After meeting with Mika, we chose not to return immediately. If I had to give a reason… it would be that I wasn't confident I could completely hide the change in my heart from Madame.
"Leader, by tomorrow, the last path we know will be unusable. I think it would be best to return now."
"...Right. You're right, Misaki. Returning today is our best chance to avoid suspicion."
(Whistle. Whoosh. Whistle. Whoooosh.)
"It's alright, Princess. Mika said she would finish her preparations in two weeks at the most, and probably much sooner. We've already stalled for as long as we can..."
I reassured the Princess, who had started communicating through sign language again to avoid any mistakes when we returned to the district. The catacombs' structure would shift tomorrow night, so we had to return today to minimize suspicion. Cutting it too close might raise unnecessary alarms.
"Ughh... I'm so tired..." Hiyori whined.
"...We'll rest for one last hour, then return. Azusa and I will take the watch. The rest of you, get some sleep."
I—no, we, the Squad—had changed. A single meeting, lasting only a few hours, had brought about this transformation.
Azusa, who had once drawn the ire of the instructors for being overly defiant, now had a fire in her eyes that burned hotter than before. I was worried she wouldn't even be able to hide it.
Hiyori, who used to fret over the smallest things, now occasionally spaced out, only to start giggling to herself. I wasn't sure if I should call that a good change...
Misaki seemed to be the only one who hadn't changed on the surface, but as someone who had been by her side since the first time she self-harmed, I could tell. A seed of hope had sprouted behind those empty eyes. The end of her self-destructive behavior was not far off.
And the Princess... Atsuko had changed the most of all. She had found someone to look up to, someone she wanted to be like. I felt there was more to it than just that, but it was hard to put a finger on. Just as we had once looked upon the kind and graceful Princess with admiration and longing... I realized that Atsuko's eyes were now chasing after the person named Mika.
I could understand that feeling, to some extent. Atsuko, who had been the brightest star among us, had never seen anyone shine brighter than herself. Surrounded only by those drawn to her light, she, like the rest of us, had simply been a person drawn to the light of another.
And as for me, Saori Joumae...
"Leader."
"What is it, Azusa."
"They'll see it in your eyes, Leader. Adults are perceptive."
"...Is that so."
I thought nothing had changed, but it seems I was wrong.
"We can just say you're exhausted from being on the run for four days straight."
"...If you say so, Leader. Alright."
I could only hope that my mistakes wouldn't ruin everything.
"Squad, you're late."
"Things went wrong. The contact was a Trinity higher-up, and she was too strong for the entire squad to handle. We were injured and had a hard time shaking Trinity's pursuit."
"Tsk. Madame is waiting."
The instructor we ran into as soon as we returned to the district gave us a contemptuous look before walking away. He was one of the instructors who used to take the lead in beating Azusa. But now, the Squad was more valuable to Madame than the instructors, so his authority meant nothing to us.
"...I'm going."
I said my farewells calmly. This wasn't goodbye. We would see each other again in an hour at most.
Someone silently grabbed my hand.
It was Atsuko.
Her gas mask hid her face, but I could tell she was worried about me, so I wordlessly stroked her head. I wanted to tell her not to worry, that it was pointless… but even I wasn't so sure.
Hiyori. Misaki. Azusa.
I met the eyes of the other girls and gave them a nod. I found myself wishing for a day when their faces would be filled with smiles, not this tense atmosphere. I had decided to trust Mika's words for the sake of the children behind me—to protect them, to make them happy.
On my way to the Arius Basilica, I checked my reflection in a nearby window. I was a mess. My clothes were torn, and my face was etched with fatigue.
To avoid arousing Madame's suspicion while stalling for time, we had minimized our rest and wandered aimlessly through the deserted parts of Trinity to look believably exhausted. I hoped the four days we had bought would be worth it.
Perhaps, from the moment I made that decision, I had already known, deep down, that I wouldn't be able to deceive Madame... that it was impossible.
"Welcome back, Saori. Your return was significantly delayed, but looking at your pathetic state, I assume you had a good reason?"
"...Yes. Trinity deceived us, Madame."
"Hmm... is that so? How?"
"It was a ruse to capture one of our high-ranking members and extract information. By the time we realized it was a trap, we were already surrounded... but fortunately, we managed to subdue Trinity's representative and used her to break through the encirclement. Shaking off their pursuit is what delayed our return—"
"Enough. I understand. It seems that Trinity representative who advocated for peace was a venomous snake in disguise."
Just as I thought our prepared excuse had worked, Madame spoke again.
"Were you successful in verifying my hypothesis?"
"...Yes, Madame. The person introduced herself as a Host of the Trinity Tea Party."
"A Tea Party Host... I see. It must be that young lady who recently made her first public appearance. In that case, her true reason for approaching us was certainly not reconciliation. Given her aggressive stance toward Gehenna, she might be planning to absorb the remnants of Arius. Hmm... a bold young lady. So much so that I'd like to have a word with her myself."
...Dammit. Drawing Madame's attention like this wouldn't be good for Mika. It might have been better to portray her as a naive girl who genuinely wanted peace, someone who could be used as a pawn.
