Chapter 11: [Battle for the Relic (3)]
On the morning of May 30th, Tatsuya and Miyuki were receiving Minoru and Minami at Miyakijima. A young man named [Fukami Yasuhiro] came to see Ryousuke, who was at the company housing on his day off. After giving his full name, he told Ryousuke, "I'm an Extra of the Second Research Institute''.
"So, what can I do for you?"
The Extras weren't a topic that could be discussed where other people might hear. It was inside his room that Ryousuke asked the man who introduced himself as Fukami.
There was no sort of fancy drawing room in the company house where he was living alone. They were both facing each other across the small dining room table.
"It might be rude of me to ask, but Tookami-san, you're an Extra of the 'Ten', aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right. And yeah, you're right, that is indeed rude."
Ryousuke didn't bother to hide his displeasure as he replied. Extras were a sort of taboo for Japanese Magicians, a testament to the inhuman nature of the whole Magician development practice. Ryousuke himself never had the experience of being looked at "that way". The ones who were directly affected were his father and grandfather. However, even if he wasn't directly exposed to it, he still experienced the negative effects indirectly. So, there was no way that bringing up such a subject was going to be pleasant for him.
"I'm sorry."
Fukami apologized immediately. It was a timid attitude befitting of his slender, insecure outward appearance. Or perhaps it was the quality of being overly concerned with the other person's reaction. A person with a taste for playing with others might feel tempted to torment him. On the contrary, however, Ryousuke felt a pang of pity for him, and he was unable to press the matter any further.
"So?"
But he couldn't let it stay in the way, and ended up being careless with Fukami.
"Tookami-san, are you satisfied with your current life?"
"Excuse me?"
Ryousuke couldn't understand the meaning behind the question, so he unconsciously asked back.
"I mean, right now, working for the Magian Company that was created by the Yotsuba family, alongside the daughter of the Saegusa family, Tookami-san."
"……And what's the problem with that?"
"The Yotsuba and Saegusa families are the heart of the Ten Master Clans. Who treated us like pawns and discarded us as failures. Are you content with being used by such people?"
Ryousuke felt immediate regret for letting Fukami into his apartment. He was too dumbfounded to even think about refuting Fukami's argument.
The Ten Master Clans weren't the ones who banished the Extras. They were also the children and grandchildren of those who were tampered with at the Magician Development Institute under the pretense of national security.
They may have been the ones who had passed in the exams, but was it really they who wanted to? After meeting Rena, Ryousuke began to think about such things.
Rena was different from most people, her mutated genes made her age very slowly. She was already thirty years old, but her body was that of a mid-teenage girl. It wasn't that she was trying to make herself look young with clothes, because she had a childish face, or that she was keeping herself young through diet, it was that she was young on a cellular level.
Eternal longevity was the envy of all. That was the saying of many people.
But was that really the case?
As far as Ryousuke knew, there was no one in Rena's circle who had the same constitution. Nor had he ever heard of such an acquaintance.
She couldn't grow old at the same pace as others. Her pace of life was different from others.
She was the only one who was left behind.
Ryousuke didn't think that was a blessing to be jealous of.
And what about the Ten Master Clans on the other hand?
Sure, they've been heralded as a shining example of success.
They've been highly esteemed by those in power — no, they have been valuable; useful.
As tools.
Having left Japan and gained an outside perspective allowed Ryousuke to realize that. Or at least, that was what he considered it as himself.
Fukami's argument made Ryousuke uncomfortable, it reminded him of his old self, caught up in a one-sided view of things.
So, to the question that Fukami posed,
"That's none of your business."
That was his answer.
After Ryouske set himself unapproachable to any further arguments, Fukami simply walked away.
Ultimately, Ryousuke still had no idea of his purpose in coming, or what he was trying to say.
The culprits of the theft of the Kofun-era artifacts from the Itoigawa museum were those in an extremist group of magic supremacists known as the New Humanity Front. And apparently, they were allies of FAIR, the group to which the criminal mageists who broke into Miyakijima's Stellar Reactor Plant and FLT's lab to steal Artificial Relics belonged to.
Reaching that conclusion on May 20, the head of the Yotsuba family, Yotsuba Maya, ordered the branch of the family in charge of intelligence, the Kuroba family, to investigate further into the matter.
On May 30, at 9:00 p.m. Soon after Tatsuya returned to his home in Chofu, on the upper floor of the building that served as the Yotsuba family's Tokyo headquarters, he received a visitor: Kuroba Fumiya, the next head of the Kuroba branch of the Yotsuba family.
"I'm sorry to bother you so late at night."
"No, it's fine. I guess it's a matter that can't be discussed over the phone."
Tatsuya smiled and invited his second cousin, younger than him by one year, inside. Fumiya had his head down apologetically at the door, who — just happened to — look like a boyish beauty with a short cut.
Fumiya, who followed behind Tatsuya, was slightly flushed on the cheek, no doubt ashamed of his visit at such an inconvenient hour…… By no means should it have any strange connotations.
"Welcome, Fumiya-kun."
As Fumiya was led into the living room, Miyuki came out of the dining room and greeted him.
"Hi, Fumiya. You're still looking as cute as ever today, huh."
And from behind Miyuki, Lina appeared and lifted her hand lightly facing Fumiya.
"Hello, Miyuki-san, sorry to bother you, I see Lina is here too."
While Fumiya greeted Miyuki with politeness, he returned Lina's greeting in the usual curt tone.
Miyuki placed a cup of coffee in front of Tatsuya and Fumiya who were sitting across from each other. Without any milk or sugar. Although it didn't appear so based on his image, Fumiya preferred to drink his coffee black. However, that started more as a result of mimicking Tatsuya rather than as an original preference.
Following Miyuki's lead, Lina placed a bowl of bite-sized cookies of various shapes and sizes between the two of them. There was only one small plate of jam that was in front of Fumiya. And, as his image suggested, Fumiya was quite fond of sweets.
"This is something I baked for lunch today. Please enjoy it."
Hearing Lina's words, Fumiya's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh really? So Lina baked this."
"Let's see," he said, picking up one of the cookies and biting into it without adding any jam.
"I'm surprised……. They taste pretty good."
"Hey! It's nice that you complimented me and all, but what's with the 'I'm surprised' part?"
"Did you burn yourself or anything?"
"Of course not! What does Fumiya think I am?"
"I mean……. No, I'm not going to tell you."
"Why not?!"
"Lina, let it go. Let's not get in the way of Tatsuya-sama and Fumiya-kun's conversation."
Miyuki appeased the agitated Lina.
"No, I think it would be better for you two to hear it."
But Fumiya, on the contrary, stalled Miyuki and Lina.
"Tatsuya-san, that would be fine, if you don't mind."
He then asked Tatsuya for his permission.
"If Fumiya thinks so, I'm fine with it."
"Then, if Tatsuya-sama permits……"
Hearing his answer, Miyuki sat down next to Tatsuya.
"Well, I'll prepare something for me and Miyuki. Miyuki, you want coffee too right? Do you want me to put something in it?"
"Yes, thank you. Just milk, please."
"Okay."
Lina disappeared back into the dining room to make coffee for the two of them.
Tatsuya and Fumiya passed the time by chatting until Lina came back after making coffee herself instead of using the home automation.
"Oh, you waited for me?"
As she said that, Lina placed the cups on the low table and sat down next to Fumiya. At the unexpectedly close distance, Fumiya took a moment to evaluate the proximity and wondered if he should create more space between them.
In the end, he didn't move and went straight to business.
"It seems that the relationship between the New Humanity Front and FAIR is different than we initially thought, they aren't connected or even an ideological cult, but have a strictly business-like relationship."
"You mean they are connected via a financial relationship?"
"I wouldn't necessarily say only financial, though."
Fumiya gave a half nod to Lina's question.
"Does FAIR supply the New Humanity Front with weapons as well?"
"They supply, or should I say, reward them with it."
Fumiya nodded with a smile at Tatsuya's question.
"It seems that the New Humanity Front is being rewarded with weapons via the Chinese mafia in exchange for fulfilling FAIR's requests."
"So FAIR has a weapons smuggling route into Japan?"
It was Miyuki who asked this question.
"It would seem so."
Fumiya nodded his head with a straight face.
"It seems to be a separate branch of Zhou Gongjin's, made by the remnants of Dahan."
"Come to think of it, Minoru said that FAIR was originally an organization formed by Gu Jie."
"Kudou Minoru did?"
Fumiya had only known Minoru as an enemy. So it was not surprising that there was no amiability in his tone as he mentioned him.
"That's because Minoru was hiding at a FAIR hideout in Los Angeles for a short period of time."
"So that's how he got the information……."
Fumiya made an expression that said, "In that case, it makes sense". Seemingly, Fumiya found it hard to accept that, besides in terms of magic skills, he was somehow lagging behind Minoru in regards to intelligence gathering capabilities.
"Did you find out anything else? For example, what is the New Humanity Front's current aim?"
Tatsuya returned to the matter at hand.
"Ah, yes. I'm positive that the New Humanity Front has just accepted a new task from FAIR. I just haven't been able to find out the exact details yet. But it seems to have something to do with the Original Relic."
"Then wouldn't it be to attempt to steal an Original Relic from the excavation site?"
Tatsuya expressed his reasoning in a fluid motion, as if he had anticipated it in advance.
"As we spoke last time, FAIR was sending a research team to Mount Shasta in northern California."
"Yes, I remember. You mentioned that their goal might be to find a Relic with the same capability as the [Magistore] you created, Tatsuya-san……. Do you think that they're planning to pursue the same thing in Japan?"
"FAIR's goal is most likely to develop a magical weapon using a Relic that can store magic sequences. I don't know if they are considering using it to establish a controlled region of their own somewhere around South America or if they are planning to exploit the benefits by flaunting their military might."
