Type-Moon at the Start, but an A Certain Magical Index Magician

That answer was too simple—so simple that the girl could not understand what was going on at first.

After quite a while, she finally asked, "Medea? How is that possible?! She... she took part in the Gigantomachy too?!"

"Mm, she did. What's so strange about that?" Mephistopheles said with a grin. "I can be sure she was there, since I was the one who brought her along."

"You brought her there?"

"I'm a magician. I wanted to test the effects of some new magic I'd come up with, so I went and joined the Gigantomachy. Since Medea had always been with me, we went together!"

"W-wait, you and Medea had always been together? But wasn't Medea Hecate's priestess? Shouldn't she have been at Hecate's temple?

"And wasn't she only supposed to formally appear later, during the Argo's voyage?"

"That isn't the history of your world, so don't bother looking for it." Mephistopheles said casually as he got up, walked over to the bookshelf, and began looking through its contents.

"Not our world's history? Are you saying you came from another world?"

"Other than the magecraft your family taught you, you attend an ordinary school, right? By the way, do you like science fiction novels?"

Rin Tohsaka shook her head.

Mephistopheles asked again, "What about sci-fi movies? Or video games?"

Before Rin Tohsaka could answer, he answered for her.

"All right, I should have realized sooner. Someone like you probably wouldn't bother with ordinary people's hobbies. I mean, it's your own business, but it makes it easy for you to lose touch with modern society..."

Rin Tohsaka's cheeks immediately reddened. Her eyes widened, and her breathing grew a little hurried.

I'm being told I'll lose touch with society by someone from the Age of Gods?! I'm being looked down on by an ancient person?!

Those thoughts filled her mind and refused to go away.

Rin Tohsaka took a deep breath and said in an exceptionally stiff tone, "Huh? Sorry, but I do watch television and stuff!"

"Perfect. The television in your house is really old anyway. We should go buy a new one tomorrow. I remember new televisions come with recording functions, so you can record what you want to watch while you're out doing things."

"N—" Just as Rin Tohsaka was about to shout "No money" in refusal, she saw the vaguely amused expression on Mephistopheles's face. "Let me guess. You don't know how to operate modern machines, do you? You're afraid you won't be able to learn?"

That made Rin Tohsaka swallow the words rising in her throat. Stiffening her neck, she said, "Fine! We'll buy one tomorrow, and I'll show you whether I can use it or not!"

Watching Rin Tohsaka stubbornly cling to her pride, Mephistopheles shook his head and decided not to tease her any further.

"Forget it. Buy one or don't, whatever you want. Let me continue explaining."

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers lightly. At once, a translucent, illusory image appeared before him, with a tiny dot in its center.

"Everyone faces countless choices. When you make a different choice, the course of your future changes. The different timelines produced as a result are what we call parallel worlds."

As Mephistopheles spoke, countless thin lines emerged from that tiny dot and continuously stretched outward.

"And after each choice, there will inevitably be more choices, creating more different timelines."

Then, countless more lines sprouted from the already numerous ones, branching out like the limbs of a tree.

"I came from one of those timelines. On that timeline, I took part in the Gigantomachy. Not only me—Medea did too. Because of that, history changed somewhat, and its course became different.

"If I'm not mistaken, Medea in this world met Jason very early on, yet the two of them did not end up together."

Rin Tohsaka disagreed with that.

"That's impossible. Even if Medea did not like Jason, the gods would have made her fall for him. That was the work of the goddess of love, and it was necessary for Jason to complete his adventure!"

"They wouldn't, because this time the gods would not agree." Mephistopheles smiled.

Rin Tohsaka froze. Seeing how certain he was that the gods' choice would change, she suddenly remembered the Noble Phantasm in his possession and hurriedly asked, "You're especially familiar with the Greek gods, so they've already made a new choice?"

"Not that familiar. The gift the goddess of love gave me... it only increased my charm. It isn't very useful to someone as handsome as me."

Rin Tohsaka rolled her eyes inwardly, but she could not deny it.

Mephistopheles was indeed handsome—handsome enough that, if he made a movie, women all over the world could go mad for him.

It was just that hearing him say it himself somehow made him seem very punchable.

"Still, I believe Artemis would protect her. Medea herself wasn't some little girl anymore. She knew what the gods wanted, so she would find a way to solve the problem at its root and keep herself from becoming a sacrifice."

Listening to these secrets of the past, Rin Tohsaka felt as though an entirely new world had opened before her from another angle. She asked in surprise, "The gods' purpose? Wasn't their purpose to make Jason complete this adventure?"

