Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki

WK icon NAzusaNSFW Wiki Image

NSFW ALERT
This page contains images which could be considered
Not Suitable For Work
Reader discretion is advised

Prologue of Disturbance Chapter (II) is the 22nd volume in the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Light Novel series.

Synopsis[]

The situation surrounding Tatsuya changes. A gap within the 28 Houses invites disturbances!?

April, 2097.

Held in Yokohama, Tatsuya's behavior at the conference where the successors of the Ten Master Clans and 18 Assistant Houses gathered, creates conflict with other Houses.

Maya supports Tatsuya's judgement "all to protect Miyuki". However, at the same time sounding a warning to other Houses ―― in particular, to the Juumonji Family and Tooyama Family and their strengthened vigilance.

While at the same time, a girl from the Ten Master Clans "Mitsuya Family", Mitsuya Shiina is missing!? Yaguruma Saburou and members of First High School search for her.

Behind her affiliation to the National Defense Force, Tooyama Tsukasa, there is a shadow behind the scenes――.

Coexistence of "Humans" and Magicians. The people who gather are skeptical of Magicians, they've changed their situations altogether, the disturbance is becoming a vortex.

Chapter 1[]

Spoiler
April 14th. The conference held in Yokohama at the Magic Association's Kanto Branch, among the youth of the Ten Master Clans and 18 Assistant Houses ended before noon.

(Tatsuya decides to immediately leave and head to Yotsuba Main House to report.)

Saegusa Tomokazu tries to have Tatsuya stay for the meal being held afterwards. Tatsuya rejects Saegusa-san by saying he has something else going on.

At this moment, a female employee from the Magic Association arrives and informs Tatsuya that a VTOL is waiting on the rooftop for him.

The one receiving Tatsuya is the son of the second butler Hanabishi of the Yotsuba, Hanabishi Hyougo.

Hyougo worked for a Private Military and Security Company in the UK under a false identity until he retired. Then returned to the Yotsuba.

On the way to the Yotsuba Main House, Miyuki and Minami are picked up along with a women in her thirties.

◇ ◇ ◇

The Chiba Household and dojo are in-between Tokyo and Kawasaki.

At the time, Saburou is training at the Chiba dojo using a bamboo sword with the length of a sword, fighting Leo with a bamboo sword the length of an odachi with all his might. In the end, he was knocked out by Leo with his sword.

Saburou wanting to fight again, Erika thinks there might be after effects and rejected the idea. Thought she thinks that if he release control of his telekinesis (not sure), that he might win.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back at Yotsuba main house Maya and the younger generation of Yotsuba discuss about what happen at the Saikashintou Island and the recent meeting that Tatsuya attend. Tatsuya indicate that Captain James Jackson and Jasmine Williams of the Australian Military were sent to Miyaki Island.

Miyaki Island (巳焼島) is an imaginary island that formed 50 km east of Miyake Island (三宅島) in 2001 by undersea volcanic activity. In the beginning, there is a military base, around 2050 volcano erupted, later it was changed into prison for criminal magicians. Using backdoor deals from Aoba, it essentially became Yotsuba private territory.

Miyaki Island prison was secretly authorized by the military for Yotsuba to isolate dangerous magicians.

Miyuki, during her time at middle school, practiced Nilfheim there, Ayako had strong impression of it.

At that time, the island’s west volcano was erupting, endangering the prison for captive magicians, 8km square of molten lava was the best practice ground.

Because the facilities are old, Maya on behalf of military abolished the prison and created a military lab in name.

Maya ask Tatsuya if other people can also use the magic which neutralize other magicians, Gatekeeper.

Tatsuya says after alteration, magicians with mental interference can in principle use it. Maya asked if it has been codified. Tatsuya replied he has brought it.

Maya asks if it is possible to let the Tsukuba Family further develop it. Tatsuya does not mind it. (Because Tatsuya originally did not want to keep it a secret)

Afterwards, the discussion returns to Saegusa proposing having Miyuki be an advertising star. Fumiya and Ayako were angry. Yuuka and Katsushige disapproved. Maya supports Tatsuya’s decision and decides to ignore the issue that Saegusa wanted to make use of Miyuki.

Fumiya: Is it good to ignore? (meaning they should fight back).

Maya: If we are being attacked, then we would not have to be kind. But we cannot be careless, we are not invincible. We cannot assume that Yotsuba magicians would always win against magicians of other Houses, especially against the Jummonji Family, Tooyama Family and Kudou Minoru.

According to Maya’s calculation, the Jummonji Family, Tooyama Family and the Yotsuba Family are on another level compared to the other 25 Houses. The Tenth Institute’s purpose is to have the capital as the last line of defense. Jummonji’s Phalanx needs no more explanation, the Tooyama Family’s individual barrier can handle multiple people. Maya said, the Juumonji Family was said as "The Capital Final Defense". But ultimately, the Tenth Institute was intended as "The Central Govt Final Defense" and it's Tooyama Family. The capability wasn't wide area defense field but personal field. Not only one person, but defending multiple persons at the same time.

When Fumiya inquired whether it's the same concept as multicast, Maya said she didn't know that far.

Katsushige: Is it good to always be in a confrontational stance? Although we cannot approve using Miyuki as an advertising idol, it is not a good idea to give up cooperation with the other families concerning the anti-magician issue.

Yuuka: Then what can we do, we do not want to oppose, but we do not want to succumb, can cooperation be possible? The other party wants to make use of our next Family Head, is there any better situation? (Katsushige says that Yuuka is surprisingly aggressive)

Fumiya reckons that isolation for Yotsuba is not that scary. Even the self-claimed world strongest Stars defense ability may not be better than the Yotsuba. If there is a fight with the other numbers families, the main and side branches of the Yotsuba just have to support Tatsuya and Miyuki.

Maya reaffirms the final decision: If there are any ulterior motives towards the next head of Yotsuba, ignore all of them, on the event of being attacked, use your own personal judgement and retaliate.

◇ ◇ ◇

Saburou went to Chiba dojo and trained again. This time, his opponent was Erika. Saburou was knocked out on the floor.

Erika, after fighting, decided to shower. It resulted in her happily seeing Leo stretching his muscles in front of a mirror.

◇ ◇ ◇

The younger generation of the Yotsuba talk about Tuman Bomba.

They ask Tatsuya if he was able to trace back to the magician that cast Tuman Bomba, but he says he couldn't. Katsushige isn't fully convinced that it was Tuman Bomba. They say that the New Soviet Union has put a long distance auxiliary targeting system into practical use. Yuuka asks if it is similar to Third Eye, to which Katsushige nods. Maya says that due to the nature of the magic that is being discussed, precise aiming may not be necessary like with the Third Eye. She goes on to say that the magician must not be able to compute all the calculations to cast this magic without the help of a large computer auxiliary device.

Maya asks Tatsuya what he thinks about her speculation. Tatsuya agrees and says that it creates an activation formula covering the variable that the magician inputs and helps reduce the strain on the magician that is casting it. Yuuka is skeptical and asks if this magic is really that easy to cast with the help of an auxiliary device. Tatsuya mentions that there could be something else helping the magician out, like a magic "Booster". Yuuka mentions that the magician booster was only provided by the Hong Kong mafia, which was destroyed already. Tatsuya says that while that is true, it doesn't mean the manufacturing method is gone.

Maya changes the topic to how they should deal with it. She faces Miyuki first and wordlessly asks her to give her opinion. Miyuki says that the challenging part is how to prevent the magic that seems to be Tuman Bomba. Fortunately she has had a few discussions with Tatsuya about this subject beforehand. Maya agrees that prevention of the magic is the most important part and then asks Miyuki how she would deal with it. Miyuki says that if she can match the starting point of the magic that Freeze Flame should be able to stop it, but the timing would be very difficult.

Freeze Flame is a magic sequence that suppresses combustion by suppressing the amount of heat held by the object below a certain level. Even if Tuman Bomba combines hydrogen and oxygen to cause an explosion without applying heat, it can be stopped by Freeze Flame.

Maya then asks Katsushige how he would counter it. He says that it would depend on the scale of the attack, but that he could separate the hydrogen and oxygen immediately with his Density Manipulation magic.

Maya asks Fumiya the same question. Fumiya says that he could only cast a barrier and endure it, but if Ayako is with him that they could work together to slow down the invocation of Tuman Bomba.

Maya goes on to say that location is very critical to countering Tuman Bomba. That if the "chain-casting" part of the magic is completed to a certain point before any counter measure that it would be extremely difficult to counter. Fumiya says that due to the nature of Tuman Bomba that it should require a certain amount of water, for example seas, lakes or ponds. So that to a certain extent they should be able to predict the location.

Yuuka: "If I'm the caster of that magic, I would use it in the rain. This is not the Middle East desert area here but is Japan. To find an opportunity is not hard.”

It is mentioned that for now the most effective way to counter Tuman Bomba is with barrier magic. A few eyes turn towards Minami.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back at his home Leo, after entering the room went to the video phone. He is calling Mikihiko.

Mikihiko appears on the screen and he says that it is very rare for Leo to call him. At this time Mizuki appears in the background of the screen. Leo starts to tease him a bit, but then notices another member of the Art Club is there as well. Mikihiko says that he isn't alone with Mizuki.

Leo gets to the topic at hand and asks if Mikihiko has noticed a change in Erika's behavior lately. He goes on to explain that he has been basically "forced" to help train Saburou at the Chiba dojo. Leo asks Mikihiko if he knows anything about Saburou but he replies that he just knows about the rumors surrounding him and Erika. Leo mentions that when it comes to Saburou's training it is fundamentally different than the training he received.

Leo then explains how Erika walked into the same shower room as him. Mikihiko mentions how that kind of behavior doesn't seem to be that abnormal for Erika. However Mikihiko could tell that the situation might be more serious than he thought.

They move on and discuss that the death of Erika's brother could be the influence behind her change of behavior. They start to wonder if Erika is planning to get revenge for her brothers death. But since the Hakone terrorist hasn't been confirmed dead, due to the fact that his body is still missing. Leo then mentions Tatsuya's name, Mikihiko is surprised and says that it can't be true. Although Tatsuya did "kill him", Toshikazu was already dead. He continues to say that Tatsuya helped by putting him to rest and that the Chiba family should be grateful. While they believe that Erika would never try to kill Tatsuya, they do believe that she may try to do something. They decide to keep a closer eye on Erika for the time being. When Leo mentions that it shouldn't be that difficult for him since she is forcing him to train Saburou, Mikihiko decides to lighten the mood by mentioning that Erika and Leo make a good team.

◇ ◇ ◇

Minoru was invited to the Saegusa house, since it was too late for lunch, he was invited to dinner.

Minoru asks if Kouichi will be joining them tonight. When all the food was put on the table for Mayumi, Kasumi, Izumi and himself. Kouichi's seat has nothing in front of it.

