AFTERWORD
For those who have been reading through one book at a time, it’s good to see you again.
For those who read through everything at once, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
I’m Kazuma Kamachi.
And this is the second short-story volume!! I tried to write this one in a way so you could, to an extent, understand the vignettes without having read the main story. How did it turn out? I personally think I was able to express this world from a whole bunch of different angles: the sorcery side, the science side, and even the normal people’s side.
The overall theme is “time is long,” and the key term is Uncut Gem, I suppose.
And surprise! This book alone covers almost a year.
This is the second short-story volume, but the story of the Uncut Gems started and finished in it. I’m sure some of you who read to the end may be thinking huh? Like, did it really get resolved? Or that one person didn’t end up getting retrieved—what happened to them? Your hunches are correct—in this second short-story volume, which revolves around the Uncut Gems, there are actually other, unmentioned things the story also revolves around. You may find it interesting to come up with theories for this or that.
Oh, right. In regard to the two superstrong characters who appeared, both of them are the sort that break all the rules in this kind of battle. As for why—well, there’s zero set procedure for their battles. Though perhaps things could have been resolved more forcibly, like with a giant frontal blast that was even stronger than the full might of that inexplicable power.
Speaking of unusual characters, not one but two ninjas show up. In this world, that is what their methods and goals are like. These ninjas are less a formal occupation, like the samurai, and more a way of thinking and acting; the story this time was about the dissension about how it’s carried out. It might be interesting to dig into their story some more, but they both have to obey the ironic rule of finding significance in devoting themselves to being side characters, so leaving it at that is probably for the best. In a way, they’re buried even farther underground than sorcerers are.
Actually, I personally think the strongest one in this book was Daddy Misaka. What did you think of him? He, again, is someone with a different methodology than those in the main Index story in that he changes the world through methods that don’t involve people killing each other. But it’s not that he doesn’t fight, just that he fights differently. He’s not the kind of saint who would reject fighting altogether. And since he interferes with the foundations and cornerstones of societies, that fact might make him all the more dangerous than the children who only know how to swing their fists and punch it out.
Technically, Touya Kamijou is able to oppose Daddy Misaka. Dandy gentlemen have their own battles to fight. Though they both experience a bit of hardship, with one getting pushed around by subordinates and being a corporate warrior late to be promoted while the other’s wallet is being tightly managed by his wife.
…Actually, when I look at just the two short-story volumes, I’m astonished at the utter lack of connection between them. The only thin threads are the parts surrounding Skill-Out’s destruction. Short-story “series”? Yeah, right. Still, it’s more fun to purposely rip out all the demarcations and definitions and make this into an experiment where anything goes. If a third volume ever comes out, it’ll probably be even less connected to the others.
I’d like to thank my illustrator, Haimura, and my editor, Miki. Things got rough with the stage changing so many times and with there being so many chapters, but thank you for sticking with me through it all anyway.
And I want to thank all my readers. These short-story volumes started with the simple idea that things should begin and end in a single volume and then breaking that apart a little. Thank you for reading them.
Now then, as you close the pages here,
and as I pray that you will open the front page of the next volume as well,
today, at this hour, I lay down my pen.
Hey, why’s so much stuff happening without Kamijou knowing?
Kazuma Kamachi
TRANSLATOR’S AFTERWORD
Hello everyone. I’m Andrew Prowse, the translator for the A Certain Magical Index novels. With the so-called Old Testament arc complete at last, I managed to talk the good folks at Yen Press into letting me write an additional afterword as a little bonus for the readers! It isn’t much, but please enjoy this brief pulling back of the curtain before I return to my perch behind the scenes.
Despite having done hobby translation for a while in the past, this series was my first-ever professional translation project, and boy, was it a rude awakening. The first few volumes were a trial by fire for me, but thanks to the help of several kind, helpful editors, I managed to pull through. Part of me never thought I’d keep going for six years, and I’m glad I did. I feel like I’ve grown as a translator so much since then—both in my understanding of the Japanese language and in my personal writing skills.
Before starting on this project, I had only very cursory knowledge of A Certain Magical Index and its spin-off series, but the stars aligned: After reading some of it, I realized I enjoyed it quite a bit. And that enjoyment only grew the further into the series we progressed. I can only pray I’ve done it justice for all the Western fans out there, because I now count myself among your number!
There is so much I could talk about when it comes to my translation decisions for this series, including regarding terminology choices—and specifically, the names of the religions. While I don’t have much room to talk about them here, I’d like to note that the author’s terms for these religions are not what the real-world ones are called in Japan, but shorter, custom-made ones, presumably made to be more readable to a Japanese audience. (This may be why it sounds a bit strange to Western readers.)
And don’t even get me started on the kami-jo bit. Talk about impossible translations! I think the way that I rendered it worked out, but—just wow. That level of pun on the main character’s name coming so late in the series was an absolute shocker…
I could talk about translation forever, but time is short and space is at a premium, so I’d like to use the rest to give a few shout-outs. First, to the various Internet resources out there dedicated to cataloging everything there is to know about the Index-verse. Without that extensive information being readily available, certain references may have gone straight over my head, so I wanted to make sure to thank the entire Index community, both in Japan and in the Western world. (I’d also like to shout out a Russian friend of mine for helping me with the spellings of a few minor character names in the World War III arc. Thanks, Arknarok!)
I’d like to thank my editors for giving me a shot at such a monumental project. I think, ultimately, we succeeded in bringing this light novel behemoth to the English-speaking world in a way that did it justice. It’s hard to believe this long project is at an end, but for the time being, I will still be working on the official manga adaptation!
Finally, I want to thank the original creator, Kazuma Kamachi. This series has done far more for me than just pay the bills. It’s helped me grow as a reader, a translator, and a person. It’s given me enjoyment on long car rides trying to explain the lore of the Index world to my friends; it’s given me something to look forward to between projects; it’s given me a chance to improve my craft.
Most of all, though, it’s given me something to be proud of.
With that, I lay down my own pen…
…or close my laptop, as it were. Not quite the same ring to it, eh?
See you again next time,
Andrew Prowse
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