At last, the trial run of the Eden Treaty Organization had begun.
The Eden Treaty, which had been buried beneath the surface until now, truly came to the forefront when discussions of the trial run began.
And the moment this Eden Treaty, a literally unprecedented peace treaty between two rival academies, was discussed, chaos was bound to ensue.
First, the opposition from within Trinity was the most muted. Of course, the moderate faction was dominant, and even the hardliners who would normally have voiced their opinions, led by the Pater faction, were in a state of being crushed by me.
This created a situation where it was difficult for them to make their presence known, so in a way, it was so expected that if there had been strong opposition, I would have had to check if the sun had risen in the west.
Unless I make a major political misstep, or for some reason am absent from the academy for at least a few weeks to a few months, the voices of these hardliners will not move Trinity.
My friendship with Hina… that is, our current situation, which has become something akin to a marriage alliance, also seems to have contributed to the lack of opposition.
However, this was a factor that would become meaningless the moment Hina and I graduated, so it was a bit of a gray area.
I mean, it's not like Trinity is a literal absolute monarchy, and I can't be the Tea Party Host forever. In fact, if things had gone as originally planned.
I would have handed over the Host position to Seia by now and been living a life of leisure.
…Thinking about it now makes me angry. It seems the time for my regularly scheduled Seia-hate has come.
Still, I had expected some opposition, due to the existence of students who were resentful of me being sold to Gehenna as a slave… but to my surprise, no one seemed to particularly care about that.
Feelings are indeed fleeting. Or perhaps I was just being self-conscious.
Leaving all that aside, in a situation where the very person who was sold off is shouting 'Gehenna is our friend. Living together is true happiness… I love you, Hina!', it would be rare for anyone to still hold onto that incident more than two months later.
If it were me, I would probably think, 'Ugh, isn't she just a concubine now?' and just drop the subject.
On the other hand, there were certainly voices of opposition from the Gehenna side. The first name that came to mind, the Pandemonium Society… was surprisingly taking a neutral stance.
In fact, it was closer to supportive, which made me uneasy.
More than anything, it was because I had no idea what… what in the world had happened over there.
I had heard from Iroha that Makoto had proclaimed she would stand in the heavens… but I couldn't think of any other possible reason.
And besides, I couldn't grasp what Makoto dreaming of the grand ambition of becoming the General Student Council President had to do with the Eden Treaty.
Other than that, since an atmosphere of apprehension toward Trinity was prevalent in Gehenna, I know that there was a considerable negative reaction from the general student population.
This was a part that stemmed entirely from the difference in disposition between the students of the two academies, and it was a predictable backlash, seeing as the Gehenna kids would talk about Trinity being scheming, two-faced, and old-fashioned.
However, even this had been significantly mitigated by the summer festival, and more importantly, this kind of public opinion had little effect on the general trend.
This was because, due to the nature of Gehenna, such complaints would absolutely, and I mean absolutely, never be consolidated and expressed as a single will.
The Prefect Team, which could, if it truly put its mind to it, overthrow the system by force and start a military dictatorship, was pushing for it, and the Pandemonium Society, which had obstructed every little thing, was not putting on the brakes?.
At this point, there were no forces, at least within the two academies, that would actively obstruct the Eden Treaty.
Yes, within the two academies, that is.
The minor academies, which we hadn't even been paying attention to, had tried to throw a wrench in the works by bringing up the dangers of the Eden Treaty to the General Student Council, and I know that voices of concern had also been raised from places like the Shanhaijing Senior School and the Red Winter Federal Academy.
Millennium, which could have been the biggest problem, was one of the least opposed, with a 'Oh, you two are going to get along?.
We'll make steady money from the summer festival every year, which is great for us. Good luck!' kind of attitude.
I was able to realize that for the engineering nerds, a bigger club budget was always the right answer.
Odyssey, which had been involved with us a few months ago over the Kaiser incident, was taking a very friendly stance toward Trinity, if not Gehenna, so they naturally expressed their support for us.
As for Hyakkiyako, well, the Onmyo Division, which was the de facto student council there, was not the type to get involved in the politics of other academies, and since they maintained an amicable relationship with Gehenna, they seemed to have chosen to remain neutral.
For some reason, the Red Winter side had gone silent after a visit from the Pandemonium Society.
Hmm, to be honest, I really don't want to know the details of that….
In the case of Ryuge Kisaki, known as the Black Sovereign of Shanhaijing, she was a rare, common-sense student council president for Kivotos, so it was clear that she would shift to a neutral stance after just a little bit of serious discussion. It seemed I would have to coordinate a schedule to visit Shanhaijing again soon to take care of some personal business as well.
The only minor problem was that my academy-level business was with the Xuanlongmen, and my personal business was with the Xuanwu Merchant Association.
The Xuanlongmen, the student council of Shanhaijing, and the Xuanwu Merchant Association, the merchant's guild, were in a fiercely antagonistic relationship.
From my experience visiting for personal business last time, the Xuanlongmen, who were traditionalists in cuisine, and the Xuanwu Merchant Association, who were multiculturalists, were on terms as hostile as Gehenna and Trinity in the past.