"Tatsuya-sama. Wouldn't that still mean using mageists as weapons in the end?"
"Yes."
Tatsuya nodded at Miyuki's comment.
"This is unforgivable……. Even though Tatsuya-sama went through all the trouble of paving the way to free Magicians from living as weapons. To abuse this know-how to ruin Tatsuya-sama's ambition is just….."
Miyuki muttered quietly.
"Miyuki, keep it down. You're about to chill the air, you know."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Three years ago, in the midst of his greatest hardship, Tatsuya had finally released the seal that held his true powers in check. Along with that, Miyuki also regained the full use of her magic control, which had been used to maintain the seal.
Since then, she had rarely let her magical skills get out of control, but there were times when her emotions got the better of her, causing her enormous magic power to slip out of her control and try to rewrite reality, skipping some of the regular procedures.
In the past, stopping those outbursts had been Tatsuya's duty, but as of now, Lina was also playing the role of stopper. The main difference now was that Miyuki also took on the role of stopping Lina's outbursts.
"Then, it would be a good bet to consider New Humanity Front's next target to be the Relic excavation site at Mt. Norikura."
"But isn't that place guarded by the military?"
Fumiya tried to wrap things up, but Lina raised a question.
"It's a much more realistic target than trying to steal it from the Central Laboratory."
"That's true, too."
But with Miyuki's counterargument, Lina retracted her objection.
"Then we should assign personnel to the excavation site. I'll be on the lookout, too."
"Wait, Fumiya, that's not a very good idea."
Tatsuya curbed an eager Fumiya.
"The Ichijou family is working on the Itoigawa case. We should avoid the possibility of the Yotsuba family being seen as interfering."
"Even if that's so, I'm not going to make a bad call that would get us found……?"
"I trust you on that part. But I'd rather ask you to track down and capture the culprits if the artifact is stolen than have you protect the excavation site from theft, Fumiya."
"So you want us to secure the culprit ourselves, then. Do you think they will be of any use?"
"Because I don't want to be one step behind them every time. I want to find out any information they may have about FAIR."
"Understood. I'll squeeze as much out of them as I can."
Fumiya nodded with the smile of a wicked woman.
Neither Tatsuya, Miyuki, nor Lina said anything about how that was all under the presumption that both the National Defense Forces and the Ichijou family needed to be outsmarted.
May 31. Unusually, Tatsuya had been at the university since Monday, and today he happened to meet Masaki during his lunch break.
Tatsuya had Miyuki and Lina by his side, and Masaki was accompanied by a few other female students in addition to Kichijouji. They seemed to be on their way to eat outside instead of in the cafeteria.
Perhaps, within this group, there was someone that Masaki could’ve had his eyes on, but Tatsuya didn't show any restraint in calling out to him.
"Ichijou."
"Shiba."
Although it was directed at Tatsuya, Masaki's eyes were drawn to Miyuki. However, with a sad dejection in his eyes, he turned them back to Tatsuya the next moment.
"Is there something I can do for you?"
"I'd like to have a few words with you about the Itoigawa matter."
Masaki furrowed his brow.
One of the female students beside him widened her eyes when she heard the word "Itoigawa". She seemed to have some idea of what was going on, since Masaki kept her close by his side.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but it seems like Ichijou-san has something important to discuss with Shiba-san. Could we all go on ahead, please?"
That female student also seemed to be in the lead of Masaki's crowd, and after a brief round of complaining, only Masaki and Kichijouji were left there.
"I'm sorry. I believe that she's your cousin, right, Ichijou, a member of the Isshiki family? Send my apologies to her later."
"She's my second cousin. No need to worry about her. That girl also knows about the duties of the Ten Master Clans and the Eighteen families."
Masaki responded to Tatsuya's not-so-apologetic comment with a scowl.
"I see. Then come with me."
"Ichijou-san, I'm sorry to inconvenience you."
"Not at all, it's my pleasure."
Masaki scowled at Tatsuya, but as soon as Miyuki called out to him, his expression suddenly switched to a bright smile.
Next to Masaki, Kichijouji had his hand over his forehead, letting out a silent sigh.
They walked in the order of Tatsuya, Miyuki, then Masaki.
Behind them, Lina turned to Kichijouji and said, "I see you have your struggles, too," to which Kichijouji nodded sympathetically.
Tatsuya took Masaki to the school cafeteria. Naturally, there were other students present.
But as soon as Tatsuya placed the lunch tray on an empty table, the other students who were sitting nearby began to voluntarily leave their seats. Those who had already finished their meals took their trays to the return slot, while those who were still eating moved down at least one table away.
Of course, neither Tatsuya nor Masaki had coerced them to do so. Surely, an alarm must have gone off in their consciousness. They must have thought, "If I hear something I wasn't supposed to know, I'll be caught up in it".
