Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies-Chapter 329 - 323: Canned Mackerel and Frenda

Seventh School District.

Haruto sat in a small restaurant, gazing out at the gradually rising buildings outside, deep in thought.

Starsea Academy had officially set foot in Academy City.

Information about the academy had already been made public on the city's official website.

They were currently recruiting a large number of teachers with upright conduct.

Especially in the field of esper development.

The final location of Starsea Academy was in the Seventh District.

The same district as Tokiwadai Middle School.

Though, there was some distance between the two, Tokiwadai was a private aristocratic girls' school.

In a sense, its enrollment requirements were even stricter than Shuchiin Academy's.

It only accepted girls with abilities ranked Level 3 or above, and even their backgrounds were taken into account.

Unless one was extremely gifted, those able to enter Tokiwadai were genuine high-class ladies.

That Tokiwadai was within the legendary School Garden.

Ordinary people had absolutely no way of entering.

So, when Misaki referred to it as the noble ladies' backyard, it wasn't really an exaggeration.

Come to think of it, Misaki's words were quite tempting.

Cough cough.

Anyway, although Starsea Academy was also located in the Seventh District, it was a fair distance from the School Garden.

There were few other academies in the Seventh District. That Starsea Academy was placed here was clearly Aleister's doing.

While Haruto was lost in thought—

"You go through all the trouble to meet a girl, and yet you're distracted, staring out the window. So rude!"

A girl's voice came from the side.

This kind of habit of starting sentences with "You go through all the trouble..."—

Even without turning around, Haruto knew it was Frenda.

"Sit down. I'll treat you to some mackerel."

At those words, Frenda, who had looked somewhat displeased before, immediately took a seat.

She was an absolute mackerel fanatic.

To Frenda—

As long as you love mackerel, we're good friends!

As long as you treat me to mackerel, we're best friends forever!

She quickly sat across from Haruto and rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

Haruto turned his head and glanced at the girl.

Compared to her dark attire when carrying out missions, Frenda looked far more cheerful now.

She wore a light-colored jacket, and even her beret had been switched to pink.

The only thing that hadn't changed was her ultra-short skirt and her stunningly shaped, alluring legs.

"You've got good taste, hehe."

Noticing Haruto's gaze on her legs, Frenda deliberately crossed them and stretched them out slightly.

Those long legs wrapped in black stockings could make anyone's blood boil.

It was clearly the part she was most proud of—anyone could tell from her usual fashion sense.

However...

"It's almost winter. Dressed like that, you're going to freeze your legs off."

Haruto said heartlessly, his expression unchanged. Hearing that, Frenda shivered involuntarily.

No way she'd let her beautiful legs get frostbitten and amputated!

At that moment, the ordered mackerel was brought to their table.

Frenda's attention was instantly diverted, and she eagerly picked up her chopsticks and began devouring the food.

Watching her wolf down the food like a hamster stuffing its cheeks, Haruto twitched his mouth.

"You really do love mackerel, huh?"

Frenda was nearly puffed up from eating and yet she still managed to respond,

"Mackerel is the best thing in the world. Don't you think so? If I go too long without it, I get heart palpitations, trembling hands and feet, even hallucinations."

Haruto: ?

He really wanted to say, she wasn't describing mackerel.

That sounded more like... Genshin Impact withdrawal.

Like a whirlwind, Frenda devoured all the mackerel on the plate.

But she deliberately left one piece behind, skewered it with her chopsticks, and offered it to Haruto.

"Here, to repay you for sparing my life."

Haruto bit into the piece of mackerel.

"Your life is really cheap, huh? Just one piece of mackerel? And wasn't I the one treating you to this meal?"

Frenda stuck out her tongue, trying to play cute and dodge the issue. After finishing the meal, the two finally got to the "serious business."

"So~ bringing a cute girl like me out alone, what exactly did you want to do?"

Frenda batted her big eyes on purpose.

But Haruto wasn't having any of it.

He had long since developed a strong resistance to cutesy antics.

After all, he had a Shiro at home—

The very embodiment of "moe is justice."

"You're the one who asked me out. Don't twist the facts."

Hearing that, Frenda had no choice but to get serious.

"So, why did you save me?"

She wasn't talking about the time he let her go.

She meant the moment when Haruto specifically stepped in to help her. Though she didn't know what technique he had used to render her speechless—

It had undoubtedly saved her life.

If she had leaked any information about ITEM, even if she escaped, she would've definitely been killed by Mugino afterward.

"Maybe I just didn't want you to turn into Frand-ash."

Haruto replied casually.

Frenda twitched at the corners of her mouth.

That sentence was really strange—especially the way he paused mid-name. It felt like there was some hidden meaning.

A chill ran down her spine.

"You've asked your question. Now it's my turn. So—how's your investigation going?"

Haruto asked offhandedly.

Frenda's playful demeanor vanished. She paused for a moment, then said,

"We've found some clues. Nothing conclusive yet, but... it seems you were right."

After that incident—

The four members of ITEM had returned and started investigating their own pasts in detail.

And then—

Though they hadn't found solid proof—

They discovered a shocking number of logical inconsistencies.

Clearly, their past encounters were, in large part, not coincidences. But rather carefully designed traps—someone deliberately guiding their actions...

After all, ITEM and the others were merely tools used by the Board of Directors.

They weren't under Aleister's direct command. In other words, it wasn't Aleister targeting them.

So the cover-ups weren't exactly flawless.

Not everyone was a godlike manipulator like Aleister. When others pulled strings, they often left traces. These traces might have gone unnoticed at the time but not under close scrutiny.

Frenda's face darkened considerably.

To the extreme.

She had a younger sister.

Most of her reason for working in the dark side was to support that sister.

But at the root of it—

Frenda's parents had died in an accident, and their insurance payout was swallowed by a shady company.

Even her education subsidy had been suspended for various bogus reasons.

In order to survive, she was forced into the dark side.

But upon closer inspection—

There were all kinds of shady deals in play.

Frenda even discovered that there were some suspicious people lurking around her sister.

Even timid, usually non-confrontational Frenda felt a deep fury.

The other three in ITEM had similar stories.

Though the details differed, the essence was the same.

The seed of doubt Haruto planted had now grown into a towering tree. Because what he said back then... was absolutely true.

Frenda drummed her fingers anxiously on the table. After learning the truth, besides anger, she also felt a deep fear.

What should she do?

Keep pretending she knew nothing and continue carrying out her missions in the dark?

Frenda felt that even if she did—

Eventually, she would still be discarded like a tool.

No matter what, she didn't want to die.

Just as her anxiety peaked—

Haruto snapped his fingers.

Frenda was instantly brought back to her senses. Strangely, that crisp snap wiped away much of her unease.

"You don't have to stress over it. The dark side will be disbanded soon anyway. And the Board of Directors—those guys don't have much longer either. If you're really interested, I can put in a request—let you personally deal with them."

Frenda's eyes widened.

Haruto had said something similar before. But back then, it was hard to believe. Now, hearing it again, it felt entirely different.

"Just who... are you?"

Frenda looked at Haruto with wide, curious eyes. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Who exactly was this boy—

Who could so casually talk about purging the Board of Directors?

They were the highest authority in Academy City!