After taking my seat, I looked at the blonde fox-eared girl already sitting across from me. Her eyes were tightly shut, her face pale, and I hesitated over whether I should disturb her.
Before long, however, she slowly opened her eyes, still clouded with lingering confusion. The moment she recognized me, a smile spread across her face.
"Sensei, you've come."
"Yeah... Seia, your condition seems..."
I pursed my lips.
"You really shouldn't push yourself so hard."
Prolonged use of prophetic dreams placed an enormous burden on both the body and the mind.
In order to obtain information about Arius, Gematria, and the Decagrammaton, Seia had even chosen to enter lucid dreams.
By remaining aware while in a light sleep, she could retain her consciousness and remember everything that happened within her prophetic dreams with perfect clarity.
The state I could only achieve through the medication Saya had developed came naturally to Seia, whose mastery over sleep made it effortless.
But it wasn't without a price.
Not even Seia was exempt.
The more often she traveled between dreams and reality, the more blurred the boundary between the two became in her own perception.
The strain on both body and mind was immense. On top of that, Seia had always been physically frail, and she had only recently awakened from a coma that had lasted several months. It was simply making things worse.
"...Well, saying I'm fine would be a lie. Even so, this is something I have to do."
Seia spoke seriously.
"Compared to a crisis that could threaten all of Kivotos, this level of sacrifice is insignificant. Everyone is working toward the same goal. If I did nothing, I'd only feel even more guilty."
I had silently allowed her to do something this dangerous, already knowing she'd answer like this.
And yet here I was, hypocritically telling her not to continue.
...I really was awful.
I laughed bitterly at myself.
Then I heard Seia speak again.
"If we're talking about someone overdoing it, Sensei, it's you."
She smiled.
"You're still recovering from such serious injuries, yet you've been running between academies every day coordinating everything. Are you really alright?"
"Don't worry. I heal pretty quickly. The wound has already scabbed over. Sena, the head of Gehenna's Emergency Medicine Department, also said I'm fine now."
As long as I was a little careful and avoided strenuous activity for the time being, or reopening the wound, there wouldn't be any problems.
I hadn't had much opportunity to sleep properly these past few days either. To recover to the point where my injuries no longer hindered my movements, I'd probably spent about another month of my lifespan healing myself.
I had also confirmed through experimentation that the Holy Blood lost its healing properties once it coagulated, or simply after being left sitting for a while.
In other words, it couldn't be stored for long.
It had to be used fresh.
I rubbed my temple and forced myself to stay alert as I spoke.
"Besides, there are things only I can do. I can't just stand by and watch my students do all the work."
Seia smiled.
"And trying to gather information through prophetic dreams is something only I can do. Of course, I'm still happy that you're worried about me, Sensei."
"...Yeah."
I nodded quietly before asking,
"So, have you learned anything useful?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."
Seia frowned.
"Has the future I foresaw truly become distorted? Or has the current crisis actually been resolved much sooner than expected? The futures I've seen aren't even that far away, yet I still haven't found any relevant information..."
Unable to determine the cause or freely control how far ahead she could see, all Seia could do was continue entering lucid dreams, searching for a possibility she wasn't even sure existed.
After thinking for a moment, I said,
"If that's the case, Seia, why don't you rest for now? Or rather, isn't there something that deserves more attention than prophetic dreams at the moment?"
Seia blinked in confusion.
"Hm? Is there?"
"'Before repelling external threats, one must first stabilize internal affairs.' I think that saying applies here too."
If Mika skipped the hearing and was expelled, both Nagisa and Seia, the two student council presidents of Trinity, would inevitably be affected. That, in turn, could plunge the entire academy into even greater chaos.
I paused.
"Even though you've mostly stayed indoors these past few days, you've probably heard about the atmosphere around the academy, haven't you?"
"...You mean Mika."
As expected, Seia understood immediately.
After a moment's thought, she said,
"I've been so immersed in the world of dreams these past few days that I neglected Mika... She must be in about the worst situation imaginable right now."
Recalling what I'd seen around the academy, I let out a sigh.
"That's an accurate way to put it."
Even the Pater Faction, which Mika had once belonged to, had expelled her and become one of the groups most hostile toward her.
Across all of Trinity, the only people who still cared about her or worried about what she was going through were probably me and the other two members of the Tea Party.
Seia sighed as well.
"...Mika has always been showered with affection. Everyone admired her and praised her. She was like a princess from a fairy tale."
"And now, that same girl is hated by the entire world. This is probably the first time in her life she's experienced anything like this."
"Making her bear all of that... perhaps fate has been a little too cruel."
Hearing that, I shook my head.
"I think that, compared to what she's done, this world has already been incredibly kind."
Then I changed the subject.
"But precisely because we live in a world that's this kind... Mika shouldn't have to suffer punishment beyond this."
"I believe that, even for her, she deserves a chance to make up for what she's done."
"...You're right, Sensei."
Seia nodded.
"Rescuing Mika from the mire she's trapped in may indeed be the more urgent matter for us right now. Why hadn't I realized that before..."
She murmured to herself.
I took the opportunity to add,
"By the way, Mika said she wanted to apologize to you."
"Hm? Apologize...?"
The blonde girl looked puzzled once more.
"But I already forgave her."
"After the recording was played..."
"...Ah."
She suddenly realized something.
"So that happened in a dream."
"No wonder. At this point in time, it wouldn't have had enough impact on her yet..."
The aftereffects of spending too much time in lucid dreams were already beginning to show.
As she spoke, Seia rubbed her forehead with a troubled expression.
"I see..."
"So Mika still thinks I haven't forgiven her."
I nodded.
"Yeah. That's why she doesn't even want to attend the hearing."
"...That..."
Seia sighed softly.
"That really does sound like something Mika would do."