A Scientific Urban Detective

"Perhaps... maybe?" Facing Frenda's casual question, Kinuhata Saiai's expression became ambiguous and subtle.

"Perhaps? What does that mean?" Frenda tilted her head and pressed.

"There is indeed another esper who manipulates nitrogen, a girl named Yomikawa Aiho," Kinuhata Saiai admitted. "But she's very low-key and doesn't seem to have much presence usually. And she hasn't retested her ability level this time, so I'm not sure if she's successfully advanced to level 4 as well."

"I see," Frenda and Takitsubo Rikou nodded in unison.

Kinuhata Saiai asked, "So, do you also want Yomikawa Aiho to join?"

"No, there are no such plans," Takitsubo Rikou said. "'Item' has a limited number of official members, and there aren't enough resources to support a fifth official member. Besides, Mugino also said that we need defensive and close-combat types, and 'Nitrogen Blast' doesn't fit our needs."

"That's right, that's right, I was just a little curious," Frenda nodded repeatedly. "After all, you two are a shield and a spear, respectively. It's hard not to draw associations and comparisons when such a combination is put together."

"I see," Kinuhata Saiai nodded in understanding. "Before I advanced, my ability level was the same as Yomikawa's, and our output levels were similar. There wasn't much obvious difference."

Even before becoming level 3, because the dividing line between spear and shield was not yet clear, the effects of their abilities were both basic "nitrogen manipulation."

In Kinuhata Saiai's view, in terms of esper abilities, Yomikawa Aiho was like another version of herself—another possibility and advancement route for "nitrogen manipulation."

"But I believe Yomikawa has definitely advanced to level 4 as well," Kinuhata Saiai said. "She'll definitely get that result as long as she takes another ability level test."

"It's just..." Shaking her head, Kinuhata Saiai sighed, "Yomikawa Aiho has already left us."

"Left you..." The other two girls felt a pang in their hearts, and were about to say something.

"She seems to have been scouted by a new research institute and left after signing a contract," Kinuhata Saiai shook her head. "Seeing it this way, she really is talented to be scouted."

"What, so that's how she left..." Frenda retorted, "Don't be discouraged, didn't Mugino scout Kinuhata to join 'Item' too?"

Kinuhata Saiai nodded.

However, strictly speaking, being scouted and signing a contract with a research institute and being absorbed into an organization in the dark side are two completely different paths.

That's why Kinuhata Saiai felt that Yomikawa Aiho was another possibility for herself.

—I am the shield, she is the spear.

—I chose to stay with everyone and continue to take care of everyone; she chose to leave and pursue the life she truly wanted...

So, in the end, Yomikawa Aiho and Kinuhata Saiai are two completely different people.

Kinuhata Saiai views this "companion" with the greatest goodwill.

But Yomikawa Aiho regards Kinuhata Saiai as a "negative example." She does not agree with Kinuhata Saiai's beliefs and persistence, so she makes choices that are completely opposite to Kinuhata Saiai's every time.

For example, when Lin Wuming returned to Kuroyoru Technology to save them, Yomikawa Aiho, who was already a level 3 esper, chose to be as low-key as possible, hiding in Kinuhata Saiai's shadow, only contributing a little during the escape.

Until the end of the incident, not many people remembered her contribution.

For example, Kinuhata Saiai actively cooperated with the security forces, assisting the adults in comforting and caring for the experimental children; Yomikawa Aiho just stayed aside, quietly observing the whole process like an outsider. Unless someone directly approached her to ask for help, she would never take the initiative to intervene.

Later, Kinuhata Saiai accepted the ability level test and successfully advanced to level 4, while Yomikawa Aiho deliberately avoided it and did not participate in the test together.

But Yomikawa Aiho knew that she and Kinuhata Saiai were the same only in terms of esper ability development. Since Kinuhata Saiai had become level 4, then even without a special test, it could be determined that she was also a level 4 esper.

After becoming a level 4 esper, even more people came to invite Kinuhata Saiai, including famous schools and large research institutions—if she accepted the invitation, she would definitely no longer be an experimental subject like before, but a partner of the research institution, with a completely different status.

But Kinuhata Saiai refused all of them, because she had become the backbone of the children, and she wanted to stay and take care of everyone. So she refused to enjoy a better life alone.

If it were Yomikawa Aiho... she felt that she would never make such a naive and foolish decision.

Yomikawa Aiho pursued the improvement of her own strength.

She was perhaps the only experimental subject who did not hate the "Dark May Project" so much—of course, it can't be said that she liked the experiment very much either.

For Yomikawa Aiho, what she really wanted was an experiment that could improve her ability level. On this basis, she also did not want to be manipulated and abused by those researchers like a lab rat.

Unlike Kinuhata Saiai and the other children's attitude towards Lin Wuming, Yomikawa Aiho did not regard Lin Wuming as a hero and benefactor who saved them, but as her "senior"—a "senior" in terms of ability level improvement.

Yomikawa Aiho respected Lin Wuming because Lin Wuming showed sufficient strength. Her views were very similar to those of the researchers of the "Dark May Project" before their deaths, believing that Lin Wuming's ability level improvement was the experimental result of the "Dark May Project."

Moreover, compared to "Nitrogen Manipulation," "Telekinesis" was undoubtedly closer to the "Vector Manipulation" of the original thought pattern.

Therefore, although Lin Wuming was only level 3, he showed strength comparable to level 4.

Thus, Yomikawa Aiho believed that the existence of Lin Wuming, herself, and Kinuhata Saiai had already proved that the "Dark May Project" was effective!

—If the research institute had not been destroyed and the experiment was still continuing, then could I go further and reach that miraculous level 5?

Yomikawa Aiho was full of expectations for this.

Unlike Kinuhata Saiai, who was content with the status quo, Yomikawa Aiho, who was pursuing opportunities to improve her personal strength, wanted to go further.

Therefore, after moving into the abandoned school, she secretly returned to the headquarters building of Kuroyoru Technology more than once, trying to find the remaining research data.

Of course, the data room there had already been burned to ashes by Lin Wuming in a fire, and had been thoroughly searched many times by the security forces, so it was impossible to find any valuable data.

However, Yomikawa Aiho was not without gains.

On her third infiltration into the building to investigate, she met a young man who called himself "Kihara."