Western etiquette classes were immensely helpful in cultivating young ladies, and for Tokiwadai Middle School students, they were practically a required course.
Professor Murasaki truly lived up to being the etiquette expert that Wanō had described.
She treated every minute detail with scholarly attention, turning something as simple as eating fish into an intricate discipline where every movement carried weight.
Though Natsume's stomach felt uncomfortably full, she didn't dare fall behind in the lesson.
Mimicking the teacher's movements, she carefully picked at the fish, removed bones, dipped it in sauce, and paid close attention to how it should be chewed and how to handle any remaining bones afterward.
The engaging class time always seemed to fly by. When the familiar chime for the end of class finally rang, Natsume Sonoko let out a soft sigh of relief, as if she'd just heard heavenly music.
"Everyone performed quite well today, especially Miss Natsume. She was very meticulous—taking only small portions of fish, executing each movement flawlessly, and chewing with proper care and grace."
Before leaving, Professor Inamura praised Natsume in front of the whole class, even as Natsume kept subtly rubbing her full stomach.
'Natsume's really impressive—getting praised by the teacher even though she doesn't like fish,' Wanō thought with some surprise.
Aside from etiquette class, the morning also included foreign language and mathematics.
The afternoon was reserved for tea ceremony and music, and around two o'clock, club activities would begin.
Natsume Sonoko diligently completed all her classes before calmly organizing her materials and placing them into the newly issued standard-issue Tokiwadai black leather bag.
These bags were specially crafted for Tokiwadai Middle School.
Made from select, high-quality leather and incorporating special techniques, their production was time-consuming and costly.
Rumor had it they could even stop small-caliber bullets head-on. They were waterproof, fire-resistant, stylish, and practical—even Misaka-senpai had given them her approval.
Natsume Sonoko and her fellow first-year students had finally received their own black leather bags from the school administration. Each bag had a unique student code, allowing it to be returned if lost.
Club activities had already started. After finishing a full day of classes, Natsume rested for a while on a bench in the school garden before slinging her new bag over her shoulder and heading off-campus.
Ever since joining the Urban Legend Investigation Club, Natsume had been leaving school around this time.
Feeling refreshed, Natsume strolled down the street—something she considered part of her daily routine as a club member, scouting for potential discoveries.
She did some "field research" in a manga bookstore and emerged with two new volumes tucked into her bag.
Just as she was about to find a shady spot to inspect her new manga, her phone in the new bag buzzed briefly.
[Shocking Discovery in Academy City! How Could They Do This in Broad Daylight!]
Drawn in by the clickbait title, Natsume curiously opened the message. It was from the "Urban Legend Investigation Group" chat.
It was a message from Maeda Kana-senpai, Natsume noted, checking the sender's nickname.
"It's Kana-chan! Did you find something big again?" Soon after, a message from Quiet Night Color appeared in the group chat.
Ah, that was Senpai Amakusa Yū's nickname.
"It's huge! Guess what I found today!" Maeda Kana, using the nickname "The Elegant Photographer," sent another message.
"What did you find? A new urban legend?" — from Natsume Sonoko.
"Natsume uses her real name as her nickname!" — The Elegant Photographer
"Send the photos you took. Did you do any further investigation?" — Quiet Night Color
"I did. My ability only captured a blurry image, but there were several witnesses. It should be good enough for the website." — The Elegant Photographer
"Received. Send the photos, and I'll screen them. You have witness recordings ready, right? If the info is reasonably reliable, the website will be happy to publish it." The last member of the group, using the nickname "Balance Beam Miss," chimed in.
"I'm prepared. Not only witness recordings, but also some forum posts from witnesses online."
Could this be... the Stripping Woman from the Railgun storyline?
The photo was blurry, the background almost entirely indiscernible, but the faint outline of a nude woman was visible, standing with her back to the camera.
Natsume Sonoko was genuinely taken aback. Her thoughts raced, finally arriving at a startling conclusion.
She had always thought that Level 6 "Rising Air Current" + "Script Reading" Saten Ruiko was the hidden hand guiding the events of the Railgun storyline.
But it turned out there was an even darker, deeper presence—the Scriptwriter!!
The four-member group chat buzzed with lively discussion. Soon, under club president Amakusa Yū's final approval, a new urban legend was born: "The Stripping Woman Roaming Academy City."
