Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter3 (section)

===Part 6===

At any rate, the battle was over.

A variety of shocks had left the nonhuman trafficker passed out with her eyes rolled back in her head, but enough about her.

“I found the keys.”

“Pass them here.”

The key ring must have had keys for everything from the trunk to the collar.

When the unathletic girl tossed them over (with very poor aim), Mikoto magnetically drew them into her hand before approaching the slave elf.

Yes, the elf with the thick chain connecting her steel collar to her legs.

Just seeing those restraints pissed Mikoto off, so she prepared to remove them, but…

“Hyah!”

For some reason, the little elf backed away.

“Hm? Why?”

“Um, uh… I’m so used to wearing them I’m not sure what I would do if you forcibly removed them…”

Would it feel as weird to her as heading out with only one sock on?

And she considered this “forcibly” removing them.

Traditions and customs could be frighting things, but maybe this was pushing her too far too quickly.

Mikoto gave Shokuhou a look and the Queen simply shook her head.

Did that mean to keep the keys and leave the issue be for now?

“Um, but more importantly…”

“Yeah?”

Their new party member, the slave elf (who looked to be) of about age 10, addressed Mikoto. If she was anything like the elves in manga and anime, then she could actually be hundreds of years old.

The girl had been prepared to die as a slave. Maybe it was difficult for her to process the very concept of having been rescued.

Regardless, she started off hesitantly.

“Uh, um…thank you, Miss Warrior Woman!”

…

What did she just say?

“Eh? But that’s what it says on your status display.”

There was a display? Could she tell something from people’s faces or palms like reading a QR code? It was a complete mystery what the nonhuman elf had read about Mikoto or where she had seen it, but the small girl didn’t appear to mean anything by it.

She looked puzzled by Mikoto’s confusion.

Academy City’s #5 doubled over to try and hold something in.

“Pff, heh heh… Warrior Woman? Of all things, you’re a Warrior Woman with the six pack, bikini armor, and sword? So if you were a monster, would you be a club-wielding giant? Oh, I can’t take it! Wah ha ha ha ha ha!! Hee hee!! Oh, my sides. That’s perfect for you and your scant intelligence ability! Cackle cackle cackle!!!”

“Oh, and thank you too, Miss Lewd Dancer!!”

Shokuhou fell to her knees after taking a powerful blow to the heart.

Most likely, the “lewd” part wasn’t actually on the status display, but that it was the elf’s personal opinion only made it more devastating.

Apparently in this world, Misaka Mikoto was a Warrior Woman and Shokuhou Misaki was a Dancer. They had no idea when it had happened, but those jobs must have been ''assigned'' to them at some point.

What did that allow them to do or disallow them from doing?

“Um, that changes what skills, including magic, you learn when levelling up and it alters what kinds of weapons and armor you can equip. You also need a specific job to enter certain specialty shops.”

“Level?”

Mikoto latched onto that familiar term.

The elf’s long ears drooped and she sounded ashamed as she answered.

“Yes. I am a paltry Level 11, so I really shouldn’t be acting like an expert.”

They froze.

Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki tried to feign calm, but it simply wasn’t possible.

“Eh? Level 11!?”

“Yes… At such a low level, I don’t know all that much magic. I can see why someone so worthless would end up as a slave. I really am no use to anyone.”

The elf hung her head sadly, but Mikoto and Shokuhou were flabbergasted.

What was this?

This went far beyond Academy City’s seven Level 5s.

The usually confident girls huddled together to talk.

They were feeling quite inadequate now.

“(What the hell!? This world goes up to the double digits!? That means we’re complete weaklings here!! We couldn’t even become mini-bosses!)”

“(Don’t complain to me, Misaka-san! You’re the one who can supposedly nearly reach Level 6 for an instant with your lightning goddess ability. How many more of those dangerous secrets are hidden in the esper development!?)”

“Um, what did I say that was so strange? The average human villager should be around Level 20. And when you go up to the kings and such, they’re probably all at the level cap of 9999.”

“What kind of world is this!? Levels go up to the thousands here!? Now I’m too terrified to take a single step in any direction!!”

Mikoto and Shokuhou clung to each other and trembled, but then the elf provided another crucial piece of information.

She pointed toward the nonhuman trafficker who was passed out so pathetically on the ground.

She indicated the weakling they had so easily defeated.

“By the way, since she could use the midlevel Super and Spread class magic, she’s probably around Level 35.”

“Excuse me?” “Excuse me?”