Rubbing her throbbing temples, Natsume Sonoko willed herself to maintain a sense of calm, at least on the surface.
The subject of Level 6 was simply too advanced, probably the ultimate power an ordinary person on the science side could even conceive of.
Even for someone like her, an esper already standing at the pinnacle of Academy City, that unknown realm inspired waves of curiosity and longing.
For a mere human to comprehend the will of a god—just thinking about it made it clear this was something that would overturn the current understanding of the science side.
After all, the science side didn't believe in gods, yet the evaluation of a Level 6 had to be elevated to a divine level.
That necessarily implied an absolute dominance over all espers, including those at Level 5.
Because of this, Natsume had once doubted whether a Level 6 could truly emerge. But judging from the brief glimpse she'd had of Misaka-senpai's advancement, it seemed possible.
As total processing power continuously increased, eventually reaching the point of being loaded with the entire computational capacity of the Misaka Network, an esper would reach a critical point where they could interface with the AIM diffusion field.
That was likely the external manifestation of a portion of the Level 6's power.
What started as the brain's unconsciously released AIM diffusion field would, through the brain's own evolution, eventually reach a stage of instinctual sensing and control over the energy of the AIM fields.
Even an unprepared, or even irrational, Misaka-senpai could manipulate the AIM field as effortlessly as moving her own fingers.
However, what nagged at Natsume was that her own processing power was still steadily increasing even now, without her having touched any supposed ability ceiling.
When she had first advanced to Level 5, she didn't even possess the foundational level of processing power for a Level 5—what she had always believed to be roughly ten times that of an ordinary Level 4.
Of course, this assessment wasn't officially recognized by Academy City authorities; it was just gossip Natsume had picked up online, though it was probably close to the average Level 5's actual level.
As time passed, her current processing power had now significantly surpassed that foundational level.
Many computations that were once strenuous had become easier, and she no longer needed to occasionally borrow power from Reiko's side like before.
As long as this steady growth trend wasn't abruptly interrupted someday, it meant she too might reach that critical point of computational power. It would just take a long time, like it had for Accelerator.
That said, Natsume herself had no awareness of this potential to become a Level 6. After all, she always considered herself utterly ordinary.
"Haaah."
'The Dorm Supervisor is going out. Dressed so neatly, she must be heading to school.'
'Come to think of it, after something that serious happened within the school, the Supervisor must be feeling pretty awful too. Those brainwashing cards were circulating right there in the student dorms, and she didn't notice a thing.'
Propping her finely sculpted, slender jaw on her hand, the expressionless look on Natsume's face gradually regained some liveliness as she shifted her focus back to the real world.
Strictly speaking, the Dorm Supervisor was negligent for allowing such a dangerous item to infiltrate the student dorms.
Not that anyone would blame her, of course.
Even though she could easily reduce a Level 5 to tears and make a certain teleporter's head spin a hundred eighty degrees, she was ultimately just an ordinary, single woman getting on in years.
You couldn't ask too much of the Supervisor, and hardly anyone could have foreseen the danger.
But with the Supervisor out on business, a certain bun-haired girl's options immediately multiplied.
Whether it was staying obediently in the dorms like a good girl, or sneakily climbing out the window for some 'club field research,' a certain bun-girl's range of activities suddenly expanded to encompass all of Academy City.
And judging by the Supervisor's usual routine, she'd have at least two or three hours of free time. If the Supervisor decided to have lunch at school, that window could be extended even further.
Being the considerate little darling of the student dorms, Natsume Sonoko made an effort not to cause trouble for her Supervisor. She was even careful when climbing out the window not to step on the flowers and plants in the nearby garden beds.
--+--
Tokiwadai Middle School, within the School Garden.
The aftermath of yesterday's assault incident hadn't yet settled.
You could still see Tokiwadai students discussing it everywhere.
A few high-grade senpai, looking troubled and anxious, glanced towards the Shokuhou Clique's territory, seemingly worried that the Level 5 might use this chance to carry out a ruthless 'purge' to strengthen her absolute control within the school.
Anyone who had lived through the Tokiwadai clique wars a year ago and Shokuhou Clique's subsequent unification understood just how decisive and forceful that elegant blonde girl could be.
While it was true that the core members of the former three major cliques had graduated around that time, it was ultimately because the Shokuhou Clique's influence had swollen to an insurmountable level in such a short period.
Then again, thanks to the combined intervention of the Shokuhou Clique and the school board, most Tokiwadai students who weren't involved in yesterday's events still only had a vague understanding.
The school forum was flooded with new posts, everyone eagerly participating in the discussion about Tokiwadai's rare internal brawl.
Outside of Tokiwadai, only the other schools within the School Garden had received some ambiguous information.
The specific details had been locked down within the School Garden by the school board, swiftly resolving a potential public relations crisis for Tokiwadai.
One of the most popular pieces of information circulating on the school forum, however, was that the first-year, Natsume Sonoko, had wrecked one of the movable classrooms in the school building.
A certain blonde girl, using the ID 'Queen Bee,' browsed the school forum in stealth mode, then rubbed her own temples with a rather pained expression.
As Academy City began its seasonal uniform changeover, the first-year students had received their new uniforms.
Most upperclassmen, barring those whose figures had changed significantly, were wearing their uniforms from previous years.
Shokuhou Misaki was also wearing her beige ladies' suit, her well-developed figure straining the fabric in a way that didn't look typical for a middle schooler her age.
Right now, she seemed to be still pondering how to handle the fallout from yesterday.
But the excessive curiosity of the student body was causing her genuine headaches—case in point, a certain Railgun.
Not far in front of her, a girl with a fierce and scrutinizing air stood with her arms crossed, attempting to extract some real information from this nuisance, Shokuhou Misaki—a girl she'd always clashed with, though their relationship had seemingly improved somewhat lately.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL