Sakugawa Middle School sat on the edge of District 7, brushing right up against District 18.
Both districts were known for their strong academic atmospheres and dense clusters of educational institutions.
Coupled with the fact that the Anti-Skill branch for District 7 was located nearby, the public order around Sakugawa was actually pretty decent.
Cycling through the feeds of over two hundred cameras, she found no trace of her target within the massive data stream. She hadn't even stumbled upon a single instance of the city's usual petty crime.
You could say her shift had been completely devoid of any unexpected surprises.
Switching the cameras back to automatic mode, letting them cycle through the two hundred-plus locations on their own, Natsume Sonoko slumped listlessly in her seat, her eyes glued to the computer screen as if watching a dull slideshow.
'Is this what Uiharu's work is like every day?' Sonoko found her mind wandering inexplicably.
Judgment duty was honestly a bit monotonous. She wondered how Shirai was doing out there.
Then again, being out on patrol was probably much tougher than just sitting here in the branch office.
Sonoko secretly stretched her back and sat up straight. Propping her chin in her hand, she idly opened the global monitoring system page for District 7 out of curiosity.
Judgment members' monitoring access was usually limited to their assigned areas, but they could also log into the surveillance feeds of other District 7 branches. It required specific access keys from each branch, though it seemed Uiharu had them all right here...
However, several Judgment branches and their monitoring systems within District 7's School Garden seemed to be independently structured and weren't part of this main network.
She logged out of the Sakugawa Middle School monitoring page and clicked into the Sekisho Middle School's surveillance area, continuously switching between the cameras of various schools.
"Hello, this is Judgment Branch 177."
Sonoko pulled herself away from the busywork and picked up the ringing phone beside her.
"Is this Judgment? I'm seeing a group of delinquents attacking a middle school student."
"Understood. Can you tell me the number of perpetrators and the exact location? I'll dispatch nearby Judgment members immediately." Sonoko's spirits suddenly lifted, focusing intently on handling her first emergency call.
"Got it. The incident is on the overpass near the Exchange Plaza in District 7. The victim is a middle school student with brown hair. There are about ten of them."
"Received. The overpass near Exchange Plaza, correct?"
A brown-haired middle schooler? Could it be Misaka-senpai? But it might not be her, better not jump to conclusions. Brown hair was pretty common in Academy City after all.
Sonoko quickly looked up the location. It didn't seem to fall within Sakugawa's jurisdiction, but was instead near a high school called Private Sakurasaka Academy, a relatively rare senior high in District 7.
As for why a call from that area had routed to her, Sonoko figured it was probably thanks to Shirai and Uiharu's work. After all, Shirai was always running all over District 7, sometimes even crossing district lines.
She linked into the cameras near the overpass, pulling up multiple feeds onto her screen simultaneously to show the scene from various angles.
"It's not Misaka-senpai, it's someone else. Looks like they're genuinely in danger."
After hanging up, Sonoko immediately contacted Shirai on the other end. Shirai sounded slightly out of breath, as if she'd just finished dealing with some incident.
"Hello, hello? Is this Shirai? It's Natsume Sonoko," Sonoko said, holding the receiver to her mouth.
"Natsume, if it's not important, please don't call me randomly. It breaks my concentration," came Shirai's blunt reply from the other side.
At that moment, Shirai was handing a balloon back to an elementary school student, a faint look of resignation on her face.
"Make sure to hold onto it properly next time," Shirai said, bending down slightly and speaking kindly.
"Thank you, big sister! I will!" The pigtailed elementary schooler nodded vigorously before running back to her friends.
"Shirai, there's a serious incident on the overpass near Exchange Plaza. Ten perpetrators. Needs immediate intervention," Sonoko said, adopting the serious tone she'd often heard Uiharu use.
Perhaps hearing the gravity in Sonoko's voice, Shirai paused for a second before immediately breaking into a run.
With a faint spatial warp, Shirai stepped through into another dimension.
"Natsume, which part of the overpass?" Shirai adjusted her earpiece to hear Sonoko more clearly.
To save time, Shirai didn't stop moving. By the time the connection stabilized again, the red dot representing Shirai on the map had already moved several kilometers.
"Sorry, let me check!" Sonoko flustered slightly, hurriedly scanning the camera feeds.
"Roughly the central section of the overpass. About three hundred meters from the Exchange Plaza entrance. There's a 'Caution: Slippery Surface' warning sign nearby, about seven or eight meters tall," Sonoko estimated, familiar with the area and the overpass's general length.
"Understood," Shirai replied.
All Sonoko heard from the earpiece was the sound of a strong wind rushing past. Shirai's position seemed to be high in the air, followed immediately by the familiar catchphrase.
"Would you mind holding up for a moment?"
"This is Judgment."
On the monitor screens now, a Judgment member in a short skirt, her twin tails swaying, materialized out of thin air. Her feet landed squarely on one delinquent's head, instantly pinning him to the ground.
Another delinquent tried to fight back, only for Shirai to teleport him onto the top of the several-meter-high warning sign, leaving him dangling there.
"A Teleporter?"
"I remember now! There's a rumor in Judgment... about one who, after catching criminals, utterly crushes their body and spirit so they can never recover. They call her the most vicious, most terrifying Teleporter in all of Academy City!"
One delinquent, witnessing Shirai's entrance, immediately fell on his backside, his face contorted in terror as he shrieked loudly.
"Is that legend real?"
"I've heard it too, boss! It's true! We gotta run!"
In less than ten seconds after Shirai's appearance, the delinquents completely abandoned the brown-haired girl.
Instead, faces filled with despair, they stumbled and scrambled towards the overpass exit, not even bothering with their stranded companion.
"Shirai, I had no idea your reputation was that... impressive." Sonoko on the other end had clearly heard the delinquents' conversation and nearly spat out a mouthful of imaginary soda all over her computer. Good thing there were no drinks nearby.
"Are you alright?"
Shirai ignored the commentary from the 'bun-head' and turned her concern to the brown-haired girl who had been surrounded.
"Thank you very much."
The brown-haired girl stood perfectly calm and composed, holding a video camera that was still recording. She had faithfully captured the entire scene of Shirai scaring off the delinquents.
--+--
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.