After leaving Miyuki at school and going back home, Tatsuya mounted his favorite motorbike and headed towards Tsuchiura. Needless to say, his destination was the National Defense Base of the 101st Brigade. It was the headquarters of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.
Tatsuya was sporting a rough appearance on his bike, wearing trousers that looked like they were made out of leather, topped off with a large and imposing jacket. But the only thing that mattered at the gate was your ID, and from Tatsuya removing his helmet, he was granted access to the base.
Parking his motorbike in front of headquarters, he looked at the third floor of the building. His grave look was due to the negotiations —— neither a report nor a consultation —— that would come.
Still, it wasn't possible to ignore it. The fact that the Ten Master Clans had taken an official stance regarding the terrorism perpetrated by Gu Jie at Hakone had mainly been in order to attenuate the anti-Magician hate.
However, after hearing about Gu Jie's activities in Kamakura, it was decided that Tatsuya would have to bring them down as soon as possible. It hadn't been an order from Maya, but something he proposed of his own volition.
Gu Jie's method of using Magicians as literal tools for his goals went against Tatsuya's ambition of giving Magicians a way to live without being instruments of war.
These were irreconcilable differences. In the future that Tatsuya envisioned, Gu Jie's existence was something that could not be allowed.
Gu Jie had to be killed. In order to achieve that, he would have to get rid of the victims he used as tools…
Lightly shaking his head to settle down, Tatsuya entered the building and asked that his arrival be relayed. In reality, he didn't even want to phone beforehand, but he couldn't just suddenly intrude without at least doing that much.
There was still 5 minutes before the designated time, but Tatsuya proceeded through. Was this place shorthanded as usual? He hardly met anyone on his way to the commander's room.
"Special Lieutenant Ooguro."
He raised his voice towards the room after knocking on the door. It wasn't like his voice could directly pass through the door, but it was equipped with a microphone that automatically picked up voices. It was something visitors were unaware of.
"Enter."
Actually, the voice originated from the speaker system embedded inside the door. The technology had advanced to the point that the speaker wasn't visible to the user.
After he heard the sound confirming that the lock had been removed, Tatsuya opened the door.
Kazama was sitting at the desk in front of him, it seemed that today he was alone. A touch-screen terminal was on his desk, he was most likely looking over a proposal or a report until Tatsuya arrived. His responsibilities appear to have increased with his promotion.
Tatsuya stepped in front of his desk and saluted.
Although Kazama stood up to return the salute, he immediately sat down again. Tatsuya, who wasn't invited to take a seat, stayed still.
"Special Lieutenant, at ease. So, what suddenly brings you here today?"
That wasn't to say that Kazama was irritated. Even his voice had remained calm.
"Since our communication could have been intercepted, I thought that I would come and report to you directly."
"Oh… Are you saying my battalion's encryption code could have been cracked?"
"Affirmative. Actually, I was warned that there was a high probability that the communication codes of the Yotsuba Family have been deciphered already."
Tatsuya revealed one of his cards immediately.
Kazama's eyebrow twitched lightly.
"…Still, I think that the codes we are using should be stronger than the Yotsuba Family's."
"I am of the same opinion. But still, I thought that this was enough of a reason to be careful."
Although Tatsuya didn't mention exactly on what grounds he had thought that there was a need to be cautious, Kazama didn't object.
"…Alright. Special Lieutenant, state your business."
"There is a possibility that the special forces training grounds of the Zama base have been corrupted by foreign elements."
The Special Forces Training Grounds —— This place had received this name due to fact that it gathered numerous Magic users who had seen their Magic Power strengthened after training there, and received the name ‘Special Tactical Soldiers'. Despite its name, it wasn't so much a training center as a place where experiments were conducted on living humans. The Defense Forces were keeping those reinforced Magicians in a few of the well-known facilities.
Just this information alone would cause a large scandal for the Ministry of Defense if it was leaked, but the Zama base had another secret.
Within its walls, joint research was being conducted with the USNA.
Even though it was something unbeknownst to the rest of the world, it remained true that they were providing Japanese citizens for some foreigners to experiment on.
This was a dark side of the government that could never be made public, and a shameful heritage of the pre-war days.
Tatsuya was reporting that this kind of facility, which was constantly under extreme surveillance, had been partially taken over by foreign powers.
"…Did something happen?"
Kazama didn't ask "What?" nor "Is that true?". Neither did he ask "On what grounds can you say that?".
Kazama was trying to figure out what could have happened to make Tatsuya come to this conclusion.
"Last Saturday at dawn, during the pursuit of the mastermind behind the Hakone terrorist acts, Gu Jie, there had been interference from Magicians specializing in ‘Combustion'. Without a doubt, these Magicians were supposed to be on standby at the Zama base."
The special forces training grounds of the Zama base were especially useful in times of war, with psychics strengthened for ‘Ignition' or ‘Explosion'. The three people that Tatsuya killed last Saturday at Kamakura, after an investigation by Yoshimi, turned out to be Magicians who had been changed into ‘Generators' at the special training grounds of the Zama base.
"Are you saying that the terrorists' hand has extended as far as the Zama base?"
"Affirmative."
Kazama folded his arms and leaked a groan, a frown on his face. It had already been quite a scandal that Zhou Gongjin had concealed himself in the Uji Second Supply Base, but for geographical reasons, anything pertaining to the Zama base was immediately an even more serious matter.
It was right under the nose of the capital, Tokyo. A facility made in order to hide the truth about experiments on living beings. A comfortable cage where combatants comparable to heavy weapons were confined.
The simple fact that one of those bodies which had been experimented on managed to slip out of the base was a big problem in and of itself. If it became known that such beings had become the underlings of an anti-Japanese operative, then it probably wouldn't just end with the National Defense taking responsibility.
"Who is aware of this?"
Kazama closed his eyes and asked Tatsuya so.
"So far, only the members of the Yotsuba Family."
In other words, this information hadn't leaked to the Ten Master Clans.
Hearing this, Kazama's expression seemingly softened. Still, he had kept his posture with his arms folded, and his frown remained.
"Does Special Lieutenant intend on attacking the Zama base?"
"Negative, Lieutenant Colonel."
Tatsuya's tone had changed subtly.
"Even though Zhou Gongjin had been given shelter in the Uji Second Supply Base, I don't think Gu Jie would do something similar in Zama's base."
"Gu Jie… Is that the name of the mastermind?"
Hearing a name that rang a bell in his head, Kazama looked up at Tatsuya, unfolding his arms.
"However, didn't you just say that the experimented bodies of the Zama base had become the pawns of this Gu Jie?"
"There is no mistake in that fact. However, while it is true that reinforced Magicians from the special training grounds have been turned into ‘Generators', assuming that Gu Jie himself is present there and responsible for this would be presumptuous."
"So you think that someone in the Zama base cooperated with Gu Jie and took the reinforced Magicians out of the base?"
"Affirmative."
"Hmm… Compared to thinking that an unidentified foreigner infiltrated the base, this is certainly more realistic. However, how exactly did he do that?"
"A staff member from the special forces training ground might have been turned into a puppet. There might be a Magician capable of an operation as complex as performing the remodeling needed to create a ‘Generator', along with depriving someone of his free-will."
Kazama put both of his elbows on the desk and joined his hands while silently thinking.
"…Are the identities of the people turned into Generators known?"
"Here."
Tatsuya took out an unsealed envelope and presented it to Kazama. He retrieved 3 folded sheets of paper from it. These were photographs of the 3 people that had been turned into Generators, and their bodily features were recorded as well.
"If we shared that information with the base of Zama, we could probably get our hands on the puppets in a few days. However, would it be possible for this investigation to be left to me?"
Kazama matched Tatsuya's gaze, still sitting. He was looking at him with such intensity that it probably wouldn't have been exaggerating to call it a glare.
Tatsuya then revealed his second card.
"Speaking bluntly, I know where Gu Jie's hideout is. However, that place is next to Zama's base."
"…Are you worried about involving Zama's base and having this turn into an all-out battle?"
To Kazama's low, yet heavy voice, Tatsuya returned an answer immediately.
"That is a possibility. Especially since the members of Special Forces Training Grounds of Zama's base hold a strong enmity towards the Ten Master Clans, if someone who was sent there to investigate agitated them too much, it could be dangerous."
Kazama couldn't deny Tatsuya's prediction possibly happening. This was a facility made with the goal of not letting its residents escape.
Various adjustments had been made in order to not let even the bodies that had gone through the strengthening experiment have a chance of leaving. With that in mind, escape was basically nothing but a dream.
Still, it was a fact that, every year, the Ten Master Clans helped in dealing with cases of escapees.
