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

===Part 8===

The Rosicrucian social phenomenon proved to be more than just a temporary fad.

It had taken root.

The educated class had developed an understanding that anyone who wasn’t well-versed in Rosicrucianism was behind the times.

Or to put it another way, simply being able to discuss it came with advantages.

At that point, the instigator was no longer needed. A cycle had been established, allowing rumors to birth further rumors.

It all began at the University of Tübingen in the Holy Roman Empire.

That university was a base of the Lutherans who had thoroughly criticized the self-interest and bad habits of the old church, meaning it was a protestant institution. Thanks to this, the three major Christian powers – the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church – were slow to react. They were slow to identify the source and this delay allowed the delusions of the rose and the cross to spread too far to be stopped.

The witch hunts that began in the 12th century and spread rapidly in that period were another problem. To stop the people’s emotions and the standardization of vigilante justice, the three major Christian powers were trying to apply the brakes on the rejection of heretics at the time. Public executions were a symbol of fear from above, but when an execution failed, the furious public were liable to rush in and kill the executioner.

In the 17th century, the Renaissance had split the public in two and changed how rational people thought. The people once more accepted ancient Greek and Roman art, they let their imaginations run wild about the Egyptian pyramids, and the old church, which had oppressed such things and even slaughtered the public they were meant to protect, fell out of favor. At first, the three major powers tried to pin the blame for this failure on each other, but they were also hesitant to act for fear of repeating the same mistakes and reopening the half-healed wounds.

This allowed the legend of Christian Rosencreutz to spread too far and endlessly alter the world.

If they were truly in the right, they shouldn’t have hesitated.

Of course, there was a downside to the Rosicrucian movement sweeping across that era.


Use a certain special method and you will be successful. 

You must not follow any other method.


Training came with danger.

If it was easy, everyone could become an expert, so the creator of the myth had to make sure the task was difficult to achieve. So difficult that people would give up before they even tried.

Nevertheless.

Visible rituals weren’t a problem as long as they were on the level of putting stockings out on Christmas Eve or writing on a tanzaku for Tanabata, but when they escalated to the point of severely restricting people’s actions, they could lead to a dangerous path.

Looking back, it was all the work of a 15-year-old boy.

Who hadn’t given it all that much thought.

He had only sought simple ways of making it seem more realistic so his prank would succeed.

And because that creator hadn’t properly ended his prank, the truth born from the lies produced real victims. He struggled for years but couldn’t change it. In fact, he learned that this would likely continue well into the future. Possibly even after his own death. Maybe forever.

So…

“This is this young man’s responsibility…”

The words leaving the former-boy’s mouth carried resentment.

True resentment.

The magician raised his head and made a howling announcement to the world.

“So. So! Listen, you fools claiming to be members of the phony Rosicrucian cabal!! And you masses dragging yourself down to the depths by innocently believing in the nonexistent Christian Rosencreutz!! No matter what it takes – even if it takes centuries. This young man swears he will obliterate every last trace of this ridiculous legeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend!!!”