"The C-Document. That's the name of the spiritual item in the center of all this."
Tsuchimikado's voice resounded throughout the spacious plane.
The supersonic passenger plane was a size bigger than usual passenger planes, but they were the only two on board, disregarding the crew, making the plane feel quite empty.
Since they were the only two passengers, Kamijou and Tsuchimikado were sitting right in the middle of the area with the nicest first class seats. Unlike the cramped economy seats, they had more than enough room to stretch out their legs.
Tsuchimikado was facing the seat next to him where Kamijou was sitting.
"Its formal name is the Document of Constantine. The Christian Church originally underwent persecution by the Roman Empire until Emperor Constantine recognized it as an official religion. The C-Document is a document created for the Roman Catholic Church by Constantine."
Those words weren't the words of the classmate Kamijou knew. Tsuchimikado Motoharu was now in full magician mode.
"The C-Document stated that the Roman Pope is the leader of the Christian Church and that the land in Europe that Constantine ruled over belonged to the Pope. Since Constantine owned the majority of Europe, it essentially meant that the Pope owned Europe and all of the people living there had to obey the Roman Catholic Church. From their point of view, it's a certificate that grants the Roman Catholic Church things that sound way too good to be true."
Tsuchimikado continued speaking as he worked with the LCD touch-screen next to his seat.
"As a spiritual item, the C-Document's power is… well, you could say it's kind of like a compass. For the land Constantine ruled over about 1700 years ago, you can use the C-Document even today to make symbols appear that indicate that that land was inherited from the emperor. Since the emperor's inheritance is composed of things given to the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church is given the lands and items that correspond on the C-Document to develop or use as necessary."
Tsuchimikado stopped speaking and stared at Kamijou's face.
"Kami-yan, are you even listening?"
"Ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ughh-ughhh-ughhhh!!"
Kamijou could not respond.
7000 kph. The powerful g-forces created by such a speed were crushing Kamijou Touma's internal organs, leaving him unable to respond properly. It felt as if there were a basketball being pushed up against his stomach while someone stomped on it as hard as he or she could.
By being perfectly fine in that circumstance, Tsuchimikado was the strange one.
"Well, whatever. Just listen up."
"Ugh-gh!!"
Tsuchimikado was not sure whether that was a response or a moan.
"As I said, the C-Document sounds a bit too good to be true for the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, a 15th century scholar declared it to be fake, and he was right. The C-Document's effects and powers as a spiritual item are quite different."
"Ggh-gh-ghh-gh!!"
"The real power of the C-Document acts on a much greater scale. It distorts that which is said by the Roman Pope to be 'accurate information'."
Tsuchimikado smoothly moved his lips as he spoke quietly.
"For example, if the Pope declared that the members of a certain faith were enemies of humanity that were upsetting the public order, it would be a fact from the moment he said it. If he declared that 'you will not burn your hand if you touch a hot sheet of metal as long as you pray while you do', that too would be believed without a shred of evidence."
"Ohh-gh-gh-gh!"
"C'mon, Kami-yan! At least look this way!"
Kamijou's upper body was shaking violently but he still managed to speak.
"So… if he uses that C-Document… everything the Pope says… is true…?"
It seemed he was actually able to follow the conversation well enough to grasp that much. Kamijou was trying to see if talking rather than listening alleviate his pains. It was his last resort.
"So… he can make everything he desires to come true? …Kind of like the Ars Magna in alchemy? …Oghh!!"
"No, not like that."
Tsuchimikado looked so carefree it almost looked like he would start humming.
"The C-Document can only make people 'believe' that things are true. No matter how ridiculous it is, it makes people think it must be true because the Pope said it is. It doesn't actually alter the laws of physics."
Tsuchimikado did something on the touch-screen installed in the armrest.
"Also, it only makes people believe if they care what the Roman Catholic Church says. Conversely, people who don't care whether what the Roman Catholic Church says is true or not aren't affected by it. For better or worse, this spiritual item is solely for use by the Roman Catholic Church."
"S-s-so… it's a spiritual item that makes people think what you say is true? B-but that's… Ugh."
"Haha. I guess it might sound like cheating. But there are plenty of tricks that were used to maintain one's majesty back in the day when the things powerful people said were taken as absolute laws. After all, the majesty of those powerful people determined whether people believed on those absolute laws of theirs or not. And if that belief wavered, the entire country could be in danger. Even in Japan there was the practice during the Edo period of cutting people in two if they spoke badly of the samurai. What easier way of regulating the ideas people have is there?"
"S-s-s-s-so…they made the C-Document because…"
"Yes, because they were afraid. They were afraid of losing control of the world they had created. The Roman Catholic Church has had multiple crises throughout history. But the Christian Church and God are supposed to be absolute. God is supposed to be a being that will save humans from any crisis. And yet the population of Europe fell greatly during the black plague, there were many failures during the Crusades, and no one knew when the Ottoman Turks would attack Europe en masse."
Tsuchimikado said this all in an unfeeling voice, but there was a compassionate glint to his eyes.
"The idea that 'God is absolute' was challenged again and again. And the Roman Catholic Church needed to keep that idea around. That's why they needed the C-Document. With it, they could ensure that the people's hearts would stay with them even in the worst crisis."
You could almost say that it was a spiritual item that filled in the gap between the ideal and reality.
It was a tool that protected the hope of the people by forcing them to "believe".
It could seem quite cruel, but at the same time there was some kindness in the intention behind it.
(S-s-so the Roman Catholic Church is using that C-Document now…)
Kamijou took deep breaths as he thought.
(They're making people believe that the information that the people of Academy City are the bad guys is "correct". And because they're forcing that information on people, it's showing up in the twisted form of these demonstrations.)
Kamijou then moved his lips that had turned pale from the effect of the G's.
"B-b-b-b-but…if they had such a dreadful spiritual item…why haven't they used it yet…?"
"Because the effects of the C-Document are enormous. Once something is set as being 'correct', it's hard to take it back even by using the C-Document again. Because of this, they can't be setting every little thing as 'correct'."
Tsuchimikado answered the question smoothly.
"Also, the C-Document isn't exactly easy to use. As I said, it makes people think that something the Roman Pope said is 'correct'. It can't be used by just anyone and it can't be used just anywhere. It was originally made so it could only be used when it was at the center of the Vatican. The command spreads around the world all at once from there via leylines."
"Eh? Ghh... B-but aren't we…heading to go keep them from using it?"
"We are."
"Th-then why France? You just said…the C-Document can only…be used at the Vatican…"
"Hm? Oh, right. About that."
"A-and…you said…after they use it…they can't delete that command, right? But that would mean…we can't do anything…about it."
"Let's see. Which question should I answer first?"
As Tsuchimikado spoke, a soft electronic tone came from the plane's speakers.
Then a synthesized-sounding female voice made an announcement. It was in a foreign language, but Kamijou didn't think it was English. After hearing the announcement, Tsuchimikado's face grew grim.
"…Well, it looks like we're out of time. Kami-yan, are you really okay? If you're not feeling too good, try taking some deep breaths. C'mon, breathe in."
"Huhh."
"Breathe out."
"Hoo."
"Breathe in again."
"Huhh."
"And breathe out again."
"Hoo."
After doing that, Kamijou did feel better…or at least he thought he did.
But Tsuchimikado's face looked more and more grim.
"That doesn't look too good. Maybe you'd feel better if you vomited? Well, c'mon, Kami-yan. Take off your seatbelt and follow me. C'mon, there are no flight attendants, so you don't have to worry about getting in trouble, Kami-yan."
Tsuchimikado stood up from his seat calmly and Kamijou slowly followed. Kamijou didn't feel like he was moving of his own free will; he felt like he was removed from the situation and his body was moving on its own.
Tsuchimikado walked down the passageway, opened a door, walked into an even smaller passageway, stepped through a hatch so low it looked he was going to hit his head, and walked into an area that was just bare metal where a rumbling noise could be heard from all around.
(Where are we?)
Kamijou was in a daze and took a backpack like object Tsuchimikado handed him.
"Here. Put this on."
"??? Tsuchimikado? What was that about feeling better if I vomited?"
"Don't worry. Don't worry. I'll be opening it up soon, so hurry up and put that on."
Tsuchimikado had already gotten the belts attached to the backpack wrapped around his body. The whole thing was pretty excessive. There were belts connecting the backpack to him not just over both shoulders, but around his stomach and chest too.
Kamijou didn't really understand what was going on, but put his own belts on the same way he saw Tsuchimikado do it.
"Okay, Kami-yan. Looks like you're ready to go."
Tsuchimikado used the palm of his hand to press a big button on the wall that looked like the lid of a tin can.
"Okay, now you can vomit as much as you want!!"
Kamijou heard an odd, loud noise.
Just after Kamijou realized it was the sound of a large pump, a large portion of the wall suddenly opened revealing nothing but the blue sky.
"What?"
Kamijou was completely stunned.
And before he could think any further, a violent wind arose inside the plane and started sucking everything out.
"Ts-Ts-Ts-Ts-Tsuchimikadoooooooo!?"
Kamijou frantically grabbed a protuberance on the wall, but he doubted he could hold on for long.
In the midst of the roaring wind, Tsuchimikado had a huge grin on his face.
"C'mon, Kami-yan. You're all set up, so vomit as much as you want!"
"You shut the fuck up!! W-why the hell would you throw open the luggage hatch!?"
"Because if we landed at a French airport like a bunch of idiots, those Roman Catholic bastards would find out. This plane's headed for London. We're getting off partway there."
"Are you stupid!? Think about how fast this plane is moving! Throwing open the hatch at over 7000 kph will tear the plane to pieces!!"
"Sorry, but it's already open."
"We're gonna die!!"
"You're the stupid one, Kami-yan. If I had really done that, we wouldn't be able to sit around talking to each other like this."
The plane must have lowered its speed in order for them to get off. And it was true that Kamijou was feeling better since he wasn't being affected by the G's as much…
"H-hey. Then what were those deep breaths for!? They were pointless, weren't they!?"
"C'mon, Kami-yan. Quit struggling in vain and let go of the wall already."
"I was grateful. I was truly grateful that you were worrying about me!! And yet you were just being a bastard!!"
"Just shut up and go."
Tsuchimikado kicked Kamijou's hand from the protuberance on the wall and the spiky-haired boy lost his last support.
The strong wind blowing out of the plane picked him up and he flew out of the baggage hatch and into the empty sky.
It was just past noon local time.
Below the refreshingly blue sky, a high school boy was screaming his lungs out.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!"
There was only blue sky 360 degrees around him.
It was probably due both to him flailing his arms and legs around and to air resistance moving the wind in an odd way, but his body was tumbling in confusing directions.
(Wh-what's going on? Just a few hours ago, I was having a forkball competition with Fukiyose. So why was I just flung out into the sky above France!?)
As he was tumbling, he managed to spot Tsuchimikado jump from the plane smiling like someone who was really into sky sports.
(I'll kill him… When we get to the ground, I'm going to beat the shit out of that bastard!!)
(…Actually, how are we going to land safely?)
Kamijou's face went pale.
But then the backpack he was wearing exploded.
A large parachute opened up from inside. It must have been set to activate automatically at a certain altitude.
But it caught Kamijou completely by surprise.
"Ghhh!? My neck! I-it's caught around my-…!"
He couldn't finish his complaint.
His arms and legs dangled down as he floated down in a very natural pose.
He had no way of knowing his parachute got caught in the wind and strayed from the area he was supposed to land at and that he had landed in the Rhone River which was known for having a width of over 100 meters.