Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume15 Epilogue (section)

==Epilogue: The Seed Has Been Sown – Question.==

A trio of parachutes opened.



The British government plane wasn’t needed after all.

Because the Jumbo Dragonfly bullet-shaped spaceship had crossed many national borders while drifting outside the atmosphere.

“Did we…manage to survive?”

No one answered Kamijou’s question.

He didn’t know what logic had led that right arm bastard to make an appearance, but he must have withdrawn once more to wherever it was he went. Not knowing what made that selfish guy show up was worrying. Kamijou had heard a ''crack'' from his shoulder, but that didn’t tell him much.

At any rate, after opening the parachutes, they had landed in the ocean near England, so he had successfully handed Hamazura over to them.

Even after traveling halfway around the world, it was still winter here, meaning it was cold. They had fallen into the ocean, so opening the airtight doors to let a boat pick them up had gotten him soaking wet. He didn’t know the specifics of how the UK’s system worked or how it was organized, but aboard a government-seeming patrol boat, he wrapped himself in the blanket he was given and watched what happened to the other boy.

“…”

(He’ll probably resent me. And so will his girlfriend. Takitsubo, was it?)

Kamijou didn’t know what would happen to Hamazura Shiage now.

Hamazura knew nothing of the magic side and thus hadn’t understood how much of a threat Coronzon was…and that was how he let her get to him. But he probably couldn’t get away with that argument anymore.

The Anglicans would judge him a threat to their country and the world.

He would be judged as someone who had bet on Coronzon. Just like he had wanted.



And so Hamazura Shiage’s battle came to a close. It ended in defeat. In a way, exactly as he had expected from the start.

No one in Academy City would hear what he had to say and take his message to heart. Because not even his girlfriend Takitsubo Rikou had understood why he was fighting for Coronzon.

So had it all been a meaningless struggle?

No.



“…”

Kamijou Touma had arrived at a certain international airport.

It had just occurred to him he had flown here through space, so he didn’t have his passport with him.

Now he couldn’t return to Japan!!

“Oh, ohhh. Ohhhhhhh…”

(Don’t just dump me here, Anglicans! How about actually helping me get home!? Especially when I just cleaned up your scandal for free!)

Of course, the British government would see him as having flown through space and fallen in their territorial waters without permission, so maybe he should be thankful they hadn’t shot down the “unidentified flying object” with a long-range SAM or seized the “suspicious boat” by force.

“You really are hopeless. You said you were at Heathrow, right? I’ll call in Mark whose been sulking about having to stay behind in London, so just follow their instructions and they’ll smuggle you into Japan. Don’t worry. This won’t mean stuffing you into a cargo container for a sweaty months-long voyage. With a personal jet bought under a fake name, it’ll only take half a day. …After setting down in the Academy City airport, that toy will have to be abandoned along with the fake name, but oh well. Nothing is truly free.”

“Umm, Birdway? I feel like you’re only getting me to commit even more crimes…”

“Would you prefer spending the rest of your life as an illegal resident in England? That’s fine with me. In fact, I could use another plaything for my garden. But I would recommend caution. Immigration has become a delicate topic in England and the rest of Europe lately.”

Smartphones were so convenient.

In recent times, you didn’t have to worry about the high cost of international phone calls.

Free talk apps were truly a wonderful invention.

It made him happy just to hear the Japanese language while surrounded by all the English in England. Although from a global perspective, someone who could only speak Japanese like him was in the minority.

(And in the end, I never did find my proof of life document! Am I really going to be held back now!?)

“The Anglican Church has made no official announcement regarding Narthex Coded Cathedral. That she was a secret research project run by Lola Stuart – aka Great Demon Coronzon – appears to have helped it end this way, for better or for worse. If she has nowhere to go, the Dawn-Colored Sunlight will take her in. She’s fascinating, both as a special fighter and as proof of scandal to use against the Anglicans.”

“Ahhh!! You can’t just take her like that!” shouted Lessar in the background of the call. “I was going to call dibs on her for N∴L∴! I mean, she’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum level and no one knows about her!”

“Consider the size of our cabals. Did you really think you could tell me what to do, small time? Besides, weren’t you supposed to be tracking down the two troublesome Transcendents who vanished under your nose?”

“Ahh, ahh, I can’t hear you! Tracking down two people fleeing in different directions simply isn’t possible!”

“We’ll need to make sure Coronzon didn’t leave any more weird presents like Index and Narthex hidden away in some nook or cranny. Letting the Anglicans lead the search would probably just let all this happen again, so this sounds like a job for the Dawn-Colored Sunlight.”

“Also, the Anglicans were so humiliated they’re backing off way more than they usually would, so if you want to pull anything, now would be the time. Although the ones with thicker skin – like that Stiyl and I think Isabella too – already returned to England.”

“Hold on,” said Kamijou. “You mean the most dangerous ones are already gathering back here? But I don’t want to be stabbed by a flame sword and roasted just cause he’s mad!”

At any rate, he just had to do what he was told.

Kamijou kept by a corner of the wall and tried to look inconspicuous in an international airport full of English. Trying to travel alone overseas without a passport and without speaking English was beyond suicide.

And with the time this gave him, his thoughts turned back.



To that final moment.



Something had felt off.

Was Hamazura really the kind of person to choose death, leaving his girlfriend behind?

And when he looked up from the handgun, he hadn’t been looking at Kamijou rushing toward him.

The focus of his eyes had seemed odd.

Thinking back, Kamijou thought Hamazura had been looking a bit behind him.

And Hamazura’s lips had definitely moved. As if uttering a complaint.



''“Are you…kidding me?”



A question remained.

The two of them had been alone on that spaceship, so ''what'' had Hamazura been looking at?


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