Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume15 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 7===

Maybe it came from being a scrapyard for retired aircraft, but there were stacks of wooden crates and metal drums all around the Hotel Town. There was junk and scrap metal just about everywhere.

For a tinkerer like Hamazura, it all looked like a giant armory.

He started with a metal pipe and a stake, added some quick-drying putty in place of a rubber seal, grabbed a spare electric plug, included a few other small items, and finished it with the most important piece of all.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet tilted her head.

“Hmm, what’s that tube? What is that used for, Professor Hamazura?”

“It’s a signal flare. It might look safe, but it actually includes more powder than an ordinary 9mm round.”

There was probably more powerful jet fuel and rocket fuel to be found in District 23, but he would prefer not to touch anything that dangerous. It was best to stick with materials he was more comfortable with. He took apart a few of the flares to get sufficient powder.

After combining everything just right, it was done.

It rested on his shoulder like a rocket launcher…but it was more like a pile driver powered by explosive force.

He would use this to break the space shuttle’s thick front glass designed to withstand space debris and the pressure difference with vacuum.

“That should do it. We only have one shot at it, though.”

“Are you sure about this? Won’t a space shuttle have other ways of seeing out? Y’know, like exterior cameras installed all over it. I just don’t think this will work like a normal plane.”

“You have a point. Then let’s deal with that.”

That led to more rummaging around behind cover.

The emaciated girl stared like she had discovered a new kind of insect.

“Professor, Professor. Um, why are you gathering up filthy old cardboard boxes?”

“For kindling.”

With so many homemade grills all over the place, it wouldn’t stand out much if a bunch of smoke obscured the view from the exterior cameras.

He gathered together all the cardboard and then shoved it into an 18 liter drum.

Incomplete combustion would be best for creating a smokescreen, so he wet the cardboard a bit with water before lighting them. Oil would have been useful, but he was afraid of it sputtering all over the place when mixed with water.

Dark smoke dirtied the air and began to ride the gentle breeze.

It fully engulfed the streamlined fuselage of the Kujerung a short distance away.

Now the exterior cameras weren’t going to accomplish much.

“Let’s go! Don’t get lost in the smoke!!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Hiding in the thick smoke, Hamazura held a collapsed ladder under his arm and approached the Kujerung. It was a nerve-wracking situation, but Blodeuwedd the Bouquet seemed to be enjoying herself. …Like a mom watching her small child during parent’s day at school.

“Phew.”

They made it below the Kujerung. It was low enough he had to duck to not hit his head, but it was still a safe zone where they were free to move.

He took a deep breath of the smoky air.

Three seconds passed without any reaction from the Black_Oneday user. Concluding they hadn’t been noticed, the two of them made they way to the tail of the spaceship.

“Did you make too much smoke? It’s stinging my eyes…”

“That’s better than being seen.”

While it was only the size of a business jet, it was still an exoatmospheric shuttle designed to take off from a runway and fly all the way into space. Three giant trumpet-shaped engine nozzles were arranged at the rear. Each one was taller than Hamazura. He knew it was retired and wasn’t functional anymore, but it was still frightening to be staring them down like this. The pure firepower would be greater than at a crematorium.

Hamazura extended the stepladder as far as it would go and leaned it diagonally against the shuttle. Climbing that would take him to the roof. Then he only had to walk up to the cockpit window.

“Okay, here goes nothing. …Follow me, Blodeuwedd the Bouquet.”

“Oh, how gentlemanly. I thought you would use ‘ladies first’ as an excuse to have me go ahead of you.”

“?”

“It’s your chance to get a low-angle view, you know? And I’m naked save for an apron below my metal coat☆”

Hamazura knew that veering even slightly to the side on the roof would mean slipping off to his death, so why was she trying to distract him like this? Was she really on his side?

At any rate, he climbed the ladder while staring down the giant trumpet-like engines.

But then he realized something.

“Hm? What is it, Blodeuwedd the Bouquet?”

Before reaching the roof, her hands only partway up the ladder, Blodeuwedd the Bouquet stared off elsewhere and muttered to herself.

“Hmm, that’s not good. Things have finally caught up with us.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant at first…but that didn’t last long.

Something wasn’t right.

“There’s no one else…around here?”

In the cluttered Hotel Town? When each of the passenger planes that made it seem so cluttered had to contain hundreds of passengers?

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet took a quick look around, her gaze sharpening a bit.

“It’s a people-clearing field. And the Anglicans have us surrounded a lot more boldly than I expected. They should really be less conspicuous about laying that kind of groundwork.”

“?”

That didn’t mean anything to Hamazura, but apparently all the innocent people had intentionally been ''made to leave''.

The “atmosphere” of the entire area had changed and the hiding Black_Oneday user had to have noticed it. Which meant they would be on their guard. He couldn’t predict what the enemy would do next. Were the Anglicans a bunch of bumbling cops!? Did they even want to solve this case and bring peace back to the world!?

“This is bad, Hamazura.”

“?”

His phone sounded the alarm again. The loudest one it had.

The threat was right there, as close as could be.

He heard a rumble from the Kujerung’s giant engines just before ''they ignited.