[Blue Archive] I am the Trinity Checkpoint Chief – Side Story #2

*This is a side story not related to the main plot, you may skip this if you wish. The main story will continue after this chapter

Wasteland.

Kirifuji Nagisa saw the light.

As written in the scriptures, when asked when the Kingdom of God would come, He said it could not be seen with the eyes, nor could one say, “Look, it is here,” or “It is there.” His kingdom was already among us.

But in her mind, wasn’t that place the entrance to the Kingdom of God?

Yurizono Seia saw the light.

With an impassioned face, unable to hide her excitement and fear. She saw what madness—or perhaps a science orchestrated to descend into madness—could create. The massive fireball illuminating everything in its radiance was proof.

Misono Mika looked with curious eyes at something she didn’t understand, but beneath that curiosity lay an instinctual fear of something beyond the limits of knowledge. To her, the scene was nothing short of hellfire.

“…”

“…Oh, truly beautiful.”

The girl had a satisfied expression.

To someone with her convictions, the towering mushroom cloud was a culmination. The fruit of a resolve hardened through the coup, the Arius incident, and witnessing the fall of one who called themselves a superhuman.

As she had always said, order requires legitimacy.

She possessed it.

“…”

She glanced to her side. Just a few months ago, these were the power brokers of Trinity, now frozen in shock, unable to move. Of course, even now, they wield considerable influence in the political sphere.

Because she respected them. Because she recognized their necessity.

Yamatsu Hikari did not consider herself a superhuman. She was neither a dictator seizing all treasures through an iron fist nor a revolutionary seeking radical reform. She had simply once been blinded by power and walked a misguided path.

Yet this was her achievement. The grain harvested from the field she had cultivated through her conviction.

The girl approached those who were once faction leaders of the Tea Party. Nagisa noticed her presence and turned.

Fear.

“…Hikari-san. What… is that?”

“Shiranui Kaya’s dream.” The old Defense Chief of the General Student Council?

“A dream?”

“What she desired, what she aimed to achieve by orchestrating deliberate terrorism.”

Order.

“Order.”

Order requires legitimacy.

“Legitimacy.”

Overwhelming force can be legitimacy.

“Power.”

“…”

“Oh, she was certainly smart, that one. But elitism doesn’t get you far. How adorable was it to see someone so out of touch with reality, buried in paperwork? Legitimacy through a thermobaric bomb attack? She should’ve been prepared to lose her own neck.”

She felt good.

She had a lot to say to them.

“If she hadn’t been caught, she might’ve declared martial law and controlled the military. But the General Student Council’s executives aren’t idiots. Honestly, the Chief Administrator is smarter than Kaya ever was. Trying to establish a dictatorship in a system designed to prevent it? Of course she was dragged down.”

“…I suppose so.”

“Exactly. That’s why Shiranui Kaya is rotting in a correctional facility, reduced to a pathetic fool.”

The cloud’s light persisted. At dawn, with the sun yet to rise, the sky was bathed in red.

As if some atmospheric effect were at play, the three listened to her words in hushed silence.

“I’m not a superhuman. I’m not a fool, and I’m definitely not Shiranui Kaya. I don’t believe you can maintain permanent order through mere terrorism. Establishing legitimacy sounds easy, but it’s incredibly difficult. Unless… you have overwhelming force. So, I’m different from the Defense Director. I don’t disregard life. Though I don’t agree that life must be protected in every situation. Regardless, planning a terrorist act that causes casualties is, to me, utterly absurd.”

“So that’s why you strung up Arius?”

“…It was necessary.”

Nagisa would think it hypocritical. A person who turned peaceful Trinity upside down with a coup, executed the Arius Squad, and obliterated their Madame and Basilica with hundreds of high-explosive shells, now preaching contradictory nonsense.

Some wouldn’t deny it. But not everything was her fault.

At least, that’s what she believed.

“Nagisa-sama, even if my hands are drenched in blood, I will prioritize order and this academy. And that”—she gestured—“is the means. Above all, perhaps with a power even greater than those colors. A physical force capable of establishing overwhelming legitimacy.”

The red-eyed girl raised her hand, clenching it into a fist.

Nagisa didn’t think her eyes were merely red. Something brighter, more golden, shone within them. At first, she thought it was a simple reflection, but she soon realized it was something far more wondrous.

Light.

Another light was rising from Yamatsu Hikari’s eyes.

Nagisa knew what it meant. In another sense, as someone who once led the Sanctus faction and served as a prophet, aiding Nagisa and Sensei, Seia could read the meaning in those eyes. The two fragile-hearted girls could only gasp in shock.

Seia spoke with a trembling voice Hawkins voice.

