Neon Police had never been very efficient.
But when it came to serious crimes like bombings, the police still gave them the utmost attention.
The nearby police arrived at the scene immediately. While sealing off the Exhibition Hall, they also tried to maintain order.
The hospital likewise dispatched ambulances at once. Once the police confirmed that it was safe, they entered the Exhibition Hall to treat the injured.
Therefore, by the time Yumiwara Saki arrived at the scene with her superior, Terada Tokunosuke, the Exhibition Hall had already been sealed off.
Medical personnel were also carrying stretchers and loading those injured in the bombing into ambulances.
Terada Tokunosuke showed his credentials and crossed the cordon before asking an officer nearby:
"Have you found anything?"
He had only asked casually and never expected to get any useful information from the officer. But to his surprise, the officer he questioned nodded with an unusually grave expression:
"Yes."
Terada Tokunosuke froze for a moment before hearing the officer continue:
"We found a member of the Anti-Intellectual Cult at the scene."
"The Anti-Intellectual Cult?"
Yumiwara Saki's expression changed slightly as she followed behind her superior.
She had thought this was merely an ordinary bombing, but now that the Anti-Intellectual Cult was involved,
the nature of the incident had changed completely!
In the eyes of outsiders, the Anti-Intellectual Cult was simply a terrorist organization. Its members were a group of fanatical religious zealots who firmly believed that "thought is a trap, and knowledge is poison."
But Yumiwara Saki's work allowed her to learn more information than other people—for example, the Anti-Intellectual Cult's goal was not simply to oppose thought and education. Rather, it wanted to eliminate supernatural phenomena through those means.
Although their goal was also to eradicate supernatural powers, it completely contradicted the principles of their Fourth Division. And no matter what, the Anti-Intellectual Cult's actions were unequivocally terrorist attacks...
While Yumiwara Saki was still lost in thought, Terada Tokunosuke said in a deep voice:
"Take him to the hospital immediately. We have to save his life no matter what!"
"I'll take him there myself."
Yumiwara Saki looked solemn as she volunteered.
Regardless of the Anti-Intellectual Cult's true purpose, this man was their only clue at present.
No matter what, they had to ensure his safety!
Chapter 19: Could You Please Not Talk to Me?
Tuesday.
Shuchiin Academy, Mixed Academy, first-year Class C.
At 8:40, before the first class of the morning, Kira Yoshikage arrived at the classroom.
Kira Yoshikage returned to his seat. Before he could even sit down, Kitagawa Marin took the initiative to approach him and greet him openly. Her brilliant, smooth golden hair faded into pink at the ends.
"Good morning, Kira-kun~!"
Kira Yoshikage glanced at her and replied:
"Good morning, Kitagawa-san."
Kitagawa Marin braced her palms on the desk, leaned forward, and asked with concern:
"Kira-kun, did you manage to find a job?"
"No."
Kira Yoshikage shook his head lightly.
Jobs were not easy to find, especially for a student.
"I see..."
Kitagawa Marin frowned slightly, unable to keep from worrying about Kira Yoshikage.
"Kitagawa-san." Kira Yoshikage called out to her.
"Huh?"
The girl blinked, her bright eyes filled with confusion.
Kira Yoshikage shifted his gaze away from the girl's fair hand resting on the desk.
"Could I ask you not to talk to me unless necessary from now on?"
"Huh? Why?"
Kitagawa Marin blinked her large eyes, looking a little innocent and hurt.
Although Kira Yoshikage had spoken softly, seemingly so the other students would not hear him, Kitagawa Marin was still somewhat wounded.
Kira Yoshikage did not answer. He merely swept his gaze calmly across the other students in the classroom.
Kitagawa Marin followed his gaze and only then realized that the entire class was looking over. Their eyes were full of disbelief.
It was only natural.
As one of the most popular girls in class, Kitagawa Marin was not only beautiful but also extremely friendly. Although only a few days had passed since the start of term, she had already become friends with everyone.
By contrast, Kira Yoshikage had been labeled from the very beginning as "withdrawn," "delinquent," "antisocial," "difficult to get along with," and more. He was the person everyone in class went out of their way to avoid.
And now, the most popular person in class was chatting warmly with the least popular person, the two of them appearing remarkably close. How could that fail to attract attention?
Kitagawa Marin's emotional intelligence was not low. Seeing the shocked expressions in everyone else's eyes, she immediately understood why Kira Yoshikage had said that...
"Does Kira-kun hate trouble?"
Kitagawa Marin silently committed this to memory, then nodded lightly and said in a low voice, "I will, but only at school, okay?"
Kira Yoshikage lowered his head and stared at the girl's palm in silence for a moment. He gave no reply.
Kitagawa Marin took this as tacit agreement. In a good mood, she turned lightly, clasped her hands behind her back, and returned to her seat.
"Kitagawa-san~"
A boy at the neighboring desk could not help asking, "Are you dating Kira-san?"
The students around them immediately looked over, pricking up their ears to listen.
"Huh?"
