AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Last time I'll address this in the author's notes as unless it's a fairly relevant criticism of the story worth addressing(Which this is), quick answer, or common thing mentioned, I prefer to respond to reviews individually so as not to bloat the author's note section before the story. But this was a guest review

But RE: The Idea Engine. Part of the point behind it was to stand up to a Nox Nyctores and also an improvement of the artificial causality weapon Tager had, and does get mentioned as a power source with part of what Kokonoe slaps on Lambda and Minerva for a variety of things beyond just combat though, including things like communication and the prototype used on Azrael. It's basically meant to be like a science version of a Nox, fitting with Kokonoe's preference for it, and those're stated, including by people like Relius, to be capable of amplfying a user's strength, among various effects. The almost exclusive way RANGA uses the Idea Engine, besides the one time they used it to save Noel in CS at the cost of his arm, is in conjunction with the Azure Grimoire and the two seem to play off the power of each other to be greater than the sum of their parts, but it's not any stretch for it to play a part in his strength outside activating the Azure with the previous conext. Ragna specifically removes all safety measures from the Idea Engine to tangle with Susano'o in CF and his came from Lambda. I'm not saying it's responsible for most of his strength or anything as Ragna's power did jump exponentially over the story on all fronts, early CF Ragna w/o the Azure Grimoire activated is a hell of a lot stronger than CT Ragna WITH it considering they thrashed Nu, but every little bit chipping at his power's gonna add up.

Ragna had spent the remainder of the day getting to know his office, a thought which was going to take some getting used to, and familiarizing himself with the basics of where things were, how to use everything inside it or what was needed, including the simple smartphone Rin had delivered shockingly fast. It was a good thing he had Arona, and some manuals Rin had left, to help learn how to use all this or it would've taken a while even with two functioning arms. But after a lot of trial and error, he had… Mostly figured out how to work his phone with the one handed mode and some extra tweaks Arona set up, but if his AI companion was so insistent on being helpful Ragna sure wouldn't complain about leveraging that help. At least he could still use it passable on his own.

Using a normal computer was going to be a pain in the ass whenever Arona took a nap though, something Ragna still didn't understand why it was even needed.

But with being prepared for the basics of life in Kivotos, his next order of business was research and learning more about Kivotos, but it wasn't going to be just sitting at a desk and reading that was only part of it. Specifically, it was research trying to figure out which school he was going to visit first as good god Rin hadn't been kidding about the number of them in Kivotos, it was hard to know where to even begin, particularly when most of the school names were already familiar to him, a few more so than others, which turned out to be helpful as while Arona had some general knowledge of nearly every school the autonomous nature of them meant not everything about them was easily accessible.

The name of 'Abydos' in particular brought forth an almost vivid recollection of several names and descriptions to match them, it was some of the clearest deja vu he'd gotten since arriving in Kivotos. Ragna almost had half a mind to go there immediately and pursue the feeling, but he'd at least find a few options instead of jumping on the first one. Going to one he didn't feel a strong familiarity with could've also been useful if he were to be staying in Kivotos long term, getting to know people would be important in this kind of job. Plus, there was always a chance that whatever had caused this jumble of memories had gaps, or perhaps certain info had somehow been intentionally buried, he couldn't rule that out.

"Hmm…" Ragna vocalized to himself as he browsed through some of the information Arona had gathered for him, there was one school in particular whose description stood out and raised his curiosity. "Hey Arona, can you tell me more about this SRT school? Kind of sounds a bit like the power SCHALE has."

"Well, that's because SCHALE's authority has some similarities with SRT. I have a little bit more info about it with how closely associated SRT is with the General Student Council, so let me explain, sensei." Arona stated, voice coming from the tablet beside Ragna's keyboard, as some information on his screen began to rearrange itself thanks to the computer being linked to the Shittim Chest and under Arona's control.

"With how independent most academies are, they also have their own laws and ways to enforce them. If a student were to break the local laws of their school, the school would deal with punishing them. But then there are shared areas between schools or on neutral ground where then Valkyrie steps in to handle it, like with all those delinquents who caused a lot of trouble the other day." Arona started explaining. "Some schools are reaaaaaaaaally scary when it comes to punishment."

