Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 23 - Isolation - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3

The main theme of the morning news release on Sunday, May 12, was the announcement of an international project, held in Los Angeles, at 13

o'clock local time.

The speaker was Edward Clark. He was an engineer from a government agency known as the NSA: National Security Agency. In his statement it said that the NSA is calling for cooperation from all countries of the world.

In fact, nothing has been done yet as America has just launched this international project alone.

It was called "Project Dione". It consisted in realizing the dream of terraforming Venus with the help of resources from Jupiter and its satellites using magical technologies.

The diameter of Venus is equal to 0.95 of the diameter of the Earth.

Gravity is equal to 0.9 of the earth. From these indicators, it looks much more suitable for human settlement than Mars. However the thick atmosphere of Venus, consisting of carbon dioxide and having clouds of sulfuric acid, had a high temperature due to the greenhouse effect. Many considered such conditions too difficult to change. As a result, most space exploration programs switched to Mars.

But from the perspective of a settlement colony, Venus remained preferable to Mars, because of Mars remoteness from the Earth and low gravity, which adversely affects the human body.

"With the help of magic technology to implement the extremely complex terraforming of Venus's atmosphere which was too difficult for conventional technology." This was the essence of "Project Dione.

Edward Clark voiced the names of nine people who, besides him are necessary for the implementation of "Project Dione." In this list were not only scientists. The names of the president of Maximilian Devices, Paul Maximilian, and the president of Rosen MagiCraft, Friedrich Rosen, were also mentioned.

That is, the cooperation of the two largest manufacturers of magic equipment was requested which was quite reasonable regardless of the possibility of obtaining this cooperation. The likelihood of obtaining the cooperation mentioned in the list of William MacLeod and Igor Andreivitch Bezobrazzoff, the world-famous "Apostles", was even lower, but their names could also be understood on the list.

The reason why the Japanese media drew attention to the project, which was only at the planning stage, was the tenth person on the list, whose name wasn't mentioned.

After voicing the names of nine people, Edward Clark looked at the camera and said:

"There is another technical specialist, whom we very much want to see on the project. We cannot give a real name, because according to the laws of the country of residence, he's still considered a minor. I can only say that this is a Japanese high school student, who acts under the pseudonym "Taurus Silver"

"This is an unpleasant situation..." Tatsuya muttered in an unhappy voice, watching the morning news recording, sitting on the sofa in the living room. The morning, which from the very beginning was far from good, became even worse.

Seated next to him, Miyuki looked at him with concern in her eyes. But she couldn't decide to speak. No, it seems that she simply didn't know what to say.

"...I'm sorry, Miyuki. Looks like I made you worry too much." Noticing Miyuki's eyes, Tatsuya said and turned to her with his usual soothing smile on his face.

However, this smiling face immediately froze. Miyuki's cheeks were shedding tears.

"......"

Now it was Tatsuya's turn to shut up, not knowing what to say.

"P-I'm sorry."

In a hurry, Miyuki tried to wipe the tears with her fingers. A clean handkerchief was stretched from behind her.

"Thank you, Minami-chan."

Miyuki looking back to thank Minami, took the handkerchief from her, but instead of wiping her tears, she simply dabbed it to her face, putting it to her eyes.

"...Miyuki?" Tatsuya timidly called her name.

?

?

Miyuki slightly lowered her handkerchief. Her face, looking out from under the bangs, was bright red.

"I apologize. To so suddenly cry... I acted like a child...?"

It seems that Miyuki was ashamed for showing her tears like this.

"No, I don't consider you a child... but what, has happened?"

Miyuki removed the handkerchief from her face. Her face still showed signs of redness.

"Um... Onii-sama. No, Tatsuya-sama." Correcting her appeal to Tatsuya, Miyuki involuntarily looked away. "I'm asking you... don't make yourself smile in front of me."

"I would not..."

Tatsuya couldn't finish the words of justification. Because he knew that he does not know how to lie well.

"I also understand that Tatsuya-sama was in a difficult situation. I cannot help but understand Tatsuya-sama."

