Although it was not a relatively late hour, Saegusa Mayumi was an examinee.
Today was February 18th, Saturday. One more week until the entrance exams for magic university. Her chances of not making it were practically zero, yet nonetheless it was a fact she had little time for much else.
That the 'vampire incidents' had seemingly subsided for now was good news for her mental state.
Making up on her weak areas in the school library, by the time she returned home the day had almost passed.
Being welcomed back by a slightly timid young servant, Mayumi immediately noticed.
"Is Father back?"
"Yes, m'lady."
Being well trained the maid didn't fumble her words or the like, but Mayumi could perceive that what had frightened her was her father.
(To scare a young girl like this......Father, just what are you doing?)
Although she felt irritation in her heart, to display it would only disturb the staff more.
"Alright."
Mayumi smiled at the maid, then proceeded to her own room.
At that time in his study, the household head Saegusa Koichi turned a face filled with ill-concerned frustration to his confidant Nakura.
"......So you're saying the one who invaded and killed the Parasite the Third Counterintel division had captured was the Stars' Sirius?"
"There is little doubt."
In the face of his master's anger, there was no trace of fear in Nakura's face. While he was courteous, unlike the interactions between Hayama and Maya, there was a business-like aspect to be found. Nakura was not a family member of the Saegusa, and would be more aptly described as a mercenary. He was not inextricably bound to Koichi's side.
Sometimes he was assigned as a guard for children, such as with Mayumi, or sometimes sent to accomplish missions which lay outside the law such as intel gathering. That was how he was treated by Koichi, as an Extra number.
"But even for the Stars' Sirius, for them to simply waltz in and kill the prisoner so easily is too much. The Intel division wasn't slacking off either. Could your source have been mistaken?"
As Koichi spoke with disgust, Nakura calmly rebutted.
"The Intel division of the defence forces is by no means incompetent. Had we been the ones to attempt an infiltration of the Third Counterintel division's building, we would not have found the security to be lacking. Rather, it's simply that the Stars are just that good. There's a reason they're known as the most powerful force of magicians in the world to date."
Being spoken to as if being chided as a child, Koichi's expression became increasingly sullen. Not to the point of losing it and yelling at Nakura however.
"Sir, if I may be so bold, I believe it's time we cut our losses. The benefits of the Saegusa's continued involvement in this diminish by the day."
"......You're right."
Koichi calmly considered Nakura's calm advice.
"It seems the Kudou are also moving in this matter. I had considered asking them to supplement our depleted forces, but pulling out may be for the best."
"As you say."
"Tell our dispatched members to return to their normal duties. Nakura, dismissed."
"Excuse me."
As Koichi began operating an encrypted communication terminal by himself, Nakura left the study.
AD 2096, February 19th, Sunday.
Eight Parasites would be moving. Tatsuya did not unilaterally trust this information from across the sea.
He had endlessly researched regarding a boy named Raymond Clark amongst the students in Shizuku's exchange school.
The face on the photo stored in the school server was the same as that which had appeared in the video.
But that alone did not guarantee Raymond Clark was telling the truth. Just as you would not dismiss all anonymously supplied information as false, you wouldn't trust all information just because it had been supplied by someone who gave their true identity.
Nonetheless Tatsuya had gone over to the specified location--the outdoor training field of First High. This was because he had no other significant leads.
He waited, leaving things in the hands of chance. Even if it ended up being false and he wasted the day, it wasn't a big deal.
In the exceptionally large grounds behind the school was an artificial forest. Technically it was also part of First High, but it was difficult to tell where the artificial forest came to an end and the natural forest began. Especially so at night.
The time was nearly 7pm. Maybe it didn't quite qualify as night yet.
Unlike in the inner city however where bright lights eclipsed the darkness, in this forest with no street lamps in sight it wouldn't be wrong to think it was nearing nightfall.
To prevent trespassers entering by mistake, a high fence surrounded the training grounds. If a normal citizen wandered in and was hit by magic shot during training, it would be all kinds of problematic.
However, even without the fence, it was unlikely any locals would enter. It was well known in the neighbourhood that this was the practice field of First High.
