A few days had passed since I investigated that store with Coco. When we returned that day, Coco’s condition became a bit unstable and she spent a lot of time sleeping, sometimes in my room while being naked and possessed by a cat.

  That day, after we finished our investigation, I returned to the student council building with Coco and found out that the mission was cancelled, with the reason that the culprit had been caught.

  Was it reasonable and made sense? No.

  But am I happy with that? Yes.

  Because I didn’t need to worry about anything else anymore. Everything ended nicely, with the mystery being a mystery. It was better for me that way as I hated troublesome things. I just had to believe the old fart’s words because Sibyl decided to do exactly the same as me.

  Anyway, I had a free day after being released by Coco– whom I bribed with a box of sushi– and decided to enjoy my time walking around District 11, the entertainment district. This was also where the maid cafe ‘Angel’ was located.

  Neon light flickered in a room with dim lighting. Clanging and dinging, the room was filled with festive sounds.

  [You win!]

  “Hahaha, take that, loser!”

  I laughed wholeheartedly at a kid I just beat at a fighting game in an arcade. His face that looked like it almost burst into tears was priceless and funny, making me laugh louder.

  Don’t call me a sadist or heartless. This kid laughed at me a year ago when I just started and knew nothing. Now, I was an expert and laughed back at him. Taste my 1,000 match training!

  “Y-You’re cheating!” He shouted hysterically, “T-There is no way you can hit a 5-combos twice in a row. You used your Psion or your ability to do that! I knew it!”

  “As if I’d need to use my ability to beat you. Hahaha, losers should just cry like one. Here, a napkin, if you need to blow your dirty nose.”

  “I will tell my brother about this. He will beat you up! Waaaa!” The boy ran out of the arcade while crying.

  I watched him while crossing my arms, looking all smug and victorious. What if he called his brother to beat me up? I was the strongest Esper in Cypherion.

  Heh, I will allow him to try. Showing is believing, after all. I calmed myself down and exited the arcade, And one can’t get stronger without sacrificing something. This time, I sacrificed my money and time, but it’s well worth it.

  Sun illuminated the Cypherion– sparkling light reflected on the skyscrapers’ glass panels– shone brightly like gems. People walking on the street wore umbrellas or hats to avoid heat. No one went bare skinned like me.

  If I had no event that required my presence as Cypherion’s student council representative, substituting Sibyl who attended another event with the Cypherion’s scientists, I would definitely stay in my dorm and sleep while having my air conditioner on.

  Unfortunately, there was a conference that gathered all the academy's top students in the Cypherion Hall located in District 10.

  “It’s so hot.” I complained while fanning my face, sweat dripping from my forehead. “Strange, it’s early Spring but why is it so hot?”

  Suddenly, dark clouds brewed in the sky, drifting faster due to the wind, which added the strangeness of the weather.

  Pristine drops of water began to fall. Starting slowly, it became denser and denser until nothing was left dry. I ran to the nearby building and took shelter from the sudden downpour.

  “What the?” I looked at the heavy rainfall in disbelief, “The weather is really strange. High temperature in Spring and a sudden downpour? What’s next, a lava rain? This morning’s weather forecast told me that it would be sunny all day!”

  Maybe if an Esper with the ability to create or control lava appeared and rampaged, that might be possible, but nature wasn’t so fickle that such a thing happened naturally.

  No matter how absurd this world was, science and nature acted similarly to Earth.

  “Should I skip the conference?”

  After all, the conference only needed the representative, aka me, to deliver some words to the new top first year students in order to rouse their competitive spirits. But there was a reason why I agreed to substitute Sibyl in this event.

  “I wanted to attend the party. There would definitely be many foods that I could bring back to the dorm and share with Luna and Coco.”

  Free food was worth the trouble of having to go to the formal event I disliked.

  But with this heavy rain, I had a second thought of going to the conference. Unlike students from good schools that had chauffeurs to chaperone them to the Cypherion Hall, or those with enough money to take the bus or monorail, I had to walk there.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Still, I planned to go there. I also had another objective of agreeing to attend the conference.

  I still want to find the novel’s protagonist.

  There was a big chance the protagonist was one of the new top students. Usually, they would be in either the best or worst academy. It was the rule of being a protagonist, or so to speak.

  “I have no choice.”

  [Daydream activated.]

  [Angel Wings activated.]

  [Psion, Stamina, and Mind’s condition at top form. Ready to perform.]

  Pure white wings sprouted from my back and moved very slowly over my head, right under the whitish golden halo, shielding my whole body from the rain. Truly convenient.

  The hall was close to where I was, so I ran to reach it faster. Many cars stopped in front of the building, making it pretty easy to find despite its low height compared to the other buildings around it.

  When I was close to the building, I found out that the rain had subsided. I planned to erase my wings and entered through the backstage, but it was unfortunately too late.

