Chappie up~ Please enjoy :D
Chapter E15: Academy City.
The first thing that came to my mind after passing through the rift, was shade.
It was a day, but there was no sunlight; almost as if the entire city was blanketed by a thick blanket of clouds on a rainy day.
The sensation that assaulted me next was a feeling of sudden weakness and powerlessness.
It was only then that I began registering the broken roads, wrecked vehicles, and devasted buildings.
It was a hellscape.
I grew increasingly uncomfortable, and I understand the reason why.
My sudden lethargy was not unprecedented; my powers were being siphoned off by a mysterious external force.
My AIM related powers to be exact.
But that wasn't what surprised me the most. It was not the most pressing problem, after all.
Just what happened to the sky?
No. That was not an appropriate question.
For there was no sky.
A moon-like structure was floating at presumably ionospheric heights; a sphere so ginormous that it cast a dark shadow on the entire city, blotting out the skies itself.
A mindboggling scale of the anomaly caused me to shudder involuntarily.
It oddly reminded me of that specific doomsday starship from that one very popular science-fiction franchise. (*ahem* Deathstar)
Seeing that I was now thinking of nonsense, undoubtedly, the mysterious drain was beginning to tax my mental faculties.
While it wasn't particularly severe, it was an undeniable fact that it was affecting my combat abilities negatively.
My train of thought broke as suddenly my sixth sense flared.
Danger!
I felt the air behind me shift, and I violently cocked my head to the side.
BOOOOM.
Something flew past my face, narrowly missing it.
The sudden boom and shock told me that I had just avoided a 120mm high-caliber cannonball round traveling roughly a dozen times the speed of sound.
I knew what it was.
It was a railgun round.
Now that I knew what it was, the only question that remained was the obvious: who fired it at me?
The most likely candidate was the Level 5.
The Railgun. Misaka Mikoto.
But I already knew it wasn't her. Because I had already sensed it.
The dilapidated buildings began to violently sway as a sudden earthquake began shaking the place upside down.
Tongues of flames began erupting into the sky painting the grey skyline orange like a second sunset.
The culprit— it seemed was a 50-foot tall mechanical monster that was slowly making its way here.
Within moments, the steel and carbon-fiber goliath came to a standstill, towering above me like a small mountain. Standing roughly five-storeys high, I could make out the name "BARBIE" written in pink glittering letters across its chest.
Was that a joke? ...I had never seen something so out-of-place in my entire lifetime.
Anyway, whatever the case might be, it seemed like the four-legged machine giant— "BARBIE"— was specifically sent to antagonize me.
I sighed. I had no time for this. Accessing the pocket dimension, I unsheathed the Joyeuse.
Almost as if sensing my hostility, a split second later, BARBIE swung its enormous fists at me.
I evaded the strike altogether by leaping sideways. The strike hit the ground, punching a crater deep into the asphalt.
It was a bad move. It should have tried using that high-caliber railgun on its back.
This was my assumption, but rather than intelligence, the machine seemed to be moving instinctively.
{Imitate: God of Strength— Kratos}
The {Energy Drain} was inconsequential enough to cause me any lingering worry. So, I shifted my AIM to bolster my phusical strength.
The moment I regained the footing, I threw the Joyeuse at what I presumed to be its chest like a lance.
With a sonic boom, the blade crashed into BARBIE with the force of a bunker-buster. The kinetic energy of the impact was enough to break through the mechanical monster's hindlegs and make it capitulate backwards.
As the monster fell with an earth-shattering thump, I knew this was my chance. In one fluid motion, I leaped onto its chest and recovered my blade.
The chest armor was now heavily damaged, and I could spot some old circuitry sparking behind it. The Joyeuse, as I expected, had completely managed to pierce through sheet-metal like wet tofu.
Now to deal with it.
Heave ho!
With a burst of strength, I ripped thing's entire chest armor off.
And then—
{Imitate: God of Fire— Surtr.}
—I unleashed a blazing inferno at all the flashing circuits and wires I could see.
