toaru majutsu no index - volume 02

7/25/2019 Toaru Majutsu No Index - Volume 02

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PROLOGUE

The Same Usual Every Day.

The_Beginning_of_The_End.

It was said that to understand someone, one just needed to look at their bookshelf.

A pile of manga.

The date was August 8th. Kamijou Touma had looked around the room, and found thathe could not find any book that wasnt manga not only on his bookshelf, but alsothroughout the house. Thus, in order to save face, Kamijou Touma had decided to headto the train station of Academy City to buy some reference books.

That was his intention.

To think that one reference book costs 3,600 yen

Kamijou Touma muttered as if he just lost terribly in a great battle. And according to theshop attendant, all the reference books were sold at half price until yesterday in order to

promote the summer exams.

(Such misfortune)

It was really unfortunate.

However, that was basically Kamijou Toumas everyday life.

Besides, he was a very popular guy simply because his friends felt that with him around,he could absorb all of their bad luck like a lightning rod.

The problem was that it was a precarious situation right now.

No matter what, he must avoid the label of being a person with only manga on theirbookshelves. Of course, that wasnt normal; an ordinary person wouldnt think aboutthat unscientific sort of judgment.

However, Kamijou had a big reason why he had to care.

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It was because Kamijou Touma had lost his memory.

Of course, it wasnt like he had forgotten everything. He didnt forget the meaning of thetraffic lights, and he didnt forget how to use a cell phone.

What he had lost were his memories; his knowledge was still present.

It meant that even though he remembered how to use a cell phone, his mind began towonder about things like Eh? Where did I put my cell phone? or Hold on, since whendid I get a cell phone?

His knowledge was like a dictionary.

For example, ones knowledge may know that an apple was a fruit of the Rosaceaedeciduous tree that bloomed in the spring and bore a ball-shaped fruit. However, onehad to eat the fruit to decide whether it tasted good or not. That was because his brain

didnt have a diary-like memory stating that he ate a delicious apple on a certain day.

He was told that the reason was because the episodic memory part of his brain thatgoverns recollection, rather than the semantic memory part that governs information,was destroyed. However, that was not the main issue.

The problem was that Kamijou Touma wanted to know what sort of person he wasbefore he had lost his memory.

Even if he had to follow that baseless explanation of understanding himself by checkinghis bookshelf.

However, that didnt mean that Kamijous expression was that of pain.

Besides, Kamijou wasnt alone, and he hadnt been thrown into some unknown world.He didnt lack either food or clothes, and he did have friends that he could callcompanions.

Touma!

On the way back home in summer, a girl who was beside the half-dead Kamijou criedout in anger at facing that sudden shopping spree (basically, Kamijou used more than athousand yen to go for what was called an assault).

She was about thirteen or fourteen years old, and one could tell that she was a foreigner.Her waist-length hair was silver, and her skin was as white as snow. Her eyes were greenlike emeralds.

However, what made one realize most easily that she was a foreigner was her outfit.

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She wore a Christian nuns habit that was uniquely white and with gold lacings. Itseemed like the gold-outlined cups that upstarts enjoyed using.

The girls name was Index.

Of course, that wasnt her real name, but it was the name everyone used to call her.

Kamijou met that girl in the hospital.

No, from Kamijous perspective, he met her at the hospital, but it seemed that he hadalready met her before he lost his memories. Even though Kamijou couldnt think ofanything related to the girl no matter how much he tried to recall, he didnt really wantto say that out loud.

On the day when he had first met the girl, she cried tears of happiness for Kamijou asshe stared at him on the bed.

However, those tears were shed not for the current Kamijou, but for the pre-memoryloss Kamijou.

Kamijou couldnt bear to break the happiness in the girls heart. In order to protect thewarmth in the girl, Kamijou Touma had to continue to act as if he had never lost hismemories.

It was a complicated feeling

It was as if Kamijou Touma had become two people.

However, the girl with the alias Index didnt seem to notice the conflict within Kamijousheart (though to be fair, he didnt want her to realize it). From a position lower thanKamijou by a head, she looked up and stared unhappily at Kamijou.

Touma, what could we have done with 3,600 yen?

Dont say it.

What could we have done?

The girl asked again. Just as Kamijou stuffed his ears and shut his eyes while shoutingDont say it! to escape from reality, he suddenly realized that the girl who was walkingbeside him wasnt looking at him.

Curious, Kamijou stared at where Index was looking at, and found that the shop sign ofan ice cream shop was spinning in front of him.

It was August 8th, and since it was a hot summer afternoon, there was a heat wavefloating above the floor, and Indexs habit was long-sleeved and was most likely hot

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I understand your feelings, but isnt spending 3,600 yen too much?

Hmph.

Index seemed to be unhappy with those words as she turned to look at Kamijou.

Touma, I never said that Im hot or that Im about to get heatstroke. Of course I neverthought of spending other peoples money to satisfy myself, so I never thought of eatingice cream at all.

I know nuns dont tell lies, but you dont have to be so sweaty and give me thoseabandoned puppy eyes, right? Cant you just tell me that you want to eat ice cream in anair-conditioned room? The weathers so hot, yet youre still wearing that nuns habit thatdoesnt even consider the impact of weather. You may get heatstroke like that.

Though Kamijou sounded really generous, that was just him saving face. The amount of

money in his wallet wasnt going to change. Of course, it didnt mean that he couldnteven buy ice cream, but if he did that, he wouldnt have enough money to take a rideback. Academy City was one-third the size of Tokyo, and to Kamijou, who had justrecovered from a heavy injury, and the weak Index, it wasnt a place that could betrekked easily. Though the term weak girls may be a bit sexist, there werent that manygirls who could walk one-third the size of Tokyo.

However, Index seemed to be unhappy for some reason as she started to get evenangrier.

She frowned and said, Touma, this clothing is a materialization of Gods protection; Inever thought about it being hard to wear, being hot, being troublesome, or whetherthere should be a summer or winter version.

Right.

Being righteous and being kind were two different models, and Kamijou Toumaunderstood that cruel reality clearly.

And there was something really weird. Why were there safety pins all over that nunhabit that had such an extravagant design?

And besides, Im still a nun-in-training. Besides cigarettes and wine, even coffee, red

tea, fruits, sweets, iced items Im forbidden from taking any of these luxury items.

Oh, I see. At first, I thought about saying that eating ice cream is a good way to relievethe summer heat.

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If some people decided to implicate some religious reasons, it was impossible to forcethem to change their minds.

Kamijou again stared at the signboard of the ice cream shop.

Since thats the case, alright. Its not like we need to eat it

Before Kamijou could finish speaking, a hand suddenly grabbed him at a sonic boomspeed. Kamijou, unable to resist the huge force exerted by that girls fingers, had to turnhis head around.

Its its true that Im still in training and that Im forbidden from having any excessivestuff.

Then no way.

But since Im still in training, it means that I cant completely follow a saints standards,right? So, in this situation, there might be a case where some ice cream accidentallywent into my mouth. Isnt that right, Touma?

Though Kamijou really wanted to lecture her badly, the force exerted by the girls fingerswas becoming stronger, seemingly hinting him to not say any more. However, the naiveIndex didnt know that silence may be even worse than talking back.

At that moment

Hey, sorry to disturb you all in this important conversation, but whos that girl, Kami-yan?

A mysterious fake Kansai accent came from behind.

Looking behind, it was a weirdo whose voice was even weirder. He was 180 centimeterstall, and had blue hair and earrings he was too weird to be a weirdo.

Did the pre-memory loss Kamijou Touma really have such a friend?

Kamijou couldnt help but think, (Even though I dont know what I have with thatperson since I completely lost my memories, I should at least choose my friends better!)

Kamijou felt like he was lecturing others as he cursed himself.

Hm, whats up, Kami-yan? Why are you looking at me like you just saw a stranger? Didthe summer heat cause you to lose your memories?

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What?

Kamijou was shocked. Aogami Pierce, however, raised his hand and waved it about.

Im just joking, man~. This memory loss thing is a special privilege only to those

unbelievable Denpa Otome1

, right?

Then, Aogami Pierce put his hand on Kamijous shoulder (though its ridiculously hot).

Hey, Kami-yan, whos that girl? How do you know such a small girl? Is she yourcousin? Doesnt look like it. Her silver hair doesnt look like its inherited from yourgenes!

The biggest problem with that guy was that his whispering was so loud that it wasnteven a whisper.

Kamijou broke out in cold sweat, worried about whether the girl beside him would gocrazy because of the word small but luckily, it seemed that wasnt the case.

