“Exactly, as an expert in magic, you can help me see if there are any other issues.” Lin Wuming felt that Index's latest proposal was very meaningful.
Therefore, he directly recited the relevant “spells” recorded in the book of the law.
As for the complete casting process, it was naturally impossible to demonstrate it—not just for secrecy, but also because of severe side effects.
It wasn't in the middle of a battle, so there was no need to send himself to the Hospital again.
At first, Index listened intently, but soon she showed a surprised expression, and then her face became increasingly strange. Her gaze was fixed on Lin Wuming's face, as if she wanted to see something from it, yet also seemed a little disappointed.
“This…” After Lin Wuming finished reciting all the “spells,” Index immediately couldn't help but ask, “Mr. Lin Wuming, is this the text you use when casting magic?”
“Yes,” Lin Wuming nodded, “Is there a problem? Or rather, is this not the book of the law?”
While the British Puritan Church needed to be guarded against, Chairman Aleister could not be fully trusted either.
So Lin Wuming was very concerned about the judgment of Index, this “expert.”
“No, it is indeed correct to say it’s the book of the law.” Index frowned, saying with a conflicted expression, “But this is a translated version, not the original text.”
“Yes, this is the Japanese version.” Lin Wuming nodded.
The original version of the book of the law was written in English, and it was early 20th-century English, filled with various incomprehensible mystical symbols, making it very difficult and daunting to read.
Therefore, to facilitate learning and mastery, Chairman Aleister specifically optimized it.
Specifically, it was translated into easy-to-understand Japanese, and all strange symbols with unclear meanings were removed, retaining only the text, which greatly reduced the cost of reading.
The translated version that Lin Wuming ultimately used was this modified one.
Of course, Lin Wuming was not without concerns about this.
After all, magic is centered on “mystery,” and mainstream magic basically adheres to the “Idol Theory.” Simply put, the closer it is to the original, the stronger the magical power.
The same principle applies when using a grimoire; otherwise, there would be no need to emphasize the so-called “original scripture.”
Now, Chairman Aleister had provided him with a translated grimoire. Although it did lower the learning threshold, it inevitably made people doubt its actual effectiveness.
It was only because Lin Wuming knew that Chairman Aleister himself was the original author of the book of the law, so the translated version he provided could, in a sense, also be considered an “original scripture.”
Otherwise, if anyone else had presented this document, Lin Wuming would certainly not have even glanced at it.
“Theoretically,” Index said, “what’s truly important about a grimoire is the knowledge itself; the specific way it’s conveyed isn’t actually important. In fact, there are original scriptures that use images or even videos as mediums. As long as the knowledge in the original scripture can be passed down, it doesn’t matter what language it’s translated into.”
“However, in most cases, translation will inevitably cause a certain degree of misinterpretation and knowledge loss. So, usually, we tend to read the original text directly,” Index explained, “And also…”
“Mr. Lin Wuming, how do you interpret these original texts?”
“Interpret? What interpretation?” Lin Wuming spread his hands, “That was all just now; I just recited the spells in conjunction with a specific ritual.”
“Huh? How is that possible?” Index asked in surprise, “Directly using the power of the original text—the book of the law doesn’t have that characteristic!”
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many interpretation methods for the book of the law.
It was precisely because the power of the original text could not be directly used that the content of the original scripture had to be interpreted.
It's not surprising to think this way; after all, it's a powerful grimoire capable of granting “Angel's Ritual.” If it didn't have several layers of encryption and could be read directly by anyone, that would be abnormal.
Index stared at Lin Wuming, meeting his gaze for a while, and after confirming that he wasn't joking.
“Alright, I understand.” Index sighed, saying as if giving up, “It seems that the magic you use actually doesn’t have a particularly close relationship with the book of the law; perhaps it itself is some kind of cover-up.”
Index did not continue to dig deeper but came to a conclusion—Lin Wuming himself actually didn't understand magic at all; he was just able to use it.
For the Archbishop, such a conclusion was already sufficient.
Feeling that she had completed her task, Index finally seemed relieved, showing her usual relaxed expression.
“Well then, I’ll dig in.” With hands clasped, she bowed her head in prayer for a moment, then the silver-haired nun refocused her attention on the food in front of her.
“No way? You’re not full yet?” Kamijou Touma looked over with a horrified expression, “The maids here said you’ve been eating all morning!”
“Touma, your words are too rude for a beautiful girl!” Index said in dissatisfaction, “I’m just a little hungrier than usual because I rarely encounter such delicious food.”
“No, this isn’t just ‘a little’ hungrier, is it?”
Index ignored Kamijou Touma’s grumbling: “Besides, it’s lunchtime now, so there’s no problem eating in the restaurant!”
With that, the silver-haired nun buried herself in her meal, as if no one else was around.
Kamijou Touma showed an awkward expression, muttering to himself, “Your behavior will make people think I usually abuse you.”
It proved that Haruue Erii and Saten Ruiko’s words just now were very reasonable—just watching Index eat would create a false sense of fullness.
As a result, the several girls, faced with a table full of delicacies, ultimately only took moderate portions and quickly finished their lunch for the day.
“Onee-sama and the others don’t have time to come over yet,” Shirai Kuroko said, looking at her phone, “Today is even busier than expected.”
Not only Misaka Mikoto, but even Shokuhou Misaki and Hu Feng Toumi were called to help.
Because this year’s Summer Festival attracted many special visitors—such as high-level espers like Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri, and also “delinquent youths” like Komaba Ritoku and Heiqi Mianliu.
Although no one was causing trouble here, there were countless instances of tense situations arising from inexplicable reasons like conflicting auras and clashing gazes.
The students of the Seventh District Student Dormitory alone were simply too busy to handle it all.
Therefore, the Shokuhou Faction, the largest Sadan Faction of Tokiwadai Middle School, was urgently summoned and asked to help deal with these various minor incidents.