Izumi mentions that their father must be out. Mayumi elaborates and says that he is having dinner with her older brother tonight.

Minoru's thoughts turn to himself. He is aware that he possesses very strong magic but that it is also easy for him to become sick with his weak body. Even though he could accomplish many great things, his "illness" keeps him from his goals.

His thoughts continue to wander and he is reminded that this atmosphere with the Saegusa sisters is quite relaxing, due to the fact that they don't seem to care too much about his looks. He thinks of Miyuki and how her magic left more of an impression on him and that her looks were secondary. He then thinks about the girl with Miyuki. He unconsciously laughs when he thinks about how Minami ran out of the room when he caught her staring at him trying to sleep. Minoru has warm feeling when he thinks about Minami, he also thinks she is very cute.

Izumi comments that he looks very happy. He responds by saying that he was reminded of something very funny. Kasumi calls him an ordinary boy. Minoru is happy and embarrassed.

Mayumi changes the subject by asking about the injured student from Second High School. Mayumi asks about the condition of the second high school student who was seriously injured by the attack.

Minoru: "Fortunately, everyone is fully recovering without any after effects."

Izumi was very relieved to hear of this considering her own situation that happened. Kasumi asks about the humanitarian and whether or not there will be any charges involved. When Minoru says that due to the nature of the crime and condition of the attacker that there will be no charges. Izumi and Kasumi were very upset when they heard this, they say that because the victim was a magician the attacker wasn't punished accordingly. Minoru agrees with them, but he actually is more angry about it than Izumi.

Minoru whispers to himself: "If this kind of thing keeps happening, the coexistence of man and magicians is simply impossible."

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya returned to Tokyo at 8 pm. And the place they were dropped off at was a building rooftop.

Tatsuya, Miyuki, Minami, Katsushige, Kotona and Kanata. A total of six people were present.

Hyougo was also there but excuses himself and leaves.

They ask Tatsuya and Miyuki if they know exactly where they are at. Miyuki isn't aware but Tatsuya answers that this building must belong to the Yotsuba family. Katsushige nods and says that this is the Yotsuba family's Tokyo headquarters, and that this is also a temporary dormitory for combatants of the Yotsuba.

The building is very much like a fortress, it is in the middle of a large plot of private land, with a lot of security devices. There are lots of offices without windows, and it also is designed to prevent people from being able to break in from the outside.

Katsushige mentions that he will be moving here soon, and goes on to mention that this is the headquarters that Tatsuya and Miyuki will be moving into as well. Katsushige, Kotana and Kanata say goodbye and go inside the building and Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami go home.

Back in their own living room Miyuki asks Tatsuya about the Tokyo headquarters. She calls him Onii-sama now that they are back at home, she still isn't used to calling him Tatsuya-sama yet.

Tatsuya says that last year they were told they would have to move to the Tokyo headquarters now that their identities were made public, but that he didn't think it would be this soon. Miyuki asks Tatsuya if Maya believes there is a need to protect themselves at this point in time, and if someone is planning to make a move against them. Tatsuya says that it is possible.

Miyuki asks if Maya is thinking about the other 27 families. Tatsuya says that it's not necessarily just the 27 Houses, Miyuki then mentions the government. Tatsuya says that since the government isn't united that it isn't likely. He goes on to say that the possibility of the Defense Forces getting involved is more likely. Sensing that Miyuki is tense Tatsuya puts his hand on top of Miyuki's. He tells Miyuki that he will not let the conflict progress to that point, and gently combs Miyuki's hair. Minami begins to feel uneasy with this scene and disappears.

Chapter 2[]

Spoiler
An explanation of Tsukasa and her position in the Defense Forces, as she visits Gen. They talk about the meeting and Tatsuya. Gen said that Tsukasa didn't have any authority to test Tatsuya, but Tsukasa insist, testing didn't require any authorization. Tsukasa asks for Gen to lend Shiina for the plan and Gen makes a smart remark that he doesn’t really have a choice.

◇ ◇ ◇

At the student council room Tatsuya has a discussion with Takuma about the meeting. He asks why Tatsuya put himself at a disadvantage. Takuma specifically asked Tatsuya about why Tatsuya acted antagonistic in the meeting. Hence Tatsuya gave his reasoning. Takuma said if he explained it before walking out of meeting, everyone wouldn't hold such hostility toward him. Tatsuya refuted him if he gave his card just like that, Tomokazu would push him harder in that very place even after giving his reasoning. So in order to avoid that, Tatsuya didn't say anything except declining plan. Tatsuya also mentions that co-existing with people that don’t want to co-exist is difficult.

◇ ◇ ◇

Saburou runs into Leo and they have a conversation. Erika and Mizuki join in. When the usual gang of 4 (Mikihiko, Mizuki, Leo, and Erika) talking the usual banter and about a week of recruitment, the chat then moved to Miyuki and lastly to Tatsuya. The reason why this year a week of madness seemed docile compared last year, maybe because Tatsuya they thought. Saburou after hearing that earnestly asked about Tatsuya.

Mikihiko: Very excellent person. His magic knowledge already surpasses university level.

Leo: Not only his magic. I'm confidence with my physical strength but I have to decline if I have to fight him. I don't think I will even be able to stand after that.

Mizuki: Tatsuya-san is really not a scary person. If anything, he's a gentleman and not a greedy person.

Erika: Very strong. While he doesn't seem good in practical class in school, but in actual battle, he's strong. As if he's hiding bottomless strength. Very decisive person. Knows his priority well. Never moves because of tears or sexual temptation. In other word, a person who can be trusted, but at the same time a very cruel person. In this world, his most important priority is Miyuki. Miyuki alone. If he has to decide to save between the 5 of us here and Miyuki, he won't hesitate to save Miyuki.

Erika, from Leo's observation, wanted revenge, but it's not about killing but like defeating Tatsuya once or something like that. If it's boy, it's like "I've got to punch him in the face at least once, or I won't settle down"

◇ ◇ ◇

Saburou and Shiina are having a conversation about the discussion Saburou had with everyone. Then they talk about the Miyuki idol project. They discuss what an idol Miyuki would look like.

[Illustration]

Chapter 3[]

Spoiler
The morning of the second day after the gathering of the next Heads of the Ten Master Clans.

Tatsuya is finishing up his early morning training with Yakumo.

Yakumo tells Tatsuya that unpleasant things are about to happen. Mentioning that the Intelligence Department is on the move. Tatsuya commenting back in surprise at the mention of the Intelligence Department.

(The fact that the Intelligence Department was planning something wasn't particularly surprising. That they're always planning something is normal.) Yakumo tells Tatsuya that this time around they aren't going directly after him. Yakumo tells him that if Tatsuya gets involved unnecessarily, that the situation would get worse. To which Tatsuya tells him that he won't get involved then.

◇ ◇ ◇

That night an incident took place.

The location is the Makuhari New City Center, where a Japanese factory of the USNA's magic engineering equipment maker "Maximilien Device" is situated. It's attacked late that night.

The factory isn't unmanned, specifically the part of the building that operated as a factory. The factory was built as a USNA work base at the strong demand of the U.S. Military.

At the secret U.S. Military base, Sylvia Mercury First of Stars, a magician unit directly under the command of the USNA Military Joint Chiefs of Staff is fighting desperately.

Sylvia announcing during the incident that the surveillance camera's have been silenced and that the jamming is too strong for them to communicate back to their country.

While listening in on communication between the staff and Commanding Officer of the base, Sylvia is able to grasp the situation well enough.

Half of the squads having been attack, support is being asked for to their Headquarters. Their Bravo Leader trying to figure out if they can rescue Charlie. Sylvia used her magic, which is called "Voice Transmission (Trans Voice)".

The Planetary-Class are suitable for support in the rear and sabotage work, but compared to Stars-Class and Satellite-Class, they are unsuitable in combat. As the attack went on the decision to abandon the base was met with some reluctance after the Commander decided to do so. After sensitive data was erased the emergency procedure was to abandon the base through a door, but the door that moment gas been broken open with a loud sound.

The USNA soldiers started using high-powered rifles against the invaders who were using objective barriers. (First-Class Stars can defend against the rifle, but the Second-Class Stars themselves would have difficulty.) Even so the enemy troops invaded and defended against the bullets.

(The fact that the strength of the Japanese Military is now common knowledge and is recognized among the militaries of the world, Sylvia remembered the warning from Lina before the operation.)

In a short amount of time the escort unit was wiped out. All other units went silent.

Tooyama Tsukasa, a Sergeant, being a non-commissioned officer spoke giving her name and affiliation, being that of the National Defense Army Intelligence Department Capital City District Counterintelligence Affiliated Unit; asking for who the Commanding Officer was. Thus First-Lieutenant Gary Jupiter of the USNA Special Operations Military Magician Unit "Stars" responded.

Tsukasa recognized the significance and the strength of someone with the code name "Jupiter".

Tsukasa asked for them to surrender because continuing to fight would be meaningless. Restraining from gritting his teeth, Gary asks if the safety of those with him would be guaranteed. To which Tsukasa comments that they aren't in any position to demand protection as POW's as those who are current offenders of illegal activities. Before he could argue with her, she continued on saying that they don't intend on hurting any soldiers and that the bullets they've used have been paralysis bullets. Thus Sylvia checks a soldier to confirm if it's true, to which it is. Gary and the other soldiers being detained by Tsukasa would only be harmed if hostile action like that being taken against those who would try to escape would be the repercussion. Saying that they would be able to return home soon. Though Gary had reservations about the conditions, he thanks Tsukasa for the humanitarian response and submits to the demand of disarmament.

◇ ◇ ◇

Three hours later at the Headquarters of Stars. Lina walks straight into the office of the Commanding Officer, Colonel Walker, in spite of not having an appointment, she is allowed in. She asks him about what has happened in Japan. He responds that they've all been arrested. Along with information that no dead bodies if there are any had been left behind.

Lina gritting the back of her teeth wonders if Sylvia is still alive, but responds by saying that as long as there are no corpses, that they could still be alive.

She asks for permission to go to Japan as the Head-Captain of Stars and rescue the soldiers. She is told that it's unfortunate, but she wouldn't be allowed to.

Lina mentions that rescuing them would be easy, but is told in response that if it were so easy where did she intend to rescue them from? She said that she would obtain the support of a "local", a high level Ninjutsu-user, the "Priest Yakumo" in a previous report. Lina is certain of this, but is told that she can't be dispatched and that the situation the year before abroad was an exception. Although, he tells her that Staff Headquarters would never abandon deployed troops.

Even though they were hundreds of miles from New Mexico across the Pacific Ocean to Japan, Lina couldn't help Sylvia.

This reminding her of Tatsuya's words that if she ever wanted to retire from Stars, to quit as a soldier. That he is convinced that Lina is unsuitable to be a soldier. Lina didn't understand why she was remembering this.