From the way I see it, this girl should be only asking directions from you, right? Butwith your English still in country-isolation mode, that may be rather hard for you Holdon, is that girl from an English-speaking country?

Kamijou also didnt know what he was talking about. And to Index, perhaps she wasrather used to having others call her small. She seemed like she didnt mind at all, onlyglaring viciously at the sun that was burning down. Maybe she was so hot that she didntwant to say anything.

Speaking of which, Kami-yan, I dont know where you met this girl, but dont feelrelaxed by this alone. Besides, you gained sixteen years of trust and good-manperformances, so you should know that a simple meeting with a girl isnt possible. Isntit like that in love comedies? The one with the crush is always someone like a youngmother! Haha~ if such an event happens, all hope is gone! Its really pitiful thinkingabout it.

Kamijou heaved a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that this wasnt the case in those old-fashioned dramas.

At that moment, Aogami Pierce said, Hold on, is that a cross-dressing trap? Isnt her

chest a little too small?

Immediately, Kamijou seemed to hear the girls blood vessels explode.

1or Denpa Otome means wave girl. Denpa is a term to coin someone who has a really strange or

eccentric behavior without any apparent reason, hence the wave made me do it; you might recognize the word

as it is also the name of a novel, where the titular character is actually quite weird.

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Kamijou forced himself to not make a blood-curdling cry.

It seemed like though the girl could endure being called young, she couldnt take beingcalled a boy.

Kamijou seemed to hear her barely maintaining her smile as she gnashed her teeth.

(Such misfortune!)

Just as Kamijou wanted to shout that

Hey, Kami-yan. How can real good men like us be good friends with a 3D girl? Therelldefinitely be a Bad End. I can see it: just as Kami-yan takes off the final piece of clothingfrom the girl and goes into the R18 moment, you finally find out the truth, and roll offthe bed in shock.

Youre joking, right? Dont tell me you really feel this way!

Eh? Is she really a girl? How uninteresting! With a happy expression, Aogami Piercesaid, So your encounter must be abnormal, right? Kami-yan, though youve alwaysbeen a good guy nobody loved, you cant just kidnap a girl, you know? Suchfoolhardiness will get flamed on those image boards when you leave them there.

Idiot stop making such a joke! Whod do such a thing!? Actually, Kamijou didntremember how he had met her. This person right here is just a freeloader! Everythingwas done under negotiations on both sides, sergeant-dono!

Freeloader? Freeloader? Kami-yan, you just added a just to an extremely preciousfreeloader girl? Kami-yan! Youre like an elementary school kid who just ate too manysnacks and forgot the essence of rice!

Shut up! How can I express it except with a just!? Since when can those romanticscenes happen so often in real life!? Do you know how Kamijous finances are in a crisisbecause of this person right here!? Even a zashiki warashi is better than her!

Just when Kamijou was shouting out that conversation, he suddenly realized something.

Of course, the girl Index who was nearby had heard all of it.

Ah.

Kamijou looked back with an expression of terror.

Index was smiling. She was revealing a Virgin Mary-like smile, but her face was as greenas a honey dew. This was bad. Not knowing what the pre-memory loss Kamijou Toumadid, he didnt know if he could calm Index down in that situation.

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(If I was able to, then the loss of my memory was really a pity,) Kamijou thought.

Touma.

Index spoke while revealing a perfect smile.

(Its all over,) Kamijou thought, but he could barely respond.

...What is it, sister-sama?

Im a nun affiliated with the Anglican Church. Repent now or forever hold your peace.

The nun drew a cross in front of her chest, and clasped her hands together.

As the smile was too perfect, one could tell that it was an act.

Kamijou unknowingly wanted to clutch his head and cry out.

This was a bombno, it was an unexploded bomb.

(If I handle this carelessly, it may explode, and this will be the end of my life!)

Kamijous instincts were telling him that.

(What should I do, what should I do? Ah! Thats it, ice cream! Use ice cream to distracther!)

Extremely confused now, Kamijou forgot how he should talk as he could only pointcrazily in the direction of the ice cream shop in front of him. Looking puzzled, Indexlooked in the direction Kamijou was pointing at, and then stopped. Then, she revealed apuzzled look.

Just as Kamijou heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that he had managed to divert herattention, he suddenly saw something.

There seemed to be a piece of paper on the automatic door.

The paper read:

To our customers, due to interior renovations, we will be suspending our business forthe time being. Were sorry for any inconvenience.

With his mind thinking of a Bad End, Kamijou slowly turned his head towards the girlbeside him.

The girls smile instantly vanished.

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Just as Kamijou shouted Such misfortune!, the savage beast-like Index pounced.

In the end, they had a compromise and agreed on buying shakes from a cheap fast food

restaurant.

Of course Index wouldnt be satisfied by that, so Kamijou had tried to use the incentiveof being able to enjoy the food in an air-conditioned room to please her. However, theshop was actually crammed full in the afternoon.

Holding the tray with both hands, Index looked unhappy again and remained silent.There were three shakes on the tray, one vanilla, one chocolate, and one strawberry.Though Kamijou really wanted to shout Are you that thirsty?, he didnt dare to retort

out of fear that his life would be at risk.

(Such misfortune,) Kamijou thought.

Index, whose mood had improved somewhat after getting three shakes for herself, wascurrently facing a tough situation where the shop was completely filled with customers.However, the weather was so hot that they couldnt just stay outside. They had finallymanaged to enter a shop with the air conditioning on, so who would want to go back tothe streets to stand under the sun?

The nearby female high school students didnt seem to realize Kamijous despair as they

continued to talk about extremely ordinary topics.

Yo, yo! I heard that Anzai used telepathy during the last exam! Is it true?

I heard that they even organized a teachers meeting because of that, so it should betrue. But I also heard that everyone at the meeting agreed that psychic powers are a partof the curriculum, so its not considered cheating.

Uu, thats despicable! Nyaaa!! Then I want to use my power as well!

Isnt your power Pyrokinesis?

Cant I just set fire to the teachers back and force him to spill out the answers?

Perhaps to a lot of people, such a conversation may have been a bit too out of theordinary. But this was Academy City, and that was a very common part of their everydaylife. As the 2.3 million citizens of the city had some sort of power, it could be called alarge-scale power development group.

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In fact, Kamijou was an esper. He was the boy called the Imagine Breaker, with the righthand that had the ability to negate any supernatural power, even if it was a miracle ofGod.

Touma, I really want to sit down, Index said in an emotionless tone.

(Scary.)

The expression of the nun was telling him that if he didnt comply, she would again leapover and bite him.

Kamijou shouted Affirmative!, and rushed to a shop attendant who was sweeping thefloor.

Haa, if there is no other way then how about sharing a table?

The shop attendant merely revealed a cruel, professional smile and pointed to a cornerby the window.

Share a table? Kamijou looked over at where the finger was pointing.

Uuu!?

There was a four-seater table over there, and in that shop that was like a peak-hour trainstation, a huge space appeared between the crowd like a huge hole.

And over there

On that table

Was a shrine maiden.

The shrine maiden was sleeping with her face on the table.

There was shiny black hair that was like a jellyfish scattered all over, covering the shrinemaidens face.

(Wha)

(Whats with this scenario?) Kamijou cried out deep within.

(Not right, somethings not right.)

Kamijous misfortune radar was warning him.

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(Dont get involved with her, dont get involved with her, youll definitely beunfortunate! When that happens, it wont be something thats going to be solved with aloss of memory!)

Of course, Kamijou Touma was an unlucky person, but it wasnt like he wanted to be one.

He closed his eyes and made his decision.

(Alright, lets go home! Id rather get bitten by Index than get involved with such aperson.)

Having made that conclusion, Kamijou turned back to look, and found that both of themhad already disappeared.

?

Kamijou looked around.

Ack!

As expected, under the suggestion of the other shop attendant, Index had already satopposite that mysterious shrine maiden. That girl really lacked an awareness of danger.Or was she a philanthropist? As for Aogami Pierce who was beside them, his eyes weregleaming.

(Are nuns and shrine maidens really that attractive to you?)

He really wanted to run away.

But he couldnt. If he turned his back on Index and ran away, Index may leap at him likea lion and swallow him whole. And seeing Aogami Pierce whose eyes were glittering, hefelt that it was too dangerous to leave that girl alone.

But most importantly

Index, who had a gulp of strawberry shake in her mouth, was happily waving him over.Kamijou had a thought that he shouldnt wreck that expression.

Nonetheless, there was still a mysterious shrine maiden sleeping at the table.

Kamijou carefully approached the table. At that moment, the shrine maidens shouldersjerked.

Sp

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Her mouth moved. The shrine maidens mouth moved. Kamijou had a bad feeling. Avery bad feeling. Why? Having lost his memories, Kamijou definitely couldnt rememberanything, but he had a feeling that he experienced something similar before.

Kamijou gulped down his saliva, waiting for the shrine maiden to say something.

The shrine maiden spoke.

Spent all my money on food and ruined myself.

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CHAPTER 1

A Tower of Glass.

The_Tower_of_BABEL.

Part 1

It was a windowless room.

There were no doors, stairs, lifts, or corridors. For being part of a building, the roomdidnt have any functions. There was no way to enter the building except via a Level 4sTeleport ability. It could be said to be the strongest stronghold.

A single magician stood within the Calculate Fortress building thats strength easilysurpassed that of a nuclear shelter.

His name was Stiyl Magnus.

Stiyl, who was well-versed in runic magic, especially flame magic, was also an Anglicanpriest. It could be considered an exception to see a fourteen-year-old well-versed in

magic that could kill other magicians.

Actually, he wasnt supposed to be there.

That didnt refer to the building, but to the city as a whole. He was one of the membersof the 0thParish of the Anglican Church, Necessarius, and the Academy City he was inwas a purely scientific environment that rejected all ideas of the occult and producedespers through drugs, body manipulation, and hypnotism.

His current presence there was as unnatural as mixing a tarot card into a poker deck.

However, there was a reason for him to be there even though he shouldnt be.

He was currently acting as a representative of the Anglican Church to negotiate withAcademy City on equal standing. However, as a representative, he had some characterflaws.

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He was a man who would kill without hesitation.

He could order flames to swallow a living person without hesitation.

But even so, that sort of person was still unable to get used to the scene in front of him.

The space was too large to be called indoors, and there was supposedly no lighting, butthe room seemed to be filled with starry-like lights. That was because the walls had beenset up with numerous screens and flashing buttons. Equipment of all sizes, thousands ofcables, and tubes were gathered at the center of the room like blood vessels on the floor.

There was a huge cylinder in the middle of the room.

It was four meters in diameter and over ten meters in height. The cylindrical container

that was made of reinforced glass had red liquid filled inside it.

It was said that this color represented a weak alkaline recovery fluid. Of course, to themagician Stiyl, that scientific thing wasnt part of his specialty, so he wouldnt be able tounderstand even after listening to it.

Inside the beaker was a human wearing a green surgical cloak that was floating upsidedown.

There were no words to describe him except human. The silver-haired humanlooked masculine yet feminine, adult yet childlike, and saintly yet sinful.

Had he obtained all the possibilities that a human could only wish for? Or had he givenup on all the possibilities that a human had?

Either way, one thing that could be certain was that only the word human coulddescribe him.

Everyone who came here would observe me and make the same response as you

The human in the cylinder spoke. He sounded masculine yet feminine, adult yetchildlike, and saintly yet sinful.

But why let a human do this when machines can do so?

In other words, that was how that human existed.

His own life could be maintained by machines, so it was meaningless for him to doanything. That human who seemed like he had extended his lifespan to 1,700 yearswas now right in front of Stiyl.

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Stiyl felt fear.

He wasnt afraid of Academy Citys scientific technology that could run a life for humans,but the way that human existed. As he could use machines to maintain his life, hecould abandon his body of flesh without hesitation and leave himself to machines.

It was really terrifying to see a human who was twisted enough to live on like that.

I suppose you should know why I called you here The board chairman of AcademyCity, the human Aleister who was floating upside-down, said with a stern tone, Thesituation has become complicated right now.

Seeing Aleister say that, Stiyl inadvertently frowned. That was because he couldntimagine that human in front of him actually saying something that showed weaknesslike the situation has become complicated right now.

Its regarding Deep Blood, am I correct?

Stiyl, who normally neglected honorifics, used them with Aleister.

Of course, it wasnt just because he was a representative of the Church, but also becausehe knew that once Aleister detected hostility from him, he would be diced up. It was notan overall issue of hostility; even if it were misunderstanding or misconception, ifAleister decided it, Stiyls life would end.

That was because he was in the main base of the enemy, the command center of 2.3million espers.

Fuu. Noticing Stiyl trembling, Aleister said, It wouldnt be a problem if only esperswere involved, because thats one of the espers I had. As long as any citizen in this citycreates a commotion, there are about 70,632 ways to deal with it and cover it up

On hearing that, Stiyl didnt really have any special feeling about it. He wasnt reallyinterested in what emergency procedures Academy City had, since he didnt reallyunderstand how the Science side worked.

What has complicated matters is that one of your people has taken part in this when

he shouldnt have.

Thus, Stiyl was only thinking of that.

Deep Blood. It came not from Academy Citys Bank, but from a record in The BritishLibrary. From the wording, one could imagine that it was used to kill a certain livingthing that may or may not exist. Nobody knew what kind of ability it was nor whether itwas genuine. All that was known was that a girl had such an ability.

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Perhaps there was a device that could read peoples thoughts through temperature orblood flow.

I do possess an esper who is a natural enemy of your people.

Stiyl froze immediately.

Imagine Breaker. The boy who had fought a battle of life and death against Stiyl twoweeks ago. Any supernatural power; not just magic, but esper powers and miracles fromthe territory of God, would be negated on contact with his right hand. That power couldbe considered an exception among exceptions.

But didnt you say that you cant use espers to beat magicians?

You dont have to worry about that.

Aleister said in a tone as if he had memorized it.

Firstly, hes a Level 0, so he doesnt carry any valuable information. Even if I let him gowork with you, theres no fear that hell leak information on our secrets.

Secondly, his brain isnt so smart that he can understand the technology of the Magicside and duplicate it. Thus, even if he goes along with you, your technology wont beunderstood by us.

(That old fox)

For the first time, Stiyl harbored some hatred for Aleister.

(What is that human in front of me thinking of?)

Stiyl really didnt understand. No matter what, Imagine Breaker definitely shouldnt beclassified as a weak Level 0. Stiyl had experienced that in his battle.

It was true that the workings of Imagine Breaker wasnt something that could beunderstood with just one or two looks, and he definitely couldnt duplicate it and bring itback to the Church. However, it should be the same for Academy City. No, at least Stiylhoped that it was the same for time. If Academy City had a way to duplicate thatImagine Breaker ability, the Church wouldnt have any existence. Even sacred treasuresfrom a millennium ago would be destroyed on contact with his right hand.

But Aleister didnt seem to be treasuring that precious Imagine Breaker at all.

It was like he was giving a saint in training all sorts of trials.

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It was like using a heavy hammer to strike a hot metal used to form a sharp powerfulsword.

And more importantly, that boy had the knowledge of 103,000 grimoires with him. Wasthat really alright?

His inner thoughts were conflicting with his words. Though Stiyl was harboring suchsuspicions, he was not showing it on his face.

Also, he was careful not to show it. If it was regarding that girl, Stiyl didnt want to raiseany sort of issue.

Deep Blood.

Stiyl muttered. His expression was like a scholar who had found something that he wasunable to explain.

Does Deep Blood really exists? If it does, that means

Stiyl was unable to continue on.

Deep Blood. If that existed, then that certain living thing that it must kill must alsohave existed. In other words, if he believed in the existence of Deep Blood, it meant thatthe existence of that certain living thing was a fact.

Hm, the occult is not our specialty, but your peoples field. But, even your world has toadmit that something that truly defies common sense exist, right?

(Of course,) Stiyl cursed in his heart.

The magic power that magicians used could be described as something like gasoline. Inother words, using their lifespan and mana, as crude oil, by regulating ones breathingand the flowing of ones blood and by meditating, it was refined into the easier-to-usegasoline.

Thus, magicians werent all powerful. No matter how they searched for even high-skilledmagic, the amount of gasoline was finite.

However, that creature didnt have such a limitation.

This certain creature had the ridiculous characteristic of being immortal, which meantthat they had infinite magical power. Even if the earths resources would run out one day,the magical power of this certain creature would never run out.

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That human in front of him was something who believed that machines could replaceall human actions.

To that human, which were mechanical?

To that human, which were human?

However

The human spoke.

The human that looked masculine yet feminine, adult yet childlike, and saintly yetsinful made an expression which could be considered a smile, and said, If you saythat Deep Blood proves the existence of vampires, just what on earth does the ImagineBreaker prove?

Part 2

Kamijou Touma was at a loss for words.

The no-smoking zone of the second level of the fast food restaurant was packed full withpeople. Kamijou Touma, Index, and Aogami Pierce were sitting at a four-seater table.

(Hm, so far so good.)

Spent all my money on food and ruined myself.

(But why is there a shrine maiden lying on a table in such a crude shop and actuallysaying such ridiculous words!?)

The shrine maiden was about as old as Kamijou and was wearing a typical shrinemaiden outfit. The waist-length hair made her look like a textbook example of a shrinemaiden.

The heavy presence was like that in an elevator.

(What should I do?) Kamijou wondered.

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Awkward. He had not expected her to react to his perfectly honest words and because ofthat the atmosphere became super awkward.

Ah, I didnt mean it like that. I actually wanted to say idiot, but why did you order somany? I just meant to make the conversation go smoothly. I might be blunt, but its a

proof of my friendless, I dont have bad intentions! And the sister and blue-haired dudebehind us, dont look over here with those eyes!!

Unable to withstand the pressure, Kamijou started to shout crazily.

Frustration meal.

The corpse-like shrine maiden that had stopped moving suddenly spoke such words.

Ha?

Train fare back home, four hundred yen.

Facing those suspicious words from the shrine maiden, Kamijou could only swallow hissaliva. Kamijou didnt have any memories of taking a train, but he knew that taking atrain or a bus in Academy City was extremely expensive.

What has four hundred yen for a train ride back has to do with a frustration meal?

My total fortune, three hundred yen.

And the reason is?

Overspending, lack of planning.

So thats why Im having a frustration meal.

Kamijou barely managed to swallow the words you idiot that was about to come out ofhis throat.

After careful consideration, he said, But why dont you use that three hundred yen forthe train ride? If thats the case, you can cut the distance until its just a hundred yendistance. If not, why cant you just borrow a hundred yen from someone?

That ideas good.

Why are you staring at me like that? Or rather, dont turn your expectant look to me!!

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Kamijou frantically let his body back away from the shrine maiden as much as possible.He had already spent 3,600 yen (meaninglessly just to buy a reference book), and evenbought three shakes just to calm Index down, so even though it was just a hundred yen,it was a heavy burden to him.

Speaking of which

The shrine maiden who then lifted her face up was unexpectedly beautiful.

She was a little different from the foreigner Index. She had skin that was as white as aJapanese person which was even more visible under the black eyes and hair. Though hereyes lacked emotion, it also meant that she was not aggressive. Even if she wantedsomeone to be with her, she gave the feeling of comfort. It could be said to be atremendous encompassing power.

Index scowled and glared at him.

Y-youre kidding. Kami-yans actually talking to a girl to actually be talking to a girl hejust met for the first time... it cant be true!

Aogami Pierce grumbled angrily, truly attempting to ruin Kamijous reputation.

Shut up, Aogami Pierce! Gather at the back of the gym later, you business contactbastard! As for you, find a way to get a hundred yen by yourself and go home!Transmission complete!

What do you mean? Kami-yan, its strange to end the talk here! For a man who forsixteen years was in the group of dejected losers, how did you become acquaintanceswith girls of such unique attributes like a sister and a shrine maiden within two weeks!?What? What kind of galge is this, sensei?!

Aogami Pierce cried out in confusion and Kamijou truly desired to reward him with apunch. However, as they sat diagonally, he could not do so. Just examining the positionsof their seats was enough to see how misfortunate Kamijou was.

One hundred yen please.

The shrine maiden lifted her head and stared with a complicatedly pained expression.She continued.

No good

No good. Dont lend to those that dont lend

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The shrine maiden pondered for a while and said, So stingy. Wont even lend amere one hundred yen.

Whos the idiot who doesnt even have a hundred yen!?

Kamijou inadvertently retorted back.

Kami-yaaan, how can you respond like that so naturally? As one who has the fate ofbeing in the group of dejected losers, you should not be able to respond normally infront of a beauty!

Aogami Pierce let out a voice that seemed like it was squeezed out from the bottom ofhell.

Beauty.

The shrine maidens eyes waved, causing one to wonder what she was thinking about.

Lend me a hundred yen since Im beautiful.

Geh! Shut up, you terrible woman! An ill-natured woman who sells her own looks to getmoney, isnt a beauty at all! It was futile in the first place since I just bought three shakesso I dont have any money to spare!

Th-thank goodness, Kami-yan. You still think that a beautiful girlss heart must be pure,so you havent left the 2-D world?

...In other words, Touma. If you didnt get me this shake you would have handed her100 yen and settle the issue. Thats what youre saying, right? Humph.

The stares and cries of outrage began to surface and they far surpassed Kamijouscomputing abilities.

Kamijou grabbed his head, wondering which point he should settle first. At that point,Index, slurping the shake with a straw, was glaring at the shrine maiden with hostility.

Humph. Seeing that youre wearing red pants, I suppose you do divinations, right? Soshrine maidens who do divinations will also sell their faces, right? I even heard that theterm shrine maiden was a hidden way of calling a whore in the Heian period, right?

Kamijou jumped up and shouted on hearing that, and Aogami Pierce was going crazy forsome reason, shouting Hahaha, a sister and a shrine maiden are going at it!.

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Could it be that I am like one of those hopeless cases that gets reported on in thenews?

A completely exhausted Kamijou muttered to himself. How would the Kamijou Toumabefore he lost his memories have viewed the situation? In fact, the source of the two of

them living together was the Kamijou Touma before he lost his memories. What theheck were you doing without me knowing, Kamijou Touma! He roared in his heart.

Ah!

Walking halfway, Index suddenly stopped, seemingly seeing something.

Eh? Feeling depressed, Kamijou stared where Indexs gaze was directed. At the base ofa windmill turbine sat a corrugated paper box with a kitten purring inside.

Touma! Ca

No way!

Kamijou interrupted Index before she could finish.

...Touma, I havent said anything yet!

Were not raising it

Why why why why cant we raise Sphinx?

Because our student dormitory doesnt allow us to have pets and I dont have anymoney! Also, dont already give it a name! And what, Sphinx?! Dont give that name to aJapanese calico cat!!

Why dont you keep a cat! Do as you are told!3

???...Hah! Dont think Ill listen to you if keep on uttering English words!

No way! Kaukaukaukaukaukaukaukaukaukaukaukaukaauu!!

Even with such a strange Stand-like screaming attack4, no means no! Now look, didntthe stray cat get scared and run into the alley!?

Its all Toumas fault!

Mine!?

3This was spoken in English.4A reference to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

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Gugyah!

The two shouted at each other in the summer evening.

Kamijou casually thought. How did the pre-memory loss Kamijou Touma treat this girl?

was his question. There probably isnt a sure answer to those feelings.

That was happiness.

But at the same time, it was slightly lonesome.

After all, the girl was not looking at the current Kamijou. What made her completely atease and the person she wanted to show her extraordinary smile to was the pre-memoryloss Kamijou Touma.

It was a painful thing to say.

Even so, Kamijou still intended to struggle on.

Humph, the Japanese shamisen are made from torn off cat skins! Why must thiscountry only do harsh things to cats!?

Dont overtly criticize other countries cultures, you idiot! In fact, dont you Englishfolks also love to gather together and chase down foxes, right!?

Wha... Fox hunting is the Great Britains tradition and pride!

Shouting halfway, Index suddenly noticed something and moved away.

W-What? The cat? Youve gone back to that cat from earlier!?

Kamijou looked around. However, the shadow of the cat couldnt be seen.

Thats strange, Touma it seems that a flow of magic power is being gathered nearby.

Index stared at Kamijou and muttered.

...The attribute is earth, color is green. This ritual... uses the earth as a medium tointroduce magic power and acts through conscious intervention...

It seemed like a monologue of the contents of her deep thought were leaving her mouth.

What the hell? As Kamijou examined the situation, Index spoke one word.

...Runes?

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Spinning around and showing a sharp glint in her eyes reminiscent of the cutting edge ofa knife, Index began to run vigorously towards the back alley of the gap between thebuildings on the side of the road.

W-, hey, Index!

It looks like someone has set up a magic circle. Ill go investigate it Touma, so go backfirst! As soon as she said that, Indexs figure disappeared into the interior of the backalley.

She told me to go back first, but

Kamijou thought that she was quite the mysterious girl. He thought it but he could notsimply leave her behind. This was because a girl went into a really shady back alley byherself. He thought her encounter rate with an incident was like in a mid-grade RPG ofpoor quality.

Misfortune reared its head again and Kamijou sighed.

He raised his foot to follow her into the alley. But, at the same instant, a voice came frombehind him.

Its been a while, Kamijou Touma.

His foot, about to step into the alley, stopped.

It was because he heard the words Its been a while. For Kamijou, those wereessentially taboo. He remembered information like the Japanese language or firstgrade mathematics. However his recollections were different. He remembered nothing,not even the trivial from when he bought a game to the important like how he scored onhis end-of term exams.

As he could not remember names and faces, hearing something like Its been a whilecaused him to only give his most sincere false smile.

For the sake of protecting a certain girls happiness, Kamijou Touma would never letothers realize that he had lost his memories.

He turned to look behind him.

Ah.

As expected, Kamijou had no recollection of the man standing there.

He was more of a teenager than a man but for a man over two meters tall, the termteenager could have been a stretch. He wore a black priests robe and, like Index, helacked the pale white skin of the Japanese.

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Though he was a priest, the smell of perfume was overwhelming. His long hair was dyedred, his ears were pierced, every one of his fingers was decorated by rings and under hisright eye was a barcode tattoo. This fallen impression he gave was like that of a depravedmonk or even a heretic.

He couldnt possibly recall him. Or rather, he didnt want to recall this boy.

Humph. Not even a greeting, even though we havent met for a while? Hm, thats finetoo. Thats how our relationship should be. We cant just act like comrades after workingtogether once. The priest with the foul smelling perfume spoke earnestly.

(Just what is this guy...?)

While pondering the strange existence of the priest in front of his eyes, Kamijou feltmore of a strong sense of discomfort towards the pre-memory loss Kamijou Touma whowas acquainted with this suspicious-looking human....

Kamijou glanced and ran towards the back alley in his line of sight. Index had jumpedinto that alley all by herself. He was too busy to waste any leisure time with thissuspicious priest...

Ah, dont worry about that girl. I just used Opila runes over there so she probably justdetected the flow of magic power and went to take a look.

Kamijou was stunned.

Runic magic. A magical language that the Germanic people adopted in the secondcentury A.D. Essentially, they were words of power such as Kenaz. With Kenaz onpaper, flames would form over.

(Whats going on?)

Kamijous throat couldnt even make any voice.

It was not because of the priest in front of his eyes talking about some strange runicmagic.

It was because such ridiculous knowledge flowed naturally from his own head withoutany sense of discomfort.

It was clearly abnormal. It was like running a rusted motorbike into the middle of a clearriver, like a gaping-wide hole in a world devoid of abnormalities.

It had mixed into a world where green meant go and text messages cost money. Theabnormality was mixing together with everyday life!

What kind of world did the pre-memory loss Kamijou Touma live in?

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For the first time, Kamijou Touma trembled at the true nature of his own self.

Hm?

The scented priest seemed to see something in Kamijous eyes and closed one eye and

smiled.

Kamijou couldnt understand what was going on. He couldnt even afford to match aconversation with others. He could only ambiguously smile and suppress the nebulousfeeling. As Kamijou smiled, the red-haired priest pulled out what appeared to be a cardand spoke.

Stop smiling all the time. Do you want me to kill you?

The red-haired priests smile was like melted wax, as his face extended sideways.

A chill.

The knowledge that the pre-memory loss Kamijou had was telling him that there wasdanger.

Without having the time to think, Kamijou raised his right hand.

Quickly raising his right hand before his own eyes, as if he were blocking light shininginto eyes, at the same instant, flames burst out of the priests right hand. As if gasolinewas spewing out from within the priests hand, in that moment a shining crimson flamesword was produced.

The priest did not wait even one second.

Without any hesitation at all, without a shred of mercythe flame sword was vigorouslyswung down towards Kamijous face.

The instant the flame sword clashed, it simultaneously swelled up and exploded like aballoon and the flames scattered all around. The atrocious sound of the flamesabsorbing oxygen echoed. The three thousand degrees Celsius flaming hell that formed avortex that enveloped all nearby exhausted itself.

With a boom, the flames did not completely stop. They shined but, in an instant,extinguished as if freezing and then breaking.

Ha hah

Kamijou didnt frantically lower the right hand that had protected his face as hecontinued with his heavy breathing.

Imagine Breaker.

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(Is he really thinking of giving me secrets?) Kamijou frowned. (This guy just created onehuge explosion on this one-direction three-lane road that as wide as a runway. And nowhes trying to tell me a secret?)

(?)

Thinking about that, Kamijou suddenly realized something.

There was a huge explosion, and yet the surroundings hadnt been involved in thecommotion.

(!?)

No. It was only now that Kamijou realized the truth.

Rather than a lack of commotion, there was a lack of people. On the said road as wide as

a runway, there were department stores lined up on either side. But, giving it thought,there were no people or cars, only Kamijou and Stiyl.

The windmill turbines were still rattling, echoing through the empty street like askeleton laughing.

Far away, he could hear the siren ringing from the empty crossing.

I just said it before...

Perhaps trying to break the silence of the night coast, Stiyl chuckled.

...I used the Opila rune.

Ehwaz (Go), Stiyl said and flicked the large fan-mail like envelope from his hand withhis index finger. The thick envelope spun like a Frisbee and slowly landed on Kamijoushands.

There were mysterious characters on the envelope, looking like they wanted to seal thedocuments inside.

Gebo (Receive).

The moment Stiyl had muttered that, the words on the envelope started to glow. Theseal opened right down the middle as if it was sliced apart by a knife.

Do you know of a university prep school by the name of Misawa Cram School?

Stiyl asked as if singing. A vast number of documents flew out of the envelope one byone, which likewise each seemingly having runes engraved on them, flew out of the

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envelope and, almost like a magic carpet, only the needed documents gently floated infront of Kamijous eyes.

Misawa?

Kamijou Touma had memory loss.

Not having any memories, he had no choice but to scan the name through his ownknowledge. However, he still had no impression of the name Misawa. It had seemed thatthe pre-memory loss him lacked interest in university entrance exams.

It seemingly boasted to be the university prep school with the largest market share inthis country, you know?

Stiyl said with melancholy.

A university prep school, as the name may have implied, was tuition based. Repeatstudents who failed their university entrance exams gathered there to study.

However, the university prep school in Academy City had another meaning. It was toprovide to those individuals who already had the potential to enter college but chose tospend a year to study.

A piece of paper floated in front of Kamijou.

It seemed that Misawa Cram School held not only university prep schools but activeprep schools for those students yet to take an exam.

...So, why are you telling me about this Misawa Cram School? Is there a discountoffered when you introduce it to friends?

Kamijou asked Stiyl with a look that obviously showed that he didnt trust him.

That was because he couldnt imagine any relationship that priest that reeked of colognewould have with a prep school.

Its like this, Stiyl nonchalantly explained, A girl was imprisoned there, and its myduty to save her.

Stunned, Kamijou stared at Stiyl.

It wasnt because of the scary word imprisoned, but because he was suspectingwhether that man was serious. Of course, even if Stiyl was crazy, it was nothing toKamijou. However, that guy could use flames like weapons, so it would be dangerous ifhe went berserk.

Hm, I thought that you would understand if I showed you the information.

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For this reason, Kamijou would deceive the world. He would even deceive himself.

What? You give me that just because I so happened to be listening attentively? Are youa masochist or something? Are you the type that wants others to interrupt your wordsleft and right?

But right now, the current Kamijou didnt know how different he was from the pre-memory loss Kamijou. It was like walking while looking at a map; even though he knewhe was walking the wrong way, if he looked around and found desert everywhere, hecouldnt tell where the right path was.

For a while, Stiyl stared suspiciously at Kamijous face.

Fine, whatever. Its not a problem that this conversation is going well anyway.

Stiyl finally reverted back to the original conversation.

The main point is the reasons why that alchemist took over Misawa Cram School. Ofcourse, the simplest reason is that he probably feels that its convenient to just useMisawa Cram School as a base. Most of the students may not have realized that theprincipal of this prep school has changed.

However, Stiyl then exhaled lightly and said, The most important reason why thealchemist took over was Deep Blood who was captured Misawa Cram School.

Deep Blood?

Kamijou had never heard of that name before, and neither did he have any suchknowledge about that. However, the name itself already sounded terrifying.

Originally, it seems that Misawa Cram School confined her to perform the duties of ashrine maiden. In actuality, their idea wasnt wrong. Its a viable method to use a shrinemaiden as a sacrifice to summon higher level beings.

But this Deep Blood was already targeted by the alchemist, its just that Misawa CramSchool took her away first. No, perhaps to him, it cant be helped. His original planshould be to abduct the Deep Blood without anyone noticing and escape Academy City.

However, because the Misawa Cram School blew things out of proportions, his planswere ruined.

So he forcefully took back what belongs to him from Misawa Cram School?

It was like a master thief making all sorts of preparations to steal something from an artgallery, only for terrorists to occupy the building. The thief then stole the painting hehad wanted to steal from those destructive maniacs who didnt understand the value of

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those paintings, only to find that the art gallery had been packed with police. Unable todo anything, the master thief then had to build a barricade at the entrance of the artgallery and hide inside.

Thats right. For the alchemist, the acquisition of that would be his dearest wish.... No.

If I say that, in that case it would be better to say that it is the dearest wish for theentirety of magicians. Or maybe even all of humanity.

???

Kamijou had no idea what he was talking about and made and revealed a puzzled face.

Its an ability thats purpose is to kill a certain living thing. No, not only that. It offersthe only chance of capturing that certain creature alive to prove its existence.

Kamijou still didnt understand.

Well, if I have to use Christian terminology, this certain creature is known as Cainsdescendant. Stiyl chuckled, and then he said in a whisper, Basically, theyre vampires.

He finally said it.

Are you kidding me?

Hearing such words, that was the first response Kamijou gave.

Vampires. Kamijou didnt know where the legend about them originally started.However, according to the depiction in games and manga

Vampires were afraid of crosses and sunlight.

Vampires would die when they were hammered with a stake.

Vampires would be reduced to ash after they died.

Those bitten by vampires would become vampires.

...He only knew those facts. And, for some reason, the information that Kamijou knewwere from manga and games (and fighting games at that). In reality, the cross wasuseless.

Those who can think that its a joke are considered lucky.

Stiyl gnashed his teeth and looked away.

As of then, the flame manipulating magician seemed to fear something.

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Humph. Since Deep Blood exists in order to kill vampires, the talk cant continue ifthere are no vampires to be killed. Its like how the bad guys exist for the sake of theally of justice. Its a vicious cycle but this is absolute. ...Well, if possible I dont want toadmit it.

...What do you mean? Do these fictional vampires actually exist?

Kamijous heart was still denying it.

However, the man in front of him was still as stern as ever, making him unable to brushthat off.

Nobody has ever seen a vampire, Stiyl Magnus looked like the embodiment of self-confidence as he said in a chant like tone, Because everyone who saw one died.

Of course, Im not going to believe in such things so easily. The troublesome thing isthat nobody ever saw a vampire before, but the existence of Deep Blood confirms theexistence of a vampire. Nobody knows how strong they are, nobody knows how manythere are, nobody knows where they are, nobody knows nobody knows nobody knowsHow can we deal with them when we dont even know anything about them?

Stiyl continued to chant on, but Kamijou, who still couldnt accept the term vampire,still couldnt understand anything about that. In the end, he could only think that it waslike they were dealing with hidden terrorists all over the world.

But on the other hand, its because no one knows about the truth behind them thattheres all sorts of unknown possibility.

Stiyl sneered cynically.

Kamijou Touma, have you heard of the Tree of Sephirot? I suppose you havent,right?

Do you think that you can ruin my pride like that?

Whatever. Anyways, the Tree of Sephirot depicts the soul level of God, angels andhumans on a class status diagram. To put it simply, humans can climb up the ranks by

training, but at some point, they wont be able to climb up any higher.

Youre treating me like an idiot, arent you? What are you trying to say?

Is your pride hurt? What Im trying to say is there are some disciplines that humanscant reach no matter how much they try. However, humans do want to continue theirascent no matter what. Magicians became magicians because they want to surpass ahumans limits. If so, what must humans do to surpass this limit? Stiyls expression

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It was a completely supernatural discussion.

It was dangerous to listen on, Kamijous instincts were telling him. If he continued tolisten to that person, his common sense would be twisted. And Kamijou had apremonition that if that kept up, it may end up in a state where he couldnt reverse it.

In order to end that conversation, he clearly raised a suspicion.

Alright, you told me so many secrets, what do you want to tell me now?

Ah, thats right. We dont have much time, so lets end this quick. Stiyl nodded twiceand said, Basically, I have to charge into Misawa Cram School and save Deep Blood.

Kamijou simply nodded in response.

Dont nod away like that. Youre coming with me.

..

Huh!? Bastard, what did you just say!?

That was an accurate description of the situation. Also, the conversation just now wasthe briefing. Do you still remember everything? The papers are engraved with the Kenazflame runes and are due to burn up after you see them so itll be bad if you forget.

Wai!

(Are you kidding me!?)

This Stiyl in front of him was a person whose power was most suited for killing and wasa merciless killer. If he was going into some enemy alchemists stronghold, it wouldntbe surprising to see him get involved in a killer incident.

Also, one more thing, Stiyl casually replied, I suppose you dont have any rights torefuse. If you dont obey, well take away Index from you.

!

For some reason, those words were etched deeply inside Kamijou.

The knowledge was afraid. The remnants of the pre-memory loss Kamijou Toumaseemed to be afraid of something.

Necessarius has given you the role of being shackles for the purpose of preventingIndex, whose collar has been removed, from betraying the organization. However, if inthe case that you alone dont abide by the will of the Church, your effectiveness cannotbe anticipated. Stiyl sighed. But well, if you become of no more use to the Church,

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If you want to deal with me, wait until we deal with the alchemist hidden in MisawaCram School first. Also, I forgot to mention it, Deep Bloods real name is Himegami Aisa.Theres a photo here, and its best that you take a look. Itll be bad if you cant evenremember the face of the person youre going to save.

A photo slipped out of the envelope.

The photo seemed to be powered by Stiyls runes as well as it danced in the air andstopped right in front of Kamijou.

Kamijou stared at the photo.

(Deep Blood. What kind of face does the esper that holds such a dangerous name have?)

There he found the face of the shrine maiden he had met during the day.

Eh?

Kamijous breathing froze.

The person in the photo, which looked like it was and ID photo taken from a studenthandbook and then enlarged, was certainly Himegami Aisaand the face of the shrinemaiden he had met during the day.

Kamijou recalled what Stiyl had said.

Originally, it seems that Misawa Cram School confined her to perform the duties ofa shrine maiden

He recalled what the girl had said during the day.

Im not a shrine maiden.

Kamijou recalled what the magician had said.

A girl was imprisoned there, and its my duty to save her.

He had remembered Himegami Aisas words.

Mm, theyre cram school teachers.

!

(But why?)

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Kamijou wondered. According to Stiyls explanation, Himegami Aisa should beimprisoned in Misawa Cram School. If that shrine maiden really was Deep Blood, whycould she enter a fast food restaurant and eat hamburgers?

Train fare back home, four hundred yen.

(Did she escape?)

The only possible reason why the imprisoned Himegami Aisa would be outside wasbecause she had escaped from Misawa Cram School.

My total fortune, three hundred yen.

If that was the case, it could explain why Himegami had so little money on her. Besides,if she had escaped without bringing much money then the money would gradually beless if she took trains and buses.

But why did she appear at a fast food restaurant, Kamijou wondered. Since she escapedfrom Misawa Cram School, how could she be standing around over there?

Frustration meal.

Ah!

Suddenly, Kamijou recalled that.

What if, she couldnt run any further because she ran out of money? When she couldntrun any further, was she at least trying to make a final memory?

The girl wished for a hundred yen.

So if she just had a hundred yen more, she could escape from the control of MisawaCram School?

In that case.

The girls one and only wish.

Who the hell was the idiot who refused her?

So thats why Im having a frustration meal.

Damn it

Also, Himegami didnt resist when she was surrounded by the cram school teachers.Obviously, she must have wanted to resist. How could she be so willing to go back likethat after escaping from Misawa Cram School?

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Anyone else would have chosen to run away.

If she hadnt been able to escape with her own power, she would have asked others forhelp.

However

Asking for help would mean that, the people who were asked to help would get involved.

Damn it all!!

Kamijou was extremely unhappy about it. He was so frustrated that he couldnt think.He was outraged that Misawa Cram School didnt treat that girl as a human and lockedher up. He was revolted at the alchemist who had snatched the girl away. He wasinfuriated by Stiyl who had said that Deep Blood was the ace used to keep the vampiresin check.

But the one that Kamijou was extremely vexed about was Himegami Aisa who hadsacrificed herself to save Kamijou.

Thats because this was wrong. If Kamijou had just given her a hundred yen, he couldhave changed the girls fate. However, the girl was actually willing to sacrifice all thehard work she put in to escape from Misawa Cram School just to save a boy who sent herback into despair. That was wrong.

He did not know what type of new religion it was. But she was just a single girl. Hecould not imagine what sort of treatment someone confined to such a place wouldreceive. He did not want to imagine it.

That pain was originally something Kamijou was supposed to taste.

(Dont just involuntarily burden yourself)

Kamijou bit his lips, and the taste of blood was felt on his canines.

(with someone elses misfortune!)

In reality, this was the root of Kamijous frustration, a fact that made his mind boil.

Kamijou didnt have any memories.

However, how Himegami viewed herself was that she had always felt that it was alrighteven though everyone was treating her as a tool.

Ignoring her own pain to help others, and thinking that this was a form of happiness.

A girl who could still smile even after taking the pain from others.

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In the past, Kamijou had seemed to meet such a girl before. Why couldnt he remember?Kamijou was really vexed with himself.

He had to save her.

What should he say? Kamijou Touma wasnt going to be able to relieve the anger in himif he didnt punch that selfish and stubborn Himegami Aisa.

Between the Lines 1

The girl was standing in the middle of the sea of ash.

It was a story of ten years ago.

One of the thirteen Knight Squads of England, 1st-Lancer, was assigned the mission ofgathering enemy information before any others.

This time, the enemy territory was a mountain village located at Kyoto. They had to findthe reason why the magical flow had become abnormally large, and eliminate anythreatening things. That was their main aim.

It had been over six hours since they lost contact with the village.

It had been over three hours since the police who went there to investigatedisappeared.

As every member of the squad could guess, the village in question was completelywrecked. However, that wasnt something rare to them. England had the BritishMuseum which was known as the Arsenal. That bloody altar contained spiritualtreasures stolen from all over the world.

Compared to the raging soul of some ancient emperor that resided in some treasure,that mission wasnt too dangerous.

In fact, the supplied equipment were also the usual Surgical Armor and cross-shapedspears; not even Longinus Replicas. Though the Surgical Armor were simply defenses

possessing magical power that increased the bearers mobility by twenty-fold, they werestill first class spiritual items that their superiors saw as more than enough.

However, there was something everyone was curious about.

The last survivor who called said something like this

Help me... thats not... human thats

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Of course, nobody had believed him.

The higher-ups of the Church didnt believe that, and didnt give the knights properequipment.

But the truth was, all of the members of the veteran 1st-Lancer were feeling anunpleasant pressure somewhere within them.

Though there were many remaining records in the British Museum, nobody had actuallyseen it before, and nobody caught that certain creature. As for this creature, it seemed toexist for some reason, it was a mystery as to why so many people wouldnt admit itsexistence.

That was because if they had admitted that such a creature existed, the world wouldhave been destroyed.

The terrifying thing wasnt the power of this certain creature. If they couldnt match itspower, humans could use ways other than brute force to beat them. They could alsocreate all sorts of tools and weapons to beat them.

The terrifying thing wasnt the immortality of the certain creature. If they couldnt evenkill the enemy, they just had to find ways other than killing them to beat them. Forexample, they could just freeze them under the ice of Antarctica or dice the immortalflesh up into two hundred pieces and stuff them into bottles.

Those werent the problems.

The problem was the rumored vast amount of magic power those certain creatures had.

The magic power in magic was gasoline, to put it simply. By refining the crude oil in thebody such as lifespan and life-force, one would produce the easy to use gasoline. Forhumans, who had limited lifespan from the very beginning, the differences betweenstrong and weak magic were nothing more than differences between skillful andunskillful refining.

However, it was different for those certain creatures.

Fundamentally, the digits of the lifespan and life-force being used as crude oil wasdifferent. No, rather than a difference of digits, their life-force was literally infinite. Of

course, this also lead to a difference in the amount of usable magic. A pistol with alimited number of bullets could not compete with an endless missile attack.

Thus, the members were just laughing at their insecurity, but they couldnt get rid of itcompletely.

Just like that, he passed through mountains and reached that age-forgotten village. Justas they saw the scene over there, their hearts felt like they were squashed.

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Pure white ash was spread all around.

That seemingly age-forgotten Eastern wasteland was covered by a layer of white ash likesnow. The roofs of the huts, the earth in the fields, the narrow channels were all coveredwith a layer of ash.

Ash.

Was that the remains of those certain creatures?

But that wasnt what they were shocked by. If they were real corpses, the numberdefinitely wouldnt be limited to just ten or twenty. But looking at that amount of ash,the members were unable to believe their eyes.

In the middle of it all stood a girl.

She was an Eastern black-haired girl, about five or six years old. But on seeing that cuteface of hers, the knights who specialized in eliminating radicals still couldnt stop theirhearts from beating wildly.

Because among the scene of dancing ash, where the remnants of the certain creatureformed a living hell

That girl still remained unharmed.

The wind started to blow, and the ash started to rise.

The ash that covered the entire wasteland scattered about, but only the area around thegirl wasnt affected by what seemed like a holy sanctuary. It felt like the dead ash wasstill afraid of her and was trying to avoid her.

I

The girl spoke.

I killed again.

It was like she was describing her everyday life.

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It was a precarious situation. No matter what, he must never let Index come along.

Hey, Touma?

If so, it was obvious what he had to do.

Right now, Kamijou had to hide his insecurities, and launch a barrage of attacks.

Im going off to that Super High-Tech Primary Culture Institution for a bit. Eh? Youwant to go too? I dont think so! Youre not good with machines and dont know how touse the Super Magnetic Equation Cerebral Cortex Detector! Youll get trapped by thedoors auto-lock! Since its Security Level 4, if they examine your Base and find anunregistered Exon, youll get Biri Birid. Biri Biri Minus Ion Beam!!

Gyawaah!

As expected, under the bombardment of technobabble, Indexs head was letting outsteam.

That was to be expected. Besides, Index, who didnt have any knowledge of moderntechnology, may nod her head back in response when she would hear a vending machineat a train station say welcome.

Then Ill say this first. Dinners in the fridge, just microwave it and you can eat it. Dontput the spoon in the microwave, or youll start a fire. And dont you open the freezerdoor to cool yourself.

Eh? Ah, uu I dont seem to be really capable of using a microwave.

Maybe one may suspect how one could misuse a microwave. However, Index didmicrowave a sauce pack of a convenience store bento, and it exploded. She also hadtried to heat up a half-boiled egg, and it exploded. She had even microwaved a bento fortoo long, and it exploded. In the end, it seemed to her that no matter how she used themicrowave oven, it would explode. Perhaps she thought that using a microwave was asure-fire way for an explosion.

(Seems like shes not suspecting anything at all.)

Kamijou stared at Index, who was staring at the microwave and narrowing her wide eyes,

giving the look that she wouldnt fail again. He heaved a sigh of relief.

Then, he realized it.

Hey! Whats hidden inside your clothes? More accurately, near the stomach!

Eh?

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Idiot, Touma is an idiot! Ill raise this child!

Say that when you can earn money for yourself.

But dont worry! Even though I called you an idiot, it was only in hiragana!5

Listen to me! Or rather, I have no idea what youre saying!

But on the other hand, if he agreed to it, Index would agree to him.

(What can I say, such misfortune.)

Kamijou sighed. Calculating the funds needed to raise the cat, it seemed necessary toreduce the number of meals each day. Truly, why did Index choose this time to adopt acat?

...Fine.

Hm? Touma? What did you say?

............Guess theres no choice. Lets keep it.

But, well...

It seemed that those few words could make Index cry out tears of joy. It was worth it tobe able to see Index show such an expression.

He thought so, however...

Ahh, our Father in Heaven! Your warm light of love has finally reached the heartless,cruel, cold-blooded, snake-eyed Toumas heart! Thank you for saving this stray catsinnocent soul, I wont forget this for the rest of my life.

Something prevented Kamijou Touma from being fully satisfied.

Part 2

After exiting the dormitory room, he saw Stiyl, who he had said goodbye to a while back,scattering card-like things all over the place.

What are you doing?

5This joke only makes sense when viewing the original Japanese text. Index calls Touma an idiot and is written in

the text using hiragana as opposed to kanji. Index seems to think that it lessens her insult. Of course, there's no

way Kamijou can know what she is talking about.

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As you can see, I am building a temple in this place by putting barrier. Stiyl said as heworked. While we are being occupied at Misawa Cram School, I cant make a definitepromise that some other magician wont lay their hands on Index. Well, even though Ithink it is a mere consolation, I feel more optimistic leaving Innocentius behind in orderto buy that girl enough time to run away.

Innocentius.

Though Kamijou didnt have any memory, his knowledge was telling him that that was ahumanoid-shaped ultimate weapon made of three thousand degrees Celsius flames thathad automatic tracking ability. The weakness was

It can only be used inside the barrier of scattered runes and will be unable to maintainits form if the runes are destroyed, is it?

