PROLOGUE

A Trip to Northern Italy
Un_Viaggio_in_Italia.

Touma Kamijou was an unlucky person.

There was no need to look any further than the seven days of the Daihasei Festival to understand that. It was clear to everyone. The Daihasei Festival was an athletic festival–like event, where espers battled it out against one another. But for some reason Kamijou had gotten tangled up in a battle among sorcerers on the very first day, and he’d been the last one standing in a huge battle to prevent Academy City from subjugation. He was always getting caught up in crazy situations.

Even with that problem resolved, it didn’t change the fact that he was fundamentally unlucky. He’d accidentally walked in on Miss Komoe changing, received a head-butt from Seiri Fukiyose’s steel forehead when she fully recovered, been bitten by Index, faced gumballs pelted at him from wheelchair-bound Aisa Himegami, been dragged away by Mikoto Misaka to share a folk dance until Kuroko Shirai teleported from behind and drop-kicked him in the back of the head…Kamijou was absolutely exhausted in more ways than he could count.

But no matter how dogged his misfortune was, he never let it discourage him. In fact, he crawled back to his feet with a smile every time. He was special that way—but it didn’t change the truth: He was hapless.

Once again, Touma Kamijou was an unlucky person.

He missed bargain sales at the supermarket by mere minutes. Manga magazines he bought at the convenience store would, on a regular basis, somehow be creased down the middle of the pages. Every scratch-off lottery ticket he’d ever bought had wound up being a losing one. Finding a “get one free” Popsicle stick or winning one of those vending machine roulette games were actual impossibilities.

Once again, Touma Kamijou was an unlucky person.

“The number you submitted for the visitor guessing contest was dead-on! Congratulations, you’ve won first prize—a five-night, seven-day trip to northern Italy!!”

Uh, what? thought the plain old high school student Touma Kamijou as he listened to the clanging handbell, his shoulders actually drooping in wonder when he heard the voice. The wind caught his spiked-up black hair, tossing it around.

The place was Academy City, a city taking up the western portion of Tokyo. The time was the last day of the Daihasei Festival, a gargantuan athletic festival held every year. He stood on an ordinary street corner near a homemade-looking stall made of plywood sheets, nails, and two-by-fours. A student from a girls’ school called Kirigaoka-or-something Academy was running the stall. The students had organized a visitor-counting lottery here.

The rules were simple.

First, entrants bought a special card with actual money. Then they estimated the total number of visitors who would come to the Daihasei Festival, wrote the guess on the card, and gave it to the reception desk. The winners were ranked based on how close they came to the actual number.

Of course, people would always see programs on TV giving broad estimates, like “festival reaches ten million visitors” and the like. That made guesses easier for participants who played later in the week. But if more than one person guessed correctly, whoever first submitted the answer would win.

The stall employee, a girl wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt and red leggings, fumbled around in the storage space below the counter and presented an absurdly large envelope that looked like it might have contained blueprints or something.

“This wasn’t actually planned for students, but essentially, you’ll be going on a trip during the post–Daihasei Festival cleanup holiday.” The girl smiled politely, the way cashiers always did. “The itinerary, sightseeing tours, and required documents are all in here, so please give them a look when you get a chance. If you have any questions, please direct them to the travel agency rather than our academy. Here, sir, please take this!”

She thrust the gigantic envelope out to him, but at this point, Kamijou was still under the false impression that there was some dramatic pitfall somewhere in the situation he had chanced upon.

He folded his arms and tilted his head in thought. “Umm, can I ask you something?”

“I may not be able to answer detailed questions regarding the trip. If that’s all right with you, sir?”

“First prize, as in, like, first first prize?”

“I’m not sure I understand the question, sir.”

“That prize is supposed to go to the luckiest person, isn’t it?!”

“Umm, may I leave now?”

“No, wait! This is a trip to northern Italy, right?”

“That is a simple question, and I can answer that, but I think it’s written very clearly in the documents.”

