A Certain Magical Index Genesis Testament Volume 3

fascinated with the sharp edge of their sword that they continue to test it out on random
passersby.

Hanatsuyu Kaai and Hanatsuyu Youen.
When creating a pair of twins, I think you have two options for their primary mentality:
the two of them are an inseparable pair or they want to become their own independent
people. So in this case, I gave the two sisters conflicting views. Kaia the Decomposer
wanted independence enough to destroy herself in the process and Youen the Carrier
wanted to be together forever even if it meant forever restricting her sister. They were
both killers who took lives for no reason. Since they stayed true to the gruesome side of
the dark side from beginning to end, I think you could say they were too pure in a certain
sense of the word. Which is exactly why I showed no mercy in what happened to them. I
think failing to die was the greatest punishment for both of them.

Ladybird.
An android created from scratch. Ladybird is another word for ladybug. I referenced the
idea that their coloration was meant to make humans like them, but apparently that
orange with black spots coloration is actually a warning color similar to a wasp’s stripes
instead of protective colors meant to blend into their surroundings. They want to show
off how violent they are to keep their enemies away and to say they would not be a tasty
treat.
Strongest physically, purely science, a true Kihara brand, lives in a limited world with no
interpersonal relationships, short with a flat chest, a racing swimsuit that shows off her
figure, and an immature mentality. She was partially designed to contrast with Frillsand
#G who will be discussed next.
You saw how she met her end, but I quite liked her casual interactions with the old Kihara.
I think forming a connection unrelated to good and evil is a very dark side thing to do. But
on the dark side, having a connection like that does not mean you can fully trust them.

Frillsand #G.
A childcare ghost and one willing to kill to that end. This is not the first time artificial
ghosts have appeared in this series since there’s also Kazakiri Hyouka and Maya of the
Kamisato Faction. Yes, and the G simply stands for ghost! There are many ways of
explaining ghosts, including physical fireballs made of plasma, holograms, or brain
malfunctions caused by ultrasonic waves, but I went with this one.
If you see a ghost, bad things will happen. If you take a ghost photo, you will be cursed.
Those are the gold standards, but a newer cliché in ghost stories is your phone dying or
your map and facial recognition apps getting buggy. I’m sure that’s just a way to isolate
the people in the story, but I think it’s fascinating that ghosts get more abilities as
technology advances. But that makes me wonder if you could convince someone there was

285

a ghost around if you made a cyber attack on their phone while they were trembling in the
darkness. Or maybe you could create a haunted room by sticking an illegal wireless router
on the other side of an old apartment’s thin wall. Although I’m not sure why a landlord
would do that since it would only drive down the value of the room. Or could you make a
new kind of haunted house like that? There are plenty of devices that jam phone signals
and you could probably design the patterns on the wallpaper to make the camera’s facial
recognition malfunction.
Since Maya wore Japanese-style burial garb, I went for a Western doll look this time. And
to create a gap from that appearance, I gave her a curvy figure. The concept of beautiful
ghosts is so common that you just have to make your spirit of the dead sexy, right!? But
instead of the Western evil spirits that can be driven out with the cross, she is more like
the Japanese Mary-san who will follow you around no matter what you try to do.
Speaking of a doll like Mary-san, I’m more drawn to the compact scary stories or cursed
items like the Kokkuri-san or Kotoribako than the one that hides under your bed or the
powerful old lady that races down the highway. But if I had to choose one of the more
monstrous types, I guess I would go with Hasshaku-sama. Maybe I just find it easier to
imagine things with a clearly-defined ritual or tool.

I think the rampage and accidents by the nameless Anti-Skill officers will also stand out
in this volume. If everything that went different from normal really was due to the Coins
of Nicholas sending people down different routes, then all of that came from the coins
given to Anti-Skill. Did those kind teachers have some unspeakable feelings lurking deep
inside them, or did they phrase their wish poorly and end up with a result they never
wanted? That is up to your imagination.

