“It’s all Touma’s fault! You suddenly ran off just now, didn’t you?” Facing Kamijou Touma’s complaint, Index seemed full of resentment. “I told you to wait for me, but you still ran away without even looking back!”
“You saw the situation just now,” Kamijou Touma said, feeling wronged. “The reason I ran was to lure those thugs away so you could slip away! No, that wasn’t running; it was luring the enemy!”
“Regarding this matter,” Sakura, who was standing nearby, suddenly interjected, “Our reason for finding you this time is precisely for this.”
“That irresponsible rumor?” Kamijou Touma immediately asked. “Has the Board of Directors finally decided to debunk it?”
Sakura and Ryoko exchanged glances and shrugged slightly—debunking rumors… rather, the “rumor” was originally something they had actively fabricated.
To be precise, it was with Chairman Aleister’s tacit approval that they allowed rumors and gossip to spread and distort freely, then selected the desired parts from them, eliminating other unnecessary “impurities.”
Ultimately, this formed the widely circulated “rumor” now—that Kamijou Touma defeated Lin Wuming.
Of course, this was not Chairman Aleister’s original intention, as he only authorized the elimination of some rumors but did not actively create any new ones.
The way the information transformed during its dissemination, becoming what it is now, even exceeded Chairman Aleister’s expectations.
Otherwise, Sakura and Ryoko would not have appeared here.
Chairman Aleister’s initial goal was merely to conceal Lin Wuming’s existence from the Misawa Cram School Incident.
For various reasons, at this stage, Lin Wuming’s importance slightly surpasses that of Imagine Breaker Kamijou Touma.
That’s why Chairman Aleister chose to push Kamijou Touma into the spotlight to attract attention for Lin Wuming.
Moreover, from another perspective, Kamijou Touma indeed needed more trials—having enemies from the magic side focus their attention on him aligned with the initial plan.
But the outcome was something even Chairman Aleister hadn’t anticipated—the direction of the rumors did change, but it changed too much.
It’s unclear where the problem occurred in the process, but during the spread of the rumor, it inexplicably evolved into the nonsensical version of “Kamijou Touma defeated Lin Wuming.”
Misawa Cram School, as the core of the incident, was completely relegated to an irrelevant footnote…
And this was just the beginning.
Facts once again proved that the name “Lin Wuming” seemed to carry a self-spreading memetic contamination; under any circumstances, it could easily occupy a place in Academy City’s public opinion.
Furthermore, due to Lin Wuming’s activity for over two years, the title of “hero” had never faded, leading him to have many fans and admirers.
Similarly, he also had many potential adversaries.
Now, both of these groups were triggered by this rumor, and then they collectively targeted the innocent Kamijou Touma…
He didn’t feel it when he was discharged from the hospital yesterday, but as more and more people noticed Kamijou Touma’s activities outside, it immediately triggered a large-scale “battle royale.”
No matter how strong Kamijou Touma was, he couldn’t simultaneously handle the encirclement of dozens or hundreds of people.
In fact, if it weren’t for being truly desperate, Kamijou Touma wouldn’t have “abandoned” Index to lead away the pursuers alone; nor would he have fled to Lin Wuming’s hospital room for peace and quiet…
Such a development was too much even for Chairman Aleister to bear.
“When it comes to rumors, it’s better to guide than to block,” Sakura explained. “The best way to deal with them is to give them the cold shoulder—do nothing, and they will naturally dissipate after a few days.”
“Am I supposed to hide at home for a few days?” Kamijou Touma looked troubled.
If he were alone, staying home for a few days would be fine, but Index was also at home now!
If he couldn’t go out to buy groceries, the supplies at home would only last two days at most!
“No,” Sakura shook her head, turned, and took a document bag from Ryoko’s hand. “According to the Board of Directors’ opinion, you, young Kamijou, need to go out and avoid the storm.”
“Go out?” Kamijou Touma was a bit confused, but after taking the document bag and opening it, he found a stamped “Exit Application Form” inside.
Academy City has very strict entry and exit management for students; if one wants to leave Academy City—even to go home or for a short trip—they must apply in advance.
After obtaining permission—which is this “Exit Application Form”—a chip must also be implanted under the skin before one can leave.
Because the procedures are very cumbersome, even during summer vacation, very few students choose to leave Academy City.
After all, the scale of an entire city is large enough that there’s no need to worry about being bored.
Kamijou Touma carefully checked the application form and found that his name had already been signed; he only needed to stamp it for it to take effect immediately.
“So… letting me go out means leaving Academy City?”
“Yes, you’ll have five days of vacation time,” Sakura nodded. “With you, the person involved, not present, five days will be enough for people to calm down.”
“Additionally,” Ryoko added, “your family, young Kamijou, also happens to be free. We have issued invitation tickets to a beach resort in the name of Academy City, so you can go on vacation with your family.”
“I’d be happy to…” Kamijou Touma scratched his head, as free invitation tickets were quite tempting to him.
However, Kamijou Touma looked troubled at Index—what should he do about this silver-haired nun?
Index, who belongs to the British Puritan Church, should be considered an undocumented person, right?
She was originally an illegal immigrant, so it would, of course, be impossible to apply for any “Exit Application”…
Speaking of which, it was really lucky that Index’s undocumented status hadn’t been discovered by these two “official personnel”…
“Miss Index has visitor privileges; she doesn’t need to go through the exit application procedures,” Ryoko added.
“Eh?” Kamijou Touma’s eyes widened as he looked over, completely surprised that Index actually had legal status…
But thinking about it carefully, it didn’t seem so strange.
After all, Stiyl, also a magician, had traveled in and out of Academy City by plane several times, and he was never arrested by the Anti-Skill.
How could Index, from the same organization, not have legal status?
It was just that because it was never needed in daily life, Kamijou Touma had always thought the nun staying at his house was an undocumented person.
Now it’s good; Index can also go on vacation together, and there’s no need to worry about leaving her alone in the apartment.
The only headache remaining would be how to explain this nun who appeared out of nowhere to his family…
