AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This'll likely be the last chapter that goes up before my university starts in a few days. Chapter 5's probably around 30-40% done though so gonna see if I can grind most of that out with my remaining time before university really kicks into gear. Goal is to have that up in the next 1-2 weeks, but do expect updates to slow way down and not have much consistency in when they come. Planning to try and not take months to get a single chapter out though.

RE: Ragna's abilities. To address that review, I am going with a lower interpretation of BB's showings for the story simply because taking the higher end gets REALLY silly strong and a whole different plane of existence if you do things like take Izanami/Kokonoe's statements about Reqium in CF at face value. But in raw stats here the Idea Engine being barely functioning means Ragna's actually even weaker, in pure stats, than he was canonically in the same situation because that's not even providing a passive increase, as given how it's science based it shouldn't have been effected at all being around Celica, maybe I didn't strongly imply that enough. That and something I implied about who's using the gun are a part of why he's still at least a little cautious of jumping in when there are other options. Ragna could've still handled the fight, and a chunk more, on his own even without serious injury if he really needed to, it just wouldn't have been the easiest thing because of all that, but he wasn't the only one there so he didn't have to work with that disadvantage.

Every time Rin thought her day couldn't keep getting worse, the world decided to take that as a challenge and throw a new obstacle at her. To the point where Rin didn't even bother expecting to find anything but more problems wherever she went today.

And discover more she did immediately upon touching down outside of the SCHALE building. The plaza looked like someone had dropped a large bomb in it. A crater in the middle taller than she was, a tank split into two pieces, bullet holes everywhere, a few tied up unconscious bodies of delinquents, how in the world did this all happen?

A strong suspicion came over Rin it had to do with the currently missing Ragna. The annoyed expression plastered over Yuuka's face, even more so than her usual griping one, and expressions ranging from contemplative to confused over the other three girls that had accompanied him made her suspicious enough.

"When you first told me you had retaken the building, I was certain the transmission had to be malfunctioning with what I saw." Rin began, her voice straining to stay level. "I am to assume that Ragna-sensei elected to wait inside of the club room and is responsible for… This?"

Yuuka nodded with a huff. "I'm not even sure what to make of that man, his attitude isn't anything like I would've expected from a teacher."

"He did apologize for it." Suzumi added.

Rin sighed, any attempts at professionalism slipping from her tone. This day was starting to become too much. "I see. I'll go and help him get everything back online, stay out here in case of any more trouble." Rin stated as she began walking up the stairs inside of the SCHALE building that was barely lit by emergency backup power.

Stepping through the darkness that only grew more oppressive the deeper she went, not helped by the sounds of her heels becoming more echoing the further she got from any of the outside insanity, a torrent of thoughts tumbled through Rin's head while heading to the basement in search of Ragna, that had been where he was supposed to wait for her.

The man chosen by the General Student Council president, Ragna the Bloodedge, was… Not exactly what Rin had been expecting. There wasn't much for her to go on for expectations beyond a brief notice she was issued, the oh so important last document Rin had from her friend, by the president to anticipate his arrival which said that Ragna was a blunt man who one could easily get off on the wrong foot with, but under that exterior he was a good person at heart who cared deeply about doing the right thing no matter how much it cost him. But though Rin had been expecting a bit of abrasiveness, and gave him some space since his character had been vouched for, she was waiting to see that heart of gold lying underneath all the coal.

But even assuming all that were true, and much as Rin was growing a bit weary with Ragna's recklessness she had great faith in her friend's judgment, would Ragna even choose to take the position? Multiple times the man had already voiced some skepticism to the idea. He had not outright rejected the notion, the only thing that had kept Rin's last bit of hope from leaving her, but he certainly wasn't jumping at the thought, it was like the man knew his temperament was such a strange fit for this role. Rin wouldn't have entirely blamed him for having the thought. Had the president not given such a glowing recommendation, Rin would've had a little more reservations as well, though not enough to consider him unfit for the job as there were plenty of frustrations Rin had to deal with in governing bodies already.

