Chei rolled the coin with a flick.
Having finally finished reading all the files passed on from Takas, and now receiving information from those he'd taken over from, he was beginning to understand what kind of things the student named Kanna Aurora had done and how she'd done them.
Being at the top position where all information converged meant there was too much information flooding in and too many things to remember—enough to give him a headache.
But with position comes responsibility. Bearing that burden and doing what needed to be done was the duty and responsibility that came with being a Representative.
Academy student. Yoon Ha-min, Kanna Aurora, and their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Lucia.
Yoon Ha-min's mentoring agency was Prika, and his internship agency was Arden.
According to the research logs about removing limbs, Kanna Aurora was described as having a body practically indistinguishable from a Mysterious Person.
However, the fact that it only stated she had a body "practically indistinguishable" meant she wasn't quite a Mysterious Person yet.
Having a body practically indistinguishable from a Mysterious Person meant she wasn't harmed by unrefined mana like Mysterious Persons, and could even supply mana while in it.
Despite having such a body, there were two reasons why she wasn't definitively labeled a Mysterious Person but rather a Half-Mysterious Person:
She wasn't born that way.
She was too weak compared to what defined a Mysterious Person.
Chei had to agonize repeatedly over what to do with someone who couldn't be definitively called a Mysterious Person, yet had too many concerning aspects to say she wasn't one.
*
It takes sufficient time to become an adult.
How much time must pass to mature, and what experiences make one more adult-like?
What studies deepen one's thoughts, and what should one see to develop good ideas? These were still questions without answers.
The things a person must experience, see, feel, and learn from birth to adulthood vary so greatly that clear standards remained impossible to establish.
As a result, society couldn't define these lines individually, so it used age to distinguish between adults, adolescents, and children.
I still couldn't understand what being an adult really meant.
Even when I made my own choices and thought I would take responsibility, adults would say, "No, you're still young, so your choices are immature and foolish."
Everyone had plausible thoughts, but when those thoughts existed between an adult and someone who wasn't yet an adult, the adult's voice was always heard more loudly.
So am I ultimately an immature being?
Are my choices merely momentary impulses, immature and unable to handle future consequences or take responsibility for my actions?
That wasn't true.
Rather, I thought that if someone could do those things, they should be called an adult regardless of age.
I understood what my homeroom teacher wanted to say and what concerns she had.
But in this situation, the only thing I could do for Kanna was to ignore such concerns and voluntarily take this difficult path.
Though I wanted to protect Kanna, the world only told me I was incompetent and powerless.
You're young and alone, so there's nothing you can accomplish by yourself.
In the end, you'll lose to the larger opinions and won't be able to protect Kanna.
It felt like that's what everyone was saying, which made me stubborn.
I thought that even alone, I could exert influence where possible, and someday when those voices gathered, they could pose questions to society with a louder voice.
So my actions wouldn't end as just one student's rash behavior, or stop at an impulsive act born from discontent.
I had the will to do it.
I was confident I could endure whatever pain followed.
As long as it wasn't the pain of losing Kanna, as long as it wasn't a future where Kanna would continue to cry.
The words Kanna once said to me—that she wanted me to smile—had somehow gained the condition that Kanna needed to be by my side.
So if I wanted to keep smiling without crying, I wanted to tell her to endure well and stay by my side.
But that was only possible if Kanna returned to her original self.
"Ha-min's been spacing out a lot lately."
"Ah, sorry."
I snapped back to focus after being lost in thought.
Then I saw Kanna quietly watching me as we ate together.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing..."
"Do you have to go out this weekend too?"
Hearing that, I tried to remember what I went out for last weekend.
Then I recalled going to the Prika Agency to ask if they could help with a Totem to restore Kanna's memories.
President Lignum didn't give me a Totem after asking what I wanted to know, but he seemed like someone who wouldn't talk about things unnecessarily, so I thought I could trust him.
Senior Sela also sighed with disappointment, saying she thought it might be possible, which made me feel even more disappointed.
But what could I do?
Heroes knew about the existence of Totems and were eliminating them one by one.
They even formed special teams to search for and destroy Totems.
In such circumstances, there was no way an agency would provide a Totem without reason or justification.
