Kara no Kyoukai:Chapter05 06

/6 Paradigm Paradox

TN: Sorry about not updating for 8 months or so. I had a change in assignment regarding my internship and was working overseas about 18 hours per day. On top which I seem to have lost the USB in which I had my translated chapters saved. I will be staring again but don't expect very quick releases for a few weeks since I have final exams for my 5th year university studies coming up.

One night has passed and it is now noon on the 8th of November.

The cloudy sky is no different from yesterday so the lightless office was dark like an abandoned ruin.

This office is too big for just two people, me and Touko-san, to use. There are enough desks for ten people, and there's a sofa to receive clients too. With a floor of concrete as bare as it was on the day it was poured, and walls that haven't even been papered over, it’s not much but nevertheless if the numbers were met it would look like a proper workplace.

But, at this moment there are only three people here including me.

Touko-san cannot be seen at the chief's desk beside the window. The medicine she took yesterday must have been effective, because as soon as she woke to find the cold had gone she went out somewhere.

Inside this office without a director, I was ordering materials with which to decorate the hall where the art exhibition would be starting next month while comparing prices and doing other such things. While holding Touko-san's specifications in one hand, I was doing this in order to obtain the materials needed for her craft at low prices. That person is the type to say, 'It's alright as long as I make it', so she doesn't put in this kind of annoying and bothersome effort. The result is that as her employee I can't help but do it for her.

Peering at the list of material suppliers, I ring up this place for that and negotiate, then I move onto yet another shop. Apart from me who can't decide whether I'm busy or just dedicated there are two other people here.

One is the kimono girl sitting blankly on the guest's sofa. Needless to say it's Ryougi Shiki, and while it's not as if she is doing anything she is sitting there in a polite manner.

The other person is sitting facing me in the desk furtherest away from my own doing... something. A schoolgirl in black uniform. The girl with the long hair which is the bipolar opposite of Shiki's slung over her back, she's called Kokuto Azaka.

Needless to say the fact that our last names are the same means we are blood relatives, and as my little sister, Azaka is a first year high school student. She has a weak constitution so she was given over to a relative’s house around the time she was ten, for the reason that the city air was not good for her body, after that we only met a few times. I think the last time I saw her was the new year's day of the year I entered high school. At the time she was still a child, but when I saw the Azaka who returned this summer I was quite surprised. The little sister I faced for the first time in ages had grown into a lady with such a noble air about her as to make me wonder if her genes came from our family.

As expected, I think that with just a change of environment from the house where one was born, that thing called a human grows up beautifully.

Her actions have become spirited too, so there's no trace of her former frailty. The fact that I wasn't with her during that period of growth from the age of ten to fifteen might be a factor, but for a while I couldn't accept the fact that this girl was my little sister Azaka.

I steal a glance at Azaka sitting in the far-off desk.

With a number of books thicker than a dictionary stacked up beside her she is studiously and quietly copying down the contents. ... It's the study material Touko-san left for Azaka as she went out.

The heavy conversation yesterday with Touko-san put me in a gloomy mood as well, but my current greatest worry might be this.

"Nii-san. I'm going to become Touko-san's apprentice."

Whatever she was thinking, one month ago Azaka said such a thing. Of course I protested, but my little sister was determined and would not listen to my opinion.

... Ah geez. Why does a weird thing like a magician have to come out of an exceedingly normal family like ours?

"Azaka."

The phone orders put aside for now, I called to my little sister who was sitting in front of me.

Azaka finishes writing the sentence she was copying, and then with her black hair rippling about her head, raised her face towards me. Her eyes which are calm and dignified in spite of being full of a proud temper politely look this way as if asking, 'what is it?'.

"I know that it's a holiday since your school's celebrating its birthday. But even so, is it okay for you to be in a place like this?"

"Nii-san, please visit the house once in a while. There was a fire in the school dormitory, so right now it's in ruins. Mother knows that there was a request from the school for students with homes nearby to leave the dormitories if possible for now."

With eyes and a voice that remind me of the school president from my high school days she knocks aside my question.

"A fire --- one big enough for the whole dorm to burn?"

"Only on the east wing. Half of the first and second years dorms were burnt to ashes. Although it didn't appear on the news because the school hushed it up."

Azaka says something shocking in a firm tone.

A fire breaking out at a famous girl’s school like Reien is definitely something that could turn into a scandal, regardless of the truth behind the matter. However, if we are talking about Reien which takes pride in the affection its powerful alumni feel for the school, they might be able to take care of a fire in secret.

