Published at 26th of March 2019 2:11 am

Volume 13, Chapter 2

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

The 3rd July, Tuesday morning, one night after the notifications that brought all the magic schools into bewilderment and mayhem. At the JSDF 101st Brigade base commander's office in Tsuchiura at old Ibaraki prefecture, its commander, Major General Saeki Hiromi, had summoned for the Independent Magic-equipped Battalion Commander, Major Kazama Harunobu.

Maj. Gen. Saeki is a female flag officer turning 59 this year. A talented female staff officer, due to shades of silver radiating from her grey hair she has earned monikers like the [Silver Fox]. But then, she looked like a kindly grade school principal on first glance, way different from the image of a fox.

Within the JSDF she's also known for her extreme anti-Ten Master Clan criticism. Even so, she completely doesn't have any of the emotional opposition or physiological hatred against magicians. She's just a person who keeps on raising alarm flags on the over-dependency to a private framework like the Ten Master Clans for national defense. For that reason Saeki was seen as a political rival to Kudou Retsu, but it wasn't apparent at a glance.

Her association with Kazama goes way back to the Great Indochina War.

In this war where the Great Asian Alliance advanced south to conquer the entire Indochina peninsula, Kazama ignored the JSDF high command's plans and directly intervened in this war. Thanks to his guerrilla tactics the Alliance's invasion was halted, bringing in USNA and New Soviet intervention, and finally forcing the Alliance back without them gaining their objectives. Kazama was hailed for his actions as the world's expert in jungle warfare. But it was Saeki, an information analyst at JSDF GHQ at that time who supported an almost isolated and helpless Kazama with intelligence and operation plans from both sides, who was the very reason for his military successes.

And for the unauthorized action in the Great Indochina war -- that time Kazama's orders were to secretly interfere the Alliance's southern advance, although the part [secretly] was struck out under the pretext of [unauthorized action] -- Kazama was shut out of promotion, but there was no censure for his supporter Saeki, official and unofficial. She was showered with praises and even the upper echelons were impressed with her.

Four years ago, just after the Okinawa defensive, Saeki's plans were adopted to establish the 101st Brigade and she was commissioned as its first commander. She then summoned Kazama, frozen at Captain, made him Major and gave him command to the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.

Interactions like these were rare for the two, but bonds run deep between them. Even with their compatible personalities and remaining good friends, the

*intention* was for a superior talking together with a junior. Even without that, IMB's orders were to do test runs on new magic equipment and magic tactics. 101st Brigade's objective was to establish a magic power independent from the Ten Master Clans, and Kazama's unit was its key. It's natural that Saeki and Kazama would be sticking together.

And in this commander's office, the two can freely exchange talk about top-secret imminent military actions.

"Major Kazama, are you aware of the sweeping game changes in this year's National Magic High School Goodwill Games, the Nine School Competitions?"

And so Saeki started their morning talk with this question.

"Only the fact that they did such an action. Was it formally announced?"

As he asked back, Kazama uneasily remembered something. Saeki possesses weak magical talent, but she's no magician. She's well known for including the "magic" factor in strategic planning and using it at a tactical level, but she shouldn't have any interest in a noncombat magic competition.

"I see the news comes slow to you, Major. There was an official notification addressed to all magic high schools yesterday," a sitting Saeki said as she handed document sheets to Kazama, standing "at-ease" in front of her. She made a point to hand him the physical papers to prevent her own handwritten annotations to be leaked to the networks. But it looked like a practical-minded Saeki's habit.

For a short while the sound of papers being shuffled filled the commander's office. Kazama, after very quickly reaching the last page, raised his head and inquired about the information with a look.

"What do you think?"

It seemed they haven't arrived yet on the real issue at hand. Urging Saeki on would lead nowhere, so Kazama decided to just go follow her lead.

"It's a straight-out military training regimen."

"... I doubt if you have said it all but I'm with you on this one."

Saeki pressed a button at the desk edge as if she recalled something. A collapsible chair popped out from a wall, then positioned itself behind Kazama. Saeki motioned him to sit down.

It looked like a signal that this was going to be a long talk. Kazama bowed before he unfolded the chair and settled down in front of Saeki.

"This year's game lineup changes is a direct result of last year's incident at Yokohama. The JSDF wants to reconfirm the magicians' effective combat strength, and so they're pushing for ability development towards that goal."

"I believe anyone can figure that one out even if he's out of the loop."

Saeki nodded once at what Kazama pointed out, then continued on.

"The Japan Magic Association has shown only token resistance to this demand from the JSDF."

Kazama showed an inquisitive look towards Saeki. "*That old man* didn't put up any resistance?" Saeki slightly smiled at Kazama's question. "Elder Kudou didn't object to it."

Saeki hid her smile after answering this, then quickly changed the subject.

"There are clamors from JSDF GHQ for our brigade to help out this year's competitions."

"Not orders, but clamors."

What Kazama said was agreement, rather than confirmation.

"Yes, we should consider that they brought these to me myself, rather to our brigade."

"I can sympathize with that."

Even the GHQ knows that Saeki is critical of the Ten Master Clans and the status quo of the national magic community it controlled. To bring to a brigade-level officer like her a request to help out the Nine School Competitions was perhaps a form of harassment. Harassment towards Saeki and the competition sponsors the Japan Magic Association.

"For this the Magic Association has been playing hardball against the JSDF, but it looks like the GHQ is pissed."

"Finally."

On the surface, Saeki's words sounded like a complaint. But it's plain to Kazama that even the GHQ has finally started to feel the risks of requesting the Ten Master Clans.

On this correct answer, Saeki showed a satisfied expression towards him. "I'm going to answer these calls."

Kazama braced himself for an incoming marching order.

"However, I'm not dispatching the Independent Magic Battalion. Your unit will be on standby for the duration of the Nine School Competitions."

Saeki's marching orders were not to sortie but to stand by. "Understood. The battalion will stand by until further orders."

Totally caught off guard, Kazama's response was noticeably slower. Even so, he repeated the orders in a way military regulations allow.

