Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume7 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 5===

Kamijou had lost track of Aradia after taking his eyes off her for only a moment.

He was legitimately worried as he stepped out into the garden’s bright green grass. The building was so big and labyrinthine he had decided it would be faster to look in through the windows and see if he saw her that way. That was no guarantee of finding her, of course, but he would at least know she wasn’t anywhere visible through the windows.

Of course, this was all assuming she remained at the consulate at all.

“Hey, human.”

Out of nowhere, someone called out to him.

It wasn’t Aradia. He looked back to see the 15cm god giving him a look of exasperation and pity from the witch goddess’s shoulder, as if to say she had found the child he had lost.

“She isn’t going to run away, so don’t worry about that,” said the small but arrogant god. “The deal was for you, the grimoire library, and me to take turns looking after her, remember?”

“Hmph.”

Aradia was in a very bad mood as she entered the garden.

But while she did refuse to look Kamijou in the eye, she didn’t leave either.

When she spoke, it was in a somewhat sulky voice.

She also restlessly toyed with her silver hair.

“You want to stop Anna Sprengel before Mut Thebes can, don’t you? And without killing her if possible.”

Kamijou blinked.

And he tilted his head.

“Aradia, have you mellowed out?”

“Do not even suggest such a thing. I am a Transcendent. I am the goddess of all witches. Do you really think my nature would change so easily?”

Aradia swept her hair back with a hand and glared icily at him.

She and Othinus on her shoulder whispered something back and forth.

“(You’re sure he counts as a witch?)”

“(Why are you getting cold feet and questioning it now? I know you’d prefer it if he was.)”

“?”

Aradia still had waterproof duct tape wrapped around her feet, which meant she hadn’t tried to tear it off while she was alone.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Aradia sounded a bit irritated.

And she continued from there.

“The Bridge Builders Cabal has settled on killing Anna Sprengel for being a traitor. Since the Shrink Drink execution spiritual item is already complete and Mut Thebes has already arrived, they would be hard pressed finding a reason not to go through with it. I imagine you think you can hide your true purpose and stick with them so you can find some way of letting that little devil escape at the last second, but that isn’t enough. The Bridge Builders Cabal has hideouts across the globe and can freely travel between them. So even if she escapes for now, they will just send in more and more Transcendents until she can’t possibly escape. Saving her in the here and now isn’t enough to end the threat to her life.”

“So how many Transcendents are there in all?”

“That isn’t important. What matters is that you can’t save Anna Sprengel by rushing in once something has already happened.” Aradia winked. “So you need to get what you want before anything happens. That’s the standard method for preventing harm.”

“Before anything happens?”

“Did you forget, human? The Bridge Builders Cabal is run by the Transcendents gathering together and talking things out,” said Othinus, walking down Aradia’s arm to reach him.

She was right. It was easy to forget with Alice Anotherbible and all the other Transcendents being so extraordinarily powerful, but the Bologna Succubus had said they discussed what path to take the world down and made adjustments accordingly. And the other Transcendents were having trouble because Alice’s child logic was ruining all that.

“You must control the discussion held between the Transcendents,” firmly stated Aradia.

“…”

Kamijou didn’t say anything, so she continued.

“That is the only way to prevent Mut Thebes from executing Anna Sprengel with the Shrink Drink she was lent.”

“I-I’m all for talking things out, but how exactly do we make that happen?”

“I’d like to know that too,” said Othinus. “Aradia, you said yourself that the Bridge Builders Cabal has bases all around the world and we haven’t even seen how many Transcendents are hiding out here. We don’t know who to argue our case to or how many people we have to convince to gain a majority. How do we control the discussion like this?”

“You’re both idiots. Didn’t I say that isn’t important?” interrupted Aradia. “It’s not about how many votes you get. The actions of Alice Anotherbible always hold an important meaning within the cabal.”

“Wait, you mean…?”

“Only you can do this,” said Aradia even as she was distracted by the sight of Mut Thebes walking by a 2nd floor window.

This was a choice that not even the Bologna Succubus or Good, Old Mary could make.

“But to be extra certain, it would be safest to convince anyone here capable of influencing Alice’s actions. There still aren’t very many Transcendents here in the consulate. And only one of those serves as Alice’s aide: H. T. Trisme-” 

“Talking about me?” calmly asked the young butler with a cane.

He didn’t seem to have any trouble walking, but that wasn’t enough of a reason to conclude the cane was a spiritual item for his magic. Since it was so conspicuous, it could have been bait to distract from the real spiritual item.

