Chapter Text
“WAHHHHH! Sniff! I HATE YOU!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—ow! Ack! Please stop hitting me!”
“Oh boy, she really didn’t like going on the roller coaster, huh, XXXXXX-chan?”
“Uuu… I really wanted her to enjoy something she hasn’t done for the first time…”
“WAHHHHH!”
I bawled my eyes out, punching my big sister’s side while buckets of tears flowed down my cheeks. As I did, I swear I could hear her stupid, lazy childhood friend talk about that stupid roller coaster.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! These two were so stupid! The ride was so scary I thought I was going to die!
Eventually, the tears slowed to just a few sniffles and hiccups. My vision cleared up, and I found myself sitting on a bench with XXXXXX-nee, my arms hugging her waist tightly. She was slowly patting my head, while that stupid friend of hers was nowhere to be seen.
“Shion-chan, XXXXXX-chan! I’m back! With your favorite flavors too!”
She slowly walked towards us, holding two cups of ice cream in each of her hands and… balancing another cup on her head?
“Hehe… Are you trying to act like a clown juggling those cups?” Big Sister giggled before taking a cup from her. “Thanks for getting me chocolate. What did you get?”
“Lemon Sherbet! You know how I like sour things,” XXXXXX-san said, before grabbing the cup of ice cream on her head and handing the other cup to me. “Here you go, Shion-chan! You like cookies and cream, right?”
Grumbling through the sniffles, I reluctantly let go of my sister and accepted the cup from her. Slowly, I nibble a scoop of my ice cream, savoring the milky flavor mixed with the crunchy cookie bits.
(Creak!)
“Ahh… Nom… That hits the spot. Nothing like cold ice cream on a hot day at the theme park, eh?”
“But it’s hot every day?”
“Huhu~” XXXXXX-san chuckled. “My dear XXXXXX-chan… I am four hundred thousand years old! I have seen the days of Abydos when it was full of lush forests! Compared to those days, today is blazingly hot!”
She made a face as she said that, making Big Sister laugh so hard that she dropped her cup of ice cream, the chocolate blob splattering on the ground.
“Oh… I didn’t finish my ice cream…”
One of XXXXXX-san’s eyes opened slightly, revealing her green eyes, before she closed it and sighed.
“Well, shucks. Welp, here, take mine. This old lady can just buy another one.”
“Eh? Are you sure?”
“Anything for the young’uns! I’m that grandma who’s going to force-feed you every day with fruit!”
“Hehe… Thank you, XXXXXX-senpai.”
“Psssh. No need to be so formal. We’ve been friends since we were little.”
…
Big Sis and I ate our ice cream in silence, while XXXXXX-san stared at the other kids running around.
“You know, next year, I’ll enter Abydos High School.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. It’s a big campus, and I’m planning to stay in their dorms. I won’t see you two that often anymore.”
“Well, we’ll miss you!”
I nodded at Big Sister’s words. As much as XXXXXX-san teased me and was super annoying, she was somewhat nice to be around.
“Eh~ I’m glad this old woman is loved. I’ll try to call you guys every day!”
“Yup! We’ll always be waiting for it!”
“Mhm hmm!”
“Well, whaddya say we go on another ride? Maybe this time, we’ll go to the merry-go-round that Shion-chan liked before?”
“Sure! What do you think, Shion-chan?”
“Mm!”
I really liked the spinny merry-go-round at the center of the park. It was really fun!
“Alright!” XXXXXX-san exclaimed as she stood up and stretched herself out. “Let’s go have the time of our lives!”
Before we could even throw away the empty ice cream cups, she ran ahead, speeding off until she was just a dot in the surroundings.
“Wait for us!”
I don’t like running… Why is she so fast…
* * *
“Urgh…”
My head hurt… Did I pass out? Where am I?
As I opened my eyes, I saw destroyed street lamps, building rubble on the floor, and just a ruined city overall.
Somehow, it felt like I was floating… more specifically, it was like I was being carried…
Wait.
Hold on.
I looked up and saw… the side of Mister Pervert-Stalker’s head…
I was being carried by Mister Pervert-Stalker…
…
“EW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET ME GO!”
“Eh?! Shion, you’re awake?!”
“LET. ME. GO!”
I kicked and tried to punch him, but he finally let me go. My feet finally planted on the ground, and I took a good look at my surroundings more clearly.
There was Lucky and the rest of my classmates, all looking at a horde of some girls in dark uniforms. There was a hologram of a girl in some weird outfit on the ground, looking at a small, white-haired girl who seemed really angry. Next to Lucky and the others were some people I didn’t recognize and…
…Them.
…
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
“Wuh?! Shion?!”
“Shiroko!”
“Nn!”
Before I could dash and beat those bastards to a pulp, Scarfy lifted me up from under my arms. I kicked and hit her to make her let go, but she was too strong, and I was kinda tired. That redhead was frightened that I was trying to punch her and moved two steps away from me.
“Shion,” Mister Pervert-Stalker sternly said. “Please calm down. Now is not the time.”
“Grr…”
Since I had no way to punch them right now, I gave up for now. I swear I’ll get those four freaks later.
“Ako.”
[Eep!]
