Prologue Suspicions and targets
“Hmm? …Oh, it’s you. Took you long enough.”
It was the witching hour, when even the grass and trees seemed to sleep.
Despite the late hour, the room was lit only by a faint amount of light. Within it, a man turned around leisurely and spoke.
“Uh… Y-Yes. I’m sorry.”
Startled by his low voice, a young girl responded in a small voice. Having just cautiously stepped into the room, she now stood with a stiff expression, her eyes fixed on the floor.
Unconcerned by her demeanor, the tall man stood up, slipped his left hand into the pocket of his suit, and began walking with sharp, deliberate steps. He approached her directly, stopping right in front of her, and thrust a stack of documents he held in his right hand toward her.
“These are the current findings on the ‘target.’ Memorize every word on the spot and then feed them into that shredder over there. Or, if you’re some kind of literary girl, you can eat them for all I care.”
“…No, I think I can memorize them just by skimming through once.”
“Is that so? Impressive. Keep up that efficiency with the ‘job’ too.”
Whether she didn’t hear his words or chose to ignore them, the girl offered no reply and simply lowered her gaze to the documents she’d been given. The name of the target was Hiroto Shinohara. Now, he was a super rookie known to everyone on Academy Island. …However,
“Hmph… You really think that’s possible, huh? Sure, his rank is 7-star. Given that intervention in the star-gathering system is impossible, that much is true. But that doesn’t mean we should believe everything about him.”
“Yes… There must be something.”
“Must be? No, there is something. If there wasn’t, none of this would make sense.”
With that, the man spun on his heel. His footsteps, sharp and steady, maintained a constant rhythm as he walked. Reaching the window, he pushed the blinds apart with two fingers, like a movie star, and gazed out at the nightscape below, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Whether he’s called the ‘miracle 7-star’ or the ‘strongest transfer student in history,’ unfortunately, ‘miracles’ aren’t allowed on this island. No, we won’t allow it. I’ll show him—what happens to fools who get too close to the sun.”
Releasing a defiant declaration into the pitch-black night sky, the man stood tall.
Behind him, the girl bowed her head slightly—but even so, she nodded once, firmly.