"Really..."

"Maybe I cannot do anything... But, Tatsuya-sama, at least share your problems with me. Because I'm no longer your sister, but your bride."

Miyuki glanced sideways and looked at Tatsuya's expression. Although she didn't say anything strange, she was ashamed of her words.

Usually in such a situation, he would just tenderly embrace her without any reason.

But he didn't know how this would affect her in her current state.

At such times, you cannot let her lose control over herself, or you can lose your life.

These were Tatsuya's reflections, looking at the shy Miyuki.

Thanks to Miyuki, Tatsuya's mood improved, but that didn't mean that the problems that had fallen on him disappeared. On the contrary, from now on he will have to deal with them.

"...What matters most is..." In response to Miyuki's request, Tatsuya began to explain to her the current situation. "...that they could release the identity of Taurus Silver. And on this we cannot do anything."

"Erasing the memory of Edward Clark will not make sense...?"

"Right. We should think about what to do in a situation where the world has learned that I am Taurus Silver."

"You cannot accept Edward Clark's invitation?"

"I cannot. To find out Edward Clark's true purpose, we need to study the content of 'Project Dione'... But whether or not it will benefit magicians, in my current position I cannot go to the USNA."

"...And if you-yourself could, what would you choose?"

"Even if I could, I'm not going to leave you."

Miyuki turned away with a red face. Because of her recent statement

"I'm no longer your sister, but a bride," she perceived the opposite sex in Tatsuya more than usual.

Tatsuya wasn't puzzled by Miyuki's different behavior. He already knew for himself that his words were rather embarrassing. You cannot help that she cannot cope with her shyness, being in a state where she's firmly aware of herself as a bride, and not as a younger sister.

But if I apologize, the awkwardness will only increase. Tatsuya decided not to look at Miyuki shivering with shame and continued to speak.

"Although I am not interested in international projects of non-military magic... Let's start by organizing the information we have."

"...I'll take a look."

The information provided by Edward Clark had a brief project plan.

Tatsuya ran his eyes through the original document, and Miyuki read the translated text.

Minami placed a cup of freshly brewed tea in front of them. As if on a signal, Tatsuya and Miyuki simultaneously looked up from the electronic paper with the details of the project.

"...The so-called Dione, it does not seem to be Saturn's companion

'Dione', but the goddess of Greek myths."

"Right. Wife of Zeus, who gave birth to Aphrodite. From that version of the myth, where Aphrodite is born from sea foam."

"Zeus is Jupiter. Aphrodite is Venus. So this is... a project of a goddess who will revive Venus with Jupiter's resources?"

"I think you're right. In my opinion, this project in itself makes sense for humanity, but..."

Tatsuya again looked at the electronic paper and frowned. The project consisted of four stages.

The first stage was launching materials and finished equipment into space using Weight and Acceleration magic. It is the gravity of the Earth that becomes the biggest obstacle in the construction of large-scale structures in space. To deliver massive objects into orbit, powerful rocket engines with high thrust are required. To use extraterrestrial resources, the first equipment for construction and production must be delivered from Earth.

For this purpose, it wasn't planned to create high-thrust rockets, but with the help of Weight and Acceleration magic to help existing rockets deliver massive objects into space.

This has been done before. Before the war there was a project to create a platform in space shooting massive hypersonic shells that would become a new strategic weapon, to replace nuclear weapons. The project's bottleneck was the thrust of rocket engines. In order to be considered a strategic weapon, it was necessary to use a large number of massive shells.

It was necessary either to develop a rocket engine with high thrust capable of delivering such a mass into orbit, or launch conventional rockets many times. The cost was unacceptable, even under the pretext of replacing nuclear weapons.

Then it was thought to put two magicians in the rocket, which will use Weight and Acceleration magic. One person reduces gravity for the entire rocket, including cargo (rockets with massive projectiles and components for the construction of the platform), and the other adds to the acceleration force of the rocket engine. The US, the predecessor of the USNA, with the help of this method, in fact, was able to put into orbit a strategic military satellite that was to become a platform for launching missiles.

However this scheme was abandoned after the launch of just one strategic military satellite. All twelve magicians involved in six missile launches carrying 30 missiles and spare parts for the satellite were killed in orbit.

Not as a result of an accident. No, this definitely should be called an accident, because in addition to the magicians no more people died, neither among the pilots, nor among the technicians. The use of magic in conditions where an object weighing 600 tons for a short period of time strongly varies mass and gravity, caused the magicians magic calculation zone to overload.

Nevertheless, a new solution has already been invented on this issue.

Although it has not yet been proven in terms of value, it was obvious that the experiments will prove successful. This part of the project didn't cause any concern to Tatsuya.

The second stage consisted in using magicians to extract from the asteroid belt the necessary metal resources for the project.

"Project Dione" required a large amount of nickel, and it could be obtained from "Class M asteroids". In addition to nickel, most of the metal resources needed to create space equipment could be obtained in space without using resources extracted from the earth's interior.

However, extraction of resources in space with zero gravity has one significant drawback: fuel (propellant) will be spent for any, even minimal, movement.

In this project, it was proposed to solve the problem of the propellant, using Move-type magic for work in outer space. Indeed, using Move-type magic it will be possible to freely move asteroids and other small celestial bodies, using the main ship as a starting point. It would be nice if a magician who worked for a long time as a miner would join the project to work in the asteroid belt located far from the Earth.

The third stage consisted in using magic to collect hydrogen from Jupiter and transport it to Venus. It was planned to use the Sabatier reaction, in which hydrogen reacts with carbon dioxide, resulting in water and methane. This scheme will not only bring water to the dehydrated Venus, but also reduce the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere. And nickel is the catalyst for this reaction.

In orbit around Venus will be placed tethered (cabled to the surface) satellites, and on the cables will be fixed nickel specially shaped containers. The hydrogen delivered from Jupiter will be loaded into the main module of the satellite and sent along the pipe-shaped cable down into the nickel containers. Near the surface of Venus is a fairly high temperature and pressure, so the Sabatier reaction, using nickel as a catalyst, will occur without the addition of additional heat and pressure.

When a sufficient level of water is reached in the atmosphere of Venus, it will be possible to start producing oxygen with genetically modified algae.

According to the proposed scheme, magicians are placed in the orbits of Jupiter and Venus, where using a combination of Movement and Acceleration magic will control the process of sending cargo ships from Jupiter with hydrogen and the process of receiving them on Venus.

However, water (water vapor) and methane are gases that cause an even stronger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. As carbon dioxide decreases, the high temperature of Venus will become even higher.

Therefore, from the surface of Callisto, one of the Galilean satellites, ice will be cut out, sent to Venus and discharged into its atmosphere, thereby lowering its temperature. The fourth point of the list suggested the use of magic to cut and transport these giant blocks of ice.

Since the combination of concentrated sulfuric acid and ice works as a cryogenic agent, it is expected that the atmosphere of Venus will be effectively cooled when a large amount of ice is thrown into it. It was assumed that this would be sufficient to complete the first stage for terraforming the atmosphere of Venus, even if the production of water according to Sabatier's reaction does not go with the expected efficiency.

However, these schemes of the third and fourth stages required that magicians live in the orbits of Jupiter and Venus. In order to continuously send cargo ships and ice blocks for a long time while overcoming the gravity of Jupiter, a considerable number of magicians would be required. Venus also required the presence of many magicians, since tethered satellites for effective work would not be 1-2, but many more. Magicians sent to Jupiter and Venus will not be able to return to Earth for many months, or even years. This also involved magicians sent as space miners in the second stage.

"I knew it was..."

"Is there something wrong?"

Still frowning, Tatsuya nodded at Miyuki's question.

"Maybe I'm exaggerating. More precisely, I would prefer for it to be so...

But it seems to me that the goal of this project is the expulsion of magicians from the Earth, who are a threat to people."

"Expelling them... into space?"

There was no sense of danger in Miyuki's voice. It seems that she has not yet really understood the situation.

