Atsuko's sudden appearance instantly changed the tense atmosphere on the battlefield.
Yet the first thought that surfaced in my mind was:
So the "princess" of Arius... she can talk?
Back when I still had confidence that I could recruit Arius Squad to my side, I had even considered whether I should learn sign language...
But just as Saori said, the world they lived in was not one that could be conquered with that degree of kindness. At this point, our positions had long since become irreconcilable. There probably was no longer any possibility for reconciliation... right?
Azusa called out to the girl who looked at her so gently, her expression surprised and strangely guilty.
"Atsuko, you..."
"Princess!? No, why haven't you..."
Saori grabbed Atsuko with an anxious expression.
"N-no! If you start talking, that woman will..."
However, Atsuko merely shook her head.
"It's alright. Because everything is already over."
"It's not over yet...!"
Saori argued back.
"The puppet promised us tactical weaponry is still..."
The puppet was indeed Maestro from Gematria.
During the previous operation at Eridu, he had already demonstrated technology related to [copy], apparently his specialty within Gematria.
Saori continued:
"Even though control over the Tea Party has been lost, their target is Sensei. Trinity and Gehenna can't possibly..."
Atsuko interrupted her. Her voice remained ethereal and gentle, yet carried an unquestionable firmness.
"For us, this is already the end, Saori."
Just that single sentence caused Saori to once again fall into confusion.
Watching this unfold, I was finally able to roughly confirm the suspicion I had vaguely harbored for a long time.
The girl named Atsuko, together with the other members of Arius Squad, was the weakness Beatrice held over Saori.
Atsuko's next words further confirmed my guess.
"And besides, no matter what happens, that woman never intended to let me live anyway. So it's alright."
The thing supporting Saori through all her battles, the reason she chose to obey Beatrice, was the life of her dear friend.
And now, that very friend softly persuaded her:
"Give up, Saori."
"Give up...?"
Repeating the heavy phrase, Saori asked blankly:
"Go back to the Arius Satellite School...? But even if we go back, if we've accomplished nothing, we'll definitely be killed..."
Atsuko nodded slightly in agreement with that understanding, then lightly said:
"Then let's run away. Together."
"Run away..."
She no longer said things like she would never run.
Saori might have been the leader of Arius Squad, but it seemed the true emotional pillar among them was someone else.
So she really was their "princess."
"Mm."
Atsuko nodded.
"Azusa helped me realize it. I don't even remember when this hatred began... because it never belonged to us in the first place. We learned this hatred. Then, before we knew it, we started believing it belonged to us."
At this point, Atsuko looked toward the white-haired girl who had also suffered, yet perhaps had already stood on the opposite side since that time, and asked in a certain tone:
"Azusa realized this long ago too, didn't you?"
Azusa calmly met her gaze without speaking, silently acknowledging it.
Atsuko sighed softly.
"Azusa learned many things and gained many experiences... You met a very good adult, and you made the correct choice, Azusa."
"...Then the choice I made..."
Saori's eyes reddened slightly again as she murmured:
"The choice I made was wrong...?"
"Sorry, Saori. That's not what I meant... You wanted to protect me, to protect all of us. Both you and Azusa have your own forms of righteousness."
Only after hearing those comforting words did a faint mist of tears gather in Saori's eyes. She silently turned her gaze away, seemingly unwilling to reveal even the slightest weakness.
Then Atsuko turned toward me and politely said:
"This is our first proper conversation, Sensei. And I truly owe you an apology. Even though everyone received so much care from you and was treated so kindly by you, we still chose to oppose you. We even harmed you and committed such an ungrateful act. I'm truly sorry."
I kept a stern face and gave no response, while Azusa beside me seemed to realize something.
However, Saori suddenly turned around in shock and asked:
"What do you mean by everyone received care from him...?"
"Sorry, I never told you before, Saori. Actually, Hiyori and Misaki were secretly in contact with Sensei."
Atsuko looked at me again.
"Sensei already knew our identities back then, didn't you?"
Saori also looked at me in astonishment, but I still said nothing.
At a moment like this, if I spoke with them, wouldn't it seem like I was about to forgive them?
I absolutely wouldn't forgive them that easily.
"I'm really, truly sorry."
Atsuko sighed.
