Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item4 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 14===

She threw punches and kicks.

But just before the moment of maximum impact, he would strike her wrist or push on her shin to sap the force of the blow. She combined ordinary martial arts with surprise Meltdowner blasts from her palms, but the old butler in a tuxedo and monocle only swung his head to the side to easily dodge them.

Mujinayama.

He swung something around like a club.

It was a precision sniper rifle.

That was not meant to be used as a striking weapon. But sniper rifles were made sturdy enough to endure their own recoil. Thus, it provided Mujinayama with competitive-level precision as well as a weapon for dirty brawling. He was very careful to ensure the blows did not send too powerful of vibrations to the barrel or workings of the gun. Just like a mountain sniper who was forced to treat his tools roughly.

“You’ve honed your skills this far and a silly coup’s the best you could come up with? What do you live your life for, Mujinayama?”

“Whether or not this is ‘silly’ is not for the lowly butlers like me to decide. That judgment is made by Sakuya-sama who will soon stand at the top of the Mugino Family.”

“You don’t get to complain how tough life is as a Manager who can’t choose the Bloodline they serve. You left me and sided with Sakuya. You betrayed the Family of your own free will.”

“I know nothing I say can-”

Mugino Shizuri sent a Meltdowner blast his way mid-sentence.

At the same time, something dropped straight down like a lightning bolt.

It was Kinuhata Saiai.

She landed with a dull “crash!!!”, the asphalt denting below her.

On the other hand, that was all that happened.

That surprise attack using her Academy City esper power should have been unavoidable for someone outside the city. But not even that could reach Mujinayama. He had already jumped backwards. The soles of his shoes skidded along in a harshly weaving S-shape as he did so.

He had gotten away.

“Shizuri-sama’s daily complaints about Academy City’s espers have told me all I need to know. I know you each have a single trump card and I know how you think to ensure you can make the most of that card. Thus, a surprise like this is well within my expectations.”

“Kh.”

Aside from that, there weren’t many people who could take on both a Level 5 and a Level 4 while remaining in control and protecting Sakuya.

“You should not have come here, Shizuri-sama. I gave you more than enough time. If you still have not found a way to kill me, then so be it.”

He remained composed while staring down Academy City’s #4.

Mujinayama was not unarmed.

He held a spear-long sniper rifle. Things had change since they were in the Mugino Family mansion. The old butler’s playful air was gone.

“Mujinayama is a family of mountain snipers. …I never imagined you would try to fight him in place like this. You did not think this through. You have given us far too great an advantage.”

Behind him, Mugino Sakuya whispered in obvious enjoyment.

The old butler was currently serving and protecting Sakuya, not Shizuri.

“Mujinayama, hurry up and kill her. You must protect the Bloodline you serve, no matter what. Hee hee. With a setup like this, even you will be forced to take this seriously, won’t you? You cannot protect me without killing Shizuri.”

The girl wasn’t even looking at the true villain of Sakuya.

The #4 was glaring only at the old butler.

“Mujinayama,” she growled.

“There are reasons I cannot abandon Sakuya-sama. They are, however, silly personal reasons not even worth conveying to you, Shizuri-sama.”

“This isn’t your rebellion. It’s Sakuya’s selfish desire!!”

“Be that as it may, I cannot leave Sakuya-sama alone. I simply cannot. Think of this too as the fate of a Manager serving the Bloodline and give up on me, Shizuri-sama.”

The atmosphere strained under the tension.

Mujinayama’s muscles crawled quietly below his luxurious tuxedo. The bundles of muscle fibers moved tightly as they entered a mode intended to kill.

This was the ideal form of the world’s most powerful predator which surpassed even the lion and the great white shark.

In other words, the human.

“Prepare yourself. You may be a legitimate member of the Bloodline, but you failed to gather the Management and are thus our enemy. I pray that this conflict will lay the foundation of further prosperity for the Mugino Family.”

His monocle did not even waver.

He scored a perfect 100 as a Manager serving the Mugino Family.

How ironic it was that his loyalty to the Family would turn around to threaten Shizuri as an individual.