Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item4 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 3===

Mugino, Takitsubo, and Kinuhata of Item crossed the wall and set foot in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

There was ordinarily a lengthy process involving tons of paperwork and a tracking nanodevice injection, but they had skipped past all that. That showed just how pressing the situation was. More than that, it did no one any favors to leave official records of dark side activities.

“Takitsubo-san, I thought your AIM Stalker could search someone out super no matter where in the world they were.”

“I don’t record the AIM Diffusion Fields of my teammates,” expressionlessly replied Takitsubo.

It was admirable she was still following that rule after it prevented them from learning Hanano Choubi’s true identity. Then again, the laws and regulations usually required to protect people’s lives and property didn’t function on the dark side, so maybe the secret to survival was to mind your own business. Giving into paranoia made a villain fragile.

In that sense…

“If Frenda did run away on her own, it’s odd that she left her sister behind… I would have expected her to flee Academy City with her family in tow, even if that meant grabbing the girl’s arm and dragging her.”

Mugino was cautious about these things.

So while this was a threat to Item as a whole, she wasn’t too worried yet.

“That’s if super Frenda-san is her usual self. But you can never predict what people will do when they feel trapped.”

“We just have to predict what choices she would make the same whether she’s guilty or innocent. Then we can get ahead of her and catch her.”

Takitsubo was sharp and to the point, despite her unfocused eyes.

This wasn’t even about her power. She was the best in the field of searching.

On the dark side, these tracking skills were even more important than simple violence.

You had to sniff out any oddities, accurately follow their tracks, and locate your target no matter where in the wide world they were.

A military hound like that could directly influence people’s lives and futures.

“What will Frenda do next, whether it’s real or just a trick meant to confuse us?”

Takitsubo Rikou was her usual self.

She spoke like an oracle.

“Prove her innocence, maybe?”