The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

She was cooking in the kitchen with a long face.

Inoue Hideka walked in with a smile, not mentioning the previous topic, and immediately started helping Saten Ruiko with her work.

After that, no further arguments or quarrels occurred. Saten Ruiko remained quiet and quietly prepared the meal.

Aside from the sounds of food preparation in the kitchen, only Inoue Eikami was muttering to himself, trying to say something nice to Saten Ruiko so she wouldn't be angry anymore, but Saten Ruiko didn't respond to him.

At first, she would raise her eyebrows and listen to what Inoue Eika was going to say, but after realizing that Inoue Eika was talking nonsense, she simply focused on cooking and ignored Inoue Eika as if he didn't exist.

Inoue Hideka could also see that Saten Ruiko was determined to give him the cold shoulder. If he didn't tell her everything, she would continue the cold war indefinitely.

After finishing what she could do, Inoue Hideka greeted Saten Ruiko, who was still ignoring her, with a hearty laugh, and then left the kitchen.

Standing at the door, Inoue Hideka sighed and glanced sadly into the kitchen before returning to her room to continue her preparations for her funeral.

The next day was the weekend, and although Saten Ruiko didn't have to go to class, she went out directly after breakfast.

Judging from her voice when she was on the phone, Inoue Eika could roughly guess that she had gone shopping with Misaka Mikoto and the others. However, it was clear that Saten Ruiko still didn't want to talk to Inoue Eika. It was even possible that Misaka Mikoto had suggested bringing Inoue Eika along, but Saten Ruiko had refused.

Presumably guessing that there was a misunderstanding between Saten Ruiko and Inoue Eika, the other three members of the group went home with Saten Ruiko for lunch, seemingly trying to clear up the misunderstanding between the two.

Unfortunately, Saten Ruiko is a girl with extremely high emotional intelligence. She could easily see what the three of them were thinking, and she and Inoue Eika both knew exactly what was going on between them.

Now the two are really going at it, it's a contest of who will back down first, whether Inoue Eika will confess first, or Saten Ruiko will accept the fact that Inoue Eika was hiding things from her and reconcile with Inoue Eika.

Moreover, given Saten Ruiko's emotional intelligence, it would be a piece of cake for her to fool Misaka Mikoto and the other two.

Sure enough, with a little cleverness, she diverted everyone's attention to other things.

Then, she glanced at Inoue Hideka with a huff, looking quite displeased.

Inoue Hideka helplessly wiped away non-existent cold sweat from her forehead. Don't be fooled by Saten Ruiko's usual generous and cheerful demeanor; she can be truly terrifying when she gets stingy.

Ignoring Saten Ruiko's tantrum, Inoue Eika ate her meal while watching TV out of boredom.

At that moment, a news report was broadcast on television, stating that the Russian president had declared war on Academy City and announced the outbreak of World War III.

As expected, Inoue Hideka was not too surprised.

Of course, the others couldn't be as calm as Inoue Hideka. More or less, a look of surprise flashed across their faces. After her initial surprise, Saten Ruiko quickly glanced at Inoue Hideka's expression. Seeing that he wasn't too surprised, Saten Ruiko seemed thoughtful.

After lunch, Saten Ruiko and the others played around at home for a while, and then went out to play with Last Order.

Only Inoue Hidekazu and Accelerator remained at home.

Accelerator somehow got hold of a book about food and was engrossed in reading it, while Inoue Hideka continued to 'copy' after his assistant returned from lunch.

Painting can be tedious, but once you immerse yourself in it, time flies by.

Before long, night fell. Saten Ruiko returned late with Last Order, carrying Inoue Eika's and Accelerator's dinner.

She simply placed it on the living room table, told Accelerator, and then sat on the living room sofa with a stern face to watch TV.

However, her eyes, which kept glancing towards Inoue Eika's room, betrayed her. She seemed to have something she wanted to say to Inoue Eika, but didn't want to speak up.

When Inoue Eika finished what she was doing and came to the living room, Saten Ruiko stubbornly turned her head away, no longer paying attention to what was happening with Inoue Eika.

News of the outbreak of World War III has arrived, and the entire Academy City has entered a tense atmosphere.

Saten Ruiko, who spent the whole afternoon playing outside, must understand this all too well; she must be feeling uneasy right now.

The moment Inoue Eika saw Saten Ruiko, thoughts like these flashed through her mind.

Now, she must be even more eager to know what's going on.

Thinking this, Inoue Eika picked up the remaining dinner on the table, turned around and went straight back to her room, not giving Saten Ruiko a chance to ask any questions.

"Hey... Humph!!"

Originally, Saten Ruiko was hoping that Inoue Hideka would try to please her as before, and then she would go along with it and make up with him, and then extract valuable information from him. But what she didn't expect was Inoue Hideka's heartless back.

I never expected this idiot to be so persistent about this!

Saten Ruiko stomped her foot in anger, turned off the TV in a huff, and went back to her room to sleep.

The Academy City is unusually quiet tonight.

After finishing his meal, Inoue Eika did not sleep. While drawing manga, he racked his brains to think about whether there was anything he hadn't done yet. World War III had already broken out, and Academy City would go to war with Russia tomorrow. Regardless of whether Inoue Eika would be safe afterward, as a member of Academy City, he could not avoid the initial defense battle.

Then there would be no time to prepare for his own funeral, which is why he was in such a hurry, and he didn't even have time to make Saten Ruiko laugh.

At some unknown time in the early morning, Inoue Hideka, who was alert due to tension, suddenly sensed a wave approaching her at an extremely fast speed.

The fluctuations were very obvious, like a guiding light in the darkness... no, it should be said that it was as dazzling as the bright moon at night, making it impossible for Inoue Hideka to take her attention away from him.

Inoue Hideka was able to distinguish between magical fluctuations and the perception brought about by the ability of the hesitant external brain; without a doubt, this was a magical fluctuation.

Inoue Hideka had a gut feeling that the other party was after her.

With neither Touma Kamijou nor Index at home, and the other party heading in their direction, the chances of them being their target are very high.

Such complex thoughts flashed through Inoue Eika's mind like lightning. Within a second of feeling the fluctuation, Inoue Eika opened the window without hesitation and jumped out.

Inoue Hideka didn't want to implicate her friends and the person she liked. If the other party really was the man she feared—Right Fire—Inoue Hideka would at least have to move the battlefield elsewhere.

……

……

10 month 17 day.

Early in the morning, there was no one in Inoue Eika's room.

A biting wind blew into the room through the window that hadn't been closed, and gusts of coolness drifted into the living room through the crack in the door.

The light-colored curtains rustled in the lonely, empty room.

Chapter 470 The Flames of War Arrive Suddenly

Declaration of War

This is a battle to protect the world and all of humanity that lives on it.

Today, the world is experiencing greenhouse effects, environmental damage from rising sea levels, and shortages of oil and other fossil fuels—all caused by the extraordinary science and technology of Academy City. If their continued unchecked misuse of science and technology is not stopped, all life forms inhabiting this planet will become extinct.

For the sake of the future of all humanity, and indeed all living beings, we must swiftly and completely freeze all ongoing projects in Academy City. Furthermore, in order to analyze and resolve the problems in these areas, we must demand that the most advanced science and technology of the culprit be fully disclosed to us.

Our proposal, made in pursuit of peace, was ruthlessly rejected. This proves Academy City's resistance to the will for global integration. We judge them as evil beings who, for their own selfish desires, expose all life on this earth to danger.

We will await Academy City's response by 10:0 Moscow Standard Time on October 17th. If we do not receive a response by that time, we will assume they intend to wage war and begin considering an offensive operation using intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Furthermore, we make the same judgment regarding Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which have a particularly friendly relationship with Academy City. If Academy City insists on becoming an entity that not only pursues its own selfish interests but also despises all other life forms, we consider it an enemy nation, and for the sake of future generations, we must fight it with all our might.

November 16st

President of the Russian Federation

Sol and I. Kuraynikov

The above is the declaration of war issued by the Russian government on October 16. It sounds nice, but in reality, it is nothing more than a reason for the cult's lackeys, who obey the orders of the right-wing fire, to launch a war in a legitimate way.