"One thing."

Motioning Kazama, who's about to stand up and salute, to sit down again, Saeki again changed the topic.

"Not only did Elder Kudou not oppose the event changes, he seemed extremely positive about it."

Forget it, the talk went back to Kudou Retsu's reaction to the Nine School Competition event changes.

"I heard Elder Kudou has shown strong interest in the new event, the Steeplechase Cross-country. He ordered that the rules be changed so all can join instead of assigning players. Even the course has been lengthened and expanded according to his wishes."

"That's a surprise."

The Steeplechase Cross-country is a training so tough even regular combat magicians would be throwing in the towel. With the course long and expansive, staying on course is a tough proposition and the risk of magicians losing their powers is very high. Kazama knew that the old man really doesn't want to see young magicians turned into military sacrifices. And this made hearing the real story from Saeki all the more unexpected.

"This time it's seen as a betrayal of Kudou, who's always been campaigning to stop the treatment of magicians as weapons. But considering him, it shouldn't be a simple matter."

"You mean there's something behind it?"

"There should be, right, Major?"

He had asked on impulse, but with some thinking it was self-evident. When considering the reasons why Kudou is campaigning to stop the treatment of magicians as mere military sacrifices and weapons, it was unlikely that old man would change his dogma that easily.

"And one more thing, although this might not be good news for you."

Kazama, deep in his own thoughts, pulled himself at once back to Saeki's talk because of the ominous introduction.

"The Fujibayashi are in line with the Kudou and it looked like they're planning something in the Steeplechase."

"So that's the reason for the standby."

The Fujibayashi family is where Kazama's aide Fujibayashi Kyouko belongs to. He didn't think she's not to be trusted but the fact that she's one of their kin is enough for Saeki to pull Kazama from this case.

"That's right."

And Saeki didn't hide the fact that his conjecture is spot on.

"Needless to say, I'll have Major's unit moving when the situation calls for it. Please prepare for sortie and keep tabs on Lieutenant Fujibayashi's movements."

Not only did she not hide it, Saeki ordered Kazama to keep watch on Fujibayashi. "Yes sir!"

Kazama was in no mood to complain. Trusting people and preparing for the unexpected are at least different things for them.

As he left the commander's office, Kazama's thoughts were not on his own aide officer, but on his one-time subordinate and NCO, Special Officer Ooguro Ryuuya -- in other words, Tatsuya.

Was it all right for him not to relay these to him, who might be joining the Nine School Competitions that was turning to an experiment ground? Saeki didn't touch on dispatching [Special Officer Ooguro], so perhaps he shouldn't divulge it yet. And until they've been ordered to sortie, he's simply a civilian.

However, there was little doubt that his younger sister would join the event in question. If danger would head for the sister who's blindly affectionate for him, even if it ended up as an attempt ....

Considering that it would lead to certain tragedy, no, catastrophe, turning a blind eye to it is extremely insane. Kazama can't help but think of that way.

◊ ◊ ◊

Chaos reigned over First High with the apprehension over the changes to the events of the Nine Schools Competition. When the competition’s official website had made the details publicly available, there was a large scale outbreak of huge mood swings from hope to despair in the clubs related to the events.

However, the one who suffered the most was of course the student council.

First, they had to explain everything to the presidents of the clubs that athletes that were supposed to compete in events like Speed Shooting that had been expunged were attached to. Athlete selection was still at the tentative stage with the athletes themselves not even informed yet, but if the athletes were to take part in the Nine Schools Competition then they had to put that above their club practice. So they needed to inform the presidents of the clubs the prospective athletes were attached to in advance. And also starting work for the Nine Schools Competition earlier than previous years was, in light of the changes, rash. Azusa got into the mindset that ‘the worst is yet to come’.

They started the athlete selection from scratch. They could not just keep the original representatives for the events that hadn’t been swapped without giving it some thought. There were cases where the athletes were better suited to the newly added event than the event they were originally chosen for, and they had to take into account the new rule that Steeplechase was the only second event that the athletes could enter. The student council bore the responsibility for choosing the representatives but they could not ignore the opinions of the affected clubs. After all, they had to negotiate with each club concerning club activities practice and other things.

Also, they had to arrange for the tools needed for the new events. It was a simple business, but they had to start reading the tournament rules for each new event to determine what kind of equipment was needed for Row and Gunner, Shield Down and Cross-country Steeplechase, as well as what is permitted and what is forbidden. Today, when they left by the school gate, all members of student council were wearing exhausted faces. Neither Miyuki nor Tatsuya were exempt from this feeling of exhaustion.

No matter how young they were, it wasn’t easy to bounce back from this kind of exhaustion. They returned home and when dinner ended, Miyuki stood in the kitchen; the listlessness that lingered from the time she left school was clear when viewed behind. However, despite that, Miyuki at this time in this place wasn’t going to give this duty to Minami. If Miyuki’s feeling could be told from this situation, then offering a moment to unwind to Tatsuya was, for Miyuki, a god given privilege and holy duty. Neglecting to do it because she was somewhat tired was not acceptable. She was more conscientious than usual as she made the coffee with her own hands; her tiredness did not diminish her smile one iota as she placed the cup in front of Tatsuya.

“Thank you, Miyuki.”

Tatsuya firmly met his sister’s eyes; he smiled at her, his thanks in his eyes. “It was, umm...you’re welcome.”

Miyuki was accustomed enough to the nonchalant show of consideration from Tatsuya for it to not be enough on its own to make Miyuki blush. No matter how cold hearted he seemed to be normally, no matter how dispassionately merciless he seemed in the face of an enemy, Miyuki understood her elder brother was a ‘kindhearted’ person. Even so, when she was unexpectedly faced with his kindness, she responded with a faint blushing below her eyes---her excitement couldn’t help spilling out.

“You’re tired today, right. Stay.”

Tatsuya, who was as usual sitting on the sofa that was not built for one person but rather three, tapped the spot next to him.

“---Ye-es!”

Instantly, the wide-eyed Miyuki happily sat down next to her brother.

