Although the reason for its rampage was unknown, Binah vanished once the sandstorm it had brought with it finally subsided.
Thanks to this, the RABBIT Platoon was able to move the supplies from their vehicles into the main building of Abydos, scrapping their original plan to set up a base camp.
No one wanted to wake up to find their camp buried in sand.
In the end, the RABBIT Platoon took out their sleeping bags, but Hoshino told them they might as well use the empty dormitories attached to the main building and pushed them in that direction.
Originally, only Hoshino, Shiroko, and Nonomi used the dorms, but now, the newly enrolled students were also living there due to the sandstorm. Even so, that only made five people, so there were more than enough rooms for each squad member to have their own.
Sensei was also given a room, but well past midnight, he left the dormitory, saying he couldn't sleep.
"Sensei...?"
"...Oh, Sensei. Where are you going?"
"Nowhere special... I can't sleep, so I'm just going for a little walk."
"Aha. Really? Well, I won't stop you then. See ya."
"...Pl-Please be careful."
Sensei gave a brief glance to Moe, who was gently waving the candy in her mouth, and Miyu, who was crouched down nibbling on some chocolate, before heading outside the dorm.
Miyako, who held considerable sway in SRT, and Saki, who valued the rulebook, had both stressed the importance of a night watch and split the squad in two. The Abydos Foreclosure Task Force students, however, saw this and remarked that they lived tiring lives, refusing to stand watch themselves. Their reasoning was that since they already had a system to warn them of intruders in advance, what was the point of a night watch?
Sensei figured that if the RABBIT Platoon stayed here a few more days, they would also forget all about the night watch and become one with their beds, so he didn't bother to argue.
Fortunately, the wind outside was now close to a gentle breeze. It wasn't strong enough to kick up the sand, so Sensei relaxed and looked around the sand-covered grounds of Abydos High School.
It was then that the back of a girl sitting on a bench, looking up at the now-clear night sky, caught his eye. Just from the single strand of hair sticking up from her head, he could tell it was Hoshino.
Without a word, Sensei approached the bench and sat down a respectable distance from her.
Hoshino glanced at him briefly before quietly looking back up at the sky.
Her phone, held in her hand, displayed a Momotalk conversation. Her finger hovered over the keyboard, about to delete a half-written message.
Her cracked and broken fingernails, a result of the recent battle with Binah, did not escape Sensei's notice.
"Hoshino. If you have a worry that's difficult to talk about in front of others, would you be willing to tell just me about it? It's only if you're okay with it, of course... so you don't have to feel pressured."
"..."
Hearing Sensei's words, Hoshino fiddled with her phone again. She had deleted the half-written message.
"I guess I'll take a leap of faith... Sensei, the truth is, we—this old man—had a chance to ask for help before the situation got this serious."
"From the General Student Council?"
"No. Not them, Sensei. Someone from long before that... someone who has been supporting us out of pure altruism since last year... a friend who, for some reason, seems like she could solve anything. But this old man hesitated to ask for help. Maybe it was just pointless stubbornness, but even now, I'm reluctant to ask for help."
It was laughable in many ways to ask for help from the very fool she had told not to live foolishly, but it wasn't pride that made her hesitate.
The real reason was a bit more practical.
"But that friend is a pretty high-up person at another academy... and she lives every day quite fiercely. Besides, we've already received help from her... so even though I know she's the type of person who would drop everything and help us if I just said the word, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to be a bother to someone so busy; I even turned her away when she said she would come visit... I thought that since this is our school's problem, we should try to solve it ourselves as much as possible. But..."
"You lacked the manpower and the means to solve it on your own, and now that the situation has gotten so serious, you're hesitant because it feels like you'd be placing too much of a burden on her."
"Uhe~ It's something like that. Not exactly the same, but..."
To be more precise, it was because letting the problem grow due to her own stubbornness and then asking for help seemed quite ridiculous, even to her. Besides, while it was true that her friend was a fool who just liked helping people, she was also a high-ranking official from another academy.
"Honestly, even if I ask for help, there's no guarantee she would come to help us. She drew a line to some extent when she helped us before."
Hoshino recalled how Mika had drawn a line, saying only personal support was possible, and shook her head.
Of course, now that Mika held absolute power in Trinity, the story was quite different. But there was no way for Hoshino to know about Trinity's internal affairs.
However, in the process of saying these words aloud, Hoshino realized that, although for a different reason, she needed to bring up another story to everyone before it was too late.
"Hoshino, how about you at least try talking to that person? If she's the kind of person you say she is, she might be more distressed by the fact that she could have helped a friend in need but couldn't."
"...That's why I'm even more hesitant, Sensei."
