[Blue Archive] I am the Trinity Checkpoint Chief – Bonus

*This is an extra made by the original author, unrelated to the plot of the story

I love Blue Archive.

It was a truly enjoyable game, and the story—dark and shadowy yet ultimately piercing through all clouds to reach a bright world—captivated my heart.

I imagined a lot. You know, those kinds of things. The ones that often appear in novels: waking up one morning or dying in some accident, only to find yourself in another world. Those kinds of stories.

Yes, I even wrote a few stories myself. Blue Archive was a game that held significant meaning for me. Both worlds under the blue sky were wonderful places to me.

So, when I woke up one morning after an ordinary day and found myself as a student at Trinity General Academy—no, not just a student, but possessing the role of a “Sub-Warden” in the Filius Faction—I might have been a little less flustered than others.

I don’t know if the rank of Sub-Warden is an actual setting in the Blue Archive universe, but I naturally came to understand that it was a considerably high position. I was working alongside Kirifuji Nagisa, eating and drinking together, and spending days at the Tea Party.

That’s why I forgot. If this world wasn’t exactly the Blue Archive universe as I knew it—if there was something special, some irregularity, in this world where nothing extraordinary seemed to exist—then at the moment when Trinity becomes deeply involved in the story during the “Eden Treaty,” something was bound to happen.

“Hey, this is a restricted area without Nagisa-sama’s permission! Leave at once—cough?!”

A heavy gunshot echoed from inside the door. My body instinctively flinched, and my nerves stood on edge. Nagisa-sama let out a groan.

Click-clack. The person behind the door reloaded their gun. The administrative officer, likely Miharu, writhed in pain, gagging.

“I know, obviously… What’s this? The others went down with one shot.”

“Cough, cough… You can’t… enter…”

“I said I know—”

Bang. Click.

“—didn’t I?”

It seemed Miharu had completely passed out. For a moment, silence fell both inside and outside the tea party hall. Neither Nagisa-sama nor I could respond.

Where did it all start to go wrong? I knew Trinity General Academy had a checkpoint system, but since it wasn’t properly depicted in the game, I brushed it off. Or perhaps it was when I assumed she, who was expanding her influence beyond the Justice and Discipline Department, wouldn’t harbor any ambitions?

No one could have predicted they would strike so suddenly. Not the Justice and Discipline Department, which had suppressed protests alongside the checkpoint just days ago; not the head nun who wrote letters of gratitude for helping with the cathedral’s affairs; not the majority of the Filius Faction, still reeling from the fact that the leader of the Pater Faction had staged a coup.

And not even me, who failed to consider that they might be an irregularity, yet grew suspicious, passing through checkpoints dozens of times, talking with them, drinking cocoa, and hiding my doubts.

Trinity’s checkpoint was the most reliable shield against Gehenna. It was the greatest contributor to suppressing the Pater Faction’s coup and the largest force leading the moderate faction of the Tea Party.

They turned their backs on us, and we were powerless. The scales of fate had already tipped and would not budge.

Thud, thud, thud.

She, the one who would seize Trinity’s power, knocked on the door. Was it a minimal gesture of formality?

“…Come in.”

As soon as Nagisa-sama spoke, the door opened. She glanced at me briefly before approaching Nagisa-sama.

Her glossy gray hair, half-closed eyes. Her left eye was hidden by her hair, and her right eye held no discernible meaning. Perhaps she found no meaning in me either.

Yamatsu Hikari. In Gehenna, rumors abound that she’s a madwoman who smashes students’ heads with the butt of her gun, but to the Filius Faction, including myself, she was closer to a valuable political partner.

We blocked her attacks, and she blocked ours, forming a kind of symbiotic relationship on the chessboard of checks and balances that was the Tea Party.

That was, until this morning.

Approaching Nagisa-sama, she glanced at me again. After a few seconds, she shook her head as if genuinely uninterested and turned her gaze back to Nagisa-sama.

I couldn’t endure it any longer and headed toward the entrance of the Tea Party. Miharu lay collapsed, blood streaming from her head. Checkpoint members, likely accompanying their captain, watched me closely.

“You okay?”

“…”

No response. Upon closer inspection, I noticed her halo had gone out. Even a shotgun wouldn’t kill a student with two shots, so she was probably just unconscious. I positioned her in a stable posture, then stood up and turned back toward Nagisa-sama.

The checkpoint captain still hadn’t spoken. She raised a hand as if to say something, then lowered it, only to suddenly raise it again and place it against her head.

“Loyalty.”

“…”

Nagisa-sama didn’t respond.

As if expecting this, the checkpoint captain lowered her hand and finally spoke.

“Let’s go, Nagisa-sama. We’ll escort you to a safe place. If you wish to go where Mika-sama is, we’ll arrange it.”

“…I trusted you, Hikari-san. I never imagined the moderate checkpoint faction would do something like this.”