“There’s not gonna be any crazy plot twists where all of a sudden I’m on a plane and actually headed toward some shady scientific cult religion’s private airport, right?”

“…Oh, I understand, sir! Is this your first time traveling abroad?”

She wasn’t looking at him in annoyance—but instead in a sort of warm, cordial way. From a young lady of Kirigaoka’s point of view, Kamijou was just a little kid afraid of what the big world outside the city might be like.

“Anyway, I need to announce the rest of the prizes now, so please direct your questions to the travel agency.”

“Oh, wait! I mean, I get it! Something so irregular would almost never happen, I know! But doesn’t it seem possible? Like the plane suddenly getting hijacked or waking up to find myself stranded at the South Pole?! I know, I know, I’m worrying too much, but I can’t help but feel like there’s some kind of catch here! Am I really going to be able to go to northern Italy with a friend?! Hey, answer me!!”

Getting first prize was stranger than any of that, so Kamijou figured he must have overlooked something important. And whatever that thing was, it meant he wouldn’t be able to go on this trip.

“Oh, right! I don’t even have a passport!” shouted Kamijou in his dorm room.

Index, lying on the floor, stared at him in response. She was about fourteen or fifteen, with long, waist-length silver hair and bright-green eyes. But after spending the entire Daihasei Festival out under the blazing hot sun, her skin had tanned a little. Still, she was a pale Caucasian to begin with, so instead of turning brown, she was a bit red. On an unrelated note, she wore a white habit with gold embroidery that looked like a teacup, with lots of safety pins on it—all very strange to him.

“Touma, Touma. What’s a passed port?”

She spoke more slowly than usual because, for once, Index was full. She’d burst into Touma’s class once the closing ceremonies were over and, after everyone accepted her presence there, proceeded to gobble up everything in sight. It happened so quickly it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine she was a professional speed eater.

Without looking at Index, Kamijou continued to take out documents and pamphlets of all colors from inside the giant sealed envelope. “A passport is something you need to travel overseas. I think it takes, like, a month to actually get it after applying for one.”

Actually, didn’t Index come here from England? Why wouldn’t she know what a passport is? Kamijou had his doubts, but Index lived in the world of magic and sorcery, where even international laws, to say nothing of Japan’s constitution, often didn’t apply. Maybe she’d come in riding on a magic carpet and slipped by the air-control radar network by flying super low to the ground. Kamijou began to seriously wonder about the defensive capabilities of their self-defense force. Meanwhile, he spread out all the contents of the giant envelope on the glass table before him.

From what the plans looked like, he’d be on a group tour. All the travelers were to assemble at the airport in northern Italy, then begin moving together. Which meant the schedule was already set in stone.

The date they were supposed to arrive and meet up was September 27.

That left only two days.

After the Daihasei Festival, workers would be taking everything down and security would be readjusting all over, so students would get a few days off from school. It probably seemed sudden because they’d looked for a travel itinerary that could fit into those few days, but…He could apply for a passport right now, but there was literally no chance of it getting here in time.

“…See how it is? I knew this would happen. I really did! So I’m not frustrated at all! I knew this was how it would turn out all along, and I was totally ready for this!!”

Kamijou hurled the giant envelope across the room. It whipped around, hitting the floor and rolling horizontally in place. He’d only meant to vent his frustration, but then he slammed his right ankle into one of the glass table’s legs. He roared like a martial artist, and the calico that had been curled up nearby leaped on the bed to get away. Then it bounced up, stuck its claws in Kamijou’s clothes hanging on the wall, and vaulted off them to the top shelf of his closet.

Then, it kicked with its hind legs. An object came falling down right onto Kamijou’s upturned face—he was on the floor now—with a dry cloud of dust.

“Argh! Not even the cat gives me any respect! Wait, what’s this?!”

