Chapter 77: Encounter

And so.

We were enjoying an aerial trip while holding onto a chubby boy—apparently his name was Baba Yoshio. Supposedly, he was part of the underground organization called "Member." Shocking, really.

I mean, "Member"—wasn’t that the group that had that guy with the doctor-like name? The one who got taken down by Kakine-san. Oh, and Xochitl-san was also with them.

As for the other characters, their impressions were too faint, so I don’t remember much… I think there was someone who went insane after being locked up? Wait, was that from "Block" instead?

By the way, Jagged Edge has a rather interesting feature in its mechanics.

As I explained before, when I manifest a "Rift" from the main body, that "Rift" follows wherever the main body goes. But here’s the twist: if the "Rift" has something loaded onto it, no matter how heavy it is, it doesn’t add any extra burden to "the main body’s movement."

For example, if we put Baba-san on top of a "Rift," even if we fly around, his weight doesn’t drag us down.

Which means, so long as I can fly by myself, I can carry Baba-san around without issue—even in the sky like this.

Well…

"Uwaaaaah!? C-can’t you fly a little more safely!? It’s too high!? I-I’m gonna fall!?!? Stop, stopppp!!"

"Quit your whining!! You’re a boy, so show some guts!!"

"Nooooo! I don’t wanna fight the Kiharas!! I’ll die! I’ll absolutely die!! Somebody help meeeeeee!!!!"

"…Is this guy really part of an underground organization…?"

Since only one person’s weight needed carrying, our flight speed increased. From his perspective, not controlling the flight himself must’ve been a living nightmare.

"Uuuh… why do I have to suffer like this…"

"Because you were tormenting my classmate back there, obviously."

"Damn it… this is unreasonable…"

"Unreasonable? You’re saying that after not being torn apart limb by limb on the spot?"

"…Nothing. I didn’t say anything."

Ah, and Baba-san shriveled up immediately.

Well, it’s not like we’re really part of the underground, so we wouldn’t actually carve him up or anything. Not like we plan to use him as disposable fodder, either.

"…Reicia-chan. Try not to go too far. …Sorry about this, Baba-san. Circumstances forced us to be a bit rough, but since we’re teaming up, we won’t make you do anything reckless."

"! A second personality, huh? At least this one seems reasonable…"

"…Sorry for being the unreasonable first personality. If you want, I could always ‘accidentally’ lose control of my ability and give you a rope-free bungee jump right here."

"S-sorry I said anything!!!!"

Poor Baba-san… truly pitiful.

《By the way, Shiren. This guy showed up during the ‘official history’ of the underground conflicts, didn’t he?》

《Huh? Did he?》

《You know, that one. The guy who got locked in a base and went crazy.》

《Ah! That was him!?》

…Now that she mentioned it, he does kind of look like him? …Though I don’t remember him being this chubby… Did he slim down between now and the underground conflicts?

"Anyway… your information is trustworthy, right?"

Flying through the air, Reicia-chan shot a sharp glare at Baba-san. He visibly flinched.

Yes.

The only reason we were taking this sky trip was because Baba-san had given us new intel.

Apparently, the Kihara clan was in the middle of some internal feud.

More precisely, one of the Kiharas had launched an attack on another Kihara not too long ago—and just today, it had happened again.

If that information was true, it was almost certainly connected to Souji-san’s assault.

And so, we were currently headed to one of Baba-san’s "villa safehouses" to verify it.

"O-of course it’s true! What benefit would I have from telling a lie that’d be exposed right away!?"

"Well, if it’s a trap, we’ll just break through it. So either way is fine by me."

"Tch… this is why I hate Level 5 espers…"

Reicia-chan’s confident words seemed to drain the willpower out of Baba-san, leaving him limp.

Well, I get it. But honestly, from a Level 5 esper’s perspective, if you don’t at least test the information, nothing ever moves forward. So the logic is usually: "If it’s a trap, we’ll just force our way through." That’s a surprisingly valid option.

"Now then… is this the place?"

And so, lowering our altitude, we landed beside a warehouse.

The "Rift" carrying Baba-san dissolved, and he staggered down to the ground, barely keeping his balance.

"…Let’s hurry inside. This isn’t the kind of scene I want anyone else to witness."

As he said that, Baba-san unlocked the warehouse door. His face was covered in cold sweat.

Well, of course. If anyone saw this scene, the first thing they’d suspect was betrayal. Strictly speaking, what Baba-san was doing for us—investigating the Kiharas—wasn’t betrayal, but still.

"First, about the Kihara clan… their movements are usually classified as top-secret, even within the underground…"

Inside the warehouse, it looked so high-tech that you could almost mistake it for some special organization’s command room.

Most likely, the warehouse-like exterior was just camouflage, and in reality this place served as his personal workspace.

"From the Level 6 Shift Project on down, the Board of Directors of Academy City often has its hand in these things. In other words, the ‘Kiharas’ function, in some respects, as an organization that executes the will of the Board—just like us ‘Members.’"

Sitting in front of a panel full of buttons and monitors that resembled a giant keyboard, Baba-san clattered away at the controls while continuing his explanation.

"However… because of their infighting, their ability to conceal information has taken quite a hit. Right now, even with just my own network, I can track their movements to some degree."

"To some degree, you say…"

I had meant it as a "Wow, the Kiharas really are impressive," but apparently Baba-san didn’t take it that way.

"S-shut up! Even this is a major achievement! Trying to probe into the Kiharas’ activities is practically suicide, like directly picking a fight with them! The only reason it can even be done is because I know how to minimize the risks while investigating!"