But what if Ragna's skepticism was enough he decided to leave after learning all the details of his position? He didn't seem like the kind of person who'd abruptly leave without at least fixing the current issues with Sanctum Tower, so Rin wasn't worried over the short term, but what of the long term? The lack of either a firm refusal or commitment to an answer yet did nothing to banish the uncertainty of Rin's heart. It was fortunate that Ragna had elected to wait inside the building so as to give her the chance to speak with him in private to settle this matter.

So deep in her thoughts, Rin barely noticed the blur that nearly ran right into her.

"Huh?" Her brain taking a second to catch up to what her eyes had seen, Rin spun around to get a better look and barely caught the sight of a tail vanishing around the corner. That wasn't Ragna, but this building was supposed to be empty, besides herself and that man, wasn't it?

Growing worry quickening her pace, Rin stepped through the still open door to the basement and peered inside.

Though the dim lighting left most of the finer features hidden to her eyes, Rin had been here enough times to remember its layout well. The room was futuristic in style, though mostly bare, with a flight of stairs to her left leading from the overhang to the main area of the room which was quite spacious. There was a single wide desk near the stairs with an office style setup of a computer with multiple monitors, all powered off, and everything needed to make use of it. Beside her was a large set of bookshelves with a variety of reading material on them. Really, the place was furnished much like a large office would be and designed for a workspace. Even with being out of her sight, the bulletin board, book shelves, and couch under the stairs made that much obvious. But the most important thing was the man in the middle of the room.

Ragna glanced around the room, familiarizing himself with it, before his eyes settled on Rin and he offered a quick, casual wave. "Hey."

Rin stepped back to crane her neck out the doorway and down the hall before turning back to Ragna. "Did I… miss something? I thought I saw someone running down the hall coming from this direction."

"Oh, her? Yeah, that was Wakamo." Ragna answered casually and without the slightest hint of concern.

Rin blinked at the man. "It was who? Wakamo was inside this building?" Oh, this was not good, what was the Fox of Calamity doing inside the SCHALE building? Had the whole riot been a ruse to get inside? She couldn't have made off with the Shittim Chest, could she?

Rin eyes darted over to the hidden area that contained the object vital to Kivotos's safety and let out a relieved sigh. Good, it looked undisturbed. In fact, the entire room, nay the entire building looked completely intact and orderly, shocking if somebody like Wakamo had been through it.

"I told her if she left we don't have to have a problem and I wouldn't try to stop her." Ragna added without a care.

"And she just… Left?" Rin slowly said. She couldn't blame Ragna for not wanting to face the dreaded Fox of Calamity, who took a squad of SRT's best students to capture, solo in a confined space. In fact, trying to avoid a conflict was a smart decision with how quickly Wakamo could trash an entire floor if she wanted to, but that wasn't the surprising part. And Rin could not decide what was more perplexing between Ragna using an implied threat against somebody with Wakamo's infamy or the fact she actually left in peace.

Ragna nodded. "Yep. Looked pretty surprised I wasn't gonna try and stop her or anything, but I thought fighting inside the tower here would be a bad idea. Didn't exactly speak much and ran out not long after I said she could leave. From how you described Wakamo, I didn't think that'd work."

"I'm struggling to believe it did too. But never mind that now." Rin descended the nearby stairs to reach Ragna's level, stopping a few paces from the man. "Before we proceed, I'd like to speak with you briefly and confirm something."

"I thought we'd get power back first, but hit me, I guess." Ragna answered.

"Have you…" Rin paused for a moment, choosing her words very carefully. If Rin got the answer she was dreading the future didn't look optimistic and she would need to start making arrangements while the power was restored. "Given more thought to if you'll be staying as part of SCHALE?"

Ragna sighed, a sincerity in his following words that was unusual from what she'd seen of the man so far. "To be perfectly honest, from what I've gathered about this position, I'm not sure it'd be the best fit for the job. Dealing with politics and paperwork is such a damn headache that's never suited me and I prefer to let other people handle planning like that."

