Bzzzzzz!
Rumble—!
Terrifying shrieks and explosions resounded across the sky. In that instant, even the clouds seemed to have caught fire, while orange-red light poured through the windows into the brightly lit office and reflected across Kamijou Touma's face.
Behind the mahogany desk, Selene calmly capped her fountain pen. She was in no hurry to press Kamijou Touma for an answer. Picking up the teacup from its tray, she took a small sip, then turned slightly to glance at the vast, turbulent spectacle outside the top floor of the Board of Directors Building.
None of the incoming missiles carried nuclear warheads.
Selene could be certain of that. She had detected no radioactive signatures from weapons-grade enriched plutonium or uranium materials such as plutonium-239 or uranium-235 among the incoming missiles.
And even if they had fired nuclear warheads, it would not have mattered.
The current Selene had plenty of ways to deal with them. She could throw them into Imaginary Space, transfer them to Siberia or even Moscow, directly use Strong Nuclear Force Manipulation to terminate the warheads' chain reactions, or simply disintegrate them into ash at the molecular level... She could even go over and gnaw on one as a snack if she really wanted to.
The Russian Orthodox Church had not yet gone insane enough to throw nuclear weapons around and completely tear away all restraint. They had still left themselves some room to maneuver.
Perhaps the arrogant magicians disdained nuclear weapons as military armaments that blasphemed the authority of the omnipotent Heavenly Father. Or perhaps the sensible people within the federal government had desperately prevented such a hatred-generating act of "opening with an ultimate attack."
This isn't the federal government's modern conventional doctrine. It's the magician-style doctrine dominated by the Russian Orthodox Church's magic side. Aside from occupying territory, the Slavs' enormous conventional military has practically been reduced to supporting cast for those tiny magical combat units.
Her brows furrowed slightly. A moment later, Selene set down her teacup and idly stroked the warm body of the white-glazed porcelain cup with one finger... What was the name of the man currently holding actual power in the Russian Orthodox Church again...? Bishop Nikolai Tolstoy.
Nikolai was ambitious and thought extremely highly of himself. He would stop at nothing to achieve his objectives, regarded his own subordinates as pieces on a board for accomplishing his goals, and firmly believed that his personal success was synonymous with the success of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Although Selene had no idea who the hell this guy really was, that did not stop her from pulling Aleister's annotations concerning figures in the magic side's world from his database. Among them were evaluations of Nikolai himself and notes regarding his threat level.
Threat Level: Low.
Aleister might look as though he had spent all his time hiding inside the "Windowless Building" without ever emerging, but his intelligence network was exceptionally well-informed... He might not have been able to obtain the deepest secrets of every denomination, but compiling a list of notable middle- and high-ranking figures among the magical factions around the world was not difficult.
Just as Selene was about to check the other information, her peripheral vision sharply caught the changing expression on the face of the black-haired, spiky-headed boy standing before her desk.
"Oh? Made up your mind?"
As though sensing the determination in the boy's gaze, Selene slowly turned her head and looked directly at him.
"Selene... Thank you for patiently telling me so much. And thank you for properly arranging things for Komoe-sensei and the others, as well as arranging for my parents and family to evacuate."
After a long silence, Kamijou Touma raised his head and looked Selene directly in the eyes.
Selene's long silver-white hair, carrying a faint natural wave, had been gathered up and decorated with a blue ribbon. Strands fell like a waterfall along the sides of her face, softly brushing cheeks. Above them gleamed two scarlet eyes with golden diamond-cross pupils. They did not resemble human eyes. At first glance, they seemed to inspire only terror and oppression, yet they also added an even more inhuman allure to that face.
"I don't understand all those grand principles you talked about. Power, positions, interests—I don't understand any of that. I'm just an ordinary student who wants to live a peaceful life."
"But Selene, don't underestimate me." As he spoke, Kamijou Touma clenched his right hand and raised it before his chest.
"I may not have strength like yours, Selene, and I don't carry responsibilities like yours either, but... if my friends are in danger and I just stand by doing nothing, then what's the point of the conscience I've always believed in?"
"We're friends, and Academy City is my home! My family, my friends, my teachers and classmates are all here. And if the Roman Catholic Church wants to destroy and enslave Academy City, if the Roman Catholic Church exists by ruling and managing two billion believers around the world—then I'll smash those two billion believers' illusion to pieces!"
Kamijou Touma declared solemnly, "Let me fight! Selene, don't carry everything by yourself."
Hearing Kamijou Touma's extremely orthodox hot-blooded heroic declaration, Selene, who had obtained precisely the answer she wanted to hear, remained perfectly calm as she took another sip of tea.
