[Blue Archive] I am the Trinity Checkpoint Chief – Chapter 25

The Sensei gazed at the note placed on the desk in the annex classroom.

Scrawled roughly over the traces of the written conversation shared with Hikari-chan the previous night:

“I’m leaving first. I couldn’t wake you, so it turned out this way. You’ll have plenty to do once you’re at Trinity, so don’t bother looking for me.”

He thought, in many ways, it was a note so very characteristic of Hikari-chan.

Though he hadn’t overslept in the morning, there was a slight pang of regret that Hikari-chan and her juniors had left so early.

But what could be done now?

Since they’d already said their goodbyes to the Abydos students, there was no need to linger with regrets.

Both for Trinity’s checkpoint captain and for the sensei, there was still so much work to be done.

With an optimistic mindset, he turned to leave.

“Hey, Sensei. Where were you?”

“I went to check the note Hikari-chan left. She said to come find her later.”

“Really? Heh, she’s such a memorable junior, isn’t she?”

— 

To all former Kivotos students walking the path of engineering, remember this!

Duct tape and WD-40 are magic, gods worthy of reverence.

Those two, symbols of mechanical engineering idolatry, are so remarkable that when Sayuri-san first saw the machinery from Millennium Science School, she managed to fix it using just them and various materials. Whether Sayuri-san is a genius or not is beside the point.

It was the miraculous power of duct tape and WD-40 that contributed to the machinery’s restoration.

“Hey, I contributed quite a bit too, you know? Ritsuko-chan handled the tape and spray, but the basic rearrangement of the engine parts was entirely my work.”

“Sayuri-san, don’t take it so seriously. It’s just a joke from your senior.”

“Like Ritsuko-chan said, it’s a joke. Sayuri-san, how do you not pick up on whether someone’s joking or not?”

Sayuri-san said nothing, puffing out one cheek and turning her head away.

She gets sulky over the slightest teasing. Contrary to her clever image, Sayuri-san tends to act like this quite often, which makes teasing her all the more fun. The reactions when Ritsuko-chan and I team up to tease her are especially entertaining.

Of course, if she seems too upset, we have to back off immediately. An angry Sayuri-san is tough to deal with.

“By the way, how did you fix it? Ritsuko-chan said there was some kind of engine disassembly show.”

“There definitely was. You’ve got to figure out what’s wrong before you can fix it, right? I don’t know why, but the crankshaft was completely shattered. Welding it was a real pain.”

I feel like I’d have a harder time remembering if Sayuri-san even has a welding certification.

But that aside, everything went smoothly. The engine’s running fine, and Hifumi-chan’s speeding through Abydos city at 98.8 miles per hour. The sticky winds of Abydos, which felt so stifling when we first arrived, now feel refreshingly cool.

With the topographic dataset from Ayane-chan, there’s no chance of getting lost again, and all that’s left is to break through Gehenna’s remote mountain checkpoints.

The Gehenna kids have a massive checkpoint building, which means it takes a while for the startled students to come rushing down the stairs when you ignore the regulations and charge through. A couple of barriers might get smashed, but they’ll just have to vent their frustrations without saying a word.

It’s a perfect plan. Even Nagisa-sama would jump in surprise at this.

“Isn’t that, like, an insult to a superior?”

“Sayuri-san, there’s something you don’t know. Check the school rules—you’d be hard-pressed to even find a clause on basic insults, let alone one for superiors. Unless you’re directly yelling at someone’s face. Also, don’t eavesdrop on my monologues.”

“Sometimes you hear things you don’t want to.”

That’s not exactly the right phrase for this situation.

Pressing the accelerator harder, the irregular surge of acceleration propelled the vehicle forward. According to the map, continuing in this direction would lead to the border with Gehenna Academy. Surely, we won’t end up stuck in the desert academy again like a few days ago, mistaking the roads.

It was a good encounter, a decent life, but now it’s time to move on.

As we sped along the empty road, the sounds of gunfire suddenly erupted. It seems a fight has broken out between incompatible members of the Helmet Gang.

