Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 1===

'''11:36 AM

A large enclosed space was visible from a hall surrounded by glass.

The hall stuck out like a ship’s bridge and was filled with operating equipment. Beyond the glass was a square pit with one hundred meter sides, rivaling the size of a dock.

This was the operating room for the Ixolde Word Accelerator and it was located below Osaka Prefectural #2’s schoolyard.

Shutters had covered the glass the day before, but now a giant mechanical pillar made its presence known as it rose from the darkness.

That pillar that appeared to be connected to a giant container was a Babel Gun.

Instructions from the operating room would fire pure compressed words down from the top of the Babel Gun.

The fired words would accelerate as they collided with the word particles of light inside the acceleration pathway. Upon reaching the turnaround point at the very bottom, the excess heavy word dregs were cast off as the words bounced back up.

Those words were further accelerated by the ricochet effect.

They were gathered inside the ascending acceleration pathway that fired word particles of darkness. Darkness pulled in the words with the same speed as the light.

As the words travelled up the long pathway, the ricochet effect would cause them to scatter, but they were kept together by the double helix Babel Gun positioned near the surface.

The pure Lives had been given acceleration by the double arrangement of light and darkness. As they reflected around the double helix pathway, they gathered together and accelerated more and more. The Babel Gun contained a pocket to record the voice emitted when the words surpassed the speed of time.

“We are after the sound that reaches the voice pocket when the maximum value is reached.”

That comment came from a student in a lab coat standing in front of the large window giving a view of the Babel Gun.

He was speaking to Nanba Souichirou and Saki Seiji who stood in front of him.

Once he finished his explanation, he gave a quick bow and left.

Drawn by his movement, Saki Seiji looked back.

As he and Souichirou remained in front of the window, the students working on the final setup of the operating room were inspecting programs and equipment or running simulations of the final stage.

A large digital clock next to the room’s entrance told Saki it was eleven in the morning.

The large terminal below the clock was the mainframe for connecting directly to Ixolde’s core.

Once the activation password was typed into that terminal the following day, Ixolde would boot up.

Some technical terminology and instructions were exchanged, footsteps rushed here and there across the floor, and fingers typed furiously at keyboards.

“…”

Saki faced forward again.

Standing next to him, Souichirou had his one eye focused on the Babel Gun standing tall in the space before them.

Saki scratched his head with the attaché case in his hand.

“So we’re finally activating it tomorrow, huh?”

“Yes. …At this point, only Nagoya’s Chancellor is taking part, so we must really be hated. I wonder if the others will give their approval if we succeed.”

“We have a 100% chance of success here. After all, two years ago-…”

“Do not mention that accident.”

Souichirou cut Saki off and looked back with his one eye.

Saki also turned around and saw the work being done by the science club elites selected from different schools.

They were all doing their very best to get Ixolde up and running by the following day.

Saki scratched his head again and spoke up hesitantly.

“Well, Nandaimon has always hated Ixolde and tomorrow night isn’t going to be any different, right? They’re coming for the night’s Osaka security meeting, but they didn’t come to see the inside of this place.”

“Nandaimon’s leader, Yuuki Senga, is the only human in Japan who can teach how to use Heavy Rhythms. She sealed those techniques away at the end of the Kinki Riot, so it’s understandable she would not want them appearing in the world once more.”

“Heavy Rhythms, huh?”

“I heard at the Mountain that it was their presence that caused the Kinki Riot.”

“What do you think of that Killing Holder girl? Is she the same as Yuuki Senga?”

“You met her yesterday, didn’t you? When you had to ‘clean up’ after the Koto Guardian.”

“She’s no laughing matter,” said Saki quietly. “She has exclusive access to the world’s only combat satellite, the Suzaku Ver. 40, and she wields the giant staff Housei, which was given its power using Death Techno.”

“She destroyed an entire schoolyard and school building, didn’t she? That goes beyond an Octave of 5,000,000.”

“There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to her. After that stuff yesterday, some weird people showed up.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah.” Saki pulled an MD from his pocket. “I recorded the commotion if you want to hear it.”

“You will play it for me?”

“Of course.”

Saki smiled bitterly as he shoved the MD into an MDD and played it.

“There’s a bit of static…but they really were weird.”

A quiet voice played from the headphones extending by a cord from Saki’s neck.

''“Get lost.”

“That was the Koto Chancellor. Next up is the Nagoya Chancellor. They confront each other right away.”

''“Oh? Yer willin’ to get that close with yer staff? Does distance not matter with yer power?”

And immediately afterwards…

''“Hyah!”

“A moron was standing between the Chancellors, so the Nagoya Chancellor shoved him toward the Koto Chancellor.”

“So that was a boy’s scream?” asked Souichirou as he crossed his arms.