Chapter 4[]

Spoiler
At the Magic University Mayumi and Mari are meeting up with Katsuto.

There are still rumors going on about an engagement between Katsuto and Mayumi, to which Mayumi dislikes being rumored about.

Katsuto doesn’t seem like himself, so they ask him how the youngsters conference of the 28 Houses went. He doesn’t talk about it right away, so they ask Mari how things at the Defense Academy are going.

They move to a private room. Mari asks if she should leave but Mayumi pulls her by the sleeve to sit back down.

[Illustration]

Mayumi then brings up if Katsuto wants to talk about Tatsuya and how the conference went.

They discuss the idol project, Mari comments that Tatsuya would never let that happen. Katsuto goes on to explain how Tatsuya left before the meal and in an antagonizing way. Mari asked if anyone helped support Tatsuya to which Katsuto says no. They then discuss how the Yotsuba’s uncooperative actions are starting to cause them to isolate themselves from the others. It is then mentioned that the Yotsuba are a very unique and important House among the Ten Master Clans, that if they leave and start their own faction it would become a very major issue.

The three change back to the topic of the youngsters conference of the 28 Houses and anti-magician movement. They discuss if another conference is going to be held and how likely that Tatsuya or the Yotsuba will even attend. They hope that they can get Tatsuya to compromise. They then propose going to Tatsuya and Miyuki personally to try and resolve the issue.

Chapter 5[]

Spoiler
Tatsuya takes Miyuki and Minami to Miyuki’s etiquette lessons. Tatsuya leaves Miyuki to Minami because he is not allowed to accompany Miyuki to these lessons.

Tatsuya heads to a coffee shop to kill time until Miyuki’s lessons are done as usual. Tatsuya only finishes about half of his cup of coffee before he gets up to leave. He knows that people are watching him and planning an ambush, he leaves the coffee shop to try and avoid involving civilians.

As Tatsuya leaves he examines the magicians watching him, they are USNA soldiers. Why are USNA soldiers attacking us again?

◇ ◇ ◇

Tsukasa is monitoring the scenes and orders the USNA soldiers to take action. She smiled while listening and watching, for now her strategy is going well. Tsukasa is using "Puppet Law" it is an ancient magic in which chemical gases can control the mind, she uses this to control the USNA soldiers. She is aware of what happened to Tatsuya when he was attacked by Stardust last year. She recreates a very similar scene but is using puppetry like Gu Jie did. She sits back and waits for progress with her usual creepy smile.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya examines 12 enemies that are not armed with guns. He finds it very similar to his encounter with Stardust. He realizes that the enemies are being controlled and in a way that is similar to Gu Jie’s puppet technique.

He thinks to himself that he was honestly trying not to get into a conflict like he told Yakumo. He can’t believe that the Intelligence Department plans to use captured USNA soldiers to attack him and Miyuki. Tatsuya beings to walk towards his would-be attackers, he’s trying not to involve unrelated people. He notices that most of the traffic has been cleared away already, he decides to face this head on to try and confuse the ambushers.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back to Tsukasa as she monitors the progress as Tatsuya walked to where people still there, so Tsukasa deduced Tatsuya isn't an idealist. As Tatsuya fights Tsukasa is wondering if he is aware that he is being observed, a magician who is accustomed to working in the shadows knows how to operate in this situation.

The controlled USNA soldiers are attacking using melee weapons, the Intelligence Department does not give firearms to puppets. Tatsuya decided to fight without using any magic, because of the psion sensors is what she thought at first but then she thinks that Tatsuya has skill to invoke prevent magic from being detected by the psion sensors, as Tatsuya knocks out one of the soldiers.

Because the soldiers being used in this operation are puppets Tsukasa isn’t very concerned, she doesn’t see anything wrong with using them either. Brainwashing people is something she see very often in her field of work.

She orders the soldiers to hurry up with their attack on Tatsuya. Immediately after the command was given by the captain Tatsuya knocks out four soldiers at once. Tsukasa raises the ranking of Tatsuya’s fighting ability.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tsukasa turns her thoughts to Miyuki for a moment, only children of high class families are allowed to attend this private establishment. Security is appropriate for a place like this but she isn’t very worried about it.

As the alarm sounds in the establishment, there is a call not to panic and evacuate according to procedure. There were 10 students inside taking lessons at the time. Minami asks Miyuki what they should do and she says to take it easy until Tatsuya shows up.

The security guards are fighting in the background, and just then an electromagnetic attack magic was shot in their direction. Minami was able to block the attack with her barrier. Another student and guardian thank Minami for the help and introduce themselves as Tsunashima and Tsunaga, they say that they are new to these classes, but Miyuki doesn’t recall ever hearing the names of these two and finds it suspicious.

A man with dark skin appears and releases magic from behind the students, but it is blocked by Miyuki’s interference, the man is knocked out.

Another intruder shows up, as Miyuki was about to cast magic again there is a wave of cast jamming that interferes with her magic. She notices a brass ring reflecting in the light.

Minami is worried about Miyuki but she tells her not to worry, she has been wanting to test this new magic. Miyuki freezes the psion noise from the cast jamming.

Freeze Gram is a counter magic that Miyuki learned with the help of Tatsuya. Freeze Gram has limitations that it can only counter before magic invocation, because no magic is able to overwrite invoked magic. Freeze Gram is more efficiently used against any non-systematic magic. Since Cast Jamming is only a psion noise, which is a type of non-systematic magic itself, Freeze Gram is most efficient against Cast Jamming.

Miyuki's magic specializes in the concept of stopping something that is in motion, this is why she is good at freezing magic. Her true magic specialty is not freezing, it is stopping motion. Freeze Gram stops the psions themselves in the opponent's spell and thus cancels invocation.

Miyuki comments that there seems to be a few more people left fighting, but decides to leave it to the guards and wait for Tatsuya to arrive, Minami agreed. They enter the safe room with the other students and Minami waits in front of the locked door waiting to take action.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya arrives at the etiquette school, although he knew it was attacked he never received a notification from the school about it which makes him think that communication has been jammed in the area. Yakumo never mentioned that Miyuki was a target as well. He checks on Miyuki and can tell that she hasn’t been harmed in any way. He also locates the hidden intruder and enters the male forbidden school.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tsukasa actually has very shallow emotions. She only eats and sleeps to keep her body functioning correctly. It’s the price she pays for her power. Tsukasa decides to enter the battle. Among the students, there’s one of Tsukasa’s underlings and one girl acting as her bodyguard. Since there in no camera in the safe room, Tsukasa cannot monitor the situation but she can sense their positions in the Information Dimension.

Tatsuya has dealt with the remaining USNA soldiers outside the room. Tsukasa checks to make sure she has established a connection with her men inside. This connection is critical for her to setup her remote barriers. It’s unique magic to the Tooyama Family, and a virtual construct. It can't be used to read anothers mind, and it doesn't mean that information from the five senses is relayed. It also can't be used to manipulate an intentional direction. Tsukasa only knows where her opponents are magically located. It can only identify the coordinated in the Information Dimension.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya enters the safe room, Miyuki is very pleased that Tatsuya arrived so quickly. Then the new student and guardian reveal themselves. Tsukasa's underlings attacked Tatsuya and another taking another student as hostage but Tatsuya didn't heed any warning about killing the hostage.

Tatsuya fights with Tsunaga but suddenly before attacking there's a barrier protecting Tsunaga.

[Illustration]

Tatsuya can’t help but be surprised at a magic barrier appearing without an invocation of magic. Tatsuya tries to retrace the magic but cannot find any link to where the sudden magic came from.

Tatsuya reaches a hand towards the knife at the hostage’s throat and decomposes it.

Tatsuya used Gram Dispersion to break that barrier and used Armor-Piercing Psion Bullet. A polished version of Far Strike. Even that Psion Bullet should able to penetrate Tomitsuka's Psion Armor, to knockout Tsunaga.

As for Tsunashima, before he kicked her another barrier suddenly appeared to defend her but this time Tatsuya used Gram Dispersion to break the barrier and the kick connected.

The kick hit her chest and stopped her heart, Tatsuya used flash cast to cast a weak bolt of lightning to use as a defibrillator to restart the Tsunashima's heart. (If it wasn’t for Yakumo’s warning he would not have considered this).

◇ ◇ ◇

The barrier was invoked by Tsukasa remotely, after opening her half eyes, she contemplate about the magic that able shattered her barrier instantly and she deduced whether it's Gram Dispersion. But she revoked her thought and believed Gram Dispersion is only exists in laboratory without anyone able to wield it.

Tatsuya then begins to try and trace the magic that cast the remote barriers again. He knows the barriers weren’t created by the two female magicians in the safe room. The possibility of there being magic that use human beings as a magic relay point is rare, but not impossible. He believes they used some form of sensory skill to determine the coordinates in the Information Dimension. When trying to trace the magic back the path becomes too thin for him to follow.

Tatsuya’s elemental sight can’t see everything, it seems the magician that cast the barrier was careful enough to not leave any traces in the Information Dimension. If they used that magic at full power he would be able to trace it.

Miyuki calls out to Tatsuya in a worried voice, but he tells her not to worry. Tatsuya then tells Minami to call the police while he searches for anyone that might be injured.

Chapter 6[]

Spoiler
April 20th, at the student council room there is no sign of the Student Council President or the Secretarial Chief. Miyuki is accompanying Tatsuya to a special meeting called by Mayumi, and naturally, Minami is also with them. They did not mention this meeting to Izumi. In the student council room are Izumi, Kasumi and Shiina. Izumi is handling reports from recruitment week.

Izumi and Kasumi start talking about Miyuki and what possible meeting she might have, while PIXIE is serving them tea. They mention that Mayumi was also going to be gone this afternoon for a meeting as well. The twins continue to talk about Miyuki in their usual manner while Shiina watches them with a confused face. The twins finally deduce that Mayumi is meeting with the Shiba siblings and wonder what kind of conversation needs to be had. They wonder if it’s related to the youngsters' conference of the 28 Houses. They also feel some dissatisfaction in the way that Tatsuya handles certain issues. They respect the fact that he cherishes Miyuki, but at the same time, they wish he would be more conscious of how others feel and react.

Kasumi and Izumi continue to talk about Tatsuya. They mention that he seems to be very good at reading people's emotions, but that he doesn’t act upon it unless it directly affects Miyuki or himself. They consider him to be a very cold-blooded man. When they look over at Shiina her face is red and she’s covering her cheeks. When they ask her why she is blushing, Shiina says that Tatsuya’s heart is dedicated solely to Miyuki, as a girl she is very envious.

