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SHSL Lurker
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Academy City
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I thought this was a pretty awesome episode. It didn't feel too rushed or too slow while going through two chapters and the ice ships were really well animated. Also, the new ending is pretty awesome but I was looking forward to seeing the new opening this week...
Also, ITSUWAAAAAAAAAAAA~ <3
Prologue:
Spoiler for volume 11 un frammento di un piano:
Kamijou Touma is an unfortunate guy.
One can tell just by looking back at the 7 days of Daihaseisai festival. The Daihaseisai festival should be something like an all-out sporting event, but for some reason, Kamijou Touma had gotten involved in a battle between magicians, one that involved the control over Academy City, and then all sorts of things happened.
Now, two days after that battle, the unfortunate situation still hasn’t changed. Unintentionally, he had witnessed Komoe-sensei changing clothes again, was knocked hard into the Daihaseisai committee member Fukiyose Seiri, got bitten by Index, was hit by Himegami Aisa’s rubber ball as she’s sitting on a wheelchair, and when he was pulled off by Misaka Mikoto to go for a ball dance, he was kicked in the back of the head by a Shirai Kuroko who teleported behind him, and so on. Anyway, he feels that he’s just getting into trouble all the time.
However, he's not the type to be discouraged no matter the misfortune, so he might as well smile as he faces it. Besides, it’s not like this ‘misfortune’, an especially unique feature of his, will change.
This has to be repeated, Kamijou Touma is an unfortunate guy.
He missed out on extremely cheap sales at the supermarket by a few minutes, the manga that he bought from the convenience store had a few pages stuck together, he didn’t win in any of the scratchcards, and the crystal display on the ice pops and fruit juice vending machine wouldn’t even show.
This has to be repeated again, Kamijou Touma is an unfortunate guy.
“Ah—the results of the customer number is out; your number got the top prize. The prize is ‘a seven days, five nights, two people trip to northern Italy’. Congratulations!!”
What was that!? The shoulders of ordinary high school student Kamijou Touma drop as he listens to that ringing voice. That black messy hair of his is swaying around in the wind.
This is Academy City, located in West Tokyo; it’s now the final day of the sporting festival—Daihaseisai. He’s standing on a street that’s linked to the major roads, and in front of him is a completely hand-made stall of plywood and nails. The stall attendant is a high school student from Kirigaoka Girls’ Academy, the ‘ojou’ academy. This is the ‘attendance’ venue set up by the student committee.
The method is simple.
One just needs to buy a card, write the estimated number of people that would be attending Daihaseisai and hand it over to them. Finally, the number closest to the actual target will get the largest prize, and so on and so forth.
Of course, there’s a rough report ‘we’ve finally passed the ten million mark!’ on the television. Those who came later will have an easier chance of guessing it correctly, but for those people who guessed the same number, the earlier ones will get priority.
Wearing a short-sleeved sports shirt and red tights, the athletic female attendant pulls out something from under the counter —some weird envelope— with a crackling sound in the process, and says,
“This is meant for use during the block leave after the Daihaseisai festival, though it’s not meant for students.”
The girl gives a business like smile,
“All the related schedules in the trip, sightseeing reservations, and related books are inside here, so please read them later. If there are any problems, please don’t look for our school, but look for the travel agent over there. Alright? Next.”
While looking at this large envelope, Kamijou Touma feels that he might end up in a trap.
He folds his arms, tilts his head, and asks,
“Then, can I ask something?”
“I can’t answer anything related to the trip, but if it’s anything else, shoot.”
“First prize, it’s the first prize?”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to ask.”
“This prize that the luckiest guy would get, right!?”
“Erm, can I go now?”
“No, wait, wait! This is a trip to northern Italy, right?”
“About this, it’s exactly whatever that's written on it.”
“Will the plane fly towards some unknown science or religious organization's airport, or some weird exhibition?”
“…Oh, I got it. It’s your first time traveling overseas, no?”
Not only was that girl not stunned, she gave Touma a gentle look. Seems like in the eyes of this Kirigaoka Girls’ Academy ojou, Kamijou is fearful and puzzled about going overseas to sight-see.
“Anyway, we gave out all the prizes, second and below, so if there’re any inquires, please look for the travel agent.”
“AH! Wait, wait!! I understand, it’s impossible for something like this to happen!! Won’t there be any other things happening, though? Like the plane will get hijacked, and then find that I’m in Antarctica upon waking up! I got it, although I feel that this might be a trap, but this is really a trip to northern Italy, right!? OI!!”
To get the first prize or something, this is really weird.
So there must be a trap, Kamijou thinks.
Therefore, he mustn’t go for this trip full of traps, Kamijou thinks.
“That’s right, I don’t have a passport!”
Kamijou shouts as he’s inside his room.
On hearing this, Index just stares blankly at Kamijou. This fourteen to fifteen-year-old girl with waist-length silver hair and green eyes had always been under the sun throughout Daihaseisai, and now she has a bit of a heatstroke. However, there’s not one bit wheat colour on her skin, just a bit red. On a side note, there are many safety pins on the gold embroidery on the white nun’s robes that looks like a Western teacup, which doesn’t make it look decent at all.
“Touma, Touma. What’s a passport?”
The reason why Index is using such a slow tone as compared to usual is because she’s full. At the class victory party during the closing ceremony, Index, who's accepted by everyone in the class, was downing the food at an astonishing speed while others suspected her identity.
