novelFrom Peace to Ruin on the Proceeding Path (2)
| ← Ch.118 | Ch.120 → |
If one was able to accumulate 10 collection cards with stamps on them, they could receive this gift. For this, Mikoto had come all the way over to this Spa Resort Serene Springs. If it hadn't been for this strap, she wouldn't have purposely broken the dormitory curfew and ran out, shaking off Shirai Kuroko, who had tailed her, before coming all the way here.
(Well, it's alright to bring Kuroko along... but if I were to tell her that I was coming here to bathe, she'd cling onto me like a snake... )
This image appeared in Mikoto's mind, making her feel a chill up her spine. She shook her head around to get rid of this terrifying idea and entered the building. Upon entering, what appeared in front of her was the lobby — there didn't seem to be a reception point, as the payment areas were all at the entrance to each bath area.
There was a group of people fanning themselves and there were also children, who had gotten sick of the bath area, playing around at the game corner. After passing through these crowds of people, Mikoto reached the elevator.
"Now, where shall I collect these stamps..."
She had passed through the ultrasonic bath area; as an Electromaster, she had no need to especially use those electrical bath pools. Through this elimination, all that was left was just some basic baths with a higher composition of herbs. Medicinal effects, though the way it was phrased made one suspicious, it was just a scientific method of analyzing the composition of the water, and then adjusting the composition of the artificial pool to have the same effects.
"Can't you just say that you just added a bit of some bathing agents?"
Mikoto said such explicit words as she took the elevator to the 8th level. At the entrance to the bathhouse, she paid some money, borrowed a towel, quickly took her clothes off in the changing area, wrapped her body in the light-colored bath towel, locked her items up, and finished her preparation for this operation.
(... It's unexpectedly short. )
The bottom of the bath towel just reached near her thighs. Though Mikoto was mindful about that, she still opened the door to the huge bathroom.
One couldn't even sense the height of this tower. There were no windows, not a single one. In District 22, even if there were windows, it'd just be a wide space. If this place had been in the mountains, it would have been okay; but in the middle of a city, setting up windows in a woman's bathroom just to allow them to see the scenery was like committing suicide.
The bathroom's setup was very similar to traditional ones. There were three bath pools, set according to the water temperature. The wall had an oil-painted Mount Fuji on it... well, no such thing. Replacing it was a large magnetic particle color screen. It was said that the selling point of this screen was that it allowed the particles to change colors immediately and to, without the need for external light, be able to display all sorts of colors, but the price was exorbitantly high. Besides, an ordinary television screen that people used now wasn't much of a problem, so besides a handful of artists and cinemas, there hadn't been many buyers; it was somewhat of a very tragic item.
The screen looked like it also had a touchscreen function, as 2 to 3 children were chattering 'There really is, I'm saying that a white angel really appeared. ' 'No way that's possible. ' 'Really! They probably hid all the bad things!' as they continued to draw on the screen. The females watching the night serial drama through a small window on the screen were also doing the same.
Mikoto arrived at a row of shower taps and sat down in front of one of them, gently held onto the tap with a sensor on it, and after a few seconds, the number '38°C' appeared on the screen. Over here, the machine would use one's palm to detect body temperature before setting it at the most suitable temperature for the customer to shower.
(If I want to get all the stamps, I might as well go into every bath for a few seconds and then go into the next one, and then repeat — how about it? Hmm... that doesn't really seem like the best way... I should have risked it and asked Kuroko over to get 2 persons' worth of stamps. No, that's not right... !?)
Mikoto considered all these as she bathed herself, and then used hot water to wash away the soap bubbles.
(Speaking of which, I've only collected about half of the number required; still a long way to go for the bath Gekota. )
In truth, Mikoto didn't really like baths that were too hot, thus among the three bath compartments, she headed to the most kiddy-looking one.
At this moment, Mikoto froze.
In front of her was the silver-haired, green-eyed nun who she had seen so many times before.
"AH, EHHH!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!?"
Mikoto couldn't help but shriek, but Index, who was soaking in the clear pool, placed her index finger near her lips.
"... Be quiet while you're in the bath!"
Now that she mentioned it, this sure was the case. Mikoto shut up and carefully stepped into the bath pool.
This time, Index said again,
"... Don't put your towel inside the water!"
As a Japanese person, for Mikoto to unexpectedly be lectured by a foreigner regarding bathhouse etiquette, this really deflated her. Mikoto took off her towel and let the bath water rise to her shoulders. At this moment, she noticed the double-eyelid girl beside Index, remembering clearly her special characteristic.
No, she couldn't say that she knew that girl.
"Oh yeah, you're that girl who got hugged by that idiot because of some strange soccer ball, right!!?"
Now that Mikoto suddenly mentioned this, the girl with her eyes shut let out a 'GUAAH!!' shout and blushed, her hands waving about as she said 'No, it's not that, nonono, I, I, I, I-I-I... !!', trying to make a decent excuse but unable to say anything of the sort. On the other side, the foreign nun slightly opened her mouth, revealing her shiny fangs inside.
But Mikoto didn't hear anything of what the ordinary girl said.
She stared at the girl who was waving her arms about, leaving her defenseless, making a hypothesis as she looked through the clear water.
(Seems to be unexpectedly big... )
Considering that her only choice was to admit defeat willingly, Mikoto's jaw dropped. Although still hidden in the slightly-colored water, if this ordinary girl stood up from the water, it would instantly bring Mikoto despair.
The ordinary girl continued to chatter, softly yet quickly. Seeing her, Mikoto remembered,
(Speaking of which, do these children know about that idiot's 'issue'?)
Memory loss.
Mikoto herself had only just found out about it recently. Since when had he lost his memory? How had it happened? She didn't know any of these specific details. Piecing two and two together, it seemed that the idiot himself wanted to hide the fact about his memory loss... Mikoto could only make this hypothesis.
(These guys... they... don't know about his memory loss. )
Mikoto sneakily looked at their expression. Of course, not being a mind reader meant that even if she did this, she couldn't understand what they were thinking.
Mikoto let her body soak in the water as she pondered.
"(Speaking of which, this is all because of that idiot, and I'm just a complete stranger. No matter how much I think about it, there won't be any developments... even though I understand, but... Speak-speaking of which, why must I be so troubled by that idiot; if I feel that it's troublesome, shouldn't I stop caring about it glup glup glup glup glup glup glup glup... )"
"AH, EHHH? SHORT-HAIR'S SINKING INTO THE HOT WATER!!!?"
"SHE'LL DROWN!!! WE NEED TO SAVE HER!!!"
"?"
Kamijou, coming out of the bath first, was standing in front of the vending machine. He was wondering whether he should go for ice milk coffee or ice cream. At this moment, 'patapatapatapatapatapatapata, ' he heard footsteps and turned his head back.
All he saw was a female doctor running out from the resuscitation room to the female pool. Of course, he didn't know what was going on inside.
Part 9
After passing through a time of relaxation, the happy time of bathing was now over.
Kamijou walked out of the relaxation bathing tower and was now standing at the main entrance of the building. He wasn't there to smoke, but to get some night wind.
"... I completely forgot that this is an underground street."
After standing there for quite a while, there still hadn't been any wind. Realizing this, Kamijou couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Even so, he was considering something.
A man from the deepest organization within the Roman Catholic Church's God's Right Seat, Acqua of the Back, had sent a letter of challenge over... There wasn't anything critical yet, but even if he opened the box and peeked inside, there wasn't anything special going on.
(Is he just bluffing... ? No, it's too early to conclude that. )
At this moment, Itsuwa, who was fragrant after bathing, slowly approached a frustrated Kamijou.
"You'll get cold if you stay in such a place."
"No, I need to get some blood to my head, so this should be good."
"Well, we're using the motorbike to get back anyway. If we consider the time now, we'll definitely get colds."
After being lectured by Itsuwa in such a conservative manner, Kamijou looked dejected.
Seeing him like this, Itsuwa couldn't help but chuckle.
"How about a walk together?"
"You're the one who said that we'll get cold, Itsuwa!!"
"We'll get cold anyway, so I feel that it's alright. Also, if you really want, why don't you go back into the baths again later? There are many baths for you to play around in, like a swimming pool."
This really is a rather good wonderland, Kamijou thought.
To be honest, it was lonely for a man to bathe by himself.
"Oh yeah, where's Index?"
"It seems like she said that she wanted to look around the food tasting area in the food space."
If Kamijou asked Index whether she wanted to go for a walk when Index was like this, he would likely be bitten by her iron fangs the moment he said it. Since she won't leave the food tasting area, there's no need to worry about her getting lost, Kamijou made an apt conclusion.
(... Besides, it's better to ask Itsuwa all sorts of things regarding Acqua. )
Acqua of the Back may arrive in Academy City, and besides, Kamijou had kept this a secret from Index. This time, Acqua's target was Kamijou alone, so Kamijou wanted to try his best to avoid getting Index involved a dangerous situation.
Therefore Kamijou and Itsuwa started to talk as they began this night stroll.
In this uniformly blue-ridden night scene, the street felt like the scales of a butterfly from a southern country, and yet it also looked like underwater coral reefs. Maybe because their bodies were still hot from the baths, the scene in front didn't look all that icy cold.
"Speaking of which, the Amakusa have moved from Japan to England, right?"
"Mm, yes."
"So how's life in England?"
"Mm..."
Itsuwa pondered while she faced Kamijou.
"Even though we moved to London, we've been entrusted with the Japanese street area, so basically there isn't too much of a change. Our daily meals there are the same as in Japan."
"Eh? Is that so?"
"Mm..."
Itsuwa again revealed an ambiguous smile, and after pausing for a while,
"Actually, the Amakusa is a group that learns about all the surroundings and thinks of the most suitable ways to blend into the surroundings, so our reaction to arriving in a foreign land so suddenly isn't much different from ordinary people."
In other words, Itsuwa and company had chosen to go to the Japanese street not because they were bogged down by Japanese habits, but because they could only choose to go somewhere where, even if there was a group of Japanese, they wouldn't feel oppressed. The feeling one got was like a mix of Eastern and Western cultures.
"The Anglican Church treats us rather well. Of course, it's just an Amakusa feeling, but living in London is really interesting, "
Itsuwa said this with a smile, but things shouldn't be that simple.
Because the Anglican Church couldn't head out to settle all problems due to political reasons, before they could finally mobilize, the Amakusa would act on their own, and once something went wrong, they would be abandoned like a lizard's tail. Kamijou had seen things like this happen numerous times. Being under the umbrella of a large organization, sometimes they would be assigned work due to convenience.
"Is that so?"
But Kamijou swallowed these thoughts and only gave a simple reply.
Itsuwa wasn't giving just a simple smile, but one could still tell that she was happy with how she was treated.
"Say, the Amakusa is originally like those ordinary sects that blend into the street culture anyway."
"Mm, besides, that's our goal."
"You're right."
Kamijou Touma reconfirmed Itsuwa's attire.
Right now, she had a pink tanktop over her brightly-colored sheep-like sweatshirt. Her dark pants were like cloth wrapped on legs, and there were large gaps in between. A transparent vinyl was used to hold it together.
"So are the people in London dressed like that?"
"Ah, um, right now, this get-up is chosen under the condition of 'settling the problem in Academy City'."
"Does it really look indecent... ?" Seeing Itsuwa sink into discomfort, Kamijou could only casually shake his head.
This seemed to calm her down quite a bit.
"Though it's a bit harder to explain it in words, but, well, I'll choose a more mature look when I'm in London."
"Well basically, I don't know the clothing brands in Academy City, but the designs over there do feel a bit stiff, right?"
"Well, that's not really the case. The people over there don't just like domestic products; on the contrary, it's dangerous to choose that... Besides, even if there are people wearing the same things, the different characteristics and actions can thoroughly change a person's overall image, you know?"
Though Itsuwa was trying her best to explain this, since her entire attire was based on feeling, it was very hard to explain it in theory. It was like someone saying that he was teaching how to ride a bike, but not teaching anything besides how to get on the bike, no further explanation.
Thus, Kamijou was a bit mindful of Itsuwa's image in London.
At this moment, Kamijou remembered that beside Itsuwa, there was another familiar person among the Amakusa.
Kanzaki Kaori.
"—But isn't Kanzaki's attire weird as well?"
"EH!? WHAT—ARE—YOU SAYING — STRANGE AS IN... ?"
"Though her get-up does look adult-like, that should be classified as sexy, right?"
"YOU, YOU SUDDENLY GAVE A SHOCKING COMMENT ABOUT THE PRIESTESS!? THAT ISN'T BECAUSE IT'S OBSCENE, BUT RATHER THE SPELL COMPOSITION THAT REQUIRES ASYMMETRY!! IT WAS DELIBERATELY MADE LIKE THAT TO ALLOW THE BALANCE ON BOTH SIDES BE USED EVEN MORE EFFECTIVELY, AND NOT MEANT TO DELIBERATELY SHOW OFF THE CURVES ON HER BODY OR WHATSOEVER—!!"
HA!? At this moment, Itsuwa finally reverted back to normal.
Seeing the change in this late-blooming girl that had her two hands clenched and placed in front of her chest, Kamijou tried to pull her back, saying,
"Then, well, so to Itsuwa and the rest, it seems like 'coming to London was the best choice', right?"
"??? Well, we're really happy to be living on the same land as the Priestess."
The way Kamijou suddenly changed the topic caused Itsuwa to remain dazed for a while.
"... Well, as the distance is too far, it's a pity that I can't immediately see the person I want to see when the person's in Japan..."
She continued to walk beside Kamijou, her vision slowly turning downwards, her mouth muttering.
"... But, recently, things are alright. That, it's like Vega and Altair..."[2]
"? What now, Itsuwa?"
"NO, NOTHING!! NOTHING AT ALL!!!"
Kamijou stared at Itsuwa as he questioned a blank Itsuwa, and Itsuwa blushed as she started to wave her hands.
Part 10
With Tatemiya Saiji leading the pack, the Amakusa members were standing slightly far away from Kamijou and Itsuwa's position. They were not gathered at one spot, but scattered all around with Kamijou at center, looking around at the surrounding lanes, continuing to move around at a similar speed as Kamijou. And even so, they continued to blend with into the surroundings; it was hard to tell who they were protecting. If that happened, an observing VIP guard expert would be shocked by it. Besides, the Amakusa's skills were a lot better than those experts, so they were not likely to be found out.
The Amakusa had been commanded by the Anglican Church to carry out this mission, and with Tatemiya leading, the group of teenagers continued to move down the street (or pretending to be). They were lined up on a karaoke relaxation street, occasionally looking like they were going into some shops and pretending to look into some shops, continuing to maintain their distance from Kamijou and Itsuwa as they moved around.
"So what do you think, substitute Supreme Pontiff?"
Ushibuka asked.
"About Itsuwa's 'abandon Index and have a night date' battle?"
"I'm talking about Acqua of the Back."
Ushibuka's short and simple sentence made Tatemiya's expression change.
He slightly looked around for a while.
"Up till now, there hasn't been any signs of invasion, and Academy City hasn't received any similar reports, but, "
"... Well, we still can't believe it, huh?"
"In this situation, there's a double meaning to not being able to believe it."
Tatemiya revealed an evil smile.
"First, it's that Academy City's security itself has holes that the magic side can exploit, so it can't be trusted. The other one is—why would the higher ups of Academy City choose to hide this information? So, Ushibuka, which one do you believe?"
"Well..."
"For just Kamijou Touma alone, the three sides—Academy City, the Anglican Church, and the Roman Catholic Church—are all racking their brains as they come up with plans. By itself, this scenario is already peculiar."
"Substitute Supreme Pontiff."
"Mm, I understand. To us Amakusa, just the name Kamijou Touma alone is worth protecting, because he's not just our savior, but our comrade as well."
But at this point, Tatemiya paused.
"But what's Kamijou Touma to Academy City? What's Kamijou Touma to the Anglican Church? What's Kamijou Touma to God's Right Seat of the Roman Catholic Church... ? Is he someone that such a huge thing like an organisation has to take action against?"
With Tatemiya as centerpoint, the small band of familiar people remained silent.
It was not that they didn't understand the answer.
It was that even though they thought of it, they were afraid to say it out loud.
"... There are a few hypotheses we can make."
Tatemiya finally said,
"But, that thing... Kamijou Touma's value, is it the same to all three of these organisations? We can't make any developments if we just consider this. It seems like there's a lot of hidden information that we don't know of."
"Substitute Supreme Pontiff..."
"If we really want to protect Kamijou Touma, we may have to investigate those things as well. We can't just be happy with forcing the attackers to retreat. We have to directly take down 'the guy that sent those attackers'."
Speaking so far, Tatemiya Saiji suddenly paused.
He felt constricted.
The thing that had vanished was a human. From who knew when, the only ones walking down this street were Tatemiya and company. Seemed like he had controlled the crowd flow through some means, and could even use a highly-skilled technique of 'blending into the surroundings' like the Amakusa.
"..."
There was not even a need to say a single word.
Tatemiya gave a few movement signals to discreetly give his orders, and the teenagers of the Amakusa quickly reached for their hidden weapons.
It was a feeling of constriction.
This feeling was like the huge columns of air whipped up when a subway train moved near a train station. Just like when a huge thing got near, there would be shockwaves or something similar to that.
Tatemiya looked over at the source of this constricting feeling.
What was over there was...
Part 11
Kamijou and Itsuwa were slowly walking down an underground street that was completely covered in blue. Different from the other streets, the view here was specially tailored. A uniform night scene would bore one if they continued to look in the same place, but overall, it still looked pretty.
At this moment, Itsuwa, who was walking on, suddenly said,
"He hasn't made a move yet, that Acqua."
"... Maybe he got tangled in Academy City's security. Hehe, there won't be such good fortune."
As they had been very relaxed, they had forgotten all about it, but the pressing issue now was still God's Right Seat.
Though Anti-Skill of Academy City weren't idiots, they had let some magicians invade Academy City in some battles between magicians. Having seen all of these, Kamijou wasn't going to just let them handle it all... besides, after the battle against Vento of the Front, Acqua himself had invaded Academy City to bring her back.
Though the Amakusa's reinforcements were very reliable, once there was some political problem, they would definitely be cut off like a lizard's tail, so their actions weren't as limited. This was something that was to be expected, even without anyone saying it, because if the Anglican Church didn't care about all of these and were going to go all out just to beat Acqua, they would have immediately sent Kanzaki over.
The moment the topic was changed, the entire blue atmosphere changed as well. Maybe it was a coincidence or something, but the color that signified Acqua of the Back seemed to be blue.
"Though the fact that I'm not being attacked should be something to be happy about..."
She didn't know how to decide on this, as Itsuwa's tone indicated that she was a bit nervous.
While continuing to walk on this blue street, Kamijou pondered for a while,
"Maybe he's doing something secretly, maybe something happened."
Up till now, the two members of God's Right Seat who had attacked... Vento of the Front and Terra of the Left had both used completely different methods of attacking. One brashly had come attacking right from the front, while the other had let the world sink into chaos and made one huge detour to attack Academy City.
He could only use those two as examples, so it was hard to pin down the methods of God's Right Seat. Besides, Vento and Terra's actions had both been too extreme, so it was impossible to use them as reference.
"Anyway, we can't just let down our guard so easily..."
Itsuwa again clenched her little fist.
"Including the substitute Supreme Pontiff, everyone's working hard in ways that we can't see. No matter who's here, the fact that we will use all our strength to complete our mission won't change. Just treat this as what we do all the time; there's no need to be mindful about this."
"What you do all the time, huh?"
On hearing Itsuwa's words, Kamijou forced a smile.
"... Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be targeted by this really huge group called God's Right Seat, and yet I'm forced to come to this relaxation facility because my heater got spoilt. I do feel bad about bothering other people..."
"No, it's not that. I don't think that everyone feels that way, "
Itsuwa quickly waved her hands as she interrupted Kamijou.
"Even if we know that a strong enemy's about to come, we'll be very fatigued mentally if we continue to remain alert. We have to properly rest up in order to be able to use all our strength at the critical moment: this is very important. Thus it's very important for us to relax now. Trying to force oneself to live in one's own special rhythm isn't going to work. It's the same thing as putting freshwater fish in seawater."
It's that kind of a thing, huh? Kamijou felt puzzled.
Neither of them really planned on a path for their stroll. Index would definitely choose to join the fight if they were to talk about Acqua right in front of her, thus they had decided to keep it a secret from her. They had already said what they wanted to say, and now they had reached a place where they could see a river. Kamijou's plan was to use the metal bridge to pass over the river, and make a round before heading back to where they had come from through another path.
"Speaking of which, about the other Amakusa members, you're talking about Tatemiya and the rest?"
"Mm, yes. They should be somewhere nearby, watching and protecting us."
Itsuwa said in a seemingly regretful tone,
"... If the Priestess were here, her strength alone would be equivalent to 100 people."
"We're talking about Kanzaki here, right? She is really strong."
"Yes, yes! Because the Priestess is one of the Saints, and there are only 20 of them! No matter what, we only need the Priestess to finish them off in one hit!"
Hoho, is that so, Kamijou suitably replied to Itsuwa.
"Well, since she could fight against an archangel like Power of God, she is truly strong, that Kanzaki."
"EHYAAHEH!? SHE FOUGHT AGAINST AN A-ARCHANGEL!? WHAT HAPPENED... !?"
Oh? This reaction shocked Kamijou. That had been during the Angel Fall incident, so Itsuwa may not have known. However, she seemed to have heard from Tsuchimikado that he had intruded upon Kanzaki changing clothes... but it seemed like regarding this Angel Fall incident, Kamijou didn't really remember much of it.
"Hmm..." Kamijou scratched his head.
"No matter whether it's a Saint or an angel, both are really strong. There are a lot of strong people out there in this world."
"This, well, it isn't really a critical evaluation..."
Itsuwa looked like she hadn't recovered from the shock.
"No matter what, if we compare an angel against a Saint, an angel is still stronger."
"Really? Then does that mean that Kanzaki can't beat an angel no matter how much she tries?"
"That, that is really a tough question... it's just that, in terms of raw power, an angel is still stronger. The power that a Saint has is different in nature when compared to an angel."
Based on Itsuwa's explanation, humans that were Saints were limited in how much power they could use. If they were to even barely try to surpass that limit, they may end up self-destructing. Among the scholars in the magic side, there were many different explanations regarding 'why can an angel retain so much power and yet not go amok'?
"Damn it, my head hurts now that we're talking about studying; it's the same no matter which side."
"Though I'm just saying this generally, basically, that information can be trusted..."
Seeing as Itsuwa's shoulders sink as she sighed, it seemed that she was really trying her best in every single aspect.
"Back to what we're talking about, you said that Kanzaki couldn't help, but aren't both Kanzaki and the Amakusa affiliated to the Anglican Church? They should arrive if you ask, right?"
"Probably... I guess. Though we're together, a Saint is like a nuke's existence, so it seems that they can't just allow her to act outside England. Besides, there are many things that the Amakusa can't say, so we can't just ask her like that... well, regarding this, it's still something of a taboo..."
While talking about this, Kamijou and Itsuwa stepped onto the metal bridge.
The entire length of the metal bridge was about 50 meters.
Speaking of the size of the bridge, it wasn't very big; considering that the river underneath was man-made, one would somehow lament about it.
This was a lit part as well. The entire bridge was all blue.
"(... Though I know I can't let down my guard, but, just the two of us... WAAAAHHH... )"
"What's wrong, Itsuwa?"
"N-NOTHING!! NOTHING AT ALL!! ISN'T THERE NOTHING GOING ON!!?"
Itsuwa immediately raised her petite hands to rapidly swing them in front of her face, left and right.
"That, that that that that, I just thought that there wasn't really anyone around; and it's now just two of us. It's rare to see this place being decorated so nicely, it, it's such a waste..."
Kamijou started to feel puzzled as both of them continued to walk on the metal bridge.
Why did Itsuwa start to talk really fast and start smiling happily?
"Well, it should be because of the time now, right? Night time in Academy City is like this. The last trains and buses are deliberately set so early so that students won't go out to play till late. But then again, there'll be guys who go out to play all the same."
Though he said it, both of them immediately felt a sense of constriction.
It was past 10 PM now, and the main forms of transport had all ceased.
According to the timing, it was nothing strange for the traffic flow to change as well. Besides, this was Academy City, where students made up 80% of the population.
However,
If it was just past 10 PM, those groups of people who wanted to play should be playing outside as usual.
(Oh, crap... !?)
Facing this unnatural scene without people, Kamijou felt a sense of ominous danger. He immediately decided to tell Itsuwa that the situation now was extremely dangerous.
But he couldn't do it.
Because he didn't even have time to do it.
"—I did warn you before, "
He heard a voice.
From in front of them, coming from the silhouette of a person within the darkness shaped by the blue illumination, a stout man's voice could be heard.
"—There were many paths in front of you that you could have chosen."
They heard footsteps.
But these footsteps didn't sound human. Every time the person took a step, *PAM... !!* the metal bridge below slightly tremored. One thing about the oppressive weight was that it could also be considered as a countdown to death. The blue darkness slowly let out sounds of strange footsteps, as if telling the opponent his unwillingness.
Itsuwa was dumbstruck by this sudden situation, revealing an expression that lacked tension, but... Kamijou immediately reacted. What happened to the contact with the main Amakusa forces? Shouldn't they have be hiding somewhere in the darkness and protecting Kamijou and Itsuwa?
"—If, after receiving my declaration, you had thought through it and felt that 'this' choice is worth risking, I'll use all my strength to directly crush you."
But the voice became a mocking one.
"—But really, don't you have any better options?"
The darkness scattered away.
Anyway, the only light source was the dim street light, and thus it was not something that could chase away the strong light of the night sky. But even though the man was slowly approaching from within the darkness far away, just like this, it felt like the darkness was avoiding the man.
Tea-colored hair, a straight-lined face that looked as if it had been chiseled from stone, a shirt that had blue as the base color and was similar to a polo shirt. Though he looked muscular, it was not the feeling that a bodybuilder gave, but rather, one of a soldier that had gone through many bloody and gory battles.
"You're..."
It was not an unfamiliar face.
Once before—on the 30th of September, Kamijou Touma had met this man in Academy City.
After he had finally managed to use the Imagine Breaker to defeat Vento of the Front in an arduous battle, this brawny man had come rushing in.
"Acqua of the Back. I should have introduced myself before."
God's Right Seat.
And at the same time, he had the abilities of a Saint.
"Just as you declared? You mean—"
"I don't need to think up some special plan, "
Acqua simply said.
"I came here with a purpose, and that's to eradicate the mastermind behind all the unrest in the world."
And you dare to say it, Kamijou silently cursed.
Vento of the Front had caused all the functions in the city to be paralyzed. Terra of the Left started commotions all over the world. No matter what reasons they had, he shouldn't be treated by God's Right Seat as a scapegoat.
"You don't have any intention to negotiate? You're intending to kill me right from the start?"
"Humph, we may have been too hasty."
Acqua seemed a bit bored as he measured up Kamijou.
"My wish is to eradicate the mastermind behind all the chaos in the world."
"What do you mean by chaos?"
"You won't admit it anyway."
"Even if there is, you're the ones who started it!! Don't tell me you've forgotten about what all of your people did in Avignon!!"
"Even that is because of that incident, there's also the reason of 'attacking the dangerous parties of Kamijou Touma and Academy City'."
While both sides were in a deadlock, Acqua didn't waver in the slightest.
This meant that he had never intended to hear Kamijou Touma out.
"All of those things happened because your body has some special thing. Therefore, I won't be taking your life—as long as you hand that right hand over to me, cutting it off before me, I'll spare that pitiful mongrel life of yours."
Truly a request that one couldn't respond to.
Acqua probably made this request knowing that he would be refused.
"What about the main Amakusa force..."
At this moment, Itsuwa finally said something.
This seemed to indicate something, as Itsuwa looked around.
"It's useless."
Acqua interrupted her action with just this sentence alone.
"What happened to my comrades?"
"I didn't kill them, "
Acqua simply said.
"The ones I want to take down aren't them, "
While saying this, Acqua slightly shifted his body.
The distance between them was about 10m. From here, one could see that Acqua wasn't holding anything like a weapon, and it didn't look like he was hiding anything under his clothes. The polo shirt was supported by the muscular body, and it didn't look like there was any space to hide any weapons.
Even so, Kamijou and Itsuwa concentrated all their nerves, not even letting their sights off Acqua's movements. This battle couldn't be avoided, and because they knew this, they wouldn't recklessly attack, but would choose to fight back at the right time and deliver the decisive blow.
But then...
From the side.
"Gh!?"
Before Kamijou could swallow his breath, Acqua was already beside Itsuwa. He had vanished: Acqua's speed could only be seen as such. Sneaking into Itsuwa's arms, Acqua swung his elbow to attack Itsuwa's face from the side.
Not even a single sound.
But Kamijou's vision finally caught up with Itsuwa's body that had been sent flying through the pedestrian walkway and onto the road. Kamijou himself couldn't even breathe, yet even so, he tried to use all the remaining air in his lungs. Basically, he instinctively shouted,
"Itsuwa!?"
"You still have the time to worry about others, do you?"
Acqua's voice covered Kamijou's shout.
Finally, *BOOM!!* a sound reached Kamijou's ear. The sound came from within the shadow of Acqua dragging his feet. Like a huge tiger shark leaping out of the surface of the sea, a huge piece of metal came out from within Acqua's shadow. A 5m-long unknown object; in shape, it looked like a lance that a European knight would use, but that was wrong.
It was like a huge umbrella created from a steel structure used to construct a building.
It was a mace intended for killing.
"I'm coming, my prey."
"DAMN!!"
Before Kamijou could get into the correct posture, Acqua's muscles expanded explosively.
(EVADE!!) Before his mind could give an order, the huge mace came slamming down from above.
It was a miracle that he was still alive. Itsuwa's bag had come flying over and collided with Kamijou's body, causing him to fall away in a direction completely opposite of what Acqua had anticipated. Because of that, Kamijou was able to keep his life.
The approximately 5 meter-long metal mace missed its target and easily crushed Itsuwa's bag to bits, afterwards landing on the floor like a guillotine blade.
It was supposed to be a metal bridge reinforced with cement.
But with this heavy and blunt sound, the entire metal bridge shook due to the impact. The screws that held the metal bridge down broke and make lots of noises. The blue lights used to light the place up lost their glow unnaturally. However, Kamijou didn't have time to notice all of those. Like a meteor colliding with the sea, with Acqua's mace as the center, a large amount of concrete debris flew all over the place, and some of it hit Kamijou's body.
"GGYYYYAAAAAHHH!!?"
Just the aftershock of this attack alone was enough to cause Kamijou to be unable to take a step forward.
Just as Kamijou felt that his legs were both light and floating, his body had already flown back several meters. His back hit one of the metal frames supporting the bridge, finally causing his body to stop moving.
There was a *clack clack* sound.
The small pieces of concrete fragments were falling onto the bridge like rain.
Acqua placed the mace that looked as heavy as a metal frame on his shoulder, moving forward to Kamijou, who was on the floor.
Although it was powder, it looked like a visible battle aura as it surrounded Acqua before being scattered away.
At this moment, his eyes looked off to the side.
The person who was trying her best to even stand up was Itsuwa. Maybe she had pulled it out before she threw the bag, but Itsuwa had already assembled the Friuli spear that could be dissembled anytime, the cross tip of the spear pointing at Acqua.
But Itsuwa had most likely taken a lot of damage from the initial hit. Red liquid was left on her lips, and her face that had been hit was all red as well. Even so, right now, Itsuwa looked like she might as well go do some casual fishing.
Acqua didn't even smile.
He just warned, "You have an enemy that even an entire group couldn't take down, and against such an opponent, you think you have a chance of winning?"
"... Even if it's me... I have my own determination."
Now, how much heavy emotion and realizations were put into this one sentence?
In contrast, Acqua just replied, "Is that so?"
Just that.
(Oh no... !!)
Kamijou tried to force his aching body to get between Itsuwa and Acqua. But in stark contrast to his thoughts, his body couldn't move. During this time, Itsuwa and Acqua began fighting at close range.
Itsuwa's movements were fast.
However, Acqua was fast to the point that he was basically disappearing. By the time he became aware, the huge metal mace had already sunk deeply into Itsuwa's flank. After that, Acqua changes where he was facing, and using centrifugal force, he tossed Itsuwa to where Kamijou was.
React, this thought didn't even appear in Kamijou's brain.
With the metal mace's weight and a person's weight, Kamijou was completely sandwiched in between while his back was still against the metal frame. All the air in his lungs was forced out, and there was even a little smell of rusted metal in it. Several seconds later, the impacted body floated up from the ground, and afterwards, the impact would make one feel that the Earth's gravity had been increased by numerous folds as it surrounded Kamijou's body. Kamijou slowly fell onto the ground.
Itsuwa, who was on top of him, didn't react at all. Though Kamijou wanted to push Itsuwa away, he couldn't do it.
His vision was slowly becoming blurry, finally catching a glimpse of Acqua with much difficulty.
(The difference... is too great... )
Whether it was Vento of the Front or Terra of the Left, at least he could see their actions. As long as he could react to their attacks and make the suitable counters, at least he could land a few hits on them.
(But what on earth is this guy... ) Kamijou wondered.
Acqua of the Back.
Was this guy really a fellow human?
This wasn't a difference between one human and another. It was just like an online RPG where you were fighting someone that was 100 levels higher. It was not that he made the attacks obsolete through some trick, but rather, fighting through pure ability, there was no way he could win.
"Your right hand, "
Acqua, slowly raising his mace, said.
"If you hand it over, I'll spare your life."
"You... must be... joking..."
Though he wanted to stand up, his body couldn't muster any strength.
Knowing that he was at his limit, Kamijou still didn't give up.
However...
"Really? If so, I'll let you understand the harsh reality even more."
Part 12
(Ugh... )
Itsuwa's consciousness had vanished for a while.
Like water seeping into soil, she slowly regained her consciousness. The first thing she noticed was a smell similar to rust, and then pain. While her brain realized these, the pain engulfed her body like a tsunami. Unexpectedly, the sight and hearing that one would normally rely on recovered last.
The surrounding darkness.
Being buried in the blue despair.
There was debris of asphalt and iron, the dust dancing above the metal bridge.
Up until a moment ago, both of them had been enjoying the night scene, but now it had become such a tragic sight.
And right now, she finally recognized the feeling of the spear in her hand.
"Hm!?"
Itsuwa suddenly remembered this scenario and frantically tried to use her spear to support herself up.
At this moment, she felt something warm flowing down her palm.
It was a bit warm, and had a bit of a rusty smell that could make anyone sick. And this fresh red fluid was very obvious.
Fresh blood.
But Itsuwa herself hadn't bled that much, because if she had bled that much, it would be hard for her to retain consciousness. But this ink-like substance was different from any other fluid. It was definitely someone's blood.
(Then whose blood is it?) Itsuwa considered, but in the next moment, she immediately denied her consciousness.
She knew without thinking about it.
It was Kamijou Touma's blood.
"So you're awake."
If one were to calmly think this through, Acqua of the Back should be holding a weapon and behind her.
"Then move away from there. My one blow is too powerful, and if I freely exert all of my strength, the shockwaves will affect the surroundings."
But Itsuwa's consciousness wasn't bothered by Acqua. Her shoulders trembled slightly and slowly, slowly turned behind her.
What had happened while Itsuwa was unconscious?
Having lost all his strength and lying on the ground, Kamijou's limbs and face were both bloodied red. He couldn't open his eyes, like an automatic door damaged and left in this half-open state. It should have been such an intense pain that it could rip his body apart, but Kamijou still didn't move at all.
She couldn't even comprehend it.
In terms of physical distance, they were both just a bit away from each other, but even with that little distance, Itsuwa still couldn't tell.
"Ah... ah..."
Itsuwa's judgment was slowly turning into dust.
This imminent threat called Acqua of the Back had vanished from her mind. Even against such a powerful foe, she didn't care. She moved her hands that were dyed in other people's blood, collecting the surrounding debris, taking out a wet handkerchief, and pulled out the wallet from a bloodied Kamijou's pants pocket.
The magic that the Amakusa-style Remix of Church used didn't require any strange spell or spiritual item.
The things used were basically everyday items.
Itsuwa was trying to find some unscientific leftovers from these everyday items, rearrange them in order to stop the bleeding, and cover the wounds in order to replenish his lifeforce. In order to do this, Itsuwa was going to cast a healing spell. To this girl called Itsuwa, the problem and battle she was facing was all about whether she could save this boy.
Actually, even while Itsuwa was in a panic, she was still acting extremely fast.
It would be a moment before the recovery spell was activated.
Dim glowing little balls danced around above Kamijou's body. The green glow looked like fireflies, and these glowing lights looked like they wanted to patch up the wounds as they entered them.
However,
A *BAM!!* sound could be heard.
The recovery spell that Itsuwa used scattered away like sawdust, not even a single bit left behind as it scattered.
The reason was obvious.
"... Uuu, ah."
Itsuwa's consciousness wavered as she turned her sight from Kamijou's face to his right hand.
His right hand.
The Imagine Breaker.
No matter what supernatural power it was, this thing would negate the effects, whether good or bad.
"WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Itsuwa cried out in despair, trying to rebuild the broken recovery spell, but it was futile. The magic broke the moment it was activated, again breaking even though it was rebuilt. Whatever daily item she saw and could use, they continue to be used up no matter how much she tried. The moment she noticed it, the materials used for the recovery magic were almost all used up.
"That's enough, "
Facing Itsuwa, who hadn't gave up no matter how many times she tried, Acqua said such ruthless words.
But Itsuwa couldn't even make a proper reply.
Seeing Itsuwa not do anything besides shouting and crying about, Acqua didn't say anything further.
He silently and slowly lifted his foot before stepping on Itsuwa's back while she lay on the ground.
With a *BOOM!!* sound, Itsuwa stopped letting out this cry of despair.
With this violent sound being cut off, her strength was siphoned out of her limbs, and even her consciousness was about to cut off.
"Humph."
Acqua didn't even see Itsuwa collapse onto the ground as he raised the huge mace.
That was his initial motive.
His target was the unconscious Kamijou's right hand.
But Acqua was unable to successful swing his mace down.
It was not that he relented.
Itsuwa, who was covered in wounds and most likely had her insides damaged very severely, should have lost consciousness. However, she still used her battered arms to raise her spear as she gingerly tried to stand up.
Like a miracle, she was standing between Kamijou and Acqua.
"Guh... ga... WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Itsuwa's shouted out sounding like she was shaking her insides up and squeezing out every single ounce of air. Right now, she was not even thinking about the odds of winning. From her bloodshot eyes, one could tell that she didn't even have time to think about that.
She didn't want that person to die.
She didn't want that person to be taken away.
She wanted to stand up again.
She was just barely able to move because of that.
Spitting out bubbles of blood, Itsuwa's eyes showed a strong will that no one had ever seen before.
Acqua looked bored as he sighed.
He then slowly let the muscles of the arm gripping onto the mace expand. The terrifying muscles. The mace which was supposedly only made of iron. The large grip that would make one wonder whether the mace would break.
Acqua never treated Itsuwa as his enemy.
He just wanted to bury Itsuwa together with Kamijou in the next blow.
Itsuwa bit her own lips.
She couldn't even confirm all of these now.
And besides, she had no idea how much of a difference there even was between her and Acqua.
(... )
Slowly, Itsuwa turned silent.
It was not that she shut up. Right now, even her mind was silent. There was a mysterious blank in her heart. This may have been some sort of realization, or maybe she had given up. After she suddenly regained her thoughts, though the tip of her spear was shaking in an unstable manner, she charged towards Acqua head on.
The one hit that a dead man let out was simply a declaration of battle.
Itsuwa let her remaining ounce of strength gather at one spot.
The abrupt silence would be broken, and would bring about the final outcome.
"Thanks, Itsuwa."
What broke Itsuwa's will wasn't Acqua's blow.
But the soft palm of a certain boy placed on her shoulder.
Itsuwa's petite body trembled because of this little action.
She was unable to turn back.
The hand that was placed on her shoulder should have been all battered.
But what appeared in Itsuwa's mind was Kamijou's smiling face.
"Thanks to your healing magic, I feel a bit better."
That was impossible. His Imagine Breaker simply eradicated all forms of magic; Itsuwa's recovery magic shouldn't have had any effect at all.
In truth, the boy's voice felt like toothpaste being squeezed out of a tube: extremely soft and still trembling. It felt like it could vanish at any moment.
Even so, that boy's words were full of warmth.
Itsuwa's body immediately softened gradually, but she also immediately realized what the boy was thinking and felt ominous about it.
Why would he choose to stand up at this point?
He couldn't even move a finger, so why must he force himself to stand up now?
And also, there was meaning behind this hand that was stopping her from charging towards Acqua of the Back.
"Wai—!!"
Itsuwa didn't even have a chance to let her voice out.
The boy exerted even more force on Itsuwa's arm, and as if he wanted to switch positions with her, he moved forward. Having moved her battered body and seeing Kamijou's back while he faced Acqua, Itsuwa was unable to stop him. Maybe it was because she didn't know whether her lukewarm determination was shattered, but Itsuwa's willpower, which had been supporting her body up until now, was all sucked out.
"WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!"
No matter how much the boy was unused to fighting, he should understand that he couldn't beat Acqua.
That boy's aim wasn't to beat Acqua.
Acqua of the Back, in the beginning, he had said that his target was just Kamijou Touma. He also said that he hadn't killed the main Amakusa forces nearby. In other words, if this battle ended early, he wouldn't cause too much damage to the surroundings.
For example,
This could be settled without Itsuwa, who was nearby, dying.
"... ah!!"
Itsuwa could only see that back moving further and further away, her expression distorted.
The transparent fluid continued to flow out of her eyes.
No matter what Itsuwa shouted, Kamijou didn't look back.
Without looking back and running towards Acqua.
"Nice realisation, "
Acqua of the Back just said this one sentence.
After that, in front of Itsuwa, he dealt a horrendous blow. The giant more-than-5m metal mace was swung horizontally, piercing into the boy's flank without mercy. The sound of this explosion would make one not expect that that thing was slammed into someone's body, and the boy who was sandwiched between the metal bridge and the mace had his strength slowly sapped away. He couldn't even swing his decisively clenched fist at Acqua.
This time, the boy finally lost consciousness as his body went limp onto the giant metal mace. It was like a blanket on a pole. Acqua saw the boy like this, and he smiled.
The smile seemed like he was praising the one who had lost.
He recognized the courage shown by the boy as he stood up for the girl who was behind him.
"I'm giving you one day."
Acqua swung the mace with the unconscious boy on it.
"It'd be too cruel of me to take off your arm without numbing you. Let's consider this time for you to prepare a prosthetic. As long as you cut off the thing behind all this chaos—your right hand—and hand it over to us, I'll spare your mongrel life."
After saying that, Acqua swung his mace without hesitation.
As a member of God's Right Seat, and also a Saint, it was a devastating strike released by a monster.
The boy's body hanging on the mace flew off the metal bridge at a cannon-like speed, through the handles, colliding several times with the dark and icy surface of the water several hundred meters away. As it was too fast, the boy's body bounced 2 to 3 times before sinking beside a cruise boat, causing the river water to pop up like a water pillar.
After a while, a huge explosion could be heard.
Without confirming whether his target was dead, Acqua turned his back on Itsuwa.
Finally, he said,
"Just one day."
Between the lines 1
What's the problem? So you can't sleep?
Then let this ol' grandpa tell you a story, okay? Grandpa's story is long and boring, so you can sleep nicely soon.
Alright, grandpa will tell you a story about an astrology group.
Ah, yes, that's what it was called, but there's not much difference to what it does now. We were helping others like what brats like you are doing now. Basically, we were a Christian magic group that followed others, and after understanding the situation, we'd use magic to settle it — it was that kind of an organization.
But there were a lot of people relying on us in the past. I'm not bluffing; there were many people within the country who were looking for us. Afterwards, as we had too many people relying on us, we couldn't even stop at a single place. Us grandpas spent quite a few years slowly walking through the whole of Russia just to live.
After that, well, this thing called problems, it can happen anywhere.
Though I don't know whether it's because it's troublesome or because we can't help but interfere.
No, no, no, I'll explain to you first, the Russian Orthodox Church is all made up of bad people. However, that idiot wanted to turn a part of the Russian Orthodox Church as one part of him. Thus, the grandpas were forced to run away from those battle groups that were pursuing us.
What's that idiot's name?
What would happen if grandpa got caught?
I can't tell a brat like you all of that. Even if it's twisted, we're still a hidden part of the country. Though it's easy for me to say this, they won't even let children off. This isn't something you'd normally hear.
Anyway, our Russian Orthodox pursuers were really dangerous. They were true monsters gathered together to fight ghosts and fairies and other things beyond the realm of humanity. Old men who were just helping out couldn't hope to face them head on. It was overwhelming.
Therefore, us grandpas decided to leave the country. Luckily, they were the Russian Orthodox, and so in other words, it means that we only needed to run away from Russia. It's terrifying to wish for it, but no matter what, any human would do his utmost to grab onto this little ray of hope.
However, our surroundings were the -50 degrees Celsius of human Hell. It was a tough time. How should I say it, it was no longer a world that could be described through physical pain. Our feet were starting to sink, and we continued to walk on. There were people as old as grandpa and brats that were younger than you, everyone was the same. At that time, you were still in your mother's womb, and I believe your mum got her shapeshifting ability because of that.
Under this situation, the pursuers should act properly even though they're the Russian Orthodox, right?
But no, they're real professional soldiers that were specially trained to move along in the eternal arctic terrain. They were like robots that were made into puppets, moving around in a rhythmic manner, and not only were they top-notch soldiers, their weapons were top notch as well. They had horses made of metal, and those were 8-legged horses, you know. Oh yes, they had a spiritual item called the Sleipnir[3].
The difference in speed between the grandpas and the Russian Orthodox Church was apparent by first glance.
We could see the border in the snowstorm, but everyone knew that our pursuers would catch up to us before we could reach there. It was right in front of us, and we couldn't reach out and grab it, but after looking back to see our pursuers, we didn't have any other thought except to give up. Compared to working hard in a futile way, it's better to give up easily. But then again, we couldn't do it; the border that represented our hope was there, so how could we give up there?
Hm?
Then what happened next?
Of course we escaped. Otherwise, how could you be born? Grandpa couldn't possibly be here telling this story to you. You're saying that we did something?
Really? Really?
Seems like you don't understand how we escaped from the elites of the Russian Orthodox Church.
It's simple.
'That man' appeared in front of the grandpas.
That person was William Orville.
Notes
1. ↑ Both 'level' and 'seaweed' are pronounced as 'kaisou' (かいそう), a mistake on Index's part.
2. ↑ en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Qixi_Festival
3. ↑ Ancient Norse reference here. Called 'the slipper' in Norse mythology. [1]
| ← Ch. 118 | Ch. 120 → |