Orsola's house was on a lane from a turn off the road. There was a river nearby, and the smell of the sea could be sensed. There was a person standing on the stone road.
She was standing in front of a five story rectangular apartment. However, this wasn't a modern apartment; there was no auto lock or other kind of functions. The tea color of the walls seemed to indicate that this was some sort of historical building. The antenna on the rooftop was rather subtle.
"All the buildings here give this sort of feeling. It sure is old."
"They're not just old, they're very old. I do find the glittering buildings of Japan to be rather suppressing. The tall buildings that were too old were torn down 20 years ago — the progress of that country has proceeded really fast."
"Were Orsola's ancestors living here since a long time ago?"
"No, I was just sent here, so I rented a room."
"So isn't this just like my dormitory? Then what's that green and yellow, fancy building behind it?"
"This place is a coastal city, so this building was made like this for sailors to be able to see their house from afar. However, since this building is not facing the sea anymore, there's no need for it."
It was not a major port for boats to gather, but rather, a required guide for locals who were sailing to find their homes. Seemed that way.
Hearing Orsola's introduction, Kamijou walked into the apartment. Though her room was on the fourth level, logically, there was no elevator. Kamijou carried the heavy luggage bag up the metal staircase painfully.
"All right, are we there yet?"
Kamijou asked and looked past Orsola. Orsola was standing in front of a door in the corridor full of doors. Though it was an old wooden door, the new lock glittered unnaturally.
Orsola reached inside the sleeve of her nun's habit and, with a 'clang' sound, pulled out a key.
But before she could open the door, the door opened.
From inside, 4 Asians… Japanese youths, walked out.
Their clothing looked similar, but the color combination and the way they wore their clothes looked somewhat different. However, compared to Kamijou, with his wallet chain attached from the belt to the pocket, and a backup wallet tied behind his thigh, their attire was rather similar to those of the locals. Orsola herself had been asked to go out and shop, and so she smiled and handed out a large amount of French bread and paper bags to them.
Kamijou suddenly remembered and hurriedly moved inside the room,
"Ah! It's Touma, Touma~!"
He could immediately hear the familiar girl's voice inside the room, and also the footsteps like Daihaseisai, in contrast to how the room looked.
Moving from the side of youths, Index came running out of the room.
She was holding a box of ice cream. Well, holding, yes, but the box was about the size of 4 to 5 manga volumes.
Index was using a cylindrical ice-cream scoop as a spoon, tucking in big mouthfuls of the vanilla ice cream.
"Touma, the ice cream here is delicious, and they even sold it at a great price! Wonderful!"
"You… I was so worried, and YET YOU'RE EATING ICE CREAM SO HAPPILY!! No, wait, you left me behind before doing this. INDEX, STOP INDULGING YOURSELF IN THE DESSERT!!!"
"But pulling me over here would mean that I have to help clear out the fridge, no?"
Staring at the smiling Index, Kamijou felt like he was about to collapse.
"Damn it! And yet you act as if you're righteous… But I can't accept this one-sided thanks of yours!"
While Kamijou was stamping his foot in frustration, Index continued to stay in front of him, scooping the ice cream.
Seeing them like this, Orsola just blankly smiled. The Asian youths stared blankly as they communicated in a special language.
So they were the ones who led Index here, Kamijou thought. So there are Japanese staying around here.
"Oh yeah, seems like the people who came to help are from the Amakusa."
The Amakusa Christian Catholics. They were formerly a group of the Amakusa Christians, and were now an organization under the protection of the Anglican Church, like Orsola. They were said to have the special ability to 'mix into modern life'… I see, Kamijou thought. Seeing their clothes like this, he understood.
Though he felt this way,
The whispered conversation that they were having was different from how it looked.
"…That's the guy that the substitute Supreme Pontiff is keeping an eye on… but how strong is he?…"
"The reason why you're thinking like this is because you weren't involved in the battle for Orsola…"
"…He was the one who went unarmed and declared war on the famous 250 battle nuns of the Roman Catholics, you know…"
"And then there's the latest news from the substitute Supreme Pontiff. It's said that this guy sent the female Supreme Pontiff-sama flying together with that 'Seven Heavens Seven Swords (Shichiten Shichitou)' with just a single punch…"
The Amakusa stopped talking.
The first teenager wordlessly glanced at Kamijou, and then said,
"…Monster?"
"Oi, what's with you guys making those kind of distorted remarks just by looking at a guy's face?"
Kamijou lips twitched as he asked. Seeing this expression, the Amakusa turned blue with shock and frantically escaped into the room.
Speaking of which, as he had lost his memory, Kamijou didn't even know about anything he had done involving Kanzaki, and he feared that his memory loss would be divulged if he asked around. To hit a girl's face, what's wrong with you, Kamijou Touma!? Kamijou thought angrily.
Orsola sighed and looked at Kamijou, asking,
"…You can't give that terrifying expression, you know."
Though she said this, noise could still be heard from behind the door, including 'and at the end of summer, he saw the Supreme Pontiff's naked body, took a strike from 'Seven Heavens Seven Swords' and didn't even need a cast!', 'WHAT!? She's a God-recognized Saint! How did he train his body to that extent?!' and all sorts of curious voices. Is it really that scary?
"And now it seems that I fell to the ground without doing anything at all…"
"Don't lie on the ground so tiredly, hurry up and come in."
Orsola pushed the door open as she advised, with Kamijou and Index hurriedly following in.
The place she rented wasn't a single room like Kamijou's dormitory, but an apartment with multiple rooms that would allow even an entire family to live inside. In Academy City, most dormitories were like hostels, meant for one person to stay in, so this kind of flat was rather refreshing to Kamijou.
"Wa, the huge room is great… there's a staircase inside the apartment!?"
"Ho ho, it's like an attic. Anyway, it's between the 4th and 5th level. It's meant to store cheese and is a place where you'll knock your head if you stand up straight."
Seeing an awestruck Kamijou, Orsola smiled slightly, and said,
"Alright, let's prepare lunch."
One of the rooms was the living room, she did say this before. Index's eyes were glowing, and in contrast, Kamijou felt somewhat ashamed.
"Eh? But isn't lunch meant to be a repayment to those helping to move your stuff? And we didn't do anything yet."
"Don't mind it. Don't mind it."
"WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT!?"
Kamijou inadvertently exclaimed, but Orsola quickly got back on topic.
"First, I have to accommodate you. And after that, when all the stuff is done, it'll be time for dinner. I have to pack everything in order to move houses, which means I can't take out my utensils and can't clean my stove."
I see, Kamijou accepted it.
Looking around, there was a stack of boxes in the living room. Orsola must have requested the Amakusa members to throw away the unwanted items and separate out the stuff that was to be sent to London. It was true that if she missed this opportunity, she wouldn't be able to settle into her new property as easily.