An hour had passed since the Shinkansen pulled out of the station. As one might expect from a middle school field trip, the interior of the train was absolute chaos.
One group was huddled over a card game, while another loudly debated their itinerary for Kyoto over a mountain of snacks. Others had their earbuds jammed in, tuned out to the world, while a certain "business-minded" student—Chao, or rather, Satsuki—was already making rounds to the neighboring carriage to sell meat buns.
I wasn't entirely sure if commercial solicitations were allowed on the Shinkansen, but since the next car was also filled with Mahora students, I decided to let it slide.
"Hwahahaha! Dining on a station bento while the world blurs past the window... this is the true essence of travel!"
"Master, your tea."
"Mm."
The master and servant were certainly in their own world.
Meanwhile, my group was busy snacking and talking about our destination.
"When you think of Kyoto, you have to think of nama-yatsuhashi," Misa (Kakizaki) said, munching on a Pocky stick. "Hey, Axel-kun, you want to try some authentic Kyoto sweets, don't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah. They're famous even overseas."
Truth be told, I had a bit of a weakness for yatsuhashi... in my previous life, at least. Since becoming Axel, I hadn't had a single bite, so I was actually looking forward to it.
"I knew it! I did a little research, and apparently, they have more than just red bean filling now. There's strawberry, apple, chocolate... eek! W-wait, what is this?!"
Misa reached into her bag of chips, but what she pulled out wasn't a snack. It was a frog. For a second, I thought it was a prank—a rubber toy planted by the Narutaki twins or Misora—but the creature let out a very wet, very real croak.
"Kyaaa! There's one here too!"
"Eww! They're everywhere!"
Before I knew it, the "Frog Panic" had spread beyond our table and was sweeping through the entire carriage. There weren't just ten or twenty of them; there had to be over a hundred.
"E-everyone, please! Help me collect them!" Ayaka shouted, her voice trembling but her leadership instincts still intact.
Several students had already short-circuited or fainted from the shock. Shizuna-sensei and Mana (Nagase) were among the first to drop.
Great, I thought. The teacher who knows about magic and the ninja who's supposed to be stealthy are the first ones to pass out. Real helpful, guys.
Fortunately, the rest of Class 3-A was surprisingly sturdy. We banded together and managed to round up the amphibious invaders. But there was no way this was a coincidence. This was magic.
"Negi, you okay?" I asked.
"A-Axel-kun. Yeah, I'm fine, but..."
"Big Bro Axel, this has to be them," Chamo whispered from Negi's shoulder, keeping his voice low.
"Yeah. The Kansai Magic Association."
"But why frogs?" Negi wondered.
"Could be a simple distraction... or a test to see who reacts with magic, helping them identify who's 'in the know' among us."
"Wait! Could it be...!"
Negi suddenly began patting himself down in a panic.
"Let's see... not here. Then... hah! Found it!"
He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled the Chief's personal letter from his inner jacket pocket.
"You idiot!" I hissed. "Don't pull out the 'Quest Item' when you don't even know what the enemy is after!"
"Eh? But—"
Negi started to argue, but even if the "attack" looked like a playground prank, it was still an assault. Flaunting the very thing the enemy likely wanted was the height of carelessness.
My warning was a second too late. Or perhaps I should credit the enemy's speed.
With a sharp whoosh, something blurred past. The letter was snatched right out of Negi's hand. The thief banked high, flying just out of my reach.
My kinetic vision caught it clearly: it was a swallow. But no ordinary bird would dive-bomb a passenger for a piece of mail.
"What?!"
"Negi! After it!"
"Right!"
We sprinted toward the end of the carriage. As we ran, Chamo explained the concept of Shikigami. Apparently, despite his appearance, the ermine was quite knowledgeable about the "Onmyoujutsu" used in the Far East.
As we crossed into the next car, we nearly collided with the food cart vendor again. We offered a quick apology and kept moving. I let Negi pull ahead, then stopped and turned back to the woman.
"Are you hurt?"
"Ah, I'm fine. Thank you kindly," she replied.
"Heh. A Kansai accent, huh?"
She stiffened. "Is... is there something wrong with that? This train is bound for Kyoto, after all. It's hardly strange."
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