Kamijou pulls out all sorts of books and pamphlets as he stares at Index, saying,
“A passport is an item required to go overseas. I suppose it’ll take a month if I request to make one now, no?”
Come to think of it, how come Index doesn’t know about what a passport is when she came all the way from England? Though Kamijou has this in thought, Index is someone from the magic side who doesn’t even know about Japanese Constitution and International laws. Sitting on a flying carpet (Aladdin and the Magic Lamp…) at low altitude, the radars probably won’t even know how to detect it.
Is the air-defense of the country’s defenses alright? Kamijou wonders as he places all sorts of information on the glass table.
On looking at it closely, it seems to be some sort of group tour; all the travelers are to gather at the airport at northern Italy before going out. In other words, the schedule is preplanned.
The date of gathering over there is the 27th of September.
There’s still two days.
After Daihaseisai, the workers have been in alert mode as they continue to remove the equipment, and during these days, the students now get a break. Maybe it’s because they tried to force the planning of the trip that resulted in this being so urgent — to ask for a passport in this situation, if something is to happen, he doesn’t know how to explain it.
“…Alright. Since this is like that, so it’s really like that, huh? I won’t feel depressed about it!! I knew that would happen right from the start, so I’m prepared!!”
Kamijou opens the envelope and lies on the floor, rolling out, obviously to shake away the feeling of regret. Kamijou’s right foot hits the edge of the glass table, making him roll about in pain, shouting out like a fighter. The calico cat curled up nearby is shocked and jumps off the bed, grabs the clothes hanging on the wall and leaps into the closet.
At this moment, the calico cat kicks a dusty tangled item out of the closet, which lands onto Kamijou’s face that is facing up.
“WA! I’m being belittled by a cat!! Come to think of it, what’s this?”
Kamijou uses his right hand to pick the thing off his forehead tiredly. It’s larger than a police identification card, a booklet made of red artificial leather. The words written on it are ‘Japanese Passport’.
This is a passport.
Kamijou Touma suddenly stood up.
“Wh- WHY!? WHY’S MY PASSPORT HERE!!?”
Because he can’t even pass his English class, Kamijou knows that he has no chemistry with foreign cultures.
Somewhat mindful of this, Kamijou quickly flips through the contents. The stamps seem to certify that Kamijou went to Saipan and Guam before. Did he go overseas with his parents before?
“Anyway, I have a passport…so why doesn’t this feel good?”
Regarding this, because Kamijou lost his memories, he doesn’t know the specifics of his past. Also, in order to hide this from everyone, he can’t discuss this with anyone. Kamijou glances at Index, who doesn’t seem to be mindful that Kamijou found his passport. Besides, she probably doesn’t even know what a passport is, so he can’t tell what her situation is now.
“Ah, Index, you don’t have a passport, do you?”
“Is the ‘passport’ you're talking about in your hand? Then I probably don’t have one.”
“In other words, we still can’t go for the trip because I can’t leave you unattended for three days.”
“Uuu, what are you implying? However, I don’t have it means I don’t have it.”
“…Come to think of it, Index. Why were you so calm about this? We’re going overseas!? Wouldn’t being excited be the normal reaction!!?”
“Touma, Touma.”
Now what are you saying? — Index is giving this look to Touma.
“Wouldn’t Academy City be a foreign country to me?”
“Uuu!! I’VE BEEN REJECTED AS IF NOTHING HAS HAPPENED!!”
Kamijou looks startled as he stares at the white nun.
“…Eh? In other words, it’s like you’re living with me overseas?”
BAM!! Index slams tiredly onto the ground.
She quickly looks up and says,
“Wh, wh, why, why, why are you suddenly saying such profound words, Touma!? I, I am a devout nun!! If I’m to get that kind of misunderstanding, it’ll be disturbing for me even if I explain it!!”
“Ah, but.”
“An, anyway, I don’t have anything like that ‘passport’ in Touma’s hand! Though I do have something similar…”
“Something similar?”
“Mn, this.”
Index pulls out an English passport from the sleeve of her nun robes as she says this. Kamijou feels that other countries only have some minor differences in terms of the pictures.
“An, anyway, you could have just ridden a plane as long as you’re with ‘Necessarius’. Good good, at least you didn’t ride on a camel and took the Silk Road here. This Kamijou won’t have to imagine all those weird ideas.”
“…I’m feeling that you’ve been treating me as an idiot all the way till now. But Touma, what’s the passport used for?”
“Oi, wait wait, Index. Let me look at your passport—what’s this!!? Why is your passport so new!? At least it should have a stamp that originates from England!!”
And the name given is ‘Index Librorum Prohibitorum’.
Such a terrifying religious country, Kamijou thinks. In contrast, the girl just yawns in a bored manner, and says,
“Touma, Touma, this may be the effect of the automatic library.”
“You, to think that you would belittle this extremely rare ‘Necessarius’ passport? You came here through the Silk Road, didn’t you!?”
“Touma, although you have been acting excited for no reason at all, the result is still that Touma and I can go for a holiday trip… so there’s no problem, right?”
Index asks in an unsettled tone.
…Eh? Kamijou’s eyes widened in surprise.
Now, it seems that there’s no problem.
He feels that he might as well go for this 7 day 5 nights northern Italy trip.
Kamijou Touma is supposed to be an unfortunate guy.
He should have no chance of going for this.