This time, let’s try a different approach. As refined ladies leaving Abydos, we won’t shy away from a fight with social misfits. We must uphold Trinity’s duty to advance toward our own justice.

“Hey, what do you think of those guys? I say we give them a bit of a lesson.”

“I’m all for it. Let’s see how powerful a 6-inch shell is.”

“Nothing’s more fun than smacking someone in the back of the head when they least expect it.”

In the middle of the street, two groups of Helmet Gang members were shooting at each other. I activated the fire control system and handed the controls to Sayuri. This was the first real combat since Hifumi-chan’s transformation, but calculating the specs is the same as ever. As Sayuri-san deftly entered the calculated parameters, a heavy mechanical hum reverberated through the vehicle.

The turret turned its barrel, spanning over ten meters. The mechanical loading system shoved a nearly 50kg shell, along with its charge, into the barrel. The familiar sound of the breech closing signaled that the first shot was ready.

“FCS confirmed… Elevation 43, right 03. Ready to fire whenever. Ritsuko-chan, you’re on the pedal.”

“Alright. Gunpowder’s the best medicine for those idiots acting out. Three, two, one—fire!”

“First shot away!”

With a small grunt, Ritsuko-chan pressed the pedal as hard as she could. Clank! The sound of the pedal’s spring resisting was drowned out by a massive explosion. Smoke, far greater than during the L118 days, engulfed the scene ahead, covering it in a sandy haze.

Amid the golden dust reflecting the sunlight, red flames flickered. The shockwave and the panicked shouts of students caught in the blast filled the street. As the truck barreled through the dust cloud, a devastating scene came into view. It seemed we’d hit the center of the loosely formed frontlines of both sides.

To put it nicely, these are just kids illegally occupying Abydos High School’s grounds, so there’s no need to feel sorry for them. The important thing is clearing the path. One or two shots won’t be enough to drive them off the streets completely. Dozens of high-explosive shells will do the trick.

“Ritsuko-chan  from now on, aim for 30 shots in rapid fire. Don’t count to three—just hit them as you see them!”

“Got it. Sayuri-san, you’re gonna have to work hard!”

“No choice, huh? You’ll have to forgive me if the calculations are a bit rough.”

The continuous bombardment came with massive recoil. I gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands. The truck shook side to side with the recoil hitting every 1.5 seconds. If we keep this up, won’t the frame give out under the strain?

The sound of the barrage, far surpassing my shotgun, echoed through the city. Naturally, most of the Helmet Gang’s attention, previously focused on killing each other, turned to us. But who could stop a 40-ton alloy truck charging forward? The students screamed as if facing a monster, starting to flee, but many unlucky ones caught in the blast radius were knocked out without even returning fire.

It feels like a whale from a classic novel charging a whaling ship. A sperm whale, slicing through a yellow ocean at over a hundred miles per hour, splitting a thick pine hull in two, spewing flames instead of water. These poor—not really—kids, who never expected an intruder, should just chalk it up to their accumulated karma and move on.

“Fifteen rounds left!”

“Confirmed 15 rounds remaining. Recalculating parameters… Elevation 30, left 12, adjust!”

With the juniors handling aiming and firing, it’s pretty easy. I casually press the accelerator, passing through the dark clouds rising here and there. The unconscious students rattling under the wheels aren’t much of a concern.

Ah, it’s truly beautiful. How flustered will Gehenna’s checkpoint chief be when faced with 40 rounds per minute of overwhelming firepower? How frustrated will that damn Makoto be when she hears her surprise attacks on Trinity keep failing? I hope she’ll at least gain half a dolphin’s intelligence after getting her head cracked once.

A single truck crashed into a skirmish involving hundreds and ended the fight. With long, thick 6.1-inch high-explosive shells, we retired both friend and foe, leaving no room for a third front to form. The bright khaki truck, not even fully painted, leisurely rolled through the street now covered with unconscious students.

“Sayuri-san, how much reward would Valkyrie give us if we reported this?”

