Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item5 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 7===

The four regrouped on a dark street. It was best to leave the document with their analyst Takitsubo.

The track suit girl caught it in a hand.

“I’ll contact you by midday,” she said right away. “This will probably take a lot of work, but I can ask the support group for help. Leave it to me.”

“Eh? What about those of us with super nothing to do?”

“I’m going to get some sleep. In the end, I need to be ready to cheer on my sister in the direct sunlight!!”

With that, they parted ways without waiting for the dawn.

Mugino walked through the empty, late night street all alone and pulled out her phone.

The enemy was a counterfeiting specialist. Someone like that would probably think differently from an ordinary criminal. It would be best to simulate exactly how they thought and what they would do.

She knew someone with a lot of knowledge there. And someone who wouldn’t mind at all if she contacted him at this hour.

“Mujinayama.”

“Yes, Lady Shizuri?”

Mugino Shizuri frowned when a young female voice came from her phone.

“Who’re you?”

“Hanagai. I work as a maid. Butler Mujinayama is currently in the hospital and is still not well enough to answer your requests, so your calls have been redirected to me.”

“Honestly, how long is he planning to stay in the hospital?”

“In Academy City, you all expect wounds to heal much too fast. I can’t imagine what kinds of bizarre cutting-edge medical technology you use in there.”

For once, Mugino fell silent for a moment.

When you lived in Academy City, it was easy to forget how unusual and special the things here looked to the rest of the world.

“General knowledge is good enough. I want some basic information on counterfeiters.”

“Skilled with their hands but lacking in confidence would be the standard character profile. That is why they have the extremely high skills required but do not use their own creations. In a fight, they will not rely on physical strength. On the other hand, they value their own territory – which includes both their special tools and their workshop – so when pursued, they tend to lie in wait and launch a surprise attack rather than running away. So you should be ready for homemade weapons such as a stun gun or pepper spray.”

“Hm.”

Mugino had more or less expected it, but this sounded a lot like Frenda. Although if Frenda knew she was at a disadvantage, she would lay traps to help her escape rather than try and resist.

“However, all of that is only the standard. If you have any clues that could narrow things down further, I believe I could extract more useful information for you, Lady Shizuri.”

“I don’t intend to get that much help from the Family.”

Mugino sighed in exasperation and turned a corner.

A maid was standing there.

And this wasn’t a cafe cosplayer. This was a high-level maid of the Mugino Family who specialized in Molotov cocktails.

“Why are you here?”

“The Daihaseisai is one of the few times when the city is open to the public. Is it that surprising to see outsiders around?”

Mugino hung up the phone and tossed something over with her other hand.

The golden object was HoloAu79.

It was smaller than a brick, but when Hanagai caught it in both hands, she grunted a bit from its weight. Was acting delicate and cute part of her maid training? Then again, it did weigh about as much as a heavier bowling ball.

“This is their homemade gold. There’s your info. So what can you tell me?”

“Hm. No signature to tell it from a real one.”

“That’s all?”

“That means they aren’t the type to seek recognition. Even aside from functionality and practicality, they didn’t bother signing it out of interest or pride. That makes them seem obedient at first glance, but it also means they are irresponsible and feel no guilt about committing such a serious crime. …A craftsman like this will not hesitate to use a powerful homemade weapon. Even in the middle of an innocent crowd.”

“…”

So they were like Frenda…but different at a fundamental level.

That bomber was very picky about where she would set her traps. She handled highly dangerous explosives, but she avoided collateral damage even when making an attack in a crowd. She was the dangerous sort of pro who actually felt pride in her ability to kill just her target in a crowd.

Based on that comparison, a pro without such hangups would be a very troublesome enemy if they were pushed past the limit.

Molotov cocktail maid Hanagai had one more thing to say.

“Their specialty is creating alloys, but that means they will likely misuse the tools used for that. It could be armor or blunt weapons made from their own special alloy, it could be the processing equipment used to produce great heat, or it could be the molten metal itself. If you want to fight them, you should probably start by separating them from any innocent people.”