"Alright," Ragna was following along so far. "the hell does SRT have to do with it then?"

"I'm getting there, sensei!" Arona said with a small pout. "SRT was meant for problems like if a crime's committed in one district but then the student runs away to another school. Sometimes, the student council of that school will even refuse to give up the bad guy and try to hide them! If that happens, there's not much another school can do because trying to forcibly take the other student back would cause even more fighting."

"That already sounds like a political headache…" Ragna grumbled. He was sure glad he wouldn't be worrying about all that red tape. "Rin said that SCHALE was extrajudicial and could enter any school without a problem though, so since you said SRT was kind of like SCHALE, I'm gonna guess that applies to them too?"

Arona nodded, an approving smile crossing her face. "That's right! SRT was meant to be able to jump in and deal with cases like that because they have extrajudicial authority like SCHALE, a school meant to act quickly when nobody else could. They answered directly to the General Student Council president, and are a pretty recent school, but well, then she went missing…"

Ragna listened to Arona's explanation carefully, browsing through some of the additional information the girl put on his screen to accompany her lecture. "So, wait, they're talking about closing it down now?"

"Well, it's just some rumors I found while updating myself about what happened in Kivotos during my nap and I don't know everything, sorry, Ragna-sensei. But since the president disappeared, that meant nobody was responsible for SRT so the school kind of just… Sat there. I guess maybe everyone was too busy with everything going on in Kivotos to figure out what to do with them?" Arona speculated, looking off in no particular direction with a contemplative look on her face. "I'd hope it wouldn't shut down just because she's gone."

"So, let me see if I have this right." Ragna began with a little bit of weariness in his voice and pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's an entire school full of students with authority almost nobody else has, kind of like mine, that's designed to deal with criminals and answered only to the top person in charge of the whole damn city."

This was starting to sound vaguely like the NOL's Zero Squadron, of which he'd sure had some unpleasant experiences with, though at least SRT officially existed instead of how covert the Wings of Justice were meant to be, which was probably a good sign. But an entire institution like this was either going to be a very good thing, operating similar to how he was supposed to if under somebody responsible who knew when it was necessary, or a very bad thing with how easily it could end up abused if the person in charge didn't have a strong moral compass and restraint. But there was really nobody in the GSC who stepped up to manage SRT? That was almost surprising, Ragna would've expected at least one morally dubious person to jump at the chance for that much power. Although, maybe there was more to the picture since Arona was going off rumors that didn't sound baseless if not a damn thing had been done since the GSC president's absence. Were things set up so somebody couldn't make such an easy power play?

Maybe he could ask Rin about this later?

"Yeah, that's about right…?" Arona said, tilting her head curious and looking at Ragna, perplexed. "Something wrong?"

Ragna shook his head, expression returning to normal. "Nope, I'm fine. Just reminded me of a few headaches where I came from. I know where I'm going today though."

"Oh, we're going to visit SRT?" Arona looked excited at the prospect of going out.

"Yeah, all this sitting around and reading is making me bored." Ragna said as he stood up from his chair. "I'd rather go out there and see things for myself. You said it's just rumors, so if the place doesn't close down I expect I'll be seeing a lot of this school if they work like I'm supposed to. And if they do close it then might not be there to look at later, I'd like to judge the place myself."

SRT felt like a decent place to start for a few reasons. Ragna needed to do some brushing up on guns if he was going to appropriately deal or strategize with them if that was Kivotos's primary weapon and what better place to see some real world examples than a school full of trained elites? Secondly, it was rather close by, though most of the major schools weren't that far from the SCHALE building, and thirdly if SRT answered directly to the GSC president maybe he could learn a bit more about her there if the school was collecting dust. The GSC itself had their hands full calming down Kivotos at the moment so it was likely a bad time to get much out of them.