Rin's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, the frown evident on her face. But she wasn't going to give up that easily, this was too important to let Ragna walk away without a fight. Whatever the purpose of the president's last request before vanishing, her friend's request, Rin was going to do her best to honor it. She had picked Ragna and established SCHALE for a reason. "Do you plan to remain in Kivotos?"

"Hey, stop frowning and looking at me like I'm the bad guy," Ragna waved his hand at Rin a few times. "just because of that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it, remember what I said?"

Surprise quickly overtook Rin's face as she let Ragna explain himself.

"While it's not like I can go anywhere else anyway, I'm not the kind of person to just leave somebody out to dry when they need help just because it's a hassle for me." Ragna continued with a weight to his words.

Rin's brow furrowed, what did he mean by nowhere to go?

"So even if I'm not sure why the hell the GSC president picked me, I've got a bad feeling about what'll happen if I don't do this. It wouldn't sit right with me to ignore somebody who needed help and kept asking for it." Ragna stated seriously. As he continued, his voice lightened slightly toward his typical inflection. "Besides, from what I've seen of this place, what you said about being extrajudicial, and fighting, I'm not gonna just be sitting at a desk doing paperwork all day and following all the rules, right?"

"Broadly speaking. SCHALE does not necessarily have one specific goal in mind, which gives you a great deal of freedom in what you choose to do and how you operate." Rin spoke up. "But though greatly relaxed, it is not as if the law does not apply to you."

"I wasn't asking about that." Ragna quickly interjected. "I'm not looking for an excuse to just smash everything up like the people we fought. I just prefer the more hands on and direct approach instead of having to dance around political bullshit getting in the way when action's needed. I know what my strengths are and what's best left to someone else."

"I cannot say that you won't deal with any of that, but given the authority of SCHALE there should be less of that than one would expect from government personal." Rin plainly stated. The rules were important and though Rin was already anticipating some headache, she could understand Ragna's position having some merit. While procedure and rules were important in order to keep everything functional, flaunting the rules whenever one found them an inconvenience could be a slippery slope, at the same time the amount of red tape, forms, and channels that had to be gone through before action could sometimes be taken were a profound source of frustration, necessary as it was. Rin assumed that was part of SCHALE's purpose though, to be able to take quick action when otherwise nobody else could, somewhat like SRT. As long as Ragna could show some tact to not abuse his authority or be reckless, having another perspective could even be useful.

"However," Rin stated with a slight edge. "you should show some restraint. There is still important paperwork to file from someone of your position and if conflicts escalate too severely, it will create more for you to file if you solve everything like you did outside." Fixing that mess in the plaza area was going to be oh so much fun.

"But," Rin rapidly stated, seeing Ragna's expression turning sour. "You do not have to do everything yourself and some assistance will be available to help you adjust to the needs of your station. I can go over a few more specifics after power is restored."

"Hrm…" Ragna put his hand on his hip pensively. "I know I'm going to regret this, but guess I don't have much of a choice. Let's hurry up and wrap this up then."

The tension that'd been sitting in Rin's shoulders for the last few hours finally left her, a low smile even growing on her face. There was more she wished to discuss with Ragna as her curiosity had been raised, but it could come another day after Kivotos was not in the middle of a crisis, she had learned enough for the moment and there would be much to do to restore order even after the power came back. Ragna may have been a gruff man, but Rin could see that the president's words had some truth to them. She could glimpse the heart of a good person under that tough exterior.

"Then, sensei, there's one thing I have left to give you that the president left behind."

Ragna watched as Rin moved aside a few things and accessed a locked, hidden compartment. From the container, she produced a large white tablet and held it out to Ragna. "Please, take this."

Ragna carefully took the device, inspecting it in his hand. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" He never was the best when it came to operating technology, but this device once again brought that sense of deja vu.

