The location changed. This time, I found myself in a solitary confinement room that I didn’t recognize.
[Teacher… Arius betrayed us. Why? Why? Why? Why on earth…? This isn’t what I wanted. If this happens, Seiya-chan… Azusa-chan said it wasn’t her doing. I don’t understand anything anymore…]
[…Get a grip, Mika. If it crumbles this easily, what confidence did you have swallowing Trinity whole? Take responsibility for what you’ve done. Don’t try to escape. You mustn’t forget this is a war you started, Mika. If you don’t bend, Gehenna won’t bend either. That’s the relationship I’ve seen between your two academies.]
[You want me to kneel before those horned freaks first? I can’t do that, teacher.]
[I told you, Mika. Take responsibility. If you’re not going to bend… You can’t fall apart like this for the sake of the students who shed blood because of the war you started. This is not a time to sulk and whine. That phase is long past.]
[I…]
[…I should have shoved a gun to your head that day and talked some sense into you.]
[Wha-Teacher?!]
With that scene ending, the location changed again… No, the place was the same. Only the number of people had increased a bit.
[What are you guys? How did you find your way here?]
[Hehe~ My, my, it seems the Trinity’s T-party host has quite the refined taste. A teacher for show, huh? I could be a little greedy here…]
[Hoshino-senpai, that’s not important right now, is it? We need to save the teacher.]
[Well, from what I can see… the teacher doesn’t seem particularly eager to follow us.]
[Yeah… I don’t care about that. Let’s go, teacher.]
As Mika raised her gun at the masked students, everyone except one immediately pointed their guns back at her.
[Uh, Teacher. Do you know these guys? I hope you say no.]
[Unfortunately, I know them all too well.]
[Well, that’s really unfortunate. If only you didn’t know… ]
[If only…? I was halfway set on killing them☆]
[…Wow~ As expected of Trinity’s witch. But we’re not the kind to get easily subdued either.]
It’s hard to imagine anyone besides Mika and Neru who could make such a relaxed statement with that swimming suit masked group right in front of them.
More importantly, why were there five people… Oh, Faust was here too.
[Everyone, please calm down a bit and don’t fight. I have an idea why you came for me. But…]
[…Yeah, let’s kidnap her.]
[Haha… That sounds like Shiroko. Please don’t. There’s something really important I need to do here.]
[What’s that supposed to mean, teacher?]
[I need to help a student I care about… the lost one, to realize her mistakes and find her way back… so she can atone at the end.]
[But don’t you think that road’s already been strayed too far…?]
[That’s largely my responsibility, Nonomi. So I can’t go with you.]
[Hehe~ You sure do live a tiring life, teacher. I mean, that’s what makes you, you, but still.]
Even I think you must be living a pretty exhausting life. How can a person act like that?
[Ugh… As expected of the teacher—Umpf.]
[…That’s Hifumi-chan’s voice, isn’t it?]
[N-N-no! I’m the leader of the swimming suit mask group, Faust…!]
[Aha, Hifumi-chan. So you brought these guys here, huh? Impressive determination, but… I’m a bit surprised. I thought you’d be prioritizing Nagisa-chan first.]
[Y-Yeah?]
[Oh, did you snatch her first…?]
[Nagisa-sama, what do you mean…? Nagisa-sama is definitely—]
The sound got swallowed. I could see Hifumi in the mask trying to say something.
Ge, Gehenna…?
What’s the connection between Nagisa and Gehenna? And why is everyone looking at Mika strangely…
In the meantime, the scene in front of me dispersed like bubbles and then was reassembled. This wasn’t the T-party’s confinement room, but the same solitary room as before. It seems like the swimming suit masked group retreated after the teacher’s persuasion.
[…Arius Squad has secretly contacted us, teacher. They want our help, can you believe it? Haha! It’s simply ridiculous. So, whose fault is it that things have come to this—]
[Mika, let me say this again: avoiding responsibility is a bad habit.]
[…I’m sorry. I have no right to blame them.]
[So, what do you plan to do?]
[Teacher, why are you asking something so obvious? I have no interest in trusting someone who betrayed us once.]
Mika answered the teacher’s question with a smile, but I’m not sure if that could even be called a smile. The hatred swirling in her eyes made the smile look like a mask…
[…Mika, let me meet those kids directly.]
[Oh, no! That’s absolutely not okay, no matter what, teacher! If those guys take you hostage…!]
[Then you can keep an eye on me by my side. Right?]
[Wha—o…? Teacher, how can you still smile at me like that? Why do you still believe in someone like me?]
[You are… still the student I care about the most. And you are the one I must be responsible for.]
As the teacher said that, a bittersweet smile appeared on her face as she patted Mika’s head.
What on earth had happened between them? Why does the teacher look so guilty…?
[…I don’t get it. You say you care about me, yet you always keep your distance. I don’t even understand what part of me needs your responsibility. But, I will trust you, teacher.]
[Then… consider it.]
[Let’s set the stage. That’s all it takes…? To be honest, the one who contacted us seems really desperate, so I was a bit concerned…]
[Thank you, Mika.]
Finally, the location changed for the first time.
This place… One of the T-party’s inner rooms?
[It’s been a while, Saori-chan. How have you been?]
[…]
[What’s with the radio silence? Come on, it’s about time you at least recognize me.]
[…Imashino Mika. You’ve… completely broken.]