Minami, who was standing in front of the pair having her duty of waiting on them taken from her, could not conceal her dismay, but perhaps Miyuki had forgotten her, or maybe she wasn’t letting it bother her; instead she practically glued herself to Tatsuya.

However, even if Miyuki didn’t mind, Minami wasn’t able to let it go. She still wasn’t really used to it and she was far from attaining zen-like acceptance. Having lost the satisfaction of being a maid, she was unable to fight her desire to turn away when the e-mail arrival beep rang.

With joy, Minami turned to the console. Instead of putting it on the the main display that took up most of the wall in the living room, she peered at the small monitor attached to the console.

When she turned around, Minami’s face was filled with confusion. “Tatsuya-sama.”

She was genuinely bewildered; she had forgotten to add ‘onii-sama’ as promised. “An e-mail has arrived. There’s...no sender.”

There was a proper reason for her confusion. “None?”

Tatsuya’s voice as he asked was full of doubt. Regardless of pre-war days, the current e-mail system’s format was strictly regulated. A high degree of technical skill might be able to disguise the original sender but, under the rules, it was impossible for the sender’s address to be a blank space.

However the reverse could be said: if you had the technical skill to send data that didn’t fulfill the regulations over the network then disguising where it was transmitted from was easy. This unknown sender showed a high degree of technical skill and didn’t want to tell them who they were...the mail could be interpreted that way.

If that were so, there were limited possibilities. There was someone he knew that could freely use the network like this...

(No, it would be premature to guess.)

Tatsuya dismissed his first guess to the person’s identity that appeared in his head. An email sent from her---the possibility that it could be an email sent by her at another’s request was not zero. Tatsuya thought the possibility was higher than 50 percent. But that still left an under 50 percent chance that it was malware sent by an adversary.

(The first thing to do is to check the contents.)

Tatsuya had set the wireless console in his home to not open emails containing possible malware; instead, the raw data transmission was displayed. His command had been overridden and lines of text were shown. The characteristic syntax gave Tatsuya a notion of who it was.

Tatsuya started his decoder; it read the displayed lines of text. The code was the type that was commonly used in the defense force. The 101st brigade used a different style of code, but he could not be sure this wasn’t transmitted from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.

Currently, it was only when special hardware received meaningful signals that the communications technology was implemented (actually, this was in order to intercept; Echelon III was more advanced than the Echelon II version). This commonly used code might have been used on the mail data because security was the top priority.

Anyway, he couldn’t determine whether it was from friend or foe just from the style of code. If he didn’t look at the contents, he couldn’t begin. Tatsuya silently waited for the decoding to finish.

“This is a lie, right...?”

However, the data reconstituted from the email caused him to shelve the matter of the identity of the sender. The information was so terrible that Miyuki, who had given her brother some space in order to not interfere with him, murmured that without thinking.

“The performance test of a new weapon... It’s a lot to swallow, but I can’t just reject it without investigating it.”

The suspicious email claimed that the Kudou clan had taken advantage of the changes in the Nine Schools Competition that the military had brought about to test a new weapon they had secretly developed, and the proving ground they were using was Steeplechase Cross-country.

“The military’s involvement is probably true. However, the anonymity factor makes it suspicious and since it is an established tactic to mix easily verifiable truth in with lies...”

Miyuki once again approached Tatsuya, who was deep in thought. This time it was not to be spoiled by her brother; it was because she was worried about him.

“Onii-sama...what do you think?”

Miyuki was vexed with herself for only getting a single concerned statement out. She was angry that she couldn’t do more but at least she could be someone he could talk things out with instead of bearing it all alone.

However, this was only a needless anxiety on Miyuki’s part. “Hmm, tomorrow morning I’ll try to consult Master.”

Tatsuya answered extremely easily. Even if he did not pass the entire task off to

Yakumo, it seemed like he fully intended to pass off a lot of the work on to him. Seeing that her brother was pretending to be a ‘villain’ as usual, Miyuki released the tension in her shoulders in relief.

“Onii-sama, do you need a refill of coffee?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Since he was going to consult Yakumo, Miyuki was blanking it out of her mind until tomorrow morning, so she disappeared into the kitchen. For that reason, she failed to hear the rest of Tatsuya’s words.

“Minami, pass this email on to Hayama-san for me.”

“Yes, Tatsuya-sama.”

“In the most heavily encrypted code.”

“As you wish.”

◊ ◊ ◊

In this world, there are people like Tatsuya who wish to ‘avoid trouble as much as possible’; on the other hand, there are also people that positively wish to ‘cause trouble’. Incidentally, across the ocean, eyes were looking intently and ears were listening carefully; there were also those who diligently searched for the seeds of chaos.

The Master of Zhou Gongjin was exactly that type of person. [Gongjin]

The taxidermied human corpse used for the ghost spell called the name of the kneeling Zhou Gongjin.

[I understand that the Japanese Military is holding a performance test for a secret weapon at the Nine Schools Competition held in August]

The voice that was using the corpse to speak to the wall facing the Pacific Ocean belonged to one of the ‘Seven Sages’, Jeido Hague, one of the surviving Dahan military occultists, Gu Jii.

“A new weapon, sir?” While respectfully questioning him, Zhou was murmuring ‘another?’ in his own mind. By another he did not mean another new weapon: just last year they had gotten burned at the Nine Schools Competition and were making another attempt at tampering with it, was the type of thought passing through Zhou’s mind. Hague’s precious pawns, No Head Dragon, who had been maneuvering at the Nine Schools Competition last summer, had been rendered useless.

He thought the risks of meddling with the high school students’ tournament were too high for too little gain; however, apparently his master believed otherwise, ruminated Zhou, somewhat surprised.

[They are calling it by the codename, Weapon P. I have not been able to confirm it, but from looking at the situation it is unmistakably something that uses the abilities of a parasite trapped inside an android]

Hearing this conjecture, Zhou was obediently impressed. Not with Hague’s information network, but with the Japanese Military’s technical skill. It was outside his specialty, but he had learned to use sprites in his own occult studies--- this was not a fairy but an angry spirit with a demonic core---and he had heard enslaving and containing it in a doll was a difficult spell.