Perhaps it was inevitable. As a result of social upheavals caused by global cooling, and the subsequent war, the development of space technologies has stopped, and at the moment was at the same level. And manned space flights ceased to be carried out from the first half of the 21st century.

Even representatives of the elite profession of the "astronaut" stopped flying into space. Therefore, the parts about sending magicians to space, undoubtedly, was difficult to immediately grasp.

"Officially it will be the exploration of the cosmos. But the magicians involved in this project will not be able to return to Earth for a very long time. Even if they return due to exhaustion, they will be sent back again as soon as their condition improves."

Tatsuya spoke without taking his eyes off the electronic paper, and without looking up.

"Devote your whole life to exploring the cosmos. I think this is a wonderful way of life. But I..."

Tatsuya plunged deep into his thoughts, never looking at Miyuki.

The next morning (Monday). Class 3A.

There was already more than half, but less than 2/3 of the students in the room. Miyuki had not yet appeared in the class.

Pupils in the classroom, gathered in groups of friends, chatted about different things. In this sense, high school students of magic were the most ordinary high school students.

Students who discuss the cancellation of the Nine Schools Competition were very few. Not because they didn't care, but because they tried to avoid the feelings associated with it. After all, the user of the problematic magic "Active Air Mine" was present in this class, and class A students understood well that Tatsuya's helped to achieve victory last year and the year before last. In this class there were many participants in those competitions, so nobody wanted to choose this topic for discussion.

But this does not mean that they had nothing to talk about instead of this.

Many students discussed yesterday's news about the USNA space exploration project.

Honoka and Shizuku were no exception.

"Shizuku, is that really true?"

"Is what true?"

"Well... The fact that Taurus Silver is really a high school student from Japan."

Like Honoka, interest in Taurus Silver's real identity was very high among high school students.

And suddenly it turns out that the ingenious engineer of magic hiding his identity is in fact the same as they are a high school student.

"You cannot immediately say that this is a lie. For example, there is Kichijouji-kun."

In the field related to the study of magic, there were no people who didn't know the famous pioneer of the "Cardinal Code", a third-grade student from Third High, Kichijouji Shinkurou. He made his discovery when he was only 13 years old. But since that time he had not had any special achievements, and the name of Kichijouji Shinkurou couldn't even get close to the name of Taurus Silver, who created flight magic, which was the solution to one of the "Three Great Puzzles of Magic."

Shizuku's theory was that having Kichijouji Shinkurou from Third High as an example, we can say that there isn't anything strange about Taurus Silver being high school student.

"Listen, Shizuku..."

They were old friends. Shizuku understood that Honoka herself couldn't say this, and decided to help her.

"What?"

Therefore, Shizuku decided to not hesitate to start talking to Honoka.

"Taurus Silver... this is Tatsuya-san?"

"It is a possibility."

It was an instant response. Honoka stared at her with wide-open eyes.

"What happened?"

"...I didn't expect to get such a quick response ..."

"It's just that I also thought so recently."

Shizuku again gave an immediate response.

"Do you mean that you thought the same when you heard that Taurus Silver is a high school student?"

"Yeah."

Shizuku nodded, completely unconcerned, after which she thought that only replying with that would be too impolite, and so with a little delay added a short explanation.

"If Taurus Silver is a Japanese high school student, then I can only think it would be Tatsuya-san."

"...Indeed, it looks like you're right."

Honoka made a pensive face.

"So..., ...!"

But Honoka couldn't finish speaking. When she saw Miyuki entering the class, she immediately closed her mouth.

"Good morning."

"Good morning Miyuki."

Shizuku responded first to Miyuki's morning greeting.

"Good morning Miyuki."

Honoka followed her example. She was unable to voice her fear that Tatsuya would leave for America before Miyuki entered.

Tatsuya slipped into his class at the very last moment before the beginning of the lesson. However, after reading the message that came to the student terminal, he had to get up right after he sat down.

"Tatsuya-san, what happened?"

