Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume14 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

Qliphah Puzzle 545 had returned to the District 10 prison.

The facility doubled as the new Board Chairman’s headquarters.

It was guarded by several layers of thick metal doors, metal bars, and all sorts of sensors, but that meant nothing to an artificial demon who could freely switch between corporeal and incorporeal forms.

“I-I’m back.”

No response.

She may have expected that.

In the single-occupant cell, a frail figure lay on the bed.

Surrounded by medical equipment.

The only sound was a rhythmic beeping and a pump expanding and contracting to push out air.

…His body hadn’t been in perfect working order to begin with. Brain damage had left him reliant on a modern design cane and he couldn’t even understand human speech without the choker-style electrode around his neck.

Even so.

It was far too painful to see him lying in the bed like that.

Academy City’s #1 could not live on his own.

He was kept alive by all the machines hooked up to him.

“Master…” weakly called the demon girl.

“Monitor fragments have pierced every part of his body.”

Even a prison had doctors.

Serious illness did not cancel out a prisoner’s sentence, so in a way it was the natural arrangement.

It was their job to keep the prisoners alive in whatever form it took.

“Some are right next to major arteries and organs, making them too dangerous to touch without care. Removing them will be very difficult… But that isn’t enough to explain his condition. If it were simple blood loss keeping him unconscious, the transfusion should be showing effects by now.”

“I know…”

“?”

Yes, she didn’t have time for sorrow.

The new Board Chairman would never wake up ''naturally'' in this state. That had been obvious at first glance, which was why someone needed to externally induce a recovery.

These wounds were magical in nature.

They were scars of an attack from Great Demon Coronzon, a being beyond human understanding.

That meant magical knowledge was a requirement to heal him.

(I will heal you, so please wait until I can, master.)

Something beeped.

But it wasn’t the medical equipment. It came from something like an intercom on the wall.

Qliphah Puzzle 545 didn’t know if she had the right, but everyone else watched the device from a distance and made no move to touch it. She had no choice but to press the button and answer.

It displayed a familiar female secretary who ordinarily helped with the paperwork.

“What is it?”

“We have a visitor for the Board Chairman. He doesn’t have an appointment, but will you meet with him?”

“No appointment? Then send him awa-”

“He is Oniyama of the Board of Directors. Will you still refuse him?”

A visitor.

And at this precise moment.

Qliphah Puzzle 545 said for him to wait, but when she went out, he was already within the special security zone. Left alone, who knows how much he would have explored.

All of the jailers and guards looked afraid. Apparently it was up to the artificial demon to say this.

“Only the Board Chairman is allowed in here. What are you doing here!?”

“Oniyama Rouze.”

The old man’s eyes shined with the greed of a much younger man.

“I am one of Academy City’s 12 Directors. That comes with certain privileges.”

His words dripped with arrogance.

So what if he was one of the Directors? Just because there weren’t many of them didn’t mean they could enter this place without permission. Just think of the Windowless Building from when Aleister was at the top. No one should be here without its master’s permission.

(Has Academy City collapsed to that extent!?)

Oniyama was the Director with a focus on vehicles, including automobiles, ships, and aircraft.

And there had been suspicions he was interested in expanding into the military field. The military had its own specialists, but those who controlled those unscrupulous military forces – Shiokishi, Nakimoto, Neoka – tended to drop out or be replaced quickly due to that very unscrupulousness. A perfect opportunity for those who were hoping to break into that field.

To be blunt, she had a bad feeling about his presence.

“How bad are his injuries?”

He was too casual.

If Qliphah Puzzle 545 didn’t know Great Demon Coronzon was responsible, she would have suspected this man.

“Why are you here without even making an appointment?”

“I am here to give you a valuable warning, so watch your tone.”

“Nothing you say changes the fact that I only have one master!!”

“My point is that your behavior calls your master’s civility into question. The unintelligent never seem to wait for people to finish, which makes speaking with them so tiring.”

He snorted with laughter.

And then got back on topic.

“The situation is too pressing to wait for the Chairman’s recovery.”

“Kh.”

“Academy City is using all of its scientific knowledge to search for the culprit, yet we have turned up empty-handed. That makes this an unknown situation. And ignoring it shows no sign of improvement. Someone must grab the reins and take control soon. Before serious damage is done.”

He said that like the new Board Chairman’s injuries did not count as “serious damage”.

As it were a trivial matter.

Not worth any concern.

Even though the very top of the city had been directly attacked and remained unconscious.

“…You look happy about this.”

“Surely you jest. I am only doing my job. If the Chairman is unable to fulfill his duties, don’t you think his privileges should be temporarily transferred to a third party? I am not asking for his eternal expulsion from the throne through dismissal or impeachment. I am only suggesting someone else take over his duties until he comes to.”

“You just want the Master Key.”

“Ah, so you read me like a book.”

“And just how many people were you planning to kill using those next-gen weapons!?”

The Master Key looked like a smartphone, but it gave full privileges over everything in Academy City. It was stuffed full of passwords, passcodes, access keys, and other such data.

Including for military facilities and equipment.

Academy City’s functions and military might would eventually recover. If it were handed over to someone else, something terrible would happen. And if it fell into the hands of a Director who knew enough about diplomacy and war, it could lead to a war with any place on the planet.

She was a demon.

She knew just how twisted the world was.

And in that knowledge, she had placed her hopes in the #1. She had decided the world was still worth protecting. So she couldn’t allow the world to be destroyed now while the new Board Chairman lingered on the verge of death. No matter what.

“But the Master Key is a dangerous power. Who can you trust it with, if not me and my knowledge of diplomacy and military matters? Noncommittal Kaizumi? Surely not that pacifist Oyafune?”

“They would be better than you at least…”

“Oh, dear. So you, the guardian of the Master Key, are unaware just how dangerous it is. Listen, ''even someone who doesn’t know how to use it can lose control.'' I was fine with leaving it in the Chairman’s hands since he is the #1. I trusted that someone who has killed so many people would know very well how to handle that kind of threat. But leaving it in the hands of someone who has no familiarity with deadly power would be suicide. Suicide on a planetary scale.”

“Leave! If you don’t wish for the Board Chairman to recover, people could see that as contempt of the chain of command. I will not give you the Master Key. Only my master has the right to grant it to someone else. So please leave now!!”

The old man took a step back without taking his eyes off her.

He was not intimidated.

The smile on his face conveyed a clear message: I don’t even need to return here. You will come crying to me by the end.

“Academy City is a heavy burden to bear. Contact me when you are ready to give up.”

“Leave!!!”