"This is the Shittim Chest." Rin stated. "We know nothing about it beyond the fact that the General Student Council president left it to you and said that you'll be able to take control of the tower with it. No one else has been able to activate it, so perhaps you will be able to figure it out since it was left to you."

"I really wish I could use my damn arm right now." Ragna grumbled to himself. With only one hand available to him he couldn't exactly touch the screen on something this big when his only functioning arm was busy holding it.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, sensei." Rin spoke with some sympathy and a glance at his non-functioning right arm. "But you only need to use it long enough to restore power. I should double check the building to ensure everything is still in order after Wakamo went through it, so I'll step away so as not to interfere."

Without another word, Rin ascended the stairs and left the room.

"Well, good thing there's a desk and chair here at least." Ragna said to himself as he took a seat and laid the tablet atop the desk, tapping the power button once to activate it.

The tablet immediately helped illuminate the mostly dark room with a bright white light, the screen displaying a prompt to enter a password.

Without even having to think, a phrase came to mind. 'We long for the wailing of Jericho. We bear the seven koans'. But Ragna's hand stopped just as he was about to enter it. No, no, that didn't feel right… There was another phrase that entered his head right after.

'We long for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho.'

The screen changed to display another message. 'Welcome to the Shittim Chest, Ragna-sensei. Converting to Operating system ARONA for biological authentication and generation of verification certificate.'

Whatever happened, he was hoping for some damn answers from this tablet. That was another familiar name.

The screen changed from a simple logo to that of a strange classroom. It was a broken building with the right half of it missing, a massive pile of desks stacked up to reach the classroom that seemed to rest on an endless ocean that stretched over the horizon. There were still a few normally placed desks and accompanying chairs though, alongside one occupant.

A young looking girl with sky blue hair was sleeping peacefully with her head on a desk. She wore a long sleeved shirt with a gradient of darker to lighter blue from top to bottom with a white skirt. She likewise had a matching white bow on her head and a small blue, circular halo.

Okay, Ragna was really having enough of these vague feelings, something was very wrong with everything being stirred up at once upon seeing this girl, the sense was greater than anything he had seen thus far. His first thought was that there should've been someone else who greeted him, but that image was faint and he couldn't put a description to it beyond the feeling. But past that, looking at the sleeping girl he saw of flash of someone in a uniform similar to Rin's, yet with much longer hair and a different style halo. It was like a younger version of the person who'd come to mind.

"Zzz… Banana milk… goes better than strawberry milk…" The girl's soft voice came from the tablet's speakers and drew Ragna out of his growing frustration.

"Hey, get up." Ragna spoke, restraining the annoyance in his voice. He wasn't angry at whoever that was, but damn if all the questions with no answers weren't getting to him.

"Zzzz…." Arona, the name entering Ragna's head that he recalled from the title screen, continued sleeping away without any acknowledgment of his existence. She even had… Was that drool leaking from her mouth?

"How the hell is this supposed to work?" Ragna grumbled to himself. He'd seen some things like this before and they usually had a touch interface, didn't they? So maybe if he…

Taking his finger, Ragna applied a somewhat forceful poke on Arona's body.

Arona's eyes squinted in slight discomfort in her sleep, her body shifting. "Not now… I still have more to eat…"

Ragna tapped several times on the glass, each time harder up to the point where if he applied anymore force he was worried it might risk breaking something. But it got the effect he desired.

Arona mumbled a few more incoherent words as she started shifting in her seat more, up until she shifted her arm as if trying to push Ragna's finger away. "Eh, huh? What's…" The groggy girl began until another forceful tap hit her face. "Owowow what's going on?" The girl spoke as she shook her head and looked around in confusion, jolting upright.

"Damn, you're a heavy sleeper." Ragna said as he retracted his finger from further assaults.

"Huh? Wha-" Arona's eyes stopped as they locked with Ragna's own, her expression quickly shifting to that of embarrassed panic. "R-Ragna, er, Ragna-sensei! You're Ragna-sensei, right?"

