The tailored one piece dress she wore was in a light color, with an ankle length skirt that protruded slightly near the vicinity of the thigh. After she adjusted the lace on the hem, Mayumi knocked on the door of the reception room.
"Enter."
The voice that seemed to come from the room was her father’s recorded voice from a speaker installed within the decorated wood door. The recorded voice was almost indistinguishable from his living voice and told family members that they needed to be formal.
Apparently, today’s guests were people they couldn't be very open with.
"Pardon me."
Wearing her usual two layer thick mask of a lady, Mayumi uttered the cliché phrase in a low tone and slowly entered the room.
With her eyes cast down, she peeked at the guests' faces.
The man and woman seated in front of her father both had faces she knew. Even so, they were not the type of acquaintances she particularly welcomed. Nonetheless, she did not particularly hate them either.
However, she did not show any of her true feelings as she stood beside her father with a smiling face and made a graceful bow to their guests.
"Welcome, Hirofumi-san. Mio-san, it has been a while since I last saw you."
Before the girl replied, the young man stood up.
Nevertheless, the woman with the appearance of a young girl remained seated. And no one raised their eyebrows at this.
They were not maintaining poker faces; neither Mayumi nor her father, Koichi, considered this disrespectful.
As for why the woman, Itsuwa Mio, wasn’t sitting on a sofa: she was sitting in a wheelchair.
However her brother, Itsuwa Hirofumi, seemed to feel guilty about it; even though they didn’t consider it rude, his return greeting was slightly inarticulate.
"I hope we haven’t called at a bad time, Mayumi-san."
"Please have a seat. After all, Mio-san is already seated."
"Thank you very much, Mayumi-san. I am sorry for waiting so long between visits."
It felt like the person being discussed, Mio, had become defiant instead, when she answered Mayumi’s words with a laugh and a cherubic smile.
While Hirofumi seated himself lightly on the sofa, as she asked him to, Mayumi was gripped with the same doubt, "Is this person really older than me?" that she always felt when she was face to face with Mio.
It was an indisputable fact that Itsuwa Mio had turned twenty-six this year. However, whenever the actual person was in her field of vision, she couldn’t help wanting to doubt that truth.
Her height was only an inch or two shorter than Mayumi’s own; however, their figures were completely different. Her body could be described in one word — undeveloped. There wasn’t much about her body that could be called ‘womanly.’
To be truthful, she could still move her legs. But because of her extremely weak constitution, her body could not endure walking for a long period.
She started using a wheelchair around the time she turned twenty, however, because her body had been too weak to exercise for a long enough period of time. Her appetite was small, which meant that she didn’t get enough nourishment, which made her body weak in a vicious circle. Her undeveloped figure was a result of that.
There was very little bulge in her chest area that could be seen while she was clothed. Calling her completely flat wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration. Her hip area was also as thin as a young girl’s. Mio’s body looked like it belonged to someone around the age of thirteen.
Her facial features matched the youthful appearance of her body. Her style of clothing completely fit her physical features, and somehow gave off no hint of ‘womanliness.’
However her childish looks didn’t matter; Mio hadn’t made any outings after she had graduated from college and had made special arrangements to take most of her college classes online, so why on earth had she come here today? Secretly, in her mind, Mayumi was scratching her head in puzzlement with the thought of ‘I don’t think she is merely accompanying Hirofumi by any means, though.’
"We came to say goodbye to you, today."
When Mio broke that news, Mayumi’s gaze clouded with disbelief — or to be correct, she was mystified by the preceding statement.
"Are you returning to your family’s main estate?"
To conceal any obvious turmoil — but she had no need to feel upset — Mayumi replied with a question.
The Itsuwa clan’s main seat was in the Ehime prefecture, but because Mio needed to commute to university, she had left and come to Tokyo to live her life in one of their other residences. Because her younger brother, Hirofumi, started college just after she graduated, the two lived together.