And just like that, on the second day:
After Kamijou and Index got signal senders for traveling installed into their bodies, they arrived at the 23rd district of Academy City—a special school district meant for the development of aeronautical research. They’re now at the international airport that was built for the tourists from outside Academy City.
The waiting hall is maybe too spacious; the walls are all made of glass, and sunlight shimmers through them. Although the news are reporting that the halls are extremely busy, there are just a few people wanting to go home. The most likely thing is that they wanted to make full use of the time as they stay back at home. However, in this hall that’s gradually becoming noisy, Kamijou is attracted to the noise made by the wheels of the luggage bag.
Kamijou’s still wearing that half-sleeved shirt and trousers, and his wallet is attached to his waist through a chain, and he prepared some extra money by tying it on the inside of his thigh, so it’s not hard to see that it’s unsafe to go overseas. Also, the small chain tells him where his wallet is, and it’s not easy to break it. The money placed in the inside by his thighs is slightly high, hard to take out, and he won’t be afraid of the money dropping as he walks. He’s guarding his wallet to such an extent, but on the other hand, it’ll look like he’s not used to traveling overseas if he’s to put his wallet there anyhow.
On a side note, Kamijou is holding the luggage bag, whereas Index is empty handed. She doesn’t have a lot of undergarments and pajamas, and besides the one piece of white nun robes, she doesn’t have any other thing, as she placed everything into Kamijou’s luggage bag. Also, before they left, Index blushed as she pulled out a small rattan suitcase, saying ‘This is also luggage’. Just as Kamijou was asking her what’s inside, he got bitten.
Speaking of luggage, the calico cat that she’s often holding onto is at Komoe-sensei’s apartment. Komoe even said “Ka-Kamijou’s going overseas? Is there really no problem? In, in a lot of context!! Sensei, won’t be around, you know!?”
From the hall, Kamijou stares at the Immigration and Emigration Department inside.
“Eh?...I haven’t forgotten anything, did I? Wallet, passports, tickets, tour guidebooks, clothes, dryer, handphone, got them, money for emergency purposes…mm, no problem, right? At least I don’t have to shout ‘such misfortune~’ now.”
“Touma, Touma, why were you so worried up till now?”
Index asks worriedly, but otherwise, she’s feeling excited. On seeing her like this, Kamijou’s worries disappear.
“…Mm, yeah, I’m rather happy! I normally shout that I’m unlucky, and my thoughts have gotten weird; I should think that I’m lucky once in a while! It’s hard to get such a vacation! Alright, a 7 day 5 night trip, I’m bursting with happiness!!”
Finally, Kamijou manages to rid of his troubles and smile. Seeing him like this, Index also smiles.
“Just like that, Touma. Hm, if you are to use this attitude to interact, you’ll know the meaning even if you don’t know what they are saying.”
“GAAAHHH!! FOREIGN LANGUAGES!? I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!!”
Receiving this sudden shock, Kamijou falls onto the ground. He’s at the situation where he got only 22 marks in an English mini-test. Thinking of this, Kamijou stares gingerly at Index.
“That, Index.”
“What, Touma?”
“Can you speak Italian?”
“I can, though it’s like Orsula’s accent. What now, Touma?”
“Italian, as in the Italian used in Italy?”
“Touma, what are you saying? If you’re uncomfortable with conversations, you can talk to me.”
“…Then teach me, starting from ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in Italian.”
“Touma, Touma. If I may ask, what can you do in Italy?”
Kamijou gives a ‘Of course I don’t know anything at all!!’ look at Index as he sprawls onto the floor. On seeing this, Index sighs.
“Touma, if you want to establish yourself in this international society, you have to know at least three languages.”
“AND NOW I’M TOLD OFF BY YOU, AN INEXPLICABLE NUN OF ALL PEOPLE!! ANYWAY, I SWEAR I’LL RELY ON YOU WHEN WE GET THERE!! I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SAY ‘YES’ AND ‘NO’ THERE!!”
“Never mind, there’s no need to explain it. But Touma, it’s best that you use this chance to learn how to interact…”
“This is only useful for those who are talented in languages. A hastily made gun like me can’t make it!!”
“You’re still struggling…”
“This is the first time I met someone who looks so dazed yet can speak N number of languages! Come to think of it, since Index can speak Japanese so fluently, is Italian also like that…”
“Well, I have to memorise the 103,000 books all over the world, no? Italian is simple, the hard ones are languages without a system, like say, a song, which I have to distort the tones. There are many lyrics carved on stone, and I have to learn them. However, these are only available for those island inhabitants or jungle inhabitants.”
“…Anyway, I don’t understand anything at all, so can I hand it over to you?”
“Mn, Touma has been fighting all this time. It’s my turn now. There’s no problem here, so Touma doesn’t have to worry. Just go and play all you want.”
This nun patting on her flat chest looks like Virgin Mary on Earth. Such a great help. Since Index said this, there should be no problem, so he might as well go enjoy this trip to Northern Italy! Kamijou thinks as he moves towards the Emigration area.
“I’ll hand it over to you, Miss tour guide!!”
“Leave it to me, Touma. I’ll talk with the shop attendants over there first.”
“Miss tour guide, isn’t that buying them over?”
“Normally, it’s something like ‘what the shop attendants and the customers need’, there isn’t too much of a difference. Even for someone who doesn’t know how to live overseas—”
Wah!!
