Volume 6, Chapter 7

This chapter is updated by Novels.pl

Even though today was Sunday, Tatsuya still had to go to school.

Not for remedial classes. There was still one week until the Thesis Competition, so of course he still had to make preparations.

But right now, he was headed in an entirely different direction than school on board his beloved electric motorcycle. His sister's pristine arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, her soft bosom was pressed against his back.

This wasn't a date.

Nor was it a simple trip.

Their destination was the FLT research labs. Heeding Yakumo's suggestion, they were going to return the relic specimen. He wasn't going to return it to the company, but 3rd Research Division that served as Taurus Silver's operational headquarters. While there weren't any plans yet to begin the analysis there, Sayuri had already expressed her consent when he got the specimen, so there wouldn't be a problem if the specimen was stolen from there. (Shouldn't be.)

They forewent public transit because they were worried about another attack.

At full speed, it would take roughly an hour to reach the research lab. Public transit took a longer detour, so it was far more expedient to take the motorcycle. For Tatsuya, who had rigorously trained his physical body, and Miyuki, who was capable of using inertial resistance magic, there was normally no need to take a break for a trip of this distance. However, shortly after leaving the city proper, Tatsuya pulled over the motorcycle next to a cafe that opened in the morning.

After urging the confused Miyuki indoors and taking a seat by the windows, Tatsuya finally answered his sister's questions after ordering two drinks (they already ate breakfast at home).

"We're being pursued."

Resting both elbows on the table, Tatsuya covered his mouth with his interlaced fingers and whispered to Miyuki.

"Eh!?"

Miyuki was barely able to suppress her volume.

"I didn't notice it at all......

Is it a car? Or a motorcycle like us?"

She leaned her head forward and whispered in her brother's ear.

The blushing waitress might have turned her head aside, but given her frequent, sly glances this way, she was only pretending not to see them. Of course, Miyuki wouldn't bother contemplating what the servers would think. (Speaking of which, she probably hadn't noticed her actions would easily lead to a misunderstanding.)

"It's a crow."

Tatsuya's concise answer prompted a "Ha?" from Miyuki as her eyes widened while she briefly turned the idea over in her head.

"......

A familiar, is it......

?"

"Yeah. And with a chemical congregation, too."

There were observation systems that were avian machines disguised as animals, devices buried within animals, using Ancient Magic on animals, or a chemical congregation in the shape of a bird.

Chemical congregations are objects that have materialized due to pushion energy.

The physical form was only for appearances' sake and was created by using psion particles as a foundation and applying life-refracting illusion magic to create the figure, then applying Weight, Speed, Move-Type Magics or a field with similar effects so as to give off the impression of a physical body.

On the surface, creating a chemical congregation seemed like a pointless exercise, but applying a few simple magics to the medium would allow the user to see and feel through the medium, making it a simple task to issue orders to the medium with a few simple changes. At the same time, creating one of them was a fairly simple process.

"......Doesn't appear to be a Magician from this country. Where did this

Magician come from?"

Only Ancient Magic possessed the magic to create chemical congregations. The name "chemical congregation" was applied by modern magic researchers when they were researching Ancient Magic. What Miyuki meant was that it had been a long time since this country used chemical congregations as familiars. Today, most Ancient Magic users used familiars that didn't possess a physical body.

After the waitress brought the coffee and milk tea, Tatsuya spoke again.

Although he was wordlessly matching Miyuki's gaze while waiting for their drinks, this only deepened the misunderstanding. However, the two of them were either slow on the draw or just that thick since they didn't betray any reaction at the surrounding stares sent their way.

"Their identity remains unknown. If Mikihiko were here, he might be able to tell us."

Tatsuya set their cups aside and took hold of Miyuki's hand.

A ruckus broke out around them, causing the two of them to notice how conspicuous they were. Still, retracing their hands in embarrassment would only be admitting defeat, and there was a pressing need for them to hold hands. His sister wore an expression that conveyed her helplessness at the misunderstanding, while Tatsuya continued onward with a serious expression on his face — that only served to fuel the flames.

"It would be unwise to lead it all the way to the research labs."

"............"

"Miyuki?"

"Eh, ah, yes, you're right."

Tatsuya wanted to cover his head and sigh at the sight of his sister's wandering eyes and mystified expression, but managed to throttle that urge.

"The chemical congregation's location is here."

Tatsuya transformed the image of the chemical congregation as a target into psion signals and passed it across their joined hands into Miyuki's unconscious magic calculation area in her nervous system.

The moment magic is invoked, Magicians need to plug in the target's data into the magic calculation area. This data is every Magician's perception in digitized form and was something that generally couldn't be shared. Tatsuya and Miyuki were using magic unique to the Yotsuba Family and thus were able to transfer psion signals through physical contact.

"Miyuki, take it down." A simple order.

At this time, Miyuki returned to a more serious expression. "......Understood."

After a brief hesitation, Miyuki nodded. Miyuki wasn't going to disobey Tatsuya's order.

The cause of her hesitation came from her understanding that magic sniping was her brother's area of expertise and that she was far less capable than her brother in this regard.

"Right now, I don't want to reveal my hand yet. The target will flee in the time I take to bring up the CAD. Miyuki, it's up to you."

"Yes!"

Excitement suffused Miyuki's face as there was no way she wouldn't give it her all once her brother asked it of her.

And so, with the fingers of her right hand interlaced with Tatsuya's left, she slightly dipped her head and lowered her eyelashes — her embarrassed posture was certainly ironic for these siblings. Beneath the table, her concealed left hand swiftly brought out a CAD and started operating it.

There was practically no delay for her magic invocation.

Tatsuya's "sight" beheld the familiar's body instantly freezing along with the magic that was sustaining that fake body, causing the chemical congregation of psion particles to scatter.

"Seemed like an amateur......"

"Eh? What?"

Miyuki piped up from the back seat after hearing Tatsuya's murmuring. Her posture hadn't changed from before, with both arms wrapped around her brother's waist and her chest and face pressed tightly against her brother's back.

She was still in an ebullient mood after flawlessly destroying the familiar in the cafe and her brother's subsequent praise, so even her voice was filled with joy.

In this situation, objectively speaking she was being careless, but no one would reprimand her here. Her conversation partner did not do so and merely answered her question.

"We only had one pursuer using long distance magic who attacked Sayuri first and then tried to follow us. In other words, their target is undoubtedly the Magatama. Of the suspicious crowd recently lurking around us, a portion of them must be here for the relic. But if that's the case, their determination wasn't enough."

"Wasn't it because Onii-sama's airtight defenses? There's a huge risk picking a bone with Onii-sama over a second-rate relic after all."

Miyuki's answers always automatically triggered her bro-con concerns, actions of reflex born of powerful thoughts and feelings.

(So, that's just risk and reward, is it......

?)

However, within Miyuki's perfectly natural answer, Tatsuya felt that he had caught a glimpse of the true nature behind this sequence of events.

◊ ◊ ◊

They lost them. When Chen heard this report, he clenched his teeth as a bitter expression crossed his face. Originally, he was unhappy with such a passive stance like remote observation in areas he couldn't reach (where neither he nor his opponents could reach). On top of that, their opponents had realized this in 15 minutes and taken out their observer. This tragic turnout of events only deepened his displeasure.

(All this did was raise our opponent's hackles.)

Even if he tore them a new one, his incompetent minions would only shrink back even more, so Chen chose not to say anything. Yet, a burning fury was plainly spreading from his body. "Do we know where Shiba Tatsuya is heading?"

"They should be heading for the FLT research labs of the R&D 3rd Division."

The subordinate who answered Chen's question was overly nervous. In order to avoid angering his superior, he had chosen the most limited answer that was least likely to rouse his wrath.

"ETA?"

"Approximately 40 minutes from now."

Looks like he couldn't just keep asking one question at a time.

"As soon as they arrive at the estimated time, order the network team to immediately attack the FLT research labs."

Without waiting for his subordinate's reply, Chen already gave out the next set of orders for the mission.

◊ ◊ ◊

This morning, the research lab inhabited by the individuals whom the workers at the FLT main branch derided as "Captain Taurus and his companions", the R&D 3rd Division, was consumed by chaos that was completely abnormal.

"—Hurry up and cut all the lines before wasting time worrying about it! Copy? Make as many as you can and that's it!"

"Number 10, disconnect complete. Commence reconnect!"

"Idiot! What kind of buffoon reconnects the system when being hacked!"

"OK, hacking path determined!"

"Tracing program commence!"

By the time he heard all the roars coming from inside the entrance, Tatsuya had a pretty decent grasp of the situation.

"Ah, it's the young master!"

After standing there for a minute, Tatsuya's outstanding assistant Ushiyama finally noticed the siblings. (In terms of how outstanding, Ushiyama was able to produce the hardware pieces that Tatsuya wanted for Flying-Type Magic as well as finish the "Mini Communicator" in half a day based on a rough blueprint and have it delivered to Tatsuya. He was that kind of a person.)

Anywhere else would be a different story, but this had to be the first time that Tatsuya had been left unannounced for at least ten seconds. In other words, the situation was very serious.

"My terrible apologies! I can't believe I ignored your arrival...... Hey!

Who's the lazy bum who neglected to announce the young master's arrival!"

Ushiyama's angry roar was the loudest to date. It was a piercing sound wholly incompatible with his weak, frail appearance.

That voice caused over half of the workers battling it out with the terminals in the office to freeze in terror.

Seeing this, Tatsuya colored in displeasure. "Don't stop! Keep an eye on the monitors!"

"Ah, yes!"

Tatsuya's order rivaled Ushiyama in intensity and immediately received a reply.

Seeing everyone once again enter a life or death struggle with their machines, Tatsuya relaxed and turned his gaze away only to find Ushiyama in a state of extreme anxiety.

"Hackers?"

He didn't know if Ushiyama's thoughts still dwelt on the electronics in front of him, but this was an unpleasant topic for Tatsuya and especially Ushiyama.

Tatsuya cut to the chase in order to avoid staying on this topic for too long.

"Ha, well......"

Despite the indecisive nature of Ushiyama's words, he wasn't upset in front of Tatsuya. While Tatsuya was still contemplating the comings and goings, Ushiyama started explaining.

"It's hackers for sure...... But it still feels strange. The infiltration technique itself is superb, but they don't appear to be looking for anything in particular. It's like they have no specific objective and are just roaming around based on luck."

"Individual interest?"

"Not the work of one person. Based on the MO, this isn't possible without a sizable team, even if our opponents were government organizations."

"Even then, they still don't have an objective, eh......

May I take a look at the stolen data?"

Tatsuya asked this question because since their enemy was running on blind luck, they might have stumbled onto something valuable.

"Well, they haven't taken anything yet."

Still, Ushiyama's answer was still within Tatsuya's expectations. "......How long has it been since the hacking started?"

"Approximately ten minutes."

In other words, the moment Tatsuya and Miyuki arrived here. — Almost as if they predicted when they would arrive. By choosing to attack the servers at this particular time, Tatsuya felt the situation to be highly unusual.

"The infiltration attempt has stopped."

"Don't let down your guard! Everyone remain on full alert today! ......

Ah, my apologies. So, what may I do for you today?"

Tatsuya briefly explained the chain of events regarding the relic, the company's contract, and his personal objectives. At the same time, in a separate area of his consciousness, he was chronicling the recent attempted thefts that were cropping up around him.

◊ ◊ ◊

"We're under attack from FLT servers."

"Disconnecting as planned."

According to Chen's orders, the hackers cut the line. Seeing this, Chen spoke to Lu Gonghu standing next to him.

"What do you think?"

"......Status unknown."

Lu's attitude was slightly inappropriate when addressing a superior officer, but Chen didn't hold it against him and continued to speak.

"After being hacked for over ten minutes without any interruption, Shiba Tatsuya would undoubtedly question the security of the labs."

Chen valued his second officer not for his decorum, but for his calm objectivity and overwhelming combat power. Verbosity was not necessary.

"Even if Shiba Tatsuya is related to FLT, he wouldn't easily hand over the relic to an insecure research lab."

"Logically, that would be the case."

"I know what you're saying. Shiba Tatsuya is a high school student. He wouldn't leave such a hot item on himself. In this situation, we must consider how to obtain the data from the lab."

Lu wordlessly expressed his agreement to Chen's words. "We will probably need you to act."

"Leave it to me."

Chen nodded broadly at his second officer's answer. Suddenly, his face darkened as he seemed to recall something.

"Speaking of which, Zhou is about to see how that little girl is doing."

Chen's voice was not positive. It even contained an insulting impression, with many mixed emotions buried within. It was fairly easy to guess exactly how Chen viewed Zhou.

Still, Lu didn't object to his superior's tone and kept his eyes forward as he waited for the next order.

"Make the little girl disappear before he visits."

This was not the order Lu was expecting. Not only would this go poorly with Zhou, Chen would also lose a valuable collaborator.

Nonetheless, Lu Gonghu's expression did not question anything as he silently accepted this order.

◊ ◊ ◊

Even though today was Sunday, since they had to go to school, they couldn't just wear casual clothes either.

Some normal high schools (the general term applied to high schools of letters and science) did permit their students to wear casual clothes to school, but they were the decisive minority within normal high schools.

Magic high schools required uniforms regardless of whether class was in session.

The siblings dropped by the house for a change of clothes.

At this time, the personal line in the house rang. This was a call that could not be transferred. Restricting the message from being sent to portable terminals was to prevent other people from prying. The fact that this setting was activated indicated that the sender believed the contents to be highly confidential.

"Onii-sama, what is it?"

Miyuki, who took slightly longer to change, arrived to where Tatsuya was standing by the phone and discreetly glanced at the display.

