Just as I reached out to pat Arona's head, she grinned smugly and said:
"I thought you already vented everything over with Hina-chan, Sensei. But in the end, you still came looking for Super Arona, huh? Hehe~ Even though I firmly believe in post-marriage※ activities only, giving you a hug is still okay, you know?"
"...You baka AI."
So naturally, the force in my hand changed. Amid the girl's startled cries, I ruffled her hair into a mess instead.
"Don't phrase things so weirdly. Whether it's you or Hina, both of you are important to me. Ora ora!"
"Got it, got it! Idiot Sensei! You're not allowed to mess up a girl's hair whenever you want! Uwaaah!"
After a round of fooling around, Arona and I finally caught our breath and started talking seriously.
"Arona."
I asked in confusion:
"What exactly should I do?"
"Umm... A lot happened today. Which thing are you asking about?"
If possible, I wanted to answer: All of it.
But I knew I couldn't dump every one of my worries onto Arona. That would truly be treating her as nothing more than a tool for venting my negative emotions.
I knew that for the most part, these were still things I could bear myself.
Saori's betrayal had long been within my expectations.
Even if I never imagined she would hurt me so deeply that I couldn't even find a reason to forgive her.
Not to mention the sins she committed against the students of Trinity and Gehenna. Those were equally impossible to erase. Even if she had been manipulated, that fact would not change.
The same applied to the other members of Arius Squad. As for the ordinary Arius students, while their involvement was not as severe, they had still participated in the war.
Of course, I knew the true mastermind behind everything was Beatrice, lurking in the shadows.
But compared to someone like her, whom I could hate wholeheartedly, it was Saori and the Arius Squad who left me feeling conflicted and unable to make a decision.
Still, it was too early to think about that problem right now, and it was deeply tied to another issue as well.
Compared to that distant and intangible matter, there was also the issue of my lifespan. I thought I had more or less come to terms with it already, but the moment I instinctively thought about what those light, floating numbers truly implied, I felt genuine fear.
Only then did I realize I had merely been avoiding it.
...If I really died someday, a lot of people would probably be heartbroken.
I pushed aside the ominous thought.
That left only the final matter, the one most urgent right now, and the one I most wanted to discuss with someone reliable, even if only to have them listen.
"How exactly can we deal with the Justina Council?"
I let out a long sigh, trying to expel all the heaviness in my chest.
The Justina Council could not be destroyed through conventional means. And as long as it existed, Trinity and Gehenna would never escape the mire of war.
At present, the only apparent solution was to eliminate the core of the contract itself, namely Arius Squad.
But the problem was that as long as Beatrice remained, even if their halos were destroyed, who could guarantee there would not be a second or third Arius Squad?
In the end, that would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.
Though if we could expose Beatrice at the same time, even a temporary solution might be enough.
Not just Trinity and Gehenna, students from other academies I was acquainted with had also been helping search through preserved ancient texts, but there had been almost no results.
I still could not help wondering whether there might be some more permanent solution, one that did not require students to stain their hands with blood.
As the main OS of the ultra-ancient relic, the Shittim Chest, Arona possessed an enormous database. Maybe she could help?
"Uuu... Arona doesn't know."
After thinking hard for quite a while, the blue-haired girl answered with a miserable expression.
Though honestly, if she really had come up with a solution, I would have had to see her in a whole new light.
"But speaking of that."
Suddenly, Arona's eyes lit up.
"According to the information in my database, Sensei, maybe you could count as the General Student Council President's 'righteous person'!"
"Righteous person?"
Hearing a term I had never encountered before, I raised an eyebrow.
Arona thought for a moment before trying hard to explain.
"It means someone chosen by a really amazing person because of some special trait, and recognized by Kivotos's ancient laws as someone allowed to exercise part of that person's authority."
I roughly understood part of it.
"So considering Schale's function as an organization, and the authority beyond normal legal principles granted by the General Student Council President... But is the General Student Council President really that amazing?"
I honestly had some doubts about that.
"I think so?"
Arona narrowed her eyes uncertainly before suddenly growing excited again.
"In other words, according to the laws of Kivotos, during the Eden Treaty, you might be able to represent the General Student Council President! If it's in the name of the person who originally drafted the treaty, then maybe you could abolish it? If that happens, the Justina Council would lose the foundation for its existence too!"
"...It'd be nice if it were that simple."
Looking at the innocent and clueless Arona, who clearly had never seriously read the treaty and was once again gravely neglecting her duties as a secretary, I replied helplessly:
"According to the Eden Treaty's clauses, whether it's Trinity, Gehenna, or even the General Student Council, none of them have the right to abolish the treaty without ET0's approval."
And now, the position of ET0 had already been stolen by Arius.
"Even if we gathered both the treaty's initiator and its signatories, it still..."
At that point, I suddenly froze.
For some reason, I remembered how Arius Squad had obtained the Justina Council.
By altering and twisting the original treaty, redefining it into the result they desired.
It said there was no way to abolish it freely.
But it never said revisions were impossible, did it?
...If they could do it, then as the General Student Council President's representative, why couldn't I replace them?
If I became the holder of the Justina Council...
Only when Arona's small hand waved repeatedly in front of my face did I snap out of my excitement.
She asked worriedly:
"Sensei? What's wrong?"
"...Arona."
I said:
"You're a genius."
"Eh? W-What... Hehe! I can't believe that after hiding it for so long, Sensei still saw through my true nature! You can praise me more if you want!"
She looked blank for a moment, then confidently placed her hands on her hips and happily accepted my praise.
After praising Arona a few more times without holding back, I hurriedly left the Shittim Chest with this new hypothesis in mind.
A few dozen minutes later.
After a brief moment of thought, Seia slapped the table and declared:
"Sensei, you're a genius!"
I nodded modestly, ignored the protests that only I could hear, and accepted the praise.