For a machine of its size and caliber, its cablings seemed "cheap" and strangely analog.
Anyway, with most of its vital machinery burnt to a crisp from the inside, BARBIE slumped down inactive like a wind-up-toy.
That was oddly easy.
A slight headache hit me.
Not good.
The carbon-steel mecha was one thing, but this place was slowly siphoning away my energy.
I did not know whether it had anything to do with my constitution as an esper, but lingering in this place for long wouldn't be in my best interests.
As such, I had to find shelter. That much was reasonable.
But looking at the grey sphere that filled the entire sky horizon to horizon, was such a thing even possible?
Even without {Energy Drain} this place was giving off some seriously bad vibes. Rather than finding shelter, I had to find a way out of here.
WHIZZZ. WHIRL. WHOOM.
I sensed something else behind me. Making a mechanical hum that oddly resembled a conveyor belt, I detected a small group of machines make their way towards me.
These must have been sent in to investigate the ruckus I caused while dealing with BARBIE.
Dashing into a nearby alleyway, I took cover. I decided to observe the new group for now.
And soon enough, I was able to visually confirm the group.
Just what were those things?
The upper portion oddly resembled a Powered-Suit from my old world, the lower portion, however, seemed something like a mechanical horse.
Except instead of legs it moved on two tread tracks, like a tank. Not to mention that each of the arms of the Power Suit carried an electrically operated Gatling gun.
Thus, it seemed like the horse-like torso was actually a large repository for ammunition.
Should I treat them as Power-Suit-cum-APCs?
Also, it seemed like these guys were different from the machine giant from a while back.
But most importantly, the thermal signature of the central APC indicated that it contained a living person— an operator.
And judging from the unhealthy amount of pink-heart stickers present on the three machines, it seemed like that operator was a girl.
Um. Talk about weird tastes.
Yet it was high time for someone to answer some of my questions.
I decided to observe their movements a little bit more.
The central APC— the one with the person— seemed to be spinning around destroyed BARBIE frantically. The person inside seemed to be making a very peculiar sound as well.
Was that person sobbing? …Or perhaps she had some other ulterior purpose.
After all, the actions her APC took resembled some kind of ritual. Could it be that she was some kind of esper necromancer?
Wait, was there anything an esper necromancer?
And even if it did, would necromancy even work on a mechanical consciousness in the first place?
It seemed like no amount of further pondering would give me an answer.
I stepped out of my hiding place. The crunch of my footsteps immediately gave me away.
The central "living" machine appeared greatly surprised, but as expected of a "pro," she immediately sensed my hostility. She immediately ordered the two of her unmanned APCs to attack me right away.
They raised each of their twin Gatling guns at me.
Since I opted against letting either of them open fire, with a resounding thud, I drove my bare fist deep into the midsection of the first APC, and then hurled the entire thing at the second one.
CRASH!
In barely an instant, both of them were reduced to nothing more than a heap of mangled scrap metal.
The word "cheap" floated in my head.
Just one of my attacks was enough to tear a hole through several layers of reinforced carbon-steel and utterly wreck the thing.
It made me feel as if they were made of plastic.
But those were distractions anyway. The last remaining one was the real deal.
I shifted my gaze towards her machine. As our gazes met, the "APC" flinched rather grandly as it haphazardly pointed its twin Gatling guns towards me.
I could almost smell her fear.
Even though it was trained on me, it was her guns that vibrated ever so slightly.
To make a machine so expressive, it seemed the operator was at least well versed in the art of theatrics and puppetry.
But I was not going to go easy on her just because of that.
I gently walked forward. Her twin Gatling arm-guns opened fire the exact same instant.
{Imitate: God of Speed— Hermes}
This was something that I learned to do by using the effects of {Imitate: God of Lightning— Indra} on my own cells, thus turning them into miniature energy reactors which boosted my speed and reactions.
As my speed and senses heightened greatly, I found the bullets to be too slow.
A normal bullet traveled anywhere between 2-4 times the speed of sound.
