Kamijou heard about the information from Tsuchimikado, who had returned. Maybe his Auto-Rebirth was starting to gain effect, as his tone seemed to be more energetic. But, seeing his rather pale face covered with cold sweat, Kamijou felt that he should go to the hospital for a check-up.
Tsuchimikado told him two things.
Oriana and Lidvia intended to use one of Autumn's constellations to activate the Croce di Pietro. Every point 'observatory' was based on that constellation. However, Tsuchimikado was rather suspicious about his own results.
"The reason why Oriana is moving about is definitely related to the constellations, and may also be the crux to the activation of the Croce di Pietro—but this is really suspicious. Can this really activate the St. Peter's Cross? No matter what, in historical records, the times when the Croce di Pietro was activated were mainly during times with summer constellations. No matter how one thinks, at the end of September, it should be an autumn's constellation now. It's really hard to imagine it as a replacement…what other conditions, there should be something that we don't know about."
Tsuchimikado looked pale and his skin looked sweaty. The new set of PE clothes that he had changed into looked new, but there were blood stains on his fingerprints.
It looked painful, but he probably didn't want to be asked about it.
"But, right now, wouldn't Oriana not risk being found out by her pursuers when she starts to look for points that are related to that constellation, Tsuchimikado? Do you know of places that Oriana might not have gone to? And where?"
"Hm…but I'm rather mindful about that 'unexplained problem'. According to the results, besides the places that I found, there are also other places that can be used as an 'observatory' nya. To be honest, there's not enough time. If we suddenly decide to rush off to the 'observatory' that we predicted, and if Oriana activates the spell somewhere else in the opposite direction, what next? We can't just pack up and close shop nya."
Tsuchimikado said, as he rubbed away the sweat that was flowing down.
Kamijou confirmed the time.
It was around 5 PM.
That was right, even if they used the tram or the bus, as of the time now, it was rather dangerous to get from one side of the street to another. Not knowing the actual time made it even harder for them. If they were not careful, everything might be over in an hour.
Kamijou looked at the clock function on his phone's display.
"Come to think about it, we don't even have time to even think! Just standing around, doing nothing, time will still go on! I don't want to snap back only to realize that we can't make it there in time."
"I know that…damn it, what's that Stiyl doing at this time?"
Tsuchimikado also knew that it was a critical situation for them, his voice sounding bitter.
Were they going to step in without any concrete information?
Or were they going to step in after having enough information?
No matter what they chose, they lacked the necessary condition required to push them into action. Their thoughts created silence, which created a huge pressure, and Kamijou felt that the air around them was getting heavier.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
It was not from Kamijou's phone.
Tsuchimikado looked surprised as he picked up the phone, and upon seeing the display on the screen, his expression changed drastically.
"Kami-yan, it's from the Anglican Church."
Come to think of it, Stiyl had mentioned that he requested information from the members of the English Library.
Maybe there was some new information.
Anyway, to Kamijou and Tsuchimikado, who wanted some new information, they didn't care what kind of content it was. Tsuchimikado, who was normally cool-headed, slightly panicked as he picked up the phone. The loudspeaker function was already activated, but Kamijou placed his face near Tsuchimikado's phone.
In the end, on the other side of the phone, the voice belonged to…
"Oh my, may I ask, are you Mr. Stiyl Magnus?"
"TO THINK THAT IT'S A WRONG NUMBER!!"
Both of them exclaimed at the same time. The woman on the phone sounded depressed, and said "I'm sorry"…it was alright, really, but since she wanted to talk to Stiyl, a foreigner, why was she speaking in Japanese? Kamijou wondered.
Tsuchimikado irritatedly sighed.
"Ah—ah—this is Tsuchimikado. I'm working with Stiyl right now, so I'll take the report nya…now, what do you have?"
"Just this. I've checked the records of the English Library, and found some new information regarding the Croce di Pietro, so I'm going to report it."
That casual voice could be heard.
On hearing that voice, Kamijou started to feel suspicious. Where had he heard this voice before?
"Ah, don't tell me…you're Orsola?"
"This voice…ara ara. So it's you. Thank you for what you've done during the past few days. Thanks to you, my body has now completely—"
"Nya, we're off topic. Can we continue?"
Tsuchimikado said in an anxious and tired voice,
"—I'm working very well with the Anglican Church. Two days ago, Miss Kanzaki even introduced me to this Japanese food store that sold wonderful food…ah, that's right, I heard that they're letting the Amakusa handle London's own little Japan."
"You're ignoring Tsuchimikado's words with a smile on your face!? Ah—hurry up and tell us what you know!!"