Kamijou wondered what kind of work a butler did in the garden, but there was a table set up in a corner decorated by green grass and colorful flowers. The gardener wouldn’t be in charge of maintaining that.

The young butler smiled thinly when he noticed what Kamijou was looking at.

“I agree it is cold out here during January, but Alice still prefers to drink her tea outside. Heh heh. Sounds like something straight out of a children’s book, doesn’t it?”

“Perfect timing,” said Aradia.

By then, the young butler had already pulled a new table and several chairs from his cloak and finished setting them up. The witch goddess sat down in one of the chairs like this was normal.

“Kamijou Touma, you can gain the Bologna Succubus and Good, Old Mary’s cooperation ''if you make your request in the correct way.''”

Potable water that didn’t need to be boiled was apparently more valuable than something like tea. H. T. Trismegistus handed Kamijou a bottle of ice-cold mineral water, but Kamijou was grimacing at what Aradia had said.

He still couldn’t forget what the Bologna Succubus had said in her room.

“But aren’t they full-on ready to kill her already?”

“Then you need to remove Anna Sprengel from their conditions.”

“Human, take the Bologna Succubus for example. She is a Transcendent who will save anyone, whether she likes them or not, as long as they have been falsely accused. No matter how specious the argument, she should back down as long as you can place Anna in that category.”

Othinus’s explanation made Kamijou frown.

Even if she looked like a winged exhibitionist who walked around town in her underwear, she had still saved his life in Shibuya on the 31st. ''Even if the Bologna Succubus said otherwise,'' he wanted to believe there was a deeper meaning and connection between them.

Aradia breathed an exasperated sigh at the pointy-haired boy.

“Stop thinking about what you like and dislike and start thinking about what is correct and incorrect. Not even Good, Old Mary saves everyone indiscriminately using her composite miracles. She only resurrected you in Shibuya because you met her conditions. Figure out for yourself what those conditions are. She doesn’t keep them hidden, so she should have mentioned them already.”

“…”

“There seem to be a few other dangerous Transcendents in the consulate, but you really only need one more. With H. T. Trismegistus here’s help, you would have decent control over everything around Alice. If you have a majority of those in the consulate and Alice herself on your side, the rest of the cabal members around the world should choose to go your way. Mut Thebes can’t act alone because she is a Transcendent who only kills in accordance with her rules. For better or for worse, she only acts according to the organization’s decisions. Everyone fears Alice. She technically only has one vote, but ''that vote determines how most everyone else votes''.”

“Umm, I get the feeling you are dragging me into something messy,” said H. T. Trismegistus. “Especially when you keep mentioning Alice.”

“We will not cause any trouble for your beloved Alice.”

The young butler tilted his head, took a sip from his water bottle, and pulled a notebook from his pocket.

Kamijou’s group explained everything from the beginning.

The angle of H. T. Trismegistus’s head tilt grew as the explanation continued.

“So you wish to retract the order to execute Anna Sprengel with the Shrink Drink?”

“Simply put, yes.”

“But why, Aradia? Setting aside the cabal’s own issues, we all know that villain causes global disasters wherever she goes. She has even interfered with Alice. Why would you work so hard to make her fit your conditions?”

Aradia only shrugged.

H. T. Trismegistus was not being coldhearted. Anna had already done so much. Most likely, the entire 6 or 7 billion population of the Earth would question this decision.

So only Kamijou could answer that question.

“''I don’t need a reason now. I can come up with one later.''”

“…”

“''It was the same in the fights against Accelerator, Fiamma of the Right, Magic God Othinus, Kamisato Kakeru, Aleister, Coronzon, and even myself. If I don’t have a reason to save them, I find one by getting to know them better while we fight.''”

Academy City would never forgive Anna Sprengel for what she did to it.

And the many Transcendents of the Bridge Builders Cabal were constructing a practical method of killing Anna.

Kamijou wasn’t interested in forgiving Anna either. What had she done to St. Germain, Los Angeles, and Academy City? If she intended to cause even worse tragedies in the future, he had to stop her even if it meant knocking her out with his fist.

But was blood and death the only possible ending?

Was that really the conclusion Kamijou Touma had sought this whole time?

“I see, I see, I see. So this is the Kamijou Touma that Alice has grown so attached to.”

The young butler sighed in deep exasperation.

“Don’t act like you already understand him,” said Othinus on his shoulder, furious for some reason.

Aradia also viewed Kamijou again with an unreadable expression.

“Hey, H. T. Trismegistus,” said Aradia.

“What do you want?”

“I would like to start by confirming we’re on the same page here. Everything with Anna Sprengel was outside of our plans. Both the changes to Alice’s settings and Kamijou Touma unwittingly becoming Alice’s controller. Do you agree with me so far?”

“I do.”

“Then if we distort the Bridge Builders Cabal and its definition over whether or not we should kill Anna, haven’t we already lost to her? If we kill the traitor and that changes something fundamental about the cabal’s nature, then we are accepting that loss for nothing in return. Anna Sprengel can go to her grave sticking out her tongue and mocking us.” Aradia took a sip of her cold mineral water. “I sense danger in the very fact that we are having a Transcendent create a tool for executing Transcendents. Everyone is too furious with Anna to think about it rationally, but what guarantee of safety do we have if a third party steals that Shrink Drink spear and directs it at us? If this goes wrong, Anna’s ghost will haunt us forevermore.”

“Aradia. I must ask something for my master’s sake,” said the young butler. “I am here to save the majority who believe in the strength of common sense. And I am here to prevent the tragedies that would follow if common sense itself were to be shaken. But that does not mesh with the conditions of your salvation. …That means I am in no position to judge whether or not this boy and Anna Sprengel meet your conditions. So please think of this as a purely hypothetical question.”

“Get on with it.”

“What would you do if one or the other of Kamijou Touma and Anna Sprengel no longer met those conditions? Then this dangerous tightrope walk shaking the power balance of the entire cabal will have been for nothing.”

“True.” The witch goddess laughed, took a deep breath, and gave her answer. “If that were to happen, I might just act on a whim the way Alice does.”

“Is that so?” said H. T. Trismegistus. He held a hand to his thin chin in thought. “The way Alice does, you say? Then common sense can only lead to a single solution.”

Even Kamijou could sense the tension draining from the witch goddess’s shoulders and neck.

Making this suggestion must have been a nerve-wracking experience even for another Transcendent. Kamijou couldn’t keep up with it all since he was an outsider to the cabal. And as an outsider, he didn’t even get a vote in the discussion.

The young butler tapped his cane against the ground and glanced down.

He looked below the table.

He noted the duct tape sealing Aradia’s feet.

He tore a page from his notebook and slowly stood from his seat.

“Transcendent Aradia, I can prevent a lot of future problems by killing you here and now.”

The table and chairs were all blown away.

Something flashed from the young butler’s hand.

It all happened so fast the boy’s understanding and perception were delayed and shredded. At first, Kamijou saw it as an incredibly long whip of light or as a white serpent, but that wasn’t it.

It was a sword.

How long did it take Kamijou to realize that flash came from the sword H. T. Trismegistus had drawn from his black cane? And the powerful sweep of the drawn sword ''covered a range longer than the cane had been.''

[[Image:GT_Index_v07_BW4.png|thumb]]


So he was much too late to react.

He could only watch while blood erupted from Aradia and she crashed to the ground.

With her feet covered, she couldn’t even defend with her magic.

The young butler had blatantly checked on that before drawing his cane sword.

It was all the result of Kamijou’s own actions.

“Aradiaaaaaa!?”

“You idiot! You need to move away, human!!”

Othinus shouted something into his ear, but Kamijou simply stood there in the garden.

Fight? Against who? Didn’t he need this man’s cooperation?

What about Aradia?

How bad was her condition after erupting with blood and collapsing!?

“You should have seen this coming.”

The young butler actually looked confused.

He returned the beautifully shining blade to its scabbard that doubled as a black cane.

“Aradia, any Transcendent who has already lost contains the risk of losing again and again and again. What does my Alice gain by including such a vulnerability in the cabal? And based on what you have told me, it is obvious you intend to include Alice in your plans. This time, it would not be accidental. Kamijou Touma has begun to consider manipulating Alice Anotherbible’s actions for his own purposes. Any Transcendent with common sense would not let that continue.”

That young butler had said he would not allow any tragedies caused by common sense itself being shaken.

Were his interests incompatible with Aradia’s as she tried to manipulate the votes and trends in her favor?

No, this was deeper than that.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yes. ''I am one of the so-called Killers when it comes to you, Kamijou Touma.'' View the issue with common sense and it could not be more obvious that you are the most dangerous person in the world for your ability to control Tyrant Alice.”

“…”

“I decided to hold off on judgment until I had seen it for myself. You were also Alice’s hope, after all. So until yesterday, I merely observed. I would feel bad if I beheaded you over a baseless rumor, after all. But now you are showing signs of controlling Alice for your own ends. And thus you must die, Kamijou Touma. You cannot avoid my blade.”

Aradia wasn’t moving.

She didn’t even groan in pain while coloring the grass red around her.

Something in her had finally started to change.

Kamijou had no way of knowing what had caused it, but Aradia had clearly changed from when he had seen her in Shibuya. It was obvious enough even he could tell. Her conditions? Her rules? What did it matter if someone didn’t fit one of the items on her list? What was wrong with wanting to save someone on a whim!?

But H. T. Trismegistus hadn’t allowed it.

He had nipped that change in the bud ''like this was a standard process''!!!

“Why not me?” asked Kamijou.

“What about you?”

“I’m Tyrant Alice’s controller, aren’t I? If you Killers are so damn scared of me, why did you cut down Aradia first!?”

“You are indeed my top priority target, you loathsome illegitimate controller.”

Mut Thebes was nowhere to be seen.

Hadn’t she said she would kill the young butler if he tried anything? Did she never keep her promises, or did only Index and Othinus meet her conditions?

“However, I have done some research into that bizarre Imagine Breaker you call a right hand. While you did receive considerable support from the Bologna Succubus and Good, Old Mary, the fact remains that you defeated Aradia – a Transcendent. Did you think I wouldn’t show the utmost caution around you? Common sense says the most effective method is to ''prepare a landmine to trip up the intruder'' before making your attack.”

“…”

That was all?

He had attacked Aradia, a fellow cabal member and a fellow Killer, for nothing more than that?

“Also.”

The young butler glared down at Aradia while holding his black cane – or the murderous tool disguised as one.

He now had pure contempt in his eyes.

“I have noticed some changes in the other Transcendents, not just in Tyrant Alice. You are causing Alice and the world around her to crumble. Witch Goddess Aradia, you stopped caring if Kamijou Touma and Anna met your conditions, didn’t you? You felt relieved when you found a way to make him fit your conditions, didn’t you? Did you perhaps want to try living outside your own rules? Did you decide you wanted to save them even if they did leave your conditions? ''That is a problem. Transcendents must provide salvation in a fair and evenhanded fashion.''”

Was that…?

Was that really so wrong?

She had told Kamijou how to save Anna when he didn’t know how.

Was it really so wrong to feel your convictions shaken when they told you to say nothing as someone died!?

“Aradia trusted you. She must have.”

“Yes, I am aware.”

“She trusted you enough to share this secret with you! And this is how you repay her!?”

“That has no bearing on the conditions for my salvation. It’s common sense really.”

Kamijou clenched his teeth harder and harder.

When a Transcendent got like this, they could understand your words, but actual communication wasn’t possible.

Kamijou had sensed this same thing when visiting the Bologna Succubus. The Transcendents chose who to save based on a programmatic list of and, or, and not operations. Tyrant Alice, meanwhile, would reach out a hand carrying indescribably great power on a whim when she saw a tragedy playing out before her. Which of those was more normal?

The goddess of witches had decided on her own definition of and conditions for salvation.

To hell with this. All she had done was feel a desire to save someone who didn’t fit those self-imposed rules! Was that really so heinous a crime it deserved being summarily executed by a trusted companion!?

“…H. T. Trismegistus.”

“Now, prepare to die.”

A metallic sound whispered from the black cane.

The young butler held the cane scabbard next to his hip, no longer making any attempt to hide that there was a sword within.

That Transcendent was superficially polite but filled with killer intent and he kept a thin smile on his face.

“Aradia has fallen, Anna will be executed before long, and common sense leads me to conclude I would be doing the world a favor if I swiftly and surely eliminated you here. Therefore, this is the end for you.”

“To hell with that!! How is this any form of salvation!?”

“My actions only look cruel because you do not meet my conditions. That is always how it works with us Transcendents.”

Kamijou had heard enough.

Some kind of flimsy thread snapped in his head.

He immediately grabbed Othinus from his shoulder and flung her to the side.

“Human!?”

His top priority was rescuing badly injured Aradia, so he needed someone who could bring Good, Old Mary here. And Othinus was small enough that she could hide within the grass and flowers if she crawled.

Of course. H. T. Trismegistus wasn’t about to overlook this. It was possible he could draw his sword and slice her into confetti before she even landed.

But Kamijou wasn’t going to let him do that.

''Transcendent H. T. Trismegistus.

''Don’t assume you can get away with anything just because you have so much power!!

“Oooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

The time for words was over.

The boy clenched his right fist as hard as a rock, roared, and charged toward the Transcendent.

He wasn’t letting Aradia die.

He refused to let this end with her death!!

That was the only thing he needed in his heart right now!!!