Tera’s corpse, delivered without warning throughout the school. The students, gathered without explanation in the gym.
The headmaster, appearing on-screen to announce an emergency situation, and then turning up dead. The grey dome, enclosing the school.
The scarecrow, appearing for no apparent reason in the sealed-off building. And now— The students, shot dead if they try to escape.
“If only I’d stopped him…”
“You don’t intend to give up now, do you?”
“… no. I’m fine. We have to keep going.”
“I think we should keep quiet about this to everyone in the gym. We can explain to them after we’ve figured out what to do…”
“Yeah, that’s probably the best way to do it.”
Our one chance at escape turns out to be a one-way ticket across the Styx. There’s nothing we can do but search for clues inside the school…
“Where shall we go next?”
“Let’s go back to the maintenance office. Mister One might have that file open.”
“Very well.”
“Our worst predictions? Do you know something?”
“We can predict things without knowing that they will happen. Confusing predictions with reality can be fatal, young one.”
I’ve been wondering for a while…
“Umm, mister One… are you really just a maintenance worker?”
“Hmm. An innocent student was shot. I suppose it’s time I introduced myself properly.”
“I am Leone JB. One of the great ‘Soaring Wings’ of the Dove Party. S-class agent. Pleased to meet you.”
Oh yes.
“Th-the Dove Party…?”
He looks like a cockatiel to me.
“I have heard of this Dove Party. The secret organization that advocates living in harmony with humans, correct?”
“You are well-informed, young one.”
“Hmph. It is a noble’s duty to be well-informed.”
“I feel like I must have missed something…”
Sakuya puffs up his chest a bit and prepares to drop a bit of knowledge on Ryouta that we, the audience, already remember from Yuuya’s route, probably.
“There are two schools of thought driving the politics of today. The Dove Party, who believe we should live peacefully with humans, and the Hawk Party, who believe we should exterminate them.”
“Exterminate!? But I thought the wars with humans were over!”
“Do you really believe that everyone just decided to live happily together?”
“Sadly, that is not how the world works. There are still many disagreements between birds and humans, and so the Hawks and the Doves have come to the fore.
We discovered Hawk activity at this school, and so I was despatched to investigate. And, what we feared would happen… has happened.”
“W-wait, are you saying the Hawk Party has something to do with St. Pigeonation’s!?”
“It seems hard to believe… this schoool is known for its tolerant policies towards humans. It even welcomed Thielle as a representative.”
“I cannot confirm or deny it… But there are a growing number of Hawk operatives attached to the school. The headmaster’s secret file will probably answer some of your questions.”
“Oh, you got it open! Thank you!”
“That should speed things up a little. Let’s look inside.”
The Human Representative
To help humans and birds advance hand-in-feather towards a bright and happy future, we have decided to enroll one human in the school starting in the year 2187.
They will be the Human Representative. The pandemic has long since ended, but we must nonetheless be cautious of the risk of infection with Sumatera influenza when making our selection.
We will pick a strong, healthy fifteen-year old human who displays hereditary resistance to Sumatera influenza.
“The Human Representative… this is talking about Thielle, no matter how we look at it.”
“2187… that’s when we enrolled here. Come on, let’s read the rest.”
The chosen individual will be a symbol of human concession, to wit, a hostage for birds. If the Representative is to die in the school, the entire campus will be sealed off, and all the birds inside will be given to the humans as prisoners.
The seal will be lifted twelve hours after the death is confirmed, and the birds will be delivered to the humans. The school will be declared an extraterritorial zone, and avian protests of any human reprisal will not be tolerated.
“If Tera is to die…?”
So her death was connected to the dome, after all. And—
“The important part is this final gruesome exchange.”
“Basically, if anything happens to Tera, the representative of humanity, then… the entire school takes the blame.”
“So it would seem. They trap us in here to give the humans time to arm themselves. The dome will open in a few hours, but what awaits us outside is a horde of bloodthirsty monkeys… how humorous.”
“I-it’s not humorous at all!”
“So, this was the true face of her enrollment here… I rather think that this whole thing was arranged to widen the divide between humans and birds from the start.”
