At the Eden Treaty signing venue.
Contrary to the atmosphere of hostility presented to viewers through the livestream, after receiving news that an attack was imminent, the cathedral now displayed a scene that was harmonious yet awkward, orderly yet chaotic.
"Hey, you there from the Prefect Team! Move it! We're running out of time!"
"Hah? Are you Justice Task Force people looking for a fight!? If anything, it's you guys! Since you're more familiar with the terrain, hurry up and point out the weak spots in the defenses!"
"Excuse us. This cathedral is normally managed by our Sisterhood. If you don't mind, please allow us to help."
"Confirm it again! Have any Gehenna representatives arrived ahead of schedule?"
"For the glory of Chairwoman Makoto! We can't let Trinity and the Prefect Team steal the spotlight!"
As unbelievable as it sounded, Makoto genuinely had a large number of devoted supporters within the Pandemonium Society.
In short, the cathedral was filled with this sort of commotion.
In other words, Trinity's Tea Party, Sisterhood, and Justice Task Force, together with Gehenna's Pandemonium Society and Prefect Team, had already begun working toward the same goal despite the treaty not yet being signed.
Meanwhile, inside the underground safe room prepared in advance, Nagisa urgently asked the Tea Party official beside her:
"Still no contact with Seia?"
"No... Seia-sama isn't resting in her hospital room, and her phone is switched off as well..."
Nagisa's expression darkened.
"At a time like this, where could she possibly have gone? She didn't even inform her Sanctus guards..."
At such a critical moment, Seia, who possessed prophetic dreams, had vanished once again.
"Could it be..."
In her panic, signs of her old habits began resurfacing.
"This time there really is a Trinity trai..."
But halfway through the thought, Nagisa suddenly froze.
Her ash-gold eyes brightened as realization struck.
"The prison?"
Lowering her voice, the Tea Party host immediately issued an order.
"Send someone to the prison, Mika's cell... No, contact the guards responsible for Mika directly. Ask whether Seia is secretly visiting Mika right now. If she is, tell them to relay a message to Seia and have her contact me immediately. Also, don't let Mika know."
The official immediately acknowledged the order and hurried off.
As Nagisa waited anxiously, another Tea Party guard rushed over with a report.
"Nagisa-sama! Gehenna's Prefect Team Chair is about to arrive!"
"Is that so?"
Nagisa pondered for a moment.
"Have her come see me immediately... No, I'll go see her instead. Inform Hasumi and Tsurugi to come along... Actually, never mind. I'll notify them personally."
As she spoke, she had already taken out her phone.
The guard was startled.
"Nagisa-sama, are you saying you intend to leave the safe room?"
Nagisa answered without hesitation:
"If something can still happen while accompanied by Gehenna's Prefect Team Chair and the Vice Chair and Chair of the Justice Task Force, then nowhere in this cathedral can truly be considered safe."
Hearing that, the guard nodded.
"Understood. Then please follow me."
Inside the gondola of the Pandemonium Society's airship.
Looking at the bombs, all of which had been marked according to the results of the "game," I took a deep breath, unable to suppress my anxiety.
From this point on, it would be time to test whether Asuna's luck could truly rival Kirino's marksmanship.
Then I turned to Iroha.
"Any updates from the Remedial Knights?"
The red-haired girl, who had been helping coordinate communications, nodded.
"They've successfully contacted a sightseeing boat rental shop near the lake. The owner had previously been treated by the Remedial Knights, so he volunteered to help and is bringing his staff as well."
"Haha, then even if someone accidentally falls into the water, we won't have to worry."
Chiaki laughed optimistically before quickly adopting a sorrowful expression.
"Sigh, but if my camera gets soaked, all those cool moments of Sensei that were supposed to be recorded will be ruined too..."
It seemed another girl had fallen victim to my charm.
Beside her, Satsuki confidently raised a hand. Her eyes sparkled with what she clearly considered wisdom.
"I've got a great idea! Once we're close to the water, let's throw down a few of those wooden crates that used to hold explosives. Everyone knows why ships float, right? Because they're made of wood and buoyancy is greater than gravity! So the crates should at least work as temporary life preservers!"
...Did this girl actually take middle school physics?
"Satsuki, what nonsense are you talking about?" Makoto asked in confusion. "Buoyancy is equal to gravity, isn't it?"
Even Makoto knew that much.
Sigh.
Pink-haired girls.
"...That's not important. Makoto-chan, just tell me whether it's a good idea!"
"Heh heh, it's actually not a bad idea. As expected of Satsuki."
"That's right! As expected of Satsuki-senpai!"
Ignoring their mutual praise, I activated Fuuka's Authority and took out the card to check my currently available Authorities, carefully reviewing whether there were any flaws left in the ideal version of my plan.
Once the airship reached the lake, Makoto, Iroha, Chiaki, and Satsuki would move to the hatch and prepare themselves.
Meanwhile, I would remain alone on the opposite side and disarm the bombs according to the markings.
The best-case scenario would naturally be that every bomb was successfully disarmed.
But that wasn't very realistic.
There was also the possibility that Arius would detonate them halfway through the process.
As long as I kept Shiroko's Authority active throughout, combined with the burn resistance granted by the Brass Fire Serpent, I should be able to preserve more battery power for unexpected developments later.
At the same time, maintaining Serina's, Nodoka's, and Fuuka's Authorities continuously might allow me to notice any abnormalities immediately and react before things spiraled out of control.
Perhaps I could even try Tsurugi's Authority, Return to the Wilderness, to see whether it would increase my disarming speed.
Unfortunately, Hoshino's Authority for observing weaknesses was ineffective against inanimate objects.
After glancing through the collection of mostly underwhelming Authorities, I put away the card that still refused to be useful at a time like this and began studying the bomb-related materials sent by bomb enthusiast Mutsuki.
No matter how one looked at it, bomb disposal itself carried enormous risk.
Even Kivotos students would normally use robots for such work, move the bomb to a safe location and detonate it deliberately, or simply jam all surrounding signals.
Unfortunately, time was short, equipment was limited, and we were flying through the sky.
None of those methods were practical.
The moment any suspicious action was noticed, the Arius student holding the detonator would trigger the bombs.
In other words, we would have to gamble.
...
Wait a minute.
The principle behind a remote-controlled bomb is that it receives a specific signal, isn't it?
Catching hold of a sudden spark of inspiration, I took out the card once more.
Looking at a category of Authorities on the glowing display that I had completely ignored until now, a bold idea began to take shape.
If that was the case, then wasn't a remote-controlled bomb, in the end, just another electronic device?