Unlimited Ambition

"You'll forget? Why would you forget?" I looked at her with a bit of curiosity.

"That's because—" Before the blue-haired loli could finish speaking, the door to the reception room opened again. A red-haired thug dressed as a priest rushed in, his eyes immediately drawn to the blue-haired loli. He then ran over, calling out, "Index!"

"You can't see me, I'm such a big guy?" I was a little annoyed, so as he ran over quickly, I stuck out my foot and tripped him.

As a result, the tall and strong but physically weak rogue priest lost his balance and fell over—I immediately grabbed Index and hid to the side to prevent him from taking advantage of me.

Then I said to the thug lying on the ground, "Father Steel, you're behaving in a completely indecent way. Were you trying to pounce on Sister Index? To assault a nun in front of your archbishop? A priest assaulting a nun... Are all Anglican priests like this?"

A few words were enough to frighten Stiyl into sweating profusely, leaving him stammering and unable to speak.

It was Laura who came to his rescue: "Father Steel, if there's nothing else, please leave with Sister Index. I have some things to discuss with the Crown Prince."

Stiyl, feeling like he'd been granted a pardon, immediately bowed and tried to run off with Index. But Index just stared at me, refusing to move. Stiyl was frantic, then suddenly had an idea: "Index, dinner's ready!"

"Really? Take me there quickly!" The blue-haired loli's eyes sparkled, and then she ran off with the delinquent priest.

I chuckled as I closed the door, locked it, and returned to Laura's embarrassed side, asking, "Are all Puritan priests like this?"

"Please don't misunderstand, that's just a very rare exception," Laura said immediately.

"Never mind then, I'm not the kind of person who likes to spread rumors." I chuckled, then asked, "What exactly happened to that child? Amnesia? Did you do it?"

Laura breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and said, "Just as that child said, her brain stores 103,000 different magical books. Therefore, it occupies 85% of her brain capacity; to ensure the safety of the remaining 15%, she must erase her memories every year. Otherwise, she will die."

……

Seeing that I didn't speak, Laura faked non-existent tears and said, "Isn't it pitiful? But we have no other choice; it's the only way to save the child's life."

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, barely suppressing the urge to burst into laughter. I asked Laura earnestly, "What were the educational levels of the priests of the English Puritan Church?"

"Is this important?" Laura asked curiously, but then answered my question: "Most of the clergy in the English Puritan Church come from orphans or the poor. Therefore, their education level is not very high. After entering the Puritan Church, they only study the Bible and various rituals."

“I see.” I nodded, then continued, “The clergy of the Church of Jerusalem are different. The vast majority of them have bachelor’s degrees or higher. Some even have master’s or doctoral degrees. Speaking of which, the Church of Jerusalem plays a significant role in scientific research.”

"Is that so?" Laura forced a smile.

"That's right. Even I chose to study a subject in my spare time, and (in order to kill better) I chose ergonomics."

Chapter Eight: The Kidnapping Operation

Laura was speechless after I choked her. I didn't press the matter, but I secretly made a mental note of it. 103,000 magical tomes? What a huge gift. I was just worried that I'd almost finished reading the secrets of the Cross and was thinking of trying to get my hands on some heretical books for reference. Heh, heh, heh heh heh.

The marriage alliance with Britain fell through, much to Kanzaki's relief. Little did she know that her future husband (tentative name) had become involved with another woman.

Before returning to Jerusalem, I met with Laura one last time. Under her complex gaze, I promised that I would return and marry her someday.

Four days after returning to Jerusalem, Lieutenant General Leonard, the current commander of the Dark Knights and head of the National Intelligence Department, brought me a piece of information—information about A Certain Magical Index.

Lieutenant General Leonard's assessment of the child was: "A very useful little thing. Capturing him by force might be a bit difficult, but abducting him would be incredibly easy."

I agree with the Lieutenant General's judgment.

But honestly, I think I'll wait another year. After all, I just got back from Britain. It would be really unfair to just snatch someone else's treasure away like that. Maybe next time I go, Laura won't even talk to me anymore.

Since that's the case... Hmm, I've got a good idea. Although it's a little troublesome, it will minimize my suspicion.

Therefore, I rejected Leonard's suggestion and repeatedly instructed him not to intervene. I wanted to handle this personally.

The leader of the Dark Knights is indeed loyal, but his temper isn't very good, and from what I've observed, he also exhibits mild symptoms of schizophrenia. Therefore, I'm still a little worried, and I've instructed another vice-leader of the Dark Knights, Roger de Moulin, to keep an eye on him. He's to report to me immediately if anything goes wrong.

And so, time flew by, and a year had passed before I looked back. I was finally ready to carry out my plan to kidnap A Certain Magical Index.

The Dark Knight, who had been dispatched, successfully lured the child away from the Anglican Church using only a lollipop—and then flew halfway around the world to drop her off in Academy City, the stronghold of scientists.