"Jason had no rightful claim to the Golden Fleece. Why would the gods support him? And if they did support him, why not act directly instead of helping in secret?" Mephistopheles asked. "Have you never thought about that?"

Rin Tohsaka shook her head. She raised a hand to signal Mephistopheles not to answer, then began thinking for herself.

"That's right. Jason's attempt to seize the Golden Fleece was actually caused by his own selfish desire. Though the beginning of it was his uncle Pelias's greed, Jason could have refused him entirely. Reclaiming his throne was something he had every right to do.

"According to the myths, Jason himself developed an interest in the Golden Fleece and believed taking it would be something worth boasting about, which was why he accepted the task.

"Though we can't completely trust the simplified version in mythology, there's no problem with saying Jason's own selfish desire was involved.

"When Jason arrived, Pelias could still receive an oracle from the sea god telling him to be careful. But Medea's father had clearly dedicated the Golden Fleece to Ares, and yet Ares did not even give him an oracle. That doesn't make sense either..."

Rin Tohsaka pondered, her little head working furiously. At last, she came up with a new thought—or rather, a new understanding.

"The gods' true purpose was actually to make the Golden Fleece leave the place where it originally was?!"

"You can understand it that way."

"But why?!" Rin Tohsaka asked, staring wide-eyed. "Isn't that unnecessary? The Golden Fleece was always in the human world anyway."

As she spoke, she abruptly shut her mouth, opened the book again, and quickly flipped to the story concerning the Golden Fleece.

Staring closely at the page, her breathing quickened. A delighted smile appeared on her face, like a student who had found the correct answer.

"I know! I know what happened!"

She cried out happily, then suddenly raised her head. When she saw Mephistopheles looking at her with that smiling expression, she quickly suppressed her grin, coughed, and answered in a solemn voice.

"That was because the Golden Fleece represented immortality while it was in Medea's father's hands. Only by making the Golden Fleece leave that place could the immortality bestowed by the gods be voided!"

Mephistopheles nodded slightly. "Correct. Very clever!"

The corners of Rin Tohsaka's mouth could not stop rising. She was obviously very happy.

She even continued her explanation on her own.

"Because of that, after the Golden Fleece was stolen, Ares did not punish anyone. After all, it had been the gods' own choice from the start. Mortals had done nothing wrong!"

"Yes, that was the reason. Although I did not experience that event myself, I discussed it with the gods at the time. That was the answer."

"You discussed it with gods too?!"

"Guess who else was on the Argo with me back then."

Like a child presented with a riddle, Rin Tohsaka began racking her brains again. This was much more fun than any Holy Grail War!

"You said earlier that Medea took part too, so it definitely wasn't Medea. And based on what you just said, can I assume the person you mean was a god?"

Mephistopheles nodded lightly.

"Those who became gods in the future don't count, and neither do those who had already lost their divinity." Mephistopheles reminded her, then glanced at the book in her hands. "It was someone not recorded in the Argo's adventure in your book, but very famous in Greek mythology."

The girl fell into deep thought.

She thought for a long time but could not find the answer. Just as she was about to ask, Mephistopheles said, "If you guess correctly, I'll teach you how to use that stone."

That stone?

Rin Tohsaka froze, then suddenly raised her left hand. The transparent gem at her wrist glimmered as she opened her mouth. "You know how to use this?"

"I know a little. I can teach you, as long as you guess right."

Rin Tohsaka immediately focused. Learning how to use this gem was something she had never even dared dream of. Her father had failed, and she felt she had no chance of succeeding either. Even with Mephistopheles's hints, she had still been unable to figure anything out.

But now, she actually had a chance to learn the gem's true method of use!

Yet no matter how hard she thought, she could not find any answer.

"Damn it, was it Apollo? After all, Jason received a bow from Apollo. But it could have been another god, since he received other blessings too. Could it have been Zeus? But if it was Zeus, wouldn't all the women aboard the Argo have been doomed?

"Hera? Right, Hera! Hera wanted Jason to become king, so she could have acted, and she had a reason to. But for Hera, as queen of the gods, to act directly would be a little strange..."

"You can give me—"

"I already gave you a hint."

As though he had predicted what she was about to say, Mephistopheles directly cut off Rin Tohsaka's request for help. She puffed out her cheeks, then continued recalling every word he had said.

As she went over his words one by one, Rin Tohsaka suddenly remembered what Mephistopheles had said about Medea earlier while discussing the Argo's adventure.

"It was Artemis!"

Her eyes lit up as she shouted.

Then she asked Mephistopheles, "Was I right? The god who was on the Argo with you was Artemis!"

"What a pity." Mephistopheles sighed, making Rin Tohsaka look disappointed. Then she heard him continue, "You actually guessed right! Now I really have to teach you magic!"

Rin Tohsaka abruptly glared at him. Seeing the entertained expression on his face, her teeth itched with hatred. Gritting them, she said, "So you really don't want to teach me?!"

"I'm lazy." Mephistopheles's answer remained utterly flawless. Just as Rin Tohsaka was about to say something, he lightly extended his right hand and beckoned.

Rin Tohsaka discovered that the gem hanging from her left wrist detached on its own and flew over.

Watching the gem land in Mephistopheles's hand, Rin Tohsaka felt inexplicably despondent, as though she had lost something.

However, her disappointment did not last long, because Mephistopheles did not give her the time to dwell on it.

Mephistopheles's Magic Lecture

Mephistopheles gently stroked the gem he had only been separated from for a month. Of course, for the gem itself, it had been more than a decade.

Feeling that familiar aura, Mephistopheles asked, "What kind of magic do you think this gem should be considered?"

"Magic?" Rin Tohsaka froze for a moment, but she could not be bothered to correct him now. Someone from the Greek Age of Gods might have simply become accustomed to calling it magic.

So Rin Tohsaka gave an answer based on the knowledge she was proficient in.

"This belongs to a type of Jewelry Magecraft. My family is also a lineage of magi who specialize in Jewelry Magecraft."

"Wrong. Completely wrong!" Mephistopheles shook his head. Before Rin Tohsaka's astonished eyes, he lightly tapped the gem.

Then a phantom image appeared within the previously empty gem. Handing it to Rin Tohsaka, Mephistopheles asked, "Do you understand what this means? What it represents?"

What appeared inside the gem was a grid, divided into numerous sections, with numbers in every square!

"What... is this?"

"Then take a look at this."

Mephistopheles did not answer. Instead, he changed the image inside the gem. This time, the grid vanished, replaced by a strange rune. Looking at it, Rin Tohsaka shook her head again. She truly could not understand it.

But Rin Tohsaka knew that these things represented the gem's secret. The reason this gem was so extraordinary—all its secrets were hidden within these symbols!

At that moment, Mephistopheles asked again, "Do you know Theurgy?"

"Theurgy?" Rin Tohsaka frowned. Thinking over the magical knowledge she had learned, she said, "You mean so-called spirit communication? Or perhaps a summoning ritual?"

"Spiritual Evocation? You mean the Department of Spiritual Evocation at the Clock Tower?"

Mephistopheles's words plunged Rin Tohsaka into silence. After a long while, she finally said, "You know about the Clock Tower?!"

"Yeah, I do. I almost became a student there." Mephistopheles shook his head as if the past was too painful to recall, leaving Rin Tohsaka's thoughts in chaos again.

Wait, wasn't Mephistopheles from the Greek Age of Gods? How did he know about the Clock Tower? He almost became a Clock Tower student?

"Let's not discuss my circumstances for now. It's fine if you understand it as Spiritual Evocation or spirit communication, but its target is a god." Mephistopheles effortlessly sidestepped the subject of why he had nearly become a Clock Tower student and continued teaching Rin Tohsaka.

"A god is the target?"

"That's right. For example, the targeting method. The grid and numbers you saw earlier are called a Planetary Magic Square. It is a nine-by-nine square; the sums of its rows and columns are 369, and its total is 3321. The planet it represents is the moon."

"The moon?" Rin Tohsaka had not expected the mysterious magic square inside the gem to represent the moon.

"That's right, the moon." Mephistopheles nodded lightly and continued, "The mark—or rune—that appeared afterward is actually an imprint of planetary spirituality derived from the magic square. The mark you saw represents the archangel Gabriel."

"Gabriel?!" Rin Tohsaka could not help drawing a sharp breath. That mark was actually connected to an archangel!

"So that's why you said this gem contains the power of a god?!"

"Of course. I just asked whether you understood Theurgy, didn't I? Because the way to use this gem is, in essence, an application of Theurgy."

"So you mean this gem should belong to the Department of Spiritual Evocation?"

"No. It belongs to the classification of Planetary Magic. If you insist on classifying it according to the Clock Tower, then it should belong to the Department of Astrology."

"Huh?!"