Besides, there were no households around unrelated to the magic high school. When First High had been established here, the government had offered compensation for residence transfer to all those who were unrelated to magic, who couldn't use magic, or who wanted nothing to do with magic. All those who remained knew very well the risk of setting foot in that field.
That was also why there was no particular security system. There was nothing to steal considering it was just an artificial forest, so there was no pressing need to keep out intruders.
"Can you get over it?"
Looking up at the three meter high fence, Tatsuya asked his companions. The only direct entrance in was a back gate from First High, so having exited the school the only way in was scaling the fence. Entering from outside was simple, but entering from inside would require dealing with the school's difficult to deceive monitoring system. While systems were of course in place to detect thieves entering from the training grounds, if suspicious people entered not only from outside but inside as well there would be far more cause to investigate.
"Of course, Onii-sama."
"No problem."
"Something like this'll be a piece of cake!"
At Tatsuya's words Miyuki, Erika and Leo replied in the affirmative.
"It is possible."
Last of all, the one to whom the question had originally been posed to, Pixie, answered.
Tatsuya's companions tonight were these three, and one doll. —Originally, Tatsuya had not planned on bringing Miyuki. Erika as well, since she had been involved thus far, had only been supposed to be informed of events.
But he knew that knowing about such events, there was no way they'd simply wait quietly at home. When leaving, Miyuki had tagged along as if it were only natural, and at the specified time Erika had casually just turned up; at both these times Tatsuya had not protested. He knew that resistance would only be a pointless exercise in futility. Rather he had given up, and immediately set about incorporating his friends into his strategy.
Turning his focus to the training grounds again, he felt the air of the forest stir. The other players seemed to have ascended to the stage already.
Whilst pretending to operate his CAD — he didn't forget to maintain confidentiality at this stage — he pulled the sequence for 'Leap' from his memory and jumped over the fence.
Amongst the shadows of the forest, the four + one moved as a single entity. They did not spread out to search for the target. In an area of this size, in this darkness, separating would have little benefit and only run the risk of them being defeated individually.
Even if that hadn't been the case, it had been proven in Aoyama that regrouping under such circumstances would be an arduous task. It wasn't impossible that the opponents wouldn't be coming out on alert, but even so there was no sense risking it. If they couldn't find the Parasites like this, they would simply come back tomorrow and search steadily again.
Not to mention, Tatsuya had the feeling that they would appear.
It was not a prediction.
Nor an inference.
Although he had no basis, Tatsuya was certain as he clove through the trees. The light of their torches only illuminated a small part of the ground, but there was no one who stumbled amidst the dead branches and tree roots. Possibly because there were no new tracks, whilst straining their eyes they simply proceeded on at the same pace as if it were day, for about 15 minutes.
"Tatsuya-san, please stop."
From the communications device fitted to his ear, the voice of Mizuki came through. In conference mode, the words reached all of their headsets.
"38 degrees to the right of your current direction, I can see the aura of Parasites."
Instead of accompanying Tatsuya and the others, Mizuki was on a rooftop overlooking the training grounds providing navigation with her 'eyes'.
"I see them too! Two men and a woman, three in total."
Using the aura Mizuki had spotted, Honoka's magic applied to a camera activated. The image aquired via optical magic was as clear as those taken from close range in broad daylight, and was delivered to the group's terminals via wireless.
If not for the unique talents Mizuki and Honoka possessed as magicians, a search scheme of this type would be impossible. Having determined that their utility was indispensable to the mission tonight, Mikihiko had been assigned as an escort for the two. Mikihiko himself had not been unhappy with this placement. He understood full well how important his role was, and knew that he was perfectly suited for the job.
"Ah! From the opposite direction, a masked girl is approaching the Parasites!"
Honoka's report rang in. With the Parasite's aura becoming visible, it seemed Lina had sprung the attack.
Tatsuya signalled with his hands. Miyuki, Erika, Leo, and Pixie nodded.
The next moment, Tatsuya became a gale blazing through the forest.
Erika followed right behind him whilst Leo, checking side to side, started running with Miyuki and Pixie.
Tatsuya's group, the band of Parasites, as well as Lina and her backup team.
Gathered in this forest right now were these three forces, both Tatsuya and Lina thought.
