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Toaru Majutsu no Index:AgneseSS Chapter1

2020-05-08T06:52:45Z

Bersi:

===Chapter 1===

===Part 1===

Some fields of work were done in secret.

No one living a normal life would ever need their services and their stories were never told in movies or dramas. But in reality, those necessary evils were crucial for the seen and unseen sides of society to run smoothly.

Such jobs existed in the magical world as well.

A strange figure marched through an old, dark stone street of Barcelona in Spain’s autonomous community of Catalonia.

He stood two meters tall and his long hair was dyed red. His black cassock seemed at odds with the cigarette in his mouth and he even had a barcode tattoo below one eye.

He looked unbelievably bored.

The presence of a predator implied the presence of prey.

“Gasp, pant.”

The woman looked more gaunt than simply skinny.

She had silver hair and brown skin.

Her navel and thighs were visible, but not because she had intentionally chosen a revealing dress. She wore tattered rags that could not have smelled pleasant.

She recognized the large presence behind her. She knew who he was, but had never actually met him. If she had met him in the field, she would not have survived to tell the tale. The legends she had heard were more than enough to tell her that.

And the ones who had spread those legends were no more.

The entire magic cabal had been reduced to ashes.

So she had no choice but to escape on her own. She could not see anyone else around, whether to ask for help or to use them as human shields.

Assuming her pocket watch was accurate, it was past 11 at night.

At first glance, Barcelona looked like an old historical city full of stone buildings with ages measured in centuries, but it also had a shopping district with an impressive number of bars and nightclubs. No matter the hour, this central area would never be entirely deserted.

There had to be more to it. The answer was found on the old stone walls and the streetlight supports.

A people-clearing field had been established by rune cards engraved with the Opila character.

This had to be ''him''. The bane of all magicians had arrived.

The voice from behind was short.

“Isabella Theism.”

“Eek!?”

He called her name.

That alone felt like some kind of powerful curse. The enemy knew exactly who and where she was. That was enough to bind her body with unbearable tension. She lost track of which leg she had just taken a step with, so the silver-haired brown-skinned woman named Isabella tripped over her own feet and tumbled to the ground.

Not that she had anywhere to go regardless.

She found herself at a dead end with thick stone walls in every direction except back the way she had come.

Feeling trapped at the bottom of a well, she placed her hands on the wall and looked up at the moon to check how far out of reach freedom was. The answer was over 10 meters. The wall was made of smooth concrete, so she may have been able to climb it like someone going bouldering, but he was bound to attack her back as she climbed.

She heard a solid footstep.

It seemed to block off the path she had taken here.

Sweet cigarette smoke reached her nose.

He did not let modern etiquette stop him from smoking. In fact, he seemed to use it to announce his presence before he attacked: “You will die here, so this toxic secondhand smoke is inconsequential.”

“Do you know why this is happening?”

“N-no, I don’t.”

“Then again, we no longer bother with that old-fashioned inquisition stuff. It doesn’t matter to us if you or anyone else understands. I was told I could eliminate you on sight.”

“This must be some kind of mistake!! I really don’t know anything!!”

Something spiraled around Isabella. It looked like a colored tornado, but it was in fact an exceedingly long piece of cloth. It was a spiritual item made by sewing together burial garbs obtained through graverobbing.

She was ''a mere'' 10 meters from freedom.

In her world, that height might as well have been nothing. The cloth tornado bent down like a powerful spring and then launched the gaunt woman upwards with tremendous force.

The word necromancy might bring to mind techniques of controlling a rotting corpse, but the field was divided into many different factions and schools. For example, summoning a spirit of the dead and having them predict the future was a form of necromancy. So was wearing the clothing of the dead to become one with them.

(This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening!! I’m not letting myself get killed over some stupid misunderstanding!! How in the world did I find myself here!?)

She arrived on the rooftop in a single bound.

And once she was out of that dead end, the rooftops extended around her in all directions as far as the eye could see. She could escape. This would all work out. That guy might be the bane of magicians, but he was helpless to do a thing if he lost track of her.

That imaginary optimism was cut off by a very real explosion.

“Gah, ah!?”

He was not up there with her.

Instead, all the roofs around her were covered in rune cards that would ignite when approached by someone containing magic power refined from their life force.

Isabella was knocked off balance the instant she set foot on the rooftop and she fell right back down into the dead end. Almost like her pursuer had yanked back on a leash.

She was rejected from the freedom above and dragged back into the darkness below.

She slammed back-first into the ground and struggled to breath while a tall figure stared quietly down at her.

He was Stiyl Magnus, a killer priest of Necessarius, the Anglican Church’s 0th Parish.

“Is that a hybrid created by mixing that indigenous Caribbean religion with the Christian Shroud of Turin?”

Every one of his statements was precise.

And in the magical world, having your trick revealed was akin to a death sentence. Magic was a system of laws and techniques, so a countermeasure could be found once the structure of your spell was divulged.

Clothing was a symbol of one’s position.

A king wore a crown and a priest wore a habit to display the power of their position to themselves and others. Criminals would have such clothing destroyed in public. The same idea applied to the field of magic. For example, some magic could draw out great power by dressing up as the Egyptian or Greek gods and putting on grand plays. It was also said that witches would dress in male clothing to gain special power.

So what would happen if the living stole and dressed up in a cloth wrapped around the dead?

This was an extreme example.

“The Gnostics also believed the physical body was a nuisance and wished to free their soul from that prison, but with no clear definition for the soul, you will have a hard time becoming an omniscient and omnipotent being through nothing more than death. If that was all it took, the losing side of every war would have obliterated the victor in revenge.”

“Y-you misunderstand. You’re making a terrible mistake here.”

The physical damage from the fall was too much for her to get up.

Nothing could be more frustrating for a magician who had tried to solve everything with their magical logic.

“Yes, I did dig up some graves because I needed their burial shrouds for my spell, but necromancy is nowhere near as dangerous as it sounds! I haven’t actually harmed anyone, so this isn’t a job for you!!”

“Saligia Lucajay.”

Stiyl Magnus called someone else’s name, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Tellia Harleos, Rinka Sawaue, Jane Balgowa.”

But the list had a purpose.

The priest pulled a run card from his pocket and let it go.

It attached to Isabella’s right cheek with a heavy and sticky sensation. But it was not alone. Others attached to her shoulders, chest, hips, thighs, and more.

Those were people.

People who Isabella knew better than anyone should not – could not – have been here. The necromancer was surrounded by the illusory presence of those girls.

“Church graveyards have been increasing their security these days. Of course, it’s mostly meant to stop the people who have started sneaking in hoping to earn some clicks after filming their ‘adventure’ on their phone and uploading it to a video site.”

Skill with magic did not necessary translate to skill with science.

Especially when a powerful barrier had been constructed between the two sides.

That security may have been put in place for a silly non-magical reason, but if traditional methods could not break through, the magic side was shut out just as well. Much like a thoughtlessly placed concrete structure could cut off the path for salmon to swim upstream, thus destroying the ecosystem.

“So tell me, Isabella. Where did you obtain those burial shrouds? Or was sneaking in too much trouble, so you started burying people yourself to make your own graveyard?”

“…”

“Was the ''Armada'' cabal’s ideology really so attractive you were willing to bury people alive to pursue it? Were you that dedicated to reclaiming Spain’s lost naval superiority to remake the world with Spain in the center ‘as it should be’? Well, Spain ''is'' a crossroads for several different cultures, so I can see how you had the groundwork to include everything from the Christian Shroud of Turin to Voodoo zombie powder.”

“''Detach the Ti Bon Ange and place it within me''!!”

The collapsed and supposedly incapacitated woman used the strength of her jaw to break open her own canine tooth.

Or rather, the zombie powder capsule hidden there.

An invisible explosion followed.

Even Stiyl Magnus was forced to take three steps back.

The supposedly unmoving woman stood back up. Unnatural creaks and cracks came from the joints and cartilage of her beautiful brown body. As abnormal as it looked from an anatomic and biological perspective, only someone who could see her life force and magic power could see the full extent of it. The ordinary circulation was entirely ignored and her body moved on its own – her own will had nothing to do with it. But that was no surprise since someone other than her was moving it.

“You have guts to accept that when the soul is so poorly defined.”

Stiyl Magnus narrowed his eyes a little.

When he opened both hands and closed them again, red and blue flames erupted from them. Those violent flames took a straight path like a blowtorch. They both functioned as swords containing a tremendous force.

As a priest, he had a standard line when it came to witches.

“No woman who uses magic can be left alive.”

He did not even allow it to come to an exchange of attacks.

First, he let the right sword collapse into a deluge of flame to stop her as she tried to leap at him. Once she flinched back, he used his left flame sword to slice horizontally through his own flame wall and the target’s torso.

He gave the briefest of glances to Isabella’s upper body as it spun by overhead.

“Hm, so not even death is enough to stop you.”

He once more slashed at her supposedly dead form. This time, the sword entered at her shoulder and sliced diagonally down across her torso. Octopus or squid tentacles had started to emerge from the bottom of the severed torso, but this attack burned the entire upper body away in an instant. At the last second, the back of the skull burst open and something soft frantically leaped out. Surrounded by a transparent shell and supported by countless tentacles, the disembodied brain looked something like a giant jellyfish.

By stealing the clothing of the dead, a necromancer could become one with the dead and draw out their power.

In a way, necromancy was a technique of controlling humans, living or dead. After all, some necromancers would take a summoned soul (or what seemed to be a soul) and sealed it inside their own body, so they had to understand how a living body worked as well. Using that knowledge, they could also begin to experiment and see ''how much could be eliminated from a human body while still remaining themselves.''

(Since she modeled herself after a poisonous animal in the very end, did she also store her prized zombie powder in thousands and thousands of microscopic cnidocytes?)

“You put up a good fight. You really did.”

“…!!”

She may have tried to shout something, but the disembodied brain had no speech organs.

Red and blue.

The priest raised his two flame swords and approached the magician who finally had nowhere left to run.

“But it is time you slept. Forever.”

===Part 2===

“Soooo was that good enough, Stiyl?”

“The point of the training is to prepare them for anything that could realistically happen. If we do not keep it somewhat realistic, they cannot develop the skills they need, Isabella.”

===Part 3===

“What kind of training is this, you morons?”

A short nun was terribly frustrated.

Blood and gore were splattered everywhere.

If the Anglican magicians did not clean up all of that red and black before it was seen, it was sure to cause an international incident. This was the Roman Catholic nation of Spain, so things worked very differently than in the English capital of London. They could not leave behind any chance of trouble.

Agnese Sanctis had originally led a team of Roman Catholic nuns, but they had since joined the Anglicans instead.

“Even so, this is honestly impressive.”

A taller nun in an identical habit sighed next to her. Sister Lucia was something of a clean freak, so she viewed the mess with obvious disgust while repeatedly crossing herself.

“This is very high quality for an imitation. What did they say they did? Rearrange pig and cow bones and organs to match human anatomy and then treat them with chemicals?”

“AEDs and epinephrine are apparently off limits. Trying to revive this could cause the soulless doll to get up and start moving.”

A Necessarius magician could conceivably make something like that.

The nuns were here for training, but not against Stiyl Magnus or Isabella Theism. Their task was to clean up afterwards. The combat magicians could were not going to hold back, so the logistical support nuns had to show up after the fact and erase anything that risked an international incident. That was why those two Necessarius members had traveled to a foreign country, fought an imitation of a real battle, and left a fake corpse splattered all over the scene.

They had of course not informed Spain of this and the corpse was so realistic even the average magician would mistake it for real. In other words, a real international incident was still very much a possibility.

“Wh-what do you think he meant when he said this could ‘realistically happen’, Sister Agnese?” asked Angelene, whose hunched back made her look even shorter than she really was.

The answer to that was obvious enough.

“I imagine he meant exactly what he said. A magic cabal called Armada probably really does exist here.”

The Anglican Church, and especially Necessarius, were second to none when it came to eliminating magicians who had strayed too far. They never stopped gathering intel on existing threats and they could easily create identical models for training purposes.

Agnese pointed her thumb at the red splattered on the walls and ground.

“Anyway, we need to get to work. Let’s get this over with already.”

“I would rather not. There isn’t much I would like to do less.”

“B-but they’ll be mad at us if we don’t. And we need to meet our quota if they’re going to keep us around.”

A clattering sound came from Agnese’s feet.

They already had all the necessary tools: buckets, mops, spray bottles, rags, etc.

“Let’s do everything we can. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they see our Catholic thoroughness .☆”

This kind of work was known as forensic cleanup.

It had begun as a service for real estate owners. When a mummified or rotting corpse was discovered inside an apartment or hotel room, every last trace of the corpse – including any stains on the floor after it was reduced to a stew – had to be removed lest it bring down the value of the room. Even though forensic cleanup often required handling a dead body, no special license was required and it was done by cleaning professionals (for an extra fee) instead of by the police or fire department.

However.

When magic was involved, the cleanup job had to include some more unseen areas.

“Residual thoughts are our top priority. Make sure you eliminate any readable impression of who did this or what happened here.”

“That rune freak put those cards everywhere around here, but does he expect us to collect all of them!? How many thousands is that!?”

“U-umm, Sister Lucia? Don’t some of those explode when they sense magic power nearby?”

Now they had to play the bomb squad as well. If you were not familiar with the magicians who fought on the scene, you could run across some unpleasant surprises while cleaning up. They didn’t want to be cursed while dragging the corpse around, and triggering an explosion while removing a card would create lots more material evidence needing to be cleaned up.

They needed to be careful so that did not happen.

The trick to cleaning was to “loosen up” and then “wash away” the filth.

If you did not know what was filthy and what was dangerous, you would miss something.

Thus, Agnese started by clapping her hands together in front of her flat chest.

She kept her eyes open but focused them on some unseen place while speaking under her breath.

“Apas of Prithvi, you are a silver crescent moon shining within a yellow square. Open the door of otherworldly afterimage and provide us with the eye that perceives the unseen realm.”

A buzzing groan ran through the space around her and the objects, bloodstains, and anything else with traces of human-altered magic power glowed with a faint light. The rune magic with a faint blue and the necromancy with a faint red. Angelene groaned like a young wife who discovered a clump of wet hair in the drain of her brand-new home.

“Ugh. Y-you can’t get away with anything, can you?”

“This is what you get with the short-term memory of something that happened less than an hour ago. Now, we need to clean all this up so it doesn’t become long-term memory and soak into this location.”

If Agnese could do this, so could other magicians.

To prevent that, they had to erase all hints leading back to the Anglicans and then make themselves scarce. Of course, they also could not let anyone see them in the process of cleaning it up.

Lucia stuck a mop in a bucket and sloshed it around.

“Are we using water for this?”

“92% water, 6% protein, and then some salt and other minerals for flavor.”

“Th-that isn’t the recipe for holy water.”

Stoop-backed Angelene was right.

The Roman Catholic Church would add salt when sanctifying water, but this included more than that.

“Basically, we are making artificial human blood. Although it will be transparent since it won’t have any red or white blood cells. Wipe up the bloodstains with this to eliminate any residual information before the cleaning begins. It’s the same idea as adding a decoy stamp over the addressee’s name on a letter so that personal information is no longer readable. Even if someone catches on that this place was cleaned, they won’t be able to recreate what was cleaned up. Once that’s done, we can get to the actual cleaning.”

“We also have to worry about that zombie powder and the rune cards, right?”

“The Haitian toxin can be decontaminated with heat of 1000 degrees or higher and that isn’t enough to melt the stone walls. But Stiyl’s cards are resistant to flames, so that method won’t work. Still, it would take all night if we tried to manually remove them all, so would acid be the best way to deal with them all at once?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Runes were originally carved into stone and I hear acid rain is a real threat to cultural preservation. Something made from nitrogen oxide or sulfur dioxide would probably be best.”

That might sound awfully ordinary for this kind of work, but that was normal. Almost anything found in everyday life could be used for magic. In particular, things used for cleaning and sterilization could be used for purification and things that led to pollution and decay could be used for curses. Good examples of the former were water, salt, and fire. Good examples of the latter were mud and animal blood.

“Well, it’s a pain, but let’s get started on this thankless work.”

Magic could seem all-powerful, but all the preparation and cleanup it required were actually a pain in the rear.

And every field had annoying tasks that were traditionally left with the newcomers. A top-rate stage magician would carefully check over the stage and props that could kill them if not properly set up, but they would not clean the theater bathrooms themselves.

“Umm, Sister Agnese? Am I imagining things or are the clumps of flesh on the ground moving? Ah! I’m not imaging it! They’re definitely throbbing!”

“Argh! We need to gather those up before they run off and form a globster!! Everyone, prepare the tarps. We’ll wrap up these stubborn Iberian pigs and roast them in the incinerator!!”

“Plastic tarps don’t burn, Sister Agnese.”

===Part 4===

They were left filthy and disgusting.

“Ugh.”

But now Agnese Sanctis wore a thin pink fabric with surprisingly cute frills.

She groaned while laying on a sofa bed in her underwear.

From the outside, this looked like a plain metal container, but from the inside, it even had a bathroom and kitchen. Basically, it was a mobile home, but unlike the commercial models, this one had removed all unnecessary decorations, such as the windows and doors, to make it indistinguishable from a cargo container.

Her right leg slipped from the bed and hit something.

She barely had time to realize it was a silver staff leaning against the wall before…

“Ow!! Do you not know how to look after your own spiritual item, Sister Agnese!?”

“Why are you sleeping on the floor, Sister Angelene?”

It had apparently fallen over and hit someone on the forehead.

The staff had an angel carving curled up at the head, but it was known as the Lotus Wand. That magical item functioned as an all-purpose Symbolic Weapon in modern Western magic.

They had finished the work shortly before 4 AM – or just barely before dawn – but their struggles had not ended there. Necessarius was being excessively thorough for some simple training, so the nuns had showered and showered to no avail. The stench of death, that unique scent reminiscent of rust mixed with rotting eggs with a few drops of vinegar added as a special touch, still clung to them. They had somehow avoided being cursed, but that meant it was closer to midday than morning when they finally climbed into bed.

And they had a good reason for not using an ordinary hotel.

They were in the Anglican Church’s care for the time being and their former home of the Roman Catholics had more than 2 billion followers around the world. If they were seen working outside of England, it could easily develop into something more than mere training. They had no idea who would be watching or listening in, so they could not leave a paper trail by renting out a hotel room.

“Sister Lucia, aren’t you on cooking duty today? Whip us up something. Something filling but kind on the stomach and something tasty enough to make me forget all about that curse-ridden corpse.”

“You need to dial back your demands unless you’re trying to set me up for failure. Or better yet, let’s go out to eat.”

Agnese, Lucia, and Angelene donned their habits and left the container together.

It was 10 AM and Barcelona was still caught in the middle of the morning rush hour. No one expected the trains to arrive exactly on time in Europe and people generally had a more relaxed view of time, but Spain was especially that way. They were even the country that had introduced the concept of the siesta to the business world. The handwritten boards in front of the cafes tended to say morning business hours ended at 11.

Agnese’s group entered a random restaurant and sat at a table in a corner.

Spanish food differed greatly between the coastal areas and mountain areas. On one side you had seafood paella and on the other you had spit-roasted Iberian pigs. Barcelona was a coastal city, so this place naturally served a lot of shrimps and shellfish. Spain had the distinctive trait of being a European country that regularly ate octopus and squid.

“What were our plans for the day again?” asked Lucia while using her fork to poke at a large salad with plenty of seafood piled on top.

“Don’t ask me. That brokenhearted barcode arsonist insists on making it a surprise, so he’ll probably show up with some kind of training at some point.”

They were still seen as outsiders within Necessarius.

The work they were being given seemed entirely pointless, but it was possible they were actually completing some special task without their knowledge. For example, 99% of their late-night forensic cleanup work may have been done on imitation scenarios, but it was possible the last 1% had some real evidence mixed in. The on-site workers had no way of knowing what role they played in the big picture.

The Anglican Church – and Necessarius in particular – was a monstrous system created to efficiently kill, so they likely had worked out long ago how to get people to do horrific things without guilt.

“Clams, clams, delicious claaaams.”

Stoop-backed Angelene was chowing down on some elliptical shellfish.

Agnese was munching on some pizza toast flavored with sliced olives and anchovies.

“Well, as long as they’re still telling us it’s training, the situation can’t be too serious,” said Agnese. “I imagine the danger level is between yellow and orange. We need to be cautious, but nothing is about to happen.”

“Are you sure that’s not being overly optimistic?”

“Upsetting your superiors by digging deeper for no good reason is not a good way to live a long life. So until something happens, I say we enjoy some sightseeing here in Spain. The sunny side of this city looks so much brighter after experiencing that shadowy mess of curses, death, and blood.”

She said it herself, but Agnese could not shake a sense that something was wrong.

“Something isn’t right about this restaurant.”

“Hwut dho you mwean?” asked Angelene with her mouth so full her cheeks swelled out like a squirrel’s.

Lucia tugged on her ear as an expressionless punishment and responded to Agnese.

“Yes, it’s too clean. ''I can’t sense any naturally-occurring magic here.''”

Magic was not known to the ordinary people living their ordinary lives, but that ignorance often led them to unwittingly stumble into it. For example, few people knew the shushing gesture of holding your index finger in front of your lips had its roots in an Ancient Egyptian ritual. Amateurs performed those ordinary actions all the time, so there was no need for anyone to wipe all trace of it clean.

Small jinxes could be found in the greetings people exchanged on a daily basis without knowing a thing about the magic world. Even when you did not know how to actually refine your lifeforce into magic power, you could still gather some power as a faint margin of error. It was a lot like leaving behind invisible fingerprints.

But this restaurant contained none of that.

They could only assume that someone with enough knowledge to notice those slight risks had wiped everything clean.

Agnese glanced around the restaurant.

“Did someone perform magical forensic cleaning here?”

That question came back at her and inspired a further question.

“But why?”

===Part 5===

For example, there were ways of erasing blood stains. It was hard to do so ''completely'', but if you only needed to avoid a luminol reaction, special oxygen detergents available for purchase online would do the trick.

Of course, washing a spot clean with that was a sign that there ''had been'' a bloodstain there. There was no reason to go to all that specialized effort to wash a spot clean if there was nothing suspicious there in the first place.

And this was the magic side’s forensic cleaning, which was designed for situations where a dead body might just stand back up all on its own. Only someone familiar with their world would even know that needed doing.

So why had the restaurant been wiped so clean?

Had something happened here requiring it?

“Well, we just stumbled into some trouble,” said Agnese once they were back in the mobile home.

They had not contacted Stiyl and they did not know if they should tell him about this even if they had. Again, they were still seen as outsiders within Necessarius.

They could think of two broad possibilities.

“First, this is a continuation of last night, making this a part of our Anglican training. If we do nothing, we might lose a ton of points.”

“Ugh,” groaned Angelene who was already growing tearful. They had spent all night cleaning up a mess that made cleaning up dog poop seem more appealing, so it was distressing to think all that effort could go to waste because of some second round.

Also, there was no chance some other group was being tested in the same area. If the two teams ended up interfering with each other due to a failure on the supervisor’s part, the entire training session would be for nothing. If they were told all of this had not counted because they could not be graded properly, they might just murder the grader.

However, the real danger was the second possibility.

“Second, ''something real is happening.'' That would mean this isn’t training and this really is something Necessarius should be dealing with. I don’t know what it could be, but this hint is enough to know the culprit is aware they’re up to no good.”

Unfortunately, actions taken to hide evidence did not immediately work as evidence of misdeeds. Just because someone thought they had committed a crime did not mean they had. Some people were overwhelmed by fears that they had done something truly terrible even though no crime had ever occurred. It fit the same pattern as someone taking in an abandoned puppy on a rainy day and later fearing that counted as theft because they did not have the original owner’s permission. In that case, the original crime was entirely imaginary, yet the actions taken to hide that they had taken in the puppy would be all too real.

They did not know enough to say in this case.

If they overlooked this, it might lead to some otherwise avoidable disaster, but if they made a fuss about it, it could turn out to be nothing.

Lucia sighed.

“Whichever it is, you know what we have to do next, right?”

“What’s that?”

“Gather enough information to make an informed decision. We need to know if this is simple training or a real battle and, in the latter case, we need to know whether or not we need to intervene. We need more information before we can hope to figure any of this out.”

Agnese shrugged.

She had hoped to reach a different conclusion, but nuns tended to be diligent. The odds of this being wasted effort were around 75%, but they had to go to the effort regardless.

After all, if this was the remaining 25%, someone’s life could be hanging in the balance. Those odds were too high for them to irresponsibly pretend they had not noticed anything. When the odds were even worse than a game of Russian roulette, they could not just let it slide.

So they had a plan.

“Okay, everyone, I hope you’re ready for some more thankless work☆”

===Part 6===

The unnaturally-well-cleaned restaurant was the location of interest, so they first had to look into the identities of the owner and all the workers. If any of them was a professional magician, the danger level would immediately rise.

“B-but what kind of magical ritual could you even do at a restaurant? Ah!? Th-this doesn’t mean there was a corpse hidden below the floorboards where we were eating, does it?”

“What would they gain from that?”

Angelene began to tremble, but Agnese responded with obvious exasperation. Lucia took a more businesslike view of the issue.

“So, Sister Agnese, where do we begin the investigation? We should be able to find information on the people at the city hall and the restaurant at the labor office.”

“Let’s go somewhere we know better than that,” casually replied Agnese. “Namely, a church.”

It could seem strange to the Japanese since most of them celebrated Christmas and then visited a Shinto shrine a week later, but churches contained plenty of personal information. After all, in Christian cultures, children were brought to the church to receive a baptismal name shortly after they were born. The local church would generally have all the information you could want on the local residents. Agnese’s group were part of the magic side and they would prefer to sneak into a place that operated under familiar rules. It especially helped that Spain was a Catholic country.

They needed to visit the church’s record storeroom.

“Th-that’s a Catholic church.” Angelene was nervous. “If we’re caught there, our lives are over.”

“So what?”

Magic was supposed to be a noble thing and not a tool to fulfill one’s immediate worldly desires.

Yet there were an awful lot of spells to hide your presence, sneak into places, or transform into the opposite sex.

“I swear these spells must have been developed by peeping toms and panty thieves.”

“Sister Agnese,” chided tall and fastidious Lucia.

Agnese had just undergone a transformation.

She did not need the Lotus Wand for something as simple as this.

Specifically, she had constructed a spell by taking the familiar Christian ritual of death and rebirth and rearranged it based on the story of a goddess from a different mythology. The Golden magic cabal, said to have once been the world’s greatest, had researched how to gain a mythology or religion’s power using a stage performance. Part of “getting into character” for those performances was to dress up as a god.

“While supported by the holy tetragrammaton of YHVH, we don the clothing of Isis, goddess of the lunar hexagram, so we might be resurrected from death and ascend here as new beings altogether.”

A change came over them.

However, they could not see the change themselves since they were on the inside of the spell. Just like someone in a mascot costume could not see the costume they were wearing.

Lucia was a clean freak on the mental side of things as well.

She considered herself a nun who served the one true god, so she looked extremely displeased with this.

“Dressing up as Isis, huh?”

“Deal with it. It’s only a symbol.”

Instead of disguising themselves as some specific person, they had turned themselves into “nobodies”. They would not stand out in the crowd, but no one would remember what they looked like after taking a few steps away.

“But it isn’t perfect. If someone sees you six times, they’ll see through to your true face, so no pacing back and forth on the same road and no doing anything suspicious enough to earn a double take. Just focus on our goal and keep walking.”

They slipped through the main double doors to enter the church.

The documents they wanted were further in than the public chapel.

“(There sure are a lot of people here.)”

“(Eh!? Are they doing a wedding!?)”

That was perfect. A wedding might seem like a solemn occasion, but there would actually be a lot of people running to and fro behind the scenes. With so many unusual people in the church, fewer people would think to stop a few nondescript “nobodies” on their way to an off-limits room.

“In sickness and in health.”

They glanced over at the happy couple while quietly walking along the chapel wall to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

The priest continued the vows.

“May your bond be a strong one, never to be broken even by a curse.”

“(Hey, that’s not the usual vows, is it? Is the priest really allowed to adlib here?)

“(S-Sister Agnese, I bet he forgot the next line and is stalling until he can remember it.)”

They made their way to the back.

The place was fairly cluttered. The chapel items not needed for the wedding must have been stored back here. It was kind of painful to see the silver candlesticks and the glass container of holy water just sitting there on the floor. The scent of that water consecrated with a pinch of salt reminded the trio of home.

Once inside the actual document storeroom, they instead smelled musty old papers.

You could call up a church pilgrimage map on your phone these days, but churches still tended to rely on analog data.

All four walls were covered in drawers, with just barely enough room left for the door. The place was a treasure trove of personal information on all the people who had been baptized at this church.

Angelene grew unnecessarily nervous about being in here.

“Um, where should we start looking? Actually, do we even know the names of all that restaurant’s workers?”

It did not matter how much information a search engine had at its disposal if you did not know what name to type in. Similarly, they needed a name to look up anything in here.

Which was why Agnese decided to cheat.

“Tejas of Vayu.”

With a buzz, the space around them shook. The drawers containing the information they sought began to faintly glow and they opened those to find the necessary pages giving off light as well. Handwritten documents had their advantages. With residual thoughts soaked into them, you could perform a search like this.

There were 24 workers in all.

That might sound like a lot, but with three shifts, that was just barely enough for everyone from the waiters to the cooks. Although that was probably normal enough for a privately-owned restaurant.

“Benito, Juan, Cecilia, Pablo. Hm, they use part-timers for everything that doesn’t need special qualifications. Only four of them are full-time employees: the cooks and the accountant.”

It might seem unusual that a list of baptismal games given to newborn babies had so much information, but churches also had confessionals where people revealed their daily worries.

Angelene seemed disturbed by the level of detail found here.

“This always seems like a type of profiling to me.”

“They prefer to call it factually-supported fortunetelling, Sister Angelene.”

The ruling class had been indiscriminately gathering personal information long before the term “big data” was ever coined.

Gathering everyone’s hidden worries could help predict misbehavior before it happened or resolve local troubles. When a priest or fortuneteller seemed to see right through you, it did not necessarily mean they were using some supernatural power.

And they found another notable entry.

“Let’s start at the top with the owner: Nihili Padpois.”

“Um? I don’t recognize that last name. Is that what Spanish sounds like?”

“You need to learn some Latin, Sister Angelene. Spanish and our native Italian both come from it.” Agnese sounded exasperated. “He must not be from around here. He never received a baptismal name here because he moved here later in life.”

“Where did he live before?”

“Port-au-Prince.”

Lucia and Angelene tilted their heads at yet another unfamiliar term.

Agnese shrugged.

“That is the capital of Haiti, located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.”

Also, the restaurant was privately owned yet none of the four full-time employees had that same last name.

Which meant…

“Is Mr. Padpois single?”

“He hasn’t always been.” Agnese tapped at a point on the document and read off the red text there. “His move from Haiti to Spain was the result of a certain event. He originally had a family of three, but his wife passed away and he apparently did not want to continue living somewhere so full of painful memories, so he moved to Spain with his daughter.”

That alone would have been a tragedy.

But Agnese’s group had come here to investigate the possible use of illicit magic at his restaurant.

“How did his wife die?” asked Lucia with a frown.

“No one knows.”

Someone had definitely died and the cause would have been thoroughly investigated, yet that was Agnese’s answer.

But some people did have their theories.

“She died a seemingly supernatural death when several coincidences coincided with seemingly astronomical odds. It was apparently rumored back in Haiti that she had died of a curse.”

===Part 7===

Restaurant manager Nihili Padpois had supposedly lost his wife to a curse.

Even after leaving his hometown and moving to Spain with his young daughter, there were signs of someone cleaning up all signs of magic in his restaurant. That suggested he was still using some kind of magic.

“Hmm,” groaned Agnese while lying back onto the sofa bed.

After getting the information they needed at the church, they had returned to the mobile home.

“Mr. Padpois did make a pretty extreme decision, didn’t he?”

She understood the general idea.

If the one person in the world you had decided to spend the rest of your life with was unfairly taken from you, it had to feel like your heart was torn in two. Although Agnese was nowhere near the point of even considering marriage, so she found that part hard to imagine.

Still, would that really be enough for him to cross the ocean to a new country?

Where would he have found the money for that?

“Just because you can cook doesn’t mean you can immediately start a restaurant. I mean no offense, but Haiti isn’t exactly a wealthy nation. Even if he worked his ass off and saved up everything he could, it might not be enough to overcome the price differences between countries.”

There was an extremely simple solution to that problem.

She sighed as she spoke it.

“Life insurance.”

The term had an unavoidably dangerous ring to it here.

When someone died, you were handed an opportunity along with the loss. There was nothing wrong with using that to move to Europe, but they also had reason to suspect he was still using magic – which could mean a curse.

“Sister Lucia.”

“Yes?”

“How is the restaurant doing financially?”

“Why not check it out for yourself?”

They had slept in too late. After taking the time to investigate and return here, it was already late evening.

The trio left the mobile home and walked to that restaurant again.

They were on a serious mission, but something occurred to Agnese on the way there.

“Wait! You haven’t cooked a single thing today, Sister Lucia! You’re supposed to be on cooking duty!”

“You must be imagining things.”

They checked inside the restaurant to see a fair number of customers at the tables and counter, but it was not so crowded you would have to wait for a table if you showed up without a reservation. They took a seat and looked around to see the place maintained its focus on food over alcohol even at this later hour. The only alcoholic drinks they served seemed to be mass-produced beer and cheap table wine.

Angelene was soon staring at the menu.

“They have a bunch of options that weren’t offered this morning! I want to eat this ajillo! And these skewers!!”

“You need to specify what kind of ajillo and skewers they are.”

The focus on seafood meant anything cooked in oil or on skewers was probably shrimps. Sea bream and salmon were also likely options. Despite having had them that morning, Angelene went ahead and ordered a bunch of clams. All of the alcohol had been cooked off, but the beer and wine were apparently primarily stocked for cooking dishes like that. The customers were probably drinking the extras that the restaurant ended up with because the minimum order with the distributer was more than they needed.

The spicy and garlicy ajillo came with bread. You were supposed to tear off pieces of the bread and dip it in hot bubbling olive oil, so it presented a fairly high hurdle for those girls.

“It’s delicious, but what kind of bread do they use in Spain? Spanish bread?”

“Work on your vocabulary, Sister Agnese. This is focaccia and it’s from our native Italy.”

Agnese felt someone looking at her, so she looked over to find that someone much closer than expected. A brown girl of about 5 was clinging to the edge of the table with both hands. She looked a lot like someone peering over a fence.

“Heh heh.”

And for some reason, she looked extremely proud of herself.

“Do you like it?”

“Y-yes.”

“You do? You actually like it?☆”

She began wiggling side to side like Agnese had complimented her.

There were a lot of races around the world, but she did not appear to be of purely African descent. She did have the dark skin, but her facial features and hair seemed more like the nuns. Agnese belatedly realized the girl was probably mixed race.

She was reminded that a lot of the beautiful gods and goddesses in Voodoo were depicted as mixed race.

“You chose a good day to eat here. This chef is really good.”

(So is this the daughter?)

“Solène, come here please,” called a deep adult voice.

The girl immediately turned around, so that had to be her name.

“Coming! Why does papa have to interrupt me when I’m letting the world know how great he is?”

She vanished into the back of the restaurant while grumbling some kind of complaint.

Agnese watched her leave.

“The restaurant seems to be doing fairly well. Based on the ingredients and prices, he seems to be running such an honest business I can’t imagine the profit margins are great, but he shouldn’t be in the red either. This place is definitely beloved by the local populace.”

“This location is, yes,” nonchalantly began Lucia. “But he expanded to a second location and that one is apparently struggling. Without the founder around to watch over things, the work has gotten sloppy.”

“How bad are we talking about here?”

“I don’t know the actual numbers, but I would guess they get only about a third the business this location does.”

That was devastatingly bad.

So bad it would honestly be best to immediately shut down that location and focus on this one. Did he have some reason why he could not do that?

“What if?”

Once they had finished eating, Lucia paid their bill.

She coldly continued the conversation as they left the busy restaurant.

“Let’s say this location really was started using life insurance money and now he’s run into more financial troubles. When someone manages to solve some crisis via criminal means, it can apparently start a cycle of criminality. A mugger will start mugging their way out of any future debts and a burglar will start burgling their way out of any future debts.”

“Wait, what are you suggesting?”

Angelene seemed confused at first, but Lucia’s meaning gradually dawned on her and her face paled.

“Th-then this is an emergency! I mean, that restaurant already showed signs of hiding magic use. If he needed another life insurance payment, he would only have one possible target…but, but that’s too awful to think about!”

“Voodoo is most well-known for its zombies, but it has many more curses to offer. Of course, the actual Voodoo zombies are nothing like how they are generally depicted,” explained Lucia. “The most horrific of those curses involves ''making a deal with a demon''. Your every wish is granted as long as you kill and sacrifice someone once a year. Worse, it has to be a family member or lover whose loss will tear your soul asunder. And if you fail to deliver, you yourself will be sacrificed. The deal doesn’t sound remotely worth it to me, but it wouldn’t be so well known unless a fair number of people decided to use the spell. I also don’t know if what they call a demon is the same thing as our demons.”

Who was in harm’s way here?

And what would the culprit gain from it?

When spelled out like that, it was a very simple situation. Enough so that they wanted to remove that brown girl from the restaurant immediately.

Agnese Sanctis brought a hand to her slender chin.

“This is troubling.”

===Part 8===

It was the middle of the night, but the church still had its lights on. Did they believe they had to show their willingness to welcome in any lambs no matter the hour?

Agnese walked right into the chapel and saw a small room built in one corner. It was only the size of two phone booths attached side by side.

The two spaces were separated by a thick latticed window to allow the occupants to speak secrets without seeing each other.

When Agnese set down a heavy bucket, entered one side, and rang the handbell, someone entered the other side.

“What brings you here at this late hour?”

“Something I didn’t feel like I could discuss at any earlier hour.”

That could not be too unusual.

This was a confessional, a place prepared for people to confess their own sins. If someone was not worried about other people seeing them, their problems could not be all that bad.

The unseen person on the other side must have grasped that this was a serious discussion because he cleared his throat.

“You may share anything here. This is a seat of forgiveness provided by god.”

“Yeah, but on second thought, maybe this isn’t a good idea. Ah ha ha. Maybe I’m overthinking this and it isn’t a big deal at all. And to be entirely honest, it really isn’t any of my business.”

“?”

“I learned something.” Agnese paused for a moment. “I happened to learn the truth behind a certain crime. It’s an extremely grave issue that could mean someone’s death. But on the other hand, it might be a bad thing for some people if it goes public. I’m trying to decide if I should share what I know or if I should stay quiet, but first I wanted to hear the opinion of the priest who protects the peace and safety of this part of the city.”

No actual statistics were known, but it was said to be surprisingly common.

Confession was only meant as a ritual for eliminating the guilt for the little things people did during their daily lives and it was not designed to unconditionally forgive actual kidnapping or murder. Nevertheless, people would sometimes hint at what were obviously serious crimes. Whether or not the priest would contact the police depended on their personal religious beliefs. But either way, they would prefer to not have that burden thrust upon them. This priest may not have looked happy about the discussion, but Agnese could not see him through the latticed window.

Finally, the priest whispered back in a heavy tone.

“As a servant of god, I must not alter my response based on the type or severity of your troubles. Similarly, you should not bend the truth. God shall purify all of your worries through me, so speak and get this great burden off your chest.”

“If you insist.”

Agnese sighed quietly.

In a way, hearing those words had removed a burden from her.

Because…

“How dare you speak like that after using professional techniques to frame an innocent man. Scum like you is an insult to the priesthood.”

With a great crash, the Lotus Wand burst through the latticed window from Agnese’s side and a golden sword did the same from the priest’s side. The two glittering weapons entered the inviolable territory on the other side.

But only one of them groaned.

“Ugh!?”

“I felt that one land.”

The golden sword passed by a few centimeters to the side of Agnese’s cheek, but the head of her Lotus Wand jabbed accurately into the center of the man’s chest.

“I was suspicious from the beginning. I can buy just about anyone learning to use magic, but the skills to clean up all trace of the magic afterwards are much more unusual. Plus, the exact technique used was identical to ''our Roman Catholic style of forensic cleanup''.”

She had been the first to notice something was off.

Only they used a liquid made by adding blood-like substances to water consecrated with a pinch of salt.

Anglican and Russian Orthodox holy water did not include salt. Only the Catholics allowed that impurity.

Noticing the familiar cleanup method had been enough for them to figure out the rest.

“That clear bottle looked like it was simply moved into the back to make space for the wedding, but that wasn’t ordinary holy water, was it? It wouldn’t look so muddy in the light if all it had was some salt.”

And.

Despite that.

Everything else they discovered suggested this was Haitian Voodoo, without Catholicism playing a role. Even though she had originally assumed something had happened in the city requiring a priest or nun to exorcise a ghost or something.

“So the restaurant owner from Haiti couldn’t have been behind it. Yeah, there were signs of someone hiding magic use at that restaurant, but no one ever saw any signs of the magic itself. So it’s just as likely someone ''cleaned up an already clean location'' to frame someone else.”
That must have been what happened.

She did not know what happened to the owner’s wife, so maybe someone back in Haiti really had cursed her. But that family fell squarely into the victim category and they hadn’t done anything wrong since arriving in Spain. It had only looked that way because someone had used that unnecessary forensic cleanup to make things look suspicious.

Even though there was nothing to be found there.

The owner had simply grieved his wife’s death and used the money he would have preferred never to receive to start a small restaurant in the hopes of getting a fresh start while bringing some happiness into his young daughter’s life.

What would have happened if the suspicion of that man had continued to grow?

He had already lost the person he loved most in the world, so what would have been taken from him next and what crime would he have been framed for?

The Roman Catholic Church had 2 billion followers worldwide, so was this any way for one of their priests to be acting?

“Why do this? I doubt it was simply anti-immigrant sentiment which has been on the rise recently. Or have you really forgotten that Christianity is meant to save all the peoples of the world, regardless of race?”

She badly hoped he was not so far gone he did not even believe in that basic principle.

During the Renaissance, Europeans had proclaimed that all peoples were equal even as all the angels and saints in their religious artwork were still depicted with lily-white skin, but Agnese saw no need to be so narrowminded in the modern era.

But…

“He is cursed.”

“No, you tried to frame him for being cursed.”

“I did, but Nihili Padpois really has come in contact with ''a real curse''!!”

The priest howled so loud his chest swelled out from within.

Agnese frowned, but he continued shouting.

“I don’t know how exactly it happened because I have no way of investigating something that happened across the Atlantic, but his family really was cursed and that’s all that matters!! I cleaned up this town. I kept this district of Barcelona so clean you can’t find even a hint of filth!! But…but those efforts are meaningless when a true source of impurity moves in. Everything I did was for nothing!! I had to get rid of the cursed one, no matter what it took!!”

“So you’re a clean freak.”

This fear may have been what had originally motivated him to get into theology and choose the path of god.

He feared curses.

He wanted a way of fighting them. And if he could not fight them, he at least wanted to push them away.

He must have decided such things could not reach him if he worked in a church, the house of god.

Sneaking into the church to check the baptismal name records had been Agnese’s idea, but even she had thought those records were unusually detailed. However, the priest had not been so thorough because he cared deeply about protecting the people in his part of the city. No, he was simply afraid, so he made sure he could pick up on the earliest sign of a curse and set up a trap to protect himself. He would frame the cursed person, intentionally have someone – such as the witch hunting specialists of the Anglican Church – discover it, and use those strangers to indirectly eliminate the “threat”.

Agnese Sanctis sighed.

And she gave her response.

“''What the hell is wrong with you, you petty villain''?”

“…”

“''You’re like a living curse yourself'', you asshole. Mr. Padpois was devastated by the loss of his wife and decided to cross the sea to Barcelona to grasp at any hope he could find. He could have gone anywhere in the world, but he chose your city. I would expect you to be proud of that, not fear him and try to get rid of him. Remind me again what your job is. Not only did you use divine miracles for your own selfish ends, but you decided to pick and choose who is worthy of salvation. No one that despicable is fit to defend the house of god!!”

“Say what you like, but I will protect my own little world.”

With the sound of scraping metal, more gold revealed itself.

Around the globe, that precious metal held great value because it did not rust and retained its shine forever. That may have been why it was so often used to repel impure curses.

“This is my sanctuary. I spent many long years creating the perfect paradise for myself!! I refuse to let anyone contaminate it. My world needs only the things ''I'' want in it!!”

It looked like he had sprouted golden wings, but in fact countless swords had fanned out behind him.

That was an angel’s weapon.

(He wasn’t just hiding those under his habit. Has he fused them with his body?)

Becoming one with something allowed you to take on its traits. He may have thought of it as an extreme form of defense against curses, but at this level, he was not that different from a necromancer digging up a grave and stealing the dead’s clothing.

(Swords are also a symbol of separation. And not just in religion and mythology. A story used to introduce the concepts of chivalry includes placing a sword between a man and woman sleeping next to each other as a way of severing the connection between them.)

Countless pieces of metal strained as they gathered strength.

Getting hit by this at close range would concentrate all that damage onto a single point, much like a shotgun blast at point-blank range, so it would be horrifically destructive. Agnese would be reduced to mincemeat. While he was not morally fit for the job, this man was still a Catholic priest and he had demonstrated enough skill to pull off forensic cleaning, so he was bound to have some combat skill.

However, that only mattered if he could actually hit her.

“Tejas of Prithvi, you are a red equilateral triangle shining within a yellow square.”

This was a form of meditation normally done using cards.

It was a technique used to see and learn things.

It was a simple method, but the Golden cabal had warned that you must not take it lightly or lose sight of your objective when using it. According to Mathers, pressing the card to your forehead in a misguided attempt to strength the image in your head would trigger a malfunction in your mind during the meditation.

Or to put it another way, if you slapped that card against someone else’s forehead, you could force them into a state of confusion or hallucination.

A golden explosion erupted within 2m of her, but it all passed by to her left. She had not swiftly sidestepped it. After being dragged into a meditative state with the wrong method, the priest had messed up his aim and attacked the empty air.

This time, the outer wall of the confessional was reduced to splinters and blown away.

Agnese Sanctis showed no fear on her face.

In fact, all the cowardice here was found in her opponent.

She sang a profane lullaby as she dragged her target into a living nightmare.

“''One piece of advice.''”

“!?”

“''While pure gold is used as a symbol of the incorruptible, it’s also a popular choice for gathering curses. For example, the Norse Andvaranaut, the Greek golden apples, and even Egyptian Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus. Its rarity has a tendency of leading people astray. It often becomes a source of resentment and jealousy.''”

“No…no!?”

It was too late for him to catch on now.

He had been in her grasp from the moment he failed to hit a target within 2m of him.

“Yes, yes. Its meaning changes drastically depending on what interpretation you use. And no matter what I say, you can’t fight it for the next thirty seconds or so thanks to the failed meditation I placed you in. The thoughts are already crawling up from the back of your mind, aren’t they? It feels disgusting, doesn’t it? Yet that spiritual item is supposed to be what protects you from all curses, isn’t it?”

Goose bumps spread from the priest’s hands and up his arms to his torso with such intensity she swore she could hear it.

His eyes rolled around wildly.

He had effectively developed an allergy for curses. And people with serious enough allergies could sometimes show an allergic reaction from simply seeing photos and videos of the thing. In the same way, there was no escape for this priest now that the doubts had started to grow in his mind. At this rate, he might just start to claw into his skin and tear out the precious metal that was attached to his skeleton.

“I happen to have a ‘battery’ right here. So how about I charge up that gold of yours?”

Why was Agnese here in Barcelona in the first place?

Forensic cleaning.

It may have only been for training, but the magic used there had been very real. She could think of far too many disgusting things that would continue to stink even if you worked at cleaning it up throughout the night.

She put on a truly sadistic smile as she spun her Lotus Wand around.

Before entering the confessional, she had set down a bucket full of a sticky substance, so she lifted its handle with the end of the wand.

It contained…

“''This right here is supposedly a corpse infected with an authentic Voodoo curse, courtesy of Necromancer Isabella Theism. You know your stuff, so I know an imitation wouldn’t be good enough for you. This is a stain that will never, ever come out, so I hope you enjoy it''☆”

A pathetic scream followed, but Agnese ignored it as she made full of use centrifugal force to dump the entire bucket of rotting flesh and gore on top of the priest’s head.

They had a saying in a distant Eastern island nation: curse others and prepare to be cursed yourself.

===Part 9===

“Eh heh heh. So how are they doing, Stiyl?”

“They’re a busy bunch, that’s for sure.”

This conversation was held atop a tall building giving a view of the city’s night.

“Are the other two stationed outside?”

“They are. Lucia is maintaining a people-clearing field and Angelene is setting up traps to prevent his escape in case he tries to flee. Although their positioning suggests they trust Agnese’s ability to win this battle.”

The gaunt, silver-haired, and brown-skinned woman named Isabella Theism was using a natural drinking straw to sip at a handmade drink made by squeezing lime juice into colorless carbonated water. She was an eccentric woman who chose to wear the tattered clothes of the dead, but she was an expert at creating lumps of flesh and Necessarius would occasionally have her create a corpse to inspire fear and confusion in an enemy.

Nothing affected the human psyche more than a dead body.

She was a powerful ally since she could design a corpse after an enemy or an ally and leave it at some crucial location. If she created the corpse of a nation’s president, it was possible she could even start a nuclear war. And yet she only used cows and pigs to make them. Other magicians might produce better results, but she was nigh untouchable when it came to cost-performance.

She was the queen of doubts and confusion.

Necromancer Isabella Theism was the type of magician who could win without actually fighting, but that did not mean she could not fight if she had to, which made her very difficult to deal with. On several occasions, Stiyl had seen her casually cut down a magician just as they escaped that labyrinth of doubts and thought they were finally safe again.

It might be simplest to think of her as the master of a spiderweb.

A butterfly could not defeat the spider just because it had managed to slip past the unseen threads.

But regardless…

“They have a bad habit of goofing off too much on the job, but I suppose it’s within the margin of error,” said Stiyl.

“It’s not like we get paid all that well. If you can’t find enjoyment through something other than money, you’re not going to last long here.”

“Did you think a priest would choose his job based on the pay?”

“Yeah, says the guy who brings his personal feelings to the job more than anyone else I know☆”

He could only clear his throat in response.

“They’re such cute girls,” said Isabella with a laugh. “They didn’t have to do that job and they even chose to leave without visiting that restaurant again. Ah ha ha. They’re just like the gunman from a Western! Oh, but they’re Italian, so would that make it a Spaghetti Western?”

“…”

“Based on this, I say we can let them handle it.”

These two had been running a test.

If the test subjects had failed to meet their standards, they would have immediately had that trio leave.

But Agnese, Lucia, and Angelene had passed.

Which meant they could no longer ''quit this job''.

The female Necessarius magician gave a bewitching smile.

“They are about to be very busy indeed.”

<noinclude>
{{Toaru_Nav|prev=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:AgneseSS_Illustrations|next=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:AgneseSS_Chapter2}}
</noinclude>

Apocalypse Witch:Volume1 Prologue

2019-10-27T04:18:39Z

Bersi:

==Prologue==

“Incompetent,” said the demon. “Incompetent, incompetent, every last one of you is incompetent. Thus, Ocean Crystal Magic Academy Grimnoah shall be immediately shut down!!”

A digital alarm clock went off in a dark room.

Utagai Karuta reached out from the large bed, but his fingers found something else instead. It was a lot like reaching for the book you wanted at a bookstore and accidentally bumping into another customer’s hand.

He was puzzled as someone spoke up from the darkness.

“Why would you set it so early, you goody-goody. Have you started training on your own?”

“Marika?”

He narrowed his eyes toward the familiar voice and could barely make out a feminine silhouette in the darkness.

This was his childhood friend of the same age. The girl’s long hair had been dyed a strawberry blonde and she wore it in curly twintails. She had a curvy figure for her short height. …Except something was not right. Would a clothed girl’s body lines really be quite this clearly defined in silhouette?

Utagai Karuta had a bad feeling about this, so he asked about it from the bed.

“Wait just a second, Marika.”

“Isn’t it a little late for that? We’ve shared baths and beds in the past, haven’t we? And while I’m not proud of it, you know what my room is like. I bought too many new swimsuits online, so it’s basically a warehouse with no room to walk around. This is hardly the first time I’ve snuck over here to get some help.”

“That is definitely a problem, but it isn’t what I’m getting at here. I’m talking about your state of dress.”

“Oh, this?” The sexy silhouette needlessly put its hands on its hips. “You know I can’t get to sleep unless I’m nude, right?”

“Waaahhh!!”

It was such a shock he rolled right out of the large bed.

As his last form of resistance, he grabbed at the sheet with his toes while rolling to the floor and threw it into the air. The girl’s muffled protests reached him after it fell right over her head.

“Oh, fome on. Is the familiar sight of your childhood friend really that much of an eyesore?”

“No, if anything it’s the opp-…!!”

(Oh, no!! Prime numbers! Pi! Anything that will distract me! Oh, I know! I can review my Crystal Magic knowledge!)

He frantically tried to refocus himself, but a few different pieces of bad luck aligned here. He really should not have messed with those weird IoT appliance settings. The automatic curtains were set to open at exactly three minutes after the alarm went off to help him get up in the morning.

The human internal clock was closely linked to sunlight, so artificially increasing the amount of light was one method used by jetlag recovery programs.

However, the image that crashed into Utagai Karuta’s heart was not the lovely morning sunbeams; it was a nude twintails girl shining bright in those sunbeams.

Of course, her body was somewhat hidden since he had kicked the sheet into the air a moment before.

“Good morning, Karuta-kun. The weather is fantastic again today.”

“Bwah! M-Mari-Mari-Marika!! Can’t you…can’t you cover yourself up better than that!?”

“Why bother when I’m about to take a shower? Oh, you’re fine with me getting the first shower of the morning, right?”

“Awawawawa.”

“And as thanks for letting me go first, you can enjoy a wonderful shower surrounded by the lingering scent of a lovely maiden.”

“Awaaaa!!”

(Awawawawawawawa! The human race cannot – boobs – directly control the weather, but by detecting meteorological phenomena such as high and low pressure and then “riding that current”, we can prevent natural disaster and ensure largescale agricultural success – boobies – Crystal Magic is used by electronically controlling a Crystal Blossom using a printed circuit board smaller than a stamp and sealing a god’s name inside – boobs and tits – to produce miraculous phenomena such as producing fire from the hand or flying through the sky, so – ah ha, ah ha ha, no, I can’t focus at all!!)

Karuta’s mind was exploding for more reasons than one and Amaashi Marika must have been satisfied with his panicked cries because she cackled and disappeared into the bathroom.

The boy started agonized over the running water he could hear coming from the other side of that wall, but while pacing restlessly back and forth, he stubbed his toe on a piece of plastic by the window.

It was shaped something like a bamboo leaf, but it was larger than he was while lying down. That item looked like a single-person board with a round cover on top was actually a prototype civilian spacecraft. (You could probably go on a small journey with it if you were launched from a space station outside the atmosphere, but you would almost certainly die of loneliness.) The barrier to entry for space development had lowered a lot recently, so you could find these things even at a “school” like this.

He sighed, crouched down, and lightly knocked on the surface of the spacecraft.

He heard a knock form the other side.

“Sorry about all the noise. Did it wake you?”

He heard another knock that seemed to be saying “don’t worry about it”.

Then he looked out the window that no longer had the curtain covering it.

The room had a large bed, a table, a microwave, and an electric water boiler, but there was no kitchen or dining room. The bathroom that twintailed Marika had entered was a prefab unit that included a bath and a toilet. Some people might think that sounds like a hotel room.

That was close, but not quite.

The view out the windows showed the ocean. And this was clearly not the ocean near Japan. It was the hot and emerald-sparkling ocean found near the equator. This room was on a giant ship. At 500m long, it was nearly twice the size of a nuclear aircraft carrier.

And.

Something flew by directly outside the window.

It caused the thick reinforced glass to rattle as it passed by and, if his kinetic vision was at all accurate, it appeared to be a human. It was a high school girl of around his age who had armor covering her arms and legs, wings on her back, and equipment made of a translucent and angular material.

This might be a very odd sight from a global perspective.

But Utagai Karuta was ''one of them'', so it was a lot more familiar than his childhood friend’s nudity.

“Ocean Crystal Magic Academy Grimnoah, huh?”

He once more thought about where he was standing and what force he belonged to.

Yes.

He too was one of the magicians who wore a new generation Crystal Blossom at his chest.

“What, you didn’t take a shower? Gross.”

After simply washing off his face, Utagai Karuta chose not to respond to his childhood friend whose skin was flushed from her shower. He could not bring himself to admit he was worried what would happen to his blood pressure if he spent too long in a shower filled with such a girly scent.

They were wearing their uniforms for this “school”.

They both wore purple blazers, but that was not the best choice for a location so close to the equator. Some of the students jumped for joy at the more frequent opportunities for the female students to shower, but Karuta was not one of those. He simply hated all the sweat.

His one form of resistance was to wear a running shirt below his blazer instead of a dress shirt.

“You’re headed out for some training, aren’t you?”

“What about you, Marika?”

“The cafeteria stiiiill isn’t open, so I’ll go with you. The Catastrophe is coming up, but more than that, food tastes better when you’ve worked up an appetite.”

When the two left his room while chatting, a classmate named Kazamuki Gekiha poked his head out from the neighboring room.

Marika did not care at all if she was seen leaving Karuta’s room (with her hair wet from the shower), so she spoke to him with a puzzled look.

“What, are you training too? When did our class start actually putting in an effort?”

“Try to have a thought for the neighbors. Your couple’s comedy skits have been waking me up early every morning lately.”

“Sorry. But just to be clear, these are not ‘couple’s comedy skits’.”

Gekiha ended up joining them. It was too late to go back to sleep and he must not have wanted to waste the time. The loose fit of his uniform and his slouching pose gave him the quintessential delinquent look, but he never could have gotten into the Ocean Crystal Magic Academy if he was not smart.

“So where do you do your training?” asked Marika. “The gym? The pool?”

That question showed just how large this ship was.

The single ship contained enough living space, classrooms, labs, lecture halls, gyms, and indoor pools for the more than 700 students and faculty members onboard. It already sounded like magic without even getting to the Crystal Blossoms.

Crystal Magic could only be used by a select few, but its byproducts had scattered across the world. It was similar to the relationship between great firepower and ironworking. The many new materials and highly-efficient new techniques developed by Crystal Magic had most blessed the field of construction.

Simply put, buildings had grown taller, underground structures had expanded, and ships and planes had grown larger. The world’s scenery had been changed by what was added on top of the existing technologies.

However…

“It doesn’t really matter where. Y’know, because my Crystal Blossom is a little weird.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve got a point.”

“So I’ll go wherever you want to go. Where can you spread your wings the most?”

Once Utagai Karuta let the others choose, they knew exactly where they would train for the day.

They moved to the very back of that ship which was twice the size of a luxury cruise ship. The three of them arrived on the large flat heliport there.

Quite a few students had already gathered there, but they were not kicking around a ball or grappling each other on the heliport.

They were falling.

Falling from the edge of the heliport and toward the emerald-sparkling ocean.

“Tezcatlipoca, power up,” whispered curly twintailed Marika.

She wore something like a glass flower at her chest and it immediately began to move. The electrical signal emitted by a printed circuit board smaller than a stamp passed through cables thinner than hairs and the flower opened up. It blossomed. And then it shattered. The clear particles wrapped around her body and became cold armor that surrounded her arms and legs and extended in places to form blade-like wings.

The other notable feature was the rapier-shaped device made of what looked like translucent crystal. This was of course nothing as primitive as a device to slice through things with a honed blade. It would use ultra-rapid vibration and heat to obstruct the inter-electron activity that bound molecules together.

She did not need to worry about the flower petals. More were automatically supplied to make up for those that fell away.

“Thor, power up,” whispered Gekiha as well.

In his case, 10 large wings grew from his entire back.

His weapon was much less refined. It appeared to be made of the same delicate crystal as Marika’s, but it was designed as a cross between a chainsaw and Gatling gun that was longer than he was tall. His ability to easily swing it around in a single hand was another blessing of Crystal Magic.

Of course, not all Crystal Magic was the same. There was a large difference in the power one wielded depending on the deity being used. For example, these two could both produce a variety of phenomena that they wielded as weapons, but Marika’s Tezcatlipoca was based on light while Kazamuki Gekiha’s Thor was based on electricity.

Utagai Karuta breathed a soft sigh.

And he waved over at them with a smile.

“Have fun.”

They smiled back and then jumped from the edge of the heliport.

But there never was a splashing sound. Instead, there was a sound like a sharp whistle. He looked down to see the emerald sea split apart while the two of them freely skimmed just above its surface.

They moved faster than fighter jets and more delicately than figure skaters.

Legends said those forms could avoid 70 fully-locked-on missiles in a row and even shake free of a ship’s interception laser.

The flower at Karuta’s chest vibrated a bit while he remained back on the ship.

It quickly formed human voices.

They belonged to those two classmates who had gone on ahead of him.

“Whew! Okay, let’s start with some teamwork,” said Gekiha. “I’ll add markers for the slalom, so match my movements!!”

“I seriously doubt I’ll be on your team in battle, but, well, it’s just practice,” replied Marika.

“Man, those upperclassmen are something else, aren’t they?”

“Tch. They’re looking down on us again, aren’t they?”

Karuta also looked up toward the sky.

Crystal Magicians took a special kind of flower pollen into their bodies to “grow” that armor instead of “piloting” or “wearing” it. It was a lot more portable than the older staffs and card sets, and you could think of it like magical superconductors with nearly zero energy loss upon connection. The energy emitted by the Original Crystal Embryo said to exist at the center of the earth and the various powers pouring down from space would collide and create random “vortices of power” similar to occult high and low pressure fronts, but these monsters could access all sorts of supernatural phenomena by using their electrically-controlled Crystal Blossoms just like someone efficiently plowing their field or raising their sails to utilize the weather. Yes, it was just like the priests and priestesses of an older age who had performed sacred acts in accordance with a horoscope chart or calendar that showed everything from creation to destruction all so they coud obtain a power that brought people together to form a civilization.

But those rulers of the supernatural had a clear hierarchy among them.

Marika and Gekiha raced across the glittering ocean with ferocious speed, but there were a few silhouettes flying up above those classmates’ heads. They flapped their wings like angels or demons and they were likely Karuta’s upperclassmen. At the second year, they were known as Regulation 2.

It was like the difference between a small kart and a Formula 1 racer. Karuta and his classmates were only Regulation 1, so they had not even been given the right to fight alongside them in the school competition known as the Catastrophe.

Unless they used a special system known as Category Error.

“Kee hee hee,” laughed Marika. “Keep staring up like that and people will mistake you for a panty peeper.”

“!?”

Karuta jumped and she continued the verbal attack while cackling.

“Don’t worry, even the students in the other years know my pathetic childhood friend isn’t going to try anything. Anyway, I don’t see any Regulation 3s.”

“You mean those dimensional travelers?”

“I doubt that part’s true. Although I wouldn’t put it past that Student Council President.”

Crystal Magicians did not use lift or jet thrusters to fly or to skim along the ocean’s surface.

Crystal Magic used an excitation vibration to shake the space and dimension itself and create an invisible sail that let them ride the great currents that formed those occult high and low pressure fronts. Still, the more physical resistance and footholds the better, so Regulation 1s were limited to the ocean while Regulation 2s could reach the sky.

So what about Regulation 3s?

Legend had it they could increase the excitation vibration to the point that they pushed the dimension past its limit and ruptured it. It was said they could pass through that dimensional rift and make the other side into their own territory as well. Simply put, they could perform dimensional leaps similar to warping or teleporting.

(Skimming across the water, flying through the sky, and dimensional travel. …Well, they should all be impossible, but that order does fit how hard it is to imagine them, I guess.)

There was a reason why they had taken this so far.

There was a logical and pressing reason why they needed to acquire such great power.

“Aim at the drones flying around free,” said Gekiha. “Let’s mark A00 through N99. I’ll drive them toward you and you finish them off. Let’s aim for 30 seconds. Or is that too much for you, Miss Marika!?”

“Ugh, really!? This is why I don’t want to be teamed up with a trigger-happy optical Gatling gun freak! Don’t hit those upperclassmen flying up there, okay!?”

“It’s not like it would kill them if I did. The spatial vibration field will protect them, plus they’re pretty much immortal even if I break through that barrier.”

Thanks to Crystal Magic, they could regenerate an arm or a leg if it was blown off. With anything other than a fatal blow, the damaged portion would be immediately crystallized and return to normal in about 30 seconds. …However, that opportunity was lost if the crystalized part was shattered by a further attack while it prepared to regenerate.

With a fatal blow, their entire body would be crystallized.

In that case, the regeneration period was unknown. Or rather, it depended on the level of injury. A slit throat might be fine after less than a year, but if their torso was bisected or their entire body was blown to bits, even a century would not be enough. And if part of their original body had been lost, then the time increased tenfold or even a hundredfold. It may have been like being placed in cold sleep while they slowly healed.

“Can I say something weird?” asked Karuta.

“That’s par for the course with you, so don’t worry about it,” said Gekiha. “So what is it?”

“I think even Crystal Magicians die when they’re fatally wounded. I mean, the healing of wounds and the regeneration of fatal wounds clearly use different modes. With regeneration, their clothing is solidified along with them. I guess it’s like the healing keeps their soul inside while the regeneration doesn’t.”

“You mean like those Egyptian mummies?” asked Marika. “They preserve the corpse because the resurrected soul will need it at their destination, right?”

“What does it matter?” added Gekiha. “Either way, you can still come back after being beheaded or having your heart shot through.”

Did that seem like a second chance to redo your life, or did it seem like a punishment that left you wandering the world in a state where you could never die?

Your interpretation probably came down to your personal beliefs.

“…”

Flight, a barrier, and regeneration.

Those were the “presets” shared by all Crystal Magicians. In other words, they were standard.

But they also had individual Skills based on the deity they wore like armor, so there was a lot offered in the deal.

“I do have the Gatling gun, but I’m mainly a close-quarters fighter using the chainsaw,” said Gekiha. “It’s just that I already had the rotation structure in there, so I figured I could put it to good use in other ways too.”

“Either way, it is severely lacking in style,” said Marika. “Also, isn’t the greatest advantage of your Thor the boomerang-like alterations to projectile trajectories? So why did you focus so much on close-quarters?”

Karuta watched from the heliport as those two had fun flying along the ocean.

“Do you think the Threat really exists?” he asked without thinking.

Kazamuki Gekiha clearly did not like the question.

“How should I know when we aren’t given any information on it? Is it human or a monster? Is it a plant or an animal? Is it a living thing or a machine? Is it micro or is it macro? We don’t know a damn thing. It could even be a legit god or demon for all we know.”

“But we do know cities are disappearing around the world,” said Marika. “And in some cases, entire small countries. They’re just gone without at trace, like someone used a giant eraser. That’s the one thing we do know.”

The great pressure felt like a soft hand pressing on the center of the stomach.

Cities and countries were disappearing around the world.

And it always happened overnight without anyone able to resist in the slightest.

Nothing at all had been announced regarding the cause and masking had been applied so not even civilian satellites could see what was going on, so disconcerting speculations continued to grow unabated.

What was this thing that had to be hidden from the world?

That was why this academy was built as a boat. And why it was surrounded by so many escort ships of various sizes. No fixed location functioned as a solid base anymore. Not a superpower’s metropolis, not a shelter deep underground, and not some secret garden at the ends of the earth.

The Threat.

It may not have been anything occult. It might turn out to be nothing more than an ordinary army made up of enemy soldiers. But with all information hidden, they were forced to skip straight past the cause and process and look only at the result. That was more than enough to make it a real nightmare.

“I hate how we’re asked to fight something without being told what it is,” complained Karuta.

“This giant school and the Catastrophe exist to make sure we’re ready when that surprise party arrives out of the blue one day,” said Marika.

The Catastrophe was divided up between Regulations, but it was still a major event that determined a clear hierarchy within the students of the Ocean Crystal Magic Academy. However, this was not a martial arts tournament where the students fought each other, a sports festival where their athleticism was measured, or final exams where their academic ability was put to the test.

The name said it all.

They were thrown into some great catastrophe.

“The rumors I’ve heard say they’ll do pretty much anything,” said Gekiha. “They might spread liquid helium high in the sky to create a bomb cyclone, or they might stuff a 1000m pit full of explosives to trigger an artificial volcanic eruption.”

“I’d take either of those over the one where you’re taken to a desert island only to have agar carrying a genetically-modified pathogen rain down on you from the sky,” said Marika.

“Um, I’ve heard you can wake up after the anesthetic wears off and find yourself in the middle of a military conflict somewhere in the world,” said Karuta.

Natural disasters, plagues, and wars.

The catastrophe could come in any form. There was no advance warning and they were free to work with or work against the other students they found with them.

There was only one win condition: overcoming the catastrophe the academy tasked them with and ending the problems it had caused.

The number of catastrophes they had safely overcome and how active a role they had played would be quantified and the entire student body would receive a final ranking at fixed intervals.

This was not useless “theories” that only worked on paper or in a ring. They had to improve themselves as Crystal Magicians such that they could respond to any and all dangers.

However, the possible catastrophes were so varied that this gave no real hint what they were being trained to face. In other words, what the Threat really was.

“Anyway, you were the one who invited me to train this morning. If you can obtain Skills just by staring up into the sky, knock yourself out, but if not, then how about you get going?”

He realized Marika was right. He had no rebuttal.

He placed a hand on his chest, traced his finger across the Crystal Blossom that looked like glasswork, and he whispered.

He whispered to the printed circuit board smaller than a stamp, to the cables thinner than hairs, and to the Crystal Blossom beyond them.

[[Image:ApocalypseWitch_v01_06.png|thumb]]

“Power up. …I’m counting on you, Aine.”

As soon as he did, his Crystal Blossom shattered. But not like it did for the other students. No translucent armor covered his arms and legs and no wings grew from his back.

His back swelled out and then something crawled out of his flesh.

It was a girl.

She looked like a lovely girl of about 13 or 14. She had long hair, her skin was more pale than white, and she wore a transparent-looking white dress decorated all over with glittering crystal.

He called her Aine, but he did not actually know if that was really the silver-haired girl’s name.

In fact, he did not know if she was really a living being with feelings of her own.

She held what looked like a drawn katana made of crystal. However, the back of the blade branched off like a jitte and a short laser gun unit was attached parallel to the blade.

The concept of “property” did not apply here.

The name Aine referred to everything from the girl’s heart to the sword.

“Unit ID Name: Aine – power up complete. What are your orders, Sacri-sama.”

“I really wish that was short for Sacred Master or something instead of Sacrifice…”

He brought a hand to his forehead.

Crystal Magic worked by sealing a divine name such as Zeus or Odin inside a printed circuit board smaller than a stamp to use the god’s legend and mythology to calculate out the horoscope chart or calendar needed to catch the supernatural winds. People could not manipulate earth’s atmosphere, but with a weather forecast, they could efficiently plow their fields and raise their sails. This was the same but used to wield miracles.

However.

A slight mistake had been made.

In Utagai Karuta’s case, the Crystal Blossom had been activated before a divine name had been sealed inside, so the calculations had been made without anything to start with.

That had resulted in the creation of this unidentified crystal girl who did not rely on any known mythology.

He did not even know where the name Aine had come from.

The students who had been taking a break on the heliport looked up in slight surprise and focused on him. It was a little embarrassing, but they were interested in Aine and not him.

This was probably unique among all the students in the giant Ocean Crystal Magic Academy.

He had a fully separated Crystal Blossom.

“It’s pretty incredible,” said Gekiha. “Even if it’s hard to tell if it makes him a genius or a freak.”

“I’ll admit no one else can do that,” said Marika. “But it doesn’t give him any speed or defenses, so a single shot is enough to finish him off. I don’t see how it will help during the Catastrophe.”

“He could have her princess carry him around.”

“Ah ha ha! That would be perfect for that King of Wishy-Washiness.”

Their words were not as painful as the fact that they were not even wrong. Now, the trick to defeating Crystal Magicians during sparring was to ''aim for the gaps'', so a Crystal Blossom like Aine could be seen as unbeatable since she moved all on her own. But that was useless when the entire school body already knew about it. They would simply focus their attacks on him. Of the preset abilities, the flight belonged to Aine, the regeneration belonged to Karuta, and they could both use the barrier, but there seemed to be some kind of conflict there because it was extremely weak. He could not deflect a single bullet the way things were.

Meanwhile, Aine silently tilted her head while waiting for a command.

“Aine, can you hear me?”

“Yes, Sacri-sama?”

“Let’s do the usual test. I’ll vibrate the Blossom to send you my voice. Let’s see how long a distance I can stay in contact with you.”

This was a lot like mimicking a radio or tin can telephone, but he thought this had to be the most efficient method. As long as he was not defeated, she could not be broken by most any attack. It was like the difference between a bulletproof vehicle covered in thick armor and a box stuffed full of steel.

The boy sighed as he watched Aine hop off the edge of the heliport and toward the ocean. While dimensional leaps were too much for her, Aine actually could fly in the sky, but he felt it was best to show deference to their upperclassmen. (Marika and Gekiha may have been in a similar position there.) He himself had not done anything at all, so he sadly could not feel any pride in that accomplishment.

All he could do was stay in safe place and send messages to his crystal doll.

“Look, Karuta,” said Kazamuki Gekiha. “The sky is so clear today you can see that decorative junk in the distance.”

Drawn by his classmate’s comment, he looked to the horizon and saw something long and skinny rising up from it. He could not imagine how far it extended because it vanished into the blue sky.

“A space elevator, huh?”

He was pretty sure that giant structure had been developed in the name of carrying cargo into orbit more cheaply than with rockets or shuttles. It was still running, but it was deep in the red due to a number of reasons. Karuta and the others did not have much to do with the thing.

“To be honest, I’m relieved that project failed,” said Gekiha. “The Original Crystal Embryo is at the center of the earth and Crystal Magic uses the collision between the two powers here on the surface, so they say you can’t use it on a space station or a lunar base, right? Only 0.0002% of the population can use this, so it would be a huge waste if the modern age moved out into space and this ability was buried in the shadows of history.”

“The Original,” repeated Karuta. “We all use it, but no one actually knows what it is, do we? There are a ton of theories though, like that it’s a collection of knowledge embedded there by someone or that it’s the will of the planet.”

“That’s not our problem. Leave that to the theory group that never leaves their desks. Oh, and speaking of the elevator, had you heard some of the previous generation are visiting for an inspection? It’s those 5 known as the Problem Solvers.”

The Problem Solvers.

Those five were said to have successfully physically removed the Threat in combat.

And just as that name was mentioned, the blue sky was swallowed up by darkness as if a room’s lights had been shut off.

“…”

“––––”

The other two fell silent.

Karuta was likely also staring up at the sky that had suddenly changed from the rising sun of early morning to the darkness of night.

“Is that their way of announcing their arrival?” asked Gekiha.

“One of those five can control solar or lunar eclipses, right?” said Marika. “I’ve heard eclipses keep happening wherever they go, but that is quite a performance.”

It was definitely impressive.

Karuta could only summon a crystal girl from his body, so he could never hope to accomplish this.

However, that did not necessarily mean that power would help win the Catastrophe that could be a natural disaster, a plague, or a war.

Not to mention in a fight against the unknown Threat.

“I get that they’re powerful, but it’s hard to say how impressive that is when you don’t know what the Threat is.”

“At the very last, they have to be more powerful than you, Mr. Pathetic,” said Marika.

The Problem Solvers.

Their ability in combat tended to get all the focus, but they were used for more than ''just'' fighting.

Their powerful magic could support an entire era.

That included everything from the world’s production facilities to things like garbage disposal.

Those monsters could run global-scale infrastructure all on their own.

They were known as monsters because of that energy that was too great to simply call “massive” and because of their influence on the world.

Karuta’s group had their hands full with ''just'' the fighting part, so these people were on more than just another level.

The world would grind to a halt without them.

The internet, convenience stores, and air conditioning did not simply exist. Someone was supporting all of those things on a daily basis. And those monsters were the ones supporting those everyday things for 5.5 billion people.

“North America, South America, Eurasia, Oceania, and Africa,” said Marika. “Whatever it says on paper, it’s those five who effectively hold it all together.”

“Yeah, just those five,” said Gekiha.

A mere five people kept the world economy going.

The hard work of the other 5.5 billion people did nothing more than transfer some bills from one of their wallets to another.

“I almost feel bad for those VIPs,” said Gekiha. “No one’s even focused on that elevator anymore. They gathered plenty of money in the name of carrying cargo more cheaply than with rockets or shuttles, but once they started running it, the fear of spreading debris led them to an indefinite ban on civilian use. In the end, it can only be used for public policy.”

“And I hear that public policy isn’t doing so hot either,” said Karuta. “Since the point is to carry the cargo cheaply, they get their funding reduced with each consecutive project. And since they can’t gather more clients, the price just keeps going down. It’s like marking down a million yen bag to ten thousand yen but not getting any more customers into your shop, so it’s pretty bad.”

“I hear the Problem Solvers are personally defending it because it’s a cornerstone of public policy, but is that really why?” asked Marika. “If the Problem Solvers traversed the planet in top form, no one would need armies anymore. Now that we have some actual cost-benefit data to work from, no one has any hopes for the field of space development, so it seems weird for them to keep protecting a portion of it. Kind of ironic that they’re being held back by a facility they can’t afford to get rid of. The adult world sounds like a real pain. Although maybe they’re letting some other people have some credit to avoid any silly resentment.”

“At any rate, this is what it means to be too blessed,” said Gekiha. “With those five, no one needs the political world, the business world, the military, or the government. If they wanted to, couldn’t they destroy it all? If all of them were sent out around the world all the time instead of sending them out one at a time every so often, I bet they might have been able to keep those cities, regions, and countries from disappearing.”

“But.” Utagai Karuta chose his words carefully. “Those Problem Solvers don’t use Crystal Blossoms like us. I hear they use the old-fashioned God-Worshiping Magic.”

“Isn’t that what makes it so impressive?” asked Marika.

“Yeah, it makes you wonder why they haven’t switched to Crystal Blossoms,” said Gekiha. “It’s scary that they can go into battle with the presets of flight, barriers, and regeneration. Well, maybe they aren’t part of the 0.0002% that can use them, but that just makes them all the more monstrous for standing at the top like that.”

Utagai Karuta sighed.

Crystal Blossoms. That cutting-edge magic technology controlled printed circuit boards smaller than stamps to produce various supernatural phenomena by catching the optimal currents produced by the occult high and low pressure fronts created by the collision between the energy emitted from the Original Crystal Embryo in the center of the earth and the various powers raining down from outer space.

But you could never reach the level of the Problem Solvers by mastering that path.

There were a lot of rumors about the Problem Solvers like that their attack power was so specialized that they could resolve any situation with a single attack, or that they could use a barrage as fearsome as an Aegis ship to shoot down every last grain of sand of whatever might oppose them, but the details were unknown. They were world-famous, yet so very little was known about them that it was kind of creepy.

If Karuta and his schoolmates were the ones reading the weather maps, then those five were the ones firing dry ice or thermobaric warheads into the sky to produce artificial rain.

The students here could not stand up to them no matter how hard they tried.

Plus, Karuta’s magic was not even the standard Crystal Magic that he already knew was no match for them. His had been twisted so badly it had become a fully independent girl the likes of which no had ever seen.

“Ah, eh, ee, uh, eh, oh, ah, oh.”

While he was thinking, Aine’s voice reached him remotely.

“Can you hear me, Sacri-sama?”

“Can you please call me something else? It’s creepy.”

They managed to kill a good amount of time training.

Once the cafeteria was open for breakfast, everyone naturally started wrapping things up without being told.

The training group arrived first, so it was not yet what you would call crowded. Karuta, Marika, Gekiha, and Aine managed to get one end of a table to themselves.

“Sacri-sama, I want that. The gold leaf castella.”

“Why do you always want to eat the most ridiculously expensive things?”

“If that is not an option, the gold powder yokan would be acceptable.”

“Okay, how about you try again after figuring out what my issue with the first option was?”

Aine silently tilted her head and her silver hair swayed while giving off a rainbow-colored shine similar to a disk.

“If you insist, I could always eat a gold bar directly.”

“The gold is the problem! And why do you even need to eat if you’re Crystal Magic!?”

“You have already asked that 72 times, but I will faithfully answer it yet again. My body is made of crystal – that is, a silicon semiconductor – so by taking in pure gold, I can expand my internal circuitry and obey more complex and higher-level requests. So you could say this is all meant for your benefit, Sacri-sama.”

“More complex? Like what?”

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………Blush.”

“Wait, why are you hanging your head and blushing with that complex expression!?”

Gekiha was clearly enjoying the show while chowing down on some toast with chocolate spread.

“You people are endless entertainment.”

“Hmph,” said Marika. “She was created from Karuta, so isn’t this just the ultimate one-man show? Hmph, hmph!!”

“I was including you in that ‘you people’.”

They continued discussing various topics from there.

They were teenagers, but their conversations tended to drift toward Crystal Magic.

“With crystals, converting the vibration into lasers or masers is the quickest way to a lot of firepower, don’t you think?” asked Marika.

“Wait, wait,” responded Gekiha. “Some of our upperclassmen have figured out how to use acoustic weapons.”

“You don’t just mean radar or sonar, do you?”

“I mean blasting things with pure sound. It’s like a fancy speaker cannon. Now, that’s not gonna kill us when we can negate the sonic boom of supersonic travel, but imagine getting hit by one of those head-on. It’s like a thick wall and it covers an entire surface. Wouldn’t that be an effective way to slow down enemies over a wide area?”

“And then blast them with lasers or masers? Now that would be the best.”

“Why do you like those shiny attacks so much?”

Meanwhile, a small hand tugged at Karuta’s sleeve.

It was Aine.

“Sacri-sama, if I am injected with argon ions or ions of a rare earth like yttrium, I could equip myself with a super thick laser. Woof, woof.”

“I hate to interrupt you when you look so proud of yourself, but which item on the cafeteria menu am I supposed to feed you for that?”

When he asked her that, she pulled her feet up onto the chair and wrapped her arms around her knees to curl up as small as possible. But not because she was hurt by his cold response. She simply did not like wide open areas. The civilian spacecraft shaped like a bamboo leaf in his room functioned as her bed.

So why did she have her own bed when she was usually contained within his body?

The answer was simple: she could not control herself as well while asleep, so when she rolled over or moved at all, her arm or leg would stick out of his stomach or back. And that was very creepy. The fact that most people with an out-of-body experience did so while asleep was perhaps no laughing matter.

“Sigh, I want to get inside you soon. (Squirm, squirm)”

“Can you find a better way of phrasing that?”

“Hey, I’m not one to kinkshame,” said Gekiha. “But the girl going inside the guy is taking things too far for me personally.”

“Hm? Hmm?”

Curly twintailed Marika looked baffled by this exchange and that was probably the normal reaction. Gekiha just had something of a dirty mind.

In the short free time they had until morning homeroom, Karuta visited the infirmary.

He did this every day, but not because he was ill or felt uncomfortable in class.

The giant ship’s infirmary had a bit of a unique design. The standard level was the same as normal schools: a simple examining table and a few beds divided up by curtains. The magic level was used to treat problems and side effects related to Crystal Blossoms and magic. And the isolation level was located even further in.

“Thanks for doing this so often. Just make sure you aren’t late for class.”

After receiving permission from the school doctor who wore a sweater and a tight skirt, he stepped into the isolation level to find a windowless space filled with a bluish light.

Large silhouettes lined the wall like the Greek sculpture section of an art museum.

These were all upperclassmen who had been transformed into clear crystal from head to toe.

They had been fatally wounded, so they had been fully crystalized as emergency treatment.

“Everyone wants to pretend this place doesn’t exist, so almost no one visits,” sighed the school doctor who had followed him in. “So I’m sure they are all delighted that you visit every day.”

“…”

It had happened for any number of reasons.

But not one of those reasons was valiantly battling the Threat.

What happened if there was trouble during a live fire exercise or the acrobatics at an air show? These victims of accidents had all been fatally wounded during classes or the Catastrophe, so the academy had retrieved them so they could wait for their resurrection.

“I’m not here out of kindness or anything,” Karuta said without thinking.

He came to a stop in front of a certain girl like he always did. She had glasses and a long braid. Several cracks ran through her just above the navel.

The time until regeneration differed depending on the severity of the injury.

The digital counter at her feet coldly counted down from nearly 550 years.

Even with cutting-edge Crystal Magic, resurrecting a single person from certain death was no easy task.

“I only come here to remind myself of the risk. The spatial vibration field and self-crystallization regeneration are not absolute. Death is our constant companion. …No one would be happy to know they’re being used as an example of what to avoid.”

“Even so.” The school doctor was undeterred. “The most painful thing for people is to be forgotten. To leave nothing behind and to not even act as a lesson for someone. So I do think they are happy you visit. Their life may not have gone as planned, but now they know it will at least be useful to someone.”

Once more.

Just once more, Utagai Karuta looked up at the crystal girl standing on that pedestal.

Not even he knew what look was on his face.

Nevertheless, he spoke in a tone one would never use with a mere decoration.

“I’ll be going, Senpai.”

Utagai Karuta was not clever enough to say he had seen it coming, so he was a little surprised when he learned first period was being preempted.

“It’s those Problem Solvers,” said his awful friend. “They said they’re coming for an inspection and they asked to have the entire student body assembled. Really, they should’ve waited and made one hell of an entrance during the Catastrophe’s opening ceremony.”

“I see.”

He, Marika, and Gekiha joined the other students in leaving the classroom. Aine was not with them. She was in his stomach at the moment. And not in a grotesque way.

They arrived in a large space with a tall ceiling.

The wooden flooring was polished bright.

Plentiful lighting covered the ceiling.

Basketball goals were installed by the wall and something like a theatre stage was installed.

Any school would have a gym like this, but anyone would be surprised to hear this was contained inside a ship. Thick plastic sheets covered the entire floor and hundreds of folding chairs were neatly lined up, so it looked a lot like an entrance ceremony or graduation.

The boys and girls were separated, so they had to temporarily part ways with Marika whose curly twintails were dyed strawberry blonde.

“Damn, I hope the air conditioning isn’t broken when we’re on the freaking equator,” complained Gekiha. “That solar eclipse made for one hell of a hot night.”

“There are 600 students and 100 teachers. I doubt the gym was designed to hold that many people.”

“And now we have to listen to the headmaster drone on and on. Ugh, I hope that old geezer passes out from heatstroke first and foremost. It’s high time he felt the pain we’re all experiencing.”

Meanwhile, the ceremony began.

The first to show up was not the five Problem Solvers. Gekiha was right: it was the handsome gray-haired headmaster. He was very popular, he knew how to manage a business, he was excellent at political dealings, and most importantly, he was skilled with magic. It was rumored his penchant for hopelessly long speeches was the flaw god had given him to balance things out.

The elderly gentleman used the stage’s microphone to slowly read off a script that was not going to move anyone’s heart.

“Yes, all of you have been most diligent in your efforts, so we have prepared some further excitement for you. Excitement is an excellent thing and you could call it the seed of all learning. Of course, a seed is naught but a seed and can only grow once given proper soil, water, and sunlight. I am sure you are all clever enough to know what that means.”

Everyone was entirely relaxed.

He enjoyed talking and did not particularly care what other people thought about it. It was well known that he was not the type to yell at a student he noticed slacking off like an annoying guidance counselor might.

“So today, I thought we could let you hear a few words from the Problem Solvers, your five predecessors who have traveled the world while actually fighting the Threat. We have sown the seeds, but how those seeds will grow comes down to your decisions as you- <span style="font-size:200%">'''bgwehhh'''</span>!!!?”

So.

No one understood what that sudden and disastrous end to the speech meant.

“Huh?”

In that moment, Utagai Karuta was unable to speak a single word even though a human life had clearly just come to end before his eyes.

That life had been taken far too vividly to believe.

The elderly gentleman’s entire head flew from his shoulders and a cracking sound came from his body. His dignity as a Crystal Magician must have just barely won out because his body and clothing grew transparent and he solidified in something akin to cold sleep.

Karuta jumped in shock at the loud thud of the microphone falling to the stage next to the headless crystalized body. That was how far behind his senses and understanding were.

Most likely, something had been thrown.

It could have been a sword, a spear, an axe, or a staff, but he had not seen what it was.

But he did hear some footsteps. No more than footsteps.

A new figure stepped up onto the wing of the stage while everyone watched like wind-up dolls with broken springs. It was a woman. She was so androgynous that it took a moment to judge her gender, but it was a tall and slender woman with long white hair and wearing a pantsuit.

A very bad feeling enveloped Karuta’s entire body.

Without even a glance at the headless crystal statue lying at her feet, the woman kicked up the microphone and caught it in her hand. She brought it to her mouth and made an announcement.

“Incompetent.”

That single word of complete rejection seemed to stab into them.

“Incompetent, incompetent, every last one of you is incompetent. Thus, Ocean Crystal Magic Academy Grimnoah shall be immediately shut down!!”

Finally and at long last, the boys and girls forcefully stood from their folding chairs. That alone produced a deluge of sound. A normal person might have fled without a second thought. Or they might have collapsed to the floor, unable to even flee. But this was the Ocean Crystal Magic Academy. They were the next-generation fighting force prepared to combat the Threat that indiscriminately annihilated countries, regions, and cities around the world. They were the frontline fighters with Crystal Blossoms at their chests, so they chose to stand up as a solid wall to protest being called incompetent.

Almost as if their injured pride mattered more to them than the death.

Kazamuki Gekiha stood up next to Karuta. Marika may have stood up with the girls. The gym had become a forest of people. A thick forest.

But even so.

Utagai Karuta alone could not stand up. He curled up while soaked with sweat and tried to hide within that forest.

After all.

The headmaster had been a handsome gray-haired gentleman. At first glance, it might look like he would be easily defeated in an arm wrestling match, but he actually had great magical talent and had the skill needed to establish this enormous Crystal Magic school. Yet he had been taken out so easily? No normal person could have done that!!

While curled up, Karuta desperately tugged on Gekiha’s pants to signal him to do the same.

His classmate gave him a puzzled look while holding his brutal crystal weapon that combined a chainsaw with a Gatling gun, so Karuta desperately shook his sweat-soaked face.

He told him no.

And a moment later…

“Incompetent.”

That voice came from the speakers again.

“I am one of the Problem Solvers. You seriously do not understand our difference in power after seeing me for yourselves?”

Suddenly, the wall behind the white-haired woman broke through.

The floor shook below them.

No, the massive academy ship itself had tilted.

“I beseech thee, Vishnu, Indian God of Change.”

This was a divine power of transformation, but what in the world was it?

An enormous form moved up alongside her.

There were what looked like swords, like spears, like axes, and like staffs. And it was not limited to weapons. There were also shields and armor. There were what appeared to be rusted refrigerators and microwaves and crushed cars or containers. Even components like springs and gears were common.

No individual piece had any real meaning.

They all squashed together, gathered, and piled up to form ''something'' made of rusted metal. The monster waved a thick tail behind it, stood on two hind legs, had two forelegs folded up in front of its chest, and had a massive maw lined with razor-sharp fangs. It instantly broke through the top of the stage and grew large enough to graze the entire gym’s ceiling. It was…

“A dino…saur?” someone muttered.

It was not Karuta. In this worst case scenario, he did not want to do anything that would gather attention in a negative way. And that was why he was unable to stop Gekiha who was right next to him.

Something else happened before he could.

The woman calmly spoke into the microphone while facing so many crystal swords and cannons.

“Mere toothpicks.”

The roar was enough for everyone to flinch.

The unbelievably mass moved down from the stage.

The dozen or so trampled in the front row may have been the lucky ones.

The true horror came for those on the next rows.

The giant maw and fangs operated in just as gruesome a way as one would expect!!!!!!

“Agyaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwwwwwwwww!!”

“I can’t-…no. what? My leg…my leg!?”

It was more of a smashing than a tearing.

There were no colorful reds or blacks. With the sound of shattering crystal, the boys and girls’ limbs were torn from their bodies, their torsos were shredded, and their entire bodies were obliterated.

It tore them apart with a bite and then shook its head as it chewed. Their remains were not just scattered around; they poured down on the heads of the survivors.

They had Crystal Blossoms, they had Crystal Magic, they had translucent armor, they had a spatial vibration field that protected their entire body like an invisible wall, and they could recover from any non-fatal wound in 30 seconds, but the combination of all those things meant nothing.

The mass, density, violence, fear, and slaughter were on another level altogether.

The continuing cacophony did not at all sound like human bodies being broken.

“…”

Their power was supposedly used for peace and their energy was supposedly used to support global infrastructure.

''Like hell it is,'' thought Karuta.

No matter how you tried to justify it, that was still the worst power humanity had ever produced. It was like a tempting demonic sword that regained its true shine through battle and bloodbaths.

Still curled up and desperately tugging on his best friend’s pants, Karuta realized Gekiha was looking at him while standing there in a daze. The boy had entirely forgotten to cry as he trembled, so Karuta used his eyes to beg him to get down while he still could. But Gekiha did not. He simply shook his head.

And he moved his lips: ''Sorry, that was stupid of me.

Karuta was not given time to say anything in response.

“…Ah…”

(Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?)

The boy’s torso was sliced apart in an instant. His armor and weapon shattered like mere glasswork. And his upper body was simply gone. Only the remaining lower body rapidly grew transparent and was thrown to the floor like a broken sculpture excavated from some ruins.

Utagai Karuta clenched his teeth and desperately suppressed his voice by covering his mouth with hands coated with glittering dust-like shards. Tears streamed down his face like the sealed scream was finding another outlet.

The light was reflected wildly by all the crystal fragments scattered one after another.

(The Problem…)

The geniuses wielding Crystal Magic produced translucent swords and staffs from empty air and fired lasers, masers, and acoustic weapons from them, but just like that woman had said, they were no more effective than toothpicks. They could not deliver a lethal blow to that enormous carnivorous dinosaur, but they did seem to rile it up. And they received shattering destruction in response. There was no stopping it. While Utagai Karuta trembled and curled up on the floor, more and more fine crystal powder poured down on him like diamond dust.

It was all so cold and unrealistic.

But he knew this was what remained of the flesh that had once formed ''human beings''.

(The Problem Solvers are doing this!! But why!?)

He felt something stirring inside him. The Crystal Blossom at his chest was pleading him: let me out, use me, cut down the threat before you.

He understood, but he ignored it. Using his Crystal Magic and releasing Aine from him would be a sign. A suicidal sign of starting a reckless battle. He could not do that. He did not want to die here.

Crystal Magic was like reading the wind and raising your sails.

The energy from the Original Crystal Embryo at the center of the earth and the various powers raining down from outer space would interact and produce variation points similar to high and low pressure, and their power simply read where those were and used the invisible tailwinds to produce supernatural phenomena.

But the Problem Solvers were different. They were like artificial rain. They used giant bombs or dry ice to directly alter the atmospheric pressure, produce clouds, and mess with the weather. They called in a storm for their own convenience. Studying the weather map was no use against a monster like that. Forcing up your sails would only get your ship capsized.

“Pant, pant! Gasp!!”

(What about Marika!? What happened to her!?)

His entire vision seemed covered in white static. This was an abnormality different from anemia or hyperventilation. This went beyond simply winning or losing. He got down on all fours and crawled along the floor that felt rough to the touch in order to reach the area where his childhood friend would have been sitting.

“Marika…”

The rows of chairs were pretty much gone.

He was instead surrounded by transparent crystal statues that distorted the scenery like smoked glass when enough were gathered together.

He hid among those many “corpses” to escape the dinosaur’s notice and he covered his ears to keep out the voices of those fleeing in a panic.

After a few minutes of struggle that felt like an eternity, someone grabbed the sweaty boy’s hand.

“Karuta! You survived!?”

“Marika!!” he shouted without caring what anyone thought.

She had been smart and not armed herself with her Crystal Blossom.

He clung to and embraced that childhood friend to confirm she really was alive. Her scent, her warmth, and the pulse coming from her chest were all real. This curly twintailed girl was not some hallucination his brain had cooked up to escape the reality around him.

“…! Gekiha was…”

“…”

“I’m sorry, I, Gekiha, right in front of me, couldn’t stop it!!”

He was crying.

But this was not over.

They had not woken from the nightmare. The only way out was to survive on their own.

“Let’s follow everyone else,” she said. “We have to reach the exit.”

That was their only option.

He glanced behind him, but the white-haired woman had not moved a step from the stage.

(How strong is she?)

And the two of them held hands even though they were using so many others as shields and so many other students in the same situation were being lost. They somehow managed to leave the gym like they were following a powerful current.

That was when it happened.

They had not woken from the first nightmare, but a second one had already arrived.

“What, you started already? I thought the plan was to wait until we were all there.”

Below the blatantly unnatural night sky of a solar eclipse, an eyepatch woman cackled. She was a Western European with blonde hair and white skin, yet she loosely wore a brightly colored kimono.

She was one of the Problem Solvers.

She was riding a high-speed motorboat for the rich that could reach 150km/h on the open water. It was far too close to the Ocean Crystal Magic Academy. It would normally have received a warning from the surrounding escort ships before getting anywhere near this close and been fired on by autocannons and anti-ship missiles if it did not obey.

But none of that happened.

Only an eerie silence surrounded it.

A voice spoke from the motorboat’s radio.

“You like to play games too much. Try to imagine what it’s like for those on the receiving end. It’s kinder to use more clever methods like this.”

“A kinder way to kill them?” mockingly asked the eyepatch woman while looking straight up into the sky.

A large tiltrotor craft was just passing by during the eclipse, but she may have been looking at something much, much higher.

“I beseech thee, Lugh, Celtic God of Light,” said the voice on the radio.

She was looking past the sky and out into space.

In other words, the network of orbital weapons that surrounded the entire planet in a sphere one size larger.

A blinding beam of light dropped straight down.

The unnatural darkness of the eclipse was blown away by this strange flash of white.

Sinister black smoke rose from all around.

Every last escort ship had lost its ability to continue fighting and was doing its best to even stay afloat. And then more and more thick beams dropped down on each of them in turn like pressing a giant stamp down on them. The gray ships were already melting like sugar sculptures, but now they were torn in two and doomed to sink.

“What part of that terrifying mess is supposed to be kinder?” asked the eyepatch woman.

“At the very least, they are killed instantly and painlessly,” said the voice on the radio. “Surely that is better than the fear of being devoured alive.”

“The ones being killed don’t exactly get an opinion, dumbass. And killing’s killing no matter how you try to pretty it up. Cut the excuses and actually face your sins, you phony nun.”

“Tch. Why do I have to listen to a holier-than-thou lecture from a pirate?”

The eyepatch woman stopped the motorboat’s engine. She lowered the anchor, took the thick, netsuke-like fastener attached to her kimono’s hip, attached it to a nearby railing, and rolled the three dice she pulled from her kimono’s sleeve.

There was no real meaning in it. The result was the same no matter what she rolled.

It was simply a guide. As long as one side of all three dice was accurately facing the night sky, that would determine the desired “direction”.

“I beseech thee, Susanoo, Wakoku God of Violence.”

Once she said that, something happened without any warning at all. Something floated up like shimmering heat. Not even she understood which of the thee dice it was centered on, but at this size, it hardly mattered. The object that rose straight up, towered well above the eyepatch woman, passed by the tiltrotor craft flying overhead, and easily split the clouds in the night sky was an absurdly large sword.

It was in fact more than 100km long.

Depending on the angle at which it was pulled out, it could easily destroy a city around it. Even with nothing but water as far as the eye could see, there was still a risk of it reaching land.

That was why she had to set up a guide for its angle.

“Now, then.”

Before the giant sword could wobble as gravity reclaimed it, the eyepatch woman swung her right hand to the side and easily grabbed its hilt. That part alone was longer than a mop, but it was blatantly out of balance with the rest.

But it did not matter. The kimono woman placed her empty left hand on the bottom of the hilt and there was no hint of effort on her face.

Anyone who saw this might have mistakenly wondered why there were two space elevators now.

After all, 100km was enough to reach the bottom of the thermosphere.

It was such an absurd mass.

And it would produce such an overwhelming slash.

“That should do it.”

Yet she easily swung it down as if drawing out a semicircle.

It grew red hot like a shooting star and the disturbed air trailed after it like a contrail.

It rushed down along the perfect path to bisect the giant ship of the Ocean Crystal Magic Academy!!

The ship was the size of a luxury cruise liner, but it tilted diagonally.

“Kyah!”

“Marika!!”

This had to be more than just some rough water.

Karuta and Marika were thrown into the corridor along with so many other students.

A crack ran through the long corridor in front of them and then the seemingly sturdy corridor broke apart. A gap of several meters was formed in no time, so there was no crossing it.

“Wah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

A few people fell into that gap.

Flight, a barrier, and regeneration.

Those were the preset abilities of Crystal Magicians, so they could generally fly. Even if they had not learned to do that yet, they could definitely race along the ocean surface.

So why did they sink into the surging ocean?

Because they were afraid to fly. They instinctually understood that standing out in front of those Problem Solvers meant death, so the sky was not an option yet they could not find any other solution. So they were swallowed up and drowned by the dead-end of their own thoughts.

The few dozen who had made it to the other side of the gap stared back at them. Karuta and Marika could only watch as that “wreckage” tilted like a seesaw and sank into the sea.

Those people had not chosen this.

They had wanted to live more than anyone, but that was exactly what had dragged them to a watery grave.

“What…?” Still confused, Karuta trembled and stared at the unbelievable scene. “What happened!? Isn’t this ship the mobile fortress meant to combat the Threat!? Isn’t this the temple created from the best of Crystal Magic technology!? How could it be broken in two with a single strike!?”

All that remained before them was the deadly ocean dyed black by the eclipse.

The ocean spread out in panorama and it was filled with blazing fires and billowing black smoke. Those were the escort ships meant to protect this ship. They had not been taken out with artillery or missiles. He did not know what materials those large escort ships were made from, but they had been twisted like melted sugar sculptures.

“Wh-what is that?” asked Marika as the clouds in the artificially dark sky were blown away.

A thick beam of light dropped down to finish off a gray escort ship desperately trying to stay afloat. It was broken in two, sunk into the ocean, and even triggered a steam explosion as it rapidly boiled the seawater around it.

This was different from that violent dinosaur made from gathered scraps.

But it was still the strongest.

It was from a different field, but this was undoubtedly one form of the strongest.

This was a truly unreachable opponent and confronting them should be avoided at all costs.

Even from a distance, the beam of light was so bright he thought it had scorched his eyes.

He grimaced and placed a hand on the wall before making a suggestion.

“Staying here isn’t going to do any good, so let’s get out of here!”

“R-right!!”

Karuta and Marika ran down the other way of the broken corridor and a young woman’s voice spoke mockingly from the speakers installed all over the ship.

“Ding dong ding dong! Is everyone dead yet? That’s all Crystal Magic was ever going to accomplish. Gya ha ha ha ha!!”

“Kh.”

At this point, he doubted this was some weakling.

More of the Problem Solvers were lurking on the boat.

More monsters on the same level as that dinosaur and that light spear.

“Our energy must be efficiently redistributed to combat the great Threat. And you? Well, you’re basically a bunch of rich kids, right? And I think we can all see how useless your Crystal Magic is, so you’re all just wasting a bunch of energy. You’re the bottom rankers, so it can’t hurt to get rid of you, can it? Yes, it’s all for ''the greater good''.”

“Dammit, dammit, dammit!!”

“Heh heh heh. Bwa ha ha ha ha!! God, you’re so stupid! A Crystal Magic Academy? You thought you were some precious little chosen ones? Not a chance!! Get a clue, morons! You’re supposed to use your heads before it turns out like this, you spoiled little brats!! You couldn’t tell you were dragging us all down by wasting so many resources on your meaningless school for meaningless junk magic!? Gya ha ha ha ha!!”

“Karuta, don’t let her get to you. They have no reason to tell the truth here.”

He knew that.

But more than that, he could not stand this atmosphere where the people using so much violence had an absolute advantage and could get away with anything.

He had never even considered winning.

And he did not know how long he could continue hoping to survive.

So how much would he compromise next time? How much would those Problem Solvers take from him? He could feel himself falling into the abyss, but he could not find a solution either. He could only take his childhood friend’s hand and continue running.

It was a pointless act.

It had been checkmate from the beginning.

For a second time, that 100km steel weapon was swung down to directly strike the half-destroyed ship.

The other side did not need to wander the ship in search of the tiny bugs inside. They only had to use an overwhelming mass to break the ship apart until it could no longer remain afloat. That would successfully slaughter everyone.

Some of their own people might be inside that ship.

But one of the strongest could endure an attack by another of the strongest. It did not matter if the ship sank. Only the swarming bugs would pathetically lose their lives.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Karuta and Marika were thrown into the air along with the splintering ship materials. Karuta could find nothing to grab onto as he sank into the filthy sea.

He swallowed lots of seawater as he somehow scrambled to the surface. He grabbed onto a wooden board floating nearby.

“Pant, pant!!”

He managed to catch his breath, but then he paled.

“Marika?”

She was gone.

That twintail girl who always cheered him up was nowhere to be found.

“Marika! Where are you, Marika!?”

Gekiha was dead. He did not know what had happened to his other classmates or his homeroom teacher. Given the situation, there was no chance all of them would make it out alive. In this insanity, death was the default. In this world, “lucky” meant having your emergency recovery crystal statue shattered and having to wait centuries or even millennia before you could wake up again. But Utagai Karuta still could not bring himself to believe that his childhood friend might be “gone”.

“No, dammit, wait, dammit, Marikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

His vision grew dark.

But then…

“Pant, pant. Oh, shut up. I’m still alive.”

“Mari…ka?”

She looked so small he feared he would lose sight of her due to some slight waves on the ocean surface, but she was still there.

His childhood friend was clinging to an empty plastic tank and speaking through pale lips.

“I’m fine. I still have both my legs. …Assuming they don’t take any more damage, that is.”

“Ahh, sob, ahhhhh. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

He could not stop it.

He wept like a child.

That was all. Karuta and Marika had survived, but that was all. They were surrounded by broken panels and the wreckage of furniture like a river immediately following a hurricane. And almost nothing was moving. There would have been other childhood friends like the two of them. There would have been friends who had just so happened to meet today. And there would have been people in closer relationships of the romantic variety.

But none of them were here.

There were no other survivors as far as the eye could see.

A large shadow passed by above their heads as they floated in that ocean of death. It was a military tiltrotor craft. Ropes hung down from it and some young adults were grabbing onto those. These were clearly not students or teachers. The white-haired woman with the dinosaur was among them.

That finally clued him in.

That was a ''military'' tiltrotor craft.

Those were the people who possessed the power to battle the Threat which normally put the world at risk and overpowered humanity. Those were the professional God-Worshipping Magic users.

They were the Problem Solvers.

The strongest five.

“You call yourselves representatives of justice?”

Utagai Karuta gnashed his teeth and raised his voice as if roaring toward the heavens.

“You call this justiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!?”

His voice reached no one.

In the spring of Utagai Karuta’s 15th year, his glorious school life at the Crystal Magic Academy was cut short by tears of blood.

And that marked the beginning of a boy and a girl’s journey around the world in pursuit of vengeance.

===Between the Lines 0===

“Nothing beats cooking for yourself,” said Amaashi Marika/

This was before Ocean Crystal Magic Academy Grimnoah had sunk.

She was seated at a cafeteria table, but she had not ordered anything.

She was using chopsticks to nab the contents of a bento box while watching the other boys and girls going through their fierce lunchtime battle at the counter.

“Yes, I can’t help but think of the word bourgeoisie right now. Let them eat cake, indeed.”

“You have some nerve saying that while stealing from Karuta’s bento.”

“Sh-shut up. Don’t act like you didn’t swipe a meatball.”

“Argue all you want, but get away from my bento!”

Utagai Karuta’s complaints fell on deaf ears.

He did not make a bento every day, but he did from time to time. And his friends would find out even if he did not announce it. He could guess the smell gave it away, but there was nothing he could do about that.

“Anyway, did you hear what they revealed about the Catastrophe?”

“We’re in the same class, so it would be weird if I hadn’t,” said Marika. “It can be anything from a natural disaster to a plague or even a war. Basically, they throw us into some dangerous part of the world and tell us to survive, right?”

None of them liked the sound of that.

Karuta spoke up while making sure to eat his bacon-wrapped asparagus before it was stolen.

“Is Crystal Magic really that convenient?”

“Sacri-sama, if you are dissatisfied with my functionality, I recommend immediately supplying me with pure gold to expand said functionality.”

“I’d die of debt before I could use any of that convenient functionality. And why are you hiding below the table!?”

“Oh, it’s Aine-chan!” exclaimed Marika. “Here, I’ll give you an omelet.”

“Marika, feeding her from my bento doesn’t fill my stomach!”

They kept chatting throughout the lunch break.

“But I’m sure we’ll manage,” said Kazamuki Gekiha. He sounded confident. “Our upperclassmen have all overcome it, right? That just shows how much possibility there is in Crystal Magic. So we’ll be fine. We’re on the winning rails here, so we’ll get by as long as we aren’t derailed in some weird way.”

Was that true?

Maybe it was.

Karuta thought about it for a bit and then nodded.

“Yeah.”

In fact.

How could they hope to keep going otherwise?

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| Back to [[Apocalypse_Witch:Volume1_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Apocalypse_Witch|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Apocalypse_Witch:Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS3 Chapter3

2019-06-23T03:51:10Z

Bersi: /* Chapter 3 */

==Chapter 3==

===Part 1===

It was 10 PM.

Tokiwadai Middle School had a strict curfew, so this girl should not have been out in the city this late.

“Hokaze, Kobayashi. Wait for me here as promised, okay?☆”

Shokuhou Misaki was Queen of the school’s largest clique.

However, she was not out on the cold, dark streets.

“My, my. If it isn’t, Shokuhou-sama. If you had let me know you wished to do business with us, I would have sent someone to you.”

A slender man in a suit that looked stuck in the past greeted her with a bright smile.

They were inside a shop filled with gentle indirect lighting and soft music. The space was smaller than a convenience store, but it was filled with items valuable enough to buy up dozens of convenience stores, land included.

Glass cases lined the walls and waist-height tables and counters formed more showcases in the center.

This was a pawnshop.

But instead of providing desperate people with money to live off of in exchange for their household belongings, it was more like a pachinko prize exchange where mistresses and hostesses could sell the rings and fur coats they were given or a corporate president’s secretary could get cash for the car keys and golf sets their boss had given them under mysterious circumstances.

“Here☆”

With a soft sound, Shokuhou Misaki placed a small leather bag on the glass counter. The girls in her clique who knew her well (and sort of worshiped her) would have known this was not her usual bag. Bags like this were supposedly designed with style in mind rather than functionality, but anyone who actually used them instead of keeping them around for decoration would know immediately that this bag’s style was not all that great. It was only given the illusion of style by the world-famous brand name attached to it.

Of course, Shokuhou was not here to sell or to buy.

The white-gloved man did not even need to pull out the loupe he used for his job.

“Very good, Shokuhou-sama. You have presented your key, so please follow me to the back room.”

“…”

“Your followers are welcome as well. You are a regular client, so anyone you vouch for is free to accompany you.”

Shokuhou Misaki possessed one of the “keys” which allowed a limited few to use special services and enter restricted areas in Academy City. She already knew about this pawnshop’s back room. It connected to the back room of the beauty salon next door and it provided a truly exclusive selection that no one could ever gain access to by spending money at the front counter.

However.

[[Image:RailgunSS3 3.jpg|thumb]]

Just as the man in a suit turned around, Shokuhou casually reached into the leather bag.

He may have noticed in the reflections off all the glass cases, but before he could turn back around, she aimed a TV remote toward his back and toyed with the button.

She was Academy City’s #5 Level 5.

Metal Out was the strongest of the purely psychological powers.

“Shoku…hou-sama…?”

“Well, I do frequent this shop, so I will give you some leeway ability before I mess with your head☆ But I will make sure you tell me everything even if you refuse to obey. So wouldn’t it be nicer for you if you just came clean on your own?”

There was no smile in the Queen’s eyes and her voice was icy.

In fact, there was a dreadfully bewitching look to her eyes that could only be found in the extraordinarily beautiful.

“Have we made some sort of mistake? I believe we have helped you acquire several different keys.”

“That’s the thing.”

Her voice was flat.

No, her emotion had passed the upper limits that ordinary people could detect, similar to how ultrasonic waves surpassed the audible range of the human ear.

“That privileged class is a service allowing people to enjoy a pleasant ‘high’, isn’t it? Special privileges are best when you do not actually use them. Then it is the ultimate game of make believe. But if people actually open that lid and discover how toxic it all is on the inside, don’t you think you will lose all that trust ability you have built up? To be blunt, I am sick of it. Riding around the city on a motorcycle and firing a shotgun? All I want to do is lug this bag around and enjoy life at the top, so I certainly do not want people seeing me as part of some silly gang of criminals.”

“We…”

The slender man did not turn around.

And that may not have been due to the TV remote or her Level 5 powers.

How could he possibly gather the courage to directly face the look in the Queen’s eyes?

“We work day in and day out to bring our clients to a higher level. That bag would have gone to someone else, but we held onto it especially for you!! I cannot sit here and have you criticizing us for that. You were Cinderella asking for a dress! So…so how can you treat us like a wicked witch!?”

“Sakibasu Yuri.”

With those piercing words, her voice grew even deeper.

Something different from killer intent erupted from her.

That had to be something only the Queen of Tokiwadai could produce. After all, she did not view things on a level of kill or be killed. She was familiar with plenty of fates worse than death.

She had the strongest psychological power.

Just a bit more strength entered the finger on the TV remote’s button.

The time for mercy had ended.

“You dare speak to me that way after directly targeting one of my girls?”

===Part 2===

Sakibasu Yuri, whose black twintails had curled ends, felt a tremor down her spine.

She placed her hands on her cheeks and shut her eyes.

“(It’s ten o’clock. Ten o’clock at night… Kwahh!! The curfew. The curfew. I’m completely breaking the curfew. Ohh, I can’t believe I’m walking around the city at this hour!! Should I really be doing this? No, of course not. And I’m not alone! I’m out at night with a friend! Ahh, mother, I’m sorry! What will become of me now!?)”

“Sakibasu-san?”

The violin girl gasped and came back to her senses.

Misaka Mikoto, the girl who had called out to her, was holding her phone sideways and snapping photos of the large electric motorcycle from a variety of angles. But this was not about getting content for social media.

“Uiharu-san, is there anything else you need?”

“GK> Okay, you have the license plate, the lights, the electric motor, the battery, the tires, the frame, the seat, and the model numbers for them all. That should be enough for now.”

Car accident investigations tended to come down to running searches. You gathered as much miniscule information as you could from the road (e.g. tire tracks, flecks of paint, and shards of a broken light) and then checked to see what shops sold those and which companies manufactured them. You wanted to figure out who had a car containing all of Parts A, B, C, and D. Then you checked to see which of those people could have been at the scene of the accident or crime. By narrowing down the suspects like that, you would eventually have just the one person remaining.

“Of course, you can’t find the culprit that way if it was a stolen car.”

“GK> The location and method of the theft can act as an indirect hint, so it can’t hurt to gather this information. The more data I have to analyze, the better.”

“If only we could have directly searched for their esper power.”

“GK> Telekinesis is as common a power as fire and electricity based ones. There are differences in level of strength and control, but we would have a hard time searching the Bank with the information we have. Plus, there are occasionally people who hold back during the System Scan so their power is reported as weaker than it actually is. It would help if we had some other way of narrowing it down. And we need as many ways of doing that we can get.”

Sakibasu Yuri tilted her head at that.

And she hesitantly spoke up.

“Um, these are only photos. If the motorcycle is that big a hint, why not bring it back to a Judgment station?”

“That would be difficult.” Mikoto smiled bitterly. “Anti-Skill and Judgment have different jurisdictions and authority levels. Like in all things, an adult organization like Anti-Skill generally has more authority. Someone must have heard the gunshots and the motorcycle crash, so we’re going to hear some sirens approaching before long. If we removed such obvious evidence from the scene before they had time for an official investigation, who knows what they would accuse us of. Not to mention that we can’t tell them we’re here to sneak into the insurance company. Just having them ask why we’re here wouldn’t end well.”

“Ugh…”

The black twintails girl shrank down a bit. She rubbed her black kneesocked legs together as a sign of unease.

It was possible what had happened afterschool was just an act to take control of the situation, but Sakibasu must not have gotten over that oppressive view of the adults.

“Kuroko, did you get into the insurance company’s server?”

“True T-Tails> I got the files out the way Uiharu told me, but I imagine they’re at least encrypted. The rest is up to that geek’s skill.”

They apparently did not have access to everything right away. But at least this was better than finding out it was a quantum signal and they had destroyed the files by trying to mess with them.

And…

“Then I guess we can’t bring this back either. Ugh, and just when I thought I could show off my power…”

Sakibasu Yuri was referring to the scrap of black leather held between her index and middle fingers. It was from the remnants of the riding suits Mikoto had blown away.

But Mikoto’s eyes widened when she saw it.

“Sakibasu-san… You touched that with your bare hands?”

“?”

“Um, let’s see…what do we do now? We have to worry about fingerprints, skin flakes, the oils in sweat, and…what else???”

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

Wiping it off with a handkerchief and setting it down was not enough.

That would not fool a forensic investigation and it would count as altering evidence even if it did. Leaving it here would only further confuse matters.

Which meant…

“We can’t just make it go away, so I guess we’ll have to leave it with Judgment for the time being. Uiharu-san, did you hear that?”

“GK> You want me to fight the grownups? Bring it on. …But can I order some energy drinks and caffeine gum to keep my energy level up? Using a 24-hour drone delivery service, of course.”

“If you are going to buy those, I recommend skipping the convenience store and using a discount store that sells imported goods with who-knows-what language on the packaging. The foreign version of the same product is often a lot stronger.”

They heard a needlessly loud siren approaching.

Staying here would be a bad idea.

“Did you see that message, Kuroko? Once you have what we need, escape the building. Sakibasu-san and I are getting out of here, so we can meet up later.”

“True T-Tails> Why do I feel like more and more of the cute twintails underclassman pie is being taken from me? But anyway, understood.”

Mikoto slipped her phone into her pocket and had Sakibasu store the leather evidence in a clear bag.

“B-but how are we supposed to escape? Anti-Skill specializes in arresting criminals, don’t they!?”

“We aren’t criminals, so don’t worry about it too much. By the way, Sakibasu-san, are you afraid of heights?”

“What? No, not really.”

“What about fast vehicles?”

“I have a 1-year pass to the District 6 amusement park. I make sure to check out all the new roller coasters.”

“Then you’ll be fine.”

With that casual response, Mikoto swept Sakibasu’s legs out from under her and supported her by her back and the back of her knees.

This position was commonly known as “princess carrying” someone.

“Hwah?”

“Excuse me a moment. We’re going to be airborne, so hold onto your violin case.”

“Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!???”

Sakibasu’s mind went blank, but that only made this easier.

Misaka Mikoto magnetically clung to a skyscraper’s wall, jumped over the arriving vehicle with flashing lights on top, and continued jumping from building to building.

===Part 3===

A rhythmic beat shook the air.

Karaoke boxes could be found anywhere in Academy City. It was currently past 10:30 at night, so it was too late for middle schoolers to be renting out a room there. However, Mikoto and Sakibasu did not seem concerned about that.

Because…

“I used this unlimited black card for the violin auction, but I never expected it to come in handy at a place like this.”

“That’s one of Academy City’s ‘keys’, huh?”

Mikoto still sounded skeptical as she leaned back in the sofa and sipped at some cider.

The Stativarius Ainsel would have lost its effectiveness as a “key”, but it turned out the girl had another one. When Sakibasu had pulled out her wallet and phone trying to figure out how to buy a drink at a vending machine, the people around her had seen the card and made a complete 180 in attitude.

A black card was not something you could buy at an auction, so the Chandelier Auction House must not have been the only victim having their products turned into “keys”.

At any rate, they could not use the usual family restaurant so soon after the shooting, so they had been looking for somewhere else to have a meeting. That was when a young karaoke box employee had noticed the black card. This was a loophole open only to those with the right “key”. Academy City apparently had several different secret maps laid out on top of it like different pieces of colored cellophane.

Shirai Kuroko had arrived a while later.

“…”

As someone meant to protect the city’s peace, she had not been happy about hanging out in a karaoke box at night, but she must have known that the situation called for it.

Uiharu Kazari joined them via her own social media site.

“GK> Oh, no. Sorry. It looks like I can’t meet up with you. I can’t think of any ninja skills I could use to sneak out of the dorm at this hour, so I’ll join you remotely.”

“Ehh? Uiharu, all you have to do is go up to the third floor and climb down the drain spout just below the hallway window. The second floor window is covered up, so you have to use the third floor. That lets you climb down the back of the building.”

“GK> Wait, what are you doing there, Saten-san!? When did you sneak out!?”

“Heh. Child, do not underestimate Big Sis Saten Ruiko. I am like a butterfly of the night chasing down the urban legends lurking in the shadows of Academy City. If you aren’t brave enough to head out at night for some fun, then grab your pillow and get some sleep.”

At any rate, their evidence sat on the room’s glass table.

A clear plastic bag contained a scrap of black leather.

It had originally belonged to one of the telekinetically-controlled riding suits.

“Here goes.”

Sakibasu Yuri slowly exhaled while gently holding out her soft-looking right palm. She apparently did not need to remove the leather from the bag. She held her palm just short of touching the plastic and then shut her eyes.

Carbon Search.

That power let her precisely measure the carbon isotopes inside an object.

That appraisal power let her instantly determine the authenticity of a world-famous instrument like a Stativarius.

“It is made of water buffalo.”

Her lovely lips parted and she spoke like a shrine maiden receiving a divine oracle.

“It was processed within 90 days and the leather was tanned using formaldehyde.”

“Formaldehyde?”

“Yes, the same substance used to preserve specimens. Also, the oil used for maintenance was different than normal. …Goat fat was used. There is no sign of human skin, hair, or oils…well, except for mine. What does that mean? Was a brand-new factory-produced product remade into a telekinetic weapon?”

“Hm? Wait just a moment.” Saten frowned. “You said goat fat was used to maintain it, right? If it was brand new from the factory, why bother doing maintenance?”

“Sakibasu-san.”

“Yes, that’s right… It appears to have originally been all water buffalo products, but that was washed off with water and redone with goat fat. It would seem someone did intentionally alter it.”

The treatment of leather products was quite unique.

In fact, people often likened it to the leather being alive, needing to breathe, and needing nutrients.

If it was simply left in storage, it would grow damaged, cracked, and moldy all on its own. You could not sell it if that happened, so stores had to maintain their inventory themselves. There were countless ways of doing that, so even the same product from the same manufacturer could have a different shine or shade depending on how it was stored.

There were all sorts of creams used to maintain leather. They were made from the fats or oils of cows, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, rapeseed, and sunflowers. Some even used synthetic petroleum oils.

The riding suit itself was made from water buffalo leather using formaldehyde and it was maintained using a goat cream. If they could find a store that fit both conditions, they might be able to find who had bought and controlled the riding suits.

At the very least, it was unusual for the leather to contain no fingerprints, dust, or other traces despite being removed from the bag for maintenance.

===Part 4===

The following morning, Uiharu Kazari sent a message to all of their phones.

“GK> I have identified the riding suit’s manufacturer. Not many factories in Academy City use formaldehyde when tanning leather and only one place uses goat cream for treating their products.”

Misaka Mikoto snapped shut her phone and sighed.

It was currently the break after second period, so the day was far from over.

She glanced out the hallway window and muttered to herself.

“I really want to just leave.”

“Oh, dear. We seem to have a dangerous delinquent in our school.”

“…”

“I don’t have time to deal with a delinquent right now, so let’s leave it at that. Ugh, keeping up with social media is such a pain. Maybe I should have kept my friend list a lot shorter.”

A blob of fat walked by while using her phone. She would have been running into people if she were not holding onto the uniform of her clique’s CQC ringlet curl girl so that girl could lead her around. She tried picking a fight with Mikoto, but that was normal.

After patiently waiting until school had let out for the day, Misaka Mikoto left the School Garden with Shirai Kuroko and Sakibasu Yuri. Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko were already waiting near the gate.

“Hey, Misaka-san. It’s so hard waiting until classes are over, isn’t it? We lost so much time!”

“Saten-san.”

Uiharu chided Saten like a rule-abiding student, but Mikoto honestly agreed with Saten. They were short on time. Not that she could say anything about it with Shirai around.

Sakibasu Yuri remained the top suspect for planning the shooting.

If nothing was done, the bored people online might decide she was a criminal based on no real evidence and spread her personal information around. And if the trail went cold, it was even possible Anti-Skill would leak her information to get things moving again.

That was part of the reason they had no time, but…

“(Hmm, based on the trends online, any tendency in that direction is being stifled by some powerful force. It’s like someone with an incredible amount of social media influence is working behind the scenes.)”

Uiharu’s assessment aside, their first order of business was using the riding suit’s purchase route to find the Telekinesis user.

“What is Anti-Skill doing?”

“They seem to have finished their investigation of the scene, but there was no one there for them to find, right? With only a fallen motorcycle and two shredded riding suits, they need to start their investigation by determining whether this was an accident or a crime. That said, they aren’t dumb enough to miss the connection between that and the attack on the family restaurant. It looks like their plan is to investigate the remains of the shotgun and the shotgun shells to see if they can figure out what this is all about.”

“Yeah, those are the most illegal looking parts of it all,” casually responded Shirai.

Come to think of it, she had worked with Uiharu to pull data from the insurance company’s server. They should have a list of clients with insurance policies on a Stativarius like Sakibasu’s – and thus a list of people who would hold a grudge over Sakibasu losing the violin competition. Were they making progress on decrypting that file?

Since that was what came to Mikoto’s mind, she must not have expected the gun to be much of a lead.

A shotgun was a special weapon with limited routes to acquire one, so it might seem easier to determine where it came from than with a knife or metal bat that could be found anywhere in the city.

However, this city’s darkness was deep.

Guns were almost entirely banned in this country, yet Mikoto knew of people who would pull one out like it was perfectly normal. If whoever was behind this had sunk to that level, then Anti-Skill would never reach those stagnant depths while searching the shallows. Checking the gun shops that followed all the rules would turn up nothing.

With normal products like the riding suits and electric motorcycle, they might have bought them normally. But when a risk was involved in simply acquiring them, they would have been cautious. It seemed unlikely they would have carelessly left a trail behind there.

Mikoto decided to let Anti-Skill try their method.

As long as they would not get in the way, she was willing to ignore them.

She decided to focus on pursuing the origin of the riding suits they had found.

Uiharu had done the preliminary research, so she led them to a surprising location.

Mikoto had expected an auto parts store or a sporting goods store, but…

“Wh-what is this place?”

There was a bear.

The giant bear was standing on its hind legs with its arms raised in a threatening pose. The real carnivore was far taller than Mikoto’s group, but it was frozen in that pose. Its colors were a little faded after being left out in the open.

The store’s sign said it was a model shop.

But when they peered in through the glass window, they saw deer, pheasants, and other animals frozen in time.

The entire area looked rundown. Academy City had a highly concentrated population due to its limited land, but this area was inefficiently crammed full of multi-tenant buildings three or four stories tall and a lot of the small shops on the street had their entrances covered by rusty metal shutters. There was barely anyone around. The only people in evidence were some workers loading industrial bags of expired flour and cornstarch into a truck parked on the side of the road.

Had this happened naturally, or was it the result of some kind of social construction experiment?

Uiharu Kazari had located the store in question, but even she sounded somewhat surprised by it.

“Taxidermy, formaldehyde, and transparent specimens… This appears to be a specialist in creating models made from what were once living animals. The riding suits were apparently patched together from extra materials.”

“E-extra materials?”

Shirai sounded hesitant, so Uiharu made sure to clarify.

“I said few factories use formaldehyde, remember? For example, when getting a deer stuffed, people who want to mount the head on the wall will just get the head done instead of the entire animal. The taxidermist will give the customer what they want, but that sometimes leaves them with part of the animal to throw out. So they will remove the skin from those parts and make bags, belts, or even riding suits from it.”

When making her analysis, Sakibasu had said formaldehyde was used to tan the leather. Was that simply because the store had that chemical on hand?

Doing that so as not to waste any part of the animal may have been a way of showing respect. …But did you really feel the need to show that kind of respect when it was a product being sold as an ornament instead of a trophy you had killed yourself?

Saten and Uiharu thought of taxidermy as a pastime for the rich, but Mikoto, Shirai, and Sakibasu seemed just as hesitant. It was possible real live high-class girls were not actually surrounded by suits of armor and giant paintings at all times.

But when they tried entering the front door…

“Wow.”

A low voice escaped Saten’s mouth. She may have been more surprised than impressed.

There were so many of them.

The store was not all that large, so it felt crowded. The shelves were decorated with frogs or snakes inside glass cylinders and animals were frozen in time while carelessly lined up where the sunlight would not reach them. Shallow, frame-like boxes contained butterflies and beetles pinned in place and there was even a hornet nest larger than a basketball.

A small counter seemed almost buried by the shelves along the wall.

The old man there was covered in wrinkles like an animal that had not been preserved properly. He wore a plain track suit and a large mask over his mouth. He seemed more worried about staining his clothes than about looking nice for customers. Mikoto was worried he might actually walk back and forth between the counter and his workplace without washing his hands.

He spoke to them in a barely understandable voice mumbled from behind the white mask. They could not see his lips, so it was even harder to make out what he was saying.

“What is it, young ladies? This isn’t the time of year for a summer project and I doubt you’re here for insect specimens.”

Some cheaters apparently came here for their bug-catching project instead of setting foot in the forest. Was that better or worse than the people who used Q&A sites or auction sites to do their homework?

Sakibasu began waving her hands side to side.

“Um, that is not why we are here.”

“Then what is it? Looking for a model skeleton made from real human bones?”

Shirai Kuroko and Uiharu Kazari of Judgment both did a spit take at that.

But they were not the first to lean forward in interest. They were beaten to it by Saten Ruiko, that black hole for any suspicious rumors.

“D-do you have one of those legendary items made from a real human!?”

“Those things aren’t as exciting as the old stories make them sound. In the old days, it wasn’t unusual for executed prisoners to have the flesh chemically stripped from their bones to be used as a teaching tool. It’s little different from putting real human hair onto a doll’s head. It’s nothing too strange.”

At this rate, they were going to get badly sidetracked.

Mikoto grabbed excited Saten’s shoulder and pulled her back.

“We’re here to ask about some riding suits made here.”

“Hm? You don’t look old enough to be bikers.”

“Onee-sama, let me handle this. Excuse me, but I am from Judgment. Could we speak for a moment?”

The old man behind the counter responded to Shirai by mumbling something through the mask.

He was hard to make out, so Shirai leaned forward without even thinking.

A moment later, a pump-action shotgun popped up from below the counter.

The close-range blast reverberated in the gut more than the ears.

In a way, the solid and invisible wall of sound was even more of a weapon than the metal balls rushing toward them at blinding speed. Uiharu and Saten screamed and fell back onto the floor.

In this case, that was the correct response.

Sakibasu Yuri was in more danger since she mostly just stood there. Her black kneesocked legs turned inward and she only cowered down a little.

And.

“Tch!!”

Separate from that, some bluish-white sparks flew through the air.

The scattershot should have flown straight toward them from less than a meter away, but it veered off course and instead shattered the cylindrical bottles of formaldehyde specimens behind them.

Judgment.

The mere mention of that name was enough to cause this.

The old man in a track suit and mask rose from his small chair and pulled the trigger again.

More and more gunshots rang out, but none of them hit. Now, did he realize what was happening? Mikoto was not actually using magnetism or the Lorentz force to manipulate the bullets tearing through the air. She was instead using an invisible hand to grab and move the sight on top of the pump-action shotgun itself.

It was the same as a flashlight’s beam.

Since the scatter shot spread out as it traveled, it was actually safer to be at point-blank range than further away. Shards from liquid-filled bottles and pieces of who-knows-what from broken stuffed animals scattered all around Mikoto.

However.

“He’s getting away.”

She grimaced even after producing such a superhuman result. That small old man had not cared whether or not he hit them. He had only needed to break as many of his own products as possible to buy enough time to slip out the back of the store.

This battle had begun unexpectedly.

Mikoto belatedly regretted coming here in their uniforms. They could not have predicted this, but they might have exposed their identities. They were already being targeted from all over the city, but this was unfortunate all the same.

“Kuroko, teleport behind the store! Uiharu-san, you look after Saten-san and Sakibasu-san. I don’t think they were actually hit, but it’s easy to overlook the pain when you’re full of adrenaline. Check with your eyes and hands to see if they were struck or cut anywhere!!”

“…Ugh…”

The only response was a groan from the floor.

Mikoto assumed someone was suffering from a headache due to the blood rushing to their head in a state of extreme tension and excitement, but she was wrong. A moment later, a unique chemical odor reached her nose as well. Her loafers were standing in some sort of puddle.

She could tell that was enough to remove the shine from those leather products.

Mikoto quickly covered her nose with a handkerchief.

(Formaldehyde?)

“Kuroko, change of plans!! Get those girls out of here immediately!!”

Formaldehyde was sealed inside bottles for a reason: it was highly volatile. And it was also highly toxic. It prevented decomposition because it killed all the microbes. If someone was exposed to it, it would take out their breathing and eyes first. They could not leave Uiharu and Saten collapsed on the floor here.

A metallic sound came from the back of the store.

Mikoto was afraid of another shotgun blast, but nothing happened.

The old man had apparently escaped out the back door.

“Kuroko, Sakibasu-san, take care of those two. I can’t let him get away!!”

“Onee-sama! It’s too dangerous to go without any support!!”

He had already disappeared from view, so if she was delayed any longer, he might really get away. She jumped over the narrow counter, burst out the opened metal door, and found herself in the back alley.

She was immediately greeted by a gunshot from the side, but she blocked it with a metal bucket packed full of kitchen garbage that she swung around with magnetism. A solid shield was not the only defense.

She heard some light footsteps.

(That way.)

She did not run directly after the man.

She leaped straight up, used magnetism to press the soles of her shoes against the building’s wall, and ran up to the multi-tenant building’s roof. The best strategy for a game of tag was to look down from above the maze.

However…

“…?”

(He’s gone? Where did Old Mr. Shotgun get off to!?)

No matter how swift-footed he might be, Mikoto doubted he could have escaped her elevated field of vision while running through the complex array of roads on an old man’s legs. Had he escaped into a building with a roof or hidden below one of the cars parked on the roadside? Had he made that choice by chance, or had he predicted this? Mikoto started to grow a little confused.

At the moment, she needed information.

She noticed something while leaning over to view the area below.

She immediately jumped from the roof, once more used magnetism to stand perpendicular to the wall, and ran down the wall to reach the ground.

She made her way to an area with a few plastic beer cases stacked up in what could not be the proper way.

Something like dirty brown bandages were balled up and stuffed inside there. She found they were a plain track suit, a large mask, running shoes, and so on. Formaldehyde had splashed across everything in that small store, so Mikoto made sure not to touch the discolored brown sash with her bare hands. And while she viewed it from a distance…

(Dried…skin?)

She seriously hoped it was not human skin. Although it was still creepy if it belonged to an animal.

This had likely been done with a chemical and not an esper power. After a bit, it started to smoke and then it suddenly burst into flames. Mikoto quickly pulled a thick cloth from nearby and flapped it over the top to put out the small fire.

(In the two previous attacks, they controlled riding suits with Telekinesis to make it look like a living human. And this time, the target disappeared while moving too quickly for an old man. Could it be…?)

“Was that old man the telekinetic assassin himself? No, an adult wouldn’t be using an esper power… Then are they not an old man at all? Was an esper wearing that skin to enhance their own movements like with a powered suit!?”

Yes, she had found the track suit, the creepy skin, and such, but she had not found the most shocking item: the shotgun.

If it was not here, did that mean the attacker still had it?

Mikoto quickly pulled her phone from her skirt pocket, started up their shared social media app, and spoke into it.

Why had that old man suddenly disappeared? He should still have been in view, so had she lost sight of him because he removed that skin to change his appearance?

And had he really continued to run away afterwards?

Because he feared the word “Judgment”?

(If not…)

Sakibasu Yuri was his assassination target and she was right here while he was armed with a shotgun. For that matter, was this situation even an accident for him?

Could he have been waiting here for Sakibasu to eventually track down the model shop and pay it a visit?

In other words, could he be traveling in a circle through the labyrinthine back alleys to return to the store?

“Kuroko! Look after Sakibasu-san and the others!! The telekinetic assassin might be headed-…”

''Bang!!

She heard the bursting of gunpowder directly from the vibrations of the air instead of through her phone.

===Part 5===

The distinct odor of formaldehyde seemed to hit them in the head more than the nose, so Uiharu and Saten choked and suppressed some nausea similar to light motion sickness while they scrambled out of the store. Shirai Kuroko was one thing, but it was ironic that an amateur like Sakibasu Yuri had to carry a Judgment member like Uiharu.

And…

“Shirai-san, can you carry us all to safety if he comes back?”

“That would be difficult. My Teleportation has a limit of around 130kg and that includes my own weight. So carrying four people at once would probably push it over the limit.”

“Then can you use your power offensively to defeat him in a preemptive strike?”

“I will do my best.”

That meant there was no guarantee.

When Shirai teleported objects, they could be embedded in things while ignoring how hard or tough the original material was. And she did indeed have a belt around each thigh to carry dart-like metal spikes. If she wanted to, she could break open a bank vault door protected by tungsten steel rods.

But on the other hand, her power was difficult to use in defense. She generally fought by combining projectile attacks with quick evasions. She did not even consider stopping any attacks head on. A single hit would end it. With a shotgun being fired repeatedly, she would have a hard time fighting safely while also covering for Uiharu, Saten, and Sakibasu.

The girl with the curly black twintails spoke up while holding her violin case.

“Then I suppose I cannot let myself be carried around this time.”

“Sakibasu-san?”

“You there! Those are being disposed of, aren’t they? I will buy them all. And it is dangerous here, so leave immediately!!”

The young men in work jumpsuits blinked in confusion, but when Sakibasu held her phone up to their mobile device to complete the electronic payment, she began inspecting the large bags loaded onto the back of the parked truck. She must have felt the violin case was in the way because…

“Excuse me, but could you hold onto this for a moment?”

“Hwuh? Um, the Stativarius!?”

Uiharu had been sitting limply on the road, but she immediately tensed up. Meanwhile, Sakibasu began pulling out the truck’s contents.

“Let’s see. Flour is the most common version seen in movies and dramas, but cornstarch actually works better. …There!!”

This was not a case of opening the bag too hard and having its contents scatter everywhere like often happened with chips.

She split open the bag on the road and intentionally scattered its contents around.

The white powder spread out in the air like a miniature cumulonimbus cloud. The Tokiwadai uniform was made of the finest quality materials while remaining tasteful, yet she did seem to care when this fine powder got all over her uniform.

Shirai Kuroko looked puzzled.

“S-Sakibasu-san? What are you doing!?”

“Carbon Search…”

Instead of answering the Judgment girl, Sakibasu calmly pointed her palm straight ahead and spoke that term.

That power let her precisely measure the carbon isotopes inside an object.

She could use that to accurately read the movements of the corn starch powder distributed thinly through the air. That meant she could read the movement of the air. Sakibasu Yuri was one of the girls who studied at Tokiwadai Middle School, so her power was bound to be above the norm.

And.

And.

And.

While essentially performing a three-dimensional scan of the space around her, the curly black twintails girl looked around and stopped her gaze on a single point.

“Found you!! I know you are hiding there!!”

With a click of the tongue, a small figure ran out of an alleyway entrance with a pump-action shotgun in hand. Was that…the old man from before? The semi-long blonde hair belonged to a small girl in a bright blue leotard whose youthful skin was nothing like the old man from before. She(?) wore delicate pointe shoes that did not look like they were meant for outdoor use. She looked even younger than first year middle schoolers like Shirai and Sakibasu, but the way she carried herself was oddly similar to that old man. It was like seeing a 3D model running on his motion capture data.

But the most important fact now was the shotgun she held.

“Sakibasu-san, get away from- !!”

Shirai started to shout at Sakibasu, but…

“I can use the motion of the powder to read the air currents created by the gun’s movement. That isn’t going to hit me!!”

The supposed protection target was exactly right.

In fact, Sakibasu shoved Shirai out of the way. A deafening blast rang out a moment later, but the horizontal swarm of metal balls did not produce a single drop of blood. The curly black twintails girl easily avoided the very real gun.

A light bursting sound followed.

But this was not the firing of a gun. It was more like the sound of a paper bag popping. Sakibasu had pulled a finely embroidered handkerchief from somewhere.

Instead of letting it flutter, she beat the air with it.

By pushing on the air, she subtly altered the density of the cornstarch and made sure it enveloped the shotgun-wielding assassin. The static electricity built up in the synthetic leotard may have acted as the final ignition.

“Watch and be amazed. I am not some helpless little girl.”

A scarlet explosion erupted out.

It was a dust explosion.

That was the moment when Carbon Search, a passive sensory power, was used as an offensive physical power.

“Tch!!”

Finally, a panicked voice came from beyond the explosive flames. That may have been a sign that the leotard girl had finally taken a step off the rails she had set up.

Sakibasu Yuri’s short skirt fluttered dangerously while she winked and waved her handkerchief as if taunting her opponent.

“I like to go the eco-friendly and non-wasteful route, but do you see what I can accomplish doing that? This truck is full of expired cornstarch. Or should I go with flour next? Or maybe you would prefer some potato starch or pancake mix. The size and weight of the powder affects the quality of the explosion, so feel free to make your request. Now, how many more times can I intentionally trigger a dust explosion? And is an ordinary shotgun really a greater threat than that? Work your clever little head to figure out the answers!!”

It did not matter whether the leotard girl moved forward and tried to ready her shotgun or fell back and tried to escape.

Sakibasu would not let up until the girl set down her weapon and put her hands up.

A few more explosions thoroughly assaulted the tiny attacker.

It was a lot like fire magic in a classic RPG. The theory behind it was simple, so there was no fear of catching herself or her friends in the blasts and it provided a powerful and highly stable attack. Even an esper with actual Pyrokinesis might have been jealous of the incredible precision of these explosions.

Then Sakibasu Yuri brought the handkerchief to her mouth.

“That was a hit…but it felt like she got away.”

“Geh. What is that!?”

Shirai Kuroko groaned because a large swarm of small winged insects burst out of a back alley. They were the type to swarm around streetlights at night. The flashy explosions had apparently awoken those sleeping nocturnal beasts.

Meanwhile, they heard a sound like scrap metal being thrown.

They found the shotgun abandoned by the alley entrance with a bent barrel, but that was all. The leotard girl must have fled into the alley because there was no sign of her.

“She escaped outside the cornstarch? Shirai-san, please pursue her! But don’t forget that she might have another gun hidden somewhere!!”

“Seriously!? I have to run right into that swarm of bugs!?”

“You can take a shortcut using your teleportation!!”

Shirai Kuroko was in serious trouble if she was being bossed around by this girl. She was at risk of falling behind on the path of the twintails.

But just then, they heard a dull sound.

It was the sound of Mikoto “landing” on a multi-tenant building wall and joining the others from overhead.

“Are you okay!?”

When she called to them from the wall, Uiharu and Saten weakly waved up at her from where they sat on the ground. They seemed to be showing off that they were not injured.

After seeing that, Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief. Sakibasu’s previous intensity seemed to evaporate as she waved her hands side to side and opened her mouth.

“Misaka-san, I don’t know what happened, but it seems that old man was actually a girl in a leotard.”

“?”

“Anyway, that’s what happened! If you see a small girl with a flat chest and semi-long blonde hair who is wearing a light blue leotard and pointe shoes, that’s, um, the same person who attacked us!!”

Watching her try to explain with strange hand gestures only made it more confusing, but Mikoto had seen the stripped-off track suit and something like a strange skin. Some kind of chemical had caused it to burst into flames, so it was definitely something the enemy had not wanted anyone to find.

(Come to think of it, there was no innerwear there. Did they strip off what they were wearing along with the skin? As much as they could without hindering their movements, anyway.)

“Kuroko, let’s trade positions. I’ll stay on the surface while you teleport between rooftops. We need to track down that attacker!!”

“Onee-sama, I am with Judgment!!”

“Your power really only lets you evade quickly, so can you really respond to a surprise attack from a bullet? Oh, is that their shotgun there? But they might have some other gun and Telekinesis doesn’t require any kind of motion to activate. Not to mention we’re talking about narrow alleyways. I can approach them more easily since I can use a thick metal panel as a shield. So hurry!!”

Mikoto did not wait for an answer.

After jumping down from the wall, she ran into the alley. Bugs and rats were flying or running around in a panic after the explosions, but that did not slow her down any. Now Shirai had no choice but to follow Mikoto’s plan. She gave a quick nod of thanks toward Sakibasu for earlier and then teleported on up to the multi-purpose building’s roof.

Mikoto thought to herself while continuing down the alley.

(I won’t let them get away this time. They were apparently boosting their athletic ability by using their power on the skin wrapped around them for their old man disguise, but they don’t have that anymore. They can’t have gotten far with just their legs to carry them, so I can catch up and settle this!!)

She caught sight of a bright color fluttering around a corner down the alleyway.

It was semi-long blonde hair.

And was that the long, skintight sleeve of a light blue leotard?

“Kuroko, after her. Don’t lose track of her!!”

“True T-Tails> I can see her from above. Turning that corner was a bluff. She ran inside the back entrance of a nearby shop!!”

Mikoto turned the corner, forcibly unlocked the metal door’s electronic lock using her powers, and more or less kicked it open.

With a loud bang, she saw a pair of fearful eyes inside.

However, it did not seem like the female staff member in the dimly-lit back room had just now screamed and fallen onto her butt. It looked more like she had already been cowering down and simply looked over when Mikoto ran in.

“Excuse me, but a girl ran in here a moment ago. Do you know which way she went?”

“She had a gun. It was a weird shape, but it was definitely real. I’ve seen them on video sites before.”

“Just tell me which way!”

Mikoto ran in the direction indicated by a trembling finger and flung open another door.

The light inside dazzled her.

Her eyes must have grown too accustomed to the dim back room.

She found an area filled with soft lighting and jazz music. It appeared to be a women’s boutique. It was meant for women in their early twenties and the scattering of customers looked college aged.

“She’s not here?”

According to Sakibasu and the others, the real attacker hidden below that strange skin was a small girl who might be as young as elementary school age. Plus, a light blue leotard and pointe shoes was not the best outfit for walking out on the streets. She would definitely stick out like a sore thumb in this space full of grownups. Nevertheless, there was no sign of her here. Mikoto could not find her.

Was there another exit somewhere?

She had been small enough to dress up as that old man, so Mikoto remained cautious and peeked between the rows of clothing on hangars as she slowly looked around the boutique. Then she noticed something strange.

(What’s with the windows?)

Hadn’t this area been a shopping district with rusted metal shutters covering everything? The sign for a fancy boutique like this would have stood out. And when she looked closer, she could indeed see metal shutters covering the glass windows and door.

From outside, there would be nothing to tell you the boutique was open.

The shutter-filled shopping district was a bluff.

Did that mean all of the customers and staff used the back entrance?

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

A young woman had approached without making a noise.

She was like someone who would be featured in a magazine or on TV. She was on another level entirely from the self-styled charismatic staff members who did not even know the proper words to use.

“I deeply apologize, but may I see your key?”

“Oh, hell…”

Mikoto ignored the question and took another quick look around the boutique. The only people there were a scattering of college-aged “elite customers” and two or three staff members who were a little older. But she was focused on their eyes. They were of course mostly glancing toward Mikoto since she was an outsider, but they also occasionally looked elsewhere.

Mikoto did not overlook that.

“M-ma’am!?”

The woman who seemed to be the manager raised her voice as Mikoto ran toward the fitting rooms lined up by one wall. Just one of them had the curtain unnaturally closed. Needless to say, that was the other location the people here were focused on. She did not bother saying anything before grabbing the curtain and throwing it open.

There was nothing inside.

It was so empty that the emptiness felt abnormal.

“…”

Simply tracing her fingers along the edge of the large mirror on the wall was not enough to reveal the existence of a hidden door. For one thing, it might be on the floor instead of the wall. Regardless, the leotard attacker had vanished after entering this fitting room. She likely gone underground and left the boutique.

Keys, keys, and more keys.

It felt like wandering through an RPG castle with color-coded doors. Academy City’s secret VIPs apparently enjoyed these games of make believe. This was on a larger scale, but it was a similar form of catharsis to small children gathering scrap materials to build a secret fort where the adults were not in charge.

Mikoto spoke into her phone.

“Uiharu-san, search the Bank for a map of the urban development plans for this area! They won’t be using the facilities and underground pathways on that map. They’ll have constructed their own ant colony that weaves through the gaps! What safe routes would there be for digging an underground route leading away from this boutique? Check the plumbing, gas lines, power lines, fiber optic lines, subway tunnels, and utility tunnels. Academy City is packed full of things underground, so there can’t have been much space for them to dig!”

===Part 6===

However.

Things were not going as smoothly for the villains as Mikoto assumed.

Evenly-spaced fluorescent lights shined on cold concrete. Semi-long blonde hair swayed side to side as a small girl walked down a long, long straight corridor that looked like part of a secret lab or evacuation tunnel. She was about elementary school aged and she wore a light blue leotard and pointe shoes. That outfit had been part of the disguise needed to lie in wait, but it was not exactly suited for combat. She was currently focused on the modern convenience of a smartphone.

The person on the other end sounded exasperated.

“Riot… How did you screw up your job this badly? Not only did your initial target survive, but you failed to protect the insurance company’s server. If I hadn’t used a shell company for the Stativarius’s insurance policy, they would have found my identity there.”

“…”

“But that isn’t so bad. The insurance company only gave us somewhere to ambush them and they can’t reach me that way. That is not the real problem here. Care to explain why you are escaping using a Generic Rank 4 underground passage?”

“…It was an emergency.”

“To think you of all people would break our compliance rules. Where is your key? You were not even authorized to enter that Ring Rank 3 boutique. Did you win the lottery and buy the key at auction?”

“If I was captured back there, Judgment or Anti-Skill would have forced me to tell them everything! Then this entire system would be revealed. It would all fall apart. I mean, you ordered to have them secretly eliminated because you don’t want this getting out!!”

“I believe I told you I will only accept good news, Riot.”

“I am still working on the job, so give me time to recover! I can still pull this off!!”

Her fierce words were the polar opposite of her slender form.

A short silence followed.

Would the other person stick with her, or would they throw her out and try elsewhere?

This unpleasant silence made it seem like they were seriously unsure which to choose. For the girl walking down the underground passageway, it felt like being trapped inside a stopped elevator while someone approached the thick wire with a giant pair of cutters. Their decision could send her tumbling down to her doom.

And eventually…

“Where do are trying to go?”

“The railroad technology museum,” said the girl.

“That museum is Railroad Model Rank 5. Are you kidding me?”

“Then give me some other option. If there isn’t one, then I’m forcing my way in there! No matter who’s after me!!”

“Go to Club Psychedelic Beach. It is Wallet Rank 4. You can use the troops and weapons there, so make sure you eliminate all pursuit. Then get back to work, Riot. Piss me off any more and I really will hire someone else. And their job will be to kill you, not your targets. So hurry up!”

===Part 7===

“This place here,” said Saten over the social media app.

“Sa10> A while back, everyone was talking about how the subway tunnel makes a weird turn here. The rumor was they built it that way to avoid an underground power spot because there were so many accidents during construction.”

“GK> A power spot? But there is a reference to it in the Judgment records. That was where a so-called Mr. Inertia used the sharp curve to lean up against high school girls on the packed train.”

Most of the information was just plain awful, but Mikoto was thankful to at least know the right location.

She Railgunned a big hole in the road and hopped down through there.

“Onee-sama, we need to have a family meeting once this is all over.”

“Are you checking to see if I’m calm enough to take issue with the ‘family’ part?”

It was a narrow passageway made from plain concrete. It was like the secret exit from a lab. They had cut in somewhere in the middle, so it extended far ahead of them and behind them. Mikoto and Shirai nodded before setting off in opposite directions.

By this point, Mikoto felt incredibly dumb for having started all this in their uniforms, but they did not have time to go change right now.

“Can you not predict where they’re headed?”

“GK> That would be difficult. I can predict the path of the underground passageway using the areas that slip through the gaps of the other underground structures, but I can’t tell you what surface buildings it connects to.”

“Misaka-saaan.”

Mikoto turned around in surprise when someone called her name from behind.

For some reason, Sakibasu Yuri was catching up to her with violin case in hand. Unlike a certain unathletic Queen, this black kneesocks girl was surprisingly active.

“Sakibasu-san? How did you find your way here?”

“Your footprints. Since you stepped on all that cornstarch I scattered around earlier, I can use my Carbon Search to track the invisible footprints you left behind. …Although I was trying to follow the ones the leotard girl left.”

“…”

“Oh, the cornstarch was of course expired and about to be disposed of. I like to go the eco-friendly and non-wasteful route.”

With powers, it was all in how you used them.

Mikoto could see why Shokuhou Misaki found this girl interesting enough to accept her into her clique.

Sakibasu may not have been aware of her own value, though.

“Oh I know. Misaka-san, you and Shirai-san wear the same school-designated loafers as I do, so the soles should all have the same general design. I should have ignored those and tracked just the pointe shoe prints.”

“Um, Sakibasu-san? Can you still do that? I’m pretty sure she went this way.”

“Yes, of course.”

From there, the curly black twintails girl took the lead.

It did not take long once she found the footprints in that straight passageway. The passageway made a few 90-degree turns along the way and there were some three-way and four-way intersections, but Sakibasu never hesitated when choosing the route. She continued onward and eventually arrived at a metal door.

“Uiharu-san, check the map at my phone’s GPS location. What’s above me?”

GK> Um, a club? I think???”

Uiharu’s response was full of question marks, but that may not have been a problem with the map data. She may have just been unfamiliar with clubs in general.

A lot of time had passed since they met up after school, so it would be late evening or early night up on the surface. But if this was another place where no one used the front entrance, they could cover up all the windows 24/7 like a movie theater or planetarium and play loud dance music whenever they wanted.

“The door has an electronic lock, so I can open it at any time.”

“GK> Even if you use your power, any method you’ve used once will be registered.”

“Sa10> Registered?”

“GK> An AI server called Zero-Day Link will tag the method based on risk level and send it straight to the virus storage center. So keep in mind you can’t use the same method twice.”

“What will you do, Shirai-san?” asked Sakibasu.

“True T-Tails> I will meet up with you two of course! I will be right there, so wait just a moment!!”

“No. Uiharu-san, the club has a public-facing side too, right? I don’t care if it’s incomplete. Pull up the layout and send it to Kuroko’s phone. Kuroko, you head to the surface and watch the front exit. You’ve seen what that leotard girl looks like, right?”

“True T-Tails> Onee-sama!”

“I can’t leave this job to Uiharu-san or Saten-san. This is meaningless if the attacker can just escape the club, so we have to catch her here. We’re going to end this ridiculous incident and bring safety back to our lives. Got that?”

“True T-Tails> …My position is being threatened by an invasive species…”

“Kuroko.”

“True T-Tails> Fine, fine. I get it!”

Mikoto then glanced over at Sakibasu.

“If the attacker specifically chose this as a destination, she must hope to accomplish something here. That means the odds are good she has a plan to fight back. I don’t know if it will be with a gun or with her powers or if she will be on her own or with a group. You wait here. I’ll crush the threat on my own.”

“I get that.” Sakibasu showed her impatience and nerves by rubbing her black kneesocked thighs together. “But this underground passageway is also a secret area someone doesn’t want found, isn’t it? It seems to branch off all over the place, so if it connects to other locations, I might run into someone arriving from a different building. The risk inside the club doesn’t seem any greater than in the tunnel.”

“…”

“Plus, you haven’t seen what she looks like, have you? The leotard stands out, but that’s why she will probably change out of it to escape. It would be safer for both of us if I went with you.”

“…Okay. Watch my back.”

“Will do☆”

The metal door had an electronic lock, so Mikoto’s powers could easily open it.

But opening it was bound to cause something to happen.

It was Mikoto’s group against the attacker. One side would win and the other would lose.

That was like the door to hell.

But if they did not cross that threshold, they would be forced to continue living in fear of attack from assassins sent by an unseen villain. Not even Mikoto could look after Shirai, Uiharu, Saten, and Sakibasu 24-hours a day.

She had to accept this challenge to reclaim peace in their lives.

Mikoto held her palm toward the electronic lock panel and made an announcement.

“Let’s do this, Sakibasu-san!!”

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Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS3 Chapter2

2019-05-30T04:59:44Z

Bersi:

==Chapter 2==

===Part 1===

The boom of bursting gunpowder and the shriek of shattering glass pounded on their ears.

The large, electric motorcycle had its engine sound effect deactivated, so it drove off while hiding within the din its riders had caused.

Misaka Mikoto was one of Academy City’s seven Level 5s and the strongest of the Electromasters. If she had abandoned all else and focused on hijacking the engine, she might have been able to stop the motorcycle before it could escape.

However.

“Ugh, really?”

She could still hear the sound of glass shards hitting the floor.

A shotgun had been fired in from outside and it had fired more than once. If Mikoto had not used magnetism to gather the restaurant’s equipment and form a large shield, who knows how many people would have died.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant had entirely changed.

The world Sakibasu Yuri had been gently creating had been erased by a vortex of crude violence. The screams and cries of the other customers and the staff were like someone mercilessly scratching at the invisible scab with their nails. The noise was so brutal it brought to mind the idea of an acoustic weapon. You realized that sound could create something like this when brought in the negative direction.

Shirai Kuroko spoke while carefully brushing the glass shards off of her head.

She attached a distinctive armband while she did so.

“Uiharu, start by checking for any injuries.”

“Of course.”

“Preserve the scene at the same time. This is too much for Judgment. Keep your eyes open to make sure no one disturbs the scene before the adults from Anti-Skill can arrive.”

Shirai often took action beyond her authority, but Judgment members like her were technically only meant to mediate trouble between students at their own schools. They were not meant to investigate serious criminal activity occurring in the city.

“What…?”

Another girl in a Tokiwadai Middle School winter uniform was dazed.

That girl was Sakibasu Yuri.

“What happened?”

Since she belonged to that prestigious powers development program, she had to be at least Level 3, but despite the common misconception, having a higher level did not necessarily make you stronger in a fight. Her power was Carbon Search, which let her precisely measure carbon isotopes. It would be cruel to ask her to battle a shotgun with that.

Trembling in fear was the correct response.

Uiharu and Saten, on the other hand, did not seem afraid at all, but that was because it was all so sudden that their fear had yet to catch up with them. That was dangerous too. In that sense, Sakibasu Yuri’s neutral and normal emotional response may have put her a step ahead.

“Kuroko.”

Mikoto briefly called her underclassman’s name.

Uiharu and Saten were here, but so were plenty of onlookers both inside and outside the restaurant. She whispered in Shirai’s ear to make sure not to cause any unnecessary waves.

“(Based on what I felt hitting the shield, the shotgun blasts were not targeting everyone in here indiscriminately. They were clearly changing the angle of the shots as they drove past to target a single point. And that point was our table.)”

“(A modified silent bike and a specialist firearm. Did they not use an esper power because they do not have one, or because they were afraid we could work out their identity by doing a mechanical search of the Bank? Either way, they put a lot of effort into this. A shotgun scatters lots of small balls that do not match the gun’s caliber, so it is hard to identify the weapon using rifling marks like you can with a handgun or rifle… I doubt this was something they suddenly decided to do for kicks.)”

“(Let’s list off every reason we can think of why someone would be targeting us. Of course, I can think of countless reasons why someone would go after a Level 5.)”

“(If we’re going there, I’ve earned more than my fair share of grudges with my Judgment work. Although not many of them would have the temerity to pay me a visit with a shotgun in hand.)”

“(Then could it be about the Stativarius? But in that case, it’s odd that they made no attempt to steal the violin from Sakibasu-san. No matter how tough the case, a stray shot could easily break the instrument inside.)”

“(It is also worth noting that this was shortly after I destroyed the violin’s legend.)”

At any rate, it took a bit of time before the volunteer teachers of Anti-Skill arrived. First, some officers out on patrol arrived in a special vehicle made by modifying a sports car, then a group with specialized forensic tools arrived in a large minivan.

Men wearing tough-looking bulletproof jackets approached Shirai. They likely chose her because of the armband on her right upper arm.

“I’m Maeda and this is Inoue. We have taken control of the scene, but we would like your signature on the official records. Use this tablet.”

“Understood…”

“Once that is complete, go get yourselves looked over at the hospital. Even if none of the bullets hit you, gunshots can harm your inner ear at close range.”

Did they seem so oppressive because they were adults and teachers? Those distinctions could be more powerful than the people wielding them realized. To Shirai Kuroko, the single-year differences between upperclassman and underclassmen were an impassable expanse, so she was not going to complain to these people who lived in another world altogether.

However.

Something gave her pause just as she moved the stylus toward the thin LCD screen.

“Also, Sakibasu Yuri. We have already received authorization from Tokiwadai Middle School, so please board this car.”

“Eh…?”

“Again, we already have permission. We have also contacted your dorm. Do I have to spell it out for you? I will fulfill our requirement to provide an explanation to minors, but we believe you to be a material witness. We would like to ask you for some details about this incident.”

“Eh, eh!? Why!? A material witness!? You mean you think I am a criminal!?”

She snapped back at the man, but the helplessness in her body language was impossible to miss. Her black kneesocked legs were pressing together nervously.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Skill officer sounded exasperated.

“We just want to speak with you. If you ask me, refusing just makes you look more suspicious.”

“You’re lying!! You need to actually answer my question!!”

“All we can do is arrest and question suspects. It is the prosecutors who decide whether or not a suspect is indicted and it is the professional and lay judges who hand down a guilty verdict in open court. In other words, I cannot answer your question.”

“That isn’t what I meant!! You keep dodging the issue!! Why, um, would I be…!?”

“The Stativarius Ainsel.”

The black twintail girl’s shoulders jumped when she heard that name.

Her breathing grew erratic and her eyes widened, so the adults continued speaking while carefully observing her.

“We hear you possess a famous violin that goes for hundreds of millions at auction. We have also received several witness accounts saying you have been showing it off wherever you go. And just a few hours ago, you failed to get the result you wanted in an exam using that Stativarius.”

“Yes, but…”

“Why would you be enjoying a meal with the very person who humiliated you like that? If you have enough money to purchase a Stativarius, then you could easily hire some thugs. So why are you here? Was it perhaps to provide accurate information on the target’s location?”

“No! Um, I wasn’t-…!!”

“This is no more than speculation. So how about we go discuss the details in a locked room?”

The Anti-Skill officer’s arm reached out to grab the very same slender arm that had been playing the violin just a moment before. And he moved with enough force that he very well might twist her arm around and handcuff her if she resisted. In fact, it almost looked like he was intentionally treating her roughly so she would fight back and give him the “justification” he wanted.

However.

No, perhaps this was the natural result.

Someone slapped the back of the Anti-Skill officer’s hand.

But it was not Sakibasu Yuri.

It was Shirai Kuroko of Judgment who had been listening in from a step away.

The aura of an adult clearly sharpened in displeasure, but that girl was not cowed. She moved between the adult and the child as if to protect the suspect.

Sakibasu was even more surprised than the Anti-Skill officer.

“Shirai…-san?”

“Angering her so she makes the first move and you can arrest her for interfering with an official’s duties? What a cheap move. That means you don’t actually have the kind of solid evidence you claim to. Of course you don’t. You rushed here after first hearing of the incident, so you did not have time to do any real questioning. The Stativarius? The exam and reports of her showing it off? I bet all you did was search for likely terms on the social media accounts and blogs for her and those around her. What kind of official investigative agency accuses people based on hearsay from the internet? To be honest, it makes me doubt your character.”

“In Anti-Skill, we gather all relevant information and use that to reach a highly objective conclusion.”

“My, such wonderfully meaningless words. Then do you know the exact price used to purchase the Stativarius Ainsel at the center of this discussion? Everyone keeps saying ‘hundreds of millions’, but if you have actually questioned the auction official, surely you must know the exact amount, including handling and intermediary fees, that would not have been reported in the online news. Oh? What’s the matter? You seem to be sweating an awful lot. Does this mean you do not know the answer?”

“Do you have any idea whose side you are taking here? Besides, Anti-Skill has far greater authority than Judgment. A mere child has no right to criticize our actions.”

“Do not make me laugh. I have not yet electronically signed this tablet. Whatever the custom might be, I have yet to hand over the right to investigate.”

“That will get you nowhere.”

“Judgment’s primary job is to mediate conflicts between students at our own schools. If this really was the result of the Stativarius Ainsel or the elective exam, then Tokiwadai Middle School is at the root of it all. That makes this my jurisdiction! I apologize, but which school do you teach at? I certainly do not recall seeing you around Tokiwadai.”

“You’re seriously going to cover for the suspect in a serious incident involving a shotgun!? When you yourself were nearly shot and killed!?”

“This is my jurisdiction, so I refuse to give it up. Back off, outsider. If you insist on illegally arresting and confining a Tokiwadai student without gathering sufficient evidence first, then the criminal I must fight is standing right before my eyes!!”

A quiet sigh followed.

There had been two Anti-Skill officers. The other one, Inoue, lightly struck the head of Maeda, the one glaring at Shirai Kuroko.

“If that’s how you want to do this, then try solving this without leaving Judgment’s jurisdiction. But no matter how inconvenient the truth you discover, you are obligated to report it to us.”

“…Of course.”

“And outside of that – by which I mean, outside your school – we will perform our own investigation. The instant we have more solid evidence against Sakibasu Yuri, we will be back to speak with her, so keep that in mind. We will do this Tokiwadai’s way this time, but you can’t reject our request once we discover an inconvenient truth in our outside investigation.”

“There’s nothing you can do.”

Someone cut in with a voice like a starving dog.

This voice was the polar opposite of violin music and it inspired a rough feeling in the ears of those who heard it.

“You’ve already made up your mind about this. You aren’t covering for her because there isn’t proper evidence. You just want to believe your friend is innocent, don’t you? Hah! There’s no way you can perform a fair investigation with that magnet tugging your thoughts in the wrong direction!!”

“Maeda.”

That was the end of it.

The Anti-Skill pair had said their part, so they left.

…Although Inoue gave them a secret nod while calming Maeda down.

For one thing, the School Garden was protected by its own unique system, so not even Anti-Skill could so easily force an investigation where they pulled out all the desk drawers and tore up all the carpet. There was too much powers development tech that had to be protected.

They had never really expected that to work.

If they were lucky, their accusations would have been enough to get Sakibasu Yuri to go with them. But even if they were not lucky, they could still find a way to arrest and indict her if they found a link to her while investigating the crime scene, the route used to acquire the weapon, or whatever else.

Anti-Skill would trample on people’s hearts and tear them to shreds for nothing more than that. That girl had finally escaped the curse of the Stativarius and was starting to acquire her own sound, but they had rejected all of that.

Shirai Kuroko let out a soft sigh.

“Don’t worry, Sakibasu-san. The adults aren’t actually targeting you as much as it might seem. That was what they call the good cop, bad cop routine. By assigning themselves those roles, they hope to manipulate us into trusting the ‘good cop’ and shake the connection between us. Remember that it is an act and don’t let it get to you.”

“Eh? Eh???”

The girl with curly-tipped black twintails had no idea what was going on, so Mikoto waved at her too.

“To put it another way, they get nothing as long as you don’t react. They have nothing solid against you. Tokiwadai is impregnable, so Anti-Skill can’t charge in and stuff everything they want into cardboard boxes.”

That said, this still affected Sakibasu Yuri’s situation. Sooner or later, it would get out that she was Anti-Skill’s top suspect. It was even possible the adults would intentionally leak that information online to set things in motion. A suspect was not the same thing as a criminal, but the normal people on the streets and the bored people online tended to overlook that fact. If nothing was done, people would begin digging up every last piece of personal information on her and it would all be listed on message boards and aggregation sites that anyone in the world could read.

And even if the authorities later came out and said “Whoopsie-daisy! We were wrong! Sorry about that!”, the online harassment from all around the world would not go away. Never, ever.

She was in a state of limbo and hanging on by a thread.

…But this also meant she was not protected by the official system meant to protect suspects. If there were any unusual openings or loopholes, there was a chance she would be targeted by the professional media and by amateurs hoping to show off on social media.

The snowball had been placed at the top of the hill.

They had to reveal the truth and remove all suspicion from her before it wobbled and started rolling.

They had to work even faster than the adults.

“We’re going to be busy…” said Mikoto.

“Yes,” agreed Kuroko. “Uiharu, we will need your support from the information end of things.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!!” Saten eagerly raised her hand. “You can rely on me for information too!”

It all came together smoothly, like this was the natural outcome.

No one protested.

A real shotgun had appeared without warning. The difficulty of acquiring specialized tools like the gun and the motorcycle suggested they might be up against more than an individual. It was also possible this was a rational enough criminal to intentionally avoid using their esper power. The risk was quite high. Even now, the slightest opening could get the girls killed with their first move.

And yet.

Sakibasu Yuri was at the center of it all, but she felt like she was in the eye of the storm. She could not touch the powerful winds blowing around her and she only felt left behind and bewildered.

“Um, uh, why?”

Because Shirai was a Judgment member?

Because Sakibasu was a fellow Tokiwadai student?

No. Shirai Kuroko put her hands on her hips, breathed from her nose, and gave her answer.

“Not one of us needs a reason to do this. Aren’t you the same?”

Now, it was time for the counterattack.

They would accept this challenge. And they would not allow the adults to go back on their agreement after the fact.

===Part 2===

They needed to review what information they had.

Shirai and the others wanted to continue discussing the case, but Tokiwadai’s dorms had a strict curfew and they had no desire to remain at the family restaurant where so many Anti-Skill officers were investigating the crime scene. Their first order of business was to secure a location where they could set up camp and exchange information.

Saten raised her hand while walking down the road just before sunset.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh!! If we want a secret base, I vote we do it online! That way we can swap ideas anytime and anywhere and we can even talk during class!!”

“B-but…”

Sakibasu must have still been shaken after what happened.

She seemed to shrink down as she held her violin case in both hands, rubbed her black kneesocked legs together, and made a hesitant rebuttal.

“I do not know exactly how it works, but aren’t the adults monitoring everything that happens on the internet? I have heard the systems meant to protect personal information have a few exceptions, such as criminal investigations and court cases.”

“Anti-Skill isn’t going to actually destroy evidence, so it should not be much of an issue even if they do spy on our conversations.”

“…”

“Fine, fine. Uiharu, you do something about it.”

“Sigh. I just have to build a server that Anti-Skill can’t track us on, right? I’ll have that in no time.”

Rather than creating something new from the ground up, it felt more like she reached into a secret drawer and pulled out something she had made before. Shirai gave her a skeptical look that asked why she had this, but Uiharu was unfazed.

“There’s a bit of a trick to using it, but once you’re used to it, you’ll see it’s more convenient than a normal social media site. For now, I’ll register all our phones on each other’s friends lists.”

Electronic tones played from their pockets. When they checked the screens, they found a new icon, the addition of which none of them had authorized. Uiharu should not have even known Sakibasu’s phone number or email address. Mikoto should have known more about this stuff thanks to her ability to directly manipulate electricity, but not even she was immune.

“…Uiharu.”

“It seems wrong to criticize me when all I did was flawlessly carry out the task you gave me, Shirai-san. Oh, and it has an obvious icon now, but you can set that to be hidden. People often spy on your phone’s screen from the side or behind, so I recommend erasing the icon from the menu just in case.”

However.

Sakibasu Yuri was trembling while holding her phone in both hands.

“(Wah.)”

She stared intently at the screen and her cheeks started to grow flushed.

Her heart was racing to the point it looked like she might start hopping around.

“(Wah, wah. Friends… I’m finally internet friends with someone! And…and is this what they call a secret site!? What do I do, mother!? I’m turning into a bad girl! Tremble, tremble, tremble!!)”

“Sigh. So what should we do about this app? If you don’t like it, I can smack Uiharu and have her erase it without a trace. Um, Sakibasu-san?”

“No, leave it!! This is a sweet nectar I can never let my mother know about!!”

“?”

Shirai looked puzzled, but that was not the issue.

Mikoto clapped her hands lightly.

“Okay, let’s head home for today. We don’t know who they are, but don’t forget that there is an actual criminal out there. Get back to your dorms before it gets dark to make sure you’re safe. That might sound obvious, but we can’t afford to stumble right out of the gate. Let’s deal with this a step at a time.”

“Got it. Okay, we can meet in the app once we’re back!”

“Hee hee hee. Once I get a taste for this sweet flavor, there is no going back. Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee.”

After seeing Uiharu and Saten back to their dorm, it was time for Mikoto and the others to head to their own dorm. But sticking with Sakibasu 24/7 to protect her was not realistic with their school activities. Instead of protecting her by fighting and defeating the threat, they had to set up a situation where the attacker would have a hard time trying anything again.

Shirai turned back toward Sakibasu.

“Now, how about we get home?”

“Um?”

“Don’t look so surprised. We all live in the same Tokiwadai dorm, so there is no point in splitting up now.”

“(Gulp. You…you mean we will be walking home together? Hanging out with friends after school and wandering around the city? Is the path of the bad girl? Kyah, I can’t believe it, kyah, kyah!!)”

“Sakibasu-san?”

The girl’s strange shaking would not stop. It was so intense you would have thought her back was going to split open and giant wings would burst out.

They chose the most populated route back and discussed things along the way.

“Let’s get to the most fundamental question.”

“Yes, Onee-sama.”

“Who do you honestly think the target was? The four of us, or Sakibasu-san?”

When Mikoto had blocked the shotgun blasts, it had felt like all of the shots were clearly targeting their table. She was more or less certain of that.

And with that question in mind, Shirai considered a few pieces of information.

Sakibasu Yuri had enough wealth from the trading card game she had created at a young age to win a world-famous violin at auction, but that motive did not explain the timing of the attack. If the girl had been attacked several times already, she would not be living such a carefree life where she walked around alone with the Stativarius in its unlocked case. She seemed ignorant of human malice and hostility.

In that case…

“Does it all come down to the timing?”

Shirai arrived at that conclusion.

Mikoto real question was whether the attack was against the person who had defeated the Stativarius Ainsel or the person who had been protected by its legend. The foundation of that reasoning was the same as Anti-Skill’s, but Shirai could not help but consider the presence of that violin.

“Um.” Sakibasu nervously joined the conversation. “I do think it is incredible that you managed to break the Stativarius legend, but, well, ''what does that really matter''?”

“…That is the question, isn’t it?”

Word of Shirai Kuroko defeating that world-famous instrument would be spreading beyond Tokiwadai and the School Garden via the internet. And in fact, Anti-Skill had learned about it almost immediately. This was about a localized elective exam, but that did not matter if the students posted about it on social media, blogs, or message boards.

And with that in mind…

“I could understand why someone would hold a grudge if those expensive violins had lost all their value from this, but the Stativarius legend has been broken a few times before. Like when research showed the wavelength was not all that different from a normal violin’s. But that was not enough to shake their market value. No matter what is revealed, they still manage to fetch hundreds of millions at auction. So what would it matter that Kuroko defeated this one?”

Or maybe this was not about immediate profit.

For example, maybe there was a group that viewed the Stativarius legend as their faith and they refused to let anything hurt its reputation.

Mikoto continued while walking past the makeshift wall around a construction site.

“Whether or not this comes down to some kind of faith, do the Stativari have some kind of special value beyond money?”

She heard a quiet metallic thud.

She looked back, but there was no one there.

Only the sidewalk alongside the construction site’s thick metal wall and the simple metal door leading inside.

“Hm?”

“Onee-sama???”

“Hmm…”

Something must have bothered Mikoto because she walked back the way she had come. The door used a simple number lock like you could buy at a home improvement store, but she was not focused on that.

She was interested in the corner bordering the intersection.

“This really is weird.”

“What is?”

“This should normally be made from a clear material.”

“Um?”

Black-twintailed Sakibasu Yuri and chestnut twintailed Shirai Kuroko tilted their heads in synchronized confusion, so Mikoto pointed and explained.

“It’s worrying when you can’t see what they’re doing inside, right? That’s why they intentionally make a part of the wall transparent so you can see inside. I think they normally do it at the corner. It prevents complaints and unnecessary frustration.”

“But…this is just a normal metal wall, isn’t it?”

Mikoto nodded at Sakibasu’s question.

“And was the person who walked through the door just now really a construction worker? This place has been off limits for quite a while, but the construction never seems to end. And you can’t hear any construction going on right now, can you?”

“Hmm? But why would someone bother sneaking into there?”

“Hold on. There is a subway station here,” cut in Shirai while opening her phone’s map app. Hers was an unlocked Judgment version instead of the normal version. “The line has been shut down, but if the facility is still here, you would have free use of a large underground tunnel connecting stations. It would give you a shortcut around all the lights and buildings and you could avoid getting wet on rainy days.”

That might not sound like much on its own.

It was not like a chauffeured luxury car would come pick you up and you could not send out a GPS signal with an app to have a private helicopter or jet flown to you within five minutes. It was only a small luxury that required walking on your own two feet. For ease of use, buying a beat-up used scooter would be better.

However.

That was not what made it so sweet. Even a linear motor train or sub-orbital spacecraft ''would be meaningless if everyone had equal access to them.

''Monopolizing a service no one else had access to'' provided a small feeling of superiority.

And the more such things you accumulated, the more you would feel like a special person.

Maybe it was like a local celebrity showing up at a fully-booked restaurant and getting a seat at any time.

Maybe it was like using a private elevator that skipped straight past all the congestion on the other floors.

The excitement might be best compared to the feeling of being accepted into an invite-only social media group for entertainers. And this feeling had existed long before the internet in the form of salons and secret clubs.

Even in Tokiwadai, there were plenty of debates, meetings, and recreational activities you could only attend if you belonged to Shokuhou Misaki’s clique. Students ignorant of that trickster girl’s true nature apparently longed to join. In that case, you had to receive an invitation from an existing member, swear your loyalty to their Queen, pass a background check, and pass a few tests before you were finally given the “key” to attend those exclusive events.

It had nothing to do with how useful the items really were.

It could be a bag, a wristwatch, a ring, a fur coat, a cosmetic product, high heels, an odd-colored credit card, or an old musical instrument. The truly wealthy and luxurious people would show off by secretly possessing certain “keys” that set them apart from other people and allowed them take part in a secret community.

If that idea was common enough…

“Did the Stativarius function as a ‘key’ for this city?”

“But, Onee-sama, that doesn’t explain why someone would attack. No matter the result of the elective exam, a Stativarius is still a Stativarius. The Ainsel belongs to Sakibasu-san and this wouldn’t affect someone who owns a different Stativarius.”

“That depends on how we’re defining these ‘keys’.” Mikoto brought a hand to her slender chin. “If anyone with a Stativarius is given access to special services, then I think you would be right, Kuroko. But what if it’s ''owning a violin with the world’s greatest music'' that gives you access?”

“Ah.”

Sakibasu Yuri uttered a silly sound in the middle of it all.

Mikoto took that to mean she was right.

“Sakibasu-san. That attack might have killed your appetite, but beforehand, you wanted to see the secret menu so you could eat away your frustrations, right?”

“Y-yes. I often go to that family restaurant on the weekends and the manager always has a special menu to show me. That is what I was asking for, so I wonder why they pretended not to know what I meant. That was not my first time ordering pancakes there.”

She seemed legitimately confused, so she herself may not have understood how the restaurant worked.

There were services only available to those who owned “a violin with the world’s greatest music”. But since Sakibasu Yuri had carried her Stativarius Ainsel around with her everywhere, she had not even noticed she was being given access to something special.

That secret menu had now been taken from her. Mikoto was a little curious about what these special pancakes were, but this girl could no longer order the dishes listed on that menu.

In that case…

“Once the Stativari have been thrown down from their position at the top, the ‘key’ takes on a different form. Even if it was only taken to the #2 spot. That means you can no longer use the ‘key’ you spent hundreds of millions on at auction. So what’s next? An Almati? A Guarnari? Do you have to desperately throw down another mountain of cash at the auction to make your bid???”

Whoever it was would have been shut out.

Like their account had been banned.

The “key” they had gone to such effort to obtain had been made useless by someone else’s actions and they had been shut out of the special stores, famous social media groups, and other secret connections that made them feel special. That was sure to inspire fear and frustration.

It was unclear who this was, but they would never be able to allow the Stativarius’s defeat.

Was it about secret services, the right to buy new products early at a famous store, or an invitation-only social media group? Whatever had been taken from them by the shaking of the Stativarius’s value, they would do whatever it took to recover their position. Especially if they were someone with no other connections who felt they needed that in order to stand out.

So they would want to erase the result of that elective exam.

They would do whatever it took to eliminate anyone even slightly involved in that upset.

Mikoto brushed up her bangs as she stated her conclusion.

“Looks like we need to investigate that violin some more. That might tell us how many people would hold a grudge and how many enemies we might have.”

===Part 3===

“Sa10> Then how about you check out the Chandelier Auction House?”

Once they were back in the Tokiwadai dorm, that speech bubble appeared on their phones.

Instead of typing the message into your phone, you spoke into it and a voice recognition program wrote the message for you. Punctuation and even emoji and emoticons were automatically added where appropriate, so Uiharu Kazari’s technical skill was quite something.

This honestly seemed like something she could use for a start-up, but some geniuses only used their skills for fun and stopped before it ever became a job or obligation.

Regardless…

(The Chandelier Auction House?)

Mikoto frowned because she had heard that name from Shokuhou Misaki before.

“Sa10> They’re an office that auctions off a wide range of products in Academy City, although they specialize in artwork and antiques. I believe they offer things like rare old manga manuscripts and the world’s first sewing machine, but also instruments like the Stativari. Yeah, there are a lot of rumors about that place, but I couldn’t possibly step into that fancy world.”

“You mean…?”

“Sa10> As you’ve probably guessed, they apparently specialize in those fancy ‘keys’ that give you access to that world…although I couldn’t tell you if that’s actually true. Basically, everything sold at Chandelier – be it wine or a famous painting – functions as one of those ‘keys’. If the Stativarius Ainsel has that additional value, then maybe the rumors are true.”

“Kuroko.”

Shirai Kuroko was using the same app, but it was faster to talk to her directly since they were in the same room.

The chestnut twintail girl shrugged.

“They do a lot of advertisement online, but you can never pin them down since the location of the physical auction house changes each time. The corporate registration only leads to a cheap apartment room. That is probably a safety measure to prevent theft and attacks, but Anti-Skill is apparently concerned they might be abusing the system to launder money.”

The giant organization was as intangible as shimmering heat.

The key shop for those secret ‘keys’ was itself a secret club that only a chosen few could reach. It was like a nested doll. How many treasure chests would they have to unlock before they arrived at the truth?

But Mikoto’s group did not need to start at the very beginning.

Just like those feeling so smugly superior from their hidden world within Academy City, they held the ticket to a shortcut.

“Let’s contact Sakibasu-san.”

Mikoto gave the answer right away.

“She already won the Stativarius Ainsel from Chandelier, so she should have a connection to that secret auction house.”

===Part 4===

“My, my. If it isn’t Sakibasu-sama. It is wonderful to see you again. How have you enjoyed the violin we helped bring into your life?”

The next day after school, they were greeted by a gray-haired old man in a black suit. His smile and polite behavior gave him the air of a butler.

But his exaggerated speech made Mikoto put a hand on her hip and sigh.

They were in Academy City’s District 6.

The entire district had been made into a giant amusement park.

They sat around a circular table designed to look like a tea party, but that table was located at the center of a large intersection on Main Street, the route for a largescale parade. That area was so constantly crowded that it was said it would only be deserted once the world came to an end.

They were meeting a giant organization which was as intangible as shimmering heat.

It seemed to be true that the organization had no obvious headquarters.

Sakibasu Yuri must have recognized the old man because her shoulders were less tense than Mikoto’s and Shirai’s. The girl scratched her cheek as she responded.

“Yes, well, I lost pretty badly with it. I assume you already know about that.”

“Ha ha. So the rumors were true. I am glad to hear it.”

The old man smiled gently toward the violin case the black twintail girl always carried around with her.

Shirai, however, looked suspicious.

She was the one who had destroyed that legend, but…

“What do you mean? Isn’t it a problem for you if the Stativarius legend collapses? You must have received a significant amount in handling fees while acting as the middleman for the violin’s sale. Was it perhaps 20% on a price in the hundreds of millions? The greater the purchase price, the better for you.”

Saten trembled at the thought of 20% out of hundreds of millions of yen.

Shirai had summed it up as “acting the middleman”, but Mikoto, Sakibasu, and Shirai herself knew that procuring, storing, securing, and transporting such a famous instrument would come with plenty of risk. What if they ended up with a counterfeit? What if it was stolen before the auction? What if it was ruined by humidity or a leaky roof? What if it did not sell for as much as initially thought? Whether it was a jewel or a painting, possessing a pricey item would wear at the nerves. Since this issue had already proven it could place people’s lives at risk, this business could not be an easy way to make money.

But the old man in a suit did not tough on any of those internal issues and only added a hint of bitterness to his smile.

“I cannot deny we have our financial interests to consider.”

This was not enough to shake him.

He was very different from the Anti-Skill officers from the day before.

“However, you must not forget that the products we handle are tools. Whatever they might be and whatever price they might sell for, we appreciate it when they reach the hands of someone who will use them to their fullest. I believe the Stativarius Ainsel itself would want to be used in a serious competition with a chance of losing instead of easily-won competitions where your opponent never stood a chance. You and the violin you hold have accepted each other and become comrades-in-arms bound by genuine trust. I cannot reveal the identity of the former owner as our sellers are guaranteed their anonymity, but I can say that I am proud to have sold it to a benevolent owner such as you.”

“Um…” Saten hesitantly raised a hand. “Excuse me, but we had heard that all the products sold by Chandelier double as secret ‘keys’. Is that part of what you mean by using them as tools?”

If the Stativari were a sort of “key” and another owner refused to accept Shirai Kuroko’s victory since it threatened the value of their “key”, then the Chandelier Auction House might have a list of suspects. Especially if this was the only place someone could obtain a Stativarius. Although it was unlikely Chandelier would reveal any personal information about their wealthy clients since that would bring those clients trouble similar to the people who won big at the lottery.

However, the old man shook his head.

“We have nothing to do with the ‘keys’ you refer to.”

“What?”

Mikoto asked for clarification, but he did not seem insulted.

In fact, he closed his eyes sadly.

“It is similar to how the game company plays no direct part in the real money trade that has become so prevalent in online games. Those transactions are carried out on message boards and social media communities separate from the game servers. And even if it intrudes on the game servers, it is difficult for a single company to forcibly put a stop to it.”

“You mean Chandelier doesn’t deal in those ‘keys’; someone else ''has turned your products into them''?”

The old man nodded at Uiharu’s carefully worded question.

“In the past year, our sales prices have rapidly grown by more than 50%. We had found it odd since it did not seem the sellers were hiring plants to inflate the prices… You might find this viewpoint odd for someone who makes a living by running an auction, but a tool is no more than a tool. Any value not attached to its functionality will always lead to a distortion. An unnecessary added value acts like a curse and will occasionally harm people. I do not know what unseen person is possessing us, but it saddens me very much.”

Mikoto sighed quietly.

She decided to tentatively view what the old man said as evidence.

If the source of the infection really was elsewhere and Chandelier itself had done nothing wrong, there was nothing they could accomplish poking around here. No amount of prodding or coaxing would get him to do anything beyond his duty. That meant he would never hand over personal information on his clients.

“So we’re back to square one, huh? This is another dead end.”

“Um.”

However, Sakibasu did not seem to have given up.

“You said it was best if your products ended up with people who would use them, correct? Then you would not want a Stativarius to end up with someone who will not use it. Anyone who bought one of the violins as a ‘key’ is using it in a way that violates Chandelier’s values. Don’t you want to flush out that corruption!?”

The old man did not respond.

Their client list might contain some suspicious people who were not worth protecting.

But if they sold off the entire list for that, they could not continue running their auctions. Mikoto, Sakibasu, and the others did not have any material evidence to back up their claims and the clients would all back out if their personal information was divulged based on mere speculation. It was the same as a big winner at the lottery. No one would leave their personal information with someone who did not follow any strict rules and gave out names and addresses on a whim.

“This is your chance. You need not take any risk yourself! We will take care of everything for you!! So please!!”

This had nothing to do with what the old man wanted to do.

He could not agree to this.

“Give it up, Sakibasu-san. Continuing this won’t help anyone.”

“But…”

“Sakibasu-san.”

“I was so happy when I got the Stativarius Ainsel. I will not let history and tradition bind me any longer, but when I first held this instrument in my hands, my life definitely did change. I felt like I was ascending into heaven. You said you helped bring it into my life, didn’t you? You said you were proud of that. Then you must understand. I cannot be the only person who truly needs a famous Stativarius! I don’t mean as a bizarre ‘key’ and I am not referring to the people who would pull out a shotgun because their cheap pride was threatened! There must be plenty of people whose lives would really and truly change if they could only pick up a Stativarius and play a song on it!! Don’t you want to send those violins to people like that!? Isn’t that the entire reason Chandelier exists!?”

However.

It was all wasted effort.

The old man maintained his perfect smile and remained entirely motionless. Sakibasu bit her lip, but there were some things he could not compromise on. So even if he completely agreed with them, he could not allow these girls to trample on everything Chandelier had built.

Or so they thought.

But then…

“I cannot hand over the client list that Chandelier holds in the strictest confidence. That is nonnegotiable. For one thing, Sakibasu-sama, your name is on that list as well.”

Wasn’t that exactly what they had expected him to say?

Then why had he bothered to say it at all?

“However, there might be a seam in that anonymity where another company plays a role. Yes, just as an online game’s real money trade is difficult for the game company to stop because it occurs on a message board hosted by another company.”

“Hm? What do you mean???”

“Pay me no heed. I am merely ''speaking to myself''.” The old man smiled. “Leannán Sí, Titania, Tam Lin, Pixy, Siren… Whichever Stativarius we are talking about, they sell for hundreds of millions. Especially in the last six months when the prices have grown by more than 50% what we predicted. Do you think they are simply thrown in a closet after won at auction? In most cases, wouldn’t the buyer hire various forms of security, hire more private guards, and take out a high-value insurance plan to prepare for the unforeseen?”

“Ah.”

Sakibasu placed a hand over her mouth.

The old man looked at her like she was his beloved granddaughter.

“This is truly no more than a senile old man ''speaking to himself'', so please do not take it seriously. That said, there are likely only a few specialist divisions even among the largest national insurance companies that will provide a policy for a violin worth hundreds of millions. Only one or two in Academy City I would imagine.”

“Th-then if we pursue that…!!”

“They are doing their job as well. From what I have heard, they provide such superb service that they will preserve their obligation of secrecy even if it is a blatantly stolen item. They will keep its storage location secret and reject any requests for the return of the stolen item. It is possible that you could find something by searching the division that specializes in antiques and artwork of that nature.”

===Part 5===

Night had fallen.

The curfew had long since passed, yet Misaka Mikoto had changed into casual clothes and was retying her shoes in obvious preparation to sneak out of her dorm room.

“…Onee-sama.”

“Hey, you’re getting dressed too, so don’t treat me like the only bad guy here.”

They wanted to investigate an insurance company’s building.

They were not going through the proper channels for this, so it was illegal even if it was the right thing to do.

Shirai Kuroko of Judgment would normally be the person to put a stop to something like this, but…

“Our lives were targeted, but the company still isn’t responding to my requests. If anything, it seemed like they leaked information to Anti-Skill to keep us from acting… If they remain silent or even get in our way while aware this will lead to harm, they could be charged with willful negligence. Simply put, this is a special case and we need not hold back.”

The old man from the Chandelier Auction House had only provided them with words. He had not taken any real action such as handing over a list of suspects.

But what little he had said must have come with considerable risk. He had set up the pretext of “talking to himself”, but if people decided he had provided a hint to a client’s personal information, he could easily lose all of the trust he had built up over the years. Nevertheless, he had still wanted to help them. He had wanted to give Sakibasu Yuri the push she needed to flush out the corruption that had worked its way into his business.

They had no intention of wasting that.

Mikoto walked to their room’s window instead of the door.

“Okay, it’s time to pay the city’s night a visit.”

“What about Sakibasu-san?”

“You have to ask? We don’t have to worry about her being attacked by a large motorcycle or a shotgun as long as she’s inside this dorm.”

They were used to doing this by now.

The two of them jumped out the window and landed in the liberating night.

A message arrived on their phones.

“GK> Your destination is National General Life’s Academy City HQ building.”

“Who is GK?” asked Mikoto. “Whose initials are those?”

“It stands for Goalkeeper,” explained Shirai. “That is Uiharu.”

They decided to ignore the heated message from Uiharu insisting they were going to make her cry.

“GK> That appears to be the only place in the city that specializes in high-value insurance policies for string instruments. Violins are made of wood, so they are easily damaged by humidity and finger oils if not properly maintained. That can easily distort the sound, so they are difficult for companies to handle.”

That would be more difficult than a pure gold statue that would remain nice and shiny even after 100 years.

There was a lot of variety in the insurance industry, but high-value policies on items generally made their money when nothing happened. In other words, it was best for them if the customer paid for a policy, the end of the policy period ended without incident, and the company did not have to pay out anything. If an instrument like a Stativarius was lost, the company would have to pay out its full value. And if they ended up having to cough up that kind of dough, whoever was in charge of the policy would never move up in the company. Banks, insurance companies, and securities companies tended to judge people with a demerit system.

“Can’t you get in from outside with your hacking skills?”

“GK> If they were that easy to hack into, they could never survive in the insurance industry. The fact that they are still in business essentially proves the strength of their servers.”

So they had to do it the old-fashioned way.

It would be best to physically enter the building, find the server, and attach a small device with a wireless antenna.

“They already refused to reveal their information when you went through the proper Judgment channels, right? I hope they haven’t beefed up their security because of that.”

But she was the Railgun, so the thought of being unable to get in did not cross her mind.

The building in question was in District 3, which contained primarily administrative offices and corporate headquarters.

Academy City’s trains shut down early, so Shirai Kuroko’s teleportation was extremely useful at times like this.

In this case, that meant holding onto her from the front.

“Eh heh heh. Geh heh heh heh heh.”

“(Hmm, maybe I should build my own flying device.)”

“Wait, um, Onee-sama? Isn’t it polite to react more strongly when I cling to you and rub up against you? At the very least, please avoid coming up with ideas that render me entirely useless!!”

The fact that responding would only cause things to escalate was a well-known piece of child psychology.

For better or for worse, District 7 felt like a mixture of so many things, but District 3 was unified in its sense of being an adult city. And not in the sense of being a cluttered shopping district. There was no desire in the scene before them. The scenery seemed to demonstrate the ideal vision of a city that wanted to protect the dignity of adulthood.

This office district was a collection of glass-covered skyscrapers that had been designed with help from famous architects and may not have been entirely logical. That distinctive but somehow cold impression may have represented the image of adulthood they wanted to show off to the children. Simply put, the cityscape had no sense of raw desire.

They understood that there was nothing as distressing as seeing your parent’s sexual desire, but by middle school, they understood that no human was truly cut off from all such desires.

There were no real lights on in the area.

Top-level corporations focused only on completing their projects in the allotted time, so they apparently did not need to work overtime. That seemed like it would cause problems elsewhere, but at the very least, the people working here were probably happy in both their work and family lives.

“GK> National General Life is Block 4 Building 3. It is a very orderly district, so you shouldn’t get lost as long as you keep an eye on the sign numbers.”

“Now, then.”

Mikoto looked up at the skyscraper in question.

It looked about 40-stories tall. Its shape…was difficult to explain. Overall, it looked like a glass-covered smart building, but the issue was the number of walls. At ground level, it was a square, but if you looked a little higher, it had five walls. As you continued to raise your head, the number of walls grew to six, seven, eight, and more. At the top floor, it had so many walls it looked more like a circle than anything.

More than a thousand employees could work inside there, but middle schoolers like Mikoto and Shirai were not really sure if an insurance company needed that many operators.

“Okay, I can teleport us inside. …Although I would prefer you did not get a taste for this kind of irregular activity.”

“Kuroko, we don’t want to make it look like only someone who could teleport could have gotten inside. Use your head. That would be like leaving your calling card behind. You’re in Judgment, so you need to be more careful.”

“Onee-sama, why do you sound so familiar with this subject!?”

Instead of answering her protesting underclassman, Mikoto pointed at a floor not far from the ground.

Specifically, the fourth floor.

National General Life’s HQ building looked like a famous architect’s nightmarish ideas made real and all of its surfaces were made of glass. However, there was one spot on that floor with an upside-down red triangle sticker on it.

“No matter how crazy the design, it still has to obey the laws and regulations,” said Mikoto. “With large harbor warehouses or factories alongside the highway, you sometimes see a metal door high up on the wall. There’s no stairway or balcony there, so it looks like someone could carelessly open it and fall. What do you think those strange doors are for?”

“?”

“They’re emergency entrances. They’re specifically designed for firefighters to climb in using their truck’s ladder. It’s not always that obvious, though. Look at the average department store and electronics store and you should see an upside-down triangle window above the third floor. Those windows are made to open for the firefighters to get inside.”

“Oh. Can’t they just break their way in with an axe or a hammer?”

“From that high up? Land is limited and buildings tend to be overcrowded in Academy City. A crowd is going to gather when there is a fire, so you can’t send a shower of glass shards onto their heads.”

Mikoto looked up at the high-rise structure and breathed an exasperated sigh.

It looked like a continuous surface of glass, but it was actually an orderly arrangement of panes. And the ones designed for emergency personnel were made to open like a door.

“The locks for those things are surprisingly simple since they’re not meant for people to directly access from the ground or emergency staircase. And if they had them locked up tight, then the firefighters wouldn’t be able to get in during and emergency.”

Whether or not they could get in through there was not what mattered.

If they opened that emergency entrance on the fourth floor, it would prevent anyone from concluding that only someone who could teleport could have gotten inside. They only had to create the great taboo of mystery stories: a crime with multiple plausible methods.

“Let’s split up our efforts. I’ll use magnetism to cling to the wall and open the fourth floor emergency entrance, so you teleport in and-…”

Mikoto trailed off.

There was no obvious light or sound.

But what other gadget had the attackers used when firing that shotgun into the family restaurant?

Two people were riding an electric motorcycle made all the more dangerous by having its engine sound effect deactivated.

“Tch!!”

Mikoto let out a short breath when she sensed its approach.

She did not even need to frantically jump back.

In this case, moving without thinking would be the more dangerous option.

She sent out an invisible force across the 180 degrees in front of her. That was enough for the 200kg or more mass of metal to lose control, miss her and Kuroko, and slide violently across the asphalt. Orange sparks trailed after it like a shooting star.

A direct hit might have killed them.

And this was not over yet. With a straining sound, a black figure stood up from the toppled motorcycle. They wore a full-face helmet and a riding suit. Thick gloves covered even their fingertips. Not a bit of bare skin was left exposed, so it was impossible to judge their general build or even sex.

Mikoto only knew one thing: This was one of the riders and the person in the back seat had clearly been holding a shotgun.

“Oh, no you don’t!!”

Just before the deafening blast, Mikoto and Shirai jumped to the left and right respectively. They did not cower down or go weak in the knees. In fact, Mikoto gave an instruction through their phones just as the gunshot drowned out her voice.

“Kuroko, you continue on into the building! Get Uiharu-san’s help to extract the data while I keep them busy!!”

She did not have time for an argument, so she closed the app.

They were only after National General Life’s server room. They wanted to know what clients had a high-value insurance policy on a Stativarius. In other words, they wanted a list of suspects. They could not achieve that goal if they only fought back against the attackers in riding suits. That loud gunshot would lead to a much bigger commotion and it might be much more difficult to get inside the skyscraper after that.

A short distance away, the shotgun casually aimed Mikoto’s way.

But she held up her open hand before it could fire.

There was a quiet metallic sound, but nothing left the barrel. When she knew the gunshot was coming, messing with the gun’s internal structure was not difficult.

And she went further than that.

Just as bluish-white light burst from her bangs, a billion-volt current was released all at once.

This was one of her lightning spears.

[[Image:RailgunSS3 2.jpg|thumb]]

The boom was like a large tree being split down the middle.

The shotgun held by the riding suit figure burst from within and the flash of light stabbed straight through the center of the person. It did not matter that they were wearing thick leather. That level of insulation could not cut off an attack that rivalled a real lightning strike.

However.

The clothing gave off a stench similar to burnt animal flesh, but the riding suit figure did not collapse. Their shoulders were lopsided, but they still took a step toward her.

“Wha-?”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she still unleashed another high-voltage current.

Could her opponent not dodge it, or did they not even bother trying?

Even after a second and third direct hit, they still did not collapse. The shotgun had fallen apart and its pieces littered the ground, but they still had some extra shotgun shells. The shells alone should have been useless, but they held them in their hand regardless.

“!?”

There was a loud boom.

They had used Mikoto’s high-voltage current to activate the shell’s detonator and countless tiny lead beads scattered in her direction.

She knew what had happened.

She really did…but what was that?

If a shotgun shell went off while you were holding it, shouldn’t it blow off your entire hand!?

And this was not the time to focus on that oddity.

Two people had been riding the motorcycle.

The gunner with the shotgun had been in the back seat, so what about the one driving?

Where had the other person gone!?”

“Argh, it’s always something, isn’t it!?”

Mikoto felt the pressure of someone ducking low and rushing toward her from the side. She did not have time to hold back. Her surroundings seemed to distort and then a bunch of iron sand rose up from the ground. This was her iron sand sword that could freely change shape and gained a cutting edge by rapidly vibrating. That weapon could slice through a metal pillar as thick as her torso in a single slash and she immediately jabbed it into the second person’s right shoulder as they attempted to tackle her.

But it did not manage to stab them.

With a dry sound, the iron sand sword was deflected to the side.

(Telekinesis!? And high level at that!!)

She gasped, but then her breathing stopped altogether.

She had failed to stop the fierce tackle, so the riding suit figure jammed their shoulder into her side and wrapped their arms solidly around her torso. Their momentum continued, so Mikoto’s feet left the ground.

Primitive fear lifted her stomach.

She was not in a martial arts ring or on judo mats.

“Get…off me!!”

She did not even need to form it into a spear. She sent the billion-volt current out from her in all 360 degrees, but it changed nothing. She even stabbed the tip of her iron sand sword into the riding suit figure’s back several times.

It accomplished nothing.

After a brief floating sensation, Mikoto slammed back-first into the hard ground.

The shock that ran through her entire body was not much different from a judo slam.

“???”

Her vision flashed in and out. She had trouble breathing and her mind started blanking out, but what thoughts she did have were only filled with confusion.

And to reiterate yet again, there were two riding suit figures.

While the one put themselves in danger to pin Mikoto down, the other slowly approached. The full-face helmet silently peered down at the girl’s face. They did not seem to be confirming their victory or cruelly mocking her. They simply held out their right hand contained in black leather.

The fingers held an unused shotgun shell.

If the detonator activated at this close range, it might blow Mikoto’s head clean off.

“…!!”

While she was still pinned to the ground, a metallic sound came from near her stomach.

She held an arcade coin in her right hand.

Academy City’s #3 was known as the Railgun. Should she fire that signature attack through the second figure pinning her down to hit the first figure aiming the shotgun shell her way?

But just as she began to consider that…

“Take this!! If you don’t mind!!!”

While the riding suit figure stood there, a heavy blow struck their helmet from the side.

The swinging of the newcomer’s body caused their long black twintails to sway.

“Sakibasu-san!?”

Was that a concrete block she was swinging in both hands?

There was a dull thud, but it was not the sound of the impact. The full-force swing of the blunt object hit the full-face helmet from the side, knocking it right off the riding suit’s neck. The thud was the helmet hitting the asphalt.

Yes.

There was nothing inside.

The helmet’s removal did not reveal a male face, a female face, or any other kind of face. There was only empty space there. Sakibasu looked taken aback by the result of her own attack.

Everything seemed to click into place for Mikoto.

She now understood the failure of her lightning spear and iron sand sword and why the enemy would fire those shotgun shells in what seemed like self-destruction. This explained why the riding suit duo had been so unconcerned with any damage they took.

Plus, Mikoto’s iron sand sword had been deflected by high-level Telekinesis.

Which meant…

Which meant…

Which meant…

“They were no more than leather manipulated by Telekinesis!?”

If they were not even alive, she had no reason at all to hold back.

She pressed her right fist against the second figure’s stomach and focused on her thumb. She unleashed the Lorentz force like she was flicking the arcade coin sitting on her thumbnail.

This was her Railgun.

With a deafening boom, a fearsome beam of light punched through the second figure’s gut, stabbed into the first figure, who lacked a helmet thanks to Sakibasu’s attack, and caused them to burst from within. The orange beam shot up into the night sky before being eliminated by the friction of the air.

All that remained were the scorched remains of the leather and some embers.

“Phew.”

Mikoto heard a heavy noise and realized Sakibasu had let go of the concrete block. No, she had released all the tension in her body. She slumped down onto the asphalt and clung to the violin case next to her like a child who could not sleep without their favorite stuffed animal. Even now, she kept her legs below her in an elegant and alluring way, which may have been a testament to Tokiwadai’s education. However, she must have been worried about her skirt because she kept her butt a bit up off the ground. Then again, that made the hem flutter dangerously.

Sakibasu Yuri wiped the sweat from her brow and spoke up in a trembling voice.

“I would like an explanation. I was wondering why you were sneaking out of the dorm and then this happens…”

“You really saved me there.”

Mikoto meant that.

However.

Misaka Mikoto was worried and refused to let her guard down, but nothing more happened.

The riding suits were only a decoration.

The real attack had been made by Telekinesis powerful enough to deflect her iron sand sword head-on. And since the esper was not here, she could guess their power had precise control even from a remote location. After all, they had indirectly driven the motorcycle and fired the shotgun by controlling the riding suits with their power.

Mikoto could gather scrap metal and create a humanoid figure from it if she tried. She could probably move its arms and legs too. But could she use that figure to accurately play a guitar or violin? This esper’s precision had reached that level.

They could have chosen to continue fighting.

After all, it did not harm them to have the riding suit duo(?) destroyed.

The exact conditions for their power were unknown, but it was possible they could pick a car off the ground and fling it at her or grab Sakibasu’s limbs and forcibly control her like the riding suits.

In fact, it was harder to come up with reasons why they would withdraw here.

Mikoto was left with a few questions:

*It had seemed like they were waiting in front of National General Life’s HQ building, but how had they detected Mikoto and Shirai’s actions?

*Their goal appeared to be preventing Mikoto and Shirai from acquiring the list of suspects – that is, who owned a Stativarius. So why had they given up and withdrawn?

*Who was this Telekinesis user?

Shirai Kuroko would have made it inside the National General Life building to access the list of suspects, but would that really be enough to arrive at the truth? Mikoto was starting to have her doubts since such a powerful esper had been so willing to withdraw.

And just then, Sakibasu Yuri swung her right hand and nimbly snatched something between her index and middle fingers. It was a scrap of black leather fluttering through the air with some embers.

“Well, whatever the case, we just have to keep working. And I am glad my own power will finally come in handy.”

“Sakibasu-san?”

“My power is Carbon Search. It allows me to precisely measure carbon isotopes.”

In the moonlight, the girl softly pressed her lips to this new hint and gave a bewitching smile.

“Misaka-san, did you know that can also be used to appraise leather products?”

<noinclude>
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The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume4 Chapter2

2018-09-24T02:01:28Z

Bersi:

==Stage 02: There Will Certainly Be Consequences==
''“No, wait. This might actually be better. If it looks like we’re secret lovers…”

''“S-s-s-secret lovers!!!???”

'''(“Now” Stage 02 Open 06/03 10:10)

'''(“Past” Stage 02 Open 06/02 22:10)

'''There Will Certainly Be Consequences

===Part 1===

'''(Timeline “Past”)

It was just past ten at night on June 2. As always, the darkness of D.R.O.K.’s night was swept away by the bright lights of the stages, but the remaining shadows functioned as useful blind spots.

Shiroyama Kyousuke and Himekawa Mika were moving through one of those blind spots.

However, walking directly to Pandemonium would have been difficult.

With microwave anti-personnel radars and invisible infrared searchlights, the 5km radius field at the center of the donut-shaped trade show became a thick barrier with no blind spots.

Normally, anyway.

“Good thing this is a weapons trade show. There were plenty of oxygen tanks lying around.”

Kyousuke set a few heavy objects down on the grass.

He had bought the night vision binoculars at a business booth.

“Good, good. The six craters from yesterday’s aerial bombing are nice and connected. That gives us a direct line to Pandemonium five kilometers away.”

“I’m sure it’s better than the perfectly flat field, but is that really enough to hide us from the anti-personnel radar? Especially when they’ll have increased security?”

“''Isn’t that why we dug up the underground water veins'' and waited more than half a day for the craters to flood?” Kyousuke answered her with a bitter smile. “The microwaves the radar uses are weak against water. Most of them will be reflected off the water’s surface and what does make it through will be severely weakened. It isn’t a good method for searching through water.”

“What about the infrared searchlights?”

“Do I even have to say it? Whether visible or invisible, light acts the same. Once it contacts the water’s surface, it will reflect or refract, so they won’t be able to pull off a proper search.”

They would have been found immediately on the surface, so their general plan was to approach through the dark water. That was the reason for the oxygen tanks.

But…

“…I do have one question.”

“Wh-what is it?”

''As Himekawa stuffed her clothes and brand-name shoulder bag inside a waterproof bag,'' a dry cracking sound came from her hand and she pulled it back.

“Oops, I need to be more careful. …I scraped my index fingernail on the metal zipper. Where’s the repair solution? The manicure quick-drying repair solution?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

[[Image:BloodSign_v04_093.jpg|thumb]]

Kyousuke ignored the chemical she used to hide the scrape on her nail in just as few seconds like it was instant glue.

He was not going to let her avoid explaining herself here.

“I told you to obtain a diving outfit, didn’t I? I let you handle it on your own so you could keep your privacy about your measurements and such…but why are you wearing a racing swimsuit? We’re still more than a month away from the pools opening.”

“Eh? B-but! I couldn’t think of a more functional swimsuit… I-it’s not like I chose a bikini or something! I’m not just messing around!!”

She could not bear to have him stare at her with his blank expression, so she started covering different parts of her body with her hands, twisting around, running her fingers down the white accent line, and reaching down to fix the navy blue swimsuit where it was riding up in her butt.

“…”

Incidentally, Kyousuke was wearing a diving wetsuit that covered him from neck to toe. It was meant for special operations rather than leisure, so when he compared her swimsuit to him, he wanted to mock and curse her. In fact, it would have been harder to find a skintight racing swimsuit at the weapons trade show, but her efforts had been entirely misguided.

“And the scrunchie. You don’t want that getting soaked, do you?”

“Uuh…”

He felt nothing but worry as the vessel pouted her lips, reached behind her head, and redid her hair with a rubber hairband while needlessly pushing out her shapely breasts.

That bad feeling grew when she put the oxygen tank on her back.

“Hyah!”

He heard a strange shout and then Himekawa nearly fell backwards. He quickly supported her from behind and she started flailing her slender limbs. She was acting like a new part-timer wearing a full-body mascot costume for the first time. It would have been a normal sight back in Toy Dream 35, but it was a problem here.

“Please don’t tell me…”

“Wh-what is it, Kyousuke-kun?”

“This doesn’t mean you don’t know how to keep your balance in the water, does it?”

“U-um, well, I might be able to manage if I have a float or a kickboard.”

Kyousuke covered his face with his hands. This was a diving mission and he was only discovering this now. And since she was not even certain in her ability with a float, most likely…

“Can you not swim?”

“I-I can too! Or at least float. I can float! You shouldn’t give adults that pitying look! I can even do the flutter kick and bring my head up to breathe! Well, if the instructor is holding my hands…”

“Or are you just entirely useless?”

“Don’t call an adult that!!”

When he saw Himekawa mindlessly reach down toward the whistle attached to her sin necklace, Kyousuke covered her mouth with all his might. ''She’s worse than useless!!'' he concluded in his heart.

It looked like taking care of her was his only option.

Specifically, he had to pass his arms below hers to essentially embrace her as they swam together.

“This is kind of embarrassing. This swimsuit leaves my back pretty bare…”

“Don’t worry. I can only feel the metal oxygen tank.”

“Perhaps I should thank you for not asking to do this from the front.”

“That’s a good way to have the other person grab onto you so you both drown.”

With that, he began his dive through the crater lakes while carrying his heavy burden. It was a surprisingly long swim. The unchanging scenery of the dark manmade lakes made it seem all the longer. On the way, Himekawa Mika squirmed inside her skintight navy blue racing swimsuit, but Kyousuke restrained her and maintained a set pace.

The craters differed in size, but they were ten meters at the deepest. They could not take the most direct route to Pandemonium, so their path zigzagged between the center points of the complexly overlapping circles. The distance they traveled was greater than five kilometers and they had to be very careful so they did not forget which direction to go at each turning point.

(I’m sure it’s partially due to using underground water veins, but the water is pretty cold. I can’t force her through too much more of this.)

He could pick up his speed to be considerate, but rushing this would only hurt them.

If they ended up swimming in circles, she really could die.

He maintained that form of callousness and they finally arrived at their destination.

“Puhah.”

Kyousuke stuck his head up from the edge of the crater and removed the oxygen tank’s mouthpiece. They were near the tentacle-like propulsion device of the colossal Repliglass mobile fortress.

He let Himekawa Mika climb up first, but since she seemed to be having trouble doing so under the power of her own arms, he pushed up on her butt and thighs to force her up. He then climbed up after her, but she wrapped her arms around him before he could remove the oxygen tank on his back.

“Ah, ahh, so cold…chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter.”

“Didn’t I tell you? Your lips are blue. C’mon, there are towels in that waterproof bag, right? Using that would be more constructive.”

A guy and a girl warming each other with their skin in a snowy mountain was not all that effective in reality. Wiping off the moisture with one towel and then rubbing yourself with another towel for the frictional heat was more immediately effective. She was older than him, but he felt like he was dealing with a child.

(Another way that she’s ''a lot like that woman''…)

Himekawa Mika simply let him do what he wished as she lay sprawled out on the ground in her racing swimsuit. Not that he ''wanted'' her to scream sexual harassment and blast her whistle when he was trying to help her.

After confirming she had recovered to a certain extent, Kyousuke shoved a waterproof bag into her arms.

“C’mon, hurry up and change before the heat escapes. You’ll be better off in your usual suit.”

“Ah, ahhh…”

“Please don’t tell me you need help with that too.”

Kyousuke immediately turned his back, pulled his hoodie and track pants from his own waterproof bag, and began to change. The wetsuit and oxygen tank would be a needless burden, so he did not want to carry them around. He hooked the bag’s string on a part of the crater’s edge and let the bag itself sink into the water.

He turned back around to find Himekawa had only just finished putting on her underwear. She must not have been thinking straight because she next started swapping out the rubber hairband for her scrunchie.

“Hurry up! Am I going to have to help you out after all!?”

“Heh…eh heh heh… Apparently I’m really a poikilotherm…”

She must not have had the energy to scream, “Kyah! Pervert!”, so she clearly needed to be wound back up as a human being. Her weak smile was so pitiful that Kyousuke did end up helping her into her clothes. This time he really was treating her like a child.

And then it was finally time to face their present goal.

Pandemonium.

That giant black mobile fortress measured more than 800 meters

The entrance was blocked by a thick Repliglass door much like one found at a bank vault.

Himekawa Mika seemed to have recovered somewhat because she intentionally tore her new stockings and then tapped on the back of her hips near her tailbone.

“''Shall I break it open?''”

“No, even if it was weakened quite a bit by the ridiculous method they used, this armor still survived an explosion from the Unexplored-class Lady of Purple Lightning. Hm, more than the material being solid, they’ve applied a special treatment to the surface. Just like magic circles guide the power according to a set of rules, I think the pattern here redirects the paranormal burden and dilutes it into the planet. And it’s also grounded against curses. Now, can we really take that on directly with a Divine-class?”

“Then…?”

“According to the information we acquired, the entrance uses multiple biometrics such as fingerprint, pulse, and iris. I don’t know the exact process, but it would probably be fastest to find someone involved in all this. And fortunately, ''anyone who loses in the Summoning Ceremony enters a mindless state and can be guided like a zombie. We might just be able to draw out the information we need.''”

With that, Kyousuke glanced to the side.

Himekawa did the same and finally noticed something.

A man and a girl slowly walked out from behind one of the tentacles supporting the fortress.

“Are you pawns of Pandemonium…no, of the Deltaston family that has infiltrated all three major powers?”

“Maybe,” answered the pompadour man.

He wore a baggy T-shirt and pants and he held a Blood-Sign made from ski material with a swollen metallic part on the bottom end.

“But first you can call us Government Award 501, Perfect Game!!”

Kyousuke pulled his Repliglass Blood-Sign from his back while also sticking a hand in his pocket and grabbing a weighty object the size of a coffee can.

It was an Incense Grenade.

No matter which major power his opponent belonged to or how many Awards they had, he would go all out to crush them.

“Mika, let’s defeat them as quickly as we can. They were nice enough to bring us the fingerprint and iris we needed.”

“That’s Mika''-san'', you damn kid!”

Kyousuke ignored his vessel’s unfair comment, pulled the pin, and dropped the metal can at his feet. In the five seconds before it detonated, he finished observing the surrounding space and came up with around 45 different ways of finishing within 30 seconds no matter where the 36 Spots appeared.

But…

He heard the sound of shattering glass.

Only 0.4 seconds after Kyousuke’s Artificial Sacred Ground appeared, that field was smashed to pieces.

“What…?”

There were no White Thorns, Petals, Rose, or Spots. And Kyousuke himself froze in place for a moment with his Blood-Sign raised.

A roaring wind slipped through that gap. The summoner known as Perfect Game approached from straight head. At some point, he had changed how he held his weapon. He held what had been the upper end and he used the metallic stabilizer as a weight. He spun his body like a tornado and the Blood-Sign made of glass fiber bent like a fishing rod. The blunt weapon had built up power like a spring and it approached like a morning star.

This called for a change of plans.

Kyousuke adjusted his grip to hold his Repliglass Blood-Sign like a staff and blocked the blow that would have landed on the side of his head.

The two summoners who used even the gods as stepping stones glared at each other from a distance of only a few dozen centimeters.

The mass of athletic muscle smiled fiercely.

“''Did you think a Government 500-level would be an easy win''?”

“…”

“You probably wouldn’t understand, Mr. All-Powerful Freedom 900-Level. It’s not that I know why I’m bound to win this. I’m carrying the great weight of knowing why I can’t afford to lose.”

A strange feeling ran down Kyousuke’s spine.

He obeyed that danger signal and focused on something in the corner of his vision: Perfect Game’s vessel. The small glasses girl had blonde hair and brown skin and she wore a black and orange Halloween witch’s hat, a sleeved cape, a bright orange camisole, and a combination of black hot pants and an ultra-miniskirt with a jagged bottom to cover her butt. She was not hiding behind anything or covering her face. She had been standing right in front of him from the beginning, so why had it taken until just now to recognize that girl with swimsuit tan lines?

“Incense Expert Ellie Slide!! Did you screw with my perception!?”

The girl grinned. It was a mocking grin.

She stuck out her tongue and a piercing wetly glittered upon it.

The Incense Grenades that set up an Artificial Sacred Ground differed between summoners and they were private information on the same level as fingerprints and irises. That made them impossible to mass-produce, so the summoner either had to mix their own or hire a specialist. Ellie Slide was one such specialist. At her level, she could probably use the composition of a personal Incense Grenade to mix up some incense that would negate it.

Ellie Slide dragged around an armor-breaking axe that beat down its enemies with its weight.

A closer look showed the axe’s handle was shaped like a smoking pipe and several small bottles were inserted into the back of the one-sided axe blade. It was likely made to efficiently spray out an incense vapor created with the same process as an electronic cigarette. And an axe that doubled as a pipe was an important ritual tool used when Native Americans tribes made decisions.

She controlled it with the flute-like keys on the silver handle and the trigger released a spray. The chocolate witch with the alluring swimsuit tan lines spoke while releasing a sweet aroma.

“Surely you know who I am and what I do, Alice’s Guide. Personal views of good and evil and the benefit or detriment to any major power will not stop me. I simply find a summoner I believe can reach Award 1000 and bind a contract with them. If they do not live up to my expectations, I simply discard them.”

Also, incense itself was burned during Western magical rituals to separate the area from the world and help the user enter a trance. An expert like her would be able to alter someone’s mind enough to ''erase the name of the person standing right in front of them.

Her fingers raced along the handle.

The caps of the small bottles inserted into the back of the blade were pushed in like cylinders and the liquid inside shined wetly.

“And you remember my own nickname, don’t you? Amplifier 500. …I am known in this field as a vessel who can increase the upper limits of my summoner by about 500 Awards. Now, a question. When Max Layard here introduced himself, ''what Award level did he say he was''?”

“You heard her.” Max grinned. “Everyone has a reason they can’t afford to lose. Don’t just assume you’ve got a monopoly on that, Alice (with) Rabbit!!”

To avoid being pushed back by brute force, Kyousuke fell back himself.

Pompadour Max did not bother pursuing.

No…

“But I’ll do whatever it takes to win! That’s why I’m known as Perfect Game!! Even a Freedom 900-level will be blown to bits if he’s hit by an Unexplored-class’s power without a protective circle. Here’s a taste of what D.R.O.K. has to offer!!!!!”

There was no sound.

There was only light. Kyousuke first glanced at the pattern racing across his body and then he looked across the entire dark field. He saw a magic circle several hundred meters across and a stealth bomber flew by while blending into the dark sky.

Himekawa Mika looked up in her tight skirt and then grew pale.

“A Government summon bombing!? In the demonstration, they summoned the Lady of Purple Lightning without a vessel so its power would sweep across a fixed area!!”

It was unclear how Max and Ellie of Perfect Game intended to escape the dome-shaped blast formed from raw power not filtered through a vessel’s body, but if the bombing was triggered now, Kyousuke and Himekawa would be hit by the destructive power of an unexplored-class.

“Mika.”

“That’s Mika''-san''! And…kyah!?”

There was no countdown.

The attack arrived immediately.

The purple flash of light created a new crater 300 meters across.

“————!!”

Max Layard and Ellie Slide had created this situation, but it had been risky for them as well. Once before, Pandemonium had been accidentally hit by the bomber and survived. That massive structure resembled a giant coffin or a giant squid. It was possible to survive if they immediately sent the exorcism request to keep the bombing time to a minimum and sheltered behind one of the giant tentacles, but they were still bringing the fury of an Unexplored-class down on top of them without a protective circle. The more one knew about the Summoning Ceremony, the more mind-numbingly terrifying that was.

But Max laughed.

Even if he had to force it.

“Heh… That was an Unexplored-class, the Lady of Purple Lightning. I won’t even bother checking if you’re alive. You might be a legend, but no human body could survive-…”

He was not even given time to finish his sentence.

After a light sound of impact, the pompadour man looked down and saw the tip of a Repliglass Blood-Sign neatly buried in his solar plexus.

“Dah…gabh!?”

Just as he started choking, the tip shot up. Guided by the hands of the boy holding it, it powerfully collided with Max’s chin and knocked his head upwards.

“Bhahah!? Ah, goh! Wha-!?”

Max writhed on the ground, but his confusion was greater than the pain or suffering.

How had Shiroyama Kyousuke avoided utter annihilation?

Given his location, Max doubted the boy could have hidden behind one of Pandemonium’s tentacles. He should have been standing in the very center of the blast.

“Pandemonium didn’t survive the summon bombing because of how hard its armor is. Just like ultra-high temperature plasma, that blast is far beyond anything a wall that thick can handle. The surface was treated with a certain type of magic circle that redirected the Lady of Purple Lighting's power into the earth like an electrical ground.”

Kyousuke spun his Blood-Sign around and rested it on his shoulder.

“I understood the theory and I had the perfect reference material right in front of my eyes. All I had to do was analyze it and make it my own. Scraping out the shape on the ground with my foot was enough. …Of course, this only worked because the summon bombing technique is so wasteful that the blast is weakened a fair bit. If that had been properly summoned with the Blood-Sign method, not even a trace of us would remain.”

“…”

That was not as simple as he made it sound.

In fact, was it even possible for a human mind and limbs to pull it off? It was a lot like taking the pattern printed on a silicon wafer and reproducing the circuit by hand in the hopes of building the same processor.

It was impossible. It just could not be done.

This was not an issue of skill as a summoner. He lacked the necessary tools.

No scientist could research a pathogen without a microscope.

No doctor could save a patient without surgical tools.

Kyousuke was essentially saying he had seen the pathogen with the naked eye and opened the patient’s stomach with his fingers. Even at the 900-level, could someone really do something so inhuman?

There was one way.

There was a filter glass used to read magic circles more detailed than a high-density LSI. It was covered in an identical number of precise grooves that would interact with the grooves of the circle to draw out a unique pattern visible to the naked eye. There was an invention that stamped a random string of numbers or letters over the name or address of the letter’s recipient to hide that personal information, but this was more or less the opposite. Perhaps it was like taking a barcode that was not normally human readable and processing it so the information could be read with the naked eye.

But fewer than 20 filter glasses were said to exist in all of Government and they cost far more than the average electron microscope. They were a complex combination of lenses, prisms, and mirrors made from a great quantity of glass, crystal, and jewels, so the materials alone took up more space than a school building. If the design was stretched out to the point that it could be read with the naked eye, it was said it would make a full circuit of the earth.

So this had to be a bluff.

Max Layard forced himself to assume that, but…

“Ah.”

Something fluttered in the wind.

It looked like a thin translucent film.

And Kyousuke held a hand mirror he had likely taken from his female vessel.

“Ahh.”

For old gramophones, the waveforms of voices were recorded by touching a needle against a disk covered in a thin layer of wax.

And the glass in a hand mirror would vibrate when someone spoke.

If he covered the hand mirror with a quick-drying manicure repair solution that acted much like instant glue and then spoke right into it, the amplitude might be carved into that thin film.

If Shiroyama Kyousuke had fully memorized a filter glass’s designs, which would be more detailed than a silicon wafer…

And if he could use the amplitude of his voice to perfectly output those designs…

Then…

What if he peeled the repair solution from the mirror and held it in front of his eyes like sunglasses?

“Ahhhhhhh!! You’re kidding…you’ve got to be kidding! That’s not possible! Are you saying you used your voice…just your voice against the mirror coated with repair solution to create an analysis filter glass!? But those are supposed to cost more than your average electron microscope!!”

It was sometimes said that a skilled craftsman’s fingers could surpass the limits of factory machinery.

But could he believe that now that he had seen it for himself?

Could he believe that this boy had used his voice to easily draw out a geometric pattern so complex that even Government had only been able to create 20 of them?

Kyousuke spat out his response.

“Compared to that Queen’s productivity, this is child’s play.”

They simply lived in different worlds. The enemy they were prepared to fight was entirely different.

And it went beyond that.

Even if he had finished the analysis with that superhuman finesse, when had he put together his own theory?

Where had he actually drawn it out?

Altogether, hadn’t he had less than 10 seconds to work with? In that miniscule amount of time, he had caught up to the theoretical defense system of Pandemonium’s armor which had taken who knows how many hours to design and cost who knows how much money to build. How advanced was his mind, his hands, and every last part of him?

“Th-th-th-…!! Th-th-th-that-th-th-that’s not a very nice joke, dammit!!”

“Can you explain which part of this you think is worth laughing about?”

With that cold comment, Kyousuke pulled the pin from an Incense Grenade and tossed it away. Before Max could prepare his Blood-Sign again, he looked over at his partner Ellie Slide who was still sitting on the ground. Instead of telling her it was time to fight, it was clearly a negative act of confirming that she could use her interfering incense to avoid the fight.

And the incense expert and vessel girl only sighed quietly.

Kyousuke gave the answer for her.

“Do you really think Ellie’s incense is still floating around after that blast?”

“Kh.”

“…It might be time to find a new summoner.”

Even his own vessel gave an exasperated comment as she calmly pulled a new small bottle from her belt.

A moment later, the Artificial Sacred Ground expanded and Alice (with) Rabbit’s Blood-Sign gave a roar.

===Part 2===

'''(Timeline “Past”)

Defeating an opponent was simple when they had lost both their will to fight and their nerve.

In fact, it may not even qualify as a fight at that point.

“…”

After receiving the shock of seeing the god he worshiped slaughtered before his eyes, Max slowly wandered around like a zombie. As Kyousuke guided him with the tip of his Blood-Sign, the man unsteadily approached the side of Pandemonium’s thick entrance door and pulled out an authorization pad hidden there. After he released several locks, Kyousuke and Himekawa slipped inside.

“We’re inside now, but they had to have noticed that. An order was sent to the bomber and we fought inside an Artificial Sacred Ground. This clearly doesn’t qualify as covert anymore!!”

“That just means we need to change our plans. Either way, I never thought we could settle all of this in secret. It was only a matter of time.”

After all, the Repliglass structure was more than 800 meters across and even more if the “tentacles” were included. Two nuclear aircraft carriers would fit inside end to end, but unlike a ship, no thought had been given to a low center of gravity, fuel efficiency, or wave-making resistance. Its width and height had been expanded so much that it had become an unimaginably vast space.

Ships and airplanes tended to eliminate any unneeded volume, but Pandemonium seemed to be an exception. The corridors were needlessly wide and the rooms were all large. It was apparently a giant Box capable of supporting almost all of the bizarre summoning techniques demonstrated at D.R.O.K., so it had to be a largescale system.

And thus it had plenty of hiding places, so Kyousuke and Himekawa were not easily found even with search teams from Government, Illegal, and Freedom running around.

“Now that we’re inside, the rest is easy. We just have to get to the other side of the door leading to the central processor core where the 353 vessels are.”

“But how? You saw the diagram. Pandemonium’s sections are restricted at different levels, so moving between them won’t be easy. Plus, they’re on full alert and there are summoners everywhere. How are we supposed to travel safely through the facility now!?”

“That’s what makes it so easy.” Kyousuke pulled out the metal can of an Incense Grenade. “With that many summoners around, we just have to keep a Chain going while we safely break into the depths of the facility inside the protective circle. The greater the density of summoners, the easier it is to keep that Chain going. There are doors in the way? There are traps? Don’t you think we can break through all of that by summoning a high cost Material?”

Himekawa was overwhelmed by how simple he made it sound.

He was assuming he could defeat every last enemy even if there was 100 or 1000 of them, and even if that included anything from a Government Award 100 to a Freedom Award 900. But he was not being irrational or giving into wishful thinking. He had simply chosen that card as the optimal plan.

And then something like lightning dropped toward Himekawa Mika’s head.

The loud boom only sounded after a short delay.

Himekawa flinched back a half tempo later, but she was unharmed. The Blood-Sign made of ski material with a metal stabilizer had been blocked by Kyousuke’s Repliglass Blood-Sign.

It was a large man with a familiar black pompadour.

It was the summoner who should have been in a mindless state after being defeated with the Blood-Sign method.

But Max Layard showed no sign of that loss.

He made full use of his logic and intelligence for the very human purposes of winning through trickery.

“Another form of cheating with Ellie Slide’s incense, huh? I guess I should have expected that from an expert at strengthening summoners. How convenient is she!?”

As Kyousuke cursed, Max pulled a pineapple-shaped Incense Grenade from his pocket and threw it. Kyousuke could not immediately react after losing his balance protecting Himekawa, so he could only watch.

Wherever Ellie Slide was hiding, she was drawn in as the vessel when it detonated.

This time, Perfect Game had begun the battle.

And by the time Kyousuke had raised his Blood-Sign, some other summoners butted in from hiding. They sacrificed their White Thorns to enter someone else’s Artificial Sacred Ground even if it put them at a disadvantage.

Government Award 501, Perfect Game.

Illegal Award 808, Lionheart.

Freedom Award 897, Harem Collector 98.

Kyousuke smiled thinly as he viewed them as three coordinated enemies instead of individual summoners.

“I see.”

“I don’t want you complaining this isn’t fair. There’s no rule saying summoner battles have to be one-on-one, and none of us can afford to lose!!”

Perfect Game spat out that response, but Kyousuke actually liked that.

This man was willing to work toward his victory, try out any method available to him, and use his own strength to clear a path through any hierarchy or barrier a third party placed in front of him. This was the very strength of being human.

White Thorns were launched simultaneously from three directions and the boxy three-dimensional Rose shattered. The 216 fist-sized red balls of light known as Petals scattered in every direction.

The Blood-Sign method generally had a rock-paper-scissors structure.

[[Image:BloodSign_v04_117.jpg|thumb]]

So in a one-against-many situation, the multiple enemies could summon Materials from the high, middle, and low sound ranges to guarantee they had the individual’s weakness. It was rock-paper-scissors with no ties, so a group or organization had the upper hand.

However, multiple solid sounds followed.

Kyousuke had launched his White Thorn toward his enemy’s White Thorn instead of any of the Petals.

“Wha-!?”

Who was it that shouted that?

That single shot ricocheted again and again as it knocked all three enemy summoners’ White Thorns off course. They knocked Petals into Spots, but not the intended ones. The Petals a summoner had acquired could generally be rearranged at will and used whenever they wanted, but the very first Material was a different matter. Or rather, it would be suicide to not immediately use it because their protective circle would not appear, their vessel would remain human, and they would be instantly killed by the very first attack.

All three of them began with the Original Green (k). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 1.

They were shocked to see identical three meter gelatinous Materials.

Meanwhile, Kyousuke had the Armored Beast (dr – zx). Sound Range: High. Cost: 4. As the name suggested, it was a Regulation-class shaped like a ferocious lion made of golden Western armor.

Kyousuke had the higher cost and the superior sound range.

At this rate, his enemies’ superior numbers would barely matter.

He simply had to strike the weaker sound range to mow them all down like grass.

“But it’s kind of sad.”

Kyousuke spoke just before the clash.

He honestly respected the pompadour man who would accept any cowardly or cheap method because he could not afford to lose.

But he still spoke.

“And yet this is almost adorable compared to my stubborn but futile struggles against the Queen.”

Finally, the metal lion roared and mowed everything down with its violent fangs and claws.

===Part 3===

'''(Timeline “Now”)

“I suppose you wouldn’t know why we’re here, would you?”

And back to the next day in the present.

Max Layard and Ellie Slide of Perfect Game once more appeared in front of Pandemonium and threw a pineapple-shaped Incense Grenade in front of Shiroyama Kyousuke.

“I know…”

It detonated and an Artificial Sacred Ground appeared.

36 Spots appeared and a three-dimensional Rose made from 216 Petals appeared in the center. The battle between summoners was finally beginning.

“I know who you are…!!”

“Hmmm.”

Except the White Queen’s blank expression ruined it all.

A deafening roar followed.

“Eh? Ah?”

The pompadour man voiced his confusion just as he used all his strength to launch a White Thorn with his Blood-Sign.

The Rose had vanished.

Pure white claw marks had torn into space itself and nothing else remained.

And the White Queen had clearly transformed a portion of her dress.

“Diiinosaurrrr.”

She sounded incredibly bored.

Something like the upper body of a carnivorous dinosaur rose several dozen meters tall and attacked Max from above. Its jaws and fangs filled his vision. Without a protective circle, this would kill him instantly. No, even with one, this would have chewed him to pieces!!

“Ohhhhhhwah!?”

Max Layard shouted and rolled out of the way, but that was not enough to stop the peak of the Unexplored-class.

He only survived because Kyousuke embraced the twintail girl from the side. Rather than stopping, the White Queen blushed and her aim veered off course. The green earth half a step to Max’s side was mercilessly devoured and the most basic structure of the world itself was torn away into pure whiteness.

“Goddammit! Boss!! To Pandemonium’s tentacle!!”

Panicked, Max reached toward his ear. But rather than an earpiece, an athlete’s webcam was attached there.

Or perhaps it was a unit for transmitting his location and asking for bombing support.

“The Queen might be protecting you, but you’ve got no protective circle. If we hit you with another Unexplored-class’s power…”

A bright light shined down and drew some optical art on the grassy field. This constructed a magic circle several hundred meters across and Pandemonium’s power was used to summon the Lady of Purple Lightning without a vessel so that her exposed power would expand in an explosion.

But the White Queen was unfazed.

In fact, it was difficult to imagine ever seeing her fazed.

“Gah.”

Another portion of her dress transformed.

The elegantly decorative cloth made a rod shape. She held it like a baseball bat and swung it like a clever girl who chose to visit a batting cage on a date and made a show of her poor skills to get the boy to give her a hands-on lesson.

“Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang! goes the bat.”

Something unbelievable happened.

The purple explosion twisted.

When the bat hit the dome, it was squished in like a rubber ball and the spreading Unexplored-class power was contained. It was allowed to escape away from the Queen, so it was blasted up toward a point in the blue sky. This had nothing to do with placing the exorcism circle on top of it. The fluffy white clouds were entirely blown away, the bomber itself was nearly vaporized, and the power was knocked outside the atmosphere. The Lady of Purple Lightning would have been acting like a strobe light at the center, so she had likely been carried away with it.

Once she finished swinging, the White Queen wiped her brow with the back of her hand as if she had worked up a sweat. At some point and for some reason, her changeable clothing had become a bikini that showed off her bright skin.

She looked back with a wink and a smile.

“What did you think, brother? That was a sneak peek at my summer break watermelon splitting skills☆”

She was making a mockery of the whole affair.

Meanwhile, Max Layard of Perfect Game was legitimately in tears.

His pompadour had grown as limp as damp paper.

“Wha-wha-but!? What!? Th-that was…that was supposed to be another Unexplored-class!!”

Kyousuke found himself staring off into the distance.

It seemed Max had never seen the real deal before. He would have lived a happy life if his ignorance had continued, so Kyousuke felt kind of bad giving him this dark blot in his life.

And he could not exactly rejoice at this situation.

He could already sense the ''distortion'' that the White (Bikini) Queen had set in place.

She held the bat in both hands and wiggled the tip around as if waiting for just the right timing.

“Hey, hey, heyyy!! Get in the way of this date with my brother and I’ll knock you all the way to Pluto. You’ll stab straight into that icy land, so when some obsessed astronomer spots you, there’ll be rumors about a frightening man-faced rock, you dimwit!!”

“H-h-hee!!”

“Also, it seems my brother wants to get inside this garbage castle, so I’ll be destroying this rude gate that isn’t welcoming us properly. Take this☆”

An explosive sound slammed into the world.

The bat grew.

The slender swimsuit girl did not even move her hips when she swung the blunt weapon. It was a completely comical motion, but Pandemonium’s thick door split apart like styrofoam despite enduring a blast from the Lady of Purple Lightning. A fragment larger than a refrigerator nearly crushed Max and he seemed to have lost all will to fight. He grabbed Ellie Slide under his arm and made a run for it despite the personal items he was dropping along the way.

“…”

Kyousuke remained silent for a while, but the White Queen swung the white bat around in one hand while giving off a powerful “praise me” aura with a beaming smile on her face.

“Okay, brother. I opened the way for you. Shouldn’t you rub my head a little and hold your head high at how wonderful your girlfriend is?”

“…Yeah, that would be what you were after with this,” spat out Kyousuke with a hand on his forehead. “It’s true I’m more or less invincible right now. I can exterminate any summoner and destroy the thickest doors and cruelest traps with a single word. …''But none of it is my power.'' Queen, you’re trying to make people hate me so much that I can’t remain safe without your power, aren’t you?”

“Ha ha☆”

The bat and bikini returned to her original dress and the silver twintail girl clapped her hands together in front of her chest.

And she spoke with a carefree smile on her face.

“What a silly thing to say, brother. I’m not trying to do anything. Every part of me – from every hair on my head to the very center of my soul – already belongs to you.”

“…”

Kyousuke shook his head.

What if the White Queen was his and he became a special being who had that power? There were countless summoners who mistakenly thought they could do that and it never worked out well for them. They assumed acquiring the Queen would make them almighty, happy, and victorious. If that was all they saw in it, they were almost guaranteed to fail before even meeting her.

It was a lot like being unable to live without air conditioning, online shopping, and GPS-linked map apps after starting to use them.

Convenience was a black hole that could twist the human heart.

Shiroyama Kyousuke told himself to never give in to temptation and to maintain himself. If he relied on that even once, it was all over.

“Brother, what are your plans now?”

The White Queen’s clothing wriggled around her.

And it changed form in the blink of an eye.

“Go, go, brother. Lovely☆”

“Why are you a cheerleader with pompoms in your hands?”

“To inspire you with courage, brother. Take a look at this physical beauty and all its healthy athleticism☆”

“…”

“Oh, you don’t like it? Would you be more inspired by something a little less healthy? Then how about a bunny girl, a nurse, a maid, a waitress, a naked apron, or a kunoichi?”

Her outfit really did change as she made each suggestion, so there was nothing he could say. Kyousuke was truly fed up with the presentation of transforming seduction, so he focused on his thoughts.

The answer was right in front of him.

If he entered the door the White Queen had destroyed, searched the place, and defeated any summoners who came running, he would learn everything he wanted to know.

But he felt a chill run down his spine.

He could not take the first step which should have been the easiest part.

If he crossed the border just a few meters ahead of him, he would be safely protected from this hellish battlefield. He could see no enemies in any direction and this would be his only chance. But if he crossed that border, he knew a laser bombardment would mercilessly blast him from outside the atmosphere.

A normal person would not have noticed and been blown away.

But Kyousuke could see beyond the blue sky.

(If I keep going, I’ll gather too much negative attention. It won’t just be the Deltaston family; the entire world will bare its fangs against me. That wouldn’t be a problem with the Queen on my side, but that would mean she had a situation where she’s my only hope. Giving into temptation here is too dangerous. I won’t be able to break my dependence on the Queen afterwards.)

Kyousuke breathed a heavy sigh.

“…I don’t need your help.”

“Hee hee☆”

He rejected her, but the silver twintail girl looked happy as she reverted to her original clothing. She may have been fine with anything so long as he was interacting with her.

''Being with the White Queen is far too dangerous,'' he concluded anew. She did not even need to do anything special. This was D.R.O.K., an international trade show where tens of thousands of summoners and vessels had gathered. That meant everyone here knew her value. Simply walking around with her and keeping her to himself could easily create an explosion of any number of emotions: jealousy, envy, hatred, fear, etc. And if enough of that built up, it could even begin a ''riot that could only be stopped with the Queen’s power.'' Once that began, it might spread outside of D.R.O.K. An all-out war with the Deltaston family was one thing, but Kyousuke did not want to make an enemy of the entire world.

It pained him to turn away from the shortest path, but he changed how he looked at this.

“I’ll have to go at this from a different angle.”

“…Hmm.”

The White Queen gave a meaningful wink and murmur (and just like a mysterious book of prophecy, trying to read deeper meaning into it was enough to fall into its trap) and Kyousuke crouched down. Max Layard of Perfect Game had dropped a few personal items. Kyousuke picked up the smartphone he found. He used a few special techniques to deactivate the fingerprint authorization and then glanced through the data. It was entirely for work use, so it was made to open doors just by holding it up to an IC reader and it hosted the webcam that supported the bomber.

He operated the touchscreen, compared the data with the current situation, and commented on what he found.

“''This is weird. This is really weird.''”

“What is it?”

Kyousuke ignored the bright white smile and thought to himself.

Then he decided on a plan.

“I can’t charge blindly into Pandemonium.”

“Hee hee hee, hee hee hee hee hee! Oh, brother, you’re so adorable. Why would you walk away from the conclusion when it’s right in front of you? Do you want to enjoy our date a little longer?”

That sounded like a cruel joke, but with the White Queen, she really might wipe out humanity over something so “trivial”.

He did not let her influence him and he focused on what he had to do.

A large entrance sat open before his eyes. It was Pandemonium’s entrance and it was the shortest route to the truth. But he used all his strength to shake free of that spider web of temptation. The Queen had freely opened that path for him, so there had to be a catch. And not just some vague idea. It would be dangerous to take action until he knew what exactly that catch was. No matter how rushed, impatient, and hurried he felt, he could not settle for the easy way out and he needed the strength to step back from that powerful attraction.

“I need to start my attack with someone who probably knows more about this than anyone else. That Perfect Game pair would have worked, but they’ve probably gone into hiding. And I can’t exactly search for them while dragging around the Queen who is more noticeable than the sun. I’ll have to check elsewhere.”

“So where exactly are you going, brother?”

The boy did not hesitate to answer his worst possible partner.

“The big boss who infiltrated the three major powers and set up this farce they call the Divine Right of Kings. I’m going straight for the head of the Deltaston family.”

===Part 4===

'''(Timeline “Now”)

Kyousuke’s top priority was to confirm the safety of Himekawa Mika and the rest of the 353 vessels in Pandemonium.

There was a decent chance that Himekawa was inside the White Queen, but that was only a theory and he had no proof.

He wanted more information to help fill in his missing memories and arrive at the truth.

To do that, he needed to directly attack someone from the Deltaston family that was running the Pandemonium project. Instead of starting at the center, he would part the forgetful waters of Lethe from the outer edges.

That was his plan.

“Oh, my. Brother, they’re selling fried bananas. You can fry bananas? But they’re fruit!”

“…”

Kyousuke tried to empty his mind as the White Queen clung to his arm and expressed interest in the food for sale. The summoners and vessels in the crowd grew needlessly noisy once more.

“Her Majesty!? Kh, but would it be best for her if I didn’t bother her now…!?”

“Gozaru, gozaru. …If the Queen stirred things up, maybe I could escape my current standstill…”

“I won’t bother her, but what if I stood right at the edge of her view? Sh-she’s looking at meeeeeeeee!!”

[[Image:BloodSign_v04_132.jpg|thumb]]

Kyousuke immediately tried to leave, but the Queen grinned and pinned him to the spot like an anchor. He struggled for a bit, but he finally concluded buying her some fried fruit in a paper package was more cost effective than cutting off his arm.

“Hm, hm. The texture is so different when it’s fried. Would you call this a snack or a kind of chips?”

“That’s a banana with vegetable oil, so it’s loaded with calories.”

“And it comes with vanilla ice cream, so you never get tired of it. It’s hot but cold! Look, brother, you try this new texture too. Say ‘ah’☆”

“And they give you so much of it… Why are you in such a good mood, anyway? Oh, is it because the banana flesh, the fried coating, and the vanilla ice cream are all white?”

“Hee hee. The White Queen loves bananas!!”

“I won’t stop you, but still…”

“U-um, brother? Isn’t that being a little cruel? I know I’m in an extra good mood because of this date, but don’t you have too many fantasies about how girls are supposed to be?”

That had nothing to do with this.

Kyousuke walked through the noisy crowd with the White Queen, but the silver twintail girl completely ignored them.

“Hee hee. Ee hee hee. I can’t believe I’m walking next to you like this, brother… I think I’m going to get greedy and stand on your right side. Hee hee. Your dominant hand is all mine! I am the center of your being!!”

“…”

No matter where he went, the White Queen was too conspicuous. And only an incense expert like Ellie Slide could prevent expert summoners and vessels from recognizing them to travel incognito. It was less than ideal for pursuing or being pursued by someone. It was like wrapping Christmas lights around your body and running around the mountains at night to hunt timid baby deer.

But there were people whose position would prevent them from fleeing.

For example, the head of the noble Deltaston family.

The greater the VIP the more meaning each and every one of their actions held. Someone that important would not be allowed to remove his fan from his face even if a hurricane was approaching. The juvenile concept of “being mocked” was mostly seen during the so-called “gang age”, but at his level, it was a major concern that could make a small crack in the dam and lead to a revolt.

So…

“A top-class hotel with a casino, an opera house, and a pool salon? The cheapest rooms are the suites and the fanciest is the Excellently Royal Special Breezing-… What is with this name? It sounds like a coffee with lots of cream on top.”

“Whatever it is, it’s still just a collection of containers.”

Kyousuke looked up at the giant structure.

It was indeed a stack of boxy containers, but each one was larger than a school gym. And in some cases, the inner walls had been torn down to connect them together. They were not stacked evenly, so effort had been made to give it a modern art look.

“Officially, it’s a social gathering place where Government, Illegal, and Freedom can stay to make connections, but the Deltaston family is involved in all of it. I bet the one family has the entire place to themselves. …And they’re even running a musical based on the ''legend'' of the White Queen. I’m not sure if that’s having awful taste or just plain insane…”

“Brother, why not upgrade your room? If we’re going to be flirting, I want at least a king-sized bed. Oh, but having to share a single futon in a tiny room would be great too…”

“Is that all you ever think about?”

“Y-you have it all wrong!! It’s important to start by bringing our feelings together with a kiss!!”

The best way to defend against attacks, abductions, and assassinations was to hide your location, but a VIP could not do that. It would be a problem if people assumed they were hiding because they were scared. That was why the location of the palace or residence of a nation’s leader would be public knowledge. Locating them was easy and they were almost never allowed to flee. That made paying them a visit simple. …Assuming, that is, you had enough power to break through the thick walls.

“So how are you going to do this, brother? I will simply be following you around, so are you going with the standard plan of breaking through this flimsy paper box and dragging your target out of the rubble?”

“How is that the standard plan?”

“Oh, but if you go the front desk and tell them the peak of the Unexplored-class is kindly paying them a visit, they might roll out the red carpet and show us right in.”

“That’s exactly what would happen, so I’m not doing that.”

The White Queen worked just as well as a master key here. She could force anything through for him, but it would also explosively increase the negative attention he received. If the White Queen decided to leave for some reason, he would be destroyed by the hatred and jealousy of both the Deltaston family and the entire world, so he would be forced into a pathetic life of dependency on and servitude to the Queen.

So Kyousuke steeled his resolve and reminded himself not to include the Queen’s power in his calculations.

“Wherever it’s located, the structure of a hotel makes it easy to sneak in. This way, Queen.”

“Boo. Sneaking in the back way goes against my principles. Besides, I doubt even hiding on the dark side of the moon would mask my presence.”

“We don’t need to hide.”

She went along with his vaguely-described plan.

Kyousuke circled behind the hotel and boldly turned the emergency door’s knob. It was not locked, but opening it set off an alarm. However, he did not panic and the two of them slipped inside the closest linen room. They were inside a giant container, but the interior was made to hide that fact. Wallpaper and carpet covered the walls and floor and it looked just like a luxury hotel. Kyousuke saw a large washing machine, dryer, and pushcart along the wall. He borrowed a blank cream-colored cardkey he spotted along with the cleaning team’s personal items.

“Hotels have far more master keys than normal apartment buildings. It isn’t all that well known, but they go missing all the time. We can get in anywhere with this, so it seems pretty careless of them.”

“Hmm. But isn’t a stealth mission physically impossible with me tagging along? If we walk another 20m, the entire world will find out and we’ll be rushed by passionate worshipers and the paparazzi. Since I am not in an Artificial Sacred Ground, I show up on cameras and sensors, so this is the perfect chance to make some holy icons.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“?”

As Kyousuke spoke, he grabbed a bath towel, a toolbox, and a roll of duct tape he found in the linen room.

The formally ringing alarm automatically stopped.

The White Queen watched in interest to see what he was doing and he immediately took her back out into the hallway. The silver twintail girl spoke like a navigator.

“I sense something at the door on the left 15 meters ahead. It’s going to open.”

That was exactly what happened.

Instead of a guest room, the door likely led to a break room or kitchenette for employees. The door opened outwards and someone started to stick their head out.

“Okay, brother. What are you going to-…wahyah!?”

The Queen’s voice was cut off by Kyousuke grabbing her silver twintail head and roughly tousling her hair all around. Not only did he mess up her hair, but he threw the bath towel at her.

With the toolbox and duct tape in hand, Kyousuke put on a deeper and gravelly voice. Instead of running or hiding from the maid-like cleaner woman, he actually approached her.

“We only have 20 minutes until rehearsal, so what do you mean you got lost!? You wanted to take a smoke to calm your nerves? I can’t believe what I’m hearing! You’re in your stage costume! You’ll ruin it with the yellow cigarette resin. You can’t let your guard down just because we have a spare. Who knows what other trouble we’ll run across before the performance!!”

“Eh? Huh?”

The White Queen looked utterly bewildered and Kyousuke bowed toward the cleaning lady as they passed by.

“Sorry about all the noise. You know how things can be, so please forgive us! …C’mon, you bow too. We’ve set foot in a professional’s territory!! Now let’s get to the rehearsal! Honestly, the kid I’m dressed as is called Alice (with) Rabbit, right? I’m just the prop guy, so think how I must feel dressing up to help you practice. I had to skip lunch for this and I’m not even getting paid for it!!”

“H-hnyah. Brother…”

As he grabbed her slender arms and tugged her forward, the Queen’s cheeks grew red.

Kyousuke ignored it as he made his smartphone ring and pretended to answer it.

“What is it now!? …Oh, producer? Yes, I found that stubborn woman!! You need to chew her out too. We can’t have that legendary White Queen squatting behind the hotel smoking a cigarette!! She’s dressed like a world famous individual, so we’d get a flood of complaints if someone got a photo!! How would we explain that to our sponsors!?”

Kyousuke continued feigning chitchat as he and the Queen passed by the cleaning lady. Their abnormal outfits backed up their story and the phone created an invisible barrier that prevented her from asking any questions.

Kyousuke made his way to the employee elevator and the White Queen giggled with the bath towel over her head.

“I see. So being famous can come in handy sometimes. Isn’t – that – right – brother?”

“I’m not like you. You’re the one that’s standing out.”

“A-and, brother, can you tousle my hair again!?”

“Cling to me too much and it’ll mess with our supposed ‘roles’ of actress and prop guy. …No, wait. This might actually be better. If it looks like we’re secret lovers, she might accept why we were sneaking around out back.”

“S-s-s-secret lovers!!!???”

The White Queen started glowing, so Kyousuke frantically shoved her into the employee elevator.

They would normally need a cardkey to visit a special floor, but that was only for the guest elevators. For convenience’s sake, the employee one allowed anyone to visit any floor. …And needing a cardkey would not matter when all the employees had a master key in the first place.

“P-pat me, pat me!! Please pat my head some more, brother! …But some information will remain saying we were wandering around an off limits area. Once they realize the cardkey is missing, won’t we be the first people they suspect? Pat me, pat me! Come on, pat me, pat me!!”

“The door has closed, so we don’t need to keep up the act. …And how would they find us? They would go after the real musical group in the hotel’s opera house, wouldn’t they? And how would that lead them to us? By the time the Deltaston family’s bodyguard team begins searching some innocent stranger’s possessions, we’ll be done here.”

“Eh heh heh. So you’re willing to frame people as long as their name will be cleared in the end? You really are crazy in your own way, brother☆”

“You have no right whatsoever to call anyone crazy.”

This was not a high-rise structure made of reinforced concrete, so the elevator reached the floor they wanted in no time.

Much like Aika’s apartment, the space was the size of a school building and took up the entire floor. But by the time they reached the one and only entrance used by both the employee and guest elevators, Kyousuke could tell something was not right.

“…I knew it.”

“Knew what, brother?”

“Why wasn’t there a single bodyguard? This is the palace for the king who built this temporary city for tens of thousands of summoners and vessels!”

Kyousuke recalled Max Layard’s smartphone he had acquired before coming here.

It had contained a fair amount of information, but something else had caught his interest.

Perfect Game should have been closer than anyone to Government here and thus to the Deltaston family, but ''they had not received a single call or message that looked like it might have been about a job.'' Almost like the organization itself was not functioning. If Kyousuke’s memories were accurate, there had been a fair number of summoners and vessels inside Pandemonium, but there was not even an email about delivering food or living supplies.

That may have only been a small oddity.

It may not have been worth turning back when Pandemonium was right in front of his eyes and the truth was within reach.

But that was wrong.

Even that had required the strength to turn back.

Ignoring a slight problem in order to reach for a great prize was like ignoring the risk of losing control and grabbing the White Queen’s hand while assuming he could manage it without any proof that was the case. If he let those thoughts tempt him, he would be swallowed up before he knew it.

It was because he was faced with an amazing opportunity that he had to make extra certain he did not lose sight of himself.

And he had made it this far, even if it had required a boring detour.

He used the cleaning master key to open the door and stepped inside, but he only found a painful silence. He checked the living room that had a full home theater system, the kitchen that was far too large for only preparing drinks and snacks, a bath so large it looked more like a pool bar, and a bedroom with a king-sized canopy bed, an audio system to play sleep-inducing music, and an aroma oil set, but there was no sign of anyone.

There were a lot of personal possessions for a hotel room and there were so many pieces of artwork and antiques decorating the space that it was easy to forget it filled an entire floor. There was an ancient Greek sculpture, a model ship, an antique gramophone, and a shield on the wall with a crest that was probably the Deltaston family’s. The glittering red, white, and blue jewels somehow made it look cheap. As part of the Round Table, their personal possessions were all Western. They were probably all quite valuable, but none of them went well with each other. The room simply felt oppressive.

That was why he overlooked it at first.

Something was leaning against the wall, but he had mistaken it for one of the room’s ugly pieces of art, like a grandfather clock or an overly decorated music box.

“Brother.”

When the silver twintail girl in a white dress gently guided his attention, that “something” slid down the wall. It hit the floor, flipped over, and told Kyousuke this was the worst case scenario here.

An elderly man in a luxurious gown lay there.

There was no light of intelligence in his eyes. Even as he lay on his side, he continued moving like someone walking with a cane.

This was the sign of a loser in the Summoning Ceremony.

The shock of seeing his god killed before his eyes had left him repeating the same action like a zombie in the original sense of the word. He would obey any gestured or spoken instructions and would even walk right off a cliff if guided to do so.

“So the Deltaston family’s emperor is wearing no clothes, hm?”

Naturally, he could not have ended up like this on his own.

If he had lost, then someone had to have won.

Based on the situation, Kyousuke doubted even 24 hours had passed since he had entered this state.

But some of his wounds were more severe than others and some had healed more than others. He may have received them when collapsing upon his defeat, but that meant he had fought multiple times over multiple days. Was he beat back down every time the state wore off?

If so…

“It started with him, but someone else hijacked the plan,” groaned Kyousuke.

Looking at the poor old man sent pain racing through the back of his mind. This was stimulating the scab on his memories.

This had started as a slight sense that something was off.

But he had been right to obey it.

If he had charged into Pandemonium without knowing anything, it almost certainly would have cost him his life. He would have held out his shield in the wrong direction and the downpour of arrows would have skewered him.

Simply put, he had needed to deal with this problem first.

“Who’s in control of Pandemonium!?”

===Part 5===

'''(Timeline “Past”)

The night was growing late.

After successfully infiltrating Pandemonium, Shiroyama Kyousuke and Himekawa Mika hid among the complex array of passageways and rooms.

They had intended to use the large density of summoners to defeat one after another while using the Chain state to maintain a powerful Material and break into the center where the processor core and its 353 vessels were. Their opponents always had to start at the Regulation-class with a cost of 1, so Kyousuke could defeat an entire group once he had built up a Divine or Unexplored-class. A true demon king would be sweeping away the scouts and foot soldiers.

But.

After managing to summon the Unexplored-class “Ashen” Shrine Maiden who Invites Merciful and Dignified Death (em – ao – lev – ck – rol – ei – vb – yu – a – ps), their Chain broke and the original vessel returned. Needless to say, this was not due to a lack of skill on Kyousuke’s part.

“They intentionally had all the enemy summoners keep their distance to break our Chain.” The boy bluntly analyzed the situation. “I had assumed their coordination would be poor since they’re a mixture of Government, Illegal, and Freedom, but the Deltaston family must have more control than I thought.”

Kyousuke’s protective circle vanished and his vessel returned to being a bluish-black-haired ponytail woman in a navy blue tight skirt suit with torn stockings that showed off her bright skin. Himekawa glanced around and asked a question.

“Th-then what will they do next?”

“Don’t ask me.”

(They should already know they can’t beat me even if we’re all starting with Cost 1 Regulation-classes. And I doubt they’ll use the indiscriminate destruction of a Holy Key Woman to release an uncontrollable Divine-class inside Pandemonium. …If they’re being managed well, they’ll probably go for a little cannibalism. They’ll fight each other to build up an ace Material before attacking us again.)

Discussing that would only worry his partner, so he kept silent.

(That just means we have to do the same thing they did. After they reduce their numbers with the cannibalism, their Chain only lasts 90 seconds. If we can escape, the Material they sacrificed their own people for will be entirely wasted.)

Summoners used otherworldly beings that exceeded human understanding. Just because an opponent or situation seemed hopeless or too much to handle, they could not give into fear and stop thinking. They had to accept their weakness as a human and then use that to overcome it. That was the true essence of a summoner.

Kyousuke maintained a unique mental state that kept him relaxed enough to perform as best as possible while remaining tense.

“Mika.”

“That’s Mika''-san''. What is it?”

“Don’t force yourself. I doubt you’ve fully recovered from the cold water earlier. Find something around here to warm yourself with.”

“It’s been a while since then and I was fighting while transforming into Materials.”

“''I’m saying it's coming back.''”

Kyousuke had not overlooked the unnatural trembling in the core of Himekawa Mika’s body.

Being a vessel mostly came down to an issue of inborn talent, but the ability to be a spiritual medium was not always a plus. If they did not bind their own mind with restraint-like accessories, they could easily erroneously and accidently summon evil or vengeful spirits.

That did not seem to have happened this time, but a less serious problem was showing itself.

Kyousuke was pretty sure it was a condition known as an Imaginary Flashback.

“Any frustrations or desires held just before transforming into a Material will return with twice the intensity when you transform back. Of course you’re going to be having trouble after such a chill.”

“Uuh…”

It was like having your forgotten sleepiness come rushing back once the effects of the energy drink wore off. All physical effects were negated while in Material form, but that did not mean the vessel’s physical body recovered.

“Mika, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Not only were you forced into a mental battle with an otherworldly monster, but you’re a Holy Key Woman which has to make it worse. It makes sense you would run into problems more often than a normal vessel.”

“It’s Mika''-san''! Uuh…so it’s an error? But it’s still embarrassing…”

They were not in a military control room full of strange gauges and they were not in an armory where a single match would trigger an explosion large enough to blow them all the way to the moon. It was a space larger than a school classroom with drink and bread vending machines along the wall and several tables in the center. The chairs could recline for taking naps in them and the armrests had folded blankets on them.

(10m x 20m x…)

It was obvious if you thought about it, but even a military facility was run by people and they would need normal living spaces to supply the basic necessities.

(17.04m? What a shame. It’s so close to being 1 x 2 x √3.)

Kyousuke thought on the spatial observations that any summoner picked up as a habit.

At any rate, they only needed 5 or 10 minutes. He had Himekawa sit in a chair with the back reclined and he somewhat forcibly placed a blanket over her. But then the woman in the navy blue tight skirt shivered.

“Uuh… When you warm up a cold body so quickly, um, the difference in temperature…affects the bladder.”

“I can turn the other way if you want.”

“No, I’m fine. I have my pride!”

As he poured hot water in a cup of instant noodles on the table, Himekawa spoke while curled up in the blanket.

“Kyousuke-kun, you said I look a lot like a woman you used to know, didn’t you?”

“What about it?”

“…I most likely knew the same person.”

She revealed that information with a faint smile.

Kyousuke looked surprised, so she continued.

“Or rather, I remade my entire life plan to be more like her. My physique, my clothing, my mannerisms, my educational history, my skills, and my definition of salvation… You may have felt bad when you couldn’t help but compare me to someone else, but being told I’m just like her actually saved me. It told me I hadn’t chosen the wrong path.”

“But she was part of Government.”

“I pursued Madam Professor after she disappeared. But the higher ups would not let me view her information while I was in Government, so I thought I might have more luck if I joined their enemies in Illegal.”

The truth of that was hidden in darkness.

And that was a deep darkness that got to the root of Shiroyama Kyousuke and the White Queen.

Those were not secrets an individual’s effort could reach. But Himekawa Mika did not view Kyousuke with hostility or mistrust. She only narrowed her eyes gently.

''Oh, so that woman continued being herself even after she vanished.

''And this boy inherited something from her.

''Even if she is no longer here and we can only speak of her as someone from the past, she remained true to herself to the end and must not have felt any regret about her life.

That was what those eyes said.

“…She was a strange person.” Kyousuke suddenly found himself speaking. “For one thing, she was always terribly careless. She was almost always late, she would drink alcohol at work, she refused to eat any vegetables except for cabbage and radishes, and she lost interest so fast she couldn’t finish a movie, a novel, or even a manga. In her work, she would say the system was too coldhearted and that it lacked humanity, so she would write her own script into the blank spaces. Watching her made me seriously think that simply aging wasn’t enough to call someone an adult. I started wondering if we needed some kind of national exam like we do for driver’s licenses. She would make anyone and everyone mad, but strangely, everyone ended up laughing by the end. Even the coldhearted developers and fighters.”

Himekawa’s expression softened as she accepted the cup of noodles.

“Yeah…ha ha. I more or less know what you mean with all that.”

“And she often seemed entirely clueless. That Miniature Garden five hundred meters below the earth was a psychedelic egg where hidden knowledge and cutting-edge technology mixed, but even there, she taught us something incredibly strange.”

“What was it?”

“When you first see someone in the morning, give them a cheerful greeting.”

Kyousuke smiled faintly as he repeated the words of someone who was no longer with them.

“Isn’t that strange? But she really did teach us that. She threw out the Sewn Realm Summoning meant to monopolize the White Queen and the Fifteen Siblings Project meant to bring peace to all mankind, and she started with that. But I think that led straight to the most important thing. Just like we associate the stars in the chilly night sky to form constellations, I was able to see the slight bit of humanity hidden deep inside people dyed so deeply in the colors of coldhearted cruelty.”

It had been a small thing.

But it had been a necessary gear toward producing great meaning.

It had to be due to the accumulation of those miniscule but undoubtedly right things that had allowed Shiroyama Kyousuke to avoid drowning in the White Queen’s power and to continue fighting against that absolute temptation. He had been given the power to view the world head-on instead of from a cynical angle. And that obvious thing had given him the strength to reject the Queen’s overwhelming power even if every other summoner and vessel succumbed to it.

“If you have a unique background or objective, some irregular behavior is allowed. Society is accepting of eccentrics as long as they have a useful sort of genius. The little things can be overlooked in the face of the big things. …I’m certain it was thanks to those people that I didn’t use any of those outs. I’m not about to say I’m average for this world, but it’s because of the normal things they taught me that I can ''just barely'' avoid crossing the line.”

Without that, he would have succumbed.

He would have been swallowed up by the symbol of uniqueness that was the White Queen and he would have been irreparably distorted.

Or perhaps Shiroyama Kyousuke would have become a monster even greater than the Queen.

“Biondetta said our original families had betrayed us, sold us, and abandoned us. She said we had no friends in that cramped Miniature Garden, that all the adults were cruel, that the social structure was shallow, and that our sibling bonds were only artificial and thus untrustworthy.”

It was slight, but there was some bitterness in his voice.

“But there was more there if you pulled back the veils of suspicion and hatred and looked closely. Maybe it was like the Buddhist concept of Issui Shiken. The exact same lake seems to glitter with jewels to a Deva and seems filled with blood to a Preta; it’s all in your viewpoint. It’s true that the path the 15 of us walked may have been truly terrible and unlike anything a normal person experiences. Even my view of ‘normal’ may be terribly distorted. But that Miniature Garden contained more than just a perfect machine. Those were living and breathing humans. Everyone’s expression softened when Madam Professor was around. But she said that was something we all already had inside us. So no matter how coldhearted everyone acted, they had to have a warmth that would leak out as soon as they relaxed.”

Biondetta had been furious. She had said Kyousuke had been the only one of the 15 children not to break because he alone had received the Queen’s love.

But Kyousuke saw things differently.

He suspected Biondetta and the others had received ''too much exposure'' to the White Queen. Perhaps it was like a halo effect, but they had mistakenly decided each and every one of that powerful girl’s words held great meaning. When a national idol shook your hand in hers and smiled at you specifically, everything else seemed to vanish. The small kindness and favor of those closer to you were blown away. It had been just like that.

But what if they had not been trapped by that bright sun?

What if they had still recognized the shine of the stars twinkling in the night sky?

They might have seen an entirely different world.

Even if it had been an isolated space, that miniature garden had been large. It had taken 1000 people to keep it running. It was impossible to feel alone there as long as you looked to them.

Himekawa Mika narrowed her eyes a little as she drank the noodle soup and slurped up the noodles.

“But it wasn’t you that found that possibility.”

“Right. It was definitely thanks to those people. That wasn’t something some idiot who acts like a genius could do.”

Then Kyousuke quickly looked up.

He strained his ears and sensed a slight smell in the air.

“…They’re here.”

“Eh? Eh?”

“Mika, our break is over once you’re done eating. There was an odd change in the echoing footsteps of the summoners who have entered a Chain state, and I just detected the scent of an Incense Grenade.”

She pulled off her blanket and the two of them ran out of the break room and into the passageway. A young female summoner was just turning a corner further down the passageway.

She was accompanied by a Divine-class with a cost of 6 from the low sound range.

That giant bird from Indian mythology was Vishnu’s mount as well as the enemy of all snakes. This summoner could not have just summoned this Divine-class, so it was most likely the result of “cannibalism” in which she had fought her fellow summoners to use them as a stepping stone. If Kyousuke challenged her with the Cost 1 Regulation-class Original Series, he would be defeated instantly.

“Found you☆”

The summoner began running toward them. If they were caught in the 20m field around her, the Chain state would switch to a normal battle.

But Kyousuke only grabbed his vessel’s shoulders and stepped back a single step.

That was all.

The Artificial Sacred Ground that should have swallowed them up vanished like a switch had been thrown.

“Wha-…?”

The Chain state only lasted 90 seconds.

The White Thorns were replenished every 10 seconds and a total of 7 could be held in stock, but he could still calculate his enemy’s remaining time by glancing at her stock. Someone taking part in that “cannibalism” would not think about continuing the battle after reaching the Material she wanted.

“Ah?”

And as soon as her Artificial Sacred Ground vanished along with her protective circle and Material, Kyousuke pulled the pin from and threw an Incense Grenade.

This time, he was the master of the Artificial Sacred Ground.

He raised his Blood-Sign and grinned as he challenged her on equal terms.

“My condolences.”

===Part 6===

The rest did not take long.

Pandemonium had “cannibalized” their own people, so they had used up a lot of their own summoners. And even when they sent all of their precious Divine-classes after him, they could not defeat Kyousuke. There was simple reason for this: when up against someone he knew he could beat, he let the battle stretch on as long as he could.

And during the few battles he fought, he hit plenty of Petals into the Spots and built up his Material as much as possible.

That ultimately gave him the Unexplored-class Lady of Purple Lightning which he used to mow down all of the Divine-classes who ignorantly challenged him as a group. The girl sat in a run-down wheelchair with her sickly pale skin exposed by some highly revealing purple clothing. Each time she pointed her index finger, a beam-like attack would reap every enemy at once.

“Whoa!? That’s the Lady of Purple Lightning. Did we fall for his bait!?”

“It’s no good. All the losers wandering around are in the way! Move them to the side!!”

“Ah, wait. Don’t look this way! Why meeee!?”

After some fighting, they seemed to decide this was not worth it and the summoners from the three major powers began to retreat. Even if Kyousuke’s Material had reached the Unexplored-class, it would still vanish once his Chain state ran out of time.

But Kyousuke did not bother pursuing. With the number of enemy summoners and vessels so greatly reduced, they could not “cannibalize” each other like before. As time passed, their situation would only grow worse.

And he had somewhere he needed to go.

He let the summoners flee and made his way to the Pandemonium’s central processing core. The Chain state ran out on the way and Himekawa Mika returned to her human form, but that did not matter. Now that they knew their “cannibalism” would not work, it would be some time before the Pandemonium summoners thought up another plan. And if there were any sporadic attacks on the way, he could defeat them like normal.

The passageway was filled with a strangely unnerving rumbling with the regularity of a pulse.

(A Repliglass heart reactor? An artery must be running by nearby. That means there must be something here that consumes a ton of energy.)

They met almost no resistance.

Their footsteps sounded loudly on a steel catwalk. The scene below the wire mesh at their feet made it easy to forget this was a limited space inside a fortress. They were more than 10 meters up and the area below was covered in strange transparent spheres. Each one was about the size of a balance ball, some kind of glowing orange core flashed at the center, and several thick black cables attached to the outside. Altogether, it looked like a clump of giant roe or a type of parallel processor.

“Let’s hurry, Kyousuke-kun.”

“Right…”

He focused ahead again and ran toward the final space.

Shiroyama Kyousuke stood in front of an especially thick door as if to a bank vault.

“This is the processing core according to the diagram. The vessels are waiting beyond here!”

“…”

Kyousuke traced his hand along the final door.

He could have broken through it with the firepower of an Unexplored-class, but his Chain had not lasted. He had to use something else.

“It uses a vacuum locking mechanism. Those use the surrounding air pressure to close the door.”

Fortunately, they had acquired detailed plans, so they had information on the door’s mechanism and design. And no matter how sturdy the door, it could not be made into a solid piece of metal without a single screw or welding point. It had to be made of multiple pieces, so it could be dismantled.

“But if we send air into the vacuum layer, the difference in pressure will return to zero. Then the door will open. We can do this. It’s simple. We need to remove a panel and apply heat at a spot that the sensors won’t notice… No matter how fancy the system, a rubber seal is the best way to make it airtight. If the heat reaches that and melts it, the air will flow through the gap and into the vacuum layer!”

His Repliglass Blood-Sign came in handy at times like this.

It could move like a living creature, so if he supported it a little, it could spin like a drill and catch paper or cloth on fire from friction. If he used the beak-like part on the silicon pellet insertion slot, it could even remove screws.

With a loud metallic noise, the door slowly opened outwards and Kyousuke stepped back so as not to be crushed. The sealed processing core ever so gradually came into view.

This was the turning point.

He had to take the 353 vessels with him to escape Pandemonium and he had to think about what to do after that. It would all be meaningless if the vessels were recaptured after he rescued them. It was possible this would require taking on the entire Deltaston family.

But that line of thinking proved naïve.

As the door opened wide, he found no one at all inside the vast space within.

(50 x 50 x…)

It was a giant die-like space with fifty meter sides. Each of the six surfaces was crammed full of geometric patterns with lines as fine as hair. Red, green, and yellow lights pulsed intermittently through them.

(…49.998?)

But that was all.

There were traces of something. Chairs sat in concentric circles like at an international conference. They had belts attached like at the dentist. If all of those were filled, it was possible that more than a hundred people could have fit inside. But they were empty. It was only a drearily empty space.

Where had his assumptions gone wrong?

Had the diagram been wrong or an intentional decoy?

Had everyone been moved elsewhere because Kyousuke and Himekawa’s plan had been discovered?

Or…

“I have one question.”

Kyousuke slowly turned around.

The ponytail woman in a dark, dark navy blue tight skirt suit had not said anything for a while.

He spoke to Himekawa Mika as the decorations indicating her various sins jangled from her neck.

“''What is your true goal? Were there really 353 vessels here!?''”

===The Story of a Certain Summoner and Vessel 01===

Incense Expert Ellie Slide did not subscribe to a view of good and evil.

In fact, she was a truly rootless person and she had no principles based on a specific region, culture, set of traditions, or religion. So she had no interest in the concepts of good and evil that were a part of that.

That was clear enough from how she dressed. She was a Western European witch, but she included Native American aspects such as an eagle feather, piercings across her body, a dreamcatcher, and an axe that doubled as a pipe. She came from a line of witches that had escaped persecution in Europe by crossing over to the New World and secretly taking up root there, but she possessed none of the hopes or grudges of her family.

The giant silver armor-breaking axe had an electronic cigarette device on the end.

The round dreamcatcher hanging from her neck was not a spider web that caught dreams. It mostly contained the symbol of the Rose at the base of the Summoning Ceremony.

Her stance could be seen in the name Amplifier 500 which meant she would thoroughly increase the skill of any summoner she contracted with. She did not follow any specific principles or beliefs and she did not worship any specific religion’s god as she traversed the world of the Summoning Ceremony. She was a rootless person through and through.

She had a single goal.

She did not care if they were from Government, Illegal, or Freedom, but she wanted to see the summoner she was paired with reach Award 1000.

She would use whatever she could to accomplish that.

That might mean justice, protection, and world peace.

That might mean evil deeds, cruelty, and the extermination of mankind.

Whatever the ignition was, she only needed a corresponding summoner who would be inspired by it. And true to her name as an amplifier, once she found that ignition, she would thoroughly fan the flames to amplify that mental state in the summoner.

“Pant, pant, pant, pant…!!”

As Ellie pulled a small bottle from her belt and calmly exchanged it for one on the back of her axe, a large black-haired man with a pompadour was soaked with sweat. He doubled over and desperately worked to suppress the tremor rising from the core of his being.

He had tearfully returned to the outer edge of the donut-shaped trade show. Tens of thousands of people filled the D.R.O.K. trade show, but not all of them could get a room at a luxury resort hotel. This area full of RVs and mobile homes may have been the seediest part of the makeshift city.

“Th-that scared the shit out of me… That’s the White Queen for you. I knew what to expect, but damn is she scary!! I ran into that kid in Toy Dream 35 a while back, but there’s something wrong with him if he can hang around that thing!!”

The pompadour man jumped into a beach chair sitting next to a barbecue set. The chair and its parasol toppled over, but he ignored that and sat with his back against the silver mobile home.

He then searched through his pocket and pulled out a small bottle of whisky in his shaking hand. He removed the waterproof paper that was rubber-banded to the side of the bottle and followed the folds to create a container almost too small to hold a single walnut. He poured the clear amber liquid inside and gulped it down. But this was not alcohol. It was kid’s stomachache syrup. He seemed to have enough respect left as a Government summoner to worry about what people around him thought. …At the same time, the practiced motions showed just how often he relied on this.

Not that it was surprising he was terrified.

However, Ellie Slide could not have him losing his nerve. The bottom of her sleeved cape shook as she searched for the necessary entry under good and evil. Then she produced a perfect reflection of it like a mirror.

“Then are you going to give up? That is indeed an option. The Deltaston family, Himekawa Mika, and the rest of the 353 vessels have no direct relation to your life. Abandoning them and walking a more aimless Government path would be much more constructive.”

“Kh.”

“Perfect Game is not an almighty power that ensures you defeat any opponent. It refers to your ability to ultimately rework any result into a victory for yourself. So wouldn’t not fighting be one option? I have heard that both martial artists and chess players are selective about which opponents they will face.”

“…Shut up.”

“Why not begin by deciding at which point you will withdraw. You tend to run straight in without a hint of strategizing, so I doubt you would even think about talking about a strategic retreat as a laughable excuse. So where do you draw the line? Where do you cut your losses and give up? You need to do the calculations and find your own ans-…”

“Okay, boss, let’s cook some buffalo meat on that barbecue set!”

“Yay! I want a hot sandwich.”

“…”

“…”

The exposed midriff girl raised both hands on reflex, so she cleared her throat.

Ellie Slide pouted her lips and poked her index fingers together in front of her chest.

“I-I was the one that supplied that endangered animal meat. It was my skill and achievements that created lush greenery in the middle of the desert, allowing their numbers to recover. So all of that farm buffalo meat should belong to me. So why am I the one begging you for some?”

“If you were in charge of it all, the buffalo would go extinct right after they’d finally recovered.”

“Are you saying I’m obsessed with meat!?”

“Let’s just say I’ve never seen you eating vegetables.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I eat potato chips and popcorn.”

“That goes beyond ridiculous!!”

They strayed off topic a bit, but that was not a problem.

No matter what happened here – even if he got angry and hit her – it was not a problem for Ellie Slide. As long as that inspired the summoner and gave them the drive they needed to earn further Awards, she would allow anything. If they wanted kindness, she would let them use her lap as a pillow. If they preferred the whip, she would swing a cowhide paddle down at them.

This was not Ellie’s own will.

Just like a fortuneteller, she would seek out the summoner’s distortion and reflect it back at them like a mirror. That was all she did.

Her focus was on seeing the moment the summoner reached Award 1000. The only other thing she cared about was her personal buffalo meat that grew in the artificial farm built in the middle of a desert.

But she did not need kindness or the whip this time.

Just as she had predicted, Max Layard clenched his teeth.

The pompadour man slowly exhaled while sitting on the ground with his back resting against the silver mobile home.

“I know I’m not skilled enough and that I’m out of my league here. I mean, we’re up against Freedom Award 903 and the White Queen herself. There’s no way a normal fight will get us anywhere.”

“And?”

“Like hell I’ll give up. I’m not fighting because I think I’ll win. I’m fighting because I can’t afford to lose.”

Max wiped the unpleasant sweat from his forehead and faced forward.

The fighting spirit had not vanished from his eyes.

“So we’re in my territory now. Winning and losing don’t matter. No matter how cheap or silly it is, I just have to ''turn this into my victory'' in the end.”

The mirror had worked perfectly.

Incense Expert Ellie Slide did not subscribe to a view of good and evil.

She was nothing more than an amplifier.

If Max Layard had been an evil person, the amplified evil would have taken several lives. If he had been a good person, the amplified good would have saved several lives.

===Facts===

*Incense Expert Ellie Slide’s techniques allow her to create normal Incense Grenades, obstruct the production and expansion of a summoner’s Artificial Sacred Ground, and interfere with their recognition of her.
*When a summoner steps into an already established Artificial Sacred Ground, they must use up three White Thorns. The initial number is three, so they must survive unprotected for ten seconds before one is replenished and they can finally take part in the battle.
*In a one-against-many battle, a group of three or more has an overwhelming advantage. By summoning one of each sound range and surrounding their opponent, they are guaranteed to have that opponent’s weakness.
*The head of the Deltaston family had lost a Summoning Ceremony battle, turning him into something akin to a walking corpse. If he was instructed or guided into revealing various privileges or passwords, complete control of Pandemonium might have shifted to a third party.
*An Imaginary Flashback is a minor summoning error that affects vessels. Any frustration or desire they hold just before transforming into a Material will return with twice the intensity after transforming back.
*Kyousuke and Himekawa had an acquaintance in common.
*The 353 vessels imprisoned inside Pandemonium were nowhere to be found.

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| Back to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign:Volume4_Chapter1|Stage 01]]
| Return to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign:Volume4_Chapter3|Stage 03]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:Virtual-On SS2

2018-03-28T10:04:10Z

Bersi: /* A Certain Magical Virtual-On: Misaka Mikoto’s Dangerous Tea Party */

==A Certain Magical Virtual-On: Misaka Mikoto’s Dangerous Tea Party==
[[Image:Index VO SS2 1.png|thumb]]

“Took you long enough. Hurry the hell up, Shokuhou.”

Misaka Mikoto, a middle school girl with short chestnut hair, looked utterly irritated and breathed a heavy sigh. The way she talked here sounded nothing like a Level 5 who was a target of adoration within a prestigious girl’s school.

It was afterschool and she was meeting someone in front of District 7’s subway station. …So why was she so displeased with the arrangement?

She was at the Raiden statue in the station plaza.

That said, the large station had several exits and she was using a less popular zone located directly behind the shopping district. A dull and shaded air hung over that area and Shokuhou Misaki’s shoulders were slumped as she arrived.

She was Academy City’s #5. Her Mental Out power was the Level 5 at the top of the psychological powers.

Mind reading, brainwashing, memory erasure, hallucinations, telepathy, confessions, absentmindedness, etc. Her power was so broad that even she could not grasp it all without dividing it up through her use of different remote controls.

She had long and flowing honey-blonde hair and curvy proportions that could charm anyone regardless of sex or age. Even at a school of high class girls, the combination of a middle school blazer and a luxury brand bag would not have looked more convincing on anyone else.

The Queen snapped her fingers which were covered with a thin white glove.

“Everyone, that is enough caution ability. It seems Misaka-san really did come alone, so I will handle the rest☆”

With obvious footsteps that scraped their shoes against the asphalt, uniforms identical to Mikoto’s appeared all around her. A few were hidden behind roadside trees or vending machines and some had even been on the station building’s roof. Girls in Tokiwadai Middle School uniforms had been blending into the scenery to keep an eye on the dull plaza. They had revealed their presence to abandon that advantageous positioning as a courtesy that indicated they meant no harm.

They had a variety of hairstyles: short, twintails, wavy, strait and long, and ponytails. Some gently fanned themselves with an iron fan and others carried a heavy-looking instrument case over their shoulder. The Western and Eastern high-class girls may have come in even more varieties than there were remotes in Shokuhou Misaki’s bag. That may have been what made the school’s largest clique so powerful.

But on the other side was Mikoto.

She was Academy City’s #3. As the Railgun, she had the strongest electric power.

She must have been scanning her surroundings with EM waves and other methods because she showed no sign of surprise when dozens of high-level espers appeared around her. That was a sign that she knew she could defeat them all on her own if it came to that.

Mikoto winked and sighed.

“What is with you? Are you so sheltered you’re afraid to leave the girl’s-only School Garden without an escort?”

“You know, Misaka-san. Anyone would be surprised to receive a sudden invitation to such a gloomy place when we aren’t really friends. The natural assumption is that I’ll meet a fate worse than being beat up in the kitchenette.”

“Yes, yes, kitty. I’ll be more careful next time. Anyway, I have something to discuss with you, so come with me.”

“Are you serious? This gloomy place isn’t the worst of it!?”

The willful girl began complaining, but Mikoto had no intention of caring.

After lightly waving toward the clique members who bowed deeply toward her, Mikoto confidently dragged Shokuhou out into the District 7 streets which were known for being a mix of bright and dark.

It was Shokuhou, who was supposedly a queen, who looked confused.

She puffed her cheeks out like a child and used her white gloved fingers to toy with her honey-blonde hair.

“…Why did every single one of them look like a parent telling someone to take care of their unruly daughter?”

“If you get how they see you, why not restrain yourself more?”

The tournament had yet to begin, but the streets were decked out for the Vooster’s Cup. Banners of Virtuaroids like Angelan or Cypher hung from the pedestrian bridges and the sign informing drivers of a temporary lane change for roadwork had a Dordray doll with a large drill waving its hands like windshield wipers. Everywhere they looked, they saw advertisements: “Improve our society by playing Virtual-On like crazy!” “Let’s all enter the Vooster’s Cup to defeat a previously incurable disease!!” “The future of medical simulation is counting on Virtual-On!!!!!!”

There was Virtual-On everywhere. The wind turbines must have had program-controlled LEDs installed because a different version of Apharmd was depicted with each rotation.

Shokuhou stretched her arms upwards while walking through the chaotic crowd.

As soon as she bent backwards, her large breasts pushed out at her blazer from within.

“Hmm. This is nice every once in a while. Freedom is the ultimate luxury.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ha ha. Ah… I don’t have much opportunity ability to walk through the streets on my own two feet. I generally sit in the back seat while someone drives☆”

“I bet I could make the world a better place by punching this girl.”

The strained atmosphere surrounding those girls did not mean it was that time of the month. However they might act around others, they were almost always like this together.

The Level 5’s of prestigious Tokiwadai glanced over at wrapped truck with loud internal speakers advertising the latest book by a crossdressing celebrity known as the diet emperor.

“Misaka-san, do you prefer red meat or fish?”

“Fish. There might be a lot of recipes for beef, but the original ingredient has such a strong flavor that everything ends up tasting the same, whether it’s broiled, grilled, made into curry, or made into a stew. You get sick of it if you have it every day.”

“I also hear it’s dangerous to remove too many carbs from your diet.”

“Of course it is. Just like salt and fat, sugars are a necessary nutrient. You can’t have too much, but too little is also harmful.”

“Hmm? Is that how it works?”

“Say you’re alone on a snowy mountain during a blizzard and your only food is yakisoba bread which is just carbs + more carbs. Are you going to kill yourself by avoiding that and only eating zero calorie snow?”

They thought it had passed them, but the wrapped truck got stuck at a light and they caught up to it. Through pure force of will, that celebrity was demonstrating enough effeminate personality to not be overpowered by the Virtual-On focus. The gigantic LCD screen switched over to a video of that celebrity doing something with oddly soft movements of his joints. More than 5000 yen had seemed like a lot when it was not even hard cover, but it apparently came with a video disk and a ticket to a talk show. He knew what he was doing.

“The greatest enemy of health has got to be stress. …Not that you would know since you ignore what everyone else is doing even more than that celebrity is with Virtual-On.”

“A-anyway, Misaka-san, are you interested in hot yoga? Mutter, mutter.”

“Are you serious…? Isn’t it a waste to spend so much time on nothing more than getting some exercise? Like with prison time, there’s so many better ways to spend your life. To me, it seems a lot faster to just change your everyday habits. For example, how about you download a pedometer for your portable device?”

“Ehhh!? Pedometers aren’t fashionable at alllll!!”

“Oh, it’s all about looking good? So you just want to show off that you’re doing something? If it’s just to take photos for social media, then I’m not interested.”

Mikoto was a little surprised that Shokuhou had started this conversation.

Shokuhou Misaki had created the largest clique in Tokiwadai, so she had a lot of hangers on. If she posted a single word on social media, she would end up with such a cascade of replies that she would never be able to scroll through them all.

But to the clique girls who adored her beauty, their Queen’s beauty was simply an accepted fact. Perhaps she could not discuss this kind of daily effort with them.

The coldhearted Queen held her hands together near her mouth.

“Hey, hey, Misaka-san. I’m a little afraid to go to a sports club and try it myself, so let’s go do some hot yoga together. You can download Virtual-On’s soundtrack from the internet right now, so the latest trend is to watch the demo videos on a large screen and match your breathing to the rhythm of the music.”

“What kind of poses is that going to be!? Aren’t you going to end up doing that weird dance from Bal’s victory pose!?”

After passing by a group of high schoolers doing some kind of live broadcast with a portable device’s camera, Mikoto and Shokuhou arrived at a multi-tenant building facing the main road. But instead of entering the major convenience store or gyudon shop on the first floor, they climbed the narrow stairway to the extremely minor 6th floor. There was no elevator. For people who just walked around the city, it may have been even less familiar than a store in a back alley. Shokuhou Misaki was of course fed up with this.

The honey-blonde Queen placed a hand on her slender waist, breathed a dissatisfied sigh, and looked up.

“Hold on. I can be quite picky with my food, you know? I’m not about to eat anything as full of chemical seasonings as cup noodles or frozen foods. I hope this place serves something decent.”

“You’re just picky about everything. Now let’s go.”

“Are you serious? …C’mon, it’s not even registered in my Meal Memo app…”

“We’re only on the 3rd floor. If you want to complain, you can do so once we reach the 6th floor.”

“Pant, pant… You had…ugh…you had better not…underestimate me…Misa…Misaka-san…ugh, gh.”

“Why are you so out of breath you’re about to vomit just from climbing to the 6th floor!? How can you brag about eating healthily when you’re this out of shape!? Not to mention wanting to do hot yoga!!”

“Pant, I am not…out of…shape… And I think I can manage hot yoga…since you only have to move…slowly…”

She was so exhausted that her excuses fell away. Mikoto recalled that exhaustion and sleep deprivation were used as forms of torture to get people to talk.

Instead of taking care of the clique’s unruly daughter, she felt more like she was a caretaker for someone’s grandmother. She was a teenage girl who would even make a flower blush and she was carefully selecting fancy super foods, so if this was enough to have her gasping for breath with her heart pounding, just how low was her base potential?

Mikoto looked utterly exasperated, but she ultimately lent Shokuhou her shoulder while guiding that newcomer to a metal door that looked as much like an emergency exit as it did a shop entrance.

“Misaka-san, why are you so good at supporting people on your shoulder?”

“My papa and mama end up in a pretty sad state when they’re drunk.”

The interior had chairs and tables colored the red, blue, yellow, and green of a 12-color paint set, making it reminiscent of an indoor amusement park’s nursery or a foreign burger shop. The seats were made of cheap synthetic leather and the walls were covered with thick plastic, so Shokuhou feared they were sandwiched between asbestos in here. The chemical-filled space’s design covered her in goose bumps before they were even served the initial ice water.

With the expression of a nervous cat someone had dumped water on, she tearfully pressed her index fingers together in front of her large chest and trembled while speaking up.

“…Um, Misaka-san. I really, really can’t stand synthetic colors or artificial sweeteners, so it would be great if you would spare me this…”

“Here, take off your glove and place your hand on the counter here.”

“Hm? Like this???”

“Welcome!! Two of you, huh? Well, take these welcome drinks or whatever.”

The part-time girl dressed as Fei-Yen did not even reach the bare minimum of expected politeness and Misaka Mikoto took something from her with a smile. The label was of a common carbonated drink, but the green bottle of cider had to contain more than a full liter. Shokuhou frowned because she had never seen that product before. Instead of a plastic twist-off cap, it had a metal cap that required a bottle opener. It may have been a special industrial model for restaurants and parties.

And for some reason, Mikoto held the bottle upside down.

She held the narrow neck like it was a club.

“Shokuhou.”

“Wh-what is it, Misaka-san? I’m already feeling groggy and we haven’t even begu-…”

She showed no mercy.

Still smiling, Mikoto hit Shokuhou over the head with the large bottle, producing a loud crash of shattering glass.

“Ah? Oh!! Nwehhhh???”

Shokuhou Misaki doubled over and widened her eyes while all coherent thought vanished from her mind. She had no idea what had just happened to her. It had been such a shock that she failed to notice the complete lack of pain despite a large bottle hitting her on the top of the head with enough force to shatter.

No.

A bottle of cider had supposedly smashed over her head, yet she was not even damp.

What had that been?

“Ah ha ha!! Of course it isn’t a real bottle! It’s a sugar sculpture like they use when filming dramas. This is the Rude Café where you can blow off some steam by safely hitting the club leader or adviser that’s been pissing you off. With this, the overbearing husband karaoke where you can flip over the tea table over any little thing, and the combat ration restaurant where you can eat a light meal while having an airsoft battle, Saten-san really knows how to find the weirdest places. See, isn’t this the perfect place for us?”

After tossing aside the bottleneck which now had jagged edges, Mikoto held her stomach and laughed loudly.

“The latest business trends are self-esteem building and stress management. The former is done with social media sites that half smother you with compliments. The latter is done with functional food chocolates like you see in convenience stores. ''I took you here because you’re so excessively worried about your health''. This is the best place to get some exercise while working off your stress. Shokuhou, didn’t one of the girls in your clique submit a paper about this? What was her name again?”

Meanwhile, Shokuhou was still doubled over with her head lowered.

“~ ~ ~”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Shokuhou? I know you’re not a stickler for the rules, so you can’t convince me this isn’t for you.”

“…Hee, hee hee. Hee hee ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Give me a break, Misaka-saaan!!”

With a roar, Shokuhou grabbed a large cider bottle from the Fei-Yen part-time girl’s tray and swung it toward Mikoto’s head for revenge. It was a murderous horizontal swing toward the temple.

Once she actually tried it herself, she found it did not feel at all realistic in her hand. The sugar bottle shattered before the weight of the object could reach the target and the vectors scattered in every direction.

Would it be simpler to describe it as swinging a thick balloon to hit a spiky cactus?

And the hit did not stop Mikoto’s laughter.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

“Hey, is this any time to laugh!? If this is made of sugar…oh, honestly. There are small shards all through my hair and clothes. Once our body heat starts melting them, it’s obvious what kind of tragic ability will befall us. And if they’re imitations, they have to be full of synthetic colors. Agh!!”

The shards were smaller than grains of sugar and some must have gotten inside the back of her clothes because Shokuhou began hopping around, making her large breasts bounce, but Mikoto had a more pressing focus.

Namely, she was laughing too hard to breathe.

This was probably a third side of her that she could not let show in the high-class space of Tokiwadai Middle School or around that spiky-haired boy she knew so well.

“Hee hee. Shokuhou, you should’ve seen your face. Hee!! I could almost see the chicks and stars spinning above your head. Peh heh heh. I never thought I’d see a fighting game’s dazed heroine animation in real life! Da sha sha sha sha!!”

“…Don’t tell me you dragged me here because you wanted to try this out but have no friends.”

“Okay, Shokuhou. This is the legendary pie throw from old comedy acts.”

“Wai-…!!!???”

The sexy blonde girl did not have time to raise her voice in protest. Yes, Mikoto was holding a birthday-cake-sized mass of cream on a paper plate. The out-of-shape Queen had no hope of dodging this. Tokiwadai’s Queen could turn anyone’s head, yet an old-fashioned cliché covered her entire pretty face with cream.

A wet splat rang out.

There was no pain.

The cream must have been fairly sticky because the large paper plate fought gravity to remain stuck to Shokuhou’s face.

Since no one stopped Mikoto, this special space must have had its own unique social rules.

The Japanese constitution did not apply here.

“Bfh!? Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!”

“…I’m hoing ho hill hou, Mihaha-han. (I’m going to kill you, Misaka-san.)”

Meanwhile out on the streets.

“???”

Shokuhou’s clique was the largest within prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School, but its high-class girls stood in front of the café with their heads tilted like heads of wheat blowing in the wind. They adored Shokuhou Misaki to the point of loyalty, but this was a separate issue. Their Queen could be surprisingly careless in some areas, so they were worried sick that she was being a nuisance.

Whether they had twintails, a ponytail, or ringlet curls, the wide variety of high-class girls discussed the issue.

“Kobayashi-sama, Kobayashi-sama. What is going on inside there?”

“Wait, um, that can’t be… Shokuhou-sama has the strongest psychological power and Misaka-sama has the strongest electric power, so having them in the same place must be distorting the information. Is my telepathic interception simply not working?”

A difficult expression covered the face of a girl with a black bob cut.

Those faithful servants could not bring themselves to leave even after being instructed to, but they did not know what else to do either. After all, the two great peaks of Tokiwadai had gone out of their way to leave the school for a top secret meeting. This was more than just a dinner date. It was possible the very history of the country would change later that night. And because these girls pampered her on a daily basis, they knew how their seemingly perfect Queen was actually full of flaws they were willing to overlook. They were worried sick that Shokuhou Misaki would make some kind of careless mistake!!!!!!

…Just to be clear, this is a story about middle school girls, but that does not really matter here.

“Come on, Kobayashi-sama! Can’t you just explain it to us!?”

“…Um, then I will simply tell you what I can see… Um…first, Misaka-sama hit the Queen over the head with a large bottle and then the Queen hit her back.”

“The Sakuradamon Incident!!!???”

Again, this is a story about middle school girls.

A girl with gorgeous ringlet curls clenched her fist. She was the #2 of Shokuhou’s clique and, if you include anime, she has already appeared in a total of four different series.

“Argh, I can’t stand this! To protect Japan’s future and our Queen’s life, I will infiltrate this café myself!!”

“Ahh, Hokaze-saaan!!”

Inside the strange café, Shokuhou still had the paper pie plate stuck to her face.

The two of them were finally shown to one of the bright 12-color paint set tables, but the wet towels they were given had a different purpose from a normal restaurant. This was no time to feel like only old men wiped off their face. This was a seat in the underworld. It was a legit battlefield where sugar vases were flying and knives and forks made of silver-dust-coated chocolate glinted in the light.

(Wait. This pie feels like…?)

“Pwah☆”

After managing to recover from a state she could not allow her clique to see her in, Shokuhou realized the meaning behind the café’s interior decoration. The cheap synthetic leather and thick plastic covering the floor and walls were there to catch the stains that would otherwise hit the walls and floor when the customers threw imitation objects and missed their marks.

“Sigh. Misaka-san, my mascara hasn’t come off, has it? I have a lot of pride ability in these eyelashes.”

“What? They look fine I gue-…”

“Never mind. Someone as unrefined as you wouldn’t have a clue one way or the other…”

“That was like 0.3 seconds! You only asked me so you could say that, didn’t you!?”

After getting some revenge, Shokuhou pouted her lips in a childish way that conflicted with her sexy appearance.

“You should count yourself lucky I have breasts and a heart larger than the Pacific Ocean. If I was really mad, I could have taken this to court.”

“Don’t try to slip that bragging by me, you selfish queen. Besides, that wouldn’t work. You removed your glove and pressed your hand against a scanner when we came in, right?”

“Hm? …A scanner???”

“That was an agreement for the activities here. Since you agreed, you don’t get to complain even if you die here. No one wants to mess with all that.”

“What kind of dangerous contract ability did you drag me into!?”

Shokuhou bristled and shouted, but Mikoto did not seem to care.

“Liability waivers are pretty common with things like bungee jumping. It’s perfectly normal in the West I imagine you love so much.”

“Could you not assume things based on my appearance? I have not forcibly dyed my hair blonde because I love the West.”

Instead of salt or sugar, the table contained several mysterious bottles of a thick red liquid. …They were made of a soft and spongey material, so were the customers supplied with fake blood like it was salad dressing? The multiple varieties suggested a strange attention to detail.

Mikoto seemed to have recovered from the first wave of laughter, so she wiped tears from her eyes and placed her butt directly on the table instead of in the seat.

“Relax. This café uses its natural ingredients as a selling point. They use plants and minerals for all the colors. It’s just like a comedy show that makes sure everything on the surface is flawless to avoid a rush of complaints if an offensive joke upsets some people. It’s all directed by their lawyers and troubleshooters.”

“…”

“Look at the menu here. They work so hard to make sure these beer bottles, hammers, flower pots, glass ashtrays, metal bats, and golf clubs are perfectly safe that it’s surprising they don’t have a JIS symbol on them. Anyone is free to play out scenarios like ‘You thieving cat!!’ or ‘I-I didn’t mean to. The blood just rushed to my head, and then…!!’ to their heart’s content. So choose whatever you want. Because I want to discuss something with you today.”

“D-do they have any knives I could use…?”

“Oh? That’s a pretty decent first choice. So what’ll it be? A carving knife? A sashimi knife? For larger ones, they have bread knives and noodle knives.”

“Eh? They have that many knives!?”

“Look, try actually reading the menu. Okay, we can save some money by going with the kitchen assortment set.”

“Assortment set? Seriously…???”

“They have a lot of options: a garage toolbox set, a wealthy family inheritance conflict set, a Limited War set, and so on. Order things one at a time and you’ll run out before your fight is over. But the kitchen set is probably best for us. I want to hit you in the head with a pestle.”

Loud crashes rang out from the other tables and private rooms. And laughter always followed. They looked like middle school, high school, or college clubs, but there were a lot of people ignoring the partitions and moving into other people’s space. There was a poster of a hand-drawn Grys-Vok holding up a mysterious sign that said “Hits from stray shots earn three hits in retaliation.” …Those thrown pies may have been something along the lines of the classic “Eh? I didn’t order this.” “That is from the madam over there.” The one-person seats along the counter seemed to be a safe zone, so the customers who had been hit by too many sugar bottles and pies would take a short break there. That also seemed to be a gathering point for true gentleman connoisseurs who enjoyed watching more than participating.

“Yes, you really know where to focus,” said Mikoto. “That old man is the manager.”

“What?”

“He prefers watching games to playing them and he used to manage a café with his twin brother, but that partnership fell through after they got in an argument over an arcade fighting game.”

If everything here was real, it would be a post-apocalyptic scene, but Academy City’s frightening level of technology allowed everyone to safely laugh it off.

With her honey-blonde hair spread out behind her, Shokuhou still seemed unable to shed the skin of a high-class girl. She sat straight up in her chair and childishly pouted her lips.

“I have no problem hitting you, Misaka-san, but do they have any normal food here?”

“They do, but only finger food like sushi, vegetable chips, and tortillas. I mean, if there were real plates and utensils here, someone might get confused and cause an accident.”

Meanwhile, Mikoto had fully shed her skin and entered her rude mode, so she impolitely pointed at their table. Surprisingly, paper cups of tea and clear plastic packs of food were soon piled up there. The paper and plastic would be because ceramic plates and glasses would be dangerous, but it looked incredibly cheap. They were boldly selling a lineup only allowed at a midsummer festival or a seaside restaurant. Those kinds of things had the mask pulled back when they were exposed to flat indoor lighting.

As a pure high-class girl, Shokuhou Misaki was not installed with a sense of frugality, but she was not foolish enough to happily pay a lot for a blatantly cheap product.

“…Are you serious?”

“About what? If you take issue with the flavor or appearance, you can always call over an employee and hit them. That option is why the prices are so high. You’re losing out if you just eat and drink.”

…In that case, the impolite service when they first arrived may have been an introduction to that sort of service.

In a way, this café was like heaven for people who always found fault with the waiter’s service, but the busty blonde high-class girl named Shokuhou Misaki did not know how to put herself in that gear.

The entire café seemed to run on violence because Mikoto pounded on the table to call over a waitress. The Tokiwadai teachers would probably faint if they saw that behavior, but the corners of the colored tables seemed to be sandwiched between a special plastic material. Just like the children’s plastic sandals that produced a slapping noise with each step, the table produced a silly noise with each hit.

“There are no hand bells here. Once again, because including something real increases the chances of an accident.”

“…They’re really showing off their design ability in the weirdest places,” muttered Shokuhou while resting her head in her hand.

They had perfectly combined the café’s atmosphere with a way to call over a waiter without holding anything up. It was true that an elegant bell would ruin the violent post-apocalyptic mood and it would also be dangerous.

A part-time waitress came over to take their order and also placed a small plate in front each of them.

“Hi, here’s your appetizer! It’s cheese and sliced fish on crackers…”

“Wah hah hah!! We didn’t order that!!”

Mikoto grabbed a toy slipper from the tray and swung it around as casually as someone playing the ''tsukkomi'' role. The part-time girl laughed and looked relieved, so her training may not have explained what to do if the customer did not hit her on the head.

Shokuhou gave the small plate in front of her a skeptical look and reached out her gloved fingers. She grabbed a cracker and bit off just the very end.

(Ugh…I can’t stand it. I thought this would be terrible, but it’s actually pretty good.)

To be blunt, it was good enough that she would have welcomed a large plate full. It was a shame that it was only a small appetizer portion.

While she waited for the party set and light meal Mikoto had ordered for them, Shokuhou slumped down on the table, pressing her boobs against it, and started talking.

“So what did you want to discuss today? …Since you brought me all the way to this danger zone, I assume it’s something stressful enough to have us attacking each other.”

“I want your opinion on something.”

Mikoto answered with her butt still resting directly on the table and her legs dangling down.

But unlike before, her voice had grown ice cold.

“…It’s about the upcoming Virtual-On tournament: the Vooster’s Cup.”

“…”

The high-class girls of Tokiwadai Middle School gulped right outside the multi-tenant building.

“Hokaze-san, Hokaze-san. Can you hear me?”

A girl with a black bob cut spoke those words as quietly as magic words muttered under one’s breath afterschool. Oh, but she was not the girl controlled by Shokuhou in New Testament 7, so do not get confused. Anyway, Hokaze Junko, the Level 4 Rampage Dress user, had been unable to wait any longer and infiltrated the scene on her own.

Kobayashi, an unassumingly important character and a plain but capable girl who had an eye for details, pouted her lips a bit as she spoke.

“Hey, giant ringlet curl girl and extreme Gekota-phile.”

“I read you loud and clear. And I will remember you said that.”

The bob cut girl had a minor coughing fit before continuing.

“I-it would seem there was some interference from another line, so I have no idea what you are talking about. More importantly, how are things inside? What are the Queen and Misaka-sama doing? How chaotic is it!?”

“Um, wait just a moment. What? Place my hand here? Eh? Eh? What was that crashing noise? Eh? What is going on?”

“Hokaze-san!?”

“Kyaaaah!! There are knives flying through the air! And that person is swinging a glass ashtray toward someone’s head!? What in the world is happening in here!?”

“Hokaze-san? Hokaze-saaaan!!”

…The other girls who did not have a telepathic link to Hokaze were not sure what to make of this.

Shouting someone’s name twice and receiving no response was something straight out of a suspense story. Had the hunter become the hunted?

Meanwhile, there was a new development.

“Oh? Hokaze-san, what are you doing here?”

“Qu-Queen!?”

“I believe I told you to leave us. Oh, honestly. This just makes me sad. If you hadn’t followed me here, I wouldn’t have had to direct my cruelty ability toward you…”

“W-wait just a moment, Queen! Is this the legendary pie throwing seen in the school’s archive footage!?”

“Do not worry. I would never do something to you I wouldn’t want done to myself. So I won’t hit you in the face.”

“Phew…”

“Now, place your hands on the table and stick your butt out toward me☆”

“Whaaaat!?”

“Just to be clear, I am quite serious. Yes, I think I’m starting to understand this café’s system. As a show of warrior’s mercy, I will do it over your skirt.”

“No, wait! Why are you using a brown bitter chocolate pie!? That is cruel, Queen! This back attack is far too cruel! Waaaaaahhhhhh!!”

The bob cut girl’s face grew pale as she telepathically received a series of wet splatting sounds.

(N-not even Hokaze-san’s Rampage Dress was enough to save her from that tragedy. Does a direct conflict between Level 5s create an abnormal space of distorted physical laws…?)

And then…

To be very, very careful, the bob cut girl had been avoiding directly accessing her, but the Queen’s words reached her through ringlet curl Hokaze’s ears and mind.

The Queen was likely whispering into the ear of her dazed #2.

“My, my. I assume you are ‘listening in’ here too. Well, are you, Kobayashi-saaan?”

This had reached the level of light horror.

When a truly beautiful girl snapped, she could create an indescribable terror. Despite being blonde, she had perfected the aesthetics of a Japanese ghost painting.

And despite having a black bob cut, Kobayashi succumbed to the Japanese atmosphere and gave a tearful shout.

“R-retreat!! Everyone retreat before the Queen attacks!!!!!”

“Sigh…”

Shokuhou Misaki was aware she had silently changed modes.

That might have made them stand out even more, but this warranted it.

''Misaka Mikoto would not be aware despite being the one to bring it up,'' but Virtual-On had already caused a major incident that had threatened to destroy the world.

Shokuhou wanted to believe things would work out better this time, but…

“I had those impolite girls leave, so feel free to get started again.”

“I feel really bad for the one with the cream-covered butt…”

Mikoto breathed a sigh of exasperation, but it could have been worse. It had still been so much of a shock that the ringlet curl girl passed out, so she was being carried into the staff room that doubled as a medical room. The Queen slowly shook her head as she watched.

Even Shokuhou Misaki had people she did not want to get involved in anything dangerous.

“Let’s get down to business.”

“Sure thing☆”

Shokuhou replied while looking at the wok the waitress had carried over like a large plate. The kinds of imitation knives and kitchen tools used when filming dramas were arranged around the edge of the wok like flower petals. According to the waitress, the frying pan in the bottom and the wok itself looked tough but would readily dent, so they were safe to grab and throw. It was likely the same idea as building crumple zones into cars so they would absorb the shock of an accident.

Mikoto might have introduced Shokuhou to this crazy café because she wanted to nullify the legitimately dangerous atmosphere of their discussion.

Of course, that had not worked.

“You know how some things are free to use?” Mikoto sat down in the seat as she started. “For example, the map and weather apps that come preinstalled on your phone. Or, Shokuhou, that Meal Memo gourmet app you were looking at. But there is no such thing as a truly free service.”

“Yes, I have a question.”

With that, Shokuhou took a meat tenderizer from the wok and hit Mikoto in the head.

It was of course hollow and made from a thin layer of aluminum, so the jagged hammer portion dented in.

“Don’t they have those obvious banner ads to support them, just like the ads on commercial TV broadcasts?”

[[Image:Index VO SS2 12.jpg|thumb]]

“There’s more than that. Point card systems were started in order to create a database of the customers’ sex, age, and occupation. And nearly a third of the Crimson Wing’s fundraising is collected to fund the management organization’s activities and advertisements. Smartphone maps and weather forecasts are convenient, but in exchange, they submit the user’s current location to a big data database that can calculate out the population distribution and flow of people through a shopping district. I assume I don’t have to spell it out for a gourmet app. They’ve created a giant advertisement medium that doesn’t go through an advertisement agency full of vested interests, so of course the creators are benefitting from it.”

“Ladle and spatula dual wielding!”

“Stop poking at my chest from both sides. When we use any kind of convenient service, we need to assume we are supplying something to them: data, time, trust, location, popularity, reputation, etc. Whether or not that can actually be converted into money, the world’s systems wouldn’t work if the act of gathering people could not lead to a give-and-take relationship.”

“So are you wondering what we are providing to the Vooster’s Cup based on the free Virtual-On game?”

Shokuhou tossed aside the imitation kitchen tools and collapsed onto the table in apparent exhaustion.

She traced her finger along the yes-or-no compatibility test at the bottom of the menu to find her recommended Virtuaroid.

“Hey, Misaka-san. Simply changing the normal flow of people can be incredibly valuable, you know? I suppose that would be ‘reputation’ among the cards you presented. Think of when two similar convenience stores are built at the same intersection near a subway station or along a major road. Customers will not visit them both equally. …The number of customers is clearly influenced by proximity to the station, a bus stop, a park, a school, a hospital, a pay parking lot, or other landmarks. Having to use one extra crosswalk makes a large difference. People just won’t put up with that extra traffic light and 30 more seconds of stress.”

“…”

“That Hokaze girl released an interesting social anthropology thesis on the subject,” added the Queen about one of her clique members. “Virtual-On began as a free game and I do not know what purpose its creator had. Maybe a brilliant but lonely geek simply wanted to give form to the ideas in their head and share them with a lot of people. …But the Vooster’s Cup has transformed the entire city into a giant festival, so a lot of money is going to be changing hands whether the people behind it planned it that way or not. Starting a fad will always alter the way people walk around the city. Remember what I said about a single intersection and the 30 seconds spent waiting at the light? If the flow of people changes like a river’s bank has broken, the influence ability is far greater. It’s scary, really. Message boards and social media are filled with little stories like a dolphin that wandered into mouth of a river or a gathering point for cute cats, but whenever those create a temporary landmark, the flow of people can change, putting stores out of business and putting people out in the cold. Yet none of the people posting those things feel any responsibility for what happens.”

The compatibility test seemed to have settled on Angelan.

Still collapsed on the table, Shokuhou removed her finger from the menu and reached for the wok full of weapons.

“The remaining question is how much the creators were focused on those things when designing it. But since they swapped out the symbols for common meet-up points with statues of Temjin or Raiden, I’m guessing they knew what they were doing.”

Mikoto placed the menu over her head to block the large noodle knife casually swung down toward her and Shokuhou used an ice pick made of tightly-wrapped aluminum foil to poke at Mikoto’s thighs below the table.

“If they cheaply bought unpopular shops and then changed the landmarks to intentionally alter the flow of people and briefly but explosively increase the number of customers, they could gain quite an impressive profit ability. Just like buying and selling stocks over a short period of time, business deals made just during the tournament can earn a lot of money.”

Short chestnut-haired Mikoto grabbed a small fruit knife instead of the pestle she had mentioned before.

“Be honest. Do you really think this is something so ‘normal’?”

“Hmm… So we’re going with that, are we?”

Shokuhou Misaki finally got up from the table.

She sounded casual enough, but she also looked like she was watching carefully to see what Mikoto’s next move would be.

Academy City’s #5 prompted her to continue while spinning a thick metal barbecue skewer in her hand.

“So what about this to do you find so odd?☆”

“First of all, Virtual-On is a completely free game. No one is making any money as more users download it. So even if it gets millions of downloads and becomes the next big thing in the city, it shouldn’t have gathered enough funds to throw a big festival like this one in Academy City.”

“Well, yes. Renting out a large stadium, hiring guards and workforce management people, and buying various forms of advertisement to get the word out could not have come cheap. And the costs had to be several times higher since they’re holding this in all 23 districts.”

Shokuhou must have realized that the poking was doing no damage because she started tracing the tip of the fake skewer along Mikoto’s bare leg below the table.

“But the Vooster’s Cup is being run by more than just the developer of the free game. It’s being backed by an advertisement agency, a soft drink company, an ISP, and other adults who are always on the lookout for a chance to profit. By announcing their support for the popular Vooster’s Cup and putting out officially licensed goods, they can create a special demand like during the Olympics or World Cup. Do you really see some conspiracy ability behind them funding the tournament as a form of investment? Poke, poke, poke.”

“Nn, hey…that tickles. And that isn’t the problem here.” Mikoto swung around her fake fruit knife. “Shokuhou. The sponsor system you mentioned shows they already have a complete income cycle. The tournament is sure to succeed and those adults will make all the profit they had planned for. But in that case, doesn’t a part of the picture look superfluous?”

“…”

“After all,” continued short-haired Misaka Mikoto. “The Vooster’s Cup is assisting in the development of a new drug for a previously incurable disease, right?”

Shokuhou showed no sign of surprise.

She must have known the conversation was headed this way.

And Mikoto winked as she continued.

“These are battles between data, so they are using the Virtuaroid battles to have the different possibilities for a new drug compete against each other in a chemical formula refinement simulation. So as the tournament continues, the possibilities are refined until the winner has created a completed design. …It saves the people suffering from the disease and the winner receives a large cash prize paid from the new drug’s patent money.”

Shokuhou noticed the tip of the skewer had crumpled, so she searched through the wok for a new weapon. Adjusting to any environment seemed to be a special human ability.

“Oh? Isn’t that what you call win-win?”

“It is true there is also a parallel simulation project that hooks together a lot of next generation game systems to analyze the genetic structure of deadly bacteria.”

Shokuhou had set up that hurdle despite knowing the answer. She also grabbed a tall and narrow salt mill in her right hand and pepper mill in her left. She spun them around like batons to find they had the same weight as a pestle.

Mikoto slowly sighed.

“As I said, the Vooster’s Cup already has an income cycle using the sponsor system. There’s no need to also include the development of a new drug and they could get the prize money from one of the sponsor companies.”

“Maybe the greedy adults are simply trying to grab as much cash as possible.”

“That can’t be it. The sponsor system is part of the advertisement industry, but the new drug development is part of the pharmaceutical industry. They’re entirely different fields. When so much money is changing hands, the adults wouldn’t want to invite in any ‘outsiders’ that they couldn’t control. I mean, after investing so much money into the tournament, they’ll end up in debt if they screw up and can’t make the profits they’re planning on. So the people who paid money up front aren’t going to make that kind of gamble. They’ll want to remain in complete control to ensure they get a return on their investment.”

Yes.

When just looking at the possible profit, the new drug development was a good deal, but when the adults viewed money, they looked at more than just the amount.

Let’s say you can leave a million yen with a friend and have it grow to two million. But then a stranger you have never met says they can bring it up to three million. Now, where will you back out of the deal? At one million, two million, or three million? Which sum of money seems “safe” and “a sure thing”? …Anyone who goes for the three million just because it is more money is not very smart. They do not know how to assess the risks. They are as dumb as someone who truly believes they would be happy if they robbed a bank.

Adults would not do that.

And yet they had.

“There’s something more to this,” said Misaka Mikoto.

She tossed the fruit knife in the air and caught it after exactly six rotations.

“There’s something beyond simple profit here. I don’t know if it was there back when Virtual-On was developed as a free game or if it was introduced for the Vooster’s Cup tournament, but the new drug development simulation part is unnaturally superfluous.”

“If it exists outside the normal income cycle, could it involve some kind of childish idealism ability?”

“That doesn’t mean this isn’t dangerous.”

Mikoto did not seem to care that Shokuhou was using the salt and pepper mills to pound on her back like a drum.

“Mass producing Level 5s. And creating a path to a never-before-seen Level 6. I know you know how things can get out of hand when real power is placed behind childish dreams.”

“…True enough.”

Shokuhou must have gotten bored with the drumming because she grabbed the most noticeable item in the wok (a bread knife), broke it in two, and found it was a hard urethane foam model with aluminum foil carefully wrapped around it so there were no wrinkles.

“Developing a new drug for people suffering from an incurable disease. …That’s the kind of unassailable sob story that leads people to treat you like a bad person if you even question it. And it kind of pisses me off that I can’t just honestly believe in it.”

“Plus, the experiment that drove those many military clones to their deaths was originally a simulation in a machine.”

Mikoto traced her index finger across the tip of the fake fruit knife.

“Whatever is happening below the surface here, I’m not going to wait around until it’s actualized. Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but I want to make absolutely sure this is safe. …That’s my stance, but what about you, Shokuhou?”

“Surely you aren’t asking me to help you with this, Misaka-san.”

“It’s not for me.”

Academy City’s #3 sighed in her seat.

And she spoke.

“But before I started, I wanted to see whether you would be willing to let ''the same thing'' happen again. If you think I’m worried over nothing, then you don’t have to do anything. I’ll figure this out on my own, so you can just go enjoy the tournament like normal. ''Just forget everything I said.''”

“Hmm,” said Shokuhou Misaki as if thinking about something.

Meanwhile, her slender hand reached for the wok. She grabbed the kind of imitation carving knife used for filming dramas, sighed, and gave a full-faced smile as if changing her train of thought.

“Misaka-saaan.”

“What?”

“You really are a nasty person.”

The feeling must have been mutual because a fruit knife clashed with a carving knife.

The two of them had left the café.

“…This was the worst day,” said Shokuhou.

“Is that anything to say after I treated you to a meal?” complained Mikoto. “And you were clearly more into that fight than I was.”

“Do you really think that is enough to soothe my ennui???”

“Yes, yes. So you’re the kind of person who never gives anything more than four stars. Wow, nothing wins any awards this year. How incredible.”

Mikoto and Shokuhou were arguing, but they were still inside that multi-tenant building. They had entered a gym on a different floor.

There were no tables or chairs here. It was simply a large space lined with 2m plastic mats. Mikoto and Shokuhou lay on those in a tank top and bike shorts while following a female instructor’s directions to bend and stretch their joints, arch their back, or ball up their stomach.

The entire floor was not as bad as a sauna but still more hot and stuffy than one would expect.

This was known as hot yoga.

“I didn’t expect them to have such connective ability between services here. Although I had thought it was odd that the pies seemed to have collagen jelly mixed in☆”

“Don’t bother pretending you had it all figured out from the get-go. We couldn’t exactly leave here while covered in that stuff, could we? So of course they have a laundry service in the same building. They have other services for killing time, but you had already said you were interested in this.” Mikoto arched her back while lying face down. “They wash and dry your clothes, and it takes about half an hour even with quick drying. It’s like the cellphone shop in a department store. The nearby bookstores or cafés make money off the people needing to kill some time. It’s a give and take relationship.”

The front wall was a giant flat-screen monitor and it was playing a demo movie made with high-density polygons. The music it played had no connection to India, where yoga originated. It instead played unique tones that sounded like they came from a synthesizer.

All of the songs played were from the Virtual-On soundtrack which was available for free online, so the monitor was synced with the copy on Shokuhou’s portable device. Was that like cooking dinner using the fish sold at a shop on a wharf full of fishing boats?

“Misaka-san, you are surprisingly thoughtful about these things… You would never admit it, but you clearly put a lot of research into this☆”

“I don’t want your praise.”

“Really, why do you insist on boosting your isolation ability so you’re all alone?”

“Do you want to head back upstairs for another round?”

“No, I’ve had enough of that.”

Was she full after the meal, or did she simply not want to move now that she had experienced the hot yoga she had so wanted to try? Shokuhou sounded drowsy as she lay on the floor alongside Mikoto.

“I mean, we already got so sticky and dirty…”

“That’s because you got carried away when they brought out the (somewhat) low temperature oden. The egg and konjac are fine, but the daikon had soaked up all the hot broth!! What choice did I have but to order a (somewhat) low temperature pizza and aim for your face?”

“That is not my point. The other customers were wearing aprons like when you get your hair cut! They might have a cleaning service, but why weren’t we wearing those!?”

The Queen shouted back and an unpleasant cracking sound rang out.

Tensing up too much while arching her back like a seal must have placed an odd burden on her body. She failed to even get on all fours and ended up sticking her butt in the air like a broken table while holding her lower back like an old woman, so the female instructor ran over with an expression they had never seen before.

Mikoto noticed all that but ignored it.

“Don’t you hate how those things feel around your neck, though? Why would I want to wear something that pissed me off when I’m trying to work off some stress? The pros don’t do that. And everyone applauded how well we were stabbing, hitting, and throwing, didn’t they?”

“Fhoh, fbah…☆”

…That was only the true gentleman connoisseurs using their powers of observation to watch lovely maidens grapple in something like a catfight or mud wrestling, but Shokuhou Misaki, the old lady with a bad back, could not get the words out. And providing a detailed explanation of that felt like it would defile her own mind as well.

Once the trial course was complete, their Tokiwadai Middle School uniforms were cleaner than when they had arrived.

That was the result of cutting-edge science and putting them on felt as wonderful as jumping into a futon that had been dried in the sun.

“Ohh, industrial cleaning is so much different,” said Mikoto. “Do the dryer use an ultraviolet heater? Maybe I should buy one of those and donate it to the dorm. Being able to experience this every day would be well worth the price.”

“If you care that much, start with the detergent and fabric softener. They use really nice ones here.”

The two of them finally left the multi-tenant building and Mikoto stretched her arms upwards.

“Ahh, I feel so light. Okay, Shokuhou, that’s what I have to say about the Vooster’s Cup.”

“Uuh, my back is finally feeling better… Well, I was already planning to participate in the tournament by remote controlling a clique member, but please make sure no one from your group of friends gets jealous.”

“That’s why we have to do this.” Mikoto winked. “Let’s investigate this suspicious part as quickly as possible so we can actually enjoy Virtual-On afterwards, okay?”

The sun had already set as the girls once more set foot in the streets.

It was finally time for the Vooster’s Cup Virtual-On Tournament to begin.

<noinclude>
{{Toaru_Nav|prev=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:Virtual-On_SS|next=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:A Certain Prophecy Index}}
</noinclude>

The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter4

2018-02-04T05:06:10Z

Bersi:

==Stage 04: Revenge and the Plan for Perfect Vessels==
''“Ma’am.”

''“This is the very best part, so kindly shut the hell up☆”

'''(Stage 04 Open 05/23 19:00)

'''Revenge and the Plan for Perfect Vessels

===Part 1===

Let us review the specs.

The Stingray was a large Repliglass sea transport vessel 35 meters long and 43 meters wide. Its overall silhouette was similar to a stingray or like a boomerang-shaped stealth bomber with a long tail attached. Despite its size, it could travel across the ocean surface at 200 kph. The world’s largest air cushion ship was a 50 meter amphibious assault ship, but this could hold an even larger load.

The Blue Whale was even bigger. It was a Repliglass submarine 70 meters long. It did not have the same speed, but it was a rare model that brought together great size and silent movement. There were many varieties: for combat, for transportation, for underwater data management, etc. Its overall silhouette goes without saying. As a side note, some environmental protection groups seemed to hate that a strategic missile weapons platform had been given that name.

“And with that out of the way…”

The coordinator woman who wore a military uniform spoke with her back to a whiteboard in the large conference room of A Block’s international airport.

“First, Miss Maria Heartocean and the Anthill classified server will be placed on the Stingray. It will be guided to the ocean surface directly below this airport which is supported in the air by several pillars, so that should not be difficult. Of course, our information says Liar Cat’s Blood-Sign can be used as a sniper rifle, so we cannot let our guard down. Miss Heartocean will be wearing a small Repliglass VIP protection suit known as a Water Bear and we will surround her with riot shields.”

A map and cross section of the airport were projected on the whiteboard and some arrows were added. In addition to the simple route to the Stingray, a few possible sniping points had apparently been located.

“We must keep in mind that the Stingray must get away from Toy Dream 35 with Miss Heartocean onboard. That might sound easy at 200 kph, but that is not how it works. With its size and all of Toy Dream 35’s pillars, do not assume it can move freely through the ocean. It will be taking a very indirect route. If Liar Cat attacks with the Summoning Ceremony, it will likely be here. …Simply put, ''they will jump onboard.''”

Now a map of Toy Dream 35 and the surrounding ocean appeared.

There were a few different options for the Stingray’s route, but they all looked as indirect as the coordinator had said.

“The Blue Whale submarine will be waiting sixty kilometers out at sea. If the Stingray arrives here, Miss Heartocean and the server can be transferred over. This is the final challenge. While it isn’t impossible, it is unlikely a summoner can attack the Blue Whale when it is deep under the ocean. You can effectively think of this as the goal.”

The coordinator paused there, did not sit down, and looked to Shiroyama Kyousuke who was leaning against the far wall.
Government’s Repliglass soldiers and summoners also focused on him.

“Now, then. All of that is nothing more than a flimsy excuse to draw out Miss Heartocean. This will come down to a battle between 900 level summoners. Several Anthills and their bases have already been destroyed, so Liar Cat’s skill far exceeds what our defenses were designed for. What we can muster now could easily just get in your way. This is of course dependent on the situation, but can we generally leave the fighting to you?”

“Yes.”

The Government personnel did not protest Kyousuke’s blunt reply.

Freedom was a gathering of around five hundred individual summoners. They were all mighty warriors with no hierarchy and barely any friendly relationships. Nevertheless, they could stand on the same level as the world police of Government and the criminal organizations of Illegal. In other words, it was widely understood that they were seemingly legendary people who could singlehandedly hold their own against entire groups and could push back an international coalition if all five hundred gathered together.

The only ones who ever snapped back at Kyousuke were high officials who knew nothing of the frontline or high officials who had never seen a Freedom member with a high level of Awards.

“And with that in mind, I would like to ask something. The battle will most likely occur on the Stingray’s deck, so is there any problem with that?”

“Not at all. We won’t be thrown off while the Artificial Sacred Ground is active and its size should be adequate for whatever kind of fight we end up having. It should be perfect for settling this once and for all.”

“Are you confident in your skill?”

“If I was going to lose to that ''Cheshire Cat'', I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“Good. Then let’s get started!”

The coordinator woman clapped her hands twice. Like a switch had been thrown, the people gathered in the conference room left to prepare for battle and take their positions.

The military uniform girl named Isabelle followed Kyousuke out and asked a question as they strayed from the general flow of people.

“Nuuun (deadpan). I would super-sized like to know where we’re going.”

“I would like to take a detour before taking our position.”

The two of them walked between an elf and an alarm clock costume on their way to the maintenance hatch leading below the midair international airport. The door opened like a submarine hatch and a glance through it showed they were already on an elevated floor. More than one hundred pillars were lined up to support them several dozen meters up. The airport float itself was 250 meters up, but the many shopping buildings extended straight down like icicles. This was like the rooftop of a normal building.

Far below that, a giant stingray silhouette floated in the dark ocean. It was the Repliglass Stingray.

“What do you think?”

“?”

“If I was making the attack, I would stop the Stingray right away. Wouldn’t the simplest method be pouring a ton of rubble down on it from above? And this is…”

Kyousuke leaned down through the maintenance hatch as he spoke.

This was an upside down rooftop and the underside was not a flat surface. Just as the underside of a metal bridge was reinforced by a framework of steel beams, a steel framework was built up like a jungle gym. It must have doubled as a means of maintaining the wiring and plumbing because skinny walkways and stairs were set up like a theatre catwalk.

“You wouldn’t even need to use a Material. A single bomb and you can ''send down as solid a shutter as you need''.”

“That isn’t good. If they’re going to bring down an entire building, we’re super-sized not up to the task. We’d never find the bomb.”

“They won’t go that far. And I’m not just being optimistic; it would be too inefficient. Demolishing an entire building would require dozens if not more than a hundred bombs precisely placed at key structural points and then they would all have to be detonated at once. Even with a group of specialists, it’s a precision job that takes more than a week. To be blunt, it would be unnecessary work and the odds of failure are pretty high. If all they have to do is stop the Stingray, stripping off and dropping the top of the roof would be enough.”

“Then will the Liar Cat pair be coming here?”

“First, we need to see if there’s a bomb already set up. If not, we can lie in wait at least until the Stingray below leaves.”

That was their first step.

And the lack of an attack was not a cause for celebration.

Biondetta and Murasame Kuina of Liar Cat would definitely show up.

Kyousuke and Isabelle had to fight and defeat them somewhere, so they needed to take up the most useful position for that.

“Oh, Maria’s coming out,” said Isabelle in her red hat.

Several bodyguards with transparent shields surrounded a single figure in the Repliglass Water Bear that resembled a lumpy human caterpillar. They used the “upside down rooftop” of another building to reach the emergency stairs along one of the giant pillars supporting the international airport.

Kyousuke slowly exhaled and looked around.

As far as he could see, the demon with the folded Blood-Sign that doubled as a sniper rifle was not present. And in that self-defense Repliglass suit, Maria Heartocean would not die from a 7.62mm rifle bullet.

“They’re bringing out something else. Fidget fidget (deadpan).”

“Is that the Anthill server?”

Several Repliglass soldiers left along a different pillar. They were units with grasshopper-like back legs. They carried a metal cube like movers. It was likely the classified server that weighed more than a ton.

That was the cornerstone of the project that had smashed Isabelle’s soul and ruined her life.

And it had done it so thoroughly that she could not even judge how sad that was.

What did it look like for her to see it carried to safety like this?

“…”

Kyousuke watched Maria and the server as they were carried to the Stingray using different emergency staircases.

He glanced around, searched for presences, and read his enemy’s algorithm.

And then he muttered to himself.

“Odd…”

“What is? They seem to be making quick progress. Whoosh (deadpan).”

“That’s what’s odd. If I was making the attack, I wouldn’t wait for my opponent to complete their preparations. Even if this wasn’t where I planned to settle things, I’d still use a bomb or rocket to hinder them right at the beginning. Even if they want to pursue their target to savor their revenge, it would stimulate their sadistic desires more if they broke one of their target’s legs first.”

“…Hm? If you were making the attack?”

“Well, I don’t often run across someone I hate that much. …I think the ‘color white’ would be the only exception.”

At any rate, Maria and the server had arrived at the Stingray floating in the ocean. This would be the easiest time for an attack, but there was no sign of Biondetta or Murasame Kuina.

Were they hesitating to attack because the bodyguards were on the highest alert? Nonsense. Liar Cat had broken right through the main entrance of fully-equipped Anthill bases.

Had they not figured out where Maria was hiding or how she would escape? Nonsense. They had acquired all the information on the Anthills using Lu Niang Lan and Aika. Biondetta would be able to read ahead on the algorithm to know what they would do at normal times, during emergencies, ''and after Kyousuke’s interference.''

And yet they had not shown up.

Kyousuke spent a few seconds wondering what that meant.

“Don’t tell me…”

“?”

Isabelle looked puzzled and Kyousuke grabbed the back of her collar.

He immediately jumped from the catwalk-like walkway.

They were several dozen meters up. Falling on the Stingray’s deck (which was larger than a tennis court) would mean instant death. Falling into the ocean would knock them out and they could drown.

But instead of dropping straight down, Kyousuke made quick hops between different surfaces: from pillar to pillar, from emergency staircase railing to railing, from maintenance crane shaft to the heavy hook dangling from the end of the wire, etc. In less than twenty seconds, they descended the height of ten flights of stairs and landed on the Stingray’s deck.

He let go of Isabelle and approached Maria Heartocean just as she was being loaded inside the Stingray. No, he approached the Water Bear she wore.

He asked a question as he walked over.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“What are you-…?”

It was the surrounding Repliglass soldiers who attempted to reply.

After holding out a hand to silence them, Kyousuke grabbed the Water Bear’s hand and forcefully twisted it. Like an aikido throw, it spun around and its back slammed against the deck.

Before the bodyguards could panic, he let out a cold voice.

“Show me your face.”

“…”

“Did you think you’d be safe if you were inside that Water Bear? I know plenty of ways to take that thing apart.”

With the sound of a soda being opened, the neck and torso split in two and opened.

“Happy Walpurgis,” muttered Kyousuke.

It was not the Maria Heartocean ''who he knew so well'' that appeared.

Instead of a woman who looked like a school doctor, he saw a muscular soldier. The bodyguards must not have been informed because they were taken aback and froze in place.

“I’m guessing the server is a fake too.”

“These were my orders. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I can’t disobey my commanding officer.”

The body double raised her hands and argued her case.

This was why Biondetta and Murasame Kuina of Liar Cat had not attacked.

“I even told him increasing the number of targets would shift the enemy’s aim and make them harder to predict…”

Kyousuke gestured to a nearby Repliglass soldier. That solider must have contacted the Stingray’s bridge because he finally replied.

“Another large reading was detected nearby. Until now, a secret code had interfered and caused it to disappear from our radar. It’s the same size as this one, so another Stingray was likely sent in. Miss Heartocean and the server may be there.”

“And Liar Cat didn’t show up here. They read this all perfectly, including this irregularity. …In fact, it may have been Biondetta that set this up.”

“Wait a second. Then…?”

“Don’t worry about it. This wasn’t your mistake. The problems are all in your commander’s head,” spat out Kyousuke. “Where is the other Stingray?”

“Not far. Between two and three thousand meters.”

“Then hurry. All hell will already have broken loose out there.”

===Part 2===

What had happened was simple.

Miyama Gouta had happened. He was the military officer from Government who was in charge of security at the Anthill Project using a portion of A Block’s international airport. He was also the man who had argued with Shiroyama Kyousuke during the planning stages of the evacuation operation and gotten his nose smashed against a door.

At first, he had been furious.

But not because a little boy had slighted him, not because a Freedom member knew about Government’s internal situation, and not because he had been shamed in front of Maria Heartocean.

He did not care about loyalty to the organization, the success of the mission, or fulfillment of his duty.

There was only one thing he wanted.

He only wanted ''a seat on Noah’s Ark'' along with the other Anthill VIPs.

“Goddammit!!”

Then someone had called his private cellphone.

Only his wife and son should have known that number, but the voice he heard belonged to a complete stranger.

“Nice to meet you. I am Biondetta Shiroyama, aka Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. I have some very valuable information for you, my enemy. Could I have a moment of your time?”

“Wha-…!?”

His mind had gone blank.

But before he could say anything more, it was over.

Someone had grabbed his shoulders from behind. He was supposedly alone in his office, but he was turned around and his back was slammed against the top of a nearby table.

While he was lying on his back and unable to breath, a waitress demon shook her tail decoration and leaned her seductively lithe body over him as if to climb on top of him.

Hadn’t Shiroyama Kyousuke said that someone else could do this if he could? And that those who killed were better at it than those who defended?

Feeling like a frog being stared down by a snake, Miyama dropped his phone. He could not move a single finger and Biondetta’s voice seemed to sneak into his ear from close range.

“How about we discuss something that will benefit both of us?”

“What are you-…? I would never work with the likes of you!”

“Are you sure?” The demon smiled. “Let’s say the two of us go all out trying to kill each other. I might be killed by Government as a whole…but you will undoubtedly die along the way. No matter where you run or hide and even if you are moved to a moon base or nuclear shelter, I will make sure of it. I believe I have ''already proven my skill''.”

“…”

“So this is not about choosing whether you live or die. At this rate, you will cough up blood and die either way. It does not matter whether or not the operation succeeds. Unless, that is, you cheat and bend the rules.”

She placed her smooth fingertip on Miyama Gouta’s left hand.

Specifically, on the simple ring he wore on the ring finger.

“Returning to your normal home like normal and seeing the normal smiles on your family’s faces. Is there any greater happiness in the world?”

“What…are you…?” muttered the military officer in a scratchy voice.

He had not noticed the change to the scales in his mind. His survival here and the safety of his family were two different issues, but he began to conflate the two.

And that view reduced the guilt toward breaking his professional ethics.

A desire to board Noah’s Ark was the only thing on his mind.

“What do you want me to do…?”

“Prepare a body double.”

It was a simple suggestion.

“I will sink Government’s bodyguard team and you can use that time to escape with the Anthill’s classified information and VIPs. A good deal for both of us, don’t you think?”

“How does that benefit you as an assassin?”

“We only need to show some results. Cutting through Government’s defense system and humiliating the supposed world police is more than enough. All we want is something we can point to as a business card. Whether or not the VIP actually dies is not as important.”

“…”

“As I said, this isn’t about whether I do it or not.” The demon giggled. “No matter what you choose, that Stingray is going down. The only question is whether you are onboard it or not. You can refuse if you like. You can even follow protocol and report this. But don’t forget that doing so is the same thing as throwing out your ticket onto the ark☆”

The military officer knew that the conflict between Government, Illegal, and Freedom was not the three-way stalemate it appeared to be.

Even when it looked like a hopeless head-on clash, things would be arranged in secret and the results would be predetermined like a fixed game.

Sometimes it was for territory and sometimes it was for a summoner’s Awards.

He had heard of those things, so this just meant he had seen it for himself this time.

Or so he thought.

Or perhaps he just wanted to think that.

And yet…

“Ah…ah…”

Miyama Gouta paled and groaned aboard the combat bridge of the real Stingray.

The lights had already turned to the red warning color and the monitors showed yellow and red damage across the craft.

Powerful shocks shook the craft and the lights occasionally flickered disconcertingly despite how many ways the power system was supposed to be backed up.

Liar Cat.

Who could accept that just two people could cause this much damage?

“Ahh…ahhhh….”

The military official cursed his own actions.

Why had he believed this was a secret deal between Government and Freedom?

Why had he conveniently accepted that an oral promise with no records would be upheld?

The enemy only did what benefited her.

No matter how nice the suggestion sounded, there had to be some advantage for the enemy hidden there.

“Ahh, ahh.”

He heard a voice that sounded far too calm for the hopeless situation.

It was Maria Heartocean, the researcher for the Anthill Project. The body of her Repliglass Water Bear split apart and she removed the head like it was a costume.

“What are we going to do about this? It’s a complete mess. Is this the end of the road for me?”

“…”

He seriously considered giving up on everything, firing a single bullet, and stealing the Water Bear to ensure his own safety.

But he stopped himself.

That would only be destroying himself. There was a more effective way of boarding Noah’s Ark.

“Miss Heartocean.”

“Yes?”

“This way! Hurry! Escaping the Stingray is the only way to protect you!!”

He grabbed the Water Bear’s hand and Maria sighed while covering herself with the Repliglass again.

They left the central combat bridge, ran down the hall, and heard gunfire and several footsteps.

A horribly heavy tremor and several screams and shouts followed.

“What are we going to do?”

“Kh… The Stingray is equipped with a small Repliglass VTOL craft. If we can board that…”

A dull sound shot past a corridor corner and slammed into the wall.

It was a badly destroyed combat Repliglass soldier.

And then the waitress demon poked her head out from around the corner. She may have been injured when boarding the Stingray because she had blood all over her. A fierce smile appeared on her lips.

“Found you☆”

An Artificial Sacred Ground was in effect.

It was in the ninety second Chain state. If they were caught in that, they would die. Miyama Gouta knew that even though he generally did not directly fight with the Summoning Ceremony.

He turned 180 degrees and ran down the hallway on the pretext of protecting Maria.

“Sound Range: High. Cost: 1. The Original Yellow (s). Why do you think I’ve continued using the weakest Original series when I could build it up further?” Biondetta’s singsong voice loudly reached him from behind. “Be – cause! We couldn’t savor the taste of revenge if it ended too quickly. It would be boring to end it instantly with a bullet to the head or with a Divine- or Unexplored-class attack to the Stingray. I’m keeping our destructive power down at the perfect level to thoroughly enjoy this☆”

Weakest or not, a Material was a Material.

It was a monster from another world. Not even a squadron of tanks or fighters could damage it.

Several combat Repliglass soldiers ran past Miyama and Maria to face the monster.

“We’ll buy you some time!!”

“Hurry up and get Miss Heartocean to safet-…”

A great noise cut them off.

“Hee hee.”

The series of destructive noise just about drove all sense of reality from Miyama’s mind. He could not bring himself to look back. He could only imagine a giant mouth was approaching while chewing through everything in its path.

“What happened to those summoners we’ve been wasting so much money on!?”

“You mean the 700 level ones? They’ve already taken their money and jumped into the sea!! We have to do this ourselves!”

“Seriously? Goddammit! Are you serious!? …Gabgh!?”

“Hee hee hee hee hee hee.”

He desperately continued running with sweat covering his face.

He was willing to sacrifice his men, deceive his allies, and use his superiors as a shield as long as it meant his survival.

That was the only thing on his mind.

“!!”

He finally reached the cargo space.

The large space contained an avian Repliglass craft that reached fifteen meters across when its folded wings were spread out. The aerial Repliglass craft was known as a Seagull and it was meant for naval combat. He practically snapped at the men who approached from a different exit.

“Do you have the server!?”

“Right here!”

“Get it loaded on! Hurry up and load it!!”

After barking his order, Miyama Gouta operated the control panel next to him. The ceiling opened with a low rumble. At the same time, the entire floor slowly rose like a theatre contraption. The entire storage space was raised to the deck so the Seagull could be launched.

But their opponent did not wait for that to finish.

With a loud crash, one of the doors was broken through and a thoroughly destroyed Repliglass soldier rolled out. As the rising floor began to cover up the doorway, the summoner and her Material calmly stepped in through the closing gap.

The Chain state had ended.

But a new Artificial Sacred Ground enveloped everything.

Despair threatened to crush Miyama Gouta’s mind.

“Now.”

The vengeful demon named Biondetta smiled with her Blood-Sign resting on her shoulder.

“My client has been waiting on an empty stomach, so please let her enjoy the flavor of this perfectly aged meat.”

===Part 3===

“Found it.”

Shiroyama Kyousuke spoke from the deck of a Stingray racing at 200 kph across the ocean and between the pillars and buildings.

The smoke showed up more than the silhouette. Instead of catching up to the identical craft, their Stingray approached the other one by entering the same intersection on its left.

“What do you plan to do?” asked one of the Repliglass soldiers.

“Just crash into it. We’ll handle the rest.”

They could hear things whizzing by overhead. There was a lot on the lowest level of the city. Wires and crane hooks were dangling down from the bottoms of the countless giant bridges, parks, and schools.

Their frequency was growing.

The Stingray accelerated further.

And then the two came into contact as if crashing at the intersection.

A frightening impact threw Shiroyama Kyousuke and Isabelle from the deck.

Without the superhuman muscular strength and leg strength of the Repliglass, they were powerless. After being thrown like an artillery shell, Kyousuke held Isabelle in his arms to protect her and curled up his body.

They flew from one Stingray to the other.

They struck the deck and bounced a few times, but Kyousuke managed to stop his body while preventing the intense impact from causing too much damage.

They were on the flat surface of a stingray measuring several dozen meters across.

Inside the Artificial Sacred Ground, a waitress demon smiled while being served by a three meter mass of yellow slime.

Trapped in that cage were collapsed Repliglass soldiers, a Water Bear that likely contained Maria Heartocean, the Repliglass Seagull with folded wings, a large square box that likely contained the server abandoned next to the escape craft, and Miyama Gouta who had likely pulled the trigger on all of this.

“E-eek! H-help…''help me''…!!”

“…”

For just a moment, Kyousuke mechanically narrowed his eyes at those words, but…

“I’ll pay you!! I’ll give you a seat on the ark too!! So fight! Hurry up and fight! Isn’t that what you live for, you worthless hired hand from Freedom!?”

Kyousuke started to open his mouth, but before he could, Isabelle stood up next to him.

With no notable expression on her face, the girl in a red military uniform pressed her thumb against her throat. She noticed the thick and meaningless scent of blood hanging in the air.

And then she pulled her thumb sideways.

“''Just super-sized die already.''”

And she made an announcement as if to judge the culprit who had created this situation.

“''Once you’ve died, I’ll save you.''”

“But…!?”

Immediately after that contradictory suggestion, a tremor ran through the Stingray and Biondetta’s Artificial Sacred Ground entered its Chain state. That also signaled the end of Miyama Gouta’s consciousness.

Normally, Kyousuke would have run into his opponent’s Artificial Sacred Ground to begin a new battle with no risk, but the waitress demon snapped her fingers and erased her own Artificial Sacred Ground.

The Original Yellow also vanished, revealing Murasame Kuina instead.

“…What are you doing?”

“My goal is assisting my client’s revenge, not pure destruction. And my client wishes to speak with your vessel. Think of this as a form of mental care to help her revenge run smoothly.”

Biondetta respectfully bowed and stepped to the side to give her client control of the scene.

That client, Murasame Kuina, faced Isabelle.

No, in this case…

“Sayuri, why did you come here?”

“My name is Isabelle and I came here to stop you.”

“…! I don’t know an Isabelle! You have no idea how ridiculous, cruel, hollow, painful, and heartbreaking it is to hear you use that name!! It’s seeing you like this that makes me want to at least hunt down the people who did this to you and send them to hell!!”

Hearing that, Isabelle slowly shook her head.

“You don’t understand.”

“Understand what!?”

“This is not who you are.”

“You can’t even remember your own name and you think you can talk about who ''I'' am!?”

“You still don’t get it?”

Isabelle looked troubled.

It was a sorrowful look.

It was the look of someone who could not bring themselves to say they were too busy to attend the birthday party their friend was so excited about.

And this was not just an issue of emotions or ideals. It was the look of someone who was reluctant to make some decisive statement, but knew they had to say it.

“Think back. What device did this all start with?”

“?”

“Girl’s Backdoor.”

“What? Why would you bring up those things we used as a diversion?”

“''You still don’t get it?''”

Isabelle repeated her question.

And before the bare midriff girl could feel a tremor down her spine, the answer was released into the world.

“You were made into the protagonist by that demon’s Girl’s Backdoor.”

Murasame Kuina, that girl of vengeance, came to a complete stop as her thoughts ground to a halt.

“It’s true you may have had a small-sized desire for revenge in the beginning.”

So Isabelle did not stop speaking.

“For one thing, once I became a vessel, my very existence would have been erased from your mind. If Biondetta hadn’t contacted you, you may not have ever remembered.”

No one else stopped her.

“However, a desire for revenge alone is not the same thing as acting on it.”

She spoke the cruel truth.

“But what if Biondetta read what you wanted and manipulated your actions? What if she used an invisible hand to send you on a path you would have never dared to take normally?”

She simply presented it to the girl.

“You were only taking revenge due to the Girl’s Backdoor’s manipulation. You merely misinterpreted it as your own actions. A single summoner has been putting on a play this entire time.”

At first, Murasame Kuina had been manipulated from without.

Because she was acting based on the deepest thoughts in her heart, she had assumed those actions were based in her own will.

But in truth, Kuina’s desires had never left the realm of thought and the actions were created by a third party manipulating her body.

During a long, long life, anyone might feel the desire to punch or kill someone at some point.

But very few could and would actually go through with it.

At the very least, Murasame Kuina had not been one of those people.

But someone else had smiled and been very careful to make sure she never noticed that.

“You’re…lying.”

Kuina forced out the words like they were caught in her throat.

More than a rebuttal, she was trying to throw back something she refused to believe.

“I mean, you gain nothing from telling me that supposed ‘truth’ here! But to protect Government, you probably would lie about it in order to disturb us and throw off our teamwork! So!!”

“It would probably be faster if I demonstrated our stance here.”

With that casual comment, Kyousuke grabbed a nearby lever.

It was used to secure any wheeled containers to the deck while the Stingray moved at 200 kph.

He did not hesitate to pull the lever.

With a loud thunk, something was removed. A container slid across the deck. No one could stop it as it plunged into the ocean.

That was the Anthill server.

It had contained the important data crucial for the continuation of the project.

“Wha-…?”

“The request I received from Isabelle was to free Murasame Kuina from her unnecessary revenge. No more, no less. ''What Government wants doesn’t matter.'' The Anthills? Those disgusting things are better off destroyed. We were only selling ourselves to Government because it helped us accomplish our goal.”

“That means we have no reason to lie to you to protect Government.” The military uniform girl stared straight at Murasame Kuina. “''From the very beginning, we were super-sized fighting to save you from that demon.''”

Finally, Murasame Kuina turned toward Biondetta like a broken doll.

The waitress demon simply smiled.

“What…is the meaning of this?”

She asked the obvious question.

“Hey, you! Is Sayuri telling the truth about-…!?”

“Ma’am.”

Even with the truth revealed, Biondetta did not bat an eye and maintained her perfect salesman’s smile.

And at some point, her thin waitress’s glove had melted away as if from a great heat.

Her white fingertips were briefly visible, but they soon turned black.

But not because they had been burned and scorched.

The skin of her left hand peeled away on its own, revealing the leather glove below. Was the sticky-sounding glove fused with the real, skinless palm further below?

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_289.jpg|thumb]]

Nevertheless, Biondetta formed a handgun and aimed the index finger barrel at her client.

And the demon spoke with a smile.

“This is the very best part, so kindly shut the hell up☆”

That was all it took for Murasame Kuina’s entire body to go stiff and then go limp.

The light vanished from her eyes and all human expression vanished from her face.

She looked like a doll controlled by thin threads and with its limbs trapped in countless bear traps.

The tree-style flowchart ''had arrived at an unexpected situation and switched to a different line.

It was all an act and it was all restricted.

Biondetta had only wanted to borrow someone else’s revenge to satisfy her own sadistic desires. By approaching someone with a kind smile, gently fanning the flames of their vengeful desires, and providing them the means and opportunity to fulfill them, she gained an excuse for all sorts of violence.

And this was the perfect and ultimate shortcut.

Girl’s Backdoor.

She manipulated people to their destruction in order to fulfill her own desires. She truly was a demon.

She claimed she was simply obeying her client, but she was actually enjoying the greatest front row seat.

“From the very beginning…”

At first, Kyousuke and Isabelle had known Kuina had sworn revenge for her friend and begun acting on it, but they had not known who had invited her to take revenge. But no matter who stood by her side, they had guessed there was a decent risk of this possibility.

It came down to Girl’s Backdoor.

What if there was no distinction between the controller and the controlled? It was not a straight line or a pyramid. This was controlling someone else while hoping they became the perfect master. There was a Mobius-like ''twist'' that blurred the distinction between master and servant.

“You had planned for this. This was not just one of many possibilities. Murasame Kuina learning the truth was built in as an unavoidable step no matter what happened. It was necessary if you were to pit Kuina and Isabelle against each other.”

“Well, of course.” Biondetta laughed just like the Queen she had once seen. “Her desire for revenge has a safety built in. I want her to burn down the entire world, but she has so many conditions about what she refuses to do. ''But if I have her destroy the very source of those limitations,'' I figure nothing will be able to stop her revenge.”

In other words, Murasame Kuina would kill Isabelle – who she most wanted to protect – in the pursuit of her revenge.

Biondetta would dirty Kuina’s hands by forcing her to kill the girl.

That had been the ultimate joy in her mind as she had built the Girl’s Backdoor devices. That had been the thought in her mind as she smiled next to her client from the earliest stages of their plan.

She would gorge herself on the feast before her eyes, shove all the blame onto the girl, and then swallow up even the girl she had used as a scapegoat.

Kyousuke pulled his Blood-Sign from his back.

“''You'' are completely insane.”

“Completely insane? This? Nothing more than this!? We have felt the Queen’s insanity in person, so you must know this is no more than a trivial little prank!!”

“I’m super-sized pissed right now. Bulge bulge (deadpan).”

“I don’t mind at all. ''I will bring my client’s revenge further than she ever imagined.'' I don’t mind if the sight of the horrific results leaves my client in tears and drives her to suicide. All that matters is that I enjoy myself.”

With that, Biondetta spread her feet to shoulder width.

She shook her tail and an Incense Grenade clunked down from her miniskirt.

“And with Girl’s Backdoor, our summoner-vessel combination is, in a way, greater than any other. The combat routines I have given my client are second to none. Now, let me enjoy this, ''you damn rabbit.'' ''You'' are likely the most satisfying meal for this revenge!!”

With that yell, the grenade detonated and an Artificial Sacred Ground covered their surroundings.

===Part 4===

In that instant, Murasame Kuina felt an explosion of the intense pain that she had been programmed to “forget”.

The red threads and hands that were only visible to the attacker and victim – the controller and the controlled – tore into her arms, legs, and torso like bear traps. Her body accurately followed a programmed flowchart and tree-style command list.

As her body moved, she vaguely looked out at the world.

What had she been doing all this time?

She may have been commanded not to question it. Even so, why had she never questioned it even once?

Over the course of a lifetime, one might hate someone enough to kill them.

But why had that led her to ''actually'' kill them?

Why had she been so willing to use the Girl’s Backdoor that any teenage girl should have loathed?

Yes.

It was almost like she had not been moving her own body. Hadn’t it been more like someone else had grabbed her arms and legs and moved them to fulfill that desire?

And it had led here.

To Isabelle…no, to Kawamo Sayuri.

This revenge had been for her. It was a way of getting back at the people who had hurt her. So why did Kuina have to confront her like this?

(My…revenge?)

She was only able to think for herself now because Biondetta had made sure she could.

The equation had been thoroughly rearranged to show her this despair.

(Taking my own desire beyond what I had imagined…leads to killing Sayuri?)

She wanted to shake her head, but she could not.

She had never said that, but Biondetta’s actions were being made into the girl’s intentions. All of the limits they had crossed so far were being blamed on Kuina as necessary sacrifices.

Meanwhile, the summoner trapped in the Artificial Sacred Ground and the blonde girl next to him said something else.

“To hell with that.”

“Yes, I know that this Murasame Kuina person doesn’t want this! Not even a small-sized bit!!”

Those words shattered the waitress demon’s whispers.

Her friend, someone she had supposedly been separated from on ideological grounds, had more to say.

“So help my friend! Save her from that demon!!”

“My answer is of course, as you wish. I’m sick of Biondetta’s little play.”

The battle was beginning.

Murasame Kuina could do nothing because she was still being controlled. She could only draw out all of her awful strength as that smiling demon commanded.

But even if she was forbidden to move a single eye, that girl’s soul was surely crying.

===Part 5===

The twenty meter Artificial Sacred Ground was set up.

The three-dimensional Rose made up of 216 Petals appeared at the midpoint between the two summoner pairs.

As the glowing White Thorns appeared in the empty air, Kyousuke and Biondetta jabbed their Blood-Signs into them.

The Rose was smashed and 36 dark, fist-sized Spots appeared in the empty air.

The scattering Petals ricocheted around and a few of them fell into the Spots.

“Isabelle!!”

“Ma’am.”

The two girls changed form on the rapidly-moving Stingray’s deck.

Kyousuke had the Original Yellow (s). Sound Range: High. Cost: 1.

Biondetta had the Original Red (b). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 1.

(I have the upper hand in the sound range, but that does not matter.)

When she had the upper hand, Biondetta only had to “wait”. Victory would come to her on its own.

That meant Kyousuke had to take action. After he used a White Thorn to knock the desired Petal into a Spot to change his Material’s sound range, the waitress demon made her next move.

She followed suit and she mimicked him with stalker-like precision.

If he chose the middle sound range, she too chose middle.

If he chose low, she too chose low.

Kyousuke made feints, double feints, and every trick he could find, but Biondetta only had to follow suit after “seeing it for herself”. By taking the same sound range with a constant +1 in cost and always summoning her Material after him, she always had the newer and stronger one.

It was like repeatedly comparing benchmarks with a computer from the same company, the same brand, and the same line but one generation older.

(This is enough. If this is a game of chicken, then I have a distance handicap. He can’t wait until I’m right up on the edge before slamming on the brakes. If he tries that, he’ll drive right off the cliff.)

Of course, Kyousuke would have noticed this was the “first cage”.

But that knowledge did not allow him to ignore it. Even if this was only bait or a diversion, he would still lose if the Silhouette at his Material’s core was destroyed.

So he could not reach past it.

He could only wait for her to finish.

“!”

Shiroyama Kyousuke must have lost his temper because he charged toward her like a bullet.

Was he starting a close-quarters exchange like last time?

There was no point in a fistfight between summoners when they had their protective circles. But they could hit, deflect, and push at the Blood-Sign that stuck out and that could throw off the accuracy of their opponent’s shots.

However…

“Hee hee.”

Biondetta could not help but laugh.

They glared at each other from less than a meter away, sometimes attacking each other’s Blood-Signs with staff or spear techniques and sometimes finding a chance to launch a White Thorn. All the while, the waitress demon spoke.

“You are correct to take away my resources, but if you lose the same amount of resources in the process, my advantage remains. Thus, you cannot escape this cage☆”

“…!!”

A White Thorn that had seemed to fly way off the mark made a sharp curve in midair and collided with the target Petal. Instead of hitting the center, she had intentionally put a major spin on the ball.

“And you still do not know my true power.”

A high-pitched sound filled the air.

“I am only restricting myself to this speed so I can match your speed and follow your lead. If I release my spare resources, I can do this.”

Biondetta’s Blood-Sign briefly bent in two.

And she touched the sniper trigger.

With a loud bang, a 7.62mm rifle bullet was released from the center point.

It could not reach the summoner inside his protective circle.

However, she had not targeted his Blood-Sign either.

Biondetta scored a direct hit on something beyond Kyousuke: the clashing monsters.

The Materials.

“There are some exceptions, but the Materials summoned using the Blood-Sign system – especially the Regulation-class – are generally quite dumb.”

She reconnected her Blood-Sign and smiled.

At this point, Kyousuke had the SSC for Puppet #2000 (yi – a – ns – ou – wh – ia – iu – seb – e – hig – o – sd – c – li – dr – oq). Sound range: Low. Cost: 30.

It was a giant western suit of armor with countless red strings wrapped around it and it turned their way after the hit from the rifle bullet.

“Whether it’s a peashooter or whatever else, they will set their sights on whatever attacked them. So it isn’t hard to manipulate the enemy.”

An explosive sound reached their ears.

Biondetta only had to take one step to the side.

The attack could easily have split open an aircraft carrier flight deck like it was a can. A row of violent steel spikes missed their target and fiercely struck Shiroyama Kyousuke who was supposed to be its master.

He was not killed thanks to the protective circle, but the great strength sent him and the circle flying like a pinwheel.

He was not injured and he felt no impact or pain.

But his position had shifted.

And that widened the gap.

“Gh…''Cheshire Cat''…!!”

“Shut up, ''you damn rabbit''. I can control my allies with Girl’s Backdoor and my enemies with my sniper shots, so I can dance across the board with everything under my control. Do you really think ''a lone summoner'' can stop me?”

Kyousuke had not even broken out of the first cage formed by her “same sound range with cost +1” strategy.

Now she formed the second cage by indirectly interfering with his Material using her rifle bullets. The wider the gap grew and the more freedom she gained, the more resources she could spare to end it all.

She would complete the third cage.

That greatest and worst arrangement of dominos would sweep everything away and swallow it all up when it all came tumbling down.

(I need to reach the Divine-class using the high sound range and with a cost of 10. I need that dog-headed god that gained a new name and power after mixing the Ancient Egyptian god of judgment with Hermes of Greece.)

Inside the twenty meter cube of the Artificial Sacred Ground, most of the White Thorns and Petals were moving near the deck of the high-speed Stingray. No, Biondetta had set it up that way.

The only exceptions were near the corners, walls, and ceiling of the giant cube. Clusters of three or four Petals had gathered there.

And there were more than one or two such clusters.

They were spread out like a spider web or like a jellyfish or sea anemone’s antennae drifting in wait of prey.

The countless clusters were complete and they surrounded the poor summoner.

“Farewell, my barrier.”

She sent out ''the signal to surpass Shiroyama Kyousuke'' who was still stuck in the Regulation-class.

This was the sweet flavor of revenge.

This was the moment when she turned the tables on a target who was confident he would never die. And not as a coincidence. This was the joy of tearing down their strength, their reputation, and their happiness thanks to her careful planning.

This was the pleasure of strapping a giant rocket engine to a scooter one third its size just to show up a braggart driving around in their Italian luxury car.

Biondetta felt a strange tremor run down her spine.

“You could not reach me. Like this, you are not even worth calling ''a damn rabbit''. You knew about this cage, but you were not skilled enough to interfere. You deserve to be crushed by overwhelming quantity and speed!!”

She held her Blood-Sign vertically, aimed straight down, and launched a White Thorn. It collided with the deck at her feet, bounced off, and used its intense spin to fly in a sharp curve.

End this.

Sink into despair.

Fall to your knees and sob.

And at the same moment…

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Shiroyama Kyousuke left every last pattern Biondetta had imagined. He was still calm. His face had not gone pale, his eyes were not wandering aimlessly, sweat did not cover his face, and the parts of his face had not gathered in the center like a dried plum.

It was meaningless like this.

Revenge was more than just destruction. The true essence of revenge was how much that destruction tore into the target’s heart.

“Let me tell you something very basic, ''Cheshire Cat.'' ''You'' might think that you have indirect control over both Materials and that you control every Petal on the field, but you’re forgetting one basic fact. We’re on top of a Government Stingray, so this is a giant away game for you. ''You'' are the avenger, so you should have assumed everything around you could turn against you.”

“What…are you…?”

Two ricochets. Three ricochets.

The White Thorn bounced off the walls of the Artificial Sacred Ground and accurately targeted the desired Petal. Kyousuke knew the fuse has been lit, but the problem before his eyes kept him too busy to interfere.

Or so Biondetta had thought.

But if that was the case, why did Alice (with) Rabbit look so confident!?

“''You'' may have felt like a queen peering into the bug cage, but ''you'' were trapped in a larger bird cage all the while.”

“What are you talking about, ''you goddamn rabbit''? This is already over! I have you in checkmate, so feel some despair!! I’ve taken your king, so don’t just keep playing!! Tormenting you once you’re a dead-eyed zombie would just be boring!!!!!”

Five ricochets. Six ricochets.

Biondetta’s White Thorn slipped between the unwanted Petals on its way to the one that acted as a trigger. No one could stop it now. Once her Material reached the Divine-class, it would obliterate Kyousuke’s which could not leave the Regulation-class.

“What I’m saying is…”

Unbelievably, Kyousuke brought his Blood-Sign to a stop.

He snapped his fingers just as something shot by over his head.

“''That’s my line.''”

It happened a moment later.

With a solid sound, Biondetta’s seemingly unstoppable White Thorn was struck from the side.

“Wha-…?”

Kyousuke had not launched a White Thorn of his own.

Countless crane wires dangled down from the giant bridges or midair surfaces that supported parks, hospitals, schools, etc. As the Stingray moved at 200 kph, they were essentially a raging steel wind blowing by overhead. One of the J-shaped hooks had accurately struck Biondetta’s White Thorn.

“Did you forget our field is constantly in motion? And this isn’t a natural phenomenon. It’s being controlled by Government, who ''you'' made into an enemy.”

The single attack caused it all to fall apart.

“The Petals and White Thorns will bounce when they hit the Artificial Sacred Ground’s walls or another obstacle. Anything directly controlled by a human will, be it a thrown stone or a fired bullet, will pass through them, but that doesn’t apply here. While the field’s movement is controlled by a human will, the crane wire is simply hanging there.”

The White Thorn was not the only thing knocked out of place.

A great number of crane wires of various sizes tore apart the Petals that had been accurately positioned for a domino effect. They scattered everywhere and ruined Biondetta’s beautifully completed diagram.

Or so it seemed.

But that was not the case.

“And ''you'' did quite well.”

A solid sound followed.

The shock had created a brief gap in which Biondetta stopped moving. The first cage, created by the same sound range +1, crumbled away. Kyousuke used that opening to launch a White Thorn to a distant location.

He sent it toward the remains of Biondetta’s crumbled setup.

But he was not just hitting a few Petals into the Spots at random.

One of the clusters collapsed.

Those scattered Petals collided with other clusters.

Several clusters collapsed.

They spread out like a spider web and surrounded Biondetta as a dance of red lines. All of the Petals shot toward the Spots.

Almost as if…

“What…is this? I didn’t plan this. I don’t remember creating this domino effect!”

The dominos had not been swept aside by a brutish hand.

They had shifted from Domino Structure A to Domino Structure B.

Had they been accurately swapped out for a completely different formation!?

“Of course you don’t. I was the one to guide it in this direction.”

“————”

“Did you think you had created that situation yourself and for your own victory? You were only creating the basis I needed for my victory. Like the worker bee that busily gathers honey, oblivious to the bear waiting to raid the hive.”

He had been aiming for this from the beginning.

He had pretended to fall for her trap.

The data on the evacuation operation may have provided how many obstacles there were in Toy Dream 35, but the second Stingray’s presence had been an outright rebellion against his plan. That data would never have told him what route it would be taking.

But that had not mattered.

He had perfectly put together the algorithm in this short time, he had perfectly predicted the route and speed they would use based on what he would do in their position, and he had even used Biondetta who was at the 900s level.

He had been looking to this moment from the beginning.

Everything else had been how to ''manipulate'' things into arriving at this situation.

(Oh, no!! At this rate, he’ll take my Divine-class!!)

Biondetta immediately read the arrangement of Petals inside the Artificial Sacred Ground and launched a new White Thorn. When it hit Kyousuke’s Thorn, threw it off course, and prevented him from building up his Material, she could cut into the domino layout and steal its benefits for herself.

“This isn’t over yet, ''you damn rabbit''!! I can use this to reach the Divine-class too!! And then-…”

She trailed off.

Shiroyama Kyousuke’s expression remained unchanged.

It was just like when she had setup her dominos and achieved checkmate…no, thought she had achieved checkmate.

“It can’t be…”

She realized something.

“This was…exactly what you wanted me to do…?”

===Part 6===

The situation took a decisive turn before Shiroyama Kyousuke’s eyes.

They continued fighting over the Petals and building up their Materials, but that would not last forever.

The undeniable result was eventually revealed to them.

Kyousuke had a Divine-class of the middle sound range with a cost of 9. It was the Celtic god of hunting and ruler of the underworld. The fierce male god had a pair of animal horns as a symbol of life.

As for Biondetta…

“I didn’t…reach it?”

She had the King of Serpents with an Indestructible Body which Repeatedly Sheds Its Skin in Front of All Calamity (b f – h a t l – e i – v o – o u – d v – e I – b c – I u – j k v – a – j o k – l v – n i c – a – y x – v j z).

Sound Range: Low. Cost: 38.

But…

“I’m still in the Regulation-class… I didn’t reach the Divine-class…!?”

Biondetta’s looked more powerful based on its physical appearance.

One was muscular, but only a two meter man. The other was a giant red snake that one had to look up at even when it was coiled up.

But that did not matter.

It would all be over with the swing of an arm.

There was an overwhelming power difference between the Regulation-class and the Divine-class.

“How did you end up like this?”

The Celtic god took a step forward.

Shiroyama Kyousuke was already resting his Blood-Sign on his shoulder. He was implicitly saying he no longer needed it.

“It’s true the Fifteen Siblings Project was the worst. Everyone who took part received great talent in exchange for leaving the proper path in some way. But ''you’re'' the only one that turned out like this, ''Cheshire Cat''. …How did you turn into the revenge-obsessed Liar Cat? What did ''you'' see in that Queen’s Miniature Garden?”

“…ause…”

The red snake that formed a great mountain squirmed as if overpowered by that overwhelming presence.

Similarly, the demon named Biondetta took a step back from Kyousuke’s gaze.

“…Because you were the only one…”

She spoke in a daze.

It was unclear if her eyes were viewing at the present or the past.

“We learned of the Queen’s hatred, the Queen’s ferocity, the Queen’s allure, and the Queen’s passion. Our original families betrayed us, sold us, and abandoned us. We had no friends in that cramped miniature garden, all of the adults were cruel, the social structure was shallow, and our sibling bonds were only artificial so we couldn’t even trust in them…”

Her fragmentary words would only make sense to someone who had shared that time with her.

“But you were the only one who received real love. Even if it did come from that hideous and loathsome Queen!!”

“…”

Shiroyama Kyousuke – Alice (with) Rabbit – narrowed his eyes slightly.

Every last person who had taken part…no, been forced to take part in the Fifteen Siblings Project had become a monster. A family is kind, a teacher is right, a friend is fun, and a lover is warm. They received none of those standard feelings. Their initial presets had been wrong, so they could not understand the concept of finding comfort in a family.

How could they have found happiness after being thrown out into the world to do as they pleased? How could they fit in when their “normal” was so very twisted from everyone else’s “normal”?

And why had Kyousuke alone not broken like the rest of them?

This must have been the answer Biondetta had found.

Pandora’s Box had contained all forms of calamity, but hope alone had remained inside it.

Was she saying that Shiroyama Kyousuke alone had received that hope?

That was why she had wanted to take revenge. She had wanted to take revenge, but the Queen’s Miniature Garden had been destroyed, the adults were gone, and the White Queen was too powerful. Had she been going around destroying all of the nearby targets to soothe her heart and that had eventually led her back to Kyousuke?

This battle came down to one thing.

Had they accepted “that” as the one last thread of hope given to them?

Or had they rejected “that” as salt in the wound?

This was the story of two artificial siblings who had made the opposite decision.

And with all that in mind, Shiroyama Kyousuke spoke coldly as if to correct a mistake.

“You’re imagining all that.”

He was answered with a great cry that was too halfhearted to call a roar or a scream.

The demon’s insane fighting spirit had been reignited.

She knew she had no way of winning, but she raised her Blood-Sign regardless.

Shiroyama Kyousuke did not respond in kind.

<How sad,> said Isabelle.

“You can say that again. The fifteen of us all received the Queen’s fear and nothing more. The only difference was how we interpreted it, but how in the world did she mistake that for love?”

<''That is not even a small-sized bit what I meant.''>

Kyousuke briefly had trouble figuring out what Isabelle meant.

At any rate, this was checkmate.

He only had to say one thing to his vessel and partner who had become a horned Celtic god.

“Do it, Isabelle.”

It took one attack.

With a disconcerting sound, the male horned god’s hand tore apart the red snake. Hit by the shock of seeing their god slaughtered before their eyes, the summoner and vessel collapsed to the Stingray’s deck.

===Facts===

*If you are prepared to pay an adequate penalty, it is possible to force your way into an Artificial Sacred Ground in which a battle is underway.
*Murasame Kuina’s initial desire for revenge was real, but all of her actions were manipulated by Girl’s Backdoor. That was the true reason for Isabelle’s request to save her friend from that needless revenge.
*A Material will prioritize counterattacking whoever attacks it. It does not matter whether or not that attack did any damage. It is possible for the vessel’s will to correct the targeting cursor, but the Material still takes an unnecessary action.
*The Petals and White Thorns are influenced by and bounce off of field objects. This is true even if those objects are in motion. But a thrown stone, a fired bullet, or anything else directly influenced by a human are an exception. Also, a human, an animal, or anything else with a soul does not count as a field object.
*Normally, people cannot move freely in and out of the Artificial Sacred Ground, but field objects have no such restriction. They can pass through the wall just like the losers after they pass out.
*Biondetta actually wanted to take revenge on Shiroyama Kyousuke and the White Queen, but not even she noticed until she was truly cornered.
*Shiroyama Kyousuke insists that the love he alone supposedly received from the White Queen was in Biondetta’s imagination.

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| Back to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign:Volume3_Chapter3|Stage 03]]
| Return to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign:Volume3_Ending1|Ending X-01]]
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</noinclude>

The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter3

2018-01-31T04:34:08Z

Bersi: /* Stage 03: The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat */

==Stage 03: The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat==
''“Cheshire Cat.”

''“Shut up, you damn rabbit. I’m in a good mood right now.”

'''(Stage 03 Open 05/23 16:00)

'''The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat

===Part 1===

“Nn…”

Lu Niang Lan, the modified China dress beauty, breathed a sultry sigh from her scarlet lips.

She quickly realized she had been tossed onto the wooden floor with her arms and legs bound behind her.

“Huh? I’m all wet and see-through.”

She looked down at her chest which was swelling out even more than usual due to the arched back of her pose. The fabric was unpleasantly clinging to her skin somewhat and she could not move her arms or legs.

“I’m tied up!?”

Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, she looked around.

“Wait a second… I was in C Block’s Hai Hong Caiguan, so why am I in a Government apartment now?”

The floor was wet.

However, the government dog named Aika as well as Shiroyama Kyousuke, Isabelle, and even the white liger were looking down at her with exasperated looks.

“K-Kyousuke-chan? Can you explain what’s going on? You haven’t broken our unspoken understanding by selling me off to Government, have you!?”

Still confused, Lu Niang Lan suggested the worst possibility she could think of.

But when Kyousuke and Aika exchanged a glance, their expressions were even graver than that.

“Onii-chan, what should we do about this?”

“When you’re released from Girl’s Backdoor, you apparently lose your memories of being controlled, so I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

“Ehh!? You mean she gets off scot-free!? I refuse to accept that! This old hag gave us a whole lot of trouble!!”

“My chest still hurts. Somewhere between medium-sized and large-sized. Throb throb(deadpan).”

“C’mon. She didn’t actually do anything wrong here, so let’s leave it at this.”

“???”

Lu Niang Lan was clearly baffled by their exchange, but they ignored her.

They had something else to focus on.

The tablet produced the sound of an incoming video chat call.

Aika sat on the wet floor and tried to use the white liger as a sofa like usual, but the beast slipped out from under her. The five meter pet rejected Aika and the girl flipped over on the floor. The white liger may not have wanted to lie on the wet floor, but she also seemed to be having trouble relaxing after the Perfect Dragon’s rampage. Animals were fiercest when they were afraid, not when they had the advantage.

“Ahh! Onii-chan, go grab that baby bottle. I’ll win this stubborn liger over with a stomach full of milk!!”

“Don’t. Give her anymore and you’ll make her sick.”

“But that spoiled liger almost always goes right to sleep if you give her some warm milk. That old hag’s sacks of fat must have really scared her…”

“I don’t blame her. Zuuun(deadpan). I think I’ll be having some medium-sized nightmares…”

“Aika. You were controlled too, so don’t forget that attacking her is the same as attacking yourself.”

Aika pouted her lips and grabbed the tablet from the glass table while still lying on the floor.

She answered the call and a woman in a military uniform filled the screen. However, hers was much more subdued than Isabelle’s. It had a dark blue base, she wore pants instead of a tight skirt, and she lacked the black belts that acted as restraints. Instead, she had plenty of decorative medals.

She was a Government coordinator.

Or perhaps she could be called a planner or a troubleshooter.

Regardless, she was sent in to build a new plan when something failed inside their organization. She would also make alternate suggestions to minimize the damage. Overall, she was a bureaucratic specialist.

“We have finished regulating the data and updating our plans,” she said. “Might I get back on topic?”

“Yes.”

“Currently, we have two primary problems. First, all information related to the Anthills has been passed to the enemy summoner. Second, that apartment where Government, Illegal, and Freedom meet was abused to pull it off. …Unfortunately, most of the higher ups are viewing the second problem as the more serious one. Although if they feel they can calmly think about punishment now, I have to wonder if they believe no bullet could reach their heads even on the front line.”

“Just to be clear, that Illegal old hag was being controlled by Girl’s Backdoor, so she had no control over her actions.”

“That is not all that relevant.” The coordinator gave a light sigh. “The problem is that the information would not have been leaked if you not been on such good terms with an Illegal assassin and if that contact point did not exist. I cannot cover for you here. If you have a complaint, bring it to the higher ups.”

“…”

“And while it was Lu Niang Lan who went on a rampage, it was you who leaked the classified information with your mobile phone, Aika. Thanks to that, two additional Anthills have been attacked. The valuable research data and precious lives there have been lost. Do not think this does not apply to you. You played a primary role.”

She made it sound like Girl’s Backdoor did not exist and Lu Niang Lan and Aika had simply conspired to leak the classified information.

Isabelle spoke to Kyousuke as she listened in.

“Nuuun(deadpan). This is small-sized irritating.”

“Oh, what a coincidence. It’s pissing me off a fair bit too.”

“You are part of this too, Alice (with) Rabbit.” The coordinator winked and tapped her temple with her index finger. “With the suspicion on Aika and Lu Niang Lan, they are a step away from disaster. If you wish to remove them from the list of possible executions, you must take on a share of their debt even if there is no suspicion on you directly. This is especially important to silence the higher ups who have never liked that apartment where all three major powers gather.”

“Oh? That’s quite the compromise. Could you not get at me without asking first?”

“This isn’t much different. Freedom Award 903, we will receive your help free of charge. We will send you to our fiercest battlefield at the moment. Refuse and we will add those two to the official list of wanted criminals. The world will bear its fangs against them and they will essentially be sent to the gallows.”

“Get to the specifics.”

“The data Aika leaked could not have been worse. It included the locations of the Anthills, the personnel, the funding routes, the equipment procurement routes, the defense forces, and the emergency evacuation routes. Two bases have already been destroyed using that data. We do not intend to lose any more of the research equipment, personnel, and research results that the higher ups paid large sums of money for. …''Simply put, we are evacuating''.”

When he heard that word, Kyousuke brought a hand to his forehead and looked up at the ceiling.

Isabelle tilted her head next to him.

“Mh? I’m not even small-sized sure why that’s so bad.”

“It’s really bad. By the way, how many Anthills are still functioning?”

“34.”

“And how many people are inside?”

“Assume there are around one hundred in each.”

“You want to evacuate all of them from Toy Dream 35 at once? Using every route available, be it land, air, or sea? ''How are you going to protect them all''? Liar Cat can use all of the information they got using Aika. If they have all your evacuation routes, they can attack you whenever and wherever they want.”

An amateur might think they could quickly create a new route, but that would not work. If it was that easy, they would not bother to create routes in advance. They needed packages, bodyguards, knowledge of possible attack points, a secondary route in case they were attacked, a tertiary route, an idea of where they could find safety, and a second and third shelter in case the first was compromised. Working it all out on paper took a week and not even a month was enough to confirm that it was indeed a valid route. And instead of getting a VIP or two out, this was sending around three thousand personnel in every direction.

And just because they could not do it did not mean they could sit around thinking about it. Even if they tried to barricade themselves where they were, Liar Cat was above Freedom Award 900, so that summoner would mercilessly crush the Anthill Project along with those bases.

Simply put, they were cornered.

“The higher ups have a plan.” The coordinator began grinding her index finger against her temple. “They will prepare a great number of transport groups, including decoys and then have them all simultaneously evacuate Toy Dream 35 in every direction. Even if our enemy has 900 level skill, they are only a single pair. A few of the transport groups might get hit, but Liar Cat will not reach the real one. …What do you think of that?”

“But ''that was part of the information they have now, wasn’t it?'' We aren’t choosing the target; Liar Cat is. It’s all over if they snack on a few of them and then get to the real one before the limit arrives,” said Kyousuke. “Not to mention that Liar Cat will almost certainly maintain their Material’s cost as much as possible by continuing the fight with Chains. If they can build up through the Regulation-class and Divine-class to reach the Unexplored-class, they’ll charge into the enemy forces at their most powerful. …But I doubt they can always reach the next target in the 90 seconds given. What do you think they’ll do then? We’re talking about Liar Cat who gave out Girl’s Backdoors for civilians to use as nothing more than a disturbance tactic.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). So if their Chain isn’t going to last, they’ll attack normal people to keep their super-sized Chain going?”

Kyousuke nodded at Red Hat Isabelle’s question.

“And they’ll be cutting back and forth across the city to pursue the transportation groups scattering in every direction. Toy Dream 35 won’t just be filled with pools of blood; the entire city will collapse.”

“But I doubt the higher ups will change their minds so easily. Or rather, it is hard to stop a giant cannonball once it has started to roll. If you wish to reduce the damage done, your only option is defeating the summoner pair as soon as possible.”

“But if Liar Cat’s possible targets are scattered everywhere, we can’t exactly lie in wait.”

“Meaning?”

“If we narrow down their targets to just one place, we know exactly where Liar Cat will show up. What are the most important personnel and resources among the Anthills? If you keep everything else as-is but try to evacuate them ahead of time, Liar Cat will definitely take the bait. We can beat them down there.”

“Even if they know it is a trap?”

“That type can’t resist the taste of revenge.”

The coordinator sighed.

A slight shadow or waver seemed to enter her previous stiffness.

“But the higher ups will never accept it. They truly believe that they are protecting themselves by refusing to admit to their own mistakes. If they know that such a risky method was suggested by an outsider, I seriously doubt they will change their evacuation plan.”

“''You sound troubled.''”

Kyousuke smiled thinly.

Their plan had already failed and 3000 lives depended on its success. Despite her overbearing behavior, this woman could not have enjoyed having this forced onto her.

“Do you have a suggestion?”

“It sounds like Government’s higher ups don’t understand the danger they’re in. They must truly believe that they can settle this by shoving responsibility onto someone else, that the problem only exists on paper, and that no physical flames are going to rain down on them. So how about I remind them? I’m willing to play the thankless job of the bitter medicine.”

“Very well.”

It was now the coordinator’s turn to look up toward heaven.

She had apparently heard the legends of Alice (with) Rabbit, but her pride may have prevented her from actually speaking the words.

But she shook free of that and verbally raised the white flag.

“''I would appreciate it if you would help us. I mean it.''”

===Part 2===

Apartments came in many different shapes and sizes, but this one was a one-room apartment for university students. The front door led directly into the room and the newspaper slot carelessly installed in the door would allow anyone to peep on the room if they wanted. That made changing clothes a daily challenge, but it was still an attractive residence for its relatively affordable price in the amusement park city of Toy Dream 35. Despite the poor customer service, there were no vacancies in May, which was past the season for beginning a new life.

Steam rose from the kettle.

Biondetta, the demon in a pink waitress uniform, hummed to herself as she prepared some tea. She removed her white lace glove to manipulate the tools with her slender fingers.

“Ma’am.”

“Hm?”

Murasame Kuina, her client and vessel, blankly replied while sitting on the pastel colored bed with her knees in her arms.

“To be honest, I don’t know much about tea,” said the girl. “I’ve only ever had it from a bottle. So don’t bother talking on and on about it.”

“Not to worry. This is a blend.”

“Hm?”

“The Summoning Ceremony battles are mentally exhausting, so I have combined a few different types of tea leaves to provide a calming effect. As long as you know how to make it, standard store-bought teas are good enough. Yes, just like a clever usage of cold medicine and allergy medicine can create a sleazy drug that will put an innocent young girl fast asleep.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a woman who takes antibiotics by the handful… And isn’t caffeine a stimulant?”

“There are a number of ways to use it. Most summoners either have a special supplier or mix their own Incense Grenades, so we tend to be quite skilled at this sort of work.”

A student apartment did not come equipped with the kind of tea set used for the British royal family, but Biondetta used tools likely bought at a 100 yen shop for makeshift replacements. And she had done more than memorize the manual. She had broken it down and built it back up to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

Midriff Girl Kuina fidgeted on the bed.

“Did I ask you to do this? I thought our contract only said you would help me get revenge for Sayuri.”

“And I will provide everything necessary for you to truly enjoy your revenge. It would all be for naught if you were too sleep deprived to savor the taste of revenge when the time came. If you like, I could climb in bed with you to sing a lullaby, I could join you in the bath, or I could try my hand at providing a massage.”

“No, thanks.”

Kuina got down from the bed and sat at the glass table in the center of the small room.

She sipped at the tea poured into a plastic mug, but…

“I really can’t tell any difference.”

“I appreciate the honesty more than pretending you know what you are talking about, ma’am.”

“But I have no intention of taking a nap. I’m too on edge to fall asleep. The core of my body is telling me I have to hurry up and get out there…hurry up and kill.”

“I would expect nothing less from my client. And that is why I prepared this as a type of inflight refueling.”

Murasame Kuina had trouble judging what the smiling demon was truly after.

Normally thinking, helping a stranger with their revenge came with enormous risk. Not only was there direct combat, but it meant making an enemy of everyone around the target and, if they could not earn their partner’s trust, it was possible they could be stabbed in the back. Plus, revenge tended to end in failure after being outnumbered and the enemy would not forgive them if they said “never mind” at that point.

Nevertheless, Biondetta chose to take part.

She gained nothing from it. She had no enemy in common with her client. This revenge only had any meaning for Murasame Kuina. Even if it succeeded, Biondetta would not gain anything at all from the violence.

It was almost like a reckless surfer heading to the beach on a stormy night despite the danger.

She was losing herself in the act itself. It was the madness of someone taking a hobby much too far.

“Biondetta.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know your situation. I don’t care if you’re secretly benefiting from this, if someone else hired you to do this, or if you’re acting as a double spy and all my information is fed right back to Government.”

She narrowed her eyes and shook around the contents of the mug a little.

“All that matters is that it helps me with my revenge ''in the end''. I’m even fine with dying after the fact. So let’s go over the basics again, Biondetta. Help me with my revenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re my enemy or my ally.”

“Yes. I am delighted to hear that, ma’am.”

The pink waitress demon gave a smile that was far too rotten to call charming.

“I do not often meet someone who expresses that with her actions and not just her words, but you seem to be different. I am relieved.”

“Hmph.”

Murasame Kuina must have had trouble with hot drinks because she only took small sips at the mug.

Once it was empty, she set it on the table and stood up.

“What’s our next move, Biondetta?”

“Well, how about we go for something that is half for peace of mind and half pure harassment? They’ve probably noticed us by now. And they will know about these clothes.”

As she spoke, Biondetta pinched the sides of her waitress skirt and waved it around.

“I brought in an entire container’s worth as part of the costume event, so I was thinking we could spread some money around to hire hundreds of people to walk around dressed like this.”

“How can you hire people when summoners and vessels vanish from people’s minds?”

“We can use an intermediary by way of your Girl’s Backdoor.”

“I can only control three people. Is this really worth using up that stock?”

“If we no longer need it, we can remove them from our control. And Government is sure to think that the decoys might be manipulated by Girl’s Backdoor and thus could make indiscriminate terrorist attacks. As the world police, they cannot ignore that and will have to waste some of their personnel on them. Meanwhile, we can take advantage of our freedom.”

“So when you get down to it, you don’t know how effective it will be?”

“As I said, it’s half for peace of mind and half pure harassment, ma’am. Anyone with any sense will catch on immediately, but it will still allow us to rest easy. The trick to enjoying revenge is to add some fun into the efficiency☆”

“Hmph,” snorted Murasame Kuina.

She nodded to give her approval and then spoke.

“Then are you ready to go?”

