Under my coordination, Rio and Himari formed a much closer alliance regarding how to deal with Aris, who has ties to the [Incomprehensible Army].
Although differences in ideology still remained, at the very least, Rio and Himari acknowledged each other's views to a certain extent.
In my eyes, Rio's stance was an obvious extreme, while Himari represented another extreme, one that was far more concealed.
To completely reject the unknown was excessive caution. To completely accept it was reckless boldness.
Either path could bring about unforeseen risks.
Therefore, I believe that when it comes to Aris, a certain degree of trust must be given, while maintaining an equally necessary level of vigilance.
For now, having reached a temporary consensus, we decided to jointly observe Aris over a long period of time before making a final decision on whether to sincerely accept her, or…
But even if the worst case that Rio feared were to come true, I would probably still step in and protect Aris.
After all, she calls me "Sensei".
As for what attitude I should take at that time, that would have to be discussed later.
And after Aris, there was yet another issue closely tied to her.
That issue was Kei.
Regarding the AI that could occupy Aris's body, was suspected of possessing the ability to summon the [Incomprehensible Army], and had shown extreme hostility toward both me and the Millennium students, the three of us reached an agreement with surprising ease.
In the near future, Himari would lead the Veritas Department in conducting a comprehensive "physical examination" of Aris.
If Kei could be discovered and captured within Aris, that would be the best possible outcome.
If that failed, the second plan would be initiated to determine whether Kei was still inside her body.
The general idea was to place Aris in a controlled environment. As for the specifics, they still required further discussion.
The above was the gist of this secret meeting, one that would not be recorded in any database.
Originally, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity created by the new relationship between Millennium's two major figures to deepen our rapport. However, Rio said she still had seminar work to handle and would be working overtime together with Yuuka, while Himari said she needed to return to upgrade the hacking drone that she had initially planned to use as the secret weapon for this trip.
Heh. This was just how Millennium's unromantic, science minded women were. If it were not for my kind heart, I would probably end up alone for life.
With no other choice, I regretfully brought today's trip to Millennium to an end.
But that did not mean I could return to Schale and rest.
Because I still had another appointment to keep.
====
OST: Blue Archive OST 73. Interface (Hard Arrange[1])
===
One that, unless absolutely necessary, I never wanted to attend…
Following the address sent by the other party, I arrived outside the building, my mind tangled with nervousness, unease, and wariness.
At least from the exterior, the building was nothing remarkable. Yet within it was stationed a mysterious organization, and the only member of it I had ever encountered before was someone whose appearance alone made it clear he was anything but simple.
"Sensei!"
The outsider, dressed entirely in black and white, greeted me with warmth and humility, eagerly stepping forward to shake my hand.
"Please forgive us for not welcoming you from afar. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to accept our invitation and visit our [Gematria]!"
This man was Black Suit, the one who had cooperated with the Kaiser Corporation, secretly plotted to seize Abydos and Hoshino, and even intended to conduct human experimentation on Hoshino.
Naturally, I held nothing but disgust toward someone who sought to harm students important to me. However, for adults, personal likes and dislikes sometimes had to make concessions in the face of interest.
Black Suit had once said that [Gematria] were observers, seekers, and researchers. He himself had indeed demonstrated his knowledge of certain hidden truths.
For example, the mechanical giant serpent of Abydos, Binah, as well as entities of similar or even deeper existence.
In order to obtain the necessary information as quickly as possible, I could only make contact with [Gematria], no matter how much I loathed them.
"…Mm."
Maintaining a calm expression, I nodded slightly.
Black Suit did not seem to mind in the least. If anything, his enthusiasm grew as he led me forward, eventually arriving at a conference room.
When the door opened and I saw the scene inside, I could not help but complain inwardly.
What kind of bizarre creatures are all of you in this [Gematria]?
At the center of the room, around a ring of bright yellow light that seemed to serve as the conference table, stood three highly distinctive humanoid beings, all turning their attention toward the door.
The first was a life sized wooden puppet wearing a blue gray suit. Its movements were stiff, producing creaking sounds whenever it moved.
Most notably, it had two wooden heads on its neck, both faceless and cracked. One had a single oversized eye scribbled on with a marker, while the other bore a crudely drawn, toothy grin.
The second was a headless figure wearing a brown coat, leaning on a cane and holding a portrait tightly against its chest.
Black mist drifted from the stump of its neck. As for the portrait it held, it depicted a person seen from behind.
The last was the only one present with clearly feminine features.
