Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E01 - Pilot

Inside the train car were two girls. One of them sported a long aqua hair. The other sported long two-toned blue and pink hair and wore the Student Council uniform.

“President ▉▉▉▉▉▉!? Are you alright!?” The long aqua-haired girl asked frantically, pressing the long two-tone-haired girl’s largest open wound she could find to stop the bleeding. In the meantime, she desperately looked around for any first aid box.

Much to the long aqua-haired girl’s horror, there were none. Not a single of the other cars she could see had any, either.

“I’m doing well, Kuchinashi Yume-sensei,” The long two-tone-haired girl, President ▉▉▉▉▉▉, answered serenely. “Please ignore the bleeding and take a seat.”

“But…”

“Please, Kuchinashi-sensei. I’m afraid our time is running out.”

The long aqua haired girl, Yume, would relent before taking a seat. There was nothing she could do for President ▉▉▉▉▉▉.

“It’s all my fault.”

Yume clutched her head as she could hear a girl’s anguished howl, but the voice wasn’t Yume’s or President ▉▉▉▉▉▉. The former wanted to speak, but the latter stopped her, giving a look of understanding.

“I can hear them, too. Every decision I made, and everything they led to…”

She would look around to find the third girl, but the latter was nowhere in the train.

“It had to come to this for me to realize that you were right all along.”

She began hallucinating an image of a tablet riddled with bullet holes lying in the ruins.

“I could imagine how painful it would be to come home only to find it reduced to ashes…”

A cacophony of gunshots and explosions would follow as the howl turned to a rageful war cry.

“… And I know this is utterly shameless of me, but I must ask for your greater help than this one, Kuchinashi-sensei.”

And then Yume could hear the howling girl’s venomous mutter. “They must feel the same sorrow as mine.”

“You’ll forget these words, but it won’t matter.”

“No, they must feel even worse than that.”

“Even if some of your memories are gone, even if you had to live another life before coming back here…”

“They took her from me- She meant the world to me.”

“You’ll probably make the same decision under the same circumstances.”

Images of Yume’s life as a Student came to her mind in a flash, followed by those of Abydos High School and its new club – “Foreclosure Task Force” – at the moment.

“Which is why…what matters are the choices we make, not our past experiences.”

Images of other clubs and schools in their daily lives would join the flash. The howling girl’s voice shakily echoed again in emptiness and despair.

“I have nothing but sorrow, and I want nothing more.”

“There are choices only you can make.”

“It has been, it still is, faithful to me.”

“I’ve spoken of responsibility before.”

“Why should I begrudge it, Since during the hours…”

“I didn’t truly understand it back then, but I do now.”

“When my soul crushed the depths of my heart…”

“Adulthood, responsibility, obligation…”

“It was seated there beside me?”

“And the choices you make that extend beyond those ideals.”

“O sorrow, I have ended, you see, by respecting you,”

“Even the meaning behind them.”

“Because I am certain you will never leave me.”

“…”

“Ah! I realize it: your beauty lies in the force of your being.”

“Therefore, Kuchinashi-Sensei…”

“You are like those who never left the sad fireside corner of my poor black heart.”

“You’re the one I trust.”

“O my sorrow, you are better than a well-beloved.”

“Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate…”

“Because I know that on the day of my final agony…”

“…and find the choices that will lead us to a new reality.”

“You will be there, lying in my sheets, O sorrow…”

“So that you might once again attempt to enter my heart.”

The despairing echo faded, replaced by an image of students from various schools gathering around her, accompanied by a reverberation of cheers and laughter.

“So, Sensei. Please…”

Yume took a deep breath.

Kivotos was a city of academies. To see any of them fall apart like Abydos did was something she could not bear to do. Much like Abydos itself, Kivotos had been her home, too.

Still, she was a troublesome senior for just one junior. An aggressive one with the best of intents and skills, despite her temper issues. And she was going to have even more juniors, likely from the get go. How could she manage that?

Even so, someone had to step up with President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ being this badly injured. Her newfound experience and skills in life outside Kivotos better help with that.

She answered, “If it means helping everyone I can, I accept.”

Before she could do anything, everything faded to black.

High Speed Rail, Entering District of Utnapishtim, Friday, April 16th, 2021, 9:21 AM local time

The comfort of the first-class passenger seat. Not much disturbing noise especially gunshots if there was any. Only a few chatters and inevitable steady rumbles accompanied by winds considering the train’s speed. All these made it easier for Kuchinashi Yume to sit back and enjoy the journey. If only someone else was sitting beside her…

Regardless, It was a luxury she could only dream of throughout her life in Kivotos before. A dream that she could only fulfill three times in another life, one before returning to this place. She had to thank President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ for this special accommodation.

As she peeked through the window, she could see various landmarks and buildings pass by. Sometimes, she caught a glimpse of a desert as well.

Speaking of desert, she couldn’t help but wonder about Abydos. How was Abydos doing? How was Hoshino doing? Did she get any cute junior under her care? Had she at least found a way to make a dent to the debt? Were they in a better spot after at least a year?

It did not take long for Yume to feel her throat running dry, upon which she took a few sips of water by instinct.

A jingle could be heard, followed by a robotic announcement.

The train was to stop in The Central Shiratori Station in five minutes. It was the closest one to her destination, the General Student Council Central Building.

Hearing the announcement, Yume quickly finished the water bottle she was drinking from before packing up her other belongings. With those done, she only had to remind herself to pick up her special luggage before leaving the car and wait until the train stopped.

In the midst of the wait, a whisper echoed in her mind.

“Kuchinashi-sensei, you are going to meet many kinds of juniors, including those which are particularly stickler when it comes to who to listen to. For that, I set up a big envelope and a few small others in your coat’s pockets. Don’t worry, the small ones’ wax seals won’t break unless their respective recipients hold it.”

Was that President ▉▉▉▉▉▉?

The train stopped rather smoothly, with the windows showing the sight of a rather large station. It was rather quiet, with only around a dozen civilians waiting anxiously. And for each waiting civilian there were two Valkyrie students standing by.

Standing up, Yume looked back and forth between the car interior and the station outside. She then walked to the luggage corner before picking up what looked like a briefcase with “IRON HORUS” written on one side. There was no stain on its white sling, nor any mark of rust, wear, or scratch throughout the briefcase itself, as if it was brand new.

As Yume exited the car, she found herself in a large platform.

The General Student Council Central Building, Shiratori City, District of Utnapishtim, Friday, April 16th, 2021, 07:45 AM

Even with how many people around Nanagami Rin when she arrived at the front gate, this morning was too quiet for her liking.

Normally, president ▉▉▉▉▉▉ would yell anything along the line of “RIN-CHAN!” then hug her tightly before they had a chance to get inside the building. Then the former would start talking a lot about things for she knows how long, often much to her annoyance.

Today, Rin couldn’t see any sign of President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ coming despite waiting for 15 minutes. She couldn’t spot her even after entering the building and despite discreetly looking around for her on the way to her office.

She hadn’t been able to find president ▉▉▉▉▉▉ anywhere starting from this week’s Monday.

It didn’t help that she had to handle 50% more daily paperwork by average and some schools had been pestering her this week.

Entering her office, she noticed a large brown envelope and a small white one, both of which were shut fast by red wax presidential seals, lying on her desk. As far as she could remember, she had never put anything there when leaving last night.

She cautiously approached her desk in case there was a trap. The small envelope did not contain anything dangerous and the desk did not explode, so that was a good start.

She was opening the small envelope when her eyes went wide.

Hey there, Rin-chan,

I won’t be able to come back for a long while. Please don’t go looking for me.

Kivotos is going to fall to chaos in hours, or worse, minutes after you see this letter, but don’t worry.

I invited someone you might find familiar. She was a Student just like us. Her name is Kuchinashi Yume. Yes, that previous Abydos Student Council president.

At first, she may bumble a lot, but I promise she’s going to do it right in the end, especially when the chips are down. I would say she leveled up some important skills outside Kivotos for her coming task.

Please… Trust her. She has what it takes to help Kivotos in the upcoming chaos.

Take care,

▉▉▉▉▉▉

PS. I added a formal letter and some necessary files since the GSC needs to know what’s happening. Yume-sensei should have a copy of the letter should she need help from Valkyrie or SRT students.

PPS. Try not to get on Takanashi Hoshino’s bad side. She may look much more laid back now, but she alone can still rival Third year SRT squads – including FOX – teaming up with each other.

That was ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s handwriting! She hadn’t seen it since the last month’s memo! Wait… Could it be fake?

After scanning every dot of the paper for five more minutes, Rin exhaled in both relief and anxiety. Relief as the handwriting was genuine. Anxiety as something important might come up in ten minutes at most every time President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ left a handwritten note, just like last month.

Speaking of Abydos High School, she knew it was practically on life support. Yet, all she had received from that school was silence almost all the time. Sooner or later, She was going to have to get to the bottom of this.

Rin’s brooding was interrupted by a long-haired blonde girl’s entrance, at least two reams of paper held with both arms.

“Good morning, Ayumu, today’s paperwork, I assume?” Rin greeted the blonde girl.

Ayumu answered, “Good morning, Chief Rin. Yes, it is,” She gulped as she gently put the reams on Rin’s desk before continuing, “I had received urgent top priority letters from Millenium, Trinity, Gehenna, and SRT about their audience here as well.”

Here they go again. How much longer did Rin have to wait until SRT stopped pestering her? And alongside other schools?

On another hand, this time, there seemed to be a solution if ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s letter was true.

After a deep breath, Rin answered, “Thank you for letting me know, I will prepare to greet them soon. Can you do me a favor?”

“What do you need?”

“Please bring me as many records as you can about Kuchinashi Yume, Abydos High School… And Takanashi Hoshino.”

All she had to do was to buy Kuchinashi Yume enough time for the latter to arrive while those schools’ representatives were present in the building.

Shiratori Central Station, Friday, April 16th, 2021, 9:48 AM local time

The walk to the station’s main lobby was a short but embarrassingly eventful one. Not only Yume tripped on the downward escalator twice, she almost crashed to students of various schools ten times. She almost got lost in multiple hallways three times before finally reaching the main lobby.

She could walk to the Central Building, right? It must be nearby.

No, the last time she tried to find something without any proper navigator or navigation tool, it didn’t end well for her.

It was one thing to die alone leaving Abydos to an unknown fate at the hands of her sole junior back then. Dying and indirectly taking the entire Kivotos with her was far too much even for her careless past self.

So there she was, asking two Valkyrie Police School students waiting at the lobby. The energetic one sported long braided white hair and blue eyes. The sleepy other sported long black hair tied in pigtails and red eyes.

“Good morning! Is there anything you need help with?” The white-haired Valkyrie student greeted energetically.

“Good morning, do you know which direction The General Student Council Central Building is?” Yume asked.

“Oh! The Central GSC Office? It’s that way,” The Valkyrie student pointed eastwards before continuing. “Normally you can take a public bus to get there, but…”

“Hm?”

“Do you have an important business to attend there? We have been seeing reports of buses getting attacked for at least three hours, so they aren’t safe.”

Now might be a good time to take out that letter.

“Yes, I have to meet the vice president. You might want to read this first,” As Yume finished answering, she instinctively produced an envelope from her coat before handing it to the two Valkyrie students. It had ‘SHOW TO VALKYRIE AND SRT STUDENTS IF NECESSARY’ written on it, with the official General Student Council seal.

The white-haired Valkyrie student accepted then opened the envelope before reading the letter inside. She opened her eyes wide in shock for a few seconds, then looked back at Yume as she returned the envelope. Even her normally sleepy friend jolted awake as if she just took a shot of adrenaline.

“This is from President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ herself, isn’t it!? The seal, the signature… These are legit, I can tell,” The black-haired Valkyrie student was the first to break the silence.

“Yes… Before we continue, let us introduce ourselves. Nakatsukasa Kirino, at your service!” The white-haired Valkyrie, Kirino, exclaimed, giving a salute.

“So much for a normal day… My name is Nemugaki Fubuki.” The black-haired Valkyrie student, Fubuki, yawned before continuing.

“Fubuki! Seriously!?” Kirino snapped.

Fubuki only shrugged, much to Kirino’s annoyance.

“Hey, no need to start a fight. Nice to meet you two, my name is Kuchinashi Yume. You can call me Yume,” Yume stepped forward, seeing the tension brewing between the other two.

“Ah, where were we… Right! Let’s get there, Yume-sensei, the sooner the better!”

And thus, the three began their short but precarious walk to the General Student Council Central Building.

It took less than five minutes for a simple walk to the General Student Council Central Building to become a festive one by Kivotos standards this morning.

A helmeted gangster with halo floating above her head emptied her entire magazine to Yume, or rather, Iron Horus, as the latter two were slowly approaching her. Even if some of her bullets grazed Yume, the latter would treat them like itches. As her firearm clicked from an empty magazine, she stopped to reload only to be struck at the gut by Kirino’s left knee. With her helmet’s visor was forcefully opened, she was shot between her eyes once courtesy of Fubuki firing her Mini 14.

The helmeted gangster merely slumped to the ground, drifting to sleep. There was no blood splatter in spite of the rifle’s caliber. The gunshot wound which was supposed to be between that gangster’s eyes was absent. And Yume’s group, despite being made up of teenage girls and a young adult one, casually talked to each other as if nothing happened.

Speaking of the lack of wounds and blood splatter, could it be that the helmeted gangster was just that resistant? If Kirino’s, Fubuki’s, and Yume’s lack of surprise were any indication, it seemed to be the case. And that case also applied to those three, too.

“Yes, I still got it!” Yume was the first to cheer as she put Iron Horus aside.

Fubuki sighed before looking at Kirino. “I owe you one for yesterday,” she begrudgingly admitted.

“Yes, you do! Good thing I was there when your rifle jammed-” Kirino trailed off as she saw a tank approaching them.

Its turret, on which sat another helmeted gangster, slowly turned towards the three’s direction.

“GET OFF THE STREET, GO RIGHT, GO RIGHT!” Kirino yelled, dragging Yume and Fubuki to the nearest alley, which was five meters away.

Just when the three entered the alleyway, the turret pointed towards the spot where Kirino dashed from before firing.

“GET DOWN, GET DOWN!” Fubuki yelled as she pushed Yume’s head down whilst sprinting across the alleyway.

The shell missed the three, but the explosion and resulting shockwave were enough to disorient them.

“I NEVER KNEW EVEN SHIRATORI COULD BE THIS CHAOTIC LIKE ABYDOS!” Yume loudly complained as she kept up with the other two.

“JUST KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!” Kirino yelled in answer.

In front of the three laid a small T-junction, with one possible path heading right and another left.

“GO LEFT IN TEN METERS! TANKS DON’T DO WELL IN ALLEYWAYS!” Fubuki barked again.

“ON IT! LEFT! LEFT!” Kirino exclaimed as she dragged Yume leftwards upon approaching the T-junction.

The three had to take a right turn after twenty meters.

“HARD RIGHT!”

As the three ran through the alleyway, echoes of gunshots could be heard from all directions.

They then met another T-junction, with one possible path going straight and another going left. Both paths led to wide open streets.

Kirino took the left turn, much to Fubuki’s dismay. And for a good reason, as that turn had a very wide street ahead after 15 meters of going straight.

“YOU’RE TAKING US TO ONE OF THE CITY’S BIGGEST STREETS! TANKS WOULD THRIVE THERE!” Fubuki complained.

The street itself had eight 4 meters-wide lanes, separated by an eight meter divider to four lanes for each direction. Not to mention there were five meters-wide pavements for each direction.

Much to the three’s horror, there were at least half a dozen tanks fighting each other.

Fortunately, those tanks quickly reduced each other to scraps. Four of them rammed at each other. By the time they finished, two of which were flipped and one other taking too much damage to even move, with the last one exploding after being struck by a bullet fired from very far away. The other three’s cannon fires disabled each other.

Unfortunately, there was one tank on the helmeted gangster’s side left, slowly turning its turret to the three’s direction. Before it could finish aiming, however, the three could hear a girl’s yell from behind it.

“BACKBLAST AREA CLEAR!”

Right afterwards, a rocket streaked towards the tank before exploding right above its turret. The tank appeared unharmed at first, but the turret stopped rotating and wouldn’t fire.

“Target stopped. One times hostile Crusader neutralized. Well done, Ichika.”

Morizuki Suzumi expected to meet many delinquents as the crime rates soared, but she could not believe how many armored vehicles she had come across this morning.

Good thing her friend Nakamasa Ichika and one of the four highly trained Justice Task Force Rangers escorting her took initiative to bring NLAWs while she herself carried EMP grenades in addition to flashbangs.

Still looking at the tank, Suzumi reported to Ichika, “Target stopped. One times hostile Crusader neutralized. Well done, Ichika.”

“Phew, still got it~ Good thing you disabled its active protection first. If only Mashiro and Serina tag along…” Ichika muttered as she stowed her NLAW to her back, switching to her adored EM-2 rifle.

“That would be nice, but we still need our overwatch,” Suzumi paused as she spotted three figures behind the recently neutralized tank. “Eyes up, two Valkyrie students and a tall aqua haired student. Approaching.”

“Go, we’ll cover you.”

With her MCX VIRTUS Patrol assault rifle at Low Ready position, Suzumi slowly approached the three figures as Ichika and her escort provided a lookout.

“Are you three okay?” Suzumi asked upon approaching them, inspecting the three for any possible wound.

“Yes, thanks for helping us! Where are you going?” The white-haired Valkyrie student answered.

“The General Student Council Central Building. How about you?”

“What a coincidence! We’re also heading there,” The tall long-aqua-haired girl responded. “How about we go there together? The chaos doesn’t seem like it’s going to end anytime soon.”

“Good idea. Strength often comes with numbers.” Suzumi signaled Ichika and her escorts to come close. “I am Morizuki Suzumi from Trinity General School Vigilante Crew. My friends are helping out other Valkyrie Police School students around this block.”

As Suzumi introduced herself, Ichika’s group quickly advanced to her position.

“I am Nakatsukasa Kirino of Valkyrie Police School Public Safety Division. Nice to meet you all!”

“Nemugaki Fubuki, Valkyrie Police School Public Safety Division.” Fubuki introduced herself before yawning.

“My name is Kuchinashi Yume, formerly of Abydos High School.”

Yume’s introduction drew intrigued looks from students around her for a moment.

“I am Nakamasa Ichika of the Trinity General School Justice Task Force. I am looking forward to work with you all~! Yume-san, you said you were from Abydos, right? Interesting…”

The first to introduce herself after Ichika did was Rani the peppy fireteam leader, carrying an L85A2 with an L123A2 grenade launcher attached under its barrel. Raichi was rather timid for a rifleman with an L85A3 and the bulky NLAW. Magu was the gunner carrying an L7A2 general purpose machine gun, was easygoing despite the chaos around her. The stoic Furu introduced herself last, her scoped L1A1 Battle Rifle pointed slightly downwards with its buttstock still resting on her right shoulder.

With the introductions completed, the nine-girls group continued their walk down the wide street to their destination, their gazes continuously and cautiously sweeping around.

Suzumi perked up upon hearing something from her radio.

“You've got a group of Sukebans around the next T-junction. Watch your fire, civilians are also nearby. Ready to take the shot on your mark.”

“On our way there. Hold your fire, Mashiro!” Suzumi responded, gritting her teeth as she sprinted towards the unfolding violence at the T-junction, with the rest of the group urgently following.

From the nine’s view, the nearby T-junction allowed them to either go straight or turn right. At the straight direction, there were five delinquents wearing dark blue sailor uniforms and black face masks with white “X” mark painted on them. Of those five, two at the front held MPX submachine guns, two others lug M134 Miniguns around, and the last one at the back wielded an M1903 Springfield rifle. Those delinquents cackled as they sprayed bullets towards nearby shops and running civilians.

A dozen unfortunate civilians – both androids and animal people – passed out from being hit by the Sukebans’ gunfire a few times, much to the nine’s anger.

“Five rampaging Sukebans! Eleven o’ clock!” Furu called out.

Unfolding her shield, Yume looked at Kirino and Fubuki’s direction. “Get the civilians safe and call for other officers’ help!”

“Suzumi and I are enough for those five! Help the Officers protect the civilians!” Ichika ordered her escorts. Despite her rifle’s range, she dashed alongside Suzumi to the Sukebans, as if she was going to make it personal.

Those sukebans would pay for what they had just done.

As the nine girls reached the T-junction, they split to different directions. With her shield raised, Yume charged at the Sukebans, drawing their attention. Ichika and Suzumi would close in on the Sukebans, taking advantage of Yume’s distraction. Kirino and Fubuki guided the fleeing civilians to safety alongside the JTF rangers.

Flanking from Yume’s left, Ichika was the first to bring a Sukeban to a swift justice. Two .280 rounds to the groin immobilized the MPX-wielding Sukeban, but it was not enough. Ichika then fired three more rounds to the chest topped of by a headshot before reloading.

From Yume’s right side, Suzumi blitzed to the other MPX-wielding one. Turning the latter to an impromptu student shield, she aimed her assault rifle to the panicked minigunner who began opening fire. With her distance to the minigunner shrunk to only one meter away, Suzumi threw the student shield’s unconscious body to the minigunner, disorienting her long enough for two shots to the chest and another to the head.

Taking advantage of the still standing other minigunner’s shock, Ichika would tackle and slam her to the ground, heedless of her rifle-wielding comrade’s presence. The other minigunner hit the pavement hard enough to get knocked out.

Such brutal sight left the last remaining Sukeban frozen in terror long enough for Suzumi to shoot her head thrice, instantly putting her to sleep.

In the meantime, despite the gunfight nearby, students from Public Safety Division and Justice Task Force coordinated to evacuate and treat the downed civilians.

While the skirmish raged on, five more Sukebans jumped to edge of the sidewalk from an alleyway 100 meters away. Being grouped together with no civilians nearby, however, made them an easy picking for Mashiro. All it took to end the fight was a 20mm High Explosive round landing and bursting right next to them.

The gunfire exchange combined with the radio attracted five armored Valkyrie officers armed to the teeth, who would immediately assist in treating the downed civilians.

“Good. All targets neutralized, all casualties accounted for, and no reinforcements yet, let’s go!” Ichika exclaimed.

Fortunately for the nine, the next two minutes of jog to the central GSC Building was a calm one.

As the group reached the building itself, they could see a fortification alongside armored vehicles and students from Valkyrie Police School surrounding it. All of those students were on high alert, wearing body armor and wielding assault rifles. The vehicles themselves were armed with heavy machine guns and anti tank missiles.

Among the students stood two girls bearing fox ears – one sporting short pink hair and another with long dark brown hair – in a talk with three Valkyrie students. Their uniforms composed of a white long-sleeved blouse with a dark blue sailor-style collar, a dark blue pleated skirt, and a red neckerchief.

Ichika approached Suzumi before asking something.

“You saw those two fox girls, too, right?”

Suzumi gulped in turn. Those two felt familiar, too familiar for her to be considered strangers.

“Yeah. Aren’t those Shichido-senpai and Aoyama-senpai?”

She, Ichika, and Yume could only wave at the pink-haired fox eared girl – Aoyama-senpai, when the latter looked at their direction. Aoyama-senpai returned the wave before looking at her long dark brown-haired friend Shichido-senpai.

Wait, did Yume just wave at Aoyama-senpai as well?

Suzumi turned towards Yume before asking, “Yume-san, do you know her as well?”

Nodding in confirmation, Yume asked in return, “I’d like to say hello as well. Do you want to join?”

Right after Yume finished asking, Aoyama-senpai started walking towards the three.

“Ichika-kun, Suzumi-kun, and…” Aoyama-senpai trailed off, puzzled as she looked at Yume. “President Yume? That’s quite a surprise… What are you three doing here?”

Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E02 - Sanctum Tower

160945ZAPR21 Sanctum Tower outskirts

Aoyama Niko knew this morning would be among the most exhausting ones ever since she entered SRT Special Academy.

FOX squad’s initiative to avoid as many unnecessary fights as possible combined with the reconnaissance squads’ guidance did them a lot of favor. First, they fired less than fifty rounds combined with suppressed semi-automatic fire. Much better, Otogi had not let loose even a single deafening rifle shot. Second, by the time they reached the Sanctum Tower, none of them had taken any injury, not even the minor ones.

It helped that CHAMELEON squad made a contact with a friendly recon team from Trinity. Even moreso that both squads took less than five minutes to start working together.

But it felt like they did not matter. Why did Chief Administrator Nanagami still refuse to answer even with the word of the Seven Prisoners’ possible breakout? Was she stalling for something?

“FOX-1 to all teams, we had no answer from the Chief Administrator, the meeting is inconclusive. I say again, no answer from the Chief Administrator, the meeting had no effect. Over.”

Right after Yukino announced the meeting’s result, they could hear a response from one of the third year recon squads.

“RAVEN-1 to FOX-1, copy, break. RAVEN-1 to all teams, be advised. We just spotted a potential person of interest. Stand by.”

Person of Interest in the midst of this chaos? Interesting.

“PoI is around 160-170cm tall, wearing an Abydos High School uniform set, complete with blazer, sporting a long aqua hair, and carrying a suitcase with 'IRON HORUS' engraved on it. Stand by.”

Niko turned to Yukino, eyes wide.

Abydos High School uniform, 160-170cm tall, long aqua Hair, and Iron Horus suitcase. That must be-

“Positive ID on Kuchinashi Yume, the currently missing President of Abydos Student Council. She had Valkyrie Public Safety officers and Trinity Justice Task Force delegate group tagged along. Over.”

Kuchinashi Yume, as in that deceased President of Abydos Student Council!? How would Takanashi Hoshino react to this if she found out!?

A duet of “What!?” could be heard from both Otogi and Kurumi. Niko’s eyes widened even further before blinking a few times. Yukino’s expression remained neutral as her hand immediately reached for the controls of her comms in response.

“FOX-1 to RAVEN-1, say again, over.”

“RAVEN-1 to FOX-1. I say again, positive ID on Kuchinashi Yume of Abydos High School alongside officers from Valkyrie and delegates from Trinity. They're Oscar Mike to your position. Stand by for additional reports, over.”

“FOX-1 to RAVEN-1, copy. Anything else, over?”

“RAVEN-1 to FOX-1, we also spotted a large convoy from Gehenna and a five-student team from Millennium. Stand by.”

Gehenna and Millennium? Had the chaos also spread to those two schools? If so, were they going to ask the General Student Council as well?

“Positive ID on Hayase Yuuka from Seminar, Alpha Romeo Tactical Team from Millennium Security Forces, Natsume Iroha from Pandemonium Society, alongside Squad 404 and Hinomiya Chinatsu from Prefect Team. Their convoys are also Oscar Mike to your position, ETA 15 mikes. We are further monitoring their movement. RAVEN-1 out.”

Alpha Romeo, as in the quirky Antirain Team of Millennium? Made sense how they could get away with just a four-girl team as the escort.

As if it could not be more intriguing, Gehenna’s Squad 404 and Pandemonium Society were also joining in.

Seminar coming in was understandable considering their dignity and the chaos, but for the deranged student council of Gehenna to step in? Granted, Natsume Iroha was the most reliable of the latter group even with her habits.

“I can’t believe even that crazy student council is getting involved…” Kurumi muttered.

“Don’t worry, Kurumi, at least it’s not Chairwoman Hanuma we’re dealing with,” Niko reassured her.

“Hell no, I ain’t dealing with that Demon Treasurer!” Otogi complained.

“Copy. FOX-1 to other recon teams, any additional update, over?” Yukino was still focused on her comms.

“CHAMELEON-1 to FOX-1. Got some updates, but first, radio check, over?”

“FOX-1 to CHAMELEON-1. Loud and clear, anything, over?”

“CHAMELEON-1 to FOX-1, we picked up sighthings of volunteers from Trinity helping out Valkyrie officers. Speaking of Valkyrie officers, they are losing ground especially in a 400 meters radius area 30 kilometers southwest of your position. Are we going to do anything with this, over?”

“FOX-1 to CHAMELEON-1, that’s a negative. We are NOT authorized to engage, over.”

“CHAMELEON-1 to FOX-1. Wilco, We'll keep monitoring the situation. CHAMELEON-1 out.”

A gunfight could be heard by one end of the block as Yukino finished with her radio.

Trinity, Gehenna, and Millennium. The Big Three academies were fighting their way here. Niko and her squadmates wanted to help them, but they had received nothing from President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ for five consecutive days. What should they do?

“Those Trinity students are helping the Valks out, too. You sure we’re not going to do the same, lead?” Otogi asked Yukino.

Yukino wanted to speak, but she could only shake her head.

“Hey, Valkyrie is failing. Sooner or later, we’re going to be the only ones who can get things back to order!” Kurumi snapped.

Niko could feel subtle yet violent twitches from Yukino’s direction.

“And get discarded as soon as everything is over because we went rogue!?” Yukino could only explode in return.

The resulting startled looks from the other three foxes was enough to make Yukino stop and look away.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

Niko stopped Yukino, giving her a look of understanding and a gentle pat to her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Yukino-chan. I understand. Everyone, deep breaths…”

“Niko’s right, let’s calm down before we think on our next move, shall we? Can’t make the right choices while still being riled up,” Otogi proposed.

“You’re right, We need a break here, especially you, Yukino,” Kurumi conceded, followed by Yukino and Niko nodding.

The five minute break was a short but helpful one. Some amount of stress persisted given everything going on around them. The rage built up from the recent meeting, however, had almost subsided completely.

With everything around them relatively calmed down, Yukino started the discussion in a secluded corner.

“Let’s discuss about the takeaways of the recent meeting. Still inconclusive, but it seemed that Chief Administrator was still avoiding definitive answers even with the Seven Prisoners’ possible breakout.”

“She seemed to be doubling down on stalling for something. She took a glance at the desk every few minutes,” Niko added.

Otogi raised her hand before interjecting, “She was specifically looking at the paperwork. One page had Abydos logo printed on it.”

Kurumi jolted up before leaning to the other three, whispering, “Wait, RAVEN-1 said her squad was keeping an eye out on Kuchinashi Yume. She’s from Abydos, right?”

Could it be that Chief Administrator Nanagami was actually stalling for Kuchinashi Yume?

Yukino murmured, “If it is the same Kuchinashi Yume who died a year and a few months ago…” She reached her comms before whispering, “FOX-1 to RAVEN-1, do you copy, over?”

“RAVEN-1 to FOX-1, affirmative. What do you need, over?”

“FOX-1 to RAVEN-1. Is Kuchinashi Yume still on your radar, over?”

“RAVEN-1 to FOX-1, affirmative. She is at The Central Shiratori Street with the delegates from Trinity. She is Oscar Mike to Sanctum Tower, ETA ten mikes, over.”

“FOX-1 to RAVEN-1, copy. Keep an eye on her. FOX-1 out,” Yukino turned off the push to talk switch.

Otogi commented with a smirk, “The plot thickens.”

What was Yukino planning to do with Kuchinashi Yume? Hopefully that would not warrant Hoshino getting set off…

Niko turned to Yukino with anticipation and worry, “You’re going to re-negotiate with Chief Administrator, this time with Kuchinashi Yume on tow?”

Yukino solemnly nodded. “And if that fails, we can rally alongside other schools. They are likely going after Chief Administrator as well.”

If their delegate convoys or teams were any indication, The Big Three Academies were certainly just as agitated as SRT was. A viable but risky source of pressure.

Niko was not sure whether to be glad that Abydos did not send any delegate at this point. She certainly did not want to imagine what would happen if Hoshino was here, but she was more or less in the latter’s position. Hopefully, Abydos still stood for all its plight.

Otogi perked up before asking, “Peer pressure, just like other third year squads did to us, eh? Gotta give ’em credit, though, we wouldn’t even think about this otherwise.”

Kurumi nodded before adding, “That, and we also get the chance to prove that we have a place, too. Seeing us help our Valkyrie friends out should convince the Chief Administrator and the rest of General Student Council of that.”

At this rate, Valkyrie officers would likely be glad if SRT lent a hand. But the General Student Council and their politics could not be trusted at all.

Yukino looked at Kurumi before answering, “That’s… A good point. Even Valkyrie’s Tactical Intervention Unit would be strained at this rate. I am concerned about the ‘stealing the spotlight’ argument, though…”

Niko asked in return, “Why don’t we ask them and see what we can do from there?”

Yukino sighed, “You have a point. Let’s scout around for Kuchinashi Yume first. Niko, see if you can get her to our side. If that fails, we’ll regroup then try again. For the endgame, we’ll renegotiate with Chief Administrator, preferably with Kuchinashi Yume on our side,” She then pressed her comms’ push-to-talk button. “FOX-1 to all friendly squads, we’re changing the plan. We are going to see if we can convince Chief Administrator again with Kuchinashi Yume on tow. How copy, over?”

“RAVEN-1 to FOX-1, solid copy. Be advised, Kuchinashi Yume is approaching your position, ETA five mikes, over.”

“FOX-1 to RAVEN-1, copy. We’re going ahead with the plan. FOX-1 out,” Releasing the push-to-talk button, Yukino looked back at the other three. “Let’s move.”

Nodding together, the four returned to the outskirts of the Central Building before spreading out in pairs. Otogi and Kurumi surveyed throughout the building for potential ambush spots.

Niko and Yukino were searching for any high ranking Valkyrie officer when they saw two of Valkyrie’s Public Safety Bureau waving at them from distance. Chisato—a cheery girl possessing short blonde hair in bob cut—also waved her arm, whilst Takina—a reserved girl sporting long black hair with bangs—only waved her hand.

“Chisato and Takina are here, too. Let’s greet them, Yukino-chan,” Niko winked before waving back at Chisato.

“Good idea, Chisato should be a high ranking Valkyrie officer whilst Takina is a skilled one from the same academy. Let’s ask them as well,” Yukino agreed.

The pairs from SRT and Valkyrie walked towards each other.

“Yukino-chan, Niko-chan, haven’t seen you two in a while! How are you doing?” Chisato began.

“Good morning, Shichido-senpai, Aoyama-senpai. What are you two doing here?” Takina greeted.

“Good morning, Chisato-chan, our hands are being tied because the General Student Council hadn’t said anything. Apologies for that,” Niko replied.

“Sorry to hear that. This ain’t the General Student Council’s first rodeo, either…” Chisato mused.

“Shichido-senpai, Aoyama-senpai, you answer to President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ herself, have you heard anything from her? I have been hearing rumors about her disappearance,” Takina asked.

“Unfortunately, that’s a negative. the rumors of her disappearance might be true at this point,” Yukino answered.

“What!? Nothing on your end, too!?” Chisato exclaimed before her face formed a frown, “Yukino-chan, Niko-chan, please be honest. Could it be that the Council’s silence even in this chaos mean that they are considering to abandon, or worse, disband the Academy together?”

Niko’s and Yukino’s ears drooped, their faces downcast. They could only silently nod.

Chisato’s question perfectly hit the mark.

“Sorry…” Chisato weakly said.

“It’s alright, Chisato-chan. If anything, we’re glad you’re looking out for us,” Niko affirmed before asking, “By the way, how are you and Takina-kun doing?”

“We are not doing well. Valkyrie’s officers are being pushed back everywhere in the city as we speak,” Takina reported.

“I could have joined and helped them out, but Chief Kanna told us to go here and ask the Council for help because she thought they will hear me out!” Chisato added, her peppy voice returning as if nothing had happened.

“I see… Valkyrie is getting desperate, too,” Yukino mused.

Niko spotted three people she knew - Nakamasa Ichika, Morizuki Suzumi, and most interestingly of all, Kuchinashi Yume.

“Heads up. POI’s here, should I approach them?” She whispered, lightly tugging Yukino’s arm.

Niko could see Yukino glancing at the three’s direction before giving a nod.

As the three waved at her, she returned the wave then turned to the third year Valkyrie officer.

“Looks like we found someone we have been waiting for. See you later!” Niko waved a goodbye to Chisato and Takina.

“Take care, Niko-chan!” Chisato waved back.

“Be careful out there, Niko-senpai,” Takina said.

Niko then walked to Ichika, Suzumi, and Yume.

“Ichika-kun, Suzumi-kun, and… President Yume? That’s quite a surprise… What are you three doing here?”

Yume was the first to answer, “We are going to meet the General Student Council. I am to meet the Chief Administrator, specifically.”

“Same goes for me and Suzumi. What about you, Aoyama-senpai?” Ichika added.

Niko answered, “Hehehe… I guess we are going to do the same. The Chief Administrator is tearing her hair out, though. Let’s get inside, shall we?”

After a nod from the three, the four entered the building with Niko and Yume taking the lead.

After entering, Niko’s heart started racing as Yume paced past her to the reception desk.

Right in front of Yume was Secretary Iwabitsu carrying three reams of paper.

Panicked, Niko could only yell alongside Ichika and Suzumi.

“LOOK OUT!”

Reception Hall, April 16th, 2021, 10:08 AM

It did not take even a minute for Yume to crash into someone after she entered the building.

Reams of paper flew in all directions around her and her Blonde crashmate, scattered throughout the room in front of the reception desk.

Gathering the scattered pages around her, Yume apologized to the blonde, “I-I’m sorry! How can I help you!?”

She had to help the blonde out. It was her responsibility as she was involved in the crash.

“Ah, I apologize! I shouldn’t have walked through this area while carrying this many pages! Thank you for your help!”

Wordlessly and swiftly, Niko, Ichika, and Suzumi gathered the scattered sheets.

On the third quarterway through, the Blonde Secretary paused to inspect her aqua crashmate for a few seconds.

“Oh! It’s you, Kuchinashi-sensei! I am Iwabitsu Ayumu, a secretary for the Kivotos General Student Council! I apologize once again and thank you for your help! Chief Administrator Nanagami is waiting for you!”

“It’s okay, Iwabitsu-san, I apologize as well. I help you first, then we can go there!”

The way Ayumu addressed Yume caused Niko, Ichika, and Suzumi to raise their eyebrows.

“Do you need help rearranging these as well, Secretary Iwabitsu?” Niko offered, handing over the pages she gathered.

“Um, n-no. I’d like to accompany Kuchinashi-sensei to Chief Administrator Nanagami first. I can rearrange them myself near that office.” Ayumu answered as she received the pages from the four others.

“Alright, these are among the scattered pages from earlier,” Ichika commented as she handed her share of the gathered pages.

With all scattered pages accounted for, Ayumu stood up before bowing to the four. “Thank you for your help again!” She turned to Yume before inviting her, “This way, Kuchinashi-sensei!”

“Wait, how about us, Secretary Iwabitsu?” Ichika asked.

“Chief Administrator will meet you all after Kuchinashi-sensei. Please wait until then!”

Led by Ayumu, Yume checked in at the VIP gate before waiting for one of the VIP elevators.

Yume could feel a chill going down her spine as the wait went on.

An elevator arrived, inside which stood a short, pink-haired demon girl, who was holding a pack of chips.

“Yo, Ayumu. I was looking for you,” The pink demon girl greeted before looking at Yume, “Looks like you also brought in the VIP guest Chief Administrator has been waiting for. Come in, you two. We’re going up.”

“Y-Yes!” Ayumu and Yume responded, entering the elevator.

“Destination’s Floor 42, Chief Administrator’s Office.” The pink girl announced as she interfaced with the elevator.

The elevator’s ascent was short, but for Yume, a second felt like a minute, and a minute felt like an hour.

She took a glance outside, greeted by the sight of a large metropolitan city bustling with skyscrapers.

Abydos had been like this in its glory days, years behind. All that remained from that district was vast fields of sand and abandoned buildings of varying size sprinkled with them.

A poster flashed into her mind. If only she could see the Sand Festival at least once.

Having just finished chewing her current five minute dose of chips, the pink girl casually asked, “You like the scenery, Kuchinashi-sensei?”

“It feels nostalgic…” Yume murmured in response, seemingly lost in time.

The time for scenery ended when Yume could feel the elevator slowing down then stopping.

“We’re here. 42nd floor. This way,” the pink girl announced, exiting the elevator followed by Yume and Ayumu.

Yume’s heart started beating faster than usual as she was increasingly closer to the destination office. She could no longer hold against the chill running down her spine.

The pink girl stopped upon approaching a sizable double door before speaking, “We’re here… Kuchinashi-sensei, are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost.”

Buckling under the pressure, Yume answered, “I’d like to take five minutes to prepare.”

“Understandable, considering who you’ll talk to. Push than button when you’re ready,” The pink girl instructed before continuing, “Alright, I’m going somewhere else. Good luck, you two.”

The pink girl walked away, leaving Yume with Ayumu.

Yume could tell things were getting suffocating for both of them. She better find a way for both to relax. Would a small talk do?

Yume approached Ayumu while the latter was arranging the paperwork, “Iwabitsu-san, what is the Chief Administrator like?”

“Chief Administrator Nanagami… She seems scary at first, but she can warm up if you get close. Especially when you do your job well.”

“Is she the hardworking type?”

“Yes, she is. Too bad she had been taking a lot of paperwork lately…”

Administrators were always supposed to handle paperwork, but how much could one handle before they needed a break? And how bad was Chief Administrator Nanagami’s paperwork?

“Is it that bad?”

Ayumu could only nod in response. She seemed to not want to go further. Time for a change of topic.

“I see. Iwabitsu-san, How long have you been working here?”

“Hard to remember… One, two years?”

The talk kept going for five minutes. By the time the conversation ended, the previously scattered paperwork were sorted back in order. Both girls had become more relaxed, too.

Yume rested her finger on the bell button embedded on the panel near the double door.

“After you, Kuchinashi-sensei,” Ayumu said.

As Yume pressed the button, a muffled bell chime could be heard from the double door’ other side. Following the chime was a mature girl’s voice, presumably Chief Administrator Nanagami’s.

“Kuchinashi-sensei, Ayumu, feel free to come in.”

As the voice finished, both girls could hear a lock opening from the door’s direction.

With a nod, Yume opened the door while Chief Administrator Nanagami was walking towards her. Yume kept the door open until Ayumu was inside the room before closing it.

“Good morning and welcome back to Kivotos, Kuchinashi-sensei. My name is Nanagami Rin, an officer of the Kivotos General Student Council. I hope you had a good trip,” Chief Administrator Nanagami greeted.

A bell chime was all it took for Nanagami Rin to jolt up from being buried behind the stack of papers.

Longing for a distraction, she inspected a small screen monitoring the area right in front of the double door to her office.

In front of the door waited Kuchinashi Yume and Ayumu, the latter carrying yet another stack of papers.

“Give me a break…” She muttered. Those papers carried by Ayumu must be the documents she requested on Abydos High School. But that meant she was going to be buried for one more hour when there were more pressing matters at hand.

For a relief, Rin let out a scoff before approaching the mic meant for the door’s speakers and switching it on.

“Kuchinashi-sensei, Ayumu, feel free to come in.”

As soon as she switched the mic back off, she disengaged the door’s lock before pacing towards the door.

She was halfway towards approaching the door when it opened, through which came Yume and Ayumu.

“Good morning and welcome back to Kivotos, Kuchinashi-sensei. My name is Nanagami Rin, an officer of the Kivotos General Student Council. I hope you had a good trip,” Rin greeted.

“Good morning, too, Chief Administrator Nanagami. Thank you for the invitation.” Yume greeted back before looking between Ayumu and Rin’s desk then asking, “May I assume you’re having a busy day?”

“I am. A minute, please,” Rin answered, guiding Ayumu to a nearby desk, “Thank you, Ayumu. You have brought enough records for today, you can put it here.”

Ayumu nodded before exiting the room, leaving Rin and Yume in the room.

Time to get to the point. Quelling the chaos and regaining access to Sanctum Tower could not wait any longer.

Rin broke the silence, “I’d like to address why you were invited here. President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ has disappeared.”

Yume blinked a few times before asking, “E-Excuse me? Could you please say it again?”

Rin nodded in confirmation, “You heard it correctly. President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ had disappeared and she had summoned you as the teacher… Or so it would seem.”

If the look Yume gave her was any indication, it seemed that neither of them were sure of what was actually happening.

“I’m sorry, Chief Administrator Nanagami, I’m not sure if I follow…”

As it turned out, Rin was not alone when it comes to being confused.

“I can understand, but please call me Rin. Apologies for my uncertainties earlier, as for what she left behind-”

Rin’s words were cut off by a loud ringing noise from her pocket. It was a critical priority call from Momoka.

“I can tell that call is important, Rin-san. I have five minutes to spare,” Yume commented.

That was embarrassing. Picking up a call in the middle of talk with a VIP guest? That call better not be a prank one. Or else Momoka would pay very dearly.

“I apologize. And thank you,” Rin would immediately pick up the call, “You have one minute to explain, Momoka. I have a VIP guest here.”

“We just got guests from Millenium and Gehenna. Millenium brought in That Treasurer from Seminar and four Security Force girls following her a few minutes later. Gehenna had a tank convoy from Pandemonium Society and several specialists from Prefect Team. You better come here, they really want an answer soon.”

Great. As if Trinity and SRT were not pestering her enough already. Better step up before something buckled and the tower collapsed as the result. Especially since the answer she had been waiting for was finally here.

“Understood. I’ll go down there with Kuchinashi-sensei.”

Putting her phone back into her pocket, Rin took a deep breath before turning to Yume, “Change of plans. Please come with me, Kuchinashi-sensei.”

After Yume nodded, the two walked to and entered a VIP elevator heading straight to the ground floor.

Upon entering the elevator, they were greeted by a sight of numerous buildings and skyscrapers, seemingly extending to the horizon. One element standing out in the view was what appeared to be a line standing taller than even the stratosphere.

Rin needed an icebreaker to relax even slightly for the upcoming meeting. Fortunately, she had one.

She asked, “How was the trip here, Kuchinashi-sensei?”

Yume chuckled nervously, “Please call me Yume, Rin-san. The trip from the Central Station was eventful, though.”

The answer was enough to make Rin frown. So much for de-stressing.

The last thing Rin wanted was Yume getting critically injured or worse, killed in the first day of her job.

“Yume-sensei… Did you get hurt?”

Yume shook her head before answering, “Even if I was, it was just a scratch, Rin-san.”

Rin remained unconvinced as she inspected Yume’s posture. From how the latter was standing and the lack of any significant wound, she was still fine. No need to probe further.

Still, how did Yume find the prospect of returning to Kivotos?

Rin asked another question, “How does it feel to return to Kivotos?”

It took a few seconds for Yume to answer.

“It feels like coming back home. I need some time, though, Rin-san, it’s been a while…”

“Take all the time you need, Yume-sensei.”

Yume murmured, “I’m not sure if I can do this…”

Rin gently grabbed Yume’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring look.

“I’m sure you’ll do well, Yume-sensei. She chose you, after all.”

The rest of the details could wait for later.

The elevator slowed down before stopping with a ‘ding.’

“Let’s go, Yume-sensei,” Rin invited.

As the duo exited the elevator, they were greeted with an oppressively crowded scene.

FOX Squad, Public Safety Department, Justice Task Force, a few random Trinity volunteers, That One Seminar Treasurer, Millennium Security Forces, Pandemonium Society, and Prefect Team.

It was not going to be a conference. It was going to be a witch trial.

Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E03 - First Negotiations

GSC Central Building Reception Hall, April 16th, 2021, 10:21 AM

Yume was going to a conference, but for her, the oppressing collective agitation of the crowd in front of her made it come across as a summary execution instead. It did not help that there were many new faces talking to each other. What did she do wrong?

Thankfully for them, the pink demon girl approached them with a microphone and a portable speaker. “Have this, that crowd can get loud,” she said as she handed the microphone to Rin.

“Much appreciated,” Rin complimented as she took the microphone before grabbing the latter’s arm. “You’re not thinking about fleeing, are you?”

The pink demon girl stuttered before answering, “N-n-no, ma’am.”

“Good.”

The three would walk to the crowd, with the pink demon girl being dragged along.

On another side, Niko and a new face with bob cut blonde hair and red eyes could be seen holding a purplish dark blue-haired girl back from stomping her way to Rin.

That dark blue-haired girl looked like she was ready to explode right in front of Rin’s face at any second.

“There she is! I have a lot to ask her, let me go!”

“Please take it easy, Hayase-san!” the bob cut blonde girl—Nishikigi Chisato of Valkyrie’s Public Safety Bureau—exclaimed, maintaining her hold on the dark blue-haired girl—Hayase Yuuka of Millennium’s Seminar.

“We all have questions for her as well!” Niko added, also holding Yuuka back.

Yume and Rin stopped two meters away from the crowd, with the pink hair standing behind them one meter away. As Yuuka was close enough, she was able to talk without having to take a step, hence her no longer being restrained.

Yume had to keep it together, otherwise the chaos before her would turn into an all-out skirmish.

Yuuka was the first to speak.

“There you are, Acting President! We’ve been waiting! Get the real president in here already! Wait, who is that student beside you?”

An elf girl—Hinomiya Chinatsu of Gehenna’s Prefect Team—interjected, “I came here with a representative of Pandemonium Society to meet President ▉▉▉▉▉▉. The head prefect and President Hanuma are demanding answers.”

“In President Hanuma’s case, it’s more like begging for help to clean up the mess she made worse,” the bushy crimson haired girl with a commissar cap—Natsume Iroha of Gehenna’s Pandemonium Society—added while fighting her urge to yawn.

“We came here to inquire with President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ or Chief Administrator as well. Trinity is deteriorating fast as we speak,” Ichika added.

“We have been waiting to see you again, Chief Administrator Nanagami. Looks like you have brought Kuchinashi Yume in as well.” The dark brown haired fox girl—Shichido Yukino of SRT’s FOX Squad—was the last to speak, giving Yume and Rin a scrutinizing look.

Something was not right with Yukino’s gaze. Where was the light in her eyes from two years earlier?

“Wait, the student accompanying Acting President was Kuchinashi Yume? Who is she?” Yuuka looked at Yukino.

“The President of Abydos Student Council who disappeared a year and a few months earlier… Before coming back here today,” Niko answered, prompting murmurs to spread among the crowd.

Yume could swear she saw multiple veins bulging across Rin’s face.

She tapped Rin’s arm, whispering, “Rin-san, if you’d like, I can moderate this meeting. You look like you’re going to crash out at any minute.”

“Appreciated, just keep in mind they’re going to ask questions to General Student Council and you’re the answer. I will elaborate on that later,” Rin whispered back, with Yume giving her a confused look.

Yume herself was the answer? What did Rin mean by that? Nevertheless, she had to address the crowd fast.

“Okay… I’ll do my best,” Yume replied.

A loud hum echoed from the speaker across the hall, silencing the murmurs.

“Checking… Okay, good morning, everyone. My name is Kuchinashi Yume, you can call me Yume. It is true that I was from Abydos High School’s Student Council. Are you all here for an inquiry with the General Student Council?” Yume announced.

“Yes,” Niko was the first to answer, followed by nods from other students.

That was so much better than the heated murmurs earlier.

“I understand. Could you state your name, your academy, your club, and the issues you would like to discuss, one student at a time?” Yume inquired.

“Thank you for lending your ears to us, Yume-san. I am Hayase Yuuka of Millennium Science School’s Student Council, otherwise known as Seminar. Our academy’s wind generator shut down just a few days ago.”

“SRT Special Academy, FOX Squad’s Aoyama Niko reporting. Numerous Academy districts are in panic. In addition, at least ten special sites of the Federal Corrections Bureau, seven of which are dedicated for the Seven Prisoners, experienced critical containment failures this morning.” Niko tried her best to hide her anxiety.

“My name is Hinomiya Chinatsu of Gehenna Academy’s Prefect Team, and I would like to follow up on Aoyama-san’s report. We’ve also received intel that a few suspended students escaped the Federal Corrections Bureau’s custody.”

Chinatsu and Niko’s reports drew worried murmurs.

How dangerous were those prisoners to warrant Niko getting anxious?

“Everyone, please calm down. There seemed to be more points to discuss.” Yume interjected before gesturing at the crowd to continue.

“Natsume Iroha of Gehenna Academy’s Pandemonium Society. Property destruction is getting increasingly rampant across Gehenna and the locations we went through on our way here.”

“My name is Morizuki Suzumi from Trinity General School’s Vigilante Crew. There has been a sharp increase in the number of thugs attacking our students on their way to school. Public safety is not being properly enforced.”

“I am Nakamasa Ichika of Trinity General School’s Justice Task Force. Illegal distribution of armored vehicles, and other unknown weapons has increased by over 2000 percent.”

“Nishikigi Chisato of Valkyrie’s Public Safety Bureau, at your service!” Chisato introduced herself before her face contorted to a frown. “As of now, Valkyrie officers are being beaten and outgunned everywhere. At this rate, ordinary school life in Kivotos will become a thing of the past.”

“Shichido Yukino of SRT Special Academy’s FOX Squad. We had been trying to contact President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ for five consecutive days to no effect. We would like to know her status immediately, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to take any action.”

Everyone would focus their gaze at Yukino, worry evident on their face. The rumors of President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s disappearance surely spread fast.