The GSC president was one giant enigma and having anything to go off of instead of fumbling in the dark would've been great. However, whenever he thought of her, Ragna felt less worried about something bad happening, after all she knew of the Azure Grimoire and even basic details nobody should've with how he shouldn't have even existed now, and more confused, even a little concerned for the mysterious girl. It wasn't just the kind of worry one would have for a missing person.

"Alright! But, sensei…" Arona's eyes wandered up and down Ragna while he reached for the tablet. "Aren't you going to use the SCHALE uniform made for you?"

"Nah, I prefer my usual look. I need it to hold my sword anyway." Ragna answered plainly. Lacking his right arm's usage, Ragna had gone back to wearing his coat in the same style as he had back in the Dark War as Bloodedge, with the right side hanging completely loosely over his back and making the gray inner layer he wore more obvious. His right arm was covered in a dark wrap up to just slightly below the shoulder and all the way past his wrist.

Arona put on a small, childish pout. "It was already made with your sword in mind. Ragna-sensei, how's anyone supposed to recognize you're from SCHALE without the uniform?"

"I don't think I exactly blend into a crowd, Arona." Ragna stated sarcastically. "Can't I just use the ID card and you also said what I did yesterday would show up all over… What the hell did you call it again?"

"Social media."

"Yeah, whatever that is." Ragna stated dismissively. It was still going to take some getting used to using all this technology regularly. "So recognizing me shouldn't be a problem."

"But senseeeeeeeeei, you've gotta look more approachable if you're going to connect with your students! You already have the technology sense of an old man so you're at a disadvantage if you start talking!" Arona whined.

"Hey, excuse me for not growing up using this stuff!" Ragna fired back. "What the hell's wrong with my look anyway?"

Arona answered him with a big pout and annoyed huff. "Rin-san's gonna be mad if you don't look professional."

"Let her. I'm not wearing it." Ragna bluntly stated without blinking.

Arona let out a deep sigh of resignation, a little embarrassment coming over as she spoke lowly, pout not leaving her face. "… I wanted to see what you looked like in it."

"That's what this is about?" Ragna groaned. Of course it was. "Alright, fine, if I try it on later will you stop being mad about it?"

Arona's expression did an immediate 180 into a wide smile, she really was like an excitable child.

"Later. I'm still not going out in it." Ragna quickly corrected.

Arona's expression fell a bit but still remained above the grumpy pout from earlier. "Deal! I'll load up some directions to SRT onto your phone. Let's get going!"

Carefully pocketing the Shittim Chest into his coat, Ragna took out his phone and headed to the exit of the office to prepare for his trip.

For Tsukiyuki Miyako, joining SRT had been a dream come true for her. The school was supposed to be the very embodiment of justice, dedicated to protecting people and doing what was right without any selfish political rules or gains getting in the way. It wasn't that the law was an inconvenience to be tossed aside when it got in the way, but part of what SRT did was ensure it wouldn't be abused by crafty criminals deciding the law was only to be used when it benefited then, like avoiding extradition to one district by hiding in another where regional law enforcement couldn't reach without a bunch of political headache that would take too long. That desire to uphold justice and the right thing was why she strove for SRT since middle school despite its enrollment numbers being small compared to most schools.

But now carrying out that dream was starting to look increasingly distant with all the rumors about SRT's shutdown and she hadn't even been at the school long as a 1st year. She hoped it was merely rumors, but given how SRT had done virtually nothing since the GSC president vanished, practically wasting away like a dying animal, she couldn't deny the situation wasn't great. But that didn't mean Miyako would let it affect her, or RABBIT Platoon's, morale and discipline.

"Good job with the exercise, everyone." Miyako praised her team with a subdued grin. They'd managed to come out on top in a recent mock battle. Despite her worries, a proper routine for training was vital to stay in top shape and readiness and so she took her drills seriously. She'd still enjoy the break afforded to them after one though.

"I know Miyu got top marks for stealth, but I still can't believe they walked right past her." Saki commented with a disapproving look. "Some people have no situational awareness."

