Rowan Mercer wandered through the crowded streets, sampling a few snacks from roadside stalls as he made his way toward the main stadium where the festival's opening ceremony was being held. By the time he arrived, the stands were already packed, and the event had reached its final segment: the student oath.
He pulled his cap lower and leaned against the wall near the edge of the field, sipping a drink as he watched.
Representing the students this year were two of the city's seven top-ranked ability users. One was Gunha Sogiita, a natural-born ability holder. Unlike most students, whose powers came from artificial development, he had been born with his ability intact. People like him were rare. In another age, before powers had names or systems, they would have been mistaken for gods.
The other was Misaki Shokuhou, the only mental specialist among the seven. Telepathy, memory alteration, mental domination. Her control-based power set made her terrifying in a way brute strength never could.
At first, their speeches followed the script. Halfway through, Gunha clearly lost his place and began improvising with wild enthusiasm. The atmosphere wobbled on the edge of chaos, but before things could spiral, the host reclaimed the microphone and announced the first event.
As students poured out of the stands and toward the competition grounds, seats rapidly emptied.
That was when Rowan spotted a familiar figure.
A silver-haired girl sat slumped in her chair, a small calico cat perched on her head. He recognized her immediately.
Rowan changed direction and walked over.
In the time he had spent learning from Edward Alexander, he had gained a far clearer understanding of the magical world's inner structure. His earlier idea of simply raiding church archives or extracting knowledge from magicians' memories had been naive. True magical texts were never left unguarded. They were entrusted only to those raised within the system, protected by specialists, and secured well beyond the reach of casual intrusion.
Even Edward himself had once been nearly destroyed for overreaching.
And outside the city, Rowan would not enjoy the same advantages he did here. Any mistake would draw the attention of entire factions, possibly the whole magical world.
Which brought his thoughts back, inevitably, to the girl in front of him.
The one whose mind held more than a hundred thousand grimoires.
He could not breach her defenses now. But later was another matter. Once he had absorbed everything Edward was willing to teach, once he had formed a complete system of his own, brute force might no longer be necessary.
For now, there was no harm in building goodwill.
"Hello, Index," Rowan said.
"Hungry…" she muttered weakly, sprawled across her seat. At the sound of his voice, she slowly lifted her head. "Oh. It's you. Misaka's… sister?"
She frowned slightly, confused by his clothes, then seemed to remember. "Ah. The one who said he was her brother."
"Sister?" Rowan echoed, amused. "That's how she described me?"
Index nodded, then froze when she noticed the food in his hands. Her eyes lit up, and she shot to her feet.
"That looks amazing! Can I have some?"
"Take it," Rowan said, placing everything he had on the empty seat beside her.
"All of it?"
"All of it."
"You're a good person!" she declared happily. "Way better than your sister."
She dug in immediately. While she was distracted, Rowan gently placed a hand at the back of her head and activated his mental ability.
The response was instant.
A powerful force knocked his hand away.
Rowan withdrew without surprise. "As expected."
Breaking through that defensive layer would require a level of psychic force far beyond his current reach. He let the matter drop and turned his attention back to the field.
Only two schools remained in the ongoing event. One of them included a familiar face.
Touma Kamijou.
Rowan watched closely as Touma fought. Every supernatural effect that touched him vanished on contact, erased as if it had never existed.
"That ability…" Rowan murmured.
Imagine Breaker.
Compared to raw destructive powers, it was absurdly unfair. Against most beings, even those on a cosmic scale, that right hand would negate everything that made them dangerous. Only pure physical monsters would remain a threat.
He briefly wondered whether such an effect could be replicated through analysis. The thought died almost as soon as it formed. If it were possible, Edward would have done it long ago. The city's entire ability system had been built on imitation, and yet nothing like this had ever been reproduced.
While he was thinking, his earpiece came alive.
"They're here," Edward said. "Both magicians have entered the city."
Rowan straightened.
"Index, I've got something to take care of," he said.
She waved at him with a mouthful of food. "Bye! Next time I'll make Touma treat you!"
Rowan slipped into the crowd and disappeared, already shifting his focus from celebration to contingency.