As summer deepens, the weather grows increasingly sultry. Even the evenings, which used to offer some relief, are not as refreshing anymore. But at least by the time midnight rolls around, the discomfort usually fades… maybe that’s something to be grateful for.
By the way, are those guys going to hide away again today?
Sitting on the swing, I glance up at the night sky, my legs swinging aimlessly.
We live in an age where air pollution has gotten so severe that seeing stars in the night sky has become quite rare in the city. Those who have ventured out to gaze at the stars in clear country air late at night will know how numerous and bright those stars are, and how it makes a person a bit sentimental. So, I’m feeling quite sentimental myself.
It’s been… let’s see, a few months since I unexpectedly dropped into Kivotos. Has it been a bit over two months now? Yeah, I think that’s about right.
I’m proud to say that I’ve been busy living my days. I didn’t work this hard even back on Earth. Maybe that’s why, when things don’t go as planned, I easily end up feeling down.
For me right now, the task of forming a connection with Arius has been that challenging.
When things aren’t going well, doubt naturally creeps in. Am I doing something wrong? Is it just foolishness to chase after what’s right before me?
I push aside my doubts for a moment and start retracing Mika’s original movements, trying to calm my impatient heart.
It was Mika who first mentioned reconciling with the Arius Branch. Unlike my current self, they had quite a lot of troubles, and I remember they didn’t earn trust from Nagisa and Seiya. You could say they were grasping at straws then, but I still wish they could have trusted a friend a bit more.
Next, after successfully contacting Arius, they asked to have Seiya lightly handled. By this point, they had yet to meet Jomae Saori, the leader of the Arius Squad. When the Mob student from Arius said Seiya’s case would be handled by the Squad, Mika had no idea who they were at all.
Then, on a mission to assassinate Seiya, Shirase Azusa chose not to use the bomb that would destroy the Halo. Seiya pretended to die, but to Mika, it was practically a situation where she’d almost killed Seiya herself. After that, Mika began to spiral out of control, like a runaway train with a broken brake.
What happened next… was it when Mika met Saori directly? I think it was a scene where she said she wanted to reconcile with Arius, proposing that an Arius student secretly enroll in Trinity to symbolize their truce. Yeah, that must be it. It’s a scene that stirred up a lot of emotions, so it left a vivid impression on me.
Mika periodically supported Arius, during which she casually picked up the way they utilized the Catacombs through eavesdropping. She used that knowledge to chase down the Squad and the teachers, ultimately reaching the Arius Autonomous District.
However, I wasn’t given any of Arius’s coded language and lack experience in interpreting it. Wandering aimlessly in the Catacombs or trying to make contact passively like now is the best I can do.
If it were the original Mika, she probably would have stepped directly into the Catacombs. I’ve come to the conclusion that I have no choice but to do just that. If I hadn’t opened up everything to Seiya and Nagisa and progressed through the Justice Realization Department, I would have certainly tried to enter the Catacombs to make contact.
Because of this, I didn’t have many other options to intervene this time. Having finished what I could on my end, all that’s left for me now is to wait, but impatience creeps in as I see no results.
Whoosh——
Thud— thud—
Today too, I was dimly left empty-handed, my disappointment being soothed by the starry night sky filled with clusters of stars and the Milky Way, as a chilling wind blew past me. Soon, multiple footsteps echoed, signaling that the guest I’d been waiting for had finally arrived at this deserted playground near the abandoned church.
Looks like I jumped the gun on being disappointed.
“I’ve made contact. I’ll begin my conversation with the target now.”
“…Ahaha, target? Your word choice is a bit ominous. I’m sure there’s a friendlier term you could have used.”
“We didn’t come here to chit-chat. What made you think you could use the Catacombs to connect with the Branch? There shouldn’t have been any trace left for Trinity to track us.”
The voice echoing through the gas mask was monotone. Well, given the hatred they’ve been conditioned with, such a reaction might even be preferable.
Kids programmed to blindly hate Trinity and Gehenna.
Students but deprived of the lives they should live, raised as tools instead.
There are kids from Kivotos with backgrounds so unfortunate that they could be counted on one hand.
“If you really thought that way, I’d be quite regretful. You shouldn’t underestimate how just knowing of the Arius Branch and having access to all Trinity’s ancient texts would allow you to find out about your whereabouts easily, right? It’s just that no one felt the need to until now.”