The blue-haired weirdo squeaked as soon as the other girl said her name. I wondered what was going on while I was passed out.
“Explain to me why Makoto sent me this link to a live stream of you in Abydos while I was on a business trip.”
[W-Well…]
“And don’t leave out any details. I’m not in a good mood at the moment.”
[I-I… Uhm… I mobilized troops in order to take custody of the Sensei of SCHALE, with the addition of taking care of Problem Solver 68?]
“For what reason?”
[I… Err… Uhh…]
“It’s because of the negotiations Gehenna currently has with Trinity.”
A white-haired girl—one of the people whom I didn’t recognize—answered in her stead. She walked up to the fluffy-haired girl, stopping only a good distance away.
“Hoshisaki Nao.”
“In the flesh, Head Prefect Sorasaki.”
“The live stream was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“Correct, Ako has taken the initiative to deploy a haphazard operation without your knowledge. I thought the fastest way to close the lid before anything worse could happen was overriding Ako’s authority with your own. In this case, I indirectly forced you to come here to shut her down by using Makoto’s known animosity with the Prefect Team. I am sorry you will have to deal with that idiot because of me.”
“...Hah. I see. Then Ako must have deployed troops for the sake of identifying and removing Gehenna's risk factors. Thank you for the explanation.”
The small, yet intimidating girl turned her head to the one on the floor.
“Ako, cut all communications and take some time to reflect in the club room.”
[Y-Yes, ma’am…]
(Bzzt! Click!)
The hologram of the blue-haired girl disappeared, leaving the two white-haired girls staring at each other.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Only a year, Head Prefect Sorasaki. I will apologize for the suffering my leave has created for the Prefect Team.”
“...”
The girl with the bob cut made a deep bow before raising her head up.
“So you found your place as a delinquent?”
“More like dragged into it by three idiots. I still can’t find the reason why I’m still with them.”
“...It seems like your friends and the Problem Solvers have left.”
As we heard those last few words, everyone on our side looked around, but those four morons and the other two were nowhere to be found.
Damn it. They’ll pay someday.
“...I wouldn’t call them my friends, per se. But what? Is there a problem with them leaving? I doubt you came here looking for a fight.”
“No, I wasn’t. I just had another emergency added to my workload that I needed to take care of.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll take my leave.”
The girl started walking to an alleyway when the other one said one last thing to her.
“...I’m sorry for what happened then.”
The bob-cut stopped in her tracks, turning her head towards the fluffy-haired girl.
“...With all due respect, Head Prefect Sorasaki, I don’t need your damn pity or anyone else’s. My business is mine alone.”
And with that, she continued on her way—
“Hey! You can’t just up and leave!” yelled Lucky. “We’re the ones who’re going to deal with you!”
She stopped again.
“Shut it, you stupid cat,” she glared. “You were never going to lay your dirty hands on me in the first place.”
“?!”
And finally, she disappeared into the alley. That was… harsh.
“What is up with that girl…?”
“Are you okay, Serika?” Mister Pervert-Stalker asked.
“I’m… o-okay…”
[Ahem.]
All attention turned towards Table-Flipper, who cleared her throat.”
[We're the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force, Miss Head Prefect. Do you understand the current situation?]
“...Of course. There has been an unauthorized troop deployment in a foreign district without my knowledge, as well as clashes with students from other academies. However, this does not disregard the fact that the students of Abydos High School have interfered with the duties of the Prefect Team.”
“So?” Lucky hissed.
“Our position has not changed, Miss Head Prefect,” Rich-Girl declared.
[...Ugh. I wish Hoshino-senpai was here right now…]
At Table-Flipper’s groans, Mophead—the small, fluffy, scary girl—raised an eyebrow.
“Hoshino? Do you mean Takanashi Hoshino?”
[Huh? Y-Yeah—]
(Step, step, step…)
“Uwah… What's all this, now? What a mess.”
Uncle Pinky suddenly appeared, strolling from an alleyway and yawning as if she had just woken up.
“Huh? Aw, bummer. Shibaseki’s turned into rubble. Now who did this…”
“What?!”
“Nn?!”
[Hoshino-senpai?!]
Everyone started shouting her name. It had been a long time since we had seen her.
“Hoshino!” Mister Pervert-Stalker called out. “Where have you been?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just taking a little nap. I know I'm late.”
“What took you so long?! It was nuts here! There were the Problem Solvers and a helmet gang, and then there was—”
“I got it, I got it~ …So, the Prefect Team. You guys followed Problem Solver all the way here? …Wait, did you say a helmet gang, Serika?”
“Yeah! They were called the Thunder Helmet Gang, and they teamed up with the Problem Solvers!”
“Huh. Well, that’s new.”
(Clack, clack…)
Mophead walked a bit closer to us, grabbing Pinky’s attention.
“...You've changed a lot since your first year. I almost didn't recognize you.”
“Eh? Do you know me?”
“When I was on the Intelligence Committee, I took note of any students of interest in each district. In Abydos, we had identified a total of three such students. Two of them were your upperclassmen before you.”
“Huh. I didn’t know you had that much information on me. Now I’m curious who those other two are.”
“...Takanashi Hoshino. I thought you left Abydos after the incident.”
“...”
