Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07/Prologue

Title - Prologue: 行動開始　The_Page_is_Opened.

Volume 07

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Prologue: Begin action. The Page_is_Opened
St George Cathedral.

Although it is called a cathedral, it is but one of the many churches in the heart of London. Although it isn’t considered small, there’s a world of difference when compared to Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral. Of course, it also cannot be compared to the Cathedral of Canterbury, the origin of Puritanism in Britain.

In fact, the number of buildings in London with the name "St George" are numerous. Besides the church, there are also department stores, restaurants, clothing shops, and schools. There could be several of them downtown. Not only that, there could be more than ten churches named "St George Cathedral". The relationship between "St George" and Britons can be seen even from the Union Jack.

This St George Cathedral was formerly the base of "Necessarius".

However, this was no glamorous task. The duty of "Necessarius" is to eliminate all sorts of magic associations in Britain and any magicians associated with them. In order to achieve this objective, "Necessarius" has to use magic, which is regarded as filthy by its members. Because of this, they were viewed rather poorly by the Purists, and even chased out of Canterbury, the headquarters for the Puritans, into this "St George Cathedral".

But afterward, there were some unexpected changes.

Originally considered as a peripheral organization, "Necessarius" has been making numerous contributions behind the scenes.

These allowed "Necessarius" to build its profile and power within the British Puritan church. Today, although it looks like the Puritan church is run by the Cathedral of Canterbury, the actual decision-making power has in fact now been transferred to St George Cathedral.

Thus, this cathedral, located slightly away from the center of London, is now the nucleus of this large British Puritan church.

The red-haired priest Stiyl Magnus is walking down the streets of London in the early morning, feeling extremely puzzled.

There’s nothing strange about the street itself. There are apartments made of stone that are more than 300 years old lying on both sides of the street. There are office workers with handphones in their hands rushing down the old street. The old double-decker bus is slowly moving forward and the workers on the street are busy dismantling a similarly-old phone booth. An integration of new and old history... there’s nothing unusual happening.

There’s nothing wrong with the weather as well. There aren’t any clouds in the sky this morning, but the weather changes every four hours or so; thus, there are many people who carried their umbrellas around. It is a hot day, and as London is known for its foggy weather, this aspect of summer- the ever-changing weather- is something that cannot be belittled. Due to the increasing moisture caused by the intermittent rainfall, together with the foehn and summer heat wave, it results in amazingly high temperatures, so these rather enjoyable-looking tourist attractions have their own shortcomings as well. But for someone like Stiyl, when he first chose to stay in this city, he had already considered the shortcomings, and thus does not mind it.

What makes Stiyl insecure is the girl beside him.

"Archbishop..."

"Hm? I purposely chose to wear such simple attire today; please refrain from calling me by that lofty title."

Dressed in a beige robe, the girl, who looks 18, calmly speaks in Japanese. In fact, according to regulations, a clergyman’s attire can only have white, red, black, green, or purple, with threads of gold for decorations, so this girl is secretly breaking the rules.

Unfortunately, it seems that only she feels that as long as she puts these clothes on, she won’t be noticed in the crowd. Because of her crystal-white skin, clear blue eyes, and shining golden hair- one wouldn’t be surprised if she were sold in a gem shop- no matter the circumstances, she completely stands out from the surrounding crowd.

Her hair is shockingly long. Her straight hair extends all the way to her ankles, folds up, and goes behind the back of her head, through the large silver hairpin holding it in place, and down to her waist. In other words, the length of her hair is almost 2.5 times her height.

During the morning in Lambeth, London, the world-famous din occurs, but around her, the voices feel like they’ve been suppressed, as if they were in a solemn church where noise is not tolerated.



The Archbishop of Sector Zero of the Puritan church, "Necessarius".

Laura Stuart.

The king is the highest-ranking leader of the Puritan church. Archbishop Laura is considered to be the courier of the king, and her responsibility is to "take over for the busy king and control the British Puritanism".

The Puritan church is like an age-old string instrument.

Besides the "owner", there is also the "caretaker". Take a violin, for example; no matter how good a violin is, as long as it isn’t used for a while, the strings will be relaxed and the sound post would be in a decrepit condition, causing it to not sound beautiful. Laura’s job is to perform in place of the owner so that the violin can be maintained in a perfect state.

But, like the situation with the Cathedral of Canterbury and St George Cathedral, the name and actual power has now been reversed. The real power now lies with Laura.

The Archbishop, who has such a large amount of power, is now walking freely on the streets in the early morning without even a single bodyguard near her.