"You know me?" Ragna's eye narrowed in suspicion.

"Wah! What time is it!?" Arona's head shifted around as if looking for a clock, ignorant of Ragna's accusatory look. "Wait, calm down…"

Arona paused, taking a deep breath. "Um, so… Oh, that's right! I forgot to introduce myself!"

"Arona, right?" Ragna guessed, part of him hoping he was wrong.

"Eh?" Arona's eyes widened in surprise before shifting to a pout. "Awwww, I wanted to give my own introduction as your trusty secretary. But… How did you know my name?"

"There was something about an Arona after I logged in and the name just came to mind. I'm not entirely sure what you are past that, so go ahead and do your introduction." Ragna answered. He was about ready to start grilling this girl for any information she had, but he may as well learn more about her, maybe more thoughts would pop up when prompted.

A smile came over Arona's face almost immediately. "In that case, ahem. I'm the system manager that lives inside the Shittim Chest. I serve as its main OS. So you can think of me as your dependable assistant, sensei! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I've been waiting a long time to."

Just how familiar with him was Arona? Rin had that notice from the president, and damn did Ragna wish he could find and ask her how the hell she was aware of even his name, but what of Arona? If the president had left this for him, then had she also left other knowledge in it?

"Did the missing president also tell you about me?" Ragna asked with a slight edge.

Arona tilted her head with a childlike innocence. "Hrm? Yeah she left me with some information about you."

"And what kind of information did she leave?"

Arona's expression oddly turned a hint nervous. "Not too much, sensei. Just your name and a brief description." The girl's face then immediately shifted to something like a proud child presenting a new toy. Her halo even turned to a green one with a few lines coming from it. "Oh! Because of that, I was able to prepare some accessibility features so you shouldn't have too many issues using the Shittim Chest even with just one arm! We'll just need to complete your biological authentication so your hardworking assistant Arona-chan can get it all set up for you!"

Ragna's expression shifted to an uneasy frown, that was sure a vague answer. To hell with it all, he could ask more once the power was restored. The longer this went on, the longer Kivotos remained in chaos. "Alright, fine."

The view of Arona zoomed in closer toward her face as she held up her finger with a smile, her face taking up most of the screen. "Okay. Now, place your fingertip against mine."

Ragna started to reach down his index finger.

"Sensei, wait. You can't be wearing any gloves for this or I won't be able to read your fingerprint." Arona said, wagging her finger a few times for emphasis.

"Arona, do you have any idea how hard these gloves are to take off and put on with one hand? Especially when I can only my good hand?" Ragna didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice. It wasn't like it was impossible, but it was anything besides convenient, especially since he'd have to put it back on afterwards, never mind the fact his bad arm had no fingerprint to give. "Is there any other option?"

Arona's cheeks flushed with a hit of red. "Ah, I didn't think about that, sorry, sensei! Umm…" Arona lowered her finger and closed her eyes to think, humming to herself for a few seconds. "Okay, I've got an idea! Just lift your other arm onto my finger. Despite the gloves, it should still serve as a unique enough identifier because I should be able to still read the energy from the Azure Gri-"

"Stop." Ragna said with a low voice, almost a growl. Forget his earlier thought, he needed answers now. "You better start talking right the hell now."

"E-Eh? What's wrong, sensei? You're making a pretty scary face..." Arona said nervously, taking a step back.

"How the hell did the General Student Council president know about that? How did she even know me? She shouldn't know about that." Ragna began ranting in a raised voice. This was one bridge too far. His name was already near impossible to believe with the fact he'd erased his existence and all memories of it back in his world, but that was one thing when coupled with his vague sense of deja vu, but the Azure Grimoire as well? This wasn't his home where virtually everyone knew much about him, nobody should have known about that here and he wouldn't share it easily with how many people became tempted by the Azure and how dangerous it was. Was he truly outside the Master Unit's influence? Had his plan failed and been pointless?

"Hawawa, s-sensei-" Arona waved her hands defensively, distress clear on her face as her halo changed to a less defined circle with several uneven points coming out of it.

