Chapter 22: The Outsider Takes the Stage

Even though I asked for their help—I had absolutely no intention of putting them on the front lines.

Frankly, if things reached that point, I’d probably be so on edge that I wouldn’t be able to handle my own role properly. That’d just backfire. So instead of relying on them for combat, I wanted their assistance with something much simpler—investigation, plain and simple. Just extra manpower.

And—well, even in that limited capacity, they’re more than enough to be a huge help. Nobody knows that better than me. I’ll leave their powers for self-defense if the worst comes to worst.

"—So with that in mind, Shika-san and the others will head in that direction. Sonai-san, your team will back up Shika-san and support me if something unexpected happens."

Once I finished giving instructions, I left the hospital room.

I was already changed into my Tokiwadai Middle School uniform, and the discharge paperwork was done, so I was free to move.

As a bonus, I had a visor-mounted camera connected to my smartphone so I could keep in touch with the rest of the faction anytime. This way, the people I called could see my live video feed. Truly, the high-tech wonders of Academy City and the perks of faction connections—what a dream. It only took a few minutes to gather everything I needed.

By the way, what I left in their hands was mostly monitoring Mikoto’s movements and investigating things going on around her. And, well… other stuff too.

…I was starting to think, "Wait, isn’t the Accelerator fight today?" But when I thought about it more carefully, jumping to that conclusion was premature.

My memory’s fuzzy—unless it was repeatedly hammered home in the novel, I don’t remember exactly which day each incident took place. It’s possible that it hasn’t happened yet—or worse, it might’ve already ended.

…Either way, gathering intel for what’s to come is crucial. Even if it does turn out today is the day.

Chapter 2: I Don’t Care If I Mess Up - Crazy_Princess.
Episode 18: The Outsider Takes the Stage - Actresses, Rush in.

"…Please, just let me make it in time…!"

And so, I was chasing after Mikoto while staying in contact with the members monitoring her—just in case today really was the day of the Accelerator fight.

Apparently, Mikoto had gone off without telling anyone where she was going, but surveillance cameras had picked her up, so we managed to trace her movements. She looked completely drained, but there were no visible injuries and no major health issues.

Which meant, at the very least, we could rule out one of the worst-case scenarios: that something irregular had already happened and Mikoto had died. …For now, that was a huge relief.

……If it were the usual Mikoto, I’d expect her to be able to spoof security cameras easily if she wanted to move in secret. But the fact that she didn’t probably means she didn’t have the mental bandwidth to do so. Thinking about it that way, it makes the possibility that today really is the Accelerator fight even more likely. …Guess it wasn’t so premature after all.

The current time… is 7:30. I don’t know exactly when the experiment is supposed to start, but it wouldn’t be strange if it had already begun.

If I remember the novel right, didn’t Mikoto run into Kamijou on a railway bridge and then head to the train yard afterward…? That’s what I was thinking as I followed the faction members’ directions, but…

"………This is…"

Following their guidance led me straight to the scene of what was clearly a large-scale discharge—probably the aftermath of a fight between Mikoto and Kamijou.

The air was thick with the scent of scorched earth and ionized air from the electrical heat. That meant—they likely hadn’t gotten far yet.

But it wasn’t the railway bridge from the novel where Mikoto and Kamijou clashed—it was just an ordinary riverside field.

…Since someone not from the novel had interfered in this incident, maybe the location of the experiment had changed too. This was bad… I’d subconsciously assumed that if I just followed the events as I remembered them, I’d make it in time. But without the faction’s guidance, I was totally in the dark…!

"Shika-san! What’s beyond this point!?"

“S-Sorry…! There was a massive electromagnetic discharge, and all the surveillance cameras around there got fried and stopped working!”

"Tch, as expected of Misaka-san. She’s not going to make this easy, huh…!"

This is bad—what do I do!? I’ve got no clue where Mikoto could’ve gone from here! How should I…?

“Right, Reicia-san! Use Jagged Edge the Monochrome Sawblade as a road and try ascending into the sky! We’ll analyze the visual data from here and pinpoint Misaka-san’s location!”

…!

Of course! Jagged Edge the Monochrome Sawblade is an omnipotent spear that slices through anything and an unbreakable shield that deflects everything—but that doesn’t mean it has to be only used for that. If I walk across the deployed shield like a road, it’s essentially a transparent path.

And from up high, I could probably spot Mikoto even if she looked like a speck. If the faction analyzes that visual data, we can confirm her location!

With that decided—!

ZSH! The moment I focused, a five-meter-wide transparent aerial corridor unfurled beneath my feet. It was see-through, but since I was the one deploying it, I could clearly see where the path was. I sprinted up the gently spiraling staircase-like structure and reached the top, where I could see the whole city.