Afterwards, the British Puritans were in an uproar. Laura was furious. She called me, without saying a single nice word, and went straight to asking: Did I kidnap Index?

I chuckled and lied through my teeth: "I'm not a lolicon."

Laura then slammed down the phone. She unleashed her fury on the rogue priest, Steel, ordering him to bring Index back within an hour.

Stiyl was stunned. He thought to himself, "The entire Puritan Church has practically turned Britain upside down. And they still haven't found Index. What use am I all alone?"

As a result, Laura gave him a good scolding, hurling all sorts of nasty insults at him. She made Stiyl feel like a grandson.

A few days later, the entire Anglican Church was exhausted. Then, a certain wicked, upside-down man sent a message: a Anglican nun had been wandering in Academy City for four or five days and was about to starve to death. "Are you going to do anything about this?" he asked.

Laura was shocked, followed by another chaotic scene within the Anglican Church. After exchanging numerous benefits with Academy City, the upside-down man finally agreed to allow the Anglican Church to send a maximum of two magicians into Academy City.

"Stiyl! Stop playing dead, you've got a job to do!!" After being ripped off, Laura remembered the bullied guy again, her voice filled with murderous intent.

※※※

"Is that all?" A person dressed in green surgical scrubs, headfirst and feet submerged in red liquid, said this to me. They didn't open their mouth, yet the sound was transmitted through the machine.

"That's pretty much it. Thank you so much, Chairman Aleister." I said to it with a relaxed smile—I used the third-person pronoun "it" because I couldn't determine its gender at the moment.

"Not at all, not at all, it's just a small matter. Nothing to worry about." The monster's voice continued to echo from all directions.

Gu chuckled lightly, inwardly cursing: "You actually know this is a trivial matter?! You didn't lift a finger, took no risk whatsoever, yet you want to profit from both sides. I'm so mad! I'll definitely kill you when I get the chance."

I was clearly very good at disguising myself, but this person still seemed to see through my thoughts, and chuckled lightly: "However, we have also benefited greatly from this matter. His Highness the Crown Prince is generous, and the entire Academy City will remember His Highness's kindness."

From now on, His Highness the Crown Prince will no longer need to apply for special permission to enter or leave Academy City. Furthermore, Academy City will be able to provide assistance to the best of its ability, for a fee, of course.

"Damn it, what are you saying? Do you think I'm a sucker?!" I cursed inwardly even more fiercely, but my smile grew even brighter: "In that case, I appreciate your kindness. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. Goodbye."

At this moment, Aleister called out to me, "Please wait a moment." Then he asked, "But I have a question, and I would appreciate it if His Highness the Crown Prince could answer it."

“Please speak, sir,” I replied, turning around.

"The state religion of Jerusalem has always been extremely hostile to non-Crusader magic. It classifies all non-Crusader magic as 'heresy' and will draw its sword against anyone it encounters."

Although things have improved considerably in recent years, prejudices still persist against these 'heretics.' I never expected the Crown Prince to be like this this time… Sorry, sorry, I'm just too curious; perhaps my question was a bit sharp. Please don't mind.”

Pshaw, I've already asked, stop pretending.

"You are joking, sir." I chuckled. "Even the omnipotent God merely separates light and darkness. As believers of God, what right does the state church have to exterminate all other non-Crusader magic?"

Besides, as long as one's heart is with God, any power can be used to slay demons and monsters; why distinguish so clearly? What does Your Excellency Aleister think?

"His Highness the Crown Prince sees things clearly; I was merely being superficial," Aleister exclaimed, thinking to himself. It seemed that what had been vaguely mentioned before—that the Dark Knights were also conducting heretical magic research, and with considerable success—was probably true.

After that, we chatted for a while longer, but it was mostly about trivial things. I lost interest and said goodbye again.

"Goodbye, don't bother seeing me out." Although it was a synthesized voice, I couldn't help but feel that it carried a sense of schadenfreude and the pleasure of getting something for nothing. I was so angry that I almost turned around and chopped him down.

After I left, the strange room returned to silence. A figure gradually emerged from the void, and an invisible pressure instantly enveloped the entire space.

"How does it feel to see him again?" Aleister's voice was directly imprinted on the visitor's mind. The two then exchanged words.

"Still the same as before, unbearably arrogant," the visitor said.

"Really? But I found him to be very polite. Even when I made a joke, he just sulked and didn't do anything rude," Aleister asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The arrogance I'm referring to isn't his outward demeanor, how high he holds his head or how big his strides are. It's his soul; that sense of arrogance is something no one else can possess."

“I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about,” Aleister said.

"Is that so? If you don't know, then you don't know." After saying this, the person's figure vanished into nothingness once more. The immense pressure also disappeared.

The room fell silent again, leaving only Aleister alone.

※※※

What the hell? That bastard hanging man actually squeezed so many benefits out of me. When I get back, those bishops will call me a spendthrift. Pshaw, I'm using royal funds, not the national treasury. What are you all afraid of?