Kamijou decided to see what had hit his forehead and grabbed it with his hand, bringing it in front of him as he lay there. It was a notebook with a red synthetic leather cover, about as small as the ones you’d see police officers using in TV shows. On the cover were stamped the words JAPAN PASSPORT.

His passport.

He suddenly lurched up and gave a dumbfounded groan. “B-but why? What’s my passport doing in a place like this?!”

Kamijou and overseas cultures had nothing to do with each other. His textbook English was already getting failing marks. Filled with curiosity, he flipped through the booklet and learned that he’d apparently been to places like Saipan and Guam before. Maybe he’d gone on vacations there with his family.

“I guess the whole passport issue’s solved…in a creepy way, anyway.”

Touma Kamijou had amnesia, so he didn’t remember any of it. Plus, he was hiding that condition from everyone. He couldn’t slip up now. He glanced at Index, but she didn’t seem very interested in his surprise discovery. Besides, she didn’t know what passports were for, so she’d have no way of judging the situation in the first place. That’s what Kamijou chose to think, anyway.

“Oh. Wait, Index, you don’t have a passport, though, do you?”

“Touma, is a passed port that thing you’re holding? I don’t think I have one of those.”

“Then we really can’t go on a trip. If I left you here, you’d be lying dead on the floor after three days.”

“Hey, why do you have to say it like that? I don’t have what I don’t have.”

“…Wait, Miss Index. You’ve been very calm about all this. This is Italy we’re talking about. An overseas trip! The normal reaction to this would be a desire to go, right?!”

“Touma, Touma.” She looked at him, her eyes making it clear she was wondering why this was news to him. “Academy City is already a foreign country to me.”

“Urgh! You deny any compromise so casually!!” He looked at the girl in white, his face astonished. “…Wait, what? So to you, every day is you living together with me abroad?”

Crash!! Index, lying down on the bed, rolled over suddenly and her head hit the floor.

She brought it right back up, though. “Wh-wh-what are you suddenly saying suggestive things for, Touma?! I…I’m a devout sister, and I don’t think I can allow any comments that could be so easily misunderstood!!”

“Huh? But I…”

“A-anyway, I don’t have that passed port thing you have! I think I have something like it, though.”

“Something like it?”

“Yeah. This,” she said, rummaging around in her habit sleeve and bringing out a United Kingdom passport. Kamijou was impressed by the overseas-passport design, which was different from his.

“Well, that makes sense. You may be with Necessarius, but obviously you still use airplanes to go on trips! That’s good. Great. Sometimes I start thinking crazy things like you actually got yourself a camel and crossed through the Silk Road or something!”

“…For some reason I feel like you’ve been teasing me for a while. But anyway, Touma, how do you use this passed port?”

“W-wait a minute, Index. Let me see your pass—Wait, what the hell?! Why is this all totally blank?! You should at least have one stamp for leaving England!!”

Plus, the name on it was real: INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM. As Kamijou shuddered at how fearsome state religions were, she yawned, bored. “Touma, Touma. I don’t think it could possibly come with any Automatic Clerk effects.”

“You little…You got Necessarius to print you a passport, and you just ignore it? You really did travel through the Silk Road, didn’t you?!”

“Touma, you keep getting excited over strange things I don’t understand. Anyway, does this mean that I can, err…go on the trip with you?” asked Index, her voice slightly nervous.

“…” What? Kamijou’s eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks.

For now, he figured it was all right.

He had the impression they really could leave for a five-night, seven-day trip to northern Italy. Even though Touma Kamijou was unbelievably unlucky. Even though he was the least likely person in the world to experience something like this.

After going through this and that, they woke up the next morning.

After having vacation nano-devices implanted inside them, Kamijou and Index arrived at the special school district of Academy City, District 23—where all the city’s aeronautical and space development was done. This was the international airport built for guests who came from outside the city for conferences and such.