Stiyl and Laura are now heading towards St George Cathedral. At first, it was Laura who suggested that Stiyl should meet her at the cathedral at this time. She was supposed to wait at the cathedral, and Stiyl was supposed to arrive.

"I have my own home, and I’m not always stuck in that old church all year long." Laura continues onward, not making any noise. "Isn’t it fun to walk and talk?"

Around them, the office workers are hurrying around. Because this place is close to Waterloo station, which is the largest station in London, for a nun or priest to be here is not unusual for them. The number of churches in London are as big as the number of parks, although it cannot be compared to Rome.

"Anyway, I’m okay with it. But didn't you call me to the cathedral because you wanted to talk about something that outsiders are not supposed to hear?"

"Such a narrow-minded man; why worry too much about these minor things? Can’t you enjoy this time with me? Although a father who hears a woman’s repentance gives a feeling of 'relief', why doesn’t he open his heart?"

"..." Stiyl frowns, and asks, "Can I ask a question?"

"Do you have to be so cautious? Fire away."

"Why does your Japanese sound so stupid?"

"...?" (Note: In the original text, the author purposely uses something that sounds like old Japanese for Laura’s dialogue.)

The Archbishop of the Puritan church looks like someone who has been told that her shirt was buttoned wrongly. She initially freezes, and then her movements completely stop. She then blushes while saying,

"Ah... Eh...? Is... is it strange? Isn’t 'Japanese' supposed to sound like this?"

"Pardon me, but I do not really understand what you’re trying to say. You’re trying to speak the ancient language, but it just doesn’t feel right."

The people around them, clad in western clothing, are probably unable to understand Japanese, but Laura feels that the commotion around her has now become laughter.

"Ah... Ehm... I learned my Japanese from many sources, like literature and television programs. I even asked a real Japanese for help before..."

"Eh, may I know who that 'real Japanese' is?"

"Uh... that guy named Tsuchimikado Motoharu..."

"Please don’t consider that dangerous guy who lustfully lets his own step-sister wear a maid uniform an ideal Japanese. Asia is not that fascinating, you know."

"To... to think there is such a thing... I must quickly correct my Japanese... oh, no!"

"What’s wrong?"

"It’s... it’s difficult to change something that I’m so used to!"

"...Don’t tell me you used such a stupid way of speaking to negotiate with the representatives from Academy City."

Laura’s shoulders jump as she says, "Do not... Do not worry, do not worry... No problem, no problem..."

However, her voice is trembling as sweat appears on her face, her eyes swimming around.

Stiyl sighs, his breath full of cigarette smoke.

"Anyway, let’s talk when we reach the cathedral."

The two round the corner. Kanzaki Kaori has secretly frequented the Japanese restaurant located there.

"Do... do we really have to talk about this!? I can’t possibly communicate with my Japanese!"

"Enough; let’s talk about the 'proper business', and not about this trivial stuff. If you aren’t confident in your Japanese, we can still talk using English."

"Ri—ridiculous! Who said that I’m not confident!? It’s... it’s just that... my body condition today is rather bad!"

Laura says, being at a loss.

"And regarding the proper business... before we start..."

From under the robe on her chest, Laura pulls something that looks like two pieces of notebook paper out, as well as a black magic marker. As one who specializes in using runes, Stiyl immediately knows what she is going to use it for.

"Chiu chiu chiu~"

Laura tries to imitate this strange sound made by the magic marker as she draws on the paper. On several important ceremonies, when Archbishop Laura stands in front of the crowd, she looks too noble to be even mortal- but now, the Archbishop is like a girl randomly doodling on her notebook in the middle of a lesson.

If possible, I wish she could maintain that noble image.

Stiyl thinks, dangling his cigarette and frowning. He really doesn’t like this sound.

“Chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu chiu~”

"...Excuse me, may I ask what you’re doing?"

Stiyl asks, gritting his teeth and slightly trembling.

Although his temple has gone blue, Stiyl decides to remain patient.

"Just a little precaution. Here."

Laura draws the same image on the two pieces of paper, and gives one of them to Stiyl.

"Ah—ah—can you hear me?"

Stiyl feels that this voice just came from his mind. He turns to look at Laura, whose small mouth did not move in the slightest.

"...Is it a talisman for communication?"

"Our thoughts can be conveyed to each other without the need of speech."

"Hm."

Stiyl looks at the card. It seems like Laura created these talismans because of his suggestion to not allow the people around them to eavesdrop.

"Why does that voice in your heart speak so stupidly as well!?"

