Shokuhou Misaki is the "Queen" who leads the largest faction in Tokiwadai Middle School.
But now, she doesn't have the image of a 'young lady' or a 'queen', but just like an ordinary junior high school girl, sitting in a cheeseburger shop in the "Fourth School District" that is very popular among students.
Take a big mouthful of meaty fast food and enjoy it happily while sticking out your tongue to wipe away the aftertaste on your fingertips.
For Shokuhou Misaki, going to high-end places in order to maintain the image of a lady is just a pretense. There is no need to be like those people who limit their own value by that kind of thing.
Her world doesn't need such vulgar sentimentality.
Perhaps this unique self and pride is also one of the charms of her being admired by the faction members as a 'queen'.
Holding her face and leaning on the window seat while leisurely watching the entertainment program broadcast in the store, Shokuhou Misaki fully replenished the daily energy she had lost due to the too 'chaotic' summer vacation.
Until someone sat down on the seat opposite the partition in a puzzled manner.
"...It's ungentlemanly to disturb a girl while she's eating~"
Shokuhou Misaki knew who was coming without turning his head.
"Haha, I will choose a better time to show up next time."
I casually ordered a drink, and the 'uninvited guest' just smiled.
Being able to see the unknown side of Miss Tokiwadai is quite profitable from the perspective of an intelligence mercenary.
"What a boring man... So, where is the 'thing' I want?"
Shaking the small dessert spoon, Shokuhou Misaki asked in a casual tone.
On that day, it was impossible for her not to care about the thing that disabled her ability, so she hired this guy wandering in the dark area through special channels to investigate.
"It has been shipped to you 'there', but out of professional ethics, I still remind you to place the order. Most of what we can get are just defective products."
In other words, the ‘genuine’ product has been recycled.
"What the hell, wouldn't it make all the sense for me to hire you?"
Shokuhou Misaki returned the look with dissatisfaction, obviously not agreeing with this result.
"Hey...I'm just an intelligence agent with some connections, but I'm not as capable as you."
After spreading his hands, the man smiled bitterly, stood up and put his hands in his pockets and continued.
"In order to make up for the trust and cooperation in the future, here are two more pieces of information related to you."
"The 'connection window' that spread the 'Gundam of Guns' was a man named 'Junzo Toshizo', and he has now been dealt with by the 'ANBU' people."
"And the ones who finally recovered the power armor that attacked you were actually people from the "Advanced Situation Rescue Team"."
"..."
The conversation ends here.
As the automatic door opened, the man's figure blended into the crowd and drifted away.
In the restaurant, Shokuhou Misaki was thoughtfully savoring the sauce in his mouth.
…
*****************
Accelerator woke up in the hospital for the first time.
Although it has been some time since I regained consciousness, my brain is still a little groggy.
With his eyes open like this, the first one looked at the top of the white wall, wondering what he was thinking.
"Huh? Are you awake already, Accelerator."
A woman's voice suddenly sounded in the single ward.
Accelerator subconsciously moved his eyes.
Two people in white coats came in from the door. The man was a little fat and had a strange frog face.
I haven't seen him before, he's probably the doctor here.
He guessed.
The female one was somewhat impressive.
If he remembered correctly, this young woman seemed to be named Yoshikawa Kikyo, and she was also one of the researchers of the project.
But the two of them were not familiar with each other.
"...You are so worried about my life and death, do you want me to go back early to participate in the experiment?"
Accelerator responded with a voice that contained no emotion.
"Maybe, you may not know that the previous research institute has been destroyed, and some people above are worried that this situation will continue to happen, so they want to freeze the experiment, but if you are interested, you can probably reapply.
Bar."
"After all, you still have the possibility of reaching Level 6 of absolute ability."
After conveying these formulaic messages in one breath, Yoshikawa Kikyo smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly.
Even though he has already let this child know the cruel truth, he still wants to tempt him to make a choice.
Obviously he was also an 'accomplice' in this experiment, but he naively thought that he could make up for something.
Sure enough, she is not suitable to be a researcher at all.
"...Level 6?"
Repeating the origin of all this, Accelerator's eyes flickered for a moment, but he soon calmed down.
He started thinking.
What was the point of that battle?
What does that monster represent?
And the figure that finally stood in front of him.
What does "she" mean to him?
Thinking of that clone, an unknown fire for whom unknown to whom surged into Accelerator's heart, causing him to blurt out.
"get out."
"I'm no longer interested in that experiment."
To kill a guy like that 20,000 times?
...That kind of thing is not interesting, asshole.
Not interesting at all.
Accelerator closed his eyes and stopped talking as if he was giving an order to be kicked out.
"ah……"
Hearing the unexpected answer, Yoshikawa Kikyo slightly opened her dull eyes.
She still remembered the way Accelerator looked when she first met him.
Has even this kid begun to change?
What about her?
Just continue like this, relying on memorizing the names of those children every day to satisfy your own hypocrisy?
Yoshikawa Kikyo couldn't describe how she felt when she turned around and left.
She just kept asking herself.
Since the white coat on my body is already so heavy, why do I still wear it?
It's time to end.
Looking ahead, she felt like she was waking up from a dream.
So this time.
Only this time.
The naive researcher decided to throw away that ‘naivety’.
The steps forward became firmer, as if there was some force stirring deep in her heart.
"..."
"Is this okay? She introduced you and that child here."
The frog-faced doctor who had been watching silently asked.
He is also the only one who will come to see you.
He silently regretted it.
The person on the hospital bed said nothing.
After a long time, Accelerator spoke again.
"Hey, how's that guy doing?"
"..."
Unfortunately, no one in the room could answer.
The frog-faced doctor didn't know when he had left.
"Tsk..."
(What on earth am I doing?)
He groaned in dissatisfaction and raised his right hand, which had regained consciousness, over his head.
…
**********
Edwards stood on the top of the unknown building and raised his head.
Even though there was no one in front of her, her eyes still crossed the void and fell on 'him'.
"So, have you come to a conclusion? Aleister."
It can be judged from the name that the person the blond angel is talking to is the person with the highest authority in the city.
Before the latter could speak, she continued.
"'Since it is possible to artificially implant a self into an unconscious energy mass, the "AIM diffusion field" gathered by the network built by the clones in the production area also has the concept of death and jointly spawns endless creations.
Do you really still think so about the possibility of a mature consciousness?"
Edwards smiled disapprovingly, as if he meant something.
But she didn't rush to deny it.
Because she was also full of doubts about the structure whose existence was unclear.
Of course, there is still interest.
"Whether it's Hughes Feng Zhan's problem or being the first to be frustrated, your 'plan' has to be changed now, right?"
Edwards smiled.
Regarding 'vulnerabilities', she always likes to observe them from the perspective of a bystander.
Because it's very interesting.
(...As long as the parts from 1003 to 1078 are adjusted, the expected development can still be achieved.)
Another voice finally responded.
It seems to be conveying the meaning of ‘as long as it can be used well, this is not a bad thing’.
However, this was not the answer the blond angel wanted.
"...Forget it, just continue to work hard to maintain your persistence."
Losing interest in conversation, Edwards shook his head, and his body gradually lost its shape.