At this moment, the metal detector makes a weird sound. Index is suddenly caught by burly guards from both sides,
Hm? Index reveals a weird expression.
She eyes at Mr. Guard suspiciously.
“Ah…what the, why are there so many safety pins on you?” On one side, the guard who caught his suspect rubs his temples, asking in a low voice.
“WAH! It’s really a pile of weapons!! But if we take them off, the nun robes will scatter!!”
Before they leave, it’s better for Kamijou to handle the problems that Index creates.
On the other side, Index is wondering why safety pins can’t be brought. She probably doesn’t know the significance of that weird sound from the checkpoint.
Must I feel unsafe when I’m following her? Kamijou wonders as the guard standing down there gives him a chilly feeling down the spine.
“I understand the hassle of this clothing! But now what? There’re less than 30 minutes before the plane leaves…”
“Oh ya… there’s some shopping area in the airport; let’s buy some clothes.”
"WHERE? WHERE!?" Kamijou pops his head out of the inspecting area, and suddenly sees a sign,
“Shopping area—1.5km from here.”
“THAT’S TOO FAR!! The land for the 23rd district shouldn’t be used anyhow! However, besides the plane, we can only ride the camels down the Silk Road!! Damn it, Index, we’re going!! We can’t board the plane if you can’t get proper clothes!!”
“Ah, what, Touma… are we going to buy clothes?”
“Damn it, those sparkling eyes are making me angry! To waste money like this, SUCH MISFORTUNE!!”
Sighing, Kamijou grabs the girl’s hand and runs down the long corridor.
There’s 28 minutes remaining before the plane leaves.
It’s almost time for the plane engines to start.
“THE RIGHT SIDE IS THE BATHROOM, THE LEFT SIDE IS ALSO ANOTHER BATHROOOOOOM!?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! THIS IS JUST HELL WAITING FOR ME ON BOTH SIDES!!!! ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!! WHY ARE THERE TWO BATHROOMS IN THIS HOUSE!?!?!?”
Spoiler for volume 11 un frammento di un piano:
“Then, let’s help clear the stuff.”
And with that, Kamijou and Index walk towards the items.
Orsola’s house has quite a few rooms, thus everyone is gathered in the same room, sorting out the items that are to be kept or disposed, and keeping those that are to be moved in boxes. After completing those, they then moved out the heavy furniture like cupboards and bed, before cleaning the room up and heading to the next one. Orsola and the Amakusa seemed to have finished cleaning 1 or 2 rooms already.
Anyway, Kamijou and company decide to start from the living room. Kamijou wraps the utensils with newspaper before moving the chairs and table to an outside caravan. The auntie driving the caravan seems to be an Amakusa member as well.
This work continues to proceed on for an hour.
“Wa, Touma, my nun robes are extremely dirty!”
Index says this as she continues to battle against the pile of dust from the bookcase. Hearing her say this, Kamijou blankly responds,
“Didn’t I say that moving houses would make you dirty?”
“Oh my, you did say it before,” Orsola says.
Hearing this voice coming from beside, Kamijou turns around to look. Orsola is patting away the dust on her nun robes around her breasts. Of course, that caused a certain body part to jiggle about. Kamijou immediately turns away. Index glares at Orsola, indicating ‘please don’t add on to the commotion when you’re doing this.'
Orsola looks like she doesn’t notice it, and says,
“For how long were you on the plane to get here? You should be more mindful of it. How about you take a shower?”
While Orsola is saying this happily, a huge pile of dust falls from the lampshade onto her, like a black cap sticking on her head.
Orsola continues to smile,
“Come on, Miss Index, the bathroom’s this way.”
“OI!! THE ONE MOST AFFECTED BY THE DUST IS YOU!!”
"Really?" Orsola tilts her head in a cute manner. The huge amount of dust settles on Orsola’s head as she tries to shake it off. She grabs Index’s shoulder from behind, saying.
“Anyway, Miss Index first. Eh, also, the blowdryer’s over there.”
“What’s a ‘blowdryer’?”
Hearing their words as they left, Kamijou lets his shoulders drop, saying,
“Ah, right. Orsola~ where’s the newspaper stack?”
“Over here, no.”
He can hear Orsola’s voice from outside. With a slam, the sound of a door being locked can be heard.
…So girls are really mindful of sweat and dust, huh?
Kamijou carries the thought that if he’s to try and confirm this, he’ll get bitten, and returns back to cleaning and tidying the room. He seals the boxes with tape, and then shifts them to the door. He uses the newspaper as a buffer material by using it to wrap a mural, and puts it inside a box.
Then,
“Eh?”
At this moment, Kamijou lets out a surprised sound. He just so happened to finish up the newspapers.
Though I don’t know the value of this mural, it sure looks expensive…if I leave it on the floor, it’ll be bad if someone steps on it…
Kamijou lets the mop lean on the wall and looks around. He remembers that Orsola said there’s an extra stack of newspapers behind the door.
However, upon opening the door, it’s not a room, but a short corridor. Two similar white doors are arranged on both sides of the room.
Which is the room? However, I should be able to know by going in.
Without thinking further, Kamijou grabs the handle. Suddenly, a sound can be heard from inside,
“Hmmmm~hmmmm~.”
Such a delighted humming voice, and the sound of rain.
