Chapter 141: Those Who Bear the Foundation
For now, I asked Baba-san to tell Kamijou-san to stay put while we regrouped, riding on the wings of Jagged Edge’s “Fissure.”
At that point, we parted ways with Souji-san. I had suggested he come with us, but Reicia-chan strongly objected… and then Souji himself refused.
Apparently, he has his own agenda. Doesn’t sound like anything good, but since he’s already sided with us, I chose to trust him—for now.
…Still, who exactly is this “Original”?
If I had to guess, maybe Xochitl-san? But would Xochitl-san really call herself the Original? Against Etzali-san, I could imagine her mocking him that way, but still.
I don’t even fully understand what the concept of a grimoire’s “Original” is supposed to mean. If I recall, in the True History the only cases mentioned were Oriana-san and Xochitl-san… not much to go on. Umm, I think it was something like: a magical construct that draws on leyline power, functions semi-permanently, and can’t be destroyed… right?
………………Could it even take the form of a woman? No idea…
《So basically, isn’t this just something added in the developments after Shiren “read” the story? Doesn’t the whole “Original” thing sound exactly like that?》
《Yeah, fair point. No use overthinking it.》
With Reicia-chan’s usual halfhearted attitude, I decided to just accept it as “that’s how it is.” After all, in this world almost anything is possible.
Carrying “T:GD,” we flew at high speed for about thirty seconds.
Scanning the ground from above, I caught sight of familiar spiky black hair. …Oh, there he is. Kamijou-san, no mistake.
And standing beside him was… a blonde woman with loose, wavy hair. Her outfit, though, was ridiculously provocative, showing off her body from every angle. To put it simply… a bodysuit made of talismans? Her arms and legs were shaped into opera gloves and thigh-high boots, and around her waist fluttered a skirt—but it didn’t cover the front at all, so the overall impression was basically “a very indecent one-piece swimsuit.”
And the neckline—outrageous. It plunged from her cleavage all the way down to her navel. What the hell was that outfit?
“Sc-scandalous…”
“Wow, that sounded amazing just now. Like a real high-class lady!”
…Hey, you are a high-class lady!
“Anyway… is that the ‘Original’?”
I think my doubtful tone was justified.
Because I already knew this woman in her absurdly provocative—no, to be blunt, shamelessly erotic—outfit.
Golden hair spilling down in long curls, much like Reicia-chan’s.
Mysterious blue eyes narrowed in a sly smile.
She had, without a doubt, already appeared in the True History. One of the missing pieces who had yet to show herself in this timeline. But for her to emerge here, like this—I never would have imagined it.
“────”
Her gaze lifted smoothly to meet mine in the sky.
Her name was—
Oriana Thomson.
Known as the smuggler who nullified pursuit, Route Disturb. She should have been nothing more than a courier.
And yet, for some reason, she had appeared on the board here and now.
Final Chapter: As If to Make the Whole World an Enemy – Are_You_Ready?
Episode 115: Those Who Bear the Foundation – "Basis104".
“Hmm… so from your perspective, this might be our first time meeting, right?”
“…Like we met in some other history, is that what you’re saying?”
That was her opening line.
We had only just regrouped, and Oriana-san suddenly threw out that kind of cryptic remark. What? Don’t tell me this is turning into some kind of time-paradox talk?
“Oh no, nothing like that. I mean, I do like it when boys lean forward and get all eager with me, but if you rush too much, things don’t always go smoothly, you know?”
《Ugh, I can’t handle this type. Shiren, you take it.》
《Wow, Reicia-chan, you cut people off way too fast.》
To be fair, Reicia-chan never did like people who spoke in circles. I could understand her passing the baton.
When I stepped in to take over, Oriana-san suddenly dropped her playful smile and grew serious.
“…To put it simply, I was a spy for the magic side. Oriana Thomson—that’s what they used to call me when I was a magician.”
“…Used to be… a magician?”
“Yes.”
She nodded at my puzzled look.
“The truth is, my real body is probably already in a broken, vegetative state.”
“What!?”
N-no way…!? Why!?
“It ties back to what I just said. I was a spy for the magic side. It started with a project—an attempt to use ritual formulas to reshape Academy City into a place more favorable to the Roman Catholic Church. A ‘peaceful invasion,’ you could say.”
“…There’s nothing peaceful about that.”
“Relatively speaking. Compared to invading with fire and bloodshed, if a ritual could gradually turn people toward the Roman Catholic Church, that was considered more humane—or so the argument went.”
Her eyes slid away slightly when she replied to Kamijou-san. She probably no longer believed that was the right path. …And honestly, even Lidvia-san, who originally proposed that plan, likely never thought it was one-hundred-percent correct.
But if Lidvia hadn’t taken that approach, a much worse method would have been used instead. That much was certain, looking at how world events unfolded later. Complicated circumstances, to say the least.
Still, it all collapsed in the end. Oriana-san went on, her expression distant.
“The reason it fell apart was simple. The possibility came up that the plan had already been exposed to Academy City. More specifically… Blackguard-san, you were the link.”
Her words made me quietly avert my eyes.
Not because I didn’t understand—quite the opposite. I had more than enough reason to.
Of course it would look that way from the magic side’s perspective! A Level 5 esper openly keeping ties with the magic side, even exchanging letters? Of course they’d panic! And I hadn’t even thought about it!!
“…Well, yeah. In hindsight, shutting it down was the right call.”
She was completely mistaken, but honestly, if they’d actually tried something like the Croce di Pietro, I would’ve used my True History knowledge to crush it instantly. So I couldn’t argue back.
