Chapter 30: I'm Just Sleepy, You Know

And so, we began our operation.

Our faction members, myself included, had dispersed to wait across venues one through four. Basically, we were on standby to offer support. We’re all high-level espers in our own right, so we’re reasonably strong.

I was stationed at Venue One of the Academy City Research Exhibition along with Ennai-san and Shika-san. In addition to us, there were many Judgement members present, with Kuroko taking command at the front line.

Honestly, with Kuroko’s ability, even if new enemies appeared, she could just teleport something right into them and neutralize the threat with ease. Considering balance of forces, there’s not much point pairing me with her—maybe the other two, sure, but me? Still, here we are.

She’s the only Judgement member participating today with the ability to instantly deploy a high-powered asset like “Reicia Blackguard,” so the current power distribution being a bit lopsided is simply unavoidable.

"...That said, I'm really sleepy..."

"Reicia-san, you didn't get any sleep?"

"The manuscript… the manuscript..."

I'm just an average guy, so skipping practice isn’t an option for me. …Well, yeah, I get it—given the looming danger, you should’ve just slept, is what people would say. But for me, “what comes after this” is just as important.

...Anyway, pulling two all-nighters is no big deal. Reicia-chan is still young. She's only fourteen, after all.

“...U-Um, Reicia-san, perhaps you could rest today? I think us Level 4s should be more than enough for any mid-level threat…”

“Please don’t worry. I’m merely sleepy, not delirious.”

Besides, at this rate, I think I can last another two or three hours. Just enough to get through the presentation part of the academic fair. I even had coffee. …Though that probably messed up my rhythm enough that the first class of the new term is going to hit me hard. Well, if it gets too bad, I’ll just call in sick.

“(Rinka-san, please be ready to step in if anything happens.)”

“(Understood!)”

“I told you, I’ll be fine…”

I felt a bit annoyed at how little faith they had in me… but well, maybe I brought it on myself. Can’t really blame them now.

Chapter 3: I Won’t Let You Win and Run – (N)ever_Give_Up.
Episode 24: I'm Just Sleepy, You Know – Break_Time.

“…Still, there’s really nothing to do right now.”

It had been a while since the fighting started.

As one of our faction’s secret weapons, it wouldn’t make sense for me to jump in right at the beginning. So right now, I was tucked away inside a kind of base that the Judgement kids had set up. I was monitoring the situation using the same visor with built-in comms that I used the other day.

Honestly, preparing gear for people at the commander level is no big deal when you have the power of a faction backing you. Pretty convenient, right?

…Even so, sitting around on standby while everyone else is out there doing their best—it’s awkward. If I could, I’d forget the strategic reasoning and head out to the frontlines myself. Not allowed to, though, so I won’t.

The enemy’s “ace up their sleeve”… well, best case scenario is it doesn’t show up at all. But if it’s coming, I kind of wish it’d just get here already.

…Man, that’s backward thinking, huh? Am I turning into a workaholic? Nah, I’m a pretty laid-back guy. That can’t be it.

“――――! Reicia-san!”

“Wah!? S-Shirai-san!?”

While I was lost in thought, Kuroko suddenly appeared right in front of me.

The abrupt entrance made me stumble back a few steps, wide-eyed. …Barely managed to avoid falling on my butt and flashing my underwear. Close call.

“…So, if Shirai-san’s here…”

“Yes! They’ve arrived! It’s at Venue Four! I’m teleporting us there now!”

“So hectic… Understood!”

Saying that, I grabbed Kuroko’s hand. Her teleportation requires physical contact if she’s taking someone with her.

Or so I thought—next thing I knew, she was carrying me bridal-style and my mind just blanked.

“Eh?”

And in the same instant, the scenery vanished.

“S-Shirai-san!?”

“What are you so flustered about!? We’re both girls—it’s nothing to worry about!”

“W-Well, that may be true, but…”

Kuroko rattled that off as she teleported us again and again in rapid succession. I hesitated to respond… I mean, sure, technically I’m a girl right now, but I’m still a guy at heart, you know? I’ve gotten used to this body, but still… Being carried princess-style by another girl is kinda… Well, whatever.

The enemy was already in sight—no point fussing over it.

“Alright, Reicia-san!”

“Yes, leave it to me. …There’s absolutely no way I’d fall behind against something of that level.”

Up ahead stood two massive robots.

Painted mostly black, they had a four-legged spider-like design—or maybe like water striders? Their legs… oh, they’re just wheels. They probably move the legs for direction changes. Still… Heh. Not to brag, but I’m pretty sure the tech in our lab’s “Hs-O” series is a cut above theirs.

I got a little smug inside, then…

“…Before that, let’s issue a warning, shall we?”

I hopped out of Kuroko’s arms, landed on my feet, and used the loudspeaker I’d secretly brought with me to address the two machines that seemed to have noticed us.

“This is your warning! Both of you—cease all combat and surrender immediately! Do so now, and your safety will be guaranteed!”

“So you’re… Reicia Blackguard, huh. A sickly esper like you won’t be pretending to be hot stuff much longer!!”

They weren’t listening at all.

Well, I mean, keeping Reicia-chan’s character in mind, her surrender demand was a bit overbearing… but honestly, unless they whip out some insane superweapon, I don’t see how they have even the slightest chance of beating Black-and-White Serrated Jagged Edge. Aren’t they just underestimating us out of pure esper hatred? Like—I hate espers → I want to beat them → I gather “evidence” that I can win → all those little fragments pile up → I end up underestimating the actual threat → I get cocky instead—that kind of vicious cycle.

