Second half of the year, September 14th, just before the official start of the Daihasei Festival.
Heaven Canceller's hospital.
"The wound is healing well. Recovery's looking good."
The frog-faced doctor leaned forward in satisfaction, observing the frail, white-haired boy seated before him. As he wrapped a freshly changed bandage around the patient's torso, he added, "Although you'll still need the bandages for a while, you can start moving around with a crutch. Just avoid any sudden or strenuous activity, or you risk reopening the wound."
"Now, let me proceed with a brief follow-up."
"Spare me. There's no need for that crap!"
Accelerator stood up impatiently, brushing it off with indifference.
"You took a bullet to the head, damaging parts of your brain. Primarily your language center, calculation faculties, and motor functions were affected. But the human brain still holds many mysteries. Depending on how things develop, this could prove fatal."
Closing his eyes for a moment, the frog-faced doctor paused, then reopened them and said calmly, "The severity this time far surpasses the injuries you sustained after your battle with the Number One."
"Am I supposed to take that as a threat?" Leaning on his crutch, Accelerator glanced at his left arm—the one Selene had severed—then turned away, his gaze sharp with killing intent.
"I'm simply fulfilling my duty to ensure my patient receives the best care possible. Nothing more. That is what a doctor does."
...
Off to the side, a mini 'Misaka Mikoto' kept murmuring to herself. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Accelerator tsk'd, but ultimately sat down obediently.
"Please state your name and background clearly and in full," the frog-faced doctor continued routinely.
"Name's Accelerator. Ranked second among the eight Level 5 espers in Academy City. My ability is Vector Control—including manipulation of kinetic, thermal, and electrical energy, and other internal forces. I was part of the Level 6 Shift Project. Then..."
He let out a self-deprecating chuckle and raised two fingers, gripping the black data cables from the electrode collar around his neck that connected to both ears, resembling a pair of headphones.
"Then I ended up like this. A cripple who can't walk or talk without this damn thing."
"Hard to imagine what that vain Number One would think of my current state. Probably thinks I'm too pathetic to stand beside her, would send her lapdog to challenge me and shove me out of the rankings."
Originally, the Level 5 ranking system in Academy City was intended to reflect research value. But once Selene, known as the world's largest naturally occurring 'Gemstone,' was discovered, the system skewed off course.
Number One fought Number Three, then Number Two fought Number Three—all these clashes between monsters over rank gave the list a more battle-power-oriented feel.
"Is there any way to speed up recovery of my language functions?"
"For now, no," the frog-faced doctor replied with a helpless sigh. "Honestly, for someone who took a bullet to the head and suffered frontal lobe damage, this is already the best-case scenario."
"However... if you're desperate to recover quickly, there's only one person to turn to. The Number One... Honkai Energy is an irresistibly fascinating energy form."
...
Accelerator fell silent at those words.
To ask Selene—that woman who, in his eyes, colluded with Academy City's upper echelons and the Kihara family, aloof and ignorant of the suffering below, a ruling-class tyrant? He would rather throw himself off a building and die on the spot!
He wasn't the Number Three, that "Dark Matter" freak!
...
Elsewhere, in Selene's official residence...
This residence, aside from the Tokiwadai Middle School dormitory, was one of Selene's personal properties, located in Academy City's largest of its twenty-three districts: District 7. The Board Chairman Aleister Crowley's estate, the "Windowless Building," was also located in this district.
Though officially called a residence, it was more akin to an estate—a complex of Rococo, multi-tiered Gothic, and Baroque-style buildings. Even while Selene's main consciousness was away from this world, maintenance on the estate had never ceased. Private parks, artificial rock gardens, fountain courtyards, sunrooms...
It gave off the air of a "hermit dwelling within the city" —a secluded and natural lifestyle hidden amid urban splendor.
That said, the floor Selene resided on was quite superficial in style.
In a city bristling with skyscrapers and cutting-edge tech, such flamboyance was hardly inconspicuous. Perhaps Selene never intended to hide it. After all, urban legends surrounding the Number One Level 5—her love for luxury and rumored "decadent opulence, extravagant inner palace"—were practically common knowledge.
The real concern wasn't that she had some "unseemly" hobby, but that she was otherwise flawless. A flaw gives people something to grasp. This was precisely how the Board of Directors, various research institutes, and the underworld viewed Selene.
Yes, the key to dealing with the Number One was this: stroke her ego gently. Selene never responded to threats—only to flattery.
Former Board Director Thomas Platinaburg had once served as a vivid lesson for many. The official explanation unanimously agreed upon by the Board was that he had stepped into her residence with his left foot first—a breach of etiquette. Overcome with shame, he allegedly shot himself dozens of times in the back before blowing up the residence in a fit of remorse.
Ahem... not exactly accurate, but close enough. Such implausible excuses highlighted just how feeble the Academy City higher-ups' explanation for Thomas Platinaburg's death truly was.
Come on—we sent someone to Selene's Schicksal Research Institute to steal classified data. You, so used to success, got cocky—you didn't just steal; you murdered and set fires. That's just bad form. Broke the unspoken rules. Who else but you should die for that?
In the end, after a series of unspeakable gifts, backroom deals, and exchanges of money and influence, everyone got what they wanted.
Selene replaced Thomas Platinaburg and gradually secured one of the twelve coveted seats on the Board of Directors.
Eventually, specialized T-R series medicines for disease treatment, potential-enhancing agents (weakened derivatives of original formulas, selectively limited by Selene's Honkai Authority for specific illnesses), military and security robots—all began appearing in the private clinics and personal guard units of other Board members.
Even Honkai Crystals crafted by Selene herself began to trickle into the research institutes of those directors.
