What is going on?
I had only rested for a few hours, so why was everything outside in complete chaos?
After roughly sorting through the many messages I had received and matching them to each incident, I felt my scalp grow numb.
To put it simply, Trinity and Gehenna, and even a large portion of Kivotos, were already on the verge of descending into utter chaos.
In truth, chaos breaking out was inevitable. I had already expected that much.
But the problem was, what exactly was this situation?
How could so many members of the Prefect Team not even be able to keep track of Hina, who was critically injured and unconscious?
Azusa arranged a meeting with Hifumi and then said she was going to destroy Saori's halo, and even Faust herself failed to stop her?
And what the hell is this "Pater faction declaring war on Gehenna" nonsense? Where are Seia and Hanako, who were supposed to be handling everything?
No, seriously, where are my teammates? Someone help me here!
I tried my best to calm myself down so I would not aggravate my wounds or pass out again from emotional shock.
If that happened, this mess would truly become something no one could clean up...
In any case, priorities must be set. The most urgent matters right now were only these three, corresponding to Gehenna, Trinity, and Arius.
Everything else could be put aside for now, such as the goodwill that Yukino reportedly extended toward me through Shizuyama Shiro.
And these three matters had to be handled one by one.
First, I sent Azusa a message telling her not to act recklessly, and also asked several available students to help search for her, hoping to intercept her before she reached Saori.
Going alone to confront Arius Squad, who now possessed the power of the Saints, was nothing short of walking into a trap.
Not to mention the danger and low chance of success—if Azusa really succeeded in destroying Saori's halo, wouldn't that make her a murderer?
And Saori...
The image of that cold, distant girl surfaced in my mind, and I took a deep breath.
Saori had once, in a sense, saved my life. Even though that had been under Beatrice's orders...
Before the explosion at the Old Cathedral, she had indeed tried to warn me to escape, and that was her own will.
Of course, that did not cancel out the harm she had caused me, or the students of Trinity and Gehenna. Even if she had been coerced by Beatrice, she was still the one who carried out the act.
But did her sins really warrant a death sentence?
Or, to put it in a way that I could more easily accept:
Until Saori pays the appropriate price for what she has done, death might actually be a kind of release for her.
I would not forgive her, nor her companions, so easily.
I turned these thoughts into a message and sent it to Azusa, sincerely hoping she would see it and reconsider.
Unfortunately, there was no reply.
Judging by the time Hifumi had given me for when she separated from Azusa, in the worst case, Azusa had already begun fighting Arius Squad.
I struggled to suppress even the absurd thought of "contacting Saori and telling her I'll forgive her for shooting me if she just lets Azusa go."
At least for Arius, that was all I could do for now.
Next was Gehenna.
Makoto... without Hina, and burdened by guilt toward me, should still be capable of making reasonable decisions. Gehenna itself should be stable in the short term.
Which meant the only real concern there was Hina herself.
I could probably guess where she had gone.
For now, I would let her rest.
Suppressing my feelings of concern once again.
So, the next issue I needed to deal with was...
Stopping the Pater faction and other radical elements from declaring war on Gehenna.
If Seia and Hanako were still present, they would never allow such a thing to happen.
Which meant that, most likely, opportunists who harbored hatred toward Gehenna had taken advantage of the chaos to stage a coup and detain them.
Does Trinity have some kind of tradition of this sort?
And who was it that confidently assured me everything had already been arranged?
Still, I understood that with Seia's current condition and her usual tendencies, something going wrong was not unusual.
But the problem was, according to Trinity's system, a declaration of war required the approval of a Tea Party chairperson.
If the tea party's host could not make a decision due to special circumstances, that authority would pass to the next Tea Party member.
This Tea Party had three members.
Nagisa, the acting host, was unconscious after the Old Cathedral explosion.
Seia, the former chair, was now "unwell" according to the Pater faction's announcement.
With those two excluded, the only remaining Tea Party member was...
At that thought, I subconsciously quickened my pace while being supported by Serina.
...
Trinity, outside the prison.
"Misono-sama, this way please."
The girl nodded slightly.
Dressed in a princess-like outfit, with a face as pure as an angel, the pink-haired girl stepped out of the cell under the guidance of her nominal subordinates.
Immediately, several other Tea Party administrators came forward eagerly.
"Misono-sama!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting, you are now free!"
The leader of the Pater faction, Misono Mika, looked around.
"Hm... I see, I understand what's going on now. So what you're saying is..."
Under the expectant gazes of the administrators, Mika smiled faintly.
"Everyone here... are my fans?"
Ah, no choice then. I'll sign an autograph for you. Should I use my real name, or my channel name?"
One of the administrators looked stunned for a moment before explaining.
"N-no, that's not it. As you can see, Trinity is currently—"
Mika interrupted with a smile.
"Mm, I get it now. So what exactly do you all want me to do? Surely you're not here to declare war on Gehenna, are you?"
"Yes! Exactly!"
The administrator nodded firmly.
"Now is the perfect opportunity to eliminate Gehenna!"
"Just as you wished, a full-scale war with Gehenna...!"
"Come on, quickly issue the combat order for all of Trinity...!"
The Tea Party's hawkish faction spoke one after another, each voice filled with excitement.
"…Ahaha."
Mika let out a soft sigh and returned to her smile.
"Everyone really does have good memories, don't they? Yes, I do really dislike Gehenna."
However, in the next moment, her tone shifted, growing colder.
"So? And what does that have to do with me? Why are you all coming to me to issue orders?"
She looked at the administrators before her, tilting her head slightly.
With no expression at all, she asked:
"Why don't you go find Seia-chan instead?"