Pinky became silent after the word ‘incident’ came out of Mophead’s mouth. I wonder what that meant. Pinky was probably hiding something…
“Well, as I said, I never came here to fight,” Mophead said.
She turned around to the two people behind her.
“Iori, Chinatsu. Gather the troops. We’re pulling out.”
“W-What?!” The silver-haired girl shouted. “B-But what about the Thunder Helmet Gang and the Problem Solvers—”
“Those injuries… I’m sure you don’t want to fight Hoshisaki-san again in that state.”
“!”
(Flap, flap…)
[Is she… bowing?]
“Head Prefect?!” Exclaimed the pinkish-blonde girl.
Mophead suddenly bowed at an exact 90-degree angle. Her hair flowed to the floor as she stood there bent.
“I, Sorasaki Hina, Head Prefect of the Prefect Team, formally apologize to the Foreclosure Task Force of Abydos High School for the unauthorized deployment and use of forces within a foreign district.”
Everyone—but me, because I didn’t understand what was going on—was in shock at her actions. Eventually, she went back upright again.
“The Prefect Team of Gehenna Academy will no longer enter this area without authorization. I ask for your forgiveness and understanding.”
She turned to the horde behind her.
“All forces, return to headquarters.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am,” replied those two girls, who I guess were officers.
Soon, the mass mob of purples and blacks started to move further away from us, with the pinkish-blonde and silver-haired girl following behind. All that was left of them was Mophead.
“Sensei of SCHALE, I would like to speak to you in private. Could you follow me?”
“Uh… sure,” Mister Pervert-Stalker answered. “Don’t worry, girls. I’ll be back safe. She doesn’t seem hostile.”
[A-Alright, Sensei…]
(Step, step, step…)
The two left for a nearby alleyway, and kinda just… disappeared.
…
Okay, now my shoulders were starting to hurt from being lifted up by Scarfy.
“Hey, Scarfy, could you let me down now?”
“Will you behave?”
“...Fine.”
(Slip! Thud!)
And finally, I was on the ground. Well, almost. I staggered on my footing and almost fell down if it weren’t for Scarfy and Pinky catching me.
“Whoa, what happened to Shion?” Pinky asked. “She’s all bandaged and stuff.”
“She ran headfirst to fight the Problem Solvers after Shibaseki was blown up!” Lucky told her. “She was super mad! I mean, I was too, of course.”
“...What do you think Sensei is talking about with the Head Prefect?” Rich-Girl spoke up.
“Hn… We should spy on them.”
[No… I think we should trust Sensei for now… But Hoshino-senpai! Where were you really?!]
“Sorry, sorry… I was at home. You guys will have to explain the details to me.”
“...Where’s Mister Chef?”
I had forgotten that Mister Chef was probably working today and was definitely caught in the explosion… but I didn’t see him anywhere.
[Oh, don’t worry, Shion. I had a few drones drag Master Shiba to the school. We’ll have Sensei drive him to the hospital.]
“Oh… Thank you…”
[In the meantime… Hoshino-senpai and Shiroko-senpai, could you move Shion to the school infirmary?]
“Nn.”
“Okay, okay~”
“...Huh? What?”
“Shion, look at yourself!” Lucky barked. “Even with those bandages, you’re still pretty hurt!”
“Ahaha… well, the rest of us did get a bit battered up too…” Rich-Girl chuckled. “Four tank shells are something alright.”
[Let’s regroup at the school, and then we can disband from there. I think Sensei can walk back by himself.]
“Right, right. Let’s do that.” Pinky agreed. “We can meet back up tomorrow.”
“Ugh… I need a shower…”
* * *
(Vrrr…)
The inside of the battered and bungled Thunder Cruiser was silent. Aru, Mutsuki, and Haruka were taking a nap, exhausted from fighting. Meanwhile, the other three girls were grappling with what they had just learned about their tank driver.
“Nao-chan…”
“Zip it. I don’t want to hear it.”
“...”
Being shut down, Sachi slumped on the interior of the metal armor of the tank. Next to her, Kayoko was researching on her phone about this ‘Wyvern Technologies’ company, scouring the internet for information about Nao’s background.
“Kayoko.”
“Yes?”
“Stop it.”
“...”
Being caught, Kayoko sighed and turned off her phone. With nothing to do, she closed her eyes for a brief nap.
…
…
…
(Screech!)
(Bang! Bang! Bang!)
“...Muh? Wuh?”
“Uwah…”
“We’re here. Get out of the tank, Problem Solver.”
The sleeping quartet of fixers was rudely woken up by loud banging on the tank walls. The Thunder Cruiser had arrived at Problem Solver’s office, and Nao wasn’t willing to let the four stay in the cramped space any longer.
“I said, get out.”
“Huh?! Uh, y-yeah! R-right!”
Aru was the first one to scramble out of her seat and climb out of the tank, with Haruka loyally following behind.
“Kufufu… I didn’t know you were such a devil~”
Nao turned her head to Mutsuki and glared. Her hand was slowly reaching for her rifle, as if to threaten her out of the vehicle.
“Alright, alright. I’ll get my butt outta here, teehee.”
The mischievous fixer climbed away, and soon, the only member of the Problem Solvers left in the tank was Kayoko.
“...”
