The sky darkened as the sunset bled across the horizon.
A tinge of lancholy lingered in a certain Natsu Sonoko's mind. Above her, the sky burned a fiery, blood-red.
Tossing away the soda can in her hand, she stared blankly at a cleaning robot spinning in circles not far away.
'I really should give so serious thought to leaving Academy City,' she mused silently, a pensive expression settling on Natsu's face.
It was clear now—those few nas had a much greater effect on her than she'd ever imagined.
Walking along the street, Natsu Sonoko suddenly rembered sothing and hurriedly ducked into a common gift shop, her previous gloom instantly forgotten.
"So of this… oh, and this too."
Her scholarship for the month had just co in, and coupled with her habit of saving, her personal funds were still quite substantial.
The currency in Academy City was a bit different from the outside.
While it looked similar, it wasn't allowed to circulate externally.
Even using a bank card required going through several troubleso procedures.
So, for convenience's sake, Natsu Sonoko needed to exchange so outside currency.
Inside the gift shop, Natsu had a decent-looking live-streaming glasses set wrapped up. She also bought a folding skateboard equipped with boosters, and picked out a miniature smart pet robot.
Feeling it still wasn't enough, she selected two multifunctional watches, plus an automatic cat-feeding device that her cousin, Natsu Takashi, might find useful.
Watching the numbers on her bank card plumt, a certain Natsu Sonoko felt her heart twitch. Her savings had just shrunk by a whole third. 'I won't even dare order the super-large size for shaved ice anymore,' she thought with a pang.
With the pile of gifts, Natsu simply had the shopkeeper deliver everything to her dorm at Tokiwadai.
Tomorrow's trip out of Academy City would require a taxi—another hefty expense—plus all the spending outside.
Just thinking about it made her feel truly poor. Would she return as a person worthy of the na, the veritable, "Poor Girl of Tokiwadai"?
Thankfully, at least Tokiwadai Middle School covered room and board.
Stepping out of the gift shop, she'd barely taken a few steps when she spotted Misaka-senpai on the other side of the road.
But this ti, Misaka-senpai was busy arguing with soone, her face flushed with indignation and a hint of frustration.
Taking a closer look, the other person also looked sowhat familiar—a head of spiky black hair like a hedgehog, wearing a faded high school uniform, and carrying a bag of freshly bought eggs.
Eggs were probably the cheapest source of protein you could find in Academy City.
'Are they about to fight?'
Before she could even process it, familiar blue sparks crackled around Misaka-senpai's head, like a miniature EMP, short-circuiting a nearby mobile cleaning robot.
"Don't joke around! After you unleashed that massive lightning bolt yesterday, all the appliances and food in my fridge were ruined!" roared the high school boy nad Kamijou Touma.
"You're the one who made so mad!" Misaka-senpai shot back, clenching her fist, her stance not yielding an inch.
"Your reason for getting angry is completely absurd! I didn't do anything at all, did I?"
"Wait just a minute, you stay right there!"
Clutching her school bag, Misaka-senpai hurriedly gave chase, leaving Natsu no chance to even call out a greeting.
By the ti Natsu returned to the student dormitory, the things she had just bought had already arrived ahead of her.
Under the dorm supervisor's stern gaze, it took Natsu three or four trips back and forth to finally clear away the mountain of items piled up at the entrance.
A large stack of gift-wrapped boxes now covered her bed. Natsu then dragged a few large suitcases out from under the bed.
All sorts of changes of clothes went without saying, and she needed to pack a set of toiletries too.
Pulling out so clothes from her elentary school days from one case—back then, before the strict Tokiwadai rules, she could still wear her own clothes—she tried them on. Finding they still fit perfectly, Natsu wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad about that.
'I'll just wear my own clothes while I'm outside,' she decided.
Grabbing one case to use as her luggage, Natsu Sonoko pondered what to pack inside. Soon enough, she was dumping everything out again.
Without realizing it, she'd stuffed in a bunch of things she didn't need.
