The Kanazawa Institute of Natural and Magical Sciences (formerly the First Laboratory of the Development of Magic Abilities) had a dormitory with single rooms for researchers. Kichijouji Shinkuro, a student of the Third School of the National University of Magic, also worked as a researcher at the institute and lived in the afore-mentioned dormitory.
Third High, like First High, was in the middle of their examination week.
However, Kichijouji did not need to spend much time preparing for exams, so he only planned to spend about two hours preparing for the next exam and spent the rest of the time on research. As he had discovered a Cardinal Code, he was free to spend his time and the budget of the institute to work to complete the theory of the Cardinal codes,
but his work was not limited to research on Cardinal Codes. Magic science had not yet reached a stage of development to have specialized sections, and leading researchers often put forward new hypotheses on a variety of different magical topics.
Kichijouji practically lived in the laboratories of the first institute, and recently the boundaries between his work time and personal time had began to blur even further. Even today, he returned to his laboratory after dinner and turned on his terminal, intending to continue his research. His plans were halted, however, as he discovered a message on his terminal. Outside messages were tested for security, so if it had reached his terminal, it was safe.
“From Shiba Tatsuya...?”
Kichijouji opened his eyes wide after seeing the name of the sender. He knew the message would concern theory of magic because it was sent to the institute, but Kichijouji and Tatsuya had no previous relationship in the form of exchanging research. They hadn’t exchanged personal messages, either, so there was no precedent for this message. This message was completely unexpected for Kichijouji, but he began to read it with the thought, “ what did he send me?”
“...What...!?” he exclaimed.
He accelerated the speed at which he was reading, but before he finished reading the message, he opened the attached file. The contents of the message were so shocking that he wanted to confirm it as soon as possible.
“....”
The file contained a blueprint of an activation sequence. The message contained a description of how the activation sequence would build the magic sequence: it described in detail what base magic to use in creating a working magic sequence in addition to describing what modules to include in the activation sequence.
Kichijouji’s eye caught an unknown module in the picture while skimming over it.
“Chain Casting?”
Kichijouji had never heard of such a technology before.
“The technology on which Tuman Bomba is based...Is that true?" Kichijouji thought.
He still did not understand why Shiba Tatsuya provided him with such secret information.
He re-read the module entries, confirming that this was not an intricate joke.
“…The required ability to calculate this magic is too high. Even I couldn’t handle it.”
After reading the description of the Chain Casting module a few times, Kichijouji noticed this problem. When compared to the average magician, Kichijouji had a much higher ability to handle magic, but even with his abilities, Chain Casting was too much for him to calculate. Chain Casting was a technology that allowed one to perform large-scale magic by copying small sequences of magic in a chain.
However, the amount of information caused from the "secondary" sequences of magic was quite simply, huge. In order to reduce the total amount of calculations required, the size of each magic sequence was compressed to the maximum, but even with this in mind, this was an impossible task for one magician to cope with.
“You can reduce the load on the magician by processing all of the variables with a high-performance CAD. But even doing this, Goki-san would probably not be able to handle it. But Masaki could succeed.”
Kichijouji stopped as he heard his own voice.
"Will this be used by Masaki?"
He thought this without speaking it out loud.
"...If you reorganize the activation sequence by specifying the desired size, would Masaki be able to use it?"
Kichijouji reread the basis of the project again before he understood the true meaning behind the planned magic.
"It can’t be..." Kichijouji thought. “ Is this the basic idea behind ‘Break’, a wide scale magic applied to the water surface with the help of Chain Casting!?”
Kichijouji read through to the last lines of the text, which he had not reached earlier.
They read:
"Kichijouji and Ichijou, I wish you luck."
As he arrived at the address he received from his foster mother, Minoru frowned at the building. As far as he knew, this factory produced androids, the production of which used the latest nanotechnology. They quickly entered through the
main entrance by using Golden Electronic Silkworms without bothering to conceal themselves.
As they expected, the “guards” soon appeared. They consisted of female-model androids – they were the so-called combat gynoids. Moving cleverly and quickly, these gynoids started to attack Minoru, but Raymond's psychokinesis pushed the robot soldiers back.
“Oh? They are sturdy?” Raymond said, surprised that his attack had not done much.
Raymond had applied psychokinesis with the intent to crush the gynoids.
