Chapter 56: What It Means to Change

“Now then, I’d like for us to discuss our strategy going forward.”

After wrapping up our meeting with Miss Shokuhou’s “Largest Faction,” we headed back to the café terrace that GMDW has been using as our hangout spot lately.

Since we’ve rented out the spacious terrace, it’s convenient for having conversations we don’t want others to overhear. Still… having the money to casually reserve an entire café for ourselves is kind of insane.
Seriously though, we owe Café Noa-Toon a lot. I should make sure to thank them later.

“When you say ‘strategy’… are we talking about that ‘diversion’ that Shiren-san recklessly agreed to?”

“R-Recklessly…?”

“That’s right! The ‘diversion’ Shiren-san went ahead and agreed to all on his own!”

“S-Sorry…”

No, but listen—Miss Shokuhou isn’t the kind of person to do something shady, right? So of course I figured cooperating with her would make everything go more smoothly. I honestly thought it was for the best…
…Yeah. I guess I should reflect on the fact that I went and added a task without consulting anyone.

“…I’m only joking. It’s true that our relationship has been rebuilt, and Reicia-san isn’t ruling us like a dictator anymore. But even with that being the case, she’s still our leader. It’s not often that anyone would go against her decisions—and I wouldn’t allow it, either.”

Feeling awkward, I lowered my head, and Yumetsuki-san gave me a wry smile before glancing around at the others. The faction members who met her eyes returned her smile and nodded in agreement. Thank goodness…

“Besides, it’s exactly because of someone like Shiren-san that we were able to gather together again in the first place. …Though if I say that, Reicia-san might get sulky.”

“I will not! I’m not a child, you know!!”

…Yeah. Reicia-chan is totally being teased here.

“Ahaha. Still, when you say ‘diversion,’ there’s only so much we can actually do, right? We didn’t learn anything about Miss Shokuhou’s real intentions, and aside from doing our best in the events—”

“Yes, that’s true.”

I nodded readily at Rinka-san’s words. We really didn’t figure out much about Miss Shokuhou’s plans. At best, all we know is that she intends to do something during the Daihaseisai…

But honestly, I don’t need to know. I trust her. Unless something unexpected happens that forces me to improvise, there’s no need to waste our resources trying to uncover her goal.

Besides—

“…That ‘doing our best in the events’ is already a huge challenge in itself.”

In a major battle like this, where espers of all levels clash, simply “drawing all the attention” is no small feat. I only know about the “Magic Side” battles that Kamijou-san fought during the original timeline, but even from that limited glimpse, I can tell it’s a harsh fight.

There’s even data showing that Tokiwadai Middle School usually loses to Nagatenjouki Academy in academic performance. If we let our guard down, we could lose matches we should win.

And though I can’t tell the others this, I also want to help support Kamijou-san and the others. I won’t let the Daihaseisai that everyone’s worked so hard for get ruined by some magician’s scheme.

“Eh, really? Sure, back when I was in my second year I might’ve struggled a bit, but now most of us are Level 4s. We’ve been practicing, so it’s bound to be an easy win. Aren’t you worrying too much?”

“Naïve! Far too naïve!!!!”

I shot down Yumetsuki-san’s optimism with all the force I could muster.

“It’s true that in the Daihaseisai, athletes can choose to some extent which events they participate in. If GMDW concentrates our participation in certain events, then in sheer numbers of high-level espers, we’ll be overwhelming. However!!”

With a sharp slam, I pointed down at the table—
…and immediately regretted it when my finger hit it harder than expected. That hurt.

《Shiren~~ that hurts, you know…》

《Sorry, Reicia-chan. I just got a bit too fired up…》

Anyway—

“Low-level espers, starting with Level 0s, are not to be underestimated. In fact… precisely because they’re low-level, they’ve likely been sharpening their fangs in silence, waiting for the day they can humble the arrogant strong. Waiting for this once-in-a-lifetime chance for an upset at the Daihaseisai!”

I know this. I’ve seen it—though the reason was because Komoe-sensei was hurt, Kamijou-san’s high school, which supposedly had no significant espers, still managed to topple an elite school full of high-levels through sheer effort and ingenuity.

GMDW’s members would never do something cruel like that incident—but if we face a school with that kind of motivation? The GMDW in its current, overconfident state… could get steamrolled.

At the very least, if it’s Kamijou-san, I’m sure he could beat us even without any special motivation.

“…I see.”

“Then, Shiren-san, since you believe this situation is not good as it stands… you must have some kind of plan, right?”

Rinka-san picked up the conversation in Yumetsuki-san’s place, probably because she’d realized something from my words. I nodded broadly, still rubbing my sore finger.

“Yes. …Though calling it a ‘plan’ might not be quite right. If we call it that, it makes it sound like we’d need to start analyzing the enemy’s forces, wouldn’t it?”

“S-So it’s not? But if they’re going to analyze our forces, shouldn’t we analyze theirs as well, so we can beat them through tactics…?”

