[Blue Archive] I am the Trinity Checkpoint Chief – Chapter 153

The root cause of the financial crisis that began days ago is the debt default of approximately 470 Black Market companies, including Styria Arms.

—Kaiser Management Support Office Report

GDP Down 8.7%—Administrative Committee Announces Temporary Stock Market Trading Halt

Breaking news continued, revitalizing Chronos.

Extracurriculars, General Student Council funding—whatever, it’s circulation that keeps the academy alive.

It’s expected that students aren’t the main revenue source. Those who thought the crisis would stop at Styria’s insolvency were stunned, scrambling for survival.

Some barely sustained businesses; others lost everything.

The unlucky could lose their lives.

Such news is rated unsuitable for youth, blocked from students.

Chronos’s readership age kept rising.

Its speed in breaking news is its pride, a legacy of the alma mater.

Non-student workers got information from Chronos. Tomorrow, this company will fall; that one might survive. Everyone scrambled to predict stock trends.

News flooded in. Even the Tea Party ordered papers, lending credibility.

A girl who read our paper, predicted the “Styria Affair,” and made massive profits short-selling became a legend.

Yet the economy plummets.

—Companies are collapsing in chain insolvencies. Following Fusang Securities, Fuji Group, ranked 12th, went bankrupt yesterday.

Kivotos’s largest journalism academy quietly does its job: producing news, breaking stories.

People groaned, swept by the era.

They thought it wouldn’t affect them. Unlike Gehenna or Trinity, we have no ties.

Though Shiga Mitsuki proposed budget cuts, she was ignored.

Many clicked their tongues. Some snapped that the editorial board was ruining the boom.

Prepare more reporters and materials.

More profits await.

—Toyotomi Motor’s acquisition by Tokyo Group signals a restructuring in our auto industry.

Not all news was grim. The second-ranked conglomerate, with ample wealth, saw this as an opportunity for expansion. People marveled, sometimes unable to hide unease.

Either way, Chronos enjoys peaceful days. It’s not our world’s affair.

…Or so we thought.

When prices in Chronos’s shopping district rose, students brushed it off.

A mere phenomenon.

—Kline Academy, the first branch school to go bankrupt.

Students weren’t scared, even as allied academies met their fate.

They were just unlucky.

No warning signals, no heralds urging preparation.

—Mass executive resignations effectively bankrupt Tokyo Group; dissolution begins soon. The board plans to spin off Tokyo Securities and Electronics within 10 months, keeping only the auto division.

Another disaster hit the Black Market. Chronos students thought it trivial but realized they were in the line of fire.

122 Billion Hasty Investment… Chronos Student Council Mass Resignation

A report published after the article’s shockwave revealed the student council made massive investments in Tokyo without senior executives’ knowledge—along with rampant corruption.

This tax-like money vanished with Tokyo’s collapse. Chronos entered the crisis’s scope.

The accounting head, student council president, and many executives resigned, while survivors had to prove innocence.

Fortunately, Shiga Mitsuki faced no charges.

A student paying 1.2 million yen for a 170,000-yen pistol wouldn’t commit economic crimes.

Time passes, and Chronos’s economy flashes red.

Prices skyrocket. The yen’s value in the academy hits rock bottom.

An editorial girl shouted she was right.

No one rebutted.

More precisely, no one had time to.

Mother Superior Utazumi Special Address on Constitutional Amendment

Chronos is a journalism academy, driven by scoops.

***

“Before asking if I’m well, Itsuka-san visited yesterday, Hikari-san.”

“Oh, yes—huh?”

A rare Tea Party visit. Nagisa-sama summoned me the moment she heard a 2.4-ton Border Checkpoint truck entered the Tea Party hall, sharing tasty snacks and welcome news.

Itsuka-senpai… a name I haven’t had the chance to meet.

It’s been ages!

You might ask why we didn’t meet after the Eden Treaty Incident ended, but the reason’s obvious.

I was damn busy.

Since reluctantly taking the Proxy role, wasn’t I Trinity’s busiest student? Forget vacations—I worked overtime daily, chugging cocoa laced with caffeine. Won’t someone recognize my sacrifices for this academy?

After Operation British, Arius Military Administration duties piled up. Nagisa-sama delegated Trinity tasks, but the workload was still insane—please remember that.

Anyway, Itsuka-senpai seems to be doing well. Good… or not?

This pitiful junior got dragged into politics, becoming a human typewriter, while senpai enjoyed herself. Should I feel betrayed? It sounds fun, so I’ll try to feel betrayed.

“It was nice having tea with Administrator Itsuka. She was a capable administrator, so her resignation was regrettable.”

“I felt the same when senpai resigned. Losing someone I’d bonded with at the checkpoint, I wondered who’d take the director role… I didn’t expect it’d be me.”

“Hehe, that’s amusing.”

Is it my imagination, or does Nagisa-sama’s comment sound ominous? Though I’ll leave the Tea Party in days to return to the Arius Military Administration—where dissolution is underway—I haven’t decided what to do. The Senior Administrator told me to treat it as a vacation.

The last Trinity matter was meeting Sakurako-sama. For social stability, we had to devise ways to end the “heresy” debate threatening to burn the alma mater.

“I heard there’s a Sisterhood address tonight. A constitutional amendment… what’s it about?”

“Unfortunately, the Tea Party hasn’t been informed either.”

They say the Cathedral’s stance changed post-Eden Treaty, but little has shifted. A conservative religious group can’t flip its stance overnight. I neither expect nor hope for it.

Knowing Sakurako-sama is conciliatory, I only hope for positive change.

“Let’s discuss the Sisterhood after the address. For now… let’s talk about the Styria Affair you reported, Hikari-san.”

Let me say, financial crises are horrific.

I handed Nagisa-sama the prepared documents. A simplified report from Ordnance Bureau sources didn’t take long for her to read. She folded it, groaning. Honestly, it wasn’t good news.

A week after the “Styria Affair,” the economic disaster’s impact grew exponentially. The Black Market Financial Supervisory Service (FFSS) estimates a 13.5% loss in downtown GDP.

The Black Market staggers under a time worse than disaster.

“According to Administrator Sayuri, Creditorte’s bankruptcy was decisive. No one expected Tokyo Group’s collapse, so it won’t end soon. We need to prepare.”

“Thinking about it, Hikari-san led the acquisition of Black Market firms’ debts and stocks. Were you preparing?”

Uh… not at all.

“No one at Trinity, including me, intervened in this crisis. It was so sudden… or, precisely, an ‘explosive’ disaster.”

Though a checkpoint member making 100 million yen short-selling is a bit suspicious.

The acquisitions were to expand influence in the Black Market. Those suited robot bastards played dirty, so we had to claim the price, right? Truly, it was well-intentioned, wasn’t it?

Anyway, Styria and Tokyo’s fall is good. With Trinity’s vast wealth, we can use group and corporate splits and sales as tools for influence expansion.

“If it doesn’t affect our economy, we should see it as an opportunity. There’s probably… a way to use it, right, Hikari-san?”

I raised my hands at her amber gaze.

“Of course. Even if not, we’ll make it happen.”

“What can we gain?”

Hmm, she probably knows but wants an explanation. I answered simply.

“Territory.”

A stronger,

“Greater territory.”

“I trust you, Hikari-san.” Nagisa-sama’s usual, comforting smile.

Soon, a nun arrived.

Five minutes until the Cathedral address.

Nagisa-sama and I decided to pass the time with snacks, discussing past useless conflicts, our future path… and when I can resign.

Sadly, she said she’s not ready to approve it!

9:00 PM sharp—when sparrows sleep and covert assassins move, the address began.

Gazing into her resolute eyes, I took a sip.

…Given the academy’s situation, we’ve had to make a grave decision.