novelODS Chapter 1774 - 1772: A Change of Cast?
Chapter 1774 - 1772: A Change of Cast?
Saten Reiko opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the bright sunlight.
"Ah... I slept really well..."
She sat up from the bed, stretched, and then clenched her fists.
"Alright, let’s work hard today too!"
Humming a tune, Saten Reiko changed her clothes and climbed out of bed. Starting today, it’s summer vacation, which means she can train at the research institute all day. Now Saten Reiko feels like she’s already got the hang of it; breaking through is just a matter of time!
"The weather is so nice, how about drying the quilt?"
Glancing at the clear sky and dazzling sunlight outside, Saten Reiko hugged the quilt on the bed and, humming, opened the door and went to the balcony.
Then... she saw a girl draped over the balcony railing as if she had fainted.
"...Huh?"
The unbelievable scene before her left Saten Reiko dumbfounded. She stood in place, staring blankly at this sight, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Am I still dreaming?
No, no, I should be awake now... But why is there someone hanging here?
And she’s not even wearing a school uniform, but a nun’s outfit. Is this cosplay? If Saten Reiko remembers correctly, there are no churches in Academy City.
"Ugh..."
While Saten Reiko was lost in thought, the girl whimpered and slowly opened her eyes.
Wow, so cute.
Looking at the girl with her fair cheeks and emerald green eyes, Saten Reiko couldn’t help but admire her. Then, the girl lifted her head, stared at Reiko, and spoke.
"I’m hungry."
"...Huh?"
"I’m hungry, you know?"
The girl repeated, and this time, Reiko seemed to sense a bit of discontent. Since she’s hungry...
"Um... would you like to have breakfast together?"
Scratching her cheek, Saten Reiko then smiled and extended the invitation to the girl in front of her.
"Nom nom nom..."
She sure can eat...
Although it was Reiko who invited her for breakfast, watching the girl eat with big mouthfuls made Reiko a bit stunned. She could hardly imagine how someone with a physique seemingly no different from a child could eat so much...
"Um, would you like another bowl?"
"Please, another bowl!"
"..."
After eating through two rice cookers, the nun-dressed girl finally caught her breath, looking like she’d come back to life. She then faced Saten Reiko, and politely bowed.
"Thank you so much. I’m called Index, as you can see, I’m a member of the Divine Staff. Uh, not from the Vatican, but from the English Puritan System, okay?"
"Ah, is that so...?"
Faced with the girl’s self-introduction, Saten Reiko didn’t quite know what to say. Her head was still full of equations about aerodynamics, and she couldn’t find any information about religion.
"Yes, my Magic Title is Dedicatus545, which means ’The Lamb dedicated to guarding the knowledge of the strong.’"
"Magic Title... what’s that?"
Hearing this, Saten Reiko was completely baffled. But soon, her eyes lit up as she looked at Index.
"Ah, could it be that you’re a Magical Girl?"
"Huh? No, no, no, I’m a Mage!"
"So you can use Magic, right? Then you are a Magical Girl. Can you transform?"
"Transform... no, that’s... that’s not really it."
Facing Saten Reiko’s words, Index blinked in confusion, looking at her like a small cat. Realizing that they seemed to have no common ground here, Saten Reiko quickly switched the subject to another topic.
"By the way, how did you end up hanging on my balcony?"
"Ah, that’s because I wanted to jump from there to this rooftop, but I accidentally fell."
"Rooftop?"
Hearing this, Saten Reiko was taken aback. Although her apartment wasn’t high, a small child like her might get injured if she fell! But thank goodness she’s alright.
"Why were you doing something so dangerous?"
Saten Reiko looked at Index and asked, and Index quickly replied.
"Because I’m being pursued."
"...Huh?"
The word was so surreal that even Reiko couldn’t react for a moment.
"Being pursued?"
"Yes, actually I could have jumped over, but I was hit halfway, so I fell."
"Wait, hit? Are you okay, should I call an ambulance?"
Hearing this, Saten Reiko rushed to Index’s side and examined her from head to toe. Fortunately, she seemed unharmed.
"Ah, don’t worry about me."
Index proudly raised her arms, showing off her robe to Reiko.
"This garment is called ’Mobile Church,’ the top-tier Barrier. Fending off mere attacks is a piece of cake."
Hmm... is this some new bulletproof clothing from Academy City?
Looking at Index show off her robe, Reiko didn’t know what to say, but soon remembered something else.
"Right, Index, you said you’re being pursued. Who is after you?"
"I don’t know."
Index shook her head.
"Might be Rose Cross or Golden Dawn. While I can guess which organizations, I don’t know the names of those people."
"..."
Rose Cross? Golden Dawn?
Are there such clubs in Academy City? If it’s the Group of Non-Ability Users, Saten Reiko has heard Shirai Kuroko mention it a few times. Could this little girl in front of her be pursued by those delinquents in the Armed Powerless Group? If it is, then they’re going too far!
"So what do you plan to do now? I have a friend in the Discipline Committee, maybe we can get her to help you..."
"No need."
Unexpectedly, the girl called Index shook her head, stood up, and started walking towards the door.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I need to leave here. If I stay, those people will come, and you wouldn’t want your room blown up, right?"