They change the topic back to the meeting Tatsuya is attending, they mention how a few people including Mayumi seem to very troubled over the actions of Tatsuya at the young conference of the 28 Houses. Izumi says that Mayumi is probably meeting with Tatsuya to try to get him to compromise. The Yotsuba Family is an important House among the Ten Master Clans. She also says that she would like to see Miyuki as an Idol. Kasumi wants to go spy on the meeting.

Honoka and Shizuku enter from the stairway that connects to the Public Morals Committee room, and they ask what Kasumi and Izumi are doing. Kasumi and Izumi had been staring at each other in a very peculiar manner, Shizuku jokingly calls them narcissists which causes the twins to frantically explain themselves.

Shiina receives a message that she has a visitor. She asks for permission to leave and go meet the guest, the others say they will take care of cleaning up. As she leaves the Student Council room her bag with all of her personal items was left behind.

◇ ◇ ◇

Behind First High School is an extensive training forest, it is a preferable place to practice magic and not disturb the private housing in the surrounding area. Since it is a very popular place for students to practice, the training forest is particularly large in size and contains artificial hills, a pool, and a long waterway. This is a male student who is running through the artificial forest, who is constantly looking behind to see if anyone is catching up to him. The male student is Saburou and he is running away from his pursuers.

At Erika’s request, the Mountain Club is cooperating with Saburou’s training. Ten members including Leo are chase after him while he runs away. The goal is to run 5 km through the training forest without being caught, and he is allowed to go anywhere within the forest. The pursuers are given a toy knife and if they can touch Saburou with the knife he has to start all over again.

Saburou was optimistic when he was told of the conditions. The point is that you can’t have the toy knife touch you, and even if they do catch up with him he would be able to handle the knife and escape when he sees the opportunity. Saburou is not allowed to have a knife and he cannot counterattack. However, the pursuers are allowed to team up on him which doesn’t seem to bother Saburou. But Leo, on the other hand, is the most difficult one to handle.

Saburou had heard that Leo only trained for a few months before the Yokohama incident and was able to master some very impressive techniques. Saburou, on the other hand, has been training for a very long time at the Third Institute. Many active soldiers train at the Third Institute so he had been exposed to this sort of training many times before. Saburou was very confident in his abilities, that is until he entered 1st High School. He was reminded that he has a long way to go. Erika has crushed him every time they have fought. Yayoi Saito, she is also a very strong swordsman that has beaten him a few times, she has a unique skill called “Tiger Cut”. And when he met Leo at the Chiba dojo he could tell that Leo was strong physically but didn’t realize how good his sword skills were. Leo uses power and stamina rather than technology and intuition to overwhelm the opponent.

Focusing back on the task at hand it’s best not to get caught and just flee. Saburou has already been caught a few times and has probably run close to ten kilometres. If he doesn’t survive this round he will probably collapse from exhaustion. Saburou picked up the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him, when he looks back he sees a familiar figure, it’s Leo. Saburou thought “this is bad” and decides to stop being stealthy and ran as fast as he could.

Saburou is lying down in an open area within the forest, he is down due to exhaustion and couldn’t complete the race. Leo walks up to him and asks him if he is ok, he replies “Yes”. Saburou says that he was not able to complete the race, and comments on the strength of the Mountain Club, which makes Leo laugh. Saburou is able to raise himself up but slightly staggers.

Erika mentions that if it's not too much trouble then Mikihiko, the Chief of the Public Morals Committee can practice with Saburou and that Miki doesn't need to use magic. Let alone that even without the use of magic, he's one of the most influential students at the school.

All to which Saburou earnestly agrees with being able to practice with Mikihiko. Miki hesitated for a moment at what Erika was saying before taking off and handing his coat over to Mizuki.

Mikihiko and Saburou practice techniques against one another with their arms and legs.

Meanwhile, Leo is drinking a blend of tea and juice. While Erika watches on at Saburou who has a bitter face while fighting.

After 30 minutes of practicing, Saburou wasn't able to keep standing anymore.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back in the Student Council room, Izumi comments that Shiina seems to be late. Kasumi agrees and says that it is taking quite long for just going to see a visitor. Izumi asks PIXIE who was it that came to see Shiina and PIXIE answers that it is private information and can’t be answered. Honoka asks how long Shiina has been gone and PIXIE answers that it has been around sixteen minutes. Shizuku says that something is funny when Honoka inquires she says that Shiina’s stuff is still here. Kasumi gets up to leave, Izumi asks where she is going and that even if she goes to ask the faculty about the situation she will be refused due to protection of privacy. Kasumi tells her that she is going to see Saburou, she knew he was practicing with the Mountain Club today.

◇ ◇ ◇

Kasumi finds Saburou with Mikihiko, Erika, Leo and Mizuki. She asks Saburou why Shiina left so suddenly. When Saburou hears this, he is shocked to the point that he stops breathing and starts turning blue in the face. The only word he can manage to say is “gone”.

Kasumi: “Saburou have you not heard.”

Saburou immediately runs over to his bag and pulls out his mobile information terminal and puts the headset in his ears. He calls his father and tells him that Shiina is gone, and asks if he has heard anything. His father tells him to wait there for a minute and that he will call him back.

A minute later Saburou’s father calls back and says that nobody in the family has heard anything. His father did not scold him by saying “Why were you not watching Shiina” due to the fact that he is not her bodyguard but Saburou is already internally blaming himself. Saburou tells his father that he had only just heard about this just a few moments ago. His father then tells him not to do anything just yet, if he moves too hastily without knowing the circumstances that it would just cause more trouble. He says he will keep Saburou updated with any information that he receives, and that there is a possibility that Shiina will return to the school so he should wait there for a while.

Kasumi mentions that all of Shiina's belongings are still in the Student Council room. Erika proposes that they go to the Student Council room, Leo wonders what intentions Erika has. Mikihiko asks what will happen when they go to the Student Council room, and that they can’t forcibly ask the faculty about Shiina’s visitor. He says that they are not like Tatsuya or Juumonji and will not be able to convince the faculty to cooperate.

When asked again about going to the Student Council room, Erika replies that PIXIE is in the Student Council room.

Leo: “Ah, that’s right, but will PIXIE tell us?”

Kasumi: “PIXIE has already said that it is private information and will not be able to answer.”

Erika: “If it’s an emergency situation, PIXIE can probably answer us.”

They start heading towards the Student Council room.

Leo: “This is going to be my first time in the Student Council room.” He was just speaking his mind, he did not mean it as a joke.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back at the Student Council room, the group is asking PIXIE to tell them who Shiina’s visitor was.

PIXIE: “Without the approval of Master I cannot answer.” Honoka understands the reason why PIXIE is acting this way, due to the fact that PIXIE’s mental capacity was influenced by Honoka. PIXIE wishes to devote everything to Tatsuya.

Shizuku: “Your master is absent from the Student Council for important purposes.”

PIXIE: “Correct.”

Shizuku: “If you contact Tatsuya-kun, you may get in the way of interrupting his work.”

PIXIE: “That is reasonable judgement.”

Shizuku: “If you do not admit that this is an emergency, then that will be the case.”

PIXIE: “Master’s distraction is not permitted.”

Shizuku: “Please tell me, so I don’t get in Tatsuya-kun’s way, I want to know what happened to Shiina.”

PIXIE is silent for a moment, then goes on to say that they must not disclose the confidential information without Tatsuya’s permission. They can tell that PIXIE changed the priorities of her own will and they all agree with PIXIE’s terms. PIXIE says that the visitors were messengers from the Mitsuya Family. Erika says that the Mitsuya Family doesn’t know anything about it. PIXIE hacks into the camera feed and shows them the video on a large-sized display. They see on the display two men and a woman meeting with Shiina. Saburou seems to recognize them, when Izumi asks him about it he replies that they are both Defense Forces soldiers.

Izumi says that surely there are many active soldiers that use the Third Institute. Kasumi says that surely the Defense Forces who are close to the Mitsuya would not just take her. Leo says what if the soldiers deceived Shiina in order to take her. Mikihiko comments that Leo’s theory about abducting Shiina makes sense. Erika quickly rebukes him and tells him not so say such things. Mikihiko takes a quick look at Saburou, noticing that his complexion has become very pale again and says that he is sorry. Leo says that it is unusual for soldiers to come to get a high school girl. But if the soldiers are familiar with the Mitsuya and the Third Institute they may be worrying about nothing. Mikihiko comments that the Mitsuya is unaware of the soldiers visiting right? Shizuku suggests that Saburou should go ahead to see if Shiina actually went home, Honoka agrees. Erika calls out to Saburou and tells him to go home, but Saburou reminds them that his father told him to stay here for the time being.

Shizuku says that just in case they should contact Tatsuya, while Honoka suggests that they should contact Miyuki. Izumi asks if they should really disturb Miyuki, to which Shizuku says that they will send her a message instead of calling.

◇ ◇ ◇

When Honoka’s mail arrives, Miyuki is at a beauty salon. The meeting with Mayumi wasn’t scheduled until 5 o’clock, so she had plenty of time to stop in. It was a high-end salon, so there are never too many customers in it. Miyuki also requested that Minami join her.

Because it is a high-end salon it has a place for guests and bodyguards to wait. Tatsuya is reading a book behind Miyuki, it isn’t a paper book but an electronic book.

Miyuki suddenly hears the sound of her terminal which indicates that she has received an urgent message. Miyuki asks Tatsuya to check her terminal for her, he asks her again just to make sure. He isn’t that insensible enough to just read someone else’s private communications.

Tatsuya says the message is from Honoka, and that Shiina has been taken away from the school. Miyuki is shocked and tried to turn her head towards Tatsuya but the hairdresser tells her not to move her head. Tatsuya goes on to mention that two men and a woman who seemed to be soldiers came to visit and that Shiina hasn’t been seen since. Tatsuya begins to speculate that Shiina may have been compelled to go with them due to the fact that the soldiers didn’t use force. The security system at 1st High has strengthened after the terrorist attack two years ago. Miyuki asks if they should return to the school, but Tatsuya says no, and that even though this might be a kidnapping it should be left to the police. Tatsuya then thinks to himself that if Miyuki was ever kidnapped there wasn’t the slightest possibility he would say that.

Miyuki asks about the police. Tatsuya says that at this stage it will be difficult to label this as a kidnapping, but since she is a direct descendant of the Mitsuya they should make an exception. The Mitsuya have their own connections with the police. He also mentions that Erika will probably be motivated to help as well. Miyuki asks if it’s okay to leave it up to them, she is expressing her concern that they are the only ones not doing anything to help.

Tatsuya says that there is something that they have to do first. To which Miyuki agrees.