(They’re reproducing the yellow turban doll warriors (this refers the Yellow Turban Rebellion that was related to Taoist sects); the Japanese are doing well…...)

[Despite not being Mountain Sages (In Japanese myths, holy hermits study in mountains), they think they are able to control the things, hmm. However, using high school students for the performance test is truly foolish]

However, Hague’s opinion differed from Zhou’s. Perhaps it was only that he did not want to acknowledge them.

“Is it all right to intervene in the test?”

[Prepare a berserker spell. It’s Norman (He's referring to witchcraft from Normandy which is currently part of France) witchcraft but the people under your control can use the format of their occult practices to make alterations]

“Understood. I’ll make arrangements to insert a berserker spell into Weapon P.”

Zhou was constructing how he would arrange for refugees from the Great Asian Alliance he would use in his mind and asked the most bothersome question.

“Is it alright to merely threaten?”

[It’s not necessary to end it with them unhurt, but it’s not necessary to kill. Weakening the Japanese Military by taking away their magical capacity is enough. Surviving as an incompetent would be worse than dying here]

This much suffering is okay was a Hague-like opinion. It was a pretty spiteful, naive thought.

“As you wish, Master Hague.”

While Zhou was scoffing at his master in his head, he made a reverent prostration in form only.

◊ ◊ ◊

The following morning before going to school, Tatsuya visited Yakumo’s domain accompanied by Miyuki.

Tatsuya was clad in his usual training wear.

In contrast, Miyuki wore summer sportswear: a half sleeve t-shirt, ultra violet ray repellant on her arms, a sun visor, shorts, and tights that provided partial UV protection that decidedly suited her. On the lower parts of her legs she had in-line skates she could take off. On her hips, she wore a pouch filled with her CAD and other small items.

The pair looked prepared for morning practice. Actually yesterday evening, they had told him to suspend practice because they wanted to consult him on something. By the way, just as they passed the Main Temple, a pack of temple disciples came to attack Tatsuya.

From the look on the ambushed Tatsuya’s face, he wasn’t particularly disturbed by it. He probably expected something like this. In fact he had come dressed as usual because he had. However, he was undeniably under pressure. Today’s consultation wasn’t the kind that would come to a quick conclusion. As a result, Tatsuya spent the shortest time possible with Yakumo’s students; in other words, he utterly demolished them without holding back.

Yakumo was sitting down on the priest’s quarters’ staircase and watching. Miyuki following behind him, Tatsuya walked to him.

“Good morning, Master.”

“Good morning, Sensei.”

Perhaps Miyuki was already aware of her brother’s thoughts; without a complain about Yakumo’s ‘mischief’, she bowed gracefully.

“Yo, morning.”

On the other hand, the face of Yakumo who had pulled the ‘prank’ showed not a twinge of guilt. He might have thought of spurring on his pupils as nothing more than a kind of greeting.

Well, it’s all water under the bridge now. When the time was right he would use this for a ‘loan’, but for now Tatsuya was stuffing this memory in a corner of his mind and quickly started to broach the main topic.

“Well, shall we talk inside-”

However, Yakumo interrupted him either intentionally or by sheer coincidence. Tatsuya looked slightly discouraged as he trailed after Yakumo, who had gotten up off the stairs he had been sitting on and proceeded inside the priests’ quarters.

After Miyuki followed Tatsuya inside, the door automatically shut. Since there were no traces of psions being moved, it was probably opened and closed by itself just as it seemed. Perhaps it was human powered; in short, a student might have closed it from the outside.

The windows were all shut, too. For a priest's quarters, it was rather airtight. As the room became pitch black, the candles on one wall were lit. A strong scent wafted out; the candles probably contained scented oil. Neither Tatsuya nor Miyuki were surprised by the candle being lit. It was clear to their eyes to the same degree that Yakumo had used magic to do it.

The light of three candlesticks wasn’t enough to illuminate the whole room, but it provided enough faint light to be useful. To Tatsuya's eyes, the ignition point of the candles left the room a shade darker than it should be. Then he realized the candles weren’t for illuminating the room but for filling it with the scent of incense.

He felt the psion light decrease.

“Is this a Kekkai?” (an isolation field type of spell)

According to what Tatsuya knew, psion information bodies---spirits, shikigami, etc.---are known to hate incense, but apparently not this particular scent.

“Since it’s a private conversation.”

Including the Yotsuba clan, Tatsuya believed there wasn’t a magician or a spell that could get inside the grounds without Yakumo being aware of it. However, if the owner thought it necessary, then they should offer assistance since they were in position to do so.

“Miyuki, please.”

“As you wish.”

Miyuki immediately surmised what her brother was thinking. She constructed a barrier that completely isolated the electrical and sound waves.

“Sorry.”

Yakumo smiled as he responded, seeming pained. Apparently, it was his custom to use this Kekkai whenever he had a private conversation. Of course, considering the content of the conversation they were about to start, there was no such thing as too many precautions. Tatsuya did not ask Miyuki to cancel the magic and broached the matter.

“Master, at this time we are bringing an extremely troublesome matter to you; please forgive us.”

As Tatsuya lowered his head, Miyuki made a matching polite bow. They were thanking Yakumo in advance for his help. Speaking first was a preemptive strike to secure his cooperation before Yakumo even heard an outline of the matter.

“Kudou has certainly come up with a quite dangerous thing.”

Therefore, as usual, instead of futile small talk, Yakumo abruptly went to the heart of the matter.

“It probably doesn’t need to be said at this point, but even in ordinary circumstances, Steeplechase is a dangerous competition.”

“As expected, Sensei thinks so too.”

Miyuki’s voice trembled slightly as she agreed with him. Like the rumbling of magma beneath the earth, the tone concealed fierce indignation.

The type of events held up to now, Mirage Bat, Monolith Code, Battle Board, etc.; all had the possibility of the loss of magical abilities due to accidents occurring. However, even in what could be called the best circumstances, the danger of Steeplechase Cross-country was so high that it can’t be compared to Mirage Bat and Monolith Code.

