A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 925 The Queen's Tea Party

"Oh, right," Misaki Shokuhou suddenly said as they were about to part ways at the office door, "the tea party at noon will proceed as scheduled, but the location has been changed to the faction activity room."

Misaka Mikoto nodded: "I understand, I will go."

“Shirai-san is going to participate too,” Misaki Shokuhou said with a smile. “You have to participate; you can’t refuse.”

—You can't run away.

"I will go." Shirai Kuroko nodded stiffly.

Shirai Kuroko knew that this time she was attending the tea party in her own name, not as "onee-sama's follower".

As for the topic of the tea party, it's easy to guess that it must be related to the nameless senior.

Such tea parties are a tradition of the Shokuhou faction, and are undoubtedly the absolute home ground of Queen Shokuhou.

—It feels like I'm going to a trap.

Shirai Kuroko felt her mood growing increasingly heavy.

"Well, you'll get used to it." Misaka Mikoto patted her shoulder again. "It's really nothing, don't overthink it, just focus on your studies. Let's meet here at noon and then go to the tea party together."

"Onee-sama..." Watching Misaka Mikoto's departing figure, Shirai Kuroko gave a helpless, bitter smile. "You make it sound so easy. Only you would think it's nothing, right?"

After all, they are both ace students of Tokiwadai Middle School. The only one who can stand up to Shokuhou Misaki without changing her expression is Misaka Mikoto, who is also a Level 5.

"Tsk, I knew all along that I would face these challenges once I took this step..." Shirai Kuroko muttered to herself, "But when I actually had to face it, the pressure was still immense."

Clenching her fists, Shirai Kuroko turned and walked towards her classroom.

—Now that things have come to this, and we've already paid such a price, we can't give up. We must win against the nameless senior!

As if her entire body was ablaze with fighting spirit, Shirai Kuroko strode into the classroom with a menacing aura.

Because of the powerful aura she displayed, her classmates were hesitant to approach her to inquire about gossip.

This allowed Shirai Kuroko to spend her morning classes in peace.

At noon, Shirai Kuroko, with the resolve of going into battle, headed straight for the Shokuhou faction's exclusive activity room. Then, she stormed in without hesitation.

As expected, although it was called a tea party, only Misaki Shokuhou and Toumi Tora were sitting at the table. Apart from them, only Junko Hokaze and the Dolly and Dolly sisters were serving as "waiters".

It's definitely a topic related to the nameless senior.

The fact that her guess was accurate made Shirai Kuroko feel inexplicably at ease.

"Kuroko! Seriously, why did you come here by yourself first?" Misaka Mikoto followed closely behind, rushing over. "Didn't we say we'd meet up first?"

"Huh?" Suddenly remembering that there was indeed such a thing, Shirai Kuroko quickly said, "Sorry, I forgot..."

“Well, since you’ve come all this way yourself…” Misaka Mikoto shook her head, then looked at Shirai Kuroko more closely. “It seems you’re really alright, so I’m relieved.”

Misaka Mikoto was worried that Shirai Kuroko was under too much pressure and too nervous, so she suggested that they meet up first and then come over together.

"Seriously, what kind of image do you have of someone else's tea party in your eyes?!" Misaki Shokuhou complained. "It's not like it's a den of dragons or tigers, what's there to be nervous about!"

"Hmph, the tea party itself isn't scary, but the person hosting it..." Misaka Mikoto said bluntly. Misaka Mikoto is immune to the effects of "Mental Control," but even so, in her opinion, "Queen Bee's Tea Party" is an occasion that requires vigilance and attention.

Not to mention Shirai Kuroko, who is unable to resist "psychological control".

Although she knew that Misaki Shokuhou wouldn't do anything too outrageous, since it involved a nameless senior, who knew if she might do something impulsive...

As mentioned before—the tea party is the queen bee's domain, in other words…

Essentially, this is also a battle!
"Well, well~ Misaka-san, Shirai-san, please come in and sit down." Junko Hokaze greeted them with a smile and then warmly announced the start of the tea party.

Junko Hokaze frequently organizes such tea parties, so she is already used to the tense atmosphere between the two Level 5s; in fact, she sees it as proof of their "good relationship".

Therefore, Junko Hokaze showed no signs of nervousness and enthusiastically prepared tea and food.

Because of her performance, the atmosphere at the scene did indeed ease, and it began like a normal tea party.

Although it's called a "tea party," it's more like a "lunch party" because it's during lunch and a midday break.

In order to attend the tea party, the people present had not yet had lunch, so this was a good opportunity to eat together.

Knowing that Her Majesty was holding a tea party to discuss important matters, Junko Hokaze specially prepared easy-to-eat sandwiches and cakes for lunch.

However, none of the people present were paying attention to the food. After quickly filling their stomachs, they got straight to the point.

As the convener of the meeting, Misaki Shokuhou took the initiative to speak first.

"They've only one purpose in holding this tea party," Misaki Shokuhou said seriously, raising a finger, "to reflect on it!"

"Ah... um?" Misaka Mikoto paused, taken aback by the completely unexpected words. "Reflection?"

“Yes, reflection.” Misaki Shokuhou nodded. “We also participated in yesterday’s battle against the Rear Waters…”

Mentioning this, the girls' expressions all turned serious.

"How well did we perform, and what role did we play..." Misaki Shokuhou looked down at the teacup in front of her. "Everyone is a participant, so there's no need for anyone else to say more."

How did it perform? While it wouldn't be accurate to say it had absolutely no effect, its actual impact was indeed quite limited.

At least from the girls' own perspective, they were definitely dissatisfied.

It can be said that Lin Wuming could have won even without their help; in fact, in the initial stages of the battle, they even played a negative role.

Looking down at the bandage on her hand, Hu Feng Toumi clenched her fist tightly until the wound burst open, and blood stained the bandage again.

"So, what you're trying to say is..." Misaka Mikoto looked across at the other side.

“We need to develop teamwork and practice fighting together,” Misaka Misaki said. “Yes, let’s put aside our so-called pride and unnecessary reserve, Misaka-san, we need to team up!”

"You mean, an enemy like the water behind the rear..."

“That’s right. According to my intuition, we will have even more and stronger enemies in the future.” Misaki Shokuhou nodded. “Of course, strictly speaking, they should be the enemies of the Nameless Senior. As long as we can draw a clear line, we probably won’t be affected. But obviously, we can’t draw a clear line, can we?”

(End of this chapter)