''“Yuuki…”

“The moron muttered that just before he was tossed behind her by the collar.”

''“!?”

“See? Now, this next line is a big one.”

''“It is no use. If you try using a student as a shield, I will simply kill both of you.”

Saki and Souichirou’s expressions changed at the word “kill”.

They exchanged a glance and waited for more sound without nodding.

Their silence was answered by Taeko’s staticky voice.

''“A shield? …Hah. Ya haven’t seen this guy for two years…and ya call him a shield?”

“The Killing Holder probably would.”

''“Hey. I thought ya’d be at least a little worried ‘bout Shoui, so what’s this? Yer callin’ him a shield that’s keepin’ ya from movin’?”

''“What else could he be?”

That line was immediately followed by a low rumble from the headphones.

The sound continued for a while.

“That’s the Nagoya Chancellor’s Dragon Emperor automatically starting up. It went all the way up to the third stage right off the bat. She was pretty mad.”

''“Hold it right there!”

''“…Shoui!?”

“The moron restrained the Koto Chancellor from behind, which really surprised the Nagoya Chancellor.”

A sound resembling shattering glass came from the headphones.

''“Yuuki!?”

''“You morons!”

Saki’s voice and the sound of breaking rock came next.

“Was he unable to restrain the Koto Chancellor, so she still managed to launch an attack?” asked Souichirou.

“I used my spear to destroy the pillar of ice she sent flying. She’s a frightening girl. That was a clash between Chancellors.”

''“C’mon, now! This is Osaka! Why are you acting so impulsively, Koto Chancellor!? Are you still going to act selfish after blowing away some students from our territory!? You too, Nagoya Chancellor!”

''“Didn’t I tell you before?”

''“You mean that you’ll do what it takes to take advantage of any opportunity? You did, Chancellor of the Turbulent City.”

''“And that’s exactly right. Turbulent City – Nagoya will use any means necessary to survive, even if it means bringin’ shame to ourselves. …That’s been our motto since the Warring States period.”

“An excellent opinion,” said Souichirou.

Saki grimaced and the voice from the headphones spoke his thoughts for him.

''“Once you reach the Chancellor level, you aren’t supposed to get to know people like that! Do you think this is a friendship manga!? Not to mention that Osaka is busy with Ixolde right now.”

''“Oh, shut up. Nagoya is full of fightin’ on a daily basis. We sit on the dividin’ line between east and west, so information warfare and corporate warfare are bein’ waged on a daily, hourly, and even secondly basis. Do ya understand? …We can only trust someone who’s either lost to us or defeated us.”

''“But…”

''“I said shut up. Don’t you agree, Shoui?”

''“…”

''“…”

The slight static of silence continued for a while.

''“Oh, go ahead and continue talking, boss.”

''“What are ya doin’, ya moron?”

''“Can you not feel this dangerous atmosphere?” asked Saki’s voice.

''“Eh? Well, given the situation, I just couldn’t help myself, so, um, uh…”

Saki switched off the MD there.

“Now then,” he said with a serious expression. “We parted soon after that. …The Nagoya Chancellor’s brother was killed by the Koto Chancellor, but she got weirdly angry partway through there. …Did you notice it?”

“Yes. After the Koto Chancellor treated the ‘moron’ you mentioned so carelessly, she started acting weird.”

“That moron was our new student you saw yesterday. The Dis-Worder boy who for some reason stayed at the Nandaimon Shrine until two years ago.”

Saki took a breath.

“He apparently met the Nagoya Chancellor at the Mountain. …Just as the legend says, the Dis-Worder boy is bringing calamity to Osaka.”

Souichirou gave a small bitter smile.

He opened his eye and held his right false arm forward to touch the large window there.

His spread palm pointed toward the Babel Gun that looked like a layered container.

“This is a lot like two years ago.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Do you think an ogre will appear this time too?”

“You’ll defeat it if it does, won’t you?”

“…”

Souichirou fell silent, so Saki did as well.

The ensemble of typing reached them from behind.

Souichirou finally spoke slowly as if to deny the rapid pace of the keystrokes.

“We will create the ultimate Rhythm here. …I just hope no calamity befalls the supernatural music of the Heavy Rhythm that no one can use. But if calamity does befall it, will it be an ogre?”

“As long as you don’t have to cut down a person. We can’t have you being called a Killing Holder too.”

“I see. But…”

“?”

Saki tilted his head and Souichirou asked him a question.

“That moron you mentioned… He seemed flustered at the end. What happened?”

“Oh, that.”

“You said he was restraining the Koto Chancellor from behind, didn’t you?”

Some serious suspicion filled Souichirou’s gaze, so Saki placed a hand on his chin as he quietly responded.

“While standing behind the Koto Chancellor, he moved his arms sharply around like this…”

“I see.”

“And he fondled her breasts.”