The checkpoint captain hesitated briefly. It didn’t seem like her conscience was pricked—more like she hadn’t anticipated the question.

But, as the instigator of this situation, she didn’t falter. Instead, she smirked and spoke.

“…If you must, call it a patriotic resolution. Doesn’t that sound better?”

Nagisa-sama fell silent again. She seemed to have given up, knowing everything was over.

“Where is Seia-san?”

“I don’t know yet. I only learned she’s alive today. She’s probably safe wherever you hid her, Nagisa-sama.”

“…That’s a relief.”

“You speak as if I want to harm Seia-sama. I have no such hobbies. I don’t want blood on my hands.”

Regardless of the checkpoint captain’s words, news of Seia-sama seemed to comfort Nagisa-sama. She let out a deep breath and set down her teacup. In the midst of chaos, the iron lady relinquished her power.

As Nagisa-sama stood, students from the checkpoint faction approached from outside the tea party hall. Supported, yet not quite supported, my lord’s figure vanished.

I had a feeling I would never see her again.

Soon, only two remained in the vast space. The checkpoint captain, hands clasped behind her back, wandered around the tea party hall. Amid the tolling of the clock tower’s bell, silence enveloped the room. I stared at her slowly swaying head.

“…Why?”

I spoke suddenly, driven by instinct.

Emotionally, I was gripped by fear, but rationally, a flood of questions surged in. Why? For what reason, through what justification, what belief of hers drove her to this extreme, catastrophic situation?

She was clearly an irregularity. Everything in the “Eden Treaty” storyline would go awry. I couldn’t even be sure a cruise missile wouldn’t fall during the Eden Treaty signing ceremony in a few days. I thought I was prepared for everything, but I was ignorant of it all.

That’s why I was curious. Who are you, someone who worked with us so invisibly, only to change overnight?

The checkpoint captain stopped moving.

“Sub-Warden, this isn’t our first meeting, is it? I recall you frequenting the checkpoint.”

“That’s right.”

“Then I think you know the answer. But people have different personalities, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t. I don’t particularly want to explain.”

“…I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You don’t need to. How many would believe Mika-sama’s testimony at a hearing? It’s the same logic.”

Her response only deepened my questions. The checkpoint captain didn’t seem particularly interested in me. Even as a Sub-Warden, I had barely acted publicly, so she might not consider my rank significant.

Of course, with the Warden position intact, a Sub-Warden doesn’t have much to do, but in a situation like this, things are different. If I could inform the Justice and Discipline Department or Sisterhood and attempt a suppression…

“Sub-Warden, aren’t you leaving?”

“…What?”

“I’m asking if you’re going to stay here. You seem to be scheming something, but you’re not moving.”

“…”

“I know your type. The checkpoint has dealt with plenty of people. We have a few like you—quiet usually, but striking with full force when they betray.”

“You think I’d betray you?”

“Of course.”

She stared into my eyes. I might need to revise my earlier thoughts. Her gaze suggested she’d shoot me with the shotgun in her hand any moment.

She turned toward the exit of the Tea Party. Passing by me, she walked slowly, then stopped at the door.

“Leave. Don’t come back. Don’t let me or my comrades see you again.”

“Is this an expulsion?”

“I’m not idle enough to issue administrative penalties. If you want to transfer to Gehenna or Millennium, do it yourself.”

She left without waiting for my response. It felt like I was the only one left in the entire tea party hall.

I descended the stairs and exited the Tea Party. Dozens of checkpoint members surrounded the building. The checkpoint’s flag fluttered in the wide street. A few students whispered in front of the checkpoint’s formation.

It was only 5 a.m. In a time when barely ten students could be found on the streets, she had ascended to the throne. Checkpoint vehicles passed by, broadcasting propaganda.

“…Students, Trinity General Academy’s checkpoint is conducting a special operation. Gunfights may occur, so please evacuate the streets immediately…”

An old memory surfaced.

Back when Blue Archive was just a game, when it supported only half of my life.

“…Trinity General Academy’s checkpoint will broadcast an emergency announcement shortly…”

When I studied relentlessly for college entrance exams.

When I lamented over one or two Korean history questions determining my grade in mock exams.

“…We repeat, Trinity General Academy’s checkpoint will broadcast an emergency announcement. Please tune in to your radios and TVs…”

When I headed to the cinema with friends for a brief respite. When we recited famous lines from historical movies.

When I watched old news, stumbled upon a Wikipedia article, or struggled to decipher kanji in newspaper articles.

“…Dear patriotic comrades of Trinity General Academy! I announce that I have made a grave decision—”

Ah, yes.

She was so much like him from my country’s past.

“—Thus, I have decided to dissolve the Tea Party, the student council of Trinity General Academy…”

*If anybody was wondering this was supposed to be an April Fools post by the original author ;D