“...Just move your ass already.”
Without a word, Kayoko, too, climbed the ladder.
“...I-I’m going to say goodbye, if that's alright with you, Nao-chan.”
“I wanna say bye too!”
“Tch,” Nao clicked her tongue. “Do whatever. Just make it quick.”
And then, the only one left was the white-haired gangster.
…
…
…
(Clunk, thud!)
“...S-So, this is where we say goodbye, Thunder Helmet Gang.”
“It was nice working with you!” Sachi exclaimed. “...E-Even if we lost.”
“Hah… Boss, we’re going to have to move out…” Kayoko sighed. “The Prefect Team definitely knows our location, and the client is probably going to come for us for failing the contract.”
“W-What?!”
“If you don’t mind… can I ask who the client is?”
“Sachi-san… Unfortunately, we don’t really know. A robot in a suit came up to us and told us the details, and Boss here quickly accepted it without a second thought.”
“W-Was it really that shady?”
“I mean… yeah?”
“Well… you guys could always stay with us! Our hideout is in Northern Abydos. It’s pretty abandoned, but we made the best we could out of it.”
“...Thanks for the offer, Sachi-san. But we’ll have to think about it.”
“Y-Yeah… We’ve asked too much of you guys…” Aru lamented. “That doesn’t seem very hard-boiled of us…”
“It’s okay! The offer is always on the table! Here, I’ll send our address just in case!”
Sachi unzipped her fanny pack for her phone and quickly tapped away on MomoTalk. The sounds of phones chiming were heard by everyone as soon as she sent the text.
“Thanks. Well, see you later,” Kayoko said.
“Hehe! It was nice fighting along with you guys!” Mutsuki exclaimed.
“Y-Yes… “ Haruka squeaked. “...Have a good day?”
“We’ll team up again!” Aru shouted. “I’m sure of it!”
“Yes, Aru-sama!” Matsuri saluted, her eyes sparkling. “I really hope to team up again!”
“Haha… See you all!” Sachi waved.
The two gangsters turned around and climbed into the tank, but not without waving goodbye. Soon, the tank restarted its engine and rolled away from the office.
* * *
(Thump! Thud!)
(Stomp, stomp, stomp!)
“Guys! You’re back!” A certain blonde girl with dyed red ends yelled, running from their hideout and towards her friends. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come! I was really held up, and there were a ton of people—why are you guys all so dusty—”
(Step, step, step…)
Nao, without a word, passed her boss by and walked into their hideout. Rika became incredibly confused and looked towards the sisters for answers.
“Hey, Sachi, Matsuri… What’s wrong with Nao?”
“Rika-senpai… Nao-chan was…”
“Hey, Rika-senpai! Did you know Nao-senpai was the White Devil of Gehenna?!”
“The what now?”
“Ha… Yeah… Apparently, from what we know… Nao-chan was formerly in the Pandenomium Society and was an heir to some tech company…”
“...We’re going to need to talk. I need to know what happened.”
…
…
…
(Step, step, step…)
In the basement of the office building they were using as their hideout, the three gangsters slowly trudged to the room they called their second home. When they got to the doorway, they saw the back of their fourth member, sitting on a metal folding chair and rocking it back and forth.
“...Hey? Nao?”
“...”
“Do you want to talk?”
“...No.”
“W-We can help! Something happened in the past, right? We can hear you out!”
“I don’t need your pity.”
“B-But we’re friends—”
(Clatter, clatter!)
(Grab!)
“Wah?!”
In the blink of an eye, the sisters suddenly found their boss’s collar being lifted up by their friend.
“Rika. For the sixteen years of my life that I have lived in this godforsaken place, the word friend was never in my vocabulary.”
“W-What?!
“H-Hey! What are you doing, Nao-chan?!”
“Nao-senpai! Let Rika-senpai go!”
“Rika, I honestly didn’t know how I got close to you in the first place. Your life would be better off without someone like me.”
“...Look. I know we had our fair share of disagreements, but I’m sure we can talk things out with you.”
“...You can’t.”
“I’m sure we can—”
“Rika. You can’t.”
“...Was it about that company you were from? Wyvern Tech or whatever?”
“...”
Rika hit the jackpot. The angry gangster was silent. She suddenly pulled her hand away from her boss’s collar.
“So you all want to listen to a sob story, huh? Too bad. It’s a shitty one.”
She started walking to the doorway, passing the sisters without a look.
“Nao! Where are you going?!”
Nao stopped in her tracks, just right at the door.
“And why would I tell you?”
“Because we’re friends!”
“...”
She sighed, turning around to look at the rest of the Thunder Helmet Gang.
“Ha… Because you still think of me as your friend, here’s what I’m going to say.”
Nao fully turned her whole body towards them.
“We’re done. We’re no longer friends. You shouldn’t have ever been friends with me, a failure, a tool, a fucking worthless defect.”
She turned her back on the three.
“Don’t go looking for me. There’s no point.”
(Step, step, step…)
And then, she disappeared without a trace.
…
(Thud!)
“N-Nao…” Rika muttered her name, her knees dropping to the floor as her face was riddled with despair.
“Rika-senpai!” The sisters shouted, rushing to their boss’s side.