◇ ◇ ◇

At the Mitsuya house, Mitsuya Gen and his son Motoharu are having a conversation. Motoharu asks his dad if it’s true that Shiina has been kidnapped. Gen nods his head. When they listen to the report from Saburou, Motoharu mentions Tooyama Tsukasa. The appearance of the soldiers hinted him to the person behind it. They mention that Saburou must not have noticed Tsukasa and that he must have never met her as well. With as much time as he has spent with Shiina, they were surprised he never met Tsukasa. Gen goes on to say that Tsukasa must have chosen her men carefully, due to the role played by the Tooyama Family there are probably only a few people who know their identity.

Gen moves on and starts giving an explanation about the Tooyama Family. The Tooyama Family operates in the shadows. Motoharu asks if there is more to the magic of the Tenth Institute other than physical and anti-magic barriers. Gen says that was originally the plan but due to the special nature of the invocation of the magic barrier, the Tooyama was given the role of being more than that than just shields. Thus the Tooyama Family was incorporated into the National Defense Forces Intelligence Department, Counterintelligence Unit.

Motoharu comments that the Mitsuya Family also cooperates with the military by gathering intelligence and information in the East Asian region. Gen corrects his son by saying that the Tooyama Family doesn’t “cooperate” but actually became a part of the Intelligence Department and secretly wield influence within it.

Gen then explains that the Tooyama Family are essentially similar to the Yotsuba in terms of power, but that their abilities aren’t as unique. But the Tooyama Family isn’t well known to the public, they work in the shadows. Since they are virtually unknown to the public, they aren't labelled an evil or scary family like the Yotsuba Family. Gen says that when interests of the country are pursued, magicians can profit, the profit being the 28 Houses, if things are going well.

However, it is possible among the 28 Houses to profit from the agreement if it's devised. Due to the unknown threat of the Yotsuba Family, such a thing is much more troubling. Although Shiina not being injured is the plan, if Tsukasa fights against the Yotsuba Family, then she'll be aiming for Tatsuya. All as to try and get rid of potential threats to the Tooyama Family. Gen mentions that it's not like that there is no possibility, but that they can't do anything. That even if there is a battle between the Tooyama and Yotsuba, that they'll have to stay out as bystanders.

◇ ◇ ◇

Shiina is currently riding in a large sedan that is not only very spacious but is a very comfortable ride, comparable to a limousine. It pulls up to an old western-style mansion, the scenery is comparable to a location used for horror movies.

Tsukasa asks Shiina to please go inside the building so that she doesn’t catch a cold. When Shiina enters she can’t help but admire the view, although the mansion looks old on the outside it is very luxurious on the inside.

Tsukasa leads Shiina to her room and tells her to use it freely, it was a very nice room with a large bed and lots of expensive antique furniture. Even Shiina can’t help but wonder how much all of this costs. Tsukasa informs her that there is a change of clothes in the closet and that she will be staying overnight as well. Shiina asks if all of this is necessary, and thanks Tsukasa. Tsukasa says thank you for her cooperation in this operation and reminds Shiina that she is not allowed to contact anyone.

After Tsukasa leaves the room Shiina reaches into her coat and pulls out her mobile information terminal. Although she left all of her personal belongings back in the Student Council room, she still brought this along. She confirmed that her mobile terminal has no signal. She opens up the closet and changes out of her school uniform. She tries out the bed and starts to think about the kind of situation she is in. Shiina is unaware that Tsukasa has already gone to her family and asked for permission for her to be apart of this operation. She feels bad for deceiving her family and friends.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back in the Student Council room, Honoka receives a message, Erika asks if it’s from Miyuki. Honoka replies that it’s from Tatsuya, and she can’t but be shocked by Tatsuya’s response, he says to leave this situation to the police. Erika asks to see the message herself and can’t help but be disappointed. They say that Tatsuya must believe that Shiina was taken away. Mikihiko comments that since there is no evidence that the police may not even respond that quickly. Leo says that the Mitsuya Family will report this situation to the police and that it might be better to just leave it to them. Izumi agrees and says that it is the smart thing to do since there is a limit as to what they can do outside of school. Kasumi says what happens if we leave it to the police and they don’t make it in time. Izumi asks Kasumi what they should do then, she can tell that Kasumi is starting to get very emotional. Kasumi says that they only need to use the information network of the Saegusa Family to find her. Izumi says that their father is out of town, so who are they going to ask to do it. Kasumi suggests asking Mayumi, but Izumi says that she is about to meet Shiba-senpai and that they don’t know where the meeting place is at. Kasumi leaves the room and Izumi follows after her.

Leo asks what they should do, should they take Tatsuya’s advice or not. Erika says that she will leave it to the police but that she is not going to be waiting on them either. Mikihiko asks her what she intends to do. Erika remarks that there is a lot of police officer who has trained at the Chiba dojo.

◇ ◇ ◇

The meeting place that Mayumi picked out for today is a restaurant in Akasaka. Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami arrive a few minutes before the scheduled meeting time. They are lead to a private room where Katsuto is already waiting for the others to arrive. Tatsuya sits down with Miyuki sitting next to him and Minami sits behind Miyuki. There is a moment of silence but just a second before Tatsuya and Katsuto were about to speak Mayumi and Mari enter. Mayumi sits next to Katsuto with Mari sitting next to Mayumi.

It seems that Izumi and Kasumi found out where the meeting was and tried to intrude but were asked to wait outside. Mayumi was embarrassed. Mari asks Tatsuya if he knows why they seem to be in such a rush.

Tatsuya says that there is a possibility that the youngest daughter of the Mitsuya Family was kidnapped from First High. Mayumi, Mari and Katsuto were very surprised, Mari asks if it was Shiina who was taken, it seems that Mari has met Shiina through Mayumi before. She tells Tatsuya that this is an important matter and asks why he still came to the meeting. Katsuto asks to postpone this meeting and to give priority to Shiina who might have been kidnapped. Tatsuya says that this meeting was proposed by the daughter of the Saegusa Family along with the current head of the Juumonji, it’s not something that he can just cancel. He continues on to say that neither himself nor Miyuki has any objection to if they wish to postpone the meeting.

Tatsuya says that there is probably no point in postponing it either. He mentions that he still doesn’t know if this is a crime yet, and if you look at the records of the street cameras you can see that she was taken away. They ask that if he knew this already why hasn’t he acted upon it yet. Tatsuya replies that it is certain that someone took Shiina away but that it was most likely done with her consent. Tatsuya turns towards Katsuto and tells him that as a high school student, there is nothing that he can do about the situation at this table, and even if they were to postpone the meeting to help with the search it wouldn’t make any difference.

Then Kasumi opens the door and yells at Tatsuya interrupting the meeting. Izumi enters behind her and apologizes to Miyuki and Tatsuya. Mayumi tells Kasumi that she should return home. Kasumi continues to look at Tatsuya and says that staying here won’t help and that she won’t abandon Shiina. Tatsuya asks if Kasumi has heard everything that has been said so far, to which she replies that she was listening. Tatsuya tells her that eavesdropping is very rude. Tatsuya has been using subtle hints this whole time to let them know where to start their search but Kasumi is too emotional to understand. Izumi steps in to try and calm down Kasumi. Izumi picks up on Tatsuya’s subtle hints and suggests that they should go talk to Shiina’s family, she then grabs Kasumi’s arm as she thanks Tatsuya. Mayumi also rises up from the table and grabs Kasumi's other arm, she apologizes to Tatsuya and Miyuki saying that they can’t hold a serious discussion anymore with everything happening. She leaves with her two sisters. Tatsuya and Katsuto look at each other and sigh at the same time. Tatsuya and Miyuki excuse themselves, the meeting between the Yotsuba Family, Juumonji Family and the Saegusa Family ends without any topics being discussed.

◇ ◇ ◇

The time is 6 pm, it will be sunset soon. Erika and Leo left 1st High and went to the Chiba dojo. When Mikihiko arrives Erika is talking to Mikihiko about Mizuki, she asks if Miki has seen her home properly to which he shyly nods. Mikihiko asks Erika if she has found any clues yet. Erika says that she is checking the street cameras recordings. Erika has identified the vehicle that took Shiina and has her subordinates begin to trace video feeds for the vehicle.

Saburou appears looking very upset. Erika asks him about his visit to the Mitsuya Family. Saburou's face shows disappointment and anger, he says that Shiina’s father and older brother do not want to make a big deal out of this yet. They find it very strange. Leo asks if there is an escort for Shiina who could be watching her. Saburou shakes his head no and says that he had asked the Mitsuya about that. He then says that he has no way of finding Shiina. Erika asks him what he wants to do now then, he asks to stay at the dojo and wait for news.

There is a large number of people in the dojo. Evening practice is about to start and Erika’s father is the instructor for this class. Erika asks them to follow her, she turns and walks away without waiting for a reply. She leads them to a small building that is different from the one where Erika’s room is located. When Erika opens the door they see that it is a Japanese-style room that is used for tea ceremonies. Leo is amused that Erika had to take lessons here for swordsmanship training. Miki comments that the entrance to the tea room is usually smaller, Erika points to another door that is a lot smaller than the one they entered. They could tell that Erika didn’t have fond memories of that place.

Erika brings out a tray carrying cups of tea for everyone. Saburou is very impatient and is wondering why they are doing this. They silently wait as time passes, around 8 pm one of Erika’s subordinates calls out to her from the door. Erika heads over and is handed an electric card for her mobile terminal, she inserts the card and heads back to the center of the room.

Saburou: “Well?” Erika says that she has found the destination of the car that took Shiina from the school. Saburou immediately stood up, there is no use in trying to tell him to calm down. It was understood that they have to wait for quite a while for this news.

Erika says that the car went to Karuizawa. There seems to be limited information and surveillance equipment in this area, and Erika says that they will need to plan accordingly.

Erika shows them an image of the building, Mikihiko describes it as a Western-style haunted house. Saburou asks for the map data, Erika says she will give it to him but that it isn’t a good idea to go today. When Saburou asks why she has two main reasons, one is that they are not prepared yet and that the preparation will take time. Saburou says that he is ready to go right now, Erika tells him that if he goes alone that he will be digging his own grave. It is possible that they have set up a trap for whoever tries to follow and all they have done is locate the car and not Shiina. She says that now that they are monitoring the area they can keep an eye on the situation.

Erika’s second reason is that the full cooperation plan with the police has not been completed yet, and they need to be fully prepared for this. If Saburou went on his own without the police and used magic he could be arrested. While Saburou was not afraid of this consequence if it was for Shiina’s sake, however, he couldn’t force Erika to take the same risks, and he realizes that he can’t do this alone.

Erika asks Saburou to return home and speak with the Mitsuya, she hopes that the cooperation of the Mitsuya Family can be obtained but in the worse case, he is not allowed to make any moves for Shiina without her. Saburou agrees, he reminds himself that his behaviour and actions have caused trouble for everyone.

◇ ◇ ◇

At that same time, Shiina was relaxing in the bath. Her thoughts turn to Saburou, he is probably worried about me. She feels guilty for deceiving everyone from the student council but even more so when it comes to Saburou, she left without notifying him at all. She was very tense about the whole situation so she was hoping that a warm bath would help.

