As noon approached, the group left the main line from School District 23's International Airport and headed toward School District 7.
Inside the luxurious stretch limousine, Sebas kept watch while Ferdinand and Arisa squeezed into one side and continued making a fuss. Katy sat beside Selene.
"What! A companion Honkai Beast? In other words, little Arisa was created by you?" Katy stared in shock at the adorable gray-haired girl playing with her son.
"Yes."
Selene nodded. "You could call it a small accident." Holding her thumb and forefinger a hair's breadth apart, Selene discreetly exchanged a glance with Sebas. "She was an experimental creation born through a fortunate coincidence."
"Think of it like the druids from Celtic mythology. Arisa is a companion spirit dwelling within my Imaginary authority. She has always been there, but she was previously dormant. She could only awaken once I had developed my ability to a certain degree."
Selene gestured as she explained.
Her words were half true and half false, but there was nothing wrong with the concept.
Selene could hardly tell Katy that her daughter had plundered the essence and life source of an entire world—the forces of darkness and righteousness—to serve as nourishment, then birthed a Judgment-class Honkai Beast at the cost of that world's destruction.
Sebas rested with his eyes closed.
"Why did you wait until now to tell Mother?" Katy asked in dissatisfaction. "Had Mother not come to Academy City, were you planning to keep Arisa hidden forever?"
She did not doubt Selene's explanation, nor did she have any reason to.
Supernatural abilities were openly displayed in this world. Given her family's background, Katy could not possibly be completely ignorant of either the magic side or the science side.
"Uh, Mother, I already told you. It was an accident."
"Hmm-hmm~ Little Selene, putting that aside for now, if Arisa is your own companion spirit, does that mean you still haven't made a single close friend?"
"Maybe... Probably..."
"Hmm?"
"I have. Allow me to make a call. I'll notify them right now. They don't all attend the same school, but we can still spend time together during the Daihasei Festival."
"Good. You said it yourself, Selene, so you must keep your word. You're not allowed to hire actors to fool Mother."
"Why would I do that? They're genuine friends."
Watching Selene's helpless movements, Katy's lips curved into a gentle smile. In truth, even if Selene had remained the same as before, Katy would not have blamed her. Her daughter was already exceptional enough.
It was merely a mother's selfishness. Katy did not need her daughter to become extraordinarily powerful. She only wished to see her child grow up healthy.
If Selene continued walking forward alone in such prideful isolation, suppressing everything in her heart without ever releasing it, something would eventually go wrong.
Katy rested her chin on one hand and gazed through the window at the modern city where her daughter had been living alone.
The city was exactly as Katy had imagined, completely different from Vienna, where historic landmarks could be found everywhere.
Vienna had first served as the capital and center of the Holy Roman Empire before becoming the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even in the twenty-first century, it retained a highly developed court culture. Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque palaces were scattered throughout the city, while former royal and ecclesiastical buildings as exquisite as works of art could be seen everywhere.
When people mentioned Vienna, they always thought of art and music. Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, Johann Strauss... Countless world-renowned artistic masters had allowed their brilliance to blossom there.
However, that also meant Vienna had little connection to the image of a modern metropolis. Some people even considered it somewhat backward.
Academy City and Vienna therefore represented two extremes. There were no genuine historic sites here. Any that existed were modern reconstructions. Towering skyscrapers rose throughout the city, forming a metropolis of gigantic towers, like a maze filled with stone pillars yet governed by an underlying order.
The broad roads were filled with neon lights and holographic signs. The beautifully landscaped streets overflowed with various robots and holographic projections. Even during the day, the electronic blue glow of screens arranged throughout the city made the entire metropolis resemble a vast collection of integrated circuit boards.
As the vehicle moved forward and the airport buildings gradually stopped obstructing their view, an enormous tower suddenly entered everyone's sight. Surrounded by skyscrapers, it stood within the reinforced-concrete city like a silver needle piercing the heavens.
It was a colossal sky-blue structure, broad at the base and narrowing toward the top. It resembled a gigantic awl formed from twisted spiral bands gathered together. The silver needle extended endlessly upward from the tip of the main structure, piercing beyond the atmosphere and vanishing from human sight. From a distance, it looked like a vertical silver line drawn across the horizon, a bridge connecting heaven and earth.
It possessed the awe-inspiring beauty of something unimaginably vast. A design whose length and width were so wildly disproportionate had somehow become reality. To Katy, it was truly incredible and irresistibly eye-catching.
