The main tournament of the first day has ended, but a separate event for the audience is still ongoing.
Among them, I take a sip of cool lemonade on the outdoor terrace of the seaside house where a sandcastle building contest is taking place.
“…”
“Why are you staring like that? Is there something on my face?”
“…No, nothing like that.”
“Then you have something to say. So, you said your name was Yukino-chan, right?”
“Yes. As you mentioned, I have something I’d like to ask you.”
Shichido Yukino.
The squad captain of the FOX Squad, currently a second-year student at the SRT Special Academy, who is said to be the best elite according to the Student Council President.
She feels quite unfamiliar to me in many ways, but that’s mainly because I knew almost nothing about them aside from their objectives.
Their aim, in collusion with the Defense Office Head, Shiranuichi Kaya, is to obliterate the federal investigation club Shalle, led by the teacher, and to resurrect the SRT Special Academy, which was decided to be closed after the disappearance of the Student Council President.
In the process, I suspect they may have discussed a coup targeting the Student Council.
For that reason, the leader of the FOX Squad, Yukino, is something of a cautious figure for me. However, since this is before the Student Council President’s disappearance and the SRT Special Academy is still intact, I figure it’s largely unnecessary worry.
“Uh-huh. Feel free to ask, Yukino-chan. By the way, I didn’t expect the Student Council President would leave just the two of you behind after saying she had someone to introduce.”
“…I find it more surprising that the Student Council President stayed here so long. She’s been cutting down her free time day after day for the sake of all Kivotos… Um, I’ve digressed. What I want to ask is nothing other than this.”
Yukino looked at me with serious eyes. However, her fox ears perked up above her head and the striking contrast of her special forces gear draped over a daring black bikini made her seriousness amusingly less serious.
“What is your intention behind asking such a request to the Student Council President?”
“Hmm, such a request. If I had known we were diving into serious discussions, I would have engaged in a bit more small talk. So I’ll flip the question back at you. What has Yukino-chan heard from the Student Council President?”
“…The Eden Treaty and that she wants to utilize the power of our SRT for the maintenance of the peacekeeping organization.”
What? So she actually knows almost everything. Hmm.
But I wonder what she wants to ask me regarding this information. I suppose she wants to say it’s too trivial a task for the SRT to handle?
“Is your question about my intention behind requesting that a part of the peacekeeping organization be comprised of SRT due to your dissatisfaction with taking on this task, Yukino-chan?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Aha, interesting. However, saying I asked the Student Council President for the SRT isn’t entirely accurate. That was a demand, not a request. I don’t quite remember when exactly, but there was a time when the Student Council President treated me extremely rudely. She spoke to me as if I were a potential threat to Kivotos’ security, to the point of being excessively candid.”
“…So it is about the responsibility for the mistake made by the Student Council President back then.”
“Well, that’s part of it! After all, the most unstable and hostile entities in Kivotos are the two schools, Gehenna and Trinity, right? If we withdraw personnel to create a peacekeeping organization to handle the conflicts between those two, it’ll inevitably leave gaps in maintaining order within the Autonomous District.”
Not to say that there would be gaping holes. The Eden Treaty’s peacekeeping organization, or ETO, would at least take some authority away from the Student Council and Justice Realization Department. Thus, the personnel who were withdrawn could be supplemented by ETO.
I took another sip of lemonade to quench my thirst. Yukino’s gaze still held some dissatisfaction, but she seemed to grasp our circumstances to some extent.
“The extent of how we manage personnel can reduce the gaps as much as possible, but as the distance between those two schools shrinks, incidents will inevitably increase. The only ones who can fill that gap are the Valkyries and SRT, but honestly, I don’t have much faith in the Valkyries.”
After all, the Valkyrie Police Academy has limited authority within other schools’ Autonomous Districts. Unlike the SRT, which is directly under the Student Council President, it operates as an independent school.
As long as the Student Council President is present, we can trust someone reliable, but once she goes missing, the control becomes ambiguous. There’s naturally no way to incorporate the independently operating Valkyrie into ETO.
Not to mention, the Valkyries’ capabilities seem inadequate for such a large-scale responsibility.
“…Comparing our SRT to the Valkyries is an insult to both sides. A knife for slaughtering cows and a knife for slaughtering chickens have different uses. We exist specifically to respond to crimes and preemptive strikes occurring in places where Valkyries cannot reach.”
“Heueng. You say that, but Yukino-chan, your self-assessment is quite high.”
Stirring the lemonade with a straw, I ponder where exactly Yukino’s dissatisfaction originates from. I could directly ask her, but I think it’s prudent to keep a mindset that someone in a position bearing considerable responsibility should have.
“Then, what exactly is the point of dissatisfaction? Do you think it’s simply because you see the task as beneath SRT? Or because you consider the mediator role between the two schools too trivial for a special squad directly under the Student Council President? No, it doesn’t seem like that either.”
It doesn’t seem like she’s interested in directly voicing complaints for such reasons. Then what could it be? I don’t know much about the background of the FOX Squad, but I can somewhat understand the SRT Special Academy from the main story’s Chapter 4 through the RABBIT Squad, which was in the protagonist’s position…
…Ah.
