Chapter: 57. Preparation for Action
It rained all night.
That night, there were no new incidents at Ark Academy.
By the next noon.
“Brother, what is this?”
“A list.”
During lunchtime.
Because Nagino was not yet a student of a particular major, she could not eat lunch with Kanade and the others.
So she politely declined the invitations from her classmates and went to the rooftop alone.
There, she saw the figure of Garuda transformed into a dove.
And somehow, Amano sensed Nagino’s presence and stealthily followed her.
Soon, she saw Nagino sitting on a bench on the rooftop, holding a stack of white papers and circling something with a pen.
Curious, Amano couldn’t help but ask the question.
Nagino’s answer left her equally puzzled.
“This is… the student list of Ark Academy?” After getting Nagino’s permission, Amano picked up another stack of white paper that Nagino had placed next to her.
The contents written on it were very familiar to Amano.
It was the student list of Ark Academy.
Moreover, it wasn’t limited to a specific class or grade; it included all the students from Ark Academy—
“No, wait, not just students…” Amano flipped through a few pages and discovered names not only of students but also teachers, staff members, and even the names of shop owners from the shopping street.
“What does brother plan to do with this?”
Amano looked at the list and at Nagino, who was circling one name after another under Garuda’s guidance, faintly sensing that something was about to happen.
“This… simply put, it’s about staging a faux attack.”
“A faux attack?”
“Yes, with Garuda’s help, I’ve listed all the people who might be affected and then chosen those whose involvement in an incident wouldn’t matter.”
“Did brother find out that the hidden murderer in Ark Academy is planning some action recently?”
“No.” Unexpectedly, Nagino shook her head, “Actually, the one staging the attack is me.”
“Huh? Huh?” Amano blinked.
“But you are right about one thing, Amano; the other side is likely to have some action soon, so this list is for use at that time.”
“……Does brother know about it too?”
“Ah, Ark Academy is probably sending someone over to retrieve that thing, right? It will definitely spark a war.”
Nagino explained.
If the goal of the other side is “that egg,” then the moment the people from Moon Academy retrieve the black box, they should launch an attack, trying to seize that egg from them, right?
This time, Moon Academy will dispatch ACE-level espers for protection, so the scale of this battle would not be a small skirmish.
The entire artificial island of Ark Academy could be caught up in it.
In this case, Garuda’s remaining magical power may be insufficient to deal with the battle.
Not to mention that she must also sneak in and take “that egg” during the chaos.
To do this, she must find a way to break the bindings of the End’s erosion placed upon her.
The erosion by the End did not stop.
As long as she used her magical power, summoned a contracted beast, or utilized their abilities, the rate of erosion would accelerate.
If she didn’t break this chain, she couldn’t consider herself a complete fighting force.
At the same time, during the battle, she would be hesitant, increasing the risk.
Thus, over the past two and a half years, Nagino fully utilized the mindset of a dark player to find a temporary solution—
“By the way, Amano, are you interested in becoming younger?” Upon thinking of this, Nagino happened to see Amano’s name on the list, and as if struck by inspiration, she turned to Amano and asked.
“……What do you mean? Does brother think I am old?” Amano replied with a forced smile.
“Ah no, that’s not what I meant~” Realizing she had hit a sensitive nerve, Nagino quickly explained: “I just wanted to ask if Amano has any interest in briefly experiencing the feeling of being ten years younger…”
—————–
“Moon-kun has something to find me? That’s rare…”
Meanwhile, in front of the classroom of the special major.
Just as Mana was about to get up to head to the cafeteria for lunch, she opened the door and saw Kanade approaching her.
“Wh-why do you say that?”
“Because the old Moon-kun never used to come find me voluntarily, right?” Mana said, looking at Kanade’s nervous face helplessly. After pondering for a moment, she continued, “Have you prepared lunch, Moon-kun?”
“Eh?”
“Didn’t you have something you wanted to ask me? Then let’s talk over lunch; I know a good place.”
After Mana finished speaking, she signaled Kanade with her eyes to follow her.
On this precious artificial island of Ark Academy, vacant classrooms seemed somewhat extravagant.
Following Mana to the cafeteria to buy bread, Kanade was led to a relatively secluded classroom.
At this moment, the spacious classroom was filled with desks and chairs, seemingly used as a storage room, with two desks and chairs placed together in the center, indicating that people often came here to eat lunch.
“So, did Moon-kun come to find me for something specific?”
Once seated, Mana cut straight to the chase.
Kanade, sitting across from her, looked a bit heavy-hearted, as though unsure of how to start.
After a long pause, his first words were:
“…..What I’m about to say may be somewhat rude and even quite irresponsible, but aside from Shouma, I don’t know who else to trust or who to ask for help.”
Mana didn’t respond immediately, nor did she urge him with her eyes; instead, she quietly waited.
This was the way they had interacted since childhood as childhood friends.
This tacit understanding made Kanade feel a bit relieved and made it easier for him to express his thoughts.
After last night.
Kanade began to realize he could no longer wait for opportunities to come.
And he could no longer trust anyone at will.
Especially that upperclassman Nanjou, whom he couldn’t help but “depend on” whenever he relaxed, filled him with dread.
So the only person he could think of who he could trust and ask for help was Mana.
She had the strength that he lacked.
If it was her, perhaps she could help him sneak into the Noah building and retrieve one of the key clues related to this incident—the item a professor lost at Ark Academy.
“So….. Moon-kun wants me to secretly sneak into the Noah building with you while keeping it from Ark Academy?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Moon-kun, do you know what that means?”
“…..Yeah, although I also know this request is quite excessive, and if Ark Academy finds out, I might even get expelled—”
“——That’s not what I meant.” Mana interrupted Kanade.
“What I really want to ask is, why does Moon-kun want to do this?” Although Mana asked this, Kanade could sense that the look in her eyes was steadfast, as if she had already found the answer.
“…..I know where that thing is, the very important item brought over by the professor from Moon Academy.”
