now… Made me remember how shocked I was back then.”

His attempts at indifference failed, and he couldn't help but recall a nostalgic memory he held during his time working under Angela. A faint smile formed on his face, which only caused Angela to shudder and stream tears down her face even more

“Roland, you can’t lie to me, I can hear that small hint of uncertainty in your voice… please, we can go back to how it was before, I will finally be able to become human and you will be by my side showing me the City, just like we wrote on that list…”

Angela pleaded, to return to the happy moments she and Roland had with the librarians… even though they weren't perfect, they still… Were happy.

Roland gritted his teeth, his nostalgic face now replaced with irritation and anger.  

“How it was before…! Do you have any idea the pain you've caused others back then? Your happiness… Will be held together by the foundation of countless deaths and suffering, and you… Expect me… No, to expect the Librarians to be happy with that?”

Angela's eyes widened, and she quickly tried to make a retort.

“Everything I did back then… I know it was wrong, but… Why don't I have the right to seek for my happiness? Even if it causes pain to others… Who will pay for the suffering I endured in Lobotomy Corporation? Answer me, Roland… Is your happiness before coming into the library… not built on the suffering you've inflicted onto others?”

“. . .”

Roland couldn't respond

He knew very well how hypocritical he was.

That's why he couldn't blame her, and could only blame her on his expectations of her.

“I've already told you before, I can't blame you, Angela…”

“Then-”

“That's why, I came into this with the mindset of a city dweller, not as Roland, I can never face you myself… Unless I see you as nothing more than a stranger and a monster.”

Roland replied coldly, before placing a hand on the hilt of his sword, the Durandal.

“Tell me once again, Angela, is this truly the path you seek?”

Roland began to walk towards Angela.

“... Yes, it is, I'm sorry, Roland.”

She answered, wiping the tears that streamed down her cheeks, before she looked at Roland once more, and for the last time… As a friend.

“Then you leave me no choice Angela… no matter how much I hoped that I would be able to change your mind, it seems that I wasn’t able to…”

Now she couldn't, how could she, when the man she considered to be her friend doesn't see her as one, either?

“I gave up too much to stop now Angela, my best friend, my grandma… and the lives of many more, this will not pardon me for their deaths, but if I stop now their sacrifices would be in vain.”

An eye for an eye… That was the only thing both Angela and Roland knew in their entire time alive.

Unsheathing his sword, Roland took up a stance, and pointed the tip of his sword directly at Angela.

“then… Let's begin..”

Roland lunged forward with enough speed to break the sound barrier  and aimed for Angela's neck with his daggers, the air parted around him and created a strong wind, but she blocked the attack by summoning an abnormality from her book and counterattacked by summoning a huge bear claw, nonetheless, hitting nothing.

Even after all the grueling fights that he had to do before his augmented body was still in a somewhat good condition, so backing away from such a slow attack was still possible for him. After dodging the swipe he took out a katana made by mook workshop and He cut the paw in half, creating a big rift in the space around them, but to his surprise it fixed itself immediately.

'That is annoying… I have to try to go around her defenses, not break through them.’

The now reconstructed paw tried again to destroy Roland’s body with a heavy swipe, but the fixer was agile enough to backflip away.

The fixer raised his head, only to see multiple bullets coming at him shot by Angela’s solemn lament, in response Roland pulled out a mace and axe made by Zelkova workshop and deflected some of the assault, but because he was too slow some of the bullets hit him, damaging him.

To counterattack Roland threw his axe at Angela and then he switched to a pair of guns made by atelier logic.

While Angela was busy dodging it he shot her and pierced one of her shoulders, as she flinched from the pain Roland took out a great lance made by Allas workshop, his wife’s favourite weapon, and he rushed at her to strike a killing blow.

While normally the trick would have worked, Angela synchronized with Red eyes and delivered a painful blow to Roland with her broadsword, and while he was able to reduce the damage a little by blocking the blow with his lance, he still felt like he was hit by a truck.

'This is new! Angela could do this?I don't know which other abnormalities she can synchronize with. I have to be careful…' 

Angela didn't waste this opportunity and she synchronized with the magical girl of happiness, with her giant golden gauntlet she punched a yellow crack in the space in front of her, creating an ethereal portal which she used to go for a flying punch to smash Roland’s head.

Roland was able to get himself together fast enough to sidestep her attack causing Angela to slightly lose her footing while landing, seeing this opening he went for a fast cross slash using two short swords made by Cristal atelier.

Angela tried to evade the blow by opening another portal, but because of how she landed, she wasn’t able to open it on time causing Roland's attack to scar her on the chest, making her wince in pain.

To heal  she synchronized with Nosferatu who, by using its vampiric-like ability to suck and manipulate blood, was able to restore its health. At her command numerous blood spikes sprung out of the ground and impaling Roland who tried to dodge, but after using his momentum to go for a cross slash he wasn’t able to recollect fast enough, causing his foot to remain caught in the spikes slightly healing Angela and momentarily immobilizing him.

Angela rushed in and synchronized with Forsaken murderer in an attempt to squash him to the ground using a giant wrecking ball, Roland, who wasn't about to let that happen, waited for the right moment, and just as Angela’s attack was about to hit him, he jumped dodging the ball and he pulled out a hammer made by Old boys workshop using it to bash the top of Angela's head with it making her stagger back.

Seeing his chance Roland pulled out his mace and rushed towards her trying to follow up on her moment of weakness, like a hunter to a prey.

'I finally got her, she surely can’t block th-'Roland's thoughts were cut off.

BOOM!

At the last second Angela’s appearance changed into a charred dress and in her hands a sword similar to a match appeared, when Roland noticed it it was too late, with her synchronization with Scorched girl Angela was able to release a devastating flaming slash hitting Roland, transforming the wooden floor of the library into a fiery hell and sending him crashing against the Wall with great force.

'Dammit, I got caught in her trap! Fuck!... this is pretty bad…'

'That might have cracked multiple ribs...'Roland groaned in his mind.

The fixer slowly got up staggering a little, clearly showing that the fight had taken a heavy toll on him, to try to retaliate the color fixer took out his lance and he went for a heavy thrust grazing the librarian and slightly injuring her hip.

Seeing his chance Roland went for a strike with his daggers, but Angela responded by synchronizing with Ozma blocking the strike with her wand, then she pushed Roland away and triggered multiple explosions of what seemed to be pixie dust causing the color fixer to roll out of the way, making him hiss in pain because he had use his injured side to get out of the way.

The huge dust cloud that covered the area in front of Angela soon got cut in half by a gigantic great sword made by wheels industry.Creating a giant crater below her, thankfully for the pale librarian she was able to sidestep at the last second, but she knew from the state of the floor after the slash that she would be severely wounded if she got hit by one .

Roland emerged from the dust cloud but he soon saw Angela synchronizing with the Silent orchestra, making him panic heavily knowing what Angela was about to do.

'That's...! I have to cover my ears!'

Hastily Roland attempted to cover his ears to not hear Angela's attack, unfortunately for him he was too late, causing Angela’s performance  to burst his eardrums and make him roll on the floor in pain.

Angela seeing this took the opportunity to synchronize with one sin and she got in a praying position, releasing a little shockwave which pushed Roland away and healed her.

Roland, severely wounded and feeling like death was crawling on his back, took out his most prized weapon, the long sword Durandal and ran at Angela to slash her, but to his surprise his blow was slowed.

‘Wha-, why did my sword stop, did I forget one of her powers? But she isn’t synchronized with any abnormality!’

Roland, confused by this, noticed today's shy new look appearing and softening the strike, and while he was able to cut it in half, his blade was stopped for  enough time to allow  Angela to only get grazed by it.

Roland, knowing that he had to end this fast because of his condition, picked up the axe which he threw at the beginning and launched it again at her, but Angela deflected it towards him this time hoping to catch him off guard.

Little did she know this was all part of Roland's plan, catching the axe midair he used the opening he created to unleash his strongest move, Furioso, an attack that he created while he had gone mad from his fury in the past, it’s great destructive power was the reason he would use it to make sure to end his fights.

And now he was ready to unleash it:

BANG

Two shots of his guns resonated in the room and pierced the air, hitting the bloody pale-faced librarian straight in the gut

THUMP

which were followed by an immediate thrust with his spear, running through her and creating a gaping hole in her guts.

CLANG

Then a hammer swing resonated in the room, caving slightly in Angela’s skull and making her nearly lose consciousness

SHING

Then a iai style unsheathing space cutting slash sliced through her bones and muscles.

SWISH

SWISH

SCRATCH

Then a three hit combo with his daggers opening a heavy wound on her back and chest.

THUMP

SWISH

Chained in a double hit with his mace and axe, which broke her arms and cut off multiple of her fingers.

SBANG!!

Then he unleashed a titanic slash with his great sword, a crater opened below her, but thankfully because she was disoriented she managed to luckily avoid it by limping back a little, but that didn’t stop it from launching her in the air.

SHING

Which was comboed in a cross slash with his two short swords while she was in the air, creating a huge x-shaped scar on her body.

BANG

Then a third shot, done by combining both guns into a shotgun, spread into her face, making her almost unrecognizable and blind.

SHWING

SHWING

SHWING

And finally to end the combo Roland swung Durandal three times, the first was a downward slash, the second was an upward slash and the third and final one was a downward slash which ended in him re-sheathing Durandal.

The consequences of the attack were enormous, the floor had a giant crater and a gigantic dust cloud covered everything around them, Angela’s condition was terrible, she was severely mutilated and she looked no different from a cadaver.

Anyone normally would have assumed that this would have killed anyone, but it seems that something went wrong, while Angela's body was extremely damaged, her consciousness was still there and she was waiting for the best time to attack him.

Nonetheless in her eyes a sense of surprise and tenderness could be seen.

'Roland… you truly are a bad liar … “I’m ready” to kill you huh… it seems like you even lied to yourself …' Angela thought.

Angela could tell that his last attack was weaker than the first time he used it against the Blue Reverberation, others could just chalk-it up to Roland being weaker, but something told Angela that that wasn’t the case. When he used it against Argalia in their final confrontation she saw the primal rage imbued in every strike of his weapons…

But in the ones against her she only felt regret and despair in every swing, the swings felt lighter then before, it felt like a part of him just couldn't hurt her as much as that blue sicko.

After realizing this Angela understood that even if Roland says that he wouldn't have issues with killing her, in the end, unconsciously or consciously, he couldn't bear to really finish her off.

While this did make her happy, she also realized another thing…

‘... I have to put him out of his misery… he will not change his mind, right now he’s nothing but a puppet controlled by his rage, I need to put him to rest, not only to survive myself, but as one final favour to my first friend.’ 

Roland was exhausted and severely injured, believing he had killed Angela, turned around and fell on the floor on his back exhausted

‘I-I… I have done it… after so long Angelica I have avenged you…’

His eyes, which should have been brimming with happiness after reaching his goal, were empty, they seemed like completely blank slates.

‘But now what…? What am I supposed to do-’

“It seems that you weren’t really ready to kill me huh, Roland”

When Roland heard Angela’s voice he immediately tried to get up, but it was impossible for him.

The fatigue, the wounds and the pain were too much after going from fighting Argalia to immediately tearing through the library without rest.

Realizing this the fixer just stopped trying and waited for the pale-faced librarian to finish the job.

“Indeed… it seems that I wasn’t strong enough…”

a sigh escaped his mouth.

“... Just make it quick, please.”

Angela’s face showed deep remorse.

“... Okay, It’ll be quick.”

A small, but empty smile came on Roland’s hidden face.

“Thank you.”

Angela answered immediately in a serious tone.

“Don’t thank me for this…”

A giant flash of light bursted in the destroyed hall, after it finished Angela’s figure was replaced by the one of a titanic beast, Apocalypse bird.

“It was nice knowing you Roland, the time I spent with you in this giant prison was the best of my life… ”

The giant talon of the abnormality started falling towards the fixer.

'Sorry Angelica I guess I wasn't strong enough, karma got to me in the end I guess… I hope I don't meet you in the afterlife, because after what I have done I am definitely  going to hell… but you should only live in heaven… Only now do I realize that I was nothing but a puppet to my rage, everything I have done caused only tragedies, and in the end fate bit me in the back…in the end sorrow was the only thing left for me'.

“Farewell my first friend ”Angela exclaimed while crying in a distorted manner.

This was the end of the black silence...

Or at least it should have been.

Chapter Text

A Second chance

Roland pov

'I guess I have died...'

I sighed.

'In the end I wasn't able to kill her.'

My mind was foggy, but I could still remember what I suppose were my final moments.

'Was everything I have done for naught...?'

My face dimmed a little at the thought.

'Honestly at this point nothing matters anymore, I have lost everything anyway, even if I will experience an eternity in hell for what I have done, I can't even bring myself to care.'

'I have ended the lives of too many people, both in the library and in my rampage around the city.'

A moment which resonated with me when I was on Gebura's floor came to my mind.

'I guess Astolfo was right... what I have done was nothing but a senseless slaughter.'

'Olivier... would you have forgiven me?'

'No, that wouldn't have been possible.'

'I took his life after all, just to pursue a path that ended in failure.'

The memory of the final blow I had landed on my best friend still haunted me sometimes, when I had sliced him in half with Durandal I had to hold myself back from crashing out, to the point where I nearly sliced my tongue in two from how hard I was biting on it.

'Did you foresee my failure purple tear?'

'You were able to see even your own death so i wouldn't be surprised...'

While her cryptic way of speaking could be annoying, a trait which she shared with the degraded arbiter Binah, I was still extremely grateful for what she had done for me, to the point of considering her my grandma.

When she had teleported on my floor during her reception I wanted to tell her to go away, if it wasn't for my goal when I landed the killing blow I would have probably cried and gone on another rampage.

'What purpose has all of this served...?'

'...Does my life even matter?'

Questions whose answers would lead to nothing but sorrow anyway, but that with my ending I honestly just think that no answer exists for them.

'I guess in the end I will never find out.'

I began to close my eyes, waiting for whatever awaited me…

…but it seemed that fate had different plans for me…

"It was all my fault".

All of the sudden what sounded like the voice of a woman started to talk

'What?'

My eyes opened immediately.

'Whose voice is this?'

"My decisions, and everything they caused"

'Wait what are you sayi-'

FLASH

A flash of light suddenly hit me.

'Arghhh...'

'My eyes, where am I?'

Below me I felt a soft sensation, similar to a cushion.

'Am I sitting on something?'

My surroundings were similar to one of those warp trains from W corp, but the cabin was way smaller, and windows showing an unknown landscape surrounded me.

In front of me there was a woman with long light blue hair with some pink locks wearing what seemed to be a white uniform.

She was severely wounded, and honestly just by looking at her anyone could tell that it was a miracle that she was even still alive.

"It had to come to this for me to finally realize that you were right all along..."

I couldn't understand what she was talking about, but something about what she was saying triggered me, for some reason her words… made me become more emotional.

'I was right...?'

An unnatural amount of rage started to build up in my chest.

Multiple events appeared in my mind seemingly out of nowhere, almost as if someone wanted to make me relive them. 

'What are you talking about, nothing I ever did was right!!!"

The consequences of my greed...

'Moving to district 9, accepting that damn job from Olivier only because he promised that it would reward me with a nest immigration permit!!!'

All things that I could have avoided, if only I had just listened to HER , if only I had just… not made those choices.

The vision of Angelica, dangling from that demonic-like construct with my unborn child...

'Not a single one of my decisions turned out fine...'

I was trying to scream but it seemed that no words could come out of my mouth.

"So forgive me for being so bold, but I must ask for your help."

"Roland-Sensei."

'My help...?'

Her request perplexed me.

Again, emotions irrationally started to appear in my mind sweeping my reason away.

'How can I even help with anything, the only thing I know is destroying or ending lives!!!'

'I'm a monster , just a product of the city's mentality'

A blue hair coffee addict came to my mind.

'Chesed really hit the target when he confronted me about it, just a coward who can't bring himself to try to change anything, that's what I am!!!'

After a while I started to regain my reasoning a little, but when I did I realized something…

I didn’t even know who this woman was… but she seemed to know me.

'Wait, who are you...?'

It was strange, up until now I didn't even question my situation, it felt like everything that was happening to me was normal...

‘Was she the one who brought me here?’

A gnawing sensation inside me told me that I knew who she was… but I just couldn’t figure it out.

"You'll forget these words, but it won't matter."

"Even without your memories, you'll probably make the same decisions in the same situations..."

Wait...

What does that mean?

'Without my memories?'

'Wait, is she going to wipe my memories, like what happened to me after the smoke wars?!'

At that time honestly I was okay with the erasure of my memories about the previous L corp singularity, after all I had nearly gone crazy after seeing whatever that was, but now I'm not really okay with it.

'And what decisions?!'

'I have literally never met you before!'

"Therefore, I believe what matters most are the choices we make, not the experiences we have."

"There are choices only you can make."

Choices...

That world triggered me a little.

'Choices?'

'Me?'

I began to slightly laugh in my mind in a self-deprecating way.

'The only choice I have never regretted before was marrying Angelica.'

That was probably my favorite moment of my life, even though that blue sicko did try to murder me on the altar.

I admit that his entrance was funny, he probably didn't know but he his actions looked so cliche when he shouted "I oppose to this marriage" while bursting through the door

I had nearly bursted out laughing

Fortunately Olivier and Astolfo were able to hold him down long enough for Angelica to go to him while fuming from the embarrassment…

His bruised face was one of the funniest sights of my life.

'The rest of them though, have only led to a bad ending, both for me and the people around me.'

Angelica’s fate, Olivier’s  death…

'Why would you trust me of all people to make choices?'

"I have spoken of  responsibility before."

"I didn't truly understand it then, but now I do."

"Adulthood, responsibility, obligation... and the choices you make that extend beyond those ideals."

"I even understand their implications"

'What are you talking about...?'

Responsibility was a word which always came back to haunt me, making me remember everything I had done, 

The people I killed.

All of a sudden my mind started to hurt severely… something inside me seemed to snap

Screams began to flood my mind.

Please stop it wasn't m-

Wait, I didn't have anything to do with it!!

Why would you kill him, he was innocent, you monster!!!

...Yeah. You've shown me that sending you here was worth my while

To think that I would meet my end by a blade of a friend-

'STOPPLEASESTOPPLEASESTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!!!!'

CRUNCH!

Immediately severe pain flooded my mind, snapping  me out of my trance…

‘Wha…?’

it seemed that I had unconsciously bitted my tongue, causing blood to begin seeping through my mouth 

"Therefore sensei..."

"...You are the only one I can trust"

My brain stopped for a moment.

Did she just say that she trusted me...

A murderer , a devil wearing the skin of a human , someone who caused so many deaths that if the corpses were piled on top of each-other they would be able to tower over me at least 20 times over.

'I am worthy of your trust..., really huh...'

‘Ha.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!’

truly such a good joke…!

miss, I have no idea how you are still alive now really…

considering how you decided to trust me of all people you must really be insane…!

"Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate..."

"...and find the choices that will lead us to a new reality."

"So, Roland-sensei. please..."

All of the sudden an unknown force started to force me to faint

‘Shit, what now!?’

The voice began to get further and further away

'Wait stop-'

In the end even after my resistance my mind wavered, and then I lost consciousness.

??? pov

A tall lady with what seemed to be elf-like ears and long black hairs was slowly walking towards a white door. She was wearing a white uniform and a pair of glasses, above her head something akin to a halo was floating.

When she reached it she opened it and she went inside the room.

Not knowing that what… or who she would find inside, would change her life forever

“I finally arrived here…”

The GSC president office…

“Honestly… why did the president have to leave out of nowhere!”

the only thing she had left for me was a stupid note…

“Hello Rinny, if you are reading this it means that I have left Kivotos…

first of all do not search for me, you will not be able to find me anyway. You might be wondering why I have left without telling anyone… Well, unfortunately I’m not in the position to reveal any details, but I can tell you that everything I’m doing is for the survival of Kivotos. 

In a few minutes after you will have finished reading a special individual will appear in my office, he will be the one to protect Kivotos in my absence, I’m not able to tell you everything about him, but you just have to know that he’s a halo-less human adult…

His name is Roland, he will be the teacher in charge of all of Kivotos, to aid him in completing his duties I have setted up an extrajudicial and autonomous organization  who he will be in charge of: the Independent Federal Investigation Club SCHALE.

In addition I have left the shittim chest for him, don’t worry he will be able to use it…

Lastly I will leave the active president position to you Rinny! I’m sure you will be able to lead the GSC even without me…!

The only thing I really regret is not being able to say one final goodbye to you Rinny! But I’m sure that what I have done will save Kivotos!

With deep regret

&%&&%$%, the president of the GSC.”

“Tch…”

she just had to do this bravado now…! As if Kivotos’s situation isn’t unstable enough…

Lately all around Kivotos destruction and uneasiness is filling most of the academy’s, and of course while all of this is going down she had to disappear!

My last hope is this Roland sensei she mentioned…

“He should have arrived by now…”

it’s time to meet this supposed “savior of Kivotos” that she mentioned…

With a light push I opened the door and entered the room.

“Hello Roland-sensei, I’m Rin the-”

but when I checked around me I couldn’t see anyone inside…

‘Huh…?’

the president said that he would be here a few minutes after I had finished reading her letter…

“Where is he…?”

All of the sudden I noticed something on the floor…

‘Why is the the floor red there-”

Before I could finish my question, I noticed that the red “thing” on the floor was some sort of liquid…

‘Wait… is that blood!?’

After realizing that I hastily made my way behind the desk, where the blood seemed to be coming from…

The sight which had greeted me there was a horrific one, A man dressed in an almost office-like suit, with a mask on his face, was bleeding profusely, the number of wounds on his body seemed never-ending, if someone had seen him like this, they would have definitely thought that he was a cadaver.

“What the-!’”

I quickly recomposed myself from my bewilderment and started to assess the situation.

‘Is he… Roland-sensei?’

I quickly putted away that thought

‘No wait, before that, is he still alive?’

leaning down I managed to check for a pulse, thankfully it seemed that he was till alive…

‘No time to waste!’

pulling out my phone, I quickly called someone

“Hello, Rin, what is going on-”

“No time to explain Ayumu, immediately call all medical personnel in the building, someone is in dire conditions!”

“H-Huh, wait what do you mean Rin?”

“As I said, no time to explain, bring all the medical personnel in the president office, NOW!”

“Y-Yes Rin, as you wish!”

“You better survive sensei… you are our last hope ”

Rin pov

After an hour

Sensei was rushed to the med-bay immediately, thankfully we were able to stabilize him…

Many questions were on my mind: 

What had happened for him to be this injured? 

How did he get here?

How was he still alive, even after all those injuries?

But none of them mattered right now…

All that matters is that he survives and that he helps us, for the rest I can find answers later.

nonetheless…

‘Why didn’t the president say he was injured! She has always been kind of an airhead, but even she wouldn’t have forgotten to mention that…’

his situation was horrible, if I didn’t find him immediately he would have definitely died…

“ Bleargh …”

just remembering it makes me want to puke

In Kivotos dead bodies aren’t something that is seen much, if at all…

seeing him looking like that… certainly isn’t helping my situation

a feeling of uncertainty begin to crawl up my spine

‘Did something go wrong with… whatever the president did? Is he even the sensei she was supposed to have called?’

‘What if-’

While my thoughts began to spiral out of control, a loud scream broke me out of my trance

"Rin!!!!"

A woman with long blond hair was running towards me while screaming.

‘Thankfully she snapped me out of my thoughts… if she didn’t I might have started to think about unnecessary things’

"Ayumu, take a breath and explain to me how his current situation is."

She began to pant a little, and after recovering a little she started speaking.

"He has been stabilized, and according to the medics he should be in stable conditions… but now it’s not the time, Rin, according to them he will wake up shortly!"

‘What…?’

“Please Ayumu, stop joking, he was so wounded that we were barely able to bring him to a stable condition… How can he wake up after only an hour?”

“But I’m not joking Rin!”

This information left me in a conflicted state

'While this does make it easier for us… his rate of recovery is way too abnormal.'

“Sigh…”

“Lead the way Ayumu, and make haste I need to be there when he will wake up”

“Y-Yes!”

While we rushed for the infirmary I started to talk to myself.

“The more I learn about you, the more strange you seem sensei…”

“…But it doesn’t matter for now, the only thing that does is…”

"That  you are the one who can help us..."

"Sensei."

Roland pov

"argh..."

My head is killing me.

'Wait, I'm alive!?'

‘Did Angela miss her blow…? But that doesn’t make sense, Apocalypse’s bird talon is bigger than a car!’

was I taken away before she crushed me…?

‘No matter how much I try to think, I won’t get an answer for now, so I should focus on the main issue…’

'Where am I?'

Looking around I saw multiple medical equipment, which meant that I was probably in a hospital of some kind.

'How could anyone heal me anyway, the only technology which could have made me recover is the capsules from K corp, a literal singularity!'

As I began to get up two ladies arrived in the room, one of them  was excluding an aura of strictness, while the other seemed to have a more timid one.

The first of the two had long straight black hairs and her ears had a strange pointy form, while the second had long wavy blond hairs and a diamond-shaped strange blue gemstone on her forehead.

The first started introducing herself.

"Hello sir, my name is Rin Nanagami, the vice-president of the general student council, while the woman beside me is Ayumu Iwabutsu, my secretary."

The woman, who I now knew was called Rin, spoke in a firm way, while I didn't know the organization she was a part of, I understood that because she was the vice-president of it she must have had a high amount of authority.

"Hello there miss! Name's Roland, just a washed-up grade 9 fixer~"

I tried to sound as chill as possible to try to not antagonize her.

Unfortunately it seemed to have done the exact opposite considering her piercing glare.

"I would like to ask though, where am I, miss? You see, the last thing I remember was fighting for my life, also, where I come from there is nothing like the general student council."

That was a lie, even though I have never gone to school because I was an orphan and I came from the backstreet, Chesed did mention the concept of a student council when we were having some random conversation.

Rin soon answered.

"You are currently in the infirmary of a building owned by the GSC, we found you half dead on the floor in the Office of the president."

she explained.

"Thankfully we rescued you before you died so we were able to help you."

‘This explanation doesn’t really answer much…’

Right now the main issues were two:

How did I get… wherever I am right now and how I am still alive.

While the latter could be chalked-up to an unknown medical technique or something similar to K corp ampules…

The former was still very much a mystery, after all I clearly felt it, I died, even in the city that’s something impossible to change…

That left a single possibility 

‘I’m not in the city anymore’

"Rin-san~, do you know how I got here?"

Rin flinched a little, it seems that she did know the reason, or at least she should have an inkling about it.

"Well..."

she starts, speaking in an uncertain way.

"...In theory you are supposed to be a teacher that we summoned here in Kivotos to help us."

"Unfortunately I'm not sure because the president was the one who did it, but she went missing some time ago."

The woman revealed a bit of embarrassment.

'Summoned..?'

'Wait, is this a parallel world!?'

Other worlds were not an unheard topic in the city.

While not many knew of their existence, some individuals were aware of the mirror technology, which allowed them to see foreign worlds.

Another example was the warp trains of W corps, who travel to another dimension for at least 2000 years and then come back at the desired destination making it seem like only ten seconds pass.

The love town incident shook him a lot so I remembered it clearly.

Two issues had arisen though

"...Well Rin, firstly I’m not really sure what your issue is, so I don’t know if I can even help…"

"And secondly..."

"Me?"

I point at myself 

"A teacher?"

'I don't think that the role of a teacher fits me...'

'After all a teacher should be a good role model for his students...'

I started to remember my sins, which seemed never ending.

My face hardened a little.

'...And I am definitely not one.'

I shake my head a little.

"Nevermind the second question, just please tell me what is going on."

Rin stared at me for a moment, and then as she was about to speak.

A high-pitched scream came from outside the door.

"Vice-president come out and stop ignoring us!!!"

Rin face immediately darkened 

"Sensei, could you please follow us outside, it seems that our issue came here himself, so i'm sure you will be able to get your explanation if you just come with us."

While her tone came out as accommodating, by just watching her face it was easy to tell that it wasn't really a request.

"...Understood mam~."

My tone seemed to irritate her a little, but she composed herself and she seemed to decide to just move on from it.

'Now that I think about it this trait of hers is very similar to Angela...'

I sighed quietly.

'I guess it's fate huh'

I then got out of bed and followed Rin and Ayumu.

We started to walk through a wide corridor, as I started looking around I noticed that the left wall was a gigantic window.

'Whoa...'

The view was incredible, I could see an enormous city and a gigantic beacon-like tower from which huge ethereal rings were protruding in the middle of it.

The city was bustling with people who seemed to be happy, while this could be some kind of nest, this amount of happiness was practically unprecedented.

‘Wait… are those robots!!’

walking around the streets multiple machine-like humans could be seen, some of them dressed in office attires, while others in more casual clothes.

‘Well if her explanation didn’t sell the parallel world theory enough, this scenery definitely does…’

After all, the head would have known about a civilization of robots living in the city, and the moment they located them, well let’s just say only scraps would remain…

In the crowd I could also see some animal-like people, but what surprised me the most was another thing…

‘Are there no humans here!?’

Not a single individual in the crowd had any human-like features…

Rin noticing my surprised expression started to talk

“Is something wrong, Roland-sensei?”

“Ah… well yea, just that where I come from most people are humans…never seen such… diversity…”

not a lie technically, though sights of mechanical bodies and prosthetics were pretty common, full body prosthetics and mechanical bodies were very rare because of their high price

In fact, the only individual to have them that I have seen in the last year was probably Nemo, the chief officer of the Cane office.

“Well sensei, then I think I should inform you of an important fact…”

Rin’s tone shifted to a more stiff one

“Which would be?”

“You are the only human male here in Kivotos at the moment…”

my brain shortcutted for a second

“...I’m sorry, what?”

“sigh…”

“Indeed Roland-sensei, its as I have stated, you are the only human male here in Kivotos”

‘How does that even work…’

While right now the only human-like individuals that I know of are Ayumu and Rin, I’m guessing they are not the only ones to exist here…

 So how do they even reproduce-

“Nonetheless Sensei, here in Kivotos there are more individual like us, you can identify them as students”

well guess I was right on the money…

“...Understood Rin”

“Perfect, then Roland sensei let us depart”

“Alright”

Rin, seemingly having remembered something, turned around and smirked a little.

"I forgot to mention Roland-sensei."

her face showed a small smile.

"Welcome to Kivotos, a city home to thousands of academies and schools. I hope you will like your stay, Roland-sensei. "

While she was saying that her image in my mind overlapped with the one of a certain pale-faced librarian.

'I guess...'

My face showed a little smirk.

'... that maybe a new beginning wouldn't hurt'

“... Did you practice that line in front a mirror or something Rin~”

a huge blush appeared on her face

“W-Wha… what are you talking about sensei!?”

“Hahaha~”

‘Indeed, I don’t think it will be bad…’

??? pov

Two figures were standing in what seemed to be a pillar of light.

The first had brown hair tied into a ponytail and she was wearing what seemed to be a lab coat, the second was wearing a white uniform and long light blue hairs with some pink locks.

"It seems that thanks to our deal a new possibility formed in the light, miss."

The woman started to chuckle, while her interlocutor's face remained passive, soon enough she started speaking.

"Indeed..."

she paused for a moment and then she stood up

she turned back towards the image of a certain color fixer walking down the hall

the brown hair woman’s face became more serious

“...You might not be able to see HIM ever again, you know right…?”

small tears streamed down the blue-haired woman’s face

“I’m aware… But this is for the best”

“You know, usually I would push you to be more selfish… but this time I think that I really am not able to…”

“After all this is the most selfish decision I have ever seen”

The blue haired woman smiled a little, but in it there was no happiness, only a feeling of bittersweetness.

“...Indeed, no matter how much I try to say that it’s for the best for all of Kivotos, at the end of the day the decision I have made is nothing but selfish…”

“But I won’t turn back! This is what HE would have wanted me to do.”

in her eyes a burning fire of determination could be seen

The brown-haired woman smirked wildly

“Indeed! Truly selfish, to the point of justifying it by blaming HIM !”

“Such selfishness! I know you are referred to as a superhuman, but to me you are the most human individual that I have ever met!”

the blue haired woman chuckled at her antics

“I will take that as a compliment Miss Carmen!”

Just as the blue haired woman finished speaking, her body began glowing, transforming into light…

“Huh… It seems that I must go fulfill my duty now…”

“Indeed… I hope next time we meet our goal will be accomplished…”

“Let us hope that is the case… miss Carmen”

Carmen started smiling as the woman completely disappeared

After the woman left she whispered something in a low voice.

"I hope the choice you made was the right one..."

"...Miss student council president."

Chapter Text

Schale's retaking

Roland pov

Me, Rin and Ayumu arrived in front of what seemed to be a lobby.

Inside of it multiple voices could be heard.

Rin, clearly irritated by them, turned around to face me and began speaking with a strained smile

"Roland-sensei, please let me speak, these individuals are not worth your time"

'Well I wasn't really intending to stand out anyway, but...'

I sweatdropped 

'...this seems a bit much.'

As I was about to try to change her mind a little, Rin turned around and entered the room with Ayumu.

'I guess my opinion wasn't something she cared about.'

I quickly followed them, as I did 4 people came in to my view:

The first one was a woman with blue hair which was styled into short twintails, she was wearing a white sweatshirt, a white shirt with a blue necktie, a black skirt and on her face a clear annoyed expression was present.

The second one was the tallest in the room. She was wearing a black uniform with a red necktie and a black skirt, she had long straight hair and on her hips I could see two enormous black wings.

The third one had short blond hairs styled into twintails with a black bow in the front, she was wearing a white uniform with a red bow on her chest and a black skirt and, while it was hard to spot, her ears were also pointed like Rin’s.

The last one had long white hair, she was wearing a gray uniform which ended in a frilly skirt with a little red bow on the chest.

While all of them looked pretty young my main concern was another...

'How do they have guns!!!'

In the city even getting a gun was difficult, because of the Head's law buying bullets was extremely expensive so many people will not even have enough money to buy 10 of them without going in red,

but the main issue was that only a small number of workshops sold guns because getting permission to sell them was a bureaucratic nightmare.

Even he as a pseudo color fixer had only one pair of guns manufactured by atelier logic, which even with the budget he had back when he was still grade one were still a heavy toll on his expenses, so for so many people to not only own, but also use guns without a care was strange to him.

‘Who are they…?’

I know nothing of this world yet, but even if guns and bullets aren’t as expensive, four girls who seemed to be teenagers owning weapons like that isn’t normal…

‘Could they be daughters of powerful or rich individuals?’

if they were it could make sense, after all their parents might have a lot of enemies, so to protect them they bought them guns for self-defense…

After all guns, while more impractical then other weapons, are easier to use

‘That would also explain why they could just come here and start screaming in the lobby with little consequences…’

The GSC…

for now there’s little I know about this organization, but they seem to be pretty powerful

it's impossible for just anybody to just waltz in and start making a ruckus, so these girls must have some influence…

‘Let’s just wait and see’

"You are finally here, vice-president!!!"

The blue-haired girl shouted.

Rin's expression darkened significantly.

"Indeed..."

"I welcome you all representatives of student councils, board councils and clubs of our neighboring academy."

‘So that’s it…’

now it makes sense that they could just get in, they must be representing some important organizations…

Rin welcomed them with polite words which were obviously coated with poison.

"I assume you all came here today to blame us for what is currently happening around Kivotos."

After hearing Rin's words the girl replied in an annoyed tone.

"If you know, then do something about it!"

"Thousand's of academy districts are in panic! Our academy's wind generator shut down just a few days ago!"

The blond-haired woman chimed in.

"There is also rumors about the escape of a student under the federal correction bureau supervision"

'Is that organization something like a prison?'

'Though... from how they are talking about it seems to be an especially serious case.'

The white-haired woman continued.

"There has been a sharp increase in the number of thugs attacking our students on the way to school. Public safety is not being properly enforced."

'That's really bad'

While I don't know if public security is as bad as the city's, with the possibility of having your guts being harvested in broad daylight, the loss of manpower to protect the civilians will inevitably lead to an increase in crime.

While normally that wouldn’t matter a lot in a place like the city…

‘If the crime here is usually less present the people won’t be able to handle it’

While living in the backstreets can be a living hell, it does make the average individual stronger

and as they say difficult  times make strong people

but if it is not like that, then this security issue will be severe…

also

‘The support for the people in power would drop…’

Kivotos situation is already unstable, if crime started to ramp up, the people will take to blaming the one at the top

I do not know if those are the GSC, but if they are then they probably wouldn’t be able to handle it, especially with their president going missing

‘People would probably see her disappearance as an act of cowardice, and lose even more faith with them…’

To end the explanation the black-haired woman chimed in

"Illegal distribution of tanks, choppers, and other unknown weapons have increased by 2000 percent. At this rate, ordinary school life will become a thing of the past."

'Tank? Choppers?'

'Tch… more things I’m unfamiliar about'

I have to quickly fill in these gaps in knowledge, if I don’t it could cause me severe trouble in the future…

"..."

Rin remained speechless, if it was because she was surprised by the sheer size of the problems happening all over Kivotos or because she already knew, but she couldn't do anything about it was something that I couldn't tell.

The blue-haired girl began speaking

"What is the president of the GSC doing in these trying times anyway? I demand to meet her."

Rin flinched a little and then she began speaking.

"Unfortunately the president went missing and nobody knows where she went."

The four girls all seemed shocked by the news.

"So the rumors were true..."

commented the blond-haired girl.

But Rin wasn't finished speaking.

"Nonetheless, she did leave a solution for our issues to our problem."

'Wait, she did?'

I was confused, if she had already left a solution then why was I called here?

The black haired girl  then asked

"And what is this solution?"

'yea Rin what is the solutio-'

"The solution to all of our problems is Roland-sensei over here"

'Huh so I am the solu-'

As I started forming that thought I realized something.

'Wait...'

'I'm the solution!!!???'

'How am I supposed to magically solve all of these problems?'

This is really bad, I know nothing of this place, things seem to already be falling apart, on top of that…

As soon as Rin finished speaking all of the girls immediately changed their focus on me, it looked like they were scrutinizing me from head to toe. 

‘…And here’s the main issue’

While becoming the center of attentions isn’t the best by any means, right now it’s even worse

The only thing they know about me currently is that I am the magical problem solver that will fix the current situation, but I have no idea of what I can do… 

and if something goes wrong…

‘I will become the center of the blame’

My situation right now is incredibly unstable

Nobody knows who I am, the only one who supports me is Rin and maybe Ayumu…

If I failed now, especially in front of representatives of what I’m guessing are powerful organizations, the consequences would be catastrophic 

In the worst case scenario I could become the scapegoat used to give someone the blame

‘… sigh, let’s just try to fix this, I have nothing to lose anyway…’

To make the situation less awkward I tried to present myself with as light smile

"Hello girls, name's Roland just a washed-up grade 9 fixer."

As soon as I finished speaking the blue haired girl turned to Run with a confused look.

"Are you serious…? What is this adult even supposed to do!?"

My smile cracked a little

‘Well I would like to know that too, Miss!’

Rin ignored her entirely and she started speaking

"I assure you that as long as we retake Schale's building Sensei will be able to fix everything."

‘Schale…’

That’s also something new, but from what she’s saying it must be an important structure…

As she finished speaking she turned around and called out to someone.

"Momoka, call a helicopter to bring us to Schale."

Immediately an hologram of a short girl appeared.

She had pink hairs styled In short twintails, she was wearing the same uniform as Rin and Ayumu, but compared to theirs, her's was divided into pieces, a white jacket and a white sleeveless shirt, she was holding a bag of chips and she seemed to be lazing around.

'Why does she give Netzach vibes?'

If her hair were green I would have believed that Angela wanted to play a prank by transforming him into a girl to punish him for not sorting the books on his floor.

"I don't think that's really possible Rin, in that part of town a lot of delinquents are being rallied by the problematic student who escaped to assault it, the defenses of the building are pushing them back for now, but it's only a matter of time before they are overrun."

‘Well… that’s not great’

if the situation wasn’t looking great before, now it has become extremely bad

Momoka explained the situation like it was nothing special, this seemed to irritate Rin a lot, she was literally shaking.

‘If she has a mental breakdown right now we will likely lose any possible way to complete our objective’

Rin is the only individual keeping this rag-tag group together, if she doesn’t keep a steady mind we will likely say goodbye to any possible way to retake the building

"Take a breath and calm down Rin."

My serious voice seemed to make her return back to reality, but that didn’t mean she was stable

“Calm down…?”

CRUNCH

her lips began to bleed as she unconsciously bitted on them.

“How can I calm down, Roland-sensei! They are already closing in on SCHALE, we have little forces and you are still injured! How can-”

“ Rin calm down”

“...!?”

Rin’s face became bewildered for a second, it seemed that putting a hint of bloodlust in my speech made her regain her reason

“Now that you seem to have regained your rationality…”

I turned back to the pink haired girl

“Momoka, right?”

“Y-Yes sensei?”

“Do what Rin told you, we don’t have much time”

“Y-Yes”

the hologram disappeared in a hurry, seemingly scared of me

“That’s settled… Now the main issue, where do we find manpower?”

‘I could fight myself…’

“Sigh…”

‘No that’s not possible right now’

Besides the fact that I’m still severely injured, I can’t risk people finding out my fighting prowess until I understand how strong the rest of the population is here…

Strong people will have everyone's eyes on them, something which I’m currently not in a position to have happen to me.

Rin, hearing my turmoil seemed to start to think on how to solve the issue

As she did, she happened to remember the other 4 representatives who were in the room just watching everything go down with a confused expression

A sly grin appeared on her face

'I don't like that expression'

Her face was screaming that she had just found the solution for her problem.

