Trinity General School.
"Good afternoon, everyone."
After greeting the girls present, I looked toward one of them.
"Nagisa, is your condition alright now?"
As the Tea Party host, she had been caught in the explosion and buried deep beneath the ancient cathedral, only being successfully rescued after Binah was driven away.
I only knew that Nagisa had regained consciousness not long after and had already completed work handovers with Seia from her hospital bed. I had not expected her to recover enough to leave bed this quickly.
I could not help but reflect that even though I had been overwhelmingly busy these past few days, only learning about the condition of someone close to me after meeting her in person was truly inexcusable.
The graceful gray-gold-haired girl nodded with a smile.
"Hehe, thanks to you. I had mostly recovered by yesterday already."
I also smiled in relief.
"Mm, that's good."
Besides Nagisa, there were also two girls present alongside her. Despite their matching statuses, they somehow gave me a subtly awkward feeling standing together.
Sakurako, representative of the Sisterhood, and Mine, captain of the Remedial Knights.
Both of them had likewise been caught up in the Arius attack, but had been rescued earlier than Nagisa and recovered from their injuries sooner as well.
It was understandable for Sakurako to participate in this meeting, but Mine, who had always been considered politically detached... could it be that she was acting as Seia's spokesperson while Seia attempted to gather information through prophetic dreams?
"As a member of the knight order devoted to spreading faith and honor, I merely came to correct those who have strayed from the proper path."
Mine declared righteously.
"Even members of the Justice Task Force, the Tea Party, and the Sisterhood are no exception."
At those upright words, both Nagisa and Sakurako revealed traces of helplessness.
"In any case, let us end the small talk here for now."
Nagisa said.
"Mm."
Sakurako nodded, then spoke to me.
"Sensei, as you already know, the purpose of this meeting is to exchange information regarding the Sisterhood still entrenched at the ancient cathedral, as well as the Arius Satellite School."
"That is correct."
Mine followed up.
"As for why this meeting is being led not by the Tea Party but by us instead, I shall explain."
The captain of the Remedial Knights stated as though it were only natural:
"Right now, the Tea Party requires outside assistance."
In response, Nagisa, as the Tea Party host, showed no objection and silently accepted it.
"During the signing period of the Eden Treaty, an incident occurred where one member of the Tea Party attacked another host, ultimately resulting in imprisonment. One could say this was an unprecedentedly severe situation. I truly never expected that it would be Mika-sama who ordered the attack on Seia-sama."
As she spoke, Mine's expression became even more serious, seemingly tinged with anger.
"The one who treated Seia-sama's wounds at the time was myself, and everyone involved knows this. Because of that, I also conducted my own small investigation. Although in the end Mika-sama was merely used by Arius... that does not erase her crimes."
Mine paused again, then directly began criticizing another person still present.
"Furthermore, the current host, Nagisa-sama, also attempted to use Sensei and Schale, an organization that transcends regulations, in order to force certain innocent students into expulsion..."
In retrospect, although Nagisa's methods had indeed been decisive, whether the students she targeted were truly innocent remained debatable.
Of course, just like with Mika, that did not mean Nagisa had committed no wrongdoing.
"Although I heard that afterward she apologized to the affected students and managed to resolve the matter... even so, Nagisa-sama's actions cannot simply be treated as though nothing happened. And while Seia-sama has finally recovered enough to return to the academy... compared to before, her physical condition has worsened, making her unable to handle official duties for extended periods."
Mine concluded:
"And because of that, I judge that what the presently unstable Tea Party needs most is assistance from outside forces."
...Normally speaking, within broader common understanding, this sort of behavior would be called "seizing power."
Fortunately, everyone present more or less understood Mine's outstanding character and astonishing wisdom.
Nagisa politely replied:
"Thank you for your detailed explanation, Captain Mine."
Mine slightly nodded and calmly accepted the gratitude.
That aside, what exactly had she even explained with all that...?
After briefly falling into confusion once again over Mine's way of thinking, I said:
"In any case, let's move on to the main topic."
"Mm. Then what exactly are those ghosts appearing in the form of the Justina Council?"
Mine asked.
"According to the information provided by Sensei, they appear to be replicas based on historical figures, created through some kind of unknown technology."
Nagisa answered.
"The source of that technology, along with the cruise missiles used during the attack on the ancient cathedral, appears to originate from the same organization."
"Gematria, huh..."
Mine murmured, but then looked toward Sakurako and bluntly asked:
"But why the Sisterhood? To begin with, the Sisterhood was originally the predecessor organization to the Justina Council. Sakurako-san, are you still hiding something from us regarding this matter?"
She really was excessively straightforward.
I could not help but say:
"Mine, you can rest assured about that. Under the current circumstances, the Sisterhood would not deliberately conceal any crucial information."
On this point, I trusted Sakurako, Mari, Hinata, and all the others.
However, Mine seriously explained to me:
"Sensei, forgive me. Perhaps you are unaware, but the Sisterhood has always been an organization filled with secrets. They are highly skilled in controlling, concealing, and even distorting information. Even now, many students within Trinity remain suspicious of the Sisterhood."
After saying that, she looked aside again.
"Regarding this matter, Sakurako-san, have you heard such opinions?"
Sakurako narrowed her eyes slightly and softly asked in return:
"...For example, from someone like you?"
Faced with repeated questioning, even the representative of the Sisterhood had become slightly irritated.
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere instantly became even more tense.
My tone grew somewhat stricter.
"Mine, do not direct pointless suspicion toward allies at a time like this."
"...My apologies."
Mine apologized, though she still stubbornly held to her view.
"But I believe openly voicing doubts is better than hiding them in one's heart."
"...Sensei, it's alright. Mine-san is not wrong about that."
Then Sakurako looked toward Mine and changed the direction of her words.
"But if you think I know every secret of the Sisterhood, then you are gravely mistaken. The Sisterhood itself is an existence that conceals many secrets even I do not know. As for the specific circumstances, forgive me for being unable to explain."
"...I see. My apologies."
"...Haa."
Even Nagisa could not help sighing at the exchange.