Blue Archive: Free Princess Mika!

“…”

I blinked my eyes twice. The surroundings were dim, but I could see a beam of light cutting through the darkness ahead.

…Is that Saori’s weapon light?

It seemed that we were inside the catacombs right now.

Setting aside my newly opened eyes, I sunk into thought for a moment. I needed to organize the situation.

First off, my current condition.

“Princess, it’s a fork in the road. Which way?”

“Just a moment… here, it’s right, Sa-chan.”

It felt like I was currently being carried on Saori’s back. The moment I breathed any louder, she’d definitely realize I was awake.

I still needed time to think quietly, so I deliberately regulated my breath and concentrated on not tensing my body, slowly recalling my memories.

To bring the real Mika back to the world, I made a deal with the black suit and executed that final stage. And in the process, I lost consciousness.

The moment I faced the real Mika in the dream world, I became aware of a hidden fact.

The real Mika was actually… tainted with color? Or infected?

Hmm. I’m not sure how to describe it, so let’s just say she was colored by it.

Anyway, the Mika colored by it told me my choice would bring destruction. If there’s a problem, it’s that I find it hard to deny that fact.

Preparation against the color? Of course, we were doing our best to prepare. But the progress was sluggish, to be honest.

To begin with, color was more unknown than known, a cosmic existence… or a concept. Everything was filled with uncertainties, and thus no one knew how effective our preparation would be.

And another issue. We viewed color as a vague disaster that might come someday. Not as an imminent crisis that would lead the world into destruction.

…Now that I think about it, I guess it really is my fault.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t wronged.

There were no signs that Mika was colored by the color. She didn’t even show any hints…

Ah, I see now.

Heaving a sigh as I reflected on what she had said, I realized: the reason she suddenly chose to fall into a deep sleep one day wasn’t because she thought she would wake up someday… rather, she believed that method would minimize the chance of color finding its way to Kivotos.

The fact that she didn’t utter a single word about color was likely because she was wary of the possibility that color might recognize her being tainted through it. Or maybe it was her conviction.

Either way, it’s a bit hard to think that I would know more about color than the Mika who was colored by it.

Her saying she hated me and expressing dissatisfaction with Nagisa and this world, and finally telling me not to seek her out or reach for her…

All of that was probably her way of leading my actions so that I wouldn’t bring color to her by freeing her.

Her telling me not to trust Gamatria can be understood through the fact that she lost her teacher due to Beatrice and that the world had entered a countdown to destruction.

As for the Student Council President… honestly, I’m not so sure. Since she also had a teacher in her world, it seems the Student Council President over there would have also voluntarily gone missing. But there were no circumstances to be certain of, so let’s skip that part for now.

The phrase advising me to doubt everything felt like it was encouraging me to doubt her own words.

I could keep proposing various speculations, but the situation had already unfolded. Mika was most likely released into the world, and we were facing the worst crisis.

“Sa-chan…”

“…Ah. Mika, did you wake up?”

“Uh-huh. Where have we gotten to now?”

“We’re almost at the surface. We were lucky. If we had stayed any longer, the internal structure of the catacombs would have changed, making it a hassle.”

…If we had been stuck in the catacombs in such a crucial time, it would have been a terrible waste of precious time.

This was indeed a stroke of luck. I wanted to say that line you say when you’re lucky, but given the situation, I held back.

“Mika, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Other than feeling a bit weak, I’m fine. But what about the black suit, that guy?”

“He got beat up by another Mika and ran away.”

“…Pfft.”

Thinking that guy got punched by the princess made me laugh uncontrollably. Despite the severity of the situation, that lying scoundrel deserved a bit of a scolding.

“So, that. The real Mika is…?”

“…Hmm. Referring to her as the real one makes me uneasy. You’re not a fake, are you?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean that, you know that, right? Right?”

“That might be true, but… for now, she’s disappeared somewhere. It was similar to how those machines appeared during the Ark incident.”

“…Aha.”

Spatial transfer, perhaps? Can Mika use that on her own?

…That’s crazy, really.

Does becoming tainted with color make that possible?

Ugh, at this point, I have no idea how to deal with the color.

“Sa-chan, you did well. So, you can put me down now.”

“Mika, I’m fine. So just rest a bit longer.”

“…You’re not just indulging yourself, are you?”

“Of course not.”

I knew Saori wasn’t that kind of girl. In reality, her hand barely supported my thigh.

I tightened my hold around her neck just a little and buried my face against her shoulder, closing my eyes for a moment.

Although I said I was fine, there was an odd, lethargic feeling throughout my body. I took a breath, thinking selfishly that I needed to rest a little whenever I could.

As I breathed in the strangely androgynous scent unique to Saori, who didn’t use cosmetics outside of daily life, my tension eased a bit.

“Haha… it really feels like there’s no time to rest. Am I the problem?”

“Yeah, I don’t think of you as a problem, Mika.”

Atsuko, who started walking closely beside Saori, responded to my words.

“Sister, should I carry you?”

