Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 4, Chapter 1: Hex Suspect of the Magician World.

Part 1

Even if the reality before your eyes was inexplicable, time would still flow unremittingly.

Putting aside Kamijou, who was at a loss at what was happening, Touya, Index, and Mikoto decided to play at the beach. They ordered Kamijou to change into his swimming trunks, secure a place in the beach, and stand under a beach umbrella.

Under the beach umbrella and sitting cross-legged above the leisure sheet was Kamijou, alone.

(Is it alright to be wasting my time like this? I don't understand what's happening, but the world's in deep crisis right now. That said, I don't know of a means to deal with it.)

Due to the large jellyfish outbreak, there were no other people besides Kamijou at the beach today. A strident music song played lonesomely from the speaker, fastened from one of the trees that stood interspersed throughout the beach. Being like this, it seemed like the world was at peace; however, the TV program that he had seen earlier reminded him that it was not.

No matter what channel you tuned in to, all you'd see were mismatched people.

If all the channels were like that, it would mean that this commotion was occurring not only on this beach, but throughout Japan—no, in the worst case scenario, probably the whole world.

(...U-n. Maybe I'm just seeing a hallucination?)

(If there was trouble occurring throughout the whole world, then that scale would be simpler. If "being mismatched" was normal for other people, even if you certainly thought you were right, you'd rethink that maybe the fault's within you,) the easy-to-be-influenced Kamijou thought.

Kamijou, sitting cross-legged, heard footsteps made from the crunching of sand approaching from behind.

"Hey, Touma! Good work on securing the place; well, we're the only people today, so I guess it wouldn't make a difference even if you didn't. Wahahaha," laughed the big man.

Kamijou was petrified.

"Hoo~ What is it, Touma? You like my swimming trunks that much?"

Kamijou totally ignored Touya, and directed his gaze to the girl beside him. He looked at Index who was supposed to be his mother, Shiina.

(H-hey, wait, what's with that ungodly swimsuit!?)

Index was wearing a black bikini unbefitting her small figure.

A bikini usually comprises of string and cloth; however, in Index's case, the string was made up of a transparent nylon. Therefore, the cloth seems like it was taped to the part it was concealing when seen from afar.

Frankly, anyone who saw it would say that it was an adult swimsuit.

(Kuhh... Is this what you call the realm of gap and unbalance!? No, wait. This isn't the time to be glad. How did that Index, with zero pocket money, get her hands on that swimsuit?)

Index palmed her cheek with one hand as she gazed at the face of the perplexed Kamijou.

"My, my, Touma-san. Your face states that you have a problem with my swimsuit."

"That's beyond the problem! Where did you get that swimsuit? It's different from what you used yesterday!"

"My, my. I just prepared two or three different swimsuits beforehand."

"Ahahaha," laughed Touya. "Yep, Mom still has her sex appeal active. Good to know it's worth giving this to Mom as a present even though it cost me a lot to buy it."

Kamijou's eyes gleamed the instant he heard that.

"Confounded father! What do you think you're doing bribing people!? More importantly, how did you know Index's three sizes!? Don't tell me you two went to the supermarket together without my knowledge!"

"My, my, Touma-san. If you keep pushing your thumbs against your dad's carotid artery, it won't be long until he meets his maker."

"This lolicon is after your body, so don't stop me, Index!! Gaaaah!" Kamijou roared with a vehemence that could even spit fire from his mouth. "Shit, I knew it was weird that Mom looked younger than her age. Confess already, she's just twenty years old, right? In that case, how old was Mom when I was born!? Answer me, you pedo father!!"

"Bwrghgh. C-calm down, Touma. Here, have this souvenir that I bought from Ireland. It's an amulet to preserve family welfare."

"What's this naked figure of a woman!? Are you implicitly telling me that you're dying to do that kind of thing!?"

"N-no. It's their goddess of fertility named Sheela na Gig, I thi—Ggggahh!!"

Misaka Mikoto walked towards Kamijou, who was one step away from making a wrong decision in life.

"Are~ What's the fuss about, Oniichan? Ah, don't tell me there's an event revealing that you were not actually blood-related?"

"You, too, stop that forceful inclusion of 'stepfamily setting'! By the way, what's with that attire? We're not in a school pool anymore, so why are you in a school swimsuit?"

"Eh? Is it weird?"

"Kuh. So you're playing the cute sister character to the end, eh?"

Kamijou, cast off his hands from Touya's neck, slumped his body like an unmotivated octopus before breathing out a sigh. Touya, coughing violently while grasping his neck, looked at his son...

"Uhh, It's my careless mistake... I didn't know Touma had this mother complex..."

"My my. I didn't know that the Oedipus Complex, Freud-sensei's psychology theory that boys unconsciously hated their fathers, was real."

"This is bad. The side effect of living a solitary dormitory life for years has probably caused Touma to develop a strong desire for family love."

"Why is everyone like this...?" Kamijou said, gnashing his teeth. "On top of making a completely amateur diagnostic, they label people as mother-cons! Everyone, line up in that corner! I'll bury all your bodies with the hole that I dug using this mini-spade!"

"Kyaaahh!" the three happily screamed as they scampered to the sea.

"I won't let you escape!" Kamijou pursued them with a mini-spade in one hand—when he suddenly realized that he was forgetting something.

Kamijou then heard the crunching of sand from behind.

That's right; Aogami Pierce was also here for some reason. Kamijou froze upon remembering that.

If memory served him right, Index had worn a white one-piece swimsuit yesterday.

Today, Aogami Pierce was wearing the same sister suit that Index had worn.

Therefore, the dress that Aogami Pierce would wear when at the beach would be...

(W-wait. That's stupid... What on earth is this answer that you'd arrive at from this syllogism—?)

"Touma, Touma! I'm late, sorry for waiting."

Horrifying. This cute manly voice was indeed too horrifying.

(Don't turn around,) Kamijou thought.

He would probably lose a precious something after witnessing Aogami Pierce. Yet, as if facing a terrifying reality, he slowly swivelled his head around like a rusted robot.

In his view was...

A devil in a one-piece swimsuit.

"......Hahhh!?"

When Kamijou regained his senses, the sun was already positioned at the highest point in the sky. In his hand was a mini-spade, and near his feet was the head of a swooned Aogami Pierce sticking out of the sand.

"Did I do this? I wonder what I've done..."

Judging from the angle of Aogami Pierce's neck, he was buried perpendicularly in a pit. Kamijou mulled over the issue, but he didn't consider exhuming his friend; he was sure that he would lose something precious after seeing his getup.

(That's right, where's Fath—eh, what the hell is he doing enjoying himself while playing beach volleyball with Index and Mikoto!? Moreover, his eyes are filled with seriousness, and he's directly aiming for Index! D-damn! My long-awaited summer vacation is ruined because of him!)

(Anyway, I have to bury that useless lolicon father at all costs!)

Kamijou, with a mini-spade in one hand, ran towards the direction of the three. On the way, he had a feeling that he was overlooking something more important...

"Unyaaa-! Kami-yan, I finally found you!"

...when a weird voice rushed in. If one asked what was weird, the origin of the cat-style-like speech was not a girl but a man.

(W-what? That voice just now sounds familiar. Could it be...!?)

Kamijou stopped his feet and turned around. His gaze reflected the image of a big man with a height of 180 centimetres running towards Kamijou's location.

"T-Tsuchimikado?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu: Kamijou's next-door neighbor, and his classmate (he thought so, but because of his memory loss, he couldn't say for sure). His long arms were distinctive—they could even reach his knees when straightened out—and he had a tall height and spiky blond hair. He was wearing an aloha shirt and half pants. Light blue sunglasses covered his eyes. Dangling on his neck was a gold chain that matched the outfit of delinquents. Kamijou knew that he didn't have one bit of delinquency in him and was just wearing it because he wanted to become popular with girls. He had a stepsister named Tsuchimikado Maika, who was frequently seen in a maid outfit, that turned Tsuchimikado into a besotted and doting brother whenever they were together.

"Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing here outside the city? How did you leave Academy City? Is Maika with you!?"

"If possible, I'd like you to not call my sister so casually, but... there's not much time left, Kami-yan. I have one thing to ask: do you see me as 'Tsuchimikado Motoharu'?"

Kamijou couldn't comprehend the point of Tsuchimikado's question.

"Haah!? What are you talking about? Putting aside that nonsense question, how did you get he—?"

"Then that means... No, that's not possible..." Tsuchimikado mumbled to himself. "Well, whatever. Anyway, Kami-yan, you must get out of here ASAP. It's dangerous. What's dangerous, you ask? Soon, an irate nee-chin who went ballistic will come at you at any moment!"

"Hah? Nee-chin? Hey, don't tell me you did something?"

"Quit asking and just listen to your neighbor's advice!"

Tsuchimikado was probably in a state of confusion, as he couldn't convey his intention properly to Kamijou.

Kamijou just sloped his head to one side. Seeing his reaction, Tsuchimikado flusteredly badgered Kamijou to a degree that made his blue sunglasses slip off.

"Eeii! Kami-yan, did you notice something peculiar when you woke up this morning!?"

"Hmm? Yeah, everyone was somewhat strange, as if their insides (identities) and outsides (appearances) were swapped. Huh? Why do you know this?"

Kamijou glanced at the seaside where the three are playing beach volleyball.

"Just like I said! Nee-chin thinks you're the culprit who cast this 'swap' magic!"

"Ha?"

(Culprit?) Kamijou who was completely in the dark continued tilting his head. Then...

"I finally found you, Kamijou Touma!"

A girl's animosity-filled voice rushed in from his side.

Tsuchimikado faced the sky in despondency. Kamijou turned to the direction of the voice.

A girl with a height of 170 centimetres, too tall for her gender, was standing there. Her long hair was ponytailed in the back with a length that reached her hips. She had a nicely shaped body. One could easily associate her white skin with that of a princess, but mysteriously, unlike the conventional princesses, there was not one bit of transience or fragileness present in her.

The reason must have been because of her clothing style. She wore a half-sleeve T-shirt on upper body with the lower part of the T-shirt rolled up and tied exposing her navel. On her lower body was an overused jeans... but one lateral half was cut deliberately, exposing one of her white legs. Boots like those from wild wild west movies adorned her feet. An extra belt tilted on top of the other one that was fastened around the waist, had a holster to hold a handgun.

But the thing that was supposed to be in there was not a gun, instead, a Japanese sword. One could tell at first glance that this sword, somewhere around two metres in length, was an extraordinary one. Combining it with her pony-tailed jet-black hair, she resembled a samurai during warring state period.

That Bakumatsu [1] swordgirl was glaring at Kamijou.

With rage in her face, she unreluctantly edged up to Kamijou's.

What was scary was that this girl had been repeatedly touching and letting go of her sword.

"Kamijou Touma! I know you are the one behind this swap magic... this Angel Fall! In the count of three, turn everything back to normal or else...!"

The girl was already before Kamijou's eyes. Her irate words had the subtext that she would even beat Kamijou before she could finish counting. Kamijou was fazed. Being approached by an angry person with a huge sword, anyone would be scared.

"Eh? What is this person saying? Tsuchimikado, is this the 'nee-chin' you're talking about? ...Hey, don't run away by yourself, bastard!"

Tsuchimikado, who was furtively distancing himself while Kamijou was focused at the girl, froze at Kamijou's shout, then turned around. His sunglasses light blue lens glittered.

Kamijou gazed at the seaside. The distance between Index and others and Kamijou was more or less a hundred metres away. Yet, Kamijou felt for a moment that other side was a distant paradise that he wouldn't be able reach even if he spent an eternity.

Kamijou felt the desire to flee there, but doubled back on that thought. There wouldn't be any difference. A different problem would be waiting for him there.

The girl in front of him had probably calmed down and said, "Ah, I see. That's right. I apologize. It seemed my rage clouded my judgement. For the record, let me ask you: who do you see me?"

(Who, you ask...?)

Kamijou sloped his head at the strangeness of the question. From the way she had asked, she assumed that her appearance might look like a different person. Well, first of all, Kamijou, who had suffered memory loss after a certain incident didn't even remember that girl. Throwing a question like this to him, he had no answer but to tilt head.

The Samurai girl seemed to have sensed something from Kamijou's reaction. She said in an impatient voice, "...Geez, Putting up a lame act. You called me 'nee-chin' a while ago. My name isn't nee-chin. I am Kanzaki Kaori, an Anglican magician from Necessarius. I am aware that it was a short term encounter but don't tell me you've already forgotten about me."

Kamijou was shocked at Kanzaki's words, in two ways.

First, that queer Samurai girl, a mix-of-Japanese-and-English existence was actually his acquaintance.

Second, that she revealed her identity as an Anglican magician.

The Anglican Church's organisation Necessarius was a group that specialised in dealing with magicians, and Index and Stiyl Magnus were both members. Speaking of which, though Kanzaki’s weird outfit didn’t fit current society, she did have the same job as Index and Stiyl (though mentioning this may be rather rude).

But if that was true, then there was another suspicion within Kamijou’s heart.

Why was Tsuchimikado related to this real magician?

At that moment, Tsuchimikado sighed, and said, “Oi oi, Kanzaki nee-chin, you don’t have to be so combative.”

“What are you saying, Tsuchimikado? I’m just trying to solve the current problem. To me, you lack the sense of being a magician.”

Hearing that, Kamijou gasped.

“Oi, what did you say? What about being a magician?”

Kamijou stared at his neighbour Tsuchimikado in disbelief. In response, Tsuchimikado let out a sinister smile.

“That’s right. I’m a member of Necessarius too.”

Tsuchimikado said casually.

It took a while for Kamijou to realise the meaning of what Tsuchimikado had said.

The blue sunglasses were glittering.

The sunlight reflected from it became a weird colour.

“Wait...wait a second...you’re saying that you’re a magician?”

“Yeah.”

Tsuchimikado straightforwardly nodded his head.

“Did you think that there aren’t any magicians inside Academy City? It’s the complete opposite. Academy City is the enemy of the world of churches, so it isn’t strange to have one or two spies planted inside, right? Besides me, there seems to be many others.”

“...But...”

What Tsuchimikado said didn’t make sense.

But to hear Tsuchimikado that he knew from his normal everyday life say such logical things made Kamijou feel extremely unusual.

“Why do you think I could get to the 'outside' of Academy City? Don’t you find it strange? Actually, thirteen hours ago, I was in Windsor Castle in England, together with Kanzaki nee-chin. Of course, I didn’t write a permit, I didn’t get nanomachines injected in me. I used a technique of getting out by the back door.”

“...”

Even if he heard it from the person himself, Kamijou couldn’t believe that this was true. To Kamijou, Tsuchimikado Motoharu was just his hostel neighbour in his everyday life. Purposely dressing up like a hooligan to be popular with the girls, frantically running over to Kamijou’s room for help when his non-blood-related sister Maika just got summer flu. Anyway, he seemed like an ordinary guy, and shouldn’t be related to that abnormal world called magic.

Thus, Kamijou unconsciously racked through his brain for an excuse.

“Wait...hold on! You did go through the lessons and training of Academy City, right? I heard that espers can’t use magic! So—”

“That’s right. Thus, to sneak into the enemy’s territory, I, Tsuchimikado, was forced to give up on magic and the title as the Onmyoji professor of the highest order. But in the end, I got a Level 0 ability that I couldn’t use at all, what a loss!”

The dorm neighbour let out a sinister smile.

“But in this world, in order to earn the trust of others, some spies can hide their names for at least fifty years! If I couldn’t endure such a sacrifice, I’m too naïve.”

“But you...”

Kamijou wanted to ask something else, but couldn’t continue on.

Seeing Kamijou look so surprised, Tsuchimikado let out a self-mocking smile and said, “That’s right. This is Tsuchimikado’s real identity. A tool that reports every single action that Academy City does to the Anglican Church. Basically, I’m a spy.”

A spy.

The word that didn’t have any surreal sense, the word that could only be heard in a movie.

At this moment, Kanzaki completely ignored Kamijou’s shock and asked Tsuchimikado dully.

“Let me ask you again, Tsuchimikado. Is it really alright for you to reveal your real identity like this?”

“No problems. Besides, the higher-ups knew about it, they just didn’t take action. Right now, my situation is as if they’re playing me in their palms.”

Through the blue shades, Tsuchimikado’s eyes narrowed.

“Since I haven’t met any harm up till now, it means that the information I got isn’t enough for them to kill me...it’s true that we won’t be able to fight them once they know the truth about the Imaginary Number District - Five Elements Institution. Besides, it’s just a job, and I don’t want to lose my life because of it. It’s about time to retreat, there’s some danger in probing further. Besides, we won’t be able to do any damage to Aleister. Really, Academy City’s dark side is not fun to deal with.”

“...”

Tsuchimikado’s words made Kamijou tremble.

Kamijou didn’t hear any explosive inside story. Actually, he didn’t understand anything at all. However, since Kamijou couldn’t understand Tsuchimikado’s words, it showed that Tsuchimikado and Kamijou weren’t people of the same world.

“...So this means...that you’re a real magician?”

“A somewhat unique, rather one-of-a-kind magician.”

A spy.

Even if he knew this, the impression that Kamijou had of Tsuchimikado Motoharu wasn’t broken at all. To Kamijou, Tsuchimikado was still his dorm neighbour, a good brother to his little sister Maika, a bad good guy that provided shelter for his little sister when she snuck out of the girls’ dormitory.

Even if the man himself had just said his real identity, it didn’t affect Kamijou’s impression of him; that showed how much he had integrated into Academy City, and that was truly the most terrifying point.

“Hm, let’s not talk about this first.”

Tsuchimikado briskly changed the topic.

“Right now, the main point is how we should handle the substitution in roles? Kami-yan, you should have noticed this scenario, right?”

“Hold on...hearing you say that, I suppose you’re clear about what’s going on?”

“Ah, it’s not really that. Right now, we know only one thing, that the substitution in roles isn’t the main aim here, it’s just a side-effect nya.”

“Side-effect? For what?”

Kamijou frowned. He could understand the meaning of ‘substitution in roles’. Everyone wasn’t right when he woke up that morning, he saw some strange things when he turned on the TV. But what did he mean by ‘side-effect’ and ‘main aim’? Using those terms made it seem like it was all man-made.

Seeing Kamijou look suspicious, Kanzaki couldn’t help but sigh.

“Tsuchimikado, it seems really hard for anyone to understand if the person hasn’t heard of the Kabbalah tree theory.”

“I know. But if so, wouldn’t your original theory be wrong?” Tsuchimikado laughed and said, “How can a magical amateur like Kamijou Touma cause such a large spell that changes the inside and outer appearance like Angel Fall?”

Shocked by Tsuchimikado’s words, Kamijou stared intently at him.

“What? What has this got to do with me?”

Kamijou questioned Tsuchimikado, but the one who responded was Kanzaki, who didn’t look convinced.

“...There’s a boy, for some reason, there were a lot of things that commonly happened around him. Right now, with that boy as centre, something else occurred. The entire world is affected by this, and the only one not affected by this is this boy in the middle of the commotion. In this situation, we suspect that this boy is the culprit, isn’t it unreasonable?”

“Oi...oioi! Hold on! You’re saying it really strangely! What ‘something happened’ again? By your explanation, are all these man-made?”

“Do you think that these are natural disasters?”

Kamijou inadvertently remained silent.

Tsuchimikado forced a smile and said, “Oi, Kami-yan, don’t be so silent! Or you’ll be blamed for this!”

“Tsuchimikado, who did you say will be blamed for this? Right now, the only people in the entire world who aren’t affected by Angel Fall is—”

“Hold up! What’s that ‘Angel Fall’ which you talked of so many times?”

Kamijou picked out a term from Kanzaki’s words, and the two magicians turned over to look at Kamijou.

“Ah—Angel Fall is...it’s rather troublesome to explain it. Kanzaki, I’ll leave it to you nya—”

“Tsuchimikado, don’t be so old-fashioned when you talk.” Kanzaki looked bored as she sighed, and said, “Basically, this substitution in roles phenomenon is a human-made event caused by someone using magic.”

“Human-made event?”

Kanzaki silently nodded her head.

Kamijou looked like he didn’t understand, and Kanzaki continued, “Right now, the entire world is affected by some magic, creating this phenomenon. Even the records of the library of England have nothing regarding this. As the specific spell and construct of the spell is still a mystery, we went according to the features of the phenomenon and temporarily called this spell Angel Fall.”

“...You didn’t know how it was made, but you knew what’s going on?”

How far away.

Such a conversation content made the noises of Index and everyone else playing seem so far away.

“It’s like a mysterious giant beast attacking a city.”

Tsuchimikado smiled as he explained.

“Even after the guards investigated for at least half a day, they couldn’t find out the real identity of the beast. They just know that they have to stop it to prevent the damage from becoming more widespread. Kami-yan, you’re just restrained by common knowledge and your own perspective. You just need to imagine it as gaming rules, and it should be rather easy for you to understand it.”

“Your example here made me unable to understand it at all.”

Hearing Tsuchimikado’s words, Kanzaki looked completely perplexed as she tilted her head and said it.

(To think that this woman could do such a cutesy action.) Kamijou thought rather rudely.

“Let’s explain it a little further. This spell called ‘Angel Fall’ includes the ideas of the Kabbalah. Have you heard of it?”

“...No impression.”

Actually, Kamijou seemed to have heard of it before, but since he didn’t really remember, he denied it. Thinking about it, the magician Stiyl seemed to have said it before during the battle against the alchemist.

“The so-called Tree of Life is basically a hierarchy of identities, separating God, angels, humans and souls into ten levels on a pyramid; this is the basic concept.”

“It’s based on the picture drawn out to show that God reigns supreme over everything. Well, simply put, this picture shows that humans can only reach a certain level, and beyond is God’s territory, so it can’t be invaded.”

“The number of humans and angels were already decided, thus in ordinary circumstances, humans are definitely unable to be promoted to become angels. In contrast, angels are never to be demoted to be humans.”

“Because every single realm is already filled up.”

Following off what Tsuchimikado said, Kanzaki continued, “But this spell called ‘Angel Fall’ is just as what the name implies, it can force an angel that’s in the heavens to become a human. And the human realm is like a cup full of water, if a drop of angel is to fall in—what will happen to the cup of water?”

“Ah...eh...” Kamijou looked rather awkward as he said, “An...angel...?”

“Yes. Strictly speaking, it’s not heaven’s messenger, but God’s messenger. Are there any questions?”

Kanzaki answered seriously.

“Hm...”

Kamijou’s mind stopped thinking.

Mikoto and company were having fun playing with the beach ball, and the sounds reached the ears of the completely silent Kamijou. As there were only the few of them on the wide coast, the sounds brought a bit of loneliness.

It was not like Kamijou didn’t understand, but trying to click with those people who were from the magic world with scientific knowledge was impossible. Basically, Kamijou once got involved with a case involving vampires, and nearly lost his life.

The problem is...an angel? Wouldn’t it be too far-fetched?

(If anyone were to hear that ‘the problem that’s happening on Earth now is caused by an angel!’ and yet could respond with ‘this is bad, what should we do?’, it was likely that they had lost all hope on their own lives, right?) Kamijou seriously thought.

“...What angel? This is truly hard to believe. In this age, space shuttles can break through the atmosphere, and there’s no sign of a heaven...”

“Mm, the high and low relationship of heaven and hell isn’t of height.”

“Then what is it?”

“Here’s an example. Human eyes can’t see infrared rays, and human ears can’t detect high frequency sounds. You can understand this right, Kami-yan?”

“Ah? Mn.”

“The high and low refers to this, anything that’s above or below what humans can detect. They can’t feel it if it’s too high or if it’s too low. So even if God is to appear beside Kami-yan, you should be unable to detect it.”

Tsuchimikado delightedly smiled.

“Yeah. The low is referring to hell of the devil. What’s opposite Infrared rays are ultraviolet rays, and low frequency in contrast to high frequency; in other words, an inversion. Though both waves are different, both are still waves. In other words, even if there’s an angel standing beside a demon, they won’t be able to detect each other unless they interfere with each other in the area between heaven and hell called the ‘human realm’.”

“Tsuchimikado...”

Kanzaki’s tone sounded rather stern.

She didn’t seem to like Tsuchimikado using infrared and high frequency as examples.

“But once objects are lit by infrared rays, they will grow hot. Glass will vibrate when there’s a high frequency sound. This is called a Divine Retribution or a miracle. So on first glance, the heaven that doesn’t react will sometimes affect the human realm. Of course, there may be opposite effects.”

Kamijou still didn’t understand.

Tsuchimikado continued, “Oh yes, Kami-yan. In religions that worship idols like Buddhism and Christianity, the power of God or power of angels do actually exist around us.”

“...”

Kamijou looked suspicious.

“I’m not lying to you. Here’s an example. Wouldn’t there be a cross at the top of the roof of a church? These crosses have a special power, but are these crosses the ones used to kill the saints? The answer is obviously no.”

Tsuchimikado continued to wave his hand and said, “The crosses on the top of the churches are all fake, but even a fake can have power. As long as the shape and purpose is similar, it can obtain a small portion of the real one. This is the Idol Theory.”

Basically, adding a metal sword and light magic together will create a light magic blade.

“This Idol Theory rule applies to angels as well. As long as one uses some special skills, the power of an angel can be placed on an item. For example, an angel’s sculpture on the tip of a sword can cause the blade to be infused with angelic power. Carving an angel’s name onto a protective magic array will grant the defensive power of an angel...of course, the amount of power a substitute can get is extremely little. Only in the Old Testament of the Bible did an angel truly descend on earth.”

“These are to be made under one assumption, that angels exist.”

“...This is really unbelievable.”

Even though Kamijou was still suspicious, he didn’t dare try to act snobbish. Besides, these guys were experts, and they were serious, not joking at all. When he faced off against the alchemist, Kamijou really had a hard time because he didn’t listen to Stiyl’s explanation seriously; thus, he learnt his lesson.

“Sorry, I just want to confirm this...is this really not a prank?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

Kanzaki coughed a bit, and continued.

“Anyway, Angel Fall is a spell that forcefully pulls an angel down from above, and this will affect the four worlds—in other words, the original world, the world of creation, the formed world and the physical world.”

“...Eh, Tsuchimikado-sensei, may I know what language this Missy is speaking?”

“I’ll explain this. Like what you see, Kami-yan, everyone’s inside and outside have switched. This is like a musical chairs game, once the game starts, the chairs and the people sitting on the chairs will change completely. But in this game, not everyone will get a chair eventually. The only one left without a seat will be squeezed into the sky—to sit on the chair that the angel originally vacated.”

A substitution of roles.

What resulted were the scenes that Kamijou saw at the seaside and on the television.

Kamijou finally understood that part.

Tsuchimikado casually chuckled and said, “However, the theory isn’t important at all. We just need to know that something strange happened and that we have to stop it.”

“...Stop it? Is there a way?”

“Yeah. It seems like this spell called ‘Angel Fall’ is still incomplete. If we want to stop it, now’s the time. Even if it’s your right hand, it can’t revive someone who’s been burned to ash, right? Same logic, it will be too late if the spell is complete.”

“...”

Your right hand.

Though it may not seem important, but how did Tsuchimikado know about the Imagine Breaker?

Seeing Kamijou look so suspicious, Tsuchimikado paused momentarily, before continuing.

“Oi oi, do I need to explain this as well? The battle for the Index, the invasion of Misawa Cram School, the termination of the Level 6 project, I knew about all these events. I was even the one in charge of investigating for two of those events.”

Tsuchimikado casually said such shocking things before returning back to topic as per normal.

“Though the real spell is a mystery, Angel Fall is a global spell. It’s too much for a magician to try and carry it out, so the culprit should have carried out a ritual centre like barrier or magic array.”

Tsuchimikado then said with an enthusiastic tone, “Thus, there are two ways to prevent Angel Fall. One is to beat the caster, and the second is to destroy the ritual centre. Of course, there’s a time limit, but we don’t know how much time do we have, which makes this thrilling.”

In the end, Kamijou was still confused. Anyway, because of a certain someone, everyone’s inside got switched...that’s what he meant, right?

At this moment, any ordinary person would have shouted ‘isn’t this too ridiculous’? But Kamijou himself was living in a city with 2.3 million espers, and had fought against magicians before. Thus, he knew that there were many things that can’t be brought through with just a simple ‘this is too illogical’.

Thus, Kamijou started to be bothered.

It seemed like everyone’s actions looked so strange because of the substitution in roles. Kamijou recalled what had happened that morning. It was extremely disastrous ever since he woke up this morning, Misaka Mikoto actually became his little sister—

“—Wait...hold on! This is too weird! Why do I have an extra little sister? I don’t have a little sister at all!”

If all those strange phenomenon were caused by the substitution in roles (though it sounds ridiculous), how did Mikoto become Kamijou’s little sister?

Kanzaki casually continued.

“Well, who knows? But since there’s a substitution in roles, it means that there should be someone that originally exist. Or maybe you really do have a little sister in this world; just that you don’t know of.”

“What? So I found out about my family’s big secret due to this?”

Kamijou was shocked severely, but still managed to make a little joke. Unfortunately, he was not really convinced.

“Speaking of which, what’s the culprit’s intention to blow it up like this?”

“I can guess two reasons. One is to capture the angel who falls to earth as a slave, the other is to take the original position of the angel.”

“No matter what the reason is, if it succeeds, it’ll be something big within the Kabbalah world. The members of the Golden Dawn should be panicking like crazy now.”

“If it were to be used for malice—an angel’s power can destroy the entire Vatican. This isn’t a joke, the criminal’s aim can’t just be for something casual.”

“Excuse me...” Completely being ignored, Kamijou carefully opened his mouth and said, “Can we get back on topic? What should I do now? What do you guys intend to do to me by coming all the way here?”

“Ah, about this...”

Tsuchimikado’s tone seemed to indicate that this wasn’t important at all.

“We’ve just said it before. According to the results of the investigation, this strange phenomenon seems to be caused by you at the centre, Kami-yan. However, you’re unaffected even though you’re at the centre...”

“...What?”

Kamijou was stunned and his eyes widened.

“So you’re suspected as the culprit. It’s like a hacker spreading a virus worldwide, the hacker won’t let his own computer be hacked, right?”

“Wait...hold on! If you say so, aren’t you guys still the same?”

“Kanzaki and I were lucky. I said before that Angel Fall started because it spread from you. Kanzaki nee-chin and I just so happened to be in London when the spell was activated.”

“...So this meant that everyone in London is okay?”

“As if. The power of Angel Fall is tremendous. We just so happened to be inside Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle has a stronghold-level defensive barrier, and its defensive capability is definitely not less than the white Walking Church. Besides us, it seems like the people inside the deepest parts of Westminster Abbey and Southwark Cathedral are alright.”

Tsuchimikado chuckled.

“Under the double protection of the distance and the barrier, we managed to escape. However, most of the magicians got hit by the poison of Angel Fall, there are very few people who realised this.”

“Oh...though I don’t really understand what’s going on, isn’t this a silver lining in the cloud?”

“Not just that. Nee-chin was okay, but I wasn’t inside the deepest part at that time. If I didn’t set up a barrier for myself during the 300 seconds when the outside barrier was activated, even I would be affected.”

“...Eh? But you just said that you can’t use magic...”

Even now, Kamijou was still rather confused about this thing called magic.

However, Kamijou did witness the students of Misawa Cram School who were manipulated by the alchemist use magic, and their bodies exploded due to the rejection. Anyway, espers can’t use magic.

Tsuchimikado seemed to understand what Kamijou meant, as he smirked slightly and said, “That’s right. This is why there are some parts of me that are absolutely terrible now. I’ll definitely die the next time I use magic.”

A gust blew by, lifting up Tsuchimikado’s flowery shirt.

Kamijou saw that underneath the shirt—there was a large black bloody patch on him. It seemed like his body had gotten corroded by something unknown.

“Even so, I haven’t completely escaped the control of Angel Fall.” Tsuchimikado chuckled, and continued, “Besides us and you, to others, I’m ‘switched’ now. My current appearance is of an idol superstar named Hitotsui Hajime. A few days ago, this person was exposed by the tabloids to have an affair with another famous female star. Thus, right now, if any of those rabid girls is to see me, they’ll come chasing after me with metal bats. This is truly a unique life experience.”

Tsuchimikado then pointed at his sunglasses and said, “So I have no choice but to disguise myself.”

“Erm...this means that...” Kamijou carefully asked Tsuchimikado, “So you’re that handsome idol to those substituted people?”

“That’s the case.”

Tsuchimikado said casually.

“Aren’t you all too popular now! I’m in a mess here and yet you’re so popular out there!”

“Well, this life is rather tiring as well. Besides, if I want to destroy this Angel Fall, I can’t let myself be dragged down by the crowd.”

“...Well, at least you’re being professional here.”

Kamijou turned to Kanzaki and said, “That onee-san got switched in other people’s eyes as well, right?”

“...”

Kanzaki remained silent, her shoulders trembling slightly.

(Eh? Don’t tell me I tripped on her land mine?) Kamijou wondered.

“...—iyl.”

“What?”

Kamijou was shocked.

Kanzaki then continued in a flat tone, “My appearance right now is that of Stiyl Magnus. That’s right, to them, I’m now one over two metre tall man with long red hair. Once I enter a bathroom or a changing room, someone will call the police, I’ll be mistaken to be a pervert while taking the train. Yes, I was shocked. For a moment, I thought that the whole world was against me.”

Kamijou thought, so a human’s emotions aren’t necessarily expressed in facial expressions or tone. Such a monotone that doesn’t have any emotions in it can actually be that terrifying.

Kamijou could be certain.

That onee-san really seemed to be angry.

With an emotionless puppet-like expression, Kanzaki forcefully placed her hands onto Kamijou’s shoulders.

“Did you really not do anything? You were the culprit, right? To be honest, I won’t be angry. An angel being controlled by a magician, this is one huge event that’s unheard of. Do you know how dangerous that is? I had enough, I should immediately settle this. Do you know how terrible it is to be treated as a big and tall Englishman with a sissy’s voice?”

“Uu...oooiii! Stop...shaking...stop shaking me!”

Without showing any expression, Kanzaki shook Kamijou’s shoulders back and forth with a terrifying force that exceeded human logic. Kamijou was terrified that his neck would snap.

“Do you understand now? Being at the centre of this strange phenomenon, you’ll be viewed by every other magician in the world who escaped this as the culprit; you’ll be hunted by them.”

“STOP WATCHING THE SHOW FROM THE SIDELINES! HURRY...UP AND TELL HER TO STOP SHAKING ME!”

Kamijou shouted, feeling like he was about to throw up.

“U...uuugh...THINK ABOUT IT, YOU GUYS! ANGEL FALL IS A MAGIC SPELL, AND I’M AN ESPER, HOW CAN I CAST MAGIC!?”

The hands of Kanzaki that were shaking Kamijou violently froze instantly.

Without moving, Kanzaki looked into Kamijou’s eyes, and like ice in a cup melting, she frowned slightly, revealing a puzzled expression.

“If so, this means that we’re completely clueless here. We have no idea what the culprit intends to use the angel for, but we have to quickly prevent Angel Fall. Am I going to continue living on as a foreign juggernaut who’s very fluent in Japanese but talks like a lady...?”

Hearing Kanzaki say this, though this incident wasn’t Kamijou’s fault, he did feel a sense of guilt and sadness.

What was that feeling? It was like seeing a neighbour’s perfect nee-chan suddenly crying. It was completely different from the feeling that Index gave of wanting to protect her.

Originally feeling casual, Tsuchimikado seemed to have that feeling as well. He said, “All right, all right. If so, I guess that we have to start over our investigations again.”

“...Oh yeah...”

Kanzaki looked at Tsuchimikado and said, “Tsuchimikado, you’re an esper as well, but you did use magic before...so it’s likely that...”

Kanzaki’s tone was rather calm, but Kamijou felt goosebumps on his back, and quickly clarified, “Hold...hold on hold on! The problem is that I have no knowledge of magic at all!”

“That’s right, but you do have the Index with you, right?”

“That’s right, that’s a blind spot,” Tsuchimikado said in a casual tone, sounding rather impressed.

And after which, he found Kamijou glaring at him and felt somewhat embarrassed, so he quickly rounded off, “But Kanzaki nee-chin, if espers use magic, it’ll greatly damage their bodies. At the very least, there will be bleeding, and in serious cases, a massive body explosion—it was mentioned in the report of the Misawa incident, right? You can see that Kami-yan’s body is rather healthy here.”

“Mn, then let’s confirm it.”

After saying that, Kanzaki naturally reached her hand out and tapped Kamijou’s stomach lightly.

“WAH! WHAT...WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

“Why are you jumping up out of a sudden? I’m just checking to see if there are any wounds. Seeing your overreaction, there are some parts inside that are damaged and can’t be seen by the human eye, right?”

“NO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WON’T JUMP AT THIS! THIS IS A NATURAL REACTION, STOP TOUCHING ME LIKE THAT, FOR GOODNEES SAKE!”

“That’s too suspicious. You’re afraid of being checked, right? If you’re innocent, you won’t be mindful of being checked no matter the means, right?”

Kamijou stared at the shallow beach. If Index and the rest were to see him being molested by a nee-chin, it would be over. He wouldn’t be able to wash his sins away even if he were to jump into a river.

“...(To indicate that anyone who refuses to be checked is the culprit. Kanzaki nee-chin really is one of the radical juries of the Anglican Church's Necessarius.)”

Rather understanding of the workings of the magic world, Tsuchimikado seemed to be rather impressed. Of course, Kamijou wouldn’t know about such things.

“Ugh...all...all right! My innocence can be proven if I don’t have any external wounds or internal bleeding, right...OOOOIII! STOP...DON’T TOUCH ANY STRANGE PLACES!!”

“??? Anyway, please don’t move.”

Kanzaki’s slender fingers moved underneath Kamijou’s armpits, chest and other areas slowly. Though Kanzaki gave an icy impression, her fingers were unexpectedly warm. Facing this predicament, Kamijou started to sweat profusely. The sweat-stained fingers of Kanzaki felt like someone licking Kamijou’s body with their tongue.

(Hold...hold on...! Not good...ooiii!! If...if she continues to touch me like this...I’ll develop some weird interests in the future...!)

“...”

Kanzaki moving fingers suddenly stopped.

She silently looked down.

Kamijou Touma’s beach pants.

That’s right. Since Kamijou Touma was a healthy high school student, there was a reaction to Kanzaki Kaori’s reckless palpation, and the centre of that reaction was hidden inside the centre of the beach pants.

“Wait...wait a second! Miss Kanzaki! This isn’t some! This is an effective factor! It’s an irresistible accident! I’m sorry, I’m wrong! It’s my fault, please don’t serve me up with that Japanese sword!”

Kamijou frantically tried to explain after being stunned for a while. However, Kanzaki didn’t seem to be thinking about that.

Like a stone statue, she remained silent for a while, and finally said, “...You’re right. If we’re to start checking, we have to be thorough, even inside the pants.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? WHO WILL ALLOW THAT...AHHH, YOU’LL VIEW ME AS THE CULPRIT IF I SAY ‘NO’, RIGHT!? BUT I WON’T AGREE TO IT NO MATTER WHAT! DON’T I HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTEST AS A HEALTHY YOUNG BOY!?”

“Hm.”

Kanzaki moved her eyes up from the beach pants.

“Alright, maybe my method isn’t working. Since I’m of the opposite gender, it must be painful to be checked here like this.”

“That...that’s right! Just like this! We can still talk if you calm down!”

“So, being of the same gender, Tsuchimikado, please do the honours.”

“Wait...Tsuchimikado? Like that palpation just now? Inside the beach pants? No...NOOOO!! I DON’T WANT IT!!”

“Really? Then I’ll do it then.”

“Why...WHY IS IT ‘IF IT’S NOT A, THEN IT’S B’!? WHY ARE THERE ONLY A AND B AS OPTIONS!? HOLD...HOLD ON! MISS KANZAKI! WHY ARE YOU WEARING SURGICAL GLOVES!? HOLD...HOLD ON! WAIT...AHHHHH—!”

Option C, raising a toy shovel and shouting : “I’ll kill you.”

Embarrassed and angry, Kamijou’s tears were about to come out as he increased his distance from the strange neighbour and the nee-chin with the Japanese nodachi. Using his hands to hold down the beach pants that he barely managed to defend, he stared at those two like a wounded beast.

The two magicians felt rather awkward as well.

“S-see? I was right, right? Kami-yan wasn’t switched not because he was the culprit, but because the effects of Angel Fall got negated by the Imagine Breaker.”

“Hm, but if so, this is a bit problematic. We have already lost track of our goal. If Angel Fall is complete, it will cause devastation on a mythical scale; but we don’t have a single clue...”

“It’s not that we don’t have a clue at all. At least we know that the Angel Fall started with Kami-yan at the centre, so the culprit should be near him!”

“The problem is that we don’t know whether the culprit actually interacted with Kamijou Touma.”

“That’s rather troublesome. My pulse will explode if I use magic again. Ah, that’s right, how about we get Kami-yan to help us track this culprit?”

“Your suggestion is rather illogical. Are you going to ask your guests to help you build your house when you don’t have enough workers?”

“That’s alright, isn’t it? We will protect Kami-yan from being attacked by the culprit, and Kami-yan will destroy the location of the Angel Fall spell. We’ll still need him though. What do you think, Kami-yan?”

Kamijou didn’t answer.

He was silently writing a few words with his fingers: I’m going to sue you.

Part 2

After 8PM, the real night of summer descended.

Kamijou’s family was gathered at the first level of the seaside resort, sitting around the round table. Even though it was Kamijou’s family, the roles had switched.

As ‘Kamijou’s friend’, Kanzaki Kaori naturally blended into that crew of strange characters. Of course, to the rest, she was a rough red-haired foreign delinquent.

Kamijou was feeling rather insecure. Since they didn’t know when Angel Fall would be complete, how could she be sitting down there so casually? But to Kanzaki, since the phenomenon was centred around Kamijou, it seemed like protecting Kamijou was also one of her priorities.

However, Tsuchimikado hadn’t joined in. Right now, he should be playing with sea roaches along the barrier reefs. To the others, he was an idol who just got into trouble; and as a professional spy, Tsuchimikado most likely wouldn’t want to get caught up with having to handle people.

So right now, everyone who was sitting around the round table were ordinary civilians (on the surface).

Everyone was hungry, but there was no sign of the shopkeeper.

Turning on the television, they only saw Komoe-sensei reporting the depressing news that the serial killer Hino Jinsaku had escaped from prison, and still had not been found. They were unable to use that as a topic for conversation.

Even though he didn’t know what to say, Touya still tried to talk to Kanzaki.

“Hello, I’m Touma’s father. I didn’t know that Touma has foreign friends; it’s really the age of globalisation. Ah, let me give you an Egyptian talisman as a greeting gift. It’s a scarab from Egypt. It’s said that once you have it, you won’t get lost in the desert.”

Touya pulled out a grounded pepper-sized bottle, and Kamijou was stunned before he shouted out.

There was a dried dead insect stored inside.

“Isn’t this a dung beetle? Don’t put such a thing on the dinner table, stupid dad!”

“No.”

Kanzaki said calmly.

“In Egypt, the scarab represents transmigration. It is a representative gift of Egyptian culture, like the Eye of Horus and the Ankh (key of life).”

“Erm...yeah...that’s right! Touma, Dad’s not too sure, but you shouldn’t be so quick to deny other countries’ cultures like that.”

“What...am I the only one? Am I the only one who feels that one shouldn’t put a dried dead insect like that onto the dining table?”

Kamijou was hit greatly, but at that moment, Mikoto, who was sitting beside Kamijou, tugged his shirt and said, “...No, I’m on onii-chan’s side. It’s scary to use that kind of thing as a mobile phone keychain. It may also tremble when the phone vibrates.”

“I really want to thank you for your honest opinion, but hearing that act-cutesy voice of yours really irritates me.”

“What!?”

Mikoto puffed her cheeks, but Kamijou completely ignored her.

At that moment, Kamijou remembered something.

Kamijou’s family shouldn’t have a little sister. To everyone, who was Mikoto?

Thus, Kamijou moved his position to secretly ask Index, who was taking the role of his mother.

“(Oi oi, let me ask you, who’s that imouto? I’m really curious...)”

“Ara ara, so does Touma like girls who are like that little sister?”

Seeing his that his mother’s brain was short-circuited, Kamijou raised his fist and knocked her head slightly as if he was knocking a faulty television.

“Ara ara, you really don’t take care of a girl’s feelings. That’s Touma’s cousin, Otohime.”

“(...Cousin)?”

“Ara ara, has Touma forgotten about her already? Then you don’t remember uncle and aunt Tatsugami already? You probably never met them ever since you graduated from kindergarten and entered Academy City. However, you did take an afternoon nap together with Otohime in the same bed.”

“But...but no one was here yesterday?”

“She just came in this morning.”

As they talked, footsteps could be heard from the entrance leading to the seaside. The owner was back.

“Sorry sorry, I didn’t have time to say hello to you people. The loudspeaker on the seaside was broken, and it took a while to repair it.

The one closest to the owner, Kanzaki, turned around and said, “Please don’t mind, the loudspeaker can be used to report any incoming tsunami and assist in relief work, it’s most important to handle this since it involves human safety...Sti...Stiyl? What’s going on?”

“Stiyl? Is that a common slang?”

The tall and huge man with long red hair said suspiciously.

“You’re about to eat dinner, already, right? There’s not much variety here, but the advantage here is that we’re fast!”

“No...erm...(I was too careless...I forgot that Stiyl’s here in Japan to hunt people down!)”

It seemed like Stiyl was completely controlled by Angel Fall. Thinking of which, all the magicians in the world should be the same now, and besides, there were very few magicians who detected that anomaly, like Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki.

Kanzaki muttered to herself, but the surrounding people didn’t seem to notice it. Everyone was focused on choosing their main course from the few options of ramen, fried soba noodles and curry.

After the tall and huge boss took everyone’s order, he took huge steps into the shop.

At that moment, Index placed her hand on her face as she stared at Kanzaki, and said, “Ara ara, your Japanese is really fluent. Aunty’s really impressed.”

“Eh?”

Kanzaki shoulders trembled slightly.

“Ah...it’s...it’s nothing, thanks for your compliments.”

Though Kanzaki and Index were both members of the Anglican Church, for some reason, both of them were estranged from each other. Being talked to suddenly, Kanzaki was rather troubled.

Of course, the rest (including Kamijou, who had lost his memory) didn’t know about that.

“Ara ara, humble and polite. Seeing you being so burly, aunty thought that you’ll be a pretty rough person.”

Being only slightly taller than an average Japanese, Kanzaki’s shoulders trembled slightly.

However, the people surrounding her didn’t seem to realise it.

Mikoto then said, “However, your choice of words is rather weird, it feels a bit feminine. You’re so burly, it should be better for you to use a more masculine way of speaking. Also, your movements feel a bit like a girl.”

Having trained more than an ordinary woman, Kanzaki’s facial muscles trembled slightly.

She muttered slightly, “Only...only a little?”

At that moment, Kamijou sensed that something was wrong, but Touya added on, “Alright, alright, don’t say it. Isn’t language all about being able to convey the correct meaning? I believe he would say this should be because the one who first taught him Japanese was a woman. Also, it’s not important whether he’s burly or not, right?”

Kanzaki’s entire body was already trembling slightly.

Kamijou tried to use his body language to tell Kanzaki,

(Kanzaki! Kanzaki! Everyone’s not talking about you! They’re just treating you as Stiyl Magnus! They’re definitely not telling you that you’re tall and burly, no matter what, you’re a brave and stout man—!)

The next second, Kanzaki slowly stood up.

Kamijou didn’t recognise that it was his words that were the most hurting.

Kanzaki grabbed Kamijou’s collar and said slightly, “...(I see, so that’s what you think?)”

After saying it, she dragged Kamijou away from the round table.

“(Hold...hold on! Where are you pulling me to? Are you going to execute me? Ah...it should be the bathroom over there...don’t tell me...I heard of an interrogation method that’s popular in American jails, that’s to splash cold water on the criminals and make them lose heat..!)

Kanzaki didn’t reply.

Like a corpse, Kamijou was dragged further away.

Part 3

Kanzaki didn’t drag Kamijou to some strange place, just into the interior of the shop.

It seemed that Kanzaki didn’t have a specific destination in mind. Arriving at a place with no one around, she told Kamijou off before turning her eyes to the sliding shoji doors.

“Oh yeah, this resort has a bathhouse. It’s hard for me to say it, but with all these going on nowadays, I didn’t have time to bath.”

That was right, a seaside resort had a bathhouse. It was like building a simple toilet on the seaside, the purpose was to allow the visitors to wash away the seawater on their skin.

Kamijou turned back to look at the corridor he had passed through, and said, “However...do you really have time to bath? If Angel Fall’s completed, wouldn’t it be too late?”

“You’re right...”

Kanzaki hesitated for a while, and then continued.

“...I know I shouldn’t have any personal feelings, but I’m really not used to seeing that child smile at me. I don’t have that right at all.”

Kanzaki said bitterly.

She seemed to be running away from something.

“...”

Kamijou remained silent. At the time when he attacked the Misawa Cram School, Stiyl had said that same thing with the same expression when he was talking about Index.

That should be a wound that must not be opened again.

Thus, Kamijou decided not to pursue further.

“Ah...anyway, why did you drag me all the way here to the bathhouse? Are you going to discuss tactics with me?”

“...”

Kanzaki shook her head slightly.

“No, I have a simple request; I just need you to keep watch over here. This bathhouse should be public like an onsen or a public bathhouse, right?”

Kamijou remained silent.

Of course, in this little seaside resort, the bathhouse wouldn’t be sorted into men and ladies. There was only one bathhouse, and when a man entered, it would be a man’s bathhouse; when a woman entered, it would become a ladies’ bathhouse.

To everyone, Kanzaki was now Stiyl Magnus, so even when they saw Kanzaki’s figure through the shoji doors, the other men may think “Ah, it’s a man bathing!” and would rush in, especially that resort boss.

“...Are you thinking that this may be interesting?”

“You’re thinking too much! I don’t want to risk my life with someone who’s wielding a nodachi!”

Kanzaki stared suspiciously at Kamijou before saying “Then I’ll leave it to you”. She then walked into the bathhouse, shut the shoji door and took off her clothes.

One could see Kanzaki’s silhouette through the shoji door, and because it was impossible to see clearly, it would make anyone excited. Kamijou frantically shook his head to control his desire and turned his back around, gently sighing.

“Hi! Kami-yan! What are you doing here?”

Tsuchimikado suddenly walked in pompously from the other side. Since the blue sunglasses on his face were a disguise, he couldn’t take them off even though it was nighttime.

“Oi, aren’t others seeing you as some bastard idol who created quite the news recently?”

“Relax, it’s alright that nobody saw me. This is how Tsuchimikado does things.”

Tsuchimikado said casually.

To Kamijou, that guy’s attitude wasn’t any different from usual.

“...Sorry, Kami-yan.”

“Sorry about what?”

Kamijou asked, only to see Tsuchimikado looking extremely serious.

“Actually, those dangers that Kami-yan went through, I knew all about them. The attack on the alchemist’s fortress, the slaughter of twenty thousand clones and so on...I knew all about them, yet I didn’t help you out, so I’d like to apologise to you.”

“...”

“Besides, being powerless to help is completely different from being unable to help. I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t mind these small matters.”

Tsuchimikado revealed a tired look, but Kamijou was rather casual in his response.

Tsuchimikado was rather surprised regarding Kamijou’s attitude, but Kamijou didn’t say anything more, because he felt that there was no need to explain further.

No matter what, Tsuchimikado was still Tsuchimikado, that fact wouldn’t change at all. To Kamijou, Tsuchimikado was still his dorm neighbour and classmate.

“Hm.”

Tsuchimikado chuckled.

“Alright, enough nonsense. We’ll end the depressing stuff here. Let’s get down to business!”

“Business?”

“That’s right! It’s the most exciting summer festival activity! The peeping on Kanzaki nee-chin’s naked body contest!”

“What? Are you serious?”

“...Looky look, Kami-yan! The mobile phones nowadays have camera functions!”

“Are you even listening to me? I can’t just joke around with that Bakumatsu swordswoman! Once she finds out, I’ll be slashed in half by that whatsoever family secret move!”

“...But on the other hand, you’ll peep if there’s no danger, right?”

“...”

“...Kanzaki nee-chin will definitely look great when she takes off her clothes!”

(Great!?) Kamijou inadvertently lost his breath.

He shook his head frantically, and said, “Bu...but...is this alright? Aren’t you Kanzaki’s comrade? You shouldn’t betray her, right?”

Kamijou tried his best to stop Tsuchimikado, only to see Tsuchimikado’s blue sunglasses flash.

“Ha! You’re too naïve! I’m the spy of the Anglican Church's Necessarius, Tsuchimikado Motoharu! Known as the backstabber! The resident of the liar village is yours truly!”

“Wah! I don’t want to suffer together with this sort of person!”

Kamijou continued to protest, and Tsuchimikado said impatiently, “Cheh, such a boring guy. Kanzaki nee-chin nearly wanted to take your life, so it’s no wonder that you’re afraid of her. However, she’s not really that scary! Kanzaki nee-chin’s really cute!”

“C-cute...?”

“Yeah. You know, I came to Academy City after I finished middle school, and before that, I was in London all the time. At that time, I was one of the few who spoke both English and Japanese at the same time, and Kanzaki nee-chin, who just joined the Anglican Church at that time, understood only Japanese at that time. It was really interesting to see her so nervous and mime when she was questioned by the English!”

Tsuchimikado knocked on the wall slightly.

“At that time, I was the only Japanese person in Necessarius, so once she got an English letter, nee-chin would often look to me for help with a puzzled look on her face, she was so attractive at that time!”

“...Really unbelievable, to think that you could be relied on in some instances.”

“Forget about that, let’s peep! Cute nee-chin!”

“And you’re holding a camera phone, aren’t you a little too much?”

“Kami-yan, you should be more honest with your lust!”

“And why are you so enthusiastic? You should be tackling those girls who’re younger than you, right? Aren’t you called the siscon-sergeant?”

“Oi, stop using that nickname! Do you have any proof!?”

“No normal person would really love a little sister who’s not blood related, right?”

“WAH! Who...who LOVED the little sister! Who told you that!?”

“Even if the law doesn’t forbid it, you can’t just do anything you want, right?”

“Do...do...do anything? What do you mean by that?”

“Eh? Why are you so nervous? Hold on, Tsuchimikado...don’t tell me you really have feelings for your little sister...”

“STOP IT! STOP TRAPPING ME WITH THESE WORDS! ONE MORE WORD, AND I’LL KILL YOU!!”

Tsuchimikado forcefully clinched Kamijou’s neck, intending to make him shut up. At that moment, the floor let out a light cracking sound, and Tsuchimikado hastily retreated through the shadows like a ninja, disappearing without a trace.

(Ah, if we were to be seen just now, it’ll make the headlines— ‘Idol grabbed a boy’s collar’.)

Kamijou casually thought as he turned towards where the footsteps came from.

“Hi! Onii-chan, what are you doing here?”

It was Index and Mikoto.

No, they were his mom and cousin, it was just that they assumed Index and Mikoto’s appearance.

“Eh? You finished eating already?”

“Ara ara, it’s not that, Touma. It’ll take a while before dinner’s done, so we’re here to bathe.”

At this moment, Mikoto turned to look at the shoji screen.

“...Onii-chan, is anyone inside?”

“Ah, ya...that’s why I’m standing guard here.”

“Stand guard? What do you mean by that? Isn’t it onii-chan’s friend inside? You two can bath together!”

“Eh?”

Mikoto’s words confused Kamijou.

About five seconds later, he finally realised what she had meant.

That’s right. To them, Kanzaki was now Stiyl Magnus.

“Hold...hold on a minute! I never said that I wanted to bath! Besides, does the law say that friends have to bath with each other? I can go in when he comes out—!”

“If we have to wait for two rounds, the dinner will soon come and go cold! Since you two are both guys, there’s no problem! Hurry up and go bath!”

“WAHH! Hold...hold on...really—AAAHHHH!!”

“Alright, alright, hurry up and go in!”

Without any hesitance, both of them slid the door open and mercilessly tossed Kamijou Touma into the changing room.

Inside.

Right in front of Kamijou’s eyes.

An indescribable Kanzaki was standing there.

If she was someone who took quite some time to bathe, maybe there wouldn’t have been a tragedy when Kamijou got thrown into the changing room, since there was a door separating the bathroom and the changing room.

Just at that moment, Kanzaki walked out of the bathroom, completely naked as she reached back with both hands to tie her wet hair while holding a ribbon in her mouth. Maintaining that position, she looked like she was frozen.

PA! At that moment, the door slammed shut behind Kamijou.

“...”

“...”

The silence in the sealed room exerted a heavy pressure. If Kanzaki were to cry or go into a rage, Kamijou would have known what was to come next, but she didn’t show any expression at all, not even attempting to hide. She just reached out for the thin black nodachi that was leaning on the corner of the wall.

Kanzaki’s eyes looked as shiny as obsidian; they were trying to say something.

(Any last words?)

“Is—”

Even if he made an apology or an excuse, he would die either way. Now all confused, Kamijou let out these words, “—Is this a new-style katana comedy action film?”

The next second, the black nodachi swung without hesitation.

Part 4

It was 10PM.

Kanzaki was standing on the balcony on the second level of the resort. The night at the seaside was like the night in a desert, as the beach didn’t retain heat very well.

Tsuchimikado climbed up the pillar on the balcony. To others, he was a star who was exposed in a scandal, so he couldn’t appear normally.

Tsuchimikado was currently staring at Kanzaki, who was letting the night wind stroke her.

“What’s up? Your face sure is red. Are you still thinking about what happened just now?”

“...Do you think I would?”

“Sigh...actually, you want to, right? There’s a thrill on being seen—I...I was joking! Kanzaki nee-chin, as a swordswoman, can your temper not be that violent?”

“I understand.”

Kanzaki answered impatiently.

Then, she sighed gently.

“However, it seems that the boy really has nothing to do with Angel Fall. If he’s really a magician, his personality wouldn’t be so naïve.”

“He has no reason to do this. But if we’re to think like that, the people around Kami-yan are like him. These people wouldn’t even know what to do with an angel even if they captured one.”

Those words weren’t implying that they looked down on Kamijou, but that it was a different problem. Even if they got (what was said to be) the incredible power of an angel, it would be useless if they didn’t have any knowledge of magic. Though Japan’s household appliances were brilliant, they were useless if they were taken overseas only for the plugs to be different. Thus, it wasn’t a discussion of superiority.

But if so, there were no other suspicious people.

Nobody knew what they should do.

Both of them couldn’t find the crux in their thoughts at all, and they could only focus on other stuff.

“Speaking of which, is it alright to put that child in Kamijou Touma’s hands? It’s been less than a day...no, just half a day, and that happened. To make the mistake of entering a ladies’ bathroom, that’s not something that even a third grader would do. Maybe he and that child had something...even worse...”

“Hm...however, Kami-yan should be able to control himself, right? He’s not the type who’ll attack when girls are sleeping.” Tsuchimikado folded his arms in front of his chest and said, “And he’s not an expert, you understand? He’s not an expert. He’s not like us who can get rid of the guilt of killing by a lofty reason. He won’t push his own sin to anyone else; he’ll always move forward with the guilt. Don’t you think that’s enough reason to be confident in him?”

“...Well...”

“Besides, Kami-yan was the saviour of Index, and we couldn’t even thank him enough. How can we pick on his shortcomings?”

“I know, I understand what you’re saying.”

That’s right, when Index was at the brink of death, the one who saved her was Kamijou Touma.

Not Kanzaki Kaori, not Stiyl Magnus, but Kamijou Touma.

Normally, she should be thanking him. No, using such a term would be too light. She should repay him with all she had. Even the crane and the tortoise knew how to do that.

“...But I really can’t find a chance to do that.”

In truth, ever since what happened during the Index incident, Kanzaki was too busy with her job. Because of that and the circumstances, she never once thanked Kamijou, which made her feel guilty.

“In the end, he actually did such a stupid thing, and it’s really awkward for me to thank him now...”

“Aiya, Kanzaki nee-chin, he just saw you naked, is that enough reason for you not to thank him now?”

“Uu...”

Kanzaki was speechless.

“Aiyaya, so Kanzaki nee-chin’s level of repayment is just this?”

“Uuu...”

Kanzaki gritted her teeth as she stared at Tsuchimikado.

At that moment, Kamijou Touma was standing alone at the first level of the Wadatsumi resort as he pondered about something.

Though the lights were on, there was nobody else around. The girls could be heard laughing, maybe Index and the rest were playing poker cards or something.

The TV was on and airing the nightly news. The nightly news wasn’t any different from the afternoon news, but had some unnecessary descriptions to buffer the load.

“Dear viewers—the criminal Hino Jinsaku who had escaped from the Shinfuchuu prison is still at large. Hino’s modus operandi is rather unique. He’s called a ‘ritual killer’, and so there are a lot of people who worship him and even imitate him. This time, the police think that these people may be helping him...”

Through the image displayed on the screen, Kamijou blankly watched Komoe-sensei report the news.

“...Besides that, Hino Jinsaku had a history of being a psychiatric patient in a hospital, and admitted before the trial that he has a split personality, so whether he should be responsible for the murders is still up for debate...”

Hino Jinsaku.

To Kamijou, who had lost his memory, he had no impression on that killer before he was apprehended. However, whenever there was a serious case of homicide, his name would always be mentioned, and even now, there would occasionally be a photo of him on TV programmes or weekly magazines. It was known that he was responsible for many infamous murder cases.

It wasn’t good for the mood to continue watching such news, so Kamijou continued to switch the programmes to a variety programme that was introducing a diet food that allowed people to slim down fast. While watching the news, Kamijou continued to think of what he saw on the news.

(Split personality...that’s right, the summer remedial did mention about espers with split personality...)

Kamijou casually watched the TV as he thought. In this so-called split personality, the line between personality A and personality B wasn't always clear. In some cases, there could be instances of both personalities appearing at the same time, like for example, the left and right hands were respectively commanded by different personalities, or when personality A was thinking, personality B was moving the hands.

—The above knowledge was what Kamijou had learned from the summer remedial a week ago. Komoe-sensei had said that there was a lot of data regarding those with split personalities, because there was a time where it was popular to research on people with split personalities to see whether they could have two different abilities.

“...Ugh...”

Remembering the content of the lessons, Kamijou, who hated studying, lazily laid his head onto the table.

A lot of things had happened today, and Kamijou’s mind started to make some adjustments.

A spell called Angel Fall was activated.

It was said that this spell was aimed at controlling an angel with a strong power.

And the side effect was that everyone’s personality and appearance got switched.

The effect lasted throughout everywhere in the world.

Angel Fall wasn’t complete, so they had to destroy it now.

Once Angel Fall was complete, it would be all over.

If they wanted to destroy Angel Fall, they had to beat the caster or destroy the place of ritual.

Kamijou Touma was located at the centre of that phenomenon, so he was seen as the caster.

A few magicians who noticed the phenomenon may come to assassinate Kamijou.

So Kamijou had to find the real culprit before Angel Fall was complete and either beat the caster or destroy the place of ritual.

“...Hm...”

Lonely, Kamijou lay on the table and pondered.

For a person who was about to be assassinated, such an action was way too defenseless.

(There’s no tension at all...)

That was right, this time, Kamijou wasn’t sneaking into a killer’s building like the Misawa Cram School, nor would he be slowed down and let twenty thousand people get killed. Though the world was in a dire situation, to Kamijou, he was feeling that this was somewhat comical and unreal.

(And I have two experts from the magic world this time.)

Though to Kamijou, Tsuchimikado was still just a ‘neighbour’. Since those two (seemed to be) experts in this, Kamijou felt somewhat safe now that they were with him.

Actually, Kamijou didn’t notice that he was using the reason of being an amateur to push the responsibility to Kanzaki and Tsuchimikado, the experts. Besides, Kamijou was just an ordinary high school student.

—‘The owner of the stare’ was now staring at the completely defenceless boy.

And this ‘owner of the stare’ was hiding underneath the Wadatsumi resort. The resort had a seventy centimetre tall space below the floor to prevent sand and moisture from entering. In terms of structure, it was like the platform of a shrine.

'The owner of the stare' was staring at the boy from through the wooden planks.

"...Angel-sama, Angel-sama."

The frail and skinny middle-aged man had a shrill voice like an elementary school student before the voice breaks. The voice echoed throughout the darkness, bringing a sense of madness.

"...Angel-sama, Angel-sama, please listen to me!"

One could slightly hear the sound of something like nails scratching wildly on the floor.

In truth, 'the owner of the stare' had nowhere to go. He didn't come to that place willingly. He wanted to find his comrades, but the police's movements were faster than what he had expected, causing him to be trapped there.

"Angel-sama, please listen to me, Angel-sama!"

However, the 'owner of the stare' didn't have the fearful and anxious look of a fugitive.

His right hand was holding onto a uniquely shaped knife, and his left hand was holding a thoroughly scarred wooden board the size of a notebook.

Krekrekre...the sharp edge of the blade continued to scratch the wooden board. The 'owner of the stare' spoke with a glare.

"Angel-sama, how can I escape the police pursuit and find my other friends?"

Krekrekre...as if responding to his own question, the right hand moved on it own, with a will that was completely unrelated to the 'owner of the stare'. The 'owner of the stare' continued to stare at the sharp edge of the blade. The scars on the wooden board were all carvings made by the knife. These were the instructions of the Angel-sama.

"Angel-sama, do you mean that you'll help me if I again offer sacrifices?"

Krekrekre...the 'owner of the stare' would always follow the directions given by the words. The Angel-sama was always right. As long as he followed the directions the Angel-sama, he wouldn't be wrong. But sometimes, the Angel-sama would give requests that were somewhat uncomfortable. Under the orders of the Angel-sama, the 'owner of the stare' had already killed 28 people.

"Angel-sama, Angel-sama. How about I choose this boy as a sacrifice?"

Krekrekre...the knife carved three letters on the wooden board. YES. The 'owner of the stare's' expression darkened. He was going to kill again. How irritating. He hated it, he really didn't want to kill. But I have to do it. This is the Angel-sama's orders, it's not my fault.

"Angel-sama, I'll believe you again."

The 'owner of the stare' said that as it licked its thick and short tongue on the uniquely shaped knife.

This 'owner of the stare' was the death convict, Hino Jinsaku. He used the knife to cut an extremely thick electric cable.

In a moment, all the lights went out.

"No electricity?"

Kamijou frowned in the darkness. As the entrance to the resort was open, the moonlight shined in from outside, so it wasn’t completely dark.

The moment the power went out, people would unconsciously turn to the electric appliances that lost electricity. While Kamijou casually turned to look at the ceiling lamp that had suddenly turned dark—

zzz...

There was a light cutting sound coming from the wooden floor below Kamijou's feet.

Feeling suspicious, Kamijou stood up and looked down at the floor around his feet.

At that moment...

PA! A crescent shaped blade pierced through the floor below his feet.

"...!"

Kamijou felt his throat becoming parched all of a sudden. Just two seconds ago, if Kamijou's consciousness hadn’t been attracted by the darkened light, and if he hadn't stood up, he would have been...thinking about this, uncomfortable sweat oozed out every single inch of Kamijou's body.

A short knife blade.

This crescent-shaped thirty-centimetre-long blade was sharp on the inside, and not on the outside. Thus, instead of calling it a dagger, it was more like a sickle or a claw.

Krekrekre, the blade swayed back and forth before gradually sinking into the floor.

He had to get out of there. However, Kamijou couldn't move. His mind was blank, as if there was a mysterious drug in his blood. His heart was about to burst due to the sudden pumping. Kamijou barely glimpsed, the hole in the floor that was left behind by the blade.

Kamijou seemed to see something.

Looking through the hole on the floor and into the darkness, Kamijou saw something bloodshot, like a marsh, something that looked like it was peeking through a keyhole...

A crazy looking eyeball.

"Ee..."

Kamijou inadvertently let out a terrified sound as he took one step backwards. Immediately, the blade that chased Kamijou pierced out near Kamijou's sole. Kamijou lost his balance and tumbled onto the floor. The blade again sunk as it prepared to make another strike.

(Calm down! Calm down!)

Kamijou muttered what sounded like a curse, but that caused his body to freeze up more. With his mind almost completely frozen, Kamijou started to think hard. He definitely mustn't fall onto the floor. That would be too dangerous. Since the enemy was attacking from below the floor, he just needed to jump onto the table. Just as Kamijou thought about that, as he intended to climb up—

PA!

The entire floor split open and a hand reached out from the floor to grab Kamijou's foot.

"UWA...AAAHHHHH!!!"

The sudden shock caused Kamijou's heart to nearly pop out of his mouth.

Kamijou tried to drag his foot away, but he couldn't get rid of the hand that was holding onto it. That wasn't because the hand was particularly forceful, but because Kamijou's foot seemed numb and didn't follow his commands at all.

(Calm down! Don't panic! Don't be scared! I don't know who the enemy is, but it's definitely not a monster I never saw before! Piercing a knife through the floor and punching through the floor with a fist, these are things that humans can do! So if I calm down...)

Thinking about that, Kamijou's eyes suddenly saw something.

The hand that was holding onto his ankle.

Some fingernails were cracked, some were torn out; some were stained with blackish-red blocks. The fingers were bluish-black, and there was a large scar on the back of the hand. The blood spots continued to peel, and the disgusting black pieces of meat flipped out from the wounds.

It looked like a rotten fruit that was excreting some transparent fluid.

Like a corpse's hand that got infected by some mysterious killer virus.

"Ah...ah...ugh..."

Kamijou's breathing started to hasten, and his heart started to beat irregularly.

Every single thing his attacker did wasn't something that a human couldn't do. It was nothing compared to Accelerator or the alchemist. From a passer-by's view, the person may wonder why Kamijou was breathing so hard and his pulse remained extremely messed up.

However, there was an easy to understand reason.

For example, if there was a live cockroach in a plastic bag; even if one knew that there was a plastic bag, they wouldn't dare touch the cockroach directly, let alone bite it to death.

It was the same logic.

Thus, even though logic told us that it was nothing, the fear and trembling wouldn't stop.

That attacker specialized in using psychological fear and irritation to cause the prey to be immobile.

"Ah...ahh...ugh...UGH...!"

Kamijou continued to tug at his leg, trying to shake off the hand that was grabbing onto his ankle. However, his body felt like it got hit with anesthetic. Kamijou couldn't get rid of the black-coloured fear rooted deep within his heart.

Kamijou tumbled onto the floor as a foot of his was grabbed. The sound of wood being cut by a blade could be heard near his chest.

On the other hand.

The owner of another stare was lying in ambush 150 metres away on the dim beach, looking at what was going on in the Wadatsumi resort.

It was a red nun.

She was about thirteen years old, with wavy blond hair. Her white skin seemed to reflect the bright moonlight. Though the girl looked cute, her attire was rather weird. She was only wearing a shirt underneath her haori. Actually, the shirt wasn't any different from formfitting underwear, as it revealed the girl's pretty figure fully. Also, the girl was bound by black straps and metal braces, and they seemed to form a bondage outfit. There was an extremely thick ring around her neck, with a rein around it. The leather strap on her waist was full of tools like pincers, hammers, an L-shaped crowbar, and saws.

Those tools weren't used for carpentry, they were witch tribunal tools that specialised in cutting flesh, scraping bones and breaking bodies. Looking closer, these tools were slightly modified to be different from ordinary carpentry tools.

The girl with interrogation tools all over her remained expressionless.

She lowered her head. Her hair covered most of her face, only revealing her small lips showing a slight sigh.

The girl was listening closely.

There seemed to be quite a few people on the second floor of the Wadatsumi resort. They seemed to feel that something was not right, but it would take them about six seconds to get down to the first floor.

Six seconds. The blade of the attacker from below the floor would have pierced through the victim's heart.

The girl, her expression hidden behind her hair, again sighed.

She then got up.

Without any preparatory moves, the girl's little body quickly moved forward, reducing the distance of 150 metres to 0; the time taken was far less than six seconds.

Fifty metres per second.

It was about as fast as a crossbow. No, maybe even faster.

At that moment...

The red nun entered Kamijou's vision at an alarming rate.

As it was too fast, Kamijou didn't even realise that it was a girl.

The red girl lowered her body, almost sticking onto the ground as she continued to run. She drew the L-shaped crowbar and aimed at the hand that was grabbing onto Kamijou's foot and swung hard at it like a baseball bat.

The bone, and the entire wrist got fractured.

"Uo...ah...GYAAHHH!!"

A cry of agony could be heard from below the floor. The hand that was grabbing onto Kamijou's ankle snuck down and escaped. From the sound of a body rubbing against the floor, the attacker seemed like he was trying to get some distance.

"..."

The red nun threw the crowbar away and pulled out the hammer. She then raised the hammer and slammed it hard onto the floor, forming a seventy centimetre wide hole.

Her blond hair fluttered about as the girl threw the hammer away and pulled out a pincer as she jumped into the hole.

After a second of silence...

BAM! A terrifying sound could be heard from underneath the floor. Something seemed to have been knocked hard, and it was followed by a sound like a beast trying to break out of a sturdy cage.

Kamijou could roughly hear the battle going on below.

BOOM! A hole suddenly opened on the floor five metres in front of him. A black figure leaps out of the floor like a dolphin.

That black figure wasn't that of the red nun.

A skinny and bony middle-aged man tumbled around on the floor and hurriedly stood up.

His skin colour was extremely unhealthy looking; it was obvious at first glance that his insides were damaged. The rice-coloured workclothes were stained with sweat, dirt, blood and fats. His right hand was holding onto a sickle that looked like a metal claw; and his left wrist was fractured, with bluish-black clotting underneath it. A red liquid flowed down his lips, and a incisor and canine of his were already forcefully pulled out.

"Guu—AAHHHHHH!!"

The middle-aged man was like a wounded beast and he raised the curved knife to hack at Kamijou.

(Ugh...!)

Kamijou reflexively looked around for a weapon that could be used to block the curved knife. He frantically reached into his pockets and searched around, and his fingers felt something hard. Pulling it out to look, it was just a mobile phone. This thing couldn't possibly block a knife, Kamijou cursed. Suddenly, he thought of something. He flicked the foldable phone open and shined the screen at the face of that person who was attacking.

PA! The strong light instantly lit up the surrounding darkness.

"GYAAHHH!!"

Having lost his sight, the middle-aged man stopped what he was doing. Kamijou tried to escape, but his feet weren't listening. He could only roll on the floor and get the distance from the attacker.

The middle-aged man raised the curved knife, yet he didn't come pursuing.

His body wavered about, muttering in his mouth.

"Angel-sama...Angel-sama..."

On the workclothes, near the chest, there seemed to be something reflecting the moonlight.

Looking closely, it was a nametag.

"ANGEL-SAMA! ANGEL-SAMA! ANGEL-SAMA!!"

On the plastic nametag that was sewn onto the clothes, there were a few words on it.

Prisoner number 710687 Hino Jinsaku.

"Angel-sama, what's going on? Angel-sama, I followed your orders, why did I get this outcome!? Angel-sama, I gave up 28 lives for you!!"

The man in prisoner clothes let out a confused, maniacal cry of despair.

At that moment, Kamijou suddenly remembered the news content he saw on the TV the entire day.

"—Dear viewers, I'm the live reporter Komori. The death row convict that escaped from the Shinfuchuu Prison at midnight this morning is still not found. The nearby middle schools have suspended all club activities. Right now, the atmosphere is very tense..."

(However...)

Kamijou saw this psychotic person that was shouting and rambling about. That person was definitely the criminal. It was not hard to tell from his clothes that he was the Hino Jinsaku that had escaped from jail.

However, why didn't Hino Jinsaku switch his appearance with others?

—Under the effects of Angel Fall, wouldn't everyone's appearance be switched?

And who was that 'Angel-sama' that Hino Jinsaku was shouting about?

—What was the final goal of the Angel Fall spell?

(Don't tell me...this guy...)

Kamijou wanted to open his mouth and ask, but at that moment, Hino Jinsaku suddenly raised the knife.

"ANSWER ME, ANGEL-SAMA! WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT? ANGEL-SAMA! YOU HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, TELL ME THE TRUTH!!"

The knife landed.

But not at Kamijou. Hino swung the knife at his own body. The blade violently moved about, creating a sound of things being ripped apart. The workclothes were torn by this blade that was swaying about, and the shirt was stained in sweat got shredded as well, instantly becoming red.

The large number of wounds seemed erratic, but they lined up in words like a child using a knife to carve a table wildly.

GO ESCAPE

There was no other way to express it, just a line of alphabets. However, on seeing that 'instruction', Hino Jinsaku's bloody face showed a smile of despair.

Then, the floor between Kamijou and Hino was shattered. The red nun jumped up, holding a pincer that had something white between it; it looked like a human incisor. The red nun gripped the pincer forcefully, causing the white thing to shatter.

On seeing the red nun, Hino Jinsaku, who lost an incisor unnaturally was terrified as he backed away. He then pulled a wet cloth out as he wiped the blood stains of the curved knife, before throwing it at the girl.

The red nun swayed her head slightly, easily dodging the curved knife.

Having lost its target, the knife flew at Kamijou's face.

"Eh?"

After letting out a puzzled sound, Kamijou suddenly realised how foolish he was. At that moment, the knife was still approaching Kamijou quickly, and the speed could be compared to a hammer swinging down on a nail.

"WAHH!"

Kamijou frantically rolled away and dodged it, but the knife still grazed his face.

Just a light cut.

But at that moment, Kamijou lost his balance. He collapsed onto the ground, unable to get up. He was sweating profusely, and felt like vomiting.

(Poi...son? Damn it...what did he apply on that...?)

The action of rubbing the knife with the cloth was to apply poison.

It was said that among some minority tribes in Africa, they would apply poisonous caterpillar fluids on the tips of the spears before hunting. Maybe this was a similar poison. Kamijou's body had developed a rather decent resistance due to Academy City's training, but he couldn't prevent the power of the poison from taking effect.

Kamijou's vision became blurry, and then darker.

With an unbelievable laughter, Kamijou felt that Hino Jinsaku had already escaped the seaside resort.

The red nun wanted to give chase, but after hesitating, she decided to dash towards Kamijou.

At that moment, Kamijou lost consciousness.

Part 5

He didn’t know whether it was a minute or an hour.

Like a patient with fever, he woke up due to thirst. Behind him was the solid floor, and as he looked around, there was the vestiges of wreckage all around.

It seemed like Kamijou hadn’t been taken someplace else. This place seemed to be the first level of the Wadatsumi resort. Most probably, he had been out for only a short while.

Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki were kneeling beside him.

After such a large commotion, Mikoto and Index still hadn’t come downstairs. Normally, they would have woken up even if they were asleep. In other words, that meant that Kanzaki or someone else used something similar to the Opila rune that Stiyl had used, Kamijou pondered.

Then, Kamijou noticed Misaka Imouto wearing a T-shirt, shorts and apron among the magicians. She was trembling as she looked around to see the damage to the shop.

Right now, her identity should be that of a shop attendant there.

“I set up an ‘empty area’ spell, but the shop workers are unexpectedly sleeping at the first level. Good thing that the boss is settling some stuff on the second floor.”

Hearing Kanzaki say that, Misaka Imouto trembled.

Her expression was like someone who just witnessed a crime syndicate committing a crime, looking extremely terrified as she didn’t know how she would be ‘dealt with’.

Kanzaki stroked the nodachi’s blade as she said, “For your own safety, let me warn you. You must not talk about what happened today. If you think that this nodachi is a fake, you can just ignore it.”

Kanzaki sounded really scary, but Kamijou noticed that Tsuchimikado, who was beside him, was about to burst into laughter...so she wasn’t serious?

Then, Kamijou noticed that slightly far away in the shadows was a red nun.

(Who is that?)

Kamijou felt puzzled. Thinking back, she did save him, but who is she?

“Ah, she’s not an enemy.” Kanzaki noticed Kamijou’s gaze as she said, “She’s a member of Annihilatus.”

Kanzaki’s words had some strange language mixed in it, and Kamijou didn’t understand.

Tsuchimikado seemed to understand his worries and said, “If the Anglican Church can be said to specialize in hunting witches, then the Russian Orthodox Church specialises in hunting ghosts, like will-o’wisp, spectres and pregnant spirits...all sorts of things that shouldn’t exist are within their perimeters.”

Kamijou again turned to look at the blond girl who was hidden in the shadows.

Seeing other people talk about herself, the red nun still remained still.

Maybe this communication breakdown in the magic world wasn't rare, as Kanzaki then explained, "Her name is Misha Kreutzev. She sucked out the poison from your wound, so you should thank her."

Sucked the poison out of the wound—on hearing that, Kamijou's ears inadvertently turn red. The wound was on the face, and though it was just healing, Kamijou couldn't help but sweat.

"Is...is that so..." Kamijou said with a hoarse voice, "Thanks, I would have been killed if you didn't step in..."

The smile that Kamijou barely forced out instantly froze.

Misha, who was originally standing slightly far away, instantly closed in to Kamijou. She used her right hand to draw out the saw that was hanging at her waist, and before Kamijou could even blink, she used the saw teeth to hold down Kamijou's neck.

Nobody could react in time, let alone Kamijou, even Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki couldn't stop her even though they were standing nearby. Kamijou could feel an icy feeling on his neck.

Kamijou lifted up his head and looked at Misha Kreutzev, who was holding onto the saw. Through the long bangs, he could see that her eyes had no hint of hesitation, and her irises were much colder than the saw.

Misha asked with a flat robotic-like tone, "My first question: Were you the one who cast Angel Fall?"

Kamijou was so scared he couldn't say anything. Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki also look stunned as they stared at Misha.

"Hold...hold on a minute! Misha Kreutzev. Didn't you assume that Kamijou Touma wasn't the culprit behind Angel Fall before you protected him and drew the poison out of him?"

In regards to Kanzaki's questions, Misha turned her eyes and said to Kanzaki.

"My first answer: I came here to prevent Angel Fall. I couldn't get the answer from this boy, so I'm asking him now."

With the saw placed against his neck, Kamijou stared at Misha's face. Misha also turned her eyes away from Kanzaki's face and onto Kamijou's face, as if seeing Kamijou's eyes.

"Repeating my first question again: Were you the one who cast Angel Fall?"

"...No."

"My second question: Can you prove it?"

Misha said what seemed to be pre-prepared questions. Maybe she expected that Kamijou could be lying.

"I don't have any proof, but I don't understand magic at all."

Misha slightly tilted her head to a side, seemingly expressing the suspicion in her heart.

Kanzaki sighed, and said, "As a member of Necessarius of the Anglican Church, I can explain this."

Then, Kanzaki started to explain to Misha that since Kamijou had no knowledge of magic at all, he couldn't possibly be the one who triggered Angel Fall. And if an esper used magic, the burden would be too great on the body, but Kamijou didn't look like he had any wounds on him. Perhaps Kamijou hadn't been affected by Angel Fall because of his right hand's Imagine Breaker ability. With that power, any supernatural power would be erased with just a single touch.

Misha continued to pay attention to every single word and she nodded several times. Finally, she stared at Kamijou; or more accurately, his right hand. Maybe the Imagine Breaker had piqued her interest."

"Values, 40, 9, 30, 7. Total is 86."

BOOM! A water pillar spurted out from the floor behind Misha. Most likely, a water pipe had burst.

"Respond. Mem ' tet ' lamed ' zayin (Oh water, form as a holy snake, and strike through like a sword)."

After Misha said that, the water pillar curved its head down like a snake, and then like a mythical Hydra or a Yamata dragon, it formed several snakes. Before Kamijou's mind could even process the danger, the water snakes came attacking like spears.

TUMP TUMP TUMP! One after another, water pillars continued to shoot out from the floor surrounding Kamijou.

And one of those pillars came at Kamijou's face directly.

"WAH!"

Kamijou frantically used his right hand to block the water pillar. The water pillar that got blocked exploded like a balloon that was filled with water, and the water splattered all over the place. However, it seemed like Kamijou was protected by an invisible shield, as there was not a single drop of water on him.

Misha carefully looked at the water that had splattered onto the floor.

"Correct answer. The Anglican's view matches the result of the experiment just now. This answer is enough to remove the suspicion. Boy, I apologize for scaring you because of a wrong answer."

"Instead of that, you already attacked me, right? And who in the world doesn't look into the eyes when she apologises?"

"My third question: Since you're not the culprit, who's the one who cast Angel Fall? It's a fact that the phenomenon is centred around here, do you have any thoughts of who may be the one?"

"You aren't listening to me! Seems like you aren't reflecting about it at all!"

Kamijou lay on the floor and saw the large hole in it.

At that moment, Misaka Imouto, who didn't understand what was going on at all, could only tremble as she secretly talked to Kamijou. Maybe she had finally calmed down somewhat.

"Can...can I ask you...what kind of special effects movie are you filming? And...wasn't the one who escaped just now Hino Jinsaku? Are you guys the undercover cops who often appear on TV?"

"For your own safety, I suggest that you don't interfere with our affairs."

Misaka Imouto's question was shot down completely by Kanzaki.

But Misaka Imouto's words caused Kamijou to realise something.

"Hold...hold on! That guy is Hino Jinsaku to you?"

"Who else? Anyway, who do we claim the damages from? Hino, the police, or the broadcasting agency?"

In a shock, Kamijou didn't know what to say.

For example, on the second floor, there was Aogami Pierce in nun robes.

To everyone, that guy was Index, but to Kamijou, he was Aogami Pierce.

That was the difference between the inside and the appearance.

But to both Kamijou and Misaka Imouto, he was still Hino Jinsaku.

Inside and appearance were the same? That meant...

"That guy...didn't get switched?"

Kamijou explained that to the magicians, and everyone looked somewhat grim.

"My fourth question: Is it the one who just escaped?"

Misha looked in the direction where Hino Jinsaku escaped. Just as Misha intended to dash out, Kanzaki grabbed her shoulder.

"Hold on, since we're aiming for the same thing, why don't we act together?"

"My fifth question: What benefits does this have to me?"

"Let me ask you then? Do you specialize in hunting humans? Are these tools on you famous interrogation tools of the tower of London? We locals don't use such things; an ordinary axe is still better than a gold or silver one."

Kanzaki continued.

"You people at the Russian Orthodox Church should specialize in exorcism, right? Hunting humans isn't a strong point of yours, and we of the Anglican Church are good in these. With us helping you out, it shouldn't be a bad thing to you."

"...Good answer. Thank you for your proposal."

Misha stretched her small hand out. Kanzaki was stunned for a moment, before realizing that she wanted to shake hands, and then smiled as she reached her own hand out to shake hands.

While both of them were talking, Kamijou, who was beside them, asked, "Alright, what should we do now? Do we go chase after him?"

"Your enthusiasm is good, and I really want Tsuchimikado to learn from you. But right now, your job is to recover. While you recover, it's best that we guard you. We don't know what Hino wants, and it's not like he won't attack in the middle of the night while you're asleep."

Hearing Kanzaki's words, Misha said, My sixth question: Since the priority of the people that require protection is smaller, should I head out alone to hunt the suspect?"

"We don't know how strong the enemy is, so it's not a good thing to scatter our strength. In the worst case scenario, he may have obtained the power of an angel."

Misha didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but she didn't say anything else. Maybe she already regretted agreeing to work together.

However, Kanzaki ignored her and continued, "First, we have to discuss the plan with Kreutzev, and next, we have to repair the damages. Once these are done, we'll protect your safety...Tsuchimikado, why do you look so unwilling?"

Kanzaki's words made Kamijou feel that something was amiss.

Because if that was the case, they couldn't sleep. For the sake of Kamijou sleeping, they had to work hard, which Kamijou couldn't accept. Even though he was injured, that was because Kamijou hadn't paid enough attention, so he couldn't give an excuse.

Even though he thought that way, Kamijou didn't say anything, as his throat was dry and painful, as if it was burning.

At that moment, Kanzaki actually looked at Kamijou tenderly, which was completely different from her usual expression.

"We'll discuss the details with Kreutzev, and I'll tell you that later. Right now, you really need to rest. If we let ordinary civilians get hurt, it'll be really shameful on our part."

"Ya. How sad will it be if an ordinary civilian dies while the expert lives?"

Tsuchimikado said in a rare lonely tone.

Maybe those people felt like they had their own responsibilities. Kamijou sighed.

(Hm? Go...go back to my room?)

Kamijou suddenly felt that something was not right.

"Ah...AHHHHHHHHHHHH! DAMN IT! INDEX!"

An idea suddenly flashed through Kamijou's mind, and then he jumped up, contrary to the expectations for an injured person.

Abandoning the speechless people, Kamijou frantically dashed up the stairs to the second level.

The handrails of the stairs had some mysterious words carved in with a knife, but once Kamijou's right hand grabbed the handrail, he seemed to hear the sound of glass breaking. Maybe the 'empty area' spell got destroyed, but Kamijou didn't have time to care about that at all.

He wasn't going for his room, and not Mikoto's room.

Kamijou tugged hard at Kamijou Touya's room. Even if the room was locked, he intended to force the door open.

BAM! With a shocking force, the door was forced open. The lights in the room were turned off, and there were two futons on the floor.

Kamijou Touya was just about to attack Index, who was sleeping in the futon.

Of course, to Touya, the person in front of him was his wife Shiina, so he wouldn't feel guilty about it.

But to Kamijou, his almost 35-year-old father was currently attacking a probably less than 14-year-old Index. That scene couldn't even be described as weird; it was already a nightmare.

"STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Kamijou completely ignored the dizziness caused by the poison left inside him as he leapt between the two futons.

Touya was shocked.

And as for Index, who was acting as his mother, she was still sleeping deeply even with this commotion.

"...(T-Touma! How can you rush in at this most awkward moment?)"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! WE'RE SLEEPING TOGETHER, THREE OF US! SURE-KILL, PARENT AND CHILD RELATIONSHIP BATTLE!"

Just like that, the midnight battle began.

Kanzaki's care for the injured wasn't effective at all, because Kamijou Touma wasn't able to sleep during the entire night.

Notes

1. ↑ The Bakumatsu was the late Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the time when the elite Shinsengumi existed.

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience