Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 11, Epilogue: Return to Academy City. L'inizio_Nuovo…….

Part 1

An Italian hospital sure feels refreshing.

There’re a lot of people who go on overseas trips, but it’s rare for a visitor to be sent to hospital because of an accident, right? Kamijou thought. Right now, he was lying on a stretcher, moving about in the darkness as creaking sounds could be heard. The doctor and nurse seemed to be saying something to him, but he didn’t understand it at all. His right shoulder and left hand were bandaged, and there was an ‘I’m OK!’ bandage on his face...maybe because he had gotten disinfectant sprayed on his face, his eyes stung.

“Should be the disinfectant, I can’t think of anything else! Damn it, why can others use the Amakusa’s bathing technique and let their skin be so silky and smooth...”

“The Adriatic Sea really isn’t that cold.”

“WHY DO YOU LOOK SO HAPPY, INDEX!? WE BOTH SUNK TOGETHER WITH THE SHIP DOWN INTO THE VENETIAN COAST!! OI, YOU’RE HAPPY THAT YOU DIDN’T GET ABANDONED THIS TIME, ARE YOU—”

“!!”

Before Kamijou could finish speaking, Index suddenly tripped and fell onto the corridor.

“Since...since when am I happy!!?”

“I got it, you’re alright, right!? Really, you actually made them worried because of something like this, Index. Aren’t you giving Miss Nurse even more trouble? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Just as Kamijou was trying to accost the blond nurse, Index chomped on him.

“Touma’s still Touma even if he’s on a stretcher, right!?”

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN!!”

The nun who had leaped on the stretcher and executed an act of violence was pulled away. Maybe the nurse onee-chan didn’t understand what they were saying as she tilted her head as if to show that she didn’t understand.

“Yes, what? To...Touma, the doctor told you to pick up the phone.”

Hearing Index say this, Kamijou turned to look at the doctor, wondering why the doctor had a wireless phone in his hand. Is it really alright to use a phone in a hospital? Kamijou thought, but on further pondering, there should be phones in the hospital as well.

Anyway, he picked up the phone.

The phone seemed to be linked, as on picking it up, Kamijou heard a familiar voice.

“Do you have to end up like this even when you’re on a holiday trip?”

It was the frog-faced doctor.

Kamijou was always taken care of by this doctor in Academy City. To Kamijou, who often got injured and admitted into the hospital, he felt that this frog-faced doctor was really skilled with his hands.

“Eh, what’s with this suddenly? Ha, don’t tell me you can even diagnose a patient through the phone.”

“If I could, the hospital should start providing handphone service, right? However, because I can’t do that, I’m requesting you to do one thing. You are to immediately come back to Academy City.”

.....................................................................WHAT?

“I’m not joking. Even if that facility is an ally of Academy City, it’s not good to let other hospitals check or adjust an esper’s body, right?”

“That’s...true. NO, HOWEVER...I MEAN! I CAN’T TAKE THE PLANE IN THIS CONDITION; IT TAKES ABOUT 10 HOURS FOR A PLANE FLIGHT!? BEFORE THAT, I’M COVERED WITH WOUNDS, YOU KNOW!?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. There should be a supersonic jet parked at the Marco Polo Airport. That can go past 7,000km per hour, so you should reach Japan in an hour, no?”

“A LARGE JET!? ISN’T THAT THE FANTASY NORTH AMERICAN X-15 RESEARCH PLANE!? CAN I REALLY RIDE ON THIS PLANE THAT’S FASTER THAN A BULLET WHEN I DON’T HAVE ANY TRAINING!?”

“No problem, no problem. I rode on it before. The most it feels is like there’s no gravity.”

“THAT THING ONLY NEEDS AN HOUR!? I GUESS ALL THE CONTENTS IN MY STOMACH WILL GO THE WRONG WAY!!”

“No problem, no problem. I rode on it before. Within the first ten minutes, you don’t even have time to think about that.”

WHO SAYS THERE’S NO PROBLEM!! Kamijou hugged his head with full force.

“WAIT A SECOND! I...I BASICALLY HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN IN ITALY FOR ONE DAY? AND I DRANK THE WATER OF THE ADRIATIC SEA TWICE... NO, INCLUDING THE ESCAPE, THAT’S THREE TIMES. I DIDN’T GET INTO THE IMPORTANT VENEZIA ONCE!!”

“Oh my, aren’t you happy with this kind of experience. Anyway, I have one thing to say...I know this is unreasonable, but just give up and come back.”

YOUR TONE IS SO COLD AND UNREASONABLE!! Kamijou again hugged his head.

At this moment, the voice on the other side of the phone continued,

“Oh yes, that cute girl that’s been coming to the hospital to visit knew I was about to call you, so she said that she has some important words for me to pass to you.”

“WHAT???”