“N-Nao… was… my first friend in Gehenna…” Rika whispered, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
* * *
It was the next day, and I was on my way to visit Master Shiba in the hospital. It so happened that I met up with Serika and Ayane.
I get why Serika was going to visit him, being an employee and all, but I wasn’t quite sure about Ayane. She probably was just visiting because she was also concerned.
Either way, we checked in with the receptionist and headed upstairs to where Master Shiba was staying at. The hall was clean and kept neat. The walls were completely white, actually, everything was just white. The hospital looked… like any other ordinary hospital that I expected to see.
Stopping before the door to Master Shiba’s room, I slid open the door to see…
“Shion?!”
“Huh?! What?!”
“When did you get here?”
“Eh?”
“Oh, hello there, Sensei, and you two.”
If I remembered correctly, Shion was supposed to still be at the infirmary at school, in a gown and resting. But here, she was fully dressed with her bag and submachine gun at Master Shiba’s bedside, with some tears in her eyes. She still had most of her bandages on, though.
“Shion… Did you sneak out and secretly visit Master Shiba?”
“B-But…”
“Haha… It’s fine. She was just worried for me, and I’m sure you three are too.”
“Ha… I’ll deal with Shion later… How are you feeling, Master?
“I’m alright. It was just a few scratches and cuts. The girls who were regulars and visiting with your friends pulled me out of the rubble.”
“Well… that’s a relief.”
Serika headed to the side where Shion was, while Ayane and I walked closer to him after I closed the door to give us some privacy.
“Master… what’s going to happen with the restaurant now?”
“Well, like I said with little Shion here,” Master Shiba replied, patting Shion’s head. “I’m sorry that I have to let you two go.”
“...You don’t have to say sorry for that. The building’s been leveled, after all. Still sucks it blew up though.”
“It’s alright, I was planning to close up shop for good anyway. Just so happens that it was earlier than I expected.”
Everyone froze as he made that statement.
“...WHAT?!” The two former employees yelled in unison.
“Master Shiba, you were going to shut down?” I asked.
“Well… yeah. I’ve gotten an eviction notice from the building owner. Sorry for not telling you two, by the way.”
“...”
(Click! Click!)
Suddenly, Shion stood up and chambered a round from her firearm.
“...Mister Chef,” she spoke up, her face darkening. “I need you to tell me who the building owner is. I’m going to make them pay.”
“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!” Serika shouted. “Shion! Calm down!”
“Haha! She’s lively today!” laughed Master Shiba. “But yes, calm down, Shion. I was planning to take a break anyway. It isn’t anyone’s fault.”
“...O-Okay.” Shion whimpered, putting her gun down.
“Master Shiba, you mentioned the building owner was evicting you… But every building in the Abydos district is owned by the High School… What are you talking about?”
“...Actually, the Abydos Student Council couldn't pay off its debt, so the ownership of the building changed. I guess you didn't know because it happened so long ago.”
“...What?”
“R-Really? The property was sold? To whom?!”
“...Could the owner be the Kaiser Corporation?” I asked.
Mentioning Kaiser, everyone else in the room was silent. Master Shiba had his hand on his chin like he was trying to remember if what I said was correct.
“Hmm… that name sounds right, but I’ll have to check later to confirm.”
“Wait, hold on, if that's what happened… Everyone, you should go ahead and walk back to the school. I have to check something before I go.”
“Huh?! What is it? I'll go with you, Ayane!”
“Mm. I want to investigate this and make sure this Kaiser pays.”
“Well… alright. In that case, you should go back to the club room first, Sensei. We'll be right behind you!”
“Okay then. I’ll be waiting at the school. I’ll tell you all what Hina told me.”
“Please don’t retire, Mister Chef…” pleaded Shion. “I’ll pay everything if I need to…”
“Please don’t do that, Shion,” He replied. “I insisted on paying you even when you refused to accept the payment. Don’t waste your paycheck on me. Also, before you leave, Sensei, I have something else to say.”
“Oh?”
“An adult woman came in earlier and presented a business card to me before saying thank you and leaving.”
Master Shiba reached out to his bedside for a rectangular card before handing it to me.
“Apparently, she works at some place called Starlight Military Technologies. I don’t know why a military company visited me. Do you know them?”
“No? I’ve never heard of them before.”
“...Apparently, they’re a new startup company that deals in the arms trade and other military-related industries,” Ayane explained while looking at her phone. “Other than that, they’re not particularly notable for anything.”
“Interesting,” I said. “I’ll check them out later.”
I approached the door before turning around.
“Get well, Master, and I’ll see you girls at school.”
* * *
I was walking back from the hospital alone after visiting Master Shiba. I do wonder what those girls were going to do, but I guess they’ll explain it to me when they get back.
Hmm… The debt, the attacks, and now Shibaseki being sold off to Kaiser… A lot was going on in Abydos, huh? There were way too many things to think about. What was that military company doing with Master Shiba anyway?
…Why would Kaiser buy out Shibaseki? It’s not like they liked Master Shiba’s cooking, right? Something feels off about this purchase…
…Hold on. If I was correct, Shibaseki is considered a property in Abydos, and it was sold off to Kaiser. And I hypothesized that the school was consistently attacked because Kaiser wanted the loan to default so they could take the collateral—
Wait, wait, wait… something is going on here.
…
I’m going to place my bets that Ayane and the other two were finding out why Shibaseki isn’t owned by the school. I took out my phone, opened MomoTalk, and texted Ayane privately.
[Hey, Ayane.]
[Yes, Sensei? Are you at school yet?]
[No, still walking. Got around… five minutes left? Anyway, I wanted to ask about something.]
[Oh? I’m happy to answer anything, Sensei.]
[What was that something you were trying to confirm?]
[...Well, I wanted to find out that if Shibaseki wasn’t owned by the school, then what about the other territories that the school owned.]
[...I don’t think the school owns Abydos anymore.]
[Eh? What do you mean—hold on, the other two are calling for me.]
After that text, she didn’t send anything else for minutes before…
[Sensei… You’re… right… Everything but the campus and a few other parts are owned by Kaiser Construction.]
Well, damn it. I hate that my gamble was right on the money.
[Ayane, I figured it out.]
[What?]
[Run to the school if you need to. We’re hosting a meeting as soon as possible.]
[Huh?!!!!]
Closing Ayane’s tab, I moved to the group chat to quickly type out a message.
[Everyone, meet at the club room as soon as you can. Don’t wait for me.]
I shoved my phone in my pocket and ran to the school.
…
…
…
“Sensei?! What was that text you sent us?! What happened?!”
Nonomi stood in front of the school gate, and as soon as she saw me, she scrambled for answers.
“Nonomi, didn’t I tell you that you didn’t need to wait for me?”
“B-But…”
“Ha… It’s fine. Where are the other two?”
“Shiroko isn’t here yet, but Hoshino-senpai is already inside.”
“Good—”
(Rrrrrr…)
(Ding! Ding!)
“Sensei!”
I saw Shiroko on her bike cycling towards us. She slid to a stop and dismounted it, rolling it as she walked closer.
“I saw your message and came as quickly as I could.”
“Thanks, I have something important to tell everyone. Let’s head inside.”
After Shiroko put her bike away, we headed into the school and entered the club room. We found Hoshino sitting in her usual spot, her head on the whale plush.
“Hey, hey, Sensei~” she waved at us. “What was that text about?”
“Something important. Take your seats. We’ll wait for the other three to arrive before we start anything.”
As Nonomi and Shiroko pulled a chair and sat down, I stood in my spot at the end of the table, with my hands down on the surface. It would be a few minutes before…
(Whurr! Thunk!)
(Stomp, stomp, stomp!)
“Guys, guys! This is bad!” Serika yelled.
“I found something really important!” Ayane shouted.
The first-years burst through the doorway and were in a crazed panic. Serika and Ayane were shouting, and Shion was waving both her arms up in distress.
“Calm down, take a breather for a second.”
All three—never mind, only Serika and Ayane—did what I asked them to do, breathing in and out slowly. Shion was still in a panic, and we had to take a few minutes to make her stop flailing her arms.
She really didn’t like listening to me, huh? Well, not the problem right now.
“Phew, now that’s settled, I texted you all to meet here right now because I wanted to tell you all something, a thing that should probably be told in person.”
“And? What is it?” Hoshino asked.
“I figured it out.”
“Huh?”
“Sensei… we still don’t know what that means…” said Nonomi.
“Ahem, remember the last meeting where I theorized that Kaiser wanted the loan to default for the collateral?”
“Nn. I do.”
“The collateral is the land… or in other words, the territory within the Greater Abydos District.”
Everyone was silent. I think it was a bombshell for them all. Well, it should be.
“Ayane, Serika, and Shion, show them the map.”
“Y-Yes! What I have here is the map of the Greater Abydos District. It’s specifically a property map that includes a record of all its most recent transactions.
Ayane, with the help of Serika and Shion, unfolded and spread out a large map on the table. There was a bunch of markings in various colors, probably done by those three while they were researching.
“You mean that map that shows who owns the land? Everyone knows that the land belongs to the school, so what's the point of showing us this? And we haven’t confirmed for sure that the collateral is the land—”
“That’s the thing, Nonomi-senpai!” Serika shouted. “We don’t own the land!”
“Huh?!”
“When we were at the hospital, Mister Chef told us the restaurant wasn’t owned by the school,” Shion followed. “So we checked the status of everything else…”
“...We found that everything other than this campus and a few other bits was owned by Kaiser Construction,” Ayane closed.
“...WHAT?!”
Hoshino, Nonomi, and Shiroko all yelled at her statement, being the last ones to process the facts.
“...Then Sensei’s theory might be correct,” Shiroko stated.
“I could check the records after,” Ayane added. “I’ve had no luck so far, but I’m sure there's a document about the transaction somewhere.”
“Wait, wait, wait… Kaiser really owns Abydos?! What about Shibaseki?!”
“Literally everything but the campus, Nonomi. Even the desert. In fact, Master already got an eviction notice and was going to close up shop anyway.”
“...H-How is this possible? How could the land in the academy district have been traded away?”
“...It must be the Abydos Student Council.”
Hoshino replied to Nonomi, and everyone quieted down. Since student councils have all the power in the school, I guess Hoshino was right.
