Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!
Chapter 1761 - 1759: A Question
"Whoa!"
Seeing the girl appear out of nowhere, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Reiko both screamed in shock. They had just listened to Fang Zheng tell a story, and now they suddenly encountered such a mysterious girl, nearly scaring them to death.
Fang Zheng, however, remained calm.
"You’re the rumored Tokiwadai Hunter, right?"
"Eh?!"
Upon hearing this, Misaka Mikoto also screamed. She had heard from Kuroko about this matter; recently, someone has been frequently attacking Tokiwadai students, earning the name Tokiwadai Hunter. Kuroko even specifically reminded Mikoto not to try to find the perpetrator, but she never expected it to be such a petite, cute girl?
"Is it really her?"
Being friends with Hatsuharu, Reiko had heard about it too, but looking at the timid little girl, Reiko couldn’t connect her to the rumored Tokiwadai Hunter.
"She’s been following us ever since we left Tokiwadai."
Fang Zheng chuckled and said, staring at the girl in front of him.
"All along? I never noticed!"
Upon hearing Fang Zheng speak, Misaka Mikoto was even more surprised. She carefully recalled and confirmed that she hadn’t seen anyone following her the whole way.
"Because you didn’t pay attention, you overlooked it."
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Misaka Mikoto suddenly trembled.
"Could she also have..."
"Yes, I think her ability is to make people ignore her."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng looked again at the timid girl.
"I’m right, aren’t I, Miss?"
"........."
Feeling Fang Zheng’s gaze, the girl reflexively shrank her body and nodded. Indeed, as Fang Zheng said, she had been following Misaka Mikoto and her group from the Tokiwadai school gates. Originally, she wanted to seize the opportunity to attack one of them, but Fang Zheng’s story suddenly intrigued her, and when the story ended, she noticed he could see her!
At that moment, she instinctively turned to run, but in the end, the girl didn’t manage to escape.
She could feel that the man was constantly watching her.
"This ability really exists..."
Seeing the girl nod, Saten Reiko couldn’t help but marvel. After all, Fang Zheng had just finished telling them a story, and then out of nowhere appeared someone with an ability that made others ignore them... It certainly felt strange.
"Alright, sit down and let’s talk."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng gestured to the girl.
"Don’t worry, I’m not a Guard Officer, I won’t arrest you. Although you did some bad things, considering the harm is minor, I’m not very concerned. But I’m curious, why did you do it? Can you tell us?"
"........."
Sitting in the chair, the girl lowered her head; she hesitated for quite a while before speaking.
"My name is Shigefuku Shouho..."
"Hmm?"
However, upon hearing her voice, Fang Zheng was momentarily surprised, which also startled the girl.
"Wh-What’s wrong?"
"Nothing, it’s just your voice is very similar to someone I know... Please continue."
Previously, Fang Zheng hadn’t noticed, but when the girl spoke just now, he realized her voice was very similar to Nanoha; if he closed his eyes, it felt as though listening to an older Nanoha speak.
"Ah, yes..."
Standing before Fang Zheng, Shigefuku Shouho lacked confidence; she nodded and continued to speak. Through Shigefuku’s confession, everyone learned the reason she attacked Tokiwadai students.
Shigefuku originally had a childhood friend whom she had always gotten along with well, but unexpectedly, her childhood friend started dating Tokiwadai’s young lady—something Fang Zheng wasn’t surprised by, seeing as historically childhood sweethearts are often outmatched by sudden appearances.
Shigefuku naturally couldn’t accept this; obviously, she was there first, whether being by his side or liking him...
Why would you be enchanted by such a woman? Is Tokiwadai’s young lady really that good?
Can’t I be as good?
Although Shigefuku didn’t have a kitchen knife at the time, her childhood friend was clearly intimidated by her and ultimately said...
"He said my eyebrows were strange!"
As she spoke, the girl, as if resigning to fate, lifted her long bangs, revealing a row of thick, short eyebrows to the three.
Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Reiko were both dumbfounded.
But soon, the two responded.
"Well... it’s not that strange, right? Classmate Misaka?"
"That’s right, that’s right."