…Not that it matters, but wow—it’s really high up. I made the path wide enough so there’s no danger of falling, but this is easily 100 meters above ground. The wind’s strong and it’s hard to keep my eyes open. Without the faction’s support, I could’ve gotten up here and still been completely lost…

"Shika-san, can you see anything!?"

“Hold on a sec… huh!? Kiryu-san spotted her!? Yes, right… Reicia-san, we’ve confirmed it! It’s at your 11 o’clock direction! Can you see her!?”

"The wind’s biting through the visor, but… I—I see her!"

Let’s see… Ah, there she is! That’s Mikoto! She’s sprinting like mad! Dammit… it hurts to run in Reicia-chan’s body because of her chest, so I can’t really go full speed… Even if I jump down now and chase her, I probably won’t catch up at that speed!

But I can’t extend Jagged Edge the Monochrome Sawblade toward her from here either—because I made it spiral for easier climbing, it stretched too far. The max deployment range is 500 meters—it won’t reach her from this point…!

"…In that case."

Resolving myself, I quietly made the decision and launched into a leap—from a height of 100 meters in the air.

"Reicia-san!? What are you—!?!?"

"And at the same time—Jagged Edge the Monochrome Sawblade, deploy!"

Fear almost made me shut my eyes, but if I did that, I’d be dead. Simple as that.

I deployed Jagged Edge the Monochrome Sawblade beneath me mid-fall and landed on it, sliding along its surface. Since I’d warped the “cutting plane,” even at high speed I didn’t have to worry about tumbling off. …Man, getting better at using my ability under pressure isn’t exactly something I can celebrate.

“!! Reicia-san! Looks like Misaka-san’s noticed you approaching!”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure we avoid any unnecessary conflict… Misaka-san, it’s me! Reicia Blackguard!”

When I said that, Mikoto—who had been bristling with tension as if ready to fire off an electric shock at any moment—suddenly froze, and some of that tension faded from her face. I used that moment to land safely.

…I almost stumbled a bit, but I held my footing out of pride for the elegant young lady I currently appeared to be—Reicia-chan.

"…Reicia-san, why are you here? You collapsed, didn’t you…?"

"That’s my line, Misaka-san."

"…………"

When I shot that back, Mikoto averted her gaze with a deeply pained expression. …Why is she reacting like that? From her perspective, the worst she could know is that I passed out after being electrocuted, right? The rest of the faction seemed surprised when I told them I’d been attacked by someone who looked like Mikoto, so clearly they haven’t figured out who the culprit is.

…Could it be that Mikoto does know it was the Sisters who attacked me?

"…Misaka-san, I was assaulted by someone who looked exactly like you, using electricity."

"!! W-Why are you so sure that wasn’t me…?"

"…………Don’t underestimate me. I pride myself on being one of the top Level 4 espers—if only barely. There’s no way I could mistake that half-hearted imitation for the real thing after actually facing you in battle."

After laying that foundation, I continued:

"With that said… Misaka-san, just what have you gotten yourself wrapped up in?"

"…"

Mikoto stared into my eyes for a few seconds, clearly deep in thought. Eventually, she relaxed a little and said:

"Before that, I’m going to have your entourage take their leave."

I didn’t even get a word in.

ZAP!! A crackle of violet lightning erupted—and whether the signal was jammed or something else happened, the call with Yumetsuki-san immediately dropped.

Looking awkward, Mikoto said:

"…Don’t take it the wrong way. This is my problem. I’m only telling you because you’re already caught up in it."

…Well, fair enough.

Nothing I can do about it now. For the moment… I’ll accept that.

"Understood. Then please, tell me—what’s happened to you over these past few days?"

…And so, I heard the full story from Mikoto.

Up to a certain point, events had more or less followed the original timeline. But toward the end, a significant divergence occurred. That was—the status of Tree Diagram, the supercomputer.

In the original, Tree Diagram was shot down by Index’s Dragon’s Breath, and by Volume 3, it had already crashed to Earth and been destroyed. That made it impossible to adjust any plans—an indirect but key factor in Mikoto being cornered the way she was. But this time, apparently, that didn’t happen.

Now that I think about it, I was involved in the Index Capture Arc, and I ended up distorting that history to some degree. For instance, I moved the final battle away from Komoe-sensei’s apartment and into an outdoor area.

With that change, Tree Diagram, which should’ve been taken down in that battle, was never destroyed. That means the entire premise of “we can’t alter the plan because Tree Diagram is already broken” no longer applies. That variable was removed from the Level 6 Shift experiment.

…When I heard that, even I had to stop and break into a cold sweat. However—thankfully, it seems the situation hadn’t veered too far off course.

That’s because—even for someone like Mikoto, a Level 5 esper, Tree Diagram was not a system she could easily hack.