Miyuki and Lina left to get the drinks. Masaki and Kichijouji looked a little ashamed, but they weren't the kind of people to get their priorities wrong. They sat down in a row across from Tatsuya.
Tatsuya erected a soundproof barrier. Although they weren't able to see the activation sequence being deployed, Masaki and Kichijouji were more surprised by the strength of the barrier.
"Shiba……. Just when did you get this kind of magic power……?"
The Tatsuya that Masaki and Kichijouji knew although was unrivaled in terms of magic activation speed, the power of his magic wasn't that great, except for certain types of magic. A particular sort of magic that had so much power that very few people who were related to the field of magic were even aware of it.
But now, the soundproof field magic that Tatsuya used was just as powerful, if not more so, than if Masaki had used the same magic.
His lack of power was one of the only leads that could be used to defeat Tatsuya. Masaki couldn't help but feel alarmed when he just displayed that he had overcome that weakness. Then there was Kichijouji, who was even more shocked than Masaki.
"One of these days, I'm going to publish an article about it. Of course, I'm not going to disclose everything."
Tatsuya hinted that he had some secret know-how for that matter that wouldn't come from ordinary training. Needless to say, it was bad manners for a magician to pry into the magical skills of others. Aware of this fact, Masaki and Kichijouji had to settle with, for the moment, that Tatsuya had figured out that the nature of the Event Interference Force was the Pushion waves. That had already been announced within the field of Magic Studies.
It had been general knowledge up until now that the magic sequence and the event interference force were inseparable; that it was impossible to isolate one from the other. The same applied to [Zone Interference], a zone where only Event Interference Strength was exerted, where it could only be released in conjunction with a magic sequence with "the phenomenon wouldn't be altered" defined in it.
However, in the course of his research on the Event Interference Force, Tatsuya had been able to develop a method of disciplining himself to extract only the Interference Force from himself. Moreover, he had even developed a method that disassociates the Event Interference Force from the magic sequence and allowed it to operate separately.
Once activated, he would add the Event Interference Force to the magic. By doing so, he succeeded in overcoming, to some extent, the shortcomings of the Virtual Magic Calculation Area that was artificially installed in him and its lack of power. As a result, Tatsuya was now able to freely use magic on a practical level, although not quite on the level of the first-class mageists.
"Now then, let's focus on the main topic."
"Ah, yeah."
Though still not sounding quite rid of his surprise, Masaki somehow managed to nod.
At that point, Miyuki and Lina returned.
Tatsuya, Masaki, and Kichijouji each, respectively, thanked them for the tea, and the conversation resumed.
"That incident was related to the Relics."
Masaki nodded at those words from Tatsuya.
"Considering that I also am related to that, I have been informed about it. The thieves' next target is most likely to be the excavation site where the Original Relic was found."
"……You think they'll try to steal an Original from there?"
Tatsuya nodded, and said, "That's right."
"Shiba, do you know the location of the excavation site of the Original?"
It was only fitting for Masaki to ask, considering the task his father had assigned him as the head of the Ichijou family to him, as a Magician of the Ichijou family.
"All I can tell you is that it's at the foot of Mount Norikura. Anything more than that would be a breach of the nondisclosure agreement between the National Defense Forces and FLT."
It was true that the National Defense Forces were keeping the excavation site of the Original Relic a secret, but not that this information was shared with FLT. The information was obtained by Tatsuya through deals with his own contacts.
While the nondisclosure agreement was a lie, it would be detrimental for Tatsuya if the National Defense Forces found out that he was the source of the information. Tatsuya didn't have that much unconditional trust in Masaki.
"I see……."
Masaki exuded his dissatisfaction at Tatsuya's unhelpful answer.
"This is all we need to know, Masaki. We can look into the rest ourselves."
Kichijouji appeased Masaki and encouraged him.
After that, they had an idle talk about the usual Magic University student stuff over lunch.
For Masaki, who didn't have many opportunities to talk with Miyuki leisurely, it was a very enjoyable lunch time, even if Tatsuya was present.
The next day, Masaki skipped his university classes to return to his hometown.
After stopping by his parents' house, he headed for the Maizuru Base of the National Defense Forces.
Although the Komatsu Base was closer to his parents' house, the Maizuru Base was home to one of the largest units of Magician Marines on the Sea of Japan side.
Masaki's strongest magic showed its true value in naval battles. In terms of magic traits, he was more suited to the Navy. Because of this, Masaki had earned stronger favor and sympathy at Maizuru Air Base than at Komatsu Air Base.
It wasn't just a matter of which base favoured him more. Masaki was Japan's second nationally recognized Strategic-Class Magician. And if it so happened that the New Soviet Union or the Great Asian Union launched an attack on Japan from the sea — and that was by no means a foregone conclusion — Masaki's cooperation would be indispensable. So, if Masaki were to ask for a favor, the Maizuru base commander couldn't afford to ignore it, even if it was somewhat unreasonable.
"The excavation site of the sacred relic with magic sequence preservation?"
