"Seventh Mist, the dress shop in District 7! Where are you, Uiharu!?" Shirai Kuroko's tone on the phone was extremely anxious.
If she wasn't mistaken, the culprit's target should be... While contacting Uiharu Kazari, Shirai Kuroko was also using her spatial abilities to rush to the location.
"Perfect, I'm already there. I'll evacuate the customers immediately." After saying that, she hung up without waiting for a reply.
"Uiharu! Hello! Hello! How could this be..." Shirai Kuroko hadn't finished her sentence. If she wasn't mistaken, the culprit's target should be Uiharu Kazari, a Disciplinary Committee Member!
The fact that Disciplinary Committee Members were injured in every incident already proved this. Looking at the silent phone, Shirai Kuroko could only speed up her journey to Seventh Mist.
On this side, Uiharu Kazari, who was explaining the situation to Misaka Mikoto, had already started contacting the mall staff and was preparing to evacuate the crowd, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
And the mall staff, upon hearing the notification from Disciplinary Committee Member Uiharu Kazari, quickly issued an evacuation notice.
"Now should be the time when that Little Girl is holding the explosive, right? Then the 'Harem King' should go and save Misaka Mikoto, Uiharu Kazari, and that Little Loli. Yoshino, is it okay for you to leave the mall now?" Shiina looked at Yoshino, who had followed the evacuating crowd outside Seventh Mist, and asked somewhat strangely.
Shouldn't you be getting involved at this point? Why aren't you playing by the rules now?
"Didn't you also say that Mr. Kamijou will handle this matter? Yoshino doesn't have anything to worry about. And Yoshino still has something she wants to do. Yoshino feels she can do this. After all, that person has just lost his way for a while, and Yoshino thinks she can pull him back."
It's understandable that he would resort to such extreme thinking, having been bullied and not receiving help.
"Yes, after all, if a person keeps suppressing the grievances from being bullied, then there will only be two possibilities. One is to truly swallow their anger, and the other is for their thoughts to gradually become extreme. That person can still repent now; if Yoshino goes, she can definitely make him listen carefully." Toujou Nozomi also understood this principle.
After all, she herself was often alone at home due to her parents. But Toujou Nozomi was a broad-minded girl. Understanding loneliness, she would empathize with others.
And that person believed that it was everyone else's fault for not helping him when he was bullied, and it had nothing to do with her.
"He's gone down the wrong path, that much is known, but Misaka Mikoto, that violent girl, will naturally beat him into sense. Why does Yoshino still need to do the ideological work? Yoshino could just watch from the side. Yoshino, you've changed now." If it were the previous Yoshino, she would never do any ideological work.
"I don't know. It seems that after I received Zadkiel's power that day, I gradually started having the idea of wanting to guide others. It's really strange."
She was being a bit too meddlesome now, Yoshino thought to herself. She used to never meddle in such affairs, just as Shiina said.
"But it's not bad to do things you haven't done before and gain some experience, right? Sister Nozomi, I support your idea."
"Boom!" Feeling the sound of an explosion, she turned her head to see Seventh Mist still ablaze. So the culprit must be planning to leave the scene now, right?
"Almost there, just a few more, and those useless Disciplinary Committee Members and delinquents will all be blown away. Then..."
As he was about to reach an alley, he heard a somewhat terrifying laugh. This person was the protagonist of this explosion incident: Kairaku Hatsuya.
"That's not allowed, you know. Harming others like that is wrong, Mr. Kairaku Hatsuya." Yoshino appeared with Toujou Nozomi on the other side of the alley, causing a look of terror to appear on his face.
"What are you saying... I don't understand at all..."
"Don't be so flustered. I'm not here to blame you now, Mr. Kairaku Hatsuya. Please calm down first."
"...I understand." Yoshino's voice seemed to possess a certain magic, calming Kairaku Hatsuya, who had just been in a agitated state.
"This incident, you did wrong, Mr. Kairaku Hatsuya. It's truly wrong for you to use your Level 4 ability to harm Disciplinary Committee Members. You must have wanted revenge because the Disciplinary Committee Members didn't appear to save you when you were bullied, right?"
"!? You're really a terrifying junior. I don't know why, but if it were anyone else, I would definitely be very angry right now. But I don't feel angry at all." Kairaku Hatsuya, feeling as if the strength had been drained from his body, sat on the ground and said with a bitter smile.
"Why are you using your Level 4 ability to cause trouble for the Disciplinary Committee Members instead of teaching a lesson to those who bullied you, Mr. Jielu Chuya? The most important thing is that you used a Little Girl ten years younger than you. If no one had saved them this time, that Little Girl might have died, killed by your desire for revenge. Was that also part of your plan?" Yoshino's soft voice carried a serious tone; this was something Yoshino absolutely could not tolerate.
"No, at that time, the only one I wanted to hurt was that Disciplinary Committee Member with grass on her head. I didn't think that much. Now that I think about it, what's the difference between what I did and what those who bullied me did? I'm probably even worse now. But the thought of teaching the Disciplinary Committee Member a lesson had somewhat consumed me. I really am terrible."
Jielu Chuya, who had calmed down and reflected on his actions, gave a bitter smile. When did he become the person he hated most? This wasn't like him.
"Do you truly feel you've made a mistake now, Mr. Jielu Chuya?"
"Yes, I'm really useless. I don't know why you, a junior, managed to calm me down. You're truly a formidable person," he said, though a genuine smile played on his lips.
"Then, for now, you should turn yourself in. After all, you've already hurt others. What you need to do is properly redeem yourself."
"...But, do I, like this, still have a chance at redemption?"
"Yes, Yoshino can now confirm that you can still achieve redemption."
A golden light suddenly appeared around Yoshino, shining on Jielu Chuya, invigorating his somewhat weary spirit.
"Are you the Saintess of Academy City from before? To actually receive the Saintess's affirmation, then I still have a chance at redemption."
Looking at Yoshino, who radiated a sacred aura, he now had a goal.
As Yoshino disappeared at the alley entrance, Shirai Kuroko approached Jielu Chuya, watching Yoshino leave.
'The Saintess? That's right, after all, she's such a pure existence.' For now, it's best not to concern ourselves with the newly emerged Saintess Cult in Academy City.
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