CHAPTER 11
Every Field Has Its Exceptions
Second Friday of July
In a cafeteria that was supposed to be empty after lunch, a girl was taking a nap.
“Hey. Hey! You’re attracting a lot of attention, you know.”
That was a male teacher who had just happened to pass by the cafeteria. The girl, however—wearing a white short-sleeved sailor uniform—didn’t answer him. She’d lined up three or four cafeteria chairs and was lying on top of them, lounging lazily.
When she realized the teacher wasn’t leaving, she finally looked over at him, her eyes quite drowsy.
“…The beds in the nurse’s office were the best, but they always chase me out of there.”
“Are you trying to make a mockery of school life?”
“Not at all. To be clear, I love my current life.”
“You do seem to be entertained, but the thing you’re enjoying isn’t school life. What grade are you anyway? And what class? I’m going to call your homeroom teacher—”
Before he could finish, though, his phone suddenly went off. Annoyed, the male teacher pushed the call button. As soon as he heard what the caller had to say, he immediately straightened up.
“Yes, yes, I’ll be right there, sir,” he said with all the respect in his tone he could muster before hanging up.
The girl, still looking sleepy, said in a bored way, “Seems pretty urgent.”
“Damn it. I’m calling another teacher over. Right away.”
The teacher exited the cafeteria with what sounded kind of like the mutterings of a sore loser.
“Don’t run in the halls,” said the girl. Unexpectedly, she actually got an angry shout in response. He must be pretty wound up, thought the girl offhandedly before checking to make sure nobody else was in the cafeteria. Then, still lying down, she reached for a device on the table.
The call had already started.
After giving a short yawn, the girl said into the device, “We should start soon, old-timer.”
“Start what?”
“An unpleasant conversation.”
The girl’s name was Seria Kumokawa.
And the elder on the other end was Tsugutoshi Kaizumi.
“Seems like the outside world has been pretty noisy lately,” she noted.
“As always, I must wonder where you get your information… You’re referring to the Uncut Gems, yes?”
“You should be happy that I, your ‘brain,’ am so talented.”
“That’s the one catch you come with—how often you get off-topic like this…” Kaizumi breathed a sigh—the kind he’d never show his secretary or his subordinates—and prompted, “What are you thinking?”
“Leave ’em alone. They can’t do anything.”
“…What idiot would read those words in a report and be satisfied?”
“Sigh. You’re such a plebe.” Kumokawa poked her temple with an index finger a few times, still lying down. “Hypothetically, could you convince the real smart guys of Academy City to be satisfied with that? The twelve official General Board members, I mean. I find a good, cold glare stops most complaints.”
“Government jobs aren’t that easy, you know.”
“If you’re calling that post a government job, then you must be a real big shot,” said Kumokawa, reaching for a convenience store bag on the table. It was packed with dessert-type sandwiches, with whipped cream and fruit. “Oh, well. I’ll think about it a little more seriously, I guess.”
“Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”
“About the Uncut Gems,” continued Kumokawa, still lying down and now shoving a sandwich in her mouth, “it’s true that we’re late finishing the list. The U.S. and Russia probably caught on to how Academy City is making a list, too. They started making their own internal lists by themselves, and they’re rejecting offers for cooperation. At this rate, it might affect our work.”
“…And how does that link to you saying ‘Leave them alone; they can’t do anything’?”
“I’m not finished yet,” said Kumokawa brusquely. “This time, I think our concern is how to efficiently destroy the issue of the Uncut Gems scattered around the world, don’t you?”
“Indeed.”
“And what you all were worried about, if I recall, is how other agencies might analyze the Uncut Gems and create supernatural Ability Development organizations that rival Academy City.”
“Indeed.”
“Then there’s no problem. Let’s see… The U.S. and Russia are the ones making moves at the moment, are they? Heh-heh. Still can’t get rid of their dreams even after failing during the Cold War, eh? Unfortunately for them, their research won’t get anywhere. No matter how many samples they have, they’ll never understand what the data from them means.”
“How can you say that for sure?” asked Kaizumi, a little bit of doubt creeping into his voice.