"Eh? Wait... wait a minute, Stiyl! I’m now speaking in English!"

Although she isn’t making any sound, Laura looks panicked, scaring the cat sprawling in front of the restaurant which isn’t open yet. Stiyl sighs. The authority and magnanimity that an Archbishop should have is now all gone.

"Then there should be an error when the message is exchanged. Although it’s weird, it doesn’t affect our conversation. Let’s get down to proper business."

"Ah... Uu... ahem ahem, okay, let’s start."

It seems like Laura wants to say something, but she swallows it and goes to the main issue.

"Stiyl, have you heard of 'The Book of the Law'?"

"It’s a spellbook. If I remember correctly, the author is Edward Alexander."

Edward Alexander- also known as Crowley.

Some say that he was the most decorated magician of the 20th century, and some say he’s the worst magician of the 20th century. As his actions and demeanour exceeded everyone’s imaginations and common sense, he was chased out of several countries. He managed to provoke the creative desire of several artists, but also managed to increase the hostility on him from all the magicians. A really legendary man. According to history, he died on December 1st, 1947. Some even feel that the world at that time was relieved when he died. This shows the number of controversies and problems that he caused.

When such a powerful magician dies, there will naturally be people who will declare themselves as his disciple or heir. Up until today, the magic system that they created continues to cause headaches for the organization that is specifically still targeting Crowley- and like other legends, the rumors that "he’s still alive" continue to roam about.

"However, if I remember correctly, isn't the original 'Book of the Law' still kept inside the library of the Vatican in Rome?"

In order to allow the girl called Index to memorize the 103,000 magical texts, Stiyl had accompanied her around the world to protect her. Although he did not see the contents, Stiyl is still able to remember where the 100 most famous texts are.

"You're right. From 1920 to 1932, Crowley was carrying out his activities on the island of Sicily in Italy. It is believed that 'The Book of the Law' first appeared then." Laura speaks as if she’s reciting what she memorized in a history textbook. "Stiyl, do you know what makes this book special?"

"..."

The characteristics of the book.

"If we first ignore the reliability of this work, there are several legends about it. Some believe that Crowley summoned the guardian angel Aiwass, learned the 'Angelic Technique' that no human is able to use, and recorded it in 'The Book of the Law'. Some believe that when 'The Book of the Law' is opened, the Christian age will end, and humanity will proceed on to a brand new age... In the former sense, an angel who doesn’t think is unable to teach humanity anything, but we’re rather concerned with the latter’s views. However..."

According to the British Puritan church, they assumed it to be a magical book containing many powerful spells.

But on hearing it, one will wonder. Why is it an "assumption"?

Index should have memorized "The Book of the Law" already. So the reason is...

"I believe you know that nobody can understand this book? Although all the magical books are written in codes, this book is still an exception. Even Index has given up on reading it, and Sherry Cromwell, who specializes in interpreting these codes, has failed to do so."

That’s right; no one is able to interpret "The Book of the Law". According to what Index said, based on our current limited knowledge, nobody is able to interpret it; thus, she could only memorize all the undeciphered codes of "The Book of the Law" into her head.

At this moment, Laura happily smiles, saying, "Then if someone who can decipher 'The Book of the Law' were to appear, what do you think the consequences would be?"

"What are you talking about...!?"

Stunned, Stiyl stares at Laura. She doesn’t look like she was joking.

"There is a Roman Catholic nun by the name of Ursula Aquinas. However, she only knows how to decipher it; she has yet to read the contents."

"What is going on?"

"Ursula seems to have found a way to decode it by reading the incomplete copies. Right now, she only has the index page, the preface, and several other pages."

The original copy of "The Book of the Law" is now strictly kept under security, so ordinary people shouldn’t be able to get their hands on it easily. Except for people like Index, it is dangerous for anyone else to read the original.

“Right now... the Roman Catholic church is lacking in manpower due to a power struggle. They might try to use 'The Book of the Law' to regain a foothold. These people probably view it as a blueprint of some new weapon..."

According to reports, although the Roman Catholic Church is still the largest Christian sect in the world, the three thousand people who form the "Gregorian Chant" have been defeated by the alchemist, and thus their power has weakened. In order to protect their place at the pinnacle of the Christian sect, it is possible that they will use the knowledge in "The Book of the Law" to design something to replace the "Gregorian Chant" to cover the loss in their fighting power. This wouldn't be surprising.