This singing and water means…
Kamijou immediately freezes,
Is it the bathroom… Argh, that was dangerous!? Is this the trap called the bathroom!? It’s, it’s a dangerous place. And I would end up getting bitten!!
Kamijou gently exhales, then releases the handle of the door. By process of elimination, the other door must be where Orsola prepared the newspapers.
But,
“Hm~hmmmm~hm~hmmm.”
There’s another voice here? What is this! There’s no signboard to designate the bathroom…hm? Italian bathroom?
In this confusing circumstance, the female’s unguarded humming makes Kamijou’s heart pound, but he continues to think calmly. Assuming neither of them are bathrooms, since Orsola said that "the newspapers are here", then both of them should be normal rooms. Maybe both doors lead to the same room?
If so,
Since the wall is thinner here, I can hear the sound from the bathroom on both sides…? One is the bathroom, the other isn’t. Damn it, what’s going on here!?
Kamijou cautiously listens to the voice in and ponders,
Right? No. Left? No. This… is the left. I can hear humming and water from the left, but I can only hear humming from the right door! In other words, the real source of the sound is from the left side, and since the right side is further, the water can’t be heard, so I can only hear the humming! Alright, this Kamijou won’t just end up seeing other people’s naked bodies all the time!
“I got it!”
Kamijou, relying on his ears and with absolute confidence, opens the right door.
What’s in front of him is a steamy bath.
“Eh?”
Of course, the one making this surprised sound is Orsola Aquinas. She’s pulling away the curtain, reaching out for the bottle of shampoo. With the warm water sputtering out of the showerhead, he can see her huge breasts that were normally covered by her nun robes clearly. He sees them.
“W…WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! THIS IS THE BATHROOM!!!? AND THE SHOWERHEAD IS STILL ON! Sorry, Orsola, but I did hear that the left side is the dangerous one…!!”
In a confused state, Kamijou forgets to close the door as he escapes to the left door.
Over there.
At this moment, he can hear the sound of the blowdryer motor running.
At the same time,
“WAAAAAAAAAHH!!!? WHY IS HOT AIR BLOWING OUT OF THIS WEIRD HANDLE…!!!”
BOOM! With that, the left side door was opened from the inside, as a naked Index walks out. There’s no point in just holding a towel with one hand. Her slightly red skin doesn’t seem to be wiped clean by the towel. She moves her limbs, causing the water droplets to fly off her skin. Her long hair is coated with water vapour, sticking tightly to her runway-like chest.
Before seeing this, it has to be noted that beyond the left side door is another bathroom.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Kamijou is speechless.
“THE RIGHT SIDE IS THE BATHROOM, THE LEFT SIDE IS ALSO ANOTHER BATHROOOOOOM!?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! THIS IS JUST HELL WAITING FOR ME ON BOTH SIDES!!!! ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!! WHY ARE THERE TWO BATHROOMS IN THIS HOUSE!?!?!?”
On knowing that he has nowhere to run, Kamijou collapses onto the ground. Of course, Orsola is embarrassed as well, covering her body with the translucent plastic curtain, her body backing away slightly.
“Eh, St Barbara promoted the ritual of turning a bathroom into a baptism pool. So one is used for everyday life, the other is used for religious rituals. But since I’m moving house today, I removed the function of it being a baptism pool to use it as a bathroom.”
“IS IT ANOTHER MAGICAL TERM THAT’S NOT SCIENTIFIC!?!? I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!!!”
Kamijou slams hard onto the floor as he roars.
At this moment,
“…Come to think of it, why is Touma here?”
In contrast to Kamijou, who’s prone on the ground, Index is carefully wrapping her body up with a towel.
“Ha?”
“…And then why didn’t you apologise for seeing other people’s naked bodies?”
“No, it’s not that, Index. I, Kamijou Touma, saw a mural which wasn’t wrapped completely in the room just now. I heard that the newspapers that are meant to absorb the impact are here, so…eh? Orsola, where’s the newspaper? Any ordinary person wouldn’t put the newspapers inside the bathroom, right!?”
“Eh, it’s not in the room, but at the corridor.”
“GACK…!? Damn it, it’s just placed in the corridor! Damn it, why didn’t you notice it, KAMIJOU TOUMA!? This wouldn’t have happened…”
Saying nonsense to himself, Kamijou suddenly finds that Index’s temples are twitching unnaturally.
“SAY, SO—WHY—IS TOUMA PUTTING MY NAKED BODY AS A LOW PRIORITY HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!?! ?!?”
“GGGGGGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I FEEL THAT TODAY’S INDEX IS TWICE AS TERRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFYYYYYYYYYYIIIIIIII IINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!!!!”
Kamijou Touma has encountered the intimacy of the teeth twice already in this foreign land. Let’s just hope that Orsola doesn’t think that this is a weird Japanese traditional culture.
Sniping attempt + abducted on ship
Spoiler for volume 11 un frammento di un piano:
At this moment,
Index suddenly looks up,
“Don’t tell me… this is…”
Suddenly, she shouts,
“EVERYONE! GET DOWN!!”
Kamijou stares at Index in a surprised manner.
Get down…for what?
From afar, a sound of metal colliding can be heard.
Index’s expression becomes tense.
“FROM THE RIGHT!!”
The voice rings as if it’s reaching the sky.
BANG!
An unnatural sound resounds, causing Orsola’s rectangular luggage bag to fly out.
“Eh?”
