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"Fang! Li!"
With a resentful tone, Index suddenly lunged at Fang Li, who had just come out of the kitchen carrying breakfast. Her mouth was wide open, revealing rows of sharp white teeth.
However, Fang Li, holding two plates of steaming fried eggs, didn't even glance at Index as she lunged at him. As if dancing a waltz, he spun gracefully in place and easily dodged the bite of the gluttonous young girl.
Bang!
The young girl seemed to crash into something and cried out in pain.
Still, Fang Li didn't so much as look her way. He continued walking until he reached the center of the room, where a low table had been set up. He placed the plates down neatly and arranged breakfast before finally turning around.
"What's with you suddenly attacking me like that?"
Lately, Index's strange behavior had become more frequent.
Not long ago, she kept shouting about confiscating the original Magic Path books he had, even ransacking his room from top to bottom. Of course, she found nothing, yet she still pestered him for quite a while.
And now, this gluttonous nun was— what again?
"You…you still dare to ask…?"
Clutching her head, Index pointed tearfully toward the television.
"Could you dare say that wasn't your doing?"
Hearing this, Fang Li turned toward the television.
A news report was being broadcast there.
"Last night, an international museum was attacked by terrorists, and an important historical artifact was stolen."
According to reports, this terrifying assault disabled nearly 80% of the museum's functions. Yet, only one item was stolen: a holy relic, the original Forbidden Book, provided by the Russian Orthodox Church. As for casualties, they remain undisclosed due to the church's secrecy."
"This large-scale, terrifying attack, which resulted in the loss of only one relic, a historically notorious forbidden book manuscript, matches the modus operandi of several incidents over the past year. The victims in those cases were mostly religious factions exhibiting relics. Therefore, investigators speculate that this time, the culprit is the same individual or organization."
That was the news being reported.
At that point, Fang Li understood.
But he pretended otherwise.
"What happened? Is there something wrong with that news?"
Seeing that Fang Li was actually playing dumb, Index ground her teeth.
"Don't treat others like idiots! You idiot!" She shouted, waving her arms angrily and pointing her finger at the TV. "That was your doing, wasn't it?! Don't think you can fool me!"
Indeed, Index was correct. It really was Fang Li's doing.
Just last night, while Index was asleep, Fang Li had slipped out of Academy City once again to return to his old line of work.
Though his previous outing had been interrupted by Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko, he had stuck to his original plan of infiltrating Scorpius's stronghold.
There, he obtained useful intel from his subordinates: an upcoming international exhibition in his home country would feature an original Magic Path book brought by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian Orthodox Church, based in Russia, is one of the three major factions of Christianity, alongside the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church of the United Kingdom.
The Roman Catholic Church specializes in global governance and management. The Anglican Church of the United Kingdom specialized in hunting heretics and enforcing religious judgment.
The Russian Orthodox Church distinguished itself through its oversight and eradication of Mystery ideology, excelling in ghost hunting.
The Magic Path book original stolen by Fang Li was precisely such a sacred relic under the custody of the Russian Orthodox Church.
And since the only artifact stolen happened to be that very Magic Path book original, anyone in the Magic world would immediately understand whose handiwork it was.
Not to mention, Index already knew Fang Li's true identity. Standing right beside him, she thought it was extremely dangerous for him to possess a Magic Path book.
Thus, her anger was only natural.
"When did the Fang Li I knew become so unreasonable?" Index said, almost bemoaning the state of the world and pitying mankind's fate. "The Fang Li I knew was cold and ruthless, yes, but he still extended a helping hand to a helpless nun and gave her food. Even if he was cold and ruthless..."
"The fact that you keep repeating it means you're definitely not trying to praise me. I'm sure of it," Fang Li replied righteously. "Besides, you don't need to tug at my sympathy. As for stealing the original Magic Path book from the Russian Orthodox Church, I feel no guilt whatsoever. After all, I am cold and ruthless."
He curled his lips in mock disdain.
"Though, of course, I still can't quite compare to the Russian Orthodox Church."
The Church had brought the original Magic Path book to an international exhibition because it had the unique property of attracting Vengeful Spirits.
Thus, the Church planned to exploit the book's lure to gather a vast number of Vengeful Spirits in one place and annihilate them all at once.
However, drawing such a large number of Vengeful Spirits together was bound to escalate into a large-scale battle of extermination, one that would inevitably sweep countless innocent bystanders into the crossfire.
After much deliberation, the Russian Orthodox Church decided to carry out this plan in this country.
After all, this country is Academy City's stronghold. Science is revered here, while religious faith holds little sway. No matter how many people are sacrificed, the number of believers won't decrease anyway," Fang Li said with biting sarcasm.
Fang Li spoke to Index with biting sarcasm.
"Well? Isn't that the true definition of cold and ruthless?"
While not reaching the lofty arrogance of the Roman Catholic Church, corruption still abounded within the Russian Orthodox Church.
Naturally, the Church of England had its share as well.
Otherwise, Index would not be forced to have her memory erased every year, severing her ties with friends from the past.
"That may be so..." Index faltered, unable to completely refute, yet she still stood her ground. "But the original Magic Path book is still a dangerous item! If you make a move on something like that again, no matter what, you must hand it over to me today!"
"Dream on!" Fang Li shot back without hesitation. "Just one more Magic Path book, and I won't ever have to exhaust myself running around. Feeding a glutton like you is troublesome enough; don't cause me more problems!"
"You finally said the one thing you should never have said! You idiot, Fang Li!"
Index was instantly enraged and leaped straight at him.
Caught up in their quarrel, the two of them failed to notice.
On the rooftop of a building where fierce battles had once raged, a rune magic user adept with flames had returned.
"Tch..."
Peering through binoculars at Fang Li and Index squabbling, the magician let out a displeased sound.
"What a complete lack of tension..."
(End of chapter.)