"It seems that the operation to retake Schale has run into an issue, luckily our o so generous and anno- ... helpful school representatives will surely help us with our goal, as this will be able to solve all of their issues."

"Huh!!!???"

The blue haired girl exclaimed, confused.

'Well played Rin...'

I started smirking a bit.

“W-What do you mean, acting president! Why should we-”

but before she could finish complaining the woman with black hair put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her

“You should stop, I’m sure you know that you will not be able to talk your way out of it…”

she then turned her head towards Rin

“...And what she is saying isn’t wrong, if we help retaking SCHALE then we will also, if what she told us isn’t a lie, fix our school’s problems.”

“...”

the blue hair girl stopped talking, seemingly trying to come up with a counter-argument

“Argh… Fine, I will help!”

“Perfect, does any other representative have anything to say?”

“...”

seeing that nobody seemed to be replying, Rin turned around to face me

“Then are you ready sensei?”

a small smirk appeared on my face

“I am, let’s go girls, we have a building  to retake!”

““Yes sensei!””

“Well then let this operation begin!”

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A few minutes later me, Rin and the representatives arrived on the roof

‘Why are we here?’

“Hey Rin, can I ask you something?”

“Of course sensei, what is it?”

“Why are we on the roof, shouldn’t we be going to SCHALE?”

Rin stared at me with a confused face

“Don’t you remember sensei? Momoka called an helicop-”

RATATATA

Rin’s words were interrupted by the sound of what seemed to be an engine

‘Wha-’

In my view an unknown flying contraption appeared

‘Is that… a helicopter?’

I can see why I have never seen anything like this in the city,

The Head after all has never been keen on any type of flight…

but if something like that existed in the city…

well the wealthy would buy it immediately,

after all moving around in the city is always is the most dangerous thing you can do, especially in the backstreets

so a flying vehicle would definitely bypass all of the risks of going from district to district…

The flying vehicle slowly landed on the roof, its rotating blades slowly coming to a halt, its doors slowly opening making me see the inside of it

Rin started to walk towards it

“Okay everyone, get in, the helicopter will bring us close to SCHALE, but the rest of the way will have to be on foot, as the place is filled with delinquents.”

“While we fly there I will do a brief debriefing, so that i can explain some key points of this operation”

"First of all girls I have to inform you that, as you can see, because Sensei isn't from Kivotos he doesn't have a halo so bullet-fire can be lethal to him."

'Wait what?'

The last part of the conversation confused me.

The girl seemed equally as confused but before they started speaking, I realized that I still didn't know their names and what they could do…

“Wait Rin, before continuing I would like to ask something”

“Yes Roland-sensei?”

"Everyone, I would like to know your name and your abilities to understand what you can do for this operation."

The girls exchanged a look between themselves and then the blue-haired girl began.

"My name is Hayase Yuuka, Sensei you better remember that!"

"I'm a front line fighter, My gun is a sub-machine gun and i'm able to cast a barrier around myself"

'So a front-liner practically.'

That's very good, without at least a front liner we could have struggled if the thugs all rushed at us, at the very least we should have someone that can hold them off in close range.

Then the white haired girl spoke.

"I'm Morizoki Suzumi, nice to meet you sensei"

"I use an assault rifle and I usually fight at mid range. I have brought  with me some flash grenades which I can use to blind our enemies."

'A supporter'

She could be very useful against big groups of enemies, both for stunning them for a bit to finish them off and for covering a potential escape.

Then the black-haired girl began

"I'm delighted to meet you sensei, my name is Hanekawa Hasumi"

"I wield a sniper rifle and I have with me some special piercing ammunition, as you can probably tell I'm a long range fighter."

'A sniper'

She will be able to take out key threats and other snipers who are outside of the other girl's range.

lastly, the blond-haired girl spoke

"Pleased to meet you sensei, my name is Hinomiya Chinatsu"

"I usually stay in the backlines and don't really fight, but I'm confident in my medical knowledge, if someone gets hurt on the battlefield I will immediately rush in to administer some first aid."

'And to finish off a medic'

I don't think an explanation is needed to understand how helpful a medic is on a battlefield.

'This team is extremely balanced, but there is something that bugs me.'

"Have you ever fought together before?"

““No””

Almost immediately they all answered negatively.

'That's really bad...'

No matter how good or balanced a team is, if the individuals have never worked together before the risk of getting in each-other 's way is high.

'I might take command if things look bleak…’

This reminds me of the old times in Charles' office, when I was the on-field commander, though because the office was made up of a small number of elites, the situation was definitely better.

"I have a second question"

"What is this halo that you are talking about Rin?"

The concept of a halo wasn't totally foreign to me, on the floor of religion an abnormality named White night was sealed in his book, on his head there was a light construct similar to what all the girls had on theirs.

The old man explained to me, with his usual monotone voice, that it was called halo, a representation of divinity that in some texts that were found in the ruins were usually associated with angels.

"Halo are the circular contraptions that all the students in Kivotos have over their head, its main benefits are strengthening of the student's body and an almost total immunity to bullets."

'What!'

'So these girls are practically bulletproof!?'

How is that even…

While I'm unsure on how powerful the body strengthening is, the fact that they have become resistant to bullets…

‘Could this halos be some kind of augmentation…?’

That could be the case, but they would need to be at least on par with high quality augmentation in the city…

After all, there is a reason why the thumb still uses guns, it's not like bullets are weak…

“Alright, so Rin can you please give us an overall description of the enemy forces?”

“No problem sensei, Momoka tell us the situation”

“ MUNCH MUNCH ”

as Rin called for the pink haired girl, chewing sounds started to resonate in the helicopter.

“Ahh~... truly chips are the best snack…”

‘It seems that this girl just can’t even pretend to care…’

Rin, seeing the girl’s lazy and uncaring attitude, started to crack an EXTREMELY forced smile

“ Momoka!!! ”

“H-Huh!?”

The pink-haired gremlin started to frantically look around her, until she noticed where the voice came from…

and especially just WHO it came from…

“R-Rin!!”

“ Indeed Momoka…”

Rin’s face darkened significantly and a scary aura seemed to encompass her, making Momoka try to seemingly retreat away

“ Now… ”

But Rin wasn’t about to let that happen

“Would you be so kind as to provide us with a report on the enemy forces… MOMOKA ”

“Y-Yes, no problem Rin!”

THRASH THRASH

Momoka rapidly began rummaging through piles of documents, making many of them fall all over the floor.

‘Damn… Rin sure knows how to intimidate slackers…’

It seems that I will have a harder time slacking off compared to my time in the library…

“S-So, from what I was able to gather, the enemies are a group of delinquents Who are being led by the fox of misfortune, Wakamo, one of the seven prisoners…”

‘Wakamo… the seven prisoners…’

More unknown names and terms, but even without the basic knowledge, I could easily feel how the atmosphere around me shifted just but their mention

“Their Numbers seem to be in the low seventies, but it's impossible to know for sure without entering the buildings around the area”

“We have found the presence of some snipers, especially on the main road to get to the building”

“The main forces seem to mostly use the same assault rifles, but machine guns were also seen”

“Lastly the enemy forces seem to be sieging SCHALE, the defenses are still holding them back for now, but I would give them around half an hour before that are destroyed”

‘This… doesn’t look good’

While the intel provided is helpful, many key information are missing: 

The number of enemies is unclear, no information about who could be the leader, besides Wakamo, whose location wasn’t even mentioned, and no information about the weaknesses of the enemy.

‘I wasn’t expecting something like a report from the seven association, considering the current situation, but this is definitely not enough for me to create an actual plan…’

After the explanation the atmosphere in the room was extremely heavy, nobody was speaking as if the words were taken away from them.

“A-Alright Momoka, thank you for your report, you can go back to monitor the situation for now”

“Alright Rin…”

the hologram disappeared from the room, leaving everyone stumped and immersed in thoughts

Suddenly Rin started to speak 

“Everyone, we have arrived, from here you just need to go straight and you will find SCHALE, I wish you good luck”

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As I started to walk towards our target I began looking around the street…

The situation was disastrous, the shops, or at least what I guessed were shops, were raided, the buildings around us were severely damaged, debris laid all around the street, creating a sight not much different from the backstreets where I was born.

‘Well it seems that our dear delinquents had the time of their life…’

As I began thinking Yuuka approached me with a difficult expression

"Roland-sensei…"

"Yes, Yuuka?"

"Me and the others have created a battle formation for when we will confront the delinquents, so knowing your lack of halo, we have decided to have you stick in the backline with Chinatsu"

"Protecting you, while dealing with the thugs would be too difficult, and we can’t risk you to get injured more, seeing your current state"

'...Nothing she said is wrong, but…’

‘It seems that they don’t trust me’

confusion, uneasiness, doubt

those were the emotions in her eyes

‘I have to quickly garner their trust, if I don’t they might not follow my advices in case of an emergency’

“I understand…”

“Great, for now I will accompany you so that in case of an ambush I will be able to block the bullets with my shield, but the moment I do you have to retreat to the rear”

“Alright, alright, i understand Yuuka, no need to-”

My instinct flared

bloodlust

‘Where is it coming from?’

As I began looking around our surroundings, I noticed a person wearing a helmet wielding a sniper rifle, pointing it at…

‘Yuuka!!’

“Get down!!”

The blue haired stared at me with a confused look

"Sensei what do you-"

‘Tch! No time!’

I ran towards her as fast as I could, thankfully I managed to reach her in time, pushing her away

BANG!!

“Sensei-!?”

the sniper shot pierced the ground where Yuuka was just standing, creating a crack in it

The assailant quickly ran off, probably to change is location to not be noticed

The other girls, noticing what just happened began to heighten their guard, focusing and analyzing everything around them

"Sensei"

"Yes Hasumi?"

"Right now our first priority is your safety, so I would suggest to quickly retreat while we come up with a plan to get through the sniper zone"

‘That would be the best option-...if only our situation wasn’t what it is’

Our situation wasn't the best, we lacked a lot of information: the sniper's position, number of enemy and the amount of time we had left before the defenses around Schale would fail.

'Things are not looking good.'

“That is not possible Hasumi, we have to take out the sniper now, if we don’t he will just call for reinforcement, making our situation even worse”

'Wait! Do I still have my mask?'

A idea came to my mind

I began checking in my gloves and the mask was inside.

‘This could work…’

the perception blocking mask

while it didn’t make the wearer untraceable or invisible, it did make it so the people around you do not pay much attention to the wearer compared to the others

this could solve our issue

"Let’s just take cover behind the debris for now, I might have a plan"

“... Alright sensei”

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After everyone was able to retreat behind some fallen pieces of a building I began explaining my plan

“Alright girls, the plan is simple…”

I took out the mask from my gloves behind my back

"Suzumi, I want you to put on this mask and rush out to find the sniper…"

“...While she does that, Yuuka will go outside and grab the snipers attention, using your barrier you will bait out a shot from her, allowing Suzumi to locate the sniper’s position”

I turned towards Suzumi

“If it's in your range then you will take care of her, if it isn’t I want you to contact us and tell Hasumi where the sniper is, so that she can take care of it…”

“Is it all clear?”

Chinatsu started speaking

"Sensei, I understand your plan, the only thing that I don’t understand is why Suzumi should wear the mask? Wouldn’t it make her stand out more?”

"This mask is special, it has the special property of lowering the wearer’s presence, so if you walk in that street while we divert the sniper's attention, you will not even be considered in her eyes."

While everyone seemed surprise by the mask capability, Yuuka’s eyes seemed to start shining with interest

“Such technology exists where you come from, sensei…?”

“W-Well yeah, in the future I might let you analyze it, but now we don’t have the time”

After realizing what she was doing, her cheeks reddened from embarrassment

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry sensei”

“Anyway”

I turned towards Suzumi

“You ready?”

“Yes sensei, ready whenever”

“Alright girls! Let’s begin”

““Yes sensei!””

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Suzumi pov

'It seems that sensei’s plan is working'

Yuuka has already left the hiding spot and is currently walking in the street

now all that it needs to happen-

BANG!!

PING!!

A loud noise erupted in the area, as the sniper’s shot bounced off Yuuka’s force field

‘Here it is!”

I saw it, the bullet came from the roof of the supermarket

‘Thankfully it's very close, I can deal with her’

RATATATA

“Argh…!”

I then shot the sniper, making her grunt in pain and causing her to fall of the roof, right in front of Yuuka

‘Well while this has been dealt with…’

‘Let’s just go forward a bit, to see if there are no more snipers’

As I continued to go towards SCHALE while staying hidden, I saw around seventy people coming towards me, most of them holding assault rifles and wearing the same red helmets with protective goggles and red uniforms, but some of them had machine guns and wearing the same outfit but of black color

Thankfully it seemed that the mask effect seemed to still work, making them not notice me for now.

‘Let’s eavesdrop a little, any information could be useful’

“Man! It’s been a bit since the sniper reported, did something happen to her?”

‘!!!’

“Should we go check?”

“I don’t know, you should probably ask the leader about it”

the thug turned around went to the only person who has a blue uniform

“Hey boss!”

“Hm? What is it?”

“The sniper hasn’t reported in a while, I think something might have happened to her, should we go check it out?”

The boss remained quiet for a second, seemingly thinking about what to do

“... Alright”

The boss turned towards the entire group

“Everybody, we haven’t received a report from our sniper for a while, prepare yourself and in five minutes we will move out to check on her, understood!?”

““Yes boss!””

‘This is bad’

'I should retire quickly and regroup with the others'

Seeing that the situation wasn’t something that I could deal with alone, I went back to sensei and the others.

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Roland pov

“Roland-sensei”

“Hum? What is it, Suzumi?”

“There is something I have to report”

‘It seems serious’

“Alright so…”

Suzumi proceed to explain the situation to me

"So the sniper was only a scout?"

"Yes sensei, around 70 thugs are currently about to move out towards our position”

'This is troublesome'

It wouldn't be an issue if we had more time, without any snipers we could have just circled around them and ignored the issue, but we are short on time so that wasn't an option.

"Ok everyone, since time is of the essence we will go for an ambush and take all of them out in a swift motion,are you all ready!?"

""Yes Roland-sensei!""

“Then, Hasumi climb on top of a house and prepare yourself to snipe the leader of the group…”

I then turned towards Suzumi

“...After Hasumi takes out the leader, your job will be to throw a flash grenade in the middle of the group and make them disoriented”

“and lastly…”

I turned towards Yuuka

“Yuuka, your job will be to rush in and mow down as many gang member as possible, after that it will be just clean up”

“Alright everyone, are all of you ready!?”

““Yes, sensei!”

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"Sensei, hostiles on sight, permission to engage?"

‘They are finally here’

“Drop her, Hasumi”

“Understood”

Soon a loud noise resounded in the street

BANG!

Hasumi’s bullet, fired with the utmost precision, penetrated the leader’s helmet

resulting in her falling unconscious from the headshot, and making the rest of the thugs to go into a panic

"Wait, leader!!"

"What his going on"

“Hostiles are present! Somebody find their loca-”

FLASH!

A few seconds later Suzumi threw her flash grenade in the middle, blinding them

“Argh…!”

Now only one final step remained…

RATATATATA!

“SHIT!!”

Yuuka begin showering the thugs with bullets, leaving only a few of them conscious

It was nearly done, now the only thing that remained was to take care of the remaining delinquents

"Alright Girls, only a few remain! Give them hell, and let's take back SCHALE!"

““Yes sensei””

RATATATATA!!

RATATATA!

BANG!

A quick clean up took the girls less than a minutes resulting in a astoundingly success of the plan

"Good job everyone!"

“Now let’s set out, we have little time! If you have anything to say, do it while we walk towards the target”

"It should be us who should thank you sensei, without your commands it would have been way more difficult."

Hasumi approached me, her face portrayed a look of sorry, though I’m unsure about why she would be

"Thank you Hasumi…"

“... If there’s anything bothering you, just say it”

“A-Ah…”

her cheeks reddened, probably because she had been caught red-handed

“S-So… you already understood that I had something to say to you, sensei…”

a little smirk appeared on my face, it had been a while since I had this type of interaction

“Not the most difficult, especially when your giant wings are shifting around like a dog's tail when it’s guilty”

“W-Wha-”

‘So easy to tease…’

“Ah…”

“I’m just joking, you could say that I just felt it”

“So, what is it?”

“I… I just wanted to apologize to you sensei”

Confusion swept in my mind

“For what? You haven’t done anything to me Hasumi”

“W-Well… I have doubted you since before we even began the operation…”

‘That’s it?’

“Ah…”

“Sensei!?”

I gently patted her on the head

“W-Wha-!”

“You don’t need to feel bad for that, it’s normal”

“But…”

‘This girl is too kind for her own good’

Is everyone here a softie…?

“Let’s just move on, I wasn’t impacted from it, and you apologised, so let’s forget about the whole thing”

Hasumi seemed hesitant at first, but the a small smile appeared on her face

“...Okay, sensei!”

“I hope we will be able to share another battlefield, after all your commands have made this operation a breeze for now”

“Well I hope there will be no need to…”

‘After all I would prefer not fighting at all…’

Realizing what I meant Hasumi started to chuckle

“Indeed sensei, but just in case it does happen, I would love for you to be my partner~”

‘Well look at her… trying to fight back huh’

I’m sorry Hasumi, but in terms of teasing experience you are ten years too early to hope to beat me!

“Well, if the occasion arises, then I see no problem with it…”

I then learned in, putting my mouth right besides her ear

“… But don’t be too rough with me, okay? I’m haloless after all~”

“W-Wha-?”

A huge blush began spreading on her face

‘It’s pretty fun…’

But I should stop now

“Alright, alright, I was just joking Hasumi, now…”

"Let's make haste…” 

“Rin we should be near Schale right?"

"Yes sensei, Schale is just around the corner."

"ok girls le-"

As we were about to depart, Machine-like sounds seemed to progressively get closer.

BOOM!!

“Sensei!!”

Hasumi pushed me out of the way

“Wha-”

And an explosion hit her.

"Hasumi!!"

‘Shit, I knew things were going too well!’

"Chinatsu, Take her to the rear and heal her!"

"Y-yes sensei!"

‘Well now… let’s deal with this…  thing’

SCREECH!!!

An enormous metal vehicle stood in front of me, a giant contraption similar to a gun was sticking out of its front part and chainlike parts could be seen on its lower part, probably being what that weapon used to move around 

"Yuuka what is that!?”

"It's a crusader tank sensei!"

'So that's a tank huh...'

How can I deal with it?

‘Judging from its plating on the upper part, normal bullets will probably scratch it at most…’

Maybe…

“Yuuka!”

“Yes sensei!?”

“Do any of you have any way to penetrate its armor?”

““No sensei!””

‘Well shit… both Yuuka and Suzumi have no way around it! What could we-‘

“I have it sensei”

“Wha- Hasumi? How did you recover so fast!?”

In front of me Hasumi’s figure appeared, but compared to the state she was in a few seconds ago, she looked in perfect conditions, as if the explosion never hit her

“Well…”

“Don’t underestimate my medical knowledge, sensei”

“Chinatsu?”

“Fixing such a minor wound will not take more than a few seconds for me”

‘It seems that medical techniques are more advanced her than I thought’

If an explosion would hit someone point blank, back in the city the only option for most people would be a K corp ampule…

‘Though maybe it's because of the body  strengthening that the girls gained from their halos…’

Anyway

“You said that you can do it, right Hasumi?”

“Indeed, my piercing bullet could easily penetrate such a low class tank, I just need it to stay still”

‘Well I have a plan for that…’

“Suzumi, Yuuka”

“Yes sensei?”

“At my signal rush towards the tank and jam those chain like contraptions using some debris, that should immobilize it, at least for the time that Hasumi needs at least”

““Alright sensei!””

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“Alright girls, now go!”

As they heard my signal the two of them launched themselves towards the tank

Of course the latter didn’t exactly want them to get close, so…

BOOM!

It friend a shell towards the girls

But unfortunately for it…

“Ah! You think that such a Weak shell will penetrate my shield!?”

Yuuka used her shield to stop it, allowing Suzumi to close in

CRACK!!

And jam the tank’s chains

“All done sensei!”

“Alright! Hasumi, your turn, turn that thing into scrap metal!”

“Understood sensei!”

BANG!!

BOOM!!!

Hasumi’s bullet, shot with the out most precision, pierced the tanks armor, making it explode 

“Alright girls! It’s done! Just one last push and SCHALE will be in sight!”

““Yes sensei!””

As I said that, I realized something, something very suspicious

‘Wait… wasn’t Wakamo the supposed leader of these thugs?”

A terrible feeling started to surface in my stomach

‘Where is she-‘

‘ !!!! ’

My instincts flared into action as they picked up something 

‘ Bloodlust… extreme bloodlust, and it's directed towards… ’

Suzumi!!

“Suzumi, on the ground, now!”

“Sensei?”

‘Shit!!!’

My muscles screamed in pain as I launched myself at high speed towards her, and pushed her on the ground…

BANG!!!

… as a bullet, which would have hitted her on the head, flew over us

“Tch, you just had to interfere…”

The figure of a lady with fox-like ears wearing a mask appeared in front of us, her outfit resembled the clothings of someone from S corp

in her hands laid a weapon similar to the ones of the thumb, composed of a rifled and a sharp bayonet, used for cqc

“No matter…”

"Now, I didn't think someone would actually reach this place."

"Sensei get back!!"

Hasumi tried to warn me, her voice filled with worry

But the woman didn’t seem to appreciate her interruption

"Now girlie you shouldn't interrupt us"

As she finished speaking a bullet fired by Hasumi hit her on head, making her stagger a little.

"Sensei, that's Wakamo, the fox of calamity, the problematic student."

"Yeah, I had figured it was her…”

she was emanating a huge amount of bloodlust, it was obvious that she was different from a thug.

" You damn insects!! "

BANG!!

After screaming furiously she fired her gun, creating a ripple in the air, nearly hitting Hasumi.

CRASH!!

The bullet hitted some rubbles behind us, shattering it to pieces

‘Well… she’s definitely a step up compared to those random thugs…’

"Yuuka, cast your barrier and try to redirect her attention, I need time"

"Understood sensei!"

“Oh? You want to play now? Well then do entertain me!”

'Now that Wakamo should be occupied for a while I need to think about what to do.'

The situation looks bleak, our strongest attack, Hasumi’s bullets seems useless against her, and while her special one could probably damage her…

Keeping her stuck in place is the issue

'Should I fight'

No

If I did we would probably win, but I’m still too injured, so a random bullet could put me out of commission for a while, and if what Rin said is true, then I’m needed in SCHALE…

After a little while, a plan came to me.

“Girls!!”

““Yes, sensei!?””

“Follow my instructions!”

““Understood!”

"Suzumi!"

"Yes?"

"Take out a flash grenade and at my signal throw it at Wakamo"

"Ok sensei!"

"Hasumi prepare to fire a piercing bullet”

"Roger"

‘Alright, the girls are ready…’

I took out my mask and, while the girls didn’t see me, I grabbed atelier logic from my gloves subspace

‘...and now I am too’

"Go!!"

FLASH!

Suzumi’s grenade exploded in a giant flash, blinding Wakamo

“How annoying!! Come here you pe-”

BANG!

“Argh!!”

Hasumi’s bullet hit her square on the face, shattering her mask

‘Alright!! Is this enough-”

As I was thinking about victory in my mind, the air around me started to change, as floral-like illusion started to appear all around me

“Now you have done it…!!”

Wakamo emerged from the illusions with a enraged expression and pointing her rifle at us

“I think it’s time for you, pests, to disappear!!!”

her weapon started to emanate a floral like aura, as a clear feeling of danger started coming from it

‘Shit, not good!’

It’s time to intervene

BANG!!!

I fired atelier logic, hitting her square on her hands, making her let go of her rifles and stagger from the pain

“Wha-?”

the girls had a look of confusion on their faces, it seems that they didn’t see me fire at Wakamo

The prisoner started to look around in conclusion, but all of the sudden she seemed to have remembered something…

"Well..."

As she started to speak I readied myself for round two

‘Alright what can I-’

but it seemed that she had something different in mind

"See you next time, I'm kinda busy so I'll leave."

‘Huh…?’

“Wait, what do you-”

As Yuuka started to speak Wakamo’s figure disappeared, leaving only an empty space in front of us

“...mean”

‘Well that was… unexpected’

no matter how strange Wakamo’s behavior felt, her leaving only helps our objective

“Alright girls we are done here, let’s wait for Rin to arrive, so that we can fix all of our issues!”

""Yes sensei!""

“Hey Rin”

“Yes sensei?”

“We have retaken the building, so its safe for you to come”

“Perfect, I will be there in about ten minutes”

“Understood”

Well now only waiting awaits

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“I’m here sensei"

Rin had finally arrived, she seemed to look much better compared to before

“Oh here you are Rin”

The girls approached us

“Alright, now acting president, we have done our part, so now it's time for you to do yours”

Yuuka started to immediately bicker with her

and just like that the previous happy expression that was on Rin’s face turned extremely ugly

“ OH do not worry Millenium treasurer, it’s exactly what I’m planning to do”

She turned towards me

“If you would please start to go inside, sensei, I think I will have to talk for a bit with our representatives here”

“Oh no problem Rin, take your time”

“Thank you, sensei”

I went inside SCHALE, following the white corridor I found myself in a lobby-like room

Inside the rubbles of a strange monolith-like structured were floating, creating a confusing and perplexing sight

A giant table laid in the middle of it, but it wasn’t a normal one as it seemed to have a hologram which was shaped as a incredibly big city

‘Well, it definitely has the the look of a very important building, it looks similar to the main discussion room of a wing-’

“Hum~...Hum~”

“Oh how excited I am, to be finally able to deal with a structure so loved by the GSC…”

‘This voice!’

It’s impossible for me to mistaken it, it was Wakamo’s

‘How is she here, she had escaped before…’

‘Wait! Did she run away because she wanted to sneak in here?’

Now her behaviour makes sense, she run away so that she could sneak in after the defenses are lowered

as her steps got closer I began to think on how to deal with her

‘Should I try to knock her out before she sees me?’

no, that wouldn’t work

‘I’m sure she could feel my presence, plus my body’s state is still way too bad to consider a head on confrontation…’

‘Let’s just try to have a harmless discussion, in case things get dicey…’

I took out atelier logic from my gloves

‘... I won’t go down without a fight ’

Thump… Thump…

her steps began getting extremely close

“What should I even break?”

“Fufu~, well I shouldn’t discriminate now, destruction should not spare anything…”

“Well that is certainly true, missy”

“Indeed, I’m happy you agree…”

““...””

"But may I ask who's replying to a question not meant for them~?"

“I’m hurt missy, did you not see this poor fixer?”

Wakamo turned around and saw me, her eyes widening slightly

“Wh-What!? How did you get in!?”

“Through the door? I’m sure you know some other ways to get in, missy, but I’m not as lucky”

"Well of course I do, now stop playing around~!"

“Come on missy~, don’t be so grumpy…”

She pointed her rifle at me

“I will put a bullet in your head if you don’t stop~”

silence filled the room, a heavy atmosphere surrounded me, but…

“You know, missy…”

I leaned on my wrist while a smirk appeared on my face

“... When you say things like those, you should actually be ready to do it~”

She wasn’t going to shoot me, while her face showed hostility, she wasn’t actually emitting any of it…

"Oh? Are you testing me, Sensei?"

“Oh you know my title?”

“Not necessarily, I just overheard those pests outside referring you as that”

silence descended in the room, as an air of awkwardness swept in

“...So~, coming here from time to time, missy~?”

Her face showed a look of disbelief, as a huge blush spread across her face

"Um... well, I-I was just going away!!"

She tried to run out of the room, but I stopped her by grabbing her by the wrist

“Hey now, isn’t it impolite to just leave so abruptly missy~?”

“Wh-Wha!?”

“Now-”

The words that I was planning on saying got stuck in my throat as I saw her eyes…

they were as empty as the void, they reminded me of mine after I had lost everything…

"...Go away Wakamo."

"Huh?"

“I shouldn’t stop a lady from going after all, that would be unbecoming from me~”

“Well… then goodbye!!”

And… she quickly ran away, leaving me alone to wait for Rin to arrive, as the sight of her empty eyes remained in my mind

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Wakamo pov

After my escape I sat down on a roof near Schale.

"Sensei.."

'That adult...'

To think that he would talk to me in such a nonchalant way…

His words didn’t feel like lies, compared to my peers…

“Could I… trust him?”

I then remembered the way he spoke to me after I pointed my rifle towards him

“He… saw through me, he actually tried to go beyond my facade…”

a small, sad smile appeared on my face

“...Just like SHE did…”

Could this be fate?

“It must be…”

You who reminded me of HER after so much, must be my fated soulmate…

No my Husband

"My Darling♡"

"Your Wakamo will see you in due time, and then you shall be mine ♡"

Roland pov

 After a while Rin Arrived and she handed me a tablet she called the shittim chest.

She told me that if I could log in I could get back control of the Sanctum tower, which would solve all of their problems.

'An artifact left by the president huh...'

'Tho how am I supposed to open this-'

My hand began to move by itself.

Please insert the password

We long for the wailing of Jericho. 

We bear the seven koans.

Password confirmed, welcome Roland-sensei.

"Wha-"

A bright flash appeared, and then I found myself in a classroom.

There was one person sleeping on one of the desks.

'She is really sleeping peacefully huh...'

I approached her and touched her cheek.

"H-huh, who?"

As she saw me, I started to think a little.

"Hello, little miss."

"Wait, if you are here, are you Roland-sensei?"

'So she knows me huh.'

The girl in front of me was wearing a blue uniform with a light blue skirt and her halo seemed to change based on her emotions.

"Hello Roland-sensei, my name is Arona, the main OS of the shittim chest, pleasure to meet you!"

'she is very lively huh... well i'm not against it'

"Well it seems that you know me already so i guess I don't need to introduce myself."

"Arona, can you take control of the Sanctum Tower? The situation outside is very chaotic so it would help me."

she nodded

"Okay sensei, before doing it come closer so that I can finish the identification process by taking your fingertip."

I walked towards her and crouched down and extended my finger.

She then checked it.

"Okay sensei it's done!"

"Thank you Arona, now let's deal with the Sanctum tower."

"Understood sensei!"

After a little Arona was done, she then asked me if I wanted to give the control of the Sanctum Tower to the student council.

'Well they were in control of it in the first place, so it should be okay.'

"Sure Arona, but keep a path connected to me just in case, make it as hidden as possible."

'No need to be too overly trusting for now.'

"Okay Sensei!"

I then start walking away

"Well goodbye for now Arona, have a good day"

"You too sensei."

When I got out of the shittim chest I found Rin beside me.

"Control of the Sanctum Tower confirmed, Roland-sensei please follow me. I still have something to show you."

"Okay Rin, lead the way"

As me and Rin left the room she started speaking.

"Thank you for the help, this operation would not have happened without you"

"W-well, thank you Rin"

'The feeling of being praised and thanked for my work...'

'...I guess doesn't feel to bad'

That was the end of the operation to retake Schale.

Chapter Text

Negotiations

Roland pov

"Where am i?"

When I opened my eyes the view that graced me was as perplexing as it was terrifying. 

It was darkness, pitch black, as If i was blinded. it was everywhere around me, encircling me.

But in spite of it, In front of me was a full length mirror. But no matter how much I tried to find my own reflection in it, it was simply empty .

"Am i dreaming?"

Honestly, that was the only answer that made sense.

"Okay let's try to w-"

“...Your fault”

From the darkness, a figure I knew all too well appeared before me. A familiar white cloak, a familiar face. 

"O-Olivier...?"

"What’s going on?"

For just a moment, for barely a second, i forgot what I did to him. For just a moment, I was ready to greet him like nothing happened. Until that second of blind nostalgia ended. 

"How are you here?"

The question left my lips, as much as I tried to sound intimidating, the smallest hint of concern slipped by in my tone. 

But my former friend didn't seem to even hear my remark, instead, he continued to walk towards me. Speaking in a dispassionate tone as he moved towards me. 

"It’s your fault"

I tried to move, but my body refused to even budge. 

As he made his way towards me, other figures started to appear, from the darkness, as if walking out of a fog, Finn, the rookie from Yun’s office whose life I extinguished in some of the first receptions the library received , he was just a newbie, a young kid that still had dreams, hopes, something almost non existent in the city. he idolised fixers, the ones who chose to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. those were the values of one in his idealistic eyes… His life was ended by the blade of another fixer, whose values were similar, but were crushed into nothing by the city, one could say that he was killed by someone who could have been his future.

Mars, Finn, and Lulu, the fixers from streetlight office,who were destroyed emotionally and physically by me, I still remembered mocking Lulu when she came back to the library, mocking her for disrespecting the dead so flagrantly , as it was the contrary of what Mars would have wanted, with the sole purpose to make her emotion rise before her inevitable death. 

Xiao and Lowell, a couple who were the directors of section one and two of the Liu association, their love, which was stolen and burned to the ground by the library, ignited Xiao’s burning fury, ever so similar to my own, but compared to me, she managed to shine like the morning sun, not suffering in darkness, the moment of her death, was akin to watching a star die . And the final blow, which put out that star’s shine was done by me, wearing Lowell's page… killed using the weapon of your beloved, a fate that someone like her would have never met, if it wasn’t for me… 

All of them were standing still, echoing the same phrase over and over and over again “It’s your fault” , their empty gazes seemed to try to pass judgment on me.

As Olivier got closer and closer, my body began to be engulfed by the surrounding darkness. With each step he changed, his body became more and more damaged as he approached me. His once pure white trench coat became more and more tattered, more and more dirty, and bloodied. His body gained violent gashes all around it, from small nicks and cuts, to giant slashes, covering him head to toe. 

"It’s your fault."

He raised his hands, slowly leaning them in, before wrapping his fingers around my neck. 

"It’s your fault."

my breath started to become quieter and quieter, more and more rasp and helpless. But even as my vision blurred, my gaze fell onto that same mirror.

In it, I had finally begun seeing my own reflection, or what I thought it was, but it did not move as I did, it was not engulfed by darkness, it simply stood there, before speaking. 

"So worthless, nothing you ever do helps anyone..."

The “me” in the mirror interrupted himself, changing his attitude and way of speaking in a blink of an eye.  

"You can continue lying to yourself, you can keep playing along with your students, those innocent girls who put their faith in you. Oh how disgusted, how terrified they’ll become of you if … No, when they find out who you truly are. After all, you can take a beast out of the forest, but you may never take the forest out of the beast. No matter how much you dress it up, it can never change."

The reflection taunted me without end, laughing, cackling at me. Before he reached into his gloves, a familiar metallic glint shone into my eyes, atelier logic, in all its glory, pointed straight at me. My mirror self’s finger, placed on the trigger, begging to press it, before—

BANG

A shot rang out, but it never reached me, simply grazing my cheek, but even then, I heard a familiar squelch of a bullet piercing flesh. 

In that moment, on pure instinct, I moved my head to look behind me. 

“Your fault…”

And there she stood, in her full, yet tarnished glory, my Light, my hope, the only person I have truly loved with my whole heart, With a bullet hole right between her eyes. 

“It’s your fault, Roland…”

She began slowly stepping towards me, her movements sluggish, slow, almost as if she struggled to move. 

“After all I did for you, you still couldn't do anything for me,”

As she closed the distance between us, I saw her face, her once almost divine features were mangled and twisted even worse than everyone else before her. Her flesh was ripped apart and bent in horrific ways, her twisted visage, the exact same way I found her on that day of my damnation. 

The other me began talking once more. 

“This is your guilt, Roland. All of it, every life that could've turned out better, every happy ending snuffed out by you”

He approached me, walking as if unbothered by anything in this world. And as he was a mere step away, he leaned in, and whispered.

“La tua cieca furia è stata la catastrofe più grande della tua vita, e non puoi incolpare nessuno se non te stesso.”

Before quickly walking off. 

“Do not forget, just because you are in a new world you haven’t truly changed, your true self will remain inside you forever, if it’s for the better or for the worst, that we will see. But for now, let me give you and all our friends some privacy~”

And with that, his body was engulfed by darkness, disappearing from sight with an echoing laugh. 

“It's all your fault!!!”

The corpses, once stationary, began moving towards me. chanting the same phrase over and over again, louder and louder, their faces twisting into grimaces of scorn and rage. 

Olivier's grip started to tighten around my neck more and more, not even trying to choke me, but to crush my throat. Death's embrace was about to welcome me a second time…

But just as my vision became blurrier and blurrier, and my thoughts less and less coherent, I awoke.

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“Ahh!!!”

"Roland-sensei, are you okay?!"

Immediately, Arona appeared from the holo projector, rushing towards me, her halo beginning to glitch and morph wildly, in worry for my well being.

As I came to, fully realising where I was, I began calming down.

“Y-yes, Arona. I’m fine, it was…it was just a nightmare…”

Arona looked at me with a tearful and scrutinizing face, she seemed to not believe me, and honestly I couldn't blame her.

"Really, I'm fine..."

Arona didn't seem to be convinced at all, but she decided to drop the topic, at least for now.

"Okay sensei, but if you ever feel bad—tell me, so that we can do something about it."

"Okay, Arona, I promise.”

“Good.”

"Now sensei, let's begin another day at Schale"

Schale, the club which the president of the GSC left for me, didn't really have a precise goal, but that didn't mean that I had nothing to do. My role was to fix the student, and school problems, and that's what I had been doing for the last 3 weeks.

"Sure Arona, can you… read me the letter that you think has the most urgent issues at the moment?"

It's not like I won't solve smaller issues, but right now, I need something to take my mind off of that nightmarish dream. 

"If you deem it appropriate, sensei…”

The most urgent letter was definitely from Abydos high school, Someone named Okusora Ayame, wrote to us that their school has been getting harassed by nearby gangs for the last few weeks, they would continue to repel them themselves, but they are running out of bullets, and in the next few days, they might remain without any.

The Letter’s contents, caused me the much needed break from my thoughts,   letting me fully focus on the task and push my nightmare in the long drawer.

"I just woke up, and I already have to deal with gangs, well, Arona, can you tell me what you know about Abydos?"

Arona perked up, and answered cheerfully. 

"Okay sensei, from what I know, Abydos used to be one of the most important and powerful schools in Kivotos, but a few years ago a catastrophic sandstorm swept the district, after that, It seems that the school situation went downhill, the sandstorms didn't stop, but the school finances started to dwindle, so, they lost all of their power."

This situation...

it's really similar to the fall of a wing, but something doesn't add up...

"Arona, can you search deeper into this, it's too strange, a huge school shouldn't just lose everything just for this."

That, to be honest, may be wrong to think, but the only thing I can compare this to is the fall of a Wing, something that took a war between atleast 3 to 4 corporations to make happen in the City.

Arona saw that I was serious, and, although she was confused, she seemed to accept.

"Okay sensei, I don't know why you think that the fall of Abydos is strange, but I will look into it."

After a few seconds, that judging from her focused face, were spent digging deeper into her grand archives worth of information, she started to speak again.

"...Well, I don't think they have anything to do with it, but it seems that Kaiser corporation has shown some kind of interest in Abydos, but that event was much later."

I paused. 

"Kaiser Corporation...?"

My face darkened, from one nightmare to another huh…

Kaiser corp, almost the name tingled a little memory of that damn corporation. 

K corp was one of the corporations which refused to give me a nest entry permit, if it wasn't for them, perhaps Angelica would still be—

I know they aren’t the same, but if one of the wings has anything to do with a district, it cannot be a coincidence…

Maybe it’s my bias against corporations as a whole, but…

I unconsciously tighten My fist.

"Roland -sensei?"

Arona brought me back to reality, I guess I should really stop getting lost in thoughts.

"Nothing Arona, While they may have nothing to do with Abydos, I would like to know more about Kaiser Corporation, so could you please do an extensive research about them?”

Arona nodded her head ferociously.

“Leave it to me sensei!” her face turned neutral again.

“But it will take a while Sensei, in the meantime I will not be available to answer you as I will be focusing on the research, if you need anything go inside the Shittim Chest, okay?”

“Crystal clear Arona”

Her face turned happy once again, I swear this little bundle of cuteness is able to change her mood very quickly huh…

“Well then, I will tell you when i’m finished sensei, have a good day!”

After that she vanished from the room, leaving behind nothing but me and my questions.

After a while I decided to just get up and go to the Gsc building, after all I had to inform Rin about my decision.

While I was walking there my  mind wandered back to theorizing how  Kaiser corporation could have caused Abydos fall, but half an hour later I got to my destination and no hypothesis I had formed were realistic in any way, at least by my limited knowledge, so I put them away.

As I was about to enter, I heard a familiar voice calling out to me.

"Roland-sensei fancy meeting you here"

It was Yuuka, Millennium's treasurer, who greeted me.

"Hello Yuuka, it seemed that even without having to work we just can't be apart for even a day~"

She had been helping me for the last 3 weeks to solve problems. Yesterday was supposed to be her last day to work with me, but I guess it wasn't what fate wanted from us.

Her face visibly flushed after hearing my teasing remark, she reminds me so much of Tiphereth, they both get embarrassed way too easily and their reactions are extremely cute, though...

Yuuka at least didn't try to punch me every time I teased her.

"W-Well i'm happy to see you again, though I would appreciate if you tone down on the teasing, I think that I only need one Noah in my life"

While I don't know who Noah is, she must be having the time of her life teasing Yuuka, I wouldn't mind talking to her... mainly to gain new Yuuka teasing techniques.

"What brings you here Yuuka? From what I know this is supposed to be your free day"

her face visibly darkened, probably remembering the cause of her issues.