Ill tell you this, Upon his words, Stiyls ears twitched. That does not mean my truestrength is inferior to you in any way. It was only because by chance there was ageographical problem. If there were no sprinklers in that place then...

Eh? Did we fight before?

Kamijou only had knowledge and no memories. Therefore, even though he knew how tobeat Innocentius, he didnt know where that knowledge came from.

Ku So you meant that that incident had no value in remembering? Seeminglymisunderstanding, Stiyl continued on, Fine then, I wont squabble with you over that.After I stick this rune up, the boundary will be complete, and we can head towardsMisawa Cram School How troublesome. I have to set up a boundary to keep offmagicians, but I cant make it too strong or else that girl will notice it.

Despite muttering a complaint, Stiyl looked very happy somehow.

Thus, Kamijou somewhat realized something.

Do you like Index?

Buh!? Stiyl blushed as if his heart had stopped. W-W-what are you suggesting all of asudden!? Sh-Shes a target of protection and in n-no way an object of romanticinterest!

Kamijou chuckled and ended the conversation.

That was because Kamijou felt that if he continued to delve deeper into that, he wouldbe digging into his own grave. The main point wasnt whether the current KamijouTouma liked Index or not, but that the current Kamijous feelings mustnt be anydifferent from the pre-memory loss Kamijou Touma.

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Kamijou didnt know how the pre-memory loss Kamijou Touma viewed Index nor howhe had interacted with her.

If Kamijou said anything now that conflicted with the pre-memory loss him, Stiyl wouldrealize that he had lost his memory.

(Its like there are two of me)

Kamijou sighed deeply in his heart. It wasnt really accurate to say that there were two ofhim. It felt more like ridiculous joke where an imposter that had changed places and wasdesperately acting like the real one.

Before we charge into Misawa Cram School, lets talk about our enemy.

Stiyl said that, perhaps trying to prevent Kamijou from asking on.

As they exited the student dormitory and walked on the night street, Kamijou listened toStiyls description.

The enemys name is Aureolus Izzard.

Stiyl first introduced the enemys name.

Speaking of Aureolus, theres a person youd think of hm? What, are you surprisedafter hearing an excessively famous name? But he is simply a descendant and doesnthave power to the extent that is heard in the legends.

? Who is this Aureolus?

...I see. You are completely unfamiliar with magic side. But even so, you have at leastheard things about Paracelsus, right?

???

Ku... Hes the most famous alchemist in the world! said Stiyl impatiently.

While walking down the evening street, Kamijou asked, So, is this guy absurdly strong?

The August sunset was burning. The large number of windows, windmill turbines,everything was dyed orange red. Kamijou thought that it looked just like a fadedphotograph. Perhaps that was because their conversation didnt seem so realistic.

That itself isnt a big deal... But, whats worrying is that he might possess something tosubjugate Deep Blood. I dont want to consider it but... the worst case scenario is that hemight be using Deep Blood to tame those certain creatures.

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More than Aureolus Izzard, it seemed like Stiyl was more mindful about those creatures.

But Kamijou couldnt really understand. Even if the conditions were unique, heshouldnt be treating the enemys ability as second priority.

Oi, is that alright? I dont know how irregular those vampires and Deep Blood are butshouldnt we give priority to the enemy leader? When fighting in the scene of a fire, theopponent will give a hard blow if we only focus on the sea of flames.

Hm? Ahh, if thats the case, there is no need to worry about it. Aureolus name may befirst-class but their power has become weak. In the first place, there is no occupation ofalchemist in the magical world. Stiyl spoke nonchalantly. Divination, Alchemy,Summoning. These sound like your worlds Language, Mathematics and History.Language teachers wouldnt try to abolish Mathematics, right? In order to call oneself amagician, the standard is to generally dabble in everything and afterwards discover aspecialty that suits themselves.

Stiyl also mentioned that the reason Aureolus Izzard had become an alchemist wasbecause he wasnt talented enough for the other roles.

And also, alchemy is an incomplete field of research.

Even if Stiyl said so, Kamijou didnt have any idea of that at all. That was because toKamijou, alchemy was only a fraud that was widespread in the sixteenth century andwould come up with scams to fool royalty and other sorts of knowledge similar to ahistory calendar.

Alchemyespecially the late Zurich branch of alchemy can be said to be a subset of theHermes school. Normally speaking, the main motivations are to turn lead into gold andcreate an elixir of immortality, and so on

Stiyl sounded unmotivated, perhaps because it was out of his scope of expertise.

Those were nothing more than experiments. Theyre like what youd call a scientist;always looking for theorems or laws. Scientists dont care about what they get fromthe test tube because it wasnt their aim. Its the same as that. The true nature ofalchemists is not to create but to know.

...Its like how Einstein was only researching on the Theory of Relativity, and the atomicbomb was just a by-product of the research?

If one viewed it from that angle, scholars were really arrogant, never thinking of whattheir creations would do to society.

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Thats right. But, besides researching the formula and principle, alchemists have anultimate goal. Stiyl paused. To be able to simulate the entire world in ones head.

...

If one can understand all the laws of the world, one can imagine the world in the brain.Of course, if even a single law is wrong, the simulated world in the brain will have flaws.

??? What do you mean by that? Are you talking about a Dummy Skill?

It was said that on the primitive islands in the South Pacific like Fiji and Melanesia, onehad to have the talent to be able to accurately predict the weather the next day with justa single glance to the sky in order to be a leader.

Though such weather forecast ability seemed esper-like, it was just a result ofcalculating wind currents, cloud shapes, temperatures and humiditys in the brain. The

island leaders never realized that their brains were calculating. Instead, they believedthey listened to the voice of the wind to predict the weather.

What Stiyl meant was similar to that example in meaning.

It was true that in the leaders mind, they may have completely simulated tomorrowsweather. However, that imaginary world would be miles away from the actual one, ifthere was a tiniest error in their supposedly-perfect formula.

...Hold on, but what can such an ability do? Are they trying to create some sort ofcalculator that can get everything in the future like a weather report?

No.

Stiyl said nonchalantly.

What if they can bring out what they thought of into the real world?

That was really a shocking proclamation.

For example, spells that involve ectoplasm, or spells that uses Telesma to summonangels; its not uncommon to see one pull the thoughts in the brain back to reality in themagic world.

Stiyl folded his arms in front of his chest and said, Thus, its important to have anability to use the brain to accurately imagine the real world. Basically, with this power,one can control the world. Any gods or devils will bow down to that person.

...Hey.

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Of course, it is very difficult to do this. The flow of the river; the flow of clouds; the flowof humans, the flow of bloodthere is a vast number of laws in the world. Amongstthem, if even one of them is incorrect it would not be possible to produce a world in thehead. A distorted world is the same as a distorted pair of wings because they wouldimmediately self-destruct and vanish.

(That should be similar to a computer program.)

No matter how perfect the program was, if someone forgot to code a single line, therewould be an error, and the program wouldnt run.

On the other hand, if he really somehow did it, wouldnt no one be able to go againsthim? If he could alter the entire world, we would absolutely be unable to win.

Perhaps, deep within him, Kamijou refused to believe it.

But he was right, humans couldnt defeat the entire world. That didnt mean that thegods or devils were strong or not; no, that wasnt that case.

The point was that the entire world also included the people living in the world,including Kamijou himself.

A simplest example. There was a mysterious mirror that could reflect everything itshowed into reality. In that situation, no matter how strong Kamijou was, once theopponent pulled out an identical Kamijou duplicate, the end result was that theduplicate would die off together with the real one.

But Stiyl didnt look that anxious.

I said it before, just relax. Alchemy is an incomplete field of research.

Huh?

Let me put it this way. If I want you to explain everything in the world, including everygrain of sand on the beach or the stars in the night sky, how long are you going to take? Idont think you can finish explaining after one or two hundred years, right?

Thats the situation. The spell itself is completed. However, in order to complete theincantation a humans lifespan is too short, Stiyl continued as if spitting it out, Forthat reason, it seems that they undertook various endeavors. For example, they triedshortening the spell a little by omitting the unnecessary parts; dividing the hundred partspell into tens then continuing the spell from parent to child with each generationcasting a little bit of the spell at a time.

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But even so, there hadnt been a case of success.

From the beginning, a completed incantation would have lacked any useless sections.From parent to child and child to grandchild... Passing down the incantations in such amanner would result in a distorted incantation like in a telephone game.

However Saying up until there, Stiyl finally showed some battle intent and said, Ifthose were living things that dont have any limits in lifespan, they can recite finish thesuper long incantation. Perhaps its because

toaru majutsu no index - volume 02

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