Editing Rental Magica Volume 1: Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===
 
 
The place had been called the "goblin factory" before.
 
Everyone in Furube City knew of the smokestacks rising from halfway up Mt. Nyuu.
 
Around it was a red, rusty barb<!--either one works but it flows better this way-->-wire fence, and the vacant space between the fence and the factory was overrun with weeds.  The outer concrete wall had cracks here and there, and they were a strange color, as if a demon had slashed at the wall with its claws.
 
The place had been sealed off several decades before.  As was often the case when a business failed, the factory head and his family had all hung themselves, and the land was abandoned, leaving the building to slowly rot away.
 
Incidentally, there were scary stories about how if one listened closely, they could hear the factory head that killed himself creeping about at night, or the sound of machines that should have been destroyed working as usual.
 
Itsuki was at the entrance of this factory.
 
Furthermore--the air of the tepid summer night felt bizarre.
 
"... gh..."
 
"President onii-chan?  What's wrong?"
 
"No, that's... it's... nothing, nothing at all..."
 
Walking one step behind Mikan, grasping the cuff of her Miko clothes, he made an awkward smile and shook his head.
 
Since they had entered the mountain, his knees had been shaking nonstop.  He wanted to praise himself for making it this far.  Incidentally, Mikan was a surprisingly good walker, so she hadn't sweated a drop the whole way up the mountain road.
 
Mikan tilted her neck.
 
"Are you scared?"
 
"Geh!"
 
Straight pitch.
 
Fast ball.
 
Mikan was right on the money.
 
"Mfufufu, it's okay.  I'll protect you, president onii-chan."
 
Laughing into her nose, she waved her tamagushi with a triumphant air.
 
"P, protect...?"
 
"You know..."  She pressed the tamagushi against her cheek, starting to explain herself,
 
"--Mikan, enough chit-chat, how about that misogi?"<ref>A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogi misogi] (禊) is a kind of Shintou purification rite.</ref> Honami cut in from beside.
 
Honami was wearing her sailor uniform as usual.  However, she had a large pointed hat over her chestnut-colored hair, and she wore a night-colored cape across her skinny shoulders.  She was like a witch from a fairy tale, the same as Itsuki had seen her in the park.
 
"Al-right!"
 
Pointing her lips, Mikan waved her tamagushi here and there across her miko clothes and fingers.  This was apparently a misogi.
 
Making sure Mikan was occupied, Honami turned to Itsuki.
 
"President.  Hand me your badge so I can do the preparations."
 
"Uh... this thing?"
 
Itsuki fished his badge out of his pocket and held it out to Honami.  She grabbed it from him and held it up to the moonlight, then fastened it to Itsuki's collar.
 
Tilting his neck to the side, Itsuki caught a glimpse of Honami's splendidly white nape.
 
A faint scent slipped into his nostrils.
 
"Ah..."
 
His cheeks became hot.
 
"Hm, what?"
 
"N, no, it's nothing.  Nothing at all.  What's this?"
 
"Basically, protection.  The holy pentagram is strengthened by the divine nature of the silver mirror.  This kind of thing is used in both the east and west, so it has some ability to overcome spell wave interference.   There's some more ways to use it, but I'll tell you later.  --Now, this,"
 
"Oh, business cards..."
 
Tucked away in a thin, silver case was a stack of business cards.  Furthermore, neatly embossed next to the words <Magician Dispatch Company ・ Astral> was "Company President ・ Iba Itsuki."
 
"Wh, why are you suddenly giving me this?"
 
"Oh, I finished purifying those business cards!" Mikan butted in, puffing her chest out.
 
"After we finished washing out the paper with the miracle water of Fuji, Mikan purified it with a ceremony.  Inside of them is the Kabbalah Cross that the head of the Fetish Department, Hazel, carved.  Since every single one of them has a real fetish in it, don't go around giving them to everyone."
 
"S, sure."
 
Who was he supposed to give these to, then?
 
--He felt like he was treading deeper and deeper into the swamp.
 
"Then... what were the preparations you were talking about?" he fearfully asked.
 
Honami narrowed her eye at him from behind her glasses.
 
"I'm deciding that now.  Before the 'job' starts, I have to give you something to protect yourself, so that I can properly cover you."
 
"B, but... I don't see anything strange right now," he protested flusteredly.
 
He could see monsters, but he didn't know for sure if this place was a real spirit spot or not.  Looking from his right eye, it seemed like just a regular old creepy place.
 
Even so, what he really feared was that--the lack of knowledge.  He didn't know whether or not to be afraid.  He pitied himself a bit.
 