"I shouldn't even exist right now and there shouldn't be a damn person who even knows about me, but somehow this girl even knew about the Azure Grimoire? I already feel like I've met half the students I've run into today and you! There's something going on here and I want to know what the hell it is!" Ragna practically shouted his final words, letting them hang in the air.

Arona stood still as a statue, not saying anything, not doing anything as if doing so would prompt another explosion. The girl looked close to crying.

Ragna took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Well, now he just felt bad. Arona seemed to have the personality of a teenager and was trying to be helpful as she could, but he'd gone and almost brought her to tears for trying. It wasn't like they were the annoying brat Luna was. Continuing, his face softened immensely, as did his words. "Look, Arona, uh, I'm sorry for yelling at you, alright? Not mad at you, I'm just frustrated at all these questions that I can't seem to get any answers for. I've dealt with some stuff like this before, but rarely this bad. It's a long story."

Arona, though still visibly nervous, lowered her arms and flashed a sympathetic smile. It wasn't like the bubbly, childish ones she'd thrown up earlier in the discussion. "It's okay, sensei. It sounds like you've got a lot on your mind."

"That's putting it lightly." Ragna said with a huff. "What do you know about the Azure, anyway?"

"Mhm, not that much... I only know it's really strong, the reason why your right arm and eye don't work, and also only ever to be used in emergencies since it can be super dangerous." Arona answered pensively. "Sensei… Are you sure you'll be okay with that on you?"

Ragna tapped his fingers on the desk a few times in thought. Well, it was some relief that Arona only knew the broadest details about it, though it still begged the question how the GSC president knew that. The Azure Grimoire was incredibly dangerous even in his own hands, overuse of it could very well be the end of the world. In the wrong hands, having seen what the Azure could do to those unprepared to handle it, from twisting them into inhuman and unrecognizable monsters with barely a semblance of their old self, to driving people down dark and obsessive paths to gain its power... The apocalypse was practically guaranteed. "Yeah… I'll be fine, Arona. As long as it's with me, then I know nobody'll abuse it who shouldn't. I just wish I could get some damn answers already."

"Sensei, I…" Arona trailed off, frowning as she averted eye contact. It was like she was trying to figure out what to say. The pause was long, contemplative, easily several seconds until she locked eyes with Ragna again and flashed a shameful, deep frown, halo once more changing, this time to something dark blue with what looked like raindrops or tears about to fall from it. "I'm sorry I don't have any answers for you. I don't know much about the General Student Council president..."

"It's fine, Arona. Just got a lot to think and worry about." Ragna stated keeping his voice level. Normally, he might've done some kind of comforting gesture or offered something to make up for it, like a meal or something, as Arona still looked deeply upset and it left a bad taste in Ragna's mouth making an innocent kid this sad, though never of those sounded viable with her being an AI in his tablet. Although, hrm, if the tapping worked…

Ragna gingerly applied his index finger to the screen where Arona's forehead was, lightly rubbing it back and forth.

"Ehehe~" Arona's expression lightened into a content smile, halo becoming a pink heart, with a few giggles before Ragna stopped. Her face still had that sincere smile to it but her halo had returned to its normal blue circle. "Thanks, sensei. You can always talk to me if something's bothering you. I'm here to help you, after all~."

"Maybe another time." Ragna shook his head. Despite the explosive outburst, something told Ragna he could trust Arona, so maybe having somebody to talk with would be nice. He'd also have to remember to ask her what was up with that constantly changing halo, did it have to do something with her mood? "But we gotta get this done. Kivotos is still going to hell right now."

"Hrm?" Arona tilted her head. "What's been going on while I was asleep?"

Ragna quickly relayed what he knew of the current situation, from the missing GSC president, being locked out of Sanctum tower, and the general chaos that'd gripped Kivotos as a result.

"Hrm…" Arona closed her eyes for a moment. "Got it. A lot's been going on, hasn't it?"

