HOPES and FEARS
Chapter 3: Across The Bridge To Another World. FIRST_CONTACT
Part 1
Academy City.
District 7.
Kamijou Residence.
November 16th.
0300 hours.
Nobody had shown up late, not even that incorrigible erotic-character girl from New Light. In fact, she had probably worked the hardest of the lot, sharpening her edge by checking, improving and rechecking her spiritual items and weapons. She had also been brushing up on the more elusive aspects of Norse Mythology, looking for anything that might give her an edge.
It wasn't like the others had been slacking off either.
9969 sisters had been collecting, sharing and discussing information on the magic side. There were, of course, safeguards against the enemies of magic gaining such knowledge, but after all the things that had happened, people like Orsola Aquinas, Kanzaki Kaori and many others were more than willing to equip the girls with whatever basic knowledge they needed.
Tsuchimikado's preparations were a lot simpler: two handguns and sufficient ammunition plus the items he needed to cast his spells and a first-aid kit just in case. He was also in charge of carrying the Tweezers and using them. In addition to his own personal stores, he had also been in charge of packing a change of clothes for his classmate whom they were going to rescue, taken straight from his own cupboard. Lessar had protested, intending to handle this matter herself (and Tsuchimikado was inclined to let her have her way just for laughs), but Kanzaki firmly shut her up and gave the multi-spy a knock on the head.
As for the team leader, Stiyl Magnus, he had been busy preparing hundreds of laminated rune cards and other spiritual items. He had also packed loads of cigarettes ("for communication purposes").
"Ok, I'm starting the briefing." said Kanzaki. She was standing at the front of the room, with Stiyl's team and those who had come to send them off. Lancis, Index, Ollerus, Silvia, as well as Sisters Lucia, Angelene and Agata were all present. The 5 Radio Noise sisters who were part of the team were doing one last check on their weapons along with Lessar, while the boys were standing around.
"As previously agreed, Stiyl will be coordinating and conducting this undertaking. Tsuchimikado will be in charge of information and intel. Everyone is counting on you both, so make sure you do your job properly. Especially you, Tsuchimikado!"
"Of course, Nee-Chin! Who'd you think I am?" Kanzaki ignored him and continued.
"There are nine worlds on Yggdrasil. Kamijou Touma is on one of them, but we don't know which one. Our plan is to move along the rainbow bridge Bifröst. From there, the team will move on to each of the nine worlds to search for Imagine Breaker. ["It'd be better if we could have multiple teams headed for different worlds, wouldn't it?" "True, but we can't afford the manpower and we don't have the equipment," "I thought there were, like, 10000 of these Sisters?" "Yeah, but I know a certain Esper who's gonna suffer if any more of them leave the earth, nyaa" "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" "Heh~ isn't sisterhood a wonderful thing, nya?" "Tsuchimikado! Lessar! Be quiet and listen to the briefing!"]. Ollerus here will open the gate for us, but after that, Lessar will have to handle it herself. Once you reach a world, use the Tweezers to find out if Imagine Breaker is present, then proceed to search for him using the spiritual items we have prepared. When you have found him, return and send word to us."
"Got it!"
Ollerus stepped up.
"Alright, it's almost time to go. Step up and I'll show you how to open the gate to Bifröst."
Lessar got up and approached him.
Part 2
In the Healing Ward of a certain Academy of Magic, a boy lay on a bed and held up his right hand, staring at it in boredom. While he was being worked to death everyday between preparing medical items for his employer and receiving hardcore French [Tristanian!] lessons from the aforementioned employer, he had been critically thinking through things.
After resisting it for a while, he had finally accepted that he was on a different world. The system of Magic here was too different, there were too many small "things" that simply did not belong on Earth, for various reasons, and finally…there were two freaking moons in the sky.
He had considered various ways in which he could reconcile his observations with the belief that he was still on Earth, but none seemed plausible – most of these ways ended with the single notion that Necessarius would have wiped out such a large gathering of magicians. He also reasoned that he might have been under an illusion, but repeatedly tapping his head and rubbing his eyes with his right hand did nothing.
Such misfortune.
After accepting it came the part where he asked himself why. Was it Gremlin? He didn't know how he fit into Gremlin's plans, but they had sent an entire airborne structure the size of an asteroid after him just to locate him. It didn't seem too far-fetched to imagine that they sent him off to another world.
But what was the point of that? The blonde girl in the witch hat stopped his power by squeezing his freaking wrist and crushing his hand off his arm (it wasn't everyday you could use a phrase like that!). Why not just kill him there and then?
He also considered that it may not have even been because of Gremlin. He was currently in a Magical Academy where the students had rituals. Hiraga Saito had been summoned by Miss Zero during one such ritual, and somehow, he was sucked in as well. How did that work though, considering he was in Eastern Europe and Hiraga was in Akihabara when it happened?
He suspected Louise, but, just looking at her, it seemed more and more unlikely. Everything about her seemed nothing more than what it looked like. She was a below-average student in this Academy of Magic. She was incongruous; it was like seeing a Level 0 studying in Tokiwadai Middle School. Besides, she had nothing to do with him now. Since he had come to this world, she hadn't really talked to him.
Of course, it could've been a ruse, with Louise pretending to be uninvolved. And she didn't have to talk to him. Maybe her job was just to bring him in, in which case her role was already over.
Shaking his head roughly, he ran his hands through his hair. It was simply frustrating to think about. But there was some good news, he reflected. He had accepted Marc's offer – he needed the money to get around in this world, he reasoned, and he also needed the other "benefits" Marc had mentioned. He needed to speak the local language and know his way around. Once he could read and speak properly, he could go about researching by talking to people and reading materials here. Colbert and Marc were astonished that other worlds could even exist, so they had no useful information – but there had to be someone who knew something. And when the time was right…
He could go back. Hopefully it wouldn't be too late. Hopefully, he wouldn't have cut his hand off for nothing.
Part 3
"There. All set, says Misaka as she hopes this concept works as well in real life as it does in theory," a girl wearing the winter uniform of one of Academy City's finest girls' schools intoned.
She had just finished setting up a radio mast used for rebroadcast purposes. And she was doing this on a pathway that barely looked solid. The glass-like floor was illuminated with the swirling colours of the rainbow. There was no sky in this area; instead, there was a black space everywhere other than the rainbow pathway - a space filled with stars and cosmic objects.
Bifröst.
The rainbow bridge connecting Asgard and Midgard. Although it should be noted that the destination this time was not Asgard; they were using the bridge to head to a different world.
"Very good. Let's try this out," Tsuchimikado took a black plastic block the size of a juice carton out of his bag and connected a long black stick and a set of headphones to it. This was a team radio Receiver/Transmitter handset and he had just plugged in an antenna and a headset. This was to be their primary means of communication: a radio net with its range extended via rebroadcast masts set up along the rainbow bridge. He put the headset on and spoke, "Tsuchimikado. Comms check, comms check, over"
"Kanzaki, reading you loud and clear. What's your progress over?"
"Tsuchimikado, we just got on the bridge, heading towards Muspelheim first, over."
"Kanzaki, understood. Comms back when you've reached Muspelheim. Don't forget to set up the rebroadcast antennas regularly over."
"Tsuchimikado, roger out."
Tsuchimikado disassembled the components of the RT and put them back in his bag. He clapped his hands and addressed the team.
"Ok! Now that we've got that outta the way...we've got a spy in our midst, nyaa" he made this sudden announcement as he stared pointedly at one of the Sisters and smiled lightly. Stiyl looked shocked, but Lessar had the same expression as Tsuchimikado.
"..."
"..."
"...what gave it away?" asked Misaka Mikoto, taking off the goggles perched on top of her head and putting them away.
Tsuchimikado and Lessar deadpanned, "The shorts, obviously."
"T-T-T-THAT'S WHAT TIPPED YOU OFF?! DIEEEE YOU PERVERTS!"
Part 4
"Such misfortune!"
"Tel malheur!" Marc corrected him. He had been advising Kamijou to consciously speak Tristanian instead of speaking his native tongue and relying on the tongues spell to have it translated. The boy had risen to the challenge magnificently, but old habits die hard, it seemed.
As for the reason why Kamijou uttered those words? He was lying on his back on a grassy field, while a horse trotted around in front of him. He had fallen off when the horse reared.
"Seriously, why do I have to learn how to ride a horse?" he snapped in Japanese.
"What'd you think? Are you seriously gonna walk and run everywhere? Or do you expect people to carry you around? And haven't I already told you to speak to me in Tristanian?!" On "Earth", Kamijou's world, there was no need for horses or other beasts of burden. But here, horses were essential. Especially for their current job - buying medical supplies for the Healing Ward from the Capital City, Tristania (specifically, from a shop named Peyman's Potion Shop).
"Ugh. I know..."
"You understand why you're doing this, don't you?"
Kamijou looked away.
"Yeah. Language...plus essential skills. I'm gonna need both of these in order to survive here," he added as an aside, "Even though I don't plan on staying,"
"But you have no way of leaving - not yet, at least. If you want to get out of here, you need help - help from a noble, quite likely. Getting help from a noble is hard enough, but your case is especially tricky. And on top of that, you can't even speak their language."
"Well, isn't that what the spell's for? I mean the Tongues spell,"
"Idiot! Have you any idea how rude it is to ask your senior to keep up with your pace? How're you even gonna start asking a noble to help you with an attitude like that?"
"Well, I got by fine back where I come from..." Kamijou made up an excuse.
"Well that's not good enough here. And in any case, for all your complaints, you've actually been working hard, haven't you?"
Kamijou got up silently. It was as Marc said. It hadn't been too long since he had come to this world, but he had already learned enough to converse with Marc like this (albeit with many mistakes and mispronunciations thanks to his accent). It wasn't because he was just that good at language skills – in fact, it wasn't like he could understand every word that came from Marc's mouth. It was more a matter of understanding some of the words and putting together a complete picture of what he said based on context and tone. It sounded complex, but Kamijou was able to ad-lib his way through it. And besides, there was still another reason why he worked so hard at the language.
It was his drive to get back home. He needed to talk to the right people, go to the right places and read the right materials. With a new light in his eyes, he approached his horse. He did so slowly, but confidently. As Marc had advised him, horses were pretty intelligent (was that a trait of this world or did it apply on earth as well? He decided to look into it next time) and could sense the kind of 'presence' he gave off. If he was scared, the horse would be scared too. He had to approach bravely and let the horse 'understand' that he knew what he was doing. After all, the animal's life was in the rider's hands just as much as the rider's life was in the animal's hands...er, hooves? Horses were ridden into battle and along treacherous roads. A skilled rider could spell the difference between life and death in such situations - and the horse understood this. Kamijou calmed himself and took a step forward.
"Alright, here we go!" he mounted up - only for the stirrup to come loose and to cause him to lose his footing and hit the ground.
"Tel malheur!"
Between The Lines 1
Hiraga Saito was a hungry man. He had made fun of his mistress following a certain unfortunate incident in an alchemy class
"'Louise the Zero.' Now I get it~ That's just perfect~ Rate of success is zero. But a noble despite that... wonderful!"
He had made fun of her continuously in this ridiculous manner, and she had gotten super-mad at him.
"Th-th-th-this familiar, how dare it say s-s-s-such things to its m-m-m-master?"
And like that, his punishment was handed down.
"One meal cut for every time you've said 'Zero!' And that's final! No exceptions!"
No wonder he felt like copying Kamijou's catchphrase these days. But it seemed the Goddess of Luck was shining on him today. As he stood outside the dining hall, barely having the strength to return to his mistress' dorm, a young woman carrying silverware out of the Dining Hall took notice of him.
"I-is everything alright?"
Saito looked up, startled. The woman he was facing looked to be around his age, and was dressed as a maid. She had short black hair with a neat hairband. Saito thought the freckles on her face were rather cute.
"Oh...I'm ok," he happened to lightly wave his left hand while saying this, and the girl seemed to notice something.
"Are you...by any chance, the one who was summoned by Miss Vallière?"
"You know me?"
The girl smiled and explained that the rumours about that incident had spread pretty fast throughout the school.
"Anyway, my name's Siesta!"
Saito smiled back. "My name's Hiraga Saito…just call me Saito. Are you a noble as well?"
"Oh, no, I'm not! I'm just a common maid who serves the nobles here in this Academy," she denied with a nervous smile and while waving her free hand about.
As Saito smiled politely, his stomach rumbled. Siesta looked surprised, but then she laughed cutely.
"You must be hungry. Why don't you come with me?"
Part 5
"Allons-y,"
"Uh. Yeah," Kamijou responded to Marc and urged his horse on. He had more or less got the hang of it, after many mishaps. He always checked and double-checked the horse and its attachments first before getting on, and this had paid off. He could ride properly without falling off now. They had gotten the supplies they needed, and it was now time to return to the Academy.
"So...tell me more about your world, Kamijou,"
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm curious. Plus, you can think of it as language practice!"
"Well, let's see..." Kamijou said this in French, looking up with a thoughtful expression. Marc cut in, "Don't tell me all the boring stuff. I already know there are no horses there!"
"Urgh. How'd you know I was gonna talk about the transport?" Kamijou sweat-dropped.
"How're the people there? Is there a system like Halkeginia's? I mean with nobles and commoners."
"Actually, no. Magic works differently in my world." He gathered his thoughts and spoke again, "Here, magic is something that nobles are born with. In my world, just about every human has the capability to perform magic, but few actually go down that path,"
Marc was taken aback. "Why? Magic is power, isn't it? If I lived in that world, I'd want power, if nothing else, to defend myself against those others who went down the path of magic,"
"Well, how do I explain this? Ok, forget what I said earlier, Magic is something anyone can do. But there are those born with natural power and talent. And there are those who envy these. There are people who don't have any power themselves, but they want power to achieve a certain goal. These people will invariably go down a path to find power. And they find Magic along the way," He deliberately left out any mention of Espers. Academy City had strict rules on leaking information, after all.
"So Magic is accessible to all, but is found only by those who need this power," Marc pulled a face. "Sounds really convenient, doesn't it?"
Kamijou clenched his fist and looked at it, remembering the Magicians he had met before. Stiyl. Kanzaki. The Amakusa Catholics. Even those who had tried their best to kill him, like the members of God's Right Seat. Even those who had tricked and deceived him to achieve their goals. He closed his eyes and relaxed. "Of course not. Magicians do make plenty of sacrifices. They are passionate souls. They may fight calmly and analytically, but below that façade lies a heart burning with a certain desire. This is what it takes to go down the path of magic. It isn't for those who want to back out halfway. If one doesn't have the desire to go as far as they can for their dream, there's no need for magic anymore."
Marc tilted his head in wonder at the words he had just heard. "If you put it like that...it almost sounds as if the difference between Earth and Halkeginia is that the people on your side earn their power and pay for it with their souls. Well, in a manner of speaking, anyway. But here, a select few are born with it. It's as if power is something to be gotten through hard work over there, while it's the basis for an exclusive club here,"
"Something like that, I guess." Kamijou was surprised at the objective analysis.
"Hmph. I see," Marc said mildly. He then frowned. While talking, they had already entered the Academy and were riding to the central tower, but there was a commotion - noise was coming from the direction of the Vestri Court. The two men shared a look. 'Let's check it out' passed between them, without actually being said.
"Gentlemen! It's a duel!"
Guiche de Gramont, the idiot skirt-chaser of the school, lifted his artificial rose high to cheers from the crowd. He was standing on the Vestri Court, where a crowd of students had gathered. Marc exchanged a few words with a boy standing at the outer edges of the crowd, then told Kamijou, "Hmph. Those two idiots had an argument over some stupid matter, and now they're-"
"Guiche is going to duel! His opponent is Louise's commoner!" someone shouted. Saito glared as he heard the last two words. He looked around, and his eyes met Kamijou. The mounted boy looked at him, alarmed. What the hell's this?! Saito smiled bitterly and shook his head. It's nothing. Just some stupid stuff. Kamijou tilted his head. Need some help? To his surprise, Saito glared at him and shook his head violently before facing Guiche. Stay out of this!
Kamijou's hand was hanging in the air, and his face was frozen in shock. Wasn't Hiraga a normal guy, completely uninvolved in Magic? Wasn't his opponent an actual Mage? He had to put a stop to this. But before he could urge his horse forward, Marc grabbed his reins to stop him. This exchange went unnoticed by Guiche, who had turned around to acknowledge the cheers and blow kisses at some of the girls. He turned around at last and looked straight at the black-faced Saito. With a cocky smile, he spoke.
"First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!"
"Like anyone would run away!"
"Right then, let us begin!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Saito dashed forward. Kamijou was forcibly reminded of himself throwing himself at Magicians with nothing but his right fist's strange power. And here, another boy was doing the same, without even that power. He tried once again to go forth, but Marc was holding him back.
"Don't."
"But...!"
"Leave them be,"
Guiche had flicked his rose lazily, letting a petal fall to the floor. A metal warrior suddenly rose from the ground from the petal.
"What? He's using magic, against Hiraga? Isn't that overkill?"
Marc remained calm. "Yes. What'd you expect? Mages use magic. Obviously. But Hiraga knows what he's getting himself into."
"Even so, he's being stupid! He-"
"Just leave it be, will you?!" Marc snapped. "This is a duel. Interfering will just be bad for both parties. Let them settle their differences themselves."
Kamijou clenched his fist tightly and stared on. In the few moments he had spent talking to Marc, Saito had tried fighting the Warrior, but failed miserably. It was much stronger than him, and even if Saito managed to hit it, he just hurt himself on the hard armour of the summoned being.
"I guess I forgot to mention earlier. My Runic name is "the Bronze." Guiche the Bronze. Accordingly, my bronze golem "Valkyrie" shall be your real opponent." crowed Guiche. Kamijou and Saito both gritted their teeth furiously. It wasn't a fair fight, and Guiche wasn't even taking it halfway seriously. It reminded Kamijou of Fiamma of the Right, who sent so many proxies to fight him before taking the matter up himself.
"If you're worried about him, think about how best to tend to his wounds. That's what we're here for, anyway." Marc interjected, not unkindly. "De Gramont won't kill him. I can guarantee that. He lacks the will."
["Guiche!"]
"Why doesn't that put me at ease?" Kamijou deadpanned. He returned his attention to the one-sided curb-stomp. A thought came to mind as he looked closely at the combatants. He remembered what he and Marc had discussed not even an hour ago.
It almost sounds as if the difference between Earth and Halkeginia is that the people on your side earn their power and pay for it with their souls.
["Oh, Louise! My bad. I'm just borrowing your familiar for a bit."]
But here, a select few are born with it. It's as if power is something to be gotten through hard work over there, while it's the basis for an exclusive club here.
Was that what this fight was indicative of? Without even knowing it, were the two fighters representing the truth of the two worlds?
["That's quite enough! And besides, duelling is strictly forbidden!"]
Hiraga Saito - the boy without "power" or "talent", standing up for himself, his heart burning against the attitude of a Halkeginian noble.
Guiche de Gramont - the boy who had been blessed since birth with "power", "talent" and other qualities.
["Only dueling between nobles is forbidden. Nobody has forbidden duels between commoners and nobles!"]
It was a classic struggle - he who had no power fighting against he who had it in spades. Despite himself, Kamijou was entranced by the proceedings. The Zero girl was desperately trying to stop the duel. But Hiraga was having none of it.
"...Wh-who's being beaten up? I'm just fine." He said, in an obvious show of bravado, and stood up.
Between The Lines 2
Professor Colbert lifted a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his brow. Constantly using the levitation spell was taking its toll on his body. But he had to continue reading and find out as much as he could. Even after days of searching, he had found nothing about "Kamijou" or "Touma". But he had uncovered some other interesting things.
There were instances in history where certain...mystical items had been found. These "items" were varied, and there was almost no common thread between them all - except for one: in terms of their rarity and, perhaps X-factor, they were on the same level as Void. Religious texts considered them blasphemous. Liberal texts called them a blessing to the commonfolk against oppressive nobles. Still other religious texts considered them a form of discipline against unruly nobles.
But while all these texts disagreed as to the deeper meaning behind these items, they agreed that, on a surface level, the items were nigh-invulnerable against magic. Each text referred to these items as being mysterious items with a strange power. But after reading them all and cross-referencing the different sources, Colbert concluded that this was a mistake - Instead of being mysterious items, these items were just ordinary objects that were possessed by a 'mysterious power'. The power came and went, transforming these ordinary items into extraordinary ones, and then leaving them as the same ordinary items as before. For example...
The Lagdorian Lake, wedged between Tristain and Gallia, had once been a divine lake. It was a place where magic had no power at all. Some Romalian priests considered it a holy place where all were equal before God and the Founder Brimir. Young nobles considered it a test of courage, and tried to bend the power of the water there to their wills - all of these failed, even a square-class mage who gave it his all. This strange aspect of the Lake had been in force between 4100 and 4000 years ago. By some coincidence, the Water Spirit of the Lagdorian Lake had seemingly taken a break during this same period. It had disappeared 4100 years ago, and then returned 4000 years ago.
The next item was a volcano in Gallia. About 3000 years ago, this volcano had erupted, and thrown volcanic ash everywhere. A veritable army of Wind Mages was assembled by the then-King of Gallia, but their combined spell of wind was of no use against the spreading cloud of ash. A historian lamented that it would have been better if these mages had simply tossed their wands aside and collectively sighed at the advancing cloud. The army stood its ground (although other sources reported that some mages broke ranks and fled), but was ordered back. Gallia could not, after all, afford to lose so many Nobles in such fashion.
There was a trend so far, Colbert noted. Water and Fire had been accounted for. Wind, Earth, and, dare he believe it, Void still remained. Flipping through all the different texts in the library on this subject yielded no results on either of these elements, though. There might have been something about a sword that resisted magic, but...Wait a minute. Colbert blinked. Before he knew it, he was reading a book on the familiars of Brimir, the holy Founder. He flipped through the pages slowly, and came to a page with different runic emblems on it. He frowned at one of the rune signatures, then took a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was the sketch he had made of Hiraga Saito's runes. He had always thought those runes looked odd, so he had sketched them, hoping to research them. He put the paper next to the page and compared the two runic signatures.
He almost fell out of the air in shock, having lost control over his levitation spell for a second. He floated back to the ground and ran, with the book in hand, to the Headmaster's Office.
Part 6
Hiraga Saito was lying on the ground in agony. He had already suffered several broken bones, and likely had internal injuries as well. Marc, shaking his head, was already preparing to stop the fight using his authority as a noble senior in age to these nobles and fix up the combatants' - well, just Saito's - injuries. But Kamijou stayed put, for some reason. Louise, on the other hand, was in tears already. Ordering Saito to stop had gotten her nowhere - so she desperately tried a different tack.
"This is enough! You did very well. I've never seen a commoner like you before!" she said, trying hard to smile.
"No...that's not enough," Saito breathed. Louise bit her lip in despair.
Obviously she hoped Saito would stop showing off and give up. But that was assuming he was actually fighting to show off. Kamijou knew otherwise.
"Hold on a minute,"
"What?" Marc stopped his horse and turned back to look at him.
"The fight's not over yet,"
"Huh? What're you talking about? It's over. Hiraga can't move! Besides, weren't you the one who wanted to-"
"Marc."
"He...he has a reason to stand up and fight," Kamijou whispered. Despite himself, he did not want to intervene. Doing so felt inexplicably wrong. He remembered Birdway's words that day he came back to Academy City.
Magicians were those without Talent or Power. All they had was their resolve and a childlike desire to turn their dream into something real. But it was these small things that led to the opening of a world of possibilities. Magical possibilities. He just needed to stretch out his hand and reach it...
"Are we quite done yet?" Guiche called out mockingly, clearly enjoying the show. Hiraga placed a hand on Louise's shoulder and pushed her aside slowly.
"...Hold your horses. I'm just catching my breath."
Guiche snorted derisively. He plucked another petal off his rose and let it fall to the ground. It transformed - into a sword. Taking it by the handle, he tossed it at Saito. It landed just in front of him, with the blade stuck slightly in the ground.
"If you're still willing to continue, then take that sword. If not, all you need to say is a simple "I'm sorry." Then I can just forgive you and be done with it." he intoned, oddly solemn.
Marc shot Kamijou a dirty look. "Now we're past the point of no return. If you hadn't stopped me there, we could've ended this peacefully. But now he's gone and done it!"
Kamijou just remained silent and looked on at Saito. The boy just looked at the sword.
"Understand? The sword. In other words, a weapon. It's the very least you commoners will need if you want to take revenge against us nobles. So as I said, if you're still up for it, take that sword."
Hiraga slowly reached for the sword. Louise swatted his hand away.
"Don't you get what this means, you idiot?! He's been playing with you up to now, but if you take the sword, Guiche will come at you seriously! He won't show you any mercy if you take it!"
"I can't go back to my world... Which means I'm stuck living in this one, right?" Saito muttered, almost to himself. He didn't look at Louise.
"That's right. So what about it?! Right now that doesn't matter!"
"I don't mind being a familiar... I can take sleeping on the floor... I don't care if the food sucks... Washing underwear? I'll do that too. It's not like I really have a choice. But..."
"But what?!"
"I will not bow to anyone against my will!" Saito roared, throwing his head up. Kamijou felt a slight chill, and realised he was holding his breath. Saito, operating on pure adrenaline, no doubt, thrust his hand forward and gripped the handle of the sword tightly. The runes on his hand started glowing brightly. Kamijou gasped.
[Grit your teeth well, Strongest! My Weakest attack might shake you up just a little!]
Between The Lines 3
Back in Academy City, a certain white-haired esper sneezed, eliciting a cruel laugh from his housemate. Meanwhile, the little brat next to him just kept chattering without stopping.
"And then-and then-and then we'll go hunting for prospective schools! says Misaka as Misaka tries to allure you with the prospect of a rosy school life!"
"Shut up, brat. Like such a thing exists,"
"Ohh? This Misaka wonders if there's some hesitation in your voice. Maybe that boy's school would accept you? Then you could bow down to him and call him sensei-"
"Are you picking a fight, bitch?" Accelerator snapped. As if he was going to ask that guy to show him the path. But he did find himself wondering what had happened to him. After the whole Hawaii incident (after which he had silently sworn never to trust little brats who knew too much for their age), Kamijou Touma had just disappeared. He'd dropped right off the grid - shortly after the news broke that 27 institutions cooperating with Academy City had decided to cut ties with the capital of the Science Side. The #3 seemed to know something, but was very withdrawn at that time, and refused to speak to anyone on the return trip. He was about to pursue the matter on the flight back, but even WORST was staying away from her instead of making fun of her like she usually did - which to him was an indication not to disturb the Tokiwadai Ojou-sama. Who cared anyway. That guy had a habit of being involved in incidents all over the world; it wasn't like it was his business to account for his whereabouts.
Well, whatever. I don't need fucking heroes or anything anymore.
More importantly, it was almost time for the Ichihanaran Festival. It was an important time for schools to show off their achievements to get more students to join them. Of course, he wasn't about to let Last Order (or WORST, God forbid!) join a school on the outside. There was no way he could let a clone of the #3 go to school daily, even if she was a younger or older version of the original. He was even prepared to home-school her if need be (a thought that his two 'mommies' had laughed at heartily). The more pressing concern now was about enjoying the festival.
Of course, Accelerator was not somebody to 'enjoy festivals'. But Last Order and WORST were raring to go. Worst could go and die for all he cared (only his public opinion), but he wasn't going to let Last Order go anywhere and everywhere by herself. He had to mentally prepare himself to go one whole round of Ichihanaransai, and then some, this year 'round.
He sighed.
This is fucking stupid. The great Accelerator, #1 esper of Academy City, babysitting a brat during festival season.
And then, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it~!, says Misaka as Misaka dashes for the door!"
"Delivery for a...Mister A-Accelerator," A very nervous deliveryman announced. The recipient of the letter hobbled over and signed out his delivery before WORST or Last Order could grab it in their curiosity. His "delivery" was just a plain envelope.
"Hoh~? Somebody actually posted a letter and ahd it delivered right to your doorstep? Sounds important," cackled WORST. "Maybe it's a love lett-"
"Shut up." he took the letter back to his room and opened it. The outside was pristine, with no stamp, address or anything. Turning on his electrode for safety, Accelerator opened the letter.
It was a memory card. The tiny label on it held the words "Kamijou Touma Coord/Intel Nets Transcript"
"What the hell?"
Part 7
"That common boy actually ended up winning," mused Professor Colbert in wonder.
"Indeed," agreed the Headmaster, Old Osmond. The two professors had been watching the entire fight through a magical mirror.
"Well, this proves it, doesn't it?" Colbert asked, slamming his book shut. "That boy is the legendary founder Gandálfr!"
"I can understand that without you broadcasting it to the whole world, Mr Colbert," said Old Osmond kindly. Colbert turned silent, looking a little embarrassed.
"Gandálfr - the legendary Familiar. If memory serves, he was the familiar of the first Void Mage, the Holy Founder Brimir, is that right?"
"Yes, that is true,"
"And he was able to stop entire armies by himself?"
"Yes. The incantations for Void were lengthy and left the mage open to attacks. So the Familiar was needed to stop enemies from interfering or harming the Founder."
"I see. By the way, why is this boy here?"
Colbert face-faulted. "Like I said, he is the Familiar of Miss Valliere!"
"Oh. Right. And what kind of mage is this Miss Valliere?"
"She is, umm-"
"A very talented Fire Mage? Her vibrant mane seems to suggest so,"
Colbert looked confused, then he realised the headmaster was pulling his leg.
"Please take this seriously, sir! As for Miss Valliere, her element is still unknown. She is...a failure, I must say. I really cannot mince my words here,"
"A failure, huh~? A puzzling duo to be sure."
"Yes."
"So how did an average boy contracted by an untalented mage become Gandálfr? What an utter paradox. I just can't see where the ends meet."
"In any case, I believe it is the find of the century, sir! We should report it to the Palace right awa-"
Osmond turned around suddenly.
"No, we should not."
"Eh?" was all Colbert could manage. He composed himself and asked, "Why not, sir?"
"There is no need for us to hand over Gandálfr and its master to those fools at the palace. Give them a toy like this and they'll just cause another unnecessary war. Court advisors have too much free time on their hands and like fighting far too much."
"Oh..." Colbert rubbed his head, realising the gravity of the headmaster's words.
"I will take responsibility of this case myself. You will not speak of this to anyone else, Mister Colbert."
"Y-yes! I understand!"
"Anyway...what about the other boy?"
Colbert had guessed this question would come his way.
"I have been researching that as well, Old Osmond. I have yet to find anything concrete, but allow me to share with you what I have read,"
He talked about the "Items" he had been researching and listed the examples he had found. He talked about the Terrible Volcano and the Holy Lagdorian Lake.
Osmond listened carefully.
"Amazing, Mister Colbert. Amazing, indeed, the times we live in,"
"Do you have an idea as to what this other boy may be, Old Osmond, sir?"
"To be frank, I don't." Colbert's face fell in disappointment when he heard this. "But I will tell you this. He, too, is something special. I don't know for sure, but I believe it to be true. There was something incredibly amazing and, at the same time, dreadful, in that volcano and in the Lagdorian. And now, we have something like this in this boy's right hand, if the reports are accurate."
"So...your instructions, Old Osmond?"
"Same as before, Mister Colbert!" Osmond said brightly. "Let's wait this out and see what happens,"
Between The Lines 4
Misaka Mikoto glared defiantly at Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
"So? What're you gonna do?"
The multi-spy pulled a face. Mikoto tensed, building up static power in her fists.
"Well. Nothing, I guess, nyaa~"
"Eh?"
"Well, you heard me nya~. I'm not about to do anything, so just relax, will ya?" It wasn't just the shorts, Tsuchimikado thought to himself. Your manner is completely off compared to the other sisters. You fumbled too much with your weapon, kept fidgeting, didn't click so well with the others...I could go on and on. But mainly the shorts, heh~.
"Oi Tsuchimikado! What's going on?" Stiyl was understandably confused. He had already drawn a rune card, ready to activate it.
"We were supposed to go on this mission with 5 clones of the #3 Esper in Academy City. Instead, we've got 4 clones plus the Original. Meet Miss #3. [" Hey! I have a name, damn it! Geez, small wonder you're friends with that idiot!"]"
"If you noticed it so fast, why didn't you say anything? How do we know if she's safe?!" Stiyl thundered.
The spy simply smiled enigmatically. "Well, I thought it was alright, nya,~"
Mikoto and Stiyl both looked surprised at that. Tsuchimikado explained.
"She's not here to derail our mission nya~ If anything, she'd be an asset,"
"And how do you know this asset won't turn toxic down the road later ["Hey. I'm right here, y'know!"]?" Stiyl asked through gritted teeth.
"Well, for starters, we're magicians and she's an Esper. She needs us to open the gate back to Earth. She'd fail very badly if she tried it herself, as we all know ["Ehh? Why? What's with that emphasis on 'very badly'?!" "Onee-sama - Esper powers and magical powers are incompatible. We will die bleeding out of every blood vessel if we attempted basic magical techniques, says Misaka as she recites what she heard from Motoharu-oniichan." "EHH seriously?! Wait who the hell's Motoharu-oniichan?!"]. Although she probably won't complain if we were to leave her and Kami-yan all by themselves on Asgard or wherever nya~"
"A-a-a-all by o-o-ourselves?!"
Stiyl breathed out smoke, looking ready to kill someone. He addressed Mikoto directly and spat out a question.
"For what did you even come out this far? Seeing as your sisters are here with us, I don't want to believe that you're an enemy, but I don't understand your actions at all."
Mikoto straightened up, "I heard that idiot went missing when these girls were discussing it on your messaging network. I wanted to come along and find him too...D-don't get me wrong though! I still owe him a lot and need to punch him hard for all the stupid things he's done ["Not another one..." Lessar said unpleasantly]!"
"Onee-sama, maybe you should be more honest with yourself, advises Misaka 10032,as she holds back laughter at your pathetic attempts to evade ["Shut uuuuupp!"]
Tsuchimikado turned towards Mikoto. "You said you listened in on our conversation. How did you know how to do it though?"
"Huh? Uh, well. This girl - she said she was a concerned senior - she showed me how. I think she was from that idiot's school... she had black hair with the fringe tied back and-"
"An impressive rack?"
"Yeah," said Mikoto absentmindedly, before realising what she had said with a blush and an incoherent shout at Tsuchimikado. The spy shared a look with Stiyl.
"Kumokawa Seria. If she put her up to this..."
"We have no time for this, Tsuchimikado." This changes everything. We can't send back this girl now. I could fight her, but can we beat Academy City's #3? If every single one of us were to fight, maybe. But those 'sisters' will take her side for sure. In other words, 3 of us against 5 of them...He glanced at Tsuchimikado.
The spy looked seriously at everyone, dropping his playful manner, and gave his reply.
Part 8
"Huh? You wanna go out to town? What for?" frowned Marc, glancing up from his paperwork and looking down. It had been four days since the duel. The whole school had been in uproar over Saito's win, and Kamijou and Marc had had to defend the Healing Ward against unruly students who wanted to see the Hero who had defeated Guiche the Bronze. Marc had gone into angst-mode by the second day and hexed anyone who entered (which almost got him in trouble when he blasted a well-meaning Professor Colbert).
Kamijou uncomfortably scratched the back of his head and said nervously, "Yeah, well. I thought I'd go to Tristania and mix around. It'd be a good opportunity to practise language…"
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" he said testily."
"Uhh. You don't look free at the moment…"
Marc pulled a face, "I was kidding. Things have quietened since that idiot woke up and got his arse out of this place. Go. Just make sure you return by tonight, and don't let anything happen to the horse,"
"Eh? Oh…alright! Thanks!" Kamijou punched the air and ran out before Marc could change his mind. He had things to do in the capital city. The last time he had gone to Tristania, he hadn't done anything besides stand with Marc and listen while his boss bought medical supplies. He'd spent enough time waiting and learning at the Academy. He needed to start taking action. Going to town and finding out as much as he could from the locals would be a good step in the right direction. And, in any case, he had to get out and go somewhere. Sitting around just didn't feel right. He put on his jacket and walked over to the stables.
"Hey. Time to go, boy," he muttered, stroking the mane of the horse he had been temporarily assigned (a light grey horse called "Ghost"). The horse followed him out, and allowed Kamijou to mount up before moving towards the Gate in a leisurely trot.
"Such good weather today~" the Imagine Breaker boy smiled and breathed in the fresh air. Like this, it was almost too easy to forget that he had been sent into another world after getting soundly beaten by a Magic God. His expression slowly turned serious. He had adjusted remarkably well to life in Tristain, considering all that had happened, but his thoughts still lay with Earth. He had no ties to this place, but had plenty of reasons to go back to Earth.
Academy City. His school. His teachers.
His schoolmates. His friends. Index. Misaka. Tsuchimikado, Aogami, Fukiyose, Himegami and all the rest. His parents.
Necessarius. Dawn-Coloured Sunlight.
Gremlin.
Gritting his teeth, he focused on the path before him. He would definitely get all the answers he needed.
Then, he frowned. What was that in the sky? It looked like a big blue bird. As the bird got close, he realised it was a dragon, and it was descending towards him like an owl swooping down on its prey.
"Eeee!" He squeezed the horse's body with his legs, urging Ghost forward. Thankfully, the horse complied, fast-trotting a few steps to the front. The quick action left him out of the dragon's trajectory. The dragon, which he could now see was blue and carrying two girls on top of it, one with blue hair and the other with red hair, swooped up and slowed down dramatically, before turning around to face him.
"Kyui Kyui Kyuiiii!" it 'said' dramatically, as if it were taking offence against him. The two girls on top were shaken (even the ice-blue haired girl with the glasses looked a little ruffled. Just a little).
"Geez! What's wrong, Sylphid? Why'd you have to swoop down like that?" Kirche asked, trying to fix her hair. Tabitha remained silent and adjusted her glasses.
"Maybe she recognised you for the witch you are and tried to throw you off!" crowed another voice. Kamijou turned and saw that it was the Zero girl. She was seated on a horse and riding in from the direction of the school gate, as was her familiar, who looked thoroughly exhausted. They must have been riding for quite some time, although Zero's face didn't show it.
"Ehh? What're you guys doing here?"
"We just got back from shopping," Hiraga moaned. "Oh my back's killing me…"
"Shopping? For what?" Kamijou frowned. Then he saw the item strapped to Hiraga's back. "Oh. Is that a new sword?"
"Yes I am!" A disembodied voice proclaimed. Who was that? Saito didn't seem surprised to hear the voice, though. He simply drew the sword and held it horizontally for Kamijou to see. There was a movable part at the top of the sword, which started moving up and down by itself. And at the same time, the voice came back.
"I'm the legendary Derflinger! Pleased to meet ya!"
"Ahh! A talking sword?!"Kamijou cried.
"Yeah, I was surprised too! Apparently, there are sentient swords here. This one can talk and think. Wanna take a closer look?"
Kamijou thought about taking it in his hand. For all the fights he had gotten himself into, he didn't particularly like using weapons. But he'd never held a sword before, and wanted to know how it felt like. Just as he was about to extend his right hand, he realised something and stopped. "Ah. I guess I shouldn't use my right hand here,"
"Oh…you're right about that. I don't know what'll happen to this guy if he were to touch your hand," Saito said, lowering the sword a little. He didn't know much about Kamijou's powers, but knew enough to tell that it could negate magic. Derflinger clattered noisily for a bit, then quietened down.
"Hey boy…what's your name?"
"Me? Kamijou Touma,"
"Wow. Today is really my lucky day. First, an interesting new owner, and then…this. I haven't felt this in centuries,"
"What're you talking about?" Kamijou asked politely.
"Oh, nothing. Just the tired words of an old blade," Derf said offhandedly. Before Kamijou could quiz him any further.
"Yes, a tired old blade indeed!" Kirche, the red-haired Germanian seductress, crowed. Kamijou blushed as he saw her running over to him, Louise and Saito.
"The sword I bought for you is so much better than that piece of trash! Isn't it, Darling?"
"Uh? Um, well…" Saito struggled for an answer – not because he was hesitant, but because he was too busy staring at Kirche's chest while she ran towards them. Derf replied in his stead.
"Hmph. Just because it's shiny doesn't mean it's a great sword. There's no way I'd lose to something like that!"
Louise glared at Saito, but before she could scold him for staring, Kamijou took the opportunity.
"Miss…Vallière, was it? Mind talking to me for a while in private?" Louise looked surprised at the request, but complied. They broke off from the arguing Kirche and Derf and the drooling Saito, and stopped a few metres away.
"I'll be blunt. Why did you bring me over to this world?" Kamijou started.
Louise was startled, but calmed down quickly. It was not like she hadn't expected this question, from either Saito or Kamijou. For Saito's case, her answer was straightforward – he was the familiar bestowed upon her by the Holy Founder. He was the being she had formed a contract with. But for this other boy…she had no idea how to answer him.
"I…don't know myself," she said honestly.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"I don't even know the answer to that," she shook her head. "Do you know everything about the Springtime Summoning Ritual?"
"No. It'd help if you can explain it," Kamijou said seriously. It would probably help to hear things from her point of view.
"Geez, this is why Commoners are so…Ok, I'll explain it just once, so you'd better listen!" With an intensity that gave Kamijou bad memories of the Railgun's bad temper, she explained the Ritual. Kamijou understood that the ritual was a rite of passage for all young mages in this world, and it involved having to summon a familiar that would serve the mage for life. Louise had summoned Hiraga. And barely minutes after the contract was made, he had come hurtling through.
"Summon Servant is supposed to work only for one Familiar. By the time you came through the portal, I had already made the contract with Saito. Also, I did not even cast the spell after Saito came in to this world,"
"In other words, you didn't do anything to summon me. I just…came of my own accord,"
"Maybe…"
"Or maybe it's because you summoned both of us at the same time, but I came a little later?" Kamijou mused. "But never mind. It doesn't matter. Do you know of any way back?"
Louise bit her lip. "…No, I don't."
He raised an eyebrow and asked softly, "Then what about Hiraga? He seems like a normal guy, completely unrelated to magic…To pull him here to this world-"
A look of anger – and was that guilt? – ran across her face, but she quickly composed herself.
"I can worry about my own familiar, thank you very much, Mr Kamijou,"
With that, she turned her horse around and trotted back to the main group. Kamijou sighed. In the end, he just had even more questions than before., and now she'd probably be less likely to listen to him. Louise didn't know anything (although she could've been lying). And did she feel guilty about the whole thing? The whole thing was really starting to look more and more like an accident. Or maybe simple misfortune?
Well, whatever. I'll just keep an eye out for any changes. For now, it's time to go to town. With those thoughts, he rode off down the road to town.
Between The Lines 5
Tsuchimikado Motoharu had learned from a very young age what it meant to have your plans fail even before anything had properly started. He kept trying and trying again, planning over and over again to cover all contingencies.
"Considering our team lineup, your presence here could be very bad," Mikoto subtly shifted her centre of gravity. Tsuchimikado remained calm. He didn't know when the change had occurred, but he knew it had happened at some point - he stopped making such good plans, and made himself better at adapting to changes in the situation. He threw out the rulebook, and used screw-ups to his own benefit.
"But it doesn't have to be." Mikoto looked him in confusion.
Almost solemnly, he intoned, "We're here to find a guy who we can all agree has suffered enough already. If you're here to help us find him and bring him back, I'm fine,"
Mikoto straightened up. She had sneaked onto the team, asking her Sisters to cover for her. Getting exposed so fast was only to be expected, perhaps. But this wasn't. [But this isn't so bad either]. Since he was indirectly asking her for her assistance, she would help out. After all, that was her intention from the beginning. She was just a girl concerned about a boy she cared about. And she wasn't the only one. Her sisters too had done so much (behind her back too, something she had yet to lecture them about!). How could she let them go off by themselves on a mission like this?
She relaxed and put her hands down. "Thanks. I'm glad you understand," Lessar simply yawned in boredom, like she had been expecting this, and Stiyl put away his rune cards, but he did not take his eyes off the Electromaster, not once.
[I don't think you're a threat at this time. I know all about you and the nature of your relationship with Kami-yan. I doubt you'll betray us, or more importantly, him. But that doesn't mean you're my friend. Turn on us, and you won't even have time to hear my Sorcery Name. I'll be the blade in your back, just when you think everything's alright.]
Leaving that unsaid, Tsuchimikado smiled. This way was much better than starting a meaningless fight that would just derail the mission (forget 'derail', this would more likely just blow up the freaking tracks along with the proverbial "train").
"Don't worry so much nyaa~ I'm fine as long as you pull your weight and don't hold the rest of us back. Let's just carry on - to Muspelheim! Be careful now, it's gonna be one hell of a ride nyaa!"
Part 9
Tristania, the capital of Tristain, was busy as always, with merchants and commoners walking the grounds, and nobles on horseback all around them. Kamijou looked around alertly, scanning his surroundings, just like he had done previously. For practice, he read every signboard he could see and tried pronouncing and translating the words in his mind.
Taverne
Hôtel
Forgeron
And so on. Where could he go first? Hadn't he read in those detective books that bars were places where plenty of stories were exchanged?
But of course, he couldn't go to a tavern. He didn't look old enough. Even if he was let inside, he'd probably be taken advantage of. He didn't want to come out having lost all his money and with nothing to show for it.
How about an inn? It was essentially the same as a bar, but without an age restriction. Nah, it would probably end the same way as the bar.
He wandered around the town for a while, wondering what would be the best way to proceed. In the meantime, he also thought of how he should proceed with his little information-gathering trip.
Forget about asking for directions back home – only nobles can help me with that, and I can't just approach lightly.
An interesting thought occurred to him. Back in Academy City, there were plenty of urban legends. It was, perhaps, only to be expected, in a city full of supernatural powers. But many of these legends started from, or led to, something real. Perhaps if he could find something, like a rumour or story, about something out of the ordinary – who knows? It might have been a clue to something from another world.
He sighed. It was simply too fantastic a thought. Travelling between worlds was already impossible in this world, as far as most people were concerned. And of course there would be rumours and urban legends about strange phenomena flying around in this land of magic. Even if there were stories of 'otherworldly' objects, perhaps they were simply stories of things from Halkeginia, but seemed otherworldly for some reason.
Maybe I should just give up and go back? This is a fool's errand. But it doesn't feel right if I don't do anything!
"Honestly! What is with people nowadays – showing so much skin so brazenly? This is why our country is suffering so much," Kamijou turned in the direction of the voice that had said this. It was a man who looked somewhat like a priest.
"Um…what're you talking about, mister?" he asked.
"I'm talking about young women who wear their skirts too high!"
Urghh. I ended up talking to some weirdo.
"It's bad enough the nobles at the Academy do it, but now even the commoners are following suit! It's thanks to things like this that God is punishing us!"
"Eh? Punishment for showing some skin? Isn't that going a little too far?" Kamijou asked with an uncomfortable smile. Back in his world, nuns didn't seem to take their vows particularly seriously anyway. Priests could even chain-smoke and fall in love with those nuns, for crying out loud!
"Just you wait!" The man did not even listen. "Yesterday's storm was just the beginning! There'll be more to come!" Thankfully, the man decided to continue with his tirade elsewhere. Kamijou frowned at his attitude and moved on, wondering about the storm.
"Ah, but he's right…I'll never trust women again…" moaned another guy. Kamijou turned again. This time, it was a guy dressed like everybody else on the street. He had a somewhat mousy appearance, enhanced by his two front teeth.
"What happened to you?"
"Y'see – this girl walked into my shop yesterday! And she used that – that devil's charm of hers to cheat me out of a sword!" he started crying dramatically.
"You sell swords?"
"Yes, obviously!" he sniffed. "She made me sell a fine Germanian-forged sword at a third of the original price!...But she was a fine thing. Hehe he he."
Kamijou sweatdropped. It looked like he was running into plenty of weirdos today. But it was fine. If he couldn't start by talking to people, he didn't mind if people came to talk to him instead.
"What about that storm that other guy mentioned?"
"Storm?" he looked a little annoyed at the change of subject, but played along. "Yeah – there was a storm yesterday. It was odd. The skies were clear and all, but we clearly saw a flash of lightning,"
"Is that so? Well, it's probably just some noble, isn't it?" Kamijou asked sceptically.
"Sounds likely – but nobody saw any noble around," the sword seller shrugged. Kamijou was about to ask if maybe nobody recognised the noble for what he was – but that was naïve. Street rats were good at recognising people for what they were. A noble would be easily seen and identified by various markers like his or her clothes, manner and most obviously, their power. If nobody actually saw the Noble, it was almost like an urban legend.
Reflecting on those thoughts, he realised how much he had changed. It was true he was never really the kind of goody-two-shoes who stayed clear of fights, but thinking about things from the point of view of a street fighter was almost becoming second nature. Baggage City, Hawaii, Russia, England and so many other battlefields had pushed this mentality onto him.
Is it really alright to carry on like this?
He had been tricked in Hawaii. Somebody had used his personality to manipulate him into saving other people in Hawaii – but that had led to 27 institutions breaking their ties with Academy City and causing problems elsewhere. And then it had escalated into an incident which left a cold, desolate city in Eastern Europe going down in flames thanks to Academy City's cold-blooded retaliation. Kamijou was not so bold as to believe that he was at the centre of everything, but if he had read just a little more deeply into what Birdway was thinking, maybe things would not have had to go down such a tragic path.
Now he wasn't even sure of what to fight for. Imagine Breaker was a tool that many sought, just like a certain living library of 103000 magical grimoires. How was he to know if a person wanted to borrow his power for the right reasons? Or if he could save a person without causing even bigger problems?
He sighed.
"Kyah! A thief! Stop, thief!" a woman's voice cried out. A person dashed right past Kamijou carrying a gold chain in a feminine-looking hand. Looking back at the direction from which he had run, Kamijou saw a woman waving her fist at him and trying to chase the thief. The mousy sword-seller rolled his eyes.
"Another thief, huh? This is why you shouldn't be wearing jewellery so obviously, idiot!"
"Somebody help! That's a very precious-"
Kamijou hesitated. His conversation-buddy saw this and said condescendingly, "Don't bother, hero. It'll just make you stand out more. And standing out is just the worst possible thing for us commoners!"
"Have you no shame, you on the horse?!" A man shouted out. For some reason, he was dressed in tights and a…was that a purple sports bra?! He had bulging muscles and well-maintained facial hair. "There's a woman in trouble! What're you doing?!"
I shouldn't stand out…but there's someone in need.
God dammit!
"It's just a gold thread, isn't it? Fine, I'll get it!" He roared, and dug his heels gently into Ghost's side, urging him forward. The horse whinnied and started trotting forward at a fast pace. For all his angsty thoughts earlier, he couldn't just let something like this go, could he? He could come to terms with the Hawaii incident and settle his own thoughts later. For now, just for now, he would focus on this pointless little disturbance. He started galloping after the thief. Luckily, people cleared the path for him, wary of the horse, and so he could just keep moving without any difficulty. He took this opportunity to take a good look at the thief. It looked like a young man. He was dressed in rags and an old hat.
"Give it up! Just return what you've stolen and I'll let you go!"
"Eeek!" Apparently the thief himself was too terrified to listen to him. Adrenaline had already set in, and was forcing him to keep running. Kamijou felt a little bad running a man down like this, but stopping the horse or jumping off was dangerous.
Then, Kamijou saw something. Or more accurately, he felt something, and then got a visual confirmation.
Was he dreaming?
His eyes widened as he pondered this question. But this was no time to hesitate. The person he had seen was already holding up a hand, ready to strike. He gritted his teeth and made his decision. He knew who it was he had to help.
The thief let out another shout of despair as the horse gained on him. But for some reason, the boy riding the grey horse did not shove him to the ground or even try to touch him or run him down. Instead, he overtook him to his right, then turned to his left, essentially putting the horse perpendicular to his line of sight. A loud zap sound issued from the direction to which s/he had been running. Ignoring it, the thief gasped for breath and turned around – the hat 'he' was wearing fell off, revealing a shock of messy black hair – it was a woman! But Kamijou did not even have the time to be surprised. The thief looked up and noticed something was off.
Where was that boy looking?
He was not focusing on the target of his chase – he was looking the other way. He was holding up his right hand, which was smoking lightly.
"Hey. You alright?" now this was addressed to her, the thief he had been chasing.
"Hah?"
"I still stand by what I just said. Give that lady back her gold thread, and I'll let you off,"
"I can't believe it…did that boy protect that thief?" a woman asked her friend in an aside. The thief looked up in shock.
"Hmph! Little rats like this are hardly worth risking anything for!"
"But even so, that was overkill...that noble girl just unleashed lightning at a simple common thief!"
"Well, I suppose that is only to be expected. Thanks to that Fouquet, going around making every noble around afraid of thieves…"
Staring dumbly at the boy on the horse, the young thief asked dumbly, "Did you just…save me? Why?"
"Even if what you did was wrong, there's no need to hit you with this kind of attack. You're a thief, not a mass-murderer. Now, go already. Return that woman's jewellery to her and get away from here."
Kamijou finished addressing the thief, his head still turned away from her. He then spoke to the other person who had gotten herself involved in the incident.
"So…? Why is the Biribiri middle-school girl here?"
To Be Continued
Chapter 4 Preview
Take this hand…and I'll make all your dreams come true.
"Besides...another world. Does it not seem promising? Especially for us who've had to live a life like this,"
"But in the end, I'm physically closest to him, so I win, says Misaka 10032 with finality,"
"I'm coming to find you, Kami-yan...once I find a way off this goddamned flying barrel they call the bloody Eagle!"
"C'mere, brat. What's wrong?"
"I PRAY FOR YOUR SUCCESS, KAMIJOU TOUMA. MORE TANGIBLY, TEN X EXTRA DUTIES FOR YOU IF ANY INJURY BEFALLS THOSE STUDENTS OR THEIR FAMILIARS"
"Physical defects make animals dislike you? Overcome those, and true adventure beckons!"
"Room serv~ice...!"
