Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume2 Phase04 (section)

===Part 4===

Academy Towers Student Council Advisor Jennifer Evening squinted one eye unhappily behind her glasses.

Fermiliquidio was certainly powerful, but its aim was poor. A hit from that -200 ember<ref>Approximately -220 degrees Celsius.</ref> liquid would shatter a human like glass, along with any trees and stone walls nearby, but she had so far failed to kill that one boy running away from her.

She wished she had written out some correction parameters in advance.

“Now, then.”

With a swish of her long blonde hair, she focused on her right hand. The devil’s revolver held there would not betray her expectations, but she would actually have a harder time using it.

Just as Ayato could not use a sorcery gun and his Linkage Plug sword with equal proficiency, the skills to openly use magic and the skills to hijack it behind the scenes were separate things. It required very different kinds of mental and physical work. And just like pouring ice water into hot water, mixing the two would make both less effective.

(I should probably pursue him with Fermiliquidio and switch to the revolver once he is cornered.)

“Oh?”

She tilted her head a bit as she walked through the forest.

She saw a bright light, like she had reached the end of a tunnel.

Ayato had evidently left the forest to reach the crowded beach. And she knew a cunning Sorcery Hacker would not panic and start running around randomly without a plan in mind.

He was aiming for something with watchful eye.

Except for the tourists and Oceavita patients visiting the island, no one on Laguntreat was innocent. And based on Ayato Criminaltrophy’s past actions, it was simple enough to conclude he divided the world around him into two categories and would readily make use of those he categorized as evil.

Was he going to use the Mermaids as living shields while building up his level bit by bit with their everyday devices?

(Does he think he can combat my Level 10,000 that way?)

The teacher in the beige and chocolate tight skirt suit adjusted her grip on her gun and sword while licking her lips. She picked up her pace to a brisk walk and finally to a run.

She left the tropical forest and the view around her opened up.

She quickly concluded she had been mistaken.

This was a station.

She found the train station for the intercontinental ocean railroad.

This place did not fit in with the rest of the island. The large station building was more than 5 stories tall and built with a stone roof and metal columns. The tracks arriving from either side descended toward their respective platforms, giving it all a flattened V-shape. That was to be expected when the ocean railroad was built 50 esoule<ref>Approximately 60 meters.</ref> up to allow large ships to pass below.

And.

Sure enough, this would provide many more sorcery devices than from stabbing his Linkage Plug into the parasols and coolers used by the Mermaids sunbathing on the beach.

Ayato looked back her way while still running toward the giant station building. He moved his Linkage Plug sword just enough to scoop up a tough construction sheet folded up on the beach. The large sheet spread out in the air, briefly blocking her view, but he once more grabbed the sheet, which was likely a recycled ship’s sail, and ran inside the building.

“Are you kidding me!?”

He was not within arm’s reach, so Jennifer immediately raised Fermiliquidio in her left hand, but she stopped herself.

A beautiful Rusalka, who probably saw the crowds here as perfect for pickpocketing, and an Undine girl, who was carrying a large paper bag, screamed when they saw the glittering blade. A rich human tourist threw some gold<ref>Approximately 10,000 yen per coin.</ref> on the sand and begged for their life, but Jennifer ignored it all and thought to herself.

Destroying him would be simple enough.

But if she did bring down the entire building on top of him, how hard would it be to dig out the corpse and confirm his identity? And would she ever actually believe he was dead if it happened where she could not see him? How long would it take her to prove he had not switched places with a complete stranger?

This was not an issue of whether or not Ayato would actually do that.

It was about Jennifer keeping her own excessive suspicions at bay.

She had already eliminated Leonardo Halleys and she doubted she could stay on Laguntreat for long with his backing gone. Sorcery Hackers worked best while still hidden, but she was sick of killing time in the cave she had found for herself here.

She wanted to get this all over with and return to the Academy Towers.

That was the natural conclusion for the powerful.

“Dammit!”

She clicked her tongue and ran into the station building to find a large lobby. However, the design seemed to ignore the regional climate. The glass ceiling let the afternoon sun shine through and the rapidly-rising temperature was held in check by blasting the sorcery air conditioning. The structure used a lot of metal columns, but the designer had not accounted for the tropical ocean. Rustproof paint was not enough to prevent damage from the sea breeze and metal would also expand, especially in a hot climate.

The round clock on the wall of the station created a stark contrast from the relaxed atmosphere of the island outside.

Jennifer caught sight of a thick material flapping out of the corner of her eye. It was that construction sheet. It was just outside the range of her glasses, so she could not make out the detailed shape, however.

“There are you are, Hexajinx!”

The glasses teacher took off running once more.

Unlike a commuter station in a big city, this station was fairly empty for its size. Perhaps because the island was a health resort. Only people headed home after a long vacation and nerds excited by the train itself would come here. A half-naked Selkie girl with her seal costume only pulled up to her hips was lying on a bench to take advantage of the human-made air conditioning. A boy with a silver halide camera in hand seemed to legit be here for the train. He entirely ignored the half-naked girl less than an esoule<ref>Approximately 1.2 meters.</ref> from him.

Everyone here gaped at Jennifer’s weapons and then fled behind the columns or below the benches. Some demons were not near enough to either of those and simply crouched down on the floor.

Ayato’s blue blazer fluttered as he crossed the ticket gate and made his way to the platform.

(You fool. What good will all the miniscule devices here do you? You could hack every household appliance on the island and not even reach Level 1000, while I have 5000 from the sunk warship and another 5000 from Fleurelisia. I have an insurmountable lead here!)

“Out of ideas, problem child!?”

Just as she rushed onto the long and narrow platform, the boy made a move from right next to her. As if he had been pressed up against the wall next to the entrance, waiting for her.

“What?”

Only after making contact did she catch on.

This was not about the Sorcery Hacking battle or slicing at her with his Linkage Plug sword. She immediately swung her own sword and sent out some ultracold liquid, but he had thrown something transparent at her.

The fist-sized object was a snowdome-like Media Summoner, which caused the ultracold liquid to burst at close range. It was going to splatter down on her head at this rate.

“Gah!?”

She frantically jumped back and fell down onto her butt. She had tumbled right off the platform.

She was equipped with the Queen Astaroth Revolver and the Fermiliquidio, but even with those fearsome weapons, she was still a Sorcery Hacker who worked behind the scenes. She had not been trained like a knight or a guard. If she had been given time to count to three, Ayato would have been torn to pieces, but when it came down to a split second, Jennifer was the one defeated by a simple crystal ball.

She clenched her teeth at the ordinary pain and got to thinking.

(I’m impressed he had the guts to approach me!! Did he not consider the possibility of being frozen solid by the quantum fluid!?)

However, Jennifer Evening should have been focused on something else. There were not many, but there were people in the station. They were either returning home after completing their treatment or they were nerds who loved coming to see the trains themselves. But the intercontinental ocean railroad only ran once every few days.

So.

So.

So.

“Huh?”

That teacher turned from Ayato to view something else while still fallen on her rear on the track one level down from the platform.

A great mass was approaching.

A deafening whistle belatedly stabbed into her ears.