“They’d probably just yell about why Trinity students are in Abydos, so you’d better not.”

“Yeah, fair point.”

“…The Leyland Hippo?”

“Yes. Leyland Motors is a bankrupt company, but the Hippo model was discontinued only 20 years ago. Trinity, with its love for antiques, might have a few lying around. But that’s not the issue.”

“Exactly. This thing looks completely different from the original Hippo design. For one, it’s not even a three-axle structure.”

“I’m still looking into it, but there’s a record of Millennium Science School’s engineering department receiving a massive research grant recently for developing a new weapon. The specifics mention attempting to convert an old truck chassis into a self-propelled gun. The intelligence department is certain the truck in question is a Hippo model, which suggests a possible collusion between Trinity and Millennium.”

“We should also consider it might just be a commission. Or even if there’s collusion, it might not be aimed at Gehenna. Don’t put too much faith in the intelligence chief’s words.”

“But if the client is Trinity’s new checkpoint commander, that changes things. You know, the incident that caused a huge stir at the Pandemonium Society.”

Hina sipped her coffee. The pure, bitter taste of caffeine, without a hint of sweetness.

It tastes awful.

That incident—every student in the Prefect Team and Pandemonium Society would know about it. Yamatsu Hikari, a student of unknown origin, brutally assaulted a Pandemonium Society member, leaving them bloodied. Witnesses said she clearly struck the back of their head with a wooden rifle stock, but the sound was unusually heavy, suggesting she might have swapped it for a metal one.

Pandemonium Society was furious, almost to the point of outrage, enough to startle the Prefect Team. Even Makoto-sama, who, despite her brashness and exclusivity, never neglected her achievements, openly cursed Hikari-san.

The Prefect Team had to intervene to calm things down, and it ended with sending Iroha-chan to negotiate, but for Gehenna’s upper echelons, it was a contentious issue. When that person was promoted to checkpoint captain, some even thought it was a threat directed at Gehenna.

And now, that person of interest was spotted in Abydos. Likely riding a Hippo model modified by Millennium, she provoked a near-hostile act in the middle of a fierce battle between the Prefect Team, trying to arrest Problem Solver 68, and the Abydos Countermeasure Committee, then vanished instantly. What was the meaning of it? Perhaps it was an intentional show of force by Trinity’s Tea Party.

“What do you think, Ako-chan? About the Abydos incident.”

“Huh? Oh, that… Maybe it was a warning from the Tea Party? A silent pressure to leave Abydos as a no-man’s-land and not exert force there.”

“Could be. If we want to know for sure, we’ll have to meet her.”

“…You’re going to meet the checkpoint captain directly? That crazy—er, that woman who seems to lose it at the sight of Gehenna?”

There was no need to answer. Ako-chan knows I don’t easily change my mind once it’s set. Soon, I’ll be requesting an unofficial communication line with Trinity’s administration.

She was someone I had to meet eventually. The first attempt at a meeting, which I planned without Ako’s knowledge, fell through because the checkpoint captain went on a long leave and disappeared. But this time, I’ll meet her and draw out her thoughts and intentions. Maybe she doesn’t hate Gehenna as much as we think. After all, that incident started because Pandemonium Society raided a checkpoint without reporting to the Prefect Team.

Hina sipped her coffee again. The same bitter taste she disliked, unchanged from the first sip. When will she ever get used to it?

Clank. A sudden noise made Ako-chan let out a startled “Pweh!” A Prefect Team student, face pale with shock, burst through the door.

“Committee Chief! I have an urgent report…!”

“What are you doing? Reports need to be approved by the administration first—”

“No, Ako-chan. If they’re this frantic, something must have happened. What’s the matter?”

The student hesitated briefly before delivering shocking news.

“We got a report from the Trinity border. A truck-like vehicle is speeding through the mountain paths, smashing through all our barricades.”

“…Does that even make sense? Wait, could it be—?”

“…I think I know what’s going on.”

Trinity, the border, and a speeding truck. It’s obvious who’s driving it.

Looks like today’s the day I’ll have to settle things with her.