The tall girl's explanation had introduced magic—something that seemed completely at odds with how ordinary people understood the world.
Yet Natsume Sonoko found it surprisingly easy to accept the idea that magic existed in this world. After all, the Railgun was only one part of the Index universe.
Since A Certain Magical Index even had the word "magic" right in the title, she'd been somewhat mentally prepared for this kind of thing. It wasn't all that strange to her now.
What she couldn't wrap her head around, though, were the principles behind how magic worked. It was worlds apart from everything she'd learned before.
"This magic… covers the entire world? It's affecting almost everyone?"
Sonoko blinked, her expression shifting to one of disbelief after talking with the girl for a while.
Never mind the sheer size of the Earth—the human population alone numbered in the billions, not to mention all the countless animals.
She'd initially thought this strange phenomenon only affected a small group of people. But not only had she witnessed those eerie mannequin-like figures in Academy City, now she'd learned that this so-called magic actually had a global reach.
"But then, why is everyone…?"
She glanced around worriedly at the puppet-like students surrounding them.
"No need to worry. The reason this magic circle is considered broken is that it's lost almost all of its functionality—it's been buried and forgotten in some corner of the world. From what I understand, it can no longer pull anyone into its influence. It's already begun to self-destruct."
"These puppet-like figures are nothing more than false images, something like reflections of the real world. Unless you're a magician who knows this spell or someone granted special access, the magic's effect on most people is limited to these shadowy appearances."
The mannequins in Academy City weren't completely still, either. They shifted positions from time to time, like something out of an old silent film, causing the "people" around them to change periodically.
According to the tall girl, this was an inevitable interaction between the magic and the real world—a kind of symbiotic relationship.
In a way, you could think of it as a reflection of reality.
"It's possible to speculate that, at some point in the past, an incredible spatial-type spell was activated, linking reality and illusion and creating this magical intermediate layer."
"Judging by the magical traces still present, the spell must be at least a thousand years old. Similar styles of magic date back to the Middle Ages in Europe."
"Its purpose was likely geared toward covert meetings among magician groups and intelligence theft, with elements of human perception alteration and temporal distortion mixed in. But it seems to have been completely abandoned by now."
"Recently, though, something's changed—this magic circle has been dredged up and exposed to the world again."
As the tall girl spoke, she lightly traced her fingers through the air. A faint, shimmering glow appeared in her hand, and the mannequin-like figures around Academy City began to fade, the surroundings turning a hazy gray.
But as the light in her hand vanished, everything returned to how it was before.
"Let's go. Take me to the abnormal zone inside the magic circle. I have urgent matters to attend to outside, so I need to resolve this quickly. By the way, since it's our first time meeting—my name is Kanzaki Kaori."
She had a strange mix of gentleness and severity about her, with a long sword at her waist—like a character straight out of a manga.
While Sonoko was still trying to process everything, Kanzaki Kaori spoke again, seriously.
"I'm Natsume Sonoko, a student in Academy City."
In this dreamlike world, the girl named Kanzaki Kaori moved with astonishing speed, her hair flowing behind her as if swept by an unfelt wind.
In the blink of an eye, she crossed thousands of meters—far surpassing even the star athletes from the track and field team at Sonoko's school.
"Is this place connected to the real world? Did you come here specifically to deal with the abnormalities?"
Sonoko looked like an eager child, flapping her wings to keep up mid-air, struggling to match Kanzaki's pace. Even flying, she couldn't compare.
"This magic is built upon reality. And as you just mentioned, communication with the outside world is still possible here, meaning it's connected—there must be a medium allowing entry. As for me, I stumbled upon a stone tablet inscribed with an ancient Magic Name while investigating. The moment I touched its magical traces, I was pulled inside."
"What's a Magic Name?"
"You can think of it as the reason one learns magic—the purpose they aim to achieve through it. However, Magic Names only came into common use among modern magicians after the late 19th century. It's rare to find ancient Magic Names from before that time."
"The one on that tablet translates as 'Flame of the World Pyre 012.'" Kanzaki explained. In the world of magic, this was basic common knowledge, but for those outside, it was completely foreign.
"Oh, I see." Sonoko nodded slightly, though honestly, she was still pretty lost. Maybe this was a case of "chickens talking to ducks"—two completely different worlds trying to communicate.
When they reached Beika, the people there finally seemed normal, as if everyone had a soul.
According to Kanzaki, this anomalous zone was the magic circle's only active center. All the current issues stemmed from here.
The magical energy here was intense. The long-defunct spell was recklessly reshaping the area, forming a strange, large-scale online gathering of sorts.
But unlike the magicians who originally created this place, the people here had part of their perceptions altered without their knowledge. They went about their lives day after day, completely unaware anything was wrong.
Even Sonoko, who seemed to resist the magic's influence fairly well and had corrected her own perceptions through her soul's memories, was powerless in some aspects. For instance, she still saw conflicting dates and times, proving she was also affected—she just knew those dates were wrong.
"It's strange. This magic circle should have lost its power long ago. There's no way it should be pulling in so many people at once."
Kanzaki Kaori stood on the bustling street, watching the flow of traffic with a thoughtful expression.
Then she turned into a secluded alley, crouched down, and began tracing something on the ground—it looked like some kind of special script or symbols.
Sonoko watched curiously for a moment, but soon lost interest. What even was all that?
"I'm going to mark the city with magic circles to locate the source that's reactivated this broken spell," Kanzaki explained, seeming to sense Sonoko's gaze.
--+--
Mori Detective Agency.
Sonoko sat on the sofa watching TV. Like their phones, the television could pick up signals from the outside world, so technology didn't seem to be affected here.
According to Kanzaki, because this was a place both real and unreal, the tech that existed in reality still worked just fine.
"So even Miss Kanzaki doesn't know how to get out of this weird situation? She's stuck here too, for now."
Sonoko flipped through channels idly. Over a dozen stations, and nothing good was on—but her mind wasn't really on the TV anyway.
If she didn't resolve her situation before the break ended, once she returned to Academy City, she might keep disappearing every now and then.
Missing classes, skipping school, not returning to the dorm at night… Sonoko could already picture herself getting expelled from Tokiwadai Middle School.
And since the Academy City in this abnormal time was just a city of mannequins, to live anything like a normal life, she'd have to travel back and forth between Miroka and Academy City. Just thinking about it made her life feel like some kind of tragicomedy.
One thing Sonoko couldn't figure out, though, was how the outside world hadn't reported on so many people going missing—and so frequently.
But she quickly realized—of course, it had to be because of magic.
"Miss Kanzaki said she isn't skilled at breaking magic circles, so she has to find the source that brought this broken spell back to life. Either deactivate the magic or remove its effect on herself—only then can she leave this abnormal state. In short, finding the source is the first step."
Sonoko mulled it over privately. Unlike Kanzaki, who was searching all over the city, Sonoko had already pinpointed a likely candidate in her mind.
There could be only one truth. No matter how she looked at it, that kid Conan fit the bill perfectly.
The only question was, how could someone so seemingly ordinary manage to dredge up an ancient magic circle from who-knows-where?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.