“Indeed. Things here go deeper than we ever realized. As you know, this school’s public stance is very liberal on the human cohabitation issue.
In fact, the school’s principle financer, the Ichijou Group, has been heavily involved in human charities for the past twenty years.
I have investigated the history of St. Pigeonation’s extensively, and I can confirm that it was founded with the ideal of coexistence with humans.
But the Hawk Party has been sending agents here for a long time, eating away at the system. Like a dreadful virus. We have had information about this document for some time. It is real.”
“It’s kind of hard to take all this in at once… just to make sure—”
Ryouta runs a trembling wing over the words again.
“For twelve hours, the dome will remain closed. During that time, humans will gather to take revenge. And then—”
“… when the dome opens, they will kill every bird in sight.”
“And with that, another era of war between birds and humans will begin.”
That student who got shot when he flew out the hatch… There are already humans waiting out there with guns.
“She was discovered this morning, and the dome was raised soon after. So the time is not from when she died, but from when her death is confirmed. The evacuation was about… Two hours ago?”
“Yeah. It was right at the start of second period. Around 10 o’clock.”
“And so we have until ten PM before we’re all killed.”
“… you seem awfully calm, Sakuya. Even after watching somebirdie get shot.”
“Remain calm, Kawara. Do nothing but worry about what’s gone wrong and you’ll be next. I do not know who did this, but they will rue the day they decided to tangle with a Le Bel…!”
“What time is it, mister Leone?”
“Just past two.”
“We have only eight hours, then.”
“Eight hours…”
We have to find an escape route in eight hours, or we’ll be killed. But if we go outside, we’ll be killed anyway.
“Just getting outside isn’t enough… there has to be another way!”
“My dictionary does not contain the word ‘impossible’. We shall continue the investigation!”
“You’re very decisive, Sakuya. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Hmph! Do not attempt to flatter me, Kawara.”
“I’m not. I mean it.”
We’ve found the connection between Tera’s death and the dome. There is clearly some sort of intrigue behind it all.
I don’t want to die without knowing the truth.
“We’d better go now. We have to solve this before we run out of time.”
“You are a promising lad. If I were to give you a piece of advice, well… don’t miss the forest for the trees.”
“Don’t miss the forest for the trees…?”
”!
Sakuya, there’s one more file!”
Ryouta pulls it up, inspecting it closely.
“Ummm… Operation Hatoful…?”
“What is that?”
“I don’t know. That’s what it says on here…”
“The bottom half is torn off… We can’t read it, at any rate.”
“I don’t feel like it has anything hopeful, anyway… That’s an awfully friendly name for a confidential document, though.”
Sakuya shakes his head, making an exasperated noise as he takes the file from Ryouta.
“Stupid Japanese… look, it’s spelled ‘hurtful’.”
“W-woah, it is!”
I thought “hatoful” just meant “heartful”!
Japan’s pun game is next level. (If you were not aware, “hato” is Japanese for dove or pigeon. So that’s like… three layers happening here.)
“I suspect that we will find many of the things to come quite hurtful.”
“R… right… It was probably something important, given that it was in the locked file.”
“Indeed. I hadn’t heard of this hurtful thing before, but… you might want to look into the school’s history.”
“The school’s history?”
“At any rate, the headmaster must have known what would happen after Thielle died. The escape hatch was no doubt put in place to allow him alone to escape.”
“Which means that maybe he had a guarantee of safety for himself…?”
I don’t want to suspect an elder, but… it does look that way.
“Everything going on here is connected. We may well find something of use in the records.”
“Right. Let’s go look at the school documents, then.”
“I’m not the only Dove agent in this school. I’m sure the other will help you, as well. Good luck, gentlemen.”
Time to go look for more clues. … maybe we should write in the notes, first.
“The headmaster’s office, or the library, perhaps.”
“We already looked through the headmaster’s office… did you see anything like school records or anything?
“I would have thought they would be there, but I don’t recall seeing any…”
“The library it is, then. And, the mystery we have left to solve is—”
“The blood-stained stranger Oko saw going into the infirmary yesterday.”