"It's because of those damn idiots from Veritas, yesterday they tried to hack the GSC network to learn more about you Roland-sensei, so Rin called me here to explain what happened and to discuss their punishments."

Veritas huh...

Never heard of them, but from what she said they must be some troublemakers, but my main concern is...

"Why would they try to find information about me?"

Yuuka started to look at me with an expression that was asking if what she had just heard was right, to answer her I just nodded my head.

"Sensei... do you not know how famous you are?"

Her answer genuinely caught me off guard 

'Famous... me?'

In the city if someone was famous it was usually because he either did something that someone thought was impossible, if he’s rich and their influence extends over a large area, or their strength was so widely recognized that a title was given to them, like the red mist or the indigo elder.

So for me to become famous doing practically nothing and without meeting a large amount of people... it was certainly strange.

"Yuuka... how did I become famous? The most the public knows about me is what the GSC released, which only said what my job was and that I was halo-less."

Yuuka started to think a little and after some time a disbelieved expression came to her face, it seemed like she had an epiphany, but that what she understood was so strange that she couldn't believe it.

"Sensei... do you not check social media?"

'Check... what?'

My face told her everything she needed to know.

"Thought so... Sensei social media are apps which are able to connect people all around the world, it's possible for them to share images and call other people to talk to them."

Social medias were something that didn't exist in the city, but from what Yuuka explained i understood the concept of them, they were similar to the streaming sites which were used by some fixers to gain the people support and money, the main example was Siegfried, a fixer under K corp, he usually tried to make fights more funny and entertaining so that other people donated to him.

In the City something like this would have been extremely handy, mainly for keeping contact with colleagues or clients, but the most we had was phones that could only let us call each other, so people were as disconnected as ever, after all most people couldn’t trust others with their number, it would risk other people to learn about it by either having it sold to them or by stealing the phone, but the cases were rare, mostly because phones were expensive, well like everything good in the city I guess…

"Three weeks ago, after we took Schale back, some people started to speculate about your identity, the search only got larger after you started to help the schools, most students want to thank you for your help, while the higher ups want to meet you to try to negotiate for benefits or to get you on their sides."

'That's... worrying'

Honestly, I wouldn't care if people started to talk about me, after all some attention can help with my job, but now...

'It's like I have a big target on my back...'

Being too famous is not good, it can lead to gaining many enemies and unwanted attention when in public, something that, with my current mental situation, well… let’s just say it wouldn’t be the best.

"I will have to do something about it..."

Yuuka nodded after hearing my response, but it seemed that she still wanted to ask something.

"By the way Sensei, I forgot to ask, what are YOU doing here?"

"I guess I do need to explain huh..."

I sighed a little, I hope she doesn't nag me about my decision, I only need Rin to do that.

"Well... I'm here to ask Rin to authorize my first in-person operation."

She started to stare at me, in my point of view it seemed like a little wheel was in front of her head and spinning.

After a few seconds it seemed that what I said finally reached her, and immediately she started to look excited, her eyes were shining a little and stars could be seen in them.

"Really sensei! Are you finally going to be able to get out of Schale and visit other schools?"

it seemed that she was waiting for this, if her reaction wasn't telling enough her eyes would definitely give it away.

Realizing how she had just reacted, Yuuka's face became red, like redder than an actual tomato. I knew people could get embarrassed, but damn her blush was on another level.

She quickly recollected herself and to divert my attention she asked me something else.

"Then sensei, which school are you going to visit? Trinity? or maybe Gehenna, of course Millenium-"

"Abydos, that's where my first operation will be."

After hearing what I said Yuuka looked at me like I was stupid, a few seconds later she sighed.

"...Sensei, of ALL the schools you could choose, did you seriously chose the one which is in a situation which is so bad that it could kill you in a day, Abydos is in a desert and their school practically fell, now from what I know they are being harassed by local gangs..."

Her gaze became fierce, but I could tell that below it there was only worry for me.

"So, please tell me knowing their situation, why would you choose them as the first school you will help?"

'Well... she definitely is mad, but mostly she seemed to be thinking about my safety...'

When was the last time that someone had worried for my safety in the city? Probably when Astolfo tried to stop me, but well that didn't end in the best way.

To assure her I took out a bright smile, one that I didn't know I had in me.

"Don't worry Yuuka-chan, I will be fine, I'm tougher to kill than I look, you know?"

While saying that I playfully flexed my muscles, Yuuka didn't seem to really believe me, at least judging from her look, but after sighing she seemed to relent.

"Well okay... sensei if you think you can then I will not nag you further, BUT, you must get Rin's permission!"

'Well it was my intention so...'

"It was what I already wanted to do, Yuuka, so don't worry."

I then went close to her and I head-patted her, she immediately started to flush again, she then stomped off, probably going towards Rin's office.

"L-Let's go sensei, we shouldn't make Rin w-wait."

'She is so cute when I tease her, I just can't stop'

sorry in advance Yuuka, it seems like I will continue to tease you in the future.

Me and Yuuka made our way inside the GSC building, and after a while we got to Rin's office. She decided to remain outside until i'm done.

Entering I noticed Rin working on a gigantic pile of documents, it was similar to the amount I had to do in a week.

"Hey Rinny~, it seems that work hasn't spared you today too."

After hearing my voice she immediately turned her face towards me and glared intensely, she was looking really bad, she had big eye-bags, I could tell that she hadn't slept for a while.

"Hello Roland-sensei, please do not call me that"

Her face darkened significantly while saying that.

"Sorry, sorry, I won't... or will I?"

after hearing my response she just sighed.

"I will just ignore your teasing remarks and just get straight to the point, what do you need sensei?"

'Well time to rip the bandaid off...'

I put up a serious look and started.

"Rin I'm ready to take my first in-person request."

Rin stopped moving immediately, because of the sudden stop a bunch of the documents she had in her hands fell on the floor.

She slowly look up to me

"I'm sorry sensei, I hope I misheard what you just said, but i will ask to be sure, did you just say you want to begin doing in-person requests?"

'As I thought she seems to be against it.'

Me and Rin talked about me doing in-person requests, but previously we agreed to wait two months, mostly to allow me to settle in and learn about Kivotos, but right now I need a break from doing paperwork, I really just can't do it.

Rin was also very concerned with my well-being, after all for them I was just a fragile man, who could die from just one or two gunshots, well... I want my image to remain that though, right now my situation in Kivotos is very shaky, while I have helped many schools and students in the last three weeks and that earned me some support among them, my past is also completely unknown.

People will become curious, they will think: who is this sensei who came out of nowhere and started to solve every problem that even the GSC struggled to solve?

The Veritas incident only proves my point, if I started to do some incredible feats in combat interest in me will rise and hiding stuff about me will become way more difficult.

Anyway...

"Rin... I think it's time that I come out of hiding, Kivotos has started to become curious in the sensei who solves trouble, the incident with Veritas also just proves my point, if I remain hidden my situation will just get worse, people may start to riot and hacker attacks will increase, just to find information about me, I have to come out and support a school in presence, this will make other students consider approaching me themselves without creating problems."

After my explanation Rin's face showed that she was reflecting on what to do, she seemed conflicted, but I can't blame her, i'm the individual who right now is keeping up the image of the GSC after the president left, if something happened to me other schools may start to drop their support of the GSC and that would severely  destabilize Kivotos's situation, something that right now is not acceptable.

"I... see where you are coming from sensei, but firstly I want to know which school you are planning to help, after that we will see what to do."

'here goes nothing...'

"The school I chose to help is Abydos, they sent a letter explaining that some delinquents have been harassing the school, they are running out of ammo so they can't repel them for long so they decided to ask for support."

With every word I added Rin's face became increasingly darker, by the end of it she seemed to have become one with the shadows completely.

"Sensei... of all the schools you could choose, did you seriously need to choose the one that is actively  engaging in fights, plus the students are running low on resources and they are probably not going to be able to protect you in a good way!"

Rin shouted with rage seeping from every world, I swear I could see actual tick marks on her forehead.

"Honestly, do you have no preservation instincts, how could you ever think I would allow it!"

'well... that didn't go well'

I was expecting this, but I still have to convince her, but how to-

"Acting president, Millenium will help sensei!"

'Yuuka!?'

Yuuka pov

"Hurg..."

Sensei is taking quite a while, Rin must really be against him going on an in-person mission...

"Sensei... of all the schools you could choose, did you seriously need to choose the one that is actively engaging in fights, plus the students are running low on resources and they are probably not going to be able to protect you in a good way!"

Damn! Rin is really mad now, but she is right, honestly sensei lacks too much self-preservation for his own good, how could he think of going there unprotected...

"Wait..."

If I helped sensei he would become indebted to me, or to Millenium even!

Right now sensei's position is completely neutral, but if we could make him indebted to us Millenium's position would undoubtedly strengthen.

I don't want to drag sensei in our politics, but right now Kivotos is in an unstable situation and sensei is the one who managed to at least stabilize it, so every school wants him to help them resolve their issues.

Millenium is not freed from the same problems, many students are becoming delinquents and the budget at the seminar disposal is lowering by the day...

But how could I help him…

Something came to my mind.

"That's it!"

CeC has just returned from a mission! While I would need to consult Rio about this, if she learned that we could make sensei indebted to us she would definitely accept!

'Let me give her a call'

I quickly took out my phone, I searched for Rio's contact through my phone and after I found it I quickly called her.

"Hello Yuuka, what is it that you need?"

A cold voice came out of my phone, her tone seemed to make it clear that she didn't want to waste time.

"Hello Rio... I'm calling you to ask if CeC is free to go to another mission"

After hearing my answer  a sound of documents being flipped could be heard, and after a few seconds Rio's response came.

"They indeed are back, and it's possible to deploy them, but I have to ask you to specify what kind of mission you want to give them"

As always she spoke in an analytical way, if my answer isn't acceptable enough she will shut it down.

"I would like to deploy them as sensei's security guards for his first in-person mission."

After my declaration a sound of falling documents could be heard, I guess even Millenium's big sister can get surprised from time to time.

"I'm sorry Yuuka, could you please repeat that, I think that I may have heard you wrong, but did you just say that sensei will have a first in-person request?"

"You heard me right Rio, by the way you are probably the second student outside of me and the GSC that knows about this."

It's normal that she doesn't believe my words, sensei's figure is legendary right now between students, online everyone is speaking about him, asking about his past and all...

But the main question that is going around is when is he going to finally respond to in-person requests, many people started to believe that the GSC was purposely keeping him hidden inside the Schale building so that no one could meet with him, while I did help him the last weeks I was able to get in unnoticed thanks to the GSC help, so nobody knows of my involvement with him.

So for me to suddenly call her and tell her that sensei will start doing them must be difficult to believe.

"But Yuuka, why would he need someone to protect him? I know he's halo-less, but as long as he doesn't go somewhere risky he could just go with other students, CeC may be too much"

"He wants to go to Abydos Rio, I think that's enough for you to understand why."

Rio was the one who knew the most about Abydos's situation, after all she is the president of the seminar, so she had to be informed about the overall situation of one of the most powerful schools in Kivotos, before it's collapse anyway.

"That indeed does answer my question... Considering the situation around Kivotos, making sensei own us one will help a lot, you have my permission to deploy CeC for this mission, I will notify them later myself."

"Thank you Rio, I will go to bring the news to the acting president and Sensei, have a good day."

I then closed the call and prepared myself.

After a few seconds I bursted through the door while shouting.

"Acting president, Millenium will help sensei!".

Rio pov

"It seems that a solution to my problems came more quickly than I thought..."

Sensei, the one that all around Kivotos has been revered and complimented for his swiftness in dealing with the schools' s problems, has been on my mind lately.

While he did help our school a lot the last few weeks there was too much I didn't know around him, his past, his capabilities, and most of all, where did he come from?

He's different from all the residents of Kivotos, all the adults here are either robots or sentient animals, so a halo-less human adult like him is already strange, but on top of it he's also a male, something unheard of here.

If that wasn't enough the GSC released barely any information about him and then he never went outside of the Schale building for weeks.

All this time I have been searching for a way to see if he's a threat or a blessing for the world, but no matter how much I tried nothing worked, Schale's security, both in the physical way and and in the online department, was way to impenetrable, the attack that I asked Veritas to do was discovered in mere minutes and now the GSC guard has been heighten to prevent any kind of information leak.

But now... well thanks to Yuuka's proposition everything has become easier, I can just ask the CeC to protect sensei, and after they are done with it I can just have them report what they learned.

I honestly don't like to do this... but I have to be sure that Sensei isn't a threat.

"I hope you will be able to forgive me..."

I picked up my phone and found the contact of Neru Mikamo, the leader of CeC also known as Callsign 00, the strongest student of Millenium.

"What do you want Rio, I'm kinda busy!"

On the other end of the phone a loud growl came out, from the sound of it it seemed that Neru was very annoyed, even more than usual, which was saying much.

"Hello to you too Neru, it seems that I called you at a bad time if you sound more annoyed than usual."

A snarl came out from the phone.

"Ah, don't make it sound like you don't know anything about it, after all it was you who forced us to do cleaning around the academy periodically."

"You know very well why you have to Neru, CeC is registered as a maid club in Millenium's database, so you all still have to do club activities that are relevant to the club description, even if only for Covering up the club's true purpose."

While to Millenium's enemy Neru is their worst nightmare, to me and many others she is just a girl with a thugs like personality who cares deeply for her loved ones, but she really doesn't like doing anything that isn't fighting and destroying stuff, at least to my knowledge.

"Anyway Neru, I'm calling you to communicate to you that CeC has another mission, one of particular importance I will add."

For a few seconds nothing could be heard, but I could imagine Neru's face having a wild grin on it.

"Finally, I was getting so bored of cleaning! So what do you need? Taking down a black market organization? Or maybe going in Millenium's outskirts to take care of more of those robots?"

She sounded eager to get back in action, but honestly it was obvious that she was just happy to be able to do something she enjoys.

"No, not this time... your task is far more important."

"Huh, you make it sound like the goal of this mission is saving the world you know, just spill it already!"

Well in a way she was right... not that I could tell her anyway.

"Neru, CeC task has been asked to protect Schale's sensei in his first in-person request in the Abydos district."

Nothing but silence, which was broken by a scream a few seconds later.

"Will he finally begin to do them? Wait...how did we even become the one who will have to protect him if he isn't even coming to Millenium!?"

"Yuuka contacted me to tell me that he needed someone to protect him while he goes to Abydos, because the school is in an active war with a gang inside it's territory she proposed to have CeC protect him and I agreed."

My voice changed to a more serious one.

"Do remember though, you and the others will be some of the first students he meets, so you better make a good impression on him, I don't need sensei to have a bad impression of Millenium without even visiting, understood?"

"Yeah, Yeah I got it, Rio, just tell me when we have to meet him, so that we can prepare."

"You will know after Yuuka finishes to negotiate with the acti-"

Just as i was saying that a text arrived from her, the negotiations were successful and that she had set up the meeting with sensei next morning at ten in the Schale building.

"Well, it seems that Yuuka has great timing, the meeting with him has been set up at ten tomorrow morning, so you and the others better be ready, okay?"

A playful and sarcastic grunt came out of my phone.

"Sure sure Rio, you can count on that!"

While I didn't want to nag her further I decided to specify again.

"I'm not joking Neru, if I hear anything about you or Akane doing something insane like usual you better believe that the little cleaning that you all had to do today will be nothing compared to what I will have you do for punishment."

While my voice sounded stoic and cold, inside I was really worried, while CeC is the strongest club in Millenium it didn't mean that their reputation was the best among the seminar's higher ups, especially with Yuuka who had to deal with the nearly endless amount of property damages that the club left after their operations...

If they decided to do something like that with sensei around it would be a catastrophe.

A cheerful voice Started to reassure me

"Don't worry, I promised nothing will happen, Rio just trust me."

I sighed inwardly.

"I will decide to trust you this time Neru, so you better not disappoint me okay?"

"Don't worry Rio, anyway I will end the call here, I have to finish cleaning."

"Have a good day Neru."

After ending the call I texted Yuuka to notify her that CeC had been informed about their task.

I then slid down on my chair and sighed a little.

"sigh... I will just have to trust her..."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

As I will find out later, a lot apparently.

Roland pov

Right after Yuuka barges in

'Yuuka!!'

When I was about to start finding  ways to convince Rin to let me go, Yuuka bursted through the door while shouting about Millenium lending its support.

Rin though... Her face was so dark that I'm genuinely getting scared for Yuuka's safety, I can even see a gigantic tick mark on her forehead!

"Well... hello to you too uncivili-... uncivilized treasurer from Millenium, I know that we had a meeting planned later for what your mentall-... slow on the uptake hacking club has tried to do, but as you can see right now me and Roland-sensei are having a serious discussion, so if you could please leave the room it would be appreciated."

'Honestly Rin... you really have a hard time keeping your true thoughts to yourself sometimes... Plus, why did you refuse to change Yuuka's comment?'

Yuuka seemed to completely ignore Rin's remarks and she started speaking.

"No need for me to leave acting president, after all I'm here to solve your issues!"

Rin's face didn't seem to get better, honestly I was really starting to get scared...

"Ho... and do tell TREASURER, how do you propose we solve the issue, because i'm not letting sensei go to Abydos, no matter wh-"

Yuuka cut her off

"Rio has approved the mobilization of CeC in sensei's support."

Rin's mouth closed immediately and she had a perplexed gaze on her face.

'Damn... these CeC girls have to be important if even Rin stopped talking at their mention...'

"Well that would indeed solve the issue of the protection of sensei..., but why should I trust Millenium with sensei's safety after the last days, i'm sure that you didn't forget about the last incident that happened?"

Yuuka's face showed a wry smile, but undeterred she continued arguing.

“Acting president, you can’t just judge Millenium by Veritas’s actions, after all they are known to do whatever they want in their battle against secret information, they are going to be punished accordingly of course, but what they did was not supported by us, in addition I’m sure that the GSC doesn’t have any personnel as competent as CeC in fighting, so they could protect sensei better.”

Rin seemed to be considering the pros and cons of what she was saying, honestly in my perspective Yuuka’s idea wasn’t bad, though I have no idea who these CeC ladies are…

‘I should probably ask.’

“Hey Yuuka.”

she quickly turned her head

“Yes sensei, what is it?”

“You are mentioning these CeC girls a lot, but… who are they exactly?”

“Oh right sensei, so CeC is-”

Rin cut Yuuka off, something that I didn’t expect.

“CeC is a special club of millennium, they are registered as a maid club and there are 4 members, but in reality they are Millenium special unit, they are composed by the school strongest students and their roles are to “Clearing” up every enemy of Millenium, and, supposedly, “Cleaning” up any evidence…”

Yuuka visibly tensed up after the mention of cleaning up evidence.

“I say supposedly because from what my report tells me the sheer amount of money spent to fix property damages that they leave after a mission go from the 5 digits to the 6 digits, depending on the mission…”

Yuuka started to shake uncontrollably, her twintails were literally vibrating.

“And their leader especial-”

“I get Rin okay!!! Please! don’t make me remember the amount of money that the seminar had to pay, okay!?”

Yuuka suddenly had an outburst, her face was very red and she seemed on the verge of crying.

“Besides that Rin, CeC is definitely the best option to protect sensei, while they are usually like you presented them I’m sure Rio will have told them to control themself with Sensei, so there should be no issues!”

Rin sighed, she seemed to be thinking about it, she then turned her head towards me.

“Sensei, I will leave the decision to you, if you want to go to Abydos CeC will have to accompany you, but if you don’t want that I will have to not authorize your idea, and you will do it in another month.”

‘That’s quite the offer Rinny…’

The situation is pretty good, Rin accepted to let me go, but these CeC girls…

‘They sound, well… not the greatest.’

while they were Millenium’s best, they could report things about me to this Rio girl, plus…

They sound like insane troublemakers!!

5 to 6 digits… that’s more than what I could get from an important request from a wing, while I still did them anyway…

I can’t even imagine the sheer amount of destruction… Who could even do this much damage!!!

In my head a goofy image of 4 girls with devil-like wings dropping explosions on everything appeared.

A shiver went down my spine. I really don’t want to have to deal with some crazy girls who love destruction during my first task.

But…

‘I really have to do this request.’

Putting my loathing of paperwork aside, their letter was filled with a sense of urgency, I had to ignore it for a bit, so their situation might be even worse now…

“Argh… screw it”

“I choose the first option Rin.”

Yuuka seemed to be happy, a smile blossomed on her face, on the other end Rin’s face darkened, she seemed to hope that I would choose the second option.

“Ok sensei! Will tomorrow at ten in the morning work for a first meeting with them? I think it’s better if you have a first meeting with them to explain the mission.”

Yuuka cheerfully asked.

‘Well my schedule is empty anyway, so it doesn’t really matter…’

‘I guess doing multiple sleepless nights was worth it.’

To complete all of the work that the GSC had given to me I had gone 5 days without sleep, while for anyone else this would be impossible for a fixer of my level even a sleepless week would be no issue.

I nodded

“Yeah that sounds good Yuuka, My schedule is empty tomorrow anyway.”

Yuuka started to leave the room while talking.

“Perfect sensei, then see you tomorrow.”

she then turned around and gave a victorious smirk to Rin.

“Oh! And have a good day to you too, active president.”

Rin answered while having a shaky smile and a dark aura.

“Indeed miss treasure… have a GOOD DAY too.”

Yuuka started to wave without turning back as she was closing the door behind her.

Rin was looking very unstable, so I tried to calm her down.

“Deep breaths Rin, remembe-”

Rin stopped me

“Roland-sensei, just… Please leave the room, ok?”

“Yes Ma'am! No need to tell me twice!” 

I immediately rushed outside of the GSC building.

‘Nope, nope, not dealing with a pissed Rin today.’

I made my way towards the Schale building at full speed, which was at least as fast as a bullet’s.

A few minutes later I got to it, hurriedly I got on the elevator and selected the 4th floor, the one where my private quarters were located.

When I got there I immediately jumped on my bed, which compared to the one that I previously had in the city was ten times better!

Right now I only needed to relax, the last few days were extremely taxing on me, piles of documents were the only thing I have seen for a while. Yuuka did help me, but there was only so much she could do while still doing her tasks as Millenium’s treasurer.

‘Nothing will stop me from having my well deserved re-’

“Sensei, I have completed my research!”

“Argh!!!”

Arona had suddenly appeared, breaking me out of a daze, which caused me to fall off the bed in surprise.

“I’m sorry sensei! Are you okay?”

Arona rushed towards me in her holographic form, her halo had taken a glitched form and her eyes were squinting in a strange way.

“Yeah Arona, I'm okay.” I recollected myself “So, what did you learn about Kaiser Arona? Tell me everything you could learn, no matter how insignificant.”

Arona did a military salute while squinting her eyes.

“Sir yes sir sensei!” she then changed in a secretary like outfit with glasses

‘How many outfits does she have anyway?’

That’s something that I will never know…

Arona took out a transparent-like clipboard and she started explaining.

“Kaiser corporation is not a single corporation, but a conglomerate of multiple large branches all under the name kaiser, there are 5 main branches:

Kaiser PMC, they are the military force of Kaiser, it’s composed by armed automatons and hired students, usually drop-outs, they act also like mercenary as they accept request by other clients;

Kaiser industries, they are Kaiser’s weapon manufacturers, they supply Kaiser PMC and many other private militias, the weapons in question are not restricted to firearms, as seen in the development of the thermobaric warhead that was sequestered by the Fox squad of Srt academy 2 years ago;

Kaiser loans, it’s simply what the name implies, a loan company which will give out loans with interest;

Kaiser construction, it’s the branch in charge of Kaiser’s construction plans, from the building of military bases to malls and attractions;

Kaiser convenience, it’s mostly the branch in charge of everyday items, from appliances to even videogames.”

Arona explained everything by pointing with her finger against the projection.

“Kaiser’s overall influence is extremely big, you could say that if the GSC didn’t exist they would have control of a lot of Kivotos, there main difference from them is that Kaiser doesn’t only deal with legal businesses, they also cooperate with illegal ones, mainly from the black market, multiple zones all around Kivotos which escape the GSC control and regulations.”

Arona then turned towards me.

“That’s all I could find about them sensei, while it isn’t much I hope that it will help!”

“That’s more than enough Arona, you did a good job, I will buy you a banana smoothie as a reward next time.”

Arona’s face immediately became excited, sparkles could be seen in her eyes and drool was going down her cheek.

“Really sensei! Thank you, you are the best!”

Arona disappeared a few seconds later, which worked for me as I needed to have some time for myself to reflect.

‘This is worse than I thought…’

Kaiser is way more powerful than I thought, my previous guess that it was close to a wing was honestly downplaying, Kaiser power and influence was way more than a mere wing.

Usually wings only had influence in their districts, while they had some authority in others, mainly from business relationships with the local one, each wing, outside the head, was still focused mainly in one aspect of the city, with W in charge of transport, K in charge of healing and so on…

But Kaiser had power in multiple industries, while I don’t know the power of their military if I consider Kaiser as the entire conglomerate, they share R corp Military power, A top notch workshop, which creates many high quality weapons, A main branch that probably has millions in loans and a construction company, which likely controls many shops and military bases.

If something like that has their sights on Abydos…

‘The situation would be very dire…’

HURGH ~

my stomach made my thoughts come to a halt, I guess mother nature is telling me to stop, looking outside my window I saw that the sun had already setted.

“I should probably go to angel 24 and buy some ingredients, the last few days the only food I was able to eat was instant ramen…”

Slipping out of my bed I started to think about what to eat.

‘Should I make myself a sandwich’

I quickly shook my head.

‘No, that would make me crave for Hamhampangpang's…’

‘Maybe I could have some pajeon, it’s been a while since I had it… well it was Her favourite food and every time I made it SHE came back to my mind.’

A memory of my mission with Angelica came to my mind, it had been multiple days since we had begun hunting down the blood-red nights, even if we were Grade one fixers, well she was a color, and we could survive much more time compared to a normal human without food and water, if we wanted to have a fighting chance with a star of the city we had to be in top conditions.

“I’m so hungry, mister! Do you have any more of the sandwiches that we had bought two days ago?”

She had been whining for hours about being hungry, and honestly I was getting quite annoyed, after all…

“For the third time, you have finished all of them three hours ago! I have no idea why you still don’t understand it, but I will say it again, WE. HAVE. NO. FOOD!”

At the time I was quite hungry myself and her constant complaints really started to piss me off, after all she had eaten the sandwiches that were supposed to be for the both of us.

She stopped for a second and she seemed to get an epiphany, she then turned her head while having a teasing grin.

“Well mister, don’t worry I, the great Angelica, have the solution for our problems!”

While saying that she took out of her gloves multiple ingredients, a portable stove, some plates and cutlery and some cooking tools. Back then I was confused about why she had food mixed in the weapons inside the pocket dimension in her gloves, as it would probably inconvenience her in combat.

“... And this solution would be, what exactly?”

She put on a proud expression.

“Of course I will cook for us! Before beginning the mission I bought these ingredients to make something if I was hungry… but I had forgotten until now.”

She started to lower her voice the more she continued speaking, it was obvious that she was quite embarrassed about it, so I decided to not bring it up.

“Well… we have not been getting any clues for the last few hours, so I think it’s going to be okay if we take a break for some time, cook something while we rest.”

“Perfect! I will show you my great cooking techniques, mister, I’m sure this will make you less grumpy!”

I remember being quite annoyed by her comment, so I retaliated.

“If you have enough time to run your mouth like that… then get to cooking already!”

She quickly sat on the road while giggling. I decided to stand guard for some time while she cooked, as I really didn’t want to interact with her much.

A few minutes later though a disgusting smell started to come from where she was, it was one I knew all too well, the smell of something burning.

I rushed back to Angelica, worried that she had been attacked by someone, but what I found was very different.

“Hugh… dammit! What did I do wrong! I followed the recipe to the t, but I still couldn’t cook something!”

Quite a sight greeted me,there was Angelica, a color fixer,  silently cursing her inability to cook. Well in retrospect she wasn’t really doing it silently, but that was probably what she was trying to do.

I sighed and went to her side

“Really… if you couldn’t cook you could have just said so you know.”

She turned her face towards me, she was looking down, probably trying to hide the embarrassed look on her face, but her cheeks betrayed her intent, as a giant blush spread across them.

“T-This is just… I know how to cook mister! It’s just that this stove must be broken, you know!?”

It was probably the worst lie I have ever heard, even if I didn’t hear her angry muttering before I would still not have believed her.

“Sure… anyway just go get  something to put out the fire, I don’t want to risk spreading it.”

She quickly turned around and took out a giant blanket from her gloves, really I just couldn’t understand how she fitted so many things in them, she immediately handed it to me.

A few seconds later the fire was out while Angelica’s face was probably hotter than it from the sheer amount of embarrassment.

The atmosphere was very awkward, the both of us really didn’t know how to start a conversation, so I decided to bite the bullet and do what I had to.

“Hoy, do you have any ingredients remaining? I can make something if you do.”

She looked at me with a questioning expression.

“Well I have some eggs, a little bit of wheat flour, rice flour and some scallions…”

She stopped mid sentence, her expression was very funny to look at in hindsight.

“Wait, wait! What do you mean you will cook mister!”

I sighed, back then I was probably too tired to deal with her nagging considering that I hadn’t eaten in days.

“It means that I will cook some damn food, now please pass me the ingredients and everything you brought to cook, I’m hungry and I’m sure you are too, so stop asking questions.”

“S-Sure mister!”

A few minutes later I had everything setup to start cooking, there was only one thing to confirm…

“Oy, is pajeon okay for you?”

Her face passed from a confused one to an excited one in a fraction of a second, her eyes shined like stars, I swear I remember actual sparkles in them.

“You can make pajeon, mister!? Of course I’m okay with it, it's my favourite food!”

“Okay then, stand guard while I cook, in a bit it should be ready.”

She then dashed off while salivating, she seemed to really look forward to the food.

Some time later, while I was cooking, Angelica came back, it seemed that she was bored from waiting.

“Didn’t I tell you to stand guard, why are you here?”

“Come on mister! Who would attack us in such a remote place? Plus it’s not like they could do much to us anyway.”

I sighed

“Well whatever, just sit somewhere and wait, it’s not done yet.”

Following my words she sat on a piece of concrete.

“Hey mister, I didn’t take you for the cooking type, so how did you learn?”

I was feeling a bit irritated by her questions

“Stop trying to get information out of me, as I already said I don’t want others to know much about my life.”

Angelica pouted and she tried to lightly punch me on the head, thankfully I was able to dodge it, making her even more annoyed.

“You are such a killjoy mister! But no matter, I will make you open up to me, even if it’s the last thing I do in my life.”

“If you have the ability to spout such nonsense, then go and take some plates, I have finished cooking.”

After hearing my words she dashed away while having an excited expression, at the time this made me just sigh, but now in retrospect her attitude with food was very cute…

When she got back I gave one Pajeon to her and one to me, unfortunately the end result wasn’t the best considering the quality and the little amount of the ingredients.

“Well mister… let’s dig in! I’m excited to try your cooking, so you better not disappoint!”

Her words had made me chuckle a little, of course I hid from her, If she saw me finding her funny she would have never left it down.

“Just eat your food already, before it gets cold.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!”

We started to chow down on our food, the taste admittedly wasn’t the best compared to the other pajeon that I had made before, but it was acceptable.

Angelica though seemed to have a different opinion…

“Wow mishter, thish ish sho good! How are you sho good at making pajeons? When we get back you have to make more of these!”

“In your dreams, and stop talking with your mouth full!”

The rest of the day Angelica continued to bother me asking for me to make more, while I always said no, after a while though I remember starting to consider the idea, even if just to make her shut up…

I tighten my fist, I can’t keep my sorrow hold me down, the pain won’t go away anytime soon, but if I don’t start to do something about it, no matter how small, nothing will change.

I started to march through Schale, the white corridors seemed to be endless, but after 3 weeks of going through them I started to get used to it, after taking a turn to the right a small shop came into view.

It was a supermarket, the exterior had white walls and vibrant light blue decorations, and a big billboard with the words Angel 24 was shining.

I entered the building and I saw a blond haired student scrolling through her phone. She had light blue eyes and she was wearing a light blue apron, but the most noticeable thing was her Giant forehead.

“This is so boring, nobody comes here, I know that the acting president said that the number of customers would increase when Schale gets open to the public, but…”

She seemed to be whispering something to herself, as always it was about how bored she was because nobody comes here.

This time though she seemed to be more invested in them as she didn’t even notice my presence, I should probably tease her a little, just for fun…

As she continued to not pay me any mind I stealthily made my way behind her.

“Really, maybe I should leave my post for a little it’s not li-”

“Ho… really now Sora, didn’t know that you would be so irresponsible as to leave during working hours ~, should I report this to Rin?”

Sora turned around in a hurry, she had a scared face and her pupils seemed to be spinning around, a giant blush covered her face.

“W-Wha-, who are you-... oh it’s just you sensei! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry, sorry I won't do it again!”

‘That’s definitely a lie…’

Sora pointed at me with an accusatory glance.

“I know that face sensei! It’s the one you have all the time when you lie!”

“Really? I never noticed that, I guess I will have to step up my game if I want to fool you, Sora-chan~”

Sora quickly recollected herself.

“A-Anyway sensei, what brings you here, is it the usual instant ramen?”

I shake my head.

“Not today Sora, i’m finally free from paper work for a while, so today i wanted to make some Pajeon for myself.”

Sora looked at me with a questioning expression.

“You can cook sensei? Honestly you don’t look like that type at all…”

“Hey hey, that’s rude Sora-chan~, your heavy words will crush my poor heart.”

Sora started to panic again, she started to rapidly wave her hands in front of her face.

“I’m s-sorry sensei, please I didn’t mean to!”

Her face was literally emitting smoke…

If this continues I think she will pass out from embarrassment,

‘I think it’s time that I drop the act, I teased her enough.’

“I was just teasing you Sora, don’t worry you didn’t hurt me, you aren’t the first to tell me that anyway, after all SHE was…”

Her figure came back to my memories.

“-sei”

“Sensei!”

“Hu-h?”

Sora brought me back to reality,it seemed that today I really tended to space out and drown myself in memories, I really should change that, nothing will come from doing that…

“I’m sorry Sora, I was remembering something from the past… anyway let me get what I came for.”

“Sure sensei!”

I started to go through the aisles in the supermarket finding every ingredient needed to make pajeon, it was taking a while because of how massive this place is! Seriously, where is the vegetable aisle? I only need some scallions!

A specific part of the store caught my attention,a promotional message could be seen.

”Buy 3 mags and get 1 free?”

Why do they sell bullets here! 

The last few weeks I had got accustomed with the very vast use of guns in Kivotos, mainly from accident reports and requests, but I still could not get used to the sheer availability of bullets here.

“I’m sure the head would have a stroke if they learned about the amount of ammo being sold in this world without regulations.”

Back in the city selling bullets was something that only a small number of workshops did, and the ones who did mostly centered their whole shop’s catalog  on ammos because of the extremely heavy tax imposed by the head on bullet production.

This caused the price of bullets to skyrocket making guns much more impractical to use in the city compared to here, and I totally felt that, after all the special bullets that my guns made by Atelier logic use could cost up to multiple days worth of food for just 2 or 3 mags…

“Should I try to find somewhere to get more bullets for my guns? It would be difficult, as Atelier Logic bullets are costume made…”

But the difficulty would definitely be totally worth it, after all if I want to help others while keeping my strength hidden guns are my only option.

Moving away from that section I finally found the vegetable aisle, after looking around a little I found my target, scallions. After grabbing them I went back to Sora to pay for my stuff.

“You’re back sensei, are you ready to check out?”

“Indeed Sora, I didn’t get many things so you will not have to do much, I wouldn’t want to have you working too hard after all~”

A big blush reappeared on her face, followed by her puffing both of her cheeks.

“Stop teasing me sensei! A-Anyway your total is 1.565 yen.”

I chuckled a little, I don’t know who is more fun to tease between Yuuka and Sora, while the first tries to keep her cool and make it seem like she isn’t embarrassed, which makes it even funnier, but the second has such cute and innocent reactions that only makes me want to tease her more…

‘Arghhh… funny versus cute, such a difficult decision!”

“Sensei, are you perhaps thinking something strange?”

Sora snapped me out of my thoughts by making a surprisingly accurate prediction.

“No, n-not at all Sora, I was just… thinking about how to make the pajeon later, yeah just that.”

She just stared at me with a look of suspicion, I guess my ragged-tagged attempt to come up with an excuse didn’t really work…

“A-Anyway here’s the money, I will see you later Sora!”

I immediately dashed away from the supermarket after leaving the money.

“H-Hey sensei! Wait! What were you-”

A few seconds later I was too far away to hear Sora anymore, but I could see her stomping on the ground while pouting.

I’m sorry, but you will never know Sora, the conflict that I had in my mind will remain a secret until the end of time!

Some minutes later I got to my room, I quickly got to the kitchen and started to prepare the pajeon.

“Hey sensei! What are you doing?!”

Arona materialized in the kitchen from the Shittim chest.

“Oh Arona! Well I'm just making some pajeon for dinner, I was tired from eating instant noodles all the time you see?”

Her face changed to an excited one.

“Really Roland-sensei?! Make some for me too ok?! I really want to taste your cooking!”

A small smile crossed my face, she really acts lika a child huh…

“Well don’t worry, because I already knew you would ask that, so I’m also making a portion for you.”

After I finished talking I noticed that the pajeon was ready.

“Speak of the devil, it’s ready, go sit at the table, I will bring you the food.”

“Ok sensei!”

Soon, Arona started to eat the food. She was gorging herself with pajeon and she looked like a hamster…

“Hey, hey slow down! Nobody will take your food, you should enjoy it, not eat it as fast as possible.”

“Shure shenshei-”

She quickly swallowed her food before continuing while blushing heavily.

“S-Sure sensei! But you will have to make more of this some time!”

For a second in my vision Angelica’s image overlapped with Arona, both of them were smiling with a face filled with crumbs of food.

A little tear went down my face

‘It seems… that maybe I will have to cook some more after all…’

“Sure Arona, anytime.”

The evening continued without any major events and without noticing it was time for me to have the first good sleep in the last weeks.

“Today was really eventful, I hope that tomorrow will be more relaxed.”

As I would find out the next day, my hope did not go to fruition.

Chapter Text

Not all first meetings end well…

??? pov

A brown-haired woman was standing still with a smirk on her face, she was wearing a lab coat and her hairs were tied in a ponytail.

In front of her a screen-like illusion was showing the story of a certain color fixer.

“And with this the first step towards his redemption has started once again…”

The woman sighed a little, her face showed a look of pity, but if it was what she was truly feeling was something impossible to know…

She turned around, in her hands a clipboard appeared out of nowhere.

“The first meeting that will heal his mind will come really soon.THEY will be able to help him… After all, HER part of the deal relies  on it…”

On the clipboard a resume-like page could be seen, the name on it spelled “Mikami Neru”.

The woman's face showed a tiny smirk.

“Let’s see how your view will change mister color…”

She spun around a little

“Will you still resent your brash path, or will you accept it as it is and move forward, even if you are drowned in sorrows…”

“I’m excited to see what you will choose, Roland.”

Roland pov

“-ke up!”

‘Please stop talking. I want to rest some more…’

“Wake up sensei!”

“Urgh…”

I started to wake up while growling, Arona’s alarm-like screaming had taken me away from the comforts of my sleep.

“Why do I have to wake up this early again…?”

“Sensei! You have to prepare yourself quickly! It’s already 9:15, in 45 minutes you will have to meet with Yuuka and the CeC to get to know them!”

It took me a few seconds to regain lucidity, but after I did I immediately rushed out of my bed towards the bathroom.

"Goddammit! I don’t have much time left to prepare, do I even have time to make myself breakfast!?”

Arona materialized a megaphone in her hand and she started to cheer for me.

“GO, GO!!! Sensei you can do it!”

I quickly had a shower and brushed my teeth. I dressed up and took out some of the remaining pajeon from yesterday and started to gouge down.

“Arona, how much time do I have!?”

“Sensei you have 5 minutes remainin-”

DIN-DONG

The sound of my doorbell resonated in my room.

“Sensei, it’s me, Yuuka, please open the door.”

‘Shit…’

“G-Give me a second Yuuka, I’m coming.”

I hurriedly finished my food and went to the door. After opening it Yuuka’s figure came into view, her face showing a stressed expression.

“Good morning sensei I hope you had a pleasant sleep.”

“Good morning to you too Yuuka, I hope the same for you.”

We stared at each other awkwardly for a while. At first I didn’t know why she seemed to be so anxious, but then I remembered what I was supposed to do today…

“Yuuka… Shouldn't there be someone else with you today?”

After hearing my question she visibly flinched, it seemed that I had guessed right…

“S-Sensei, you see… They are coming here, that I’m sure, but I haven’t seen them all morning…”

“sigh…”

Well the day didn’t begin in the best way, huh…

“Let’s just wait for them in my office, so that we don’t waste too much time.”

Yuuka sighed and an air of acceptance appeared on her face.

"Understood sensei, I will send them a message to let them know.”

“Perfect, then let’s go Yuuka.”

As I said that, she and I started to make our way towards my office.

‘Wait… if I remember correctly Millenium is known for their superiority to the other schools in the scientific and mechanical department, maybe they could have a way to make more bullets for Atelier Logic…’

That would definitely help, not only because I could have a way to restock on bullets, but also because I could try to get in touch with a top tier workshop here in Kivotos.

“Hey Yuuka.”

“Yes sensei, do you need anything?”

“I wanted to know if Millenium had some kind of weapon workshop that could manufacture bullets.”

Yuuka stared at me with a confused expression.

