A harmless background character—sounded just like the usual Natsume Sonoko.
But on second thought, something felt a little off.
No matter how you looked at it, a girl wearing Tokiwadai's winter uniform with gauze covering her eyes stood out distinctly from the average passerby.
At the very least, to many people on the street, seeing a Tokiwadai student at this hour was unusual in itself.
Then again, considering even Natsume Sonoko herself wasn't entirely sure what the next step of the plan should be, she decided to set aside such obvious contradictions for the time being.
As the distance between them and Kazakiri-san grew—from across the street to nearly half a district away—the two girls gradually settled into their roles.
They wandered from snack stalls to roadside stands, then from stands to food trucks.
Every so often, the two penniless girls would exchange glances, only to hesitate again at the thought of their meager funds. A strange sense of mutual understanding quietly grew between them.
But in the end, as the support personnel of their team, the girl named Index puffed out her chest with determination and pulled out a pitifully small number of high-denomination coins from inside her nun's habit.
Index's sources of income were simple: some came from Touma's allowance, some she picked up off the streets.
She didn't receive any scholarships; she was essentially one of Academy City's undocumented residents.
As for the place where the little nun worked—they didn't pay her at all. At most, she got two meals a day, with an occasional tip from a kind older sister.
"Two teppanyaki, please."
Stubbornly lifting her head, Index declared firmly.
She wasn't quite sure how a Level 5 in Academy City could end up in such a state, but it did give Index a chance to step up.
Whether it was to fund their undercover operation as ordinary passersby or to help fill out Sonoko's thin, frail figure—she was fully committed.
"Amazing, Index-chan, you're so reliable!"
A happy smile spread across her pale, smooth cheeks as a certain bun-girl accepted yet another snack from the vendor with satisfaction.
The stir-fried noodles she'd had earlier hadn't been nearly enough to fill Natsume-san's stomach.
Thanks to Index, Natsume Sonoko might finally get to boost her body fat today.
She'd heard that eating in the morning and at lunch didn't lead to much fat gain—it was in the evening or right before bed that it piled on easiest.
For a girl trying to gain weight, that kind of knowledge was crucial. And since her appetite wasn't huge to begin with, timing her meals became all the more important.
Plus, from what she'd subtly picked up from Shokuhou-senpai, strategies like sleeping right after eating, eating whenever hungry, lying down instead of standing when possible, and even sunbathing after meals could help with her current dangerously thin condition.
Also, given Natsume-san's current financial situation, aside from dropping by the Judgment branch for occasional free meals, attending more of the tea parties organized by Shokuhou-senpai and the others wasn't a bad idea either.
But none of that mattered right now—the joy of being treated by a friend was more than enough.
Come to think of it, Tsuchimikado-san was supposed to bring a nutritious lunchbox around noon. She could share it with Index then.
Speaking of Tsuchimikado-san, her brother lived quite close to Kamijou-senpai. Tsuchimikado-san often helped Kamijou-senpai with cleaning, so Index had already gotten pretty familiar with her.
"If we really do find a way to let Kazakiri-san live a normal life… what will the people behind the scenes do? Will more unsettling things happen?"
"Knowing what might be lurking in the shadows, Kazakiri-san likely can't escape their control. The best outcome we can hope for is to secure her the right to live freely in the real world."
As these thoughts drifted through her mind, the smiling bun-girl's gaze grew distant.
The truth behind Kazakiri-san might touch upon the deepest secrets of Academy City.
Putting together certain urban legends and the information she'd gathered from Kazakiri-san herself, Natsume-san could roughly guess that the so-called AIM diffusion field Phase was probably the Imaginary Number District - Five Elements Institution—rumored to be Academy City's very first research facility.
Unknowingly, Natsume Sonoko had already stepped into the deepest layers of Academy City's secrets—and might soon cross paths with the groups that ruled over it.