It did not take long for someone—a long pink-haired girl wearing an untucked Millennium Science School uniform and a dark-colored jacket and wielding a custom AR-15 assault rifle—to step forward amidst the anxiety.

“Excuse me for interjecting. I am Berineta of Millennium Science School Security Division. A friend of mine told me that the General Student Council is planning to shut down SRT Special Academy in the midst of the chaos. They seriously better not pull off that stunt.” The pink-haired girl—Berineta—broke the silence before turning to Yukino and Niko with a fretful face. “Shichido-senpai, Aoyama-senpai, is it true?”

Yukino nodded to Berineta before looking downwards in defeat. “It’s true…”

The fox girls’ ears drooped low. Chisato, Ichika, and Suzumi gave them concerned looks. The heavily armed students from Gehenna and Millennium, seemingly meant to escort the delegates, let out a chorus of “What!?” The rest just froze as their eyes darted towards the Chief Administrator’s.

SRT Special Academy, which had been helping out Abydos High School even before Yume entered it. Was it getting shut down, right when chaos was happening all around Kivotos?

Her time with Hoshino-chan, while often unpleasant, was a precious one. Hoshino-chan was cynical, but she wanted the best for Yume. Unfortunately, if this news was true, it would prove Hoshino-chan’s jaded angle on General Student Council right.

Yume gave Rin a serious look before asking, “Chief Administrator Nanagami, would you like to give a comment?”

Rin responded after a pause, “Yes. The General Student Council is discussing about it, but there is no final consensus so far. For the record, I propose keeping SRT fully functional without any compromise.”

Sighs of relief could be heard, but the fox girls still seemed like they were at their wits’ end.

Yume was glad Rin was on SRT’s side. Hopefully, Rin would succeed in vindicating them.

Turning back to the crowd, Yume announced, “Is there anything else to discuss?” After a pause, Yume continued, “Thank you for your answers. Your concerns have been heard. Chief Administrator Nanagami has the floor.”

Rin responded, “I Appreciate your consideration, Yume-sensei. Greetings, representatives of various academies’ student councils, disciplinary boards, and those with too much time to spare.”

This greeting invited dirty looks from everyone, including Yume. Otherwise, they all kept it quiet.

Even with all the pent up stress, it was not a good way to address an equally agitated crowd.

Ignoring those looks, Rin went on, “I would like to address the elephant in the room first. President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ is not here at the moment. To be frank, she’s gone missing.”

Murmurs began coming back albeit hushed.

“As for the other issues mentioned here, The General Student Council has no authority because the top administrator of Sanctum Tower has gone missing. We had been searching for a way to bypass verification, all to no avail, until now.”

Rin resolutely focused her sights on Yume, followed by the representatives who gave uncertain looks alongside Yume herself. A rapid fire of “What?”, “Huh?”, or “Eh?” from different students began reverberating across the hall.

Perplexed, Yume inquired, “Apologies for the interruption, Chief Administrator Nanagami, but could you elaborate?”

“You are the answer to our problems, Yume-sensei. President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ has formed The Federal Investigation Club: SCHALE and personally selected you to serve as its advisor-in-chief. SCHALE is closer to a type of extrajudicial organization, a sort of sister organization to SRT special academy. As a federal club, SCHALE will be allowed to register students from any academy in Kivotos, and conduct battle activities in each academy district without restriction.”

“Chief Administrator Nanagami, you would do well to hold your horses.” Yukino curtly interrupted. “You mentioned supporting SRT Special Academy’s independence. And then seemingly approved another extrajudicial organization with overlapping scope but much less restriction than SRT. May I know why?”

“I will be frank, Squad Leader Shichido.” Rin answered, “I do not know why President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ would create an organization with this much power, either.”

Both Niko and Yume pleaded to Yukino, with Kurumi and Otogi stepping up to hold Yukino back.

“Yukino-chan, please don’t-”

“Yukino-san, please wait-”

Not only did the pleas fall to deaf ears, but Yukino would also storm towards Rin after yanking her arm from Niko’s grip by force.

Someone had to stop the brewing feud between those two. Time was running out.

Yukino stood one meter in front of Rin, locking eyes with the latter. “Then tell me, is SCHALE going to replace SRT at any rate?”

Rin stood still, refusing to back down and maintaining her tone, “No. SRT and SCHALE serve different general purposes-”

“Squad Leader Shichido Yukino and Chief Administrator Nanagami Rin, this discussion is not going anywhere.” Yume sternly announced, cutting off and stepping between the two girls she mentioned, “I would like you two to stand down. Right. Now.”

Yume’s sudden tone change especially in her last two words pushed Yukino and Rin back.

“Yes, Kuchinashi-sensei,” Yukino and Rin answered together before backing down.

“I appreciate it. Please, take a breath, you two,” Yume pleaded.

Nodding at each other, Yume and Niko moved to comfort Rin and Yukino, respectively.

With Rin and Yukino calmed down, Yume clarified, “Yukino-san, SCHALE seems to be designed to take care of the more mundane problems so SRT can focus on the high priority threats.” She turned to Rin. “Is there anything you would like to add, Rin-san?”

Rin nodded before adding, “Yume-sensei is correct. That said, when the worst comes to the worst, like what’s currently happening, SCHALE and SRT ideally will work in tandem to address the problem at hand.”

“Thank you, Rin-san. Yukino-san, do you understand now?”

After a few seconds of contemplation, Yukino answered, “I understand the basics, but I’d like to comprehend the finer details when there is enough time.”

In the midst of Yukino’s answering, Yume noticed pleading looks from the three other fox girls.

Doubt was definitely spreading among the representatives, especially those foxes. Everyone needed to be on the right track. Kivotos was falling apart.

Yume announced, “Before we continue, I would like to address SRT’s concerns in private. Chief Administrator, do you have a room for a meeting between at least five people, preferably in this floor?”

Rin nodded before responding, “There are three such rooms, but please be very careful with those four. Follow me.”

As Yume followed Rin to a small meeting room alongside FOX Squad, she could feel faint warmth emanating from her coat’s inner pocket.

She better give Yukino that small envelope, but a talk beforehand was needed.

When entering the small conference room, Niko and her squadmates expected a lot of questions to be thrown around, but time was short.

“Yukino-san… I didn’t expect you to do that to Chief Administrator. May I know why?”

Yukino took a deep breath before explaining, “As a federal club, SCHALE will be allowed to register students from any academy in Kivotos. Students from all backgrounds, including highly dangerous criminals, can join the club. The ‘conducting battle activities in each academy district without restriction’ part indicates that SCHALE is intended to solve far from mundane problems, which may overlap with SRT’s role at some points. Why would President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ approve such club, especially with the relatively restricted SRT still existing?”

“There may be problems that SRT can’t handle alone. SCHALE’s go-to approach of solving problems seems to be closer to personal, unlike SRT’s militaristic one,” Yume speculated. “Besides, SCHALE’s selection process is much more open and relaxed than SRT’s, so the club seems to be for handling more general problems.”

“What about the possibility of highly dangerous criminals?”

“If said criminal is a student, I will give them a listening ear.”

“Pardon?” Yukino asked with a puzzled look.

Yume had not changed from two years ago, it seemed.

“Yukino-san, normal students aren’t the only ones who need help. Many dropouts and criminals were made by pressing circumstances, so they need more help. Where the student come from doesn’t matter; SCHALE will help them grow. We all want them to become a better person, don’t they?”

“That’s true, but what about the dangerous and unrepentant ones, like at least one of the Seven Prisoners?”

“I’ll still try, but in the end, it depends on the students themselves. What if they don’t want to even listen? That’s where the hard way comes in, Yukino-san. Some people need harder pushes to start listening, but we should treat them as fairly as we can. The last thing we want to do is to become like them, isn’t it?”

Above all else, few of the virtues of SRT were efficiency and professionalism. They had to take on dangerous threats in swift and efficient manners. And then they had to treat the criminals they apprehended, many of whom were notorious, without excess brutality. Treat the criminals too brutally one too many time and SRT would become like them.

After a few seconds of silence, Yukino answered, “That’s fair. I’m glad you have a better grasp on the reality than I expected, Kuchinashi-sensei.”

“Speaking of the Seven Prisoners, if I remember correctly, the Fox of Calamity your team captured around two years ago was one of them, correct?” Yume asked.

The fox of calamity, among the most explosive of The Seven Prisoners, was FOX squad’s first mission. Even after Wakamo had downed at least hundreds of officers from Valkyrie Police School, it was a grueling battle to bring her to justice, and one of the things they were proud of. Enough for Niko to talk with Yume about it.

The mission’s success brought SRT to public eyes. As the result, the number of girls interested to enroll in the school raised dramatically despite the stringent selection process. Or rather, the dramatic increase in that number was the reason why the selection process was made even more grueling than it had already been.

The four nodded with some semblance of pride.

“How are you going to look at President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s eyes if either of you know that you let Kivotos fall to The Fox of Calamity’s hands, or worse, Kaiser Corporation’s?” Yume asked, disappointment with a hint of understanding visible in her face.

No answer came out. Yukino couldn’t react at all, as if the question froze her.

Yukino-chan had always listened to President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ while the latter was around. Her orders, briefings, requests, and more often than the former would admit, ramblings. One thing she knew about President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ for sure was that she would insist everyone to come back well. One of the four being absent? A failure.

President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ would always look out for the wellbeing of everyone around her, with no exceptions. Even the students of SRT, who were practically her weapons wielded for the sake of justice when even Valkyrie failed. How well would she take it the moment she heard that Yukino turned her back on Kivotos when the city needed her the most?

She didn’t want to know the answer, nor did she want Yukino to get to that point in the first place. She knew for sure Yukino wouldn’t want to, either, even if the latter would not say a word about it.

Yume’s gaze shifted to the other three foxes’ direction, drawing the latter group’s attention before focusing back to Yukino.

“I… I don’t know…” Yukino admitted, utter defeat echoing through her tone. “What should I do?”

“Yukino-san, you have your friends fighting on your side, don’t you?” Yume asked in return, with Yukino nodding. “I understand you’d doubt me a lot considering how we got here and our differences, so why don’t you ask them instead?”

Yukino turned to the directions of her squadmates. A few seconds of deep breath later, she announced, “FOX squad… Everything we have done - our words, our choices, and our actions - since the last time we had heard President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s words has come to this. Before we continue, I will give you all a permission to speak freely. Say anything you want to. Do not hold anything back. This is an order- no, a request from me as your friend. Go.”

For thirty seconds, silence hung all around the room. Niko was certain it also hung beyond that.

This was the last chance to stop Yukino-chan from crossing the point of no return.

Niko was the first to let her voice out, “Yukino-chan, I can understand how Yume-sensei’s recent words may sound childish to you, but she knows what she said and I would say the same in her position. It would be needlessly cruel to keep rejecting her while she’s willing to listen or help. We also have juniors looking up to us, like Yume-sensei once did.”

“We also have friends from other schools rooting for us, Lead. What would they say if we ignore or worse, turn against them?” Otogi added.

Kurumi interjected, “Yukino, you heard from Chisato herself that Valkyrie is badly losing here. Now is our best chance to prove to The General Student Council that SRT exists for situations like this. I’m sure they’ll listen if we help them!”

“Please, listen to us, Yukino. We’re going to follow you no matter what, both as a squad leader and a friend,” Niko finished, giving Yukino a pleading look alongside Otogi and Kurumi.

Yukino had never looked this lost before.

Yume perked up as if she just remembered something before handing Yukino a small envelope held tight by a wax seal, “One more friend of yours wants you to read this.”

The envelope itself was not rigged. Its wax seal was that of The General Student Council President. And the ‘Shichido Yukino’ text was handwritten on the envelope by ▉▉▉▉▉▉ herself. Both the seal and the handwriting were genuine.

It took a minute of Yukino’s scrutiny towards the envelope for her to inquisitively open it. The content left her speechless.

Hello Yukino,

If you’re reading this, Kivotos is here and so are you.

For the record, I never had a moment of doubt that you’d find a way. You always do. I hope, in time, you can see this life is not some quirk of fate. This was your calling, your destiny. Like it or not, we shape the directions of our lives.

And our cause, however righteous, pales in comparison to the impact of our effect. Any hope for a better future comes from willing that future into being. A future reflecting the measure of good within ourselves. And all that is good inside us is measured by the good we do for others. The sum of our infinite choices.

I’d like to ask you one last time. Kivotos is going to face dark times ahead, and SRT alone may not be enough. For that, I set up its sister organization SCHALE to unite students from all backgrounds across Kivotos. Kuchinashi Yume-sensei may be the last person you’d expect to be its chief advisor, but she will always look after her juniors – you, your squad, your classmates, and your own juniors included. Please trust her and help her in every way you can.

Do that, and I am certain that Kivotos is going to have a brighter future. One built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding, should we choose to accept it. This future and Kivotos need you. Of course, they may not know it, but we both do.

Good luck,

▉▉▉▉▉▉

Yukino’s hands trembled as they held the letter close, as if to hide the tears on her face. On her shoulder rested Niko’s hand.

Niko offered, “It’s okay, Yukino-chan. You can let it all out.”

Yukino-chan had been holding out for too long. She needed a moment and a place for relief.

After two minutes, her mourning look changed to a more resolute one. “Everyone, thank you for your words. I didn’t know how much I needed them until now.” She turned to Yume. “What do you need, Kuchinashi-sensei?”

Yume looked at Yukino with a weary smile. “I know you have some concerns about SCHALE’s existence, but right now Kivotos needs all the help it can get. Please. I will find a way to keep SRT fully independent.”

Kirino and Fubuki mentioned to her and Chisato a formal letter meant for SRT and Valkyrie. Now was the best time to ask for it.

Niko requested, “Yume-sensei, Chisato-san’s juniors from Valkyrie recalled about you showing them a special formal letter. May we take a look?”

“Of course. Here,” Yume showed the four foxes the letter.

Its content was genuine and fairly straightforward. Interestingly, President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ was lending her authority to Kuchinashi-sensei, so the latter could ask for SRT’s help at will. She ought to ask Chief Administrator Nanagami about this and ask for an exemplified copy.

“RAVEN-1 to all FOX units. Be advised, we picked up at least fifty heavily armed helmet gangster signatures headed your way from the Sanctum Tower's front. Prepare to engage, out!”

Yukino stood up before announcing, “We have unwelcome guests to greet. Kurumi, take the gangsters head on, I will support. Otogi, find and neutralize any high payoff target you can. Niko, provide support to the delegates and take out any gangster that manage to flank us. Kuchinashi-sensei, you should try and contact Chief Ogata Kanna of Valkyrie for help. Officer Chisato has the encrypted means to do so.”

Niko owed Yume a lot for bringing Yukino out of her flunk. Somewhere, President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ must be smiling in relief.

As the five exited the room, they were greeted by a troubled Chief Administrator and her equally anxious pink-haired companion Yuragi Momoka.

“How did the talk go, Yume-sensei?” The Chief Administrator inquired.

“It went well, but I’d like to ask for a copy of President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s last formal letter meant for SRT later. What’s troubling you, Rin-san?”

“That’s a relief, and I understand what you meant. Currently, the delegates are in combat and SCHALE Building is repelling a siege. It’s 30 kilometers away and its basement has something put at President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s request.”

Momoka interjected, “The streets around that building are swarming with thugs armed to the teeth and tanks. Wakamo is heading there, too. At this rate, they’re not gonna last for long!”

Yume looked at Yukino before saying, “We need to go there ASAP.”

“We need Pandemonium Society’s and Valkyrie’s armored formations if we are to hit them now,” Yukino responded before engaging her radio’s push-to-talk switch, “FOX-1 to all SRT squads. We are authorized for full-scale emergency deployment. Direct action squads are to secure the SCHALE Building then Shiratori City and assist Valkyrie officers on the way. Rescue squads are to conduct rescue ops on trapped civilians and Valkyrie officers. Brief with RAVEN and CHAMELEON squads for further intel. FOX-1 out.”

Valkyrie Police School Headquarters, April 16th, 2021, 10:37 AM

Today was never a good day for Ogata Kanna.

Even with the full mobilization of all officers, including the SWAT and Tactical Intervention Unit teams, Valkyrie was slowly and surely losing. Not only the delinquents were much more heavily armed, they were also particularly more motivated to sow destruction.

Sooner or later, she would have to-

Static could be heard from her radio before it gradually gave way to someone’s voice.

“-na! Kanna! This is Chisato, do you copy, over!?”

Kanna jolted up from her flunk. To hear a voice this desperate from Nishikigi Chisato meant it must be serious.

“Kanna here, I copy. What is it, over?”

Chisato better tell her a good news.

“The General Student Council has acknowledged our report and we also got a major backup. Kuchinashi-sensei will be with us in a moment, wait out!”

Kanna could hear exchanges of gunshots from Chisato’s side. Were she, her delegate group, and Kuchinashi-sensei under attack!?

It took two minutes for Kanna to get another transmission from the other side. Chisato might be spending time teaching Kuchinashi-sensei how to use and talk using the radio under the gunfire.

“This is Kuchinashi Yume of SCHALE. Do you copy, um, over?”

“This is Ogata Kanna of Valkyrie Police School. I can hear you loud and clear. What do you need, over?”

“We will be departing to SCHALE building shortly, but we need a lot of help, over.”

Help, from a school that is losing slowly and badly? Ridiculous.

“Kuchinashi-sensei… We’re being beaten back ourselves. How can we possibly lend you a hand, over?”

“First, I need your officers to regroup and evacuate the civilians in the process. Then, they need to hold out until SRT joins in, and after that, help us secure the SCHALE building. This may sound ridiculous, but it will be alright in the end, I promise. Over.”

Kanna wanted to protest, but she could feel her strength going to her limbs instead of her tongue. It was as if she just got a good night’s sleep in a blink of an eye.

With a sigh, she answered, “Roger. I’ll see what we can do. Anything else, over?”

“No. I will switch with Chisato. Wait for a few seconds, please.”

“Kanna, this is Chisato! Our friends from SRT will attempt to make contact with Valkyrie officers. I Recommend switching to SRT coordination channel immediately. We're going to fight our way to the SCHALE building, out!”

She could hear Konoka shouting from another room, “Sis! SRT is attempting to contact us!” Konoka might be waving her own radio.

“This is OWL-1 of SRT to any Valkyrie callsign in Shiratori. If you are listening to this broadcast, please respond.”

Kanna could see Konoka approaching her with the radio.

“Understood. Konoka, hand over the radio.”

Konoka complied, asking, “Should we check if it’s really them, sis?”

“That’s what I’m about to do,” Kanna replied before pressing the push-to-talk switch of Konoka’s radio. “This is Hound Actual of Valkyrie’s Public Peace Bureau. Authenticate. ‘From an oppressed student.’ Over.”

“OWL-1 to Hound Actual. I authenticate. 'A free one'. Over.”

“Hound Actual to OWL-1. Glad to have you on our back. Kosaka Wakamo is leading at least a hundred heavily armed delinquents to attack SCHALE building with Crusader tanks in tow. Some Valkyrie officers are assisting the building’s personnel, but they won’t last long. Others are falling back to established checkpoints. We’ll send their locations for your squads to consolidate with the officers shortly. Wait out.” She turned to Konoka then gestured to the latter to follow, “Let’s send those checkpoints’ coordinates before we go and meet the SRT backup themselves.”

“Alright, the usual method with SRT?” Konoka asked, to which Kanna nodded. “Alright, sis, let’s go.”

The two scrambled to a large room in which a large table stood. Atop the large table laid a map of Shiratori, all over which miniature Valkyrie and skull flags were placed.

As of the current moment, 35% of the checkpoints had been lost and the other 30% were being contested.

A valkyrie officer approached them, asking, “Chief Ogata, we’ve compiled the checkpoints’ locations and current statuses. Ready to transmit to SRT on your mark.”

Kanna nodded before turning back to the radio. “Hound Actual to OWL-1. Sending the info on the checkpoints, prepare to receive, over.”

The officer announced, “Checkpoints’ info sent!”

“OWL-1 to Hound Actual. Wilco. Ready for upload. We'll let you know if we received them. Wait... Hound Actual, we received the coordinates. Be advised, two of our squads are approaching Valkyrie HQ's position. We will maintain comms with Valhalla Actual for coordination. Out.”

Another Valkyrie officer barged in, reporting, “Chief Ogata, we have incoming guests from SRT, identifying themselves as WOLF and RABBIT squads!”

“Understood. We’ll greet them. Konoka, with me,” Kanna promptly replied before stepping outside the headquarters with Konoka tagging along, only to be greeted by two white-haired figures in the main hall.

One of them whose both eyes are closed greeted her with a smile, “SRT Special Academy, WOLF squad’s Izuma Akine. Today’s events have piqued my interest, so I came here~”

Kanna could swear there was something touching her nerves behind Specialist Izuma’s smile, so she focused to the other one instead.

The other one wearing a pair of rabbit ears-like accessories gave her a sympathetic look before announcing, “SRT Special Academy, RABBIT squad’s Tsukiyuki Miyako. We came here to assist Valkyrie Police School in securing SCHALE building and Shiratori. We’d like to have a further briefing before we continue, Chief Ogata.”

Specialist Tsukiyuki was definitely more stiff, but she was much more bearable to talk with.

Konoka responded, “Phew, took you long enough! Get your entire squads here, we’ll brief you all shortly.”

A minute later, six more figures entered the hall, three of whom have white had like Specialist Izuma and three others having rabbit ear-like headgear like Specialist Tsukiyuki. The first was the tallest and most muscular with a stern expression. The second was mysterious, even moreso with her smile. The third was vigilant, albeit rather quiet. The fourth, wearing an infantry combat helmet, was strict although not as much so as the first. The fifth, wearing glasses and holding a candy bar had a weirdly enthusiastic smile. The last, having a pair of binoculars hanging around her neck, was easily the most timid of the recent arrival.

The help Kanna had been waiting for had arrived. Time to prepare to strike back.

Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E04 - Chaos In Shiratori

Sanctum Tower Reception Hall, April 16th, 2021, 10:37 AM

Getting shot was never a pleasant experience for Hayase Yuuka, especially when each of her thighs was struck by a 7.62mm Jacketed Hollow Point round.

“Snipers, third floor of the office building at the front! Get down!” Niko yelled as she moved Yuuka to a safe corner of the hall, where a blonde elf from Gehenna – Chinatsu – would soon begin treating her.

“All combat effective friendly IFVs, this is FOX-4! Tagging the snipers' locations, need one of you to hit them now, over!”

“FOX-4, this is Badger One. Roger, engaging the target building, danger close, out.”

Cacophony of gunshots and autocannon fire echoed throughout the hall and the streets around Sanctum Tower, with a particularly loud bang chiming in every few seconds.

“Ow…” Yuuka whined.

Niko reported, “Bruises on each thigh, 7.62mm JHP rifle rounds.”

“Copy, let’s start the emergency treatment,” the blonde elf responded before turning to Yuuka, asking, “Are you okay?”

Yuuka answered, trying to hide her frustration, “Yeah.”

With Niko’s help, Chinatsu started treating Yuuka, who sometimes winced and whined in pain.

Those gangsters had an audacity to shoot her with jacketed hollow point rounds, which definitely left the mark even if it didn’t appear to do so. That was it.

Yuuka exclaimed, “Starting from today, JHP rounds are banned from entering Millennium District!”

Niko protested, “Eh? Those rounds are legal, treasurer Hayase.”

“They are illegal in Millennium, effective right now!”

Having finished treating Yuuka, the blonde elf could only sigh before answering, “They’re still legal here, Hayase-san, so please take cover. We can’t shrug off too many shots in a row.”

Today was definitely not getting better for Yuuka. First, the Humvee carrying her team was decimated, so they had to proceed on foot. Then, she and her escorts had to help Yume-sensei secure the SCHALE Building alongside others delegates. To top it all off, she got shot twice at her thighs much to her own embarrassment. What would be the icing on the cake?

“Ugh, fine! Thanks for helping me out, you two. Why are we going to fight our way to SCHALE Building? Wouldn’t your squad alone suffice, Aoyama-san?”

Niko answered, “Securing that location is our top priority. It’s being surrounded by many thugs-”

In an instant, the pink fox turned 180 degrees, raising her M870 shotgun before firing a few shots in rapid succession at an armored helmeted gangster carrying an M249 Para light machine gun. Yuuka and Chinatsu joined in, emptying half of their MPX-K and MP 18/I submachine guns’ magazines respectively, ensuring that the gangster went to a sleep.

As far as Yuuka could remember, that light machine gun was normally not fielded by any part of the helmet gang.

“According to our recon squads, the thugs are that heavily armed. We need every help we can get to even reach our target,” Niko continued, pointing at the unconscious gangster before helping Yuuka stand. “Can you still fight?”

“Don’t worry, I can manage. Not the first time this has happened to me. Not with the JHP rounds, anyway.”

Yuuka could hear a transmission from the recently established radio channel, “All friendlies, this is FOX-4! All enemy snipers are down. Y'all are good to push forward, out!”

With the treatment completed, Yuuka was as good as she was before she got shot.

The three quickly returned to the scene, where miraculously, no one on their side had been downed yet. Not even any of Valkyrie’s and Gehenna’s armored vehicles, which only had to be pulled closer to the tower so they wouldn’t be hijacked. Not even any of Valkyrie’s officers guarding the front entrance.

How was that possible? Including the reinforcements, those thugs outnumbered her side, which included all Valkyrie officers and vehicles, by 2 to 1. Not to mention they had military grade weapons that would normally only belong to Black Market Guards, Kaiser or any other prestigious PMC, or both.

That could wait later. At the moment, around 35 thugs remained standing, but that number was shrinking fast.

Having knocked out the gangsters’ snipers and anti-vehicle crews, Otogi fired her M82A3 anti-materiel rifle at the head of a bulky gangster carrying a Minigun. 34 gangsters left.

Three gangsters charged ahead, only for them to enter the range of Yukino’s cluster mines, which would promptly explode. 31 thugs remaining.

At the entrance of the building in front of Sanctum Tower, two were in front of Kurumi. The latter slammed her shield to the ground, blinding them long enough for her to gun them down. With Kurumi taking point, Yukino and several Valkyrie officers entered the building to clear it and gain cover. 29 other thugs were still standing.

One more thug, armed with an M249 machine gun, peeked out of that building’s 2nd floor window. She was about to shower the delegates with rapid fire when a delegate from Gehenna’s Prefect Team shot her head with G28 marksman rifle. 28 remaining.

Her escort Soppu had a sadistic idea to fire her M203 grenade launcher to a car, behind which three gangsters wielding SG550 assault rifles took cover. The car’s spilled fuel ignited in a blink before exploding right to the three’s face. 25 remaining.

She announced, “I’m going to push forward. AR team, get ready to lay down covering fire!”

Robera, reloading Colt 9mm submachine gun, protested, “With those many thugs in front of us, right after you got shot!?”

Reloading her submachine gun, Yuuka fired back, “Did you forget I have something up my sleeve for something like this!?”

Joining Yuuka were Niko, Yume, and Chisato.

Yuuka anxiously asked, “Yume-sensei, are you going to push forward, too?”

Nodding, Yume answered, “I have a shield and Chisato-san has a friend with a machine gun here. Do you have something that can help us push forward?”

“A few seconds, Yume-sensei,” Yuuka answered as she tinkered with her calculator. As soon she finished doing so, she whipped out her other MPX submachine gun while a beehive sphere formed around her.

Niko set up a supply box, from which she pulled a few bulletproof vests. She tossed the vests upwards, which for some reason caused them to fly to each friendly student in the hall.

Yuuka could feel her beehive sphere being reinforced. Could this be from Niko’s vest?

“Are you three ready?” Yume asked, to which the three other girls nodded. Then she loudly instructed, “Everyone else, target the gangsters that are closer to the building across the street. Let’s go!”

“Takina, Fubuki, suppressive fire!” Chisato ordered.

Yume bolted outside with her shield raised, with Yuuka, Chisato, and Niko following suit. The gangsters’ attention became focused on them as the result, oblivious to every other delegate and Valkyrie officer firing at them. Yume and Chisato charged to one side, with Yuuka and Niko doing the same to another.

Jumping out of Yume’s back, Chisato nimbly weaved past every single bullet fired by three gangsters while approaching one of them. The nearby gangsters panicked, wondering why they couldn’t even tag her despite being very close. Said panic gave Chisato enough time to knee the nearest gangster, then flip her to two nearby others with the strength above what one might expect from someone with her frame. She topped it off by shooting each downed gangster’s chest with her AR-15 URGI carbine rifle thrice, still dancing around as bullets flew past her. With those three knocked out, there were 22 active gangsters left.

Elsewhere, Yuuka scrambled for a nearby cover, with Niko at her back. As the two closed in on four gangsters, Yuuka emptied her submachine guns’ magazines at the two farther ones, whilst Niko fired her shotgun at the closer two. They then slid to a nearby cover. 18 gangsters remaining.

Panic spread further among the standing gangsters, allowing nine other students - six of Trinity and three of Valkyrie to go outside with relative safety. Five more gangsters got riddled by bullets fired by the nine exiting students, ranging from pistol rounds to rifle ones, leaving only 13 others left.

On Yukino’s side, there were only three active gangsters left in the building. The first was grappled, flipped, then shot thrice at the head by Yukino. Kurumi blinded another in a flash before peppering her in a burst. The third emptied her assault rifle’s magazine against a Valkyrie’s officer’s shield to no effect before getting executed by the latter’s squadmates. Ten more to go.

Following that, four gangsters attempted a desperate charge. Thanks to Niko’s warning, however, they were stopped completely in their tracks, with each taking bullets fired by two different delegates from Gehenna. Six gangsters left.

Meanwhile, Chisato quickly closed in on another group of three gangsters scared off by Takina and Fubuki’s suppressive fire, letting loose six rounds at their legs. As they began stumbling forward, she took shots at their chests.

To top it off, Chisato’s raven-haired partner Takina aimed her MCR assault rifle-slash-light machine gun to the three stumbling gangsters’ heads before pulling the trigger. With all three targets forced to sleep, there were only three active gangsters to go.

The three remaining gangsters were on their way to rush Yuuka and Niko, only for their heads to get struck by at least a dozen bullets fired by Antirain team. To add insult to their injuries, their intended targets claimed faux Coup de Grace, with Niko firing a shell at one of them and Yuuka firing three rounds at each of the two others. All gangsters had been neutralized.

A few seconds later, shouts of “Clear!” could be heard one by one throughout the gunned down scenery. Meanwhile, the newly formed joint convoy started their engines.

“FOX-1 to all friendlies. We're all clear. All delegates, get inside Valkyrie's IFVs. We're going to tag alongside Gehenna's convoy. Valkyrie's officers here will take care of the downed gangsters. Let's move, FOX-1 out.”

Following Yukino’s instructions, Yuuka and her escort Antirain team scrambled into one of Valkyrie’s Stryker Dragoon IFVs, with delegates from other schools entering the other IFVs of the same kind. Except Gehenna’s delegates, who got inside their convoy’s Puma IFVs instead.

With all delegates on board, the convoy drove to a more grueling battle near SCHALE building.

161133ZAPR21 Kousagi Park, 1 kilometer to SCHALE Building

“CHAMELEON-1 to all RABBIT and WOLF squads personnel. Be advised, friendly delegates are closing in on your positions, ETA 2 mikes. Recommend holding your positions until their arrival, over.”

“RABBIT 1 to CHAMELEON 1, copy. Any other friendly headed to our positions, over?” Tsukiyuki Miyako responded, hopeful for any other Valkyrie still standing, aside of those consolidating in Kousagi Park, recently converted to an impromptu front base.

“Affirmative. We're still picking up friendly rescue squads and Lycoris agents gathering to your positions, ETA 1 mike. Recommend watching your fire to your North, over.”

“Wilco. RABBIT 1 out,” Miyako let go of her radio’s push-to-talk before turning to Moe. “Moe, hold your fire to the north, we have friendlies coming from that direction.”

“Heh, got it,” Kazekura Moe casually answered before turning one of the mortars so that it points to the east. “We got news on incoming waves from the east. One tank, one IFV, and just five runners.”

“Copy. One round on the IFV then another to the tank. We still don’t know how many enemy vehicles will go here,” Miyako instructed before pushing her radio’s PTT button. “RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 4, anything from the South or West, over?”

“R-RABBIT 4 to RABBIT 1... Negative South-” Miyako could hear a yelp from RABBIT 4. “We have incoming from the Park's West! At least t-twenty foot mobiles, over!”

“RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 4, Copy. I will link up with RABBIT 2 and hold out the west. Keep scanning and prepare to engage. Let us know if you pick up more hostiles. RABBIT 1 out.”

Holding her Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun with her right hand, Miyako began running west. “RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 2. What’s your status, over!?”

Saki should be holding her own well, but there were also Valkyrie students tending their injured schoolmates. Miyako had to move fast.

“RABBIT 2 to RABBIT 1, I'm currently engaging those gangsters and sukebans with WOLF 1 and WOLF 2! Valkyries are getting torn between fending the bad guys off and proceeding with the CASEVAC! Need you to get here ASAP, over!”

“RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 2, copy your last! RABBIT 4 will provide you sniper support at any second! Hold them off till I get there, out! RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 4, you’re cleared to engage the hostiles at the west! I say again, clear to engage the hostiles at the west! Out!”

Upon reaching the west side of the park, she saw Valkyrie students struggling to find even a suitable cover. A helmeted gangster jumped into the view, ready to gun down the officers, only for Miyako to be quick enough to raise her submachine gun and burst the gangster down.

As she reached the walls, she did not hesitate to throw a handheld tubular device in front of RABBIT 2 – Sorai Saki – who needed the most help. Said drone dashed head on to the delinquents before exploding in a bright light, blinding them. Saki did not waste any time to fire controlled bursts to their chest or head while they were still blinded. The watchful yet quiet WOLF 2 – Aruba-senpai – came to assist.

On another side, WOLF 1 – Izuma Akine, had no trouble handling, or rather, mowing down, twenty five delinquents coming from southwest. Whatever smug impression she had earlier was replaced by an eerie one, as if she was a robot all along. One round to the head was all it took for her to knock out each delinquent, and only after all of them had been put to sleep she had to reload.

The moment of respite seemed to be cut short as Miyako heard a gunfire exchange from the North, only to see the friendly squads in addition to Lycoris agents. There were also students from Valkyrie and what appeared to be a group of regular students holding their own very well against those delinquents.

Hold on, regular students holding well against armed delinquents? Could they be the volunteers from Trinity mentioned earlier?

Miyako’s musing was interrupted by a radio transmission.

“CHAMELEON 1 to all SRT squads in Kousagi Park. Be advised, the delegate convoy is approaching your location from the North. I say again, delegate convoy approaching the park from the north. CHAMELEON 1 out.”

Pushing her radio’s PTT, she said, “RABBIT 1 to WOLF 1. My squad is going to rendezvous with the delegates at the park’s north side, over.”

“WOLF 1 to RABBIT 1, copy. My squad will do a quick check on our sectors then join yours at the park's North side. Out.”

There was no hint of Izuma Akine’s brand of smugness in that transmission unlike back in the Valkyrie HQ. Instead, her words were clear, concise, and straightforward.

By the time Miyako had reached the North side of the park, she could see a convoy entering. It had six Leopard 2A6M A3 tanks and six Puma IFVs from Gehenna, joined by four Stryker Dragoon IFVs from Valkyrie and four upgraded Warrior IFVs from Trinity. Upon stopping, their hatches opened, revealing students from Millennium, Trinity, Gehenna, and Valkyrie. Her idoled FOX squad and the person who drew her interest were also present.

“RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 4 and RABBIT 3. Report in. Any hostile near our position, over?”

“RABBIT 4 to RABBIT 1, reporting in. W-we're all clear, over.”

“RABBIT 1, this is RABBIT 3. No hostiles at the east, over.”

“RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 4 and RABBIT 3, copy all. Meet us in the north side of the park, over.”

“RABBIT 4 to RABBIT 1, eto, roger. I-i'm on my way to the park's north side, out.”

“RABBIT 1, this is RABBIT 3. Roger. Want me to set up the chopper as well, over?”

“RABBIT 1 to RABBIT 3. Affirmative, but you are cleared only for refueling and rearming. I say again, only refueling and rearming. How copy, over?” She turned to Saki before telling the latter, “We can’t let her blow anything up at any second. Let’s get north quick.”

Saki reluctantly nodded, answering, “Alright, RABBIT 1, let’s go.”

Throughout this week, Miyako and Saki had disagreed on many things, but Moe’s interest in explosions for the sake of it was never, and would never be one of them. Miyako could imagine Moe groaning in disappointment despite not hearing it.

“RABBIT 1, this is RABBIT 3. Roger, proceeding to refuel and rearm. Out.”

As Miyako and Saki arrived at the park’s North side, whirrs and hums could be heard from the blue-and-white Armed Blackhawk attack-transport helicopter as its propellers began to spin. Moe had completed the initial startup sequence.

After one minute, Miyako could see Miyu entering her sight then quickly approaching her, followed by the WOLF squad alongside several others. Combat effective Valkyrie officers and Lycoris agents could be seen among the reinforcements, but not without exchanges of cold glares between them.

“RAVEN-1 to all friendlies. Be advised, we are tracking a battalion-sized group of hostile infantry and twenty plus hostile Crusader Tanks and BMP-3 IFVs consolidating in a 300 meter radius area around SCHALE Building, with friendly SCHALE staff running drones. I say again, we're tracking at least three hundred delinquents on foot with twenty plus Crusader tanks and BMP-3 IFVs consolidating in a 300 meter radius area around SCHALE Building; friendly drones are inbound. Marking the hostile vehicles as priority targets. Out.”

Even with many capable allies on her side, Miyako knew the battle ahead was going to be at least a grueling one, if not bloody. Even if her squad got any help.

Instead of vanishing, however, her hope started blooming upon witnessing Yume-sensei delivering a speech to the crowd made of students of various schools around her.

“Listen up! Some of you may have grudge on each other, but let me make it clear. We are here to take SCHALE tower and bring order back order to this city. Fail that, and the city will fall apart and there will be no home to return to. To get to the building, we’ll separate to smaller units and attack from multiple angles. Understood?”

Shouts with meanings close to “YES!” could be heard.

“Good. You have fifteen minutes to resupply, then we will move out. Let’s go!”

Everyone seemed to have regained some vigor after a speech from Kuchinashi-sensei as they scrambled to consolidate and resupply. High-pitched hums could be heard as nearby helicopters began starting up.

What caught Miyako’s sight was a few squads from Millennium, Gehenna, Trinity, and SRT immediately going to the objective after resupplying for five minutes, including WOLF 3 and WOLF 4.

With the preparations completed, every girl in the park scrambled to nearby vehicles or the objective. The delegates stood by behind Valkyrie’s Dragoon IFVs for cover. RABBIT squad, on another hand, boarded the Armed Blackhawk Moe had started up.

“RABBIT 3, all RABBITs are on board. You’re cleared to take off!”

As the helicopter took off, Miyako saw a few Gehenna and Trinity armored vehicles going ahead of their peers. Some others stayed behind to escort Yume-sensei and a dozen other students to the target.

500 meters to SCHALE Building, April 16th, 2021, 11:57 AM

Kuchinashi Yume could see dozens of gangsters running down the streets on foot with reckless abandon. Gehenna’s Puma IFVs’ airburst rounds made quick work on the gangsters, leaving the delegates to gun down any who were still up.

“All friendlies, this is Toramaru actual. We've spotted BMP-3s headed our way, our tanks will take point. To all friendly IFVs, I recommend taking care of the BMPs' turrets fast. To all friendlies on foot, I recommend seeking cover in the buildings or failing that, behind the IFVs. I say again, BMP-3s in sight, swapping to tank lead. Reccomend friendly IFVs disabling the BMPs' turrets and friendlies on foot seeking cover. Out.”

300 meters to SCHALE Building, armored vehicles, especially the BMP-3s, began entering the street. Three Leopard 2 tanks charged ahead with the Puma IFVs keeping a 20 meters distance behind. Further behind were Valkyrie’s IFVs with Yume and the delegates taking cover at their backs.

Right in front of the tanks was a plus-shaped intersection, in which if they turn left or right, they would encounter students from Trinity and Valkyrie pushing the thugs back with help from Trinity’s upgraded Warrior IFVs.

The tanks took initiative, firing 120mm shells at the BMPs as the latter group opened fire at them. Nearby upgraded Warrior IFVs peppered the delinquents running alongside them with their turrets’ weapons.

With the nearby thugs at the formations’ sides taken care of, students from Trinity and SRT began assaulting a few buildings near the crossroads alongside Lycoris agents. Afterwards, they began tracking the other BMP-3s at the back before firing their NLAW missile launchers through the windows.

With the street ahead cleared from active thugs and their vehicles, the convoy began advancing again, this time with Yume herself and Kurumi taking point, followed closely by the delegates and students from Valkyrie.

The T-junction in front of them had more delinquents sprawling out. They were fleeing from the friendly group that broke off from Gehenna’s formation to clear the flanks alongside the blue-and-white Blackhawk.

As Yume’s group was going past the T-junction, the ancient T-72 and newer Crusader tanks came out of the nearest intersection right next to SCHALE building, with BMP-3s and delinquents flanking them.

Iroha’s tank did not hesitate to launch smoke grenades, with the students taking cover in the buildings.

Fifteen seconds later, a missile flew from the sky straight down to one of the Crusader’s turret, causing it to explode. Right afterwards, two large bullets streaked across the street, each darting straight into a T-72’s barrel, triggering two fiery explosions that took a dozen nearby delinquents with them. Their turrets flew high before falling, one onto another surviving Crusader tank and another to the nearby BMP-3, immobilizing them both.

Yume could only cover her mouth as she witnessed the explosions. Even if she knew that it would take much more than that to make a halo crack, she couldn’t stop wondering how the crew would fare. It was not a good way for a student to be put into sleep.

“Yume-sensei! Are you alright!? We need to go now!” Niko yelled at her, shaking her body.

In the meantime, friendly students took shots from inside the building, demolishing even more armored vehicles and downing even more delinquents. Friendly missiles rained to the vehicles and delinquents close to the SCHALE building, seizing the window opened by Yume’s convoy.

As Yume’s group was about to go through the crossroads to SCHALE building, they witnessed a series of explosions at the end of the street. From the resulting flames emerged a fox girl’s silhouette wearing a kimono.

“All friendlies, this is RAVEN-1. Be advised, the Fox of Calamity entered the AO. I say again, the Fox of Calamity just entered the AO. RAVEN-1 out.”

DU Shiratori outskirts, April 16, 2021, 10:12 AM

It had only been six hours since Kosaka Wakamo broke out of the Corrections Bureau cell meant to hold her, but she couldn’t resist nabbing any explosives she could find. And using them on students and buildings of the despicable Valkyrie Police School. Too bad she still couldn’t find any that belonged to the sneaky pair SRT Special Academy and Direct Attack Strategic Institute.

The terrified faces, the sight of explosions, the smell of combustible substances, and most importantly, the sense of absolute freedom. All of which were different kinds of adrenaline rush waiting for her to find.

She had to exact her revenge on the Kivotos General Student Council first. That way, those adrenaline supplies would be always present for her. Starting from the relatively minor facilities and buildings all the way to the Sanctum Tower.

The passionate fox started with a small rampage at the edge of the city, near which a Fire Emergency department could be found. It began not when she made the first dent of the day, but when a few Lycoris agents snuck up around her, armed to the teeth. She answered by setting off a small but potent explosive on an agent’s feet, before using another as an improvised “living club”.

“Pathetic. Looks like Direct Attack’s commander hasn’t even figured it out yet~” Wakamo teased amidst the panicked chatter between the Lycoris agents.

Continuing the rampage, Wakamo began dashing to the Fire Department office with a few still active agents on the tail before jumping to a large street, flipping forward multiple times mid air. She landed with a handstand to back handsprings, grinning as the gunshots aimed at her strayed to nearby buildings, facilities, and innocent civilians instead.

It did not take five minutes for a dozen Valkyrie officers to intervene, firing their AR-15 pattern assault rifles. A dozen security robot reinforced them, firing their two miniguns at the masked fox.

All it took for the droids to take shots at each other was a few well-timed somersaults and dashes. A normal shot of her rifle was enough to decimate one of Valkyrie’s Stryker Dragoon IFVs. The security robots’ commanding unit couldn’t even hope to keep up with her speed.

With the commander robot reduced to scraps, its minions could only blindly charge and fire at her with disregard of everything else, allowing her to go to the fire department whilst destruction ensued around her.

Her rampage in the fire department building was simple. She entered a room or a hallway, burned everything she could inside, then repeated the process for every other section she could reach. Throughout the entire building, she let out laugh.

The warmup was satisfying, so she could take on the Sanctum Tower itself, or look for an even more intense warmup. She would take on the Tower itself in the end, so it didn’t matter.

And then there was SCHALE, which was approved by President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ herself before she disappeared. Therefore, SCHALE must be a part of the General Student Council, too.

She had many phone calls to make before she got there.

300 meters to SCHALE building, April 16, 2021, 12:12 PM

Wakamo muttered with a grin, “Ufufu, that was easy…”

Finding the location of any facility related to SCHALE was a surprisingly trivial task despite the circumstances surrounding it. There were rumors of a relatively large complex 30 kilometers southwest of Sanctum Tower undergoing an extensive retrofit. The retrofit’s completion was timed close to the club’s approval date.

This information was not enough, so she took an enthusiastic walk there. A very enthusiastic walk, if the trail of fires she left behind was any indication.

Alas, she could witness sukebans, helmet gangsters, and their vehicles surrounding the building dropping like flies, whilst the building’s occupants began driving them out. It did not help that there were also armored vehicles of various schools stamping them out, either.

She muttered, “Looks like I have my work cut out for me. No problem, it would be boring if it was always too easy, after all~”

The Fox of Calamity’s dopamine pushed her to sprint towards the newly arrived formation, hopping left and right to dodge projectiles flying towards her. She was about to reach the SCHALE building…

When a seemingly enraged tall white-haired muscular girl crashed at her from her left side, sending her flying into a building through its window. Fortunately after involuntarily rolling backwards one, she could silde to a halt on her arms and legs.

How was that possible!? That tall white-haired girl wasn’t even there a second ago!

“You shouldn’t be here, you white mutt,” the masked fox snarled, her glare focused on the white-haired girl, who simply charged into the building she was in, returning the glare.

Wakamo dashed to her left, firing her Type 99 bolt-action rifle at the white-haired girl. The white-haired girl crouched, turning to her direction as the bullet narrowly missed and demolished a part of the wall. She swung her right leg to the white-haired girl’s head, only for the latter’s left arm to put it to a halt. That gave the fox enough distraction to point her rifle to the tall white mutt’s head, which jerked aside a few milliseconds before it fired. Right after firing her rifle, her left foot slammed to the tall girl’s stomach, launching the latter to the resulting explosion which reduced another section of walls to rubble.

Now outside the building, the tall white-haired girl merely stood back up, shrugging off the explosion and its shockwave before walking towards the recently made hole. Wakamo bolted through it with her rifle’s bayonet pointed at her.

The white-haired girl stepped aside before grappling both arms of the fox girl then flipping and slamming her to the ground.

In the midst of the struggle, Wakamo managed to grab a very potent grenade she carried before pulling its pin and releasing its lever. Grinning, she kicked the white-haired girl off her, forcing the latter to abandon her and toss the grenade to the safest direction, which was opposite of SCHALE Building’s. She then took the opportunity to break away in back handsprings to said building. Her limbs had enough sustained explosive strength to keep herself away from the white-haired mutt as the latter began chasing her again.

Laughing amidst her back handsprings, she taunted, “Too slow!”

Upon reaching an intersection next to SCHALE building, Wakamo was welcomed by a torrent of projectiles. 120mm High Explosive shells, 30mm airburst rounds, and various small arms calibers.

She returned the greeting by pointing her rifle to the frontmost Leopard 2 tank. rose petals swirl around its handguard and barrel for five seconds before firing.

The 7.7mm round zipped through the air to the tank, which was right at the middle of the street, before making a contact with a piece of metal.

A fiery explosion ensued, large enough for its flames to lick buildings on both sides of the street. As the fires dissipated, however, the fox could see that the tank was unscathed. A rectangular shield with “Iron Horus” written on it snuck between the tank and the bullet in a blink of an eye.

Seeing a small speck of its wielder’s aqua hair and circle-shaped halo, she began building up more strength in her legs than usual. No matter what she did, however, her legs would not let out even half the strength she wanted.

The aqua-haired girl she was looking at was just a student, but there was something which made that student different from every other one she had come across.

Could the thing behind her limbs’ suddenly newfound struggle be the difference between that aqua-haired shield wielder and other students? She could figure out later, there were a few bigger fishes to fry.

Dashing to the shield, she mused, “Looks like the General Student Council sent someone special. I’d like to say hello~”

Flanking the shield were four individuals sprinting towards her direction. Nishikigi Chisato from Valkyrie’s Public Safety Department, a white-haired girl with purple eyes nearly as tall as the Chisato, and lastly, two girls - Yukino and Kurumi - from the despicable FOX squad. All four fired a few shots before stowing their firearms as they closed in on her.

Wakamo charged with her bayonet pointed towards the Chisato, only for the latter to casually sidestep before yanking her rifle from her hands. She was able to take the rifle back, but not before taking two .45 ACP rounds to the stomach.

Right after reclaiming her rifle, Wakamo narrowly dodged a fist from the purple- eyed, white-haired girl before her rifle stopped the latter’s knee from hitting her crotch.

Sensing two incoming attacks from behind, she leapt upwards before twisting her body that she could aim her rifle downwards as she floated 20 meters above the street. Her aim was interrupted by one 20mm bullet zipping towards her face. She tilted her head sideways, but it accomplished nothing as the bullet detonated.

The resulting shower of debris and blast wave sent her flying 150 meters away. She tumbled upon landing before stopping in a crouch then slowly getting back on her feet.

That was it. Unless she went all out, there would be no way she would walk out, especially with that tall white-haired mutt around.

Wakamo began dashing to the tanks’ direction again, this time with her limbs giving full explosive strength albeit with more effort than usual.

She fired her rifle at the buildings from which students began taking shots at her, demolishing notable parts of their wall and stopping the students’ assault.

The tall white-haired girl began unleashing a series of a dozen punches, with the masked fox taking a hook, a jab, and an uppercut to her torso. The latter dodged the cross after the uppercut and answer it with a counterpunch before narrowly ducking the other hook. Had it not been for her reflexes, the hook would have landed on Chisato who was right behind the masked fox.

Crouching, Wakamo slipped a stick of dynamite from her kimono before lighting its fuse. Chisato immediately noticed as one of her hands tried to reach it out. Wakamo quickly bent her body in a bridge pose then kicked around as she stood on both hands, still holding the dynamite and hopping around as bullets zip past her. With the tall white-haired girl simply slogging through her kicks, she tossed the still active dynamite low to the tanks’ direction.

The other white-haired girl who was flanking nearby cut the dynamite’s fuse with a swift slash of her knife, stopping it from exploding. Afterwards, she closed in, firing a few shots to a few spots near Wakamo.

The fox of calamity was forced to tumble around and take a few bullets whilst doing so. The pressure did not stop as she landed near a few proximity mines, two of which she was able to return to Yukino’s and Kurumi’s directions before all of them exploded.

Despite taking more than a scratch from the explosion even after taking a few steps back behind Kurumi’s ballistic shield, Yukino was able to keep her pace, joining the other three in cornering Wakamo as well, landing a few shots at the latter.

Sensing an opening, Wakamo took a leap, landing right behind the rearmost Leopard 2 tank line before showering it and other tanks nearby with explosives.

All six of Gehenna’s tanks bursted into flames, throwing her foes’ side into a chaos. She also immobilized three Puma IFVs before the tall white-haired girl intercepted her.

As the explosive tug-o-war had dragged on for too long, the aqua-haired girl sprinted towards Wakamo, disregarding the hazard that would come from doing so.

Before the aqua-haired girl could hug her from behind, she tripped as the latter turned 180 degrees.

Unfortunately for everyone else, the nearest girl to Wakamo by that point was the aqua-haired one.

At last, a chance of victory. With the aqua-haired student losing her balance, all Wakamo had to do is to lock her in a grapple and take her as a hostage…

Only for her to freeze upon seeing the student’s face in full clarity.

“Y-Yume? W-w-what are you doing here?” She asked the aqua-haired student as if they had not seen each other for years.

Unfortunately for her, one of Yume’s hands grabbed her mask before taking it off her face, carried by the momentum.

“Awawawawa…” Wakamo could only mutter as her true face became a public display.

The fact that Yume had the nerves to get this close impressed her, but that was not the cause of her shock. Yume managing to unmask her, in public, by accident, was.

“Um, I WAS JUST PASSING BY-” Wakamo shrieked as she was about to bail out, only for another voice to cut her off, grabbing her from behind.

“Too slow,” a deep feminine voice curtly replied before performing a suplex on her.