Saki's outfit was the standard first year SRT look. A pale blue uniform with a large yellow tie over the chest and long white sleeves. But unlike most schools, SRT students were equipped comparably to military forces. Saki had two large pouches around her waist to carry a variety of armaments or tools, alongside a side strap. She likewise had a shoulder strap style pack which had two smaller ones attached to it for carrying even more gear whenever the mission called for it. Likewise, the large knee pads added to the tactical look. Her most distinct feature had to be the white helmet resting over her just above shoulder length purple hair, with the rabbit ears atop it fitting right into the platoon's RABBIT designation. Her halo was a vibrant green with a crosshair pattern and two lines in a V shape at the top of it.

The only significant difference compared to Miyako's look was the lack of a helmet, though she still had the rabbit ears, and they wore their gear and pouches in a slightly different manner, with Miyako wearing most of her's over the torso instead of the side.

The girl in question, Miyu looked down at the floor with a resigned, depressed even, expression. "When even my own team's forgotten about me before, no wonder the enemy does too…"

Miyu, being the marksman of the group, was lightly armored. She only had a set of binoculars and a few small pouches or gear around her torso. Like the rest of the group, she also had a rabbit ear headband over darker colored hair. Her halo was a light pink comprised of several partially broken circles and three raindrops around it.

"M-Miyu it was only a few times." Miyako comforted, some heat flowing to her cheeks. It was amazing how little presence RABBIT platoon's marksman had. Often, one could practically walk within arm's length of her without realizing it, but thankfully that didn't happen during exercises because Miyako had to always keep her team's positions in mind as the leader.

… Or at least it didn't happen often.

"Probably because everyone's feeling down with the coming shutdown and doesn't feel like trying anymore. We're already getting a lot less explosives to use with supplies not coming in as often. Makes these exercises so much more boring when I don't get to use a missile." Moe spoke up with a dull sigh. Compared to the rest of the group, her outfit was different as her role was more long range and electronic support, mainly through the use of explosives or hacking. She wore a pale blue turtleneck with a blue skirt that had stripes of white on the sides. Like the rest of the group, she also had a rabbit ear headband resting on her light brown hair done in low pigtails and the RABBIT insignia as a right armband. The girl's halo was a golden ring with four smaller triangles and a second ring smaller in size below the first.

Saki huffed. "We're not closed yet and some people are already giving up. Where the hell's their SRT discipline and spirit?"

Miyako let out a weary sigh. "It's frustrating to see people already giving up. Even if they were to try closing SRT down, I wouldn't give up easily. It's important to have someone out there maintaining real justice." Sure, there were other institutions that helped protect Kivotos, like Valkyrie Police School, but though Miyako wouldn't negate their importance, they weren't SRT. The standards were lower and that school's ability to act was often restricted by red tape and personal interest, where SRT could do what no one else could.

"It feels like the GSC's already forgotten about us." Miyu stated with a glum look.

"Well, things are supposed to finally start returning to normal ever since that new teacher showed up out of nowhere. Since we're out of an immediate crisis, I hope the GSC can get the chain of command organized again." Miyako stated, a little frustration creeping into her voice. That kind of crisis would've been an excellent time for SRT to help keep the peace in Kivotos with the increasing riots and panic, even notable criminals, including ones which SRT students had captured in the past, had escaped. Yet with the GSC president missing no one else knew how to manage the school of elite students who had answered solely to her.

"Oooooh," Moe's voice suddenly flared to life. "You mean the guy who hit a Crusader Tank so hard it split in half and exploded? Everyone's been talking about it."

"Woah, woah, wait a second he blew up a tank with his bare hands?" Saki spoke up with a scrutinizing squint at Moe. "That sounds like crap."

Moe shook her head. "Not his hands, a huge sword, taller than we are. I've seen some people say it kind of looked like there was a gun barrel on it and it's how the sword explodes. I've been looking at the footage trying to find that out, but it's all been too far away to get a good look." The glasses wearing girl finished her sentence with that manic glint she often got in her eyes when discussing high yield weapons.

"An exploding sword? That's even harder to believe." Saki dryly remarked. "Why would you even put explosives on a melee weapon like that, you'd just end up hurting yourself."

