Burning the Holy War (6)

Ohirume's words cut through the air like a blade, her triangular fox ears twitching faintly atop her forehead as she stared down the man who had seized her collar.

"What do you mean by telling that to Bartholomew...!"

It's a well-known tale that the Archbishop of Tokyo, Ibuki Hayato, is quite hot-tempered.

Even though I rarely cross paths with him in person while living in Japan, as a resident of the otherworld, it's impossible to avoid picking up information about the Church. In the Japanese Catholic Church, where the motto is "if it's ambiguous, hit first and investigate later," the tendency is even stronger.

So much so that even Akaba Akane and Tsunashi Tenka—who kept their distance from most anomalies and knew little about the Apostles—had already grasped the Japanese Church's inclinations.

Of course, this must also be considered because Tenka herself is a victim of the Church... Still, the conclusion is clear: living in the otherworld means you cannot escape the influence of the Church as an organization. And since its Japanese representative is none other than Archbishop Ibuki Hayato, it was inevitable that he would be famous.

Thus, whether in a good or bad sense, Ibuki Hayato's fiery personality is well-known. Even when grabbed by the collar out of nowhere, he wouldn't be flustered in the slightest.

"...Where do you think you're putting your hands? Can't you let go?"

However, if that person were the de facto head of the Onmyoryo and also held an important position in the Shinto Shrine Bureau, the story would change.

Usually, bullying subordinates or threatening them is common, but treating an external person of non-negligible status with such rudeness is out of character for her.

Archbishop Ibuki is not a fool, even if it's hard to say she's easy to please with empty words. Originally, reaching the position of archbishop means she's bound to be familiar with political dynamics.

On the ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠contrary, it was also an act that would make her angry enough to ignore even that. Thinking this way, Ohirume looked at the man holding her collar. The triangular fox ears sprouting from her crown twitched lightly.

"Or what, is it a proposal to have the anomaly response agencies fight each other once? If that's the case, I won't refuse to accept it."

"After only a few years of civil war, the Onmyoryo has a chance of winning against the Church?"

"At that time, at least Bartholomew would be on our side. Or is that all? Ryuzaki Sanji from the Osaka Archdiocese would be delighted. It's an opportunity to bring down a competitor from Tokyo."

"......"

"As a senior who has experienced civil war firsthand, this is advice."

Ohirume shrugged slightly and said so, but the Archbishop of Tokyo still couldn't erase the anger from her face. Nevertheless, she removed her hand from Ohirume.

She must have realized that she had committed an act that could turn into a diplomatic issue in a moment.

'Well... since the situation is "I almost died to an Apostle," it's understandable.'

However, Ohirume understood her feelings to some extent, given the attitude she showed her.

If you get stamped by an Apostle, there's no hope from that point on. Even if there was the Ambassador of Boanerges, the best absolution from the Vatican... Honestly, half of the Apostles would ignore the ambassador and cut his neck.

'No, just objectively, it's Scenario I, right.'

Scenario I. A profound damage to a blood relative of a strong person above a certain level, or a person of comparable strength.

There's no debate whether this incident is 'profound damage' or not. It's purely determined by the subjective will of that 'strong person above a certain level.'

"More than that, what was the Church thinking when they did this? Isn't that the root of the fundamental problem?"

Especially if the one who stamped her was Bartholomew... Honestly, if Ohirume had been in that situation, she would have immediately ordered her subordinates to cut her own neck and offer it to the Apostle to reduce the damage as much as possible.

Interestingly, because the opponent was Bartholomew, it was possible to brush it off with 'It was a necessary thing for the Church'... but if the situation had gone a little further, even that would have been impossible.

"I was just asked by her and cooperated in tracking the culprit. I didn't know that the Church would hand over the starting point of Scenario I with their own hands."

"...It was a necessary thing."

"It seems you can't explain."

Is it natural to think about it? Ohirume let out a deep sigh.

If it was something she could tell her, she would have explained it to Bartholomew as well. Even the Apostle couldn't see that information, which is shared only in some parts of the information department.

"Anyway, it's not my fault. Since I don't know the information, I couldn't just cooperate with the Church blindly."

Ohirume added eventually.