However, the mechanical bodies of the gynoids did not break, and gradually pushed forward against the psychokinesis. Suddenly, sparks flew as the gynoids experienced electric shock – caused by Regulus’ magic. The gynoids froze and fell to the floor.
“These robo-soldiers are quite effective. The strength of their enclosures is astounding.”
Regulus expressed his impressions of the gynoids as a soldier himself. However, Minoru’s was not focused on the performance of the machines, but on a different thought: "Are these dummies for making parasite dolls...?"
“Come on. Let’s not waste time.”
Minoru kept his suspicions to himself, and Regulus and Raymond hurried on. Minoru left them and searched for his father, eventually finding him on the production line.
“I thought you would be in the control room,” Makoto said.
Minoru did not respond to these words. Makoto may have had a desire to talk, but the crowd of people that had closed in on them made this impossible.
“Could you let go of your guard? I'm not going to cause trouble if you don’t attack me. You don’t need to worry about the factory.”
A group of workers hiding behind the most recently produced robots (non-humanoid robots) showed relief on their faces when they heard the words of Minoru. One person was in a shirt with trousers, but the rest were in work overalls.
These were clearly employees of this factory. In contrast to the attire of the workers, the men in front of Minoru in dark suits - not suitable for wearing at the height of summer – rather than relief, their expressions grew more tense. Everyone there
was on their toes due to the intense atmosphere – even a slight sudden action could cause them to attack.
“Leave us.”
Kudou Makoto finally spoke, requesting privacy. After a bit of hesitating, the crowd of bodyguards finally parted.
“We have not seen each other for a while now, father.”
Minoru showed no signs of timidity towards his elder, but this was obviously due to their vast difference in strength. Still, given their relationship, this could be perceived as unnatural.
“I thought you would come much earlier,” Makoto responded.
Makoto should probably have shown a bit of guilt, but his expression was neutral.
“I originally thought that you were a defective product, but it turns out that you were just unfinished. Still, I didn’t expect you to become complete by becoming a monster.”
Minoru did not get angry or cry from Makoto’s harsh words, and instead he smiled coldly.
“Thank you for showing your true feelings. Thanks to this, now I, too, may not feel guilty,” Minoru said.
“I didn’t think that monsters would have emotions like guilt,” Makoto mused.
“There’s a theory that the true body of the Parasite arises from activities originating in the minds of people. If its true, then it’s not surprising that we have human emotions,”
Minoru explained.
“That’s if its correct.”
Makoto’s aggressive behavior didn’t change Minoru’s attitude much, but Minoru lost the desire to continue this empty conversation with his father and got to the main point.
“This factory is making dummies for parasite dolls, isn’t it?”
“Did you come to ask about this?” Makoto avoided Minoru’s question.
“How many such dolls are in stock? Though, I guess you can not answer. Hey, you, over there, answer me.”
Minoru interrupted Makoto and turned to the man in the shirt.
“W-we have 24 fully completed dummies, and 12 completed by more than 50%.”
“In total, 2 times more than ready ones with a transplanted parasite? Father, I thought you abandoned plans to sell them to the SDF,” Minoru commented.
“Why should I have stopped? There were no problems with the dolls themselves my predecessor simply chose the wrong way to check them.”
By “predecessor," he meant Kudo Retsu. Minoru also agreed with the utility of parasitic dolls, but Minoru grew colder at Makoto’s words reprimanding Retsu.
Minoru silently condemned his father for his words.
“In that case, I ask the Kudou family to obey my orders regarding both completed and unfinished dolls.”
Minoru’s voice held a lot of pressure now that he had gotten colder.
“Alright,” Makoto said.
Minoru felt that Makoto had responded too easily, and wondered if Makoto had actually processed his demand.
“Head-sama, are you sure!?”
His bodyguards showed the natural reaction to Makoto’s agreement.
“Resistance is useless,” Makoto answered them in a lifeless tone. It was slightly different than the indifferent way he usually spoke. “Minoru is the finished product of the “ninth” magicians. He defeated the Patriarch, so now Minoru is the most powerful magician in the Kudou family. It’s natural for us to obey him,” Makoto finished.
Neither his voice nor his face expressed any discontent, and when Makoto said
“finished product”, his voice had a feeling of satisfaction rather than discontent.
