Maya had received Balance's mail at 8:00 A.M., Monday, January 28th, Japan standard time.
"Hayama-san, it appears that remnants of the Kunlunfang Institute are plotting an act of terrorism here in Japan."
"That is quite the important matter."
Hayama's answer was rather neutral. Of course, he was aware of what Maya had gone through in the Kunlunfang Institute. Taking her feelings into account, it was perfectly natural for him to not return a proper answer at once, even if neither anger nor hatred could be felt from Maya's voice.
"An important matter? A mere stray dog who lost his home?"
However, it wasn't like Maya was completely emotionless. You could hear slight disdain in her voice.
"Mistress, if there really is a survivor from the Kunlunfang Institute then that means he managed to escape from the previous Head of the Family."
Hayama lightly reproved her. Maya's pride, to be more precise.
"We have no idea what sort of unusual talent he might possess. I strongly recommend we stay vigilant."
"I understand."
Despite responding so, Maya's lips curved into a smile full of disdain.
"Still, what are they hoping to achieve with small missiles? Japan is not a zone of conflict after all. Moving around carrying these is practically begging to be captured, don't you think?"
"During the Yokohama Incident, the guerillas who had concealed themselves in town beforehand had managed to prepare quite a few missiles."
"That was thanks to the camouflaged warship they had as backup, wasn't it?"
Objecting on reflex, Maya retorted.
"...Yet, it's true that there is no guarantee that we will be able to successfully prevent this planned act of terrorism."
"Even a Magician would die if hit by a missile while in a defenseless condition. Moreover, depending on their objective, we might have to deal with danger in another form altogether. There is a possibility of them dismantling the warheads and using them as bombs too. Back during the times of war, these kinds of suicide bombing attacks were regular occurrences."
Faced with Hayama's numerous examples, even Maya couldn't deny the necessity of dealing with it.
"Understood. Then let's look for this Jiedo Heigu. A lot of our workforce is focused on the preparation for the Master Clan Conference, however, so we won't be able to field too much personnel."
The Master Clan Conference will take place next month, in the beginning of February in 2097. In particular, this period was the reunion of the Ten Master Clans which happens once every 4 years.
The Conference will decide the members of the future Ten Master Clans for a duration of 4 years. There were 28 Houses which had the qualifications to become a Member of the Ten Master Clans, and everyone was in a hurry to perform the final tasks in order to have an advantage for the selection.
The selection will be decided by internal voting, and since only 28 Houses can participate, it will be nothing like large-scale elections or anything. However, it was necessary to make various arrangements as well as finding faults in other Houses to have the best possible odds.
"Should we talk about this matter with the other Houses?"
Maya pondered for a few moments before shaking her head from left to right at Hayama's suggestion of asking for the cooperation of the other Clans.
"I would rather not be a subject of gossip. Let me think... Alright, spread the rumor that terrorists targeting magicians have infiltrated the country. With this, we should expect them to make the necessary moves. Could you work on this until lunch?"
"Understood, Mistress. They will be ready in two hours."
Search and Information Manipulation, giving his words this double- meaning, Hayama politely bowed.
9:00 A.M., Japan standard time, January the 28th, Gu Jie's freighter entered Yokosuka's port. Immediately after landing, Gu Jie started to collect the required personnel for his plans. That being said, the arrangements had already been done beforehand. Despite losing the No Head Dragon Organization, Gu Jie had gathered quite the extensive know-how to make deals with the obscure sides of modern society during his days as a mastermind. As long as quality wasn't a crucial factor, it wasn't that difficult to gather personnel. No matter how prosperous a society is, unfortunate people exist.
The target had been confirmed even before the landing. Of course, the location for the Ten Master Clans Conference had only been shared between the concerned. However, using Hli?skjálf would allow one to easily uncover that information.
The super-hacking tool, Hli?skjálf. Gu Jie wasn't the type to qualify anything as ‘super', but the fact of the matter is, there wasn't really any other expression strong enough to describe it.
