The events unfolded in an instant. Anyway, to regain control of the Shittim Chest, they had to go to the Schale club room, and the students who happened to have come to the General Student Council took on the task of clearing the path. And the role of commanding and leading them was taken by Teacher Lee Ha-yul. She showed reluctance at taking on the unfamiliar commander role, but surprisingly, she had a talent for it. Victories erupted everywhere they went, and amazement and awe filled the students' eyes.
Was this how Joan of Arc, who brought nothing but victory in the Hundred Years' War, felt? Yes, of course. It must have been exactly the same. Ha-yul praised herself like that while continuing to command without pause. Thanks to that, the streets once crowded with people became slightly quieter, and the command structure of the delinquents began to collapse.
Self-proclaimed 'devotees,' whose allegiance was unclear, also lent their strength to the General Student Council group. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend; they didn't reject the help of the devotees, but inwardly, they felt puzzled. Unable to hold back her curiosity, Yuuka asked a devotee standing near her why they were helping, asking for the reason.
The answer was absurd.
"Because the Cult Leader wants to help the General Student Council!"
"......Just what does this 'Cult Leader' person do?"
Yuuka asked while pouring out bullets.
Yuuka, belonging to the Seminar of Millennium Science School, one of Kivotos's Big Three academies, had quite a few opportunities to access various information about the Cult Leader they talked about due to her high status.
Demon Cult.
Also known as the Tenma Shin Cult. They present themselves with such grandiose names among themselves, but from an outsider's perspective, it's just a group that looks like nothing more than a fortune-telling shop. Its leader, the 'Cult Leader,' is a cautious person who doesn't reveal himself carelessly. He solves commissions while wearing a mask and covering his entire body with cloth to avoid revealing his identity.
But despite such suspicious aspects, his skill itself was famous in the underworld. His commission failure rate was almost zero, he accepted most commissions, but didn't accept requests to harm someone or conduct background investigations. He seemed to occasionally reveal himself to quell violent scenes, but other than that, there were no particular characteristics. On SNS, there was even a post by someone presumed to be him looking for a single cat, showing how ordinary he was.
That made it even more puzzling. Why on earth would so many students follow such an ordinary person? Moreover, he was the type of fixer who handled all commissions alone. Meaning there was no reason for him to lead subordinates around.
Yuuka conveyed those thoughts exactly, and the devotee beside her stammered but answered the question that seemed to pierce her brain directly.
"J, just because?"
"......? Just because?"
"We just follow along because it looks fun... I've never even seen that Cult Leader person..."
"What kind of—"
The moment Yuuka frowned and tried to ask again, a heavy metallic sound pierced her ears. She hurriedly turned her head toward the source of the sound.
"That's..."
"Be careful, it's a cruiser tank...!"
Not far away. A tank of enormous size was approaching the group. The phrase 'KAISER PMC' was written on its side, and a strong smell of gunpowder wafted from its short cannon. It wasn't a particularly high-level tank, but it was clearly threatening nonetheless.
"Ah, really! We just fought that Wakamo girl, and now this?!"
Yuuka shouted irritably, and Hasumi, who identified the tank, frowned.
"That's a Crusader Type 1...! It's identical to our academy's official tank."
"It must be illegally distributed goods! The delinquents must have bought what flowed into the PMC!"
Yuuka glared at the PMC logo engraved on the tank, then changed her magazine to a new one and shouted.
"Then it's just a scrap heap! Let's take it down quickly and head to the club building—"
As Yuuka continued speaking, the sound of footsteps was heard from somewhere.
They were just footsteps. A small sound that couldn't be heard unless one paid attention. But in a place where bullets were pouring down, moreover, in a state where adrenaline dominated the body, it was a sound that absolutely couldn't be heard. Yet Yuuka clearly heard the thud, thud sound of footsteps.
-Thud.
Again. It was heard again. Wondering if she was the only one who heard it, Yuuka looked around, but everyone had fixed their heads toward one place. The place where the footsteps came from. Yuuka also hurriedly narrowed her eyes and turned her head to follow everyone.
The direction their gazes were fixed.
There, a man in strange attire was walking.
Clothing that didn't suit the modern era. Made entirely of cloth, bulky, with collars that fluttered with every movement, reaching down to the forearms. The sleeves covering his arms were embroidered with silver thread, while the plain black mask with no decoration evoked a bizarre feeling.
He was a person who didn't match the battlefield. Dignity flowed from his gait, but at the same time, a ghostly aura that seemed to swallow everything seeped out. Everyone's movements stopped. Everyone's gaze concentrated on one person.
The man continued to move his feet, paying no heed to the dozens of gazes pouring upon him.
Thus, he reached the front of the tank.
He tapped the tank and uttered.
"Anyone inside?"
No answer came back. An unmanned tank, perhaps. He muttered that, then firmly grabbed the tank's short cannon barrel. Then he yanked it.
-Crreeeak!
The upper part of the tank was torn off whole. The man gently placed the tank's upper half he held in his hand on the ground, and only then did he slowly look around.
Everyone's astonished expressions were reflected in his eyes. The man nodded with a satisfied smile. He had torn the tank apart as a kind of performance piece, and fortunately, it seemed to have worked well. Without bothering to suppress his rising mouth corners, he looked at a woman standing behind the General Student Council group, her mouth agape.
She was a generally slender woman.
