"I think what Yomikawa Sensei said makes sense," this time, Tora-bachi Tōmitsu nodded in agreement. "You can't underestimate human malice."
"There's one more thing," Yomikawa Aiho added. "Over the past few days, while handling all your paperwork, I was registered as your legal guardian."
It was simply more convenient that way—at least, that was how Yomikawa explained it.
Although the decision involved a fair amount of coincidence, now that she had become his guardian, Yomikawa Aiho resolved to carry out the responsibility properly.
"After all, this was a case I personally handled," she said seriously. "Even if we failed to capture the mastermind behind it, I can't allow myself to fail at protecting your safety as well, Nana-kun."
"In that case…" Kobayashi no longer hesitated. He extended his hand. "Thank you very much for all your help, Teacher. I'll be relying on you from now on!"
"Uh…" Looking at the plaster-wrapped cylindrical arm stretched out toward her, Yomikawa Aiho cautiously reached out and shook it. "No need to thank me. I'll be in your care as well…"
For some reason, she always had the strange feeling that when she spoke with Kobayashi, it didn't feel like she was dealing with a teenage boy—but rather someone her own age.
With his future living arrangements settled and his personal safety temporarily secured, Kobayashi finally relaxed. He was able to focus on recovering from his injuries with peace of mind.
And just as Kobayashi diligently cooperated with his treatment in the hospital, hoping to recover as soon as possible, a secret meeting concerning him was unfolding in the underground level of a certain building…
________________________________________
"Let's proceed with the final vote on how to handle experimental subject number '007,'" the middle-aged man presiding over the meeting spoke first.
"Now he has the name Kobayashi Nana, a legitimate identity, and he's under the protection of the Security Forces," someone immediately responded. "Besides, it's already been confirmed that his amnesia is genuine. Why go to such lengths over him?"
"You're suggesting we just let a laboratory defector go?" another person shot back. "What do you think the other experimental subjects will think? The Security Forces have been tightening their investigations lately—if another subject escapes, we're finished!"
"It was your idiot assassin who ruined everything!" The first speaker slammed the table and stood up. "If you hadn't rashly hired an amateur to carry out the assassination… If we had entrusted it to a professional dark-ops unit instead, we wouldn't be in such a passive position!"
"That's enough," the middle-aged man cut in, stopping the argument. "Now isn't the time to quarrel. What matters is reaching a decision."
"Then the only option is to abandon him, isn't it?" someone finally concluded. "He's just an insignificant experimental subject. With his memory gone, he poses no further threat to us. There's no need to waste more time and resources on him."
After the incident, they had already relocated all personnel and facilities related to the project overnight. Even if Kobayashi were to recover his memories later, it would be meaningless.
The middle-aged man frowned. "You people… haven't paid any attention to that boy at all, have you?"
He was already certain that the dozens of researchers seated before him had never taken the once-unremarkable experimental subject '007' seriously.
In fact, if the boy hadn't drawn the attention of the Security Forces, no one present would have cared about the life or death of a mere experimental subject.
…Including myself.
The man let out a long sigh. The reason the team leader under him had casually hired an assassin through an anonymous website was ultimately that they hadn't taken Kobayashi Nana seriously, treating the matter perfunctorily.
He opened a document. "Everyone, take a look at this."
"What is it now?" someone asked impatiently, clearly fed up with the meeting.
"Recently updated archive data from the Library," the middle-aged man replied. "The file on that '007'—Kobayashi Nana."
"Tch, what's there to look at—huh?!"
The researchers who had been indifferent moments ago suddenly widened their eyes.
In the file, under the category Esper Ability, was clearly written:
Level 3 — Telekinesis.
"Level 3… a high-level esper…" a female researcher murmured. "How is that possible? Wasn't he a Level 0, an ability-less?"
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what exactly happened, but one thing is certain—the Library's data does not lie."
Information in the Library might be incomplete. Some parts might be blacked out due to confidentiality levels. But false data?
That was impossible.
Anything recorded in the Library was an indisputable fact.
"Could it be…" someone finally voiced the thought. "That our experiment… succeeded?"
To be honest, nearly everyone present had considered that possibility. They had simply lacked the courage to say it outright.
After all, this experimental project was the collective goal they had all worked toward. When one's own interests were at stake, people inevitably became cautious.
The "Dark May" Project aimed to analyze and replicate the esper ability of the current number-one Level 5, Accelerator—Vector Manipulation.
—By analyzing Accelerator's thought patterns and forcibly implanting a portion of them into test subjects, strengthening their "Personal Reality" and enabling a quantum leap in esper development.
Naturally, such gains came with commensurate risks. As a human experimentation project, casualties were unavoidable.
Thus, all participants were selected from the so-called "Refinement Group." In simpler terms, abandoned orphans. Even if some of them disappeared, no one would notice.
Experimental subject '007,' Kobayashi Nana, was one of them. And because he was the oldest, he was regarded as having the least potential, ignored from the very beginning.
Yet now, he had suddenly become a Level 3 esper.
How could the researchers not be shocked—or thrilled?
According to the Curriculum Assessment, an individual's maximum Esper level was determined from the start. Improving one's level through postnatal effort and ability development was almost impossible.
This was even more true for children of the Refinement Group. If they truly had talent, they would have been taken in long ago by schools or formal research institutions. They would never have ended up as lab rats.
But seen from another angle, it was precisely because these children were mostly Level 0 or Level 1 that they provided the clearest evidence of the Dark May Project's effectiveness.
So far, among the hundreds of experimental subjects in the entire project, only one girl had successfully broken through her Curriculum Assessment, advancing from Level 0 to Level 2. A few others had gone from Level 0 to Level 1.
There were results—but they were minimal, far below expectations.
If Kobayashi Nana's sudden rise in esper level was truly the result of their experiment, then without a doubt, it would be the greatest achievement since the inception of the Dark May Project.
(End of Chapter)