NOVEL NEXT Operation has been underway for about 3 hours now.
Boooom!
[The energy response of the false sanctuary in Slumpia has just vanished!]
Excluding the sanctum of Millennium, which had been restored once before the operation began, this marks the first time a false sanctuary has been destroyed.
A guardian with a bizarre appearance based on Wavecat. To us scarce fans of Momofriends, it was shocking – but, surprisingly, it didn’t seem that strong despite its horrific appearance.
Well, considering that the academy that mobilized for the sanctuary’s destruction included Red Winter, Sanhaegyeong, and the Union of Hakgwiyaeng, maybe that was a bit of an overkill.
Anyway, once we heard the news, those of us in charge of Perorozira jumped back into the full-scale battle as planned.
The kids, who hadn’t had any proper rest, were showing their exhaustion through their movements and expressions. Seeing them, I felt even more compelled to participate actively in the battle.
Fighting continuously without any break and dragging our feet while defending D.U., day turned to night and then back to day again, and here we were, just before sunset again.
Another 3 hours passed. We received reports of victories from Millennium and Abydos, but at that point, we were still locked in a tussle with Perorozira.
Is this even right? Really? At this rate, are we going to miss the deadline?
In such a chaotic situation, time continued to tick away.
Then, about 4 hours and 30 minutes after the false sanctuary of Slumpia was destroyed…
Whaaa!
[The energy response of Perorozira is vanishing!… T-teacher! We did it!]
Although the reason was still a mystery, Arona’s voice reached me and the teacher. Before our eyes, Perorozira shrunk, just like a balloon deflating.
The false sanctuary began to collapse slowly behind the much-diminished Perorozira. It felt like an extreme challenge, but we ultimately succeeded in defeating the color-soaked Perorozira.
Though we hadn’t returned to the original location of Sanctum Tower, it felt good to be free from the monstrosity that had been affecting everyone.
However, it was not the time to rejoice just yet.
Up to that point, the sanctuaries confirmed as destroyed totaled three, excluding the one we had just destroyed.
One from both the sanctuaries of Trinity and Millennium remained intact, and according to calculations, about 90 minutes remained until the first sanctuary would be restored.
Even if one of them succeeded in the time attack, it wouldn’t matter unless both sanctuaries were destroyed in time.
After all, no matter what was done, it was impossible to defeat Perorozira before the other sanctuaries were restored.
If we failed this time, it could easily take at least three more days to destroy all the sanctuaries. Everyone was worn out, and the state of consumables was a mess too.
So it was absolutely essential to have a moment for reorganization. If I was feeling dead tired, how exhausted must the ordinary kids be?
For now, D.U. was in a somewhat organized state, though only temporarily.
With that in mind, I thought to at least guarantee a minimum rest for those who had worked hard during this full-scale operation.
…Just in case there was something next, everyone would need to manage their condition. Right.
So, I relayed the message that everyone had worked hard and should first take a break. Trying to clean up the scene immediately wouldn’t hold any meaning, so it seemed that the area would remain a complete mess for a while.
I imagined giving the deflated balloon-like Perorozira to Hifumi, wondering if she’d be overjoyed by it, and I headed to the Student Council building with the teacher.
“…Mika, aren’t you going to rest?”
“Huh? I think I can manage given this much. What about you, teacher…”
I glanced over to check the teacher’s condition. The normally gorgeous face, which could even incite jealousy, was marred by dark circles of exhaustion.
Unlike myself, who had extraordinary stamina, the teacher was just an ordinary person, and it was clear they were probably on the verge of dying right then.
“…I don’t think you should be worrying about me right now?”
“Haha…”
With an awkward laugh, the teacher danced around that point. Even though we were saying this, we both knew we couldn’t take a break right now.
This was what it meant to follow through with our duties.
Well, I might not be forced to rest anytime soon, but the teacher might end up getting literally laid down by the students. In a healthy way.
After returning to the Student Council, I heard a shocking story.
“…Huh? My memory is an important key, what do you mean by that?”
Apparently, my memory was key to solving this situation.
