In Academy City, any assault on the institutions of the Board of Directors is a serious crime.
If tried in juvenile court, offenders are almost always sent to the reformatory in District 10.
While Natsume-san believed that locking up those members of the Skill-Out gangs wasn't exactly unjust, she still felt that Kouzaku Mitori had gone too far.
No matter how you looked at it, entrapment like this wasn't something to be encouraged.
Her thoughts drifting off track again, Natsume Sonoko admittedly held some bias against these delinquent groups.
Cases of ability users being attacked were frequent in Academy City, and these guys were undoubtedly the main perpetrators behind such incidents.
As a member of an ability-user group herself, Natsume Sonoko naturally sided with the ability users.
Lately, however, Konori-senpai had shown her another side of the story.
Assaults and softer forms of violence targeting the powerless were even more common throughout Academy City, which was partly why some armed Skill-Out groups had emerged in the first place. This made it difficult for Natsume-san to outright condemn their existence with absolute moral certainty.
"If it's just as Shokuhou-senpai says, then we really can't let this happen."
After mulling it over, Natsume-san gently smoothed her emotions, nodded, and spoke.
That girl, Kouzaku Mitori, was on the verge of losing all reason.
Unless someone could pull her back from the cliff's edge, she was bound to crash and burn, dragging down a whole bunch of the Skill-Out members she controlled along with her.
Natsume Sonoko had no aspirations of being a savior, nor was she particularly passionate about rescuing delinquents. It was just that, in Kouzaku Mitori, she seemed to see a reflection of that desperate, screaming version of Misaka-senpai.
After so many unhappy events had occurred, having a chance to prevent even one or two tragedies felt like a good thing.
Most importantly, there was the golden-haired girl before her. Shokuhou-senpai had been helping her constantly, so she wanted to help her senpai in return.
"But there's still a major problem. I can't defend against the Exterior's attacks. I might even end up being controlled by Kouzaku Mitori herself."
After hesitating for a good while, Natsume-san finally voiced her concern.
She hadn't expected to be facing that thing again so soon.
Even though the Electromagnetic Barrier had been added to her development queue alongside the Thermo-dynamic Conversion Formula, no formula could become practical that quickly. It still required extensive verification and trial-and-error.
In fact, after Kihara Gensei's defeat, Natsume-san had let her guard down, losing that initial sense of urgency.
She hadn't prioritized developing the Electromagnetic Barrier immediately, instead working on multiple formulas simultaneously.
But this served as a new wake-up call. Coming to her senses, Natsume-san promptly changed the priority settings in Reiko's internal computer, making the Electromagnetic Barrier the main development focus. Better late than never, as they say.
"You needn't worry about that, Sonoko-chan."
Shokuhou-senpai gave a slight smile. She understood the concerns of the certain bun-haired girl, and knew they weren't directed at her.
"The Exterior is powerful, but it's still just an external tool. If I wish to, I can interrupt her actions once or twice without a problem."
A glint of confidence shone in her sparkling eyes. With her powerful bodyguards for protection, Shokuhou Misaki wasn't overly worried about the power her opponent wielded.
Ability users of the same system generally possessed a degree of resistance against each other, a phenomenon especially pronounced among Mental Out users.
Even Kihara Gensei had needed to render Shokuhou Misaki completely helpless before he could invade her mind.
Furthermore, battles between Mental Out users typically took place within their own bodies. Under this premise, an attack from either side could force the other to retreat and defend.
This meant Shokuhou Misaki could unexpectedly interrupt her opponent's use of Mental Out.
However, once the opponent was on guard, the effectiveness of such interruptions would be significantly reduced.
"I understand."
Natsume-san gave a slight nod and spoke softly.
One or two interruptions would be enough—it was even better than she'd expected.
Dealing with a normal Mental Out user wouldn't be too difficult for Natsume-san. Getting close to them basically guaranteed her victory, especially with the luxury of one or two chances for error.
--+--
Amidst the lively atmosphere of the girls' whispered conversation, even the howling wind seemed to carry a faint scent of perfume.
A certain temperature-controlling girl had regained a rare confidence. A smile played on her lips, and she looked thoroughly self-assured.
'This should be fine,' Natsume-san thought, already picturing herself in an unstoppable, invincible scene, cutting down anyone who stood in her way.
As long as they were ordinary humans, Natsume-san could handle them. 'This is the bearing an esper should have,' she decided.
Alright, let's set aside the confidently brimming bun-haired girl for a moment. Hopping over one towering, expensive-looking building after another, the two girls finally reached their destination, having hurried as best they could.
At the border between District 1 and District 4 lay a lakeside park offering camping and fishing services.
The park's main gate was shut tight—a rare sight during the Daihasei Festival, when it should have been open to welcome students and their families.
"Komaba-san, are we here to go camping?"
"If you'd told me earlier, I'd have brought my pink blanket."
Rising on her tiptoes, the little girl, Fremea, excitedly shook the arm of the somewhat dazed two-meter-tall giant.
Seeing his indifferent reaction, Fremea pursed her lips, immediately feeling a bit unhappy.
Remembering that Komaba was usually this inarticulate and slow to respond, she didn't become overly suspicious, but her little expression grew increasingly sulky.
--+--
Meanwhile, near them, a punk wearing a tacky orange tracksuit jacket squatted semi-impatiently by the lakeside, glancing sideways at the growing crowd of delinquents.
'Skill-Out,' he corrected himself mentally. 'Basically just a bunch of losers who failed to become ability users.' Hamazura Shiage sighed at the thought.
Who wouldn't want to get into one of Academy City's prestigious schools, ride a spacious school bus, eat free gourmet lunches, and spend most of the day just playing on their phone or reading manga?
"Hamazura, even the guys from District 10 are here. Whoever's controlling Komaba has significant pull."
"I initially thought we'd pissed someone off by standing up for the powerless, but it looks like we're just small fry."
Appearing silently, a boy dressed in black clothing patted Hamazura Shiage on the shoulder. His eyelids drooped slightly as he spoke with a calm demeanor.
"This is anything but normal. Let's wait and see. If things get really bad, we knock Komaba out and run for it. Or maybe we should just call Anti-Skill?"
Spreading his hands, Hamazura Shiage suggested with a foolish expression, even proposing the idea of notifying Anti-Skill.
"Fine by me. It's not like we're strangers to the Anti-Skill offices anyway."
The boy named Hattori Hanzou actually nodded in agreement.
--+--
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.