"A message is it? From who......

Eh? Hirakawa-senpai!?"

Of course, Miyuki knew all about the attempted sabotage incident.

After hearing this, she did not bear a very sympathetic view of the Hirakawa siblings.

"Apparently she hopes we will return the call."

After perusing the contents of the message, Tatsuya hit the redial button before Miyuki could say anything.

The other side picked up the line after one ring.

"Hello, Shiba-kun? My apologies for asking you to call me back......"

Among the representatives for the Nine Schools Competition,

Hirakawa Koharu was one of those who openly displayed a friendly welcome to Tatsuya from the get go. Still, they were only mere acquaintances. She was someone who disliked conflict and was typically courteous to anyone other than herself. In fact, she stood out for her timid nature that was completely different than Azusa.

Yet, from another perspective, timidness could also be seen as "gentleness" or "accommodating". Actually, it was highly possible more people believed that was the case.

"Hardly, we were the ones who were late. We just stepped out for a bit."

The hour right now would be quite tardy for normal classes.

It was hardly surprising that they weren't home during the weekend, but Koharu must have been waiting anxiously for Tatsuya to return her call. The fact that she picked up the phone after one ring was clear evidence of this.

The video transmission was now very common. Even though video cams had become practically universal, this was only a change in technology.

Human emotions had not progressed to the point where they were willing to allow their peaceful homes to be exposed before another's eyes, or let someone watch them change without hesitation.

There were households with dedicated phone rooms, but the overwhelming majority placed their phones in the living room and alerted the other side about opening the video cam.

Koharu's face did not appear on the display and the monitor remained black.

"Please don't worry about that, I was the one who requested to talk over the phone."

Still, it was apparent from her voice that she had lowered her head with a dark cloud over her face.

"These past few days, well......

My sister has caused you considerable trouble."

Nay, rather than saying a "dark cloud", perhaps her face was "utterly pale".

"It was only an attempt after all. As nothing happened, please do not worry too much. I don't mind either."

This wasn't just a line to help the other person relax, these were Tatsuya's true feelings.

"But, she still caused a lot of trouble...... Originally, it was already enough of a bother that Shiba-kun had to replace me. It is my ineptitude that caused this child to dig herself into such a deep hole. Causing you such difficulties during this critical period cannot be simply written off as a mere attempt. Although I can only apologize...... But I am really, really sorry."

On the other side of the unconnected video screen, Koharu undoubtedly bowed deeply in apology.

Her voice naturally gave off that impression.

However, Tatsuya's honest feelings were "Even if you apologize like this......"

He didn't wish for an apology, and hearing these depressing and self- demeaning words only served to sour his mood.

Honestly, he never took Chiaki's actions, or more like "what she wanted to do", to heart.

He never really even thought about it.

"I understand. On Hirakawa-senpai's behalf, we'll just write the whole thing off."

Hoping to quickly bring this call to an end, he halfheartedly comforted

(?) her.

"Thank you very much. I hoped that Shiba-kun would say that."

She was impressive indeed if she could discern Tatsuya's real intent through those words. Looks like there was a serious misunderstanding.

"Hardly......

Then, goodbye."

"Ah, wait."

Tatsuya's attempt to hang up while Hirakawa was soothed appeared to be premature.

"What is it?"

There were many things demanding his attention. In other words, he simply didn't have time.

Tatsuya had to take extra care not to let his impatience bleed into his words.

"Well, I know a simple apology isn't sufficient."

Is it this again, Tatsuya thought. Tatsuya honestly wanted to give up on this endlessly looping conversation.

"I don't know if this can help Shiba-kun." Fortunately, he was worrying needlessly.

"I found phone logs between Chiaki and the criminal organization. Although this contains that child's personal data...... But I still want to give it to Shiba-kun. Please use it as you see fit, Shiba-kun. Anyways, I'm sorry for bothering you while you're so busy. Thank you for listening to me for so long. Goodbye."

The call ended.

Without waiting for Tatsuya to reply.

"Even if they're siblings, hacking is a crime......"

Tatsuya murmured these words as if speaking to Koharu as he gazed at the data log icon in the adjacent frame.

"Onii-sama, what is it?"

She probably heard Tatsuya muttering to himself.

Miyuki approached again with a slightly concerned look on her face. "So, what are we going to do."

After giving a subtle, vague answer, Tatsuya considered Koharu's intentions.

She was trying to use this to make amends. Although she didn't come out and say it, there was no other plausible explanation besides this one. Hirakawa hacked her sister's personal communications because she wanted to know who led her sister astray. Yet, her actions didn't paint her in a better light. Giving Tatsuya this information, she was hoping that he would avenge her, Tatsuya speculated.

(I wonder if this constitutes as cunning......)

The fact that he would use a term like a woman's cunning definitely pointed towards his insufficient life experiences.

"......Oh well. Allow me to make use of what I have."

Setting aside Miyuki with a completely perplexed look on her face, Tatsuya dialed another number.

Even with the data log that provided an abandoned access point in hand, he wasn't confident he could sniff out his quarry on the net.

But he knew someone who could.

The sky was raining when the two of them reached school. Although neither Tatsuya nor Miyuki brought an umbrella, fortunately they avoided being drenched.

Also, Miyuki was a member the Student Council who held the privilege of bringing CADs to school (though Tatsuya also held that distinction).

Wet clothes were swiftly dealt with by Miyuki's magic, leaving no trace behind.

However—

"Given the rain, looks like our field activity will be impossible......"

"There's nothing we can do about that."

Tatsuya shrugged his shoulders as Miyuki frowned at the dark clouds overhead.

So far, the preparations had been going according to schedule. Working indoors would be a little cramped, but then it's not like they wouldn't hit their deadline if they didn't do anything.

Personally speaking, he was originally going to do calibrations in the repair room for the Robotics Club, so weather really didn't bother him.

"Then, I'm off."

"Yes, please do your best, Onii-sama."

Miyuki still had Student Council business waiting for her as she regretfully bid farewell to Tatsuya.

◊ ◊ ◊

The Robotics Club was short for the "Robot Research Group". The repair room was a small lab where they conducted all sorts of robot construction and electric testing.

During the preparation period, there was a large computer here used for debugging purposes that helped to modify the Activation Sequence for the model device used during the Thesis Competition.

His assignment today was to calibrate the Activation Sequence. Since Suzune and Isori already finished the testing the mainframe's run time, Tatsuya was the only one with anything left to do today. The main focus of the demonstration, the thermonuclear reactor model, had already been connected to the computer. The Robotics Club members responsible for setting up the device had already left to help other teams put their components together. Right now, Tatsuya was the only person in the repair room.

(Am I a little late?)

Even though this was a day off with no classes, they certainly helped him a great bundle, Tatsuya chuckled wryly.

"Welcome back."

He was the only "human" in the repair room, but a second after he entered the room, a "humanoid" came to welcome him.

It was wearing a white apron with white frills above a black skirt that extended 10 centimeters below the knee. Beneath, there was a pair of white, knee high socks and black shoes. There was also a white headband with frills on the head.

(Seriously, so that's where their interests lie......

)

"Year 1 Class E, Shiba Tatsuya."

Tatsuya chuckled and simply announced his name.

The welcoming "young lady" straightened and paused for half a second before bowing deeply.

The movements stopped to verify his voice.

Satisfied that the facial and vocal examination matched the records, Tatsuya finally bypassed the security features in this room.

"Preparing, coffee."

An awkward tone paired with an equally awkward movement.

Still, this "awkwardness" wasn't noticeable unless carefully observed.

Her name was "3H Type P94" (3H Personal-Type '94). The Robotics Club nicknamed her "Pixie".

This was the Humanoid Home Helper, also known as the 3H personal chore robot, owned by the Robotics Club. That was the identity of this "girl". Apparently, someone among the Year 3 students in the Robotics Club had connections with the HAR's primary distributors and were able to borrow an updated AI device.

Generally, the 3H's appearance was set to that of a woman in her twenties, but in order to reduce the incompatibility on campus, she was specifically set to be someone in her late teens.

Truly, if she wore the school uniform from First High and managed to sneak into class, she would be an exemplary "emotionless female student" if she could just sit down and not make a sound. She might even qualify for the term "cool beauty". —An effect completely lost when she was wearing a maid uniform.

Even Tatsuya was caught by surprise upon being served by a "maid robot" while preparing for the Thesis Competition in this room for the first time. Still, he was more or less accustomed to this garb now.

Just as Tatsuya sat down in front of the controls and faced the terminal, a cup of coffee was set on the table beside him with a small sound.

(Looks like there's still room for improvement in the control software......)

After pondering for a bit, he picked up the cup and took a sip. It was a fair cup, he nodded.

The newest 3H model "Pixie" possessed automatic, customized features that could identify the tastes of over fifty users based on facial structure. Even though Tatsuya didn't say anything, it was this function that enabled her to prepare a cup of coffee to suit him.

"Pixie, remain on standby."

After replacing the coffee on the table, Tatsuya gave this order to Pixie. Despite knowing she was a machine, having such a life-like robot standing behind him still felt unnatural.

"Understood."

The pronunciation for such a specific term was quite fluid.

The P94 bowed in a fluid motion that matched any live human and walked towards the seat near the entrance.

After taking a seat, she became motionless.

The power source for the 3H was a methanol fuel cell.

There was an option to refuel methanol — literally drinking it in this case, so the user didn't have to worry about exhausting the fuel.

However, there was no need to waste fuel needlessly, since the act of standing was rather taxing on the power (standing on both legs was a rather challenging exercise), so the model remained sitting when not in use.

Tatsuya moved his head around (no ulterior motive implied) and placed his fingertips on the keyboard.

The sound of lightly tapping the keys rang out.

Tatsuya's left hand left the keyboard and moved towards the pearl- colored display. This was the access point for users to directly interact with the large CAD plugged into the display. The user could supply psions needed by the Activation Sequence through this display, where the CAD would then read the Activation Sequence.

He was currently projecting the movements of the Magic Sequence.

Normally, the sequence involved breaking down the Magic Sequence into steps and removing individual steps before they came to fruition in order to test whether the desired result was brought about by the processes.

On the surface, he was following this procedure, but in reality he was using his "eye" to directly observe each aspect of the Magic Sequence.

His superlative talent in developing magic was largely thanks to this hidden ability (Elemental Sight), although other magic pioneers might label this as cheating — he was not the sort of person to quibble over things like that.

His physical eye was watching the screen while his mental eye was glued on the information dimension.

His work continued for roughly an hour.

Suddenly, he felt an uncomfortable feeling within his body. Drowsiness suddenly sneaked up on him.

(Did I overdo it......

)

Wishing to take a break outside, Tatsuya moved to get up, but— His limbs were heavy.

Like his body hadn't woken up yet.

Highly trained individuals could use their will to control the physical body's desire for sleep.

Pulling several all-nighters in a row was another story, but he didn't recall that he led such an unprincipled lifestyle.

A danger signal flashed across his brain.

His physical body plainly was behaving abnormally.

[Physical functioning dropping abnormally]

Sleepiness itself is not something that poses an obstruction to combat ability.

However, when unable to awaken based on one's own consciousness, then this drowsiness became an impairment to combat ability.

[Personal Restoration: Semi-Automatic Activation]

His Personal Restoration ability recognized the necessity.

[Magic Sequence: Loaded]

[Core/Eidos Data: Retrieving from Backup]

Begin activation.

[Restoration: Commence...... Complete]

In an instant, his body returned to "a state before drowsiness came upon him".

But the primary problem still hadn't been addressed.

The only thing that he had consumed since leaving the house for the lab was the coffee from the cafe and the cup Pixie prepared for him. Neither of the two items contained hazardous materials. That was because he already used his "eye" to verify this before partaking in them. Thus, the only direction where chemicals could come from was

—

(Gas!)

The circulation system must have been tampered with.

After taking a quick inventory of the information in the room, he confirmed that a fast-acting sleeping gas had been introduced into the air for a short period of time.

So what should he do now.

It was a simple matter for him to "decompose" the gas.

However, there were magic monitors all around the campus, so if he used "Decomposition" in a large, open space like this repair room to remove all the gas, the magic he kept hidden all this time would be revealed. That was not a desirable outcome.

Miyuki, Honoka, or Shizuku would be able to identify which gas particles were harmful and expel them from the room, but that sort of magic was a little too difficult for him.

At any rate, holding his breath also had its limitations.

Right now, the only thing he could do was leave. He could just leave the device behind without a problem. After locking the computer, Tatsuya turned towards the entrance.

Yet — before him, a slim figure halted him in his tracks.

The figure standing before Tatsuya stretched out a hand towards Tatsuya's mouth.

Since the movement wasn't particularly swift, Tatsuya wasn't clear what the figure was trying to do.

"Her" hand stopped shortly in front of Tatsuya's face.

"There is an abnormality in the circulation system. Please wear a mask."

3H (Humanoid Home Helper) Type P94, the feminine robot named Pixie offered him a simple mask.

At first glance, this appeared to be disposable cloth dust mask, but this was a high quality gel filter sufficient to block anything larger than carbon dioxide particles. Applied to the face, the filter was able to block almost all poisonous gases while not hampering breathing in any way.

They even have these, Tatsuya thought as he put on the mask and closed his eyes.

"Corneas in danger of contamination. Need to be directed outside, by hand."

Despite the clear need for linguistic improvement, Tatsuya got the meaning she was trying to convey perfectly. The newest 3H model P94 appeared to have crisis management protocols installed, or maybe this was simply the Robotics Club's "education".

Tatsuya knew that sleeping gas did not contain elements that harmed the eyes.

That was because she said so only after he closed his eyes. Still, he made no motion to walk outside.