The malice of the people is the source of the power of the Right Fire, which can draw out the power of his 'Divine Right' to the maximum extent, and this is also the reason why he started the war.

……

Thus, World War III began.

The smoke of war did not reach Academy City. For the students of Academy City on October 17th, it was still an ordinary day, except for one more noteworthy news item.

They can sit in the restaurant watching the latest news on the TV screen and then chat about it over tea.

The skies over the Sea of ​​Japan form Academy City's final line of defense. If breached by enemy Russian landing ships or strategic bombers, this tiny island nation would be reduced to a sea of ​​fire and blood.

At this moment, smoke and fire are billowing over the Sea of ​​Japan.

Fighter jets of various types flew over the Sea of ​​Japan, the roar of gunfire and the thuds of bullets hitting steel shells filled the air, and the shadow of war suddenly loomed over the area.

On the other hand, the Japanese government had no intention of participating in the exhibition and firmly stated that this matter was entirely a unilateral action by Academy City.

In other words, this is equivalent to Academy City facing a full-scale bombing of the entire Russian country with the fighting power of a single city.

However, even so, Academy City only dispatched security personnel to use Academy City's technological power to fight against them, and the scene of sending students to the front line as Inoue Hideka had imagined did not occur.

This shows that Academy City is not worried at all about being at a disadvantage in the battle against Russia.

At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church also began attacking the Academy City's cooperative organizations stationed in various countries, while Britain clashed with France.

In an instant, the whole world was filled with the smoke of war and the flames of conflict.

------

After preparing breakfast in the morning, Saten Ruiko once again did not see Inoue Eika.

Initially, out of spite, Saten Ruiko didn't immediately go in to call Inoue Eika, assuming he was just busy drawing manga late into the night and had fallen asleep at his desk. She simply kept making loud noises outside in an attempt to wake Inoue Eika and make him come out to eat on his own.

But after waiting for a long time, the food was already laid out on the table, and Accelerator and Last Order were ready to eat, but Inoue Eika still hadn't appeared. Saten Ruiko frowned and opened Inoue Eika's door to take a look, but to her surprise, Inoue Eika wasn't in the room.

"What's that guy doing so early in the morning? Seriously!"

Talking to herself, Saten Ruiko left the room and, while eating, pondered what Inoue Eika was hiding from her.

After she finished cleaning up the dishes, Inoue Eika still hadn't returned. Confused and not wanting to apologize to Inoue Eika, Saten Ruiko went to school alone, filled with doubts and worries.

Saten Ruiko didn't listen to a word of the morning's lessons; she was preoccupied with thinking about Inoue Eika.

Not only her, but the other students were also not paying attention in class. Some were panicked by the sudden arrival of war, while others were excitedly waiting to show their prowess on the battlefield. Still others were more rational and quietly observed the situation, analyzing in their minds who would win and who would lose the war, and how long it would last.

The morning passed quietly as the students lost in their own thoughts. There were no classes in the afternoon, as the teacher in charge of the afternoon classes had already gone to the main battlefield between Academy City and Russia—the Sea of ​​Japan—as a security guard.

Even though she had classes in the afternoon, Saten Ruiko planned to go home at noon to check on Inoue Eika, who had disappeared that morning.

When I got home at noon, Inoue Hideka was still not there.

Saten Ruiko asked Accelerator and Last Order if they had seen Inoue Eika that morning, and the two shook their heads in denial.

At this moment, Saten Ruiko finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

She took out her phone and dialed Inoue Hideka's number; the ringing sound came from Inoue Hideka's room.

Saten Ruiko's face lit up with joy, but then turned to confusion. She had just checked and Inoue Eika was not in the room.

So……

Sure enough, following the direction of the sound, Saten Ruiko saw Inoue Eika's phone under the sketches on the table. Looking around the room, Saten Ruiko noticed that Inoue Eika's coat was carelessly thrown on the bed, and his strange heavy sword, which he was always inseparable from, was now standing quietly by the table.

A rustling sound came into the room with a gust of cool wind, and Saten Ruiko noticed the unusual appearance of the window.