Kitagawa Marin looked somewhat surprised. "No. Why would you ask that?"
The boy asked cautiously:
"Because, Kitagawa-san, you seem to be very close to him..."
"No, it's not like that~"
Kitagawa Marin explained, "It's just that Kira-san didn't attend the gathering last week, right? So I asked him why. We're definitely not dating."
By the end, the girl's voice seemed to carry a hint of annoyance.
"Oh, I see."
The boy immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone else looked similarly relieved.
That made sense. How could Kitagawa-san possibly date a delinquent like him?
And even if they really were dating, she must have been forced into it!
Miura Yumiko glanced at Kitagawa Marin as if nothing were unusual, seemingly not surprised by her predicament in the least.
Kira Yoshikage also stopped receiving everyone's attention, as usual.
Everything returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.
Listening to the laughter and cheerful voices of his classmates around him, Kira Yoshikage felt as if he had once again been ignored and isolated. This feeling was truly—truly wonderful!
Kira Yoshikage felt completely calm inside.
"Another peaceful day."
Kitagawa Marin and Miura Yumiko's little group left the classroom laughing, enthusiastically discussing the discount on double-scoop ice cream at the nearby Ministop.
Kira Yoshikage brushed past them, walked straight down the stairs, changed into his outdoor shoes, and headed toward the school gate.
Near the school gate was a huge dead lake. Various dark green weeds grew all over the surrounding land, while the center of the lake was filled with green aquatic plants. It looked like a muddy swamp.
There were not even any obstructions around the swamp, making it obvious at a glance that accidents could easily happen there.
At an ordinary school, such a vast "swamp" would have been filled in long ago. It would both prevent the waste of land and stop students from deliberately "accidentally" falling into the lake, which would bring the school enormous trouble.
Otherwise, if a student drowned, the entire school would be forced to suspend operations for rectification, or even shut down for good.
But Shuchiin Academy was different.
For one thing, Shuchiin Academy was the most famous private school in all of Japan, and its grounds were enormous. It could accommodate more than ten times as many students as an ordinary school without feeling crowded, and was even larger than an average university.
By comparison, the swamp's "tiny" area was completely insignificant.
For another, the swamp had already existed when Shuchiin Academy was founded. To Shuchiin Academy, it had become a landmark of sorts.
Not only would the academy not fill it in, it organized first-year students every year to clean the swamp. This seemed to have become a customary "entrance ceremony."
At that moment, the swamp was surrounded by students holding all sorts of tools and cleaning it.
The students wore black uniforms of an old-fashioned yet elegant and luxurious design, with only the collars and cuffs in white.
Farther away, many students wearing the same uniforms were looking at them with envy.
They were students of the Pure Academy. Although they wore the same uniforms, everyone knew that the two sides were different.
And work that seemed as thankless and exhausting as cleaning the swamp was an "entrance ceremony" reserved exclusively for Pure Academy students.
"Kira-kun!"
A crisp, familiar girl's voice reached Kira Yoshikage's ears.
He was just about to turn around when a series of screams came from the crowd in the distance.
"Someone fell into the water!"
"Help! Can someone save her?"
"Ah! There's something in the lake! There seems to be something in the lake!"
Chapter 20: Shinomiya Kaguya Charged In, Then Got Wrecked
"There's a black shadow in the swamp!"
"Ah—! What the hell is that? Koyasu-senpai is caught by it!"
"Hurry and save her! Somebody help!"
"I... I can't swim..."
"Me neither..."
The students in black uniforms gathered around the swamp were panicking. They watched helplessly as a girl who had fallen into the water near the edge sank toward the center of the lake, contrary to common sense, yet not one of them offered assistance. They could only stare in fright.
Although they all claimed they could not swim, it was impossible for not a single one of so many students to know how. Yet whenever they considered going down to save her, an inexplicable terror welled up from the depths of their hearts, leaving them too afraid to approach the lake's surface beneath that enormous shadow.
The girl with long black hair tied into a ring-shaped braid with a red ribbon took two steps back, drew a deep breath, and jumped without hesitation into the swamp, which glowed green and was covered in the corpses of countless tiny organisms.
"Shinomiya-san!"
The surrounding students cried out the girl's name and watched with a trace of hope as she swam desperately toward the center of the lake.
"Shinomiya-san, keep going!"
The girls clenched their fists and waited anxiously, hoping that Shinomiya Kaguya could successfully save Koyasu Tsubame.
Shinomiya Kaguya did not disappoint them. Relying on her powerful mental fortitude, she swam through the foul-smelling water to the center of the lake, held her breath, and dove beneath the surface, intending to untangle the aquatic plants around Koyasu Tsubame's leg.
Koyasu-senpai knew how to swim. She must have been trapped by the aquatic plants and unable to escape—
That was what Shinomiya Kaguya thought.
But when she dove down to Koyasu Tsubame's feet, enduring the danger of foreign matter entering her eyes as she prepared to untangle the plants around Koyasu Tsubame's feet, she was astonished to discover that there was nothing there.
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