Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 12 - Double Seven - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Who betrayed us……?”

Zhou Gongjin furrowed his delicate eyebrows and skimmed over the report that was automatically changing pages. Creases were appearing between his eyebrows. It was very rare for him to display his displeasure to this degree.

Just now, the date had changed from April 26th to April 27th. However, this was beneath his notice right now. This showed how intently Zhou Gongjin was studying the report in his hands.

Zhou Gongjin halted the scrolling and lifted his gaze from the information terminal. After lightly letting out a breath, he reached for the wine glass on the table.

This was already the third time he reviewed this report and failed to find any errors in its contents. Although he didn’t sincerely think that anything was wrong in the report, he needed to call on the assistance of a little alcohol to dispel the exhaustion brought on through a renewed verification of this unpleasant business.

This report was an investigation report regarding the progression of public opinion. Within, there were the results of using illegal methods to influence the impression non-Magicians held in regards to Magicians.

The report, quite the thick stack of papers if printed, displayed the rise in negative attitudes towards Magicians since the end of the previous year. The situation had noticeably worsened in the current month, a clear sign that his work on the media was reaping rewards.

Yet, this result failed to hit the expected parameters and clearly fell short of the level in his calculations. It was true that First High’s self-demonstrative actions played an unexpected role in this, but that degree of irregularity should not have caused the deviation between the projected and real values.

“Even if we factored in Rozen’s intervention that still doesn’t explain this…… As expected, the reason is because there are publicity programs that have not followed our directives.”

On the screen, he opened the daily totals for criticisms leveled at Magicians by various news sources. There, it was clear that not all had followed orders. In other words, among the televised news industries responsible for pushing the agenda that naturally included television, there were opponents who broke the agreement.

“To think they would do something so foolish like breaking our contract…… Violence does not align with my interests, but……”

Zhou only engaged in dealings on the black market, where no legally binding contracts existed. That was why he had to personally ensure that contractual obligations were fulfilled. Even if it was only a verbal agreement, no, precisely because it was a verbal agreement, he needed to employ a few tricks of his own – rewarding those who upheld their end of the bargain and punishing those who did not.

“Speaking of which, we have already entertained the cousins of Mr. Sun’s nephew for half a year now…… It’s about time to ask him to do a few things for us.”

As for the traitors’ punishment, Zhou elected to ask a friend to lend his assistance.

Friday, April 27th. Today, Takuma was absent from school.

He was still this year’s new student representative, thus making him quite a famous person among the Year 1 students. Many of his peers had heard about the incident that happened yesterday. With him absent the second day, all sorts of rumors flew through the floors of the Year 1 students.

—He huddled down at home after losing to the Saegusa siblings.

—No, no, he’s huddled at home because he was censured by the upperclassmen.

—While injured, the shock of the defeat caused him to shut himself at home.

—He won the match but had to take responsibility for causing the ruckus, so he chose to stay at home to reflect on his actions.

—In the end, he was sent home to do self-reflection as punishment, and now he’s home plotting his vengeance.

Among the rumors, the negative ones were in the majority, but some of them skirted close to the truth.

“Tatsuya Onii-sama. Takuma is also absent today.”

In light of this, after receiving Minami’s faithful report via e-mail about this, Tatsuya correctly surmised the reason behind this.

The truth of the matter and not the rumor was that Takuma had not been sent home to reflect as punishment. The (supposedly) correct portion of the rumors was that he was going to have a match with an upperclassman.

Known as magic exclusive to the Shippou Family, Million Edge was a Herd Control Magic that could be activated without a CAD. In essence, from the very beginning, the magic was a delayed sequence set in a state just short of activating and which used the caster’s psions as keys to unlock invocation. Setting aside the difficulty of Herd Control for the moment, the concept of using delayed magic to bypass the CAD process was not a rare phenomenon. For example, the “Magic Bullet Tathlum” wielded by the Kennedy Family in England was a magic founded on the same principles.

Million Edge’s uniqueness lay in the methods involved in creating the delayed state. Just short of activating, the technique was recorded down as incantations.

