Having finished his shopping, Kobayashi set out on the return trip.
He had bought quite a lot this time, but to his telekinetic ability, it was hardly worth mentioning. If he weren't worried about drawing too much attention, he could have simply suspended all three bulging shopping bags in midair and carried them alongside him with his mind.
In the interest of keeping a low profile, he behaved himself. One paper bag was held in his arms, while the two oversized plastic bags were hooked onto the handles behind his wheelchair. Fully loaded, he headed home.
Even so, his appearance still attracted plenty of attention. A few kind-hearted passersby even came over to ask if he needed help, but Kobayashi politely declined them all.
"Tch… at this rate, I'm really starting to get used to this," he muttered to himself. "Honestly, spending my whole life in a wheelchair doesn't even seem that inconvenient…"
Psychic powers were just too useful.
Chuckling inwardly, Kobayashi rolled out of the supermarket and prepared to head back—only to realize that something was wrong.
—The scene outside the supermarket had changed.
What lay before him was so unfamiliar that he momentarily doubted his own memory.
"That's not right… I clearly remember a bank being across from the entrance when I came in…"
Yet now, stretching out in front of him, was a lush green park.
It didn't take long for him to figure it out. Supermarkets had more than one entrance—he had obviously exited through a different one.
Pulling up the store map on his phone, Kobayashi quickly confirmed his location.
"Perfect. If I follow the road outside the building counterclockwise, I'll be back at the entrance I used earlier. From there, I can just retrace my planned route home."
Nodding to himself, he pushed his wheelchair forward.
A few minutes later, the wheelchair rolled into the park's greenery—and, as expected, Kobayashi got lost.
"Yeah… I really shouldn't have tried to be clever," he sighed, staring at the dense shrubs surrounding him. He opened his map app again and began studying the route.
Getting back to the supermarket entrance itself wasn't actually that difficult. But as he checked the map while moving, he noticed that cutting through the park would save some distance and get him closer to the apartment faster.
So, he promptly changed his route and plunged straight into the city park.
And promptly lost his way among its scenic yet bewilderingly complex paths.
Even before his transmigration, Kobayashi had been the type of modern city youth who couldn't tell east from west. As long as there were landmarks or road signs, he could manage—but in a park full of trees and bushes, where everything looked like untouched nature, it might as well have been a labyrinth.
Incidentally, he couldn't tell tree species apart either, so all the green plants looked more or less the same to him.
"…Alright," Kobayashi said at last, giving up as he put his phone away. "Let's just get out of this maze and back to civilization first."
At least the park had signs pointing toward the exits. No need to outsmart himself—just follow them properly.
"Next time, I'm definitely avoiding places like parks," he noted silently, filing the lesson away. "And I need to get electronic payments sorted out as soon as possible."
Navigation apps had automatic routing features, but those required a paid subscription. Kobayashi hadn't set up an electronic payment account yet—his phone had been bought with Yomikawa Aiho's help—so he couldn't purchase the service. That, in the end, was what had landed him in this situation.
…
"Shopping, then a stroll through the park. The target's pretty relaxed—nothing like the experimental subjects we've dealt with before."
"Don't lower your guard. Remember how we almost lost him when he entered the park."
"We're short-handed, and we can't get too close either."
"No worries. The boss has already called in the grunts. Our numbers problem is solved."
The "Hunters," hidden in the shadows, communicated quietly among themselves.
At that moment, the leader of the Hunters issued an order. "Get ready. We'll make the capture at the park exit when the target leaves."
"Understood! But boss, we don't have anyone near that exit right now."
"Get there. We've got time," the leader replied calmly. "Have the grunts keep eyes on him. A wheelchair won't move very fast."
The "grunts" they referred to were one of Academy City's local specialties—delinquent gangs, street toughs.
By structure, every Dark Side organization had several subordinate groups to cooperate with them. Logistics, errands, and miscellaneous tasks could all be delegated to these underlings.
These affiliated groups made up the bulk of what were known as "armed powerless groups."
Naturally, the Hunters had such affiliates as well, and this was exactly the kind of situation they were meant for—to compensate for a lack of manpower.
In Academy City, where students made up the majority of the population, "delinquent youths" were a fairly common phenomenon. They weren't necessarily dangerous; most of the time, they were more like background extras or part of the scenery, coexisting peacefully with ordinary citizens.
They were closer to a non-mainstream subculture than to full-fledged gangs or biker crews.
In broad daylight, in public spaces, as long as you didn't provoke them, it was generally unlikely for random delinquents to single you out…
All of this "common sense" had been shared casually by Yomikawa Aiho during idle conversations. So, when Kobayashi noticed groups of delinquents loitering around the park, he didn't think much of it. Treating them as if they weren't there, he continued rolling toward the exit.
Behind him, however, the delinquents exchanged looks. The eagerness in their eyes grew harder to hide.
As subordinate groups, assisting the Dark Side in missions came with rewards. In the Dark Side's world, a simple rule applied: those who could do more earned more. If you wanted bigger payoffs, you had to make bigger contributions.
—If this cripple really was the Hunters' target, then if they captured him and handed him over directly, wouldn't the reward be even greater?
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
After all, the Hunters' targets usually weren't particularly strong fighters. Experimental subjects who escaped from laboratories tended to be better at hiding and running than fighting. Finding them was often harder than capturing them.
Once a target was locked down, even powerless street thugs could take them easily.
In the past, the Hunters themselves were usually nearby, so the delinquents wouldn't dare compete for prey. But this time, there were no Hunters in the immediate vicinity.
That was why it truly was a "golden opportunity."
Besides, the target was a disabled man in a wheelchair, which lowered the difficulty even further.
…What the Hunters hadn't told these temporary hires was that the target was a Level 3 high-level Esper!
(End of Chapter)