There was no time to hesitate.
"I have to go," I thought. I can't let anything happen to her.
Keeping my voice steady, I turned to Onii—nee-chan.
"Viola and I need to use the restroom," I said casually.
She didn’t say anything and simply nodded. The moment we were out of her sight, Viola placed a hand on my shoulder—her teleportation ability activated instantly, and the world blurred around us.
When we arrived at the scene, we weren’t alone.
Standing before us was Elizabeth-sensei—an Esper and my superior in the Esper Association. Her power allowed her to manipulate plants, making them grow and attack with terrifying speed.
But she wasn’t just standing there.
She was already engaged in battle.
Her opponents? Two intruders—a blonde man wearing a strange cloak and a blonde woman with pointed ears. An elf in modern era?
Without a second thought, I unleashed an ice attack. My cryokinesis sent sharp shards of frost spiraling toward the man, but—
An arrow cut through the air, intercepting my attack.
"Tch." I narrowed my eyes, looking for the source.
The blonde woman let out a sigh, clearly unimpressed.
"You're truly pathetic. If I weren’t here, you’d be dead by now," she muttered to the man.
"Oh yeah, Miss Know-it-all? We shouldn’t even be here in the first place!" the man shot back.
"Shut up and free yourself."
"Okay!..."
Suddenly, flames erupted, consuming the vines that had been restraining the man.
That was my chance.
I had already sprinkled a thin layer of ice onto his body. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
"Freeze!"
"Damn it—her power is cryokinesis!" the man shouted in realization.
Ice spread from his legs upward, trapping him in place.
I locked eyes with Viola—she understood my signal instantly. In the blink of an eye, we teleported right next to him.
I reached out, grabbing his neck.
And in an instant—he was frozen solid.
Meanwhile, Elly-sensei launched razor-sharp wooden stakes toward the blonde woman.
But before they could hit, the woman summoned a wind barrier, redirecting the stakes back toward Elly-sensei.
She couldn’t dodge in time.
But then—something invisible blocked the attack.
Viola’s eyes widened.
"Who did that?..." she asked.
I scanned the area.
But there was no one there.
Weird… there’s should be other reinforcement besides me and Viola.
"So, you’ve finally realized, little girl," the blonde woman said, her voice tinged with amusement.
"Normally, no one can break through my barrier to enter this area—not even with teleportation. That’s why your sudden appearance here is strange. You two shouldn’t have been able to get in. So I concluded…"
Her gaze locked onto me.
"One of you must be the vessel."
"Vessel?..." Vessel for what?
"Yes, that must be it. That would explain the psychokinesis earlier. Ordinary Espers in this world can’t control two abilities at once."
What… is she talking about?
A storm started swirling around her.
I had a bad feeling.
I clenched my fists, drawing in moisture from the air. A freezing aura surrounded me as I prepared to counter her attack.
Elly-sensei, too, wasn’t standing still. She summoned massive trees, their branches twisting and coiling toward the enemy.
Viola teleported next to Elly-sensei, knowing full well that I was preparing something big.
But just as I was about to strike—
A black-haired man appeared out of nowhere.
Before I could react—
A powerful kick slammed into my stomach.
Pain shot through me as I was sent flying.
Who—?!
I barely had time to process what happened before I saw the pointed-ear woman also get kicked away.
She looked even worse than I did.
The black-haired man then casually walked over to the frozen blonde man and shattered the ice with a single punch.
Then, without hesitation, he grabbed both the blonde man and the blonde woman by their necks, glanced at us, and—
He bowed slightly.
"Sorry for all this."
Then—he vanished.
The barrier collapsed.
Within seconds, reinforcements from outside flooded in. But it was too late.
The enemies were already gone.
We didn’t know their true objective, but we had uncovered one important fact: Someone had infiltrated the school disguised as a student.
Elly-sensei confirmed it.
Our enemies had loose lips.
There is one person who immediately became my prime suspect.
Minami Kotori.