The dimly lit office was cluttered with old objects that held no trace of modern technology.
An ancient hanging wall clock, a tall centaur statue, an exotic perforated backdrop... Peering through the intricate openings of that backdrop, one could see interconnected gears of various sizes turning incessantly, as if transporting the room back to the steam-powered past.
An old-fashioned desk lamp stood squarely on the writing desk, nearby sat a vintage gramophone, while a holographic projection device seemed utterly out of place.
This office could easily be called an antique collection room, but its owner was even more ancient than these relics.
The girl known to the outside world as only ten-year-old Ladylee Tangleroad sprawled listlessly across her desk, fingers absently swiping across the holographic projection.
"Feels like I could just die like this," Ladylee murmured to herself, her expression growing desolate.
Why could everyone else die, while she was condemned to live forever in this world?
The immortality others desperately longed for had somehow become the burden of this girl, whose true age was staggeringly vast.
Everyone she'd ever loved, everything she'd ever cherished—all had turned to dust. Familiar eras had drawn to a close, one after another, leaving only her behind.
Ageless, deathless, without even her appearance changing.
Though she looked no older than ten, she had already walked this earth for over eight centuries.
"But after tomorrow, it will all be over."
At this thought, Ladylee's mood lifted despite herself. It had been so long since she'd felt this sense of urgency.
The only real pity was her automaton—a combat weapon forged from both magic and technology—that she'd been forced to activate the self-destruct sequence for.
Moving near the windowsill, her gaze fell upon the towering space elevator 'Endymion' piercing the clouds.
On that space elevator, a magic circle capable of obliterating the entire northern hemisphere had been installed, requiring a sufficiently powerful 'gear' to activate it.
That gear was Meigo Arisa, the girl born from miraculous power aboard the 'Orion' three years ago. Possessing unbelievable mystical energy, she had triggered the so-called 'Miracle of 88'.
"Utterly useless."
Suddenly tossing a wooden bow to the floor, Ladylee's face went completely expressionless.
It appeared to be an ordinary wooden bow, yet it carried power sufficient to temporarily shatter the vessel of a 'Saint's' attributes and prevent its restoration—or so that certain individual had claimed, explaining it was modeled after a famous bow from ancient legend.
According to that unreliable fellow's speculation, what Ladylee had swallowed all those years ago was likely two teeth of a powerful 'Saint', cursing her with ageless immortality, rather than some ordinary ambrosia.
Therefore, fourteen years ago, Natsume-san had planned to first completely shatter Ladylee's body along with those two teeth, using their extensive categorization experience to separate Ladylee out.
Then, the Natsume-san of fourteen years ago could rightfully claim ownership of those two teeth.
Though called separation, the method leaned more toward purification, perhaps mingled with concepts like adversity quotient, capable of restoring everything to its original form.
It sounded somewhat similar to Kamijou-senpai's ability, but they were entirely different things.
That person had claimed that by drawing the bow in a specific way, anything shot from it could destroy everything.
This bow had already gathered the tremendous power needed to destroy a Saint's vessel, but the person possessing the separation power had vanished.
Not only had they disappeared, they'd left behind no instructions for the specific method of use, rendering the bow little more than a decoration.
Rising to her feet, Ladylee walked over to the wooden bow, picked it up, and placed it back on her desk.
--+--
Until all the bombs were cleared, every visitor in this shopping mall had to leave.
Once again evacuated by Anti-Skill officers, with the security cordon pushed back fifty meters from the mall's entrance.
Standing outside the cordon, having bid farewell to Hanazono-san, Natsume-san's mind kept returning to that strange object that had suddenly burned to ashes.
Well, in Academy City, bizarre gadgets were as common as snacks in a supermarket—no one batted an eye at how many there were.
Still, it was concerning that their target seemed to be Meigo-senpai.
How to put it? Though it felt troublesome, she couldn't just pretend she hadn't seen anything.
Quietly tossing her drink bottle into a white cylindrical bin, Natsume-san, holding a cheer headlight, couldn't help but glance a few more times at Meigo-senpai in the middle of the group.
No matter how she thought about it, aside from singing beautifully, what else could be special about this senpai?
Counting the previous attack, this was already the second time.
"Speaking of which, were those people here to protect Meigo-senpai just now?" Uiharu-san asked thoughtfully, watching from a distance as the members who called themselves the 'Black Crow Unit' negotiated with Anti-Skill.
Even if that company valued Arisa highly, they wouldn't send so many people to protect a singer who'd only signed on for one performance.
This struck Uiharu-san as very strange, making her think the company might know something about the attacks on Arisa.
"I find it odd too, specially sending so many people to protect Arisa. That company definitely has problems," Saten-san nodded in agreement.
"But what exactly is different about Meigo-senpai? Maybe if we figure that out, we'll understand their motives," Shirai-san, seated in her wheelchair, rested her chin on her hand thoughtfully, still holding the camera.
"I have no memories from before three years ago. Even my name was given to me by the orphanage. So besides singing, I basically have nothing that truly belongs to me."
Meigo Arisa stopped walking, a trace of reminiscence crossing her face as she seemed lost in thought.
"Maybe something happened three years ago that I don't know about. I'm sorry for dragging everyone into this."
Her usually optimistic face now tinged with apology, Meigo-senpai lowered her head slightly, her voice subdued.
After a long moment of no one responding, Meigo-senpai looked up to find everyone deep in discussion.
"Perhaps we should start by investigating the 'Orion' from three years ago," Natsume-san suggested with a serious air.
"I think it's probably related to the Orbit Portal Company. That gothic lolita beauty chairman definitely has problems," Saten-san said with conviction.
"Actually, the most important thing right now should be tomorrow's opening ceremony. Since they sent protection, it means that company cares deeply about tomorrow's performance."
"I think something might happen tomorrow," Misaka-senpai finally spoke up, breaking her silence.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.