The airport lobby was so big it felt like wasted space to Kamijou. The walls were made entirely of glass panes, and the sunlight was glittering by the runways outside. He’d heard inklings in the news about the place being crowded like rush hour during the Daihasei Festival, but there were still a decent number of people here getting ready to go home. Of course, the authorities had prepared a few extra vacation days in order to get all the guests back in an efficient manner. The noise and congestion in the lobby absorbed the sound of Kamijou’s suitcase wheels rolling along the floor.

Kamijou was wearing his same old short-sleeve T-shirt and khaki pants, but the chain attached to his wallet hooked onto his belt, and he hid a spare wallet inside his pants, wrapped beneath a band on his calf. The nebulous anxiety he had talked about was plain to see. Moreover, the chain was a bit too thin—easily cut—and it displayed exactly where his wallet was to anyone who bothered to notice. Plus, reaching the spare wallet on his calf would force him to pull up his pants leg, and it would probably fall out while he was walking around. And despite all the care he’d put into his wallets, his passport was shoved most of the way into his other pocket. All in all, he certainly didn’t look very used to overseas travel.

Kamijou also had only one suitcase, and Index had nothing. She had a few kinds of underwear and pajamas, but her habit was basically her only personal clothing, so all of it had fit in his suitcase. And before they’d left the dorm, Index had given him a small wicker case and, red-faced, told him to put that in there as well. Kamijou had wondered what was inside, but he figured asking would just provoke her to bite him, so he’d opted for silence.

As for other luggage, she was usually holding a calico in her hands, but the cat was now on loan to Miss Komoe’s apartment. “K-Kami, going overseas? Are you sure you’ll be all right?! I mean, well, in a lot of ways!! You won’t have a teacher overseas, you know!!” she had said quite rudely. Who had asked her, anyway?

In the lobby, Kamijou searched for the departure gate’s location. “Wait…I hope I didn’t forget anything. Wallets, check. Passport, check. Airplane tickets, check. Documentation for the trip, check. Changes of clothes, check. Hair dryer, check. Cell phone, check. And I withdrew some extra money from the bank just to be sure…Okay. I guess I’m fine? At this point, there shouldn’t be any sudden developments where I forget something and curse my misfortune.”

“Touma, Touma. Why have you been such a worrywart lately?” Index fidgeted. Her excitement was making its way to the surface. Watching her made his vague gloominess seem silly.

“…You’re right. Yeah, I guess I can have fun now! I’m always saying how rotten my luck is, so I guess I’ve been acting strange. But even I should have a little good fortune once in a while! Worthwhile vacations like this don’t come around very often! Okay. For these five nights and seven days in northern Italy, I’ll make sure to feel as happy as I can for the first time in a while!!”

He finally grinned, reinvigorated and free from his worries for now. Index smiled brightly. “That’s the spirit, Touma.” She nodded. “If you’re that active and positive when you try to communicate, then I think you’ll be able to get your point across even if you don’t know most of the words.”

“Gaahhhh!! They speak a foreign language!! I forgot about that!!”

That was the finishing blow. The suddenness of it almost made him fall face-first on the floor. After all, his English exam score had been twenty-two. His failure at learning a foreign language would have been more acceptable during Japan’s period of isolationism centuries ago, but in modern times…

Having remembered his station, he slowly asked Index, “Umm, Miss Index?”

“What is it, Touma?”

“Would you, by any chance, just so happen to speak Italian?”

“Sure I can. But why are you talking like Orsola? What’s wrong?”

“We are talking about Italian, the language spoken in the nation of Italy, correct?”

“Why are you asking me something so obvious all of a sudden? If there’s anything worrying you about Italian culture, I can teach you.”

“…Then please, if it isn’t too much trouble, can we start with how to say yes and no in Italian?”

“Touma, Touma. This might sound rude, but why on earth are you going all the way to Italy, anyway?”

“I can’t do anything about what I don’t know!” This time, he actually did collapse onto the airport lobby floor.

Index sighed, feeling truly disappointed. “You know, Touma, in order to live properly in our current international society, you should learn how to speak at least three languages.”

