Kamijou Touma and Stiyl were running on the streets.
There were various competitions being held at various arenas, as match reports were aired through the audio speakers and big screens all over the place. Kamijou's school was about to begin the 'Boys only: Cavalry war, preliminary group A' match. Too bad he couldn't spare the time to take part in the event.
"Kamijou Touma! If we're heading towards an auto-bus stop, it'll be faster for us if we take this lane!"
"No, I checked the bus schedule. It'll be faster to take a train! There's too many stops if we take the bus, and though we have to wait a while for the train to move, once it starts, it'll overtake the bus!!"
The duo exclaimed loudly as they turned into an alley, and dashed down a staircase that lead to the basement. Through the narrow concrete path of the station, Kamijou placed his cell phone on the auto-ticket gate blocking him. In Academy City, it was not uncommon to see cell phones functioning as ID identifiers and cashcards.
However, these automated gates could only respond to phones of Academy City. Stiyl slid his tongue back as he headed towards the ticket vending machine. The reason why he didn't force himself past the ticket gate was because in this situation, he felt that it was better not to arouse any trouble. He seemed to find carrying coins irritating, as he slotted a 1000-yen note into the machine, grabbed the change and ticket, and returned.
At last, Stiyl passed through the gate.
The train in the subway was about to move as an electronic alarm was heard. Kamijou, who had arrived first at the platform, ran into the train, while Stiyl, who arrived later, stretched his hand out just as the door was about to close. Due to the safety functions of the door, it opened, and Stiyl squeezed into the train. The station personnel seemed to be staring at him, but he didn't bother about such a trivial thing.
The train was starting slowly.
Kamijou leaned his back onto the train's door, and said,
"…There're still 2 stops to Seibu Hill Station that Tsuchimikado mentioned."
Kamijou looked up at the electronic bulletin board, and muttered. Stiyl, who placed his coins into his wallet, suddenly searched through the inside of his clothes, and pulled out a new cigarette pack.
Kamijou exclaimed,
"How many packs do you even have!!??"
"None of your business."
Stiyl ignored Kamijou as he pulled out a cigarette from the box.
"Ah! You can't smoke inside the train. This train will stop if the sensors sense any smoke."
Kamijou frantically stopped him, and Stiyl clicked his tongue with frustration. Normally, he'd ignore Kamijou's words, but as he knew that there was an urgent need to track down Oriana, he frowned as he placed the cigarette back.
After this, he pulled out another pack from his coat. It was as big as a cigarette box, a box made of old wood. Stiyl pulled out something from inside, and started to chew on it like a cigarette.
"This is chewing tobacco."
"…You really like tobacco, huh?"
"A world without nicotine and tar is no different from Hell. For such a pious man like me, how can I fall into Hell?"
"You might want to reflect on your life before saying that."
Just as the two were rebutting each other, the train arrived at the first stop. Some passengers alighted, and the new passengers who boarded the train were shocked by Stiyl's strange attire.
The train doors closed and moved off.
There was still one stop left.
"Next…"
Oriana Thomson was at District 5, saying in a rather relaxed tone.
She knew that the attention of the pedestrians was fixated on her. There were many foreign tourists here for Daihaseisai, and thus, having blond hair and green eyes wasn't rare. What attracted their attention was the remarkable symmetry of her body and the matching clothes which emphasized her beauty. Though the fashion sense of this country was rather liberal nowadays, it was still rather rare to see someone revealing her beautiful legs through a skirt that had vertical slits. It was also rare to see someone needing to wear a Sarong skirt when she was not wearing swimming attire.
But Oriana did not care about the people looking at her.
As a person being pursued, it was highly unnatural.
(Well…we may need to spend some more time. Never mind, I'll hand this over to Lidvia. Now, what should this nee-chan do. Hmm…)
Seemed like Oriana wanted to attract attention as she continued to walks on the streets.
She looked confident.
She didn't care about whether she might be spotted by her pursuers.
The train stopped again.
The second station.
They finally arrived at Seibu Hill Station.