It seemed like the Gatling guns were no different. And as such those speeds, even with the place debuffing me greatly, was just too easy to handle.
I continued walking forward. The big idea was to intimidate her and make her complaint. So, instead of dispatching it quickly, I simply took my sweet time doing so. Like taking a leisurely stroll in the park.
I avoided most of the bullets with minimum movements and swatted the ones that couldn't be avoided at all.
I wanted her to overestimate me.
Surprisingly though, she changed the aim of her guns multiple times. While it registered only as an annoyance in my books, that was a solid strategy.
First, it was my face. Next, my neck. And right after that, my heart. These were intuitive things that were not learned overnight. Yet the operator's movements were smooth like flowing water.
However, the bullets continued to be either dodged or swatted away continuously.
The moment I reached the APC, I grabbed both of the superhot rotating barrels… and ripped them clean off.
"…!" (APC)
The APC froze up after seeing its weapons in my hands.
With that, the battle was over.
Since not even a couple of Level 3 espers could have won against this thing, I couldn't help but evaluate its abilities fairly high. Too bad today's matchup was all wrong for it.
I reached out and grabbed the handle near the helmet of the Power-Suit.
"Eeeeep!" (APC)
The shocked enemy immediately went into a panic mode.
It writhed and wriggled, trying to free itself out of my vice-like grip. I was not thinking of killing her, but then again I guess there was no way she would have known that.
My other hand had barely touched the Power-Suit's visor when—
"I surrender! I surrender, d*mmit!" (APC operator)
SHOOOOM!
With the sound of an airlock being opened, the helmet opened up.
Like I expected… it was a girl. A masked girl.
The girl raised her hands, the Power Suits hands high up in the air with intention of surrender. And right after that, the horse-like contraption opened up and the Power-Suit separated as she fell to the ground in a kowtow position.
"…" (Touma)
This was awkward.
"P-P-Please accept my apologies! We were wrong! P-Please spare my life!" (Power Suit girl)
Not only had she changed her stance in a heartbeat, she was now even begging for her life.
For the first time in a while, I was left speechless.
"This thing belongs to you, I presume." (Touma)
I pointed at BARBIE's wreckage. The girl nodded fervently in approval. It seemed she was at least honest with me.
"Then why did you have it attack me?" (Touma)
"W-We have committed a grave sin!" (Power Suit girl)
The Power Suit girl planted her head on the ground as she continued.
"However, since our group was tasked with patrolling and maintenance of this place, we just couldn't ignore it when an anomaly suddenly popped up inside our turf. But I'd be eternally grateful if you forgive us." (Power Suit girl)
Oh, well.
Maybe her side was not completely in the wrong, too.
After all, I was the trespasser here. Who am I to protest if the owner sought to expel me from their private property.
So, I changed my question slightly.
"But I just destroyed some of your equipment in "self-defense", and I assume that they were pretty expensive, too. You wouldn't be asking me for compensation later, would you?" (Touma)
The girl bit her lip.
With a broken voice—
"I…It is all… ri…ght! We, the SCAVENGERS, a…re rich! That tin can wo…uldn't even register as a lo…ss in our account books."
Looking at her swimming eyes, I was rendered even more speechless. She really missed it, didn't she? That tin can— BARBIE.
Honestly, it made me feel like a bad guy who had just stolen a child's favorite toy.
The girl slightly raised her head in an attempt to read my reactions.
But seeing me lost in thoughts, she probably thought her situation was gradually getting worse and worse.
She kowtowed even harder, her forehead was almost an inch deep in the dirt now.
"If you spare my measly little life, I shall do anything! I c-can e-even give you my bo-body!" (Power Suit girl)
Oi oi… Body, you say?
You are at least a decade early before making such preposterous statements.
But since she was planning to do anything…
Indeed, there were things she could do for me.
I wanted information.
"Just take me to your HQ." (Touma)
"E-Excuse me?" (Power Suit girl)
The Power Suited girl raised her head with a surprised expression. For a moment, I could spot a hint of relief flashing across her face. This girl— did she really think that I would ask her for her underdeveloped body?
