"Daihasei Festival?"
Looking at the booklet the headmistress handed her, Selene composed herself and rose politely to accept it. She first asked a knowingly puzzled question, "You mean that comprehensive athletic competition?" Then she quickly settled into her role, stepping forward and pulling out the chair opposite her at the balcony table for the headmistress.
"Yes... Mm, thank you, Selene."
After sitting down, Tokiwadai's headmistress froze for a moment. For some reason, the instant Selene had opened her eyes, an inexplicable shudder seemed to sweep through her entire body. Before she could react, however, the girl's butterfly-wing-soft voice smoothed away all her discomfort. Like clear notes in the darkness or the gentle trickle of flowing water, it streamed into her heart and relaxed her body after a full day of exhaustion.
Looking at this elegant student of whom she was so proud—neither servile nor overbearing, neither arrogant nor impetuous, perfectly embodying the school's philosophy of "cultivating internationally distinguished talent during compulsory education," excelling not only in esper development but also in numerous other fields—the headmistress could not help nodding with a warm smile.
Her only regret was Selene's home economics grades... They dragged down her average rather badly. Still, considering who she was, as well as the cultural customs of her German military-aristocratic family, they could hardly demand that she conform completely to the expectations of a Japanese school.
"Julius Meinl Little Red Riding Hood, Madam. Would you like a sugar cube?"
Selene poured hot water into the French press, brewed the freshly ground coffee beans, and then filled a prepared cup. A rich, refreshing fragrance soon spread through the air. Tilting her head slightly, she opened the sugar-cube box on the table, picked up a cube with a pair of tongs, and asked warmly.
It had been a long time since her primary consciousness had personally entertained anyone so courteously. Looking back on it now, she found it somewhat interesting. It seemed she had not yet returned all those etiquette lessons crammed into her head to her etiquette instructor.
Ahem... In truth, this is merely a rehearsal in advance, Selene admitted to herself. Mother Katy would soon be coming to Academy City to cheer her on, and Mother Katy always scrutinized these small details. How could Selene possibly neglect to practice?
Besides, the headmistress had come to visit. As a Tokiwadai student—especially one who had received a great deal of special consideration from her—Selene would naturally show the proper respect toward a teacher and elder.
It served several purposes at once.
Here, there was no Empress or Goddess of the Holy Selene Empire. There was only an ordinary middle school student fortunate enough to possess familial affection, the Level 5 esper Selene. She had no image to maintain and simply played her current role properly.
Call it acting or hypocrisy if one wished, but Selene was at least a capable actress. She dared to perform and even found a certain pleasure in it. Only Selene herself knew what she truly thought. So long as no one exposed the performance, it was sincere!
"One cube will suffice."
Selene placed a white sugar cube into the cup, stirred it several times with a spoon, then leaned forward and pushed the coffee toward the headmistress. After sitting down again, she straightened her posture.
Rustle...
Flipping through the detailed promotional material concerning the Daihasei Festival, Selene could not help laughing. "In a competition against ordinary people and low-level espers, what happens if my participation leaves someone crippled or dead?"
The Daihasei Festival was an enormous comprehensive athletic festival jointly held every year by every school in Academy City. It lasted seven days and involved more than 1.8 million participants. It was also one of the few special occasions each year when Academy City opened itself to outsiders.
All students competed on behalf of their schools, and every event was structured around competition between espers. During this period, Academy City was almost entirely open to the public, and the events were televised.
Although the competitions themselves were ordinary athletic events, the recommended use of esper abilities—provided spectators were not endangered, which meant that high-level espers sometimes could not use their abilities at all—turned them into spectacular battles of supernatural power.
The events prohibited "abilities with an interference rating above 5," yet an ability like Selene's would exceed that threshold no matter how much she restrained it.
Even her most basic and supportive teleportation, which had no restrictions on weight or quantity, far surpassed the limits of every other Level 4 spatial esper. Her offensive applications were even more dangerous. The slightest contact could cripple, while a direct hit could kill.
At the same time, Selene was curious how the Daihaseisai Management Committee intended to restrict her abilities.
In previous years, the ultimate champion of the Daihasei Festival had always come from one of Academy City's five elite schools. Tokiwadai Middle School was one of the most famous among them and had dominated the event with consecutive championships.
Unfortunately, Selene had not participated in the previous Daihasei Festival. She had enrolled rather late, effectively transferring in midway through the school year.
Moreover, her attention had not been focused on it at the time. Consequently, Nagatenjouki Academy had won the previous Daihasei Festival, ending Tokiwadai Middle School's winning streak.
For some unknown reason, Misaka Mikoto had not participated either. As for Shokuhou Misaki... Ahem. Unless she used Mental Out to alter the memories of the referees and every spectator, forcibly securing victory, the famously athletically inept girl was better left unmentioned. Even if she participated, she would merely be there to make up the numbers. Participation was what mattered.