“…Huh? Atsuko-chan?”

Can she do that?

I tilted my head slightly toward Atsuko, blinking. Receiving the weak light of the halo, Atsuko displayed a dignified beauty worthy of the title Royal Blood.

And Atsuko was slightly taller than me. Just barely.

“No, I’ll pass.”

“…Okay, got it.”

Atsuko, looking somewhat disappointed, turned her gaze forward.

“Roughly, if we keep this pace for another 20 minutes, we’ll reach the surface. It’s been exactly 53 minutes since you lost consciousness.”

“…An hour, huh.”

I had no idea how much progress had been made.

Neither the internal structure of the catacombs nor the Trinity were far from the communication zone. As soon as we escape this place, I need to contact everyone…

No, wait.

That’s not it.

“…Atsuko-chan, as soon as we exit, you need to return to Trinity and gather the squad.”

“What about you?”

“I have my own business to attend to. So, I want Atsuko-chan to assist Nagisa. Sa-chan…”

“I understand. Looks like I’ll have to give up my vacation.”

Saori was great at thinking in that direction.

It’s unfortunate that such an event occurred on a day I took off, but honestly, did the Heungsinso activities hold much meaning? It’s pretty much free activity time every day unless performing requests, being a delinquent club.

Of course, since the Heungsinso is doing quite well, it’s a bit hard to simply dismiss it as a delinquent club…

“What should I tell Nagisa?”

Upon hearing Atsuko’s question, I replied that I would handle that part myself.

Once again, if I don’t make the call, our husband would undoubtedly lose his patience.

“…Phew.”

Everyone has their own role.

It was clear what role I needed to take on now.

*

Having escaped the catacombs, I headed straight for the nearby subway station. After sending Saori and Atsuko off, the world around me looked incredibly peaceful, much to my surprise.

It felt as if the azure sky and the usual sight of our academy students laughing and chatting were trying to soothe my worries.

…Not a chance.

Who are they trying to fool?

This situation was undoubtedly the calm before the storm.

So this was the silence right before a massive storm called color that was about to swallow Kivotos whole.

On my way to the subway station, I called Nagisa.

[…Hello, Mika-san.]

“Nagisa-chan, I have something urgent to discuss——”

[No, I’m somewhat aware of the situation. The teacher from Shalle contacted me directly a while ago. The plan to revert Mika-san to her original state is… ]

“Yeah, things have gotten a bit complicated. So, I’m saying this: I’m on my way to the Student Council.”

[The Student Council?]

On the other end, Nagisa seemed to be struggling to grasp my intention.

“Yeah. You see, I’m going to resign from the T-party.”

[…What?!]

I could hear Nagisa’s surprised shout. I briefly took the phone away from my ear, waiting for her to calm down.

[Hoo… Please give me a detailed explanation immediately.]

If Nagisa’s voice had a temperature, it would have plummeted to below zero. It sounded that cold.

“Haha. Originally, I planned to prepare a bit more leisurely, but… circumstances changed. So, from now on, what I’m about to say is the last command as a fake Misono Mika, Trinity T-party host.”

[Wait, why would you want to resign from the T-party?!]

“Effective immediately, Hikari Atsuko from the Arius Faction will temporarily take over the chairperson position held by the Pater Faction.”

[Wha… Wait a moment. You can’t be serious.]

“Furthermore, Kirihouji Nagisa representing the Filius Faction will officially become the host of the Trinity T-party, leading the Trinity.”

[…]

“Oh, right. This command is directed at my lovely secretary, Urawa Hanako. Until the internal situation of the T-party is settled, she is forbidden from resigning.”

If Hanako were to resign from the T-party, it could make handling things complicated.

Of course, this was only important when we defeated color. A person who operates under defeat or failure should not lead someone.

“This is valid until we successfully defend against the invasion of ‘color’ that threatens the existence of Trinity, and I will resign from the T-party after issuing this command.”

[You really… are you serious?]

“Ah, finally, I’m done with my annoying host duties. It took a long time. Yeah, I really hated it, you know?”

Nagisa fell silent. However, even without her saying anything, I could sense what she was thinking.

In her mind, she was rapidly organizing what she needed to do next. Nagisa was undeniably competent, with no room for doubt.

“By the way, this call is being recorded. I’ll send the recording file shortly. The backlash within Pater shouldn’t be significant, so don’t worry.”

[That’s not what I’m worried about… There’s no way those kids would speak out against you, of all people.]

“Hmmm… Your trust is heavy. Anyway, take care for a while, T-party host☆”

[…Haa. I’ve also been behind the scenes so I can’t really say much about this situation. Thank you for your hard work.]

[The Trinity will forever remember your efforts.]

“Really, I think you don’t have to say such embarrassing things.”

I chuckled and hung up the phone.

Just before I hung up, Nagisa’s last words echoed in my ears.

[The path you take, Student Council President, Trinity will follow you to the end.]

It was the moment my term as host of the T-party, the longest in Trinity’s history spanning 1 year and 4 months, came to an end.