It might sound inhumane, but for the Defense Forces, disposing of them was a much safer way. If the experimented subject survived, it would take a great deal of effort to keep the whole thing a secret. On the other hand, a dead body would leave no tangible evidence behind it. Taking the power and influence of the government into account, burying such a mundane affair in the dark would be no trouble. At the very least, compared to the cost of keeping one alive, it was far cheaper.
If headquarters learned that an unauthorized fight broke out near Zama that involved a member of the Ten Master Clans, and the Yotsuba Family… They could make experiments escape on purpose to put the responsibility of disposal on the Yotsuba Family. This was a scenario that was likely to happen.
"Concerning the non-intervention promise made to the Zama base, we will need the cooperation of the General."
"We wouldn't have the time for this. Gu Jie would be able to escape."
"…Special Lieutenant, do you want to settle things once and for all?"
"I'm planning to avoid as many fights as possible with National Defense personnel. However, if a fight broke out by accident or due to unavoidable circumstances, I will erase every single trace of it."
Tatsuya was saying that if need be, he'd use his ‘Mist Dispersion' even on allied troops.
"It might be impossible to do otherwise."
With a bitter expression on his face, yet deprived of hesitation, Kazama permitted the use of Tatsuya's Mist Dispersion.
It was 8 P.M. when Tatsuya finally arrived near the Zama base, having traveled from the Tsuchiura base after taking his time to settle various affairs.
He didn't talk to Katsuto and Mayumi about his coming here today. Of course, not even to Masaki. He missed today's meeting as well. Rather, members of the Yotsuba Family were his companions.
It seemed like all the members were already gathered. Tatsuya stopped his motorcycle in the public park's parking lot and stepped up to a van.
"Fumiya, Ayako, you did well in coming despite today being a weekday."
Once he was in whispering distance he called out to his second cousins in a low voice, they had been erasing their presence just like he was.
"Tatsuya-niisan!"
While keeping his voice down as well, although unable to completely hide his astonishment, Fumiya responded.
"I didn't even feel your presence. You keep getting better and better at being invisible."
"Good evening, Tatsuya-san. I understand that the current situation demands it, but since this is bad for my heart, could you be more considerate?"
Fumiya let out undisguised praise while Ayako reproached him. Her attitude had changed a little ever since his engagement with Miyuki had been announced.
She was less reserved, and it looked like the distance between them had shortened.
However, this was Ayako trying her best to accept the reality of the current situation.
"It looked like Yoshimi-san would faint due to the shock."
Near Ayako, Yoshimi shook her head from left to right in her usual mysterious style.
"Yoshimi-san, you don't need to hold back. Tatsuya-san, despite being so straightforward, utterly lacks any form of common sense; in this situation it wouldn't do any good to hide the truth."
Those words may have been surprisingly abusive, but Yoshimi wasn't one to have reserved thoughts. She was more the type to let her guard down.
"I'm alright. I won't be shaken by something like this."
"Eh…? But you looked pretty surprised from what I saw."
"It's not the case. I'm an adult after all."
Yoshimi had become quite talkative with Ayako as well. Her wariness might also have loosened since they were cousins. For Ayako and Fumiya, Tatsuya was their elder second cousin, from their father's side of the family.
Yoshimi, on the other hand is the daughter of the brother of Ayako's mother. In other words, their maternal cousin.
Yoshimi's full name was Shinonome Yoshimi. Although she was currently 21 years old, she wasn't going to school. Even during her high school years, she had followed a correspondence system. Thus, she could perform investigative duties while learning.
With this in mind, it would make sense if she had developed a sort of elder sister role towards Ayako, but looking at them, it was pretty clear that it was Ayako who would grasp the initiative. It wasn't due to her status as the daughter of the current Kuroba Family Head, but rather just their personalities.
"Tatsuya-niisan, are you going to change your clothes inside?"
Fumiya asked Tatsuya while ignoring the girls and their playful attitudes. Combat equipment for the upcoming operation had been prepared in the van.
By the way, Fumiya's appearance was, as usual, his cross-dressing disguise. Although, had he finally decided to be more attractive with his make-up thicker than before.
"Alright."
Without talking about Fumiya's pretty girl style, he got in the vehicle.
The combat suit that the Yotsuba had prepared more or less looked like the clothes Tatsuya had been wearing just a few moments ago. The only difference would be that the blouson insides were tied up. However, as far as performance was concerned, it rivaled that of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion's Mobile Suit.
Today, Tatsuya wasn't using the gun-shaped Silver Horn but the thought-controlled type set with a Silver Taurus bracelet. Hidden inside his blouson wasn't another CAD but a gun and a knife. If they were found by the police, it wouldn't end with just an inquiry. This was also one of the reasons why they had changed their clothes here and not elsewhere.
The helmet Tatsuya was wearing could also function as a gas mask.
Fumiya was looking at his brave figure admiringly while he himself was wearing a mini-dress full of button ornaments —— that being said, all of those buttons were gas capsules and flashbangs —— when he called out to Ayako.
"We're going soon."
Fumiya, who was already looking at Tatsuya, nodded immediately.
Ayako and Yoshimi, who had somehow gone into a ‘Whose appearance is not suitable for this mission' debate, turned towards Tatsuya and slightly bowed.
Tatsuya, then, began to walk.
Directly behind him were Fumiya and Ayako, as well as several men in black suits.
The number of shadows around Yoshimi suddenly increased, and then she saw the three of them off.
"Still, the surveillance is pretty tight."
Using something that resembled binoculars —— a sensor that made infrared rays as well as electromagnetic waves visible —— she reported so to Tatsuya in a concerned voice.
The three of them were observing the target building from inside the invisibility field that Ayako produced. Yoshimi had read this ‘Memory'
of Gu Jie's new hideout from the corpse of a former Generator. Although it was nothing but a private hospital on paper, in truth, this place undertook illegal requests from the army as an unofficial research facility. The intense policing they saw was to be expected.
"It wouldn't be too difficult to sneak into the building, but with this kind of heavy surveillance, I don't think they'll only have guards. There might be some other things waiting for us."
"So you think that there is some sort of trap set up?"
"Yes."
Tatsuya assessed the situation with his own eyes.
Considering that we're talking about an organization that was used to take on military missions, they were sure to be prepared.
The hospital's owner might have already had his heart remodeled. He may even have been killed already. Anyone would've been able to guess as much, was what Tatsuya was thinking.
Based on this, he searched both the interior and exterior of the building.
The security equipment was certainly overbearing, but it wasn't anything out of the extraordinary for a private operation. Compared to the several sensors installed throughout the Steeplechase event in the Nine Schools Competition, this was nothing.
He could see nine human shadows inside of the building.
Five of those people had a normal human's information structure. They were probably doctors and nurses on duty.
One person had noise in the information structure of his head. He was probably the director of the hospital who had been made into a puppet.
Two people had a distorted information structure type that Tatsuya had seen before. Without a doubt, those two were Generators.
And a single person with a strange information structure was there.
Although he seemed more similar to a regular human than a Generator, his age data was definitely weird.
Even if a person had changed their body's age to be different than their actual age, only their true age would be shown. The body's age would be shown alongside their general health.
However, in the information body that Tatsuya was looking at now, there existed two different datasets for his age.
(Such an information body, I have seen one similar before… When, and where was it?)
Tatsuya sifted through the vast amount of data in his head, quickly finding what he was looking for.
(I see, this was Zhou Gongjin's…)
Due to the fact that Tatsuya had been solely concentrating on localizing his true location that was camouflaged by Ghost walker, the abnormality in Zhou's information structure had gone unnoticed at that time.
However, with Tatsuya never forgetting a single detail, a sense of discomfort appeared.
"Found him. This is probably Gu Jie in person."
Tatsuya reported to Ayako and Fumiya with a whisper.
Tension ran through the muscles of their back.
"Let's move in immediately."
Fumiya replied with a whispering voice, too. It looked like Ayako didn't have an objection, either.
The three people walked towards the front gate. Due to the magic of the men in black suits, regular humans couldn't see them. Although they had received orders to avoid a fight to the best of their ability, if there was any possibility of the National Defense getting involved, those orders would be ignored.
"Tatsuya-san."
Nodding at Ayako's voice, Tatsuya pressed the button on the radio he had in his hand.
The light that was illuminating the hospital's gate disappeared. The men in black had cut the electrical wire that was supplying the building with energy. The wire in the ground as well; since there was no need to dig it up due to Magic, it had been a simple task.
To begin with, despite being a private hospital, it was still a proper hospital. It was quite probable that the building had an emergency power supply.
Tatsuya confirmed that the security system had been cut off and signaled Ayako with his hands.
Using Ayako's ‘Mock Teleportation', the three of them jumped on the roof of the hospital.
The light had yet to be restored.
"Let's proceed as planned."
The plan was simple, Ayako was to secure their retreat while Fumiya acted as her guard.
Tatsuya was to secure Gu Jie's capture on his own.
Even though both Ayako and Fumiya had strongly opposed this plan, they weren't so childish as to pose difficulties when the strategy had already been set in motion.
"Please be careful."
The brother and sister, who looked like a pair of pretty sisters at present, sent him off in unison.
The lights came back on at almost the exact moment Tatsuya entered the building from the rooftop.
Looking at him, not even a trace of panic was present. This timing was roughly what he had expected, so it wasn't as if it had been "in the nick of time".
However, he wasn't being carefree at all. Did their target guess that this kind of operation was taking place due to the power outage? The information body that Tatsuya thought was Gu Jie immediately headed for the emergency stairway from his former position in a room on the 3rd floor.
This movement was convenient for Tatsuya. The risk of involving doctors or nurses became smaller with it.
Tatsuya dashed towards the emergency exit, but stopped in his tracks once he reached the last room in the hallway.
Bullets came flying out of the door and crashed into the wall on the other side.
Tatsuya switched his ‘View' from the emergency stairs and focused it on the weapon of his ambusher.
He used ‘Decomposition' on the gun.
The Magic Sequence for ‘Ignition' was nullified and rendered useless by his Gram Dispersion.
The gun of another Generator who was approaching from the back was decomposed.
A door was vigorously flung open, and Magicians turned into Generators jumped out to attack him.
They were not only wielding strengthened magical skills from being prime field agents turned into Generators in the National Defense's facilities, they were also making use of power and speed impossible for humans to achieve. One of the Generators tried to stab Tatsuya with a knife.
However, not only was Tatsuya a product of the Fourth Research Institute, he was also a Magician heavily trained in hand-to-hand combat. The training he had received had been more oriented towards physical strength rather than magic. As someone who primarily learned to use his body, he was completely familiar with the process of controlling his body with Psions.
Though he hadn't received biochemical enhancements to make his body stronger, Tatsuya made up for this disadvantage by protecting the information structure of his muscles so that even if the burden on his bones exceeded the limits, his body wouldn't suffer damage.
The Generator used the ‘Body Ignition' Magic on Tatsuya. Not needing a CAD, that might have been the proof that he had psychic ancestors.
Tatsuya once again used his Gram Dispersion towards the Magic Sequence aimed at him. At the same time, the Generator's blade was parried with his own knife that he took out of his blouson.
The blade lock lasted an instant.
After Tatsuya parried the attack, his power slipped out, but at the same time, the Generator leaped back.
Tatsuya had wanted to destroy his opponent's posture, but it ended up only lasting for a moment.
On the other hand, he had gained a distance where knives wouldn't be able to reach.
Tatsuya turned his back on his opponent.
He then threw his knife towards another Generator who was approaching from the back.
Perhaps due to this surprising action, the opponent stopped and had to parry the knife throw with his own knife.
His eyes let go of Tatsuya for an instant.
When he turned his attention back to him, Tatsuya had pulled out his gun.
He turned his gun towards the Generator.
Due to the attached suppressor, a small gunshot sound leaked.
The Generator who had expected a magic attack ate a bullet straight from the front.
The high caliber bullet hit him right in the stomach, and the Generator, who had roughly the same physique as Tatsuya, was pushed back. No bleeding could be seen on the Generator who was now on the ground.
That was evidence that he was wearing an effective body armor.
Tatsuya turned around once more.
The other Generator had aimed for his neck with the knife in his right hand, and Tatsuya caught it at the wrist with his left hand.
His Magic Calculation Area dissolved the Magic Sequences of ‘Ignition'
and ‘Scorching' that the Generator was about to unleash.
That Generator's casting speed was nearing instantaneous levels as a psychic. By sacrificing diversity, his event modification speed had been so drastically enhanced that he could provoke it just by wishing. This came with being a Generator. By getting rid of their free will, it was possible to free up mental activity resources.
However, even with this, Tatsuya's ‘Decomposition' was faster. Even faster than the Generator could complete his magic, Tatsuya's decomposition came out first.
Tatsuya twisted the Generator's right hand and broke his wrist. He then shot him from up-close with his gun.
Even though he didn't have the capacity to feel pain, his faltering physical condition made magic execution nigh-impossible.
Even though the first Generator who had been knocked out had already recovered, his magic execution speed still wasn't back to its normal level.
Suppressing all the Magic Sequences of his opponents, reserve power arose in Tatsuya's Magic Calculation Area with which he counterattacked.
Tatsuya used ‘Partial Dismantling'.
In that instant, holes opened up in the chests of the Generators.
Although the Generators continued to weakly struggle without their hearts, they were in their death throes, and soon, even that stopped.
After confirming that all Psion activity had stopped, Tatsuya headed towards the emergency stairway once more.
Gu Jie had apparently already reached the 1st floor.
Tatsuya jumped down the stairway.
Avoiding damage with minimal inertia control magic, he aimed at the ambulance that Gu Jie had planned on using to escape.
Why was there an ambulance despite no emergency being signaled?
Why was there a need for an ambulance to be bulletproof and heat-resistant? Any such questions were shelved in the depth of Tatsuya's mind.
The Psion noise provoked by the Cast Jamming emanating from the ambulance wasn't a problem for him either.
The only thing that was left as an obstacle from Tatsuya were several High Power Rifle bullets shot in succession towards him.
On that day, a large-scale VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft from the USNA came flying to the Zama base. Considering that the Zama base was a shared territory between Japan and the USNA, this was not unusual. The existence of the Special Forces Training Grounds was a secret that was known to the USNA for historical reasons. There was no reason to refuse the landing and no possibility of that to begin with.
After the aircraft landed, the commander of the base accepted a report from the commanding officer of the transport. This wasn't unusual either. In the case of the commander, if there were specific reasons to this visit, it could save some trouble.
The commander of the USNA Army introduced himself as major Benjamin Lowes. The impression that the base's commander had of him was that of a high-class officer, fearless yet smart. Not only because of their current alliance, but also because he had the type of personality which made him not behave in an unnecessarily rude way.
Still, the base's commander didn't relax. He understood with a glance that it was a high-caliber Magician who had just entered the room.
Since this was a base where Magicians were strengthened, there were precise magic power measurement devices. And although he had skillfully influenced the measurement results, on the contrary, it had only served to prove the height of his skill.
After the formal diplomatic exchanges, Major Lowes started to discuss an incredible matter with a refined tone.
"It is shameful to say, but I have been sent here in order to capture deserters."
"Deserters, you say?"
The commander of the base barely managed to swallow his "Again?".
He was one of the few officers who was aware that last year's troubles with vampires had been caused by USNA deserters. This, too, was due to the special circumstances of the Special Force Training Grounds of Zama's base.
"As you might know, on December of the year before last, soldiers of our army had deserted and fled to your country. Although we confirmed that most of them died, it appears that it wasn't all of them."
Major Lowes —— Commander of the Stars' First Unit, Benjamin Canopus, seeing through the commander's doubts, came up with a lie.
Since the commander wasn't aware of absolutely all the details, he couldn't doubt these words.
"We're not sure what exactly their objectives are but we have confirmed that the deserters plan on kidnapping the doctor who has been providing medical treatment to the Magicians of this base. The attack will take place tonight."
"…Major, you have our gratitude for this information."
"Commander, I think you have an idea of what I'm about to ask of you."
We will deal with this attack ourselves, was what the commander was about to say. Considering that this was about to take place right in front of their noses and that it concerned civilians who were cooperating with them, it was no wonder.
However, Canopus anticipated this reaction and prevented this sentence from coming out.
"I heard that the Ten Master Clans are also pursuing the deserters of our army. We think that stimulating the Magicians currently stationed in this base would be unfavorable for both of our countries."
The commander made a sour face and swallowed the sentence he was about to say.
"Could you, at your discretion, overlook my unit's action in this matter?"
"…This exceeds the range of discretion I am allowed as an officer.
Approbation from headquarters is needed."
"Commander. It's an urgent matter. The deserter's attack could happen in a matter of hours. If you say that it is impossible for you to entrust this entirely to us, we could agree to a joint operation with your own forces."
Canopus played his cards right here and now.
"Indeed, if you could lend us soldiers of the Special Force Training Grounds… Number 024, 026, 029, 037 and 041 would be suitable for such a task."
Those were the numbers of the strengthened Magicians that had been stolen by Gu Jie.
"…I agree to this cooperation. However, I'll have you leave the reporting duty to me!"
Towards the speech of the commander, Canopus returned a salute with a nonchalant face.
This event had taken place 3 hours before Tatsuya had rushed into action.
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