Chapter 109: Ch 109: First Victim

Noah looked around alertly for the possible bomb he had been warned about by the system. But the school was too big to blindly search for the bomb on foot.

’It would be so much better if I had help from an esper who specialized in such things.’

Unfortunately, Noah did not know of any such esper, so the best he could do was look around the festival for anything suspicious.

He moved around from stall to stall, looking at stalls from all years.

As one of the only days when all years were allowed to interact, Noah wanted to keep his head down. But it was hard given the current circumstances.

"Ugh, this is hard! I really want to find it quickly and enjoy the festival."

"What do you want to find quickly? If you tell me, then maybe I can help you out."

Noah complained under his breath, only to feel someone’s arms circling his shoulders, and he froze in shock.

A scream threatened to leave his lips, but he suppressed it and turned around to face Alan. The esper had a stiff smile on his face, which hid his unhappiness at the fact that Noah had pulled out of his grasp.

"Y-You scared me! You should have said something before you wrapped your arm around me-"

"Why? Are you in some kind of danger that is making you so tense? Do you need my help with anything?"

Alan asked, and the first thing Noah noticed was that he was alone. He could not sense Daniel anywhere, which made him feel concerned.

"N-No, I am fine. But where is Daniel? You should not be leaving him alone today because it’s dangerous. What if some dangerous esper decides to approach him or forcefully make Daniel guide them?"

Not that Daniel could not take care of himself. But it was still nice to have someone there to protect him when things got tough.

Alan did not seem to think the same since he pouted at Noah’s words, and his face had a genuinely sad smile on it.

"Why are you talking about Daniel when the one here with you is me? That stubborn bastard can take care of himself. He specifically told me he did not need my help, so I decided to come and look for you."

Alan sounded bitter when he said that, and Noah felt a little sorry for him.

It did not surprise him that Daniel threw Alan away since they were still in an awkward state. And Alan’s ego must have been hurt because of this, so he chose to come to Noah instead.

The esper was using Noah to try and make Daniel jealous.

And yet, despite realizing this, Noah felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

’This is beyond pathetic. I don’t even have time for this. I need to find that bomb before it goes off-’

The second Noah said that, he heard a loud explosion not too far away. It made his heart skip a beat, and his feet started walking toward the explosion without meaning to.

He had not walked too far when he felt someone grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"What are you-"

He tried to speak, only to see Alan’s worried face.

"Why are you going toward that explosion? Do you want to get hurt? I can sense that this explosion happened because of an unstable esper. We should be heading as far away from this as possible."

Alan had a point, and his words cut through Noah’s foggy brain like a knife.

This explosion was not big enough to be a threat. Rather, it was a small explosion that espers usually caused when they needed guiding.

Still, Noah’s heart told him that he should check it out.

"I would still like to take a look if you don’t mind."

Noah’s instincts were still telling him that he should take a look at the situation at hand. It might not be related to the bomb he was looking for, but it was dangerous nonetheless.

A flash of irritation passed across Alan’s face for a second before he masked it and nodded to show that he understood.

"Alright, fine. We can check it out since you are so adamant about it. But I bet it is the usual case of an esper not maintaining his cycle and losing control."

Noah nodded to show that he agreed but his heart continued to beat in an irregular way. It usually happened when he was about to approach a dangerous situaion.

"Let’s go and check it out quickly."

Alan sighed but followed him without arguing. The closer they got to the location, the more Noah noticed students moving away from the area with worried expressions.

When they finally reached the place, Noah saw a small group of students gathered around a damaged stall. Several pieces of wood had been scattered across the ground, while a student was sitting nearby with his head lowered.

"See? I told you. It looks like an esper lost control."

Alan pointed out, but Noah did not answer.

His eyes were focused on the ground.

There was something strange about the damage. The explosion had not spread outward naturally, and there were several marks around the stall that looked almost deliberate.

’This doesn’t look like an esper losing control.’

Noah crouched down and carefully examined the ground without touching anything.

"Alan, can you sense anything strange?"

Alan frowned before closing his eyes and spreading his perception around the area.

"Not really. There is some unstable esper energy, but nothing that feels dangerous."

"That’s strange..."

Noah frowned as he looked around.

If this really was caused by an unstable esper, then why did he feel so uneasy? He just...felt like the esper had lost control in a way that was not normal.

Noah was so deeply lost in thoughts that he did not even notice the crowd gasping, nor did he notice the esper rushing toward him and Alan with a crazy look in his eyes.

He only realized something had happened when Alan used his powers.