"Is the mastermind behind all this that so-and-so? Sounds kinda familiar."
The voices around her seemed to fade away in an instant, as Natsume-san unconsciously sank into deep thought, scouring the corners of her memory before suddenly having an epiphany.
Kihara Gensei. I know that name.
No wonder it always felt like I'd heard it somewhere before.
That person seems to be Kiyama Harumi-sensei's teacher, and also the one in charge of the experiment that left Banri-chan and the others comatose.
His shadow loomed over that entire incident.
When she'd interacted with Kiyama-sensei, she'd made sure to properly understand the whole story. Even though Kiyama-sensei had been vague, clearly not wanting people like her to get involved with him, thinking back now, it was probably a form of protection.
Back when Natsume-san had infiltrated the abandoned buildings of the Advanced Education Bureau, the place was already long deserted.
She hadn't found anything useful at all, let alone made contact with this man. Her impression of him was only based on what others had said.
Plus, Natsume-san also remembered, it was probably in Tokiwadai Middle School's library, she'd skimmed some of this person's papers, though only the very superficial introductory parts.
"I've heard of him, actually."
Before Natsume-san could even speak, the short-haired girl next to her stole her line.
Misaka Mikoto was well aware of this person's existence. After learning about the plan from Nunotaba Shinobu, she had investigated almost all the researchers involved in the Level 6 Shift Project.
Kihara Gensei was naturally a top priority, being a founding elder-level figure.
While he had proposed conducting the Level 6 Shift Project, the actual effective plan was formulated by the Tree Diagram.
Mixed in with the vast number of researchers who agreed to use this method for Level 6 development, only his seniority as an Academy City elder remained particularly conspicuous.
"That's not surprising. That old man is a scientific ghost haunting this city. You can find his traces anywhere related to espers."
"Though I hate to admit it, the reason Academy City now has a set of effective esper development plans is inseparable from this person's research. But people like him are also the most dangerous. No matter how high-sounding their words, their underlying arrogance, viewing espers as lab rats, can't be hidden."
Shokuhou Misaki's understanding of these people was penetrating, her tone growing somber. To those people, Academy City was just a testing ground mass-producing espers as its special product.
So, even though she had managed to recruit the Railgun to her side, Shokuhou Misaki still felt somewhat lacking in confidence.
As an elder in esper development, that man naturally knew their side's information and could make targeted preparations in advance.
Sonoko's existence must have already been discovered by Kihara Gensei too. They couldn't even play the information asymmetry card; the disadvantage in intelligence had existed from the very beginning.
This so-called direct confrontation was really just a matter of seeing where that man wanted to deal with them.
Even if they got information on Kihara Gensei's whereabouts, Shokuhou Misaki would now even suspect it was provided by the man himself.
"What worries me the most is when he'll find the Sisters. I suspect that once Kihara Gensei locates the Sisters' whereabouts, he'll definitely stop hiding his true objectives."
Releasing her arm from around Sonoko, Shokuhou-senpai said with a headache.
But the headache came and went quickly. Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she'd thought of something.
"Right now, what we can do, besides protecting the Sisters, is to weaken the other side's strength. Even if it's just a sliver of power they've exposed, it's very important."
Shokuhou Misaki's gaze passed over Sonoko and finally landed on the unconscious high school boy not far away.
He was the captive Natsume-san and the others had caught.
"Shokuhou-senpai, are you planning to brainwash him?"
Tilting her head, Natsume Sonoko guessed it immediately.
As expected. If you try to predict someone's actions based on their ability, it's as simple and convenient as looking at the answer key.
Just like how if she planned to infiltrate somewhere, she'd instinctively use optical camouflage.
"You only got part of it right, but it's close enough."
Shokuhou Misaki rested her chin on her hand, her fingertips lightly tapping her smooth skin, her gaze towards Sonoko carrying a trace of amusement.
Natsume-san was understanding her more and more. Why did that make her feel a little happy?
"I've observed the leader of the dark side group 'Member,' 'The Professor.' He didn't refuse the task from the intermediary, Kouzaku Mitori, but he was somewhat passively slacking. He didn't personally participate in the search for the Sisters."
"Maybe he's already noticed something abnormal; he might even go to the Board of Directors to verify the authenticity of the request they received."
Shokuhou Misaki stated this with some certainty.
She had read the memories of some 'Member' operatives; 'The Professor's' attitude towards this task was strange.
"But it should be hard to confirm, right? Otherwise, they wouldn't have been passing on fake requests for so long without being discovered."
This was something she hadn't heard before. Natsume-san hesitated for a few seconds.
"Correct. Because 'Member' is a dark side group directly under Board Chairman Aleister, requests or tasks aren't necessarily issued through the Board of Directors."
"Even if The Professor wants to seek confirmation from the Board, the directors themselves might be confused and unable to distinguish truth from falsehood. That's why a dark side group with decent strength in all aspects could be deceived for so long."