“She's right,” Ayane agreed. “The transaction was led by the previous Student Council.”
“But… the Abydos Student Council has been gone for two years…”
“Yes. No further deals have come to light since the Student Council disappeared.”
“...What have they done? Those idiot Student Council members! How could they sell the school's land to the Kaiser Corporation?!”
(Slam!)
“The school belongs to the students! Why would they do something like this?!”
“...The district belongs to the school. That's common knowledge, so we were only concerned about the school's debt, not the school's assets. If only I had known sooner...”
“...Even if you had known, there's nothing you could have done,” Hoshino countered. “This happened before you entered the school, before the Foreclosure Task Force had even been formed.”
“Oh, right! You used to be part of the Abydos Student Council, didn't you?” Nonomi exclaimed.
“Oh? Is that true?” I asked.
“Ah, yeah. I was the Vice President of the last Student Council, but I didn’t get to meet the upperclassmen who came before me. I was told there were seven of them when I was in middle school. Every one of them, except the last Student Council President, had already graduated.”
Hoshino began to scratch her head as she talked.
“By the time I joined the Student Council, the number of enrolled students was exactly three. There were no faculty members at that point, and classes had been suspended for a long time.
Her lips turned downward into a frown.
“The Student Council room was almost like an empty warehouse, and the previous members had barely left anything useful. It was a time when the school building was moved several times to avoid the desertification.”
She sighed… or yawned? I wasn’t sure.
“The last Student Council was only me, the President, and another girl. The president was an idiot with the lowest grades, I was an ill-tempered first-year, and the other girl was too shy to do anything. We were a mess.”
“The person with the lowest grades was the Student Council President?” Serika remarked. “What kind of a Student Council is that?”
“Grades don't indicate whether someone is suited for a job, Serika,” Shiroko retorted.
“And your grades aren't that great either… haha…” Ayane added.
“I-I know that! Why are you guys bringing up my grades all of a sudden?”
“Maybe you could learn more so you stop getting scammed,” Shion patted her arm.
“S-Shut up!”
We all giggled at poking fun at Serika’s academics. I’ll have to keep in mind to host some study sessions with her. Time to actually put my teaching skills to use for once.
“Hehe… She's right, though. We may have called it a Student Council, but we were so incompetent. I ended up joining the Student Council by accident, and I didn’t really have any goal in mind. In fact, I had no idea what I was doing... I was just… a total idiot.”
…No idea what you were doing, huh? Yeah, that’s… relatable.
“...Hoshino-senpai, you shouldn't blame yourself,” assured Shiroko. “In fact, after the Student Council was disbanded, it was only thanks to you that the Foreclosure Task Force was established in Abydos.”
“Eh?”
“You may be lazy, but you're always the first to take initiative when it really matters.”
“If we’re talking about initiative… You were the first one to contact me when Serika was missing.”
“Is that right, Sensei? I don't remember… This old man’s memory is kinda fuzzy.”
“Huh? Really?! Senpai of all people?”
“Yes, Serika. While she may be a lazy, hopeless goof, she’s still someone I respect.”
“W-What is this? What's come over you, Shiroko?! Hearing you say that makes me feel so embarrassed!”
“...Well, I just wanted to say it.”
“E-Eh?”
“Nn.”
As Shiroko kept prodding her, Hoshino gradually became redder and redder. But then…
“Question.”
“Yes, Shion?” Ayane turned towards her. “What is it?”
“Why would the former Student Council sell the land to Kaiser? Everything beyond the populated urban spaces is either a pit full of sand or a dump.”
“Maybe by selling off the land, they could reduce the debt?” I proposed.
“...That’s really stupid.”
“Well… stupid or not, the debt back then was still huge, even more than we have right now. But since it was sold at such a low price, forget the principal. They couldn't even keep up with the increasing interest… So they just kept selling land…”
“They had no choice,” I stated. “Abydos was caught in a dirty trap.”
Kaiser, the money, the land… Bit by bit, it’s all being pieced together into a greater puzzle.
“Kaiser lent more money to the Student Council than they could ever repay, forcing them to sell the land to compete with the rising interest over the years. But with such a low price, it did nothing to make a dent in the debt, so they just kept selling more and more… However, without a student council, Kaiser couldn’t buy more land, so they’re just waiting for the loan to default… all because the land is the collateral.”
“Nn. That must be how it happened.”
“Then, the reason they lent that money to Abydos in the first place… was really so they could take the land,” Nonomi concluded.
“It was all a massive conspiracy... “ Hoshino muttered.
“I can't believe it! They played right into the hands of those Kaiser bastards!” Serika yelled. “The Student Council was so stupid! How could they fall into their trap so easily?!”
“Don’t call them stupid. It wasn’t their fault.”
“Shion, didn’t you call them stupid a minute ago? That’s super hypocritical.”
“E-Eh? I just… Huh. I don’t know why I said that.”
Shion scratched her head, looking confused. I was wondering why she went back on her word as well.
“Well, the ones who tricked them are the villains,” I argued. “Don't blame the victims."
“...I-I know that! I've bought sketchy stuff before, like germanium bracelets, remember?! I know better than anyone that the con artists are the bad guys!”
“...Lucky, have you ever heard the saying that goes ‘fool me once, shame on you?’”
“...What are you saying, Shion?”
“I think it’s actually your fault if you don’t learn from your mistakes.”
“...You little—”
(Clatter, clatter!)
Serika suddenly stood up and lunged towards Shion, who was sitting right beside her. She dodged her, and the two began a cat-and-mouse—well, cat-and-cat, I guess—chase around the table. But in the corner of my eye, a certain girl began to grow frustrated, gripping the table with increasing strength.
(Slam!)
“SERIKA! SHION! SIT DOWN!”
Standing up and slamming the table with her fists, Ayane finally got the duo to stop. They froze in place and dragged themselves back into their seats. I could see them shake, fearing another table incident again.
“Hah… Why do I have to deal with this…” muttered Ayane as she sat down again.
“I’m sorry for chasing Shion around… but… I still feel so angry about all this…”
Serika looked up at all of us with a troubled expression on her face.
“Why? Why would they do something so cruel to Abydos? We were already struggling…”
“...When people are suffering, they become desperate,” Hoshino spoke up. “And desperate people...will do anything to alleviate their suffering. That's all there is to it, Serika.”
…Yeah.
“...Well, my question still remains,” Shion continued. “Why does the big bad company want a chunk of sand?”
“I might have an idea.”
“Mister Pervert-Stalker?”
“Again, please stop calling me that.”
“No.”
“Hah… anyways, Hina told me yesterday that Kaiser might be up to something in the Abydos Desert. It might answer our questions.”
“Hnn… Why would she tell you that, Sensei?” Shiroko asked.
“Come on! What is there to think about?” Serika shouted. “The Abydos Desert is in our district! Why don't we just go check it out? If you're so curious about what's out there, then let's go and see for ourselves!”
“...Wow, Serika. You actually had a good idea for once,” Hoshino praised. “You've grown so much. I'm so proud of you.”
“...What is this feeling? Is this what it's like to be supported—wait, what do you mean ‘for once?!’”
(Slide!)
“That’s a stupid idea.”
“Eh?!”
Shion suddenly stood up from her seat, and Serika was totally shocked to see her co-worker oppose her proposal.
“How so, Shion?”
“You might not like hearing this, but we’ve already established that everything but this campus is their territory. If we go investigate that place, we’ll probably be considered trespassing despite being in Abydos.”
She looked around the room and continued.
“We don’t know if they have people roaming around or what would happen if we get caught. The safer option is to stay here, look at the things we haven’t checked, and start from there. And…”
Shion shrank a bit and looked down at herself.
“...I don’t wanna traverse the desert again.”
“Has Shion been to the Abydos Desert before?” Nonomi asked.
“Wait, didn’t she mention that she has been to the Black Market a few times?” Serika followed.
“Yes, she has, and when we went there, we did have to cross a small portion of it when we entered the Western Abydos Subregion,” Ayane clarified.
“She does make a good point,” I pointed out. “But I’m sure, like the bank, some of you don’t care, right?”
“Well…”
“So let’s put it to a vote. Raise your hand if you oppose visiting the desert.”
Upon saying that, a hand was immediately raised up.
“...Well, raise your hand if you are for visiting the desert.”
…As expected, when Shion lowered her hand down, everyone but her raised their hands.
“One against, five in favor. Looks like we’re going with Serika’s idea. But don’t worry, Shion, I’ll consider your concerns before we go.”
“Tch. Don’t blame me if something happens,” she warned before sitting back down.
“Ayane, is two days from today a good time to head out?”
“Don’t believe we have anything planned then, but we do need to restock on some supplies after yesterday.”
“Hmm, okay, how about this? We can take a free day tomorrow, and we’ll go downtown shopping for whatever we need the day after. I think you all deserve a break after what happened.”
“Nn. Sounds good.”
“I’d be happy with that!”
“Uwah~ This old man can get some rest… I’ll take a free day any day.”
“Gives me some time to look for other part-time jobs… Hey, Shion, do you wanna come along?”
“Mm. Maybe.”
“Actually, we’re chaining Shion to the bed for the entire day tomorrow.”
“What.”
Shion looked at me with a disgusted look. I know what I said was… questionable… but she has been just… escaping… nonstop.
“Okay, I worded that badly—my fault. But Shion, you’re hurt and need to stay put to actually rest. If you do it for at least half a day, I’ll consider getting out of your sight for the remainder of it. Serika, help me on this.”
“Well… Sensei isn’t wrong…”
“Et tu, Lucky?!”
“I’ll be working on checking the archives, so I’ll be at school the entire day,” added Ayane. “I’ll monitor her in case she disappears again.”
“Ehhh?!”
So… we kinda just bullied Shion a bit… and then she flipped the table herself after too much teasing… Well, at least it wasn’t Ayane this time, that would have been much, much worse. She just flipped the table and holed herself in the infirmary. We decided to keep Shion in bed until just before noon tomorrow.
We cleaned up after that happened, and everyone but Shion and I slowly left the building to go home. Actually, I thought everyone was gone after Shion went to shower, but I suddenly felt a tug on the back of my suit as I was going to work.
I turned around and saw…
“Shiroko?”
“...Sensei, do you have a moment? I have something I need to talk to you about.”