A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 7 (3 page)

“Well, ’twould seem impossible for them to use the
Book of the Law
to bolster their military forces. At least, there is presently no threat of
the Roman Orthodox Church using it immediately to assail a place, so you can rest easy.”

“?”

“Mm-hmm. There are some other things going on. Some other things, you see.”

Laura sounded awfully certain, but Stiyl frowned. What was her basis for saying that? He considered briefly that there was a pact between the English Puritan Church and the Roman Orthodox Church forbidding the book’s use, but…

…Then why would the Roman Orthodox Church need Orsola to decode the
Book of the Law
in the first place?

“You’re such a worrywart. It is written upon your face. I keep telling you, all is well! All is well.”

“But
…
”

“Ahh, how vexing, how vexing indeed! Whatever in the world the Roman Orthodox Church is plotting on using the
Book of the Law
for, they cannot, at any rate, carry it out right this second.”

Before Stiyl could ask her
why
, she answered him.

“The
Book of the Law
and Orsola Aquinas—these both do appear to have been stolen.”

“What…By whom?!” Stiyl couldn’t help but say aloud. His outburst caused the eyes of the company workers heading to the station to all gather on him.

“I have a good guess, so your job is to hear the details from me and then deal with it. Though I am sure of one thing—our opponent will be Japan’s Amakusa-Style Crossist Church.”

“Amakusa-Style
…
”

Stiyl’s current partner was Kaori Kanzaki. Amakusa-Style was a Japanese branch of Crossism, which she used to be the leader of—their priestess.

But Stiyl didn’t see them as a Crossist religion. There was too much Shinto and Buddhism mixed into it. It hadn’t retained the original form of Crossism.

“As a church, Amakusa-Style is significantly smaller than the national religions of Rome, England, and Russia. That they continue to thrive in the world is because of the presence of an irregular: Kanzaki. Their central pillar has been lost, so it is not odd that they should seek out the
Book of the Law
and replace her with it. After all, using the book could seriously upset the power balance of Crossism.”

If Orsola Aquinas and the
Book of the Law
had fallen into Amakusa-Style’s hands, they could use it at any time. In fact, it would be stranger if they
didn’t
use it.

“But still!”
Stiyl’s voice became ragged.
“Wasn’t the
Book of the Law
safe in the deepest part of the Vatican Library? Right now, Amakusa-Style is small enough to desire power. A religion of that size would never be able to break in there. I know because I’ve actually been inside the Vatican Library as that Index’s bodyguard. There are no gaps in their security or any back doors. It’s a wall, plain and simple!”

“I’m saying the
Book of the Law
wasn’t
in
the Vatican Library.”

“What?”
Stiyl’s expression froze.

He passed by what appeared to be a horse-drawn wagon meant for sightseeing, the horse’s hooves making clopping noises as they pranced along the road. There was a license plate politely affixed to the rear of the wagon.

“The Roman Orthodox Church had moved the
Book of the Law
into a museum in Japan to hold an international exhibition. I expect I do not need to tell you why the Holy Stairs in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, which the Son of God is said to have ascended as he bled, are open to the general public, yes?”

The Church opened its historical and religious articles to the public once every few years.

The reason was simple—it was to attract guests so they could collect donations from many disciples as well as recruit new ones. Because the Roman Orthodox Church had lost its most powerful weapon, the three-thousand-strong Gregorian Choir, they wanted to put as much as possible into creating new spells and strengthening their numbers.

The most effective way to gain new disciples would be to plan these events in places there were none already. Japan was suitable for that purpose, but going there would simultaneously weaken its controlling power. Amakusa-Style must have pinpointed that weakness.

“That’s absurd…They put something that dangerous on display, then let it be swiped out from under them? How much must the Roman Orthodox Church embarrass itself before it learns?”

She chuckled.
“They are the most cognizant of that fact, I believe. They may have gained a terrain advantage, but their pride is in shambles now that a small religion in the Far East has bested them.”

“Right. So they shamefully and scandalously came crawling to us to see if we’d cooperate, is that it?”

“Nay. ’Twould seem they wish to settle things by their own hand. Because of that, we went to some effort in acquiring this information. It may be their last bit of pride speaking, but in all honesty, at this those fools need to wake up and face reality.”

“We weren’t helping rescue Aquinas and retrieve the
Book of the Law
at the Roman Orthodox Church’s request?”

“They were hesitating. And if Orsola Aquinas truly is able to decode the
Book of the Law
, we would need to move in anyway.”

“…Then you plan on placing them in our debt? Do you think those religious nobles would pay us back for anything?”
asked Stiyl, as if the whole matter were idiotic.

