Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item4 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 2===

Several beams of light flashed out.

Mugino Shizuri had not stopped with just the one.

The mansion’s front hall was large and devoid of cover. And even if there were any thick walls in the way, Meltdowner would have pierced right through them. And yet.

“!!”

The old man in the tuxedo and monocle ducked low as he ran. Instead of taking the shortest route, he weaved sharply side to side. So instead of pure speed, it was his irregular zigs and zags that caused Mugino’s predictions to repeatedly fail her.

A dull impact rang out.

Mujinayama had already arrived right up in front of Mugino Shizuri.

Her vision twisted around.

First, he threw a punch, forcing his target to use their arms to defend. Once their body had stiffened, he could easily grab their sleeve and collar to swing them around. Once begun, the throw was completely inescapable.

He was known as the Mountain Sniper.

This self-defense technique was meant for throwing a wild boar charging from the nearby bushes by grabbing its fur. It was not meant for use against humans.

If Kinuhata hadn’t made a flying kick from the side, Mugino would have crashed into the nearby pillar without any chance to soften the impact.

“He can super dodge while doing that!?”

“Don’t fall for the monocle, Kinuhata! Mujinayama is a pro sniper. Like hell his eyesight is bad!!”

With a sharp sound, the scarlet carpet fluffed up. At the last second, the butler had accurately escaped just outside of Kinuhata’s attack range.

And this was no time to relax.

He disappeared.

The next audible footstep came from right next to Kinuhata. Of all people, he was targeting Kinuhata Saiai, whose Level 4 Offense Armor made her Item’s greatest close quarters fighter.

After using the motion of going for a body blow to put her on guard, he used his shoulder to to tackle her hard high up on her upper body. That much she managed to follow.

The rest was a blur.

All Kinuhata knew was that her feet left the floor after she took a defensive stance. The vector made no sense. Something more must have been done to her in the air because, instead of flying backwards, she was slammed straight down onto her back.

“Khah, ah!? Y- cough – you!!”

“Excuse me. …It is against my style to attack a child, but I am a Manager who serves the Bloodline. My personal way of life does not apply here.”

She had defended her entire body with her power, but she still had the breath knocked out of her.

Without those defenses, her thick spine would have broken and pierced her heart.

Offense Armor was an ultra thin and ultra strong shield created by compressing the nitrogen in the air. That he managed to break through it was a surprise, but it was also a surprise to find Mujinayama had done it with his bare fist and not broken his hand.

It was the same idea as passing your hand over a candle flame in an instant. He had moved so quickly not enough energy had managed to reach his fist.

But even if they understood how that worked, how many people could actually pull it off?

(Cough. He’s a super monster to outdo an esper without powers of his own.)

Collapsed and unable to move much, Kinuhata tried to grab Mujinayama’s ankle with a hand more brutal than construction machinery, but the butler had already disappeared.

Keeping his distance put him at risk of projectile attacks – such as Mugino Shizuri’s Meltdowner – but he didn’t seem concerned.

Mugino aimed her palm his way while propped up by Takitsubo.

Right, left, right, right.

Several beams flashed out, but none of them ended the fight. Mugino clearly had the greater deadly force, but it was the butler who had control of the scene.

Mujinayama’s actions weren’t normal.

They were as strange as someone moving the same way they always did while on a tightrope.

There was a grinding noise.

That was Kinuhata Saiai digging her nails into the floor and trying to rejudge the distance between them.

And because she excelled at martial arts, her eyes widened even as she struggled to breathe.

That butler was a sniper, but he could do all this outside of that area of expertise?

“You’re kidding, right? Cough, he’s right in front of Mugino, gasp, and she’s firing Meltdowner blasts super everywhere!!”

“You cannot see lead bullets in flight either, but they are equally deadly if they hit. Piling more destructive power on top does not change what I must do in response.”

His voice remained calm.

In this case, the most fearsome person was not Academy City #4 Mugino Shizuri.

It was Butler Mujinayama who could stand before that monster and fight on the same or a higher level instead of being killed instantly.

He had no esper power.

Nor did he have any unique next-gen weapons from Academy City.

There were no tricks here.

All he had was a single body kept moving by nerves and muscles and fueled by the oxygen he breathed and the circulation of blood.

“That old hag Sakuya must be going senile,” spat Mugino. “Does she really think getting one old man on her side is enough to solve the entire Mugino Family succession issue?”

“Did you think it was only me?”

“…”

“The Bloodline increases their position in the line of succession by collecting the trump cards of the Management. Whoever collects the greatest number of the most powerful cards will be the next family head. And after pouring in significant effort behind the scenes, Sakuya-sama is in the lead. This is not an illegitimate rebellion. Sakuya-sama is reaping the benefits of the power she gathered legitimately.”

Was that a bluff? No, that wouldn’t accomplish anything here.

More of the Family’s Management and troops had joined this rebellion than Mugino Shizuri thought.

Enough that she could be seen as the traitor at this rate.

“Mugino. We should withdraw for now.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Takitsubo!!!”

“Sakuya is gone.”

The #4 fell silent.

At times like this, the track suit girl did a great job of keeping an eye on the entire battlefield.

(So he was focused on buying time for her to escape instead of trying to win the fight.)

A single Meltdowner blast could burn right through Mujinayama no matter how much he tried to defend Sakuya. He could not protect her as a shield. So to ensure her safety, he had drawn Mugino’s attention long enough for Sakuya to escape.

Even his superhuman movements had been no more than a means of protecting the Bloodline.

How very like a butler.

Including how his behavior remained unchanged even in the presence of Academy City’s #4.

“Mugino.”

“I know.”

Pounding footsteps were approaching.

A lot of them.

Mugino was concerned about the safety of her grandfather, but she didn’t know where in the maze-like mansion he was. For that matter, she didn’t even know if he was in the mansion at all.

It was time.

Kinuhata Saiai looked to Mujinayama.

He was brimming with energy. She could just about see a mirage-like aura coming from his shoulders.

“(But super what do we do now? With the way his monocle is shining, I don’t think that superhuman old man is going to let us escape.)”

“Then there’s only thing to do.”

Mugino didn’t bother keeping her voice down.

She made a show of holding her palm out, but not straight ahead at Mujinayama. She was aiming higher than that.

In other words…

“Is grandfather in his usual bedroom? I bet he’s fast asleep at this time of night.”

“The head is a very busy man. He may not even be in the country.”

“But that railroad model diorama he loves so much ''is'' in his bedroom, isn’t it? It’s so big I doubt he can bring it with him when he travels overseas.”

“Wait just a moment, Shizuri-sama. The head learned the basics of dioramas in France and then spent 40 years gradually adding to that masterpiece. You must not even joke about something like this. I do trust that not even you would perform such a profoundly reckless act, but destroying that is a line that cannot be uncrossed. And as manager of the mansion, it would be me he scolded over-”

A thick beam surged out.

She did not wait even a moment.

She even stuck her tongue out a little as she mercilessly unleashed a Meltdowner blast that broke through the wall and tore through a corner room on the 3rd floor, which was in fact the family head’s bedroom. A hole with a diameter of more than a meter had been annihilated.

While Mujinayama looked back in that direction and petrified, Item made their move.

If they directed killer intent his way, the old butler would instantly regain his senses.

So they rushed to the mansion’s front entrance.

They ran to the exit.

“Okay, that’s one card turned over. It turns out even that monster Mujinayama still has something he fears.”

“Hey, you didn’t just super direct some even scarier old man at us, did you!?”