Darting her eyes to the girl who had just downed her, Wakamo was greeted by the sight of that tall white-haired girl, who kept her pinned to the ground. Chisato, Kurumi, Yukino, and Akine did not hesitate to help keeping her down. She struggled to even move her limbs for two minutes, all for no avail.

Yume could only whisper, “I’m sorry, Wakamo…”

“All friendly units, this is WOLF 4. The Fox of Calamity has been neutralized. I say again, The Fox of Calamity has been neutralized. Over,” the white haired girl reported with an even tone.

Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E05 - SCHALE Building

SCHALE Office Building Reception Hall, April 16th, 2021, 12:36 PM

“Is there any staff in charge of this building!?” Yume frantically shouted as she and Rin entered the building, looking around for any person in charge or staff.

“Over here, over here!” A voice came from one of the doors, from which an orange-haired girl came running down the hallway to Yume and Rin. “Welcome to SCHALE Office Building, Kuchinashi-sensei and Chief Administrator Nanagami. Thanks for coming to our help, I am Karina of SCHALE’s logistics division. Is there anything you need?”

Nodding, Yume replied, “You can call me Yume, Karina-san. Does this building have a medical wing? We have many students injured outside.”

“Yes, Yume-sensei, but considering how many casualties outside, we need to set up additional first aid and triage posts outside and contact the hospitals for advanced treatment as well. Follow me,” Karina gestured to Yume to follow as she jogged to the storage area. “Ramu, Eri, this is Karina. Relief protocol is in effect, meet me in the medical wing!”

SCHALE’s medical wing, or rather hospital building, was vast, but many students, delinquents or not, were injured. Because of this, emergency tents with their own HVACs had to be set up with help from the still active students to prime it for treatment. Fortunately, Gehenna, Trinity, and SRT had sent their own specialists from Emergency Medicine Club, Remedial Knights, and Special Relief Center to lend a hand.

Yume wanted to help, to the point where she had to be dragged just to start taking a quick lunch alongside Rin. Same went for Karina.

As dozens of girls came around exiting and entering the building, Rin, Yume, and Karina descended a flight of stairs to the basement before entering a conference room.

Inside the conference room, a table stood surrounded by ten chairs. Lying atop the table was a brand new white tablet with a slightly dated design and SCHALE logo etched to its back. Lying beside the tablet was a white pod containing a pair of white earbuds.

Karina said as she picked up the tablet which Yume accepted, “Here, Yume-sensei, we put it here as President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ requested.”

“Appreciated, Karina-san. Yume-sensei, the tablet you are holding is called Shittim Chest. It may appear like simple tablet, but not only it can restore the access to Sanctum Tower, but it can also interface with digital systems which Kivotos’ residents may not find familiar,” Rin replied.

“All that power coming from a tablet…” Yume muttered, inspecting the tablet’s finish.

With a nod, Rin answered, “Which is why you need to keep it with you at all times.” She paused before continuing, “The General Student Council and SCHALE’s staff have been trying to unlock it throughout this week, but we couldn’t even get past the authentication screen. We tried any other way, but the tablet wouldn’t let us access it.”

“So all I have to do is to unlock it, right?” Yume asked, inspecting the tablet.

Rin promptly responded, “Yes. We’re going to vacate this room for a few minutes to give you some privacy while you restore the access to Sanctum Tower.”

“Take care, Yume-sensei. Let us know if you’re done or you have any trouble!” Karina waved before stepping outside the room.

With Karina and Rin outside the room and the door locked, Yume was alone with the tablet.

With a deep breath, Yume took a seat. She pressed the circular button right next to the tablet’s screen. As the authentication screen popped up, Yume’s fingers suddenly began typing against her will.

We thirst for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho.

How could she remember that? She had not met this sentence during her previous life in Kivotos!

After loading for a few seconds, the white tablet displayed a few lines of text in its screen.

Welcome to the Shittim Chest, Kuchinashi Yume-sensei.

Switching to operating system ARONA for biological authentication and generation of a verification certificate. Please wait...

As the text appeared, Yume could feel her consciousness being pulled into the tablet. Everything faded to black in a blink.

Shittim Chest Virtual Space - Classroom, April 16th, 2021, 1:32 PM

Opening her eyes, Yume found herself in a demolished classroom close to a shore with clear skies surrounding her. Inside the classroom were neatly arranged desks and chairs, sitting on one of which was a napping small girl wearing a blue-white sailor uniform.

Yume could hear the small girl muttering in her sleep, “Castella cake… is better with banana milk… than strawberry milk…”

She bent down, her face closing in to the small girl’s before poking it once.

“Five more minutes…” the girl in sailor uniform lazily muttered, her body resisting any attempt to move it.

This only pushed Yume to double down on poking the sleeping girl’s face, causing the latter to slide away from the finger and fall to the floor.

“Ow…” the small girl whined, rubbing her head as she looked around before spotting Yume. “Oh! Only one person can enter this room. You must be Kuchinashi Yume-sensei, right!?”

“Yes, I am. Feel free to call me Yume.”

“I’m sorry, and nice to meet you, Yume-sensei! I was sleepy so I didn’t know it was you! I am Arona, the manager of Shittim Chest and your reliable assistant, starting from today!”

“Nice to meet you, Arona-chan! By the way, do you know anything about President ▉▉▉▉▉▉?”

“President ▉▉▉▉▉▉? Let me check… Sorry, Yume-sensei, I couldn’t find anything related to her.”

“It’s okay, can you help me restore the control of Sanctum Tower?”

“Oh yes, I can! But first, this is embarrassing, but can you get closer and have your index finger touch mine, please?” Arona requested, her right hand pointing upwards close to Yume with her palm facing the latter.

Extending her right index finger to touch Arona’s, Yume wondered, “Like this?”

Nodding whilst keeping her right index finger’s contact, Arona replied, “Mm-hmm! This shouldn’t take long…”

Twenty seconds. It seemed like nothing happened from an outsider’s perspective, but it seemed Arona was having difficulties verifying Yume’s signatures.

“Modern fingerprint scanners shouldn’t take this long, right?” Yume wondered aloud.

Still not letting go of Yume’s index finger, Arona pouted, complaining with a more childish tone, “I can do a lot more than just registering your signatures and doing everything smart tablets can do! My eyes would be enough, you know?”

What Yume said, while innocuous, definitely ticked Arona off.

Stammering, Yume said, “Eep! I’m sorry! How long will it take to finish the verification?”

Arona’s face contorted back to an enthusiastic one as she announced, “It’s okay, Yume-sensei. Almost there… And done! Authentication completed!” She let go of Yume’s index finger before asking, “You said you need to restore access to Sanctum Tower, right?”

Yume nodded with an answer, “Yes, please.”

Arona responded, “I’ll restore the access to Sanctum Tower. This should be quick… The city is now in your hands, Yume-sensei!”

Wait, what did Arona-chan just say? The city in Yume’s hands?

Befuddled, Yume asked, “Arona-chan, what do you mean? Are you sure about what you just said?”

Arona insisted, “Yes, I meant it! All of Kivotos is practically yours, Yume-sensei!”

That was too much for her to even dream about. She did not come back here to rule, she came back here to help.

“Arona-chan… Can you transfer the tower’s control to the General Student Council?”

“Yume-sensei, are you sure? You’re going to give away the total control of the entire city to the General Student Council.”

Yume paused, her left arm crossed, her right elbow resting on the left hand, and her right hand on her chin.

Throughout her tenure as the Abydos Student Council President, Yume had fallen into various traps, either by signing shady contracts or running headfirst into danger. She had to be bailed out many times.

But she couldn’t ignore that the General Student Council was actually discussing the idea of disbanding SRT, which was important to address the chaos resulting from President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s Disappearance.

By the same logic, she would have considered expelling Hoshino, who had bailed her out of many pitfalls, more than she could remember, which was thankfully not even close to the case.

She was this close to recklessly handing over the authority to the same General Student Council without any backup plan. Neither Hoshino, SCHALE, nor Arona would be able to help much if the council did something big to screw over the students, or worse, the entire city, behind her back without anyone realizing.

Time to apply a lesson learned before she got back here. She needed a guarantee, but not in a way that would immediately put her into the council’s crosshair. There was no guarantee that Yume had any better idea in every situation, so she had to resort to something else.

A veto power. One that would need a supermajority of the General Student Council to agree to overcome should they insist on going with the vetoed decision.

“On a second thought, please don’t hand over the control yet. Arona-chan, do you have a pen and a piece of paper here?”

“Yes, Yume-sensei!” Arona answered as a pen and a small paper came into being atop a nearby desk. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m writing down the conditions for the General Student Council to fulfill before the control of Sanctum Tower can be transferred,” taking the pen, Yume answered while scribbling something on the recently manifested paper in a little hastened, yet formal and concise manner.

Its content stipulated that Yume was to be granted a right of veto power in General Student Council’s decisions. When a decision was made, it was to be submitted to SCHALE for review lasting for up to 14 days, which could be shorter depending on the decision’s urgency which the council must explicitly elaborate on. The veto could be overcome, but only if at least 70% of the General Student Council votes agreed to do so.

“Oh, you’re going to negotiate with Chief Administrator Rin?” Arona inquired. With Yume’s nod, she continued, “I can refine then print the letter for you, Yume-sensei! Anything else you want to add?”

“No, this should be enough.”

“You got it, Yume-sensei! I just finished tweaking the letter to SCHALE’s stipulation and agreement with the General Student Council format. There an active all-in-one printer in the room right next to where you are. Want to print it there now?”

“Please do so and save its draft as well, Arona-chan. I’m afraid Rin-san may be getting impatient, I’m taking too much time here.”

Arona shivered, “Oh yeah, she is a scary person when she’s mad. By the way, while you’re outside this space, you can call me out just through telepathy. Super convenient, isn’t it?”

It was convenient that Yume could just tell Arona anything with a thought and that Arona just talked about Rin like she would a friend, but..

“You are not going to peep into my head all the time, are you, Arona-chan~?” Yume asked with a dangerous smile.

Arona let out a terrified yelp, “Uwaaaah! I won’t, I promise!” After calming down, she continued, “By the way, do you want to go back outside? Also, will you come back here some time?”

Nodding, Yume answered, “Yes, yes to both.”

Arona instructed, “Alright, just close your eyes and think of getting out. You should be back in the room in a blink!”

As Yume closed her eyes, she could feel her consciousness being pulled again.

Emergency Conference Room, SCHALE Office Building Basement Floor 1, April 16th, 1:41 PM

As Yume opened her eyes, she found herself back in the room where she was, with the exact same table and set of chairs. Neither of them had been moved yet.

As Yume moved Shittim Chest away, she could find a white pair of earbuds.

“Arona, can you hear me?” Yume thought out aloud.

Hopefully the telepathy would work.

“Yes, Yume-sensei! Looks like you got back outside well! See that pair of earbuds?” Arona’s voice echoed inside Yume’s head in response.

“I do, did they come with the chest?”

“Yes, those ones did. You should put them on first!”

Yume put on the earbuds pair before looking at the tablet’s screen, which just revealed Arona’s visage and the shoreside classroom.

“Check, check. Can you hear me, Yume-sensei?” Arona’s voice now chimed in from the earbuds.

“Yes,” Yume answered.

“Alright! We should be good to go. The printer's about halfway done. Also, Rin is waiting outside.”

“I’ll check the printer first.” Yume telepathically answered as she opens the other door in the conference room, which revealed a desk with a printer that had just finished printing all three copies of the stipulation letter.

Yume took the letter before nodding.

The letter had covered enough main points with an acceptable formatting. This was a good start.

With the letter in hand, Yume exited the printer’s room before meeting back with the fidgeting Rin.

“How did it go, Yume-sensei?” Rin asked.

“It went well. The access to Sanctum Tower has been restored,” Yume answered.

“Could you transfer the control to the General Student Council?”

The window of leverage to make a deal was closing. Yume had to act fast.

“No. I would like to negotiate first,” Yume firmly replied.

Rin’s look flattened before shifting into a more scrutinizing one.

“Pardon, Yume-sensei?”

“I am going to transfer the full access to Sanctum Tower with one condition.”

“I see. Before you name the condition, could you explain your reasoning?” Rin questioned, trying to rein herself.

Yume elaborated, “SCHALE has President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s authority as the last club she approved. Besides, even the General Student Council is not immune to making bad decisions. Case in point being SRT Special Academy’s closure despite its critical role in situations like the chaos earlier.”

“Yes, I would not deny this point considering what happened earlier,” Rin admitted. She paused for a few seconds before asking, “Yume-sensei, how much do you trust the General Student Council?”

Yume took a deep breath before shaking her head, explaining, “I know the council has people I can trust to make the right decisions even if they stumble. You have shown me that you are one of them, Rin-san. That said, I am not sure if I can trust the rest considering how muddy many things surrounding them are.”

With a deep breath, Rin responded, “Understood. Yume-sensei, please name your condition.”

“A veto power on major decisions made by the General Student Council, with a review period of 14 days. The period can be shorter, but I will need elaboration on how urgent the decision is. I cannot guarantee if I can come up with a better solution in many subjects, but I can at least stop bad decisions from being made.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to add, Yume-sensei?”

“The veto can be overcome with a 70% supermajority vote of the General Student Council. I have added the details here,” Yume added before handing the letter to Rin, who readily accepted before inspecting it.

“This letter already has finer details, which are acceptable when it comes to both elaboration and term implications… I accept.” Rin took out a pen before signing the letter. “I will discuss further refinement of these conditions with the General Student Council later.”

“I appreciate it, Rin-san.”

“Difficulties aside, thank you for helping us resolve today’s situation, Yume-sensei.”

“You’re welcome, Rin-san. I’d like to copy these letters. Would you like to join?”

Rin nodded. “After you, Yume-sensei.”

“This way,” Yume instructed before walking back to the printer. “Arona-chan, Rin has agreed with and signed the stipulation terms. Please transfer the Sanctum Tower control to the General Student Council and get ready to copy the signed letters with the printer you just used.”

“Alright. Transferring control of the Sanctum Tower to the General Student Council and preparing to copy the signed letters! You just need to put the signed letter on that printer's document feeder!”

As the two reached the previously used printer, Yume did what Arona instructed. It did not take long for the printer to scan the entire signed letter.

As the printer began printing the first copied page, Rin was the first to break the silence with a bow towards Yume, “Control of Sanctum Tower was just confirmed. The General Student Council should be able to manage the city as if President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ was still here. I’d like to thank you on behalf of the entire General Student Council for stopping Kivotos from falling into utter chaos, despite the difficulties earlier. My duty was to see that you receive the Shittim Chest, so my job here is done.”

Yume returned the bow in gratitude before responding, “Thank you for your help as well, Rin-san. Speaking of SCHALE, what does the club do, exactly?”

“SCHALE may have authority, but it has no particular goals at the moment. It’s called an”investigation club” where you can register any student you find as club members and enter any academy district. However, President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ never specified its purpose, so it has no particular goals at the moment. Perhaps that means you are free to do anything you want.”

“I don’t exactly know where to start, though…”

“The General Student Council is being flooded by complaints and requests as we speak. Requests for supplies, requests to save clubs, make-up work for failing students, investigating unusual cases, and so on… Perhaps SCHALE can look into them, starting from Abydos.”

Yume jolted upon hearing the last word. “Abydos… How is it doing?”

“Ever since your disappearance, SRT has been doubling down on Foreign Internal Defense although they have also met major roadblocks. In addition, your junior Takanashi Hoshino had reported multiple major discrepancies regarding many documents to the General Student Council. Before you arrived at the Sanctum Tower, I found a critical one which was yet swept under the rug. I will send the details to the executive office, please look them up when you have time. Rest assured, I will do my own independent investigations as well.”

This was the first time Yume heard of how bad Abydos’ situation had become, or rather, had actually been, even if that was just a glimpse. How much worse was it actually, especially with the discrepancies Rin mentioned? She had to keep it in mind without thinking too much about it, lest she would keep dragging the mood down for the next few days, weeks, or even months.

By the time Rin finished, the printer had completed printing the second copy of the signed letter.

“I see, that’s… Concerning. I appreciate it, Rin-san, here,” Yume said, handing Rin the original signed letter and one of its copies whilst keeping the other one.

“I would like to further introduce you to the club, but as I mentioned earlier, there are so many discrepancies regarding Abydos that I need to investigate soon. I apologize.”

Karina’s voice could be heard as the two exited the conference room, “Excuse me, are you two done there?”

Yume replied, “Yes, we’re about done here. You can come here now.”

After Karina approached the two, the three began going upstairs after a collective nod.

Rin announced, “The Control of Sanctum Tower has been verified. Normally, I would like to give Yume-sensei a tour, but due to the circumstances, I have to return to Sanctum Tower as soon as possible.”

Karina replied, “Leave the tour guide part to me, Chief Administrator!”

“Appreciated,” Rin replied before turning to Yume, “Yume-sensei, this building is where you will be working starting now, Karina will give you a tour. I will come back tomorrow morning to elaborate further on SCHALE’s work, although tomorrow’s work hours is relaxed considering that we’re approaching the weekend. You did very well especially against the Fox of Calamity, so feel free to take a rest today.”

Yume was the first to answer, “Understood, Rin-san. Good luck and take care.”

Karina followed, “Understandable. Good luck, Chief Administrator!”

“Yume-sensei, Karina-san, I will see you two tomorrow morning, and wish you best of luck with your new positions,” Rin said before going upstairs.

“The chief administrator is surely an overworked one, isn’t she?” Karina mused as Rin had reached the ground floor before inviting Yume, “Let’s go, Yume-sensei, there are stuff I want to show you around in this building.”

SCHALE Office Building, April 16th, 2:03 PM

With the office building fully cleared out of thugs, it was safe for Yume to walk around that area, although she and Karina kept holding their shield and AKS-74U short-barreled rifle respectively just in case, with the delegates closely tailing them for backup.

The office building was packed with much more facilities than one would expect from education centers. Like any education center, it had a public library spanning from the 2nd to 5th floors, dedicated classrooms, class labs, and offices throughout the 6th to 15th floors, a cafeteria every five floors starting from the 1st floor, and a small clinic in the ground floor, with every other floor having its own medical emergency corners.

In addition to well-placed bookshelves, the library had desks with ample space neatly grouped with each other, computer desks, and in the 3rd and 5th floors, a free non-alcoholic drinks corner.

Speaking about other buildings…

“We have separate buildings for hangars and sports center,” Karina briefed as the group began exploring the library.

“Karina-san, what about the residential area?” Yume inquired.

Karina answered, “Oh, you meant the residential area close to this building? You can say it’s more than just upsized residential halls. It has its own large gardens, arcade areas, gyms, and co-working spaces for studying. Heck, you can get to a shopping center from there with just a three minutes walk.”

“This building feels more like a part of a superblock than a standalone office tower…” Yuuka muttered in frustration.

“Bingo! You nailed it, Hayase-san! This building is indeed a part of the superblock!” Karina told Yuuka as if the latter made a correct answer in a quiz, prompting several students to open their mouths in shock.

“Wait, what about the budget!? How can SCHALE manage to not bankrupt with all those!?” Yuuka shrieked.

“Don’t worry, the superblock has its own commercial areas and areas for rent which can help with the funding~” Karina answered, eyes beaming and rubbing her hands.

“We’re not extorting anyone, right?” Yume asked Karina with a flat look.

Karina resolutely retorted, “Of course not! We wouldn’t be better than privileged thugs otherwise!”

The group did not explore much of the 16th to 19th floors dedicated to the data centers.

The layout of the office building’s twenty-first floor was unique compared to those of the other floors. The ceiling was twice as high as the other floors’ and there were more mezzanines than any other floor, each for different purposes.

“This office is where you’ll be working from now on, Yume-sensei. Name anything you need, chances are this room has it.”

The office had four L-shaped 2 meters wide desks arranged in an elongated plus shape, on which of each stood two 24 inch monitors. Surrounding the desks were small trash cans, still unpacked boxes, office cabinets of varying sizes, racks storing various fully functional firearms and their respective magazines.

These equipment seem to point at lively workdays, but she would also need something to relax with like any busy person.

Walking around, Yume came across a small relaxation corner, a garden lounge, and a pantry.

“All these are much more than what I could even dream of having in Abydos…” Yume muttered.

“Or even in Millenium, for the matter,” Yuuka added.

“Looking from the equipment in this room, Yume-sensei and Karina-san are surely going to have lively days…” Ichika chimed in, to which Yume gave a nervous chuckle.

“I wish we had an office just a quarter as decent as this one…” A bluish gray haired, apple green-eyed student from Gehenna carrying an HK416 A5 assault rifle wistfully commented.

Niko noted, “Interesting, an executive office room this large yet this densely packed is a rarity even across all of Kivotos.”

Akine’s eyes briefly opened upon noticing the ‘RECRUITMENT’ corner of the large desk formation, on which laid stacks of white mailing envelopes with SCHALE logo and ‘RECRUITMENT’ text written on them, before closing. It did not take a second for her to stride towards the envelope piles.

Inspecting the piles, Akine mused, “Seems like the forms are still blank. I can tell the club is going to come across some eye-opening stuff later down the line. If you don’t mind, I’d like to join~”

Karina turned to Yume, “Some students want to join this early. What do you think?”

Getting new juniors, especially highly capable ones like Niko, Akine, Ichika, Yuuka, and Suzumi this early? That was a huge surprise but a welcome one.

Yume’s eyes brightened as she paced towards the ‘RECRUITMENT’ corner with a smile then announced, “Alright! For all students interested in joining the club, feel free to fill up these forms. I can process them today and tomorrow morning!”

“That’s it, I’m in! I can’t just let SCHALE go bankrupt on my watch!” Yuuka made a brisk walk to the ‘RECRUITMENT’ corner upon hearing Yume’s announcement.

“Hehehe, I appreciate it, Hayase-san~” Karina chimed in with a grin, much to Yuuka’s annoyance.

A few more students lined up to receive the envelopes. Behind Akine and Yuuka in order were Niko, Ichika, Suzumi, a green-haired G28 designated marksman rifle-wielding student from Gehenna, and a quite outgoing gray-haired girl from Gehenna carrying an UMP-40 submachine gun. Akine’s quiet lightly blonde squad mate with an AN-94 assault rifle joined as well. The bluish gray-haired student came along, followed by a peppy auburn-haired girl with a UMP-9 submachine gun, a reserved gray-haired girl carrying a UMP-45 submachine gun, and a sleepy gray haired shortstack with a G11 assault rifle, all three of whom were also from Gehenna.

It took all of them only fifteen minutes to finish filling up and submitting the forms, with Ichika and Niko taking initiative to mark a separate ‘RECRUITMENT - FILLED’ spot on the desk formation close to the ‘RECRUITMENT’ spot.

“Yume-sensei, Karina-san, we’re all done here! By the way, our friends would have liked to join, but their hands are currently full. Is there any other way to do so?” Ichika asked.

“Yes, we’re going to open up the recruitment page in the website in around an hour. By the way, how are things going throughout the city?” Karina answered.

Yuuka answered first, “I can confirm the control of Sanctum Tower has been transferred to the General Student Council.”

Niko added, “The Fox of Calamity has been taken away with students from SRT, DA, and Valkyrie escorting the convoy. Yume-sensei, thank you for helping us bringing her to justice, even if what you did was precarious at best.”

Akine quipped as her lightly blonde squad mate nodded, “More thugs are getting arrested and things are calming down throughout Shiratori, although there will be curfews for a few days. Believe me, were it not for that stunt, we would have a much harder time and I would have just passed on this chance. I and Aruba will be taking our leave shortly, want to come along, Niko?”

As Akine and the lightly blonde Aruba waited at the office’s doors, Niko bade a farewell, “I will go as well. Yume-sensei, Karina-san, I hope I can see you two again. Treasurer Hayase, we don’t know if there are ambushes waiting below, so the three of us will be accompanying you on our way down.”

Before leaving, Yuuka noted, “Alright, please wait up. I and my team are going back to Millennium, anyways. Yume-sensei, your stunt with the Fox of Calamity earlier was reckless, but it worked really well. I’m sure you’re a hot topic in social media right now, and will stay that way for a few weeks, especially considering that you also went out of your way to help out the injured girls. I hope I can see you again, preferably in Millennium if you have time!”

“Today was hectic, but it went well in the end! I and Suzumi will check on our school mates below before going back. Yume-sensei, please visit Trinity in case you have some spare time~” Ichika said as she waved alongside Suzumi before going downstairs.

As Ichika and Suzumi exited the office, the students from Gehenna, more precisely the Prefect Team as the bluish gray-haired one said, began introducing themselves. The green-haired one was Beruka, the one with long bluish gray hair was Kurukai, Reini was the outgoing gray-haired girl whilst Reba was the reserved one, the peppy auburn was called Reina, and the sleepy one was Mishuti.

“Please don’t forget to come to Gehenna sometimes, Yume-sensei!” All six of them said before vacating, leaving only Yume and Karina in the executive office.

“Now that they are all outside, I can show you the stuff only both of us can access. This way, Yume-sensei!”

With Karina’s lead, Yume walked to the relaxation corner. The two went up the nearby staircase to one of the bedrooms.

Each bedroom had a 100 cm x 200 cm bed, two nightstands at the bed’s sides to charge the occupant’s electronic devices, an alarm clock on one of the nightstands to help the occupant wake up, a cupboard in which there were a few hangers and a safe, and a window.

“You can rest here in case you work overtime. There are also surprises, why don’t you look around and check them out?”

Noticing the hidden lever at the headboard, Yume pulled it to open a hidden drawer inside, revealing a suppressed AR-15 pattern short-barreled rifle and a suppressed M9A4 pistol alongside seven fully loaded magazines for each. The rifle and its magazines had ‘.300 BLK’ written on them.

The pistol definitely reminded Yume of the one she used to carry around.

“I can understand those firearms’ placement considering what happened earlier, but I’m not sure if I am going to use them any time soon…” Yume muttered.

“President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ can be a carefree person sometimes, but she likes to make some preparations, too. We’ll help you train using them if you’d like.”

If this building having its own staff despite in low numbers said anything, those firearms must have had been placed for a reason, too.

If Yume had stood by and done nothing during those delinquents’ attacks, things would have had gone much worse. And there was nothing Yume knew that could stop that amount of chaos from happening again.

One day, she would need to step in and do it the hard way, when it was clear that anything softer wouldn’t even scratch it.

With a deep breath, Yume let out a nod. “Appreciated, Karina-san. Our daily schedules are going to be crowded, though. Could you help me with that?”

“No need to worry, Yume-sensei, I can help setting up the schedules for your training, from physical to tactical. And some special ones, if you’d like,” Karina winked as she said the last sentence.

Yume’s face made a flustered blush when asking, “What do you mean by special training?”

“By special training, I meant the one where we coordinate with girls from multiple schools to discuss how we would cooperate among others.”

“I see… Is there anything else you’d like to show me?”

“We’re about done with this building, so that leaves the residential area, the sports center, and the hangar.”

Yume could only give Karina a flat look. “Those are at least three more buildings likely of this size…”

“We can cover the residential area later today, so I’d suggest just taking on the light work. The hangar and sports center can wait for tomorrow if you want.”

“That should do. I’ll take a look at the recruitment forms sent earlier. Feel free to do anything else you need to, Karina-san.”

“I’m going to clean up the mess below and in the other buildings. Before I go…” Karina played with her tablet until three white security robots, each of which had two miniguns, entered the office. “These boys can handle more than the models you’d typically find wandering around the city. That said, don’t hesitate to call me or the other staff out if you need help, the Shittim Chest should have our contact information! Take care, Yume-sensei!”

“Psst, Yume-sensei, I sent the contact information of every SCHALE staff to your Momotalk. You should add them when you have time!”

“Thank you, Arona-chan. Don’t worry, I will!”

With the office tour done and some aspiring juniors having submitted the forms, it was time for Yume to start working on them.

Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E06 - Accounts of the Witnesses

Prefect Team Headquarters, Gehenna District, April 16th, 2021, 5:36 PM

Today had been a particularly draining one for Sorasaki Hina.

For each hour starting from 6 AM today, the Head Prefect had pacified at least a thousand troublemakers from rampaging gangs, troublesome clubs, and opportunistic PMCs.

The only consolation was that Iroha had joined in, putting much ease for the delegates from the Prefect Team, who would have had gotten a much harder even with the former and current personnel of the Shadowy Squad 404 otherwise.

To make things worse, she could overhear chaos in operations control room at the afternoon when half of Iroha’s group was downed by the Fox of Calamity.

Now that today’s commotion had calmed down, she could go back to the headquarters.

Entering the headquarters, she noticed the delegate group she had sent earlier sans Chinatsu relaxing in the front hall.

She greeted them with a concerned tone, “Welcome back, are you all doing well? Where is Chinatsu? I heard you had a serious commotion with Kosaka Wakamo earlier.”

Beruka was the first to answer, “Yeah, we’re good. Chinatsu’s with the Emergency Medicine Club. Glad our friends from SRT and Valkyrie had a lot of power coming from them, otherwise we’d be screwed,”

Reba added, “We’re doing well, but Chinatsu is helping the Emergency Medicine Club treating the injured Pandemonium Society crew members, so she can’t be present for a while.”

Hina responded, “Understood, I will debrief her in a separate occasion, their treatment is currently the higher priority.”

Reini noted, “We also have something you might be interested in, but we should get inside your office first.”

As Hina and the returning delegate members walked to the former’s office, Prefect Team members were still frantically running around as if the chaos had not stopped.

Entering her office, Hina was welcomed by two girls waiting inside. The first had armpit length blue hair and a uniform which exposed her sideboobs. The gruff other had long silver hair tied in twintails and red eyes was holding a modified Kar98K bolt-action rifle.

The blue-haired girl greeted, “Welcome back. Chairwoman Hina, I confirmed the General Student Council has regained the control of Sanctum Tower. Everything in Kivotos should go back to order after a few hours.”

The gruff silver-haired girl reported, “Welcome back, Head Prefect. Things are starting to calm down here, too. At this rate, we might be able to catch a break.”

“Hello, Ako, Iori, I appreciate the report. However, I would like you two to stay here for the debrief on Shiratori,” Hina addressed the blue-haired and white-haired girls.

The blue-haired girl, Amau Ako, replied, “As you wish, Chairwoman Hina. I’d like to know their findings in Shiratori as well.”

The white-haired and red-eyed one, Shiromi Iori, muttered, “We better have a good news…”

With a nod from Hina, Beruka elaborated, “You’re in luck, Iori-kun! The good news are the General Student Council has listened to our concerns, and the chaos in Shiratori has simmered down, especially with Kosaka Wakamo of the Seven Prisoners being detained with SRT and Valkyrie’s help.”

Hina nodded “Glad to hear the Council listening to us and the Fox of Calamity being put back down. I heard Pandemonium Society’s convoy had an unfortunate encounter with her this noon.”

Beruka confirmed, “Yes, she destroyed their entire tank formation and disabled half of our convoy’s IFV formation. As for other bad news, Chief Administrator Nanagami herself had confirmed that President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ had disappeared.”

Iori sighed, “The rumors of President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s Disappearance are true…”

Patting Iori’s shoulder, Beruka chirped, “Hey, hey, I’m not finished yet. There’s also something interesting. We met Kuchinashi Yume of Abydos High School, who was s the advisor of the newly established federal club SCHALE.”

Ako exclaimed, “A new federal club, right when the Eden Treaty is coming close!?”

Maintaining her even expression with eyebrows raised, Hina inquired, “Kuchinashi Yume, as in Kuchinashi Yume of Abydos High School Student Council? Please elaborate.”

Reini confirmed, “Yes, it was her. She moderated the meeting between the General Student Council and the big academies well, even telling FOX Squad’s Yukino and Chief Administrator Rin to zip it when they were about to fight.”

That was in line with Kuchinashi Yume’s diplomatic nature and communication skills.

Mishuti noted, “Above average height with large bust, long aqua hair and golden eyes…”

A dead-on description of Kuchinashi Yume’s physical profile.

Reba added, “She also carried around a briefcase shield with ‘IRON HORUS’ written on it.”

Exactly like Kuchinashi Yume’s previous equipment before she died.

Reina chimed in, “She and the shield withstood the Fox of Calamity’s signature high power shot. To the end of the fight, she ran off to her on her own for some reason.”

Would not be out of place for Kuchinashi Yume’s previously recorded steadfast character with careless tendencies.

Nodding, Hina concluded, “Understood. All these points together make a highly probable match. Any other findings?”

Kurukai replied, “There were delegates from Millennium, Trinity, Valkyrie, and SRT as well. Especially the latter, as FOX squad was present, too.”

Hina mused, “SRT Special Academy… Word spread that the General Student Council was discussing plans to shut the academy down.”

Reina responded gravely, “It was true. Shichido-senpai herself confirmed it when one of Millennium’s Anti Rain girls asked. Chief Administrator Nanagami was opposing the idea.”

The green-haired designated marksman added in, “They also helped us out during the fight all the way to the SCHALE Building. Niko even signed up as a SCHALE club member alongside Izuma Akine and Aruba of the WOLF squad. It seemed that Kuchinashi Yume-sensei managed to convince them.”

The head prefect nodded, “Interesting. Shichido Yukino hardly trusts anyone outside the Kivotos-wide special operations community, people like Kuchinashi Yume even less. Anti Rain is one of Millennium’s Tier One units alongside Cleaning and Clearing. Izuma Akine and Izuma Aruba recently transfered to SRT from Red Winter. What about SCHALE?”

Reba elaborated, “Other than SCHALE being the last club approved by President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ shortly before her disappearance, we were told that it can enter any district and recruit any student from any school. To drive home the latter point, we saw Hayase Yuuka of Millennium alongside Morizuki Suzumi and Nakamasa Ichika of Trinity signing up.”

A club with that much power was worrying, especially if its membership was that widely open.

“Have you signed up as the club’s members as well?” Hina asked.

A chorus of “Yes” could be heard from the six.

Ako began twitching, only for Hina to look at her direction. Iori rested her right hand on her chin.

“What is that club up to?” The twintailed silver-haired girl mused.

“Ako, I can understand your concerns, especially with the Eden Treaty coming close, but if you continue this way, we’ll only have more unnecessary trouble,” Hina chided Ako before inquiring, “We are still in the dark regarding the club’s agenda. Have you come across any obstacle whilst signing up?”

Good thing Ako did not have any authority over the Rapid Force Regiment.

“None so far,” Rena answered.

“Nope,” The sleepy girl shook her head.

“Nope,” Reini chimed in.

“No, Head Prefect. That said, we’d like to apologize for doing so without your approval beforehand,” Reba answered last.

“It’s fine, no need to apologize or retract your registration. Registering can be a gesture of goodwill, especially with students from SRT, Trinity, and Millennium doing the same. This can also make it easier for us to find out what the club is up to as long as you know what you are doing,” Hina calmly responded.

Hopefully, SCHALE could provide a way for the Prefect Team, including Rapid Forces and Squad 404, out of Pandemonium Society Chairwoman Hanuma Makoto’s petty claws.

With the Eden Treaty negotiations hitting roadblocks because of President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s Disappearance, Kuchinashi Yume returning from the dead, and SCHALE coming out of the blue with mind-boggling authority, there was a lot for Hina to investigate. Starting with SCHALE and its advisor Kuchinashi Yume, which might or might not threaten Eden Treaty. She also needed to start taking a closer look at Abydos again, and look out for a certain pink-haired heterochromatic student from that district.

“Write up a report concisely describing every finding you have come across, starting from your departure to Shiratori until your return here. The deadline is next week’s Friday. Any other question?” Hina asked.

“No, head prefect,” the six girls responded in unison.

“Good. Go back home, you did very well today. Dismissed.”

The six girls promptly left, leaving only Hina, Ako, and Iori.

“Ako, Iori, prepare to broadcast this to the entire Prefect Team. After I broadcast, let’s clean this office up then call it a day,” Hina instructed as she reached for a microphone.

“Yes, head prefect,” Ako and Iori answered, promptly setting up the broadcast. “We’re ready. Go ahead.”

“Ahem. This is the Head Prefect to all officers of Prefect Team. Wrap up anything you are doing then get a rest. I say again, wrap up anything you are doing then get a rest. Today has been a particularly taxing one, you all earned one. Head prefect out,” Hina announced through the microphone.

The next half an hour of tidying the Head Prefect’s office was a surprisingly relaxing one. It was as if Hina was releasing her pent up frustration on the trash and dust which stayed there, just like some members of the Pandemonium Society.

With everything finished, Hina walked out of the building to a nearby bus station.

“I can’t wait to sleep…”

Tea Party Headquarters, Trinity District, April 16th, 2021, 6:07 PM

Nakamasa Ichika was sitting on a dining table with three others. On her side was Morizuki Suzumi. Across the table were Sumi Serina and Shizuyama Mashiro. The first three, seemingly ignorant of their still warm food, gave a fretful look at the last.

“Mashiro, are you okay? You don’t have to push yourself to attend the meeting if you don’t want to,” Serina asked.

That shot from The Fox of Calamity was an incredibly potent one. Even if Mashiro was not at the ground zero of the blast, she was at one of the upper floors, which was still close.

“I am. The blast fortunately didn’t cause the floors to collapse. The others weren’t so lucky, though,” Mashiro answered.

“We’re glad you could help some students out of there. That said, Serina and Ichika had to drag you all the way to the medical building,” Suzumi commented.

“I know you’re almost fully recovered, but you don’t have to force yourself. I can do the talking, Hasumi-senpai will understand,” Ichika chided.

“Calm down, it’s not that bad,” Mashiro assured the other three, only to be stared at by the latter.

“Seriously? We remember the last time you said that,” Serina, Suzumi, and Ichika said in a chorus of unamused monotone, maintaining their equally unamused flat look at Mashiro.

This time was much better, but Ichika did not want to remember what happened three months ago.

“Hey, hey, at least I can still fight for justice!” Mashiro sheepishly protested.

Crud, here they go again.

Small banters were thrown back and forth between the four as they savored their dinners.

“I heard that you two signed up as members of SCHALE, right?” Serina asked as she and Mashiro finished first.

“Yeah, want to join the club, too?” Suzumi asked in return, having finished hers as well.

Serina and Mashiro nodded.

“I was confined in the medical wing, so I couldn’t come with you two. Is there any other way to sign up?” Mashiro asked.

“Oh, the club has its own website where you can do that, or you can come to the office during the weekdays,” Ichika answered, finishing her dinner last.

“I heard the office opens on Saturdays until noon.”

“Focus on recovering first, Mashiro. The website is open 24 hours. Besides, I can also ask Yume-sensei on our schedules.”

Suzumi and Serina shot pleading looks to Mashiro as Ichika finished speaking.

“Fine. I will see Yume-sensei the next Monday,” Mashiro sighed in defeat.

Tea Party Grand Conference Room, Trinity District, April 16th, 2021, 7:00 PM

For Nakamasa Ichika, this was supposed to be an emergency conference, but she could sense a civil war slowly brewing amidst this interrogation.

On one side, Utazumi Sakurako was present. On another, Kirifuji Nagisa and Misono Mika. On yet another, Hanekawa Hasumi and Kenzaki Tsurugi.

There was supposed to be one more seat on Nagisa and Mika’s side, but its owner sadly was gone.

On another hand, Tsurugi-senpai was in her usual unhinged state, so it was up to Hasumi-senpai to do the talking in her state. Interestingly, it took everyone else in the room just two months to begin treating this as a part of the routine.

Kirifuji Nagisa initiated the conference, “Good evening. Yurizono Seia fell ill, thus she could not be with us. Otherwise, all invitees are present, so we can begin right away.”

Misono Mika attempted to cut off, “Mou, no pleasantries?”

Nagisa fired back, “We already had time for that during the dinner moments ago, and we are dealing with urgent matters regarding Shiratori. Nakamasa Ichika, Morizuki Suzumi, Shizuyama Mashiro, and Sumi Serina, we invited you four to this meeting for this precise reason. Shizuyama Mashiro, if you’d like, feel free to leave early if necessary, you are still recovering from your injuries. Everyone, please state your findings on your way to and during the inquiry with the General Student Council.”

Ichika was the first to respond, “Thank you for allowing us to be here, Nagisa-sama. I will start with the elephant in the room. President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s Disappearance has been confirmed by Chief Administrator Nanagami herself.”

Uneasy murmurs began spreading amongst the students present throughout the conference room.

Nagisa muttered, “This explains Eden Treaty negotiations’ roadblocks encountered earlier this week…”

Sakurako added, “I see. A significant portion of the public facilities connected to the Sanctum Tower suddenly became dysfunctional a few days ago. Sanctum Tower’s control would need authorization from President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ herself.”

Hasumi noted, “This could be connected to Valkyrie and SRT being paralyzed while the rates of violent crimes and illegal armored vehicle acquisitions began rising at unseen before levels.”

Mika concluded, “So that’s why practically everyone in the clubs was freaking out. What other things did you find?”

Suzumi took a turn to respond, “We met Kuchinashi Yume during our way to Sanctum Tower. She was appointed to be the advisor of the newly made federal investigation club SCHALE.”

Nagisa, Sakurako, and Mika began tensing up upon hearing the sentence.

Could it be that they were familiar with Yume-sensei herself? SCHALE was very recent, so it was unlikely to be a familiar subject.

It took Nagisa a few seconds to regain composure then ask, “Please elaborate.”

Suzumi explained, “We were engaging hostile armored vehicles duking out with each other when Kuchinashi Yume suddenly exited a nearby alleyway alongside two junior officers from Valkyrie Police School. She said she had been from Abydos High School, and she was carrying a briefcase with ‘IRON HORUS’ written on it.”

Some third year students in the room began whispering to each other.

Nodding, Nagisa inquired, “I see. Any clue on her whereabouts the last time you saw her?”

Ichika quickly answered, “We separated from her in one of the SCHALE Building’s top floors. The building was 30 kilometers south west of the Sanctum Tower.”

Mashiro clarified, “SCHALE Building was a part of a newly retrofitted complex which consists of multiple interconnected large buildings. I had not seen her vacating the building or the complex by the time we were recalled.”

Serina added, “One of the large buildings was dedicated for medical treatment of emergency, regular, and intense kinds. I was there treating the injured officers and delinquents when I received the urgent invitation.”

Sakurako mused, “These points confirm the rumors of a superblock retrofit project 30 kilometers Southwest of the Sanctum Tower. There were possible shipments of unusual technology and equipment to that location.”

Suzumi nodded to Sakurako, “We can confirm your last point, Head Sister Sakurako. Chief Administrator Nanagami mentioned that securing the building was the key to addressing a number of problems directly related to access to the Sanctum Tower.”

Ichika added, “Yes, shortly after the building was secured, we could confirm the access of Sanctum Tower being returned to the General Student Council, which normally would need President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s authority.”

Nagisa could only respond with a stunned silence.

Sensing the choking silence, Mika shifted to another topic, “Oh! I heard that a few dozen thugs with heavy weapons and armor attacked the Sanctum Tower. The Fox of Calamity was seen close to the SCHALE Building. how did you fare against them?”

Suzumi promptly replied, “No need to worry, Mika-sama. We were able to overcome the ambush with assistance from other academies’ delegates and Yume-sensei’s guidance. Speaking of the Fox of Calamity, she was eventually subdued by SRT’s WOLF Squad with assistance from FOX Squad and Valkyrie’s Nishikigi Chisato after downing some Valkyrie officers and the Pandemonium Society’s tank group.”

Suzumi’s mention of Pandemonium Society members being injured prompted brief, yet wide grins from Mika and Hasumi, which drew glares from their respective table partners.

Serina noted, “Yes. Fortunately, Gehenna’s Emergency Medicine Club members were cooperative with us, despite their more unusual methods. Most of the injured students, those from Pandemonium Society included, only suffered bruises, so their treatment was relatively fast. That said, they still need to rest in order to fully recover.”

In the meantime, Sakurako quietly mused, “WOLF Squad, formerly the best of Red Winter, transfered as third year students of SRT. Nishikigi Chisato, Valkyrie’s best Tactical Intervention Officer who is also a maverick.”

Hasumi was the last to inquire, “Ahem, speaking of SRT special academy, we had heard of the rumors of the General Student Council considering to shut it down.”

Ichika morosely nodded, “They were true, Shichido-senpai and Chief Administrator Nanagami confirmed that, the former looked like she was at her wits’ end to the point they had a commotion regarding SCHALE’s existence,” she then brightened, “That said, Yume-sensei managed to convince FOX Squad to help us all the way to the SCHALE Complex. That should convince The Council out of shutting the school down.”

Mashiro added, “Two of SRT’s squads even helped guiding Ichika’s and Suzumi’s groups to the Sanctum Tower. If needed, we are going to advocate for keeping the academy independent.”

Hasumi sighed in relief, “Glad the academy can be back up. They were helpful back in the Thunder Emperor’s days.”

Nagisa returned to the discussion, “We heard your points, from which we have to address a few things. Kuchinashi Yume, the Federal Investigative Club SCHALE, and how they can affect the negotiations for Eden Treaty. I heard that Nakamasa-san and Morizuki-san registered as its members. Any information on the club?”

Ichika explained, “SCHALE is the last club President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ approved before she disappeared. Apparently, it has her authority and the express permission to recruit students from any school and enter any academy district. It should be noted that the club’s staff members willingly and seamlessly cooperated with academies, particularly Valkyrie and SRT, during the battle to secure its complex.”

Suzumi added, “Students from Gehenna, Millennium, and SRT also registered into the club. Its membership and transparency from get-go seem to indicate preference towards diplomatic approaches in contrast to SRT’s and Direct Attack’s militaristic ones.”

Nagisa mused, “The club’s authority alone already reeks of potential setbacks against the Eden Treaty. As if that was not bad enough, Kuchinashi Yume managing to sway the likes of Shichido Yukino means that she can potentially bend the treaty if she wants to.”

Ichika’s fears had become true. Nagisa’s paranoia was starting to take over.

Mika frowned, “Eh? she doesn’t strike me as that type of person, Nagi-chan. Besides, the club can help with the negotiations a lot.”

Sakurako went along, “I support Miss Misono’s stance. We have not fully known whether Kuchinashi Yume has shifted into the type that would attempt to grab power every now and then.”

Serina pointed out, “Nagisa-sama, Yume-sensei could have proceeded with securing the access to Sanctum Tower right away, but she chose to prioritize the aid of injured students and delinquents first. If anything, she would choose the people over power.”

Nagisa coldly rebuked, “My point that she can push us to do her bidding if she wants to still stands. Having President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s authority and SRT no longer under concerns of disbandment means that SCHALE also has SRT Special Academy at its own disposal. Especially with two of its more prominent members becoming a part of that club.”

Hasumi chided as Tsurugi gave Nagisa a disapproving look, “I understand your concerns regarding SCHALE, but Justice Task Force will not actively antagonize them. Especially after the club willingly assisted in bringing order to chaos and treating the injured.”

Mashiro chimed in, “Yes. The club’s staff members willingly provided intel, fallback points, ammunition, and direct assistance to the cornered Valkyrie officers.”

Sakurako had to remind Nagisa, “Kirifuji-san, if we continue like this, the meeting will go nowhere.”

Silence hung throughout the room for half a minute.

Breaking the silence, Nagisa declared, “Very well. I will agree to disagree. The Filius faction of Tea Party will not actively antagonize SCHALE. Instead, we will observe them and intervene only if they proved to be a legitimate threat to Trinity.”

Mika followed on, “The Pater faction will do their usual job to administrate and oversee stuff in Trinity.”

Sakurako decided, “Likewise for the Sisterhood. We will keep searching for those who seek our spiritual help and provide it to those who accept.”

Nodding with Tsurugi, Hasumi said, “The Justice Task Force will maintain their duties in order to protect peaceful lives throughout the territories of Trinity.”

Disagreements were still evidently present, but thankfully did not escalate to a full-blown fight.

Nagisa took the spotlight with a word, “With everyone having made their respective decisions, we can are nearing the end of this conference. Any questions?”

Sakurako raised her hand.

Nagisa announced, “Head Sister Utazumi has the floor.”

Sakurako inquired, “Would the Tea Party like to invite Yume-sensei for a meeting in the foreseeable future?”

Mika responded in excitement, “Yes, we will! Would be a waste to not invite her to a tea party once!”

Nagisa chimed in, “Yes. Perhaps we can have a civil start. Any other question, Head Sister Utazumi?”

Sakurako shook her head, “No, Kirifuji-san.”

Hasumi raised her hand.

Nagisa replied, “Justice Task Force Vice President Hanekawa has the floor.”

Hasumi questioned, “Kirifuji-san, would you like to do anything with Trinity Students registering to SCHALE?”

Nagisa answered, “No. Banning the registrations to SCHALE would be considered an openly hostile act, especially after the club contributed in quelling the chaos from President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s Disappearance earlier today.”

Mika added in, “Not to mention that almost half of Trinity’s students are sheltered within Trinity’s territories. New experiences from other academies wouldn’t hurt, you know?”

Hasumi nodded, “Yes. That will be all from me, Nagisa-sama, Mika-sama.”

Nagisa asked again, “Any other question?”

No one raised their hands for three minutes. In response, Nagisa and Mika stood up, followed by everyone else in the room.

Nagisa announced, “I thank you all for your time and consideration, and apologize for the inconveniences earlier. The conference is dismissed.”

Everyone vacated the room, including Ichika, who later approached Hasumi and Tsurugi alongside Mashiro, Suzumi, and Serina.

Ichika began, “Tsurugi-senpai, Hasumi-senpai, I apologize. I failed to stop Nagisa-sama from going overboard again…”

Hasumi assured, “That’s fine, Ichika, there’s not much you can do about her. Go home and take a rest,” She turned to Mashiro, “Especially you, Mashiro, you need time to recover. All of you four have fought hard today, go back to your dorms and get a good weekend. I will see you Monday morning.”

Bowing, the four responded, “Yes. Tsurugi-senpai, Hasumi-senpai, thank you for your hard work today. Please, take a rest as well.”

Nodding alongside Tsurugi, Hasumi said, “Don’t worry. We will.”

The four left the Tea Party Headquarters and walked straight to the dorms. No exchange of words between them, but they occassionally exchanged smiles with each other.

This week had been eventful, but the four stuck with each other. In this week, there was nothing more precious than this moment.

Millennium Seminar Office, Millennium District, April 16th, 2021, 7:00 PM

Sitting beside Hayase Yuuka was the always smiling long white-haired Secretary Ushio Noa, and across them was the hermit Seminar President Tsukatsuki Rio.

“President Tsukatsuki, do you happen to know Kuchinashi Yume of Abydos High School?” Yuuka began the meeting.

“Kuchinashi Yume was the president of Abydos High School Student Council… And one of the two remaining students of the school. It was unfortunate that she died before she could even graduate,” Rio explained.

“Wait. She died!? How could she-”

“During that time, most of Abydos had become a desert. Realistically, searching it would take a week at the fastest, with high probability of not finding her at all after months, or even years. With only one other student, it was a good luck even with the tragic end.”

“Oh…”

“The school would have disbanded, but she had demonstrated a degree of diligence by registering another student into the council–Takanashi Hoshino. She is now the sole third year student.”

“What do you know about Takanashi Hoshino, president? She seems a bit lazy…”

“Do not let Takanashi Hoshino’s appearance and demeanor fool you, treasurer Hayase. She was the most important factor of the academy’s survival especially during the Thunder Emperor era, even with the roles of SRT Special Academy and Direct Attack Strategic Institute taken into account. She alone drove away three powerful gangs and fended off a Color-grade entity multiple times. These make her a Color-grade student on par with Cleaning and Clearing’s Mikamo Neru, Trinity’s Misono Mika and Kenzaki Tsurugi, Gehenna’s Sorasaki Hina, and SRT’s Izuma Toboe who secured Kosaka Wakamo earlier today.”

Neru was already problematic with how much collateral damage she had caused in her missions. Someone as strong as she was meant potential for more collateral damage.

“A Color-grade student… Just like Neru and Toboe? By the way, could you elaborate on the Color-grade entity, president?” Yuuka muttered, both hands covering her mouth.

“Yes for both questions. As for the Color-grade entity, We do not have the clear full picture of it at the moment, but this entity is likely related to Abydos’ desertification, if its physical dimensions and movements are any indication. The only information I know for certain are that it is not the only one of its grade and it is related to several Grade 1 entities and above.”

Great, as if one potentially unfriendly Color-grade entity was not enough, there were others like it, related to it, or worse, both. How much potential casualties and damage was she talking about?

Okay. That covered more than enough of the returning former President of Abydos Student Council. Perhaps it was a good time to discuss something else. What did President Tsukatsuki think about SCHALE?

“I see… Speaking of SCHALE, what is your stance on the federal club, president?” Yuuka inquired.

“This is where it gets difficult. On one hand, SCHALE could be a great assistance to us alongside SRT when it comes to the nearby Ruins, other unknown technological relics, and the Color-grade entities I mentioned. On another hand…”

“The club can undermine Millennium’s autonomy, especially with President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s authority and the express permission to explore and recruit students from any academy. Is that correct?”