"Why not? If you're surrounded by enemies or against something heavily armored and are that tough, you could use it to take out everyone and even yourself. Always sitting at the edge of impending disaster with the chance to blow yourself up, but also the ability to cause that all by your own hand with no drones needed..." Moe stated with an expression that was far more enthusiastic than it should've been.

Saki rolled her eyes. "Just use a grenade! You can lob that away without any risk to yourself."

"U-Um…"

Moe refused to be discouraged. "You're too by the books, Saki. Up close like that who knows if you'll have the time to pull the pin on your grenade and have both your hands free. You know that Millennium has shown off some pretty crazy, if not very practical, technology. Here, let me get the video up since you clearly haven't seen it."

"E-Excu… Excu..."

"It's certainly sparked a lot of rumors. I'm not sure about that one though…" Miyako added while Moe browsed through her phone with Saki looking over her shoulder. "By all signs, they're from outside Kivotos too, but that's hard to believe seeing the videos."

"E-Excuse me!" Miyu's squeaky voice spoke up and drew everyone's focus to her.

"Hrm? Ah, sorry for not hearing you, Miyu. What's wrong?" Miyako said.

"Um, isn't he really tall with a red coat too?" Miyu shyly asked.

"Duh, it's one of their standout features alongside the sword and white hair." Moe stated like the question had been stupid. "Why do you ask?"

"I-I think he's right over there…" Miyu stated like she'd just pointed out a growling bear.

The rest of the group turned their heads to follow the nervous girl's stare. Looking around the heavily militarized, but sparsely populated, campus grounds was the same person of interest they were discussing. The only notable difference from the video was the right half of his red coat hung loosely off his side.

"Wait a minute, what the hell's he doing on campus?" Saki stated, squinting at the man.

"That extrajudicial authority SCHALE has is no joke if he can show up here like that." Moe commented. "SRT's strict with clearing anyone, or anything, that comes in." There was a hint of a personal grudge in Moe's words.

Miyako put her hand to her chin pensively. "What would bring them to SRT?" Being so close to the GSC compared to most of Kivotos, her school sometimes got at least rumors of current affairs, which included a bit about SCHALE even before the press release about it had gone out. An extrajudicial organization which was made by the missing GSC president shortly before she vanished… On the one hand, she was the same person responsible for SRT and thus her judgment had much weight to it. But on the other hand, SRT had rigorous standards exactly because of what it took to uphold the right thing, that kind of power wasn't to be handed out so casually and Miyako knew nothing about this man or his character to know the way he would use it.

"I don't think he's seen us yet, s-should we say something?" Miyu cautiously stated.

"I'd like to get a closer look at that sword to see if it really explodes." Moe stated with too much enthusiasm once again.

Maybe talking wouldn't be such a bad idea? She didn't know anything about the man evidently known as Ragna, but if they were here on official business she didn't want to get in his way. Wait… Perhaps he was here to deliver some news concerning the rumors of a shutdown? A sense of hope flared in Miyako's heart at the thought. SRT hadn't gotten much acknowledgment from the GSC in a while, but with the crisis over perhaps, Ragna was a messenger? While electronic communication was convenient, for the more important matters it wasn't uncommon for in-person correspondence.

Before anyone could speak another word, Ragna turned his head to look directly at the group with an exasperated, or maybe angry was more accurate with how he looked with one eye shut, stare and spoke in a gruff voice. "Hey, you just gonna keep staring at and talking about me like I'm not here or you got something to say?"

All four girls stiffened up at the unexpected call out. He'd heard them from almost across the courtyard? Sure, RABBIT Platoon wasn't exactly whispering nor was the area bustling with activity, but those were some razor sharp senses.

"I suppose our decision's been made for us…" Miyako said with a hint of embarrassment. At least this would be a good chance to get some intel. "Just one second!"

The group approached Ragna, who met them halfway as he mirrored the action.

"So," Ragna began casually. "I'm Ragna and guess I'm the new teacher here, but sounds like you already know a bit about me. Guess news spreads fast."

"With the importance of SCHALE and Kivotos finally calming down with your arrival, you shouldn't be surprised." Miyako commented. "Everyone's curious about you."