As I muttered to myself, I used the Eastern magic technique "Shrinking the Earth to an Inch" to leave the First School District in an instant, and then appeared in the Seventh School District, where "A Certain Magical Index" last appeared.

But the 7th school district isn't that big, but it's not that small either. How do you find it? Set up a pot in the middle of the road, cook some braised pork, and then blow some hot air from a high-powered fan... Hmm, that's a good idea.

I snapped my fingers and made up my mind. Then I prepared to go to a supermarket to buy the props.

The streets were bustling with people and cars; if it weren't for the cleaning robots roaming around aimlessly, it would look like any other small town. I randomly asked someone for directions. The spiky-haired guy looked confused.

Can't understand Latin? I almost forgot this is Japan. At this moment, I suddenly felt a little sorry for Kia Resta. He was doing so well in Britain, yet he almost got assassinated. Now he's running his own business on the other side of the world. And they don't even speak the same language...tsk tsk tsk, so pitiful, truly pitiful.

As I was thinking about it, I couldn't help but say it out loud. And it automatically switched to Japanese.

Suddenly, the spiky-haired guy in front of me burst into tears, crying and calling out to me in Japanese, "Young man, you're such a kind person. You knew I had another unlucky day and specially comforted me. No need, no need, I'm used to this kind of life. It's just a gas cylinder explosion, a broken bank card, a vending machine swallowing money, and being mistaken for a pervert and chased. Waaaaaah, really, it's nothing. Waaaaaah..."

...So there are people in the world who are this unlucky. A sense of superiority welled up inside me. I thought, "It's just being blackmailed by that mean-spirited upside-down man."

Compared to this guy, I'm much luckier. Hmm, I should try to befriend him. Whenever I'm feeling down, I'll call him and ask him what's bothering me, to cheer me up.

Chapter Nine: School City is Full of Eccentrics

So, with a malicious intent, I waited until he finished crying and then asked to exchange phone numbers with him, reasoning that I could keep in touch and hear about his unhappiness (to cheer myself up). Surprisingly, the high school student named Kamijou Touma actually happily exchanged phone numbers with me.

"I'm...I'm so lonely. I don't have many friends in Academy City (to be honest, since it's my first day here). So sometimes I feel pretty bored." I smiled and put my phone, which had Touma's number written down, back into my pocket.

I just witnessed firsthand the misfortune of Kamijou-kun—just a few phone calls. Then a gust of wind blew, and the phone fell to the ground, resolutely shattering. If I hadn't been quick enough to pick up the SIM card, that poor little card would have been crushed in the next second.

And so I became completely convinced. This boy, who looked a few years older than me, was absolutely, absolutely, absolutely the most unfortunate person in the world.

"Thanks so much to Light-kun's help. Otherwise, I would have had to spend another penny on a SIM card." Kamijou bowed deeply, a gesture of endless gratitude.

Then another gust of wind blew by, and the plastic bag in the boy's hand bumped into the mailbox next to him. As a result, more than half of the bag of eggs broke. The boy cried out "Ah!" in fear of being splattered with egg yolk. He loosened his grip and dropped the bag to the ground. Thus, the surviving half of the eggs perished once again.

Watching his dinner become the nth tragedy, Kamijou yelled, "What a misfortune!" as he knelt down—his pants smeared with egg yolk.

Having just kept my distance, I walked over again, sighed silently, suppressed a laugh, patted him on the shoulder, and walked away. Only after I'd gone a certain distance did I finally burst out laughing, "Hahahaha!" This earned me glares from passersby, who called me crazy.

Huh? I think I called out to him at first because I wanted to ask about the supermarket.

...Oh well, I got to see a good show for free. It was worth it. I thought to myself as I continued walking. Seeing that the passersby were treating me like I was crazy, it seemed impossible to ask for directions.

And so, I wandered through a maze of alleyways until I realized I was lost. And what appeared to be a dead end stretched out before me.

Ok……

"Let's turn around." I shrugged, not really taking it seriously. Then I returned to the intersection I'd just crossed. I changed direction—and then I saw the dark side of society.

Several thugs, who looked just like the British priest Steele, surrounded a young girl. The girl's face showed disdain, clearly looking down on the thugs. The thugs, however, were stung by the girl's gaze. A tragic human drama was about to unfold—

"Fine, I'll just consider it doing a good deed for the day." I rolled my eyes. Then, I happily walked over, drew my sword, and drew the Heaven-Slaying Sword—but then sheathed it. I'll stick with the scabbard.

"Hey, you brat, looking for trouble?" A scumbag who was closer noticed me, turned around, and, upon realizing that I was just a boy who was only 1.7 meters tall and looked frail, perked up.

"If you want to be a hero and save the damsel in distress, at least wait until your hair has fully grown back, right?" another delinquent said, turning around with ill intent.

...I've changed my mind; we should still use the blade.

Immediately afterwards, the person who was closest to me and spoke first seemed to have their throat grabbed, and their feet were lifted off the ground and into the air.