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At the Ministry of Defense, despite it still being before sunrise, the Administrative Vice-Minister, the Chief of the Joint Military Command, and other senior officials both uniformed officers and bureaucrats of less importance had gathered in a conference room equipped with large monitors. ──Furusawa, the Minister of Defense, had yet to arrive.
The monitor was linked to the largest astronomical observatory in Japan, displaying the starry sky at 60° ecliptic latitude and 122° ecliptic longitude in real-time at maximum magnification.
Every member in attendance stared at the large monitor in complete silence.
As the time on the corner digital display neared 4 A.M., the air in the room grew increasingly strained.
"What on earth is going to happen…"
Perhaps unable to endure the suffocating atmosphere, the Administrative Vice-Minister, the top bureaucrat, let out a mutter.
"Not long now, Vice-Minister."
The Chief of the Joint Military Command, the top uniformed officer, responded to that soliloquy, perhaps because he too wanted to relieve some of the tension.
There were no further exchanges beyond that.
Once again, a heavy silence and tense atmosphere filled the conference room.
And then, it was 4 A.M.
"What the…? What's going on?"
Prior to even trying to figure out who said those words, everyone present shared the same feeling.
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After activating Material Burst, the four of them (Tatsuya, Miyuki, Lina and Hyougo) moved to the Command Control Room.
There, they awaited to observe the results.
It was four o’clock in the morning. It was there that an operator exclaimed excitedly.
"Confirmed high-energy reaction on the surface of the target comet! Please hold for a moment until the confirmation of the change in orbit." And 15 minutes later.
"Confirmed disintegration of the target comet as well as change in the orbit of the debris. All of the comet's debris has drifted out of the solar system. The probable cause of the disintegration is due to the evaporation of most of the ice that constituted the comet." The operator's tempered report was met with a "Good work" from Tatsuya.
Then, turning around to face Miyuki and the others, "It’s as you heard. It went almost exactly as we calculated." As he said this, his mouth relaxed.
◇ ◇ ◇
──What happened?
It wasn’t until thirty minutes later that an answer came for this question raised by the Chief of the Joint Military Command.
"Excuse me, sir. We have completed the verification of the data kindly provided by the Japan Spaceguard."
"Continue."
Receiving the prompt from the Administrative Vice-Minister, with a written report in hand, Section Chief Onda proceeded to read it aloud.
"A 20-kilometer-diameter celestial body, presumed to be a comet with an undetermined orbit, which was on an approaching course to the Earth, has disintegrated due to the evaporation of most of its mass caused by the intense heat generated on its surface. As for the debris, it appears to have scattered towards the outer edges of the solar system."
"Intense heat…? From where, exactly?"
"No speculation has been given as to its nature nor the cause thereof. At present it has been labeled as unknown. That's all I have to report."
"──Section Chief Onda."
Seeing that neither the Administrative Vice-Minister nor the Chief of the Joint Military Command seemed inclined to speak for the time being, Akiyama , the Chief of the Staff Headquarters, addressed Onda.
"In conclusion, is it correct to say that, with the destruction of the comet-like object that had the potential to cause severe damage to the Earth, the risks of a catastrophic event of an impact have been eliminated?"
"Yes, Director-General. That seems to me to be the most reasonable conclusion."
"And the aforementioned Shiba Tatsuya is implicated in this matter. …No, let's stop trying to be roundabout and say it directly. Does this mean that Shiba Tatsuya used his Strategic-Class Magic to blow a celestial body out of the solar system?"
"Based on the information I have gathered so far, I think that is the most likely explanation."
Onda's answer became slurred all of a sudden. His tone showed that he, too, found it difficult to believe, nay, to even accept, what he had just said.
"Breaking up a celestial body 20 kilometers in diameter, 300 million kilometers away? Just blew it up?"
The voice that rang out was that of the Director of the Policy Bureau, one of the top bureaucrats present.
"…This was almost like the work of a god or a devil. Was this magician really a human being?"
There was no answer. The conference room fell completely silent.
◇ ◇ ◇
After blowing up the comet, Tatsuya took a nap.
Waking up before the alarm went off, he reached for the clock on his bedside table.
The time was 8:40 A.M. He planned to take a nap, but it seems he slept for three hours. Well, he took care not to oversleep, but the alarm he set the time for hadn’t gone off since he had already woken up, so there was no issue.
Perhaps he was tired, maybe he was relaxed. Either way, Tatsuya let out a faint chuckle at his own human nature.
The reason he didn't get up straight away was because he couldn't quite free his left arm.
Tilting his head, he looked to his left.
There he found Miyuki cradling his left arm in her chest with both hands, sound asleep, seemingly blissful.
It wasn’t unusual to see them sleeping in the same bed together like this. The reason as to why they had yet to spend the night together was probably due to the fact that they had spent so much time together as brother and sister.
I guess I could let her sleep until the alarm goes off. ──After looking at the faint smile on Miyuki's delighted sleeping face, Tatsuya decided.
"Hmm… mmm."
However, even if she was sleeping, there was no way that Miyuki wouldn’t notice Tatsuya's gaze on her.
As soon as he thought about "letting her sleep," Miyuki's long eyelashes quivered and her eyelids opened in a smooth motion.
"Good morning, Tatsuya-sama."
With Tatsuya's arm still being hugged, Miyuki produced a joyous smile.
And, with lingering regret of having to part, she let go of Tatsuya's left arm and got up before him.
"Would you like breakfast?"
They didn’t spend the rest of the night awake after the comet was blown up before dawn. They went to bed the night before at 9 P.M. and woke up at 2 A.M. It was from there on that they went forward with the mission.
As soon as they woke up, they had a light evening meal, as opposed to breakfast. But, being late at night, it was modest in quantity.
"A light one, please."
"Very well."
Lowering her feet to the floor, Miyuki made a polite curtsy to Tatsuya as he rose from the bed.
It was 11 o'clock when Tatsuya made his next move. This was the time he decided on, as he figured that the person he had kept up until dawn would have started work by now.
"Please connect me."
He ordered Fujibayashi, and a call was made to the direct line of the Chief of the General Staff.
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