October 20, 2095 (Gregorian calendar).
On a lawn at the First High School, a huge spherical experimental apparatus stood, surrounded by students watching the experiment.
Suzune Ichihara, Tatsuya Shiba, and Kei Isori were all busy operating computers next to the 'sphere,' preparing various data.
"Everyone's been arranged?"
Seeing Mari Watanabe walking towards her, Chiba Yeyou asked.
"Don't worry, it was arranged just now. I guarantee they didn't know I had this arrangement beforehand."
"That guy hiding among us won't get away with it!"
Mari Watanabe assured him with great confidence.
"Okay, then it's up to you."
Mayumi Okusami.
They were reassured by Mari Watanabe's arrangements.
"Look, it's starting."
Inside the transparent spherical container, as Suzune Ichihara began injecting Psion, a lightning-like beam of light was emitted. As the amount of Psion injected increased, the brightness inside the sphere grew stronger and stronger, until finally, it gradually subsided.
"Did it succeed?"
"That's awesome!"
"Are we sure to win this year's essay competition?"
Hearing the cheers of those around them, Chiba Yeyou and the others smiled, it seemed there were no problems.
"This should be the first phase, right?"
Chiba Yeyou watched as Suzune Ichihara walked towards Kei Isori and spoke.
"Yes, this first step is very difficult. Successfully completing this step will greatly increase the success rate of subsequent experiments."
Mayumi Saegusa nodded.
" Watanabe -senpai, look over there!"
Suddenly, Chiba Yeyou noticed a furtive figure bending over and fiddling with something in his hands, so he called out to Mari Watanabe.
"Don't worry, Sayaka Mibu and Takeaki Kirihara are over there, she can't escape!"
Mari Watanabe looked completely unconcerned.
As expected, Sayaka Mibu was the first to react and immediately gave chase, and Takeaki Kirihara also noticed and quickly followed.
The spy also noticed their movements, quickly packed up what he was carrying, and fled outside.
"Don't you have a brain?"
"Running around aimlessly like this."
Chiba Yeyou glanced at it and then lost interest.
This guy is clearly not a professional spy at all, and hasn't even received any basic training.
There was nothing there – no movement, no expression, no escape plan or design. If we let her get away, it would be a disservice to all the people who chased her.
After all, Erika Chiba and Leonhart also went along.
"Hello!"
"What are you doing?"
Not long after Erika Chiba sent the spy back, she was mistaken by a guy for someone who was acting suspiciously and constantly looking into the testing area.
"I didn't do anything!"
"We're just watching from the sidelines!"
"Besides, we didn't do anything wrong, and we completely don't understand why you're getting angry at us."
Erika Chiba wasn't about to put up with this Sekimoto, Erika Chiba. Was she someone who would let herself be taken advantage of?
Leonhart wasn't one to stand idly by and watch his friend be bullied, and a quarrel ensued.
"Okay, stop arguing!"
Chiba Yeyou was also watching from the side, and hadn't left yet.
"I asked those two to be responsible for guarding the participants."
Are there any other questions?
With Chiba Yeyou stepping in, Guan Ben, the Sekimoto student, had nothing more to say and obediently went back to continue his work.
Student Council Room.
"Shouldn't that guy from Class G in the first year be awake by now?"
While eating lunch, Chiba Yeyou asked casually.
"Yes, he's awake."
According to her own confession, her goal was to rewrite the program to render the experimental magical device unusable.
"It's said to be to cause trouble for Tatsuya Shiba."
Mari Watanabe repeated everything the girl had said.
"???"
"No, what did Tatsuya Shiba do to them?"
For a moment, Chiba Yeyou had forgotten what kind of situation this girl was.
"She's Koharu Hirakawa sister. According to her, it was because Tatsuya Shiba, who was responsible for her older sister, Kobayakawa -senpai, didn't help her when she was in danger that her sister felt guilty..."
"However, that guy's emotions are a bit unstable."
Mari Watanabe sighed.
These are truly turbulent times!
"Oh, right!"
She also mentioned 'them'.
After thinking for a moment, Mari Watanabe spoke up.
"'them'?"
Chiba Yeyou and Mayumi Saegusa exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat grave.
"These guys are never going to stop!"
This incident inevitably reminded Mayumi Saegusa of the Nine Schools Competition.
"These might not necessarily be from the same faction."
Chiba Yeyou crossed her arms and rested them on the table, her eyes sharp.
"I think it's time to upgrade the defenses!"
Chiba Yeyou's words echoed Mari Watanabe's thoughts. There was no way around it; lately, even she could feel the strange, malicious stares around the school!
Inside a hot spring tavern, the leader was sitting opposite He Yiming, a handsome man in a suit. Next to the leader sat his capable subordinate, Lü Guanghu.
" Teacher Zhou, I'll get straight to the point."
"I heard that girl messed up."
He wasn't actually worried about whether the girl could accomplish the task; what he was worried about was whether the incident would alert the other side, making them aware of their presence and drastically increasing the difficulty of their mission.
"I fully understand Mr. Chris Chen's concerns."
"But I didn't tell her anything about us, so there shouldn't be any risk of leaking information."
This handsome man, known as Teacher Zhou, described something that seemed to him to be the most ordinary thing in his life in a calm tone.
His tone was as if he didn't care about the matter at all—no, the word "as if" should be removed, because he really didn't care, as if everything was under his control, giving people a sense of complete confidence.
"Oh?"
"So you actually managed to cultivate her as an inside agent?"
The leader, somewhat surprised, glanced at the man opposite him without making a sound.
That age is when you're full of passion and enthusiasm.
"To demonstrate their own value, they are more eager to speak than to listen to those around them."
"Thanks to her, I've learned quite a bit."
This is how Teacher Zhou analyzed it.
"Since Teacher Zhou has said so, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"
"But there's an old saying in the East: 'It's not the ten thousand you should fear, but the one in ten thousand!'"
The leader still had reservations; he didn't want his otherwise perfect plan to be ruined by this little incident.
"Understood, I'll check on the situation soon!"