Looking at Misaki, I asked with interest,
"What exactly did Beatrice tell you?"
"As long as we dealt with you, we could return to the Arius School. That was the proposal I received. The captain and Hiyori were probably told the same thing."
"Eh!?"
Hiyori looked at Misaki in surprise. Then her eyes met mine, and she instinctively shuddered before averting her gaze.
"Wh-what I received... was a little different..."
"Hiyori."
The silent Saori suddenly spoke.
"It's okay to admit it."
"Eh? Captain! N-no, it really was different!"
Hiyori hurriedly pulled out her phone and showed the screen, trying to defend herself.
"I was only told that if I reported everyone's whereabouts, especially yours, Captain, to that woman, I'd be forgiven... B-because I was only an accomplice... or something like that..."
The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became. She also sensed the subtle change in the atmosphere and awkwardly shrank her neck under Saori's strange gaze.
Even I couldn't help sighing inwardly.
This girl was almost absurdly honest.
"...Did you do it?"
Saori took a deep breath.
"H-how could I? I rejected it right away... Wh-what? Do I look like the kind of person who'd betray everyone that easily?"
Perhaps realizing she had touched on a sore spot, Saori opened her mouth as if to speak, only to fall silent.
Hiyori muttered again,
"Besides, who knows if that woman was lying to us again... And anyway, we're already all in the same boat now... Going back to the school by myself wouldn't mean anything..."
Hearing that, I was moved by the genuine bond between them, so much so that I couldn't help laughing.
"Heh. So you're planning to keep following Saori and Misaki. Then what exactly are you still waiting for?"
Leaning comfortably against the sofa, I calmly stated a simple fact.
"I have no intention of helping you. So if you want to save your Princess, the only choice left is to accept Beatrice's proposal. Isn't that right? So... go ahead."
Driven by a strange heat rising from somewhere deep inside me, I undid the top few buttons of my shirt that had been making me feel stifled, exposing my solid chest with a brass cross hanging around my neck.
With a mocking tone, I said,
"Try to kill me. Just like you intended before. This time, aim your gun at my heart."
In an instant, the atmosphere dropped to freezing.
Making the two sounds of swallowing that followed all the more obvious and out of place.
The corner of my eye twitched.
I glanced at Wakamo, who was still wearing her mask beside me, then looked toward Hiyori, whose face had turned bright red while her eyes stared fixedly at me.
...
Wakamo was one thing.
But for Hiyori to still have the presence of mind to admire my appearance in a situation like this... even if I stretched the definition, it could only be called human nature. She truly was something else.
Speechless, I quietly buttoned my shirt back up.
It was starting to feel like I was giving Arius Squad a special treat.
"Why are you still hesitating?"
Ignoring the gazes full of regret, I asked leisurely,
"If you want so badly to save your companion, why not decisively make the same choice you made before?"
"...You're right."
Saori closed her eyes and answered hoarsely.
"I... I really, really want to save the Princess... She's an important companion to me, just like Misaki, Hiyori, and... the others. They're the reason I've continued living until now. If she really... I would probably lose the will to keep living as well."
As soon as those words were spoken, Hiyori looked at her with emotion, while Misaki silently turned her eyes away.
"So if Atsuko could be saved, no matter what price I had to pay... I would be willing..."
Saori paused before opening her eyes again, bitterness filling her voice.
"At first... that's what I believed."
I raised an eyebrow slightly.
Saori continued in broken sentences.
"If it happened that way... even if the Princess could escape becoming a sacrifice, she would never accept it. I... I probably... Sensei, I really don't want to... If you truly... I won't ever do anything to harm you again... Please believe me... Please... I..."
But those clumsy words earned only my indifferent reply.
"Or perhaps it simply means you aren't confident you could finish the job here. Isn't that so?"
"I... I didn't..."
"Really? Then how do you intend to prove your heart, your original intentions, your true feelings?"
That question left Saori speechless once again.
Soon, tears rolled down her cheeks as she forced back her sobs.
"I... I don't know... I'm sorry, Sensei. I'm sorry. I don't know how to prove it... What should I do? Sensei... Please tell me..."
What could I possibly teach her?
The method I had used to answer that question simply did not apply to the Arius Squad before me.
I did possess a way to verify another person's feelings and trust toward me.
But if such a thing could be proven with only a few words, what value would it have?
"I can't teach you."
So I shook my head, walked over to her once more, and crouched down in front of her.
"And besides, that isn't what I want... No. More accurately, it isn't the correct answer."
Looking directly into those ice-blue eyes, I asked,
"Saori. If you had trusted me from the very beginning, none of this would have happened, would it?"
"I... I don't know..."
Tch.
So I chose a more direct question.
"Don't you think you've forgotten something important?"
"...What?"
Saori asked blankly.
"You're no longer a child."
I spoke slowly, never taking my eyes off her.
"If you've done something wrong, shouldn't there be something you ought to say?"
As though enlightenment had suddenly struck her, she hurriedly shouted,
"I'm sorry...! Sensei, I was wrong... I'm truly, truly sorry...!"
Feeling the empty place within me finally being filled, I stood up in satisfaction.
Looking down at the girl whose eyes were once again filled with hope, I gave a slight nod.
"Very good."
"I do not forgive you."
In an instant, the light vanished from Saori's eyes.
With a miserable smile, she accepted that reality.
"...Okay."
Engraving her reaction firmly into my memory, I turned slightly to the side and casually asked,
"So, where is it?"
"...Huh?"
"The underground catacombs leading to the Arius Satellite School."
Glancing at the girls whose faces were filled with surprise and joy, I calmly said,
"Take me there."
"Let's go pay Beatrice a visit."
It was still far too early to forgive these fools.
Right now, they were merely useful tools.
Tools I needed.
To exact revenge on the one truly responsible.
Nothing more.