When Riri Saotome opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the bright sunshine.

"Oh... I slept so comfortably..."

She sat up from the bed, stretched, and then clenched her fists.

"Okay, let's work hard today too!"

While humming a song, Riri Saten changed her clothes and climbed out of the bed. Summer vacation started from today, which meant that she could train in the research institute around the clock. Now Riri Saten felt that she had grasped the door, and the next breakthrough was only a matter of time!

"The weather is so nice, why not let's dry the quilt."

After taking a look at the clear sky and dazzling sunshine outside, Riri Saotome picked up her blanket, hummed a song, opened the door, and went to the balcony.

Then... she saw a young girl leaning on the balcony railing, as if she had fainted.

"……Why?"

The unimaginable scene before her made Riri Saotome stand there in a daze. She stared at it blankly, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Am I still dreaming?

No, no, he should be up by now... But why is someone hanging here?

And the girl wasn't wearing a school uniform, but a nun's uniform. Was this cosplay? If Ruiko Saten remembered correctly, there was no church in Academy City.

“Woo…”

Just as Riri Saotome was daydreaming, the girl let out a low moan and slowly opened her eyes.

Wow, so cute.

Looking at the girl with fair cheeks and green eyes, Ruiko Saten couldn't help but sigh. Then, she saw the girl raised her head, stared at Ruiko, and then spoke.

"I'm hungry."

"……Why?"

"I'm hungry, huh?"

The girl repeated it again, and this time, Lei Zi seemed to hear that she seemed a little dissatisfied. If she was hungry...

"Well... then, do you want to have breakfast together?"

Scratching her cheek, Ryoko Saten invited the girl in front of her with a smile.

“Ahhhhhhhhh…”

This is really edible...

Although it was Lei who invited the other party to have breakfast, Lei couldn't help but feel frightened when she saw the girl eating with big mouthfuls. She really couldn't imagine how the girl, who looked no different from a toddler, could eat so much...

"Um, would you like another bowl?"

“Another bowl please!”

“…”

After eating two rice cookers in a row, the girl dressed as a nun finally breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to be alive again. Then she faced Saten Ruiko and bowed respectfully.

"Thank you so much. My name is Index. As you can see, I am a clergyman. Ah, not from the Vatican, but from the English Puritan system?"

“Ah, is that so…?”

Faced with the girl's self-introduction, Riri Saotome didn't know what to say. Her mind was full of aerodynamic equations, and she couldn't find any knowledge about religion.

"Yes, my magic name is Dedicatus545, which means the knowledge of the dedicated lamb guarding the strong."

"What's the magic name...?"

Hearing this, Riri Saten was completely stunned, but soon her eyes lit up and she looked at Index.

"Ah, could it be that you are a magical girl?"

"Eh? No no no, I'm a magician, okay?"

"So she can use magic? She's a magical girl, right? Can she transform?"

"Transform... No, this... This is different."

Facing what Saten Ruiko said, Index looked at her with wide eyes in confusion, like a kitten. Realizing that the two parties seemed to have no common topic in this regard, Saten Ruiko quickly changed direction.

"By the way, how did you get hung on my balcony?"

"Ah, that's because I wanted to jump from over there to the roof over here, but I accidentally fell down."

"roof?"

Hearing this, Ruiko Saten was also shocked. Although the apartment she lived in was not high, such a small child would be injured if she fell! But thank God, she was fine.

"Why would you do something so dangerous?"

Riri Saten looked at Index and asked, and Index quickly gave an answer.

"Because I'm being hunted."

"……Why?"

Because this word was too surreal, even Ruizi was unable to react for a moment.

"Being hunted?"

"Yes, I could have jumped over it, but I was hit halfway through the jump, so I fell down."

"Wait, you got hit? Are you okay? Do you want to call an ambulance?"

Hearing this, Riri Saten was so scared that she hurried to Index's side and looked her up and down. Fortunately, she didn't look injured.

"Oh, don't worry about me."

Index raised her hands proudly and showed her monastic uniform to Ruiko.

"This piece of clothing is called 'Mobile Church'. It is a top-level defensive barrier. It is no problem to resist a small attack."

Hmm... Is it something like the new bulletproof vests that Academy City has released?

Looking at Index showing off her monastic uniform with a confused look on her face, Ruizi didn't know what to say for a moment, but soon she remembered another thing.

"By the way, Index, you said you were being hunted by someone. Who was it that was hunting you?"

"I don't know either."

Index shook her head.

"Maybe it's the Rosicrucian or the Golden Dawn. Although I can guess which organizations they are, I don't know the names of those people."

“…”

Rosicrucian? Golden Dawn?

Is there such a club in Academy City? If it is the Incompetent Group, Saten Ruiko has heard Shirai Kuroko say it several times. Could it be that this little sister in front of her is being hunted down by the bad guys from the Armed Incompetent Group? If so, then they are going too far!

"So what are you going to do now? I have a friend who is a discipline committee member, maybe we can ask her to help you..."

"No."

However, to her surprise, the girl named Index shook her head, then stood up and walked towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I want to leave here. If I stay here, those people will chase me. You don't want your room to be blown up, do you?"

“Woo…”

Of course, Riri Saotome definitely didn't want to do that, because this was the little nest she had carefully decorated.

"But do you have anywhere to go?"

"No problem."

Index nodded vigorously.

"As long as I escape to the church, I will be protected."

"Church...I don't think there is a church in Academy City? Where is the church you are talking about?"

"London."

“…”

From Tokyo to London?

Are you kidding me?

"no!"

Seeing the girl about to push the door and leave, Lei Zi suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

"I can't just watch you leave. Come with me."

"You, don't do this. If you're with me, you'll be attacked too!"

"Don't worry. Like I said, I have a friend who is a member of the Discipline Committee. As long as I take you to the Discipline Committee's branch, there shouldn't be any problem. Ah... By the way, you can ask Mr. Fang Zheng for help!"

Although Saten Ruiko didn't know what Fang Zheng's identity was, in her impression, Fang Zheng's status should obviously be higher than Shirai Kuroko's. Because in the previous Fantasy Hand incident, Saten Ruiko had seen Fang Zheng ordering the guards and discipline committee members, and Shirai Kuroko seemed to have acknowledged his authority.

By the way, why not just go find Mr. Fang Zheng, he will definitely be able to solve this problem!

Thinking of this, Ruiko made a decision and grabbed Index's hand.

"Come with me, I will take you to a place that will definitely protect you."

"Hey? Hey?!"

It can be imagined that when Fang Zheng saw Lei Zi pulling Index in, he almost fell off his chair.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, Mr. Fang Zheng, good morning. It's like this..."

As she spoke, Lei Zi recounted to Fang Zheng what happened in the morning. Fang Zheng listened to Lei Zi's story and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

What is going on?

Logically speaking, shouldn't Index be raised by Kamijou Touma?

Why did he appear at Lei Zi's doorstep?

Could it be that the little girl also has the aura of a protagonist?

That doesn't make sense. She is not that guy like Kamijou Touma who pretends to be a pig but is actually a tiger. The little girl is just an ordinary person with no special abilities.

Of course, from what Riri Saotome said, she obviously didn't know anything about magicians or anything like that. She just thought that Index was attacked by some bad guys from an armed group of incompetents.

"Um……"

After listening to Ruiko Saotome's story, Fang Zheng thought for a while. However, at this moment, he saw Index stand up, come in front of him, then kneel on the ground, clench her hands, and make a prayer gesture.

"Nice to meet you. I am Index of the British Puritan Magical Index, and my magic name is Dedicatus 545."

"Um……"

Staring at the girl, Fang Zheng thought for a moment and then spoke.

"INDEX(array, row_num, [column_num])?"

“……???”

"Nothing, just an occupational disease. Um... hello, my name is Fang Zheng... Get up."

"Thank you so much."

After hearing what Fang Zheng said, Index stood up. At this moment, she finally revealed some of the aura of a clergyman that matched her. Looking at the girl in front of her, Ruiko Saten was a little confused. She didn't know why Index saluted Fang Zheng like that just now - was that a unique etiquette for foreign clergymen?

"Okay, so… you're being hunted by a magician?"

Fang Zheng leaned back in his chair, playing with the kitten in one hand, and asked, while Index nodded.

"Yes, I think their target should be the 103,000 magic books on me."

“…”

Is it really okay for you to tell me this so bluntly?

However, compared to Fang Zheng, Lei Zi was more concerned about another issue.

"Hey? Index, you have 13000 books on you? Are you also a user with the same ability as Frenda?"

Of course, Leizi knew that with Flanders ability, it would not be a problem for her to carry tens of thousands of books...

"No, I'm a magician."

However, Index shook her head and denied Saten's guess.

"Hey? Magician? But aren't you a nun?"

Lei Zi was a little confused. You know, in the game she played, the professions of nun and magician were usually separated.

"I am a magician, and I have all those 130,000 books memorized in my head."

“Wow… That’s amazing…”

Hearing this, Ruizi couldn't help but sigh. If she had this ability, she wouldn't have to memorize aerodynamic formulas until she died.

"hey-hey……"

Perhaps seeing the admiring expression on Ruiko's face, Index also puffed out her chest proudly.

"Solomon's Key, the Book of the Dead, the Book of the Dead, etc., all of these are in my mind."

"puff!"

However, Fang Zheng almost spit out water when he heard Index's smug words.

"Have you read the Book of the Dead? The one by Abdullah Alhasad?"

"Well, you know it very well."

"...How did you manage to stay awake and alive until now?"

Fang Zheng was really frightened this time. Oh my god, he didn't know that there was actually a Cthulhu worldview in Toaru Majutsu no Index? !

But if you think about it carefully... there is also a sea of ​​chaos under this world... the appearance of Cthulhu... doesn't seem to be a big surprise...

“…”

It’s better not to delve into it too deeply, as I always feel it’s not good for my mental health.

Fang Zheng coughed and decided to drop the topic.

"No problem, you can stay here for a while. Don't worry about who is chasing you. No one dares to do anything to you here."

Then he spoke.