“Precisely. With President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s Disappearance explicitly confirmed by Chief Administrator Nanagami herself, only the General Student Council can keep the club in check. Even then, she managed to find a way to leash them with a veto power. At least the Council makes less illogical decisions with the veto in effect. This can be troublesome especially if she ever decides to meddle with Eden Treaty.”

Right, the Eden Treaty. One formed to stop anyone like that deranged Thunder Emperor from rising (back) to power, and dragging many academies to oblivion with them, like she had. Kivotos could and should never have anyone like that ever again, student or adult, especially one from Gehenna Academy or Kaiser Corporation.

“Indeed. The Treaty is getting close as we speak. That said, Yume-sensei doesn’t seem to be the type to actively antagonize anyone around her. We should be fine as long as we neither oppose her and the club nor do anything nefarious behind their backs.”

“That is a rational take. Actively and needlessly opposing an unknown faction tends to make them hostile, especially in the long run.”

“Anything else you want to ask, president?”

“None for now. You’re both dismissed.”

“Understood. Thank you for taking your time for this meeting, and good evening, president,” Yuuka greeted alongside Noa.

“Likewise, you two,” Rio said before vacating the room.

With Rio concluding the meeting, Yuuka and Noa began walking back to their dorms.

“Yume-sensei seems to be an interesting person… I’d like to meet her someday,” Noa began the conversation as the two continued their walk.

“You can start with registering into the club. The website’s form should be already up,” Yuuka replied.

“She’s too interesting to not meet in person, though, when does the office building open? I’d like to make a visit~”

“It’s open tomorrow at 8 AM, but she may not be there all the time especially during Saturdays.”

“Even more of a reason to say hello tomorrow morning, then~”

“Mattakku, good thing our schedules are free tomorrow…” Yuuka muttered as she opened the momotalk before sending Yume a message.

Good evening, Yume-sensei. Apologies for interrupting. Do you have time at tomorrow morning? I would like to visit SCHALE Building again, this time with another friend.

It did not take long for her to receive a reply.

Good evening, Yuuka-chan! Feel free to pay a visit! Looking forward to seeing you again with your friend tomorrow!

Yuuka sent another message.

Thank you, Yume-sensei. See you there tomorrow.

“She’s in the building tomorrow morning. I’ll take you there,” Yuuka notified Noa.

“Thank you for letting her know, Yuuka-chan~! We’re going to meet in the usual place before we get there, right?”

“Yeah, that would do.”

Ushio Noa had always been a handful one for Yuuka, although this time the former took it to the newer levels. Looks like Yume-sensei managed to captivate her even before their first meeting.

Unknown Location in Kivotos Underground, April 16th, 2021, 6:30 PM

“Kufufufu… Today has been interesting. It seemed that President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ brought Kuchinashi Yume back to life as the Chief Advisor of SCHALE,” A ‘man’ with all-black skin sporting white cracks on the face, wearing an ebony set of suit and trousers, began the meeting.

“BUT OF COURSE!” His brown trenchcoat-wearing headless colleague, who was holding a cane and a monochromatic portrait of a man facing away from its viewers with a black bowler hat, exclaimed.

“I must admit, Decalcomania has never been this intrigued. The story is entering an interesting new chapter. That wham moment marked the point where all actors, us included, are on their way to inevitably clash with each other. I am looking forward to see how the conflict would unfold,” The portrait, in contrast, calmly elaborated.

“Indeed, Decalcomania and Golconde, today’s events are brimming with brilliant inspirations! Ones that can fuel more artworks than we can imagine!” A two-headed wooden figure proclaimed.

“BUT OF COURSE!”

“Less inspirations and more potential setbacks, Maestro. She could have done anything she wanted especially given that she took time to negotiate, but she chose to hand over the tower,” A red-skinned woman in white dress curtly noted. “And then we have those abhorred other adults on the loose.”

“Fret not, Beatrice. William von Oberstein’s passing and the surrounding events were unfortunate ones, but we have gained a lot from his contributions. We could make it this far, even if we had to sacrifice many things and opportunities we could have discovered to keep us afloat with the academies constantly hounding us and at least three other adults oppossing us,” the black-skinned man assured.

“BUT OF COURSE!” Decalcomania shouted in agreement.

“Which is why we also need to keep those adults and students in check! Adults are supposed to be completely above the students like us! SRT was supposed to be defunct as planned, but they can now continue tailing us! We were supposed to have made a much more stable environment thanks to William’s contributions, but now we have barely enough to establish a beachhead!” The red-skinned woman—Beatrice—growled.

“I suggest practicing patience, Beatrice. Adults like us are supposed to rule, but the world does not revolve solely around us. We are merely actors in this story as much as the other adults and students are,” The portrait—Golconde—chided.

“BUT OF COURSE!”

“Indeed! One can never make a marvelous statue by crushing another! If anything, doing so more often than not results in at least two shattered ones! Each shattered one makes an even more heartrending tragedy for the witnessing artists!” Maestro noted.

“We would not only repeat the tragedy of William von Oberstein’s passing, but also lose even more of our progress and opportunity to move forward. Currently, We have to start over, but fortunately we still have enough resources and research notes to recover to an extent as of this moment,” the all-black ‘man’ concluded.

“BUT OF COURSE!”

“Fine, I will digress, as you all insisted,” Beatrice declared. “But know this, I will make sure to end them, especially that former Student, the moment they step over the line.”

Decalcomania moved Golconde’s portrait to face the all-black-skinned man.

“Black Suit. Speaking of your ongoing scripts…” Golconde whispered.

With Kuchinashi Yume returning, at least one of his projects was under a high risk, to say the least.

“Indeed. I understand what you mean, and I appreciate your warning, Golconde,” the All-black skinned ‘man’, Black Suit, nodded. “On another hand, as Beatrice pointed out earlier, although Kuchinashi Yume remains the same idealist at the core, she has become slightly different than the one we know.”

“Her negotiating for a right to veto major decisions makes a potential for interesting developments. An idealistic character, yet willing to make hard or pragmatic decisions when they count,” Golconde affirmed.

“BUT OF COURSE!” Decalcomania exclaimed.

“This only makes it harder for us to reach our goals. The Council is practically restrained at best,” Beatrice grumbled.

“Fret not! We may stumble in the midst of creating an artwork because of factors beyond our control, but it is a part of the process! Trust me, true masterpieces do not betray the process of their geneses!” Maestro cheered, or rather, attempted to cheer Beatrice, drawing the latter’s glare instead.

“Let her be, Maestro. She may be with us recently, but she is older than any of us,” Black Suit told Maestro before concluding, “Regardless, the recent development has brought many changes to our situation. For a short time being, we will continue our respective research whilst observing Kivotos more closely. If there is another significant development, we can discuss it here. Any questions?”

“Should you come across Kuchinashi Yume before we can meet again, what would you do?” Golconde promptly inquired.

“Good question, Golconde… A simple introduction should do, and if possible, an invitation to join us.”

“I personally find the latter unlikely to happen considering her character, but it does not hurt to try. Perhaps I would do the same.”

“BUT OF COURSE!” Decalcomania chimed in.

“Indeed, a fellow adult joining our ranks would always be welcome! I shall greet her with an artistic welcome!” Maestro gleefully joined.

“Try as you may, but I would rather deal with her and SCHALE permanently the first time we meet,” Beatrice scowled.

“I see. Any other question?”

Black Suit was greeted only with shaken heads of everyone else.

“I shall conclude the meeting here. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your time,” he announced.

Soon after his announcement, Beatrice was the first, or more accurately, the only one to leave the room. Everyone else remained.

“Even after almost ten years, she is still as insufferable as ever,” Golconde broke the silence two minutes after Beatrice left.

“BUT OF COURSE!” Decalcomania’s shout had a mix of agreement and frustration.

“At least William von Oberstein had a sense of artistry, however twisted it was!” Maestro joined.

“Indeed. She is consistently an overbearing one, however much she was of a help for our recovery from the events surrounding his demise,” Black Suit admitted, maintaining his composure. “Still, I would certainly prefer her over a certain dweller if I must choose between them.”

“It is a matter of time until she tries to stab our backs,” Golconde warned.

“And use our masterpieces against us!” Maestro added.

“BUT OF COURSE!”

“Yes,” Black Suit affirmed, nodding. “Observations and preparations must continue. If needed, each of us better have at least three different means to do so.”

Chapter Text

P01C01 - V0E07 - The First Few Days in SCHALE

SCHALE Residential Building 5th Floor, April 17th, 2021, 5:25 AM

Kuchinashi Yume was standing in front of the main entrance to the club-exclusive fitness center, accompanied by Karina who was opening it. Both of them wore white T-shirts with black sports bras underneath, white dolphin shorts with black spats underneath, and training shoes colored after their respective hairs.

As they walked further down the fitness center, lights began turning on automatically in groups.

“Are these lights scheduled, Karina-san?” Yume asked.

“Yup, in case there’s a problem with them we’ll know right away!”

A minute of walking past at least dozens of exercise machines and equipment later, they entered one of the fitness class rooms, which was as spacious as a classroom.

“Amazing…”

“Glad you like it, Yume-sensei! Want to stretch right away? I can lead if you want.”

“Yes for both, please.”

The two began basic stretching, with Karina taking the lead. It took them ten minutes to finish warming up.

After warming up, Yume sat on the floor, her legs spread in middle splits.

“Want me to help pushing you down a bit?” Karina asked.

“Um, yes,” Yume nodded.

“You got it, Yume-sensei,” Karina pushed Yume’s body down with her lower arms, whilst stretching behind her in a frog pose.

“Wait, there may be people seeing us!”

“Don’t worry, I already set the doors and windows in opaque mode.”

The two continued their morning exercises for ten minutes, with one girl helping another whilst doing her own stretch.

With that done, it was time to begin jogging. They vacated the small gym room.

“That was fun! Seeing how limber you showed yourself to be, perhaps we can sometimes add in gymnastics exercises starting from next monday. What do you think, Yume-sensei?” Karina invited as the two went downstairs.

“That sounds good, and you did well yourself, Karina-san. If anything, we should do it together monday.”

“Alright, we’re set, then!”

As Yume and Karina reached the ground floor, they began jogging out of the building then around the residential block, which was surrounded by pedestrian-and-bike-only streets and eight other blocks which also belonged to SCHALE.

“I never knew the streets can be crowded this early!” Yume exclaimed amidst the jog.

“Yup! That’s Shiratori for you!” Karina replied, slowing her jog slightly.

Yume was now right at Karina’s left as they were halfway around the Residential Block.

“First one to reach the residential block’s main entrance in the jog through these wide inner roads wins. What do you think?” Yume invited Karina with a small grin.

“It’s on, then.” Karina returned the grin, picking up the pace.

The second half of the jog became a race, with Karina ahead and Yume closely tailing. That said, the former getting exhausted herself than the latter.

The last 80 meters of the jog turned to a sprint, with Yume pulling ahead.

Upon reaching the Residential Block’s main entrance, Yume slowed down before walking in circles whilst keeping her energetic look, followed by a more exhausted Karina.

“Ehehe, looks like I still got it!” Yume celebrated the small victory.

“You win this time, Yume-sensei! Let’s cool down in Angel 24, shall we?”

With Yume’s nod, the two began a steady walk through the Residential Block’s inner parameter, in which they could find a nearby Angel 24 store.

There were small tables and chairs lying around in front of its door, making a good place for a five-minute break.

The two took a seat on a small table with two chairs facing each other.

“What do you think of this place, Yume-sensei?” Karina asked.

“I can’t deny it’s much nicer than Abydos- Oh, apologies, Karina-san, this complex is surprisingly a welcoming one,” Yume answered.

“I can understand. Speaking of Abydos, would you like to go back to that place one day?”

“Hmm… We can talk about it next time.”

“I hear you, let me know if you want to talk about it,” Karina offered in understanding before looking at the store’s interior. “I’m gonna buy something there. Want to join?”

“Yes.”

After relaxing for five more minutes, the two stood back up before entering the store, which has a young blonde girl with a notable forehead.

The blonde was fidgeting on the cashier stall. Every few seconds, she would look around.

“Welcome to angel 24… Eh!?” she greeted before reeling in shock.

“Good morning. Hm? Is there anything bothering you?” Yume responded, puzzled.

“Oh, you’re Yume-sensei from yesterday!” The blonde gulped before continuing, “Nice to meet you, I am Sora! Feel free to look for anything you like!”

“Nice to meet you, too, Sora-chan! By the way, how did you know it’s me?”

“I saw you on Angelgram, Yume-sensei. There have been hundreds of videos of you spreading since yesterday!”

“Heheheh, looks like you became a celebrity, Yume-sensei~” Karina chimed in.

“A-ah, I see… Excuse me while I check around!” Yume answered with a blush before dashing to a nearby shelf.

The fox of Calamity was surely a notorious criminal, but Yume only did everything she could to stop her.

And then Yume helped out setting up tents for preliminary treatment to the point of being dragged back to the office building. She couldn’t help after seeing that tank’s explosion.

So why was she famous? Could it be that her standing up to the notorious fox was the moment of her fame, especially when she managed to unmask her?

Too many things to speculate about. She should just browse the products already.

The first shelves Yume approached had various snacks and crackers, three of which she put into her basket. Then she approached one of the shelves across before taking a few small bags of instant coffee powder.

She was going to have lively days, so she would need a way to stay energized and sane.

Afterwards, she briefly went past shelves of hygienic products and bathroom wares, which she didn’t even need.

The last row of shelves had a myriad of kinds and variants of ammunition, regular, brightly colored, and uniquely scented. And there were firearms—pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, and assault rifles—hung on racks in open.

The cheapest, a P320 pistol, cost only 1.000 yen. The most expensive one, a SCAR-L assault rifle, cost no more than 70.000 yen.

On another hand, Karina was standing in front of the cashier booth, waiting for Sora to finish processing the payment.

“By the way, which moments did those videos show?” Karina asked.

“There were videos of Yume-sensei unmasking The Fox of Calamity in public… Some videos have her blocking the powerful shot and standing mostly unharmed, too!” Sora responded. “Oh, the payment is successful. Enjoy your day!”

“Hold on, Yume-sensei is waiting to pay. I’m waiting here until she’s done, Sora-chan.”

“Oh, o-okay.”

Karina took a few steps aside, allowing Yume to step forth.

“Here, Sora-chan,” Yume handed Sora her groceries before reaching for her wallet. “What do you think of those videos?”

Beeps could be heard as Sora ran the groceries through the scanner one by one.

“I-I couldn’t believe them… Until I saw you here. The total price is 750 yen, Yume-sensei.”

Taking her small wallet out, Yume’s hand instinctively reached a black credit card on one side, before backing out then reaching the cash on another.

What was that black card? It looked like any other credit card, yet she could feel it tugging her free hand all the time.

“Here,” Yume answered as she handed over 750 yen in cash. “You seemed a bit young to work here, though…”

“Thank you, Yume-sensei,” Sora stored the cash into the register before reaching for the change. “I-I-I’m here because I’d like to earn some money. Here’s the change.”

“Appreciated, Sora-chan. I can understand, but have they done anything mean to you?” Yume accepted the change.

“N-no, Yume-sensei.”

She should not pry further.

“I see. I and my friend are heading out now. Take care, Sora-chan!” Yume waved alongside Karina before leaving.

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Yume-sensei!” Sora waved back.

Executive Office, SCHALE Office Building 21st Floor, April 17th, 2021, 8:28 AM

Yume was standing alongside Karina as Ayumu and Rin placed two short stacks of paper.

“Yume-sensei, Karina-san, Here is your work of the day. Ayumu just placed letters of civil complaints and requests from academies. As for what I placed, I found even more discreparancies after coming back from here, some of which were suggested but could not be found by Takanashi Hoshino.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Rin-san.”

“You’re welcome. I figured that SCHALE is increasing in popularity, so students are bound to be interested in registering. For this reason, the workload should be more relaxed for a more welcoming environment when you meet them.”

“I see, anything else?”

“The General Student Council would like to hold a meeting in Sanctum Tower at 9 AM, the next monday. Yume-sensei, Karina-san, is there anything that may prevent you from attending at the time I specified?”

“No, Rin-san,” Yume answered.

“None at all, Chief Administrator,” Karina chimed in.

“Understood. I and Ayumu are taking our leaves. Yume-sensei, Karina-san, Good luck,” Rin bade a farewell.

“Best of luck in your work!” Ayumu bowed.

“Same for both of you, take care!” Karina waved.

“Rin-san, Ayumu-san, thank you for your visit, please do your best as well. See you tomorrow morning,” Yume parted with Rin and Ayumu, who eventually left.

The two took seats at the desk formation.

“Alright, let’s take a look at Ayumu’s pile then focus on Rin’s documents,” Karina invited as she grabbed the documents put by Ayumu.

“Good idea,” Yume agreed.

Half an hour had passed, and the two had finished one third of the pile. It helped that some documents were also digitized, so Arona could have her own share as well.

“Yume-sensei, here's the request for supplies from Lydian Academy. Should we approve it?”

“Let me see… Approved, go ahead, Arona-chan,” Yume answered telepathically.

“You got it, Yume-sensei!”

Another half an hour had passed, and there was only a fourth of the unmarked documents from Ayumu left.

“Yume-sensei, here’s a complaint about, uh… Frequent defacing of statues of Renkawa Cherino, from Red Winter. What should we do?”

“Psst, Renkawa Cherino is Red Winter's current student council president. As for her track record... She got couped twice, and that's only this month!”

Getting couped generally meant the leader was bad or unlucky. Getting couped twice in roughly two weeks?

“We need to take a deeper look on Red Winter later. Please put the complaint on hold, Karina-san,” Yume instructed.

“You got it, Yume-sensei!” Karina put the Red Winter document on the short and recently made ‘NEEDS FURTHER INVESTIGATION’ pile.

A bell signaling a guest’s arrival was heard.

Yuuka mentioned that she was going to come with a friend. What was this friend like?

“Karina-san, I’m going to say hello to the visiting students,” Yume stood up, approaching the door.

“Okay~! Please tell them I said hi, too!” Karina waved, still working on the documents.

Opening the door, Yume was greeted by a sight of Yuuka alongside a smiling white-haired girl.

“Good morning, Yume-sensei. I came here with someone because she wants to join the club,” Yuuka began.

“Good morning, Yume-sensei, I am Ushio Noa. I came here because I’d like to see you in person. Nice to meet you!” The white-haired girl introduced herself.

“Good morning, Yuuka-chan, Noa-chan. Come on, this way,” Yume led Yuuka and Noa to one of the L-shaped desks.

“Hello there! Back here with a friend from Seminar, eh?” Karina teased.

“Yes,” Noa answered playfully.

Yuuka began fuming for a minute before she calmed down.

Karina and Noa were going to have a field half-day at the expense of Yuuka’s sanity, weren’t they? May fate have mercy for the latter.

“Noa-chan, here, you can fill this first,” Yume handed Noa a SCHALE registration folder with blank forms.

“Thank you very much, sensei~” Noa accepted before starting to fill the registration form.

The next hour was an interesting one. Two of the documents Ayumu placed briefly mentioned their respective academies’ budget planning for the proposal, one of which was reviewed with intense scrutiny from Yuuka. Karina and Noa, on another hand, were inspecting three documents sent from Millennium, involving Veritas, the Engineering Club, and the Athletics Training Club respectively.

“Fun fact, Yuuka loses it the most when it comes to the Engineering Club,” Noa commented.

“I swear, slashing their budget by more than half didn’t even budge them, let alone make them remotely less unhinged…” Yuuka complained.

“Um, how bad was the club, Yuuka-chan?” Yume nervously asked.

“Seminar got multiple reports of property damage in just one week, and that’s just the start,” Yuuka flatly stated.

“Oh… What about Veritas?”

“The only things saving the club were their current president and their skills with information systems.”

“The Athletics Training Club?”

Yuuka could only shudder.

“I heard the club’s president likes to train beyond what could be considered sane even for SRT’s standards,” Noa filled in.

“At least the Game Development Club isn’t as remotely bad as any of those clubs…” Yuuka sighed.

“Yuuka-chan, considering what happened earlier, you won’t do it, right?” Noa’s smile shifted to a frown.

“I won’t. They are one member short of the required four,” Yuuka’s look changed to a serious one. “But what happened to its president was unacceptable by all metrics.”

“What happened?” Yume asked with a fretful face.

“She was met with waves of online harassment starting from three days ago. Not just that, we also recorded attempts of physical assault.” Yuuka took a deep breath before letting out a sigh, “One of them was so bad that a nearby third-year SRT student stepped in and chased the would-be assailants out.”

The fact that a game developer was bullied this badly hurt Yume’s Executive Assistant soul.

“Yikes,” Yume could only wince.

“Thankfully, with the tower back in General Student Council’s hands, we could focus on stopping the subsequent waves. We even detained a dozen key suspects, too,” Yuuka assured.

“That’s good to hear. I would like to visit them someday, any info about their club room?”

Yuuka took a post-it then scribbled the club’s name and location on it.

“Here, Yume-sensei,” Yuuka handed the post-it to Yume. “I hope you can find a way to help them, too…” She silently muttered.

“I’m going to, don’t worry, Yuuka-chan,” Yume assured.

As all documents taken from Ayumu had been reviewed, The four focused on the pile placed by Rin.

“Abydos Discrepancies?” Yuuka asked, puzzled, “Why do I have a nauseating feeling about this?”

“Yes. It’s a long story, Yuuka-chan,” Yume responded.

The next thirty minutes vindicated Yuuka’s fears.

“What the hell… I’ve never seen this many changes in the sheet… There’s no way those are simple mistakes, they feel hand-crafted,” Yuuka muttered as she reviewed the marked tax reports, comparing them to the submitted bookkeeping records.

“Is there any chance that there were launderings involved?” Yume questioned.

“Knowing how hand-crafted these feel, I wouldn’t put it past them to do so.”

“What’s with these company names?”

“I have encountered 5% of the companies listed here, none of them had any listed significant asset. Some, no, most of the names listed here are likely shell companies.”

There was no way Hoshino made a deal with any of these companies. She had been running around the District territory to chase the bad guys off, for Kivotos’ sake!

“We’re dealing with a laundering, then,” Yume concluded.

“Yup.”

Noa and Karina, on another hand, were inspecting the formal complaint letters on construction when the former abruptly turned to Yuuka’s direction.

“Yuuka-chan, can I borrow the records you are reviewing?” Noa poked at Yuuka.

“Hm, why?”

“I am making sure that there are matches between those two… Oh no.”

“What’s going on… Let me check the letter you’re holding… I think I know why.”

The exchange prompted Karina and Yume to look at the tax reports and the complaint letter respectively.

“The companies listed in that letter, some of them are in the sheet,” Karina noted.

Could this be one of the overlooked critical discrepancies?

“We should report it to-” Yuuka exclaimed, only for Yume to cut her off.

“Not yet. Rin told me that even critical discrepancies got swept under the rug by the Council. If the number of shell companies is any indication…” Yume noted.

“Some people of General Student Council are likely involved,” Karina concluded.

By 12 PM, All of Rin’s documents had been reviewed and locked in a safe alongside their corresponding notes, but all four girls were borderline beaten.

“Haaah… Let’s go somewhere else…” Karina sighed out loud.

“Yeah… Where to?” Yume exhaled.

“I… I want to go back to Millennium…” Yuuka panted.

“But we didn’t have lunch yet… Oh! I know a place!” Noa jolted up.

Everyone else lazily stood up.

“Where are we going, though…” Karina tiredly asked.

“Follow me!” Noa invited as she exited the office, followed by everyone else.

General Student Council Conference Room, Sanctum Tower, April 19th, 2021, 11:37 AM

The meeting was a draining one for Yume and Karina.

They had met various council members and department heads, some being passionate, others looking passive, and many in between.

One standout member was Oki Aoi, the head of finance department. She maintained her stoic look as she reviewed the proposals and put a few to a halt for budget reasons. She could be an overbearing one, but she took her job seriously.

Another was Shiranui Kaya, the Head of the Security department. Her eyes were always shut, but Yume could swear the smile was a little forced. For some reason, she had been the first person to actively make contact, to the point where Yume found it uncomfortable. She was not even an acquaintance of hers until minutes before the meeting began and even then, she was too friendly for someone Yume barely met.

There were also guests attending the meeting, of which two stood out.

One was Kusunoki, the principal of Direct Attack Strategic Institute whom Yume almost mistook for an aged man were it not for her skirt. Yume could guess from Kusunoki’s stares that the latter was trying to read as much from the former as possible.

Another was Angelia, whom Karina whispered to Yume as an affiliate of SRT. Even with formal clothes, Yume could tell she would look better in a more radical clothing, fitting for a seemingly easygoing yet no-nonsense veteran with a messy steel grey hair.

Throughout the meeting, Yume could imagine Angelia and Kusunoki at each other’s throats despite the lack of exchanged words between them.

Even if the place and event were supposed to be welcome people, the air was anything but, even after the meeting had concluded. Fortunately, there were moments of relief, such as when Angelia approached her.

“I owe you one for saving SRT and helping them and Valkyrie leash that explosive fox, Yume-sensei,” Angelia greeted Yume. “From now on, the academy will answer to the one holding President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s authority–in other words, you. You know what that means?”

“Appreciated, Angelia-san. I do, I will do my best to not abuse it.”

“That’s good to hear. I’ll be taking my leave now. We’ll meet again, Yume-sensei.”

“Take care.”

Yume could hear a chime from Arona as Angelia left the room.

“Psst, Yume-sensei! You just got a high priority encrypted E-mail!”

“I hope that is from Abydos. Please show me the content, Arona-chan,” Yume answered telepathically.

“On it, Yume-sensei! Decrypting... The letter should be on the tablet's screen right now.”

“Thank you, Arona-chan.”

Opening the E-mail in the tablet, Yume’s eyes widened as she inspected its content.

To the advisor of the Federal Investigation Club

Hello. My name is Okusora Ayane, and I’m a student at Abydos High School. I’m writing this letter because I want to ask for your help. Our academy is being harassed. One of the local gangs has been tormenting us.

It’s a long story, but we think that this gang is after the school building itself. We are doing our best to stop them, but it’s only a matter of time before we run out of ammunition and supplies. At this rate, the school will fall to them.

That’s why I’m writing to ask for your help. Can you please help us, Yume-sensei?

PS: I have attached the details on the types of ammunition we currently need, grouped based on priority. It would be great if we could get them all, but please focus on those on higher priority levels first.

1 Attachment(s) added: supply_details.txt

• High Priority
  • 5.56x45mm NATO
    • M855A1
    • M995
    • Prefered additional supply: STANAG magazines
  • 7.62x51mm NATO
    • M80A1
    • Prefered additional supply: M80A1 with M13 links
  • 12 Gauge
    • Buckshot
    • Slug
  • 9mm Parabellum
    • Prefered additional supplies: Magazines for P229 and 92FS pistols
• Medium Priority
  • Frag Grenade
    • M67 (prefered)
  • Anti-tank munitions
    • AT mines
    • AT rocket launchers
• Low Priority
  • .50 BMG (linked)

“Arona-chan, can you forward the supply details to the Logistics Division? I’m going there tomorrow,” Yume telepathically asked.

“Consider it done!”

Yume could see Karina approaching her.

“Looks like our showtime’s approaching, Yume-sensei. Considering the district’s and school’s situation, I’ll join you alongside Ramu and our own squad,” Karina whipered. “When are we going there?”

“Tomorrow,” Yume whispered back.

“That can work. I suggest using rugged pickup trucks. That district’s airspace is being loopy.”

“Understood. Please forward the request to our squad and logistics people as well, we’ll depart tomorrow before the dawn.”

“Got it, Yume-sensei,” Karina answered before sending a message from her phone.

Yume and Karina approached Rin, who took a glance in return.

“Do you need anything from me, Yume-sensei, Karina-san?” Rin began.

“Rin-san, I may not be available in the building for the next few days, or likely weeks, Starting from tomorrow. I’m going to Abydos,” Yume elaborated.

“SRT resumed keeping an eye on the district after the council regained access to Sanctum Tower. I will notify them of your arrival,” Rin paused, taking a breath. “Take care of yourself out there, and good luck, Yume-sensei.”

Yume could notice the small eyebags on Rin’s face. How long had the latter been working?

“Same goes for you, Rin-san. Please don’t push yourself too hard. I mean it,” Yume responded.

Yume and Karina vacated Sanctum Tower, taking a car to the club’s complex.

SCHALE Executive Office, Office Building 21st floor, April 19th, 2021, 2:55 PM

“Good afternoon, Yume-sensei! We came with two more friends as promised!” Ichika announced as she entered the office alongside Suzumi, Mashiro, and Serina.

“Good afternoon, Ichika-chan, Suzumi-chan! Here, take your seats,” Yume guided the four to the L-shaped desks before looking at the two new arrivals. “Welcome to SCHALE! I am the club’s advisor and teacher Kuchinashi Yume, you can call me Yume. Can you two introduce yourselves?”

“Nice to meet you, Yume-sensei, I am Shizuyama Mashiro of the Justice Task Force. I often work with Ichika,” Mashiro introduced herself.

“Good afternoon, Yume-sensei! I am Sumi Serina of the Remedial Knights. I often take care of Suzumi as she often gets into fights as a Vigilante Group member. Pleased to meet you!” Serina followed.

Suzumi winced from Serina’s recent comment on her. Otherwise, she only returned the smile.

“Are you two here to register into the club?” Yume inquired.

“Not just that, I’d also like to see Yume-sensei in person,” Mashiro answered.

“Same goes for me, Yume-sensei. Thank you for helping us treating the injured people last Friday,” Serina chimed in.

“You’re welcome, Serina-chan. Here, you can fill these first,” Yume handed over two empty SCHALE registration folders.

“Thank you, Yume-sensei,” Serina and Mashiro answered together as they accepted the folders before filling the forms.

The next thirty minutes was filled with small talks every now and then as Yume steadily progressed through her paperwork.

“Oh, right, I heard that Gehenna and Trinity were in a total war with each other, right? Are they doing anything about that?” Yume curiously asked.

There was a brief pause before the four Trinity students nodded to each other.

“Yes, normally we’d never openly say anything about it, but as you’re going to need it, I’d let you know,” Ichika answered.

“Eden Treaty is the latest and hopefully, the biggest step to answer what you mentioned, Yume-sensei,” Serina added.

“The total war ended some time after you disappeared, but tensions and skirmishes are still present to this day,” Mashiro explained.

“We could only reach an armistice a few months ago, so President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ took a step in and began the negotiations for the peace,” Suzumi paused before letting out a long sigh, “Sadly, she was the only one of the General Student Council accepted to actively discuss the terms. With her disappearance, the negotiations came to a halt. It would be nice for Chief Administrator Nanagami to continue the discussions, although…”

“President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s disappearance also came with other problems, so the idea couldn’t go through,” Ichika concluded. “This is where we hope you can come in, but neither the Tea Party nor the Pandemonium Society has said anything about the matter.”

“I see… I can probably give them some advice, but considering that this is between Gehenna and Trinity, it would be up for them to decide in the end. I hope they will stop the vicious cycle between them, though,” Yume conceded.

“It’s okay, Yume-sensei, we hope you can let them know your thoughts about the matter,” Serina assured.

“We’ll be rooting for you, Yume-sensei,” Mashiro added in.

An hour of small talks and finishing paperwork later, Yume stood up, followed by the four students.

“Everyone, I’m going to call it a day. I have an important matter to attend, so I’m not going to be here for at least a few days,” She announced.

“I understand, Yume-sensei, would you like us to help you tidy the office?” Ichika responded.

“No need, Ichika-chan. This afternoon had been fun, I hope I can see you again,” Yume said.

“Good luck for your matters and see you again, Yume-sensei!” The four bowed, bidding Yume farewells before leaving the office.

With the four leaving, Yume began to quickly tidy up her office. As the cleaning was done, she took a few bottles of water from the pantry before leaving. She locked the office’s doors then took an elevator to the Storage Building bridge.

SCHALE Storage Building, SCHALE Complex, April 19th, 2021, 5:38 PM

Three white rugged and armored mid-size four-door pickup trucks with SCHALE logo were being loaded with the munitions requested in the letter from earlier.

Yume and Ramu could be seen loading one of the trucks with a few small wooden crates containing ammo cans.

Karina, on another hand, was doing final checks on the cargo to be loaded in.

A few other staff members of SCHALE loaded magazines for assault rifles before placing them into ammo cans, which would be put into small wooden crates.

“Alright, girls, listen up! We’ll get our dinners in this building’s mess hall at 6 PM, then do final checks afterwards before getting a shut eye 8 PM. Any questions?” Karina announced.

“None at all, ma’am!” was heard in a chorus from the staff members.

“Good, we only have 20 minutes until the dinner, let’s move!”

Everyone began picking up the pace, including Yume who was carrying boxes of mineral water. Karina took a wheeled cart.

“Here, let me help,” Karina offered as she stopped the cart closely to Yume.

“Thank you, Karina-san, here,” Yume put the boxes on the cart, which was then rolled to the pickup trucks.

“Yume-sensei, I've grabbed the map. Where are we going?” Arona asked as the Shittim Chest displayed the map of Abydos.

“The School’s main campus has been abandoned, we’ll go to one of its annex buildings instead,” Yume answered as she scrolled the map before tapping a spot. “Here. That said, we should look out for any student from there who could help us.”

“Understood, Yume-sensei! The GPS coordinates has been set, you should see the directions when the trucks start up.”

“Thank you, Arona.”

The trip preparations went on until 6 PM, when the maid in orange apron and gloves Jeshi had prepared dinner.

“I heard you’re going to go on a trip, so I prepared this so you can finish quickly. Leave the dishes to me. Enjoy your meal!” Jeshi announced.

As Yume and Karina entered mess hall, they were greeted by a lively sight.

Sitting on one table at one end of the hall was Amarisu, a tall girl with a short ponytail wearing a cap.

“So Kivotos has not changed much, huh…” Amarisu mused, fiddling with her tableware.

On the opposite end, her older yet smaller sister Eriana and her two dogs Samo and Uncle.

“Samo! Uncle! Cut this out! There is another on a nearby plate!” Eriana exclaimed as she was trying to stop the dogs’ tug-o-war with a large slab of meat as the prize and lure one of the two to the other meat on a plate.

On a table between those two ends, the apparently apathetic girl with a strangely worn white dress and black blazer Fuare was sitting with the enthusiastic silver-haired girl with ponytail Kona.

“The tea and chocolate are not bad this time,” Fuare noted.

“Nice, want to hear something?” Kona asked.

“That better not be about chocolates or my clothing.”

“Mou, you’re no fun at all!”

On another table, the mischievous pipsqueak Choko could be seen stealing a bite of chocolate from a long-haired brunette Yoko.

“I’d take an extra bite if you don’t mind,” Choko said, chewing the chocolate.

“H-hey!” Yoko exclaimed, failing to stop Choko.

On yet another table were Fine whose gaze was fixated on a show in her phone and Peni staring around the room with Bari pestering them to eat up.

“Fine, Peni, eat up! We don’t have much time!” Bari shook the other two, prompting them to start eating.

Yume, Karina, and Ramu selected a table before eating, exchanging small talks with everyone else in the mess hall.

After the dinner was done, everyone made checks on the supplies and the trucks before preparing to sleep at 8 PM.

SCHALE Storage Building, SCHALE Complex, April 20th, 2021, 2:36 AM

It took Yume five minutes to calm her breathing since she opened her eyes for the first time of the day abruptly.

Getting off the bed, she checked on Shittim Chest, which was fully charged but Arona was still sleeping inside.

She left the alarm clock alone as Karina was still soundly sleeping on another bed before quietly leaving the room with her fresh new uniform and the tablet on tow.

Wandering around the storage building’s dorms for a minute, she was greeted by a girl’s voice.

“Having trouble sleeping, Yume-sensei?”

Turning to the direction of the voice, Yume could see Eriana patrolling with a tricked out SCAR-L assault rifle, accompanied by a dog with a blue tag—Samo, if she remembered correctly.

“Yes,” Yume answered as Samo began approaching her.

“Samo seems to like you. Feel free to pet her as you like, Sensei.”

After putting her fresh uniform and tablet on the nearby table, Yume began playing with Samo, starting with running a hand through the latter’s hair then patting its head.

“Good girl, you can get back with her, come on,” Yume directed Samo. “Thank you, Eriana-san.”

“You’re welcome, Yume-sensei. Did you have a nightmare?” Eriana asked in return.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Maybe for another time. Being in your company is fine, though.”

“I understand. Do you want to stay here or take a walk?”

“I’d like to take some water. Can you follow me?”

“Yes, Yume-sensei.”

After walking for one minute, the two girls took two glasses of water from a dispenser in the nearby pantry.

“That hit the spot,” Yume exhaled in relief. “I’m going to take a shower. Wouldn’t want to make others wait especially since everyone has to get up early today.”

“This way,” Eriana took the lead.

“Eriana-san, before you came here, what were your jobs?” Yume asked as the two exited the pantry.

“Hmm… Not much more than helping some academies out during a few turbulent years back then. I do not decorate myself in past glories, but I’m glad those years were over.”

Could it be related to the total war the girls from Trinity mentioned? Eriana didn’t seem to like talking much about the past, no need to make it awkward.

“It was that bad, isn’t it?” Yume asked.

“Yes,” Eriana nodded. “What about you, Yume-sensei?”

“Me? I used to lead a school council. The school had already been in a deep trouble by the time I started, though. Thankfully I had a cute and reliable junior on my back.”

“Glad to hear that.”

Yume, Eriana, and Samo stopped upon reaching the doors to the shower rooms, of one of which Karina walked out.

“Didn’t know you’d wake up early, Yume-sensei. Here for a shower?” Karina asked.

“Yes. What are you doing, Karina-san?” Yume answered.

“I’m going to wake the other girls up.”

“Please don’t make it too noisy, Karina-san.”

“Yes, yes.”

Karina left the three, walking to the direction of the storage building’s other bedrooms.

In the meantime, Yume entered one of the shower rooms not recently used by Karina.

11 minutes later

It took Samo’s barks followed by the loud bangs on the door to snap Yume awake from her flashbacks.

“YUME-SENSEI! CAN YOU HEAR US!?” Eriana’s muffled yell could be heard.

“Yes!” Yume quickly readjusted herself, turning off the shower, using the towel, and getting dressed in the shower room’s changing area.

As she exited the shower room, Eriana and Karina began checking on her with worried looks. Samo and the newly arrived Uncle were also present.

“Yume-sensei, are you alright? Samo was worried something might happen to you. Do you want to postpone the departure?”

“I’m doing well, Eriana-san. We can’t wait any longer, Abydos is going to fall apart if we don’t go there soon enough,” Yume insisted.

“Very well, Yume-sensei. We will proceed as planned,” Eriana answered after a pause.

There was no one in SCHALE she could share this with for now. Besides, she had a bigger fish to fry.

Karina could only give Yume a worried look as the latter went back to the pantry.

Upon exiting their respective rooms, some girls took cold showers whilst some others grabbed instant noodles for breakfast alongside Yume.

After taking breakfast and cold showers, everyone made final preparations and checks, with Yume paying extra attention to the additional water bottles she put into the pickup trucks.

“Yume-sensei, I just updated the trucks' navigation systems with your input on the map!” Arona reported.

“The trucks’ startup and tests have been successfully completed,” Ramu said.

“The final checks are completed. The supplies are ready, Yume-sensei,” Karina added in.

“Thank you,” Yume turned to the girls before announcing, “Everyone, please listen. What awaits us may be a grueling journey. However, I believe that with teamwork, hope, and trust to each other, we can overcome it together. Eriana-san, please brief us.”

“Roger, Yume-sensei. Our objectives are to defend Abydos’ last annex building, greet the students, then we go from there. The intel on this op comes from our informant in Abydos. There are around 50 helmet gangsters preparing to capture it with five T-72 tanks, five BMP-3s, and 100 additional personnel standing by for backup,” Eriana elaborated.

“Rules of engagement, ma’am?” Kona asked.

“Anyone opposed to Abydos High School is hostile,” Yume firmly answered.

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E01 - Welcome Home

Abydos District, April 20th, 2021, 7:05 AM

It was a normal morning for Sunaookami Shiroko.

Waking up, getting a shower, getting dressed, taking a quick breakfast, and preparing her bike all took less than an hour.

“Nn,” She mumbled as she was about to begin her daily bike journey.

After exiting the urban area, she took a turn to an apparently abandoned yet still in pristine condition wide road.

As she cycled through the 30 kilometers long road, she went past a few dozen crumbling skyscrapers at the edge of Abydos desert, absent of life.

It took her only 15 minutes to cross the first 20 kilometers. Climbs, descents, and horizontal curves included.

10 kilometers to the end of the road, she could see three white mid size pickup trucks tailing her. One of the frontmost truck’s passengers was waving at her.

Spotting the SCHALE logo imprinted on the frontmost truck’s hood and a corner of its windshield, Shiroko nodded before steadily moving her bike to the road’s left side and slowing down so the trucks could do the same before stopping.

Walking over to the stopped pickup trucks, she noticed the SCHALE logo on their doors and bed canopies.

It seemed that the club was quick to answer the mail, but she better made sure.

“Good morning, are you all from SCHALE by chance?” Shiroko asked, stopping at the frontmost truck’s driver window.

She could notice the stowed minigun and its ammunition feed at the rear seat.

“Yes, I’m Kuchinashi Yume, SCHALE’s advisor, you can call me Yume. Everyone else in this and two other pickup trucks behind this one is also from SCHALE,” Yume answered from one of the frontmost truck’s rear seats, having just drunk half a bottle of water. “We are carrying the ammunition and supplies requested. Do you know Okusora Ayane and Takanashi Hoshino by chance?”

“Yes, they are one of my juniors and my only senior, respectively. I’m Sunaookami Shiroko of Abydos High School,” Shiroko nodded. “Are you heading there, Yume-sensei?”

“Yes. Can you please show us the directions?”

“Nn, follow me,” Shiroko immediately went to her bike, leading the trucks through the road.

As she began cycling again, she grabbed her phone to call Okusora Ayane’s number.

“Good morning, Shiroko-senpai. This is Ayane. Do you need anything?”

“Ayane, the supplies we requested from SCHALE have been secured. Heading to the school with people from the club. Please let the rest of the Task Force know.”

“That's a good news! Will do, Shiroko-senpai!” Ayane’s voice paused before it grew cold, “Shiroko-senpai, you don't happen to be speeding, do you?”

“No,” Shiroko let out cold sweat in bullets.

“Hah... Take care on the way, Shiroko-senpai. We're looking forward to meeting with people from SCHALE soon.”

“Nn, catch you later,” Shiroko ended the call before slipping the phone back into her pocket.

Miraclously, she managed to keep her balance, avoid crashing, and not lose her phone, all whilst biking at 70+ kilometers per hour in a nonchalant manner.

It took her only eight minutes to finish the remaining ten kilometers of the road since she met Yume-sensei. As SCHALE’s trucks seemingly could go faster, she was tempted to do the same.

The next fifteen minutes of the trip was a brief yet eerie one. She could see three T-72 tanks with their turrets violently blown out of their chasses, four demolished BMP-3 IFVs, and thirty plus unconscious Helmet Gangsters.

“Helmet Gangsters wouldn’t fire this many shotgun shells. Most of their members use rifles and submachine guns. Some used rocket launchers were here as well,” Shiroko noted. “It smells like a fight broke out here around four to five hours ago. The gangsters’ rocket launchers were used against them.”

“I think I know who could be behind this,” Yume mused. “Let’s get to the school quickly. The gangsters are this close, they might be attacking soon.”

For someone who mentioned only Ayane and Hoshino twenty minutes earlier, Yume-sensei seemed to know the culprit.

“Nn, this way,” Shiroko quickly hopped on her bike again, this time headed to the sole remaining Abydos annex building.

Entering through the school gate, the convoy navigated through the front field turned improvised trenches before stopping at the main building’s doors.

Upon stopping, the trucks’ occupants began swiftly unloading their cargo before moving them into the building.

“We have arrived, Yume-sensei. The club room is this way,” Shiroko took point as she entered the building, followed by Yume.

As the two finished taking the last flight of stairs, they could notice Hoshino, a pink-haired heterochromic girl, cautiously stalking down the hallway, with her pink modified Beretta 1301 shotgun and a briefcase not unlike Yume-sensei’s at ready.

“Yume… Senpai?” Hoshino froze as her gaze focused on Yume.

Abydos High School Annex Building, April 20th, 2021, 8:27 AM

Takanashi Hoshino’s last patrol was particularly draining. Combined with Serika and sometimes Ayane nagging her, it made finding a comfortable napping spot inside the annex building a difficult task.

She had been sleeping in the classroom for an hour as her juniors were doing their respective activities, be it in the club room or outside the annex building.

She was about to sleep for five more minutes when sounds of tires screeching and tricked out car engines snapped her awake.

An enemy? Yet another Helmet Gangster cell? If they could reach the doorstep without triggering the alarm beforehand, this could be an emergency!

She quickly grabbed her treasured Beretta 1301 shotgun and Iron Horus shield-slash-briefcase, her stance becoming vigilant. As she exited the classroom, she could hear sounds of pickup truck doors opening and cargo being unloaded.

She wanted to hope that it was the requested supplies, but for them to come in trucks could mean a trap. There was only one way to be sure, by checking them out in person.

She could feel a dozen people near the cargo sounds below as she slowly walked through the hallway.

As she was getting closer to the stairwell, her ears spotted two people climbing a few flights of stairs. Seven meters away, she noticed two people, her second year wolf girl junior Shiroko and her former senior Yume. The latter’s presence stopped her dead.

“Yume… Senpai?” Her voice broke as she and Yume looked at each other.

“Hoshino-chan, it’s me. I’m home,” Yume replied.

“Yume… Senpai…”

It took only seven seconds for Hoshino to bolt back to her classroom, ignoring everything else going on around her.

“Hoshino-chan!?” Yume called out only for the voice to fall into deaf ears.

Entering her classroom again, Hoshino slammed the door behind her shut. Her breathing became uneven and cold sweat began raining as she collapsed to the floor, sitting against the door.

Torn poster, shouting, words. Something about being stupid.

The apathetic silence of the desert.

The lifeless body.

That person she just saw with Shiroko-chan couldn’t be Yume-senpai, right? Was she coming back to haunt her and remind her of that certain failure?

What had she done to deserve all this?

It took her five minutes for her breathing to finally calm back down. She got back on her feet and faced the door, her right hand pushing its knob down.

As Hoshino opened the door, she was greeted by the sight of Yume who was about to do the same, only for the former to beat the latter to the punch.

Because of this, Yume began stumbling forward, losing her balance.

“Yume-sensei, look out!” Shiroko called out from behind Yume.

Hoshino’s vision was soon obscured by Yume’s chest as the latter pushed her backwards. Fortunately, she landed on her shoulder first and her left arm was swift enough to stop her head from even making contact with the floor before stopping.

Opening her eyes, Hoshino found Yume crawling on all fours right above her, with their faces very close to each other, causing their faces to turn red.

For outsiders, it looked like they were about to celebrate their reunion in a naughty and intimate manner.

Granted, Yume-senpai often got involved in accidents, but this was too close for Hoshino’s liking.

“Wait, Shiroko-chan! It’s not what it looks like!” Yume protested.

“Yume-senpai, I-!” Hoshino complained, snapping Yume awake.

“Uwaaah! I’m sorry, Hoshino-chan! Hold on a second!” Yume squealed as she got back up, releasing Hoshino from the accidental pin.

“Yume-senpai, that’s you… Right?” Hoshino began scanning throughout Yume’s body upon getting back on her feet.

Same height, same build, same hair color, same cowlick, same chest size, and same golden eyes as the last time Hoshino saw her.

“Yes, Hoshino-chan, I’m home,” Yume answered.

It was the same gentle voice as the one Hoshino had heard for the last time more than a year before. It was Yume-senpai, after all.

Hoshino began hugging Yume wordlessly and tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Abydos High School Annex Building, April 20th, 2021, 8:38 AM

Kuchinashi Yume followed Hoshino and Shiroko a club room door marked “Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force”.

“Here’s the club room, Yume-senpai,” Hoshino instructed as she was about to knock the door. “Ayane-chan, Sensei’s here. Are you good with us getting in?”

“Yes, Hoshino-senpai, please come in! We’ve been waiting for you!” Ayane’s voice could be heard from behind the door.

“Alright, coming through!” Hoshino opened the door.

Entering the club room, the three saw Karina talking with the bespectacled long-eared first year Okusora Ayane.

“Is there any member of the school’s student council?” Karina curiously asked.

“Apologies, Karina-san, Hoshino-senpai said the student council was disbanded,” Ayane answered.

“That’s weird… Any standing school should have a student council, even if it’s small.”

On the large table at the center of the room stood a dozen ammo boxes, few of which containing myriad of rounds in boxes and few others carrying fully loaded magazines inside.

Near the table, the standing first year girl with cat ears and tail Kuromi Serika was about to interject between Ayane and Karina, only to be held back by the smiling blonde second year Izayoi Nonomi who was inspecting the ammo supplies.

“Wait, are all these five are this school’s remaining students, and its only club is Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force?” Karina asked Ayane before turning to Yume’s diretion. “Hey there, Yume-sensei! We’re waiting for you, come in!”

“Yes for both, Karina-san. Unfortunately, every other student had either dropped out or transferred to other schools by the time I and Serika enrolled,” Ayane said as Shiroko closed the door, having entered last. “Good morning and welcome back, Yume-sensei! Thank you for coming here and lending aid to us! I’m Okusora Ayane, first year student and the secretary of the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force.”

“Uhe, looks like today is going to be lively. I’m Takanashi Hoshino, the club’s leader,” Hoshino was the second to introduce herself.

For Yume, it was now or never. She might forget about the Student Council matter as time went on.

“And the current president of Abydos Student Council!” Yume interjected cheerily, attracting puzzled looks from everyone else in the room except Karina, especially Hoshino. “Eh?”

“Me? The president of Abydos Student Council? I thought it was disbanded with you gone,” Hoshino’s answer drew even more confused looks.

Everyone in Abydos didn’t seem to know their council’s registry. At least Yume brought it up to the club members. Hopefully, someone especially Ayane-chan would ask about it again.

“I registered you to as the Abydos Council’s vice president to the General Student Council database,” noticing almost everyone’s confused looks, Yume shifted the topic. “Sorry, everyone! I’m Kuchinashi Yume, former president of this school’s student council before becoming SCHALE’s advisor. Feel free to call me Yume. Nice to meet you all!”

“Good morning, everyone. I’m Karina, SCHALE’s Logistics Officer and Yume-sensei assistant. Thanks for letting us in!”

“Yume-sensei, Karina-san, pleased to meet you. I’m Izayoi Nonomi, a second year student and regular member of the club,” the blonde second year introduced herself.

“Nn, my name is Sunaookami Shiroko, the club’s second year field captain,” Shiroko introduced herself again.

“I’m Kuromi Serika, the club’s first year treasurer!” The cat girl announced, puffing her chest out with a confident smile.

As soon as Serika finished her introduction, Yume could hear radio cracks.

“Everyone, this is nightfall. We've spotted dozens of Helmet Gangsters at 1000 meters and closing in on our positions, break,” the voice in the radio reported. “Sandman, looks like they haven't spotted any of us yet. Should we prepare for ambush, over?”

“Nightfall, this is Sandman. Roger, Break. Everyone, get to positions and wait for my signal to engage, out,” Yume answered the radio before turning to the club room. “Everyone, let’s continue this talk later. Grab your ammo and magazines quick. We’re going to ambush them on my mark.”

The club members sped up taking magazines and rounds of their respective firearms. Shiroko and Serika loaded STANAG magazines into their coat’s pockets. Hoshino moved the shotgun shells to the caddies inside her shield and on her belt. Nonomi simply took the box containing linked 7.62x51mm rounds.

“Yume-sensei, after we repel the gangsters, may I ask you about Abydos Student Council?” Ayane asked as she was preparing the drone.

“Yes, Ayane-chan. Let’s talk about it sometime later,” Yume nodded. “Everyone, if you’re done gearing up, please take your positions without any gangster seeing you if you can.”

As the club finished gearing up, gunshots could be heard from outside the school building, near the front gate.

Abydos High School Annex Building Front Entrance, April 20th, 2021, 8:57 AM

Walking out of the doors to the annex building, Yume passed the makeshift trenches to confront a Helmet Gangster officer in red helmet and jacket.

“I am here on behalf of SCHALE. What are you and the Helmet Gangsters doing here?” Yume asked with a firm tone.

“Hah, SCHALE being here makes it easier for us! Just hand over this school building and we’ll let you walk away,” the officer arrogantly demanded.

“No,” Yume curtly answered before quickly unfolding her Iron Horus.

As Yume unfolded her shield, three anti tank missile trails emerged from the annex building towards two of the surrounding BMP-3 IFVs and a T-72 tank, destroying them. At the same time, three gunshots streaked from the same building towards the heads of the officer Yume was confronting, one of the officer’s ‘adjutants’, and a helmeted designated marksman. Two of the white pickup trucks opened parts of their roofs, revealing their concealed miniguns.

