Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume10 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 8===

Alice was inside the school building.

This high school had been destroyed, but no one could match the construction technology of Academy City, the city that once constructed a space elevator in almost no time at all. Once the soundproofing sheets were removed, the building would be ready for classes to begin.

This was the pointy-haired boy’s high school.

Did Alice have a reason for choosing this location?

Not even the young butler who had served her for so long could tell what she was thinking. She was a great individual. H.T. Trismegistus always pursued common sense, so perhaps she had always been beyond his ability to predict.

“This place will soon change into a place more suited for Alice.”

H.T. Trismegistus gave a rectangular protein bar a skeptical look before finally tossing it aside.

Grimoire Library Index was with him.

Alice apparently still wanted the hostage alive.

“At this point, I doubt it even matters if Alice wants it or not. She is the whole of the Bridge Builders Cabal. Alice’s presence appears to have put the people of this city into a sort of high. This will probably eventually spread beyond Academy City. And the resonance from person to person will spread Alice’s garden.”

The young butler wobbled a bit to the side.

A red liquid flowed from his tailcoat’s sleeve to his fingertips.

Where had he gone and who had he fought since Index last saw him?

Regardless, H.T. Trismegistus had a smile on his face.

“It shouldn’t take long for the world to be dyed in her color.”

“Are you saying the world will be flooded with the Gryphon and Executioner I saw before?”

“Maybe so, but that is a minor issue.”

He sounded confident.

“As long as CRC is reborn.”

There was a hint of intoxication in his voice.

“If I can only bring back Christian Rosencreutz properly this time, common sense says he will save the world. As hard as it is to accept, his identity and real name are a trivial matter. I only need to prepare myself to accept his true meaning.”

“You can’t complete that large scale rebirth ceremony on your own.”

“As long as I have Alice as the prototype, I can create as many regular Transcendents as necessary. But aside from that, once word of Alice’s survival gets out, the scattered Transcendents should regather. I can hold an audition to decide whether to reuse them or to train up new performers.”

“…”

No matter how you sliced it, the Bridge Builders Cabal was built around Alice. The Transcendents had scattered after learning of her death, so the return of their “Another Bible” would draw them back in like iron sand to a magnet.

Without any thought to what that would cause.

After all, Transcendents were the magicians who had been unable to make a decision under their own responsibility, so they carried no magic name and instead dressed up as gods while leaving the salvation of the world in someone else’s hands. They were a group with no self initiative. Which wouldn’t be too much of a problem if not for the great power each of them carried.

“But that won’t work,” insisted Index.

The young butler glared at her, but she glared right back.

“You must know that already.”

“Know what exactly?”

“You can bring CRC back with your own knowledge. That isn’t a reason to want or be afraid of losing the knowledge of the grimoires in my head.”

“…”

“You’re afraid of Alice,” stated the nun.

Wasn’t one of her duties to identify people’s inner worries from the things they said?

“You aren’t certain she is ''the same'' Alice Anotherbible as the one you used to serve. That’s why you keep leaning on your past successes. Because at least until you brought back CRC, your cabal was winning. You were in a position to make decisions for the entire world. So you’re trying to turn the clock back to that time so you can stay on the rails of success this time around. Even though that isn’t actually a real option.”

“Did no one ever tell you libraries are supposed to be quiet?”

“I don’t know ''the real reason'' you captured me. Maybe you want a spell to determine if Alice really is still Alice and maybe you know she’s broken and you want to use my grimoires to fix her.”

“I said shut up.”