A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 19

by Kazuma Kamachi

  … We’ll have to use parachutes to get off.

  Hamazura was busy placing bombs from the testing facility all over the plane as he thought out their next move. This passenger plane, though, was another part of Academy City’s top-of-the-line technology. They couldn’t let another country recover it, and he didn’t want such a huge mass falling intact anyway. It would be best if they detonated the jet above a sea or a flatland.

  After he finished setting a bunch of explosives, Hamazura headed for the passenger seats rather than the cockpit. Takitsubo was there, tiredly leaning against the wall.

  “Everything’s set. Will this really be okay?!”

  “…Yeah. This plane has a built-in security package that melts all the important circuits with strong acid when it crashes to prevent technology from being salvaged. There should be almost no risk of secret information winding up in another country’s hands where it can be used as a weapon…”

  There was no firmness in her voice.

  Hamazura was no scholar, so he couldn’t even guess as to how much the Crystals had damaged her. But she probably wouldn’t heal if they did nothing. And he got the feeling that no outside medicine could do anything about it.

  In the end, they would have to rely on Academy City technology if Takitsubo was to have any chance at survival.

  … Our victory condition isn’t to escape from Academy City. And it’s not to destroy the entire science side.

  Shiage Hamazura made the decision on his own.

  … It’s about surrendering to Academy City in the most optimal way. I mean, we’d obviously never be able to beat them. I should narrow my focus to how well I can lose.

  At the very least, he’d negotiate and get a guarantee for Takitsubo’s safety.

  In the same way this supersonic jet was built using technology secret enough to warrant installing acid to erase its traces, Takitsubo’s Level Four body and DNA map were also secrets they couldn’t let fall into another nation’s hands. He would use this as leverage to cut a deal with the immense City. That was the only way to survive.

  No matter…

  No matter what dangers he had to face after getting Takitsubo back safely and losing his only bargaining chip.

  “??? Hamazura, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  Hamazura forced himself to smile, then placed a bomb on the door leading outside the passenger seating. He took Takitsubo by the shoulders and veered her away from it so she wouldn’t be caught in the blast.

  And then Takitsubo put her arms around his neck.

  Their faces drew closer, then their lips touched.

  It lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to completely shatter all of Hamazura’s pessimistic plans.

  “Don’t leave me.”

  That was all she said.

  Hamazura understood how much meaning was packed into those few words, though.

  “All right…”

  He embraced Takitsubo again. Whatever happens, we’ll both survive. “I’ll never leave you,” he said with trembling lips. “Damn it, I promise. I swear I’ll never leave you!!”

  The frantic words brought a faint smile to the girl’s face.

  The supersonic passenger jet slowed down. Hamazura didn’t understand it, but while he was setting the bombs all over the inside, Takitsubo had messed a little with the autopilot settings. She didn’t seem to have any more luck in taking control of the flight yoke to fly the plane but, after reading the manual a bit, she had apparently learned how to make a few small setting adjustments.

  “I wonder where we are,” Hamazura said.

  “If the GPS is right, probably Russia. I think we’re near a country called the Elizina Alliance of Independent Nations. There won’t be any civilian facilities here, so there shouldn’t be any damage if we blow up the plane here.”

  “I see,” said Hamazura. No matter where they were, he’d keep running. He’d make use of anything and everything to keep Takitsubo safe, and in the end, they’d both find happiness. After steeling his resolve again, he remotely detonated the bomb attached to the passenger seating exit.

  The door blew off instantly.

  Because of the air pressure, a gust of wind launched Hamazura and Takitsubo out into the wild blue yonder like air escaping a balloon. With parachutes on their backs, they held hands as they fell, as though it were a skydiving competition.

  They flew to their new battlefield, intending to grab hold of hope with their own hands.

  Meanwhile, a certain spiky-haired boy was also headed for Russia.

  The battle with the Roman Orthodox Church and the Russian Catholic Church had entered its climax. As a result, a girl who had memorized 103,000 grimoires had been put in mortal danger. In order to rescue her, he would have to defeat Fiamma of the Right, the apparent mastermind based in Russia, as soon as possible.

  “Wait for me.”

  That was all the boy said.

  To rescue a certain girl, his legs carried him unhesitatingly onward, into the heart of the worldwide war.

  I won’t let it end in tragedy.

  Several protagonists, each with their own feelings in their hearts, unerringly assembled in one place.

  Their paths, which had been separate once, would intersect.

  And that would be when the true story began, with the stage standing atop the most terrible battlefield in the world.

  AFTERWORD

  To those of you who have been reading since Volume 1, it’s good to see you again.

  For those of you who purchased all twenty-one volumes at once, thank you with all of my heart.

  I’m Kazuma Kamachi.

  As explained in the beginning, this book’s story is closely linked to Volume 15 of the novels. It’s chock-full of science terms, centered on the key word Dragon, which appeared to hint at deeper goings-on at the end of Volume 15.

  Aiwass says this as well at the end of this story, but heroes come in many different varieties. Accelerator, a villain who desires good above all others, and Shiage Hamazura, who became a hero by crawling up from his position as a bargain-sale grunt character whose death would have made perfect sense. They’re different kinds of heroes from Touma Kamijou, and I have to say it’s a lot of fun having them show up out of the blue…Of course, that said, it’s only because Touma Kamijou’s story is central to the whole thing that we can get excited more effectively in contrast by this one, a story about villains and street thugs.

  Maybe I just can’t help liking characters who fight with their lives on the line for someone or something precious to them, whether it’s Kuroko Shirai or Acqua of the Back. I was thinking at first that I’d make the subtitle for the epilogue Hope_in_Hand, but I changed it to Brave_in_Hand to denote their bravery, and it struck me as much more suitable for these protagonists!

  I’d like to thank Haimura, my illustrator; my editors, Miki and Fujiwara; and Iwakura, who kindly assisted with the powered suit designs for this novel. To be honest, with the unique atmosphere of the villains’ side that clings to Accelerator and Shiage Hamazura, I think the illustration really has its work cut out for it more than the prose. Thank you very much for your support once again.

  And a thank-you to all my readers. The only reason I can continue this irregular series whose mood completely changes depending on the volume is because you all decided that way of doing things can be okay. I’d like to try various things in the future as well, so I look forward to your continued support.

  Now then, as I humbly close the pages here.

  And as I pray that the heroes’ battles will grace the pages of the next book.

  Here, now, I lay down my pen.

  What form will the battle of these protagonists, each with bravery in hand, take?

  Kazuma Kamachi

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On.

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