"Pixie, override and activate the ventilation system. To prevent secondary hazards, I will remain here. Remain in Monitoring Status. In order to allow assistance, do not prevent others from entering. You are forbidden from obstructing them."

The P94 accepted the chain of commands from Tatsuya.

"Avoidance of secondary hazards, logical and confirmed. Overriding ventilation system."

The air conditioning system and the ventilation system that was on a separate system had been activated.

The 3H itself was only a voice-machine interface for the automatic household system.

The small fuel cell that served as its power source and upright frame that stood on two legs were not suitable for physical labor.

Owing to its humanoid design, the number of sensors installed was also limited, so it wasn't suited for precision tasks either.

Based on the 3H's design, individual activity did not need to match the strength or precision of actual humans and was designed to facilitate the usage of the automatic household system.

After going through voice recognition, they were able to receive verbal orders. This was like remotely controlling the HAR that shared the same outward appearance as humans. The HAR was originally intended to be an add-on and never meant to cover all the bases for household management.

Still, the add-on functions were so well done that most people forgot the HAR's original purpose as an interface.

Not just everyone else. Even Tatsuya actually forgot today.

(Being overly accessible has its pros and cons......

)

Tatsuya ruminated whether he had that embarrassing thought only because he refused to admit defeat as he waited for the sleeping gas to be expelled.

Taking the 3H's operations into account, the air conditioning system was being restored at the same time.

Tatsuya sat down in front of the terminal again and removed the gas mask. In order to refrain from scaring the person checking to see if he had fallen asleep, he closed his eyes and relaxed the tension in his body.

The person he was waiting for quickly arrived.

After the gas was removed, Tatsuya sat there with closed eyes, concentrated, and quickly detected someone creeping into the room.

He preemptively ordered the P94 to refrain from searching each individual before entering because he considered the possibility that someone would enter right now, which fell perfectly within Tatsuya's calculations.

"Shiba?"

The familiar voice of an upperclassman.

The statement was made to check if Tatsuya was actually asleep and would immediately offer a false offer of worry if he rose. However, based on the terrible alibi due to his awkward choice of timing to enter the room now, he was a complete amateur.

Naturally, Tatsuya continued to feign sleep. "Shiba, are you asleep?"

Once again making sure that there was no answer, the invader glanced around as if looking for something, but his eyes quickly focused on the device. He abandoned the terminal as a target because he saw that Tatsuya already locked the computer. Or, maybe he never wanted the data in the first place.

The invader had no idea that Tatsuya was watching with narrowed eyes, nor was he aware that Pixie was sitting there in Monitoring Mode and recording the entire sequence. And so, the invader plugged the hacking tool he used on the recording cameras into the device and started trying to remove the Activation Sequence data.

"Sekimoto, what are you doing?"

The sudden query caused the invader to jump in fright and frantically whirl around.

(That's a wrap......

)

Too bad the merry solo act ended so soon, Tatsuya thought to himself. Of course, the people in question, both the person being interrupted and the one providing the interruption — were entirely unaware of his terrible interest in entertainment.

"Chiyoda, why are you here?"

"Why? I came here because I received word from the security system that there was an error flag from the air conditioning system.

Sekimoto, why are you here and what are you holding in your hand?"

"Impossible......

The alarm should have been disconnected......"

His panicky state, or maybe the presence of this unexpected surprise, caused Sekimoto to misspeak, prompting Kanon's eyes to go hard.

"Indeed. The alarm was sent manually and not automatically." Pixie was the one who raised the alarm instead of Tatsuya.

The robot determined this was the proper action and followed through, which was another type of "automatic", but Kanon had no way of knowing. Compared to that—

"However, your earlier words can't simply be seen as words in the wind."

The most important thing was Sekimoto's accidental confession. "What do you mean, the alarm should have been disconnected."

Criminals didn't always adopt logical paths of action. Still, there is a heightened degree of anxiety during the act itself, which was why they fell for traps that they would be able to avoid during normal circumstances. This was one of the key clues that enabled investigators to determine a suspect no matter how long ago the crime occurred. Currently, Sekimoto succumbed to the same cognitive trap that criminals often fell for.

"Sekimoto, remaining silent now is the same as admitting you did the deed."

Kanon's tone was fairly restrained, but she was clearly very sincere. Kanon moved her left hand before her chest.

A running CAD was held in her hand.

It was already filled with psions to guarantee that the Activation Sequence would work.

This was not a contest, training session, or practical joke. This was a direct descendant of the Chiyoda Family from the Hundred Families preparing for live combat—

"Haha, Chiyoda, don't be ridiculous. I'm the criminal? Criminal for what?"

Sekimoto was trying to use false bravado to cover for himself, but this would only work when a large number of companions was with him and definitely not in a one-on-one confrontation.

"The criminal who tampered with the air conditioner by mixing in sleeping gas. In other words, the red-handed criminal engaged in industrial spying."

"How rude, Chiyoda! I was just making a backup because I was worried that we may lose data due to the system malfunction."

"Using hacking tools? That's frankly impossible. Isn't that right, Shiba-kun."

Sekimoto whirled around with shock to find Tatsuya smiling wryly with both eyes open.

Kanon had seen through Tatsuya's feigned sleep at a single glance. "Impossible, the gas had no effect?"

"He's not a little cutie pie that can be undone by sleeping gas." Tatsuya's wry smile deepened at Kanon's blatantly unfavorable tone.

"No way to deny that I'm not cute...... The rest is just as the Chief said.

There is simply no way to directly prepare a backup for the device. Even if you tried, there would be no need."

The CAD plugged into the display device only recorded the Activation Sequence spreading out, and there was no way for an internal function to compile the Activation Sequence. Modification of Activation Sequences are often directly done on the computer, with a copy of contents included as well.

"Sekimoto, don't even try to think I'm that stupid. Even if my technical ability isn't all that great, I at least know that much."

Sekimoto clenched his teeth before Kanon's displeased glare.

He bore the appearance of a cornered rat that had been stripped of any excuse.

"Sekimoto Isao, remove your CAD and set it on the floor." Kanon's tone changed.

She was now advising a criminal to surrender.

However, Sekimoto's response was, "Chiyoda!"

The Activation Sequence spread out.

Sekimoto was a powerful member of the Public Moral Committee after joining in the second semester of Year 2.

There was no delay in his magic invocation, from reading the Activation Sequence to the construction of the Magic Sequence. His speed rivaled any representative from the Nine Schools Competition.

Yet—

"......Cut the bull, Sekimoto-kun!"

Sekimoto's magic dissipated. He realized an instant later that was because of Kanon's oscillatory-type magic using the floorboards as a medium.

When invoking magic, there was absolutely no need to recite the name of the magic used.

At the same time, calling out the name of the target was also meaningless.

Combat involving modern magic was decided in an instant. Kanon had prepared her CAD first.

Even performing a pointless a gesture like calling out Kanon's name, there was simply no way for Sekimoto to seize the initiative from Kanon.

After Kanon called out, reinforcements from the Public Moral Committee and Club Activities Group burst into the room and Sekimoto was brought to the Student Guidance Center (aka "Interrogation Room").

During this time, Tatsuya never made a move.

Seeing Kanon's group leave, Tatsuya gave new orders to the waiting P94.

"Pixie, cancel Monitoring Mode, copy the visual and auditory recording starting from the moment the order was given into the memory cube and delete all files from the registry."

"Understood. Copying data files to memory cube......

Complete.

......Deleting records. Complete."

Pixie belonged to the Robotics Club, so Tatsuya didn't actually have that level of clearance. Still, since Tatsuya gave the order to make that recording, Tatsuya possessed the ownership power over the recorded files.

After placing the memory cube containing the evidence that even Kanon didn't know about into his shirt pocket, Tatsuya ordered the feminine robot to stand down again.

◊ ◊ ◊

Visiting hours for the hospital affiliated with the national magic university lasted from noon until 7 in the evening. Right now, the hour was just past 4, hence no one thought it was strange that a young man in a business suit with a bouquet of flowers in his hand would appear in the hospital halls. Also, there wasn't a sense of wrongness with a man holding a bouquet, since the youth was clearly from a well-to-do family.

Still, his unique features should have been particularly memorable, but none of the other visitors or nurses paid him any heed. That certainly constituted an amazing situation.

Maybe because he was a frequent visitor or for some other reason, the young man was quite familiar with the hospital layout and didn't even hesitate before heading up the floors without even consulting the display board. After taking the elevator to the fourth floor, the young man came to a halt in the corridors.

In front of him, there was the figure of a bulky man which sparked the young man's recollection. This man, who was slightly older than him but still rated as a young man, was standing before the door leading to a certain hospital room.

Zhou once remarked to the young man's superior officer, Chen, that he would be visiting today. At the time, Chen didn't object to his visit to the young lady, nor did he make any comment.

So this was Chen's plan, Zhou could only rationalize it as such. Thus, someone being here to prevent his visit and even hamper his business was the real reason why Chen didn't object to his activities.

Not even hesitating for a second, the young Zhou pressed the alarm on the wall as if nothing had happened.

As the young man headed to the fourth floor from the third floor, a young couple came from the In Patient Wing. The man's name was Chiba Naotsugu and the woman was Watanabe Mari. The former was the second son of the Chiba Family bearing the proud title the Genius Swordsman while the latter was the former Public Moral Committee Chief from the magic university affiliated First High. The two of them were in the middle of a date.

"Nao."

In the eyes of her underclassmen, Mari was the heroic and valiant older sister, but before her lover she was a perfectly feminine, gentle young lady. Still, not only was this because she naturally wore an embarrassed expression while with her lover, there were a few apologetic traces in her expression as well.

"Well......

I'm sorry that I asked you to accompany me while you're so busy."

Mari's intent was to interrogate Hirakawa Chiaki under the pretext of visiting her at the hospital. At the end of the day, this was First High's issue, which was precisely the reason why Mari was "apologetic" to Naotsugu.

However, hearing Mari's words, Naotsugu wore a "Who do you take me for?" expression and lowered his head to look at Mari.

"What are you saying that for, I don't mind at all."

"But, don't you have to make preparations to ship out tomorrow?"

"While it is a naval exercise, this is primarily for the helmsmen and gunners. Our mission involves overseas training. There is some manual labor, but I'm already used to that."

Hearing Naotsugu's joking words, Mari's brows relaxed somewhat.

"Is it combined amphibious training at Guam?"

"Ah, yes. Our mission is slightly different than last time, this time it'll be a short training session lasting approximately 10 days. The burden isn't too heavy, so Mari, you don't have to worry about it so much."

Naotsugu smiled slightly after he answered Mari's question. "......Is something still bothering you?"

Naotsugu saw a color of hesitation still remained in the smile Mari returned, thus he asked.

"......But, Erika."

Mari's tone was slightly hesitant because she wasn't sure whether to bring this up.

"Erika?"

On the other hand, Naotsugu's voice was filled with a "completely unexpected" bewilderment.

"......Nao was gone for a long time last time, and don't you usually train with Erika at home? Is it OK to ask you out today?"

At Mari's comment, a gloomy expression mixed with traces of anger floated across Naotsugu's face.

"Erika is currently training with one of her classmates as a sparring opponent. Apparently he's quite the interesting fellow, and Erika seems quite happy."

"Classmate? He?"

Mari's slightly concerned question brought about quite a strong answer.

"Hm, just a friend, I believe."

"............"

Mari didn't say anything. She just stared blankly at Naotsugu's face. Somewhat uneasy, Naotsugu pretended to cough.

"Nao?"

"Don't worry about Erika right now. The important thing is that I want to be with Mari. So Mari, you really don't have to worry so much."

"D-Don't say such e-embarrassing things!"

The offensive and defensive roles quickly reversed. The one who usually retorted at others was often susceptible to the same tactics. Mari, who had relentlessly tried to throw Tatsuya off balance by joking him up until she resigned as Chair of the Public Moral Committee, was sunk by one earnest comment from Naotsugu.

Naotsugu was finally able to breathe a sigh a relief at disarming his lover's suspicions, but his relaxed nerves quickly tightened with anxiety.

That was because the alarm rang out. "Nao!"

Mari's expression tightened despite how she was wavering a moment ago and looked towards Naotsugu.

"That's no fire alarm, that's the riot alarm!"

The riot alarm was designed to prevent innocent bystanders from being dragged into criminal incidents, but also served as a signal that called for assistance in restoring order.

"It's on the fourth floor!"

Naotsugu looked at the monitor on the wall that displayed the alarm details.

"The fourth floor?"

"Is it the same floor that Mari's kouhai is in?"

Mari's solemn expression immediately conveyed to Naotsugu the severity of the situation.

"Let's go!"

Nodding her head, Mari didn't hesitate for a second after an incident broke out. In fact, it would be more appropriate to say that she was the one pulling Naotsugu up the stairs.

In the midst of the alarm, Lu Gonghu put his hands on the door handle leading to the sick room. He had already investigated the details of the room that his target was residing in. There was only one young girl inside. Lu Gonghu was confident that he could get rid of her before security showed up.

However, a shocked expression made its way across his face when he tried to pull the door handle only to find that the door was locked. According to his general knowledge, doors were usually opened during a fire alarm to help facilitate evacuation. Was there a malfunction in the lock? Lu considered this because he was unaware of the riot alarm.

There was a small time lag due to the cultural shock. Originally, Lu planned to destroy the lock and enter the room. Yet because of the alarm, he mistakenly believed that the lock would automatically disengage, hence his bewilderment when he found the door still locked. Although Lu immediately changed his mind and opted to destroy the lock, this sort of unexpected time loss was critical in his mission.

Just as he was about to twist the door handle open, "Who are you!?"