Stiyl was aware the Roman Orthodox Church—the majority of disciples ignorant of sorcery aside—had a famously high level of pride and self-regard. Perhaps it was a remnant of once having controlled Europe. That went especially for those thickheaded priests and bishops who belonged to stricter groups. Not only would they look down on those who got in their way, but there were even some who would outright tell people cooperating with them that their very cooperation made them pathetic and detestable.

“Not a hair on my head wishes to support the fools who are causing the old way, Catholicism, to rot—in fact, they are the ones to blame for it being called that. But hear me, Stiyl—we have a larger problem.”

“And what’s that?”

“We cannot contact Kaori Kanzaki.”

Laura used only the minimum number of words, and Stiyl immediately knew what she meant.

Kanzaki used to be the leader of Amakusa-Style Crossism. Though she was separate from them now, she still thought of herself as part of them. If she found out that her people were causing problems and making an enemy of Roman Orthodoxy, the world’s largest religion with more than two billion believers, what actions might she take?

She was one of less than twenty known saints in the world, and her very existence would balance a scale with nuclear weaponry. The English Puritans had let go of her reins, and if she were to kill someone from Roman Orthodoxy on top of that, what would happen…?

“With her personality, it is indeed quite possible that she would lend a hand without ceasing to think of the consequences. Were she of average or below average strength, that would be one thing. However, as this is Kanzaki we’re speaking of
…
”

Laura heaved a sigh, unamused.
“I would like to settle things afore Kanzaki has time to make a mistake. That is our top priority. I care not what method you select. You may retrieve the
Book of the Law
and Orsola, force Amakusa-Style to surrender by negotiation, or eliminate them along with Kanzaki by force.”

“You’re telling me to fight
Kanzaki
?”

“Verily, I am, depending on the situation,”
replied Laura simply.
“Our own personnel are scattered, and they prepare even now to make for the Roman Orthodox search party in Japan. But you will be with a separate unit, so I would like you to make contact with Academy City in advance of that.”

Stiyl blew white cigarette smoke from his mouth as if to voice his doubts.

Not regarding the part about him being in a separate team.

The sorcerer Stiyl Magnus was never meant for team play. His personality was one reason, of course, but since he specialized in the usage of flame sorcery, going all-out meant nearby allies would run the risk of getting caught in the fire and smoke.

His Witch-Hunter King, Innocentius, was partly unstable because
its strength wildly fluctuated depending on how many cards Stiyl deployed, but it still boasted power enough to be true to its name. The sight of a 3,000-degree Celsius ball of flames dancing freely and easily burning through even iron walls to approach and attack an enemy must have been the very vision of a god of death to his opponents. After all, excluding a certain boy’s right hand, there was no possible way to halt its advance. His exploits could be summed up as “magnificent,” given how many sorcerers’ societies he had burned to the ground by himself.

So that wasn’t the issue here.

“This is
our
problem. Why do we need
them
for anything?”

“The Index of Prohibited Books.”

Laura spoke the name of a person…no, the name of a
tool
.

“When grimoires appear, especially one as major as the
Book of the Law
, we require an expert’s assistance, do we not? I have already explained everything to them, so you may feel free to put your strength on full display. One condition, though—that you work with the
management
.”

“…”

“What say you? You do not seem very joyful at your first with
that
in a while.”

“Not at all.”
Stiyl bit back a few choice words and erased his expression.
“
…
By
management
, you mean the destroyer of illusions, right?”

“Just so. You may use him as you will. Oh, but pray do not kill him. We’re only borrowing him, after all.”

“Should we be getting a citizen of Academy City involved in a conflict among sorcerers?”

“As long as you make use of some tricks, everything will be fine. In either case, they will not let her go based on the conditions of our exchange. We don’t have the luxury of drawing out the negotiations.”

“I
…
see.”

He couldn’t quite grasp what either the leader of Academy City or Laura, walking next to him, was thinking. There were probably some dealings going on behind the scenes, though, so it wasn’t Stiyl’s place as an underling to say anything, but…

“Also, Stiyl. Take this with you, if you would.”

Laura took a necklace with a small cross on it out of the sleeve of her plain habit and casually tossed it to Stiyl. He caught the symbol of faith with one hand.

“Is this a kind of Soul Arm? Though at first glance, it doesn’t seem to have anything like that inside.”

“Think of it as a small gift for Orsola Aquinas. When you meet her, give it to her when you can.”

He didn’t really know what she meant by it, but she didn’t seem to have any particular desire to explain in detail. She was basically saying, “It doesn’t matter, so be quiet and do your job.”

The two of them stopped walking.

In front of them stood a church—not so big you would think it was a cathedral, and about a ten-minute walk from one of the largest stations in London.

St. George’s Cathedral.

