Spring came at a full swing in Cypherion. Cherry blossom petals swayed in the air, spreading the welcoming nuance into the artificial island.

  Busily moving around, Cypherion Student Council ensured everything had gone smoothly without any incidents. They, alongside the Public Moral Committee, gathered all papers with warning without any exception.

  A victim had appeared already so they couldn’t slack around.

  In the center of that, on the top floor of skyscrapers with a large oak tree growing on the roof where the student council’s office was located, Sibyl sat behind a desk monitoring all reports that arrived. She sent out instructions to all student council’s members as well as from the branches in each academy.

  Tapping sounds echoed inside the vast room with only a long table with chairs surrounding it in the middle of the room. Occasionally it stopped, only to be resumed after a grunt.

  “It’s too many.” Sibyl gritted her teeth, “How can something like this happen at once, without anyone knowing? There must be an ability involved in this. Teleportation? Instant movement? Or super speed?”

  Such Espers existed, but not many. To spread the papers in hundreds all over Cypherion, they had to be Psion Expert, or even Psion Master like her. Espers three levels under that, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, would have their Psion drained before they could even circle the island.

  “Or they use some kind of vehicle to spread them.”

  Either way, the perpetrator behind this large-scale terror attack had the ability to do what Sibyl judged as something impossible without sufficient manpower or capital.

  Sibyl didn’t only try to finish her job, but she also contacted people she knew to collect information. Many met with a dead end due to the lack of evidence.

  Should I go find it myself? It will be faster that way.

  When she almost went to find the perpetrator herself, the door to the office was opened. She narrowed her eyes in displeasure and raised her head, raising her voice at the new presence.

  “Who entered without permission? I already told anyone not to bother me this time!”

  “My apologies, president. But there is an emergency.”

  A black-haired male student with a student council armband entered with hurried steps. He pushed his round glasses up and stopped in front of Sibyl’s desk.

  “Blake? What’s the emergency?” Sibyl immediately composed herself upon hearing the word emergency. She looked at the student council member in front of her seriously and prompted him to speak.

  Gulping nervously, the student called Blake reported with a shaky voice, “C-Ciel… He destroyed a building.”

  Sibyl shouted and slammed the desk, “What?!”

  Bam!

  Ciel destroyed a building? While such a thing wasn’t impossible, Sibyl never expected it to happen. Especially not that lazy person who preferred to sleep instead of doing his work as her vice-president.

  Then again, he never made any move without any reason. He might even solve a problem by aiming at its core alone without any help because he didn’t want to put the others in danger.

  Such was a boy called Ciel, her rival as well as the person she trusted the most in Academy City.

  “Tell me the location! Fast!”

  “Y-Yes. It’s in District 13 near the shopping area.”

  “Good.” She rose from the seat and put on her armband, fastened it to her uniform, “Inform all the members in District 13 and 14, including those from PMC, to gather and prepare to fight immediately. Go!”

  “Y-Yes, President.”

  They both moved quickly without wasting any time.

  As for what happened with Ciel, it started a few minutes ago.

  ***

  “Haa…”

  I sighed as I sat down on the corner of the roof, feeling the wind brushing against my face.

  Right now, I was in District 13 to finish manager Ameri’s request. It wasn’t something complicated, but it didn’t mean the request was easy either. When I listened to her earlier, I realized the novel’s story truly started this year.

  “Esper Resistance managed to gather astronomical funds from an unknown source. They used the secret underground passages to spread the papers around Cypherion. Of course, not all papers could explode, but it was enough to keep the Student Council busy.”

  Manager Ameri explained in detail. She even gave me a document that described the sequences of events happening starting when the tournament ended until this morning.

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  “Two Espers, a twin, are responsible for the explosion. They can turn anything they touch into an explosion. The closer they are to the target, and depending how big the medium is, the bigger the explosion they can trigger.”

  “Both twins have the same ability?”

  “Yes. You might know them as the Bomber Twins. They are pretty famous among the dark side.” The manager said seriously, “Their rank is Advanced Psion Esper. I don’t know whether they have gotten stronger or not because the last time they appeared was a year ago.”

  She casually exposed the culprit’s identities without batting an eyelid.

  “Now, about my request. There is this place where Esper Resistance gathered. The problem is, they used Maid Cafe as a front, and they are wearing skimpy clothes to get customers. They also slander us when talking to their customers, as if targeting us. How dare they!”

  For the first time ever, manager Ameri showed intense anger. She gritted her teeth and slammed the desk.

  She must be mad that her place got slandered.

  “How dare they destroy a maid cafe’s reputation by acting like sluts! My kids are pure, cute, and innocent! The worst thing is, they aren’t even a real maid cafe, just a front used for the activities they did! Hey, Ciel. Don’t you think they don’t deserve to live?”

