novelSomething Far Removed from Magicians (1)
| ← Ch.103 | Ch.105 → |
Part 1
District 23 of Academy City was an industrial zone that specialized in aviation and space. All of Academy City's major airports were centered in District 23.
The district was covered in runways and rocket launch sites, so it lacked tall buildings like the rest of the city. As far as the eye could see, it was flat asphalt with occasional control towers and laboratories sticking out.
"It's like a field made of stone and iron..."
Kamijou said this as he stepped off the train and looked out at the landscape stretching out in front of him.
This was the place where he had fought Oriana Thomson during the Daihaseisai, but he got the impression that the security was even tighter now.
He put the grocery bags he had been carrying in a coin locker at the station. Since there were a lot of researchers in this city, the coin lockers were airtight and one had the option of making them refrigerated.
But...
"... This is expensive. Do these things usually cost this much per hour!?"
"Nyah. Looks like it'd be cheaper to just throw those bags out and buy the stuff again at a cheap super market when we get back."
Tsuchimikado had a point, but Kamijou didn't like wasting food. He put the bags in the locker, recorded his fingerprint, locked it, and activated the refrigeration option.
Kamijou headed for the station's exit and spoke to Tsuchimikado.
"I assume we're catching a plane since we're in District 23?"
"Well, we're leaving the country."
"Seriously!?... Wait, did someone get my passport?"
"Nope."
Kamijou fell silent at Tsuchimikado's one word response.
Tsuchimikado sounded bored as he continued speaking.
"It's not like we're going for a trip overseas. Our activities are completely unofficial. And if we're found out, we'll be in international trouble that pales in comparison to not having a stamp or two in our passports."
"I-I see."
There were plenty of things he wanted to say, but the matter-of-fact way Tsuchimikado said that made him wonder if this way really was better.
After exiting the station, they were at a large-scale bus terminal. In District 23, one traveled by taking busses instead of walking.
Tsuchimikado found the bus heading to the international airport and got on; Kamijou followed suit.
Since the district had many runways and lacked buildings, the road was straight as an arrow. The speed limit was fairly high as well; the posted signs noted 100 kph.
With the asphalt plain out the window, even the gray horizon was man-made.
Large white clouds of steam could be seen rising up from the horizon.
A low-pitched tremor shook the glass, causing vibrations.
"Oh, a rocket. Looks like it launched fine."
Tsuchimikado sighed as he said that.
Kamijou pulled out his phone and activated the television function. The news was showing various angles of a rocket leaving the ground.
"They're saying it's Academy City's fourth satellite. I wonder if that's true or not."
"If they're launching a rocket now, one of the reasons will be to get people speculating about it. People will say it's everything from a military satellite to a test launch of an ICBM. The more possibilities, the more effective it is in holding others in check."
(So this is what information warfare is... )
Kamijou suddenly froze.
"... Wait. What about Index?"
He didn't want to take her anywhere dangerous, but he couldn't exactly leave her alone with no food.
"Don't worry. Maika will be going to your room, Kami-yan. She'll probably be only a third as hungry as usual after Maika's done with her."
Kamijou was relieved to hear that, but then realized that his sole purpose in Index's eyes was to make food for her.
Before long, the bus arrived at the international airport.
Kamijou got off the bus and checked the time on his phone.
"Tsuchimikado. Where exactly are we going anyway?"
"France."
Tsuchimikado responded casually.
"Ugeh!? Europe! That's a long ways away... Wait, how long are we going to be gone? And doesn't a flight to Europe take something like 10 hours?"
"No, we'll be there in just under an hour."
"Hah?"
Kamijou responded in confusion.
Tsuchimikado seemed to be annoyed at having to explain, so he simply pointed to the runway a bit away from the terminal building.
There were multiple large passenger planes lined up, each a few dozen meters long.
"We'll be getting on one of those."
"... Please tell me you're kidding."
Kamijou was almost speechless as he asked Tsuchimikado for confirmation.
He had ridden on a plane like that once before.
"If I recall correctly, that's the type of plane that took me from Venice to Japan."
"Yeah, that's what I heard, Kami-yan. I didn't have much involvement in the whole 'Queen of the Adriatic' incident, so I don't know the details."
"So are those really the ones that fly at 7000 KPH?"
"Hahaha, " laughed Tsuchimikado."The faster the better, right?"
"That's too fast!! When I was riding that thing, it felt like a thick metal sheet was slowly crushing my body! Index had finally started opening her heart to the science side and that thing made the shutters over her heart seal up tight!!"
There was also the part where Index had ordered some in-flight food and it flew behind her spectacularly.
"Oh, c'mon, Kami-yan. We're heading out on an unofficial overseas mission. Did you really think we were going to head to France while we leisurely ate an in-flight meal and watched a movie?"
"W-well, no. I was expecting there to be a little more tension than that, but... Wait. We're really getting on that thing? I-I really can't recommend the experience!!"
"Don't worry. Don't worry. After you exceed Mach 3, an amateur won't feel the difference."
"How the hell is that supposed to make me worry less!?"
Kamijou kept complaining, but Tsuchimikado stopped listening and started explaining what to do once they got on the plane. It seemed there were no other planes, so they really had no choice. Tsuchimikado led Kamijou through a door for "authorized personnel only" and down a corridor that led them to the supersonic passenger plane while circumventing the general-use gate.
Part 2
"The C-Document. That's the name of the spiritual item in the center of all this."
Tsuchimikado's voice resounded throughout the spacious plane.
The supersonic passenger plane was a size bigger than usual passenger planes, but they were the only two on board, disregarding the crew, making the plane feel quite empty.
Since they were the only two passengers, Kamijou and Tsuchimikado were sitting right in the middle of the area with the nicest first class seats. Unlike the cramped economy seats, they had more than enough room to stretch out their legs.
Tsuchimikado was facing the seat next to him where Kamijou was sitting.
"Its formal name is the Document of Constantine. The Christian Church originally underwent persecution by the Roman Empire until Emperor Constantine recognized it as an official religion. The C-Document is a document created for the Roman Catholic Church by Constantine."
Those words weren't the words of the classmate Kamijou knew. Tsuchimikado Motoharu was now in full magician mode.
"The C-Document stated that the Roman Pope is the leader of the Christian Church and that the land in Europe that Constantine ruled over belonged to the Pope. Since Constantine owned the majority of Europe, it essentially meant that the Pope owned Europe and all of the people living there had to obey the Roman Catholic Church. From their point of view, it's a certificate that grants the Roman Catholic Church things that sound way too good to be true."
Tsuchimikado continued speaking as he worked with the LCD touch-screen next to his seat.
"As a spiritual item, the C-Document's power is... well, you could say it's kind of like a compass. For the land Constantine ruled over about 1700 years ago, you can use the C-Document even today to make symbols appear that indicate that that land was inherited from the emperor. Since the emperor's inheritance is composed of things given to the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church is given the lands and items that correspond on the C-Document to develop or use as necessary."
Tsuchimikado stopped speaking and stared at Kamijou's face.
"Kami-yan, are you even listening?"
"Ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ughh-ughhh-ughhhh!!"
Kamijou could not respond.
7000 kph. The powerful g-forces created by such a speed were crushing Kamijou Touma's internal organs, leaving him unable to respond properly. It felt as if there were a basketball being pushed up against his stomach while someone stomped on it as hard as he or she could.
By being perfectly fine in that circumstance, Tsuchimikado was the strange one.
"Well, whatever. Just listen up."
"Ugh-gh!!"
Tsuchimikado was not sure whether that was a response or a moan.
"As I said, the C-Document sounds a bit too good to be true for the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, a 15th century scholar declared it to be fake, and he was right. The C-Document's effects and powers as a spiritual item are quite different."
"Ggh-gh-ghh-gh!!"
"The real power of the C-Document acts on a much greater scale. It distorts that which is said by the Roman Pope to be 'accurate information'."
Tsuchimikado smoothly moved his lips as he spoke quietly.
"For example, if the Pope declared that the members of a certain faith were enemies of humanity that were upsetting the public order, it would be a fact from the moment he said it. If he declared that 'you will not burn your hand if you touch a hot sheet of metal as long as you pray while you do', that too would be believed without a shred of evidence."
"Ohh-gh-gh-gh!"
"C'mon, Kami-yan! At least look this way!"
Kamijou's upper body was shaking violently but he still managed to speak.
"So... if he uses that C-Document... everything the Pope says... is true... ?"
It seemed he was actually able to follow the conversation well enough to grasp that much. Kamijou was trying to see if talking rather than listening alleviate his pains. It was his last resort.
"So... he can make everything he desires to come true?... Kind of like the Ars Magna in alchemy?... Oghh!!"
"No, not like that."
Tsuchimikado looked so carefree it almost looked like he would start humming.
"The C-Document can only make people 'believe' that things are true. No matter how ridiculous it is, it makes people think it must be true because the Pope said it is. It doesn't actually alter the laws of physics."
Tsuchimikado did something on the touch-screen installed in the armrest.
"Also, it only makes people believe if they care what the Roman Catholic Church says. Conversely, people who don't care whether what the Roman Catholic Church says is true or not aren't affected by it. For better or worse, this spiritual item is solely for use by the Roman Catholic Church."
"S-s-so... it's a spiritual item that makes people think what you say is true? B-but that's... Ugh."
"Haha. I guess it might sound like cheating. But there are plenty of tricks that were used to maintain one's majesty back in the day when the things powerful people said were taken as absolute laws. After all, the majesty of those powerful people determined whether people believed on those absolute laws of theirs or not. And if that belief wavered, the entire country could be in danger. Even in Japan there was the practice during the Edo period of cutting people in two if they spoke badly of the samurai. What easier way of regulating the ideas people have is there?"
"S-s-s-s-so... they made the C-Document because..."
"Yes, because they were afraid. They were afraid of losing control of the world they had created. The Roman Catholic Church has had multiple crises throughout history. But the Christian Church and God are supposed to be absolute. God is supposed to be a being that will save humans from any crisis. And yet the population of Europe fell greatly during the black plague, there were many failures during the Crusades, and no one knew when the Ottoman Turks would attack Europe en masse."
Tsuchimikado said this all in an unfeeling voice, but there was a compassionate glint to his eyes.
"The idea that 'God is absolute' was challenged again and again. And the Roman Catholic Church needed to keep that idea around. That's why they needed the C-Document. With it, they could ensure that the people's hearts would stay with them even in the worst crisis."
You could almost say that it was a spiritual item that filled in the gap between the ideal and reality.
It was a tool that protected the hope of the people by forcing them to "believe".
It could seem quite cruel, but at the same time there was some kindness in the intention behind it.
(S-s-so the Roman Catholic Church is using that C-Document now... )
Kamijou took deep breaths as he thought.
(They're making people believe that the information that the people of Academy City are the bad guys is "correct". And because they're forcing that information on people, it's showing up in the twisted form of these demonstrations. )
Kamijou then moved his lips that had turned pale from the effect of the G's.
"B-b-b-b-but... if they had such a dreadful spiritual item... why haven't they used it yet... ?"
"Because the effects of the C-Document are enormous. Once something is set as being 'correct', it's hard to take it back even by using the C-Document again. Because of this, they can't be setting every little thing as 'correct'."
Tsuchimikado answered the question smoothly.
"Also, the C-Document isn't exactly easy to use. As I said, it makes people think that something the Roman Pope said is 'correct'. It can't be used by just anyone and it can't be used just anywhere. It was originally made so it could only be used when it was at the center of the Vatican. The command spreads around the world all at once from there via leylines."
"Eh? Ghh... B-but aren't we... heading to go keep them from using it?"
"We are."
