Chapter 15
“This concludes the report on the Hakone Terror Incident. I believe it is necessary, even for the National Defense Forces, to take the matter in which the USNA Military was easily permitted to intervene in domestic affairs seriously.”
“…Is that the opinion of the Ten Master Clans?”
“No. That is my own opinion, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“Understood. I believe your statements are quite correct, Special Officer, and they match my own. We shall propose this to the Brigade Commander.”
“Yes sir. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
Remaining seated at his desk, the National Defense Army 101
Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Kazama Harunobu, dismissed his subordinate, the unregistered Strategic-Class Magician, Special Officer Ooguro Ryuuya, real name, Shiba Tatsuya. He then crossed his fingers together, shutting his eyes.
Tatsuya, who was normally supposed to be at school on a day like this, had come to the Headquarters of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, regarding the incident that occurred the night before last, when the mastermind’s death brought a temporary end to the incident ?? not an absolute total resolution ?? in order to provide a report regarding the details of the Hakone Terror Incident.
When the terrorist mastermind was holed up in a hospital near Zama Base, Tatsuya had come to handle it on behalf of the National Defense Forces. Because of the circumstances in which he had requested permission from Kazama to utilize magic that was designated a military secret, he had thought a report was necessary. Capturing terrorists was not the job of the military, so it was fine, even without a report, but Kazama was thankful to be able to hear the full details of the event from the person in question.
For Tatsuya, this mission was unrelated to the military. Despite this, it wasn’t quite the case that the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was uninvolved in the incident. Kazama and the company were secretly involved with police investigations designed to flush out supporters of foreign opposition forces that were lurking within the country.
Kazama and his comrades were also aware of the intervention of the USNA Military. Tatsuya had warned that a battle would occur in Zama, so it had been only natural to put that area under surveillance. That had been the only time the USNA regular troops had been active. But afterwards, it had been grasped to a certain extent that irregular covert operatives had also been running rampant.
It was entirely possible that the Hakone Terror Incident could have been resolved faster if the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion had cooperated with Tatsuya’s investigation. Gu Jie would have been unable to escape to the ocean, and there was a high probability that, at the bare minimum, his corpse would have been secured.
More importantly ?? the incident could have been resolved without the sacrifice of two talented police officers.
There was no end to the list of things that Kazama felt no pride in. All of these things existed within the realm of “what if?”
In reality, Kazama and his company had taken no assertive action towards resolving the incident, the terrorist mastermind had been buried in darkness by a USNA Military magician, and Inspector Toshikazu Chiba as well as his associate had died during the investigation. He had become a sacrifice for a vile technique that shamed even the dead.
The unbearable mood that hung over Kazama was because he knew that he bore at least some of the responsibility for the tragedy that befell Inspector Chiba and Associate Inspector Inagaki. Even without Kazama’s involvement, the two inspectors had fallen into the necromantic magician’s trap.
Though yet again, this was just an assumption.
In fact, the National Defense Forces had led Inspector Chiba right to the house where the wicked magician was hiding. Even if Kazama himself wasn’t bothered by it, his subordinates certainly would be.
He knew this because First Lieutenant Fujibayashi was concerned for Inspector Chiba’s welfare, and had aggressively insisted on intervention to resolve the incident.
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