Extraordinary Power

The two police officers exchanged a glance. One of them said solemnly, “Hold on a moment. I'll go consult my superior.”

With that, he hurriedly left, leaving the other officer behind to comfort Freya, saying things like, “Don't be afraid,” and “We'll take care of this for you.”

A moment later, the officer who had just left returned to the lobby with three others. These three were also in police uniforms, but the color was different from the standard ones.

Regular officers wore black uniforms, but these three wore deep blue ones. Freya could tell at a glance that their clothing was far more refined, both in material and design.

Furthermore, while most police officers were typically young adult men, this trio consisted of a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, and a teenage boy and girl who looked barely older than Freya herself.

As soon as they arrived, the middle-aged man approached Freya and pressed for confirmation. “Little girl, are you absolutely sure you didn't see wrong? That person really had red eyes and a tail behind him?”

Freya nodded. “It's true... I really saw it...”

Just as she finished speaking, a quiet, scholarly-looking girl with glasses and shoulder-length blonde hair among the three officers suddenly spoke up. “Captain, she isn't lying.”

Freya blinked in surprise.

This immediately confirmed Freya's suspicion: these three likely possessed some kind of "supernatural power." They were probably the specialists in this world tasked with handling such anomalous events.

Fortunately, the captain's question had been rather vague. He had only asked if she had "really seen" those features, rather than "really seen them yesterday." Thus, she technically hadn't lied.

Still, it put Freya on her guard. With this lie-detecting ability around, she would have to watch her words carefully. After a moment of thought, she asked timidly, “Is... is that guy really human? Are the urban legends I heard at school actually true? Are there really a bunch of hidden monsters in this world?”

Seeing this, the middle-aged man addressed as "Captain" couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. He sighed and said, “Well, child... there are indeed some inexplicable things in this world. But don't worry, we will protect you.”

Freya pressed further. “What exactly are these inexplicable things?”

The captain sighed again. “Our top priority right now is resolving your immediate problem. How about this? Once we drive that bad guy away, I'll explain the situation to you in detail. Deal?”

Since he put it that way, Freya naturally couldn't push any further. Thus, she led the three officers toward her home. Along the way, she learned their names through casual conversation.

The oldest, the captain, was named 【Nolan Ashford】. The nineteen-year-old boy in the squad was 【Miles Carter】, and the twenty-year-old blonde girl who could detect lies was 【Reina Carter】.

Judging by their names, the two youths were family—specifically, siblings. However, Freya's gaze drifted back and forth between them. They didn't even share the same hair color; the older sister had blonde hair, while the younger brother had black hair.

Moreover, despite being the older sister, Reina was only about 1.6 meters tall, a full head shorter than her younger brother, Miles. No matter how she looked at them, they seemed more like a big brother and a little sister.

Just as Freya was thinking this, Reina seemed to sense something. She immediately puffed out her cheeks, placed a hand on her hip, and said, “Freya, aren't you about the same height as me anyway?”

“Huh?” Freya looked genuinely surprised. She looked into Reina's eyes and realized their lines of sight were indeed level. “Am I really only about 1.6 meters tall?”

She had never paid any attention to her height before, so this was truly the first time she had realized it.

Reina stared at her, a question mark practically floating over her head. Is this girl a bit of a ditz? she wondered.

After some time, the group of four returned to Freya's home. Since it was only midday, Freya cooked a meal herself. It was a rather simple lunch to entertain them, as she really didn't have many ingredients left in her house.

In the afternoon, Nolan took Miles to scout the surrounding area, leaving Reina behind to keep Freya company. During this time, Freya continued to drop subtle hints and ask about "supernatural powers," but Reina politely declined to answer whenever a critical question arose.

Time flew by, and as evening approached, a carriage suddenly pulled up not far from Freya's house. Soon after, a cute girl with a round, slightly chubby baby face wearing a school uniform ran up to Freya's door and knocked.

Reina opened the door. Both girls froze for a moment. The baby-faced girl first looked utterly confused. “Huh? Isn't this Fufu's house?”

Reina replied, “Fufu? Do you mean Freya? Yes, this is her house. And you are?”

Hearing this, the baby-faced girl let out a sigh of relief. “Good, I didn't get the wrong place. I'm Amy, her classmate. She didn't come to school today, so I was a bit worried and decided to drop by.”

Hearing the commotion, Freya, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen, walked over. The moment she saw Amy, memories rushed back.

Amy was essentially the original owner's only good friend at school. When she had previously recalled her "classmate talking about the railway opening" and "classmate talking about the black market," that classmate had been Amy.

But Freya hadn't expected Amy to actually come look for her. After all, this hadn't happened during her first simulation.

In an instant, Freya realized something crucial: "simulating the future" was not the same as "foreseeing the future." For instance, if an assassin had come instead, but Freya had gone off to do something else during the simulation and missed them, she might assume there was no danger during this time frame. If she then stayed home in reality, wouldn't she walk straight into a trap?

As she pondered, Freya welcomed Amy inside and offered a brief explanation, saying she hadn't felt well today and had some things to take care of at home, which was why she skipped school.

Upon hearing this, Amy immediately leaned in close, pressing her right hand against Freya's forehead with concern. “Not feeling well? Are you sick? Have you been resting properly?”