As doors on both sides of the train opened, Kamijou and Stiyl dashed onto the platform. They immediately ran towards the nearest exit. Stiyl stopped halfway to spit his chewing tobacco into the dustbin and said,
"Damn it, where's Tsuchimikado? We can't use that searching 'all-around reality array' if he's not here to prepare it!!"
He exclaimed as he operated his phone. Though it was the underground, maybe it was because it was near a communication base, the phone connected.
"Tsuchimikado!!"
"Nya. I'm sorry. The auto-bus I'm on is near the station…there seems to be a 10 kilometer race in the vicinity. Because of the changes in schedule, the event was brought forward. Right now, the bus is stuck in a jam."
Stiyl slid his tongue back without trying to hide it.
"What's the distance!?"
"If I have to get off the bus and run, it'll take 10 minutes."
Kamijou thought, this is bad.
3 minutes passed when Tsuchimikado contacted Kamijou, saying that he found Oriana. Another 5 minutes was spent arriving to this station. Then they still needed to wait for another ten minutes before they could start preparing the searching magic. It was hard to imagine where she might be now. He had heard Tsuchimikado say before that the searching spell used to seek out Oriana, the 'all-around reality array', had a search radius of 3 kilometers. If Oriana found out about their movements, they might end up letting her escape again.
Tsuchimikado probably understood this, as he said in a bitter tone,
"Stiyl, do you still remember what my 'all-around seeking array' looks like?"
"Impossible."
"Can you draw it if I instruct you through the phone?"
"It's impossible. For me to learn the procedures, it's useless for me if I don't know the theory behind it. I have absolutely no concept knowledge on Eastern magic. Especially since that 'all-around reality array' that you prepare uses the pulse flow of the place and space; Western magic and Eastern magic are vastly different. I'm not that child as well anyway. Do you intend to teach me the essence of yin and yang all in one go?"
"…Then are you going to use your Western method to search?"
"Even so, I'll request you to do it. I'm a complete amateur at doing this."
"So…never mind, you're right."
The bitter sigh reached the microphone, creating noise.
After feeling a bit troubled, Tsuchimikado said,
"Alright, I'll activate the 'all-around reality array' from here."
Hearing these words, Kamijou was shocked.
"What are you scared about? A ten minute walking distance may cause a fatal error. Instead of spending time running to the station, I should do this anyway. Oriana may be taking a subway train or an auto-bus nya. It's better if we do the search earlier."
Before Kamijou said anything, Tsuchimikado gave his own conclusion.
"I'll inform you of the results of the 'all-around reality array' through the phone later. Stiyl, Kami-yan, go chase after Oriana. The one holding the Croce di Pietro might not be Oriana, but Lidvia. If possible, capture her alive."
"Wait…"
Hearing this, Kamijou couldn't take it any longer.
"Wait a sec, Tsuchimikado! You can use magic again?"
Tsuchimikado Motoharu couldn't use magic.
More accurately, though he could use magic, once he used it, the inside of his body would explode, because he was both a magician and an esper at the same time. As the body structure of an esper was different from an ordinary human, it'd cause a strong rejection if he used magic 'that was meant for ordinary people.'
He couldn't possibly not know that.
He had used magic once today, causing him to bleed.
And right now, he was saying that he was going to use the 'all-around reality array'. For someone who had already used magic once, he might be in critical condition if he was to use magic again.
But, he didn't answer Kamijou's concern.
Tsuchimikado didn't answer, and even Stiyl didn't reply.
Seemed like Stiyl wanted to shut Kamijou up, as he said loudly to Tsuchimikado,
"…Are you sure you can do it?"
"I don't know; why are you worrying for me nya? I'm a magician, a specialist who can use magic? And Kami-yan, if you want to complain, I'll listen to you while I'm on the hospital bed. If you're visiting, please bring some honey dew and apples."
"TSUCHIMIKADO!!"
As Kamijou shouted, the phone was cut off.
Stiyl placed his phone back into his pocket.
