According to Academy City's database, there are precisely 47 ability users registered with optical capabilities allowing complete concealment, all ranked at "Adept" level or higher.
Gathering alibis for all of them—even with help from other Judgement branches and Security Officer divisions—wasn't something that could be accomplished in just a day or two.
Truth be told, this case involving the assault of a Tokiwadai student didn't even fall under the jurisdiction of Uiharu's group, Judgement Branch 177. The specifics had already been reported to the Third Branch located at Tokiwadai Middle School.
"Kuroko, this is Makigami Komaki."
"We've grasped the situation. Warning emails have been sent to all Tokiwadai students, and we've dispatched patrols around the school perimeter," came the voice of Makigami Komaki from the other end of the line.
Makigami Komaki was a first-year at Tokiwadai and a member of Judgement's Third Branch. Rumor had it she'd recently joined Misaki Shokuhou's faction.
Natsume Sonoko didn't really know her, having only seen her from a distance during patrols within Tokiwadai's grounds.
After Makigami ended the call, Kuroko finally turned her attention back to Uiharu, who was still busy consulting the database.
"Visual Inhibition: Only one person in Academy City. Juufuku Miho, second-year at Sekisho Junior High School, Level 2."
"Illusion Creation: Fifteen people in Academy City. Among them, only three can produce realistic illusions. They are... first-years at Nagatenjouki Middle School..."
"..."
Expanding the scope of relevant abilities had multiplied the number of potential suspects. But even in this sea of data, the clever Natsume Sonoko immediately zeroed in on the key detail.
"Juufuku Miho. Ability: Visual Inhibition. Level 2."
Seeing Natsume focus on this individual, Uiharu beside her seemed a bit puzzled. While a Level 2 ability user was decent by Academy City standards, it wasn't enough for true invisibility—at best, it could just lower one's presence.
Leaving Judgement Branch 177, Natsume Sonoko had obtained the information she wanted.
"Juufuku Miho. Second-year, Sekisho Junior High School."
Her previously hazy memories sharpened, overlapping with the photo and details in the file, finally completing this part of the puzzle.
'Now it's my time to shine,' Natsume cheered herself on silently as she headed towards the School Garden. After carefully studying the target's ability, she realized she had a pretty good counter for it.
The target could affect human eyes, but that was it—it had no effect on mirrors, cameras, or other non-human visual receptors.
Not only could Natsume use ice mirrors or water surfaces to observe her opponent, but her own thermokinetic ability could also directly track the target's position and movements.
Since Natsume's ability couldn't directly affect living organisms, whenever she used it over a wide area, the spaces occupied by living beings became distinct 'voids' in her perception.
These voids stood out in her mind like flames. Her opponent's movements, posture, even the slight rise and fall of their chest from their heartbeat—all could be reconstructed in her mind through her ability.
Of course, Natsume couldn't maintain this wide-area temperature control constantly yet.
If she could, any enemy within a hundred-meter radius would be preemptively detected, the entire area 'warded' as if she had a personal radar.
Naturally, enemies who could snipe from eight hundred miles away were a different story altogether.
Similarly, the body heat emitted by her target would affect the surrounding air temperature, providing another way for Natsume to detect them, though this method became less effective with distance.
Anyway, if this Juufuku Miho character kept causing trouble within the School Garden, finding her wouldn't be too hard for Natsume.
If the search was confined to the School Garden, and considering her pattern of attacking Tokiwadai students, Natsume figured a few rounds of patrolling should be enough to locate her.
She already had the target's appearance info, so no worries about grabbing the wrong person. This girl was still running around zapping people with a stunner; she'd catch her red-handed.
She swiped her student ID at the School Garden entrance.
Beep. Student card.
Natsume gripped her handbag, ready to swing it if the opportunity arose.
Honestly, for such a durable, multi-purpose bag, just using it to carry papers was a waste. It'd be better to coat it with a layer of frost, turning it into a 'Frostmourne' for bashing heads.
However, when it came to using her abilities, Natsume Sonoko, as an ordinary student, was quite restrained.
For instance, raising the ambient temperature by dozens of degrees, causing an opponent's brain to shut down or even suffer fatal damage just through breathing—Natsume could do that easily. But that veered into ability abuse.
Misaka Senpai often used her electrocution ability to knock out delinquents or criminals, but it was high voltage with low current.
Backed by immense processing power and precision, it wouldn't kill or cause brain damage.
Typically, Natsume preferred defensive and restraining tactics. Only if her processing power and precision reached Misaka Senpai's level would she consider routinely using potentially lethal attacks.
"Huh? Why did the temperature suddenly drop?" Students chatting in small groups on the street murmured in confusion.
The drop wasn't large, but it was noticeable compared to the previous heat. However, the change was brief, and the temperature soon returned to its original sweltering state.
To conserve processing power, Natsume didn't use her ability continuously.
She 'pinged' it intermittently, like a radar scanning at set intervals, comparing the crowds around her with the map in her mind.
These anomalous temperature zones kept popping up, moving erratically. A few curious students even started chasing these cold spots, but eventually lost track every time.
The anomalous zone gradually moved—from the School Garden entrance to Tokiwadai Middle School, then to Private Shidarezakura Academy, to a stationery store, near a research institute—covering nearly half the School Garden in short order.
Along the way, Natsume ran into a minor annoyance: a few unrelated students suddenly started tailing her.
On her mental map, these 'ghosts' stubbornly lingered. It wasn't until Natsume deliberately moved her temperature control range away from them that the unwanted followers finally disappeared.
Walking down a narrow alley in the School Garden, Natsume's 'radar' seemed to pick up something, though her eyes still saw nothing.
Just as she suspected—the target was hiding in a secluded spot like this.
'Hmm, the clothing and facial outline match. Two buns on her head. What are those called, double buns?' Natsume wondered as she walked.
Natsume quite liked wearing her own hair in a bun. It was convenient and simple—just a twist and tuck to style. Mainly, it was neat and practical.
It didn't get messed up by wind, couldn't be easily grabbed in a fight, and didn't get in the way during daily activities.
'She's coming, she's coming right this way. The moment she makes a move, I'll short-circuit her stunner and knock her out with my bag.'
Having planned it all out, Natsume felt as confident as an angler waiting for a bite, her mind running through various fighting game combos.
She was very familiar with those techniques, though given her physical fitness, most of them were pretty much impossible to pull off.
For instance, there was one move she really liked: toss the enemy into the air, then a 150-degree high kick, draining their health bar like flying a kite.
As she mused, Natsume reached the end of the alley. Directly ahead was a research institute, its four glass doors firmly shut.
With no way forward, Natsume had to turn back. But to her surprise, the target wasn't following her anymore. Instead, she suddenly dashed away.
The double-bun girl was still some distance off and managed to run out of Natsume's temperature range in just two or three seconds.
'Spotted? But I didn't do anything.' Natsume was baffled. What was going on? Then her gaze fell on the glass doors beside her, and she immediately understood.
Her pace instinctively quickened, soon breaking into a jog. She couldn't let the culprit get away that easily.
But just then, the second-year Juufuku Miho, almost at the alley's exit, suddenly glanced back, a look of surprise on her face.
Though Natsume couldn't see her, she could infer the change in expression from the shift in her muscle tension.
'Oh, spotted. But it doesn't matter now.'
She'd originally planned to catch her in the act, but finding the stunner on her would be almost as good.
It just meant a bit more hassle—having to check the School Garden's access records as proof. She definitely wouldn't have an entry log. A shame she wouldn't get to use her fighting game moves after all.
--+--
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.