"Sorry... for making fools of ourselves."
Lowering her head, Saori quietly apologized to the companions who had come looking for us.
The other three, including Azusa, all said they understood.
One of them even seemed a little envious.
After the rest of Arius Squad arrived, both Mika and Saori continued crying for quite a while before finally calming down.
When they noticed people approaching, they instinctively tried to pull away in embarrassment.
I simply held them tighter.
After hesitating again and again, these two girls, who were far stronger than I was but couldn't bear to force themselves free and risk hurting me, could only remain against my shoulders, crying with even more complicated emotions.
Until I was... satisfied.
No.
Until I judged that all the emotions bottled up inside them had finally been released.
"Mika."
I called out to the pink-haired girl standing off to one side, looking somewhat out of place among the Arius students.
"Would you like to come save Atsuko with us?"
"Eh? Me?"
Mika pointed at herself, looking genuinely surprised.
Even though things had eased between them after their heart-to-heart, she'd beaten the entire Arius Squad senseless only a short while ago.
They hadn't completely reconciled.
Given Mika's troublesome personality, it was only natural that she'd feel awkward about fighting alongside them.
"Mhm. If you don't want to, you can head back to Trinity first..."
Before I could finish, Mika hurriedly interrupted.
"Wait a second∼ If that's what Sensei wants, then I'll give it everything I've got☆!"
Hearing that answer, I couldn't help smiling.
"That's great."
"Although..."
After wiping her face with a handkerchief, Mika lightly bit her lower lip.
Her shimmering eyes gazed at me as she spoke in an almost spoiled tone.
"In exchange... once everything's over... you'll spend time with me too, Sensei... okay?"
My heart skipped at the word "although."
But after hearing her request, I happily nodded.
"Of course."
The beautiful girl immediately beamed.
"Ehehe∼ Then it's a promise∼"
See?
You can be adorable when you want to.
With Mika practically glued to my side, the dramatic change in her attitude secretly delighted me.
Compared to a certain Toki-senpai, who ran straight to her companions the moment I let go of her and didn't even acknowledge me afterward, almost as if she'd already forgotten my kindness...
The difference was like heaven and earth.
Soon afterward, I took out the card from my breast pocket.
It had started giving off that familiar warmth halfway through comforting the two of them.
With some hope that it might provide useful help for our current situation, I focused my attention, curious to see what new Authority Mika...
Or perhaps Mika and Saori together...
Had brought me.
...
Armed Authority: [King-Slaying Holy Spear]
Description: Designate one firearm as its vessel. Grants the property Indestructible. Grants increased effectiveness against Rulers. The designated vessel cannot be changed.
Source: Joumae Saori route successfully completed.
...
...Huh?
I carefully checked whether I'd misread the source.
Or perhaps misread another name.
"Mm? What's wrong, Sensei?"
"Nothing."
Putting the card away, I frowned slightly and quietly slipped my left arm free from Mika's embrace.
Honestly...
Misono-san seemed to have a rather poor sense of personal space.
Now compare that to little Saori.
Yes, she'd done terrible things to me.
But she'd had her reasons.
She recognized her mistakes and was willing to change.
Cold on the outside, warm on the inside, loyal and deeply devoted.
From now on...
Perhaps I ought to spend a little more time with her.
Of course, the card's criteria for determining a successful "route" had always been a complete mystery.
At best, it could only serve as a rough reference.
...More importantly, I still needed some time to think about how I should treat Saori going forward.
I'd promised to forgive her.
I never said when.
That...
Was an adult's flexibility.
Seeing that Arius Squad had finished their conversation, I walked over, with Mika following close behind me every step of the way, and briefly explained that she'd be joining us.
Saori nodded in acknowledgment before saying,
"In that case, let's leave quickly. There's not much time before the ritual begins."
"Wait a second."
I asked the puzzled blue-haired girl,
"Saori... you still have my gun, don't you?"
"...Ah."
Her face reddened slightly again.
She hurriedly pulled the handgun Rin-chan had given me from inside her white coat and returned it.
"I'm sorry, Sensei. Everything happened so suddenly that I forgot..."
"Saori."
Azusa quietly spoke from the side.
"The photo."
Saori pretended not to hear her.
Looking at her reaction alone...
I honestly couldn't tell whether she'd genuinely forgotten or not.
Come to think of it...
This was also the very gun Saori had used to shoot me in the side.
Combined with the name of the new Authority...
And my own divine name, White Crown King...
It somehow felt like an incredibly dark joke.
One where I happened to be the punchline.
In any case, ignoring that harmless discomfort, and with no better option available...
I designated the handgun in my hand as the vessel for my newly acquired Authority.
A brilliant white light swept across its surface.
The gun's shape remained unchanged.
But it now bore a new finish.
Its base color was pure white, accented with pale blue and light pink.
The color scheme was strangely unsettling.
Yet...
It actually looked rather nice.
"Waaah∼"
Mika exclaimed in admiration.
"Is this some kind of magic? Sensei, you're amazing!"
I was just about to brush it off with some casual excuse...
When a deliberately theatrical woman's voice suddenly echoed through the room.
"I see."
Every hair on my body stood on end.
It was Beatrice's voice.
A projection of her appeared before us once again.
Her words overflowed with smug satisfaction.
"Hehehe, Sensei. To think that within my Basilica, you would so generously reveal the true nature of your technique... Ah... was this part of your plan as well? Heh. Although for the moment I can analyze only the surface, I have already learned a great deal. I think... I'm beginning to understand why Black Suit and the others hold you in such high regard."
In an instant, a possibility occurred to me.
Could it be...
That when she sent Saori to my side earlier...
She had also intended to observe the card's activation process up close?
And now...
It seemed she'd succeeded once again.
"...Beatrice."
I addressed her coldly.
"You endured listening to all that sentimental nonsense and quietly watched this tedious little performance until the very end. Just as I expected... in the end, you could not restrain that greed of yours to consume everything."
She smiled with disdain.
"As thanks, I shall now put the knowledge I learned from you to good use... and oppose you with every ounce of my power."
"Now..."
"Let the ritual begin."
It was still...
Long before sunrise.