She starts to think about the Defense Forces and why they are run these kinds of operations. If this exercise is treated as a military secret it is natural that communication is forbidden. But why would they hire high school students for it, although she had her complaints she didn’t want to question the instruction and information given to her by Tsukasa.

She turns her attention to the bath to avoid building up the tension again. Unfortunately, there isn’t a bigger bath like a hot spring, but this bath is still comfortable for her. It’s wider than a normal Japanese bathtub and she can fully extend her legs in it.

Needless to say even while bathing she is wearing her earmuffs instead of her earplugs, she does have to take them off when she washes her hair. Even the sound of rain can hurt Shiina’s ears, so when she is washing her hair she uses sound blocking magic until she can put her ear muffs back on.

Just by laying her head on the edge of the bathtub she can hear everything that is going on in the Western-style building. Just outside the room of the bathroom is a female soldier that has been escorting her, when Shiina focuses she can hear a certain noise coming from the female soldier's CAD, the wave coming from the CAD indicates that it is on standby mode. All the soldiers both men and women in the building have there CADs set on standby. These waves she can sense also hint to the fact that whoever they are expecting to come to rescue her, their goal is not interception, but annihilation or capture. It also shows that the soldiers here are very wary of whoever is on the rescue side of things. Shiina stands up and exits the bathtub.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami arrive back home, and as if someone was waiting for them to arrive the videophone rings. It’s the Head of the Yotsuba Family, Maya, fortunately, since they just got home they didn’t need to change before answering the call. Maya greets them and asks if they had been out. Tatsuya says that they were invited to a meeting by Saegusa Mayumi.

Maya: “Oh, from the Saegusa Family?” Tatsuya says that Juumonji was also there and it was most likely to discuss the recent youngsters' conference of the 28 Houses. Maya agrees with him and says that Mayumi is probably trying to work out a compromise.

Tatsuya goes on to say some trouble came up and the meeting was cancelled. Maya says that is quite rude of them and asks what happened. Tatsuya explains the circumstances involving the disappearance of Mitsuya Shiina. Maya says that it is a very interesting story but that she doesn’t have any time to work on that. In other words, Maya has an urgent task that must be taken care of first. Tatsuya stood upright ready to receive his orders.

Maya says that it has to do with the attack on Tatsuya and Miyuki yesterday, involving the USNA Army who is being controlled by a brain-washing agent. Tatsuya asks if it was the work of the Intelligence Department. Maya says yes and that the USNA soldiers were captured by the Intelligence Department. Tatsuya was warned by Yakumo beforehand but he was still impressed that Maya was able to find out this much information so soon. Maya asks Tatsuya to rescue the USNA soldiers, Tatsuya asks if there is a certain USNA military agent involved. Tatsuya asks this question but doesn’t seem to mind the mission, even if it was the Intelligence Department anyone that attacks Miyuki will not be forgiven.

However, the Intelligence Department does have a duty to detain foreign agents that are participating in illegal activities. Maya mentions that some of the members that were captured were members of STARS. In other words, Maya has some connection with the STARS, because of that connection Maya is asking Tatsuya to rescue them. This time the interests of the Yotsuba and Tatsuya are aligned if it benefits Miyuki he doesn’t mind. Tatsuya accepts Maya’s command.

◇ ◇ ◇

It is early in the morning, the day after Shiina was kidnapped. Leo, Mikihiko and Saburou arrive at the Chiba dojo. Erika who had just finished dressing, asks Saburou if he spoke with the head of the Yaguruma Family. He says yes and seems to be in a much better mood than yesterday, she goes on to say she was expecting Leo to show up but wasn’t expecting Mikihiko. Erika says it’s about time and they walk out of the dojo and get in the police car that was parked out front. Leo asks the police officer behind the wheel if this is okay, the police officer says “Erika-ojousan’s unreasonableness, it’s not like it didn’t just begin now.” Leo suddenly realizes that if he decides to join the police force that he would most likely have to train at the Chiba dojo but it would be completely different from the previous training he received. He also thinks that the Chiba Family is scarier than the Yotsuba Family in their own way.

They arrive in Karuizawa and start to prepare for the rescue mission a little ways away from the mansion. Saburou is staring straight at the mansion. Erika is busy gathered among the police officers. Izumi and Kasumi suddenly appear, they greet Mikihiko and were surprised that Erika, Leo and Saburou were preparing to participate with the police. It seems that the twins knew some of the police officers as well and went to greet them.

Erika is the one coming up with the strategies for the operation. She is suggesting that they take their time with a very slow and cautious approach, Izumi and Kasumi agree with her. Leo and Mikihiko were surprised and very uncomfortable with this display by Erika, they are used to her wanting to use brute force to break her way through any situation. They compare her choice of words and approach to Tatsuya and how he would handle this situation.

◇ ◇ ◇

As Shiina wakes up the sun is just coming up. At the same time when she realizes that she is conscious, she starts hearing unbearable noises and quickly puts on her earmuffs. Her acute auditory sensing only occurs when she is fully conscious if she ever becomes drowsy her hearing is about as normal as anyone else. It is said that her acute auditory sense is linked to the activity of her Magic Calculation Area.

Well, she wasn’t rescued last night, apparently, her schedule has been extended. She wasn’t expecting to be here for more than a day. She gets out of bed, changes into her uniform and starts to get ready, the room she is staying in is comparable to a hotel room, it has everything she needs. After Shiina finishes getting ready, she starts to hear the sound of people running in the corridor. In order to see what is going on Shiina heads for the door but it is locked. She reminds herself that she is playing the part of an important person who was kidnapped. She starts to get a little nervous about it and starts viewing her other options. She can use magic even without her CAD to break the window and escape if she has to. But she decides to deal with her doubts about being a prisoner.

◇ ◇ ◇

Inside the mansion, the lieutenant that Tsuakasa appointed to command this operation is looking at the surveillance cameras and can’t help but be surprised. They were not expecting the police to be the ones attacking, and they're not normal police either, it’s the Special Magical Assault Team.

The Special Magical Assault Team, known as SMAT. It's an organization that gathered combat magicians, organized and based on the fact that the police couldn't respond to the Yokohama Incident two years ago. Although the establishment was decided immediately after the incident, the voice of the opposition grew from various sides until the cease-fire was reached, but then with the Hakone Terror Attack in February, thus making it have only been established a month ago. They also have a direct connection to the Chiba Family as well. The lieutenant isn’t aware of the circumstances behind this strategy involving high school students.

Tsukasa can’t help but sigh at this new development. This operation was supposed to draw out Tatsuya, and Miyuki. She even accounted for the chance of the Saegusa Family intervening, she knew that the Saegusa twins were close to Shiina. But she wasn’t expecting the Chiba Family to get involved, which is a big miscalculation. She doesn’t see Tatsuya anywhere, she fully expected him to come to save a fellow student council member.

She could tell from the fight at the etiquette school that Tatsuya has absolute confidence in his abilities. However, Tatsuya isn't the kind of person she was expecting and acknowledges her miscalculation. That is the process of saving Shiina, that Tsukasa would observe Tatsuya and his power. While not minding the authority of the National Defense Forces, that she intended to eliminate a dangerous person against the country.

Tsukasa tells the lieutenant that she is going to the prisoners room, she means to go there but has no intention of staying. She plans to escape to the place where she is holding the USNA soldiers “prisoner”.

◇ ◇ ◇

Erika says that the operation starts in three minutes. She leaves command to one of her subordinates, he serves as the leader of the unit under Erika. Off to the side, Kasumi and Izumi are with the group of magicians under the Saegusa Family, there is a hint of nervousness in their eyes. This kind of thing would normally make Erika upset but she had to remind herself that the twins probably haven’t seen anything like this before. Even high school students at Magic High School usually don’t see real warfare.

Erika starts to think back to all the incidents that she had been caught up in so far since joining 1st High. The armed terrorists from Blanche, the surprise attack by the Great Asian Union, the Parasites and STARS, and the Traditionalists. While Tatsuya has been caught up in all of these incidents as well, these things always seem to happen around him. And now it seems it’s happening to Erika as well.

One of Erika’s subordinates asks what’s wrong and she says it’s nothing. She says that it’s time to go. Her thoughts turn to Tatsuya and how strong he is, she is driven to become stronger as well. She believes that since Tatsuya is so strong that even though he gets involved in some dangerous situations he can protect those around him. She compares the situation with Tatsuya to Saburou and Shiina. One of the reasons Erika is helping Saburou with his training is because she wants to help him become strong enough to deal with any situation and/or bad luck that his childhood friend gets caught up in. The name of the person Erika wants to deal a blow to is “fate”.

◇ ◇ ◇

Shiina hears the door unlock and turns towards the door. Tsukasa enters and apologizes for keeping her here for so long. Shiina says that it’s okay and that it was a very comfortable room. Tsukasa goes on to say that the exercise is at the final stage so she needs to stay here for a little longer and that it will be over when the rescuer arrives in the room. Shiina is relieved to hear this, Tsukasa goes on to say that she will not be able to see her off and thanks Shiina for her hard work. Shiina never questioned Tsukasa even at the end.

◇ ◇ ◇

The battle between the Defense Forces Intelligence Department, SMAT, and the police began. Even though it’s called a battle there is only a small number of people fighting. The police are keeping the mansion in a siege while the small elite teams enter. The Defense Forces originally didn’t have so many soldiers prepared but even then their skill levels are far above the opposition.

Leo, Mikihiko, Saburou and Erika are fighting together. Saburou yells for Shiina but is attacked from behind by a soldier. The soldier is wearing a bulletproof vest and is using self-acceleration magic. The soldier uses move-type magic on a small metal ball and it hits Saburou stopping his movement. The soldier than pulls out a stun baton and just before it hits Saburou, Erika appears and hits the stun baton back into the face of the soldier knocking one of his teeth out before he collapses. Erika tells him that he is too impatient and that his technique is sloppy.

As they move to the stairway, the Intelligence Department is focused on holding this point. Their magic power is a very high level, they are overpowering SMAT who are all magicians that excel in combat power among the police organization. Leo asks Mikihiko if he feels something is strange about these soldiers, Mikihiko thinks that they may have used drugs to temporarily raise their magic power. The Intelligence Department at the stairs is using special guns which causes the group to jump to the side and take cover. The bullets fired from the guns are large and made of light material, it has no penetration power. If it hits you at a close enough distance it could fracture your bones, but if you’re far enough away it wouldn’t do much damage. However, the special trick to these bullets is that they deliver a high voltage current if it hits you. In other words, it is a wireless style stun gun with bullets. Although it just knocks you out it can easily decide the outcome of this battle.

Izumi and Kasumi step in and start their countdown in unison. Violent winds start to swirl in the narrow part of the room, the twins had caste Nitrogen Storm - Suffocating Turbulence. They activate the magic over both their allies and enemies. They are able to knock out most of the soldiers, but they also knocked out one member from the police forces and were also affecting the abilities of her fellow school mates. Kasumi then activates Dry Blizzard to knock out the rest of the soldiers that weren’t affected by Nitrogen Storm. Izumi calls out to Kasumi and then activates another magic called Oxygen Cavity, this magic is for the treatment of hypoxia. Izumi uses this on the police officer who collapsed in their Suffocating Turbulence, the police officer stands up and moves out of the way. This way the twins can knock out everyone in the area and then revive whomever they need to afterwards.

Saburou recovers from a half-fainting state and walks towards Erika awkwardly. He says that he is going to where Shiina is at. They leave the rest of the fighting to the police. There is a female soldier in front of the door, just before Erika and Saburou make a move the female soldier drops her CAD and raises her hands to surrender. The female soldier says that this exercise ends with the victory being theirs. Both Erika and Saburou are confused by this and couldn’t understand it right away. The female soldier then unlocks the door and opens it. Saburou steps into the room to see Shiina standing there, he quickly approaches Shiina and almost hugs her but stops himself just beforehand. Shiina asks him why he is here.

Saburou says he came here to help and asks her if she has been injured in any way. Shiina is still confused, Saburou thinks that she may have been brainwashed. Shiina says that she is cooperating with the Defense Forces for this exercise. Erika stares at the female soldier in an intimidating manner, the soldier asks Erika to lower her sword. The soldier gives an explanation about the exercise and says that the exercise ends when someone reaches the captive's door. Erika says that Shiina was the key person in the exercise as the captive, which the female soldier confirms. She then thanks Shiina for her cooperation and leaves.

Erika wonders if this story is true, Shiina says that it is true and that she was asked by Tsukasa to cooperate with the Defense Forces. Saburou doesn’t recognize the name and Shiina says that she is a sergeant of the Defense Forces Intelligence Department. She thought he met her before. She then starts to ask why Saburou is interrupting the exercises of the military and that he could have been hurt. Erika steps in and says that there shouldn’t be an issue with that because they are cooperating with the police as well. She defends Saburou by saying that it was inevitable for him not to act when Shiina was kidnapped. Saburou mentions that it’s not only them but Kasumi and Izumi are also here. She thanks them and apologizes for worrying them. Before they left the room Erika wanted to confirm that Shiina said Intelligence Department.

Chapter 7[]

Spoiler
Sunday morning.

Katsuto having no work to deal with from the Ten Master Clans, he's also finished what he needs to at the Magic University. Thus allowing him time to sit down and listen to records before lunch.

Katsuto in a soundproof room listening to the rhythm from the classical analog full stereo. Analog records are expensive at the end of the 21st century, for which there is constant demand for among influential households.

While sitting down on a sofa with rigid cushions, he listens to his favorite symphony from a stereo system with the latest technology to thoroughly enhance the reproduced sound, but with an old-fashioned appearance. He likes listening to music from live concerts, but has had no time to personally learn mastering an instrument.

(The Juumonji Family are still human beings but devote little time to other things in order to devote their time to things that require their attention and also to allow them to maintain their power, following their motto "being a match for a thousand".)

Kazuki walks into the room, not meaning to disturb him. (Kazuki is only 44 years old, but had to retire early due to the fate tied to the trump card of the Juumonji Family. As such he was forced to retire and at the Master Clans Conference in February, he handed off the seat of Head to Katsuto.)

Kazuki tells Katsuto to follow him to the reception room because, Tsukasa's father, Tooyama Shinobu is waiting there.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya stood on the sidewalk of a mountain road. On his way to rescue trapped magicians at the command of Maya. He had departed home after having finished lunch.

He isn't blindly following Maya's command, but also doesn't feel its necessary to follow either. Though this time, he didn't decide against it because of such emotional reasons. He just didn't feel it necessary to oppose the command from Maya. The reason he delayed was because he didn't know where to head to. When he had called before, neither Maya nor the Yotsuba Family had been tracking the location of the U.S. Military operatives that had been captured. Thus Tatsuya returned to the vehicle Hanabishi Hyougo had driven.

To Tatsuya's surprise Hyougo has a license to drive large trucks. Thus making Tatsuya think that it's no surprise that he can fly large aircraft. Hyougo is the one who brought information about the location to Tatsuya.

On the phone he didn't specify an exact location, but a place to wait in order to avoid being eavesdropped on. Hyougo wasn't in the driver seat, but had walked out of the truck waiting for Tatsuya. Afterwards going to the bcak of the truck, it could be seen to be a large box-shaped carrier made of a composite armor plate made of titanium alloy and ceramic in view of aluminum. With the rear door and a ramp appearing, Hyougo encourages Tatsuya to look inside.

Inside of the truck wasn't dark, there was lighting and a small platform with what looked like a laboratory. There stood a black full-cowl electric motorcycle and a suit hanging from the wall.

Tatsuya used Elemental Sight to analyze the suit. Asking out loud if it's meant to be a reproduction of the Mobile Suit of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. That it's impossible to perfectly reproduce it.

(It has a data link wherein a function could be installed and connected to a CAD for long-distance viewing. Thus the design abandoned any power assist functions in favor of camouflaged cameras that can connect to view from; hence the marketing for the suit sacrifices strength in favor of stealth and defense. Thought the Mobile Suit was developed by the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, the Defense Forces don't hold a monopoly on the patent. In the USNA, three months after the Mobile Suits were revealed had designed "Thrust Suits" that are equivalent in performance to the Mobile Suits. However, this marked the first time that the Yotsuba had created an original flight-armored suit in the private sector. Though Flight Magic was developed by FLT, which is under the umbrella of the Yotsuba Family, it was still a marvel of technology.)

The bike has a function to link to the suit. Funny enough prompting Tatsuya to ask if the bike could fly. In turn making Hyougo tell him no, that it's not like that.

The bike having no defense to protect the rider from attack on the sides and back due to the shape of the motorcycle, but in the front is defensive and made of sturdy material and tough tires. Thus making it not a vehicle for commercial use, but military use.

Hyougo asks Tatsuya to name the suit, but Tatsuya declines. It was predicted that Tatsuya wouldn't have been able to easily use a Mobile Suit and thus thus suit was designed and built based off that calculation. Tatsuya's weakness is a weak defense. A high performance suit is an indispensable equipment for Tatsuya to demonstrate his perfect performance. Unlike with Mobile Suits, this suit causes no discomfort and could even be worn around town. Even if the helmet were worn, it would just be "extra padding" to the suit. The suit was made exactly for Tatsuya in mind. Hyougo tells Tatsuya that for now the suit is simply called "Freed Suit", which is still under development. Unlike the name for the suit, the black bike is called "Wingless".

Tatsuya's battle-style is geared for that of one-manned armies. Thinking that he'll be working along to release the operatives with no time to call in an emergency, he decided that he'd avoid going over the legal speed. He had made it to the location and had gone over the wall on the black motorcycle, about to try out the new acquired toy.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tooyama Tsukasa was inside a Western-style building at a secret camp.

The prisoners who didn't pass being brainwashed weren't valuable to officials, thus through persistent and continuous use of medication, it would be possible. Although it was more likely that magical skills would be compromised, and the end to their self-being could not be avoided. (She isn't a human being, she breaks people even though there is no imminent need. At least she thinks so. The captured operatives would be disposed of. All due to them having infiltrated the country of an other under an illegally sanctioned mission, thus making them need to be prepared for such an eventuality. Tsuaksa thought such.)

Liberation is out of the question. The Japanese military used chemical brainwashing measures on prisoners and used them as dolls, where as being a survivor would mean being broken. If treatment of them got out, there would be a high possibility of there being the testifying of human experimentation brought up.

Regardless of the story on hand to deal with, it's necessary to avoid having disadvantages brought upon the Defense Forces and eventually Japan.

Tsukasa was in a room with just one other person. The room is a waiting room for "guards", but the staff are on duty.

(The room confines those within it as an airtight structure. If lethal chemicals flowed in through the air-conditioner, it would make the room a gas chamber.)

Tsukasa stood up to make a report to the director of the camp when an alarm sounded.

When asking what's happened, she gets told by a soldier that there is an intruder. As a Sergeant, a non-commissioned soldier, asked about the intruder in detail and what the response currently was.

Tsukasa is told that there is only a single intruder, a powerful magician who can't be stopped bu the guards. (Tsukasa noting that if the Yotsuba attacked the camp, that there would be no merit behind doing so.)

She asks for her equipment, that is thus brought to her. Tsukasa put on a single one-lens pair of sunglasses with an information terminal function while wearing a headset with a microphone that sits within a single ear.

The coordinates of the intruder appeared on the sunglasses and the information of soldiers heading for interception point were displayed.

As she notices allies in normal range, she invokes her magic from the Tooyama Family.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya investigated the location where the guards were caught at the terminal of the security office, then destroying the air conditioning system with "Decomposition".

(Tatsuya notes to himself that it's not a bad location for confining prisoner in a gas chamber. Also that he never had a good impression since the beginning, thinking that the camp is a place used for illegal experiments. Taking a glance around, Tatsuya notes his surroundings aren't particularly popular to be in around the mountains, and decided not to hold back from the beginning.)

He points his Specialized CAD, Silver Horn Custom "Trident" at a security guard and the Magic Sequence is outputted, using "Decomposition" to injure him with a penetrating hole, and not to kill him. The hole at the base of the limb opened and the guard collapsed and wouldn't be able to stand nor crawl.

A soldier who appeared from around the corner of the corridor wore a magic barrier. The difference in strength, the soldiers up to now were the same. Tatsuya decomposed the magic barriers and immediately tried to "decompose" the soldiers body tissues. However, immediately after he decomposed the barriers, the barriers weren't rebuilt and then the barriers had been rebuilt.

Soldiers fought back with a high-powered rifles.

Tatsuya decomposed the bullets with magic and moved about like a warrior, fast and with the use of the suit to escape from fire. There were to objects to use to hide from as a shield in the corridor.

Tatsuya decomposed the ceiling and jumped through the hole. A pair of three soldiers rushed up, where then Tatsuya used Gram Dispersion. The magic barriers disappeared around the solders. Then immediately, the magic barriers were rebuilt. As the barriers were rebuilt, it was quicker than Tatsuya's decomposition magic meant to pierce through their bodies.

There are six barriers that were destroyed and four perforations. A total of eighteen event alterations, but for Tatsuya such a thing was not difficult.

(Tatsuya notices that the magic for the barriers isn't Phalanx. Seeing this he knows that the barrier magic from today is a similar magic to that of the Juumonji Family. Thinking that it's as he though, a magic developed by the Tenth Institute.)