"However, Saori."
"Yes, Madame."
The moment Madame's countless eyes turned to me, my body froze. Her bizarre, crimson pupils stared at me coldly, as if trying to see right through me.
Click. Clack. Click.
With every step of Madame's heels, goosebumps rose on my skin, and a chilling sensation ran down my spine.
She stopped right in front of me, her many eyes staring me down. It was the gaze of a ruler, one that could make me submit with a single look.
Snap— Thwack!
Madame's fan snapped shut and pushed my chin up. My gaze, which had unconsciously drifted downward, was forced back up to meet hers.
"Why is it that I see something so foul and disgusting in those eyes, something that should not exist?"
"I don't know what you mean—"
"No, that's not it. Saori, the old you would have knelt before me. You would have begged for forgiveness and mercy, given up everything and pleaded for me to spare the lives of those children you hold so dear."
"..."
"I will ask you again, Saori. I will only ask once, so I suggest you answer carefully."
There is nothing more terrifying than ingrained fear. The body remembers what happens when you resist, and it refuses to obey the commands of the mind. That is why we, the students of Arius, cannot defy Madame.
"Why is it that in these two eyes, I see a glimmer of that hope I thought I had trampled until it could never bloom again? Why? What are you plotting behind my back, Saori? I told you, if you want to protect those children, you must follow my orders. That is the only correct path."
I felt like a frog before a snake. No, I was worse than a frog. A frog, frozen in fear, is at least plotting its escape. I could do nothing but stand there.
"You're not going to answer, are you? Did you have a dream? A sweet one? Have you forgotten why you all had to live such miserable lives? The reason you had to be cold, hungry, and desperate!"
We were taught it was all because of Trinity, who had exiled us. And that wasn't wrong.
The reason Arius was robbed of its home and fell into such a miserable existence of pain was…
The reason we had to steal scraps of bread like slum rats to survive, drink stagnant water and rainwater, and huddle together for warmth every night was…
All because of Trinity.
"Yes, I taught you well. You know this, don't you, Saori? Then why did you have such insolent, unpleasant eyes? Who did you hear it from? Was it that girl, the Tea Party Host?"
"..."
"Hmm... from the look in your eyes, it seems I'm right. Ha, to be swayed by the words of the enemy! You're completely useless as a tool. It seems I was mistaken about you. Don't you agree, Saori?"
Vain and vain. All is vanity.
But even if all is in vain, you must not stop resisting.
If everything is in vain, then why was I prepared to throw everything away for those children?
It was simply because they were as precious to me as my own life, perhaps even more so.
"Yes, it seems the time has come to take care of some postponed business. Trinity and Gehenna were never essential to my plans anyway, so it's no great loss."
A sacrifice.
I remembered the deal I made with Madame on the day Atsuko was to be sacrificed. But the moment I betrayed Madame, that deal became void.
My decision was swift. A gun was in my hand, its muzzle aimed at Madame.
"...How dare you point such a toy at me? You, of all people, Saori?"
Even if our suffering was Trinity's fault, if the person who had so captivated Atsuko had promised a better tomorrow... then I could believe.
No, anything was better than being sacrificed to this monster.
Please, just let the other children be happy... let them escape from this place safely.
"Madame."
"Yes, Saori. Go on, speak with that mouth of yours. Tell me what made you this way."
"I have nothing to say to a monster like you."
I pulled the trigger.
Twitch.
In the office, filled only with the sound of turning pages and the scratching of a pen, Seia Yurizono's eyes snapped open. Before she could even register that her head had been resting on someone's lap, she shot up.
"Sleep well, Seia-chan?"
Looking at Mika, the owner of the lap, who was smiling gently, Seia knew that the words she was about to say would wipe that smile from her face without a trace. And yet, it was something that had to be said.
"Mika. This is extremely important, so listen carefully."
"Hm? What is it? Did you have a prophetic dream?"
"The Arius students you plan to take in... they're in danger. We must move now if we're to make it in time. Right now."
Mika's expression turned ice-cold. The usual warm, amber glow in her eyes was gone.
"...Ahaha, what is this? I thought everything was going to work out, but I was completely wrong."
Without a moment's hesitation, Mika stood up and roughly grabbed the gun that had been leaning against the wall. Seeing her about to rush off without even knowing where to go, Seia found herself blurting out a piece of information.
"The Cathedral of All-Bane. Head there."
"...Thanks, Seia-chan."
Left alone in the office after Mika's departure, Seia cursed her own foolishness for not stopping Mika, but instead egging her on. She called a Tea Party attendant into the office.
"Tell the chief and vice-chief of the Justice Task Force, Sakurako of the Sisterhood, and Mine of the Relief Knights to come here at once. Tell them it's urgent."
Seia began to seriously wonder how she was going to explain all of this to Nagisa.
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Wow, you guys are crazy. 50 power stones in under 24 hours, that is like 3x times more than I make per chapter,
So begging really does work, anyway enjoy the bonus chapter and make sure to stone me, I mean give me some stones, Plz ( ◕‿↼ )