Part 1
"Christianity, the largest religious organization in the world, is divided between the old and new forms of Catholicism and Protestantism. And Catholicism is made up of three giant organizations," said Leivinia Birdway. "Namely, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church."
Even if they did not know much about the occult, the names of those churches were in their textbooks. Those organizations were known worldwide at that level.
"There has been friction between them in various forms for some time, but the trigger was directly pulled by a conflict concerning a Roman Catholic nun named Orsola Aquinas."
The cat was cat-punching Fremea who was sitting on Hamazura's lap, but the blonde girl was too deep in sleep to respond.
"This Orsola had supposedly deciphered the unparalleled magician Crowley's grimoire, so the Roman Catholic Church acted to assassinate her in order to preserve their ruling position. The Anglican Church interfered and dealt with the problem by getting help from Academy City in secret. …Doing so clearly put them in an opposing position."
Not even Birdway who was explaining it knew the meaning behind being able to read that grimoire, but at the same time, she had no real desire to find out.
She knew all too well just how much a human mind would be contaminated by a grimoire related to Crowley and just how tragic an end a magician that read one would meet.
"Afterwards, the Roman Catholic Church attacked Academy City a few times, but they were stopped each time by an idiot with a special right hand. Well, each of those events still fanned the flames that led to war though."
Hearing it all explained in sequence like that made Kamijou realize again just how precarious the path he had walked was.
If he had failed during any one of those events, a great number of lives would have been lost. However, he could not help but feel resentment toward himself over the fact that those incidents had eventually led to that war.
"At that time, the Roman Catholic Church felt that they were at a disadvantage, so they started negotiations with the Russian Orthodox Church. They managed to bring the negotiations to their favor by using the fear that Academy City and the science side would hold the balance of the world. And it became necessary for the Roman Catholic Church to bring the secret treasure hidden amongst them out to the center stage."
Birdway then spoke the name of the ones who controlled an entire age behind the scenes.
"…God's Right Seat. The true dark side of the Roman Catholic Church that has two billion believers."
The term "true dark side" brought silence to that small room.
The science side and the magic side were structured differently, but were Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage able to imagine what the nature of that darkness was?
It may have been because the topic was the large war that involved both science and magic, because her 103,000 grimoires had no knowledge of God's Right Seat, or because her consciousness had been taken over during the course of that conflict, but Index did not open her mouth to speak. Instead, Birdway continued.
"You most likely understand a portion of the situations they caused. There was the strange incident where most of Academy City's residents fainted on September 30. There was the crisis caused by rioting all over the world that was resolved in the end by turning the French city of Avignon into a sea of flames. And there was the incident where devastating damage was done to Academy City's largest underground district, District 22. …All of those were a portion of the clash between God's Right Seat and that Imagine Breaker. A few of them may have had some kind of ripple effect into your scientific darkness, causing some kind of incident."
(September 30 and District 22…?)
Hamazura frowned as he compared that to the information he had seen on the news.
(0930 and Avignon…?)
A slight tension ran through Accelerator based on his experience in the darkness.
They had been affected by those great events that had shaken the world and in some cases had helped bring them to a resolution.
But all of those events that could be referred to as the ripples created by a large explosion had advanced without them knowing.
They learned anew just how deep and dark the area they were about to step into was.
"God's Right Seat…" Hamazura muttered. "Who the hell are they?"
"I called them the true dark side of the Roman Catholic Church, but they are not the same kind of darkness as soldiers like you. In fact, they are the kind of darkness that controls soldiers like that in secret."
"So they're like the board of directors?"
"They also enjoy using themselves as test subjects, so I get the feeling that they're a bit different from the higher ups of this city."
As Fremea was asleep and was not reacting, the cat got up on the kotatsu and headed over towards Birdway. But she grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck, and tossed it towards Kamijou, its owner.
"Simply put, God's Right Seat is a group that tried to gain power on the same level as or an even higher level than the one and only God. Basically, in the Christian Church, you are stuck with your original sin until you die and undergo the final judgement, but there are precedents of exceptions, such as the Virgin Mary, where people had their original sin washed away while they were still alive. Achieving that by artificial means is the easy-to-understand goal of modern Western magic."
A goal.
Did Academy City of the science side that stood opposite the magic side have a goal like that?
While hearing about that other world, Accelerator's thoughts also remained on the world closer to him.
"For God's Right Seat, the Roman Catholic Church with its two billion believers was a convenient place for their research and remodeling. However, the Anglican Church, Academy City… and the idiot with the right hand binding the two organizations together were getting in their way by shaking the Roman Catholic Church which was their foundation. God's Right Seat caused a few incidents on a level that had an effect on the world before the war, but those were all either aimed at Academy City and the science side or were specifically targeting Imagine Breaker."
Those words made them shudder.
The reason that God's Right Seat sent out their soldiers was different from some clash between nations.
Whether it was a nation or an individual, they would send out the same overwhelming force against it as long as it opposed their objective.
"So are you saying that the truth behind World War III was this God's Right Seat bringing the fight to Academy City and England in order to maintain their rule?"
"No," Birdway immediately replied to Hamazura's question. "That war was removed from the wishes of God's Right Seat as a whole."
"?"
"While the plans of God's Right Seat as a whole were arrogant, they were still just using secret tricks within the rules of Christianity. Simply put, they took various actions within the framework of Christianity. It's possible that the members of God's Right Seat considered themselves pious Christians."
Birdway sounded as if she were somehow enjoying herself.
Perhaps it was because investigating the special mentality of those at the top of organizations like that was her specialty.
"But there was one member of God's Right Seat who was too extremist," Birdway said as she watched the cat curl up on Kamijou's lap.
"His ideas went beyond the rules of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church did not originally want to start such a large-scale war. With two billion believers spread out across the world, a global war could easily lead to them destroying their own land. …Yet this person gave his own objective priority and caused that major war for reasons separate from the objectives of the Roman Catholic Church or God's Right Seat."
That was the source of it all.
God's Right Seat was twisted enough as it was, but they had been unable to stop that one person who was too much of an extremist even for them.
"Fiamma of the Right," Birdway said, speaking his name. "He was a man who possessed another right arm, one different from that idiot's."
Part 2
Itsuwa of the Amakusa Church was a maiden in love.
As such, even though Radiosonde Castle was floating at a great altitude and could cause damage on the scale of wiping out humanity at any moment, the knowledge of that boy's survival had a large effect on her mental state.
Itsuwa was analyzing various pieces of data in the main hall of St. George's Cathedral, but her efficiency had dropped below half of normal.
She was in a very good mood.
She could not focus on anything.
The information being created within her body vastly overshadowed the information that was entering from outside her body. So many opinions, thoughts, and ideas were bewilderingly flying back and forth in her head that she could not organize it all.
To put it simply, she was really losing her cool.
A tall man named Tatemiya Saiji who was the former vicar of the Amakusa Church could not ignore how she was acting, so he took action.
He lightly tossed a bamboo sword towards Itsuwa.
She timidly caught the bamboo sword with both hands.
"?"
"I'll help you optimize your thoughts using a fairly old method. I doubt you've had many opportunities to use one of these since we came to London. How about you try to come at me?" said Tatemiya with another bamboo sword resting on his shoulder.
"O-oh, but my proper weapon is a spear…" Itsuwa said in a quiet and hesitant voice as she held the bamboo sword forward with both hands.
Her stance alone was enough to stiffen the atmosphere of the area, so she had to be fairly skilled.
And then two blonde nuns who knew nothing of the Japanese spirit started pointing and whispering excitedly.
"L-look, Sister Lucia! I think a Japanese samurai battle is starting!!"
"A nun should not be cheering on a fight, Sister Angelene."
"I bet they're going to do a Shinken Shirahadori! That's where they go like this and catch it between their hands!!" said Angelene as she clapped her hands together above her head.
Hearing the girl getting excited, an odd sweat started coming from Tatemiya's face.
The Amakusa Church had evolved independently while matching the culture of Japan, so they of course knew all sorts of Eastern spells… but their techniques were specialized for real battles. He knew nothing of techniques like the Shinken Shirahadori that would definitely prove one to be a true master if they could pull them off, but they did not seem like techniques where proper situations would come up much.
However, he could not betray those pure and sparkling eyes.
Itsuwa whispered, "(U-umm, what are we, uhh, going to do?)"
"(…We have no choice.)"
Tatemiya tossed his bamboo sword aside, making him truly unarmed.
He then stared straight at Itsuwa and shouted out,
"Come, Itsuwa!! Let's show them an authentic bushido Shirahadori!"
"Ehh!? You're seriously going to do it!? This may be a bamboo sword, but you're not wearing any protection!!"
Likely due to Itsuwa's loud voice, more nuns that had not shown interest up to that point started to gather around, wondering what was going on. Before long, the large room was filled with a few hundred people. Kouyagi and Ushibuka who were also from the Amakusa Church joined in the crowd, grinning.
Itsuwa could no longer back down, and her shoulders lowered.
"I-I'll be going. How about on the count of three?"
"I don't need any signal like that! Just come at me!!"
"Th-three, two, one…"
*Whap!!!!!*
The sound of Itsuwa's bamboo sword sinking into Tatemiya's head resounded throughout the cathedral.
Everyone's movements stopped.
Itsuwa, the one who had gotten that clean hit in, stood speechless, her mouth opening and closing. Tatemiya had his hands awkwardly stopped above his head, making it clear to everyone there that he had not been able to react to the bamboo sword in time.
(I-I have to follow through for him…)
Due to the Japanese concept of living in disgrace, the refined Yamato Nadeshiko that was Itsuwa immediately had her thoughts turn to the gentlemen standing before her.
(If I don't, the former vicar will turn to pure-white ash!!)
"Th-that was just a practice run, right!? It doesn't count!!"
But Tatemiya merely wordlessly moved his lips to say, "Y-you idiot. That means we have to try it at least once more now, doesn't it!?"
However, what had been said could not be unsaid.
The second attempt began.
*Whap!!!!!*
The result Tatemiya Saiji was met with did not even need to be explained.
The former vicar seemed to be floating in the air due to his bowed legs and his weak knees, so it truly looked like he was going to turn to ash and be blown away by the wind that time.
(I-I-I have to do something!!)
Itsuwa had now lost her cool in multiple ways.
"I-it's because this is a bamboo sword, isn't it!? This weighs nothing like a real sword used in battle. It's just so light that you can't get your timing right!!"
"(…I-idiot. Itsuwa, you idiot!!)"
Just as Tatemiya was about to give some kind of rebuttal, his fellow Amakusa member, Kouyagi, spoke up.
"Then how about you use this imitation sword? It's made of forged steel, so its weight should be the same as a real Japanese sword. …And it makes up for its lack of a blade by being tougher than a real one."
"K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Kouyagi!! I know you're doing this on purpose!!"
*Thud!!!!*
The sound of something very serious happening to a skull resounded.
Tatemiya Saiji gave up all pretense of shame or reputation and writhed about while clutching his head. Itsuwa's inability to properly follow through had brought her confusion to its maximum.
"Ah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah!!" she exclaimed while frantically spinning her head around at high speed. "An imitation sword isn't good enough!! No one uses one of these in a real battle! It has to be a real sword! With a true Japanese sword, he could catch it every time, but there's nothing like that here in the cathedral, so nothing can be done about it!"
"Oh, but there is one. Here, use this Bateren[3]-Dedicated Kanemitsu Toushou."
Tsushima, an Amakusa woman with fluffy blonde hair, handed something to Itsuwa with the best possible timing. Itsuwa trembled and looked over at Tatemiya Saiji.
In the girl's hands was a first-rate sword that had never shown up on the center stage of history.
It was a Japanese sword created to be used for Western magic.
It was also known as the Book Slicer, a name based on a legend of slicing a bound book of around one thousand pieces of Japanese paper in a single swing. And it could do that purely with the sharpness of its edge. Simply put, one thousand pieces of paper was at a level where not even a magnum bullet could pierce it. Also, adding magic power into it would activate its functions as a spiritual item while increasing its destructive power even further. What would happen if that was done?
"Ohh! It looks like it'll be the real thing this time! This time he'll catch it!!" said one of the nuns, her eyes sparkling.
Upon hearing that, Tatemiya quietly said, "(…I-I think we've taken this far enough. We've gone more than far enough to get an award for our efforts, so relax your arms there, Itsuwa…)"
"No." Itsuwa slid the sword from its scabbard, and seemed to be preparing herself. "I can't let any more shame be brought to you, Tatemiya-san. After spreading so much shame on you, it is my duty to at least decorate you with the perfect beauty. It is all fine as long as it ends on a high note."
"Th-this has gone well past the level of shame!! If I take that head-on, I could easily become a teaching aid for an anatomy class! If you insist on doing it, at least swing it a little softer and slower, so I ca—Ah!? Wait, is this one of those times where someone who feels cornered has an awakening to an ability beyond what they normally have!? O-okay, I need to grasp the talent hidden within me and do my best to become the new protagonist!!"
The fearsome sound of that excellent sword slicing through the air resounded.
What fate would that blade bring as it swung down?
Find out next time!!
Part 3
Accelerator stepped out onto the dorm's balcony.
Just as Leivinia Birdway had mentioned the name Fiamma of the Right, her cell phone had started to ring. Apparently, it was from her little sister Patricia, so explanation time had been temporarily suspended.
He looked beyond the railing.
The sun had completely set, bringing the city to total darkness. The scenery was well-suited to his original nature.
He turned around and leaned his back up against the railing while drinking a mass-produced can of coffee.
He was getting sick of just how wide the world was.
Academy City was not all there was to the world. That city did not control all of the mysterious happenings in the world. He had vaguely sensed that during the war, but he had never thought it was to that extent.
It was just one piece.
The fact that all those fights and all those deaths had been far from the true center of it all had stolen much more strength from Accelerator's core than he had expected.
He then heard a familiar voice.
It was not coming from within the room.
It was coming from the other side of the fireproof panel that divided that balcony from the neighboring room's.
"Hey. Are you feeling depressed because you've run across something even more stagnant just when you thought Academy City's darkness had been dismantled?"
"Tsuchimikado…" Accelerator said, sounding annoyed.
Just like Accelerator, Tsuchimikado Motoharu had once belonged to Group, a unit for the select few.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"You should've done your research before entering that room. I live next door."
"Tch."
"Well, I've got a lot of free time now that Group is gone. You're the one that caused it, so at least make up for it by keeping me company for now."
Accelerator fell silent.
Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.
"How much do you know about the Freshmen?"
"Enough. I expected someone like them to show up."
Tsuchimikado leaned on the railing while smiling. How did he see the situation?
Did he feel that he had escaped from the darkness? Or did he feel that he had been robbed of it?
"…Unabara and Musujime are probably thankful, although they won't say it. They're probably rather bewildered right now, but that's how they'll end up once they figure out how they actually feel about the situation. Although I'm not sure if they'll just be able to leave alone the problems left dangling such as Aiwass and Dragon."
"Talking about those who aren't here won't help anything," Accelerator spat out. "…What about you?"
"Well," Tsuchimikado's smile receded just a bit. "To be honest, it's not really an issue of good or bad for me."
"…"
"Even with Academy City's darkness dismantled, I still have things left to do. After all, I'm not just a spy for the science side. I'm deeply related to the darkness of the territory you have just stepped one foot into, so I'll continue on the same as before. But I'll make sure to not sink as low as the Freshmen," said Tsuchimikado. "Whether it had any real effect or not, I'm thankful that you tried to help out me and the others around us."
Accelerator clicked his tongue.
Tsuchimikado smiled at that.
"I won't stop you from washing your feet of that darkness, but you need to establish your own stance. Transcending good and evil is not an excuse for becoming some indecisive bastard who doesn't choose either. It's a much more difficult path than simply relying on something easy to understand like good or evil."
Suddenly, Accelerator heard clamoring footsteps on the pathway towards the front of the dorm. Someone ignored the shouts to stop coming from the men wearing all black, and the front door was blown open.
"Is this the scene of the crime, you thieving cat!? says Misaka as Misaka charges in!!"
"Honey!! This Misaka came to swing a glass ashtray down on you during the infidelity investigation!!"
Just as those noisy shouts came flying their way, Tsuchimikado silently straightened up from the railing beyond the fireproof panel and retreated into his room.
"What the hell are those damn brats doing here…?" Accelerator muttered in annoyance as Misaka Worst approached him with a small brand-name paper bag hanging down from her left hand which was not in a cast.
"Heeeyyyy!! Misaka attacked a few Freshmen strongholds and found some fun optional parts! Let's have some fun remodeling that cool narcissistic girl with these cat ears and cat paw gloves!!"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
Misaka Worst looked pleased at hearing a scream coming from the unit bathroom, but then she saw the room's owner, Kamijou Touma. With a puzzled look on her face, she hid behind Accelerator's back.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Misaka has a feeling that guy is dangerous…" she whispered. "He seems like he would freely act for the sake of all Misakas, but that kind of action is like denying the value of this Misaka unit's existence, as she is a collection of the malice within the network…"
Meanwhile, Fremea and Birdway inside the room were looking at Last Order with suspicion. When she noticed the two of them getting excessively close to her…
"'So one of you is the enemy!!' says Misaka as Misaka gets desperate in order to secure her position!!"
"God damn, they're annoying…" Accelerator muttered.
Part 4
Tsuchimikado Motoharu's younger sister, Tsuchimikado Maika, sat formally atop a drum-shaped cleaning robot. It was nighttime and well past the time to be home from school as she headed smoothly down a walkway in Academy City.
A girl called out to Maika.
"Heyyy, Maika."
"Oh, what is it, Kumokawa?"
While still seated formally atop it, Maika banged on the cleaning robot with her palm in order to cause a slight error, bringing it to a stop.
While she held complete control over that cleaning robot, a girl wearing a maid uniform stood next to her. She was Kumokawa Maria, a classmate with a moderate chest size and long black hair in ringlet curls.
But…
"…Your maid uniform is as shady-looking as ever. That kind should be left to the cafes in an electronics district."
"I have a different goal," said the girl as she played with the black ringlet curls in her hair.
She was wearing a miniskirt, a fluorescently colored corset, and a nameplate in the shape of a rabbit attached to her skirt, but she actually had some of the best grades at Ryouran Maid School.
"Unlike you, my goal is not to provide support for others."
"You've told me that countless times already."
"Luckily, I have what they call talent. And that holds true for Academy City's esper development as well as for school and sports. …But then I hardly ever get into any real predicaments. Continuing on without taking any real damage is fine, but I'll be in trouble if I have no immunity to that kind of thing once I finally do end up in a truly bad predicament. That's why I need my pride to be damaged to a level where it will not break. Like serving those who are clearly inferior to me."
"Yes, yes, I've heard that already. Burp."
"…What's with you? And I was just getting to the good part." Kumokawa had a displeased look on her face. "But that was some excellent seasoning. I just had my pride damaged. That means my strength will rise again! How wonderful!!"
"Ugh, classmates who get all worked up on their own are such a pain."
"More importantly, Tsuchimikado…"
"What, Kumokawa?"
"You seemed overly excited before I called out to you. Did something happen?"
"I was utterly astonished because I saw a guy who I thought was dead suddenly appear before me."
"A suspenseful development!? Hmm, but if I interfere too splendidly, I will end up swelling up my pride right after managing to get it damaged… My talent can be such a problem."
"Sorry, but this person is my friend, you damn misunderstanding girl."
"I see… I see!! Today is a day of strengthening concentrated on my pride!! Will I be able to handle all this good luck…!?"
"She's not a sore loser, but she manages to be even more annoying," muttered Maika in annoyance.
Her transcendent genius of a classmate, Kumokawa Maria, was once again taking applications for an incompetent and stupid master.