Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS3 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

Night had fallen.

The curfew had long since passed, yet Misaka Mikoto had changed into casual clothes and was retying her shoes in obvious preparation to sneak out of her dorm room.

“…Onee-sama.”

“Hey, you’re getting dressed too, so don’t treat me like the only bad guy here.”

They wanted to investigate an insurance company’s building.

They were not going through the proper channels for this, so it was illegal even if it was the right thing to do.

Shirai Kuroko of Judgment would normally be the person to put a stop to something like this, but…

“Our lives were targeted, but the company still isn’t responding to my requests. If anything, it seemed like they leaked information to Anti-Skill to keep us from acting… If they remain silent or even get in our way while aware this will lead to harm, they could be charged with willful negligence. Simply put, this is a special case and we need not hold back.”

The old man from the Chandelier Auction House had only provided them with words. He had not taken any real action such as handing over a list of suspects.

But what little he had said must have come with considerable risk. He had set up the pretext of “talking to himself”, but if people decided he had provided a hint to a client’s personal information, he could easily lose all of the trust he had built up over the years. Nevertheless, he had still wanted to help them. He had wanted to give Sakibasu Yuri the push she needed to flush out the corruption that had worked its way into his business.

They had no intention of wasting that.

Mikoto walked to their room’s window instead of the door.

“Okay, it’s time to pay the city’s night a visit.”

“What about Sakibasu-san?”

“You have to ask? We don’t have to worry about her being attacked by a large motorcycle or a shotgun as long as she’s inside this dorm.”

They were used to doing this by now.

The two of them jumped out the window and landed in the liberating night.

A message arrived on their phones.

“GK> Your destination is National General Life’s Academy City HQ building.”

“Who is GK?” asked Mikoto. “Whose initials are those?”

“It stands for Goalkeeper,” explained Shirai. “That is Uiharu.”

They decided to ignore the heated message from Uiharu insisting they were going to make her cry.

“GK> That appears to be the only place in the city that specializes in high-value insurance policies for string instruments. Violins are made of wood, so they are easily damaged by humidity and finger oils if not properly maintained. That can easily distort the sound, so they are difficult for companies to handle.”

That would be more difficult than a pure gold statue that would remain nice and shiny even after 100 years.

There was a lot of variety in the insurance industry, but high-value policies on items generally made their money when nothing happened. In other words, it was best for them if the customer paid for a policy, the end of the policy period ended without incident, and the company did not have to pay out anything. If an instrument like a Stativarius was lost, the company would have to pay out its full value. And if they ended up having to cough up that kind of dough, whoever was in charge of the policy would never move up in the company. Banks, insurance companies, and securities companies tended to judge people with a demerit system.

“Can’t you get in from outside with your hacking skills?”

“GK> If they were that easy to hack into, they could never survive in the insurance industry. The fact that they are still in business essentially proves the strength of their servers.”

So they had to do it the old-fashioned way.

It would be best to physically enter the building, find the server, and attach a small device with a wireless antenna.

“They already refused to reveal their information when you went through the proper Judgment channels, right? I hope they haven’t beefed up their security because of that.”

But she was the Railgun, so the thought of being unable to get in did not cross her mind.

The building in question was in District 3, which contained primarily administrative offices and corporate headquarters.

Academy City’s trains shut down early, so Shirai Kuroko’s teleportation was extremely useful at times like this.

In this case, that meant holding onto her from the front.

“Eh heh heh. Geh heh heh heh heh.”

“(Hmm, maybe I should build my own flying device.)”

“Wait, um, Onee-sama? Isn’t it polite to react more strongly when I cling to you and rub up against you? At the very least, please avoid coming up with ideas that render me entirely useless!!”

The fact that responding would only cause things to escalate was a well-known piece of child psychology.

For better or for worse, District 7 felt like a mixture of so many things, but District 3 was unified in its sense of being an adult city. And not in the sense of being a cluttered shopping district. There was no desire in the scene before them. The scenery seemed to demonstrate the ideal vision of a city that wanted to protect the dignity of adulthood.

This office district was a collection of glass-covered skyscrapers that had been designed with help from famous architects and may not have been entirely logical. That distinctive but somehow cold impression may have represented the image of adulthood they wanted to show off to the children. Simply put, the cityscape had no sense of raw desire.

