Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume11 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 9===

Kamijou heard that cry.

He listened to the entirety of the lament, the wail, the roar.

To the cry of the boy who had once been 15.

That monster turned out to in fact be unexpectedly responsible. He felt so responsible for the problem he had caused that he had dedicated his entire life to ending it.

That was Christian Rosencreutz.

No, that was Johann Valentin Andreae wearing the costume.

He was indeed the cause of it all.

But was he really such a villain that he deserved to suffer even after his death?

“And so he became Christian Rosencreutz,” whispered Kingsford. Quietly but firmly. “He had created the character, so he knew what weak points to target to make him crumble. He concluded that dressing up as his most hated character and causing nothing but violence was the quickest way to disillusion the 🌍 and its people with Rosicrucianism and thus saving them. The man named Johann Valentin Andreae built up his status as a theologian while secretly using his Rosencreutz guise to ruin the people who believed in him.”

Like a bandit.

Like a phantom thief.

Like a con artist.

He became a mysterious and elusive miracle of a man who seemed to exist in that same era, but no one in the world could come in contact with.

“Come to think of it, hell has a spot to punish liars and frauds. It was believed to be near the bottom of hell as a whole, which shows just how sinful an act that was thought to be. Hell is another part of the mythology. If he had studied theology a little more seriously, this may ❌ have happened in the first place.”

“…”

“Let’s go. We are still only partway through hell. We are ❌ even close to finished.”

Kamijou suddenly realized Tübingen was nowhere to be found.

This was no longer a university.

It was hell.

Everything he had seen was so overwhelming he had lost sight of where he was walking, so it had taken a bit to notice. Without that benevolent expert guiding him, he doubted he could have even walked in a straight line here. It wasn’t just the fiery hell and the mountainous hell. Simply following the path was a challenge. He hurried after Kingsford so he wouldn’t be left behind.

But still, this was hell.

Kamijou once more gulped at how effective it was. It wasn’t just an ordinary high school boy like him. Hell would even mercilessly attack a monster like Christian Rosencreutz.

And…

“I see. The benevolent expert, hm? But do not think you can hide it forever. The truth is gradually coming into focus for this old man.”

“?”

Kamijou thought this was only some nonsense from the selfish and capricious expert.

No matter how it had begun, that man had become someone who brought ruin to everyone who believed in him. Kamijou knew how dangerous it was to carelessly listen to anything CRC said.

But…

“Hmph. Anna Kingsford has some guts saying all that while ignoring her own presence.”

That statement caught Kamijou’s attention.

CRC made it sound like the benevolent expert – perfect Anna Kingsford – had some kind of flaw.

Kamijou had trouble imaging that.

If this was a baseless accusation made out of sour grapes, surely CRC could do better than that.

It felt completely out of place.

Which bothered him.

“What? Boy, have you really not noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

Rosencreutz’s surprise looked fairly legitimate.

They had fought a deadly battle in Academy City, but this was an unusual look from him.

“There is no such thing as a perfect person. Sigh, she really has tamed you, hasn’t she? Has the boy who defeated this old man regressed to being a baby bird that can only follow after its mother?”

“Hey, even I know to remain a little caut-”

“Was it her boobs or her butt that ensnared your soul? You can tell this old man. Or is this something more psychological? Is it based on your dream of being babied by a dorm manager in a naked apro-”

“(Shut your mouth. Kingsford-sensei can hear everything you’re saying at this range!!)”

“?”

The point of Kingsford’s witchy hat wobbled a bit as she walked up ahead…or so it looked to Kamijou.

Which scared him.

The adolescent frantically covered the young old man’s mouth with his right hand.

The two filthy guys spoke from extreme close range while Kingsford walked a few steps ahead.

“Now, then.”

Something floated in the air.

It was a clear jigsaw puzzle. That miniature model of the world was too bugged too function here in hell, but Rosencreutz was still trying force it into a V-shape.

Was that supposed to be a cross-section of the mortar-shaped hell?

Rosencreutz poked at a piece wiggling a bit below the middle.

“Even if you are unfamiliar with the structure of the western hell, you must remember that we started by passing through the gate, correct?”

Now that he mentioned it…

Of course, Kamijou couldn’t remember much about that gate with the later impact of the giant boobs and butt, Rosencreutz’s secret, and Nyx-chan.

“There is a reason you barely remember it,” said Rosencreutz, sounding deeply exasperated. “That was the entrance to hell. That is, it was the earliest stage on the easiest difficulty setting.”

''Oh, is that all?'' thought Kamijou because it had seemed more like a dark forest and stone, which wasn’t very hell-like. Things had seemed a lot more like hell once they started seeing orange-glowing magma.

…But then Kamijou froze.

Wait.

Hold on.

“Caught on, did you?”

“Um. Weren’t we trying to stage a ‘jailbreak’ to escape hell?”

“So you have caught on.”

“''Then why did we all pass through the entrance and then start walking down toward the bottom of hell''?”

Kamijou took another look at Anna Kingsford’s back a few steps ahead of him.

His impression of her had changed.

Kamijou had already walked through the gate. He may have only been one step into the afterlife when he first woke up, but then he had crossed hell’s starting point of his own free will.



“''You will die.''”

“''That doesn’t change my answer.''”



He recalled his past conversation with Alice.

Could it be?

Was it possible that he had once again made a fatal decision right at the very start before anyone had even explained it to him?

“Umm…”

“Is something wrong?”

Kingsford sounded unconcerned. She turned back to look at him, but he could only manage a noncommittal smile in return.

Unconcerned?

He of course had no clue what her truth was. That expert had complete control over her body and mind. It was possible her willpower was strong enough to manipulate the value of her heart rate, so he could never hope to see through her poker face.

He had seen and heard a lot in this hell.

But he hadn’t put any effort into any of it. The fact that a benevolent expert like Anna Kingsford had shown up in hell was too good to be true for someone for whom misfortune was his default state.

With his misfortune, he would more likely be left behind on a school trip after the bus tour guide forgot all about him.

He had no actual evidence to back it up, but his instincts were screaming that he shouldn’t trust that everything was as it seemed concerning this lucky turn of events.

So he had been prepared to find a lie somewhere.

But…

(Come to think of it, I never did learn what Anna Kingsford’s goal here is. Can I really just assume this is just a kind young woman acting of a maternal spirit of volunteerism? But what if she does have her own purpose here and I can’t trust her either?)

He heard some screeching.

It almost sounded like birds, but he doubted it really was.

If he did peer into the shadows to find out what it was, he had a feeling it would shatter his soul. That was a perfectly plausible outcome in hell.

(Then should I get away from Kingsford and try to escape without her? All on my own while already past the midpoint of hell!?)

“Be careful,” whispered CRC.

He even kept his lips motionless to keep the benevolent expert from noticing.

“This old man is an obvious threat…but the truly terrifying threats are the ones that aren’t so obvious at first glance.”