Upon hearing Ruiko’s inquiry, Misaka Mikoto quickly nodded. To be honest, such thick and short eyebrows are indeed rare; generally, they’ve only seen hosts have these in entertainment shows... But that’s just for show makeup, not real growth.
However, Fang Zheng chimed in.
"It is kind of strange."
"Mr. Fang Zheng!"
Hearing this, Ruiko quickly jumped up.
"You really don’t understand a girl’s heart! How could you say that?"
"I’m just stating it objectively, and you should drop those fake consolations too; they just make one feel worse."
"Uh..."
Facing Fang Zheng’s words, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for what to say.
"But I think, him breaking up with you is actually a good thing."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Shigefuku Shouho looked up surprisedly at Fang Zheng. Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko were also shocked by this response.
"Why do you say that, Mr. Fang Zheng?"
"It’s simple."
Fang Zheng shrugged and took a sip of coffee.
"Her eyebrows are quite unusual compared to most people, for us. But aren’t this her childhood friend who grew up with her? They’ve been together for at least five or six years, right? Even if it’s odd, he should be used to it by now, shouldn’t he? Using this as an excuse now only shows that the man isn’t responsible. If he said, ’I just like that young lady,’ it’d be less troubling. But by claiming it’s because of your strange eyebrows, it means he’s blaming you entirely for him not liking you. Such a man who doesn’t dare take responsibility is best kept at a distance."
"That’s true!"
Upon hearing this, Ruiko also slapped the table forcefully. Indeed, their focus had always been on the dating aspect, but thinking about it, even the flower wreath Hatsuharu wears is quite odd, but after being with her long enough, Ruiko no longer minds, right?
Even Kuroko’s actions have always been strange, but hasn’t Misaka Mikoto learned to tolerate them? If she hadn’t, she would’ve booted Kuroko away long ago, rather than letting her stay by her side.
Using this as an excuse now? Truly despicable!
"Indeed, Shigefuku, Mr. Fang Zheng is right!"
Now Misaka Mikoto also understood, firmly grasping Shigefuku Shouho’s hand.
"This is not your fault; you did nothing wrong. It’s all that guy’s fault!"
"Ugh... Ugh..."
Upon hearing this, Shigefuku Shouho couldn’t hold back anymore and lowered her head, crying. Witnessing this scene, Fang Zheng silently nodded and put away his personal terminal.
He had recorded Shigefuku Shouho’s earlier words to play back for Fate and Little Sakura, then tell them Nanoha got dumped. He wondered what reaction those little girls would have.
That must be interesting.
Next, there isn’t much to say. Due to the sad anger, Shigefuku Shouho, in her madness, used her ability to attack Tokiwadai’s students with a stun gun and drew their eyebrows thickly with a pen... Simply put, venting.
After hearing Shigefuku Shouho’s confession, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko didn’t know what to do.
Personally, they indeed sympathized with Shigefuku Shouho. But she did commit something bad, and logically, they should inform Kuroko and Hatsuharu, let the Discipline Committee contact the guards to handle it. However... They felt it might be too cruel.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, what do you think should be done?"
Saten helplessly turned to Fang Zheng for advice.
But Fang Zheng didn’t immediately answer Ruiko’s question. Instead, he stared intently at Shigefuku Shouho, then asked.
"I have a question, what’s your ability rank?"
"LV2..."
"No way!"
This time, Misaka Mikoto couldn’t help but speak out. An LV2 ability rank is quite low, generally effective but not remarkably so, logically incapable of affecting Misaka Mikoto. Yet aside from Fang Zheng, neither Kuroko Shirai nor Misaka Mikoto had noticed Shigefuku Shouho’s presence.
This wasn’t something an LV2 rank could achieve.
"Indeed, I also think so."
Fang Zheng nodded.
"Your demonstrated ability rank should be around LV4 and it’s been maintained over a long period... Can you tell me what’s going on?"
"..."
Hearing this, Shigefuku Shouho hesitated, but eventually confessed.
"I knew... I wanted to take revenge on Tokiwadai’s young lady, but I also knew, at least Tokiwadai’s young ladies are LV3 rank, and someone like me at LV2 couldn’t defeat them. So... I used the ’Fantasy Manipulator’ to enhance my abilities..."
"What?!"
Upon hearing this, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko were stunned.