A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 16
Page 21
“I would have at least preferred a rowboat…”
Laura cast a bored glance to the boat’s rear. There was a man there, who must have been the captain, but the boat had a small engine on it.
“A report, ma’am.”
The captain had come to her with work. She’d finally slipped out of St. George’s Cathedral, and now this man was ruining the atmosphere. Laura frowned but prompted him to continue.
“We have evidence of internal strife in the Roman Orthodox Church. The pope appears to have been involved. We don’t know if he’s alive. We’ve confirmed they transported him to a hospital, but the situation is unpredictable.”
“…”
He mixed in speculatory information based on eyewitness reports from Rome and mana flows, detailing this alleged “internal strife.”
“Judging from the massive quantity of mana we observed inside the Vatican, the damages should have swelled to many times what it did…Please give our calculations a bit more time, ma’am. We may have been mistaken somewhere.”
“Hmph. You shan’t find anything. An entire city is at His Holiness’s back. The result is clearer than looking at a fire.”
She turned, her expression now hidden from the captain. As she did, she muttered the words, “Damned good person.”
The captain couldn’t determine how much those words meant, or what she felt when she said them. Laura Stuart’s age was not what it appeared to be, and the experience she’d accrued was an order of magnitude removed from regular people. That was why the captain couldn’t understand what she was thinking.
“…But I’m sure you were smiling, you damned good person.”
However, the entirely average captain got one impression.
Somehow, in some way, Laura Stuart sounded lonely.
A windowless building stood at a corner of Academy City.
This building boasted enough defenses to survive a nuclear blast, but it had been designed for a single person.
The Academy City General Board chairperson, Aleister.
On the lips of that “person” floating upside-down in a giant glass tube was a smile.
He was watching a square window displayed directly in the air.
Information from the Underline.
The Underline was a unique network made up of incredibly small machines scattered throughout the city.
Normally, this window would display any information he wanted. Now, all he saw was gray noise. Because of the major explosion that occurred after defeating Acqua of the Back, the Underline information network was temporarily disabled. It was made with extremely unusual technology, but the pieces were just seventy nanometers in size. Sometimes explosive blasts and shock waves damaged them.
The noise occurring in one area had spread to other spots in the network, causing an overload on the entire thing. It would be a few hours before it was completely restored. For Aleister, it was like someone had removed an arm, but he merely smiled.
“As I thought, I will have to do something about this problem. It must be rectified…”
In fact, he seemed happy—as though it was clear to him now what he needed to do.
The swarm of machines surrounding Aleister did a multilateral analysis of the information from right before the Underline had gone down, unifying all the noise-covered fragments into clearer, effective intelligence. Vivid colors appeared on the gray screen, immediately converting to a crucial report on display.
The report regarded the power a certain boy’s right arm possessed.
Various chemical equations danced, calculating his brain’s activity from the quantities of oxygen he inhaled and the carbon dioxide he exhaled. From the counterbalancing of the AIM diffusion fields prevalent in Academy City, they calculated his right hand’s power and characteristics.
From start to finish, this was a world constructed of only science.
Aleister scanned the letters in the corner of the monitor, his smile deepening.
Before this “person,” who appeared to be both adult and child, both man and woman, both saint and sinner, was the following report:
Illogical phenomenon-rejecting Point Central O maintaining stability level 3.
Specified core speed confirmed, now idling at center.
Plan influence coefficient for specimen named Imagine Breaker: 98%.
Strength as main plan backbone, along with Academy City no. 1, operating according to plan.
AFTERWORD
For those of you who have been following the series one novel at a time, it’s good to see you again.
For those who have pulled off the incredible feat of reading seventeen volumes at once, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
I’m Kazuma Kamachi.
This afterword section will reach its twentieth anniversary soon. I should be used to it by now, but it feels very much as inept and awkward as the main story sometimes.
The theme of this volume was “chosen ones.” The occult keyword was saint. Acqua’s spell is made up of things like the Adoration of Mary, but the basic foundation here was the clash between saints.
The Saintbreaker used by Itsuwa (or rather, all of Amakusa), as you might realize by reading back over Volume 9, is a monumental task. I’d like you to consider the power balance of Amakusa on the magic side ruined now that they’ve revealed a major trick up their sleeves. (Of course, Tatemiya got to show off his own tactical prowess, pleading with their Priestess to return as their leader, lest their situation grow worse.)
A few pieces of information relating to the core of the series itself showed up here and there in this book. You might find it interesting to try going over all the information you’ve been given so far. What information was revealed at what points, and when was that information subverted? If you investigate, you might be able to catch a glimpse of what might happen in the series from here on out.
I’d like to thank my editor, Mr. Miki, and my illustrator, Mr. Haimura. The book was filled with a lot of surprisingly onerous battle sequences, which I’m sorry about. Thank you for sticking with me.
And thanks to all my readers as well. The hidden parts of this series are somehow the only parts that are in a huge jumble, which I apologize for, but thank you very much for following along thus far.
Now then, as I close the pages on this book,
and as I pray you’ll open the next pages safely,
today, at this hour, I lay down my pen.
Seems like even Itsuwa is becoming a not-so-normal girl now.
Kazuma Kamachi
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