Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item5 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

“…” “…” “…” “…”

All four Item members had regrouped without issue.

On the large riverside area covered by hundreds of thousands of people for the fireworks show. It that wasn’t a miracle, what was it?

Cheating, probably.

Specifically, this location up on the riverbank had a lot of obstacles thanks to the food stalls set up.

Some boys around the age of Frenda’s sister passed by, talking loudly. They were using clear cups of cider to make their faces look all distorted. Some kids were taking photos of the small rainbows created by the mist shower.

It was a perfectly ordinary scene.

Item’s clothing was unruffled. They had been very cautious, but it didn’t look like anything had happened.

When the attack had begun, the voice on the phone had been shot and then a large semi-trailer truck had hit Kinuhata.

This was a troublesome opponent, but if A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko of the Advanced Lab didn’t have any support team delinquents, they might only be able to pull off so many simultaneous attacks. Was that why they had to cause such noticeable diversions?

Mugino scratched her head in exasperation and spoke.

“The terrain is perfect for hiding, the wide field of view is perfect for monitoring your surroundings, and there are plenty of escape routes just in case. …It makes sense. Everyone in this business thinks the same way.”

“So are there kinds of places that dark side people super tend to gather in? Although that idea is even less pleasant than the little bugs gathered on the underside of a potted plant’s leaves.”

“In that case, it’s lucky we didn’t run into A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko while waiting here,” observed Takitsubo.

Everyone fell silent at that.

That was the most ridiculous and most deadly possibility they could think of.

This area was plenty crowded.

The fireworks show didn’t seem to allow any bright lights, but when Mugino held up her phone, she saw brightly-colored AR displays all over the place. The advertisements for the plain-looking food stalls were quite something. Whenever they had a chance, they would fill up the screen with their 3D images. Simply approaching them caused a social media invitation to pop up.

Kinuhata took a look at the same screen (while stretching up on her tiptoes).

“What a pain. If you super tried to take a selfie here, I’m not sure you’d even be able to see your face.”

“That just shows how many people’s plans are tied up in this event, Kinuhata,” said Takitsubo. “This isn’t just about us.”

With such a large fireworks show, there would be a TV broadcast and amateur streamers were a common sight in Academy City. That made navigating the place a challenge for Item who spent so much time on illegal jobs.

“Let’s decide who does what. In the end, I’ll take the fireworks launch site. If you need a bomb defused, Frenda-chan’s your girl!”

“…Um. Super what are the rest of us supposed to do?”

“If Frenda tries to defuse the bomb, A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko will try to stop her. We need to stop them.”

They paused their conversation there.

Takitsubo cast a glance over at some passersby and waited for them to continue past. Some girls in yukatas were chatting happily with one holding a small, clear plastic bag filled with water. At first, it didn’t seem to contain a goldfish, but then a small red fish appeared. It apparently hadn’t been visible due to the lighting conditions.

Mugino lowered her voice.

“They’re planning to blow the place up? Would they really come here themselves?”

“What would prevent them? The fireworks show isn’t like the stadiums during the day. No one is checking IDs or tickets or inspecting bags at the entrance. Anyone can come in for free,” said Takitsubo, tilting her head.

The general mood wasn’t right for strict entrance management. Anyone could arrive from anywhere. Maybe it came from this being a free event, but for people trying to protect the place, security seemed lax for the number of people here.

The track suit girl was a pro who always considered the worst case.

“If the fireworks sabotage fails, A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko only have to put on masks and directly shoot up the place. That does increase the risk of being identified compared to the explosive trap, but all they really need is to trigger a large enough panic to keep Anti-Skill and Judgment busy. So that would be enough for them to get back on track.”

In other words, defusing the bomb wasn’t enough to say the place was safe.

Their goal needed to be protecting the lives of the hundreds of thousands here, not stopping the bomb. …Especially for Frenda who was close to biting her thumbnail if she wasn’t careful (even though her delicate fingertips were her life). From the look of her, she probably needed to reapply the makeup meant to hide her fingerprints.

It really would be necessary to take out A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko of the Advance Lab.

Mugino kept it brief.

“Where’s the enemy?”

“I have a general idea based on their preferences.”