“... Well we do have something similar, but why do you need to know sensei?”

Ah… I forgot that she doesn’t know that I have a gun.

“Well… You see Yuuka, I happened to own a gun, but unfortunately the bullets that it uses are costum made, so because I'm not from here I have no way to restock them. “

Yuuka stared at me with a bewildered expression.

“Wait, you have a gun!? Where do you keep it? In all the times I have worked with you I have never seen it…”

Of course she couldn’t, after all it’s stored in my gloves, but of course she can’t know that…

“Let’s just say that it’s a secret for now, ok Yuuka?”

she sighed

“Whatever… sensei, just give me one second, when we get to the office I will give them a call.”

“Thanks a lot Yuuka!”

Caught off guard she sheepishly turned to the side, a big blush adorning her face was quickly spreading.

“N-No p-problem sensei… But you owe me one okay!?”

She rapidly spun around and pointed her finger at me, her face was blazing from embarrassment, but she seemed to try hiding it by keeping her head low, not that it did much…

“Of course Yuuka-chan, just don’t use it for anything naughty, I might not be able to keep my end of the bargain~...”

FLUSH

‘I might have exaggerated…’

After hearing my teasing remark Yuuka’s face exploded, the blush already present immediately spread to her forehead and smoke was starting to rise from her head, her pupils started to spin inside her eyes to the point that they resembled spirals.

“I’m sorry Yuuka, I was just jo-”

Yuuka pulled up her guns and pointed them at my face, her arms and hands were shaking, not from anger, but by the sheer amount of embarrassment she was feeling.

“Don’t ever joke about that, okay sensei!”

“Hey, hey calm down Yuuka! I promise I won’t do it again, so please lower those guns, okay?”

A few seconds passed where we were just staring at each other, all of the sudden Yuuka seemed to realize what she had just done, she immediately lowered her weapons and stared at me with a sorry expression.

“I-I’m sorry sensei, I shouldn’t have been so rash…”

“Sigh”

I started to head-pat her, while at first she seemed to be reluctant to lean in, a few seconds later she seemed to start to enjoy it, she really reminded me of a cat.

“No need to be sorry Yuuka, it was my fault anyway, I shouldn’t have teased you.”

“But sen-”

She stopped speaking as soon as she realized where we were,we had finally gotten to my office.

“Let’s just stop for now, Okay Yuuka?”

While she seemed to be reluctant about it, after a few seconds she sighed and started to head in.

“Okay sensei, if you are okay with it…”

“Perfect, let’s get in then.”

The automatic doors opened to reveal my office, it wasn’t anything too crazy, even compared to other offices I had seen back in the city.

“You can settle down Yuuka, after all we are unsure when CeC will arrive.”

“Thank you sensei, while I’m at it let me give the engineering department a call so that we can see what to do with your bullet situation.”

Having said that she took out her phone and dialed an unknown number, before quickly leaving the room for a bit.

Yukka pov

“Hello Yuuka, what can we, the engineering department, do for you oh great treasurer”

‘Wha…?’

The voice that I could hear on the other side of the phone was Kotori’s, but what she said confused me…

“Why are you talking like that Kotori…?”

A little whimper came out of my phone.

“N-No reason…”

I sighed 

“What did the three of you do this time…?”

The engineering department, while they are undoubtedly the best of the best in Millenium in any matter related to inventing and analysis, they are also known for being big troublemakers, mostly from their never-ending thirst for creating new stuffs, most of which have in general little purpose, and spending way too much in the process…

This caused them to receive budget cuts multiple times from the seminar, and usually every time something stupid happened Kotori would answer like that…

“Wh-What do you mean Yuuka, nothing happened…”

“Just stop lying and answer me, if you do I will consider lowering the punishment…”

“We-Well it’s nothing too bad…”

Being tired of her constant refusal to answer I relayed her an ultimatum.

“You have 5 seconds to start talking or I will cut your budget by 15%, Kotori.”

Hearing my threat she immediately answered.

“We created a special railgun, its power is incredible, but well… there is a tiny issue…”

My face darkened

“And this problem would be…?”

“Nobody can use it… i-it’s too heavy so… well for now the only purpose it has is staying in the storage room… at least until we can fix the issue…”

“And do tell Miss Kotori, how much did this experimental railgun cost exactly…?”

After hearing the price my mind shut down for a second.

“Are the three of you crazy!!!! It’s 90% of your allocated budget for the month!”

“P-Please calm down Yuuka…”

“Sigh…”

“Whatever… please pass me Utaha, I need to tell her a very important job that the three of you will have to do”

“U-Understood!”

The sound of quick steps could be heard for a few seconds, but then a new voice started talking.

“Hello Yuuka, what is your request?”

“Hello Utaha, I have a job for the engineering department, it’s a request from sensei.”

After my declaration the sounds of multiple metal-like objects falling could be heard.

“Is this true Yuuka?”

“Yes of course”

“Interesting…”

A moment of silence filled the room

“Okay then… What is his request?”

“Has I have just come to find out, sensei owns a gun, but since its bullets are costume made and he isn’t from Kivotos… he asked me if I knew someone that could make some for him”

“Hm… Well that isn’t too difficult, just ask him for a bullet that we can analyze, we need to see if its materials and production method are replicable here.”

“Alright then, thank you for your time, I will get a bullet from him.”

“No problem, maybe just don’t cut our budget has a thanks”

Of course she said that

Sigh

“Sure, I will consider it if your job is well done”

“Thanks, then later Yuuka.”

“Later”

Finally, now there should be no issues left, only need to wait for CeC with sens-

BOOM!

A powerful explosion happened in sensei’s office, creating a loud noise.

‘Oh come on, what is this now!’

Roland pov

(Before the explosion)

“Yuuka is taking a while…”

Well it must be pretty hard even for her to get permission…

“These CeC girls really like to make others wait huh…”

Honestly from all the things I had heard about them they didn’t seem like the best group of people to be around, but I probably shouldn’t judge them before meeting them myself.

“Well… no matter, but just how long will they still take before-“

As I was saying that I perceived a sensation of danger coming from the wall in front of me. 

I hastily grabbed the table in front of me and flipped it sideways, creating a barricade of sorts.

BOOM!

The wall blew up creating a huge hole in it, four figures dressed in maid outfits could be seen inside the smoke.

“Sensei we have arrived!”

A small-sized girl with orange hairs was in front of the group, announcing their arrival.

“Ehm… sensei, are you here…?”

“Neru-senpai it seems that our master has taken cover behind a table~”

A medium-sized girl wearing glasses with long ash colored hairs spoke to the now known as Neru in a teasing-like tone.

“I told you that going through with this plan was a bad idea, we could have injured sensei…”

A dark-skinned, tall girl complained to her peers.

“Woooow! You were pretty fast at reacting, master, I hope we get along!”

A tall girl with ash-colored hair cheerfully complimented me.

‘Wha?’

I decided to come out of my hiding spot with a wry smile.

“Well… and who might you be, four little bombers?”

The small girl replied with an annoyed tone

“We are not little, sensei…! Our name is CeC, we are your personal bodyguards for the next mission!”

My mind stopped for a second

‘These… These girls are my bodyguards…’

“I’m so dead…”

The cheerful one of  the group started talking

“Huh! Why would you say that mast-“

“What the hell is going on! Sensei, are you okay I have heard an explosion…”

Her words were stopped by Yuuka who rushed into the room gun blazing, but as soon as she saw CeC inside the room, where the wall used to be, her face darkened significantly and she stopped talking.

Neru, knowing that something was wrong, tried to justify herself.

“H-Hello Yuuka, we may be a bit late, but we are here now-“

That didn’t stop Yuuka from starting streaming at the girls and starting a long lecture about how being so late wasn’t good and how stupid it was to blow up the wall.

While she was doing that only one thought came into my mind…

‘I’m so screwed…’

After Yuuka’s lecture

“Hurg…”

The small maid groaned under her breath

Yuuka, having heard that, glared at her

“Do you want more… N.E.R.U?”

“No need!”

‘Damn… Yuuka can be very scary…’

The four maids were seated on their knees with each a huge bump on their heads.

“Now CeC, do introduce yourself, normally this time...”

The first to speak was the maid wearing glasses

“Hello master~, my name Is Murokasa Akame, my codename is zero three, I specialize in information gathering and removal of obstacles.”

I have a bad feeling about her…

“And… tell what exactly does removing obstacles mean exactly…”

“Fufu~, I will not comment on that, a maid needs her secret, you know master?”

A wry smile appeared on my face

‘Something tells me that their explosive entrance from before was her idea…’

I will have to keep an eye on her…

The cheerful maid was the second

“Hello master! My name is Ichinose Asuna, codename zero one! I specialize in being lucky! I am sure this mission will be an exciting one!”

‘Huh?’

“Asuna I don’t think being lucky counts as a specialization…”

The girl put on a radiant smile

“Don’t worry master! You will see it when we are in battle!”

“S-Sure…”

‘Overenergetic and possibly extremely lucky… she reminds me of a rich person from district 10’

She seems okay, but I have a feeling that this will change soon…

The third to speak was the one with a darker skin tone.

“Hello sensei, my name is Kakudate Karin, codename zero two, I specialize in sniping, pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure for me too Karin”

‘She seems the only normal one for now…’

And lastly the small girl spoke

“Hello sensei! Name’s Mikami Neru, codename double 0, I specialize in beating every enemy in my way, pleasure to meet you!”

“A pleasure…”

‘Is she their leader…? Well let’s hope she doesn’t do anything too rash’

Don’t need a younger version of myself to deal with…

“Well… as you all may know already my name is Roland, I’m the sensei of Schale… thank you four for accepting being my bodyguards while I’m on my first mission”

“Having said that…”

I turned around and sat  on a chair.

“Please take a seat, so that we can begin the debriefing.”

““Okay sensei””

“Yuuka, please  start the projector.”

“Understood sensei.”

A few seconds later a projection of a map appeared on the screen.

“So everyone, I will explain the details of this mission: firstly we will meet with the students from Abydos at their school to learn their issues and bring them their ammos, after that we will support them against the attacks from the gang for a few days.”

I pointed at the map 

“As it's very easy to see multiple large areas in the district have been swallowed by the desert after multiple sandstorms, we can’t exclude the possibility that the gangs are using them as hideouts.”

“We will depart tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning, remember to bring multiple water bottles and sunscreen, the desert heat isn’t to be trifled with…”

I then turned back to them

“Are there any questions?”

Karin raised her hand

“Yes, Karin?”

“While I know what our role is for this mission, I would also like to know your sensei.”

Her question confused me

“Please elaborate… what do you mean by that?”

“No problem, since you are halo-less human, and as such you are not resistant to bullets, that entails that you won’t be able to participate in actual combat…”

‘Well not really true, but okay…’

“So I wanted to know what you would be doing while we fight, because if the only thing you will do is hide, then I would recommend staying in the school guarded by Neru-senpai and leaving the heavy work to us…”

‘I see where this is going’

Nobody in Kivotos aside from the GSC and some specific students are aware of how the retaking of Schale went down.

Karin must think that I didn’t do much and so it would be better to protect me that way…

‘But I am not going to do that’

“Do not worry Karin, I’m more than capable of defending myself from threats, and while bullets may hurt me, if it's just two or three in non vital spots I will live. In the mission my role is going to be the one of a commander, I will not engage in combat unless necessary, and will be providing orders from the back.”

Asuna looked at me with a look of uncertainty.

“But Master… it would be very unsafe for you! Since we will be serving you for this mission, I will do anything to make sure you live!”

Akane followed up on Asuna’s statement

“I must concur, master, this plan is very unsafe, no matter how good your commands in battle may be, if you died from a stray shot it would be very bad.”

‘As I expected, convincing them will not be easy’

At the end of the day no matter how heartless it seems, their job is protecting me. If the students from Abydos or one of the gangsters shot me their mission would fail.

‘How can I convin-‘

Thump

All of a sudden an unexpected event occurred, the remaining maid, who had been quiet for all this time, jumped on the table and pointed her weapon at me.

Feeling that she wasn’t emanating any sign of bloodlust, I spoke to her in a composed tone.

“What is the meaning of this Neru…”

Neru pov

(While CeC was arguing with Roland)

‘This damn conversation is going nowhere!’

Seeing sensei and my squad members arguing was honestly quite annoying, as both of them were just going in circles.

‘Honestly I would be against him going out to fight on the battlefield…’

But something doesn’t fit with him.

‘He was able to sense the danger caused by the explosion before it even happened..’

That’s not something a normal person would be able to feel, if he wasn’t used to constant threats to his life, feeling danger like that would be impossible.

‘It wasn’t the only thing…’

Every time I see him I start to feel a strange feeling similar to fear…

This in my mind points to only one thing

‘He’s strong, I’m unsure how much, but he is.”

‘Rio will definitely ask me to tell this to her…’

A little smirk appeared on my face

‘But well… he has caught my attention’

An idea came to my mind

‘Let’s test him…’

Firstly I will test his determination, secondly his fighting prowess.

‘Let’s start’

I immediately leaped into the air and landed in front of sensei with my gun pointed at him.

Everyone in the room stopped talking, until sensei started to speak

“What is the meaning of this Neru…”

I unconsciously shuddered a little after seeing his eyes whose pigment reminded me of the abyss.

“It’s simple sensei… I want to know if you are ready to risk your life…I do not know what you did before arriving here, but if you can’t even maintain composure in this situation then I will forbid you from ever leaving the school.”

The tension in the air was palpable, everyone was awaiting sensei’s answer

“You know Neru…”

He then leaned forward attaching his head to the barrel of my gun.

“If you want to sound threatening you should actually emit some bloodlust, this test will never work against someone like me you know?~”

Hearing his response a wild grin appeared on my face

‘You are getting more interesting by the second sensei…!’

“Well since you knew this was a test, let’s proceed on the final step”

Sensei’s face became confused

 “Wait last ste-“

“Let’s have a spar sensei!”

“Huh!!!”

Roland pov

Hearing Neru’s declaration I jumped back a little

“Wait, wait! What are you talking about!?”

Neru’s face became confused

“A spar sensei, do you not know what that is?”

“No I do, but…”

Yuuka pinched Neru’s hear 

“What are you saying Neru! You are one of Kivotos strongest students! You could easily risk killing him!”

“Ouch, ouch… stop it Yuuka!”

She then turned towards me

“Sensei, please ignore this idiot”

‘Though…’

Honestly accepting the spar isn’t a bad idea, it could make the students trust me more, plus, I really want to see how powerful Neru is…

“No need to, Yuuka…”

“Oh thank god sense-“

“After all I will be accepting the spar”

Hearing my remark everyone besides Neru complained in worry

“But sensei-“

“It’s too risky-“

“Master I wouldn’t recommend that-“

“Master that’s a veeeeery bad idea-“

“Shut up all of you!”

Neru’s voice erupted, causing the complaints to stop.

“Sensei I will specify of course, in this spar no weapons are allowed, but cheap shots are not banned, in a fight after all there’s no chivalry anymore.”

“I’m okay with those rules”

A big grin appeared on her face.

“Good to know! Now… does this place have any suitable location for a spar?”

Hmm…

“If I remember correctly Schale has a training ground, we can use that…”

“Wait, wait!”

Yuuka’s voice interrupted us

“Sensei, are you really sure! Neru is very strong, I know you are fit, but you could easily end up wounded pretty heavily!”

“Don’t worry Yuuka, believe in me okay?”

A few seconds passed where nobody spoke a single word.

“Arghhh….”

“Whatever sensei, do what you want, but if I see you get severely hurt I will stop the duel and stop helping you out with work!”

I crack a smile

“Thank you for believing in me Yuuka.”

“S-Shut up, and do this spar already, before I change my mind”

“Alright! Anyone has any other objections”

The three remaining members of CeC all sighed 

““No master/sensei!”

“Then let’s go Neru, and may the best one win”

“Okay sensei!”

Nobody pov

Roland and Neru positioned themselves on opposite sides of the arena, a stadium-like training ground, and started to  watch each other's moves. In the beginning both decided to opt to wait for the other to start.

 All of the sudden though Neru started speaking

“You know Sensei, if we continue to only stare at each other this spar will have no purpose…”

CRACK

Neru cracked her neck a little

“So… let’s get started already!”

BOOM

In an impressive display of agility Neru flung herself in the air, and in the blink of an eye close the distance between the two, her first move was a flying kick aimed towards Roland’s head.

The ex-fixer, while surprised from her sudden move, reacted easily blocking her assault.

That was the beginning of a spar that would have changed both of their lives, even if they didn’t know.

Roland POV

‘Damn, the kid is pretty good…!’

While Neru wasn’t at the level of a novice  grade 1 in the terms of strength she could easily match a  veteran grade 2 fixer in the physical department.

‘Nothing too difficult to handle… but I can see where her status came from’

SWISH

using my forearm I deflected her kick making her turn around in the air, and followed up by aiming a kick towards her head

SBANG

The strike should have been impossible to avoid normally, but Neru in a monstrous display of ability dodged the blow and, using my leg as a sustain, she reversed her air direction and landed a heavy spinning kick on my jaw, making me slide back a little.

‘Well, well… color me impressed, she managed to catch me off guard.’

“Didn’t expect that one, did you sensei!?”

A feral grin appeared on her face while saying that.

“Indeed kid, didn’t think you’d even be able to dodge that one, but you even counterattacked…”

A small grin appeared on my face

“Now let’s see how you deal with this one…”

I immediately closed in on her and went for a fake kick to try to bait her followed up by a sweep, nonetheless she managed to see through me, opting to jump over the sweep and going for a punch to my guts, which I promptly blocked.

Bang

In retaliation She went for a headbutt towards my face, which I of course faced head on causing the sound of our two foreheads colliding to spread throughout the arena.

Both of us staggered back, but Neru seemed to be a bit out of it from the impact, something which I of course took advantage of, Immediately grabbing her face and slamming it on the ground.

Seeing her state I tried to stomp on her face while she was disoriented.

‘Got you ki-‘

THWACK

My triumphant thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain coming from below my waist, Neru without looking aimed a heavy kick on my crotch.

The cheap shot made me wobble a bit back from the pain, causing Neru to be able to follow up with a jumping uppercut towards my guts making me take a few steps back.

‘This is tricky…’

I had been observing her for a while, but I couldn’t understand her fighting style…

Her moves didn’t seem to have a link, the best comparison that I could find was a wild beast.

There were also her almost impossible dodges and counters that she pulled off every time.

‘It can’t be a coincidence…’

Suddenly an hypothesis came to my mind

‘Wait could it be… does she fight relying on her instincts!?’

Such a way of fighting wasn’t unheard of in the city, but only two types of people could successfully pull it off, the incredibly talented or the incredibly experienced.

Humans and animals sometimes rely on their instincts to perceive threats, the latter more than the former, and usually they can react to threats faster that way, but that doesn’t make it the perfect defensive mechanism…

If the body’s reaction can’t keep up with its instincts then it doesn’t matter how good they are, because you won’t be able follow them.

But Neru’s case is different, her body seems to be able to always keep up with her instincts somehow…

‘But that isn’t possible’

No matter how much your body has been trained to react, if something is too fast or not possible to react to then it won’t be able to react…

‘I have to search for a flaw in her defense.’

With a plan in mind I lunged at her faster than before.

I started to throw a barrage of punches towards her, but as I predicted she managed to dodge all of them.

I then picked up a piece of the broken floor and threw it at her to block her vision.

CRACK

A punch almost immediately met the piece, shattering in a thousand shards, but anticipating it I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me.

She tried to counter again with a headbutt, but this time I moved my head to the side and dodged it, then I grabbed her waist and kept her in a hug-like lock.

“Wh-What are you doing sensei!!!!”

Neru’s face became red as a tomato, trying to free herself from the embarrassing position she kneed me in the stomach, but I tanked it and prepared to unleash my move.

“You will need much more to make me let you go kid~…”

A menacing grin appeared on my face 

“…And now let’s see how you like this!!!”

CRASH

My plan finally came into fruition, if she reacts to every attack then I will just have to restrict her movements.

I then surplexed her on the floor creating a small crater, knocking the breath out of Neru.

“Cough…!”

But nonetheless she managed to come back quickly after, resulting in her freeing herself by kicking me on the face, and retreating by backflipping.

“Damn sensei… was that really necessary? Now my back hurts a bit.”

‘Only a bit…?’

I sweatdropped a little, while I wasn’t using too much power, I still used the strength of a novice grade one…

‘And she’s still holding back…’

“Hey Neru, how much are you holding back right now?”

Neru looked at me with a confused expression, but nonetheless she answered quickly.

“Don’t know why you want to know… but well I would say about half of my physical prowess? Not too sure though, it may be less.”

‘Well it was about what I was expecting…’

By my guess if she were to unleash everything she has she could probably match that Miris guy from the Liu association.

‘Pretty good I will say…’

“Well sensei, I think I have seen enough to say that you won’t be a burden on the field, well besides in gun fights… So I think we can sto-“

While Neru was talking, a voice that I would have never wanted to hear again started to talk, a mocking tone that I could never forget since last night, my mirror self…

“ Wow, you managed to fight someone without killing them, sooo impressive… ”

Out of nowhere he appeared in front of me, Nobody seemed to notice him and time seemed to stop.

An annoying grin was plastered on his face.

“ But you know… that isn’t fun or like you at all… after all a beast like you should only know how to end lives… ”

SNAP

After hearing that annoying guy snapping his fingers my thoughts seemed to spiral out of control, murderous intent started to fill my mind.

‘ Kill her ’

‘ End her life, how could she dare to have a good life while you don’t’

It became difficult to control my thoughts

“W-What the hell did you do!?”

My mirror self turned around saying nothing and started to leave, but before disappearing I could make out one last thing he said.

“Roland… it’s time for you to confront your first trial… I shall await its results.”

After my mirror self disappearance time seemed to restart and those thoughts became even louder.

‘ End her! ’

‘ She doesn’t deserve to live! ’

I started to emanate a huge amount of bloodlust towards Her, and I immediately dashed towards Neru.

‘ She should di - no the fuck she doesn’t!’

Before the unthinkable could happen I managed to regain control of my body and stop before Neru, holding out a hand towards her.

“I think so too Neru, let’s end this for now.”

While her face seemed relaxed beneath it, a hint of surprise was present.

‘Dammit! She must have felt the bloodlust…’

“Sensei…”

I leaned forward and whispered to her

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional…”

she stared at me with a confused expression

“Sure…?”

“Hey sensei! Are you okay!?”

Yuuka and the rest of CeC came running towards us

“Neru what the hell were you thinking! If I see any bruises on sensei I swear…”

“Calm down, Yuuka! It’s okay, I'm fine!”

she immediately turned my face towards me, her expression showed just how angry she was

“And YOU sensei… how careless can you be! I swear…”

I sweatdropped

“O-Okay calm down Yuuka, everything went well, so let’s stop”

after staring at me for a few seconds she just sighed

“Whatever…”

turning around and she began talking to CeC

“Well after this…experience, I’m sure you all have nothing against sensei participating in fights, right?”

“Oh~, I have no issue with it…”

“I’m okay with it”

“No complaints from me now! But you have to tell me how you did this, master! Not many could fight Neru-senpai like that!”

a wry smile appeared on my face

“Sure… if we have time…”

her face immediately started radiating happiness, I swear she feels like a big and cute dog…

“I will hold onto that, master!”

Yuuka, having had enough interrupted us

“Okay that’s enough! Sensei we will leave now, can you please give me one of your bullets, the engineering department requested one so that they can begin manufacturing them for you”

“Oh sure, here it is!”

I quickly handed her a bullet

“Thank you sensei, now everybody let's go back.”

““Alright””

They were saying that they started to leave, disappearing from my view after a while.

I was left alone to finally think about what had just happened

‘How did he…’

my mirror self

At first I had just thought that he was a product of my imagination, but now…

The only thing I know about him is that he seems to find pleasure in making me go insane, and somehow he seems to be able to take control of me.

‘I have no way to reach any conclusions, for now…’

as I thought this I began going inside my home to rest, unaware of what one of my “students” was going through.

Neru pov

“You were soooo cool Neru-senpai! Your opening move really caught me off-guard!”

as always Asuna is overreacting about everything

“Sigh…” 

“It was nothing… though sensei did surprise me, he’s stronger than I thought…”

‘as if…’

He was definitely holding back…

His moves, to an untrained eye, may have seemed natural, but for me it was easy to see that each strike he threw was weaker than it was supposed to be…

“Yea master’s strength definitely surprised me~...”

“Indeed, it seems that even if he doesn’t have a halo he can certainly hold his own”

“Indeed…”

Honestly, I can’t make out anything about him…

‘He was able to fight toe to toe with me, while holding back no less…’

and that isn’t all…

‘That bloodlust…’

the heavy sense of dread that filled my being in that short moment…

‘It felt like death was going to take me, for a second…’

a serious expression appeared on my face

‘I will need to keep an eye on him…’

but then his regretful expression came to my mind…

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional…”

he wasn’t lying when he said that, I could feel genuine sorry from his words…

“Arghhh…!!!”

““Neru-senpai!?””

‘Honestly i’m unsure if you are a threat or a good person sensei…’

a wild grin appeared on my face

‘But you truly are interesting…!’

“Nothing… let’s go girls! We have to prepare, after all this mission is of utmost importance!”

the girls quickly shared a questions glance, but it soon became a confident smile

““Yes Neru-senpai””

‘Let’s see where fate will take us…’

‘But I’m sure it will be pretty fun, I just know it!’

??? pov

“Truly fate’s whims do always lead to the same result…”

The woman smiled

“But will this attempt be the last…? Will you finally be able to break the chains who hold you down…?”

the woman turned around

“What do you think… Mister mirror copy ?”

in front of her a man incredibly similar to the color fixer was sitting down on a chair

“ Why… you wound me, after all I'm no mere copy you know? ”

the woman smile deepened

“Indeed, my wording may have been a bit off… So what do you think…?”

“£$££&%££&£$%”

the man’s covered face seemed to become a bit brighter, almost as if he had heard something nostalgic…

“ Well… I hope he will pass his trials this time… ”

“ And has always I will do my job to the end ”

the woman, seemingly pleased by his answer, spun around and picked up a file

“Well then… let us commence with the first act of his journey”

on it a single word could be seen

“The first mission… the first sin: ACCIDIA”

The man, hearing the woman's words, got up and started to leave…

“Well for now I will leave miss &£$£&§ , after all I have a job to do”

“Oh I hope everything goes well for you…”

‘Let’s go, this time once again…’

the woman’s smile broadened

“Show me how much you can grow, Roland”

Chapter Text

Hello guys, author here!

just wanted to make a small announcement, i was made aware by some peoples that the images in chapter 5 wouldn't appear...
I'm happy to announce that the issue, should hopefully be solved!

that was all, as to what i'm doing, I'm currently done with fixing chapter 1 and 2, when i will finish fixing 3 i will publish all of them, and after that I will start with Abydos!

having said that, have a good day!

Chapter Text

Hello everyone!

The reworks of the first 3 chapters are all done, i urge all of you to check them out once again as they have been massively improved

and many new details have been added

Chapter Text

Accidia: The beginning

??? pov

"Mhmm mhm mhmm~ Now, what do we have here... Ah! It looks like your journey's beginning soon, Roland"

Inside a glowing, blinding, pillar of light, there stood a woman, her complexion pale, her hair brown and her stature fair and confident as she stood atop an invisible floor. Her red eyes scanned the ethereal projection before her, and her left hand held an undisclosed document.

Her mutterings flow smoothly and purely, like water moving in a clear, tranquil lake, carrying her words with effortless precision through the pillar of light.

And inside the projection which entertained her from her boredom, a dilapidated environment was shown.

a city, with only parts of it standing unevenly across a vast ocean of sand and rock, the desert around it appearing as if it swallowed it whole like a swarm of locusts.

The city, whose multiple districts were half submerged in sand, lay mostly in ruins, aside from the occasional citizens seen living in said ruins.

Shops and houses looked abandoned, places which once seemingly flourished with life lay unused, the only visitors to grace their existence being the apathetic bunch who stayed in the city, passing by without giving them much thought.

And then, the projection shifted its focus towards a small building

It stood, appearing unassuming aside from one small, minute detail.

On its small walls, which were built around its perimeters, a damaged wooden plate laid broken on the sandy floor, its presence seemed utterly meaningless, but on it only two words were written, words that once meant something to many people, a reminder of what this building was...

Abydos School

A reminder that even if these struggling districts seemed to have no hope, someone still fought to survive, to bring HOPE, to fix its situation...

"Ah... The human nature of fighting against the impossibility of fate... Is quite... Amazing, how much I remember when I used to be just like them... Haa~"

A swift motion of her carelessly tossing the document in front of her sparked a chain of reactions from the light around her, its formlessness... Formed into a wooden desk, where the document landed, spilling its insides across the smooth face of the desk.

Swish

And out spilled an image of a girl, her hair a peculiar color of pink, and beside it, assigned a name;

"Takanashi Hoshino"

"Especially you, Horus... Your will to continue to pursue the futile dream that your senior entrusted onto you, knowing fully how impossible it is..."

The woman stood over the image of Hoshino, her face unreadable, yet a small smile adorned it. Before continuing her words, she placed a hand on the picture, gently rubbing it as she continued;

"You who resonate with ACCIDIA the most shall be the first pillar, the first support for the lost soul in this world..."

Her small smile formed into a smirk, anticipation and excitement making its presence clear on her face.

"... But it won't be easy for him to garner your support and affection, isn't it?"

Tap

Tap

"Oh~? Punctual as always, Black Suit."

"Ah, spare me the kind words, Miss Carmen. Our Collaboration yields great interest to Gematria, does it not? In that case, it's only natural that I be as reliable as possible to you."

The woman, who was referred to as "Carmen", took a leisurely turn to face 'Black Suit'.

And there stood a tall, humanoid being, its figure similar to an adult male wearing a simple black suit, but its skin was charcoal black, with a shattered glass-like texture on its face, flames of white light leaking from said cracks, protruding from his eyes.

"Ah, yes, it's of great interest to me as well, you see? So you needn't converse with me with such politeness, you can relax around me."

"I thank your offer, Miss Carmen, but I'm afraid this 'politeness' of mine goes back far beyond my own decisions."

"You speak as if that will bother me enough to rat you out... Haha~"

Carmen lets out a small chuckle, followed with Black Suit's own dry laugh, as he glanced around the 'room'

And when its eyes laid on the projector, a delighted expression formed on its featureless face, as it clapped its hands together.

"Oho~! It seems that the first act is finally beginning, Gematria's research will start soon..."

"That much is obvious... But I know you're not here to simply watch the first act's beginning, Black Suit."

Carmen said with a smile, her eyes closed as she tilted her head to the side whilst facing Black Suit.

"You catch on fast as always, Indeed... I'm here to collect the promised samples, those... Ah, what do you call them~?"

Black Suit playfully scratched its chin as it looked up into the air, mimicking a person trying to gather their memories together.

The act earned a scoff from Carmen, who then turned around and went to her desk, pulling its drawers out and taking three syringes, a black substance filling each of them.

"COGITO, three samples as the contract says, you know how to fill Gematria's end of the deal, correct?"

"Of course, of course! Worry not, Miss Carmen, Maestro has already gotten in contact with AVARIZIA, while Beatrice will most definitely make good use of it!"

Hearing the confirmation, Carmen's face formed into a satisfied smile, before turning into a smirk.

"Then, It's a pleasure to work with you, I sincerely hope that both of us will be able to complete our goals"

"Most Certainly, Kivotos's survival is a goal that aligns with both Gematria and you, Miss Carmen, as the saying goes... Two deers with one arrow."

Carmen simply looked at Black suit strangely, before it turned towards the document. After noticing what it held, a look of interest appeared on its face.

"Aha~! So the first is Horus, hmm? I'm sure it'll be enjoyable for you to watch everything go down, this one is quite an interesting one, you see~?""

"Oho? It's rare to see you take an interest in something, Black Suit. Your eyes always have that... Disinterested gaze, you see? Ah, well, I'm sure I will enjoy it just as much as you will while experimenting on her."

A contorted smile appeared on Black suit's face, it seemed conflicted on whether to ignore Carmen's remark or acknowledge it.

"You have a great eye, Miss Carmen. To finally be able to work on Kivotos's greatest mystery, is... nothing short of exciting!"

"...Especially with the little gift you just gave us"

Carmen's face showed a look of amusement, her thumb and index grazing the edge of her chin as she looked down at the three syringes of COGITO she gave Black Suit, each safely tucked away in a thick, airtight plastic bag.

"I'm happy to hear that..."

The projection changed, now showing the sleeping figure of a certain, black haired man wearing a suit.

"...But it seems that our conversation ends now, the Conductor is to begin his first movement..."

"It appears so..."

Carmen turned to face Black Suit, waving her hand in a signalling motion, which causes the light around her to form a wooden door behind Black Suit

"...For now I will go, let us meet again soon."

"Heh... I'm not opposed to that idea."

As Black Suit turned to the door and began to walk towards it, Carmen turned back to the projector, forming a comfortable sofa with the light around her once again, before plopping down onto the cushions.

"Now..."

"... May the first act... Begin"

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Roland pov

"Good morning, Sensei!"

"Mornin', Arona."

Today's another day... And it's the first time I'll be doing an in-person request as promised, a trek through that desert...

... I've never actually been to one of those, the only times I heard mentions of a 'Desert' in The City was when I overheard some fixers talk about the urban legends of the outskirts...

I'm confident that I've seen many things, but I still need to be wary of anything new I find.

"Have you prepared everything for the trip, Sensei? Abydos's climate and environment is very hot because of desertification, so do remember to bring a lot of water bottles!"

"Yeah, yeah, gee, that's the fifth time you've reminded me... Thanks for being so attentive but I'm not a kid like you are, ya know~?"

"Wh-What?! Sensei! I'm just worried for you and you repay me by teasing me... Hmph..."

Arona looked at me with a face of betrayal, before crossing her arms angrily, a visible pout on her face.

"Haa... C'mon kiddo, don't look at me like tha-"

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT, SENSEI!!"

I watched as she made a tantrum over my jokes, somehow this girl reminded me of a certain blonde patron librarian I used to be acquainted with...

... Well anyway, these supplies are mostly for C&C... But I'm sure we'll be fine.

"Meanie! Meanie! Sensei you're a meanie!!"

... Anyway, because of my training, and mostly my augmentations, my body would be able to survive a week without water no problemo, but I'm unsure if the girls can too...

"Okay, okay, just calm down, take a deep breath... Inhale-"

"IF YOU'RE GONNA BE MEAN LIKE THAT I'M GONNA BE MEAN TO YOU TOO, SENSEI!!"

"..."

You know... It is a bit tiring to-

DING!

"Hum?"

"Ah! Sensei, Yuuka just sent a message to ask if she could meet you before you leave, she says she's 'finishing up work' for a few minutes, though."

'Did Yuuka already finish making more bullets!?'

If it's that, then Millenium really does deserve the title of the best science school in Kivotos... Unless this is entirely normal and I'm just exaggerating...

"tell her that we can meet in 10 minutes after she's done with her work outside of Schale."

"Understood, Sensei!"

'Righty-then, the only thing left now is to grab the ammo that that Ayame girl asked for...'

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"Alright, water? Check, food? Check, bullets? Check, a manual to start a fire without a lighter? Check. Let's go meet Yuuka then head to Abydos."

With a backpack full of multiple types of bullets, water bottles and supplies ready, I carried everything I needed alongside me as I made my way down to Schale.

'Everything's ready, the only thing that I need is extra bullets for Atelier logic. Yuuka should be waiting with all my bullets ready. Anyway, Bullets are still bullets, I need to be conservative if I'm planning on participating in fights'

As my thoughts double checked everything I've prepared up to this point, the elevator door slid open, allowing me a view of Yuuka's figure, who seemed to be pacing around nervously outside of the Schale building.

'Why does she look so... confused?'

'Don't tell me...'

"Hey Yuuka, er... Good morning? You look like you've got a lot on your plate, what's going on?"

"O-Oh, Sensei, good morning..."

something is definitely wrong...

"A-Ah..."

Yuuka's face became bright red, her eyes never met with mine from the moment I greeted her, which is unlike the uptight and confident Yuuka I met back then.

"Nothing is wrong Sensei..."

'Yeah- not buying that...'

"Haa... You'd need to do a better job lying if you want me to believe that, just tell me what's wrong, I won't scold you or anything, it's better than lying to your sensei, isn't it?"

I sighed and crossed my arms, causing Yuuka to flinch. A bit of authority mixed with comfort should be enough to draw out a confession from her.

"Sigh..."

Yuuka took a glance around, before reaching into her backpack – One which I've never seen her carry before, then taking out a hefty, odd looking silver container of sorts. She placed it down on the floor, its size equivalent to four bricks stacked into a rectangle.

"First of all Sensei, these are the bullets I promised, They should be enough for you to last for a month, unless you have a machine gun in those gloves of yours..."

"Bullets? This-"

My mouth turned agape from stupor, as Yuuka slid open the container's top, revealing an absolute bountiful load of Atelier Logic bullets that shone bright like diamonds I could never afford in The City. Their shineful glazes nearly caused me to drool a puddle on the spot.

"So... SO MANY BULLETS!!!!"

I could not help but exclaim in unbridled joy, you would not hear me scream in such delight even at my wedding! The sheer quantity of them is outstanding! If I had bought these amounts back in the city, I might have had to use an amount of money so big that I would have gone into debt for years... No, I could make a small business just selling this batch!! Seems like I was worried for nothing!

... Okay, that... Might've been overboard, especially the wedding part...

"T-This is incredible! Are you sure this is all for me?! You're not trying to trick and enslave me or anything, right?!"

"N-No?! I'm not planning anyth- haa... S-Sensei, don't say that kind of stuff..."

Oh right, I need to keep my composure around my students... Ah come on, let the grown ups be happy once, yea?

"Ekhem... Thank you for this, Yuuka, I truly am indebted to the greatness of Millenium for all ages..."

I bowed to Yuuka out of gratitude, who flinched, and probably became even redder from what I'll predict...

"N-No problem, just... Let me know if you need anything more..."

She then turned around and began to leave

"Well that is all I came to do today, Sensei, I hope your mission is successful"

'Wait, is she just going to not say what the issue is?'

"..."

I turned around, my back opposite of hers

"... Yeah, same to you, Yuuka."

...If she doesn't want to tell me what's going on, then it isn't up to me to force her. Someone who needs help... Will reach out for help, after all...

'That's that... And this is this.'

We bear our own sufferings, our own sins on our backs, and we can't rely on others to carry that burden for us.

That's how it is... And that's how it's always been.

"...But is that really the case? Do I need to remain a cityfolk in a world who will accept me for who I really am?"

'Am I... Has the city ingrained itself into me?'

'... Let's stop having those thoughts, can't let them distract me from a mission I've got to complete...'

I began walking towards the meeting point with C&C, leaving those thoughts hidden in the back of my mind...

Let's leave those thoughts for future me.

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Yuuka pov

"Sigh..."

Walking away from the Schale building back to Millenium, I silently cursed to myself as I paced, my posture making it seem as if my eyes were glued to the ground.

'Dammit! I couldn't find the courage to ask Sensei...'

I remember back to Sensei's reactions to the bullets, I had planned to ask him that question there and then... But his stupid reaction was so overbearing it made me even more flustered to ask! Even though I only wanted to ease up the tension between us...

'He's probably confused by how I acted, but he chose to not press on with his questions...'

I was... Happy that he was so overjoyed, but it's concerning what he said after that...

"T-This is incredible! Are you sure this is all for me?! You're not trying to trick and enslave me or anything, right?!"

Enslave...? Was Sensei... Used to seeing those sorts of things? Over bullets out of everything? Just... Where- no, what kind of place did he live in before coming here?

hnng... I could've asked If it wasn't for the girls from the engineering department making me think of unnecessary things!

Haa... It happened last night...

The previous day

RING!

RING!

"Unnhh...? Who in God's name is calling me this late at night!?"

I had just finished organizing a pile of paperwork in the seminar's office when my phone started to ring, this better be not another student asking me to do their work for them!

'Let's see... Shiraishi Utaha? I guess I won't have to yell at another person today... Phew!'

BEEP

"Hello?"

"Hey there, Yuuka, sorry for calling so late~!"

"It's fine... It's not like you called me in the middle of something, so, what's up?"

"ah, you see... I'm calling to notify you that your request for the production of Sensei's bullets... was successful! Well, to some degree, at the moment, around 3000 rounds have been produced"

That's good news... Wait- wait, what?

"... Only 3000 rounds? I didn't know your team was slacking off that hard, Utaha..."

Millennium isn't the best science school in all of Kivotos for nothing, thanks to our technology even producing 60000 rounds of standard level ammunition in 2 hours wasn't an issue...

'So for them to only have produced such a little amount in 4 hours... something is strange'

"Ah! No, no, it's not because of that, It's just... Harder, really, explaining it in words would be way too difficult, so if you're able to, could you come here before I pack my things up for the day?"

"But... I wanted to- aghhh... Fine, I'll be there in a few minutes"

'I have a bad feeling about this...'

I've always disliked when people ask me to meet them firsthand to explain something... That can be easily explained through the phone. But something about the way she talks leads me to believe it really is something out of the ordinary...

"Thank you, I'll be waiting for you with the others"

Alright, time to see what's going on here...

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12 minutes later...

After quickly jogging through the night, I arrived at the promised meeting spot, sliding open the metallic door, before a kindly voice greeted me.

"Ah! You're finally here, Yuuka."