For a moment, I was taken aback. My memory isn’t that bad, but under these circumstances, I couldn’t see how it could be helpful.
This was in regard to both my past life and present life.
The story of my past life and Blue Archive had essentially ended; thus, from now on, we would have to venture out into the unknown. Hearing about my memory made me somewhat flabbergasted.
[To be more precise, it’s the memories of your past life that you don’t remember that are the key to breaking this situation. Only you can turn the color-soaked Mika into an ally.]
I paused for a moment at Seiya’s words coming through the communication device. I had never properly told Seiya about my past life.
I hadn’t even disclosed to the other kids about the existence of the game “Blue Archive” or that I had possessed a character there.
I wasn’t keen to spread the discomfort that I might be a character from a fictional world. At this point, I was starting to question whether this was really a fictional world at all.
Still, with Seiya bringing up my past life, the weight of their words made my heart sink.
“Umm. I don’t think that kid would listen to me…? She seems to really hate me. Maybe Nagi or Seiya could persuade her instead. Their chances might be better, don’t you think?”
[Of course, she won’t listen. She’s in such a serious state of disarray. If she were swayed by the convincing of Nana or Nagisa, she would have already helped us out. So what we need right now… is the memories of your past life that you don’t remember but still clearly exist in your head… the memories from your time as a teacher.]
Upon hearing Seiya’s words, my mind went blank for a moment. After all, when it came to memories from my time as a teacher, there was only that.
What should I do? Should I desperately deny this? I really don’t know how Seiya figured this out. What do I do…
[Another Mika, she was someone who was the closest to you. Her psychological support who kept her from collapsing, Mika, with you, it would surely be possible to turn her into an ally.]
…Huh?
Wait a second. Isn’t this explanation stretching things a bit too far regarding something I never did?
The relationship between the teacher in the game and Mika seems to be described as psychological support. It certainly wasn’t a relationship like that.
No, of course, the teacher in Blue Archive could be considered a psychological support for all the students, but… I don’t know why I feel like that’s not the point right now.
[To achieve this, Nagisa and I asked for help from the president of Millennium, Tsukatsuki. There was no one else capable of coming up with a way to recover lost memories but Millennium.]
[And we accepted that request. Coincidentally, I had just thought of a method.]
Rion, who was connected to the communication, continued Seiya’s words without missing a beat.
[Currently, Himari is on her way to you with that method. She should arrive in about an hour. I would have liked to go there myself, but…]
Somehow, Rion let out a sigh that was dripping with regret.
[It wouldn’t be good if the student council president was absent in times like these, so I had no choice but to leave it to Himari.]
“…So what’s this method?”
[It’s Deep Dive, Mika.]
Deep Dive…?
Ah. Could it possibly refer to that from Chapter 2 of the original work, where it was used to revert the consciousness of Aris which shifted over to Kei?
[Nagisa and I started modifying the Deep Dive device the moment we received T-party’s request a few days ago. We made it possible for people to use it, and it allows one to dive deeply into their own consciousness. If I had been doing it alone, it would have taken much longer to finish.]
Rion mentioning the duties of a student council president aside, her deflecting praise to Himari made her sound like the “Perfect Rion.”
That said…
“In short, while responding to the invasion of colors, you’ve been working on a device that allows you to dive into your own subconscious and recover your memories…? Wow—Rion, are you even human?”
[That sounds a bit rude. As I said, it was also possible thanks to Himari’s help.]
Regardless of whether Himari helped or not, there’s no denying how impressive it all was. To whip up something like that in just a few days…
[For reference, the completed device is almost perfect in theory and was successful in practical tests too.]
“You tested it in that little time…? Haha, Rion, you must be exhausted.”
[Who isn’t? The testing was… since it’s a device you need to use, I just wanted it to be as safe as possible for you, Mika.]
Rion spoke with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. Visualizing Rion, looking like a secretary of some big conglomerate, feeling shy made me chuckle.
Since everyone is putting in this much effort, I should continue to do my best too. Yes.
…By the way, lost memories from my time as a teacher.
Could it be? No way, right?