At this moment, Orsola looks at the hand that was holding onto the luggage bag a while back in an incredulous manner. The luggage bag gently drops onto the floor. The metal buckle was scattered, and the luggage bag opens like a book. A comb and lipstick drop out from inside. There seems to be some back-up food, the burnt black food rolls down the road into the canal.
Kamijou stares at the luggage bag on the ground.
On one of the surface, there’s an unnatural hole approximately 1 cm in diameter.
“TOUMA, GET AWAY FROM THERE!”
Index’s urgent voice can be heard.
Why is she panicking now… is it magic now?
He carries this suspicion as he looks back at Index, but Kamijou froze halfway. There’s a really shiny spot on Orsola’s clothes, which silently moves from the shoulder onto Orsola’s chest.
Like an infrared sight that’s meant to assist in aiming at a target.
Long range weapon…
“Sniper!? ORSOLA!”
Kamijou throws away the luggage bag in his hand and pushes a dumbstruck Index forward before knocking Orsola in the abdomen.
Charging down the road.
A soft gunshot can be heard.
On Kamijou’s back, from left to right, it starts to hurt as if it’s a string.
His skin was burnt off by something.
From where!? Who!? How!?
Enduring the blood that's flowing out, he looks around. The surrounding rectangular buildings are 5 stories tall, and there’s only a straight canal. An outsider like Kamijou can’t tell whether this place is suited for sniping. Looking around, there’s no one with any huge equipment hobbling around. Maybe it’s from the opposite direction of where the luggage bag flew, but he can only see the wall of the building. However, Index seems to know where the attack is coming from, and shouts,
“TOUMA!”
Hearing Index’s shout.
Just as Kamijou’s about to change his focus from the inside to the outside, an icy hand grabs Kamijou’s neck. Turning back, he can see a hand extending out from the canal beside the road. It’s a pitch black hand. Someone’s extending the hand from the water surface here to grab Kamijou’s neck from behind.
“!”
It pulls Kamijou into the water before he could think of anything.
Losing his balance, Kamijou falls away from Orsola and into the canal. The turbid waters irritate his throat, and the wound on his back is painfully stimulated as if it’s about to explode. In his distorted vision, he sees someone walking down the road, the left hand holding onto something shiny and metallic.
A dagger, or in other words, a sword.
You scum… who are you!?
Kamijou extends his hand onto the leg of the attacker, but it is dodged. Kamijou then swings his limbs, gaining enough momentum to float up and appear on the surface.
Maybe it is low tide now, as the water is only several metres tall. But it is enough to obstruct Kamijou’s vision.
“Cheh!”
He uses both hands to grab onto the edge of the canal and climb up.
The first person in his vision is Orsola. She’s kneeling on the floor in an incredulous manner, in what seems to be the position that she was in when Kamijou knocked her down. That expression isn’t of fear, but shock.
Then,
Right in front of her is the attacker. The short man wearing pitch black priest robes. Like Orsola, there are zips on his shoulders. His back facing Kamijou, the purple-dyed hair is extremely obvious.
On that wet hand, there isn’t a knife or sword like he expected, but a spear. It looks that it was forced to be shortened, and on the front tip of the 70cm black wooden handle, there’s a 10cm blade.
She’ll die if she’s stabbed with it.
The attacking male raises his hands in full force.
Like he’s about to stab the ground.
Kamijou must stop him, but Kamijou, who managed to get out of the canal, is still sprawled on the ground. It’ll take several seconds for him to get to Orsola. At this moment, the spear of the attacker swings hard down.
“Go to hell, bastard!”
Kamijou grabs the blowdryer from the items scattered from Orsola’s luggage and throws it without thinking.
It hits the back of the attacker’s head.
The spear misses slightly.
The tip of the blade hits the floor, missing Orsola’s head.
“!”
The attacker turns around, rushing towards Kamijou, who’s obstructing his mission. That spear is shining with an orange light in this black night. It is magic, huh?
Kamijou, who’s still prone on the floor, clenches his fist.
“Stab yourself instead!”
The moment Index shouts this, the man points the spear back to himself. Now that the male in priest clothing is unable to control his weapon for some unknown reason, he stops.
“!”
Standing up, Kamijou lowers his body and slams into the guy’s stomach, his right fist hitting the face. The force that came from below caused the guy’s head to shake.
“Eh, Ugh!”
Making such a sound, the man intends to lower his vision. Kamijou punches him again.
With a loud sound,
The fist that engulfs all of Kamijou’s body strength hits the man’s nose without any remorse. Finally, the man whose back was facing Kamijou is finally knocked down, not moving at all.
No time to stop.
“! WHERE’S THE SNIPER!?”
“No need to worry… it’s over for now.”
“What do you mean it’s over for now!?”
Hearing Index’s words, Kamijou is confused.
Then,
GYYYAAHHH!!
From afar, an indecent male voice can be heard. To a tense Kamijou, Index calmly says,
“To snipe here from afar, it means that he’s sending information of his location to us. Then no matter where he is, my ‘Spell Intercept’ can mow through it.”
Seems like Index did something, but Kamijou doesn’t know exactly what.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps can be heard.
Kamijou looks at a corner of the road, as a man’s figure suddenly leaps out. A hand on his head, he’s frantically running around, as if he heard as explosion. As it’s too dark, Kamijou can’t see clearly. The man isn’t running to Kamijou and company, but into the canal, saying,
“Abbandoniamo l'avanguardia! Ora si ritira di qua! Quella donna la ucciderò sulla nave! (Forget the front! Prepare the retreat ship! We’ll kill the woman on the ship!)”