"Hm. The next time that guy calls again, it'll be after he activated the 'all-around reality array'. We can't let that guy's efforts go to waste. Let's not have any unnecessary thoughts now, Kamijou Touma."
"Damn it!!"
As Stiyl mentioned this, Kamijou couldn't help but slam a fist into the concrete wall.
"That's superfluous."
Stiyl didn't seem to like it as he said this, taking out another cigarette from his coat.
One minute later, Stiyl's phone rang.
It was from Tsuchimikado.
The contents of the conversation were that he was going to a place where nobody was around to activate the 'all-around reality array'.
Oriana's shoulders trembled.
(Oh—this…is the same as the spell used before. Are they mocking this nee-chan who can't use the same spell again?)
She thought as she walked down the middle of a path in District 5.
The enemy's searching method was to use Oriana's flashcard to find Oriana's whereabouts — more accurately, it was the unstable grimoire 'original' that had maybe the smallest handwriting in the world that she thought of writing on the go.
But for Oriana, she changed the activation and deactivation of a spell to the 'activation and self-destruction of an unstable original.' As Oriana's own magical power was needed, and the card had the function of 'sensing Oriana's orders,' they could track down where she was through this reverse process.
If so,
(This nee-chan's card…what do they call it over there? Never mind, anyway, it's related to this nee-chan's magical power, so when the enemy does anything to the card, this nee-chan will be able to sense the changes.)
Thinking about this, Oriana hastened herself.
There existed spells that ignored distance. Especially in assassination, attacks that nobody could escape from even if they ran to the ends of the world were highly valued.
But,
(This is different.)
When the ball was burnt in a fireball, she felt that her pursuers pulled away from her in fear. If the spell could ignore distance and do a global search, there was no problem if she walked slowly.
(If so, the better method would be to walk further away…even so, it's still troublesome. How far should this nee-chan go, and in which direction?)
Oriana tilted her head, and passed through wave after wave of people.
(Now, where should I go?)
She thought as she looked up at the airship floating in the sky.
Kamijou and Stiyl dashed up the stairs leading to the surface, running out of the subway station.
District 5 was different from the District 7 that Kamijou stayed in, as there were many colleges and universities. Though the rows and rows of buildings did form a similar sophisticated feeling, the restaurants and clothes shops had a more mature feeling compared to other districts. To high school student Kamijou, it was an atmosphere that he couldn't get familiar with. It was like he was thrown into a world famous symphony performance that he had no interest in attending.
But right now, he didn't have time to notice this.
Kamijou and Stiyl were running around, spoiling the atmosphere of the entire street.
Stiyl's phone showed where they should be heading to.
He continued to run hard.
"…Oriana…she sensed it. Her movements suddenly changed…she's now heading towards the northwest direction. The distance is around 300 to 500 meters…wait a sec, I'll get a lock-on soon."
The voice stopped several times, but it was not because of network problems. The contact, Tsuchimikado, may be bleeding all over, enduring this strong pain as he used magic.
Stiyl slightly panted,
"500 meters? Sounds near…but it's going to be difficult for us if we're going to run over and catch her. Let me confirm this, can you use the Red Spell artillery strike?"
"Impossible nya…if I have to do that, I'll need to stop the 'all-around reality array' and focus on the Red Spell. But if so, we can't locate Oriana while she continues to escape, and thus the accuracy would be much less."
"More importantly, we can't add onto Tsuchimikado's burden!!"
Kamijou said as he ran, while Stiyl gave an irritated look. He shook the cigarette in his mouth and said,
"The effective range for the 'all-around reality array' is about 3 kilometers. We'll be out if she moves for another 2.5 kilometers. Even if we have to add on to someone's burden, we have to close the distance."
"I know that…!!"
The two shouted at each other as they ran on the path on the side of the road. They ran into a small alley and through this zigzag path, exited to another road, ran up an overhead bridge, and ran down the stairs on the other side.
"…Response, got it…from where Kami-yan's facing, Oriana's…still in the northwest position…the distance is now 309 meters to 433 meters…anyway, it seems like she's moving in a straight line…to escape this detection nya…hurry up, there's still around 1.7 kilometers of effective range."
