The sky darkened as the sunset bled across the horizon.
A tinge of melancholy lingered in a certain Natsume Sonoko's mind. Above her, the sky burned a fiery, blood-red.
Tossing away the soda can in her hand, she stared blankly at a cleaning robot spinning in circles not far away.
'I really should give some serious thought to leaving Academy City,' she mused silently, a pensive expression settling on Natsume's face.
It was clear now—those few names had a much greater effect on her than she'd ever imagined.
Walking along the street, Natsume Sonoko suddenly remembered something and hurriedly ducked into a common gift shop, her previous gloom instantly forgotten.
"Some of this… oh, and this too."
Her scholarship for the month had just come in, and coupled with her habit of saving, her personal funds were still quite substantial.
The currency in Academy City was a bit different from the outside.
While it looked similar, it wasn't allowed to circulate externally.
Even using a bank card required going through several troublesome procedures.
So, for convenience's sake, Natsume Sonoko needed to exchange some outside currency.
Inside the gift shop, Natsume had a decent-looking live-streaming glasses set wrapped up. She also bought a folding skateboard equipped with boosters, and picked out a miniature smart pet robot.
Feeling it still wasn't enough, she selected two multifunctional watches, plus an automatic cat-feeding device that her cousin, Natsume Takashi, might find useful.
Watching the numbers on her bank card plummet, a certain Natsume Sonoko felt her heart twitch. Her savings had just shrunk by a whole third. 'I won't even dare order the super-large size for shaved ice anymore,' she thought with a pang.
With the pile of gifts, Natsume simply had the shopkeeper deliver everything to her dorm at Tokiwadai.
Tomorrow's trip out of Academy City would require a taxi—another hefty expense—plus all the spending outside.
Just thinking about it made her feel truly poor. Would she return as a person worthy of the name, the veritable, "Poor Girl of Tokiwadai"?
Thankfully, at least Tokiwadai Middle School covered room and board.
Stepping out of the gift shop, she'd barely taken a few steps when she spotted Misaka-senpai on the other side of the road.
But this time, Misaka-senpai was busy arguing with someone, her face flushed with indignation and a hint of frustration.
Taking a closer look, the other person also looked somewhat familiar—a head of spiky black hair like a hedgehog, wearing a faded high school uniform, and carrying a bag of freshly bought eggs.
Eggs were probably the cheapest source of protein you could find in Academy City.
'Are they about to fight?'
Before she could even process it, familiar blue sparks crackled around Misaka-senpai's head, like a miniature EMP, short-circuiting a nearby mobile cleaning robot.
"Don't joke around! After you unleashed that massive lightning bolt yesterday, all the appliances and food in my fridge were ruined!" roared the high school boy named Kamijou Touma.
"You're the one who made me so mad!" Misaka-senpai shot back, clenching her fist, her stance not yielding an inch.
"Your reason for getting angry is completely absurd! I didn't do anything at all, did I?"
"Wait just a minute, you stay right there!"
Clutching her school bag, Misaka-senpai hurriedly gave chase, leaving Natsume no chance to even call out a greeting.
By the time Natsume returned to the student dormitory, the things she had just bought had already arrived ahead of her.
Under the dorm supervisor's stern gaze, it took Natsume three or four trips back and forth to finally clear away the mountain of items piled up at the entrance.
A large stack of gift-wrapped boxes now covered her bed. Natsume then dragged a few large suitcases out from under the bed.
All sorts of changes of clothes went without saying, and she needed to pack a set of toiletries too.
Pulling out some clothes from her elementary school days from one case—back then, before the strict Tokiwadai rules, she could still wear her own clothes—she tried them on. Finding they still fit perfectly, Natsume wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad about that.
'I'll just wear my own clothes while I'm outside,' she decided.
Grabbing one case to use as her luggage, Natsume Sonoko pondered what to pack inside. Soon enough, she was dumping everything out again.
Without realizing it, she'd stuffed in a bunch of things she didn't need.
