To Aru Majutsu No Index - Volume 02

7/29/2019 To Aru Majutsu No Index - Volume 02

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To Aru Majutsu no Index

Volume 2

Prologue: The Same Usual Every Day.

The Beginning of The End.

It's said that to understand someone, one just needs to look at their bookshelf.

...A pile of manga.

The date was August 8. Kamijou Touma looked around the room, and found that he cannot find

any book that wasn't a manga not only on his bookshelf, but also throughout the house. Thus, inorder to save face, Kamijou Touma decided to head to the train station of Academy City to buy

some reference books.

...He did go there.

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 the shopattendant, all the reference books were sold at half price until yesterday in order to promote the

summer exams.

Such misfortune.

This was really unfortunate.

However, this was basically Kamijou Touma's everyday's life.

Besides, this person was a very popular guy simply because his friends felt that "with him around,

he can absorb our bad luck like a lightning rod".

The problem as that it's a precario s sit ation right no


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It meant that even though he remembered how to use a cell phone, his mind will start wondering

about things like "Eh? Where did I put my cell phone?" or "Hold on, since when did I get a cellphone".

The so-called "knowledge" was like a dictionary.

For example, one's knowledge may know that "an apple" is "a fruit that is of the Rosaceae

deciduous tree that blooms in spring and bears a ball-shaped fruit". However, one had to eat the

fruit to decide whether it tasted good or not. This was because his brain didn't have a diary-like

memory like "I ate a delicious apple on month O day X".

It's said that the reason this happened was that between the part that controls the "experience

memory" in the memory database and the "meaningful memory" in the knowledge database, only

the former part was destroyed. However, this wasn't the main problem.

The problem was that Kamijou Touma wanted to know what sort of person he was before he

"lost his memory".

Even if he had to follow this baseless explanation that "one can understand someone by checking

their bookshelf".

However, this didn't mean that Kamijou's expression was that of pain.

Besides, Kamijou wasn't alone in this world, and he hadn't been thrown into some unknown

world. He didn't lack either food or clothes, and he did have friends he can call "companions".

Touma!

On the way back home in this summer, a girl, who's beside the half-dead Kamijou, cried out

angrily at facing this sudden shopping spree (basically, Kamijou used more than 1,000 yen to go

for what's called an "assault")


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Kamijou met that girl in the hospital.

No, from Kamijou's perspective, he met her at the hospital, but it seemed that he already met her

before he lost his memories. Even though Kamijou couldn't think of anything related to the girl

no matter how much he tried to recall, Kamijou didn't really want to say that out loud.

On the day when he first met the girl, she cried tears of happiness for Kamijou as she stared at

him on the bed.

However, those tears were shed not for this Kamijou right now, but for the Kamijou before helost his memories.

Kamijou couldn't bear to break the happiness in the girl's heart. In order to protect this warmth inthe girl, Kamijou Touma must continue to act as "the Kamijou Touma before he lost his

memories".

It's a complicated feeling...

It's as if Kamijou Touma became two people.

However, the girl with the alias Index didn't seem to notice the conflict within Kamijou's heart(though to be fair, he didn't want her to realise it). From a position lower than Kamijou by a head,

she looked up and stared unhappily at Kamijou.

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

...Don't say it.

What could we have done?

The girl asked again Just as Kamijou stuffed his ears and shut his eyes while shouting "DON'T


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Touma, I never said that I'm hot or that I'm about to get heatstroke. Of course I never thought of

spending other people's money to satisfy myself, so I never thought of eating ice cream at all.

"...Okay, okay, I know nuns don't tell lies, but you don't have to be so sweaty and give me those

abandoned puppy eyes, right? Can't you just tell me that you want to eat ice cream in an air-conditioned room? The weather's so hot, yet you're still wearing that nun habit that doesn't even

consider the impact of weather. You may get heatstroke like that."

Though Kamijou sounded really generous, that's just him slapping a swollen face on himself.

The amount of money in his wallet wasn't going to change. Of course, it didn't mean that he can'teven buy ice cream, but if he did that, he won't have enough money to take a ride back. Academy

City's one-third the size of Tokyo, and to Kamijou, who had just recovered from a heavy injury,and the weak Index, it's not a place that can be trekked easily. Though the term 'weak girls' may

be a bit sexist, there weren't that many girls who can walk one-third the size of Tokyo.

However, Index seems to be unhappy for some reason as she starts to get even angrier. She

frowns and says,

"Touma, this clothing is a materialisation of God's protection; I never thought about it being hard

to wear, being hot, being troublesome, or whether there should be a summer or winter version."

"...Right..."

Being righteous and being kind are two different models, and Kamijou Touma understood this

cruel reality clearly.

And there's something really weird. Why were there safety pins all over that nun habit that had

such an extragavant design?

"And besides, I'm still a nun-in-training. Besides cigarettes and wine, even coffee, red tea, fruits,

sweets iced items I'm forbidden from taking any of these luxury items "


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"It's... it's true that I'm still in training, and that I'm forbidden from having any excessive stuff."

"Then no way."

"But since I'm still in training, it means that I can't completely follow a Saint's standards, right?

So, in this situation, maybe there might be a case where some ice cream accidentally went into

my mouth. Isn't that right, Touma?"

"..."

Though Kamijou really wanted to lecture her badly, the force exerted by the girl's fingers was

becoming stronger, seemingly hinting him to not say any more. However, the naive Index didn't

know that silence may be even worse than talking back.

At this moment...

"Yo, sorry to disturb y'all in this important conversation, but who's that gal, Kami-yan?"

...A mysterious fake Kansai accent came from behind.

Looking behind, it's a weirdo whose voice was even weirder. 180 cm tall, blue hair, earrings...

he's too weird to be a weirdo.

Did "the Kamijou Touma before he lost his memories" really have such a friend? Kamijou

couldn't help but think.Even though I don't know what I have with that person since I completely

lost my memories, I should at least choose my friends better! Kamijou felt like he's lecturing

others as he cursed himself.

"Hm, what's up, Kami-yan? Why are ya looking at me like ya just saw a stranger? Did the

summer heat cause ya to lose ya memories?"


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Kamijou breaks out in cold sweat, worried about whether this girl beside him will go crazy

because of the word "small"... but luckily, it seems that that's not the case.

"...From the way I see it, this gal should be only asking directions from ya, right? But with ya

English still in country-isolation mode, that may be rather hard for ya... Hold on, is that gal from

an English-speaking country?"

Kamijou also didn't know what he was talking about. And to Index, perhaps she's rather used to

having others calling her "small". She seemed like she didn't mind at all, only glaring viciously at

the sun that's burning down. Maybe she's so hot that she didn't want to say anything.

"...Speaking of which, Kami-yan, I don't know where ya met this gal, but don't feel relaxed by

this alone. Besides, ya gained sixteen years of trust and good-man performances, so ya should

know that a "simple meeting with a gal" isn't possible. Isn't it like that in love comedies? The onewith the crush is always someone like a young mother! Haha~ if such an event happens, all hope

is gone! It's really pitiful thinking about it."

Kamijou heaved a sigh of relief. It's a good thing that this wasn't the case in those old-fashioneddramas. At this moment, Aogami Pierce says again,

"Hold on, is that a cross-dressing trap? Isn't 'her' chest a little too small?"

Immediately, Kamijou seemed to hear the girl's blood vessels explode.

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

It seemed like though this girl can endure being called young, she can't take being called a boy.

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


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"So ya encounter must be abnormal, right? Kami-yan, though ya always been a good guy nobody

loved, ya can't just kidnap a gal, you know? Such foolhardiness will get flamed on those

imageboards when ya leave them there."

"Idiot... stop making such a joke! Who'll do such a thing!?"

Actually, Kamijou didn't remember how he met her.

"This person right here is just a freeloader! Everything was done under negotiations on both

sides, sergeant-dono!"

"'Freeloader'? 'Freeloader'? Kami-yan, ya just added a 'just' to an extremely precious 'freeloader

gal'? Kami-yan! Ya like an elementary school kid who just ate too many snacks and forgot the

essence of rice!"

"Shut up! How can I express it except with a 'just'!? Since when can those romantic scenes

happen so often in real life!? Do you know how Kamijou's finances are in a crisis because of this

person right here!? Even Zashiki-warashi's better than this person here...!"

Just when Kamijou's shouting out this conversation, he suddenly realises something.

Of course, the girl Index who's nearby heard all of this.

"...Ah."

Kamijou looked back with an expression of terror.

Index was smiling. She's revealing a Virgin Mary-like smile, but her face was as green as a

honey dew. This was bad. Not knowing what "the Kamijou Touma before he lost his memory"did, he didn't know if he can calm Index down in this situation.If I had, the loss of my memory

was really a pity Kamijou thought


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This was a bomb- no, this was an unexploded bomb.If I handle this carelessly, it may explode,

and this will be the end of my life! Kamijou's instincts were telling him this.

What should I do, what should I do? Ah! That's it, ice cream! Use ice cream to distract her!

Extremely confused now, Kamijou forgot how he should talk as he could only point crazily inthe direction of the ice cream shop in front of him. Looking puzzled, Index looked in the

direction Kamijou was pointing at, and then stopped. Then, she revealed a puzzled look.

Just as Kamijou heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that he managed to divert her attention, hesuddenly 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 for the time being. We're sorry

for any inconvenience."

His mind thinking of a Bad End, Kamijou slowly turned his head towards the girl beside him.

The girl's smile instantly vanished.

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.


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Index, whose mood improved somewhat after getting three shakes for herself, was now facing a

tough situation where the shop was completely filled with customers. But the weather's so hot

that they can't just stay outside. They finally managed to enter a shop with the air conditioningon, so who'd want to go back to the streets to stand under the sun?

The nearby female high school students didn't seem to realise Kamijou's 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 organised a teachers' meeting because of that, so it should be true. But I

also heard that everyone at the meeting agreed that esper powers are a part of the curriculum, so

it's not considered cheating."

"UU, THAT'S DESPICABLE! NYAAA!! THEN I WANT TO USE MY POWER AS WELL!"

"...Isn't your power pyrokinesis?"

"Can't I just set fire to the teacher's back and force him to spill out the answers?"

...Perhaps to a lot of people, such a conversation may be a bit too out of the ordinary. But thiswas Academy City, and this was a very common part of their everyday life. As the 2.3 million

citizens of this city had some sort of power, this can be called a large-scale "power development

group".

In fact, Kamijou's an esper. He's the boy called "Imagine Breaker", with the right hand that hadthe ability to "negate any supernatural power, even if it's God's miracle".

"...Touma, I really want to sit down."

Index said in an emotionless tone


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There's a four-seater table over there, and in this shop that's like a peak-hour train station, a huge

space appeared between the crowd like a huge hole.

And over there,

On that table,

There's a miko sitting over there.

The miko's lying on the table, sleeping.

Shiny black hair that's like a jellyfish was scattered all over, covering the miko's face.

This...

What's with this scenario? Kamijou cried out deep within.

Not right, something's not right. Kamijou's misfortune radar was warning him. Don't getinvolved with her, don't get involved with her, you'll definitely be unfortunate! When that

happens, it won't be something that's going to be solved with a loss of memory!

Of course, Kamijou Touma's an unlucky person, but it's not like he wanted to be one.

He closed his eyes and made his decision.

...Alright, let's go home! I'd rather get bitten by Index than get involved with such a person.

Having made this conclusion, Kamijou turned back to look, and found that both of them had

already disappeared.

" ?"


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But he can't. If he turned his back on Index and ran away, Index may leap at him like a lion and

swallow him whole. And seeing this Aogami Pierce whose eyes were glittering, he felt that it's

too dangerous to leave this person alone.

But most importantly,

Index, who had a gulp of strawberry shake in her mouth, was waving over happily. Kamijou had

a thought that he shouldn't wreck this expression.

Though he said this, there was a mysterious miko sleeping there.

Kamijou carefully approached the table. At this moment, the miko's shoulders jerked.

"Sp-"

Her mouth moved. The miko's mouth moved. Kamijou had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

Why? Having lost his memories, Kamijou definitely can't remember anything, but he had a

feeling that he experienced something similar before.

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

The miko says,

"-Spent all my money and ruined myself."


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Chapter 1: A Tower of Glass.The Tower of BABEL.

Part 1

This room didn't have any windows.

There were no doors, stairs, lifts, or corridors. For being part of a building, this room didn't have

any functions. There's no way to enter this building except via a Level 4 esper teleport ability.

This can be said to be the strongest stronghold.

In this tower that had been formed from all materials known to deflect all impacts and that was

said to be stronger than an air-raid shelter stood a magician.

His name was Stiyl Magnus.

Stiyl, who's well-versed in runic magic, especially fire magic, was also an English Anglican

priest. It can be considered an exception to see a fourteen-year-old well-versed in magic that cankill other magicians.

Actually, he's not supposed to be here.

This doesn't refer to the "building", but to the "city" as a whole. He's one of the members of the

Christian religious sect "Necessarius", and this Academy City has a purely scientific

environment that rejects all ideas of the supernatural and produces espers through drugs, body

control, and hypnotism.

Right now, his presence here was as unnatural as mixing a tarot card with the fifty-two poker

cards.

However, there's a reason for him to be here even though he shouldn't be.


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numerous screens and flashing buttons. Equipment of all sizes, thousands of cables, and tubes

were gathered at the centre of the room like blood vessels on the floor.

There's a huge cylinder in the middle of the room.

It's four meters in diameter and over ten meters in height. The cylindrical container that's made

of reinforced glass had red liquid filled inside it.

It's said that this colour represented a weak alkaline recovery fluid. Of course, to the magician

Stiyl, this scientific thing wasn't part of his specialties, so he wouldn't be able to understand evenafter listening to it.

There's a green surgical cloaked human who's floating upside-down.

There's no words to describe him except "human". This silver-haired "human" looks like a man

yet also a woman, an adult yet also a child, a saint yet also a convict.

Has he obtained all the possibilities that a "human" can only wish for? Or has he given up on allthe possibilities that a "human" has?


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Either way, one thing that can be certain was that only the word "human" can describe him.

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

The "human" in the cylinder spoke. He sounded like a man yet also a woman, an adult yet also a

child, a saint yet also a convict.

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

This was the way this "human" existed.

His own life can be maintained by machines, so it's meaningless for him to do all this. This

"human" who looked like he pushed his lifespan to 1700 years was now right in front of Stiyl.

Stiyl felt fear.

He's not afraid of Academy City's scientific technology that can run a life for humans, but the

way this "human" existed. As he can use machines to maintain his life, he could abandon hisbody of flesh without hesitation and leave himself to machines.

It's really terrifying to see a "human" who's twisted enough to live on like this.

"I suppose you should know why I called you here..."

The General Director of Academy City, the "human" Aleister who's floating upside-down, says

with a stern tone,

"The situation has become complicated right now."

Seeing Aleister say this, Stiyl inadvertently frowned. This was because he can't imagine this

"h " i f t f hi t ll i thi th t h d k lik "th it ti h


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"Fuu."

Noticing Stiyl trembling, Aleister said,

"It wouldn't be a problem if only espers are involved, because that's one of the espers I 'had'. As

long as any citizen in this city creates a commotion, there are about 70,632 ways to deal with it

and cover it up..."

"..."

On hearing this, Stiyl didn't really have any special feeling about this. He's not really interested

in what emergency procedures Academy City had, since he didn't really understand how the

Science side "works".

"...What has complicated matters is that a magician has taken part in this when he shouldn't

have."

Thus, Stiyl's only thinking of this.

Deep BloodBlood-Sucking Killer. It came not from the database of Academy City, but the Great

English Library. From the wording, one can imagine that this was used to kill "something" that

may or may not exist. Nobody knew what kind of ability it was nor whether it's real or not. All

they knew was that a girl had such an ability.

And this time, the girl with the "Deep Blood" ability was being held prisoner by a magician.

Basically, the situation was just that simple.

"Fu Since this enemy right now is from outside Academy City this has gotten somewhat


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For example, if fighter jets with the latest technology crash-landed in enemy territory, the

wreckage may reveal the secret technology.

"It seems like it's hard for you to send in reinforcements."

Stiyl said calmly.

Espers and magicians working together... such a thing may be too precarious. It's already a huge

problem between the Science side and the Magic side when they want to decide who should lead

the charge. This was because they can use the excuse of checking their side's battle abilities tospy on the other side's technology.

Thinking about this, Stiyl had a question. Two weeks ago, he came to Academy City, and had abattle with an esper. Thinking about it, why had that battle been allowed silently? Perhaps

without Stiyl knowing it, Academy City and the Church had an agreement. Or maybe because

that boy was viewed as a Level 0 with very little importance.

But this situation was different.

Most of the espers and magicians involved in this were viewed as "important people".

"I see. So that's why you specially asked me, an 'exception', to be here."

Stiyl's expression didn't change, seemingly only confirming something.

In other words, Stiyl Magnus was an exception. There will be problems if espers from theScience side beat up people from the Magic side. However, there won't be any problems if Stiyl,who's of the Magic side, beats up someone also from the Magic side. And Stiyl's superior also

felt that this magician must be beaten by someone on the Magic side with the reason of cleaning

house.


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"But we can't see any magic equipment. Besides, it's not like we understand anything about

magic."

"..."

"But this 'Misawa Cram School' is somewhat unique.

Aleister started to explain.

Actually, Academy City is an education enterprise that's made of hundreds of schools ofdifferent sizes. Also, the curriculum includes some paranormal stuff like 'esper development'.

It's said that this 'Misawa Cram School' that caters to all levels in the country would set up a

school in Academy City is to learn the secrets of the 'esper development' that's exclusive to

Academy City. This has all the makings of a huge corporate spy incident.

However, the 'Misawa Cram School' that doesn't know anything about power development still

has a weird feel to it. Perhaps it's a science worship that they started to use the idea that 'onlythey know of the scientific technology' to explain why 'they're humans who're chosen by God',

and ending up creating a new religion.

The 'Misawa Cram School' in Academy City even started to go out of control and reject the main

branch's orders, and even did something:

Imprison the 'Deep Blood' girl according to the 'religion'.

"But why must the 'Misawa Cram School' imprison the Deep Blood? Is their teachings about

some 16th century fanatical teaching to achieve immortality?"

"No. The 'Misawa Cram School' doesn't really have any insistence. Basically, they just want 'a

one and only esper in the world whose power can't be duplicated' Anyone will do though "


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"Anyway, things are more valuable when rare. As long as this basic logic exists, there can still be

some talking points. There are 'many espers with the truth behind their powers unknown' beside

the Imagine Breaker. Some espers even have such tremendous power that nobody even seenthem get serious before.

Anyway, if it's just the Deep Blood being imprisoned, things are actually easy. Like what

Aleister said, if 'there are conflicts in this city', there are 70,632 ways to deal with it.

But this isn't the problem.

It's because before the problem was settled, a magician came in from the 'outside world' and

entered 'Misawa Cram School'. He's aimed at 'Misawa Cram School'. Also, he didn't even

destroy 'Misawa Cram School', but controlled it. So things became this complicated.

"..."

Stiyl stares silently at the location diagram of the 'Misawa Cram School'.

From the diagram, he can't see anything that got modified by 'magic'. The tension that's like

charging straight into the darkness strikes Stiyl in the back. Though it's uncomfortable, Stiyl's

already used to it. This time, it's a simple battle of life and death, nil or one.

However, he's rather 'happy' that he's the only one in this city that has 2.3 million espers.

"Not quite."

Seemingly seeing through what Stiyl's thinking, Aleister said. Perhaps there's a device that can

read people's thoughts through temperature or blood flow.

"I also possess an esper who's a natural enemy of magicians."


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"..."

"Secondly, his brain isn't so smart that you can understand the technology of the magic side andduplicate it. Thus, even if he goes along with you, your technology won't be understood by us."

That old fox...for the first time, Stiyl harboured some hatred for Aleister.

What is that 'human' in front of me thinking of? Stiyl really doesn't understand. No matter what,

Imagine Breaker definitely shouldn't be as a weakling level 0. Stiyl experienced that in his battle.

It's true that the workings of Imagine Breaker isn't something that can be understood with just

one or two looks, and he definitely can't duplicate it and bring it back to the Church. However, it

should be the same for Academy City. No, at least Stiyl hopes that it's the same for time. IfAcademy City has a way to duplicate this Imagine Breaker ability, the Church won't have any

existence. Even weapons with hundreds or thousands of years of history will be destroyed on

contact with his right hand.

But Aleister doesn't seem to be treasuring this precious Imagine Breaker at all.

It's like he's giving a Saint in training all sorts of trials.

It's like using a heavy hammer to strike a hot metal used to form a sharp powerful sword.

"..."

And more importantly, that boy has the knowledge of 103,000 grimoires with him. Is this reallyalright?

His inner thoughts are conflicting with his words. Though Stiyl is harbouring such suspicions,

he's not showing it on his face.


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Deep Blood. Since there's Deep Blood, there will be that 'species' that must be killed . In other

words, if he believes in the existence of Deep Blood, it means that the existence of 'something' is

a fact.

"Hm, this of the occult isn't of us scientists' specialties, but you magicians--even your world has

to admit that some supernatural things exist, right?"

Of course. Stiyl cursed in his heart.

The 'magical energy' magicians use can be described as something like gasoline. In other words,using their lifespan and lifeforce, the 'crude oil', to refine all these through their breathing, blood

flow and thoughts into 'gasoline' that's easier to use.

Thus, magicians aren't all powerful. No matter how they search for even high-skilled magic, the

amount of gasoline is finite.

However, this 'certain creature' doesn't have such a limitation.

This 'certain creature' has the ridiculous characteristic of being 'immortal', which means that they

have infinite magical power. Even if the Earth's resources run out one day, the magical power of

this 'certain creature' will never run out.

Cain's descendants--vampires.

They definitely aren't weak creatures depicted in the stories that can be deal with using the

'Cross' and 'sunlight'. Actually, one's enough to cause a nuclear-level 'global calamity'.

"Hm."

In the huge container, the 'human's still floating upside down, staring dully at Stiyl.


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"...?"

"I won't explain the details to you. Anyway, it roughly means that 'reality will be seen differentlybetween humans'. Of course, the micro and macro physical laws are different, so this can't

explain all of it.

The rules of this world can be seen as a microscopic (micro) and telescopic (macro). As for

which are micro and which are macro, it's said that these are also within Aleister's range of

research.

"...I don't really get what you mean."

"It's alright, you don't have to. If you do, I have to kill you right now."

Aleister nonchalantly says,

"...Speaking of which, I'm the one who really doesn't understand. Is there really a Deep Blood?

And what's the difference? It's like the cat in the box."

Aleister says that espers are changing like how litmus papers change colours.

The main point isn't to marvel at how the litmus paper changes colour from red to blue, but toconsider why, what's the reason behind it, and think if there's any way to manipulate this rule.

Though Aleister controls 2.3 million espers that are enough to declare war on the entire world,

this to him isn't the 'aim', but a 'mean'.

Stiyl's trembling.

This 'human' in front of him is something who believes that machines can do everything for a

human.


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Part 2

Deep inside, Kamijou Touma is shouting: What the heck!

This is the second level of the fast food restaurant, a no smoking zone that's packed full. At thefour-seater table that's packed full with people, Kamijou, Index and Aogami Pierce are sitting

there.

Hm, it's still okay over up till here.

"--Spent all my money and ruined myself."

But why is there a miko lying on a table in such a crude shop and actually saying such ridiculous

words--!?

The miko's about as old as Kamijou and wearing a basic miko outfit. The waist length hair

makes her look like a textbook example of a miko.

"..."

"..."

The heavy presence is like that in a lift. What should I do? Kamijou wondered. At this moment,

he suddenly notices Index and Aogami Pierce looking at him.

"...Wha, what's up?"

"...Kami-yan, when someone talks to ya, ya should oblige and reply, right?"

"...That's right that's right! Touma, you can't just back away on just seeing the appearance. You

f ll G d' hi d h !"


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"Ah, erm...what did you mean when you said spent all your money and ruined yourself?"

Anyway, it's better to maintain the most natural conversation, Kamijou thought. And since themiko herself did say that, she's probably hoping for other people to ask her why.

"As I had a lot of free coupons, and a hamburger cost 580 yen--"

"Uh hm."

For Kamijou, who lost his memory, he forgot what a hamburger tastes like. However, he knows

that hamburgers have only a meat patty and some rotten lettuce, a poor person's bad friend.

"So I went ahead and ordered 30 of them."

"You ordered too much, idiot girl."

Just as Kamijou answered that on instinct, he notices that the miko isn't moving. It's because

she's not saying anything at all that one can feel that she's giving off the presence that she gotemotionally hurt.

This atmosphere is bad. He didn't expect her to treat it so seriously. This atmosphere is really bad.

"Ah, I didn't mean it like that! I haven't finished saying! I actually wanted to say 'idiot girl, whydid you order so much'. This was just meant to make our conversation even smooth going.

Though my talking may be rough, this is just a proof of friendliness, there's no ill intent! Ah,

sorry, let me talk to my clients. OI, THE NUN AND THAT BLUE-HAIRED GUY OVER

THERE, WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!! WAIT TILL WE TALKOUTSIDE!!"

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

"Frustration meal "

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"...And the reason is?"

"Overspending, lack of planning."

"..."

"So I'm having a frustration meal."

Kamijou barely manages to swallow the words 'you idiot' that was about to come out of his

throat.

After careful consideration, he says,

"But why don't you use that 300 yen for the train ride? If that's the case, you can cut the distance

until it's just a 100 yen distance. If not, why can't you just borrow 100 yen from someone?"

"--That idea's good."

"Why are you staring at me like that? What's with those expectant eyes of yours?"

Kamijou frantically lets his body back away from the miko as much as possible. He already

spent 3,600 yen (meaninglessly just to buy a reference book), and even bought three shakes just

to calm Index down, so even though it's just 100 yen, it's a heavy burden to him.

Speaking of which.

The miko who then lifted her face up is unexpectedly a beauty.

She's a little different from the foreigner Index; skin that's as white as a Japanese that's even

more visible under the black eyes and hair. Though her eyes lack emotion, it also means that

h ' t i E if h t t b ith h h i th f li f f t

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"What? It's not over yet Kami-yan! Ya were a good man for 16 years, how did ya get so many

unique girls like a nun and a miko within 2 weeks!? Is this a gal game?"

Aogami Pierce cried out in confusion, and Kamijou really wants to reward him with a punch.

However, since they're sitting diagonally, he couldn't do so. Just the positioning of their sitting is

enough to see how unfortunate Kamijou is.

"100 yen please." The miko however lifts her head up and stares with a complicated painful

expression as she says,

"Can't you lend me?"

"Nope. No money here."

"..." The miko ponders for a while and says,

"...So stingy. Can't even let me borrow a mere 100 yen."

"...Who's the idiot who doesn't even have some stupid 100 yen!?" Kamijou inadvertently

retorted back.

"Kami-yan! How can ya respond like that so naturally!? As a good man, shouldn't ya stutter in

front of a beauty!?"

Aogami Pierce shouted out with a Hellish-like voice.

"...Beauty."

The miko's eyes waver, making one wonder what she's thinking now.

"L d 100 i I' b tif l "



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"Humph. Seeing that you're wearing red pants, I suppose you do divinations, right? So mikos

who do divinations will also sell their faces, right? I even heard that the term 'miko' was a hidden

way of calling a 'whore' in the Heian period, right?"

Kamijou jumped up and shouted on hearing that, and Aogami Pierce is going high for somereason, shouting 'hahaha, a nun and miko are going at it!". Just as Kamijou intends to let Aogami

Pierce remain quiet, the miko spoke,

"I'm not a miko."

"What?"

The black-haired girl who looks exactly like a miko and whose photo can be used for an entry in

an encylopedia said such words, causing everyone to stare at her.

"Eh, if you're not a miko, what are you?"

Kamijou, who became everyone's representative for some reason, asked.

"I'm a spellcaster."

"..."

Everyone remain silent. The sounds of the cable broadcast in the shop seem to far away. Forsome reason, though Kamijou lost his memory, he has a strong feeling that he experienced this

before. But more importantly, why is Index trembling over there? Kamijou cries deep inside.

BAM! Index slams onto the table with both hands.



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Index continues to slam her hands on the table.

Kamijou sighs and looks around. Though the shop's rather noisy, Index's flailing about is toomuch. Got to make her shut up soon.

"Alright alright, we understand that this miko isn't a miko but a spellcaster, but so what? Calm

down."

"Touma! Your attitude is completely different from when you first met me!"

Index glared at Kamijou as if she wants to bite him, but the truth is that Kamijou really forgot

about it. Of course, he can't just tell her 'sorry, I lost my memory'.

"If she herself thinks that she's a spellcaster, let her be. Since she's not trying to harm someone or

trick someone, don't mind it."

"...Uu, when I wanted to prove that magic was real, my clothes got stripped off."

"Ha?"

"Nothing! I never said anything nor thought of anything!"

Index angrily looks away. Underneath the table, Kamijou's foot got stepped on several times.

Seems like there's only one culprit.

"Ah."

Index, who turned her head aside, seem to notice something.

Kamijou's wondering whether the shop attendants are going to chase them out because they're

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Also.

Even now when the shop's crowded, nobody actually noticed this anomaly.

Basically, these people can erase their own existence like professional killers.

"..."

They're dressed in the same Western suit, everyone's in their 20s, 30s.

If they're squeezed together in a train station, they can make people basically fail to remembertheir faces and names. However, their expression don't carry any emotions at all, and because of

that, they end up being unable to mix into the surroundings.

(Emotionless expression...?)

Kamijou wonders where he seen this expression before. Then, he looks back around the table.

This anonymous miko.

Her expression is still emotionless even with 10 men surrounding them.

"100 yen more."

The miko spoke.

She said that as she silently stood up. It seems that she's not wary of them. The attitude's

basically as casual as having a pre-arranged meeting with someone here.

One of them backs away and makes a path. Another one respectfully hands over a 100 yen coin

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The miko walks to the first level. The 10 men silently follow behind like shadows and

bodyguards.

The familiar buzzing and wired music seem to be heard from afar, as the volume's becoming

softer.

After these people left, Aogami Pierce finally says,

"Hold on, why must cram school teachers take her back? They're not some elementary school

discipline head."

Part 3

It's later, in the evening.

In order to forget about that mysterious miko and those men clad in western suits. Kamijou and

company decided to play hard and go back home like elementary school students after school

and dispersed after 5.

Aogami Pierce said bye-bye like an elementary school child and disappeared into the evening

streets. He's not staying in a student dormitory, but living in a bakery. It's said that the reason

why he's staying there is because the uniform looks like a maid outfit.

On the road in front of the station at the department store, only Kamijou and Index are there.

Kamijou sighs,

Just as the idea that both of them are alone appears in his mind, there's a numbing tension

spreading throughout his entire body.

Th ' d i h



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hates the heat that she would reveal her feet or bellybutton from under the pyjamas. In the end,

Kamijou could only choose to lock himself in the toilet, and because of that, Kamijou Touma's

been sleep deprived recently.

"--Am I so bad that I can end up on the tabloids?"

Kamijou muttered. How would the Kamijou Touma before he 'lost his memory' view this

situation? Kamijou muttered. In fact, the 'living together' idea was proposed by the Kamijou

Touma 'before he lost his memory'. What were you doing that time, Kamijou Touma! He roared

in his heart.

"Ah!"

Walking halfway, Index suddenly stopped, seemingly seeing something.

"Eh?" Feeling depressed, Kamijou stares over at where Index is look. At the base of a windmill

turbine, there's a corrugated paper box, and there's a cat purring inside.

"Touma! Ca--"

"No way!"

--Kamijou interrupted Index before she could finish."

"No we can't."

"Why why why why why? Why can't we raise Sphynx?"

"Because we're not allowed to have pets in student dormitories, and I don't have any money. --

Don't go naming the cat so quickly! And what Sphinx--THAT'S A JAPANESE CALICO CAT,

WHY IS THERE'S A FOREIGN NAME?"



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It's a summer sunset now, and both of them are shouting at each other. Kamijou casually thinks,

how did the Kamijou Touma 'before he lost his memory treat this girl'? Maybe it was like this?

If that were the case, it'll be really delightful for him.

But it's a little lonely as well.

Besides, the girl isn't looking at this Kamijou. What makes her relax completely and smile so

brightly is the Kamijou Touma before 'he lost his memory'.

It's still painful.

Even so, Kamijou still intends to act on.

"Humph! I heard that the Shamisen was made from cat skins? Why must the people in this

country always do such cruel things to cats?"

"...Idiot, stop criticising other countries' cultures! You English folks also love to gather togetherand chase down foxes, right!?"

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING...FOX HUNTING IS A REPRESENTATIVE OF ENGLAND'S

TRADITIONS AND PRIDE--!"

Shouting halfway, Index suddenly notices something and moves away.

"Na? What? Where did the cat disappear to?"

Kamijou said as he looks around, but he doesn't see any signs of the cat.

"...That's strange, Touma. I seem to feel that the mana is being gathered."



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Just like that, Index vanished into the alley.

"She asked me to go back, but."

Such a mysterious girl, Kamijou thought. However, he can't just leave her behind and go home

first. Besides, a girl just ran into a dangerous alley, and the chances of encountering something

bad is as common as a third rate RPG story line.

Misfortune came up looking again. Kamijou sighed.

He sighed and raises his foot, ready to follow Index into the alley. But at this moment,

"It's been a while, Kamijou Touma."

A voice came from behind.

The foot that was about to step into the alley has to stop.

The words 'it's been a while' is basically 'taboo' to Kamijou. Kamijou remembers knowledge like

'Japanese' and '1st grade mathematics', but he forgot all his 'memories'. He doesn't evenremember things like 'when did I buy this game', 'how many marks did I get for the end-of-term

exams', no 'memories' at all.

Such he can't remember everyone's faces and names, on hearing something like 'it's been a while',Kamijou can only give the most sincere looking fake smile.

In order to protect that girl's happiness.

Kamijo To ma m st ne er let others realise that he lost his memories



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How can there be such an impression?

And he doesn't want to have any impressions on him.

"Humph, not even a hi even after we haven't met for a long time? Hm, that's good as well. That's

how our relationship should be like. We can't just call ourselves comrades after just working

together once."

However, the priest with cologne smell all over him said this earnestly.

(Who is this guy...)

Kamijou's throat can't even make this voice.

Besides the existence of this suspicious priest, Kamijou's even more suspicious that 'he actually

know of such a person before he lost his memory'.

Also, there's another thing Kamijou's bothered about.

Kamijou glances into the alley. Index ran off someone, and there's no time to bother about this

renegade priest...

"Ah, don't worry about Index, I just used the Opila runes. She probably just detected the magic

flow and ran off to look."

Kamijou is stunned.

Runic magic. Magic language that the Germanic people started to use since the 2nd century A.D.

Basically, these are 'words that have power'. For example, writing the word 'kenaz (flames)' on

the paper will cause 'flames' to appear on the paper.



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For the first time, Kamijou Touma's feeling afraid of himself.

The priest with such a smell seem to see something from Kamijou's eyes, closing one eye andsmiles.

Kamijou doesnt' know what's going on, and neither does he have any mood to talk to others. He

can only smile ambiguously and force the mysterious feeling down.

At that moment, the red-haired priest pulled out what looks like a card and says,

"Don't smile with everything. Are you ready the die?" (Spoken in English again)

The red-haired priest's smiles like melted wax, as the face extends sideways.

A chill.

The knowledge Kamijou had 'before he lost his memory' is telling him there's danger.

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

Kamijou quickly raises the right hand before his eyes--like he's blocking out the light that'sshining into his eyes. At that moment, the priest's right hand spurts out flames like he's flushing

out gasoline, forming a fiery red flame sword.

The priest doesn't even wait.

No hesitation, no mercy--he swings the flame sword down hard at Kamijou.

Th t th fl d i t t t ith th bj t it l d d lik b ll f



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Imagine Breaker.

The mysterious power that's hidden in Kamijou's right hand. No matter what supernatural powerit is, even if it's God's miracle, it will vanish completely on contact.

"Hah...hah...!"

Seeing the stiff, trembling and immobile Kamijou, the priest finally smiles.

"Yes, yes, that's the face I wanted. The relationship between Kamijou Touma and Stiyl Magnus

should be like this. Don't make me repeat this, since our relationship isn't such that we can calleach other comrades after working together once."

The priest's smile is like it's ruptured and melted.

However, Kamijou can't respond. It's not that he's afraid of that abnormal power in him, nor is it

about the priest in front of him who calls himself Stiyl Magnus.

If there's a question about what Kamijou's afraid about, there's only one answer.

He's afraid that he could actually respond and block that 'attack' without thinking, even after

facing such a ridiculous 'attack' like a flame sword; the 'knowledge' he has.

It's really scary.

"Wha...are you--"

Kamijou frantically takes 2, 3 steps because. The 'knowledge' and 'pre-amnesia' Kamijou Touma

is telling him that an enemy's here.

Th ' ti t fi ht th ' f ithi ' Ri ht th t i t t thi i t fi ht



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It feels like it has a lot of information. Is he really thinking of giving me secrets? Kamijou

frowns. This guy just created one huge explosion on this one-direction 3 laned road that as wide

as a runway. And now he's trying to tell me a secret--?

(...?)

Thinking about this, Kamijou suddenly realises something.

There was a huge explosion, and yet the surroundings weren't involved in the commotion.

(...!?)

No. It's only now that Kamijou realised the truth.

It wasn't that there wasn't a commotion, but there's no one around. On the one direction threelane road that's wide enough to be a runway, there are many department stores on each side. But

on thinking closely, there's nobody and no cars on the road--just Kamijou and Stiyl.

The windmill turbines are still rattling, echoing through the empty street like a skeleton laughing.

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

"I just said it before--"

Perhaps trying to break the silence of the night coast, Stiyl chuckles,

"--I used the Opila runes."

EhwazStiyl says and flicks the large fan-mail like envelop from his hand with his index finger.

The thick envelop spins like a frisbee and slowly lands on Kamijou's hands.


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"It's said to be the prep school with the largest market in the country."

Stiyl said with melancholy.

Prep school. As what the name implies, it's a tuition school. Those repeat students who failed in

their college entrance exams will gather here to study.

However, the 'promotion prep class' in Academy City has another meaning to it. That's to

provide those people who already have the potential to enter college but chose to retake another

year a place to study.

A piece of paper floats in front of Kamijou.

It seems like Misawa Cram School doesn't only provides 'promotion classes', it also provides

services for students who haven't become repeat students a 'pre-exam express' service.

"...So, why are you telling me about prep classes? Is there a discount given when you introduce

friends in?"

Kamijou asked Stiyl with a look that obviously shows that he doesn't trust him.

That's because he can't imagine any relationship this priest that reeks of cologne would have with

a prep school.

It's like this--Stiyl nonchalently explains.

"A girl was imprisoned there, and it's my duty to save her."

St nned Kamijo stares at Sti l


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However, the picture of the location diagram has some errors in the measurements when

comparing the infrared and ultrasonic scans. Obviously, there's an unknown place that uses a lot

of electricity.

--A 'Misawa Cram School' electricity bill.

However, even after investigating all the electrical appliances and electricity consumption in

each room, the sum still doesn't tally. Obviously, there's a part in the building where something'

using a lot of electricity.

--A personnel entry and exit list of 'Misawa Cram School'.

However, the teachers or students obviously do take in lots of food. Some investigators acted asrubbish clearing people and checked the rubbish, and found that the numbers don't tally as well.

Obviously, 'Misawa Cram School' has to provide food for 'some people' inside the building.

--And the last sheet of paper is.

A report of a sighting a month ago, regarding a girl walking into the 'Misawa Cram School'

building.

According to a caretaker of the student dormitory, this girl was never seen at the dormitory room

again.

"Right now, it seems that 'Misawa Cram School' became a phony religious cult devoted to

science worship."

Stiyl said nonchalently.

Science worship...? Kamijou frowns in surprise.


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Besides, if the places that are supposed to be for 'educational purposes' have some problems, the

place will immediately become a brainwashing plant.

"I don't know what they're teaching, but to be honest, it's meaningless no matter what fanatical

religious group 'Misawa Cram School' became. That's because they're dissolved."

"...?"

"To put it a bit more extreme."

Stiyl continues on, not looking like he cares much,

"'Misawa Cram School' got taken. The phony religious half-baked scientific group got taken over

by a real magician--no, an alchemist of the Zurich school, to be precise."

"An authentic one...?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds suspicious...hold on."

"What?"

"...Since when did you become so perspective? Are you basically listening and letting the words

out from your ears because you don't understand at all?"

Kamijou is shocked.

Actually, it's not because Stiyl was spot on. He was seriously listening to Stiyl, and he was really

trying to understand and respond to the terms he doesn't understand.

But it's because he did so that Stiyl felt that something's amiss.


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So Kamijou decides to fool the entire world. Even himself.

"What, you give me that just because I so happened to be listening attentively? You aren't amasochist or something? Are you the type that wants others to interrupt your words left and

right?"

But right now, the Kamijou 'now' doesn't know how different he is from the Kamijou 'pre-

amnesia'. It's like walking while looking at a map; even though he knows he's walking the wrong

way, but if he looks around and find desert everywhere, he can't tell where the right path is.

For a while, Stiyl stares suspiciously at Kamijou's face.

"Fine, whatever. It's not a problem that this conversation is going well anyway."

Stiyl finally reverts back to the original conversation.

"The main point is the reasons why that alchemist took over 'Misawa Cram School'. Of course,

the simplest reason is that he probably feels that it's convenient to just use this 'Misawa CramSchool' as a base. Most of the students may not have realised that the principal of this prep

school has changed."

However, Stiyl then exhales lightly and says,

"The most important reason why the alchemist took over was the Deep Blood that's imprisoned

in 'Misawa Cram School'."

Deep Blood?


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

It's like a master thief making all sorts of preparations to steal something from an art gallery,only for terrorists to occupy the building. The thief than stole the painting he wanted to steal

from these destructive maniacs who don't understand the value of these paintings, only to findthat the art gallery got packed with police. Unable to do anything, the master thief then has to

build a barricade at the entrance of the art gallery and hide inside...?

Yeah. To the alchemist, it's his greatest wish to be able to get the Deep Blood...no, moreaccurately, that's the wish of the entire world of magicians. Perhaps it's also the wish of the world

as a whole.

???

Kamijou reveals a puzzled look.

It's an ability that can kill a 'certain creature'. No, not just that. This is the only possibility of

capturing this 'certain creature' alive to prove the existence.

Kamijou still doesn't understand. Well, if I have to use our terminology, this certain creature is

called Cain's descendant.

Stiyl chuckles, and then he says in a whisper-like voice,

Basically, they're vampires.

He finally said it,

Are you kidding me?

Hearing s ch ords this as the first response Kamijo ga e


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...Those who can think that it's a joke are considered lucky.

Stiyl gnashes his teeth and looks away.

Right now, the magician who can control flames perfectly seem to be afraid of something.

Humph, since there exists a specialist who can kill vampires, it's obvious that 'those vampireswho must be killed' exist as well. It's like the bad people existing for the heroes of justice, it's a

vicious cycle. However, one thing I can confirm is that...if possible, I don't want to admit it.

...What do you mean? Do the vampires in the books really exist?

Kamijou's still denying it in his heart.

However, the man in front of him is still as stern as ever, making him unable to brush this off.

Nobody has ever seen a vampire--

Stiyl Magnus looks like the embodiment of self-confidence as he says in a chant like tone,

--Because everyone who saw it died.

...

Of course, I'm not going to believe in such things so easily. The troublesome thing is that

nobody ever saw a vampire before, but the existence of Deep Blood confirms the existence of avampire. Nobody knows how strong they are, nobody knows how many there are, nobody knowswhere they are, nobody knows nobody knows nobody knows...how can we deal with them when

we don't even know anything about them?

Sti l ti t h t b t K ij h till 't t th t ' i ' till 't


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Whatever. Anyway, the 'Kabbalah' represents the 'soul level' of God, Angels, humans and

others. To put it simply, humans can climb up the ranks by training, but at some point, they won't

be able to climb up any higher.

...You're treating me like an idiot, aren't you? What are you trying to say?

Is your pride hurt? What I'm trying to say is...there are some disciplines that humans can't reach

no matter how much they try. However, humans do want to continue their ascent no matter what.

Magicians became magicians because they want to surpass a human's limits. If so, what must

humans do to surpass this limit?

Stiyl's expression looks like he's about to rip his sneering expression apart.

It's simple. They just need to borrow the power of anything other than humans.

Kamijou can't say anything.

The so-called vampires are immortal, one can just rip their hearts out and stab them with a

magic sword, and they can still live on like a living magic tool.

Stiyl nonchalantly continues,

What's important isn't the authenticity of the issue. Scholars are such creatures who will try out

things even if there's just a tiny possibility.

In other words, this is what Stiyl meant.

The existence of the vampires isn't important. What's important is that some people believe that

they do exist and made a fuss out of it Since someone blew things up someone else will have to


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...

Oh yeah, do you know the past about Deep Blood? It's rumoured that the girl was living in amountain village at Kyoto, but one day, everyone in the village died. The last villager who

reported the case may had been in a state of disarray, saying that he will be killed by a monster.When the rescuers arrived, what they saw was an empty village, and a girl who was just standing

blankly down thereand an entire village that was overrun with white snow-like ash all over the

place.

Ash.

It's said that vampires will turn into ash after they died.

It's true that vampires are a sort of existence 'whose existence is unknown', but thinkabout it.

Deep Blood is a power that can 'kill vampires'. But if Deep Blood wants to kill vampires, the

Deep Blood has to meet vampires. As for the people who wants to find vampires no matter what,the easiest way is to catch Deep Blood. However, since the Deep Blood has such a powerful

ability to 'kill even vampires', how can they subdue Deep Blood? That is a question.

This is a completely supernatural discussion.

It's dangerous to listen on, Kamijou instincts are telling him. If he continues to listen to thisperson, his common sense will be twisted. And Kamijou has a premonition that if this keeps up,

it may end up in a state where he can't reverse it.

In order to end this conversation, he clearly raises a suspicion.

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

Nn, that's right. We don't have much time, so let's end this quick.


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That's an accurate description of the current situation. Also, those words were just a discussion

of our battle plan. Do you still remember everyday? All the information are engraved with flame

runes, and will burn after you see them. It'll be bad if you don't remember them.

Hold...!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Kamijou thought. This Stiyl in front of him is a person whose power

is most suited for killing and is a merciless killer. If he's going into some 'enemy' alchemist's

stronghold, it won't be surprising to see him get involved in a killer incident.

Also, one more thing.

Stiyl casually replies,

I suppose you don't have any rights to refuse. If you don't obey, we'll take away that Index from

you.

For some reason, the words are etched deeply inside Kamijou.

The 'knowledge' is afraid. The remnants of the Kamijou Touma 'before he lost his memory' seem

to be afraid of something.

The mission that Necessarius gave you is to act as a shackle, a shackle to prevent the 'collar

chain' that's taken from Index from betraying the organisation. However, if you don't follow the

Church's wishes, the effect of that 'shackle' won't be something that's to be expected.

Stiyl sighs, and continues,

Speaking of which, it's good for me if the Church feels that you're 'worthless'. I'll really thankyou if you can do that, since meaningless 'shackles' are meaningless, and I can just reclaim that

child properly


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For some reason,

...Are you serious?

Why does he believe so strongly that his anxiety is a correct response?

Kamijou wonders.

It's true that Index first met the Kamijou Touma 'before he lost his memory', the one Index trusts

and smiles at isn't the Kamijou 'who's standing right here'.

But even so, it's alright.

He once saw the girl in the white room, crying as she saw the battered and fatigued Kamijou.

In order not to make her cry.

Even if he has to fool the entire world, even himself, it's alright. Kamijou already swore to

adhere to his own lie--!

...Humph.

Stiyl nonchalantly looks away.

His expression is like an actor's whose role got stolen; it's inexplicable.

If you want to deal with me, wait till we deal with the alchemist that's hidden in 'Misawa Cram

School' first. Also, I forgot to mention it, the Deep Blood's real name is Himegami Aisa. There'sa photo here, and it's best that you take a look. It'll be bad if you can't even remember the face of

the person you're going to save.


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Perhaps the photo on a student report book or some certain identification card was enlarged, as

the face of that Himegami Aisais truly the face of the miko.

Kamijou recalls what Stiyl said.

--Originally, the 'Misawa Cram School' seem like they just imprisoned her to be a miko.

He recalls what the girl said during the day.

--I'm not a miko.

Kamijou recalls what the magician said

A girl was imprisoned there, and it's my duty to save her.

He remembers Himegami Aisa's words.

--Nn, they're cram school teachers.

But why? Kamijou wonders. According to Stiyl's explanation, Himegami Aisa should beimprisoned in 'Misawa Cram School'. IF that miko's really the Deep Blood, why can she enter a

fast food restaurant and eat hamburgers?

--Train fare back home, 400 yen.

Did she escape? Kamijou thought. The only possible reason why the imprisoned Himegami Aisa

will be outside is because she escaped from 'Misawa Cram School'.

--My total fortune, 300 yen.

If th t' th it l i h Hi i h littl h B id if h


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So,

She should at least have one last memory? The girl wished for 100 yen.

So if she just had 100 yen more, she could escape from the control of Misawa Cram School?

Who's the idiot who refused this one wish from the girl.

'--Spent all my money and ruined myself.

Damn, it...

Also, Hiemgami didn't resist when she was surrounded by the 'cram school teachers'. Obviously,

she must have wanted to resist. How can she be so willing to go back like that after escaping

from 'Misawa Cram School'.

Anyone else would have chosen to run away.

If she couldn't escape with her own power, she would have asked others for help.

But asking others for help will mean that she'll get others involved.

Damn it...!

Kamijou's extremely unhappy about it. He's so frustrated that he can't think. He's outraged that

the 'Misawa Cram School' doesn't treat this girl as a human and locked her up. He's revolted at

the alchemist who snatched the girl away, he's infuriated by Stiyl who said that 'Deep Blood is

the ace that's used to keep the vampires in check'.

But the one that Kamijou's extremely vexed about is that Himegami Aisa who sacrificed herself

t K ij


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Kamijou bites his lips, and the taste of blood is felt on his canines.

(--TAKE AWAY OTHER PEOPLE'S MISFORTUNE!)

Thinking back, this is where Kamijou's really vexed about, one that really makes Kamijou's head

blood.

Kamijou doesn't have any 'memories'.

However, how Himegami viewed herself is that she always felt that it's alright even though

everyone's treating her as a tool.

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

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

In the past, Kamijou seemed to meet such a girl before. Why can't he remember? Kamijou's

really vexed with himself.

He has to save her?

What should he say? Kamijou Touma isn't going to be able to relieve the anger in him if he

doesn't punch that selfish and stubborn Himegami Aisa.

Between the Lines 1

--The girl's standing in the middle of the sea of ash.

One of the 13 squads of the knights of England, the 1st Lancer squad was set up with the mission

of 'gathering the enemy's information before anyone else'.


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In fact, they were just equipped with some casted armour and some Cross-shaped spears, and

they didn't even have mass-produced Holy spears. Though the casted armour were holy armours

that 'have magical power and could increase the bearer's mobility by 20 times', and that theywere 1st class spiritual tool, everyone could tell that the higher-ups weren't viewing this as

important.

However, there's something everyone was mindful about.

The last survivor who called said something like this,

Help...methat's not, human...that's--

Of course, nobody believed him.

The higher-ups of the Church didn't believe that, and didn't give them proper equipment.

But the battle-hardened members of the Knights of England really felt some irritating pressure.

Though there were many remaining records in the English national Library, nobody actually sawit before, and nobody caught this 'certain creature'. As for 'this creature' it seems to exist for some

reason, it's a mystery as to why so many people wouldn't admit its existence.

That's because if they admitted that such a creature exists, the world would have been destroyed.

The terrifying thing wasn't the power of this 'certain creature'. If they couldn't match its power,

humans could use ways other than brute force to beat them. They could also create all sorts of

tools and weapons to beat them.

The terrifying thing wasn't the immortality of the 'certain creature'. If they couldn't even kill theenemy, they just had to find ways other than killing them to beat them. For example, they could

just freeze them under the ice of Antarctica or dice the immortal flesh up into 200 pieces and


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Basically, their original fuel, lifespan and lifeforce couldn't be compared to humans. No, more

accurately, their lifeforce is 'infinite'. Of course, the amount of magic they could use is of a

completely different level. How could a handgun with limited ammunition beat an unlimitedmissile strike?

Thus, the members were just laughing at their insecurity, but they couldn't get rid of it

completely.

Just like that, he passed through mountains and reached this age-forgotten village. Just as they

saw the scene over there, their hearts felt like they were squashed.

Looking around, it's white ash everywhere.

This seemingly age-forgotten Eastern wasteland was covered by a layer of white ash like snow.

The roofs of the huts, the land in the fields, the narrow channels were all covered with a layer of

ash.

Were these the...remains of the 'certain creature'?

But that's not what they're shocked by. If they were real corpses, the number definitely weren't

limited to jut 10 or 20. But looking at this amount of ash, the members were unable to believe

their eyes.

At the middle of the falling ash, there was a girl standing there.

She should be about 5, 6 years old, a Eastern style black-haired girl. But on seeing that cute faceof hers, the knights who specialise in eliminating radicals still couldn't stop their hearts from

beating wildly.

Because among the scene of dancing ash, where the remnants of the 'certain creature' form a

living Hell


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Chapter 2: The Witch-Hunter Moves Along With the Flames.By The Holy Rood...

Part 1

Kamijou stares at the expression of this girl called Index.

His 'knowledge' is complaining. She has photographic memory, and won't forget anything she

memorises. It's because of this that she was able to memorise 103,000 grimoires.

However, this ability can be a double-edged sword. If she can't forget, it means that she won't be

able forget what she wants to forget. All the meaningless memories, from a department store

brochure 3 years ago to everyone's face in a peak hour, will be stored in her brain, and she can't

'forget' to erase them.

Thus, she must use magic to wipe her memories once every year. If he didn't do this, she woulddie of the overwhelming burden in her brain. But right now, she's smiling in a carefree manner

beside Kamijou.

According to her, the one who saved her from this predicament was Kamijou himself. But

Kamijou can't remember what he was thinking or what he did.

Then, Kamijou starts to think.

He just said goodbye to Stiyl and brought Index back to the dorm. But next, Kamijou must head

to the battlefield called 'Misawa Cram School'. Of course, he definitely can't bring Index along.

If so, it's best that he better not tell Index that he's going to the 'Misawa Cram School'.

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"I'M GOING OFF TO THAT SUPER HIGH-TECH PRIMARY CULTURE INSTITUTE! EH?

YOU'RE GOING AS WELL? I SUPPOSE NOT! YOU'RE NOT SO GOOD WITH

MACHINES AND YOU DEFINITELY CAN'T USE THAT SUPER MAGNETIC BRAINDETECTORS! YOU'LL GET LOCKED UP BY THAT AUTO-LOCK SYSTEM OF THE

DOOR! SINCE IT'S A LEVEL 4 SAFETY LEVEL, IF THE BASE ARRANGEMENT

SYSTEM DOESN'T HAVE DATA ON YOU, YOU'LL GET ELECTROCUTED! BIRI BIRI

NEGATIVELY CHARGED IONS OF LIGHT--!"

As expected, under the bombardment of technobabble, Index's head is letting out steam.

