Chapter 100: Miscalculation

The day after I realized that the mastermind behind "Indian Poker" was Ms. Kuriba, the story clearly began to move forward.

"Ehh!? Doppelgänger has escaped!?"

It happened at night.

While I was preparing various arrangements to meet with Ms. Kuriba, suddenly, such news spread through the Dark Side’s information network.

…Of course, Doppelgänger’s abnormal behavior of escaping was concerning.

With personnel rushing around in confusion, I gave instructions to the official members of "Member" who had gathered in one place.

"Mr. Saraku, please investigate Doppelgänger’s escape. The fact that such news is circulating in the Dark Side’s network means there may be organizations lurking in the area. Do not engage the main body—focus primarily on scouting the surroundings."

Even though it was just an investigation, scouts from Dark Side organizations were likely present in the area. To prepare for any potential clashes, I sent Mr. Saraku, who was quick and versatile in combat.

The Doctor was probably the single strongest among "Member," but honestly, that card is too versatile and valuable to play lightly… If pure fighting strength is needed, I’d rather step in myself.

As for Mr. Adabana, he had to stay behind this time since he needed to act as a bridge between GMDW and "Member."

After watching Mr. Saraku head out according to my instructions, I put on my coat, ready to make contact with Ms. Kuriba, when—

"…Underground Fourth, Another Four."

Suddenly, Mr. Baba addressed us.

I finished putting on my coat and turned my gaze toward him.

"Mr. Baba? Is something the matter?"

"No… I just felt something was off. That escaped Doppelgänger—wasn’t it leftover equipment from the recent experiment that Ryouko Kuriba participated in? Why, then, were Dark Side organizations around that area…?"

"……"

…Now that he mentioned it.

"There’s no solid evidence yet, but we should remain cautious. …It’s possible that Dark Side agents are reaching out to Ryouko Kuriba herself."

Indeed, Mr. Baba might be right.

If Doppelgänger and Ms. Kuriba were connected, then her surroundings might already be under the influence of the Dark Side.

I was truly glad he warned me beforehand. If we had stumbled into each other on site, chaos would have been inevitable. Well… I doubt it would’ve been another coincidence with Ms. Mugino, but still.

"Thank you for the warning. …If there really are Dark Side operatives lurking, then we must protect Ms. Kuriba."

"Well, technically, we’re part of the Dark Side too."

"As long as you serve under me, you are not Dark Side! Which means, of course, killing and kidnapping are absolutely forbidden!! You do understand that, don’t you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry—we strictly enforce that rule, even among the sub-organizations. Thanks to you, I’m living the cleanest life I’ve ever had in the Dark Side."

Watching Mr. Baba shrug in exasperation, I lowered my guard as well.

In truth, many of "Member" probably still think of themselves as Dark Side agents who just happen to be working under us on a contract basis… But we are not part of the Dark Side in any way.

I’ve also heard that the sub-organizations cooperating with GMDW tend to be relatively well-behaved.

"Well then, we’ll be going."

After saying that, we leapt into the darkness of the night.

…Dark Side organizations, huh.

I hope nothing happens…

Chapter 3 – The Value of a Soul Is Worthless – Double(Square)_Faith.
Episode 84: Miscalculation – Bad_Timing.

"…Huh? You’re…"

When I rushed to the scene, the one standing there wasn’t Ms. Kuriba—but for some reason, it was Ms. Mikoto.

…Wait, huh? Why???

"Mi… Mikoto-san? Why are you here? And… those people over there…?"

And it wasn’t just her.

At Mikoto’s feet lay one black-haired girl, one blonde-haired girl, and one brown-haired boy.

A total of three young people were sprawled out on the ground, all slightly toasted.

…The black-haired one, I don’t recognize, but the blonde girl and brown-haired boy—those are probably Frenda and Hamazura, right? They’re facedown so I can’t tell for sure, but… what, did a fight break out?

"I don’t know. They were targeting Ms. Kuriba, so I fried them. Since you came all the way here too, I’m guessing you have business with her."

"Yes… I’m here about the matter of ‘Indian Poker’…"

Most likely, Ms. Mikoto knew something about that as well, which explained why she was here.