Across from Lu's position, someone called out to him.

Thanks to the Chiba Family's special techniques, Naotsugu used personal acceleration magic to sprint to the fourth floor and ran across a young man several years older than himself trying to break the door lock.

On reflex, he called out "Who are you!?", but just as he vocalized this, his memory had already supplied the answer.

This man surrounded by a terrifying aura that raised every hair on one's back—

"The Devouring Tiger......

Lu Gonghu! Why are you here?!"

As a member of the Chiba Family who were the authorities in close- combat magic, Naotsugu was well aware of this man's name and facial features. He was one of the top ten close combat specialists across the globe and was a close-combat Magician who hailed from the Great Asian Alliance. Due to the similarity in age, the debate regarding which one was stronger between him and Naotsugu continued to rage, but the majority believed that the more brutal one — Lu Gonghu with his terrifying "name" that caused people to cower in fear, was stronger than Naotsugu.

"Ghost of the Phantom Blade - Chiba Naotsugu."

Facing this direction, a small sound passed across Lu Gonghu's lips. "Ghost of the Phantom Blade" was undoubtedly Naotsugu's original nickname.

The moment their eyes caught one another, a battle for supremacy began.

Naotsugu pulled out a 20 cm baton from his chest pocket. After pressing a button near one end, a 15 cm long blade slid out with a "clang".

On the other side, Lu Gonghu only had his bare hands, but he fearlessly charged towards where Naotsugu stood with the short sword in his hand.

When their distance shrank to the length of a long sword, Naotsugu's right hand scythed downwards.

The short sword was still out of range, but Lu Gonghu still raised his left hand over his head.

When the invisible line extending from the short sword intersected with the left hand, a furious "clang" rang out.

Weight-Type Magic "Pressure Slash". This was a magic that used the metal coil that extended from the tip of the rod to form a thin repulsion field that sliced through anything it touched.

This was why Naotsugu was waving around a short sword out of the weapon's range.

If Naotsugu's technique rated as astounding, then Lu Gonghu's ability to block an enemy blade with his bare hands was even more incredible.

Steel Qigong, so named by the users from Northern China that favored this technique, was developed from Qigong. Qigong was a physical ability rather than a magical one, but using Qigong to apply a layer of steel armor eventually became the magic now known as Steel Qigong. Lu Gonghu was the man responsible for bringing that to fruition.

After the repulsion field blade was blocked by the barrier surrounding the body, Naotsugu's right hand continued to swing downwards. Once the magic was nullified, Pressure Slash became just an empty swing of the short sword, but Naotsugu managed to turn the downward swing into an upward slash when the blade reached waist height.

In order to defend against the attack, Lu Gonghu applied Steel Qigong on his right hand and blocked towards the right side of his hip. However, his right hand didn't encounter any resistance as the repulsion field blade disappeared half way.

It wasn't anything particularly special to halt an invoked magic before the spell reaches completion. In conflicts between magic combatants, in comparison to rejecting interference strength, using replicated magic on the Eidos to render previous magic impotent was absolutely integral to cooperative use of magic.

However, the difficulty was entirely different when suddenly applying another spell when invoking the previous one. If the Eidos is not altered in the beginning and just the Magic Sequence is utilized, once the Magic Sequence passes the gate — the connecting gate between the human mental landscape and the information dimension that resides between the lowest layer of consciousness and the top layer of subconsciousness — the Magic Sequence would dissipate into nothing. There would be no way to misdirect one's opponent without any traces of magic invocation. In order to consciously halt magic in the middle, one needed to actually project a Magic Sequence the same way magic is invoked, then canceling the invocation before it finishes. Thus, switching consciousness and focus in an instant was absolutely integral.

Lu's body was already ready to receive the incoming slash, but because the repulsion field blade suddenly disappeared he was off balance as his body tilted towards the right. Naotsugu seized this opportunity to once again deploy "Pressure Slash". The invisible blade slashed down towards the right side of Lu's neck.

Another "clang" sound went off, but there was no blood. At the last second, Lu used the Metal Bridge technique to drastically lean backwards and take this opportunity to twist his body to meet Naotsugu's blow. Using his falling back as a fulcrum, he whirled and sent a flying kick at Naotsugu. Naotsugu was forced to leap back and Lu Gonghu took this opportunity to reset his balance.

There was no way their contest could start over from the beginning. During that exchange, it was obvious that Naotsugu could have clinched the advantage if he was able to take advantage of the timing. Naturally, Lu Gonghu wasn't foolish enough to let his opponent dictate the pacing. After righting himself, he reached out with his right wrist and took large steps forward.

Naotsugu swung his short sword at Lu's outstretched right wrist, but the 15 cm long blade was rejected by the spiraling forces swirling around the wrist. This was also a move from traditional Chinese martial arts, a magic technique that used the entire nervous system to create a spiraling force at the point of impact that served as both offense and defense called "Coiled Silk Force".

Naotsugu's body shook like a leaf caught in the river current after he sustained the force from the coiled nerves. In order to avoid Lu's advance, Naotsugu was forced to leap backwards.

Naotsugu's massive retreat caused Lu's furiously advancing fingertips to miss their mark. However, Lu didn't give Naotsugu any opportunity to reset his posture. Fist, palm, bear claw, the blows came flying forward intermixed with attacks with the elbow, shoulder, and even a tackle as a furious tide of attacks pressed Naotsugu relentlessly and completely denied him any opportunity to use Pressure Slash. Naotsugu was forced to retreat each time, but even so, none of Lu's attacks managed to land on Naotsugu's body. Although there was no trace of any emotion save for fighting intent on Lu's face, internally he was starting to fret a little. He raised his attack speed, but at the same time, the offensive output of each of his blows shrank.

Finally, Naotsugu's back was against a wall and he had nowhere left to run. Lu's fists swung forward like a windmill. However, his right haymaker was blocked by Naotsugu's right hand in the form of a karate chop. The short sword that was originally held in Naotsugu's right hand had vanished. For the first time, turmoil warred across Lu's face.

After nullifying the attack from Lu's right hand, Naotsugu managed to divert Lu's attack strength. Off balance, Lu's body tilted forward. Meanwhile, the short sword originally in Naotsugu's right hand materialized in his left hand.

Naotsugu's sword wasn't aimed at Lu's exposed back of the head, but slashed towards the side of his waist. Tilting forward, Lu's body was perfectly in line to receive the blade coming for his abdomen. Even at this disadvantage, Lu still tried his utmost to twist and avoid the blade going into his vitals. The short sword swept across Lu's side and left a deep cut.

Inverted, Lu sent his feet kicking towards Naotsugu's head. Naotsugu took one step back to avoid the blow. Following that Lu's body flipped sideways instead of forward and his feet were pressed against the wall rather than the floor. In the next instant, he kicked off the wall and pounced ferociously towards Naotsugu.

The pair of outstretched hands were like the claws of a tiger, its strength in no way inferior to a feral beast and capable of shredding flesh and bone alike.

An overpowering sense of danger prompted Naotsugu to flee in spite of his terrible posture. Lu kept his leaping posture as he brushed past Naotsugu and landed two meters away. Landing with both hands on the ground, he quickly turned around and pounced on Naotsugu again. Despite Lu Gonghu's injury, the ferocity and pressure of his attack seemed to be even stronger than prior to his injury. This time, it was Naotsugu's turn to fret.

After the fourth charge, Lu Gonghu's attack was interrupted by an attack from the flank. On reflex, he took evasive action.

Two burning blades came rushing towards Lu. Its true form was tightly compressed air caused by high temperature differences. Lu saw the opening between the two blades and dodged between them. Yet immediately afterward, the concentrated compressed air exploded in fury, striking Lu's body from both sides with their combined explosion.

Lu grunted in pain and sprang towards the stairs at one end of the corridor. Naotsugu hurried in pursuit, but Lu's figure had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Mari......

Thanks for the assistance."

It was Mari's magic that enabled Naotsugu to escape from harm, but this was not a premeditated attack. After seeing Naotsugu locked in combat with Lu, Mari immediately joined in the attack. The reason why Mari finally interposed in the conflict was because until now, the battle between Naotsugu and Lu was too intense and close to risk launching her attack.

"Nao......

You're hurt......!?"

Although Naotsugu's words were meant to comfort Mari as she came rushing forward — plainly, Mari didn't even hear him — because her astonishment suffused her face. Before her eyes, Natosugu's right hand was flushed into an angry red.

The outcome of Naotsugu and Lu's battle could be deciphered from the pain each side suffered. When deflecting Lu's attack, Naotsugu's right hand also suffered considerable damage. Flank versus right hand, from a long term perspective Naotsugu had the upper hand, but if the battle was to be decided quickly, then Naotsugu would undoubtedly fall after losing his primary hand.

"Don't worry, although I need to see a specialized doctor in the beginning, I can handle the rest. Fortunately, we're currently in a hospital."

"But you ship out tomorrow......"

"That's OK. My superiors would understand. After all, this is a work related injury."

Naotsugu's tone was no different than normal, which allowed Mari to gradually relax. However, after shaking off her turmoil, her brain sprouted another question.

"That man......

Who was he? To be able to match Nao in close quarters."

Naotsugu hesitated briefly, but still answered the question.

"That guy is called Lu Gonghu. A Magician from the Great Asian Alliance's Special Ops."

"Lu Gonghu......

So that's him......"

Mari was long aware of Lu Gonghu's name that was just as famous as Naotsugu's own.

"Mari."

Naotsugu suddenly grabbed Mari's shoulders and turned her to face himself.

"Nao, why are you doing this all of a sudden?" Shame faced, Mari turned aside.

"Mari."

Nevertheless, after hearing Naotsugu call out her name again in a decisively odd tone, Mari turned back around.

"I must leave tomorrow. During this time, I am very worried since I won't be by your side......"

"I understand, Nao. Then, is there anything you need to tell me?"

"Lu Gonghu saw your face before disappearing. He will definitely see you as an enemy."

Mari nodded at Naotsugu's words. Her eyes didn't contain a hint of fear, which only deepened Naotsugu's concern.

"That man is a barbaric Magician bearing the name "Devouring Tiger". You saw his power today. During this time, please don't be by yourself."

Mari's felt that Naotsugu's words were an exaggeration, but she swallowed those words at the serious glint in Naotsugu's eyes.

Lu Gonghu, who had been forced to retreat from his duel with Naotsugu at Mari's interference, was currently sitting in the passenger seat of the luxury car that Zhou was driving.

"My apologies if I stole your thunder there."

After leaving the gates of the hospital, Zhou struck up a conversation from the driver's seat.

Lu said nothing as he kept his eyes forward.

Zhou kept going despite seeing that Lu's attitude wasn't very welcoming.

"Speaking of which, I am quite surprised that Master Lu was injured."

Even though he was aware that the topic at hand was discussing his own mishap, Lu didn't bat an eyelid.

"Did you use Earth Mover?"

The question he opened his mouth to ask was regarding the ability Zhou used to facilitate his escape.

"Surely you jest. Compared to Master Chen, my level is merely cheap parlor tricks and definitely unworthy of any notice."

And so, Zhou smiled without a care as he responded to Lu's accusation that he was hiding something up his sleeve.

◊ ◊ ◊

After returning home from school, Tatsuya immediately walked towards the conference phone.

The first number he dialed was one he called earlier today. "Hello."

The voice came from a young woman (not a young girl) and used words that seemed two centuries out of date.

Not only the image, but even the volume quality had been boosted, but he could tell that the slightly murky image came from the phone on a mobile terminal.

"It's Shiba."

"Aya, it's quite rare for you to call twice in one day."

A clear, frank voice accompanied the image of a smiling woman wearing a suit like a young secretary from a large corporation that was displayed on the monitor.

She intentionally disguised herself inconspicuously, but her mundane cosmetics and ordinary wardrobe only served to intensify her moving features.

"My apologies, are you in the middle of a date?"

"Haha."

Fujibayashi, wearing clothes that perfectly suited that sort of nightly encounters, let out a professional, dazzling smile.

"Alas, this is work. Besides, the Casanovas are only welcome at this time. Since there aren't any good men around, oh wells."

Her tone was quite different than usual, which implied that she drank something containing alcohol. Of course, Tatsuya (on the other side) was never going to be caught dead saying something moronic like "you're in the middle of drinking".

Even though cars were now controlled by the central control system in the city proper, drinking and driving was still a punishable crime. To be precise, sitting in the driver's seat after imbibing constituted a crime. Social norms dictated that one must be able to maintain accurate judgment and normal mobility while operating a motor vehicle.

On the other hand, Fujibayashi's work wouldn't involve a normal car. As usual, she would be driving her modified car with boosted intelligence gathering functions. So, she was on her own car and was drunk. In other words, someone else besides Fujibayashi was currently in the driver's seat.

"Ah~......

I wonder where there's another handsome man like Tatsuya- kun."

Maybe she realized that Tatsuya was thinking about pointless things, Fujibayashi started flirting with Tatsuya in a sultry tone. Even after she spoke, she mischievously sent amorous gazes at Tatsuya.

"Is that so. I actually had a few things I wanted to talk about, so I guess I'll call back tomorrow."

Tatsuya only said this because he was absolutely certain that Fujibayashi was joking around with him. On the other side of the screen, Fujibayashi's coquettish expression was exchanged with an elated smile.

"How calm of you......

Well, that makes you worthy of the title 'man with most free time'."

"Somehow I feel that calling me the one with the most free time seems a little overboard......

By the way,"

"Relax, I'm alone right now."

Fujibayashi cut off Tatsuya before he could signify that he was concerned about information security.

"So, you can say anything you want." Then, she urged Tatsuya to cut to the chase. "Thank you."

Even Tatsuya, who was a proponent of sticking to his own guns, would be pulled along at another's pace if his opponent was Fujibayashi.

Tatsuya waved the white flag at someone who seemed to be able to switch between expressions like an actress before cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Actually, there was a burglary on campus today."

"Burglary? You mean the incident you mentioned this morning? They actually went through with it?"

"Yes, and they used sleeping gas as well."

On the other side of the screen, Fujibayashi wore an astounded expression that said "So they actually dared".

"Fortunately, it ended in an attempt."

"Sorry, I know we've restricted your side on our end......"

"This result isn't entirely because of my duty to the military."

Fujibayashi bowed her head in apology because Tatsuya was restricted to certain magics because of classified military secrets, so Fujibayashi was apologizing because Tatsuya had to unnecessarily go the extra mile.

Even if Fujibayashi's words were true and Tatsuya's words were only an excuse, repeating them was necessary to grease the wheels of this conversation.

Neither the apologizing side nor the receiving side truly meant what they said.

"I have a video recording at the scene of the attempted robbery."

"Eh...... How did you manage that?"

When planning to steal information, cutting the video feeds was the basic of the basics. Also, there was no way he could be just sitting in that room waiting for the crime to occur.

"It was recorded by an independently running robot."

"Oh, the 3H, so you have that kind of interests."

"Negative, the location is the room belonging to the Robot Research Club and the 3H was an accessory within."

Since the 3H boasted refined features, some people believed that individuals who utilized the 3H had a certain sort of fetish.

Knowing this, Tatsuya tried to use "independently running robot" to muddle through, but it looked like that didn't work on Fujibayashi.

"That recording,"

There was no way Tatsuya could clear his name if it got stuck here, so he forcibly moved the conversation forward.

"I managed to save it, so can you investigate?"

"What did you get?"

Honestly answering at this point was likely one of positive sides of Fujiybayashi's personality.

Although this degree of interaction was normal, there was still an equivalent rating system. At any rate, in Tatsuya's social circle, this was already a "pleasant personality".

"The tool used during the attempted robbery includes the logo for the CAD containing the hacking processes."

"I see. Tatsuya-kun, looks like you've got the fox by the tail."

"That would be an exaggeration, but that would be the gist of it."

"No worries."

At Tatsuya's expressionless face, Fujibayashi intentionally replied with a robust voice. Truly a pleasant personality, indeed.

"The captain said it's about time to get started, so we've already been keeping tabs on logos. We should be able to narrow it down in the next day or two, so just sit tight and wait for the good news."

Mysteriously, Fujibayashi made this prediction.

Nothing more needed to be said after Tatsuya thanked her. Afterwards, he passed the data to Fujibayashi's terminal.

◊ ◊ ◊

After finishing the call with Tatsuya, Fujibayashi let Inspector Chiba Toshikazu and his sergeant back onto the car. —Although she did drink wine, Fujibayashi was still sitting in the driver's seat, which more or less coincided with Tatsuya's estimation. Anyway, Fujibayashi was one of the individuals in the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion that fell outside the norm.

Still, from Toshikazu's perspective, this movement was filled with an interesting aura. In order to continue the case where the trail had gone cold, he wanted to purchase information from the intelligence vendor who knew everything across the world, "the owner of Rothbart".

This was why he was acting in concert with the beautiful young woman he ran across in the Cafe Rothbart.

He originally wanted to borrow her strength, but now it looked like he was doing volunteer work. Even though he privately asked himself "How did it get to this?", he still hadn't arrived at a satisfactory answer. Earlier, he had believed that he was immune to her womanly charms, but upon repeated reflection, he was no longer so confident in himself.

"My apologies, Mr. Chiba, that was a private call."

"No, that's quite alright."

Toshikazu was wearing a high-class casual suit that matched Fujibayashi very well, though the fact that policemen still received a paltry pay from past to present was a headache for many people.

However, from his perspective, he received an extra stipend from his family in addition to his policeman's wage, so his wallet was considerably more corpulent.

"So, what clues did your private informer give you?"

In order to avoid breaking the relaxed atmosphere, Toshikazu stepped lightly into the issue. In response, Fujibayashi's face lighted up with a delighted smile the same way she smiled at Tatsuya earlier.

Emphatic men were always welcome. Fujibayashi was highly irritated by slow-witted opponents, so she appeared to think highly of Toshikazu's quick wit.

"A poor mouse that was used by the fox, as well as the picture of the tail lent to the mouse."

"......So it's a recording of the collaborator and the hacking tool?"

At Inspector Chiba's somewhat bewildered guess, Fujibayashi smiled and said "Correct" as she nodded.

"Inspector, do you know the first step to hunting foxes?"

Afterward, she watched the man in the passenger's seat with serious eyes.

"I don't know......

Unfortunately, although I carry a gun......

I've never been a hunter."

Unable to keep up with the swift change in topic, the young inspector was unable to fluidly answer the question. The smile that masked his identity as an elite lieutenant fell away as he murmured with a solemn expression.

"Hunting foxes starts with finding the foxhole. Once the den has been destroyed, the hounds can be let loose to shoo the fox from the bushes."

"......So we should look for the den?"

"I'll leave the recording of the high school collaborator to you. Start by investigating this person's movements through the street cameras. If there was hardware that cannot be obtained normally, then it would mean that the student must have made contact somewhere."

Investigating the camera recordings without a warrant was unquestionably illegal. In addition, since the target was an adolescent, a search warrant wouldn't be granted easily. Still, Toshikazu had another question in mind.

"Compared to location, how long will we have to look? It would not be an exaggeration to say that there are nearly unlimited locations for one person to visit within a short one to two months. Trying to find a suspicious contact within this time frame is......"

"There are 32 locations within Tokyo proper. Among these locations, pick out the locations where the collaborator has visited in the past month."

Fujibayashi's answer nearly forced Toshikazu's mouth to drop open in shock.

"......Thirty two locations......

You've already narrowed it down so much."

"That's because the inspector isn't aware of data for other collaborators. While you're still thinking "Wow, now I'm going to be busy" and are at your wit's end, we got our hands on additional information."

"......Other collaborators? Why wasn't the police informed?"

"Naturally, that's because the other collaborator is a girl." Toshikazu was struck speechless at this concise answer.

"I cannot leave a girl with her future ahead of her on the police's blacklist."

"......So it's OK if it's a boy?"

"That's their own responsibility."

Toshikazu had no words for Fujibayashi's declaration.

"I believe in a patriarchal ideology, so I believe that men are supposed to work harder than women. Thus, men must learn to discipline themselves and take responsibility for their own actions."

At Fujibayashi suddenly using these archaic principles to stuff the conversation, Toshikazu could only continue to stare at her for a long time.

◊ ◊ ◊

It was already the second day when the wounded tiger returned to its lair after being wounded against the foxes. (Of course, they believed themselves to be the hunter.)

Seeing Lu's injury, surprise flooded Chen's face, but he didn't ask how the man suffered his injuries. He had already made his report on the mission. Before returning, Lu proposed another surprise attack, but Chen rejected that approach. Lu was supposed to be responsible for the failed assassination attempt on Hirakawa Chiaki, but Chen chose not to do so. The cause of the failure and especially Zhou's activities during this time weighed heavily on Chen's mind. They might fall into Zhou's snare if he prosecuted Lu's responsibility now. In addition......

"The situation has changed!"

Another emergency had occurred. In order to handle this situation, Lu's strength was imperative.

"Our allied collaborator, Sekimoto Isao's mission in First High has ended in failure. He has been arrested and is now being held in the Hachiōji Special Detention Center."

Forget the hospital, there was no way to breach a special detention facility designed to hold (or protect) magical adolescents without serious firepower. Additionally, Sekimoto had personally made contact with Chen and company, so he naturally stood at a higher priority than Chiaki, who only met through Zhou.

"Set aside Hirakawa Chiaki's mission for now. Concentrate on eliminating Sekimoto first."

"Yes, sir."

Although the mission difficulty had spiked several levels, Lu still blandly accepted his orders. It was impossible to tell from his expression that he had been injured.

◊ ◊ ◊

Monday.

While waiting for Miyuki to descend from the bus, Tatsuya found a pair of classmates sitting together in the back.

They must have felt his gaze. The man and woman sitting next to one another both formed an "Ah" with their mouths.

"Onii-sama, did you find something interesting?"

Gracefully descending from the bus, Miyuki asked when she noticed her brother's expression. Upon following the direction of her brother's gaze, she covered her mouth with one hand with an "Ah!".

Before the siblings' gaze and across the windows for two rows of seats, Erika and Leo stiffly smiled back in welcome.

Today, there were four companions going to school together from the station. Although it was rare that all eight of them were together, it was equally infrequent for four people to be together.

The reason for this was obvious.

"......Hey, why are you guys so early today."

Leo asked in displeasure.

However, although Leo appeared to be venting his ire, Tatsuya wasn't someone who walked on egg shells in fear of others.

"Since there's only one week left until the competition, there are all sorts of arrangements starting from the morning."

Right now, they were an hour earlier than usual. "Leo too, why are you here so early?"

Tatsuya had a legitimate reason in next Sunday's Thesis Competition. Objectively speaking, it was more perplexing for Leo to show up at this time than Tatsuya.

"Erika seemed to have gotten up really early today too?"

Tatsuya wanted to continue asking Leo, who seemed to be at a loss for words, but Miyuki beat him to the punch and asked Erika instead.

"......I usually get up really early."

Erika's answer seemed a little guilty as she replied back to Miyuki's innocent, refreshing smile with her pace noticeably picking up towards school.

"Is that so? So that's why Saijou-kun got up so early today."

Still, hearing Miyuki murmuring to herself, Erika finally stopped in her tracks. There was no way she would be able to stand aside and let a comment like that pass by.

"Hold on, Miyuki! If you say it like that, doesn't that sound like I get up every morning to wake this guy up?"

"Yeah! Seriously, I should be the one who got up earlier!" Yet, Erika's counterattack was horribly derailed by Leo.

"............"

"............"

"............"

Erika, Tatsuya, and Miyuki wordlessly glared at Leo. (To be precise, only Erika was glaring, the other two wore innocent expressions)

"......Eh? What's with this mood?"

Leo was the only one who could not comprehend the situation (that he caused).

"......Why isn't anyone saying anything?"

Although Erika's tone remained biting, her face was completely flushed and tears appeared in her eyes.

"Oh well......

The early bird gets the worm."

Tatsuya was no scoundrel, so there was no need to continue asking at this stage.

In truth, Tatsuya wasn't very capable at changing the conversation.

By his side, Miyuki's bewildered smile and Leo's confused tilt of the head were, on some level, a perfect comparison.

Tatsuya arrived at the classroom just before class to find Mizuki frantically trying to comfort the sulking Erika in the room.

"Ah, Tatsuya."

The one who struck up a conversation was Mikihiko.

As usual, Leo sat with his back to him and a scowl on his face.

Mizuki must have stepped on a landmine, with Mikihiko pouring oil on the fire.

Tatsuya immediately grasped the situation. "Erika, it's about time to let it go."

Tatsuya said as he brought up the soft drink can and lightly tapped Erika's face.

"Ah!?"

Erika jumped out of her seat in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Catch."

Tatsuya put the can of cola into the hands of Erika, who was 50% more aggressive than usual.

"Hot."

Erika said this in an odd tone like someone catching a hot potato while directing a confused look at Tatsuya.

"Drink something sweet to change the mood."

"......Hmph, don't think you can get back into my good graces with this."

Erika said this as she popped the cap, though her face had relaxed somewhat. Tatsuya's smile reached her eyes.

"......What?"

Upon seeing Tatsuya's expression, Erika was forced to ask. Still, though there was still some resentment, her overall tone had softened.

"You borrowed the Chiba Family's power to train Leo and teach him new magic, right? I didn't intend to tease you guys, so relax."

These words were originally intended to soothe Erika, but they brought an entirely unexpected result. Pure astonishment suffused Erika's face.

"......Is Tatsuya-kun really clairvoyant?"

"No, I am not clairvoyant. I speculated that was the case after gauging Leo's energy consumption and, in conjunction, the fluidity of his magic."

The magic that Tatsuya spoke of was something that combined psion fluidity and phenomenon rewriting in order to invoke magic.

Fluidity of psions impacted Magic Sequence construction speed, precision, and scale. Yet, just this alone was unable to affect the Eidos. All of these had to be combined with the power to rewrite phenomena in order to constitute magic.

"No, energy this and magic that, you said it so naturally......

No, at this point."

Magicians were adept at perceiving psions and judging interference strength. However, Erika was getting tired of being constantly surprised by the depth of Tatsuya's knowledge. —Speaking of getting tired, Erika definitely wasn't the only one.

"Now that you mention it, Tatsuya, how bad was it yesterday?"

Seeing the storm pass, Mikihiko spoke with a much more relaxed expression on his face.

"Yesterday? Ah......

The news spread quite quickly."

Tatsuya paused for a moment not because he was playing dumb.

Regardless of whether it was Hirakawa Chiaki or Sekimoto Isao, he had handled both incidents yesterday, so it was hard to use "how bad" to describe them.

Given that Fujibayashi said "one or two days", the hackers would be captured today or tomorrow. This was as good as a fact for Tatsuya.

The Electron Sorceress — "Electric Witch".

Fujibayashi Kyouko's two titles not only signified her talent in electronic interference magic as a Magician, but also her ability to see information gathering on the Net as child's play.

Compared to manipulating the phenomena of the world, she was more adept at altering information on the network.