She wore a magnificent pure white hollow patterned formal gown that accentuated her graceful figure. Holding a folding fan, she elegantly covered her cherry lips. The lower half of her face was exquisite and captivating. Long black hair cascaded down, contrasting with the gown and making her blood red skin appear even more vivid. More than ten eyes stared directly at me.
Blood red skin.
And white wings covered in crimson eyes that completely concealed the upper half of her face.
Compared to students, this was a true monster.
Even if, ignoring her skin color and eyes, she was a beauty comparable to a student, still…
I thought that I probably could not bring myself to make a move. Or perhaps I could. It was hard to say.
She simply did not feel as… clean as the students.
"Esteemed guest, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Golconde!"
At that moment, an apologetic voice came from the chest of the headless figure.
"But of course!"
Immediately after, an excited voice rang out from the severed neck.
Then once more, from the chest. "For certain reasons, I can only greet you in this form. Speaking to you with my back turned is discourteous, and I hope you can forgive me. Aside from this, I have no other means…"
"But of course!" the excited voice echoed.
…Wait. With its back turned? Could it be that the source of that apologetic voice was… the portrait?
All I could say was that [Gematria] truly gathered some extraordinary talents.
"Sensei, please forgive my colleague's excitement," Black Suit said respectfully. "For a very long time, Golconde has wished to consult you on matters of story creation."
Why is it taken as a given that I possess exceptional achievements in the field of story making?
If he really wanted to talk about that, he would be better off looking for Momoi than me.
Thinking this to myself, I still nodded calmly on the surface. In front of potential future enemies, I could not afford to show weakness.
"Golconde. I will remember this name."
"By the way, the one beside me is the proxy of my body. His name is Decalcomanie. One could also say that we are companions, and signs, representing [Illusion] and [Non Reality]."
The headless figure called Decalcomanie once again cried out, "But of course!"
…Is that all this one can say?
Golconde continued, "Just like all signs, Decalcomanie and I cannot exist independently. And regardless of what signs one may be…"
Black Suit interjected, "Golconde, the other colleagues have not yet introduced themselves to the Sensei."
"Ah, my apologies. I was too forward."
After Golconde fell silent, the two headed puppet spoke.
"Oh! Ohhh! Next, please allow me to introduce myself! It is a pleasure to meet you, Sensei! Sorry that I can only appear in this form, but it is truly an honor to see you!"
The puppet continued, "I am neither your ally nor your enemy. Although I will not help you, I will not hinder you either… My name is Maestro, and I long to witness your art!"
I nodded calmly. "Mm. Maestro."
When dealing with the Maestro of [Gematria], perhaps the art of the head from Millennium's Engineering Department would be more appropriate countermeasure.
At this point, only one person had yet to introduce herself.
The woman who had been watching me with more than ten eyes maintained her fan covering her mouth.
"My apologies, Sensei. My name is Beatrice. Some also address me as Madam."
"Mm. Beatrice."
"May I ask something, if I may be so bold?" Beatrice continued. "Would you be interested in becoming one of us?"
I frowned slightly. "…Hm?"
Black Suit spoke in a low voice. "Madam, what are you saying?"
Beatrice ignored him and continued. "All the technology we possess can be opened to you free of charge. Some small resources that I personally control, I am also willing to share. No, they will be prioritized for your use. As long as you nod and are willing to join our Gematria."
At first glance, it was a rather tempting proposal, but of course I would not agree.
Even setting aside my dissatisfaction with [Gematria] as an organization, from a purely reasonable standpoint, anything out of the ordinary was bound to hide ulterior motives. Based on my current understanding of Gematria's style, this was most likely a case of giving first in order to take later.
Moreover, what Beatrice sought to gain from me would certainly far exceed what she was willing to offer. Otherwise, what was she after?
It could not be that she was simply captivated by my charm, right?
Well, it was not entirely impossible.
"Madam!"
Black Suit raised his voice slightly, then quickly lowered it, turning to me with apprehension. "My apologies, Sensei. Madam does not covet the technology you possess that leads to the [Transcendence]. She merely hopes, quite urgently, that after you join, you would be willing to provide some guidance regarding our current research direction."
…In my view, Beatrice was absolutely coveting that so called technology.
Do not be fooled by Black Suit's appearance of ignorance as he tried to smooth things over for Beatrice. There was a strong possibility that he was playing good cop with her, or perhaps he had even instructed her to test me in the first place.
Reenacting legends from history, then borrowing the status held by students to condense a transcendence belonging to oneself.