Exactly. What with the headmaster dying, an army of gun-toting bipeds showing up to turn us all into jerk chicken, and it all, I almost forgot about it.
“And the scarecrow. We still don’t know where he came from…”
“He appeared along with the dome, and no doubt is connected to it. If we continue to investigate it, I am sure his origins will become clear.
… and Thielle’s gruesome end is the best clue we have. For now, we should forget the puppet, and chase after the blood-stained bird.”
“Right.”
That’s that decided, then. We’ll go to the library to read up on the school’s history, and… we’ll look for that bird. It probably doesn’t matter, but which should we do first?
Ryouta’s absolutely right. We’re headed to the library.
“Nageki? Who?”
“I met him in the library earlier.”
“He stayed behind? An unusually dense individual, to be sure.”
The library’s a little ways away from here. We spend some time jogging through the hallways.
“Getting hung up over little things in a time like this is a sign of weak nerves.”
“Really…?”
“Well, then. Where are the school documents?”
“Hmm… probably not where just anybirdie can look at them.”
“They are probably somewhere in the back, then. How dull. Come, let us search.”
“Right.”
The two start poring over reference shelves, seeking out anything of interest.
Books, books, and none of them what we’re looking for. I was hoping it would be in this corner, but apparently not… And here, a line of incredibly dusty encyclo—
?
That’s odd. There are nine of them.
“Volume six is missing… huh, that’s weird. Did somebirdie misfile them?
… anyway, St. Pigeonation’s history. It’s not back here with the large volumes, so maybe it’s a smaller book…?”
“It’s not here.”
His quiet interjection is clearly heard in the eerie silence.
”!
You never left?”
“Well, not really, but… I told you earlier, there’s an emergency going on!”
“Hmm…”
“Hmm”? I can’t tell if he doesn’t realize what’s going on, or just doesn’t care.
“The records.”
“Huh?”
“Keep looking there and you’ll never find them.”
“So… you know where they are?”
“Yup.”
Well, since he’s here even now, I imagine he basically lives in here… so it’s hardly surprising that he knows where to find things.
“I don’t have much time. Could you tell me where to find them?”
“By request.”
“R-request…?”
“… you don’t know what that is?”
He gazes at me with eyes like black holes of cosmic disdain.
“You can only get at them by request. They’re not kept out here.”
“Then… where are they kept?”
“Behind the reception desk, in the back. It’s not locked, so go ahead.”
There are a number of bookshelves behind the desk, it’s true.
“Thank you, Nageki! Really!”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Sakuya comes back from his inspection, giving Ryouta a distasteful look.
“Please, try to remain in charge of your faculties, Kawara.”
“Oh, sorry. I was talking to him.”
“Talking? To the bookshelves? Surely there are better uses for your energy.”
“No, Nageki was telling me where to find the—”
“… there’s no one else here. Cease this bizarre monodrama.”
“……
… u-ummm…”
What is he talking about? Nageki is standing right next to me. It’s not like he’s behind a shelf, or something…
I was worried he was a figment of my imagination for a minute, but he just told me where to find the records. But Sakuya… Let’s find out.
“Can I ask you something, Nageki?”
“Yes?”
“Are you… a hallucination?”
“…… If I was, that would mean you’re asking a hallucination whether or not he’s a hallucination.”
“Y-yeah… that’s right.”
It does seem a little weird.
“Does it matter? Maybe I am, or maybe I’m not.”
That doesn’t answer anything!
“… this doesn’t usually happen. I’ve never been able to talk to a bird I’ve just met, before… I think I will remember everything, soon.
What about you? Have you found the thing you forgot yet?”
!
“N-Nageki, do you know something about that!?”
Nageki’s nowhere to be found, though.
Huh…?
“He disappeared…”
The thing I forgot… That’s exactly what the doctor said, too. Why did Nageki know about that? It wasn’t just a coincidence, was it…?
Am I forgetting something important about all this? I don’t think I can dismiss him as just a hallucination.
Shaking his head to clear it a little, he returns to Sakuya.
“Request-only books… this shelf?”
“Looks like it. I see a lot of the same books as were in the headmaster’s office…”
“‘Chronology of Saint Pigeonation’s’… this?”
