"It was my mistake."
A beautiful, husky voice pierces the ears. It was a voice heard for the first time. No, perhaps it was a voice she knew. It felt familiar, but no memory surfaced. It was contradictory. Yet, the voice held a power that concentrated the audience's attention.
"My decisions. And all the situations they brought about."
Her mind is foggy. It feels like being in a deep sleep. It was so cozy it felt like floating in a cloud, and her vision was blurred. The scent brushing the tip of her nose carried the fragrance of spring, but between them, a faint scent of blood seeped through.
Beyond the blurred vision, someone's figure appears. The figure of a beautiful, yet wounded girl.
"To realize you were right only after reaching this outcome... So, though shameless, I beg of you. Teacher. You'll probably forget my words anyway, but I suppose that doesn't matter. Even if you remember nothing, you would likely make the same choice in the same situation..."
Blood stains the pure white uniform. Blood flowing from the upper body drips down, pools in her shoes, and falls in drops to form a puddle. A wretched appearance. She wanted to ask if she was okay, but for some reason, no voice came out. No sensation was felt from her outstretched arm either.
Perhaps, is this a dream?
"That's why perhaps... what's important is not experience, but choice. The choices only you can make."
The voice that reached her was calm. As if reminiscing, it seemed mixed with a hint of laughter.
"We talked once about someone who takes responsibility. I didn't know it then... but now I understand. An adult. Responsibility and duty, and your choices that lie beyond them. Even what they mean."
"So, Teacher. Only you, an adult I can trust, can find a different result, not this twisted and distorted endpoint... the choices that lead to that place..."
"So, Teacher."
"Please..."
With those words.
Consciousness surfaces.
"......-sensei."
"Umm..."
An intellectual voice was heard. The woman who had been lying face down on the desk rubbed her forehead against her neatly gathered arms as if sleep-talking and fidgeted. A red mark was etched on her forehead, but she paid no mind and wandered in dreamland. The dream of floating on a cloud was the best dream for her innocent self.
"......-sensei."
"Uhehehe... feels gooood..."
"Sensei!"
"Gwah! Wha, what!"
At the sharp voice, she jolted up from her seat. In the process, her knee collided hard with the desk.
"Kyyaaak!"
She let out a shriek. The pain shooting up from her knee made her head dizzy. Instantly, tears welled up, and a groan, uuh, escaped her lips. She was definitely rolling around on soft, fluffy clouds just a moment ago, but suddenly a hard desk welcomed her violently. She's so happy tears are about to fall...
"A-Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah... I'm fine..."
She rubbed her sore knee and looked ahead. A girl with long, dark blue hair and intelligent glasses was looking at her and letting out a sigh. Feeling an inexplicable pressure, the woman slightly shrunk her body and asked.
"Um... who are you?"
"......Didn't I explain earlier."
"So-sorry. I must have dozed off..."
At the woman's muttering, the girl sighed again. She slightly adjusted her glasses and spoke.
"I am Nanagami Rin. An executive of the General Student Council of the academy city 'Kivotos'."
"Rin... is it? Ehehe, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Sensei."
Rin looked at the name tag on the woman's chest.
Lee Ha-yul.
It was a rare name in Kivotos, but she didn't pay it much mind. What was important for the position of Teacher wasn't the name, but character, and how much one cared for the students. Of course, she had no intention of verifying that directly. It was the Student Council President herself who selected this person, and doubting her choice wouldn't be right.
"First, I imagine you are confused. I understand. I also haven't heard the detailed circumstances of how you came here, Sensei."
"Really...? Hmm... I don't really remember either..."
Ha-yul brought her hand to her mouth, closed her eyes, and thought, but she, like Rin, didn't know the details. She only remembered that she came to Kivotos as a Teacher. Everything else was foggy in her memory.
Well, it doesn't really matter. So what if I can't remember a bit! What's important is the future, not the past, right? She thought so and nodded.
"So, do I start working right away from now?"
"Please follow me for now. There is something else you must do, Sensei."
"Is that so? Okay."
Rin nodded slightly. Ha-yul put on the coat she had casually thrown on the chair and stood up. Rin was taller than Ha-yul, creating a situation where she had to look up at her, but Ha-yul paid no mind and put on a triumphant expression.
"Let's go!"
"......Yes, yes."
......A very lively person. Rin thought so as she led Ha-yul onto the elevator. The window designed to offer a clear view outside displayed the panorama of Kivotos. Various skyscrapers, a giant river with bridges, and the forest of other buildings beyond it made the viewer feel grandeur.
"Wow..."
"Welcome to Kivotos, Sensei."
Rin said, looking at Ha-yul whose eyes were sparkling.
"Kivotos is a giant academy city where thousands of academies gather. It will be where you work from now on, Sensei."
"Academy city... I'm hearing that name for the first time."
"There are probably many things different from where you were, so that might be why. You may have difficulty adapting... but you'll adapt quickly. After all, you're the person the Student Council President herself chose."
"That's a heavy trust."
Ha-yul answered with a giggle. Meanwhile, the elevator arrived at its destination. The two stepped out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.
