Rumor has it that “the book of the law” possesses immense power and influence, but equally daunting is its extremely high difficulty of interpretation.
The most important concept in “the book of the law” lies in a statement made by the author himself: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”
This means that anyone, from any angle, can interpret this grimoire; even more terrifying is that every interpretation—as long as it can ultimately achieve self-consistency—can yield a seemingly perfect result, and even lead to corresponding magic.
To date, there have been over a hundred interpretations of “the book of the law,” but all of them have been proven to be incorrect!
No single interpretation has been proven correct.
Even Index, who has collected one hundred three thousand grimoires, cannot truly interpret “the book of the law.”
According to Index, she even suspects that it is impossible to interpret this book with current linguistic knowledge. Therefore, she can only cram all the collected interpretations of “the book of the law” into her mind without truly understanding them.
The original text of “the book of the law” is held by the Roman Orthodox Church, so it is unknown where Lin Wuming obtained the relevant knowledge.
Even more incredible is that Lin Wuming, as a Level 5 Esper, actually managed to successfully cast magic through the provisions of “the book of the law”...
This alone is a miracle, and it has greatly concerned the British Puritan Church, compelling them to investigate.
Coincidentally, there is currently the most suitable person for this investigation in Academy City—Index Librorum Prohibitorum, Index.
Index herself is an expert in grimoire knowledge, and her mind contains all known interpretations of “the book of the law” to date. It can be said that she is the person who understands “the book of the law” best right now.
Furthermore, her relationship with Lin Wuming is not bad... at least her Guardian, Kamijou Touma, has a good relationship with Lin Wuming.
Therefore, there is no one more suitable than Index.
Index did not forget her mission. Or rather, the moment she saw Lin Wuming, she immediately recalled this mission, so she specifically sought him out.
“Mr. Lin Wuming,” Index said with a serious expression, “Please be sure to tell me the details of that battle, and your application of the provisions of ‘the book of the law’...”
As she spoke, Index suddenly noticed the other people at the same table casting surprised glances, and then she reacted.
Even within Necessarius, openly inquiring about others' magic information is a taboo topic.
For battle-oriented magicians, information is often equivalent to their lifeline, and they would not easily reveal it, even to companions and colleagues.
However, because she had been staying in Academy City recently, with almost no other magicians around, Index had become somewhat 鈍 about this kind of “common sense.”
So much so that she subconsciously believed that for Espers, magic-related knowledge and information actually did not have such high value.
After all, Espers cannot use magic—this is also common sense.
After realizing she had violated a “taboo,” Index quickly reacted and immediately shut up.
But the words had already been spoken, and she was also burdened with a task from the Archbishop, so she could not back down.
So, Index said again: “Mr. Lin Wuming, you should already know that my mind contains the knowledge of one hundred three thousand grimoires, and I have also obtained a certain authorization. If you are willing, Our can exchange information.”
Of course, Index had not actually received the relevant authorization, but in her opinion, it was not a big problem.
The Archbishop entrusting her with this task already implied permission for information exchange, and also trusted Index, as an expert, to manage the extent of the exchange, so as not to reveal too much information.
“Information exchange...” Lin Wuming seemed a bit nonchalant about this proposal, as he had little interest in it.
Chairman Aleister had originally taught him a half-baked magic, whose sole purpose was to replace the dellinger pistol as a small trick to actively trigger “Bullet Time.”
It could be said that this was a specialized magic tailored only for Lin Wuming himself; other magicians would find it completely useless.
Therefore, purely from a value perspective, Lin Wuming did not mind exchanging information related to this magic at all.
The only concern was whether information related to “Bullet Time” would be leaked because of this magic.
Index sat back down, looking at Lin Wuming with some trepidation, awaiting his final answer.
Kamijou leaned into her ear and whispered, “Index, isn’t this a bit inappropriate? Not just for magicians, but for Espers too, information related to their Esper ability is very important.”
Kamijou Touma had been through many battles, and since this summer, he had faced not only Espers but also many opponents from the magic side.
So he had the most right to speak.
“It’s not just in terms of combat,” Haruue Erii suddenly interjected, “Although I’m not very clear about topics like magic, but...”
Kamijou Touma immediately put a hand to his forehead: “Oh no, I forgot there were unrelated people here...”
Fortunately, Haruue Erii did not dwell on “magic” related topics.
“In fact, in any field, information is a very important resource,” Haruue Erii said, “For example, laboratory data, or ordinary citizens’ personal ID cards, school student files... these are not things that can be easily revealed to others.”
Index showed an annoyed expression, thought for a while, and then spoke again: “I was inconsiderate. How about this—We are not actually trying to inquire about your magic information, Mr. Lin Wuming. We just hope to discuss your interpretation methods of ‘the book of the law’.”
Index chose an alternative approach, engaging in genuine “information exchange” rather than directly inquiring about sensitive personal information.
And with the ability of “Index Librorum Prohibitorum,” she only needed fragments of information to deduce more valuable information, and could even directly complete the magic that Lin Wuming had mastered.
Of course, Index had no intention of going to that extent; right now, she just wanted some information that she could report back with.
Kamijou Touma looked at both sides with a troubled expression, not knowing what to do for a moment.
He certainly didn't want to betray his friend, but on the other hand, he couldn't refuse the task from the British Christian Church—otherwise, they might very well threaten to “revoke Index's guardianship.”
“If it’s just a discussion, then there’s no problem,” Lin Wuming said very straightforwardly, seemingly unconcerned, “It’s good that you, as a magic expert, can also give me some suggestions.”
