Countermeasure Committee (5)
I received a black letter.
The entire surface was pitch black, with an irregular white slash design drawn in the lower right corner.
The content attached to the letter was brief.
It was simply a coordinate pointing to a building in 【Kivotos】. Nothing more.
The sender’s intention could be guessed.
They wanted to meet me. In other words, it was an invitation.
But aside from the location, all information was vague.
Whether responding to the invitation would be advantageous or not was uncertain.
“……”
With only the given clues, I couldn’t determine the sender. Just crude, fragmentary information.
If it were Hanuma Makoto, she wouldn’t have been able to see through the veiled reality.
But as a player of 【Blue Archive】, I could sense it.
“……Black Suit.”
A mysterious external force, belonging to 【Gematria】.
The sender of the invitation must be Black Suit.
“But why?”
I didn’t know the reason. What purpose did Black Suit have in contacting me?
If this was the case, the question wouldn’t be resolved.
In the end, I had no choice but to find the meeting place prepared by Black Suit.
A building located somewhere in Kivotos.
I entered the building. After boarding the elevator, I pressed the floor to descend to.
The place I arrived at was an office with dark blinds behind it.
Black Suit was waiting for me there.
“I was waiting. President Hanuma Makoto.”
Black Suit greeted me politely. The courtesy was on par with Sensei’s.
The atmosphere was quite different from dealing with students.
“However, it’s questionable whether that designation clearly points to you.”
Black Suit did not recognize me as Hanuma Makoto.
“Because you are an outsider who borrowed the name ‘Hanuma Makoto’. That is undoubtedly a convenient and self-accommodating choice. But it is also true that there is room to misinterpret your existence.”
Black Suit considered the fundamental identity and was cautious with the name.
“If you wish, I could call you by another name?”
“……No need. Don’t try to arbitrarily damage my identity.”
I coldly rejected Black Suit’s proposal.
“Kukuk. What a pity. A tragedy where reality and name don’t match. Don’t you think so, President Makoto?”
“You speak as if you know me.”
“Unfortunately, it’s the opposite.”
Black Suit denied my speculation.
“You know us.”
And revealed the reversed idea.
“The black invitation was a kind of test. It was a test paper to verify you.”
It was a device to distinguish between students and non-students.
“You did not arrive at the destination as a result of logic and reason. You utilized exaggerated intuition and prior experience.”
Black Suit continued the story of the incident to me.
“The reason is that you have known us since before the existence of Makoto.”
As a player of 【Blue Archive】, I responded to Black Suit’s bilateral meeting.
It was a world that Hanuma Makoto could not reach.
“Even if I don’t introduce us to you, you know us.”
Contrasting with Black Suit’s words read in the main story.
Black Suit did not say ‘We know you’ like they did to Sensei.
They dug into me as if they had already read the text.
“……That’s right. Exactly. There’s no need to bother with introductions in this relationship.”
“Then the discussion will proceed even faster.”
Black Suit finally revealed the main point to me.
“We consider you a crash-landed being.”
Different from defining Sensei as an incomprehensible existence.
“Incomprehensible, that is, whether it’s understandable or not is out of the question. It’s an unimportant issue. After all, you are an existence that shouldn’t be here… In other words, a crash-landed being. An unscheduled existence.”
Black Suit contrasted me with Sensei.
They drew a line and tried to prevent confusion between Sensei and me.
“I will clearly state this. Do not immerse yourself in this world beyond the given role.”
Like how even if you memorize the entire script of the climax, you can’t become an extra.
Like how a chess pawn can only move within the given range,
“It’s about not meddling with the world we are exploring, researching, and observing.”
It was a warning not to shake the board.
“I will do what I want to do. The story will change.”
But I didn’t compromise with Black Suit.
“You do what you do well. Don’t act like a third-rate villain who pretends to be a bank robber boss by wearing a pancake mask and trying to deceive and extort students, only to have their tails cut by Sensei.”
“Oh. You really hit a sore spot.”
“It seems Sensei came before me, after all.”
“That’s correct. As you know.”
Then, Takana Hoshino would be rescued soon.
The conclusion of the Countermeasure Committee is a happy ending with ‘Welcome’ and ‘I’m back’.
“Are you not interested in living as an ordinary student?”
“What do you mean by ordinary? Wearing a fish bread bag and claiming to be the boss of a masked robber gang, or even blowing up a bank in the Black Market?”
Did they not know that the most extraordinary word in this genre is ‘ordinary’?
I didn’t fall for Black Suit’s persuasion.
“Kukuk. It may not be the correct theory, but it could also be an alternative. If it’s a flat bank robbery, there won’t be any conflict with us. How about it, President Makoto.”
But Black Suit seemed to still be trying to persuade me.
“We don’t ask for much from you.”
“Coincidence. I don’t either.”
I don’t ask for much in this world. I just want Hina.
“Then what are you pursuing in this Kivotos?”
Some great literary figure answered the question ‘What does a person live for?’ with this:
“Love.”
People live for love.
“This is not a fair negotiation table. You are fundamentally different from Sensei.”
Black Suit also brought out a counterattack.
“You are powerless compared to Sensei. You don’t have the Adult’s Card, do you? With no means to confront, why are you putting on airs? Why? Why? Why?”
“I would rather ask you.”
I opened my mouth to refute Black Suit’s claims.
“Why do you think I’m powerless?”
Hanuma Makoto is never a powerless existence.
“I am the chairman of the Manma Jeon, the pinnacle of Gehenna Academy, a great leader, and an uncompromising pure-hearted person……”
In Makoto’s style, I addressed myself to Black Suit.
Then I finally pulled out my last trump card.
“And one of the students that Sensei will take responsibility for.”
Dealing with Black Suit in the Adult’s way.
Distorting perspectives and misinterpreting to manipulate expressions favorable to me.
I am not a student yet am also a student.
I have the right to be Sensei’s student. That’s the story.
“You know why you couldn’t hold Takana Hoshino in your grasp, right?”
Because Sensei was there for Hoshino.
Because an adult who takes responsibility will hold the student to the end.
“You can’t easily touch me. There will be corresponding risks.”
This is not baseless boasting.
Black Suit couldn’t pin the student’s card on me.
My actions are cunning but legal. They don’t violate the rules.
A cunning way of doing things suitable for a villain.
“……Interesting perspective. I have fully understood your position.”
The bilateral meeting ends here. There is nothing more to say to Black Suit. I turned towards the exit.
“I hope you refrain from playing around beyond the threshold of Gematria.”
With Black Suit’s words, I left the building.