He seems to be shouting something in Italian, and just like that, jumps off the edge of the road and into the embankment.
Is the guy escaping the sniper from just now!? Damn it, should we chase him or not?
Just as Kamijou is considering this, the sound of water breaking can be heard.
But,
How can a person jumping into the water make such a large sound?
The surface of the canal breaks open.
Like a reverse waterfall, the seawater flows up, and the man lands on the thing that’s coming out.
“Wha…!”
Kamijou holds his breath.
From below the canal, a ship appears. It’s like a sailing junk that has 4 masts. What’s different about those ships is the material. The ones used to find the new world were made of wood, but this one that has just appeared is translucent and gives a chilly feeling. It’s like it’s made of crystal—even the sail and ropes on the mast are of the same material—making one wonder whether it really functions as a real ship. Maybe because of the light reflected from the streets and the moon, the ship is bright like a light bulb.
But,
What’s even weirder is the size of the ship.
“WA!”
“TOUMA!”
The canal should be 20 to 30 metres wide, and the side of the ship smashes the embankments, forcing it to become smaller.
“HOW ON EARTH DID THIS THING REMAIN HIDDEN FOR SO LONG!!?”
A large number of motorboats are stopping like a bus stopping in front of a bus stop. Some are crushed and begin to sink, some are knocked high up into the air. Kamijou’s fist hits a piece of shrapnel that’s flying at Index’s head, but his footing is immediately drowned by the seawater that’s gushing in like a sprinkler, as if a child has just jumped into a wading pool, Kamijou’s face is flipped like a face washing plate as he slips on the ground.
“IT HURTS! WHAT’S GOING ON!?”
Looking up from the floor that is completely drowned, the triangular mast is only 40 metres tall. Also, the ship is still emerging from the seawater.
Kamijou feels weird. In fact, he knows that there’s a certain depth for the river; it’s basically 3 metres deep, so there should be a place to hide such a huge ship.
The ship jerks.
Right now, the deck is barely as tall as the road, like it’s jacked up. At the same time,
“AH…!”
Orsola seems to be caught on the ship, taken up by the ship from the road like that. Kamijou can't even respond because he is knocked from below by the translucent ship rope.
He’s swept up.
During that moment of flight, his feet leave the ground. Just as Kamijou loses his footing, the ship tosses him 20 metres high. He’s about to fall right next to the ship.
He’ll die if he falls from such a height.
“!”
Kamijou frantically grabs onto the handrails of the ship with both hands.
The ship that was drowned in seawater is now like a 20 metres high cliff.
It seems to be 7 storeys tall; his point of sight is even taller than the surrounding apartments. Kamijou looks around from the ship. Orsola is also hanging on the ship—the side of the ship’s hull should be 100 metres.
“Orsola, get up there!”
Though I would rather not get on this unsolicited thing.
Kamijou ignores the unhappiness in his heart, grabs onto the ship’s hull that’s extremely shiny, and climbs onto the deck.
It’s really a big ship.
It’s over 100 metres long, the height from the deck to the bottom is about 20 metres. Everything from the mast to the deck is made of translucent material and shines a mild white light like a light bulb.
Kamijou and company are in the middle of the ship. The ship front and rear are like a staircase, coinciding at the cabins. It’s like they’re smack down in the middle of a bowl. There’re 3 levels up, and 5 to 7 levels down; it’s a ship that's even bigger than Kamijou’s apartment. The ship is pressing against the embankments, and the seawater that’s forced out gradually flows onto the road.
“This is crazy… for such a thing to emerge from the canal…”
The hull is also made of this magical translucent material. It can reflect moonlight, creating a white light like that of a light bulb.
Though…this feels like glass or crystal, it’s not. It’s more like ice.
Speaking of practical buildings that are made of ice, the Inuit tribe from Canada are famous for using ice to make ‘igloos’, but not of this scale.
Kamijou prods on the deck with his finger. It’s definitely something similar to ice, as skin sticks to the surface upon contact. It’s not cold; it’s slightly warm like plastic… but ice freezes at 0 degrees Celsius under atmospheric pressure, which is common knowledge. Under certain conditions however, the freezing and boiling point can be changed. There exists ice at 20 degrees Celsius and steam at 80 degrees Celsius.
This is obviously made from magic.
So even if it’s ice, the floor isn’t slippery. The reason why ice is slippery is because the surface of the ice would melt into water, reducing friction. By changing the melting point, even if the ice touches human skin, it won’t melt, so there won’t be any water on it. This magical stuff probably won’t break even with Kamijou’s right hand touching it, and would have a similar kind of effect as Stiyl’s "Innocentius".
Suddenly, the ship jerks. The impact came from below, and Orsola, who’s rather slow, is knocked high.
“AH!?”
“Hang on tight!”
Kamijou immediately reaches his hand out from the deck, grabbing onto the woman. Good thing the female isn’t heavy, but with the unstable positioning, she seems several times heavier. Breaking out cold sweat, Kamijou pulls Orsola onto the deck.
Just like that, Kamijou and Orsola are lying on the ice.
“Touma! Are you alright, Touma!?”
Kamijou hears Index’s worried voice as Index continues to run along.
But Kamijou has no time to reply.
