A Certain Magical Index: The Primal Spirit Descends to My Side

The dilapidated door made a loud noise, and the whole room seemed to shake, making one wonder about the sturdiness of Ms. Komoe's house. Kamijou Touma took a breath and lay down on the floor.

A moment of silence fell. Kamijou scratched his head and looked at Index. "Sorry, given your current condition, I really should have brought her over to help..."

"No..." Index shook her head, the damp towel on her forehead sliding down slightly. "Your judgment is correct; we shouldn't let her get involved anymore."

Just as Touma Kamijou crossed his arms, preparing to feel smug because Index had affirmed his actions, Index unexpectedly uttered a shocking statement: "And... she can no longer use magic..."

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Touma Kamijou immediately sat up from where he was lying on the ground, frowning and looking puzzled.

"Grimoires are extremely dangerous. They contain [abnormal knowledge] and [different laws], which, whether good or bad, are harmful to this world."

Index added that the human brain would be destroyed once it acquired knowledge about the [other world].

It's like forcing a computer to run a program that's incompatible with the system? Touma Kamijou thought to himself, and he barely understood what it meant.

"I can protect my mind and soul with the barrier of religion, while magicians aim to transcend human limits and willingly embark on the path of destruction. But for ordinary Japanese people with weak religious beliefs, just one more incantation will be enough to kill them."

"Hmm..." Touma Kamijou tried his best not to show his surprise and shifted his posture slightly. "That's a pity. I was hoping you'd do some alchemy with me... Don't let my appearance fool you, I know what alchemy is! It can turn lead into gold, right?"

Of course, Kamijou would never admit that this knowledge came from a certain item-making RPG game featuring an alchemist girl as the protagonist.

"It is indeed possible to transform pure gold, but if we were to use modern materials instead, in terms of this country's currency... uh... it would cost about seven trillion yen, right?"

"That's completely meaningless...?" Touma Kamijou slumped down like a salted fish that had lost its dreams, muttering to himself. Index was amused by this.

"Yes, turning lead into gold only pleases those nobles who are already rich."

"But... if you think about it calmly, how was that done? What principle was used? Does turning lead into gold mean changing the atomic arrangement of lead and gold?"

"I don't know either, but that's just 14th-century technology, you know?"

"Isn't that a bit too outrageous? Able to change the arrangement of atoms, break down protons without an accelerator? Able to perform nuclear fusion without a giant nuclear reactor... Even the seven Level 5 espers in the entire Academy City might not be able to do that!"

"Well……?"

"Don't look at me like that! Uh... how am I supposed to explain how amazing that is... like being able to create atomic robots or mobile suits, right?"

"And what is that?"

Seeing this, Touma Kamijou slumped to the ground in dejection. Mobile Suit Gundam had always been his dream; he always wanted to one day ride one of those cool robots. Index, seeing Touma's reaction, felt she might have said something wrong, and quickly tried to make amends.

"In short, while things like holy swords or wands used in rituals can be replaced with modern materials, there are limits... especially sacred objects related to God, such as the Spear of Longinus, Joseph's Holy Grail, and crosses from various places. It is said that even after a thousand years, no substitutes can be found..."

Index was so excited that she wanted to finish what she was saying at once, then check Touma's reaction before saying something comforting. But she accidentally bit her tongue, and the pain made her cover the lower half of her face with the blanket.

When Touma heard her cry of pain, he sat up and found that Index had only bitten her tongue. He then sat back down and stared at Index in a daze.

One hundred and thirty thousand magical books—reading just one would drive someone mad. What kind of pain would Index endure if she memorized all one hundred and thirty thousand magical books?

However, Index never complained to anyone.

"Want to know?" Index peeked out from under the covers, enduring her headache, and asked Touma Kamijou.

This calm voice, unlike Index's usual cheerfulness, further highlighted her determination. For Touma Kamijou, he didn't care what troubles Index had. Regardless of the details, Touma would never abandon Index. As long as he could defeat the enemy and protect Index, he had no need to reopen her old wounds.

"Do you really want to know my troubles?" Index asked again, noticing the change in Touma's expression. Touma answered as if he had just realized something.

"Ah...why do I feel like a priest..."

"Do you know..." Index gripped the blanket tightly with both hands and continued her story, "Christianity originally consisted of only one religion, but later it split into Catholicism and Protestantism, Roman Orthodoxy, Russian Protestantism, Anglicanism, Nestorianism, Athanasius, Gnosticism, and so many other sects. Do you know why?"

"That's because..." Even a student like Touma Kamijou, who doesn't usually do well in school, could probably guess the answer if he'd read the textbook. But facing a real nun, Touma Kamijou felt it was better not to try and teach her a lesson he didn't know.

"Yes, you're right." Index smiled at Touma and continued, "Because religion has been mixed with political factors. Division, opposition, struggle... People who originally shared the same beliefs have become enemies. Although they believe in the same god, they have taken completely different paths."

Everyone has their own considerations, of course. Some people want to make money from divine pronouncements, while others disagree. Some people believe they are the most favored by God in the world, while others disagree.

"After losing communication, each sect evolved independently, developing its own unique characteristics. As national situations and customs differ, religions also change." Index sighed softly. "The Roman Catholic Church is characterized by [the management and operation of the world], Russian Protestantism by [the examination and elimination of mysticism], and the English Puritanism to which I belong is..."

Index was unsure how to phrase her words. "Because England is a country where magic is prevalent..." she began, as if recounting a painful memory. "Therefore, the English Puritans were particularly advanced in the culture and techniques related to [magicians], such as witch hunting, inquisitions, and the Inquisition."

Even today, London, the capital of England, still has several "companies" that call themselves magical societies. As for ghost companies that exist in name only, their number is more than ten times that of the former. And what was originally a misguided attempt to protect citizens from "bad magicians lurking in the city" has eventually developed into a "culture of slaughter and execution."

"Within the Anglican Church, there was a special organization..." Index said softly, as if confessing her sins. "That was the 'Church of Necessary Evil,' which studied magic and devised strategies to defeat sorcerers."

Index now truly resembled a nun, her hands clasped together: "Without understanding the enemy, one cannot defend against their attacks. However, once one understands the defiled enemy, one's own soul will be corrupted. Once one comes into contact with the defiled enemy, one's own body will be corrupted. Therefore, the one who took on this 'dirty' work is the 'Church of Necessary Evil,' and at its core is..."

"Those 103,000 books?"

"Hmm..." Index nodded gently, "So-called magic is just a kind of formula, so as long as you reverse the calculation, you can neutralize the enemy's 'attack'. That's why I have 103,000 books of magic in my mind. As long as I know all the magic in the world, I can neutralize all the magic in the world."

Kamijou glanced at his right hand, a right hand he had always thought was utterly useless. It couldn't defeat delinquents, couldn't improve exam scores, couldn't be used to pick up girls—a right-hand ability he hadn't even bothered to acknowledge.

Unexpectedly, the girl in front of me had a hellish past in order to obtain the same ability.

"But... since they know the location of the magic book's seal, why not just burn it all? Otherwise, as long as someone reads the magic book, won't magicians keep being created?"

"What's important isn't the book itself, but the knowledge written within. Even if the original book disappears, mages who have acquired the knowledge will still pass it on to their disciples, so it's meaningless," Index explained. "Such people aren't called mages, but rather archmages."

Just like the information circulating online? Even if the original data disappears, the copied files will continue to multiply and exist forever, Touma Kamijou nodded.