If the future can be predicted, does that mean there exists a predetermined fate—one that remains untouched by human will, truly etched into the inevitable path of what is to come?
Yet this very fate can be altered by a force of higher priority, steering the future toward a completely different road. Perhaps such a force could be called a miracle.
Looked at that way, the ability to teleport through three-dimensional space could, in a sense, also be considered a form of miraculous power. And a certain twin-tailed girl who possesses that teleportation ability is, without a doubt, a genuine miracle girl.
As for the source of this power—the elusive eleventh dimension, far beyond ordinary imagination—it's probably the origin of this quasi-miraculous force.
Still, topics involving fate are far too profound and complex. The firmness of destiny isn't uniform, so even the greatest miracle likely can't erase every unfortunate future.
What's more, in the world of magic, there's a saying: fate is the spark born from the collision of phases, the face of reality as seen through countless phase lenses—only here, the subject shifts from the world itself to a specific individual.
But let's get back on track. None of this had much to do with Natsume-san at the moment. She had zero interest in miracles; she just didn't want to get roped into work by her teammates.
The world could do as it pleased—bizarre, chaotic, overrun with monsters—it didn't matter. She couldn't control it, and she didn't want to.
Even if the world her mind conjured up was a little too strange, once you got used to it, it was nothing. If you didn't observe it, it might as well not exist.
"Wait, what was I supposed to do again? Doesn't matter. A whole afternoon just lounging around sounds perfect."
Once she was out of a certain teleporter's line of sight, a blank look spread across Natsume-san's face.
Even if she wasn't helping the Judgment members with their duties, Natsume-san herself didn't really know what to do. Or rather, a life where she didn't have to do anything was the everyday she knew best.
Things like searching for the truth behind the Indian Poker cards or tracking down the source of the nanomachines in the air—after the initial urgency and novelty wore off and she hadn't found anything concrete—Natsume Sonoko had started to slack off.
Probably only when a real, tangible threat was right in her face would her thick nerves kick back into gear.
"Oh, right. Ryouran Maid School's event day is coming up, isn't it? Hmm… or maybe it's called an open day?"
Her footsteps halted abruptly. Natsume-san's eyes fixed on a discount advertisement near the shopping street, though her mind was elsewhere.
She'd received an invitation from Kongou-senpai a long time ago—must've been over two months now. It was something she'd been looking forward to for ages.
She ate the cooking from the dorm's maids every day, but when it came to food, Natsume-san never, ever got tired of it. That was just her enduring heart for delicious things.
Besides, even though the dinners prepared at her student dorm were plentiful, no normal student would obediently only eat cafeteria food every single day.
"Alooooha, Natsume-san!"
A cheerful voice called out from nearby. Saten Ruiko, waving enthusiastically, appeared on the other side of the street, holding some sale items she'd just bought.
Having just left the supermarket, sharp-eyed Saten Ruiko had spotted a certain bun-headed girl passing by.
To compete for Academy City's market share, special sales were held from time to time. In the past, Natsume-san had been a regular at these bargain events.
Not that she was as keen as some housewives struggling to make ends meet—Natsume-san just really enjoyed the feeling of saving money.
"Eh?"
Hearing the supermarket sale advertisement, the bun-headed girl, who'd been silently calculating her savings, looked up. She found herself surrounded by the usual dense crowd, with no sign of the person who'd just called her.
"That was Saten-san's voice, so she must still be around."
Wearing a slightly puzzled expression, Natsume Sonoko began scanning the crowd suspiciously.
She'd heard it clearly just a moment ago—how could the person vanish so quickly?
--+--
Across the entire street, hidden behind a giant inflatable panda mascot used to attract customers, a girl in a beret—pressing down on her voluminous blonde hair—quickly covered Saten-san's mouth. The items in Saten-san's hands scattered to the ground.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Please be quiet for a moment. What I'm holding is a doll that goes 'boom' and can blow up this whole street."
"But if I blow up the whole street here, I'll definitely be killed by Mugino when I get back."
Trying to widen her eyes and look more intimidating, Frenda threatened skillfully, simultaneously pulling out a creepy-looking doll from under her two-dimensional skirt.
Seeing how overly tense the girl beside her was, Saten Ruiko's struggling gradually stilled. She blinked gently, signaling to the other.
I'll be quiet.
She traced a few shapes in the air with her finger, then pointed to her own mouth. Saten-san was calmly handling the situation.
Having spent so much time with several Judgment members, Saten-san had learned how to deal with unexpected incidents—especially when the other party just seemed spooked by something.