"Sel, what is that?"
Calling Selene by the intimate nickname reserved solely for her, Katy's eyes immediately lit up. She raised the Academy City Daihasei Festival Guidebook in her hands and rapidly flipped through it, comparing the entries one by one.
"Oh, that?" Selene turned her head and narrowed her eyes slightly, gazing somewhat absently at the heavenly ladder in the distance that seemed to pierce the entire world. "It's the work of Starrail Gate Corporation in School District 23, the Endymion space elevator."
"A space elevator?" Katy blinked in amazement, then asked eagerly, "You mean one of those space elevators from science-fiction films that allows people to travel into space?"
"It should be possible to experience life aboard a low-orbit space station. But..."
Seeing Katy's interest, Selene abruptly changed her tone and poured cold water over her mother's enthusiasm. "I recommend against going. It hasn't reached the stage where it can be opened to the public, and neither its testing nor its safety inspections have been completed."
"Oh? Isn't that just teasing people? Mother was finally interested in something." Katy sounded deeply disappointed, but she understood that her daughter was thinking of her safety and did not insist.
Besides, Academy City claimed its technology was thirty years ahead of the rest of the world. There were more than enough fascinating things to keep her entertained throughout the entire Daihasei Festival. Katy was still a young mother, and her energy remained abundant.
"It truly is magnificent."
Pointing at the guidebook's introduction to the space elevator, Katy suddenly narrowed her eyes and smiled at Selene. "However... the name Endymion reminds me of a tragic and beautiful legend, one closely connected to little Selene."
"Connected to me? Oh, that love story from Greek mythology? It's merely a romantic fabrication."
Selene handed Katy a cup of black tea, then rested her chin on one hand and spoke without much interest.
"Honestly, you girl. You're far too realistic... It's all Karl's fault for exposing you to society too early. You don't have a single romantic bone in your body."
Katy was clearly dissatisfied with her daughter's reaction. The young mother pouted and began recounting the story to Selene in vivid detail. "Endymion comes from a tale in Greek mythology. Selene, goddess of the full moon, fell in love with a shepherd named Endymion who lived in a valley."
"According to legend, Endymion often slept on the grass at night, and Selene, goddess of the full moon, would secretly kiss him. Eventually, Zeus, king of the gods, discovered what she was doing. To prevent the goddess from continuing to be tempted, Zeus ordered Endymion to choose between death and eternal sleep while retaining his youth forever."
"Endymion chose the latter. Another version claims that Selene begged Zeus to grant Endymion eternal youth so he could remain with her. Zeus agreed, but also placed him in an everlasting slumber. Afterward, Selene visited and kissed him every night."
"A tragic farewell between a goddess and a mortal. Isn't it pitiful and heartbreakingly beautiful...?" As her emotions swelled, tears even gathered in Katy's eyes. She seemed to wipe them away before looking hopefully toward Selene.
Truly, when Selene and Katy stood together now, they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. Part of that was because Selene had grown too quickly, but Katy's enduring childlike innocence was also an important reason her appearance and temperament seemed younger than her actual age.
Unless the matter concerned Selene's studies or a violation of fundamental principles, the way Katy and Selene interacted in daily life had gone slightly astray from the very beginning. Katy could often be seen acting spoiled toward Selene even when the latter had still been a tiny child.
How are your tear ducts so active? Selene felt nothing at all. On the contrary, she wanted to laugh.
"Perhaps. But compared to those two protagonists, I think Zeus was far worse. He allowed himself every indulgence while denying ordinary people the slightest freedom. Even among all the myths and legends, the things he did were exceptionally despicable."
Selene sighed and helplessly rubbed her forehead. "Mother, just ask. There's no need to be so roundabout."
Katy's expression changed instantly, and she sat upright. "Sel, answer me honestly. Do you have any male friends in Academy City?"
So the dagger is finally revealed.
"Yes." Selene admitted it without hesitation.
"Really?!"
Katy's voice immediately rose several pitches. Her interest surged as she seized both of Selene's hands, her eyes shining brightly. "Tell me, tell me! Who is he? Which family's young man is he? Mother wants to meet him."
As she spoke, she even wiped away tears and murmured, "Boo-hoo... My little girl has grown up."
"There are many."