Makoto was proud of what his son had become.
While Minoru was at the factory gaining the obedience of the Kudou family, Tatsuya and Miyuki were eating a late dinner.
“Sorry about today.”
Tatsuya suddenly apologized without any preliminary words.
“Onii-sama... I have no idea what you're talking about."
Miyuki rolled her eyes as she asked what was going on.
“Today you had to return from school alone.”
“Oh, that’s are you talking about...”
Miyuki had been slightly stressed from the misunderstanding, worried that her brother was apologizing in advance for some job he had to do.
“I know that Onii-sama is worried, but Onii-sama is no longer my Guardian, and the bodyguards do a fine job.”
“Even though you say you don’t need it, I can’t help but worry,” Tatsuya said.
“R-really? Thank you…”
Miyuki blushed, looked away, and whispered: "Onii-sama is so dishonest."
Tatsuya heard these words, but opted to ignore them. He was not sadistic enough to give Miyuki the stress it would take to explain herself. At this point, there conversation paused until they finished dinner, removed their dishes from the table, and sat across from each other drinking from coffee cups.
“May I ask what Onii-sama did today?”
Miyuki started with this question. She believed that Tatsuya should not have apologized, but also was interested in what her fiancé was doing.
“...Of course.”
Tatsuya hesitated momentarily, but nodded after a short delay. He had not originally planned to discuss it, but decided that there was no reason to keep this a secret from Miyuki.
“It is possible that the New Soviet Union, now victorious over Great Asian Alliance, will go south across the Sea of Japan.”
“New Soviet Union plans to start a war with Japan!?” Miyuki exclaimed.
“I doubt that they would suddenly declare war, but they can make up another reason to send a fleet. For example, to seize "war criminals" who allegedly fled to Japan after the end of the conflict,” Tatsuya explained.
“Is it possible that the Japanese government would accept soldiers who have escaped from the Great Asian Alliance?”
“In this situation, any justification will do. As for the purpose of the New Soviet Union, I have several guesses, but whatever it is, we must be prepared for a real invasion.”
“Will you act the same way as you did during the Yokohama incident?”
“I won’t be able to ignore it. One of the conditions for His Excellency Todo to provide support for the ESCAPES project was the formation of a force holding back the military ambitions of other countries. However, unlike the Yokohama incident, this will not end just by using Material Burst once.”
“…Why?”
“Unlike the Great Asian Alliance that time, the New Soviet Union is aware of the existence of an explosion from the direct conversion of matter to energy. If they resort to military action, they will likely take countermeasures to ensure that cities and bases are not destroyed,” Tatsuya answered.
“But I think that there is no way for the New Soviet Union to defend against Onii-sama’s magic...” Miyuki said.
“It is impossible to say for sure that there is no magical means of protection against the explosion of matter, but there is also a way to prevent me from carrying out an attack without applying magical counteraction.”
“How is this possible?” Miyuki asked.
“For example, they could declare Vladivostok to be ‘unprotected’.”
“What would this do?”
“By declaring a city ‘unprotected’, they are claiming that military facilities adjacent to it will not stop an attack on it. The existence of military objects makes them a military force, but if the military port of Vladivostok is attacked with Material Burst, the city will also be damaged. The magic is too dense to be used to attack a dense area. We
won’t be able to use Material Burst if we don’t want to become a criminal country known for ignoring international martial law,” Tatsuya explained.
“I think that’s a bit suspicious…” Miyuki responded.
“Indeed, it would be quite questionable. However, even if we know it to be a hoax, if they make the claim officially, we would have to respect it.”
Miyuki did not even try to hide the fact that she couldn’t accept this, but the rule was the rule, no matter how ridiculous. Excuses in international politics could be said to have an “attacking force” greater than nuclear weapons.
“There are also ways to prevent the use of Material Burst against naval forces. By preparing a fleet of refugees and keeping them at a distance such that stray bullets from conventional weapons would not be able to reach the fleet, the fleet would be safe from ordinary military fights, but I would not be able to use an explosion great enough to destroy the fleet without damaging the fleet of refugees.
“…All problems due to too much destructive power. Couldn’t you regulate the power appropriately?” Miyuki asked.”
“The destructive power is too difficult to regulate, and Material Burst is not a magic that can be practiced so easily. This is the greatest weakness of Material Burst: it is a weapon effective only for annihilating the enemy and not fighting with finesse.
