Going straight after those armed groups would sound a bit too forceful coming from Shirai-san.
But considering Shirai-san's usual hatred for evil, that unwavering sense of justice and responsibility she carries, it's easy to understand where she's coming from.
Both the attackers and the attacked had people who deserved punishment, so there was no need to deliberately favor either side. Just follow the standard procedure.
Judgment has been served, stand aside!
Arrest the wrongdoers, rescue the victims—maintain a fair and impartial approach to enforcement.
Natsume-san's plan to extend goodwill was understandable, but entirely unnecessary.
There's no need for Judgment to spend time building good relations with armed Skill-Out groups; the two sides are inherently opposed.
Maybe Natsume-san had grasped part of the idea of staying neutral, but this obvious bias was clear even to Shirai Kuroko. For law enforcement, it's just an extra option, and the dangers that come with such bias are plain to see.
The order maintained by that armed Skill-Out group is their order, not the surface order of Academy City. That means they're not on the same side as us; a confrontation is inevitable.
Natsume-san, with her dual identity as a Judgment member and an esper, would never gain their true trust, because their stances are fundamentally different.
However, this Teleportation quite agreed with Natsume-san's idea of cooperation between Judgment and the public—but the partners shouldn't include those guys. It should be the many powerless students who can't protect themselves.
The fact that these attacked powerless students chose to rely on that armed group instead of cooperating with the authorities was the biggest problem Judgment faced.
"If the person reporting an incident doesn't call the Anti-Skill hotline directly, most calls are first routed to the nearest Judgment branch. The branch confirms whether it's an on-campus incident before deciding to notify Anti-Skill. But Judgment has no authority to act off-campus; handling incidents outside school would be overstepping our jurisdiction."
"That's why very few Judgment members actively choose to get involved in cases outside school. It's also one reason some powerless students don't report incidents—waiting for Anti-Skill to arrive is too slow, and might not even solve anything. Better to directly seek help from those with ability."
Shirai-san spoke after a moment's thought, lowering the hand that had been propping her chin.
The principle of 'the higher authority isn't as effective as the local manager' was probably at play here, and it was causing that group to grow rapidly.
In the end, this so-called cooperation between Judgment and the public only really concerned Judgment members like her who preferred handling incidents outside school.
Pity that having to write statements of repentance afterward was such a pain, and recently she'd even been 'grounded' by the Anti-Skill teacher.
"That idea of cooperation between Judgment and the public you mentioned earlier, Natsume-san—you weren't thinking of roping me into it, were you?"
Narrowing her eyes slightly, Shirai-san asked with an air of seriousness.
"Yeah, I was totally thinking of you, Shirai-san."
Noticing the other's gaze upon her, Natsume Sonoko answered honestly.
Let Shirai-san handle the work—she herself would just provide ideas and support. That was her idea of satisfactory division of labor. After all, Shirai-san was always busy running around anyway.
Merely the gray zone of District 7? Natsume-san felt Shirai-san could definitely handle it.
"Don't think you're getting out of this either. You came up with the idea and expect me to do all the work? Dream on."
Raising an eyebrow, Shirai-san offered a kindly smile, vigorously ruffling a certain someone's hair with both hands, drawing a sidelong glance from Index.
So Sonoko slacks off at work too, huh? Index tilted her head, thinking.
"With Skill-Out's cooperation, we should be able to handle this game incident well. But the fact this group is actively taking in so many attacked powerless students is a problem in itself that needs attention."
Coming back to her senses, Shirai-san concluded.
Somehow, without anyone noticing, Shirai-san had taken the lead in this matter, leaving a meekly compliant Natsume-san sitting there in a daze.
Darn it, how did it suddenly turn out like this? Natsume-san wondered, somewhat baffled.
Time passed slowly, the standoff growing increasingly tense.
By the time Misaka-senpai returned, face beaming with joy, the several of them had already been sitting on the small stools Index provided for a while.
Though she envied the multi-flavored ice cream cone in Index's hand, Natsume-san forced herself to look away. Index eating ice cream was part of her job; if she ate one, she'd have to pay for it herself. A wave of sadness washed over her at the thought.
Why couldn't she get a part-time job like that? In terms of cuteness, she was no less than Index. Was this the sorrow of a mature middle school girl?
"Behold, the silver limited edition Gekota-sama."
"As long as my opponent is a carbon-based life form, no one can stop me from getting Gekota."
Dangling a miniature doll from a string, Misaka-senpai waved it proudly in front of the trio.
"So amazing."
This was Natsume-san's routine exclamation of admiration; her worship of her senpai was no less than the Teleporter beside her.
This Misaka-senpai was the one she was most familiar with. The thought drifted faintly through Natsume-san's mind, a lovely smile appearing on her face.
--+--
District 7, a certain abandoned warehouse.
With some time left in the afternoon, Shirai-san—ignoring a certain someone's desire to return to the dorm to drop off her things—dragged said someone along to this place.
Currently, the work at the Judgment branch was still taken over by Anti-Skill, leaving Judgment members with a lot of free time during this period.
It must be said, Shirai-san's reputation was truly formidable.
Merely showing her face caused the entire abandoned warehouse to react as if facing a great enemy, everyone chattering in panic about Academy City's most vicious spatial ability user, the terrifying, merciless, tyrannical Judgment member or whatnot.
If Natsume-san hadn't hurriedly stopped them, things would probably have gone badly already.
"In just an instant, she restrained everyone."
A trace of barely perceptible fear shone in his eyes as the man named Hamazura Shiage stared in terror at the two approaching girls, his body immobilized, wrapped in a powerful gust of wind pressure.
Before he had found someone worth protecting, this guy with his idiot face wasn't much different from your average delinquent.
"Shirai-san, someone broke through my suppression."
A green armband on her shoulder and holding a large bag of snacks bought from the supermarket, a certain bun-girl poked Shirai Kuroko beside her with concern.
Just like always, Natsume-san avoided exposing herself directly to others' sight, so the two figures below were merely manifestations of light and air.
In the blink of an eye, a powerful elbow strike materialized behind the light-shadow of Shirai-san. With a violent ripple in the air, the light-shadow shattered instantly.
--+--
T/N: 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.