-- --
Early the next morning, after saying goodbye to Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san, Natsu struggled to drag a single large suitcase out of the dorm.
After an intense internal struggle and a rigorous downsizing process, what was originally several suitcases' worth of belongings had been whittled down to just this one large case.
Taxis weren't very common in Academy City. She waited at the gate for over ten minutes before one bearing an Academy City license plate finally arrived.
Settling into the taxi, Natsu Sonoko looked back toward the Tokiwadai dorm. There, on the second-floor balcony, she saw Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san waving at her.
"I'll be back! Goodbye!"
Rolling down the window, Natsu Sonoko waved back toward the second floor.
"Don't you forget to bring back souvenirs!" ca Shirai-san's annoying voice.
The taxi started moving, the scenery soon flowing past them. It quickly left School District 7, heading toward one of the peripheral exits of Academy City.
"ID confird."
"Tokiwadai Middle School, Natsu Sonoko. You have a 15-day exit permit."
After a brief stop at the exit, being scanned by so unnaable instrunt, and having her identity confird by staff, the massive exit gate slowly began to open.
Riding in the taxi away from Academy City, Natsu Sonoko felt an indescribable sense of relief, like a bird freed from a giant cage. Even her computational power seed to grow slightly, inexplicably, in this atmosphere of liberation.
Behind her lay Academy City's enormous wall, so vast its edges couldn't be seen. Layers of brick and stone were stacked seamlessly, airtight, forming a nearly insurmountable barrier.
But today, the outer wall seed a little different. Probably due to last night's major power outage, many of the surveillance and alarm systems on the walls were paralyzed, with only a portion still operational.
This colossal city was daunting. Yet, just looking at this massive wall, one could indeed call it, in a way, the safest city—if you ignored the frequent gas explosion incidents happening inside.
On her way out, Natsu Sonoko also saw many parents and children from outside preparing to enter Academy City.
Lured by the relentlessly advertised miracle of esper powers, countless people flocked into Academy City. But standing at the apex of its 2.3 million residents were only seven individuals.
Even Level 4 "Ability" users were pitifully few in Academy City, mostly concentrated in places like Tokiwadai Middle School, Nagatenjouki Academy, and Kirigaoka Girls' Academy.
Most importantly, even after enduring that whole painful process of power developnt, sixty percent of students remained the 'valueless' Level 0s. Of course, in so ways, Level 0 was also the strongest.
Getting out of the taxi, Natsu paid a fare roughly equivalent to a Level 0 student's scholarship. Finally, she could breathe the outside air freely.
To be honest, it slled a bit worse than the air inside Academy City.
The sun climbed higher, bringing a scorching heat to the air.
Dropped off at a taxi stand on the outskirts outside Academy City, Natsu Sonoko looked up at the sky, her face sowhat numb, then reluctantly pulled out so cookies and a drink from her suitcase.
She'd originally packed them just for snacking, never expecting they'd actually co in handy like this.
She'd already been waiting at this stop for two hours, and there was still no sign of the person supposed to pick her up.
[Natsu-san, have you left Academy City yet?]
Munching on a cookie, Natsu Sonoko sat on the station bench, swinging her legs. She pulled out her phone with one hand to read the ssage.
Her phone could still connect to the network inside Academy City, but it wouldn't work with a different number.
[Yeah, I have. By the way, have you eaten yet, Juufuku-san?] After sending, Natsu turned on her cara and sent a few photos of the surrounding area.
[Yes, I've already had lunch.]
Not far away, a black van sped closer. In the driver's seat sat a middle-aged man in a crisp suit, and next to him was a girl who looked to be high school age.
"Dad, we're two hours late."
"You can't bla entirely for this! How was I to know a murder would suddenly happen at the rental car company? I'm stomping on the accelerator as hard as I can now."
In the back seat, a young boy in a blue blazer, white shirt, gray shorts, and a red bow tie was pressed against the window, a large, rimless pair of glasses on his face, his eyes wide as he stared at the imnse wall in the distance.
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T/N: Honkai: Star Rail fanfic up!
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, 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.
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