Suddenly, the ship jerks again. This time, it’s shaking back and forth in a regular manner. Orsola, who’s on Kamijou, slowly approaches Kamijou’s chest.
Kamijou looks around. Besides both of them, there’s no one around. The silent giant ice ship reminds Kamijou of something.
Is it moving forward? Normally, wouldn’t such a large ship be unable to move in such a narrow river? Isn’t this like a whale in shallow waters!?
In contrast to what Kamijou expected, the giant ship moves forward as if it’s an ice hockey puck skating on ice… Thinking further into it, Kamijou realises that if this shining ship is created by adjusting the melting point of ice, it’s most probable that the water film created at the bottom of the ship will reduce the friction.
“Orsola, are you alright?”
“Mn…”
Hearing Kamijou’s words, Orsola answers uncomfortably. She seems to have noticed that she’s pressing onto Kamijou. Normally stable, she’s somewhat puzzled as she nimbly tries to get up— only to lose her balance again.
Even if it’s Kamijou, any female, whose clothes are drenched by seawater, sticking onto him will cause his heart to race. But now isn’t the time.
A section below Kamijou’s hand, extending from the handrail of the ship to the higher walls is shining. Leaning out from the ship, Kamijou is stunned. The ice ship continues to force its way, squeezing aside the embankments, swallowing the ferries around, and moving down the canal.
“WHAT’S GOING ON!?”
No matter how Kamijou sighs, what’s happening in front of him doesn’t change.
And as he looks closely, he notices something.
“From here, it’s at least 20 metres down…even if it’s seawater below, I’ll probably break a few bones if I jump down. No, wait. This ship is bigger than the canal, yet it can still move forward, so the bottom of the canal is made of stone? Damn it, is the seawater I’m seeing now on the road!?”
The seawater seems to flow into the gaps between the buildings. He can hear frantic voices from the surrounding buildings— understanding the ‘reason’, all of them are dumbstruck.
“Ah! Wait!”
Suddenly, Orsola stands up.
She just stared at the front, wide-eyed.
“For this to happen…”
“Wha, what? Orsola?”
“This ship is forcing its way forward. Seems like it’s moving from the middle of Chioggia to the Adriatic Sea.”
As Kamijou is wondering what is going on,
“Get down! The Viggo bridge is right in front! This ship will force its way through it!”
“You kidding me!?”
Kamijou immediately grabs Orsola from behind. At this moment,
A strong quake can be felt.
The bridge is destroyed in one blow.
“Ack!?”
The hands that should be holding Orsola release her. Suffering the impact, Kamijou’s unable to breathe as he lies on the deck.
Gack…ah! Or, where’s Orsola…!?
Orsola barely managed to support herself on the deck. Good thing that she managed to fall inside like Kamijou, and is on the floor as well. To be honest, it’s a relief. If she flew out, it’d be a 20 metre drop.
Damn it…
In this helpless situation, Kamijou continues to think,
Attacked by some weird people, getting onto an ice ship, getting separated from Index… just what the heck is going on?
Orsola holds onto the handrail on the side of the ship, and blankly says,
“We’re leaving…the ground.”
“Ah, where are we going, this ship…”
Adjusting his breathing, Kamijou stares at the land that’s becoming smaller and smaller.
But this silence doesn’t remain for long.
This time, from afar—actually, within the ship, many footsteps can be heard.
“Loro devono essere a bordo!” (Find them! They should be on this ship!)
Kamijou hears a man’s growl.
Though he doesn’t know what it means, he can feel the animosity in it.
Orsola lowers her voice and says,
“What now, they seem to be looking for us…”
“I know! If we jump off the ship…nope. It’s too dark, I don’t even know which side is which anymore.”
Frantically looking around, there’s nothing in the sea. Kamijou idly thinks, are we that far away already? It seems that ever since they got onto the sea, the ship isn’t as tall anymore. Compared to moving around on the canal a while back, they’re now floating on the sea. Seems like half of the ship’s depth is submerged in water. In other words, this means that the sea is 10 metres high.
But, to even consider jumping, they will need to know how to swim in these raging waters for a long distance. If they recklessly challenge the sea, there’s an 80 to 90% chance that they’ll drown before they can even reach the shore.
Looking down, this ice ship seems to be a replica of an ancient battleship. Ten translucent cannons extend out from the side of the ship. Without an oxygen tank, they can only swim at the surface. One can immediately see the unnatural waves from the deck of the ship. If those cannons can really fire, it’ll be their deaths if they’re seen on the water.
Besides, upon seeing that tiny land, Kamijou knows that it’s impossible for them to get off the ship.
“Damn it…!”
Footsteps can be heard from all over the ship.
In other words, this isn’t a safe place.
The light source of the ship itself isn’t that strong.
Though the surface of the ship is reflecting light, it’s rather dark inside.
But even though it isn’t very bright, the floor and walls are glowing. Kamijou and Orsola’s shadows can be seen, so it’s hard for them to hide in the darkness.
The good news in this misfortune is that as this 100 metre long ship is extremely big, there are some things for them to hide in, as well as cabins.
“Orsola, get inside the ship. We’ll be spotted if we stay here. Anyway, let’s find a place to hide in.”
“Yes. I know.”
Kamijou grabs Orsola’s hand, crouches down, and moves along the ice ship.
What was supposed to be a delightful trip to Italy is now developing towards another direction.
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