Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 19, Afterword

To those who have continued reading from Volume 1: welcome back.

To those who bought the 21 books all at once: thank you very much.

This is Kamachi Kazuma.

As explained at the start, this story is closely related to Volume 15. This volume is full of science terms and the suggestive term Dragon that appeared at the end of 15 is central to this volume’s story.

Aiwass mentioned it at the end, but there are many different types of heroes. There is Accelerator who is a villain who wishes for good more than anyone else and there is Hamazura Shiage who crept up to being a hero from his position as the dime-a-dozen small fry type of character who is clearly just going to get killed. They are different types of heroes than Kamijou Touma, so I couldn’t help but enjoy having them appear so suddenly. ...They so effectively stir things up because the main storyline is Kamijou Touma’s story. Just think of this part as the story of a villain and a thug for contrast.

With the previous appearances of Shirai Kuroko and Acqua of the Back, it seems I just love characters that risk their lives to protect something that is important to them. The subtitle for the epilogue was originally going to be Hope_in_Hand, but I decided that Brave fit the protagonists much better.

My thanks go out to my illustrator Haimura-san, my editors Miki-san and Fujiwara-san, and Iwakura-san who helped with the design of the powered suits. I feel like the unique feel of the villain side that Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage are involved in came out much better in the illustrations than it did in the text itself. I am truly grateful for all their help this time as well.

And I give my thanks to the readers as well. It’s thanks to your support and acceptance of my way of doing things that I have been able to continue this irregular series where the feel of each volume can change so drastically. There are a lot of things I want to try from here on out, so

Now 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.

What kind of battle will unfold for those protagonists who have taken bravery into their hands?

-Kamachi Kazuma