"It's here."
 
Honami let loose a grin, looking down at the watch on her wrist.
 
"There are definitely ley lines here, but they're small.  This is a dragon cave.  If it's as the reference docs say, then the 'Night' will be here very soon.  Just thirty seconds left on the clock... twenty-nine... twenty-eight... twenty-seven..."
 
"Huh?"
 
"...  Seventeen... sixteen... fifteen..."
 
Her soft countdown echoed across the ruined factory in the mountain recess.
 
The numbers traveled across the night air, taking on a strange feel as if they were a spell themselves.
 
"..."
 
Itsuki, unable to move, gulped.
 
"Eight... seven... six..."
 
The countdown ran into the single digits.
 
"Five... four... three..."
 
Mikan gazed at the entrance of the factory.
 
"...  Two... one..."
 
 
Creeeak!
 
 
--Itsuki's right eye twisted.
 
 
"...  Wh, what!?"
 
He felt his eyepatch.
 
All of a sudden, the world had changed.
 
No, that wasn't it.
 
It wasn't a feeling of anything that changed.
 
It was as if the world had reverted to a former state--an unpleasant sense of déjà-vu.  There was an enormous spell power.  It felt as though an explosion had occurred inside his right eye.
 
"Mee~ow."
 
"Spell wave pollution--confirming a shift from class six to class three.  Just like the reference docs said," Nekoyashiki sighed, stroking the cat he was holding against his chest.
 
"...  The Magi Night has begun," the witch with the Ice Blue Eyes finally declared.
 
 
<span style="font-size: 300%;"><center>*</center></span>
 
 
Adilisia ・ Lenn ・ Mathers felt a sudden burst of pressure assail her body.  She had a sensation of gravity suddenly becoming stronger.  The spell power that diffused across every inch of her body reverberated against the ground violently.
 
"... gh!"
 
Gripping the pentagram of Solomon over her chest, she pushed back the spell power in a single breath.  Withstanding the feeling that her blood was flowing backwards, the girl lifted open her red lips.
 
"--The <Night> has come."
 
She stood on the other side of the factory.  It went without saying that she knew each member of <Astral> had arrived as well.
 
Behind her, ten people in black clothes stood by.
 
They each held pentagrams of Solomon over their chests as well, and were wearing rings to provide spiritual protection.  These were Adilisia's handpicked apprentices of <Goetia> that she had taken with her for work in Japan.
 
"I will confirm the 'job' one last time," Adilisia whispered, gazing at the factory without turning around.
 
She spoke in a small voice, but the magicians were not ones to let any of her words escape them.  If they messed up one single pronunciation or had even the slightest error in their tone of voice, it would completely change the meaning of their spells.
 
"The request from the <Organization> is to obliterate this <Night>.  Without drawing the eyes of anyone, without allowing any injuries to occur, we must seal it in darkness under the cover of darkness.  <Astral> is likely thinking this as well."
 
Adilisia's voice sounded out delicately.
 
It was like the voice of some beautiful bird.
 
"However, this time, that is not our aim."
 
The black clothes--the apprentices, gently lowered their heads.  Age made no difference.  To a magician, the difference in rank was absolute.
 
Their rank was 3=8 and 4=7.  As the rank of those with regular genius and strong effort, you could say their rank was the highest.  Even so, they were a long shot from Adilisia.
 
It was because of her blood.
 
Naturally, plain old genius meant nothing in magic.
 
If having strange powers and being outside of the norm was proof of a magician, then the ones who stand on top are necessarily those who are separated from people from the beginning.  As much as a lifetime of hard work was meaningless, the collected bloodlines of thousands of years--that tenacity, was what bore the forbidden fruit of magic.
 
Adilisia had been a magician since before she was born.
 
That is why she spoke so magnificently to the apprentices that she stood above.
 
"We will retrieve... our elder.  For that purpose, we will use any means, and any magic.  Use your spell power for only this purpose until your very last drop of life."
 
Without so much as a cough, the black clothes lowered their heads again.
 
It was the same landscape as always.
 
It was the same view as always.
 
This kind of mechanical exchange was natural for a magical group.
 
"Do you understand?"
 
Suddenly, the face of an idiot, the leader of another magical group, hovered in her head.  Adilisia bit her lip.
 
"I warned you.  --If only you had not gotten yourself involved in this <Night>..."

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===Notes===
<references/>

{{RentalMagicaNavbar
    | [[Rental_Magica_Volume_1:_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]
    | [[Rental_Magica_Volume_1:_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
}}
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