Part 6
The Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations was made up of groups that had opposed Russia's way of doing things. They had a common currency like the EU and a passport was not needed for people or goods to travel between them.
Russia had viewed them as a nuisance and had been planning to invade the alliance once they had a reason even before the war. And now they had a chance to do so in the confusion of the war.
"It seems the Russian army is trying to build up a base near the border," said Lessar who must have gathered information from the nearby residents beforehand. "The basic configuration they're using includes vehicles with a missile launcher and a howitzer on them. It looks like they're planning on tossing explosives into the Elizalina Alliance borders from a distance of 30 or 40 kilometers."
A radius of 40 kilometers was bigger than Academy City and the armored vehicles would be deployed around the base to double or even triple their effective attack range.
Of course, this was a war, so it wouldn't end after just one or two shots. Once the base was complete, they would likely be able to send a thousand or two thousand deadly shots flying through the air.
"But that isn't the true purpose behind it."
"…"
"If they truly wanted to bomb them, they would just have the air force use some ground-attack aircraft or bombers. That way, it wouldn't really matter how far away they were. They could turn the entire country into a sea of flames all at once. …They're trying to trick people with the immediate specs. There is no real need to build this base."
Suddenly, a high pitched roar traveled over Kamijou and Lessar's heads. It wasn't just the sound of a passenger plane. It was the distinctive roar of supersonic travel.
However, it was not the sound of a Russian Air Force aircraft.
It was quite the opposite. One of Academy City's supersonic bombers was slicing through the sky above Russia. But it was not on its way to turn some city to rubble. Apparently, it was bringing in some of the materiel and weapons needed for a base that had been constructed directly within Russia.
Usually, airborne troops were not used that way.
It was true that landing in the middle of enemy territory and constructing a fortress would be advantageous, but that was only if that fortress could be maintained. If you couldn't ensure an above ground route to transport a large amount of materiel on, the fortress would end up being isolated.
However, Academy City overcame that problem with sheer force.
Their supersonic bombers could travel through the air at over 7000 kph. Those monstrous planes could easily fly right over Russia's anti-aircraft network and shake off intercepting fighters using overwhelming speed. A large amount of materiel could be supplied to the fortress quickly and reliably using them. Thanks to that, the large country of Russia was already dotted with quickly constructed Academy City fortresses.
"Amazing," said Lessar in a somehow carefree voice as she looked up at that technology from the distant world of science. "Did you hear Academy City's response to Russia's proclamation of war? Apparently, they said there was no real reason to fight, but that they weren't sure if it was right to stand by doing nothing when they could stop it. When it comes down to a simple comparison of military power, they must be way out ahead."
"…Wouldn't Russia want to shoot down one of those because of all the weapons on it that give Academy City that advantage?" said Kamijou after a thinking about what Lessar had said.
He looked up at the military planes that continued flying by every 20 or 30 minutes.
"From the engine noise alone, even a dog or a cat could figure out that this is a major passageway. Yet this base only has land-based weapons. It doesn't have a single runway for fighters. In fact, I haven't seen many Russian fighters at all. Something just seems wrong."
Was it Kamijou's experience with the science side that allowed him to be so sure of that?
Lessar was an expert at battle, but she lost that authority when it came to the actions of a scientific military.
"How did you figure this out?"
"From a map," Kamijou said pulling out a folded paper map similar to the ones sold anywhere.
Lessar frowned.
"You can figure all this out just by looking at a map?"
"No. I'm not a professional soldier or anything. I can't deduce what's going on behind the scenes just by seeing the formation of the army." Kamijou lightly shook the folded map around. "If they were truly carrying out an important military operation, they wouldn't be selling this map. They've already made sure maps of a few areas aren't being sold, but there was no restriction put on this area. That's especially odd given how large the base is. They don't want the area to seem important, so they've purposefully left the security low. However, that made it stand out."
"Ah," said Lessar either in admiration or just giving an arbitrary response. "So is Fiamma in that base?"
