Part 2[edit]
(November 10th – Oahu – New Honolulu International Airport Terminal Three – Café Simple Coconut – From the camera in a pet robot in the café.)
In the sort of airport café where four-fifths of the price was due to the location alone, Leivinia Birdway took a sip from a coffee cup and grimaced.
“…I expected this to be sweet, but not this much. It has enough calories to rival an energy drink for a marathon runner.”
“You should’ve been able to tell that from the way it looks. It’s pure white. And how about you read the name of the place aloud too,” spat out Accelerator, Academy City’s #1 Level 5.
Birdway started shoveling in some tapioca which had come with her drink and said, “What a gentle tone of voice.”
“Ahn?”
“You seem used to dealing with kids, but you don’t need to switch over to that mode with me.”
“…”
“If you’re going to act as my escort, it would help if you would treat me like a lady. Especially regarding my personal pride.”
“Tch,” Accelerator clicked his tongue and took a sip of weak coffee.
It seemed like he hadn't noticed how he was acting until she pointed it out.
He decided it would be best not to use his cell phone. He did not want anyone to know that he was contemplating whether he could contact “that brat” or not.
The enemy was already on the island.
It was possible their conversation was being monitored even now, and anything he let them know could possibly be used against him.
“So when are the others going to meet up with us?”
“I have no way of knowing when their flights arrived or how busy their gates are,” Birdway said simply as she battled with the contents of her cup that she was treating as a dessert. “Even if Aleister’s influence has weakened, it was difficult to get that many people out of Academy City. If you had all gotten on the same flight, we would have been tracked for sure. I had us split into small groups in order to eliminate the risk as much as possible. I bought our safety with money and time, so quit complaining.”
That must have been why the men wearing black that usually surrounded her were nowhere to be seen.
It seemed their absence did not bother Birdway too much.
“Now that Gremlin has confirmed Imagine Breaker's survival using Radiosonde Castle, they will be preparing themselves for interference from and coming up with countermeasures against that natural enemy of magic. They are sure to carry out something big here in Hawaii. We followed them here in order to stop them, but we are not the world police. We cannot slip past everything by using special rules, so we need to make the proper preparations before beginning the fight.”
“…Can’t you pull it off somehow with that magic of yours?”
“I probably could if it came to it, but it comes down to the dilemma of a phantom thief. Any method I use once will be analysed. If I have a different way of dealing with it, I don’t want to use any of my major techniques.”
“So it’s all for your convenience,” Accelerator muttered in annoyance. “You said Gremlin is hiding here in Hawaii, right?”
“Yes, in all likelihood.”
“But how are we supposed to find them? There are eight main islands, and if you count the small ones, there are around 130. There are over 1.4 million residents alone and adding in the temporary visitors gives you a total of over 3 million people. I doubt we’re gonna find these hidden people just by running around randomly.”
“I have an idea of how to deal with that.”
At the same time, Accelerator heard an electronic tone.
Birdway looked up toward the ceiling.
“Looks like it’s starting.”