Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter5 (section)

===Part 1===

OXXXOOXXXX.

OOOOXOOXXOOXXXOXOXOXOXXXXXX XXOOXXXXXXOXOOXOXXOX△△△OXOOOOXOOXXXXX. OOOOXOOXXXXOOXXXXXOOOOXXXXXXXXX. OXXOOXOO OOOXXXXXXXX OX△△△△OOXXXOXXXXXOOXXXXXXXOXXXXXXXXXXXXe. A famous (or infamous) crabbing ship supposedly supplied its workers with plenty of white rice but only white rice.

For the moment, the elves needed to rebuild their strength even if it meant eating rolls and corn soup.

?

???

It happened so suddenly.

Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki opened their eyes to find themselves in a small village redolent of vegetation. It couldn’t have been more different from the sterile spaceship.

The unkempt elves with big collars and thick chains between their ankles were gathered there. The small girl among them was Patissiet.

They were back.

They had returned to the world of Celesaqphere.

Now they could fight to the end without having to abandon the elves!!

“Um, what’s wrong, Ladies Misaka and Shokuhou? Kyah!?”

The both hugged her on reflex.

Tightly.

Lives were taken without a second thought in this world, but nothing dangerous had happened while Mikoto and Shokuhou were away. They were thankful for that miracle.

The solid sensation at her chest told Mikoto her Tokiwadai summer uniform had become bikini armor again. Shokuhou was again in her frilly dancer’s outfit with her handbag worn diagonally across it.

Patissiet and the other elves didn’t seem aware that Mikoto and Shokuhou had even disappeared.

They hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

Mikoto and Shokuhou no longer had the electrification device and controller. They had given up their one surefire way of returning to Earth, but Mikoto didn’t regret it. She knew she wasn’t willing to give up on this before she was finished.

The hug continued for a bit as she confirmed her and this neighbor’s presence in this world and felt the solid ground below her feet…but then Shokuhou ruined the mood.

She must have noticed the elves’ food.

That health nut chose this moment to glare over at them.

“Carbs with carbs?”

“How do you enjoy life when you’re so picky about your food?”

Thinking back, they had been snatched away by Reincarnation Goddess Salinagaritina after they had freed the elves from the village and begun preparing the bone-weary elves some food.

The elves were eating rolls and corn soup.

That should have been about right since they needed to rebuild their strength as quickly as possible.

The lady who was apparently the elf elder bowed her head.

The way she refused to let go of her bowl as she did made her look rather cute.

“Patissiet told me everything. As I told you before, I am the elder. My name is Bakerian.”

“So from baker? Another dessert maker name.”

“?”

The head tilt suggested she wasn’t aware where her name came from.

Elder Bakerian, who had a strong girl-next-door vibe, cleared her throat before continuing.

“You are interested in the three treasures ceremony, correct? And so you wish to know about the three Demon Lords who guard them?”

“Yes!!”

This was exactly what they needed to know.

Mikoto and Shokuhou needed to do things the Celesaqphere way now. After rescuing the elves, they needed some clues to that ceremony that could return them to Earth.

But Elder Bakerian’s face clouded over.

“I apologize for getting your hopes up, but I do not have the answers you seek. I did have a grimoire that collected such myths and legends, but the cursed humans- oh, sorry. That is, the humans took it from me when they captured me. I imagine it is buried in the local king or lord’s collection now.”

“So we’d have to go there?”

“Yes.”

That meant they needed to visit the lord of this region. That lord would hold the key to returning home.

The elder nodded once and…

“But the scope of your fight changes drastically with a lord. A single territory includes over a hundred towns and villages and the lord manages and controls them all. Your brute force tactics will not work forever.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Bikini armor Mikoto sighed softly and dancer Shokuhou winked.

They already knew where this was going.

So they wanted to make it work, even if that meant deceiving both sides of a great space war fought across the entire Solar System.

Even if it meant giving up their one ticket home.

“Besides, even if we stopped here, this lord wouldn’t leave us alone, would they?”