There’s something called a standalone network.

It’s an extremely primitive form of networking, from back when even basic PC-to-PC communication wasn’t possible. Back then, people had to physically carry data to transfer it.

Precisely because it’s so primitive, modern hacking techniques have no way to infiltrate it. That’s why even now, highly classified information is still exchanged this way. As for Tree Diagram, to prevent incidents like Mikoto’s hack attempts, it apparently conducts all actual data transmissions using purely physical methods.

Well—anyway, that’s just a tangent.

"...Anyway, the experiment wouldn't stop. So I figured, if I just let myself be killed easily by Accelerator, maybe they'd think 'Railgun wasn’t that big of a deal'..."

"...And the spiky-haired boy stopped you."

"...That idiot... just went on ahead..."

"...I see. So that's why you were chasing after that gentleman, Misaka-san."

Fortunately, it seemed like the current chain of events had settled into something nearly identical to what I knew.

...Although—was that really fortunate? I mean, someone capable of hacking into the Sisters and using them to attack me is now involved in this incident. And yet, nothing's changed? Doesn’t that seem off...?

—Damn it! We don’t have time to overthink this!

"Understood. Then let us proceed to the site. Do you know the location?"

"...Huh? What are you even saying?"

"...? We’re going to stop the experiment now, aren’t we? Then of course, I’m coming with you."

"I said no!"

Misaka shook her head like I was talking nonsense.

"Like I said earlier—his plan only works because someone with no powers, a Level 0, defeats Accelerator! If a Level 5 like me, or someone like you, Jagged Edge the Black-and-White Blade, steps in, it all gets ruined!"

"...Ah, now that you mention it, I do recall something like that..."

Right. That was Kamijou’s logic, now that I think about it...

"...As always. That shallow reasoning of his, taking all the burden onto himself—it’s so like him."

I let out a sigh of exasperation.

But of course, I was well aware of that from the beginning. That’s why I’d already equipped myself with the necessary arguments. If this incident was truly unfolding just like the novel, then my interfering would only get in the way.

But I read how this incident ends.

When Accelerator was cornered, he used plasma to push Kamijou to the brink of death. What turned the tide back then was the aid of the ten thousand Sisters.

...Which means, technically, it wasn’t just Kamijou, a Level 0, who defeated Accelerator—it was a Level 0 plus ten thousand Level 2 espers. The only reason that outcome was acceptable was because the Level 2 Sisters were drastically weaker than the original.

Now, here’s the question.

Who was it that I utterly lost to just a few days ago?

"By that logic, Misaka-san. If I lost completely and utterly to your clone, then that would make me inferior to an esper, wouldn't it? Do you understand what that means?"

"...!"

"Besides—just because he says it, doesn’t mean his logic is some flawless, golden ratio truth."

And then I said even more.

This whole plan about making people believe Accelerator wasn’t that strong by having Kamijou defeat him alone?

And because of that, Misaka, as a Level 5, isn’t allowed to interfere?

...What a convenient excuse he came up with.

Sure, back when I was just reading the novel, that logic seemed fine. But after actually living in this world, meeting Kamijou Touma in person, and seeing both his strengths and flaws—now I understand.

That’s a sophism.

If a plan can fall apart just because Misaka, who’s been mathematically proven in Tree Diagram to lose no matter what in 128 moves, joins the fight, then the whole thing is pointless unless Kamijou really does do it completely solo. And yet, in the novel, he had no complaints about the involvement of ten thousand Sisters. Maybe he didn’t have the luxury to think about it then, but even afterward, he didn’t seem to care much.

So what does that tell us?

"There’s an insurmountable wall between the Number One and the Number Three—so great that even a hundred people couldn’t bridge it. If a single extra person could tip the scales, then the plan was flawed to begin with. In other words, what he told you was just a pretext to keep you away."

And the reason for that sophistry—well, part of it is probably because that idiot has this compulsive need to try solving everything on his own. But more importantly, he couldn’t bring himself to drag Misaka into a battle she didn’t believe she could win. His better nature couldn’t stand to see her rush in, fully prepared to die.

"...So then..."

"Exactly. There’s no need for him to stand alone at the front. There are things we can do as well."

In other words, unlike the original timeline, the involvement of Misaka and me is acceptable this time.

Not that we’re going to step in aggressively—but we’re at least in a position to act like the Misaka Sisters in the novel. And with all these irregularities, the more backup, the better.

"Do you understand the logic now?"

"...You… who are you…? No, never mind. Yes. The experiment is set to begin at the marshaling yard in District 17."

"Then let us be off! Time is short—I'll take us there through a shortcut with my ability!"

With that said, I deployed Jagged Edge’s footholds beneath us.

Alright—time for me to steel myself too...!