"Magicians have invaded Academy City."
The Anglican priest Stiyl Magnus said.
"Right now, we know that the 'Route Disturb' Oriana Thomson and 'Mardi Gras' Lidvia Lorenzetti are involved in this case. They intend to set up a large-scale spiritual item deal in this city nya."
The magician, Tsuchimikado Motoharu continued.
In Academy City, where it was already noon, high school student Kamijou Touma recalled what they had said. Because of this special sporting event 'Daihaseisai' that the whole of Academy City was hosting, there were crowds on the streets.
"Though security is normally rather tight, as Academy City is hosting Daihaseisai, don't you think that they have to open a window to some degree? They must have exploited this tiny opening in order to get into Academy City."
"It's like this, nya. If the Anti-Skill and Judgment members of Academy City catch a magician from the magic side, there will be a problem. But at the same time, we can't just let in so many magicians just to pursue them. Not all the magicians are friendly towards Academy City nya. Both the science and magic sides have noticed what Oriana and Lidvia are doing, but for various reasons, they can't take action."
About 80% of the populace here were students, and today, there were many adults, a rare sight. These adults were parents who were here to see their children actively perform. They were staring at those rotating blades that were generating electricity using wind power, and the automated cleaning robots. Of course, espers like Kamijou were also part of the attraction.
"Thus, the only ones who can take action are us."
"If we can't prevent them from dealing this 'Stab Sword', we may end up having a war within the magic world nya."
Kamijou continued to walk among the crowd.
The people around were kids holding helium balloons, walking together with their parents, and the elderly who were holding what looked like foreign Daihaseisai tour guidebooks and confirming the schedules.
"The magical groups who are outside Academy City will move in on the excuse that they feel some magic flow moving through Academy City when it actually happens. They should have set up some sort of searching spell."
"No spell can involve the entirety of Academy City, so their search should be focused about 1–2 kilometers around Index. The reason is that most of the magic cases happened around her nya."
"In other words, if that child gets near the centre of this incident, the magic that both Oriana and I release may be detected. On the other hand, once we get the child far away from this incident, the probability of this being detected would be much lower."
"The one most suited for this job is you, Kami-yan. Besides assisting us in this case, if you can lure Index away from the scene, it'll be of great help to us."
The global faction around Kamijou that was peacefully living didn't sense any abnormalities.
Including what was going to happen in Academy City.
And that there were people who were going to prevent that from happening.
"Peh, the spiritual item that they have isn't the Stab Sword, but the Croce di Pietro! By setting it at a place, whether it's physically or mentally, the land would be forced to be that of the Roman Catholic Church. This dominated land would be favorable to the Roman Catholic Church, and everybody will gladly accept that without any hesitation. Imagine what would happen if they're to use it in Academy City, which is against the religious side…if one says that 'getting Academy City to be part of the Roman Catholic Church' is the most beneficial thing, it might actually happen!"
"The 'deal' that Oriana and company said isn't just about the spiritual item itself, it also includes 'Academy City, where the spiritual item was set up.' Academy City is the leader of the science world. If somebody controls it, it's equivalent to gaining the power of half the world. If the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest side in the religious world, is to obtain Academy City, which is the largest force on the science side — this world would be controlled by the Roman Catholic Church."
"We're certain from the start that the delivery involves Oriana and Lidvia, which in retrospect, the target of their deal is unknown. Actually, they never intended to hand the Croce di Pietro to anyone. This is a deal that they are dealing to their own Roman Catholic Church!"
Kamijou Touma was walking in Academy City.
On this busy street, it looked like an intense battle between espers, but in reality, magicians were hiding among them.