“Yes, ma’am. I am ready to go anywhere you want.”

Despite the care she took in preparing the tea, she apparently had no intention of cleaning it up.

There was a simple reason for that.

As soon as the two of them stood up, something shook in a corner of the room. The figure lying on the wooden flooring had two arms, two legs, and long black hair that spread out like seaweed to hide the face.

It was the owner of the room.

The college girl had been controlled by Girl’s Backdoor and given a flowchart with only one instruction: curl up in the corner.

===Part 3===

Miyama Gouta was a man in his prime who would turn fifty this year.

He was a soldier who had never once set foot on the battlefield and yet the chest of his deep blue military uniform glittered with a great quantity of medals. He stood inside one of Government’s Anthills.

A number of conditions were necessary to construct an Anthill, but the most important was a facility that functioned as a miniature model of society. It could be any number of things: a school, a hospital, a prison, a military base, a casino, a theatre, a hotel, a prep school, etc. Any relatively closed facility that managed a group under a single system could be remade into an Anthill.

That meant Miyama was inside one such facility.

It was A Block’s international airport.

“What? Are you still falling behind on preparing for the evacuation operation? We’re pressed for time, so finish as scheduled no matter what it takes! I don’t care about trivial safety management! We need to focus on ensuring the core of the Anthill escapes!! Use your head, you fool!! They may be bloodthirsty murderers, but their skill is at Freedom’s 900 level. Do I really have to tell you that losing our valuable research results in an indiscriminate attack is simply unacceptable!?”

There was not the slightest doubt on his face as he shouted angrily into a cellphone. He truly believed that the scales of good or evil were entirely dependent on whether or not whatever it was would allow the entire project – ''including himself'' – to escape safely.

“Listen. Do not delay this evacuation operation even by a single second. I don’t care if it’s a hangnail or a mouth ulcer; even the slightest loss or damage is your responsibility. If you get that, then get those hands working! Yes, your hands! We don’t need your mouth or your brain!!”

The airport’s floorplan looked quite open, but it was cleverly designed so a full two-thirds of its space was off limits. Miyama Gouta swaggered past the strict defenses, ignored the guards who made sure to salute, and knocked on a waiting room door.

His expression made a complete about-face.

The middle-aged military officer put on an almost creepily bright smile and spoke sweetly to the young woman lounging on the sofa.

He spoke to the researcher who was a central member of the Anthill.

“I am so very sorry, Miss Heartocean. Our schedule has been delayed due to inclement weather. Once the conditions clear up, we can take off immediately.”

“Anything’s fine with me as long as you let me continue my research.”

Maria Heartocean did not bother looking in the soldier’s direction and stared at the back of her hand and her fingernails instead.

Miyama’s right temple twitched disconcertingly, but he managed to respond with a smile.

“Is there anything else you lack?”

“Everything.”

Maria said that with no hint of sarcasm. She made it sound like ''that was simply the truth.

She seemed to be displaying the colors of Government, the world police.

“I’d especially like for you to do something about the internet connection. I mean, nothing but Wi-Fi and only two antennae? Is that supposed to be a joke? Humans have a limited lifespan, so wasting time like this could lead to missing a major discovery. And can you take responsibility if that happens? How?”

“I will arrange for it right away. I was given strict orders to give you the best hospitality possible, Miss Heartocean.”

“Also, does this violate the safety standards?”

Maria pointed straight ahead.

This was the strictly guarded off-limits zone of an international airport.

This was an important Government base.

This was the core of an Anthill.

Nevertheless, a large knife was stabbed vertically into the cushion of the two-person leather sofa across from Maria Heartocean.

“''A boy wandered in here earlier and did that, but I’m not too familiar with the local slang. Do you think it’s some kind of message?''”

“Impossible…”

Miyama froze up for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Someone had carried a blade into the same room as their top priority personnel. And no one had noticed. It was just as unreasonable as finding unidentified fingerprints all over the inside of a nuclear weapons vault.

“Impossible!? Who!? How!?”

His extensive knowledge of the usual security setup robbed this feat of all reality.

He was utterly confused and turned toward the door to call for his men.

That was when Miyama Gouta saw it.

“Hi. Would you have preferred a box of chocolates?”

Alice (with) Rabbit spoke calmly with his arms folded and his back resting against the door.

“…!?”

The military officer was shocked speechless and Maria gave a casual wave.

“Yahoo. Now that I think about it, you’re still borrowing Isabelle, aren’t you? How’s she doing? Are you using her well?”

“At the very least, I’m treating her with more humanity than any of you did. I’m not entirely sure I should give her back.”

“Ah ha ha. Yeah, I guess you would figure that out. That isn’t good…”

After that quick exchange, Kyousuke turned back toward Miyama Gouta.

“Just as a warning, we didn’t use an Incense Grenade to get in. We simply used the fact that people forget all about summoners and vessels as soon as they look away. Do you get what that means?”

“Heh hehn(deadpan). I already super-sized get it.”

“That’s great, Isabelle, but I don’t think he understands just how serious the situation is yet. …And even if there’s a big event in the city, it’s probably not a good idea to have the airport workers wear costumes too. Their uniforms act as something like an ID.”

“Wha-…wha-…?”

Miyama seemed to finally remember how to breathe.

He saw Maria lightly waving at Kyousuke and realized they had gone over his head. The dirty reality of authority and hierarchy dragged his mind back to the colorful world.

He had been humiliated here.

To anyone with bureaucratic power, that felt more damaging than being stabbed with an actual knife.

“What are those lowly hired hands doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!?”

“It might be unofficial, but you’re the man in charge here and yet you fell for it more than anyone.”

Kyousuke did not bat an eye as the man stepped closer.

They glared at each other from only a few centimeters apart.

“Listen. If I can do this, then someone else can too. Just to be clear, expert assassins are a lot better at this sort of job than expert bodyguards. …Liar Cat will go even further. Once you understand that, rethink everything you’re doing here. They’re Freedom Award 920. That’s higher than 903.”

“Don’t you talk down to me! Do you have any idea who I am!?”

“Good question. Who were you again?” Kyousuke continued leaning against the door. “Were you the optimist who honestly believes bullets will magically avoid him? Or maybe you were the narrow-minded fool who has lost sight of the approaching threat because he’s so busy figuring out how to corner Aika since he hates her so much? No, maybe you were the coward who was willing to abandon all 3000 of his men just to get the last seat on the ark. …People’s reputations are just like summoner names; they’re chosen by the people around them. So what does that make you?”

“You…!! You dare criticize me while ignoring your own failure!?”

“We were after Girl’s Backdoor in the first place. Without Aika and Lu-san’s help, the initial diversion plan would have caused much more damage. Plus, the targets would all have been innocent civilian girls. And let’s not forget that we didn’t keep what we learned to ourselves. We sent Government detailed reports including sample Girl’s Backdoors. Although the only people who did anything useful with that information were Aika and Academia here. You didn’t put together any kind of plan, you ignored the threat to civilians, and then when your precious world police were attacked, you shove all the blame onto us? Didn’t I tell you that people don’t get to choose their own reputation? That’s up to the people around them.”

Kyousuke pointed to the other side of the room with his chin.

The military officer hesitantly turned around in time to hear a relaxed comment from Maria Heartocean who was looking at her fingernails on the sofa.

“To be honest, I don’t really care either way.”

“M-Miss Heartocean…?”

“But Alice (with) Rabbit did a pretty good job of proving that I’m just waiting around to be killed under the current system. I’m not sure I like the sound of that. I can’t stop wondering why I should even listen to you when I can tell you’re going to fail.”

His career was dead in the water.

That simple fact burned through the last thread of rationality in the military officer’s head.

“I-I’ll kill you. I’ll beat you to death, you damn brat!!”

“Yes, yes. Thanks for playing.”

As the military officer tried to grab him, Kyousuke slammed the man’s face against the door, knocking him out in a single blow. Then he spoke indifferently.

“Now you won’t have to lose your life in your reckless evacuation operation, so I hope you’re at least a little thankful.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). I don’t think there’s even a small-sized chance of that.”

Kyousuke showed no respect for the organization or the slightest courtesy while intruding on someone else’s territory. It was true Aika and Lu Niang Lan had made a mistake, but he was essentially forcing Government to overlook it by threatening them. From beginning to end, he selfishly prioritized his own feelings, so he could never function properly in an organization.

But.

That was exactly why Shiroyama Kyousuke belonged to Freedom rather than Government or Illegal.

Those who praised freedom above all else and hated any kind of restrictions would meet some level of resistance from society. But some of those people would force through it with their own strength and those were the people who had naturally gathered together and built a loose framework around themselves.

In that way, he was the same as Liar Cat.

If he was to take advantage of those traits, he had to understand them.

“So.” Maria looked away from her fingernails and asked a question. “What should I do now?”

“If you want a 100% chance of death, feel free to continue with Government’s plan. If you would prefer something risky but with a chance of survival, then help us.”

Kyousuke explained the counter-proposal they had come up with. It would minimize the damage and ensure they could predict and intercept Liar Cat’s attack. There was only one enemy pair, so even if it was risky, there was nothing to fear once that pair was defeated. To do that, they had to drag the most important piece of the Anthill Project – Maria – to the front line as bait. All other personnel and equipment would remain on standby. There would be no diversions or body doubles. By bringing the biggest target out in just the one place, Liar Cat would definitely take the bait, knowing full it was a trap. And when they knew the attack was coming, it would be easy to fight back.

In a way, the plan would show its effects much more quickly. But it was also like throwing the president out onto the battlefield alone to draw out the guerillas or terrorists. The king in shogi had nothing on the underside because it was assumed the king itself would not move out to the enemy side of the board to be promoted. It was a plan that the Government world police could never agree to.

But…

“That’s fine.”

It barely sounded like Maria Heartocean had even thought about her answer.

In fact, she so casually threw out Government’s standard assumptions that Kyousuke was a little worried that she had not even considered the fact that this was her life they were talking about.

“I never really cared who was handling the evacuation operation’s security or how they were doing it. As long as a product works, who cares who made it? ''As long as you have no reason to worry about its quality, that is.''”

She was implying that the military officer collapsed on the floor had been inadequate.

Isabelle tilted her head.

“I’m medium-sized worried whether everyone will accept this.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Government is all about the vertical divides, so they have to obey no matter how selfish the people above them get.”

Maria laughed.

“And I bet no one really wanted to be the sacrifice to let some VIPs escape safely. They’ll probably breathe a sigh of relief when they hear that farce has been called off. Especially when the replacement plan lets them get back at Liar Cat.”

She waved her hand.

“Also, Aika-chan’s pretty popular around here. From what I’ve heard, she really looks after people in her middleman job, so she never leaves a summoner stuck in the middle of the battlefield and she acts as a buffer with Illegal and Freedom which helps them avoid needless killing. There must have been a lot of people with a hidden dislike of how all the blame was being shoved onto her. If we give a small push in the right direction, things will change a lot easier than you think.”

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_197.jpg|thumb]]

“Then let’s do that. I’d appreciate it if you contacted us once those adjustments are complete.”

“Oh? You’re going to look after me to the end?”

“No matter how it happened, I do feel responsible for the leaked information ‘in my own way’.”

“''Are you sure it isn’t about Liar Cat?''”

“…”

Shiroyama Kyousuke briefly fell silent at her smooth reply.

There was no real sarcasm or irony in Maria Heartocean’s voice. She was simply ''stating the facts'' with a boldness unique to Government.

“Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. An unusual summoner who binds a contract with her client and thoroughly supports their revenge. For that reason, her vessel changes every time and can be seen as identical to her client. …Don’t forget that we are Government. We’re going to do our research on the enemy trying to take a bite out of us.”

And Maria continued.

“That means the summoner is in charge. Or rather, her beliefs and specs form Liar Cat’s identity. Which leads me to a very, very, verrrry interesting fact about this summoner named Biondetta.”

She laughed.

“Apparently, her full name is Biondetta Shiroyama. Interesting, no?”

===Part 4===

Shiroyama Kyousuke temporarily parted ways with his vessel Isabelle.

Toy Dream 35’s P Block contained a lot of parks and sports fields and the rooftops were being proactively covered in greenery. Kyousuke was in one of the parks there. The artificial land was as large as a soccer field and it was forcibly supported fifty meters in the air with somewhere between a few dozen and over a hundred pillars. Although the park looked more like a café terrace thanks to the chain café there.

The short grass was dyed orange by the setting sun.

Thanks to the Delayed Walpurgis, people dressed as Snow White or Little Red Riding Hood were sitting at the large rectangular tables and chatting over coffee or tea. The tables had a billiards motif and it looked like the game could actually be played on them, but with all the water drops and stains, they did not look suitable for an official game.

With all the costumes everywhere, a normal hoodie stood out.

And he had been fully aware of that fact when he came here.

Kyousuke was casually enjoying a saccharine new product with honey, milk, cinnamon, and who knows what else inside an iced coffee. His left hand felt itchy in the leather glove.

Before he could even remove the ice cubes from the transparent cup, the demon arrived.

In this city’s twisted sense of “normal”, the demon was able to blend in more than him.

“''May I sit here?''”

“''Sure.''”

The demon in a pink waitress uniform sat across from Kyousuke before he even answered.

She placed her cup, a mille crepe on a small plate, and a bottle of antibiotics on the edge of the table.

“You were waiting for me. How did you know I would be here?”

“To be honest, I had been keeping tabs on that Murasame Kuina you’re using as a vessel. I wasn’t able to put together an algorithm since I didn’t know who she was working with, but then Government contacted me. …They said the infamous Liar Cat had destroyed the Anthill in D Block.”

“Oh, my.”

“The rest was easy. One: The ''Cheshire Cat'' likes to watch the evening scenery from an elevated place. Two: The ''Cheshire Cat'' cannot go three days without honey and cream. Three: The ''Cheshire Cat'' practices hitting balls for two hours a day to hone her fingers and ensure she does not forget that feeling. You would have begun to relax now that you had all the Anthill information you needed thanks to Aika. I figured you would want to increase your efficiency by intentionally taking some time to relax before getting to work, just like the Spanish siesta.”

“You don’t have to call me that every single time, ''you damn rabbit''.”

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere grew so tense they could almost hear the sound of cracking glass.

But Kyousuke saw a nearby costumed café worker go pale as if overcome by sudden hyperventilation and the waitress demon took a bite of her mille crepe, so they both relaxed for their own reasons.

Time seemed to move once more, the oppressive sense of heavy glass left, and a normal atmosphere returned. The part-time worker in an orange pumpkin-style uniform quickly left.

“Anyway.”

The waitress demon smiled and clacked together the equipment next to her.

One was a strange Blood-Sign. A silver pipe was bent in two with a leather belt wrapped around it and a disposable handle carelessly attached to the side.

The other was a bolt-action sniper rifle that used 7.62mm rounds.

“I was fully aware of the danger, so I laid a trap. Didn’t you think I might start by sniping you even if I did come here?”

“I know ''you'' can read my algorithm to a certain extent.”

“You have your vessel positioned at the most likely spot, don’t you? So while I was lying there preparing to take the shot, she could take advantage of my narrowed focus and field of vision by hitting me over the back of the head.”

The demon took a sip of her tea and glanced to a different building’s rooftop.

Her vessel was not here either. She had laid a trap for his trap. In the end, their ideas may have been quite similar.

“But the Summoning Ceremony industry is surprisingly small. It seemed like some kind of mistake that we escaped that miniature garden 500 meters belowground, but here we are butting heads again.”

“''You'' still haven’t really escaped that place.”

“Please, call me Detta. And is it really that surprising?”

Kyousuke narrowed his eyes as he watched Biondetta pour the antibiotics into her mouth straight from the bottle.

“A summoner that binds a contract to help people with their revenge? No, what ''you’re'' doing is different. You want to take revenge and you can’t forgive yourself, so you’re forcing those words out of other people’s mouths.”

“Hee hee hee! You’re one to talk, boy. I’m no different from you.”

“…”

“You help people because you hear the cursed words of ‘help me’? You don’t really want to do it? Don’t make me laugh. When you get down to it, you want to save them and you can’t forgive yourself, so you force those words out of other people’s mouths. We’re not so different. ''We want to do it, so we create a system that allows us to do it.'' Am I wrong?”

Salvation and revenge.

They stood at complete opposite positions, but this strange pair both saw what they were doing as “helping” people.

And they were both at the 900 level, so they had the incredible power needed to fulfill that request.

“No, I’m not like ''you''. I really do want to wash my hands of all this.”

“You say that, but the second you hear those cursed words, you’ll jump right back in.”

“It is true that half the world’s problems might be my fault,” said Kyousuke to cut her off and drown her out.

A thick and hopeless darkness filled the depths of his eyes.

“But I also think it might be for the best if I stay out of it and don’t get involved. Taking responsibility is my own selfish desire and the world might be left with shallower wounds if I give up instead of making such poor attempts at a solution.”

“And leave the White Queen to do whatever she wants? When no one but you can even speak with her?”

“—————”

“See? That changed the look on your face. You can’t escape this industry, boy. No matter what you say or think, there’s nothing you can do when it has influenced your very soul.”

“''Cheshire Cat.''”

“Shut up, ''you damn rabbit''. I’m in a good mood right now.”

The reclaimed atmosphere ground to a halt once more, as if the world’s gears had jammed. The air of death that expanded did not allow the average person to even breathe adequately.

“Either way, I will not quit my revenge. Just like you and your addiction to saving people.”

“No matter what?”

“Yes, of course. That Fifteen Siblings Project held in the Queen’s Miniature Garden was quite the sinful project, but don’t you find it a fascinating sign that its products – that is, us – are involved in this incident?”

A closed miniature garden.

A facility that managed a certain number of people with a single social system and maintained a certain level of secrecy.

Fifteen people of different nationalities, religions, races, and sexes had been gathered together.

The project had been meant to thoroughly analyze familial and sibling bonds.

They wanted to make the planet one giant family.

But not as a mere ideology. In that grand farce, they had hoped to implant those bonds in all of humanity on the level of brain structure. They had truly believed that would act as the ultimate safety device that would bring an end to all conflict around the world.

To determine the effects under the harshest conditions the world had to offer, extreme environments had been artificially created using the greatest Materials of the Summoning Ceremony and the research data on them.

And this had produced…

“If you’re talking about the Anthills, you’re way off the mark.”

“But the sequence of events suggests that those were created based on data obtained from the wreckage of the Queen’s Miniature Garden. Of course, they never moved past the surface level and never even approached its true essence, but if they had, ''they would have gone far beyond simply mass-producing vessels, don’t you think?''”

“Half of the fifteen died in that war and the other half reached the 900 level. Just as an honest question, do you really think that was all thanks to the ‘lessons’ there?”

“It’s impossible to know for sure at this point. But personally, I think it had more to do with our careless contact with the Queen. But I can’t even be sure of that. The Queen might see it in reverse. I get the feeling she would point at you and insist it was all her brother’s doing.”

“…”

It had not failed.

They had simply failed to predict what would happen once it succeeded.

“So you’re saying an incomplete Fifteen Siblings Project was turned into a vessel mass-production project?”

“If so, we have the right to tear it down since that project messed with our lives. ''I have a reason to take revenge and an excuse that justifies my doing so.'' Isn’t that exciting?”

Why had no one realized the truth?

It was true that certain kinds of love and affection might develop between families and siblings.

But it was not restricted to that.

For example, the death of any one of humanity’s seven billion people would bring the same shock as losing a close relative. So could anyone maintain their sanity when people died on a daily basis?

For example, there were feelings fostered by sibling bonds beyond love and affection...such as hatred. If that intimate hatred covered the world, wouldn’t the subsequent destruction be far deeper rooted than with normal negative emotions?

“How did this happen?” asked Kyousuke without expecting an answer. “A lot happened in the Queen’s Miniature Garden, but not all of the fifteen arrived on the same path as ''you''. ''Cheshire Cat'', what did ''you'' see there? How did you end up like this?”

“Shut the hell up, ''you damn rabbit''. You’re the one that completed your Sewn Realm Summoning during the Fifteen Siblings Project. That stabilized the White Queen and allowed us all to view her from different angles. It may have been the Queen’s fear, the Queen’s passion, the Queen’s violence, or the Queen’s allure.”

The waitress demon counted on her fingers as she spoke.

And then…

“But you were the only one to see the Queen’s love. You’re the one I have a question for, ''you damn rabbit''. How did you manage to keep your sanity? After seeing that incarnation of destruction, how were you able to accept the Queen? What did you learn about her that would allow you to even consider that possibility?”

“Accept…?”

Shiroyama Kyousuke’s mind went blank.

Unable to understand, he repeated the words as if throwing them back at her.

“You’re saying I’ve…accepted the White Queen?”

“Of course.” The demon smiled while pointing right at the boy’s nose. “I seek revenge because – no matter how nauseatingly disgusting I find it – the very roots of my soul were influenced by the Queen’s hatred I saw back then. Similarly…”

''Oh, no,'' thought Kyousuke.

He could not let himself hear this. Because they knew each other so well, these fatal words would pierce straight through his heart’s defenses.

“Your ‘help me’ syndrome is a role the powerful White Queen was supposed to play, isn’t it? She is summoned because people seek her, she fights because she is called upon, she saves every last life through absolute victory, and even the enemy bows down to her after the battle. She is supposed to be a saint who saves two hundred when trying to save one hundred. …How can you snuggle up with the Queen with that refreshed look on your face? It’s just plain creepy.”

His mind fell into darkness.

===Part 5===

Atop another building in P Block, another confrontation was underway among the greenery growing on the square rooftop.

It looked like a scene from a costume party.

Isabelle had been waiting on that building in case a sniper targeted Kyousuke during his meeting with Biondetta. When taking into account line of fire, wind direction, the layout of the buildings, the flow of the crowds, the location of the sun, etc., there were relatively few good sniper spots even in a wide open area. That was why there were experts who took all that into account and used it to their advantage.

“…”

As Isabelle waited there, she heard someone stepping on the gravel.

And as soon she looked that way…

“…I found you.”

“?”

“I finally found you!! Sayuri!!”

A girl with semi-long brown hair and an exposed midriff had suddenly appeared. It was Murasame Kuina. Isabelle’s eyes widened in confusion as the girl tightly wrapped her arms around her.

Still held in the girl’s arms, Isabelle pulled her head back a little.

“Nuuun(deadpan). You do not seem to be hiding the components to a super-sized sniper rifle, so I will attempt to engage you in conversation.”

“Hm? What is it, Sayuri?”

“However…”

The red military uniform girl’s eyes clearly focused on the girl in front of her.

“''My name is super-sized not Sayuri. It is Isabelle.''”

“''What are you talking about? Your name is not Isabelle!''”

Isabelle stepped back several meters for no real reason.

She had not particularly changed her location and she was not hiding, but Murasame Kuina seemed satisfied and spoke to her more quietly this time.

“Listen. Your name is Kawamo Sayuri. You were a normal middle school girl living in Harukawa City…no, in Toy Dream 40. You haven’t had any military training and you aren’t part of some weird group called Government. You really are just a middle school girl. You would go home without participating in any clubs, you were awful at anything athletic, and you always stuck by my side!”

“?”

“Oh, honestly!! Just look at this picture! This is you!”

The girl grabbed the thin chain around her neck and pulled an accessory out from the chest of her clothing. It was about the size of a large coin and it seemed to be a locket. She snapped it open to reveal the face of a slender Asian girl with long black hair.

Isabelle viewed the photo from a distance instead of moving closer for a better look. She seemed to be keeping distance between them and keeping an eye out for a surprise attack while her focus was on the photo.

“My face is not this expressionless. Zuuun (deadpan). This is super-sized wrong.”

“''The way you’re acting now is what’s wrong!'' That Anthill Project messed with your very soul!!”

Murasame Kuina grabbed the shoulders of the red military uniform and roughly shook Isabelle while shouting at her.

But it did not get through.

It was like an infinite panel of soundproof glass separated them.

“How much do you know about the spiritual damage research that Government has been doing?”

“Not even a small-sized amount.”

“Oh, honestly. At least that part of you hasn’t changed,” groaned the girl. “Listen. That’s a catchall term for all the impurities, bugs, errors, or whatever you want to call them that stick to people’s souls. They cause illness, insanity, and other bad things, so the usual desire is to find a way to get rid of them.”

“Now that you mention it, that is exactly what I thought it was. Point (deadpan).

“You weren’t thinking anything of the sort, were you? Anyway, they’ve shifted beyond that. Simply put, they want to ''improve people’s specs'' by attaching artificially-created spiritual damage to their souls.”

Kuina looked disgusted just saying it.

But she continued despite the bitter look on her face.

“It’s the digital version of what has long been known as an evil spirit or ''namanari''. They start eating raw meat for nutrition, they grow horns from their head, they grow hair all over their body, and they grow claws and fangs… You can just think of it as redesigning a human. If they wanted to, they could probably give you wings to fly through the sky or gills to breathe underwater. And if Government can do that, ''surely you can tell that you mustn’t rely on your current appearance.''”

“…”

In her red hat, Isabelle – or the girl going by that name – looked down at her hands.

The Anthills.

That project added the traits of a vessel to artificially create vessels.

“Hey, you’re a vessel, so you know the penalty when you lose, right?”

“O-of course. I have a super-sized understanding of that. Ah ha ah ha ha (deadpan).”

“You do actually know that, don’t you!? A-ahem. The loser’s heart is hit by the same shock as seeing the god they worship killed before their eyes. They’re stuck in a mindless daze for twenty four hours and they’ll slowly obey what anyone says like a zombie. But it normally doesn’t leave any lasting effects. Yes, normally.”

“Am I not normal?”

“No. Government must have given you certain orders afterwards: ‘Stand and fight. Summon something in sound range *** with a cost of *** and then lose.’ The loser can’t fight a complex battle, but there may have been something assisting you. And what do you think would happen to a human soul after doing that every few minutes…no, every half minute or so?”

“Nuuun (deadpan)…???”

“Then I’ll tell you. There are different patterns to a damaged heart. By having you summon the Materials on a list put together for a certain purpose and then losing each time, they can reshape your soul how they want. It’s a lot like chiseling away at a stone pillar. …And that’s what Isabelle is. The pillar named Kawamo Sayuri was chiseled away again and again and again!! They chiseled away at you until you were an unrecognizable vessel!!”

Government was an ally of justice and they likely believed they were doing the right thing.

Even if they were creating a new table by taking apart, sawing at, and hammering at a beautiful paulownia dresser without knowing its value.

Thus, this was different from multiple personalities. It was more like a diamond created from a corpse.

The original person was no more. There was not a neat and tidy distinction between one and the other. Just as the picture in the locket and the blonde-haired blue-eyed military uniform girl looked nothing alike.

There was only Isabelle now.

“Hmm. Your claim does not even make a small-sized amount of sense.”

“Why not?”

“Summoners and vessels work together as a set, so a summoner’s soul would have had to be destroyed along with mine.”

“Oh, that.”

“The Anthills are supposed to mass-produce vessels, so destroying a summoner for each vessel is super-sized inefficient…”

“It’s simple. Government sacrificed someone. That’s all.”

“?”

“One-on-one, they would destroy a summoner along with the vessel. But they just had to pair the mindless and broken summoner with another vessel candidate. And then they just had to give their orders. That summoner just had to bind contract after contract after contract after contract after contract after contract… The summoner doesn’t actually die. They don’t die, but they have to continue the process forever. Their life becomes nothing more than losing mock battles alongside each new vessel candidate. That’s a tragedy in its own right. That is the truth of the Anthills.”

Everyone had called them Anthills.

They may have assumed that was in reference to the building or facility.

But it was not.

The ants were eating through a person, not a thing.

Just like letting maggots crawl through stinky cheese, they intentionally opened holes in a human soul that was on the verge of crumbling into nothingness. While smiling at the improved flavor and value, they viewed the collapse as a good thing. It was a noble’s game.

“Unfortunately…”

Murasame Kuina bit her lip and kept her voice low.

“It doesn’t look likely that it’s possible to make you Kawamo Sayuri again. The research on the soul itself hasn’t gotten far and the greatest experts are in Government. But Government is full of scum and a single mistake could kill you instantly or transform you into some bizarre form. There’s nothing we can do.”

“…”

“But.”

At this point, the girl’s tone dropped even lower. Rather than coming from a vibration in her throat, it sounded like pure resentment seeping out from some other invisible organ.

“The people who did this and made you like this? I will send every last one of them to hell. Showing them hell isn’t enough. I need to send them all there. That’s all I can do, but because it’s all I can do, I will do it as best I can. You’ll see.”

Perhaps it was coming directly from her soul.

It was like a dark red mist that would be fatal to merely touch or inhale.

“So withdraw from all of this, Sayuri. You don’t need to protect them. You have no reason to. More importantly, the summoner I’ve bound a contract with is perfect. Biondetta will smash it all to pieces and I don’t want you caught in that.”

“I…” said the military uniform girl as her shoulders trembled. “I’m not very smart, so I don’t understand all these details even a small-sized amount.”

“Sayuri!!”

“Call me Isabelle. Sayuri doesn’t sound right to me.” She looked up. “But if I was created as something super-sized new after chiseling away a large pillar…”

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_217.jpg|thumb]]

She looked to the eyes of the girl she had once walked beside.

“And if, regardless of how it was made, it is a human soul that keeps me moving…”

And she said it.

Was this Kawamo Sayuri or Isabelle? Had this been there from the beginning or had it been added on later?

She did not know, but she spoke the honest thoughts in her mind.

“Then I don’t know if I should let my hatred destroy ‘this’.”

“…!!”

Isabelle heard the sound of teeth grinding together.

It came from Murasame Kuina. Her left hand trembled ominously in its leather glove. That was Girl’s Backdoor. When shaped like a gun, the strange device could control the young girl it pointed at. But Murasame Kuina did not aim it at Isabelle. She knew that was the simplest answer, but she could not let herself do it.

After all, Murasame Kuina knew that perfect answer had not come from the creation known as Isabelle. Her deep understanding of the girl named Kawamo Sayuri told her that.

But.

That was the real problem.

“Why did they have to take so much from you…?”

It lit the fire.

Massive firepower danced inside the internal combustion engine known as revenge.

“Why did the girl who thought like that have to be chewed up and spat back out as something entirely different all for someone else’s benefit!? Why did someone who thinks like that have to have her heart destroyed!?”

“…”

“You weren’t chosen because you had one-in-a-billion talent. It wasn’t because you drew a legendary sword, because you were delivered by an angel from heaven, or because of any other grand trigger! Biondetta told me even I probably had better talent as a vessel. But Government chose you because they wanted to know ''if they could make something usable out of a completely normal person''!! That was all!! Government gathered people like they were searching for files and throwing them in the trash! They gathered them and used them up!! And yet…!!”

“But that is not even a small-sized reason to overlook what you are doing now.”

“Kh.”

“No one wanted you to do this.”

“Khhh.”

“''I don’t want you to do this. I super-sized don’t want it.''”

“Then!! What am I supposed to doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?”

Murasame Kuina let out a roar as if filling the world itself with her resentment.

She already knew that.

She had understood it from the very, very beginning.

Even if she had been worried, a kindhearted girl like Kawamo Sayuri would not want anyone to take vengeance on her murderer. If the alternative was someone dirtying their hands like that or letting it influence them forevermore, she would have preferred to be forgotten.

But Murasame Kuina could not accept that.

It was her, not anyone else in the world, who could not allow it.

Revenge was nothing more than a way of soothing one’s own heart. By losing oneself in the act of revenge, they could avoid looking at the unbearable loss that felt like an insurmountable wall towering before them.

She knew that.

She knew that, she knew that, she knew that!!

So was she supposed to coldly process the information and continue forward? Was the proper human response to trample on her anger and loss with the precision of a clock’s second hand and dispassionately continue on into the future?

She did not think so.

She did not care if that conclusion meant her gears were broken.

When it came down to it, the girl named Murasame Kuina ''did not want to forget.

The everyday life she had assumed would continue like normal had been cruelly destroyed beyond repair. Her childhood friend of ten years had been altered and destroyed until she did not even recognize her own name.

She did not want to accept that.

She did not want to move beyond that.

So…

Her vengeance was directed at more than just a simple criminal. Society, the world, and the current age acted as tyrants who could only make justifications for using overwhelming quantity and speed to wash away, fade, and erode what she cared about most. She did not want that and could not accept that, so to protect “what had once been”, she acted alone to face it all.

A fierce wind blew back at her.

A great pressure pushed back at her like a flash flood or a landslide.

But the girl had challenged it all head-on and made it this far.

And so much of her had been worn away in the process.

“I refuse to accept it.”

Her voice sounded like the heavy creaking of a giant rusty gear being forced into motion.

“This might all be for naught and I might be meaninglessly running away from reality, but I don’t care. Those people tore Kawamo Sayuri to shreds and feasted on the profit, so I absolutely refuse to just let them go! Even if the entire world and you yourself don’t want it!! I still won’t accept it!!!!”

That was likely a form of justice.

And that made it much harder to stop than a simple evil deed.

Revenge was a justice that did not forgive, did not save, and did not bring happiness.

“…elp…”

Isabelle finally spoke as if she had been overwhelmed.

The unclear sound grew to a quiet voice.

“Help.”

But she was not asking to be saved from this revenge.

Nor was she speaking on behalf of the researchers who had created her.

The face in the picture did not look right.

The name she heard did not sound right.

But this was still someone who was willing to express anger on her behalf.

So…

“Please help my friend.”

===Part 6===

Shiroyama Kyousuke had first met Isabelle before binding a contract with her to take down the old-fashioned Illegal fighters over the Pacific.

It had been aboard the large Repliglass transport ship known as a Whooper Swan.

He had first asked if her name really was Isabelle.

She had not understood the point of the question, so she had answered that any name was fine: Sayuri, Isabelle, Before, or After. Even Doll or Weapon was acceptable. What she was called had no real meaning.

The boy had looked up into the sky.

When she had asked why, he had simply held a file out toward her.

It had given the name of their expected enemy.

A vessel was after revenge and working with an unknown summoner.

The vessel’s name was Murasame Kuina.

The file had nothing to do with the midair battle over the Pacific. Shiroyama Kyousuke had already found bits and pieces of information on the enemy they were expected to run into that after that skirmish was over.

And he had known the reason behind the girl’s revenge.

He had not known what Government was doing, but he had known that Isabelle was the result and that some kind of sacrifice had been made.

None of it had held much meaning for Isabelle.

She could not remember her original face or name.

Nothing in the file had seemed real to her.

But.

Even so.

The created girl named Isabelle had felt a slight ache in her heart when she saw the attached photo. She had not wanted that person to dirty their hands or destroy their body for her. She had not known where that feeling came from, but she had obeyed who she was at the moment. She had accepted it as correct.

So…

“Help her.”

The words had naturally left her lips.

She had pointed to her own chest with her thumb and relied on the slight feeling that remained inside her.

“Help this girl’s friend.”

But…

“No, I don’t think so.”

The summoner had shaken his head.

And he had said something else instead.

“''But I’ll lend you a hand as soon as you’re willing to call her your friend.''”

===Part 7===

A metallic sound burst out.

It came from Shiroyama Kyousuke and Biondetta.

They had both pulled out an Incense Grenade and slammed the bottom of it against the café billiards table.

It was like slamming down an empty glass after downing a strong drink.

The savior and the avenger glared at each other across the rectangular table.

“''I will save Isabelle and her friend.''”

“Oh? You aren’t giving in even after I brought up the Queen? How rare.”

“''I don’t care if I’m contradicting myself. I can think that through later. None of that has anything to do with Isabelle who is asking for help right this instant.''”

“Hee hee. You are obsessed with battle, aren’t you? The two of us are so very similar.”

She could say whatever she wanted.

She could mock and deride him however she wished.

With his eyes displaying renewed faith in himself, Kyousuke reached for the pin of the Incense Grenade he pressed against the table.

Horned Biondetta responded in kind.

“Even so…”

The savior rabbit made a definite declaration.

“Yes…”

The vengeance cat spoke in the exact same tone of voice.

“''I will never stop helping people.''”

“''I will never stop helping people.''”

They pulled the pins.

They kicked their chairs back as they stood up and simultaneously pulled out their Blood-Signs. After precisely five seconds, both Incense Grenades detonated. A twenty meter Artificial Sacred Ground was constructed and the two vessel girls were forcibly called over from the distant building rooftop.

“Let’s do this, Biondetta!!”

“I have decided on a super-sized reward for myself! So I will fight that girl!!”

The battle had begun before the girls even landed.

It was an extreme close-range fight. The opening ritual was the breaking of the three-dimensional Rose made of Petals, but they interfered with even that.

“Bang☆”

Biondetta acted first. With an explosive sound, she fired a sniper rifle round at close range.

She had yet to unfold her Blood-Sign, so she pulled the trigger in that state.

Kyousuke forcibly kept it away with his Repliglass Blood-Sign and rotated the Blood-Sign to let the force escape. He swung the long rod around for a powerful blow, but Biondetta used her folded gun barrel to hold it back and forcibly grabbed the heated joint of hers. She ignored the disconcerting sizzling sound as she unfolded the Blood-Sign. A second and third exchange followed.

They slipped through the slightest opening to launch White Thorns.

One from each of them struck the Rose simultaneously and the 216 Petals scattered across the Artificial Sacred Ground.

As the Petals were hit into the Spots, the two vessels changed form.

Murasame Kuina became the Original Green (k). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 1.

Isabelle became the Original Yellow (s). Sound Range: High. Cost: 1.

They were both three meter slime Materials, but then something strange happened.

Kyousuke and Biondetta climbed directly onto the billiards table and directly clashed before the Materials could.

The attempt was obstructed by their protective circles, but those monsters of the 900s did not care.

“''Cheshire Cat''!!”

“Shut up, ''you damn rabbit''!!”

They glared at each other.

It was almost like infighting in boxing, except they fought with their 180cm Blood-Signs.

Not even the Blood-Signs could break through the enemy’s protective circle, but anything else was fair game. When one Blood-Sign left its protective circle, the other would strike it. They deflected, diverted, and pushed. They worked to throw off their opponent’s aim, obstruct the growth of their Material, and gain the advantage themselves.

They seemed to be using spear or staff techniques, but it went beyond that.

The essence of a battle between summoners was building up their Materials and having them clash violently.

They would find slight gaps in the direct battle or work the interference into their plans and thus use the diverted path of their Blood-Sign to launch their White Thorns accurately around the Artificial Sacred Ground. A cushion of three or four ricochets was standard. Sometimes, they needed a complex set of six or seven ricochets to accurately hit the necessary Petal into a Spot.

This was a battle between those at the 900 level.

This was the realm of the monster children born from the results of the Fifteen Siblings Project.

It was a clash between savior and avenger.

Learning the rules of the occult and treating the Summoning Ceremony like a game…''was just plain silly''. This was the ultimate form of the ceremony in which they used everything the world had to offer in order to bring down the enemy before their eyes.

Kyousuke had the Feasting Flower (l v z – j). Sound Range: High. Cost: 4.

Biondetta had the Dancing Hammer (k k – h d i). Sound Range: High. Cost: 5.

Kyousuke had the Blood-Seeking Spear (b i h – e i – d p – t q). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 9.

Biondetta had the Scorpion’s Tail in the Sandstorm (h u – c e – k k – d i – a – x). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 10.

Kyousuke had the Glittering Steel Mantis Reaper 05 (v i – o u – q u c – s n – a – r o l – e i – y w – f v – l i). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 21.

Biondetta had the Bubbling Gears that Bring Aging and Reap Lifespans (n j – o u – h a – j v – a – l m – e i –t z – k r – n o – x i – g). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 22.

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_231.jpg|thumb]]
One was a five meter mantis seemingly made of silver armor. That ultimate predator sliced through everything with its scythes that glittered like laser blades, bit into it all, brought it to its mouth, and chewed it apart.

The other was a collection of countless gears of varying size, making it one of the most inorganic Materials. That bizarre sadist sent the grinding sound of its interlocking gears slipping into the target’s ears, which caused them to rapidly age like some kind of curse.

Kyousuke had made the first move, but Biondetta had followed after and always matched his sound range. Plus, her cost was always one above his. As he was acting first, Kyousuke’s Material was naturally more worn down and cost was everything in the same sound range, so it was like being forced into a race where your rival’s car was always blocking the way ahead.

But that just meant he had to put a stop to that.

During their high-speed exchange of White Thorns, Kyousuke used every method he had to interfere with her: grabbing at her Blood-Sign with his, throwing a smoke or stun grenade disguised as an Incense Grenade, using his Blood-Sign to grab at the coffee or tea cups on the tables and throw them at her, etc.

But none of it got through.

She kicked away the smoke grenade, she placed a metal tray over the stun grenade and stomped on it, she dodged the drink containers so they would not even hit her protective circle.

And in response, Biondetta spread her legs to shoulder width.

Kyousuke naturally grew cautious of what was hidden up that short skirt.

(Is it an interference style of grenade!?)

“Your gaze.”

Hearing that, he realized the action had been a feint.

“Tch!!”

He quickly looked up just in time to hear Biondetta clack her back teeth unnaturally. The sharp light of a magnesium reaction escaped the demon’s mouth and stabbed into his eyes.

“Isn’t being two steps ahead the standard for us?”

In that slight pause and safe period she had created, Biondetta’s Blood-Sign rapidly launched a White Thorn. It was not a strength-focused power shot. She just barely grazed the far right edge of the glowing white sphere for an intense spin shot. The White Thorn drew a sharp curve like a boomerang and accurately struck a certain Petal.

“My formation is already complete.”

It was a small pile of three or four Petals.

And when they scattered, they reached other piles.

And on and on and on.

“My mirror-image copying strategy is only a smokescreen to hide my true intent.”

More and more Petals were hit like falling dominoes, the chain reaction grew, and they were all flooded into the Spots. With each one, Biondetta’s Material grew with frightening speed. Instead of a great number at once, it was a great number in a row. She built up the cost in no time as if running up a flight of stairs.

“And that true intent is to lay landmines which trigger a chain reaction!! Once the avalanche has begun, you have no way to stop it!!”

It was like a clean sweep.

The next thing he knew, she had exceeded a level that could be described with cost difference and sound range.

As Biondetta shook her tail decoration, a tall dark figure spoken of in Egyptian mythology stood next to her. That evil god was the symbol of injustice who ruled over dryness and darkness. He had killed Osiris, ruler of the underworld, and temporarily taken his throne.

In other words, this was from the Divine-class.

Kyousuke was still stuck in the Regulation-class, so there was simply no way for him to defeat this.

“Farewell, savior. Farewell, my despicable mirror-image.”

Biondetta lightly spun her Blood-Sign around like a baton as she smiled thinly. She rested the long rod on her shoulder and spoke.

“When you next wake, this will all be over. So rest easy and enjoy the taste of defeat.”

The waitress demon snapped her other hand’s fingers.

A moment later, the darkness rushed in.

The dark figure’s silhouette crumbled into a deadly mist that dried up everything it touched. And that flew toward Kyousuke’s Material…toward Isabelle.

No Regulation-class Material of any sound range could defeat a Divine-class.

Thus, she should have been destroyed in a single blow.

And she would have been if not for the high-pitched sound as Kyousuke himself cut in between them inside his protective circle.

That circle would remain as long as his Material was not destroyed and he would not experience the mindlessness of defeat.

The protective circle defended against all external and internal factors that would obstruct the summoner….or rather, the ceremony itself.

Biondetta spun around the Blood-Sign that had been resting on her shoulder.

“Stalling for time earns you nothing.”

“True, this doesn’t solve the fundamental problem. And this cheap trick won’t work again. My kinetic vision can’t keep up with a Divine-class’s movements. And more importantly, all Materials are filled with combative instincts, so it’ll probably charge at me itself.”

Yes.

If this strategy was effective, the theory of these battles would be very different. The summoners would stand out front to receive all the attacks while the Material bombarded their enemy from safety.

But that was not how things worked.

The Material moved out front and the summoner stayed back. There was a good reason for that.

And yet…

“But it took you an awful long time to set everything up, didn’t it? The Artificial Sacred Ground lasts for an average of ten minutes. So how much time has passed? Eight minutes? Nine? The White Thorns are recharged every ten seconds, so it shouldn’t be that hard to keep track of the time.”

“You don’t mean…?”

“I just have to escape.”

He thrust his Blood-Sign forward this time.

“Besides, this isn’t our real fight. So thanks for showing off that special strategy that I’m sure you’ve put a lot of effort into developing. I think I’ll put that data to good use when it comes to our evacuation operation.”

“You…''you damn rabbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit''!!”

Kyousuke did not respond to Biondetta’s rage.

He spoke to his partner instead.

“Isabelle, destroy our footing!!”

<——————>

“Isabelle, don’t get too hung up on this one chance!!”

<Gashiiiin (deadpan). I want three scoops of maple cream ice cream as a super-sized compromise.>

The ground split and swallowed up everything.

Kyousuke, Biondetta, and the two Materials all fell straight down. They fell several dozen meters within the forest of dozens…no, of more than a hundred pillars that supported the large park. They fell straight toward the ocean below.

“Ma’am!! You can do it now! Focus your aim on-…”

As soon as Biondetta shouted to her vessel, the protective circle wavered around her. Then it vanished and the powerful wind struck her unprotected body from below.

(The ten minutes are up!?)

The monsters created from the girls returned to their original forms.

(But that’s fine. Wherever we land, I just have to use an Incense Grenade…no, my sniper rifle…!!)

Biondetta’s mind was boiling, but then she noticed Kyousuke smiling thinly her way as they both fell at the same speed.

His lips moved.

His voice did not have time to reach her, but she could tell what he was saying.

“Your protective circle is gone.”

“…?”

“So you need to be careful. There’s nothing left to protect ''you''.”

“Wha-…!? Oh, no!?”

She did not have time to shout.

One of the countless pillars had something like a metal tower or framework sticking out horizontally. As soon as she spotted that maintenance crane shaft with its attached pulley, a dreadfully dull sound burst out.

Kyousuke did not bother checking what happened to Biondetta after she vanished from view. He extended his arms and legs to control his midair position and approached Isabelle who was also falling.

He held her in his arms and aimed for the ocean surface.

They produced a mighty splash.

===Part 8===

An object quietly swayed back and forth in midair.

“Honestly…”

It was the waitress demon named Biondetta.

Just before colliding with the crane shaft, she had used the wind pressure and her position to twist around like an acrobat jumper and wrapped her entire body in the long leather belt that normally held her Blood-Sign. And instead of randomly, it was calculated out to distribute the impact to her body like a parachute harness.

Then she had intentionally wrapped it around the metal framework of the crane shaft to fully escape the impact that should have torn off a limb if not breaking her torso in two.

Her cellphone rang.

She answered it while still dangling down and heard the voice of her client and vessel Murasame Kuina.

“Where are you!?”

“If you look up, you should see my finest pair of adult underwear.”

“Well, as long as you can still move. I landed in the water safely, so let’s decide where to meet up.”

“Yes, of course. But please be on the lookout for ''that damn rabbit''. He loves tricks as much as me, so I could see him finding you on your own and defeating you to avoid the battle between summoners.”

“Then you come get me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She manipulated the leather belt so it seemed to move on its own like a strange tentacle and she managed to climb on top of the complicated framework of the crane shaft.

The closest emergency staircase was three meters away, but she did not hesitate to take the jump without a running start. She did not reach the landing on her level, but her feet accurately found the landing a level lower.

“It hurts that he managed to get away with knowledge of our technique. Biondetta, do you have a way to make up for that lost advantage?”

“I will prepare anything you desire, ma’am.”

Biondetta jumped more than ran down the emergency stairs located alongside the pillar.

“I already explained that there is a good possibility that their evacuation operation and bodyguard plan have been changed, didn’t I?”

“What about it?”

“Given the balance of power within Government, ''that damn rabbit'' won’t be able to change their bodyguard plans so easily. To put it another way, they’ll ignore him at some point. And that will create friction. I just need to read his algorithm. I just need to ask what I would do.”

“Get to the point.”

“I can settle this with a single phone call.”

She arrived at the lowest level which was just off the ocean’s surface.

She removed the cellphone from her ear and spoke directly to the soaking wet girl in front of her.

“What demon doesn’t whisper into the ear of an impure soul to bend them to her will?”

===Part 9===

Kyousuke and Isabelle had arrived on the opposite bank.

The leather glove on his left hand felt uncomfortable after soaking up the seawater, but he could not complain.

They climbed onto the concrete base and used the emergency stairs to arrive at a giant bridge covered in pedestrians. He casually glanced around, but the costume event worked against him here. That striking waitress uniform would be buried among all the outfits of the Delayed Walpurgis.

The Government coordinator spoke to him over his smartphone.

“Alice (with) Rabbit, Government has made some adjustments based on your request. For the withdrawal operation, we can spare a Stingray Repliglass transport ship and a Blue Whale Repliglass submarine. They will be carrying the classified server that acts as the core unit of the entire Anthill Project and Miss Maria Heartocean who leads the project. Is that acceptable?”

“Perfectly.”

“I have emailed you the details of the plan, but simply put, the Stingray will pick up Miss Heartocean within Toy Dream 35, carry her to the Blue Whale outside the city, and that will dive to bring her out of the country. You can only help in the Stingray zone which is the only part that Liar Cat can attack.”

“That’s fine. The ''Cheshire Cat'' is bound to show up no matter how obvious a trap it is. She isn’t going to wait for her revenge to grow cold.”

“…Are you saying you’ve already made contact with her?”

Kyousuke hung up without answering.

Isabelle shook her head like a wet dog and looked up at him with water dripping from her.

“I said it in the beginning.”

“Yeah.”

“As long as you fulfill my objective in the very, very end, I’ll go along with a super-sized number of detours.”

“I remember. So let’s go save your friend who’s been deceived by that liar of a cat. …It’s true she may have been the initial spark, but it never would have grown this much without that ''Cheshire Cat'' continually dumping fuel onto it.”

What was salvation to the girl named Isabelle and what could he do to help her?

Not even he knew that anymore.

She was a cheaply and simply made vessel. For that purpose alone, her soul had been eaten away, her physical appearance had crumbled due to that, and not even her own parents or best friend could have recognized the pitiful ruins she had become. She was what had budded from that.

But the girl had hoped for something.

Her sense of self, mind, personality, memories, and everything else were only vaguely defined, but she had still wanted to save the friend whose name and face she could not remember but who she had apparently once walked alongside.

That was her most pressing desire and she felt granting it would save her as well.

So Alice (with) Rabbit would respect the definition Isabelle had found for herself.

He would respect the heart that, before even thinking of saving herself, had wished to return that misguided friend to the proper path.

“I’ll ask you as many times as it takes. Bow (deadpan).”

“Right.”

“''Please help my friend.''”

It was only slightly different from the cold and distant request she had made before.

But the words had definitely come from the small girl’s heart.

It was not someone’s empty shell.

It was not the mere vestiges of someone.

It truly came from the heart of the girl named Isabelle.

Kyousuke still had no definite definition of what would save this girl.

But he smiled just a little.

In the end, he was taking the same path as Biondetta. It was a twisted path that could never be seen as straight. At first glance, it looked like he was granting a request, but he was really drawing out the words he most wanted to hear. He knew that, but he was still satisfied.

Even if that path was about to crumble away, he still believed it could bear the weight of at least one life.

“As you wish.”

The summoner and the vessel disappeared into the crowd.

The sun would set soon.

Then the all-important Anthill evacuation operation would slice through the darkness.

===Or a Story Set Further in the Past===

They had been together since they were little.

They had always, always been together.

Even among childhood friends and groups of friends, a leader or a hierarchy tended to form. But that sort of distortion never seemed to form between Murasame Kuina and Kawamo Sayuri.

They could decide who made the day’s decisions with a coin toss.

Sometimes Murasame Kuina would tug on her friend’s hand and head out to play, but other times Kawamo Sayuri would selfishly insist they were going out to eat ice cream and crepes. If someone had asked them who the leader was, they both would have immediately pointed at their own face and said “me”. But that was fine. That was why they were truly equal friends, unlike the other groups whose equality was only skin deep.

''“Kuina-chan, over here.”

''“Eh heh heh. We’re in the same class again.”

''“What should we do over the next break? Is there anywhere you want to go?”

Of course, it was a human relationship, so there had been complications.

But in the end, they had shared everything.

They had always found themselves smiling together once it was all over. They had been the best of friends.

No matter what happened, they had assumed there was no way they could ever be separated.

''“Let’s make a promise.”

''“If either of us runs into some kind of trouble, we’ll go help each other out.”

''“It’s a promise. Okay, Sayuri?”

“…”

Murasame Kuina remembered something that filled her with despair.

She stood by a grave as the sun set. She had made it herself. There had been no remains and no one knew whether Kawamo Sayuri was alive or dead, so the grave was empty.

“I told myself I wouldn’t cry in front of her,” she muttered as the waitress demon stood next to her. “But she must have told herself the same thing. She was a crybaby and a worrier. It was the worst possible combination, but she was always smiling in front of me.”

She remembered. Only Murasame Kuina remembered.

The girl had seemed plain and quiet, but she had actually been a jack-of-all-trades who could do anything. But she had never noticed her own value and instead focused on collecting mascots like Juddark and Sheriff Kitty even after entering middle school. Instead of climbing to the next stage, she had believed happiness lay in what she already had. She had been Cinderella before finding the fairy godmother.

It was a meaningless conversation.

The endlessly dry air blew between the two of them.

And finally, Biondetta quietly spoke.

“Ma’am.”

“What?”

“There is no need to restrain yourself any longer.”

That had been her limit.

Murasame Kuina’s face crumpled and something clogged inside her flowed out. Her tear ducts opened and large clear drops filled her eyes.

Before they could fall down her cheeks, the waitress demon embraced the girl.

All she could do was cry.

“Why!? Why!?”

All the words she had been holding back spilled out and she shouted at the world’s unfairness.

“Why did it have to be Sayuri? Why did she have to be chosen, why did she have to have everything taken from her, and why did she have to be made into a toy for whoever those Government people are!? Why did she have to have her soul messed with and her body and personality destroyed! That…that isn’t Sayuri anymore! She looks like a French doll made from her body!! Why did something so terrible have to happen to her!?”

Biondetta said nothing.

She simply waited as her client let out everything she had kept bottled up in her chest.

“And worst of all, why don’t we have the power to turn her back into Sayuri!? I don’t care about any of this summoner or vessel stuff. I couldn’t care less about the gods or the Unexplored-class beyond them!! If you have so much power stored up, then why can’t you save just one girl!?”

It was a lament of despair.

It was a cry of resentment toward herself and others and a call for the destruction of the world.

But Biondetta did not laugh. Nor did she show any disgust or mockery.

Who had decided that the will of the world mattered more than individual circumstances? Who had decided that a small heart had to be crushed when it saw that giant metal ball at the top of a slope?

It had nothing to do with logic, efficiency, calculations, or profit.

What was wrong with fighting simply to fulfill one’s own heart?

“Ma’am.”

Biondetta quietly spoke to Murasame Kuina who continued to bawl in her arms like a child.

“It is true I lack the power to save Miss Kawamo Sayuri. My power may not be what you truly desire.”

She spoke earnestly and sincerely.

She gathered strength in the arms around the girl.

“But if you wish, I will assist you with any form of revenge. There is no need to worry about the realistic difficulty of it. I am Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. I am nothing more than a tool to accomplish your revenge.”

“…”

The girl simply sobbed for a while.

But as time slowly passed, Murasame Kuina wrapped her arms around the waitress demon’s back. She grabbed at the fabric and clenched it so very, very tightly that it nearly tore.

“Lend me your strength, Biondetta…”

That resentful voice seemed to echo up from the depths of hell.

At the same time, it was the voice of a girl who felt hopelessly trapped.

“I can never forgive Government!! They turned Sayuri into that!! They tore our memories to pieces! And yet they have the nerve to call themselves the world police!! So I don’t care if it’s wrong or if it means straying from the proper path! Lend me your strength, Biondetta!! I need that for my…no, for our revenge! So ''help me''!! ''Help us''!!!!!”

Still embracing the girl who was as dangerous as shattered glass, Biondetta silently smiled.

And the demon spoke the decisive words.

“''As you wish.''”

===Facts===

*Shiroyama Kyousuke and Biondetta Shiroyama are both Summoning Ceremony experts raised in the Fifteen Siblings Project. Each participant came into contact with the White Queen and later either died or became a summoner at the 900 level, but the individual details, survival, and affiliation are unknown.
*Similarly, Kyousuke seems to have taken in the White Queen’s love and Biondetta the White Queen’s hatred. Biondetta’s speech patterns and general behavior show some similarities with the Queen, but details are unknown.
*The Anthills are much like imitations built up from the wreckage of the Fifteen Siblings Project. However, it became something entirely different due to a failed understanding of that project’s true meaning.
*Isabelle’s real name is Kawamo Sayuri and she is Japanese. The Anthill Project had someone experience repeated planned losses in the Summoning Ceremony over a short period of time to intentionally carve away at their soul and create the spiritual traits needed as a vessel.
*Maria Heartocean destroyed Kawamo Sayuri’s soul and constructed Isabelle.
*If multiple summoners use Incense Grenades simultaneously and their Artificial Sacred Grounds come into contact, the Artificial Sacred Grounds will fuse. Ownership of the Artificial Sacred Ground remains with the summoner who set up theirs first.
*The protective circle can be used to stop Material attacks (although there are exceptions such as the White Queen). But based on the Material’s mobility, the summoner can only react once or twice at the most, so it is not a good long-term strategy.
*The girl said she wanted Shiroyama Kyousuke to help the avenger named Murasame Kuina…no, to help “her” friend.

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| Back to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign:Volume3_Chapter2|Stage 02]]
| Return to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[The_Unexplored_Summon_Blood_Sign:Volume3_Chapter4|Stage 04]]
|-
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</noinclude>

The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter3

2017-12-23T11:27:40Z

Bersi: /* Stage 03: The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat */

==Stage 03: The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat==
''“Cheshire Cat.”

''“Shut up, you damn rabbit. I’m in a good mood right now.”

'''(Stage 03 Open 05/23 16:00)

'''The Rabbit Guide and the Liar Cat

===Part 1===

“Nn…”

Lu Niang Lan, the modified China dress beauty, breathed a sultry sigh from her scarlet lips.

She quickly realized she had been tossed onto the wooden floor with her arms and legs bound behind her.

“Huh? I’m all wet and see-through.”

She looked down at her chest which was swelling out even more than usual due to the arched back of her pose. The fabric was unpleasantly clinging to her skin somewhat and she could not move her arms or legs.

“I’m tied up!?”

Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, she looked around.

“Wait a second… I was in C Block’s Hai Hong Caiguan, so why am I in a Government apartment now?”

The floor was wet.

However, the government dog named Aika as well as Shiroyama Kyousuke, Isabelle, and even the white liger were looking down at her with exasperated looks.

“K-Kyousuke-chan? Can you explain what’s going on? You haven’t broken our unspoken understanding by selling me off to Government, have you!?”

Still confused, Lu Niang Lan suggested the worst possibility she could think of.

But when Kyousuke and Aika exchanged a glance, their expressions were even graver than that.

“Onii-chan, what should we do about this?”

“When you’re released from Girl’s Backdoor, you apparently lose your memories of being controlled, so I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

“Ehh!? You mean she gets off scot-free!? I refuse to accept that! This old hag gave us a whole lot of trouble!!”

“My chest still hurts. Somewhere between medium-sized and large-sized. Throb throb(deadpan).”

“C’mon. She didn’t actually do anything wrong here, so let’s leave it at this.”

“???”

Lu Niang Lan was clearly baffled by their exchange, but they ignored her.

They had something else to focus on.

The tablet produced the sound of an incoming video chat call.

Aika sat on the wet floor and tried to use the white liger as a sofa like usual, but the beast slipped out from under her. The five meter pet rejected Aika and the girl flipped over on the floor. The white liger may not have wanted to lie on the wet floor, but she also seemed to be having trouble relaxing after the Perfect Dragon’s rampage. Animals were fiercest when they were afraid, not when they had the advantage.

“Ahh! Onii-chan, go grab that baby bottle. I’ll win this stubborn liger over with a stomach full of milk!!”

“Don’t. Give her anymore and you’ll make her sick.”

“But that spoiled liger almost always goes right to sleep if you give her some warm milk. That old hag’s sacks of fat must have really scared her…”

“I don’t blame her. Zuuun(deadpan). I think I’ll be having some medium-sized nightmares…”

“Aika. You were controlled too, so don’t forget that attacking her is the same as attacking yourself.”

Aika pouted her lips and grabbed the tablet from the glass table while still lying on the floor.

She answered the call and a woman in a military uniform filled the screen. However, hers was much more subdued than Isabelle’s. It had a dark blue base, she wore pants instead of a tight skirt, and she lacked the black belts that acted as restraints. Instead, she had plenty of decorative medals.

She was a Government coordinator.

Or perhaps she could be called a planner or a troubleshooter.

Regardless, she was sent in to build a new plan when something failed inside their organization. She would also make alternate suggestions to minimize the damage. Overall, she was a bureaucratic specialist.

“We have finished regulating the data and updating our plans,” she said. “Might I get back on topic?”

“Yes.”

“Currently, we have two primary problems. First, all information related to the Anthills has been passed to the enemy summoner. Second, that apartment where Government, Illegal, and Freedom meet was abused to pull it off. …Unfortunately, most of the higher ups are viewing the second problem as the more serious one. Although if they feel they can calmly think about punishment now, I have to wonder if they believe no bullet could reach their heads even on the front line.”

“Just to be clear, that Illegal old hag was being controlled by Girl’s Backdoor, so she had no control over her actions.”

“That is not all that relevant.” The coordinator gave a light sigh. “The problem is that the information would not have been leaked if you not been on such good terms with an Illegal assassin and if that contact point did not exist. I cannot cover for you here. If you have a complaint, bring it to the higher ups.”

“…”

“And while it was Lu Niang Lan who went on a rampage, it was you who leaked the classified information with your mobile phone, Aika. Thanks to that, two additional Anthills have been attacked. The valuable research data and precious lives there have been lost. Do not think this does not apply to you. You played a primary role.”

She made it sound like Girl’s Backdoor did not exist and Lu Niang Lan and Aika had simply conspired to leak the classified information.

Isabelle spoke to Kyousuke as she listened in.

“Nuuun(deadpan). This is small-sized irritating.”

“Oh, what a coincidence. It’s pissing me off a fair bit too.”

“You are part of this too, Alice (with) Rabbit.” The coordinator winked and tapped her temple with her index finger. “With the suspicion on Aika and Lu Niang Lan, they are a step away from disaster. If you wish to remove them from the list of possible executions, you must take on a share of their debt even if there is no suspicion on you directly. This is especially important to silence the higher ups who have never liked that apartment where all three major powers gather.”

“Oh? That’s quite the compromise. Could you not get at me without asking first?”

“This isn’t much different. Freedom Award 903, we will receive your help free of charge. We will send you to our fiercest battlefield at the moment. Refuse and we will add those two to the official list of wanted criminals. The world will bear its fangs against them and they will essentially be sent to the gallows.”

“Get to the specifics.”

“The data Aika leaked could not have been worse. It included the locations of the Anthills, the personnel, the funding routes, the equipment procurement routes, the defense forces, and the emergency evacuation routes. Two bases have already been destroyed using that data. We do not intend to lose any more of the research equipment, personnel, and research results that the higher ups paid large sums of money for. …''Simply put, we are evacuating''.”

When he heard that word, Kyousuke brought a hand to his forehead and looked up at the ceiling.

Isabelle tilted her head next to him.

“Mh? I’m not even small-sized sure why that’s so bad.”

“It’s really bad. By the way, how many Anthills are still functioning?”

“34.”

“And how many people are inside?”

“Assume there are around one hundred in each.”

“You want to evacuate all of them from Toy Dream 35 at once? Using every route available, be it land, air, or sea? ''How are you going to protect them all''? Liar Cat can use all of the information they got using Aika. If they have all your evacuation routes, they can attack you whenever and wherever they want.”

An amateur might think they could quickly create a new route, but that would not work. If it was that easy, they would not bother to create routes in advance. They needed packages, bodyguards, knowledge of possible attack points, a secondary route in case they were attacked, a tertiary route, an idea of where they could find safety, and a second and third shelter in case the first was compromised. Working it all out on paper took a week and not even a month was enough to confirm that it was indeed a valid route. And instead of getting a VIP or two out, this was sending around three thousand personnel in every direction.

And just because they could not do it did not mean they could sit around thinking about it. Even if they tried to barricade themselves where they were, Liar Cat was above Freedom Award 900, so that summoner would mercilessly crush the Anthill Project along with those bases.

Simply put, they were cornered.

“The higher ups have a plan.” The coordinator began grinding her index finger against her temple. “They will prepare a great number of transport groups, including decoys and then have them all simultaneously evacuate Toy Dream 35 in every direction. Even if our enemy has 900 level skill, they are only a single pair. A few of the transport groups might get hit, but Liar Cat will not reach the real one. …What do you think of that?”