Just as Tatsuya could read the information that was written into an item in the past, so too could Fujibayashi Kyouko retrieve and reconstruct information that had been copied over from magnetic and optic memory units. And, unlike Tatsuya, she had no time restriction. In place of that, she had a limit where she couldn't retrieve the data if it had been physically deleted, but in an age where computers had linked the entire globe, completely eradicating data that had been recorded was practically impossible.

In other words, for her, so long as any trace of the electronic signal remained, she would be able to find it no matter where it hid.

Fujibayashi was the one who taught Tatsuya how to work the network, but in this field he had no chance of catching her in this lifetime. In Tatsuya's estimation, there were only a handful of network specialists who could rival her ability.

"Ah, the perpetrator has already been arrested, so there's nothing to worry about."

Hence Tatsuya answered Mikihiko in this manner.

Still, Erika and Mikihiko were unable to relax because they remained in the dark regarding Fujibayashi's movements.

"Just because we caught the perpetrator red-handed doesn't mean we're in the clear."

Erika said.

"This doesn't sound like a solo act, maybe there's some sort of organization behind this......"

Mikihiko also had similar concerns. "How about we go interrogate him?"

Then, Leo abandoned his role of quietly listening to everyone and interjected with his normal overly optimistic tone.

It wasn't that simple. Setting Chiaki aside, Sekimoto was in the special detention facility. Nonetheless, this time Leo's comment didn't invite the usual retorts and backlash.

"You're right......

We should seriously pursue the individual's responsibility."

Even Erika, the one who usually retorted the most, expressed her complete assent.

"Really? But Erika-chan, Sekimoto-senpai is currently at......"

"He's probably held at the special detention facility. We can't just simply walk in there and meet him."

Mizuki's hesitant words were quickly supplemented by Erika's own. Of course, she wasn't going to change her mind simply because Mizuki was against it.

"It's not that we're completely out of ideas. Barring further options, we could just sneak in."

"Hey~ Hey~."

Hearing this, Tatsuya finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Even if we don't do that, we can see him so long as we have a permission slip from the school. Currently, Sekimoto-senpai is still a student at First High."

Accidents were unavoidable during the course of magic training. Every year, several magic high school students would withdraw from school owing to accidents in training that led to the complete loss of magic. In a similar vein, so long as the perpetrator did not commit a heinous crime, expulsion was not a punishment granted often. While the crime Sekimoto committed was malicious in nature, it still remained at the attempted phase. Thus, Sekimoto's punishment was dependent on how repentant he was. Parole officers keep members of society with unique skills in the special detention centers to evaluate their progress, but students are still able to visit them.

"Eh~."

There was no way Erika was ignorant of this.

"That permission slip rests in the hands of the Public Moral Committee, I believe."

It was because Erika didn't want to use the legal methods that she proposed an alternate method that smacked of criminal activity.

"Regardless of how you put it, it's easier than trying to sneak into the detention facility."

However, Tatsuya frankly vetoed Erika's proposal.

Thus, after school in the Public Moral Committee HQ. "No."

Kanon simply and clearly rejected the proposal to visit Sekimoto. "......Can you give a reason?"

Since Kanon's reply was too concise, Tatsuya wasn't even sure where to begin.

"No is no."

Kanon stubbornly stuck with the word "No". Maybe this was her being emotional, but she appeared to be afraid that if they got into a debate she would be persuaded in the end.

"What I want to know is, why not? The permission slips for visiting the detention center are evaluated by the Chair of the Public Moral Committee or Student Council President, but the ultimate decision rests with the school. There's hardly any persuasive strength in just handing down a unilateral no."

Hearing Tatsuya's reply, Kanon furrowed her brows, a clear sign of her irritation. Her chilly attitude until this moment was blatant enough to cause people to wonder "if something had ticked her off" or some other ulterior reason. Yet, she couldn't just simply back down before Tatsuya, so Kanon's strategy seemed doomed from the onset.

"......Because this is going to be very troublesome."

Seeing no possible way to continue, Kanon reluctantly replied.

"Based on what......

First, what would be troublesome?"

Of course, this excuse wouldn't fly with Tatsuya. It was only natural that he would ask Kanon.

"Can you guarantee that nothing will happen with you guys just running around!?"

For some reason, Kanon's reply was a shrill question of its own.

"Seeing as you guys are all ignorant, allow me to put it bluntly! Shiba- kun, this sort of trouble always appears in your surroundings, yet you are either unaware or believe that you are blameless, but trouble still finds you on its own. With how busy we are right now, please stop creating trouble for everyone right now!"

Despite the stretch in logic, Kanon's words bore an indomitable force. —Also, Tatsuya was aware that Kanon's words weren't entirely wrong.

"Kanon, saying that about Tatsuya is going too far."

At this time, Mari, who had rarely popped into HQ due to her hectic schedule, arrived to break up the dispute.

"At any rate, Tatsuya-kun is still involved with the issue at hand. It stands to reason that he would want to understand the comings and goings."

"But, Mari-senpai."

"Well, OK, Kanon, it's not like I don't understand what you're driving at."

Do you really understand? Tatsuya thought. Nonetheless, since Mari was helping him out, he wasn't going to actually complain.

"Fortunately, Mayumi and I planned to visit Sekimoto tomorrow, so we can have him accompany us."

"Well......

If it's with Mari-senpai."

Looks like Kanon isn't someone that is overly stubborn as she reluctantly agreed with Mari's proposal.

"Is that OK, Tatsuya-kun? Coming along with your senpais, that is."

Truth be told, he wasn't satisfied completely, but seeing as this was Kanon more or less backing down, Tatsuya expressed his agreement in the end.

◊ ◊ ◊

In a room with no windows, Chiaki sighed. Honestly, she was quite bored.

Despite her status as an invalid, she wasn't injured. No, though she did suffer injury, it wasn't to the extent that warranted a stay in the hospital. Within the extent of her own feelings, she didn't feel that she was injured to the point that required bed rest.

She was stuck in this sickroom not because she was injured or ill, but for other reasons.

For her, this was like a luxurious prison.

Of course, she knew that her presence here was entirely her fault, hence she didn't complain about her loss of freedom. But this was simply too boring. Naturally, she wasn't demanding television, wireless terminals, models or other luxury items, even unconnected cheap e-books would do. Even if entertainment was out of the question, even physical activity would do. Anyway, she couldn't just sit here doing nothing.

Earlier, about two hours ago, the nurse who checked in on her said "visiting hours are canceled today". Supposedly, this was because someone attempted to break in yesterday. Likewise, it wasn't the fire alarm but the riot alarm linked to the police that rang out yesterday, so it must have happened.

Regardless, it wasn't like anyone was going to visit her — her older sister must hate her because of this — so canceling visiting hours didn't affect her much, so there was no need to worry. In reality, Chiaki surmised that the target of the "break-in" was herself because the door to this sickroom had been damaged. Obviously, she wasn't asleep during that time, so she knew this even if she didn't like it. In Chiaki's eyes, "those guys" were trying to silence her. However, there was nothing she could do about that and Chiaki had already given up. She was only their collaborator and not one of their companions. Since Chiaki understood this, the other side must think so too. It was perfectly understandable that they would silence her in order to prevent a leak.

In truth, her mood had already reached a "do as you will" phase. Right now, she wasn't even sure why she bore such intense enmity towards "that guy". Maybe rotting away in this empty, white sickroom was the best ending for her, Chiaki ridiculed herself.

At this time, someone knocked on the door. In spite of Chiaki's muddled state, she still had a grasp of her mental facilities. The afternoon check up was already over and she hadn't pressed the button for a nurse. There shouldn't be anyone coming to see her, and didn't the nurse say today's visiting hours were canceled?

The knocking continued despite her amazement, so Chiaki frantically

—without thinking much — pressed the remote door control. "How are you feeling? Miss Hirakawa?"

The one who came in was thoroughly unexpected — but she had a premonition, if someone was to come see her, it definitely would be this person.

"Mr. Zhou."

Once, Chiaki was unable to keep watching her sister wallow away in pain and despair, thus forcing her to flee onto the streets one night. At that time, it was this person who comforted her with kind and gentle words. The person who told her that they shouldn't have suffered like this and reinforced her dark thoughts. The person who prodded her to vengeance, not through murder, but to right a wrong. The person who allowed her to vent those pent up feelings. The person who gave her the tools of her vengeance.

The savior who saved Chiaki's fragile heart stood before her with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

"Why...... did you come? Visiting hours are canceled today......"

Gifts were no longer necessary, as there were a mountain of things she needed to apologize for. Chiaki utterly loathed how she was bound by these tedious emotions. Especially after saying those words, she wished she could slap herself.

"I used a few tricks."

Saying this, Zhou winked in a childish fashion, but his action wasn't particularly irritating.

"Tricks......

As in magic?"

"No, no, it's a little different than magic."

Based on her own understanding, Chiaki interpreted trick to mean magic.

Yet, Zhou shook his head at Chiaki's question.

"Even without magic, humans are still able to pull off a few miracles. Well, calling it a miracle is a bit of a stretch."

Zhou smiled once more and Chiaki finally managed to recover her wits (according to her).

"Then, Mr. Zhou, I...... You helped me so much, but I couldn't do anything."

Before Chiaki could get started with her apology, Zhou dropped the bouquet before her.

For some reason, the bouquet was filled with a mesmerizing beauty that managed to capture her attention with its brilliant luster.

"All of that is unimportant."

Zhou's voice seemed to come from far away.

Chiaki stared blankly at the bouquet and lent her ears to Zhou's words. "If you feel regret."

Chiaki's eyes were glazed.

"If you feel the burden is too heavy."

Her consciousness was entirely dominated by Zhou's voice. "Then just forget about me."

"Forget......?"

Chiaki involuntarily spoke these words; she wasn't even aware what she was saying.

"Yes, just forget about me."

"Forget...... Is it OK to forget......?"

Under Zhou's guidance, Chiaki allowed herself to forget. "Yes, all you have to do is forget."

"Understood...... I will forget......"

Chiaki gave herself the order to forget.

◊ ◊ ◊

October 25th, the Tuesday after school. Tatsuya, Mari, and Mayumi went to the Hachiōji Special Detention Center where Sekimoto was held. There were only five days until the Thesis Competition, so this was really the busiest last leg of the preparation phase, but since Tatsuya's tasks were proceeding smoothly, he was able to spare two or three hours away from preparations.

In reality, Erika, Leo, and Mikihiko also wanted to tag along, but that was a little inconvenient for the upperclassmen. Mari only had reservations regarding Erika alone, but it was a little too challenging for innocent high school boys to associate with unfamiliar female upperclassmen. —Actually, the permission slip that Tatsuya handed in only had three spots anyway. Speaking of which, Miyuki was completely tied down with Student Council business, so she could only send the three of them off with an unsmiling "beautiful smile".

While there were all sorts of procedures at the door, there wasn't any hassle beyond the door. After handing them a LPS terminal as a guide, there wasn't even a staff member to accompany them, which was most likely the result of Mayumi leaning on the "Saegusa" name. Of course, Tatsuya wasn't certain of the veracity of that, nor did he wish to comprehend the reason behind their special treatment.

The room Sekimoto was held in wasn't a "cell" and there wasn't anything like metal windows or something like that. It was actually more like a second-class room in a hotel. Even then, there was a hidden room that could observe the contents of that room.

Mayumi and Tatsuya both entered the hidden room. Mari would be the only one to face off against Sekimoto. Although Mari was the one who proposed this arrangement, neither Mayumi nor Tatsuya voiced any disagreement. Tatsuya knew very well that even if Sekimoto proved to be violent, Mayumi was confident she could control him from the other room, although Sekimoto's talent was but a tiny fraction of Mari's own.

From the hidden room, they saw Sekimoto without any restrictive shackles. Of course, he was forbidden from leaving the room. Sitting obediently on the side of the bed, he was wearing simple clothes not out of place during a hospital check up. He probably had undergone a thorough full body search, so the chances he carried hidden weapons or a CAD was absolutely zero.

Under Tatsuya and Mayumi's watchful gaze in the other room, the door leading to that room opened. Needless to say, this was Mari. Sekimoto, nonplussed at the opening door, revealed his astonishment at this. However, in the next instant, his eyes were wary and suspicious. Sekimoto detected a hint of danger when Mari appeared by herself.

"Watanabe...... Why are you here?"

Subconsciously, Sekimoto rubbed at his left wrist from his seat on the bed, probably involuntarily looking for his confiscated CAD. Although his voice did not waver, it was filled with a nameless dread.

"Obviously, I'm here to understand the situation."

Likely due to his service as a Public Moral Committee member, Sekimoto knew what Mari was capable of. He must be downright terrified of Mari's ruthlessness.

"So......

Even you can't use magic here."

Sekimoto's accusation was correct. This was the place to detain adolescent Magicians who broke the law. Though there were no automatic anti-magic devices like "Cast Jamming" installed here, there were still devices that could detect magic invocation. Once magic usage was confirmed, disarming gas would be released along with rubber bullets from machine guns, followed by security bursting in wearing full protective gear.

"Is that so?"

—On the condition that the surveillance system was working properly.

Sekimoto finally comprehended the reason why Mari couldn't help but smile.

"We don't have much time. Just tell me the important details."

Seeing Mari's teasing grin (in Sekimoto's eyes), Sekimoto frantically stopped breathing. —But it was already too late, halting his breathing was insufficient to avoid magic.

Sekimoto's consciousness suddenly dipped into the fog. He wasn't even aware that he had succumbed to Mari's attack before starting to answer Mari's question.

"Is she using scents to control his mind?"

Tatsuya was perfectly clear on what Mari did after watching from the hidden room.

She was using various scents to directly provoke emotions and memory. This theory had already been medically proven in the previous century. Commercial aromatherapy relied on the powerful effects on emotions caused by smells.

Using the ventilation system, Mari sent perfume wafting through the nose into the olfactory cells, hereby combining a scent that lowered mental resistance and another which controlled the consciousness to create a literal truth serum.

"Tatsuya-kun, is this the first time you've seen this?"

Mayumi was not surprised that Tatsuya could see through Mari's technique. Taking Tatsuya's diverse knowledge in magic, Mayumi felt that this was perfectly natural. She was likely more amazed that he had served in the Public Moral Committee for half a year and had never witnessed Mari used this technique.

"This is truly the first time. Wouldn't blatantly using this sort of magic land her in a heap of trouble?"

Mayumi nodded at Tatsuya's words. "Just as you say." Magic usage has been heavily restricted by the law, not to mention this sort of brainwashing ability. If used recklessly surely this would come under fire from "collective reasoning" and "civic duty".

Despite his ongoing conversation with Mayumi, Tatsuya never lost sight of Sekimoto's "confession" for a second. What aroused his interest was Sekimoto confessing that "after obtaining the data from the presentation device, he planned to investigate Shiba's private possessions". When Mari asked for why, Sekimoto answered with "the Magatama relic".

"......Tatsuya-kun, do you have something like that?"

Mayumi asked him with wide eyes. "No, I do not have such a thing."

While Mayumi's question hinted at all sorts of underlying questions, honestly answering the question would only create more problems for Tatsuya.

"But......"

"Probably because recently I was researching things related to the "Philosopher's Stone". Maybe this is where he got mixed up?"

Mayumi also knew that he did use this excuse a few days before the election for the Student Council President, hence she didn't pursue the issue. Still, this wasn't because she entirely believed Tatsuya's words, but more because this wasn't the right time to do so.

Just as Tatsuya was let off from this easily debunked lie, the alarm sounded for the Hachiōji Special Detention Facility rang out.

The reactions from all three of them upon hearing the alarm were incredibly swift. After pressing the still befuddled Sekimoto down onto the bed (not to let him rest), Mari charged out of the room. At the same time, Tatsuya and Mayumi also exited from their chamber.

"Looks like we have illegal intruders."

Mari's voice trembled slightly in surprise. Thanks to the assault on the hospital affiliated with the magic university yesterday, the police in western Tokyo were on high alert. Although the mobile defense force (National Guard) that were the highest form of security hadn't been mobilized, the number of patrols today had increased by fifty percent. Likewise, this Hachiōji Special Detention Center was also twice as alert as usual. Only someone who truly had some skills or was a complete moron would charge in now. —Mari's gut leaned towards the former.

"Tatsuya-kun, do you know where they are coming in from?"

Hearing Mayumi's question, Tatsuya removed the LPS terminal and fiddled with it. The flip open display showed a 3D map for the evacuation route. They could estimate the intruder's point of entry based on the route.

"They seem to have come in through the roof. They might have used a flier or a spring loaded mechanism. Currently they are near the east wing of the third floor."

At Tatsuya's words, Mayumi's gaze drifted towards an unknown location. She had activated her Sensory Systematic Magic "Multi Scope" to its largest extent and looked in the direction Tatsuya indicated.

"......Found them. Nice work, Tatsuya-kun. There are four intruders, each armed with high power assault rifles."

High power rifles were mandatory weapons against Magicians. The explosiveness and flying speed of their rounds were three to four times higher than normal rifles and could even penetrate defensive magic. The surplus in strength could only be produced by highly skillful manufacturing. There was no way the average gangster or terrorist could get their hands on one.

"Security is setting up a defense line near the platform of the stairs using the terrain."

"The entrance to the corridor has been blocked by blast doors."

As Mayumi was reporting the current situation, Tatsuya pulled up the 3D projection for the building map. The three of them were on the first floor in the central building. Although there was no cause for alarm based on the current situation......

"Their target is here."

Half a beat after Tatsuya twisted his head to look towards the upper levels, Mari also watched the entrance warily.

"What? Ah!"

Mayumi had no idea what put the two of them on guard, but in the next instant.

Directly before their eyes, the figure of a large man appeared. He was taller than Tatsuya by a head and approached nearly 185 cm. His muscular physique didn't betray a hint of sluggishness, like a large carnivore advancing forward. Still, the man appeared to be using some sort of technique, since his aura and appearance were both faint. Despite his appearance before them, he seemed to disappear if they stopped paying attention, so he must have arrived here using some sort of invisibility spell. Of course, Mari had a deep impression of this man.

"Lu Gonghu!"

Mayumi didn't seem to comprehend Mari's soft whisper, so her facial expression didn't change much. On the other hand, Tatsuya kept a grim visage on his face. Although he had heard of this individual, after Mari calling out his name, this was the first time he had met the man face to face. —Of course, he was well aware of the man's reputation.

Advancing forward, Lu's eyes stopped on Tatsuya and company. Specifically, his eyes rested on Mari.

"I believe we should be beating a retreat at this time, but looks like it's too late for that."

Tatsuya said in a light tone as he stepped in front of the other two. As he prepared to walk towards Lu, Mari grabbed his shoulders. "I'll take him on. Tatsuya, you protect Mayumi."

From Tatsuya's perspective, this was a ridiculous arrangement. True, Mari boasted first class magic combat ability as a Year 3 magic high school student. However, Lu Gonghu's close combat magic level was "beyond first class". She had no chance of victory in a head to head confrontation. Their chances of victory were definitely higher if a "regular" like himself took the field.

"Mari, be careful."

Unexpectedly, Mayumi voiced her support for Mari's tactical assessment. Still, this wasn't the time to continue this conversation, so Tatsuya obeyed.

"I know he's no small fry."

Mari stretched her left hand slightly forward and, as if to pat her dress, swatted downwards before raising her hand again. With a sound, the normally straight pleat dress made from ultra thin fabric was massively raised, revealing a pair of tights that outlined delicious curves along with the leather holder along one thigh. A 20 cm long rod was removed from this leather holder.

The hem of her dress fell back down to obscure Mari's pair of mesmerizing legs. Maybe he had been caught up by the sight, but Lu didn't fall into a combat stance until Mari raised her left hand.

Lu Gonghu tilted his upper body forward with both hands dangling in front of him. His fingers were slightly curved, giving his body the impression that it was ready to pounce at any given moment.

Yet, the first to act here was neither Mari nor Lu Gonghu, but Mayumi standing off to one side.

The instant mist seemed to cover the walls to the left and right and the ceiling, countless white pellets swarmed towards Lu Gonghu. Lu Gonghu pounced forward, but over half of the ice pellets still struck his body.

However, Lu was not harmed by this barrage. His entire body was covered by Steel Qigong and managed to repel the incoming ice pellets. His momentum didn't decrease in the slightest as he charged towards Mari. Mari raised her 20 cm blade to meet him.

A dull metallic sound rang out as Mari stopped Lu's outstretched right arm. Afterwards, Lu's head massively tilted backwards as a 20 cm edged leaflet sheared by his face. The weapons in Mari's hand included a 20 cm long handle, two 20 cm long short blades, and another small short blade attached to a string.

At this time, Mayumi's second attack descended. Lu leaped backwards to a safe distance. His instincts were correct. The floor and neighboring wall where he just stood were peppered with numerous pellet marks. Mayumi's second attack was harder and even more precise than the first one, with superior speed and penetrating power.

For the first time, a human expression came across Lu's face, an expression called mystification. He knew that he wasn't at full power due to the injury in his side. Still, that a few students, and female high school students at that, were able to hold him off rather begged disbelief. Nonetheless, Lu's bewilderment only lasted a second. He canceled the magic that suppressed his aura and focused entirely on the battle at hand.

Lu erected several layers of psion information bodies around his entire body. Tatsuya could see that both his layers of information bodies and physical barrier magic were of the same nature. Earlier, his entire skin was covered by a high density of psions, which was the same as fortifying the Eidos of the skin. However, now he switched over to barrier magic. After Mayumi released her third shot, this attack was blocked by Lu's physical barrier. Afterwards, he closed in on Mari with lightning speed, to which Mari raised her dual-edged blades to counter, but it didn't seem likely that she could hold him with that pair of blades against the strength of that barrier magic.

At the point of impact with Mari, Lu's figure disappeared.

Mari frantically pivoted to the right, an action that was entirely based on her instinct, but fortunately this was the right choice.

Unfortunately, she wasn't going to make it in time.

Lu Gonghu had passed by Mari's short sword and got behind her.

Mari mentally called out "Mayumi!", but there was no time for her to actually verbalize this.

Just as Lu came face to face with Tatsuya, who was standing directly in front of Mayumi — a storm of psions devoured him.

Gram Demolition.

Seeing that Lu Gonghu had transferred his Data Fortification magic to a physical barrier, Tatsuya used a continuous stream of compressed psion particles to shred Lu's armor.

Lu's eyes were filled with shock.

Now, Mayumi's shooting magic activated once more.

Lu's reaction sustained his high reputation as "beyond first class".

He swiftly recovered from the shock that came from the destruction of his barrier Steel Qigong, and immediately erected Steel Qigong for Data Fortification. However, while Mayumi lowered the number of shots, she had raised the strength of each shot accordingly. Now, Lu Gonghu's hastily erected Steel Qigong was no longer able to completely deflect Mayumi's shooting magic.

Taking hits from the pellets, Lu was forced to halt his footsteps due to the impact from the large number of psions disrupting his senses. Now, even Mari was closing in from behind.

The twin blades in her left hand released a small short blade that flew towards Lu's head.

Mari's right hand suddenly hurtled some sort of black dust towards Lu Gonghu.

Lu immediately covered his eyes and ears.

The black dust seemed to cover his head and quickly dissipated after emitting a faint light.

Lu's large frame started to rock back and forth. Under the effect of Mari's Absorption-Type Magic, the rapidly "burning" carbon particles were restricted from interacting with heat and light, but quickly interacted with oxygen. The result was that much of the oxygen was converted into carbon dioxide. In a flash, the air became thin around Lu Gonghu's position.

Mari wielded the thin string in her left hand like a weapon. Along the direction of the swing, the string emitted the repulsion edge "Pressure Slash". Also, there was more than one. The twin blades falling upon the head also emitted "Pressure Slash" along the edges of the blades. The thin string in Mari's hand had exceeded the speed of her twin blades thanks to the application of Gravity-Type acceleration magic. Even Tatsuya wouldn't be able to dodge all three attacks at the same time, and the "Devouring Tiger" Lu Gonghu was no exception. Although Lu managed to evade the repulsion blade in Mari's hand, the other two struck him in the shoulder and back. Even with Steel Qigong sustaining him, he was in a state of oxygen deprivation after sustaining Mayumi's magic shooting, and the barrier wasn't operating at full strength. Thus, the two blades landed direct hits to his body. Although he was able to avoid major bone fractures, the blades still sank into his flesh, leaving two long cuts. Under the impact of Mari's direct attacks, Lu keeled over.

Cavalry was a role that always arrived late to the party. Only in movies do they appear in the nick of time.

Thus, reinforcements from security only arrived after Lu had been subdued. The four security officers beheld the scene where a young man was knocked down by twin blades and revealed astonished expressions, but upon closer examination of the uniforms the three students wore, they quickly bound Lu Gonghu tightly. Chances were high that these people knew of Mayumi as well.

Running counter to Tatsuya's estimation, they were not questioned by the authorities. Again, this might have been caused by the power coming from the name "Saegusa", though Tatsuya wasn't going to complain. He was already incredibly thankful that he didn't have to waste any more time, a thought that Mayumi and Mari must also share. By the time the three of them were conversing, they had already left the premises.

After leaving through the front door of the detention center, Mari somewhat hesitantly approached Tatsuya.

"Tatsuya-kun, uh, although you may know now, but please don't speak of what you just saw."

Naturally, Tatsuya had no way of making heads or tails of what she meant with just those words.

"In regards to not speaking of this, are you referring to senpai's weapon? Or the fact that senpai can wield 'Dojigiri'?"

Tatsuya asked this to verify the conversation topic, but when Mayumi and Mari heard his question, they both sighed in unison.

"So you really do know about it......"

"Tatsuya-kun, so you are omniscient after all......"

Based on the ladies' indecisive appearance, Tatsuya inferred that they must be talking about the "Dojigiri".

"It's not that I know everything......

Isn't the Genji 'Dojigiri' quite famous?"

Mari's final attack used three simultaneous attacks from different directions. Much like ninjutsu, in order to hide the identity of the attack, the name "Multiple Slash" was replaced with "Dojigiri" and passed on exclusively by Genji swordsmen. However, in the age where magic had become public knowledge, "Dojigiri" had suddenly vanished, becoming an ability that researchers are aware of but have not witnessed with their own eyes.

"Don't worry, senpai, I will not disclose the details of your technique."

Hearing Tatsuya's reply, Mari's expression was both tentative and embarrassed.

"Of course I believe you......

But also, please don't tell anyone that I can use 'Dojigiri'."

After receiving Tatsuya's confirmation even though he didn't ask for a reason, Mari still continued on for some reason.

"Ah, of course."

Naturally, he complied. And he didn't really want to know the reason either. But, for some reason Mari started to talk about it.

"Thanks for your help. In reality, I didn't actually formally receive training in this technique. I stumbled across this after perusing the contents of ancient texts left at home and having Nao assist me in training and somehow ended up learning it."

After listening to Mari's explanation, Tatsuya judged that the "Nao" she spoke of must refer to Chiba Naotsugu. Speaking of which, that earlier "Dojigiri" included elements from the "Genius of Magic Close Combat".

"I see, so that's why your attack included 'Pressure Slash'."

"Exactly. Also, my house lies on the tail end of the Watanabe Family. I am of the Genji style, but my house's position isn't very high. If the Watanabe Family knows that I can use the Secret Sword of the Genji, then some trouble may arise......"

"Still, given your status as a combat Magician, I doubt you can keep that a secret for long."

In the end, this point was unavoidable. Mari's face darkened as Tatsuya pointed this out.

"I know that, but I hope to keep this a secret while I'm still a student." Seeing Mari pout, Mayumi burst into laughter.

"Understood, I'll keep that to myself."

At any rate, Tatsuya had no intention of interfering with mundane matters of such level, especially because they had nothing to do with him. Handling something like this was a piece of cake for someone like him.

◊ ◊ ◊

On the Friday evening that was two days before the official commencement of the "National High School Magic Thesis Competition", he received a phone call from Fujibayashi after eating dinner and taking a bath.

"......In other words, the mobile forces for spies have all been apprehended in the past two or three days."

After speaking these words clearly in an official capacity, Fujibayashi finally relaxed on the other side of the monitor.

"The intel Tatsuya-kun provided was a huge help. Thanks."

"Hardly, I was the one who made the request in the first place."

"That may be so, but the magic high school and FLT were not the only victims. Industrial spies are a headache not only for the semiconductor industry and magic academies, they also pose trouble for manufacturers as well. Intelligence and counter intelligence are not under our purview, but based on the nature of our unit, we cannot simply turn a blind eye to spies using magic to accomplish their objectives. So we planned to move out soon even without your communication, which merely hastened the operation time and really helped me out a lot."

"Is that so. Now that you mentioned it, where did the news from the relic leak from?"

"This is a little embarrassing, but the military's operational data was leaked out. In the end, based on the military's allocations for magic research and grants, they went down their list of targets."

So that's how it was, Tatsuya thought. No wonder their methods seemed so unprofessional.

So they were literally fumbling around in the dark. The intrinsic value of this might be low, but intel wasn't something that had uniform quality in the first place. Even the really valuable pieces of information that were mined from patent databases were one in a thousand, which may be why the spies adopted this plan of action.

"While the majority of those we caught were of East Asian nationalities, we may have been able to catch wind of our quarry."

"You seem quite pleased."

"Restraint isn't a bad thing, and I'm a cautious person after all. Still, since the enemy has the gall to waltz into our backyard, there's no need to suffer that. We may need to call on your support at that time, so take care."

"If there's a mission at stake, I have no objections. Thank you for the notification."

"You're welcome. Good luck on Sunday. I'll be there to cheer you on."

After encouraging Tatsuya, Lieutenant Fujibayashi hung up the phone. Plainly, she hadn't put much thought into the manipulator pulling the strings in the dark and saw this incident as the typical magic industry spying incident. Actually, even Tatsuya had no idea that "their opponent" was on such a scale.

Alas, they took their enemy too lightly.

◊ ◊ ◊

Having returned to the living room, Tatsuya collapsed onto the couch. Truthfully, it was very rare for him to show fatigue such as this. In terms of pure stamina, simply keeping vigil all night for a week straight would normally not wear him out to this extent. However not only did he have to work on a thesis dealing with one of the "Three Great Puzzles for Gravity Magic", a Sustained Gravity Control-Type Magic Sequence Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor, he also had to use his unique ability in analyzing structures to investigate a relic which modern technology could not hope to replicate, on top of looking out for spies. He was mentally exhausted as well.

Emptying his head for the moment, Tatsuya closed his eyes as he leaned back into the one seat sofa, curving his neck and resting his head on the backrest. There was no particular meaning to this position, simply his mood.

Sitting next to her brother as always, Miyuki was not irritated at all that Tatsuya had suddenly retreated into his own world. Leaving himself defenseless to this extent was something he reserved for her presence alone. Miyuki was overjoyed that Tatsuya would leave himself in her care so.

Miyuki did not wish for her brother to concern himself with her all the time. Just being able to be by his side, even if only for a while, was enough happiness for her. These words by no means meant that Miyuki was a doormat, but rather convey praise. It can safely be said that there is no one who would say such things about her.

Rather than being frustrated, Miyuki was much more worried about her brother. However much he insisted otherwise, not even Miyuki could recall the last time Tatsuya so honestly let his weariness show.

Taking care not to make a sound, Miyuki rose from her seat. Standing before him, she softly leaned closer to his face with their eyes closed. Ensuring that her long hair wouldn't brush against him, she pressed down on it with her left hand. Ensuring that she wouldn't end up accidentally touching him, her right hand pressed onto the sofa supporting her weight.

When the hem of her pleat skirt almost fell onto his legs, Miyuki's heart thundered in her chest, but Tatsuya didn't stir. Daringly wearing such a short skirt seems to have unexpectedly paid off, she thought.

Seeing from up close, her brother’s complexion wasn’t as bad as she had feared. In her relief, she continued observing his face for signs of anything awry. Watching him at this distance, Miyuki’s consciousness gradually clouded. As her mind went blank she began to forget what she was thinking and doing, as her face slowly crept closer to his.

Her heart pounding, blood rushing to her head, she couldn’t think of anything at all. Miyuki obliviously stared at her brother’s face. Breathless, she didn’t even notice that she was holding her breath. Immediately becoming aware of that situation, Tatsuya snapped open his eyes.

Tatsuya and Miyuki’s eyes met.

Time stopped. Not just Tatsuya, Miyuki also stood absolutely frozen as if paralyzed.

Both Tatsuya and Miyuki simply stared at each other, their respective expressions full of surprise.

Suddenly, no longer able to sustain her unnatural position, Miyuki fell forward.

Her face closing in on his, Miyuki’s lips rapidly approached Tatsuya’s own.

Regardless of intention, just before the two of them crossed a line which absolutely should not be crossed.

—Tatsuya’s body came back online. "Watch out!"

Faster than his voice traveled, his hands whipped out and supported his sister’s shoulders.

"Kya!"

Unable to forcibly keep herself up, or perhaps just out of energy, Miyuki’s feet staggered and she sank to her knees onto the couch. Or rather, she sank into Tatsuya’s lap who was sitting on the couch.

The two froze again.

Once again close enough to kiss, Miyuki and Tatsuya stared at each other.

Tatsuya’s hands were wrapped firmly around Miyuki’s shoulders, and Miyuki was straddling Tatsuya on her knees.

This time, the ice melted quicker.

Taking care their near mistake didn’t become reality, Tatsuya brought his head back to its original position.

Tatsuya’s eyes dropped from her face to her chest, then further down.

Following her brother’s gaze, Miyuki gingerly looked down at her own body. She did so 'gingerly' because she was already well aware of her own state without even seeing.

Sure enough, not only was she kneeling on her brother, her legs were spread beyond the original allowance of her short pleat skirt such that her underwear was almost visible.

"I am so sorry!!"

With amazing speed Miyuki leapt off Tatsuya, then faster than the wind (yet still dignified enough as to ensure that when her feet hit the ground nothing indecent was exposed) she flew out of the living room straight upstairs.

Diving into her own room, she slammed it shut, locked it, then finally fell back against the door panting. She couldn’t muster the energy to stand. Perhaps due to the refined upbringing instilled within her she subconsciously tried to align her knees and sit up straight, but after fleeing into her room she was utterly drained and simply collapsed down to the ground.

She flattened her skirt where she sat, straightened up a bit then just spaced out for a while. Her feverish head refused to think at all. As time passed, her emergency evacuated thought processes returned little by little.

Where she was. What she was doing.

Why she was alone in her room right now—

Miyuki immediately buried her head in her hands. Her palms felt hot. Even without looking in a mirror, Miyuki knew that her face must have been burning red.

(I, just what was I doing to Onii-sama……!)

She couldn’t even begin to understand what she was thinking at the time. All she could think of was that she must have completely lost it.

(Onii-sama and I, almost ki, ki, ki……)

Her consciousness began to overheat again, and she was forced to freeze her thoughts.

Left alone, Miyuki would likely have remained like this until morning. An infinite loop of restarting and freezing.

However, there was no way Tatsuya would leave Miyuki alone, "Miyuki?"

"Yes!"

And at the sound of Tatsuya’s voice calling her name from the other side of the door, Miyuki responded in a panic from the floor.

She steadied herself by pressing hands that had been held against her flushed hot face onto her thighs. Her eyes were so moist that tears threatened to spill out any moment. Her arms were straightened out with such force, as were her shoulders and back, that her entire body trembled slightly. It was almost as if she was scared.

"May I come in?"

"Just wait a moment!"

Even so, within Miyuki, any thought of resisting her brother simply did not exist. She rose rapidly, defying belief that her legs had been powerless until now, and firmly unlocked the door with hands that had been trembling just a while ago.

"Please, come on in."

Shifting sideways as she opened the door, Miyuki made a space for her brother to enter. However, Tatsuya didn’t set a foot inside.

He just watched……

Unable to meet her brother’s gaze Miyuki tried to casually look away, but she could feel still feel his eyes on her.

She began to heat up again.

It wasn’t a superficial heat from some childish sense of wrongdoing, but rather came from deep within her. That heat continued to rise, not her body temperature but rather perceived temperature—until finally she could bear it no longer, and turned her averted face to meet her brother’s eyes.

Miyuki looked up from a height difference of 15 cm. From that distance, the tears gathered in the corner of her eyes were plainly visible. In a hurry, Miyuki tried to raise her hands and dry herself. However, before she knew it both Tatsuya’s hands were already cradling her cheeks. Gently, he wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well, um, how to put this."

As Miyuki stared at him wide-eyed and lost for words, Tatsuya spoke bluntly.

"I’m sorry, I made you worry about me. I’m fine, so Miyuki, don’t be so concerned anymore."

Saying so with a clumsy smile, he removed his hands from Miyuki’s face.

"I’ll clean up downstairs. You rest for today."

Ordering Miyuki in a somewhat embarrassed tone, Tatsuya turned away without waiting for a reply.

Waiting until her brother’s back faded from view down the stairs, Miyuki closed the door again.

Walking unsteadily to her bed, she slowly took her clothes off, then slid under the blankets in her underwear.

Having finally made it thus far, Miyuki began frantically rolling around on the bed.

Despite appearing to be in agony all over, her face, unlike before, seemed really happy.

◊ ◊ ◊

The short hand on the clock had already reached 12. On the next calendar day, the "National High School Magic Thesis Competition" would officially begin in Yokohama. Of course, even if that was the case, there was no sign of festivities in the streets. The Thesis Competition held significant value for magic high school students, especially for the students who had been selected as representatives, to the point that it could impact future major events, but for the average plebeian who had no connection to magic, this event was no different than the dozens of gatherings that were held annually.

On China Street, which remained one of Yokohama's primary entertainment venues even in this age, the overwhelming majority of the stores still opened and closed at their usual times.

Among these stores, one of the larger restaurants appeared to be closed for the evening on the outside. Yet within, there was a suite that could not be seen from the exterior. Inside, two men sat there facing one another.

There were two cups on the table. Filled to the brim with matured wine, the cups were worthy of being called luxuries, but neither of the men took a sip. The young man who brought out the wine considered this to be a waste, but since the older man across from him suffered his cup to remain untouched, he could only mirror that gesture.

"Mr. Zhou, thank you for your considerable assistance."

"You honor me, my lord."

Chen's words were at odds with his arrogant tone, whereas Zhou respectfully bowed from his seat with a slight smile on his face.

"I have already linked up with the fleet dispatched from the homeland. We can now proceed to our next mission."

"It is my pleasure to be of service."

Neither Chen nor Zhou showed any change in facial expression. "However, there is still one unresolved issue."

"Oh? What is this problem, Lord Chen?"

Superficially, "there was no change", but both were surreptitiously sounding out one another.

"I'm not aware if you already know, but my assistant has run afoul of the fortunes of war and has been captured."

Their expressions subtly changed. Chen adopted a crestfallen expression as he continued.

"This I already know. What a terrible run of luck, I can't believe Mr. Lu would......"

With a gloomy expression, Zhou replied back in a voice filled with heartfelt concern.

"Yet, even though this misstep happened to him, he remains an absolutely integral asset of our country."

Zhou wordlessly nodded his head, signifying his agreement to Chen's words. —Because there was no point in making a promise now.

Zhou remained silent in order to force Chen to lower himself and beg for assistance.

"Can you lend me your aid one more time?"

Chen lowered his head and made his request, to which Zhou responded with a shocked expression followed by a smile.

"Oh, of course, my lord. Even I cannot just stand by and watch my countryman suffer."

Zhou smiled as he rose from the table.

"Actually, two days from now, nay, should be tomorrow based on the hour, Mr. Lu will be transferred to the International Prison in Yokohama."

A truly astounded expression made its way across Chen's face when Zhou dropped this bombshell.

"Truly?"

"Indeed, what a heaven sent opportunity. I already have the transportation route."

Zhou didn't tell Chen that he pulled a few strings to change the transportation date to tomorrow morning. Still, Zhou related all the other details in his comprehensive explanation.

"In return, I wonder if my lord would consider, during the battle on the morrow, to allow this street to...... "

"Of course."

After finishing his explanation, Zhou raised his own request with some misgivings, but Chen accepted his proposal before he could even finish.

"The primary objective for tomorrow's battle will be the Kantou branch for the Magic Association. Although combat is inevitable, I will remind my officers in the field to do their best to avoid letting the carnage spread to China Street."

"Thank you very much!"

Zhou knew precisely what Chen meant with that careless promise as he bowed deeply.

—There was still one day until the commencement of the Thesis Competition. In regards to the oncoming storm, Tatsuya remained in the dark.

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