Chapter 1: Hex Suspect of the Magician World.[Part 2]

After 8 PM, the real night of summer descended.

Kamijou's family was gathered at the first level of the seaside resort, sitting around the round table. Even though it was Kamijou's family, the roles had switched.

As 'Kamijou's friend', Kanzaki Kaori naturally blended into that crew of strange characters. Of course, to the rest, she was a rough red-haired foreign delinquent.

Kamijou was feeling rather insecure. Since they didn't know when Angel Fall would be complete, how could she be sitting down there so casually? But to Kanzaki, since the phenomenon was centered around Kamijou, it seemed like protecting Kamijou was also one of her priorities.

However, Tsuchimikado hadn't joined in. Right now, he should be playing with sea roaches along the barrier reefs. To the others, he was an idol who just got into trouble; and as a professional spy, Tsuchimikado most likely wouldn't want to get caught up with having to handle people.

So right now, everyone who was sitting around the round table were ordinary civilians (on the surface).

Everyone was hungry, but there was no sign of the shopkeeper.

Turning on the television, they only saw Komoe-sensei reporting the depressing news that the serial killer Hino Jinsaku had escaped from prison, and still had not been found. They were unable to use that as a topic for conversation.

Even though he didn't know what to say, Touya still tried to talk to Kanzaki.

"Hello, I'm Touma's father. I didn't know that Touma has foreign friends; it's really the age of globalisation. Ah, let me give you an Egyptian talisman as a greeting gift. It's a scarab from Egypt. It's said that once you have it, you won't get lost in the desert."

Touya pulled out a grounded pepper-sized bottle, and Kamijou was stunned before he shouted out.

There was a dried dead insect stored inside.

"Isn't this a dung beetle? Don't put such a thing on the dinner table, stupid dad!"

"No."

Kanzaki said calmly.

"In Egypt, the scarab represents transmigration. It is a representative gift of Egyptian culture, like the Eye of Horus and the Ankh (key of life)."

"Erm…yeah…that's right! Touma, Dad's not too sure, but you shouldn't be so quick to deny other countries' cultures like that."

"What…am I the only one? Am I the only one who feels that one shouldn't put a dried dead insect like that onto the dining table?"

Kamijou was hit greatly, but at that moment, Mikoto, who was sitting beside Kamijou, tugged his shirt and said, "…No, I'm on onii-chan's side. It's scary to use that kind of thing as a cell phone keychain. It may also tremble when the phone vibrates."

"I really want to thank you for your honest opinion, but hearing that act-cutesy voice of yours really irritates me."

"What!?"

Mikoto puffed her cheeks, but Kamijou completely ignored her.

At that moment, Kamijou remembered something.

Kamijou's family shouldn't have a little sister. To everyone, who was Mikoto?

Thus, Kamijou moved his position to secretly ask Index, who was taking the role of his mother.

"(Oi oi, let me ask you, who's that imouto? I'm really curious…)"

"Ara ara, so does Touma like girls who are like that little sister?"

Seeing his that his mother's brain was short-circuited, Kamijou raised his fist and knocked her head slightly as if he was knocking a faulty television.

"Ara ara, you really don't take care of a girl's feelings. That's Touma's cousin, Otohime."

"(…Cousin)?"

"Ara ara, has Touma forgotten about her already? Then you don't remember uncle and aunt Tatsugami already? You probably never met them ever since you graduated from kindergarten and entered Academy City. However, you did take an afternoon nap together with Otohime in the same bed."

"But…but no one was here yesterday?"

"She just came in this morning."

As they talked, footsteps could be heard from the entrance leading to the seaside. The owner was back.

"Sorry sorry, I didn't have time to say hello to you people. The loudspeaker on the seaside was broken, and it took a while to repair it."

The one closest to the owner, Kanzaki, turned around and said, "Please don't mind, the loudspeaker can be used to report any incoming tsunami and assist in relief work, it's most important to handle this since it involves human safety…Sti…Stiyl? What's going on?"

"Stiyl? Is that a common slang?"

The tall and huge man with long red hair said suspiciously.

"You're about to eat dinner, already, right? There's not much variety here, but the advantage here is that we're fast!"

"No…erm…(I was too careless…I forgot that Stiyl's here in Japan to hunt people down!)"

It seemed like Stiyl was completely controlled by Angel Fall. Thinking of which, all the magicians in the world should be the same now, and besides, there were very few magicians who detected that anomaly, like Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki.

Kanzaki muttered to herself, but the surrounding people didn't seem to notice it. Everyone was focused on choosing their main course from the few options of ramen, fried soba noodles and curry.

After the tall and huge boss took everyone's order, he took huge steps into the shop.

At that moment, Index placed her hand on her face as she stared at Kanzaki, and said, "Ara ara, your Japanese is really fluent. Aunty's really impressed."

"Eh?"

Kanzaki shoulders trembled slightly.

"Ah…it's…it's nothing, thanks for your compliments."

Though Kanzaki and Index were both members of the Anglican Church, for some reason, both of them were estranged from each other. Being talked to suddenly, Kanzaki was rather troubled.

Of course, the rest (including Kamijou, who had lost his memory) didn't know about that.

"Ara ara, humble and polite. Seeing you being so burly, aunty thought that you'll be a pretty rough person."

Being only slightly taller than an average Japanese, Kanzaki's shoulders trembled slightly.

However, the people surrounding her didn't seem to realize it.

Mikoto then said, "However, your choice of words is rather weird, it feels a bit feminine. You're so burly, it should be better for you to use a more masculine way of speaking. Also, your movements feel a bit like a girl."

Having trained more than an ordinary woman, Kanzaki's facial muscles trembled slightly.

She muttered slightly, "Only…only a little?"

At that moment, Kamijou sensed that something was wrong, but Touya added on, "Alright, alright, don't say it. Isn't language all about being able to convey the correct meaning? I believe he would say this should be because the one who first taught him Japanese was a woman. Also, it's not important whether he's burly or not, right?"

Kanzaki's entire body was already trembling slightly.

Kamijou tried to use his body language to tell Kanzaki,

(Kanzaki! Kanzaki! Everyone's not talking about you! They're just treating you as Stiyl Magnus! They're definitely not telling you that you're tall and burly, no matter what, you're a brave and stout man—!)

The next second, Kanzaki slowly stood up.

Kamijou didn't recognize that it was his words that were the most hurting.

Kanzaki grabbed Kamijou's collar and said slightly, "…(I see, so that's what you think?)"

After saying it, she dragged Kamijou away from the round table.

"(Hold…hold on! Where are you pulling me to? Are you going to execute me? Ah…it should be the bathroom over there…don't tell me…I heard of an interrogation method that's popular in American jails, that's to splash cold water on the criminals and make them lose heat..!)"

Kanzaki didn't reply.

Like a corpse, Kamijou was dragged further away.