“But ''that was part of the information they have now, wasn’t it?'' We aren’t choosing the target; Liar Cat is. It’s all over if they snack on a few of them and then get to the real one before the limit arrives,” said Kyousuke. “Not to mention that Liar Cat will almost certainly maintain their Material’s cost as much as possible by continuing the fight with Chains. If they can build up through the Regulation-class and Divine-class to reach the Unexplored-class, they’ll charge into the enemy forces at their most powerful. …But I doubt they can always reach the next target in the 90 seconds given. What do you think they’ll do then? We’re talking about Liar Cat who gave out Girl’s Backdoors for civilians to use as nothing more than a disturbance tactic.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). So if their Chain isn’t going to last, they’ll attack normal people to keep their super-sized Chain going?”

Kyousuke nodded at Red Hat Isabelle’s question.

“And they’ll be cutting back and forth across the city to pursue the transportation groups scattering in every direction. Toy Dream 35 won’t just be filled with pools of blood; the entire city will collapse.”

“But I doubt the higher ups will change their minds so easily. Or rather, it is hard to stop a giant cannonball once it has started to roll. If you wish to reduce the damage done, your only option is defeating the summoner pair as soon as possible.”

“But if Liar Cat’s possible targets are scattered everywhere, we can’t exactly lie in wait.”

“Meaning?”

“If we narrow down their targets to just one place, we know exactly where Liar Cat will show up. What are the most important personnel and resources among the Anthills? If you keep everything else as-is but try to evacuate them ahead of time, Liar Cat will definitely take the bait. We can beat them down there.”

“Even if they know it is a trap?”

“That type can’t resist the taste of revenge.”

The coordinator sighed.

A slight shadow or waver seemed to enter her previous stiffness.

“But the higher ups will never accept it. They truly believe that they are protecting themselves by refusing to admit to their own mistakes. If they know that such a risky method was suggested by an outsider, I seriously doubt they will change their evacuation plan.”

“''You sound troubled.''”

Kyousuke smiled thinly.

Their plan had already failed and 3000 lives depended on its success. Despite her overbearing behavior, this woman could not have enjoyed having this forced onto her.

“Do you have a suggestion?”

“It sounds like Government’s higher ups don’t understand the danger they’re in. They must truly believe that they can settle this by shoving responsibility onto someone else, that the problem only exists on paper, and that no physical flames are going to rain down on them. So how about I remind them? I’m willing to play the thankless job of the bitter medicine.”

“Very well.”

It was now the coordinator’s turn to look up toward heaven.

She had apparently heard the legends of Alice (with) Rabbit, but her pride may have prevented her from actually speaking the words.

But she shook free of that and verbally raised the white flag.

“''I would appreciate it if you would help us. I mean it.''”

===Part 2===

Apartments came in many different shapes and sizes, but this one was a one-room apartment for university students. The front door led directly into the room and the newspaper slot carelessly installed in the door would allow anyone to peep on the room if they wanted. That made changing clothes a daily challenge, but it was still an attractive residence for its relatively affordable price in the amusement park city of Toy Dream 35. Despite the poor customer service, there were no vacancies in May, which was past the season for beginning a new life.

Steam rose from the kettle.

Biondetta, the demon in a pink waitress uniform, hummed to herself as she prepared some tea. She removed her white lace glove to manipulate the tools with her slender fingers.

“Ma’am.”

“Hm?”

Murasame Kuina, her client and vessel, blankly replied while sitting on the pastel colored bed with her knees in her arms.

“To be honest, I don’t know much about tea,” said the girl. “I’ve only ever had it from a bottle. So don’t bother talking on and on about it.”

“Not to worry. This is a blend.”

“Hm?”

“The Summoning Ceremony battles are mentally exhausting, so I have combined a few different types of tea leaves to provide a calming effect. As long as you know how to make it, standard store-bought teas are good enough. Yes, just like a clever usage of cold medicine and allergy medicine can create a sleazy drug that will put an innocent young girl fast asleep.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a woman who takes antibiotics by the handful… And isn’t caffeine a stimulant?”

“There are a number of ways to use it. Most summoners either have a special supplier or mix their own Incense Grenades, so we tend to be quite skilled at this sort of work.”

A student apartment did not come equipped with the kind of tea set used for the British royal family, but Biondetta used tools likely bought at a 100 yen shop for makeshift replacements. And she had done more than memorize the manual. She had broken it down and built it back up to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

Midriff Girl Kuina fidgeted on the bed.

“Did I ask you to do this? I thought our contract only said you would help me get revenge for Sayuri.”

“And I will provide everything necessary for you to truly enjoy your revenge. It would all be for naught if you were too sleep deprived to savor the taste of revenge when the time came. If you like, I could climb in bed with you to sing a lullaby, I could join you in the bath, or I could try my hand at providing a massage.”

“No, thanks.”

Kuina got down from the bed and sat at the glass table in the center of the small room.

She sipped at the tea poured into a plastic mug, but…

“I really can’t tell any difference.”

“I appreciate the honesty more than pretending you know what you are talking about, ma’am.”

“But I have no intention of taking a nap. I’m too on edge to fall asleep. The core of my body is telling me I have to hurry up and get out there…hurry up and kill.”

“I would expect nothing less from my client. And that is why I prepared this as a type of inflight refueling.”

Murasame Kuina had trouble judging what the smiling demon was truly after.

Normally thinking, helping a stranger with their revenge came with enormous risk. Not only was there direct combat, but it meant making an enemy of everyone around the target and, if they could not earn their partner’s trust, it was possible they could be stabbed in the back. Plus, revenge tended to end in failure after being outnumbered and the enemy would not forgive them if they said “never mind” at that point.

Nevertheless, Biondetta chose to take part.

She gained nothing from it. She had no enemy in common with her client. This revenge only had any meaning for Murasame Kuina. Even if it succeeded, Biondetta would not gain anything at all from the violence.

It was almost like a reckless surfer heading to the beach on a stormy night despite the danger.

She was losing herself in the act itself. It was the madness of someone taking a hobby much too far.

“Biondetta.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know your situation. I don’t care if you’re secretly benefiting from this, if someone else hired you to do this, or if you’re acting as a double spy and all my information is fed right back to Government.”

She narrowed her eyes and shook around the contents of the mug a little.

“All that matters is that it helps me with my revenge ''in the end''. I’m even fine with dying after the fact. So let’s go over the basics again, Biondetta. Help me with my revenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re my enemy or my ally.”

“Yes. I am delighted to hear that, ma’am.”

The pink waitress demon gave a smile that was far too rotten to call charming.

“I do not often meet someone who expresses that with her actions and not just her words, but you seem to be different. I am relieved.”

“Hmph.”

Murasame Kuina must have had trouble with hot drinks because she only took small sips at the mug.

Once it was empty, she set it on the table and stood up.

“What’s our next move, Biondetta?”

“Well, how about we go for something that is half for peace of mind and half pure harassment? They’ve probably noticed us by now. And they will know about these clothes.”

As she spoke, Biondetta pinched the sides of her waitress skirt and waved it around.

“I brought in an entire container’s worth as part of the costume event, so I was thinking we could spread some money around to hire hundreds of people to walk around dressed like this.”

“How can you hire people when summoners and vessels vanish from people’s minds?”

“We can use an intermediary by way of your Girl’s Backdoor.”

“I can only control three people. Is this really worth using up that stock?”

“If we no longer need it, we can remove them from our control. And Government is sure to think that the decoys might be manipulated by Girl’s Backdoor and thus could make indiscriminate terrorist attacks. As the world police, they cannot ignore that and will have to waste some of their personnel on them. Meanwhile, we can take advantage of our freedom.”

“So when you get down to it, you don’t know how effective it will be?”

“As I said, it’s half for peace of mind and half pure harassment, ma’am. Anyone with any sense will catch on immediately, but it will still allow us to rest easy. The trick to enjoying revenge is to add some fun into the efficiency☆”

“Hmph,” snorted Murasame Kuina.

She nodded to give her approval and then spoke.

“Then are you ready to go?”

“Yes, ma’am. I am ready to go anywhere you want.”

Despite the care she took in preparing the tea, she apparently had no intention of cleaning it up.

There was a simple reason for that.

As soon as the two of them stood up, something shook in a corner of the room. The figure lying on the wooden flooring had two arms, two legs, and long black hair that spread out like seaweed to hide the face.

It was the owner of the room.

The college girl had been controlled by Girl’s Backdoor and given a flowchart with only one instruction: curl up in the corner.

===Part 3===

Miyama Gouta was a man in his prime who would turn fifty this year.

He was a soldier who had never once set foot on the battlefield and yet the chest of his deep blue military uniform glittered with a great quantity of medals. He stood inside one of Government’s Anthills.

A number of conditions were necessary to construct an Anthill, but the most important was a facility that functioned as a miniature model of society. It could be any number of things: a school, a hospital, a prison, a military base, a casino, a theatre, a hotel, a prep school, etc. Any relatively closed facility that managed a group under a single system could be remade into an Anthill.

That meant Miyama was inside one such facility.

It was A Block’s international airport.

“What? Are you still falling behind on preparing for the evacuation operation? We’re pressed for time, so finish as scheduled no matter what it takes! I don’t care about trivial safety management! We need to focus on ensuring the core of the Anthill escapes!! Use your head, you fool!! They may be bloodthirsty murderers, but their skill is at Freedom’s 900 level. Do I really have to tell you that losing our valuable research results in an indiscriminate attack is simply unacceptable!?”

There was not the slightest doubt on his face as he shouted angrily into a cellphone. He truly believed that the scales of good or evil were entirely dependent on whether or not whatever it was would allow the entire project – ''including himself'' – to escape safely.

“Listen. Do not delay this evacuation operation even by a single second. I don’t care if it’s a hangnail or a mouth ulcer; even the slightest loss or damage is your responsibility. If you get that, then get those hands working! Yes, your hands! We don’t need your mouth or your brain!!”

The airport’s floorplan looked quite open, but it was cleverly designed so a full two-thirds of its space was off limits. Miyama Gouta swaggered past the strict defenses, ignored the guards who made sure to salute, and knocked on a waiting room door.

His expression made a complete about-face.

The middle-aged military officer put on an almost creepily bright smile and spoke sweetly to the young woman lounging on the sofa.

He spoke to the researcher who was a central member of the Anthill.

“I am so very sorry, Miss Heartocean. Our schedule has been delayed due to inclement weather. Once the conditions clear up, we can take off immediately.”

“Anything’s fine with me as long as you let me continue my research.”

Maria Heartocean did not bother looking in the soldier’s direction and stared at the back of her hand and her fingernails instead.

Miyama’s right temple twitched disconcertingly, but he managed to respond with a smile.

“Is there anything else you lack?”

“Everything.”

Maria said that with no hint of sarcasm. She made it sound like ''that was simply the truth.

She seemed to be displaying the colors of Government, the world police.

“I’d especially like for you to do something about the internet connection. I mean, nothing but Wi-Fi and only two antennae? Is that supposed to be a joke? Humans have a limited lifespan, so wasting time like this could lead to missing a major discovery. And can you take responsibility if that happens? How?”

“I will arrange for it right away. I was given strict orders to give you the best hospitality possible, Miss Heartocean.”

“Also, does this violate the safety standards?”

Maria pointed straight ahead.

This was the strictly guarded off-limits zone of an international airport.

This was an important Government base.

This was the core of an Anthill.

Nevertheless, a large knife was stabbed vertically into the cushion of the two-person leather sofa across from Maria Heartocean.

“''A boy wandered in here earlier and did that, but I’m not too familiar with the local slang. Do you think it’s some kind of message?''”

“Impossible…”

Miyama froze up for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Someone had carried a blade into the same room as their top priority personnel. And no one had noticed. It was just as unreasonable as finding unidentified fingerprints all over the inside of a nuclear weapons vault.

“Impossible!? Who!? How!?”

His extensive knowledge of the usual security setup robbed this feat of all reality.

He was utterly confused and turned toward the door to call for his men.

That was when Miyama Gouta saw it.

“Hi. Would you have preferred a box of chocolates?”

Alice (with) Rabbit spoke calmly with his arms folded and his back resting against the door.

“…!?”

The military officer was shocked speechless and Maria gave a casual wave.

“Yahoo. Now that I think about it, you’re still borrowing Isabelle, aren’t you? How’s she doing? Are you using her well?”

“At the very least, I’m treating her with more humanity than any of you did. I’m not entirely sure I should give her back.”

“Ah ha ha. Yeah, I guess you would figure that out. That isn’t good…”

After that quick exchange, Kyousuke turned back toward Miyama Gouta.

“Just as a warning, we didn’t use an Incense Grenade to get in. We simply used the fact that people forget all about summoners and vessels as soon as they look away. Do you get what that means?”

“Heh hehn(deadpan). I already super-sized get it.”

“That’s great, Isabelle, but I don’t think he understands just how serious the situation is yet. …And even if there’s a big event in the city, it’s probably not a good idea to have the airport workers wear costumes too. Their uniforms act as something like an ID.”

“Wha-…wha-…?”

Miyama seemed to finally remember how to breathe.

He saw Maria lightly waving at Kyousuke and realized they had gone over his head. The dirty reality of authority and hierarchy dragged his mind back to the colorful world.

He had been humiliated here.

To anyone with bureaucratic power, that felt more damaging than being stabbed with an actual knife.

“What are those lowly hired hands doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!?”

“It might be unofficial, but you’re the man in charge here and yet you fell for it more than anyone.”

Kyousuke did not bat an eye as the man stepped closer.

They glared at each other from only a few centimeters apart.

“Listen. If I can do this, then someone else can too. Just to be clear, expert assassins are a lot better at this sort of job than expert bodyguards. …Liar Cat will go even further. Once you understand that, rethink everything you’re doing here. They’re Freedom Award 920. That’s higher than 903.”

“Don’t you talk down to me! Do you have any idea who I am!?”

“Good question. Who were you again?” Kyousuke continued leaning against the door. “Were you the optimist who honestly believes bullets will magically avoid him? Or maybe you were the narrow-minded fool who has lost sight of the approaching threat because he’s so busy figuring out how to corner Aika since he hates her so much? No, maybe you were the coward who was willing to abandon all 3000 of his men just to get the last seat on the ark. …People’s reputations are just like summoner names; they’re chosen by the people around them. So what does that make you?”

“You…!! You dare criticize me while ignoring your own failure!?”

“We were after Girl’s Backdoor in the first place. Without Aika and Lu-san’s help, the initial diversion plan would have caused much more damage. Plus, the targets would all have been innocent civilian girls. And let’s not forget that we didn’t keep what we learned to ourselves. We sent Government detailed reports including sample Girl’s Backdoors. Although the only people who did anything useful with that information were Aika and Academia here. You didn’t put together any kind of plan, you ignored the threat to civilians, and then when your precious world police were attacked, you shove all the blame onto us? Didn’t I tell you that people don’t get to choose their own reputation? That’s up to the people around them.”

Kyousuke pointed to the other side of the room with his chin.

The military officer hesitantly turned around in time to hear a relaxed comment from Maria Heartocean who was looking at her fingernails on the sofa.

“To be honest, I don’t really care either way.”

“M-Miss Heartocean…?”

“But Alice (with) Rabbit did a pretty good job of proving that I’m just waiting around to be killed under the current system. I’m not sure I like the sound of that. I can’t stop wondering why I should even listen to you when I can tell you’re going to fail.”

His career was dead in the water.

That simple fact burned through the last thread of rationality in the military officer’s head.

“I-I’ll kill you. I’ll beat you to death, you damn brat!!”

“Yes, yes. Thanks for playing.”

As the military officer tried to grab him, Kyousuke slammed the man’s face against the door, knocking him out in a single blow. Then he spoke indifferently.

“Now you won’t have to lose your life in your reckless evacuation operation, so I hope you’re at least a little thankful.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). I don’t think there’s even a small-sized chance of that.”

Kyousuke showed no respect for the organization or the slightest courtesy while intruding on someone else’s territory. It was true Aika and Lu Niang Lan had made a mistake, but he was essentially forcing Government to overlook it by threatening them. From beginning to end, he selfishly prioritized his own feelings, so he could never function properly in an organization.

But.

That was exactly why Shiroyama Kyousuke belonged to Freedom rather than Government or Illegal.

Those who praised freedom above all else and hated any kind of restrictions would meet some level of resistance from society. But some of those people would force through it with their own strength and those were the people who had naturally gathered together and built a loose framework around themselves.

In that way, he was the same as Liar Cat.

If he was to take advantage of those traits, he had to understand them.

“So.” Maria looked away from her fingernails and asked a question. “What should I do now?”

“If you want a 100% chance of death, feel free to continue with Government’s plan. If you would prefer something risky but with a chance of survival, then help us.”

Kyousuke explained the counter-proposal they had come up with. It would minimize the damage and ensure they could predict and intercept Liar Cat’s attack. There was only one enemy pair, so even if it was risky, there was nothing to fear once that pair was defeated. To do that, they had to drag the most important piece of the Anthill Project – Maria – to the front line as bait. All other personnel and equipment would remain on standby. There would be no diversions or body doubles. By bringing the biggest target out in just the one place, Liar Cat would definitely take the bait, knowing full it was a trap. And when they knew the attack was coming, it would be easy to fight back.

In a way, the plan would show its effects much more quickly. But it was also like throwing the president out onto the battlefield alone to draw out the guerillas or terrorists. The king in shogi had nothing on the underside because it was assumed the king itself would not move out to the enemy side of the board to be promoted. It was a plan that the Government world police could never agree to.

But…

“That’s fine.”

It barely sounded like Maria Heartocean had even thought about her answer.

In fact, she so casually threw out Government’s standard assumptions that Kyousuke was a little worried that she had not even considered the fact that this was her life they were talking about.

“I never really cared who was handling the evacuation operation’s security or how they were doing it. As long as a product works, who cares who made it? ''As long as you have no reason to worry about its quality, that is.''”

She was implying that the military officer collapsed on the floor had been inadequate.

Isabelle tilted her head.

“I’m medium-sized worried whether everyone will accept this.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Government is all about the vertical divides, so they have to obey no matter how selfish the people above them get.”

Maria laughed.

“And I bet no one really wanted to be the sacrifice to let some VIPs escape safely. They’ll probably breathe a sigh of relief when they hear that farce has been called off. Especially when the replacement plan lets them get back at Liar Cat.”

She waved her hand.

“Also, Aika-chan’s pretty popular around here. From what I’ve heard, she really looks after people in her middleman job, so she never leaves a summoner stuck in the middle of the battlefield and she acts as a buffer with Illegal and Freedom which helps them avoid needless killing. There must have been a lot of people with a hidden dislike of how all the blame was being shoved onto her. If we give a small push in the right direction, things will change a lot easier than you think.”

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_197.jpg|thumb]]

“Then let’s do that. I’d appreciate it if you contacted us once those adjustments are complete.”

“Oh? You’re going to look after me to the end?”

“No matter how it happened, I do feel responsible for the leaked information ‘in my own way’.”

“''Are you sure it isn’t about Liar Cat?''”

“…”

Shiroyama Kyousuke briefly fell silent at her smooth reply.

There was no real sarcasm or irony in Maria Heartocean’s voice. She was simply ''stating the facts'' with a boldness unique to Government.

“Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. An unusual summoner who binds a contract with her client and thoroughly supports their revenge. For that reason, her vessel changes every time and can be seen as identical to her client. …Don’t forget that we are Government. We’re going to do our research on the enemy trying to take a bite out of us.”

And Maria continued.

“That means the summoner is in charge. Or rather, her beliefs and specs form Liar Cat’s identity. Which leads me to a very, very, verrrry interesting fact about this summoner named Biondetta.”

She laughed.

“Apparently, her full name is Biondetta Shiroyama. Interesting, no?”

===Part 4===

Shiroyama Kyousuke temporarily parted ways with his vessel Isabelle.

Toy Dream 35’s P Block contained a lot of parks and sports fields and the rooftops were being proactively covered in greenery. Kyousuke was in one of the parks there. The artificial land was as large as a soccer field and it was forcibly supported fifty meters in the air with somewhere between a few dozen and over a hundred pillars. Although the park looked more like a café terrace thanks to the chain café there.

The short grass was dyed orange by the setting sun.

Thanks to the Delayed Walpurgis, people dressed as Snow White or Little Red Riding Hood were sitting at the large rectangular tables and chatting over coffee or tea. The tables had a billiards motif and it looked like the game could actually be played on them, but with all the water drops and stains, they did not look suitable for an official game.

With all the costumes everywhere, a normal hoodie stood out.

And he had been fully aware of that fact when he came here.

Kyousuke was casually enjoying a saccharine new product with honey, milk, cinnamon, and who knows what else inside an iced coffee. His left hand felt itchy in the leather glove.

Before he could even remove the ice cubes from the transparent cup, the demon arrived.

In this city’s twisted sense of “normal”, the demon was able to blend in more than him.

“''May I sit here?''”

“''Sure.''”

The demon in a pink waitress uniform sat across from Kyousuke before he even answered.

She placed her cup, a mille crepe on a small plate, and a bottle of antibiotics on the edge of the table.

“You were waiting for me. How did you know I would be here?”

“To be honest, I had been keeping tabs on that Murasame Kuina you’re using as a vessel. I wasn’t able to put together an algorithm since I didn’t know who she was working with, but then Government contacted me. …They said the infamous Liar Cat had destroyed the Anthill in D Block.”

“Oh, my.”

“The rest was easy. One: The ''Cheshire Cat'' likes to watch the evening scenery from an elevated place. Two: The ''Cheshire Cat'' cannot go three days without honey and cream. Three: The ''Cheshire Cat'' practices hitting balls for two hours a day to hone her fingers and ensure she does not forget that feeling. You would have begun to relax now that you had all the Anthill information you needed thanks to Aika. I figured you would want to increase your efficiency by intentionally taking some time to relax before getting to work, just like the Spanish siesta.”

“You don’t have to call me that every single time, ''you damn rabbit''.”

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere grew so tense they could almost hear the sound of cracking glass.

But Kyousuke saw a nearby costumed café worker go pale as if overcome by sudden hyperventilation and the waitress demon took a bite of her mille crepe, so they both relaxed for their own reasons.

Time seemed to move once more, the oppressive sense of heavy glass left, and a normal atmosphere returned. The part-time worker in an orange pumpkin-style uniform quickly left.

“Anyway.”

The waitress demon smiled and clacked together the equipment next to her.

One was a strange Blood-Sign. A silver pipe was bent in two with a leather belt wrapped around it and a disposable handle carelessly attached to the side.

The other was a bolt-action sniper rifle that used 7.62mm rounds.

“I was fully aware of the danger, so I laid a trap. Didn’t you think I might start by sniping you even if I did come here?”

“I know ''you'' can read my algorithm to a certain extent.”

“You have your vessel positioned at the most likely spot, don’t you? So while I was lying there preparing to take the shot, she could take advantage of my narrowed focus and field of vision by hitting me over the back of the head.”

The demon took a sip of her tea and glanced to a different building’s rooftop.

Her vessel was not here either. She had laid a trap for his trap. In the end, their ideas may have been quite similar.

“But the Summoning Ceremony industry is surprisingly small. It seemed like some kind of mistake that we escaped that miniature garden 500 meters belowground, but here we are butting heads again.”

“''You'' still haven’t really escaped that place.”

“Please, call me Detta. And is it really that surprising?”

Kyousuke narrowed his eyes as he watched Biondetta pour the antibiotics into her mouth straight from the bottle.

“A summoner that binds a contract to help people with their revenge? No, what ''you’re'' doing is different. You want to take revenge and you can’t forgive yourself, so you’re forcing those words out of other people’s mouths.”

“Hee hee hee! You’re one to talk, boy. I’m no different from you.”

“…”

“You help people because you hear the cursed words of ‘help me’? You don’t really want to do it? Don’t make me laugh. When you get down to it, you want to save them and you can’t forgive yourself, so you force those words out of other people’s mouths. We’re not so different. ''We want to do it, so we create a system that allows us to do it.'' Am I wrong?”

Salvation and revenge.

They stood at complete opposite positions, but this strange pair both saw what they were doing as “helping” people.

And they were both at the 900 level, so they had the incredible power needed to fulfill that request.

“No, I’m not like ''you''. I really do want to wash my hands of all this.”

“You say that, but the second you hear those cursed words, you’ll jump right back in.”

“It is true that half the world’s problems might be my fault,” said Kyousuke to cut her off and drown her out.

A thick and hopeless darkness filled the depths of his eyes.

“But I also think it might be for the best if I stay out of it and don’t get involved. Taking responsibility is my own selfish desire and the world might be left with shallower wounds if I give up instead of making such poor attempts at a solution.”

“And leave the White Queen to do whatever she wants? When no one but you can even speak with her?”

“—————”

“See? That changed the look on your face. You can’t escape this industry, boy. No matter what you say or think, there’s nothing you can do when it has influenced your very soul.”

“''Cheshire Cat.''”

“Shut up, ''you damn rabbit''. I’m in a good mood right now.”

The reclaimed atmosphere ground to a halt once more, as if the world’s gears had jammed. The air of death that expanded did not allow the average person to even breathe adequately.

“Either way, I will not quit my revenge. Just like you and your addiction to saving people.”

“No matter what?”

“Yes, of course. That Fifteen Siblings Project held in the Queen’s Miniature Garden was quite the sinful project, but don’t you find it a fascinating sign that its products – that is, us – are involved in this incident?”

A closed miniature garden.

A facility that managed a certain number of people with a single social system and maintained a certain level of secrecy.

Fifteen people of different nationalities, religions, races, and sexes had been gathered together.

The project had been meant to thoroughly analyze familial and sibling bonds.

They wanted to make the planet one giant family.

But not as a mere ideology. In that grand farce, they had hoped to implant those bonds in all of humanity on the level of brain structure. They had truly believed that would act as the ultimate safety device that would bring an end to all conflict around the world.

To determine the effects under the harshest conditions the world had to offer, extreme environments had been artificially created using the greatest Materials of the Summoning Ceremony and the research data on them.

And this had produced…

“If you’re talking about the Anthills, you’re way off the mark.”

“But the sequence of events suggests that those were created based on data obtained from the wreckage of the Queen’s Miniature Garden. Of course, they never moved past the surface level and never even approached its true essence, but if they had, ''they would have gone far beyond simply mass-producing vessels, don’t you think?''”

“Half of the fifteen died in that war and the other half reached the 900 level. Just as an honest question, do you really think that was all thanks to the ‘lessons’ there?”

“It’s impossible to know for sure at this point. But personally, I think it had more to do with our careless contact with the Queen. But I can’t even be sure of that. The Queen might see it in reverse. I get the feeling she would point at you and insist it was all her brother’s doing.”

“…”

It had not failed.

They had simply failed to predict what would happen once it succeeded.

“So you’re saying an incomplete Fifteen Siblings Project was turned into a vessel mass-production project?”

“If so, we have the right to tear it down since that project messed with our lives. ''I have a reason to take revenge and an excuse that justifies my doing so.'' Isn’t that exciting?”

Why had no one realized the truth?

It was true that certain kinds of love and affection might develop between families and siblings.

But it was not restricted to that.

For example, the death of any one of humanity’s seven billion people would bring the same shock as losing a close relative. So could anyone maintain their sanity when people died on a daily basis?

For example, there were feelings fostered by sibling bonds beyond love and affection...such as hatred. If that intimate hatred covered the world, wouldn’t the subsequent destruction be far deeper rooted than with normal negative emotions?

“How did this happen?” asked Kyousuke without expecting an answer. “A lot happened in the Queen’s Miniature Garden, but not all of the fifteen arrived on the same path as ''you''. ''Cheshire Cat'', what did ''you'' see there? How did you end up like this?”

“Shut the hell up, ''you damn rabbit''. You’re the one that completed your Sewn Realm Summoning during the Fifteen Siblings Project. That stabilized the White Queen and allowed us all to view her from different angles. It may have been the Queen’s fear, the Queen’s passion, the Queen’s violence, or the Queen’s allure.”

The waitress demon counted on her fingers as she spoke.

And then…

“But you were the only one to see the Queen’s love. You’re the one I have a question for, ''you damn rabbit''. How did you manage to keep your sanity? After seeing that incarnation of destruction, how were you able to accept the Queen? What did you learn about her that would allow you to even consider that possibility?”

“Accept…?”

Shiroyama Kyousuke’s mind went blank.

Unable to understand, he repeated the words as if throwing them back at her.

“You’re saying I’ve…accepted the White Queen?”

“Of course.” The demon smiled while pointing right at the boy’s nose. “I seek revenge because – no matter how nauseatingly disgusting I find it – the very roots of my soul were influenced by the Queen’s hatred I saw back then. Similarly…”

''Oh, no,'' thought Kyousuke.

He could not let himself hear this. Because they knew each other so well, these fatal words would pierce straight through his heart’s defenses.

“Your ‘help me’ syndrome is a role the powerful White Queen was supposed to play, isn’t it? She is summoned because people seek her, she fights because she is called upon, she saves every last life through absolute victory, and even the enemy bows down to her after the battle. She is supposed to be a saint who saves two hundred when trying to save one hundred. …How can you snuggle up with the Queen with that refreshed look on your face? It’s just plain creepy.”

His mind fell into darkness.

===Part 5===

Atop another building in P Block, another confrontation was underway among the greenery growing on the square rooftop.

It looked like a scene from a costume party.

Isabelle had been waiting on that building in case a sniper targeted Kyousuke during his meeting with Biondetta. When taking into account line of fire, wind direction, the layout of the buildings, the flow of the crowds, the location of the sun, etc., there were relatively few good sniper spots even in a wide open area. That was why there were experts who took all that into account and used it to their advantage.

“…”

As Isabelle waited there, she heard someone stepping on the gravel.

And as soon she looked that way…

“…I found you.”

“?”

“I finally found you!! Sayuri!!”

A girl with semi-long brown hair and an exposed midriff had suddenly appeared. It was Murasame Kuina. Isabelle’s eyes widened in confusion as the girl tightly wrapped her arms around her.

Still held in the girl’s arms, Isabelle pulled her head back a little.

“Nuuun(deadpan). You do not seem to be hiding the components to a super-sized sniper rifle, so I will attempt to engage you in conversation.”

“Hm? What is it, Sayuri?”

“However…”

The red military uniform girl’s eyes clearly focused on the girl in front of her.

“''My name is super-sized not Sayuri. It is Isabelle.''”

“''What are you talking about? Your name is not Isabelle!''”

Isabelle stepped back several meters for no real reason.

She had not particularly changed her location and she was not hiding, but Murasame Kuina seemed satisfied and spoke to her more quietly this time.

“Listen. Your name is Kawamo Sayuri. You were a normal middle school girl living in Harukawa City…no, in Toy Dream 40. You haven’t had any military training and you aren’t part of some weird group called Government. You really are just a middle school girl. You would go home without participating in any clubs, you were awful at anything athletic, and you always stuck by my side!”

“?”

“Oh, honestly!! Just look at this picture! This is you!”

The girl grabbed the thin chain around her neck and pulled an accessory out from the chest of her clothing. It was about the size of a large coin and it seemed to be a locket. She snapped it open to reveal the face of a slender Asian girl with long black hair.

Isabelle viewed the photo from a distance instead of moving closer for a better look. She seemed to be keeping distance between them and keeping an eye out for a surprise attack while her focus was on the photo.

“My face is not this expressionless. Zuuun (deadpan). This is super-sized wrong.”

“''The way you’re acting now is what’s wrong!'' That Anthill Project messed with your very soul!!”

Murasame Kuina grabbed the shoulders of the red military uniform and roughly shook Isabelle while shouting at her.

But it did not get through.

It was like an infinite panel of soundproof glass separated them.

“How much do you know about the spiritual damage research that Government has been doing?”

“Not even a small-sized amount.”

“Oh, honestly. At least that part of you hasn’t changed,” groaned the girl. “Listen. That’s a catchall term for all the impurities, bugs, errors, or whatever you want to call them that stick to people’s souls. They cause illness, insanity, and other bad things, so the usual desire is to find a way to get rid of them.”

“Now that you mention it, that is exactly what I thought it was. Point (deadpan).

“You weren’t thinking anything of the sort, were you? Anyway, they’ve shifted beyond that. Simply put, they want to ''improve people’s specs'' by attaching artificially-created spiritual damage to their souls.”

Kuina looked disgusted just saying it.

But she continued despite the bitter look on her face.

“It’s the digital version of what has long been known as an evil spirit or ''namanari''. They start eating raw meat for nutrition, they grow horns from their head, they grow hair all over their body, and they grow claws and fangs… You can just think of it as redesigning a human. If they wanted to, they could probably give you wings to fly through the sky or gills to breathe underwater. And if Government can do that, ''surely you can tell that you mustn’t rely on your current appearance.''”

“…”

In her red hat, Isabelle – or the girl going by that name – looked down at her hands.

The Anthills.

That project added the traits of a vessel to artificially create vessels.

“Hey, you’re a vessel, so you know the penalty when you lose, right?”

“O-of course. I have a super-sized understanding of that. Ah ha ah ha ha (deadpan).”

“You do actually know that, don’t you!? A-ahem. The loser’s heart is hit by the same shock as seeing the god they worship killed before their eyes. They’re stuck in a mindless daze for twenty four hours and they’ll slowly obey what anyone says like a zombie. But it normally doesn’t leave any lasting effects. Yes, normally.”

“Am I not normal?”

“No. Government must have given you certain orders afterwards: ‘Stand and fight. Summon something in sound range *** with a cost of *** and then lose.’ The loser can’t fight a complex battle, but there may have been something assisting you. And what do you think would happen to a human soul after doing that every few minutes…no, every half minute or so?”

“Nuuun (deadpan)…???”

“Then I’ll tell you. There are different patterns to a damaged heart. By having you summon the Materials on a list put together for a certain purpose and then losing each time, they can reshape your soul how they want. It’s a lot like chiseling away at a stone pillar. …And that’s what Isabelle is. The pillar named Kawamo Sayuri was chiseled away again and again and again!! They chiseled away at you until you were an unrecognizable vessel!!”

Government was an ally of justice and they likely believed they were doing the right thing.

Even if they were creating a new table by taking apart, sawing at, and hammering at a beautiful paulownia dresser without knowing its value.

Thus, this was different from multiple personalities. It was more like a diamond created from a corpse.

The original person was no more. There was not a neat and tidy distinction between one and the other. Just as the picture in the locket and the blonde-haired blue-eyed military uniform girl looked nothing alike.

There was only Isabelle now.

“Hmm. Your claim does not even make a small-sized amount of sense.”

“Why not?”

“Summoners and vessels work together as a set, so a summoner’s soul would have had to be destroyed along with mine.”

“Oh, that.”

“The Anthills are supposed to mass-produce vessels, so destroying a summoner for each vessel is super-sized inefficient…”

“It’s simple. Government sacrificed someone. That’s all.”

“?”

“One-on-one, they would destroy a summoner along with the vessel. But they just had to pair the mindless and broken summoner with another vessel candidate. And then they just had to give their orders. That summoner just had to bind contract after contract after contract after contract after contract after contract… The summoner doesn’t actually die. They don’t die, but they have to continue the process forever. Their life becomes nothing more than losing mock battles alongside each new vessel candidate. That’s a tragedy in its own right. That is the truth of the Anthills.”

Everyone had called them Anthills.

They may have assumed that was in reference to the building or facility.

But it was not.

The ants were eating through a person, not a thing.

Just like letting maggots crawl through stinky cheese, they intentionally opened holes in a human soul that was on the verge of crumbling into nothingness. While smiling at the improved flavor and value, they viewed the collapse as a good thing. It was a noble’s game.

“Unfortunately…”

Murasame Kuina bit her lip and kept her voice low.

“It doesn’t look likely that it’s possible to make you Kawamo Sayuri again. The research on the soul itself hasn’t gotten far and the greatest experts are in Government. But Government is full of scum and a single mistake could kill you instantly or transform you into some bizarre form. There’s nothing we can do.”

“…”

“But.”

At this point, the girl’s tone dropped even lower. Rather than coming from a vibration in her throat, it sounded like pure resentment seeping out from some other invisible organ.

“The people who did this and made you like this? I will send every last one of them to hell. Showing them hell isn’t enough. I need to send them all there. That’s all I can do, but because it’s all I can do, I will do it as best I can. You’ll see.”

Perhaps it was coming directly from her soul.

It was like a dark red mist that would be fatal to merely touch or inhale.

“So withdraw from all of this, Sayuri. You don’t need to protect them. You have no reason to. More importantly, the summoner I’ve bound a contract with is perfect. Biondetta will smash it all to pieces and I don’t want you caught in that.”

“I…” said the military uniform girl as her shoulders trembled. “I’m not very smart, so I don’t understand all these details even a small-sized amount.”

“Sayuri!!”

“Call me Isabelle. Sayuri doesn’t sound right to me.” She looked up. “But if I was created as something super-sized new after chiseling away a large pillar…”

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_217.jpg|thumb]]

She looked to the eyes of the girl she had once walked beside.

“And if, regardless of how it was made, it is a human soul that keeps me moving…”

And she said it.

Was this Kawamo Sayuri or Isabelle? Had this been there from the beginning or had it been added on later?

She did not know, but she spoke the honest thoughts in her mind.

“Then I don’t know if I should let my hatred destroy ‘this’.”

“…!!”

Isabelle heard the sound of teeth grinding together.

It came from Murasame Kuina. Her left hand trembled ominously in its leather glove. That was Girl’s Backdoor. When shaped like a gun, the strange device could control the young girl it pointed at. But Murasame Kuina did not aim it at Isabelle. She knew that was the simplest answer, but she could not let herself do it.

After all, Murasame Kuina knew that perfect answer had not come from the creation known as Isabelle. Her deep understanding of the girl named Kawamo Sayuri told her that.

But.

That was the real problem.

“Why did they have to take so much from you…?”

It lit the fire.

Massive firepower danced inside the internal combustion engine known as revenge.

“Why did the girl who thought like that have to be chewed up and spat back out as something entirely different all for someone else’s benefit!? Why did someone who thinks like that have to have her heart destroyed!?”

“…”

“You weren’t chosen because you had one-in-a-billion talent. It wasn’t because you drew a legendary sword, because you were delivered by an angel from heaven, or because of any other grand trigger! Biondetta told me even I probably had better talent as a vessel. But Government chose you because they wanted to know ''if they could make something usable out of a completely normal person''!! That was all!! Government gathered people like they were searching for files and throwing them in the trash! They gathered them and used them up!! And yet…!!”

“But that is not even a small-sized reason to overlook what you are doing now.”

“Kh.”

“No one wanted you to do this.”

“Khhh.”

“''I don’t want you to do this. I super-sized don’t want it.''”

“Then!! What am I supposed to doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?”

Murasame Kuina let out a roar as if filling the world itself with her resentment.

She already knew that.

She had understood it from the very, very beginning.

Even if she had been worried, a kindhearted girl like Kawamo Sayuri would not want anyone to take vengeance on her murderer. If the alternative was someone dirtying their hands like that or letting it influence them forevermore, she would have preferred to be forgotten.

But Murasame Kuina could not accept that.

It was her, not anyone else in the world, who could not allow it.

Revenge was nothing more than a way of soothing one’s own heart. By losing oneself in the act of revenge, they could avoid looking at the unbearable loss that felt like an insurmountable wall towering before them.

She knew that.

She knew that, she knew that, she knew that!!

So was she supposed to coldly process the information and continue forward? Was the proper human response to trample on her anger and loss with the precision of a clock’s second hand and dispassionately continue on into the future?

She did not think so.

She did not care if that conclusion meant her gears were broken.

When it came down to it, the girl named Murasame Kuina ''did not want to forget.

The everyday life she had assumed would continue like normal had been cruelly destroyed beyond repair. Her childhood friend of ten years had been altered and destroyed until she did not even recognize her own name.

She did not want to accept that.

She did not want to move beyond that.

So…

Her vengeance was directed at more than just a simple criminal. Society, the world, and the current age acted as tyrants who could only make justifications for using overwhelming quantity and speed to wash away, fade, and erode what she cared about most. She did not want that and could not accept that, so to protect “what had once been”, she acted alone to face it all.

A fierce wind blew back at her.

A great pressure pushed back at her like a flash flood or a landslide.

But the girl had challenged it all head-on and made it this far.

And so much of her had been worn away in the process.

“I refuse to accept it.”

Her voice sounded like the heavy creaking of a giant rusty gear being forced into motion.

“This might all be for naught and I might be meaninglessly running away from reality, but I don’t care. Those people tore Kawamo Sayuri to shreds and feasted on the profit, so I absolutely refuse to just let them go! Even if the entire world and you yourself don’t want it!! I still won’t accept it!!!!”

That was likely a form of justice.

And that made it much harder to stop than a simple evil deed.

Revenge was a justice that did not forgive, did not save, and did not bring happiness.

“…elp…”

Isabelle finally spoke as if she had been overwhelmed.

The unclear sound grew to a quiet voice.

“Help.”

But she was not asking to be saved from this revenge.

Nor was she speaking on behalf of the researchers who had created her.

The face in the picture did not look right.

The name she heard did not sound right.

But this was still someone who was willing to express anger on her behalf.

So…

“Please help my friend.”

===Part 6===

Shiroyama Kyousuke had first met Isabelle before binding a contract with her to take down the old-fashioned Illegal fighters over the Pacific.

It had been aboard the large Repliglass transport ship known as a Whooper Swan.

He had first asked if her name really was Isabelle.

She had not understood the point of the question, so she had answered that any name was fine: Sayuri, Isabelle, Before, or After. Even Doll or Weapon was acceptable. What she was called had no real meaning.

The boy had looked up into the sky.

When she had asked why, he had simply held a file out toward her.

It had given the name of their expected enemy.

A vessel was after revenge and working with an unknown summoner.

The vessel’s name was Murasame Kuina.

The file had nothing to do with the midair battle over the Pacific. Shiroyama Kyousuke had already found bits and pieces of information on the enemy they were expected to run into that after that skirmish was over.

And he had known the reason behind the girl’s revenge.

He had not known what Government was doing, but he had known that Isabelle was the result and that some kind of sacrifice had been made.

None of it had held much meaning for Isabelle.

She could not remember her original face or name.

Nothing in the file had seemed real to her.

But.

Even so.

The created girl named Isabelle had felt a slight ache in her heart when she saw the attached photo. She had not wanted that person to dirty their hands or destroy their body for her. She had not known where that feeling came from, but she had obeyed who she was at the moment. She had accepted it as correct.

So…

“Help her.”

The words had naturally left her lips.

She had pointed to her own chest with her thumb and relied on the slight feeling that remained inside her.

“Help this girl’s friend.”

But…

“No, I don’t think so.”

The summoner had shaken his head.

And he had said something else instead.

“''But I’ll lend you a hand as soon as you’re willing to call her your friend.''”

===Part 7===

A metallic sound burst out.

It came from Shiroyama Kyousuke and Biondetta.

They had both pulled out an Incense Grenade and slammed the bottom of it against the café billiards table.

It was like slamming down an empty glass after downing a strong drink.

The savior and the avenger glared at each other across the rectangular table.

“''I will save Isabelle and her friend.''”

“Oh? You aren’t giving in even after I brought up the Queen? How rare.”

“''I don’t care if I’m contradicting myself. I can think that through later. None of that has anything to do with Isabelle who is asking for help right this instant.''”

“Hee hee. You are obsessed with battle, aren’t you? The two of us are so very similar.”

She could say whatever she wanted.

She could mock and deride him however she wished.

With his eyes displaying renewed faith in himself, Kyousuke reached for the pin of the Incense Grenade he pressed against the table.

Horned Biondetta responded in kind.

“Even so…”

The savior rabbit made a definite declaration.

“Yes…”

The vengeance cat spoke in the exact same tone of voice.

“''I will never stop helping people.''”

“''I will never stop helping people.''”

They pulled the pins.

They kicked their chairs back as they stood up and simultaneously pulled out their Blood-Signs. After precisely five seconds, both Incense Grenades detonated. A twenty meter Artificial Sacred Ground was constructed and the two vessel girls were forcibly called over from the distant building rooftop.

“Let’s do this, Biondetta!!”

“I have decided on a super-sized reward for myself! So I will fight that girl!!”

The battle had begun before the girls even landed.

It was an extreme close-range fight. The opening ritual was the breaking of the three-dimensional Rose made of White Thorns, but they interfered with even that.

“Bang☆”

Biondetta acted first. With an explosive sound, she fired a sniper rifle round at close range.

She had yet to unfold her Blood-Sign, so she pulled the trigger in that state.

Kyousuke forcibly kept it away with his Repliglass Blood-Sign and rotated the Blood-Sign to let the force escape. He swung the long rod around for a powerful blow, but Biondetta used her folded gun barrel to hold it back and forcibly grabbed the heated joint of hers. She ignored the disconcerting sizzling sound as she unfolded the Blood-Sign. A second and third exchange followed.

They slipped through the slightest opening to launch White Thorns.

One from each of them struck the Rose simultaneously and the 216 Petals scattered across the Artificial Sacred Ground.

As the Petals were hit into the Spots, the two vessels changed form.

Murasame Kuina became the Original Green (k). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 1.

Isabelle became the Original Yellow (s). Sound Range: High. Cost: 1.

They were both three meter slime Materials, but then something strange happened.

Kyousuke and Biondetta climbed directly onto the billiards table and directly clashed before the Materials could.

The attempt was obstructed by their protective circles, but those monsters of the 900s did not care.

“''Cheshire Cat''!!”

“Shut up, ''you damn rabbit''!!”

They glared at each other.

It was almost like infighting in boxing, except they fought with their 180cm Blood-Signs.

Not even the Blood-Signs could break through the enemy’s protective circle, but anything else was fair game. When one Blood-Sign left its protective circle, the other would strike it. They deflected, diverted, and pushed. They worked to throw off their opponent’s aim, obstruct the growth of their Material, and gain the advantage themselves.

They seemed to be using spear or staff techniques, but it went beyond that.

The essence of a battle between summoners was building up their Materials and having them clash violently.

They would find slight gaps in the direct battle or work the interference into their plans and thus use the diverted path of their Blood-Sign to launch their White Thorns accurately around the Artificial Sacred Ground. A cushion of three or four ricochets was standard. Sometimes, they needed a complex set of six or seven ricochets to accurately hit the necessary Petal into a Spot.

This was a battle between those at the 900 level.

This was the realm of the monster children born from the results of the Fifteen Siblings Project.

It was a clash between savior and avenger.

Learning the rules of the occult and treating the Summoning Ceremony like a game…''was just plain silly''. This was the ultimate form of the ceremony in which they used everything the world had to offer in order to bring down the enemy before their eyes.

Kyousuke had the Feasting Flower (l v z – j). Sound Range: High. Cost: 4.

Biondetta had the Dancing Hammer (k k – h d i). Sound Range: High. Cost: 5.

Kyousuke had the Blood-Seeking Spear (b i h – e i – d p – t q). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 9.

Biondetta had the Scorpion’s Tail in the Sandstorm (h u – c e – k k – d i – a – x). Sound Range: Low. Cost: 10.

Kyousuke had the Glittering Steel Mantis Reaper 05 (v i – o u – q u c – s n – a – r o l – e i – y w – f v – l i). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 21.

Biondetta had the Bubbling Gears that Bring Aging and Reap Lifespans (n j – o u – h a – j v – a – l m – e i –t z – k r – n o – x i – g). Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 22.

[[Image:BloodSign_v03_231.jpg|thumb]]
One was a five meter mantis seemingly made of silver armor. That ultimate predator sliced through everything with its scythes that glittered like laser blades, bit into it all, brought it to its mouth, and chewed it apart.

The other was a collection of countless gears of varying size, making it one of the most inorganic Materials. That bizarre sadist sent the grinding sound of its interlocking gears slipping into the target’s ears, which caused them to rapidly age like some kind of curse.

Kyousuke had made the first move, but Biondetta had followed after and always matched his sound range. Plus, her cost was always one above his. As he was acting first, Kyousuke’s Material was naturally more worn down and cost was everything in the same sound range, so it was like being forced into a race where your rival’s car was always blocking the way ahead.

But that just meant he had to put a stop to that.

During their high-speed exchange of White Thorns, Kyousuke used every method he had to interfere with her: grabbing at her Blood-Sign with his, throwing a smoke or stun grenade disguised as an Incense Grenade, using his Blood-Sign to grab at the coffee or tea cups on the tables and throw them at her, etc.

But none of it got through.

She kicked away the smoke grenade, she placed a metal tray over the stun grenade and stomped on it, she dodged the drink containers so they would not even hit her protective circle.

And in response, Biondetta spread her legs to shoulder width.

Kyousuke naturally grew cautious of what was hidden up that short skirt.

(Is it an interference style of grenade!?)

“Your gaze.”

Hearing that, he realized the action had been a feint.

“Tch!!”

He quickly looked up just in time to hear Biondetta clack her back teeth unnaturally. The sharp light of a magnesium reaction escaped the demon’s mouth and stabbed into his eyes.

“Isn’t being two steps ahead the standard for us?”

In that slight pause and safe period she had created, Biondetta’s Blood-Sign rapidly launched a White Thorn. It was not a strength-focused power shot. She just barely grazed the far right edge of the glowing white sphere for an intense spin shot. The White Thorn drew a sharp curve like a boomerang and accurately struck a certain Petal.

“My formation is already complete.”

It was a small pile of three or four Petals.

And when they scattered, they reached other piles.

And on and on and on.

“My mirror-image copying strategy is only a smokescreen to hide my true intent.”

More and more Petals were hit like falling dominoes, the chain reaction grew, and they were all flooded into the Spots. With each one, Biondetta’s Material grew with frightening speed. Instead of a great number at once, it was a great number in a row. She built up the cost in no time as if running up a flight of stairs.

“And that true intent is to lay landmines which trigger a chain reaction!! Once the avalanche has begun, you have no way to stop it!!”

It was like a clean sweep.

The next thing he knew, she had exceeded a level that could be described with cost difference and sound range.

As Biondetta shook her tail decoration, a tall dark figure spoken of in Egyptian mythology stood next to her. That evil god was the symbol of injustice who ruled over dryness and darkness. He had killed Osiris, ruler of the underworld, and temporarily taken his throne.

In other words, this was from the Divine-class.

Kyousuke was still stuck in the Regulation-class, so there was simply no way for him to defeat this.

“Farewell, savior. Farewell, my despicable mirror-image.”

Biondetta lightly spun her Blood-Sign around like a baton as she smiled thinly. She rested the long rod on her shoulder and spoke.

“When you next wake, this will all be over. So rest easy and enjoy the taste of defeat.”

The waitress demon snapped her other hand’s fingers.

A moment later, the darkness rushed in.

The dark figure’s silhouette crumbled into a deadly mist that dried up everything it touched. And that flew toward Kyousuke’s Material…toward Isabelle.

No Regulation-class Material of any sound range could defeat a Divine-class.

Thus, she should have been destroyed in a single blow.

And she would have been if not for the high-pitched sound as Kyousuke himself cut in between them inside his protective circle.

That circle would remain as long as his Material was not destroyed and he would not experience the mindlessness of defeat.

The protective circle defended against all external and internal factors that would obstruct the summoner….or rather, the ceremony itself.

Biondetta spun around the Blood-Sign that had been resting on her shoulder.

“Stalling for time earns you nothing.”

“True, this doesn’t solve the fundamental problem. And this cheap trick won’t work again. My kinetic vision can’t keep up with a Divine-class’s movements. And more importantly, all Materials are filled with combative instincts, so it’ll probably charge at me itself.”

Yes.

If this strategy was effective, the theory of these battles would be very different. The summoners would stand out front to receive all the attacks while the Material bombarded their enemy from safety.

But that was not how things worked.

The Material moved out front and the summoner stayed back. There was a good reason for that.

And yet…

“But it took you an awful long time to set everything up, didn’t it? The Artificial Sacred Ground lasts for an average of ten minutes. So how much time has passed? Eight minutes? Nine? The White Thorns are recharged every ten seconds, so it shouldn’t be that hard to keep track of the time.”

“You don’t mean…?”

“I just have to escape.”

He thrust his Blood-Sign forward this time.

“Besides, this isn’t our real fight. So thanks for showing off that special strategy that I’m sure you’ve put a lot of effort into developing. I think I’ll put that data to good use when it comes to our evacuation operation.”

“You…''you damn rabbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit''!!”

Kyousuke did not respond to Biondetta’s rage.

He spoke to his partner instead.

“Isabelle, destroy our footing!!”

<——————>

“Isabelle, don’t get too hung up on this one chance!!”

<Gashiiiin (deadpan). I want three scoops of maple cream ice cream as a super-sized compromise.>

The ground split and swallowed up everything.

Kyousuke, Biondetta, and the two Materials all fell straight down. They fell several dozen meters within the forest of dozens…no, of more than a hundred pillars that supported the large park. They fell straight toward the ocean below.

“Ma’am!! You can do it now! Focus your aim on-…”

As soon as Biondetta shouted to her vessel, the protective circle wavered around her. Then it vanished and the powerful wind struck her unprotected body from below.

(The ten minutes are up!?)

The monsters created from the girls returned to their original forms.

(But that’s fine. Wherever we land, I just have to use an Incense Grenade…no, my sniper rifle…!!)

Biondetta’s mind was boiling, but then she noticed Kyousuke smiling thinly her way as they both fell at the same speed.

His lips moved.

His voice did not have time to reach her, but she could tell what he was saying.

“Your protective circle is gone.”

“…?”

“So you need to be careful. There’s nothing left to protect ''you''.”

“Wha-…!? Oh, no!?”

She did not have time to shout.

One of the countless pillars had something like a metal tower or framework sticking out horizontally. As soon as she spotted that maintenance crane shaft with its attached pulley, a dreadfully dull sound burst out.

Kyousuke did not bother checking what happened to Biondetta after she vanished from view. He extended his arms and legs to control his midair position and approached Isabelle who was also falling.

He held her in his arms and aimed for the ocean surface.

They produced a mighty splash.

===Part 8===

An object quietly swayed back and forth in midair.

“Honestly…”

It was the waitress demon named Biondetta.

Just before colliding with the crane shaft, she had used the wind pressure and her position to twist around like an acrobat jumper and wrapped her entire body in the long leather belt that normally held her Blood-Sign. And instead of randomly, it was calculated out to distribute the impact to her body like a parachute harness.

Then she had intentionally wrapped it around the metal framework of the crane shaft to fully escape the impact that should have torn off a limb if not breaking her torso in two.

Her cellphone rang.

She answered it while still dangling down and heard the voice of her client and vessel Murasame Kuina.

“Where are you!?”

“If you look up, you should see my finest pair of adult underwear.”

“Well, as long as you can still move. I landed in the water safely, so let’s decide where to meet up.”

“Yes, of course. But please be on the lookout for ''that damn rabbit''. He loves tricks as much as me, so I could see him finding you on your own and defeating you to avoid the battle between summoners.”

“Then you come get me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She manipulated the leather belt so it seemed to move on its own like a strange tentacle and she managed to climb on top of the complicated framework of the crane shaft.

The closest emergency staircase was three meters away, but she did not hesitate to take the jump without a running start. She did not reach the landing on her level, but her feet accurately found the landing a level lower.

“It hurts that he managed to get away with knowledge of our technique. Biondetta, do you have a way to make up for that lost advantage?”

“I will prepare anything you desire, ma’am.”

Biondetta jumped more than ran down the emergency stairs located alongside the pillar.

“I already explained that there is a good possibility that their evacuation operation and bodyguard plan have been changed, didn’t I?”

“What about it?”

“Given the balance of power within Government, ''that damn rabbit'' won’t be able to change their bodyguard plans so easily. To put it another way, they’ll ignore him at some point. And that will create friction. I just need to read his algorithm. I just need to ask what I would do.”

“Get to the point.”

“I can settle this with a single phone call.”

She arrived at the lowest level which was just off the ocean’s surface.

She removed the cellphone from her ear and spoke directly to the soaking wet girl in front of her.

“What demon doesn’t whisper into the ear of an impure soul to bend them to her will?”

===Part 9===

Kyousuke and Isabelle had arrived on the opposite bank.

The leather glove on his left hand felt uncomfortable after soaking up the seawater, but he could not complain.

They climbed onto the concrete base and used the emergency stairs to arrive at a giant bridge covered in pedestrians. He casually glanced around, but the costume event worked against him here. That striking waitress uniform would be buried among all the outfits of the Delayed Walpurgis.

The Government coordinator spoke to him over his smartphone.

“Alice (with) Rabbit, Government has made some adjustments based on your request. For the withdrawal operation, we can spare a Stingray Repliglass transport ship and a Blue Whale Repliglass submarine. They will be carrying the classified server that acts as the core unit of the entire Anthill Project and Miss Maria Heartocean who leads the project. Is that acceptable?”

“Perfectly.”

“I have emailed you the details of the plan, but simply put, the Stingray will pick up Miss Heartocean within Toy Dream 35, carry her to the Blue Whale outside the city, and that will dive to bring her out of the country. You can only help in the Stingray zone which is the only part that Liar Cat can attack.”

“That’s fine. The ''Cheshire Cat'' is bound to show up no matter how obvious a trap it is. She isn’t going to wait for her revenge to grow cold.”

“…Are you saying you’ve already made contact with her?”

Kyousuke hung up without answering.

Isabelle shook her head like a wet dog and looked up at him with water dripping from her.

“I said it in the beginning.”

“Yeah.”

“As long as you fulfill my objective in the very, very end, I’ll go along with a super-sized number of detours.”

“I remember. So let’s go save your friend who’s been deceived by that liar of a cat. …It’s true she may have been the initial spark, but it never would have grown this much without that ''Cheshire Cat'' continually dumping fuel onto it.”

What was salvation to the girl named Isabelle and what could he do to help her?

Not even he knew that anymore.

She was a cheaply and simply made vessel. For that purpose alone, her soul had been eaten away, her physical appearance had crumbled due to that, and not even her own parents or best friend could have recognized the pitiful ruins she had become. She was what had budded from that.

But the girl had hoped for something.

Her sense of self, mind, personality, memories, and everything else were only vaguely defined, but she had still wanted to save the friend whose name and face she could not remember but who she had apparently once walked alongside.

That was her most pressing desire and she felt granting it would save her as well.

So Alice (with) Rabbit would respect the definition Isabelle had found for herself.

He would respect the heart that, before even thinking of saving herself, had wished to return that misguided friend to the proper path.

“I’ll ask you as many times as it takes. Bow (deadpan).”

“Right.”

“''Please help my friend.''”

It was only slightly different from the cold and distant request she had made before.

But the words had definitely come from the small girl’s heart.

It was not someone’s empty shell.

It was not the mere vestiges of someone.

It truly came from the heart of the girl named Isabelle.

Kyousuke still had no definite definition of what would save this girl.

But he smiled just a little.

In the end, he was taking the same path as Biondetta. It was a twisted path that could never be seen as straight. At first glance, it looked like he was granting a request, but he was really drawing out the words he most wanted to hear. He knew that, but he was still satisfied.

Even if that path was about to crumble away, he still believed it could bear the weight of at least one life.

“As you wish.”

The summoner and the vessel disappeared into the crowd.

The sun would set soon.

Then the all-important Anthill evacuation operation would slice through the darkness.

===Or a Story Set Further in the Past===

They had been together since they were little.

They had always, always been together.

Even among childhood friends and groups of friends, a leader or a hierarchy tended to form. But that sort of distortion never seemed to form between Murasame Kuina and Kawamo Sayuri.

They could decide who made the day’s decisions with a coin toss.

Sometimes Murasame Kuina would tug on her friend’s hand and head out to play, but other times Kawamo Sayuri would selfishly insist they were going out to eat ice cream and crepes. If someone had asked them who the leader was, they both would have immediately pointed at their own face and said “me”. But that was fine. That was why they were truly equal friends, unlike the other groups whose equality was only skin deep.

''“Kuina-chan, over here.”

''“Eh heh heh. We’re in the same class again.”

''“What should we do over the next break? Is there anywhere you want to go?”

Of course, it was a human relationship, so there had been complications.

But in the end, they had shared everything.

They had always found themselves smiling together once it was all over. They had been the best of friends.

No matter what happened, they had assumed there was no way they could ever be separated.

''“Let’s make a promise.”

''“If either of us runs into some kind of trouble, we’ll go help each other out.”

''“It’s a promise. Okay, Sayuri?”

“…”

Murasame Kuina remembered something that filled her with despair.

She stood by a grave as the sun set. She had made it herself. There had been no remains and no one knew whether Kawamo Sayuri was alive or dead, so the grave was empty.

“I told myself I wouldn’t cry in front of her,” she muttered as the waitress demon stood next to her. “But she must have told herself the same thing. She was a crybaby and a worrier. It was the worst possible combination, but she was always smiling in front of me.”

She remembered. Only Murasame Kuina remembered.

The girl had seemed plain and quiet, but she had actually been a jack-of-all-trades who could do anything. But she had never noticed her own value and instead focused on collecting mascots like Juddark and Sheriff Kitty even after entering middle school. Instead of climbing to the next stage, she had believed happiness lay in what she already had. She had been Cinderella before finding the fairy godmother.

It was a meaningless conversation.

The endlessly dry air blew between the two of them.

And finally, Biondetta quietly spoke.

“Ma’am.”

“What?”

“There is no need to restrain yourself any longer.”

That had been her limit.

Murasame Kuina’s face crumpled and something clogged inside her flowed out. Her tear ducts opened and large clear drops filled her eyes.

Before they could fall down her cheeks, the waitress demon embraced the girl.

All she could do was cry.

“Why!? Why!?”

All the words she had been holding back spilled out and she shouted at the world’s unfairness.

“Why did it have to be Sayuri? Why did she have to be chosen, why did she have to have everything taken from her, and why did she have to be made into a toy for whoever those Government people are!? Why did she have to have her soul messed with and her body and personality destroyed! That…that isn’t Sayuri anymore! She looks like a French doll made from her body!! Why did something so terrible have to happen to her!?”

Biondetta said nothing.

She simply waited as her client let out everything she had kept bottled up in her chest.

“And worst of all, why don’t we have the power to turn her back into Sayuri!? I don’t care about any of this summoner or vessel stuff. I couldn’t care less about the gods or the Unexplored-class beyond them!! If you have so much power stored up, then why can’t you save just one girl!?”

It was a lament of despair.

It was a cry of resentment toward herself and others and a call for the destruction of the world.

But Biondetta did not laugh. Nor did she show any disgust or mockery.

Who had decided that the will of the world mattered more than individual circumstances? Who had decided that a small heart had to be crushed when it saw that giant metal ball at the top of a slope?

It had nothing to do with logic, efficiency, calculations, or profit.

What was wrong with fighting simply to fulfill one’s own heart?

“Ma’am.”

Biondetta quietly spoke to Murasame Kuina who continued to bawl in her arms like a child.

“It is true I lack the power to save Miss Kawamo Sayuri. My power may not be what you truly desire.”

She spoke earnestly and sincerely.

She gathered strength in the arms around the girl.

“But if you wish, I will assist you with any form of revenge. There is no need to worry about the realistic difficulty of it. I am Freedom Award 920, Liar Cat. I am nothing more than a tool to accomplish your revenge.”

“…”

The girl simply sobbed for a while.

But as time slowly passed, Murasame Kuina wrapped her arms around the waitress demon’s back. She grabbed at the fabric and clenched it so very, very tightly that it nearly tore.

“Lend me your strength, Biondetta…”

That resentful voice seemed to echo up from the depths of hell.

At the same time, it was the voice of a girl who felt hopelessly trapped.

“I can never forgive Government!! They turned Sayuri into that!! They tore our memories to pieces! And yet they have the nerve to call themselves the world police!! So I don’t care if it’s wrong or if it means straying from the proper path! Lend me your strength, Biondetta!! I need that for my…no, for our revenge! So ''help me''!! ''Help us''!!!!!”

Still embracing the girl who was as dangerous as shattered glass, Biondetta silently smiled.

And the demon spoke the decisive words.

“''As you wish.''”

===Facts===

*Shiroyama Kyousuke and Biondetta Shiroyama are both Summoning Ceremony experts raised in the Fifteen Siblings Project. Each participant came into contact with the White Queen and later either died or became a summoner at the 900 level, but the individual details, survival, and affiliation are unknown.
*Similarly, Kyousuke seems to have taken in the White Queen’s love and Biondetta the White Queen’s hatred. Biondetta’s speech patterns and general behavior show some similarities with the Queen, but details are unknown.
*The Anthills are much like imitations built up from the wreckage of the Fifteen Siblings Project. However, it became something entirely different due to a failed understanding of that project’s true meaning.
*Isabelle’s real name is Kawamo Sayuri and she is Japanese. The Anthill Project had someone experience repeated planned losses in the Summoning Ceremony over a short period of time to intentionally carve away at their soul and create the spiritual traits needed as a vessel.
*Maria Heartocean destroyed Kawamo Sayuri’s soul and constructed Isabelle.
*If multiple summoners use Incense Grenades simultaneously and their Artificial Sacred Grounds come into contact, the Artificial Sacred Grounds will fuse. Ownership of the Artificial Sacred Ground remains with the summoner who set up theirs first.
*The protective circle can be used to stop Material attacks (although there are exceptions such as the White Queen). But based on the Material’s mobility, the summoner can only react once or twice at the most, so it is not a good long-term strategy.
*The girl said she wanted Shiroyama Kyousuke to help the avenger named Murasame Kuina…no, to help “her” friend.

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