"Yes, Commander, I would like to know the Original Relics excavation site that is being kept secret by the National Defense Forces."
"Ichijou-san. Just for the record, why would you need that information?"
The commander immediately asked back about the reason. There was no trace of hesitation in his reply. As he said "just for the record", he was trying to ascertain this with the person in question first and foremost.
"Because a criminal organization of Magicians is eager to get their hands on a Relic. I suspect they'll target the excavation site rather than the Weapons Research Center in Tokyo, where security is much tighter."
"I can understand that, it's probably because the security is pretty short handed over there."
The commander gave a broad nod. A glimpse of rivalry against the Army was evident in his tone of contempt.
"One moment, please."
The commander picked up the handset beside him and held it against his head, giving the order to immediately find out where the excavation site of the Relic was, which the Army was keeping under wraps.
After spending fifteen minutes conversing while they waited, an adjutant came in with a written note.
After reading the note without any change in expression, the commander held it out to Masaki, saying, "Here you go."
"…..Is this alright with you?"
Masaki wasn't so dull as to not know what was written there. The real location of the excavation site of the Relic was supposed to be a military secret.
So Masaki was hesitant, wondering if it would be okay to be given that information, be it verbally or in the written form of a note.
"It's just the address of a training camp for the army."
I see, so that's how it goes — thought Masaki.
"I see. Well, I appreciate it."
"Not at all, after all, the nationally recognized Strategic-Class Magician is going to give encouragement to our officers and men in their training. It's only natural that I would cooperate."
Such was the official stance on the part of the commander.
That night, Masaki and a delegation of the Ichijou family headed for Hida-Takayama. They split up into small groups to be inconspicuous and traveled under the guise of groups of tourists. Kichijouji, who was still in Tokyo, also arrived in Takayama after Masaki's group did.
"So, what are we going to do tonight?"
Although it was nice to meet up with him, Kichijouji hadn't been told about the details of what they would be doing. As soon as he encountered Masaki, that was the first thing he asked.
"I'm dispatching two men to keep an eye on the excavation site. They will contact us as soon as they have something."
"Two people……. That seems like too few. But, considering the size of our group, I guess it can't be helped."
Kichijouji had tilted his head briefly when Masaki answered, but then convinced himself that it was unavoidable.
"I'll have to think about a rotation of shifts. I want to avoid a situation where we're sleep deprived when the time comes to move in."
"It seems like we’re playing the long game, then."
Masaki and Kichijouji planned to stay there on the lookout for up to two weeks. If the thieves didn't show up by then, they would only leave the place under surveillance and pull out.
But fortunately, they didn't have to wait that long.
On the second night after Masaki and the others began their stakeout in Hida-Takayama, an incident occurred.
"Understood, we're on our way."
Masaki switched off his Uniphone (Voice Communication Unit for Portable Information Terminals), leaving it attached to his ear.
"Was it from the watchman?"
"Yes. The garrison seems to have repelled a burglar who tried to break in. Apparently, the National Defense Forces aren't just a bunch of scarecrows that can be robbed at will."
"I see. But we can't rest easy yet, right?"
"Yeah. There is no guarantee that the burglar that was spotted wasn't a diversion. George, we'll be on our way to the scene right away."
"Sure thing, Masaki."
That conversation happened about ten minutes ago. When Masaki and his group arrived at the Relic excavation site, they came across a fierce, though not flashy, guerrilla warfare going on.
"It looks like the first group was just a decoy, after all!"
"I'll go talk to the garrison. Stand by until I give the signal!"
"Ah, I'm coming with you."
Masaki left his subordinates behind and ran towards the garrison, accompanied only by Kichijouji.
Fortunately, the head of the security force recognized Masaki. As a nationally recognized Strategic-Class Magician, he had a lot of name recognition. And it was thanks to this that Masaki's offer to provide support to the guards was gladly accepted.
The delegation of the Ichijou family consisted of thirty people. At Masaki's signal, the group, which was roughly the size of a platoon, was divided into small groups of three.
As already mentioned, the enemy was waging a guerrilla war. Their objective was to steal an Original Relic. They didn't need to seize the Relic stored by the military. There were several pits that were still under excavation, and there were actually more than one or two places where a Relic could be found. While the National Defense Forces had their researchers, the thieves could have had members with them with extraordinary perception-type abilities who could easily locate an undiscovered Relic and take it with them.
Since they couldn't afford to disregard that possibility, they had to concentrate on removing any bandits who entered this area. As a result, they had to prioritize repelling them over capturing them.
Although the bandits didn't seem to total that many, they were also split up into several groups of around five. And since they would immediately run away as soon as anyone approached, it was difficult to determine the total number.
Even now, Masaki was one step behind the bandits who had just fled when he received a radio message from the National Defense Forces. The message not only came to Masaki, but to each leader of the guard units.
"Masaki, it looks like some bandits are digging in the north side!"