Mizuki, sitting next to Tatsuya as usual once he got back, asked with suspicion in her voice. At this school there was no such thing as changing places when going to the next grade.

"I was called to the teacher's room. So I went."

Mizuki's face darkened. In addition to Mizuki, other classmates who also heard Tatsuya's response followed him with uneasy glances.

It's good that I didn't tell the truth, Tatsuya thought, looking at that reaction. Because in fact he was summoned not to the teacher's room but to the principle's office.

In the office of the principle three people waited for Tatsuya: the director Momoyama, the vice principle Yaosaka, and the teacher from class 3E, Jennifer Smith.

Momoyama was sitting at a large desk, Yaosaka was standing at the side of the table, and Jennifer was standing diagonally behind Yaosaka.

"I'll get straight to the point. There is one thing that I want to confirm."

When Tatsuya stood in front of the table, Momoyama spoke, skipping the introduction.

"Shiba Tatsuya-kun. Are you Taurus Silver?"

"...How did you decide this?"

Instead of answering Momoyama's question, Tatsuya answered the question with a question.

Although this was unthinkably rude behavior for the relationship between the student and the principle, Momoyama didn't show that this affected his mood. This attitude was because he had previously assumed that Tatsuya would not respond.

"Through the American embassy, I received a letter from the NSA, the National Security Agency of the USNA. Yesterday an embassy employee brought it straight to my house."

Momoyama wasn't only the director of First High, but also the universally recognized authority of magical education. As a civilian, he wasn't engaged in diplomacy. It was rather unusual that an embassy employee brought a letter of diplomatic content to a simple civilian.

But Tatsuya didn't move his eyebrows when he heard this. Momoyama was also calm about the impudent behavior of the 18-year-old boy.

The views of Tatsuya and Momoyama collided with each other.

Figuratively speaking, it wasn't throwing sparks in looks, but pressure on each other. Vice principle Yaosaka who was looking at the side of this confrontation between two people, had a pale face.

"Here is the letter."

Momoyama took out a white envelope from the drawer of the table and laid it on the table.

"Here is written the request "To make sure that Taurus Silver, Mr.

Tatsuya Shiba was able to take part in Project Dione." The National Security Agency of the USNA has come to the conclusion that you are Taurus Silver, and requests your participation in the project."

"Principle. I'm still a high school student at this school. I'm not going to interrupt my studies halfway."

Tatsuya didn't answer the question "Are you Taurus Silver?". He deliberately ignored this part, and fundamentally refused to participate in the project, or rather rejected it.

"A pupil of our school is invited to an international magical project. I believe that you are honored."

Momoyama broke off for a moment and looked at Tatsuya with a particularly strong gleam in his eyes.

"And not only me. The Director of the National Magic University is of the same opinion. If you take part in the NSA project, you will be counted as graduated from school and granted the right to enter the National Magic University. If you cannot attend the University due to the employment in the project, then during the period of participation in the project you will receive the marks automatically, and if participation in the project reaches four years, then you will automatically receive a diploma."

"Is this an official decision?"

"It's not officially decided yet, but I guarantee you this with my name and status."

Before Tatsuya could answer, Momoyama turned to Jennifer.

"Smith-sensei. Shiba-kun after all already has the knowledge and skills sufficient for the graduation of our school, is that correct?"

"It is as you say."

Jennifer replied in a reluctant tone.

"Even last year's "Stellar Furnace" experiment is enough to evaluate Shiba-kun as sineibe who has already reached the level of a graduate of the National Magic University."

"Understood."

Momoyama nodded to Jennifer and looked again at Tatsuya.

"Shiba-kun. Do you yourself not think that you're wasting your time here, the level of which is much lower than yours?"

"I don't consider education at this school useless."

"Don't be modest."

Momoyama didn't find Tatsuya's words insincere.

"I understand that you cannot make a decision so quickly. Fortunately, the NSA didn't set a specific deadline for an answer. Shiba-kun, from now on you are released from school, but in return, think it over."

"...Does this mean that you are suspending me from classes?"

Tatsuya asked Momoyama in a deliberately calm tone.