There was no point questioning whether it was worth it. If you gave up just because something was difficult, you might as well not try to change anything at all.
"So troublesome… feels like we're going to run into some really formidable people."
"But no matter how powerful they are, restricting—or imprisoning—an innocent person like that is just wrong."
Quelling the anxiety and nervousness hidden in her heart, a certain bun-girl tried hard to stay calm, but she had no intention of changing her mind.
In the end, Natsume-san's initial goal was simply to help a friend. She hadn't considered what kind of situations she might face.
Now, with her earlier determination and enthusiasm cooling slightly, she couldn't help but ponder what might happen next—and who her opponents might be.
Perhaps this was part of Natsume-san's recent growth.
Spending more time with Shokuhou-senpai had taught her that many things in this world didn't operate on clear-cut logic—more often, it was about compromise and exchange.
Shokuhou-senpai had traded Kihara Gensei to Academy City in exchange for a degree of protection favorable to them.
She didn't know the specifics, but she'd heard that Kumokawa Seria-senpai had helped too. By now, the whole incident had been completely covered up, with only a handful of people aware of the truth.
The rest of them went on with their lives at school as if nothing had happened.
"If I could master the power to control AIM diffusion fields… maybe I'd become more valuable."
A certain bun-girl's eyes glittered beneath her bandages as a thought struck her.
She didn't particularly care about power itself, but just like the status of being a Level 5, its value couldn't be ignored at times.
Unlike some espers who sought leverage over the Board of Directors to negotiate better terms, a certain bun-girl's thinking remained simple and naive.
--+--
The outskirts of Academy City were marked by a towering wall that pierced the clouds, equipped with drone hangars and automated turrets. Numerous specialized security robots fitted with infrared and other detection tools constantly patrolled the area.
In an era dominated by long-range artillery, the usefulness of city walls had diminished almost to nothing. In most places, they existed only as tourist attractions.
But for the headquarters of the science side, this antiquated wall's main purpose was to restrict the flow of people in and out, effectively forming a massive "prison" called Academy City.
Yet if this was indeed a "prison," then the woman who'd disregarded all warnings and heavy artillery fire to break into Academy City—Vento of the Front—could only be called an intruder.
The outer wall of Academy City had already been breached, and Vento's figure had long vanished from the perimeter surveillance feeds.
Along with her came not only strange, tentacled monsters but also magicians dressed in unusual attire.
Not far from the city, a magical unit from the Roman Catholic Church had assembled, ready to launch a full-scale attack on Academy City if ordered, in support of Vento and the others who had infiltrated.
In short, while Natsume-san was busy trying to save her friend, this absurd world seemed to be heading toward a tragic future.
What a shame about the commercial building Natsume-san's family had just purchased—it might soon face a steep drop in value.
Let's hope the small toy company had healthy enough cash flow to survive this major challenge.
The physical universe familiar to everyone in Academy City seemed confined to the three dimensions of space—length, width, and height—the three axes forming our three-dimensional world.
Very few could prove whether the fourth dimension or higher truly existed.
According to widely circulated intelligence, only the eleventh dimension was confirmed to be real.
The proof lay in the existence of spatial ability users, who could communicate with the eleventh dimension to achieve a form of spatial translocation. Among those around Natsume Sonoko was a girl capable of Teleportation.
But concepts like dimensions and realms were merely theories on the science side. Maybe even Natsume Sonoko didn't fully agree with them.
Especially after she'd gained that severely limited, cognition-based pseudo-omniscient ability.
She hadn't seen parallel universes that could be bent and stretched like membranes, nor a multiverse gathering them together, let alone any infinite multiverse clusters—only a single, bare, pitifully lonely universe.
This monotonous cosmic structure didn't fit any grand, bizarre worldview settings. Even the "nothingness" outside the universe felt cramped and stifling.
In other words, Natsume-san couldn't "see" the fourth dimension. Maybe even those unbelievably powerful beings—ones with energy enough to burst the universe—couldn't see it either.