In front of me, a fair sized woman with long, straight purple hair stood, seeming snug and comfy wearing her black sweater over a blue tie, though the heat provided from said sweater seems to be counteracted by her short, frilly skirt. She loosely wore a white lab coat, probably to give the smallest hints that she is, in fact, an engineer.

On her head, a bunny-like hairband rested just below her Halo, giving the impression of droopy bunny ears

"Took me a while, some street lights were off because of some delinquent scoundrels... But that doesn't matter, what's going on, Utaha? A detailed explanation would be appreciated."

Utaha's face turned a bit sour, gesturing for me to come with her as she turned her back towards me.

"I understand, it is pretty late... let's get on with it, then, Kotori and Hibiki are waiting"

She entered a room, and I followed shortly after, I could faintly hear her mutter something... But I couldn't make it out. In any case, the two students mentioned beforehand sat inside the room we entered, munching on snacks while listening to music with their headphones.

The other one was a small girl, her blonde hair short and unkempt, partially weaved into braids on either side of her head. She wore a white shirt with a blue tie, paired with an extremely loose black skirt, which would've earned her a scolding or two during the day. Additionally, on her face, a pair of glasses could be seen.

The one sitting on the left seat, was a girl only an irritatingly small amount taller than I am, her hair quite short and wavy, only reaching down to her shoulders. A notable feature were the two dog ears protruding from her head just below a pair of large goggles, she was wearing a black, one-piece dress that could not have been comfortable with how cold it is outside, as well as a white coat much like Utaha's her shoulders.

"Good evening, Kotori And... Hibiki."

My greeting caused Kotori to nearly choke on her chips and for Hibiki to immediately throw her headset off and turn towards me, each saying a piece of their mind.

"Yuuka? You're here already? I just finished grabbing our snacks to eat while we're waiting for you..."

"COUGH COUGH... T-Truly! I'm very surprised...!"

"Well, if you were called out to go to a different part of the school this late at night, you'd want to be a bit quick to get it over with, won't you?"

I said while forcing a smile, earning nervous gulps from the two girls sitting before me. That was until Utaha cleared her throat, and began to speak.

"Then... Let me begin, the bullets ordered by Sensei..."

Utaha stepped towards a desk and picked up a replica of Sensei's special bullets, a hand-length silver bullet with fancy engravings, and three noticeable segmentations across its full form. It certainly seemed... Expensive, compared to most bullets, but it should be within our budget to mass produce it...

"There isn't a particular issue with the production, Yuuka... While it's slower than expected, it was possible to make them..."

"But..."

she stepped towards a machine, it was one I recognized

"Is that the special 3d printer that you had created last year? The one who could be used to reproduce bullets in perfect conditions?"

"Yes, by the Logic of what we've tested... The machine should be able to Atelier a perfect copy of even tungsten alloy with a 99.87% accuracy rate."

'Then what's the problem here?'

Utaha placed the bullet down next to her desk, before sitting down in front of her computer. After clicking a few times, the printer began to humm and rumble with motion, printing many copies of the special bullet all at once...

... And like usual, it took no longer than a minute to produce 16 replicas of that special bullet. I had seen that machine work wonders, every single type of bullets could be reproduced, from the weakest to the strongest

Utaha then stood up from her seat, and walked over to the machine with the special bullet in hand, after opening the 3d printer up, she took the tray which held the bullets, before dusting off some excess materials and placing the copies beside the real one.

"So... I don't see anything wrong here?"

I looked at her with a puzzled expression, before picking up one of the copies, although, once I held it in my hands, I noticed something... Wrong.

'... Was that fingerprint always there?'

I saw a fingerprint on the bullet, and when I rotated it to take a look around, more fingerprints appeared where my fingers once were... So, these are...

CRACK

"...!!"

A single push with my index finger snapped the replica in half, causing the broken half to fall to the floor and crumble into dust.

"W-What?! What the hell is going on?!"

I looked at the remaining piece of the bullet that I held, and inside of it, were strange, stringy textures that resemble instant noodles, with hundreds of pores and holes around the structure of the bullet.

"As you can see... We've run into an... Unexpected issue."

'Yeah... No s#!%!"

"What the... What's going on here?!"

I turned to Hibiki, Kotori and Utaha, who all either shook their heads or shrugged. Soon enough, Hibiki broke the silence with her own testimonies of what had happened.

"After a few more attempts... We found out that the 3d printer would make weirder and more irregular patterns after each attempt, first it would have the same texture as a sponge, then cheese, then noodles, then pasta... And so on."

She sighed, before turning over to the side and pointing at a dismantled minigun lying on a workbench, with one of its barrels being completely destroyed.

"So we decided to try out the bullet instead, and when we tried it out with the only gun we had back then..."

"... It... Destroyed one of the barrels?"

"Yes, and the firing mechanism too, and the loading mechanism, and the ejecting mechanism... You get the idea."

...

"But we were eager to find out more about it, so we borrowed a special rifle... Kotori, if you will."

Utaha gestured to Kotori, who nodded and went into a different room, before coming back with... An Anti tank rifle...

"Wh... Isn't that a bit overkill? You'll pulverize the bullet before it could even make it out of the barrel... Wait, how does a minigun round-sized bullet even fit inside of a-"

"Aha~ That's what we also thought at first, but we decided to put it to the test anyway!"

Kotori and Utaha ignored my question, and immediately fired the Anti Tank Rifle at a target practice dummy, conveniently placed across the room which I never noticed walking in here.

The round fired... Perfectly, breaking apart while in the air, the second chamber of gunpowder inside of the bullet's casing fired off, accelerating the bullet to hypersonic speeds, and then...

KABOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thumb-sized bullet penetrated the dummy like scorching hot iron through butter, before a second mechanism activates, causing the bullet to expand and explode into shrapnels deep inside of the dummy, the dummy's torso was severed in half, with bits and pieces of it flayed and flying everywhere at all directions, a Janitor's nightmare...

"..."

"W-... W-W-Wha?!"

Those dummies were made to be strong enough to survive a... no, several shotgun blasts from the president of Trinity's justice realization committee, Tsurugi, at point blank range...

I know an anti tank rifle fired it, but... this is...

"Utaha... You know what this means, right?"

I turned towards Utaha, who seemed to be smiling in awe.

"Yes, indeed, the bullets seem to have a special mechanism to change into suitable rounds for the gun it's in, from our examinations it would probably be a set of preprogrammed nanomachines which are able to understand the type of barrel where the bullets resides in, allowing them to reshape it, but not only that, its power is-"

"THOSE BULLETS ARE BREAKING THE GENEVA CONVENTION, UTAHA!!!"

"... Huh? Wh-wha?"

I grabbed Utaha's shoulders tightly, and yelled to her puzzled and distraught face.

"Bullets that expand or explode upon impact to maximize bodily damages, increase effective range, or overall prolong suffering... Is considered a Warcrime!"

Utaha's brain seemed to be grinding its gears, before she finally realized what I was talking about.

"Wa-Wait, you're... You're right... Why does Sensei have those kinds of bullets...? B-But still... We've already stopped following the Geneva Convention ages ago, so it should be-"

"Tch! I know! But don't you get it?! Why does Sensei, a person without a Halo, who's way more fragile than we are, have these kinds of bullets?! Doesn't that make you wonder what kind of sick world he lived in?!"

At that question, everyone remained silent. Sensei... To have those kinds of bullets always at his disposal... Was he... The bad guy?

... No, I can't just assume things like this, it's unlike me to assume things without having evidence. There's no definitive proof that Sensei liked to prolong people's suffering, It's obvious at first glance that he used to be a hired gun before coming here, maybe these... Were just the bullets he could afford...

"U-Uhm... It's getting late, Yuuka-san, I think it's about time we head back to our rooms and go to bed..."

Kotori spoke out from the awkward silence filling this room, earning an exhale from my nose as I let go of Utaha's shoulders, slumping my own in an exhausted gesture.

"... You're right... haa... Alright, then, as a conclusion from this testing, it appears that the bullet is extraordinarily powerful, and has the ability to morph into any caliber it desires as long as the gun itself is strong enough to withstand it."

Utaha continued my analysis with the reports she didn't have the time to explain earlier.

"... And for the reason the bullets cannot be conventionally 3d printed, the molecular structure of the unidentified alloy that Roland Sensei's bullets use are too complicated and new for our machines to correctly replicate, leading to the 'Fragile Bullets' we saw earlier."

"So, while we waited for a new printer to be developed, we ran some more tests and found... Nothing noteworthy, unfortunately."

"I see..."

I turned to the trio with my eyebrows furrowed, before sighing and speaking to them.

"Don't get me wrong... I don't have anything against Sensei, I'm... I won't judge him just for this, It's just..."

"Worrying, was that the word you were looking for?"

Utaha finished my sentence for me, and I nodded slightly in agreement with her.

"Ha... I don't have any personal info- nor have I even met Roland Sensei, but... It's best if you try to gain his trust first before inquiring about his past. You're one of the only students who has personally spoken and interacted with him, so you should have a sizable headstart compared to us."

'She's right... I can't just ask who he was in the past out of the blue, I'll start slowly with asking about the bullets when I deliver it to him tomorrow...'

"... Wa... Wait, 'headstart'? What do you-"

"... !!! Y-You!!"

"Okaaaay, time to go home Yuuka~ See you tomorrow!"

"N-No! Wait! don't push me out! What do you mean by-"

BAM

"..."

... That little...!!

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In the present...

That damn Utaha... I'll make her pay for that...

...

"Honestly Sensei..."

Next time we meet, I hope we can understand each other better.

And hopefully... You'll remain the Sensei I think of you as.

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Roland pov

After neatly storing my new Atelier Logic bullets inside of my gloves, I began walking towards the train station where C&C had agreed to meet up at, my mood at an all time high due to the favor Yuuka and her Millenium friends had just done for me.

'Now that I'm thinking about it, this is the first time I've had any time to look around this place...'

With all the work I had to finish, going on a trip outside was impossible, but now...

I began taking in the sights all around me... And truly grasping just how different this place was to The City.

Gigantic buildings who reached the sky, ones that would be a marvelous sight to behold in the city were dime-a-dozen in this world, citizens walked without hurry, seemingly enjoying their lives with every step taken.

Yeah...

'The people here... they all seem happy...'

The people here... Were what she wanted the people in the City to be like.

The woman Angela was created after...

That Carmen, who they said preached on and on about the disease of the mind everyone in the City had, I used to think she was a bit of a nutjob... But, Seeing this... Was this the kind of world that she envisioned in her head?

Compared to my home, where even in the nests, where the richest individuals stayed, finding someone truly happy was nearly impossible.

If what Chesed said was true... while the Nest dwellers may seem free from the stress of fighting for their lives everyday, they were still the most trapped individuals in the city, stuck forever inside of a coffee grinder, never to amount to anything more than what they're made of.

Their worth and quality is decided upon their birth, and when their blood is inevitably shed, it does nothing but benefit the City, like a coffee bean being grounded into coffee powder, before being added into a batch of more coffee powder.

And the Propaganda they spread, those false educations, the prejudice...

all instruments that the wings used to mold and shape the thoughts and lives of the people in the nest...

'Compared to the city dwellers, here, the people seem to be able to truly... Dream, to focus on themselves and be what they wish to be, not what society wants them to be.'

All the students I've met, their eyes were different. The color of their eyes might be the same compared to the eyes I saw in the City, but the shine of ambition that they exuded far exceeds the ambition of a regular city folk by miles.

It seems almost like an utterly optimistic dream for someone like me...

Perhaps, even if they're young... I could learn-

BONK

"AUGH- g-guh?! Oh, a-alright, uh... Looks like we're here."

Man, I hope Arona didn't see that... Walking into a pole while deep in thought, I've never been that oblivious in quite a while...

... Anyway, In front of me was a giant train station. It was apparently made by highlander academy, hopefully their rides aren't anywhere near as sketchy as W corp's ones... But I doubt those kinds of trains exist in this place anyway.

'Now to search for those girls...'

Finding some girls wearing Butler... Well, I guess they're called Maid uniforms here, shouldn't be that hard, we're not exactly in a giant manor where maids are the only things you see.

Walking around the station, the sight of robots piqued my interest. It's still a rare sight for me to see so many AIs wandering around freely... or are they like those full body prosthetics? There's no reason to use prosthetics in this setting, though...

Questions after questions began swirling around in my mind as I made my way around the place, my eyes still wandering, trying to find any signs of the C&C that were scheduled to meet with me...

'... Hmm? I think I heard a commotion...'

"Huh, huh, HUUUUUHHHH?!?! What do you mean that you are going to take me into custody!? I've done nothing but stand still for the last hour!"

There it is... A familiar voice, If i remember correctly, that's... Neru's voice, isn't it?

'Seems like I found them... well at least Neru, I'm still not sure about the others...'

Peeking my head over a large pillar supporting the roof of the train station, I lay eyes on the petite girl sporting a maid outfit, her submachine guns pointed directly at a robot dressed in a blue uniform with the word police written on his cap...

'Well... that's... Interesting, heh... It reminds me of Tiphereth in a way.'

"Miss, as I have said before, I will be asking you to leave, many passengers around here are complaining about a suspicious armed individual standing still in the middle of the station, as if she is waiting for someone, many are feeling uneasy about your presence-"

With each word the robot said Neru's face became increasingly angrier, until she decided to cut him... Well, it, off

"Shh... Hear that? That's the sound of all the F%$&S I GIVE!! So what if I stand here with a few guns waiting for someone?! It's not like guns are rare is it?! If you even try to make me leave ONCE again I swear to Kivotos..."

'I think it's time to intervene, things are becoming a bit heated...'

Even if I knew Neru for a relatively small amount of time, I knew that if I didn't stop her now it would risk to end up in a fight, and I'd prefer if my student didn't get charged for robot slaughter...

"Ekhem... Good evening sir~ I apologize for her impudence in advance..."

"... ?! And who are you now, good sir-"

I took out my ID card, before showing it to the robot, I can see its eyes scan the details of the ID card without further notice.

"The name's Roland, the new Sensei of Schale, this girl here is my acquaintance, so with me here, you don't need to worry about her having a tantrum and blowing everything up."

The robot flinched upon realizing my position, before an image shaped like a tear appeared on the side of its face, additionally, I could hear Neru mutter some profanities under her breath, but I decided to ignore that.

Huh, being a sensei must give me a lot of authority in this place...

"I-I see... well I suppose sufficient information regarding your student and her suspiciousness is required. She was... Standing there with her two submachine guns at full display, I've had multiple complaints from passersby that her gaze was extremely hateful and uncomfortable..."

"Is that so..."

'I can see that, honestly, but that doesn't mean she can just be kicked out due to her face...'

While I haven't been looking around for much time, the people around us had a look of annoyance aimed at the robot, huh... Was he telling the truth or was he just bullshitting?

I really don't know, are they mad at him for spilling their complaints or are they mad at him for trying to kick out Neru for looking a bit mean?

There's only one course of action for this... I won't risk getting it wrong and either ruining my image for Neru, or staining my reputation as Sensei.

"What do you have to say Neru?"

The maid, who had her arms crossed in annoyance, flinched and turned her gaze up to me, before asking with a puzzled tone.

"Wh- Huh? What do you mean, Sensei? Aren't you gonna handle this for me?"

"Exactly what I said, Neru, is there anything that you want to say? I can't just cover for you just because you're my student, the world needs to hear your voice through your voice, not mine"

A smirk appeared on my face, as Neru quickly shifted her puzzled look into a grin as well, it seems like we're thinking the same thing now.

"... After all... This hunk of-ekhem... Police officer has been bothering you for quite some time now, hasn't it? I'm sure you'll feel better if you said a piece of your mind."

A wild grin appeared on her face, as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah... You know what, I do have something to say, Sensei."

She steps up to the robot, dropping one of her submachine guns and pressing her index finger on its shoulder.

"This flatscreen TV here has been uttering complete nonsense constantly simply because I look like the delinquents stored in its small, third rate microchip of a brain. As a robot you should have the term 'ask questions first, shoot later' embedded and played repeatedly inside your mind, yet it seems like your malfunctioning hunk of embarrassment you call a CPU didn't have that data stored inside of it, which is why you're trying to flag me as a delinquent without any proof, isn't it?"

The robot seemed to try to make her stop talking, but the attempt didn't result in anything, as he stopped moving after he heard Neru's following words

"... Now, now, we're here to achieve things so great that a toaster like you won't even be able to comprehend with that lackluster computing power of yours, so why don't you spare us your unbearably obnoxious voice and go back to talking to your Interactable Smart Fridge friends while we go and make the world a better place... Ah! we could risk losing our train! I'm sorry to have caused you to risk not being able to complete your mission, Sensei~"

'... I'll make sure not to anger her anytime soon...'

This guy was all bark and no bite, But I don't think he was planning anything malicious, like she said, they must have databases containing every delinquents and their portraits stored in them... It's just that they messed with the wrong gal.

Well, to be honest, if I didn't stop him, I fear that it would be his body that would have felt the consequences of Neru's wrath...

The robot, seemingly being lost for words for a seconds, started talking in a flustered tone

"W-Well then... I will let it pass this time! But make sure to not do it again!"

"Why are you still here, go scram away like the disobedient little robot without a leash you are~"

The robot went away, probably scared of creating an issue for someone who worked for the GSC

'Ah~ I love the feeling of having authority, I see why those annoying young masters from H corp enjoy doing this. I regret not telling my junior fixers or my assistant librarians to do more favours for me~'

Neru turned towards me, a look of smug satisfaction on her face, mixed with a tinge of gratitude.

"Phew... Thanks a lot, Sensei! He was seriously annoying, if you didn't give me the chance, I would have blasted his stupid mug off myself."

"Err... As your sensei, do avoid physical altercations as much as possible, Neru."

I smiled bitterly, causing Neru to huff and cross her arms, muttering under her breath about how I'm lame... yeouch.

... Wait, why doesn't Neru have her friends backing her up?

"Wait, Neru"

"Hmm? What is it, Sensei?"

"Where are the others?"

"Oh... Well, they're not here yet, I just came by earlier because I wanted to talk a little with you Sensei..."

'Oh... Ooooohh?! This is the first time someone other than Angelica, Olivier or Astolfo pulled me over for a private chat!'

"Oh Really?~ Well then let's find somewhere to sit while we talk, like that bench there."

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"Ha~ My back hurts carrying all that stuff for miles... Gosh I'm starting to feel old..."

I let out a sigh of relief as my back rested against the bench, the backpack I wore now seated neatly beside me to use as an armrest.

"So what is it, Neru?"

"Nothing too big, I just wanted to ask about some things we can't talk about comfortably with the other girls..."

The look on her face became serious, she didn't face me while asking her question, but I can tell it bothered her deeply.

"Why do you want to help those girls from Abydos?"

'That wasn't what I was expecting... No one really cared for motives in the past...'

Why am I helping them...?

'Is it just because It's my job?...'

No, that'll make me sound like a piece of work...

...

"It's because I want a fresh start."

"Huh?"

"Helping someone... I haven't done it in a while, so since I wanted to start over, I figured trying to help someone would be a good start."

The last time I helped someone... I simply shed more blood on my already bloodstained hands, all to bring her down to suffer in hell along with me...

... But that failed, it only dragged me deeper into this pit I've dug myself into.

I couldn't kill Angela, or avenge Angelica... But... Here, those thoughts are only secondary to me.

In this place where I can start anew, a half-assed attempt at redemption will only make me more pitiful than I already am, that's why...

"... I think it'll be nice to have a new beginning, even though I'm already pretty old... It's better late than never, don't you think?"

I turned to Neru, a small smile forming on my face, on this face of mine that needn't a mask to hide my sins behind.

Neru's face showed a look of interest, seemingly confused, yet intrigued by what I meant with my statement

"That... Was not the response I expected..."

'Well what did you expect? Did you think I'd say something boring like 'Because it's the right thing to do'?"

"W-Well..."

"... Maybe."

She muttered under her breath, this sneaky brat thinks I can't hear her whispering from this far away...

"I heard that, don't try to whispe-"

"Second thing!"

She interrupted me in the middle of my sentence. I really should teach her some manners when talking to adults sometimes...

"Do you plan on going all the way to help them?"

"What?"

"I don't suppose you want to do the bare minimum to help them, things like giving stupid motivational speeches without actually putting yourself on the line for them."

...

"... Do you plan on doing everything in your power to help those kids, even if it seems hopeless? Are you ready to put yourself in harm's way to be by their side and guide them along the correct path?"

"That's one philosophical question..."

"That's not- J-Just answer it, Sensei!"

"Alright, alright..."

This question was way more difficult compared to the last one... What's gotten into her?

'Would I really go all the way?'

Back in the city, you only did the bare minimum of any job assigned to you, you couldn't afford to put too much thought into your work or else you won't be able to put much thought on yourself...

We kill people sloppily, and toy around with their bodies until it looks like a random act of violence occurred, then pray that the sweepers clean up their bodies before anyone could investigate further into it.

And even then, those very same investigators we were afraid of... Will simply chalk it up as an unrelated murder.

Why would we ever put our body and soul into that shitty dump of a place?

'Kivotos... It may be different from the City... But what if their values aren't?'

The flags may be different, but the methods may stay the same.

"..."

"I don't know, Neru, I don't have an answer for that yet."

Neru seemed to not be surprised by my statement, on the contrary, she seemed to be expecting it

"Well in that case let me rephrase it Sensei..."

Neru finally turned to face me, her face uncharacteristically stoic and serious, before she asked in an assertive tone;

"If a student in front of you risked getting hurt, would you step up and deal with whatever was causing it? Would you take a bullet for them?"

Her tone was the most serious I had ever heard her speak.

'Would I?'

That question was a no brainer.

"Of course I would"

It's all I've ever known, anyway.

"Not only is it contradictory to my statement about wanting a new beginning, it would also undermine my role as Sensei, wouldn't it?"

It seemed that my answer had pleased her, as seen from a look of longing in her eyes

"You really are like her..."

She quickly got up from the bench, stretching her arms and cracking her neck, before turning to me.

"Well that's all, Sensei, I got all the answers that I wanted for now."

That was all? Seems like she just needed confirmation about some of her doubts... I'm glad she didn't try to inquire further, though, else it would be a bit awkward.

"Well I'm happy to hear that, but why the questions?"

A big grin appeared on her face, before she turned to face me whilst standing up, reaching a hand towards me to help me get up.

"Let's just say... that it's a secret for now!"

'Of course... Just what I expected.'

As I was about to press on with more questions, I felt a familiar presence rapidly approaching.

"Sensei!!!!!"

"Woah!"

Suddenly; a certain ashen-haired woman threw herself at me.

Thankfully, I was able to catch her in time before she was able to get hurt.

"What the hell Asuna!"

On the puppy-like girl's face; a big, triumphant smirk appeared.

"I just did as Akane advised to leave a lasting first impression! So did it work!?"

"Well it certainly left an impact..."

The girl's face practically blossomed into a radiant smile.

"Yes!"

She then turned back around.

"Thank you Akane!"

"Fufu~, I'm happy to have helped~"

"Sigh... you two, please try and show a little decorum, at least while Sensei is here..."

Akane and Karin soon arrived as well, walking up from behind her.

"Well good morning to you three, have you all prepared yourself for the upcoming mission?"

"I'm in perfect condition and ready to protect you, Master!"

"Fufu~, same here~"

"Same for me, preparations are completed."

Hearing their confirmation, I then turned towards Neru.

"You ready?"

A giant and feral grin appeared on her face.

"I was born ready!"

Unable to help it, my own expression shifted to that of a small smirk.

"Then let's go girls! Time to start this mission!"

""Yes, sensei!""

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??? Pov

"So intriguing... to think that you would garner SUPERBIA's interest already..."

Carmen's expression morphed into a mysterious smile.

"Could it be...?"

"Ahaha..."

She proceeded to turn around.

"It seems that your intervention has shortened the time that it should have taken..."

"... £%$%$£&"

"Well, that was my intention, but even this result was outside of my very own expectation..."

"Mirror" Roland commented in an intrigued tone.

"Doesn't this upset you, even in the slightest?"

He quickly shrugged, shaking his head.

"...Not at all, in fact, it's actually positive, this will make my job easier."

A teasing smirk appeared on Carmen's face.

"Oh really? I thought you'd have gotten jealous if anything."

The man's face remained stoic, as thought to hide his emotions.

"...Why should I be?"

He turned back around, beginning to walk, fully intending to leave.

"After all, they have no connection with me."

And just like that he disappeared, leaving only silence behind to accompany her.

Carmen's face was stoic, usually the woman always had a teasing or smirking expression on her face, but not this time, instead; there wasn't the slightest trace of her playfulness to be found.

"...Pitiful, you truly deserve the title of Failure..."

"Nonetheless..."

Her nonchalance returned, as though it had never left, easing the tension that built up within the air.

"This development is truly interesting..."

A huge smirk began to form on her face, one she couldn't stop; nor hide.

"Oh, I see! It must be because you've reminded her of HER."

"Truly, it seems that you can't help but continuously remind people of their past grievances, the very things they wished to leave behind... After all, the same happened to LUSSURIA..."

Judging by the look in her eyes, she had a sudden revelation.

"So that's it! This was your plan all along, wasn't it, miss president!"

"Let's see then, will your schemes come to fruition? Or will he crumble before the very pillars can be raised once and for all?"

"No matter what the outcome is,, I'm sure that I will thoroughly enjoy this journey until the very end..."

"...So, don't disappoint me now Roland!"

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Roland Pov

"Sigh..."

"Seriously! How long is it until we arrive there already!? We have been walking straight for nearly 2 damn hours!"

"Fufu~, Neru, while normally I wouldn't have anything against your usual rambunctious attitude, I would appreciate it if you stopped shouting."

After getting off at the station closest to Abydos, the girls and I had begun making our way towards the district, a simple task easily fulfilled, but...

'How far is this goddamn school?!'

We had been tirelessly treading for two hours now, not to mention underneath the scorching heat of the tireless sun.

"Eh, Master! Can't we find a different path that'll get us there? I'm getting real sick and tired of this plain scenery!"

'J-Just of that, really?'

Well she was right, the scenery around us had been the same for the last few hours.

Just an endless amount of sand, no matter where you looked, it was sand again, on rare occasions you'd be lucky and spot some dilapidated constructions, which looked like they were part of some kind of highway.

"Karin, how far are we still from the school according to the map?"

"We should be about an hour away from the school, Sensei, though..."

A look of uncertainty appeared on her face, an expression that caused me the slightest of distress.

"...That's only if they're still using the same main building as before, there's a possibility that the students have moved location due to the desertification that took place some time ago."

'That's true...'

"Okay girls, let's take some shelter underneath one of those pieces of the highway, there we can eat and rehydrate ourselves, while getting a bit of rest before continuing on in our journey through this endless desert."

The girls' expressions immediately blossomed into fully fledged radiant smiles, a joy I thought we'd have almost left behind at the train station.

""Yes Sensei / Master!!""

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"Ahhhh..."

"Alright girls, it's time to eat!"

As I said that the girls seemed to immediately go rigid.

'Please don't tell me it's what I think...'

"Did none of you bring any food along?"

"Ehe, you've hit the mark Master, bullseye!"

""...""

The rest of the girls remained silent, a look of shame on their faces as they'd look down.

"Sigh..."

'Thankfully I had prepared for this exact situation in advance.'

"Neru, please pass me my backpack."

She looked up at me, a look of confusion plastered all over her face, but in spite of that; she'd soon bring my backpack to me, just as I'd requested.

"Well... here you go Sensei."

Without any hesitation, I quickly opened it up, pulling out multiple still wrapped up sandwiches.

'It seems that waking up so early in the morning to prepare these wasn't such a waste of time as I had been dreading.'

"What are those, Sensei?"

"They're sandwiches, I prepared them myself this morning just in case something like this happened."

The girls had all taken some time to fully register what I had just said, but as soon as it clicked, they; without skipping a beat, rushed over to me as a horde full of hunger, each grabbing one sandwich each.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down girls, nobody is gonna try and steal your food!"

But my words fell on deaf ears, as the four of them started to immediately unwrap the sandwiches faster than I could even blink, before chowing down... in fact I'm unsure if they were even properly chewing.

'If that isn't a health concern in itself, I don't know what is, it kind of reminds me of the lower ranking members back in the office, the looks on their faces when they got their hands on food for the first time was priceless.'

"Wow Master! This is some super delicious and tasty food! Could you make some again when you're free!?"

"Would Sensei be willing to help hone my wif-...cooking skills?"

"Fufu~, I didn't think that Master of all people would have such a hidden talent..."

"Damn this is amazing! Thanks for the meal, Sensei!"

It seems like the girls had all appreciated my cooking, though one of their comments was more strange and somewhat concerning than anything...

"I'm happy to hear that you've all enjoyed my cooking."

'If you can even call that "cooking" in the first place...'

'Ah~ nonetheless, it's about time that I finally eat as well, I've been looking forward to this...'

Holding back a smile of my own, I took out the last sandwich, the sensation of the paper against my fingers almost thrilling.

'The savoury taste of the crispy bacon; cooked to perfection as to not be too soft, yet not too hard, the lettuce adding an extra crunch so delightful... a slightest spread of mayo, and to finish it all of; a slice of tomato, its juices enhancing the entire experience...'

Slowly, I began to unwrap it, enjoying the process thoroughly, closing my eyes in preparation to indulge properly in the delight that was this tasty treat; I've made specifically for this occasion.

'Only one thing could beat a cuisine of this level under such harsh weather conditions, being HamHamPangPang's sandwiches.'

Just as I finally was about to take the first bite...

Ratatata!

"Get out of the way Sensei!"

All of the sudden, Neru pushed me away, multiple bullets soon beginning to rain down on the very position I had just been standing in, my hands gripping tightly onto the sandwich.

"We hit her boss!!"

"Good job."

Around thirty or so individuals appeared from behind a dune, all of them had been wearing the same outfit as the people who attacked Schale.

'What are they doing here...?'

'Wait, didn't that Ayane girl write that a gang was harassing their school? Is... that them?'

"Did we take down one of them?"

"You... You goddamn cowards!"

"Wha-"

The figure of an enraged, petite demon-like maid slowly revealed itself, emerging from the dust cloud that had been kicked up by the attack, seemingly unscathed from the barrage.

In one swift motion she took out both of her guns, using the chains that connected them to trap 3 of the gangsters...

"Go to hell!"

""W-Whoa!!!!""

...and flung them into the air.

Ratatatatatatatatatatatatata!!!!

Finishing them off by unloading an entire mag into them as they were falling.

The rest of the delinquents started to tremble, terrified of the display of power they had just witnessed.

"W-Who are these people!? Retreat, retreat-!"

Bang!

A bullet swiftly silenced the girl that had begun screaming to fall back.

"I'm unsure if I should be praising your courage or commend your stupidity..."

Bang!

Another one fell, as the dark-skinned maid fired her anti-material rifle with utmost precision.

"...But all that matters now is that you've attacked us, so don't complain if we retaliate."

"Indeed~, they should pay the price for having attacked our Master after all~"

BOOM!!

"What the hell-"

BOOM!!

"Argh-"

Explosives; one after the other began to go off around the remaining delinquents, a maid wearing glasses revealed herself, begging to giggle, seemingly amused at the sight of the explosions.

"Retreat, RETREAT!! We'll regroup and gather ourselves once more later, for now just run! These aren't people we can-"

As they began to run away, the remaining delinquents seemed to slip on seemingly nothing, causing them to trip and fall, backs first onto the sand.

"What the-"

"You know, attacking Master like that is a no no~"

"Huh-"

RATATA!

The ashen-haired maid unloaded a barrage of bullets from her assault rifle on the incapacitated delinquents.

"H-How did we all slip..."

"Well you could say..."

A smirk appeared on her face.

"That I'm pretty lucky!"

WIth that the group of gangsters had been taken care of single-handedly by Millennium's best squad...

'I guess their reputation isn't for nothing, their individual skills are already impressive as it stands, but their teamwork ties everything together, solidifying the foundations they've built...'

In fact, I didn't even give a singular order; all to see how they'd perform by themselves without any help, and it seems like my gamble has paid off.

"...Watch out Master!"

At least, so I had thought, before a delinquent suddenly pushed herself off of the floor and sprinted towards me, using her rifle like some kind of bat.

But by the time she had gotten close enough, she slipped; almost bumping into the hand that held onto my sandwich, out of reflex I'd step back.

Before finally delivering a kick to their helmet, quickly stopping myself to the best of my abilities, to soften the blow.

'I'd say it's deserved for that cheap move, but...!'

By then, it had already been too late and I could only hold back so much.

'Oh crap... I really hope she's not hurt too badly...'

Gritting my teeth, I'd look at where the student had ended up, a feeling of relief washing over me as it seems they're unconscious, but not too hurt.

Proceeding to scratch the back of my head I sigh, returning to the more important matter at hand..

"Good work girls, it seems that your title isn't just for show."

"I'm hurt Master~, did you really not trust us?"

'Yea, I'm not gonna fall for your teasing, Akane.'

"No, I just felt that testing your capabilities without my support in battle was an important task to get out of the way, after all I won't always be there to guide you."

"Well, how did we do, Master! Do you finally understand what I meant, when I said I'm lucky!?"

"You've done a great job... and I indeed did see it."

When the delinquents all slipped at the same time I was extremely confused...

After realizing that it was Asuna's doing I was flabbergasted, even if not consciously... is she just a walking J corp singularity?

"Well girls, lets be on our way then, Abydos isn't getting any closer if we sit aro-"

Growl~

Feeling slight embarrassment at the noise my stomach had just made, I looked down at the now squished sandwich in my hand.

"Well... after I finish eating that is..."

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"So this is the main building..."

We had finally arrived at our destination, unfortunately just like Karin and I had predicted, the desertification hadn't been so kind as to spare it.

"Well... it doesn't seem like they're here any longer, so what should we do, Sensei?"

'An good question.'

"Karin, is there any other important building that they could have possibly retreated to?"

"From my knowledge, there is none, Sensei."

'Shit...'

"Then where could they-"

"I can help, Sensei!"

'Uh? Arona!?'

"What do you mean you can help us?"

The maids in perfect synchronization turned towards me, on their faces a look of confusion appeared.

"Who are you talking too, Sensei?"

'Strange, could they not hear her?'

After seeing our discussion, Arona seemed to have realized something.

"Oh, yes! I've forgotten to mention Sensei, nobody but you can hear me talking, so to the students it seems like you're talking to yourself!"

'Dammit Arona! Why couldn't you have told me that sooner!?"

"I was just talking to myself, Karin, that's all."

While she at first seemed to be confused, she soon reluctantly accepted my answer.

"If you say so, Sensei."

'Wait... could I...?'

"Hey Arona, I've got a question for you."

"What is it, Sensei?"

"If I were to write something on the shittim chest, would you be able to visualize it, and show it to everyone else?"

"Of course that's something I can do Sensei!"

"Perfect."

I immediately began typing, wasting not even a singular second.

"So, what could you do to help us out?"

"It's simple Sensei! Since the shittim chest is connected to the GSC database, I'm able to find the position of any electrical device in all of Kivotos, I can even just search for Ayane's phone!"

'...What?'

'To begin with, isn't that an invasion of privacy?'

"Arona... Is that even allowed without the proper authorization?"

Just as she was about to answer, full of confidence, she stopped; her expression slowly shifting to one of confusion, as she smiled awkwardly.

"...Most likely...?"

"..."

"Sigh..."

"Let's just... try to find another solution."

"Alright Sensei!"

'I say that, but there isn't one at the moment, at least one that comes to mind immediately...'

"Okay girls, let-"

As I began speaking, Neru abruptly stopped me and pulled out her weapons.

"You know It's not good to listen to the conversation of other people, Wolfie."

'Hoh?'

'So it seems she also sensed her...'

On the other hand, I haven't called out whoever was tailing us because it didn't seem like she's got any bad intentions.

'Of course the very moment she tried to do anything, I would have gone and dealt with her myself.'

"Nn... It wasn't really my intention."

Slowly, the girl came out from her hiding spot behind some leftover rubble.

She was wearing a blue jacket, and a frilly, black skirt...

On her head, werewolf-like ears and around her neck a light blue scarf, considering the conditions we're under I'm surprised she isn't dehydrated, nor exhausted by now.

"Is that so... then tell me, why have you been following us for so long!?"

"I was curious, it's been a while since anyone has bothered to come here."

Deciding to step up, I raise my hands with a slight smile.

"Alright~ let's all calm down now girls, there's no need to go for each other's throats."

Taking the initiative to decrease the building tension, I turned towards the wolf girl.

"Hello there miss, I'm Roland, just an average grade 9 fixer... and I guess I'm also the Sensei from Schale..."

Hearing my words, her mismatched pupils shrunk, out of what seemed to have been surprise.

"...And I've come here to respond to the request for help, issued by someone named Ayane."

"Nn. So you really are going to help us!"

"Well, I'm here now, so yes... but what do you mean by "us" exactly...?"

Suddenly a look of realization dawned on her face, as her pupils went back to their prior size and seemingly usual size.

"Nn... I've forgotten to introduce myself."

"My name is Sunaookami Shiroko, a second year in Abydos highschool and member of the Countermeasures Committee."

'Bingo!'

"I see... it's a pleasure to meet you Shiroko."

"Well, as you're probably already aware by now, we've found ourselves in somewhat of a predicament."

"Nn. I've heard all about it."

A singular drop of sweat ran down my face as I put on a half-assed smile.

'Sheesh... she's not even trying to sound remotely sorry for stalking...'

"So, could you lead us to where we can find the other students?"

"Of course, just follow me."

'Well that went much smoother than I expected..."

"By the way..."

"How far is it until we reach your classmates from here?"

"Nn. Not too far."

'Phew... what a relief, after all that walking I'm about ready t-'

"It should only be 20 kilometers from here, a normal jogging session, if you ask me."

...

"Huh?"

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"So... this is where all of you've been staying?"

"Nn? Is there something wrong with that Sensei?"

"W-Well, not necessarily, it's just..."

I'd feel a singular drop of sweat run down my face as I looked up at the building in front of us, it was a dilapidated building just like the rest.

But in contrast to all of the prior remnants of construction, this one had been in much better condition, though despite that the apparent desolation of it had been obvious.

Which was easily noticed by...

'These cracks on the walls...'

It's obvious that these were caused by bullets, most likely they have stood witness to more than just a few exchanges of gunfire.

'It must have been those thugs from before- though it's odd in its own way...'

'They weren't anything special, even with the numbers advantage it'd be more than just strange for a normal school to get overwhelmed by them...'

We made our way through the destroyed courtyard, to my surprise it seems like even here there once were signs of plant life, at least... there used to be.

In front of the entrance there had been multiple lockers crowded together, positioned in a way to form some sort of barricade.

'And those are also full of bullet holes, just like pretty much everything else here...'

But they seemed quite new, unlike some other holes where there was some sort of attempt at least to patch up things, these had gotten no care.

Meaning, there must have been a fight here not too long ago...

"Say... Shiroko, how frequently do these delinquents attack your school anyways?"

"Usually; once a day, but ever since last week they've started doing it multiple times."

Her ears twitched for a moment, as though she had heard something, her expression on the other hand didn't change one bit.

"Nn... it has become quite bothersome to deal with them so often."

"I see... weak or not, they still cause minor lasting damage..."

Finally, she came to a stop in front of what seemed to be the door leading into some kind of meeting room, her eyes not even bothering to look at me.

Instead, her gaze was fully locked on the entrance, ears twitching for a moment once again.

"We've arrived, this is where the others have been waiting, Sensei."

"Alright, thanks Wolfie~"

Hearing the nickname I had just called her, she turned to me, her expression shifting to something that resembled confusion, yet it was hard to tell at first glance.

"Isn't that the name Neru used?"

"Oh I know, I just thought that it fits you, that's all, no complaints; right~?"

The confusion practically immediately faded as she shook her head, the scarf swaying slightly alongside her motion.

"Nn. None."

'Jeez- she really doesn't care about much does she...'

"Alright then Master! Let's head on inside! Oh, I really can't wait to meet some cute students!"

"Yeah, yeah Asuna, I'm sure they're gonna love meeting you just as much."

Shiroko opened the door, entering the room by herself as we shortly followed after.

As I went inside myself, I noticed 3 girls talking to one another, the moment that they had noticed us, they'd immediately stop, a look of relief individually washing over their faces.

The first one had short black hair and wore the same jacket as Shiroko, alongside red glasses; there were some pointy ears, like the ones of Rin.

While the second one had long; straight blonde hair with a side chignon, unlike the other two she wore an white shirt, topping it off with a yellow jacket.

Lastly, the third girl had black hair styled into twintails, on her head are cat-like ears; which promptly began to swing wildly, just like Shiroko and the elf girl; she wore a blue jacket which she kept closed unlike them, lastly she was wearing an frilly black skirt.

Immediately, the cat girl rushed towards Shiroko, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to our sudden appearance.

"Shiroko-senpai! Where have you been this entire time!? We were worried sick you know? Sick!"

Even when faced with the cat girls angry shouting at such an close distance, Shiroko's face remained neutral, not even slightly affected by the loud words.

"I'm back everyone, I apologize for being late, my excuse is that I got sidetracked when I saw these people and decided to bring them with m-"

Upon hearing those words, the girls all turned their towards us, only for the cat girl to interrupt her near the end.

"Oh my god... did you kidnap them!? ...Has... has the day finally come where Shiroko-senpai really did commit a crime!?"

'...What?'

At the mention of her finally committing a crime, I began sweat dropping.

'I know that Wolfie over there isn't the most expressive and all, but were they seriously concerned about that...?'

'Maybe this is just some kind of joke we're not in on yet...'

Neru leaned in, as the cat girl continued scolding her and began ranting about how serious this situation was, how they'd hide the bodies even...

"Are these seriously the people we're supposed to help...? They seem kinda like a lost cause..."

"Oh come on, I've seen worse, I'm pretty confident the Kitty over there is just exaggerati-"

As I had been answering Neru's concern, it was then that Shiroko chimed in.

"No Serika, I didn't kidnap them, after all if I did, I would've done so in a more discreet manner."

'...That's not reassuring...'

Without skipping a beat, Neru looked at me with a deadpan expression.

"So, you were saying Sensei?"

"I-I mean... she must be the only strange one like that, you kn-"

Suddenly, the blonde haired girl began speaking.

"That's true, knowing you Shiroko, you probably would have asked me to buy some necessary equipment for the job, not that I'd mind doing that~!"

'...'

"Once again, you were saying, S.E.N.S.E.I?"

"You know what, maybe they are kind of a lost cause, but hey! It's my job to fix exactly that, so I'm in no position to complain."

She stared at me with an expression that was too hard to read, similar to how she was back at the station.

"...I see- well, look at the positive, at least the atmosphere will be lively! Working multiple days on end with boring people would just be annoying!"

'She's definitely the type to switch moods fast...'

As the mayhem had been going on in the background, the girl with glasses began trembling in a similar manner to Rin.

"You..."

That singular word alone already caused me too much worry..

'Is she going to snap right here and now...?'

"You three, stop saying things like that already!"

The three of them turned towards her, the Kitty finally seemed to have realized she's been going on a tangent in front of other people that only just met her.

"Uh- uh... the five of you saw- heard nothing, absolutely nothing, alright!?"

"Fufu~, it's a bit too late for you to say that now, isn't it~?"

Akane's teasing didn't make Kitty's blushing any better, on the contrary; it only made it worse, as the redness almost reached her ears.

"S-S-Shut up!!"

'Ah~, could this be another person whose personality is similar to Tiphereth?'

Whilst continuing to stand by and watch this interaction unfold would be certainly amusing, I think that it's best to interrupt them here.

...After all, time is of the utmost importance right now.

"Alright, alright~, settle down girls, we've got more important matters at hand than to tease each other, am I right?"

Hearing my words, their attention switched onto me.

The girl with the pointed ears chimed in, seemingly confused..

"...Well, hello sir, judging by that GSC ID of yours... am I correct to assume you're the person sent to come and help us?"

"That's me alright, you can call me Roland, I'm just your average grade 9 fixer~, around here though, I'm known as the Sensei of Schale."

As I mentioned the last part, the three girls' eyes widened, seemingly in disbelief as to who I was, despite the prior assumption.

"Are you serious!? Shiroko-senpai, how could you just casually kidnap a guy this famous!?"

Hearing her call me that, a singular drop of sweat ran down my face.

'She's still going on about that, huh...'

"Hey now~, I have most certainly not been kidnapped Kitty-"

"Kitty!!!???"

"-And even if she did try, you can rest assured she wouldn't have been successful~"

"Nn? Is that a challenge, Sensei?"

"It... it wasn't supposed to be one..."

Quickly, the girl with the pointed ears chimed in.

"Anyways, it's nice to meet you Sensei! I'm Okusora Ayane, secretary of the Countermeasures Committee."

As she finished speaking, she glanced over at the cat girl, whose ears twitched for a moment as she understood that it's time for her to introduce herself.

"H-Hello, my name is Kuromi Serika... I'm the treasurer of the Countermeasures Committee! You... you better forget everything that happened before, got it!?"

"We'll see what I can do about that... Kitty~"

"And stop calling me that already!!!"

"Alright~, alright~, now it's my turn, right?"

I turned my head over to the blonde haired girl, who had a cheerful smile plastered all over her face.

"Hello Sensei~, I'm Izayoi Nonomi~, member of the Countermeasure Committee~, it's nice to finally meet you!"

"Likewise, it's nice to meet you as well Nonomi."

"Though... is everyone really here?"

"Ah!"

Serika's eyes widened, as she must have suddenly remembered something rather important.

"Hoshino-senpai, she must still be sleeping in the classroom!"

'So there really was someone missing...'

"Let me go get-"

Ratatata!!

Just as Serika was about to finish speaking, the sound of gunfire interrupted her, resonating throughout the room.

"Wha-"

"Fufu~, it seems like we really can't escape trouble today~"

"You're making that out to sound like it's some positive thing!!"

'Sigh...'

I turned towards Ayane, a rather serious expression on my face to match the situation.

"Ayane, am I right to assume that this situation is being caused by the delinquents you had mentioned?"

Hearing my statement, a look of anger appeared on her face.

"Most likely it is, the frequency at which they've been attacking this week has increased significantly, they're practically at it non-stop..."

Just as she confirmed my suspicion, a loud voice was heard.

"Come on out and give yourselves up! We know that you've got no bullets left!"

Right after, another one spoke up.

"From now on, this school will be under the control of the Kata-Kata helmet gang! So you better surrender like our boss asked you to!"

Finally, a third person began speaking, their tone mocking us.

"And don't even think about escaping~, we've got you completely surrounded!"

Wasting no moment, Serika chimed in, a clear expression of anger, perhaps even hatred plastered all over her face.

"I hate them... I really hate them!! We've already got enough to deal with as it is! And then these girls threaten us, try to steal our school and worse! Just who do they think they are!?"

Turning to Ayane, she continued speaking, doing so in a more moderate tone.

"I'll go wake up Hoshino-senpai, please lead Sensei to safety while I do so."

'Hey, hey now Kitty, who said you're allowed to decide what I do?'

As she attempted to go and run off, intending to wake up the Hoshino individual she kept mentioning, I spoke up, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Sorry to disappoint you Kitty~, but I'm not gonna go into hiding."

"Huh!? Sensei!? What are you trying to pu-"

Ignoring her futile attempt to argue with me, I turned to the members of the C&C, a slight smile on my face.

"Neru! I'll leave the delinquents in the back of the school to you four."

Hearing my words, the petite maid's expression turned into a knowing look, most likely already knowing what I was about to say.

Only for it to shift into a wide grin, that spread all over her face.

But before she was able to answer though, Karin interjected.

"With all due respect Sensei, we're here to protect you, not this school, your mission may be to help them, we can't just abandon our d-"

As she was about to continue speaking, Neru interrupted her, that grin turning more into somewhat of an annoyed expression.

"Stop talking already Karin."

"But, Neru-"

"Believe in Sensei will ya!? He was able to fight without me, so I doubt he'll die fighting some random thugs!"

Her prior bravado returned as she smiled, turning towards me.

"We'll handle ourselves just fine, I'm sure you'll be able to deal with yours alone, right?"

Caught up in the moment, I couldn't help but smirk a little myself.

"Don't worry about me~, some no-name gangsters aren't going to be enough to stop me."

"Eh, that's so!? Well, we'll see Sensei, try not to die out there!"

Turning away from me, she looked at the other members.

"Alright C&C, you heard the man! We're heading out, after we're done with our part we'll regroup with Sensei, so let's get this done as quickly as possible!"

""Yes!""

They all agreed in unison, as I watched them leave together, I'd turn towards the others.

"Alright Kitty~, let's go grab your senior!"

"Ah... yes! We- hey! Stop calling me that already, it's getting seriously annoying!"

Serika, who seemed to have finally snapped out of her daze, immediately complained, her ears twitching in irritation.

"Can you three girls stall the gangsters for long enough without us?"

"Nn. It should be no problem, Sensei, me, Ayane and Nonomi will hold them off for as long as possible."

"I'll be counting on you then, the ammo you had requested is inside my backpack, take whatever you need."

Smiling, I'd turn to Serika, who slowly shook her head, most likely already aware of what I'd be calling her shortly.

In return, I'd nod, fully knowing what must be done.

"Go on then, lead the way, Kitty~"

Even though she knew what I was going to call her, she took a deep breath, deciding not to go on another tangent, despite how much I wished she did.

"...Alright then, Sensei, just... follow me!"

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15 minutes later

Serika and I had begun to make our way through the confusing corridors inside of the school, but soon enough we finally arrived at our destination...

Classroom 2B

"So, this is where your senior is supposed to be sleeping?"

"It should be, Hoshino-senpai always goes here to nap in the afternoon."

"Alright then~, let's go Kitty."

Wham!

As I swung the door open, a new scenery unfolded before me...

In front of me stood rows upon rows of desks, each of them seemingly vacant, all except for one that stood beside the window.

There was a small figure with her head resting upon the desk, she had long, straight pink hair, dressed in a similar manner to the other members of the Committee, but unlike them she wasn't wearing a jacket.

Upon spotting the figure, Serika rapidly approached her desk, ears twitching for a moment in irritation.

"Wake up, Hoshino-senpai!"

Even Kitty's high pitched scream wasn't enough to wake her, amusing as it was I knew I'd need to step in.

"Step aside Kitty, let me give it a try~"

My hands reached out towards the sleeping girl, as soon as I made contact, I'd gently shake her, attempting to wake her up.

"Wake up Pinky, we need your help-"

As soon as I said that, a feeling of danger began ringing throughout my head...

'That's... bloodlust...'

The small girl immediately sprung awake, nearly headbutting me in the process, thankfully I had been able to barely dodge her sudden movement by stumbling backwards, resulting in me falling over and landing on the floor.

"Who's there-!?"

Our gaze locked, her heterochromia of both blue and yellow eyes staring into mine, seemingly trying to analyze every single little thing about me.

The staredown had only lasted for a few seconds, as Serika's voice snapped both of us out of it, bringing us back to reality.

"Hoshino-senpai! You've got to be more careful, you almost hit Sensei!"

"Uh- Uh?"

Seemingly having gotten a grasp on the situation once more, Hoshino sheepishly scratched the back of her head with a tired smile.

"Uhe~, sorry Serika-chan, this old man was just startled by Sensei's attempt at waking her up~"

"Seriously Hoshino-senpai..."

"Uhe~"

She turned towards me, her blue eyes shutting closed as she hunched.

"Sorry Sensei, I shouldn't have acted so with such an rash manner~"

'Look at that switch up... it's like her mood just shifted from one to the other within a second..."

"It's alright~, you didn't actually hit me after all, so no harm done."

Having accepted what I said, she glanced over at Serika, letting out a yawn before continuing to smile.

"By the way Serika-chan, for what did you need this old man?"

"Ah, right! Hoshino-senpai, you've got to prepare quickly, the helmet gang is back to take ownership of our school again!"

Just as Hoshino's mood had become increasingly better, those news made the smile on her face shift from lazy and laid back, to something darker.

Without skipping a beat, her eyes opened as she straightened her posture, speaking up.

"Uhe~, oh really now...?"

She walked back over towards her desk, picking up a shotgun that had been lying on the floor close to it.

"Seems like they still need to be taught a lesson~..."

Her eyes began emanating an almost ethereal glow...

"...And this old man is ready to give them that lecture~"

'She seems pretty serious now...'

Deciding to not push her on the topic, I'd stretch for a moment, putting on a smile of my own.

"Well then, let's go girls, I'm sure that Wolfie and the other two will be overjoyed to see reinforcements arriving~"

Hoshino's eyes glanced at me, a look of distrust still very much present within them...

"...I'm sure of that as well... Sensei."

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10 minutes later

RATATATA!!!

Hoshino, Serika and I had begun to rush back towards Shiroko and the others, with gunshots continuously resonating throughout the building, it made a great guide allowing us to find our way back quicker.

"Sensei, I can see Shiroko-senpai up ahead! She's not looking like she's in too great condition, we've got to hurry up!"

'What?'

I'm aware that the delinquents have the numbers advantage, but other than that they're nothing special...

Feeling confusion beginning to surge inside me, I kicked up the pace.

"Alright Kitty, I'll run there as fast as I can, so try and keep up with me!"

A glimpse of confusion flashed on both of their faces as they looked over at me.

"What are you talking about Sens-"

Taking a deep breath, I stopped holding back, beginning to sprint towards where the gunshots had been coming from, as a piece of the floor had shattered and kicked up from the sudden pressure I've applied to it.

In the blink of an eye, Shiroko's figure appeared before me, she was wounded, but to my surprise, it didn't seem like they had been caused by the gangsters' weapons.

'I've already checked their guns before, the bullets they're using couldn't possibly leave this type of injury...'

"Hey Wolfie, are you okay!?"

Hearing my voice, her ears twitched, before turning around, a troubled expression present on her face.

"Nn... I'm fine, Sensei..."

"What happened? Those injuries don't match the bullet type used by the helmet gang, they more-so resemble ones caused by a machine gun..."

"Nn... It was my fault, I ran in front of Nonomi's and got caught up in the crossfire..."

'Sigh...'

"Well, that would definitely explain your condition..."

"Shiroko-senpai!!!"

Finally, both Serika and Hoshino had arrived at the scene.

"Are you okay!?"

"This old man would like to know the same thing..."

A dangerous, ethereal glint once more appeared within Hoshino's eyes.

"I got hit by a barrage of bullets from Nonomi's minigun..."

...And just like that, a wave of relief washed over her face, a lazy smile returning to her face, the glint from before disappearing as though it never was there.

"Uhe~ I see..."

'We're straying too far off topic, we still need to know where the other two are...'

"Hey Wolfie, where's Ayane and Nonomi?"

"...They're still in the courtyard, holding off the rest of the helmet gang, but I'm unsure for how long they'll be able to hold out..."

As she responded to my question, Wolfie tried to get up, only for her injured body to remind her of the condition she's currently in.

"Argh..."

Watching her struggle, I couldn't help but sigh.

'Seriously, this girl... I respect her courage to try and stand up, but...'

Crouching down, I put a hand on Shiroko's shoulder, stopping her from pushing herself any further than necessary.

"!!"

"Stay down Wolfie, we'll deal with them so don't worry one bit about those two."

An expression of surprise suddenly appeared on her face, immediately; she stopped arguing any further.

"Hoshino, Kitty, come on, let's go kick some helmet gang ass!"

"Uhe~, it's bad to swear in front of your students; you know, Sensei~"

But despite how she, with her tired voice jokingly scolded me, she too had been caught up in the situation...

"Uhe~, but how could this old man refuse when you're so full of enthusiasm..."

As she added, a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes, similar to the one from before.

"...And it's not like I wasn't planning on doing that in the first place~"

Caught up just like the two of us, Serika had chimed in, a smirk appearing on her face, while her ears twitched.

"The same goes for me! Let's head out already, we've got no time to waste!!"

"Alright then girls~, let's go!"

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Ratatata!!!

"Sensei! I've spotted some helmet gang goons!"

"Kitty, can you see Nonomi and Ayane!?"

"I can, they're currently taking cover behind the biggest locker! They don't seem to be wounded yet, at least...""

'That's a relief...'

"How many of theirs are still currently present?"

"Let me check Sensei... it's... one, two, three- what the!?"

As she began counting how many of the gang members were still left, her expression slowly turned to confusion, before becoming worrisome.

"Hey Kitty, what's wrong!?"

Slowly, she turned towards me, the air turned more tense as her expression resembled one of helplessness.

"...There's... currently 50 members of the helmet gang within the courtyard, from what I could tell..."

'Seriously!? That many?'

"And there's more if we count the ones that C&C are still fighting as we speak..."

"...Is this a normal occurrence for you?"

Serika quickly shook her head, her mouth slightly agape; with a confused expression present.

"N-No! Normally there'd be only about 15 to 20 of them, not... not 50!!"

'Guess they're going all in since they wholeheartedly believe that Abydos had run out of ammo once and for all...'

Hoshino's expression turned eerily serious, her heterochromic eyes beginning to emanate a small glow.

"...Sensei, leave the vanguard to this old man."

'Huh? What's this-... this bloodlust, it's the same she was radiating when I first woke her up...'

'The positive is, at least she's as strong as Neru, no... maybe she's even stronger than her...'

"Hoshino-senpai!? You can't just rush head first at them! It doesn't matter how durable your shield is, it wouldn't last o-"

"Alright Pinky, I'll leave them to you-"

As I interrupted her, Serika's head immediately turned towards me, a look of betrayal being shot at me.

"Sensei!?"

"-But... before you go and get hurt, I'll need you to hear my plan out first..."

Her piercing gaze met my own, as she began speaking in a tone lacking any and all emotion.

"...And that is?"

'Damn... where'd her laid-back old man personality go all of the sudden?'

"Simple, when I first got here I couldn't help but notice how many damaged lockers were located all around us."

To further elaborate, I pointed at two specific lockers close to us, they had been forced open and their conditions were still good enough for someone to hide in.

"Kitty over there and I will hide inside of them, providing covering fire while you rush in, the only thing that I'll need you to do is not let those gangsters spot us."

With a serious expression, I turned towards her.

"...Think you could handle that? Are you able to trust us enough to cover your back?"

'Or am I going to have to get on my knees and beg...'

Hoshino's expression was still unwavering, not changing even a bit, only to...

"Uhe~, seems like this old man got a bit too serious~"

Loosening up, her expression turned into more of a confident smile, as she took out her shield, beginning to slowly marching forward, towards the battlefield.

"...But to answer your question, Sensei..."

"...Do what you will, at the end of the day, the result won't change~"

Her smile soon turned into more of a smirk.

"I'll win one way or another~"

"...I see."

Unable to help it, I let out a sigh at her sudden bravado, looking back at Serika, a smile creeping up my face.

"Alright, let's do our part Kitty~, we can't just let Pinky over there do all of the work~"

Serika; who seemingly had been caught up in the moment, was snapped out of her trance at the sound of her nickname, quickly nodding repeatedly.

"Y-Yes, Sensei!"

Hearing her confirmation, I turned to Hoshino, a smirk of my own plastered all over my face.

"...You better not fail then, Pinky~, I've got a score to settle with them as well, they almost cost me my lunch~"

"Yeah~ yeah~, just leave this to the old man..."

No longer wasting any time further discussing the plan, she ran forward and towards the enemy.

"...It's been a minute since these old bones had to work this much, you know~"

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Hoshino's Pov

Ratatatata!!!

"Give it up and hand over Abydos already!!"

'Now why should we go and do that~?'

Bracing myself, I leapt into the air, using the Iron Horus to crash down onto three of the delinquents.

"I don't see any reason to do that... after all, we'll win~"

Both Nonomi and Ayane peeked their heads out from behind the cover, eyes widening as they'd smile in relief upon spotting me.

""Hoshino-chan/senpai!""

"Uhe~, sorry to have kept you younglings waiting, this old man needed to stretch her old bones a little~"

"No problem Hoshino-senpai, although... Where's Serika-chan and Sensei?"

"They're close by, don't worry Nonomi-chan~"

"With that said..."

Turning around to face our dear troublemakers, I'd smile, my grip tightening on the Iron Horus.

"This old man will give you one last chance~, either you leave now and never come back..."

Ch-Ch!

I reloaded the Eye of Horus, causing a piercing sound to resonate throughout the busy courtyard, which caused some of the members to shudder in fear for a moment.

"...Or you can suffer the consequences of your actions~"

"Shut your trap pink haired shorty! We're not gonna listen to some multi-colored freak spouting nonsensical threats without anything to back them up!"

'Even after everything, they've remained the same foolish delinquents~'

"Well then, don't blame this old man for what happens next, alright~?"

As I said that, I proceeded to dash forward, holding the Iron Horus up, the sound of their gunfire deafened by the barrage of bullets that ricocheted off of it.

Ratatata!!!

"C'mon girls! It's just one of them, keep up the suppressive fire and light 'er up real quick!"

"""Yes boss!""""

'Uhe~, why; thank you for pointing out who your commander is, that'll make this old mans job much easier~'

Undisturbed by their bullets, I kept marching onwards, not even a shred of hesitation found within my every step, unyielding; I'd press on.

Finally the deafening sound had stopped, an eerie silence replaced it, only disturbed by the ringing throughout my ears.

A cloud of dust had kicked up due to their non stop firing, within it, I found myself overhearing their murmurs...

"D-did we get her?"

One of them spoke up, everyone went quiet, as though waiting for me to make any sudden noise or movement.

"I-I think we got her!"

"Y... Yeah, YEAH WE GOT HER BOSS!!"

Their chatting only further added to my answer, staying silent as possible, I'd slowly advance forward.

'Checkmate~, at least... I think that's what they call this, uhe~'

'Which one was it that people always forgot about... the... priest? Horse? T... Tower thingie... ah, whatever...'

BANG!!!

"Argh!!!"

As the dust had settled, I wasted no time leaping forward, ramming into the first delinquent in sight, causing them to stumble back and knock over four more of their own.

"S-Shit!"

The remaining members tried to fight me at close range, aiming at me before an empty clicking noise was heard, immediately to follow up they attempted to hit me with the shoulder stocks of their guns...

"Uhe~, you know it's pretty easy to tell that you're all beginners in close quarters combat~"

Smiling in an almost mocking way, I picked up one of the delinquents I had previously knocked down, throwing her towards the incoming attackers...

"Wait... that's one of our o-... argh!!"

Who didn't seem to have seen it coming, unable to react, one of their own had caused more damage than any of them to me.

"AHA! You're mine now!"

A second delinquent had tried to sneak up on me...

"Urgh!!"

...Only for me to take a step to the side, retaliating by kicking her in the stomach with enough force to send her flying like a ragdoll.

Pressing the advantage, I then charged towards their leader...

'!!!'

Suddenly, I felt a piercing gaze boring into the back of my head, the delinquent who I had previously thrown away wasn't finished just yet.

She must have grabbed one of the nearby weapons, behind me it sounded like she was shaking, a rattling sound was heard, by now my only assumption could be she's having a hard time pulling back the trigger.

"E-Eat shit! Y... You two eye colored bastard!...-"

With the barrel staring at the back of my head, it'd be a risk to turn around and use the Iron Horus to block...

'No, no, no... shit! I wasn't paying attention, from this distance, I can't-'

No solution came to mind, at this distance it'd be hard for her to miss, so dodging was not an option, nor was blocking the gunfire, it's simply too slow, but there had to be something...

"I-I've got you now, h-haha!"

Gritting my teeth, I'd brace myself for the worst, prepared for her to fire any moment now, though I couldn't help but wonder what is taking her so long, does she not know hesitation is-

Bang!

"Argh...!!"

The last thing I'd hear was the sound of a gun having been fired, sending that same ringing throughout my ears o-

...Only for the next sound to be that of someone suddenly ear-piercingly screaming. Seizing the chance I'd turn around, swinging the Iron Horus along with me, prepared to face the next foe.

But there on the floor, the delinquent laid, writhing and screaming pain, though this wouldn't go on for long as another shot was fired, yet it was unfamiliar.

'That sound just now... it's different from the weapons that any of my kohai used, then who-'

'...Could it be... Sensei?'

"Are you able to trust us enough to cover your back?"

Those words he had told me earlier replayed within my head, a small smile creeping up my face.

'Uhe~, you know Sensei, maybe there actually is one adult that I can put my trust into... at least on the battlefield~'

Noticing that the enemy forces were in disarray and disoriented, I'd immediately rush forward, firing shot; one after the other with the eye of Horus, taking no time to properly aim.

Bang!!!!

Bang!!!!

"Goddammit! Focus on the shorty with pink hair first!"

But by the time they had attempted to focus their fire on one target, it had been too late...

"You know... Boss-san~..."

"Huh-!?"

BANG!

"Argh!!!!!"

"...Just cause everyone thinks so, shields aren't just made for defense~"

Smiling, I threw my shield at the boss, managing to perfectly hit her square in the face, a clanging sound of metal colliding against one another ringing. This caused the boss to get disoriented

Seizing my chance, I'd leap forward, grabbing it as it had ricocheted and bounced up into the air..

"... And with this..."

As I was in the air, hovering over the remaining delinquents, I took a deep breath, using my mystic to create a pink forcefield around me, lowering my shield until it's beneath me...

"It's over."

BANG!

...With my grip on the Iron Horus clinging tighter than ever, I'd slam into the ground, creating a wide crater with sheer force that caused the remaining delinquents to fall unconscious.

The delinquents were still, everything went quiet, slowly; I'd climb out of the crater I had just made, spotting both my juniors and the same enigmatic, yet peculiar adult standing besides one another.

Sighing, I collapsed the Iron Horus, raising my head up high, an idea had shown itself, revealing its tantalizing colors to not just me, but us...

'...It's time... for the counterattack.'

Chapter Text

Hello guys!

this isn't a chapter, but a notice

At first i was unsure if i should write this, but i didn't want to leave my readers hanging, so here we are

right now chapter 2 of Abydos is already in production, and I promise that it will be very good, but there is an issue

School is just ending, and as a consequence my schedule is packed full to the brim with tests, so the production has been going slower then expected, being only about 35% done, and if it wasn't enough, my editor is in my same situation, so i will ask this:

do all of you want me to finish the chapter and immediately after doublechecking it post it?

or do you prefer for me to wait for my editor?

in the first case the chapter will come out much earlier, but the quality will be worst

in the second case it will be the opposite

the chapter is already 6000 words, so expected a long chapter when i'm done, with many important bits of lore

as well, I took my liberties to... spicen up the world of kivotos to make it more dark

next chapter especcialy Neru's backstory and some lore about Millenium will be shown, so look forward to that!

having said that, I await your response

Chapter Text

To build trust

–Roland pov–

'Sheesh...'

'That pink haired girl sure knows how to make a first impression... Like this other Librarian I know...'

'Though, that final move of hers in particular caught my eye, I believe they called it....'

Mystic

'Mystic? Mystique? I suppose they're both the same...'

Letting out a short sigh, I sheepishly scratch the back of my head. I thought of this 'Mystic', and the similarities it had with the Singularities of The City...

'Mystic... an unknown special energy that the students of Kivotos seem to get from their haloes.'

'From what Yuuka has told me so far, every student has a unique way of using Mystique, and like its name suggests, it isn't clear how a student can learn to make use of their Mystique... Or Mystic, whatever. It's just more of a second nature to them, kind of like learning to breathe, maybe?'

'And Pinky's Mystique allows her to make some sort of barrier around her, huh? I remember seeing W Corp having some sort of shield generation ability as well, it's a bit similar to this Mystique ability.'

'It'd be pretty handy for dealing with bullets, that is if they don't punch through the barrier, but I guess it wouldn't be a wild card if it wasn't anything special, right?'

Lost in thought I was while the girls were celebrating their hard earned victory, and then, a certain group of maids returned from their 'cleaning' duty.

"Oi, Sensei! We're done taking care of the other gang members, looks like you've also got your end covered, I'm glad you were as competent as I thought you were."

"heh? your mentor just came back from war unscathed, and that's the first thing you say? Were you also a cityfolk in your previous life?"

"What? What are you talking about? We're all cityfolks, aren't we?"

"Forget it~ but it did take you a while to clean up, aren't you guys supposed to be experts at this sort of thing?"

"Shut UP!! Don't say that like we had the same amount of enemies to fight! We had WAY more than you!"

Neru and I bickered, Neru leaned forwards with a nagging expression as she yelled at me, the sight of which reminded me once more of Tiphereth.

"That so? But aren't there also more of you?"

"Well, yes! But we don't have an adult supervising us! Otherwise we would've been able to clean things up way faster!"

Hearing that, I couldn't help but let out an arrogant smile as I folded my hands, before sneering back at her.

"So you finally admit that I'm good at my job? Took you long enough, it's fine, though~ Sometimes people have a bad eye for talent~"

"THAT IS NOT WHAT I- SENSEI, YOU-!"

'Okay, she's way worse than Tiphereth, I shouldn't poke her as hard...'

Neru continued to yell profanities at me, but I ignored her, and turned to the rest of the maids.

"So, how did it go? Is everyone unscathed, no serious injuries or such?"

While several other maids seemed delighted to answer, they were all shut down by the sound of Karin clearing her throat, taking it upon herself to answer my question as she stepped up from the crowd.

"If we counted correctly, there were at least ten dozen delinquents that were attempting an attack from the back of the school. But, no matter how many there are, delinquents are delinquents, riff-raffs who never graduated middle school could never-"

While talking, she took out a map...

"-Actually formulate a decent plan. And after Akane had a short "talk" with the head delinquent, we were able to gather some information about the enemies and their current position-"

Before she could keep going, Akane interrupted her.

"Fufu~, That girl was pretty tame for a delinquent, It's a shame she had to walk down that path... If only she'd apply to be part of C&C, I would gladly take her in~"

"Well, You just botched any chance of that happening with that interrogation of yours, you always talk about wanting a new junior colleague, but this is what's 'normal' for you. haa..."

Neru chimed in, crossing her arms as she snarked at Akane.

"Ah~ Please, you're making it sound worse than it actually is~! I simply had a little talk with Head Delinquent over there, nothing more!"

'I'm not sure why, but I find Neru to be way more convincing than Akane here...'

"Haa... That's enough from you two, anywho..."

Karin stopped the conversation between the two, waving her map around as if to say 'I'm the one talking here!'

"That's good and all, Akane, but how sure are you that she wasn't lying when she gave you that intel?"

I asked Akane, which caused Karin to pout in annoyance, though I paid her no mind

"Ah! Well, you see, Sensei~ There are many indicators of somebody lying, such as... Fiddling with their fingers, looking around nervously, covering their mouth, blah blah blah..."

Akane then went on a long ramble on how she verified the legitimacy of Head Delinquent's intel... Seems like she already snuffed out some lies before getting the intel she has currently, hm, I can tell why she liked the Head Delinquent, she seems pretty loyal despite being a delinquent...

'Eugh... That reminds me of when I was interrogated by the Seven Association, it was the scariest interrogation I've ever faced. Angela's interrogation didn't even come close.''...

'... Though, I suppose Angelica played a big factor on both occasions...'

As Akane continued to ramble on, and I continued to take in her words, Asuna peeked her head from the side of a wall, before rushing up to us with a grin.

"Yep, yep! My intuition is never wrong after all!"

'... Wait what? Isn't Akane the one interrogating?'

"Wait, Akane, I thought you were the only one interrogating people?"

"Ah, not quite, Sensei. While I am the lead interrogator- I mean... Conversation leader, not everything I told you would be a guaranteed way of finding out if someone's lying or not, that's why I have Asuna by my side to give a final say in the matter~"

"So... This entire ordeal... all ultimately depends on Asuna's intuition?"

Akane lets out a soft chuckle, her fingers on her lips as she does so.

"Ding ding ding~ Correct answer, Sensei~!"

'... I should remind myself that these are all kids that are not even half my age, they're really not as competent as they're making themselves out to be...'

"Sigh..."

'I shouldn't raise my hopes up too much. It's way easier to be cruel than to be intelligent, after all.'

It seems that the maids could immediately tell my expression went from impressed to utterly disappointed, and seemingly had a drop in their mood as well.

Akane stopped smiling, Asuna frowned and gazed upon the ground, Neru looked unbothered, while Karin looked ashamed, yeah this is not a good look, I need to brighten their mood, especially after their hard earned victory...

'Well... if this method has never failed like Asuna says, then maybe you're all just Masters at psychology, eh?'

"Woah! Really?! I'm a master, already?!"

Asuna's face brightened, and she hopped like a bunny while gazing at me with her sparkly, starry eyes.

"Err... Actually, you're more of a prodigy, I know a few people who could do that... Lie intuition thing as well."

One dark haired woman comes to mind as I said that...

"... Oh, w-well! A prodigy is still great!"

Asuna looked less excited now, but she still seems to be in a better mood than before. I don't like seeing these students all droopy, but I need to keep it real with them... I seem to be the only adult here aside from maybe some robots, so I need to give them the best example that they can get...

"Ekhem! As I was saying-"

"Alright then- since we have this informations now, you should go inside the meeting room and wait for me and the other girls, so that we can talk about how to move forward"

... And that meant that I can't be too lenient on them, nor can I be too harsh, that's what my grandma always told me.

"... A-As I was-"

Neru flashed a small grin at my declaration, before she raised her Submachine gun into the sky with one hand, calling out to the other maids-

"You heard Sensei! Let's go girls, we have a meeting to prepare!"

""Yes Neru / Neru-senpai""

"..."

As the C&C girls left, I saw Karin following them with a tired expression. I swear I could hear her mutter something under her breath, cursing me and Akane before going out of earshot... What was that all about? I don't know what I, or what Akane did to her, but I'll ask her later.

"Righty then, how does it feel, girls? Getting back at your tormentors feels awesome, doesn't it~?"

"Ahhh! You don't know how great it feels, Sensei! We've lived our whoooole lives in worry, I always felt nervous when I faced those delinquents, but then when I went- BAM and then I went WHABAM! On that delinquent, it felt so awesome I didn't feel afraid anymore!"

'Whoa there- it seems that Kitty had some repressed rage~'

"That's good and all, but, besides Kitty's repressed rage-"

"W-What are you saying!? I have no repressed rage! Sensei-"

Kitty protested against the comments made against her, but I didn't find it important enough to acknowledge.

"-What's the plan now, for all of you?  I'm sure that you know that this won't be the last time you'll see them, right?"

And just like that, the lively and joyous atmosphere of victory plummeted back to the ground, a scene that reminded me of my old Smoke War general...

"...You know Sensei, this old man thinks that you should learn to read the mood a little~"

'Guh... I know it's harsh, but you've gotta spend more time planning ahead! That's exactly why G Corp and R Corp were in total shambles during the smoke war!'

I turned my head towards Serika, my expression pleading for any sense of understanding from her psyche.

'Surely I can't be that bad...'

"uhm... I'm sorry Sensei, but they're right! so stop looking at me with such a pitiful expression!"

'... There's got to be at least one supporter here...'

I'm sure Nonomi will understa-

"Yeah, Sensei~, you need to fix that! girl's won't like you if you're so uptight all the time~"

'What?! Me, of ALL people, uptight?!'

Shiroko, seeing my battered state, approached me and put a hand on her shoulder

"Nm, it's okay Sensei..."

A spark of relief washed over my heart, as I looked at Shiroko with hopeful eyes, clasping her hand in excitement.

'Wolfie! I knew you had my back-'

"... It'll just take a bit for that attitude to disappear."

...

I have nothing but my sorrow... And I want nothing more. It has been, it still is, faithful to me...

Ayame, understanding that they might be getting a bit too comfortable jabbing at me, took the initiative to steer the subject away back to its original topic.

"A-Anyway, Sensei, should we go back inside to discuss what to do?"

"... Yeah... I guess..."

I turned towards the other girls, my posture now slightly hunched after the blows I took from the girls.

I shook my head, regaining my composure before speaking in a stern, authoritative tone.

"Everyone! let's all regroup in the meeting room, then we'll discuss our future plans!"

""Yes, Sensei!""

It was finally time... to begin

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In the meeting room

I sat at the foremost seat in front of a large, rectangular table, hosting nearly a dozen students all around it, each with their notepads and pens out... Although a few seemed to be dozing off.

"Alright girls, to start things off..."

Using a long stick I found on a table along the way, I pointed at a specific point on an unwrapped map of Kivotos hanging behind me.

"Now, thanks to Akane, we now know that the abandoned mall is the gang's main hideout, if we were to jog there without rest stops in between... It'll take around 30 minutes to get there."

The students stared at the map intently, some seemed kind of excited... It looks like they haven't been planning on the offensive for a while, huh?

"And while that may be the case, we have to remember that there are hundreds of mines hidden along the way, so we can't just barge in there guns blazing like we did earlier..."

I glanced around the room, taking note of the expressions of the students. Fortunately, they seemed to have been expecting this, though, a certain student has a shocked expression right now... I won't mention who, though.

"And so, that leaves us with two options: either we attack now when they are at their weakest, or we take some time to recover and plan our next advances."

An excited glint appeared in Neru's eyes as I expected, but something unexpected also happened...

'Hoshino... Looks pretty excited as well.'

These two were excited, albeit for different reasons. Those eyes are a dime a dozen in the backstreets, Neru looks to be excited for the battle and winning some glory for her and her team...

... But Hoshino's were more sinister, the prospect of being able to harm the delinquents ignited a sadistic part in her...

"That's heartless of you, and I had some good news for you, too... "

"We've brought the person you wanted to meet so dearly, actually."

...

'Why did I get reminded of that blue sicko? Hoshino and him are nothing alike... argh... I guess I've just not sensed much bloodthirst ever since I came here, even the smallest similarities are making me reminisce on my old life.'

Thankfully compared to his malice, hers lacked any intent to kill, seemingly being content with teaching them a lesson, though that could change very soon if I don't do something about it.

"... Hoshi-"

"Hmm? What's wrong, Sensei?"

"... Forget about it."

I cleared my throat, before facing the students with a serious expression, it's time for us to make our choice.

"Then, what will it be? Will we attack... Or will we wait?"

'Let's see how these kids will act now.'

Revenge

There's no doubt that these girls, no matter how young and naive they are, harbor some resentment towards the delinquents. Those who rule under power and fear also rule under resentment.

The Head who oversees all knowledge, The Eye's perceptive gaze across the land, The Claws to honor their absolute power... And finally, the dirt below them who harbors resentment.

We, as of now, are the resentment-filled dirt, but... No matter how strong or immortal a ruler is, one day, they will always rot back into the soil. In the end, the oppressed will find a way to drag their oppressors down into the dirt, where they can be equals together.

I'm here to simply speed up that process.

'However... Rotting takes time, and I need to see if they're able to be patient and wait for the right opportunity, while not causing any unnecessary losses in the meantime.'

Of course attacking now would be the best choice, but...

... I don't want any of these girls to get hurt for no reason, a sacrifice needs to have equally worthwhile benefits. If we charge in simply because of our vigor... Then that may cause some issues.

'That's why, if they decide to rush it solely with the mindset of making them pay... I'll leave them here and deal with the helmet gang with C&C'

Controlling your emotions is the single most important aspect of being a fixer... No, it's the most important aspect of nearly everything.

You need to be rational to maintain discretion, but you also need to be compassionate to continue being human. There are times where being rational is needed... But there are times where letting your emotions take control is the best option, this situation is the former.

There was a fixer I met multiple times during my time working for Angela in the library... That kid, Philip, when he was still the youngest member of Dawn office... He had been there to witness all of his Dawn office subordinates perish into books in front of him.

He was kind, and took responsibility for his actions, not something you'd see in a lot of people in The City.

I saw how he had acted back then, Angela's projection of the guest life didn't leave much privacy after all...

No matter how kind a person is, there is a border between being kind and being obsessed over being kind.

Philip... Never wanted to avenge his fallen comrades, he wanted approval for himself. There was never a time where Philip told those Wedge Office fixers to be careful, or to stay safe... All he did was beg for their understanding, and to help him avenge Salvador and Yuna.

And where did that lead him? To run away once more and abandon his Wedge Office subordinates once again.

A man who's drowned in self pity can never hope to become more than what he really is.  Even when he manifested his EGO, it took no more than a few sentences for Oswald to completely ruin his resolve.

That is the nature of a man driven by his own feelings, the blind obsession to make him able to forgive himself.

'And in the end... He became one of that bastard's lackeys. Anger, sadness, sorrow, whatever it is, can never be a real motivation no matter how inspiring it is.'

... How ironic that I've said that...

"...So, what will it be?"

I uttered to the students, who all seem to be looking at each other and discussing things in a hushed tone.

At first nobody answered me, but then...

"Hehe~ this old man thinks that the answer is obvious Sensei~"

Her eye shone in an ethereal glow

"Let's just rip them out along with their roots~"

'Sigh... just as I expected'

After their senior's statement, a fire was born in the other girls eyes

"Yes! Hoshino-senpai is right, they're at their weakest right now! It's the best time to deal with them, once and for all!"

"Nm, it's indeed the best time to deal with them..."

"I'm with you Hoshino-chan~, I'm sure that we can finally teach em' a lesson!"

"W-Well, we might not get another opportunity like this!"

'They're naive... I've told myself that many times before, and thus, I should've expected this outcome.'

'But why am I... So disappointed?'

There it was, in their eyes the same sparkle of false determination that Philip once had, the eyes I've witnessed turned into a cold, hollow stone socket, before being covered entirely.

'... I need to do something.'

but could I?

I couldn't talk Angela out of going forth with her plan... What makes me so sure that I can talk them out of this? Everyone was against Angela... But even then I failed, what chance do I have to sway a group of naive children supporting each other in their path for conquest?

... Why did I believe that I was up for this task, when I'm the one who destroyed myself in the first place?

... Why couldn't I have talked Angela out of it, even when I understood her pain?

"Oi..."

'!!!'

There was a low growl coming from one of the C&C members, and to my  prediction, it was Neru.

Neru glared at the other side of the table while she bit down on her thumb, her eyes like that of an angry demon.

And then everyone went silent.

"If the five of you don't calm down this moment, you're gonna regret what happens next-"

She said, her hands lowering to her side, to which Hoshino replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Fufu~, indeed, someone really needs to have their mind cleared a little~"

The rest of C&C followed their leader's action, they all took their hands off of the table and down to their sides.

Hoshino eyes seemed to grow a sense of confusion, seemingly wondering why they were being so-

CLACK

CLACK

Neru drew both of her SMGs at Hoshino, to which she replied by also drawing her Shotgun. Although Neru drew her SMGs first, I noticed that Hoshino managed to get into a firing position before Neru did...

"...You know, pointing guns at your allies isn't something that, to this old man, makes much sense"

Both sides of the table also followed suit, they all aimed their weapons at each other, some seemed shocked and nervous, others seemed calm and collected, while the rest seemed to have expected this.

Neru, looking unbothered, rebutted

"Look here cotton candy hair, your attitude is not to my liking."

Neru furrowed her eyebrows, and steadied her hold on her SMGs

"You rush the enemy right now, then what? We don't know what their formations are like, or how many traps they've planted. What if the road we planned to take suddenly was blocked? If you wanna go ahead and go on a warpath with your five girls, go ahead. But I'm not taking my team with me just because you felt a bit vigorous and brave today, old man."

Shiroko, seemingly unaware of what she meant, butted in

"Nm, I don't really see what you mean? We already got the map, so..."

Asuna intervened

"Didn't you see Shiroko-chan? The moment that your senior talked about exterminating the problem at the root, all of you were ready to head out without even making a plan in your mind! You all looked... You all looked like those same delinquents who tormented us!"

Karin butted in, adding to Sauna's remark

"I appreciate your determination, but do remember..."

CHING!

She opened the bolt of her Anti Tank Rifle to show that it is indeed armed and loaded.

"... That our first priority is safety, not victory, so you five better get a grip, or we will sanction you behind the front lines until the fog of war dries out."

Hearing the three C&C members talk, the girls seemed to reconsider their plan... Or lack thereof.

"... Haa... It seems that this old man has gotten a bit fired up, apologies for the trouble..."

Hoshino quickly bowed her head at Neru

"Thank you for knocking some sense into me, Neru-san."

Neru, hearing her response, lets out a sigh of relief, and grew a satisfied smirk on her face

"Eh! Don't need to thank me! I just did what a leader should've done!"

"... But no apologies for drawing our guns, it was your idea, fufu~"

Neru shrugged, before plopping back down onto her seat and started balancing on the two hind legs of said chair.

"Yeah yeah, I admit, that was a bit too much, so sorry about that too, old man."

The girls of C&C grew a small smile on their faces, and Akane in particular looked to be in a teasy mood.

"Fufu~, look at our dear Neru, having matured so much in such little time~ Ahh... I'll miss the old Neru at this rate~!"

"Whuh? Was that a compliment?"

"Haha~ I guess you could call it one... You always mix up compliments with insults anyway~"

"Heh, it feels nice to have some appreciation here! Maybe I should do this more often..."

"..."

"Wait a minute... You #$!&!!!"

"Oh dear~! Looks like I'm late for errands!"

"Don't you run away!! Get back here!!"

Neru chased Akane around the room, knocking over many items in their antics. Their little show got many chuckles and laughs from the other girls in the conference room.

'I'm not surprised, despite how she acts, Neru is a pretty responsible person. There's a reason why she's the leader of C&C, you know? Plus, she's one of my first students! I'm sure that has to do with something.'

"Alright, alright~! Girls, let's get back on track-"

hearing my voice, the girls seemed to regain focus

"-So, in the end your choice is still to go on the offensive, right?"

The task force gave each other a quick glance, some looking doubtful at one another, while the others seemed more determined than ever.

"Yes, sensei, we still believe that going on the offensive is the right choice- We won't get another chance like this, where they are unprotected and not expecting us"

Ayane's lips were quivering, seemingly afraid of having said the wrong thing.

"That's where you're wrong, Ayane."

Ayane flinches, seemingly not expecting me to actually call her out... The other students now looked to be more doubtful than before...

But what they didn't expect was a small smile to appear on my face.

"If you can't find an opening, you make an opening. Don't think to yourself that there won't be another opportunity like this... Because I'll have you know, this opportunity is one that you created, not one that just suddenly fell from the sky."

Ayane looks at me with a buffooned expression before she smiles shyly, and looks at the ground whilst scratching her head.

"A-Ah, how foolish of me... I should've known that, Sensei..."

"It's alright, nothing a bit of confidence can't fix."

I walked towards Ayane, stopping in front of her, before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"So, what is our choice, Ayane?"

Ayane looked at me with a shocked expression, her cheeks slightly flushed. Despite that, she managed to regain her composure, and looked at me with a determined face.

"We will go on the offensive, and exploit this opportunity that we created ourselves!"

"Alright then!"

I turned towards C&C

"You heard her! Let's prepare for the operation!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

Though, amidst the loud chattering and celebration, a particular pink haired girl seemed awfully confused at the situation.

"But... wasn't attacking the wrong choice?"

"Ha? When did we say that?"

Neru answered her from behind, her arms crossed as she kept looking at me.

"Earlier, if this old man's memory serves him right... Were you not against going on the offensive?"

Neru looked at Hoshino, before letting out a tch of annoyance.

"There's nothing wrong with going on the offensive, sure, we might not know what they're planning there, but the same can be said for if we were to wait it out. Who knows what could have changed if we attacked only a day or two sooner?"

"Then, why was-"

"It's because you weren't thinking with your head, shortie."

Neru said, glancing at Hoshino before pointing at her own head.

"No matter how good of a plan you got, if you go in there wanting to just beat the crap out of people, you won't get very far. You just need to think more rationally, when you pull out a plant's roots, there's a chance that it might grow back if you pull it out too hard, no? That's why you have to carefully dig around it and take it out precisely, so that it may never regrow again."

Hoshino looked at Neru with a raised eyebrow, letting out a soft sigh of acknowledgement, before saying;

"... You didn't seem like the type to be into poetry, fufu~"

"WHY YOU-?! I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU HERE AND THIS IS WHAT YOU GIVE ME IN RETURN?!"

Hoshino chuckled at Neru's outrage, before she tried calming her down.

"Though, I appreciate the effort, Neru-san, this old man learned something new today thanks to you, so I appreciate it."

"... Don't mention it."

I watched from afar as I watched the two students bond, letting out a proud smile. Oh how she's grown...

"Having said this..."

I flashed a big grin at the girls.

"Let's begin Operation Delamination (the process of wearing down a helmet), shall we?"

""Yes Sensei!!""

"Alright then- Let's go!"

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Hoshino pov

'... Uprooting it carefully, huh?'

As we were making our way towards the main headquarters of the helmet gang, I began thinking about a certain someone.

the adult who had just crashed into my life without any warning.

Roland-Sensei

He was a true enigma.

Out of nowhere, he arrived in Kivotos, solving the issues of countless schools in just a few weeks, brilliantly retaking the Sanctum tower, while going up against one of the seven prisoners, and from what I've heard... She ran with her tail in between her legs.

'It wouldn't be an understatement to say that he's the only reason that Kivotos is still pulling through, ever since the disappearance of the president of the GSC-'

But as naturally as all things that came to fame be, there exists questions one asks themselves at some point regarding that person.

How did he get here?

Where did he come from?

And most importantly...

Who was he in the past?

But the GSC released nothing, no type of information besides his gender and overall description... How odd

'It's almost as if they wanted to hide something...'

And the first time we met...

Sigh...

'Really~, how brazen of him to shake a sleeping girl without consent~'

The moment I felt his skin touch mine, I felt it.

Through all my years of fighting, all the callouses I've gained, and all the pain I've endured.

I thought I'd forgotten it, that I've seen too much to feel it ever again...

That feeling of terror, one that triggered my fight or flight response instantaneously.

The eyes of a man should not be that hollow, it's as if the very color of his pupils has had every life sucked out of them. The void behind his eyes tried to be inconspicuous despite its intense and utterly revolting presence...

'But in the end, he didn't seem to have hostile intentions... At least for now'

Every time I glance at him, a feeling of uneasiness always goes up my spine, I wonder how many lives that kind smile has taken.

'... He's dangerous, I can tell, and for that reason is why I cannot trust him.'

Because the malice inside his heart had yet to be ceased.

on the outside though, he showed a playful character, a fine facade if I do say so myself, but...

'But no matter how hard he tries to hide it, his eyes and movements tell a very different story about him.'

His heart beats the quietest out of everyone I've met, it was desperately trying to hide its presence from the outside world... And inside of it, a sense of sadness and regret was present, with each beat of his heart, there was no desire or hope, or even dreams behind those thumping in his chest, only the simple biological desire to keep on living.

Though, a heart is still a heart, sometimes they will shine with interest, beating faster whenever he sees something around him that seemed new to him-.

But that feeling lasts only a little while, before he puts on his mask once more, warping our perception of his true self once again.

'A facade that he drops once in a while, especially when in a serious situation'

On the battlefield, it was clear as day...

he was used to this, maybe even more so than I am.

And thus, an idea came to my mind.

'Why not question him a little~?'

After all, gathering the answers from the man himself would be way faster.

I quickened my pace to reach Roland, who was leading the group up in the front.

There he was, walking beside those maids again...

'Tch!'

Argh~ such a bother, this old man can't take it anymore~, do I really need to take him somewhere else to talk with him?

"Hey, Sensei~"

"Uhm?"

Hearing my voice, he quickly turned around to face me

"Wait a sec, Asuna... What is it, Pinky~? Need something from little, old me?"

Suspicion

How strange... He looks at me with eyes filled with suspicion, yet he never looks at the other students with the same gaze.

Why? Why is he suspicious of me? What justifies him being suspicious of me? When he's the one here coming into our city like a stray cat, and then playing the Hero as our Sensei? And you have the galls to think I am suspicious?

How utterly repulsive...

"Oh~, nothing too bad! I just wanted to have a talk with you while we walked towards the abandoned mall, so that this old man can get to know you a bit~"

Hearing my words, the suspicion in his eyes lessened, though it remained still.

"I see... well, why not~? We still have a bit of time before we get there anyway~"

Just as he said that, on the petite maid's face a wary gaze appeared, I thought I had to convince her as well... But she unexpectedly backed down from protesting.

"This old man is happy to know that~! Should we go somewhere else, away from the other girls? Some privacy would be the best after all~"

... His suspicion returned, it took a while for him to answer, given how fluent he is at his act... Heh, don't expect to fool me like how you've fooled those naive girls from before.

"...Sure, let's do that then, pinky~"

'Perfect~, just as I planned'

He turned back towards the dark-skinned maid, giving her some orders to follow.

"Karin, you'll have to lead the group for a bit~ make sure Akane doesn't try to trip Neru's feet now, alright~?"

"Heeey~! What was that for~?"

"Alright Sensei, I just so happened to be the best at watching over that troublemaker."

"Thank you~"

he turned back towards me,

"Shall we go then~?"

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We finally got to a secluded area, a walkway around a pond with a great view of the sun, the perfect place to interrogate Roland.

'And nobody seems to have followed us.'

though, I myself was not sure about that... But after a few more minutes of staying alert, I think it's safe to say that we're alone here.

"Alright then."

Roland's relaxed expression drops into a more serious one, his smile was not present, and that gaze that seems to look at me as a child is now gone.

So he was suspicious... I fell for his act that was telling me that he believed me, tch...

"Let's talk, what do you want from me? You're all stiff and on edge, you know? It's not really a convincing act considering you said you wanted us to get to know each other."

I followed suit after Roland,

"Seems you know a lot about playing a character, Sensei."

Hearing my response, he seems to be attempting to gauge the severity of the situation to react accordingly.

"... I'm not sure what you're talking about, there are times where you're supposed to be laid back and times when you're supposed to be serious, no?"

Roland's response only ticked me off even more, trying to play it off as a normal thing that all humans do, while he's obviously anything by normal...

"As I said before, Stop keeping up the facade, this old man doesn't appreciate it"

My statemen- no, demand, made Sensei stop talking, as he stared at me with an almost emotionless gaze

"..."

He stared straight into my eyes, his black pupils meeting my heterochromic one's. I can feel it again, the same feeling I felt from him back then...

Terror

"Well, Pinky, I'm not really sure what you want me to do, but I'm pretty sure you're not here just to help me 'express' my true self to the other students, no?"

a goosebump went up my spine, as his stare bore into my eyes.

"...I have a few questions to ask you. The moment you don't answer truthfully, I promise, and I will... "

I drew my shotgun, raising it to meet him dead in the face, making sure he can see my index on the trigger.

"I will make sure that you never... No, I'll make sure that you won't even have the feet to step foot in Abydos again."

As he saw the Eye of Horus, his attitude remained completely the same, not even an ounce of fear in his eyes. Those are the eyes of a man that had been in even worse situations.

"You know, this is the third time that someone threatened me with a gun in the last month-"

CLACK

"?!"

PUM!

Just as Roland attempted to lighten the mood with a snarky remark... I feel the barrel of my gun being yanked to the side, before a blunt impact sends my vision to meet the ground.

"Sorry about this, Pinky, but this ain't much-"

"A-Argh!!"

"-Compared to shoving that shotgun up my face."

I felt the weight of his knee on my back as he placed my arm in a deadlock, I felt like my arm was about to pop or straight up break at any added force...

He knows that my strength far surpasses his, that's why he's bordering on the edge between breaking my arm and putting me in my place!

"You know, Pinky,  you're the first one to actually have any type of bloodlust when holding me at gunpoint~"

"U-Urk... Damn it... I didn't gasp have this in mind..."

I couldn't see his face from my position, so I didn't know what expression he made. Damn it... my entire plan relied on seeing his reactions to my questions and acting accordingly.

"Hic... hic... S-Sensei... I'm sorry, p-please just let me go... M-My hic arm hurts- OOOWWWW!!"

"Stop that, I know you're not the type to cry and beg, let's just get this questionnaire over with. But I'm warning you, don't expect many satisfactory answers."

... Tch... He saw through it, what a sham.

'... Still, I have to take this opportunity.'

"Alright... alright! No... No more tricks from this- gasp from this old man..."

I took a few moments to steady my breathing and catch my breath, my head still rings from that impact to my head... I couldn't even make out what he hit me with, but it's obvious he never intended for it to hurt me too much.

"Well, for the first question... What made you decide to come here and help us?"

Roland took a few moments to answer my question, the tension in my left arm remained the same, I can tell he's still wary of me.

"Well, I won't say it's for any grandiose cause like saving the world, nor is it strictly to help all of you... I just wanted a new start, and it won't hurt to help out you bunch in the process. "

... A new start? Why would he need that?

"Oh~, why is that? Now this old man is curious about your past Sensei-"

"My past? Huh... Well, I did a bunch of odd-jobs for a bunch of shady folks in a dingy office, I was a bit of a jack of all trades, you know? Well, then I worked in a library before coming here... That was pretty much it."

So he was a problem fixer? Or maybe someone similar, huh?

"Odd jobs, huh? Sensei~ did you... Kill anyone?"

"..."

!!!!!

What... Wh-What is this?! I... I'm scared, I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared! Why did he suddenly get so intense?!

"... Don't get ahead of yourself, Pinky. I told you what I was in the past, don't go on trying to dig it out like a mole rat now, I don't really appreciate it."

This atmosphere... Is... Is making it hard to breathe! Just what could've happened to him in the past for him to let out such a response?!

"haa haaa... A-Alright, I-I understand! I-I'm gasp I'm sorry!"

Roland remained silent for a few more seconds, before the pressure emanating from him gradually began to cease, allowing me to catch my breath again.

"... A-Alright... Then for a second question- How strong are you?"

"Hmm... I was a pretty big shot back in my hometown, even though my wife could've curb stomped me... But I wasn't even close to the strongest, so... I guess it depends on who you're comparing me with?"

'He's dodging the question'

"If you fought against me, how do you think that it would end up?"

. . .

"... A one on one between us... Tough to say, you're pretty strong, but you're pretty inexperienced, y'know? I could probably beat, but just baaaareeeelyyyy"

I didn't expect him to say that he could actually beat me...

'I can't tell if he's lying or not...'

Could he be bluffing, so that I would lower my guard around him? But the prowess he showed just now proves otherwise... Let's just believe him for now, I'm sure that in the meantime I'll be able to see how strong he really is...

"...I see, then I'll ask you one last question, this one is the most important one of them all..."

My true feelings began to surface, a bubbling rage building in my chest, as all of my repressed doubts and feelings came out of my mouth. Despite the position I found myself in, I won't let him leave until I've shown him a piece of my mind.

"Why should I trust you? Why should I believe in you, this... adult who just came in here out of nowhere? When all other adults just left us aside, ignored us, and took advantage of us!"

I gritted my teeth, the fact that I could not look at him makes me even more upset.

"Tell me... What makes you Special?! Why should we trust you like how we trusted those... Leeches..."

"..."

Roland remained silent, but something happened that I didn't expect... He let go of my arm, taking a few steps away as I rubbed my shoulders.

"...?"

I turned around to face him quickly, reaching over to where my shotgun fell before pointing it at him.

"Well? Gonna answer me, Sensei?"

The way he looked at me was odd, he looked as if he understood my concerns... It was... Calming, in a way?

"Haa... Listen, Pinky, I know I can't ever experience what you experienced in the past, maybe I will, but I probably won't, but...

he stared straight at me, a serious expression on his face

"What makes you privileged enough to ask that question? Like I said, I can't experience what you've experienced, but you also can't feel my sorrows as well."

He stood up and dusted his pants from any dirt attached to it.

"... But, despite that, people from all sorts of backgrounds grow to trust each other... Like my friend, Olivier, who was from a well off family unlike my lack thereof, despite that, we still became lifelong pals."

"What... just, just get to the point!"

"My point is, Pinky, no matter how convincing my answer is, that will still leave doubts in your heart that will continue to make you wary of me. I want to gain your- No, gain everyone's trust through my actions, and my sacrifice to this city, not because of lofty promises I made to each and every one of you."

He walked closer to me, slowly leaning forwards and then extending a hand towards me.

"I want you to watch me become a person you can trust, that's why I won't answer that question of yours... Because the answer to that question is far more complicated than what a few words can convey."

"... So... In the end, you'll just... Avoid my question again, huh...?"

A small, almost unnoticeable stream of tears began to roll down my cheek, and my grip on my shotgun began to falter.

"... In the end, only you can answer that question, Pinky- no, Hoshino. It's not within my rights to provide you with an answer for that question."

"Why... Why are you so sure that that's the case? Why can't you just give me a straightforward answer for once..."

Clack

My shotgun dropped onto the hard concrete floor, before the sound of faint hiccings coming from me began to fill the area around us two.

"Hic... hic... I... I can't trust you, Roland... I've got too much to lose... But I... I want to trust you, it's just-"

Ah... How pathetic of me, shedding tears in front of the person who I was supposed to take answers from...

"... I... I'll continue to watch over you, Roland. And when the time comes... I'll tell you my answer, and... On that day... I will decide your fate in Abydos, understood...?"

That answer he gave... Was one I've not heard of before, so I expected him to give me a logical, and rational answer... And yet... That answer gave me reassurance way past any logical answer I could provide.

"I'll be in your care, then, Hoshino. I won't disappoint you, I promise."

... And with that, I also reached my hand out, and I took Sensei's hand, who helped me get back on my feet

"All the good and bad decisions I made, I had no way of knowing the outcome, no one to tell me if what I was doing was stupid... But that won't be the case for you all, that's my purpose as your Sensei here, isn't it?"

He gave me a pat on my shoulder, to which I winced, given that it was the same shoulder he was putting in a deadlock earlier.

"Ouch...."

"Oh, and sorry about your arm, Hoshino, I'll take you to the infir-"

"No, it's fine, you've done enough to soothe this old man's pain, Roland-Sensei, so... Please go and take care of the other students first, I can handle this myself."

"..."

He nodded, before saying his goodbyes at me and leaving the premises. I was now alone with my thoughts, and my sore arm.

Sensei

An adult, someone I shouldn't trust

'They have only betrayed us for years, seeing us only as cash cows to milk for any kind of profit and cheap labour...'

I bit my lip hard, as a trail of blood began to drip down from my lips, before I soon was able to relax myself.

'... Sensei isn't any different, he thinks of us as a way to redeem himself for his past mistakes...'

...

'But what if he really wanted to help us in the process? Why would he be so blunt if all he wanted to was to look good in our eyes?'

...

'What if he knew that any rational answer won't satisfy me, and that's why he says it's up to me?'

My serious expression softens up just the tiniest bit, I want to trust you, Sensei, I really want to. Your answers were, as much as I hate to say it... All true, I can tell that he was being truthful when talking about his past, despite speaking so nonchalantly of it.

'Sensei... I'll keep an eye on you as promised, maybe then, will my nerves be soothed, and maybe then... Can your goals also be accomplished?'

'Really... how can you make me feel like this, Sensei'

I hate it.

I really hate it.

The feeling that you and me... are extremely similar.

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After Roland left

Neru pov

'Following Shorty and Sensei was the correct choice after all...'

As soon as she mentioned talking in private with Sensei, I could tell that she didn't have any good intentions, I wanted to believe that she wasn't planning anything... But I can't be that naive as the captain of C&C.

It was a feeling I've had since we first interacted with each other in the meeting room, her gaze that Sensei might've not noticed...

... Throughout the entire meeting, she continuously eyed Sensei with suspicion, thankfully, back then, she didn't seem to have any kind of suspicious intentions-

But when she approached Sensei this time, she wasn't even trying to hide it!

'For Kivotos sake! Hostility was practically oozing out from her eyes!'

I couldn't just leave Sensei alone with her, not a f&%king chance in hell!

But sneaking around behind them wasn't as easy as I expected...

"As expected, Shorty's senses are way above that of a regular student. I was almost caught multiple times, before I settled with using reflections off of windows to monitor their movements from the shadows."

In the end, I was able to make my way behind them while remaining undetected, and as she began interrogating Sensei, I was about to break in to stop her, but-

"Could you please drop the playful facade Sensei?"

Shorty's statement made me freeze on the spot, that statement... I've said it before, almost word for word...

"Drop the f&%king perfect girl facade! It seriously pisses me off-"

The memories I don't want to resurface, the memories of her.

"... I do not understand what you are talking about, Rabid dog"

The annoyance that I felt back then, seeing her trying to  keep up the facade that she clearly hated, it was... Irritating.

And just like Shorty, it made me snap.

"Shut the f&%k up! Do you think I'm stupid?! Is that what you're implying?! Even a moron can tell you're holding something back! You better start taking this s&%t seriously, or I'll-'

As I was losing myself in the memories, Shorty's angry screaming snapped me out of my entranced state. I now saw Sensei and Shorty's places swapped, with him not putting Shorty in an arm locked position

"Why should I trust you? Why should I believe in you, this... adult who just came in here out of nowhere? When all other adults just left us aside, ignored us, and took advantage of us!"

Her scream filled with a rage that she had been probably repressing for years made other memories resurface

"Tell me... What makes you Special?! Why should we trust you like how we trusted those... Leeches...!"

The figure of 2 maids came into view, one with ashen colored hair, an assault rifle in her hands and the second...

With long brown hair, tied into a long side braid which rested on her right shoulder, a hairstyle I still think was silly to this day... And vibrant blue colored eyes, which held nothing behind them.

A snowflake shaped halo, one that fits her personality perfectly.

the latter began speaking with a frigid tone, it seemed almost robot-like, from the utter-lack of feelings behind it, but a great charisma could be found in it

"...You are correct, rabid dog. What we are doing is nothing short of arrogance- a rash decision, an illogical one if you perceive it as such, that may very well backfire. After all, the seminar will most definitely get rid of us if they come to find out-"

Her blue, piercing gaze, where for the first time any type of emotion could be seen, went straight towards my eyes

"But, for the first time... Right now, I want to do something that I believe in."

My eyes widened, the shock of the weight of her message stunning me into complete silence for the first time in ages. And then...

"Ah... Ahah..."

I laughed.

"Ahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!"

Not a laughter of amusement, of pity, nor anger, I was simply... In disbelief.

"Yeah, and the sky is f&%king red!! Let's get this straight, you want me to believe that you, Millennium's code 00... You who is referred to as the "Perfect soldier" and the seminar's most loyal hunting dog... This position that YOU put YOURSELF in, you're saying you want to do something for yourself?"

I was angry at her.

"Give me one single f&%king reason! One! To believe in you, to even consider giving you my trust, even after all that Millenium did to me, to us!"

I was angry at her audacity, what possessed her that day to think in such a way?

Silence filled the dilapidated hangar, as I started to become even more irritated from her indecision, I began clenching my teeth.

"So!? Nothing to say, huh!? Where did that bravado from before go? You were so confident in saying it, you wanted to make your own choice for once, well prove it. Prove that you hold even an infinitesimal of the will you'll need to make your own choice, prove it... What makes you-"

As I was getting ready to yell at her again, she interrupted me, her usual emotionless voice growing a new shade of feelings. I... could not tell what these feelings were at the time, this was the first time I've heard her talk in such a way, after all.

"Rabid dog... no matter what I say, my words will never garner your trust. I'm sure you're aware of that. You've lived through too much, you've been disappointed and betrayed way too many times..."

what happens next was something that I will never forget, on her usual icy and emotionless face, a small smile blossomed, not a fake one, a genuine smile, the first one that the emotionless girl ever had on her face

"I beg you, please take this gamble and give me your trust, I promise on my title as the Perfect Soldier... No, I promise you, as  ?????? , that I will not let you down."

Her statement back then made me speechless, as a little spark of hope began arising in my chest. My heart beated faster than when I was unleashing my anger and rage into her, so much so that I felt like it was gonna burst out of my chest.

"... Ugh..."

I scratched the back of my head in confusion, as I decided on what to do. I thought I had her figured out by now... But it's obvious that I have little to no experience with this side of her that I never knew even existed.

"... That's... good and all, I acknowledge your promise, but around here, promises , reasons... they're not what reigns supreme..."

... I had no other choice, but to do this.

Clack

My two SMGs that were hoisted on either sides of my waists were drawn, each SMG pointed at one of the two maids.

"... So if the 2 of you defeat all of us, I will give you one chance"

the maids remained silent for a while, they didn't seem threatened by me, as expected... But then-

"... I see, it makes sense, after all, in the place where those purged by the Millennium end up, the reasons you provide would probably be the last thing that is seen in a good light..."

As the Ashen haired maid finished talking, she too aimed her SMGs at me, with the other one following suit, asking her rifle at me.

"I accept your challenge, Rabid dog, let us begin our-"

!!

What... what was I thinking? Getting all sentimental when Sensei is-

I looked towards where Sensei and Shorty were, but it seems the whole ordeal was already completed...

Sensei began to leave towards where Karin and the others were, while Shorty remained still contemplative.

She then left and rejoined her kohais, her grip on her shotgun remained firm, but she lacked the bloodlust that once emanated from her.

'This won't be the last time that she will try to deal with sensei, I'm sure of it!'

And it's not the last for me, either. I won't let her hurt Sensei, not when he's still this interesting...

not when I see the same glimmer of hope I saw in her when I look at him.

Yes, I'm sure that it's what you would have wanted me to do

Kohryu-senpai

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A few minutes later, close to the abandoned mall

Roland pov

Despite the hiccup I had with Pinky, It took us little time to get to our objective, the abandoned mall. Everything went smoothly up until this point, though I feel Neru has been keeping an eye on me a bit more than usual.

I turned to face Karin, who was looking around, seemingly observing the abandoned mall.

It seems my suspicions were correct.

"Karin, you said that mines have been laid around the perimeter... But did the delinquent specify their exact positions?"

Her face scrunched up, and she lets out a sigh of frustration, mixed with a tinge of shame in her voice.

"...As much as it pains me to say... None of the delinquents knew where the mines were, especially since they're from a different division, which resides in another building."

'I expected that to be the case, but I can't help but feel disappointed at the lack of information.'

Looking around, nothing but a barren road could be seen, without signs of any mines underneath the road.

"Well... That's a problem."

I turned back to the others and clasped my hand together.

"Alright, girls! we run into a bit of a problem."

Among the girls who stood before me, Shiroko lazily approached me with a neutral expression.

"Nm, is it about the positions of the mines?"

"...Yeah, that's right. How'd you know?"

she shrugs, before replying nonchalantly.

"We never talked about the position of the mines, so I just assumed we didn't have that information."

'Makes sense... Why didn't I think the same?'

"So... you got any type of solution for this, Wolfie?"

"Nm... It's not something I can fix, but-"

Interrupting her speech, a certain ashen haired maid ran towards us with a face beaming full of energy, her right arm flailing above her head as she waved at us from afar.

"MAAAAAAAAASSSSTTTTEEEERRRRR!!!"

'Why does she always have to be so loud? Oh, woah! Wait, she's gonna crash into me!'

As she closes in towards me, I get ready to leap to the side, Neru was behind me, but she'll be okay with it... I think?

"LEEEEEEETTTT MEEEE HEEELP!!!!!"

Despite all my worries, Asuna screeched into a full stop (office) right in front of me, kicking up a dust devil all around us despite the lack of sand on the pavement below.

"...Asuna seems to have an idea."

'What, are you two comedic buddies now? Why do I feel like Asuna waited for Wolfie to say that specific sentence earlier to set up a punchline after she stopped...'

I looked at Asuna with a skeptical look, this was the girl who said she can sense when people are lying...

"I... see, let's hear it then."

Asuna quickly nodded, her head bobbing up and down at speeds that I could not perceive.

"Thank you, Sensei! The idea is very simple, even a little kid could pull it off!"

... Are you saying we're all less competent than children?

'For some reason... I have a bad feeling about this-'

As she finished speaking, Asuna dashed towards the mall, running into it without giving an ounce of shit about the mines.

"Woi! Asuna! What the hell are you–"

...

As if the mines never existed, Asuna began running around road with her eyes close, rapidly reaching the objective without triggering a single explosion

""...HUH!!!???""

"... Ha... of course."

The girls from the taskforce, besides Shiroko whose expression remained as neutral as always, all couldn't believe what we had just seen.

I stared at Asuna's shenanigans with a tired expression. Am I living in a light novel right now? There's no way someone can be that unbelievably lucky.

the girls from C&C remained impassive at first, but soon they just shake their heads in helplessness

"Ahh~ Asuna, free-spirited as always~, she just likes doing whatever she wants"

Neru snapped her head towards Akane after her comment, bristling in annoyance.

"Don't encourage her! Every time she does that, we end up in even a bigger problem!"

Having heard Neru's comment, Asuna's cheeks enlarged into a big pout

"Whaat~?? Come on! When have I caused any trouble, Neru-senpai?"

Karin, who looks as if she had been waiting for this moment her entire life, took out a notepad, before a comically long strip of paper with scribbles all over it rolled down onto the floor, before rolling a few more feet on the pavement below Karin.

"To name a few, the following issues had been caused by your lack of situational awareness; 1. Being attacked by multiple criminal organizations in a casino after you had won multiple jackpots in a row."

Asuna tried to argue back.

"But in the end, the money helped us pay for damages-"

... But without even considering her, Karin continued going through the list

"... 2. The destruction of multiple private properties in Gehenna's district during a joint operation, the cause of which being when you took Ibuki away from Makoto, because she was, quote unquote, 'too cute' "

"W-Well..."

"-3. Leading an uprising in Red Winter Academy because they couldn't eat all the pudding they wanted, leading to the students assaulting Millennium's cafeteria in search of more, after you suggested to them that there would be plenty in there..."

"..."

Asuna's expression became gloomy, a stark contrast to her usual self.

Karin raised an eyebrow and commented.

"Need I go on, Asuna?"

"N-No..."

"Okay, girls, let's calm down here. Sure, Asuna has caused a lot of ruckus in the past, but what trouble can she put us through by walking past some mines? Let's not judge her too quickly yet, girls."

Asuna clasped her hand over mouth, as she looked at me from afar with teary eyes.

"S-Sensei... I know you would have my back..."

... Five jackpots in a row, though? Maybe I should try something out with that...

Karin and Neru looked at me with confused expressions, not expecting me to stand up for Asuna of all people, before they clicked their tongues and heeded my words.

"Why did you make that strip of paper so long, Karin? Isn't it tiring to have to fold it all back up?"

"... It's all for the comedic effect, Sensei."

... Makes sense.

Shiroko, who had been staring at the ground up until now, raised her head

her eyes scanned the ground that Asuna covered, taking note of key points before she began dashing towards her.

"Wait! Wolfie, the mines-"

Shiroko perfectly imitated Asuna's movements across the minefield, I can tell she did... Because I also memorized the pattern, duh, but it was still impressive to see her do it with such confidence.

"Heh... Not bad, Wolfie! That's pretty impressive!"

I shouted, giving Shiroko a thumbs up of approval which she responded to with an awkward look.

Shiroko turned to face Asuna, slowly walking towards her, before she held one of Asuna's hands, and brought it up to meet her lips.

"S-Shiroko-chan?!"

"To think that I showed such disrespect..."

'Okay, what the hell is that crime-loving mutt up to now?'

Her eyes shined brightly, her pupils seemingly becoming little, twinkling stars, and aura of respect and admiration oozed out of her expression.

"... I will now follow your teachings! You, who are a true master of crime, can finally lead me to complete my... second biggest dream! So please, teach me, Asuna-senpai!"

Asuna, seemingly ignoring... Or, for a more likely conclusion, seemingly too dense to acknowledge the fact that Shiroko called her a criminal, blossomed a large smile, bright as a shaky and nervous star.

"...A-Alright, Shiroko-chan! I'll- ekhem, I SHALL teach you all of what I know! But... Sincerely, I am unable to do it while being my normal self..."

She looks around, before picking up a paper bag from the ground (with two conveniently placed holes perfectly aligned to her eyes) and proceeds to use it as a mask.

"From now on, when I will teach you, my name shall be Mephistopheles, the crime genius! "

"Thank you so much, Mephistopheles-Senpai!"

""...""

Complete and utter silence filled the streets, as the girl's statement resonated in everyone's mind.

'I don't know much about the hierarchy between students... But isn't this something akin to a member of The Ring pleading allegiance to The Index and their Prescripts?'

Serika began to turn shades of red that I never knew could exist on a human face, and she rushed towards Shiroko whilst yelling at the top of her lungs.

"...SHIROKO-SENPAI!!!!! WHAT IN KIVOTOS SAKE ARE YOU SAYIN-"

"Wait! Serika! The mines-!!"

My warning came out too late, and on Serika's fifth step, she steps on a mine hidden underneath some loose piles of asphalt, and triggered it.

BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

A large cloud of dust and debris flew up into the sky, blocking my view of Serika and what direction she went flying in.

'Shit!!!'

When the dust settled, I can see that she fortunately landed near Asuna and Wolfie, who were both tending to her while I quickly rushed to assist.

"Stay there, all of you, I don't want another body to carry!"

Although my remark to the girls seemed cold, they understood and remained still, as I traversed the minefield to reach Serika.

Reaching there, she was knocked out cold as I expected. Fortunately, I couldn't find any life threatening injuries on her body other than her right foot and ankle which took the full force of the mine, they seem to be dislocated and lightly bruised, but it wasn't too serious.

'Thank The City for the ridiculous amount of durability these students have... Even a Grade 1 Fixer would've had their foot destroyed from that mine.'

As I was checking Serika's condition, I could tell Hoshino was approaching behind me. I wasn't too worried about her, since I know she's capable enough to memorize the path across the minefield.

"Get away Sensei, let me check Serika's condition-"

I'm sure that Serika is fine, but... Looking at Hoshino, her usually calm expression turn into worry at the safety of her subordinate... No, her friend, it reminded me of myself.

'... It would be cruel to determine Serika's condition in her stead.'

"...Sure, she's all yours"

I moved to the side, allowing Hoshino to tend to Serika. The pink haired girl immediately kneeled before her friend, and I turned away, intending to help lead the other students to the other side.

'!!!'

But at the last second...

I caught a glimpse of an individual, she pointing a familiar weapon towards Hoshino and Serika...

'A grenade launcher!'

'Shit, Hoshino must not have noticed her because she's worried about Serika!'

THUMP

The grenade launcher fired, its projectile heading nowhere else but towards Hoshino and Serika.

'I can't shoot at it to explode it prematurely, it's too close to them by now...'

I dashed towards Serika and Hoshino, extending my arm out and catching the grenade launcher's projectile.

WHOOSH

Quickly spinning around, I returned the projectile back to the sender, but it exploded not far off of my hand.

BOOOMMM!!

""!!!""

Everyone, hearing the explosion, turned to the five of us, unable to cross the minefield without guidance, they could only stare in shock as a smoke of black tar engulfed.

"SENSEI!!!"

As the smoke quickly cleared, I held my burnt hand, my sleeves ripped and some shrapnels had been embedded into my arm and my left shoulder.

"S-Sensei? Wh... But-"

"Dont worry about me, Pinky! Enemies approaching at my six, get everyone across the minefield!"

Hoshino snapped out of her trance, and gritted her teeth, before leaving Serika's side and rushing towards the other students.

"Sensei!! A-Are you okay?! Your hand!!"

Wolfie and Asuna rushed towards me with worried expressions.

"It's nothing, get your weapons out, I doubt the helmet gang would send only one lunatic to face us all."

'Tch! This is bad! They're already beginning to surround us from all the crevices around the mall, still, we need to stay calm...'

"EVERYONE, REMEMBER, OPERATION DELAMINATION!!"

Every student except Serika froze and turned towards me, before their expressions hardened and turned serious.

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Now, Now... Who do we have here?"

An eerie voice rang out, one that you can make our even amongst the chaos. A fair sized girl, her hair long and red began to approach us, the other members of the Helmet gang spreading open a path for her in the process.

she was wearing a stereotypical delinquent outfit with a long skirt, on her head a black helmet was present, but compared to the rest of the delinquents, hers looked more refined and sturdy.

'She must be their higher up, maybe even the leader.'

"If it isn't Sensei and the remaining students from Abydos..."

she then turned her heads towards the C&C, who were the last of the students to have arrived on the other side of the minefield.

"Though, I'm unsure who the rest of you are, new students perhaps... Eh! As if! Nobody would willingly join such a dilapidated school after all..."

She nonchalantly turned her back on us, earning glares from Neru and Hoshino in the process, and began walking towards the backlines, parting the group of Helmet gang delinquents like she was parting the red sea.

"Well girls, they're all yours, and remember, shoot the adult, and you'll be in a world of pain... And you, grenade launcher girl, meet me at the office later."

""Yes Boss!!""

"Y-Yes, boss..."

The other delinquents seemed pumped, while the one who shot at us looked like she regretted ever existing in the first place.

'Things are looking bad for us...'

Should I take command of the C&C and put them on the frontlines? they don't look like they have any info on them... Or maybe that's just a diversion so that we'll let our guards down upon hearing their lack of Intel?

'This is tough, I was always a solo Fixer back in my days, maybe a duo and trio with Angelica and Olivier or Astolfo... I have no clue on how to run an entire army.'

If these delinquents are as strong as the ones we face before, we would definitely win, but I don't know if the girls from the task force could get out of this unscathed...

'Damn it! Calm down, I do have some experience leading a group back in the library, but that's still only 4 people...

"Sensei..."

'!!!'

I turned my head towards Hoshino, who had called for me whilst holding Serika in her arms.

"I can see it in your eyes, you don't have much experience leading a group of people, do you? You'd usually set up ambushes or attack by yourself, but neither option can be done here."

"..."

'As I thought... Pinky sure has some good insight on people, maybe a bit too good sometimes.'

Hoshino gently places Serika down and picked up her ballistic shield, its width and length spanning across most of her body, if not all, and began to stride in front of me.

"...But you don't have to worry, because I swear..."

Her mystic began flaring up, and a familiar pink forcefield of large proportions began to materialize around us, encasing all students and myself in its defensive properties

"S-Such a huge amount of mystic...!"

I could hear a few girls utter in shock and disbelief at her display. Yet Hoshino remained undeterred.

Her eyes formed into an aggressive and ferocious glare towards the Delinquents of the Helmet Gang, her rage impalpable even when compared to our earlier confrontation.

"...I am The Shield of Abydos, and as long as I remain standing, so will Abydos! Do you riff-raffs want to test my oath? Well, then come and find out."

'... Heh... Look at you, I bet Astolfo would've been horrified to know that the Zwei still exist even in other worlds.'

"... Big words coming from someone who couldn't detect a delinquent aiming a grenade launcher at us earlier... But, still."

Even among the ruckus, Hoshino still turned to face me with an annoyed expression.

"I'll be the spear to your shield, Pinky, so let's work together to get the hell out of here... No, to take down every single member of the Helmet Gang together, shall we?"

Hoshino huffs, clicking her tongue before replying in a nonchalant tone.

"Yeah, yeah~ honestly, this old man's too old to do this by himself, so a bit of help won't hurt~"

I clasped my hand together, gathering the attention of all students as bullets whizz past us, being deflected by Pinky's Mystical shield.

"Task force, support Hoshino and try to create an opening for C&C and I to smash open their formation and make a beeline for their leader!"

""Yes sensei / Master!!""

I let out a sigh and scratched the back of my head, I honestly wanted to just deal with all the delinquents myself, but I'm supposed to guide these children, not do everything for them...

"Right, Let's go then!"

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WHOOSH

WHOOSH

DINK

"How is it, Neru, do you see an opening to the formation yet?

Pinky's shield is strong, but no matter how tough a wall is, it can never move or help us advance if we don't get out of its cover. As soon as we step foot outside this barrier, we'll be torn to shreds.

"Yeah, I noticed a pattern that they're using right now."

Neru handed over a pair of binoculars that she was using to scout the enemy's formation. I grabbed the binoculars, and used it to peer through to watch over the enemy lines.

"With how consistent the gunfire is, you'd think there are hundreds of them... But they're actually just taking turns unleashing rounds on us from three positions... They barely finish reloading right before the previous team runs out of ammo to sell the illusion that there's too many people to ever cause a ceasefire."

I couldn't exactly find what I was looking for, but after a few more times observing, I believe I could see the muzzle flares light up in certain windows, before another set of windows took over their suppressing fire.

"Why are they bothering with keeping up a consistent rate of fire? They're just wasting ammunition, aren't they?

I asked Neru, this plan of theirs seemed pretty odd, despite how well executed it was.

"They could be doing one of two things, one, they're trying to break Pinky's shield, or two, they're trying to make us panic and charge in recklessly, or retreat, after all, an endless bullet storm is enough to lower the morale of most students in Kivotos."

Makes sense, I suppose... Now that I think about it, there's not much they could do with Hoshino using her Mystic to cover us, the moment they stop firing, Hoshino could take a few steps forwards and close in on their position.