That's to be expected. Besides, Index, who doesn't have any knowledge of modern knowledgemay nod her head back in response when she hears a vending machine at a train station say

'welcome'.

"Then I'll say this first. Dinner's in the fridge, just microwave it and you can eat it. Don't put the

spoon in the microwave oven, or you'll start a fire. And don't you open the freezer door to cool

yourself."

"Eh? Ah, uu...I don't seem to be really capable of using a microwave oven."

Maybe one may suspect how does one misuse a microwave oven. However, Index did

microwave a sauce pack of a convenience store bento, and it exploded. She also tried to heat up a

half-boiled egg, and it exploded. She even microwaved a bento for too long, and it exploded. In

the end, it seemed to her that no matter how she used the microwave oven, it will explode.

Perhaps she thought that using a microwave oven is 'a sure-fire way for an explosion'.

(...Seems like she's not suspecting anything at all.)

Kamijou stares at Index, who's staring at the microwave oven and narrowing her wide eyes,

giving the look that she won't fail again. He heaves a sigh of relief.


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Perhaps it's because he was talking to Stiyl and too nervous that he didn't notice it. It's likely that

the reason Index stayed in the alley for so long wasn't that she wanted to look for the source of

the rune, but rather that she wanted to look for that stray cat.

"Uu! To, Touma! This piece of clothing is called the 'Walking Church', right?"

"So what?"

"And a Church should open its arms without any conditions to any lost sheep! Therefor, I will

protect Sphynx, who was lost on the streets, Amen."

"..."

Kamijou's lips seem somewhat numb as he says,

"...So, you mean that you'll raise the cat inside the clothes, right? I understand! So the cat sand

and it's toilet will be shoved into the your sleeves, right?"

"..."

"..."

"Whatever! I've decided that Sphynx will be protected by the Church!"

"Oi! The person who doesn't even think through before doing things! At least think for the one

who's being taken care of!"

"It's all right as long as I treat it as a family member!"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE TREATED BY THE CAT AS ITS DAD!"


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(...What can I say, fukou da.)

Kamijou sighs. Thinking about the money needed to raise the cat, it seems like he has to reducethe number of dishes everyday. Why did Index choose to pick a cat up at this time?

".........alright."

"Hm? Touma? What did you say?"

"...............Can't be helped, let's raise it."

But it's good.

Seems like such words can make Index cry out tears of joy. It's worth it to be able to see Index

show such an expression.

"Ahh, our Father in Heaven! Your warm light of love hase finally reached the heartless, cruel,cold-blooded, snake-eyed Touma's heart! Thank you for saving this stray cat's innocent soul, I

won't forget this for the rest of my life."

...Even though he thought of this, Kamijou Touma's still unable to explain something.

Part 2

After exiting the dormitory room, he sees Stiyl, who he said goodbye to a while back, scattering

card-like things all over the place.

"What are you doing?"

"Can't you tell? I'm setting a barrier here to build a temple here."


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"--It can only be used in the 'boundary' that has runes on it, and it will be destroyed if the runes

are destroyed."

"...I can tell you this."

Hearing this, Stiyl's ears twitched, and says,

"I lost to you the last time not because I was weaker than you, it was just the location. If you

didn't set off the sprinklers."

"Eh? Did we fight before?"

Kamijou only had 'knowledge' and no 'memories'. Therefore, even though he knew 'how to beat

Innocentius', he doesn't know 'where this knowledge came from'.

"Ku...so you meant that that incident had no value in remembering?"

Seemingly misunderstanding, Stiyl continues on,

"Fine then, I won't squabble with you over that. After I stick this up, the boundary will be

complete, and we can head towards Misawa Cram School...how troublesome. I have to set up a

boundary to keep off magicians, but I can't make it too strong or else that child will notice it."

Stiyl continued to mutter, and it seems like he's really happy.

Thus, Kamijou somewhat realises something.

"Do you like Index?"

"Eh?"


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Kamijou doesn't know how the 'pre-amnesia' Kamijou Touma viewed Index nor how did he

interact with her.

If Kamijou says anything now that conflicts with the 'pre-amnesia' him, Stiyl will realise that he

lost his memory.

(It's like I have two of "me"...)

Kamijou sighs deep inside. It's not really accurate to say that there're two of "him". Kamijou even

feels that a fake Kamijou entered the real Kamijou's body and is trying to act like the real one.

That really feels awkward.

"Before we charge into 'Misawa Cram School', let's talk about our 'enemy'."

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

As they exit the student dormitory and walk on the night street, Kamijou listens to Stiyl's

description.

"The enemy's name is Aureolus Izzard."

Stiyl first introduced the enemy's name.

"Speaking of Aureolus, there's one person you'll think of...hm? Are you shocked that he's such a

famous person? Don't worry, he's just the descendant of that guy, he's not as strong as the legendgoes."

"? Who is this Aureolus?"


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The August sunset is burning. The large number of windows, windmill turbines, everything's

dyed orange red. Kamijou thinks that it looks just like a faded photograph. Perhaps that's because

their conversation doesn't seem so realistic.

"He shouldn't be strong...but what's worrying is that he must have some sort of 'secret weapon' toforce Deep Blood follow him. Also, the worst case scenario is that he may have used the Deep

Blood to let this 'certain creature' submit to him."

More than Aureolus Izzard, it seems like Stiyl's more mindful about this.

But Kamijou can't really understand. Even if the conditions are unique, he shouldn't be treatingthe 'enemy's' ability as second priority.

"Oi, that's not right, isn't it? I don't know how powerful vampires are, but should our primary

concern be the enemy boss? It's like fighting in a fire, we'll be beaten badly if we are concerned

only on the flames."

"Hm? Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Aureolus' name may be familiar, but his

descendants aren't as powerful as he was. And in the magic world, there actually aren't any rolescalled Alchemist."

Stiyl said nonchalantly,

"Divination, alchemy, summoning, these sounds like your language, mathemathics and history.

Even Japanese language teachers won't stop learning mathematics completely, right? This so-called magic is to learn a part of everything and then choose a direction that's most suited for

himself."

Stiyl also mentions that the reason Aureolus Izzard became an alchemist is because he's not

talented enough for the other roles.


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But these are all experiments. It's like what you people call scientists, always looking for the

'...basis' or '...rule'. They don't care about what they will get from the test tube, it wasn't their

initial aim. The same theory applies here, alchemists weren't supposed to be focused on 'creating',but 'pursuing knowledge'.

...It's like how Einstein was only researching on the theory of Relativity, and the atomic bomb

was just a by-product of the research?

If one views it from this angle, scientists are really arrogant, never thinking of what their

creations will do to society.

Yeah. But besides researching on the 'formula' and the 'principle', they have a final goal.

Stiyl pauses, and then continues,

--It's like a simulation of the world in his mind.

...

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? What do you mean by that? Are you talking about abilities similar to those of 'espers'?

It's said that on the primitive islands in the South Pacific like Fiji and Melanesia, one has to have

the talent of 'being able to accurately predict the weather the next day with just a single glance to

the sky' in order to be a leader.

Though this 'weather forecast' ability seems like some esper ability, it's actually just a result ofcomputing the window flow, cloud shapes, temperature and humidity in the brain and making a

rough estimate out of the vast amount of calculations in the brain These island leaders never


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Stiyl said nonchalantly,

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

That's really a shocking proclamation.

For example, spells that involve ectoplasm, or spells that uses telesma to summon Angels; it's

not uncommon to see one 'pull the thoughts in the brain back to reality' in the magic world.

Stiyl folds his arms in front of his chest and says,

Thus, it's important to have an ability to 'use the brain to accurately imagine the real world'.Basically, with this power, one can 'control the world'. Any celestial beings or devils will bow

down to that person.

...Oi oi...

Of course, it's hard to do this. The flow of the river, clouds, humans, blood...there are an

unlimited number of 'laws' in a world. If one messes up something, he won't be able to create anaccurate 'world'. One distortion in the world is like a distorted pair of wings, even if they're

summoned, they will be vanquished.

This should be similar to a computer process, Kamijou thought. No matter how perfect the

process is

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To Aru Majutsu No Index - Volume 02

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