*Because I feel like she'll try to help recklessly without thinking things through. Because it feels like she'll drop everything, even her own work, to jump in.*
Even as she thought this, Hoshino's hand finally tapped the keyboard and sent the message.
"Hmm... But at this hour, won't that person be asleep?"
"Perhaps, but..."
*Ting!*
"Thankfully, she's still awake~."
Confirming the immediate reply, Hoshino wondered how to begin before deciding to continue their previous conversation.
[Mika-chan, about that person, the Sensei from SCHALE. He's here right now.]
Hoshino, quietly waiting for a reply, received a phone call instead of a text.
[Hahh... Sensei is in Abydos? Why...? What's going on...]
Sensei let out a dry laugh upon hearing the voice that came through as soon as the call connected.
*So that friend was Mika.* Seriously, how well-connected was she to pop up every time he was about to forget about her?
Hearing Mika's somehow languid voice, Hoshino and Sensei thought nothing of it, assuming she was just sleepy.
"First... I'll explain what's been happening recently, Mika-chan. Sandstorms have been hitting Abydos constantly, and they're burying even the parts of the district that were still in decent shape. The rumors have probably spread outside to some extent."
[You mean the rumor that the situation got worse after Saint Nephthys resumed the railway project?]
"Right. But that wasn't the end of the problem. A giant, snake-like monster that used to roam the abandoned deserts of Abydos... its range of activity has gotten quite a bit wider. Just a few days ago, it even approached our school."
[Binah, is it...]
"Hm?"
[Ah, it's nothing... Hmm. So, that monster is the reason you requested help from Sensei?]
"To be precise, one of our new first-years requested help, but..."
As Hoshino relayed the discussions and conclusions from their meeting, a brief silence followed from the other end of the line.
After quickly organizing her thoughts, Mika spoke again.
[In short, you suspect that the desert monster is one of the causes for the accelerated desertification, so you want to subjugate it if possible, and if that's difficult, you'll damage it enough that it can't rampage like it is now and drive it back into the desert? There's no guarantee that will solve the situation, but you're going with this plan first because you can't think of anything else?]
"Uhe~ It sounds pretty bleak when you put it like that, doesn't it? This is why I told you not to come to Abydos last time."
[I'll help you.]
"...I guess it comes to that. But isn't this not enough justification to mobilize Trinity?"
[Justification? Hoshino-chan, I'm a little disappointed in you☆ You didn't really think I was so cold-hearted that I'd weigh the pros and cons when a friend needs help, did you?]
"No, because you're a fool, Mika-chan. I figured you'd obviously jump in to help without a second thought."
[Ahaha. Well, it's not like justification is completely unnecessary... but that's something I can handle. Cooperate in resolving this crisis, help with Abydos's reconstruction, and in doing so, indebt them with a favor that can never be erased, turning them into an absolute ally... even a hastily concocted reason like that is more than enough.]
Mika, who had just brazenly declared, 'My girls will do what I say as long as I give them a minimal pretext,' turned her attention to Sensei.
[By the way, Sensei, how are our rabbits? Do you like them?]
"They each seem to have their own worries, but they all follow my words well. It seems they haven't had enough time to get to know each other, so I'm trying to be mindful of that."
[Well, they're first-years! You can't expect perfection when they haven't been working together for that long. Yep, but once those kids open their hearts to each other, they'll be a huge help to SCHALE's activities...]
Silence fell again. This time, however, the reason was a little different.
Only Hoshino heard Mika's voice, which came through faintly, almost a whisper, from the other side of the phone.
*'Really, Nagi-chan. It's almost over, so stop pestering me. Yes, I know you're sulking because we were interrupted, but...'*
Hoshino's thoughts, connecting Mika's strangely languid voice with the words she had just heard, came to a momentary halt. Thankfully, Sensei didn't seem to have heard Mika.
[Ahem. Um. Sensei, Hoshino-chan. For now, I'll look for ways to help on my end. And I'll lend a hand when you start hunting that desert monster for real, so don't forget to call me then, okay? Yep, isn't this what they mean when they say it's good to have good friends?]
"Y-Yeah. You're a friend so good it's almost too much..."
[Wow— To hear that from you, Hoshino-chan, is a bit of an honor, I think... *ngh*. Anyway, I'm going to go to... go to bed now! Good night!]
Hoshino and Sensei's eyes met as they stared blankly at the phone, which had been hung up rather abruptly. In any case, gaining such an excellent ally was something to be happy about.
"Hoshino, shall we head back in?"
"Well, I guess that's for the best. It's late, and the desert night is cold..."
However, the truth that only Hoshino reached, unnoticed by Sensei, contributed to tormenting her all night and keeping her from sleep.
It seems it wasn't just the desert night that was cold.
***