"I want you to take me to your HQ. You said you operated as a group correct? I am sure you would have a base of operations." (Touma)
"Y-Yeah. W-We have o-one of those. B-But what will you d-do if I-I take you there?" (Power Suit girl)
It seemed like she was worried about her comrades as well.
Well, it made sense on some level.
From her perspective, I was a monster that had killed a 50-foot goliath in a heartbeat, swatted away .75 caliber bullets like flies, and overcome three Power Suits with nothing but brute strength.
Taking someone like that to their base was…
Hmm.
Sensing that I was taking quite some time to ponder on this supposedly simple issue—
"B-But I-I'm not saying that I-I won't let you in our base! In fact… I-It would be o-our great ho-honor! Hohoho!" (Power Suit girl)
—the Power Suit girl grew even more desperate than before. She decided to make the point abundantly clear that absolutely no violence would be needed for me to enter their hideout.
"I shall also g-give you a lot of information on the city's d-dark side as well. I-If you can promise our g-group's safety, then I s-swear that we will help you in your wh-whatever mission however we can." (Power Suit girl)
Now that offer was really enticing.
For me who simply wanted to get out of this place asap, this offer was quite attractive. Information and little helpers.
In fact, it felt a bit too good to be true.
And from my experience; that was a problem.
So… should I trust her?
I mean I didn't plan to kill her in the first place, but was this really the only option available?
There was no other way.
I reached down to the kowtowing Power Suit girl's face and lifted her chin up. Fear was clearly visible in her eyes.
Mustering the absolutely cold voice I could muster—
"Can I trust you?" (Touma)
—I asked.
"Eeeep! I-I-I'm not l-lying! I r-really really really truly mean it! I-It is the truth!" (Power Suit girl)
I was a believer in an equivalent give or take.
She tried to kill me. So, I intended to use her for my own purposes.
Not that I could or wanted to do anything bad to these kids even if they were to betray me.
But I guess I won't be sharing that piece of information.
I'll just stay vigilant and watch out for their betrayal.
"Alright. You better not disappoint me." (Touma)
I let go of her chin.
"If you take me to your HQ and tell me all you know about this god-forsaken place, and then I'll quietly leave you guys alone." (Touma)
"T-Truthfully?!" (Power Suit girl)
I nodded my head.
The complexion of the Power Suit girl brightened to such an extent that she was practically shining.
Was she just that honest with her emotions? Or perhaps she was just a simpleton?
I couldn't inwardly click my tongue.
But before that, I had something to ask her.
"Your name? How should I be calling you?" (Touma)
"I am Iizumi Rita. The Leader of SCAVENGERS." (Iizumi)
Still kowtowing, the girl began introducing herself. While I couldn't care any less about her background or history, I figured it might have a clue as to what was actually happening in the city.
To begin with, this city reminded me of my old world.
From the wrecked signboards and subtle hints of the cultural specific architecture, I had already figured out that I was somewhere in Japan.
The sensation of being back at home but not-quite-so assailed me. A weird type of homesickness that I for all intents had forgotten.
It reminded me of that conversation me and Elaine shared under the starry skies.
My chest clenched at the thought of her. She was waiting for me. I must avoid getting distracted.
But the big question here was: was this city really Academy City? That Academy City? From the legends?
I mean I was really confident that Level 5s existed in this world. Also not to mention except for the obvious difference that it siphons AIM instead of just disrupting them, the {Energy Drain} effect in this place oddly resembled that of an advanced AIM Jammer.
"You can call me Leade—" (Iizumi)
"…" (Touma)
As I lost myself in thoughts once again, the girl froze up for some reason. Did she think I was glaring at her?
Oh, I don't really mind calling her Leader or whatever as long as she proved useful to me.
"O-Or maybe n-not." (Iizumi)
Her face cramped as she said that. Maybe I had overdone a bit with my "intimidation" earlier.
Anyway, asking her directly was the easiest way to confirm my suspicions.