“…”
“Why so quiet? Don’t you want to ask? What you’re curious about isn’t ‘how’ but it’s ‘why’, right? That’s what I’d wonder.”
“…Okay, then what’s your reason for trying to connect with us?”
By the way, the Squad hasn’t come. It seems Beatrice sent out the regular students first to act as cannon fodder. While I don’t have any intention of sacrificing them, this is the state of things.
“The reason is quite simple. I genuinely hope we can reconcile. Although we’ve ended up like this, we’re certainly kin, aren’t we?”
“That’s utter nonsense. You can’t expect me to accept a ludicrous proposal like reconciliation? It was you Trinity who first cast us aside. Our suffering… you don’t know even a fraction of it. How dare you talk of reconciliation?!”
“Ah? No, that’s not it. We need to be direct, don’t we? It was the past Trinity that ostracized you. I’m not one of them.”
I held back from adding that they aren’t the past them either. After all the pain they’ve endured, there’s no point in saying something that would just mock them.
“I attempted to connect with Arius to atone for the crimes committed by the T-party in the past… to seek your forgiveness and propose reconciliation.”
“I can’t believe that. Vanitas Vanitatum et omnia Vanitas. Do you think I’ll be deceived by such flattering words?”
“Everything is futile, all is vanity. You must know this. Ultimately, every scripture we see carries the same core message. Regrettably, your interpretation of this phrase seems to have diverged greatly from its original sense.”
Originally, that phrase from Ecclesiastes spoke of humility, but it became twisted and distorted by Beatrice, the ruler of Arius, to manipulate students to instill nihilistic views in them.
It’s futile to argue that their interpretation is wrong to those brainwashed kids. I’m satisfied just planting the seed. So bring someone from higher up!
“Let’s stop the conversation here.”
I rose from the swing and turned around. What caught my eye was a total of eight Arius students. I suspect the one speaking with me was the squad leader.
“…What?”
“You seem to lack real authority among you. So, for me, this conversation is meaningless. In your terms, it’s just endlessly ranting in vain☆.”
Click—
The sound of unholstering and loading firearms swiftly reached my ears. Hmm… I wonder which part of my words offended them.
“Wow… could you put the guns down, please? We share a common root at the very least, don’t we? I’ve treated you with nothing but goodwill from start to finish today! If my words upset you at all, I’m sorry. I just hoped someone a bit higher up would come next time, so please don’t take it too harshly.”
“…Tch. Then let me ask you in return. Are you really an authority capable of fulfilling that cloud-dream of reconciliation with us?”
“Ahaha! I can guarantee that none of the current Trinity could pull that off, let alone me! So just turn back today, Arius. It was a short but enjoyable conversation.”
For a while, we engaged in an unspoken standoff, our eyes locked. Of course, the gas masks prevented me from seeing their eyes.
Signal—
As the squad leader signaled, the Arius students began their withdrawal. The squad leader, who was last watching me, silently turned away to blend into the darkness.
I hope next time, the Arius Squad will show up. I wonder if Beatrice will even allow those kids to come out.
It would have been troublesome if they had pulled the trigger over there.
The proposal to reconcile with the Arius Branch is still only a topic discussed within the upper echelons of Trinity. If a conflict erupted here, winning would be the obvious result, but the existence of Arius could end up exposed to the surface.
If such an incident occurred at this moment when nothing has been discussed, I can’t even imagine how Arius would respond. More precisely, I wouldn’t know how Beatrice would act afterward.
What I need now is an opportunity to meet with the Squad and steer their beliefs toward my side. The pivotal point will ultimately come down to the Squad due to the existence of Hikari Atsuko, who Beatrice views as a sacrificial pawn.
Once I push Beatrice aside and merge Arius into Trinity, the leadership position of the Arius Faction will naturally gravitate toward Atsuko. Given Arius’s size and historical significance, they might even earn the right to participate in the T-party in the future.
The future I envision fundamentally presumes that I’ve successfully drawn the Squad to my side. Atsuko should serve as the centering point of the Arius Faction, while Saori must blind Beatrice until everything is ready, and Azusa has to act as a bridge between Arius and Trinity.
As for the other two kids, well… they may rather need care than have important roles. One is an absolute egoist, while the other is the most deeply contaminated.
ACHOO!
…Huh?
Well, they say no one catches summer colds… I’ve successfully made first contact today, so I guess it’s time to go home content for now.
Finally, some stagnating plans have begun to seed, and I believe I can sleep soundly tonight.
