Kamijou looked at the aging woman suspiciously.
There was only one thing she could mean by the chaos occurring throughout the world. And that was the large-scale protests and demonstrations being held by Academy City supporters and Roman Catholic supporters.
But...
"...What do you mean we're going to talk about that? There's nothing about it you need to discuss with me."
"Oh, but there is. I need your opinion on the matter in order to solve the problem."
"Shouldn't you be getting the opinion of someone in the UN or some country's president instead?"
"The organizations holding up nations tend to be weak to religious and ideological conflict."
The woman spoke in a smooth voice.
Kamijou hadn't expected this.
"The organizations commonly referred to as countries have a bad track record in resolving this kind of problem. Many of them cry out that they have resolved the problem, but most of them have only forced them into silence using military force. Often times, this only exacerbates the situation."
The woman continued speaking in the deserted park.
There were many types of intellectuals, but she seemed most like an educator.
"The chaos currently occurring throughout the world is quite serious. Not only is it a problem that won't be easy to solve, but it will also lead to worse problems. If it isn't dealt with properly, it could even lead to rebellions that paralyze entire countries. The demonstrations and protests haven't been stopped with military force to keep that from happening. What the countries around the world really want is an example to follow in how to deal with difficult problems like this. All those countries are waiting for another country to make a move so they can see whether it works and what effects that action has."
"...Who exactly are you?"
Kamijou asked his question carefully.
The woman sitting next to him didn't seem like an agent skilled in battle and assassination like Tsuchimikado Motoharu or Stiyl Magnus.
The way she spoke reminded him of an educator, but a normal teacher wouldn't hide a weapon in her coat in order to contact him.
(...She seems different from anyone I've met before.)
That was what Kamijou was thinking as he cautiously listened for her answer.
"Oyafune Monaka."
But she simply gave him her full name.
And she followed that up with something even more surprising.
"I am a member of Academy City's board of directors. That should tell you all you need to know."
"...What?"
Kamijou responded without thinking.
The board of directors was the group of only 12 that managed all of Academy City. It was basically the highest institution in the city. He had heard that there was a "General Superintendent" who was above even them, but the privilege the board of directors had was anything but ordinary.
But at the same time...
(...Is that really who she is?)
One of the 12 members of Academy City's board of directors should have personal guards or be able to obtain complete control over Anti-Skill with a single order. It was odd that she had come herself to contact him. And with a weapon no less. Also, a small children's park didn't have the scope you would expect for this kind of meeting.
As Kamijou was doubting her, the woman naming herself Oyafune Monaka simply smiled.
"You don't believe me?"
"Oh, umm. I was just thinking that your scarf seemed oddly short. I would think that a member of the board of directors would use something better than that."
Kamijou just blurted something out in his confusion, but it seemed to take Oyafune by surprise. She suddenly moved a hand to her neck and touched her scarf.
"Th-this was handmade for me by my daughter. I won't let you speak badly of it."
"O-oh, I see."
Kamijou awkwardly nodded, but then something caught his attention.
"Wait. Your daughter must be an adult by now. But in that case, that level of skill is... Okay, okay!! I won't bring it up again! We can talk about something else, so quit shaking whatever you have in your coat!!"
He decided to stop pointlessly provoking her after that.
(Oyafune Monaka. The board of directors.)
Kamijou concluded that those two pieces of information may not be true.
(But she might have approached me with a fake name in order to give me some real information. I don't like being used by others, but as long as I can opt out and decide how I do what they want, I suppose I can deal with it.)
"...So what exactly do you want to talk about?"
Kamijou went right for the main issue and Oyafune nodded happily.
"A great problem is occurring in the world. That problem is a type of chaos that is appearing in the form of demonstrations and protests."
"I know that much."
"I want to ask you to solve that problem."
"How?"
Kamijou lowered his eyebrows at her words and spoke.
"If I can solve it myself, I'd love to do so. I'm sure there are plenty of people throughout the world who are thinking the same thing, but that doesn't change anything. Nothing has been solved. We all know the problem that needs solving, but no one has solved it. Do you know why that is?"
Kamijou continued on without waiting for Oyafune's response.
"It's because there is no simple 'reason' or 'cause' behind it. No one can solve a problem that has no answer. So even though people investigate the problem for show, no one does anything about it. Can it even be solved? Surely you're not telling me to go around the world and convince each and every person taking part in those protests and demonstrations to stop."
"By the way..."
Oyafune Monaka responded without even a hint of hesitation.
It seemed she had predicted this question.
"What if there really was a simple 'reason' or 'cause' behind it?"
"What?"
"That is why I am talking with you. I am after something that you have that no one in the UN and no diplomat of any country has."
"And what's that?"
"Your right hand."
"..."
It was something only Kamijou Touma had.
He lowered his gaze to his right hand without meaning to.
Imagine Breaker.
That had to be what she meant. That was his special ability to negate any kind of supernatural power, be it magical or psychic in nature. But it had no effect whatsoever on normal events devoid of the supernatural like demonstrations and protests.
Which meant...
"You mean...that's what's going on?"
"Yes."
"So there's something supernatural behind all of this chaos and if I destroy that it'll all go back to normal? This isn't the result of what happened on September 30th; it's something that has been continuing since then? And I can solve all this because of that?"
"Exactly."
Oyafune simply nodded.
"By the way, Academy City is not the source of this chaos. According to the General Superintendent, the world's largest religious group, the Roman Catholic Church, has a scientific psychic power development institution as well."
"...?"
Kamijou was about to lower his eyebrows at Oyafune's remark, but then he figured it out.
That was what Academy City was telling the world at large.
To them, magic did not exist.
The identity of the phenomenon known as "magic" was scientifically being called "psychic powers".
The topic had to come up here, but if he corrected her it would only make everything more complicated.
Oyafune continued speaking from a purely "scientific" viewpoint.
"We at Academy City have nothing to gain from this chaos of course. So the ones behind it must be the Roman Catholic Church."
"I see..."
Kamijou nodded, but when he calmed down he noticed something that bothered him.
"But wait. There's nothing for them to gain from it either. Those demonstrations and protests are occurring within the realm of daily life for members of their church. So it's members of their church that will suffer the most from this. You don't gain anything from making people on your side suffer."
"What if they did gain something from it?"
"...What?"
"It's quite simple."
Oyafune spoke smoothly.
"For example, the official number of believers in the Roman Catholic Church is around 2 billion. That's a frightening amount. Even if you count everyone from the youngest to the oldest residents of Academy City, we only have 2.3 million. If it came to all-out war, we would have no chance from that difference alone. Even if you take into account other factors, it's hard to imagine winning against that kind of difference."
"Where are you going with this?"
"Oh, don't you find it odd?"
Oyafune responded to Kamijou's question with a question of her own.
"The Roman Catholic Church could crush Academy City now. So why did they choose to cause demonstrations and protests throughout the world? Why didn't they choose the obvious method of crushing Academy City through numbers alone? Surely a concentrated attack would be more effective than rioting separately across the world. It seems rather indirect, doesn't it? If they can really control 2 billion people, they should just get it over with."
"You don't mean...?"
"I do."
Oyafune smiled.
"The information saying they can control 2 billion people was a lie. If they could do that, they would have done so by now. It may be true that there are 2 billion people around the world who wear the cross of the Roman Catholic Church, carry a Bible around, and go to church on Sundays."
"But," Oyafune Monaka moved her lips.
"The question has now become how many people are willing to commit murder in the name of the church. And there may well be some who are willing to. The world is currently thought to be split in two. Split between Academy City and a giant religious group. But...is it really? Is the line really that clear?"
"..."
"The people who go to worship on Sundays watch TV and use cell phones. Athletes who train their body with the science of sports medicine may pray to god before a big game. ...That's the way the world is outside of Academy City. The line is quite vague and people build up their own world made up of what they believe in by using the best of both worlds."
"The science side and the magic side...overlap..."
Oyafune gave a confused look and said "Magic side...?" at what Kamijou muttered.
But then she continued.
"Yes. The vast majority of the world thinks that way and the majority usually wins. They are spread around thinly. People plan their lives around loans from banks managed by organizations related to Academy City and at the same time they get married at Roman Catholic churches. People like that who benefit from both science and religion cover the earth"
"So," Kamijou began.
He could feel his throat beginning to dry.
"The Roman Catholic Church is trying to win over those people who benefit from both sides?"
"Indeed. They don't want people benefitting from both sides. They want exclusive use of every single one of those 2 billion people. They want as many allies as they can get. So they have begun something. And as a result, they have set some gears turning that started these demonstrations."
Oyafune had called it "something".
That "something" was the key to this incident.
"Their goal was not to start demonstrations. They are using this "chaos" to boost their numbers and using Academy City to strengthen their foundation in order to attack the world."
Oyafune's words were clearly those of the science side.
Kamijou didn't really like the way she was speaking, but arguing about it wouldn't help.
"Academy City is especially on edge because of the actions the Roman Catholic Church has taken."
"Are you really afraid that these demonstrations could bring people over the Roman Catholic side?"
"That's part of it," responded Oyafune.
"But even if that doesn't happen, it could lead to another development. We are currently preparing for something we call an 'economic bombing'."
"An economic...bombing?"
"If this chaos continues for a significant length of time, it could have a negative effect on the economy. And that could be the trigger to a world-wide panic. Even if the Roman Catholic Church does not grow due to this, it could end up tearing Academy City apart."
Talk of economics and panics wasn't something that really meant too much to a high school student like Kamijou.
He asked Oyafune on the bench next to him a question.
"...Can modern countries really be destroyed that easily? They haven't shown any sign of being affected so far. And I don't know too much about the economy or money at a national level, but I can't really see a huge army being destroyed due to something like the economy."
"The representatives and symbols of the scientific world outside of Academy City are mainly the major military powers. But those countries are especially weak to the economy."
Oyafune slowly answered to his question.
"Maintaining military power requires a vast amount of funds. And in a time of global chaos, the supply for those funds is limited. And no matter how low the income gets, the amount spent to maintain the military always costs a set amount. So the ones that suffer the most in times of economic panic are the major military powers. The larger the military, the more violently it crumbles."
Kamijou couldn't believe it.
Several major military powers came to his mind, but he couldn't imagine any of them being majorly affected by this.
"But those countries with large militaries store up oil and stock up ammunition, right? Can't they last for a couple of years on that?"
"Ha ha. War does not start when the emergency stores run out. Once that happens, they can no longer fight. Once it looks like the emergency stores will eventually run out, they pull the trigger. And I think that a major power pulling that trigger is enough to tear apart the scientific world that Academy City sits in the center of."
Oyafune's oddly decisive statement left Kamijou speechless.
She must have calculations in her head that backed that opinion.
"I don't know if it is related to that possible turn of events, but Academy City is currently desperately gathering funds for a war." Oyafune continued speaking.
"We may be attempting to overcome the difference in numbers with the latest equipment and unmanned weaponry. Or there may be some other reason. We are doing it by making relatively insignificant weapons that do not take much technology to make and selling them at a high price as the latest weapons made by Academy City. And we're doing it all on the pretext of lowering the grade of the weapons being shown in the exhibition and of the goods being mass produced."
"..."
"Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church is also gathering funds for a war in the form of 'offerings' from believers of the church. They are doing it on the pretext of funds to help bring peace back to the world from the current chaos. The ones actually gathering the funds do not have any real plans for it, but their superiors are clearly saying it will be used to bring peace."
The greater the chaos grew the more "funds" they would receive.
The Roman Catholic Church was a giant denomination made up of 2 billion believers. If each member were to give a single yen, they would have 2 billion yen. Of course, they were not obligated to give, so plenty of them wouldn't. But there seemed to be a custom among the wealthy that the more one gave the more status they gained, so they could most likely easily get more than 2 billion yen.
"It seems indulgences have come back in another form."
Kamijou didn't really understand what Oyafune said.
(Is "indulgence" some kind of historical term?)
"Excluding the most zealous people, most people would choose science over their faith if they had to choose which had more weight. People say that heaven exists, but you never hear them saying that they therefore don't care if they die. Science is both practical and ridiculously easy to understand. The ease with which one can understand it is the very reason so many people gather to it. But some people don't like that. Those people have used some kind of trick. And that trick has had some effect on the way the gears in people's minds usually work. This has led to the great chaos we are now seeing. That is how I see the situation."
"..."
Was that really true?
For one, was it really so hard to think that Academy City could be behind this problem instead of the Roman Catholic Church? Academy City with its 2.3 million people had to take on the Roman Catholic Church with its 2 billion believers. So maybe they caused this chaos within the Roman Catholic Church to whittle down their numbers as much as they could. Was it really so hard to think that could happen?
(...This is tricky.)
It was true that the Roman Catholic Church was at the center of the demonstrations and protests, but their potential for war wasn't spread thin the way Oyafune Monaka said it was. She thought that only because she didn't understand the magic side of the church. Kamijou couldn't exactly imagine the major players of the Roman Catholic Church like Agnese Sanctis or Biagio Busoni taking part in those demonstrations.
It was hard to think that this plan Academy City had come up with would actually damage their true potential for war.
And even if the people taking part in the demonstrations were people who were at the halfway point between science and magic, they would still be needed to keep the capitalist economy going. If people who were supposed to be working were focused on the demonstrations instead, that alone could be a blow to the economy. And if that was 2 billion people, it could be quite a major blow. If they needed money for the war, they wouldn't go out of their way to do something that would shrink their supply of funds.
Kamijou did think that it was natural to think that the Roman Catholic Church was behind this chaos if there really was a conspiracy behind it. Either way, they could take in those who fell to their side.
And if this had to do with the hidden underside of the Roman Catholic Church, Imagine Breaker would be quite valuable.
"But..."
After thinking about all that, Kamijou began to speak.
"Even if the Roman Catholic Church is causing this and even if they're using some kind of trick to do it, what exactly are they doing? My power is pretty limited. We don't know where they are or what they're using. I can't do anything about something like that. If you want me to do something, you have to at least lead me to the place I need to be in order to do it."
"Yes. About that-"
Oyafune Monaka started speaking, but suddenly stopped.
A new figure had appeared in the small children's park.
"Tsuchimikado?"
Kamijou unintentionally mumbled that name when he saw the figure's sunglasses-wearing face.
It was Kamijou's classmate, Tsuchimikado Motoharu. He had been with Kamijou until school let out, but when it had been time for their punishment of weeding, he had suddenly disappeared. Kamijou thought about asking him about that, but realized this was hardly the time.
The atmosphere was all wrong for that kind of question.
Tsuchimikado had a completely different feel to him than usual.
"Have you finished your discussion?"
Tsuchimikado wasn't talking to Kamijou.
His eyes that were covered by the blue lenses of his sunglasses were only looking at Oyafune Monaka.
And Oyafune didn't seem surprised by his appearance.
She probably knew him as the agent named Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
"Not entirely, but that doesn't matter... You can handle the rest."
"I see."
Tsuchimikado kept his response short.
He then gave a short sigh like he was getting ready to perform some tedious task.
"I'm sure you have your feelings in order about this."
"I have since yesterday."
"Then you don't mind if I start?"
"This is nothing for you to hesitate over."
Oyafune Monaka smiled as she responded and Tsuchimikado averted his gaze slightly.
He then moved his hand to his back and pulled something from his belt.
"...Tsuchimikado?"
Kamijou had been thrown a bit by having the conversation continue without him, but now he saw something he truly couldn't believe.
Tsuchimikado was holding a shining black piece of metal in his right hand.
It was about 15 centimeters in length.
It was...
(...A handgun?)
Even after figuring that much out, Kamijou couldn't do anything to stop Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
It wasn't because he couldn't guess what Tsuchimikado was going to do next.
It was because he couldn't believe that Tsuchimikado would do something as horrible as it looked like he was going to.
Bang!! A dry gunshot rang out in that small children's park.
Even so, Oyafune Monaka continued to smile.
Her body trembled and she fell off the bench and collapsed onto the ground.