--+--
Early the next morning, after saying goodbye to Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san, Natsume struggled to drag a single large suitcase out of the dorm.
After an intense internal struggle and a rigorous downsizing process, what was originally several suitcases' worth of belongings had been whittled down to just this one large case.
Taxis weren't very common in Academy City. She waited at the gate for over ten minutes before one bearing an Academy City license plate finally arrived.
Settling into the taxi, Natsume Sonoko looked back toward the Tokiwadai dorm. There, on the second-floor balcony, she saw Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san waving at her.
"I'll be back! Goodbye!"
Rolling down the window, Natsume Sonoko waved back toward the second floor.
"Don't you forget to bring back souvenirs!" came Shirai-san's annoying voice.
The taxi started moving, the scenery soon flowing past them. It quickly left School District 7, heading toward one of the peripheral exits of Academy City.
"ID confirmed."
"Tokiwadai Middle School, Natsume Sonoko. You have a 15-day exit permit."
After a brief stop at the exit, being scanned by some unnameable instrument, and having her identity confirmed by staff, the massive exit gate slowly began to open.
Riding in the taxi away from Academy City, Natsume Sonoko felt an indescribable sense of relief, like a bird freed from a giant cage. Even her computational power seemed to grow slightly, inexplicably, in this atmosphere of liberation.
Behind her lay Academy City's enormous wall, so vast its edges couldn't be seen. Layers of brick and stone were stacked seamlessly, airtight, forming a nearly insurmountable barrier.
But today, the outer wall seemed a little different. Probably due to last night's major power outage, many of the surveillance and alarm systems on the walls were paralyzed, with only a portion still operational.
This colossal city was daunting. Yet, just looking at this massive wall, one could indeed call it, in a way, the safest city—if you ignored the frequent gas explosion incidents happening inside.
On her way out, Natsume Sonoko also saw many parents and children from outside preparing to enter Academy City.
Lured by the relentlessly advertised miracle of esper powers, countless people flocked into Academy City. But standing at the apex of its 2.3 million residents were only seven individuals.
Even Level 4 "Ability" users were pitifully few in Academy City, mostly concentrated in places like Tokiwadai Middle School, Nagatenjouki Academy, and Kirigaoka Girls' Academy.
Most importantly, even after enduring that whole painful process of power development, sixty percent of students remained the 'valueless' Level 0s. Of course, in some ways, Level 0 was also the strongest.
Getting out of the taxi, Natsume paid a fare roughly equivalent to a Level 0 student's scholarship. Finally, she could breathe the outside air freely.
To be honest, it smelled a bit worse than the air inside Academy City.
The sun climbed higher, bringing a scorching heat to the air.
Dropped off at a taxi stand on the outskirts outside Academy City, Natsume Sonoko looked up at the sky, her face somewhat numb, then reluctantly pulled out some cookies and a drink from her suitcase.
She'd originally packed them just for snacking, never expecting they'd actually come in handy like this.
She'd already been waiting at this stop for two hours, and there was still no sign of the person supposed to pick her up.
[Natsume-san, have you left Academy City yet?]
Munching on a cookie, Natsume Sonoko sat on the station bench, swinging her legs. She pulled out her phone with one hand to read the message.
Her phone could still connect to the network inside Academy City, but it wouldn't work with a different number.
[Yeah, I have. By the way, have you eaten yet, Juufuku-san?]After sending, Natsume turned on her camera and sent a few photos of the surrounding area.
[Yes, I've already had lunch.]
Not far away, a black van sped closer. In the driver's seat sat a middle-aged man in a crisp suit, and next to him was a girl who looked to be high school age.
"Dad, we're two hours late."
"You can't blame me entirely for this! How was I to know a murder would suddenly happen at the rental car company? I'm stomping on the accelerator as hard as I can now."
In the back seat, a young boy in a blue blazer, white shirt, gray shorts, and a red bow tie was pressed against the window, a large, rimless pair of glasses on his face, his eyes wide as he stared at the immense wall in the distance.
--+--
T/N: Honkai: Star Rail fanfic up!
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.