Because of this, a different method of interception is needed if the New Soviet Union chooses to attack.”
“…So this is why Onii-sama has been developing new magic?”
Miyuki asked this with shining eyes, with no trace of her previously gloomy face.
Tatsuya slightly smiled at this transformation, then nodded with a serious face.
“The basic blueprint has already been completed, and I left further work to those who will be using this magic,” Tatsuya answered.
“Onii-sama will not use this magic?” Miyuki said, surprised.
“I can’t use any magic except Decomposition and Recovery.” Tatsuya smiled.
“...I apologize.” Miyuki had momentarily forgotten about Tatsuya’s weaknesses as a magician.
“It’s okay.”
Tatsuya, with his smile seeming to say, “don't worry,” had still not told Miyuki about the basis of the new Strategic class magic using Chain Casting. He had only told this to Kichijouji in order to use Masaki. However, if one were to think only about suitability...
The system of Chain Casting was also suitable for Miyuki.
The command system of Stars required orders for operations to be transmitted from the headquarters in the Pentagon directly to the commander in chief. However, due to the absence of the commander-in-chief, the order was instead delivered to the base commander.
Local time: July 4, 10:00. Japanese time: July 5, 01:00. Colonel Walker, the base commander, was speechless when he saw the order.
“I can understand the sabotage of the Star Reactor plant, but...”
The order contained a strategic plan that was written some time ago in order to eliminate the threat of the Strategic-class magician Shiba Tatsuya. The first part of the plan consisted of destroying the Star Reactor plant, followed by using international pressure to force him to take part in Project Dione. Though less reliable than a direct method such as the murder of Shiba Tatsuya, the level of risk of the operation was significantly lower in comparison so the command gave the go-ahead to the plan. The actual implementation had been canceled due to the reappearance of the Parasites, but the plan was still considered to be a reliable way to deal with Shiba Tatsuya so it was now being taken off the shelf. It was somewhat expected for the plan to be tried now that the matter with the Parasites had become somewhat stable, but still…
“We’re supposed to accomplish this during a diversion maneuver by the Far Eastern fleet of the New Soviet Union...?”
Walker was well aware that the USNA and NSU were collaborating on the Dione project, but he couldn’t fathom the idea that cooperation in military operations was in the realm of possibility. For the soldiers who had fought the NSU on the battlefield, this outcome was especially unthinkable.
“I guess one should not dwell on the past...”
However, Walker could not completely convince himself of this. Even high ranking officers could not help but be affected by their emotions on this topic, so the feelings
must be especially intense for the soldiers who had risked their lives on the battlefield.
Walker was worried about having to choose candidates for this operation.
“I need to be careful with the choice of candidates, but… no, it’s too late now.”
The stars had already sent teams to Japan, and it would be too much to recall the current teams and send new ones to replace them. Regulus and Vega's squad had successfully penetrated Japan, so from this point on, there was no possibility for changes in the roster. People from another unit would be sent for support, but Walker was not involved in this. As he went through this chain of thought, Walker remembered something.
“...At the beginning of last month, the sabotage at the Star Reactor plant was entrusted to Arcturus and Vega…would Captain Arcturus be able to return to this mission despite being seriously wounded immediately after entering Japan?”
July 5, early morning.
Two women wearing American Army uniforms entered Yokosuka Naval Base.
A USNA aircraft carrier was currently in the base’s port, so most officers and soldiers of the American army did not attract much attention. These two women, on the other hand, were noticeable because they both looked as if they had come off the covers of fashion magazines.
One was a typical "urban beauty" with short, brown hair and brown eyes. Her demeanor gave off an atmosphere that made her look stylish even in her short-sleeved training t-shirt.
The other was a charming beauty with a Scandinavian appearance: long, silver hair and deep blue eyes. She also had big breasts, which, only covered by a tank top, offered a significant distraction to the young male soldiers.
“Ahhh… the heat...”
Fanning her chest with her hand, Leila Deneb (the Scandinavian beauty) groaned as she completed the training. It was not just jogging: it was a tougher training that combined sprints, jumps, squats, and stretches.
“Ah…Japan…didn’t expect…so hot...” Leila mumbled as she tried to get her point across.