“A strange-looking sister just schooled me on current society and used the phrase at least!! But for now, let me just promise that I’ll be relying totally on you when we get there! I don’t even know how to say yes or no!!”

“Well, I guess I can translate for you. But Touma, this is a good opportunity, so maybe it would be faster just to learn a few words while we’re there…”

“That logic only works for people who are good at remembering stuff! I only have a superficial knowledge of culture! If I tried, it would be absolutely terrible!!”

“You’re exaggerating again…”

“That kind of sigh is something you only learn once you can speak multiple foreign languages like it’s nothing! Wait, Index, you’re inadvertently fluent in Japanese, too. Can you speak Italian like that…?”

“I’m still someone who has to go around the world to read 103,000 grimoires, remember? Italian is a piece of cake! The ones I have the most trouble with are language families that aren’t structured into a coherent system. A lot of them are just random words written on slate with none of the actual rhythm or inflection contained, so I’d need to learn how to sing them separately. But that’s something specific to the cultural spheres of certain island and deep-forest nations.”

“…I didn’t understand that at all, but does that mean I can rely on you for stuff?”

“Yep. I’m always getting you to take the lead, but now it’s my turn. I’ll support you as much as you need, so you can enjoy yourself to your heart’s content and not worry about trouble!”

She confidently stuck out her modest chest. From Touma Kamijou’s point of view she was the shining image of a saint. Salvation is real! This is Index saying all this, so we’ll be fine! All right, I’m gonna have as much fun as I can on this trip! Kamijou pulled the suitcase wheels across the floor, feeling invigorated, and started off toward the departure gate.

“Then I’ll be counting on you, Miss Tour Guide!!”

“Leave it to me! Touma, whenever we go into a shop there, the first thing you do is greet the shopkeeper.”

“You mean they won’t talk to you first, Miss Tour Guide?”

“Well, the point of stores is kind of to look for what you want with the shopkeeper. It’s a low barrier. Hmm-hmm! If you don’t at least know that, then you won’t be able to live abroa—”

Beep!

The gate’s metal detector made a strange noise, and before he knew it Index had been caught on either side by hardy-looking officials.

“Hmm?” Index frowned, questioning—looking indignant that they would do something like this to a tour guide.

The men who had apprehended the suspicious girl, however—their eyes twitched, and in a low voice, one asked, “Well…What are those safety pins all over you for?”

“Waah! Now that you mention it, it must look like she’s packing a ton of weapons! But that’s not what they are! If you take them out, her habit will fall apart and go all over the place!!” They hadn’t even left the country, and Touma Kamijou already needed to save Index from a troublesome situation.

Index, though, was confused. She didn’t know why the safety pins were bad. She didn’t even know why a strange noise had come from the gate in the first place.

Actually, asking her for aid might not have been the best idea. Kamijou felt a chill run down his spine. He tried approaching the officials. “Well, I know those clothes are kind of bad! But what should we do about it? There’s less than thirty minutes until the plane takes off…”

“Let’s see…There is a shopping mall in the airport, so you’ll just have to go there and buy some real clothes.”

What mall?! Where?! Kamijou’s eyes rushed along the guidance pane attached to the wall by the gate.

SHOPPING AREA—1.5 KM FROM CURRENT LOCATION

“It’s too far!! I really feel like the District 23 airport is seriously wasting all this space! But our only other choices are to miss our flight or to ride camels across the Silk Road! Gah. Index, we’re running! They won’t let you on the plane without normal clothes!!”

“Huh? What, Touma?…Wait, are you going to buy me clothes?!”

“Damn it! Those sparkling eyes of yours are insanely aggravating! I can’t believe I have to waste money before we even leave! I’m going to be unlucky this time, too, aren’t I?!”

As he wailed, he grabbed her hand and scampered down the very long passageway that connected to the airport.

Twenty-eight minutes until liftoff.

The jet’s engines would be nice and warm by this time.