Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume10 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 3===

Kamijou was being processed for release from the hospital.

The 1st floor lobby was busy. But was it really a good thing for business to be booming at a hospital? Not only were patients and doctors moving about, but there were workers up on metal scaffolding. A closer look revealed they were replacing the New Year’s decorations with new decorations to match the beginning of a new school term.

Winter break was ending.

He had heard Misaka Mikoto, Aradia, and some others were hospitalized here too, but he hadn’t had any chance to see them since men and women were kept in different wards. He was just glad to know they were okay.

He used the waiting time in the busy lobby to speak with Othinus.

“Rosencreutz is...dead?” he muttered.

“You must have had a peaceful night if that’s enough to surprise you. He is no longer the primary problem.”

He couldn’t see her while she sat on his shoulder, but he could tell Othinus had sighed with her arms crossed.

“Alice Anotherbible was hard enough to predict already, but I fear she may have gone completely off the rails. Even CRC may have been easier to deal with since he was only interested in malicious destruction.”

Alice Anotherbible.

Was she still alive? Even though he could still see the image of her small body tossed artlessly on the floor after Rosencreutz crushed her head?

“Hold on, this isn’t some tear jerking story,” sharply cut in Othinus. “Did you forget the part about her capturing the grimoire library?”

“…”

That chilled his excitement.

Now he couldn’t simply rejoice at the survival of someone he thought had died.

But what exactly had happened?

“It won’t be that simple with a monster like her. Christian Rosencreutz was only a detour. He was the Bridge Builders Cabal’s goal, not ours. This means we’re finally back on track and our true enemy has shown up.”

“Was...Alice mad?”

“Beats me.” Little Othinus sighed softly. “If she was acting based on a simple emotion like that, we might have a chance at predicting her, but that wasn’t the sense I got. I would find it more believable if I learned Alice’s mere presence is enough to destroy the world.”

“…”

“The fact remains that the grimoire library is missing. Because she acted as bait so I could escape. We have no idea what happened to her. An ordinary magician would spare her life and keep her around, but there’s no predicting what Alice might do.”

Index was missing.

And unlike before, Alice wouldn’t have just taken Index to her secret base to play. And even if she had done that, leaving someone in Alice’s care now was far too dangerous.

The girl had been decapitated.

But that hadn’t been enough to stop her.

She had killed CRC.

Even a monster on his level had lost his life when he angered Alice and made her take him even a little bit seriously. And now those same sharp claws were at someone else’s throat.

“But...I can’t believe Alice would threaten Index’s life.”

“I don’t think she’s killed the grimoire library yet. That’s fortunate, at least.”

“Hm? You sound certain of that. I mean, I hope it’s true, but how can you know?”

“Because Alice is still in Academy City. The only reason she hasn’t lost interest in this place and disappeared is because of her obsession with you, human. So in all likelihood, she will be hesitant to kill someone connected to you. But on the other hand, that means the grimoire library’s life comes to an end as soon as Alice loses interest in you.”

That was her prediction as a war god.

It was an analysis based on accurate data and an intuition based on a vast quantity of harsh experiences, so a simple high school boy couldn’t hope to argue with it.

Kamijou still refused to back down, perhaps because an irreplaceable life was on the line here.

“I still find it hard to believe she’s alive. Is she really still in the city?”

“It is endlessly tiresome that my word as a god isn’t enough for you and you require objective evidence for every little thing, but there is some indirect evidence you can see for yourself. Just take a look outside.”

“?”

Exasperated, Othinus elaborated from his shoulder.

“Do you remember the social phenomenon unique to Academy City that was linked to Alice Anotherbible’s presence?”

“Hm? Oh, you mean Kotatsu Syndrome?”

If he was being honest, he had completely forgotten. He had assumed that had just gone away once New Board Chairman Accelerator declared martial law.

That strange form of group psychology led people to passively protest their entrance exams and the new school term by lazing around instead.

It led people to shortsightedly seek peace and comfort without worrying about the later consequences.

“Let’s head outside,” was all Othinus said. “It may not be visible from here, but you will see soon enough.”

Skeptical, Kamijou walked to the hospital exit after his release process was complete.

The glass door was partially soundproofed, probably to make life in the hospital more comfortable for the patients.

Something was exploding outside.

At first, Kamijou had no idea what it was.

He really did think something was exploding in the distance.

But when he listened more closely, he realized it was an amalgam of voices.

“''I’m sick of this martial law! You can’t tell me what to do anymore!''”

“''They’re keeping down the little guy, as usual!!''”

“''Flip them!! Flip all those armored monstrosities!!''”

Was that a wave of people? Were those strange voices and noises being made by human beings?

“I already saw it all on the way here.”

Maybe the hospital was so busy because people were claiming to feel sick and hiding out there for safety.

“It probably began with the melancholy caused by winter break ending and the new school term beginning,” quietly explained Othinus. “Then the new Board Chairman declared martial law and banned them from leaving their homes, so their frustrations grew as their vacation passed them by under those restrictions. When Alice Anotherbible’s return triggered a resurgence of Kotatsu Syndrome, it pushed all the city’s residents’ minds in the opposite direction. ...This is entirely different from the gentle social phenomenon built on escapism. I get the sense that, whether it will help them or hurt them, they will yell at and ''physically attack'' anyone who tries to boss them around.”

This wasn’t Kamijou’s first time seeing a city-wide riot.

For example, he had seen Academy City during the Christmas season when Anna Sprengel had arranged the rise of R&C Occultics.

For example, he had seen Shibuya on December 31 flooded with the youths influenced by the Transcendents Aradia and the Bologna Succubus.

But this was different from those.

When it was caused by Alice Anotherbible, the nature of the riot changed.

“It’s beginning.”

“…”

“Acute Kotatsu Syndrome is a very different threat from CRC, who was the ultimate ''individual''. This is a new trend – a countdown toward destruction by a ''group''. If nothing is done about Alice, Academy City will be brought down by internal violence. Maybe it could be stopped by a military force, but that would require Anti-Skill, or whoever else, to fire live ammunition on the people of the city.”