A Scientific Urban Detective

It's no wonder that the Ryūri Himesu of the Garden Small Path lamented that it was a "once-in-a-century event." Academy City's quasi-industrial population barely reaches 100,000, and they usually seem to be invisible, with no presence at all.

Moreover, this is Academy City after all, and there are very few purely "workers." Most are engineers or technicians, who would be considered mid-to-high-end talents in other cities.

In terms of income and benefits, they also far exceed their counterparts in other cities.

Therefore, such a group has no need for demonstrations or protests.

But unexpectedly, it was such a group that suddenly held a strike and demonstration this time.

"Perfect, I'm a Disciplinary Committee member with 'free time,' so I'm going to support the main force." Ryūri Himesu of the Garden Small Path changed direction and ran towards the school gate. "Little Mikoto, hurry up and go to class, don't be late!"

Finding out that it was just patrolling the streets to maintain traffic order, Mikoto Misaka immediately lost interest. She happened to meet Yukari Kessai, who was rushing over to find her, so she accompanied her back to the classroom.

"Misaka-san, you just now..." Yukari Kessai carefully chose her words, "Are you alright?"

"Alright...? What could be wrong with me?" Mikoto Misaka was confused. "Why do you ask?"

However, thinking about how she almost lost herself to Senior Sadan earlier, Mikoto Misaka couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Ah, I understand!" Seeming to have suddenly figured something out, Mikoto Misaka smiled and patted her roommate's shoulder. "Don't worry, although Senior Sadan did invite me, I didn't join the Sadan Faction."

She remembered that Yukari Kessai was a member of the Hasekura Faction and definitely wouldn't want to see her being recruited by the Sadan Faction.

"Eh? Oh, yes, yes, that's good..." Yukari Kessai nodded quickly. "Ah, we're going to be late, hurry up and run faster!"

Shouting and yelling, Yukari Kessai grabbed Mikoto Misaka's hand and ran quickly towards the classroom.

At the same time, Sadan Awawaku also returned to her classroom.

She was playing with the ten coins she had won from Mikoto Misaka.

All ten coins were standard game coins, identical in appearance, weight, and feel.

But in Sadan Awawaku's eyes, one of the coins was special—the one that Mikoto Misaka often held in her hand to get a feel for it.

The "residual thoughts" on this particular coin were especially strong. Perhaps only this coin could support her in summoning "Railgun"... albeit a weakened version.

As for the other nine coins, the "residual thoughts" on them were probably only at the level of a Level 2 to Level 3 "Electromaster," at most capable of releasing electromagnetic interference.

Sadan Awawaku's target from the beginning was this special coin.

As for the bet to get Mikoto Misaka to join the Sadan Faction, that was just a smokescreen.

By the way, from Mikoto Misaka's own perspective, all the coins were actually the same, with no difference at all, and she couldn't tell them apart after they were mixed up.

So she didn't realize that the coin she often played with had fallen into Sadan Awawaku's hands.

"Okay, the first piece of the puzzle is in hand," Sadan Awawaku murmured, "Next, I can collect the other 'mementos.'"

After class, Uriri Mitsuya, the chief strategist of the Sadan Faction, came to see Sadan Awawaku.

"Sadan-sama, I heard you met with Mikoto Misaka this morning?" Uriri Mitsuya asked. "Do you want to recruit Mikoto Misaka?"

"Unfortunately, it was a failure." Sadan Awawaku said with a smile, "Because I saw that she hadn't joined the Shokuhou Faction, they thought there was an opportunity, but..."

"Don't be discouraged! It's just that Misaka-san doesn't understand Sadan-sama's charm yet!" Uriri Mitsuya quickly comforted her.

"However..." Seeming to hesitate for a moment, Sadan Awawaku continued, "There's another child in the Shokuhou Faction that I'm also a little interested in."

"Eh?" Sadan Awawaku's proactive behavior surprised Uriri Mitsuya a little, but she didn't think too much about it. "Sadan-sama, you're the leader of the faction, so please leave this kind of thing to us!"

Sadan Awawaku smiled and nodded: "Then I'll have to trouble you. The Sadan Faction is so lucky to have you."

"Sadan-sama, you flatter me!" Uriri Mitsuya said quickly. "Please tell us who you have your eye on..."

"Hmm, she's also a child who doesn't fit in and is out of place with the other members of the faction." Sadan Awawaku said, "Mii Aiwawa. It's said that her relationship with Shokuhou-san isn't very good, so I thought, perhaps we could win her over?"

"I understand." Uriri Mitsuya nodded, not particularly surprised.

After all, most of the members of their Sadan Faction are in similar situations—they are not as outstanding as the members of the Hasekura Faction and the Mizukagami Faction, so they gather under Sadan Awawaku, somewhat like a group seeking warmth.

Obviously, according to the description, Mii Aiwawa also fits the Sadan Faction's purpose.

Although this kind of Sadan Faction has the feeling of a "league of the disappointed," as the largest faction in Tokiwadai Middle School, it naturally has capable and outstanding talents.

Uriri Mitsuya, as the chief strategist, is one of the best.

Although she is still a first-year freshman, Uriri Mitsuya has shown extraordinary initiative.

During the lunch break, she had already taken action, trying to contact and win over Mii Aiwawa.

Mii Aiwawa acted alone as always, eating lunch alone and rarely showing up in the faction activity room.

Yes, although her relationship with Misaki Shokuhou is still not very harmonious, Mii Aiwawa has still defaulted to joining the Shokuhou Faction.

However, she is more like a ghost member, rarely showing up and with very little presence.

Usually during breaks, Mii Aiwawa prefers to go to the neighboring Shirayamazakura Private Academy to play with Yaeko Kuzuhara.

Because she has such a convenient superpower as "Mental Stinger," coupled with her low-key personality, Mii Aiwawa is actually not much different from Misaki Shokuhou in terms of freedom of action.

Mii Aiwawa herself is also happy to become such an unnoticed "invisible person."

So, when Uriri Mitsuya came to her in person, Mii Aiwawa was quite surprised.

"...So, I hope Mii-san can consider joining our Sadan Faction!" Uriri Mitsuya didn't waste any words, explained simply, and directly stated her intention.

Mii Aiwawa was stunned for a moment: "I've already joined the Shokuhou Faction, you should know that, right?"

"Of course we know," Uriri Mitsuya nodded, "But Mii-san and the Shokuhou Faction don't seem to get along very well, so..."

"Ara, isn't it bad to poach people so directly?" Having grasped the situation, Mii Aiwawa became calm, "Well, it's true that my relationship with Shokuhou-san isn't very harmonious, but I don't dislike the Shokuhou Faction. After all, I don't need to do anything, and they give me plenty of freedom."

"You can get the same things after joining our Sadan Faction!" said a follower behind Uriri Mitsuya.

"That's true, but..." Mii Aiwawa reached for her phone in her bag with her left hand, "The main activities of your Sadan Faction are charity and public welfare activities. But unfortunately, I'm not a rich young lady like you, I'm an orphan, and I can't take out so much money to donate to charity."

"Hey! What do you mean by that!" Another follower behind Uriri Mitsuya stood up.