Chapter 204: Thoughts During Class
“Thank you, Teacher Ishiryu.”
After a cold, emotionless remark, the short-haired young girl pushed open the office door and walked towards the classroom.
Kazumi still didn’t know what had happened. The sudden attack, Mai Shinomiyai’s voluntarily revealed true identity, Sato’s immense power, the familiar yet evil aura of the enemy, and Sato Shinichi’s resurrection.
So much had happened in just one morning. The young girl still hadn’t fully recovered from Sato’s revival.
Her body, controlled by the machine, moved towards the classroom. Kazumi pushed open the door to Classroom B-1 and entered.
Her arrival drew the attention of some classmates. While Sato Shinichi was often absent, his girlfriend Kazumi Shimizu and the new, exceptionally attractive transfer student being absent together sparked imaginations.
The more active female students in the class were already picturing a campus romance story with a love triangle, spanning over a million words.
“Hey, Kazumi-chan, did something happen? Where’s Sato?”
Unbothered by the thoughts of these little kids, as she was used to the classmates’ gazes, Kazumi had a head full of unresolved questions.
However, Yū Nákamura behind her wasn’t as self-aware. After the young girl sat down, she poked her back with her finger, her cute face leaning in, and asked solicitously.
“It’s nothing, he went to the hospital. Don’t bother me!”
A hint of killing intent flashed in her eyes as Kazumi suppressed her impatience and replied, then turned her head away, leaving a perplexed Yū Nákamura with her hand, offering candy, frozen mid-air.
…
“Ring ring ring—”
Almost at the same time as the bell, the new teacher walked onto the podium punctually and began the day’s lesson.
The second period of the morning was “Hero Ability Studies,” a subject Kazumi usually found very interesting. However, she had no mind to listen to this captivating class now. She couldn’t even be bothered to maintain the pretense of classmate relationships and just wanted to sort out the profound questions swirling in her mind.
They were brought back by the academy head, Sticky Hetuan, but their circumstances were vastly different. Sato Shinichi and Mai Shinomiyai were sent for treatment due to their injuries, while she, having sustained no significant injuries, was merely inspected and then led back by their homeroom teacher, Ishiryu Daito.
As a regular class teacher, Ishiryu Daito didn’t have much information. The only useful piece was that Mai Shinomiyai’s injuries were severe and she was sent to the hospital. Sato’s injuries were minor, and after treatment, he was called to the academy head’s office to report the situation. It was said that after giving his statement, he would be arranged to rest in the school’s infirmary.
As for other intelligence, such as attacks by hostile organizations, she felt she understood the situation more clearly than what was being said.
However, this was the young girl’s first point of suspicion: why were Sato Shinichi’s injuries considered minor?
Perhaps it was due to the influence of Sato Shinichi’s “death” at the time, her nearly absolute calm anger had influenced her. But now, calming down, the questions in her mind grew like weeds.
In her eyes, Sato’s left chest was pierced through, and he collapsed on the ground, losing his life’s aura. But then, under the probing of the sword-wielding hero, he woke up and launched a rapid series of attacks, which was clearly against common sense.
The reason of faking death to find an attack opportunity could barely be justified, but how could a normal person get up and fight energetically after being pierced through the chest? Moreover, he was diagnosed with minor injuries afterward. Seeing him like that, Kazumi thought he was going to die, but then she was told he had minor injuries?
[Could it be… he’s a Psychic?]
A decisive thought arose in her mind, but it was quickly dismissed by the young girl. This didn’t make sense in terms of normal theory. If the other party was a Psychic, what was the purpose of disguising himself as a non-ability user and attending a regular class? To experience the ordinary student life that the Hero Department couldn’t provide?
Don’t be ridiculous. In terms of educational resources and teaching standards, the Hero Department provided much better quality than the Regular Department!
The so-called Regular Department, in Kazumi’s current view, seemed more like an affiliated department of a prestigious school. Besides having the title of the first department, the gap with schools outside wasn’t particularly significant; it merely benefited from the prestige of the school’s Hero Department.
Therefore, unless it was a hero family that was extremely wealthy and chose a traditional family education, other Psychics would tend to send their children to specialized hero schools for education.
[Then… due to training???]
Twirling the pen in her hand, the young girl thought and thought, and this was the only reason that could be considered somewhat plausible. After all, there were precedents of ordinary people becoming powerful heroes through effort.
From the information the young girl had, Sato’s grandfather, [Warhammer], was also a seasoned hero. Moreover, from their daily interactions, it was not difficult to see that Sato had also been training with the goal of becoming a hero from a very young age.
Thinking this way, having decent combat abilities, it seemed to be somewhat explainable…
Not at all!!!
Even so, Kazumi couldn’t accept that he could fight energetically in that state, let alone being declared as having minor injuries with a gaping hole in his chest. Could a normal human achieve such a level of physical conditioning through ordinary training? She would even believe it if you said he had regenerative abilities!
Could it be that this was what Sato Shinichi had been hesitantly trying to tell her? It seemed she still needed to find an opportunity to get the truth out of him!
The pen in her hand spun again. The second point of suspicion was about the other party’s identity. Mai Shinomiyai came here to investigate something about her, or rather, the force she believed in. Coincidentally, she clashed with members of the [Dark] Organization, as mentioned by Ishiryu Daito.
Does this mean that the force Mai Shinomiyai believed in actually overlapped with [Dark]? Or were there opposing forces within [Dark] that were Psychic-related? If so, would it be beneficial to her?
The third point should not be considered a question.
What were her feelings towards Sato Shinichi?
Anger allowed one to see a person’s heart clearly, and the calmness beneath extreme anger made the young girl even more sober, allowing her to understand her thoughts at this moment.
Although she was very unwilling to admit it, Kazumi had to say that her inner inclination seemed to have changed at some point. Although it was just a slight change she was unwilling to admit, it was a dangerous beginning that she had to end.
Her current plans were gradually progressing. She had eliminated her overt blemishes and successfully connected with the [Dark] Organization behind the scenes. For a replacement, Noyoru Yokota’s identity in the Hero Department was actually more useful.
In this case, the connection with Sato Shinichi seemed dispensable to her. Coupled with the seemingly significant impact on her inner self, the trace of reason still remaining within her kept admonishing her.
[So, I have to make a decision…]
