D.U. Outskirts, Rabbit Town, Rabbit Park.
The place occupied by the SRT students for their demonstration was unexpectedly remote.
However, by the time I arrived, the paparazzi... reporters from the Kronos School's News Department had already beaten me there.
As explosions echoed in the distance, Shino, the self-proclaimed idol reporter, and another bespectacled girl with a slimmer build excitedly continued reporting on the situation in front of the camera.
"Did you all see that? The Public Peace Bureau has been forced entirely onto the defensive!"
"Following the Public Safety Bureau's defeat, it looks like the Public Peace Bureau is about to lose as well! The only Valkyrie unit still capable of operating is probably the Public Safety Bureau...?"
"Although the SRT Special Academy students are merely staging a protest, the battle has become completely one-sided."
I hadn't expected Kronos' reporters to have gathered so much information already. Things were becoming troublesome.
Those people were always looking for the next big story, and their instincts for sniffing one out were exceptionally sharp. A single careless mistake could easily trigger an overwhelming public opinion crisis.
Although Valkyrie's incompetence, and that of a certain organization better left unnamed under the current circumstances, had already become common knowledge throughout Kivotos, if they couldn't even handle a single SRT squad, they might face unprecedented criticism.
Honestly, Rin-chan. If you wanted to keep the incident's impact to a minimum, you should've just let me handle it from the beginning.
At that moment, a blonde girl with a stern demeanor and an intimidating expression drove the reporters back in a harsh voice for getting too close.
As they retreated, the two reporters inevitably spotted me, standing out from the crowd like a piece of gleaming gold beneath the sun, and immediately swung their camera toward me in delight.
"What!? Ladies and gentlemen, did you see that? We never expected Schale's Sensei to appear at the scene as well! Could this be Valkyrie's secret trump card!?"
"Is Sensei simply doing what he always does, rushing to resolve yet another incident in Kivotos, or is there some hidden truth that requires Schale's Sensei to appear personally?"
"Let's ask him directly! Sensei, what is your opinion on the standoff between SRT and Valkyrie?"
Before I even had the chance to refuse, a microphone was already shoved in front of my mouth, followed by a barrage of questions, some completely unfounded, others accidentally hitting surprisingly close to the truth. Either way, none of them were easy to answer.
Just as I was about to respond to everything with "No comment," the blonde girl rushed over in three quick strides, shielding me behind her as she sternly scolded the reporters.
"I already told you, no filming here! Stop it immediately!"
Once the student reporters had reluctantly left, having lost the opportunity to use the interview as an excuse to get close to me...
Only after watching their backs disappear into the distance did Kanna let out a sigh of relief before turning toward me.
"Sensei, I'm sorry for the trouble."
I waved it off.
"It's fine. How's the situation?"
Since it clearly didn't look promising, I skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.
Kanna forced a bitter smile.
"How should I put it... I suppose it's exactly as you can see... We barely have any manpower left, and morale has hit rock bottom. We originally planned to overwhelm them with numbers, but we didn't expect SRT's firepower to be so overwhelming... The troops we have remaining are..."
"We've kept you waiting!"
Before she could finish, a lively voice suddenly rang out beside us.
"I, Public Safety Bureau Officer Kirino, have arrived! Can we deploy immediately!?"
Following close behind came another equally familiar, yet noticeably lazier voice.
"...Looks like it's already over. Doesn't seem like we're needed anymore."
The corner of my mouth twitched.
Turning around, I saw exactly who I'd expected.
A white-haired girl overflowing with youthful energy, alongside a blue-haired girl whose languid aura was the complete opposite, walking toward us together.
Kanna looked up at the sky and quietly finished her sentence.
"...The only ones left are the Public Safety Bureau."
Specifically, the Public Safety Bureau's two greatest headaches: Nakatsukasa Kirino and Nemugaki Fubuki.
At that moment, Kirino noticed me.
Her face instantly turned bright red, and she suddenly became awkward and tongue-tied.
"Eh!? S-Sensei... What a coincidence... A-Are you here to support Valkyrie again today...?"
Kanna and Fubuki both frowned, immediately noticing how unusually obvious her reaction was.
The reason she became an entirely different person the moment she saw me was naturally because of my confession last month.
She'd said she'd think about it and give me an answer as soon as possible.
Yet after all this time, she was still agonizing over it.
She hadn't even awakened an Authority.
If I weren't completely confident in both my own charm and the fact that she liked me, I might've started thinking she was just stringing me along.
After glancing at Kirino a few times, Fubuki greeted me much more naturally.
"Yo, Sensei. Working just as hard as ever, huh?"
Although her attitude looked perfectly ordinary on the surface, I knew Fubuki was in love with me as well.
After all, she'd already awakened an Authority.
"Ah... Ahaha..."
Kirino patted her cheeks to calm herself.
"We're in the middle of a mission right now. I have to stay focused... But with Sensei here, we can practically declare victory already! Let's head out immediately!"
With that, partly eager to earn credit and partly trying to escape the awkwardness, the white-haired girl shot off like an arrow released from its bow.
Fubuki lazily yawned and trailed far behind her.
"Wait. Don't act on your own."
Kanna hurriedly called the two of them back.
"Even if you rush in by yourselves, what can you possibly accomplish? The Public Safety Bureau and the Public Peace Bureau have both been nearly defeated. Do you really think you're a match for them? More importantly, you probably don't even have proper weapons. Why do you think you can win?"
I couldn't help but sigh.
It had to be because I was here that the girls had such boundless confidence.
"You understand your own abilities, don't you?"
Kanna showed no mercy with her words, but everything she said was undeniably true.
"B-But..."
Kirino tried to argue.
"The citizens are panicking... We can't just stand by and do nothing..."
I spoke up beside her.
"This isn't standing by and doing nothing. Considering the gap in strength between the two sides, it's only right to make a proper plan before taking action."
Kirino froze for a moment.
After thinking it over, she nodded in agreement.
"You're right..."
As for Fubuki, she never really cared either way. As long as it was allowed, she'd slack off whenever she had the chance.
Then I turned to Kanna.
"Could you tell me what you know about the SRT students here first?"
"Of course."
The blonde girl nodded.
"The ones occupying Rabbit Park are first-year students from SRT Special Academy..."
"RABBIT Squad."