It was precisely because Academy City opened itself to outsiders during the Daihasei Festival that Katy had chosen this period to visit. Not only would there be a major competition where she could cheer for and encourage her daughter, but Selene would not need to go to any special trouble for her—meaning Katy would not be arriving while Academy City was closed and forcing Selene to invoke her privileges as a Board Director.
Considering that it was an enormous comprehensive athletic festival, Selene suspected Mother Katy was coming because she intended to participate somehow.
"Ahem..."
The headmistress immediately choked and began coughing repeatedly. "Selene, that is going too far... Friendship comes first and competition second. Remember, you must not take anyone's life!" she said in an extremely serious tone.
Also, Selene's temper is slightly too fiery, the headmistress thought privately.
"I was only joking. In that case, I roughly understand how much I should limit my strength."
Selene nodded, lifted her coffee cup, and took a generous sip before breathing out in satisfaction. Her moist, cherry-pink lips parted as she said, "Since you have personally invited me, Headmistress, I will participate. With me present, Nagatenjouki Academy will not be as fortunate as it was last year. I believe you can rest assured of that."
"I have complete faith in your abilities, Selene."
The headmistress did not bother concealing her private intentions after Selene exposed them. She had not forgotten how Nagatenjouki Academy had ended Tokiwadai Middle School's winning streak during the previous Daihasei Festival.
This year, she had decided to deploy her trump card.
As for considerations such as enhancing the school's reputation for enrollment purposes... Truly, she was not looking down on Nagatenjouki Academy, but who in Academy City currently possessed greater fame than Tokiwadai Middle School?
Using high-level espers to raise a school's profile was the most common and effective method in Academy City. Once one reached the level of a Level 5 esper, however, this shortcut was no longer available to every school.
Tokiwadai Middle School, by sheer coincidence, had three of them!
"Are any of the other Level 5 espers participating?" Selene continued, holding the base of her white porcelain coffee cup.
"Academy City's Operations Committee invited every Level 5 esper to deliver an address at the Daihasei Festival, but so far, only Shokuhou Misaki and Sogiita Gunha have explicitly agreed to attend."
They had agreed to deliver addresses at the Daihasei Festival, not necessarily to compete in it.
Still, Selene understood. Of Academy City's eight Level 5 espers, the third-ranked Dark Matter, Kakine Teitoku, and the fifth-ranked Meltdowner, Mugino Shizuri, were not students. Aihana Etsu was practically a phantom whose whereabouts were unknown. Naturally, there could be no discussion of that person participating in the Daihasei Festival.
After a brief pause, the headmistress set down her coffee cup, folded her hands over her abdomen, and continued, "There is one more matter, Selene. Regarding this Daihasei Festival, the headmasters of the schools within School Garden have proposed that you represent all five schools of School Garden in delivering the Athlete's Oath. What do you think?"
"Huh?" Selene blinked.
She vaguely remembered that this duty was supposed to belong to Shokuhou Misaki. Would it not be rather unkind to steal her place immediately after returning?
"Should that not be Shokuhou Misaki?"
"If you refuse, then it will be."
"Then forget it. I will merely participate in the Daihasei Festival. Leave the address to her. After all, athletics are not her specialty." Selene smiled calmly and waved a hand, a glimmer gathering in her scarlet eyes.
Rustle...
"In that case, the assignment is settled."
The headmistress drained the remainder of her coffee, stood, and lightly smoothed the wrinkles from her clothes. She inclined her head toward Selene. "I look forward to your performance."
Selene waved goodbye. Once the headmistress disappeared from sight, her smile immediately faded. She released a heavy breath, leaned sideways against the balcony railing, and pulled the smartphone from her pocket. September 14.
"September 14... Only about a month and a half has passed."
At the sight of the date, Selene rubbed her brow with a slight headache. Her fingers tapped idly against the railing.
Selene remembered clearly that when her primary consciousness had left, Kiyama Harumi had just been arrested and the Level Upper incident had ended. It had been approximately late July. Now it was mid-September, the Daihasei Festival had entered its preparation stage, and less than a week remained before its official opening.
Still, Selene was not surprised that time flowed differently in the Index world. It was entirely within her expectations.
Time existed to describe the development of things.
The universe itself possessed no intrinsic concept of time. Time was a parameter established by humanity according to Earth's rotation and revolution, a common standard represented by years and months, even seconds and milliseconds. Once one left the solar system, the so-called concept of time ceased to possess any absolute significance.
Time was a concept defined by humanity. It existed for the convenience of recording events, allowing them to be examined, measured, traced into the past, and projected into the future.
