From the corner where the girl had just run, a figure approached with steady footsteps. He had fair skin and was at least a head taller than Arata.
As the figure walked closer, the dim streetlights gradually illuminated him and revealed his appearance.
He wore a jet black priest's robe. His hair was red like the setting sun. Glittering silver rings covered all ten of his fingers and earrings hung from his ears. His eyes resembled those of a mad dog as he stared forward with open disdain. Beneath the corner of one eye was a barcode like tattoo, and a cigarette hung from his mouth while swaying up and down.
Looking at someone dressed like that, no one would assume it was simple cosplay.
He stopped beneath a street lamp about five meters away from Arata. The atmosphere within the circle of light from the street lamp immediately became tense.
"Hmm. Kid, could you step aside? The thing behind you belongs to us magicians and we are here to take it back," Stiyl Magnus said to the bystander in a low threatening tone that would easily frighten ordinary people.
No one wanted to get involved in unnecessary trouble, no matter where they were, especially in this island nation where Christian belief was not widespread.
"Are you dressed like that because you are filming some kind of TV show? Honestly it looks pretty repulsive," Arata said with a shrug while looking at Stiyl in a teasing manner.
"He really is a magician. He is the one chasing me. I am his target. You need to leave quickly. As long as you do not attack him, magicians will not harm ordinary people. I am a nun of God, so I will be fine."
Index panicked when she saw that her pursuer had caught up so quickly. However she still stepped firmly in front of Arata while baring her teeth and glaring at Stiyl.
Her small shoulders trembled slightly. Even though she had escaped death many times while being chased by these so called evil magicians, fear itself could not solve anything.
She was not afraid of being tortured by a magician. What she feared was dragging innocent people into danger and allowing the knowledge of the grimoires in her mind to be used by evil magicians.
Even though she had escaped repeatedly until now, she might not be able to escape this time.
"Tsk."
Stiyl clicked his tongue indifferently while watching Index attempt to sacrifice herself to protect a bystander. Every time he saw the fear and panic in her eyes, he could not help clenching his hands within the sleeves of his priest's robe.
Being treated as an enemy by someone who had once been so close to him brought him tremendous pain, even for a magician with a flawed personality who would kill without hesitation.
However, compared to forcing Index to face that heartbreaking separation again and the confusion that followed each memory wipe, leaving things as they were was not necessarily a bad choice for her personality.
In any case, there was still one month before her memories would need to be erased again. Let her run free for one more month.
"Hey hey, what kind of strange role playing scene is this? Is it a story about the Church persecuting a saint?" Arata said with a mocking smile.
"No. He really is an evil magician. He kills people." Index said anxiously while biting her lip. She remembered the descriptions of evil magicians written in the Church's books. Those people would even deliberately cause death for their own purposes.
If an evil magician killed a kind person who tried to help her, she would never forgive herself.
"So you are worried about me?" Arata tilted his head and smiled. This personality and innocence were incredibly rare.
She was as innocent and carefree as a child. She appeared gentle and relaxed, yet she was actually a devout nun who would do everything she could to help the weak. Even when her own life was in danger, she still worried about others first. She could even smile while injured if it meant protecting someone else.
Of course that was only after ignoring her long list of flaws.
"Hey, this girl is terrified of you. Looks like something pretty serious happened," Arata said with a smile while looking at Stiyl.
"You are unbelievable. Hurry up and leave." Index puffed out her cheeks and anxiously pushed Arata. Was this guy missing something in his brain? Or did he simply not believe that magicians actually existed?
"This is exactly why I hate encountering meddlesome ordinary people in this country," Stiyl said while scratching his ear. He shook the cigarette in his mouth and casually threw several tarot cards onto the ground.
This was his modified version of the spell called "Innocentius dispersal", a technique used to drive away ordinary people who were not magicians.
However after two seconds passed and the so called ordinary person showed no reaction at all, Stiyl's expression changed slightly and his face instantly darkened.
"Kid, you are not an ordinary person."
Having sharpened his calm and sharp judgment since childhood through constant battles against heretical magicians and evil practitioners, the fact that he encountered the girl who carried the Index Librorum Prohibitorum at this moment, combined with this boy's strange attitude and tone, clearly meant something was wrong.
"I am indeed not an ordinary person. I am an esper from Academy City. Regardless of what happened here, I am going to help this girl. So could you please leave now?" Arata said while looking at Stiyl with half closed eyes.
"An esper from Academy City." Stiyl's pupils immediately shrank and his gaze turned cold. He had not expected this boy to actually be an esper from Academy City.
That made sense. This location was already very close to Academy City. Encountering someone from that city was not surprising.
"So that is how it is. I thought you might be some wild magician, but it turns out you are an esper from Academy City."
Stiyl stared coldly at Arata while frowning. He did not want to create unnecessary trouble on the territory of the scientific side. If this were inside Academy City, even he would hesitate to act against an esper. However outside the city, anyone who interfered with them could be eliminated.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Stiyl Magnus. That is my name. This is my final warning. Leave that girl and disappear from here or else..."
Stiyl looked at Arata with a threatening gaze while a stack of tarot cards appeared in his hand.
With his magical strength, although he had never personally compared himself to espers from Academy City, according to the information gathered by the magic side, aside from the so called Level 5 espers, there were almost no espers capable of forcing him to take them seriously.
"What an unpleasant attitude. Since that is the case, my own attitude will also become less polite. I should introduce myself as well. My name is Arata, the eighth Level 5 esper of Academy City. What business do you have here?"
Arata crossed his arms and looked at the man who resembled a mad dog with a playful expression. His eyes glimmered slightly. This was his first time encountering a magician, and he thought it would be interesting to test how esper abilities interacted with magic.
Stiyl's expression changed slightly after hearing those words. What had he just heard?
A Level 5 esper from Academy City.
...
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