Chapter 35: 33: One in a Billion
My Measurement is the greatest.
By taking one glance at the statistics, we can see this.
Weinstell High School, residing in the country of Ain; a totally ordinary high school full of totally ordinary students.
40 to 45 students in an average class.
5 classes in a year, A to E.
3 years in total, freshman to senior.
Out of the roughly 640 students in the school, you would be hard-pressed to find even a single student that possesses a Measurement with any substantial power.
I would, in fact, be inclined to say the percentage is 0%.
With the obvious exception of one student, of course―me.
I am an anomaly in this school, however, as I am not supposed to be here, so I do not count myself in these numbers.
My point is, the official statistics of a person being born who possesses a Measurement with any kind of note-worthy substance to it is around 1/10,000, or 0.01%. For it to be a Measurement worth more than a simple party trick, it's about ten to fifty times rarer―usually somewhere around 1/250,000, or 0.0004%.
The specific chance mostly depends on the practicality and usefulness of the actual ability itself, but that's pretty much the ballpark.
That is why the chances are that you will fail to find anyone with a notable Measurement in my school.
Going even further, if you wanted to find someone with the kind of Measurement that would attract the eyes of secret organisations and international governments―a kind of Measurement in a league similar to my own―then you would need to look on a much, much wider scale.
One, two, three... Nine individuals.
―I would say the people who near my level number nine. If you exclude me, that makes it eight.
On this planet, 8,000,000,000 people live.
Eight billion.
That makes the chances approximately one in a billion.
1/1,000,000,000 in numerical terms, or 0.0000001% if exhibited as a percentage.
Not only do you need to achieve those odds as a start, but you also have to avoid being captured by any of the organisations or governments that covet your ability.
The secret organisations, including the government, dubbed the nine of us the 'Nine Concepts' as a reference to the sheer power and straightforwardness of our Measurements.
For example, I represent the Concept of Truth.
Furthermore, out of the nine of us, there is only one Concept who has not been under the 'care' of the Wardens at least once in their life.
――That is how fortunate you need to be to even begin to face me.
Of course, even if you somehow manage to surpass all of those odds and can successfully stand upon the same stage as I, then you will still inevitably lose.
As is the case with Avon Laura; representing the Concept of Destiny, or the future.
Although, I would probably call her the weakest of the nine.
No... Second-weakest?
It's hard to make an accurate judgement when they have never fought before, but she is undoubtedly within the bottom three, anyway.
She is the only other Concept I have met.
She is also one of the three Concepts who actively work alongside the Wardens.
That is why I am looking forward to next time; I wonder if she will bring along one of the others to play.
Actually, I would call her the third-weakest. Under the right conditions, perhaps the fourth.
Naturally, I am the strongest... Unless, you were to compare raw ability power, in which case I would in fact be the weakest of the nine.
That doesn't really matter though.
At the end of the day, it isn't purely the strength of your Measurement that determines the strength of your person; because in the real world, there are other factors that come into play.
Knowledge and utilisation are two key elements, for instance.
Well...
I would rather prove myself through absolute victory than technical explanation.
Truth. Destiny.
There are still seven to make their appearance.
――So, which of you lot want to come at me first, huh?
= = =
***
= = =
Ring~!
Approaching as soon as the bell rang to indicate the start of lunch, a cheerful girl with waist-long black hair in a waterfall braided style called out to us.
"Fushigimi-kun~ Itou-kun~ You guys coming to karaoke later~?"
User, 🌸Izumi~♪🌸.
"Karaoke? How about it, Itou?" Tarou called out to me from the side.
"No."
―Izumi Yamazaki.
"Awh, it's a shame you can't come... Maybe next time... What about you, Fushigimi-kun?"
"Sure, I'll go. As long as I get to drink a little before to loosen up, karaoke sounds like it could be fun."
Standing up from my desk, I picked up my bag to go eat lunch elsewhere. If I stayed, this guy would start talking to me again, so I've recently taken to eating my lunch on the school rooftop.
Karaoke.
What a joke.
"Hey, did you hear...?"
"Oh...! About the crash, right...?"
"Yes...! They said the wires for the break were cut...!"
Hm.
Somehow, as I'm walking through the school corridors, there are a lot of students gossiping about something.
Well, whatever.
Arriving at the door to the rooftop, I easily picked the lock and closed the door behind me as I took a seat on the empty space.
Today, a package should be arriving at the house for the maids and butlers to pick up. It wasn't a package for me, but a package for the twins; I had simply ordered it for them. It is supposed to contain merchandise from that animated film they were watching the other day, such as clothes and plushies.
I personally don't understand the appeal, but since they asked for it with such passion and zeal, I thought there was no reason to deny their request.
Woosh~
Plop.
"Ah..."
The devilish autumn winds threw a gust in my direction that blew the tenmusu out of my hands, causing it to fall to the floor.
"..."
I picked it up and, after cleaning all the visible dirt off, asked:
Is this still fine to eat?
「It will not cause you to fall ill」
Well, I wasn't really concerned about falling ill compared to how the taste might have been affected.
Lifting it up and checking it all over once again for anything unsavoury that may be sticking to it, I brought the tenmusu to my mouth when―
Slam-!
Plop.
"Itou-sama...! I found you!"
"..."
"Yuu...! For fuck's sake...! What did I say about not bothering Itou, huh?! He's trying to eat his lunch in peace, dumbass!"
"I ain't botherin' nobody, hag!"
"Shut up! He probably came all the way up here to get away from you! And who're you calling hag, ya leech!?"
"Nonsense! Isn't that right, Itou-sama!?"
...One more time.
If this happens one more time, I will not tolerate it.
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