Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Magian Company - Volume 3 - Chapter 1

Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

Add to favorites

Chapter 1

[Historical Ruins]

FEHR is a political organization dedicated to the protection of the human rights of magicians. With their headquarters being located in Vancouver, in the former Canadian territory of the USNA.

In early June of the year 2100 A.D. A silent disturbance was felt throughout the Headquarters of FEHR. The reason being that the leader, Lena Fehr, had ordered that no commotion be caused. If it hadn't been for the strong cohesive presence she commanded, the situation would have undoubtedly resulted in an uproar.

"…Louis, are you sure you're alright?"

However, Lena herself was far from being calm. The look on her face as she questioned her injured subordinate showed regret for putting him in danger, her concern for his condition as well as signs of consternation.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you."

In front of her sat a black man of medium build with his head down in an apologetic fashion. Judging by his posture and gestures, as well as his tone of voice, there didn't seem to be any cause for concern, as the person had said himself.

"……"

But the bandages peeking out from the cuffs of his summer suit contradicted that impression. It was difficult to take the whole "I'm fine" at face value, especially when one knew that the suit hid the fact that there were dressings and bandages covering various parts of his body.

"Milady, really, I'm fine. I don't have a single serious injury."

"Lena, Louis isn't lying. I wouldn't say that there are only scratches, but it's nothing that would take more than two weeks to fully heal."

With the helpful intervention of the other attendant, Charlotte Gagnon, Lena's expression finally softened a little. Being a former FBI agent and a qualified lawyer, Charlotte not only acted as a legal advisor, but also as Lena's emotional pillar whilst at FEHR. Her words had a calming effect on Lena's anxiety.

Seeing that Lena's worries dissipated, if only slightly, the black man across from her also relaxed the tension in his shoulders. This man was Louis Roux, FEHR's sub-leader. He turned 30 years old this year, and was a former French-African citizen who became a naturalized USNA citizen when he was 18 years old. He’s one of Lena's oldest comrades, with whom she founded FEHR in 2095.

Despite the fact that Louis and Lena were the same age, Lena looks like a teenager at best, which made Louis feel a sense of duty "that he had to protect her," as if she were a much younger girl. Louis didn't want Lena to feel guilty because of his injuries. Though Lena still wasn't completely forthcoming with her worries.

"…Even so, those injuries came from a confrontation with FAIR, right? It's because I ordered surveillance…"

"It was an unavoidable encounter. The only reason they found me was because I screwed up. Besides, the surveillance was necessary."

It was with the mention of these words that Lena's attention was finally diverted from Louis' injuries.

"…What was FAIR doing?"

At the end of last month, Lena received information that FAIR had sent a survey team to Mt. Shasta. And, under orders from Lena, Louis was assigned to monitor their movements out of fear that FAIR would do something against the law and risk damaging the reputation of magicians. In the event that illegal activity was discovered, it would have made it clear that "FAIR was the organization solely guilty of the crime," thus denying the Anti-Magic Movement material for them to use against Magicians in general.

"So, were they breaking the law in some way…?"

When asked by Lena, Louis vaguely shook his head.

"I haven't been able to confirm any crime yet."

"Yet?"

"At the moment they're just roaming around the hillsides of Mt. Shasta. However, they will probably start illegally digging in the near future."

"Illegally digging? Have they found any historical ruins?"

When Lena asked, Louis turned serious, and this time he nodded his head.

"Yes, probably. Of a sort that, if made public, would undoubtedly fall under the protection of federal law."

Lena frowned upon Louis' answer, and Charlotte, who had been listening on in silence, scowled.

"I'm sure that even if a case wasn't to be filed, there would still be plenty of blame to be cast."

"This is pretty good material for the media and the Anti-Magic Movement to exploit." Lena and Charlotte shared a collective sigh.

"…What about informing the state government about the existence of the historical ruins and having them regulate it beforehand?"

Lena suggested a solution, but Louis' reaction wasn't favorable.

"It would be difficult. There's no physical evidence of the historical ruins…"

"There's no physical evidence? Was it discovered via clairvoyance?" Louis nodded to Lena's question.

"The FAIR members mentioned that they had discovered an underground stone burial chamber through the witchcraft of Laura Simons."

"Laura Simons… the woman who is said to be the right hand of the head of FAIR, Rocky Dean, right?"

"Yes. There are rumors that she also happens to be his mistress." It was Charlotte who answered Lena's murmur.

The word "mistress" made Lena's eyes wander. Her outward appearance may not have necessarily matched her years, but she did appear to have a certain innocence about her that didn't quite match her age.

