A few days later.
"Congratulations, the 13th eternal princess."
The academy teacher smiled as they pinned the medal symbolizing the eternal princess onto Sha Danshan. Below, Sashikura, Mizukagami, and others offered symbolic applause, however reluctantly.
As expected, Sashikura and Mizukagami failed to stop Sha Danshan's advancement. Shokuhou Misaki's faction had just been established and had almost no members. The position of eternal princess fell to Sha Danshan as a matter of course.
"Say a few words, eternal princess."
The teacher looked at Sha Danshan, a model student of Tokiwadai, with a smile. A large part of Tokiwadai's excellent external reputation nowadays was due to the Sha Faction led by Sha Danshan.
In the eyes of these teachers, this 13th eternal princess was extremely competent—unquestionably an elite they could speak of with pride.
Sha Danshan, who had perfectly disguised her true intentions, naturally did not disappoint their expectations. Upon hearing the teacher ask her to speak, she coughed gently and revealed a kind, model-student smile.
"It is truly an honor to become Tokiwadai's eternal princess. I know that I still have many shortcomings compared to my predecessors.
Especially after being pinned with this medal symbolizing the eternal princess, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility. In order not to disgrace the title of eternal princess, I will work even harder in the future to spread the light of Tokiwadai to more places."
As Sha Danshan's words fell, many members of the Sha Faction clapped to congratulate their leader. Chinatsu, who for some reason appeared very close to the Sha Faction in the eyes of the crowd, also wore a smile and clapped vigorously.
The inauguration ceremony ended.
Sha Danshan led her faction members away like a pressing army. However, they were not filled with laughter; instead, their expressions were solemn, and the atmosphere was cold.
This atmosphere persisted for about three or four minutes until finally, a few people at the back of the line couldn't help but stop and turn to look at the person who had been following at the very end.
"Misaka Chinatsu! You've followed us the whole way. Neither your classroom nor your dormitory should be in this direction!!!"
The faction members stared warily at Chinatsu. Although their faction claimed to be the largest in Tokiwadai, the overall strength of their members was at the bottom of the three major factions.
They were afraid of facing Chinatsu, an Esper, and even more afraid that Chinatsu would ruin this auspicious day of their leader succeeding as the eternal princess.
"Sen, let me join your faction."
Chinatsu revealed a harmless and kind smile. The members were momentarily stunned, turning their heads left and right to look at each other.
In their minds, Chinatsu's danger level was indeed lower than Mikoto's or Shokuhou's. Her ability wasn't as dangerous as Mental Out, nor did she have any negative rumors like Mikoto did.
More importantly, they had heard Chinatsu was their leader's roommate. When they first learned this, they thought Chinatsu would join them, but nearly a year had passed, and by now, no one held that expectation anymore.
But now this was...
Everyone turned their heads to look at their leader, wanting to see what her attitude would be.
Sha Danshan and Chinatsu looked at each other. Both were practically playing with their cards face up; they both understood exactly what the other wanted to do.
However, Sha Danshan believed she still held a trump card to counter Chinatsu, while Chinatsu hoped to settle this game peacefully before it fell apart.
"If Chinatsu wants to join, she is of course warmly welcomed."
The darkness in Sha Danshan's eyes vanished almost instantly. If Chinatsu's card was being 'harmless,' then Sha Danshan's was the even higher-level 'endearing.'
Seeing this, the faction members were so excited they didn't know what to say for a moment. Before this, Shokuhou Misaki had formed a faction, and having an Esper as the head of a faction was a huge selling point.
The faction members were worried that when school started next year, a large number of freshmen would flock to Shokuhou's faction because of this, thereby threatening their own.
But now with Chinatsu's joining, they possessed the same selling point. If they let their imaginations run a bit more greedily, Chinatsu's younger sister Mikoto might also join their faction in the future.
One faction, two Espers!
"Let's welcome Chinatsu's joining!"
"Actually, I've wanted to get to know Chinatsu for a long time. I'm sure we'll become great friends!"
"Who is in charge of Miss Sen's celebratory banquet? Quickly notify them to re-order the tables and chairs; Miss Chinatsu's seat must be right next to the leader!"
The faction members actively socialized with Chinatsu. Entering the core circle of the faction was something that was taken for granted without even needing to be said.
If Chinatsu wanting to see Sha Danshan was a random occurrence before joining the faction, then after joining, Chinatsu could practically stick to Sha Danshan all day long.
Chinatsu was definitely an expert at fighting, but when it came to using words to persuade Sha Danshan, she was truly powerless. She knew she wasn't good at 'Talk-no-jutsu,' so she could only try persistent pestering to see if she could reach that fragile wall around Sha Danshan's heart.
In Sha Danshan's eyes, Chinatsu's actions were no different from the opponent wanting to use this opportunity to monitor her. She couldn't help but raise her hand to touch the eternal princess medal pinned to her chest; this medal gave her peace of mind.
"Let's chat slowly during the banquet. If we keep talking here, it will affect the other students' passage through the hallway," Sha Danshan said, clapping her hands.
"Right! We can't block the hallway!"
Hearing their leader's words, the crowd immediately nodded. Surrounded by people on all sides, Chinatsu was practically pushed along as they left Tokiwadai.
As time moved forward, third-year students like Sashikura and Mizukagami finally faced their graduation. After saying goodbye to their respective friends, they stepped out of the gates of Tokiwadai Middle School.
"Alright, now we've become unrelated outsiders!"
Sashikura turned around freely to look at Tokiwadai Middle School behind her. She had no lingering attachment to this school. She had completely left the matter of Sha Danshan to Chinatsu and trusted that she could handle it well.
"A new year, new freshmen. I'm really looking forward to seeing if there will be any particularly amazing freshmen this year. I'll call Chinatsu in a while to ask~"
Sashikura turned calmly and left Tokiwadai for good. Seeing this, the others also walked their separate ways. They might meet at the peak in the future, or they might never meet again in this lifetime.
The following year, Spring.
Shirai Kuroko, wearing the Tokiwadai school uniform, stood at the school gates. She held a small school bag in one hand and used the other to smooth her hair, which had been ruffled by the spring breeze.
"Tokiwadai, I, Shirai Kuroko, have arrived!"
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