"I'm not even convinced there's actually a base there."
"But the Russian army is stationed there, right? How are we going to get in?"
"Well…"
Kamijou trailed off as the sound of engines became audible in the distance. They sounded deeper than a normal vehicle. They must have belonged to large trucks.
They could see a group of large vehicles travelling along the white snow plains. Kamijou wasn't sure exactly what kind of trucks they were, but they were reinforced with heavy-looking metal at various points and they had a military feel to them.
If that had been all, it wouldn't have been too odd a sight in a country at war.
However, there was something else that was clearly odd.
At both the front and back of the line of trucks was a carriage pulled by two horses. The horses were made of silver metal. They weren't wearing some sort of armor; they truly were horses made of metal.
The carriages were not made completely of wood and cloth. Instead, they seemed to be covered in an outer shell that looked like Western armor.
They were heading from the direction of the base Kamijou and Lessar were headed towards.
This time Kamijou frowned.
"What are those?"
"Oh, has your precious knowledge of the science side run out?"
"I'm not talking about the trucks. Those odd horses are clearly not scientific. Or are you saying the Russian army independently developed pet horse robots?"
"Hmm. I'd say they're Russian Orthodox Sleipnirs. I've heard they were created to help cross snowy plains."
"…So our opponents here really are magicians."
"Yes, the trucks were probably just borrowed from the army. Magicians might not know much about cutting edge scientific technology, but they can still drive."
Kamijou tried to follow Lessar's lead and lay down to hide on the snow, but the cold stabbed into him right through his non-waterproof clothes causing him to hurriedly stand right back up again.
"If you take unnatural half-assed methods like that, it just makes you look more suspicious," Lessar said with an exasperated expression.
"I know, I know," Kamijou responded blowing out white puffs of air. "You said they're from the Russian Orthodox Church, but what's in those trucks? Are they full of spiritual items needed for war or something?"
He hadn't asked that question expecting her to know the answer, but Lessar gave him one he certainly hadn't expected.
"It's probably the villagers."
"?"
Lessar grabbed the map from Kamijou and pointed towards the general area of the "suspicious base".
"The official story is that they hastily put together a base to attack the Elizalina Alliance from, right? Well, there were probably people living there before the base was made."
"…"
Kamijou's shoulders jumped slightly.
Whether she noticed that or not, Lessar continued on in a carefree way.
"And if that line of trucks being guarded by the Sleipnir carriages just continues on past us, it will reach a concentration camp for political prisoners. I don't know what pretext they're officially being taken there on, but the Russian Orthodox Church must not care about the villager's lives to rob them of their homes like this. They may have just forced everyone out of all the villages in the area in order to use the secretly constructed base."
"How many villages are there?" Kamijou asked peering at the map from the side. "How many villages were already in the planned area for the base?"
"There were around 8 villages with 20 or 30 people in each. It seems this area is mostly wilderness because it wasn't developed much. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but they could probably fit all of the villagers in those truc—Wait, where are you going?"
Lessar yelled out to Kamijou as he suddenly ran off.
He was headed for a nearby log house. With almost nothing between it and the horizon in every direction, the mountain hut may have functioned as a rest area.
For some reason, a four-wheel drive vehicle was parked outside the empty log house. From the symbols on the side, it seemed to belong to the Russian army. Kamijou guessed that the army may have been using the log house as a lookout or surveillance area.
He approached the vehicle, didn't hesitate to use his elbow to break the window, and unlocked the door from inside.
Lessar did not draw back upon hearing the loud sound of breaking glass.
Instead, she sighed.
"Why are you taking out the tool box? Don't tell me you're trying to save the villagers with just that crowbar."
"We don't know how many enemies there are or what kind of magic they're using. That isn't a situation where we can just charge in and assume we'll manage somehow. I don't ever charge into a dangerous situation because I want to."