  Correction, it seemed like she was just a mad woman. I knew she loved a maid, but to think she would go this far.

  However, I understood where she came from. Due to their conduct, maid cafes gained a bad reputation and that decreased manager Ameri’s sales. Though I guessed the main reason was that the guests loved to visit this new maid cafe more due to their risky costumes, I kept silent and only nodded.

  It’s not wise to take the anger on my enemy’s behalf. I silently thought as I kept listening to her rambling.

  After everything was finished, I moved to the said location and am now here. Manager Ameri’s request was actually pretty urgent. Without customers coming in, her information gathering would be hampered, which would affect my future request.

  So I decided to finish this as soon as possible.

  “Is that the maid cafe?” I mused as I looked at a fashionable building decorated cutely.

  Two girls, wearing skimpy maid outfits with short skirts and open shoulders dress showing off their cleavage, stood in the front holding a sign while waving at the customers.

  Some students got baited and entered with silly smiles. Their gazes clearly stopped at the maids’ chest area, making me shake my head.

  “Their marketing is truly good.”

  In the end, Maid Cafe Angel only lost to the pure marketing strategy, not because of some kind of ruse from the Esper Resistance.

  Still, the fact this new maid cafe was the place where they gathered was enough of a reason for me to destroy it.

  “According to Ameri, they have an underground room where they gather. Today, at 1 PM, they will gather before moving out for their next plan. As long as I can confirm their existence, I can move to destroy this building immediately.”

  Waiting for them didn’t take as long as I initially thought. Just a few seconds later, a van stopped in the parking lot not far from the maid cafe. Three people emerged from the vehicle and entered the building from the backdoor.

  No matter how you see it, they were suspicious. From their all-white outfits and the fact they only brought one box with them, they didn’t seem to be doing delivery either. Which meant, they were Esper Resistance’s members.

  Rising from my sitting position, I stretched my arms and legs to prepare for any fight. It had been a long time since I had a proper fight. There should be an Esper with Advanced Psion level at the least inside the building.

  Maybe the Bomber Twins are inside. If that’s the case, then I welcomed it with open arms. I could apprehend them while finishing Ameri’s request. Two birds with one stone.

  Anyway, using Daydream to destroy the building would be too much. I knew there were innocent people in the front area, drinking and enjoying the maids’ company, so I had to be careful.

  “A simple Psion’s technique will be enough.”

  Psion. An energy presented in every Esper’s body that served as a fuel to bring out miracles. It was slightly different from an Esper’s ability. Unlike it, no imaginary field needed to be created to bring it out. And it wasn’t necessarily unique like Esper’s ability where everyone would have a different effect even when they had a similar ability.

  Instead, Psion was more common. A halo that acted like a reactor would appear over our head whenever we used Psion. The color also depended on one’s personality. For some reason, my halo and Psion’s color was whitish golden, a pretty yet color that stood out a lot. At night, I became a walking neon and easy target for my enemies.

  Though I had to admit, I quite liked it as it looked similar to my hair.

  “Let’s not overdo it.”

  As a Psion Master, I had complete control over my Psion. I could move even the smallest particle to minimize the waste in my technique. I waved the Psion into a compressed ball and aimed at the back area.

  The 15cm ball trembled in front of my palm before launching toward the target like a cannonball. A sonic boom rang and soon followed by a crashing sound when the Psion ball hit the building, destroying the wall and the important pillar.

  Crash!

  A large hole formed on the wall as if a car crashed into it. People immediately fled, having experienced many emergency situations before. An attack like this wasn’t uncommon at all for people living in Cypherion.

  Following the citizens and students, three people as well as two maids exited through back doors. They didn’t try to hide the fact they were Espers any longer and blatantly used their ability to block the alley with a wall of dirt.

  Seeing it, I no longer hesitated. Enough evidence about them being a part of Esper Resistance had been recorded by cameras in every nook of cranny in the Academy City.

  [Daydream activated.]

  I put my hand on my pocket and used Daydream. Imaginary field expanded around me, and white wings sprouted behind my back. Layered feathers and soft golden glow radiated from the new wings.

  [Angel Wings activated.]

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

  With a thought, I moved them. Weight disappeared from my body as my wings lifted me up, moving straight toward fleeing Esper Resistance’s members.

  Due to Daydream, my clear thoughts became slightly muddled and I couldn’t use complicated Psion technique, but I could manage with some simple ones like earlier as I was used to being in this state. FIghting them should be totally doable.

  I glided down the tall building straight to the alleyway. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself flying up fast enough thanks to my weight, so gliding was the only fast movement I could manage. Nothing came without limitation.

  From the air, I could see five people running toward a van parked near the street. I folded my wings, letting gravity finish the rest of the work, and landed right in front of them.

  Thud!

  Now I have to work.