A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 939 Rejection
After explaining the situation over the phone, Ms. Mikinari spoke quietly for a few more minutes before quickly hanging up.

Looking up at her colleagues, Ms. Mikinari had a somewhat puzzled expression on her face: "Misaka-san refused."

This result was not unexpected, as everyone already knew the outcome from the previous call.

However, out of politeness, no one interrupted the call or even tried to eavesdrop.

"Ms. Miki, you don't seem to have mentioned Lin Wuming," a teacher reminded her.

In their view, Lin Wuming was undoubtedly the crucial trump card to persuade Misaka Mikoto.

“No…” Ms. Mikinari smiled wryly, “Because Lin Wuming has already declined the invitation to serve as the student representative—Misaka told me this, and it seems that Lin Wuming is right next to her now.”

……

"Big sister, you declined the invitation?" Shirai Kuroko asked.

“Yes,” Misaka Mikoto said as she put away her phone, “you know I’m not very good at handling those kinds of situations.”

Misaka Mikoto wasn't lying. Although she appeared carefree and cheerful on the surface, she was actually the type to get nervous easily—especially in formal settings like this, when she needed to do something in front of a large audience.

It's not that I can't do it well, it's just that I can't help feeling nervous and uncomfortable, which is similar to Lin Wuming.

If the other student representative partner is Lin Wuming, Misaka Mikoto wouldn't be unable to overcome this small difficulty.

However, Lin Wuming had already mentioned this matter and made it clear that he would not serve as the student representative—so Misaka Mikoto was even less motivated.

At this very moment, Misaka Mikoto is a guest at the 177th branch of the Disciplinary Committee—after much deliberation, she finally decided to come here with Shirai Kuroko.

Because Misaka Mikoto often shows up here, the disciplinary committee members in the branch have gotten used to her presence; to the point that this disciplinary committee activity room is almost equivalent to half of Misaka Mikoto's home ground.

Just like coming home, Misaka Mikoto no longer felt nervous and restrained, and was able to interact with Lin Wuming normally.

Shirai Kuroko merely pursed her lips, ultimately saying nothing more—if she truly objected, she wouldn't have brought her older sister along.

Although Shirai Kuroko had her own selfish motives, her invitation to Lin Wuming to "inspect the work" at the 177th branch was indeed to boost morale—on this point, Shirai Kuroko had never lied.

With the Daihasei Festival approaching, the pressure on security in Academy City is increasing, that's a fact.

As disciplinary committee members active on the front lines, they do indeed need seniors and "heroes" like Lin Wuming to inspire them and boost morale.

In fact, when Lin Wuming returned to the activity room, he did receive a warm welcome.

These disciplinary committee members, who were still in junior high school, swarmed around Lin Wuming as if they had seen their idol.

Lin Wuming was as face-blind as ever. He could only recognize that many of the people present were familiar faces, but he could not match these faces with specific names.

However, these younger generations seemed to know about Lin Wuming's "face blindness" and didn't dwell on it too much.

Moreover, Lin Wuming only didn't remember their names, but he clearly remembered the experiences of leading them on missions together. Therefore, when Lin Wuming finally deduced their names through the missions they had carried out together and called them out one by one, he was deeply moved. Seeing that Lin Wuming had really come to boost morale, and that Shirai Kuroko had really just stayed aside and watched silently, Misaka Mikoto, who had insisted on coming along, blushed a little.

But since we're already here, leaving like this is obviously an option.

So, like Shirai Kuroko, Misaka Mikoto chose to stay quietly to the side, observing but not disturbing the interaction of the disciplinary committee members.

Fortunately, Lin Wuming did not forget the two of them. After chatting with the junior members of the Disciplinary Committee, he finally came to Misaka Mikoto's side.

In fact, Lin Wuming also had something he wanted to ask them, which was the so-called "declaration of war on himself".

Because the news was so outrageous, even though it was said by the doctor from the Underworld, Lin Wuming still couldn't completely believe it.

Now is the perfect opportunity to directly inquire about the situation from Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko, two insiders at Tokiwadai Middle School.

In response, Misaka Mikoto clearly stated that the so-called "declaration of war" was a rumor, a false message created due to misunderstanding—this was the answer she obtained after confronting Shokuhou Misaki.

Shirai Kuroko seemed to have a different opinion on this, but after careful consideration, she ultimately did not say it aloud.

Since the topic had come to the Daihasei Festival, Lin Wuming casually mentioned that he had declined the invitation to become a student representative.

Immediately afterwards, Misaka Mikoto received a call from Ms. Mikinari.

Having heard Lin Wuming's answer beforehand, Misaka Mikoto naturally refused without hesitation.

Furthermore, Misaka Mikoto has a very good relationship with Mikinari-sensei, so there's no need to hide many things from her.

Therefore, Misaka Mikoto acted swiftly and decisively, noticing that Miki-sensei was about to say the name "Lin Wuming," she preemptively stated the fact that "Mumi-senpai has already declined the invitation."

Sure enough, after hearing what she said, Ms. Mikinari decisively gave up trying to persuade her and hung up the phone without hesitation.

"Next, that Shokuhou girl..." Misaka Mikoto muttered to herself, "No, she definitely won't accept the invitation either."

……

"There's no need to ask Shokuhou-san anymore; she won't accept the invitation." Kawai Hagoromo blinked, and a faint starlight flickered deep in her pupils.

"This... I really didn't expect this." The head of the teaching department rubbed his temples vigorously. "It's like jumping directly from one extreme to another."

"So, should we force an assignment, or simply decline the invitation?"

“Just refuse directly. Tell the operations committee that I will respect the students’ personal will and will not force them to do things they don’t want to do.”

After thinking for a moment, the principal added, "Tell the operations committee to contact other candidates first. If there are really no suitable candidates, ask them to consider the possibility of having Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki both become student representatives."

A fair and just outcome, with both of them working together and without Lin Wuming interfering, would perhaps be the best result.

(End of this chapter)