Volume 5, Prologue: The Greatest Proposition. Question_01.
The November sky above was blue.
It was mid-November, the time when the season of changing leaves was drawing to a close; midday was wrapped in a pleasant coolness and breakfast brought adopted a sharp chill.
A plaza in Academy City’s District 7 had several trees planted along its edges. Their branches still had a few yellow-tinged ginkgo leaves on them. Because the Ichihanaransai, a giant cultural festival that every school within Academy City participated in was underway, there were even more people moving about than on the weekend. However, it seemed this area was not the destination for the vast majority of those people. They were either passing through on their way from one place to another or were using it as a meet-up point before heading to their destination.
It was a sunny afternoon.
The absolutely clear sky seemed to stretch up forever, befitting the chilly outdoor temperature.
“Touma, what have you been doing all this time?”
A girl named Index was standing in a tall, daunting pose amid it all.
She was looking at a spiky-haired boy named Kamijou Touma who was sitting in seiza style on the plaza ground.
Kamijou Touma had an unpleasant sweat coming from his body and his eyes were darting about every which way but toward Index.
“W-well... Kamijou-san had various circumstances to deal with. After the incident at the Hawaiian Islands, I headed to Baggage City in Eastern Europe. I ran into some trouble there and things only got worse when I ran into a Magic God and someone who should have become a Magic God...”
“Oh?”
The girl’s voice was completely flat. There was no range to her tone at all and the air was filled with the tension of two gunmen facing off in a Western. The strained atmosphere made it painfully clear that the slightest noise could set off a shower of bloodshed.
“Well, I will ask for the details later. But, Touma, there is one question I would like answered first. May I ask it?”
“Wh-What would that be, Index-san?”
When Kamijou nodded, the girl named Index pointed at his face.
No.
Technically, she pointed directly behind him.
“Who exactly is that girl clinging to your back, Touma!?”
He now had no choice but to explain it.
He had to explain what had occurred during the Ichihanaransai!!!!