That said, it looks like they weren’t completely unprepared. Probably a countermeasure against the Black-and-White Serrated Jagged Edge—while moving erratically in zigzags, they pointed the built-in Gatling guns directly at me.

“My goodness… This is far too relaxed of a pace, Reicia-san!”

“…I’d prefer to capture the cockpit intact, if possible.”

Muttering back, I unfolded a rift in front of me.

…The same as always—a transparent fissure only I could see. While it had improved a little in terms of performance and control, it was still a different form than what I used back then. But well, that was more like some kind of desperate, adrenaline-fueled fluke—it's probably weirder that I managed to pull it off at all.

That being said…

For a plain old Gatling gun? This much was more than enough.

RATATATATATA!!!! The loud gunfire roared in a stream of continuous fire.

But even as the barrage slammed into the Shield of Rift, it didn’t budge an inch. …Before, it might not have broken through, but it still used to deliver enough force to rattle me. Hm… maybe my ability really has grown a bit? Not that I’m exactly thrilled about that…

“…N-No way…”

A stunned voice echoed from one of the machines, like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Probably forgot to turn off their comms—just goes to show how much this rattled them.

“Are you done now? If you understand, then surrender already!”

…Not that I actually expected them to surrender at this point. Still, I kept the Shield of Rift up while anticipating their next move.

“D-Damn espers, looking down on us!!”

With a mechanical screech, both robots swung their Gatling guns away from me—toward the venue buildings of Site Four, where the others were still stationed.

Beside me, Kuroko’s expression changed sharply.

“You people…!”

“Getting cocky is what led to this!! Espers—go ahead and watch helplessly as your comrades get trampled!!”

They spat those words like venom.

Then both of STUDY’s machines opened fire.

Physically.

“…Wh-What…? What the hell is this!?”

“Damn it, the Gatling gun’s firing mechanism is completely destroyed! What the hell happened!? There’s no sign it was hit by the Black-and-White Serrated Jagged Edge!”

“…You still haven’t figured it out?”

Alright, that’s one weapon system out of commission.

While they were too busy trying to assess the damage, I activated the loudspeaker again to rub it in, and in the same breath, shredded one of the machines’ torsos into pieces. Of course, I kept the rift shallow—no chance of injuring the culprit in the cockpit.

“You really thought your shallow little scheme was beyond my grasp?”

……Yeah. When it comes to people like this, it’s not hard to guess what kind of desperate move they’ll make when cornered.

If you understand that much, then it naturally follows what I needed to do with the Black-and-White Serrated Jagged Edge.

To put it simply, I deployed a rift right near the muzzle of their Gatling guns. That way, the guns couldn’t fire—the bullets were blocked by the Shield of Rift, energy built up inside the barrels, and the whole system got wrecked. That was the idea.

I wanted to capture the cockpit as intact as possible. They wouldn’t surrender unless they were rendered combat incapable, and taking out the Gatling guns was essential for that. I was wondering how to pull it off… and figured that if I provoked them into attacking, I could bait them into aiming at bystanders and use rift prediction to destroy the weapons in advance.

“Negligence. This is sheer negligence! Drunk on the power you wield, arrogant to the core—and this is the result! How are you any different from the ‘foolish espers’ you despise!? Understand this! It is not ability development that defeats you. It is the intellect of Reicia Blackguard! My strategy! My insight! You are being crushed—utterly—by your own ignorance!!”

The plan worked perfectly.

…Honestly, it was a pretty nasty move, but these people tried to trample all over the hard work of my friends just for their own selfish goals. I figure it’s only right they taste complete and utter defeat.

…Yeah, I’m a little pissed off, okay? After all the effort everyone put into this research presentation, to have it spoiled like this… they deserve to reflect on their actions a little.

“――――Now then. If you still want to continue, I’ll gladly shred your machine apart as well.”

I aimed that warning at the still-functional unit through the loudspeaker. And whether it was because of their crushing defeat or fear, the machine offered no resistance—it simply powered down.

“…Phew.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh.

“This kind of toy is nothing. Our ability development team could produce something far superior.”

I spat the words out—through the loudspeaker, for good measure.

“…………Reicia-san! This is bad!!”

After pulling the culprits out of the cockpits of the completely defeated machines...

Just when I’d returned to my post, half-dozing off and thinking my work here is done, Kuroko suddenly reappeared.

“…Huh!? I-Is it time for the opening ceremony already?”

“Time? We’re way past that point! STUDY’s leader, Aritomi, has pulled another stunt! In an hour and a half, Academy City will be getting rained on with missiles!”

…R-Right. That… was a thing, wasn’t it…!? What was it again? Something about AIM diffusion fields or whatever……

“…Understood. So—what now!?”

…I have a bad feeling about this.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this the part where Mikoto and Kuroko were supposed to ride a robot provided by Kongou-san, and get launched into space using her ability?

…Wait. Where the hell is Kongou-san!?

What do we do!? I mean, I can generate wind, technically—but that’s not my role! The wind I produce is just a one-shot burst. Sure, maybe my wind has more raw power, but there’s no way it has the endurance needed for that. I can’t keep a giant chunk of metal airborne. And more importantly, we don’t even have the giant chunk of metal!

…No, wait. I did capture one of the robot torsos intact. We could maybe use that…

“We’ll figure it out now! Reicia-san, come with me!”

………………I feel like I’m constantly getting pushed to the edge every single time.