Lessar pressed her index fingers against her temple at the fact that Kamijou did not deny his intention to rescue the villagers. She had sensed it a bit during the coup d'etat in London, but she was sure now that the boy had a screw loose in his head somewhere.
(…But that's why it looks like there's a real chance of enticing him into working for the UK. Hee hee.)
As Lessar secretly confirmed her goal, Kamijou stuck the L-shaped crowbar into the snow. He pulled a strong nylon string from the toolbox and tied it to the crowbar sticking from the snow while glancing down at his cell phone which was displaying an analog clock face.
"?"
He pounded an iron stake into the ground at a bit of a distance and tied a string to it as well. Seeing him pull the string out tight, Lessar frowned.
(…He's making a measurement?)
That thought came to her mind because she knew how to make accurate measurements for the size of different parts of the magic circles needed for large magical rituals.
"What are you doing?"
"You can't tell? I'm measuring the direction. Well, technically, I'm measuring a flight path."
Kamijou stuck a few more stakes into the snow and spread strings out near the ground.
"Oh, so you weren't just heading out there to try to fight with that crowbar."
"Not even I'm that stupid. How many escorts do you think those trucks have? I'm not about to pick a fight with a group of professional magicians. They're experts at killing. Do you think I'm a character from a shounen manga or something? I can't win against that many opponents. …My right hand may have a special power, but it isn't much help when I'm overwhelmed by numbers."
"Then what are you planning to do?"
"Let me just check: That Russian Orthodox group doesn't care about the lives of the villagers, right?"
"If they did, they wouldn't be taking them to a concentration camp. You probably don't have a good idea of what a place like that is since you're from a peaceful country like Japan."
For some reason Kamijou smiled.
"Good. Then this could work."
"Again: what are you planning to do?"
"Nothing too tricky. I'm just going to use everything at my disposal."
Kamijou finished laying out a few more strings and then pointed above his head.
Lessar looked up and saw a long, narrow contrail.
Part 7
Brassa P. Marhaisk frowned.
Brassa operated the small 8-wheeled carriage pulled by Sleipnirs at the front of the trucks transporting the prisoners. The carriage looked like a pill bug with silver metal plates covering it like armor. However, he was not frowning out of displeasure. All the drivers of the armored vehicles had a similar expression as they stared out the long narrow horizontal slit of a window that only allowed them to see forward . It was the same for the magical vehicles and the scientific ones.
All he could see was a white snowy plain.
There was little difference between the asphalt and the dirt.
At first glance, it looked as if one could just ignore the road and head along whatever path one wanted, but that was not actually true. The problem was the snow. It was impossible to tell how deep it was just from the surface. You also couldn't tell if any thick trees were fallen and buried underneath it.
Carelessly hitting something like that would break the 8-legged horse spiritual item, and he wanted to avoid that. Also, Russia was a vast country. Its urban areas were some of the most developed in the world, but in the places where there was nothing, there truly was nothing. Being stranded there would be as bad as being stranded in a desert.
It was the kind of place where a map would only tell you that there was nothing there. The maps hadn't been updated in years, so you really couldn't know what was there. Straying from the small roads partially hidden in the snow was something you truly wanted to avoid. "How much longer to the detention facility?" said a bored voice in a transmission from one of the trucks.
Of course, it was sent by a magical spiritual item.
"We packed too many people in here, dammit. It's a like a sauna in here."
"Then open up the door for some ventilation. In about 10 seconds, you'll be wishing you had that heat back," Brassa replied to his fellow magician.
Then a high-pitched roar came from overhead.
It was one of Academy City's supersonic bombers.
He was pretty sure they were called HsB-02s. According to a report he had read, they had turned the French city of Avignon into a sea of lava. They were apparently transporting goods instead of bombing, but he still couldn't exactly remain calm with one passing by overhead.
"Dammit. Where's the proper Russian army? Can't they do something with surface-to-air missiles?" said the driver of the truck.
"They fly at 7000 kph. A missile can't lock on and fire fast enough. It's like they're mocking the theory of aerial warfare."
"What about the Migs or Sukhois? They can take on American stealth fighters, right?"
"I don't know. My scientific knowledge isn't too great."
Brassa glared up at the large bomber in annoyance.
(Thank to John's interception spell, the age of magicians flying came to an end. If it weren't for that…)
If that airplane dropped a bomb then, Brassa and the others could be killed instantly. Having the bombers dropping small lightweight airborne tanks on parachutes was a problem, but Brassa felt more humiliated than relieved that the bomber wasn't directly carrying out its normal job.
"(…Damn you. I know you can see us,)" he muttered under his breath.
Immediately afterwards, flames suddenly burst up on the route Brassa and the others were heading on.
"!?"
It was only about 300 meters ahead. Brassa hurriedly ordered the Sleipnirs pulling the armored carriage to stop. The entire convoy stopped on the road.
He thought there would be nothing but snow all the way to the horizon, but he saw a log house-like building that was likely there for anyone whose engine stalled or who ran into some other type of trouble. The explosion had occurred right next to that building. When he looked closely, he saw what looked like a four-wheel drive vehicle sitting there.
The explosion continued.
The log house itself was blown away. The sole manmade structure on the vast landscape was blown away.
It wasn't just a normal explosion.
It ran across the ground in a straight line for over 3 kilometers. The white snow was blown up into the air instantly and the ground glowed orange. It was like the Russian earth was being torn apart and melted causing magma to spew forth.
"What!? Are they bombing!?"
Normally, Brassa would have been unable to respond to his companion's question, but he had heard that Academy City's supersonic bombers had cleanly cut the French city of Avignon off of the map. He had heard that they had weapons that used the air friction created by speeds of over 7000 kph to produce fearsome destructive force.
"So they've finally done it!!"
An unpleasant sweat started flowing from Brassa's back. The convoy composed of trucks and armored carriages traveling along in the middle of nowhere were a convenient target when seen from the air. They had nowhere to hide and they were clumped together enough to be easily locked onto with the radar.
"Hey, can you use a people clearing field or something to prevent them from targeting us?!"
"We don't have to time to prepare something like that," Brassa responded as he re-realized just how much danger he was in. "This is bad. We should get out. They'll just continue bombing us until they hit us if we stay inside."
"But they're bombing us with some super weapon from Academy City!! If we get out, we'll have nothing protecting us from the blast!!"
"You saw that destructive force just now, didn't you!? With just the spiritual items we have on hand, the trucks and carriages will just be blown to pieces!! It's better to make sure they can't target us. If we spread out and hide ourselves on the snow with our white outfits, our odds of survival go way up!!"
"What about the villagers we're transporting!?"
"Leave them." Brassa grabbed his usual staff and headed for the exit to the carriage. "We're just taking them to the concentration camp anyway. Who cares if they fall victim to the bombing here?!"
What Kamijou Touma had asked Lessar to do was actually quite simple.
"You said your steel glove had been improved, right? It can grab distant objects just by having a red laser-like thing touch them instead of the blade fingers, right?"
"What about it?"
Kamijou pointed up into the air in response to the girl's question.
"Then can you grab that?"
"?"
She frowned, but still began to follow his instructions.
"Wait. I have one more request. Can you stab the steel glove into the ground and make it move from a distance?"
"…Why do I have to do something like that?"
"So you can't?"
"No, I can," said Lessar as she stabbed the steel glove upside down into the snow and moved back a few meters. She then sent a bit of magic power to the spiritual item causing it to "grab" a distant object.
That distant object was the supersonic bomber flying at over 7000 kph at an altitude of 10,000 m.
Immediately afterwards, the steel glove split the Russian ground in two as it was dragged by the supersonic bomber.
It was a simple issue of air friction.
By slicing through the lower altitude area with its higher concentration of air at over 7000 kph, a massive amount of energy was produced.
