Volume 6, The Night Before the Festival

Volume 6, The Night Before the Festival

The Ichihanaransai is a large-scale cultural festival held in Academy City. Kamijou Touma awoke as the city prepared for that festival.

“Ollerus and Fiamma of the Right brought me here from Baggage City...?”

Ollerus, the man who should have become a Magic God, spoke to Kamijou.

“Gremlin is a group that refuses to accept that the science side won the war. Under their reasoning, Imagine Breaker is simply in the way.”

As Kamijou prepared himself for a fierce battle, a figure snuck towards him. That boy said he was the Lightning God Thor, an official combat member of Gremlin.

“Both Gremlin led by Othinus and the group of monsters led by Ollerus are major threats. How about we save Fräulein Kreutune from them?”

Past records said the following.

“Fräulein Kreutune is a person of unknown identity who has survived 308 trials by ordeal without suffering so much as a scratch. But the justice system of the time ironically had no choice but to make the following judgment: She had not been injured because god had saved her. Therefore, Fräulein Kreutune was a mere human who had done nothing wrong.”

To perform maintenance on her artificial arm, Mugino Shizuri would periodically cook because that task involved many different motions and levels of strength.

She followed the instructions of a sweets-making kit in a cardboard box she did not recognize for that maintenance. But...

“Who are you?”

“Cendrillon. Thanks to having my body destroyed and returned to normal in the past, I can now disassemble my body and reconstruct it.”

Using remotely-controlled refrigerated trucks packed with explosives, the secret base of the dark side organization that the Freshmen belonged to, and a backdoor left by Bersi aka Kihara Kagun, Kamijou and Thor attempted to break into the impregnable windowless building in which Fräulein Kreutune was imprisoned.

But...

“What...? That wasn’t us. The armor panels are being destroyed from within!?”

“...Is that...Fräulein Kreutune?”

After knocking out Kamijou and Thor with an unknown attack, Fräulein Kreutune disappeared into the Academy City night.

Meanwhile, Fremea Seivelun and Last Order who were both lost had a mysterious encounter with each other.

“You’re just a kid!!”

“What was that, you child!? says Misa—”

The disturbance caused by Fräulein Kreutune spread in the blink of an eye and both Gremlin and Ollerus’s group soon began moving.

Kamijou and Thor decided to...

“Let’s make them think this information is a trap. If they are both being cautious, they will think twice before taking action even if they learn of Fräulein Kreutune’s location. Meanwhile, we can charge in and secure her.”

Their plan used a decoy wanted poster created using Thor’s disguise magic and a school computer. They intentionally showed it to Marian Slingeneyer who was hiding within Academy City and they succeeded in making her needlessly cautious.

“Next is Ollerus’s group.”

“If Gremlin makes an odd move, they will quickly notice. If we pass some false information to the spy they send in to investigate...”

When Kamijou took action to carry out their disturbance tactic, he found Ollerus’s group’s scout. But he recognized her.

“Leivinia Birdway...!!”

“Move that toy out of the way. This is no longer a situation where you can beg for your life.”

And Kamijou was shot by Anti-Skill when they interfered. As Leivinia Birdway performed first aid on Kamijou, she swiped his student handbook.

“It appears Kamijou Touma has a connection with Marian Slingeneyer. Gremlin is in District 12. This is our chance to crush them.”

“...She fell for it.”

As Academy City’s dark side determined retrieving Fräulein Kreutune would be difficult, it was decided a certain strictly guarded Level 5 would be sent out.

“Kakine Teitoku-san, we Kiharas welcome science like you. Please just do it however you want. Go far enough to destroy the scenario imagined by us Kiharas.”

“...”

Fräulein Kreutune herself ran into two girls. Last Order and Fremea Seivelun. They spoke to her.

“Nyahh! Now we’re friends!!”

“We exchanged our contact information, so you can contact us whenever you want, says Misaka as Misaka puffs her chest out with pride.”

The magician named Cendrillon who snuck into Academy City using a special method was slightly smaller than before because Mugino used the wrong amounts, but she still began to take independent action to get her revenge against Gremlin.

“Finding the official members of Gremlin would be very difficult, but if I find Kamijou Touma and check around him...”

Mugino Shizuri discovered something odd on a road in the middle of the night. It was the girl she had once killed.

“Fren...da...!!”

“In the end, it doesn’t matter to me if you’ve come to terms with it!!”

Reading Thoth 78, a program directly created by the board chairman, said the following.

“To be blunt, in order for Fräulein Kreutune to instantaneously take in the massive amount of information needed to eclose, she must eat Last Order’s brain to gain control of the Misaka Network. She should gain that ability within 2 hours.”

And...

After being shot by Anti-Skill, Kamijou took action in order to resolve the problem.

To be specific, he escaped the hospital’s ICU.

“...I’ve gained some time. But not much. I need to secure Fräulein Kreutune soon...”

Various different goals were held.

Many different people took action based on those goals.

The preparations for the Ichihanaransai were complete and the actual festival finally began.

Also, a white nun yelled the following somewhere in the city.

“Touma! Who exactly is that girl clinging to your back!?”