"Of course. I honestly think it’s amazing. Truly, we’re grateful."

"Hmph… well, as long as you understand that…"

Ah, he doesn’t know how to react when someone thanks him straightforwardly.

"──Anyway, let’s check the latest updates. Earlier, we saw that the infighting had flared up again, but after that… hm? This is…"

The information Baba-san pulled up was—

Chapter 2: I Won’t Choose Between Two Options – PHASE-NEXT.
Episode 65: Encounter – Poltergeist.

"…My, my. To think you’d already gotten ahead of me."

Second District.

In front of a building that concealed a certain system, the old man came to an abrupt halt.

Two women were standing before him.

One was a woman of mature age. She had ash-blonde hair tied back in a chignon, and wore glasses. Dressed in a lady’s business suit, she gave the impression of a capable secretary from some company.

The other was a girl. Golden hair tied in twin-tails, blue eyes, and a frame no older than elementary school age. The sight of her with a school backpack on her back only made her look oddly out of place in Academy City, even in the midst of the Daihaseisai festivities.

Both, however, now radiated a fierce battle intent that left no doubt of their resolve.

"A simple deduction."

The woman of mature years—Therestina=Kihara=Lifeline—spoke.

"Your so-called science tends to rely heavily on networks. Kiyama Harumi’s Level Upper. The Misaka Network of twenty thousand clones. …And even the induced detonation experiments for analyzing the rules of rampaging powers. Your inspirations almost always converge on ‘networks of espers.’"

"And this time, if you wanted to use the Sisters to create a Level 6 esper, you’d first need to get control of the top of that hierarchy: the superior individual, Last Order. …But she can’t be located, not even through the underground’s information networks. Which means the only possible targets for interference are the ordinary Sisters."

In fact, Kihara Gensei had been manipulating underground organizations to capture the Sisters for exactly that reason.

And if one were to ignore Last Order and attempt to seize the network through the ordinary Sisters instead, what method would that require?

"…For that, you’d need Mental Out. Right, you disgusting old man?"

"Ho-ho-ho. Correct. As expected of my students."

"Students? Don’t kid yourself. That makes my skin crawl."

Telestina placed a hand on Nayuta’s shoulder.

"You remember my theory, don’t you?"

At her question, Nayuta nodded firmly.

"Poltergeist—Initiate."

The next instant.

Kihara Gensei’s body was smashed skyward by an invisible force, launching him to a height of one hundred seventy meters.

"…!"

"Nayuta! Don’t let your guard down! That monster won’t die from something like that. You’ve got him on your artificial eye, right? While he’s helpless in midair, hit him with everything and crush him!"

"Got it, Therestina-onee-san!"

At those words, the space around the falling Gensei warped.

Invisible attacks shot toward his aging body in rapid succession—yet, with a bizarre trajectory, the old man evaded every last one.

"Tch… Aeroshuter, a wind-user, huh."

Two and a half seconds after Telestina muttered with clear displeasure, Gensei landed on the ground absolutely unharmed.

"Now that was surprising. You anticipated me using the Level Upper, and instead triggered the rampaging of multiple abilities at once. Telestina, you’ve got the know-how to control the flow of the whole AIM Diffusion Field by setting off multiple abilities and guiding them into forming one giant ability. I see you’ve passed that on to Nayuta."

"Not a scratch…!"

"But that defense of yours can’t be perfect. Energy on the scale of generating earthquakes… Even with your Multi-Skill and that cyborg body, you’ll be checkmated in eighty-three moves—about two minutes. And on top of that—"

"Yes. According to my calculations, Misaka-kun, Shokuhou-kun… and even Blackguard-kun will arrive shortly."

Saying that, Gensei tapped his finger against his temple, then lowered his gaze to the ground.

"Had it just been you two, I might have managed somehow. But with two Level 5 espers on the way, even for me, things become a little… difficult."

"…What did you just say?"

"Turning the Poltergeist rampages into a weapon—certainly an intriguing idea. However—"

Kihara Gensei slowly raised his face.

And upon it was plastered a smile that could only be described as madness.

"Why did you think I wouldn’t be able to use that too?"

"Y-you idiot──!! If you do that, you’ll get dragged into the rampage too────!!!!"

Immediately after.

An explosion.

"What... is this...!!"

Baba-san’s trembling murmur reached our ears, but... truthfully, I felt the same way.

As expected of the Dark Side’s information network, along with some footage shot from who-knows-where, there was a report written there.

『In District 2, Kihara Gensei has begun combat. Telestina = Kihara = Lifeline and Kihara Nayuta engaged him but were taken down. Kihara Gensei then entered a nearby building. It is highly likely that this building contains “something” related to the Fifth Ranked.』

……Why is the Kihara family, who should be targeting us, starting a fight in a place like that? And if Gensei came to grab whatever “something” related to the Fifth is inside, that’s obviously a seriously bad situation, no matter how you look at it.

There are plenty of things I want to say, but all of that gets blown away. Right now, there’s only one decision that matters.

《Reicia-chan》

《……Yes. This is……》

This isn’t the kind of situation where we can worry about just our own safety.

"Baba-san."

"Yeah... looks like this place is about to turn into a battlefield. Leave the backup to me. Don’t worry, I’m not so coldhearted as to betray you in a place like this."

"We’re going to the scene. Together."

"Eh!?!?!?!?!?!?"

……We must have something we can do too.

To deal with the problem of the Kihara family──and to help with the problem that Misaki-san is carrying, we’ll go. To District 2.

Baba-san protested quite a lot, but it couldn’t be helped. After all, if we left him behind, he’d probably disappear and never answer our calls again.