Like a marathon runner getting a drink, Kamijou grabbed a free guide brochure that a Judgment member was handing out.
"Northwest, 303 to 433…WA!"
As he was reading the guide while running, Kamijou nearly knocked into a cylindrical security robot on the road. Kamijou frantically avoided it as the security robot behind him gave off a warning alarm.
"Maybe, it's that…? Around 800 meters from here, there's a monorail station. That one goes around the entirety of District 5. If she gets onto it, she'll pass 3 kilometers easily."
Though there were 800 meters for them, there were only 400 to 500 meters left for Oriana. If they considered the amount of time needed to buy the tickets and wait for the monorail, how many minutes did they have? Since the monorail company would likely increase the number of trips in conjunction with Daihaseisai, the next train might arrive in around 2 minutes.
But, on the other side of the call, Tsuchimikado suddenly said something strange,
"No, wait a sec…Oriana suddenly changed direction."
The sound of pages could be heard. Tsuchimikado must be confirming his spell with the information on the Daihaseisai tour booklet.
"Heading towards that monorail station…she turns around a corner…Oriana doesn't seem to be heading towards the station—!! What, she actually increased her speed…!!?"
What? Kamijou frowned as he ran.
Stiyl, who was running beside, was listening to the sound that was coming from the phone in his hand.
The surroundings were rather noisy, their footsteps and panting were as loud too, but Kamijou felt that there was a long silence deep inside his ears.
The other side of the phone went silent. Maybe Tsuchimikado was controlling the spell, as the sound of fingers rubbing against the ground could be heard. A monotonous tone gave the feeling that time was distorted.
"Damn it, where's she heading to…it hurts! Damn it, to think at this time…"
Seemed like trying to maintain the spell added on to Tsuchimikado's pain. Just as Kamijou was about to say something, Tsuchimikado said,
"No…problem, Kami-yan…Oriana's position, I'll get it soon—oi, NO WAY!?"
His tone seemed to indicate that he was rather surprised.
"This path…damn it, so this is how it is. THAT ORIANA, DON'T TELL ME THAT SHE'S—!!"
With Tsuchimikado's exclamation, noise suddenly cackled from the phone. The sound of a cutting board being ground could be heard from the microphone, and with this unnatural noise, the line was cut off. It felt like radio contact was cut off out of necessity.
Kamijou started to get anxious. Without Tsuchimikado's directions, they couldn't tell where Oriana was heading. Even if they felt that they might have closed the distance, there was a likelihood that they may end up adding some distance.
"What now? Oi, Stiyl, how's the handphone antenna?"
"How come I can't make a call now? Hold on, Kamijou Touma."
Stiyl suddenly grabbed onto Kamijou's collar. As he reined in, Kamijou, who was running beside Stiyl just now, could only stop obstinately. Stiyl ignored Kamijou, who was beside him and coughing violently, and said,
"…We've been had."
"Ahem! You…what are you doing, idiot!"
"Even if Oriana finds out about her being tracked by the searching magic, she probably doesn't know 'how far she should run.' In this situation, she can't set the tactic of where should she run off to. Then what should she do? She should probably get the answer rather soon."
"Oi."
Kamijou had a bad premonition.
The unnatural way that call ended and Tsuchimikado's cry inexplicably rang in his ears.
"Like how you imagined it, Kamijou Touma. In order to escape this searching magic, Oriana chose not to widen the distance, but to close it…to destroy the man at the center, Tsuchimikado, which is also another winning condition for her."
"Wait a sec, wouldn't she…!?"
"There's no 'wouldn't she', there's an 80 to 90% chance that she's heading towards Tsuchimikado."
"Then we should hurry up and get there! That guy forced himself to use magic, and now his body is almost broken up! Where is Tsuchimikado!?"
"How would I know?"
Facing Kamijou's shouts, Stiyl reported honestly.
Then he added on another sentence,
"That's why I'm looking for him now."