[Blue Archive] I am the Trinity Checkpoint Chief – Chapter 23

A shotgun is truly a versatile tool.

When you’re bored and want to hunt birds flying through the forest, nothing beats a shotgun. If a bird flies in a straight line, you aim, pull the trigger, and with a click-clack of the pump, you’ll see both the shell casing and the bird drop together.

When suppressing a surprise attack from the Gehenna checkpoint or quelling protests from Pater or other factions, load a slug round, aim precisely at the ringleader’s forehead, and you can knock them out without causing any pain.

What a student-friendly method. What a humanitarian approach.

No student would complain about this. I’d personally make sure of it with a slug round.

Just like now.

Boom, click-clack. Bang!

“Gah—! W-what kind of shotgun has this much power—!”

Bang!

The struggling troublemaker student went limp. Bloodied, their gun completely shattered, and their helmet crumpled in my hand, but they’re probably not too badly hurt.

Three rounds of 4-gauge buckshot—talk about a tough kid, acting like a human shield. Now they’re passed out on the scorching asphalt, but that’s no big deal. Passing out and waking up again is just part of being a meat shield.

But this also means that once you take down the meat shield, what’s left behind are just small fry who only know how to attack. Kids who’ll faint from a single graze of buckshot, let alone a full hit.

I pulled a shell from the ammo pouch and loaded it into the chamber. One in the chamber, three in the tubular magazine.

These helmeted punks have one big misconception: unlike standard 12-gauge or 20-gauge buckshot, a single 4-gauge shell isn’t limited to taking out just one person.

I’ve taken down ten at a time.

Bang, click-clack—

With each pull of the trigger aimed straight ahead, a dozen helmets went flying.

The students in front of me fired back wildly, and I even took a sniper round to the head. Then, snap.

Huh, something feels like it broke. Must be my imagination.

Let’s think about what I’m feeling. Physically, there’s the heavy recoil in my shoulder, the weight of the shotgun, and the acrid smell of gunpowder. Emotionally, it’s a mix of intense anger and the thrill that cancels it out.

Doesn’t matter much. Focus on the helmeted punks.

Why do they have to pull a stunt like ambushing me when I show up? They’ve never even faced direct fire from Gehenna’s artillery or taken a hit from anything bigger than a 20mm round, yet they come at me without knowing their place.

“Hah… that just makes it better!”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Bang!

“…Sayuri-san, Senpai’s eyes have gone crazy. She’s covered in blood—her clothes, her face—and she doesn’t even seem to notice.”

“Let her be. That’s just how Senpai is.”

I need a Bible, a cross, holy water, and the blood and flesh of the Lord. Oh, how pious!

The Bible is my buckshot, the cross is my shell casing, and the holy water is my sweat and blood!

The only thing that can bring these insolent helmeted students to their knees is 23mm buckshot, amen! This is the mission and power bestowed upon me by the Lord, and none shall stand in my way!

“Hahaha! Amen, come, O Lord! Strike down these heretical bastards yourself!!”

“She’s insane! A Trinity zealot has—gack!”

— 

*Serika’s perspective*

“Senpai, give us some covering fire!”

“Got it! ☆”

Dr-r-r-r-r! Nonomi-senpai’s minigun roared to life, mowing down helmeted students with a barrage of bullets.

“Ugh, return fire, return fire!” I pulled the trigger on my beloved Sincerity, feeling the heavy recoil. Taking out the charging helmeted students cleared the street considerably. Hoshino-senpai’s probably out there sweeping through the rest.

What a mess to deal with first thing in the morning. Since Sensei hasn’t shown up yet, Ayane-san had to take over as operator, and six of us—including the students from Trinity—had to jump into the defense. At some point, our group got split up. Nonomi-senpai’s here, but where are the others?

Bang, bang-bang. I knocked out the last helmeted student on the east street by the school gate. No time to rest yet—I need to go help the others, who might be in danger.

“Nonomi-senpai, hurry! Where could the others be?”

“Ayane-chan said she heard huge explosions from the north street. How about we head there?”

“Got it. Stay close!”

Tap-tap-tap-tap. I leaped over unconscious helmeted students and concrete debris, sprinting north. The explosions grew louder and more frequent as time passed, and the number of downed students kept increasing.

Could Hoshino-senpai be holding the north street? But these explosions are too massive for her. Who’s covering this area?

Nonomi-senpai and I pushed deeper into the street. The air was thick with concrete dust and gunpowder smoke from the ongoing battle. Through the haze, I saw two silhouettes and flashes of muzzle fire. Thinking it might be Shiroko-senpai and Hoshino-senpai, I approached.

But instead, it was two students in pale yellow uniforms—the ones from Trinity we’d exchanged introductions with that morning.

“What the—? You guys are here?”

“…Oh, you’re here. Ritsuko-chan, look behind you.”

“Just a sec, let me finish this one…”

The more tomboyish of the two turned her head first.

The other was still peering through her scope, aiming at what seemed to be the last helmeted student nearby.

Bang!

A single shot, and the student dropped.

Pretty impressive aim.

Only then did she pull her eye from the scope and turn to us.

“All done. So, Serika-san and Nonomi-senpai… right?”

“That’s right. Were you two defending this street?”

“No, Senpai was here too, but… she’s gone now. Probably turned at the intersection.”

The Trinity senior, Hikari-senpai, who’d made quite an impression during morning introductions, was somewhere in that thick cloud of fog. Was she throwing smoke grenades or something? How was the fog rising up to the fifth floor of the buildings?

The two Trinity students said they were out of ammo and their guns were busted, so they were heading back to the school. That meant Nonomi-senpai and I had to go find Hikari-senpai. With such intense fighting, she was probably pushing herself to the limit.

“You guys, get back to the school safely! I’ll let you know when we find your senpai!”

“If you see Senpai, ask her if we can do something about these stupid guns. If she doesn’t approve, I’ll go straight to Seia-sama myself.”

“Uh… okay?”

The student gave a thumbs-up and a cryptic smile. I returned an awkward smile, and she and her friend trudged back to the school.

I wasn’t sure what her question meant, but she seemed pretty frustrated with her gun. Why not just buy a new one? Seia-sama? That sounded familiar. Maybe one of the higher ups in the Trinity Tea Party club? But there was no time to dwell on that—we had to move.

“Nonomi-senpai, you’re not tired yet, are you?”

“I’m still raring to go! ☆”

“Great, let’s move. I think Hikari-senpai’s somewhere past that cloud.”

— 

A cat and a refined young lady were walking through a ravaged street.

Just last night, this street had been a perfectly normal route home from work. All this debris was clearly the aftermath of a battle. And judging by the results, despite their numbers, the helmeted gang had been utterly crushed.

The asphalt road was completely torn up, with helmeted students sprawled across the ground or slumped against broken windows, motionless. The signs of destruction only grew worse the further we went.

Some students had dents in their clothes or helmets, and others were soaked in blood. Those who’d woken up from fainting were either sitting quietly or wrapping bandages while enduring pain.

They were so thoroughly beaten they didn’t even have the energy to show hostility toward us.

Even if they’re the helmeted gang, getting crushed this badly makes you feel a bit sorry for them. What the heck was this “senpai” doing? The thick fog wasn’t even from a fire—it was the result of dozens of tear gas canisters going off at once.

I’ve never seen so many tear gas canisters in my life. They were practically piled into a mountain. Where had they even been hiding that many?

“Serika-chan, are you scared?” Nonomi-senpai asked.

“What? N-no, not at all. Really. Though I’m starting to wonder what kind of person this Trinity senpai is…”

“Don’t worry, she didn’t seem that bad.”

“Isn’t it normal to leave out the ‘that’ part in that sentence?”

“Well, it’s a bit hard to say she’s definitely a good person. Hoshino-senpai wouldn’t leave the helmeted gang in this state, would she?”

If it were Hoshino-senpai, she’d probably say, “Ugh, blood on my uniform is such a pain to wash~” and opt for a gentler approach.

This kind of hardline tactic was something I’d only seen from Shiroko-senpai when she was robbing banks.

Even Gehenna’s Pandemonium Society wouldn’t go this far.

Swallowing the fear rising in my throat, I kept walking.

Nonomi-senpai stayed silent.

A few minutes later, a dull noise echoed from the eerily quiet street.

Clang!

Crunch!

What the hell was that?

It was a sharp sound, like metal being thrown somewhere. We ran with all our strength toward the source of the noise.

And then—

CLANG!!

There she was.

“It’s a nice day, so why aren’t you smiling? I even took off your helmet—crack a smile already.”

“…”

“…Tch. Passed out.”

“…”

“This won’t do. You were the last one. Guess it doesn’t matter since I got everything I needed.”

A stock dripping with blood and flesh, deep red stains soaked into her casual clothes.

And eyes that showed no hint of disturbance, as if this was all routine.

Routine?

“…Oh, you’re here? Since you made it, the school’s probably fine. How’re your juniors doing?”

“…”

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Blood and flesh so familiar they felt almost friendly.

To her, they were just that.

What could blood and flesh mean to a student?

The only thing my mind could come up with was school violence.

The image of a “good student” that Nonomi-senpai and I had held of her shattered completely…