"Th-then why France? You just said... the C-Document can only... be used at the Vatican..."
"Hm? Oh, right. About that."
"A-and... you said... after they use it... they can't delete that command, right? But that would mean... we can't do anything... about it."
"Let's see. Which question should I answer first?"
As Tsuchimikado spoke, a soft electronic tone came from the plane's speakers.
Then a synthesized-sounding female voice made an announcement. It was in a foreign language, but Kamijou didn't think it was English. After hearing the announcement, Tsuchimikado's face grew grim.
"... Well, it looks like we're out of time. Kami-yan, are you really okay? If you're not feeling too good, try taking some deep breaths. C'mon, breathe in."
"Huhh."
"Breathe out."
"Hoo."
"Breathe in again."
"Huhh."
"And breathe out again."
"Hoo."
After doing that, Kamijou did feel better... or at least he thought he did.
But Tsuchimikado's face looked more and more grim.
"That doesn't look too good. Maybe you'd feel better if you vomited? Well, c'mon, Kami-yan. Take off your seatbelt and follow me. C'mon, there are no flight attendants, so you don't have to worry about getting in trouble, Kami-yan."
Tsuchimikado stood up from his seat calmly and Kamijou slowly followed. Kamijou didn't feel like he was moving of his own free will; he felt like he was removed from the situation and his body was moving on its own.
Tsuchimikado walked down the passageway, opened a door, walked into an even smaller passageway, stepped through a hatch so low it looked he was going to hit his head, and walked into an area that was just bare metal where a rumbling noise could be heard from all around.
(Where are we?)
Kamijou was in a daze and took a backpack like object Tsuchimikado handed him.
"Here. Put this on."
"??? Tsuchimikado? What was that about feeling better if I vomited?"
"Don't worry. Don't worry. I'll be opening it up soon, so hurry up and put that on."
Tsuchimikado had already gotten the belts attached to the backpack wrapped around his body. The whole thing was pretty excessive. There were belts connecting the backpack to him not just over both shoulders, but around his stomach and chest too.
Kamijou didn't really understand what was going on, but put his own belts on the same way he saw Tsuchimikado do it.
"Okay, Kami-yan. Looks like you're ready to go."
Tsuchimikado used the palm of his hand to press a big button on the wall that looked like the lid of a tin can.
"Okay, now you can vomit as much as you want!!"
Kamijou heard an odd, loud noise.
Just after Kamijou realized it was the sound of a large pump, a large portion of the wall suddenly opened revealing nothing but the blue sky.
"What?"
Kamijou was completely stunned.
And before he could think any further, a violent wind arose inside the plane and started sucking everything out.
"Ts-Ts-Ts-Ts-Tsuchimikadoooooooo!?"
Kamijou frantically grabbed a protuberance on the wall, but he doubted he could hold on for long.
In the midst of the roaring wind, Tsuchimikado had a huge grin on his face.
"C'mon, Kami-yan. You're all set up, so vomit as much as you want!"
"You shut the fuck up!! W-why the hell would you throw open the luggage hatch!?"
"Because if we landed at a French airport like a bunch of idiots, those Roman Catholic bastards would find out. This plane's headed for London. We're getting off partway there."
"Are you stupid!? Think about how fast this plane is moving! Throwing open the hatch at over 7000 kph will tear the plane to pieces!!"
"Sorry, but it's already open."
"We're gonna die!!"
"You're the stupid one, Kami-yan. If I had really done that, we wouldn't be able to sit around talking to each other like this."
The plane must have lowered its speed in order for them to get off. And it was true that Kamijou was feeling better since he wasn't being affected by the G's as much...
"H-hey. Then what were those deep breaths for!? They were pointless, weren't they!?"
"C'mon, Kami-yan. Quit struggling in vain and let go of the wall already."
"I was grateful. I was truly grateful that you were worrying about me!! And yet you were just being a bastard!!"
"Just shut up and go."
Tsuchimikado kicked Kamijou's hand from the protuberance on the wall and the spiky-haired boy lost his last support.
The strong wind blowing out of the plane picked him up and he flew out of the baggage hatch and into the empty sky.
It was just past noon local time.
Below the refreshingly blue sky, a high school boy was screaming his lungs out.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!"
There was only blue sky 360 degrees around him.
It was probably due both to him flailing his arms and legs around and to air resistance moving the wind in an odd way, but his body was tumbling in confusing directions.
(Wh-what's going on? Just a few hours ago, I was having a forkball competition with Fukiyose. So why was I just flung out into the sky above France!?)
As he was tumbling, he managed to spot Tsuchimikado jump from the plane smiling like someone who was really into sky sports.
(I'll kill him... When we get to the ground, I'm going to beat the shit out of that bastard!!)
(... Actually, how are we going to land safely?)
Kamijou's face went pale.
But then the backpack he was wearing exploded.
A large parachute opened up from inside. It must have been set to activate automatically at a certain altitude.
But it caught Kamijou completely by surprise.
"Ghhh!? My neck! I-it's caught around my-... !"
He couldn't finish his complaint.
His arms and legs dangled down as he floated down in a very natural pose.
He had no way of knowing his parachute got caught in the wind and strayed from the area he was supposed to land at and that he had landed in the Rhone River which was known for having a width of over 100 meters.
Part 3
Kamijou heard the sound of water.
What confused him was that the sound was coming from his own mouth.
His parachute had gotten caught in the wind and he had ended up in the middle of a river. He couldn't feel the bottom below his feet. He wasn't great at swimming, but he wasn't particularly bad at it either. However, with his clothes soaked and with the giant parachute wrapped around him, he wasn't floating very well.
There was no sign that Tsuchimikado had landed nearby. But since he was sinking into the water, having been separated from Tsuchimikado was the least of his worries.
He had no idea how deep the water was.
It was possible it wasn't very deep at all, but it was definitely enough for Kamijou to drown in given how disoriented he was. The water wasn't doing anything except making him panic.