"This is Academy City, correct?" (Touma)
"Pardon me?" (Iizumi)
The girl looked at me as if I had grown an extra head.
Because she was still in a dogeza on the ground, I had to continue staring down at her to talk. Frankly, the setup was making me quite uncomfortable.
Therefore, I reached down, and as if it was just a little kitten, pulled her Power Suit by its neck handle, making it stand upright.
Maybe she got scared by my sudden action, but I felt her heart-rate accelerate.
"I'm asking you whether this place is Academy City?" (Touma)
"Y-Yes. It is." (Iizumi)
She answered in a daze. It was understandable in her situation.
"Can you tell me what is going on with this place? I feel like something is making me a bit restricted." (Touma)
"J-Just making you a bit restricted?" (Iizumi)
"Is this {Energy Drain} not the usual case?" (Touma)
"I-It is. It is. But ability restriction isn't usually what bothers the espers most when it comes to this {Energy Drain}." (Iizumi)
Iizumi Rita cautiously spoke. It was as if she was afraid of setting off a landmine with her words.
So {Energy Drain}'s ability restriction wasn't what was bothering the espers? What could be more important to an esper than their own ability?
Does that mean there was a problem more vexing than simply being unable to use their ability?
"Then what is their problem?" (Touma)
I asked her seriously.
Color drained even more from her face, and since her complexion was pale to begin with, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for her.
Just a bit, though.
"Death." (Iizumi)
"D-Death, you say?" (Touma)
That was quite the bombshell of information.
Academy City was the birthplace of espers. The only place they could call home.
For espers to equate such a place with "death" of all things.
"Y-Yes. No esper can function above ground without a Power Suit. Forget about using abilities, without protective equipment, the horrifyingly powerful {Energy Drain} will suck them dry within minutes. The usual results of that are death, coma, or at least catatonia." (Iizumi)
"Is there any exceptions to this phenomenon? (Touma)
"N-Not that I am aware of. The Level 5s have all but disappeared; A normal Level 4, however, can only hold the fort for roughly around thirty minutes." (Iizumi)
"That so?" (Touma)
I am sure I was giving off some grave vibes, because the next instant Iizumi's expression warped into an "Oh, cr*p! Did I f**k up somewhere?" expression.
Anyway, I decided to ask her one more vital question.
"How come you seem unaffected by this {Energy Drain}?" (Touma)
Since I had ripped open her Power Suit, it was almost ten minutes now.
"A-About that…" (Iizumi)
Almost as if on cue, like a toy with a dead battery, Iizumi froze up on spot. But that only lasted for a moment. She suddenly lost consciousness and powerlessly collapsed on the floor.
Wait, don't tell me.
A series of violent seizures assaulted her.
"…" (Touma)
Not good.
I quickly snatched her, and carefully laid her on the ground. I removed her mask, and then cutting my own finger, put it into her mouth.
[Biokinesis] had one more application. I never had the opportunity to use it on anyone else since I was the only esper at St. Maurice, but I could use my blood to heal or transfer my internal energy to another esper.
And since it was pure AIM, it wouldn't work on magicians. But for espers, one could liken it to an AIM transfusion.
However, even plain AIM transfusion was near-impossible to achieve because of the simple fact that different espers possessed completely different AIM diffusion fields.
But I was not like those "most" espers. I was someone genetically cultivated to become their "God."
I was supposed to be the result of countless generations of espers toiling their hardest to achieve salvation.
Therefore, my AIM was not only neutral but also incomparably pure. It was something like the O+ of blood transfusions. Depending on the situation, I could act as both a universal donor as well as a universal acceptor of AIM energies.
{Energy Drain} had caused an acute AIM deficiency in Iizumi; it was a life-threatening condition that I was directly responsible for causing.
As such, I felt obligated to help her.
I felt my energy flowing into her body, traveling through her meridians and nerves as it percolated the depths of her body.
A Level 3 Clairvoyant, or was it… Telemetry?
Like an ECG, the inner properties of her constitution was being relayed to me in real-time.