[Ahaha, me? What a joke. There’s no way that’s true, Saori-chan.]
[You… never mind, I’ll thank you for setting up this meeting.]
With a grin, Mika said that, and then Saori approached the teacher and suddenly bowed her waist deeply.
[Teacher of Saleh. We need your help. The only ones we have left who could ask for help are you and Mikano Mika. That’s why… ]
[…First, I think I need to hear more about the situation.]
[Okay. Arius’s… Madame’s original plan was to use Misono Mika to create chaos within the T-party, neutralizing part of it before using the Eden Treaty to fill the gap in troops and utilizing that to take both Trinity and the Gehenna Autonomous District. However, what Madame overlooked was… Misono Mika, the only remaining head of the T-party. She was a double-edged sword that Arius couldn’t handle.]
[Misono Mika’s actions were more extreme than Madame anticipated. She lightly brushed off the proposal to use the Eden Treaty as a trap to strike Gehenna, declaring war immediately… That was a situation even Madame didn’t foresee. With Arius’s troops wasted in unnecessary depletion, Madame ultimately notified us that she would have to change her approach…]
This means, as soon as Mika seized power, she swiftly pushed for war with Gehenna, causing Beatrice’s plan itself to utterly derail.
I felt a mix of understanding and a growing headache.
[That’s why you betrayed us.]
[…Yes. I’m not ignorant of what pushed you so hard. I can understand that now. The loss of something precious. Unlike me, who was afraid of it in a vague sense, you had to experience it firsthand… It’s only natural you would feel that way.]
[Arius’s forces are absolutely insufficient compared to Trinity and Gehenna. And for Madame’s method to take effect, the Eden Treaty had to precede it. So, caught up in your rampage, Arius decided to withdraw and watch.]
[In the meantime, Madame devised a way to shove Gehenna and Trinity to the edge of hell and acted on it. To kidnap the former T-party host and frame Gehenna as the culprit—]
[What do you mean? Nagisa-chan is still fine, locked up. Just yesterday, we had tea time together.]
[…Is that so? So, the situation Madame intended didn’t come to fruition.]
[I don’t get it. What are you trying to say?]
[Wake up from this dream, Misono Mika!!! Kirihouji Nagisa… her safety is now in Madame’s hands. And if we don’t act… soon, she will lose her life along with the princess.]
[…]
Wait a minute. So, the committee that mentioned Nagisa and Gehenna and looked strangely at Mika… knew that Nagisa had been kidnapped?
Mika was denying the obvious truth right in front of her, wasn’t she?
In the meantime, I saw Saori who had confronted Mika kneeling down.
[Please, teacher. And… Mika. I beg you, help me. I’ve failed countless times, but I can’t fail this time. I have to save the princess.]
[Ahah. Ahahaha… ahahahaha!]
[Mika…]
[Teacher, you wanted me to return to the right path… and to atone at the end, but it seems like it’s already too late for that.]
[…]
[What are you doing? Get up, Jomae Saori.]
[Are you… really going to help me?]
[Help you? Me, help you? Stop joking like that. I just want to save Nagisa-chan. All you need to do is guide me. Whatever princess you’re talking about is beyond my interest.]
[…Thank you.]
[W-What? Could you stop looking at me so creepily?]
One last time, the scene changed.
This time, it was a place I had seen with my own eyes. Arius Basilica was the background.
A complete monster transformed… there was a beast of overwhelming power, leagues apart from Beatrice in my memory.
And,
[Teacher!!!]
The teacher was bleeding and dying, cradled in Mika’s arms.
[Oh no… I should have protected you… aah…]
Mika was already in tatters. Her wings were broken, half her body soaked in red, and it looked like simply opening her eyes was a struggle… She resembled a walking corpse.
Saori. Misaki. Hiyori. Even Azusa lay nearby, stripped of Halo’s light.
I couldn’t tell if they were all dead or just unconscious, but since Mika had lost to Beatrice, even if they were alive, their fates had clearly been sealed.
[I thought I seemed to be too late… but honestly, I was hoping. I thought we would have another chance… as long as you kept believing in me, there would be an opportunity… But what is this…? Why did it turn out like this…? Why…?]
[I’m sorry. I’m sorry, teacher… I’m a bad girl, I let you down, and I never showed you the figure you wanted… I’m so sorry…]
[Teacher… you probably knew, but I, uh… I really love you. More than my own life, I hold you most dear. So…]
[This is my request, please don’t leave me… We are strangers, so if we don’t say it, it’s only natural we wouldn’t know. I should have said it sooner. Even if you hate me, I understand. Even if you resent me, I don’t care. So please, I beg you…”]
[Ugh.]
[Teacher!]
[Mika… I don’t hate you, nor do I resent you… How could I do that to my dearest student? I only feel apologetic…]
[Stop! You don’t need to say any more… ]
The teacher coughed up blood. She was clearly dying. And Mika, knowing this fact, only wanted to prolong the moment a little longer by stopping her from talking.
[Teacher, even now, you’re still saying that. Even in this situation, you tell me something like that. To a witch like me…]
[You’re not a witch, that would be a lie… Ah.]
The teacher opened her eyes wide. Then, slowly raising her hand, she moved it to rest softly on Mika’s head.
[For a teacher… to speak of love for a student seems… like a teacher’s failure.]
[…I know, teacher.]
[But… if it’s for the princess… it’s alright… ]
[…]
And then, the memory stopped there.