Kichijouji, who had been given the task of taking care of the comms instead, loudly relayed the contents to Masaki.
"North? They've gotten that far in? Where the hell did they come from?
One of the members of the New Humanity Front — whose name Masaki didn't know yet — was exiled from a secret group of ancient-style magicians that had been based in this region. The group knew of a hidden passageway that led to the back of the excavation site which the National Defense Forces were unaware of.
Which of course Masaki wasn't aware of either. Yet he knew intuitively that it was the more likely scenario.
"George, tell the others to head to the site in the north!"
Masaki entrusted Kichijouji to relay the message and headed for the northern area of the excavation site as fast as he could.
On the gentle slope to the north, where the actual excavation hadn't yet begun, there was a large hole about ten meters in diameter that appeared to have been dug with magic. This was a violent act of vandalism with no regard for the respect towards the ancestors or the archaeological value. It could be said to have been a typical criminal way of doing things.
There were four people lying in front of the hole. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that there were four dead bodies lying there. Two of them were wearing military uniforms, and the other two were wearing dark overalls. The latter were probably dressed for the purpose of digging holes. One of the bodies of the people in overalls was that of a young woman.
There was no one in or around the hole except for the dead bodies. Still, it was completely dark. The rainy season was almost around the corner, and the night sky was cloudy, without any starlight. Perhaps it was just that he couldn't see them, but they may not be that far away yet.
Masaki turned up the light intensity of his handheld light to maximum and also activated an emission-type magic for light wave magnification and diffusion. The beam of light, which seemed to originate from a flare, illuminated Masaki's frontside.
He spotted another hole seventy, no more than eighty meters away, hidden in the darkness. It was much smaller than the one in front of him. Only allowing for two people to fit in, side by side. He couldn't quite see the inside of it, but it seemed to be dug into a slope instead of straight down.
As the magic for light wave magnification and diffusion wore off, Masaki activated it once more and jumped all the way down to the other side of the hole. "Is this… the entrance of a cave?"
Masaki stopped just before the hole and sank into thought. Although he wasn't very good at "seeing", the vestiges of psions where people had passed through remained in the hole so clearly that even Masaki could see them. Probably because of the priority given to escape, the hole wasn't concealed all that well. The fact that the entrance wasn't blocked suggested that the National Defense Forces may have cornered the bandits pretty well.
If he wanted to catch the thieves, this cave was probably the quickest way to do it. But he had no idea what to do once he got inside. He was confident that he could cut his way through any traps that they might have set, but it would still be reckless to go in alone.
But he also couldn't keep considering what to do for too long. The more time he spent worrying, the harder it would be to catch the thieves. In this situation, that was the only thing that was certain — that was the conclusion Masaki came to.
He stepped out onto the slope that led underground and slid down into the cave.
It was more of a tunnel than a cave.
There were clear signs of human work on the walls and ceiling, both of which were high and wide enough for Masaki to stand and walk on without any difficulty. The "floor" was also levelled. At first, Masaki was cautiously advancing, one foot after the other, but after about fifty steps, he switched to a sprint.
The tunnel was quite long. The constant, unchanging confined space made the passage of time seem even longer than it actually was. After running for about two kilometers — with the sensation that it was three times longer than that — Masaki finally spotted the presence of someone ahead of him.
Unfortunately, Masaki wasn't used to acting without any actual physical light. There was nothing he shouldn't be able to do, but it would be impossible for him to perform as well as he usually did in battle.
"I'm Ichijou Masaki from the Ichijou family of the Ten Master Clans!"
He took the offensive and, without switching off his handheld light, called out in a yell to the end of the tunnel.
"If you have nothing to be guilty of, then stop!"
The answer he got came in the form of a storm of stones and rubble.
Masaki blocked it with the magic shield he had prepared in advance, and then released a mesh of lightning bolts that branched out in thin streaks.
Since he didn't intend to kill, he kept the power output at a level of paralyzation. If someone had a heart condition, that could prove to be a fatal blow, but he didn't have time to spare any thoughts for that.
And, as it turned out, it was an unnecessary worry.
The lightning bolts that Masaki unleashed were blocked by a magic shield. Even though he had suppressed its power, it was an unexpected development for his attack to be completely intercepted like this.
The light emitted by the electric discharge enabled him to determine the topography of the tunnel. Masaki cast a movement-type spell on himself and closed the distance between them in a single motion.
Two women came to intercept him. On the other side, two men were fleeing. Masaki, who retained very traditional values, felt disgusted by this situation where the men were running away, leaving the women behind.
In his reasoning, Masaki believed that it was reasonable for magicians to divide their roles according to their specialties in magic and that it was disrespectful for men and women alike to say "because it's a man" or "because it's a woman".
But this was a matter of emotion, or rather, a matter of sensitivity. There was no logic to it.
As a consequence of that, there was no doubt that Masaki was clearly hesitant to attack. Perhaps that was the intention of the bandits when they used the two women for the role of stopping him. Using women and children to catch their opponents off guard was a standard practice of terrorists and criminal organizations alike.