This process would have been even easier if I could enclose her Power Suit hatch, but I guess that wasn't possible especially with my finger in her mouth.
As such, I had no other choice but to wait for her to wake up.
Sitting down next to her, I began to connect every tidbit of information she provided me with.
"…Uh?" (Iizumi)
I quickly raised my upper body.
My mouth tasted like iron. Was it blood? Why was there blood in my mouth? Where was my mask?!
I couldn't understand.
That's when I sensed another presence nearby, and when I looked, I found a completely wordless black-haired boy sitting there.
My heart jumped a little at the sight of his "melancholic" visage.
"S-So, I wasn't dreaming…" (Iizumi)
Slowly getting used to my new situation, I took a look around me. And there were huge piles of scrap found nearly everywhere.
Seeing the wreckage of my beloved BARBIE, anger momentarily flared in my chest.
Yet I couldn't feel completely angry.
I had passed out of AIM deficiency. I would have been drained to a lifeless husk if I had been left here alone.
So… the only reason why I was still alive was because—
"Were you h-helping me recuperate this whole time?" (Iizumi)
Rather than answering me, the enigmatic boy raised his body up and then, extended his hand out to me.
While I couldn't help but be moved by his kind gesture, at the same time I couldn't— for the life of me— fathom what went on in that head of his.
{Energy Drain} killed Level 4 espers within minutes. Yet this person didn't even seem to be bothered all that much by it.
There was no doubt he was an overwhelmingly powerful esper.
Perhaps, he was that elusive #6 Level 5. Aihana Etsu-san.
Yup. That must be it!
Oh, by the way, I should correct how I address him. Let us roll with Aihana Etsu-sama. Yup, that sounds good! Better safe than sorry!
I did not want a Level 5 breathing down my throat.
But why would such a god-like esper go out of his way to help a nobody like me?
Not to mention, he didn't even know that this was Academy City in the first place. What kind of esper does that?
There were a lot of mysterious situations surrounding Aihana-sama.
Maybe, it is best not to pry. I should just consider myself lucky that I survived...
But before that—
"Thank you." (Iizumi)
"Considering that you are my partner, your thanks is unnecessary. Just take me to your base. This {Drain} is uncomfortable, really." (Touma)
I could feel my face heat up at the word "partner."
"Y-Yeah. It's not too far from here. I'll take you there." (Iizumi)
I then presented him with both the wrists of my Power Suit.
"…" (Iizumi)
"…?" (Touma)
He stared at me, confused. The silence was really uncomfortable. Feeling a bit frustrated, I opened my mouth first.
"I'm your hostage, so aren't you supposed to bind my hands before moving out?" (Iizumi)
"That wouldn't be necessary." (Touma)
I guess that is true. He must know that I cannot escape even if I wanted to.
He was a monster that barehandedly tore two Power Suits and Barbie. THAT Barbie!
We began walking.
Since he was on foot, and I was in a Power Suit, I deliberately slowed my pace to match his. It looked awkward, but I genuinely didn't want to incur his wrath.
"Don't mind me. Just run at your full speed." (Touma)
"B-But what about…" (Iizumi)
His ice-cold eyes left no room for discussion.
"T-Then…" (Iizumi)
My Power Suit's jet boosters activated, and I ran like sound, flew.
While I harbored no delusion that this speed would hardly be able to cause any problems for a Level 5—
—but actually seeing him keep up with me with absolutely no problem caused my heart to sink.
So… this was the rift of power between a Level 3 and a Level 5.
It seemed not even external augmentations could help this wide chasm be bridged.
I could understand why they were endearingly called "one-man armies."
I could feel my cheeks warm up as I was taken over by self-deprecating thoughts. It was a good thing that I had my visor on.
"Aihana-sama" simply continued to follow me quietly.
Just Iizumi said, we didn't have to travel far before arriving at a location that most likely served as their group's HQ.
It just happened to be a dilapidated building.
A front, was it?
The building was quite obviously a disguise. However, it matched the vibe of its surrounding to a tee.