"Wait a minute! Executive! Found you! I've been waiting! Call the Student Council President! ...Huh? Who's the adult next to you?"
At the same time, a childish voice was heard. Rin frowned deeply, and Ha-yul tilted her head. She looked past Rin's shoulder blocking the way at a girl with dark blue hair tied short on both sides. The clothes she wore were unusual. The atmosphere she gave off also reminded one of a very strict workplace superior.
The others standing beside her were the same. A black-haired girl with a massive... unusual bust was like that, and a girl with apricot-colored hair and golden eyes was like that. All of them gave off the unfiltered feeling that they had come to protest something.
Rin looked at them and spoke in a sighing tone.
"......We've run into troublesome people."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Ahem. Hello, student councils, disciplinary committees, and other assorted people with time to spare from various academies who have graciously visited here."
It was a thorny remark no matter how you looked at it. It was only natural that the faces of those gathered twisted. But Rin continued the conversation without any change in expression.
To summarize their conversation, it was this.
Recently, almost all autonomous districts of Kivotos were in chaos. Prisoners held in detention centers had all escaped due to someone's doing, and the frequency of attacks by delinquents called 'Sukeban' on students had sharply increased. Their method was to kidnap students and demand high ransoms from their affiliated academies to release them. The increasing frequency was making various academies groan.
Moreover, the illegal distribution rate of official weapons like tanks and helicopters had also increased, and cases of getting caught in riots on the way to and from school were not uncommon. And the reason for all that was the absence of the Student Council President, that is, her disappearance. To be precise, they were problems that occurred because control over the Shittim Chest, which handles administrative control within Kivotos, was lost.
Even as she listened, Ha-yul wondered what all this meant.
What? Tanks? Helicopters? Delinquents kidnapping students? Aren't those all serious crimes? Why does it only sound like the scale of minor problems that existed before suddenly grew? Was it just a daily occurrence before, not something to protest to this extent?
Ha-yul felt her head spinning. If there was a country where such things happened casually in her hometown, wouldn't it already be a lawless zone? To that extent, the stories these kids shared were unfamiliar to her.
But there was no more room to think. Because the topic of Rin's story changed to Ha-yul.
"This Teacher here will become the solver."
"Huh? Me?"
Ha-yul looked at Rin and blinked. Rin didn't avoid her gaze, stared straight back, and nodded.
"This is Teacher Lee Ha-yul. The person who will work as Kivotos's Teacher from now on, and the person specially appointed by the Student Council President."
"Appointed by the missing Student Council President...? What's that about..."
The blue-haired student muttered. Ha-yul opened her mouth first to prevent her from harboring more doubts.
"Ah, hello? I'm Lee Ha-yul."
"Ah! Hello! Te, Teacher. I'm Hayase Yuuka from Millennium Science School!"
"Let's keep the self-introductions there and continue the explanation."
Rin paused briefly to gather everyone's attention and spoke.
"The Teacher originally came here to serve as the supervising teacher for a certain club prepared by the Student Council President. Its name is the 'Federal Investigation Club, Schale'."
"Schale?"
"Yes. But Schale is not just a simple club; it is a kind of extra-legal organization. As a federal club, it can enroll students from all academies existing in Kivotos without restriction, and it can conduct combat activities in each academy's autonomous district without limitations."
It was quite a groundbreaking authority. Enough for everyone except Ha-yul to drop their jaws. Only Ha-yul, who was about to be seated in that authority, didn't understand its power and blinked. For now, since everyone's reaction seemed unusual, she put on a dignified expression.
"I don't know why the Student Council President created an institution with this level of authority, but that's not what's important right now."
Rin continued while contacting someone.
"Schale's club room is located in the outskirts about 30km from here. It's an empty building now, but by the Student Council President's order, we brought a certain item and placed it in the basement there. And we need to take the Teacher there."
The communication connected. A short static noise passed, and a hologram floated in the air. It was a girl with pink hair tied in twin-tails, holding a bag of snacks. Rin looked at her and enunciated clearly.
"Momoka. I need a helicopter heading directly to the Schale club room..."
-Schale club room? ...Ah, that outskirts area? It's chaotic over there right now?
"......? Chaotic?"
-A penal student who escaped from the Correctional Bureau caused a disturbance. That place is a battlefield right now.
Crunch.* Momoka chewed on a snack and said.
-And those... weird guys, you know? The ones who call themselves something like 'Demon Cult'.
"......You mean the Tenma Shin Cult?"
-Was that the weird name? Anyway, some of them are running amok as if having a power struggle with the delinquents. Want me to show you the screen?
Without waiting for Rin's answer, Momoka sent footage of the outskirts area.
A clean video floating in empty air. In it, suspicious figures dressed entirely in black were fighting with delinquents.
-Take this! Tenma Death Gun!
-Eek! Mayday! Mayday!
-Hey, you broke character!
-Kyehehehehek! Cult Leader! Watch over me!
Rin let out a hollow laugh with an incredulous expression. Momoka giggled and poured snacks into her mouth.
-Ehehe, this is fun.
At Momoka's words, Ha-yul agreed in silence.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register