“Justice?”
“…”
Seeing Yukino’s eyes widen slightly, it seems this is indeed the correct guess. Hmm, right. Their collaboration with Shiranuichi Kaya’s ‘coup’ in the original story was solely for the resurrection of the SRT Special Academy. This implies they hold a certain affection for the SRT, and it also indicates a deep influence from its ideology.
The leader of the RABBIT Squad, Tsukiyuki Miyako, spoke about the justice that only the SRT could uphold. Rejecting the justice spoken of by other schools.
Unlike other schools, which interpret the standards of justice whimsically according to their own interests, the SRT claims to have a differing approach.
Of course, the justice upheld by SRT, which is akin to the Student Council President’s private army, is not absolute. However, given that the president is such an upright individual, they are likely to carry out justice without a single doubt in their minds.
“Hmm… The fact that you must become a part of the Eden Treaty’s organization might contradict your perception of the SRT’s purpose for Yukino-chan. Or it could mean a difference in direction from the justice the SRT seeks. I’m not entirely sure which it is.”
“…It’s somewhere between the two you mentioned. Justice means adhering to a correct principle that matches the truth, but the moment we act as mediators between the two schools, SRT will inevitably be influenced by Gehenna and Trinity, whether we wish for it or not. I don’t wish for the SRT’s justice to be distorted. It’s also somewhat true that this task contradicts the significance of the SRT’s existence.”
“Aha, I don’t think that matters much, though. After all, I don’t want the SRT to be subservient to ETO either. Moreover, depending on how you look at it, this task could only be performed by the SRT, unencumbered by the interests of the other schools, a role that the Valkyries cannot take on.”
The moment SRT steps into ETO, the schools Gehenna and Trinity would have a say regarding the closure processes of the SRT.
This means SRT cannot guarantee that it would retain the exact same authority it had under the previous Student Council President. However, it does mean that they would be firmly prevented from being closed.
But that doesn’t mean they’d be given authority to move SRT as they please, meaning there’s no room for Gehenna and Trinity to misuse the justice they seek.
If such a possibility existed, other schools would vehemently oppose the treaty’s success, and the Student Council President would have drawn a line early on, stating that it was impossible.
But this is only my perspective, knowing about the Student Council President’s disappearance. It’s regrettable that I find it difficult to explain these circumstances to Yukino.
“Most importantly, I don’t think the justice SRT seeks is so trivial that it could be shaken by influences from our two schools. The notion of what constitutes the correct principle adhering to the truth cannot change just because someone’s influence touches it.”
“…I understand.”
“Yukino-chan, I have a question I’m curious about. May I ask?”
“Curious about something… Yes, feel free to ask as much as you want.”
“Right now, you are following the orders of the Student Council President. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct…”
“That means, for you, the Student Council President is the subject who determines what justice is. There’s a clear signpost that presents a standard of clear justice.”
The power held by the SRT is not abused precisely because the Student Council President is an upright person. This indicates that if their authority were transferred to someone else, it would be easy for it to be misused.
When they become a part of ETO, regarding the clauses of the Eden Treaty, SRT would gain powers that extend beyond the Student Council and the Justice Realization Department. This is to ensure that the SRT’s characteristics shouldn’t be subjected to the control of any schools.
Yet, conversing with this Yukino girl gives me an inexplicable sense of trust. Her gaze feels reliable.
“But if justice is an immutable concept, is the signpost provided by the Student Council President truly necessary to execute it?”
“…I’m not sure what you mean by that.”
“In other words, I want to ask this. If SRT’s autonomy is guaranteed… when you become the subject that determines justice, will you still be able to follow the same unwavering and steadfast justice as you do now?”
“…”
Gehenna and Trinity cannot control SRT. Moreover, they must not control it.
However, the only individual endowed with the authority to direct SRT, the Student Council President, will not be around for long. I estimate that it will be no more than five months, and perhaps even shorter.
When that time comes, the destabilization of SRT would be a significant loss for all Kivotos.
If someone who can execute justice consistently, even in such a situation, were to lead SRT…
“SRT will be able to judge and carry out justice based on consistent standards, even when that situation arises. That’s our justice.”
“I see. This conversation has been quite enlightening, Yukino-chan. Do you still harbor dissatisfaction regarding that role you play as a part of ETO?”
“It’s not entirely absent, but…”
“Hey now. Don’t be too serious about it. Maintaining peace and order between the two schools is still, after all, an act of executing justice, isn’t it? In that process, you’ll become part of an independent organization that moves forward based on clearly defined standards, unfettered by the interests of those two schools.”
“…Yes, based on that, I have no complaints.”
Personally, I believe I have an eye for judging individuals.
And just a moment ago, I determined that this Shichido Yukino is a trustworthy individual. A true student who can lead the entire SRT Special Academy in the right direction.
Instead, there should be someone next to her to ensure she doesn’t stray. I already know someone suitable to hold the reins.
How to provide that opportunity is probably up to me.
It’s a moment demanding considerable thought.