If you'd just negotiated from the start, all this could've been resolved peacefully. Talk it out, buy it, trade for it—discounts included. So much better.
Of course, Selene didn't believe a single punctuation mark of what those directors said. Trusting a capitalist? Ha...
If Selene had been an ordinary Level 4, or a simple, easily-targeted Level 5 with obvious flaws, they would never have treated her this nicely.
Aleister, upon receiving the news almost immediately, personally approached her. He obviously saw through her excuse about the limited quantity of Honkai Crystals she could produce. But since she was offering to share, he figured it wasn't excessive to ask for more.
And so, Aleister tricked Selene into handing over a pound of Honkai Crystals in one go. Over time, what began as a monthly quota evolved into a weekly one, with the amount allocated increasing each time.
Even after Selene's main consciousness left, the deliveries continued as usual.
Selene never objected—she simply handed it over with a carefree attitude.
It was a tacit understanding between Selene and Aleister.
Aleister: Selene's unpredictability makes her a vital part of my plan—but not indispensable. Her support makes things easier and more promising, but she's not irreplaceable.
He knew the power Selene showed publicly was only the tip of the iceberg. But play the fool too long, and you risk becoming one for real. So Aleister decided to assist Selene—slowly peeling back the veil she hid behind. After all, steadily increasing quotas was the more reasonable approach. Stagnation didn't suit someone of the Number One's status.
The results astounded Aleister. No matter how abruptly he raised the quota, Selene always handled it effortlessly, without showing the slightest fatigue. He couldn't find her limit. It was as if there was no bottleneck—no end in sight.
Yet, he'd seen it himself: Selene only returned home to rest when she was tired from eating or gaming...
So, really? My so-called quotas tire her out less than dinner or a few games?
Furthermore, tests showed that even the very first Honkai Crystal Selene supplied, once converted, could power a small city for over a week. Far more efficient than a nuclear plant.
And later samples only got larger in size, and more extreme in density and quality.
Those later-stage Honkai Crystals—if fully converted into pure energy—would make Tsar Bomba look like a party trick, at least according to Aleister's tech staff.
Honkai Crystals were, in essence, dangerously high-energy constructs—solidified and forcibly shaped energy forms. Their countless unquantifiable negative effects seemed suppressed for now. But if they underwent fission or detonated...
Japan would go silent. An unprecedented tsunami and volcanic chain reaction would ripple across the entire western Pacific.
Selene's take: she didn't know exactly how Aleister would use Honkai Energy or how it fit into his "century plan," but she understood his goal—destroy the Magic Gods, eliminate phase friction, and erase magic.
Fine. Do whatever you want. As long as you don't need me to act directly, I'll support you in every other way.
You charge in first. I'll see how things go before I follow.
And here she was, just finishing her routine "friendly exchange" with Aleister, strolling through the "Windowless Building" as if it were her own home.
Tap tap~
Wearing Tokiwadai Middle School's standard leather shoes, Selene walked through the sunroom corridor of her estate.
With autumn cooling the air, it was perfect weather for sunbathing. Outside, the garden was ringed with blooming flowers. Inside, carefully arranged greenery—plants she had trimmed herself—decorated the space. Well, trimmed personally for her mother's arrival. This was also the preferred venue for afternoon tea and conversation with friends.
The sunroom was massive, segmented into sections, and connected to the manor's main building. It was insulated; with some luck, one could enjoy a snow view in winter from its warmth.
Cough cough...
Who's talking about me behind my back?!
Inside the sunroom—
"So the captain's Boss is the big boss, huh? As expected of Tokiwadai's heiress—the strongest Number One. Everything she uses is top-tier."
A blonde girl slapped the armrest of the plush sofa she had sunk into. Sunlight streamed warmly through the transparent glass, bathing her in comfort. A housekeeping robot placed freshly peeled fruit and vegetables on a nearby table, the light fragrance easing the mind.
"Gokusai Kaibi. We don't actually know what Number One is like. Rumors say her personality..."
Gokusai Kaibi, a member of the dark side group SCHOOL under Kakine Teitoku. A Level 4 esper with the ability Mental Regulator—capable of measuring and manipulating psychological distance between individuals, rendering her immune to attacks from others.
Petite and lovely, with golden curls and dressed in a delicately cut short party dress that left her back exposed, she wore bracelets and a jeweled necklace.
Standing beside her, a black-haired boy frowned slightly in warning. Urban legends surrounding Number One were numerous and varied—but one common thread: she was said to be temperamental.
"It's best we tread carefully... we don't want to get caught up in something."
He wore plain casual clothes, the sort of face that would vanish in a crowd. However, on his head was a metal mechanical ring, like a Saturn's halo, covering his entire scalp. Plug ports encircled it fully, with countless cables connecting to his waist.
Yobou Banka, also a member of SCHOOL, served as their intelligence officer. A Level 4 telekinetic, capable of scent analysis, data extraction, cloaking, and more.
"Still... thinking about finally seeing the legendary Number One up close, I can't help but get excited!"
On the other side, a girl with long dark hair tied in two braids, wearing a dark school uniform, clutched her cheeks in delight.
In her usual mode, she was a gentle, soft-spoken young lady—a student at Shidarezakura Academy, one of the five elite girls' schools in School Garden. When in mission mode, however, she transformed into a hunter, operating with animal-like instinct.
...
Clad as always in a sleek suit, his eyes shadowed and expression grim, the brown-haired man just sat in silence. For all his subordinates' chatter, he lowered his head, his eyes full of gloom and uncertainty—and a trace of resolve.
Creak~
At the sound of the door opening, a calm, water-like voice echoed through the sunroom.
"Kakine Teitoku. So, you contacted me proactively. Got something to report?"
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