"I will return to the main house; however, before that—"
Mio cut off her words in a formal manner to hide her inner laughter; Hirofumi was purposely changing his expression, bringing his brows together sullenly.
"We will be going to the front."
"The front... you’re going into battle!?"
When the meaning of the words 'the front' sank into her brain, Mayumi raised her voice without thinking.
"—Please excuse my rudeness. But why..."
Mayumi promptly apologized for her impropriety and looked at Mio and her father with confused eyes.
"The public announcement will be made next week, but the official decision has been made."
The answer came from her father.
"Mio and her brother are going to stay for a while at the Sasebo Naval base; from there they will go west with the navy by sea. Their destination is something we don’t know; however, their purpose is to urge the Great Asian Alliance to conclude a peace treaty by making a show of force. ...It probably doesn’t need to be said, but until the official announcement is made, not a word to anyone."
"Yes, I understand that."
Mayumi readily agreed with her father’s admonishment. Naturally, she was only agreeing to the ‘not a word to anyone’ part.
She understood the reason why the military would deploy Mio. The woman was one of only thirteen publicly acknowledged Strategic Magicians in the world, of which there were said to be probably fewer than fifty in total, the rest of whom were hidden. The Japanese government publicly admitted to having only one user of Strategic Class Magic.
The woman’s Strategic Class Magic ‘Abyss’ was a specialized naval attack, but it could also be used effectively on land. Just by having her accompany them, they should be able to apply tremendous pressure on the enemy.
However, even so, she felt that it wasn't a very rational move at this time. The forefront of the invasion had been launched against the Yokohama coastal region and the military's actions at the time had wreaked havoc on the Korean peninsula, which had actually brought an end to the October 31st stage of the conflict. As long as they weren't going to pursue territorial concessions, a counter invasion was already strategically unnecessary. There was no need to say that she felt the demerits of going as far as sending Mio out for several weeks in her condition, even with all the thorough preparation, were greater than the merits.
It was not clear enough to put into words in her mind, but Mayumi felt a general uneasiness.
"I will also be going with my elder sister."
He was probably gripped with similar feelings of dissatisfaction. However, this was a government decision which the head of the Itsuwa clan accepted, and could not be overturned by Hirofumi. He was someone who could be chosen as the next head of the Itsuwa clan, but he was not yet the ‘next head’; at this stage, the situation could not be changed by any objections he raised. His decision to at least accompany his elder sister in order to help her showed in Hirofumi’s face.
"The truth is..."
Perhaps desiring to change the ambience brought about by her brother’s mood, Mio’s tone switched to a joking one.
"I did want to see Mayumi-san become my brother’s bride however."
This certainly resulted in a change in the mood. —Nonetheless, it was in the opposite direction of what she intended.
This remark, unfortunately, continued the previous topic and no one laughed at what was commonly called a ‘death omen’ type of joke.
"Nee-san."
"...I'm sorry."
Within the increasingly serious atmosphere, Mio gave a mournful cry and become completely crestfallen.
"Ah, well, we'll take up that conversation once again when Hirofumi-kun returns."
Due to his feelings of responsibility as a host, Koichi promptly covered up the gaffe and returned the weak smile to Mio's face; as a result of the paucity of choices for their expressions, Mayumi and Hirofumi went expressionless.
There was a reason Mayumi did not give a ‘it’s been a while’ to Hirofumi. This was the reason Mayumi's thoughts scattered when it turned out that Mio was not simply accompanying Hirofumi.
Hirofumi was one of the candidates to become Mayumi’s betrothed. However, since Hirofumi was the eldest son of the Itsuwa Clan, it might be better to say Mayumi was one of the candidates to become Hirofumi’s betrothed. They were both direct descendants of the Ten Master Clans and close in age; one was an heir and one was the eldest daughter of the main family with an elder brother who was the principal heir — the conditions could be called quite favorable.
To tell the truth, the conditions were the same with the Juumonji clan’s Katsuto, and Koichi was thinking about which one he wanted to marry Mayumi off to. (The Ichijou clan’s Masaki was excluded because he was younger than Mayumi.)
Of course, the people in question had their own opinions on the matter and there were other arranged marriage talks that hadn't quite become engagements; however, Mayumi and Hirofumi often dined together and went to the theater together in a family setting with both the Saegusa and Itsuwa clans. —Despite the expectations of the adults, the pair themselves weren’t interested, hence the mutual poker faces.
However, always ‘silently going along’ only made their moods worsen, which was something Mayumi knew quite well.
"By the way, when do you leave?"
With the redirected flow of conversation, a relieved atmosphere that could not quite be concealed arose — Mayumi was dissatisfied with this weakness — and Hirofumi answered.
"We go to Sasebo at the end of this week; I heard that the ship departs Friday of next week."
As for Mayumi, while she was preoccupied with her unhappiness, she did not forget to learn the details.
"Those are certainly quick arrangements... Well, please take care. We will await your safe return."
Impeccably disguised behind her cat’s mask, Mayumi leaned forward in her seat.
"Thank you."
Mayumi turned her gaze to her own toes and considered that they were probably done with her.
"Before we leave to go to the front, could we have Mayumi-san’s assistance…"
Hence when she heard Hirofumi say this, it was a little difficult for her to control the speed with which she looked up.
"My assistance?"
While implicitly expressing the opinion that ‘there is nothing I can do for you’, she deliberately tilted her head in a childish manner. Her rock-like classmate would probably pay it no mind and her mature — she would call him ‘impertinent’ — underclassman would see through it and look at her with pretended boredom, but Hirofumi quit trying to conceal his unrest and let his eyes water.
"No, rather than assistance, we want you to lend us your insight."
However, it didn’t work on Mio. Was it because her effect was predictably weaker on her own sex, or maybe because Mio looked so young herself, that she saw her as an ‘older woman’.
"Mayumi-san has already been informed, which will make this a quick conversation. We don’t have enough time for a preliminary investigation."
"That’s true. I understand."
Mio appeared distressed to her core, with her hand on her cheek. Certainly, her speech and manner invoked some feeling that she was an older woman. Nevertheless, the impression that she was a child overreaching herself was strong — she roused amusement rather than interest. However, that did not make Mayumi relax; she concealed her wariness as she agreed with Mio.
"Magic is resisted by magic. Magicians by magicians. That, I think, is surely what we have in common."
Hirofumi continued; receiving his sister’s support(?), his calm had returned. By ‘in common’, he unquestionably meant between Japan and the Great Asian Alliance. With that interpretation, Mayumi waited for his next words.
"I will be accompanying my sister; the other side has undoubtedly realized this."
Mayumi concurred with Hirofumi’s statement and displayed her agreement. In the first place, the Japanese side had no intention of concealing Mio’s deployment; besides Mio and Hirofumi’s full identities, their membership as officers deployed in war and capabilities were well known. So under the circumstances they were expected.
In order for a checkmate to be effective, you had to let your opponent know about it. In other words, a secret weapon is not good material to get your adversary to negotiate a compromise.
"The other side understands it is at a disadvantage in naval combat with Nee-san’s Abyss. Therefore, we anticipate a counter attack combining aerial combat power with magic."
The Movement type-Strategic Class Magic ‘Abyss’ was a magic capable of creating a spherical depression capable of extending from a few tens of meters to several kilometers. Vessels caught within the magical zone at sea slide down the steep walls of water, tumbling about; then, upon cancellation of the magic, are swallowed up by massive waves as the sea returns to a horizontal plane. The hemisphere can be created up to a kilometer in depth, easily catching submerged submarines as well.
If the distance between the two adversaries was too close, the water movements could cause damage to one’s own side as well. The Strategic Magic Mio possessed, with its great range, could be called the natural enemy of naval power.
However, at the same time, Mio’s ‘Abyss’ was completely powerless against an air force. She couldn’t invoke it without a continuous water surface, and to use it on land, she had to know beforehand that there was a subterranean source of water she could use — there were various conditions for its use.
With the enemy’s battle formation that Hirofumi spoke of, she had no other option.
"The air forces will be left to the JDSF; we must think of how to deal with the magicians."
This was also a fact she could not dispute.
In form and substance, the magician community headed by the Ten Master Clans within Japan — whether they were magicians attached to the government, attached to the military, or attached to a civilian institution, modern magicians or sorcerers of ancient magic — were self reliant. The magicians who would probably be accompanying the military were included in that ‘we.’
"Mayumi-san, did you see our magician allies repulse the enemy and enemy magic at Yokohama? I would like you to tell us about the aspects of the enemy magic you saw and the effective magic that was used against it."
Actually, this was a difficult, dangerous question. She did not doubt the necessity of providing information and she would not refuse to do things she could not refuse to do. —That was how it was.
"...Even though I saw enemy magic, I was always in the rear, and the only time I actually crossed swords with them was when I was attacking from a helicopter."
Actually she had directly contributed to the destruction of a tank twice, but Mayumi was not intentionally lying. It simply had not left an impression.
He did not doubt Mayumi’s words; however, Hirofumi was not satisfied with her answer.
"Then you were assisting with the civilian evacuation until the end."
By ‘civilian,‘ he meant the non-magicians. Magicians were recognized as a special existence; usually Mayumi felt sorry for both sides of the narrow view that people that weren’t magicians were powerless. However, this was not the time to point that out.
"Til the end would be wrong, but... while I was waiting for the copter, students from my year and below held them off."
"Then can’t you introduce us to these people? The First High School students who actually fought against the Great Asian Alliance's magicians."
When Hirofumi said it, right away he came to mind. The mature, impudent, yet reliable underclassman. The first year who changed a gigantic truck into dust, was encased by glittering psions, and used a miraculous healing method.
Nonetheless, immediately afterward, nearly simultaneously, the recalled words ‘National Secret’ paralyzed her tongue.
"Mayumi-san?"
The faltering Mayumi was being examined by Mio’s suspicious eyes. Mio was not the only one looking at her suspiciously. Hirofumi — and anyway her father — were looking at her with doubt, and Mayumi recognized their impatience.
"Ah, no… that’s right. If you visit the Juumonji family, I think you will hear a thorough report."
"Do you mean Katsuto-kun..."
Hirofumi was by no means an unpleasant person; naturally he was a nice boy, but Mayumi had felt for some time that actually meant a little too agreeable.
She knew Hirofumi felt inferior and competitive with the boy two years younger than him and understood it to be natural. However, at this point in time, she didn’t feel displaying jealousy was all that praiseworthy.
—Not only that, but letting a younger female discern it.
The ‘passable’ grades she had put for him on one sheet of the report card in her heart were all insincere.
"The others, who should be useful... would probably be the Hundred Families’ Watanabe Mari, Isori Kei, and Chiyoda Kanon. I will contact them all for you."
"Please do."
Well, if all you do is find fault with your associate, you will not feel good either.
Mayumi gave them the names and promised to set up the meetings in a businesslike fashion.
Afterward, she called Mari, Kei, and Kanon right then and there (Katsuto wasn’t home), she set up appointments with all of them and, along with her father, saw the Itsuwa siblings off.
Mayumi really wanted to sigh when they left, but peeping at her father’s face told her it would be a little while before she was set free.
"Mayumi, I want to talk a little; you don’t mind do you?"
As she had expected, just as she returned from the hotel sized porch to the entrance hall you could probably dance in, Koichi called out to Mayumi to stop.
"Let’s talk in the study."
He quickly walked away without waiting for an answer.
Koichi presented an outward appearance of an elite businessman of the middle of the last century. Anyone would say his health was fragile — his face was more sociable than dignified and the tone of his voice was gentle to match that, but like all the other heads of the Ten Master Clans, no member of his family would disagree with Saegusa Koichi.
And it was not Mayumi’s style to take a meaningless rebellious attitude. While wearing a long-sleeved stiff one-piece that she normally wouldn’t wear, Mayumi trailed after her father’s back.
The study had a classic bookcase, a massive desk, and a single leather chair. Koichi promptly sat down, forcing Mayumi to listen to her father’s words while standing. Since this is what he always did, Mayumi was not bothered by it.
"There were no first year students in the list of names you gave, Mayumi."
Koichi broached the subject with his daughter who was standing about two meters away from him without preliminaries.
"Didn’t I hear that the daughter of the Chiba Clan and the second son of the Yoshida Clan played an active role?"
Mayumi murmured ‘Raccoon [13] Dad’ in her head. Koichi’s physique was more fox than raccoon and more wolf than fox, however, Mayumi was confident that her father couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her outer appearance.
"Despite that, they are still first years, so I didn’t think they could explain things well to Hirofumi-san and Mio-san."
(Nevertheless, he probably got the details from Nakura-san.)
While watching her father murmur 'I see,' Mayumi thought that. In general, this is the same as the harsh ‘cross-examination’ she received just yesterday; his persistence was more hunting dog than raccoon, she cursed in her head.
"However, didn’t they make unthinkable great strides for first years? Especially that girl who also played a very active role in the Nine Schools Competition—"
"You mean Miyuki-san?"
"That’s right, Shiba Miyuki-kun."
She felt as though the frames of the lightly tinted glasses he wore for show were emitting a sparkling light. These spectacles were supposedly to conceal the fact that his right eye was a false eye; however, because they didn’t contain any special gimmick for doing so, Mayumi had her doubts about that.
"She seemed like a very excellent girl. A vice president in the newly seated student council and, if all goes properly, she will become student council president like you, Mayumi."
"Yes, she’s a very excellent child. In addition to being a very beautiful child."
"Oh, that’s what she looks like in Mayumi’s eyes?"
"Do you mean even from a female’s perspective? Yea, I think Miyuki-san’s beauty is obvious to either sex."
Koichi’s lips twitched a little.
No trace of lust could be seen in the left eye inside the glasses.
Such a thing especially sparked Mayumi’s wariness.
"Be that as it may… managing to use magic of such high degree of difficulty as ‘Inferno’ and ‘Niflheim’... I’d like to meet her once. Can’t you introduce her to our family?"
"Aaah... I’ll have to ask about that."
"That’s right, couldn’t you ask about that for me? Come to think of it, I’m fairly certain that Miyuki has an elder brother? Didn’t you say that he helped you out Mayumi, at the Nine Schools Competition? This is a good chance; I will give him my thanks at the same time — it would be good if you invited both of them."
The polite smile would not let her read what was going on in his head. The tinted lenses would not let her catch the anticipation in his pupils. —However, she had known him since she was born. She was already eighteen years old — their relationship was no longer one where only one side found the other transparent.
(This was what he was aiming at...!)
Certainly, Mayumi had made Nakura promise to keep the secret in the helicopter. The episode concerning Tatsuya’s special magic hadn’t reached her father’s ears.
However, she didn’t think he had not told him anything.
She was not that optimistic.
Nakura was a sly old fox — he had probably given his employer hints without breaching his agreement to keep it secret, and her father, who was a veteran of countless battles, would be able to acquire much information from that.
Her father was suspicious of him — Shiba Tatsuya.
Additionally, it seemed to be about ‘something’ unknown even to herself.
Within Mayumi, the desire to find out also smouldered, but even now, the feeling that she should avoid touching this mystery was still stronger.
She unconsciously feared touching this mystery would destroy their current relationship.
"I’ll try asking..."
It took everything she had to make that answer.
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