At this moment, both Trinity's and Gehenna's districts were bustling as though celebrating a holiday.
Because the Eden Treaty was being signed today, the leadership of both academies had coincidentally given their ordinary students the day off.
Though for most Gehenna students, whether school was officially in session or not hardly mattered. Attending classes was entirely dependent on their mood.
However, on Gehenna's side, the list of representatives attending the signing ceremony prominently included the name of a certain Prefect Team Chair.
In other words, Sorasaki Hina, whose name alone struck fear into countless Gehenna students, would at least be away from campus for half a day.
Compared to the Eden Treaty itself, that news was undoubtedly what excited Gehenna's students more.
"Everyone! In other words, our era has finally arrived!"
In a rural area on Gehenna's outskirts, the head of the Hot Springs Development Department, Kinugawa Kasumi, was delivering an impassioned speech to over a hundred department members.
Standing at the very front of the crowd was a red-haired girl holding a massive flamethrower. Wearing an earnest smile, she eagerly cracked her knuckles.
"It's time for hot spring development again! Let's cause some chaos today!"
"OOOOHHHH!!!"
The girls erupted in excited cheers that shook the air and soared into the sky.
Inside a nearby black market, within an ordinary-looking residence, a girl wearing a metal mask vaguely heard those distant cries.
But she merely looked away from her old, cracked-screen phone. Her ice-blue, snake-like eyes glanced out the window before she lowered the brim of her cap, slung her pack over her shoulder, and silently walked toward the door.
Just as her hand reached the doorknob, however, an emotionless female voice came from behind her, bringing her movement to a halt.
"Saori, where are you going?"
After a brief pause, Saori answered calmly without turning around.
"It just sounded lively outside. I thought I'd go take a look."
"Really? Caring about something like that doesn't sound like the usual you."
"Maybe."
The vague reply was met with a long silence.
Yet just as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense and approached its breaking point, Wakamo suddenly spoke.
"Come to think of it, your phone should be replaced by now. I've never asked before, but I imagine you've saved every reward you've earned from commissions up until now for some special reason. So I could buy you one, as a gift between companions."
"Thank you for the thought."
"So, while we're at it..." Wakamo said casually. "Would you like to go to the mall together? Right now."
But Saori closed her eyes, sighed quietly, and withdrew her hand from the doorknob.
"...Since you've already noticed something, why bother dancing around the issue?"
Hearing that, Wakamo let out a cold laugh, having confirmed her suspicions.
"So I was right after all. Saori, has Sensei treated you badly in any way?"
"He... has treated me very well. I know that. He's truly been good to me. But, Wakamo."
Saori took a deep breath, turned around, and stared directly into the hollow eye sockets of the fox mask, where two cold glints shone within.
Word by word, she said:
"Someone like you, who cares about no one except him, could never understand."
"...Heh. In the end, people like you never change."
Wakamo raised her antique-style rifle, a weapon that seemed to exude the scent of gunpowder and flames, and aimed it at the person she had once believed could become her companion.
Her voice was ice-cold.
"Saori, you bitch who pretends to be loyal while possessing not the slightest gratitude, I will not allow you to interfere with that person's plans."
"What a shame."
The dark blue-haired girl shook her head.
"If you hadn't noticed, I originally intended to let you go."
"Unfortunately, Wakamo, I will deprive you of even the chance to pass along information."
Before her words had fully fallen, Saori pushed off the ground and shot backward, crashing through a door she had secretly left slightly ajar earlier.
At the same time, she reached into her clothing and pressed a switch.
The next moment, what greeted the pursuing Wakamo was a sniper round that had been waiting for exactly this opportunity. It was so fast that even the Fox of Calamity could not evade it, and powerful enough to knock her straight to the ground.
Then rockets descended from above, splitting into multiple warheads midair. The enormous explosions engulfed Wakamo completely as she attempted to roll away.
When the smoke finally cleared, an assault rifle was pressed against the fox-eared girl's forehead as she struggled to rise.
"Vanitas vanitatum... et omnia vanitas. I already told you. You would never understand."
In response to the fury and hatred burning in Wakamo's eyes, Saori mercilessly pulled the trigger.
Aboard the airship.
The Chairwoman of the Pandemonium Society wore an exceptionally ugly expression.
Suppressing the fear and anger welling inside me, I questioned her in a low voice.
"Makoto, tell me. Why would you receive a gift from Arius?"
"...Guh."
The silver-haired girl took a deep breath and answered succinctly.
"A long time ago, I entered into a secret arrangement with Arius, who also hated Trinity. Because of that, I knew everything about Trinity's internal conflicts and the coup from the very beginning."
"Wait, a coup...?"
Iroha couldn't help but ask.
"When did something like that happen? Don't tell me it was during the time Sensei got forcibly kissed..."
Halfway through, she realized this wasn't the time to explain that story and lowered her voice.
I took a deep breath, but I could no longer stop the tremor in my voice.
"So from the very beginning, you never intended to sign the Eden Treaty, did you?"
Sensing my emotions, Makoto pursed her lips and lowered her head.
"That's right. I only wanted to use this opportunity to get rid of the people who annoyed me. Pretending to agree to the treaty was merely a way to lure out the Tea Party, while also taking care of that irritating Hina..."
...
If time were not already so desperately short, I felt that no matter what consequences followed, I would have taught this idiot a lesson she would never forget.
"Uh... Makoto-senpai's thought process..."
Even Chiaki could barely force out a laugh.
"Makoto-chan, are you okay?"
Satsuki's eye twitched, her expression full of disbelief.
"Did it never occur to you that Arius might hate us even more than they hate Trinity? Why would you think they'd sincerely cooperate with us?"
"Sigh..."
Iroha looked the calmest, though also the most exasperated.
"Makoto-senpai always makes surprising decisions whenever something involving the Prefect Team Pres comes up. And why didn't anyone inspect the airship before boarding it?"
"Makoto-senpai... did something bad...?"
Ibuki asked hesitantly.
Faced with all these accusations from her companions, Makoto accepted every one of them.
"...I'm sorry. This is all my fault. But whether you want to yell at me or do something else, let's discuss that later."
She cast a cold glance at the bombs planted by Arius.
"Right now, our top priority is dealing with these. Iroha, disable the autopilot. Chiaki, evacuate the reporters. Satsuki, contact the bomb disposal team..."
"No."
After a long period of thought, I finally made my decision.
"Everyone will proceed according to the original plan."