"Can't say I don't understand, I'm used to the attention anyway." Ragna commented without a care and glancing around at the buildings of SRT. "You're students for SRT, right? I know this place is an elite school, but thought I'd see more of you here. Place feels so damn empty."

Miyako nodded. "That's right, we are. I'm Tsukuyuki Miyako, squad leader for RABBIT Platoon and a 1st year at this school."

Ragna's face visibly grew more exasperated at the mention of her group's name. But was that the tiniest hint of… Melancholy under it?

Miyako was already used to that reaction, some people had a laugh at the group name and how non threatening it was. "Our name isn't as simple as you're thinking."

"No, no," Ragna waved his hand. "just reminded me of someone I used to know. Real pain in the ass sometimes, but she was a friend of mine."

Ah, that explained the reaction. It did make Miyako a little curious what kind of person this girl was if rabbits reminded him of her.

Ragna shook the distant expression off his face and returned back to his usual annoyed slanted expression. "Forget I said anything, the rest of you are?"

"Sorai Saki, I'm the point man." Saki curtly greeted.

"Kazekura Moe. I'm the combat engineer." Moe answered while fishing for something in her pocket, presumably one of the lolipops she often used.

Ragna's brow furrowed. "Combat engineer?"

"Mainly stuff like electronic warfare and explosives. Can never have too many at once." Moe stated with a devious grin.

Ragna's gaze shot behind the group. "And you?" As he continued, his voice softened slightly. "I'm just here to look around the place. Not gonna hurt you, so no need to be that scared."

The nervous girl in question was Miyu, who was half hiding behind Miyako like Ragna was going to snap at her any second. "S-Sorry, um, I'm Kasumizawa Miyu and I'm the marksmen..."

"Hmm.." Ragna grumbled to himself a bit, looking frustrated. "And you're all first years? Then I guess you don't know much about the missing president, do you?"

Miyako shook her head, frowning. "We don't know much about her that everyone else doesn't. I guess you're not here to deliver any news about SRT, then?"

"Nope, sorry. I probably know even less about the closure rumors than you do." Ragna said bluntly, as if he knew exactly what Miyako had thought.

"I see…" Miyako couldn't help the sigh and downcast expression coming over her, which was mirrored by her platoon to varying degrees. "Why did you come to SRT then, sensei?"

"The GSC's busy as hell getting everything back under control and doesn't have time to talk much, so since SRT's associated with the missing president, I thought I could learn more about her here. Also stopped by since it sounded like SRT had some authority like SCHALE did, so in case we ever ran into each other thought I'd learn about it in case the school didn't shut down. I prefer some hands on experience instead of just reading a book." Ragna stated.

Well, Miyako could understand the reasoning, disappointed as she was about the lack of news. At the same time though, this was the most personal interest somebody in a high position had shown SRT in a while and if Ragna wanted to work with the school, maybe it'd help keep the school open. Of course, this was all assuming Ragna was somebody who SRT would want to work with. Miyako hated people who'd just wave their authority like some magic wand for personal gain.

"SRT has high standards for what we do and to make sure we can uphold justice without anything getting in the way." Saki vocalized some of Miyako's skepticism as she eyed Ragna up and down. "We're not like a club you just casually invite yourself into."

Without needing a single word the dismissive sarcasm was written all over Ragna's face. "Guess we're off to a great start. You wanna tell me about your little club here and what that justice means then?"

"Tch," Saki glared back at the man's casual dismissal.

"It's a little difficult concept to easily explain." Miyako spoke up before things could escalate further. This might be a good chance to gauge Ragna's character a bit, based on his response.

"Oh, now you've done it and got her going." Moe casually interjected.

"RABBIT 3, don't interrupt." Miyako quickly reprimanded, taking a moment to go back to her previous train of thought. "As I was saying, while every school has their own organization devoted to doing the right thing and believes their own actions to be just, I don't believe it's that simple. Justice doesn't doesn't change depending on the people involved or the situation, it's about the truth, not letting anything like politics, personal relationships, or profit get in the way of doing the right thing. And only SRT has exercised the justice it believes in, no matter the time, place, or parties involved. Even law agencies can let personal gain corrupt their morals and start abusing their authority in the name of 'justice' when it's only about themselves."

