Lunch Date at School

[The Devil System is currently idle]

[Waiting for conditions to fully activate...]

[Calculating...]

[...]

[Progress Towards Activation: 87%]

...

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for this?" I asked.

Bella took a seat on the ground beside me and leaned up against my shoulder.

"Mm... probably, but I'll deal with that later."

She lifted the lid on a cute little bento lunch. All of the different parts of the meal were separated, from rice shaped like little chickens to a small egg roll with a flag on top to tiny bite-sized vegetables. It looked like something that would have taken lots of work to make.

She looked over at me as she took out her chopsticks.

"Hey, do you want to try some?"

I generally liked to control the amount of food I ate so I could get the right amounts of calories. However, it probably would make my life more interesting if I actually went out and tried new things.

After thinking about it for a little, I agreed.

"Just a little."

She smiled and grabbed an egg roll with her chopsticks.

"Say ah~"

I opened my mouth.

She placed the bite-sized egg roll into my mouth, and I munched down on the food I was given. It didn't taste that special. It was just as you'd expect—egg-flavoured.

"Thanks."

She placed the bento box on her lap and put her head on my shoulder. Her flowing hair was strewn on my arm, and I could smell the distinct aroma of her perfume—it was a friendly, warm smell, somewhat like flowers.

"So, are you good friends with Aiko?" I asked.

"Ah! Yeah, we've been friends ever since we were little. Although, we've been talking less recently since she always works with Spectrum."

"She does seem like a busy person."

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you, is she safe? The kidnappers were talking about her a lot when I was tied up."

"I'm not sure, but the situation should be cleared in the next few days."

"What do you mean?"

"Spectrum-Judgement and the NPO are working on the case."

"Ah, that's good."

There was a moment of silence as the two of us ate our lunch. We were leaning against the rough bark of the thick oak tree as the grass tickled our legs. There was a soft breeze that pushed her hair onto my body, swaying around. Honestly, the atmosphere was quite nice, we were shaded by the sun, but it wasn't cold. We were isolated from everyone but not lonely.

After a little while, I finished my lunch and looked over at her.

"Ah, you've finished already? Do you want some more of mine?" she asked.

"It's alright. I'm full."

"Eh, that's good then."

It seemed to have made her speed up the pace that she was eating.

"You don't need to rush. I'm not going anywhere."

I looked off into the distance as she ate the remainder of her lunch. I felt something crawling on my arms, so I swiped the insect onto the ground.

I took this time to think about the entire situation that I had been forced a part of. I was supposed to take out a B-ranked esper and The Initialiser. Even with my strengthened [Devil's Sword], it was still definitely going to be a struggle. The sheet of paper that the headmaster gave me had the address of their supposed hideout.

It was apparently hidden as a candy shop. However, there were big operations going on underneath. I wasn't exactly sure how everything was going to play out, but I needed to find a way to observe the esper's abilities. The time limit was pretty strict as well. I'd have to complete the mission within the next day or two. Otherwise, Spectrum-Judgement or the NPO might get there first.

Eventually, Bella finished eating and prodded me with her finger.

"Are you done as well?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think I have to go now. Otherwise, I'll be in really big trouble."

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"Bye, Oliver~. Just to let you know, I really enjoyed this."

"We can do it again if you want."

"I'd like that~"

With that, she climbed back over the fence and made her way across the street to her school. It was nearing the end of lunch anyways, so I got up and began making my way back to the classrooms.

**

"...we've got a fun lesson today..."

Everyone in the class seemed especially alert, probably due to the fact that we were going to be learning about the S-ranked espers. They were people that were generally hidden from the public. However, we would be learning some of the basics.

"...I'll be talking about User, the sixth-ranked esper today. He is the controller of electricity, as most of you know. His main speciality is that he is able to convert external information into its fundamental elements at an extremely efficient rate. That is the reason why he is so powerful."

Someone raised their hand.

"Yes, Ester, what is it?"

"How does he manage to do it so fast?"

"Well, the main reason is that he has an extremely deep understanding of physics and everything related to electricity. This is on top of his already strong processing power and calculating ability. That's what I've been saying, if you want to get stronger, you need to get deeper knowledge of the vector that you're working with."

She pulled up something on the whiteboard. From the looks of things, it was basically an autobiography of User. There wasn't anything especially special, as expected. He came from the Human Realiser Project like most of the other espers.

"...he suffered some pretty intense trauma, which was one of the other factors that contributed to his strength..."

A fact that is hidden about espers to the public is that generally, the more trauma one feels when they are younger, the stronger they become. This is due to the pressure being put on the brain, causing increased brain activity and leading to better calculations.

I, too, faced some trauma...

some say that it's the worst trauma that any outcome of the Human Realiser Project had ever experienced.

Although I don't really think so.

It's mostly because I can't really remember it.