Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter6

Chapter 6: Who Stands in the Way?

Part 1

World domination complete!!

“Sigh, this is basically perfect. Why don’t we just stay in this world forever?” said Mikoto.

“Have you forgotten we’re both having an out of body experience while close to death? It’s been a month since that propane tank explosion, so who knows what’s happening to our bodies back on Earth,” said Shokuhou.

Yes, they couldn’t just lie around in bed inside the superpower’s enormous castle.

Mikoto shook off the temptation to go back to sleep and got out of the truly king-sized bed. The castle’s butlers and maids would pamper her more if she let them, so she had to reboot herself.

Which meant…

“We’ve defeated the three Demon Lords and gathered the three treasures, so now we need to research the big ceremony necessary to send us home.”

Demon Lords. Ceremony.

The words left her mouth so easily but hearing herself say them felt so strange. She had to tell herself that was just the kind of world this was. She managed to accept the reality before her eyes by telling herself this world had some kind of technology called magic and that it might be based on familiar science if she pursued it far enough. She had a feeling it would end badly if she didn’t leave that barrier in place.

This world’s largest superpower had existed on the Tir na nOg Continent.

The castle’s library was also the largest in the world. If they were doing research, this would be the best place.

Since Patissiet would climb on top of the bookcases (in her short skirt) if left to her own devices, Mikoto grabbed the elf by the scruff of the neck to keep her on the floor.

“Three treasures ceremony. Does anything here talk about the three treasures ceremony?”

They appreciated all the knowledge gathered in the library, but too much knowledge could be a problem of its own. Without anything like a search engine to quickly find what they wanted, it could end up taking a full day to find a relevant passage.

They found some familiar faces there: the young slaver who Patissiet had originally served, as well as the guild receptionist and mayor who had been planning to kill the elves in that village.

Mikoto gave them a “what are you doing here?” look and received an answer from the flashy young woman who used wind magic.

“With the abolitionist movement picking up speed, the elves are learning to enjoy the finer things in life. Which means an increased demand for goods. This might just be a great business opportunity.”

“True, and no one will stop you from making money if you do it in a way that establishes a beneficial cycle. I hope this has been a good lesson ability for you☆”

“By the way, you brainwashing goddess, you had better not be lying about restoring my talent for business if I help you search through all these books!”

That Dancer Mikoto stuck out her tongue with her back turned suggested that probably wasn’t happening.

In the end, it came down to people wanting to side with the winners. Mikoto and Shokuhou’s defeat of the Tir na nOg superpower had greatly changed things.

Shokuhou could run some form of a search by reading the residual thoughts in the books and bookcases, but it would still take her some time.

And Patissiet was the best at this kind of slow-going work.

Mikoto could only get a general idea of what the text said like she was decoding Morse code or braille, but the elf could fluently read this world’s language, which made her a lot faster.

Patissiet did not actually read each of the thick books cover to cover. She would get a general idea of what the author was trying to say from the title, the table of contents, the opening pages, and the final pages. It was a lot like figuring out the topic and contents by filling in the blanks, but it was honestly impressive. Mikoto wanted to learn this skill for the book reports she was forced to write for school during summer break.

“Oh, this could be it.”

The elf’s face lit up.

She found it so quickly it sort of frustrated Shokuhou who could essentially cheat by reading the residual thoughts with the remote she pulled from her handbag.

“The three treasures ceremony is done at the Strange Underpass Cathedral. Each of the treasures is very important, so I don’t know where else you would hold a magic ceremony using all three of them.”

“Strange Underpass?”

“?”

With a name like that, it might refer to a secret passage between worlds. If so, this was another example of very on-the-nose naming.

But there was no point in complaining about this world’s names at this point.

“Where is that cathedral?” asked Shokuhou.

“At the very top. The only floating land at Layer 11 is the Strange Underpass Cathedral. I have never been there of course, but I would expect every single person in Celesaqphere has heard of it.”