I sighed and sat on a benearby. I wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but it looked like she was having something in mind. Something big and troublesome that made him resign in fate.
“First of all, what are you talking about? And you should calm down. Sorry for leaving you with that guy, okay?”
Sibyl gred at him and opened her mouth, but she didn't say anything. It looked like she was trying tanize her thoughts.
It will take time.
As Vice-President, I o support the President, and in this case, Sibyl. Although we were once rivals, we had been together for the past year, so I knew her well enough to trust her judgment.
In addition, she owerful Esper and had a keen eye for danger. She couldn't have brought me here for no reason.
“I found another paper just like this one. Or more specifically, Leon gave it to me.” Sibyl said as she took out a simir paper from her pocket. It was crumpled but still legible.
“He found it he Test ter. It seems that someo it there on purpose.”
I looked at the paper in her hand. The tent was slightly different, but the font used to write it and the point it tried to vey was simir.
It warhe freshmeudents to be wary of other Espers.
And what defined Esper? Academy City.
These two reted to each other and couldn’t be separated.
“Members of the
also found something simir in a few pces. Tied it to me earlier.” Sibyl poi the earphone in her right ear. “It seems that this warning message is being spread around Academy City.”
Warnings to Espers and a warning to the Academy City. It didn't make sense, but it sounded like someone was trying to send a message because it went too far for a mere prank.
I folded my arms and sidered what Sibyl had said.
'It's not clear what their aim is.' He thought. 'But it's definitely suspicious.'
The Student cil's job wasn't to iigate crimes or prevent trouble. They were just students who handled issues within the Academy City such as pnnis and ensured nothing happened.
Solving trouble was the Public Moral ittee’s problem. They dealt with deli or dangerous students, as well as keeping public order. This case was included ier case.
So, it wasn't our job to iigate these warnings, but we couldn't ighem either. If this turned out to be a serious matter, the Academy City’s opening ceremony could be affected and put the udents in danger.
“So...” Sibyl looked at Ciel with a serious expression.
Both of us had known each other for at least a year sihey started studying at the Academy City. We had fought each other tless times and were always ned ne terms of skills and talent. Well, Sibyl win for the tter, but I caught up by relying on hard work and tricks.
If anyone could uand what she currently thought about, it would be me.
“Haa... Fine. I will try to figure this out. You take care of the udents and protect them.”
Having two of the stro Espers in the Academy City iudent cil wasn't ideal. The sed stro was supposed to enter PMC, but Sibyl was already a didate for student cil president at that time, so it was impossible.
I was the anomaly one.
Also me... Well, they didn't even sider me sidering my personality, so the spot of PMC's president was currently taken by a third year student called Travis, a Psion Master and the third stro Esper based oour result a few months ago.
“I know you hahis. Even though we're rivals, I t on you for this matter.” She said with a smile. “You're a reliable Vice-President.”
“Thank you for your trust.” My voice was filled with sarcasm and I rose from the bench. “Just don't rely ooo much. I am not a mae, you know?”
“Yeah. Sorry about this, Ciel. But you’re the only one I trust with this.”
“‘Kay. I will report to you if I find something useful.”
After saying that, I returo the main street of Academy City. I raised his head, appreciating the clear sky and warm sunlight on my face.
This would be a good day if it wasn’t for this trouble.
Imagine lying around sunbathing while reading a book. How great would that be?
But now, let alone sunbathing, I had to move my legs to iigate.
Do I have to look around the whole Academy City?
Not that it wasn't possible, but it would take too much time.
Even if it was called a City, the whole Academy City was an isnd big, spanning over hundreds kilometers. There were more than a dozen Academies, each with its uyle aures.
I had to narrow down my search area somehow.
Wait a minute. I have a starting point. He mused and stroked my . This is within a novel world, and everything revolves around the protagonist. If I find him, I will probably be led to the source of these warnings.
In the novels he read before, there were always characters that acted as catalysts for events and turning points iory. Some of them were i or unaware of their as, while some were key figures that pushed the story forward.
Since I knew I was in a novel world, I had been wary of the existence of the protagonist and their impa the story. I tried to distance myself from them and faded into the background, but it seemed like I had failed wonderfully due to my personal i.
And now, I have to tinue influeng this world’s future. Finding the protagonist and helping them solve the problem would be the most ideal route to keep the Academy City’s peace.
There was one problem.
The prologue and the ending I read doesn't say anything about the protagonist... Argh! I should've read it further. Non is void too. It would be good if the protagonist is a spiky-haired man with a tsundere girl chasing him while shooting aricity. But it won't be so simple, no?
Nowadays, a novel's protagonist's appearance didn’t look so different from normal people. And there were too many unique-looking individuals in Academy City that it was hard to pinpoint just one person.