"No, they won’t use 'The Book of the Law' to build up their fighting capability. At least in the short term, the Roman Catholic Church will not attack anyone for 'The Book of the Law'. You don’t have to worry about that."

"Why?"

"Hoho, it’s a secret! I’m not leaking it out."

Seeing Laura speak with such confidence, Stiyl could not help but frown and think of the possibilities. Has the English Puritan church signed an agreement with the Roman Catholic church, thereby banning the use of "The Book of the Law"?

...If so, why would the Roman Catholic Church use Ursula to decode "The Book of the Law"?

"Seeing your expression, it seems like you’re still unassured. Really, didn’t I tell you not to worry?"

"But then..."

"Okay, okay, stop nagging. Even if the Roman Catholic Church wants to use 'The Book of the Law' for whatever purpose, they can’t do it now."

Before Stiyl could even ask why, Laura continues on.

"Because 'The Book of the Law' has been stolen by Ursula Aquinas."

"What did you say... by whom!?"

Stiyl could not help but shout. The office workers around them that were heading towards the train station, upon hearing him shout, turn around to look at him.

"The work I want you to do after this would be your mission. The organization which did this criminal act should be the Amakusa Catholics in Japan."

"Amakusa..." It’s a Christian sect in Japan.

Stiyl’s colleague, Kanzaki Kaori, used to be the leader of this sect. However, Stiyl himself does not consider it to be a Christian sect; the Amakusa Catholic Church is infused with too many aspects of Shintoism and Buddhism, to the point that the basis of the Christian faith is long gone now.

"The Amakusa Catholics are a lot smaller than the other religions in Rome, Britain, Russia, and other countries. The reason why it is still able to exist is because of Kanzaki. Now, after having lost Kanzaki, their pillar of support, it isn’t unthinkable of them to steal 'The Book of the Law' in order to gain new power. After all, 'The Book of the Law' is capable of destroying the balance of the Christian religion."

If Ursula Aquinas and "The Book of the Law" were to fall into the hands of the Amakusa Catholics, they could use it anytime- in fact, it would be weird if they wouldn't use it at all.

"But!" Stiyl rudely exclaims, "Isn’t 'The Book of the Law' hidden in the depths of the Vatican library? For a small organization like the Amakusa Catholics who wish for power, they can’t possibly have the capability to get inside! I was protecting Index as I entered the Vatican library, so I’m positive that there are no blind spots down there! The only thing that can describe it is an iron wall!"

"Actually, 'The Book of the Law' isn’t inside the Vatican library."

"What?" Stiyl’s expression is blank.

A horse carriage used for sightseeing purposes passes by Stiyl as the horse neighs, the license plate hanging behind the carriage.

"In order to organize an international exhibition, the Roman Catholic Church sent 'The Book of the Law' to the Japanese museum. Like the Laterano Church in Rome, it is believed that the 'Son of God' bled while walking up the 'Holy Path'. You should know why these things are being shown to the common people, don’t you?"

Every few years, the Church will showcase important historical or biblical items to the public.

The reason is simple. These are the "tools" to attract donations and believers. After losing their largest fighting force, the three-thousand-strong "Gregorian Chant", the Roman Catholic Church must be trying to strengthen itself through as many ways as possible, including the development of new spells and training of its members.

It is most effective to recruit these "new believers" in places where there are few Christians; because of this, Japan is the perfect target. But because there are few believers, the support that the Church can give to Japan is much less now. Seems like the Amakusa Catholics have timed this well.

"This is stupid... Bringing such a dangerous thing to show it to the world and even losing it in the process- the Roman Catholic Church has really disgraced our Christians."

"Hoho, I believe the Roman Catholics should have a deeper understanding than us. Although they have a geographical advantage now, for an item of the Roman Catholic Church to be stolen by a small sect in the Far East, I guess it means that they’re discredited."

"Haiz, does this mean that they are asking us for help?"

"No, those guys want to settle this their own way. I really worked hard to get this information. To them, this may be a sort of saving grace, but I really want to scold those guys, and tell them to 'not dream on anymore'."

"Hm? Does this mean that we aren’t getting the 'Book of the Law' and Ursula back for the sake of the Roman Catholics?"

"They aren’t spilling the beans, but if Ursula Aquinas can really decipher the 'Book of the Law', we’re involved in this one way or another."

"...You’re trying to do them a favor? Do you think that those 'noble clergymen' even understand the act of repaying a good deed?"

Stiyl says with disdain.