"More than anything, I have a debt to the other side."

"The other side? Are you talking about Anathema Production? It was definitely a 3rd gen."

Recently, though a bit late, two people related to Ohirume must have joined.

The legend of the retired Onmyoryo. Two monsters also called 'Princess Ryodouji'.

And that 'princess' is Ohirume here... more precisely, the body that received Ohirume as a vessel.

Also, to be precise, Ohirume is also the one who caused the two to retire, so it's not strange to have responsibility to the other side...

"That's not it. I was invited to the wedding."

Despite not intending it, the kindness of inviting her back after she interrupted the engagement ceremony. Ohirume, who had to lean towards Ninomae Hitomi's side if it didn't lead to politically inconvenient problems if she received such a thing.

In response, what did Archbishop Ibuki want to say?

But the words didn't even come out of her lips before they returned to the original place deep in her throat.

Why why why why why!

"...Why is the bell ringing like that?"

It was because a loud siren sound came from the Archbishop's pocket. Immediately, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket.

"No, no matter how you look at it, the default ringtone isn't that."

Ohirume, who was looking at him with eyes full of disbelief, muttered so.

Thinking about it, if the default ringtone of someone who is an archbishop was like that, the rumor wouldn't spread.

That means it's a ringtone specifically designated for a certain individual...

"...I'll take it for a moment."

"No matter how you look at it, is there something more important than receiving me, Amaterasu Ohirume?"

"'Professor'."

"Ah, then it's recognition."

Ohirume nodded immediately and agreed.

If she just said 'professor' without any context and expected the other side to understand, there was no one else but the Senjoji Professor.

And if it's a call from her, it's something the human who is an archbishop would be reluctant to do and set the siren ringtone.

'I can't burn it outside Japan either.'

Excluding personality, in terms of pure danger, it was the most dangerous human among the Seven Sisters surviving at this point, surpassing the Necromancer.

While worrying if she had received a direct call from the archbishop because of some new discovery, Ohirume looked at him as he moved away.

"What? Wait. What...?"

But the Archbishop showed a very flustered reaction to whatever story she heard. Then, he hurriedly called someone else and talked about something.

"Did something happen?"

"...I'll borrow your hand for a moment."

"If there's no special reason, it would be right after I said I'd side with Ninomae Hitomi."

"It's about Ninomae Hitomi."

At those words, Ohirume thought for a moment, then opened her mouth again.

"...Well, let's hear what happened first."

"Originally, the Archbishop should have come himself, but since you went to meet Margarita and Ninomae Hitomi, I came in your place."

Ohirume finished the story and added so.

"So, what I'm saying is..."

At those words, Nakabashi Gyokichi closed ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his mouth for a moment, sorted out the story he had heard earlier, and looked at her again.

"Is it asking me to officially mention that Serena Razania ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Shirase Hikari 'did that'?"

"...It's an unbelievable story even if I think about it, but if I summarize the conclusion roughly, yes."

"With that, the world is saved?"

"The world... I don't know, but it seems there's a difference between whether Margarita turns East Asia into a burning sea or not."

"Why would that be?"

"I really don't know..."

The Nabi effect is something that can't ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be understood at all. Ohirume's fox ears drooped down as if sighing.

"Hmm."

"...What? Are the ears bothering you? There are plenty of anomalies in this company, and if it's the professor's acquaintance, you've seen enough of this."

"If a 4th gen audition day comes later, do you have no intention of participating in the audition?"

"No, is there any way?!"

Ohirume shouted in shock at the scout offer that popped out without context.

She had heard that the representative of Anapro has many missing people, but she didn't expect this level.

"For now, I'll think of the proposal positively. No matter how you look at it, as the president, I can't let the company be burned to the ground."

It's enough that the resentment is happening in the net. Gyokichi said so and showed his teeth with a grin.

"No matter what the reason... Thank you for your cooperation. Thanks to that decision, I can boldly say that the territory of this country has changed."

"Foreign lady? Yakinori again today? I really like that."

"......"

"Lady? Hey, lady?"

"...Ah, sorry."

"Were you thinking of something else? Standing blankly on the street."

"No. It's nothing. Just..."