Kamijou wondered, who was this cute girl? Right now, Shirai Kuroko and Himegami Aisa were staying in the hospital. For Himegami, there was Fukiyose Seiri and Komoe-sensei. On Shirai’s side, there was Misaka Mikoto—

“Wait a second. Misaka Mikoto?”

Mn, the frog-faced doctor on the other side of the phone carelessly nodded his head.

“That’s right. Seems like she said “After you come back, expect me to give you that punishment game from Daihaseisai”?”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!? I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT!! AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!”

The doctor and nurses forced down Kamijou Touma, who was starting to act violent on the stretcher. They seemed to mistake this as some emergency situation.

Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto had made a bet during Daihaseisai, and Kamijou, who lost the punishment game, had to listen to whatever Mikoto said. If she knew that he forgot about this and went on a tour to Italy...

“WHAT’S WAITING FOR ME IS HELL!! NOW I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK!! ARGHH...WAAIITT!! DON’T USE THAT SPECIALISED TOOL TO HOLD ME DOWN!!”

The stretcher was being carried away.

The person on the other side of the phone said to the sighing Kamijou,

“Alright, then...what should I say? Welcome home, Kamijou Touma.”

Part 2

It was midnight now, the time when the date changes.

The dormitory of the English Anglicans was located in a corner of Lambeth. The people who were living here weren’t penniless people, but people who did not want to involve ordinary citizens because of something unexpected. If the surrounding people were all experts, even if there was a battle, they could reduce the damage to the minimum.

“I see. It’s been hard on you.”

The one who was saying this in the middle of a dormitory room was Kanzaki Kaori. An Asian face with waist-length black hair tied in a ponytail, she was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt that had a knot tied at the bottom, and a pair of jeans that had one side cut above the thigh. The more than 2m long ‘Seven Swords Seven Heavens’ that she normally hung on her waist was now leaning on the wall.

She was not talking to someone, but a phone.

It was an old-fashioned rotary dial phone. The red ornament had a gold lacing on it, a rather nice looking antique. On a side note, she was talking to her colleague, Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

“Nya, so, if you want to know the report, you can go ask the Amakusa people. As for me, I’m in more danger when I search for this information, you know? You don’t know about that.”

“I...I’m not a member of the Amakusa. It feels arrogant if I’m to act familiar enough to talk to them.”

Kanzaki used her thumb to play with the phone line and said.

After that, she said,

“Aren’t you going to collect information from the Veneto region? Isn’t this too coincidental? The Amakusa went to Chioggia to help with the moving, and that boy and Index went to Italy...according to the report, the Roman Catholics mistook that Orsola Aquinas was sent there to stop the ‘Queen of the Adriatic Sea’, is that true? I thought that the Roman Catholics’ view was correct.”

Kanzaki‘s bare feet knocked on the floor as she spoke.

Though the interior design of the room was Western, Kanzaki was forbidden from wearing slippers inside. Maybe it was more of a foreign culture trade-off.

“Hmh, regarding that, I can’t say it because of a lot of reassooonnnss—”

“Wha...what?”

Tsuchimikado purposely dragged his voice, making Kanzaki even more wary.

Her prediction was correct.

“...O...Nee...-chin, you gave Kami-yan quite a lot of problems this time, nya—?”

“Eh!?”

However, the impact far exceeded Kanzaki Kaori’s limits.

“What should you do? Onee-chin, this isn’t something that can be solved by just wearing a maid costume and serving him for an entire day. Ah, if so, how about that? I’ll lend my female angel costume with an Angelic halo and white wings to you! This is truly a maid costume; use that to decide the winner, Nee-chin!! WOO...OOOHOHO!! What Angel? If this cute fallen angel appears, I don’t know how Kami-yan will react!”

“FOR...FOR HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT!?... BESIDES, WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH A THING!?”

“Ah, that’s not it. Actually, I bought that for Maika. That sister actually said ‘maids can’t cosplay’, and even punched me in the cheekbone...no, for a girl’s actions, isn’t that like a real military-trained punch nya?”

“...Isn’t your sister reaching puberty? You should worry about that.”

Being weak all over, Kanzaki suddenly realised something.

This wasn’t the main point.

“Wait a second. Did the English Anglicans and the higher-ups of Academy City use many ways to get Kamijou Touma involved? What has that got to do with me!?”

“Eh? Then Nee-chin, don’t you have any thanks for Kami-yan!?”

“Uuuu!?”

“Ah—ah—Kamijou managed to save the Amakusa members from the ‘Queen’s Fleet’ with much difficulty, and not only did you not thank him, you even declared that you have nothing to do with it. You’ve really fallen, Kanzaki Kaori. Kami-yan will be disappointed if he hears this. But that guy’s really gentle, so maybe he won’t be angry.”

“Where...where have I...your words make sense, but what am I supposed to do!? Don’t I owe him even more favours now!!?”