At first glance, this was the same method as replication techniques, but replication techniques required psions to flow into the incantations before constructing the Magic Sequence to achieve phenomenon alteration. In comparison to that, the Shippou Family’s magic was a conditionally activated delayed sequence that did not require a Magic Sequence. When facing an enemy, there was no need to allot time towards that process.

On the other hand, this required that the magic’s delayed sequence be recorded ahead of time. Replication only required the necessary information to construct the Magic Sequence, so even a machine could record the incantation. That was because it inherently shared the same properties as a CAD recording the Activation Sequence.

In addition, this record would be discarded after use. That was only natural given that it was a magic held prior to its invocation being released, which fundamentally differed with the “repeatedly usable magic record” that Tatsuya sought. In short, Million Edge was a sort of magic that required intense amount of preparation beforehand.

In order to prepare for tomorrow, Takuma should be hard at work preparing the activating medium for Million Edge. Since he was planning on winning the match tomorrow, he couldn’t be blamed for not coming to school today.

Speaking of which, the reason why Minami passed along Takuma’s movements was because Tatsuya had elected to join the investigation regarding Takuma’s supporters in the shadows. Minami was concerned that while Tatsuya was tied down during school, Takuma could be making contact with his supporters, but Tatsuya believed otherwise. Today was Friday. This was a time that even teenagers who were not magic high school students should be attending class. Even if he was not caught, wandering about on the streets would be awfully conspicuous. Plotting something nefarious (supposedly), Takuma would probably prefer to remain beneath the radar. Tatsuya believed that any contact with his shadowy support would be during the night. More importantly, Fujibayashi’s crew that was monitoring the situation would naturally contact them about any movements.

Thus, until night fell, Tatsuya played the part of the high school student intent on his studies.

“The reprisal target is Sawamura Yoshio. He is the CEO of Culture Communication Network, or Culture Net for short.”

Zhou spoke to the young man sitting on the other side of the table, Robert Sun, as he put a leather briefcase on the table.

Robert opened the lid of the briefcase. Inside, he found an automatic pistol, a large dagger, plastic explosives with a wireless detonator, and a bronze ring.

“You want me to take care of that man?”

In response to Robert’s emotionless question, Zhou ruefully smiled and shook his head.

“That was the original plan, but unfortunately Sawamura Yoshio is in Paris on business.”

As he said this, Zhou handed a large, paperbound notebook to Robert.

Robert flipped through the rarely seen paperbound notebook at will. There, a picture of a young woman along with her Personal Data were found.

“So you picked the daughter as the substitute.”

“I think that will send the proper message across.”

Pah, Robert closed the paperbound notebook and turned his eyes back to the briefcase. His gaze was fixated on the bronze Antinite the ring was forged with.

“Does she have Magicians as bodyguards?”

“Wouldn’t call him a bodyguard, but someone usually by her side. Still a child, but he’s someone from the 18 Replacement Families.”

“Is that so?”

Robert’s mouth turned into a vicious smirk.

“Magicians created by the Japanese military……”

Strictly speaking, Robert’s understanding here was faulty. The Ten Master Clans and the 18 Replacement Families included within the 28 families were all Magicians created by the Magician Development Research Labs and not actually created by the military. However, Zhou had no plan to correct such a trivial detail. For Robert, Magicians from the Japanese military owed his family a debt in blood. Zhou wasn’t foolish enough to dash the man’s rarely found, but burning, motivation.

“The preparations are detailed within. Though I can only provide rings for two, firearms and knives can be found for any number.”

“That’s enough. Leave it to me.”

Zhou Gongjin smiled widely as he watched Robert Sun stand up with cellphone, briefcase, and notepad.

After returning home, Tatsuya was engaged in a rare study session when he looked towards the ringing alarm clock on the corner of his desk. That was Fujibayashi’s signal. While he had not heard from her how she was observing the target, given that the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was perpetually short on men, manpower was not a likely solution. More likely than not, she had invaded the personal identification program within the Street Observation System and was watching for Takuma to leave. If so, he was an accomplice to illegal use of public programs to invade privacy, but Tatsuya felt no guilt whatsoever. It wasn’t like they were peeking in on the household, Tatsuya rationalized.

