Countermeasures Committee
Hina revealed herself once more.
After the main stage of the main story had concluded, Hina had also slipped away to the back of the stage.
Misfortune piled upon misfortune. It twisted like tangled threads.
Gehenna’s number one in military ranking, Hina faced off against Problem Solver 68. Her eyes, checking the target, gleamed with cold precision.
“The lamp was dim under the lamp,” she commented dryly.
“Abyssos would be one thing, but Problem Solver has no excuse to overlook.”
To pass judgment, Hina slowly approached.
Problem Solver 68 straightened their formation, but the fatigue from consecutive battles was plain to see.
“Aru, it seems you have some connection with the Manma faction—”
Hina suddenly stopped, glaring at me.
The gaze seemed to judge my responsibility for Problem Solver 68.
“Somehow, you’ll be behind it all, President Makoto?”
Hina asked in a cold voice, as if interrogating me.
It wasn’t a question to verify the truth. It was a conviction-filled verdict.
A desperate excuse would only make the situation more pitiful.
“...Yeah, that’s right.”
I revealed myself as the real culprit.
There was no other way to help Problem Solver 68. I would face Hina. To buy time for Aru’s group to escape.
“Then, what do you plan to do, Hina? Are you going to accuse me of the crimes of Problem Solver?”
I probed Hina’s intentions with a provocative tone.
“Well, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Hina’s gun pointed at me. If Hina pulled the trigger now, bullets would rain down on me. At this distance, it wouldn’t end with just a warning.
“...”
Hina stared at me silently, gun aimed.
A moment of silence. Then Hina,
“...Well, fine. Let’s stop here for today. There’s something more urgent.”
She withdrew the weapon from me. Unexpected action.
Hina ignored Aru’s group and turned her back.
“With this, there’s no debt between us.”
Hina, about to leave, turned her gaze to me.
“See you again later, President Makoto.”
With a promise of next time, Hina finally distanced herself.
It sounded like Hina’s line from the main story to Sensei. A farewell greeting filled with the will to continue the connection.
“Did Hina just say she’d see me again?”
The echo of Hina’s words was deep. My heart ached unnecessarily.
But the emotion lasted only a moment.
The standoff with Problem Solver 68 remained unchanged.
Kayoko was suspicious of me. The trust in the contract was shaken.
“Kayoko saw it too! Makocchi tried to wrap us up from Hina just now! It wasn’t to use us! It’s an alliance tied by blood!”
Aru actively appealed to Kayoko, promoting me. She believed in me firmly.
Aru claimed to be a hardboiled outlaw, but she had too much heart. I thought she was much more Aru-like, though.
“Haa...”
Kayoko frowned, sighing.
“President. Even if that’s true, the essence doesn’t change.”
Kayoko continued with cynical reasoning.
“To avoid being tied to Gehenna Academy’s curriculum, we created Problem Solver, but now we’re trying to restrain ourselves to Manma on our own. That’s weird.”
“...Ugh.”
Aru flinched as if hit in the vital point.
If she settled for this contract, she might gradually tame and become Manma’s dog. The anxiety gripped Aru.
“But the request was fun. I got to know the cute glasses girl... Ah, the ramen was delicious too?”
“I could also be with Sensei in many ways.”
Mutsuki and Haruka added their opinions. Positive remarks on the reward of the request.
“...Haa.”
Kayoko didn’t refute the two girls’ words.
She remained silent, as if unable to deny the facts.
Probably Kayoko hadn’t disliked it. The days of not clashing with the Countermeasures Committee in this worldline.
I was sufficiently satisfied that Problem Solver 68 had found a happier worldline.
“President, what are you going to do?”
Kayoko asked Aru. As the president of Problem Solver 68, the final decision was Aru’s.
“Me, I...”
Aru and I made eye contact. Her face showed she hadn’t decided yet.
Don’t get attached to things you can’t abandon. That might be the hardboiled creed.
If Aru couldn’t, I had no choice.
“The contract is over.”
I declared the end of the relationship to Aru.
“It means you no longer need to support the Countermeasures Committee on command. That’s the contract condition.”
It would be a more perfect ending for the employer, me, to end the contract.
For Aru, who was employed by me, if she broke the contract, there would be penalties.
On the surface, it made me look more like a villain. I unilaterally imposed on Aru.
But inwardly, I relieved Aru’s burden.
“If the relationship had to end, this way would suit better.”
With this, the contract relationship ended.
Problem Solver 68 would not be bound to Manma. They would freely seek new requests.
“Business is done. It’s time to walk your own paths.”
I bid farewell to Aru. The time to send off Problem Solver 68.
Even if the Prefect Team had retreated, it was too early to relax. Who knew when pursuit would come?
“...Then, I’ll be going.”
Kayoko was the first to turn.
“Take care! It’d be nice to see you again—”
With a cheerful voice, Mutsuki left lightly.
“Eh? Wh-what should I do, Aru-sama? ...G-going back? Returning!?”
Haruka fidgeted, watching Aru’s unmoving figure.
“...Yeah, let’s go back.”
“Yes, yes! I’ll obey the command!”
Finally, Aru took a step.
Aru, turning her back on me, and Haruka following in small steps behind.
Glance. As Aru moved away, she turned her head to look at me.
“...She’s still looking out for me.”
I cautiously waved my hand to Aru.
With a wave of goodbye, I secretly saw off Aru.
“!”
Aru, startled, sent a silent reply to me.
The steps of the dejected Aru gained some energy.
With that, I saw off Problem Solver 68.
Those who didn’t exit from the back of the stage were only us.
Me, Toramaru, and Iroha.
“...Makocchi-senpai.”
Iroha, who had silently observed all this, finally spoke.
“U-um...”
“I have more than one thing I want to ask you right now, Makocchi-senpai.”
I was prepared for Iroha to interrogate me.
With so many sins committed, I couldn’t escape karma.
“But Makocchi-senpai isn’t using the right to remain silent and isn’t telling me anything important. Haa.”
Iroha was piercing through me.
With a level of insight that intimidated me.
“...Angry?”
“No. It’s not that I’m angry, but that I’ve gained enlightenment.”
Iroha glared at me with a straight face. She was angry, after all.
“I realized that the shadowy villain who weaves suspicious things in a way that’s astonishingly elaborate, when tied with Makocchi-senpai, brings a torrent of troublesome things.”
Iroha had marked me as her number one to avoid. Unfortunate.
“However, I can’t just abandon you because you’re on my mind.”
But at the end of Iroha’s words, a small hope followed.
Despite that, a sense of relief that Iroha would support me arose.
“Ah, by the way. I heard that a pet leash in the Prefect Team has become waste. Should I pick up a spare?”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“There are people who want to fill a leash to keep things in check.”
I didn’t specify the target, but Iroha’s gaze honestly looked at me.
“...Sorry.”
“Reflect more, Makocchi-senpai.”
With that, I,
earnestly asked for mercy from Iroha, who was struggling as mid-level management.