It was midnight now, the time when the date changes.
The dormitory of the Anglican Church was located in a corner of Lambeth. The people who were living here weren't penniless people, but people who did not want to involve ordinary citizens because of something unexpected. If the surrounding people were all experts, even if there was a battle, they could reduce the damage to the minimum.
"I see. It's been hard on you."
The one who was saying this in the middle of a dormitory room was Kanzaki Kaori. An Asian face with waist-length black hair tied in a ponytail, she was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt that had a knot tied at the bottom, and a pair of jeans that had one side cut above the thigh. The more than 2m long 'Seven Swords Seven Heavens' that she normally hung on her waist was now leaning on the wall.
She was not talking to someone, but a phone.
It was an old-fashioned rotary dial phone. The red ornament had a gold lacing on it, a rather nice looking antique. On a side note, she was talking to her colleague, Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
"Nya, so, if you want to know the report, you can go ask the Amakusa people. As for me, I'm in more danger when I search for this information, you know? You don't know about that."
"I…I'm not a member of the Amakusa. It feels arrogant if I'm to act familiar enough to talk to them."
Kanzaki used her thumb to play with the phone line and said.
After that, she said,
"Aren't you going to collect information from the Veneto region? Isn't this too coincidental? The Amakusa went to Chioggia to help with the moving, and that boy and Index went to Italy…according to the report, the Roman Catholics mistook that Orsola Aquinas was sent there to stop the 'Queen of the Adriatic Sea', is that true? I thought that the Roman Catholics' view was correct."
Kanzaki's bare feet knocked on the floor as she spoke.
Though the interior design of the room was Western, Kanzaki was forbidden from wearing slippers inside. Maybe it was more of a foreign culture trade-off.
"Hmh, regarding that, I can't say it because of a lot of reassooonnnss—"
"Wha…what?"
Tsuchimikado purposely dragged his voice, making Kanzaki even more wary.
Her prediction was correct.
"…O…Nee…-chin, you gave Kami-yan quite a lot of problems this time, nya—?"
"Eh!?"
However, the impact far exceeded Kanzaki Kaori's limits.
"What should you do? Onee-chin, this isn't something that can be solved by just wearing a maid costume and serving him for an entire day. Ah, if so, how about that? I'll lend my female angel costume with an Angelic halo and white wings to you! This is truly a maid costume; use that to decide the winner, Nee-chin!! WOO…OOOHOHO!! What angel? If this cute fallen angel appears, I don't know how Kami-yan will react!"
"FOR…FOR HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT!?… BESIDES, WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH A THING!?"
"Ah, that's not it. Actually, I bought that for Maika. That sister actually said 'maids can't cosplay', and even punched me in the cheekbone…no, for a girl's actions, isn't that like a real military-trained punch nya?"
"…Isn't your sister reaching puberty? You should worry about that."
Being weak all over, Kanzaki suddenly realized something.
This wasn't the main point.
"Wait a second. Did the Anglican Church and the higher ups of Academy City use many ways to get Kamijou Touma involved? What has that got to do with me!?"
"Eh? Then Nee-chin, don't you have any thanks for Kami-yan!?"
"Uuuu!?"
"Ah—ah—Kamijou managed to save the Amakusa members from the 'Queen's Fleet' with much difficulty, and not only did you not thank him, you even declared that you have nothing to do with it. You've really fallen, Kanzaki Kaori. Kami-yan will be disappointed if he hears this. But that guy's really gentle, so maybe he won't be angry."
"Where…where have I…your words make sense, but what am I supposed to do!? Don't I owe him even more favors now!!?"
"That's why you should honestly act as a fallen angel!! If you're one of the no-more-than-twenty Saints, then realize it, Nee-chin!!...Eh? Onee-chin, are you listening? Wait, I'm not done—!!"
The speaker got slammed hard.
Kanzaki stared blankly at the phone for a while, her face all green.
"…Fall…fallen Angel maid costume…?"
Kanzaki stared at her trembling hands, and then stared at the cuboid fish tank that had a tropical fish and was beside the phone. The former Supreme Pontiff looked completely puzzled.
She brought her face near the fish tank, and in response, the fish moved near with a 'What now, are you giving me food to eat?' look. She used both hands to grab a small painted plate that was besides the fish tank, and placed it on her head.
"A…a halo, does it look like this? But…but a fallen angel…how does it move or talk…it's like the Devil. In this situation, it should be female. If the other person's a male, maybe I have to act like some little Devil—"
If these words were heard by the Archangel 'The Power of God' that had briefly appeared as Misha Kreutzev, she would definitely be attacked on the spot. But since Kanzaki was in the midst of this mess, she didn't notice this at all.
This one of only twenty Saints instantly turned silent before tilting her head.
"—Just…just like this—Touma."
The doorbell suddenly rang.
"…???"
A surprised Kanzaki frantically pulled the painted plate from above her head. The little tropical fish saw her like this and immediately escaped into the deepest part of the tank at high speed. Kanzaki quickly looked around, and after confirming that no one was around, she placed a hand on her chest and heaved a sigh of relief. After that, she looked at the door.
Besides the various rooms in the dormitory, there was an electric bell at the entrance for visitors to use. What did this ring mean? Maybe there was a delivery service here.
Kanzaki grabbed the sword leaning on the wall, put on her boots outside the room, and passed through the long wooden corridor before arriving at the entrance.
Though there was a manager here, she was often asleep. Kanzaki walked toward the door, and inside that management room, the woman was still sleeping. Looking at how the television was still on, it seemed that she had watched till she fell asleep. The television was meant to prevent people from sleeping, but without a favorite show, it would have the opposite effect.
Kanzaki couldn't do anything else but open the door.
The one standing at the entrance was Orsola Aquinas.
"I…I'm back."
"Ah, welcome back, Orsola."
Kanzaki looked surprised as she welcomed her neighbor in the dormitory.
The people living here normally didn't need to press the doorbell, but Orsola was holding many things with both hands, so she couldn't use her key to open the door. Besides, she was holding two travelling bags, and there was even a hiking backpack, and there were sports bags that were strapped around like a kimono. This huge amount of heavy equipment made her look like she was going hiking.
"Orsola, wasn't your luggage sent here beforehand?"
"Eh hehe. I got some new luggage halfway though."
"???"
In front of a surprised Kanzaki, Orsola smiled as she stepped aside as if she was letting people pass.
Eh? Kanzaki's eyebrows twitched.
The petite nun grabbed Orsola's nun's habit as she stood, looking like she was hiding behind Orsola.
Her name was Agnese Sanctis.
"There'll be a lot more people coming over. This dormitory will be a lot noisier."
In front of Kanzaki, who hadn't understood what was going on, Orsola said this sentence akin to a bomb.