With a tremendous explosive noise, an orange line raced across the white land along the route of the supersonic bomber. It was roughly 3 kilometers long. The ground melted like magma and blew the white snow away. The steel glove must not have been able to withstand the friction partway through because the line of destruction ended shortly after the steel glove was torn to pieces.
Lessar was the one that was shocked by this.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? M-m-my steel glove!! That was the one and only Lessar Special Custom!!"
"Good. It had a nice effect similar to what happened in Avignon. That might very well fool the Russian Orthodox magicians."
The trucks and carriages that were protected by solid spells had been abandoned in the middle of the snowy plain. Kamijou could see that the group of strong magicians that a normal high school student couldn't hope to take on had distanced themselves from the convoy on foot.
It probably wouldn't have been as effective if they had just used some kind of explosive to emulate an aerial bombing. An amateur like Kamijou couldn't tell the difference, but there were different types of bombs and those different types spread out differently and made different types of noises. For instance, someone may have been able to tell that a faked explosion using propane or gasoline was not an aerial bombing.
That type of bombardment using air friction was exclusive technology of Academy City. There was no analogous weapon in Russia.
That was why Kamijou had managed to trick them.
Whether they were professional magicians or tough soldiers, he could fool them at least once that way.
"If they were transporting guests they had to protect with their lives, that wouldn't have worked so well. But they didn't care about those villagers, so they were willing to just abandon them when it came down to it."
"You seem to feel like you've accomplished something here, but that steel glove was mine!! How are you going to make up for destroying it!?"
"How much does a spiritual item cost anyway? Actually, do they even sell them?" Kamijou asked offhand as he ran towards the trucks about 300 meters away.
Lessar ran after him muttering something to herself.
Apparently, the residents of the villages in the area designated for the base were crammed into the trucks.
Kamijou circled around to the back of one of the trucks, but he didn't know how to open the door. He shook the giant metal fixture, but it wouldn't budge. Lessar had said Russian Orthodox magicians might have been transporting them, but the lock must not have been magical because nothing changed when he touched it with his right hand.
Lessar then reached her hand in from the side. With a surprisingly simple motion, she easily opened the truck door.
The men, women, and children cowering inside were all focusing on them.
They were panicked and confused.
They were afraid because they thought they had arrived at some decisively bad place and they were confused that the people opening the truck did not seem to be with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Kamijou started to say something to put their minds at ease, but he didn't know Russian. He thought about using gestures to get his point across, but he gave up on that idea. Instead, he whispered to Lessar.
"Can you tell them to help us because we're going let them escape?"
"What a pain," Lessar said bluntly. "I don't see how this action helps the UK."
Kamijou pointed out towards the snowy field as he responded.
"If we don't hurry, the Russian Orthodox magicians will realize something's wrong and come back."
"…"
Lessar looked grumpy, but she decided to do what he said. Seeing her face the people in the truck, Kamijou headed for another truck. The door was the same, but he managed to open it himself that time. Having to explain everything each time would be pointless work, so he used gestures to indicate that the people inside should head to where Lessar was.
"How are they going to get away?"
"They can just use the trucks. I'm sure there are people in that group who can drive. They can just head to a nearby town for now."
"…Well, I guess that's fine. But there isn't very much in the way of concealment spells cast on these things. They look like Russian army trucks, so we'd better hope they don't get attacked by any Academy City tanks."
"We'll take the front carriage. The one covered in metal panels that looks a bit like a pill bug." Kamijou looked over towards the small carriage. "It's the hardest to see the faces of those inside of it from the outside. I'm clearly Asian and you…well, I can't really tell, but I'm betting there's a noticeable difference between British and Russian faces. It probably wouldn't be good if we were spotted. That armored carriage will be best to head towards that base in…but there's still one problem. Can I ask for your advice?"
"Don't tell me you don't know how to drive a carriage."
"Hey, I'd like to see a high school student that does know how to drive a carriage in this day and age."
"Yeah, well I'm a middle school student," Lessar said as she headed for the armored carriage.