He began paddling the water with his arms at a rate 2 or 3 times slower than his racing thoughts.
His arms were shaking terribly.
The shaking was due to his muscles being tired, the water robbing his body of heat, and the fear that he would never get his head out of the water. All of this put together made him feel like something was restraining his movements.
(Oh, shit. )
The air he had stored in his mouth came spilling out.
He could see the light of the sun shining on the surface above his head.
The dancing light threw his sense of distance out of whack.
(Come to think of it, this happened to me once before when I was thrown from the ice ship in Chioggia... )
As Kamijou stared at the surface, he saw what looked like an odd revolving lantern coming down towards him.
The surface burst open with a large number of bubbles.
(... !!)
Before Kamijou could be surprised, a slender hand reached out from the white curtain of air.
Just as he realized someone must have dived into the water, the white hand grabbed his wrist.
He was then pulled up by a strong force.
Kamijou's body was oddly limp as he was pulled towards the surface as if by a rope.
It didn't even take 10 seconds for his face to breach the surface and meet the air.
He heard a loud splash.
He had a hard time breathing in the oxygen he had been wishing for so badly.
The muscles moving his throat and lungs weren't working properly.
"A-are you okay!?"
He heard a girl's voice nearby.
The parachute continued to act as a weight pulling Kamijou's body down. The girl raised her voice as she supported both their weights.
"I'm going to head for the bank. Just stay limp like that!!"
When they got near the riverside... or rather a shallower portion of the river, Kamijou managed to sit down. Due to his clothes and the parachute absorbing so much water, he felt very heavy. And the cord for the parachute had gotten all tangled up as he had struggled in the water making it nothing more than a hindrance.
"I-Is this how it works?"
The girl stretched out her slender hand.
Kamijou heard a loud clicking noise and found he was finally free of the parachute.
He then slowly stood up from the portion of the river he was in that was no deeper than a puddle.
He looked up and saw the sun high in the sky, so it had to be just past noon. But there was no one else around except for Kamijou and the girl. Perhaps people were staying indoors out of fear of the demonstrations and riots.
He looked around.
There was an arch-shaped stone bridge nearby, but it was partially destroyed and only went partway out over the river.
The girl may have jumped into the water from there.
Kamijou then turned towards the girl who had saved him.
He was supposed to be in France, but the girl was Japanese.
She looked about the same age as Kamijou.
She had shoulder-length black hair and double eyelids. She was wearing a pink tank top and white knee-length pants. She had an overall slender silhouette.
"Did you swallow any water... ?"
The girl looking at him worriedly looked familiar.
He was pretty sure she was...
"Cough. Itsuwa of the Amakusas?"
"Ah, yes. Nice to see you again."
Itsuwa cutely bowed her head.
But she was supposed to be living in London along with the rest of the Amakusas. She wouldn't be in France for no reason.
(Why is Itsuwa here?... Actually, there's only one reason why she would be here. )
"Hey, Itsuwa. Were you called here by Tsuchimikado?"
"Um... Who is Tsuchimikado-san?"
Betraying Kamijou's expectations, Itsuwa cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"Cough. Huh, that's not it?" Kamijou clearly hadn't expected that."I mean, surely you're here because the Roman Catholic Church is using the C-Document to cause the demonstrations and protests around the world, right?"
"H-how do you know about that!?"
Itsuwa brought her hand to her mouth in surprise.
"I-it's true that we were investigating the C-Document, but how do you know about the lead it took us so long to find!? I suppose it should be expected of the one who defeated the Priestess in a single blow!!"
Her eyes were sparkling for some reason, but Kamijou had no recollection of any such event due to his lost memories. It actually kind of scared him.
(What the hell did I do to Kanzaki?)
"Um, well, uh... Why did you come floating down on a parachute all of a sudden? Are things okay at your school in Japan?"
Kamijou was faced with an even more basic question.
He scratched at his hair that was wet with dirty river water as he answered.
"I came here with Tsuchimikado in order to put a stop to the C-Document. Did the Anglican Church not inform you of Tsuchimikado's actions?"
"We were investigating the leylines and other magical properties of the land in France on a request from the Anglican Church."
"I see."
Kamijou wasn't really paying attention. But then he blinked.
"We?"
"Yes, " Itsuwa said and gave a small nod."The 52 combat-ready members of the Amakusa-style Church. We're all going around to the major cities in France. I was in charge of Avignon, but then you came falling from the sky..."
"... I see. So this is Avignon."
He had been dragged along and dropped from the plane by Tsuchimikado, so he had had no idea where he was. When he thought about it, he was really lucky he had run into a Japanese person he knew.
And since Tsuchimikado had been taking him to Avignon, it was highly likely the Roman Catholic Church had the C-Document here.
That meant this was an enemy base.
And Kamijou had fallen right in the middle of it.
"Hey, Itsuwa. Tsuchimikado had said the C-Document could only be used at the Vatican."
"Th-that's true."
"Then why were you investigating France and not Italy? I asked him, but I was thrown out of the plane before he could answer."
Itsuwa must have thought that last part was some kind of joke she didn't get, because she gave a bit of a forced smile.
And then Itsuwa remembered something.
"U-um... Can I go get my bag before I answer that?"
"Your bag?"
"I left it on top of the bridge. I-I'm a little worried it might get stolen."
She must be referring to the half-destroyed arch-shaped bridge that was nearby.
Apparently, she really had jumped from the bridge.
"I see. Oh, and thanks. I really would have been in trouble if you hadn't saved me."
"N-no, no! It was nothing, really!!"
Itsuwa shook her head back and forth at an amazing speed and waved her hands in front of her face as she said that. Small droplets of water flew from her fingertips.
Seeing that, Kamijou asked her a question.
"Oh, one more thing, Itsuwa. Do you have a change of clothes in your bag?"
"Eh? W-well, the Amakusa-style Church does specialize in secrecy."