"And to confirm more details, he'd need to apply for contact with Aleister himself, which is precisely what even they, as a directly subordinate dark side group, find difficult to do."
"So, even with the help of other members of the Board of Directors, it would require a massive effort to verify everything from the source. I'm afraid Kihara Gensei knew this, which is why he so brazenly directed this dark side group."
Shokuhou-senpai laughed softly, not holding anything back but laying out her deductions plainly.
She had figured out much more than her own careless junior, silly Sonoko-chan, let alone that Misaka Mikoto who had just joined them.
The reason she had discovered this request didn't exist was actually very simple.
Aside from Aleister being the sole authority who abolished the Level 6 Shift Project and was highly unlikely to restart it...
It was that Shokuhou-senpai didn't believe that the mysterious Board Chairman wouldn't know the Sisters' locations, needing to send his dark side to investigate.
Even if Academy City had a secret that could elude 99.9% of people, the Board Chairman would definitely be the exception.
The existence of such an obvious flaw was also what made Shokuhou-senpai and that 'Professor' from the dark side suspicious. It's just that the Professor was clearly wary of the Chairman's reputation, so he investigated on the side while still carrying out the task.
"So that means, this dark side group isn't our enemy? Kihara Gensei is, at this stage, already opposed to Academy City's official side." Misaka-senpai mused.
"Exactly. He not only doesn't represent the official side, he might not even have official approval. It's probably just his own private decision. This discovery is important. At the very least, his forces won't expand to an unimaginable degree, and everything becomes much easier to handle."
Nodding, Shokuhou-senpai unusually agreed with the short-haired girl's point.
Before, they had been constantly considering the opponent's strength and objectives, overlooking a very important point: the illegitimacy of his actions.
This was also why he didn't want the authorities involved and tried to clean up the traces of battle.
If they could just remove this pawn he placed within the dark side in advance, then the situation might not completely reverse, but it would at least become slightly more favorable for their side.
"As long as we make this dark side group or the Board of Directors realize this point ahead of time, then Kihara Gensei will inevitably become a target for Academy City's official forces, and we won't even need to lift a finger." Nodding, Misaka-senpai seemed to have a sudden realization.
"Misaka-san, your intelligence really is the lowest among us."
Shooting a somewhat disdainful look at a certain Railgun, Shokuhou-senpai couldn't help but shake her head, her expression becoming all smiles again when she looked back at Sonoko.
Sonoko was both cute and smart. Even her lazy demeanor was so like her own.
"Even without official authorization from Academy City, that doesn't mean the Board of Directors can unanimously agree to retaliate against Kihara Gensei."
"Some might agree to capture him, but I think more would probably want to see what Kihara Gensei manages to cook up. The most likely outcome is them watching from the sidelines, then swooping in to snatch the fruits of Kihara Gensei's labor."
Shokuhou-senpai sighed.
That was the so-called neutral faction for you – the kind of neutral that waits to intercept the prize, blatantly putting profit first. Considering the composition of the Board of Directors, this situation was very likely to happen.
You don't need to tell old foxes folk tales; everyone here is a bad egg. Gullible people like Misaka-san were a rarity, practically an endangered species.
The Board of Directors' neutrality would also protect the three of them. As long as they could resolve the immediate crisis, they wouldn't face reprimands from the official body that was the Board.
After all, there were a few on the Board who could still see reason, and Level 5s were inherently important to Academy City.
If people's hearts weren't so complicated, she wouldn't have to work so hard all the time.
"But this is enough. At least we've neutralized one dark side group and gained some decent support. I recall that Baba Yoshio's mechanical dogs were somewhat useful."
Saying this, a trace of relief showed on Shokuhou-senpai's face.
Without the help of the dark side group 'Member,' the mastermind Kihara Gensei not only lost a significant force but also a useful tool for tracking down the Sisters.
As long as he couldn't find the Misaka Sisters, time was on their side, even if this advantage was only a matter of having a little more breathing room.
"Eh, so that was your plan all along, Shokuhou-senpai."
Natsume-san seemed surprised, finally understanding the golden-haired senpai's scheme.
Besides brainwashing the memories of this high schooler before them, turning him into a fighter for their side, they would also use him to deliver some of the information they'd gathered to 'The Professor.'
Whether or not The Professor had sought help from the Board of Directors as Shokuhou-senpai suspected, simply passing this information along would likely make the dark side group 'Member,' and perhaps even the Board of Directors, remain neutral.
Of course, it was only 'likely.' Who could say for sure about the future?
At that moment, Shokuhou Misaki slowly stretched, her gaze returning to the unconscious high school boy, pulling a remote control from her now completely renewed handbag.
While Shokuhou Misaki was modifying memories, Misaka-senpai had been busy clearing the surrounding monitors and aerial drones, ensuring their conversation remained secure.
As for Natsume-san, she had little to do but warm up. She still had a competition to participate in later, after all.
--+--
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.