"Uh..."
Saten Ruiko absolutely didn’t want to do that. This was her carefully arranged little nest.
"But do you have anywhere to go?"
"No problem."
Index nodded vigorously.
"As long as I escape to the Church, I’ll be protected."
"Church... There doesn’t seem to be a Church in Academy City, right? Where is the Church you’re talking about?"
"London."
"........."
From Tokyo to London?
You’re not joking, are you?
"No way!"
Seeing the girl about to push the door and leave, Ruiko suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her hand.
"I can’t just watch you leave. Come with me."
"You, you shouldn’t do this. If you’re with me, you’ll be attacked too!"
"Don’t worry, I just said, I have a friend who is a Discipline Committee Member. As long as I take you to the Discipline Committee branch, there should be no problem. Ah... right, we can ask Mr. Fang Zheng for help!"
Although Saten Ruiko still didn’t know Fang Zheng’s exact identity, she had the impression that Fang Zheng’s status was clearly higher than Kuroko Shirai’s. Because in the previous Fantasy Manipulator incident, Saten Ruiko had seen Fang Zheng give orders to Guard Officers and Discipline Committee Members, and Kuroko Shirai seemed to acknowledge his authority too.
Right, let’s just ask Mr. Fang Zheng. He will definitely be able to solve this problem!
Thinking of this, Ruiko made up her mind and grabbed Index’s hand.
"Come with me, I’ll take you to a place where they can definitely protect you."
"Eh? Eh?!"
You can imagine that when Fang Zheng saw Ruiko pulling Index in, he almost fell off his chair.
"What’s going on here?"
"Ah, Mr. Fang Zheng, good morning. Here’s what happened..."
While saying this, Ruiko explained the morning’s events to Fang Zheng, who listened to Ruiko’s account and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
What on earth is this!
By rights, wasn’t Index supposed to be looked after by Kamijou Touma?
Why is she appearing at Ruiko’s doorstep?
Could it be that this little girl also has a protagonist aura?
That makes no sense; she’s not like Kamijou Touma, that guy in sheep’s clothing. The little girl is just an ordinary Non-Ability User.
Of course, from Saten Ruiko’s account, it was clear that she still didn’t know anything about mages or such, only thinking that Index was being attacked by some Armed Powerless Group delinquents.
"Hmm..."
After listening to Saten Ruiko’s account, Fang Zheng pondered for a moment. It was at this time that he saw Index stand up, come to him, kneel on the floor, clasp her hands, and assume a prayerful pose.
"Nice to meet you, I am the Forbidden Magic Book Index of the English Puritanism, Index (INDEX), Magic Title Dedicatus545."
"Hmm..."
Staring at the girl, Fang Zheng thought for a moment, then spoke.
"INDEX(array, row_num, [column_num])?"
"......???"
"Nothing, just a professional habit. Um... hello, I’m Fang Zheng... please stand up."
"Thank you very much."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Index then stood up. At this point, she finally showed some demeanor befitting a member of the Divine Staff. Watching the girl in front of her, Saten Ruiko was a bit bewildered, not understanding why Index had greeted Fang Zheng in such a manner—was it a special ritual for foreign Divine Staff?
"Alright, so... you’re being hunted by mages?"
Fang Zheng leaned back in his chair, playing with a small kitten, while asking, and Index nodded.
"Yes, I think their target should be the 103,000 Magitech Tomes in my head."
"......"
You’re just going to tell me straight like that, are you really fine with it?
Yet compared to Fang Zheng, Ruiko was more focused on a different issue.
"Eh? Index, you’re carrying 103,000 books? Are you a Ability User like Frenda?"
Ruiko, of course, thought, given Frenda’s abilities, carrying tens of thousands of books wouldn’t be an issue...
"No, I’m a mage."
However, Index shook her head, denying Ruiko’s assumptions.
"Eh? A mage? But aren’t you a nun?"
Ruiko was a bit confused as, in the games she played, the roles of nuns and mages were usually separate.
"I’m a mage, and those 103,000 books are all memorized in my head."
"Wow... that’s amazing..."
Hearing this, Ruiko couldn’t help but be impressed. If she had this ability, she wouldn’t have struggled with memorizing the aerodynamics formulas to the brink of collapse.
"Hehe..."
Perhaps seeing Ruiko’s admiring expression, Index proudly puffed out her chest.
"Solomon’s Key, Book of the Nameless, Book of the Dead, etc.—all of them are in my head."
"Pfft!"
But upon hearing Index’s prideful words, Fang Zheng almost spat out the water he was drinking.
"You’ve read the Book of the Dead? Like Abdullah Alhasad’s work?"
"Yes, you really know a lot."
"...... How are you still sane and alive?"
This truly startled Fang Zheng. He had no idea the Forbidden Magic Book Index actually included the Cthulhu worldview!
However, thinking about it carefully... this world also has a Sea of Chaos... a Cthulhu appearance doesn’t seem all that notable then...
"......"
Maybe it’s best not to delve too deeply; it doesn’t seem good for the spirit.
Fang Zheng coughed, deciding to dismiss this topic.
"No problem, you can stay here for now. No matter who’s hunting you, don’t worry, no one will dare to harm you here."
He then said.