Kamijou started to shout, and Tsuchimikado shook his head about as if he was anemic. On the other side of the phone, Orsola at least gave an "Ara ara" as she got away from the topic.
"I see, then I better start talking about the information that I obtained from the English Library fast…Hohoho, this is good news, isn't it?"
"…Even if you say it, please don't tell us anything about places that sell good Japanese food."
Kamijou said softly. In response, the other person said with a lively tone,
"I know that."
And then,
"Actually, there's a sushi shop five minutes from Waterloo station that sells really good sushi."
"DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO SAY THIS!? STOP CHANGING THE TOPIC!! HURRY UP AND TELL US ANYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CROCE DI PIETRO!!"
"What a pity…then, back on topic, please listen carefully."
Orsola's soft voice had a certain force in it.
Kamijou and Tsuchimikado looked very serious as they focused all their attention on the phone.
"From the scattered records of the English Library, what we got are the conditions required to use the Croce di Pietro."
Kamijou's shoulders shuddered slightly.
Right now, what they wanted to know the most was information on the conditions required to use the Croce di Pietro.
Orsola said to the two of them, now holding their breaths and waiting for further information.
"I heard that the Croce di Pietro is a large scale spiritual item that requires the power of a constellation. People place the Cross on the Earth to accurately collect astronomical information. This is a mechanism that aligns itself accurately, collects light in the sky, and helps a caster activate the magic's effects."
"Which is what I told Kami-yan. The Croce di Pietro is some sort of a parabolic antenna. But…"
"…About this. To be honest, it isn't something new."
Kamijou inadvertently sighed, and Tsuchimikado just let his shoulders drop.
"Oh my, why are you all so depressed?"
"We're sorry, Orsola, we're thankful that you work hard to find information for us. We've also found some things on this side, and right now, we don't know how to take the next step."
"I see—"
Orsola sounded depressed, but Kamijou was unable to care more about it.
Though Kamijou and Tsuchimikado didn't know how much information Orsola had gotten from the English Library, it should be less than what they had. If they couldn't get a better result now, it was like declaring that there was no suitable clue for them in this deadlock.
Kamijou and Tsuchimikado looked grim.
At this moment, Orsola Aquinas, who was on the other side of the phone, said,
"—Then, about the information that Sherry and I found regarding the suitable constellations for the Croce di Pietro to be used, you should know about it. The Croce di Pietro doesn't use any summer or winter constellation, and can use 88 different types of constellations all over the world…"
"Ah?"
Kamijou and Tsuchimikado let out this sound at the same time.
"Wait a sec, Orsola. What did you just say? I know that the area for it to be used is limited, but this is the first time that I heard that all the summer and winter constellations can't be used. Just now, Tsuchimikado was worrying about the current season, that it's impossible to use the Croce di Pietro. If we can solve this, all our problems are gone. So I'll be really grateful if you can explain this clearly."
"…Ah, the situation has unexpectedly changed for the better. This is something to be happy about. However, I'm still a bit sad that not all the information can be used."
"Stop despairing on your side. Hurry up and explain it, Miss Orsola. Also, is that Sherry you mentioned that Sherry!!?"
Kamijou called out two to three times, and at least Orsola finally got back on topic.
"That…St. Peterborough…called St. Peter in England, is still widely called St. Peterborough. He was martyred on the 29th of June. Of course, the Croce di Pietro that the Vatican used was something later."
Christianity was recognized in the 4th century. In reality, the Holy See was marked as an independent 'territory' around the 8th century. However, the time when Croce di Pietro had been used, which was after Peter's death, was around the 1st century. Tsuchimikado had already explained this.
Orsola again theorized that when Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity at the start of the 4th century, when Frankish King Papal invaded Italy and handed the land over to the pope—these events that were beneficial to the Roman Catholic Church, all of them were due to the power of the Croce di Pietro.
"???...Excuse me, Orsola, but I'm completely clueless about history here."
"In other words, you just need to remember that the time for the Cross to be used at the Vatican is normally during the end of June to the start of July."
Orsola sounded relaxed. However, Tsuchimikado instinctively asked,
"…You say, at the Vatican?"
"Yes. In history, the Croce di Pietro was used once. Like what everyone here knows, that Cross can also be used anywhere outside the Vatican. Now the problem is—"
She paused for a while, before continuing,
"—The only time when the Cross can be used at the Vatican is on June 29th. If one is to use it somewhere else, it must have its own date. In other words…"
Orsola continued again,
"In order to use the Croce di Pietro, the caster has to know the details, features and characteristics of the area. Also, the caster has to choose the most effective constellations on the area out of the 88 for the activation to be complete. Lots of knowledge is required for these complicated characteristics of the area and constellation, though it'll cause a constraint of using it only once a year. If they use this method, even if it's the entire world, it may end up being taken over by the Roman Catholic Church."
According to what Orsola said, in order to evangelize to the 'sinners', Lidvia Lorenzetti continued to move around the world. During this time, she might have looked for the conditions that were required to activate the Croce di Pietro, which were the constellations corresponding to the local region, and the location and duration for the 'observatory' to be used. While Orsola was still a Roman Catholic, she had seen Lidvia carrying an old set of binoculars as she headed off to the next area.
"In other words, Lidvia once entered Academy City to look for places to use the Croce di Pietro?"
"This problem can be solved by using a test…for example, there's no need for all the latitudes and longitudes, as one can mark it down using the North Star. By knowing the important stuff before calculating the rest on a table, it's alright for them even if they don't enter Academy City. "
"I see."
Kamijou slowly digested what Orsola had told him.
"Wait a sec, isn't that a Cross that was made because of Peter's death? If so, why can it be used in times other than the time when Peter died?"
"That's what I was wondering…"
Orsola pondered for a while, and said,
"That spiritual item…seemed like it was prepared before Peter's death…"
"…What's going on?"
"Actually, Peter did think through it, where he would be killed. As you all know, where Peter is resting today is the center of the Vatican. He knew that the place where he was going to be killed would be closely linked to the history after that, so it ended up like that…thus, besides the Vatican…if there's another place that's suitable to the Roman Catholic Church, he could have chosen that place to increase the strength of the conditions required to use the Croce di Pietro."
Hearing this, Kamijou swallowed his saliva.
Then,
"But, even if he can choose the place, he can't change the date, right? Like say, not when he's about to die, but to decide a date to use it…"
"That's right. In fact, Peter was executed on the 29th of June. That is also the day that the Croce di Pietro can be used at the Vatican."
"…If so, he intended to be killed that day, purposely letting himself get caught?"
"That isn't…impossible nya."
"Peter wasn't on good terms with the Roman empire at that time, for he was enemies with the high magician of the empire, Simon Magus, and in the end, killed him. (Note: Legend had it that the magician Simon wanted to show that his power exceeds those of the Apostles, and thus let himself float in the air. As Simon was floating in the air, Peter kneeled down and asked God for a miracle. In the end, Simon immediately fell down and ended up dead). To do that sort of thing when Christianity was being persecuted, one can imagine what sort of end he would meet."
"And there are many legends about Peter when he was executed. Besides the just stated one, there's also the famous 'Quo Vadis (Where are you going?)' legend (Note: At first, Peter was convinced by his fellow believers to escape to the gates of Rome, and saw Jesus. He asked Jesus, 'Where are you going?' Jesus replied, 'I'm going back to Rome, to be nailed on the Cross again.' Thus, Peter understood what he meant, and went back to pay the price of his faith with his life). As Peter was being pursued by the Imperial soldiers, he was saved by his fellow believers, who begged him to run onto the streets. He already reached the gates, only to let himself get captured by the soldiers. Furthermore, he saw a vision of the Son of God at the exit, realizing that that is the time when he has to be the martyr."
Orsola continued,
"On the day that Peter was executed on the Cross, he made this request, 'I don't dare to die the same way as my Lord, so please turn the Cross over.' Of course, such a sentence came from a highly revered Christian, but maybe—"
"—Maybe, there's some sort of significance in this act…"
Kamijou couldn't help but mutter.
One of the Twelve Apostles, Peter must have known that no matter what action he took, he would be executed one day. So, he could have used his own death and tried to get the best out of it, even considering what might happen several hundred years later.
After that, it was the founding of the Holy See.
For this land, for the person he should be protecting silently.
This was different from an ordinary conviction. He actually considered the effects, results and outcome of where he was going to be killed, and at what time, before setting off for his road to death. This was the ultimate mix of coldness and mercy, a magic that could only be displayed by the ultimate performance. This was the Croce di Pietro spell that the Roman Catholic Church so rarely used.
"For historical Greats to do something on their own tombs isn't uncommon. Even Prince Shotoku 'completely destroyed' the fengshui of his own tomb where he should be laid to rest forever, for he intended to cut ties with his descendants."
Tsuchimikado's face remained green as he said that, half impressed and half finding it unbearable.
After hearing this, Kamijou raised the most important question,
"Then, Orsola. Do you know…where the possible locations that the Croce di Pietro can be used on the 19th of September in Japan are?"
"That's right."
The other person replied without hesitation.
"Of course I do."