Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter7 (section)

=== Part 3 ===

The ID card had its owner’s name, picture, position, and authorized rank on it.

“The name and picture may be real, but the position is probably a fake. I doubt he would just have a card saying ‘Secret Organization’ hanging from his neck. We probably won’t find their hiding places by following that position.”

“That doesn’t matter. We can just use a different opening.”

“?”

“Having the highest rank has worked against them. Even in a shopping mall this huge, there aren’t that many areas restricted to that level. So if you open a map…”

Mikoto operated the Semipublic AR to automatically color code the security levels of the areas on the map.

The highest rank was red.

Only 5 areas were filled in with that color.

“See? He went to and from one of them frequently, so there should be some information left there. It’s possible he’s hiding there himself.”

When they actually went there, they found a small door at the end of a narrow passageway rather than something more like the door to a bank vault. A sign on the door said “staff only” and it just seemed like a break room for the workers from one of the shops.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, but normally I would think the security guards would be stationed around here. Or I suppose it could be a separate unit wearing normal clothes in order to keep even the security guards from knowing about this.”

“According to a report from Bayloupe and Lancis, the riots are in a bit of a lull, but it is still a bit of a problem.”

When Mikoto slid the ID card through a card reader near the knob, multiple dull metallic noises rang out. The door automatically opened inwards and it became apparent that it was over 1 meter thick. A rubber seal was placed around the edge of the door which likely made the door airtight when closed.

“This really does feel like a secret base.”

“Why do boys love creating this kind of atmosphere?”

As they spoke back and forth, the two girls entered the room.

The room was about as large as two classrooms, but it did not give an impression of spaciousness. Something like bookshelves were packed into the room. They were actually steel racks that had a great number of hard disks on them instead of books.

“Offline storage…” Mikoto looked around. “Code EIC is constantly connected to the network, so there is a possibility of someone attacking it externally. There is a risk that the data on the hard disks could be damaged or lost. This is a standalone backup for just such a case.”

“There are also paper documents strewn about.”

“He either was in the habit of printing out the data to check it or he just took all of the important data no one else should see and threw it in here. Either way, it’s more convenient for us.”

Mikoto and Lessar started investigating the room. Mikoto checked the stored data and Lessar checked the paper documents.

(I know the owner of this place is already dead, but…)

Lessar thought to herself while glancing over at Mikoto who was operating the Semipublic AR.

(I don’t think the magician who created those decapitated corpses is just an outsider. I can accept that an outsider could have found the secret passageway, but this magician managed to open and close the door with the proper science side method. …There’s a good chance he or she had a connection from the beginning.)

In that case, what she had to focus on was…

(If this is where the secret data is stored, then some data on the magician connected to the higher ups of the shopping mall may remain. I have to use that information to pursue this magician.)

“…This is it.”

After battling with the piles of paper for a bit, Lessar pulled out a large envelope. Inside were a single photograph and a few sheets of copy paper. It was a background investigation carried out by a detective agency.

(The shopping mall most likely did its own investigation into how safe it was to join forces with this person.)

The photo and name were clear enough, but the rest was strange for the most part. There just was no consistency in the text. For example, one page listed the person as staying at one hotel and the next page listed a different hotel.

Lessar snickered.

The person may have been protected by a spell that allowed others to accept mismatched reports without finding it odd.

But the effects had worn off once the reports had been turned to digital data.

As a result, the report had displayed the mismatched information as mismatched and the shopping mall had deemed the person as possibly dangerous.

Not taking into account the alteration of information from analog to digital was a common mistake. But there were some things that were difficult to handle when it came to getting that close to the science side.

(…Her name is Caliche I. Niknosh. Well, the name is a bit doubtful, but she failed with the photo. From the small ornaments and the traces left on the headless bodies, it’s clear she’s some failed member of the Russian Orthodox Church. But…)

As Lessar thought to herself, she glanced over at Mikoto.

The girl seemed to be quite something as far as Academy City was concerned, but that did not make it okay to carelessly have her take part in a magic side incident. Lessar was not someone whose job it was to keep the peace, but because she was not bound by any strict rules, she knew quite well how far one could slip from the proper path if one forgot those vague manners.

Caliche who had decapitated the higher ups was a good example of that.

“I have a suggestion.”

“Again?”

“Let’s split up,” Lessar said with a grin. “To be honest, searching through this ridiculous amount of data is more your kind of thing. I don’t feel like I can help all that much. Academy City will be in a serious pinch soon, so I think it would be better if I actually did something rather than sitting around here.”

“Well, I’d be glad if you could go help somehow, but do you have any actual ideas?”

“No, if I did, I would have told you about it.”

“…I see. Well, go patrol around or something then.”

“While I’m out, I think I’ll go eat some of the free samples at one of the grocery stores,” Lessar said offhand as she started to leave the room.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“If you find something, don’t go charging off on your own. Having done that before, I can tell you that it isn’t very much fun. If you find a clue, come back here first, okay?”

“…”

For an instant, Lessar had the expression of someone taken off guard.

But an instant later she had the same mischievous smile as usual.

“Understood.”

After that response, she left the room.

(What a pain. Is there anyone who can act solely out of self preservation after hearing that?)

Lessar sighed and thought about what she was about to do.

The names of a few of the major Russian magic cabals came to her mind. Mikoto was still continuing her science side investigation, but she would likely reach a dead end that way. From there on, Lessar had to take the front line. She mentally arranged what she had to do.

And of course, she would be using the methods of the magic side.