Part 6

Kamijou Touma was said to be an unlucky person. But some luck managed to find itself in his life.

Finding out from his neighbor/friend that it was possible to recreate a character, he immediately told Index and was able to pacify her anger. Now, she was happily smiling as she ate the food prepared by Kamijou.

As he was overly relieved, he openly let out a deep sigh.

“Such bad manners when eating.”

And was reprimanded by Othinus.

The three of them continued eating Kamijou’s simple dishes.

“Ah, by the way, won’t you also like to join us?”

Kamijou directed his question to the fifteen centimeter girl who sat on his head.

“…”

No answer came even after waiting for five minutes so Kamijou decided to just let it go. He looked at the clock to see that an hour and a half had already passed since he came out of the capsule.

After eating, he washed the dishes while Index was hurrying him up behind him.

“Hurry up Touma! We have lots of catching up to do!”

“Yes, yes. I’m nearly done.”

Kamijou put the dishes back to its proper place. He could also see Index hurryingly entered her capsule. He was about to do the same thing when he met eyes with Othinus.

“Really not going to play with us?”

“…”

No reply came from Othinus even though the two of them were still gazing at each other.

“…I see. See you later then.”

‘It’s a little lonely without you here’ was what Kamijou wanted to say but he just whispered it to himself. He really wanted to enjoy the fun with Othinus. But it wasn’t like that he did not know the reason why she refused. The capsule for Royal Road could be enjoyed by the children to the adults but finding a size for Othinus would really be close to impossible.

Not that Kamijou Touma did not take other steps though.

(Anyway, I can’t keep Misaka Imouto and Alice waiting.)

He then entered the world of Royal Road.

“Now then, where’s Index?”

Kamijou’s eyes were searching for that white robe with gold teacup-like embroidery.

This time, he instructed Index on what to do and what answers to give when creating a new character. Even though she had perfect memory, she was still bad with electronics or new technology. He just hoped she would really follow what he told her.

While thinking to himself, he found Misaka Imouto standing near the fountain. Alice was also there but she was sitting on the bench. Drawing closer, Kamijou could see that Alice’s eyes were closed as if she was sleeping.

Kamijou was about to call their attention when he saw a silver haired girl standing near Misaka Imouto as if they were talking. The silver haired girl’s back was in front of him so he could not take a look at her face.

“…Index?”

Contrary to her usual white nun robe, the Index in front of him was dressed like Misaka Imouto. A plain upper shirt probably made of low grade materials and a knee length skirt which was also plain. Just like how new female players were dressed in.

“Y-Yo, Index.”

There were various times when Kamijou had already seen Index dressed in different attires other than her white nun robe but he still got flustered seeing her adventurer-like appearance.

“Ah Touma!”

Kamijou approached the group of girls near the fountain.

“I’m sorry about the sudden logging out by the way. I just had to deal with some things on my room.”

Kamijou put his hands together in front of him as a sign of apology and Misaka Imouto just nodded.

“Misaka Imouto, did you finish the quest?”

“Negative, says Misaka depressingly.”

No noticeable changes appeared on her face but if she said so, then it must be the case.

“I see. What happened?”

Still standing facing each other, Misaka Imouto began recounting the events that happened after Kamijou logged out.

Misaka Imouto and Alice continued to look for Alan to complete the quest given to them by the brewer. But not soon after, something troublesome happened that prevented them from continuing the pursuit. A fight broke up inside the town which involved two guilds. They began attacking each other, numbering in the thirties for each guild. It took a while for the city guards to intervene and stop the fight.

At some point while narrating what happened, Kamijou and the others took their seat beside the still sleeping Alice.

So because of the fight, the road leading to the south gate became impassable. By the time they reached the gate, the guards informed them that Alan had already left for the village of Narab. Te distance to the village isn’t that far away from Serabourg.

“So we just need to find a way out?”

The system in place would not let them out of the city until they have spent four weeks in the city. Moreover, the quest only had a limit of one day.

“Ah, join our party, Index.”

“Party?”

Index just tilted her head in confusion. Watching her got surprised by the sudden window appearing in front of her brought laughter to Kamijou. Obviously, he got bitten on the head afterwards.

Kamijou also shared the two quests they had to Index.

“So basically, if we finish those quests, we’ll get money?”

“That is right, says Misaka as she nods.”

“So if we get money, we can buy food?”

Kamijou already thought the reason Index pestered him to play the game was to be able to taste the dishes in the game. And the glow in her eyes proved him right.

“Let’s hurry up and finish the quest, Touma!”

“We can’t leave the town, explains Misaka making a bored expression.”

“Then look for ways to get out, Touma!”

Kamijou, too, had no intention of abandoning the first quest he had in this game.

(But there really is the problem of getting out.)

Kamijou thought if there would be some way of getting out of the city. Surely, some people had already tried various methods.

“Climbing those walls, would it be possible?”

He dismissed that idea already. Someone would have already tried that method.

