"How interesting. So it's really this easy to enter Academy City..." Arata chuckled as he watched the brown-haired girl looking around the parking area, clearly searching for something.
If you enter as an ordinary tourist disguised as a student from outside, Academy City is actually quite easy to get into. But once inside, whether you stay safe is another matter entirely. The moment you start digging into its secrets, the Dark Side will take notice. If you simply behave like a normal tourist, then it's just a technologically advanced city.
"Since they've come looking for me, I might as well go meet them." Arata's lips curled upward, a faint amusement flickering in his eyes. There was no need to confront them directly. He could just mislead them a little.
A group of girls had risked getting eliminated by Academy City's Dark Side just to break in and find him. If he ignored them, they might end up doing something reckless. Besides, with that tracking cross, it was only a matter of time before they pinpointed his location.
If the whole world already knew that a Saint existed inside Academy City, then feeding them some carefully adjusted information wouldn't hurt.
There was a term for that. Double agent. Like Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
Arata smiled faintly and stepped out of the elevator.
...
"This is the place. Stay alert. Academy City might not know the identity of the Saint, but taking him away won't be easy. We may have to confront their law enforcement forces."
Agnese looked at the cross floating in her palm. It pointed firmly in one direction, emitting a faint white glow as she spoke in a serious tone.
From what little time they had spent here, it seemed Academy City had no concept of magic and completely denied its existence. That meant the Saint was most likely being treated as just another esper.
Which also meant they would probably be seen as suspicious individuals attempting something like kidnapping.
Saints were different from ordinary humans. They possessed power derived from the Son of God, granting them physical abilities far beyond normal limits. Their affinity for magic was overwhelming. Even basic spells became devastating in their hands.
A Saint was defined by the matching of their Stigma with their faith. They rarely acted for personal desire and instead devoted themselves to protecting and saving humanity.
Such a being should never remain on the side of science.
Even if… personally, she disliked magicians.
"Sister Agnese, how do we get in?" Angelene asked nervously, pushing lightly at the glass door. Even though the guide had explained it before, she had already forgotten.
"Idiot. Press the red button." Agnese reached out and pressed the button beside the door. The technology in Academy City was unnecessarily complicated.
The glass doors slowly slid open.
At the same time, the elevator doors across from them opened.
Arata stepped out with a calm smile and walked straight toward them.
"Someone's coming out," Agata whispered.
"Mm."
The three of them tried to walk in naturally, pretending nothing was wrong.
But suddenly, the cross in Agnese's hand trembled.
Its glow intensified.
The longest arm of the cross snapped toward Arata.
"Him!" Agnese's expression instantly sharpened. Her heartbeat accelerated as a surge of emotions rushed through her.
A Saint.
That person… was a Saint.
"Three lovely young ladies. Nice to meet you." Arata approached them and greeted them with a gentle smile.
"You… who are you?" Agnese asked cautiously.
The boy in front of her had an Asian appearance, short black hair, and deep, clear eyes. His gentle expression made people instinctively lower their guard.
She didn't fully understand Eastern aesthetics, but she could tell.
He was handsome.
And more importantly, the spiritual item confirmed it.
He was undoubtedly a Saint.
"My name is Arata. A Saint." Arata smiled. "This isn't a good place to talk. Follow me."
He turned and walked away, casually gesturing for them to come along.
"Sister Agnese, h-he's really a Saint!" Angelene clutched her braid, her voice trembling.
"That doesn't make sense. A newly born Saint should be an infant. Why is he a teenager?" Agata frowned in confusion.
"I don't know. There may be something we're unaware of," Agnese replied, her expression shifting.
"Should we follow him?"
"We follow. If he's truly a Saint, he won't harm us," Agnese said in a low voice.
Arata heard everything clearly thanks to his enhanced senses and couldn't help but smile.
...
They soon arrived at a nearby park in District 7.
There were few people around at this hour.
The vending machine nearby was still broken, courtesy of Misaka Mikoto.
"Sit. Relax." Arata sat down on a bench and gestured beside him.
"You already knew we were looking for you?" Agnese asked, holding the cross with both hands as she carefully sat down.
Agata and Angelene remained standing, visibly tense.
"I'm aware that over thirty sources of magical power have entered Academy City," Arata said calmly. "What you don't realize is that you were already under surveillance the moment you stepped in. If I hadn't intervened, you might have already been dealt with by Anti-Skill or even the Dark Side."
Arata nodded slightly, deliberately exaggerating the situation.
"How… how is that possible? We were extremely careful!" Agnese exclaimed, her voice rising.
"Shh." Arata placed a finger against his lips.
"May I ask why you are staying in Academy City, sir? We were guided by God to come here after learning that a Saint had appeared within this heretical city," Agnese said seriously. The cross in her hand continued to glow faintly, confirming his identity.
"A devout nun with such determination in her eyes and voice. Truly a believer of God walking the earth," Arata said with a soft chuckle.
Then he reached out and pinched her cheek.
"You… you… stop that!" Agnese froze for a moment, then her face flushed red. She quickly slapped his hand away, her composed expression collapsing into flustered embarrassment.
"S-Sister Agnese got her cheek pinched…" Angelene whispered timidly.
"Yes, and by a very handsome Saint at that," Agata added with a teasing tone.
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
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