“But here’s the thing. Just canceling the plan because the enemy caught wind of it? That would’ve been humiliating for the organization. Plenty of higher-ups weren’t willing to accept that. So instead, they wanted to claim: ‘We never intended to run this operation anyway. It was just a cover for our spy work from the start.’ That’s the face they wanted to present.”
“Ahh…”
Faction politics really is brutal. The higher-ups must have hounded whoever was in charge relentlessly.
Well, I get it. I’ve already been dragged into that world here and there myself, helping out Reicia-chan. It’s a huge hassle. And for the people on the ground who actually get jerked around by it? Must be unbearable…
“So, the operative who was supposed to lead the original plan—that would be me—got reassigned as a spy instead. Well, your big sis is pretty versatile, after all…”
I see. That explains why Oriana-san remained in Academy City longer in this version of history than in the True History.
She wasn’t like Tsuchimikado, juggling both sides. She really was just a straightforward infiltrator.
“After that, I mainly kept an eye on you, Blackguard-san. Same with that spiky-haired boy over there—but you in particular were right at the singular point where science and magic tangled together in this city.”
…I mean, Kamijou-san is clearly the bigger deal here. But thinking about it, after the Daihaseisai, the only major magic-side incident was the Queen of the Adriatic Sea, right? From Oriana-san’s perspective, though, I was still constantly writing back and forth with Stiyl-san and Kanzaki-san, plus I had Xochitl-san working under me. No wonder I looked like prime surveillance material. Honestly, written out like this, I really do look like one giant red flag to the magic side.
It’s a miracle they never decided, “You’re too dangerous to leave alive—we’ll kill you.” …I guess all the people with that mindset targeted Kamijou-san instead. Poor guy.
“But then… a little problem came up.”
Just as I was quietly horrified at my own track record, Oriana-san dropped that line. …This must be what led to her current vegetative state.
“The truth is, my spying was exposed to the Dark Side of this city. I tried to run, but the folks in the shadows here? They don’t let go. In the end, I broke. I was captured. And the man who caught me was…”
Oriana-san paused to take a breath.
“Kihara… Amata.”
………………
And just like that—everything clicked. It all connected.
“Amata Kihara is probably tearing all sorts of secrets out of my head. I had safeguards, so the Roman Catholic Church’s intel should be safe. But if those defenses are still holding, then my real body is almost certainly in a vegetative state by now.”
So that’s why Amata tried to exploit magic—because he literally pried into Oriana-san’s brain and stole her knowledge. And then, to dig even deeper into the broken Oriana for more magical data, he needed Misaki-san’s Mental Out. That must’ve been it.
Sure, he had his grand Blood Sign ambitions too. But at the root of it, this was probably where it all began.
“…Then, the one standing in front of us right now—what are you, exactly?”
“Mmm, the whole ‘Original’ thing? That was kind of an accident. Your big sis wasn’t planning on ending up like this. I fought tooth and nail, overusing every last bit of my Short-Hand Original—the grimoire. I piled spell after spell on top of each other. And before I knew it, I must have fused into a functioning grimoire myself. Which left me as what you see: an ‘Original’ that carries the will of Oriana Thomson.”
She explained it briskly, though I doubted she expected us to truly grasp the weight of it.
If Index were here, she could tell us exactly how insane this situation really was. But she wasn’t. All we could understand was that this was unprecedented, even compared to the True History.
On the science side, the closest comparison might be Yuuri Senya in that recent incident. But even that feels like it’s on a completely different scale.
“After that, I used my captured body as a decoy to escape. …But the first order of business was dealing with Amata Kihara. So I reached out to someone who might be able to help stop him—that’s how it went.”
Ahh, I see. That’s how it is, Touma-san…
…Honestly, only Touma could stumble across Oriana-san at exactly this kind of timing. The guy really is “blessed” in his own way.
“That works out perfectly, then. We’ve also had someone precious taken by Amata. We were already moving to secure them.”
“That’s how it is. What we need to do hasn’t changed… But, what about you?”
Touma-san asked that last part directly to Oriana-san, his eyes fixed on her. There was unease in his expression.
…Right. Touma saw it up close, didn’t he? That girl who broke when she learned she was just a “fake.” He knows the weight of that despair now. And with someone before him who might be bearing the same kind of pain, there’s no way he could just ignore it. That’s not the kind of person he is.
“Ahaha, are you worried about your big sis? That’s sweet. …But you don’t need to worry. Even if I’m no longer the ‘real’ Oriana, the wish engraved in my heart doesn’t become a lie.”
With those words, Oriana placed her hand over her chest.
The gesture, coupled with her presence, almost made her look like a figure from a religious painting.
“…‘Basis104, the One Who Bears the Foundation.’ My wish still burns at the core of who I am. As long as that remains true, it doesn’t matter whether I’m truly myself or not. I exist only to carry out that supreme mandate.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Hearing that, Touma bowed his head deeply.
“I asked something stupid.”
“Not at all. Sometimes a little kindness isn’t so bad. Your big sis enjoyed it—just a little.”
With that exchange, our group finally came to a halt.
Before us stood a ruined building.
『…I’m picking up Xochitl’s signal from here. Looks like a research facility built into the ruin—solid construction, despite appearances. The three are still investigating inside.』
Through T:GD, Baba-san’s voice reported the situation.
Thank goodness—they weren’t in the middle of a fight yet.
“Everyone ready?” Touma asked.
“Of course.”
“Your big sis is always ready to roll.”
『I’ll back you up as much as you need.』
With our responses given, Touma gave a firm nod.
“Alright then—let’s take them back. Misaki, Nayuta, Oriana… everyone Amata Kihara stole from us!”
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