Let’s see.
2180: Founding of the school
Same year: Ichijou Kitsugu inaugurated as headmaster
“2180? Much more recent than I had thought.”
“Only eight years… I hadn’t known, either.”
“Aside from that, it’s all transfer student records and sports scores. Is there really a clue in here?”
“Wait, Sakuya! Look at this!”
2183: Medical center shut down due to fire
“Medical center? Does this school have something like that?”
“I… don’t think so.”
“There was no mention of it in the student guide. I suppose it was never reopened… does it say anything else?”
“Umm, right here… Damage from the fire— …!”
The book presents us with a new mystery, as if to taunt our inability to hold all those we already have. A new sort of mystery.
2183: Medical center shut down due to fire
Freshman Fujishiro Nageki died in the basement, where the fire started.
“… didn’t I just hear that name?”
“The exact same… but that’s…”
Nageki… died five years ago…? Then what is the Nageki I keep meeting today? He didn’t deny that he was a hallucination. Sakuya couldn’t see him. Which means he’s—
“A ghost…”
“D-don’t say such dreadful things! It’s unscientific! Tu dis des balivernes! We’re betting our lives on this search, you know. I won’t have any occult rubbish brought into it.”
“Tu dis des balivernes” translates best to “You’re talking baloney”, or some such; balivernes specifically being a flowery, informal word for nonsense or frivolity.
“But I think he knew something! If he is the same bird, then he could be the key to solving this mystery!”
“So you intend to rely on some invisible ghost? There are limits, Kawara!”
Ryouta just shrugs.
I spent some time looking for him in the library, but couldn’t find him. He’s always found me, rather than the other way around. I’ll just have to wait for him to show up again…
The library exhausted for now, they head back into the halls.
“Do you have an idea?”
“I… feel like I should…”
It’s not something I’d encounter normally, but for some reason… Don’t I know somebirdie like that?
“Vague, as always. We do have a time limit, here. We must not fall behind!”
“I know, I know. If I remember what it is I’ll say right away.”
Ryouta racks his brain for other possible leads on the mysterious infirmary figure.
“Maybe Yuuya was still in there? Let’s go ask him again.”
“… he did say he was there until he returned home. If anyone went in, he should have seen them. However—
He said that he saw nothing out of the ordinary. If what Oko said is true, then he was lying.”
“Which would mean that the doctor was lying, too.”
“…… … hmph. Very well.”
The pair return to the lab.
“Salutations! How goes the investigation?”
“Well. Just who do you think I am?”
“Yeah, yeah. Unlike me, you’re a very capable bird.”
“Yuuya, we wanted to ask you something.’
“Oh? I’ll answer anything that doesn’t violate my privacy, so ask away.”
“Did you really not see anything yesterday after school?”
“… I’m not sure what you mean. I thought the doctor and I already verified each other’s innocence? We were in the infirmary the entire time.”
“We talked to San earlier. He said that he saw a blood-stained stranger going to the infirmary yesterday.”
“Did you see anything like that?”
“Umm… nope, sorry.”
“Could you be the blood-stained bird yourself?”
“Yikes! No, as you can see, I’m not hurt anywhere at all. Besides, he said he saw this bird going to the infirmary, not going into the infirmary, right?”
“… yeah, he did.”
“Anyway, I didn’t see anything. There’s not much more I can say. Right, doctor?”
“No one came yesterday.”
“I don’t think we’ll find anything more here, Sakuya. Let’s move on.”
“… indeed.”
Did those two really not see anything yesterday? If there had actually been some blood-stained stranger, then…
That would mean that… Yuuya and the doctor are hiding something.
“Indeed. Where is it?”
“That’s the problem… I’d never heard of it before, either.”
“It sounds rather large. I wouldn’t expect it to be that hard to find. The record book said the fire broke out in the basement… and if the building was burnt to the ground, it would have said so.”
“It should still be here, then.”
“Assuming it wasn’t demolished. Are there any unused buildings on the campus?”
“Unused buildings…? Hmm… Oh, yeah. That old hall!”
“Old hall!?”