"…By the way, what exactly is supposed to be resting in that stone chamber?" Lena changed the subject.

It might not be considered a change of topics per se. In this case, this topic was more important than that of discussing her being a mistress and so on.

"I'm sorry to say, but I don't know that much…"

However, Louis wasn't able to give her a clear answer.

"As Milady has suspected, their original intention was to obtain a Relic, but Laura

Simons seems to think that the stone chamber she found is of more value than any Relic."

"A historic ruin with something more valuable than a Relic? I suppose it's value is more than just monetary and the like…"

"I think it's a historical site that has magical value."

Charlotte completed the other half of the sentence that Lena didn't utter.

Nevertheless, Charlotte was no different from Lena and Louis in that she also didn't know for certain about the value attached to it.

"Lena, what should we do about this? I don't personally think we can afford to leave it alone."

"It would be problematic if we left it alone, that's for sure…" Charlotte's question made Lena's hesitation apparent.

"The severity of Louis' injuries isn't small enough that they can be ignored. Just surveilling them was enough to lead to a confrontation with FAIR… Don't you think there is a risk in doing something?"

Both Louis and Charlotte fell silent as Lena shared her concerns. They may have both already thought of this possibility before Lena pointed it out.

"…That said, not doing anything about it is also dangerous as well, right?"

Lena's tone took a sudden turn to a more pleasant one, no doubt to remove the awkward atmosphere induced by the silence.

"That's right. I think so as well."

Whether or not they were on the same page was unclear, though Louis having responded so quickly could be viewed as him being too hasty.

"But what specifically should we do? There is always the risk of our counterparts being able to notice clairvoyance."

There is a member in FEHR that has the Clairvoyance ability. They aren't magicians, but Psychics. This individual possesses an ESP ability that allows for them to perceive targets regardless of distance or obstacles, but naturally this ability comes with conditions and limitations.

In this case, it was the limitations that posed a bottleneck. There was the fear that if the target of the surveillance happened to possess some kind of so-called "extrasensory perception," a sensory-type superpower, not only would they be able to infer if someone was watching them, but they might also be able to reverse the process and take information from the other side. It’s the rule of "he who watches, must be prepared to be watched".

For that reason, if the target of the Clairvoyance consisted of someone with an extrasensory perception, it would be advisable to avoid continuous surveillance for long periods of time, and for the observer to stay on the move in order to avoid one's own allied base from being discovered if traced back.

This time, the one that they were dealing with was Laura Simons who was known as a

"witch" by friend and foe alike. If they were to choose to employ their user with the Clairvoyance ability, FEHR wouldn't be able to ignore the risk of not only being detected, but also to keep others from launching a magical attack when in "one's line of sight."

"──Even so, we can't turn a blind eye to them just yet. We must stop FAIR from giving the Anti-Magic Movement more pretext to persecute magicians because of their criminal activity."

Lena said so firmly, her face full of concern. A sense of grim resolve permeated her voice.

"Shall I go again? If I approach with only my phantom, I don't think I'll slip up like I did last time."

Louis was a user of the antiquated magic called, [Doppelgänger]. [Doppelgänger] was a magic that creates a transformation body by copying one's own appearance, giving it the five senses and illusionary attacks. From the standpoint of Modern Magic, it had too many useless processes, but the idea of it was to provide continuous assistance in combat, which Modern Magic happens to lack.

Even if the transformation body was attacked, one's real body wouldn't be directly injured, but since it possesses the five senses, including the sense of touch, the user would experience pain. In addition, in the case where the opponent is a user of Mental-Interference Type Magic, there’s a fear that they could attack one's mind using the transformation body as a medium.

"…It's inadvisable. Laura Simons' abilities are unknown, but the fact that she's called a

"witch,'' suggests that she might be skilled in illusionary magic. Just because you can use

[Doppelgänger] doesn't necessarily guarantee that you'll be safe."

Louis didn't argue with Lena when she stopped him. He understood that he wasn't the right kind of individual to deal with the person in question.

A curtain of silence fell over the room. "──How about hiring a private detective?" It was Charlotte who broke the silence.

"There's a detective agency in Seattle that I'm familiar with."

"Were you an acquaintance of theirs when you were with the FBI?"

"They were more of a collaborator than an acquaintance. They're certainly skilled." "…I see."

Lena pondered briefly.

"A specialist that isn't a magician is probably the safer choice in this case, as they have methods of surveillance that don't rely on magic. Charley, could you put in a request to that detective agency for me?"