Selene said, "This is war. It's different from every battle you've fought before, whether against the magic side or the science side. To put it somewhat inappropriately, everything you fought before was just children playing house."
"A world war means people will die. A lot of people. And another major reason the Roman Catholic Church is attacking Academy City is you. The man behind them wants to capture you. You could die."
"Capture me? That's it?"
Kamijou Touma froze slightly, then scratched the back of his head and muttered, "No wonder you kept me pinned inside Academy City... Is it because of this hand?" He raised his right hand and said with complete openness, "Then that's even more reason I can't hide like a coward. If this trouble was caused because of me, then I should be the one to deal with it!"
"You're sure you want to go to the front?"
"I'm sure!"
"..." Stepping forward and looking down at Kamijou Touma, Selene gave a soft laugh. "Then get ready to leave."
"Huh?!"
Kamijou Touma, who had still been considering all kinds of arguments he might need to make, froze. He had already prepared himself to talk until his mouth went dry.
According to what Index, Stiyl Magnus, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, and the others had concluded after discussing the matter, Selene's restriction against Kamijou Touma leaving the country was intended to prevent the Roman Catholic Church from obtaining the power of Imagine Breaker.
They had come up with plenty of possible reasons. For example, Imagine Breaker could nullify not only magic but also esper abilities, meaning the danger would become even greater if Kamijou Touma fell into the Roman Catholic Church's hands.
"You can't stop someone determined to get himself killed."
Selene made a rare joke. The corner of her mouth seemed to curve upward, and even her voice carried a faint trace of amusement. "Besides, you should have had a second plan ready, shouldn't you? If I refused to let you leave, you were going to climb over the wall and run away with your Anglican friends?"
Having his intentions exposed, Kamijou Touma could not help flushing. "What do you mean, someone determined to get himself killed? Selene, that's way too harsh."
"Then get ready. If you're going, you're going to the main battlefield. The Level 5 espers are all there fighting the holy-war punitive fleet organized by the Roman Catholic Church."
Ending the banter with Kamijou Touma, Selene stated the matter plainly. "Since we're gambling with your life, I won't hide anything from you. Fiamma of the Right will definitely follow your location and come looking for you. Rather than turning Academy City into a battlefield and letting it get wrecked, it's better to go fight inside the Roman Catholic Church's sphere of influence."
"To put it simply, I'm going to use you as bait to draw the Roman Catholic Church's firepower, while I go raid the Roman Catholic Church's headquarters in Rome. Understand? It's too late to back out now even if you've changed your mind."
"Fine! No problem. I'll be the bait. As long as I can be useful and help end this damn war sooner, I'll do anything."
Kamijou Touma thumped his chest as he gave his assurance. Perhaps he was simply thick-headed, or perhaps he was genuinely that kindhearted. He sincerely regarded Selene as a friend and showed not the slightest resentment upon hearing that she intended to use him as bait.
"Then go." Selene nodded. A stream of sky-blue data flashed briefly through her eyes.
"Everything has already been arranged. You'll take an HsB-02 supersonic stealth bomber to your destination. Someone will be waiting outside to escort you. Go." Selene sat back down, rubbed her forehead, and waved him away.
"Mission guaranteed, Director Selene."
Kamijou Touma seemed rather happy that he could use his own strength to help Selene and Academy City. He even gave Selene a rather sloppy military salute before turning around and quickly heading out of the office.
"Oh, where am I going?" With one foot already through the doorway, Kamijou Touma turned back to ask.
"The Strait of Malacca."
Creak...
Watching the office fall silent again, Selene narrowed her scarlet eyes as though pondering something. A moment later, she gave a faint smile.
What he had said just now was eighty percent true and twenty percent false.
Selene did not dislike hot-blooded heroic types in the slightest. In fact, she hoped there would be as many people like that as possible!
People like her were the ones the world could use fewer of.
With people like him, there was no need to become enemies with them at all. All you needed was to maintain an appropriately measured friendship, establish a position for them to stand upon, and find a common enemy who had harmed their friends and family.
You would not even need to deliberately exploit them. They would come running over on their own and ask you to give them a mission.
Unless, of course, you were some evil god trying to destroy the world.
And as it happened, the world of Index Librorum Prohibitorum was special. At least, it was special to Selene. Not only did she have no intention of destroying it, she would even make the world a better place—by killing the Magic Gods. As for introducing the rule of the Holy Selene Empire, Selene did not have any such plans yet.
Viewed that way, Selene and Kamijou Touma had no direct conflict of interest. On the contrary, he was an extremely useful blade in her hand.
Even if the setting were changed to the Holy Selene Empire, Selene's attitude toward hot-blooded heroic personalities would remain exactly the same.
At her level, weren't all the hot-blooded heroic figures emerging from the Empire's various colonial recruitment worlds excellent soldiers?