"Yeah… I've definitely seen plenty of that." Ragna commented with an annoyed frown.

Miyako's expression rose to a smile. This was off to a good start and maybe they would get along. "Then, you understand what I mean, right sensei?"

"I get politics are a damn headache and some assholes are always going to abuse it," Ragna started, briefly putting his hand to his head like he had a headache before lowering it to look Miyako directly in the eyes, an intensity in his single, piercing green one. "but I'd be careful putting anything on a pedestal like that and assuming they're always right."

Miyako's eyes narrowed.

"Seen it before where somebody'll keep fighting for a cause or organization they believe is infallible and by the time you realize how far you've gone you're already the bad guy." Ragna stated without blinking.

"Cases like that are the exact kind of people SRT is meant to oppose, sensei." Miyako shot back with a slight edge to her words.

"Yeah, this school prides itself on not being like that." Saki interjected. "Whoever you ran into like that aren't like SRT. If you've seen that before, then you should get why this school's important."

Ragna's expression turned less sour, as did his words, though they still kept a weight to them despite it being different from before. "Well, I hope you keep that spirit then. I'm still getting used to how it is here, but back where I come from the world can be a tough place and really test you."

Miyako's stern stare faded. She could at least understand where Ragna was coming from a bit, even if the implied slight against her school didn't sit well. If he had some bad experiences with people misusing justice, some caution would be natural, but SRT's fundamental principle was to not be like that and if one couldn't understand that then they didn't belong in the school. But there was still one thing which didn't sit right with the girl.

"What makes you so certain you're right and won't abuse your authority then, sensei? From what the student council's press release said, SCHALE has a lot of power, a lot to be given to someone who just arrived in Kivotos." Miyako asked. It wasn't like she blindly trusted SRT, no her trust in the school's guiding tenets had been earned from everything she had seen even before enrollment. So she could have faith that what her school did was right, but what about Ragna?

"I'm not always going to be right and can admit that." Ragna bluntly stated without hesitation. "But like hell that's gonna mean I won't do something if I can help it. If someone needs help I'm not going to just ignore them and if doing the right thing means I gotta piss the whole world off and give myself a bad time, it's not going to stop me."

Miyako blinked. That was a… much more brutally honest answer than she had been expecting, for a moment it even made Miyako wonder if she could've given a better one. Actions spoke louder than any words would and so she wouldn't take it all at face value, but if the man's actions matched his statements, maybe SRT and SCHALE could get along after all.

"I see..." Miyako spoke up, her expression turning more friendly after a moment of reflection. "Ragna-sensei, you said you came here to learn more about SRT? We don't have anything scheduled right now since we just finished an exercise, maybe we could show you around the campus a bit? We might not be able to help much with information about the president, but our senpai would probably know better."

Ragna had a direct connection to the GSC. If he could appreciate SRT where it felt like most of them couldn't, perhaps it would help the school finally get back on track and stop existing in this uncomfortable limbo. Miyako didn't put too much stock into the closure rumors, but it wasn't comforting to have them exist and the GSC to be dodging the question. This was the most attention SRT had gotten in a while and Miyako wasn't going to waste the chance.

Ragna shrugged with one shoulder. "I guess having a tour guide wouldn't be so bad. Was hoping to learn a bit more about the kind of weapons Kivotos has anyway. Not many people used guns where I came from."

"I don't mind, as long as I get to know more about that weapon of your's." Moe said with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "It is also a gun? Does it really explode?"

Ragna looked at Moe like she had 2 heads. "What? Where the hell did you get that idea, no it doesn't do any of that."

"Oh, lame." Moe sighed with a frown, immediately deflating like a kid who'd gotten coal on Christmas.

"Wait, you… Blew up a tank just by hitting it really hard with a sword?" Saki stated with a healthy dose of skepticism.