“The high temperature and humidity are caused by the tropical ocean air mass typical for this time of year.” As she swept the sweat from her forehead, Charlotte Vega (the city beauty) responded articulately to the broken complaints of Leila.
“Now I understand why First Lieutenant Spica did not want to go out...” Leila had recovered her breath somewhat as she listened to Vega speak, and was now able to make sentences.
These three women, when including Lieutenant Spica, mentioned by Leila, were a squad of Stars currently infiltrating Japan. All three had been turned into Parasites before going to Japan, and even though they had been transformed against their will without any warning, after the assimilation was completed, they did not show any dissatisfaction with their situation. Their discontent at the moment was primarily because they still had to succumb to the heat despite having ceased being human.
“‘Independence’ is back,” Leila observed.
On the way back to their hostel, they saw outlines of the aircraft carrier that had penetrated Japan. This was the sixth generation of the Independence aircraft carriers – war veterans whose construction had begun even before World War III. The original blueprints required the ship to be equipped with a nuclear reactor, but since the installation of nuclear reactors on warships had been banned during the war, it had to be replaced with a hydrogen turbine engine.
“I hope for good news,” Vega responded.
Independence left the port at night to train the night departure and new arrivals, but behind this front was also a hidden goal: to obtain secret information and instructions that could not be transmitted by radio.
“I want to quickly find out where the traitor girl is hiding.”
In an annoyed voice, Leila continued following Vega. The "traitor girl" she mentioned was Lina.
“They would not send the message if they did not find her,” Vega stated.
They had managed to find out that Lina was not hidden by the Japanese government, but by some other organization. However, they were no closer to finding Lina as the Japanese government claimed to not know the location of this “other organization” that was hiding her. Despite this, Vega and Leila believed that the
Japanese army had to know the location of the “traitor” Sirius, and if they increased the pressure on them, they would eventually confess. In any case, they would probably loosen up if they destroyed a couple “suspicious” objects.
Vega had never been a soldier who cared much about political gain, but she was also not a soldier who seriously thought about performing terrorist activities.
However, once she became a Parasite, her mindset changed much more noticeable than that of the other members of the Stars.
July 5, 2097, 8:00.
Regulus received an order from the headquarters of the Stars through the telepathic network of Parasites while returning to Kobe shelter. An aircraft carrier lying in the western part of the Pacific Ocean first received this order by telegram, and with the help of a fighter jet, sent it to the “Independence” aircraft carrier stopped in the port of Yokosuka. After that, Vega transmitted the order to Regulus through the Parasite collective consciousness. Since the information had been transmitted this way, the information was also transmitted to Raymond and Minoru.
“What do you think?” Regulus asked Minoru in a physical voice.
Although Minoru was a Parasite, he still retained his human individuality. Minoru could freely gain access to the collective consciousness of the Parasites, but Regulus, Raymond, and the other Parasites in Stars were unable to access Minoru’s thoughts.
“The Star Headquarters’ order coincides with the distracting tactics I wanted to ask you about, Jack. I would like you to join in the sabotage of the Star Reactor,” Minoru answered
“During that time, will you take that girl?” Raymond asked instead of Regulus this time.
“Exactly. Raymond, do you want to come with me?” Minoru asked
“No, I should help Jack.”
Minoru did not object to this distribution of roles.
“Even if you didn’t say anything, I was still going to follow orders from headquarters, but...” Regulus started.
“Does something bother you?”
After a direct question to Minoru, Regulus overcame his indecision.
“Before that, I would like to confirm the current status of Commander Arcturus, and, if possible, free it from sealing.”
Arcturus had been sealed by a Japanese magician of ancient magic immediately after arriving at Zama base and had remained in the transport plane since his arrival.
Regulus felt it.
“Okay. Let's go and take a look at the state of Commander Arcturus,” Minoru responded.
Minoru could have denied Regulus's this, but instead he agreed to help.
“Should we go to Tokyo when the fleet of the New Soviet Union starts moving south, then?” Raymond asked.
Raymond's suggestion was entirely appropriate, but Minoru shook his head with a smile.
“If the situation develops in accordance with the strategy of the Stars, then neither the Ten Master Clans nor the self-defense forces will be able to check everyone who comes from the West.”
Minoru's voice was filled with confidence in their freedom of action.
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