The one who raised a question to my statement was Kiryu-san, a second-year.

Mm, if we follow the standard theory, that’s exactly how it would go. In that case, the outcome would be decided by the higher planning ability, and the side with more cards to play—like us—would naturally have the advantage.

But—that’s wrong. That’s the way of the weak.
It’s still a bit embarrassing to call ourselves this, but we are, without question, the strong.

And when the strong try to fight like the weak, things simply won’t mesh. The strong have their own way of fighting—a way suited to them.

“We must become stronger.”

And this wasn’t just about the Daihaseisai. It was something extremely important for us going forward as well.

“Right now, we are indeed strong. With myself, who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Level 5s, at the forefront, and a host of Level 4 high-level espers in our ranks, our sheer combat strength could rival a military force. …However, that’s all. We’re nothing more than a rabble of strong individuals—a disorderly crowd.”

If someone sought to take advantage of our abilities and approached GMDW…

No matter how strong their powers, they’re still sheltered young ladies. If someone were to take them hostage, the whole group would crumble alarmingly fast. We’d lose any semblance of organizational stability. …At that point, we’d be nothing more than big, easy targets.

“...We must increase our organizational strength. We must raise our collective might to such a height that even if someone tries to exploit our weaknesses, they cannot keep up. We must be able to turn one plus one into ten—or even a hundred.”

I’m not saying we need to become like a military unit—well, not exactly.

But if we can fight as an organized group, then even if some bad guy were to target the GMDW members in an attempt to get to my ability, we’d be able to respond more than adequately. And if we add our own individual strength on top of that, almost no threat could shake us.

This whole thing might have started with Miss Shokuhou’s request, but honestly, it was already the course Reicia-chan and I had planned from the start.

“—While the matter concerning Shokuhou is indeed Shiren’s own decision, on this point, I’ve been in agreement from the very beginning.”

Reicia-chan spoke up to sum things up. …Ugh. She still has to poke at that part, huh…

“Originally, we had planned to start this after the Daihaseisai ended. But—since we’ve, shall we say, managed to ‘borrow’ a certain opportunity… why not try it out beforehand? Consider it a happy accident.”

Resting her chin on her finger, Reicia-chan continued as if deep in thought.

“Let us seek instruction. We already have the strength. All we need now is the wisdom to wield it correctly—then there will be nothing left in this world to fear.”

Chapter 1 – The Cooper’s Wind Never Blows　Psicopics.
Episode 47: What It Means to Change　Ambition.

And so—

After returning to the dorm, I immediately went to ask someone if they could help out as an instructor.
And of course, the person I had in mind was—

“How about it? Would you be willing to help me?”

“…Why, me, exactly?”

Seated in a wheelchair with figure-eight–shaped tires was a twin-tailed girl with flaxen hair.
None other than Shirai Kuroko herself.

“Why, because—among all the people I know—I decided you’re the very best one I could ask to teach me!”

“That’s not a reason. I’m asking why you decided that.”

“Well, to be honest… the biggest thing is, we just don’t have enough time before the Daihaseisai…”

It wasn’t exactly a respectable reason, so I’d wanted to keep it under wraps. But Shirai-san saw right through me without effort, leaving me with no choice but to admit it, feeling more than a little awkward.

The truth is, the opening of the Daihaseisai is only two days away.
Trying to start training now isn’t going to yield any major improvements.

So I’m not really planning to go in for obvious, flashy training.
What I want is simply a foothold—something that makes it easier to operate strategically.
And for that, what I need is an advisor.

“So you want me to help you with some slapdash, last-minute crash course? …Haa… Well, I do owe you a rather large favor, so I have no intention of refusing… but honestly, I can’t promise it’ll do much good, you know?
Naturally, I can’t share Judgment’s unique know-how for security reasons, and anything I can teach will probably stay within the bounds of general theory.”

“That’s fine. My people are quite capable. Even if it’s just theory, it’ll still make a big difference.”

The truth is, right now GMDW—well, all of us, myself included—don’t even fully grasp the “bounds of general theory.”

Sure, for a normal student’s level, we’d be doing well enough to pass. But what we need right now is beyond that. And in that sense, even just having Shirai-san explain the theory would be an incredible advantage.

“Very well. As you can see, I’m in no position to be doing any Daihaseisai practice myself… If tomorrow after school works for you, I’ll join you. Will that be acceptable?”

“Yes, of course! Thank you very much.”

“…You really have changed, haven’t you…”

No, I haven’t.
Well, if she’s mixing up my actions with Reicia-chan’s personality, then I suppose I might look like I’ve changed.

“I’m going to change even more from here on.”

That wasn’t me—it was Reicia-chan who spoke up.

Smiling faintly, she continued without pause.

“The future I’m aiming for is full of things I’ll need. If I want to become a villainess who gets every single thing I desire, without exception, exactly as I please—then I have to change as well.”