Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item6 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

Takitsubo spoke up while operating her phone on a moving train.

“I found more on the Information Broker.”

“?”

Kinuhata frowned.

Their opponent was an expert at using information. She wouldn’t be operating in a way that made her real identity as Norsitro Chatellenie a household name.

So was Takitsubo researching the Information Broker identity?

“She appears to go by some other names, but the most notable one is the Faultfinding Demon. She might take a philanthropist who insists money isn’t everything and bury them in debt. Or she might take a lawyer who claims to be opposed to violence no matter the circumstances and place them under so much psychological pressure they end up killing someone in front of a TV camera. It looks like she targets anyone who performatively makes unrealistic claims to boost their public reputation.”

“But are you sure it’s really Norsitro doing that? Information Broker isn’t a super rare term or anything.”

“Kinuhata. Do you remember the bug maker I mentioned before?”

“Yeah, during the stuff with Sudori-san. You said they were investigating Kamigi when they disappeared.”

“Well, the title of information broker is even more common than that one, but I’ve heard rumors of a sudden drop off in how often it’s used. They must all be afraid of earning her disfavor by looking like a rival.”

That made sense.

This opponent was even more dangerous than Kinuhata had imagined. Not to mention self-centered and persistent.

“Is the super dark side just full of guys who are willing to die for their weird hang-ups?”

“Stop that, Kinuhata. You should try to use gender neutral language.”

Kinuhata got scolded by the capable big sister.

…But was that really necessary when complaining about brutal villains?

District 4 was located a bit northeast of Academy City’s center.

The district specialized in all things food and it was a very international place. The food market had small flags to indicate what nationality a shop specialized in, so the long street was reminiscent of all the flags at an athletic festival. The many signs jutting out from from the building walls was chaos itself. There were so many signs overhead it felt like walking through a colorful tunnel.

Broad categories like Asian or European had naturally gathered in clumps, but there was no strict division between areas. There was an Italian restaurant and an American South hamburger shop encroaching on the red Chinatown and a sushi place with the Central and South American versions of Spanish and Portuguese on the signs right alongside the European restaurants. The sushi there apparently used jalapeno paste instead of wasabi.

“This district is like a giant manifestation of choice paralysis.”

“Frenda, is this making you crave your own home country’s food?”

“In the end, I’d be happy living on the far side of Mars as long as I have mackerel.”

If the three of them stayed away too long, Mugino Shizuri would get suspicious. But that didn’t mean they had to solve this problem before that happened. In fact, they couldn’t have Mugino just stay in the luxury hotel. To trick her, to get her to betray them, and to survive, they needed Mugino to act of her own volition.

Suspicion was the greatest fuel for someone who hated betrayal more than anything else.

“So is super that Kitchen Car’s HQ?”

“I think so, Kinuhata.”

“But wait. District 4 is all about food…and they’re in a trash house!? I thought Kitchen Car were super culinary experts!! How could they let this happen!?”

“In the end, I bet this was what happened when those culinary experts decided to build a fortress everyone would want to keep away from. Inside, they’ve probably torn down some walls to turn into a maze. It’s called hiding in plain sight. If you’re looking for someone or something, nothing is more annoying than a trash-filled building.”

The structure itself was a four-floor multi-tenant building, but bulging trash bags were piled up in every door and window and even covered the front walk.

Was that supposed to be camouflage?

That had to be a huge nuisance for the neighbors.

The trio bought kebab sandwiches at a nearby food stand and munched on them as they waited for something to happen. There were an unusual number of people jogging, but was that the result of the overabundance of tasty foods in this district?

Frenda’s sandwich must have been too spicy for her because she kept going back to her cup’s straw for more sips of soda.

“In the end, do we have any reason to think the Information Broker will call Kitchen Car today?”

“There’s no guarantee, but I think the odds are good,” replied Takitsubo. “This is a big deal for her too. It might look like she’s the one threatening Item, but this only happened because she failed to deal with us earlier. If she screws this up, she’ll truly have to go into hiding and then she’ll have far fewer options. She should want to eat everything she likes while she has the chance.”

“There they super are.”

A mid-sized yellow truck slowly emerged from the trash heap of a place. Kinuhata was surprised to find there was a metal garage door there.

“That must be Kitchen Car’s truck.”

The trio waited for the truck to pass by and made the final check by nose.

“Bouillon and mirepoix. Also truffles, pickles, horseradish, and is that lobster sauce?”

“That’s not Japanese or Chinese cooking. In the end, it’s definitely French.”

…Kinuhata couldn’t tell a thing. But she wasn’t upset about it. Really.

But a truck.

Did they need a large vehicle to fit the ingredients and the cooking equipment? It wasn’t as bad as with Chinese cooking, but French cooking probably did require some industrial firepower.

Kitchen Car were experts at providing fugitives with delicious food. That meant they knew how to keep Anti-Skill from tailing them. This wouldn’t be as easy as attaching a GPS-equipped device to track it. The truck’s radio or sensors would detect the signal.

So Takitsubo made a simple comment.

“Frenda.”

“Yeah, yeah. In the end, one plastic bottle drone coming up. Makes me wonder what you would have done if you didn’t have the ultra genius and ultimately cute Frenda-chan on your side.”

“It’s French food, right? I planned to track the nitrogen gas used to keep the wine from oxidizing.”

“But in the end, Norsitro Chatellenie is clearly underage!”

Takitsubo and Frenda were enjoying their banter.

How could they be so calm?

Kinuhata frowned.

“Won’t your drone get super shot down by an attack helicopter?”

“In the end, anything small enough will be fine as long as it doesn’t move too fast. There are plenty of UFOs flying around overhead, including small birds and convenience store bags floating in the wind. The city’s automatic air defense doesn’t react to it all.”

Of course, Frenda wasn’t just guessing here. It was based on accurate data she had researched. And the standards had to change daily.

The tablet’s screen showed the yellow truck crossing a few district boundaries.

It finally arrived in District 2.

“Isn’t that the car-focused district?”

“In the end, they do weapons and explosives there too.”

They focused on the screen some more. The yellow truck drove below a building, likely into an underground parking garage, but experts at losing pursuit wouldn’t drive straight to their client’s hideout. Frenda cautiously sent the drone around a while longer to continue observing from the air until…

“Here they come.”

“Hm. When traveling on foot, they disguise themselves as a wholesaler that specializes in fireproof curtains and carpets. Well, the ingredients and cooking equipment unloaded from the truck would be too heavy to carry without a handcart of some kind.”

“Then is this it? What is this super place?”

“I see a lot of tall, fake structures and a bunch of ropes. In the end, it looks like some kind of training ground. If it isn’t Anti-Skill, could it be for firefighters?”

The place didn’t seem to be functioning. Was it abandoned? There was even a large plastic pool set up on the grounds.

“Is it time to head in?”

“I want to be absolutely certain first. They might take another vehicle from the parking lot here.”

They waited ten minutes, but that never happened.

That settled it.

It had to be this former training ground thought to be for firefighters.

“We have her,” said Takitsubo Rikou.