Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item6 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 4===

Kinuhata Saiai and Takitsubo Rikou descended to the luxury tourist hotel’s first floor lobby.

However, they were not there to enjoy some afternoon tea.

They had something to discuss without Mugino hearing as she lazed in the suite’s unnecessarily fancy bed.

“This is super bad.”

Apparently the blackmailer case wasn’t quite as over as they had thought.

If nothing was done, Sudori Sayu and the other ordinary people could become targets again. And if the events leading to saving those people were brought back to the forefront, Mugino could discover Kinuhata and Takitsubo had lied to her and acted behind her back. No matter the reason, betrayal was punished with execution. There would be no exceptions there.

Which meant Kinuhata Saiai had something to do.

“They directed Anti-Skill and Judgment there to catch us. What if that’s just an extra component super added onto the previous blackmailer system?”

“Our previous solution will still work. The odds are good they will have a negotiator posted near the target to keep an eye on things.”

Strangers were used to attack the target while the villain never left their safe zone. For the target, this could not be more annoying because defeating the physical attackers wouldn’t solve anything, but at least they could counterattack using the same method as before.

“Then let’s capture some super random security robot around here and look for anyone walking around with five or ten phones.”

That was when Kinuhata’s phone rang. As if someone were watching them.

She looked down at her phone’s screen.

Number withheld.

“…”

Not answering the call would ordinarily be the right move, but she pressed the talk button.

A young female voice answered.

It may have been a girl around their age.

“Good morning. Just making a business greeting. Now, do you know who I am? Given then timing, you should be able to guess I’m not just pretending to play a role in this.”

(Did she call us because she knew we’d super locate her? That means she wants to stay in control.)

Her “role” here was obvious.

But they didn’t know her name or what she looked like. They knew disturbingly little.

“Yes. In the end, you don’t know who or where I am. Which is good because that’s how my job works. However, not having anything to call me would be awkward for you, so…yes, you can call me the Information Broker. It isn’t inaccurate.”

“Are you the blackmailers’ boss?”

“Hmm? That’s not quite accurate…but I am higher up than them.”

A few questions immediately came to mind.

But peppering her with questions wasn’t going to receive answers for all of them. She could end the call at any time.

So what did Kinuhata need to ask first?

“Why did you super decide to contact us? The incident should have ended when we defeated that legitimate VIP, so you could have escaped to safety by keeping your mouth shut and playing dead.”

“That’s the thing. I can’t just stop doing my job.”

Kinuhata glanced aside as she continued the conversation.

Takitsubo had captured a security robot a short distance away. While back behind a decorative column, perhaps to keep a ceiling security camera from seeing, she snuck up from the blind spot of the security robot’s camera lens and snatched it with both hands. Quite a bold move given they were in a hotel lobby.

Was she planning to trace the phone signals flying around even as Kinuhata spoke with the Information Broker?

Then Kinuhata had to make sure the girl on the phone didn’t notice.

“Oh, was that too subtle for you? I’m trying to say I’m pissed. Extremely.”

…Apparently she wasn’t the type to hang up when provoked.

And she got more talkative when pushed.

She wouldn’t hang up as long as she still saw herself as in a safe zone.

“I am a seller. Or maybe ‘creator’ would be the simpler term. I create intellectual criminal plans like that blackmailer one and sell them to consumers. They view the plans, construct the actual criminal infrastructure, and acquire massive fortunes, while I take some of that as a usage fee for my crime. I get a percentage off the top. That’s how the world works. I make a living through intellectual property.”

A breath of laughter followed.

Don’t get upset.

It’s easier to get information out of the enemy when they think they have the upper hand.

“That blackmailers were quite a lucrative client of mine. You slaughtered the goose that was laying golden eggs for me. I’m not going to be delighted about that, now am I? So I’ve decided to make you pay.”

“Do you think we’ll super sit here and take it? If we’re talking about who crossed the line first, you’re clearly the one who attacked ordinary people. That seems like enough reason to kill you if you ask-”



“''I’ll tell Mugino Shizuri everything, dammit.''”



The air froze.

A cold sweat poured down Kinuhata’s back.

And then…

“Just kidding☆ That’s my only trump card here. Use it and I lose all control over you. So don’t worry. I won’t blab that easily. But this means obeying me is your one and only path to survival. Does that clarify your situation?”

Of course Kinuhata was going to worry.