"However... That won't work for us, Karin, get ready."

I put down my binoculars, and watched as Karin loaded up her anti tank gun, taking an aiming position towards the building before us.

"Look, Sensei, every mall in Abydos..."

BANG!!

Karin's bullet whizzed past us, before piercing through the concrete walls of the mall most of the Delinquents hid inside.
"... Has great fire extinguishing systems."

RINGGG

RINGGG

Krin's bullet hits a part of the building that was uninhabited by any delinquents... But her plan was never to shoot any delinquents. The mall's fire alarm rang off, ringing loudly as water sprayed all over the building, catching the delinquents inside off guard. Meanwhile, the ones outside were also caught off guard by the sudden alarm noise, and...

Neru and I glanced at each other, in that split second, I could tell our minds were both interconnected, as we both flashed a grin at each other, before yelling;

"CHAAARGEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

The C&C Girls along with me bolted out of Hoshino's forcefield, with one of the girls from Task Force throwing smoke grenades to help cover us from enemy fire.

"Neru, Asuna, you two stay by my side, you'll both be the vanguard, Akane and Karin, go find cover elsewhere and provide us with support. We need to let Hoshino and her Task Force advance forwards, that's the only way we can safely tackle this!"

""Yes, Sensei / Master!""

The three of us at the front took cover behind a loose pile of rubble, with every bullet chipping away at it piece by piece.

Although I'm aware that they don't want to shoot or potentially kill me, I can't help but feel like one clumsy folk among them would accidentally fire a round straight in between my eyes if I peek out of cover...

'Here in Kivotos, killing seems to be some kind of taboo, even the worst of criminals, like the seven prisoners for example, rarely go further than heavily injuring someone... But that doesn't mean it'll hurt to be a bit safe.'

If it's simply because of how hard it is to kill someone here, or because they just hate the thought, I can use this to our advantage.

Ratatatatatatatata!!!

The difference in experience and talent between C&C and the Helmet gang was apparent, we were mowing down the delinquents now that we've split into three groups, something they never took account for.

""Argh!!!""

The C&C, along with the support from two other parties allowed us to advance into enemy territory at a frightening pace, however... I feel like I'm forgetting something here...

There's no time to think of that, though, because more enemies began to stand in our way, Neru and Asuna focused on singling out targets, more specifically those with explosive ordinances or long range rifles, while the more abundant delinquents were all blown away in a few shots by Akane and her explosive rounds.

BOOM!!

"Fufu~, how generous of you to just clamp up together for me~ it certainly helped with the cleaning~ Oh! Look at that body go~ That must be a record!"

... I fail to see the reason behind her amusement, but thanks to our coordinated advance, we eventually managed to wipe out the delinquents, and made it towards their boss, who stood unbothered, still confidently smirking.

"...Well well, looks like you helmet gang riff-raffs are all talk, that little plan of yours didn't work now did it?"

Neru told the 'leader', aiming both submachine guns towards her.

"Yeah, I had already figured that It wouldn't..."

'I've got a bad feeling about this... Something about my demeanor, makes me-'

And then I saw her face, even behind the dark tinted helmet, it smiled, and smiled, before turning into a wide grin.

"Because... You were all too STUPID to notice our REAL plan!!"

"EVERYBODY HIT THE DECK!!!"

WHOOSH

BOOM!!

Thanks to my call, all of us managed to either duck or roll out of the way of a large supersonic projectile whizzing past us...

"H-Hnng!"

"H-Hoshino-Senpai! Are you alright?!"

Hoshino's shield, already worn down by the constant bullet fire, shattered upon contact with the tank round, leaving her worn out and exhausted on the floor.

"I-I'm fine... This old man's still got his second wind in him!"

"Tch! So you caught on, huh?"

Pushing myself off the ground, I winced after a shock ran down my body from my still injured right hand, but I tried my best not to worry the students by hiding my pained expression.

"Darn... Another one? Why don't we have any of these tanks ourselves, Neru?"

"If we had that sort of budget, would Abydos still be called a dilapidated school?!"

A tank bursted through a wall on one of the buildings, compared to the two other tanks we saw, this one seems... A lot more scary, to say the least.

"Hey... I never knew their turrets could be shaped like that?"

At the sight, Akane raised an eyebrow.

"Hey now~, how could such low level thugs have access to such a high tier model, that thing isn't cheap at all~"

The red haired girl's smirk widened, she seemed to enjoy the situation, and took on a relaxed posture as she replied.

"Weeellll... That is for me to know, and for you to find out, no?"

She shrugged upon finishing her sentence, before reaching towards her back, unholstering a black shotgun, its handle wrapped in bandages.

"Shall we end this. then? Oh, right, the name's Rabu, by the way, I don't wanna come off as rude for not telling you all my name earlier~"

"It's already way past our introduction phase! Now shut up and come at us!"

"As you wish!"

At Neru's taunt, the red haired girl charged towards us, the tank behind her using its machine guns to shower us in lead in the process.

"Hmm~~Hm!!!!"

Bang!

Rabu fired a shot, not at Neru, or Asuna... But at me?!

"Wh- Sensei!!!"

Both Neru and Asuna ran to protect me, with Asuna reaching me first, deflecting the shotgun pellets with her skin.

"You crazy Bastard! What if he died?!"

Neru gritted her teeth, but Rabu simply rubbed her chin while looking down at Neru.

"Hm... That's the point, though? There's no way you'd stand there and let me shoot you, so why don't I use your prized Sensei to weaken you a bit~?"

"!!"

This girl... I thought she was a meathead who only used force to think, but she's pretty cunning, ain't she?

"... Asuna, escort Sensei to-"

"Nah~ I don't think I'll let you~"

RATATATATATA

"SENSEI!!"

The tank began to fire its machine guns towards me as well, before Neru also jumped in between me and the bullets along with Asuna, both of their bodies shielding me from the lead shower.

"Neru, Asuna! What are you all doing back there?! Help us!"

I turned to face the students in the back, who all stared at us.

That's when I realized the thing I completely forgot about...

"I-I'm sorry, Sensei! But we all..."

"Completely ran out of bullets!"

I gritted my teeth as I felt the force of the machine gun firing hitting the back of Asuna and Neru, it didn't help that Rabu also began to shoot at us with her shotgun.

"Neru, Asuna, get off of me! I can take care of myself, just-"

"No! Listen, Sensei! The only reason they're not using their main cannon at us is because you'd die if they did! even if we split up now, we'd be too weak to fight back, we need to hold out until-"

BOOM!!

"... Until..."

"..."

We... Were completely out of plans...

'I-Is this it? Will we fail just like this? Asuna and Neru are too busy protecting me, Karin and Akane don't have any bullets, the rest of the task force are too far away to help us, and Hoshino-'

...

'wait, where is-'

VWOOOM

As I kept looking around for Hoshino, a large, pink forcefield appeared before me, Neru and Asuna, and standing behind it was-

"Hoshino-San!!"

"Pinky!!"

"Cotton Candy haired girl!!"

Pinky stood, planting her shield on the ground, it was obvious that she was exhausted, yet she still held onto that shield firmly, using every bit of her strength to maintain her Mystic.

"Haa... Haa... Sensei, everyone else... Retreat, I'll block all the bullets..."

Hoshino's Mystic was nowhere near as firm as it was earlier, in fact, she seemed to barely be able to hold it together, with it flickering in and out of existence every second.

"We can't retreat! Even if we do, they'll just chase us! We need to fight back, somehow... Quick, Neru, Asuna, how many bullets do you two have?"

Neru and Asuna quickly unloaded their magazines, and checked inside for any bullets they might have left.

"I have... Zero! I've completely run out of bullets, Sensei!"

Asuna shouted, looking at her empty magazine before looking back at me with a pitiful expression.

"I have... One, exactly one bullet..."

"... That's nowhere near enough to explode all the mines..."

A few hours ago...

"Sensei, why don't we just shoot up all the mines? That's way easier than trying to figure out a way around them."

"Well, there's a lot of variables to consider, Shortstack, for one, we don't know how powerful they are, we don't know how far apart they are, or how far the minefield extends, and we don't know how much damage it'll cause to its environment, we might accidentally close off our one entrance towards the mall."

Neru looked up at me and crossed her arms, huffing as she spoke in an annoyed tone.

"Do not, EVER call me 'shortstack' again, got it?!"

Nothing meaningful came afterwards...

The present...

The real reason I didn't want to shoot the mines, is just in case something like this happens... I've had my suspicions from the start about such an abrupt entrance for an ambush, but the real reason why Rabu sent all those fodder against us and had them continuously shower us in bullets... Is to make us try to retaliate and expend all of our own bullets, before revealing her secret weapon once we're all out. It was a plan I should've foreseen, yet... I underestimated these children once again, and now, it might cost me... No, cost us our entire school, the entirety of Abydos...

"...'

"... Sensei! Don't look so gloomy! You're thinking of giving up, aren't you? Please don't give up!"

Asuna begged as she clasped my hand with her own, looking at me with a guilty expression.

"I'm sorry, Sensei, when I use my good luck to make something good happen... It usually is followed up by something bad happening in return, I thought I could handle what happens next this time, but..."

Asuna's expression is one of genuine guilt, and tears welled up in her eyes... This battle... This entire conflict... It must mean a lot for them, and if we fail here, Asuna will live the rest of her life thinking she's the reason Abydos fell... And I...

"Heh... Roland, aren't you aware? You're the reason I can no longer witness my Dear Sister's smile and voice again... If she hadn't married a hideous, incompetent beast such as yourself, perhaps she could once again brighten this world with her radiance... The one that you took away from me..."

... I can't let that happen.

"... Don't blame yourself, Asuna, the only reason we were able to make it across with only one person injured is because you found a way, you've done your part, now I'll do mine, I'll get us out of here, I promise."

"... T-Thank you, Sensei..."

Asuna wiped her tears, before she reached into her pocket, and took out a gold coin, which she gave to me.

"... A coin? What is this for?"

"I heard giving somebody a gold coin is akin to giving them a portion of your luck, Sensei! That's why I've been keeping dozens of gold coins around in my purse!"

Wait... Coins?

"Haa?! This isn't time for some stupid superstitions, Asuna! Abydos is on the line here!"

Coins... Asuna... Mines... And a bullet?

"It's not just superstition! I swear it can actually- blah blah blah..."

...

...

Bzzt

DING!

"Everyone! I have a plan!"

"!!"

"!!!"

Hoshino, Asuna, and Neru all turned to face me, all with expectant looks.

"We'll need to borrow a bit of Asuna's luck here, so... Listen very carefully."

...

"Miss Rabuuuuu! Can we shoot them with our cannon yet?"

"No way, you foolish imbecile! If we do, what if Sensei dies, or gets into a coma?! Then we'll all be in trouble!"

"aww..."

"tch... It's been two minutes already, just what the hell are they planning on doing, hiding behind a half broken mystic like that?"

...

"... S-Sensei, are you sure this will work? I know Asuna's lucky, but that's..."

"I can do it!"

Asuna clenched her fists, nodding her head profusely as Neru looked at the two of us confused

"It's our only shot... It's either we try this, or we fall here, so, are you in, Neru?"

Neru looked at me, before turning to Asuna, then me again, and lets out an exhausted sigh.

"Fine, F$%@ it, whatever! I'm just aching to get out of here!"

"Sweet!"

"Hey! Are you three done back there?! I can't hold out for much longer!"

Hoshino shouted, panting as her Mystic began to flicker even more than before.

"Pinky! Turn off your Mystic, then run close to me, and hold onto Neru's hand!"

"W-What?! That's suicide, Sensei! What if they fire their-"

"..."

Pinky seemed to get an idea of what I was planning, and nodded.

BZZT

She turned off her forcefield, before quickly jumping towards us three, holding onto Neru's hand, that held my hand, that held Asuna's hand.

"Alright! Let's go!"

"Wh- They're escaping? Pfft... How amusing! Everyone! After them!"

As expected, with this formation, they're all afraid of firing at me, under the risk of accidentally shooting me, so the amount of bullets fired will be minimal at worst...

"H-Huh? Sensei-"

"Quick! Hold Hoshino's hand! No time to explain!"

Karin stared at us bewildered for a few moments, before quickly complying and holding onto Hoshino's hand. The same happened to Akane, then Shiroko who carried Serika's body on her back, and then the rest of the Task Force as well.

By the end of it, we created a long train of people with Asuna leading us in the front. The delinquents continued to fire at us, but are slowing down their shooting, probably because they're confused on what we're doing.

"Okay! Asuna, lead the way!"

"Yes, Sensei! Everyone, follow after me!"

Asuna led the charge towards the minefield, with everyone carefully following after every one of her steps to avoid the mines, and miraculously, everyone made it to the other side unscathed.

"How the... Heh, it doesn't matter, they must think that we'd be too afraid of driving our tank over the minefield, huh? Well then, show them!'

A thought came across my mind as I saw Asuna hop across the minefield, those mines of theirs, how could they be so confident in crossing the minefield when it detonates when someone barely steps on them? Then I realized...

"Hmm... Another thing she mentioned that she thought was odd, was that all delinquents have to enter the Mall using a vehicle, they are entirely forbidden to enter it on foot."

Could these mines be... Specialized infantry mines that somehow don't explode when a vehicle crosses them? It was a gamble based on very limited information, but...

"Yes! I was right!"

"H-H-How is this good, Sensei?! We can't escape that tank now!"

The students of Task Force, along with Karin and Akane who didn't hear my plan, were worried, but Neru, Asuna, and Hoshino, shared my smirk as both the delinquents and the tank began crossing the minefield.

"Asuna, it's time."

"Of course, Sensei!"

Neru glanced at Asuna, before clicking her tongue, and lending her the SMG that still contained one bullet in it.

"Everybody, stand back!"

I shouted, as everyone began to take long strides behind Asuna, who looked into the air, before down at the delinquents, and took a long, deep breath...

CLINK

WHOOOSH

... And threw a dozen coins into the air, each one reflecting rays of sun across the ground. The delinquents stared at the coins in confusion.

"What the..."

BANG!

DINK

DINK
DINK
DINKDINKDINK
DINKDINKDINKDINKDINK

A single round was fired, the bullet precisely hitting a coin, which split into two pieces, before hitting another coin, the shrapnel of the first coin hitting another, then the second coin splitting into two, and so on...

Asuna turned around to face us, before she striked a pose, waving a peace sign on her right hand as she lowered her SMG down below her knees.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

"...Did she expect that we would take a photo of her?"

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"So..."

I turned towards the gangsters, who were kneeling, their clothes all burnt and their eyes wide open in terror.

"...you were requested by someone to attack Abydos, but none of you know who it was?"

hearing my accusatory remark, Rabu began to  scramble around, before finally answering me.

"Y-Yes, yes! The client never specified who they were, or who they were working for, and they never met us in person, opting to send a representative to speak with us!"

Hearing her response, Neru turned towards Asuna with an annoyed expression

"Tch! So, is she telling the truth?"

"Yep! That's a truth if I've ever seen one!"

Hearing her response, Neru turned around, shooting the red-haired gangster a piercing glare, causing her to quickly shrink back in fear.

"Well... can you tell us anything about the representative, then?"

Rabu's face shifted, as her face shifted into an uncertain one.

"I did find something strange about him..."

She began drawing on the sand

"The vehicle he was using to come here was always guarded by some robots, all with the same logo on them..."

The moment she finished her crude and unskilled drawing (HAHA artist-1 Rabu-0), a pit opened in my stomach-

'Kaiser corporation'

"So my bad feeling was correct..."

But why would they be here? Abydos has nothing that could interest them-

"... Arona"

"Yes, sensei?"

"Do you have any information about the relationship between Abydos and Kaiser?"

Few seconds passed, before Arona came back with a worried expression

"... by going through some files from the department of treasury of the GSC, I found something about them..."

On the screen of the shittim chest a report appeared...

"It appears that Abydos currently owes more than 900 millions yen of debt to Kaiser!"

As I heard that, more questions began flooding in my mind

Why would Kaiser attack someone who is paying them their debts back?

Why ask the helmet gang?

Seeing the drawing, Akane patted my shoulder to catch my attention, breaking me out of my trance.

"Master, that symbol-"

"I know Akane..."

A tone of awkwardness filled the air around us, which was broken when Akane asked me a question.

"... master, should we tell the girls from the task force?"

Hearing her question, a maelstrom of thoughts began appearing in my mind...

Should we?

"It's time to take them down at their root~"

Hoshino's comment back in the meeting room came back to my mind.

'...no, I can't tell them yet!'

Even if Hoshino had a change of mind earlier during our confrontation... If the five of them knew that the company who was currently making their lives hell was also paying someone to attack them...

'It wouldn't end in just a small talk about having to calm down...'

"For now girls, please keep this information a secret, we still need to find out about more things before we can tell the task force."

"... Alright master, I'll make sure to warn the others."

As she said that, Akane began walking towards the rest of C&C, leaving me some time to think for myself.

"Sigh..."

Things just had to get more complicated, do they?

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??? Pov

The Sun began to set, a light ray of orange hue shining into a room, one owned by a branch of Kaiser Corporation, wherein, someone began talking to himself.

"So, even with a high grade tank, the helmet gang managed to fail to deal with just ten people... I suppose I expected too much from a group of no-name delinquents."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

He began dialing a number on his phone, a passionate and cheery voice speaking on the other end.

"Thank you for calling Problem Solvers 68, we'll do the crime if you give the dime!"

A small smirk appeared on his face, along with an inaudible scoff of amusement.

"Well hello, my little problem solvers,I believe I have some work for you..."

DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter Text

Hello everyone I bring bad news

as all of you know, a editor has been helping me for a long time with my chapters

but after a long conversation between us, we realized a big issue, if he continued to work for me, this story would end up going on for at least 4 years, if not more depending on what will happen in my life, and that’s just something that both of us cannot agree to do

so I will have to communicate to all of you that from now on, well untill i find a replacement anyway, i will have to use ai to check grammar and sentence structure of my chapters

its something that I always avoided doing in the past, but at the moment its just the only option i have

I hope all of you can forgive me for this

the chapters quality will drop, its not a question unfortunately, but I hope that the ones that I put out still are enjoyable for all of you

next chapter will be out very soon, i just need my editor, or well ex editor i Guess… to finish the art for it

i will once again hope that all of you can accept this

if any of you are interested in editing you can say it, but I am not delusional enough to think that someone would want to edit chapters of 10k plus words without pay…

all of you have a good day

the author

(Edit after discussion with my editor, he will help me with specific scenes, but leave most of it to me, so that the production will still be faster)

Chapter Text

Accidia: To fight for a dream

??? pov

“...Oh?”

Inside the ethereal pillar of light, the face of the brown haired woman, who had been watching everything that was happening to a certain fixer up until now, contorted in surprise

seemingly interested in something, she rose from her seat, as the chair where she was sitting disappeared in a flash of light

“Where was it again… Damn, these files, always in the wrong spots!...Oh! Here they are!”

After a while her search for something through piles of documents seemed to be successful, As she took out a white folder with the letters K.L.E written on it

She began skimming through the contents inside it, finally finding a confirmation to her earlier suspicion

“...Ehe~, so I was indeed correct…”

Thump Thump

“...What is getting you all that excited?... honestly it's seriously creeping me out-”

As she was immersed in validating her conjectures, a man, eerily similar to a certain fixer, “entered” her room, and as soon as she saw the grin on her face, his seemingly uncaring expression immediately turned to an annoyed one

hearing his voice, the woman quickly turned back, seemingly ignoring his earlier statement

“Oh! Just the man that I was looking for~”

hearing her teasing demeanor, the man’s face immediately scrunched up in disgust

“... Yeah sure, so what did you nee-”

completely ignoring him once again, the woman rushed towards him, the grin on her face never disappearing, and she took his hand, as she began pulling him towards the screen where she watching the story unfold

“-HEY! Stop pulling you damn-”

“Yeah, yeah, just stop complaining and look at this!”

“Huh? What is so important-...”

Hearing what the woman said, the man began to look at the ethereal projection, immediately going completely silent as he saw the figure of a man similar to him talking with a pink haired girl

“...”

seeing his reaction, the woman grew a big, teasing grin on her face, as she began speaking

“So~, how does it feel? You know, considering that-”

“...I feel nothing, if anything I would say confusion, as I can’t understand the reason that brought you to showing me this”

at his reaction, the woman’s expression immediately fell, seemingly feeling let down by his answer

but as if nothing had happened, her usual teasing grin reappeared on her face

“...I see… well, that wasn’t what I wanted to show you anyway~”

as she said that, she immediately teleported the folder to her hands, and took out a document, before handing it to him

“...Well, color me surprised, I certainly didn’t expect this development, seems that our… “Trustworthy” collaborators have began making their moves towards our objective-”

he quickly turned her head, as a seemingly mocking expression appeared on it

“...But were you seriously able to teleport the folders whenever you wanted?”

hearing his question, the woman’s expression immediately turned a little frigid

“... Indeed, why do you ask?”

“Well… then the person screaming about the files always being in the wrong place a few minutes ago must have been someone else-”

Crack

Hearing his answer, her expression seemed to crack a little

“...You are seriously pushing your luck now~”

“...”

“Why did you not do it before?”

seemingly uncaring about the woman’s threat, the man continued to tease her

“... For comedic effect”

“Did you seriously began copying students now-”

“Yeah, yeah, let us move on~”

the man immediately stopped talking, as a eerie feeling of danger began to seep into his being, causing him to reconsider doing what he was about to do

“...Alright then, I will stop for now-”

As he was about to start going away, the man stopped, as he saw 4 figures appear on the projection

“-It’s time for the 4 little fixers now, huh? Certainly faster compared to last time-”

He turned back, a serious expression reappearing on his face

“Won’t this mess up Serika’s relationship with him? Since the kidnapping won’t happen”

“Don’t worry~, Sekhmet won’t be an issue, I’m sure that our dear fixer can deal with her trust issues”

“...Sure, well beside the dear part, but don’t come to me if something gets screwed up, i won’t fix it for-”

“Yeah, yeah, so annoying~, go and do your job now, I’m sure that you know that your part is coming close”

“Sigh… Well then I will be off for now”

“Have a safe trip~, you better rehearse your lines! The last times you looked a bit too edgy-”

Fwhoosh

“... And just like that he is gone… Damn this failure, so annoying~”

she then turned back towards the ethereal projection

“...Well shall we continue? You better show me more interesting things, Roland”

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The day after the assault

Roland Pov

“-And so, next time you try to go on such a dangerous operation without me, I will seriously be mad Sensei!”

“Sigh… I get it, I get it!  Arona, you have been nagging me about this for the last two hours! If you don’t stop, you can say goodbye to the thought of ever eating my food ever again! Capische?”

As she heard my threat, Arona’s face became filled with panic, as she began to rapidly punching me in the chest, not that her hands could ever reach me when I wasn’t in the Shittim chest

“Y-You… You are such a meanie Sensei! And here I am worrying over you, only for you to treat me in such a way!”

looking at her pitiful attempt at trying to get back at me, I almost burst out laughing, before I began leaning back, a pensitive expression on my face, as I began ignore Arona

‘Now that I think about it… Why did so many girls that I meet here all act like Tipheret-’

Seeing my behavior, Arona began to pout, as the intensity of her punches intensified, not that they could ever reach me anyway…

‘-like, if I had a ahn for every time a woman attempted, or succeeded in  punching me when she became flustered or annoyed since i came here, i would have… 4 ahns, which isn’t a lot, but its weird that it happened 4 times-’

“Muhhhhhhh… stop ignoring me Sensei!!! Y-You, Y-You… are seriously a meanie! Weheee!”

It seemed that my teasing behaviour had gone on for too much, as Arona collapsed on her knees, as she tears began to flood from her eyes while she stared at the ground

“H-Hey, hey, stop crying Arona! I promise you that tonight I’ll make some good ramen, so don’t take what I said seriously”

hearing what I said, she lifted her head and stared at me

“Sniff sniff, you aren’t lying to me, right Sensei?”

“Y-Yes, yes, I am not lying to you, so please stop crying”

As those words left my mouth, a big grin appeared on her face

“...Well, then I guess I have no choice but to forgive you when you make such a tantalizing offer… yes I simply must…”

As she rose up from the ground, her hyperactive demeanour came back, as she began drooling at the thought of eating my food again, causing me to sweatdrop

‘As always, she really is easy to please, huh…’

Knock knock

“Uhm? Who is it?”

“It’s me Sensei, I have come to guide you and C&C to the school”

It turned out to be Shiroko

“Oh! Thank you Wolfie, I forgot about that, give me a second to get ready”

“Nm, alright, I will go get the others in the meantime”

As she began to leave, I went to change into my trusty black suit, and as I was done, I heard knocking on the door again

Knock Knock

“Ohy, Sensei! Are you finally done? Or do I have to drag your ass out of the room myself?”

“Well, well Neru, how brazen of you~, I did not know that you were so interested in my ass-”

Bang!

Crash!

As she heard my teasing remark, Neru immediately kicked the door down, making it fly right beside my head, as it crashed on the wall, completely destroying it

‘... Well, that just happened-’

She stood in front of me, as I struggled to tell if she was blushing or her face was completely sunburned from the burning sun of the desert

“S-Shut up Sensei! Y-You know that was not what I meant! You f&%$ing pervert-”

“Fufu~, okay now Neru-senpai, I think you should calm down a little and clear your mind~, you nearly sent Sensei to the hospital you know?”

‘Akane please! It’s not the time for teasing, she is one second from blowing up!’

“Nm, such a fine technique, a really good kick, should I try it next time I try to go to the bank-”

‘And what the hell are you mumbling about, you damn crimine loving wolf!’

“N-Neru, I’m sorry for teasing you, but could you please calm down? I’m seriously scared that my body will become like that door in the next few seconds”

hearing my plead, Neru began to regain her rationality, as a look of shame appeared immediately on her face as she realized what she had just done

“I’m sorry Sensei, I shouldn’t have done that-”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I was the one who caused this, so let’s just move on from this, okay?”

As I finished speaking, a big grin appeared on Neru’s face

“...Well if that is what you want, then I have nothing against it sensei!”

‘Alright, with the Neru situation sorted out’

“Well girls, let’s go then!”

““Yes Sensei / Master””

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‘Well I’ll be damned, when I arrived yesterday I really didn’t grasp just how run down this entire district is…’

as me and C&C were being guided towards the temporary school, the dilapidated view of the district were all around us

houses filled with piles of sand so high that you can barely see inside them, shops still filled with products which were expired from years, as they were probably left to rot there by the previous owners when they run away from the sandstorms

I had definitely seen worse back in the city- no to be honest even comparing the two sightes wasn’t really worth it

‘...While it is true that what happened here is far from the most tragic thing I have ever seen, it still doesn’t explain something-’

How did Abydos get in so much debt?

‘Certainly repair costs from the sandstorms would be very big, but from a school which was at the top of Kivotos up until then…’

It shouldn’t have been a problem…

‘Could have they gotten scammed?’

It was possible, after all the ones that were leading a school were still mere kids, the possibility of them falling for a scam wasn’t low…

‘...Now that I’m thinking about it, there is someone right here that can answer that question for me-’

Shiroko was a second year, so she couldn’t have been a Abydos student when the collapse happened, but Hoshino must have told her the reason for the debt

“Hey Wolfie…”

Hearing my call, Shiroko turned back, seemingly having noticed my lower tone of voice

“What is it, Sensei?”

‘Well time to get the answer that I’m searching for’

“Sigh…”

I quickly scratched my head as a sight escaped my lips, it was now or never

“...Yesterday I searched deeper in the GSC database to find information about Abydos and found out about the debt…”

As she heard what I said, her eyes slightly widened, but as always, they quickly turned back to her usual emotionless ones

“Nm, I see, well I don’t think anyone would have kept it hidden from you even if you didn’t learn about it…”

“You probably want to know more, don't you…”

“Yeah, the main thing that I don’t understand was what caused the debt to be born in the first place, after all Abydos used to be a huge school before its fall, I’m sure it didn’t lack the money”

Shiroko fell silent for a bit, seemingly pondering between herself about what to do

“...Nm, well honestly I do not know much about it, the most that Hoshino-senpai said was that the previous student council was a bunch of ass-... not maybe that was a bit far, well you could say that she called them a bunch of idiots”

‘That… doesn’t really tell me anything, but I don’t feel like she is lying’

“... I see, well it doesn’t really explain much…”

“Sensei, if you really want to know, you can just ask about it during the meeting, I’m sure that Hoshino-senpai won’t be against explaining it to you”

‘Well… I guess that is the best I can do for now, huh?’

“Sigh… I guess that is what I will do then… are we still far from the school?”

“No, we are pretty close-“

Before she finished her answer, I interrupted her with a strained smile

“… By close I am hoping that you are not talking about the same “Close” that you referred to yesterday”

“…”

Her eyes began to dart around the street, seemingly trying to ignore me

‘…I guess I have my answer’

“Wolfie, how far are we from there?”

“… About 10 kilometers”

‘…’

“Son of a bi-“

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One hour later

“Finally…”

I looked back at C&C, thankfully they seemed to be fine, though Neru certainly didn’t look happy, as she began mumbling to herself

“I swear, If tomorrow we have to walk the same amount as today I will just blow up this goddamn school-“

‘…Yeah- let’s just move on’

I turned back towards Shiroko 

“…Can the task force find closer accommodations to the school? Even if they are in worse conditions it’s better than walking 10 kilometers every day…”

“Nm, I will see what we can do about it-“

As she said that, Shiroko began to walk in the school

“Please go to the meeting room, I will go wake up Hoshino-senpai in the meantime”

“Alright~”

After Shiroko left, I went to C&C

“Alright girls~, let’s go to the meeting room, I’m sure some other girls from the task force will be there”

As I finished, the girls began to enter the school, except Neru, who remained behind, seemingly wanting to talk with me

She was standing still, looking at the ground

“… Is there something that you need to say to me, Neru?-”

“I was there when you had the talk with Pinky-”

She then lifted her hands up and looked directly in my eyes

“But I’m sure that you knew that already, didn’t you?”

‘Well… would you look at that? I was wandering when she was going to bring up the topic…’

I slightly scratched my head

“… You aren’t wrong, I did already know about it-“

She interrupted me, as she lightly scratched her head, seemingly copying my behaviour 

“… I won’t ask you, at least for now anyway, about your past and all… but if Pinky tries to do something like that again-“

She quickly pointed he smgs at me

“I promise you that she won’t even touch a single strand of your hairs”

‘Quiet the… statement, huh…’

I lightly chuckled. causing Neru’s confident facade to immediately crumble into pieces, as a giant blush began spreading on her face

“H-Hey!!!! What’s so funny you Asshole!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but seeing you trying to put on the cool and confident facade was too funny to see… It honestly looked like you were trying to copy someone~”

as she heard my statement, Neru’s attitude seemed to immediately shift, almost as if what I said had hit the mark completely

“...Wait, was i right-”

“A-Anyway! L-Let’s go to the meeting room! The other girls must be waiting”

Seeing her embarrassed demeanor, I decided to just move on from the subject

“...Sure, we shouldn’t make them wait after all~”

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Inside the meeting room 

As me and Neru arrived at the door, we bumped into Shiroko and Hoshino

Seeing the pink haired girl, Neru became more alert, causing Hoshino to grow a confused expression, only to dismiss it a few seconds later as we entered the room

“The four of you are finally here!”

Serika immediately “greeted” us with her usual screaming, but I immediately noticed that compared to yesterday, she seemed to be more stressed

“Come on Serika-chan~, cut this old man some slack, I could only get Nine hours of sleep yesterday-”

“That is more than enough time to have a perfect rest! Don’t make it sound like it's not enough!”

“Alright, alright, let’s just move on Serika-chan, we should begin the meeting~”

Hearing Nonomi’s suggestion, Serika seemed to be about to continue her rant, but she let out a quiet sigh as she started to speak

“... If you say so, Nonomi-senpai”

Seeing that the situation seemed to have calmed down, Ayane walked to the front of the table as she pulled out her tablet

“Alright everyone! Let’s start this weekly meeting once and for all! This time with some new participants, in Sensei and C&C-”

She then turned herself towards me

“-First of all, Sensei, is there anything that you want to know about Abydos? I’m sure that you have done some research on your own, but I seriously doubt you found too much…”

‘Guess I didn’t have to breacb the topic out of left field, huh-’

“... I do have something that I want to know”

Hearing what I said, Ayane grew a smile on her face

“Ask away Sensei, We will do our best to-”

“Yesterday I decided to dig through the GSC records to find some information, and I happened to come across something… A certain debt”

“-help… huh?”

And just like that, the atmosphere became increasingly heavier, as The girl from the task force, except Shiroko, widened their eyes in surprise

Asuna, hearing what i said, became confused, as she decided to cut into the conversation

“... How high is this debt master?”

“... It’s around 962 million yen, while for a big school it would still be an affordable expense, for such a dilapidated school with only five students…”

I stared straight at Hoshino

“... It's simply impossible for them to repay it by themselves-”

The pink haired girl began to glare at me

“... So I want to know Pinky, what caused this debt to even be born?”

Silence was the only thing that filled the room for some seconds, as I could see Hoshino to seemingly thinking on what to do

“Sigh~, you really should learn how to read the room more Sensei, girls won’t like you if you don’t~”

“Well~, you already said that yesterday, but I think that it's something that I will never learn…”

Tension began to grow, and in the end, Hoshino decided to talk

“... I’m sure that you know about the desertification that has, and is still, happening in the district”

a wry smile appeared on Hoshino’s face

“Well, to be honest, the current situation is way better than it was before… When the first wave of sandstorms hitted the district, it completely swallowed 10% of the city”

‘What!?’

Abydos' size seems to be around the same as a district in the city, for sandstorms of all things to have swallowed 10% of it…

‘It seems… way too strange’

Could a singularity like technology have something to do with it?

sigh, unfortunately I have no clues to make theories for now

“The Student Council of the time was completely taken by surprise by the disaster, but in the end, they decided to make a foolish decision… believing that this catastrophe would be a one time thing, they drained their resources to recover the part of the city that was submerged by the sand”

“... But the sandstorms weren’t as merciful as they hoped, just a few months later, as the recovery work was still ongoing, another catastrophe hit the city, causing the work to have to stopped and for another part of the city to have been swallowed by the sand”

“And it was then-”

a look of rage appeared on her face

“-That Kaiser corporation approached the student council”

Just the mere mention of Kaiser, caused every single member of the task force to grow a look of contempt on their faces

‘...It seems that not mentioning Kaiser’s involvement with the helmet gang was the correct choice seeing their seemingly extreme hatred of them…’

“They proposed a contract to the student council, in exchange for a huge sum of money, they would handle the recovery work… at the time the student council popularity was rapidly falling because of their inability to recover the part of the city swallowed by the sand after they had promised that they could do it easily-”

“So they took it, believing that if Kaiser would handle the job, then they could easily salvage the situation, but they couldn’t have been more wrong…”

“While Kaiser did finish the job, the student council had basically become dependent on them if another disaster struck… and low and behold, it did…”

“As the third disaster struck the district, the student council asked Kaiser for help again, but this time Kaiser wasn’t as merciful, they asked for an astronomical sum of money that the student council didn’t have…”

“But the student council was already too deep in Kaiser’s trap, so having no other options, they accepted a debt from Kaiser to fully pay for the work, of course the interests were extremely high, resulting in around half of the debt that we have today…”

her statement caught me by surprise

“Wait a second… only half? Are you telling me that someone else, even while seeing the enormous amount of money they owned, decided to do something which resulted in doubling the debt!?”

Hoshino, hearing my question, grew a wry smile, seemingly reminiscing about something

“... Well to try to get more money in the treasury, the student council asked the Nephtys family for a collaboration in creating an intricate railwork network to connect Abydos to the rest of Kivotos, hoping that it would generate more profit to repay the debt…”

“The only issue was that… the project was never completed because of another sandstorm, resulting in a huge debt to kaiser, who had provided a part of the capital the was used for the project, and for Nephtys to leave Abydos, after losing a lot of money”

The room remained completely silent, allowing me to take in everything

“Sigh… well that was quite the tale…”

‘Honestly, I see no way for only the five of them to repay the debt…’

at least by themselves

“... Alright then, while at the moment I can’t fully help with it, when Kivotos becomes more stable I promise all of you that I will do everything I can to help all of you repay the debt”

““...Eh!?””

it seems that even C&C was surprised by my statement

“Why are all of you so confused? While at the moment every singly yen is needed to stabilize Kivotos, when it's done, the GSC would have more than enough resources to pay a part of the debt, or at least to send more support to the school”

“...”

Ayane and Hoshino quickly looked at eachother, before Ayane stepped towards me

“... If what you are saying is true, then we would forever be grateful to you, but…”

she quickly gulped

“...I don’t believe that free meals exist in this world, what do you want in exchange?”

‘Seriously, they look like children who had to grow up in the city… it seems that no matter the world, stuff like this always happen’

“...well it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not… to be honest there really isn’t anything that I want from the five of you…”

‘I guess this is the best choice’

“...Let’s just say that you will owe me three favors in the future, deal?”

hearing my answer, Ayane threw a quick glance at Hoshino

“...Well, in that case-”

THUMP!

as she was about to answer, an enraged  Serika slammed her hands on the table with an furious expression

“Don’t even finish that sentence Ayane!-”

‘Kitty?’

“-And you Sensei!”

“Don’t you dare make promises when it’s so obvious that you won’t keep them!”

“Huh? Why should I not-”

“It’s obvious why! Why should you, a person who has nothing to do with Abydos, help us? We will handle it ourselves, so don’t you dare try to spout bullshit!”

as she was having that meltdown, Serika began to leave the room, slamming the door behind her

SBAM!

““...””

after Serika’s outburst, nobody seemed to be able to say a word, seemingly taken aback by the suddenness of it

“Well- that certainly wasn’t what I expected to happen when I proposed to help…”

I turned towards Ayane, who was still looking at the door stunned

“...Let’s just leave the discussion for later, okay?”

hearing me, Ayane quickly recomposed herself, as a light blush appeared on her face

“Y-Yeah… that would be for the best”

‘Well, with that settled, let’s deal with Kitty’

Right now Serika is probably the second biggest variable here in Abydos for me, while Hoshino is definitely the biggest threat and has the most influence, Serika is an issue because she is the treasurer of the school

If I want to help Abydos with the debt, I NEED to win her trust somehow…

there is just one problem…

‘The only time in my life where I have ever tried to win someone’s trust is with Angela, and that only happened because she didn’t have any prior prejudice against me, but with Serika…’

“Sigh… guess I’m in uncharted territory now-”

I turned towards the girl from the task force

“Do any of you know where she could have run to?”

Hearing my question, the girl from the task force grew a remuginating look, seemingly trying to think of where Serika could have gone

“To be honest Sensei… Serika has been very secretive about where she goes on her own, even when we tried to ask her before, she would just tense up and say that she was going home…”

‘That’s… strange’

“How long has this been going on for?”

“Nm, not too long, just about a week”

‘Only for a week… could it be-‘

If I didn’t arrive at Abydos in the last few days, the school would have definitely been overrun by the delinquents…

Furthermore, Serika was also the only one who didn’t fight the delinquents, she had been unconscious because of the mine, but for all I know it could have been part of a bigger plan, after all nobody just runs in a minefield because of embarrassment!

‘The delinquents did attack her though…’ 

But it’s also true that they could have just tried to eliminate possible loose ends after they had overstayed their welcome…

“Sigh…”

The most I can do for now is making baseless conjectures

“Alright girls, let’s end the meeting for now, we will go knowhere if someone is missing”

Hoshino chimed in with a serious expression 

“…I have no objections to that, let’s end it for now and go search for Serika”

I quickly nodded, before standing up

“Alright everyone, I will go with C&C to check out the west part, while the task force will check the east part, Serika has went away only a few minutes ago, she can’t have gone too far”

““Alright Sensei / Master!!””

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2 Hours later

“Can’t have gone too far my ass…”

“Look Neru, even I didn’t think that we wouldn’t Be able to find her for two hours, okay? Don’t go all sarcastic on me!”

“Yeah, yeah”

After looking everywhere, we weren’t able to even find a single trace of Serika

“Miss Kitty really doesn’t want to be found~, this older sister will have to give her a good scolding later~”

“I would advise you to reconsider Akane, last time you gave someone a scolding she refused to get out of her room for three days, seeing that we are currently in the territory of another school, traumatizing one of their few members wouldn’t do us any good”

“Fufu~, you make me sound so much more evil then I actually am, but I guess I see what you mean Karin~”

Hearing their exchange I visibly shuddered as I began to sweatdrop

‘Note to self, don’t get on Akane’s bad side’

Gurglll

Out of knowhere, Asuna’s stomach released a loud noise

“… It seems that all this walking under the scorching sun has really made me hungry, master can we go to eat something?”

Hearing her proposal, I quickly turned towards the other girls, who nodded at me

“… Well I don’t see why not, let me search on my tablet for the closest restaurant…”

I quickly took out the Shittim chest, as the figure of a drooling Arona appeared on screen

“…This udon looks so good! But maybe I should ask Sensei for some desserts instead…”

‘…Classic Arona-‘

“Hey Arona, can you search for the closest restaurant to our location?”

“H-Heh?… oh yeah, no problem Sensei!… Alright I found it! It’s called Shibaseki ramen”

‘A ramen store huh… haven’t been to one in a while…’

“Alright girls! Follow me, I found a place”

“Finally! I really needed some food to recharge!”

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10 minutes later

At the entrance of Shibaseki Ramen

“Looks like a nice place…”

The restaurant looked like the ones find in the backstreets of the City, well the ones who are not in district 23 at least…