They understood that there was nothing as distressing as seeing your parent’s sexual desire, but by middle school, they understood that no human was truly cut off from all such desires.

There were no real lights on in the area.

Top-level corporations focused only on completing their projects in the allotted time, so they apparently did not need to work overtime. That seemed like it would cause problems elsewhere, but at the very least, the people working here were probably happy in both their work and family lives.

“GK> National General Life is Block 4 Building 3. It is a very orderly district, so you shouldn’t get lost as long as you keep an eye on the sign numbers.”

“Now, then.”

Mikoto looked up at the skyscraper in question.

It looked about 40-stories tall. Its shape…was difficult to explain. Overall, it looked like a glass-covered smart building, but the issue was the number of walls. At ground level, it was a square, but if you looked a little higher, it had five walls. As you continued to raise your head, the number of walls grew to six, seven, eight, and more. At the top floor, it had so many walls it looked more like a circle than anything.

More than a thousand employees could work inside there, but middle schoolers like Mikoto and Shirai were not really sure if an insurance company needed that many operators.

“Okay, I can teleport us inside. …Although I would prefer you did not get a taste for this kind of irregular activity.”

“Kuroko, we don’t want to make it look like only someone who could teleport could have gotten inside. Use your head. That would be like leaving your calling card behind. You’re in Judgment, so you need to be more careful.”

“Onee-sama, why do you sound so familiar with this subject!?”

Instead of answering her protesting underclassman, Mikoto pointed at a floor not far from the ground.

Specifically, the fourth floor.

National General Life’s HQ building looked like a famous architect’s nightmarish ideas made real and all of its surfaces were made of glass. However, there was one spot on that floor with an upside-down red triangle sticker on it.

“No matter how crazy the design, it still has to obey the laws and regulations,” said Mikoto. “With large harbor warehouses or factories alongside the highway, you sometimes see a metal door high up on the wall. There’s no stairway or balcony there, so it looks like someone could carelessly open it and fall. What do you think those strange doors are for?”

“?”

“They’re emergency entrances. They’re specifically designed for firefighters to climb in using their truck’s ladder. It’s not always that obvious, though. Look at the average department store and electronics store and you should see an upside-down triangle window above the third floor. Those windows are made to open for the firefighters to get inside.”

“Oh. Can’t they just break their way in with an axe or a hammer?”

“From that high up? Land is limited and buildings tend to be overcrowded in Academy City. A crowd is going to gather when there is a fire, so you can’t send a shower of glass shards onto their heads.”

Mikoto looked up at the high-rise structure and breathed an exasperated sigh.

It looked like a continuous surface of glass, but it was actually an orderly arrangement of panes. And the ones designed for emergency personnel were made to open like a door.

“The locks for those things are surprisingly simple since they’re not meant for people to directly access from the ground or emergency staircase. And if they had them locked up tight, then the firefighters wouldn’t be able to get in during and emergency.”

Whether or not they could get in through there was not what mattered.

If they opened that emergency entrance on the fourth floor, it would prevent anyone from concluding that only someone who could teleport could have gotten inside. They only had to create the great taboo of mystery stories: a crime with multiple plausible methods.

“Let’s split up our efforts. I’ll use magnetism to cling to the wall and open the fourth floor emergency entrance, so you teleport in and-…”

Mikoto trailed off.

There was no obvious light or sound.

But what other gadget had the attackers used when firing that shotgun into the family restaurant?

Two people were riding an electric motorcycle made all the more dangerous by having its engine sound effect deactivated.

“Tch!!”

Mikoto let out a short breath when she sensed its approach.

She did not even need to frantically jump back.

In this case, moving without thinking would be the more dangerous option.

She sent out an invisible force across the 180 degrees in front of her. That was enough for the 200kg or more mass of metal to lose control, miss her and Kuroko, and slide violently across the asphalt. Orange sparks trailed after it like a shooting star.

A direct hit might have killed them.

And this was not over yet. With a straining sound, a black figure stood up from the toppled motorcycle. They wore a full-face helmet and a riding suit. Thick gloves covered even their fingertips. Not a bit of bare skin was left exposed, so it was impossible to judge their general build or even sex.

Mikoto only knew one thing: This was one of the riders and the person in the back seat had clearly been holding a shotgun.

“Oh, no you don’t!!”

Just before the deafening blast, Mikoto and Shirai jumped to the left and right respectively. They did not cower down or go weak in the knees. In fact, Mikoto gave an instruction through their phones just as the gunshot drowned out her voice.

“Kuroko, you continue on into the building! Get Uiharu-san’s help to extract the data while I keep them busy!!”

She did not have time for an argument, so she closed the app.

They were only after National General Life’s server room. They wanted to know what clients had a high-value insurance policy on a Stativarius. In other words, they wanted a list of suspects. They could not achieve that goal if they only fought back against the attackers in riding suits. That loud gunshot would lead to a much bigger commotion and it might be much more difficult to get inside the skyscraper after that.

A short distance away, the shotgun casually aimed Mikoto’s way.

But she held up her open hand before it could fire.

There was a quiet metallic sound, but nothing left the barrel. When she knew the gunshot was coming, messing with the gun’s internal structure was not difficult.

And she went further than that.

Just as bluish-white light burst from her bangs, a billion-volt current was released all at once.

This was one of her lightning spears.

[[Image:RailgunSS3 2.jpg|thumb]]

The boom was like a large tree being split down the middle.

The shotgun held by the riding suit figure burst from within and the flash of light stabbed straight through the center of the person. It did not matter that they were wearing thick leather. That level of insulation could not cut off an attack that rivalled a real lightning strike.

However.

The clothing gave off a stench similar to burnt animal flesh, but the riding suit figure did not collapse. Their shoulders were lopsided, but they still took a step toward her.

“Wha-?”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she still unleashed another high-voltage current.

Could her opponent not dodge it, or did they not even bother trying?

Even after a second and third direct hit, they still did not collapse. The shotgun had fallen apart and its pieces littered the ground, but they still had some extra shotgun shells. The shells alone should have been useless, but they held them in their hand regardless.

“!?”

There was a loud boom.

They had used Mikoto’s high-voltage current to activate the shell’s detonator and countless tiny lead beads scattered in her direction.

She knew what had happened.

She really did…but what was that?

If a shotgun shell went off while you were holding it, shouldn’t it blow off your entire hand!?

And this was not the time to focus on that oddity.

Two people had been riding the motorcycle.

The gunner with the shotgun had been in the back seat, so what about the one driving?

Where had the other person gone!?”

“Argh, it’s always something, isn’t it!?”

Mikoto felt the pressure of someone ducking low and rushing toward her from the side. She did not have time to hold back. Her surroundings seemed to distort and then a bunch of iron sand rose up from the ground. This was her iron sand sword that could freely change shape and gained a cutting edge by rapidly vibrating. That weapon could slice through a metal pillar as thick as her torso in a single slash and she immediately jabbed it into the second person’s right shoulder as they attempted to tackle her.

But it did not manage to stab them.

With a dry sound, the iron sand sword was deflected to the side.

(Telekinesis!? And high level at that!!)

She gasped, but then her breathing stopped altogether.

She had failed to stop the fierce tackle, so the riding suit figure jammed their shoulder into her side and wrapped their arms solidly around her torso. Their momentum continued, so Mikoto’s feet left the ground.

Primitive fear lifted her stomach.

She was not in a martial arts ring or on judo mats.

“Get…off me!!”

She did not even need to form it into a spear. She sent the billion-volt current out from her in all 360 degrees, but it changed nothing. She even stabbed the tip of her iron sand sword into the riding suit figure’s back several times.

It accomplished nothing.

After a brief floating sensation, Mikoto slammed back-first into the hard ground.

The shock that ran through her entire body was not much different from a judo slam.

“???”

Her vision flashed in and out. She had trouble breathing and her mind started blanking out, but what thoughts she did have were only filled with confusion.

And to reiterate yet again, there were two riding suit figures.

While the one put themselves in danger to pin Mikoto down, the other slowly approached. The full-face helmet silently peered down at the girl’s face. They did not seem to be confirming their victory or cruelly mocking her. They simply held out their right hand contained in black leather.

The fingers held an unused shotgun shell.

If the detonator activated at this close range, it might blow Mikoto’s head clean off.

“…!!”

While she was still pinned to the ground, a metallic sound came from near her stomach.

She held an arcade coin in her right hand.

Academy City’s #3 was known as the Railgun. Should she fire that signature attack through the second figure pinning her down to hit the first figure aiming the shotgun shell her way?

But just as she began to consider that…

“Take this!! If you don’t mind!!!”

While the riding suit figure stood there, a heavy blow struck their helmet from the side.

The swinging of the newcomer’s body caused their long black twintails to sway.

“Sakibasu-san!?”

Was that a concrete block she was swinging in both hands?

There was a dull thud, but it was not the sound of the impact. The full-force swing of the blunt object hit the full-face helmet from the side, knocking it right off the riding suit’s neck. The thud was the helmet hitting the asphalt.

Yes.

There was nothing inside.

The helmet’s removal did not reveal a male face, a female face, or any other kind of face. There was only empty space there. Sakibasu looked taken aback by the result of her own attack.

Everything seemed to click into place for Mikoto.

She now understood the failure of her lightning spear and iron sand sword and why the enemy would fire those shotgun shells in what seemed like self-destruction. This explained why the riding suit duo had been so unconcerned with any damage they took.

Plus, Mikoto’s iron sand sword had been deflected by high-level Telekinesis.

Which meant…

Which meant…

Which meant…

“They were no more than leather manipulated by Telekinesis!?”

If they were not even alive, she had no reason at all to hold back.

She pressed her right fist against the second figure’s stomach and focused on her thumb. She unleashed the Lorentz force like she was flicking the arcade coin sitting on her thumbnail.

This was her Railgun.

With a deafening boom, a fearsome beam of light punched through the second figure’s gut, stabbed into the first figure, who lacked a helmet thanks to Sakibasu’s attack, and caused them to burst from within. The orange beam shot up into the night sky before being eliminated by the friction of the air.

All that remained were the scorched remains of the leather and some embers.

“Phew.”

Mikoto heard a heavy noise and realized Sakibasu had let go of the concrete block. No, she had released all the tension in her body. She slumped down onto the asphalt and clung to the violin case next to her like a child who could not sleep without their favorite stuffed animal. Even now, she kept her legs below her in an elegant and alluring way, which may have been a testament to Tokiwadai’s education. However, she must have been worried about her skirt because she kept her butt a bit up off the ground. Then again, that made the hem flutter dangerously.

Sakibasu Yuri wiped the sweat from her brow and spoke up in a trembling voice.

“I would like an explanation. I was wondering why you were sneaking out of the dorm and then this happens…”

“You really saved me there.”

Mikoto meant that.

However.

Misaka Mikoto was worried and refused to let her guard down, but nothing more happened.

The riding suits were only a decoration.

The real attack had been made by Telekinesis powerful enough to deflect her iron sand sword head-on. And since the esper was not here, she could guess their power had precise control even from a remote location. After all, they had indirectly driven the motorcycle and fired the shotgun by controlling the riding suits with their power.

Mikoto could gather scrap metal and create a humanoid figure from it if she tried. She could probably move its arms and legs too. But could she use that figure to accurately play a guitar or violin? This esper’s precision had reached that level.

They could have chosen to continue fighting.

After all, it did not harm them to have the riding suit duo(?) destroyed.

The exact conditions for their power were unknown, but it was possible they could pick a car off the ground and fling it at her or grab Sakibasu’s limbs and forcibly control her like the riding suits.

In fact, it was harder to come up with reasons why they would withdraw here.

Mikoto was left with a few questions:

*It had seemed like they were waiting in front of National General Life’s HQ building, but how had they detected Mikoto and Shirai’s actions?

*Their goal appeared to be preventing Mikoto and Shirai from acquiring the list of suspects – that is, who owned a Stativarius. So why had they given up and withdrawn?

*Who was this Telekinesis user?

Shirai Kuroko would have made it inside the National General Life building to access the list of suspects, but would that really be enough to arrive at the truth? Mikoto was starting to have her doubts since such a powerful esper had been so willing to withdraw.

And just then, Sakibasu Yuri swung her right hand and nimbly snatched something between her index and middle fingers. It was a scrap of black leather fluttering through the air with some embers.

“Well, whatever the case, we just have to keep working. And I am glad my own power will finally come in handy.”

“Sakibasu-san?”

“My power is Carbon Search. It allows me to precisely measure carbon isotopes.”

In the moonlight, the girl softly pressed her lips to this new hint and gave a bewitching smile.

“Misaka-san, did you know that can also be used to appraise leather products?”

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