Toaru Majutsu no Index SS-Volume 1, Epilogue: A Single Will and a Small Key. The_Present_Target.

“Hmph.”

Hidden in the darkness, Accelerator looked over to the main entrance of the Dangai University database center and averted his gaze when he found Misuzu’s face.

There had been more Skill Out members than he had expected remaining in the facility and taking them out had eaten up a lot of time.

But since Misuzu was fine, the person he had met in the dome must not have been her enemy. She was seeing an ambulance off, so that person must have gotten injured at some point.

“It doesn’t really matter,” concluded Accelerator as he exited the database center grounds through a back entrance.

That was when someone spoke to him.

“I had heard you were here. From the look in your face, I assume it went well.”

“Unabara,” muttered Accelerator as if he didn’t care and he looked over towards him.

The darkness didn’t suit that silky brown hair or that agreeable and youthful face. And as he approached, Accelerator began feeling an odd pressure in his chest.

He didn’t allow it to show on his face and casually kept his distance from Unabara.

Unabara who seemed out of place spoke to Accelerator who made the darkness his own.

“So was this another leftover job? You shouldn’t overwork yourself when you aren’t even getting paid.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Accelerator said rejecting the comment.

Looking closer, he could see Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Musujime Awaki standing near Unabara. That meant all 4 members of GROUP were here.

“...What do you want? Did the higher ups send you here to punish me?”

“Of course not. We’re just here to confirm a few things.” Tsuchimikado stared at Accelerator from behind his sunglasses as he spoke. “First on the list is about Misaka Misuzu. From what I could hear at a distance, she has decided against taking her daughter from Academy City. So her death has been called off. It may have been mainly due to some injuries, but that matter is settled.”

“Will the higher ups really accept a vague conclusion like that? That’s just what she said. She could easily change her mind at any time.”

“It’ll be accepted. ...That idiot Unabara worked pretty hard in that regard.” Tsuchimikado muttered as if he was almost surprised about it.

Accelerator looked towards Unabara with a dubious expression on his face, but Unabara merely smiled in the darkness and spoke.

“Well, that boy was carrying out his ‘promise’ to protect the world around someone I have feelings for, so I thought I should help out some myself. It seems I overworked my shoulder a bit.”

“...Damn pretty boy. He’s been saying things like that without giving us a straight answer this whole time. He must have used a fairly unsightly method.”

Musujime brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head.

Tsuchimikado relaxed his shoulders.

“Anyway. Misaka Misuzu is fine. Good work on your first job + extras, Accelerator. How’d you like your first GROUP job? Basically these jobs are cleaning up after the messes other people make, but there are plenty of ways to find them worthwhile.”

“God damn it. Today was just violence, betrayal, and killing on parade.”

Tsuchimikado nodded in response to the words Accelerator spat out.

“Exactly. But we have to protect our own weak points amongst it all. Our lives may be easier if we abandon those weak points, but we just can’t make ourselves do it... They’re our worthless treasures.”

“...”

“I have my step sister, Unabara has the person he has feelings for, Musujime has her comrades who once worked with her, and you have the clones.”

Tsuchimikado’s lips twisted up in a cynical smile.

“To protect those important things, we can’t use normal methods. The higher ups lined things up for their victory from the very beginning, but that’s basically a lie. It’s like making a rigged bet. It’s made so you can’t win and you lose your money. There’s no way to get out of here by following the rules. We can try to win by the rules anyway, we can try to find a loophole in the rules, or we can throw the chess board to the ground and go on a rampage. Those are our options.”

“Why are you telling me this? I doubt you’re suggesting we all get along and work together.”

“Because you could become a card we could use,” replied Tsuchimikado lightly. “I don’t know what they’re planning, but you seem to be quite important to the higher ups. For now, they seem content with only having messed with your electrode, but that means you have a chance. Let’s work together, Accelerator. We’ll teach you how to live in this world, so you won’t die easily.”

“...”

Accelerator looked at the other members of GROUP.

Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Unabara Mitsuki, Musujime Awaki.

All three of them were peculiar people and he had no idea what any of them were actually thinking. But he was the same. He would have no problem using them in order to save Last Order.

“Interesting,” he said. “But if you get in my way, I won’t hesitate to cast you aside. This only lasts as long as you have value to me. If you want anything more than that, you’re out of luck.”

“Hah. Excellent attitude.”

Tsuchimikado laughed and turned his back on Accelerator.

He waved his hand urging the others on as if he was inviting them out to karaoke.

“Come on. The higher ups are going to counterattack before long.” 𝒇r𝙚𝙚𝓌𝙚𝑏𝗻𝑜𝘷𝗲𝘭.c૦𝑚

The biggest restraint on Accelerator was the safety device for his electrode that the higher ups could operate remotely.

As he couldn’t use the Sisters’ substitute operations when in an area where electromagnetic waves couldn’t reach him, he had no way to block the remote safety device. Anything that would block it would block his connection with the Sisters as well.

At first glance, it seemed to be a perfect method of control, but, if he only managed to get past that, he had a good chance of escaping them.

(First I need the blueprint.)

He would go to the frog-faced doctor and get the blueprint for the choker-style electrode. I can figure out how the safety works from here. And if that takes too long, I may be able to make a second one.

(This is gonna be fun.)

A smile naturally came to his face.

From a distance, they might have looked like friends chatting as they walked along the street at night.

But Accelerator only felt something hot squirming around inside him.

There was that “man” that had talked with him on the phone right before his electrode had been cut off remotely.

He could be relaxing at his home on a couch or he could be walking around in the very same area Accelerator was. A voice over the phone could be artificially altered, so he couldn’t even be sure it had really been a man.

From what that bastard had said, there was someone behind all this.

Someone behind all this misfortune.

(Having a goal really is fun.)

In a hospital at night, the frog-faced doctor received an emergency message while making adjustments to Last Order’s body. It seemed the usual boy had done something crazy again and had been brought there. He thought it was odd that the rescue worker had reported an emergency patient with a bitter smile on his face.

The virus Kihara Amata had inputted into Last Order’s head on September 30th had been completely eliminated. With a bit of light rehabilitation, she would be back to her normal life.

(A virus, huh?)

Of course, getting rid of that virus wasn’t enough to hinder even a part of Aleister’s plan. If that was at all possible, Last Order would not have been so easily released. As usual, all the important parts had been blotted out and everything was left looking peaceful.

But it was clear that Last Order’s special characteristics were being used in the plan. If he followed that line of thinking, he might be able to actually accomplish something.

The frog-faced doctor looked at the girl lying on the bed.

She physically looked around 10 years old. The girl was so small it made you think the bed had mistakenly been made too big.

“That’s enough adjustments for today. I have another patient I have to work on. Just go to sleep without messing around, okay?”

The girl gave a slight nod at his words.

Then Last Order moved her lips slightly and spoke.

“Where...?”

The frog-faced doctor remained silent and listened.

“...Where is he? says Misaka as Misaka asks her question.”

That was most likely a question no one could answer. The frog-faced doctor didn’t know of course and apparently not even Accelerator’s temporary guardian, Yomikawa Aiho, or the creator of the clones, Yoshikawa Kikyou, knew where he was.

Even so, the frog-faced doctor responded.

“Soon. He’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah ... Misaka misses him, says Misaka as Misaka nods.”

The frog-faced doctor said good night and left the hospital room.

He walked down a long, dark hallway to the area Kamijou Touma had been brought to.

As he did so, Last Order’s words were carved into his heart.

He was the person who would get his patients anything they needed.