Chapter 820: A Taboo Topic
Lin Wuming could no longer pretend not to see Index staring at him so openly.
"Ahem, is there something you need, Index?" Lin Wuming asked proactively.
"Mr. Lin Wuming, I heard that you... became an angel?" Index didn't hesitate much and directly asked.
"What angel... Don't be fooled by Tsuchimikado's nonsense," Kamijou Touma quickly said, "You know he likes to brag and deceive people."
Although he heard the related rumors from Tsuchimikado Motoharu with Index, Kamijou Touma didn't believe it at all.
Kamijou Touma already knew about the existence of the magic side and had even personally seen a true angel, "God's Power," so he didn't doubt the existence of angels themselves.
However, to say that Lin Wuming, a Level 5 Esper, became an "angel"...
Kamijou Touma certainly didn't believe it one bit.
esper ability and magic are two incompatible powers—this "common sense" was personally told to Kamijou Touma by Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
Therefore, Lin Wuming, as a top Esper, and an "angel" standing at the pinnacle of the magic side, are destined to be completely different existences. How could they transform into each other?
But he didn't expect Index to actually believe it, and she was even seriously asking Lin Wuming himself about it.
"Angel... more or less, if you look at it that way," Lin Wuming didn't hide anything. As he spoke, he raised his hand and drew a circle above his head. "After all, from the appearance, there is indeed something similar to an angel's halo."
"Huh? Is it actually true?" Kamijou Touma asked in surprise.
"It just looks like it," Lin Wuming shook his head.
Although Lin Wuming had no intention of hiding it, he still suspected that the so-called "angel" observed by the outside world should be the "Imaginary Beast" that appeared later.
As for the changes in Lin Wuming himself when he reached the Level 6 stage... it lasted no more than two seconds at most. Except for the few people who were present at the time, no one should have noticed the scene of that brief moment.
Lin Wuming said, "This time, I was actually set up. Kihara Gensei was preparing to forcibly push me to Level 6. It's a completely new realm. Before actually reaching that realm, no one knows what will happen."
Lin Wuming looked directly into Index's eyes: "Perhaps, after the esper ability system reaches its end, it might lead to the same destination as magic. What do you think, Miss Index Librorum Prohibitorum?"
"I don't understand esper ability at all," Index shook her head, "so I cannot answer your question, Mr. Lin Wuming. However..."
Index frowned, hesitated for a moment, but did not continue to speak.
Lin Wuming looked over.
Index, however, bowed: "I'm sorry, I cannot answer your question."
"Don't worry about it," Lin Wuming waved his hand, "It was just my speculation."
After that, Index seemed to have no intention of staying longer and urged Kamijou Touma to leave with her.
Walking out of the Hospital, Kamijou Touma looked back at the inpatient building, feeling quite emotional for a moment.
"I never thought that one day I would just come to visit someone and not have to stay here for treatment..."
"Touma, you have no right to say such a thing!" Index mercilessly exposed him, "It's just because the injuries you've sustained recently weren't severe enough to require hospitalization, right?"
Kamijou Touma laughed, not caring: "But I really don't need hospitalization! Isn't that already a kind of progress?"
Only after they had completely left the Hospital area did Kamijou Touma ask seriously, "When we were in the ward just now, what did you want to say? Why didn't you say it in the end? Was it something related to Lin Wuming?"
As the person most familiar with Index, Kamijou Touma had long noticed her abnormality, but also out of trust and understanding, he only asked about it now.
"It's not very related to Mr. Lin Wuming," Index shook her head. "It's just that I suddenly thought—Mr. Lin Wuming's hypothesis might actually have some truth."
"Why didn't you tell him directly?" Kamijou Touma asked again, "This topic doesn't seem to be a taboo, does it?"
"This topic itself is a taboo," Index said softly.
Although Index doesn't understand esper ability, she is an expert in the "magic" field. With 103,000 grimoires recorded in her mind, although she cannot directly cast magic, at least in terms of theoretical research, no one can surpass her.
So Index knows that "magic" is actually all-encompassing, and not just the "Cross Religion" magic she belongs to.
The differences between different schools of magic are huge. Some extreme cases even feel to Index like the difference between magic and esper ability!
Therefore, from this perspective, Lin Wuming's hypothesis—that esper ability and magic lead to the same destination—might not be entirely impossible!
However, the magic side and the science side are in opposition—Index is now well aware of this.
Therefore, she certainly couldn't make such a judgment in front of a top figure from the science side.
—Who knows what kind of confrontation her judgment would lead to between the two major factions?
It was only in front of Kamijou Touma that Index had no qualms about expressing her conjecture.
"Perhaps... your concern is right," After careful consideration, Kamijou Touma nodded. "If Espers become angels after advancing to Level 6, it would be a huge shock, whether for you Christian Church believers or for those of us who don't believe in the Christian Church."
Kamijou Touma's own position is somewhat detached because the special nature of his "Imagine Breaker" places him on the boundary between "science" and "magic."
Plus, with magicians active around him, and him getting dragged into magic-related incidents every now and then...
So Kamijou Touma doesn't actually feel much about the rift between the two major factions.
However, he still understands the principle, and after being reminded, he can quickly react.
"Oh no! That Tsuchimikado Motoharu!" Kamijou Touma suddenly thought of the crucial point.
The one who told them the news that "Lin Wuming became an angel" was that multi-faceted spy, Tsuchimikado Motoharu!
Although he calls himself a "multi-faceted spy," Kamijou Touma can still feel that Tsuchimikado Motoharu identifies more strongly with his "magician" identity, and his primary service object is still the British Puritan Church!
There's no need to think, Tsuchimikado Motoharu must have already sent the same information to the British Puritan Church headquarters!
"That's for sure. Tsuchimikado Motoharu is always very quick," Index said.