Since she’d already fought and was probably on edge, I decided it was better not to dodge the issue and just be honest. That seemed to work, because she visibly relaxed her shoulders.

"Ah, so that’s your angle?"

"That angle…? Ah, I see. Ms. Mikoto, you’re chasing after Doppelgänger, aren’t you."

That made sense.

Mikoto didn’t seem like the type to involve herself in shady backroom incidents like Indian Poker. More likely, she’d just happened to collide with Doppelgänger’s escape and was following up on that.

"Of course, I’ve sent subordinates after Doppelgänger as well. But I… I must eradicate Indian Poker."

"…Eradicate it? Why?"

"I’ll explain in more detail while we move. For now, we should pursue Ms. Kuriba. It looks like some dangerous people are gathering around her."

"No. Something more urgent has come up. I’d rather explain it while we move too… so, would you come with me?"

………

This feels like I’m about to get dragged off-track…

《Reicia-chan, what do we do?》

《Eh? …I think it’s fine. It could be a connected issue after all…》

《…Reicia-chan, you weren’t really listening, were you?》

When I asked in exasperation, Reicia-chan hastily scrambled to defend herself.

《I wasn’t spacing out or anything, really! I was just… thinking. Why would Frenda and Hamazura go out of their way to secure Ms. Kuriba? Item was never supposed to have any direct stake in Indian Poker.》

Sure enough, her reasoning was sound.

Item was only hired to cut off contact between third parties abusing Indian Poker and us—they weren’t assigned to meddle with Indian Poker itself.

That was confirmed later through Member’s intel network.

In other words, as of yesterday, Item had absolutely no motive to target Ms. Kuriba, the mastermind behind Indian Poker.

And yet, Hamazura and Frenda, both members of Item, had gone after her. That didn’t make sense. …Unless it wasn’t a mission, but just them messing around off-duty or something…

…Something unrelated to the mission, huh.

《For example, what if Ms. Kuriba is connected somehow to Item’s current enemies?》

《Current enemies… ah!!》

At that moment, Reicia-chan seemed to realize something.

《That’s right… I completely forgot! During the recent Dark Side conflict, Sandazara Chimitsu’s predecessor was… killed by Item, wasn’t he!!》

…Huh? Was that how it went?

………Ah!! Now that she mentions it, I think someone did say that!! And wait—we fought that predecessor ourselves not long ago!!

So, that person… was already killed?

…We’d met them. There must have been a chance—an opening where I could’ve reached out to them. Couldn’t I have saved them somehow? They were probably around our age too…

《Shiren. Regret won’t change anything. We aren’t omnipotent heroes. There will be people we fail to save. Even so, we must keep looking forward.》

《…Yeah. You’re right.》

At times like this, I’m really glad Reicia-chan and I are bound as one.

If it were just me, I might’ve crumbled under this kind of pressure. But since we’re together, we can support each other, and even someone like me can keep moving forward.

《…That said, one of their members was killed. To School, Item is naturally an enemy, and Item, aware of the risk of retaliation, would want to crush School first. In that case, some circumstance or technology that Kuriba holds—for instance, Indian Poker—might be involved, don’t you think?》

《A-as expected of you, Reicia-chan! That’s some incredible insight!!》

《Fufun…》

She’s getting a little full of herself, but honestly, I can forgive it. That’s a sharp deduction.

From what I can tell, there are no holes in her reasoning. It’s consistent. We may have just cracked Item’s mindset wide open…

And if we think further—consider what Item’s remaining forces might do after their attempt to abduct Kuriba failed…

《…I think Mugino-san will be drawn out once Mikoto-san defeats Frenda and Hamazura.》

《I believe so too.》

Well, of course. It’s Mugino. If the eternal rival that is the Number Three gets in the way of her plan, she’ll definitely show herself.

But on the other hand…

《If we accompany Mikoto-san… won’t that prevent Mugino-san from showing up?》

After all, Mugino had just been defeated by us not long ago.

Even someone like her should be a little more cautious now. And if the Number Three and the “Other Fourth” of the Dark Side are moving together, there’s no way she’d dare to interfere.