"It's not punishment. You can as before use school equipment at your discretion. Even if you don't attend classes, it will be as if you attended including practical classes. Periodic tests and practicals too are not necessary. All of them will be counted as passed with an A score."

Momoyama spoke not particularly demanding gratitude, but in a simple indifferent tone.

"I understand. Give me time to think, please."

Thus, pretending that he cannot give an answer, Tatsuya was able to earn some time.

Returning from the director's office, Tatsuya began to study with such a face, as if nothing had happened. The last lesson before dinner was practical exams, but Jennifer didn't look at him with a suspicious glance, but also made a face as if nothing had happened.

The first actions, other than the usual ones, he took were only after class during the beginning of the school council.

"Miyuki, I need to talk to you about something."

"Understood. Will it be ok here?"

"Yes. I want the others to hear too."

At Miyuki's question, meaning whether they need to move to another place, Tatsuya replied that it is also okay. Miyuki was puzzled, not understanding what Tatsuya wanted to do, so she decided to listen first to what he would say. She rose from the desk of the president of the Student Council and went to the discussion table.

Tatsuya sat opposite Miyuki. Honoka, Izumi and Shiina, sitting in their seats, turned to the side of the table, and Minami stood diagonally behind Miyuki.

Pixie got up from her chair in the corner of the room and brought tea for those who sat at the table. Tatsuya could clearly seen from his place that Minami was upset by this, although her expression didn't change at all.

"So, Tatsuya-sama, what did you want to talk about?" Waiting for Pixie to step back from the table, Miyuki began. All present strained their ears to not miss Tatsuya's answer.

"This morning I was summoned to the director's office, where they informed me that I had been released from school."

"Why!?" Miyuki stood up and leaned over the table, leaning on it with her hands.

Not just Miyuki. Honoka also jumped up from her chair.

"The reason I will explain at home. I was told that this isn't a suspension or a ban on going to school. The truth is that they don't seem to want me to go to school for a while."

"...The reason for suspension?"

Miyuki sat back down. With great effort to calm down, she asked to continue the story.

"That's right."

"...Is it because of the cancellation of the Nine Schools Competition?"

Izumi inserted her own question.

"This isn't a direct reason, but it could be part of it."

"Then the direct reason, is really..."

From the still standing Honoka, words broke out that couldn't be understood, it was a question or a conversation with herself. Honoka thought "Since Tatsuya-san is Taurus Silver, he was invited to the American project?". This was absolutely the right answer, but when Tatsuya looked at her with a glance inviting her to continue talking, she waved her head with the words "No, nothing" without asking anything.

Tatsuya decided not to press on Honoka and turned back to Miyuki.

"Perhaps, on this issue, the "family" will also be able to tell us something."

Not only Miyuki and Minami, but also Honoka, Izumi and Shiina realized that when he mentioned the "family", he meant the Yotsuba family.

"I cannot deny the possibility that I will not be able to attend school for a while. Therefore, I want to leave the position of a member of the Student Council."

The Student Council room was covered by a veil of silence.

Miyuki was silent, Tatsuya was waiting for her answer.

Izumi looked silently at Miyuki, and Honoka on Tatsuya.

Shiina flicked her eyes from Miyuki to Tatsuya and back, and Minami stood with her eyes on the floor.

To replace the cooled tea, Pixie came over to pick up the cups. Minami, quickly figuring out, served a new tea for Tatsuya and Miyuki. Then she came back behind Miyuki with a satisfied smile.

"...I understand." At last, breaking the silence with pain in her voice, Miyuki squeezed out the answer. "But if you stop being a member of the Student Council, you cannot wear a CAD at school. I believe that even at least nominally, it's better to remain a member of the school council."

"But then it will not make any sense."

"No one will complain."

Miyuki talked about abuse for personal purposes. Tatsuya at first was going to reproach her. However, seeing the tragic sight of Miyuki, ready to cry at any time he abandoned this idea.

"...I understand. We'll do it like you said."

In fact, the order in the school for Tatsuya was absolutely irrelevant.