— — — — — —
One day later…
Renzo was having breakfast in his living room with Index when two familiar guests arrived at the door.
Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl Magnus.
"Sir! We've looked into it—everything you said... it's true! We were lied to!"
Kanzaki's fists were clenched tight, her voice trembling as she fought to contain her rage.
Right now, she was seething—furious at the Church that had manipulated her.
Those bastards had tricked her. Deceived her. And for over a year, they had her chasing down and hurting Index.
It was unforgivable.
She swore she'd make them pay for it.
She'd show them what it meant to mess with a Saint.
"Hey, Kanzaki-neesan! Stiyl-nii!" Index suddenly waved with a bright smile before Renzo could even respond, cheerfully greeting the two.
She looked so at ease, like they were old friends.
"Eh…?!"
Kanzaki and Stiyl froze at the sight.
"Index…? You… you got your memories back?"
"Yup!" she nodded with a grin. "Everything's back! All of it—about the past, about you guys, too!"
"No way…"
Both of them stared in disbelief.
Her memories were supposed to have been wiped completely—thoroughly and irreversibly. There was no way she could've recovered them… right?
"It's all thanks to Renzo-nii! He's amazing!"
Index beamed and pointed to Renzo.
"Not only did he help me get my memories back, he even removed all the hidden failsafes the Church planted in me. So you guys don't need to worry anymore, okay?"
Of course, as a way of showing her gratitude, Index had already allowed Renzo to make a full copy of the 103,000 magical grimoires in her head.
A massive gain for Renzo.
Among those grimoires were countless powerful and esoteric spells—things that would be invaluable to him and other Renzos.
"You… how did you do it?"
Kanzaki and Stiyl stared at Renzo, dumbfounded.
Was he really capable of something this insane?
They were starting to realize that Renzo might be way more dangerous than they'd originally thought.
"All he did was touch my forehead like this," Index said cheerfully, mimicking Renzo's gesture.
"Ha ha! Honestly, once you reach a certain level, this kind of thing isn't that difficult anymore," Renzo said casually, smiling.
"Have you guys eaten yet? Want to join us?"
He gestured toward the breakfast spread on the table.
The smell of the food was too tempting to resist. The two hesitated briefly, then nodded and sat down awkwardly, each picking a seat.
As they began eating, Kanzaki glanced at Renzo with a complicated expression.
"…You make it sound simple, but to us… that was nothing short of a miracle."
She paused, then added, "Thank you—for not holding a grudge against us. And… thank you for helping Index."
The more she learned, the more she realized just how unfathomable this man was.
"No need to thank me. I just do what I feel like," Renzo replied with a shrug, sipping a bit of porridge.
This was a special appetite-boosting porridge invented by Chef Renzo. With his [Fantasy Creation], Renzo here could make it anytime he wanted. Super convenient.
The more relaxed and nonchalant Renzo acted, the more uneasy Kanzaki felt.
This guy really was terrifying in a way she couldn't quite explain.
"Um… sir," she spoke up again, unsure, "you're really sure all the Church's tricks inside Index have been removed? There's no risk of anything being left behind? Their methods are notoriously insidious… I-I'm not doubting your skills! Just… making sure…"
"Relax. It's all taken care of. The Church? They're not even worth my attention," Renzo said, amused, shaking his head.
"That's a relief…" Kanzaki sighed in genuine relief. Then, hesitating, she asked, "…Uh, would it be okay if we came by sometimes… to visit Index?"
She and Stiyl both looked to Index, clearly unsure of their welcome.
Renzo simply shrugged.
"Ask Index. If she's cool with it, I don't mind."
He wasn't the kind of guy to get involved in little things like that.
Besides, he'd already placed a protective measure on Index—there was basically nothing in this world that could pose a threat to her anymore. And if something somehow did come up, he could teleport to her side in an instant.
Consider it a small way of repaying her for handing over the complete collection of 103,000 grimoires.
The girl really was also pretty likable.
"Of course I'd love that!"
