Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume6 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

A clear change came over the yellowish silhouettes moving along the walls and ceiling.

Their endless looping ended and now they were focused on their target.

“Drat,” said the Bologna Succubus while spreading her wings.

A moment later, the disgusting grease rushed in along the thin wires supporting the model blimp. They would have been trapped if the demon woman holding Kamijou didn’t have wings.

“Did she increase the quality of the search!?” asked Kamijou.

“Clearly so! This is going to be rough flight, so hold on tight and don’t let your embarrassment stop you!!”

But it wasn’t going to end with just that.

It no longer mattered that they were in the air. The Bologna Succubus took a zigzagging path akin to a lightning bolt to avoid touching the floor, walls, or ceilings while she flew across a space containing a matcha cafe and a boutique. The number of yellowish silhouettes pursuing them was growing by the second. Did that mean the search spell was almost certain they were here now?

“But I’ve figured out some things myself.”

“?”

“Aradia’s ointment is bear grease. That was originally a defensive ointment meant to protect a naked witch from the winter chill. But if she had set the search to simply attach itself to any human skin it was meant to protect, all the girls around here would be coated in the sticky stuff. But she only wants to track us down, so she must have given it a more specific search condition. No doubt about it.”

“But what is that condition!?”

“Something that would mix with the animal grease rubbed on the witch’s body: the microscopic ecosystem of germs and bacteria found on anyone’s skin! That is also what determines your skin quality and the scent of your hair, so it will always differ between two people. The witches have always known a lot about handling medicinal herbs, so they used nothing but their own experiences to figure out fermentation and decomposition!!”

“But that means there’s no escaping it!”

“Does it, though? Heh heh heh☆”

The Bologna Succubus used her full speed flight to break through an aluminum alloy door and rolled across the floor, using her arms and wings to doubly protect Kamijou. He felt like they must have rolled all the way across one room and into another. He groaned and extracted his face from her chest.

He saw a tile floor.

Triple sets of faucets, showerheads, and mirrors lined one wall. And the intense humidity came from a bath so large it could be mistaken for a small pool.

The room they rolled right through must have been the dressing room.

Which made this…

“Is this a hot spa!?”

“I was already interested in Japan’s strange bath culture, so this kills two birds with one stone!”

Instead of getting up, the Bologna Succubus used her tail to pull the closest faucet’s lever.

“You might be interested to know that this is the women’s bath.”

“Is now really the time!?”

At least there wasn’t anyone else there.

Scalding hot water poured down on their heads just as several yellowish silhouettes passed through the door they had broken through and crawled along the tile floor and walls.

The room was twice the size of a classroom, but it was taken over in no time.

According to the Bologna Succubus, Aradia’s search spell was pursuing its targets using the microscopic ecosystem on their skin. That meant it could perhaps be evaded by either washing that off or by covering themselves in a liquid film.

“…”

Kamijou and the demoness soaked themselves in water above 40 degrees and rolled into the large tub.

Then they watched the silhouettes crawling along the wall nearby.

This was terrifying. Too terrifying to even gulp.

With white steam filling the air, the silhouettes of yellowish grease moved stickily around like they were dripping down the walls toward the mirrors. And just as it looked like they would reach the mirrors, they slipped into the gap between wall and mirror. Kamijou was so close he could hear the gross sounds of the bear grease moving. He also noticed a stench similar to rotten butter.

The movement stopped there.

At precisely Kamijou Touma’s eye level, something wriggled out from behind the mirror and onto its surface. Water and oil didn’t mix, so even after washing himself off with water so hot it hurt his skin, he wouldn’t have gotten rid of the entire threat. But the yellowish silhouette staring at him was only a shape, so it did not have any functional eyes. Nevertheless, he imagined the pressure of its gaze.

He wanted to fight back.

He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs and slam his right fist into the mirror. He wanted to be freed from this situation.

His body writhed unnaturally along with his heartbeat, but the demoness held him tight.

“(Be strong. You’re a boy, aren’t you?)”

That clued him into something.

The yellowish grease silhouette at his eye level did not react to her whispered voice. It lacked any auditory organs. The bear grease did not react no matter how close it was. If they lacked eyeballs and eardrums, they probably lacked every other senses as well.

This one was right in front of him and shared the same space as him, but that wasn’t what mattered.

The landmine would not trigger unless they touched it.

(Bear with it.)

He heard a sticky sound.

The yellowish grease on the mirror slid to the side and away from them like it had finally lost interest.

“Phew.”

And just as Kamijou let out the breath he had been holding the entire time, something dripped onto his head.

“………………………………………………………………………………”

It had an ochre coloration.

A yellowish silhouette was stuck to the ceiling and a single drop had fallen onto his head. And he touched it. First with his head and then with his right hand when he thoughtlessly reached up to see what he had felt on his head.

The gross liquid burst with a quiet popping sound.

And just like with security cameras, its destruction would be relayed to Aradia.

“Uh, oh.”

Not a moment later, the concrete wall was blown away as a witch beam shot their way.