Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth2 (section)

===Part 4===

From there, they spent a few days focusing on the professional spies.

But instead of wearing black suits and sunglasses, these spies looked like restaurant waitresses or gas station part-timers.

They seemed to have chosen jobs and positions with high turnover so the locals wouldn’t question speaking with a newcomer.

That said, Mikoto and Shokuhou’s powers meant they didn’t have to participate in the spy games.

Just by approaching them in a crowd, Mikoto could snag all the data in their electronics and Shokuhou could directly steal the information in their heads.

“Hm, hm.”



The financial markets were rocky after the loss of the Empire in the west, so the Republic in the south was concerned that all of their 30+ foreign corporations could collapse.



The United States in the east had the most Frozen Fossils, but that did them little good since they lacked the technology to process them.



“So just because they can’t grow crops in the permafrost, the States ends up being attacked by Girlish Weapons made from the very Frozen Fossils they sold to the other countries?”

A lot of it was fascinating, but none of it was critical enough to immediately stop the launch of more ballistic missiles.

That morning, Mikoto and Shokuhou had seen a pair of F-2As flying overhead. Mechanical aircraft F-2As, not Girlish Weapons.

Was that Shirai and Hokaze?

Apparently the Izanami was still nearby.

They were accompanied by a YF-23 and F-23B. Had those two been recovered from the ocean?

“If they are following witness accounts, they will land here,” said Mikoto. “Maybe they figured out what we were thinking.”

“Maybe we should move on to the next Sky Pirate Port or Island soon.”

Hopefully the others wouldn’t have predicted that too. Nothing would be sillier than trying to avoid them only to run right into them.

“But where should we go next?”

“Either Wellslake Sky Pirate Port 900km south of here or Halborn Sky Pirate Island 1200km north-northwest of here. But Halborn would mean approaching the central mountain range – the permanent no man’s land between the three countries which is filled with missile silos. Security will be tighter there.”

“Then the more obvious choice would be Wellslake. But Kuroko and the others could probably predict that…”

Mikoto considered it for a bit.

And come to think of it…

“Actually, is it really true that the three countries kept all their missile silos in the central mountain range? Even if they were creating a permanent no man’s land that no one can conquer even with ten thousand years to work at it, that’s the front line. It sounds crazy.”

“That shows it’s all for show at this point. No matter how it started, the three world powers will never make a direct attack on each other like that. Which created a shared idea that they should make good use of that “extra land”.”

“But what if some country physically occupied the missile silos for all three world powers?”

“They would still need authorization codes from two of them. And who would be stupid enough to authorize a missile launch targeting their own country? Physically occupying the silo wouldn’t get you much, so they decided there’s nothing to worry about.”

Even so.

…This really was another world. The order of inventions and the path of history were different, so maybe they viewed nukes and missiles differently. They didn’t view nuclear weapons as much of a threat, maybe because they had been invented here but fortunately had never been used in war.

“So it’s time to move on, is it?”

“I’m not saying we should land on the highway, but with Hokaze-san and Shirai-san making an appearance, don’t you think we should consider using something other than a runway?”

“Are you serious?”

“No, because I certainly don’t want to crash because we blow a high-pressure tire or have a plastic bag melt inside the air intake. But if we could make those two think we were trying something like that, it would increase the number of wrong answers they’re looking at, making it easier for us to get away.”

To do that, they would have to leave behind some (fake) information before leaving. Shirai’s Judgment training would have her follow certain procedures when gathering information, so that would be easy to take advantage of.

(It isn’t necessary, but maybe we should buy an IR or radar ILS receiver and maybe an extra air intake filter at one of the shops around here. If we were pushy about haggling, the shop owners would remember us. I just know Kuroko will ask around at the shops.)

Just as Mikoto had settled on a plan to prepare for leaving, something else happened.



“Everything’s half off. You expect me to actually work on such a joyous day? I want to close up shop early!!”

“Beer’s on the house today!! C’mon, everyone, come get a drink!!”

“Anyone need a rapid charge station for your phone? You wouldn’t want to find you can’t take photos or videos during the celebration, would you!?”



The street suddenly filled with energy.

Only Mikoto and Shokuhou failed to adapt and were left looking around.

“Is this some kind of festival? This is part of the Republic, so is it a national holiday?” asked Mikoto.

“But why would it start partway through the morning like this?” asked Shokuhou.

The two of them exchanged a glance.

This seemed strange.

Mikoto tried asking a friendly-looking hawker.

“Hey, mister. Is today some kind of celebration?”

“Of course it is.” The man grinned. “This place might be a Sky Pirate Port, but we’re still part of Cutalularia. Maybe it’s wrong when we’re a bunch of ruffians who refuse to take a side most of the time, but it’s still a cause for celebration.”

So it was a Republic thing?

Mikoto wasn’t sure she liked where this was headed.

“I mean, the Republic’s invincible Offense Fleet is back after its voyage around the planet! Today we’re looking to the western sea and celebrating!!”

The Republic’s invincible Offense Fleet.

A voyage around the planet.

Returning from the western sea.

“Oh, no,” muttered Mikoto under her breath.

The Izanagi and Izanagi were in the sea west of here. And this invincible fleet was coming from further out at sea.

So it would run into them.

If the Izanami and Izanagi tried to keep their distance from the Offense Fleet by escaping eastward, they would instead be approaching the Republic. They would be trapped between the two sides. Run or not, they would eventually come in contact with the primary Republic force and end up in a battle.

“That sounds like really bad news to me!!”