Iizumi walked up to the main door and pressed a hidden button, causing the doors to slide open.
"There are some booby-traps here, Aihana-sama. Please be careful." (Iizumi)
Aihana-sama?
It seemed like she mistook me for someone else.
Well, whatever.
"…" (Touma)
I wordlessly nodded as I followed after her to deeper parts of the building.
Unlike its outside decrepit appearance, the insides were decent and fairly spacious. It was the type of building that looked small only on the outside.
After a short walk through the passageway, I found myself entering a certain room.
It was cramped chock-full of scientific apparatuses, monitors, and devices.
Looked like some kind of control room?
I scanned my surroundings.
It was shabby, unhygienic, and there was litter on the floor. With that dark "enclosed" vibe, the room looked like it belonged to a group of NEETs co-living together.
The only light in the room came from electronic monitors beeping together.
Also, a near half-naked girl was lounging "upside-down" on the sofa with a lollipop in her mouth while carelessly playing with her tablet-like thing.
"Leader!" (The strange girl)
"Naru, this person is…" (Iizumi)
Even before listening to Iizumi's explanation, the girl's eyes went wide causing the tablet to fall flat on her face.
"Owww. This guy is—" (Naru)
What was wrong? Why was this half-naked girl making such a face? I could even see that her irises very shaking quite visibly now.
Don't tell me that she's some sort of telepath?
"—chronically cute, isn't he?! Leader! Just where do you find this Adonis?!" (Naru)
A-Adonis!?
BONG!
"NARU! Be respectful!" (Iizumi)
Iizumi's fist crash-landed on "Naru's" head causing her to kneel down. I could only imagine the pain caused by taking a Power Suit's knuckle to the head.
"Naru is just too much! She really has no manners! Ahaha! I hope you don't mind the slight…" (Iizumi)
Iizumi smiled, but her cramped face made me feel like the smile didn't quite reach her eyes
"Geez~ Leader. You can't blame her, you see."
A voice piped up from behind me.
"You see. It is really rare seeing Leader act like a normal girl. So, it is really our guilty pleasure. Oh, by the way, the name's Itsuki, but you can call me Ya-kun." (Itsuki)
A short girl with long brown hair and black spats jumped down from the attic.
I couldn't help but feel a bit weirded out when she introduced herself to a complete stranger using her first name.
By the way… what was she doing in the attic, I wonder?
Maybe she was fixing the group's comms equipment.
This group which Iizumi called "Scavengers" seemed to be quite an odd bunch.
"Not you too, Ya-kun!" (Iizumi)
Iizumi desperately tried to explain, but it seemed like her efforts were not getting through at all.
"We are not in any physical relationship, if that is what you two are insinuating." (Touma)
"Straight as a bullet, are we? Well, that works, too. It looks like you've your work cut out for you, Leader. Good luck~ You're gonna need it!" (Itsuki)
It seemed like "Ya-kun" completely ignored my words.
"Ney~ Ney~ Leader! Tell me! Tell me the story of how he caught your fancy! Tell me! Tell me!" (Naru)
Naru asked Iizumi while poking at her cheeks.
I seriously had no time for shenanigans. Should I release my killing intent? As an organization operating in the darkness of Academy City, I'm sure that will clear all misunderstandings.
"SERIOUSLY, GUYS! I AM ASKING YOU TO STOP FOR ONCE! FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, WHAT IF AIHANA-SAMA TAKES OFFENCE!" (Iizumi)
It seems like I didn't need to as Iizumi screamed at the top of her lungs.
"A-Aihana! You don't mean…" (Itsuki)
"That Aihana?" (Naru)
"Aihana Etsu?! The #6th?!" (Itsuki)
Good. I completely missed my chance to introduce myself, didn't I?
Not that it matters.
As long as it leads me out of this city, I don't mind being Aihana or anyone else.
"Yes. We made a promise." (Touma)
"P-Promise!?" (Both)
Ya-kun and Naru took a step back. It seemed like whoever this Aihana Etsu was, he was greatly feared in the underworld.
Then they began whispering something between themselves.