But she did understand the situation now.

“What are you super going to have me do?”

“Yes, what should I start with? What I want right now is the money I would have gotten from the blackmailers plus a little something extra for the trouble you’ve put me through. I hear you have quite the wonderful power, so you should be able to pay off this debt if you put it to criminal use.”

“…”

“Item, hm? An interesting arrangement you have there. For starters, you can launch a surprise attack on Mugino Shizuri and replace her as Item’s leader. That will turn you into an even more valuable pawn. You can begin repaying your debt after that.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying here?”

“Oh? I thought I was telling you to kill her. Did that not get across? Mugino Shizuri will find out eventually whether I tell her or not. If you want to survive and enjoy your life, you need to eliminate that deadly possibility. You already betrayed her once, so now you have no choice but to finish the job. Half measures aren’t enough. This plan benefits us both.”

Launch a surprise attack on Mugino Shizuri.

Kill her.

So she could survive.

But there would be no peace on that bloody path. The Information Broker was telling Kinuhata to become the leader “for starters”. That meant it didn’t end there. It was obvious these absurd orders would continue endlessly even after betraying, killing, and taking the leader position.

And, having knocked over and silenced the security robot, Takitsubo spoke calmly from nearby.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“…Who are you?”

“You’re planning to become a faceless presence on the phone who orders a dark side member to complete violent jobs so you can profit from your safe zone. But ''isn’t that butting in on the Voice on the Phone’s territory?'' …The villains higher up in Academy City will take action if you violate their territory and steal their profits. All of them will. Sounds like suicide to me, but it’s your choice.”

The response was swift.

The call suddenly ended.

“Super wait!” Kinuhata was flustered. “Why would you anger her before we figured out who she is!? She was willing to talk on and on as long as we kept her going!!”

“She’s an expert at blackmail. She’ll be better at protecting her privacy than a video streamer, so I doubt even the sounds audible in the background would help you track down her location.”

Takitsubo was her usual self.

If Mugino Shizuri discovered their “secret”, she would kill them. Some mystery girl held that trump card in her hand. And if Mugino of all people was going to dole out punishment, it would be something so gruesome it would go down in legend even on the dark side. Takitsubo would be able to imagine that even more vividly than Kinuhata.

“Your life is more important. So first we need to keep that blackmail expert from acting. It’s true she can’t play her ‘tell Mugino’ card so easily, but there is still a chance she will. So I increased that to a 100% chance she won’t. That is obviously more important.”

“Is the Voice on the Phone really that super powerful of a card?”

“Not even we know who she is. That alone says a lot.”

Takitsubo didn’t hesitate to answer.

This dark side search expert could be scary in a different way from Kinuhata.

“It sounded like that Information Broker didn’t know anything about the Voice on the Phone. So she should be hurriedly searching for information on her identity right now. And she won’t dare to give us any orders until she feels comfortable there. If we manage to track her down and attack her before then, her threat will hold no power over us.”

The logic seemed solid.

But…

“That means we super don’t know the actual time limit… It’s still a precarious situation.”

“Kinuhata.”

Takitsubo pointed over at a nearby wall.

Kinuhata peeked around the thin wall.

Frenda Seivelun was pressed against it, pouring with sweat. Carrying quite a few cans of mackerel. Had she been resupplying at a popup shop within the hotel? That girl was highly skilled but was sadly deficient in luck.

“I-I didn’t hear anything…anything at all…”

She wouldn’t look them in the eye.

The fluffy blonde girl was asking them to believe the implausible.

The other two Item members had been worrying themselves half to death over this, but Frenda was trying to retreat to a position of safety? Still holding her canned mackerel and sodas, she was now seated in a Chanel sofa that must cost god knows how much.

Kinuhata Saiai and Takitsubo Rikou exchanged a look and a nod.

And they said it.

“We ended up super betraying Mugino together. Tee hee☆”

Frenda tried to flee at Mach speed.

Except Takitsubo Rikou wordlessly stuck out a leg to trip her, causing her to face plant on her very first step. Kinuhata did have to respect the guts it took to protect her canned mackerel more than her face. Even though denting the cans wouldn’t alter the flavor any.

“Frenda, I can predict your every move.”

“D-don’t trip the Academy City Bomber. D-d-d-do you want to trigger an explosion and reduce us all to charcoal?”

“Kinuhata couldn’t let that bank robber be killed because she was an ordinary person being threatened by the blackmailers, so she lied to Mugino and let the criminal escape, but wouldn’t you know it? Now a different villain who sold the design for the blackmailers’ crime has shown up. There, now you’re all caught up. And you’re one of us.”

“Noooooo!! Don’t tell me that! Don’t drag me into this! In the end, those three lines have ended my life!”

Frenda held her hands over her ears, but it was too late.

She tearfully shouted.

“You lied to Mugino and kept secrets from her!? In the end, that’s definitely getting you killed! You know she isn’t the type to listen to excuses and explanations!”

“Good point. Which means you’re at risk too,” continued Takitsubo with no change of expression. “You can run if you want, but if Mugino catches us, we will tell her it wasn’t just us and that you knew about it too. Then she’ll treat you like one of us.”

“…”

Mechanical lie detectors had their pros and cons.

Did Frenda know about the betrayal plan? Between yes and no, it would say yes. It couldn’t dig into the details of when and how she found out.

And she would have to be lucky indeed if Mugino was calm enough to use anything like a lie detector in the first place.

“Mugino won’t be finding just one traitor. And after she finds two, do you think the third will be safe? Do you think she will calmly listen to your explanation when she snaps and becomes truly indiscriminate? Let’s hope she doesn’t blast us all with Meltdowner right away. But if you’re brimming with a baseless confidence that you alone will be safe, then feel free to head back alone and tell Mugino all bout it.”

Frenda didn’t move.

She had petrified.

…It was times like this that told Kinuhata Saiai that they really weren’t the good guys. Even when she risked her life and protected Academy City\’s peace, she found herself surrounded by something very different from justice.

So the filthy villain spoke with a smile.

She delivered the finishing blow.

“If you don’t like it, blame your own idiotic actions and choices. Super welcome to the world on nightmare difficulty☆”

“Noooooo! In the end, why would you do anything as ultra suicidal as throwing your lives away by lying to and deceiving Mugino!? Don’t drag me into thiiiiiiiiis!!”

She complained, but she had given up on running.

It was obvious which direction Frenda Seivelun’s villain side was leaning. Bright and shining things like love and justice did not apply to Academy City’s dark side. You wouldn’t last by betting on the possibility of a miracle. It was Frenda’s trust in Mugino Shizuri’s violence that told her her life was over if she didn’t come up with a physical safety measure here.

However, that didn’t mean she was through talking.

“D-do you really think Mugino is going to forgive a traitor!? She’ll attack us even more harshly than she does ordinary enemies. I was framed that time I was thrown out into Tokyo, but even that was hard to smooth over! But this time you really have stepped on the landmine! We’re dead for sure!!”

This wasn’t about Mugino Shizuri’s personal preferences. It was apparently the ideology and belief of the Mugino Family as a whole. One of their own, Sakuya-sama, had tried to take the family head’s life, but where was she now and what was she doing? She had completely disappeared.

“She’s a daughter of the Mugino Family. That born gangster doesn’t forgive traitors, so her punishment will be thorough. In the end, you’ll wish you’d never been born!!”

“Then let’s super use that. Say what you want, we can’t ignore this Information Broker thing, so we aim for two birds with one stone.”

Kinuhata hid her fear to get the response out.

Frenda didn’t follow her thinking, so she replied with a tremor in her voice.

“U-use it how?”

“Mugino super doesn’t forgive traitors, right? Then during our fight against the Information Broker, we ''have Mugino betray us.'' Then that born gangster will feel indebted to us and won’t be able to subject us to that terror show of unilateral slaughter. And if the gangster logic is that deeply rooted in her, she won’t be able to ignore that debt. Then if we finish off the Information Broker, this will all be over.”

“…”

“That could work,” said Takitsubo after holding her index finger to her slender chin and thinking through it. “My top priority is Kinuhata’s survival after stepping on that Mugino landmine. I won’t let anyone in Item be lost. Canceling out betrayal with betrayal would do that. In fact, I don’t see any other way for everyone to survive, but what do you say, Frenda? Do you have a better idea?”

Frenda Seivelun’s mouth formed a small triangle.

It would work.

But something felt fundamentally wrong about it.



“Aren’t you just saying that finding a real answer is too hard, so you’re just going to set a trap for Mugino? In the end, that crazy idea seems like even more of a betrayal to me.”