“That’s what we call it. It’s by the back gate, and it’s not used for… what’s wrong?”
“The school hasn’t even been around for ten years! What reason does it have for having an old hall!?”
”!
Now that you mention it, that is kind of strange.”
“Come, guide me there!”
“It doesn’t really look like a medical center…”
“It’s pretty much the same as the main building, yeah. Looks like the door’s locked.”
“Then we shall break it down.”
“You’re starting to sound like a delinquent, Sakuya.”
“What? What did I say?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
We’d probably be suspended for breaking in here, but… this is an emergency. We don’t have a choice.
With a carefully timed and concerted mighty ram from both birds, the surprisingly flimsy door gives way.
“It has been left unused for five years. Hmm… it appears that they didn’t leave much behind.”
“Everything’s empty… I wonder if they cleared everything out when they sealed the building? … this all looks pretty much the same as in the main building.”
“Bah! Did we come here for nothing!?”
“Let’s look around a little more. … look, this door still has a sign on it. I guess it was the reference room.”
“I do not relish the prospect of wandering about this mausoleum of schoolrooms, but very well.”
“The shelves are marked with dates… perhaps they once held medical records. There’s nothing left now, though. And… Operation Hatoful?”
“Huh!?”
Among the rows of dates, sure enough, there’s a shelf labelled Operation Hatoful.
“Empty, as well. It would have been asking too much to hope to find anything, anyway.”
“Operation Hatoful… I wonder what it is?”
“Who knows? Something put in place along with the human representative business, so no doubt it was nothing good.”
Is Operation Hatoful connected to this medical center? What if it’s the source of the mystery we’re tangled in now? … my head hurts.
“The only things left are… hmph, archaic medical journals.”
… huh?
“It’s the encyclopedia…”
“An odd place to keep one.”
“Wait, look at the volume numbers!”
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12.
“What? Does this unpleasant arrangement hold some meaning?”
“I saw them like this in the library, too.”
“A bunch of old encyclopedias?”
“Yeah. Can I look at these for a bit?”
“Do as you please.”
The ones in the library had the same binding. And in the place of volume nine, there’s an extra copy of volume six…
“Look! This copy of volume six has a library sticker on it.”
“Perhaps it came from the library, then?”
“Someone must have brought it here when the medical center was still open… they probably switched it with volume nine.”
“An unpleasant piece of mischief, to be sure.”
“Yeah.”
The other volumes all seem as they should. There probably isn’t anything in the extra copy of volume nine, but maybe we should go see if it came from here.
“When we get back to the main building, let’s go check the library.”
“Provided it isn’t a mere waste of time.”
We leave the reference room, and continue our investigation of the medical center.
“The stairs into the basement?”
Apparently the fire that closed this building five years ago started in the basement. But we haven’t found it yet…
“The elevator doesn’t have a button for it, either. How do we get in…?”
“… perhaps we can’t, anymore.”
“Huh?”
“Look at that wall.”
“The wall?”
“Don’t you see it? Stupid peasant…”
“What about it?”
“Think back to the building’s exterior, and the second floor. There shouldn’t be a wall here. It’s small, but there’s a space behind there. It must have been sealed off after the fire.”
Now that he mentions it, this wall is a slightly different color than the rest. Which would make sense if it had been put in later.
“So the stairs are beyond here?”
“It seems likely. Isn’t this a bit much for a cleanup of some fire?”
“We probably won’t be able to break this down…”
“If we can’t get in there, I doubt we’ll find anything more of use in here. At least we found that thing from the headmaster’s documents again.”
“Yeah. Let’s head ba—”
A distant crashing noise cuts Ryouta off.
”!?
Did you hear something?”
“Yes. Someone else just broke in here.”
This could be bad. We’re in a dead end, with concrete all around… We need to get to somewhere with a window, fast!
“Run!”
“Yes!”
Ryouta and Sakuya start madly and blindly charging down corridors, until something holds them up.
“Aaaagh, it’s heeeeere!”
“W-wait! Calm down, Kawara! It’s small!”
Ryouta tentatively opens his eyes again.
“… huh? Aren’t you from 2-2—”
“I am the Crimson Fallen Angel, Anghel.”