Just moments ago, Saten-san had bought the last two cans of mackerel from the supermarket, and then this strange girl had started tailing her.
Though she could tell the other girl really wanted her mackerel cans, outright theft wasn't acceptable. Still, the beauty program's recipe only needed one can, so she generously shared one.
As for this suddenly appearing girl, Saten Ruiko had a vague feeling she'd seen her somewhere before.
Watching Saten's gestures and remembering she'd shared a mackerel can, Frenda's face showed a flicker of hesitation.
She didn't really need a hostage—she just didn't want this girl drawing that person's attention.
Besides, the surface world was different from the dark side. Frenda had her own normal life and social circle, with regular contacts numbering in the thousands, plus a little sister she had to take care of. She didn't want to ruin her surface life.
But so much was beyond her control. She constantly had to deal with the dangers and enemies brought by her dark side work.
One careless move, and she could end up dead—just like those she'd eliminated before.
"Haa—"
The next moment, Saten Ruiko felt a sudden relief; the other girl's hand had already withdrawn.
But the blonde girl pressed herself tightly against the inflatable panda, looking ready for anything.
"Major crisis! Why did I run into that one here?"
"If I attract the #8's attention here, I'll definitely be sent to the Anti-Skill headquarters. Or worse, she might tail me secretly and expose our base's location…"
Frenda muttered to herself, an unwilling expression on her face.
Today hadn't just been a failure regarding the mackerel cans—she'd also run into a past opponent. That last battle had ended with the dark side group 'ITEM' completely routed.
According to some intel analysis, the #8 was a high-ranking esper who could rival the #1. She had a twisted personality, held grudges, and was especially vengeful.
The number of people she'd sent to Anti-Skill was at least ten.
Even though she hadn't been the one facing the #8 directly in their previous encounters, judging by how both Takitsubo and Kinuhata had been sent to Anti-Skill, the #8 had already shown strong dominance over them back then.
Even if Mugino showed up now, she probably couldn't take down the #8, whose record in the reports was getting more and more terrifying.
"No, Mugino is the strongest."
Thinking of this, Frenda suddenly clenched her fists, determination flashing across her face.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?"
"And also, do you have some kind of misunderstanding with Natsume-san?"
Blinking, Saten Ruiko waved a hand in front of the other's eyes. This person was getting stranger by the minute.
But it was clear that the person she was hiding from was indeed Natsume-san, whom Saten knew.
But Natsume-san was so kind and gentle—just like Misaka-senpai, neither acted stuck-up as espers.
"That's not important. Just pretend you never saw me, okay?"
Gritting her teeth, Frenda insisted.
Even the #8 would be helpless against a dark side member's extensive escape experience, right? It wasn't like she had no chance at all.
"Aloha, Saten-san. Is this your friend?"
Popping her head around the side of the panda mascot, Natsume Sonoko looked curiously at the two girls deep in discussion.
Finding someone nearby was easy for her.
She didn't know what was going on, but the two seemed to be getting along well.
"So it was Natsume-san."
Hearing the voice, Saten-san let out a sigh of relief.
Beside her, Frenda stiffened, frantically tugging her beret lower and hiding the dolls behind her back.
"Yep, she's a new friend I just made."
She paused for a moment when she looked at Frenda—she didn't even know the girl's name. But then Saten Ruiko nodded firmly, earning a grateful look from Frenda.
What's going on? Do Natsume-san and this girl not know each other at all? What was this blonde girl so nervous about?
Still, it helped Saten-san relax. Nothing bad happening was a good thing.
"Hey, have we met somewhere before?"
Tilting her head, Natsume-san also felt the beret-wearing girl looked familiar.
"You've definitely got the wrong person! Actually, I'm a transfer student from a faraway foreign country. I just moved to Academy City not long ago, and my favorite food is mackerel—it tastes like home!"
Frenda immediately stuck out her tongue, pressed a smooth, pale fist to her temple, and put on a harmless smile.
She even considered breaking into a traditional dance to win the other's trust, but Natsume-san seemed to buy it already. Such an easily fooled, sheltered rich girl.
"Eh, sorry. I'm not great at telling foreign faces apart—they all kinda look the same to me."
"You know how it is, lots of people have that problem."
Accepting the other's denial, Natsume-san apologized somewhat sheepishly.
Truthfully, the usually laid-back bun-head didn't have much interest in verifying the other's story.
There were some foreign students in Academy City, though not nearly as many as local Japanese students.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL