On how PhDs become human evil

Misaka Mikoto could already be troubled enough by Shirai Kuroko's usual behavior. If she were to add a belt that the two of them could only use together, she could easily imagine how out of control Shirai Kuroko would become!

Scratching his hair, Bai Jie sighed, "But almost all single-person belts have limitations. How about I perform a modification surgery on you?"

"Transformation surgery?"

"Yeah, the standard equipment of the Showa-era elder brother will turn you into a super-strong woman who can punch with the force of hundreds of tons!"

"I refuse!"

P.S.: She's a warrior who can wield lightning power, and she's a warrior who can wield spatial power. Lightning and space, two powers, four intertwined destinies—when these two intersect in Academy City, our story begins—a new series! *Kamen Rider Railgun*! Coming soon! (Just take this with a grain of salt; who knows, Toei might actually make it someday!)

Section 519, 19. Duels can bring smiles!

The matter of turning Misaka Mikoto into a Showa-era thug was ultimately dropped due to her strong resistance. In her own words, "How could I, a girl, use my fists to hit people?" After discussion, Misaka Mikoto chose to have Bai Jie develop a new belt for her. As for the cost of making the belt—don't underestimate the wallet of a superpowered individual.

As one of only seven Level 5 espers in Academy City, Misaka Mikoto's research value is immeasurable. Almost all research institutions want her to cooperate in some experiments. Even though some dark experiments failed to harm Misaka Mikoto due to the obstruction of Tokiwadai University, she still conducted some ordinary experiments, such as assisting in the development of trial circuits for some new electrical appliances. These research projects would reward the students who cooperated, and the rewards were at least hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Therefore, Misaka Mikoto is not short of money.

Of course, although he wanted to develop a new belt for Misaka Mikoto, Bai Jie didn't want to start from scratch to make a belt, as that would be too much trouble. He could just create one with his ability, add a fixed buff and a semi-permanent magic core, and that would be it.

As for the research funding from Misaka Mikoto... well, there are quite a few games on sale on Steam recently, and Bai Jie is very interested. Also, I heard that Sekiro is getting an expansion pack, so Bai Jie needs to prepare for that.

If Misaka Mikoto found out that Bai Jie had used all the research funds she gave him for game investment, she would probably give him a few million volts.

However, Bai Jie doesn't really care about the belt or Steam anymore.

He was concerned about something else.

As dusk fell, Bai Jie, who had left home, stopped at a crossroads.

"This must be the place. The magical fluctuations I sensed last night."

Last night, after parting ways with Misaka Mikoto, Bai Jie suddenly sensed a magical fluctuation on his way home. Although the other party hid it very well, Bai Jie's sensitivity to magic was like that of a hedgehog. No matter how well you hide it, as long as you use magic, Bai Jie will definitely detect it.

However, because it was late last night and Bai Jie was busy going back to play Sekiro, he didn't pursue the matter too much. But now that he's calmed down and thought about it, Bai Jie remembered that he had encountered two magicians on the road before.

Standing beside the crossroads, Bai Jie took out a piece of paper and wrote a rune on it. Immediately, the paper floated up and drifted in a certain direction.

This is a tracking magic technique. It traces the location of a magician by analyzing the magical energy left behind. It's a common investigative method used by magicians. Incidentally, to prevent ordinary people from seeing him use magic and causing trouble, Bai Jie also used a small illusion to distort perception.

(But even if I don't use illusion magic, I'll probably still be mistaken for a power user practicing their abilities.)

In this Academy City, there are countless ways to make a piece of paper float. However, Academy City has explicit rules against using abilities indiscriminately. If you use your abilities carelessly, you might attract the attention of the Disciplinary Committee and the Security Guard. Even if they are off duty, there will always be some people with a strong sense of responsibility who will meddle.

Yes, I'm talking about you, Shirai Kuroko.

Following the floating paper, after several turns, Bai Jie finally came to a two-story house.

but.....

"This place is so dilapidated, is it really a residential house?"

It's no wonder Bai Jie said that, after all, the house in front of him was really too dilapidated. Not only were the facilities of the poorest areas outside, but there was no wallpaper or paint on the walls, and cracks covered almost the entire wall, making people wonder if the house would collapse soon.