But for a fire to occur at a school dormitory, it’s a horrible thought. It’s also easy to imagine from how Azaka said it that it was arson --- by a student at that.

“--- Nii-san. You aren’t getting any strange ideas, are you?”

Azaka glares at me as if she read my mind.

... Because of that event over the summer, my little sister doesn’t like Kokuto Mikiya sticking his head into suspicious events. A silent argument always occurs following a conversation like this, so I decided to try and change the topic.

“Setting that aside. What are you doing right now?”

“It’s nothing to do with you Nii-san.”

As if she knows what I want to say, Azaka’s reply is chilly.

“It does have something to do with me. I mean, my sister wants to be a wizard, what am I supposed to say to father?”

“Oh, you are planning to drop by the house?”

… Ugh. Little rascal, she knows perfectly well that our parents and I have cut relations after we argued.

“Speaking of which nii-san. A wizard and a mage are different things. How can you not know about that when you work for Touko-san?”

Now that I think about it, Touko-san does sometimes say something like that. Something along the lines of how it’s convenient to advertise yourself as a wizard rather than a magician as it presents the kind of image that you want, but that those two titles are completely different things, or similar.

“Ah, I did hear that before. But there wasn’t much difference that I could see. Since they both use suspicious magic.”

“Magic and sorcery are different.
The art we call sorcery, it’s definitely something outside our everyday reality. In the end though it’s still nothing more than making something that is possible normally happen under extraordinary circumstances. Should I take an example?”

Azaka walked over to Touko-san’s desk, then picked up a paperknife that was lying there. A piece of silverware of excellent craftsmanship, it’s one of Touko-san’s most frequently handled items.

Taking out an unneeded document, Azaka writes something on it with the knife. Suddenly --- spewing thick clouds of smoke the document begins to burn away.

“….”

Unable to speak, I just stared at the scene. Touko-san had done something of the like (although on a larger scale) before, but I didn’t know what to say at seeing my little sister do that sort of thing.

“--- Stop that. That, is there some kind of trick to it?”

“Of course there is. It might look amazing to someone who didn’t know about it, but it’s really nothing special. What I did just now doesn’t even qualify as an ability. If you are going to set something on fire a disposable lighter will do the trick. Whether you do it with a lighter, or a finger, the fact that you are setting an object on fire is the same. That kind of thing, it’s not miraculous at all is it? Do you understand nii-san? Sorcery is like that.”

Azaka continues on confidently.

In short magic seems to be equivalent to a substitute good for civilization. No, from what Azaka said it may be more accurate to say it has been overtaken by civilization.

“For example, making it rain, whether by science or magic the result is indistinguishable. It’s just that the method is different, the amount of effort that goes into it is nearly the same. Sorcery may appear to be the work of an instant, but the preparatory steps required are extensive. If you take the time and money spent, it’s nearly equivalent to making the rainclouds by science. In the past that really was something close to a miracle. By today’s standards however it’s not a miracle or anything of the sort. Previously any mage that could turn a whole village to ashes was hailed as a wizard, but these days if you have money that’s something anyone can do. All that is required is to throw one missile.”

That method would actually be much faster and effective, Azaka adds.

TN: Next paragraph was VERY weird so translation was a bit difficult, I'll rework it when I do the final version.

“Sorcery is nothing more than making possible through your own strength what can be done now after spending a mind-boggling amount of time on the problem. It might be so even if you look at it academically. Rather than looking/thinking for decades in order to obtain the truth, it might be faster to go to the moon and look/think there. It’s frustrating but sorcery is of the (비의 금기) type so it cannot achieve miracles. --- A miracle is something beyond the powers of humanity isn’t it? Something currently unachievable in this world no matter how much money you throw at it. The ones who can make those things are called wizards, and their art, magic.”

Something humans can’t do yet. That is magic, is what Azaka said.

“Then, wouldn’t there have been more wizards than mages in the past? Since people in those days wouldn’t have had lighters or missiles.”

"You are right. That is why in the past a wizard was a feared figure in the past, and why it could even be called a job. These days though, it's different isn't it. Strictly speaking they aren't needed, the things called mages. These days magic itself is disappearing. After all, you can count your fingers the number of things that are impossible for humanity can't you? Whatever is the case they say that there are only about five wizards in the world today."

... Sure enough. With those meanings there would be a difference between mages and wizards. If we are talking about things that humanity can't do currently, the only things would be the control of time and space. Seeing the future or the past isn't reliable but this is a time when such things are becoming possible, so impossibilities really are able to be counted on one hand.

Some day --- humanity will eliminate the very existence of magic. Kind of like how a child who became a scientist through being intrigued by a number of events he thought miraculous, loses that sense of wonder as he comes to think of those events as simple phenomena in the course of his research.

"Hmm. In that case wouldn't the last magic be something like the power to make everyone happy?"

Umm. I can't say I know much about all this.

"----."

For some reason Azaka has shut herself up.

She appeared to look this way with a face as if she was looking at something unexpected, but suddenly turns away.

"... Magic is something that can't be reached. And I never wanted to be a wizard. Learning sorcery is just for the purpose of achieving my goals."

"Really? So magic is out, but if it's sorcery you will learn it? That sounds like what you just said, Azaka."

When I summed up the talk by coming to that conclusion, Azaka shakes her head, and says no.

"What have you been listening to nii-san.

Sorcery was magic too in the past. All that happened was that humanity caught up to it, so its learning and use has become possible with effort.

... It's frustrating, but I don't have any built up history like a mage's family heritage. Those people we call mages are families who build up their blood and history. The first of them would have been simple academics too. The mysteries that they have learned, and the strength they built up, they pass those on to the next generation. Their descendents continue their work, and pass it on to their own descendents. --- In this way they repeat an endless cycle as they try to approach the bounds of magic. Touko-san seems to be the 6th generation, but apparently the 3rd generation heir of their family was an incredible genius and discovered some amazing things. I think Touko-san's gifts are a result of carrying that thick blood as well. People like me who are just starting to learn magic now can't become mages that easily."

"Hmm. Sounds like you are going to find it tough, for many reasons."

Mmm, I suddenly understood something.

Thick blood --- the power of your bloodline.

That's true for any family. To us it may be our many relatives, or the wealth you have inherited.

But, in the end, that ---

"Oii, then what are you doing? Ours is a normal family. Never mind magic, we've never even dipped into buddhism. Wouldn't it be that we can't learn things like magic?"

"That's correct but apparently we have the potential. According to sensei, the delicacy shown when I ignite something isn't very common."

Azaka speaks as if she's sulking.

... Ah geez, what good is being able to set things on fire going to do her. It could even be that this brat was the one responsible for the fire in the student dormitary.

"Hey, you said it yourself that an ability that ends with one generation is useless. Then whatever you do is pointless. Even if you try to become a mage instead of a wizard, it will end up no different in the end. If you don't come back to a normal path quickly you won't even be able to find a job."

It's hard finding jobs these days as it is.

Azaka immediately tried to refute that statement.

Before that could happen --- an even more offensive piece of dialogue came leaping into the office with the sound of footsteps.

"No, getting a job won't be a problem. Seeing as how she has that level of skill at Azaka's age, in just two years time she will be getting offers left and right. She could even be hired as a first-class curator."

With a loud whuffing noise the door opens, and Touko-san entered the room.

Having shed her cold Touko-san walks over to the chief's desk so briskly that you wonder if she was ever sick.

Sitting down after hanging her coat on the chair, she looked at her desk and frowned. Probably because the location of the paperknife was different from before.

"Azaka, I told you not to use someone else's things. A person becomes dull if they rely upon tools. I suppose it was because you didn't want to fail in front of Kokuto, right?"

"--- yes, you are right."

Upon being reprimanded by Touko-san Azaka replies clearly even as her cheeks become red with embarassment. ... It's those things about her that deserve to be admired even if she is my little sister.

"Well, you were having a pretty interesting talk. Weren't you disinterested in sorcery before Kokuto?"

"Of course I don't but... Oh, by the way Touko-san. Do you remember about yesterday?"

"Eh?" Having taken off her glasses Touko-san cocks her head in confusion.

... The already mysterious conversation from last night, the one who began it doesn't remember talking about it.

Touko-san pulls out a cigarette and takes a puff as she holds it in her mouth.

"Anyway Azaka. Why are you telling such things to Kokuto? Concealment and secrecy are the greatest prerequisites for sorcery. ... Although, I suppose there wouldn't be any problems if the person you are talking to is Kokuto."

"What's okay if it's me?"

"You don't understand even if we tell you. There's no reason for the secret to escape either. Since you are the type that knows how to choose the topic depending on the person. You wouldn't talk about that kind of thing with a normal human."

"That may be so, but --- Is it really not good for a sorceror to be exposed to others?"

"Ineed it is bad. Although it wouldn't really matter socially, the power of your sorcery falls. Do you know the origin of the word 'mystery' Kokuto?"

