Meanwhile, Saten Ruiko and Misaka, who had both been ready to act, were stunned to see the criminal suddenly stop moving.
Misaka turned around sharply. "Shokuhō Misaki?!" She was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected her longtime rival to actually help out in a situation like this. Maybe she'd judged her too harshly.
And then, she noticed the man standing behind Shokuhō.
"Su Mo-sensei? You're here too?" Misaka asked, astonished.
"Yeah, just passing by," Su Mo replied casually. "I've already contacted the Anti-Skill unit. They'll be here shortly."
"Oh!" Misaka nodded obediently. With an adult—and a powerful esper—on scene, she knew to follow his lead.
Kuroko, having finished with her own target, teleported over to join them. Su Mo turned to her immediately. "Kuroko, let's get these two esper criminals tied up first."
"Good thing I brought rope," he added, pulling out a strong, lengthy cord from his bag.
Everyone blinked.
"Sensei, why do you even have rope on you?" Kuroko asked, unable to suppress the question.
"For self-defense, of course!" Su Mo replied with a straight face. "You never know when you might need it. Academy City's not exactly safe."
"…Right," Kuroko muttered, unconvinced. She couldn't help thinking, As if any of that applies to an LV5 like you…
But as students, they couldn't exactly argue with a teacher.
Naturally, with adults present, there was no need to let the girls handle the heavy lifting. After a brief exchange with Shokuhō, Su Mo took the lead and securely tied up both suspects, leaving the group—including Kuroko and Misaka—none the wiser.
And so, while the city resumed its bustling rhythm and Anti-Skill was on its way, the small showdown between Misaka and Shokuhō was temporarily put on hold… though the Gekota keychain still dangled temptingly in the queen's hand.
While tying up the two criminals, a small object resembling a music player silently disappeared into Su Mo's hand.
As Su Mo skillfully bound the two men, Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko watched curiously from the side. "Misaka-senpai, was that your teacher just now?" Uiharu asked, her eyes filled with admiration. "As expected of a teacher from Tokiwadai Middle School, he's really handsome!"
Hearing someone praise Su Mo, Misaka Mikoto couldn't help but feel a little pleased. "Su Mo-sensei isn't just handsome, he's also an excellent teacher. Technically speaking though, he's not a full-time faculty member at Tokiwadai, but rather a specially appointed instructor. The school spent a hefty sum to recruit him."
"Last year, we lost out to Nagatenjouki Academy because we failed to bring in Su Mo-sensei. Our board was determined not to make the same mistake again, so this year they invested heavily to finally bring him in. The hope is that with Su Mo-sensei's guidance, Tokiwadai can reclaim the top ranking from Nagatenjouki."
Misaka shared everything she knew about Su Mo, leaving Uiharu even more awestruck. "As expected of an elite school for young ladies, even the teachers are involved in this kind of fierce competition. It sounds like something straight out of a shoujo manga—hiring the best teacher for the sake of school honor."
Uiharu, who often fantasized about the glamorous lives of noble ladies, looked at Tokiwadai with even more admiration. Her own Sakugawa Middle School rarely concerned itself with rankings. Year after year, they remained comfortably in the middle, with little ambition for change.
Meanwhile, Saten Ruiko was far more focused on something else. "So what exactly does Su Mo-sensei teach? Can a single teacher really make that much difference between two top schools? That sounds way too exaggerated... almost like one of those brilliant strategists from the Three Kingdoms period, like Zhuge Kongming."
In Japan, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms had long been popular, and even those who weren't well-read knew some of its stories. Saten made the comparison only because she found the whole thing incredible. After all, the development of esper abilities was supposed to be slow, highly individualized, and largely dependent on one's own accumulation and luck. She had never heard of anyone whose lessons could cause such dramatic results.
If it weren't Misaka Mikoto—a Level 5 herself—saying all this, Saten might have thought they were being scammed. The notion that one teacher could directly influence the rankings of two of the city's most prestigious schools sounded completely unbelievable.
Misaka, however, was used to hearing such doubts. She immediately shook her head, speaking with conviction as she defended Su Mo's abilities. "We thought the same thing at first. We assumed it was all just exaggerated rumors. But after attending even one class, we realized Su Mo-sensei truly is that amazing."
At this point, Misaka's expression grew slightly embarrassed. She had once been one of those students who doubted Su Mo's teaching methods. But after just a single lecture, she had been completely won over. She had thought she was already quite skilled at manipulating her electromagnetic powers. Yet after Su Mo's explanations, she realized she had barely scratched the surface.
Her previous applications of electromagnetic force had been embarrassingly primitive, practically an insult to one of the universe's four fundamental forces. Magnet rotation, positron cannons, gamma-ray bursts—these were the kinds of techniques she should have been striving for. The ocean of scientific knowledge was vast, yet she had been content simply playing around within Faraday's basic framework. That was her greatest shortcoming.
"Under Su Mo-sensei's guidance, many of our students have made huge improvements. There are quite a few students who, while officially Level 3, can now unleash abilities on par with Level 4. Some have even directly advanced a whole level. Just this morning during physical evaluations, more than a dozen students were promoted by a full rank. And they all attended Su Mo-sensei's classes."
As she spoke about Su Mo's teaching results, Misaka grew even more animated. The evaluations from that morning had stunned not only the students but even the school's principal and board members. The results had been so astonishing they ran multiple re-tests just to make sure there were no mistakes.
"Wha—?!" Both Uiharu and Saten were wide-eyed with disbelief.
"As expected of Tokiwadai… even their teachers are world-class," Uiharu said in a trembling voice, her admiration for Tokiwadai growing even deeper. A noble girl's school indeed—everything about it seemed extraordinary.
Saten, however, looked like her entire worldview was crumbling. "That's insane!" she exclaimed. A dozen students rising an entire level, countless others enhancing their abilities—it was almost too much to believe. A single teacher achieving results rivaling that of the legendary Level Upper device was beyond comprehension.
As that thought crossed her mind, a bold idea suddenly took root in Saten's heart. If only I could attend Su Mo-sensei's class…
Perhaps then, even her Level 0 ability could be improved. She didn't dare to dream of anything extravagant—just being promoted to Level 1 would already be enough. In Academy City, while ability levels weren't everything, it was still the reason many parents sent their children here in the first place. Saten didn't need a high rank to feel validated. She only wanted to have a power she could proudly show her parents—a sign that her years of hard work hadn't been in vain. Even if it was something as simple as being able to generate a flame like a lighter, it would be enough for her.
But then reality quickly caught up to her optimism. Even Tokiwadai, a top-class elite school, had to pay an enormous price to invite Su Mo-sensei to teach just one class each month. How could an ordinary student from a modest family like hers ever afford that? It was practically impossible. The brief glimmer of hope she had felt was once again snuffed out by the harsh truth, leaving her quietly dispirited. That subtle pain was something no one else around her could truly understand.
At that moment, none of her friends noticed her change in mood, because a sharp police siren suddenly pierced the air. The Anti-Skill unit, tasked with responding to ability-user crimes, had finally arrived on the scene.