"Even though saying this now sounds like we're making excuses for our actions, or asking for your forgiveness... we never intended to hurt you."
Yes, they only intended to capture me and offer me to Beatrice.
How different was that from directly hurting me?
"We had no way to disobey that woman's orders. And among the Arius students around us, there were also informants working for her."
While I sneered inwardly, Atsuko calmly continued explaining on her own.
"So we could only delay things as much as possible through methods that sounded believable, while drawing the attention of other students."
...Was that really possible?
"For example, the Prefect Team president."
Atsuko paused briefly.
"But Saori's bullet just happened to pierce through the protection of your halo... None of us expected that."
Saori silently lowered her eyes.
Combined with everything else, those words became increasingly convincing.
If that were true... if that were really true...
No.
In the end, they were only one-sided claims.
Their hearts, their original intentions, their true feelings... how were they supposed to prove them?
"It wasn't like that, you misunderstood, there was a reason"... what meaning did words like that even have? And how much truth did they contain?
In another context, Nagisa's words did have some logic to them.
Then Atsuko suddenly dropped another bombshell.
"Actually, Saori secretly kept one of your photos hidden away."
"Pr-princess!?"
Like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, Saori cried out:
"W-what are you saying!?"
"Hehe, sorry. It seems this was your secret, Saori-chan. But since I accidentally let it slip, please forgive me."
Atsuko, who had clearly done it on purpose, smiled with narrowed eyes toward Saori before continuing:
"It should be inside the inner pocket of your jacket, right? The one you tore off that plush after fighting Azusa yesterday."
The moment those words came out, Azusa's eyes instantly sharpened, while Saori became completely flustered and mortified beyond belief.
"And that expensive-looking makeup set you've been secretly treasuring and refusing to use was also a gift from Sensei, wasn't it? It was the first gift you ever received from an adult, so Saori-chan really cherishes it."
I remembered that before Saori betrayed us, I really had given her a set of cosmetics I specifically brought back from Red Winter.
"Ah... ahhh... I... I didn't..."
Saori's denial was extremely weak, and combined with her expression, lacked all persuasiveness.
Perhaps realizing that herself, she gritted her teeth and said:
"Princess... please stop saying baseless things!"
Azusa suddenly cut in.
"Saori, give back the gift Sensei gave me."
Saori completely ignored her and stiffened her expression.
...Thinking about how this girl might actually like my selfies made my feelings strangely complicated.
Think positively.
What if she had intended to use it as a memorial photo?
Atsuko smiled again before looking at me.
"Hehe, that's roughly how things are, Sensei."
Looking into her one exposed crimson eye, so clear and sincere, I finally spoke.
"What exactly are you trying to prove by telling me all this? What are you hoping to gain?"
Sensing the distance in my tone, Atsuko fell silent for a moment.
"...I only wanted to tell you the truth, and express both gratitude and apology. Sorry, I'm not very familiar with ordinary conversation, so I didn't mean anything else by it."
"The truth doesn't matter."
I coldly replied:
"If you want to repay me, if you want to make amends, then there's only one path before you. Surrender."
I stared at the two Arius Squad members standing side by side.
"At this point, do you really think you can just decide to give up and run away because you want to? Surrender, then prove your sincerity through your actions."
Prove that you aren't merely trying to invoke my pity to escape the punishment you deserve.
"...But."
Atsuko slowly replied, her calm voice carrying a trace of distress.
"Sensei, you really have misunderstood. I wasn't trying to prove anything to you by saying all this, so you don't need to take it too seriously."
...What a shame.
But at that moment, Atsuko looked to the side.
"Saori, what do you think?"
"What?"
Saori still hadn't reacted.
"Should we run away from Arius, Trinity, Gehenna... and Schale? Or surrender here instead? Although I don't know what kind of punishment we'd receive, at least we probably wouldn't die."
She handed the decision over to Saori.
The next moment, Saori's gaze met mine across more than ten meters.
Within those ice-blue eyes, I saw confusion, hesitation, and struggle.
In the end, all of it transformed into determination.
"...No. Surrendering would only mean waiting helplessly for death."
Saori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she turned her head and firmly said:
"Princess, let's run away."
"Mm."
Atsuko nodded softly.
"Okay."
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