While everyone was enjoying the cultural festival, a group of people stood atop a building outside the distant school grounds. Dressed in armed mercenary gear and carrying firearms, they stared down at the lively campus with displeased expressions.
"Tch, they're holding a cultural festival... These little brats."
A bald soldier spoke disdainfully.
"Unforgivable. There are still plenty of people suffering because they have nothing to eat in this world!"
The man beside him also gritted his teeth and spoke coldly.
"Do these school brats know nothing about what's happening outside? And they're still celebrating in there!"
"They have so many resources, yet they refuse to share any of them."
"Even their clothes are spotless. I bet none of them have ever suffered in their lives."
Everyone was furious. They would not tolerate such unfairness.
Rumble—
At that moment, several Humvees drove over, accompanied by several Endlave units.
"What are those—?"
They were all stunned. Equipment like this was something wanderers like them could only dream of!
"Ah... Some kindhearted person gave them to us! He's a wealthy man. A little strange, but a good person."
The man driving the Humvee grinned smugly.
"!" ×N
Everyone was exhilarated.
"Now is our time to shine!"
"Let's show them our justice and make those happy students experience the hardships of this world!"
"OOOH!!!" ×N
Everyone raised their guns and shouted.
However, the entire scene was captured by a hidden camera outside the school that overlooked the surrounding area. After its lens extended and focused clearly on the group, a faint red light appeared within it.
Beep-beep—!
Gneff, who was following at Tsugumi's feet on campus, immediately reacted. Its eyes flashed before it poked Tsugumi's ankle.
"Hm? Gneff? What's wrong?"
Tsugumi, who was pushing Ayase's wheelchair, stopped and crouched down to look at the robot in front of her.
The robot opened its body and displayed a screen before her eyes. It showed footage from the district camera.
"!"
Tsugumi immediately understood, and her eyes darkened. She quickly transferred the image to her terminal.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing something unusual, Ayase turned around and asked with concern.
"...There's trouble outside."
Tsugumi answered solemnly, her fingers continuing to swipe across the screen.
"!"
Ayase's eyes contracted as she watched the camera feed displayed on the terminal with her. As Tsugumi enlarged the center of the image with her fingertips, the external camera zoomed in accordingly, displaying the captured scene on the screen in high resolution.
What entered their view was a group of "Wanderers" standing atop a building and spying on them through binoculars. These Wanderers were not literally homeless people. Rather, they called their organization the Wanderers. They survived in this ruined city by plundering other people's resources, committing acts of arson, murder, and robbery. They had also been responsible for the previous Shinjuku riot.
"What are those bastards planning?"
Ayase bit her lip and clenched her hands.
"They probably saw us holding a cultural festival and got jealous, right?—! Ayase, isn't that...?!"
Tsugumi mocked them before spotting something dangerous and reacting in shock.
"Mm. Endlaves, and military models at that."
Ayase's face turned pale.
"How is that possible? An organization like theirs couldn't possibly get their hands on GHQ mechs, could they?"
"...Heh. Who knows whether those animals secretly supplied them?"
Using someone else as the murder weapon, huh?
Ever since the last incident, GHQ had stopped making such conspicuous moves, probably because it had received orders from above. However, they all knew those people were not the sort to let matters end peacefully. They would undoubtedly take the opportunity to cause trouble.
"This is bad. If they charge directly into the campus, everyone will be completely..."
Unable to fight back... They have military-grade combat power, and everyone is relaxed right now.
"Tsugumi, hurry and tell Mio!"
"Mm!"
Meanwhile, the Shogun had already finished eating. With nothing else to do, she merely sat in her seat with her face resting in her hands, watching Hare cook for the customers beside her. Occasionally, she also glanced toward Inori onstage.
Beep—!
She froze, then lowered her gaze toward the terminal in her pocket. Taking it out and unfolding it, she saw Tsugumi's face appear on the screen.
"Mio... There's trouble outside."
Tsugumi informed her, then directly transmitted the camera feed to her terminal.
"...?"
She stood up, glanced at Hare and everyone nearby, then moved a short distance away.
Hare had also heard Tsugumi's words. However, when she saw the Shogun leave, she did not panic and continued working as usual.
"At your six o'clock, a group of Wanderers is spying on this place. I think they'll try to break into the campus soon."
Tsugumi told her.
"..."
She studied the feed on the screen and narrowed her eyes. There were quite a lot of them... Most were standing on rooftops. Did that not make them perfect targets?
"Mio, what should we do?"
Tsugumi asked her the same sort of question she had often asked Gai in the past.
Hearing this, the Shogun did not answer immediately. She raised her eyes toward the roof of the school building and estimated the distance.
"...Do we need to cancel the cultural festival in advance?"
"That will not be necessary. Leave it to me. Do not alert them either."
She answered.
"...Mio, don't tell me you're going to..."
"Mm."
She nodded.
"Pfft. Don't do anything reckless~"
Tsugumi understood.
"I will not. Do not worry."
"When you say it like that, I worry even more... Haa, forget it... That's just who you are, Mio~"
Bzzt—
The other side ended the call.
"What did Mio say?"
Ayase asked.
"She'll handle it. Well—you know."
Tsugumi shrugged and made a finger-gun gesture.
"N-No way. Here?"
"Mm-hmm..."
Looking at the disconnected terminal, the Shogun returned it to her pocket and walked back to her original seat.
"Little Mio... Is something...?"
"(Nods)"
She nodded in response to Hare's indirect question.
"Then should we..."
"No. Keep serving the customers as usual... I will handle it."
She stroked the girl's head and instructed her gently.
"Mm.../// All right."
As expected, Hare's face reddened. She narrowed her eyes and enjoyed the Shogun's touch before obediently nodding.
Bzzt~
Without anyone around her noticing, she transformed into lightning and flew to the roof of the school building. The view there was extremely broad, allowing her to easily spot the people standing atop a distant building.
[What those hands failed to protect may have been what they once loved]~♪
[Gazing upon these bloodstained hands, I finally understood]~♪
[My past foolish mistakes, the sins I acknowledged, and the tears I could not suppress]~♪
As Inori's song continued from the stage and reached its next transition, the Shogun's eyes shone violet. She raised one hand and swept it lightly through the air. The space above her gradually fractured, revealing her enormous Eye of Stormy Judgment. Its radiance seemed to illuminate the sky itself, drawing the attention of the people in the distance.
"What?! That..."
"An e-eye?"
"I've never seen anything like that... Could it be some kind of defensive weapon?"
"Impossible! Where would those brats get a weapon? It's probably a projection meant to scare us."
"Tch... Their little illusion looks pretty convincing. They almost fooled us."
The men scoffed one after another, treating the astonishing sight above as nothing more than an illusion created by the students. The pressure it gave off was indeed intense, but they merely assumed the image had been made unusually realistic.
However, as time passed, the pupil of the Eye of Stormy Judgment began to rotate, drawing thunderous light toward itself from all directions.
"Hey... Something isn't right."
One of them noticed something strange. The force felt far too real, so real that he could already feel the impact radiating from it.
"Huh?"
"Look. It seems to be charging."
"Impossible! How could that be possible?!"
"It's true... And it looks like the target is... us?"
"Eh?"
Elsewhere...
"Gentlemen, spying is a bad habit."
The Shogun spoke mockingly. Then she swept her arm horizontally forward. At her command, the Eye of Stormy Judgment instantly unleashed a massive violet beam. It was slightly thinner than the "railgun" she had used to shoot down the satellite before. After all, she could not use too much force. She merely needed to control the output.
Hum~
The beam instantly shot toward the distant building!
"UAAAAAGH!!!" ×N
As the Wanderers felt the growing heat wash across their faces, they screamed. They did not even have time to flee!
BOOM!!!!
The beam struck the top of the building. First came a burst of blinding violet light, followed by a towering cloud of fire that transformed the structure into a gigantic "torch"!
"Aah!"
"What?!"
"What happened?!"
The explosion also caught the attention of the students on campus. They all turned toward the distant building, which had already become a blazing torch, and stared in bewilderment.
"Tsugumi..."
"Hm?"
"What... was that?"
"P-Probably... fireworks?"
"Mm... Let's just call it that."
The two exchanged helpless yet indulgent smiles, both directed at a certain someone. Yes, indeed!
"...!"
Hare also saw the distant explosion. She froze for a moment, then quickly recovered and turned toward the people whose attention had been drawn away.
"Um... Everyone! It's all right... You students wanted curry rice, correct?"
She once again called the attention of the customers before her.
"Ah, mm... One plate of curry rice."
The male student in front of her smiled awkwardly.
That's right. That is the power protecting us... No one needs to be afraid.
Hare murmured silently to herself.