As for Phases—those miraculous constructs parasitically attached to the real universe—Natsume-san couldn't equate them with dimensions. Instead, they felt like irrational, deeply "human" attributes attached to a single universe, even if they did expand the universe's "width" in a way.
So, whether this fourth dimension was time or some measure of parallel universes, if no one had truly discovered it, then for all intents and purposes, it didn't exist.
Even someone like Natsume-san had to accept this blatantly simple, almost crude structure of the universe.
Yet, based on entropy-driven theories and existing knowledge, the current universe was probably the most energy-efficient—or perhaps it was still in its early stages.
The Creator, whose existence was debatable, seemed like a rather mediocre designer.
But here we must return to the concept of dimensions. It wasn't strange that theories of dimensionality could be formulated, but Academy City's scientists knew that Teleporters communicated with the eleventh dimension.
So, where did the theoretical basis or evidence for this "eleventh dimension" definition come from?
Setting aside whether higher dimensions truly existed, the very idea that ability users could perceive information from higher dimensions was staggering.
Simply put, a two-dimensional paper-doll person could be manipulated and influenced by three-dimensional beings, but it would have no way of knowing this. Yet Academy City had accomplished exactly that through its ability users.
This pointed to one thing: a personal reality could randomly generate pathways to higher-dimensional worlds.
--+--
The Daidouji Group's toy empire was facing a ruthless betrayal by genuine magical girls before it could even be established.
Both the fluctuating land prices and the foreseeable devaluation of the magical girl brand threatened to rise to levels the toy company couldn't sustain, severely damaging its future market and prospects.
But compared to a certain fierce, delinquent-and-religion-infused cruel girl, such matters were mere annoyances for a certain bun-girl.
A blood-red tongue dangled a silver tongue ring, from which a chain with a cross hung.
The numerous rings piercing her face trembled slightly with her movements. Even without deliberately making a ferocious expression, her entire appearance radiated distortion and discomfort—a visual assault.
The pure white glow emitted by these rings, set against the backdrop of the destroyed buildings around her, created a strange sense of contrast.
Standing still, Vento of the Front maintained an air of cold detachment, looking down at the lifeless body of a certain Board of Directors member.
Each Board member managed a part of Academy City's institutions and functions—essentially parts of the city's brain. In Vento's view, killing them would sow enough chaos in the ruling layer.
An unusual light flickered in her gaze, as if she were selecting her next prey.
Imagine Breaker, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Board of Directors, the Kihara family… Only at the very end of her list might a handful of Level 5 names be added.
A recently promoted, low-profile girl like Natsume Sonoko, with little intel circulating about her, clearly wasn't on Vento's radar—unless a certain multi-spy or Academy City itself leaked information about the bun-girl.
In reality, her prey had remained sufficiently vigilant.
The Board member she'd just killed, for instance, had resided in a bunker over a hundred meters underground. She'd had to breach the defenses completely to reach him.
But her biggest challenge now wasn't breaking through their defenses—it was finding her prey's locations.
Even with the Roman Catholic Church's intelligence network supporting her, she couldn't easily locate some targets—especially Imagine Breaker, who completely nullified all forms of divination and predictive magic.
But if she could make them come to her… that would be a different story.
"Run all you want. If I find you, you die."
"It doesn't matter who I start with. The end result won't change. These people… they probably have no idea what they're facing."
A crazed smile spread across Vento's face, the killing intent in her eyes impossible to suppress.
This intent wasn't directed at any single individual, but born from a deep-seated loathing for the science side as a whole.
She despised the cold, natural laws they followed. If only the world were governed solely by magic, a world where everyone could be saved would be possible—not one where, when faced with death, you could only save one person.
Her features were originally bright and beautiful, yet she had twisted herself into a visage that provoked instinctive revulsion. The oppressive weight Vento of the Front carried—she had never once put it down.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL