“God damn it,” Kamijou cursed under his breath. “…You said 80 percent of Index’s brain is taken up by the information in the 103,000 grimoires, right?”
“Yes. It is apparently actually 85 percent, but it is impossible for us magicians to destroy those grimoires. An Original grimoire cannot even be destroyed by an inquisitioner, after all, meaning that we can only hollow out the remaining 15 percent, her memories, to increase the empty space in her head.”
“…Then, what about us on the science side?”
“…”
She fell silent.
Kamijou wondered if it were possible. The magicians knew their field, magic, backward and forwards, and they could not do it. If they were not going to give up, it was only natural to move to a different field.
For example, there was science.
And, if they were going there, it made sense to have someone to act as an arbitrator. It was the same as having a local help someone out when one had to walk through an unfamiliar country and negotiate with various peoples.
“…There was a time when I believed the same thing.”
Kamijou had not expected her to say so.
“To be honest, I simply did not know what to do. The world of magic that I had believed in absolutely was unable to save a single girl. I understand the feeling of trying to grasp at straws.”
“…”
Kamijou had a premonition what would come next.
“It just does not feel right to hand her over to science.”
He had expected it, but actually hearing it still felt like being stabbed in the brain.
“I know that you people cannot do something that we cannot. Your crude methods of filling her body with some unknown drug and chopping her up with a scalpel will do nothing but unnecessarily shorten her life. I do not want to see her be violated by machines.”
“Okay, that’s it. How the hell can you say that when you’ve never even tried it? I have a question for you. You keep talking about destroying memories, but do you really know what memory loss is exactly?”
No response came.
(She must really not know much about science.)
Kamijou pulled some Curriculum textbooks that were on the ground towards himself with his foot. It was a recipe for powers development including a mix of neuroscience, rare psychology, and reactionary drugs.
“How can you talk on about an eidetic memory and losing memories when you don’t even know what it is? There are many different kinds of memory loss.” He began to flip through the pages. “There’s aging… I guess like senility. And apparently you can lose your memories from getting drunk with alcohol. There’s a brain disease called Alzheimer’s and there’s TIA where blood stops flowing to your brain and your memories disappear. Memory loss is also a side effect of general anesthetics like halothane, isoflurane, and fentanyl, of derivatives of barbituric acid, and of drugs like benzodiazepine.”
“??? Benzo… What?”
Kanzaki’s voice was surprisingly weak, but Kamijou had no duty to explain it all to her, so he ignored her.
“Simply put, there are tons of ways to medically eliminate someone’s memories. It means that there are methods you people can’t use that can get rid of her 103,000 grimoires, you idiot.”
Kanzaki’s breathing froze.
However, these methods did not remove the memories. Instead, they damaged the brain cells. An old man with dementia could not remember more just because he lost some memories.
But, Kamijou left that part out. Even if it were just a bluff, he had to stop the magicians from forcibly erasing her memories.
“And, this is Academy City. There are plenty of espers that can manipulate people’s minds with powers like Psychometry[a 1] or Marionette.[a 2] Not to mention that there are research facilities all over the place. It’s way too soon to give up hope. Apparently, there’s even a Level 5 at Tokiwadai who can remove people’s memories just by touching them.”
That was where the last ray of hope truly lay.
No voice came from the receiver.
Kamijou continued on to truly defeat Kanzaki who was starting to show signs of hesitation.
“Well? What will you do, magician? Are you still going to get in my way? Are you going to give up on trying when someone’s life hangs in the balance?”
“…Those words are much too cheap to convince an enemy,” Kanzaki said with a slight tone of self derision. “We have a practiced and genuine method of saving her life. I cannot trust in this untested gamble of yours. Do you really think you can change that with some reckless statements?”
Kamijou remained silent for a moment.
He tried to come up with a rebuttal, but he could come up with nothing.
He had no choice but to accept it.
“…True enough. In the end, we just can’t understand each other.”
He had no choice but to accept that she was his enemy despite the fact that there was a possibility she could have understood. After all, she was once in the same situation.
“Yes. If people who wished for the same thing would always become allies, the world would be completely filled with peace,” she said.
Kamijou’s grip on the receiver strengthened slightly.
That beaten up right hand was his sole weapon and it could negate even the systems created by God.
“…Then, you are my arch enemy and I will defeat you,” he said.
“Given the differences in our physical abilities, the result is immensely clear. Do you still intend to call this hand?”
“Perfect. I raise. I just have to invite you into circ*mstances where I’m guaranteed to win.”
Kamijou bared his canines at the receiver.
Stiyl had definitely not been weaker than Kamijou. Kamijou had only won because Stiyl had lost to the sprinkler system. In short, differences in strength could be made up with strategy.
“Just so you know: the next time that girl collapses, you should consider it too late.” Kanzaki’s words were as sharp as the tip of a sword. “We will be there at midnight. You don’t have much time left, but make your final useless struggles good ones.”
“You’re not going to see me cry, magician. I’m going to save her and steal all your scenes.”
“Stay there and wait for us,” she said and hung up.