“Let it rain!” Karina yelled just before she and her twintailed assistant Ramu fired the truck-mounted miniguns, followed by Nonomi coming out of the double doors and doing the same with her own handheld minigun.

At the rear side, Hoshino could be seen yanking a loaded RPG-7 rocket launcher and two of its spare rocket grenades from a gangster she took care of alongside her four friends, before firing it at an occupied T-72’s “neck”, causing its turret to fly upwards and land on the nearby BMP-3’s front.

On another hand, Shiroko landed between ten gangsters before using her speed to disorient three of them to firing at four at their compatriots, her hand-to-hand affinity to knock out three standing others, and gunfire to finish off the rest.

Ayane’s drone hovered above three SCHALE members before dropping a medical bag which instantly healed them upon landing, earning their thumbs up.

Some helmeted gangsters managed to break through the chaos into the building, only for Serika to intercept them alongside two other SCHALE staff members.

“THIS IS FOR ATTACKING THE SCHOOL! WHAT ARE YOU ON, HUH!?” Serika bellowed as she forcefully yanked her AR-70/90’s magazine and blue flames began manifesting around her without burning anything. She then let out a spray of 5.56mm bullets to ten unsuspecting gangsters in the hallway.

The fight continued on until Shiroko managed to catch another red Helmet Gang officer dead in rights at the front trenches.

“It’s over,” Shiroko said, pointing her SIG 556 assault rifle at the officer.

“WAIT, I SURRENDER-” The officer begged only to be cut off by Shiroko shooting her forehead at least a dozen times. “Owowowowowow Ithurtsithurtsithurts!”

“That was too much, Shiroko-chan!” Yume exclaimed as Shiroko continued to gun the lying officer down.

Unnerved by the display, the still standing helmet gangsters began running away in droves.

“Yume-sensei, I have pinpointed a dozen nearby Helmet Gangsters' bases while you and the others were fighting! SRT Students are also driving the Helmet Gangster off!” Arona reported.

“Good work, Arona-chan! Please tip them off as well!” Yume began running to one of the pickup trucks. “Everyone, we’re going to raid a few of the gangsters’ front bases. Let’s strike while the iron is hot!”

Helmet Gang Supply Base XX, 3 kilometers from Abydos Annex Building, Abydos District, April 10th, 2021, 9:35 AM

“Uhe~ Should I capture this base for SCHALE or SRT, or bring it to the ground?” Hoshino mused as she was reloading her shotgun.

“We need as much of this base intact as we can for their use, Hoshino-chan!” Yume protested as she was raising Iron Horus.

“Hai, hai, You got it, Yume-senpai.”

On one side of a large Helmet Gang’s base, 5.56 x 45mm rifle and 9 x 19mm pistol rounds strayed towards Hoshino and Yume’s direction, but almost all of them bounced off the latter’s Iron Horus. If a bullet was lucky enough to go around the shield and tag her, she would treat it like a feeble finger flick.

No one was going to get away with rudely interrupting her reunion with Yume-senpai. No one.

Hoshino grappled a helmet gangster flanking Yume before using her body as an impromptu shield and her black SIG 556 assault rifle against others, then jumping out of Yume’s protection.

Other helmeted gangsters began firing their assault rifles at Hoshino, who gladly returned fire behind the unwilling gangster’s cover. Despite the rifle’s condition, she managed to knock five out. Upon spotting one with a rocket launcher, she dashed to another cover.

Thanks to her speed and agility, the rocket landed in a distance away, with the resulting shockwave barely moving her newfound cover. She jumped out of the cover, engaging more helmeted gangsters.

“I wonder what Shiroko-chan is doing…”

On another side, Shiroko was quickly dispatching a dozen panicked Gangsters. Taking four out with a frag grenade, She overpowered three others in close quarters before grabbing the eighth and shooting the ninth and tenth down. The eleventh and twelfth opened fire, only for the bullets to be stopped by the eighth grabbed by Shiroko. Shiroko returned fire, putting them to sleep before doing the same with the gangster who somehow managed to survive a dozen bullets smacking her.

At the main gate, Nonomi and Karina let out rain of bullets alongside Ramu, who fired single shots instead. On the watch tower nearby, Serika took aim at three gangsters with rocket launchers 300 meters away from the truck before pulling the trigger, knocking them down.

Ayane’s drone flew close to Yume before dropping a package that quickly treated the latter’s bruises.

“Thank you, Ayane-chan!”

The battle continued with the number of standing gangsters and their armored vehicles continuously dwindling. As SCHALE’s other staff arrived from clearing the nearby small bases, only 15% of the gangsters in the base remained standing.

“Thank you for securing this base, Yume-sensei.” Eriana spoke. “We’re gonna talk with the captured gangsters, investigate the equipment we’ve secured, and refurbish this and several smaller bases for SRT’s and our use.”

“Leave this to us, Yume-sensei! You and your juniors can go back to the school. Take care!” Karina waved before regrouping with Ramu, who was guiding a helicopter to land 50 meters nearby.

Yume and the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force, sans Ayane who was in the annex building, entered the pickup truck. Hoshino had no problem driving back there safely despite her small stature.

Abydos High School Annex Building, April 20th, 2021, 1:25 PM

Yume had just finished her lunch, followed by Hoshino and Ayane. Shiroko had a lot of appetite, looking from how much she had finished. Nonomi and Serika were almost done, too.

The battle was over. If the intel from SRT was to be believed, all of Helmet Gang’s bases had been taken care of.

“Good work, everyone! The helmet gangsters are no longer going to freely roam around and harass people in Abydos district!” Yume announced.

The announcement was met with cheers from Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force members sans Hoshino, who sighed in relief instead.

“Now that the gang has been kicked out, we can focus on the debt!” Serika said.

Now that Serika had brought it up, Yume needed to look into this again.

“Oh, right, we need to talk about the council and the debt!” Yume exclaimed.

“Yes, Yume-sensei. Preferably, we should talk about Abydos Student Council’s status first,” Ayane suggested.

“Crap, I shouldn’t have said it-” Serika stopped upon hearing Ayane’s suggestion. “Right, what’s going on with the council? Hoshino-senpai said it was disbanded, but you said you registered her as its vice president.”

“Well… I did register Hoshino-chan to the student council before I disappeared,” Yume answered. “Before I got back here, I took time to check the General Student Council’s records. The council is still here-” She pointed at Hoshino before continuing, “as long as Hoshino-chan is here.”

“Yume-senpai, can you show us the General Student Council records you mentioned!?” Hoshino jolted.

“Yume-sensei, I'm going to show them Kivotos General Student Council's records on Abydos... right now,” Arona interjected without anyone else hearing as the Shittim Chest displayed the records she mentioned.

“Thanks for your help, Arona-chan!” Yume handed over the tablet to Hoshino, “Here, Hoshino-chan. It says you should be the acting president.”

The contents displayed in the tablet made everyone’s jaws drop, except Yume’s.

“We need to do something about this!” Ayane noted, scrutinizing the records. She then looked at Yume’s direction. “Yume-sensei, does this school have any computer that can update these records?”

“This way!” Yume took the lead, guiding the club members to the Student Council room at the ground floor.

Behind its doors, the Student Council room had four 160cm wide desks housing stacks of papers on them, seven 1 meter wide, 2 meters tall racks for gun and documents, two whiteboards, and three all-in-one computers on two of the wide desks. For a room that was supposed to be abandoned for at least a year, it had little to no dust buildup at all, and all equipments stored inside were running well.

“This room is surprisingly clean…” Serika mused.

Shiroko took a few sniffs then briefly looked at Hoshino’s direction before glancing around the room again.

“Hai, someone has been diligently cleaning it without us looking~” Nonomi speculated.

“That’s definitely the case here…” Ayane muttered. “Yume-sensei?”

“Right, it’s still here!” Yume dashed towards the nearest computer to the door, followed by Hoshino and Ayane. “Wait, where’s the note- Screw it, I’ll try!”

Unbeknownst to Yume, Hoshino had to destroy, as in incinerate the note because of the security risks.

The computer was still perfectly functional and Yume could log in to the General Student Council’s site using the school’s credential when she left.

“It still worked!” Yume cheered while Hoshino let out a sigh of relief. “Here, click this.”

It took fifteen minutes for Ayane to fill and submit the School Student Council submission forms. All club members other than Hoshino were registered with the same positions as those they had in the club respectively.

In the meantime, Yume sent a quick encrypted message to Rin.

Good afternoon, Rin-san. Abydos is going to submit their student council registrations. Please look into them.

Rin’s response seemed quick.

Good afternoon, Yume-sensei. Please have your juniors submit the forms. I'll review them ASAP. Thank you for letting me know.

Yume then typed another message.

Thank you, Rin-san. I need to stay in Abydos district for at least a few weeks. Please take care of yourself in the meantime.

As Ayane finished submitting the forms, Yume received another message from Rin.

I understand. Please take care as well, Yume-sensei.

“The forms have been submitted. While we wait for the General Student Council’s approval, let’s discuss the matter on the debt,” Ayane announced.

“How is the debt matter going?” Yume inquired. “Arona-chan, please redirect the forms straight to Rin-san’s office. We can’t let other General Student Council members impede.”

“Got it! Chief Administrator Nanagami should be able to see the forms soon!” Arona confirmed.

"Thanks a lot, Arona-chan!" Yume telepathically answered.

“A bit better than when it was just both of us, Yume-senpai. It’s down to more than 900 million yen,” Hoshino answered.

“It’s 962,350,000 yen to be exact,” Ayane added in.

Thankfully the debt situation got better, but it was still bad. The desert might be too much at the moment, but the buildings might still be holding some precious treasures.

“Oh! I was thinking about paying the debt,” Nonomi smiled as she rummaged through her purse, out of which she extracted a golden credit card. “With this.”

The credit card’s golden shine flooded the entire room, almost blinding everyone but Nonomi.

“Nonomi-chan, put it down! We’re not doing that!” Hoshino exclaimed as she covered the golden card with a cloth before elaborating, “If we let her, the debt will be handed over to Nephtys Group.”

“Yes, our debt wouldn’t be erased at all,” Ayane agreed. “We have been looking for other ways to pay it off.”

Unfortunately, Hoshino-chan was right. Handing over the debt to the group which might or might not fail the school again would be a hell of a gamble at best.

“How about we hunt for treasures in the buildings?” Yume proposed.

“Nn, treasure? Where?” Shiroko perked up, looking around for any tool available in the room.

“Eh!? Treasure hunting, especially when we’re tired from routing those gangsters!? No thanks!” Serika shouted before softly muttering, “We might get more from part-time jobs, though…”

“Oh, treasure hunting? I’m looking forward to collecting precious ones, Yume-sensei!” Nonomi cheerily said.

“Yume-senpai, we can take care of that tomorrow. Digging while tired would just make it worse for all of us,” Hoshino chided in agreement with Serika.

“Yume-sensei, Hoshino is correct. We’d be better off with less risk of injuries if we do it tomorrow,” Ayane chimed in.

“Alright, we’re going on a treasure hunt tomorrow, then!” Yume announced.

Small talks went on for minutes before the students went to their respective classrooms.

Shittim Chest Virtual Space, April 20th, 2021, 8:45 PM

“I’m so tired…” Yume complained as she was sprawling on the demolished classroom’s floor.

“You did very well today, Yume-sensei! Why don’t you call it a day?” Sitting on one of the desks, Arona complimented.

“I can’t help but think about the debt, though…”

“The debt situation is really bad, but feeling down almost all time because of it isn’t good! You’re going to worry everyone, especially the pink-haired one from Abydos! Her name’s Hoshino, right?”

“Yes. By the way, what do you think about her?”

“She can get pretty laid back, for sure. I almost thought of her to be lazy! No, she seems to know everything she says!” Arona took a breath. “Yume-sensei, are you okay with me making friends with her? I want to know more about her…”

“Yes, feel free to do so. Just take note that she doesn’t easily open up especially with random people.” Yume stood back up.

“Are you sure!? What if she-”

Yume ran her right hand through Arona’s hair.

“It’s okay, Arona-chan,” Yume assured.

“Okay, I’ll try…” Arona muttered.

“You can do it, Arona-chan. By the way, I’m going to pass out at any second. Good night, Arona-chan.”

“Oh, right! Good night as well, Yume-sensei! Close your eyes…”

Yume could feel her consciousness being pulled into a makeshift bedroom in the recently refurbished base. Her desire to sleep took over after a minute.

200 meters to Abydos High School Annex Building, April 20th, 2021, 9:25 PM

Hoshino stood before a small makeshift fireplace she made, holding a paper with ‘RESIGNATION LETTER’ written on it with a somber look.

“Would be a tragic waste to leave while Yume-senpai is here,” she quietly mused.

Taking a deep breath, she fed the paper to the campfire. The latter’s small flames began licking the former, slowly destroying its content piece by piece until its entire existence became ashes.

The sight did not make her relax, however, as she quickly held her pink 1301 shotgun on low ready position.

Hoshino could swear she just spotted a fox girl’s silhouette peeking from a corner.

“Who’s there!?” Her morose expression was gone as she glared towards the corner. “You have fifteen seconds to show yourself!”

She began stomping her way towards the corner, shouting as she got closer.

“Five seconds! Four! Three! Two! One!”

Shouldering her shotgun, she made a sharp turn before aiming at the silhouette’s head.

The silhouette’s dark color was replaced by pink in white and dark blue, accompanied by a modified M870 shotgun and a sizable box-shaped tactical bag, on which hung a few M84 stun grenades.

The pink fox here was the real deal. Why was she here?

Hoshino exhaled before asking.

“It’s you. What are you doing here, Niko?”

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E02 - Another Day in Abydos

201049ZAPR21 64 Kilometers Northwest of Abydos High School Annex Building

According to the intel Aoyama Niko and FOX squad received, this was one of the largest bases employed by Helmet Gangsters for their operations in Abydos.

Abandoned industrial complexes were favored by large delinquent groups like them. Especially when located in remote locations like academic district outskirts.

She had just finished armoring up students from FOX and RABBIT squads in the latter’s Armed Blackhawk sans Otogi and Miyu who had already been doing reconnaissance nearby. Getting to the location this way was risky, but Moe had no problem pulling it off. Although something had to be done with the reason behind Moe’s drooling.

“RABBIT 3, thanks for the ride. You’re not to use rockets and AGMs without any friendly callsign’s explicit authorization. Otherwise you’re cleared to engage enemy personnel with miniguns,” her assigned squad leader junior Miyako thankfully took initiative.

Niko could hear Moe’s sigh before the latter responded.

“RABBIT 1, roger. Break. All friendly SRT callsigns, I’m gonna fly close and provide cover to you girls. Holler up if you see a hostile armored vehicle ASAP.”

As soon as the helicopter landed, Five girls—two RABBITs and three FOXes—hopped off. With the five already touched the ground, the helicopter took off again.

The fox-eared girls stormed throughout the building interiors with Kurumi leading the charge. In the meantime, Miyako and Saki took care of the gangsters outside with Moe hovering above them.

It took less than ten minutes for FOX Squad to clear the first large building and demolish the cargo and vehicles inside, including a self-propelled flak cannon. By the time they exited the building, RABBIT Squad had already taken care of a few dozen Helmet Gangsters on foot alongside three BMP-3 IFVs and two T-72s.

Clearing the two subsequent buildings took fifteen minutes. By the time the third building had been secured, three more SRT squads arrived to secure the perimeter.

Niko spotted a long red-haired girl wearing a black jacket and a titanium helmet with armored visor helping a few other Helmet Gangsters enter one of the stolen IFVs or get on a few motor bikes before riding her own. They were already one kilometer away at the direction where there were no SRT squad, so she didn’t give chase.

“RABBIT 1, this is RABBIT 3. Spotted some deserting gangsters. Should we give chase, over?”

“RABBIT 3, this is RABBIT 1. Negative, we're not here to overextend ourselves hunting the strays. There might be possibility of traps. Out.”

The battle raged on for another 15 minutes until all buildings and the perimeter had been secured. 80% of the gangsters occupying the base had been captured, while the rest had fled.

“All friendlies, this is FOX 1. Mission accomplished. Break. FOX 4, RABBIT 4, hold your positions and stand by for extraction. FOX 2 and RABBIT 1 are oscar mike, out.”

200 meters to Abydos High School Annex Building, April 20th, 21:25, 2021

It had been a year since Niko had seen Hoshino for the last time. Now that FOX squad’s current assignment was to secure Abydos district for a few days, she had a chance to do so.

If she had remembered correctly, Hoshino would have had start patrolling an hour ago.

“Where could she be…” She quietly mused, wandering through the residential subdistrict surrounding the sole remaining Annex Building while the rest of the FOX squad followed closely from corners.

Would be a shame if she couldn’t find Hoshino before FOX squad was assigned to any other district.

Going past a corner, she noticed Hoshino morosely standing near a campfire. In an instant, the latter did the same to her.

By instinct, Niko went back to hiding behind the corner. Her breathing became erratic for a few seconds before calming down again.

Was she even ready to see those eyes again? She could just run away, but she didn’t want to.

“Who’s there!? You have fifteen seconds to show yourself!” It did not take long for Hoshino to walk towards her.

It was a shame their first meeting in this academic year started this way, but at least she could say hello again.

Niko didn’t need to peek to know she and Hoshino were just eight meters apart and closing. The latter’s stomps were increasingly furious as they closed in.

“Five seconds!”

A few centimeters shy of 6.5 meters.

“Four!”

Almost five meters.

“Three!”

3.2 meters. Just don’t panic, Niko. That should be easy.

“Two!”

1.6 meters. The voice was uncomfortably close at this point.

“One!”

In a blink, Hoshino came out of a corner, pointing her pink 1301 shotgun’s barrel towards Niko’s head, albeit her right index finger was not resting on the trigger yet.

For a second, everything around them froze. Silence fell as Niko and Hoshino stared at each other until the latter broke it.

“It’s you. What are you doing here, Niko?”

“It’s been a while, Hoshino. How are you doing?” Niko answered casually.

“A little erratic from this morning. You?” Hoshino’s tone eased up.

“I’m doing well.” Niko’s relaxed smile contorted to a curious one. “How did your reunion with Yume-sensei go?”

“That was quite an event to say the least,” Hoshino let out a weary answer. “By the way, how’s SRT doing? Heard the school got back up, but not quite.”

“Yes, thanks to Yume-sensei’s negotiation with Chief Administrator Nanagami, we can do our missions again, although…” Niko’s voice trailed off into uncertainity.

“SCHALE’s staff members and a few SRT squads going here raised eyebrows in the General Student Council, didn’t it?” There was scrutiny in Hoshino’s answer as she exhaled in resignation. “Talk about heads in the sand. I’d rather have you girls hanging around than that Strategic Institute or Police Academy,” still weary, she let out an assuring smile.

Niko gulped. Direct Attack Strategic Institute was shadowy like SRT, but almost everyone there felt much closer to assassins than high school students, even those she was keeping contact with. Valkyrie Police Academy was under the General Student Council’s authority, and given the Council’s quirks…

“I appreciate it, Hoshino~” Niko winked before making a melancholic smile, “Hopefully our schools would come out of this in a better place.”

“Yeah. By the way, how about we take a walk tonight?” Hoshino offered. “A lot happened in just a week. Must be tough for your squad to bear with President ▉▉▉▉▉▉ missing, so let’s unwind. They should be close, right?”

“Wouldn’t be you if you didn’t guess it right,” Niko snickered. “Alright, let’s go.”

The next half an hour of walk, whilst slightly cautious, was a relaxed one. Crickets and geckos filled the cold ambience, undisturbed by the troublemakers.

Even with SRT squads helping out, Niko hadn’t been able to stop worrying about Hoshino doing night patrols like this alone.

The two walked past a dozen abandoned superblocks thoroughly infested with sand, with three other FOX squad members trailing them from a distance.

“Look at this place… Fifty thousand people used to live in these blocks, but now it’s a ghost town. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Niko mused, glancing at the sand-filled buildings and streets.

“Still remember this and that places, eh, Niko-chan?” Hoshino remarked.

“More like I can’t forget about it,” Niko let out a bittersweet chuckle, which was joined by Hoshino.

As they entered Serika’s neighborhood, the ambience became silent as Hoshino looked behind her then at Niko.

Something, or rather, two things, had just started tailing them. And the five were not alone as of that time.

“Two bogey drones at our seven and five,” Niko reported. “Should I do it quietly?”

“Do it unsuppressed. Let’s take care of the nearby gangsters as well,” Hoshino instructed as she loaded a shell. “On your go.”

Niko nodded before turning 180 degrees and firing two .12 Gauge slugs, one at each of the drones.

Fifteen minutes later, Niko and Hoshino secured twenty helmet gangsters at the streets near Serika’s house. The rest of the FOX squad took care of three T-72s and in Otogi’s case, two mortar emplacements.

At this rate, the noises were going to wake the neighbors up if there were any.

“I owe you for this one-” Hoshino’s look turned towards the house’s front door creaking open before grabbing Niko, whispering, “This way, we can’t let her see or hear us!”

As soon as Hoshino and Niko got into their hiding spots, Serika stomped out, wielding AR-70/90 assault rifle.

“WHO THE HECK IS MAKING NOISES OUTSIDE!? I WANT TO SLEEP, DAMMIT!” Serika shouted.

“Easy…” Hoshino whispered.

A minute of looking around outside later, Serika stomped her way back inside, slamming the door shut in the process.

“Let’s check those drones then other spots. Doubt these gangsters were alone,” Hoshino proposed.

The two walked to the spot where Niko shot down two drones earlier. There wasn’t much remaining of the two drones.

“Not much we can figure out from these,” Hoshino noted, inspecting the now-ashen drone with a scowl. “Whoever’s operating these drones like their secrets.”

“We can take these remains and those vehicles to the nearby captured base,” Niko proposed. “Our friends back there can look further into them.”

It took five minutes for a truck from SRT to arrive and fifteen minutes to pick the vehicles’ remains up.

“Let’s head back to the school building, shall we?” Niko proposed, observing from a distance alongside Hoshino.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Hoshino nodded.

Whilst walking to the annex building, the two took care of a dozen PMC automatons.

“Well, well, well, haven’t seen PMC automatons here for a while,” Hoshino mused as she was restraining an inactive droid. “These days, even Kaiser PMC would send dropouts here instead. Make sure SRT keep these guys somewhere not running any AI system.”

“Got it,” Niko nodded. “You’re not taking chances with them, are you?”

“Yup, still remember how bad it was the first time?”

“Yes,” Niko shuddered.

By the time Abydos almost reached midnight, Hoshino and Niko stopped at the annex building’s front gate.

“It must be tough for you to deal with all these alone for at least a year,” Niko somberly mused. “Would you like to let Yume-sensei and Chief Administrator Nanagami know about these?”

“This is this and that is that, Niko. I bet Yume-senpai already figured out, but it helps to let her know regardless. But don’t tell anyone other than your squad I was here,” Hoshino let out a yawn, “Uwaaaah, this night’s trip is more tiring than usual. I’m heading home now, see you later!”

“Take care!” Niko waved as Hoshino left.

Yukino, Kurumi, and Otogi came out behind her.

“Good thing we didn’t take the deal. What are we going to do next?” Niko asked.

Yukino could only sigh in relief before answering.

“Looks like President ▉▉▉▉▉▉’s worries about this district are warranted. Let’s propose night patrols starting from tomorrow. We need to keep investigating, chances are this district is going to need our help.”

SCHALE-SRT Joint Base, 3 kilometers from Abydos High School Annex Building, April 21st, 2021, 5:36 AM

Yume just finished washing her face, having woken up five minutes earlier.

The retrofit was surprisingly fast and orderly, especially with another academy involved, which meant another complication for logistics and coordination. Granted, SRT was trained to be as cooperative, precise, and quick as possible, but increase of complexity was inevitable.

She had to thank Karina and Ramu for all these arrangements. Speaking of the latter…

Yume spotted the gray-haired logistics officer with twintails and red streaks entering the command building carrying a stack of crates in front of her with both hands.

“Good morning, Ramu-san. What are you doing with those crates?” Yume asked.

“Good morning, Yume-sensei. I’m arranging this section’s command room and portable armory. Are you here for breakfast?”

“No, not yet. Would you like me to lend you a hand?”

“Oh? No, no need, Yume-sensei. I’ve already been doing these for a while, I can manage,” Ramu maintained her steady expression despite the crates’ instability.

“Really? You look like you’re about to drop some of them.” Yume responded with a flat look. “Put the stack down, I can help you out.”

“I can’t say no to you, Yume-sensei,” Ramu exhaled in defeat as she put the crates down. “Here, would you like to pick up some?”

“Yes, please,” Yume picked up three crates with a smile. “Where are these crates headed to?”

“This way,” Ramu took the lead, heading to the building’s portable armory.

The armory looked short enough to fit a school building’s floor. A classroom might be able to hold at least two of them.

“Ramu-san, is there any other stack I need to help you with?”

“No, these will be all.”

As Yume headed outside, she noticed two 1 meter tall stacks of wooden crates lying near the building’s front door.

“I can take care of these, Yume-sensei, please-”

“No, I can help out, you know. I’m not exactly a boss type.” Yume’s smile, while sincere, had a force behind “Where do these crates go?”

“This stack-” Ramu picked three of the five crates from the first stack before eyeing a particularly large room in the command building. “Goes there, the operations room. So does that one.”

“Oh, okay. Easy does it…” Yume picked the remaining two from the stack.

After entering the large room, they put down their respective crates at the middle of the already placed desks before returning to the the front door.

Walking behind Ramu, Yume suddenly slipped, pushing the twintailed girl in front of her forward. They crashed on the remaining stack, causing its topmost crate to spill its stationery contents out.

“Ow…” Yume rubbed her head before looking at the pinned Ramu. “Oh, I’m sorry! Let me help you up!”

“Um… No need, Yume-sensei,” Maintaining her even expression, Ramu got on her feet as soon as Yume did so. “Good thing the inks were at the bottom crate, otherwise it would be much messier. Let’s get this taken care of first.”

It took only five minutes sort out the spilled pens other spilled small stationeries.

“This should be the last of them, right?” Yume asked.

“Yes, let’s take them to the operations room. I’ll take two bottom crates, they’re quite heavy.”

“Got it, Ramu-san,” Yume took the spilled crate and two more crates right below it.

The two put the last set of crates inside the large room—the operations room.

“I could have handled it alone, but it went much faster thanks to your help, Yume-sensei.” She looked at another direction before saying, “I’m going to unpack these crates and prepare the operations room. Please take a shower and a breakfast, Abydos is going to need you soon.”

“Apologies for the accident earlier, and good luck, Ramu-san!” Yume waved at her as before walking to the newly made mess hall.

Ramu seemed insistent on doing the heavylifting alone. Indeed, Yume should focus on helping academies, but that was no reason for her to overlook the staff members’ wellbeing, epecially the twintailed logistic officer’s.

Yume could find a moment to talk with her again. She was sure of it.

Abydos High School Annex Building, April 21st, 2021, 7:41 AM

Yume arrived at the school’s front gate, looking at the trenches with a longing smile.

Saying that it hurt to grow up watching the district slowly crumble to this was an understatement.

Entering the building, she walked to the student council room. While stacks of paper were still present, she could see its floor being clean and its furniture neatly arranged and dusted off.

Hoshino still took time to take care of the room.

Walking throughout the hallways, she could imagine crowds of students entering and exiting classrooms.

Hopefully the school would no longer be stuck with debt and it would be a reality one day.

Afterwards, she found herself inside her former classroom, which was also currently Hoshino’s.

The room’s ambiance felt heavier even if it physically hadn’t changed.

Entering the club room at 8 AM, Yume could hear Serika and Ayane talking to each other.

“Ayane, is it just me, or did Hoshino-senpai fight way more aggressively than usual yesterday?” Serika began the talk.

“Yes, I haven’t seen her fighting like that,” Ayane answered. “Aiming at a T-72’s turret ring using a rocket launcher while on the move and being surrounded by gangsters is hard for an average student, to say the least.”

“So I’m not alone in seeing that. Glad to know that Hoshino-senpai is taking things more seriously.” Serika turned, noticing Yume. “Hello, Yume-sensei! You seem to know Hoshino-senpai a lot. Was she always like when we drove the Helmet Gangsters off yesterday?”

“Good morning, Ayane-chan, Serika-chan! You’re both talking about Hoshino, correct?” Yume greeted back, to which Ayane and Serika nodded. “I’d say she’s got much softer than she was in her first year.”

“Huh!? you call that much softer!?” Ayane’s and Serika’s jaws dropped. “What did you mean!?”

“She often got angrier and more aggressive than any of you can!”

“So you’re saying that she can go much further than she did yesterday!?” Ayane and Serika asked in a unison again, cold sweat dropping.

The three could hear a door opening, revealing Shiroko.

“I hear what you’re talking about. Yes, Hoshino-senpai can go much further. I got into fights with her a few times,” Shiroko answered as she closed the door. “Yume-sensei, Ayane, Serika, good morning.”

“Good morning, Shiroko-chan!” Yume jumped towards then hugged Shiroko, catching the latter off guard. “Did any of you get hurt!? It could be really bad!”

“Oh! Good morning, Shiroko-senpai!” Ayane and Serika greeted together, reeling from what Shiroko said.

“Nn…” Shiroko gulped, struggling to catch a breath amidst the hug. “No, neither of us got seriously injured, so it’s fine, Yume-sensei.”

“Still!” Yume exclaimed. “You’re both in for an earful if any of you two got badly injured!”

“Y-yes, Yume-sensei.” Shiroko could only sweat at Yume’s words.

The four turned towards the door to see Nonomi taking Hoshino in.

“Good morning, everyone! Hoshino wants to come earlier, so she’s more awake than usual!” Nonomi announced.

“Good morning, everyone~” Hoshino waved, struggling to lift her eyelids.

“GOOD MORNING, HOSHINO-CHAN!” Yume hugged Hoshino just as tightly as she had Shiroko, if not tighter. “I can tell you’re pretty tired!”

“Uhe!? Yume-senpai, I can’t breathe!” Hoshino flailed her arms around for a few seconds before Yume let go. “It’s okay, I can handle it.”

Yume could tell Hoshino had been through a rough night.

“Eh? Classes are starting soon,” Yume gave Hoshino a puzzled look.

“Don’t worry, Yume-senpai. I have my own ways,” Hoshino reassured with a surprisingly confident look for her current state.

Despite her clear fatigue, Hoshino wasn’t lying at all.

Small talks would continue for a few minutes until a bell chimed in, upon which the club members went to their respective classrooms.

Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force Club Room, April 21st, 2021, 12:32 PM

Having taken care of digital paperwork, Yume took lunch alongside the club members in the club room.

“Hello, Yume-sensei,” Shiroko greeted as she continued eating her lunch.

“Hey there, Shiroko-chan,” Yume raised her eyebrows as she inspected Shiroko’s remaining lunch, which was almost enough to feed two people.

“I need a large daily amount of calories,” Shiroko impassively elaborated.

Considering how they met yesterday, it was understandable.

Yume blinked before asking.

“Wait, you don’t just ride bicycles here and back home?”

“Nn,” Shiroko shook her head. “I also jog and work out everyday. Too bad nobody in the club is interested…”

“Shiroko-senpai, your workout routines are just absurd!” Serika cut in.

“Please ignore Serika, Yume-sensei.” Shiroko nonchalantly continued. “More correctly, almost no one can keep up. Hoshino-senpai looks like she can, but she’s not interested.”

“HEY!” Serika’s shout fell to the deaf ears.

“Uhe, Shiroko-chan can be handful sometimes…” Hoshino mused, sleeping on the table.

This moment’s Hoshino seemingly being much more relaxed than she had been in her first year was and would almost always be quite a sight for Yume for weeks to come. This begged a question, why did she nap every now and then these days?

Yume’s musings were interrupted by Serika stomping her way towards Hoshino then shaking her awake, to little avail.

“Ueh!? It’s hard to find a napping place nowadays…” Hoshino lamented.

“Please calm down, Serika-chan!” Yume exclaimed. “Say, what do you usually do outside school?”

“I usually save money,” Serika answered, letting Hoshino go.

“What do you save money for?”

“Um…” Serika’s face turned red from embarrassment as she looked at Hoshino then Yume. “That’s a secret, okay!?”

“No worries, Serika-chan, I won’t pry. Hopefully you gan save enough one day.”

“Y-yes, thank you…”

“What about you, Nonomi-chan?” Yume turned to Nonomi’s direction.

“I usually hang around malls and shopping center, sometimes to buy stuff there, Yume-sensei!” Nonomi responded.

“Oh, what kind of stuff do you usually buy?”

“Daily necessities and groceries, although I buy clothes sometimes.”

“I see,” Yume’s look met Ayane’s. “Ayane-chan?”

“I figured the antique stuff here is too precious to ignore, so I take them in, Yume-sensei,” Ayane responded.

“What do you do with them, Ayane-chan?”

“I apologize, Yume-sensei, I had to sell most of them,” Ayane looked downcast. “Still, I’m keeping some others as souvenir. I can show you if you’d like.”

“I can understand, though it’s good to hear you keeping some, Ayane-chan. As for me, I like to play games and sometimes watch Peroro Friends!” Yume puffed her chest with pride. “That said, I couldn’t spend too much on them…”

“That was a good thing, really,” Hoshino commented with a somber smile. “Otherwise, Yume-senpai would get stuck further in debts.”

“Hoshino-chan got it right. Let’s go with another question. Can you tell me which middle schools you came from?” Yume shifted to another topic.

“I graduated from Saint Nephthys Middle School. I considered enrolling to Highlander Academy before choosing this school,” Nonomi answered first.

Hoshino saying about the debt being handed over to Nephthys Group if the club let Nonomi pay the debt said one thing, but her graduating from Saint Nephthys Middle School only reinforced it further. She needed to talk with Nonomi alone about this some time later.

“I and Serika graduated from Abydos Middle School before enrolling here. It has few students in all years, but it’s still standing as we speak,” Ayane answered second.

“Hey, I and Hoshino-chan studied there, too!” Yume perked up before continuing. “You may not know it, but she had a friend and a-”

“Sorry, everyone! This old man’s senior had a moment.” Hoshino announced, tightly grappling Yume and muffling her mouth.

“A friend and a wha-” Serika interjected only to be stopped dead by Hoshino’s unusually cold stare despite the latter keeping her smile. The club room’s temperature felt like it just dropped a few degrees.

Ayane, Nonomi, and Shiroko were about to open their mouths, but the stare froze them.

Hoshino really didn’t want anyone in this room to further talk about her middle school days.

It took a few seconds for Hoshino to lighten up her grip on Yume, her look, and for some reason, the club room’s atmosphere.

“Glad to hear Abydos Middle School is still there, though. Shiroko-chan?” Yume tilted her head.

Shiroko, however, remained silent.

“I-I don’t know, Yume-sensei…” Shiroko’s ears flooped as she couldn’t find an answer.

“Yume-senpai, I found her around here a year ago,” Hoshino elaborated. “She didn’t remember a single thing back then.”

Going further would just make it harder for Shiroko at this point.

“I hope you can remember someday, Shiroko-chan. Say, are you all ready for treasure hunting?” Yume proposed.

“Nn,” Shiroko almost instantly perked up before letting out a pickaxe, a shovel, and a drill. “I have prepared the necessary tools, Yume-sensei.”

“I already have them prepared but, thanks for taking initiative, Shiroko-chan!” Yume rubbed the back of Shiroko’s head, which the latter appreciated, looking from her ears’ twitching.

“Oh, right. Yume-senpai, where are we going?” Hoshino woke up from her napping.

“The treasure is…” Yume showed an annotated map in the Shittim chest. “Here.”

“Seems like a good place with almost no gang and PMC presence. Being a former Helmet Gang base makes it quite iffy, though.” Hoshino inspected the map. “What do you think, Ayane-chan?”

“These buildings are close to Abydos desert, but not located in the outskirts.” Ayane noted. “Yume-sensei, we also brought our school swimsuits along, but why?”

“The swimsuits’ design allows our limbs to move more freely,” Shiroko argued.

“This is a fun activity! It would be a waste if we don’t wear them!” Nonomi chimed in.

“Not to mention we might find an oasis there!” Yume added in.

“Hoshino-senpai, please stop them! This is getting embarrassing!” Serika begged.

“Uhe~ Why don’t we have fun in swimsuits outside Summer vacations once?” Hoshino mused.

“Whatever you say, Hoshino-senpai, Yume-sensei…” Ayane and Serika hung their heads in utter and complete defeat.

Yume stood up, pointing upwards with sparkling eyes.

“It’s settled, then! Everyone, we’re changing to our school swimsuits after the classes, then we depart!” She announced.

Abydos town Outskirts, April 21st, 2021, 4:06 PM

Yume and the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force arrived at a surprisingly well-maintained superblock in Abydos school swimsuits alongside Ramu and a few other staff members of SCHALE, also in one piece swimsuits. Some of them also wore rash guards.

“We’re here!” Yume announced. “Everyone, are you ready to get inside?”

“Yume-sensei, we’re in an area far from the former oasis’ location. Why are we staff members also wearing swimsuits?” Ramu questioned with a puzzled look, adjusting her rash guard.

“It’s because oases can move!” Yume shamelessly answered, much to Ramu’s confusion.

“Er… Whatever you say, Yume-sensei. I’m ready.”

“Yume-senpai, the buildings seem a little too pristine for a former base.” Hoshino observed the superblock. “You sure we want to continue?”

“Yume-sensei, there seem to be unusual signals running throughout the buildings." Arona added into Hoshino’s suspicions.”I'm ready to alert our nearby friends just in case.”

Strange signals in abandoned buildings sounded creepy. They should be investigated just in case whatever’s behind them could threaten Abydos.

“Yes, let’s stick together. All of you, don’t stray too far off from your groups.” Yume turned to Ramu. “Ramu-san, please help the squad secure the parameters, keep Ayane-chan safe, and let us know if there’s something wrong.”

“Will do, Yume-sensei. Our flares are primed,” The gray-haired, twintailed logistics officer nodded.

“Hoshino-chan, you and the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force except Ayane-chan are going with me into the building. Let’s see what we can take while Ayane-chan takes care of the navigation and scanning the rooms.”

“I was going to do that, anyway, Yume-senpai,” Hoshino answered. “Shiroko-chan and Nonomi-chan are getting excited. Serika-chan is getting a little impatient, though.”

“Understood, Yume-sensei. I’ll let you know if I find something worth attention,” Ayane complied, holding her blush from just wearing the school swimsuit.

“Arona-chan, please look further on the signals you mentioned. Be ready to call for backup in case things go badly.”

“Got it, Yume-sensei!” Arona winked.

“Alright, let’s go!” Yume exclaimed.

Yume took the lead with Hoshino looking out at her side. Nonomi and Serika were in the middle, with Shiroko acting as the rear guard. Ayane had three drones hovering above them.

The trip into the building was a relatively straightforward one. All they had to do is to climb up the sand-covered stairs to the main entrance.

Entering the main building, the group was greeted by a gunpowder smell. The hall had used equipment sprawled across the floor. There were a few abandoned crates and tables, on some of which stood communication equipment.

“Communications equipment look mostly intact here,” Ayane noted. “They shouldn't be active, though.”

“Seemed like they left in a hurry. Whatever’s in the building kicked the gangsters, but not without a fight around a week ago,” Hoshino noted.

“Looks like the gangsters intercepted the shipment crates and stored them here,” Shiroko glanced around nearby crates before taking out a crowbar then opening one of them containing a fresh batch of assault and designated marksman rifles. “Nn, looks like these can be put to use instead of sold.”

“Wait, Shiroko-chan.” Hoshino cut in before looking at the crate’s manifest. “These weapons are being delivered to a district not owned by any academy nor supervised by the General Student Council. The sender information got scrubbed before printing.”

“Yume-sensei, I can't match the destination address with any Black Market district, either.”

“Ehehe, looks like the treasure hunting trip is becoming an investigation trip.” Yume rubbed the back of her head. “Let’s hand the crates over to our friends in SCHALE for investigation.”

Shiroko’s ears began flopping.

“Hey, I found some precious things here!” Nonomi waved her hand, opening a door to what appeared to be a trophy room.

Shiroko bolted straight to Nonomi’s position, as if she hadn’t made a dejected face in the first place.

“Nn, there are lots of valuables to sell.” Shiroko walked further inside. “There’s also a staircase leading to the second floor.”

Yume and Hoshino walked over to Shiroko’s position before inspecting the room’s interior.

“Let’s check the second floor then the room’s stuff on our way back down,” Hoshino proposed, to which Shiroko’s ears flopped again.

As the group reached the second floor, Serika grabbed what appeared to be a bracelet at the nearby corner.

“Hey, these are the germanium bracelets I bought!” Serika noted.

“Serika, I think those are a scam...” Ayane’s voice emanated from a drone.

“They’re not much different from any other bracelet,” Shiroko confirmed. “It’s a scam.”

“W-w-w-wha!? A scam!? I thought I’d get good luck!” Serika complained.

“There, there,” Nonomi patted Serika at the back.

Surprisingly, the second floor was devoid of any object, valuables or otherwise.

Shiroko’s and Serika’s ears perked at any direction as the group further explored the second room.

“Strange. Other than the crates Serika found, I couldn't find anything in this floor,” Ayane was the first to note.

“Yup, the floor’s too clean for an abandoned base,” Hoshino mused.

“Nn, there seems to be too much noise for an abandoned building.”

For Yume, the atmosphere felt a little too creepy.

“Hmm?” Turning around near a window, she spotted an abandoned automaton.

“Yume-senpai, wait! It’s unusual for an automaton to get here!” Hoshino yanked Yume from approaching it. “We should pull out of here. Who knows what it might-”

Hoshino was cut off by the automaton jerking up, yellow glow overtaking its face. At the same time, metallic clangs could be heard throughout the superblock.

“Yume-sensei, I tracked and contained the strange signals. They're not going to escape the superblock, but you still have hundreds of robots heading to your direction! Get outta there or you'll be surrounded!”

As soon as Arona finished, the group was greeted by ten automatons wielding assault rifles alongside twenty drones armed with machine guns, all of which had yellow lines glowing throughout their bodies.

“Everyone, let’s get outta here!” Yume announced before telepathically asking Arona, “Thank you, Arona-chan! Please tip SRT off! We may need their heavy firepower for whatever’s hiding here!”

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E03 - Treasure Troubles

Abandoned Superblock, Abydos District Outskirts, April 21st, 2021, 4:32 PM

What was supposed to be a treasure hunt for Yume turned to an investigation trip, which quickly became a fight for her, her juniors’, and her staff members’ lives.

She and Hoshino raised their shields, drawing fire from the automatons and the drones. Shiroko was starting her own drone up while Nonomi and Serika were firing at the surrounding automatons and drones respectively.

“There’s an opening at the direction we came from, let’s push through!” Hoshino yelled as she reloaded her shotgun. “Yume-senpai, take the front! Shiroko-chan, go along with Yume-senpai and watch over her! I got our backs!”

“Nn, got it! This way, Yume-sensei!” Shiroko nodded as her drone floated above her before leading the way alongside Yume.

As Yume and Shiroko exited a room, six automatons intercepted them.

“ORGANIC HERETICS SHALL BEGONE-” The automatons were about to fire their AUG A3 bullpup assault rifles only to be taken care of by a well-placed missile then Shiroko herself taking them up close.

“Those automatons were likely Kaiser’s-” Hoshino gritted her teeth, gunning down three ambushing automatons. “We can’t let any of these stand for any longer!”

A dozen drones joined the fray, but Shiroko and Serika shot down the ones firing rockets first before they could fire followed by the minigun-wielding ones.

Dozens of white cube-shaped sweeper robots attempted to attack from behind, only for Nonomi’s minigun to thin their numbers near-instantly, with Hoshino smashing those getting to close.

Just when the group was about to reach the staircase, a large explosion occured, causing all of them sans Hoshino and Shiroko to lose their balance. As Serika was about to stand back up, hundreds of sweepers came crashing at her as a swarm, taking her with them in the process.

At this rate, Serika might get taken away.

“SERIKA-CHAN!” Yume screamed, scrambling towards her.

From the concealed minigun turret of a SCHALE pickup truck at another spot, Ramu let out small bursts at the white automatons firing at her group. Ayane drove the truck well enough to avoid more than half of the automatons’ bullets while still allowing Ramu to accurately return fire.

“Ramu, we need more rounds down that direction!” Kona, a SCHALE staff member with a single white ponytail yelled, firing longer bursts than Ramu’s from another pickup truck’s minigun.

“Got it! Just keep in mind each truck has only two more boxes at best!” Ramu complied, firing at the automaton reinforcements.

It would be bad to be caught while the trucks’ miniguns were being reloaded or worse, out of ammo.

“Yume-sensei, Hoshino-senpai, everyone! This is the observation team, can you hear us!?” Still behind the truck’s steering wheel, Ayane exclaimed. “We’re gonna pick you up, what are your positions!?”

Static noises echoed through the line for a minute before Ayane could hear Yume’s voice.

“Ayane-chan, this *krzzzt* Yume! We have a problem in- *krzzt* building, they- *krzzt* Serika! I've- *krzzzt* -RT for help! Hold *krzzt* -these things can't be allowed to leave *krzzt* superblock!”

“Uh, roger! We’ll get into the building and bail Serika out!” Ayane turned to Ramu. “Ramu-san, Kona-san, I need one of the miniguns scanning our left and right sides! Serika is in trouble, we’re going through the building!”

“Roger, I’ll do it!” Ramu replied, pointing her minigun towards the building’s entrance.

“Everyone, brace!” Ayane’s foot fully pushed the acceleration pedal, driving the truck straight through the building’s entrance then its main hallway, followed by the other truck.

Yume sprinted with her shield raised, protecting Shiroko from the automatons’ gunfire as the two were chasing the sweepers carrying Serika.

“Yume-sensei, the signals are trying to hijack the communications line, so I had to cut it out! You've got 85% of the white robots left! I left a ping every few seconds so Ayane knows where to look! SRT's on the way!”

“That’s okay, Arona-chan!, Focus on the support!” Yume looked at Shiroko. “Shiroko-chan, I’ll cover you! Focus your fire on the sweepers!”

“Nn, they’re not getting away with this!” Shiroko gritted her teeth as she took shots and her drone fired two rockets at the sweepers ahead of her.

The first rocket took out a large chunk of the latter, but the second was intercepted by another group of robots which would have ambushed them otherwise. Some drones and automatons withstood the blast and began firing at Shiroko, forcing her to take cover behind Yume.

Behind them, Hoshino and Nonomi were following with Hoshino shotgunning the automatons while Nonomi stop and rained fire at the robots chasing them every umpteen seconds.

“Give Serika back!” Nonomi shouted, raining bullets at the rest of the robot group ambushing Yume and Shiroko, before approaching the two with Hoshino’s advance.

“Shiroko-chan, I got this one! Get your drone loaded!” Hoshino ordered, leaping past Yume and Shiroko with her own shield unfolded before emptying her 1301’s magazine at a group of new drones reinforcing the ambush, destroying them quickly.

“We’re clear, everyone follow me!” Yume barked as she began moving forward again. “Arona-chan, please track Serika and the sweepers’ locations!”

“Got it, Yume-sensei! They're this way!”

The building surprisingly had a wide enough indoor ramps for vehicles, which might be why the reason Helmet Gang had favored it as a base.

The trucks and their occupants mowed through waves of automatons, drones, and sweepers using their miniguns and respective weapons.

That said, they had to take it steadily and a little slowly, lest they either crash or worse, fall straight to the ground, making it harder to reach Serika.

Upon reaching the fifth floor, Ramu spotted Serika carried by a swarm of sweepers. Yume’s group was also nearby.

“Okusora-san, two o-clock, sixth floor!” Ramu reported.

“Got it, Ramu-san, hang on!” Ayane drove the truck as fast as she safely could. “Serika, hang in there…”

Fear slowly took over Serika as sweepers took her through the ramp from the sixth floor to the seventh.

She could let loose a few rounds every now and then, but there were still at least a few dozen cube-shaped robots, far too many for her to handle. Each of them took two of her bullets to stop.

She could hear louder and harsher clangs from the above floors.

Those were definitely furious clangs, and she was getting close to the ledge. Would this be her end?

She could hear Shiroko’s and Yume’s voices closing in.

“Yume-sensei, I can take them up close! Focus on saving Serika!” Shiroko suggested.

“I’ll leave them to you, Shiroko-chan! You’ll need this!” Yume answered, handing over her Iron Horus to Shiroko.

With their momentum, the sweepers shoved her towards a ledge. She could hold on especially with the cube robots’ attention being pulled by Shiroko and Yume quickly approaching her.

Shiroko went first, firing at dozens of the cuboids with her SIG 556 assault rifle before bludgeoning them up close with Yume’s shield. Yume followed up, sliding towards Serika as the latter’s grip to the ledge became loose.

The ground was at least 25 meters away.

This was the end, or would be, were it not for Yume’s hands tightly holding her.

“DON’T LET GO!” Yume yelled, holding Serika tightly. Pulling her legs were Hoshino and Shiroko, who also had her and Yume’s shields respectively planted to the ground as anchors.

No matter what Yume did, she was not going to lose any junior on her watch.

Thankfully, the two were strong enough to pull the two back to the building.

“Thanks, Yume-sensei…” Serika trailed off, still reeling in shock.

“No need to thank me, Serika-chan, I’m just glad you’re still here,” Yume softly rebuked.

The loud clangs were quickly approaching, leaving the five no time for respite.

“We need to go, the trucks are close but we can’t wait here for long!” Hoshino took a few shots at the minigun-toting drones.

The five backtracked their way down to the lower floors to reach the pickup trucks, slowing down to fire at the white robots surrounding their direction without stopping every few seconds.

As they just arrived at the sixth floor, Serika slipped forward and fell.

“Serika!” Nonomi exclaimed.

“We won’t!” Yume turned back, being the first to sprint towards Serika before carrying her like a princess.

“W-wait!” Serika exclaimed as Yume swooped her, narrowly escaping the shield-holding automatons’ charge.

A minute of escape and resistance later, a hundred sweepers, drones, and Automatons had the five surrounded, but two white pickup trucks arrived in time, with Ayane driving the frontmost one.

“Yume-sensei, everyone! Get on board! We’re getting out of here!” Ayane yelled.

“Thank you, Ayane-chan! You heard her, let’s go!”

Yume was the first to approach Ayane’s truck before laying Serika down the frontmost pickup truck’s bed.

“T-t-that was too close!” Serika’s face turned beet red. “Thanks, though…”

“Yume-sensei, you've got 60% of the robots left! Shittim Chest's battery is holding up at 55%!” Arona exclaimed.

Yume then took the front row seat as Nonomi, Shiroko, and Hoshino hopped on the front truck’s bed.

“Serika’s safe and everyone’s on board! Let’s go!” Hoshino slapped the pickup truck’s body twice, prompting Ayane to accelerate.

As the trucks were speeding down the building, their miniguns and occupants’ weapons roared, demolishing at least a hundred more.

The robotic chants of “WE SHALL BECOME AS GODS!” echoed furiously

“Ayane-chan, watch that heavy automaton!” Hoshino yelled, taking shots at two rocket launcher-wielding Automatons.

At least two of the pellets hit the rockets, causing them to explode.

At the main entrance, there were three white light tanks, or more precisely, tracked assault guns with their main guns and anti-tank missiles trained at the hallway.

“WE GOT SELF-PROPELLED GUNS! GO ANOTHER WAY!” Hoshino yelled.

“HANG ON!” Ayane took a hard U turn.

The two trucks sped up towards another exit, through which they reached a parking section.

Near the parking section’s exit were another set of white tracked assault guns. Behind the trucks, two white wheeled assault guns took a turn, cornering them.

No, this wasn’t over yet! There must be a way to break out!

“Yume-sensei, the backup is coming at any second!”

Before Yume could say anything, a loud helicopter whir was heard and the assault guns in front of her went in flames, knocking down nearby drones and automatons.

211652ZAPR21 Abandoned Superblock, Near Abydos Outskirts

Boarding RABBIT squad’s helicopter, Niko was manning one of its door mounted miniguns.

“One o’ clock! There’s our SCHALE friends! Watch your fire!” Niko reported.

“Just in time! RABBIT 3, weapons tight! We don’t want to hit our SCHALE friendlies by accident!” Miyako instructed.

“Roger, missile away!” Moe chuckled as she fired a missile towards one of the white armored vehicles and the front-facing miniguns at the drones and automatons.

“Sandman actual, this is FOX 1. We have arrived at your position, do you hear us, over!?” Yukino clutched her radio.

Static could be heard before it gave way to Yume’s voice.

“*krzzt* is Sandman actual, Good with interference! *krzzzt*”

Niko could notice Hoshino directing a flashlight towards them, turning it on and off as if she was sending a morse code.