However, after receiving the preemptive strike, Masaki snapped himself out of it and launched a counterattack without a moment's delay.
The difference in strength between them was obvious. Even so, it took him some time to incapacitate the two female Magicians holding him back, perhaps due to the fact that he was avoiding killing them. Not just because his opponents were women.
Leaving the women moaning on the floor of the tunnel, Masaki attempted to chase after the fleeing pair. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a rumbling sound coming from ahead. He quickly put up his magic shield and prepared for the collapse. But the tunnel didn't collapse.
(The exit was blocked……?)
To be sure, he released Active Sonar ahead. The tunnel was almost completely straight, except for a gradual climb. It wasn't too difficult to identify the obstacles ahead by the reflected sound.
(I knew it…)
Masaki decided to head back through the tunnel. He took the two women thieves with him, levitating them with magic.
He hadn't been able to get the stolen Relic back. No, he wasn't even able to confirm whether or not one was stolen in the first place.
But the fact that we were able to capture two of the criminals alive was an achievement. At least he didn't come up empty-handed — Masaki consoled himself with that.
The New Humanity Front had put nearly all of its members into that mission. Only the leader didn't participate in order to avoid getting completely wiped out. And the sub-leader didn't enter the excavation site in order to support the retreat of all the other members of the organization.
Unexpectedly, thanks to this arrangement, the sub-leader and his small group were able to escape. All the other members besides them were captured before they could regroup with the sub-leader's team. Even the Relics they managed to dig up with great pains were taken — or perhaps reclaimed — by someone else along the way.
The two members of the New Humanity Front who had escaped Masaki's pursuit by sacrificing their female companions breathed a sigh of relief at the exit of the tunnel that they had used to enter and was collapsed with a demolition-type magic.
A Relic was in the pocket of one of them. Now all that they had to do was escape to their hideout. If there was a spectator who could have heard their internal monologue, he or she may have pointed out, "That's a flag 51 ".
Just as the two of them were about to move and resume their escape by making their way to the rendezvous point.
They were enveloped in "darkness".
That day had a cloudy night sky with no moonlight or starlight to begin with. There were barely any houses in the remote foothills. But the fact that they couldn't even see the faint lights coming from the nearest town was by no means an ordinary thing.
And that strange phenomenon didn't stop there. Even the light from the handheld lights they were carrying were clouded by the darkness, not even illuminating the ground beneath their feet.
"An illusion……?"
One of the men uttered a clueless comment that was neither a question nor a soliloquy. This man was a former police officer. When he was on duty, he used magic to arrest a fleeing criminal and severely injured the suspect. A member of the parliament, who was also a lawyer, accused him of "violating human rights" and "excessive use of force". He was forced to hand in his resignation after the media caused a huge uproar in support of the accusation.
"No, this isn't an illusion. There's no sign of any art working on our consciousness."
The other man replied to him. He was an ancient-style magician formerly affiliated with a secret order. He had been expelled from the order after being accused of breaking his "Oath of Secrecy" when he used the secret arts to help people in a landslide. The tunnels they used to escape were something he learned while he was a member of the order.
"But this is definitely not a natural phenomenon!"
The ex-police officer exclaimed strongly,
"Yeah, it's magic. But how on earth did this phenomenon happen……?"
And the member formerly affiliated with a secret order wracked his brain. In contrast to him, the ex-police officer opened his mouth to say something. He was probably about to give his own speculation.
"Gaah!"
But what came out of his open mouth was a muffled scream.
The ex-police officer fell to his knees, holding his solar plexus with both hands. Unable to support his body properly, he slumped forward and fell to the ground.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
The former order member at his side rushed down to one knee and shook the ex-police officer's shoulder.
However,
"Ugh…..!"
The former order member swayed his head as if he had been hit in the temple by an invisible hand and fell sideways on his own. He tried to check if his companion was conscious, but was unable to do so, as he himself lost consciousness.
The "darkness" that had engulfed them receded.
The handheld lights that they had dropped were now casting a band of light on the ground.
Emerging from somewhere, a figure of neutral features in a navy blue racing suit that naturally blended in with the darkness of the night walked up to the collapsed and totally motionless men. Their physical build was small for a man, yet large for a woman. Their hips were narrow and chest flat. The silhouette resembled that of a lean man or a woman with no breasts.
This person bent down and searched the breast pockets of the two men respectively. He or she took out a hand-sized "jewel" from the pocket of the former order member and gave a satisfied smile to themself.
"Fumiya"
The young man straightened his body as a beautiful young woman, who had just made her appearance, called out to him. She was dressed stylishly, which was fitting due to the overlooking nightscape of the metropolis.
"Nee-san."
The young man — Kuroba Fumiya responded to her.
"Was it there?"
Fumiya's older sister, Kuroba Ayako, asked in the least amount of words possible.
"Yes, it was."
Fumiya replied in the same brief manner, opening his left hand to reveal the "jewel". On his right hand, he still wore the specialized CAD in the shape of a knuckle duster.
The magic that made the pair from the New Humanity Front faint was the Outer-Systematic Type Magic [Direct Pain]. It was a Mental Interference-type magic that inflicts pain directly on the mind, with so few people having the mastery to use it that it was hardly an exaggeration to say that it was Fumiya's unique formula.
This knuckle duster shaped CAD was a specialized device for activating [Direct Pain]. The reason why it was kept on like that, on the dominant hand, was because any other magic could have been activated with the fully-thought-controlled CAD. And that was one of the benefits that came with having a thought-controlled device, which ultimately made it the new standard.
"So this is the only one that was stolen?"
Fumiya asked in confirmation to Ayako, as she peered into his hand and nodded.
"Yes. At least, that's what the people on watch reported to me."
Among the Yotsuba branch families, the Kuroba family was the house that specialized in intelligence. As such, the Magicians under their command had a variety of special skills suited for that purpose.
For example, Far-Sight. The ability to see across distances and obstacles, to see the "sights" of a " location" regardless of whether it was light or dark. Ayako had three of her subordinates with that ability monitoring the excavation site to determine if any Relics had been stolen.
Four men dressed in black came out of the darkness of the night and tied up the men Fumiya had knocked out. Watching them, Fumiya turned to Ayako, and asked, "Are there any more of the thieves we haven't caught yet?".
"We've subdued all the people who escaped from the excavation site."
Ayako replied to Fumiya's question hinting at an outlier.
"So there must still be members of the rear support team left, right?"
"Yes. But I would rather describe them as the getaway team."
Ayako nodded to Fumiya with a prideful expression on her face,
"I know their whereabouts. Let's go."
and extended her hand to her twin brother.
Fumiya took her hand in the next moment, and so, the figures of the twin sister and brother disappeared from that place like they were a mirage 52 .
The Magicians of the Kuroba family, who had spotted the rear support team, didn't make a move and awaited the arrival of Fumiya and Ayako.
The three of them didn't know that it was the sub-leader of the New Humanity Front who was leading the small group. However, because of the hint of the strong magic power that he carried, they decided that it wouldn't be a good idea for them to attempt something by themselves.
In the end, that may have been a win, and, at the same time, it was probably a miss. It was a miss in the sense that it allowed them to escape. But it was a hit in the sense that there were no casualties.
The magic used on the virtual satellite elevator connecting Miyakijima and Takachiho, [Mock-Teleportation], was Ayako's specialty. In terms of activating that particular magic on an individual level, Ayako was probably among the best in the world. When it came to Mock-Teleportation, Ayako surpassed even Miyuki and Lina.
With that magic, Ayako and Fumiya appeared on the mountain road where the New Humanity Front's rear support, or rather, their getaway team was hiding.
"!!"
Upon movement, Mock-Teleportation formed a cocoon of air around the target. Either if you were moving yourself or if you were sending someone (or something) else, the air cocoon would be fixed in a spherical or ellipsoidal shape around the fixed target, you. This "cocoon of air" was released upon arrival, but Ayako recreated it as quickly as she could.
That was because the place they arrived at was covered in toxic gas.
"Ayako-sama!" "Fumiya-sama!"
As they were unaware of the state of affairs, their black-clad subordinates, who were likewise protecting themselves with magic, came running up to them without producing any sound.
"I'm very sorry, sir. They got away."
The leader of that group of black-suited men reported with a hint of regret.
"Because of this smoke screen?"
Fumiya's voice didn't contain any anger as he questioned them. In addition, the poisonous gas that filled the place wasn't colorless and transparent, on the contrary, it was of a dense black color, seemingly intended to block the enemy's vision and discourage pursuit rather than to damage them with the composition of the gas.
"Yes, Fumiya-sama. About three minutes ago, the bandits that were hiding in this place fled using a large wagon and created the gas with a smoke screen effect. The gas produced by magic isn't lethal, but it has a very powerful hallucinogenic effect. So, please be careful."
"Three minutes ago……."
It roughly corresponded to the time Fumiya had taken out the bandits who had a Relic. Could it be that they were monitoring the condition of their comrades by some means?
"I suspect that the magic that created this smokescreen was developed by the Second Research Institute."
The subordinate in a black suit added to their report as Fumiya pondered.
The subject matter of the Second Research Institute was the development of magic that interfered with inorganic matter. Particular emphasis was placed on the development and improvement of absorption-type magic. The creation 53 and neutralization of toxic gases was a specialty of the Magicians of "2".
"Are you saying that there are Extras of the Second Institute belonging to the New Humanity Front?"
"Most probably."
Fumiya's counter-question was met with agreement from the black suited subordinate.
"This might get a little more complicated……."
"Indeed."
Ayako chimed in on Fumiya's murmur, and the subordinate in a black suit kept silent this time, bowing his head.
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