[Blue Archive] I am the Trinity Checkpoint Chief – Chapter 70

The Arius girl was thrashing, completely disoriented.

I turned my head just in time to recover from the shock faster, but the girl who took the flashbang head-on wouldn’t have functioning eyes. Flashbangs are made to incapacitate. They don’t care about the risks to the target.

The explosive reactivity of magnesium causes temporary loss of hearing and mental clarity. A 23mm flashbang—unlike the standard kind, or maybe Suzumi’s—delivers a different level of impact.

“Ugh, ghh…!”

“I’m right here, by your side, Rinko.”

“Ugh, you… you people… will you do the same to me?!”

“Matsushiro said she wants to see you.”

As if she had superpowers, or maybe the flashbang’s effects were fading and faint visuals were returning, the girl stumbled to the door and flung it open. Her grenade launcher was still in the room, but she bolted down the hallway.

I loaded a slug round into the chamber. The crude silver-gray filled it before the bolt obscured it.

I steadied my breathing to stay calm. Pressing the stock deep into my shoulder, the cold of the metal, chilled by the night air, hit me. Beyond the bare barrel, without any mechanical sights, I saw the girl’s shrinking figure.

I slipped my finger onto the trigger. She can’t keep running like that. Just one shot—

Let’s do it!

—BOOM!

The lead slug tore through the air, propelled by the gunpowder. The powder, burning red-hot to send the slug flying, spewed soot and smoke before fading. A white-red thread stretched out, connecting to the girl’s head.

Was it an impact or a rupture? A sharp sound echoed through the hallway, and the girl collapsed forward, motionless. Her vanished Halo testified to her mental state.

I feel a bit bad. I meant to do it, but Rinko saw me as a murderer just before passing out.

Only after meeting the pendant’s owner, playing board games with friends in the cell, would the misunderstanding that turned her into a fleeting avenger be cleared. How shocked will she be to see her friend alive and well? That’ll be fun to watch from outside the bars.

I dragged the collapsed girl back into the room. I stuffed her into a prepared burlap sack and tied it shut. It’s not the best look, but it was the only sack available at the Checkpoint, so what can you do?

The unconscious student didn’t stir as the sack scraped along the hallway floor.

—Scrape, scraaape.

Most Sisterhood students study scriptures in the dorms at night. Aside from the devout praying in the chapel, the Cathedral is nearly empty.

Still, some students working here have no choice but to stay. No matter how quietly I move or stick to paths far from the chapel, per some law like Murphy’s, you’ll run into someone.

“Oh, Hikari-san. What brings you here at this hour?”

“Ah. Mother Superior.”

…Like Utsuzumi Sakurako, for instance.

The damn god of laws is annoyingly fair, handing me the same situation today. The moment I thought about it, I ran into someone—and of all people, the Sisterhood’s most powerful figure.

She’s second to none in Trinity when it comes to conduct, so flimsy excuses won’t work. Dragging a stuffed burlap sack around at night? That screams “kidnapper” at best.

Isn’t this a bit much? Is this a trial I’m supposed to overcome?

“That sack… what’s in it, Hikari-san? It looks like something’s inside.”

“…A wild boar. It was eating carrots in the Cathedral’s garden. I happened to have my shotgun, so I caught it.”

“Can I take a look?”

“I used buckshot in a rush, so there’s not much left from forehead to crown. Honestly, it’s not a pretty sight. I’d hate for it to haunt your dreams. Are you sure?”

Sakurako-sama paused, thinking. Luckily, the kind soul didn’t want her late-night snack ruined and shook her head. I gave a half-formal, half-grateful smile, and she seemed reassured.

She insisted on escorting me to the entrance, which was a slight hiccup but ultimately helpful. Her presence as a high-ranking official shut down any potential barrage of questions from suspicious students. The walk to the exit was smooth.

With a handshake and a salute from the guard nun, my business at the Cathedral was done.

***

Hayashi Rinko was about to enjoy a long-awaited reunion with her friend.

Seeing Matsushiro, whom she thought was dead, sipping cocoa perfectly fine—how much relief must she have felt? In Matsushiro’s words, “You were crying like a kid back at the Branch.”

Matsushiro said Rinko’s eyes, scanning the cell, were smudged with dark soot. The starry gaze that never lost its blue spark, even under beatings from instructors and students, seemed dimmed for the first time. Only after seeing her did it reignite.

A friend who adds a bit of spice to a dull world—that’s what they are. True or not, hasn’t word spread in the Arius Chapel about meeting Madame with her friend?

—Knock, knock, knock.

“Hayashi Rinko. Interview time. Come out.”

“I like it here. What if I don’t want to?”

“Senpai says you’ll get a flashbang in the butt. Your call, not my problem.”

“…I’m coming.”

The scriptures were right. This futile world doesn’t even allow fleeting happiness.

The summon from the one who practically kidnapped her to the Checkpoint was infuriating yet deeply unsettling. What could she do in this concrete-laden building? Would resisting even matter?

The student was led down the hallway by an indifferent girl. The absence of her gas mask and trusty M32 felt heavier than ever. The fear that her grenade launcher was as vital as a pencil case or lunchbox overwhelmed her.

Of course, the lack of a weapon wasn’t the main issue. The girl behind her could easily subdue her without one. It’s what comes after that’s the problem.

The biggest fear?

The head of the Border Checkpoint, who’d put a slug in her head, could do anything if she wanted—that kind of fear.

Those thoughts became irrelevant when she met her. The nagging fears vanished only after the girl stopped at a door. Knock, knock, knock—after three light taps, the open door pushed the student into embarrassment.

A plain office. For a club leader or military head, it was small and rough. The room, about the size of a dorm, was filled with various items, but the most important thing to the student was the girl waiting behind the desk.

“Sit down, Rinko. I know you hate me after what happened.”

“…”

The student sat only after the girl offered a cocoa mug and gestured repeatedly.

The cocoa was surprisingly good for factory-made, but the student, eyeing the Inspection Chief warily, had no time to savor it. She was still a Trinity girl, the object of a decade-long hatred.

Even knowing Matsushiro wasn’t dead and many comrades were alive, she couldn’t trust her. Obviously. Even the Arius allies living carefree in the prison don’t fully trust them—more like the opposite.

Because it’s Trinity. Because they’re Trinity students. Since the first council, they branded us heretics without cause and let the Justina Saints strip us of our role.

As if ignoring their role in extinguishing our radiant future, the Checkpoint Captain just smiled. Finishing the last sip, the student wondered what it meant but found no answer.

Perhaps she—the Chief—wanted the student to dig for it herself.

“…You called me for a reason. I’ll hear you out. What do you want?”

“As expected of Hayashi Rinko. Rolling around in communications, you know how the world works. I like that.”

“Not here for small talk.”

“Fair enough. My point won’t take long.” The Captain casually replied, pulling out a stack of papers with a pen tucked on top.

“This is your point? Doesn’t look like it.”

“What I want from you… or rather, from Arius. This should give you a hint.”

“Could you at least make it formal?”

“Fine. As I said last night, I want information.”

“Information?” She must have a lot to say. At this point, she started talking like she was giving a lecture.

“What you know. Things only those who’ve lived in Arius can hold in memory—strategic treasures nothing can match. The Intelligence Chief calls it more precious than mystique. Haha, half-true, I guess.”

“…The other students have been here too, haven’t they?”

“Yes, all trembling with fear, like you. They scribbled everything they knew on these papers and, well, as you can see, got some safety in return. I hope you’ll make the same choice.”

“Why?”

“I care about your safety and value, but Trinity—then and now—couldn’t care less.”

So, according to Hayashi Rinko, a diligent Arius student educated on old Trinity’s atrocities—maybe not entirely true, but if she’s right—the Captain’s smiling request sounded like, “If you don’t listen, I’ll snitch to the Sisterhood, and whether your nails get pulled or not, I don’t care.”

“How’s that for a deal? I think I’m obligated to protect you and your Arius friends for a few months… until your pals come to rescue you.”

At the girl’s urging, Rinko’s convictions wavered.

…There was no choice. Arius Branch has stayed hidden for centuries, and Madame would lose interest in Hayashi Rinko the moment tonight’s transmission didn’t come. As Arius hates Trinity, Trinity sees Arius as a thorn in its side. After last time’s failed coup, Kirifuji Nagisa might view us as threats. That woman would, no doubt.

In that situation, if the Inspection Chief, tied to the Pater faction, came for her—claiming her office was overflowing with Arius students and expecting honor for a dozen lives—Rinko and her friends, everyone, would likely die. Dragged away, never to see light again.

It wasn’t about shame—it was life or death.

Hayashi Rinko had endured enough to know the difference.

“…”

“Oh?”

Without a word, Rinko picked up the pen and began writing.

Her name and her friends’ were scratched out. Arius Squad, Jomae Saori, Hakari Atsuko… By the time <madame>’s name was written, the girl in the beige uniform could finally smirk.

Yamatsu Hikari thought:

These kids are more useful than I expected.