She seemed fairly confident. Kamijou started to head after her, but someone suddenly grabbed at the edge of his clothes.
He turned around to find a small girl.
She seemed to be trying to say something, but she also seemed to realize that she and Kamijou spoke two completely different languages.
Kamijou gently removed the girl's small hand from his clothes and started to speak to her in Japanese not worrying about whether she would understand him.
But he never got a single word out.
A woman holding a baby who seemed to be the girl's mother frantically grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her away from Kamijou. He couldn't understand what the girl's mother was saying, but there was hostility and fear in her gaze.
(…This is World War III. Academy City and therefore the Japanese are Russia's enemy.)
He felt a prickle of pain at that, but he just spoke in Japanese without showing it on his face.
"If I'm ever in a similar pinch, you can just repay me then. So don't worry about it."
Something like a small horn sounded from the armored carriage. Kamijou admired how it sounded just like a normal car horn as he ran towards the carriage.
Part 8
It was not exactly what one would call pleasant within the armored carriage. It had an air conditioning-like spiritual item that regulated the temperature inside, so it wasn't cold, but the carriage was filled with the stench of sweat. The thick steel enclosing them within and preventing them from seeing outside gave an odd sense of being trapped.
Lessar was sitting in the seat for the driver within the armored carriage that was currently not moving. Not even that seat was exposed. It was completely surrounded by the metal panels as well. The reins that connected to the metal horses known as Sleipnir stretched out through a slit.
"Wow, I thought it would be hot in here, but this is ridiculous."
"…The settings for this air conditioner-like thing are just too broad. If we set it just a bit colder, I'm betting it would suddenly get very cold in here. And if I touch it with my right hand, I'll destroy it."
"Sigh. I can't stand it. I'm gonna undo the buttons on my shirt and fan myself with my skirt."
"Bfh!! What are you-!? Why are you doing that all of a sudden!?"
"I'm seducing you, so react already!! If you push me down and get this over with, the UK will have one more vanguard member!!"
"Hah hahhn!! I see. So you're just one of those girls that says all sorts of things with a smile on her face while not knowing the meaning of any of the sexual terms she's using!! As someone who has just a bit more experience with life, let me tell you that you're saying some truly dangerous things!! You should be more careful!!"
(You fool, I've got you now!!)
The little devil girl that was Lessar lightly swished the tail coming from her miniskirt and grabbed at an opening for a counterattack with an evil smile on her face.
"Okay, understood!! Then I'll show you exactly how serious I am!!"
Part 9
And on the battlefield on the Strait of Dover, the Amakusa girl named Itsuwa felt a chill run down her back as she held her spear in both hands.
"H-hawahhh!?"
"!? Wh-what is it, Itsuwa?"
Itsuwa hesitantly averted her gaze from Tatemiya Saiji who had been surprised by her odd exclamation.
"N-nothing… I just…have a bad feeling about something…"
Part 10
Of course, nothing happened that a more late-blooming girl would be afraid would happen. Instead, Lessar was holding the reins to the Sleipnirs and driving the armored carriage looking unhappy.
"I was a little nervous about using the Russian metal horses, but it's basically the same as a normal carriage."
"What do you mean by a normal carriage…?"
Because they were riding in a Russian Orthodox carriage, they had been able to reduce the amount of suspicion directed towards them. However, Kamijou doubted they would be able to just get onto the grounds of that heavily guarded fortress with it.
After Lessar drove the armored carriage for about half an hour, she stopped it in the middle of the empty field of snow.
"We're going to reach the fortress's defensive lines before long. To put it bluntly, we'll be on the receiving end of missile launchers and howitzers if we continue on like this. I doubt the defensive spiritual items installed on the carriage can stand up to that."
"But there are a lot of tracks through the snow that look like they came from a vehicle of a similar size. Well, I guess it can't all be easy. Just knowing that the base is bringing in similar carriages is enough. That tells us it really isn't a normal military installation."
"What do you mean by a normal military installation…?"
The fortress itself was only about 10 kilometers in each direction. It was said to be front line base adjacent to the border with the Elizalina Alliance, but it wasn't operating as one would expect for such a base. Part of Fiamma's plan had to be hidden there.
A defensive line was set up at a radius of 40 kilometers around the fortress.
Of course, it wasn't surrounded by huge walls like the Great Wall of China. Guard towers had been set up on each side of the fortress and a great number of shells would be fired on any suspicious figure that was spotted.
"…So they evacuated everyone living in an area even greater than Academy City."
"Yes, but this area is mostly wilderness, so that didn't even amount to the population of a single Japanese village."
That reminded Kamijou of just how vast the country of Russia was. On an island nation like Japan, you simply couldn't find such a large area of untouched nature.
"So what do we do now?" asked Lessar from the driver's seat. "If we set foot within the defensive line like this, we'll definitely be blown up by missiles or torn to pieces by bullets. We can't avoid that kind of thing with the speed of the carriage. Don't you need some sort of plan? Oh, and I highly doubt they've left a blind spot for us to sneak in through."
"Actually, they might have," said Kamijou in response to Lessar's comment that had been said in a half challenging way. "Like I said before, Fiamma is using the Russian army, but he isn't going to tell them the details of his magical plan. He probably just fooled them into thinking there was a just cause for World War III. If so, he needs to have a secret route he can use to bring in magical equipment and materials."
"So you're saying we can sneak into the fortress as long as we find that?"
"Most of the Russians don't know about magic. At the very least, I doubt the normal soldiers can fight using magic. It should be easier than breaking in through the front."
"…Fiamma of the Right is pretty powerful, right? I mean, he is said to be the leader of God's Right Seat. The magical traps and subordinates he's prepared will probably be rather high level."
"And that's where I finally come in."
Kamijou smiled and waved his right hand around.
That hand held a power known as Imagine Breaker that could negate every kind of supernatural power.
"A fight against a professional soldier armed with a rifle and bombs isn't the type of battle I should be fighting. Nor is a battle against a large group of Russian Orthodox magicians. I had just been thinking that things weren't going as well as usual for me, but here's where it starts. I've finally arrived at the stage that's made for me."
Kamijou Touma stared straight ahead through the slit-like window in the armored carriage.
He muttered a few words as he faced the slight silhouette on the horizon that belonged to the facility he was headed for.
"…I'll be there soon, Fiamma."
Part 11
Deep in Moscow stood an old man wearing an extravagant military uniform that a soldier on the battlefield would certainly not be wearing. He was within a building that was like a palace, but it was actually a fortress registered as an official military facility. The man's uniform was covered with military decorations. Until a moment ago, he had believed that he had been in the very depths of Russia's darkness. However, that was apparently not true.
Other men wearing similar uniforms were also gathered there.
Those men were similar in ways other than their clothing and careers.
"…The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, huh? It seems the world has spread quite a bit in an unexpected direction."
"We started this war as they wanted, but can we really push back Academy City's forces?"
"There are a surprising number of people aiding Academy City. The blessings of scientific technology have certainly carved out a large line."
"Essentially, this has developed into a war between those under the control of the Roman Catholic or the Russian Orthodox churches and the rest of the world. It really hurt not to get India and China's help."
"I can't tell what Academy City is after. Adding in those unmanned weapons and showing off how much military strength they have isn't a plus for them."
"You're saying they have a goal beyond interception and defense?"
"Maybe it's the missile silos?"
"We can't allow the silos to be taken no matter what. With their technology, it's possible they could activate them without a proper signal. It's also possible they could bring in some of their own."
"Which means…?"
"I'm suggesting we think about activating you know what."
All of them fell silent at that.
They had gone through that argument countless times before. The topic was such a heavy one that, even after discussing it so many times, they still had not given a definitive green light for the "you know what".
Finally someone muttered a few words.
The man was staring at the pile of documents on the table as he did so.
"The Kremlin Report..."