Even on a day like the signing of the Eden Treaty, when the vast majority of students were enjoying a holiday, some Trinity students still remained at their posts, diligently carrying out their duties.
In fact, at the prison where a certain important prisoner was being held, the guards were even more vigilant than usual.
The reason was that Mika had received a special visitor today.
"Seia-chan, why aren't you at the signing ceremony or resting in your room? Why come all the way to my gloomy little prison cell instead?"
Mika smiled and guessed:
"Don't tell me you're here to show off? Like, no matter how hard I tried, all I managed to do was delay the signing of the Eden Treaty for a while or something? Sigh. Well, I'm not that smart, so failing is only natural."
"I wouldn't stoop so low as to brag about something like that."
Seia answered sincerely.
"And certainly not at a time like this."
"Then you're just here to visit? Ahaha~ Even though the conditions here are pretty simple, there's still plenty of Swiss roll for Seia-chan, you know?"
Seia shook her head.
"No, thank you for the offer, but I'm not hungry right now."
"What about tea..."
"I'm not thirsty either."
As the fox-eared girl's invitations were rejected one after another, the atmosphere inevitably became a little awkward.
Mika herself, however, didn't seem to notice and simply focused on the television screen.
At the moment, Kronos's program was broadcasting footage of Gehenna's Pandemonium Society boarding the airship alongside a certain adult.
The pink-haired girl, sitting somewhat stiffly on the sofa, wore a conflicted expression and hesitated for a while. Eventually, while Seia wasn't paying attention, she put her smile back on and casually remarked:
"Come to think of it, Sensei has always had a good relationship with Gehenna. This time he's heading to the cathedral together with Gehenna's people too, right? Haha, looks like Nagisa-chan and Seia-chan aren't actually all that special to him after all~"
However, upon hearing that, Seia frowned briefly.
Then, as though remembering something, she relaxed and smiled.
"You're right. But so what? After all, what I truly care about now, and what I have the ability to concern myself with in the future, is only a small part of the whole. Besides, the equation for victory was decided long ago."
Mika couldn't quite understand Seia's confidence, but that didn't stop her from speaking.
"Ahaha~ Seia-chan, it's because you're always saying things that are hard to understand, even though everyone can tell you're mocking them, and because you love encouraging people to do things that make others angry, that you don't have any friends, you know? Are you really not aware of that?"
"...It seems I'd better inject some manners and character into that completely empty head of yours after all."
After firing back, Seia once again regained her composure and smiled.
"Hehe. In any case, today let's witness the end of this story together."
"Hmm?"
Mika blinked.
"Well, since you're going to stay here for a while, I should make you a cup of black tea after all~ And bring some Swiss roll too!"
"So you weren't listening when I said I..."
Seia sighed.
"Forget it."
Watching Mika already trotting off to prepare tea and snacks for her guest, Seia shook her head helplessly.
Yet the smile on her face became a little more genuine as she quietly murmured:
"There's really no helping this girl."
...
"Sensei, do you realize what you're saying?"
Makoto frowned slightly, her tone turning serious.
"If an explosion occurs in the confined space inside this airship, combined with the impact of falling from such a height, even with our halos protecting us, we'll definitely suffer severe injuries."
"What else do you suggest we do?"
I raised my phone, displaying the screen as I questioned her sternly.
"The reporters outside are currently broadcasting the airship's departure live. Do you think the people from Arius aren't watching our movements? If we act rashly, what do you think Arius will do?"
According to what Makoto had just revealed, she had been secretly cooperating with Arius for a long time and planned to use the Eden Treaty signing as a pretext for an attack on Trinity.
But considering that Arius had planted bombs aboard the airship, it was obvious they had never viewed Gehenna as an ally. They intended to eliminate the Pandemonium Society as well.
And that led to another issue of timing.
The current situation was this:
If this highly publicized airship exploded, students gathered at the cathedral would learn about it immediately.
Likewise, any major incident at the cathedral would quickly reach us.
However, until just moments ago, Makoto had still regarded Arius as friends.
Therefore, from Arius's perspective, assuming these openly placed bombs would go unnoticed, they would either attack the cathedral first and then detonate the bombs, or launch both attacks at nearly the same time.
But if Arius realized their true scheme had been discovered, they would undoubtedly attack both the airship and the cathedral immediately.
"The moment we boarded this airship," I said gravely, "we were already trapped."
Conversely, pretending we had discovered nothing and proceeding according to the original plan was the only way to leave room for maneuver.
For us, the passengers aboard the airship.
And for the students at the cathedral, who were still completely unprepared for an attack.
"No, Sensei."
However, Makoto seemed to have found what she considered a loophole. Narrowing her eyes, she revealed a sinister smile.
"The ones who are trapped aren't us. It's only those people at the cathedral that..."
"Hey. How much longer are you planning to keep this up?"
I stared coldly at the person who had disappointed me so thoroughly.
I could no longer speak to her gently.
"As you said, if we exclude the damage from falling, and get as far away from the airship as possible before the explosion occurs, then even if we're injured, it'll only be minor. But no matter how much you hate Trinity and the Prefect Team, there are still Pandemonium Society members at the cathedral. Are you really planning to abandon your own subordinates and let Arius reap all the benefits?"
"...I'm sorry. I apologize for my choice of words. But I wasn't trying to shirk responsibility. What I meant was..."
Makoto took a deep breath and pointed toward the bewildered blonde girl nearby.
"At the very least, let Ibuki get off the airship."
Hearing that, my opinion of her recovered slightly.
Iroha nodded.
"I agree. At this point, even if severe injuries are unavoidable, that's a price we in the Pandemonium Society should pay."
Chiaki perked up again.
"Hahaha~ Stuff like this happens all the time!"
Satsuki sighed but agreed as well.
"It can't be helped. That's what happens when our chairwoman is Makoto-chan. Still, getting only Ibuki off the airship shouldn't be a problem. We can just say she's airsick."
At least when it came to unity, the Pandemonium Society possessed something that would put Trinity's student council to shame.
I glanced at Ibuki, who seemed only half aware of what was happening.
It really wouldn't affect anything.
So I nodded.
"Let's do that. Now then, it's time to think about what comes next."
...I only hoped we could successfully reach the ending that Seia had foreseen.