“They’re telling us a message, hold on!” Niko observed the morse code flashed. “FOX 1, RABBIT 1, she’s telling us to land somewhere safe and meet her on foot!”

“Roger, the interference is particularly strong here,” Yukino nodded before looking at Miyako.

“RABBIT 3, find a safe spot to hover. We’ll fast rope there. Once our boots are on the ground, you’re cleared to engage armored vehicles,” Miyako ordered.

“Roger. Everyone, get ready to touch the ground,” Moe complied.

After the helicopter hovered at the safe spot, FOX and RABBIT squads sans Moe fast roped to the ground before meeting Yume’s group.

Upon approaching Yume, Niko could notice tension from Hoshino and Yukino’s looks towards each other.

“Yume-sensei, Hoshino, what are you and your friends doing here in swimsuits!?” Niko asked in a mix of worry and exasperation.

“We were taking a look around this building when those white robots attacked!” Yume explained.

“Those robots started going berserk almost half an hour ago,” Hoshino added. “What’s unusual is that only those in this superblock got into berserk.”

White robots in Abydos almost always meant bad news at best.

“Strange. Each of those robots’ territories usually span wider,” Yukino noted. “Glad you’re holding well, at least. We’re gonna sweep the superblock and clear them out.”

During the conversation, the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force and SCHALE staff members refilled their ammo from another pickup truck that came alongside SRT’s backup. The conversation was cut off by a dozen white drones flying in.

“Have you found the nearby command mainframe!?” Niko asked, gunning down a white drone. “These robots would have problems coordinating without any of them or the Prophets!?”

“No, not yet!” Hoshino answered, raising her shield to protect Serika from the minigun fire. “We were bailing a friend out!”

“Wait, I just found the command mainframe!” Holding her shield with one hand and Shittim Chest with another, Yume began moving towards a direction. “This way!”

Yukino fired a yellow flare upwards, which should tell the squads guarding the parameter to start distracting as many robots as they could.

Yume led the path to a nearby tall building, with the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force and FOX Squad following behind. Two hundred plus automatons, drones, and sweepers getting in their way were little more than small hurdles to overcome.

Meanwhile, Otogi stayed behind with Ayane to observe, even without her drone.

As the girls reached a double door, they could hear a loud hum emanating from behind it.

“We’re getting close to the mainframe. Get ready,” Yukino instructed.

“Everyone, hold up. Top off your guns and equipment first.” Just when everything was clear for a minute, Niko stopped before armoring everyone up.

In the meantime, Shiroko revved up her diesel drone.

After they finished reloading, the group entered an abandoned ballroom, at the middle of which stood a pristine formation of white small ‘pillars’ decorated with uncountable yellow lines. Despite its digital nature, it strangely lacked cables.

“There’s the command mainframe!” Yume pointed towards the ‘pillar’ formation.

The yellow lines glowed brighter before two of the command mainframe’s ‘pillars’ lobbed a few mortar shells upwards.

“Spread out!” Niko warned.

The shells landed and exploded at random places, forcing everyone in the room to spread out. Niko, Yukino, and Kurumi broke right. Hoshino and Yume went to the mainframe’s left side. Shiroko, Serika, and Nonomi went up nearby flights of stairs to the room’s mezzanine.

Ayane’s drone dropped the medical kit to the spot between Yume and Hoshino, quickly although not completely treating their wounds.

Everyone but Yume began opening fire. Yume raised her shield to cover Hoshino, who focused on breaking through the mainframe’s defenses.

“Here goes nothing.” Niko produced then threw small explosives bags to the mainframe. “Explosives out!”

Nearby, Yukino wordlessly took aim towards two of them.

Pulling her assault rifle’s charging handle after inserting a fresh magazine, Serika saw the explosives bags Niko threw earlier.

This was the chance to take it out, but she had to time it right.

Whilst the bags were midair, she shouldered her rifle, carefully aiming at the farthest from Yukino—the third one—through the scope.

As the third bag was close enough to a few pillars, she pulled the trigger.

The sight of the explosives ravaging the mainframe brought relief for Niko. Especially after Shiroko’s last two rockets followed up, further damaging the mainframe.

Another round of gunfire later, electric sparks flew from the mainframe. The yellow lines flicker and the hum’s intensity gradually decreased. It took a minute for the mainframe to shut down.

As the mainframe shut down, the white robots’ movement became sluggish, allowing everyone to pick them off with less effort.

Abandoned Superblock, Abydos District Outskirts, April 21st, 2021, 5:46 PM

“I apologize, everyone! This was supposed to be a treasure hunt, but it ended up like this!” Yume announced to the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force members in a dogeza.

“Um, no need to apologize, Yume-sensei!” Ayane bowed. “We now know more of the enemies we’re dealing with thanks to this trip!”

“It’s okay, Yume-sensei.” Nonomi patted Yume’s shoulder. “Can’t expect everything to go smoothly, after all.”

“At least we gained something, Yume-senpai,” Hoshino consoled. “Those robots are more than annoyances at best.”

“What about the treasures, though…” Serika lamented.

Yume slowly stood back up.

“Nn, at least we know one more enemy targetting us,” Shiroko said. “They don’t seem like any PMC nor any gang. They’re closer to…”

“A cult,” Hoshino finished. “Robots usually don’t bother with divinity stuff. Nor they would attempt to deliberately kidnap anyone for no reason.”

Yume and the club members could see Karina, Yukino, and Niko approaching them.

“Yume-sensei, these white pieces of the robots seem to be related to what happened here months ago,” Yukino reported. “Does it remind you of anything?”

Yume took a deep breath.

The sight of something big slithering through the desert wouldn’t be easily forgetable.

“Is it related to the big snake slithering through the desert?” Yume asked before elaborating. “It has white body and yellow glows just like the robots we took care of earlier.”

“Not to mention automatons and other robots in the district would go crazy every time it appears,” Hoshino added. “I’d say the robots going crazy can be considered the sign of that thing coming.”

“That explains the restrictions and the sparse population of the androids,” Karina mused. “What do you mean by going crazy, Hoshino?”

“Raves on divinity, for the starters,” Hoshino answered. “Aside from attacking anything that isn’t a robot ‘enlightened by their God’.”

“So we’re probably dealing with what’s likely a robotic apocalypse cult…” Niko muttered.

“Does anyone outside us here know about this?” Yume asked. “I have a feeling there are other academies dealing with the robotic cult.”

“There’s one,” Yukino answered. “It should be noted that the person is hard to reach even for us.”

“She’s going to contact you if you are to meet her all the time,” Niko elaborated. “She’s that good in covering her tracks and very elusive at best.”

“Her insights are surprisingly accurate, too.”

“And she’s usually very proud of it,” Niko sighed in exasperation.

“I see. There’s not much we can do other than waiting for her to reach us out, right?” Yume asked.

“Yes,” Yukino nodded. “What you did back there was quite reckless, Yume-sensei, but we’d take longer to find out about this otherwise. We’ll be taking our leave.”

“Yume-sensei, Hoshino, everyone, take care of yourselves until we meet again!” Niko waved before she and Yukino departed.

Waving at Yukino and Niko, Yume then noticed Serika’s morose look.

“Hey there, Serika-chan,” Yume sat besides Serika. “Sorry, the treasure hunt got busted this badly. Are you okay?”

“It’s fine, Yume-sensei. Had a feeling this trip would go downhill,” Serika let out a sigh before looking at Yume, her face turning slightly red. “T-thanks for rescuing me twice, Yume-sensei.”

“You’re welcome, Serika-chan,” Yume had to slightly force a smile. “By the way, what do you think about, um, that matter?”

“I guess you’re gonna ask me about it,” Serika looked downcast. “I doubt the school can overcome it, but I don’t want it to close, either.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we met for the first time, I doubted if you should help us out,” Serika’s voice had a tinge of guilt. “Then I found out that you were also from Abydos.”

“SCHALE or not, this school’s my home,” Yume’s smile gradually faded, although not completely. “Besides, I’m glad Hoshino got cute juniors like you helping her out.”

Yume couldn’t say it, but she could see a gap between Hoshino and the first and second year students. That stare during the meeting during the afternoon only confirmed it.

“W-what do you mean by cute juniors, Yume-sensei!?” Serika’s face became redder.

Stomach growls could be heard among Yume and the Abydos students.

“I know a place,” Serika stood up. “Let’s take a car and change clothes. After that, I can guide you on the directions there.”

“Karina-san, Ramu-san, do you want to come along?” Yume invited.

“No, Yume-sensei.” Ramu shook her head.

“We still have things to take care of here, Yume-sensei,” Karina softly declined. “Besides, I was eating when I picked up the distress call, so I’m good for now. Feel free to take one of our trucks and take care!”

“Be careful out there as well, Karina-san!” Yume waved at Karina, who also did the same.

The six girls entered one of the white pickup trucks, with Ayane taking the wheel. Fifteen seconds after the engine started,

Shiba Seki Ramen Restaurant, 5 kilometers to Abydos High School Annex Building, April 21st, 2021, 6:32 PM

“Oh, this place? This brings good memories,” Yume mused as she entered the restaurant with Serika’s lead. “Are you working here, Serika-chan?”

“Yes,Yume-sensei,” Serika nodded.

“Yup, it’s still one of the best remaining restaurants for more than a year.” Hoshino’s tone was dripped with nostalgia.

“Everyone, just take a seat.” Serika exhaled sharply.

The five took a seat with Nonomi and Ayane taking one side while Hoshino, Shiroko, and Yume took another.

“The seats seemed to be more cramped than they were,” Hoshino playfully remarked.

“Just sit like normal people already! That table’s enough for six people!” Serika’s patience was getting thin for every passing second.

“Oh, so this is why Serika-chan has been running off from time to time☆” Nonomi mused.

“Haha, It’s nice to see you’re working here, Serika…” Ayane nervously chuckled.

“How long have you been working here, Serika?” Shiroko asked.

“Uh… More than a week. I should take ten minutes to change. Feel free to think up what you wanna order during then,” Serika instructed before leaving Yume and the other club members to a changing room.

Closing the staff-only door behind her, Serika walked to a cupboard containing her uniform.

“Good evening, Shiba-sensei! Sorry for coming in late!” She greeted Master Shiba, the restaurant’s owner.

“Hey, Serika! Don’t worry, I caught your notice yesterday. Looks like you brought your Abydos classmates over, too,” Master Shiba leaned closer to Serika. “You look like you had a rough day. Don’t push yourself too hard, especially if you got injured earlier.”

“I-I’m doing fine, Shiba-sensei,” Serika stammered a little, “This is far from the worst.”

“Call me out if you need help,” Shiba offered. “Looks like the people are waiting. Go take their order, I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Serika complied.

In the meantime, Yume opened her phone’s Momotalk then sent a text message to Karina.

Karina-san, if you're hungry, come to Shiba Seki Ramen! I hear it's still good.

Karina quickly replied.

Good timing! Us staff members are starving and there's no eating place nearby! Can you reserve a place for ten people, yourself included? Takes time to get there.

Yume sent another message.

Don't worry. There are still vacant tables, I'll let the staff know.

The reply didn’t take a minute to arrive.

Nice, I'll holler in case we get close. Thanks a bunch!

“Alright, I’m here,” Serika stopped besides the five’s table. “Have you figured out what you’d order?”

“Isn’t it ‘May I take your order’, Serika-chan? We’re customers here,” Hoshino teased.

“Hoshino-senpai,” Ayane chided whilst Yume gave Hoshino a dirty look.

Yume could see a small vein popping at Serika’s forehead.

“May I take your order?” Serika asked, restraining her rage.

“I’ll take a bowl of Special Miso Ramen with extra grilled chashu, please!” Hoshino was the first to answer.

“Chashu ramen, please,” Nonomi said.

“I’d take a bowl of Miso Ramen, please,” Ayane Requested.

“Nn, I’ll take a bowl of Special Shio Ramen,” Shiroko responded.

“Hmm… There it is!” Yume scanned the menu before perking up. “I’ll take a bowl of Sichuan ramen, please! Glad it’s still here!”

Yume’s order drew puzzled looks from Ayane, Serika, and Nonomi. Hoshino merely gave her a nostalgic look while Shiroko did an observing one.

“Yume-sensei, Sichuan ramen is really spicy. Are you sure?” Serika blinked.

“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, I had enough grit for this spicy food,” Yume confirmed.

In an instant, Shiroko’s look became a determined one.

“Nn, I’d like to change the special miso ramen to a special sichuan ramen,” Shiroko requested.

“What!?” Serika exclaimed. “Shiroko-senpai, you’re going to eat a ramen as spicy as Yume-sensei’s but with a bigger portion!”

“Yes,” Shiroko curtly answered, unwavered by Serika’s warning.

Seems like Shiroko really liked challenges. No wonder she often fought with Hoshino.

Small talks went on for fifteen more minutes.

“I humbly receive this food!” The five announced before they started eating.

The next fifteen minutes of eating was a crazy one, with Shiroko finishing her bowl slightly faster than Yume doing hers.

The best way to eat Sichuan ramen is to eat it quickly, lest the spice would burn the tongue.

“Uhe!? Looks like Shiroko-chan has a lot of grit!”

Small cracks aside, Shiroko kept her nonchalant look throughout the ordeal, finishing the bowl first. Yume finished second, followed by Hoshino, Nonomi, and Ayane.

“Thanks for the meal!”

The five walked to the payment counter.

“I hope you guys are bringing your own money and not using Nonomi’s…” Serika muttered, anticipating the golden card’s shine.

“Eh? My card is still far below the monthly limit!” Nonomi answered.

“No need, Nonomi-chan. My card’s also below the monthly limit, too,” Yume responded, letting out her own blue regular credit card.

She could still feel her right hand’s urge to reach out for the black one first.

“Besides, I dragged you all to this mess, so it’s my treat,” Yume continued with a smile. “Here, Serika-chan.”

The payment process was a relatively smooth one which didn’t take three minutes.

With the payment done, the six went outside.

“That was really good. I want to visit this place again sometime,” Ayane commented.

“Yup, yup! Next time I’ll pay-” Nonomi proposed in excitement.

“Heck no! Let’s bring our own money next time!” Hoshino cut Nonomi off.

“Nn,” Shiroko nodded. “By the way, the sichuan ramen was a good test of grit.”

“Glad you all like it,” Serika responded. “You’re all going home after this, right?”

Everyone else sans Yume nodded.

“I’d like to stay here for a while, though,” Instead of nodding, Yume answered.

“Eh? You’re not coming with them, Yume-sensei?” Serika asked, her face contorted in bafflement.

“Yume-senpai, the district’s swarming with gangsters at night,” Hoshino reminded. “SRT’s help should make it easier, but still.”

“Yume sensei,” Yume could hear Arona yawning. “SCHALE's staff members are heading here. They should arrive in twenty minutes. The battery is almost out, I'm going to sleep.”

“Thanks for your help earlier, Arona-chan. Please take a rest, you earned it,” Yume answered. “It’s okay, Serika-chan, I invited some friends here.”

“See you all tomorrow!” The six waved at each other a goodbye before going to separate directions.

Hoshino, Nonomi, Shiroko, and Ayane went back to the pickup truck. Meanwhile, Yume and Serika walked back into the restaurant.

“Yume-sensei, how many of your friends are going to arrive?” Serika asked. “There aren’t many vacant spots left.”

“Thanks, Serika-chan. Is there one for ten people?” Yume asked in return.

“We don’t have a table for ten. How about a four-people table and a six-people one close to each other?”

“That can do.”

“Alright, I’ll reserve them right away.”

Yume received a new message from Karina.

Yume-sensei, we're ten minutes away from arriving to your location. Hope you got us enough seats!

Shiba Seki Ramen Restaurant, 5 kilometers to Abydos High School Annex Building, April 21st, 2021, 7:21 PM

Serika had just placed a “Reserved” marker on a four-person table close to where Master Shiba was working, on one of which Yume took a seat.

“Yume-sensei, I marked the table next to yours as reserved. Please wait here,” Serika instructed.

“Got it, Serika-chan. Good luck!” Yume waved her right hand, sitting on the six-person table nearby.

Serika stopped near a table of two customers.

“May I take your order?” Serika asked, whipping up a pen and a small paper like usual.

“A bowl of special chashumen, please,” One of the customers requested.

“A bowl of ebi tempura ramen,” The other added.

“Coming right up!” Serika dashed back to the counter, hanging the small paper at the usual place. “Shiba-sensei, Table 11, one bowl of Special chashumen and one ebi tempura ramen!”

“Got it! Here’s the ramen for table 7!” Master Shiba replied, handing over a tray on which three ramen bowls were placed.

“Y-yes!” Serika nervously took the tray before placing it at table 7 and putting the bowls gently. “Here’s your order! Enjoy your ramen!”

Glancing at table 2, she noticed its customers raising their hands.

“Hello dear customers, what do you need?” Serika asked upon approaching that table.

“We’d like to have an additional fried onions and chopped green garlic.”

“Alright, a minute!” Serika complied before going to a corner at which the seasonings were stored.

It took less than ten seconds for her to take both the fried onions and chopped green garlic. And then just short of fifteen more to bring them to the aforementioned table.

“Thank you very much!” The customer warmly accepted Serika’s offering.

“You’re welcome, please enjoy your food!” Serika returned the gratitude.

This shift was different. It was not just Master Shiba himself, Yume-sensei was also there.

“What is Yume-sensei up to…?” Serika quietly mused.

Serika glanced at Yume’s table. The latter smiled and winked.

Ugh, what had she gotten herself into? Where was this boost of energy coming from?

Serika’s musings were interrupted by a sight of an impatient customer waiting at the cashier counter.

“Anything I can help you with, sir?” Serika asked, her smile hiding her anxiety.

“What’s with the ramen’s taste? I was told it was going to be savory, yet it tastes like trash!” The impatient customer complained.

“Huh? Let me review your orders,” Serika’s annoyance began slipping as she inspected the customer’s order, even if slightly.

In the meantime, every nearby customer shot their looks, ranging from watchful ones to outright glares, towards the impatient customer.

The brewing commotion was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, through which Yume’s staff members entered, with Karina and Ramu leading them.

“Hey, Yume-sensei! We’re here!” Karina’s voice boomed from the main door.

The club staff members were here. The sight was enough to make her gulp.

What if the club members spread the rumors that she was working here? SCHALE was evidently a big one, so rumors would spread really fast.

It did not matter at the moment, she had to find a way to pay the debt for Abydos. Perhaps it could help, or it could put the school into a bigger trouble. The alternative was letting it crumble slowly and its districts become a true land of chaos.

“Hmm? Looks like you’re having a hassle, Serika-chan,” Karina tilted her head as she faced the impatient customer. “Anything you need help with, sir?”

“What are you doing? It’s not your business!” The impatient customer rebuked.

“It says here that you ordered a bowl of sichuan ramen, which I warned to be much spicier than savory,” Serika recounted, annoyance slipping further into her tone. “Would you like to proceed with the payment?”

“No,” The annoyed customer raised his right fist, intent on punching her. “I WANT A COMPENSATION INSTEA-”

Serika was about to raise her treasured AR70/90 assault rifle and pay him with a bullet, only for Ramu to step in and jab his stomach, causing him to vomit his digested sichuan broth to the floor.

“Refusing to pay for a misled expectation is one thing, but assaulting innocent waiters for that reason is not acceptable.” The gray twintailed logistics officer sternly noted. “I’d like to apologize for the mess I helped creating. If you like, I’ll help cleaning it up.”

“There’s no need!” Master Shiba raised his voice from the kitchen, approaching the recently vomiting customer with a well-prepared mop. “Instead, I’d like to extend my gratitude for helping my employee out.” He lowered his posture, giving the customer a look. “This customer would do very well to behave, hmm?”

Twenty seconds of staring contest was enough for the customer to start cleaning up his own vomit quickly.

“Shiba-sensei-” Serika opened her mouth only for Master Shiba to cut her off.

“It’s fine, Serika. You did well even with a rough day earlier. Name one flavor you’d like to get tonight, I’ll take care of the rest,” Master Shiba reassured her before looking at Karina. “Heh. Haven’t seen you for a while. Are you doing well?”

“Yup! It’s been a long time, Shiba-sensei!” Karina waved. “You good as well?”

“Certainly!” Master Shiba answered with vigor for his age. “Your gray twintailed friend helped, so I’m giving you a bowl of extra separate noodles! Feel free to order anything you like!”

With the cleanup done, the payment was a smooth sailing with no more raised voice or violent gesture. Master Shiba returned to the kitchen before resuming his job like nothing had happened.

“Thanks for helping me out earlier. Would you happen to have reserved seats for ten people?” Serika asked.

“Yes, please! Is it the one with Yume-sensei waiting over there?” Karina asked, glancing at Yume waving from one of the two reserved tables.

“Yes, follow me.” Serika guided the newly arrived guests from SCHALE staff.

Yume switched to sitting alongside Karina and Yume at the reserved four-person table. Meanwhile, six other staff members took seats on the six-person table Yume previously sat on.

“Thanks for helping me out. May I have your order?” Serika let out a small paper and a pen.

“Yes, Ramu, which do you want to pick?” Karina looked at Ramu.

“Hmm…” Ramu scrutinized the menu before looking at Serika. “I’d like a bowl of special chashumen, please.”

“Noted.” Serika wrote down Ramu’s request before looking at Karina. “Karina-sensei?”

“I’ll take an Ebi Tempura ramen bowl,” Karina requested.

“How about you, Serika-chan?” Yume asked in return.

“N-no, Yume-sensei. Thanks for the offer, though,” Serika declined with a blush before moving on to the next table.

With the orders from the group collected, Serika went back to the kitchen window.

“Here’s the order from SCHALE guests on tables 20 and 21, Shiba-sensei!” Serika hung the small note. “By the way, what do you think of them? You seem to know Karina-sensei.”

“Oh, you meant her? She’s still quite peppy and hardworking like she was a few years ago. I haven’t met the rest, but I can tell they’re a colorful bunch.” Shiba placed four bowls on a tray, which he then handed to Serika. “Here’s for table 8. I can tell they’re really hungry, so I gave them an extra.”

“Got it, Shiba-sensei,” Serika brought the tray to table 8, sitting on which were four students, two of whom were horned. “Here’s your order. Enjoy the ramen!”

They looked like they were from Gehenna. What were they doing in this district?

“E-Eh!?” The peach-haired, horned girl’s previously confident look instantly changed to a shocked one. “W-we didn’t order the special portion, though!?”

“Fufufufu, that’s a welcome surprise,” The shortest girl of the four mused. “Thanks a lot, by the way!”

“Shiba-sensei could tell you needed an extra, so he upsized the portions,” Serika elaborated.

“T-thankyouverymuch!” The stuttering purple-haired student quickly bowed her head.

“Good grief, you three can be handful sometimes,” The quiet horned girl with a black hoodie sighed before looking at Serika. “Thank you.”

Serika could feel Karina’s brief glance to her direction. No, it wasn’t directed at her, but the quiet hoodie girl. When she looked back, Karina was already back to talking with Yume.

“It’s okay,” Serika reassured. “Once again, enjoy your ramen!”

It took 25 minutes for the orders of SCHALE staff members to be finished, with the order split between two trays, which she had to deliver one by one.

“Here’s your ramen. Shiba-sensei already promised an extra bowl here,” Serika gently placed

“My, my, I never knew you could be this friendly,” Karina teased, much to Serika’s annoyance.

Serika was about to say something, only for someone else to beat her to a punch.

“Karina-san, she had a rough day,” Yume chided. “Give her a break.”

“Yes, yes. Please send my thanks to Shiba-sensei, will you?” Karina asked.

“Yeah, I will,” Serika answered.

As she walked back to the counter, she saw a bowl marked with her name.

“Serika, which flavor you’d like to eat? You don’t need to pay for this bowl,” Master Shiba offered.

“Shiba-sensei…” Serika wanted to refuse, only for her to trail off. “I see. I’d like a bowl of chashu ramen.”

“Coming right up!” Master Shiba announced. “Alright, there’s no new customer waiting outside, right?”

Serika checked outside, only to see no one coming to the restaurant for the day.

“No, Shiba-sensei,” She reported.

“Alright, then, I’m closing the orders for today. Get ready to clean up,” He instructed.

“Will do.”

It didn’t take her long to put the ‘NO LONGER TAKING ORDERS TODAY’ sign at the door. The twenty minutes afterwards had her processing payments until her ramen was ready.

“Serika, your ramen’s ready! I’m taking over, so eat up!” Master Shiba called out, exiting the kitchen to take over.

“Yes, Shiba-sensei! Thanks a lot!” Serika accepted, going to the stall to take her portion of ramen.

Eating this bowl of ramen was strangely a relief, considering what had happened throughout this day.

Yume sat beside her, much to her surprise.

“Yume-sensei!?” Serika almost jolted up.

“It’s okay, Serika-chan,” Yume assured. “Feel free to continue eating. Shiba-sensei said you earned it, no?”

Serika’s ears drooped and her look dropped downwards.

“S-sorry…” Yume apologized, closing in further to Serika.

“T-that was too close!” Serika jolted. Fortunately, none of the ramen was spilled. “How am I going to repay him, though…”

“I don’t know,” Yume admitted with a forced smile. “Why don’t you eat first then call it a day?”

“Y-y-you’re not my mom, you know,” Serika weakly defended herself. “We’re just a few years apart. Ten at most, and that’s a stretch.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re my junior now, you know,” Yume playfully retorted.

Serika couldn’t muster any word, so she continued eating instead, face beet red. As she continued eating, Yume giggled every umpteen seconds much to her embarrassment.

The sight of those staff members, especially most of those sitting on the six-person table, staying at their tables in the meantime got into her nerves occasionally. That said, they ultimately did much less, if any, harm than that impatient customer. At least they brought their own money and helped a lot in cleaning up the restaurant.

Thanks to the staff members’ help, Master Shiba could close the restaurant earlier than usual.

The journey home was quite cramped with eight people occupying a loaded pickup truck, but at least she arrived safely.

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E04 - Another Totally Normal Day in Abydos

SCHALE-SRT Joint Base, 3 kilometers from Abydos High School Annex Building, April 22nd, 2021, 6:15 AM

It had been a relaxing walk for Yume considering what happened yesterday evening.

She just had to take a shower then a breakfast before going to the annex building.

About to enter the base through its main gate, she noticed a peculiar blue recycle bin with a downcast gray halo floating above.

Recycle bins were not supposed to have a halo, nor had there been a single recycling bin at that spot. It might carry or be something weird.

She had an ingenious idea of just walking straight to the bin, the first thing to avoid when dealing with strange things. Upon closer inspection, she could hear small noises from it.

The bin was definitely containing something off inside.

Opening the bin, Yume noticed a long raven-haired girl in blue sailor uniform and white pantyhose sitting, hugging her knees closely to her chest.

“M-Myaauuu…” The girl sulked.

That explained the the bin’s halo and location.

“Eto… Good morning, what are you doing here?” Yume asked softly.

The sitting girl nervously looked upwards before trembling slightly.

“G-Good morning… Yume-sensei… I’m j-just taking a watch this morning…” She nervously answered.

“I see. Why don’t we know each other before we continue? May I know your name and where you’re coming from?” Yume offered.

“K-K-Kasumizawa Miyu, S-SRT Special Academy’s… R-RABBIT Squad. Nice to meet you, Y-Yume sensei,” Miyu’s stuttering was more prominent, she might be shy to introduce herself to someone new.

“Nice to meet you too, Miyu-chan. How long have you been here?” Yume could notice small pebbles gathering inside the bin at Miyu’s sides.

“T-three hours, Yume-sensei…”

Wait, so she had been here since 3 in the morning? No wonder the sight of the bin here felt new.

“Eto… I assume that comes standard with SRT, right?” Yume asked, befuddled.

SRT had stringent schedules starting from the first day of selection, if what Hoshino had said back then was true. It was for the best to confirm instead of judge, lest she would land herself in hot water.

“Y-yes…” Miyu nodded very quickly. “H-how do you know?”

“I understand. One of my friends was invited to join the selection process.”

“Yume-sensei seems to have friends… T-that’s nice…”

Before Yume could continue, a white-haired girl in the same set of blue sailor uniform as Miyu’s came into her sight. The difference was that she was covered in more armor and apparently carrying more firepower than Miyu.

“Good morning, Yume-sensei,” the white-haired girl greeted with a calm smile. “I suppose you’ve been with her for a few minutes?”

“Good morning. Yes, you seem to know her, too.” Yume greeted back. “And you are?”

“Tsukuyuki Miyako, SRT Special Academy,” the white-haired girl, Miyako, introduced herself. “I am RABBIT squad’s leader and by extension, Miyu’s superior. Thank you for allowing the academy to be in active duty again and looking out for her, Yume-sensei.”

“It’s alright, Miyako-chan. It was the least I could do after overhearing the rumors.” Yume responded. “Oh, right, your squad is patrolling this district alongside FOX and other squads, correct?”

“Yes,” Miyako nodded before correcting with a more revering tone. “That said, FOX and a few other squads won’t be here for some time.”

Seemed like Miyako idolized FOX squad. Could that be why she joined that academy? Perhaps Yume shouldn’t ask further.

“I can understand why,” Yume shifted to another topic. “Do you and Miyu know each other?”

Both Miyu and Miyako nodded in return.

“I often take care of her, Yume-sensei.” Miyako answered. “She looks like any other girl, but it’s hard for even a normal student to find her, even if she’s right in front of them.”

Yume and Miyako could notice Miyu’s sulking turning more somber.

“I see… You’re both going back into the base, right?” Yume asked.

“Yes, you’re also going back to the base, as well, Yume-sensei?” Miyako asked in return before looking at Miyu. “Alright, let’s go back.”

“Yes, let’s get back there together,” Yume proposed.

Fortunately for Miyako, Miyu’s recycle bin was easy to move thanks to its two wheels and transportation handle bar. All Miyako had to do is to lift its front part a bit before pushing it like a shopping cart.

As the three approached the base’s command building, another girl with blue sailor uniform was waiting nearby, with similar armor as Miyako’s, but with a helmet and a general purpose machine gun.

“We’re twenty minutes late.” The helmeted girl sighed. “It’s Miyu again, isn’t it?”

Miyu slowly exited her recycle bin with occasional anxious shivers.

“She’s a very special case that needs additional attention, even if we’re running late as the result,” Miyako chided. “And it’s RABBIT 4. We’re on a peacekeeping mission. Names should be used only for formal introductions, like the one we’re about to do with Yume-sensei right here.”

“Oh, right. Good morning, Yume-sensei! My name’s Sorai Saki of SRT Special Academy’s RABBIT Squad,” the helmeted girl, Saki, greeted. “Thanks for saving the academy, even if what you did against the fox of Calamity back there was reckless at best.”

Stepping in front of the formation to block that shot was indeed a daring move, let alone running to Wakamo. Yume wanted to defend herself, but she could tell from Saki’s look that it would be pointless.

“Ehehe, good morning, Saki-chan, nice to meet you!” Yume greeted back. “What you said was true. By the way, you’re in the same squad with these two, aren’t you?”

Saki and Miyako nodded.

“Yes, I’m her squad’s second in command,” The helmeted girl elaborated.

“There’s one more. This way, Yume-sensei,” Miyako took the lead with Saki and Miyu following closely behind.

The four walked to the security building, in which there was a radar monitoring office.

“Uwah… Finally, a change in shift!” One of the office’s occupant, a brown-haired girl in blue sailor uniform wearing round glasses stood up, stretching her arms upwards. “Oh, if it isn’t Yume-sensei! Good morning, seeing you coming here is a welcome sight after three boring hours.”

“Good morning, Yume-sensei. It seems that you’ve just made acquaintances with SRT students this morning,” the other occupant, Ramu, greeted.

“Good morning, have a good day, you two. May I know who the bespectacled girl in blue uniform is?” Yume returned the greeting, with Miyako bowing at her left side.

“Eh… We usually don’t introduce ourselves by names-” Moe paused, seeing Miyako’s nod before continuing. “Since the lead allowed it, I’m Kazekura Moe of SRT Special Academy. The one on your left is the lead I’m talking about. I assume you’re taking a walk around, Yume-sensei?”

“Yes, what are you doing here?”

“Me? I just finished monitoring the radar. The twintailed logistician of yours is about to take over.”

“That makes the whole squad. Good, RABBIT squad, prepare for today’s briefing. On me,” Miyako commanded.

“Yes!” Miyu, Moe, and Saki immediately stood straight up before approaching Miyako.

“Yume-sensei, Ramu-san, we’re going to depart for a patrol,” Miyako reported. “Have a good day and may we see each other again.”

“Good luck for your mission,” Ramu responded. “Be safe out there.”

“Take care, you four, and good luck!” Yume waved.

The four girls of RABBIT squad quickly departed from the radar monitoring office to destination unknown, leaving Yume with Ramu.

“Yume-sensei, I have this handled,” Ramu sensei. “Good luck for the rest of the day.”

Monitoring the radars was definitely not one of Yume’s forte.

“I’ll be going then. Good luck as well, Ramu-san!” Yume waved her hand before departing to the mess hall.

Abydos High School Annex Building, April 22nd, 2021, 7:12 AM

This morning was another peaceful one in the annex facility for Ayane, with no attacks to defend from. All she had to do is to repair a sink in the first floor’s restroom and in the meantime, clean its draining pipe up.

Many things were going to get dirty in the process, so she wore a set of gym uniform in lieu of the school uniform she had stored in the club room. In the pantry next to the restroom, She had started heating up a kettle of water two minutes earlier. Near the sink, she placed a new faucet bundled with a new supply hose alongside wrenches of different kinds.

The water would take time to boil, so she had all she had the time needed to replace both the faucet and the supply hose. Still, it would be better if she did them quickly.

“Still not much water coming out compared to the other sinks here, too…” she noted, having just finished cleaning the sink’s surface.

Placing the wrenches at the floor near the sink, she could hear someone turning off the pantry’s stove, then footsteps from outside the restroom. The footsteps came from Yume, who was looking around wearing a gym shirt and a pair of dolphin shorts

What had Yume come here early for?

“Oh, good morning, Yume-sensei.” Ayane greeted. “You’re better off going to other floors’ restrooms in case you want to use a sink. Did you just turn off the nearby stove?”

“Good morning, Ayane-chan. I was just hanging around,” Yume greeted back. “Um, yes, I did. What are you doing?”

“I’m fixing this sink. This old faucet has been leaking since I enrolled here, so I’m going to replace it and the old supply hose. The water can wait for a few minutes.”

“How are you going to do that, Ayane-chan?”

“First,” Ayane turned off the problematic faucet’s water supply hose then placed a bucket under its sink with a towel underneath. “I’ll the faucet and the hose since they’re old. And clean up the drainage pipe in the process, it’s been a month since it was replaced.”

“Let me help you,” Yume squatted beside Ayane. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind getting dirty. Besides, I had spare clothes in the club room.”

“U-um, thank you, Yume-sensei.” Ayane pointed at the crescent wrench close to Yume. “Could you please turn the stove back on? I’m going to need the boiled water, too.”

That was embarrassing, but Yume-sensei’s help could hopefully make it easier and faster.

“Got it, Ayane-chan,” Yume went back to the pantry before turning the stove back on.

In the meantime, Ayane took a crescent wrench before attaching it to the sink’s U pipe.

“It’s done, the water should boil after some time,” Yume came back into the restroom, squatting beside Ayane. “Anything else you need?”

“Thank you, this one can be messy if I mess it up, so I’d like to have it quiet,” Ayane answered.

The aqua-haired girl nodded, watching the bespectacled elf’s work.

It took two minutes for Ayane to detach the sink’s U-shaped draining pipe. Draining it to the prepared bucket and cleaning its clogs didn’t take much effort.

“There’s a bottle marked ‘Drainage pipe cleaning’.” Ayane pointed to the marked bottle sitting at the end of “Please pour the liquid inside down the pipe and let it simmer for up to half an hour.”

“That’s while we’re waiting for the water to boil?” Yume replied.

“Yes, the liquid takes time to clean the pipe,” Ayane unscrewed the supply hose from the faucet with a basin wrench. “This supply hose has too many clogs. Good thing the new faucet came with a new one.”

“So you’re going to take that off entirely, Ayane-chan?” Yume asked, still pouring the marked bottle’s contents down the detached drainage pipe.

“Exactly,” Ayane loosened the faucet’s plastic lock nut beneath the sink with her hand then loosened the old supply hose off.

“I see,” Yume closed the liquid’s bottle before settling it nearby. “It’s done, Ayane-chan.”

“Thank you, Yume-sensei,” Ayane took the old faucet off its mount then took a plastic knife, a sponge, and a bottle of soap. “Yume-sensei, can you pour some water here? I’m going to clean the mount of the buildup.”

Now was the good time to clean up the mounting hole as well.

“Okay, a second,” Yume took water from another faucet before wetting the mount which the bespectacled girl had just applied soap to earlier. “You seem to have experience in doing this, Ayane-chan.”

“I help cleaning up some facilities in the building in some of my days off, Yume-sensei,” Ayane commented as she scrubbed the hole with the sponge before scraping it off with the plastic knife. “Could you hand over the new faucet, please?”

“Here,” The taller aqua-haired girl handed over the new faucet, to which Ayane nodded before mounting it and its rubber washers. “What do you do in your other days off?”

“This building had unused antiques I sold to pay the debt off stored in its many storage rooms.” Ayane answered whilst applying the plumber’s tape to the new faucet’s threaded connection. “Yume-sensei, can you please hand over that wrench?”

“Here, Ayane-chan,” Yume did what Ayane requested. “What kind of antiques do you usually sell?”

“Thank you, Yume-sensei,” Ayane accepted the wrench before tightening the new hose to both the supply valve and the faucet. “I usually look for metal scraps that can be sold. A few appraisers I know look out for higher quality ones and pay at higher rates.”

“What kind of higher quality metal scraps?”

“I’m not sure which scrap is higher quality, so I checked the label if there’s any.”

The two could hear the water boiling. It didn’t take long for Ayane to wash her hand and turn off the stove.

In the meantime, Yume held the draining pipe above the bucket as the liquid almost finished its work.

“Here it goes, Yume-sensei.” Ayane approached her, holding a kettle of boiling water. “Be careful.”

“Let’s do it, Ayane-chan,” Yume nodded.

Ayane carefully poured the water to the U-shaped pipe, taking the cleaning liquid and remaining clogs out. Afterwards, she took the bucket outside while Yume ran cold water through the pipe.

“Alright, it’s done-” Yume hopped with her eyes closed, unaware that she was about to run to Ayane who had just come back inside.

“Yume-sen-” Ayane called out, only for Yume to crash on her.

The aqua-haired girl slipped, pushing the bespectacled elf backwards. When all was done, the former ended up pinning the latter to the floor. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt much for either of them. The way their faces were lined up, however, was a fuel for both girls’ embarrassment.

“Sorry, Ayane-chan!” Yume jumped out, freeing Ayane from the pin with face turning red.

“I-i-it’s alright, Yume-sensei,” Ayane stammered in embarrassment, getting back up. “Y-you didn’t have to hop all the way, though!”

It didn’t take long for Ayane to reattach the drain pipe. All she had to do is to run the water supply valve and see if the new faucet worked well.

As she turned on the faucet, the water began running again without any leak.

“Yes, it’s working again!” She cheered. “Thanks for your help, Yume-sensei!”

“Anytime, Ayane-chan! Sorry for what happened earlier, though!”

“Ahaha,” Ayane nervously chuckled. “It’s fine, Yume-sensei. It didn’t turn out bad. Let’s clean up then change our clothes, it would be bad if other club members see us like this. Oh right, we’re going to have a formal meeting with the club at 10:45 AM. Please be there, Yume-sensei.”

“Got it, Ayane-chan! It’s about the debt, right?”

“Yes.”

The cleanup finished quickly enough for them to go back to the club room and change clothes before everyone else in the club arrived.

Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force Club Room, April 22nd, 2021, 10:44 AM

It was a bit unusual for Yume and every other Abydos student to come into the club room during the class hours. Considering the topic at hand, however, it was warranted.

“Thank you for coming to this regularly scheduled Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force meeting. Yume-sensei is also present, so I hope there’s more decorum than usual,” Ayane opened the meeting.

“Ayane, what’s with the formality? It’s just like other club meetings. This ain’t the first time Yume-sensei joins a meeting with us,” Serika questioned a little dismissively.

“Eh, may take the chance while Yume-senpai is here,” Hoshino countered. “Making it formal this time isn’t that bad, you know?”

“Nn, a formal meeting doesn’t hurt much,” Shiroko agreed.

“Yup, yup. Considering the topic we have at hand, it’s important that we behave,” Nonomi chimed in.

“Thank you for inviting me, Ayane-chan,” Yume responded. “I have question, though, why more decorum than usual?”

“Ahaha… I’m just a bit worried, Yume-sensei,” Ayane nervously chuckled, straightening up a moment later. “That aside, we’re going straight to the point. We’ll discuss how we’re going to pay the ongoing debt. If any of you has an idea, please raise your hand and lay out your ideas. The discussion starts now.”

It couldn’t be that bad, right? Why was Ayane worried?

Serika was the first to raise her hand.

“Treasurer Kuromi has the floor,” Ayane announced.

“Thanks, Ayane. As the club’s treasurer, I can’t stand the debt situation for any longer! 8 million yen per month barely covered the interest rate. Addressing the civil complaints and digging out for treasures are not enough!” Serika stood up, letting out a small poster. “Because we need money fast, I shall present you this affiliate program!”

“Serika-chan, sorry for interrupting, but is it related to the germanium bracelets we found yesterday?” Yume interrupted nervously.

“U-um, of course not!” Serika fidgeted before countering in excitement. “We only have to invite someone to install this app and buy some gold bars from our store! I have yet to register and set the store up, so I’ll do it in case all of you agree!”

Serika’s proposal was met with a minute of silence.

“Rejected,” Hoshino broke the silence. “That marketplace is very suspicious, for the starters.”

“Nn,” Shiroko, on another hand, ran the poster through a search engine in her phone before showing a news to Serika. “The app itself got suspended an hour ago thanks to waves of protests from a large number of its supposed members. Its official store was related to the germanium bracelet distribution we encountered yesterday.”

“W-wha-” Serika froze. “So what I was about to sign up to was also a scam!?”

“Eh, yeah…” Yume awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. “Serika-chan, we need to find a way that doesn’t involve scams…”

Just like the old times. Yume could see why Ayane was nervous.

“Other than the app itself being suspicious, I have two concerns for the proposal: One, Germanium itself cannot be said to bring good luck as there’s no research confirming the idea. Secondly, if the app itself is somehow legitimate, how are you going to register your storefront as a legitimate one to the General Student Council?”

“I don’t have any other idea…” Serika’s ears flopped, her body resting on the table in utter and complete defeat.

“Serika-chan!” Yume approached her, only for the latter to jolt back up.

“Hey, you’re not my big sister!” Serika huffed, face beet red. “Besides, I’m perfectly fine! I’m going to give the one handing over this paper and the app’s owner a piece of my mind!”

“Uhe, I guess it’s my turn,” Hoshino raised her hand.

“Club president Takanashi has the floor,” Ayane announced.

“We’re too focused on paying the debt to forget one more problem,” Hoshino began.

“What other problem?” The bespectacled elf nervously asked.

“We have too few students,” The pink-haired heterochromic girl quickly answered.

Yume could only blink.

For some reason, it hadn’t registered to her that five students were practically too few.

“That’s true…” Ayane admitted. “What’s your plan to address that and the debt?”

“I have an idea to solve both- kill two birds in one stone!” Hoshino continued. “We’ll register students from other academy districts by force!”

“HUH!?” Ayane exclaimed alongside Yume. “H-HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT!?”

“We hijack a few school buses and force their occupants to sign the admission forms!”

And Yume thought she was the one in the room with the most screws loose.

“Nn, that’s a good idea,” Shiroko stood up, brandishing her SIG 556 assault rifle. “Which district should we target? Gehenna? Trinity? Millennium?”

“W-wait a second, Hoshino-chan!” Yume shook her head wildly. “Everyone in the buses is going to be armed! Not to mention we’re picking a fight with other academical districts’ student council!”

“We can pick up delinquents from the Sukebans and Helmet Gangsters instead, then!” Hoshino smirked. “They should be easier to-”

What Hoshino said was true. Many Delinquents deserve and need a second chance, but-

“REJECTED!” Ayane interrupted with a yell. “WE’D NOT JUST MAKE MORE DEBT, BUT ALSO GET MORE TROUBLE WITH THEM!”

The meeting paused for another minute as Ayane adjusted herself until Shiroko raised her hand.

“I have an idea,” Shiroko began.

“F-Field captain Sunaookami has the floor,” Ayane trembled slightly. “P-please propose a reasonable idea.”

“Don’t worry, it is a reasonable idea,” Shiroko assured Ayane, which only served to make the latter’s trembling even more pronounced.

“What is it, Shiroko-chan?” Yume asked, to which Shiroko whipped out two heavy bags.

“We rob a bank,” Shiroko proposed, opening one of the bags, which contained ski masks and floor plans. “I even scouted the target locations and planned out the escape route. This way, we can get at least 100 million yen in a day.”

“W-w-w-w-wait, is that a-all you’ve been planning!?” Ayane stammered.

“A-a-are we going to rob legitimate banks!?” Serika also balked.

“Whoa… You made these masks by yourself, Shiroko?” Nonomi tried a green mask on with excitement.

“Yes,” Shiroko nodded. “I knitted more of these just in case.”

“Hehehe, looks like we got a reasonably quick idea,” Hoshino mused, rubbing the back of her head before glancing at Yume. “I’m not going with it, though. Especially with how we earn the money.”

“REJECTED!” It didn’t take long for Ayane to shut the proposal down.

“Looks like that only leaves me, then!” Nonomi raised the hand.

“Second year member Izayoi has the floor,” Ayane’s voice was getting eerily calm.

“How about we start our idol careers?” Nonomi pitched in.

Finally, a reasonable and legal idea!

“Yes, I second this!” Yume chimed in. “This way, we can legally earn-”

“Seriously, Yume-sensei!?” Ayane couldn’t hold her chagrin for any longer. “That industry isn’t the one we can take on lightly!”

“I agree with Ayane, Yume-senpai, Nonomi-chan,” Hoshino cut her off. “Idol industry is a hot mess full of corruption and stalkers.”

“Eh? But you’ll get fans as well!” Serika attempted to counter.

“Not just that, you can hire bodyguards as protection!” Nonomi chimed in. “I’ve even come up with the group name. It’s ‘The Masked Swimsuit Gang’☆!”

“No, I’m not getting into that!” Ayane adamantly refused. “Especially with that kind of name!”

“Yeah, that’s a lame name!” Serika added in.

“Go big or go home, indeed,” Shiroko mused before looking at Nonomi. “I can customize the masks if you need.”

Ayane couldn’t hold her trembling for any longer. She was going to wreck this room at this rate.

“A-Ayane-chan-” Yume reached out, but she was cut off by Ayane throwing the table upwards.

The meeting ended with Ayane throwing everything in the club room in all directions, screaming bloody murder throughout the process.

Shiba Seki Ramen Restaurant, April 22nd, 2021, 12:24 PM

The first club formal meeting with Yume had been an utter and complete disaster for Ayane.

Not only the club couldn’t find any viable and reasonable idea to solve the debt problem, every idea presented had been misguided at best and deranged at worst.

One idea would have the entire club involved in a multi level marketing scheme. If it had been legitimate, setting up a shop would be a headache in itself.

The other was basically pillaging other academy districts for students, which would have sparked a war between student councils. Even if the targets were changed to gangsters and sukebans, the gang problems would get much worse than they had already been.

There was a quick idea of getting money… By robbing banks. Not only it’d put Abydos into hot water with Valkyrie and SRT, but it would also put them into blacklists of many other legitimate banks.

Lastly, idol agencies. Sounded reasonable on paper, but as Hoshino had pointed out, the extent of corruption, abuse, and stalkers alone would have been hair-tearing to deal with at best. Kivotos forbid if a manager decided to use any of the girls for their own sick entertainment.

Here Ayane was, anxiously and furiously slurping through a large bowl of Miso ramen, surrounded by the students who had proposed such absurd ideas. The silver lining was that Yume was also there, but she was the person who had endorsed such deceptively dangerous last idea.

Not to mention if what the demolished Helmet Gangsters equipment were suggesting was right-

“Say, have you calmed down yet, Ayane-chan~?” Hoshino was the first to break the awkward silence, to which Ayane gave her only a look and a grunt.

No, Ayane had not.

“Haven’t seen Ayane ordering a special ramen bowl,” Serika commented. “She usually would order just regular ones.”

“Yup, yup, Ayane’s been stressed out, so let’s give her time!” Nonomi suggested.

“Do you want some more chashu, Ayane?” Shiroko offered.

“Yesh pleash,” Ayane muffled, still chewing the ramen.

She started calming down. At least the food made it more comfortable.

“By the way, why do y’all have to pick this place?” Serika questioned. “There are other good restaurants in the district, you know.”

“This place is still one of the best, Serika-chan,” Hoshino countered. “Besides, it’s close enough to the school building, try to beat that one.”

“Ugh, that’s true…” Serika muttered. “Oh, one of the girls from yesterday, I’ll take care of her. Try not to make much mess in the meantime.”

“Sorry, Ayane-chan,” Yume sat beside Ayane, patting her shoulder. “We’ll find a better way to pay the debt, I promise.”

“You behher, Yume-shenshei,” Ayane gave Yume a flat look in return before looking at where Serika was going.

Standing before Serika was a timid purple-haired girl with dark purple uniform and hat.

The timid girl’s clothing looked like a Prefect Team officer’s uniform, but there would be a red armband if she really was a part of Prefect Team. There would also be a few more Prefect Team members accompanying her, too.

So far, Abydos hadn’t done anything that would warrant Prefect Team’s reaction. What is the timid purple girl doing here?

“E-excuse me, w-w-what is your cheapest menu?” The timid girl asked.

“The cheapest menu?” Serika answered. “That would be the Shiba Seki Signature Ramen, worth 580 yen per bowl.”

“Just a few yen short of 650, eh? We’re going in!” A chirpy voice chimed in before entering, revealing a smiling short girl with a white hair in a single ponytail.

Joining the smiling girl were a confident peach-haired horned girl in a fur coat and a frowning girl in black jacket.

Those three girls don’t seem to be from Prefect Team.

A few seconds later, those four girls sat on the table across the walkway.

Their getup raised Ayane’s eyebrows. The horns of two students and the tail of one other seemed to indicate they were from Gehenna. Their expressions seemed to tell her they had gone through a rough morning.

“Oh, it’s them! Welcome back!” Yume waved at the four girls.

“Hi there! Didn’t expect to see you again!” The smirking girl of the four new arrivals waved back, seemingly taking it the easiest.

That said, it would be unusual for students from Gehenna to come here, especially if they came in a group of four. They couldn’t be on a study tour or a vacation. What were they actually doing here?

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E05 - Fixers and Fortune

Unknown District, April 21st, 2021, 1:52 PM

Kayoko had to take the wheel and pick up the pace with their newly “requisitioned” armed pickup truck.

What had happened earlier was a disaster to say the least. The job had gone well at first, but sudden reinforcement had come in surprise, and Haruka had snapped in return. As the result, many buildings in addition to the main targets had been blown to smithereens.

The voice she had been dreading came into being. It was Aru’s phone.

“Problem Solver 68! Is there anything I can help you with?” Aru answered the phone call.

That must have been the client. They might complain about the collateral damage.

“Eh? What do you mean our payment got cut!?” Aru asked, shock visible throughout her whole face.

The client must have noticed the collateral damage from Haruka’s crashout.

“I see…” Aru nodded. “Eh? What do you mean? You said our payment got cut.”

Kayoko couldn’t discern if there would be a bonus or a cut.

“Oh, so you got what you secretly wanted from those explosions? That’s good to hear!” Aru chuckled in excitement. “Speaking of the payment…”

It seemed to mean there was a bonus, but the end payment would be lower than the agreed 3 million yen.

“2 million yen via transfer?” Aru then looked at Kayoko. “Section chief, can you check for a second?”

Kayoko’s cellphone vibrated as soon as Aru asked her. Checking the screen, it was the notification of a successful transfer.

She just had to double check if the client was being honest.

After a minute of authenticating, she scrutinized the transfer details.

“They gave their word. 2 million yen, exactly like what you said, Aru,” She reported.

“Yes, the amount was exactly like you just said. Pleasure to have a business with you, have a good day!” Aru closed the phone call. “Phew, that was close, but it’s still enough for us to continue!”

“The contract had mentioned that we had to avoid collateral damage on the neighboring areas,” Kayoko stated. “We wouldn’t be here if Haruka didn’t lay out a lot of explosives to handle the sudden reinforcement, though.”

“Imsorryimsorryimsorry-” Haruka rapidly muttered as Mutsuki patted her back.

“That’s okay, Haruka-chan!” Mutsuki assured. “That additional pack wasn’t in our sight earlier.”

Aru’s phone rang again.

“New contract, eh?” Mutsuki teased.