"What? What do you mean by many?" Katy froze visibly, her eyes slowly widening.
Could my daughter be a player?
"There are the senior executives and subordinates in my conglomerate, my friend from the Dark Side, Kihara Amata... Then there's Board Chairman Aleister Crowley, as well as my old fellow Directors Shiokishi and Nakimoto Rizou..."
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Katy hurriedly interrupted Selene's nonsense. She pulled her daughter into her arms and pretended to tug on Selene's ear. "Mother meant male friends your own age! Not your business partners!"
"Oh."
...
Tokiwadai Middle School Student Dormitory, School District 7.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~~"
A soft tune hummed through someone's throat drifted from a half-open dormitory window. Inside Room 208, a girl wrapped in a bath towel sat before the vanity mirror in the bathroom, carefully applying her makeup in an excellent mood.
Her smooth, medium-length brown hair fell over her shoulders. Compared with the capable impression she gave while wearing twin tails as a member of Judgment, the girl now possessed an air of quiet serenity.
"Honestly, where did Onee-sama run off to? Selene-senpai's mother is about to visit the school, and Senpai specifically asked us, Uiharu, and Saten to help receive her. Yet I can't contact Onee-sama at all."
Shirai Kuroko was applying moisturizer and lip gloss while gently drying her damp, freshly washed, medium-length brown hair with a towel. She snorted unhappily.
What Shirai Kuroko did not know was that in the original timeline, Musujime Awaki would have struck her with an extremely heavy object at this time, severely injuring her waist and hips. A bullet would also have pierced her abdomen, nearly killing her.
Only the superb medical skills of the doctor known as Heaven Canceller would have spared her from permanent aftereffects. Even so, she would have been forced to spend the Daihasei Festival confined to a hospital bed and wheelchair, living as a pitiful and lonely abandoned Kuroko.
"Ugh... She said she was going to watch some Meigo girl's concert..."
Thinking of Onee-sama's inexplicable feelings toward that black-haired boy with spiky hair on several occasions, Shirai Kuroko sighed deeply.
Then she suddenly shot to her feet and violently pulled at the hair she had only just finished combing smooth. "Ah! It's so frustrating! I'm so frustrated! Has my Onee-sama truly fallen for him? Boo-hoo-hoo! Kuroko... What is Kuroko supposed to do?!"
But Kuroko also had duties of her own and could not immediately search for Misaka Mikoto. Since she had not been injured, it was only natural that she had been assigned work as a member of Judgment. There were also the school's competition events, and Selene-senpai had asked her to come over.
She truly could not divide herself into enough pieces. She was busy!
Beep, beep, beep~
The phone atop the vanity drawer rang. The girl sat down and weakly reached for it. "Hello, Shirai Kuroko speaking."
"Ah, Uiharu... You and Saten are already there? Yes, all right. I'll be there immediately. Selene-senpai should be arriving soon as well."
...
"So this is School Garden. It feels as though we've arrived in Florence, Italy."
Entering an area filled with Western architecture in the middle of a modern metropolis crowded with skyscrapers gave one the strange impression of stepping into another world. Viewed as a whole, the district resembled a small Mediterranean town.
The car stopped at the entrance to School Garden. Katy looked through the window and surveyed the peaceful surroundings, the stone-built structures, the old-fashioned streets that seemed somewhat narrow compared with those outside the district, and the students who had just finished school and were chatting along the roadside...
"Madam, School Garden is a girls' school district. Please forgive this old servant for being unable to accompany you."
Standing beside the car door with one hand over his chest, Sebas turned his head. "Milady, your friends have arrived."
"Senpai!"
Following the voice, Selene saw the smallest of the three girls, the one with flowers on her head, standing on tiptoe and waving in greeting.
"Hi, Uiharu." Selene stood beside Katy and waved back.
After walking over, Selene looked at Shirai Kuroko and asked, "Where's Misaka?"
"I don't know... The last time I contacted Onee-sama, she said she was watching some Meigo..." Kuroko replied resentfully.
"Meigo Arisa?"
"Yes, that was the name."
"Oh, then leave her alone. She's probably going to be busy."
So she's gone to save someone with Kamijou Touma again. How nice.
Selene glanced toward the location of the Endymion space elevator, then shook her head without thinking further and turned to open the car door for Katy.
Fight all you like. I'll enjoy my festival.
"The first stop on our Daihasei Festival trip will be School Garden."