novelThe Men Who Stood Up From Defeat (1)
| ← Ch.119 | Ch.121 → |
Part 1
Frantic footsteps echoed throughout the hospital in the night.
This was the emergency resuscitation hospital on the seventh level in District 22.
The patient transport bed's wheels let out *kacha-kacha* sounds, and numerous paramedics were surrounding the patient's bed as they move along, the loud sounds outside could be heard inside. The paramedics who had been busy pushing the patient's bed left the rest to the doctors and nurses. After that, the doctors and nurses all gathered in the centralized treatment room before disappearing behind the large doors of the operation room.
"... Finally managed to complete the operation. To be honest, I can't say whether he can still be considered safe, "
The young doctor said after seeing the patient's bed pushed out of the operation room and back into the centralized treatment room.
Now that the visiting hours were over, the corridor of the hospital was rather quiet.
But right now, there were many shadows walking in the dim corridor. A large crowd should be the correct term here, consisting of males and females, young and old: a group of around 50 people. Some were leaning their backs against the walls, some were sitting on the sofas, but all of them were listening to what the doctor was saying. Some of them had tattered clothes, and some of them were bandaged all over. Furthermore, red blood spots could be seen on a majority of those wearing white.
They were a group that call themselves the 'Amakusa', and as for what kind of organization they were, the doctor didn't know. To be honest, this was a truly suspicious group. If a large group of people like Skill-Out were to come into the hospital, there would definitely be a large number of delinquents in the waiting room. Thus, the young doctor didn't intend to pursue this further.
"Let me explain this for a while, so all ordinary folks should calm down. Now for the specifics: the patient's entire body is covered in bruises from blunt trauma, and he has a slight concussion. He also showed signs of dislocation in his right shoulder and left foot. His insides are also a bit damaged from the impacts."
"... In other words, you just can't determine his condition now, right?"
The huge, black-beetle haired, man carefully chose his words before asking.
The doctor exhaled deeply.
"It should be considered a miracle... the worst case scenario would have been if oxygen were unable to flow into his brain well enough from being underwater for so long... that was really dangerous. Fortunately, there wasn't too much harm from it, "
The young male doctor said as he looked through the digitalized injury report.
"However... even with multiple witnesses, the 'reason' that caused this is still unbelievable. The human body was blown away from the metal bridge several hundred meters, bouncing off the lake a few times and finally sunk into the water... though I can't believe this, but to be caught up in such a serious situation, it's amazing that he would dare to even take a walk outside."
"We got let off the hook..."
Because of the dim lighting in the corridor, nobody knew who said that.
Even though the young male doctor turned back to see where the sound came from, he was unable to find out. They were a strange group, as there should be a huge sense of being overwhelmed, yet not even a single one of them was 'standing out'. It was like they're called 'a scene of a crowd. ' Besides, they weren't very striking, even if they were 'a group of 50 people all bandaged up. '
"Anyway, it's not over yet."
The only one that 'stood out' was the beetle-haired man, asking as if he was confirming it.
"If we can say something to him, even if it's just a short sentence, we just want to say sorry to him."
"You, what are you saying!? Of course you must remain silent!? That, that, I don't know why you're apologizing, but now isn't the time. He's sleeping soundly due to the anesthetic, and even without the anesthetic, his body doesn't look like it would allow him to wake up, so just let him rest."
And the most important thing was, the young male doctor used his chin to indicate the centralized treatment area.
In order to be able to view the patient's situation from the outside, there was a huge glass panel hanging on the wall, and from the corridor, one could see several patients sleeping over there. In there on a bed surrounded by numerous machines, the hedgehog-headed boy was sleeping.
The beetle-headed man seemed as if he was being pulled by the young doctor as he stared at the centralized treatment room. At that moment, dark clouds appeared on his face.
As if hanging onto the bed, or kneeling on the floor, a girl waited there. A girl in a white nun's habit used her own hands to wrap the victim's hand tightly.
It was Index.
"... That kid, according to my experience, I feel it's best for her to be alone with him, "
The young doctor warned with an 'all hope is lost' look.
Even the beetle-headed man didn't have the guts to walk into the room with both of them inside. He could only nod his head silently. After confirming everything, the young doctor walked away.
The beetle-headed man—Tatemiya Saiji—took a step back from the centralized treatment room.
He was extremely regretful that that he couldn't do anything for the boy. All the Amakusa recovery and healing spells that had been passed down from generation to generation wouldn't work, and they could only pray for his safety. However, even the right to pray for him was perhaps a problem as well.
He said initially that he would protect that boy from Acqua well, but as how the wording went, he was completely 'kicked away. ' After being shown mercy even after facing such a devastating attack, Tatemiya Saiji could only lie on the floor and watch Acqua head toward his target.
Besides, the guy that he wanted to protect actually fought to protect his Amakusa 'comrade'... how humiliating. He was now wrapped in bandages and had band-aids taped everywhere. An ordinary person might not have understood, but for someone who knew magic, a person could understand that the Amakusa had gotten even weaker in their techniques of blending into the surroundings.
Right now, the Amakusa could be said to have lost completely.
They lost to Acqua, and lost even further to Kamijou Touma.
"... Damn it."
Tatemiya unhappily clenched his teeth tightly.
No matter how low-pitched that was, the enemy wouldn't just wait around and do nothing. According to Itsuwa, Acqua of the Back would not attack Kamijou again if Kamijou Touma's right hand was cut off by tomorrow. Of course, whether it was the right hand or attacking, they couldn't let him do whatever he wanted.
Tatemiya understood what he should do.
In order to protect Kamijou Touma, no matter what, he had to stand up.
"How long are you going to kneel down there?"
Tatemiya asked. A place that had even less light than the dim corridor, and it could be said that all the darkness was gathered there. Over there, one could feel that there was a small animal trembling there in fear.
Maybe one wouldn't be able to understand it if the person didn't take a closer look.
But huddled at the edge of the sofa was Itsuwa.
Her hands and legs were bandaged, and the right side of her face was pasted with a rectangular gauze. Compared to the physical damage, the mental damage inflicted on her was likely several times heavier.
"... I, I..."
Her voice was full of unrest, and there was a bit of swallowing sound made. Maybe it was because she had been crying for a long time, she was unable to control her diaphragm well.
"... I, protect him... I said that I would. Whether spear, or magic... it was completely useless, not even... but, he said it, he thanked me... I couldn't protect him at all, couldn't even deal even the tiniest bit of damage on Acqua before he left... but I was thanked..."
A *pata pata* sound echoed throughout the corridor.
This may have been the sound of tears, or may have been the blood dripping out of her tightly clenched fist.
"The... the moment I heard that man say that, I wondered, if he had some really strong power. But I was wrong. That man, he can't rely on any defensive spell. Even when I tried to use a recovery spell, it didn't heal even a single wound, not even a scratch. He was just fighting by using his own flesh..."
"Itsuwa..."
"I, I just watched him be sent off to his death."
It may have seemed really weird to see a teary and smiling face.
"How can someone like that continue to live on leisurely? Why hasn't divine judgment come down on one of us!? This is too strange. It should have been me on that hospital bed! That would have solved everything!!"
This one sentence was mixed with all sorts of feelings. This was a conversation, yet she was muttering to herself; it was of regret, yet also of anger; it was of a defeated dog whimpering, yet also a beast roaring.
She couldn't even control her own emotions.
Being forced by the circumstances, Itsuwa did not have much left to gain control of her emotions.
Tatemiya was very clear about this. He narrowed his eyes, and forcefully took a step forward at Itsuwa as if he was trying to rip the darkness apart.
"So you don't have any intention of standing up?"
"..."
"So what the hell are you doing?"
Tatemiya said this calmly with a hand grabbing the front of Itsuwa's shirt and pulled her out. Before anyone could say anything, Tatemiya used some really amazing arm strength to raise her entire body up and slammed her against the nearby wall.
BAM!! The intense sound echoed throughout the corridor.
The impact resounded throughout Itsuwa's back, causing her breathing to become erratic. However, Itsuwa didn't show any resistance at all, and just stared at Tatemiya with teary pupils as if she was begging for oxygen.
"... Mister, didn't you..."
Though her voice was getting softer, Itsuwa continued to move her lips.
"Didn't Tatemiya-san lose as well?"
"..."
She probably realized that she shouldn't have said these words. At this point in time, she shouldn't have said the words that would anger Tatemiya. But she had clearly said the words that hurt Tatemiya's soul, for she was already unable to endure it mentally any longer and was unwilling to do it any further. This girl called Itsuwa must have really wanted to protect that boy, but the reality defied this deepest desire of hers. All her desire got crushed by overwhelming strength.
Tatemiya didn't force himself to understand Itsuwa's feelings.
It seemed that only Itsuwa alone was allowed to understand those feelings.
So in contrast, he said to the rest,
"So that guy stepped up to save such a woman?"
Hearing these words, Itsuwa widened her eyes for a while.
As if she had been pierced by something, even when Itsuwa hadn't revealed a painful expression after being slammed into the wall, she revealed an indescribable painful look on her face after Tatemiya said this.
"The savior that you cared so much about was treated like that right in front of you, his body all battered badly. Being like that in front of him... you aren't planning to do anything? That guy really went all his way to risk his life for such a woman? If so, that guy's sacrifice was in vain, really in vain. The outcome is obvious. Didn't that idiot do something idiotic to save another idiot? Is that not how it is?"
Itsuwa's head felt hot. Her body being raised up in the air, Itsuwa let out a beast-like shout as she clenched her fist, ready to punch Tatemiya. However, before the fist could hit Tatemiya, Tatemiya brought Itsuwa down from the wall and slammed her to the floor.
This time, the huge sound would make anyone mistake it for an earth tremor.
Riding on Itsuwa's body while she was having difficulty to breathe, Tatemiya glared at her and said,
"Listen, if you don't understand, I'll teach you."
Deep, he just said it in a deep voice.
Whether it was Tatemiya's voice or his expression, anyone could see the rage in his heart.
"—Acqua of the Back will definitely come back."
Itsuwa's body instantly jerked.
Trying to think about what he shouldn't be thinking, Tatemiya again confirmed,
"Even if we stay here and be upset, time will continue to shorten. Every second we waste, the chances of happiness will go down a notch! Can you allow this to happen? There's still a possibility, no matter how small it is, it still exists, but ARE YOU GOING TO LET THAT USELESS GUILT AND REGRET COST YOU THAT CHANCE!? ARE YOU GOING TO LET THAT GUY GET HIS ARM CUT OFF WHEN HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW ANYTHING WHILE BEING ABANDONED!? IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT HIS SMILE, STAND UP, STOP THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF AND CAUSING THE DEVASTATION OF OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES!!"
Tatemiya's shout was almost becoming a roar.
Facing Itsuwa, who still didn't say anything, Tatemiya continued,
"... If our help would come over now, we would have done that already. If Priestess-sama said that she will come over, we can leave that Saint to her. But things won't turn out ideally as we would hope. Listen—Acqua of the Back will definitely come back. DO YOU WANT TO TURN THIS HOSPITAL INTO A BATTLEFIELD? JUST TO ESCAPE FROM THIS USELESS REALITY!!?"
"Ta, te... miya-san."
"EVEN IF WE DON'T DO ANYTHING, ACQUA WILL STILL COME BACK!! EVEN IF WE'RE TO REQUEST REINFORCEMENTS, THE ANGLICAN CHURCH CAN'T JUST CHANGE THEIR STRATEGY AND SEND REINFORCEMENTS, SUCH A GOOD THING ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!! THUS, WE, AS PEOPLE STILL MOVING, ARE THE ONLY ONES ABLE TO TAKE ACTION. WE ARE THE ONLY ONES ABLE TO FIGHT ON!! FORGET ABOUT IT BEING A MASSACRE, IF WE DON'T DO ANYTHING, WHO'S GOING TO PROTECT HIM WHILE HE'S STILL NUMB AND ASLEEP!? DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ALL THIS!?"
Tatemiya's hand, which was grabbing onto Itsuwa's chest, let out a slight sound as the grip was too tight.
Actually, the force he exerted on his hand was almost enough to destroy his hand. Also, Itsuwa knew that it wasn't just one person being angry and embarrassed about being unable to protect Kamijou Touma, but the reality was that everyone here had been beaten easily.
Even so, they said that they were going to stand up again.
Even after they knew the feeling of a defeated hound, they wouldn't continue to be depressed like this, but would stand up again.
In order to protect something important.
If so,
"(I... want... )"
"You want to apologize to that guy?"
Tatemiya said as he stared at Itsuwa's eyes.
"So do you want to let the 'guy you want to protect the most', the one who had gotten beat up like that, to stand in the sunlight again?"
Itsuwa nodded her head slightly.
Though she seemed to be saying something, it was hard to make out what she was saying since she was crying.
"... Then show me a fight. Prove to me that you're the best girl, let him feel that risking his life for this girl is worth it. You may want to apologize or even see his smiling face again, but if he's dead, isn't it all worthless? If you don't want to regret before his tomb, you have to fight alongside us!"
Tatemiya let go with the hand that was grabbing onto Itsuwa and slowly got up.
Looking around, he seemed to be confirming something as he said,
"... Among all of you, is there anyone who's going to say that he or she disagrees with Itsuwa?"
Tatemiya's voice echoed throughout as if he was trying to break the regretful and weak atmosphere.
"If there's anyone, I'll make that person wake up."
Nobody responded.
But everyone had made their realization.
It was not like all their regret and fatigue was gone, but rather, their thirst for battle had overcome all other things.
Tatemiya again looked at the people that amounted to about 50, all standing in the dim corridor of the hospital, and said,
"If there's no one, good. Next, we just have to fight on."
None of the Amakusa-style Church members looked back.
Leaving only the boy and a nun inside the centralized treatment room, the Amakusa would go back to where they belonged—the battlefield—in order to fight against this strong enemy.
"Really, the guy we wanted to save was right in front of us, yet none of us managed to reach out and save him. How could we have let this happen to him?"
There was only one thing they had to do.
Give the decisive counterblow to the enemy and protect that boy's life, that was all there was.
Part 2
In the darkness of the night, Acqua of the Back was alone, silently standing down there.
It was a natural park located far inside a corner of the third level of District 22. The reason he was there was simple, even if it was a bit, he wanted to get far away from the android development plant where science and technology was rampant. However, he should have noticed that all the forests here were products of scientific water and cultivation technology. It was too late though.
(Speaking of which, this entire underground space was made for humans, huh?)
Looking up, he could see the starry sky, but these were just images made from a planetarium and a screen. Anyone that understood magic by even the slightest bit would sense how it deviated from how it really worked.
It seemed like there was not much money spent on maintenance, as the street lights scattered throughout the streets, letting out small rectangular lights.
Acqua was holding onto an ordinary phone.
He was talking to the Pope, however, his cell phone was not turned on. The glow on the tip of the antenna was created due to magic.
(There's still the likelihood of us being eavesdropped. Besides, those elite Anglican Church forces, the Amakusa, are still here. )
Even if he said this, it was better than to use the phone so openly right in the middle of Academy City, the main stronghold of the science side.
"Speaking of which, it's not about killing the target, but getting his right hand? I heard it from Vento before that God's Right Seat won't change their goal."
""That's a personal problem of Vento's character. In fact, we would change according to how the situation plans out... but Terra went overboard.""
Though Acqua had killed a comrade in cold blood and sent his corpse to an enemy organization, he didn't feel the slightest sense of regret or guilt.
"Basically, what's special about that boy is gathered on that 'right hand' of his, all the threats will be removed if we take it away. We're fussing all over an adolescent boy. Really, we aren't such a carefree organisation."
""To me, what you're doing now is the better method.""
One could feel that the Pope was smiling on the other side of the phone.
""I did mention it to Vento before, but... if he really intends on defying God, we have to kill him. However, I did hear that the boy isn't all familiar with God, so I'm really against having to kill him all because of this... but Vento ignored my view.""
"... I don't know what you're expecting from me, but I'm neither a good man nor a philanthropist."
Acqua's tone was somewhat flat.
"If it comes to the point where I have to kill him, I'll still do it. Right now, that time hasn't come yet, and once that time comes, I'll kill him, that's all. Among all these choices and timing, there may be a possibility that I'll never need to kill him, ever, that's how the situation is."
There was no sense of false pretense in his tone.
In this highest group of authority in this world that had only 4 members, the one who had instantly killed his comrade, Terra of the Left, without any mercy was Acqua of the Back alone.
If the hostile threat disappeared with the 'right hand', all these would come to an end.
If that didn't work, or if he refused to give up his 'right hand'—what came next was very simple.
Kill him.
There was no need for anything else to be said; Acqua would return everything to dust.
He had such strength and resolve.
Acqua of the Back recognized this clearly, and his expression did not change at all.
""This is truly an intriguing situation.""
The Pope suddenly said.
""God's Right Seat was set up as a 'negotiation tool' for the Pope to enter the enemy's stronghold, yet this Pope here can only watch from the Vatican.""
In Christianity, there was only one God.
All miracles were managed by this one and only God, so no one would defy this entity called God. Normally, everyone should be living happily together, and there shouldn't be anyone living in misery.
However, the reality was a lot different.
It was obvious when one looked through the history of humanity: the failure of the Crusades, the plague running rampant, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. This wasn't just an issue about individual happiness anymore; these events had nearly caused the entire continent of Europe to be annihilated.
The Pope was not enough to handle all these.
Actually, for Christianity that signified that 'God is absolute', for the Pope, who represented all these, to find someone to talk about this, it was a sign of misfortune.
Thus, God's Right Seat had been born.
Sometimes, they had power and knowledge that even the Pope had to rely on, they could be considered to be a special existence among this pyramid of the Christian society.
They were different from the Cardinals, the administrators, the strategists etc. Basically, they who 'didn't exist in the pyramid in the first place' would just give advice from behind the scenes.
The number of members was always designated as 4, representing the 4 archangels that were the most important amongst angels. Just like this, the members of God's Right Seat could be changed and replaced 'internally' to keep it alive.
But even with these unique circumstances, sometimes the Pope would rely on these 'secret discussions' too often, causing God's Right Seat to take the central role of the Roman Catholic Church.
Regarding this, Acqua pondered for a while.
However, he didn't say anything specific.
"The next time I contact you will be when all this is over. As for whether the target will still be alive after that, I'll tell you later."
At this moment, a loud sound covered Acqua's voice.
The reason was due to the air.
Something flashed once in the darkness, it was a small, dim light that an ordinary human was unable to distinguish. Acqua sensed the danger behind it, tucked the cell phone in with his shoulder, and easily jumped over.
The air formed a huge tornado, and the place where Acqua had been standing was ripped up easily.
Seeing this strange phenomenon, Acqua finally made a hypothesis.
(... Scattering some strange particles into the air and then decomposing the contents, huh?)
For people who were familiar with science, they would think of this nano-sized reflective metal codenamed 'mimosa'. There was no need for any circuits or power, a specific frequency was used to react to some very small particles. The theory behind this was like a wireless remote control, it could distinguish between animal and plant cells one by one.
Acqua was wary against some magical hand that he couldn't distinguish. This time, the giant artificial planetarium screen changed abnormally, letting out a bee like noise and indicating a warning on the screen.
""Third level region-wide alert regarding absence of air. All residents are to evacuate to the designated buildings. All families are to install the designated oxygen flasks. I repeat, third level region-wide alert regarding absence of air.""
"I see."
Acqua gave a defiant smile.
"It seems like the opponent has scattered many offensive microbits to force me to be unable to escape."
""This is really bad.""
"You think so?"
Acqua sounded as if he was reciting something. All the moisture in the air was his friend. With the moisture, he roughly had enough time to understand the movements of the 'mimosa' and predict it.
The bushes that were off to the side let out some crisp, ripping sounds. Looking inside, one could see that there were powered suits moving between the trees, their armor reflecting moonlight. Slightly far away, one could hear a mechanical sound. Run on gasoline and electricity, some urban armored vehicles seemed to have been deployed.
Even Acqua's smile vanished.
"So they're here to check my battle strength? Then let's show them how a mercenary fights."
""Please try not to kill anyone.""
"I'm not sure, but it seems like they're unmanned. I can't sense anything that's human-like from them, so they managed to get all the way here."
At this moment, a new explosion could be heard.
Acqua pulled out a 5 meter metal mace from his shadow.
"However, these things from Academy City are really good."
He easily rested the heavy metal on his shoulder and said,
"It's nice for them to create a battlefield without any bloodshed, I'm really grateful for that. Nice way to pass the time."
As if in response to his voice, the enemy started to take action.
In a corner of the park, the numerous shadows around Acqua surrounded him.
Numerous bullets were fired at him.
The 'mimosa' that could not be identified with the naked eye came attacking as well.
But these weren't going to beat Acqua.
He avoided the bullets and blew the 'mimosa' away. Even the bullets that used the power of the 'mimosa' and deviated from normal trajectory were predicted by Acqua easily and countered.
"(I'm not sure of how the science side works, but there has got to be someone coordinating them from somewhere. )"
Acqua broke through the barricade. The 5 meter-long lance-like metal mace he was holding onto pierced into the side of the armored vehicles. Then ignoring the weight of the armored vehicle, Acqua swung the metal mace, causing even more of these armored vehicles to be crushed and blown up. This caused the movements of the 'mimosa' to be restricted. Maybe some special spell was used as among the burning flames, Acqua walked through as if he was taking a stroll.
"(Then, I'll just have to rip through the powered suits, check the insides and confirm them all one by one!!)"
God's Right Seat's Acqua of the Back started to take action.
Sounds of explosion and destruction echoed throughout the place.
Part 3
There was a 9-hour time difference between Japan and England.
Right now, it should be midnight in Japan, but it was evening in England. Due to the latitude, the sun set in England even earlier, so the sky there was slightly violet.
The Royal Academy of Arts.
A famous and top-notch arts museum in England. This place was one that developed the next generation group of artists, and held activities similar to those of an arts school. And right now, one could hear the voice of a lecturer teaching.
Standing on the brightly-lit stage was Sherry Cromwell.
"Then, we'll be discussing about heraldries today."
She had godiva blond hair that was like a lion and chocolate-colored skin. Her attire was a black Gothic Lolita dress that was scratched and tattered all over. As a renowned sculptor, she was known for only appreciating her own works... or that was what the students said about her.
"The heraldries are like those family crests, they're not those so-called things that don't exist in real life... well, it's not like those heraldries don't exist, but we'll just ignore them for now."
Laughter could be heard from the crowd of students.
Seemed like they had just treated it as some sort of a joke, but the magician Sherry didn't mind as she continued,
"If we're going to talk about heraldries, normally speaking, they are made of many different parts. However, today, I'm going to talk about those shield-type heraldries."
Sherry said in a bored manner.
"You people who only know how to paint on a canvas might find these to be unimportant, but this knowledge may help you when you are creating something that has a special significance in it. Of course, I understand that you're depressed, so just listening a bit will do."
At this moment, a few knocking sounds could be heard at the door.
Sherry, who was placing the shield-type heraldry on the podium, looked surprised as she stared at the door.
Without even making the slightest bit of noise, the one who opened the door the slightest bit was the young clerk of this arts museum. She was a young clerk that had just started work there last year, and she lowered her little head and said in a slightly apologetic manner.
"Well... someone from the British Library is looking for you..."
"Really?"
Sherry made an appropriate reply. She then stroked the side of the heraldry with her index finger and pondered,
"Then, if you excuse me. Everyone please carry on with your self-studies."
Sherry used a perfunctory tone to instruct the students, then scratched her head as she walked out of the classroom.
After arriving in the corridor, the petite clerk looked at Sherry embarrassed.
"I'm really sorry about that."
"No problem, that group of people likes to do self-study. Creating something can't be done by just teaching, and those people that love to self-study have no such talent in the first place."
"Ha, haha..."
The clerk laughed ambiguously. With an impatient tone, Sherry asked,
"So how did this person contact me?"
"Mm, through the phone. Please receive it at the office."
With the clerk leading, Sherry arrived in a small room. The telephone on the business desk was giving off a flickering light through the little light bulb on it.
"Is that it?"
"Since it came from the British library... it should be something related to art."
"I see."
Sherry often got 'contacts' from places like the British Museum and the St. George Cathedral, and the people around her seemed to feel that they were looking for her to do some artistic identification and restoration.
The clerk nodded to Sherry before returning to her place. After watching her leave, Sherry picked up the phone receiver with an impatient look.
The voice that came from the other side belonged to a lazy-sounding woman.
""Ara ara. Is that Miss Sherry?""
"... So it's you, Orsola. Really, can't you find any other experts?"
In contrast to a really irritated Sherry, the woman called Orsola smiled without any nerves.
""Well, the large garbage disposal occurs on Mondays and Fridays.""
"I got it, I got it. It's useless to talk to you regarding this, so hurry up and get straight to the point."
Recently, Sherry had mastered a way to handle Orsola, so she continued to talk normally.
Orsola said the following,
""From the remaining records of the English Library regarding past magic events, regarding God's Right Seat... we did check up on Acqua of the Back, but...""
"I heard of those things before I got out to work. So, what're the results?"
""The testimonies from the September 30th incident indicate that before he used the name 'Acqua', he seemed to have worked primarily in England, as there were many similar eyewitness reports.""
"I heard you say that during lunch break."
""And some of them testified that 'he' was a 'knight' of England..."
"Ah?"
Sherry's eyebrows immediately twitched due to surprise.
(As a Roman Catholic, this Acqua of the Back was actually an English knight... ?)
In modern England, the title of 'knight' was just a medal of commendation on the surface. Their background was unimportant; anybody that made any outstanding contributions to England could receive this title from the Queen. However, this title can't be inherited by children or any descendents. To put it in a straightforward manner, it was similar to an outstanding civil award.
However, there was a difference. In the dark side of England, there was still a large group known as the 'Knights of England'. They would raise their sharp blades high for the Royal Family and the country, and anyone that threatened these would be seen as enemies. They would risk their lives to annihilate and—like the samurais of the East—these Knights probably vanished into the river of history with the advent of firearms.
"... And right now, this person acting on behalf of another sect was actually a foreign knight of England. If that's true, this may get troublesome. Academy City may come over to question the Anglican Church's role in this because of Acqua of the Back's involvement."
""But from the records of Knights in Buckingham Palace, there isn't anyone with Acqua's characteristics.""
"Maybe that information was false."
Most likely, he was a mercenary who had been skilled in magic and gotten mistaken... this should be the case.
But Orsola let out a frustrated "Ummm..." sound.
""It's true that there was no such person in the name list, but...""
"Ah?"
""For someone who is nominated to be knighted, there should be some shield heraldry that symbolises their family background, right? I checked with the heraldries manufacturers in the outskirts of London, and it seems like there was an unknown order for a shield heraldry for an unknown person... and this heraldry seemed to have been cancelled after it was made halfway.""
"... I see."
Sherry's mouth curled up.
"The patterns of the heraldry should have the person's background, family history and identity carved on it as markings. If we check these, we can investigate the real identity of this 'Knight who doesn't exist in the records'."
""So only the pictures of the patterns, right?... I suppose. Well, I'll use that thing called 'FAX' to send it over to you like how I ordered that stuff the last time.""
Sherry turned to look at the fax machine, and just at that moment, a sheet of paper was being coughed out from the machine. The young female clerk that had called her immediately moved towards the fax machine.
Sherry received a pile of 10+ pieces of paper from the female clerk and scattered them onto the table, using her index finger to run through the patterns and see what the patterns depicted. Instead of saying that it was a piece of art, this thing in front of her seemed more like a blueprint for a machine. The black and white paper had all sorts of information like materials and colors written all over it. Maybe this made the paper feel a lot more like a blueprint.
"... There are two main colours, blue as base and green as decoration. The animals used are... a dragon and a unicorn, and the woman here is Selkie (a female ghost rumoured to be based in England)... right? The shield's divided into 4 parts, and there are 3 animals on it, this means..."
""Is there anything you got there?""
"I just understood some basic things."
After looking at the picture for a while, Sherry sighed as if she had given up.
"I don't know the specifics, but it seems like the owner of this heraldry really loves to make fun of others."
"Ha?"
"The dragon, the unicorn and Selkie. The common point between these three is that 'they don't exist in real life'. Also, the colours used for the heraldry are odd. The base colour is blue, and then for decoration, green was used when it's supposed to be another base colour. This defies common logic... it's so explicit that anyone has no choice but to laugh at it. It seems like this person was unhappy about being chosen as a 'Knight'."
Sherry's fingers were like a phonograph, as she stroked the pictures and transfer the records on the pieces of paper to adult language.
"Most likely, he was warmly invited by the Royal Family, but wanted to reject this and didn't manage to succeed, so he accepted this grudgingly. If so.... this person should have been an active fighter as a free man before he became a 'Knight'. And these were all beneficial to England... he's a mercenary and yet he was appointed as a Knight, this shows that he's a just person even on the dirty and bloody battlefield. An enemy without fault even in background, there's no one harder to handle than this kind of person."
For confirmation, Sherry checked the date it was ordered from Orsola. It seemed like it was about 10 years ago.
It was such an old thing that had been cancelled and yet was so well preserved by the manufacturer, this showed that Acqua was so well respected when he had been working in England.
""Also, for those who contributed through magic, anyone that's to be given the title of a 'Knight' under this category has to be an Englishman, so how about if I check on mercenary activities in England?""
"So be it."
Sherry used her index finger to knock on the animal drawings.
"A dragon, unicorn, and Selkie. These all appear in English legends, but it doesn't mean England, but rather 'Great Britain' that includes the 4 areas of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland."
""... ? Isn't the unicorn supposed to originate from Greek mythology?""
"There was the legend of Elizabeth the First receiving the horn of a unicorn."
Actually, it was just an ordinary animal bone, Sherry muttered.
"Anyway, he's born in England, and was a mercenary that contributed greatly to Britain... that group of lone wolf mercenaries that aren't affiliated to any magic guilds and seem 'primed to be nominated as Knights' are suspicious here. And even when he was requested to do something, he couldn't refuse it completely, so this shows that he had some connections with the Royal Family. Check out every single bit of information on this person."
Part 4
With Tatemiya Saiji leading the 50-strong Amakusa main force, they were now in an alley of District 22. After that, Tatemiya, who was listening to a cell phone he was holding, said to his fellow comrades.
"Acqua of the Back seems to be fighting with Academy City's unmanned powered suits in the natural park on the third level."
At this moment, everyone present felt nervous.
The third level was where Kamijou and Itsuwa had been attacked.
There was no need to mention who had the victory. This monster called Acqua of the Back wouldn't be beaten with just a large group of machines, everyone knew that.
Ushibuka, who was near Tatemiya, looked at Tatemiya and asked,
"... Should we go?"
"No."
Tatemiya closed the phone and shook his head as he answered.
"Even if we're to go now, the result is very obvious. Right now, we can only wait for the intel from the Anglican Church, be ready, come up with the best battle plan and deliver our best fight at the right time... after this, it'll be the decisive battle. We have to fight with all we got."
Acqua of the Back had managed to beat up the Amakusa comrades and even their savior, Kamijou, to this extent. But even if they knew where he was now, they could only endure. Tatemiya's heart was probably burning and raging now, but he chose to endure for this one shot at victory as he said "Just wait".
"This isn't the right time. For us to prepare our best battle plan, we can only rely on Miss Orsola and the rest as they compile all the information, it's alright even if they're a bit late. So what we can do now is simple—our best preparations."
Tatemiya looked at his surroundings.
The Amakusa members scattered all over were all armed with weapons like swords and spears. Normally, they would sacrifice the sharpness of their weapons for ease of carrying the weapons secretly. However, now wasn't the time to worry about this, so they were 'strengthening' their weapons.
"... Please wait for another 3 hours."
At this moment, this voice could be heard.
Tatemiya turned to look at the source of this voice, and over there was Itsuwa modifying her belt like a belay. She was sitting on the floor as she strengthened her spear—or more accurately, a full-on modification.
Her spear was attached through many short rods, so no matter how strong it was, the strength would always be weaker. She had used some fixative spray to spray the entire spear and then coat a layer of resin on it, and right now, she was using sandpaper to polish the surface of the grip.
"I have to adjust the shape until it feels straight, and I also need quite a bit of time to sharpen the blade such that it's able to stab through a monster... but leave it to me. Since I got attacked directly by that guy, I know what kind of guy he is..."
Continuing to use the sandpaper to rub and adjust the exterior of the spear. After the small pile of resin was flattened, she applied another layer of fixative spray on it, repeating it tens of times, hundreds of times.
One could sense the killer intent in her heart as the sound of resin being scrubbed by sandpaper could be heard. This caused Tatemiya's back to go cold a bit; it was just like an old cannibal granny sharpening her knife in the middle of the night. Once this idea popped up in his mind, Tatemiya thought: not, not good! Did I overdo it a bit?
It seemed like Ushibuka was wondering that as well, as he slowly got near Tatemiya and whispered to his ear.
"(... What to do now! It feels like we added too much oil [1] to Itsuwa! It's almost on a petrochemical plant-level fire!)"
"(... Ah, no way!? But you see, she looked so out of it at the hospital, so I just did that! All I wanted to do was to motivate her!?)"
"(... YOU IDIOT!! You didn't consider the outcome of it and torched her up!? Don't you know how we will be scared of a maiden in love in the future!!?)"
"(... EH EH? MY RESPONSIBILITY!? THEN WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?)"
"Tatemiya-san, and Ushibuka-san."
Suddenly being called by Itsuwa, the two men were rooted to the spot in fear.
"I'm alright, I'm alright—so, can you allow me to focus, please?"
A blank expression compounded with a very flat tone.
After Itsuwa said this, she continued to use the sandpaper to polish her spear to let it feel more comfortable in her hands, convenient to use, sharp and deadly. The shape of the spear was slowly forming.
"(WWAAAHHHHHHH!!!)" Seeing Tatemiya and Ushibuka tremble, their comrades all sighed in helplessness.
Itsuwa looked extremely violent today, so Tatemiya and company could only cast strengthening spells on their clothes and make sure that everyone had jotted down the terrain in a notebook and memorized it.
As they were doing this, Tatemiya and Ushibuka felt like praying for Acqua of the Back's safety, even though he was not there.
[We know you have your reasons, but our Itsuwa here has switched to killing mode, so please protect yourself well. ]
"(... We cannot, cannot face an angry Itsuwa head on. )"
"(... Ye, yeah, I feel the same. )"
At this moment, Tatemiya Saiji's phone rang.
""Ara ara, is that Tatemiya-san?""
"Wah, Miss Orsola!! Your voice's really healing me!!"
Seemed like Tatemiya had been hit really bad somewhere deep inside his heart, as it seemed like he was about to cry.
But it seemed like the person on the other side of the phone didn't grasp the situation.
""Well, I'm sorry. Seems like I called the wrong person. Then I'll—""
"PLEASE DON'T HANG UP THE PHONE!! IF YOU HANG UP NOW THIS PLACE IS GOING TO BE TENSE AGAIN!!"
Having finally grasped the grain of hope, Tatemiya paid attention to Orsola. In order to allow everyone to hear the conversation, he put the call on speaker phone and waited for Orsola to continue on.
""I'm going to tell you the latest information regarding Acqua right now.""
This natural airhead and self-centered Orsola was now reporting in a rare serious tone.
""We found out Acqua of the Back's real name. His name is William Orville, a magic mercenary born in England, and he doesn't have any affiliation. Of course, when he was born, he wasn't a Roman Catholic, and there are records indicating that he was baptized in an Anglican church when he was young. As a mercenary, he was a lone wolf, and it seems like he specializes in taking down enemy strongholds.""
To think that he actually specialized in this.
This didn't just mean that he specialized in 'taking down enemy bases', but rather, among all forms of combat, he specialized in taking down bases. But besides that, it didn't mean that he didn't excel in other forms of combat. If so, William Orville would have failed a long time ago, and couldn't possibly be standing here.
""Also, as a magician, William had a magic name. The name engraved on his chest is Flere210."
"... Flere... right?"
A Latin word normally formed half of the magic name, and the meaning of the word Flere was 'tears'. They may not have known the significance to this name, but William Orville most probably had a reason for engraving it on his chest. Also, to be able to engrave the name on his chest, it showed that he had overwhelming strength.
A Saint.
This one word that signified the absolute difference against him echoed in Tatemiya's mind.
"So what were William Orville's accomplishments as a mercenary?"
""Hm, there was an 'aid to an Astrology group' in Western Russia, an 'elimination of the Orleans' Knights' in Central France, an 'England's third princess Rescue Mission' near the Straits of Dover... I can't finish if I'm to name them all.""
This showed that he had participated in a lot of battles, and kept winning. To be able to come back alive from so many battles, this was the best proof of Acqua of the Back's strength.
Orsola rattled off the list of battles that Acqua had taken part in, and Tatemiya had heard of some of them. No matter which ones they were, everyone knew how intense those battles were. Even if the entire Amakusa was to gather, they might never be competent enough to handle this. Basically, those were Hell-like battlefields.
"One strong enemy... no, he's our worst enemy."
""But William Orville isn't just someone who will settle any problem with just force. For instance, even in the medical facilities within the battle zones, he will impart knowledge of herbs to them to lower the mortality rate, taught poor and hungry villages how to cook Murdock... he's pretty active even outside the battlefield. In some places, they even call him a 'Sage'."
These were really things that people could only do when they truly realized the reality on the battlefield.
Some problems couldn't just be settled by sending large number of forces or donating. One had to truly experience the atmosphere of a battlefield to understand what the people really needed, and thus they could understand that 'what they could do' wasn't just in the short-term, but rather ways to improve their standard of living in the long run. It seemed like Acqua of the Back wasn't just a battle maniac.
He had a robust body and a softer mentally, he was a wise beast.
This was Tatemiya's impression of him right now.
""We didn't find anything that can be classified as a weakness. As a mercenary, he continued to use this attribute of being a Saint to continue to carry out explosive battles.""
"... So after he changed sects, he obtained the strength of a member of God's Right Seat?"
Yes, all the legends during the mercenary era had happened before William Orville was called 'Acqua of the Back'. Right now, his power should be a lot stronger than that, and not just that, he had completely mastered a new form of fighting. Tatemiya again recognized how strong this opponent was, and he was likely even scarier than their Priestess-sama.
(With this power, how did he control his powers?)
On first glance, people like Kanzaki seemed like they managed to control their powers naturally, but that wasn't the case. If an ordinary magician like Tatemiya was to try control that power, they would be completely destroyed by the power.
And the power that Acqua wielded was even stronger than that.
(... So we can't overcome him with magic, huh?)
""Originally, William was supposed to be an English Knight, but he disappeared a week before he was appointed, so the heraldry that was halfway done was kept in the maker's house.""
And when he appeared again, he had become an enemy of England.
What happened during that time was still a mystery, but they didn't have time to wonder about this.
"We can't expect any weaknesses from him. But at least we can find out Acqua's main fighting methods, right? Like the kinds of weapons he uses, what school of thought he came from."
""As for school of thought, it seems like he self-taught himself, and he calls it the 'Mercenary code'. As for weapons, he uses a 5 meter long iron mace that looks like a Knight's lance.""
These were things that Tatemiya already knew having fought against Acqua of the Back first-hand before.
""Also... the way he moves in battle is rather unique, not by running, but it seems like he glides on the floor.""
"... ?"
At this moment, Tatemiya couldn't think anymore. It was true that he hadn't heard anything when he had been approached, and now that Orsola mentioned it, that seemed to be the case. No matter what, the speed at which Acqua of the Back moved, except for the moment he changed directions, made it looked like he was vanishing.
""Seems like he uses a water movement spell. The reason why horse carriages can slide on ice is because of a thin layer of water between the carriage wheels and the ice, right?""
"That means... this guy, before he was called 'Acqua of the Back', he knew how to use water spells..."
Vento of the Front, Terra of the Left, Acqua of the Back.
If they each represented the four archangels, then Acqua represented the Power of God, his element was water, and during the last battle, he hadn't used any water spells because with the abilities of the fighters there, there had been no need to use them.
"(... So what sort of plan should we use?)"
The intangibles—the number of intangibles that far exceeded their imagination was too many, and Tatemiya couldn't help but laugh at this.
At this moment.
"No matter who the enemy is, what we have to do hasn't changed..."
Plainly.
Without moving her lips, Itsuwa said this as she wielded her enhanced spear.
"You're right, Tatemiya-san..."
The unspoken meaning behind Itsuwa's words was 'Don't run away'. Hearing these words, Tatemiya's hand that was holding onto the cell phone, trembled violently.
Part 5
It was 3 AM in the morning.
On a metal bridge on the third level of District 22, Acqua of the Back was standing there casually.
From the park till all the way here, he had taken down a total of 8 self-propelled 'mimosas', 17 armored vehicles, 38 androids, all unmanned. Every time he took down an enemy, he would move on to another point before destroying the enemy... though he had been repeating this over and over again, he hadn't managed to find something like a human controller.
It seemed like the opponent wasn't as tactless and dumb as he had expected.
Acqua didn't even look at the artificial planetarium giant screen as he pondered to himself.
(It would be very easy now if I had Vento's 'Divine Punishment'... )
Even so, the enemy forces had retreated after an hour of fighting.
Maybe because it was so one-sided that the higher ups of Academy City felt that they were just wasting their military resources. Acqua himself also felt this way, wondering how much money had been spent to build what was now a pile of scrap metal. The huge amount of money needed to buy modern weapons would sometimes change a person's thoughts regarding money. Don't they have a better use for this money? Acqua thought.
"... Unexpectedly though, they aren't idiots."
Acqua made this assessment regarding this enemy that had retreated at an appropriate time.
Any professional would often have a sense of pride regarding their areas of specialties; these were things that could be explained in every industry. And for soldiers, it was the most direct thing, 'force'. There shouldn't be anyone able to endure and repress the feeling of being abused and killed. But there were leaders who could repress that anger, propose a logical reasoning that everyone could accept, analyze the situation well and quickly give orders to retreat, this kind of person existed in Academy City.
But no matter how good the political skills the enemy commander had, no matter how strong the forces he had, the thing that Acqua wanted to do hadn't changed.
Destroy the Imagine Breaker.
And to eradicate anything that was impeding him from taking action.
(Then. )
Acqua pulled out a pocket watch from his pocket and confirmed the time.
(So there are 19 hours till the Imagine Breaker deal, huh... ?)
He covered the pocket watch and slipped it into his pants pocket. Acqua slightly moved his eyeballs at the side.
"So I can see the 'outcome' now, right?"
Acqua said to the darkness.
"There's still more than half a day till that time. Are you guys prepared for this?"
Footsteps could be heard from deep within the darkness.
It wasn't just a pair.
The number of footsteps totaled around 50, and every one of them was of the Anglican Church sect, the Amakusa-style Remix of Church. The footsteps gave a sense of unity, as if they just penetrated each gap between the metal frames.
Males and females, young and old, they were all wearing ordinary attire, but they were wielding weapons like swords, spears, axes, bows, whips; and under the shine off the street lights, it was rather unlucky. There were people wielding weapons that even the ex-mercenary Acqua didn't know of, like the Japanese exclusive chain sickle (kusarigama), the jutte and even something like a metal flute.
Standing in front was the current substitute Supreme Pontiff of the Amakusa style Church, Tatemiya Saiji.
The reason why Acqua knew his name was simple. During the previous battle, Acqua had managed to sort out information that the Amakusa exchanged with each other. Being able to effectively gather information in the middle of a battlefield was something a mercenary had to be skilled in.
"Well, you gave us a tough question that we couldn't decide on, and ended up not bothered by it at all, so we quickly settled it. Got to thank you for that."
Tatemiya was holding a large wavy sword. Like a broadsword and two-handed sword, this was a huge two handed sword that was meant to cleave through the enemy's defenses.
It was a huge monster that was over 1. 8m in length.
But to Acqua, that was like a kid holding a wooden stick.
"An unreasonably tough question, huh?"
As if he was mocking, Acqua used the inside of his feet to knock the ground a few times.
Without a single sound, a large block of metal that was over 5m long leapt out from his shadow.
"Right now, you're against the 2 billion followers of the Roman Catholic Church, and you can escape with just the loss of a single arm. Is that a tough question at all? I thought it was a bargain."
"The real enemy isn't the Roman Catholic Church, but people like you who treat ordinary civilians as bait and manipulate them when they continue to believe in God."
"Humph, so the deal broke down, huh?"
"Is there anything else other than that?"
"Not much difference to me, I won't be bothered by it. On the other hand, you should be worrying... because you just gave up the one chance you had of surviving."
| ← Ch. 119 | Ch. 121 → |