Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Crossover Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===

After being carried in on a forty-five kilometer warship, Kamijou had imagined any human city would be a futuristic place where everything was AI-controlled and cars whizzed by in clear tubes, but his assumptions were betrayed spectacularly.

The log houses were the fancier ones. Anything made of bricks or stone walls was for a king or feudal lord. It was not uncommon to see houses with roofs made from a dome of grassy dirt.

The stone-paved path was only built from the city entrance to the homes of the most influential. The rest of the paths were unpaved dirt ones.

Also, Index, the Zashiki Warashi, and the other girls were given confused looks by everyone there.

Even a king would give you a wooden stick and a cloth tunic, so why were these people walking around in a nude cape or tropical leaf swimsuit?

“See!? See, Touma!?”

“I-I really think you should try complaining to one of the others from time to time! You don’t have to work so hard to rehash the same joke, Index!!”

The nude cape attacked the uniform-wearing boy and some of the passersby seemed to mistake them for street performers because they handed over two walnuts and an apple.

The food calmed things down and Kamijou was able to escape Index’s fierce attacks, so he quickly resumed observing the human city.

“So this is a realistic fantasy world.”

“Stop it,” commented college student Anzai Kyousuke as he stared into the distance. “Do you want to end up like me, young one?”

Waltraute guided them to the city’s inn. It was the usual business seen in RPGs alongside the weapons shop, but it was apparently a fairly rare thing here. This was simply because a community that developed from a small-scale village society was not the type to accept outsiders.

Heivia gulped.

“They’re willing to happily accept a group of people dressed in bikini armor and a bunny suit? Is this the kind of place that ends up sheltering all sorts of criminals on the ru- gyabah!?”

His unnecessary comment earned him one of Mikoto’s lightning spears to the butt.

Meanwhile, college student Anzai Kyousuke gave a fairly serious comment.

“But we have no idea if they’ll understand our language, we don’t know their religion, and we have no way of proving where we came from, so it really is lucky they’re fine with us being here. I have no idea what would have happened if this actually was medieval Europe.”

A community willing to accept strangers was strong.

After all, they were blessed with the possibility of absorbing foreign techniques and cultures.

Of course, this was only if they did not go too far and lose their own originality.

“This city is sure to become a kingdom one day,” whispered Waltraute with all emotion and investment removed from her eyes.

At any rate, the inn was a two-story wooden building and it was cozy enough for Kamijou and the others to fill all of the rooms. The rooms themselves only had a single bed…or rather, a sort of wooden box with no springs. Not only was there no bathroom or shower, but there were no chairs or tables either. The guests were forced to get creative.

After checking his room and stepping back out into the hallway, Heivia gave an annoyed complaint.

“Wow! I think the grass might actually be more comfortable. Are they seriously making us pay for this?”

“Heh heh heh. Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh. Let’s make an ice room of love together. Now I can be with you forever and ever. Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.”

“Crap, I chose the wrong person to talk to.”

Not even Heivia could do anything about the obsessed yandere that did not even look his way. The Yuki Onna’s voltage must have reached its peak because each breath she took sparkled like diamond dust.

On Waltraute’s suggestion, Kamijou and the others gathered in the bar/restaurant on the first floor.

The pointy-haired boy forced down an unnecessary comment, but Nanajou Kyouichirou let it slip.

“This is one hell of a scene now that we’re all together again. The skin all the girls are showing is- gugyah!?”

“Dbfh!? A-again! I held my tongue, so why are you attacking me too!?”

The lightning spears flying from the bikini armor and the powerful fist of the tropical leaf swimsuit caused quite a disaster.

They were more than exhausted, but they were still incredibly unsure about sleeping in what amounted to a wooden box.

“By the way! Can’t you at least let me use your shirt!?”

“Eh? A shirt over bikini armor? That’s just complete chaos. At first glance, you’d look like a pervert wearing nothing but a shirt, yet when people noticed the armor underneath, they’d still think- gogugyah!?”

Waltraute ignored the well-done roast and spoke.

“The Divine Ship Skíðblaðni is the warship of the gods and the primary enemies of the gods exist outside of Asgard. In other words, that ship is meant to carry the gods between the worlds.”

Even as she calmly gave her explanation, she used her own body to perfectly cover the short boy’s view.

“Mh,” said the boy hidden behind her. “Hey, hey. Waltraute.”

“Wh-what? If it is about not being able to see, I will not listen!”

“No, not that. Your butt has been pressing up against me for a while now.”

“Bfh!!!???”

While performing a spit-take, the Valkyrie corrected her distance from the boy.

For a Valkyrie, she seemed more like a worrier than warrior.

“Anyway, it is only meant to travel between the nine worlds supported by Yggdrasil, the world tree. It was not made to surpass the boundaries of Norse mythology. Nevertheless, you have been dragged here from beyond those boundaries.”

Quenser and Heivia exchanged a glance and shrugged.

They seemed to have given up already, but Index urged Waltraute on.

“Then what?”

“Our entire world is supported by Yggdrasil, either by the branches or the roots.”

Waltraute pointed out the window where a giant tree could be seen rising toward the heavens. Its trunk looked large enough to fit a small village inside.

“If the branches and roots are forced to grow in a direction that ignores Euclidean geometry, they could likely create a ‘path’ connecting to a new world other than the nine worlds.”

“Hm. Come to think of it, the world tree does grow from the water of the well of wisdom.”

“Yes, just like the three Norns sprinkle the well’s water to make it grow while the Black Dragon Níðhöggr gnaws at the roots to make it wither. I still do not know the exact method, but my going theory is that the well’s water was used to influence the world tree’s growth so the branches or roots extended in otherwise impossible directions.”

“But that would definitely be unstable.”

“That is what Skíðblaðni is for. It powerfully absorbed you as you made your unstable passage between worlds and it prevented you from getting lost in the gap between worlds.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!!” cut in Mikoto. “You’re moving too fast! I’m still stuck back at the starting point!!”

Anzai Kyousuke had been pouring all of his strength into maintaining a look of comprehension, but that comment just about caused him to break down in tears. It may have been that people became adults once they stopped pushing themselves beyond their limits.

Index sighed before continuing.

“Basically, it works on the level of gods, so there’s nothing we can do.”

“Sorry. That was a little too blunt and now I’ve lost all hope.”

“But the truth is the truth. We may be divine ourselves, but it will take us some time to determine the details and find a way to return you all to your original worlds. Then again, I know someone who loves this kind of trickery, so it may be faster to beat it out of him than to investigate.”

Waltraute summed it up with the kind of argument that fit right in with all the fighting and pillaging of Norse mythology.

“So you can wait here until we have finished our investigation. I brought you here because I assumed you would prefer being with humans to camping.”

“What a pain.”

Despite Quenser’s complaint, he felt great relief in his heart.

This was better than the errand-running quests that required conquering the continents one by one to gather the seven treasures needed to return home.

The bunny girl toyed with the end of her fake rabbit ear and spoke up.

“Then is there nothing for us to do?”

“No. In fact, moving around would only cause unneeded confusion, so I would prefer it if you stayed put,” replied Waltraute. “So do what you want in the inn until you hear from me.”

“Oh, so we just get to relax and-…”

“But of course, you will need to earn enough money to pay for your rooms and food.”

…Hm?