Tatsuya knew that there was a faction in the defense forces who wished to capture a Parasite, but he recognised they were under the influence of the Saegusa. Being warned through Mayumi, with the Yotsuba undoubtedly moving to keep them in check and having received a large blow from 'Angie Sirius', Tatsuya determined that they should be in pretty bad shape. At least, they would be in no condition to interfere tonight.
In fact, however, under the shade of the trees, a different group approached both Tatsuya and Lina.
They were a guerrilla infantry platoon of the defense forces First division, specialising in close combat, known as the 'Sword Corps'. As the name implied they did not use firearms, but were a group which launched surprise attacks using sword type devices.
Their mobilisation was due to a range of circumstances, what with Tokyo being under the First division's jurisdiction, the nature of the mission requiring covert action, as well as them being under the influence of the Kudou. No, that last reason may have been the biggest of all.
Tatsuya was not omniscient. Something unknown couldn't be calculated for, and naturally the wrong response would result. That the Kudou elder would be interested in the Parasites as weapons, and that he could assemble a force in only three days, was not something he could have have known.
And furthermore, there was another. Rather, one more person.
One shadow, tracking the Sword Corps.
Now, within the training grounds of First High, these five powers raced towards their inevitable collision.
As the Stars captain ‘Sirius’, the mission must be fulfilled.
Underpinning Lina now was this pride alone.
It wasn’t as if she had known no setbacks before coming to Japan. In the juvenile education program provided by the Pentagon, she had gotten only Cs in algebra and biology. In the combat class, within the same group, there were monstrously developed female soldiers of the same age who she just couldn’t seem to beat. She had not done well in pilot training either.
But she had never once lost in magic.
The captain of Stars, Angie Sirius.
One of the most powerful magicians in the world.
Everyone had praised her, and she had supreme confidence in her skills herself.
But here in Japan.
She had lost to those siblings.
The first battle had been of her choosing.
Having withdrawn in her own time, it had been a ‘successful retreat’.
The second time she had faltered in the face of Tatsuya’s ‘kamikaze’ attack, and though she had lost to the ambush, even though strategically she was defeated she had not been bested by magic.
In the single combat with Miyuki which followed however, it was her defeat.
In spite of the adverse conditions, Lina did not think of them as an excuse.
In a head on clash, she had lost to Miyuki.
That defeat had further spurred her fighting spirit.
Unfazed, she had vowed vindication.
However,
In that fight for redemption,
Lina had been hammered by Tatsuya.
Luring him out into a one-on-one, even going as far as to pull out ‘Brionac’, she had still lost.
Even as she felt chagrin towards him, there was neither enmity nor resentment. Where Tatsuya had put Lina to shame was not in the speed of her restraint.
The fight itself had been very fair. Rather, she had the advantage.
She had lost to Tatsuya not just in terms of magic skill, but also in conviction……Lina accepted that.
But without a doubt, that defeat had shaken her to the core. She was one of the most powerful combat magicians in the world, Sirius.
Therefore she had been selected as the captain of Stars, the position which cared neither for age nor gender but was given to the USNA’s strongest based on power alone. In the case said magician wasn’t in the army, even if plotting and subterfuge was required they would be conscripted in as the Stars captain and ‘Sirius’.
The chances of those defeats leaking out to the world at large was slim. In the first place both Tatsuya and Miyuki, as well as those who had accompanied them, were keeping quiet. Tarnishing the name of Sirius was not their goal.
Yet even if nothing was known to others, she had to face the fact she lost with dignity. In order to redeem herself, Lina had to demonstrate her abilities and fulfill her duties as ‘Sirius’.
If she were to be able to continue as Sirius.
For the sake of the girl within her who was lost the moment she had taken the Sirius name, Angelina Shields.
When Tatsuya had closed in enough to see with his own eyes he saw Lina: masked, flaming haired and golden eyed taking on the three Parasites alone.
Although the Parasites could cast magic without the need for activation sequences, merely thinking it into being, Lina wasn’t giving an inch. In terms of attack ratio, Lina was dishing out seven blows for every three the Parasites managed to get in. If it weren’t for one of the Parasites having a dangerous ability, the battle might have been even more skewed
The ability was pseudo-teleportation.
In terms of magic, it combined complex inertial dampening and high speed movement techniques.