"Yeah, what about it? I thought it wouldn't be so fragile with how everyone talked it up." Ragna stated like hadn't effortlessly done something few students could manage without heavy weaponry.

"Like hell a tank's fragile!" Saki shouted. "Wish I could've seen a better angle than the distant video though…"

"You and me both." Moe said.

"U-Um…" Miyu's shy voice finally entered the conversation again. "I don't deal with melee w-weapons, but your sword looks different than usual…"

"Huh, yeah Miyu's right. Why's the back of it completely flat metal? I guess you don't wanna cut yourself with something that big, but that's a weird choice." Saki added.

"Well, it's not a gun or something that explodes." Ragna gave Moe a side eyed glance. "But it does do something else."

With the curiosity of RABBIT Platoon captured, Ragna removed his weapon from the back holster and held it horizontally. In a flash, the long metal segment of the back half extended, carrying the blade with it, to a length of Ragna's height and then another half a body length. As the blade began to rotate, a wheel it was moving on emerged, continuing its rotation for 90 degrees and the blade was now horizontal.

"Used to do this and make it into a scythe, gave me more reach." Ragna added before anyone could speak. "But can't really do that anymore with only one arm."

"Huh, guess that makes some sense if you made it work. Sounds kinda cool, but really unconventional weapon though…" Saki muttered, eyeing it closely.

"It's not as fun as what I thought it'd be, but it's something." Moe said.

Just as quickly as it'd emerged, the process reversed and Ragna's now scythe returned to being a sword, which he holstered on his back again. "Rather get started checking this place out instead of talking about my weapon. I've got a lot of Kivotos to explore if I'm gonna get to know this place."

"Right, sorry." Miyako said with an inviting smile. "Follow us then, sensei. We'll show you everything about SRT."

Maybe the future of their school wasn't looking that grim after all.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

And the surprise answer nobody guessed is SRT! This may seem like a surprise as the game implies SRT was closed before Sensei arrived in Kivotos, but let me explain. There's kind of two reasons for this. If you're here for the Blazblue and don't know Blue Archive, feel free to skip this but if you know BA I wanna explain myself as SRT may seem like an odd initial pick. Without getting too much into spoilers for either series...

Reason #1, the short one: Some stuff gonna be a little bit different due to how some stuff in Blazblue works

Reason #2, the much longer explanation:

When the GSC President went missing is when things went to hell with SRT being considered for a closure as nobody could really take over them. But the decision wasn't something everyone favored and finalized until after certain events which occurred the previous month to Vol 4 starting.

SRT itself wasn't actually schedule for demolition until right when Vol 4 started. As the school about to be demolished is what prompted RABBIT squad to begin their protesting. Kaya mentions that they tried to seize SRT's weapons the previous month as part of the closure so there is, at absolute max, 1 month between SRT being formally chosen to close down and get demolished because it's unlikely SRT would end up being demolished right away.

But this is all implied, though not stated, to have happened BEFORE Sensei's arrival in Kivotos. But SRT was 100% still standing and only was scheduled for demolition a good bit after they had arrived. However, that's kind of a short as goddamn hell timeline for Abydos, Ch 1 of Millennium, and Eden Treaty to happen. Abydos is at least about a week because there are several instances of showing a day/night change. Aris also states at the end of Vol 2 Ch 1 they had just under a week for a deadline, which happened near the end of the volume after a lot of events. So that means Vol 2 Chapter 1 also takes place, at the bare minimum, over about a week or two.

Then you have Vol 3 which also should at least take place over a similar time if not longer. And this is all assuming there was zero down time with something happening one day after the next. In all actuality, it's most likely longer since not every single day is going to be filled with something. That's an incredibly short time for so much of the game to happen!

I don't plan for this story to go on forever and just keep running as BA does, I have an end point in mind where it'll be done, so I'm gonna be taking time passing a little bit more seriously. And because of that, SRT hasn't yet closed down. I am all about going off the rails of canon wherever I believably can to keep the story fresh and this is one of those ways. "Vol 1" of this story isn't gonna be SRT though, but we'll be spending a little time with the RABBITs and some other students there.