“Regarding the Russian laboratory. This so-called fully implemented psychic that a certain country created—the crystallization of their cutting-edge technology—apparently activates their unusual power by calling out to Mary and praying fervently… Well, I’m not about to reject other religions, and if that’s how they focus their mind, then that’s just how it is, but… Do you get what I’m trying to say? Why did they specifically choose to create a scientific research facility? They don’t know what is mysterious, what isn’t, and what kinds of mysterious things they’re even looking for in the first place. They can’t catch up to us by just lumping a bunch of people together.”
“……”
“When it comes to human technology, eventually anyone will be able to catch up. But not if you can’t even see the path you’re supposed to be taking.”
Seria Kumokawa’s face looked quite unamused. Some of the drowsiness appeared to be gone, as though she’d just drunk some bitter tea that had roused her.
“Still not convinced?”
“Of course not. Your opinion has no evidence.”
“Then you just need to gather some evidence yourself.” Her tone was brusque as usual. “A bunch of self-proclaimed development organizations will pop up, but Uncut Gems are extremely rare in the world. There can only be around fifty total… And unlike those weird-ass scholars, they don’t just pop up all the time. They’re just irregulars without so much as a couple classes under their belt; barbarians struggling like insects. It’s pretty clear which we should consider to be more important and treat as a priority, right?”
“So that is your conclusion after all…”
“I doubt such a move will be necessary, but we can’t help it if you’re not convinced. There will be more paperwork, and you’ll just have to put up with it. As the brains of this operation, that’s all I can say.”
For a few moments, there was silence.
Eventually, Kaizumi said, “What…exactly is an Uncut Gem?”
“Yes, I’d expect that question from someone blinded by Academy City’s science—like how you assume from the start that humans are the only ones who can create psychics and espers.”
“Well, I understand them on a theoretical level.”
Kaizumi seemed to be choosing his words carefully. But the fact that Kumokawa realized that meant he’d already failed. She’d been employed as the brains of the operation—he shouldn’t have bothered trying to come off as smart.
“The ones Academy City makes are like artificial diamonds—and if the exact same environment occurs in the natural world, natural diamonds can occur, too… But I’m asking about something deeper. What are Uncut Gems?”
“……”
“There are several elements in Academy City that are noteworthy, too. Deep Blood, for example, and Imagine Breaker… I’m quite sure those are hardly normal abilities. They seem completely different in their direction than more easily categorized abilities like generating fire or electricity.”
“Sounds like an idiot is worrying like an idiot would. Hmph,” sniffed Kumokawa before answering. “It’s just their special properties—including Academy City’s Number Seven, who you seem so eager to pick apart. They’re not strong, they’re rare. In that sense, they’re decently valuable for us as well.”
They’re only rare, though—the issue is that the percentage of espers with any practical use is pretty small, thought Kumokawa.
“And another thing. As the brains of the operation, I’ll give you a piece of advice, since you’re still technically a scholar.”
“What?”
“I wouldn’t categorize Imagine Breaker as a simple Uncut Gem.” She paused. “I don’t know the details, but it’s probably…something much, much more interesting than whatever we think it is.”
“……” Kaizumi fell silent for a moment. The brains had just said she didn’t know. He was probably mulling that over. “…You seem to find it fun,” he finally said.
“Naturally. It’s my job to think, after all.”
Once homeroom was over, the stage moved to the school after hours. Mixed in with the flood of students going to their clubs or to hang out in the city walked a boy with spiky black hair.
This boy, however, was a very unlucky one. Today, for no reason in particular, a sprinkler he happened to walk under randomly malfunctioned and started spraying directly at him, and only him. Bathed in a shower of water like a theater spotlight, the boy made a strange bwahhh noise.
A girl in a white, short-sleeved sailor uniform came over afterward.
She sidled up to the soaking-wet spiky-haired boy and, without even lending him a towel or a handkerchief, simply stood there and laughed.
“Looks like yet another incomprehensible thing has happened to you.”
“…Shut up. Just my rotten luck again.”
“I wonder how that rotten luck works anyway. You might discover some interesting rules or something if you looked into it in detail.”
“Ugh. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Kumokawa?”
“Of course I am. I do so love my current life,” she responded, laughing some more. Then she added, “After all, this school has so much in the way of entertainment.”
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