By using the trees for mobility, it was possible to move in three dimensions, popping up and firing off magic.
The magic attacks held low interference power, and were nothing before Lina’s magical might, yet she could not merely do nothing, and every time she raised defensive magic, some of the attacks from the other enemies would get through. Tatsuya judged the situation in an instant.
He had no intention of assisting Lina, but Tatsuya halted, and aimed ‘Decomposition’ at the Parasite using teleportation.
Many magicians aim magic using the five senses. Even when using perceptions outside the five, their aim would be the location of the target.
That was how it was normally.
Tatsuya however could aim at the information itself. Even if the location of the target changed rapidly, as long as the information itself was recognisable the aim would not be hindered.
The pseudo-teleportation had no effect on Tatsuya.
"Leave it to me!"
That wasn’t just the case for Tatsuya however. Catching up to the now stationary Tatsuya, then passing him, Erika activated inertia control.
The pseudo-teleportation held a threat only if the opponent’s hands, feet, and above all eyes could not keep up. On the other hand, if the opponent’s speed exceeded that of the operator, such three-dimensional maneuvers were merely wasted acrobatics.
Erika grasped the Isori house-made and Tatsuya-adjusted (not that she asked him to) downsized version of 'Orochimaru', the integrated CAD armament 'Mizuchimaru', and accelerated straight ahead.
?
Her destination was exactly where the Parasite, who had just kicked off a tree trunk, would land.
With extraordinary dynamic vision, her body control not lost even under the effect of an inertial canceling technique, her footwork propelling her forwards without any wasted motions, she was able to calculate the exact moment the opponent would hit the ground.
In terms of magic power, the Parasite was probably ahead.
But Erika's might as a martial artist overturned the difference.
Erika swung Mizuchimaru.
Without an ounce of hesitation, the honed blade cut the Parasite down.
Tatsuya modified the aim of his partial decomposition, shooting out the limbs of another Parasite which was now aiming a telekinetic attack at Erika, and as she delivered the final blow he held out his left hand towards the fresh corpse.
Mikihiko would maintain a barrier which prevented the Parasites from exiting their hosts. He had set up a simple altar on the roof of the school building. The reason Mikihiko was positioned on the rooftop was not only to escort Mizuki and Honoka, but also because he could project remote barriers.
The effects of the barrier were imperfect however. It wasn't a matter of Mikihiko's skill, it was a fundamental flaw of the technique itself. Originally, barriers could not be constructed like this.
As long as the host survived, the Parasite could not flee from its vessel. In other words, once the hosts died the Parasites were free to escape. Even if they could secure the bodies, they could not contain the Parasites themselves. Before Erika fully killed the Parasite, it was necessary to process it.
A mass of psions shot from Tatsuya's palm, and ripped the psions away from the body of the Parasite. No, a closer image would not be 'ripped' but rather 'scattered'.
Tatsuya, Miyuki, and Mikihiko had examined the results of previous engagements, and deduced that the Parasites were a core of Pushion information bodies with a thin layer outside; schematically speaking analogous to a fibrous layer of Psion information bodies coating a Pushion center; this led to the hypothesis that they consumed Psions whenever they used magic.
Destroying the Pushion body itself was difficult for Tatsuya. That had been proven twice now.
He had discovered, however, that he could cripple them.
And while Mikihiko would have difficulties sealing a Parasite alone, when stripped of magical resistance and weakened it was a different story.
"Mikihiko!"
Tatsuya called out into the hands-free headset. It wasn't necessary. Thanks to Honoka's optical magic and Mizuki's 'eyes', Mikihiko was already fully aware of the events transpiring in the field.
Mikihiko 'seeing' what was happening, and calling down a bolt of lightning from the heavens, was almost simultaneous with Tatsuya's call. The lightning struck the dead body of the host, and seared the skin black. Remaining carved on the skin were a series of characters and regular geometrical patterns.
"Nice shot!"
Erika shouted out with delight. In Tatsuya's sight, no information was leaking from the host body.
However, he didn't share Erika's joy just yet.
He fired more shots at the Parasite he had disabled.
The body of the host, left to its biological responses, was flailing around wildly.
Another flash of sealing retribution struck down. The body, hit by Tatsuya's Psion bullets, stopped moving. That made two Parasites sealed.
At the edge of his vision, different thunder roared. Rather than Ancient lightning, it was a blitz of modern magic.
He saw a body charred by Lina's magic. It was probably already just an empty shell.
"One escaped. Mizuki, do you have it?"
"I'm sorry, keeping track of everything from here is......"
When he reflexively inquired into the headset, the answering tone was apologetic. Thinking about it, this was natural; as Mizuki's vision couldn't extend to that which she couldn't physically see, she couldn't enlarge and view distant objects.
"I see. Sorry, I asked something unreasonable. Don't mind it."
Following up to Mizuki, Tatsuya turned to Lina and Erika with a bitter look.
"Angie Sirius."
That she was upset behind her mask was not an illusion of Tatsuya's.
"What."
But this time, she seemed willing to talk. Her voice had changed as well, was this another effect of 'Parade'?
"Try not to kill them until they're sealed. The cleanup will be troublesome."
She was momentarily at a loss for words. She intuitively understood that Tatsuya hadn't said 'troublesome' simply to look bad; he truly did simply view a person's life and death as a 'hassle'. —Not that it changed Lina's answer.
"It's not my problem. I am merely here for the deserters."
While she had consciously changed her tone, it was still possible to tell from her intonation, Tatsuya thought.
Of course, what he said was completely different.
"The duty of Sirius is it......well, that's why we want to seal the bodies. One's escaped."
"That is not included in my mission."
Stubborn as ever. And negotiating with someone unwilling to listen had never been Tatsuya's strong point. His stance had always been 'if you don't want to listen then fine do what you like, and so will I'. However, he had to get her to listen in this case. Tatsuya persevered as he suppressed the urge to heave a sigh.
"Mission you say, but the one you killed just now seems like an Asian born and bred. Was he really a deserter?"
Tatsuya wasn't completely certain that wasn't the case. It was a bluff really. But Lina was clearly upset. His guess appeared to have hit the mark.
"......Even if not a deserter, he was guilty of aiding them."
Yet even now, her stubbornness refused to relent.
"I'll say it again, the Parasites are no concern of mine. All I'm here for is to fulfill my role as Sirius."
Saying so, Lina disappeared into the forest.
Holding back an urge to shrug, Tatsuya turned to Erika.
"So she came out, that Sirius."
Erika came leaping over. Knowing that she smiled without holding a grudge over the events of three days ago, Tatsuya could only smile wryly in turn.
After her grin of triumph passed, the smile vanished,
"That was......Lina wasn't it? Although she looked completely different."
And Erika asked with a straight face.
"If she looked completely different, why would you think so?"
"Her actions, I guess. The way she moved and carried herself, it's all so familiar."
"Good point......"
Tatsuya had to acknowledge Erika's powers of observation. The illusory magic 'Parade' which changed everything from face to build had been seen through by something so trivial.
Still, he couldn't be stuck in admiration forever.
"I think you understand already, but keep it a secret. That being said, I'd like to apply what I said to Lina to you as well."
"Don't kill em?"
"Yes. You heard the explanation. As long as the host doesn't die, the Parasites cannot escape from within them. We put up a barrier to prevent escape, but neutralising without killing is still the best way to make sure."
Tatsuya's request was reasonable. Erika understood that.
"I'm sorry. It's unfair on you Tatsuya-kun, but I can't do that."
However, Erika — Erika shook her head.
"One who is prepared to kill by the sword, must also be prepared to be killed. Thinking about that moment......I just can't purposely prolong their pain without killing them."
The reason was completely different from Lina however. It was personal, and her true feelings.
"It'd be different if they could be saved without killing them, but sealing them is the same as killing them isn't it? So even if they're no longer human, I want to take them down without drawing out their suffering."
There was no nervousness in Erika's expression, or her eyes. Her determination however was resolute.
"Guess it can't be helped."
Killing was an absolute to Tatsuya. Whether one was killed after being inflicted with suffering or not, the end result of being killed did not change; this was Tatsuya's reasoning.
He didn't try and sway Erika however. Values were an individual matter.
Some of which did not bear another's meddling.
"Well, I'll just have to work extra hard."
That exterminating the Parasites would require such contradictory commitment didn't cross Tatsuya's mind.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login