“To use that dangerous event for the performance test of a new weapon is an idea I doubt the rationality of.”

Weight was added to this statement by coming from Yakumo’s mouth. Even someone who was in the view of ordinary people crazy enough to practice the ancient art of asceticism by embracing austerity in their day to day life regarded this idea as completely nuts.

“Are you aware of everything the Kudou clan has planned regarding this test?”

Tatsuya had made the phone call yesterday evening after eight pm. Which made him feel that even for Yakumo, he was a little too up-to-date regarding this matter.

“For example, the true nature of the new weapon.”

“All I know is that they have codenamed it Weapon P. It's unfortunate but the details are unknown.”

As expected, Yakumo half agreed with Tatsuya's doubts. His manner was extremely reluctant.

“....Even you don’t know, Sensei?”

Miyuki asked in an incredulous tone. Suddenly, being told by Yakumo that there were things that Yakumo could not find out about, even if he investigated, was tough to believe. ---Until Tatsuya became his pupil, Yakumo had not determined the siblings' lineage, but she hadn’t been aware of it when they were blind to their own shortcomings.

“I don’t know yet.”

Yakumo seemed unaware of his unintended irony. Perhaps his mind wasn’t considering other people or his other acquaintances.

“Kazama-kun probably knows, but..”

“The Major is refusing to give information?”

“That is not the correct way to put it. He is under no obligation to share information with me.”

There was no way to refute the point Yakumo made. Tatsuya was embarrassed by his own rash outburst. He was attached to the defense force as a special officer, but that was nothing more than a convenience. He was not yet an actual soldier and under the military’s regulations, Kazama was at a higher rank than Tatsuya. A higher ranked officer had no reason to disclose everything to his junior.

Besides, Tatsuya was also a person of the Yotsuba. Even though his relatives did not acknowledge him as a member of the Yotsuba, looking objectively, Tatsuya was unmistakably a warrior of the Yotsuba. Kazama was essentially part of the brass of the 101st brigade which had the potential to be an antagonistic influence against the Ten Master Clans, so it would be natural for him to conceal things from someone who, as a subordinate of the Yotsuba, was under the command of the Ten Master Clans.

“Anyway, I don’t know the details of the test Kudou is holding so I can’t create effective countermeasures...”

Yakumo made a show of grumbling. However, his eyes emitted a challenging light. That light bragged that he would be able to quickly find out the true nature of Weapon P and the rest of it.

“So the first thing to do is to investigate.”

Whatever Yakumo thought, since they essentially knew nothing, they didn’t have any time to waste being undecided on how to proceed.

“You’re right.”

Tatsuya’s comment was almost a question, so Yakumo gave his agreement. “It’s probably necessary to go to Nara.”

“The former Lab 9.”

“A place of hetu* and prataya* for us.” (Buddhist terms referring to things that cause indirect and direct effects)

Tatsuya knew about the antagonism against Lab 9 and those who bore the number ‘9’ that ran among users of Ancient Magic. Perhaps that was the reason Yakumo was being unusually solicitous... Watching Yakumo’s proactive attitude made Tatsuya consider being slightly contrary.

◊ ◊ ◊

July 5th: the noon break of the 3rd day after the notification from the Nine Schools Competition’s management committee.

Tatsuya was looking at the data of the First High students in the student council room.

In this time of crisis for the school...contrary to expectations, there was another crisis brewing in the preparations being made under the cover of the Nine Schools Competition. On weekdays, the covert dealings had been handed off to Yakumo, so Tatsuya could commit his attention to this front.

The student council officers, including Tatsuya, plus the head of the Club Management Committee, Hattori, were looking at documents that summarized the results of the practical skills and other material for selecting the athletes for the Nine Schools Competition. They had acted on the premise that the events wouldn’t change this year, but they had to use all the data from the practical skills test to choose athletes for the new events.

While Tatsuya was biting into a sandwich, he was going over the data organized into a card format one by one. He was manipulating the keyboard one handed, probably making up a list of candidates.

By the way, the sandwich was one of the ones Pixie had made for everyone. Miyuki, Honoka and others would occasionally take a break from manipulating their consoles with their hands to eat in a more polite manner, but Azusa kept the sandwich in her mouth while she tapped the keys; advice was being silently received from Izumi.

“I think only changing the participating athletes in Ice Pillars Break, Mirage Bat, and Monolith Code who were taking part in two events would be all right, but what do you think?”

The first to speak up was Hattori.

“I think it would be fine, but the main division of Ice Pillars Break has to be divided into Solo and Pair.”

“Shiba-san for the Girls’ Solo, and wouldn’t Chiyoda and Kitayama be good for Pair?”

After Tatsuya made his point, Hattori caught the ball and tossed out an idea. “How about the Boys?”

“In the Boys Division, there’s almost no difference between the abilities. Since the two would have to work together, the practical thing to do would be to decide based on compatibility, right?”

“I agree.”

“I think it would be fine if we chose the Row and Gunner representatives from the Speed Shooting and Battle Board representative candidates.”

“I think that’s fine for Pair, but Solo requires high level skill with multicasting. Don’t you agree that that must be taken into consideration.”

“I see. Which do you think is of greater importance, shooting skill or boat handling skill?”

“Since I expect the Row and Gunner boat to be more stable than the board for Battle Board, I think the ability to shoot while moving would be even more important.”

“So then the corresponding clubs would be SS Board, the Biathlon club, the Hunting club, and also the...”

...The goal they were concentrating on this noon break was re-selecting the athletes; almost all the advancement on meeting that goal came from conversations like this between Tatsuya and Hattori.

After school, his feet took Tatsuya to the Second Smaller Gym. He wasn’t playing hooky from desk work. This was also part of preparing for the Nine Schools Competition.

At the two entrances to the smaller gym, cleaner mats were installed that completely cleaned the soles of your shoes when you simply walked on them, therefore there was no problem even if you didn’t take off your outside shoes when you went inside. However, Tatsuya dared to become bare foot because he was switching into his wooden floor mode; it was also known as entering the ‘arena’.