I give my thanks to my illustrators Haimura-san and Itou Tateki-san and to my editors
Miki-san, Anan-san, Nakajima-san, and Hamamura-san. I doubt it was easy mixing a
white coat, a gas mask, and a festival yukata into the same outfit. Thank you so much!!
And I give my thanks to the readers. How did you enjoy this GT dark side story where
Christmas refused to end? I hope you enjoyed the mixture of science and magic and of
light and dark. Thank you yet again!!

It is time to close the pages for now while praying that the pages of the next book will be
opened.
And I lay my pen down for now.

He really does have bad luck with (little) girls, doesn’t he?

-Kamachi Kazuma

286

Hamazura Shiage was propped up on her shoulder.
He finally managed to emerge into the open world with the help of track suit girl
Takitsubo Rikou. The track suit boy and the girl who had lent him her jacket had been
free to do what they wanted, but they had come with Hamazura and Takitsubo for some
reason.
He had chosen not to pass through the Vanishing Tunnel known as Academy City’s
Greatest Taboo.
They had climbed the long, long stairway back into the city.
“Hamazura.”
Anti-Skill was waiting for him.
Fortunately, it was Yomikawa Aiho.
He pulled away from his worried girlfriend and put his hands in the air.
“I realized it wouldn’t work.”
“…”
“I knew I could never escape the dark side if I kept walking through the darkness down
there. Even if I left Academy City and found a safe world with a warm house and comfort,
I could never escape from the dark side’s shadow. So I came here to break free.”
He looked Yomikawa in the eye.
“I will make up for my crimes.”
It was a simple statement.
He had lost his temporary goal of escaping to safety ever since he threw out the Coin of
Nicholas. He had stepped away from the direction defined by the assumption that he
could escape as long as he had that coin.
He had chosen a new goal for himself.
“But now it’s my turn to lay out the accusations for the things I was forced to do against
my will. I broke the law, but I was a victim too. I’m not giving up. I will use my rights to
do what I can in this city. Because I’m never finding freedom otherwise.”

287

“That’s the right way to do this.” Yomikawa sounded relieved. “I’ve honestly had enough
of this myself. Way too much has happened today and I doubt I have the full picture from
just my point of view. I would appreciate it if you gave me a hand. I want to cleanse this
city.”

“Takitsubo comes first. Can you arrange for her to get dialysis? And if possible, can you
help the kids heading outside the city on a train?”

Hamazura Shiage felt like he had found a new beginning here.

Bang!!

Until a dry sound reached his ears.

He had an odd almost-smile on his face.

His body tilted diagonally. He could not support his own weight any longer, so he
collapsed to the snow-wet ground.

It had come from straight ahead and at point-blank range.

The handgun that smelled like fireworks remained in the Anti-Skill officer’s holster. The
safety was even on. No one had touched it, yet the lead bullet had shot out. Yomikawa
Aiho herself looked shocked.

Hamazura understood. He recognized this cause of death.

It seemed fitting to him.

The dark side was the dark side. You could not assume you would survive just because
you started categorizing yourself as beneficial and the others as harmful.

(I guess this is my punishment for thinking I was a good person after relying on violence.)

Yomikawa had not done this. He understood that immediately. He had simply assumed
this was over when it was not. Some unseen force was likely at play. Yomikawa Aiho’s
greatest conviction was her refusal to aim her gun at a child, so it was such a cruel irony
for her gun to malfunction like this.

He felt bad for doing this to her.

He wanted to say so, but his tongue refused to move.

Takitsubo Rikou was shouting something from nearby, but her voice sounded so distant.
He could not feel her shaking him, so he could guess he was in a bad enough state that
she was hesitant to move him.

288

Good, he smiled.
He felt it was a win that this had not been aimed at his girlfriend or the gym clothes kids.
And…
(Sorry.)
His thoughts turned to something else while time slowed to a crawl for him. He smiled
and accepted it. He had never carried out his very first promise in this entire mess. He felt
that kind of sloppiness was just like him.
(I never did get that charm to your sister, did I?)

289