Index grabbed Yuuya's arm anxiously, her voice full of certainty.
"Yuuya, don't believe her! A fallen Magician will stop at nothing to achieve their desires and goals!"
Seeing Index stare at her as if she were a mortal enemy made Kanzaki Kaori feel incredibly distressed. She let out a long sigh and slowly reached into her jacket, pulling out a silver cross.
"Index, there is a terrible misunderstanding between us. I am not an evil Magician. I am a formal member of the English Puritan Church's zeroth parish—Necessarius, the Church of Necessary Evil. I am your companion."
Index's expression changed slightly as she looked at the silver cross. It was a specialized talisman that definitively represented the identity of a Necessarius member. There were only two ways to obtain this cross: one was to be formally ordained as a Puritan Magician, and the other was to kill the original holder and steal it.
"Don't try to fool me! These are lies meant for children," Index said, looking like a frightened kitten baring its teeth. "Puritans don't hunt down their own kind! You've been chasing me for an entire year. Yuuya, you can't believe them!"
"It really is a misunderstanding. My full name is Kanzaki Kaori. I am a Saint of the English Puritan Church, and your former partner," Kanzaki said, her lips pursing tightly. No one in the world looked at her with such intense hostility and suspicion as her own former companion. "If I were truly hunting you down to extract the Grimoires, I wouldn't have let you go."
This was the second time Kanzaki had to endure this exact heartbreak. The first time was two years ago when she first became Index's protector and the memory wipe occurred. After Index's memory was erased, those helpless, frightened eyes looking at her like a stranger were forever burned into her mind.
"A Saint...?"
Index was taken aback. She knew it perfectly. A Saint was a rare existence whose bodily characteristics miraculously paralleled the Son of God. Endowed with Stigmata, they could passively channel a fraction of divine power, granting them monstrous physical capabilities.
There were fewer than twenty Saints in the entire world, and each one possessed unshakeable willpower. Although there had been extremely rare instances of Saints falling from grace, it hadn't happened more than twice in recorded history.
'If a Saint were actively hunting me down with lethal intent... even with my Walking Church, I would have had absolutely no chance of escaping,' Index realized.
"Here's what really happened, Index..."
Seeing that Index had slightly calmed down, Kanzaki offered a sad, remorseful explanation.
She explained the tragedy that began a year ago, right after her last memory wipe. When Index woke up with zero memories, she was terrified, alone in a foreign country, and mistakenly thought she had been kidnapped by evil sorcerers. When she ran away, Kanzaki and Stiyl couldn't bear to force her back into the Church's strict supervision. They couldn't bear the thought of watching her cry again when the time came for her next memory wipe. So, they decided to play the role of the "evil Magicians" chasing her, giving her a year of relative freedom while secretly protecting her from the shadows.
When Index found random meals prepared for her in alleyways or abandoned buildings, it wasn't because people in foreign countries liked to waste food—it was Kanzaki and Stiyl cooking for her every day to ensure she didn't starve.
Index's expression went from stunned, to deeply moved, to incredibly sad. She finally managed a fragile smile. "So that's how it is... I'm so sorry."
Because of her misunderstanding, her companions had gone to great lengths to protect and care for her from the shadows, while she knew nothing about it and regarded them as terrifying monsters.
'How painful it must have been for them to see their precious companion treat them like evil Magicians,' Index thought.
"I'm the one who should apologize. I'm so sorry, Index. It's all because of my own cowardice and negligence that this happened," Kanzaki looked at Index with deep remorse. She truly didn't want to face this scene.
Because of her negligence, the tragedy from two years ago had recurred, causing this innocent child to display such a heartbroken expression once again.
"Although I've forgotten you... I will try my best to remember you from now on," Index said with a forced smile. In truth, even knowing these things now, Kanzaki still felt like a complete stranger to her.
...
In the Hallway.
Stiyl stood outside the apartment door, listening to the conversation. His expression was incredibly complex and distressed.
'Secretly protecting Index still led to this miserable outcome,' he thought bitterly.
It was all because he was too weak. He had no real power or authority to save Index. If Takahashi Yuuya's biological hypothesis was correct, then they had been torturing her for absolutely nothing.
'So... just as that boy said, I am indeed not qualified to be Index's protector. I didn't even realize the Church's lies.'
He didn't even have the confidence to raise his head in front of the high schooler who had actually managed to save Index's life and put a smile on her face.
He silently took out a crushed cigarette from his dirty robes, lit it with a spark of magic, and stared blankly at the wall.
...
Inside the Apartment.
"Although I have a lot more I want to say to her, there is something much more important right now," Kanzaki said apologetically to Index. She then turned her sharp gaze to Yuuya. "Young man. Now, you can prove your hypothesis, right?"
"Of course. In fact, I've already known it for a while," Yuuya said confidently.
He looked down at Index, who was still puzzled by the sudden shift in conversation, and smiled gently. "Hey Index, open your mouth wide for me..."
"Eh? What are you doing?" Index blinked in confusion, suddenly completely unable to follow what Yuuya and Kanzaki were talking about.
"Just open your mouth wide and say 'ahhh'. If you do, I'll bake you a massive, three-tiered cake that glows later tonight. How about that?" Yuuya bribed her with a tempting smile.
"Really?!" Index perked up immediately, her green eyes sparkling as drool began to pool in her mouth. Yuuya's cooking was already divine; if he made a three-tiered cake, it would definitely be a masterpiece.
"Really. Now open your mouth wide. Good girl."
Index eagerly tilted her head back and opened her lips.
"Open it a little wider," Yuuya instructed, looking deep into Index's mouth.
"Ahhh..."
Yuuya gently placed his finger on Index's lower lip to press it down further. Deep in the back of her throat, floating ominously just below her tonsils, an intricate magical formation became visible.
The runes emitted an eerie, pulsing black light.
"Look, right here. Index claims she doesn't know how to use any magic, but this artificial spell construct sitting in her throat is very real," Yuuya said, stepping aside so Kanzaki could look.
Kanzaki leaned in and peered into Index's mouth. The moment she saw the black runes, her stoic expression shattered, replaced by absolute, horrified incredulity.
"This... this rune formation is... it's a Collar..." Kanzaki's lips trembled violently as she backed away.
"A Collar? What exactly does that mean?" Yuuya asked, though he already knew. "It means the Puritan leadership really did put magical shackles on Index, didn't they?"
Kanzaki's mind was racing. The 'Collar'—also known as Spell Intercept—was a highly classified magical restraint developed specifically by the Church of Necessary Evil to deal with incredibly dangerous, rogue Magicians. It was a fail-safe shackle used to suppress heretics so they could be safely transported to the Church's underground prisons.
Its effects were varied, but without a doubt, the magic functioned primarily as a parasitic curse. It took effect to torment the host, suppressing their mana and leaving them with no ability to resist or rebel.
Erasing the memories of the host was just one of the Collar's minor, secondary functions. It was rarely even utilized, as it was considered unnecessarily cruel even for rogue Magicians.
'If the Archbishop used this on her...' Kanzaki's breathing became shallow. 'Then I personally executed the memory wipe mechanism. I personally erased Index's memories for the past two years, causing her immense, agonizing pain... all based on a lie.'
Takahashi Yuuya was right. If she had just stopped blindly trusting Archbishop Laura Stuart and examined Index's mana flow closely with her own eyes, she would have found the Collar instantly.
"Now you finally understand the truth, don't you, naive Saint?" Yuuya asked softly, his eyes reflecting her despair.
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Give me powerstones.
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