(I should’ve studied about the system of this game more…)

Regretting would do him no good, so he decided to just get a move on. At least it would be better than just staying in place.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Anyway, let’s ask the various people around. We may find some hints.”

Index excitedly got off the bench, followed by Misaka Imouto.

“Hey Alice. Wake up.”

Alice who was still sleeping on the bench had her shoulders shaken by Kamijou.

“Nn…”

No signs of waking up could be seen on her face. She then tasted once again the power to break illusions and dreams on top of her head.

“Ouch! What is that for!?”

Touching the part of her head which was hit, Alice looked angrily at Kamijou.

“…Touma… Is that how you treat girls?”

Baring her fangs once more was Index.

Truthfully, Kamijou too was surprised by his action. There was no hesitation on what he did. What he only knew was that there was somehow a feeling of closeness to Alice on the degree that he could just bring the hammer of justice down easily.

“Let Kamijou-san explain! Ah right! You two still don’t know each other so introduce each other!”

Fearing for the safety of his skull, Kamijou spat out his words in a rapid manner.

Hearing Kamijou, Index slowly close her mouth showing her fangs and looked at Alice.

“Is she another one of them, Touma?”

“Them? What do you mean by them?”

Index was thinking along the lines of ‘another girl saved by Touma’. Though she did not pay attention to Touma’s question, just thinking ‘Another one added to the list’. She may be wrong though as the gaze Alice directed to Touma is not similar to those on the list.

The nun who usually wore white nun robes drooped her shoulders down.

“Index Librorum Prohibitorum but you can call me Index for short.”

Alice tilted her head, then soon introduced herself as if understanding that Index introduced herself.

“My name is Alice vi Arpenia.”

Alice introduced herself while doing the same ojousama style pose of greeting that she also showed to Touma and Misaka Imouto.

Having done their introductions, the party began to walk around the city.

Kamijou asked Misaka Imouto if she could think up of any method of getting out of the city.

“Misaka already thought of hacking but you will get mad if I do that, says Misaka depressingly as she can’t show how awesome she is.”

“There’s no need to go that far.”

He could not rely on Index who was clueless about games. He looked towards Alice but she just tilted her head.

(We need to find some other way.)

As some hours had already passed when he logged out of the game, the moon could now be seen shining clearly above the city. The whole city bathed on its dim but serene light.

Kamijou and his party had been moving around the city for thirty minutes now. They were walking towards an alley to switch from one main road to another.

“Move! Get out of my way!”

A man in his thirties suddenly ran straight towards Kamijou’s party. The man’s disheveled clothing also reflected on his face. He kept on looking back and forth as he continued to ran.

Looking behind the desperate man were some ten-odd men wearing crazed expressions.

Kamijou and the rest looked behind them to find out what the commotion was about. The distance between them and the man reducing every second.

“What?”

With the darkness hampering their vision, the desperate man bumped into Kamijou as they both fell down.

“Hey! What are you—“

“Touma, there seems to be some people chasing this guy. What should we do?”

Index was looking towards the ten-odd men running towards them. There was still some time before they reach Kamijou’s party.

“Should we fight, asks Misaka as she imagines electric discharges appearing on her body.”

The man who fell had a dumbfounded look but instantly regained his previous desperate expression.

“Please help me and hide me from those people!”

With tears on his eyes, he desperately pleaded towards Kamijou’s party.

“I can’t explain it right now but please believe in me!”

“Let’s find a place to hide then.”

Kamijou spoke to his companions after looking at the man’s face.

“Eh? Why should we do as he say?”

Alice suddenly intervened with her words.

“There should be a reason why this man is being chased. There’s no reason to believe his baseless words.”

Alice looked with distrust on the pleading man.

“But there’s no reason not to believe him too, right?”

Kamijou stated in a matter of fact way. His response caused Alice to widen her eyes.

“But—“

“We can hide through here, says Misaka as she hurries you.”

Alice who was still voicing out her opinion suddenly had her words cut off by Misaka Imouto. The men were nearly approaching them and they needed to make a decision fast.

“…Fine.”

With reluctance, Alice followed the group led by Misaka Imouto. Their destination was a closed shop that looked like a restaurant or a food shop. The door was obviously locked with chains so that wasn’t their target. It was the tables and chairs arranged in front of the shop.

Their figures could be easily seen if they hide under the tables so Kamijou immediately toppled one of the tables to hide behind it, while making sure that the table looked naturally placed as ever.

Then they heard the ten-odd men rush past them. They didn’t ease their tension and only released their breaths after a minute or two had passed by.

“Phew. Now they are gone. I just hope that there are no other groups beside them.”

Kamijou slowly stood up from his hiding place. The others also did the same after seeing him stand.

“Those are the only ones currently chasing me.”

The disheveled man spoke in response to Kamijou.

“What should we do now, asks Misaka while surveying our surroundings.”

“For now, let’s hear what he has to say.”

Kamijou and the group moved to a more crowded location. Even though the night is deep, there should be places in this city where there were lots of people gathering.

With that objective in mind, the group started to walk.