Touko-san asked that as she brought her body foward on the desk.

"When you say mystery, do you mean the sort of mystery in mystery novels?"

"In a way. Not the detective novel sort, but mystery in the mystical sense."

"Yeah, I do. It's originally Greek, not english."

"... Well, that's true. In Greek in means to close something. Signifying stagnation, concealment, and self-completion. You see, a mystery has meaning in the fact that it is a mystery. Keeping it hidden is a nature of the technique. A sorcery that has had its nature revealed can't become a mystery, no matter what kind of supernatural methods it uses. It's nothing more than another method. Once that happens, that sorcery instantly becomes weaker.

Sorcery was originally magic too. In short there was no question that the strength was pulled out from the origin that was its source. Should we imagine for a moment that there was something along the lines of a 'mystery that makes you rich'? Let's say that this has a strength of 10. If only one person knows it they can use the entire 10 of its power. But if two people know it, that it gets divided into two halves of 5 and gets used like that. See, it's gotten weaker hasn't it? The way of expressing it may be different, but I think that this is a fundamental rule in regards to everything in this universe."

I can't understand everything of what Touko-san is saying, but I think I get the point she is trying to convey.

If concealment and obscurement is the law of existence that thing called sorcery exists by, I understand why mages would be reluctant to reveal their sorcery in front of others.

"In that case, you must do as you please where other's can't see you Touko-san."

"Nope, I don't."

Zkk, Touko-san started talking as she stubbed out the cigarette on her ashtray.

"I wouldn't have a choice in a battle between mages, but otherwise I don't use it even if I'm alone. The only time I would bring in sorcerous techniques would be when it would be required as a ritual, or ceremony in order to proceed to the next level.

Some time around the medieval ages or so, an organisation called the Association was formed. Because of their excessive regulation of sorcery, the Association foresaw the degeneration of mages. So they took the power of their organisation and turned sorcery itself into something that is never revealed. What they did was to take a mystery that was visible and turn it into a mystery that no one knew about. As a result mystery began to disappear from society.

In order to strictly enforce this the Association made some pretty byzantine rules.

For example if a mage pulls a civilian into a magical phenomenon, the association will dispatch an assassin to kill that mage. This is done to destroy the entity that is harming the larger community of mages. ... That's probably where the myth that a mage that reveals himself to people loses their power came from.

The Association tried to stop the degeneration of sorcery by reinforcing the attribute of concealment, an as a result those mages that belonged to the Association came to not throw their sorcery around with abandon.

There were mages who resented those restrictions and retreated into the countryside, but the Association holds enormous amounts of academic works and lands. Most of what a mage requires to live as a mage is monopolised by the Association. To not belong to the Association was to be the same as being the outcast in a village. If you wanted to do an experiment all the territories where the node lines met were owned by the Association, and if you tried to learn sorcery you couldn't obtain any texts so you couldn't learn anything. Therefore a mage who was not a member of the Association could not practice sorcery even if they wanted to. That's the power of a multitude. In that respect its very impressive."

"Uh, Touko-san. In that case does that mean I would have to join the Association too ... ?"

The hesitantly interrupting voice of Azaka, something in it held a note of unease.

"You don't have to, but doing so would be more convenient. It's not as if you can't come out once you go in. You are free to leave that place when you wish. Since they regard the fact that they aren't rulers very seriously."

"But in that case there's no meaning to their extra-ordinary levels of concealment. Since sorcery would spread if those who have learnt magic enter the outside world."

Upon hearing Azaka's reasonable opinion Touko-san goes, Ahhh, and nods.

"That's true. Actually, there are a lot of people who think to study at the Association and gain power, then leave for the countryside. Such thoughts tend to disappear after about ten years though. Because the Association is the optimal environment for leaning sorcery. To go down to the countryside when everything a mage needs is already around you, no one does that kind of stupid thing (TN: Lol. Look who's talking, although I suppose most mages don't have seal orders upon their persons). Studying sorcery is the foremost objective of a mage. They don't think about using their power and the things they have learnt. If they have that kind of time to spare, they use it to approach an even higher level of mystery. But since Azaka has a fundamentally different objective from us, you don't need to worry about being infected with the Association's poison even if you decide to join. If you are interested in reaching higher levels it is a place that might be worth looking into."

Azaka knits her eyebrows together as if that's troublesome. In the end it appears as though Azaka herself has no interest it doing something like that. To me who doesn't like the idea of his little sister studying abroad in a suspicious place like that, Azaka's pondering comes as a welcome relief.

"... I'll just ask one thing. What do you mean when you say that secrets are kept even within that Association?"

Unexpectedly I can hear something from the sofa.

Over there is Shiki who has been sitting there from before without a word. She's the type of person who doesn't get involved in a conversation that she's not interested in, so until now she had been staring at the scenery outside the window.

"--- There is that. A mage won't reveal the results of his experiments even within the Association. What the person next to is researching, what their goals are, and what they have obtained are all a mystery. Since the only time a mage will reveal the results of their work is when they are passing it onto their descendants just before they die."

"Studying for their benefit alone, yet not using that power for their own sake. What purpose is there in a life like that Touko? Is it that the goal is to learn, and the process is to learn too? If the only things you have are the beginning and the end, that's the same as having a zero."

... As usual Shiki talks like a guy with that fine and clear feminine voice of hers.

Touko-san appeared to have a faint bitter smile on her face, as if Shiki's biting remarks had hit a nerve somewhere.

"There is a goal. However, what you said is correct too. A mage is pursuing a zero. His life pointing towards something that never existed in the first place.

A mage's ultimate goal you see, is to reach the 'maelstrom of origins'. It's also called the Akashic Record, but it may be better to just regard the edge of the maelstrom as having such properties attached to it.

The thing called the maelstrom of origins, it is probably the birthplace of everything. All phenomena flow out from it. If you know the origin the results are naturally produced. To describe it as it is you could say that it is the 'perfect knowledge'. By creating a standard like perfection or the like we are ultimately limiting the concept, so even that description is incorrect, but since that the easiest way of defining it so the name stuck.

Essentially all the branches of magic that have spread throughout this world are nothing more than one branch of a small river flowing out from this maelstrom. This is the reason that every country has their own traditions and legends. The core is the same, but what decorates the exterior is the background of the one who understood that 'river'. Astrology, alchemy, kabbala, spiritualism, rune, the researchers who are numberless if one was to count them all. Their origins are the same, so in the end they hold the same final destination in mind. Because, they who have touched the tip of the stream that split off from the maelstrom of origins called magic, they have imagined what lay before --- the shape of the beginning.

To reach the truth is the ultimate goal of all mages. They don't have any desire for petty things like the meaning of life. All they want is to know the shape of pure truth. The collective of those people are them. Those who abandon self in order that they may gaze upon their souls --- the multitude who can never be rewarded for their efforts. The world calls them mages."

Speaking with a clear voice, Touko-san's gaze is sharper than ever. Her amber eyes flicker as if they are on fire.

... That may be so, but unfortunately I can't understand even half of what was just said.

I only understood one thing from that speech, so I decided to ask he about it.

"Uh, can I ask something? If there is an objective wouldn't studying have a meaning as well? Not being able to be compensated .... , Uhm is it like that? No one has managed to reach it have they?"

"Someone did. We know that it exists because somebody managed to get there. Those magics that still exist today are things left behind by the ones who got there.

But --- Those ones who got to that side never came back. Mages who were great enough to leave their names behind in history were lost at the very moment they got to that point. Whether that place is such a wonderful world, or if its a world you cannot escape once you get to. Those are things no one knows. Without getting their themselves that is. However, reaching it with the efforts of one generation is impossible. The reason mages shed blood during their research, and pass the results of their work to their descendants is to amplify their magic power. It's nothing but a way of creating a descendant who can reach the maelstrom of origins. You see, many generations of mages have already dreamt of the maelstrom of origins, died, passed on their work to their children, who in turn added to it and passed it onto their children. There's no end to it. They can never be compensated for it either. Even if a family that has reached that point was to appear it would probably be impossible --- because there are meddlers."

In contrast with her words which suggest hatred, Touko-san lets loose dry laugh. In a manner that makes it seems that she thinks it good that there is such a meddler in this world.

"Well, what I am saying is that it is simply not possible no matter which side you are on. Today's mages can't reach the maelstrom and impose a new system --- a new branch of magic."

Touko-san says this with a shrug, as if saying 'that's the end of this long story'.

With that Azaka and I were unable to say anything, but Shiki alone points out the contradiction in Touko-san's story.

"What strange people. Why do you people continue, even though you know it's beyond you?"

"Who knows. Maybe all those people who call themselves 'mages' are those who were born without the ability to grasp the concept of 'impossible', or idiots who can't give up."

Touko-san cleanly acknowledges the statement with a shrug.

Seeing that Shiki went, 'What, you already knew', as if she was surprised.

• * *