Concepts such as formulas, language, time, and space conformed to human cognition to a certain extent and continuously advanced the progress of science. Fundamentally, however, they remained tools created by humanity to comprehend and interpret the world—a shared standard.
The concept of time was especially important to living beings subject to birth and death.
Once one crossed the sea of stars and traversed cosmic dimensions, differences in the flow of time became perfectly understandable. It was not a matter of one world being higher or lower in rank than another. The reason lay with the Magic Gods.
Magic Gods...
At that moment, Selene gained an especially vivid appreciation of how troublesome and restrictive the Magic Gods truly were.
Setting everything else aside and considering only their fundamental nature, most normal cosmic dimensions resembled universes such as the Halo universe, where no multiple individuals had overlaid themselves upon the world. Even the Type-Moon world, where the single ruler known as the Swirl of the Root governed everything, represented a relatively normal cosmic state. The Index world, however, was highly unusual.
If magicians were beings born from a desire to fulfill a wish, then Magic Gods were beings who existed after that wish had been fulfilled. They were a special class of magicians who had completely entered the realm of gods. They had mastered magic in its entirety and elevated themselves into the divine domain through special rituals.
They possessed limitless power and could overturn every law. The world would shatter at the slightest touch before them. A complete Magic God could dominate every law, possessing the power to destroy the world and reconstruct it from nothing.
Every Magic God wielded power comparable to a creator deity. The problem was that there were far too many of them.
The Index world was extremely unusual. It was not pure and unblemished. Instead, countless religious Phases overlapped across it, including Christianity, Buddhism, Celtic mythology, Hinduism, Shinto, Aztec mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, Norse mythology, and many more. As many mythologies and religions as existed in the world, so too did their corresponding Phases.
These Phases were like curtains or sheets of filter paper layered one over another across the world, altering its appearance. The present world was merely the scenery "observed" through those Phases.
The essential nature of a Magic God's power was the "creation and destruction of something—a Phase." By attaching such Phases to the real world, they could create and destroy the world as they pleased.
Every Magic God's personal Phase was layered across the body of the real world. The world had gained numerous living "ancestors."
Those "ancestors" influenced and pressed against one another, jointly producing the rare and peculiar phenomenon known as the Index world. Multiple Leviathans occupied the same fish tank, and some had even been enemies in the past, yet somehow the world had not exploded!
A single mind could already experience impulses and regret. Once there were many minds, every imaginable problem emerged.
For most worlds beyond its domain, the world barrier generally possessed only one primary foundation. The Index world was different.
However many Magic Gods existed, that many primary forces influenced the world barrier. There was no true central foundation. The various Phases influenced and compressed one another, causing the Index world's barrier to become extraordinarily distorted and unusual. It possessed no fixed temporal flow, changing whenever the thoughts of the Magic Gods collided.
Expressed through a concept consciousness could understand, such as time, one day within it might equal one second outside the world today, one full day outside tomorrow, and one year outside the day after that... It changed continuously without any foundational rhythm.
A multiversal empire such as the Holy Selene Empire functioned only because Selene had forcibly established the Imperial calendar of the Honkai Dimension as the standard, imposing uniform writing, standardized transportation, and unified weights and measures through sheer power.
To determine the precise pattern behind these fluctuations, Selene would probably need to kill every Magic God, devour them, read their memories, then calculate the corresponding dates and determine whose Phases had overlapped and compressed one another most violently during each period. Only then could she compare the results and search for a pattern.
But did Selene truly have nothing better to do?
There was neither a need nor any meaningful reason to investigate such a thing.
As for the Magic Gods' current state, they possessed no interest in conquering the world or anything of that sort. They regarded everything in the universe with indifferent apathy. By now, they no longer harbored any particular ambitions. They merely wished to experience the forms of happiness each had envisioned and live freely as they pleased.
For the time being, Selene also had no desire to make herself the most conspicuous target by acting against them. That was Aleister and Kamijou Touma's problem. What happened afterward would be another matter.
Selene placed her phone on the table. As she breathed in the cool, fresh air, she watched an airship drifting slowly across the distant sky. The promotional campaign for the Daihasei Festival displayed across its surface was already proceeding with tremendous momentum.
Even while sitting here, Selene could feel the vitality unique to Academy City. Lowering her gaze toward the corridors below, she saw young girls chattering excitedly, displaying the beauty of their youthful years.
Within the Imperial Palace of the Imperial Capital, she encountered either solemn Royal Guards or cautious attendants. Everyone she dealt with was either a military brute or a civil official obsessed with brushes and paperwork. A change of environment was refreshing. This feeling of allowing her body to relax completely was genuinely pleasant.
Just as Selene continued sorting through the specific people and events experienced by her spiritual avatar—beep, beep, beep...
Her phone began ringing. Selene frowned slightly and looked toward it.