Blue Archive story · Volume 1: Foreclosure Task Force, Chapter 3, Episode 2
Vol. 1 Ch. 3 Ep. 2: Uninvited Guests
1 scenes, 152 lines
1. Part 1
152 lines
*cough* *cough* Ugh. The dust is getting in my throat.
This the last one?
Should be. Why did they have to schedule a cargo transport now of all times?
*cough* These storage rooms haven't been touched in ages.
Seriously though. What's this place even for?
I guess they store inscriptions about academic industrial cooperation... Whatever that means. It's for important documents.
These ancient things are important? They wouldn't be sitting here collecting dust if that were true.
Eh. Doesn't matter either way. Let's just get this over with. The boxes in that corner are marked for disposal.
Are you sure? Maybe we should open them up and double check...
It'll be fine. We're on a tight schedule, so get a move on.
If you say, Eek?!
M-Move! Those shelves are gonna fall!
How did the supports break?! What did you do?
M-Me?! I didn't even touch it!
Whoa. That was a close one.
How does a metal shelf just snap like that?
More importantly, how're we going to clean this all up?
Huh? What's this?
Ugh. I can't believe this... What're you looking at?
I don't know. A document that fell out of one of the boxes.
A sales contract of some kind? From Abydos High School?
Huh?
Is this the place?
That student must be...the vice president...
...
She's still persevering, all by herself. But...why...?
*sigh*
Th-That was too close.
I heard she's a generational talent and all that, but how'd she notice me?!
Generational talent? What else did you hear?
Wow. You know my name too?
A-About that! You see...!
You know me, but I don't know you. What's your business here?
I-I...
Nothing? Are you a spy? Who sent you? State your affiliation and year.
I'm sure you've heard the rumors. You might be older than me, but I won't go easy on you.
...M-Me? N-No, I'm not...
Wait. I know that school emblem.
Y-Yup! I'm from the Abydos District too...
A-And I'm actually younger than you... I'm graduating middle school this year.
You? A middle schooler? You look way older than me.
Aha...haha...
Oh, right. I know where I've seen it. Nephthys Private Middle School?
Y-Yup! That's me...!
That doesn't explain much though. The Nephthys main office left the district ages ago, and all affiliated schools along with it.
...Nephthys Private Middle School.
An elite private school owned and operated by the Nephthys Group.
I get it now. I did hear that the Nephthys Group successor was around middle school age.
...
So why haven't you left the district yet, Izayoi Nonomi?
Taking one last tour before you leave? Doesn't matter either way, I guess.
But what's the infamous Nephthys Group's precious little daughter bothering me for? Or are you after the school?
I-I...
If Nephthys is trying to come after this school...
...?!
Their little successor is going to find out just how easily a halo can shatter.
...I went a little too far.
...
Nephthys...
"The Nephthys Group..."
Can you explain already, Ayane? What's with this Nephthys thing buying up our bonds?!
That's... Well...
Saint Nephthys Company, or Nephthys Group...
It's a business that started out in Abydos and grew like crazy. It was one of the most successful companies in all of Kivotos at one point.
All of Kivotos? From Abydos?!
Mm. You're underestimating how influential Abydos was in the past.
She's right. Abydos was...the best of the best.
Once upon a time, we were a force to be reckoned with. We were an academy with a rich history, the strongest students, and the best education. Once upon a time...
Well, then the sandstorms happened, and you know the rest!
And during that golden age, the Saint Nephthys Company flourished right alongside Abydos High School.
But the sand...wouldn't stop coming. The desertification of the district bled us dry, and Nephthys came tumbling down along with Abydos.
The Trans-Desert Railway was a desperate attempt to bring in more commerce to the area...but it was too late. The venture nearly bankrupted them.
Business came to a screeching halt, and Nephthys spread their money too thin trying to make up for it. The result was an economic collapse that Abydos...well, it simply couldn't recover from.
