Chapter: 51. The Urban Legend of Ark Academy
“An item with extraordinary powers?” Kanade repeated Ryuemon’s words like a parrot.
But no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn’t think of anything similar that he possessed.
Up until now, the things he could call “extraordinary items” were probably just the black card that Alice gave him back then and the bell he received from the faux god, Hakurei.
At that time, he used that black card to achieve an unbelievable miracle, directly opening the door to the innermost part of the database.
The bell was used up after making a wish for DD-chan and Senior Kuzutsuka to return to their original forms.
Kanade returned that card to Alice before she left Kawano City, and the bell had thus turned to dust.
Unless that card and bell could still exert some power after leaving him.
“How about it? Do you have any clues?” Ryuemon asked Kanade, who was deep in thought.
“None… unless some extraordinary items can still function even when they’re not in close proximity—”
“—But that contradicts the common knowledge in textbooks, right?”
“That’s true, ‘extraordinary items can only exert their effects when they come into contact with the holder’s magical power.’ If that condition isn’t met, they become ‘phantasmagoric creatures.’”
Both “extraordinary items” and “phantasmagoric creatures” can grant others supernatural abilities.
But the obvious difference is that extraordinary items need magical power to function.
In contrast, phantasmagoric creatures possess their own magical power, and even after becoming contract beasts, they can exist in various ways that bypass the contractor’s magical power.
“Maybe it’s better to ask a teacher about this?” Ryuemon suggested.
“Is it really okay?” Kanade hesitated.
Generally speaking, as a student of the special department, the best first step when encountering an unexplainable situation is to seek help from a guidance teacher.
However, Kanade’s current situation was somewhat awkward.
Due to a series of incidents at Ark Academy, the entire school was currently investigating suspicious individuals, and he was not only on the list of suspects but had also taken actions that could easily arouse suspicion.
He had used the power of the faux god Hakurei through “retrace” in that white space to rush to the scene of the incident.
But if he couldn’t prove that—
He would likely be suspected of being one of the individuals who attacked Fuko and Konagi.
Even if the true culprit was later identified or the truth about that white space was uncovered, he would probably be placed under house arrest at Ark Academy during that time, which would prevent him from completing his transaction with Teacher Kitano, and Konagi would also be in danger—
Kanade felt he was in a dead end.
“…If teachers aren’t an option, what about asking students?”
“Students?”
“For example, President Tojo, or your childhood friend, Aki Naka.”
“Mana…?”
“Actually, I would recommend President Tojo more. As the student council president, he helps many students solve their problems, so he must have accumulated a fair amount of experience. Plus, since he’s also a student, communication should be a bit easier, right?”
“…As for that president… to be honest, I don’t really want to talk to him about this.” Kanade struggled for a moment before speaking slowly.
If it were his former self, he might have thought of consulting that reliable student council president, just like Ryuemon.
But on the day of the attack, his apparently different and fierce expression clearly hid many things.
Secondly, he also lived in Shikikan now; in other words, he was also one of the suspects.
What if he were the culprit? This action of his would be like walking into a trap.
“Tsukimi, you’re so sensitive… As a boy, I think it’s better to keep professional and personal matters separate~”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I’ve actually heard that President Tojo confessed to Hoshimiya, right? Though it’s still pending a reply… so I can understand why you might be hesitant to approach him—”
“—It’s not for that reason…”
“Really not?” Ryuemon asked with a sidelong glance.
“…Half of it isn’t.” Kanade averted his gaze a bit sheepishly.
Although part of the reason was worrying that Aki Naka might be the real culprit.
But just thinking about that guy who, without knowing where he came from, confessed to Konagi at their first meeting, and how he seemed to know her well enough to criticize him after the incident—
It would be impossible for Kanade not to care.
“This is really troublesome… In that case, maybe there’s another more suitable student to choose from~” After shrugging, Ryuemon leaned closer and whispered in Kanade’s ear.
“For example, a student at Ark Academy who’s roughly at the ‘urban legend’ level…”
“Is there such a student?”
“After all, Tsukimi, you’ve never really paid attention to matters related to the special department, always appearing like you wanted to leave it. It’s very normal for you not to know~”
“Who?”
“When it comes to the No.3 student at Ark Academy, who do you think of?”
“Huh? Are you talking about the ranking system in the academy? The third place must be the student council president—Tojo Aoki, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that even though President Tojo is a student, he actually wields power, yet such a genius is ranked only third at Ark Academy…”
At these words, Kanade’s heart sank.
Even if he didn’t want to admit it, the gap between him and Aoki was that significant.
One was a mundane being without any awakened powers.
While the other was an empowered individual with authority; once he graduated, he would likely directly enter the special circle SEMA as an ACE-level empowered person, right?
“The second place is your childhood friend, Aki Naka… she seems to possess multiple powers, truly breaking the common sense in textbooks… She could be called a genius among geniuses.”
“So, who occupies the first seat at Ark Academy?”
“…Speaking of which, I really don’t know.” Kanade’s curiosity was piqued.
On the daily ranking list, the names only start from the second place, Naka.
He had never seen the name of the first place since he entered Ark Academy.
“This first place is actually currently said to be the Dual One~” Ryuemon was pleased with Kanade’s reaction and continued to tease him.
“Dual One?”
“It means two number ones.”
“Huh?” Kanade blinked in confusion.
“She was undeniably the top student at Ark Academy but is now humorously referred to as the last in the academy, having fallen from genius to a mere mortal, the strongest repeat student.”
“A repeat student!?”
“Yeah, and it’s said she’s been repeating for… almost 10 years.”
“No, no, wait?! Repeating for 10 years at Ark Academy?!”
“After all, Ark Academy’s educational philosophy is ‘As long as you don’t give up on serving the extraordinary world, even if you don’t have any powers, you’ll still be given the opportunity to join.’” Ryuemon explained.
“So, she might understand the difficulties Tsukimi is facing now.”
“There’s actually such a person at Ark Academy…? This is the first time I’m hearing about it…”
“Well, well, Tsukimi, you hadn’t really paid attention to this aspect of information before; it’s normal not to know, given she’s a ‘urban legend’ level repeat student~”
“So how can we find this senior?”
“Tsukimi, there’s a saying: ‘Distant in the horizon, close at hand.’”
“?”
“This urban legend of Ark Academy is named ‘Nanjou Akane,’ who has been the dormitory head of Shikikan since a long time ago.”