Rather than setting morals aside, it would be more appropriate to say that sort of feeling never registered with Tatsuya as he stood from his chair. Of course, this was in order to rendezvous with Fujibayashi. After leaving Miyuki and Minami to watch the house and giving strict orders for them not to follow, Tatsuya got onto his beloved electric motorcycle.

Before the eyes of Tatsuya and company, Takuma’s silhouette vanished into a medium sized building filled with upper class condominiums. He remained unaware that he was being followed. At the very least, he took heed to avoid being tailed, but his ability to detect hidden presences was quite raw.

“Looks like the head of the Shippou Family chose not to send his son through military training.”

“We might call it military, but it really only covers training for intelligence operatives. Speaking of which, why is Captain Sanada here with Lieutenant Fujibayashi?”

Tatsuya parked the motorcycle at the train station and was currently sitting in the back seat of a large limousine where they were observing Takuma enter the apartment. Next to him, Fujibayashi had an information terminal the size of a small calculator on her lap while Sanada was in the driver’s seat manipulating the large touchpad.

“Talented but on rotten footing with the Ten Master Clans. Wouldn’t he be a perfect fit in our unit?”

Sanada turned his head from the driver’s seat to answer. Somewhat surprised, Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.

“Are you planning on inviting that guy into the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion?”

“Ara, is Tatsuya-kun against it? If you don’t like Shippou-kun, then I guess we will just have to abandon that idea.”

Tatsuya scowled in irritation at Fujibayashi’s words.

“What is this? You’re talking like I have the power to decide that.”

“After all, 'Special Lieutenant Ooguro Ryuuya' boasts the greatest firepower within our unit. We can hardly afford to ruin your mood.”

This was of course a joke on Fujibayashi’s part. Still, getting upset here would get him nowhere, Tatsuya’s instincts told him.

“……It’s not like I dislike Shippou. So long as he does not cause trouble, I do not care what he does. Those are my feelings on the matter.”

“So, you’re not the type who is interested in fostering disagreements?”

Tatsuya ignored Fujibayashi’s meaningless interjection.

“……So why did you lend your assistance for this investigation?”

Taking over for Fujibayashi, Sanada’s question was perfectly legitimate, so this time Tatsuya broke his silence.

“If the ones behind him are similar to the guys from Blanche from before, then even settling Shippou would only cause another problem child to appear.”

Halfway through Tatsuya’s words, Fujibayashi burst into laughter. She was probably thinking “Who is the real problem child here?” – Tatsuya didn’t mind that overly much.

“I see. Shippou-kun being naughty would actually be within acceptable parameters, but a second, third, or fourth would be dejecting.”

“Maybe not dejecting…… But that’s how it is.”

The voice that Tatsuya used to answer Sanada seemed to be laced with sighs.

“Ah, looks like they’re starting to talk, want to listen in?”

Fujibayashi asked Tatsuya with headphones over one ear. It appeared that the monitoring device planted on Takuma was beginning to catch his conversation with his “partner in the shadows”.

(Pretending to be a passerby, Fujibayashi planted the monitoring device on Takuma as she walked by him.)

“Yeah, please do.”

Hearing Tatsuya’s response, Fujibayashi laughed in delight as she switched the volume over to the car’s speakers.

In general, Takuma usually wore a displeased expression. At least in Sawamura Maki’s eyes, Takuma was just that sort of young man. Even when he was talking about taking the top score on the entrance exam and becoming the new student representative, he never wore an expression of someone in a “good mood”.

However, today his mood was even worse than usual. Although he was trying to adopt his usual expression, Maki saw right through him. There was no way he could fool a professional actress trained to fake expressions, not to mention this was Maki, who, along with her natural beauty, was also #1 among new actors for her “face” that could act out every emotion possible on the silver screen.

“Takuma. I haven’t dined yet today. Would you like to accompany me?”