The Abydos Student Council did the best it could to offset the fallout, but both students and residents left Abydos in a mass exodus.
And after all that...Nephthys decided to cut its losses. The company sold off all its business interests and left Abydos behind.
Them's the breaks! By the time I started my first year, Nephthys was just a bad memory.
So you're telling me our district got totally screwed because of Nephthys' greed?!
Hold your horses, Serika. They were just one piece in a long domino of disasters.
It's okay, Hoshino. She's entirely correct. Nephthys took a dangerous risk, and it was Abydos that paid the consequences.
Nephthys was the final nail in the coffin that entombed Abydos.
It was the core of Abydos' downfall. The antagonist in the story.
And my family was its founder.
Wh-Wh-What?!
...
Yes... I'm the successor to the Saint Nephthys Group.
"Nonomi..."
...I sort of knew.
Y-You did, Ayane?! And you didn't tell me this entire time?
No, no. It was just from the context clues. Her gold card was the initial indicator. But then...
The trans-desert railway was the project that accelerated the downfall of Abydos...
If we can use it to save the world... There would be nothing more gratifying for me. ♧
...
And when Nonomi was able to access the railway system, that essentially confirmed it for me.
S-So I was the only one who didn't know?! What about Hoshino and Shiroko?
Oh, okay. Good. Shiroko didn't know either.
U-Um.
But WHY would you hide that this whole time?
W-Well, I... Um...
Ack! Sorry, that was super insensitive of me. I guess it's not the easiest thing to just bring up out of nowhere.
Don't worry, Serika.
And at the end of the day, you stayed! You had every reason to leave with Nephthys, but you stayed this whole time.
...
With that settled, I'll present the facts of the case.
The Kaiser Corporation sold off 45% of Abydos bonds to the black market today.
Kaiser likely made an exorbitant profit with these sales...and we now have a huge increase in creditors.
I've confirmed that Saint Nephthys bought up all the derivative bonds that were previously loaned out using Abydos' industrial facilities as collateral.
At four to five times its original value, no less...
Which begs the question as to why... I'll have to look into it.
Would you be able to look at the collateral rights for the derivative bonds Nephthys purchased?
Yes! Let me see...
The collateral appears to include the following: development rights, ownership of specific facilities and infrastructure, as well as all ancillary facilities.
Essentially everything except real estate. That's expected. Kaiser wouldn't let go of that so easily.
Do you know which facilities were included?
I saw it somewhere... Here! Infrastructure for transportation and its subsidiary facilities...
Since when did we have transportation stuff left over?
...The Trans-Desert Railway.
What?!
There's nothing else in the district that fits the description.
B-But that doesn't make any sense! Why would they buy a project they left to rot in the desert? And for five times the price they sold it for?
It makes no sense on a business level. There has to be a motive we're not seeing...
What could they possibly be trying to achieve?
...It's incomprehensible. I can't think of a single justification.
No chance, Serika. If that were even remotely possible, Abydos wouldn't be a ghost town right now.
O-Okay. Well, what if it's some kind of super rare gem? Or element? Maybe they found germanium!
You're as silly as you are adorable, Serika. I promise this desert's been squeezed of every last drop of value it could possibly hold.
And it's not like people didn't try. There was just nothing to be found. No oil, no super rare gems, no germanium... Wait, Serika, germanium isn't really worth anything to begin with.
W-Well, it's not like anyone else is coming up with an explanation!
It really is a mystery...
The emergency alarm?
Wh-What happened?!
There's been explosions within the district! Intruders!
Kaiser?! Is it Kaiser?
I-It doesn't appear so! They're not targeting any buildings or causing any particular destruction.
Controlled detonations, maybe? Were they near the excavation site?
It doesn't appear so... Wait! One moment...
...
I found them! Students from another academy?! I haven't seen those uniforms before...and there's dozens of them!
What?!
It appears that they're...
Pahyahyahya! That felt great!