Hli?skjálf's information gathering capability was effective worldwide. Gu Jie was aware that it was impossible to access information which only exists offline, however, in this day and age, information that couldn't be found using the network was practically nonexistent. No matter the complexity of the encryption, Hli?skjálf would decipher it. Even quantum encrypted transmissions that ‘cannot be intercepted without possessing the correct decryption key' can be completely overturned and rendered powerless. Who exactly invented this system? Who, and for what purpose, did this person send me this terminal? Even Gu Jie had first approached it with caution. Especially, when he discovered the hidden drawback in the system after having made a random search. This drawback became clear all too soon. Hli?skjálf records everything that the user investigates. The other Operators can also see it.
Still, they have no way of understanding who exactly made the search. What they know is ‘what has been searched' and that's it. Gu Jie remembered the disappointment he felt back then. That the system's creator would be able to see what exactly he searched for had been within his expectation. Even though the identities of the seven operators was supposed to remain a mystery with this system, Gu Jie wasn't the kind of person to take someone's words as gospel (At least, that's what he thought of himself). The administrator of this system, the person who most certainly sent this terminal to him, could probably understand who did what. If you were to acknowledge this fact and still wanted to use the terminal, then the fact that other operators could also search your history shouldn't matter that much. Gu Jie didn't have any hesitation in using Hli?skjálf.
Of course, he always had in mind the possibility that the system could be lying. He didn't use it for every piece of information he wanted, however. There have been plenty of times where he collected information without relying on it, for the reasons stated above. But still, Hli?skjálf was an extremely convenient tool.
The problem he faced this time was that the Ten Master Clans might have predicted an attack if they had heard rumors of someone making investigations on the conference's location. Gu Jie didn't underestimate the power of the Ten Master Clans. It was also possible that if a person among the Ten Master Clans also had access to Hli?skjálf, an ambush would be waiting for him. Of course, he was extremely careful as to what keywords he used during his search, and just because things went smoothly up until now didn't mean that this time would be the same. Taking this into consideration, he had prepared various plans in the eventuality of an ambush. Gu Jie's purpose wasn't to assassinate the Heads of the Ten Master Clans. Socially ending the Yotsuba Family that destroyed the Kunlunfang Institute was his goal. While seeing off his dolls who were heading towards the town of Hakone in freight vehicles, Gu Jie sneered at the dark pleasure swelling from within himself. These dolls had been made from various poor citizens of Yokosuka.
Even though Lina was slightly surprised at her training's interruption, she obeyed the orders and headed towards the base's control room.
Her companion was the Commanding Officer of the STARS First Unit, Benjamin Canopus. He was the person Lina was relying on the most, STARS' Number 2.
"Ben, what do you think this is all about?" Canopus shook his head at Lina, whose voice betrayed a certain anxiety.
"Truth be told, I have no idea. However, nothing in particular has happened recently so I doubt this is going to be a scolding or anything of the sort."
It wasn't that rare for STARS Members to break things during their training. Things like training equipment, vehicles, and even facilities. Considering the STARS were training for combat situations, a certain degree of destruction couldn't be helped, and this was even more valid when Commander-Class personnel were training. Lina had heard various complaints about the budget from the base's commander.
"I-I guess so."
Canopus looked at Lina with a smile while she was mumbling to herself words of encouragement. He had a daughter who was only 2 years younger than Lina, and because of that, he'd sort of developed parental feelings for her.
Without knowing that her subordinate was pointing such warm eyes towards her, Lina tightly clenched her fists and was psyching herself up. ——Lina was unaware that her childish, cutesy gesture was further prodding Canopus' feelings.
Somehow successfully managing to put her uneasiness in a corner of her heart, she straightened her posture and adopted —— or at least she thought she had —— a proper expression for someone of the military, then knocked on the door of the Commander's Room. With a voice signaling her to come in, the lock of the door disengaged. Opening the door for herself, Lina instinctively raised her voice at the unexpected person in the room.
"Colonel Balance!?"
Right next to the commander of the base, who was behind his desk, was Colonel Balance sitting in a chair.
"Major, what are you doing. Come in." Ordered by the irritated voice of the base's commander, Walker, who also had the rank of Colonel, Lina moved in front of the desk in a hurry. Canopus followed Lina with a composed attitude.
"Major Sirius, Major Canopus, at ease." Walker talked to the two people who saluted in front of his desk.
"Yes." Lina and Canopus both adopted the resting pose simultaneously.
"Colonel Balance has something to tell to the two of you." Saying so, Walker stood up.
"Then, Colonel Balance." Balance stood up from her seat slightly after him.
"Colonel Walker. Thank you for allowing us to borrow your room for a few moments." Walker and Balance saluted each other, then Walker went out of the room. Locking the door using the remote control, Balance finally faced Lina.
"Major Sirius, even though I think you already figured out the reason for my presence, it's about yesterday's matter."
"Yes."
As she said, Lina had guessed that this could be related to the request she had formulated yesterday.
"It is unfortunate, however, that the Major's request cannot be granted." And the answer was as Lina had expected.
"We cannot carelessly allow the High Commander of the STARS, a Strategic-Class Magician to leave the country."
Even though she had become accustomed to this reason, she still couldn't accept it deep in her heart. Despite the fact that she fulfilled her duty when she was sent to Japan last year, it didn't change the fact that she really wasn't fit for such a task.
Thinking about it, dealing with a terrorist threat in a friendly nation that was allowed to exist due to her own army's blunder was, in fact, considered an obligation of STARS. At the very least, those were Lina's thoughts on the matter. Even more so considering the chances of the Mastermind being a Magician were exceptionally high.
"——That is the official reason on the matter, anyhow." However, Lina's displeasure at hearing this was about to skyrocket.
"The truth is, higher-ups are starting to wonder if the Major holds excess sympathy for Japan. Some are even fearing that the Major would consider exiling herself to Japan. In other words, there is an issue of trust."
"Wait a moment! I have sworn loyalty to this nation, haven't I?!"
"I know."
Balance nodded with a calm expression at a Lina who instinctively reacted.
"I am not doubting the Major's loyalty. However, the fact you have Japanese lineage, and that you are still only a 17-year-old girl are causing them to doubt your allegiance."
Lina was mortified. For her, having mostly an Anglo-Saxon face, experiencing what basically amounted to racism was a first. Furthermore, considering it wasn't face-to-face discrimination but instead being whispered behind her back, her head was starting to boil from rage.
"I can't really find any other word than utter stupidity to qualify this. However, it is specifically because such fools exist that we must avoid giving them any chances. Major, you are our nation's greatest asset."
Still, despite her enraged state of mind, Lina wasn't so far gone that she forgot her etiquette training and completely ignored the words of a superior. Those remarks had been spoken for her sake.
"It is impossible to send Major Sirius to Japan. However, it isn't like we can just leave this matter unattended." Balance took in a breath and put power in her next sentence.
"That is why, we will send Major Canopus. Major Sirius, is this alright?"
"...Understood. I will be on standby for further orders." Swallowing her dissatisfaction, she saluted Balance. Balance slowly nodded with a ‘very well'.
"In that case I will start to explain in more detail the mission to Major Canopus. Major Sirius, you may leave."
"Yes. Then, pardon me, Colonel." Even though a part of Lina had wanted to explain things directly to Canopus, she had no confidence that doing so wouldn't generate jealousy, and that was why she obediently left.
"——The situation is as stated above. Major Canopus, do you have any questions?" After having explained to Canopus everything, from the stolen missiles to ‘The Seven Sages' information, Balance inquired so.
"No, I don't, Colonel."
It is unknown if there will indeed be an act of terrorism in Japan, and their only source of information had been the suspicious ‘Seven Sages' as well. Is there any dissatisfaction to being given a mission based on such ambiguous intelligence? That had been the nuance in Balance's earlier question, but neither a question nor a complaint came up from Canopus.
"I see. In that case, Major Canopus, there is something I would like to ask you."
"Yes, what is it?" Even though Balance carefully scrutinized Canopus' expression, not even a brow of his twitched. Feeling relief more than disappointment, Balance carefully continued.
"Major Canopus, no, allow me to call you Major Benjamin Lowes here."
In the middle of Balance's question, Canopus' eyebrows moved ever so slightly.
"The Major is blood-related to the Assistant of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Kane Lowes, right?"
"Yes. I think the Colonel is already aware but the Assistant of the Deputy Chief of Staff and my father are cousins, and he is my mother's cousin-in-law." In other words, he is connected to the Lowes' Family both by blood and marriage, and with this kind of close relationship it wouldn't be exaggerated to say he's part of the upper echelons of society.
"To tell you the truth, the information brought to us by ‘The Seven Sages' isn't limited to what I talked to you about earlier. I wish it was some kind of mistake but..." Seeing Balance hesitate, Canopus' expression moved a little. His expression had a faint ‘It can't be?' feeling to it.
"It would appear that both the acquisition of the missiles and the terrorists leaving the country with them has been accommodated by the Assistant of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Lowes."
"...Are you saying that the Assistant of the Deputy Chief of Staff has been corrupted by the terrorists?"
To Canopus' question, Balance shook her head with a gloomy expression.
"If that was all there was to it, it wouldn't be so complicated."
"So that means there are other points of concern?"
Balance frowned before opening her mouth to answer.
"Truth be told, the possibility that he and the Deputy Chief of Staff decided to make use of Jiedo Heigu is higher than the corruption hypothesis."
While Canopus couldn't hide his shock, Balance decided to ask him something seemingly unrelated to the matter at hand.
"Major. What do you think about the Humanist Ideology?" A popular opinion was that ‘humans have to live only using human abilities', or at least that is the doctrine that the Anti-Magician Catholic cults go by. Again, this was a mere excuse to agitate the Anti-Magician sentiment. However, Canopus' answer would be even more concise.
"Mass hysteria. Still, to effectively use this, it would require influence as well as extreme prudence, I think."
"As a Magician yourself, don't you feel threatened by all of that?"
"If it seemed like it was about to escalate then I do think some measures should be thought of. We Magicians have no reason to bow down to false charges after all."
"...You seem to possess pretty radical opinions."
"Colonel, you're misunderstanding something. I only think that it would be dangerous for the citizens if society didn't allow them self-defense. Those calumnious would-be victims incite racism and discrimination, something that has a high risk of breaking down any country, ours included, so we shouldn't take it lightly.' "I understand your stance. But that is not the problem at hand." While saying this, Balance had an unpleasant expression.
"Lowes, the Assistant of the Deputy Chief of Staff, has a different thought process but appears to have arrived at the same conclusion as you."
Even though Balance was peering into Canopus' expression, he kept a cool, if somewhat brazen, expression.
"However, this is the country of freedom. It is a necessity to guarantee freedom of speech. No matter how good the cause, we cannot suppress it. At the very least, politicians think so."
"I agree with this, Colonel."
"...That is where the group Lowes belongs to decided to act, and they planned on giving the Humanists a target other than them, another country."
"So that they can perform their act of terrorism in Japan, and feel satisfied enough to not do it here as well?"
"Your sarcasm is unneeded, Major. This is something I don't agree with."
Balance reproved with a sour look, a Canopus that was wearing a smile full of derision.
"Forgive my rudeness, Colonel." Thinking that he had gone too far, Canopus genuinely apologized. Seeing Canopus apologizing, Balance realized that she might have been too high-strung herself and decided to resume the conversation.
"Putting that aside, if the information given by ‘The Seven Sages' is to be trusted, Lowes' group's objective isn't even the terrorist act itself."
"In other words?"
"It is nigh-impossible to limit the damage of a terrorist bombing to only the planned targets. Citizens will also unfortunately get involved in this."
"That is..." It was the first time since entering this room that Canopus wore such an expression.
"With this kind of weaponry, it would be impossible to harm a Magician unless they were taken by surprise. However, if you were to prepare a bomb using tens of those missiles' destructive power, it would be difficult even for Members of the Ten Master Clans of Japan. Although a high-ranked Magician could definitely survive the explosion with a heat-proof barrier, the civilians who happen to be in the area wouldn't have a chance. If the explosion came from all directions, then even protecting the innocent would be next to impossible. As a result, only the civilians would suffer casualties. This was the scenario envisioned by ‘The Seven Sages'."
"And since Magicians of Japan let innocent civilians die under their very eyes, the Humanists would take them as their new target. Their energy would be concentrated on Japan, thus, the Anti-Magician movement in our own country would weaken. Moreover, the risk of Humanists resorting to radical measures out of frustration would decrease, is that it?"
"Indeed." Canopus' eyes had a sharp light to them.
"In that case, my mission will be to restrain Jiedo Heigu's act of terrorism before it happens?"
"What I ask of you is in fact much more than that." Balance took a provocative stance.
"After last year's Parasite Affair, the Japanese authorities definitely won't see us in a good light. It will probably be impossible to capture Heigu on Japanese soil without alerting them. That will lead to an inquiry as to why we captured Heigu, and then they'll discover the weapons he planned on using had come from us."
"However, if this act of terrorism actually succeeds, the origin of the used weapons will probably be discovered as well. I think that it would be much more disadvantageous to not stop it beforehand."
"The difference between losing weapons and having them purchased from a black market by a terrorist versus letting a terrorist steal our weapons is quite vast."
"...So we're going to let innocent Japanese citizens be massacred?"
"I have already secretly warned Japanese Magicians about Jiedo Heigu's group of terrorists." It wasn't as if Canopus could completely agree with Balance. However, he couldn't dispute the fact that there was a need for the USNA Army to cover their position. Before being a Magician, Canopus was a military man. This fact was one of the biggest differences between him and the virtuous Lina.
"Major. Your duty is not related to the execution of Jiedo Heigu's act of terrorism, whether it is before it happens or afterwards, your mission is to assassinate him. His plans will probably still be realized even if he is killed, but you need not worry about that. According to ‘The Seven Sages', Heigu doesn't seem to be using aerial transports. If he is on the sea, you may use 'loud' means to get the work done. Do not allow the Japanese to capture him."
"Understood."
Faced with the image of a saluting Canopus accepting the duty bestowed upon him, Balance couldn't help but feel guilty.
"Forgive me, Major. Even though we understand this kind of dirty work isn't part of your duties, considering the possibility of our opponent being a peculiar Magician is high, we need to meet him with an eminent Magician of our own." Canopus stopped saluting and without putting on a tough act, shook his head.
"You need not worry yourself, Colonel. If anything, I would like to express my gratitude for choosing me. I do not want the High Commander... I don't want Lina to suffer the pain of assassination work, as much as I can help it."
Saluting once again, Canopus left the commander's room.
Canopus arrived at the Japan-USNA Joint-Base of Yokosuka on January 29th, 1800 hours, Japan standard time.
Due to the frequent wars throughout the world over a 20-year period, most countries decided to call back all their troops to their respective territories, thus, things like the U.S. Forces' Bases in Japan had disappeared. However, after the U.S became the USNA, the alliance between them and Japan had continued, but changed. Each country installed bases on their lands, bases that could be used freely by the other nation. The base of Yokosuka was one of those. (That being said, those bases' activities were close to non-existent). Of course, the fact that the STARS First Unit Commander, Canopus, came to Japan remained a secret. Immediately after arriving, without even going out of the base, he went on a destroyer ship towards the sea.
The warship that Canopus was on headed south, towards the Sagami Bay, and it passed by a small cruiser of 20 meters in the middle of the sea area between the Boso Peninsula and Oshima. Canopus jumped from the destroyer to the small cruiser when the two were close enough. This boat had been camouflaged using Optical Magic which could reflect even infrared rays. Although a faint shadow would probably appear on stratospheric surveillance cameras, discerning its identity should be impossible. With this, Canopus could be smuggled into the country safely.
This small cruiser was originally something that the USNA embassy possessed for leisure purposes, thus, to use it for information gathering, its power output and the hull's outer armor had been reinforced. Of course, cutting-edge sensors had been installed as well. Despite the fact that this cruiser didn't have many weapons, so long as Canopus was on it, this wouldn't be a problem at all.
Canopus turned the cruiser towards Sagami Bay. The cruiser went south, following the Izu Peninsula, then at Cape Irozaki turned north towards the Suruga Bay. Due in part to the slow speed at which he sailed, it was already nearing midnight when he found the target ship.
It was a small freighter which had its deck entirely covered with solar panels. When sailing, the arms on each of the sides of the hull would open up, like a Tobiuo's wings, and the thin solar films would then increase the power generation. This auxiliary power source uses a photocatalytic hydrogen production model built into a regular fuel cell, and with nearly all the energy required coming from the sun, this type of freighter had become the main transport model in the latter half of the 21st century. This freighter had been mentioned along with the presumed date at which Jiedo Heigu left the USNA. However, this ship was supposed to arrive yesterday in Japan. That is why the ship's inspection was unnecessary, so they decided to search the port at which it had anchored.
"Major, is it that ship?" The captain of the ship who served as an officer in the USNA's Marine Corps talked to Canopus with a mix of awe and fear in his voice. As a temporary subordinate under his command for this mission, he had been told about Canopus' background. The STARS were already a unit whose reputation was close to that of legendary, and factor in that he was now talking to one of its best field officers, and you get that result. Albeit, this captain wasn't aware that ‘Canopus' the Number 2, was right behind ‘Sirius', so he didn't need to be that tense. If he had been aware of Canopus' rank, it was quite possible that he wouldn't have been able to focus on his work to begin with. To the captain's question, Canopus expressed a bitter smile. Seeing this smile without an ounce of intimidation or malice, the captain's tension softened a little.
"My apologies but ships really aren't my forté. You guys should have much more expertise on this subject than I do, right?"
Understanding that Canopus implicitly asked "Isn't this something you of all people should bring answers to?", the captain straightened his spine.
"Pardon me, Sir. There is no mistake that this is the ship in question."
"Of course, I will trust you on this matter." Canopus adopted a serious look and nodded, and a breath of relief escaped from the captain's lips.
"Captain."
"Yes, Major?"
The captain answered with a tone fitting of the serious expression Canopus was wearing.
"Keep that ship under surveillance. Since Heigu brought this ship all the way from Yokosuka to Numazu, he might be tempted to use it again to escape."
"Understood. I will immediately contact local agents."
"We will continue observing the vessel tonight."
"Major, aren't you going to the mainland?"
"We're already past the planned time for landing. If we are to successfully complete this mission, we must avoid drawing attention as much as possible."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Nodding silently, Canopus turned his attention towards the freighter.
Persuaded by Balance, Lina graciously decided to give up on going to Japan. She thought that sending Canopus wasn't a mistake. Thinking about it, if they were to exclude Heavy Metal Burst, he might even be stronger than her, Sirius, since he was a veteran combat Magician. Lina kept repeating to herself that he never failed his duties.
Still, Lina had come to a point where it was unbearable to not do anything.
"...It's true, I cannot do anything. I have to obediently remain here. However, if it's about warning a fri... an acquaintance, then there should be no problem!"
Despite the fact that no one was listening to her monologue, she felt the need to hurriedly correct herself before she could utter the word ‘friend'. Looking left and right with a red face, no matter how you looked at it, it was her excessive self-consciousness.
Was she aware that her actions were a bit childish? Lina cleared her throat —— which was quite a cutesy act in and of itself anyway —— and looked towards the vision console. It was currently two hours past midnight. In other words, that meant Lina had been worrying until that time, but it also meant that it was just six o'clock in Japan. Even though that wasn't planned at all, it was just what she hoped for. Although she had decided to phone them, if she gave herself the time to hesitate, it would have been too late. Lina psyched herself up in front of the console and dialed Miyuki's number. After five blips, the screen's light turned on. Looking at the display, her rival appeared, and compared to a year ago, her beauty had even further increased.
"My! Lina, it's been a while."
Neither envy, fear, reverence nor admiration transpired from her gaze, and she was only looking at the person named 'Angelina'. Lina remembered the illusion of the water concealing her heart melting away.
"Hello, Miyuki. It's been awhile indeed. Is everything going well?"
"Yes, thanks to you. Did you lose some weight I wonder? Are you alright? Aren't you busy with your work?"
Calling her role as the STARS' High Commander, the duty of the Sirius, as just 'work'. This spontaneous boldness gave Lina pleasant feelings.
"My weight actually increased you know? Maybe I became more muscular."
"Hmm... It looks like you did shape up a bit. I'm a little jealous."
"Miyuki... I told you that when someone such as yourself talks like that, it sounds like sarcasm. Moreover, what's up with you? Getting even more beautiful like that. When are you going to feel satisfied and stop?"
"I could say the same to you, it really sounds like sarcasm when you say such things... If it seems like I look beautiful, then it's only because of Onii-sama."
Lina suddenly had dejected feelings. Really, if the situation had been different... such thoughts wandered in Lina's head, feelings of disappointment.
"...Ah that's true, Miyuki is now engaged to Tatsuya, right. Congratulations."
"Thank you very much, Lina. Still, the news spread pretty fast it seems."
"Well, we're talking about the ‘Princess' of the Yotsuba. It's normal to bear an interest."
"Is that true? Then could it be that Lina called to congratulate us?" Lina was taken aback by Miyuki's happy smile. And with this she remembered the purpose of her call.
"Umm, no, sorry. It's not really for that." Hearing Lina's apology, Miyuki slightly cocked her head to the side, but rather than being ill-humored, she was puzzled.
"Oh my, in that case, is it an important matter?" Lina wanted to ask why Miyuki would show her such a cutesy face, but refrained from doing so and swallowed her retort.
"Indeed. It's probably a very important matter."
"...Would it be better if I called Onii-sama I wonder?"
Thinking for less than a second, Lina nodded her head at Miyuki's proposal.
"Yes. It would be better for Tatsuya to hear this as well."
"Please, wait for a moment." The screen entered suspension mode.
It took roughly three seconds for the display to turn on again, and for Miyuki's beautiful figure to reappear.
"Lina, long time no see."
"Yes, Tatsuya. It has been a long time." Tatsuya was sitting next to Miyuki. To Lina's surprise, the distance between Tatsuya and Miyuki wasn't zero.
"I guess this would be the time where we slowly talk about how things have been going around each other, but you seem to have important business to talk about. Let's leave the friendship talk for the next time, then. What did you want to consult us about."
"You haven't changed, Tatsuya. I must say, I like that straightforward personality of yours." Immediately after saying this, Lina thought ‘damn it'. Using ‘I like' to qualify an aspect of Tatsuya while Miyuki is right next to him, isn't that like pouring fuel on the already lit fire that is called 'Miyuki's jealousy'.
However, once again unexpectedly, Miyuki remained calm and composed. This was incredibly eerie to Lina.
"Umm... Miyuki. Aren't you angry?"
"Eh, about what?" Miyuki replied with a face that explicitly told she had no idea what Lina was talking about.
From Miyuki's point of view, it was natural that other women would be attracted to him, or at least find likeable points about him, so there was no reason to get angry about such trivial matters. Lina wasn't aware of that fact however.
"Well, let's forget about it."
If she doesn't care about it then there's no reason to press the issue. Thanks to that, Lina was able to get down to business.
"Tatsuya, Miyuki, do you remember about ‘The Seven Sages'?" Tatsuya and Miyuki looked at each other.
"We remember." The one who answered was Tatsuya.
"Have you received some information from those Seven Sages?" While picturing Raymond Clark's face, Tatsuya asked Lina this question. There should be no way for her to know about ‘The Seven Sages' identity. Never mind that Raymond was one of them.
"Spot on."
As Lina didn't have any telepathy or unusual mind powers, she couldn't see what image went through Tatsuya's mind at the moment. Lina also didn't have observation powers on a level where she could see through Tatsuya's poker face.
"According to the information we received from them, remnants of Dahan have planned an act of terrorism in Japan." Having received an answer to her own question, she answered Tatsuya's.
"The Mastermind is someone named Jiedo Heigu. His Chinese name is Gu Jie. He is a presumed surviving Magician from the Kunlunfang Institute... What's wrong Miyuki?"
Miyuki was about to raise her voice but quickly held it in, and having seen that, Lina inquired for the reason of her response.
"The name Kunlunfang Institute holds a very special meaning for us... Forgive me for interrupting you."
The truth was that they had heard this name already from Raymond, that he was another member of ‘The Seven Sages', Miyuki quickly covered up with a lie as Tatsuya didn't have any reaction.
"Ah, I see..." Lina knew about the connection between the Yotsuba and the Kunlunfang Institute. Considering it normal for the Yotsuba Successor to react vividly at the mention of a ‘Kunlunfang Institute Survivor', Lina didn't press the issue.
"You might have already guessed, but we think that the possibility of the Yotsuba being Heigu's target is pretty high."
"I see. Indeed, this line of thought seems to be the most plausible. Is that the reason Lina contacted Miyuki?"
"W-well, yeah, that's how it is." Hearing Tatsuya say ‘I think the same', Lina started to blush without any particular reason.
"It's true that both Miyuki and I are related to this matter. There is also the possibility that Miyuki would be directly targeted."
"Tatsuya... Don't talk as if it's someone else's problem. There is a possibility that you could become a target as well." To a Lina who stated so with an amazed voice, "It would be convenient if I was their target." Tatsuya answered with a fearless expression.
"...Well, I guess so. If they make you their target, I guess things would be wrapped up in short order." Hearing his answer, Lina instinctively consented.
Even Lina didn't understand the extent of Tatsuya's true power. Even though, at first, she had thought that he was a Magician skilled in Mental-Interference Magic, she came to doubt that assessment during their final battle with the Parasites.
In a word, Tatsuya was, and still is a mysterious Magician. However, if anything, Lina couldn't question his ability. Lina couldn't even imagine how Magicians who had no choice but to rely on the little missiles they stole would go about dealing Tatsuya.
"Lina, what's wrong? You have the face of someone who just lost all her worries." Lina violently jumped up at Miyuki casually revealing her thoughts. Why was she feeling so relieved after confirming that Tatsuya wouldn't be done in so easily.
"No, well, you know." Hampered by the noisy sound her heart was making, she couldn't form a proper sentence.
"You see, how should I say it..."
Looking at the wry smile of Tatsuya, Lina remembered how irritating it could be.
"Ah, geez! See, to sum up, I just wanted to." To tell you about Heigu, was what she was about to say, but she managed to seal her lips right before saying it.
"I see... In other words, you were in such a hurry to tell us about Heigu that once you did what you called for, you felt relieved, is that it?"
"Yeah, that's right!"
Lina showed quite the grand reaction to the figurative lifeboat that Tatsuya sent her.
"Ah..." While Lina was rapidly getting redder, "I see. Lina, thank you very much." Tatsuya ignored it and expressed his thanks to Lina.
"Y-you don't need to thank me! I just thought that if I didn't tell you guys I'd have trouble sleeping, that's all! Well then, Tatsuya, Miyuki, good night!" Forgetting the time difference between their countries, Lina cut off the transmission after rapidly saying her goodbye.
She violently took off her clothes and slipped between the sheets without even putting on her pajamas.
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