I could pick up words like "Leader," "good for business," "Level 5," "reel-in," "romantic," "approval ratings," "Board of Directors," etc being thrown around in a cacophony of incomprehensible mumblings.
"Oh, so you two made a promise! Good for you! Good for you! *nod* *nod*." (Itsuki)
"So, um, when are you two getting married?!" (Naru)
I wished I could eat my fist.
But I could only curse my luck in meeting these two hormone-driven teenagers.
Explaining this would take a lot of time, wouldn't it?
I released a tired sigh. This was going to be a long day.
Author Notes and Guest Review:
Mr. X: Thanks for your review. As always, the gesture is much appreciated!
Time to answer the questions this time around ^^
1) Elizabeth highly regulated Elaine's interactions. As such, while her sanctum was filled with mob characters, the ones that truly interacted with Elaine were based on Elizabeth's acquaintances. For example: Elizabeth met Albert, Seth, and Azura in St. Maurice.
2) Yup. That Eliyah from Broadcasting Club was Leah's clone in Vilnius temple created by Elizabeth Bathory ^^ Although, she is not a resident of Anna's puppet classroom in the Academy, she might still be considered a highschooler since she is currently possessing the Beginning Child. I could not find the age of the Beginning Child, but she looks pretty young imo before she was frozen in stasis.
3) Ohoho! Is that so? Oh, by the way, your comment made me realize a stupid plothole. It seems like the actual conversation about Leah's identity took place in the Nika route (N6) of the story. It took place between Kanzaki and Anna. But that part didn't take place in Elaine's route. Thus, the plothole. But that being said, Anna always knew that the telepath was named Leah Hersig. She just never knew her appearance or identity.
Also, to fix the plothole, Anna must have given this information to Touma during the month-long "training" timeskip that takes place in Book 2 E11.
To further strengthen the fix, I have appending a line in Book 0's The Magical Catastrophe chapter. Therefore, not only does Anna know Leah (in only her name), but she offhandedly mentions it to Touma (which he decides not to pursue at that moment.)
Thanks again for your review as usual, Mr. X. Also, much thanks for finding an inconsistent point in the story :D
Moving on:
I have decided not to skip the Academy City arc (if it can be called that jaja). As such the story will be longer by a couple of chapters.
Academy City as you can see is in a major crisis. Most espers are out of commission, but they aren't all dead yet. Well, some have, quite obviously, but most of them are all hiding somewhere.
Level 5s are missing, but at least a couple of them are at the core of this arc.
Also, this part of the story has been inspired greatly by the Element Arc in the sense that it is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic setting in Academy City.
In my first version, I wanted Touma to fight a horde of monsters until he passes out due to {Energy Drain}. He would then be rescued by Anti-Skill who is patrolling the area. SCAVENGERS weren't involved at all. The story would have then advanced through Anti-Skill and white-hat researchers of Academy City.
But then I thought, why not hook up Touma directly to the heart of Academy City's darkness through SCAVENGERS.
SCAVENGERs are underdogs, and it really isn't fun playing goody-two-shoes in an apocalyptic lawless world.
Bad is badass!^^
By the way, the future characters in this fic are a year older than in canon since Touma is like 16 instead of 15.
I hope you liked the interactions with SCAVENGERs. Unlike canon, this is their first interaction with a Level 5 class esper. Therefore they aren't traumatized by the word. On the contrary, they might see Aihana as a golden opportunity to ferrying them to fame, aspiring to become stars of Academy City's darkness like SCHOOL, or GROUP, or ITEM.
See you next time then.
Toodles~
~VG outto~
(P.S: I plan to upload in a more infrequently since next week. Too much workload and family stress recently :( Also now I have a part-time job as well. Therefore, updates will become once every fortnight (but it may even become monthly sometimes). I'm truly and genuinely sorry for this. There will be a chapter next week, however, as my schedule will be updated after that. I hope you all don't mind, and I am genuinely sorry! But that being said, I'll try my utmost to write whenever I find myself with some free time.)