So, making contact with two opposing clubs in a single visit was, shall we say, a bit of a delicate situation.
In any case, the sweet two-month break had come to an end today.
The moment the ETO's trial run began and Hina's schedule freed up to some extent, I was planning to officially start the project I had been putting on hold for a while.
It was the dawn of the journey to become the new millennium's idols.
***.
`[We've heard that the maintenance organization for the Eden Treaty, known as the peace treaty between the two academies of Gehenna and Trinity, has begun its trial run as of today.
Interim Director-General, what is the exact background behind SRT Specialist School taking on the central role in this organization, abbreviated as the ETO?]`.
"As you are already aware, the Eden Treaty was first proposed by the President of the General Student Council. The reason for this is the significant burden placed on the General Student Council by the conflicts between these two academies, Gehenna and Trinity. In order to give weight to the treaty proposed to reduce this burden, the President appointed our SRT as the main body of the ETO, and the two academies also accepted the General Student Council's mediation".
`[Interim Director-General, you are known to have made a significant contribution during the Kaisergate incident two and a half months ago, following the Kaiser Industries infiltration incident that first revealed the existence of SRT to Kivotos.
SRT has become synonymous with FOX Squad, and there are rumors that you, the leader of this highly competent squad, will not only serve as the interim Director-General of the current ETO but have also been slated for the inaugural Director-General position after the Eden Treaty is formally signed.
Can we take this to mean that FOX Squad will be completely retiring from fieldwork?]`.
"No. Although I have taken on the position of Director-General, I have no intention of simply standing back as an office worker. I and the FOX Squad I lead will, of course, continue to act as members of the ETO, and we will not neglect SRT's primary duties, such as the pre-emptive suppression of serious crimes and terrorism that are beyond the reach of Valkyrie. Furthermore, the story that I have been slated for the inaugural Director-General position is nothing more than a groundless rumor".
`[That sounds like the workload for SRT is scheduled to increase dramatically.
Do you believe it is possible to handle such a workload on top of SRT's murderous training intensity?]`.
"It is possible. Our SRT is, in name and reality, the best of the elite. Also, in the event that a personnel vacuum is created due to an SRT mission, a cooperative network is in place where Trinity's Justice Task Force and Gehenna's Prefect Team can fill the gap, so there is no problem".
[Does that mean—].
"Mika-ssi, what is your intention in replaying that in front of me?".
"Oh, our interim Director-General is being so harsh. It was just getting to the cool part, and you turned it off".
I was in the middle of re-watching Yukino's press conference when she turned it off and stared at me in disbelief. Well, I was at the press conference in person, so I suppose it would be exasperating to have someone re-watch something they already knew right in front of her.
"…Sigh. Please don't tease me. Interim Director-General… it's a title that doesn't suit a field commander like myself".
"Hmm. But what can you do? The General Student Council President personally appointed you as the person in charge. Since SRT is the President's hands and feet, you have to do what you're told. Why are you complaining now when you were quiet before?".
"Now that I have been entrusted with such a heavy responsibility, I intend to do my best. With the honor of SRT on the line, it is only natural that anything less than the best is unacceptable. However, separate from that, I believe it is acceptable for me to grumble that this position does not suit me".
"You're worried about whether you can do a good job, aren't you?".
"…Is that how it looks to you?".
"Yeah. SRT's duties are just a matter of doing what the President says. But now you're in a position of responsibility for an entire organization called the ETO, so it's a sudden, heavy burden. I know because I've been through it myself".
"Sigh. I won't deny it. To be honest, it's true that I'm worried".
I myself was in a position where I had been suddenly saddled with the heavy responsibility of being a Tea Party Host, a role so far beyond my station that I wondered if I was even worthy of it.
How could I not understand how Yukino felt?.
However.
"Yukino-chan. Trust in yourself, and trust in the justice of SRT that you have engraved in your heart. You are already an upright and excellent person, so as long as you do not lose that justice you hold in your heart, the path you walk will almost always be the right one. And even if you sometimes choose the wrong path, if you trust the girls around you, they will surely set you straight".
If I could do it, there was no reason Yukino couldn't. Objectively speaking, there were few people as upright as Yukino.
She was someone who could declare that even the judgment of the General Student Council President was wrong if she determined that it deviated from the essence of justice. That was why I believed Yukino had the makings of a great leader.
I lightly patted Yukino's shoulder and saw her blink.
"Do you remember the conversation we had before? I believe I asked you if the milestone that is the General Student Council President was truly necessary for your SRT".
"…Yes, I remember".
"When the standard for judging justice was passed to you, could you carry out that justice with an upright and unwavering heart… You wouldn't say you don't know what answer you gave me then, would you?".
"I told you that SRT could judge and execute justice with a consistent standard".
"Good, you remember well. It's a little limited, but… yes. The time to prove that has finally come, Yukino-chan. And that confident look from back then suits you best".
I took a step back, clasped my hands behind my back, and gave a gentle smile. I took in the sight of Yukino, wearing her original uniform with the insignia symbolizing the ETO attached.
"So I'm counting on you from now on, Director-General Yukino☆".
The reply that came back from Yukino was the very same confident answer I remembered from that day.