“Definitely!” Aru puffed her chest in pride before answering the call. “Problem Solver 68!”

This should be a new contract.

“Alright, girls, listen up!” Aru announced before turning on the loudspeaker. “What would you like us to do?”

“I want you to capture Abydos High School annex building. Because of the current developments in Abydos district, other skilled contractors will take part in this attack as well,” the client elaborated in a distorted voice.

If what the client said was true, Nagel, Hummer, and especially Vanilla Tasset would be involved as well. Could the current developments be related to the new sensei formerly of Abydos and the quick resolution of the Chaos in Shiratori last week?

“Was the additional reinforcement acquired in response to SRT Special Academy and Direct Attack Strategic Institute?” Kayoko inquired.

If so, the client better know what they’re going to have to tackle with.

“Yes.” The client calmly assured. “To help with your preparations, we'll pay you in advance as well.”

They seemed confident in their contract. That said, something was amiss.

“Interesting…” Aru mused before asking, “How much are you paying in advance?”

“3 Million yen in advance. In the event of a successful capture, we'll pay you twice as much after the contract is finished.”

With that amount of payment, Kayoko couldn’t do much to sway Aru out of this deal.

“That’s a deal!” Aru announced.

“I look forward to your success. Let me know if it's done.”

“Don’t worry, It’ll be done! It’s a pleasure to have a business with you. Catch you later!” Aru closed the phone call.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Kayoko muttered.

“Eh? What are you talking about, Kayoko?” Aru asked.

“Us four and twenty part timers usually would be enough to make sure we can safely secure a school in a similar state with less than ten students without any retaliation,” Kayoko elaborated. “But the fact that Abydos could fend off the entirety of Helmet Gangsters’ operations there should set off the red flags, especially if they did it with no help.”

Not to mention that school also had a student to really look out for and steer clear from as far as possible.

“Hey, if we fail this one, it ain’t gonna be our first big failure, you know,” Mutsuki chimed in. “Not to mention we have brushed off against those two schools many times.”

“Don’t worry, section chief, we have gone through worse, after all. Of course the failure of this one is gonna be just a setback! Let’s see if our client meant what they really said!” Aru checked her phone before seeing the transfer from the group’s newest client. “Looks like they really meant it. Problem Solver 68, we’re going to Abydos!”

“I see. I have a contact in the Helmet Gangsters who can help us get there,” Kayoko browsed her contacts, looking for one marked ‘Helmet Gangster Officer R’.

She could tell this job wouldn’t go smoothly for various reasons, so she had to make preparations quickly.

Abydos District Outskirts, April 21st, 2021, 5:04 PM

The trip to Abydos district wasn’t a straightforward one. Kayoko had to drive through a rather roundabout route avoiding its neighboring Black Market district instead of going through it. Ever since the day before, that Black Market district had been under an intense scrutiny from various academies. The last thing Kayoko wanted is for any girl to get caught, or the job would be over before it even started.

Whilst on the way, the four had bought necessary supplies with Kayoko’s guidance. Fuel, ammo, food, drinks, and explosives.

Aru had also hired many part-timers. So many, in fact, that Kayoko had had to stop her upon finding out that she had shelled 4 million yen in the process.

Problem Solver 68’s truck stopped alongside Helmet Gangsters’ few motorcycles and dune buggies.

“So all we had to do is to follow this path, then we’d get close to the annex building, right?” Kayoko asked.

“Yup,” the Helmet Gangster contact with long red hair, Rabu, answered. “I wanna take you further into the district, but…”

“Is it related to SRT Special academy?” Kayoko filled the blanks. “One squad alone can put a few cells in trouble.”

“Unfortunately, yeah, they kicked our and other cells’ asses hard yesterday. Ain’t getting back there again and getting any of my girls dragged back into correction bureau,” Rabu reached out to a red Helmet Gangster officer, who gave her a map. “Some cells are still staying there despite SRT sweeping through the district. Take this, Abydos’ old maps are spotty, so we had to make scribbles to update them.”

“I understand,” The hooded girl began inspecting the map. “Yes, this is almost like when I was there for the last time a year ago. Speaking of some cells which stayed, how can we find them?”

Coming back to this district was an uneasy nostalgia, to say the least. Not to mention it still had a Color grade student attending the ruling high school.

“We haven’t got any updates from them since yesterday afternoon, but if you want to find them…” Rabu began gushing a little. “They sometimes wear gas masks and speak in some kind of old language. Throw any gun you have at them, they use it damn well. They’re so cool, especially every time they get calm and just fight under heavy fire!”

Gas masks, speaking an old language, proficiency with multiple firearm types, and ability to maintain composure under heavy fire. Kayoko could see a part of why this contract was off.

“I see…” Reaching out to her bag, Kayoko let out 500 thousand yen worth stack of cash. “Take this as a thanks to you girls for going this far to take us here.”

“Thanks a lot! Your job’s gonna be a tough one, so take care, you four!” Rabu waved before she and her girls revved up their vehicles, driving away.

In the meantime, the four would get back into their pickup truck, with Kayoko driving just like before.

“Section chief, you look a little gloomy. Is there anything bothering you?” Sitting at the back alongside Haruka, Aru was the first to ask.

“There’s something I have to tell you while we further go down this road,” Kayoko’s gaze kept focused on the road. “You all heard what our contact had said before I paid her in cash, right?”

“Hm? What gives?” Mutsuki asked in return, riding shotgun. “Cool girls in gas masks able to fire any kind of firearm well and keep calm while under heavy fire would help us a lot, you know?”

“There’s one more thing about them I want you all to pay attention to, speaking in an old language,” Kayoko added. “An average student or gang member aren’t trained to fire multiple kinds of firearms and stay calm under heavy fire. They wouldn’t use gas masks most of the time, either.”

“C-c-could it be that w-w-we’re going to work with s-s-s-scary people?” Haruka started to tremble in fear.

While Haruka didn’t know much, what she said couldn’t be further from the truth. That said, it was better to stop her from getting any more agitated. She’d blow anything up and likely get them caught at this rate.

Running out of options, Kayoko only looked at Mutsuki. Rumbles of stomach could be heard throughout the truck’s interior.

“Looks like we’re getting hungry from the last job earlier.” Mutsuki shifted the topic with a chuckle. “Say, does anyone know a good eating place in that district?”

“E-eh…” Aru’s face began to pale whilst calming Haruka down.

“I-I-I’m sorry, I-I-I don’t know…” Haruka’s fear was replaced by dejection.

All eyes fell on Kayoko, who could only sigh in resignation.

“I know a ramen restaurant and a few other good ones,” She broke the silence. “How about I park this truck in a spot first, then we four go to the ramen restaurant on foot?”

“Sounds good to me!” Mutsuki agreed.

“I-I will follow Aru-sama wherever she goes,” Haruka added.

“Then our destination is set.” Aru declared. “Section chief, set the course to the ramen restaurant you mentioned!”

Being able to visit that ramen restaurant without risking drawing ire from anyone in Gehenna could be a silver lining.

“Alright, we’re going to Shiba Seki,” Kayoko announced, gripping the steering wheel. “Everyone grab something, the road ahead’s getting bumpy.”

Unknown Spot in Abydos District, April 22nd, 2021, 10:55 AM

Today was the decisive day of the contract for Problem Solvers 68, especially Aru.

She had shelled 4 million yen for many part timers, including those driving their own armored fighting vehicles. Too bad the Section Chief Kayoko had stopped her before she could spend any more yen.

The safe passage to the heart of Abydos District was worth a lot. That, and the relative lack of security during their time of entry according to Kayoko.

Regardless, her group had already proved troublesome for both Gehenna’s Prefect Team and Valkyrie Police School’s Public Peace Bureau. That was an achievement in itself.

That said, this time was different. Their ongoing contact implied that they were going to fight students from SRT Special Academy, said to be able to bring trouble to many helmet gangster cells with just one squad.

Too bad that also meant she couldn’t rent an office, though.

What was an outlaw were it not for their courage and determination in the face of the challenges that stand in their way?

With Kayoko out, Aru had time to sneak some more payments.

Speaking of Kayoko, the latter had just got back from her meeting with a few of the other groups their newest client had mentioned.

“Hey, Kayoko’s back!” Her smiling friend Mutsuki jumped into her view.

“Ah, cut it off, Chief of Staff! Welcome back, Section Chief! How did the meeting go?” Aru bombastically greeted.

“Without a hitch. We’re going to attack the target location at 2 PM.”

“Excellent!” Aru then moved to Kayoko’s side. “Say, you wanted to tell us about a certain group yesterday…”

In the meantime, Haruka had just exited the bathroom, walking to the three girls’ direction.

“Hmm, everyone’s here, good. Let’s get inside,” Kayoko instructed, taking a lead as she entered an abandoned house.

The four sat at the recently cleaned table. Aru had Haruka to thank for that.

“Say, I don’t have problems with those cool girls,” Mutsuki began. “You said they also speak in an old language, right?”

“Yes,” Kayoko nodded. “With above-average discipline and composure, six of them in a squad alone are much above an average gangster or Sukeban cell.”

Another group that could be much stronger than an average delinquent cell, just like the Problem Solvers?

“Much above an average gangster group? Doesn’t that apply to us four as well?” Aru asked in return.

“Yes, but they’re more coordinated and disciplined. We really need to look out for each other more without drawing much of their attention. And avoid fights with them-”

The conversation was interrupted by a chime of Kayoko’s phone and growling stomachs.

“Looks like we’ve got another big problem. I’ve said everything I need to, and Aru…” Kayoko looked at her phone’s screen. “Our account has no more than 10,000 yen.”

Aru hadn’t expected that the details of her transactions for additional supplies would be sent to Kayoko’s phone as well. And the reason Kayoko had stopped her earlier was that she had been burning through their budget fast.

“W-W-W-WHAT THE HECK!?” She could only scream to the skies above.

Near Shiba Seki Ramen Restaurant, April 22nd, 2021, 12:25 AM

Aru and Haruka marched forward with their heads hung in defeat. In contrast, Kayoko kept walking normally and Mutsuki took small hops without losing her smile.

How could they keep going with their budget running low? Perhaps she could figure out the answer later on. Failing that, Kayoko could come up with one.

Still, they were starving so they had to find something to eat. The only place she knew was the ramen restaurant from the day before, which they were getting close to.

The four stopped as they were going to reach the restaurant’s front door.

“This time, we aren’t going to spend more than 650 yen!” Aru declared.

“We’re going to get hungry before we have a chance, Aru,” Kayoko rebuked.

“You sure you won’t spend a bit more, eh?” Mutsuki chimed in.

“I-I-I’ll ask for the cheapest menu…” Haruka meekly proposed.

“Excellent decision, new employee! We’ll wait for the good news!” Aru approved, to which Haruka nodded before entering the restaurant.

The wait took two minutes until they could hear a voice they had heard yesterday.

“That would be the Shiba Seki Signature Ramen, worth 580 yen per bowl,” the voice said.

“Just a few yen short of 650, eh? We’re going in!” Mutsuki didn’t wait a second before entering, followed by Aru and Kayoko.

The waitress was the same girl from yesterday—Serika. She led the four to the table beside that occupied by four students from Abydos and Yume.

Kayoko began to stiffen a little as her look focused on the one with pink hair—Hoshino.

“Oh, it’s them! Welcome back!” Yume waved at the four girls as the latter took their seats.

“Hi there! Didn’t expect to see you again!” Mutsuki greeted back.

After the four took a seat, Serika began asking again.

“So… You’re sure you just want to order a bowl of Shiba Seki Signature Ramen, right?”

“Yup, and we’d like to have four pairs of chopsticks as well!” Mutsuki answered.

“Huh?” Serika tilted her head. “Shouldn’t you order four bowls as well?”

“Eh… Too bad we don’t have enough right now.”

“It’s alright, can’t expect students to get a lot of money, anyway. I’ll bring a bowl to you ASAP.”

“Thanks!”

With Serika leaving for the stall, Mutsuki began speaking.

“Well, well, well, you really need to watch your spending, Aru…” Mutsuki looked at Aru’s eyes.

“That’s Boss for you!” Aru chided Mutsuki. “And be glad that we can still enjoy a bowl of ramen! A yen saved is a yen earned, after all.”

“ImsorryitsallmyfaultIshouldn’thave-” Haruka rapidly muttered.

“Haruka, calm down. It’s not your fault,” Kayoko began comforting her before looking at the Abydos students then Aru. “Aru, you’ve blown our budget on the goons and supplies.”

“Come on, we’re off the clock here. Still, a bowl for four of us is pitiful, isn’t it?” Mutsuki agreed.

Aru didn’t say a word.

“I know the job isn’t an usual one, but is it really worth blowing up our budget like this?” Kayoko asked again.

“Hey, you all know our motto: Expect the Unexpected.” Aru began defending herself. “I’m just covering all our bases!”

“Hm? Since when we have a motto?” Mutsuki’s face closed in onto Aru’s.

“S-Shut up! I’m gonna treat you all with sukiyaki once we finish the job, so you all better go all out!”

“Sukiyaki…” Haruka muttered. “W-what is that?”

“It’s a special dish only high class people can afford…” Kayoko trailed off as she noticed Serika pushing a large wheeled tray towards their table.

On top of the wheeled tray laid a large bowl with an enormous portion of ramen. Surrounding the large bowl were four normal-size bowls.

“Here, a 580 yen Shiba Seki Signature ramen bowl. Isn’t that right, Shiba-sensei?” Serika elaborated.

“I might have upped the portion a smidge,” Master Shiba commented beside her. “That’s alright, though. You girls deserve a bowl each.”

“Still, that’s a huge bowl…” Mutsuki commented. “Thanks, Shiba-sensei!”

“This portion is enough for six students…” Kayoko could only mutter before running out of words.

“W-wow…” Haruka could only stare at the bowl in awe.

“It would be rude for us to return it.”

“Let’s dig it, then!” Mutsuki was the first to strike the large ramen pile with her chopsticks.

The four’s appetite was enough to push them to finish the large bowl of ramen in just 20 minutes.

Aru could only stare at the now empty bowl, silently pondering about the ramen’s divine taste.

“I-I-It’s so yummy!” Haruka broke the silence.

“No wonder this place was crowded yesterday night!” Mutsuki mused.

“Uhe, didn’t expect students from Gehenna to hang out in this district,” The four could see Hoshino approaching their table, looking at Kayoko in particular for a few seconds then the table as a whole.

Kayoko could only stay silent as Hoshino looked at her.

What was going on with that pink-haired girl, and how could she make Kayoko nervous with just a look?

“Yup, yup. This place has the best ramen around,” Nonomi suddenly sat at Mutsuki’s side.

“Ack!” Mutsuki yelped.

“Hello! Didn’t expect you four to come back here again!” Yume approached the table.

“H-h-hello…” Haruka stammered.

“Oh, you’ve met them before, Yume-sensei?” Shiroko asked before turning to the four fixers. “The trip must have been long. How is it doing?”

“Yes, I saw them yesterday.” Yume answered. “How was this afternoon’s meal?”

“Hello! Our trip is doing well!” Aru greeted back. “The meal is excellent! Are you girls regulars here?”

“Yes,” Ayane replied. “Sorry to interrupt your meal, but we wanted to say it’s good to see students from other schools come here and see the light.”

“Hehehe, nice to meet you all!” Mutsuki replied before sharing a look with Kayoko.

Mutsuki’s grin was just getting wide. What was going on?

Near Abydos High School Annex Building, April 22nd, 2021, 1:45 PM

Aru and Problem Solver 68 alongside four fifths of the part-timers she had recruited arrived at the designated point.

Too bad around the rest couldn’t join and any time she had contacted them, she had received no answer at all.

“Be on your guard. Remember the group I talked about earlier? They’re close,” Kayoko asked, to which the three other fixers nodded. “Try to avoid fights against them as much as you can.”

Section Chief had never been this serious. Just how scary were those girls in gas masks?

Just as Kayoko had finished, six girls in tricked out uniforms came in, wielding equally tricked out firearms.

“A little earlier than the schedule. Have your friends secured the designated location in proximity with our target?” Kayoko asked the recently arrived group.

“Not yet. They’re meeting a lot of resistance, but they’d at least buy time for us,” One of the girls from the group answered before looking at Aru. “Is she your boss?”

Finally, a shred of recognition! Especially from professionals!

“Yes,” Kayoko answered.

“Hmm… I see,” the girl approached Aru before greeting. “Good afternoon. We’re a few girls from Vanilla Tassets. As we’re going after the same target, I’d like to lay out your objectives. You are to distract the students in the target building while we go around them and ensure their capture by any means necessary. For easier communication, we’ll designate your group as 68. Any questions?”

Aru wanted to retort, but something inside her head screamed not to.

“Ahem, good afternoon. Sounds like a good plan, no objections here,” She answered calmly instead.

“Good. My group is going to start now. We’ll rely on your additional personnel for support. Good hunting,” the girl left, followed by her group.

“I can tell those girls are going to be fun to mess with,” Mutsuki licked her lips.

“T-t-those girls are scary…” Haruka shuddered.

“We don’t have much time before we have to retreat,” Kayoko sighed. “Boss?”

“Alright, girls! You heard the order!” Aru announced. “Let’s greet them at the front!”

With Aru’s nod, the group advanced to the annex building. Some part-timers flanked the four girls with their vehicles. Some others staggered their advance to form waves. In the meantime, Kayoko’s look shot throughout all directions, face increasingly tense.

There was no resistance at all, so what’s up with the Kayoko?

Arriving at the front gate, Problem Solver 68 got greeted by the sight of Yume.

“Hey! What’s the meaning of this!?” Yume was the first to talk, walking to the front gate.

“Greetings, Sensei!” Aru said back. “Unfortunately, we’re on a business!”

Joining Yume was Serika, Shiroko, and Nonomi, who were exiting the building.

“WHAT THE HECK!?” Serika was about to stomp her way through the field, only for Shiroko to stop her midway. “WE GAVE YOU EXTRA RAMEN TWICE, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US!?”

“Sorry, Missy, this is a business matter, no hard feelings, yeah?” Mutsuki replied.

“Nn,” Shiroko, in contrast to Serika, just shot the fixers a glare. “You’re here to capture this annex building, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Kayoko responded. “If you want to make it hurt less, just surrender the annex building.”

“No can do!” Nonomi retorted. “No matter whatever yo do, we won’t hand over the building!”

There was supposed to be two more students present. Where could they be?

In a flash, a few abandoned buildings behind the fixers exploded, taking at least a dozen part-timers and three of their vehicles with them.

The part-timers only had a tank and an IFV left.

“I WILL FIGHT FOR AS LONG AS ARU-SAMA PLEASES!” Haruka was the first to charge forward in retaliation, furiously firing her SDASS shotgun. “DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!”

In response, Yume took it to the front as well, with Shiroko taking cover behind her and returning fire.

In the meantime, Nonomi let out a hail of bullets, downing seven more part-timers. Mutsuki threw a bag of explosives towards her, forcing Serika to yank her back before it set off. Even then, Mutsuki’s MG5 general purpose machine gun was enough to keep them in their cover for a while.

Kayoko and a few more part timers took advantage of the chaos to flank and advance, respectively. Shiroko appropriately identified her as the more dangerous of the two and engaged her in a hand-to-hand combat. Serika, meanwhile, began gunning down the advancing part-timers after furiously inserting her rifle’s magazine.

From her improvised sniping position, Aru was about to take a shot at the occupied Shiroko with her beloved PSG sniper rifle. Much to her chagrin, however, Yume reacted quickly enough to block the shots.

Throughout the fight, she hadn’t been able to see Hoshino among the defending group. Instead, she was greeted by a radio static then a line from Vanilla Tasset.

“68, this is Tasset. Good job with the distraction, we're approaching the small East entrance alongside your additional personnel. CONTACT-”

The communication line was cut off as she could hear an explosion and witness a tank and an IFV going in flames. The armored vehicle backup they had was gone.

“68! This is Tasset! Where are you!? We're pinned down here!”

Directing her sniper scope to the right side of the school, she could see Hoshino taking a brief glance at her through the scope. The pink-haired student zig-zagged, mowing through the eight part-timers buying time for the hastily retreating professionals. Without any break.

The sight was enough to make her jerk back. It took a few seconds for her to calm her breathing down.

This was bad! At this rate, the professionals supposed to capture this building would get folded by that pink-haired girl! Wait, that must be why Kayoko had been on her edge!

Aru held her beloved PSG sniper rifle with just her right hand, aiming it at Hoshino. As the latter was fifty meters away from the few retreating Vanilla Tasset girls, she pulled the trigger.

She was not going to lose to that pink-haired girl. She would get the job done. Kayoko was going to have less reason to worry about this job.

Aru smiled as she could see an explosion right at where Hoshino was. As the resulting fire faded, however, her smile also did. She could only watch as what remained were a shield which then fell backwards and an unscathed Hoshino still hunting down Vanila Tassets with just a shotgun.

In response, some part-timers saw the scene before fleeing for their lives, prompting three other Problem Solvers to witness the chaos.

Taking advantage of the ongoing chaos, Shiroko used one of the still fighting part-timers as a shield against Kayoko, Mutsuki, and other part-timers, forcing all of them back.

Serika focused her angry firepower on Haruka while Nonomi sweep the remaining part-timers on the field.

Ayane’s drone, meanwhile, dropped another care package near Yume’s and Shiroko’s positions, healing them both.

Thanks to Ayane’s healing, Yume can charge forward, further terrifying some of the part-timers.

Having just knocked out all the six girls from Vanilla Tassets with extreme prejudice, Hoshino began charging through the field, denying Kayoko, Mutsuki, and Haruka any chance to counterattack.

As if things couldn’t get worse for the attackers, reinforcements from SRT and SCHALE entered the battlefield from the West.

In response, the Problem Solvers retreated and regrouped at a nearby spot.

The other girls from Vanilla Tasset were supposed to hold them off! How could they come here and mow down the remaining part-timers!?

“WE DON’T HAVE MUCH CHANCE AGAINST EITHER FOX SQUAD OR THE PINK-HAIRED ABYDOS STUDENT, LET ALONE BOTH AT THIS RATE!” Kayoko shouted at her. “WE NEED TO PULL OUT, NOW!”

“Kayoko, we need you to fire that shot!” Mutsuki yelled, her smile completely gone. “We don’t have much chance to get out of this alive otherwise!”

Kayoko could only look at the unfolding scene in silence.

Haruka, in contrast, let out unintelligible mutters in fear.

“What’s the hold up!? Just fire-” Mutsuki was cut off by the sudden entrance of two girls–Miyako and Saki.

“Mutsuki!” Kayoko snapped out fast enough to intercept Miyako, thankfully.

In the background, a few of the remaining part-timers were mysteriously put to sleep one by one.

“This is RABBIT 1 to all friendlies! We’re engaging four more High Value Targets, we need your support, out!” Miyako called out, struggling to intercept Kayoko’s better-trained and more experienced blows.

“Haruka, help them out!” Aru yelled out.

Aiming her rifle against either Miyako or Saki was difficult, even moreso with the risk of accidentally hitting Kayoko or Mutsuki instead.

“You’re not hurting Aru-Sama’s- ow!” Haruka ran towards Kayoko’s and Mutsuki’s direction, only to be staggered in a sudden. It was as if a bat had just struck her out of nowhere.

Kayoko pulled herself and Mutsuki to cover, losing her upper hand against Miyako in the process.

“Thanks for the assist, RABBIT 4!” Saki called out, charging towards Mutsuki’s direction.

“Heck no! You’re not taking us to the correction bureau!” Mutsuki yelled, pouring fire to defend from Saki’s assault.

Judging by the way Haruka was hurt and those two girls’ callout, it must be an enemy sniper!

“IdontwanttogothereIdontwantto-” Haruka could only shiver in fright as Aru pulled her to cover.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pull us out of this!” In contrast to her resolute words, Aru desperately looked around through her scope, struggling to find where the shot came from.

A deafening whir of helicopter’s rotors closed in, announcing the arrival of a blue heavily armed transport helicopter. As it slowed down, ropes came out, descending to the ground around them.

At the same time, Yume and all Abydos students sans Ayane closed in on the fixers, stopping all of them dead.

“We don’t have to keep doing this. Please, lay down your weapons. We won’t hurt you,” Yume pleaded.

Rappeling down the ropes were FOX squad, who trained their firearms at the cornered fixers.

What Yume said was true. It was over. There was no point in doubling down here and at the moment.

“Let’s do what they say,” Kayoko suggested, dropping her pistol and backpack.

“Tch,” Mutsuki dropped her machine gun and the explosives bag she had been about to toss.

“Aru-sama-” Haruka was about to aim her shotgun to one of the surrounding students from SRT, but Aru’s grip on her shoulder defused her.

“Let it go,” Aru instructed, slowly putting her rifle down before addressing the girls surrounding her. “We surrender.”

She could only take a deep breath as Haruka let go of her shotgun. An outlaw could only be free from captivity for so long, after all.

Unknown Base in Abydos District, April 22nd, 2021, 4:32 PM

Waiting in a room had always been a nerve-wracking experience for Aru, especially with how she and the rest of Problem Solver 68 had got here. And with three squads of SRT students standing guard nearby, including the RABBIT squad that had pinned them down in the first place.

Despite being the group’s leader, she was not among the first her captors chose to talk with. Instead, They took Kayoko and Mutsuki first.

This was one of the times she wished she was the first so she at least could cover for the other girls.

Waiting for fifteen more minutes felt like two weeks. As that time had passed, it would have marked an hour since Kayoko had been taken there.

Aru could hear a door opening, with Niko and Kayoko exiting that room, the latter looking slightly exhausted with no sign of being physically beaten. Otogi and Mutsuki followed suit, the latter smiling at Aru.

Seeing Mutsuki having to force a smile like that stung for Aru. And why had the SRT and Abydos students chosen Kayoko first? Regrets and questions continued to float in her mind.

As Kayoko and Mutsuki took their seats, Niko and Otogi approached Aru and Haruka, respectively.

“I apologize for taking quite long to ask your friend, Rikuhachima-san,” Niko helped Aru standing up before guiding her to the room Kayoko had recently come out from. “This way, please.”

Entering the room meant for her, Aru could see a smiling Hoshino sitting in a relaxed manner.

“Good afternoon! How’s your trip to Abydos doing?” Hoshino asked as Niko closed the door.

“Hehehe, good afternoon.” Aru giggled. “Our trip just met a roadblock, unfortunately.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Hoshino commented, with Niko taking a seat on her side. “Relax, take this as an interview.”

“Good afternoon, I will be joining her in interviewing you today,” Niko politely added in. “How are you doing?”

Perhaps she could be more relaxed here.

“Good afternoon! I’m doing quite well as of right now!” Aru’s tone began getting more confident.

“That’s good to hear.” Niko replied. “Please tell us about yourself.”

Aru began straightening up.

“I was a student in Gehenna, but that was in the past. Now, I strive to be a great free and prospering outlaw!”

“Being that kind of outlaw is a big achievement even in Kivotos,” Hoshino commented. “How are you going to achieve it, though?”

“Becoming a free and prospering outlaw is an achievement. It comes with challenges,” Aru answered. “To that end, we need money! We take jobs for money and sharpening our skills!”

“What kind of jobs would you like to take?” Niko took a turn to ask.

“We take jobs that both pay well and challenges us,” Aru scoffed a little “What kind of outlaw that runs away from adversity, not grow as they overcome it?”

“If the job involves becoming an enemy to large companies like Kaiser Corporation, would you turn back or keep moving?” Hoshino asked.

“A great outlaw is bound to have at least one great opponent, and Kaiser Corporation is no exception! Of course, we keep moving until the contract is done!”

“Before we end the interview, I’m about to ask a difficult question,” Niko warned. “If your client turned out to be involved in either torturing or experimenting on students, would you still accept or continue their contract?”

Aru’s face darkened.

Her clients were bound to be shady, one way or another, but she and the rest of Problem Solver 68 still had their own dignity. Trafficking children alone was way off limits, let alone torturing or experimenting on them.

“No,” she answered without any flair.

“Even if it means fighting off everything they throw at you with no chance to get rescued at all?” Hoshino added.

The question was enough to make Aru pause.

There was a chance that what Hoshino said would happen one day. If it did, it meant she was likely going to lose either Kayoko, Mutsuki, or Haruka for good. She didn’t want to lose any of them, but was lowering her standards and losing her soul in the process worth it? Those three wouldn’t want for her to stoop that low, either.

“Yes,” Taking a deep breath, she nodded.

Niko and Hoshino exchanged looks before the latter made a small smirk.

Huh? What was going on with them? Had they got an idea, likely one most ingenious?

“I see. We can wrap up the interview here,” Hoshino announced, standing up alongside Niko. “You can stand up as well, Aru-chan.”

“Y-yes,” Aru stood up as well. “So…”

“Yes,” Niko approached her. “I’d say you did it well, Rikuhachima-san. We’re taking you outside this room, then we talk with others about how this interview went. We’ll let you know the results tonight.”

Yes, finally, the interview session was over!

Going through the door, she could see Kayoko sighing and shaking her head, Mutsuki letting out yet another mischievous smirk, and Haruka trembling.

“Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry-” Haruka silently muttered.

She was going to have a long night, wasn’t she?

A long wait and an awkward dinner later, the four got escorted to yet another room, in which Yume, Hoshino, Ayane, Karina, and the FOX Squad awaited.

Haruka began trembling more uncontrollably while Kayoko heightened her guard.

“Congratulations, Rikuhachima-san! The interview was a success, so you get a chance to work with us! Please name your price,” Niko broke the silence with a clap of hands. “We’ll pay you that amount both in advance and after the job is successfully done.”

Kayoko, Mutsuki, and Haruka froze, jaws dropped as they turned to Aru’s direction.

“Waitwaitwaitwait, WHAT!?” Aru’s face folded to one made out of pure shock.

They couldn’t be serious!

“Don’t worry, we really mean it!” Karina assured. “Just name your price.”

“Argh!” Aru struggled to decide how much for a minute. “4 million yen, it is!”

“The deal was set, then. Welcome aboard!”

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E06 - Into the City of Vices

SCHALE-SRT Joint Base, April 22nd, 2021, 8:10 PM

“Uwaaaaahhh…” Hoshino yawned, stretching both her arms upwards after placing a pen and a paper. “That was the last paperwork for today. You’re done there, Yume-senpai?”

“Yes, I’m done, too. Let’s call it a day,” Yume answered, drinking a glass full of water. “By the way, I know someone who wants to meet you any time soon.”

“Eh? Any time soon? Right when it’s time for relaxing and getting ready for bed?”

That someone couldn’t be any of those fixers or part-timers. Especially not those who had recently joined the attack on the annex building. Not to mention neither of them looked like they want to make any friend with any of the Abydos students.

“Don’t worry, Hoshino-chan!” Yume reassured. “They aren’t with the part-timers and fixers from earlier, and don’t mind meeting you online.”

That was more acceptable. No sane student would go anywhere far from their homes at night unless it’s for a long haul to a faraway place.

“They better not be any of those shady adults…” Hoshino mused in a slightly sour tone.

“No, they aren’t!” Yume insisted. “They’re not even close to their 20s yet!”

“Eh… You mean they’re a student?”

“Something like that.”

“Other than that, what else do you know about them?”

“They’re a great secretary. Give them a few paperwork and they’ll get it done in less than half an hour!”

“Must be a really helpful someone out there.”

Finishing a few paperwork in that time span, while not impossible, wasn’t something Hoshino could do consistently. Could the person Yume was talking about be a very good secretary, or a digital assistant?

“Say, Hoshino-chan, she’s ready to meet you right away,” Yume notified. “Are you ready to see her?”

“Alright, let’s do it,” Hoshino answered.

As Hoshino nodded, Yume turned her tablet’s screen to face her. Inside the screen was Arona in her usual blue-white sailor uniform.

“Oh, so that's her, Yume-sensei? That's wonderful!” the tablet’s speakers let out Arona’s voice. “Good evening, Hoshino-senpai! I'm Arona, the Operating System of Shittim Chest and Yume-sensei's super reliable assistant!”

“Uhe, looks like I’m going to stay with this girl for quite a while. Good evening, Arona-chan! Nice to meet you, too!” Hoshino’s look was directed to Yume. “How could she call me her senior, though?”

“Hehehe, Arona-chan is interested to learn some things from you, so she called you that way,” Yume rubbed the back of her head.

“I see,” Hoshino directed her eyes back to the tablet screen. “The tablet’s called Shittim Chest, eh? No wonder it felt way different from Ayane-chan’s tablet.”

“Yes! I can do a lot of things Yume-sensei asked!”

“Say, how long have you known Yume-senpai?”

“I first met Yume-sensei almost a week ago.”

April 16th, the chaos in Shiratori peaked then Yume-senpai somewhat managed to calm it down before the District of Utnapishtim could collapse. And then the announcement from SCHALE was during the same date at evening.

“I can tell Yume-senpai’s gonna be busy for a while. Arona-chan, can you please look out for her if I can’t stay with her?” Hoshino requested. “Yume-senpai can be reckless, so please watch her back for me, will you?”

“Don't worry, Hoshino-senpai! I have many tricks up my sleeve to help her out!”

“Hoshino-chan, I can show you one of the tricks,” Yume added in. “Arona-chan?”

“Oh, right. Hoshino-senpai, please close your eyes for a few seconds.”

Was Arona going to teleport her or Yume-senpai somewhere?

“What are you going to do?” Hoshino gave Arona and Yume a flat look.

“I'm going to take you both inside the tablet, of course! Please close your eyes, you'll be safe, I promise!”

“Alright then,” Hoshino closed her eyes alongside Yume.

Five seconds afterwards, she could feel her consciousness being pulled into the tablet.

Shittim Chest Virtual Space, 8:16 PM

Waking up with a throbbing headache was never a pleasant experience for Hoshino, even inside what appeared to be a virtual world. The headache faded away after ten seconds, thankfully.

Looking around, she found herself inside a demolished classroom near a shore, in which Yume and Arona were also present.

“Alright, the guest registration is a success! Welcome into the Shittim Chest, Hoshino-senpai!” Arona greeted her.

Hoshino looked around for a few seconds then looked back towards Arona.

“Oya? So this is basically the tablet’s own virtual space?” She asked.

“Yes!” Arona nodded. “Technically, I can invite any student here, but Yume-sensei is the only one with full access.”

That was understandable, considering Yume-senpai’s job.

“Considering Yume-senpai, I can guess why.” Hoshino replied. “Is it safe to say you choose which student can get into this place and hear you, right?”

“Yup! Yume-sensei trusted you the most, so naturally she invited you here. By the way, we have nothing left to do here, so let’s get you two back outside. Close your eyes, please.”

Upon closing their eyes, Yume and Hoshino could feel their consciousness being pulled somewhere.

SCHALE-SRT Joint Base, April 22nd, 2021, 8:19 PM

It hadn’t taken five minutes for Hoshino and Yume to wake back up since they had been pulled into Shittim Chest. Unfortunately for the former, the throbbing headache was back with vengeance, even if temporarily.

“Yume-senpai, I can tell Arona-chan didn’t make anything up about what she can really do. How come you aren’t targeted yet!?” Hoshino broke the silence, looking at Yume.

“Hoshino-chan, to be honest… I have no idea,” Yume admitted.

“No need to worry much, Hoshino-senpai!” Arona answered. “I made sure to clean up as much of Yume-sensei's digital tracks as possible! If that fails, I have other tricks, remember?”

“Right, right.” Hoshino yawned. “Today’s been long, I wanna find a place to nap here.”

“There’s a dorm for guests next to this building,” Yume stood up, pulling Hoshino by hand. “I can take you there!”

The pink haired girl’s drowsy look diminished upon reaching the recently remodeled guest dorms.

Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force Club Room, April 23rd, 2021, 10:24 AM

Yume sat at the table alongside the Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force, helping them counting the cash.

“There’s a small bag containing around 100 thousand yen. Can anyone please hand it over?” She requested.

“Here, Yume-sensei,” Shiroko handed over the bag. “That was the last from Hoshino-senpai.”

“Adding that bag, we’ve got 7,883,250 yen to pay them tomorrow,” Serika noted. “Is that all?”

“Yup. I think that about covers all of it,” Hoshino nodded.

“Now that you mention it… Why do we have to pay the debt in cash? Don’t they accept credit?” Nonomi wondered out loud.

Nonomi had a dangerously reckless sense when it came to credit cards, but that was a good question.

“Yes, I want to ask everyone here that question, too,” Ayane agreed.

“It’s because Kaiser Loans doesn’t accept any form of digital payment at all,” Hoshino explained. “Now that you think about it, there’s something different in cash that they look for.”

“It’s my and Ayane’s first time and I’m getting sick of it already! Are those idiots gonna accept any digital payment next month!?” Serika huffed in frustration, to which Hoshino shook her head. “Aaaaaaargh, let’s just pack these cash up already!”

“Right, everyone, let’s pack these cash neatly so it’s easier for the loan accountants to process tomorrow!” Ayane proposed.

Because of how much attention to detail the task at the moment required, no one said even a word. Silence greatly helped the six girls in making sure they get it right.

Still, as minute by minute had passed, Yume’s mood had slowly became more sullen, only stopped by how quickly the other five’s help sped the task up.

By the time they had finished, 7,883,250 yen worth of cash for tomorrow’s payment had been neatly packed and safely stored. After a five minute break, everyone got back into their positions in the club room again.

“Thank you for joining despite the earlier errand. We’ll talk about the armored vehicles from the attacks three days ago and yesterday,” Ayane announced. “I have analyzed their remains before we started counting the cash for tomorrow’s payment. Each of all those vehicles has at least three major components not supplied by any official or legitimate aftermarket manufacturer.”

“Major parts not from any official or legitimate aftermarket manufacturer, eh…” Hoshino mused. “Putting together that many armored vehicles with them would take at least a few visits to a Black Market District. Even then, most gangster cells would rather go with old bikes at most and / or steal cars instead of dealing with the armored vehicle logistics.”

“Hoshino-senpai is right,” Ayane noted. “After tracing where the components came from with our friends’ help, it turns out that most of them came from a Black Market district right next to this one.”

“So what? We’re going there, right?” Serika asked, cracking her knuckles. “Can’t wait to teach those guys a lesson or two.”

“Yes, we’re going to investigate the district, but we can’t just get there as we please without preparing, or we’ll get into trouble,” The bespectacled elf responded. “Any idea for preparations to go there?”

Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force Club Room, April 24th, 2021, 7:12 AM

Eyes on the front gate, Yume sat on the floor just outside the annex building’s main double door, knees on chest.

The rest of the previous day had gone smoothly, aside from the meeting.

It did not make the anticipation easier. Instead, with each passing second her heart slowly sank further.

“Good morning, Yume-sensei, is there anything bothering you?” Ayane’s voice greeted, helping her relax.

“Good morning, Ayane-chan,” she greeted back. “I’m just reminiscing the old days.”

Ayane paused for a few seconds before she continued.

“Yume-sensei… This isn’t your first time, is it?”

Yume could only shook her head.

“I see… What is it like?” The girl with glasses asked.

“Sometimes, you could only feel relief if you could pay more than usual. Other times…” Yume took another deep breath. “You just don’t know when this will end.”

“309 years of repayment schedule, at this rate…” Ayane could only silently mutter.

“Scary as it sounds, isn’t it?” Yume stood up. “Sometimes, the only thing we can do is just move forward and focus on anything in front of us.”

Yume and Ayane caught a glance of other students from Abydos approaching them.

“Yes, I understand, Yume-sensei,” The girl in glasses nodded. “Let’s meet them and prepare for the payment.”

“Good idea. Let’s move, Ayane-chan,” Yume started walking to the other four, with Ayane following behind.

April 24th, 2021, 8:29 AM

The moment Yume had been restless about had finally arrived.

A white van arrived, entering the school through the front gate. Upon stopping, two automatons exited.

“Good morning, we are from Kaiser Loans, and we’d like to process the payment for your loan,” the loan accounting automaton greeted. “Has the payment been prepared?”

Ayane stepped forth with the prepared cash.

“Good morning. Here is the cash we’ve prepared.”

“Thank you. Please wait while I’m counting the amount.”

It took six minutes for the android to count the cash by hand. Despite the automaton’s speed, however, there was only silence from Yume and Abydos students.

“A 7,883,250 yen payment on your loan, including variable and additional interests, has been confirmed,” the loan accounting automaton reported. “Paid in cash, no issues to report. Thank you once again for doing business with Kaiser Loans. See you next month!”

The two automatons didn’t waste a milisecond to load the cash and get back into the van. Afterwards, the van began accelerating almost instantly, leaving the annex building in less than ten seconds.

As the van passed the front gate, the girls walked back into the building.

“Yume-sensei, the surrounding cameras have captured the images of the van and its occupants,” Ayane was the first to break the silence, showing everyone else photos of the recent transaction. “It’s safe to say that Kaiser Loans breached the automaton exclusion zone agreement.”

“This is pretty much not the first time they’ve done it, but thanks for photos, Ayane-chan,” Hoshino remarked.

“Those people in Kaiser Loans surely love to break rules with impunity, Yume-sensei,” Arona noted. “By the way, I just got an encrypted call from RABBIT squad. Should I accept it?”

“Please do so, Arona-chan, they likely have an important information,” Yume requested before turning to Abydos’ students. “Everyone, I have a call to accept. Please wait for a few minutes.”

“Alright, stand by... They're here.”

“Good morning, Yume-sensei here,” Yume accepted the call.

“Good morning, Yume-sensei~ I just caught sight of the van that just exited Abydos' Annex Building,” Moe’s voice reported. “Safe to say, the van's owner breached the Abydos automaton exclusion agreement, so we've been tracking it since earlier this morning.”

“Understood,” Yume responded. “Is there anything else of note?”

“The van came from a Black Market district right next to this one. I think it's going back there even with a rather roundabout route. I'll keep monitoring the van and let you know in case I find something interesting.”

“That district? We’re about to go there soon.”

“Eehehe, that's daring, Yume-sensei. I hope the help from those fixers is enough. Good luck!”

The line disconnected.

“Yume-sensei, it sounds like we’re not going to that district alone,” Shiroko noted. “Who did she mean by the fixers?”

“The fixers? Don’t you mean…” Serika’s expression darkened as she began cracking her knuckles. “They can’t be the girls who attacked this place two days ago, can they?”

“Ahahaha, you’re right, Serika-chan-” Yume looked to her left as a small girl was about to crash to her.

“GOOD MORNING, YUME-SENSEI!” Mutsuki loudly greeted, being the first girl to enter the building, followed by the rest of Problem Solver 68, Karina, Eriana, Ramu, and Amarisu.

Unfortunately for Mutsuki, Yume’s durability and defense were too tough to crack. As the result, the latter was just pushed no more than five steps back.

“Looks like we came here a little early!” Karina mused as she and Ramu pushed a cart, on which laid a few large plastic ammo crates. “Good morning, Yume-sensei! The packages you requested are here!”

“Thanks for coming!” Yume started patting Mutsuki’s head. “How are you and your friends doing?”

“HUH!?” Serika could only shout. “SERIOUSLY, YUME-SENSEI!?”

“We’re doing great and ready! What about you, Yume-sensei?” Mutsuki answered, deliberately ignoring the fuming black-haired cat girl.

“I can tell today isn’t going to go well…” Ayane could only groan and grab her face in frustration.

“Uhehehe…” Hoshino could only guffaw as she looked at Kayoko. “Sorry, Serika-chan, we’re going to need the resident Black Market district experts’ help, so we’re taking them in.”

“Mutsuki, just let go of Yume-sensei,” Kayoko could only sigh. “We’re going to help you navigate through the district but-”

“First, we’re going to introduce ourselves as a courtesy to our client!” Aru declared loudly.

The next five minute passed with self-introduction, closed by Aru’s.

“You’re just four persons! What’s with these overly fancy position names!?” Serika hadn’t calmed down a bit.

Kayoko gave her a symphatetic look.

“Sorry, missy, we have a sense of flair, you know,” Mutsuki, in contrast, retorted with a smile.

“Don’t forget we have our own prestige and track record as well!” Aru proudly added in.

“That was surely earned given how many major incidents in Black Market districts just three of you got involved with…” Eriana groaned. “Is Haruka your newest member?”

“Yes, She has proven her potential as well!” Aru answered.

“U-u-um, n-n-nice to m-meet y-y-you all,” Haruka shakily greeted.

“With this lineup, we’re surely going to teach the district a lesson to remember!” Nonomi boasted, seemingly oblivious of what happened two days ago.

“Nn, but let’s get back to business.” Shiroko put the meeting back on track, holding her urge to glare. “We need to make final checks before we depart.”

Black Market District, April 24th, 2021, 10:35 AM

All it had taken for the atmosphere to start choking Yume had been merely crossing the unseen border between this and Abydos Districts. To its existence and proximity to Abydos had been harrowing, to actually enter it even moreso.

She was standing inside a store full of firearms of myriad qualities, with ammunition being openly displayed, from standard to outright exotic ones. Joining her was Aru, Mutsuki, and Shiroko. In the meantime, Nonomi and Amarisu were outside, looking out for anything that might spell trouble.

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here…” Amarisu’s words when her group had been about to enter, had never felt this true.

Fortunately for her, none of the shop’s staff nor visitors seemed interested to talk, too busy minding their own businesses.

“U-um, how much is this assault rifle?” Aru inquired in a slightly awkward manner. For all her boasts, seemed to be doing the shy nerd act quite well.

“You meant this AUG A3 M2? That would be 50 thousand yen. No discounts since we didn’t need one anyway,” no shopkeeper in any other district had been this proud of what they had just said.

“Oh? N-no need for discount, you say? How could this place…?”

“We got a big order a few days ago. The client was anonymous, but they paid a lot of money. Some crates were lost, but almost all made it to their address. I can say these guns’ quality are unlike what you’ve usually seen in those convenience stores.”

“Ah, I see. T-thank you very much.”

“Come back here if you’ve made up your mind, girl. With a lot of cash in hand, of course,” the shopkeeper waved as Aru took steps outside.

In the meantime, Mutsuki and Shiroko were reviewing the firearm selection when Aru tapped their shoulders, which was the cue to gather with Yume.

“These firearms are of the similar models to the ones from three days ago,” Shiroko whispered to Yume as the former approached the latter.

The day where Yume had taken the girls to a treasure hunt and had come across the gun crates. Shiroko still remembered well.

“Fufufu, this store is still quite popular as ever,” Mutsuki mused, tongue out behind her mask. “That said, the competition is getting a lil’ stiff.”

“Y-yeah, some other stores are going to rival it in a few days,” Aru added in. “The store processed a large order and lost a few crates in shipping a few days ago.”

“Those seemed to be timed coincidentally well with a few crates found a few days earlier,” Ayane noted. “You should be able to see the second group at the moment.”

“We're coming out from the large gun store across the street,” Hoshino’s voice, altered slightly by radio interference, announced. “It's just as crowded as the one the first group is visiting.”

“Our shop also got a large bulk order a few days ago and lost a crate in the midst of shipping,” Kayoko continued.

“Understood,” Ayane answered. “Stay sharp, there could be more. Keep looking around while we're headed to the target.”

Across the street, Yume could see Hoshino, Kayoko, and Haruka exiting a crowded gun store. The latter three were joining Serika and Eriana, who were also looking out.

So far, everything had been working so well, especially their disguises. No one in the black market district had identified any of the group, especially any of the Problem Solvers. The fixer girls had surprisingly supported the idea, likely because them being spotted whilst working with Yume and Abydos here could spell trouble. It helped that many stores they walked past was crowded, making it easier to blend in.

The next fifteen minutes had both groups passing a small street, with Yume’s group walking ahead of Hoshino’s. Many open small storehouses at its sides were offering exotic food, rare collection trinkets, and even contraband merchandise.

Speaking of contraband merchandise, there was one selling Peroro merchandise that Yume’s group had just walked past. From there, they could hear automatic gunfire and a fight. What followed was a brunette girl in clothes that covered almost her entire body running away from a few sukebans.

“HAND THAT PLUSHIE OVER TO US!” An assault rifle-wielding sukeban “THIS IS OUR TERRITORY!”

“HAAAAAAUUUUU, I DON’T WANNA!” The brunette fled towards Yume’s group. “I HAVE SAVED FOR MONTHS TO AFFORD THIS!”

“Shiroko-chan, can you handle the Sukebans?” Yume detached a ballistic shield from its mount on her back, no longer able to hold back her urge to help the brunette. “Six of us should be enough, we’ll rendezvous with the other group later.”

“Eh?” Hoshino incredulously asked, her group about to enter the street and assist. “Alright then, we'll meet again at the second RV point. Watch yourselves out there.”

“Nn,” In a single motion, Shiroko grabbed the brunette whilst latter was still running and moving her behind Yume’s protection.

“Hey! Do you want some money? We have plenty! Just hand over the girl-” A Sukeban offered.

“Not interested,” Shiroko cut her off, firing a gray SIG 556 assault rifle captured from the helmet gangsters.

“Eh!?” The brunette could only exclaim in shock.

The chasing sukebans were put to sleep by the gunfire. In response, at least a dozen more showed up at the end of the street Yume’s group was about to head to and the nearby alleyway.

“Everyone, let’s clear out a path then escape through the alleyway!” Yume instructed before turning to the recently rescued brunette. “Can you fight?”

“Y-yes! Thank you for rescuing me!” The brunette’s right hand reached her dark gray L85A3 assault rifle’s pistol grip. “We need to get out of here soon, the Black Market Guards are going to catch us if we don’t!”

“Got it! Looks like the chaos in this and Abydos districts are almost the same,” Amarisu pulled her Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle’s charging handle. “Eyes on the alleyway, but mind the enemy’s positions!”

“We’ll do as you requested!” Aru aimed then pulled the trigger of her modified FAL battle rifle, putting a sniper rifle-wielding Sukeban to sleep.

“Fufufu, looks like we get to test how well our new guns work!” Mutsuki brandished her FN Minimi Light Machine Gun with a wide, toothy grin.

“It’s punishment time~!” Nonomi rolled out a black minigun confiscated from the helmet gangsters.

The firefight lasted only five minutes as Yume’s group pushed to the alleyway as fast as they could. Yume was at the rearmost position to stop gunshots from behind, unlike when she had first arrived back in Shiratori just over a week earlier.

In the meantime, the sukebans would be forced to fend off and flee the Black Market guards, giving the distraction needed for Yume’s group to escape and hide.

Black Market District, April 24th, 2021, 11:16 AM

It was supposed to be a normal black market trip for Ajitani Hifumi, but things had made it more chaotic. It would have been almost impossible to escape that many sukebans if it hadn’t been for those six girls helping her out. Her disguise would have been outright useless.

Now that the seven girls were in a relatively secluded corner a few blocks far away from where they fought sukebans off, they could catch a break at last. The two alleyways made it easy to defend the place from.

“Thank you for saving me again!” Hifumi was the first to break the silence.

“You’re welcome!” Yume approached her before opening her helmet’s face shield. “By the way, what are you doing here?”

“A-ah, I bought a Peroro merchandise, where is it…” The brunette began searching her bag, in which a Peroro plushie was resting. Thank goodness she had time to neatly wrap it up in the midst of dealing with the sukebans.

“Well, well, well, you’re not the only one looking for such rare merchandises,” Mutsuki mused. “How much did it cost, by the way?”

“E-eh… Almost a hundred thousand yen?” Hifumi scratched her head.

“Oh!” Nonomi approached Hifumi to inspect the plushie. “This is one of the ultra rare Peroro plushies which was sold out in just minutes!”

“What!?” Yume exclaimed before scrutinizing the plushie herself. “Wait, you’re right! This one has Peroro’s voice actor’s signature as well!”

“Right?” Hifumi chimed in. “The signature was a real one, too!”

“Kufufufu, surely that plushie hadn’t been scalped, right?” Mutsuki merely giggled at the sight. “Some people love doing that for profit, after all.”

“T-that’s true…” Hifumi could only nod. “It was thrice as expensive as its original retail price.”

“No worries, Missy. Since you’ve already earned the ultra rare plushie, you’re not going to chuck it away, are you?” The white-haired small gremlin teased.

“M-Mutsuki!” Aru called out.

“Huh? Heck no! That would be a heresy to Peroro-sama!” Hifumi loudly retorted.

“Nn, looks like her group is here,” Shiroko wasn’t even bothered with the plushie nor the Peroro conversation. Instead, her look focused at the alleyway the seven girls had come from, from which five more girls came out.

“Uhe, looks like your group got a girl,” Hoshino mused. “Finally, a shaded place! Seriously, this mercenary getup is stuffy. It’s getting hot even if I’m not moving around…”

“A-are those five girls with you?” Hifumi began freezing like a deer in the headlights.

“Yes,” Yume nodded. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt or ask anything from you.”

The introductions felt awkward as it turned out that everyone in the corner, including those from Abydos and Gehenna, had been wearing clothes not containing any school or work uniform.

“A-a-are you eleven here to e-extort me?” She trembled.