"I don't think I'll go out today."
There would be no more asking other agencies for help.
The lowest-risk option was no longer available. So for Kanna's treatment, I had no choice but to find a Totem myself.
The city near the Wall was too vast and wide to search alone. Add to that the problem of avoiding heroes' attention, and it was incredibly difficult.
If I took Kanna with me, we could surely find one easily, but I didn't want to put her in danger.
But if we'd both end up in danger because I got caught anyway, wouldn't it be better to take Kanna and get it over with quickly?
"Really? Then what do you want to do today?"
"...How about some light exercise at home?"
"Hmm, sounds good."
Kanna readily agreed.
She didn't think it was strange since we'd done this before with the pretext of rehabilitation after her limbs had just regenerated.
After clearing away the clattering dishes, Kanna and I changed into light workout clothes.
Then we went out to the yard to stretch.
"Kanna, are you feeling okay?"
"Huh?"
"Your arms and such..."
"I'm fine!"
No matter how much I mentioned prosthetic arms or legs, Kanna didn't even know she had lost her arms, so she brushed it off lightly.
Seeing her act as if everything was normal, I silently nodded.
I wanted to tell Kanna that I ranked at the bottom, but that the other students didn't say anything about it, so she would be fine too.
But the atmosphere was still strange, and I didn't think either the current Kanna or the previous Kanna would be particularly happy about it, so I kept my mouth shut.
I'd proudly tell her later, after the Academy's atmosphere changed and the looks Kanna used to receive disappeared.
"First, let's warm up..."
As I was muttering that, suddenly there was a knocking sound at the door.
A chill ran down my spine. I wondered who it could be since no one should be coming to my house.
There were no missed calls from Orca or Sela on my Device either.
"Who could it be?"
As Kanna tilted her head and turned toward the gate, I hesitantly reached out toward her.
"Kanna, go inside."
"Huh, what?"
"Quickly."
"Oh, okay!"
Kanna listened to me and went into the house through the front door.
I took a deep breath, clutching my pounding heart.
Slowly approaching and opening the firmly closed iron gate, I found two men in suits standing there.
"...Who are you?"
I asked tensely, and one of the men spoke stiffly, as if he had come on business.
"Academy first-year, Class A, Yoon Ha-min. We came because we heard you're living with Kanna Aurora."
"...Why do you need Kanna?"
Their voices suggested they already knew all the information they needed, which made me defensive.
I was prepared to use every ability I had if necessary.
They didn't seem to find me ridiculous at all, not even blinking.
"Not just Kanna Aurora, but you too. You've been going around looking for Totems on Kanna Aurora's behalf, so we'd appreciate your cooperation."
"...What?"
What did they mean by looking for Totems?
"What are you talking about? When did I ever go looking for Totems...!"
"Don't try to deny it. We already have evidence that you visited the Prika Agency last Saturday trying to obtain a Totem."
My mind seemed to freeze momentarily.
How did they know? Surveillance?
Ah, I see. Was it surveillance attached to Kanna?
From the beginning, when they cut off her limbs, there was no trust, so they must have put her under surveillance.
I had been thinking too simply. I thought I just needed to restore Kanna's memories.
Had I been acting too rashly?
"...I see."
My head was so full of Kanna's pain that I had forgotten.
I admitted my thinking had been short-sighted. It was a painful mistake.
Was this proof that I hadn't become an adult yet?
Or was it a different issue altogether?
I raised my hand. With my thumb, I pressed a dot into the air.
It didn't appear as easily as before with a light tap, so I applied more pressure to create a star like before.
"Still, I can't go. And I have no intention of sending Kanna either."
"Stop it. You can't do anything alone."
Why would I need someone else's help to protect Kanna?
Please listen to my stubbornness.
Kanna hasn't done anything wrong.
Executing her because she might pose a risk is too cruel.
Of course, they hadn't mentioned execution or anything like that yet, but my mind was screaming that if I let her go now, that would surely happen.
So I recalled the promise I had made to myself back then.
My determination to protect Kanna wouldn't diminish even if my abilities weakened.
With a ping, a line extended beyond the dot I had pressed.