Somewhere in Kivotos, inside an abandoned building.
Two girls returned to a certain room and reported to the blue-haired girl leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, resting.
"Captain. Reconnaissance of the surrounding area is complete."
"T-this area should be safe for now..."
Saori opened her eyes and said to Misaki and Hiyori, "Mm. Rest while you can. At most, we stay here another thirty minutes before moving again."
The two nodded, each casually choosing a spot in the room and sitting down on the cold, dust-covered floor. Atsuko handed them water and military rations.
After a moment of silence, one began checking her own weapons and equipment along with everyone else's, while the other pulled out a magazine so worn it was nearly falling apart and read it hungrily.
Seeing this, Saori closed her eyes once more.
It had already been three days and nights since they began their escape.
Although she had mentally prepared herself long ago, even just the experiences of these short three days had left unbearable exhaustion upon even someone like her, who came from Arius.
From the moment they opened their eyes until they closed them, almost every second was spent either fleeing or fighting.
Sometimes against students from their own school, sometimes against the Justice Task Force or the Prefect Team.
And sometimes against delinquent girls led by Kosaka Wakamo.
In truth, over these past days, the total time they had been able to catch their breath in unnoticed corners like this did not even amount to several hours.
This nearly meaningless amount of rest, combined with the fact they had already fought prolonged battles before escaping and all carried injuries, meant both the bodies and minds of Arius Squad had long since reached their limits.
Fortunately, Arius had long ago taught them through brutal training how to push past so-called limits.
But the problem was that the situation was far worse than merely that.
"...Captain."
Misaki suddenly spoke. After meeting Saori's gaze, she calmly delivered even crueler news.
"The ammunition we have left is enough for at most two small-scale encounters. If it turns into a prolonged fight, maybe not even one."
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavier.
Even though they had consciously tried to conserve ammunition during battle, when lives were on the line, how could something external truly be saved just because they wanted it to be?
Afterward, Atsuko also used sign language to indicate that their clean water and food supplies were nearly exhausted as well.
Their escape had been a spur-of-the-moment decision after all. Carrying too many supplies would only have become a burden.
After thinking for a moment, Hiyori weakly suggested:
"For water, we could just get tap water from public restrooms. As for food not being enough... h-how about we try digging through trash cans...?"
"There's no room right now for us to get stomachaches."
Misaki paused, then continued, "And doing that wastes too much time."
"T-true... ehehe... life really is full of suffering... ah, r-right."
After laughing bitterly for a while, Hiyori suddenly remembered something. Under everyone's gaze, she searched through all her pockets and pulled out several coins, proudly showing them off.
"This is the money Sensei gave me before to buy popsicles for everyone... although there's only this much left now, b-but it should still be enough to buy a few pieces of bread at a convenience store, right? M-maybe we could even ask the clerk to heat them up...!"
At that point, Hiyori, who had not eaten a full meal in two days, unconsciously swallowed.
However, when she came back to herself, she realized everyone in the squad was staring at her with emotions she could not understand, making her ask awkwardly:
"U-um, what's wrong...? Princess and Misaki both ate them too, right...? If Saori-nee wants one too..."
"I don't."
After a moment of silence, Saori shook her head. "...It's nothing."
"...Captain, if things truly become impossible to endure, then just surrender to whichever side you want."
Misaki suddenly said, "No matter how much we struggle, we're only delaying an inevitable ending anyway. That would at least be easier."
"I-if we surrender, can we choose Sensei...?"
Hiyori cautiously asked.
"E-even though bad students like us who disobeyed and even hurt Sensei would definitely get locked in Schale's basement and punished day and night... if it's Sensei..."
After shaking her head and instinctively about to use sign language again, Atsuko suddenly realized there was no longer any need for her escaped self to continue doing that, so she quietly said:
"Sensei... is a gentle person. Even after we betrayed his kindness, he would probably still reach out a hand to us... but we cannot continue relying on Sensei's kindness and cause him even more trouble."
After speaking, she looked toward Saori.
"Sa-chan thinks the same way too, right?"
Saori fell silent again for a while and lowered the brim of her cap.
"It's simply that his abilities are insufficient to become a tool for achieving my goals."
Someone who had nearly been gravely injured and left at death's door because of Beatrice's plans, even while trying their utmost to hold back against them, what qualifications could such a person possibly have to protect them?
"Vanitas Vanitatum."
In a place where her companions could not see, the blue-haired girl lowered her eyes and murmured:
"He was never someone from the same world as us to begin with."
Even if she had once allowed herself to harbor a trace of hope she should never have possessed again, in the end, it had only been an unrealistic dream.
Perhaps it was precisely because of her mistake that things had ended up this way.
Since she had already made her choice, she would continue forward unwaveringly until the very end.
Thus, Saori stood up cleanly and said to her companions:
"Let's go."
"Where?"
Misaki slightly frowned.
"Captain, your injuries... shouldn't you rest a little longer?"
"It's about supplies."
Saori said, "I have a way to solve it."
Her tone was so calm and confident that the members of Arius Squad unconsciously believed her and silently followed behind.
A short while later, inside a bank, the three watched Saori insert her card and enter her password, only for the ATM screen to display:
"Your bank account has been frozen."
The three looked at each other.
"Is the machine broken...?"
Hiyori asked.
"...I expected this."
Saori did not answer directly, because she herself did not know why either.
Only after secretly checking with her phone, whose battery was nearly dead, did she roughly understand the reason, though she sank into even deeper silence afterward.
This was the fate of a traitor. She should have known that long ago.
"The sun is so hot..."
Hiyori muttered.
"Where do we go next...?"
Saori raised her head and suddenly caught sight of a convenience store nearby.
"...Popsicles."
"Eh?"
"The remaining money should be enough for one each, right?"
"If we buy the cheapest kind, then yes..."
Actually... they were not very sweet.
Under the blazing sun, hiding together with her companions in the shade by the roadside while eating a popsicle, Saori suddenly found herself thinking that.