If they cut right to the chase, she would probably have to listen to him complain until he had vented all his frustration. At present, Maki planned to use “dinner” as the means to buy some time for him to cool down.

“At this hour? Wouldn’t that harm your appearance?”

“That’s why it will only be a light one. It’s almost done, so I’ll go get it now.”

Maki mentally awarded Takuma bonus points for not saying something impolite like “get fat” and walked towards the dining room.

She brought some snacks with thinly cut strips of bread with ham, salmon, tomatoes, and avocados on top. The meal certainly looked light, but there was no guarantee that the calories were also light.

Takuma had already eaten dinner, but he still took part in the snacks Maki made without hesitation. He was still at a growing age, so there were no worries about any disposition towards growing chubby.

For the next five minutes or so, Takuma’s mouth was engaged in eating and drinking. In order to swallow the slightly salty snacks, Takuma was greedily consuming juice that he was unaware was tinged with alcohol. Nor did he notice the minute amount of sweet wine added into the snacks themselves.

When the “light meal” on the plates had just about been cleaned aside by Takuma, Maki used the voice of an “openhearted older sister” to strike a conversation with Takuma. (As a side note, this was when Fujibayashi switched over to the speakers.)

Normally unwilling to reveal his weaker side, Takuma was particularly chatty tonight for some unknown reason.

“……So, that’s what happened. Takuma, you must feel like that was a lost opportunity.”

Maki’s melodious voice would have caused any fan to swoon as she comforted Takuma. Right now, she was sitting next to Takuma on the 3 person sofa as she laid a hand on his shoulder while scooting her face next to his while they were speaking.

“Forget lost opportunity! That was an unfair outcome from the very start! If that continued, my victory was guaranteed!”

Since beginning to speak, Takuma had already repeated this several times, but Maki hung around without any sign of irritation.

“Why of course, Takuma. In reality, you were the one who won. You should have won the respect and accolade that goes to the victor. The fact this was not so was simply because you were unlucky.”

“Unlucky……?”

“Indeed. Although some people say that luck is also a talent, they are wrong. Those with true strength will ultimately prevail regardless of luck. However, a tiny match like this is very much subject to luck. There were also a few times where I unluckily got handed the poor roles.”

Maki kept one hand on Takuma’s shoulder while her other was laid on top of Takuma’s fingers.

Soft flesh gently caressed Takuma’s skin while the scent of honey stimulated his sense of smell.

“So that’s why you’ll be fine, Takuma. Yesterday was just bad luck for you. Such a small defeat will not impact your future.”

“Really……?”

Despite repeating these words multiple times, Takuma finally exhibited a different reaction. Mentally sighing in relief, Maki felt that she only needed one more gentle push.

“Of course. So you need to get back on your feet.”

Maki drew Takuma’s hand to her own knee. Although seduction was against her principles, seeing Takuma so weak like this roused Maki’s teasing side.

Takuma’s hand gradually slid from Maki’s knee to her thigh, all according to Maki’s plan. She wore a loose gown that opened from the front. Though the sleeves were long, her bosom was wide open as the fabric was thin enough to allow hints of flesh to peek through. Through the dress, the feel of Maki’s flesh was transferred to Takuma’s hand, further chipping away at his self-control that was already unraveling due to the alcohol that lowered inhibitions.

Takuma flung aside Maki’s hand and retracted the hand on her thigh.

In the next instant, his hands grabbed Maki’s shoulders.

Maki only made token resistance to the strength that was pushing her down.

“Ara ara, now we have a show.”

In response to the plainly interested Fujibayashi, the flabbergasted look Tatsuya sent her way – failed to happen. He was neither dumbfounded by her behavior nor did he send a condescending look her way. Speaking of which, Tatsuya wore a completely uninterested look that was a far cry from blushing with excitement.

“This might be a good opportunity.”

As he listened to the sonorous voice coming across the monitoring device, Tatsuya spoke in a chilling tone.

“Hm, did you think of a ploy of some sort?”

With a highly entertained look on her face, Fujibayashi asked Tatsuya with deep interest.

“Recently, hasn’t the media been in an uproar about an actress soliciting a younger man?”

Tatsuya spoke in the objective tone he normally used.

“……Blackmail?”

Fujibayashi’s smile finally turned a little stiff.

“On occasion, we should use the media to our advantage.”

“……Can’t believe you were able to immediately make that sort of connection.”

Sanada could devise the most vicious traps when it came down to his own techniques, but here his expression seemed to spasm as he expressed his own feelings. Still, he placed emphasis on the word “immediately”, so he probably would have come up with this idea given sufficient time.

“Actually allowing him to go through with that would damage the school’s image and may not be usable as a bargaining chip, so let’s act while this is still in the realm of attempted.”

Never faltering even in the face of Fujibayashi and Sanada’s reactions, Tatsuya lightly made this proposal.

After being pressed into the sofa by Takuma, Maki calmly observed him from this position. The delighted expression she wore wasn’t entirely feigned. Though still less than Takuma, the alcohol in her own body had also dulled the brakes of logic. However, even though her eyes were slightly drunk, she was still soberly surveying the dazed young man pressing down on top of her. Maki had long since developed the skill to separate her body’s feelings with her mental exhilaration.

Thus Maki noticed the oddity even if Takuma remained oblivious. The screen door leading to the porch opened with a slight sound. Needless to say, the door was clearly locked but had now been pried open. Before all that, the porch was protected with a security system that had the greatest firepower permissible within the boundaries of the law, but had apparently been penetrated.

There was no sound of the alarm going off. The bodyguards were completely unaware.

“Help! Thief!”

Deeply regretting her overreliance on the security system, Maki screamed as she pushed Takuma aside.

Rolling on the floor, Takuma reacted to her cries.

He looked in the direction that Maki was watching after frantically getting to her feet. However, faster than he could identify the thief, his face was subjected to light contact. By the time he recognized that someone had thrown something at him, the irresistible Morpheus stole over Takuma as he once more fell to the floor.

“Takuma!?”

Owing to a burst of anxiety, her sleeve covered the corner of her mouth, causing the despairing cry to become muffled. She was very clear as to why Takuma fell unconscious. That was a trick of filmmaking, and she had seen the real deal while inspecting the props. The item that struck Takuma on the face was a soft ball soaked in highly effective sleeping medication. The duration of the medicine was very short, but that being said, he would be completely out of it for the next 5 to 10 minutes.

Trying to keep a lid on her terror, Maki looked towards the porch. The screen door and window had already been closed. Before the door stood a figure wearing a black mask dressed entirely in darkness as he or she was folding up the wings attached to their back. –That silhouette was practically straight out of the old films that used a bat as an inspiration. If only the mask had had “ears” on top, it would have looked exactly like that. In fact, this garb was made from the camouflage material that absorbed electric waves, but of course Maki didn’t know that.

“Milady, are you alright!?”

Now the two bodyguards burst into the living room. This was precisely when the stranger dropped the folded wings to the floor. Without verifying the stranger’s posture, the two female guards saw him as a burglar and rushed him.

Maybe this was all because only one ball soaked in sleeping medicine had been prepared. The thief in black never moved from his location and met the charge. The bodyguards held police batons used for indoors combat. These were not simple rods, as police batons had handles made of elastic material and the sharp end wrapped in plastic had increased weight so the weapon could be used like a club or short rods.

The stranger easily caught the bodyguards’ downward blow of the police baton. Without using the arm, the stranger used a glove-covered hand.

One diagonal step away, the other bodyguard had to loop around to the window in order to avoid obstructing the first one and was now in a position where only one of her two police batons could attack. In that case, only one weapon was in position to be a threat. Catching that baton would immediately restrict their movement, so he swung his fist towards the bodyguard who could not escape.

The female bodyguard was sent flying.

Seeing the fighting power of someone on an entirely different level, the other female bodyguard couldn’t help but shake a little.

But the stranger was utterly merciless.

He once again swung a black fist.

Without being able to avenge herself, Maki’s bodyguard was neutralized.

Standing before Maki, who was so terrified that she couldn’t sit up straight, the stranger spoke in a voice that Maki felt she had heard before.

“Do arrange your attire.”

It was only after he said this that Maki remembered she was partially unclothed. The dress had been pulled down so only the sleeves were unhelpfully covering her body. Thankfully her underclothes were still playing their part, but traces of her earlier activities could be seen all over her exposed flesh.

“Ah, mind if I cover myself?”

Maki put in all of her efforts to keep her body from shaking and put on a performance from early in her career that garnered rave reviews from her producer regarding her “graceful poise.” If the stranger before her was a young man like she imagined, he would have pounced on her immediately. Although she had no idea what he was here for, so long as they developed that sort of relationship then she had the upper hand.

Yet, all of her plans were stumped at the very first step. Nay, she couldn’t even reach the first step.

“Of course. Eh, if you feel that you’re fine as you are, I don’t care in the slightest.”

Maki felt like someone doused her in cold water. The damage to her pride caused a cold fury to press down her fear. She arranged her clothing with an enraged look on her face.

“……That’s better. Speaking of which, how long are you planning to wear that thing? It doesn’t suit you at all, Shiba Tatsuya-kun.”

The item Maki spoke of when she used a tone that warned Tatsuya not to take her for a fool was the black mask he wore while posing as Batman – that was actually a newly developed helmet made of soft materials. However, the part she really wanted to drop was the “Shiba Tatsuya-kun” portion. In other words, “I know your real identity”, except that Maki was cognizant of the fact that even hidden beneath the mask, Tatsuya’s expression didn’t flinch at all. More like he was doing this to let her know.

“Then let us begin negotiating.”

Tatsuya ignored Maki’s provocation as if it was perfectly natural.

“Negotiate? To what end?”

Maki did not insist on respect due to her. Right now, she was firmly standing in the weaker corner. Based on the earlier scene, violence was out of the question and feminine wiles had no effect. Maki knew that her options were limited.

“First, please listen to this.”

Maki was a little uneasy when his choice of words became polite. However, that thought fled from her mind when she heard the voices emitting from the information terminal in Tatsuya’s hand.

Those were the voices of her and Takuma as they were entwined on the sofa.

“You were eavesdropping!? You pervert!”

Maki couldn’t help but deliver her outrage despite how dangerous her statement was in her situation. Though she immediately thought “Oh no!”, she was unable to control her involuntary reaction.

“I’m sure this would prove to be a major problem if leaked to the media.”

However, once she heard Tatsuya’s words after he stopped the recording, Maki froze in a way that was far cooler than calmness.

“Recently, there was a similar firestorm all over the news…… Apparently even a former idol past her prime can cause such a ruckus, not to mention a beautiful actress in her prime.”

“What are your demands!?”

Maki curtailed Tatsuya’s words as she screamed hysterically. In comparison to the young man standing before her with his vile threats, Maki was far more furious with her own carelessness.

“I have two conditions.”

In complete contrast to Maki, Tatsuya made his declaration in a placid tone. His light baritone continued to trigger Maki’s unease.

“First, break it off with Shippou. Ah, and I don’t mean that way so don’t play coy with me.”

“I understand.”

She was shot down just as Maki was about to lead the topic into that direction, to which she could only nod with a sullen voice.

“Second, please stop your activities with high school students and below.”

“……What do you mean?”

Maki wasn’t feigning obliviousness here. She was honestly confused as to the intent behind Tatsuya’ request. Even if she could understand his meaning, she still remained in the dark as to why he would make such a request.

“I am unaware of the details behind your little plan. Maybe there is some benefit to Magicians, but I am entirely uninterested. However, can you please stop taking action in my immediate surroundings?”

“Eh……?”

Completely dumbfounded, Maki gazed back at Tatsuya behind his mask.

“Anyone in college and up is already an adult, so I do not plan on interfering regardless of what you do. However, that is all under the prerequisite that you are not acting against me. Will you accept these conditions?”

“Eh, hm…… If that’s all there is.”

She suddenly felt drained. For just this, he was willing to act like a bandit, she thought.

On the other hand, she felt terror clawing at her. Illegal entry, battery, blackmail. Every one of the things he did was unquestionably a felony in the eyes of the law. Yet, he never hesitated in performing these acts for mere trivialities.

This young man cared not a whit for the laws or authority of the country……

Maki suddenly came upon a revelation.

“Who the devil are you……?”

She asked in trepidation. Logic told her that not asking would be the right choice. Still, she couldn’t be blamed for being unable to swallow that question. Tonight, for the first time, she truly understood how terrifying people with unknown backgrounds were.

“I will erase these files based on the degree of your cooperation in regards to my conditions.”

She did not receive a meaningful answer.

“Thank you for joining me in this highly meaningful negotiation.”

Tatsuya once more put on the “things that looked like folded wings” before dropping these arrogant words and stepping out onto the porch.

Maki frantically followed right behind him.

The figure of the young man in black had completely vanished from the porch.

From above, Tatsuya verified Maki looking down from the porch before moving his body back. Currently, he was standing on the building’s roof. The original plan called for him to use the glider he wore on his back to descend to ground level, but that plan was now subject to change after detecting a suspicious shadow in the sky.

The shadow belonged to a small flying boat. For an instant, Tatsuya thought this was related to the incident from two months ago regarding a certain invisible flying ship belonging to one of the Intelligence Departments from the JSDF, but he knew he was mistaken upon taking in the shape of the hull. The shape of this flying ship denoted that it was the type used by news agencies or film companies to take aerial photographs. However, surely they were up to no good after painting the entire vessel black. If this black ship belonged to one of the film companies, Tatsuya was sure that their goal would be to take covert photography.

“Lieutenant, do you see the flying ship on direct approach for Sawamura Maki’s apartment building?”

“Yes, I caught them. I was watching them since Tatsuya-kun visited the young actress’s room. Still, never thought that they would be descending.”

“Do you know who they belong to?”

“Based on its flight plan, it should belong to one of the television companies.”

The corporate name that came from Fujibayashi’s mouth was an entertainment station from the southern Kantou area. Apparently, they were listed as the competitor of one of the companies purchased by the group run by Maki’s father.

“So they’re probably looking for dirt on Sawamura Maki.”

“The probability is not zero.”

Fujibayashi’s voice was filled with disgust, likely a reaction caused by covert photography.

“Lieutenant, can you turn off the psion radar around this area? Five minutes will be enough.”

“You plan on halting the covert photography?”

“Affirmative.”

On the other hand, Tatsuya planned on interfering with the covert photography because he didn’t want to waste the time and effort spent negotiating with Maki. If Takuma was covertly photographed in Maki’s room, that would be enough for a scandal even if they weren’t caught in the act.

“Give me three minutes and I’ll have it done.”

It was Sanada’s voice that conveyed that to Tatsuya.

“Understood.”

Tatsuya used his right hand to pull out his favored weapon, the custom Silver Horn “Trident” and peered at the flying ship just as the ship opened a door to let down a rope ladder.

So not only are they engaged in covert photography but illegal entry as well, Tatsuya mentally murmured to himself while completely disregarding what he just did earlier and activated Leaping magic towards the opened doorway on the flying ship.

Tatsuya was unable to understand the angry retorts coming from the flying ship after he charged in. Although he felt it didn’t sound like any language from East Asia, Tatsuya was not someone who spoke Beijing or Guantong dialects.

However, he understood immediately that the situation was not what he had imagined it to be. The fact that the men pointing guns at him were not from the television companies was blatantly obvious.

Of course, Tatsuya did not permit them to fire since his right hand was holding the ready-to-fire Trident. Switching decomposition targets barely took him any time.

There were five muzzles pointed at Tatsuya.

All of them lost their shapes as guns before clattering to the deck of the flying ship.

After getting hit by Tatsuya’s Decomposition Magic, the men reacted with surprising speed.

The two men standing to the left and right of Tatsuya swung their fists. On their middle finger, they each wore a bronze ring that shone with light. Immediately, the interior of the flying ship was suffused with psion noise. That was the sign of Cast Jamming brought on by Antinite vibrations.

Two men on the inside brandished daggers as they closed in on Tatsuya across the wobbly deck.

Tatsuya squeezed the finger around the CAD’s trigger twice.

Immediately after the magic that decomposed information structure wiped out the noise from Cast Jamming, all five miscreants fell to the deck with holes in their two legs.

However, the situation was not finished. Tatsuya saw that the man in the center had his left hand tightly clasped around something before he fell.

After being flung through the open door in the flying ship, Tatsuya fell through the sky.

In the next instant, a flash erupted with the sound of an explosion as the flying ship was covered in flames.

Tatsuya knew that falling down from such a height was no joke, but right now there was something far more pressing than his safety. There would be a major accident if that flying ship crashed onto the streets outside the apartments.

Amid the buffeting wind, Tatsuya turned his body around and pointed the CAD Trident at the flying ship with a broken balloon.

Falling from the sky, he activated Mist Dispersal.

Seeing the remnants of the flying ship fade away into dust, Tatsuya remembered to use inertia control magic. Immediately, Tatsuya felt a powerful impact strike his back.

The place where Tatsuya fell was the rooftop of a building that did not belong to Maki’s apartment. The height of the building lowered the distance of the fall, partial activation of inertia control magic coming into effect and the glider on his back served as a buffering cushion. All three factors combined to prevent Tatsuya from suffering a full body fracture. Still, if not for “Restoration” activating, Tatsuya would probably have spent the rest of his life without ever getting to his feet again.

“Tatsuya-kun, what the hell just happened!?”

Even Fujibayashi’s voice coming across the intercom had turned frantic.

“I’m not sure. However, I think we’ll find some clues at the television company. That flying ship appeared to have been hijacked.”

Tatsuya’s unhappy voice also added that “though it might not be a hijacking and that the television company was their accomplice” before he erased any trace of his fall and stood up on the roof.

The news that the attack on Sawamura Maki that Robert Sun was responsible for had failed quickly reached the ears of Zhou Gongjin. If this operation had succeeded, then the subordinate responsible for passing along the pictures of a daughter completely savaged beyond all recognition to the unfortunate father would have reported this to Zhou.

(To completely erase an enflamed flying ship as it fell from the sky…… The only one who could do something like this......)

Unfortunately, no pictures were taken. There was nothing that could be gleamed from his subordinate’s report, but based on the piece of information about the ship disappearing from the sky, Zhou correctly inferred the identity of the man who interfered with their operation.

(……Damn him. It’s that man again.)

Though they knew of him, all they knew about him was the figure of him wearing a helmet to cover his face along with names like “Demon Right” and “Mahesvara”.

During the “Yokohama Incident”, the invasion force he had provided assistance to had also suffered terribly at the hands of this unknown Magician. The tremendous resistance coming from “Mahesvara” was literally one of the major reasons why the invasion plan failed.

The losses incurred by the Great Asian Alliance during the Yokohama Incident weren’t exactly a loss for Zhou. Originally, he had hoped that the Japanese and Great Asian Alliance forces would bleed each other dry. The Japanese forces winning there ran counter to his expectations, but the weakening of the Great Alliance went according to his wishes on some level.

However, this time Zhou couldn’t just laugh it off so easily.

(Looks like there is a need to uncover who he is.)

As Zhou thought along these lines, he also felt that it was time for a change in direction in regards to the media operation currently ongoing.

(In the end, the Master’s true feelings on the matter are to have his revenge against the people responsible for bringing out Great Han...... The real target is not such a vague organization like “Japanese Magicians”, but that clan in particular.)

And Zhou had an inkling as to who among those in power bore special interest towards “that clan”.

(Though this isn’t something outrageous like driving a wedge between the two, this might be worth trying.)

Zhou looked at a wine glass that didn’t have a beak as he began to plot in his mind.