Index beamed with a wide smile.
With her memories fully restored, she didn't hold any grudges about Kanzaki and the others "hunting" her for over a year. She knew now that they were just putting on a show—that in reality, they'd been protecting her all along.
— — —
Mental Space
"I ran into Index recently," said Toaru Renzo while taking a seat in the shared consciousness space.
The moment he spoke, everyone's attention turned toward him.
"Index? Index Librorum Prohibitorum? So—did you get the 103,000 grimoires?" Hermione leaned forward, eyes practically sparkling.
As a witch herself, she was naturally fascinated by the magic of other worlds.
"Of course."
Toaru Renzo nodded confidently. "I've memorized them all. But there's way too much content for me to study alone, so I figured we could all pitch in. Some of these grimoires are insanely deep—I could use the help."
As he spoke, he reached out a hand toward the others.
"Heh, now that's what I like to hear! Count me in!"
"Same here! I've got free time anyway—why not?"
"Ditto."
"If even you're calling them 'deep,' then they've gotta be legit," someone added with a chuckle. "I mean, this is the Toaru Majutsu no Index world we're talking about."
One by one, everyone placed their hands on his, linking minds to receive and share the data from the grimoires. Then, they all sat down and closed their eyes to begin digesting the information.
A while later, Hermione was the first to open her eyes, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.
"Heh… just as I thought—this stuff's no joke. Their magical theory is way ahead of ours."
"Though it's pretty different from our system," she added.
It wasn't like their world's magic was weak—just… different.
"There are even basic grimoires in here that touch on spatial laws and how to comprehend them. Impressive. I'm gonna take my time with those," said Uchiha Renzo, grinning with interest.
There really was some serious high-level stuff in the collection.
No wonder Toaru Renzo wanted backup—it'd take ages to go through it all alone.
"There's time magic in here too?" Marvel Renzo blinked in surprise. "Damn… not bad! Guess that world really is home to Magic Gods."
Time-based spells were some of the rarest in existence.
If it weren't for the books he'd gotten from Kamar-Taj—or the actual Time Stone he'd acquired—he wouldn't even be scratching the surface of time manipulation right now.
"There's a ton of ice-based stuff, too. And a bunch of others. Definitely a goldmine," said Fairy Tail Renzo, nodding as he skimmed through. "Of course, let's not overhype it either."
"I hear you," Toaru Renzo agreed. "That much is obvious just from how Aleister and Aiwass operate. But still…"
"Anyway, I'm counting on all of you to help dig into these. I want to figure out how magic laws work in that world—and eventually how to counter them. The faster we understand it all, the better my chances of staying ahead."
"No problem!"
"We've got you covered!"
"Alright, I guess we'll wrap it up here for today. I still gotta go cook dinner for Cynthia."
"I need to get back to Kurenai."
"Darkness and Aqua are waiting for me too."
"Oho? So you really did make a move on Darkness and that 'useless goddess' after all? Tsk tsk. Gotta say, your tastes are… unique, Hero."
"You just don't get their charm. But that's fine—I don't need you to."
Hero Renzo waved it off and casually turned away. "Anyway, no point arguing. I'm out."
With that, he disappeared into the Konosuba world.
"Welp, time to check on my girls too," said Hentai Renzo, waving lazily.
"Bye, bro," R-18 Renzo replied, returning the wave with a grin.
Meanwhile, Hermione, feeling completely hopeless, looked over at the one person who always kept his cool no matter what.
"Aizen… I'm counting on you the most here."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure," Aizen replied with a chuckle, though he gave R-18 Renzo a strangely serious nod before vanishing as well.
That just left Zython from the Beast-verse and Mikasa from the Attack on Titan world, silently staring at each other in the shared space.
"So… newbie," Zython finally broke the silence, "you didn't get anything for us? That's worse than the Hentai guy."
Mikasa simply glanced at the dragon with cold digust —then vanished without a word.
Zython blinked.
"I was just trying to be friendly, for real."
.
.
.