No other choice. I had to explore and search for clues on my own. I didn't have any idea where to start, but I had to start somewhere.
One clue lead me to another. Just like a thread of fate.
So, I decided to walk around, in some inspicuous pces that would catyone's attention.
I didn't have much time to waste. I used my knowledge of the city's yout and my experien dealing with problems for the st year to narrow down my search area.
“If I were the guy spreading a warning that could put me in trouble, where would I be?” I asked himself while activating my Esper ability.
[Daydream activated.]
Daydream. Just like its name, my ability was vague at best. I also didn’t know the limit of this ability yet, but I dare not to try.
I put up a notification like this, inspired by games, with my own ability to keep myself vivid and not try to push the limit. I could track my own dition subsciously with this.
At one point, I had to be bedridden for days f things outside my limit. My brain burns and I had a lingering headache for 3 whole weeks after that.
However, as long as I stayed within the limit that I vaguely guessed, my ability retty useful.
By activating Daydream, I put myself in a traate and my imagination could ma iy.
Esper fually used Psion to create an imaginary field where they could maheir ability. And my Daydream’s imaginary field retty vast yet limited.
Whether it was something from a book I had read or something I had seen. It could be used for illusions or dreamlike illusions.
But at its core, it port Esper ability that allowed me to have vivid dreams and visions, making it very useful for any kind of situation.
The limit would be myself and the world around me.
What I did right now was to believe that I was a famous detective, one who was good at searg for clues. I focused on my memories and the story of the great detectives I had read, eling my Psion and creating the invisible imaginary field around me.
Ohat was done, I opened his eyes and looked around.
The sery around me had ged, and I could see things that normal people couldn't see. Like tiny lights or threads of fate eg each other, f a clue I didn’t realize before.
It was due to my versatile Esper ability that Sibyl trusted the iigation to me while she protected the udents from any hidden threat.
Let's use this.
[Detective’s Eyes activated.]
[Psion, Stamina, and Mind’s dition at top form. Ready to perform.]
Ideas entered my mind as I ran around, following these tiny lights and threads, looking for more clues. It was like seeing through a magnifying gss, looking at the little details hidden within the sery.
Detective’s eyes. That was how I his ability I gained from daydreaming as a detective. Clues could be seen as light. Simple yet useful ability. But it made me in a drunk-like state so I didn’t quite like using it often.
Anyway, I judged that the important thing wasn't the message, but who spread them.
Following the trails left behind by the culprit could lead me to the mastermind behind the warning.
“Oh?”
After running around for a while, I found another form of light. It was hard to see at first, but I reized it as a Psion trail left behind by someone else.
[Daydream Ended. Returning to reality.]
[Your Psion’s reserves: 99%]
Deactivating my Daydream, everything turned normal once again. My stamina was slightly drained from my ability activation, but it wouldn’t affect my overall strength.
Where is it?
Croug down, I found a simir paper put near a flower pot on a ben front of the the #7 Test ter.
I took the paper and frowhe tent was simir to the ohat Sibyl showed him.
Examining the paper, I tried to look for the trail I saw earlier.
What was that about the Psion trail?
There were only two things that left a Psion trail.
First: by using a Psion.
Sed: by activating an Esper’s ability.
Usually, no one could detect a Psion trail without any specialized equipment. It was only possible when I was in Daydream state. Even now, without the imaginary field, I couldn't feel or deteything.
However, I was sure that no one I saw around this pce had used a Psion before. If there was someone using an Esper ability, I would detect them immediately when I was in daydream state earlier.
Then, there was only oher possibility.
“Oh no!”
At that moment, the paper in my hand suddenly glowed brightly and exploded.
Boom!
“W-What?”
“Aaah! Run away!”
“Evacuate the area! There is an explosion!”
udents ran around like little ducks right after the explosi. The staff i ter #7 gave out instrus to ensure no one panicked.
[Psion’s defense is damaged. Durability: 95%]
Sighing, the halo behind my head that showed an activation of Psion teique disappeared. I mao avoid injuries because I used Psion to create a yer of defense around my body. It couldn’t fully protect me, but I minimized the damage I received with it.
I’ve been had.
“That explosion earlier…”
I reized it. There was only one person I knew who had such ability at a powerful level. And that someone art of an anization that always caused trouble in Cypherion.
“The Esper Resistance.” I clicked my tongue and held my head.
I could feel a headache and sleepless night ining.
More importantly than that, I dusted my clothes off casually as I looked around. The tip of my uniform was charred slightly, making me frown. Looking at the burnt part, I couldn’t help but sigh once again.
Luna will se for this.