“You… what are you…”

“A dangerous conviction, Hikari-san.”

“I know. But once it takes root, it will ensure the most stable order.”

Hikari’s lips curled into a smile. They smiled too. Misono Mika gave a faint eye-smile.

Leaving their rigid bodies behind, the girl exited the room.

As she opened the door, a staggering number of students were staring out the observation window. All were top talents recruited from the science clubs of Kivotos—Trinity General Academy, Millennium, Gehenna, Valkyrie, Abydos… even Kaiser Industries.

How much effort had gone into bringing them here and keeping it secret? They had to dig a tunnel from the basement of the Cathedral of Penitence to the outskirts of Abydos to maintain confidentiality.

The reward was undeniable. Look at them, satisfied with their masterpiece. Some were afraid, but what could they do now that the experiment was complete? Trinity held the reins.

The girl clapped twice, instantly drawing all attention to her. Hikari confidently grabbed the microphone.

“Ah, dear students united under the banner of science, as I witness the fruit of your dedication and hard work today, I had this thought: If only that damn radiation weren’t there, it’d be the perfect celebratory firework!”

A brief burst of laughter.

“To be honest, it exceeded expectations. Twenty kilotons—how powerful was the thermobaric bomb the Defense Director planned to detonate in the middle of the underground mall? No need to tell me; it’s incomparably smaller. Of course, like you, I’m a civilized person. Unlike a certain someone shaking her pink hair and gorging on correctional facility meals, I wouldn’t cause a terrorist attack over a wrong sale date. You all saw that mushroom cloud. Some might find it beautiful, others chilling. I won’t comment on that. We’re all different people with different personalities and values. What I want to say is this: by inventing this, you’ve left an indelible mark on Kivotos’s scientific community.”

Applause, longer than the laughter, followed.

Hikari smiled and delivered her final words.

“Everyone, you’ve fulfilled your duties admirably. Well done!”

***

Administrator Rin, with a hardened expression, stared at the TV as she had days before.

In the past few days, Trinity General Academy had undergone significant political changes. The academy’s fundamental system was restructured, general elections were initiated, and, most astonishingly, the seemingly impregnable border walls began to crumble.

What did it mean?

Having solidified the power structure, was she now loosening resistance by granting students a bit of freedom? Most General Student Council executives agreed with her view. Even Shiranui Kaya, in the correctional facility, did.

And yet, Yamatsu Hikari once again surpassed the General Student Council’s expectations.

“—A humble, diligent, honest, and sincere society of common people, the establishment of an independent Trinity—that is the entirety of my ambition. I will dedicate my life to this academy and its students!”

Her red eyes gleamed through the screen. Yamatsu Hikari was giving a speech at Trinity’s constitutional assembly.

If Trinity General Academy’s history books were ever compiled, today would undoubtedly be marked as a pivotal day. Trinity, once a proponent of the Tea Party’s authoritarian regime, had taken a radical step toward democracy by adopting a general election system.

Of course, it was only a form of authoritarian democracy under the six characters of Yamatsu Hikari. She remained the head of Trinity General Academy, perched atop a meticulously crafted bureaucratic system. No agenda would pass without her approval.

She was proclaiming:

“We have yet to devise a system superior to liberal democracy. But no matter how excellent a system is, if we lack the ability to uphold it, no system is as fragile as democracy. Who, in the half-millennium history of Trinity General Academy, failed to choose reform and met their downfall? Take, for example, the so-called monarchy of the Arius Branch—how fragile was it before it collapsed? Knowing this, I made this difficult decision. Honorable members and all listeners, I believe you will fully understand my intent. We will always welcome as friends those who do not harm us. Therefore, I will promote mutual bonds and cooperation in all possible fields with nations that respect our autonomy and do not act with hostility, regardless of their political systems or ideologies.”

The Administrator thought it was a rather impressive speech.

If Shiranui Kaya, the former Defense Director, had continued rallying public opinion through the media after being ousted, she might not have been so pathetically and powerlessly expelled. Of course, she lacked that ability.

Arrogant and overconfident, that was the former Defense Director. What about Yamatsu Hikari? Their paths to power diverged significantly. Unlike the Defense Director, who rose and fell through legal voting by opposition, Hikari had no opposition.

In the Administrator’s view, she knew exactly how to maintain power.

The speech was reaching its climax. She stared at the screen helplessly.

“—Trinity General Academy will be restructured! As the continent’s first… republic!”

Helplessly.

Click.

“Rin-senpai, Trinity has cut off its network connection with Sanctum Tower… Rin-senpai?”

Helplessly.

“For a safer, stronger… society!”

Helplessly.