I knew it. The manga club boy from the class next door. He’s famous around the school for being a nutcase, but what is he doing in here…?
“… I think I’m going to have a headache.”
“Textoris Melodia Funeris!”
“Who, me?”
“Good for you, Kawara. He came all this way to give you a title.”
“It’s not good at all! Nothing but trouble will come of it! I don’t know why you came here, Anghel, but it’s dangerous. We’re supposed to be in the gym with everybirdie else, so com on, let’s go back.”
“I am not allowed rest… not until I have fulfilled my duty! In accordance with the Pact of Old, I must seal you here now, Textoris Melodia Funeris, Undertaker!”
“U-undertaker? If that’s it, then, umm…”
Ryouta’s puzzled expression gradually morphs into one of resolve.
“So the time has come at last… I will not be stopped now, Crimson Angel of Judecca! Come!”
Anghel uses Dark Void Shockwave! Ryouta takes 24 damage!
Ryouta uses Deathbringer! Anghel takes 60 damage!
“Cease this jack-acting, you wretched imbeciles!”
Sakuya attacks! Ryouta takes 260 damage! Ryouta returns to his senses!
Anghel takes 295 damage!! Anghel is shaken!
Reeling from Sakuya’s blow, Ryouta gets back to his feet, shaking his head clear.
“H-huh…?”
“I am shocked, Kawara. To think that even you would go along with that farce!”
“What…? He disrupted my territory!?”
I got carried away by Anghel before I even noticed! Influencing the very reality of his surroundings is a frightful power indeed.
“You, Luzon! What did you come here to do? After what you just did, I think you may be our prime suspect!”
“I came here… to do but one thing! I must follow the Demon Spores!”
“A whole new variety of what the heck are you talking about!”
“Perhaps you could explain in normal Japanese. Your dialect is somewhat opaque.”
“I don’t think it’s just his dialect, Sakuya…”
“The End is calling me. … that is all. That is the Cross I must bear.”
He stares off into space, as if gazing at something far away.
“Maybe that basically means that he’s a thrill-seeker?”
“So you are a moth allured by a candle’s light, Luzon?”
“No! I am Stained in Crimson, Clad in Night, Unforgiven. My Eternal Blood Seal calls me to Purgatory!”
Aah, more crazy talk… it’s not exactly a “blood seal”, that blood-stained chest is just the way Bleeding-hearts’ plumage looks!
“… oh.”
“What is it, Kawara?”
“Blood-stained chest… Uhh, Sakuya, do you think maybe the blood-stained stranger San saw was…?”
“……! Anghel, where were you yesterday after school? What were you doing?”
“Battling Minor Demons of Baal, and following the Demon Spores.”
“Could you rephrase that…?”
“Rufa, the Tree of Blight, called out to me!”
“He’s asking you to say it using words we understand!”
“Hallowed Magician of White, your anger now… it is the power of the Demon Spores!”
“I think it’s the power of you, Anghel…”
“Bah…! I must compromise. I was in the plce the ignorant many refer to as the infirmary!”
I knew it!
“I think we need to talk to you. Come!”
And so we left the medical center, Sakuya dragging Anghel behind him.
The trio return to the track to meet up with Okosan.
“That’s that, then.”
“We need to know what you did yesterday. Did you go into the infirmary?”
“If I could… I would have. But only the Chosen One can stop the Demon Spores.”
“In other words, he didn’t.”
“Useless!”
“The gate was sealed with the Power of Darkness! However, Edel Blau did venture within.”
“Edel Blau? Who is that? Explain in terms known to sane individuals, please.”
“The Apostle of the Blue Sky, Edel Blau. She also goes by Thielle Tera.”
“Tera went into…!?”
“What…?”
Tera was in the infirmary yesterday, after school. But the doctor and Yuuya said that no one came, and nothing happened. They’re lying!
Once more, the chapter ends, and the plot thickens. Conspiracy is afoot, and friend and foe alike cannot be trusted. What are Shuu and Yuuya hiding? Why is Yuuya going along with it? What secrets do the encyclopedias hide? Until next time, everybirdie.