The ends of her black hair, reaching her hips, had a slight wave. Her pitch-black but starry, sparkling eyes were full of vitality, and the tear mole under her right eye added to her charm. Light makeup also made her seem slightly naive and youthful.
She was the cute type of woman you could find in any idol group. Though her bust was fiercely asserting its presence, her appearance was still like a kitten. The man, that is, Kenji, looked at the name tag on her chest and nodded slightly.
[Teacher Lee Ha-yul]
She was the Teacher. He had roughly guessed from the lack of a halo, but he never dreamed she was from the same homeland. Was the Teacher also Korean in the original 'Blue Archive'? He didn't know. He never read the story to begin with. He knew the character called the Teacher was the protagonist of the original, but he just learned their gender and appearance for the first time now, and their personality, abilities, character, etc., were all unknowns.
'Though the Student Council President said she was a trustworthy person.'
People's judgment of character varies greatly. That is, even if she was someone trustworthy from her perspective, from this perspective, she might not be. So he had to verify directly. Kenji left the tank sparking with electricity behind and slowly approached the Teacher.
"Cult Leader!"
Then, someone shouted loudly. It was the student who had arbitrarily established the cult. The moment he saw her face, Kenji's face twisted violently. If he hadn't been wearing a mask, that expression would have been revealed unfiltered.
"As expected, it's the Cult Leader! You appeared right when we were in danger to help us!"
"......Is that you?"
Kenji asked in a suppressed voice. The girl pointed out by him, Setsuka, tilted her head and approached Kenji with quick steps.
"Huh? What is it?"
"You brought the kids here. You led this, right?"
The oppressive aura that had been enveloping Kenji's body had long since disappeared. He gnashed his teeth and waited for Setsuka's answer. Setsuka smiled brightly and nodded her head vigorously.
"Yes! Since you said you were coming here today, I thought something important must be happening, so I brought everyone!"
"......Didn't I, didn't I absolutely tell you not to follow?"
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"I don't remember."
Kenji smacked Setsuka's head. Setsuka made a strange sound, teheuk, and fell face down on the ground. Her body twitched, and Kenji looked at the self-proclaimed devotees standing around and shouted.
"As of today, the Tenma Shin Cult is disbanded! Everyone, get lost!"
The Tenma Shin Cult, finished!
Thus, leaving everyone behind, Kenji approached the Teacher again. Hasumi, Yuuka, and Chinatsu, who had regained their senses, blocked her path. But rather, the Teacher stepped forward boldly. The three were taken aback, but her footsteps were unhesitating.
Soon, the distance between the two grew close. Kenji stared down at Ha-yul, and Ha-yul looked at the top of his head and cautiously asked.
"By any chance... did you come from outside Kivotos?"
An unexpected question. Kenji was briefly taken aback but soon composed himself. It must have been a legitimate question from her perspective. Since both she and he lacked halos.
Kivotos students basically have halos. Their shapes and colors vary, and it's even possible to identify someone through their halo.
But Kivotos residents do not have halos. Yet they aren't conclusively considered outsiders from Kivotos because their appearances are too bizarre. Machines and beasts that eat, sleep, and excrete like humans? Where on Earth—no, in Korea—is that a common occurrence?
No. Absolutely not. So while they might be surprised to see them, they don't consider them to be from the same place. According to the name Lee Ha-yul, she must be Korean. Where in Korea would such creatures exist?
In contrast, Kenji's appearance was ordinary by her standards.
First, he was human. The places where skin was revealed were extremely few parts of his body, but that apricot-colored skin couldn't be considered that of a machine or a beast. Also, his body was that of an ordinary male, and he even lacked a halo, so from her perspective, she couldn't help but suspect he was from the same place.
'Not all outsiders are human, though.'
Gematria. Those belonging there are also all outsiders from Kivotos. From her perspective, since she hasn't met them yet, it's only natural she holds such a generalization. But that was a problem time would solve.
The contemplation was long. Kenji chuckled and answered her question.
"Are you from Seoul?"
"......! Yes! Oh, oh! Are you Korean?!"
"I was born and raised in Incheon. Though I'm here now."
"Huuuaaak!!!"
She gasped. Then she stretched her hand out toward Kenji.
"I'm Lee Ha-yul! 23 years old!"
"I am..."
Kenji glanced at the logo embedded on Hasumi's arm.
It was Trinity General School's. He wasn't sure if wanted posters were still up on the streets, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.
"......I'll tell you my name later. More importantly, isn't there something urgent?"
"Ah, yes! We need to go to the club building quickly."
"I'll help you."
Kenji said, taking Ha-yul's hand. Ha-yul nodded as she listened to Rin's voice reaching her ears.
"Rin says you're a trustworthy person."
Rin? It was a name he was hearing for the first time. She seemed to be from the General Student Council side; it appeared the Student Council President had left some word about him.
He didn't know the detailed circumstances, but Kenji didn't show it. In such times, silence was the answer.
"Then let's go! We need to regain control of the Shittim Chest quickly!"
"Yes, let's go."
Kenji answered briefly.
Anyway, the so-called objective was achieved. He caused a riot to imprint the existence of the Teacher on the students and even joined up with her. With this, hadn't he done everything possible on the Teacher's first day of appearance? He thought so and nodded contentedly.
Thus, a few minutes later.
Inside the Schale building, they encountered Wakamo.
"......Huuuaak."
With her bare face revealed, at that.
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