The byline credit went to Senpai Maeda Kana, though it was submitted under the name of the Urban Legend Investigation Club.
Natsume Sonoko grew increasingly convinced that these individuals closely matched characters from the Railgun plot.
She just wondered when the urban legend of the "Level Upper" would appear.
Through this group discussion, Natsume also learned a bit about Maeda Kana's ability: Scene Retrospection.
By using her ability with a specially made camera, she could capture events that had occurred some time earlier in front of the lens.
The stronger her ability, the further back she could see and the clearer the images would be.
It was the opposite of precognition or divination abilities—instead of seeing the future, she could glimpse the past.
However, with Academy City's ubiquitous surveillance cameras and security robots, the practical application of such an ability was significantly limited.
Putting down her phone as the group chat wound down, Natsume Sonoko quietly began flipping through her manga.
An ad on the inside cover caught her attention—a scene of two giant robots clashing.
"All eyes here! The next-generation competitive game Cyber Troopers Virtual-On is nearing completion! Sign up for the closed beta now and receive a limited edition custom model!"
Natsume's eyes lit up. Academy City always had something new and exciting. The idea of piloting giant robots for combat in the city sounded incredibly fun.
She imagined that this kind of game, relying mostly on individual skill, could somehow allow espers and non-espers to compete on a more level playing field.
How could Natsume Sonoko miss out on something this fun? The only downside was that the game was still in development.
It would probably be a long time before it hit the market—definitely not within this year.
"I'll sign up now. I have to get a beta invite!" Natsume picked up her phone, went to the official site to register, and soon a "Registration Successful" notification popped up on her screen.
--+--
In a park in District 7, a cup filled with water sat on a stone table about fifty meters away from Natsume.
A common Academy City thermometer was immersed in the water, its probe submerged and capable of measuring temperature down to two decimal places.
The quiet park lights cast a glow on Natsume's focused expression. Her gaze fixed on the distant cup as faint white mist began to gather around it, and a layer of frost crept up the surface.
Natsume Sonoko was concentrating on altering the water's temperature. Soon, the reading on the thermometer began to change.
As she released her ability, she hurried over to the stone table to check the thermometer.
"Actual reading: 4.78 degrees Celsius. Target: exactly 0 degrees Celsius. Deviation of 4.78 degrees." Clearly dissatisfied with the result, Natsume's brow furrowed slightly.
She was practicing precision control of her ability. The first comprehensive periodic assessment—no, the physical exam—was only a few days away.
The range of control and the limits of temperature change were restricted by her brain's computational power, leaving little room for major improvement in the short term. For now, the only thing she could enhance was her precision.
Within ten meters, Natsume could control temperature with high accuracy. But as the distance increased, her precision dropped significantly.
To improve her long-range accuracy, she had come to this small park to practice.
Unlike before, when she'd affect a large area all at once, this kind of practice didn't require avoiding people.
This particular park had a fair amount of foot traffic. Passersby came and went, some casting curious glances at the Tokiwadai girl pacing back and forth near the stone table.
"Once the distance increases, even a tiny calculation error in my mind gets magnified exponentially in reality. I need to focus on fine control, not just brute-force it." Natsume strategized with herself, trying to clear her mind and suppress the distracting thoughts vying for attention.
The distant cup once again became shrouded in white mist, and a thin layer of ice slowly formed on the water's surface.
The freezing spread slowly but with a peculiar rhythm, moving steadily from the outer edge inward.
Although the surface of the water had frozen, the lower layer remained liquid, slightly warmer than the ice.
"Temperature is 2.88 degrees Celsius. Deviation about 2.88." Seeing that the deviation at fifty meters had finally dropped below three degrees, the tension in Natsume's brow eased.
"Keep practicing! There's still room for improvement!" Clearly not content to rest on her laurels, Natsume ran back to the fifty-meter mark to continue her drills.
Honestly, could such a simple setup really provide accurate measurements? Shouldn't she get someone to help read the thermometer?
Well, if Natsume felt it was effective, that was all that mattered.
This time, however, she wasn't as lucky. Her calculations went slightly overboard, and she accidentally froze the entire cup solid.
With a sharp crack, the cup split right down the middle, shattering into pieces on the ground.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.