“Of course not!” The short pink-haired girl shook her head. “We wouldn’t stoop so low to rob a single person, but since my friends helped you out of the trouble, well…”

“Please! Don’t hurt Peroro-sama, I will do anything!” Hifumi begged.

“You’re beginning to bother her,” Kayoko sighed before looking at Hifumi. “We won’t hurt either of you. We’re here to investigate this district. Is there any standout place you have in mind?”

“Eto… This district doesn’t exactly have many places of interest, but it has a bank you all need to know about!” Hifumi answered with stutters. “Should I show you the directions as well?”

“We don’t mind if you jump ship at any time. Just know you have a high chance to jump out of the frying pan into the fire, though,” Amarisu nonchalantly answered, to which Eriana gave her a dirty look that she only answered with a shrug.

That was a vaguely threatening sentence. Did she mean there would be a chance of running into the sukebans without any help coming?

“I-I’ll guide you there, then!” Hifumi fidgeted before taking a step to the other alleyway. “Stygian bank is this way!”

The walk to the bank was an uneasy one. For every step she took closer, the gloom in the surrounding air only thickened.

“Why do you all want to go there, though?” Hifumi asked. “This district has its own police forces sweeping the place. The bank has its own security force which is a cut above them as well!”

“We want to get to the bottom of the criminal activities in the districts close to this one,” Shiroko elaborated.

“Oh, then you’re coming to the right place! The bank is basically behind at least 25% of this district’s economy!”

“You said this district has its own police force, not those from Valkyrie Police School, right?” Eriana took her turn to ask.

“Yes, I mean it!” Hifumi nodded. “Just like Valkyrie, they would come down and quell any chaos that comes up. But, unlike Valkyrie, they only care about crimes that can threaten the district’s economy.”

“Does it mean that this district is not managed by General Student Council?”

“This place has its own government, but it’s managed by the big banks. Stygian bank is one of them,” Hifumi corrected.

“Eh? Why doesn’t the General Student Council do anything about this?” Serika balked.

“That’s because they can’t do anything about it without raising chaos,” Kayoko took turn to answer. “Preparing to investigate it would take preparing for a possible war as well.”

“Is it safe to say the entire city is gonna get involved in that case?” Hoshino concluded.

Kayoko wordlessly let out a small nod.

After taking a left turn, Hifumi stopped then pointed at a large building. It didn’t look much compared to the ones at its left and right. However, it had more people entering and exiting it than both of the latter two.

“We’re here. Stygian Bank is across the street,” Hifumi announced, her stomach letting out a growl.

“I wonder if there’s any restaurant or food court around…” Nonomi mused.

“You’re out of luck, sadly,” Mutsuki responded. “The closest restaurant would be at least a hundred meters away and it’s a rip off. Your best bet is the nearby food stalls. Good thing there’s one for Takoyaki right there!”

Hoshino, on another hand, looked at a certain direction away from the bank and the takoyaki stall.

“Anyone wanna try out inarizushi?” Hoshino proposed, walking the opposite direction of Stygian Bank’s. “There’s a stall nearby, so let’s take a look.”

“Sounds like a good idea, let’s go,” Eriana agreed.

Hifumi, Eriana, Kayoko, Haruka, and Yume joined Hoshino in search of the inarizushi stall. Six others approached the nearby takoyaki stall instead.

“Good morning! If you’re all looking for a meal, can I interest you in some delicious inarizushi?” the stall’s attendant, a pink fox girl wearing sunglasses, offered.

Near Stygian Bank, April 24th, 2021, 12:06 PM

The taste of inarizushi brought the much-needed relief to Hoshino and five other girls accompanying her.

She was also glad Yume got to taste Niko’s inarizushi for the first time. Her senpai had been struggling to hold her shaking throughout the walk to this very spot, even if that had been hidden by her disguise clothes and tower shield.

“The inarizushi is still as good as ever,” Eriana was the first to comment. “If only I could invite the other girls…”

“Hehehe, I appreciate it, Eriana-senpai,” Niko chuckled. “By the way, how are they doing?”

“One is now a virtual streamer, three others are in civilian jobs, and the remaining four are doing security jobs.” Eriana briefly looked at Amarisu’s direction before huffing. “One of those four is with me.”

“I know who you mean,” Niko glanced at the stammering Hifumi. “Also… Didn’t expect you to tag a new friend along, senpai.”

“She’s just tagging along at the moment.”

“Oya? While things are getting crowded here? Interesting.”

“S-sorry, I was looking for a rare merchandise…” Hifumi cut in.

“It’s alright. Many scalpers target special edition merchandises. Sadly, only a quarter of such cases have been taken seriously,” Niko’s ears perked to another direction. “Is it just me, or does it sound like I’m going to serve special guests soon?”

Roars of motorcycles’ and dune buggies’ engines echoed throughout the street, followed by a softer hum of a van. Six seconds later, four motorcycles slowed down in front of the bank, followed by two dune buggies and the same white armored van from earlier this morning.

The sight of the girl with long red hair driving one of the dune buggies made Hoshino start twitching. There was an urge to grab the modified MP-155 shotgun slung on her back.

“That's the same armored van from a few hours earlier, with the same license plate!” Ayane’s voice gave the alert and distraction she needed.

“I can tell you’re gonna serve a few particularly demanding ones,” Hoshino answered.

“Hardly my first time serving such customers,” Niko giggled.

“Kaiser Loans, eh?” Mutsuki cut in. “That name sounds like an omen in itself.”

“From what I’ve heard, it is…” Hifumi shakily nodded.

The van stopped at one of the bank’s entrances with special booths and gates, after which an automatons exited it.

“That’s the same automaton from earlier this morning,” Yume gritted her teeth, trying hard to even her breathing.

Another automaton wearing a fedora hat exited the bank, approaching the accounting automaton who had just closed the van’s door. After a handshake, the two then walked into the bank as the gate opened, allowing the van to enter.

Niko and Eriana could only look at the sight in silence.

“Those guys…” Serika, on another hand, trembled, anger pulsating throughout her body. “That was the money we’ve paid earlier today, right?”

“Yes,” Shiroko nodded, glaring at the entrance.

“Now we know why they only accept cash as well,” Nonomi nodded.

“That was your money!?” Hifumi stammered, to which Hoshino and Yume gave a nod. “Is that why Tea Party and Sisterhood have been doubling down on keeping an eye of Kaiser Loans?”

“Yes,” Kayoko confirmed. “From those automatons’ manners alone, I can tell they’ve been doing this for years. No doubt they’d try and pull this off on unsuspecting Trinity students.”

“Looks like Kaiser Corporation hasn’t changed their ways at all,” Amarisu noted, tightly gripping the case containing her enhanced battle rifle. “I have a bird watching to do.”

On one side, Hifumi’s mention of Tea Party and Sisterhood could point to her being a Trinity student. On another, the sight of that van and automaton, followed by the girl with long red hair, meant one thing.

“Looks like you had a reasonable idea, Shiroko-chan,” Hoshino mused. “Still carrying those?”

“Nn,” Shiroko opened her bag’s zipper slightly, revealing eleven numbered hockey masks.

“Wait, are you all going to do it for real!?” Ayane’s panic echoed through the communication line. “Yume-sensei, please say something!”

Hoshino and Yume nodded at each other. The latter then turned to the ten other girls.

“Everyone, you’ve all seen that exchange with your eyes.” Yume announced before taking a deep breath. “We’re going to find the evidence and see how long they have been doing this. Any questions?”

It was good to see Yume-senpai finally realizing the limits of her optimism, but that came with another question. Hopefully she wouldn’t jump off the slippery slope and become much worse one day.

Silence answered Yume’s question alongside everyone except Hifumi shaking their heads.

“Understood, Yume-sensei,” Ayane was the first to respond. “Everyone, you all heard what Yume-sensei said. We're going in to find only the evidence. Please give me fifteen minutes to prepare.”

“W-w-w-what’s going on-” Hifumi looked around in confusion, only for Shiroko to fit a brown paper bag with a scribbled ‘0’ to her head.

“Sorry, Hifumi,” Shiroko apologized. “This should do as a mask for now.”

“W-w-wha!?”

In the meantime, Hoshino and Niko looked at each other.

“You’ll need the evidence, but there’s a high chance you’ll also get money,” The latter noted. “What would you do in that case?”

“No one’s taking it, that’s for sure,” She firmly answered. The debt had to be paid with legitimate means, no matter what. “Not even myself.”

“Glad to hear that, Hoshino,” Niko sighed in relief. “Go, we have your backs.”

“Hoshino-senpai, Yume-sensei, Stygian bank has robust digital security systems. I can spoof them and help Ayane out if you want to go there,” Arona’s voice buzzed through her earpiece.

“Yume-senpai, please give us your blessing,” Hoshino asked as everyone’s eyes, Niko’s included, looked at Yume’s.

Yume took a deep breath, then let out a voice.

“Everyone, let’s do this.”

Chapter Text

P01C02 - V1C1E07 - Hornets' Nest

Payday 2 Official Soundtrack - Le Castle Vania: Fully Loaded Epic Win (Stealth) (extended)

Stygian Bank Perimeter, April 24th, 12:33 PM

Hoshino put a bank guard she and Eriana had just finished a talk with to sleep as Kayoko and Shiroko came from the another side of the bank.

"The security room is at the basement, at the eastern corner of the building," Kayoko reported. "Let's set this up quick, our insider doesn't wanna stay here for too long."

"That's like what our guard said. Let's go," Hoshino commented.

Sneaking through the back entrance to the Bank's perimeter was a surprising breeze. Even better, Shiroko had been keeping up well despite lacking experience compared to her, Kayoko, and Eriana. Still, they needed to reach the security room the guards had mentioned.

"Ozone, Houston, all four of us just entered the bank's inner perimeter. Getting into the building," she reported.

"Got it, Uncle, the outer parameter's still a little lax. Get inside before it becomes a small convention in three minutes." Amarisu answered nonchalantly. " Blaze, you there?"

"Yeah, yeah, Ozone, I'm here," Blaze—Serika's miffed grumble was heard. "Guards are still wandering around like usual."

Moving throughout the parameter whilst cleverly using cover to avoid any guard's sight allowed the four entrance to the building through the rear.

"Finally, away from the heat!" Hoshino announced.

"Hey, Uncle! While you four were sneaking, I helped spoofing the bank's security systems," Arona whispered to Hoshino's earpiece. "You can move more freely now, but still, watch out for the guards!"

"Thanks! Alright, let's get underground and find the security room."

The cameras and motion sensors being spoofed helped the descent. As the four reached the door to the room, Kayoko knocked the door with Hoshino waiting nearby. The first guard exiting the room was put to sleep by three rapid suppressed pistol fire courtesy of Hoshino. The second was gunned down by Kayoko's suppressed MPX submachine gun before her hand could even move to the red button.

"That was close. We have fifteen minutes until the guards find out something's wrong and sound the alarms," Eriana commented as she planted a WiFi router-like DSM module at one of the room's servers. "Houston, I'm planting the DSM module at the security room's main computer. Let's see where the server room is."

"DSM module connection confirmed, receiving," Ayane responded.

"I have never seen that many guards close to each other even for a large bank," Kayoko clicked her tongue, her fingers running through the camera console. "Whatever we do, we'll need to take care of them soon."

"Nn, some places are still sparsely guarded," Shiroko commented, observing a few hallways.

"Alright, girls, better make it quick while the outside is still clear~" The way Hoshino's gaze swept around the hall betrayed her tone.

"We don't have many route options for sneaking to the server room. There's one, but we're gonna have a walk around the office," Shiroko reported.

"Those workers are getting unusually restless," Kayoko frowned, eyes sweeping throughout the feed. "Our insider should be able to make a distraction and give us some room there."

"Everyone, the bank's server room is at the second floor. The cameras and sensors have been neutralized." Ayane's voice cracked in again. "Scarecrow, take out the DSM module, I'll handle the surveillance."

That was quite fast even for a DSM module's work. Could Arona be helping out?

"Got it," Eriana detached the DSM module from the mainframe. "Let's go up."

Ascending to the ground floor by stairs did not take much effort. Reaching the second floor without being seen, however...

"Still too many guards here," Kayoko whispered. "They haven't moved since before we started checking the cameras."

"Let's go through the office area, the workers there should be still too busy to mind us," Shiroko proposed. "Houston?"

"Wait, Meursault, seriously?" Ayane's exasperated sigh could be heard. "Hold on, the office workers seem to be still preoccupied with their jobs and the staircase nearby has less guards. That's your best shot for reaching the server room."

Moving quietly past the twenty guards and a dozen motion sensors to the office area stairs was nerve-wracking. Had Hoshino and her friends not hit the security room or Arona not spoofed the security systems first, this would have been much louder.

"That was surprisingly easy..." Kayoko was the first to go up the stairs. "No guards looking out above. Let's go."

A minute felt like five as the four cautiously walked upstairs and cleared the nearby janitor room for a two minute break.

"No one's caught us so far. The break's over, this way," Hoshino peeked outside the janitor room before slowly opening the door.

The office area greeted them with the sight of people in office or business attires walking left and right. Some of them stayed at a desk for a few seconds before hopping to another.

"There are a few likely paths. Let's split up in groups of two," Hoshino eyed at two empty paths at the area's sides.

"Yes. Everyone, keep your eyes peeled," Eriana nodded. "You still had it like two years ago, Uncle."

"We can talk about that later," Hoshino let out a sigh before turning to Shiroko. "Nazgul, see if you can find a way to distract those workers. Meursault, wait for Scarecrow's instructions, might learn a thing or two."

"Got it, Uncle," Kayoko sent a message to her insider. "Let's wait for a minute."

"I'm with you, Scarecrow." Shiroko approached Eriana. "What's the plan?"

The answer came from a girl passing out at the middle of the office area, loudly crashing at a nearby cubicle's wall. Many other co-workers gathered around with some checking on her.

"That's our cue. Let's move," Eriana took advantage of the distraction to go ahead, followed by the other three.

It took two minutes for the guards to take the passed out girl away on a stretcher. The sight of her face and long hair made Eriana blink a few times before doing a double take, as if she had seen them before.

"Let's move, someone's gonna see us if we stay here too long," Shiroko tapped her shoulder.

Throughout the three minutes of crossing the other half of the office area, all the four had to do was slowly crouch around the walkways.

"Nazgul... Was the blacked out girl your insider?" Eriana asked as the four exited the office area.

Kayoko only nodded a little.

"She hasn't changed a little bit..." Eriana could only silently murmur and let out a sigh.

As the four were about to approach the server room hallway, Shiroko gestured for the three others to pause, peeking through the corner.

"Four guards around the corner, door with fingerprint and keycard authentication past them. They aren't moving any time soon," Shiroko observed. "This is the only way to the server room without destroying any wall."

"Everyone, suppressed weapons only, but hold your fire," Eriana instructed, flipping her suppressed BRN-180 short-barreled rifle's safety switch. "I got the middle right one."

"The farthest one's mine," Hoshino decided, her RATTLER LT short-barreled rifle at ready.

"I got the one near the door at the left," Kayoko aimed her submachine gun.

"Nn, I'll take care of the one at the right," Shiroko nodded, aiming her suppressed MP9 machine pistol.

"On my mark," Eriana commanded. "Go."

Four simultaneous trigger pulls, followed by four suppressed shots flying towards the guards. The first were not enough, so the second had to follow up as soon as possible. The guards couldn't react with how fast the subsonic rounds flew towards them, leaving them open for knockouts.

"Let's make sure they don't wake up soon," Hoshino suggested before shooting the unconscious automaton's head twice. "Server room's right ahead."

"Roger. Everyone else, stand by for the party phase. Wait for my signal," Eriana looked at Shiroko. "Meursault, You've been doing well for your first stealth mission with us. Keep it up."

"Nn," Shiroko nodded, satisfaction beginning to creep up in her face.

The server room's gate accepted the recently knocked out guard's fingerprint, making it easy to enter.

"Scarecrow, I suggest planting the DSM module at one of the servers," Ayane suggested. "Everyone else, get in positions."

"Uncle, I'm gonna browse these servers to see what we can use against Kaiser later on," Arona "It's gonna take quite some time to send the data to SCHALE's remote server."

"Got it," it took Eriana two minutes to find a hidden spot to sneak the module into. "DSM module planted. Nazgul and I will set up traps for the guards. Uncle, Meursault, get to your positions. We need as much distraction from or reinforcement to this room as possible while data transfer is underway."

Backtracking the way through the office area without being seen was a nerve-wracking experience, especially when it was close to the end. Hoshino had to pull Shiroko as soon as she noticed Rabu turning around at the end of the hallway, accompanied by three red helmet gangster officers.

As much as she wanted to jump out, indulge herself in a beatdown, and start the heist earlier, getting the evidence was the top priority. Besides, there were better ways to deal with those gangsters, particularly the one with long red hair, in this operation.

"Easy..." She whispered. "Look out for anything around us. I'll check this hallway."

"Got it," Shiroko turned around. "All clear."

As her blue and orange irises peeked at the hallway again, neither Rabu nor the red helmet gangster officers were there.

"Hallway's clear, I'll go first," she swiftly crossed the hallway before peeking at it again. "Go."

Having crossed the hallway, the two girls stopped at a spot leading to the main banking hall.

"Everyone, Meursault and I are in positions. We're ready to kick this off."

Stygian Bank Meeting Room 1, April 24th, 12:51 PM

This moment was supposed to be a big one for Komakaze Rabu and the fifteen Helmet Gangsters under her care. Instead, it was a sorely disappointing one.

"We just got 300 thousand yen. Where's the other 200 thousand we have agreed on earlier!?" She complained to the accounting automaton.

"The full 500 thousand yen payment would be delivered only if the van is in pristine condition," the automaton elaborated.

"Seriously? You guys know how hard it was to keep the van even remotely intact, right? Why the fuck would you wanna keep it spotless!?"

"We would like to keep our brand image clean. Even a scratch from 7.62mm ball bullet is enough for it to make our clients question it."

"You could have ordered one of your members to shield the van with her-" the fedora-wearing automaton's addition was too grating to be remotely considered a suggestion.

"You-" Rabu clenched her fist as she took a step forth, about to slug the automaton to the face, only for one of her three red officers to hold her back. "Fine. We accept the payment. Let's check it again."

It took the other two red officers five minutes to recheck the payment twice before they nodded to Rabu and stored the cash into a secure package.

"Alright, it was really 300 thousand yen just like you said. Pleasure doing business with you," Rabu's tone made it clear it was anything but.

"A 300,000 yen payment in cash for Helmet Gangster, including penalties, has been confirmed. No additional issues to report, the contract has been completed. Thank you once again for doing business with Kaiser Loans. See you in your next contract with us!"

The four Helmet Gangster officers exited the room. As the door clicked shut, Rabu let out a sharp sigh before looking at the other three.

"Sorry, girls, didn't read much of the contract, so they payment's got slashed."

"It's okay. It was still more than we usually get in a contract," the helmet gangster officer who had held her back consoled.

"Still, that was too much penalty for an unrealistic condition," one of the helmet gangster officers who had counted the cash three times noted.

"This is the seventh time our payment got slashed by Kaiser," the third helmet gangster officer grumbled. "Would be nice if we can jump ship right away, but..."

"Don't worry, we've gone through worse. Let's get outta-" Rabu trailed off, doing a double take at a hallway. She could swear she had just seen two silhouettes passing by.

"Anything wrong, Rabu?" The second officer checked in.

"Nothing, let's get outta here. Things are gonna blow up in this district fast."

As the four descended one of the spinal stairs in the bank's main hall, twelve waiting helmet gangster members approached them.

"Sorry girls, the payment got docked again. Let's-" Rabu announced, only to be cut off by everything going dark around her.

Had the chaos started to erupt? If so, this was really bad!

Payday 2 Official Soundtrack - Le Castle Vania: Fully Loaded Epic Win (Control) (Extended)

Before anyone in her gang could move a meter, afternoon light entered the room with vengeance as the barrier on the bank's front side was reduced to rubble. Three gunshots rang from the other staircase, revealing two girls wearing numbered balaclavas, one of average height and another being shorter. As the gunshots reverberated through the hall, seven more heavily armed girls in numbered balaclavas entered from the front, with the shortest one letting out a burst from her Minimi machine gun upwards with a grin.

"Nobody move," the taller one of the two girls on the other staircase let out an ultimatum with another gunshot. "Get on the ground, or else my friend here Uncle make you do so."

In the meantime, the shorter one—Uncle—slowly walked towards Rabu, MP-155 shotgun at the ready. It took Uncle less than two minutes to take away her and her fifteen gangsters' firearms with a particularly sharp gaze.

She had seen that gaze some time ago, but when?

Rabu's line of thought was interrupted as she looked at a few girls taking shots at the lying guards, students and automatons, trying to reach out to their weapons.

"Hehehe, you've all just seen what happens if you try to resist!" Uncle's giggle snapped Rabu's focus back.

Rabu's cell was above average of the cells with similar size to hers by Helmet Gangsters' standards. The fact that those girls could somehow press them all to submit and lie on the floor, however, was worth looking at.

Even better, the one wearing a paper bag mask had been fidgeting all this time, as if she had been anticipating something.

"Hey~ Faust has been holding her urge to get really violent, so please cooperate~" The girl with green balaclava and black minigun warned.

"E-e-everyone please listen what these girls say! W-we won't hurt you if you do!" The girl wearing a paper bag mask—Faust—announced, shivers accompanying her stammering.

"Give me your transaction records within one year," The girl with a red balaclava marched towards the teller automaton, her custom AR-15 scoped carbine rifle pointed towards him. "Move."

Before anyone could react, Uncle raised her shotgun somewhere at the second floor before pulling the trigger three times. A moment later, two automatons stumbled down the stairs, one wearing a fedora hat and the other being the accounting automaton.

The accounting automaton let out a pained groan, to which Rabu and the nearby helmet gangsters gave him a sneer. Little did the gangsters know...

"Hey, hey, Helmet Gangsters," Uncle crouched near Rabu. "Looks like you had a history with this Kaiser Loans automaton. So why don't you take this very chance?"

Did Uncle and her masked friends recognize her plights? To see girls with nice helmets somehow make her unheard wishes come true was a one-in-a-million blessing. This was the only shot to join them and give better life for her crew, especially since they had a Kaiser Loans officer dead to rights.

Rabu stood up, approaching Uncle as non-threateningly as she could.

"Now, Helmet Gangsters, choose where you want to go," Uncle offered, handing Rabu the bandaged M870DM shotgun she had confiscated earlier.

"Please, I can pay you the full amount for all your previous contracts-" The automaton pleaded, only for Rabu's shotgun pellets to silence him.

Stygian Bank Main Banking Hall, April 24th, 2021, 1:08 PM

Deep down, Yume knew that many delinquents were simply desperate girls, and Helmet Gangsters were no exception. Desperate people tended to be easier to manipulate or trick because they would do everything to get what they needed, which could be gamed to the manipulator's advantage. The latter was certainly true for Kaiser Corporation's case, shown with Abydos' debt.

Still, she had not expected those gangsters to hate Kaiser Corporation this much to even gun down one of their officers, regardless of what it entailed. Heck, she could feel grateful smiles from behind the gangsters' helmets.

By that time, Serika and Mutsuki had already 'escorted' the teller automaton into the transaction records office by then, so all she had to do is to wait for them and the girls in the server room to finish their jobs.

"What are you-" She wanted to continue, but her words died down.

"Bastion, this one automaton's a very special case," Hoshino cut her off. "See? Cowards like these two hide behind their wealth and influence."

What Hoshino had just said was true. What was other way to sway someone's decision than giving them a counter offer?

Still, she needed to talk to those sixteen gangsters later. There were still evidence to grab.

"Now, helmet gangsters, you have proven your resolve, so you're all worthy of joining us!" Hoshino bombastically announced. "Would you like to do so and lend us your hand through this day?"

"Yes!" Rabu and the fifteen gangsters answered together.

"Yay~! We made another friends!" Nonomi, who was descending the stairs alongside Haruka with more hostages, cheered. "For the Masked Swimsuit Gang!"

"H-hello!" Aru and Haruka waved their hands. "Nice to meet you all!"

"Excellent! Let's treat our helmet gangster friends as well as we can!" Hoshino proposed.

"Everyone, we have neutered the bank's server failsafe systems, but we have security details headed towards us. Stop fancying that ridiculous name and send backup ASAP!" Eriana's voice began cracking through the comms.

"Bastion, the data transfer is around 25 percent done," Arona reported. "The transaction records were already covered a few minutes ago, but it turned out there's much more than that, please buy us five some time!"

"Hehehe, looks like this is your lucky day! I will hand the rest of the show to Faust! Ciao!" Hoshino went back upstairs, followed by Shiroko.

"Ehehehehe, I like that poetic name," Amarisu's chuckle echoed. "Everyone, you have black market guards and their Stygian friends converging on your positions. Gonna move to a better position, you guys better gear up and get ready to fight."

Whether Yume liked it or not, Hifumi's trembling somehow managed to keep the hostages in line.

Payday 2 Official Soundtrack - Le Castle Vania: Fully Loaded Epic Win (Assault) (Extended)

Taking out all the guards was already easy for Hoshino and Shiroko. Still, Arona's guidance made it a difference of night and day.

Hoshino had to take one path at the first floor and gun down two guards at the distance with her RATTLER short-barreled rifle. Raising her portable shield, she entered a large room full of cubicles, before letting out 12 gauge shells on a guard's face. Throwing a gunshot decoy grenade to one cubicle, she dashed to the other, taking advantage of the remaining four's confusion. She turned the nearest one's M4A1 assault rifle against two more guards, letting the rifle's owner soak up shots from others in the process. As the remaining guard changed their magazine, Hoshino jumped on them before shooting his face with her shotgun once.

Taking another path, Shiroko only had to knock out three guards early before closing into the other three whilst the latter were reloading. Once she got close, she jabbed one before using her as an improvised turret, forcing one guard to hide and knocking out the rest. She then caught the last guard's arm before flipping her then finishing her off.

To be able to hijack the servers without any meaningful means to stop other than cutting the juice or blowing it up completely was one heck of an achievement.

Reaching the second floor through, they encountered Kayoko struggling with a student guard wearing a bulletproof vest. Neither Hoshino nor Shiroko had to take a shot, as the masked demon girl kicked the guard's crotch, following up with two gunshots to the chest and another to the head. Surrounding her was four unconscious student guards wearing the same clothes and vest and what appeared to be a triggered trap.

"Don't worry, Scarecrow got the other side under control," Kayoko dusted off, repossessing her suppressed MPX submachine gun. "The guards are gonna target nearby backup generator rooms."

"Got it, where is she?" Shiroko asked.

"This way," Kayoko led the three into the server room.

Some server racks had holes from gunshots. A few others had their power lines cut. That said, and most of them were still running and none of them had been toppled over.

"Uncle, some of the servers got damaged during the fight, so the data transfer got slowed down. It's 40 percent done, please hang in there!"

At the end of the server room, the three could see Eriana sitting on the floor, her back resting on a wall. Surrounding her were a dozen knocked out guards.

"I heard gunshots from below while fending them off. Uncle, Meursault, thanks for coming to our help."

"Hehe, no problem, Scarecrow," Hoshino tinkered with her communication earpiece. "Bastion, Christina, Faust, we could get help from some gangsters that can fight well in cramped rooms. Things are gonna get really loud soon, Meursault will come there to pick them up."

Payday 2 Official Soundtrack - Le Castle Vania: Fully Loaded Epic Win (Control) (Extended)

"Got it, Uncle, we'll move the hostages to the nearby offices so we don't get spread thin as well," Yume turned to Rabu. "Which of your fifteen girls can hold out well in cramped spaces? Can the rest of your girls help us get the hostages upstairs?"

"Good idea. I'm gonna prep the office area right now," Hoshino agreed.

"Yeah, we can help moving them up. Cramped spaces?" Rabu gestured to a dark purple-haired, red-jacketed helmet gangster to come close. "Are your girls doing well? Our masked friends are gonna need 'em."

"They're all good. What do you need?" The officer in red responded.

"Can you guys follow what these masked girls ask?"

As Rabu finished asking, Shiroko vaulted over the second floor's hand railing before landing at the first floor. The latter then stood up fine as if nothing happened.

"So cool..." The officer turned back to Rabu after witnessing Shiroko's stunt in awe. "With pleasure. You trust them, so we trust them, too."

"I'm taking some of your girls to the server room. The rest should get to an office area nearby," Shiroko noted, to which four helmet gangsters with black helmets and sailor outfits approached her.

"The guards aren't gonna attack from just the front. We should move the hostages soon!" Aru announced, her custom FAL's bipod resting on a teller counter.

"Y-yes!" Hifumi moved closer to the hostages. "E-everyone, p-please follow get up and go upstairs!"

As five helmet gangsters went upstairs alongside Shiroko, Rabu alongside ten others began routing the hostages.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you all heard what Faust said!" Mutsuki's voice was heard from the office as she came out alongside Serika and the Teller. "You all better go upstairs for your own safety! That includes you, too, Mr. Teller~!"

"Give it to me," Serika took a bag from the teller then rested it on the table, briefly opening up its zipper before closing it again. "Bastion, we got the transaction records! We're going to help getting the hostages upstairs!"

"Everyone, I just confirmed the integrity of transaction record data, but we still need time to extract more evidence, so hold your positions. I'll let you know when we're done!" Ayane reported.

"Form an orderly line and don't rush, please~!" Nonomi guided the hostages in the second floor. "We have one going out of the line!"

"I'll take care of that one." Rabu slammed the buttstock of her shotgun towards a wolf man. When the latter was about to fight, he was surrounded by three helmet gangsters pointing their guns all over his body.

As all the standing hostages had begun going up the two staircases, roars of armored vehicles' exhausts and helicopters' blades reverberated from the front.

"Move those Kaiser Loans guys upstairs as well!" Rabu yelled, to which five helmet gangsters still at the ground floor began lifting the two unconscious automatons up.

"YOU'RE ALL SURROUNDED. DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND COME OUT WITH BOTH HANDS IN THE AIR!" the girls could hear loudspeakers' voice booming from outside.

"Me and Sinclair are gonna set up traps." Mutsuki tapped Haruka's shoulder twice. "Let's get ready for the showtime!"

"Y-yes, Gollum!" Haruka nodded before opening one of her bags full of C4 explosives.

"That's the spirit! Let's go!" Mutsuki began placing the explosive traps throughout one of the first floor's small hallways, with Haruka doing the same at another.

"Red, uh..." In the meantime, Aru approached Serika.

"What's up, Vikki?" Serika asked.

"We need to find to find better positions for our rifles."

"As if that wasn't obvious already! Let's go up, then!" Serika stomped her way upstairs, yelling at some hostages. "MOVE FASTER!"

"I'll greet the guards. Everyone else, please stay here," Yume walked outside, steeling herself against firearms, cannons, and other munitions aiming at her.

"WE CAN TELL IT WAS MORE THAN ONE PERSON! WHERE IS THE REST!?" A few squads of market guards began slowly approaching the bank's blasted front doors.

"Don't come any closer! We have around fifty hostages!" Yume retreated back inside amidst the guards' hesitation then to the office at the second floor. "This should buy some more time for the data transfer to finish."

Payday 2 Official Soundtrack - Le Castle Vania: Fully Loaded Epic Win (Assault) (Extended)

Stygian Bank First Floor, April 24th, 2021, 1:45 PM

To say that things had got chaotic for Hoshino was an understatement. Black Market Guards from all directions in waves, targeting both her friends and the server room with almost no regard to anything inside the bank. Some of them went as far as targeting the portable generators placed close to the server rooms or the network devices Arona had seized.

Yume had made a good call. Otherwise, most girls would have been overwhelmed or even put into custody.

"Uncle, Bastion, I'm almost done sifting through the emails. I also spoofed the guards' comms as well!" Arona reported whilst Hoshino was reloading the M4 rifle she 'borrowed' from one of the guards. "The data transfer is 60 percent completed! That said, I marked the drives just in case they cut off the DSM module connection! Look for drive bays with blinking lights!"

"Thanks, Navi-chan!" Good thing there was no one nor audio recording equipment nearby. "Everyone especially those in or close to the server room, I suggest sweeping through that room and looking out for blinking drive bays. Unplug them only in case the bank cut off the DSM module's connection!"

"Uncle, wilco!" Eriana's voice quickly complied.

The first floor was the most crowded one with 60% of the black market guards entering from front, back, and basement entrances. Superior enemy numbers meant almost nothing for Hoshino and Shiroko, however.

Hoshino fired the M4's underslung M320 grenade launcher, downing three black market girls and two black market automatons. Turning back, she fired semi automatic shots, forcing two girls to take cover. Grabbing an automaton, she used his body to shield herself and march towards them. With them caught off guard, she fired through their cover, not giving them any chance to see their assailant.

On another side, Shiroko had made the sixth knock out after the break with helmet gangsters. Her flash grenade blinded two girls, leaving them open for her gunfire. As two automatons ambushed her from her sides, she swatted their rifles' barrels, causing them to miss their target with one hitting another by accident. As the automaton hit by the friendly fire was still reeling, the wolf girl did not hesitate to take his rifle and finish his ally and himself off.

Kayoko and the five helmet gangsters guarding the server room were at the most pressing locations, but none of them had been injured yet. If anything, they had advantageous positions, allowing them to deny the attacking guards access to server room. While the gangsters were laying down fire through the hallway leading to the server room, she caught and fought off two guards and an automaton who snuck around using her suppressed MPX.

Eriana seemingly had the hardest job of stopping some guards from trying to blow a hole at the third floor. Immobilizing a squad with her flash and EMP grenades, she took a shot to each of their heads and another to their torso. She had little problem with their AUG A3 M2 assault rifles, handling it as if she had near-instantly become an expert. Approaching an intersection, she was tackled by a bulky one-armed automaton. Her strength and agility as a student had a hard time staggering him, especially with other attackers being very active around her. As the automaton pinned her to the ground, he involuntarily stumbled to his left side as 7.62 mm rounds hit him three times before sprawling to the floor.

"Hey, Scarecrow. Figured that you'd need help," Amarisu's voice was different from usual to maintain cover, but it was no less grating for Eriana.

"Ozone, thanks for the assist," Eriana could only sigh in return.

"You're welcome. Imma take care of a chopper... Splash, watch your head."

Yume had to hold up her shield, lest the guards' stray shots could hit civilians. To say it was a shameless display of apathy by the guards was an understatement.

"Bastion, Uncle, Data Transfer is 80% complete. All emails have been covered!" Arona chimed in through her earpiece.

"Thanks, Arona-chan! Things are getting heated up, so don't push yourself too much!" Yume thought out loud.

"Don't worry, Yume-sensei! The transfer is using the bank's servers' computing power instead of Shittim Chest, and we already have more than enough evidence!"

In the meantime, Nonomi was pouring fire to the front with Aru picking off those slipping past.

Mutsuki's and Haruka's rigged explosives worked wonders in catching at least a dozens guards about to blow holes to the server room.

Hifumi's lead, Serika's precise shots, and Mutsuki's suppressive fire helped five helmet gangsters fend off and eventually put black market's snipers across the street out of action.

This, in turn, allowed Rabu and the last five helmet gangsters to seize control of the hallways connecting the office area and the server room.

"Uncle, Meursault, you should start keeping our way to the basement clear so we can escape easier later on!" Kayoko's voice was heard through the comms.

"Nn, Got it, Nazgul, I'll clean up my surroundings first," Shiroko answered.

Outside the bank, the black market guards are in panic over the chaos, girls and automatons frantically coming in and out of the temporary command post. Little did they know, the long haired insider of Kayoko who had passed out in the bank earlier slipped her way in, wearing a black market guard's uniform…

Stygian Bank Basement Floor, April 24th, 2021, 2:34 PM

A cacophony of gunshots accompanied Rabu and helmet gangsters' trekking through the parking area, with the masked swimsuit gang following and covering her. The area they stopped at had myriad of parked vehicles inside, including her gangsters' bikes and dune buggies.

"Our own rides won't be enough! Go hotwire some parked cars, we'll cover you! Everyone else, watch for grenadiers!" She chucked a molotov underneath an automaton wielding a shield. "Hey, masked swimsuit gang! Can any of you drive just in case!?"

"Yeah, I can do well with cars!" Hoshino shouted in return, advancing with her own shield.

"I can as well!" Eriana pointed her rifle's muzzle at Rabu. "BEHIND YOU!"

It did not take Rabu a second to duck and swing her shotgun towards her back, from which a girl wearing a nightvision goggles and dark tactical set was about to kick her. The clash between the shotgun's stock and the latter's leg stripped both girls' balance, sending them both to the floor.

Unfortunately for the girl with night vision goggles, she did not have any nearby ally that could stop Eriana from riddling her with bullets.

"Are you okay?" Eriana pulled Rabu's left arm, helping the latter up.

"Yeah, thanks," Rabu blinked a few times before jumping back to a pillar's cover.

In the meantime, five helmet gangsters were busy trying to hotwire nearby SUVs, pick-up trucks, and vans. Surrounding them were ten others alongside the disguised Serika and three Problem Solvers opening fire at the guards.

"TALK TO ME! HOW'S THE HOTWIRING DOING!?" Serika asked, her voice barely going through the cacophony of gunfire exchange.

"HANG ON, WE'RE HALFWAY THROUGH!" One of the gangsters in the parked cars yelled back.

"Nazgul, get ready to fire that shot once the cars are good to go!" Aru instructed, taking shots at a guard who had just entered the basement.

"Yeah, I was planning to do that!" Kayoko reloaded her submachine gun with a 'borrowed' magazine, which coincidentally had the same model as the ones she was using.

"Fufufu, you better for real this time!" Mutsuki let out a stream of bullets from her light machine gun.

Haruka, in contrast, took it up close alongside Yume, firing her Mossberg 590 shotgun from behind the latter's tower shield protection.

Nonomi cheered as she was pouring another ramp with minigun fire, with Shiroko and Hifumi sweeping for those who snuck through nearby.

"The escape's gonna be rough! Grab any launchers you can!" Hoshino picked up an M32 multiple grenade launcher and a dozen 40mm grenades.

"Nn, Found two!" Shiroko did not hesitate to scavenge two other M32 grenade launchers and 20 of its accompanying grenades.

"Good thing we aimed for the grenadiers first!" Eriana was also loading some of her bag's compartments with 40mm grenades.

"Thanks for your generosity, black market~!" Mutsuki cheerfully took another set of multiple grenade launcher and its ammo.

Roars of vehicle engines coming from life reverberated nearby as a few girls had just finished scavenging the sleeping guards' grenade launchers. Some helmet gangsters were already on their bikes, with Rabu standing on guard close to them.

"Helmet gangsters, form up around the vehicles, but don't get on them yet!" Kayoko yelled. "I have something that can drive the guards off for some time, but it's better used outside!"

"Got it! Everyone, do what Nazgul just said!" Yume nodded.

"We'll clear a path outside, then!" Hoshino pushed towards the "Christina! Meursault!"

"You got it, Uncle!" Nonomi took position at a ramp before letting out another rain of bullets.

"GET OUT OF OUR WAY, YOU GREEDY PRICKS!" Serika let out flaming gunshots at another black market guard wearing night vision goggles and three shielded automatons accompanying her.

Shiroko did not hesitate to test out her newfound grenade launcher against two squads of black market guards, downing more than half of them and forcing the rest to scatter and be picked off by Aru and Hifumi.

It took five minutes to clear the barriers and move the vehicles to the exit. Upon exiting, the twenty seven girls were getting surrounded by armored vehicles, automatons, and heavily armed girls alike. Across the street was an alleyway, at which Amarisu was hiding.

"Here goes nothing," Kayoko pointed an unsuppressed dark gray Glock 17 upwards, then pulled its trigger.

As the gunshot echoed through the street, the black market guards' armored vehicles and foot soldiers—automatons or students—made sudden U turns, piling with each other in panic. Amarisu did not hesitate to sprint towards the van.

"There she is!" Eriana called out. "Get in the van quick!"

"What are you doing!?" Rabu, on another hand, shook Yume out of staring a thousand yard ahead. "We're gonna get screwed if we don't move now!"

"Y-yes!" Yume blinked before climbing onto the bed of a pickup truck.

The four disguised girls of Foreclosure Countermeasures Task Force embarked Yume's pickup truck. Hoshino and Hifumi sat in the middle, Serika was in the front seat alongside a helmet gangster, Shiroko and Nonomi sat alongside Yume on the truck's bed.

Kayoko was the one driving the SUV with Mutsuki taking another front seat. Fortunately for Aru and Haruka, the middle seat can be lowered to accommodate better firing positions.

As mentioned before, Eriana and Amarisu took the van alongside some helmet gangsters, one of whom was driving it.

"Everyone's on board! Punch it!" Hoshino yelled, to which the drivers stepped on the gas.

The roar of five cars, two dune buggies, and six motorcycles blended into the ongoing chaotic ambience of the Black Market District's streets and roads. Explosions and exchanges of gunfire went by in a blink, with the Black Market Guards dealing not only with the escaping girls, but also rioting armored vehicles and people.

"Rioters, dead ahead!" The pick up-driving helmet gangster called out.

"That one's mine!" Serika let out fire at hooded rioters with molotov cocktails at the middle of an intersection.

"Armored car to our right!" Kayoko looked at her SUV's right mirror, spotting an armored jeep closing in.

"Nn!" Shiroko lobbed a 40mm grenade towards the jeep's driver, who then steered hard right and hit a parked vehicle. "Armored car's down!"

Amarisu did not need any callout to aim her rifle towards the rearmost chasing car's tire and hit it three times, sending it off course.

"You ain't taking even one of my girls!" Rabu was fast enough to ram a black market guard student riding a motorcycle with her own.

Hoshino peeked out of the pick up before lobbing a 40mm grenade to the third frontmost chasing car, which then took two of its allied vehicles with it.

"Look out!" Yume pointed at an armed scout helicopter hovering 200 meters ahead of the escaping convoy.

"Catch this!" Mutsuki launched a 40mm grenade, which set off close enough to force the helicopter to reposition itself.

In the meantime, Shiroko and Serika took shots to the cockpit which, while the bullets failed to go through, began forming webs obscuring the pilot's vision.

In addition to going up, the helicopter had to swerve to a side of the road for a clearer view.

"Steady!" Peeking out of the pick up again, Hoshino loudly instructed, pointing her grenade launcher to something above one of the chasing cars' bonnet. Two seconds later, she pulled the trigger, hitting the engine.

The car swerved to the middle of the road, with another crashing at it in turn. One by one, the armored vehicles eventually made a pile.

Speeding past the falling scout helicopter, the convoy took a hard left into a tunnel, slowing down as all vehicles were inside. All 28 girls were still present.

"Everybody okay!?" Yume asked.

"We're fine here!" Nonomi reported.

"Our girls are good here!" the pick up's driver added in.

"Both my girls and the gangsters with us are doing well!" Aru called out.

"All girls in my side are good!" Rabu was the last to report. "Gotta admit, didn't think all of us to get out of that well!"

"Glad to hear that from you all!" Yume let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, once we all get out of the tunnel, everything is gonna be noisy!"

"R-right! Everyone, please reload your guns!" Hifumi announced, detaching her assault rifle's magazine.

"You heard the girl. Let's do it right away!" Hoshino began reloading her multiple grenade launcher.

With everyone done reloading, eight gangsters had to get into one of the two cars as their motorcycles had been too damaged .

"We're getting close to the edge of this district," Kayoko was the first to speak. "Those gun stores from earlier would take just a right turn. From there, it just takes a right turn then left, but..."

"Our chances of getting out are getting slim," Eriana continued. "We lost all the bikes, all we have left are these cars and dune buggies."

"We'd be better off staying close to each other at this point," Yume suggested.

"Good idea. Why don't we do this..." Rabu proposed.

A few seconds later, the vehicles made a formation with the pick up and one of the dune buggies leading the way, the van and the other dune buggy at the back, and the rest at the middle. The moment of relief was over as the convoy exited the tunnel, finding a few rioters firing rocket launchers towards a few tracked armored vehicles from buildings.

"Black Market Humvees at our left!" The front dune buggy's driver called out.

"We don't have anything that can punch through those IFVs' armor fast. Hard right!" Hoshino yelled as the convoy was about to reach an intersection.

Upon turning right, the escaping girls got a taste of the ongoing chaos throughout the district. Rioters skirmishing with black market guards both up close and with firearms. Explosives thrown around the streets, reducing parked vehicles, public facilities, and even storefronts to scrap.

"Those were the gun stores we visited a few hours ago!" Nonomi called out.

"We're getting close to getting out of the district!" Rabu yelled.

The escaping convoy's vehicles had to swerve left and right to take as few hits as possible from the black market guards' gunfire. The rioters, in contrast, rushed towards the same guards with a cheer and a battle cry.

"FOR THE MASKED SWIMSUIT GANG!" One of the animal person rioters yelled, firing his minigun at the black market guards' front troops.

"DOWN WITH THOSE GREEDY PIGS!" Another rioter, an automaton, fired his rocket launcher towards a beaten down T-90 tank, greatly denting its front armor.

"THIS! IS! FOR! SCAMMING! US! YOU! FUCK!" The third rioter, a delinquent, beat an executive in a suit down with each word she said.

Looking back, Hoshino noticed Yume glancing around the chaos with only silence.

As the convoy took a right turn, the girls could hear helicopter blades from their front. A few seconds later, an armed black hawk helicopter with black market guards' automatons and color scheme came into their sights.

"Look out!" Rabu yelled.

The helicopter launched a few rockets, hitting both of the dune buggies and a car carrying the gangsters.

"Pull over! We're not leaving anyone behind!" Yume was the first to get off the pick up truck. "Houston, we got many of our gangsters downed by the Black Market Guards. We need your help ASAP!"

Hoshino was the close second to disembark, raising her shield to brace against the armed black hawk's gunfire and returning fire with her M32 multiple grenade launcher.

Someone needed to down the helicopter fast, or everyone wouldn't get out of the district at all. And it would take more than just 40mm grenades to get out of this mess.

"Everyone, we're on our way to the large gun stores check point! Hang in there!" Ayane's voice rang throughout the communication line.

"Spread out and watch for that helicopter's rockets! Get into the buildings!" Eriana called out, firing her grenade launcher at the helicopter, which swerved out of the grenade's path.

It did not take even half a minute for the rest of the masked swimsuit gang to exit their cars. In a heartbeat, they began dragging the passed out or injured but conscious helmet gangsters into the protection of the buildings.

"This isn't good, only a few rioters have something that can take on that helicopter!" Even in a building, Kayoko's loud observation struggled to overcome the helicopter's engine and blades. "Gollum, see if you can find a way to down that helicopter from its back! There's an alleyway with back entrances right next to this building. Me, Vikki, and Sinclair can take you through there!"

"Good idea, Nazgul! Sinclair, with me! Let's take Gollum through the alleyway!" Aru started relocating from one of the windows.

"Alright, just what I thought!" Mutsuki let out a wide grin. "I'll leave the tour guide to you three!"

"Y-yes!" Haruka immediately broke off to the alleyway, greeting a squad of black market guards there. "DIEDIEDIE!"

"Meursault, we'll draw this thing's attention! See if you can help Gollum blow it up without being seen!" Hoshino yelled, her shield facing the helicopter. "Go!"

"Nn, got it!" Shiroko ripped off a door of a nearby parked small car before bolting into a nearby building.

Coming out of one of the buildings, Serika and Nonomi opened fire to the helicopter as the latter deployed two ropes downwards. Unfortunately for them, more than half their bullets almost harmlessly pinged off the latter.

"Red, focus on knocking out the automatons rappelling down the rope! Christina, aim at the helicopter's engine!" Hoshino's eyes widened in realization of the direction one of the armed black hawk's rockets was flying to. "BASTION, WATCH THAT ROCKET!"

On Yume's side, a rocket went off in large smoke. As they dissipate, they reveal her still standing figure with legs starting to wobble and tower shield still standing tall.

"Everyone, I'm okay! How are those gangsters doing!?" She loudly asked.

"We just finished getting the injured ones inside buildings! I have only six girls standing!" Rabu peeked outside, ducking to avoid the helicopter's minigun fire.

"Focus on tending your injured girls first! We'll cover you!"

"I'll help looking out for them!" Eriana entered the door through which Serika and Nonomi took four injured gangsters alongside three relatively healthy ones.

"Don't worry, Scarecrow! The helicopter's ours!" Amarisu sent three shots, two of which landed at the helicopter's engine.

Ten hits to the engine and constant barrage of 40mm grenades forced the helicopter to move backwards, regardless of whether four its foot automatons have landed on the ground.

Back to the nearby alleyway, three Problem Solvers were holding a small faux T-juncition from the black market guards attempting to flank, with Kayoko occasionally eyeing a container at the faux path.

"The helicopter's getting reinforcements from the ground!" Kayoko's MPX shots landed at the heads of four automatons who came from the other end of the alleyway, staggering them.

Haruka's screaming barrage combined with her ferocious swings shredded through the automatons' armor.

"Snipers have been taken care of!" Aru began reloading her modified FAL 'marksman rifle'. "Gollum, how is it going at your side!?"

On the rooftop of a nearby building, Mutsuki evaded an explosion with a back handspring, mockingly showing her tongue to a squad of unfortunate black market guards caught in it.

"Gettin' a little busy here, Vikki! I'm close to the chopper now!" She entered another building through a window.

Entering one of the rooms facing the street, she let out a grin as she saw the helicopter nearby. A second later, she threw a bag full of explosives at it before aiming her grenade launcher.

"Dodge this!" She pulled the trigger, sending her 40mm grenade flying towards the bag.

The bag and the grenade hit each other, with the resulting explosion turning it to raining metal scraps and intact yet inactive automatons.

Shiroko peeked out of the building, witnessing the rain of steels followed by a particularly loud crash.

"Nn, helicopter's down, we can mo-" she peeked back in by reflex before firing a 40mm grenade at a squad of automatons at the intersection previously blocked by the helicopter, which was later joined by a T90 tank. "We need to find another way, tanks are swarming our first extraction point!"

"There's an underground tunnel entrance at the alleyway we're holding. It's wide enough for all of us!" Kayoko's voice rang through the comms. "Vikki, Sinclair, cover me, I'm opening it right now!"

As Shiroko exited the building she was in, she could see trails of rockets flying towards the tank, accompanied by cheers of armed rioters rushing towards the black market guards. Across the street, Mutsuki exited her building with a door swung open.

"We heard you loud and clear. On our way to the first underground point!" Ayane responded.

Most of the rioters went past the group, with a few of others approaching Yume in a non-threatening manner.

"What the heck, a bank robbery shouldn't trigger riots this big!" One of the rioters complained with a high-pitched voice belonging to Kurumi.

"Hey, hey, this is Kivotos," Niko's voice replied. "I heard your people were in a pickle. What help do you need?"

"Oh, it's you!" Yume perked up. "We can't get into the nearby alleyway with this many people on the street!"

"That can be arranged. Where are your people?"

"There!" Yume pointed at the building where some of the injured gangsters were taken into, to which Niko and Kurumi began weaving through the crowd.

"Red, Meursault, Christina, with me! Let's help Scarecrow and her gangsters get their injured friends outta here!" In the meantime, Hoshino commanded as she was approaching the building Eriana and some gangsters were occupying.

"Nn, on my way," Shiroko was the first to answer.

"You got it, Uncle, me and Red are already with them~" Nonomi chimed in.

"Already beat you there!" Serika paused for a few seconds. "The records are still good!"

"Alright, I'm gonna go to the alleyway. Vikki, Nazgul, Gollum?" Mutsuki took her turn.

"The entrance is open. We're standing by there!" Kayoko reported.

"I'll go meet our other gangster friends," Amarisu entered the building Rabu and the rest of the helmet gangsters were hunkering in. "Let's get outta here."

Hoshino's group had a rough time crossing the street, with the healthier girls alongside Niko and Kurumi having to brace for impact with the rioters. Rabu's, on another hand, simply had to go along the rioters' direction until they reached the alleyway. Thankfully, the underground entrance was forgiving.

"The underground tunnels here are a maze. I'll take the lead," Kayoko offered, to which Yume nodded.

"Through here!" Yume led the path with Hoshino walking beside her.

As the exhausted masked swimsuit gang and battered helmet gangsters entered the destined tunnel, six extensively modified BMP-3 IFVs belonging to Black Market Guards greeted them. As the former group raised their weapons for another fight, the latter instead turned their engines off, with four girls wearing numbered hockey masks disembarking. Ayane and Karina were among those four.

"Just right on time! Everyone, please get in!" Ayane yelled, gesturing at one of the BMP-3s.

"Good thing we brought in the ones with medical equipment as well," the voice belonged to neither Karina nor Ayane, yet Eriana and Amarisu were the ones giving the most reaction to it. "What are you all waiting for? Get those injured gangsters into those two IFVs!"

It took less than five minutes to load all 28 girls into the BMP-3s.

"Alright, we're all on board!" peeking out, Hoshino hit one of the getaway vehicles' roof with her palm. "Let's ride to the sunset!"