Logically speaking, this kind of house should not appear in Academy City. After all, this is Academy City, a technologically advanced city that is at least twenty years ahead of the outside world. Moreover, this area is the core area of ​​Academy City, the Seventh School District. It is inconceivable that such a slum-like house would appear here.

He carefully walked upstairs, and following the paper, stopped in front of the innermost room. He put away the magic paper, and then used a X-ray vision spell on his eyes to look inside.

"A nun is lying on the bed, next to a boy wrapped in bandages, and a pink-haired little girl... Hmm? The one with the magical reaction is that boy? But he's a student in Academy City, right? He shouldn't know magic."

Therefore, there is only one possibility that can be thought of—the boy inside with bandages wrapped around his body fought with that magician last night, otherwise he wouldn't be wrapped in bandages.

However, upon seeing the spiky-haired boy, Bai Jie felt a sudden pang of fear for some reason.

(Who exactly is that boy who can make my heart race even now?)

Frowning, Bai Jie reached for the door handle.

however--

“You’re welcome!”

A golden flash of lightning suddenly streaked behind Bai Jie, and then Bai Jie's ears caught the sound of something being knocked back.

Turning around, Bai Jie discovered that the person who had ambushed him was the female mage he had encountered before. Judging from the long sword in her hand, it seemed that she had just intended to cut him down.

Bai Jie touched the Lion of Gold shikigami talisman in his arms to calm it down, and looked at Kanzaki Kaori: "We meet again. It's quite an unexpected reunion."

"Why have you come here? Could it be that you are also here for that child's knowledge?"

Kanzaki Kaori's face was full of tension.

Kanzaki Kaori didn't know how strong Bai Jie was, but her instincts told her that she would surely die if they fought.

Even so, Kanzaki Kaori had just launched a sneak attack on Bai Jie. Although Bai Jie made her very afraid, Kanzaki Kaori did not mind provoking Bai Jie for the sake of the child's safety.

Faced with Kanzaki Kaori's question, Bai Jie was somewhat puzzled: "That child's knowledge? I only followed the magical reaction from last night to this place, and I have no idea who the child you're talking about is. Could it be the nun inside?"

"You...you really don't know that child?"

"Don't tell me you know, I just saw her."

"What about the Catalogue of Banned Books?"

"What the heck?"

(You really didn't know?!)

Kanzaki Kaori looked at Bai Jie with some disbelief. For magicians, the existence of the Index was common knowledge. No magician would be uninterested in the Index, and there were quite a few people with ulterior motives who wanted to take action against it.

But Bai Jie didn't seem to be lying; he genuinely didn't know what the Catalogue of Forbidden Books was.

P.S.: Influenced by Minazuki-kun, I re-downloaded Onmyoji: The Card Game and found it quite interesting. In fact, playing Sekiro actually made me feel better. It seems that duels can bring smiles!

Also, today I used the Divine Child Shuten-dōji + the Onmyoji for two attack buffs, plus the Peach Blossom Fairy for an additional attack buff, instantly stacking my attack to 25 in two rounds. With only one HP left, I instantly killed the opponent with 20 HP. Is this what they call invincibility and god-tier draws? I love it!

Section 520, Question 20: Should the fire-weaving thread of the god Kanzaki be opened?

List of banned books.

To be precise, this is not a thing, but a code name. The girl who holds this code name is the nun that Bai Jie saw in that dilapidated room. Her name is [Index], and her official name is [Index Librorum Prohibitorum].

This girl possesses an extremely rare ability: perfect memory. She can memorize anything she sees without missing a single detail—the veins of a leaf, the shape of ripples on the water's surface—as if she were recording them perfectly in her brain. Because of this ability, the magical organization she belongs to, the Anglican Church, gives her a mission.

She memorized the contents of 103,000 grimoires. Because Index had a special constitution that made her immune to mental corruption, the mental pollution from the grimoires had no effect on her. After memorizing 103,000 grimoires, Index became a walking encyclopedia of magical knowledge, with all the magical knowledge in the world stored in her mind.

This is the origin of the "List of Banned Books".

On a rooftop not far from the house they had just met, after listening to Kanzaki Kaori's story, Bai Jie, leaning against the railing, nodded knowingly: "I see. No wonder you were so surprised when I told you I didn't know about the Index of Forbidden Books."

The Catalogue of Forbidden Books contains all the magical knowledge in the world, which is an invaluable treasure for any magician. To give an analogy... well, that's true. It's roughly equivalent to the importance of a database containing the standard answers to all the exam questions in the world to a student.

That was an irresistible temptation.

"Your Mightiness...."

"Ah, please stop calling me 'Your Excellency'. Are you some samurai or shrine maiden? My name is Bai Jie, just call me that."

"Then, Your Excellency Bai Jie."

Kanzaki Kaori still hasn't changed her tune.

"Are you really not interested in the Catalogue of Banned Books?"

"Well, I am interested, but that's all," Bai Jie laughed. "Not to brag, but in a sense, I'm a kind of Index of Forbidden Books myself. My mind contains all the knowledge of another world from the beginning of creation to the end of the world. I don't have any more need for magical knowledge anymore. Anyway, everyone is pretty much the same. Even if I were to do something for Index of Forbidden Books... discuss the use and development of magic with it?"

Bai Jie hadn't even fully grasped the magical knowledge of the Type-Moon world he possessed, so why would he be interested in coveting a Forbidden Book Index? Besides, the knowledge of the Type-Moon world wasn't much different from that of the Forbidden Book Index, so Bai Jie had absolutely no interest in the Forbidden Book Index. At most, he would just have an academic discussion about magic with the Forbidden Book Index, just as he said.

Upon hearing Bai Jie's words, Kanzaki Kaori immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and Stiyl next to her also looked relieved.

To be honest, for them, even being around Bai Jie was torture; if they had to be his enemy... Stiyl felt he'd rather just die.

"By the way, what are you doing following that Catalogue of Forbidden Books? Are you secretly protecting it?"

"...That is indeed the purpose."

"So you mean there's another purpose behind it?"

"Hmm." Kanzaki Kaori nodded. "Because she memorized 103,000 grimoires, 85% of that child's brain was occupied. The remaining 15% could only hold one year's worth of memories. If it weren't cleared, her head would explode from the memorization. So, we had to erase her memories—"

"Wait a minute, I think I just heard something really unscientific and unmagical," Bai Jie suddenly interrupted. "One hundred and thirty thousand magic books occupy eighty-five percent of the memory capacity? The remaining fifteen percent of the memory capacity can only be used by a person with full memory ability to remember things for one year? Where did you hear such a ridiculous conclusion?"

"Uh... that's what the church told us, is there a problem?"

"This is a huge problem."

Bai Jie let out a long sigh.

"The human brain is incredibly mysterious. Even Academy City hasn't been able to fully understand it, let alone say definitively how many years a person can remember. So how did you, who are so far behind Academy City in science, come to a conclusion that even Academy City couldn't reach?"

"this...."

"Furthermore, assuming the church's claim is true, that 15% of memory capacity can only store one year's worth of memories, then how did that girl manage to survive her infancy before becoming a banned book? According to the church, that girl could only live for a little over six and a half years at most."

“…”

"You still don't believe me, judging from your expressions. Let me give you another example—I have all the knowledge about a world from its birth to its destruction in my brain. The amount of knowledge is no less than that of the so-called Catalogue of Forbidden Books. And I am ninety-four years old this year, almost a hundred years old."

"What did you say?!"

Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl were finally moved.

"You're almost a hundred years old this year? Won't your brain be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of memories?"

"No, my brain is perfectly fine, and I've never experienced any memory erasure."

"Impossible! What evidence do you have to prove you're right!" Steele roared.

"Do you think I have any reason to lie?"

Bai Jie said this with a smile, and slightly activated the shikigami talisman in his arms. The phantoms of nine familiar beasts immediately appeared behind him.

The aura of destruction caused both Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl to show expressions of fear.

"If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't need to lie to you. I have plenty of ways to kill the two of you. Even the power within you, Kanzaki Kaori, is barely stronger than a kitten in my eyes. In this situation, would I need to lie to you?"