Besides, knowing her personality, if things reach that point, she’ll probably abandon Kuriba altogether. Splitting our forces would only increase the risk of attack—so staying together and leaving Mugino dangling would actually be the safer option.

We reached that conclusion in a heartbeat—in the span of a single second—and gave Mikoto our answer.

"Understood. Let’s pursue Doppelgänger first."

"Good. Then let’s exchange intel on the way."

"………………They gone?"

In the quiet of the night-shrouded city.

The blonde girl, Frenda Seivelun, who had collapsed ungracefully, called out without moving a finger to Hamazura Shiage, who lay beside her.

"……Looks like they’re gone."

Lifting his head and scanning the area, Hamazura muttered before forcing himself up to his feet. Frenda followed his lead and stood as well.

──Yes, they had certainly been struck by Misaka Mikoto’s lightning. But the scene omitted a number of important details.

For instance, before stepping out in front of her, the two had already detected Misaka’s presence.
For instance, Frenda knew from bitter past experience that she stood no chance in a head-on clash with a Level 5 esper.
For instance, that very understanding had led the pair to prepare a gadget beforehand to "play dead."

And so, thanks to Hamazura’s quick thinking, most of the lightning’s force had been grounded into the earth, leaving Frenda and Hamazura free to deceive not only Mikoto, but even Reicia’s watchful gaze.

From the outside, they looked convincingly fried, and since Reicia hadn’t bothered with her wind-sensing ability, everything had worked out in their favor.

"…………Phewwwwwwww～～～～～～!!!! I swear, my heart almost gave out!! Seriously, what the hell was that!? Why did the underground Fourth Rank, Another Four, have to show up too!?"

"Like hell I’d know! I’m just the weakest of the weak, a Level 0 powerless loser, remember!?"

"I’m a Level 0 powerless loser too! Don’t use levels as an excuse!"

"……Urgh……!!!!"

Frenda’s jab, meant as nothing more than a comedic retort, pierced right into Hamazura’s tender heart. The defeated young man clutched at his solar plexus (because apparently Hamazura’s heart resided there) and groaned.

"That aside, though! At least now we can get close to Kuriba. ……Honestly, the idea of having to kidnap her by force was weighing heavy on me."

"……Don’t remind me. Just the other day I was on the side trying to stop exactly that kind of thing, you know? Ugh, seriously, in this industry, there really isn’t anyone who gets to play the hero."

Frenda and Hamazura both slumped their shoulders.

At that moment, the same thought crossed their minds.

Yes, they had minimized the damage with grounding, but of course their smartphones and other gear had been fried beyond recovery. In other words, they had no way to communicate with the outside world now.

And since no other Item members could monitor their movements either, wasn’t this the perfect chance to just……not go through with their original assignment of abducting Kuriba Ryouko?

Because really—snatching her up would no doubt incur the wrath of Reicia Blackguard.

Even in perfect condition, they had been utterly crushed in an instant. Even if all of Item gathered their strength, could they really win against her? The odds felt……highly questionable.

"Of course……I don’t doubt Mugino would win in the end! But if we kidnap Kuriba Ryouko, those people will come at us without hesitation, without giving us the slightest chance to prepare."

"……Yeah. And when that happens, the first ones to get wiped out are us lowly grunts……"

Frenda, driven by the frustration of being stuck with endless grunt work in the underworld.
Hamazura, driven by the victim complex that had accumulated over his long years in Skill-Out.

Each drew from their own thoroughly selfish, pathetic motives……but even so, that very pettiness allowed them to muster up a sliver of courage.

They could justify it with a single excuse: "It’s just not worth it."

"So hey……why don’t we just drop the whole kidnapping thing?"

"…………Agreed."

──Normally, the chances of "these two, at this exact point in time," making such a choice were vanishingly small.

Yes, they each had a conscience buried deep inside, one that could shine bright enough to earn the title of "hero." But right now, both Hamazura Shiage and Frenda Seivelun’s souls were caked in mud, and reclaiming that original shine should have required a trial by fire.

Yet, by some strange twist of fate, with countless factors aligning just so, the two of them chose a different path.

The path that led toward glory.

…………Of course, the road to glory would be paved with severe trials, heavy-object-sized obstacles awaiting them at every turn……