Toaru Majutsu no Kinsho Mokuroku - Volume 22R - Chapter Aft

Afterword
If you’ve been buying one volume at a time, welcome back. If you bought them all at once… how many even is that now?

This is Kamachi Kazuma.

22 Reverse!! I went with a bit of a weird numbering system this time. The old series was about everything leading “up to” the end of the world with Fiamma of the Right, but I think New Testament stands out by showing that the world really will be destroyed when it’s destroyed like with Othinus.

And speaking of Othinus, I also had beings known as gods coming to the forefront, I included Kamisato Kakeru’s “new territory”, and with Shokuhou Misaki and Aleister, I even tried writing stories about the past that were so hard to write because Kamijou Touma had lost his memories. If you reread New Testament as a whole, I think you will see that what happens “after” the end of the world is a lot more dynamic.

Shokuhou herself only really appeared in the novels starting in New Testament.

Like with Saten Ruiko from the Railgun side story, she was one of the characters I had come up with the idea for but would have a hard time saying is really my character, so I was relieved when I found I could write her properly.

Overall, I think I achieved a lot more freedom in a number of directions when compared to the old series that simply followed the present Kamijou along a single path, but I think I will leave it to all of you to judge whether I made enough of a difference to warrant the numbering reset in New Testament.

Now, about 22 Reverse.

In this volume, I thoroughly placed Kamijou Touma in the center.

He was driven by a reason to fight while Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage could not stay silent despite not having a real reason. That seems like an unusual structure. It’s the reverse of usual, isn’t it?

And since Aleister has withdrawn from the center stage, I was also aiming to shift the foundation of the world from Magick to a different system. I think of it like big data, AI speakers, or other terms that create a clear distinction between before and after.

…And I’ve been thinking for a while that Perfect Queen Shokuhou Misaki’s character shines through a lot more when she takes unexpected damage and is driven to the edge. It’s like how adding weight can put the scales in balance or something. Maybe she’s the captured princess type.

Shokuhou has always been referred to as the Queen of Tokiwadai’s largest clique, but that was an important point in this story since it was about how far she could fall from that position. And to make the fall all the more painful… it’s cruel, but I had to lift her up beforehand. That’s why I had her dress up in a gorgeous dress, find out that Kamijou knew about their past, and get a bit of a lead over the others.

I guess because of the dresses, this volume was really a back festival for everyone from Mikoto to Anna.

And with Index and Mikoto as well, I had them wear princess dresses to add to the symbolism of the “princess” as the person needing saving and the reward for defeating the villain. That might be even more obvious if you think of it like the slaying of a dragon that was used as a theme for OT 17-18.

Since he could not rely on Imagine Breaker this time, I got to write a dirtier battle for the first time in a while and it was quite refreshing. But this was always who Kamijou Touma really was, right? NT 20-22 were about a large war, which made it hard to write about the mental state of the single boy named Kamijou Touma, so I went all out with it here.

How horrifying a thing is it when Kamijou Touma and Imagine Breaker actively bare their fangs? This might be another obstacle the boy needs to overcome.

I give my thanks to my illustrator Haimura-san, to my editors Miki-san, Anan-san, Nakajima-san, Yamamoto-san, and Mitera-san, and to Itou Tateki-san. We start off with a bunch of dresses and a fancy party! …I imagine this was a tough one. Thank you yet again.

And I give my thanks to the readers. How did you like the New Testament series? The world was blown apart, lots of Magic Gods showed up, Kamisato caused trouble, the Golden magicians filled London, and there was a lot going on with the state of the world in addition to the characters. I would like nothing more than for at least one character to have found a place in your heart.

It is time to close the pages for now while praying that the pages of the next book will be opened… but what will even happen next time?

And I lay my pen down for now.

How many times did I get carried away and nearly let Shokuhou Misaki die?

-Kamachi Kazuma