Hello everyone, Irana here!! Yesterday was my first time taking on esper related tasks—well, under my father’s supervision, of course. But this wasn’t just any ordinary task. No simple errand, no easy chore.
This task was critical. A failure could mean disaster, possibly even the end of the world.
And what was my task?
To protect Onii… Onee-chan.
I know, I’ve already said this before, but I feel like it needs to be repeated. Honestly, looking back, I realize that this task might be way harder than I thought.
Now, let’s talk about someone—Minami Kotori.
From what I know, Kotori is an Esper like us, but her power is a complete mystery. She’s from the Minami family, which, yeah, her name kind of gives that away. However, other than that, I don’t know much about her.
But today, I learned something new.
The Royal Guard.
I’ve never heard of this before, not even once. I knew Kotori was the Minami family’s only princess, but this was the first time I heard about her having some elite personal guard.
And apparently… Kotori didn’t seem too thrilled about them.
And just now, she came to us—well, more like begged us—to let her join me, Onii… nee-chan and Viola for lunch at the cafeteria. From the way she was acting, it was pretty obvious she was avoiding the Royal Guard.
Onee-chan seemed to know something about them. Maybe it had something to do with those boys who loyally followed her?
So, what happens next?
Long story short, the four of us went to the cafeteria like usual. We got our food, found an empty table, and started eating. It seemed like a normal day. Nothing strange, nothing dramatic.
At first.
But then… Kotori suddenly lowered her head onto the table and started apologizing loudly.
Like, full-on bowing and shouting.
I had no idea if she did it on purpose or if she was just awkward and unaware of how much attention she was drawing to herself, but either way, she instantly became the centre of attention. The whole cafeteria fell silent, and everyone turned to stare at us.
And then—chaos erupted.
One of the Royal Guards suddenly attacked Oni—ahem, Onee-chan.
Onee-chan easily countered the attack and knocked the guy down without breaking a sweat. But that one hit was like knocking over the first domino in a chain.
One by one, the Royal Guards started charging at Onee-chan.
But guess what?
Onee-chan wasn’t alone.
Her so-called followers—or, as she calls them, the brats—jumped into the fight. And just like that, the cafeteria turned into a full-scale war zone.
Onee-chan fought alongside them, dodging punches, kicking people away, and throwing anyone dumb enough to get close. Meanwhile, Viola and I?
We just kept eating.
Why?
Because we both knew that as long as Onee-chan was here, there was nothing to worry about.
For as long as I’ve known her, Onee-chan’s physical strength has been like that of a monster.
I don’t know if it’s because of some Esper ability or just pure training, but I’m pretty sure that if Onee-chan seriously punched a wall, she’d put a hole straight through it.
I once asked her how she got so strong. I thought maybe she was aware of her Esper power from the beginning, but she just laughed and said:
"Oh, I trained in all kinds of martial arts and combined them."
…Huh?
That was a weird answer because our parents never put Onee-chan in any martial arts school.
When I asked her about it, she said she learned everything from the internet.
…Yeah. That was obviously a lie.
I didn’t press further, but if I had to guess, maybe her ability was some kind of physical enhancement.
Honestly, though, that would be way too lame for a power that’s supposedly strong enough to destroy the world.
Oh, right—Kotori?
She had been hiding under the table the entire time, hugging her head.
By the time Viola and I finished eating, Onee-chan finally turned back to us—then started rapidly shovelling food into her mouth.
Once she finished, she casually picked up Kotori and carried her like a princess.
…Ugh.
I was a little jealous.
If I had known that was an option, I totally would have pretended to be scared too.
As we moved farther away from the cafeteria, my smartwatch suddenly vibrated, emitting a soft chime. A new mission alert from the Esper Association.
"Urgent: Intruder detected on school grounds. Target unknown. Possible threat to Miyazaki Aria."
My breath caught in my throat. Someone had infiltrated the school? And their target might be Onee-chan?