Chapter 853: A Nun from Afar
The surrounding scenery changed continuously, revealing a clear improvement in Shirai Kuroko’s Space Movement ability. Each time, the distance of her Space Movement was consistently over a hundred meters, and there was no delay between consecutive activations, as if it were as easy and natural as breathing…
Lin Wuming silently evaluated the esper ability of the girl beside him.
Because besides that, he didn’t know what else to do.
After the brief conversation just now, Shirai Kuroko remained silent, simply activating her Space Movement. Even Lin Wuming could sense the girl’s abnormality.
However, upon closer thought, it was understandable. Being seen in front of the park just now was indeed a bit awkward.
Unlike himself, who worked on and off, Shirai Kuroko took her Judgment work seriously. She truly had her own sense of “justice” and diligently upheld that belief.
So, the near-brawl between Shokuhou Misaki and Misaka Worst just now must have seemed quite undignified to Shirai Kuroko, right?
Moreover… Lin Wuming wasn’t quite sure what kind of feelings this Shirai Kuroko harbored for Misaka Mikoto now. Was she still like in the original work, holding a heavy affection for Onee-sama that went beyond friendship?
—If that were truly the case, he and she might have a somewhat strange “love rival” relationship… which would be even more awkward.
However, Lin Wuming also knew that he couldn’t remain silent forever; he had to say something.
Especially when he realized that their direction was School Garden, he could no longer ignore it.
“Shirai…”
“No need to be so formal, Wuming-senpai,” Shirai Kuroko immediately interrupted him, pausing slightly before continuing, “Just call me Kuroko… Hmm, like Onee-sama.”
“Like Mikoto…” Lin Wuming nodded thoughtfully, “I understand. So, Kuroko, where are you taking me? It’s not School Garden, is it?”
“Please rest assured, it’s not inside School Garden,” Shirai Kuroko said, “It’s just that Koura is waiting for Our in that vicinity.”
“That’s rare,” Lin Wuming said, following up, “How did that Gao Ping-sensei think of asking for your help?”
“Because he happened to be here for a meeting, specifically about the recent intelligence leak case in School Garden…” Shirai Kuroko explained, then suddenly thought of something, “Huh? Now that I think about it, could he have specifically found a way to attend the meeting just to find me?”
Hearing this, Lin Wuming was also stunned: “It shouldn’t be, right? Would he go to such lengths?”
“I think it’s very possible.” Recalling the ingratiating and fawning expression on that man’s face just now, Shirai Kuroko said, “After all, that guy is determined to curry favor with you, senpai.”
“Curry favor with me…” Lin Wuming clicked his tongue, “It’s not incomprehensible, but…”
He looked at the girl beside him. To seek help and connections from this “Justice” person, that Koura really hadn’t done his homework.
Even if Lin Wuming didn’t mind being a little flexible in some matters, now, out of consideration for Shirai Kuroko’s feelings, he probably couldn’t help with many things.
—This naive girl doesn’t understand the complexity of the adult world, which is why she agreed to help so easily, right?
Shirai Kuroko didn’t know what Lin Wuming was thinking. She suddenly spoke: “Speaking of which, Koura was also entrusted by someone. Someone from outside Academy City wants to see Wuming-senpai…”
“I know, you already said that,” Lin Wuming nodded.
“Although I didn’t ask for too many details,” Shirai Kuroko said, “it seems to be a beautiful girl.”
“Eh? A beautiful girl?” Lin Wuming’s thought process immediately slowed down by a beat.
Then his gaze met the girl’s beside him directly—Shirai Kuroko was observing him very seriously.
“Ahem,” Lin Wuming quickly cleared his throat, explaining, “Recently, I’ve been a little sensitive to the term ‘beautiful girl’…”
It wasn’t an interest in the positive sense; on the contrary, whenever Lin Wuming heard “beautiful girl” now, he couldn’t help but associate it with “trouble.”
It was somewhat impolite to say, but the ones causing this troublesome situation were precisely the beautiful girls closest to Lin Wuming.
—Just a few minutes ago, those beautiful girls, who were all extraordinary in every way, almost started a street brawl!
“No need to explain,” Shirai Kuroko withdrew her gaze and turned to look forward again, “I don’t care.”
After a pause, the girl added, “I won’t tell Onee-sama either.”
“Actually, it’s fine to tell them,” Lin Wuming could only smile bitterly, feeling like he was making things worse by trying to explain.
“Because Shokuhou is there, right?” Shirai Kuroko said, “There are no secrets in front of her, so Wuming-senpai, you’re used to not keeping secrets.”
“Those are two different things,” Lin Wuming explained seriously, “Not wanting to deliberately hide something is different from having no secrets.”
Shirai Kuroko snorted lightly but didn’t continue to argue: “We’re here.”
On the road outside School Garden, a police-painted SUV was parked.
Noticing the arrival of Lin Wuming and Shirai Kuroko, a man in a dark blue Anti-Skill uniform quickly got out to greet them.
“Is it a nun?”
Lin Wuming didn’t waste words, going straight to the point to ask Koura who wanted to see him, only to receive the answer “a nun.”
“Is it a silver-haired nun?” Lin Wuming immediately pressed, as he only knew one nun.
“Silver-haired?” Koura was also somewhat confused, “No, she’s a short-haired girl with black hair, looks like a university student.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “But I observed that her hair seemed dyed, so it might have originally been silver after all.”
“Then it’s not her. I don’t know that nun,” Lin Wuming shook his head. Dyed hair could be explained, but he didn’t believe Index would be willing to cut her long hair short.
“But she insisted on seeing you!” Koura became anxious, quickly explaining, “I’ve seen countless people, so I can tell she’s not lying…”
“I know, I’m not questioning you, don’t get agitated,” Lin Wuming said, “Do you have any other information?”
“Like her name, or a photo,” Shirai Kuroko added from the side, “You wouldn’t have failed to prepare these basic details, would you?”
“Of course, I do.” Koura quickly retrieved a tablet from the car, “Her name is Orsola Aquinas, Italian. I checked, her passport information is fine. Here are her photos and video footage from when she entered the gate…”
—So it’s her?
Lin Wuming suddenly understood. He knew… no, he should say he “knew of” that woman, Orsola Aquinas.