  “Ah!”

  Someone noticed me and raised his voice, drawing attention from the surrounding students gathering in front of the hall. Suddenly, many eyes looked at me. I felt like a near-extinct animal getting observed from all directions, which felt slightly unpleasant.

  “Ugh.” I involuntarily let out a groan and deactivated my ability.

  [Daydream deactivated.]

  My wings and halo disappeared and I appeared normal again. Still, their gazes remained. I observed them and noticed the majority of their gazes contained respect and some had fiery rivalry, something I often saw in Sibyl.

  What a pure, innocent, and naive first year student. I smiled and waved at them. At least I had to make a good impression as the student council’s vice president.

  However…

  “Kyaa!”

  “Look, look! He’s waving his hand on me!”

  “That’s the strongest Esper in Cypherion, Ciel!”

  I didn’t expect them to be so enthusiastic greeting me that I had to cover my ears. They are too loud, for god’s sake. I am not an actor or a model, why are they screaming like that?

  Looking around, I tried to spot an opening before they could circling me and stopping me from advancing. I managed to see it and immediately ran into the building, with the crowd following me like zombies from behind.

  I quickly went inside after showing the staff my armband and caught my breath.

  “Damn, first year students are crazy. Why did they chase me like that?” I complained, not expecting someone to hear and answer me.

  “Isn’t it because of your reputation?” A raspy, low voice rang from the side alongside a figure clad in red uniform, “They probably look up to you after hearing your story. A normal student that climbed to the top in just a year, who wouldn’t idolize someone like that?”

  I looked at him and he swiped his dark hair back and fixed his glasses. His act looked pretty arrogant, but I only smirked in response.

  After all, he was one of my few friends on this island. There were only a few people who wanted to get close to someone from a bad academy, after all. So I was grateful for him to accompany me sometimes when I wanted to hang out.

  “What the heck are you talking about, Darius? They idolized me?

  There was no way they would idolize someone like me. Sibyl or Travis, I could understand. They were strong, good looking, and studied in a good academy, unlike my bottom rank Rakuen Academy with only 5 students.

  “They do. In fact, you have many fans, you know? Look here.”

  Darius pulled up his phone and showed me a forum that only students could access. This was where all students gathered, conversed, and sometimes found themselves problems. Because I didn’t like problems, I seldom use the forum. That’s why I didn’t know that my names popped up more frequently than I thought.

  “For real?” I asked, and he nodded in response. “Crazy. Did they really know what kind of person I am? To think they would idolize me, who often visited maid cafes and bullied a little kid in an arcade.”

  “So you knew you bullied a little kid? Why don’t you stop doing that?”

  “Why should I? It’s fun.” I chuckled, to which he responded with a sigh.

  Seemingly used to my response, Darius decided to move on and asked me to follow him. I nodded and we went inside the hall.

  “Still, there are plenty of strong new students this year. There is also someone who has reached Advanced Psion like Sun Princess in the past. The Academy City will probably become more rowdy after this.” Darius said, sighing in exasperation.

  I understood his feelings. With more Espers arriving at the Academy, especially strong ones, those who claimed the thrones in Cypherion would try to seek them out of amusement or a simple show of power to make them understand their position.

  That’s why I called the new first year students naive and innocent. They hadn’t experienced the real danger this city had yet.

  Also…

  “There is someone at Sibyl’s level already?” I asked, curious about this individual.

  Reaching an Advanced Psion level in their first year, especially when they just entered high school was amazing. It was worth a headline of any news, just like when that girl appeared like a comet in the past.

  “Yes. And there’s not only one, but three of them.” Darius answered with a worried tone.

  Not just one but three.

  I remembered the incident a year ago when Sibyl became a headline in every news. Espers who felt threatened by her presence tried to stop her growth and even bombed the Cypherion Hall on the day of the conference.

  Maybe that’s why Esper Resistance spread those papers back in the opening ceremony. The strange incident in their main base might be related to this too. Maybe the culprit that the board director, self-proclaimed, found was in fact one of these three new students.

  I stopped on my track and looked at Darius, who also stopped with me, seriously.

  “Can I go home?”

  “No. Please stay.” He put his hand on my shoulder, gripping it tightly so I wouldn’t escape. “I, and students from Godhaven that acted as security, have checked every corner and didn’t find anything suspicious. So you don’t have to worry about any explosion or attack.”

  No, if you said that, my worry would increase.

  “But my stomach hurts.”

  “We have medicine inside.”

  “I can feel someone calling me. I think senior Coco caused trouble back in the academy.”

  “Luna took a day off from her job to take care of your academy, you don’t have to worry.”

  “But–”

  “Ciel, just give up.”

  “Yes…”

  In the end, I couldn’t find any good reason and got dragged to deliver a speech. I promised that I would punch Darius if something happened later. After all, he was the one unnecessarily raising the flag.