"I haven't even been here for a few hours and sure as hell sounds like it. Can you fix the problem with the tower?" Ragna asked.

Arona nodded, an eager glint in her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I can! But I have to confirm your verification with a fingerprint or the Azure Grimoire, so if you wouldn't mind, sensei-" Arona once more raised her index finger, making a few light wags with it expectantly.

Well, it beat trying to take his gloves off one handed. Carefully, Ragna lifted his limp right arm with his good one and placed the tip of the finger against Arona's, trying to also not accidentally jab her in the face with his other fingers.

Silence hung in the air for several seconds.

"All done~!" Arona finally called out, allowing Ragna to finally lower his arm. "Now, let me restore the access permissions to Sanctum Tower so Kivotos can get back up and running! It'll be just a minute."

There was a loud electric whining noise that seemed to come from everywhere at once. All the lights in the room flickered momentarily before they settled on, illuminating the room that had been almost dark as night to no different than the sunny weather outside. The place sure looked a lot more pleasant now.

"Sanctum Tower admin permissions acquired. We've successfully regained Sanctum Tower and it's now under my control, sensei." Arona proudly declared.

"Wait, if you're supposed to help me does this mean I'm supposed to be responsible for everything running in Kivotos now?" Ragna asked skeptically. He couldn't even see where the supersized city ended when looking over the horizon from a tall building, how was one person supposed to manage all that?

Arona nodded with a chipper smile. "That's right, sensei! Well, you don't have to do everything, you can rely on me to handle a lot of the management no problem!."

"Urg, that sounds like a pain in the ass and a lot more paperwork." Ragna grumbled. It may not have been his expertise or favorite area, but the man still had some idea of what came with the chains of commanding if you wanted to be a good leader, particularly when privy to some of the conversation where Kagura, much as Ragna would gladly deck Kagura in the face for multiple reasons that included hitting on his sister the man knew how to strategize, had been planning their coup of the corrupt NOL and organizing the counterattack on Izanami. Though far from incapable of it if push came to shove, Ragna preferred to leave those matters to better suited people because of his preference for the direct approach, but Ragna still understood why proper planning and structure was a thing, even if sometimes that structure needed to bend. To suddenly be thrown into controlling everything in a place he barely knew on top of the matters with SCHALE? How the hell would he get anything done? "Arona, can you transfer control to someone else?"

"Eh?" Arona tilted her head and Ragna half expected her halo to turn into a question mark, though it remained normal this time. "I can… But are you sure?"

Ragna nodded. "Yeah, transfer control of it to the General Student Council."

"Just like that? You don't want to even hear what you can do with it? With admin rights to the tower, you basically have control over Kivotos."

"Yeah, and managing all that's going to be hell." Ragna stated bluntly. "Whatever I do here, I'm going to do better out there in the city instead of trying to be the admin for it when I'm already gonna have to deal with whatever being in SCHALE needs. The GSC has experience managing this place so I think it's best if everyone does what they're good at. I feel like I can trust Rin to keep a lid on things better than I could."

"Hmm…" Arona bobbed her head back and forth a few times. "I guess that makes sense, Sensei, but just know I can't take back the rights once they're transferred."

Ragna's voice turned flat as he continued. "Arona, I never had that much experience with tech past some basics anyway, this is my first time even touching a tablet and I just got here, so I only have a vague idea at best how this place works. Would you trust somebody like that managing everything in Kivotos?"

"Weeeeeeeell…" Arona trailed off into some nervous laughter till another curious expression took over her face. "Wait, sensei, if you don't use technology much, do you even have a cellphone? That's going to be very important for communicating with everyone in Kivotos."

"Nope. Never touched one in my entire life." Ragna flatly stated.

"…" Arona looked at Ragna blankly for a second until her face snapped into a forced smile. "Alright, then! Control of Sanctum Tower will now be transferred to the General Student Council!"

He may have prompted her for that reaction, but damn part of him still hurt seeing it.