Selene provided them with relatively fair paths for advancement, established a stable order in which they could grow, protected their families—as long as they became Imperial citizens, paid their taxes, did not break the law, and had not been stripped of their civil rights, the Imperial government protected every taxpayer according to law—and provided them with an unprecedented abundance of living necessities.
Fight for me and swear loyalty to me. That's not asking too much, is it?
From birth until adulthood, the entire world would have existed beneath the leadership of a unified government.
If someone growing up under such circumstances still became one of those indiscriminately saintly bleeding-heart types who could no longer distinguish friend from foe, then... they simply were not suited to become an Imperial warrior. They could grow old and die in their birthplace as some neighborhood peacemaker. At least the Empire would not let them starve.
That was Selene's mercy.
And if they still dared to cause trouble or make inappropriate remarks? Then cut their heads off. It was that simple. And throughout the entire Empire, people like that could be counted on one hand.
Shaking her head and causing her smooth silver-white hair to sway gently, Selene resumed handling the duties she was obligated to perform as leader of the science side.
Tired? Impossible. She had been handling Imperial government affairs for who knew how many years. This sort of thing came naturally to her. The only reason she had repeatedly dumped the work on Sebas was because Selene's laziness occasionally flared up.
At present, Sebas had been kicked off to Vienna by Selene to protect her adoptive father, Brauchitsch. Since he had no time to handle it, she could only do it herself.
Her eyes raced across each page. Selene swiftly reviewed and approved documents and proposals submitted by subordinate organizations scattered across the globe.
"Hm?"
"An informant in Saint Petersburg reports that someone inside the Russian Orthodox Church approached them voluntarily, and their rank isn't low..." Selene murmured softly.
The person who had initiated contact, shown on the holographic display, wore the traditional red nun's habit of the Russian Orthodox Church. She had blonde hair, a tall figure, fair skin, and appeared to be a Caucasian woman around twenty-five to thirty years old.
"Vasilisa, commander of the Russian Orthodox Church's magical combat organization, Annihilatus."
Selene rapidly pulled up a consolidated report containing every piece of relevant information about her. This woman had long been at odds with Bishop Nikolai, repeatedly opposing Nikolai's aggressive policies and his decision to align the Russian Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church.
Selene quickly noticed the name Sasha Kreutzev. Missing.
Sasha was one of Vasilisa's closest subordinates. After Bishop Nikolai moved against Sasha and had her captured, Vasilisa chose to betray the Church and side with Sasha.
To accomplish his goal of being promoted to Patriarch, Nikolai imprisoned the original Patriarch, Krans R. Tsarsky, and manipulated the Russian Orthodox Church into siding with Fiamma of the Right.
Vasilisa hoped Academy City could provide assistance in rescuing the imprisoned Patriarch, Krans. In exchange, the Russian Orthodox Church would immediately declare a ceasefire, compensate Academy City for all losses, and declare war on the Roman Catholic Church.
"I'll stop by after I'm done raiding their home."
Selene rose once more and pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window. Sparse firelight filtered down through gaps in the clouds above her, gradually becoming blurred before being completely swallowed by the pitch-black night.
Night vision posed no problem. Selene could already see the enormous formation of HsB-02 supersonic stealth bombers taking off from School District 23.
They had already departed, which meant it was time for her to move as well.
Fiamma of the Right now had everything prepared. All he lacked was the knowledge of Index Librorum Prohibitorum and the power of Imagine Breaker.
If he wanted to control the power of the Holy Right, overcome the limitation on its number of uses, and release its full output, then he had no choice but to follow in Kamijou Touma's footsteps.
As for Index Librorum Prohibitorum, Selene naturally had ways to get her onto the same aircraft as Kamijou Touma.
Given Fiamma of the Right's current arrogance and conceit, such bait was something he would inevitably take. Even if he suspected Academy City had prepared an ambush, he would not care. He had yet to receive a proper beating and possessed absolute confidence in his own strength. Caution and restraint had nothing to do with him.
Selene stood quietly on the balcony of the building as the evening breeze gently stirred her hair.
"The Vatican... As expected, they really did set their sights on old man Brauchitsch... In that case, I won't stand on ceremony either. I'll prepare a gift for my family name."
The corner of Selene's mouth curved into a bloodthirsty smile.
Ferdinand definitely could not inherit the Holy Selene Empire. He lacked both the qualifications and the ability. But leaving behind a Habsburg Empire on continental Europe in the world of Index Librorum Prohibitorum as a gift from an elder sister to her younger brother should not be much of a problem.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, didn't the most enduring and extensive legal claim over the Apennine Peninsula more or less belong to the Habsburgs?
...