She was confused by Kamijou's sudden question, but a bit of pride could be seen in her expression as she gave that explanation.
"Most of my luggage is at the hotel, but I do have a change of clothes with me in order to tail someone or to get away. I haven't had to use it so far, though."
"I see. Good."
"?"
Itsuwa still didn't understand what he was talking about.
But Kamijou was reluctant to directly tell her.
So he moved his gaze from Itsuwa to the blue sky and pointed at what he was talking about.
"..."
Itsuwa followed Kamijou's finger with her eyes and saw what he was pointing at.
Her chest.
More specifically, at her pink tank top that had gone see-through and was sticking to her from being wet and thus was causing her full silhouette to be visible.
Part 4
Now, Itsuwa was a girl with a peaceful and honest personality.
Even with Kamijou directly pointing out the issue, she made no eccentric actions such as slapping him, biting his head, frying him with a billion volts of electricity, or anything else. Her face merely turned bright red and she gave a strained laugh. She merely said, "Ah. Ah ha ha. Sorry about showing you that. Ah ha ha ha ha, " and crossed her arms to hide her chest and jogged off towards the stone bridge the bag with her change of clothes was on.
She was smiling, but there was a hint of tears in her eyes. It felt like a quite sensible and adult reaction.
"Hmm..."
For some reason, Kamijou was left feeling really awkward about the whole thing.
He stared off into the distance wishing she had at least screamed or something.
Ten minutes later, Itsuwa was back wearing different clothes leaving Kamijou wondering where exactly she had changed. She was dry now, but she must have still smelled of river water, because he could tell she had put on some perfume.
"S-sorry for keeping you."
Itsuwa had a large bag over her shoulder.
She was wearing a pale ice cream-like green blouse and dark brown pants short enough to leave her calves visible. The blouse was made of material so thin it almost made you think you would be able to see through it if the sun was shining on it. The shirt wasn't held closed by buttons; it was instead tied just above the navel.
That shirt was all she was wearing on her upper body.
"... Itsuwa-san?"
"I-I had no choice! I only had it to put on over the tank top to make it look like a different outfit! So please don't say anything!!"
It seemed she was telling the truth, because on closer inspection the blouse didn't even have buttons. Tying the front was the only way of keeping it closed.
She must have known that she was pushing it with that outfit, because she curled up a bit to avoid Kamijou's silent gaze.
But she was stuck in this situation because she had jumped into the river to save him.
Kamijou used all the limited resources of his brain to try and find something to say.
"Well, with the way Kanzaki dresses, this is okay, right?"
"The Priestess doesn't dress sluttily like this!!"
Itsuwa went all out denying that Kanzaki dressed inappropriately, but then realized again that she was dressed "sluttily" herself and her entire face turned red.
(Well, with the way Kanzaki acts like she could party all night, it works. The way Itsuwa is getting all embarrassed, trying to hide herself, and fidgeting around, it makes her stand out even more. )
"I don't really know who Tsuchimikado-san is, but, if you're here to retrieve the C-Document, maybe we should work together until you can meet up with him."
Itsuwa may have wanted to quickly move the subject away from her outfit, because she kind of forced the topic to their job.
Since Kamijou didn't know a lick of French and had no passport, he couldn't exactly go back to Japan on his own, so he was hoping things would work out the way Itsuwa had suggested.
"W-well, it'd be a huge help to me if we could do that."
"Okay, first let's find somewhere to sit. We can discuss some things."
Kamijou was about to agree, but then he looked down and saw what he looked like.
"I'm soaking wet... I'd like to at least get this mud off."
Itsuwa's back straightened suddenly after hearing Kamijou's casual comment.
She hurriedly rummaged through her bag.
"W-w-well... I-I have a wet towel you could..."
Before she could finish, a towel was draped over Kamijou's head.
He turned around in surprise and saw a white man walking with a large dog. The man didn't even turn around and waved a hand while saying something in an annoyed fashion that must have meant something along the lines of "You can keep it."
"... Ah. There are some nice people here. Why do French people have a cool way of doing every little thing?... Hm? Itsuwa, why did you just stiffen up like that?"
"N-no reason..."
Itsuwa's shoulders drooped. Kamijou tilted his head in puzzlement as he wiped the mud from his face and clothes with the towel.
"Oh, right. They're having those demonstrations and riots here, right? Do they have inspections? You see, I don't have my passport with me."
"They have plenty of inspections, but at most they'll check your belongings. I don't think they'll ask you for your passport. And I can trick the inspector using magic."
Itsuwa readjusted her bag's shoulder strap as she mumbled something about a hot towel working better than a regular one.
Avignon.
The old town of that city in southern France was surrounded by about 4 kilometers of castle walls. There were a large number of buildings crammed into that limited space. In the city's golden age, it was hugely influential on the entire culture of Europe. Partially because of that, it was still one of the leading tourist spots in France.
"... Hmm. So you were investigating Avignon for the C-Document? I understand that much, but..." Kamijou asked for an explanation from Itsuwa while they walked through an arched castle gate leading inside the large stone walls and to the old walled town of Avignon.
They entered a plaza-like area and Kamijou saw what looked like an open café. The sign on the side of the road for the café had something written in French (at least Kamijou thought it was. He wasn't sure. ) and English. It must have been a café for tourists because it had a lot of things to help accommodate people who were here for the first time.
Itsuwa brought Kamijou away from the plaza and into a small pathway. Kamijou assumed there must be a hole-in-the-wall place Itsuwa knew about.
"I know you said we were going somewhere we could sit down, but..."
"Y-yes?"
"Why Drory Coffee? I mean, I know it's a foreign company, so it isn't surprising that they have them in France, but this is exactly like the Japanese chain. Couldn't we go to a store that's more... y'know, the kind of little known place that was started by some old couple or something?"
"W-well, there are places like that, but..."
Itsuwa sounded apologetic.
"Um... Places like that have mostly local people in them, so Japanese people like us would stand out more. It's much safer to be at a chain that lots of Japanese tourists go to..."
"Nnn..." Kamijou moaned.
He kind of agreed with her, but then he realized something else.
"... Wait a second, Itsuwa. I'm still pretty dirty."
He had been given a towel back at the river, but he couldn't get everything off with that. He was mostly dry now, but the mud wasn't going anywhere.
"If I go in a store like this, won't I get kicked out as soon as they see me?"
"You'll be fine." Itsuwa responded casually."The way things are now, you're fine."
Kamijou figured out what she meant as soon as he stepped into the store.
The layout of the store was exactly the same as the ones in Japan.
The walls facing the road were covered in glass and in front of the glass there was a long table with seats lined up in front of it. The center of the floor had booth seats for four and the counter where you ordered was all the way in the back. Kamijou couldn't read French, but from the "no smoking" marks on placards placed around the store, the entire store must have been a "no smoking" area.
The only differences from Japan were about the people inside.
Obviously, the people were French instead of Japanese.
There had been no one around where he had landed after parachuting in, but the store was packed. They may have been afraid of the demonstrations and riots, but they still had to go out to make a living. People were only going to the places they had to which concentrated the streams of people to specific areas.
And there was another difference.
The majority of the customers had disheveled hair and clothing, were covered in mud, and had bandages wrapped around their limbs. Everyone from the strongest adult to the smallest child at the very least had bruises on their faces. You would have been hard pressed to find someone who was unscathed.
"So this is what the results of the demonstrations and protests are..."
Kamijou sighed as he spoke.
So far, Academy City and the Roman Catholic Church had been showing their opposition for each other, but no full-blown military actions had been taken. However, this had caused a change that was having a real effect on the world nonetheless. Even though no one had wanted this horrible change.
"We have to do something about this as soon as possible, " Itsuwa said in a quiet voice.
"... I know. And we're here to figure out how to do that, " Kamijou responded.
This was no time to leisurely eat some food, but Itsuwa pointed out that they would stand out if they sat down without ordering anything. Kamijou agreed because he would have felt awkward having a discussion while the workers glared at him, and he headed for the counter.
Of course, the young woman standing behind the register was French.
(Now then... )
"I-Itsuwa-san. Since I'm in France, do I have to speak French?"
"What?"
"I'm wondering if there's any chance some French people might understand English."
"Well, I think most people in the EU would understand English. Unlike an island nation like Japan, the sense of nationality here is a little bit weaker. See, that customer over there is German. Oh, and that one's Italian. Since they have to speak with people from a lot of different countries, most employees dealing with customers at chain stores have to know more than just French."
"I-I see!!" Kamijou was suddenly filled with motivation.
The time had come to show the fruits of his labors with the "English Training Made Easy" app on his phone.
He had actually been a bit discouraged because he had been stuck at practice level 4, but this was no time to worry about that. He walked purposefully towards the counter and spoke before the worker could ask him for his order.
"Coffee and sandwich, please!!"
His pronunciation was quite bad, but the woman nodded.
(Sh-she understood me!!)
But just as Kamijou was celebrating his English skills, the woman said something in a foreign language that must have meant, "That will be 7 euros".
Kamijou freaked out.
They didn't take yen.
"Wh-what do I do... !!"
Kamijou's expression made it look like he had been struck by lightning, but Itsuwa handed him a euro bill.
(Okay, I need to pay her back for that.... Wait, how many yen is a Euro?)
As Kamijou was wondering that, Itsuwa spoke to the worker.
"U-um, I would like an espresso, a black ham sandwich, and some healthy vegetable sticks."
The French worker nodded again showing she had understood and Kamijou yelled in shock.
"Ehh, Japanese!? I could have used Japanese!?"
When he looked closer at the workers, he noticed that they had a bunch of small flag-shaped badges on their shoulders. They most likely indicated what languages they could understand.
This made Kamijou really doubt his English ability. It was possible she only understood his pronunciation because she knew Japanese.
Kamijou was fairly disheartened as he took his tray and went ahead to find a table. Itsuwa came a bit later.
Itsuwa first put her tray on the table and then put the bag hanging from her shoulder down by her feet.
Kamijou could hear a heavy metallic clank come from the bag.
"... ?"
He looked towards the bag.
When he did, Itsuwa's face went red and she shook her hands in front of her face.
"D-don't worry about that."
"Yeah, but..."
He was about to continue when Itsuwa spoke while barely moving her lips.
"(... Um, I have a weapon in there. )"
"Hah?"
"(... The grip is split into 5 parts. When I need to use it, I can connect the attachments making a single spear. I know adding in the joints makes the spear less strong, but this way I can carry it around with me. )"
(Come to think of it, I did see her swinging around a huge spear in Chioggia. )
"By the way, have you been able to contact that Tsuchimikado person yet?"
"No."
Kamijou took his phone out of his pocket.
"... We got split up during our descent and I can't contact him. I'm able to make calls, but it seems his phone is off or he's out of range of an antenna.... Well, knowing him, he should be fine no matter what happens."
He tried calling again, but there was no sign of it connecting to Tsuchimikado's phone.
(This is a tough phone. I fell in that river and it's perfectly fine. )
Kamijou put the phone back in his pocket.
Kamijou was thinking of having a strategy discussion with Itsuwa while eating his sandwich, but he noticed he didn't have any napkins on his tray.
"Ah, what now? I wanted to wipe my hands off before I ate..."
For some reason, Itsuwa's eyes sparkled after hearing his complaint.
"I-i-i-i-in that case, I can..."
Her face turned bright red and she started rummaging through the bag at her feet, but then a female worker who was coming by said something in French that sounded like an apology and plopped down a pile of napkins.
Itsuwa froze in shock while for some reason holding out a personal wet towel.
Once he had wiped his hands off with the napkins, Kamijou decided to get down to business.
"So, you said before that you're here investigating around Avignon... Huh? What is it, Itsuwa?"
"N-nothing..."
She seemed to have lost all energy like a house plant that had been left by the window too long during the summer.
Kamijou started again.
"So you've been searching around Avignon, right? So why are you searching France instead of the Vatican? Did you find anything suspicious?"
"Y-yes, " Itsuwa nodded."I was actually planning to gather some more information and then contact the rest of the Amakusas spread out around France."
"So you found what you're looking for?" Kamijou asked for confirmation and Itsuwa didn't deny it.
"Do you know of the building called the Palace of the Popes?"
"?"
"It's the largest Roman Catholic facility in Avignon. Or rather, the city of Avignon was built around it."
"The Popes..." Kamijou muttered.
(By "pope" does it mean "The Pope" pope?)
"Hm? But wouldn't the Palace of the Popes be in the Vatican? That name makes it sound really important."
"Well..." Itsuwa began.
It seemed she was having trouble figuring out what to say.
"There are some complicated circumstances surrounding the city of Avignon."
"Complicated circumstances?"
"At the end of the 13th century, there was a dispute between the Roman Catholic Pope and the French king. And the winner of that dispute was the French king. He gained the right to order around the Pope at the time. One of his orders was for the Pope to leave his headquarters and come live in France.
"That started what is known as the Avignon Papacy, " added Itsuwa.
"And the Pope's headquarters was the Vatican?"
"N-no. At the time, it was known as the Papal State.
"Apparently, the French wanted to control the Pope in order to use the various privileges and benefits the Roman Catholic Church had. Avignon was chosen as the place to imprison the Pope. And the palace the Pope was imprisoned in was named the Palace of the Popes."
"Imprisoned, huh?"
"For the 68 years of the Avignon Papacy, there were multiple Popes and they all had to act as Pope from here."
Itsuwa chewed on a vegetable stick.
"But there are many things the Pope had to do that could only be done in the Papal State. Things like the investiture of Cardinals and various ecumenical council meetings could be carried out by a representative. But things that had to be done within the Papal State, in buildings within the Papal State, or with certain spiritual items in the Papal State couldn't be done from Avignon in the same way.
"Doing so would have been akin to creating an entirely new Papal State, " explained Itsuwa."So the Roman Catholic Church needed to set up a certain trick."
"A trick?"
"They couldn't create the same devices in Avignon that they had in the Papal State, but by creating a magical pipeline to Avignon, they could control the devices in the Papal State long distance."
"... So it was like connecting a computer so it could access a major server?"
"When the Pope moved back from France at the end of the Avignon Papacy, the pipeline was supposed to have been severed, but from the looks of the patterns of the magical pulsation in the ground in this area, there must have either been a facility left connected where they could use the C-Document or they may have reconnected the severed pipeline."
"Hm..." Kamijou nodded.
He thought about what he had just been told and then spoke.
"... Have you checked inside the Palace of the Popes?"
"N-no."
Itsuwa shrank down in her seat and shook her head.
"I'm just supposed to investigate... Once I have enough information, I'm supposed to contact the Substitute Pope so that a large team can gather and break in at once."
Apparently, Tatemiya Saiji, the Substitute Pope, had a "special spiritual item" that was passed down by the Amakusas, but it seemed that Itsuwa thought that acting alone wasn't a very good idea when dealing with an object that affected the entire world.
(... Come to think of it, that makes Tsuchimikado and my actions pretty irregular, doesn't it?)
"Since Tsuchimikado came here, he must have determined that Avignon seemed suspicious from some other source of information. Which means it's highly likely that you're right about the Roman Catholic Church using the C-Document in the Palace of the Popes."
But then Kamijou had another thought.
"The C-Document is property of the Roman Catholic Church, right?"
"Y-yes."
"So why does it have to be used in the Papal State?... or now it's the Vatican, I guess. I can't really think of any reason they can't just take it away from their headquarters. And just because they can control devices at the Vatican from Avignon doesn't mean there's magic that can only be activated in Avignon, right?"
"Well, there are multiple theories regarding that..."
Itsuwa thought for a second and then continued speaking.
"It probably takes a long time to get approval to use the C-Document. The 141 Cardinals at the top of the Roman Catholic Church must all be in agreement about it. The Pope has a lot of power within the church, but he can't use the C-Document on his decision alone. I think that's why it hasn't been used very often until now.
"There are conflicts between factions within the Roman Catholic Church and that rule prevents the C-Document from being used during one of those conflicts.
"According to some information I heard, they don't need all of the Cardinals' approval to control something via Avignon because the method is so irregular. But at the same time, since they are not activating it directly at the Vatican, preparations have to be made in Avignon causing the activation to not be instantaneous like usual. And that means that if we stop the C-Document now, we may be able to stop the chaos spreading throughout the world completely."
"But either way you have to investigate the Palace of the Popes, huh..."
"I-I just need a bit more information to have enough to get everyone to move. I think we'll be ready to infiltrate the Palace in a few more days."
This war was between science and magic, but Itsuwa and the other Amakusas seemed to be fighting to stop the Roman Catholic Church.
The Anglicans probably didn't like that the Roman Catholic Church was holding the reins of the magic side. On the other hand, they didn't like to create direct trouble for themselves. She had said it was the "Amakusas" not the "Anglican Church". In other words, the Anglican Church was using the Amakusas to stop the C-Document and, if the Amakusas were to fail, they would insist that it was just a small faction acting out of their control.
"..."
Kamijou was separated from Tsuchimikado.
He felt like working with Itsuwa in her plan to infiltrate the Palace of the Popes was a better plan than heading there now on his own.
That meant he had to help Itsuwa gather the information she needed.
"Itsuwa, is there anything I can help with?"
"Eh?"
"You said you wouldn't be infiltrating the Palace for a few days, but we need to get this done as soon as possible."
"Th-that's true. In that case..."
Itsuwa seemed at a loss as how to answer Kamijou's question.
But she never got a chance to answer.
There was a loud crash as all of the windows facing the street shattered simultaneously.
It wasn't due to thrown stones. Nor was it due to being hit by bats or metal pipes.
It was due to human hands.
Hundreds of hands pushed against the glass at once and the pressure shattered the glass. Many screams erupted from within the store and a crushing horde of people flooded inside. It was like a scene from a zombie movie.
Kamijou quickly realized what had caused this clearly unusual scene.
"A riot!?"
"Th-this way!!"
Itsuwa grabbed her bag from the ground, grabbed Kamijou's arm with her other hand, and started running. She wasn't headed for the main exit; she was headed for the emergency exit. During that time, hundreds of people stormed inside and the store was suddenly too full to move properly like in a packed train.
"They're Japanese!"
"Are they from Academy City!?"
"Crush them. Don't hesitate. They're the enemy!!"
Kamijou couldn't understand French, but he got the gist of what they were saying from the nuances their emotions gave their voices. A multitude of hands reached for his back, but before they could reach him, he managed to get out of the open metal emergency door in what was almost a roll.
He turned to look behind him.
He heard many screams from within the store coming from some women and small children inside. But before he could go back inside to help them, Itsuwa kicked the emergency door closed.
"Itsuwa!!"
"Their actions aren't enough to kill someone. There were just too many of them. The great number of rioters did nothing more than restrict their own movements. As long as they don't all fall over like dominoes, there shouldn't even be any major injuries."
"That's not the issue here!! We need to at least help the children so that-!!"
"This same thing... !!" Itsuwa yelled cutting Kamijou off."This same thing is happening all over the world. If we went back into that wave of people, what could we realistically do? We're here to destroy the source of all this as soon as we can, right?"
"... Damn it."
"If we can stop the C-Document, this rioting will stop. If we get caught up in the rioting, we'll do nothing more than restrict our own movements. And then there will be no one left to stop it."
(The Roman Catholic Church is causing these riots and Academy City is doing nothing to stop them. )
"... Fuck!!" Kamijou swore and then gnashed his teeth.
(And the only ones suffering are the people caught up in the middle of it all! I can't just ignore this. I'm stopping this here. I need to put a stop to this messed-up shit as soon as I can!!)
Kamijou and Itsuwa ran through a back street that had tall walls rising up on either side.
Kamijou could hear a throaty man's voice yelling. The sound of shattering glass rang in his ears. He could hear high-pitched crying. And he could even hear an explosion from gas or gasoline being lit.
He had no idea what exactly the riots were targeting.
They could be targeting chains of Japanese-owned companies or maybe they were attacking hotels that Japanese sightseers often stayed in. Whatever it was, they had lost sight of their original goal and were now flooding the streets causing mayhem.
"Itsuwa, how far are we going to run!?"
"I'd like to find an area where we won't be overrun by people for now, but..."
She cut off midsentence.
They could see another group of rioters down the street.
(Damn, they have good timing... )
Then Kamijou's shoulders shuddered as he had a troubling thought.
"Hey, Itsuwa. You've been investigating here for a while, right? Did you ever get caught up in a riot like this in that time?"
"Eh? N-no. The Amakusa Church specializes in blending into the environment after all. Normally, I would leave as soon as I noticed any sign of a riot coming..."
"... So I was right."
Itsuwa's words confirmed what he had been thinking.
"Their timing is too good."
"What do you mean... ?"
"If the enemy controlling the C-Document is here in Avignon along with us, they may have seen me parachute in. And even if they didn't see me directly, they probably detected an Academy City supersonic passenger plane drop something above the city. This reaction makes sense if the ones using the C-Document are on their guard."
"You don't mean..."
"This riot is their method of intercepting us!!"
As Kamijou yelled, the mass of people blocking the path drew closer.
The Palace of the Popes was in Avignon's old city which was a small city surrounded by old castle walls. Because they continued cramming more and more buildings into the limited space, the roads were so small it was hard to even get a car through them. And since those paths were surrounded by buildings of over 10 meters in height, it created quite a feeling of claustrophobia.
And these small roads were blocked by waves of people at various points.
The people taking part in the riot seemed to even be injuring themselves.
Kamijou thought for a second and then resigned himself to what had to be done.
Unless they forced their way through the mountains of people ahead that was marching in the opposite direction, they would never make it to the Palace of the Popes. And taking a different path wasn't going to solve that problem. The longer they put it off, the more everyone would be injured.
"Let's go, Itsuwa."
"Eh... ?"
"We don't have time to wait for a chance to contact Tsuchimikado. And the Amakusas can't be here right away, right? So we have no choice but to force our way through those people and head for the Palace of the Popes. If the enemy knows we're here, they may not stay here for long. Even if they flee back to the Vatican, they may continue to use the C-Document. Letting them bring the C-Document back to their headquarters can only be a bad thing. I'm a complete amateur at this kind of thing and even I can figure that much out. We need to destroy it here and now!!"
Itsuwa hesitated slightly, but finally nodded in Kamijou's direction.
She had decided that they didn't have time to wait for the Amakusas spread out throughout France to gather here.
As they spoke, hundreds of rioters drew near down the small road.
It was a solid wall made up of humans like the inside of a crowded train.
"... Stay crouched down as we go through, " said Itsuwa quietly as she looked at the rioters."If our heads stick up above the crowd, we could easily become targets. We're less likely to be spotted if we hide behind all the people around us. Even if this riot is the enemy's way of stopping us, they don't have any precise control over it."
"Got it, " said Kamijou as he felt strangely nervous."Here we go."
As he said that, Kamijou and Itsuwa ran straight toward the rioters.
The rioters were as tightly packed as a wall, but they managed to cram themselves into their midst. There were just too many people to run. They could barely walk and at first they could only make it a few meters.
Someone screamed and hit Kamijou's head.
He managed to move forward, but fat fingers grabbed his shirt.
| ← Ch. 103 | Ch. 105 → |