“That’s why you should honestly act as a fallen Angel!! If you’re one of the no-more-than-twenty Saints, then realise it, Nee-chin!!...Eh? Onee-chin, are you listening? Wait, I’m not done—!!”

The speaker got slammed hard.

Kanzaki stared blankly at the phone for a while, her face all green.

“...Fall...fallen Angel maid costume...?”

Kanzaki stared at her trembling hands, and then stared at the cuboid fish tank that had a tropical fish and was beside the phone. The former Supreme Pontiff looked completely puzzled.

She brought her face near the fish tank, and in response, the fish moved near with a ‘What now, are you giving me food to eat?’ look. She used both hands to grab a small painted plate that was besides the fish tank, and placed it on her head.

“A...a halo, does it look like this? But...but a fallen Angel...how does it move or talk...it’s like the Devil. In this situation, it should be female. If the other person’s a male, maybe I have to act like some little Devil—”

If these words were heard by the Archangel ‘The Power of God’ that had briefly appeared as Misha Kreutzev, she would definitely be attacked on the spot. But since Kanzaki was in the midst of this mess, she didn’t notice this at all.

This one of only twenty Saints instantly turned silent before tilting her head.

“—Just...just like this—Touma.”

The doorbell suddenly rang.

“...???”

A surprised Kanzaki frantically pulled the painted plate from above her head. The little tropical fish saw her like this and immediately escaped into the deepest part of the tank at high speed. Kanzaki quickly looked around, and after confirming that no one was around, she placed a hand on her chest and heaved a sigh of relief. After that, she looked at the door.

Besides the various rooms in the dormitory, there was an electric bell at the entrance for visitors to use. What did this ring mean? Maybe there was a delivery service here.

Kanzaki grabbed the sword leaning on the wall, put on her boots outside the room, and passed through the long wooden corridor before arriving at the entrance.

Though there was a manager here, she was often asleep. Kanzaki walked toward the door, and inside that management room, the woman was still sleeping. Looking at how the television was still on, it seemed that she had watched till she fell asleep. The television was meant to prevent people from sleeping, but without a favourite show, it would have the opposite effect.

Kanzaki couldn’t do anything else but open the door.

The one standing at the entrance was Orsola Aquinas.

“I...I’m back.”

“Ah, welcome back, Orsola.”

Kanzaki looked surprised as she welcomed her neighbour in the dormitory.

The people living here normally didn’t need to press the doorbell, but Orsola was holding many things with both hands, so she couldn’t use her key to open the door. Besides, she was holding two travelling bags, and there was even a hiking backpack, and there were sports bags that were strapped around like a kimono. This huge amount of heavy equipment made her look like she was going hiking.

“Orsola, wasn’t your luggage sent here beforehand?”

“Eh hehe. I got some new luggage halfway though.”

“???”

In front of a surprised Kanzaki, Orsola smiled as she stepped aside as if she was letting people pass.

Eh? Kanzaki’s eyebrows twitched.

The petite nun grabbed Orsola’s nun's habit as she stood, looking like she was hiding behind Orsola.

Her name was Agnese Sanctis.

“There’ll be a lot more people coming over. This dormitory will be a lot noisier.”

In front of Kanzaki, who hadn’t understood what was going on, Orsola said this sentence akin to a bomb.

Part 3

It was the St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.

Inside the largest Church of the headquarters of the Roman Catholics, crude footsteps ripped the silence in the air apart.

“Cheh, in the end, that idiot Busoni failed. Even the core of the ‘Queen of the Adriatic Sea’ was destroyed, and it won’t appear again...really, to think of this ‘Appointed Time of the Rosary’, create that spell, and refined till it can be used, who does he have to thank for all that? I can’t forgive this. What’s more unforgivable is that he actually disappeared! Who’s hiding him? Who am I supposed to exert my pressure on!!”

In this sanctuary that was engulfed in darkness, a man and a woman were walking about.

As the moonlight that shot past the glass was too weak, it was hard to see the details of those two figures.

One of them was bent like an elderly man.

The other seemed like a young lady, with a rather exquisite body.

“...But even if it’s you, you’re too anxious. Even though it’s expected that the English Anglicans would get involved, there were obstacles all over the place even if that wasn’t the case...to be honest, even if no one could intervene, that Biagio Busoni wouldn’t succeed. It was a big mistake to expect that guy to deal with the flaws.”

“Do you know who you’re talking to? What I said is needed to be done will be done. That’s the law of the world. So stupid, don’t you understand even now?”

“Do you know who you’re talking to?”

The old man suddenly became a lot more pressuring.

The current atmosphere was already dominated by the old man. This was a situation where one person must reign supreme; not to lower his head, but to force the other person to lower her head even if she hated it. The person hearing this must have felt like she was being grabbed by an invisible hand and forcefully pulled down. It was that kind of pressure.

However, the female figure didn’t change.

“The Pope, so what?”

The female figure replied in a casual tone.

Such a frivolous tone easily shattered the situation of the old man dominating.

“...”

The old man called the Pope was obviously silent.

But the female didn’t care.

“Don’t be like this. You should know who the Roman Catholics are really under. Even if you disappear, another Pope will just take that seat. But if I disappear, no one can replace me. Can’t you understand that? Do you want to try?”

“Nonsense.”

The old man seemed uninterested as he interrupted the woman.

“The only person whom God personally handed the later path of Christianity is St. Peter. After that, the Popes were extremely active, but their main function is to manage the heritage. I was chosen by the crowd, and not from God. I understand that, so don’t say it. It’s painfully obvious, yet I had to say it again. I’m really angry.”

“But didn’t you want it? Not by the number of votes, but the one and only evidence of being chosen by God. And to revive the Roman Catholics, you’re not relying on the majority, but like past Christianity, using only the teachings and will to decide the path.”

“...I’ve already told you not to repeat it again.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But in my eyes, you really can’t make it. You’re still qualified, so you couldn’t achieve it. Speaking of which, the Pope was chosen by an election. To be chosen can be considered an honour. But you’re not satisfied. The reason is simple: while the ‘Son of God’ and his disciples were preaching, Christianity was a minor sect among the many ideas. Even though it was a minor sect, their power could win most people. Thus, you feel that getting the majority of the votes has no Holy value. What you believe in is like me, being unrestricted by voting, yet you kept getting only votes...is that troublesome? Or is being bothered by this luxury?”

“!!”

The old man quickly turned his head about.

Pacha, an inexplicable breaking sound could be heard.

Regarding this inexplicable scenario, the female figure didn’t move. However, the tension and margin between these two’s attitudes had already shown an incomprehensible offensive and defensive result.

“Not a bad malicious intent.”

The woman laughed.

“But if you’re going to show some malice to me, you’ll die, you know?”

After saying that, the female showed her tongue.

The sound of metal colliding could be heard.

There was a tongue ring in her tongue, and attached to the tongue ring was a little chain that was used for a necklace. The chain extended down past her waist, and there was a little Cross attached to it.

“...”

The man and the woman maintained a foot’s distance between them.

Unhappily, and with a little hint of envy, the man muttered,

“—‘God’s Right Seat’. To you, the Pope isn’t really anything, right?”

“Just knowing that I belong to that ‘group’ shows that you’re still a high-ranking person. Aren’t you satisfied with that?”

The woman seemed like she had been attacked by something, but she looked like she didn’t care.

She laughed and said,

“After seeing this, give me a signature.”

“You’re ordering me?...Wait, this document is...”

“You would prepare this information one day, maybe two to three years later. I just shortened the time. Though it’s troublesome, your signature is really powerful. Hurry up and finish it before the sun rises. It’ll be over once you write your own name.”

“But...”

The old man looked hesitant.

“...I still can’t agree with it. Forget about it if he has a really deep link with magic, but that person only doesn’t know the existence of God. Though it’s a sin to have a pagan belief, if he doesn’t know, there’s a way to save him. Regarding this, if you’re going to do it like this, I can only say that I disagree with it...”

“I don’t have a denying style.”

The female figure asserted herself.

“Passiveness, imperativeness, teamwork, solo, past, future, finishing, assumption, what’s after that? I don’t care what it is, I just can’t agree with denying it. I said I want to do this, and I will. No matter whether it’s St. Peter or the ‘Son of God’, this rule won’t change. So you’re going to sign this document, got it?”

The old man held the document and gently nodded his head.

One could see him reveal a somewhat bitter look.

“Very good.”

After saying that, the female figure disappeared in the darkness.

Had she really disappeared, or had she purposely acted like she disappeared? The old man didn’t consider it. Even if he couldn’t analyse what the other person used, there wasn’t really a problem. No matter what, that woman was far ahead of him, even if he couldn’t tell if she was above him.

He turned to stare at the document.

Inside the light-lit Cathedral, there was only a dim moonlight shooting in through the glass. The old man’s eyes gazed at the words which weren’t really visible in the darkness.

(...She’s a bit too impatient. Is that her habit?)

Even though he thought of this, that woman had decided on this, so he would just leave it as it was. Like what she had declared, that woman didn’t have a denying style.

The old man unhappily returned to his room.

There was no pen there.

The document read,

‘Toma Kamijo.

Potrebbe investigare urgentemente? Quando lui è pericolso, lo uccida di sicuro.’

It meant ‘Kamijou Touma. Quickly investigate the above named person. If he’s confirmed to be an enemy of God, eliminate him’.

Even if the Roman Catholics wanted to mobilise, or even send out ‘God’s Right Seat’, they had to prepare a document to allow an assassination.

The order would be carried out within 5 days.