Being so close, Freya could even feel the other girl's warm breath. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she took half a step back. “I-I'm fine. I'm already feeling better. I should be able to go to school as usual tomorrow.”

“That's good!” With that, Amy pulled a notebook from her bag and handed it to Freya. “I wrote down all the key points the teacher covered today. I thought you might need this, Fufu.”

“Aww, Amy, you're the best.” Although the notebook wasn't particularly useful to the current Freya, she deeply appreciated the gesture and thanked her warmly.

Afterward, Amy stayed for dinner and chatted with Freya for a while. As the sky gradually darkened, she said with some reluctance, “I have to head home, or my father will lecture me again. Anyway, I'm so glad you're okay, Fufu. See you at school tomorrow?”

Freya nodded. “Yeah, see you at school tomorrow!”

Once Amy left, Captain Nolan couldn't help but sigh wistfully. “Ah, is this what youth is like? How nice...”

Reina added, “Still, she wasn't curious about our identities at all from beginning to end?”

Freya replied, “That's just how Amy is.”

Simply put, she lacked curiosity. She didn't pry into other people's business or secrets. To Amy, no matter who Nolan and the others were, as long as Freya was safe, nothing else mattered.

But as they were talking, a sudden scream echoed from outside. The voice was instantly recognizable—it was Amy, who had just left!

Everyone froze. Nolan was the quickest to react; he sprang to his feet and lunged out the door like a hunting leopard, moving so fast he was almost a blur. Miles was a step behind, but his speed was also far beyond that of a "normal human."

By the time Freya stood up to give chase, the two men had already vanished from sight. Left with no choice, she ran toward the general direction of the scream.

Reina had initially wanted to stop her, but seeing the sheer panic on Freya's face, she hesitated for a split second. In that brief window, Freya had already bolted out. Reina immediately gave chase, shouting, “Hey, wait!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Several gunshots rang out in quick succession. Freya turned right outside her door and, at a T-junction, saw Amy lying on the ground, along with the black-clad stalker.

She could clearly see that Amy's abdomen had been pierced. She lay on the ground, her face contorted in agony as blood pooled around her. It was obvious that Amy had run into the stalker on her way out and had been attacked.

Nolan pointed at Amy and urged, “Quick, get her to the nearest hospital!”

Miles immediately scooped Amy up in a bridal carry and dashed off, brushing past Freya as she arrived. Nolan, meanwhile, frowned and stared at the scene with a headache, muttering, “As expected, is it those Obsidian bastards again...?”

On the ground, the stalker had a clear bullet hole in his forehead—undoubtedly a fatal wound. Strangely, however, his tail was currently impaled through his own shoulder, and his hands were twisted unnaturally into a mangled, braided shape.

Aside from confusion, Freya's primary reaction to this sight was sheer revulsion. This was the first time in either of her lives that she had seen a corpse—a bloody, gruesome corpse. She couldn't help but cover her mouth, gagging repeatedly.

Reina, who ran even slower than Freya, finally caught up, panting heavily. She glanced at the corpse and grimaced, though her reaction was less severe than Freya's. She patted Freya on the back, opening her mouth to speak but finding herself at a loss for words.

After a moment, once she had somewhat adjusted to the sight, Freya asked with a pale face, “Obsidian... what is that?”

Nolan knelt down, searched the corpse for a bit, and pulled a black envelope from the coat pocket. He glanced back at Freya and Reina. “Can you hypnotize her?”

Reina hesitated, then gently shook her head. “That's still too difficult for me right now.”

Freya asked warily, “Hypnotize?”

Nolan sighed, stood up, and rubbed his temples. “Alright, alright. Little girl, looks like I really do have to explain things to you.”

“As you can see, this world isn't actually as ordinary as it appears. Beneath the surface of peaceful, everyday life lies another, highly dangerous world.”

“The Extraordinary Pathways. By drinking a special potion, a person can gain supernatural powers. Take Reina here, for example. She's on the Mind Pathway. She can observe micro-expressions to read thoughts, tell if someone is lying, and even perform minor hypnosis.”

“Our original plan was to have you stay inside while we took this guy out. Then, we'd have Reina hypnotize you so you'd forget about being stalked.”

But in the rush to save Amy, Freya had ended up running out as well.

Reina said dejectedly, “It's my fault. My hypnosis is still too weak. I can only make people forget trivial, insignificant things.”

This meant that because Freya had now seen a corpse and the gruesome state of her friend Amy, the memory was too deeply engraved. It was far beyond what Reina could currently hypnotize her into forgetting.

Nolan looked at Freya. “So, little girl, regardless of what you think, you have to join us now. You must join the Special Service.”

Reina added, “Ugh, Freya, you're a top student from 【Cobdo National Academy】. You could have easily gotten a much better job in the future, but now you're forced to join the Special Service and work here. It's all my fault...”

However, Reina's expression only grew more guilt-ridden. Joining the Special Service was an incredibly hazardous path. They had to deal with all kinds of dangerous incidents and stand on the front lines when things went south. The casualty rate for this job had always been sky-high.

Nolan said, “Let's go. We'll head back to the office first. Someone will be along shortly to clean up the scene.”

He then addressed Freya, “You're coming too. You need to sign a non-disclosure agreement first.”

...