Academy City's Weather Report! (Toaru)

Chapter 466: Academy City Weather Report! - 466

Just to protect those attackers, huh?

Sitting up, a somewhat reinvigorated Shokuhou Misaki offered a nonchalant smile. She understood Hokaze Junko's heart well—perhaps even better than the naive and kind-hearted girl understood herself.

Truth be told, dozens of incidents related to Indian Poker had been cropping up around Academy City.

This was hardly something that could escape Shokuhou Misaki, who had numerous information channels and had always kept a close watch on the spread of Indian Poker.

Even if the Shokuhou Clique didn't play the role of the good samaritan, the Anti-Skill officers would eventually reach similar conclusions.

However, because this incident occurred within the School Garden, the investigation would inevitably be more complicated.

Under these circumstances, it was better to fully expose the negative impacts of Indian Poker within the schools, and even throughout the School Garden.

At the very least, it could prevent more students from continuing to use those things, rather than just limiting the awareness to within the Shokuhou Clique.

Similarly, since Indian Poker had already infiltrated the School Garden and caused a serious incident, it was bound to attract the attention of certain important figures.

Shokuhou Misaki could use this opportunity to observe the upper echelons' reaction to the event, searching for any potential connection between them.

"While it's unlikely to be the work of the Board of Directors, their attitude just feels so ambiguous. It's probably similar to their stance back when Kihara Gensei was conducting the second Level 6 Shift experiment."

Shaking her head, Shokuhou Misaki didn't place much trust in the Board of Directors' scruples.

Even if there were a few decent people among them, the attitude of the majority was hardly commendable. Academy City's development into the blatant superpower testing ground it was today was essentially an inevitable result, permitted time and again through tacit approval.

They held vast amounts of information and resources. Deploying a few Dark Side groups could have nipped this in the bud. Yet, the Board of Directors ultimately only served a clean-up and mopping-up function. Their attitude in this was crystal clear.

"So, this city never fails to be interesting."

'But now, it's time to get down to business. At the very least, I need to act before Anti-Skill arrives.'

Shokuhou-senpai's gaze was inscrutable, her starry pupils flickering with an unusual light.

Even accounting for the influence of Indian Poker, its effects were mostly limited to individual actions. This time, however, a collective incident had erupted. There had to be something worth investigating behind it.

The simplest assumption was that there was an organizer involved.

She hadn't found any clues in the memories she'd read earlier, but by reading the memories of the other attackers one by one, she should be able to uncover something.

However, because there might be traps within the memories, she needed more time for identification and filtering. Fortunately, Anti-Skill was temporarily held up outside the School Garden, so she still had plenty of time.

"Queen, are you alright?"

The clip-clop of small leather shoes, so beloved by Tokiwadai students, announced Hokaze Junko's approach as she walked over to her Queen's side.

Gazing at the other girl's slightly weary face, she asked with heartfelt concern.

The members of the Shokuhou Clique, who had been trapped in the gym earlier, had also helped retrieve their Queen's bag. Hokaze Junko now held it in her hands, offering it to the golden-haired girl.

The ghostly young lady floating above them watched the exceptionally considerate and gentle Junko with some frustration, feeling that the cabbage she'd cultivated always seemed to side with others.

"It's nothing serious."

"What about Natsume-san's situation? Now that I think of it, I'm the one who dragged her into this."

Shokuhou Misaki thought for a moment, naturally taking the ornate golden bag, and asked with some concern.

Having pieced together part of the event's sequence, Shokuhou Misaki knew perfectly well that she was the primary target. This could be inferred from the personnel deployment and the trap setup.

Moreover, the source of this incident was technology originating from the Clone Dolly Institute. So many clues pointed in the same direction.

"First-year Shirai-san took her to the hospital."

"It seems she was attacked by an intense flash of light, which caused some problems with her eyes."

Hokaze Junko sighed, feeling rather guilty, and thought that she must properly thank the other party.

This was probably the second time Natsume-san had gotten hurt because of matters involving them and the Queen. And the first time, she herself had been the one to ask for her help.

"I see."

Shokuhou-senpai nodded, her expression seeming a bit off for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal.

A disaster whistle had somehow appeared in her hand. She checked it and, finding it undamaged, placed it back into her bag.

As time passed, the chaotic clique building gradually returned to its former state, though the pitted floor and damaged walls in various places still awaited repair by a construction crew.

Standing before the captive girl, Houjou Arei, Shokuhou Misaki's gaze revealed a flicker of something unusual. She had finally confirmed that there were indeed several organized individuals behind this case.

Aside from this person named Houjou Arei, the third-year student, Yumiya Iruka, also appeared to be one of the organizers.

However, there was a distinction between the two. Yumiya Iruka was influenced by Indian Poker, whereas this technical exchange student had chosen to target her for other purposes.

And something Shokuhou Misaki hadn't quite anticipated was... that Yumiya Iruka harbored those kinds of feelings for Hokaze? She actually chose such an extreme method to make everyone witness Hokaze's performance.

'What a headache. That child is just too popular. It was the same back at the Clone Dolly Institute.'

'But Hokaze is mine. I won't let anyone take her away.'

Thinking this, Shokuhou Misaki bit her lip and muttered under her breath, simultaneously shooting a deep glance at a certain overconfident girl not far away who dared to try and steal Hokaze from her.

It seemed that to prevent these random people from snatching Hokaze away, she needed to firmly assert her sovereignty. She was the one who couldn't bear to be apart from Hokaze.

However, Shokuhou Misaki wasn't only reading the other's memories. She was also gradually cleansing the distorted parts of their emotions and thoughts, guiding them back to a clear headed state.

As long as they could break free from the prison of their thoughts, realize they were doing something wrong, or simply make them face reality, then the influence of the Indian Poker on their brains could be gradually erased.

In other words, it was about shattering the information cocoon created by Indian Poker, making the things they so firmly believed in appear false.

Setting aside Yumiya Iruka's little infatuation for now, Shokuhou Misaki was clearly more interested in the intelligence gleaned from Houjou Arei.

Because within the other's memories, she had seen a familiar face.

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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL