"It seems like I've been out quite often…if possible, I'd like to do some good sightseeing."
Now outside Academy City, Kamijou muttered to himself as he proceeded through the perimeter wall. The height of the wall was more than five meters; the thickness, around three meters.
Come to think of it, during the preparation of Daihaseisai, the security's been rather lax.
Kamijou turned back and looked at the entrance of Academy City from a distance. For Daihaseisai, a festival with an attendance of 2.3 million people, the preparations needed were quite vast, not to mention that there would be many outsiders from different industries coming to Academy City. The security in Academy City was normally rather tight, but the situation now forced them to let down their guard. With the documents that Kamijou had, the guard inspection had become even more relaxed.
To cut a long story short, after Kamijou had handed the calico cat over to Tsuchimikado Maika, he had left Academy City.
Looking at his watch, he noticed that it was now just past 6 PM; there was still nearly one hour until the time indicated in the letter.
Kamijou had to put in a lot of effort to find the location of the Gloaming House, since the GPS map on the phone had not indicated any abandoned buildings. It was at that point that Kamijou had realized refreshing information too fast had its own downsides. Kamijou had then thought of an alternative plan, and had therefore gone to a convenience store to buy one of those faded, slower-updating Tokyo tourist handbooks. But upon searching his pockets, he had realized that he had not brought his wallet along. Thinking about it, he had immediately rushed out of Academy City after talking to Maika, and so had forgotten to get his wallet. Out of ideas, Kamijou could only endure the stare of the store clerk as he memorized the map into his head.
Erm…after walking through that lane, past that road…Ugh! I'm forgetting just about everything! How I really envy Index's brain…
Kamijou let his thoughts run wild as he walked toward a bus stop.
There was still one kilometer left to the designated location. Tired after the day at school, Kamijou really wanted to just sit on a bus and enjoy the air conditioning while it took him to his destination. Too bad he did not even have a yen on him.
Damn it...*sigh*...I don't care if I can ride a bus or not; all I want is a place where there's an air conditioner.
The bus stop was rather small. There was only a large plastic umbrella over two long benches, both of which were so old that they were covered in cracks.
At that moment, Kamijou found someone standing at the bus stop.
She seemed like a foreigner, and was about as tall as Kamijou. Her eyes were fixed on the timetable. She stared at it for a long time, however, and it seemed like she was having trouble.
Her attire, a black nun's habit that she still wore in such hot weather, was rather unique. Naturally, the sleeves and the dress were long. Looking closer, Kamijou noticed long silver zippers around the elbows and about 20 cm above the knees. It seemed like the sleeves and skirt of the nun's habit were detachable, though she had not done that. Her hands were covered with thin white gloves, and her hair could not be seen, for it was not only covered by a nun's cap, like what Index wore, but also a scarf. Since her hair could be covered just like that, it would seem she had short hair.
Kamijou looked at her out of the corner of his eye and thought:
Uh, it's a nun...could she be a killer nun who's related to Index?
That thought might have been considered a severe prejudice to all the nuns in the world, but Kamijou had suffered during the summer thanks to people like Stiyl and Tsuchimikado. Now, whenever Kamijou saw a girl in nuns' clothing, he would naturally be cautious.
"I'm sorry…"
The nun suddenly started talking to Kamijou, speaking in rather polite Japanese.
"Sorry to take your time, but may I ask: can I take this bus to get to Academy City?"
Not only was she courteous, but there was also a sense of awkwardness.
Kamijou stopped and looked at the nun. The attire that covered her entire body made her large breasts and slim waist stand out even more; some may even have suspected that she was emphasizing them on purpose. Anyway, she was a weird one.
"No way, there's no bus that goes to Academy City."
"Eh?"
"There's no transport link between Academy City and the outside world, so one can't take a bus or tram there. Only the taxis that are registered by Academy City can go in there, but walking is a lot less expensive."
"I see, so that's why you chose to walk out of Academy City."
The nun spoke nonchalantly.
Kamijou looked up. It was not possible to see the entrance to Academy City from here. He looked back at the nun, who pulled out something from her sleeve. Looking closely, he saw it was actually a cheap-looking mini-telescope that was used in theaters.
"I used this to watch you leave Academy City," she said as she smiled.
At that moment, a bus arrived. Like the bus stop, it looked rather dilapidated.
The automatic doors of the bus opened, releasing a sound like a soft drink bottle being opened.
Kamijou did not intend to take the bus, so he walked away from the bus stop. He turned to the nun and said,
"In any case, taking the bus is not going to bring you to Academy City. If you have an entry permit, you just need to walk to the entrance. It takes only about seven to eight minutes to get there."
"Many thanks. I'm grateful that you would take some time off your busy schedule to guide me."
The nun dressed in black gave a brilliant smile, bowed to Kamijou, and then—
-got on the bus.
"…Oi! Didn't I tell you that you can't take the bus just five seconds ago?!"
"Ah, ya. You did say that, alright."
The nun grabbed the hem of her dress with both hands and hastily got off the bus now parked on the road. Kamijou then went on:
"I just told you. There's no transport link between Academy City and the outside world, so one can't take a bus or a tram there. If you want to get there, you just have to walk there, do you understand?"
"You did say that. I'm sorry to bother you so many times."
The nun smiled bitterly, nodding to show her appreciation. She then climbed the steps of the bus and got on.
"Hey! You aren't smiling just to let my words fall on deaf ears, are you?"
"Eh? No, I never had that intention."
The nun again rushed down from the bus. The bus driver showed a look of irritation, closed the doors, and rudely drove off.
Kamijou felt worried when he saw that the nun still looked confused. This lady would most likely get lost within ten minutes if no one was looking out for her. The nun did not seem to sense Kamijou's worries, however, and said,
"Aiya. Why do you look so frustrated? Would you like some candy?"
"I'm not really frustrated...what flavor is this candy? Orange?"
Kamijou instinctively took the orange-red candy. He was too embarrassed to throw it away, so he put it into his mouth.
After sucking on it for a while…
"So bitter! What is this? It's definitely not orange!"
"…erm, it seems to be astringent persimmon flavor. I'm not sure about the details, but I heard that it can quench thirst."
"…oh, that's because it can easily stimulate the secretion of saliva. But the weather is so hot now that all the water content in the body would evaporate, so it makes no sense to produce saliva."
"Ara, you want to replenish your body fluids? Why didn't you say so earlier? I have some tea here."
"Although I really want to ask why you would put a thermoflask into the sleeve of your robe, never mind. I just so happen to be thirsty. What kind of tea is that?"
"Barley tea."
"Oh, I want it; can I have some?"
Kamijou said happily. Drinking ice-cold barley tea in the summer is the best, Kamijou thought. He accepted the thermoflask's cap, which was now filled with barley tea.
"----so hot! Why is this barley tea scalding hot?"
"Eh? I heard that drinking hot drinks during hot weather is part of your country's culture…"
"An old granny! You're an old granny, right? No wonder I felt that your mannerisms were too weird; your thought process is like that of an old granny!"
Kamijou roared while the nun gave a friendly smile. At this point, he could not just pour away the barley tea in the cap. Kamijou trembled as he poured that barley tea, hot as lava, into his throat.
"…er…thanks. Oh, yeah, Miss Nun, may I ask you something? Are you going to Academy City? Erm, I just said this, but to enter Academy City, one must have an entry permit issued by the city. Do you have one?"
"Entry permit…?"
Of course, the nun revealed a surprised look. Needless to say, without an entry permit, one could not get through the entrance gate.
After Kamijou explained the entire situation to the nun, she gave a troubled look. She placed her hand on her head and said,
"May I know how can I get this permit?"
"…I'm sorry, it's impossible for any ordinary person to get one. Only a close relative of a student or an industry worker who's delivering goods and materials can get one, and they have to be vetted first."
"Oh…if so, then I'll have to give up."
The nun drooped her shoulders, looking rather sad. But her giving up so easily made it seem like it was not really important to her to get inside Academy City.
It's not that I don't want to help, but I can't help her out now…
A sense of guilt crept into Kamijou's mind. The nun said to Kamijou, "Then I shall say goodbye here," before walking toward Academy City.
"Stop right there! Didn't I tell you that you can't go into Academy City without an entry permit…are you listening!?"
The nun revealed a look of realization, stopped, and then turned around. She had been smiling happily a while ago, but now she looked rather disappointed, as if a cloud of haze hovered over her.
Kamijou saw the troubled look on the nun's face and did not know what to do. While the magicians without permits had been able to get past the wall easily and whenever they wanted to, the nun in front of him did not seem to have that sort of ability.
Thinking about it for a while, Kamijou could not come up with anything that would help the nun. No matter the situation, one had to have an entry permit to get into Academy City. He had no time to dilly-dally at a place like this since he has to deal with Index first. He had to get to the designated location at the designated time, no matter what.
"Oh, yeah, why do you want to get into Academy City?"
"Erm…"
The nun tilted her head slightly and said,
"Actually, I'm being hunted right now."
Upon hearing that, Kamijou felt as if the surrounding temperature had dropped by several degrees.
"Being hunted…?"
"Yes. It's a bit complicated, but right now, I'm trying my best to escape. I heard that even with the power of many churches, they can't enter Academy City, so I wanted to escape to Academy City and hide there."
"The church…hey, don't tell me you have something to do with the magicians…?"
The nun was somewhat surprised on hearing that. She said, "Do you know about the existence of magicians?"
"Looking at your reaction, I guess I'm right." Kamijou sighed and continued, "But if you're really being hunted, even escaping into Academy City won't be completely safe. Academy City has been invaded by magicians constantly."
After seeing what had happened to Index firsthand, Kamijou understood that the magicians would never give up just because the target had escaped into Academy City.
"Then what should I do…?"
The nun looked like she was going to cry. Kamijou obviously understood how scary the magicians were, so he did not want to abandon her.
"…can you read the bus route map?"
"Buses are such old news now--like several hundred years ago! Where did this 'route map' come out from!? Weren't we talking about how to get to Academy City!?"
Kamijou exclaimed.
The nun again revealed a stunned look. Kamijou was really in a fix thanks to this nun.
If this nun was really being hunted by the magicians, then he could not just leave her alone, but Kamijou had something really urgent that he needed to take care of right now. Now that Index had been "kidnapped", he was worried. Even though this kidnapping sounded like a hoax, he could not just ignore it. Kamijou, who unwillingly had to make a choice between these two, pulled his hair roughly, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly, he thought of a good idea.
Wait, wait, wait… if I bring this nun along while I'm looking for Index, wouldn't that solve the problem?
It really was a good idea--except that it had been clearly written in the letter that he had to "go there alone".