Regardless of it being immediately before the last of the quarterly exams, the armor clad club members raised a rhythmic din from their clashing shinai. While he couldn’t identify them by their concealed faces, Tatsuya searched for his target relying on body shape and posture.

“Erika.”

“Uhh, Tatsuya-kun? It’s odd for you to come to watch me.”

Erika showed slight surprise at Tatsuya walking alongside the wall and raising his hand to greet her. As she had said, this was the first time Tatsuya had come to see the kendo club practice since his inauguration as vice president.

By the way, Erika was not a member of the kendo club. She was attached to the Tennis club. That being said, she was halfway to being something like a ghost member (a club member listed on the roster who takes part in few or none of the club activities). The tennis club wasn’t a very active club; they no longer even bothered to complain when anyone missed practice.

Since that was how things were, Erika sometimes came to help the kendo club like this. ---She had not volunteered; it was at the request of Sayaka so she didn’t try to get out of it.

Tatsuya was also aware of the situation. However, Tatsuya hadn’t been aware that today was a day she was ‘helping’. Tatsuya had gone on foot to the tennis courts before coming to the second gym. In short, he had wasted his time and energy, but since it wasn’t Erika’s fault, he didn’t mention it to her.

“Why are you here?”

Erika wasn’t aware that Tatsuya had been earnestly searching for her. So she was just making small talk.

“Ah. I am here to sincerely ask you for a favor.”

Because Tatsuya assumed a formal posture and spoke those words in a formal tone, Erika lost all expression and as well as all of her defense. It was what was commonly called the ‘looking like an idiot’ type of look, but she was so beautiful she even looked good like that.

“Err, what’s up, this is sudden? You need a favor from me, Tatsuya-kun...”

The glint of alertness in Erika’s eyes was not hidden; there was no mistaking the fact that she had picked up on part of his true identity.

“It’s more a commission from the student council than a request from me.” However, this time Erika was overthinking.

“The student council?”

Understanding that, the tension left both of Erika’s eyes; instead, strong doubt was reflected there. She was gripped by the natural question, ‘What do they intend to make me do?’

Of course, there was no reason to conceal it from her, Tatsuya answered quite readily.

“It's regarding the Nine Schools Competition; we wish you to serve as a sparring partner in Shield Down practice.”

“Ah, that interesting event. But are you sure I would be a good sparring partner?”

Erika acknowledged that her own magic skills were fairly limited. It was natural that she wasn’t chosen to be a representative, so she had doubts on her own usefulness even as a sparring partner.

“Please, we really need you to do it.”

However, Tatsuya had absolutely no doubts about Erika’s suitability for the task. Without thinking, Erika averted her eyes from that direct gaze. ---It made her feel embarrassed.

“......If you are going to entreat me that much, I will make an attempt.”

Although she boldly used a high-handed tone to conceal her embarrassment, “You have my thanks.”

Tatsuya’s earnest demeanor did not falter to the bitter end. That felt deliberate; ‘Maybe he’s mocking me?’ Erika accused him in her head. ...She knew quite well that it was nothing more than a false accusation.

Erika changed her clothes and went to the preparation area on the first floor of the small gym as Tatsuya had told her to.

“Why are you here?”

There, she unexpectedly saw the face of a certain classmate; the first thing she said was that. If they were alone or perhaps among friends, she probably would have thought nothing of it. However, most of the people seated in the room were upperclassmen that she didn’t know; she just couldn’t end it with a greeting.

(Aw nuts...I just acted without thinking as usual... What do I do now?) Erika wasn’t the only one looking; the upperclassmen appeared puzzled. “Lay off. I was called by Tatsuya, too.”

However, the bad atmosphere that had been spreading in the room was dispersed by Leo’s answer. ---Was it that he didn’t bother to read the atmosphere or was it simply that he couldn’t read the atmosphere; it wasn’t something that could be known without asking him.

“Erika, Leo.”

Tatsuya’s lightly chiding words were a clear indication that he read the atmosphere. The pair shut their mouths and Tatsuya introduced Erika to the Shield Down representatives.

“Well then, Shiba-kun, is it all right if I pair up with Saijou-kun to practice?”

“Is it fine if I partner up with Chiba-san when I practice?”

The first to ask was the boys’ solo representative, Sawaki. The next utterance was the third year student named Chikura Tomoko who had been chosen to be the girls’ solo representative.

“Okay.”

Shield Down was a combat training type of game. However, there were only three representatives apiece for the male and female divisions: one person for solo and a two person team for pairs, so that they were short one person for two on two practice matches. Which led to Erika and Leo being chosen as sparring partners.

“We are having you serve as sparring partners for the solo practice matches as well.”

Incidentally, they planned to add them to a rotation with the pairs representatives to give the solo representative a three person rotation to spar against.

“Uh huh. Shiba-kun had no other recommendations. Saijou-kun, I’m depending on you!”

“.......Thanks.”

“Chiba-san, go easy on me.”

“Ditto.”

This was all the explanation they got; however, Erika seemed fine. Leo on the other hand seemed to be forcing his face into an insincere smile since his partner was Sawaki, who was rumoured to be a first class martial artist.

◊ ◊ ◊

Calling it the epicenter of the conspiracy would probably be a misrepresentation. If anyone traced the chronological order, the Kudou clan had only latched on to a military plot that was already using magicians for military objectives for their own purposes. However, using the pretext that the Nine Schools Competition, which was nothing more than a high school magic tournament, was already being used for military objectives, the Kudou clan had foisted a secret weapon test into what had already become dangerous conditions. This level of skullduggery was just something that had to be lived with, probably.

Besides, the Kudou clan hadn’t really done anything they could feel guilty about. They knew quite well that they were not in a position where they could heap abuse on Kudou Retsu for suggesting the use of the Nine Schools Competition as the site of a performance test for a new weapon. On the contrary, the clan had every reason to energetically work toward ensuring that the Parasite Doll test didn’t fail.

Today also, Retsu was at the former Lab 9 commanding his subordinates until the sun started down. If he didn’t have this appointment, he probably wouldn’t have left the lab until the middle of the night. His dinner meeting was with a politician who was a former soldier who had tremendous influence on the Nine Schools Competition---when he retired he had been a captain below Retsu in rank---in order to win him over to his side, in response to an invitation.

After 6:00 pm. Retsu went to a traditional Osaka restaurant. It was around this time Makoto, whom Retsu had left in charge, received an internal phone call from the front gate guard concerning a visitor.

“A guest? I was not expecting one. Who is it?”

“As his name, he gave Zhou Gongjin of China street of Yokohama. He wishes to speak to you directly about his errand. Do you wish to see him, danna-sama?”

He had heard of the name of Zhou Gongjin of China street of Yokohama before. Even if the other 28 families had not heard of him, this was not a name someone who bore a family name of ‘9’ due to originating from the former Lab 9 could ignore.

“I’ll be there soon. Send him to the reception room, please.” Matching his words, Makoto immediately stood up.

As he entered the room, he saw a man dressed like one of Yokohama’s Chinese businessmen get up off the sofa, and the first emotion that gripped Makoto was jealousy; Zhou Gongjin looked that young and dashing in Makoto’s eyes. His refreshingly beautiful appearance had a sparkling vitality that an old man like Makoto could not possess. ---Or so Makoto thought.

“Welcome. I am Kudou Makoto, head of the Kudou clan.”

Makoto clamped down on the dark emotions seething within and held out his hand with what looked to be a composed smile.

“I am Zhou Gongjin. Please call me Zhou.”

In contrast, Zhou politely and, at least in appearance, humbly responded with a handshake.

“That name is notorious lately. You are quite the celebrity around here, Zhou-san.”

The implications in Makoto’s words made Zhou smile without any meaningless humility in response. It was within Zhou’s calculations that he would be recognized. In the first place, he came in his public persona because Makoto would know what he was doing around here and he could save himself some work that way, Zhou was thinking underneath the cover of his smile.

“I am honored that you know of me. As it happens, I asked to make this visit today because I thought I might be able to be of use to Kudou-sama in that matter.”

“By that matter, you mean?”

“Yes, I believe that it is just as you are thinking, Kudou-sama. I wish to consult you on how to deal with my countrymen who are fleeing the tyrannical government of the Great Asian Alliance.”

On one hand, Zhou cooperated with Japan in regard to maneuvering against the Great Asian Alliance; he provided various forms of support to those who wished the utter destruction of the Great Asian Alliance. His principal activities were lending his influence in order for political refugees to get through the last stages of acceptance, and sponsoring their journeys to Japan; however, he also helped financially with the refugees’ political activities. As for whether the Great Asian Alliance knew of his activities as a refugee broker, they actually knew. The information wasn’t so well known that all the high level government and military officials were aware of it, but at the very least it was an open secret amongst the military and government officials maneuvering against Japan.

As for why he wasn’t on the Great Asian Alliance’s political blacklist, it was because his guidance of political refugees was actually extremely convenient for the Great Asian Alliance’s government. People who hoped to become political refugees were, in short, factions unsatisfied with the government. If they emigrated quickly, then the elements of unrest decreased. The Great Asian Alliance did not have a lack of manpower and because the refugees could not take all of their assets with them when they emigrated, it benefited the national treasury.

As for the spread of troubling political actions within the nation that they immigrated to becoming a minus diplomatically, that served as a pretext for economic embargo.

However, currently that wasn’t a problem for the Great Asian Alliance. Due to the civil war with Dahan, the Great Asian Alliance had established control of the eastern part of the continent and at this point the military junta grasped complete control firmly in their hands. Since the rebels were completely estranged from military strength, they couldn’t take effective actions against the government, which was something they were well aware of. As for the the threat of foreign interference, they would not be able to topple the government without a sufficiently armed group of insurgents. The Great Asian Alliance had not forgotten the violence of the foreign armies in the name of Dahan independence which, from the Great Asian Alliance’s standpoint, was a mere pretext to foment rebellion.

Currently, the Great Asian Alliance had no difficulty with foreign relations. They were not politically isolated and they had the backing they needed in international relations because no nation was their equal as an independent military power, even though they were not economically independent yet.

However, in the current state of world affairs, the threat of the Great Asian Alliance was not inciting military cooperation. The four great military powers: USNA, New Soren, Indo-Persia, and the Great Asian Alliance itself were all setting military policy independently. The USNA and Indo-Persia had an alliance, but that was only a superficial relationship. There no longer were strong alliances like there were before the World War. If one of the great military powers tried to expand their territory, the other three would not remain silent, but there was no threat of interference in their internal affairs.

Because even economically the degree of self-sufficiency in the Great Asian Alliance was high, being blockaded economically didn’t really hurt. However, they were uneasy about their energy supply, just like the other nations. Because many of the people who wished to immigrate were wealthy, as long as there were not too many, immigration was a bonus to the government’s bottom line.

That was the reason for Zhou’s activities as an immigration broker; of course, the Great Asian Alliance’s government supported his activities from the shadows.

By the way, Japan currently exerted vigorous control over the acceptance of immigrants (political refugees). Japan was not the only one that did so; the framework of the conventions regarding refugees had become outrageously stringent with the repeated worldwide conflicts of the 20th century. However, it was only regulated and not prohibited. It was also a different matter for nations if the person was extremely talented, for example, a capable scientist, a famous entertainer, or--- a powerful magician.

“Actually, next week I am expecting to receive 3 occultists from the continent, but there was a slight blunder...I haven’t arranged a placement yet.”

“A blunder?”

“It’s an embarrassing story. It seems that they were refused based on the opposition of the initial immigration agents who examined them...”

“I see. Certainly, the various kinds of ancient magic can rub people the wrong way.”

Makoto nonchalantly suggested that ‘the immigration agents didn’t like ancient magicians’. Of course, he was picking up the bait Zhou had dangled in front of him with his explanation; Makoto knew that and blatantly did it anyway.

“Therefore, as they say, it would be extremely inconvenient in various ways to have them be visitors in my house.”

“In what way? Uh, no. It’s all right not to say.”

“No, these are not the kind of matters I would hesitate to disclose. The masters that have immigrated this time are all fairly powerful people… If I am not mistaken, the continental government will not take their departure quietly, mainly as a means of keeping face.”

Makoto gave Zhou a piercing look. That was how he informed Zhou that he was interested in this matter. No, rather he was openly responding with interest in Zhou’s business matters. By doing so, he was asking Zhou to get down to his main business.

“I cannot keep it hidden anymore, I guess. I have a favor I want to ask of you, Kudou-sama.”

Zhou was aware of what that breath just then meant.

“So, would you welcome these Taoist masters as house guests?”

As Makoto wished, the conversation proceeded to the end with Zhou’s head lowered in a plea. For an instant, Makoto let his lips loosen in satisfaction, but he immediately overwrote it with a doubtful expression.

“However, would that be wise? The various types of Traditionalists are allied with each other.”

This was indeed the reason those who bore the number ‘9’ couldn’t ignore Zhou Gongjin. ‘Traditionalist’ was the name given to the various practitioners of Ancient Magic concentrated in Edo who overcame the differences of their sects to ally with the Magic Association. Even when they did not brandish the title of ‘Traditionalist’, the title was their pride, or perhaps their hubris.

The Traditionalists’ goal was to defend the individuality of Ancient Magic from modern magic. It should probably be called, 'holding on to their identity' instead. It goes without saying that their mutual antagonism for Lab 9 was a major influence. The wrath of the Traditionalists over their betrayal by Lab 9 resulted in the grudge becoming a unifying force congealing the ancient magicians into an alliance; hostility toward those who currently bore the number “9” was a natural outcome, especially toward the foremost family among them, the Kudou Clan.

And it was customary for Zhou to introduce the ancient magicians among those he helped immigrate to temporary homes related to the various occult traditions that were already in existence in Japan. Zhou should have been aware of the potential to increase the hostility to his own people by associating with those who bore the number “9”.

“It is my utmost duty to find a safe haven for my compatriots that are fleeing tyranny. I certainly have obligations to the Traditionalists who have cooperated with me up until now. However, that does not outweigh my original objective.”

“You may call it a safe haven, but unless there are special circumstances, the government won’t allow the naturalization of refugees.”

“It doesn’t matter if it is only temporary. For those who have been subject to tyranny, to live in peace is a priceless commodity even if it is only temporary.”

Zhou was being truthful, but that made it look like he had investigated his countrymen. Of course, Makoto couldn’t trust him completely, but it didn’t matter to Makoto if it was a performance. At least, Makoto decided, he could trust that Zhou wasn’t teaming up with the Traditionalists to trick the Kudou Clan. It was enough for him to confirm that this wasn’t some tactic by the Traditionalists.

“Understood. Ensuring that magicians can live like humans is the founding principle of our Ten Master Clans. It is the natural duty of the Ten Master Clans to extend our hands to magicians who have abandoned their native land because they want freedom. This isn’t something we can do thoughtlessly, so please understand why I can’t give you an answer immediately.”

However, he could not immediately agree. He had to avoid having this person he just met for the first time view the Head of the Kudou Clan lightly, although he might have been over thinking things.

“Ah, that is only natural.”

It seemed that Zhou did not mind that Makoto was delaying his decision, probably because he had received positive feedback to his plan from Makoto. Zhou took a small envelope from his pocket and handed it to Makoto.

“Here are the profiles of the master Taoists I have prepared. I hope I will receive a favorable reply.”

“I will take the information you so thoughtfully provided. I should have a reply by the beginning of the following week.”

Makoto replied to Zhou while taking the envelope with the data card. “I am grateful. So it would be all right if I visit you on Monday?”

Makoto took a notebook style terminal from his pocket, and after casting his eyes down on it, immediately looked up.

“If it’s at four pm.”

“So at that time? Thank you for today.”

Zhou made an elegant bow befitting his appearance.

As Makoto glanced through the data Zhou had handed him, he summoned the person in charge of lab security and ordered a gag order imposed concerning Zhou’s visit.

“Don’t even inform the previous head. Got it?”

Makoto commanded that it be kept so completely secret, that he even included Kudou Retsu. The chief of lab security looked troubled as he made his farewell and withdrew. Next, Makoto contacted the private information broker he used.

From the information broker who came in less than an hour, Makoto requested a supplemental investigation to the one Zhou Gongjin had already offered.

Finished with the first document, Makoto leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply.

“Yellow Turban Doll Warriors, hmm?”

He had murmured that intermittently as he perused the data concerning the occultist’s specialty in the dossiers. It was written there, that the three refugees were working on reviving the lost Taoist spell of the ‘Yellow Turban Doll Warriors’.

“Way too convenient.”

It was just like they had waited for the development of the Parasite Dolls to bring them in and sell them. Makoto understood Zhou’s request. Regardless of how top secret the development of the Parasite Dolls was, Zhou had gotten a hold of the information, Makoto concluded.

“I ought to be concerned with how he got the information, but...”

However, when it came to the principles of puppets, spells to turn them into warriors, golem magic and the rest, ancient magic was one or two steps ahead of modern magic in spells that manipulated non-mechanical dolls from a distance. The spells the Parasite Dolls needed weren’t those that used magic to manipulate puppets without a will of their own, but ones that controlled the devilishness inside the mechanical dolls; however, these deeply resembled the ancient magic spells that manipulated Spiritual Beings used as agents in dolls in many respects.

Taking all this into consideration, magicians who had researched the lost art of the ‘Yellow Turban Doll Warriors’ were just the type of people that he wanted to have working on developing the Parasite Dolls no matter what.

“What the heck? If they turn out to be snakes, I’ll just chop off their heads.”

It didn’t matter if they were malicious types of snakes or informing type of snakes. With that last whisper in his mind, he stopped his inner monologue.

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