In Stiyl’s impression, maybe it’s because they once controlled Europe entirely that the Roman Catholics— of course, besides the believers who never knew about magic— are rather arrogant, especially those stubborn hard-liner priests and bishops. Forget about going against them; even if one tries to help them, they would snobbishly say, "We’re not so pitiful to the point that we'd accept any assistance."

"I have no intention of helping those guys who corrupt the Church and cause splinters in it. However, we have a much bigger problem."

"What?"

"Kanzaki Kaori is missing."

After Laura speaks succinctly, Stiyl immediately turns around.

Kanzaki was originally the leader of the Amakusa sect. Now, although she has already left the Amakusa, she still cares for it. Once she knows that they have caused such a problem and are now in conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, the largest Christian sect in the world with 2 billion believers, how would she respond?

Kanzaki is a Saint, one of less than 20 people in the world that possess the "Stigma". The power that she has is almost equivalent to that of a nuclear bomb. If she leaves the control of the British Puritan Church and directly attacks the Roman Catholics, what consequences would there be...?

"Knowing her, she’ll do anything. It would be okay if it was an ordinary person, but with her power..."

Laura sighs heavily.

"I hope that you can clean up the mess before Kanzaki does something seriously bad. This is your main priority. I don’t care what you do, whether it is saving 'The Book of the Law' or Ursula, telling the Amakusa to surrender, or forcing the Amakusa or Kanzaki to surrender."

"You’re telling me to beat Kanzaki?"

"If there is such a need."

Laura clearly and forcefully says, "Once our members are done with their missions, I’ll be sending them to Japan and Rome. However, I hope that you can do this on your own. Go to Academy City first."

As if he’s spitting his doubts out, Stiyl blows the white smoke of the cigarette out of his mouth. He’s not worried about having to do this alone, but the magician Stiyl just isn’t suited for working in a team. Besides the character flaws, the flame magic he uses is a huge problem; if he’s not careful and uses his full power, the comrades around him might end up getting swallowed by flames and smoke.

His "Innocentius" becomes stronger the more runes there are. Although unreliable, its power cannot be belittled. The 3,000-degree-Celsius fire can freely move about. To pursue its enemies, it can even easily melt iron. To the enemies, it is like a god of death. Besides that boy’s right hand, there is almost no other way to stop "Innocentius". Using this terrifying magic, Stiyl has destroyed several magical societies on his own several times.

So, working alone is not a problem.

"Isn’t this a problem on the Church’s side? Why bring in the Science side?"

"Index."

Laura says a person’s- no, a tool’s name.

"Since it concerns a magic book, especially the original 'Book of the Law', we need all the technical knowledge we can get. I have discussed it with Academy City, so you can bring 'that' around- but there is one condition, and that is to bring the guardian along."

"..."

"What now? It’s rare to work together with 'that'- why are you so unhappy?"

"Nothing."

Stiyl seems to have suppressed many feelings within him, as the expression on his face suddenly vanishes.

"...That guardian, is it that Imagine Breaker?"

"That’s right. You should be able to make use of him. Oh, don’t kill him though, since he’s borrowed property."

"Bringing people from Academy City into a battle between magicians, wouldn't there be a problem?"

"Regarding this, we can settle this with a few tricks. Of course, the conditions that the other party gave us are unavoidable, and I don’t have the time to negotiate with them."

"I... see."

Stiyl couldn't understand what the leaders of Academy City are thinking, nor could he understand what Laura, who is standing right beside him, is thinking. Maybe they carried out a few deals under the table. Anyway, these aren’t things that a minion like Stiyl should interfere in.

"Oh, Stiyl, bring this along."

Laura pulls out a small cross necklace from the sleeve of her simple robe and tosses it to Stiyl. Stiyl catches this symbol of belief with one hand, and asks,

"A tool? Although it does not seem to be enhanced by any magic."

"Just a little present for Ursula Aquinas. If you meet her, immediately find the opportunity to give it to her."

Stiyl does not understand what this meant, and Laura has no intention of explaining. This is a "Don’t ask, just do as I say" scenario.

At this moment, the two stop.

Walking for ten minutes from the extremely large London train station, a church which doesn’t seem to have the right to be called a "Cathedral" is in front of them.

St George Cathedral. A dark holy city filled with a terrible history of witch hunting, religious trials, and even the famous Frenchwoman Joan of Arc.

Walking in front of Stiyl, Laura grabs the handle of the heavy door.

"Okay."

Laura pushes the two heavy doors aside and invites the priest in.

She does not use her rune card this time, instead opening her small, peach-like mouth, and speaks in a clear voice,

"Regarding the details, we’ll talk about it inside."