Descending from the hole in the ceiling, Tatsuya ran through the corridor.

(Wondering if there was someone present from the Tooyama Family. The magic from now is the same as the magic seen from the raids on the school the day before yesterday. Tatsuya began thinking if it was the Tooyama Family pulling the strings from behind the scenes.)

While going through to the back of the facility, the frequent encounters with security guards rose.

All the emerging soldiers were wearing that magic barrier, but it was no longer possible to prevent Tatsuya's progress. (Tatsuya noted that it is certainly a troublesome magic, but that its compatible with him.) Thus he ended up entering an area where the prison was, all the while calmly evaluating the enemy's magic.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tsukasa yells out in her head how it's possible for the magic of the Tooyama Family to not work.

The magic of the Tooyama Family uses the simultaneous projection of multiple magic barriers for personal use. A technique used to build magic barriers around those being protected.

Since the locations of those with magic are known in advance, there becomes no need to reset the location coordinates. The operators capacity permits any number of magical barriers to be used at once. Originally, a technique meant to support the escape of individuals. It's a magic used to allow the escape of government officials from bullets and explosions when being attacked.

The Tooyama Family is the final barrier of the central government. Where as the Juumonji Family are known as the final barrier of the capital. The government is the people and not the buildings, if the people can escape ensuring those at the top of the line of succession, then a prompt counterattack can be issued. Magicians from the Tooyama Family were developed with this in mind. Only government officials are protected by the Tooyama Family and not ordinary citizens. Due to this, the Tooyama are not allowed to join the Ten Master Clans from among the 28 Houses.

The magic was developed with a very passive motivation in mind, to abandon citizens and to escape, but it's not like the magic is used for aggressive purposes like stopping enemy soldiers (Noting like how Phalanx is used). When the magic is activated by using an allies identification signal as a target, so that soldiers can concentrate on attacking while being protected. Even if the soldier weren't a magician, they could still take advantage of the magical barrier when Tsukasa is wearing her visor. It's a technology developed by the Defense Forces Intelligence Department. With this technology, the Tooyama Family could escape from a magician, even someone who isn't a magician. This was the desire used to contribute positively to the country by the Tooyama Family.

Due to the nature of activating the magic and need of a starting location, identifying others like oneself, there is a congenital defect that causes the Tooyama Family not to identity other people to be like them. Though there is still a desire from them to want to contribute to an organization to have a feeling self belonging to a place. No, more because the sense of what an "individual" is, is ambiguous to them that their sense to contribute is so strong. As a result from dealings with the National Defense Forces Intelligence Department, magicians from the Tooyama work to fulfill this desire. Tsukasa is from the second generation of "Tooyama" that have become indispensable to the Intelligence Department.

In a situation of trying to setup a sabotage operation in other countries, magicians are usually included. The magic helps prevent sabotage conducted by others. Tsukasa's magic relies on soldiers to defend the base.

◇ ◇ ◇

The prison which confined the U.S. Military operatives was in a block surrounded by a spiral corridor.

If it were in a separate building, Tatsuya could have quickly gotten to it by decomposing the wall from the outside. Tatsuya aimed his Trident at the inner wall. Decomposing the wall through the corridor. At the next moment, holes in every prison door appeared for people to pass through. Pointing his Trident at the ceiling, a hollowed ceiling fell on the guards.

(Tatsuya saw that the magic barriers switched to objective barriers.) In that case there would be no casualties or injuries. Escaping from under the rubble would be a pain. (Of this Tatsuya was confident.)

He ran to the prison. He saw that no one sought to escape even though the ability to jeep them confined no longer existed. The prisoners were paralyzed with drugs. Tatsuya used his "eyes" and saw that it was fortunate that it was the same drug within the system of all of the prisoners. Thus he used decomposition magic to at the drug within their system to break it down into its basic elements. Though some of the elements are harmful to the human body, at least the paralysis immediately disappeared.

Nearby, a women coughing and managed to not vomit after spitting. Tatsuya telling her to speak with her colleagues to escape. She notices who Tatsuya is and identified herself as Sylvia Mercury First belonging to Stars of the USNA Military Strategic Headquarters. Along with the fact that she had come to Japan in the past as an adjutant to Lina.

Tatsuya not thinking what she said to be a lie, he didn't expect soldiers who were apart of an illegal mission to reveal such information so easily. Although they must have known that they are already known to be USNA soldiers; the paralyzing of confined prisoners with drugs, they couldn't have not used drugs for interrogation.

Tatsuya tell her that he's been ordered to help them escape and asking if Sylvia can move on her own. She tells him that if possible, she'll let her colleagues know with a response that contained coughing and feeling nauseated. Tatsuya started to now escape the building in the camp.

There were no shots coming from behind. Soldiers were already running out sporadically. Tatsuya has Hyougo appear at a coordinate with the truck in order to help.

Sylvia tells Tatsuya that she is very thankful and that it would have been inevitable that they would have been executed.

Sylvia salutes Tatsuya and Tatsuya responds back with an army-style salute.

Tatsuya returned to the building in the camp after seeing the truck off carrying Sylvia. For him escaping now would be no problem.

Tatsuya crushed the monitoring equipment including the hidden microphone first. Besides, when examining the structure inside, the terminal of the guard room, he secured the record of the human experiments performed here as insurance. Although it's not experimental data itself, it was still a record that showed that discarding of corpses used for experiments. Even if the identity of the attacker is announced, it would be enough for material to be used in a negotiation. Tatsuya had returned to the camp to erase the inconvenient records beforehand in order to avoid having to take extra effort later. It wasn't necessary but it was best to do as a clean-up.

He directed his Trident at the top floor of the building. By using decomposition magic, the roof of the command room disappeared. Tatsuya invaded the command room from above using the suit's flight function. In the command room where the ceiling disappeared suddenly, the director of the camp and the staff were waiting.

Tatsuya told them to raise their hands because with their combat strength they couldn't oppose him by using a magically synthesized voice of Sylvia's magic by using Flash Cast.

Tatsuya told them to delete all data on the monitoring system. The person responsible for it said that they understood. Tatsuya reached out to the terminal with his hand. It does not take much trouble to bother to disguise the magic, decomposing all of the electromagnetic information bodies. Tatsuya suddenly looked at the operator who was frightened. Tatsuya then asked where the magician from the Tooyama Family was from the Commander, being told that Sergeant Tooyama was in the next room.

The Commander had hesitated for a moment, but remembered that he wasn't in any position to refuse the question.

Tatsuya jumped outside through the hole to the next room. Sure enough, there was no one there already. He could clearly see that people were escaping the building while in the sky.

The place to go was the parking lot where he has seen Silvia before. Tatsuya landed on the ground in a manner to obstruct Tsukasa. Tsukasa recognized him and spoke out his name, and in turn Tatsuya answered with the use of magic.

The construction and destruction of the magic barrier was repeated. The speed of destruction exceeded the speed of construction perfectly.

As Tatsuya was going to pull the trigger, he was called out to wait. Tatsuya had already used decomposition magic to destroy the barrier, but it had reconstructed at about the same time, again and again many times repeated.

(Tatsuya saying out loud that he can't kill her.)

Katsuto had jumped from a helicopter in the sky to the ground while Tatsuya still aimed his Trident at Tsukasa.

Katsuto saying that he doesn't know the circumstances, but that if Tatsuya left that he wouldn't attack. Tatsuya nods in silence and turns around.

Tatsuya got on his bike and left.

Chapter 8[]

Spoiler
A week after the raid on the illegal concentration camp.

Tsukasa visits Katsuto at his home. As Katsuto appeared in the reception room, Tsukasa stood up. She thanked him for the other day, where he says that thanking him is enough. Thus allowing her not to have to lower her head any longer.

She sits back down on the sofa and Katsuto asks if she's alright, to which she tells him that she has completely recovered thanks to his help.

(The battle with Tatsuya caused her Magic Calculation Area to overheat. She was worried about serious aftereffects, but after a little rest over a week everything returned to normal.)

Tsukasa tell Katsuto that she heard from her father, that he'd asked for help. When Katsuto tells her no, that his father informed him about the fight between magicians and that it's his duty as being of the Ten Master Clans to stop it, thus telling her not to worry about it.

(In truth it goes back to the obligation of magicians from the Tenth Institute, but Katsuto didn't bring up the past.)

Tsukasa made a bitter smile.

Regarding the attack on the concentration camp, they were unilaterally attacked and caught in a melee before Katsuto had arrived after gearing from his father.

Tsukasa had tried starting up a conversation on the topic of the assailant (Tatsuya), but Katsuto stops her. That she should stop there and not talk about it. She remarks that she is in the position of having been saved from death and will follow his words.

With a short silence Tsukasa made her usual smile with no feeling.

Tsukasa says that she is convinced that after seeing the battle that day, that Katsuto can win against Tatsuya. Thus causing Katsuto not help but change his facial expression.

◇ ◇ ◇

Lunch time is over and the afternoon is about to arrive.

Miyuki is studying for the entrance examination for the Magic University at her desk.

(She knows that she's going to pass the examination and that she is going to excel at the magic, but also the general portion or else she wouldn't be suitable as Tatsuya's fiancé.)

As the visiphone was reading she noticed the timing and thought that she'd have some time to make some tea before answering the call. Though the ringing stopped, making Miyuki think that Minami had probably answered it.

Miyuki calls out asking who it is when Minami tells her that it's an international call from a Miss Lina. Miyuki asks for the call to be connected. (Miyuki involuntarily swallowed her breath, due to Lina's name having such an impact on her.)

Lina, a glowing beauty who is only equal to Miyuki appeared on screen, she greeted Miyuki asking how she is. Miyuki seeing that Lina hasn't changed asks if something is wrong since it's midnight for Lina. Lina tells her that she isn't normally able to make a call at such a time but has special permission in secret from her Headquarters.

Miyuki understanding the special call and Lina's frank wording, Lina asks if Tatsuya is around. Miyuki lets Lina know that he isn't around. (That being the truth and not a lie since he's already on his way to the FLT Third Division.)

Miyuki knew what Lina was going to say next since she had heard from Tatsuya a week before the matter having to do with Lina's friend (Sylvia).

(Miyuki was able to imagine the difficulty it took for Lina, the Head-Captain of Stars "Sirius" to call a Japanese magician who is known as the next head of the Yotsuba Family.)

Miyuki tells Lina to raise her head and that she'll surely tell Tatsuya about her feelings of thanks. Where Lina thanks Miyuki. As time for the call reaches the end Lina says that she'd like to meet and thank Tatsuya soon enough. Though from Lina's position that wouldn't work. After Lina returned a smile to Miyuki, they both said their goodbye's before without blinking before the screen turned off.

Gallery[]

Click on the images to enlargen them.
Advertisement