7_Afterword

AFTERWORD Pleased to meet you. I’m Kazuma Kamachi. I feel fiercely embarrassed about introducing myself using my pen name. Think about the first time you told people your Internet username, and you get the idea. Speaking of the Internet, that’s where the opportunity to write this book originated. RPGs and the like have these magicians that can use MP to do anything from shooting fireballs to resurrecting the dead. They can do anything. It’s really convenient. But I thought: Well, what sort of people were the magicians who actually existed throughout history (or at least are said to have existed)? Everyone uses the term magic, but what kind of logic did that magic follow? I figured I’d clear up these questions, so I went on a search engine and typed in words like sorcerer and real to investigate. That’s where it all started. What I got back were things like “how to control black cats using silver vine powder,” “voodoo shamans using the poison of a puffer fish to create a temporarily dead zombie,” and I was like, What? For occult stuff, this is all pretty scientific, isn’t it? That’s how I formed an interest. Many Dengeki Bunko light novels use magic in them as if it’s an everyday occurrence, so I started thinking that a work that delved more deeply into the inner workings would be new and fresh. …Well, this book is just basically entirely what I felt like writing, completely disregarding “marketing studies investigating reader thoughts (read: catchy themes).” I cannot be thankful enough for my editor, Ms. Miki, and my illustrator, Kiyotaka Haimura. Thank you both so much. And a huge “thank-you” to the readers, the ones who picked up this book and read the whole, long thing straight through to the end. As I hope that the Touma Kamijou and Index in your hearts can live on a little longer, and as I pray that I can write a second volume, today, at this moment, I lay down my pen. ………………………………It’s actually still December 26, 2003. Kazuma Kamachi Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On. To get news about the latest manga, graphic novels, and light novels from Yen Press, along with special offers and exclusive content, sign up for the Yen Press newsletter. Sign Up Or visit us at www.yenpress.com/booklink Contents Cover Welcome Insert Title Page Prologue: The Tale of the Boy Who Could Kill Illusions Chapter 1: The Magician Stands atop the Tower Chapter 2: The Miracle Worker Grants Death Chapter 3: The Grimoire Smiles Quietly Chapter 4: The Exorcist Decides the Ending Final Chapter: The Forbidden Book Girl’s Conclusion Afterword Yen Newsletter Copyright Navigation Begin Reading Table of Contents Copyright A CERTAIN MAGICAL INDEX, Volume 1 KAZUMA KAMACHI Cover art by Kiyotaka Haimura Translation by Andrew Prowse and Yoshito Hinton This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. TOARU MAJYUTSU NO INDEX ©KAZUMA KAMACHI 2004 All rights reserved. Edited by ASCII MEDIA WORKS First published in Japan in 2004 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo. English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo. English translation © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Yen On Hachette Book Group 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104 HachetteBookGroup.com YenPress.com Yen On is an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Yen On name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. First Yen On eBook Edition: February 2016 Originally published in print in November 2014 by Yen On. ISBN 978-0-316-31657-6 E3