"But Sensei," Arona quickly interjected. "don't forget to ask Rin-san for a phone after this!"

"Yeah, sure, fine. Hope it's not gonna be as much of a pain to use as this tablet is with one hand." Ragna grumbled.

"Don't worry!" Arona beamed with a legitimate smile and a shine in her eyes. "If you need help, then I can link your phone with the Shittim Chest and help manage it for you to ensure everything's setup so that even being one handed won't be an issue!"

"First good news I've heard all day, thanks Arona." Ragna said, expression lightening a bit. Trying to figure all this out on his own would've been a pain in the ass, but at least he had somebody in his pocket who could help out with it.

Arona looked like a kid who'd just gotten praise from their parent. "You can count on me, sensei!""

"Now then," Ragna stood up from his chair, lightly taking the tablet in hand. "Guess I should check in with Rin about that and figure out what else to do here." The man looked down at Arona in his tablet, raising an eyebrow. "So, can I just put you in a coat pocket or…?

"Go right ahead, sensei! You don't have to worry about me getting tossed around or anything, as long as it's secure!" Arona stated.

"Uh, alright then." It was a little strange feeling with how Arona was inside the tablet and not just a video on a screen, but Ragna placed the large tablet inside his coat pocket. Thankfully, he had large enough pockets to fit even something large as the Shittim Chest inside, often using them to carry some supplies in his long trips between cities.

With his current task done, Ragna headed up stairs to go find Rin. It didn't take long for him to find the girl by the entrance and on her phone, watching a scene occurring in the front area outside the building. A handful of extra students had come onto the scene dressed in uniforms and were escorting away the gangsters that had been knocked unconscious from the tank.

"Hey, Rin." Ragna greeted with a casual wave as the girl turned around to face him. She looked far more relaxed than Ragna had seen her before, happy even.

"Ah, sensei. I just received word that you transferred control of Sanctum Tower back to the General Student Council." Rin smiled at Ragna with such a genuine one it was almost unsettling. "On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you for such a trusting gesture. With this, we'll be able to manage Kivotos just as well as before the president disappeared."

"Don't sweat it." Ragna waved his hand dismissively. "I'm sure you'd all do a much better job of managing that part of Kivotos than I would. I'm expecting I'll have my hands full already."

"We're all going to be, Ragna-sensei." Rin stated. "But I understand your new position may be quite the shift from what you're used to and comfortable with. So if you need any assistance fitting into it, then I will see what I can do, though I can't promise much beyond answering a few questions in the short term as it's going to take a while before Kivotos so much as begins to settle down again."

"Thanks, Rin, I'll hold you to that. Sounds like managing this place is a hell of a job." Ragna nodded. He was probably going to need some assistance getting a handle on this new job. "There's actually one thing I could use some help with that I think is important."

"Hm? What is it, sensei?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Can you hook me up with a cellphone? Never used one before so I've no idea what to look for, but it sounds like I'm gonna need one." Ragna said.

Rin blinked, the surprise evident in her face and voice. "You've never used a cellphone? I... see. I'll have something sent over to you later today then, alongside some manuals. Valkyrie is still cleaning up outside, so if that is all, there is one last matter I'd like to take care of." Rin flashed Ragna another smile. "I know we already discussed some of how SCHALE operates, but I would like to formally welcome you to your working space, please come with me."

Well, at least matters were finally winding down and Ragna could have an extended break to appraise his situation and what a strange one it was. He had far more questions than answers with no sign of them being answered soon. But on the other hand, this was a completely clean start for him that Ragna never expected, or even hoped, to have. Here, he wasn't the world wide wanted man who would've been lucky to get a moment's rest, there was no NOL, no bounty on his head, none of the old baggage from his old life beyond the memories and physical scars on his person, for better or worse.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad...

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

And with this done we're officially out of the prologue! Place your bets on which school Ragna's going to hit first, I'll give a hint that it's NOT going to be jumping right to Vol 1 with Abydos, but they'll be very soon.