Chapter 823: Kindness and cruelty, Tsundere and

"Oooh, I am so angry!"

Kinuhata Saiai kicked the pebble near her feet away.

"Just let me finish off that jerk!"

"In the end, don't fool around!"

Frenda gasped in shock.

"That's a peak tier 8 individual, are you seriously going to go head to head with someone like that?! You don't stand a chance!"

"Just because I am lower in level doesn't mean I can't kill him!"

Kinuhata Saiai retorted.

"When we are in ITEM, we took down people way tougher than ourselves, if a duel is outo f the question, we can always off him in the dark!"

Frenda grabbed her Beret cap anxiously.

"Hey, you aren't seriously going to do that, right?..."

"You bet your-"

"That's enough..."

Mikoto sighed.

"I hate the guy as much as you but we shouldn't kill him just because of what he said..."

"Ha?"

Kinuhata Saiai looked at Mikoto with disbelief. She sighed too.

"You're as kind-hearted as ever!"

"Th-this isn't related to that at all, right?"

"Normally, an asshat like that should have died ages ago."

"Normally, you wouldn't go around killing people just because they talked smack."

"I would, I so would!"

"You and..."

"Yare yare..."

Frenda sighed when she saw Mikoto squabbling with Kinuhata Saiai like kids. It seems she forgot she's the one with the youngest look among them. She roamed over Shokuhou Misaki.

"Fortunately, Shokuhou was there to back us up, otherwise, we would have fought with them. It was the right decision to keep you here!"

"Well, we aren't exactly hiding our movements and our gains when we camp near this place, a situation like that would have happened sooner or later anyway..."

Shokuhou Misaki brushed her hair back and she winked at her.

"I just didn't think it would come to this so soon..."

Mikoto and Kinuhata Saiai agreed to disagree as they snorted and turned the other way. Since Mikoto turned her head Shokuhou Misaki's way, she asked her.

"So, are we going to break off all diplomatic possibilities with them?"

"I don't super think that should be the case, right?..."

Kinuhata Saiai asked with her usual verbal tic. Invisible air swirled around her fist as she condensed it around her fist.

"With Shokuhou here, they won't be able to try anything. At least, we aren't afraid of putting up a fight if they come to us with hostile intent..."

"They won't give up."

Shokuhou Misaki added with a frigid tone.

"The longer we stay here, the more frustrated they will be. They saw how efficiently the Sisters fought, anyone with a tactical mind would seek to integrate the Sisters with their forces at any means available!"

Shokuhou Misaki read their minds from a mile away. The loot and levies are only the dessert, they wanted the Sisters.

They stockpiled a ton of resources for sure, however, compared to an army of highly-trained, efficient, and independent force like the Misaka Sisters, they can technically skirt any responsibility to the empire since they aren't citizens.

Otherwise, Marcus wouldn't have asked for their obedience when he could have asked for the levies back then.

The representative from the Lori Family, Pelosi gave them an easy way out. He hinted at giving the loot up instead of being coerced into joining forces with the human army. He's probably looking out for their interest at the behest of the Lori Family.

"What do we do now?"

Mikoto asked with an annoyed tone.

"They are probably going to keep hounding us for the resources. I am afraid we can't avoid trouble any longer."

"It's hard to avoid trouble when that trouble keeps finding its way to you..."

Shokuhou Misaki quipped.

"Woe be the heroines who are working hard to grind and hunt monsters for that lewd animal. I reckon these points will help him greatly..."

Mikoto, Kinuhata Saiai, and Frenda stopped. Takitsubou Rikou who looked like she might daze off also came back into reality when Shokuhou Misaki mentioned the lewd animal. Their hearts slightly fluttered when they heard his title. They missed him...

"Hey, that guy already returned, right?"

Mikoto asked nonchalantly but she couldn't hide her apparent interest. Meanwhile, Shokuhou Misaki giggled.

"Misaka-san, you already have the answer, don't you? I mean, you're the one who has the most questions among us, judging by the barrage of questions you asked when talking with Hinagiku and the others..."

"I j-just asked because the topic's related... and I..."

Mikoto's volume slowly lowered until she sounds like a mosquito. She also blushed suspiciously. Kinuhata Saiai and Frenda giggled with amusement.

"Yeah, you're a tsundere, that guy was right."

"Yeah yeah, tsundere~ tsundere~"

"Stop calling me a tsundere!"

Mikoto roared.

"I am not a Tsundere!"

Takitsubou Rikou looked at the three stooges. She gave up asking Mikoto so she asked Shokuhou Misaki instead.

"Is he in the academy?"

The girls piped down as Shokuhou Misaki helplessly shook her head. She gazed up at the sky.

"Two days ago, Hinagiku told us he returned. Then, he obtained a new ability that he's busy training and polishing. It should be about time he finished, we should be able to talk with him the next time we talk through the crystal ball."

Mikoto and the other three girls' eyes lit up. Shokuhou Misaki brushed her hair again.

"I for one, would like to hear more about how he got engaged with the imperial princess..."

The air froze as the temperature steadily fell, the girls were not amused to say the least.

The closest Misaka Sister opened her mouth.

"Misaka observes that Onii-sama is probably cheating on us, Misaka says as she gave her conclusion."

"Onii-sama is a playboy, Misaka 10031 says as she agrees with Misaka 10032!"

"Aye says Misaka 9982!"

"Aye, says Misaka 10777!"

"Misaka 19090 concurs!"

Mikoto, Shokuhou Misaki, Kinuhata Saiai, Frenda, and Takitsubou Rikou looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

Mikoto and Takitsubou Rikou stopped when they sensed something. Their smiles turned into one of pleasant surprise.

"This feeling... it's..."

Mikoto's bang flashed with electricity. Takitsubou Rikou's pupil shrunk as they shivered.

"What?"

Kinuhata Saiai, Shokuhou Misaki, and Frenda asked the two.

"What happened?"

"Well, I am not sure if it's a good thing or not..."

Mikoto couldn't help but grin as she looked up at the sky.

"Here they come!"

A gigantic airship appeared out of thin air, the air flow it generated blew away the clouds nearby.

"That's the Fraxinus!"

Shokuhou Misaki's shocked look change to one of intrigued frustration.

"I didn't think he would come without saying anything..."

"That guy is (finally) super here!"

Kinuhata Saiai and Frenda cheered.

A few figures were beamed down from the ship.