This was the ability of the divine name refinement portion that, in Black Suit's understanding, the credit card I held possessed.
In other words, [Gematria] was coveting my cheats, was that not so?
"I see."
I swept my gaze across the room, anger surging, authority pressing down like a shroud.
"I permit you, and only permit you, to be spectators. My reenactments, my refinement, my manifestations. To merely behold them is already a great honor. Your desires may go no further than this. Do not overstep."
When dealing with the unfathomable [Gematria], if one possessed what they desired, one had to present oneself as even more mysterious than they were, so as to inspire awe.
Sure enough, just as I expected, the few of them soon bowed their heads in approval.
I nodded expressionlessly, then took the initiative to speak.
"I need you to provide me with some information."
Black Suit replied obediently, "That is only proper."
"How much do you know about Binah?"
"Binah…" Black Suit pondered briefly, then said with regret, "Coincidentally, I am responsible for research on the [Prophets] of the [Decagrammaton]. But I am sorry. Our understanding of Binah is likely no greater than yours, the one who devised such an intricate ritual."
Decagrammaton. Prophets.
I silently committed these two newly learned terms to memory.
"It is fine. Explain what you can."
Thus, Black Suit began to speak.
"Long ago…"
In the past Kivotos, there once existed such a hypothesis.
If one could research and prove the existence of gods, then their structure could be analyzed and their existence reproduced. In other words, this was a method for creating new gods.
At the time, [Gematria] funded research based on this hypothesis and created a super AI solely meant to prove the existence of gods, the [Absolute Self Governing Analysis System].
As time passed, the city was destroyed, the research facility sank beneath the water, and the research was abandoned. Yet the AI continued to faithfully carry out its task.
Until the AI's proclamation rang loudly through the ruins.
[Q.E.D]. Proof complete.
And so, a new god called the Decagrammaton was born.
It made contact with ten prophets who had foretold its fate, opening a path toward transcendence.
And the mechanical giant serpent deep within the Abydos desert was one of those ten prophets, also known as the [The Observant Understander Who Acutely Perceives Difference], the particle of understanding, Binah.
Its earliest sighting records dated back several decades. During the Kaiser Group's excavation efforts, Binah had also appeared multiple times, engaging Kaiser Corporation in battle…
So the moment it saw me, it teamed up with Kaiser PMC to attack me, is that it?
I felt a deep sense of speechlessness.
The four legged machine in the ruins was likely also one of the prophets, and those mass produced robots were probably subordinates of the Decagrammaton.
At the very least, I now had a grasp of the identities of my enemies lurking in the shadows.
After listening to the story, I nodded again.
"I understand. Then I will be leaving."
Black Suit froze for a moment. "Allow me to see you out!"
"No need. I know the way."
With that, I left on my own.
The more I behaved like this, the harder it would be for Gematria to gauge my depth, and the less they would dare to act rashly.
Having successfully obtained the information I needed, I originally planned to leave as soon as possible without lingering here. However, the development of events did not go as I wished.
"Sensei, please wait."
Turning around, I saw the irritating Beatrice standing not far behind me.
I looked at her coldly. "What is it?"
Beatrice smiled. "Hehe. My apologies for stopping you so abruptly. It is because I have prepared a greeting gift for you."
"A greeting gift?" I frowned slightly.
"Yes. I took the liberty of learning about your preferences. I believe you will certainly like it, so I sincerely hope you will accept it."
What a condescending attitude.
I was just about to refuse outright when the words caught in my throat.
"Come out, Saori. Come and greet your future master."
As Beatrice commanded arrogantly and clapped her hands, a blue haired girl with a cross star shaped halo above her head and a hint of numbness in her eyes stepped out from around the corner behind her.
The girl called Saori walked up to me, knelt on one knee, removed her mask, and kissed the back of my right hand. Her voice was low.
"Although this is our first meeting, I have admired you for a very long time. Therefore, I beg for your mercy. Please allow me to offer you my complete loyalty and serve forever at your side."
It was as fluent as reciting lines.
The girl lifted her face, revealing a beautiful yet cold, expressionless visage that somehow inspired pity.
Beatrice asked with a smile, "Well? Does this greeting gift suit your tastes?"
Before I could react to the situation, I felt my hand being tightly held.
"My… master…"
The girl named Saori gazed at me and addressed me as such.
[1] https://youtu.be/eU5V_I6J9M4?si=JX6E3N9rr5UEI8rJ