It was a sanctuary of darkness, a condensed version of the dark ages of witch-hunting and the Inquisition, where France’s legendary saint, Joan of Arc, was burned at the stake.

Laura took a step in front of Stiyl and touched the heavy doorknob softly.

“Now then…”

She opened the heavy double doors and turned around, gesturing to the priest.

She spoke in a clear voice now, without using the cards.

“Why don’t we discuss the details within?”

“The second semester is always busy, you know! There’s the Daihasei Festival, the Ichihanaran Festival, the field trip where we study far away for a few days, the Art Appreciation Festival, the Social Studies Festival, the Great Cleaning Festival, Finals Festival, the Follow-Up Festival, the Remedial Class Festival, the Crying Detention Festival…It’s basically all festivals. Everyone’s gonna be busy preparing for them all.”

September 8.

That afternoon, in the hallway of a student dormitory, Maika Tsuchimikado spoke in a carefree voice. She was around the same age as Index, if not a bit younger, and she was wearing a strange maid uniform. Even more mysteriously, she was sitting
seiza
atop an oil drum–shaped cleaning robot. The robot’s programming was trying to move it forward, but Maika had stuck her mop on the floor in front of it to stop it, so it was just shaking and rattling around.

“But I’m bored! I have nothing to do! Touma won’t pay attention to me! He won’t play with me!”

Index stood in front of Maika Tsuchimikado and argued. She was sneering and moving from left to right. Her locks of silver hair and her long white hood fluttered. The calico cat she held in her slender arms
appeared to be interested in the sparkling of the gold embroidery decorating her hood—it was waving its forepaws around and swatting at it.

She knew how busy Touma Kamijou had gotten lately. But he was the only one in Academy City Index could talk to.

Of course, it wasn’t like he was locking her up in the dorm or anything. He had given her a duplicate key, so she did actually take walks here and there while he was away at school. (Of course, it usually ended up in her running back home after coming up against machines she couldn’t handle—like the ticket vending machines at the station or locks that required fingerprint, venous, or bioelectric field authentication.)

This city was just
strange
.

Built when the western areas of Tokyo were developed all at once, this city of science was 80 percent students. While Kamijou was at school, Himegami and Komoe were at school, too. So when Index had tried to go out and find someone new to talk to, she found the city eerily empty. For the past week, she’d been looking around the city in her own way. She did discover that the lady at the clothes store would talk to her cheerfully—except when she was replacing clothing on the racks—but Index didn’t quite think that’s what she was looking for.

Maika Tsuchimikado, though, was an exception among exceptions.

In this city, people came and went at very specific times of day, but this girl alone wasn’t bound to any of time’s rules. Index had seen her around the city both in the morning and in the afternoon, at the convenience store, the department store, the park, the bread store, the station building, the student dorm, on the roads, and near school—it didn’t seem to matter when or where.

Maika insistently pounded the palm of her hand on the cleaning robot, dissuading it from moving forward, and continued.

“Touma Kamijou has his own issues to take care of, so you shouldn’t get in his way. He’s not locked up at school because he likes it, you know. There are a lot of difficult things about school!”

“Mgh. I know that, but…How come you’re not locked up at school, then, Maika?”

“Hee-hee! I’m an exception. Basic maid training is all fieldwork!”

The home economics academy Maika Tsuchimikado attended wasn’t just a strange, anachronistic school that pumped out maids. They produced specialists—people able to assist their masters in any location, from scraping gum off the sidewalk to aiding international summits. Thus, Maika carried out her “fieldwork” in a variety of locations. Of course, not all the students were out on fieldwork. This was a special step only for those elites who passed a standardized test and were judged to have the ability never to look disgraceful despite still being in training.

Index didn’t know about all the sweat and tears that went into it. She cutely tilted her head to the side.

“So if I became a maid, I could go anywhere I wanted whenever I wanted? I wouldn’t be locked up at school? Could I even do fieldwork in Touma’s classroom?”

“Well, no, that’s not what maids really—”

“Then I’m gonna become a maid, too! And then maybe I can go to Touma’s class to play!”

“That sounds great, but becoming a maid is no easy task, you know. You have no household skills whatsoever. You’d have it tough needing to make lunch for boys day in and day out.”

“Then I’ll make Touma a maid! Maybe then I can get him to come play!”

“That sounds so great I’m practically crying over here, so maybe the nice thing to do would be to not tell Touma Kamijou you said that!”

The bored Index puffed out her cheeks, annoyed, and then quickly jolted to the left.

“She’s right. Sorry, but there’s no time for you to be a maid—nor to make him one, for that matter.”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind the girl in white.

Huh?
Index’s mind went blank for a moment. Maika, in front of her, was probably looking at the person standing behind Index. The maid’s face looked more scared than surprised.

Who is
…
?