The assailants knocked out by Shokuhou-senpai had already vanished from the vicinity of the juvenile reformatory, likely moved by the reinforcements that arrived later.
Meanwhile, Shokuhou Misaki had now gained the support of her allies.
In a certain abandoned warehouse, a powered suit with a large hole torn in its cockpit was trudging along clumsily, nearly knocking over several shelves in its flustered state.
Natsume-san still hadn't managed to activate the powered suit's auto-pilot mode, as that mode could only be initiated remotely and required specific authorization.
"Shokuhou-senpai, I've figured out how to drive this thing. Well... mostly."
A soft, slightly muffled voice came from within the metal can.
The cockpit, designed for an adult, was far too large for a certain bun-girl. She had to stretch her limbs just to barely reach some of the buttons, her face clearly showing her displeasure.
Reality was quite different from the comics.
The buttons and control sticks in the cockpit weren't neatly labeled with their functions like in the comics, making everything confusing.
Still, just getting the thing to move counted as a success.
She'd encountered enemies piloting powered suits before, but this was her first time actually driving one herself. A sense of novelty lingered in a certain someone's heart.
"If we go by the powered suit's speed, we might not be able to completely escape the AIM Jammer's range, but once we reach an area with dense buildings, the interference should become negligible."
"But just as Shokuhou-senpai said, if we've been implanted with some kind of nanomachine or are being tracked by satellite, that would be a real problem. The question is, where exactly is the interference coming from?"
Her movements on the controls slowed as Natsume Sonoko began to ponder, her brow furrowing and relaxing intermittently, a clear sign of the many thoughts running through her mind.
If the AIM Jammer's coverage area was small, she could have tried to carry Shokuhou-senpai outside its range. But as things stood, they could only rely on this powered suit.
"Natsume-san, could I borrow your phone? There are some matters I need to handle."
Just then, Shokuhou-senpai spoke up from behind. Her own phone had been accidentally broken earlier.
"Of course."
Natsume-san nodded slightly and pulled her own phone from her pocket.
Scroll-type phones were all the rage in Academy City these days, but Natsume-san still preferred this older smartphone model.
"Alright, handled a few things. Someone has been sent to retrieve the hard drive and the personnel."
Handing the phone back, Shokuhou Misaki said with some relief.
"Was it that foreigner?"
"Mhmm."
The sky was bright and pale, almost the same shade as Shokuhou-senpai's face.
A certain ace pilot had unique insights when it came to flying, but clearly lacked solid skills in driving a powered suit.
After covering just a few kilometers, they had already crashed three or four times.
Natsume-san, however, seemed completely unaware of this shortcoming, a faint blush of pride on her cheeks. For a beginner, she felt she was doing rather well.
Long accustomed to high-speed movement, Natsume-san even expressed dissatisfaction with the powered suit's tortoise-like pace.
It was precisely because of this sluggish speed that they hadn't managed to shake the AIM Jammer's tracking.
With a flash of overconfidence, the ever-enthusiastic but unskilled Natsume-san executed a frantic 360-degree spin, narrowly avoiding another collision with a tall earthen wall. She glanced somewhat triumphantly at the senior next to her.
"Shokuhou-senpai, are you okay?"
Finally noticing the other girl's pale face, the bun-girl asked with a sudden lack of confidence. The two of them were squeezed together inside the powered suit's cockpit.
While Natsume-san's physical constitution wasn't great, she was a veteran of high-speed movement.
But the senior beside her clearly struggled to adapt to such violent motion—in other words, she was carsick.
"I'm fine, no need to worry."
Shokuhou Misaki shook her head, forcing a strained smile.
At that moment, her gaze drifted upwards towards the sky, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
They had already put some distance between themselves and the freight terminal and juvenile reformatory, heading towards an area with denser buildings.
If the enemy's AIM Jammer was only stationed on those tall buildings, it would necessarily require directional adjustments due to their rapid change in position.
Some devices might even lose their target when line-of-sight was broken at a corner, causing a brief weakening of the ability interference.
But she observed that no such change was occurring.
It had been hard to discern earlier when Shokuhou Misaki was moving slowly, but now it was becoming obvious.
"Shokuhou-senpai, you've noticed it too, haven't you? I suspect the jammer must be placed in the sky."
Looking up at the sky through the large hole in the cockpit alongside Shokuhou-senpai, Natsume-san stated with conviction.
"But we haven't seen any of those blimps passing by here," Natsume-san muttered.
The skies of Academy City were usually filled with blimps flying around, broadcasting weather reports or news.
"They wouldn't need blimps. Simple balloons would suffice."
Having figured something out, Shokuhou Misaki spoke thoughtfully.
"Some research institutions regularly launch weather balloons. The initial reason was to assist the Tree Diagram in calculating Academy City's weather patterns. Therefore, some of these balloons remain stationed long-term in the troposphere or stratosphere above the city."
Shokuhou-senpai explained, clearly knowledgeable about many of Academy City's hidden aspects.
To prevent overzealous students from attempting anything unfortunate, the city had made numerous preparations in advance.
The AIM Diffusion Fields, released unconsciously by espers, were in fact a double-edged sword—a Damocles' sword hanging over their own heads.
"Eh?"
The look of surprise on her face faded quickly, and the bun-girl gave a slight nod, as if this revelation didn't affect her too deeply.
She was already well aware of this city's power, and of the many dark things lurking beneath its surface.
The situation where espers were treated like lab rats hadn't changed, even with the appearance of the eighth Level 5. The collective power of the students remained too weak.
Yet, precisely because of its power, Natsume-san felt that this city could protect her.
'Is this the limitation of being an esper?' Natsume Sonoko found herself thinking. 'If one cannot possess power distinct from esper abilities, they will always have this fatal, inherent weakness.'
But she couldn't think of any way to circumvent it. Perhaps Academy City intentionally avoided developing technology to conceal AIM Diffusion Fields, ensuring all espers remained perpetually within the field's scope.
'But are AIM Diffusion Fields a form of microscopic existence? I've materialized them many times, even given them tangible form. They are something that can interfere with reality.'
'If I could enter the microscopic world again, perhaps I could find a way to hide this field.'
The thought flashed through Natsume-san's mind, and her expression became inscrutable.
It wasn't just the conventional microscopic particles; it seemed this world was filled with countless other microscopic existences.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.