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Chapter 267 - Chapter 5: An Intermission on a Thread of Tension. Resumption_of_Hostilities.[Part 5]

"How troublesome."

The magician Stiyl Magnus placed the cell phone next to his ear.

He was sitting on a bench in a park, and there was no one beside him. There was canned tea and a sandwich that he bought from a convenience store beside him. After drinking some red tea, he swore deep inside not to drink it a second time. No matter what though, he was a citizen of England, the land of red tea.

However, the reason why he looked so bitter was not because of this.

The reason was the lively voice coming over from the other end of the phone.

"We have checked the records of the British Library. The Croce di Pietro is a spiritual item that the Roman Catholic Church refused to reveal up till now, so even with these details that are open for public access, we can't guarantee that it's accurate."

The owner of this voice that either sounded like a male or a female was Sherry Cromwell. The decoder of the Anglican Church, and at the same time, Index's enemy. They were both from the same group, and may cross swords because she was of a different faction, but if it was a situation or problem that involved England, she'd help without any hesitation. Sherry was in such a complicated situation.

Because of the attacks she carried out on September 1st, she was now under a religious trial held by 'Necessarius. As a key combatant, shutting her in and letting her do document arrangements to reflect on her actions had a rather deep meaning. However, Stiyl suspected that Archbishop Laura Stuart would issue a 'generous disposition.' Because this incident involved some complicated background in England, and they couldn't just easily give up on Sherry Cromwell's decoding and combat capabilities. That incident had caused quite a few causalities in Academy City, so Laura should have conducted some tense negotiations with the leader of the science side, Aleister, in order to settle it.

To Stiyl, he didn't even care about this. Just the fact that Sherry had once attacked Index made him want to attack her with a flame sword before talking to her.

"Speaking of the Croce di Pietro, as a former Roman Catholic, I have never seen it before. So this can be classified as a secret weapon. It'll take some time for us to find its weaknesses."

The other person who was speaking in a relaxed tone was Orsola Aquinas. Like Sherry, she specialized in decoding anything magic-related. Because of the incident when she tried to decode the grimoire The Book of the Law, she had switched from a Roman Catholic to an Anglican.

Right now, Stiyl was getting information from the huge number of records sleeping inside the British Library, which was independent of the British Museum, as he tried to find the conditions for the Croce di Pietro to be used. Based on specialties, they should let those familiar with codes to manage the collections of information on these antiques. Thus, Sherry and Orsola were in the same department.

"Duru duru…oh my, wait a sec, Sherry! Sherry! There's handwritten information regarding the Vatican security on this page."

"YOU! Didn't I tell you so many times not to eat muffins in the library?"

"But it's already this time now. Want a light snack?"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT WHETHER I WANT IT OR NOT! I SAID NO EATING ALREADY, SO STOP CHEWING ON THAT MUFFIN!!"

"But this is the muffin that my Amakusa friends specially made for me. It includes food rituals that heals my wounds and replenishes my energy. My body hasn't recovered yet, you know."

"Ch, stop changing the topic—idiot! Don't tell me that that dropping food scraps on the floor is also another important part of the Amakusa—"

Stiyl inadvertently sighed.

No matter what, the personalities of these two people were completely different. After some crackling sounds were heard, the phone on the other side was dead.

(Really…)

Stiyl folded up his cell phone and slipped it into his pocket.

(…Since when did Necessarius become so harmonious?)

Up till now, the atmosphere in Necessarius was like walking on a spider web. On the other side of hope, was despair. In order to add a comrade, they had to kill another. They had to shed blood in order to prevent shedding of blood — it was such an organization.

The only reason he could think of was of a certain boy.

Many magicians had interacted with him, were affected, and reconsidered what their purpose in life was.

Even Stiyl himself was one of them.

"…Though I don't want to admit it."

After saying this, Stiyl tossed the shortened cigarette stick next to his feet. The moment it touched the ground, the cigarette vanished into a puff of fireworks. He held onto a new one, and without touching it with his hand, a flame appeared on the tip. He puffed out some smoke.

(Tsuchimikado said that he's going to check on the security of Academy City, he feels that it's not so reliable over there. Then…)

Stiyl leaned onto the bench, looked up at the somewhat disgustingly blue sky, and puffed out some smoke like a chimney.

"?"

Someone was staring over.

From the top, he tilted his head down. In front of him was a female that was 135cm tall.

Her name was Tsukuyomi Komoe, right?

Near the end of July, when the girl named Index had first snuck into Academy City, she was the one who had hid Index in her apartment. She looked like she was around 12 years old, but it was said that she was a teacher. For some reason, she was wearing a pale green sleeveless shirt and a white pleated skirt — seemed like a cheerleading attire.

She was staring at Stiyl's face.

(Oh. Such a relaxed country, and yet there are people who can manage a crisis.)

Tsukuyomi Komoe probably hadn't been involved with the core of this situation, but because of what happened the last time, she could still sense that something was strange with Stiyl Magnus.

Stiyl revealed a cynical smile.

"Sorry, can I help you?"

Stiyl said as he shook the cigarette in his mouth. It had been a long time since he last felt that sense of fear and rejection that reminded him of the atmosphere in Necessarius.

Komoe-sensei pointed her index finger at Stiyl, and said,

"Hey! It's forbidden for anyone to smoke on the roads of Academy City!!"

…An answer that was completely expected.

Stiyl speechlessly blinked,

"Sigh…"

"Wh…why are you giving such a tired expression!? This Komoe-sensei is seriously warning you! I'm seriously preaching to you, you know!"

Seeing Komoe-sensei, whose eyes were watery now, Stiyl slightly frowned. Komoe-sensei didn't care about the look on his face, as she looked at his face closely before saying,

"Humph! Pardon me, how old are you? Komoe-sensei feels that you're underage."

"So what?"

"Of course I'm scolding you! Ah really, listen to me. LOOK AT ME! DON'T TURN YOUR HEAD AWAY!!"

Komoe-sensei was angry as she snatched the cigarette from Stiyl's mouth, and reached into his coat without any hesitation. She rummaged through the coat, and pulled out a cigarette pack.

"…"

Stiyl looked like he got some spasms on his face. Basically, he wouldn't attack anyone that was unrelated to magic (except for a certain boy who had a special right hand.)

Komoe-sensei looked at the brand of the cigarette pack that she confiscated, raised her eyebrows, and said,

"And yet you chose such a brand to show off. Did you learn to smoke because you yearned to be a movie star or something!?"

"It's just that in my country, that's the most famous brand…"

"Really! Anyway, I'm confiscating this! You're not allowed to smoke. Nicotine and tar will affect a child's growth!!"

Looking at Komoe-sensei, who was staring back at him, Stiyl inadvertently looked away.

(…So troublesome.)

He thought.

Tsukuyomi Komoe was similar to a certain girl.

They didn't mind about the difference in physiques, ignored the distance between people, and get into other people's hearts.

They did things that most people wouldn't pay much attention to, but they were doing it for the good of others.

They'd keep scolding others to prevent others from getting hurt.

—Several years back, every time Stiyl smoked, the girl would angrily scold him.

"Really…"

"Wha…what's with that helpless expression!? I, Ko–Komoe-sensei, am really angry now! Ah, there's still more? Today, sensei's going to confiscate them all—wa…wa! Stop playing with the cigarette pack like you're playing with a ball; hurry up and hand it over to me!!"

Stiyl turned to look away from Komoe-sensei. Even as he was not paying attention to the shouting Komoe-sensei, he didn't intend to leave.

That was right, she was really stubborn.

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