Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 27 - Sudden Change - Chapter 4.2

Local Time: July 6, 16:00

A military truck belonging to a division from the Kansai region arrived at Zama base.

The truck passed through the checkpoint without any problems and swiftly entered the base.

“We arrived so easily.”

In a slightly disappointed tone, Raymond jumped out of the truck with Minoru, who followed him.

“Everyone in the truck was real. There is no reason to suspect anything.”

The truck on which they arrived had been given to the Kudou family by the self-defense forces. Strictly speaking, this practice was illegal, but most families from the Ten Main Clans had a relationship with the SDF similar to the Kudou. When the unit commander who had originally issued the truck received a request to go through from the Kudou, he did not show any suspicion.

Using Parade, Minoru disguised both Raymond and Regulus in addition to himself as young European men dressed in USNA uniforms. Though it was slightly unnatural for soldiers of the USNA army to be in the self-defense force’s truck, the workers at the checkpoint did not look inside to notice this disparity.

“I do not feel that we were given a concession because of the Kudou; rather, it seemed that they simply did not have the ability to do more than necessary.”

Regulus had had this impression for much of the ride. Even though their truck had passed through the entire Tokyo-Nagoya highway and they were stopped several times, none of the stops looked into the body. They were not even stopped when they

passed the training grounds on East-Fuji where Naotsugu and Mari were stationed in order to capture Minoru.

“Their attention and resources seem to be directed mainly to the north.”

Minoru made this observation at Regulus’ comment.

“Everything went exactly as you expected,” Raymond said.

Minoru smiled slightly at Raymond’s words, but his smile held no pride.

All foreign units stationed in Japan returned to their home countries during World War III and American army bases located in Japan were closed. To replace them, bases were created on both sides for joint use, allowing the other side to use their base as their own. Zama Base was one of these joint use bases that housed both the Japanese and American armies. Because of this, no questions were raised to USNA soldiers walking around the base. If they wore their military uniforms, no one would even check their identification badge, so all three of them, Raymond, Regulus, and Minoru, were able to reach the transport plane Arcturus was on.

This transport aircraft was unable to take off because of the hole Tatsuya had made to escape combined with the holes in the wall made by the Arcturus’ Tomahawk. In a few more days, a replacement aircraft was expected to arrive, so there were only a few people on duty inside the plane. The rest of the team was in a dormitory designated for American soldiers.

Tatsuya’s attack was not carried out in the interests of either Japan nor the USNA, so the damage to the body of the aircraft had been attributed to an accident during landing. The Japanese army did not allow saboteurs to enter the base, and there were no victims of terrorists in the American army - Arcturus and the three other Parasites were not supposed to have been aboard the transport plane. Usually, a sabotage-like situation such as the current one would not have been buried, but the Great Asian Alliance’s invasion into the New Soviet Union’s territory shifted the army’s attention to the north. Nobody in the base wished to pick a fight with the USNA, so to speak, so the situation ended up being ignored by both sides.

Arcturus’ “corpse”, pierced with a mascot knife by which Mikihiko used his sealing spell, would be sent back to the USNA by the transport plane expected to arrive in the next few days. It was currently stored in a coffin-shaped container equipped with a cooling function. Zama base provided this container after a request from the crew, but the base personnel was a bit confused as to why this container was necessary.

“Lieutenant, here.”

The soldier on duty knew Regulus by sight, so he led the three Parasites to the

"corpse" of Arcturus without questioning who the strangers were.

“Private, could you leave for a while?” Regulus ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

The soldier on duty obediently returned from the cargo hold to the cab without any suspicion. Once he was gone, Regulus opened the lid of the container where Arcturus lay in a funeral pose. The talisman used to seal Arcturus had long since been pulled out, but the seal remained just as strong. Regulus looked at Arcturus without commenting, sorrow in his eyes.

“This is powerful seal,” Minoru stated while looking into the container.

“It would have to be,” Raymond responded.

“Do you understand this!?” Regulus asked Minoru, somewhat wide-eyed.

“Yes, I know a little about some of the general stuff,” Minoru answered.

“Can you take it off?” Raymond asked as Minoru finished, already knowing the answer to Regulus’ question.

“I won’t know until I try. As I said, the seal is fairly strong. The Parasite body is being used as a talisman. I would say that this could only be undone by destroying the body to reveal the Parasite, but I assume you don’t want that?”

Minoru’s question was intended for Regulus.

“I would like to find a method that preserves the commander’s life.” Regulus came to Arcturus’ body because he valued Arcturus; not the Parasite contained.

If Minoru’s answer to this question was “I cannot,” the discussion would have gone down a different path in which the Parasites may have refused to help kidnap Minami.

“…I understand.” After thinking for a bit, Minoru nodded to Regulus.

Tatsuya went to first high for the entire day on the last day of exams. He had free time as he was no longer needed in the development of the new Strategic Class magic designed in preparation for an attack from the New Soviet Union. It was

slightly reckless to leave Lina alone, but she was not a small child and would not do anything stupid, so Tatsuya convinced himself that it was pointless for him to travel to Miyaki Island every day.

While the exams were going on, Tatsuya stayed alone in the library, but as soon as the exams finished he began practicing the Sealing Sphere with Mikihiko. By the time he left school with Miyuki, it was past 6 in the evening. Despite the time, however, the two did not go home and instead traveled to the city of Machida.

Together with Mitsuya Shiina and Yaguruma Saburou, they were visiting the home of the Mitsuya family of the Ten Main Clans in order to get information about the activities of the US Army. Tatsuya had wanted to find out more about the USNA’s military stations on Midway Island and the north-western parts of the Hawaii archipelago, so he had asked Shiina to organize a meeting with the head of the Mitsuya family or his eldest son. Shiina had given Tatsuya her father’s answer of “If you have time, come on the evening of the day when the last exam is held,” which was another reason that Tatsuya had gone to school today.

Tatsuya was traveling with Shiina despite knowing the location of the Mitsuya house because he was not personally acquainted with Mitsuya Gen, having never even spoken to him. By allowing Shiina to lead him, they would avoid any unnecessary trouble.

Tatsuya had only asked to meet either Shiina’s father or her eldest brother, but they were both waiting, expecting Tatsuya.

Shiina led Tatsuya and Miyuki to the living room and left to get drinks. By the time she returned, the four had introduced themselves to each other.

“Thank you, Shiina. You may go.”

Shiina was slightly disappointed with being asked to leave as she was curious about the conversation. Nonetheless, she obeyed her father, and Motoharu closed the living room door from the control panel as she left.

Once this was done, Gen turned back to Tatsuya.

“May I call you Tatsuya-dono?” he asked.

“Yes, please do. Likewise, may I call you Mitsuya-dono and Motoharu-dono?”

Tatsuya asked this for the same reason as Gen: in order to distinguish between members of the same family sharing a last name.

“I do not mind” was Gen’s answer to Tatsuya. With all the preparation out of the way, Gen finally brought up the main topic.

“I heard from Shiina that you need information about the activities of the American army.”

“Yes. In particular, I would like to learn about the military installations and troops deployed around Midway Island and the north-western parts of the Hawaiian archipelago.”

Both Gen and Motoharu appeared surprised to hear this. They had expected Tatsuya to ask about a different area, thinking he was looking for information pertaining to the situation with the New Soviet Union.

“… I would like to understand how this relates to the current situation?” Gen asked.

“This is not directly related to the conflict between the New Soviet Union and the Great Asian Alliance,” Tatsuya answered.

“…Then why do you need this information?” Gen continued his questioning with a confused look.

“I need to judge whether it will be possible to free a certain prisoner from Midway Island,” Tatsuya answered frankly.

“You are looking to rescue a prisoner from Midway Island? Does Yotsuba-dono know about this?”

“Consent of the head of the family has already been obtained.”

This was not a lie, as on the same day that Lina requested Tatsuya’s help, Tatsuya reported the content of the conversation to Maya. Maya's only request was "just don't overdo it,” so Tatsuya decided to follow the policy "continue if possible, but quit if it’s hopeless."

“…can we hear the reason?”

Motoharu asked the question this time.

“It was a request from a refugee protected by our family,” Tatsuya answered.

“A refugee? …Our government received a request from America for the extradition of Major Angie Sirius... then, she is under the protection of the Yotsuba family!?” Gen exclaimed.

“This request was not from Sirius.”

Tatsuya outright denied Gen’s speculation. He did not wish to lie, but he had no qualms with telling half-truths. He was hiding a girl named “Angelina Kudou Shields.” “Angie Sirius” was a pseudonym and mask given to her by the USNA army and government, and Tatsuya did not feel obliged to participate in these machinations.

In any case, Motoharu did not suspect anything in Tatsuya’s statement so the conversation moved on.

“Whoever your client is, I can only say that trying to get into Midway Prison is recklessness.”

Gen’s tone indicated that he was still in amazement at the reasons behind this meeting.

“Then, you know what present Midway is like?”

Tatsuya understood Gen’s hints of "you must stop,” but he ignored Gen’s opinion for the moment.

“I do not know much about the inside of the prison, but the general situation is clear.”

Both Tatsuya and Miyuki continued looking at Gen, waiting for more. Gen had hoped that Miyuki would stop Tatsuya, but sighed as he realized it wasn’t going to happen.

“I will share what we know, but we will not be able to provide support.”

“I understand.”

Tatsuya didn't need this extra warning from Gen. Neither he, nor Maya, nor anyone else in the Yotsuba family had planned on asking the Mitsuya family or any of the other families in the Ten Master Clans and 18 Assistant Houses for help.

However, Tatsuya kept his tact and left his answer at that.

“Only defensive ground forces are located on Midway Island. Other than transport ships, no naval military ships are located there.”

Gen seemed to finally understand that the Yotsuba were set on this business, and he did not voice his warning again. After a short pause, he began to talk about the information Tatsuya wanted.

“There are no air forces either. Perhaps their is the fear that prisoners could use them to escape,” Gen continued.

“Are sea and air bases on another island?” Tatsuya asked.

“On an artificial one. There is a giant floating artificial island created in the Pearl and Hermes atoll. Troops were relocated there about six months ago, but…”

Gen paused for a moment before continuing.

“Pearl and Hermes is an atoll approximately 250 kilometers east-southeast of Midway Island. It belongs to the northwestern part of the Hawaiian archipelago, and it is littered with many sandy islands. A larger artificial island with a USNA military base is built around the outside of the coral reef.

“One aircraft carrier, two escort ships, two destroyers, and one submarine were assigned to the naval base. There is no runway on the artificial island itself, but there are more than 70 fighter jets on the aircraft carrier.”

Gen laid out this information as a brief report.

“This is a combat force that one person cannot hope to cope with unless he possesses Strategic class magic.”

Tatsuya had not yet been announced as the source of the “Great Bomb,” but from the meaningful tone and gaze of Gen, one could assume that he knew about it.

However, this was nothing to be surprised about. Based on Lina’s stories, it was clear that Stars knew quite a bit about the explosion of matter. It was also likely that Bezobrazov had told others in the New Soviet Union about this. Finally, when Bezobrazov had first learned about the user of “the great bomb”, William MacLeod from Britain was also present.

Information could have spread even more in Japan by word of mouth. The Mitsuya family had a widespread information network both inside and outside the country. It would be odd if the head of such a large information network was unaware of Tatsuya’s possession of Strategic class magic.

“What is the approximate size of the ground forces on Midway Island?” Tatsuya asked.

The fleet assigned to the Pearl and Hermes base was a significant military power, but it was intended for a battle between armies. Tatsuya did not intend to openly oppose the USNA so it was unlikely that the fleet would attack him, but the garrison troops on Midway Island would still be an obstacle.

“You’re still going to do it...?” Gen muttered, sighing. But he was not surprised. He did not think the Yotsuba would retreat from such a minor obstacle as a naval fleet.

Gen looked at his son, but Motoharu had already brought the data up on his information terminal before he was given the signal.

“Other than the prison staff, there should be between 200 and 250 soldiers on the island. One of the squads consists of magicians, but they are not Stars.”

“What is the level of their weapons?”

“In addition to the personal weapons of the soldiers, there are two Fleming Launchers on the roof of the prison.”

Motoharu continued answering Tatsuya's questions. The Mitsuya family possesses quite a lot of detailed information, so it took some time to finish, but Tatsuya felt that the visit to the Mitsuya family had ended with a satisfactory result.

This was helped by the fact that the Mitsuya family did not demand any form of compensation or payment for this assistance.

Miyuki asked Tatsuya about Midway after they returned home. Even though private transport cabins guaranteed privacy, she chose to wait until they returned home to discuss secure matters.

“Onii-sama, are you really going to go there?”

Miyuki had known about the operation to rescue Canopus from Midway Island even before Tatsuya reported it to Maya, but until now she was only in a position of passive denial. However, after hearing about the military power present, her anxiety grew.

“Yes. I have not decided on an exact time yet, but I will try soon.”

Tatsuya was more worried about Miyuki worrying about him than about himself, but he could not ignore her question either.

“…Is it because this is Lina's request?”

Miyuki’s mood darkened further as she asked her next question. Even she realized that some of her behavior stemmed from jealously, but it was also more than that.

Miyuki's voice was too serious.

“This is just an excuse,” Tatsuya answered.

Tatsuya gave a vague answer because he wasn’t sure what Miyuki was currently thinking about Lina other than that it was complex. All Tatsuya could do was express his feelings and thoughts fully and truthfully.

“Canopus is a serious opponent, possibly more dangerous than Bezobrazov and Sirius as an adversary.”

Tatsuya specified “Sirius” in this situation. Ignoring her weak will to fight, Lina was similar to Tatsuya and Miyuki in magical power. When comparing her with Canopus Tatsuya’s impression was that he was an even stronger opponent than Sirius.

“If Canopus became a Parasite, he would be our unconditional enemy. We should try to avoid this situation if at all possible. Liberating him will remove the possibility of him being infected,” Tatsuya finished.

“But…”

Miyuki was still unsure. Midway Island was still territory of the USNA. While she could understand using a distant attack to eliminate Canopus, she felt it was too risky to break a prisoner out. However, Miyuki had already talked to Tatsuya about that idea when the plan was first brought up. The results are evident.

“I will not act recklessly. If the breakout proves to be impossible, I will blow the prison up.”

This was not the first time Tatsuya had stated this, and it was not just an excuse to appease Miyuki. Tatsuya had not abandoned the idea of blowing up Midway Prison with Material Burst. As always, his priority was eliminating the threat to him and Miyuki before appeasing Lina. It was what he was best at, anyway, so this was not surprising.

“Besides, the plan is not yet decided yet as the current situation is too unstable. I may still revise my opinion with further information.”

“I guess...”

Tatsuya had only given general reasoning and had not quite convince Miyuki, but the future was too fluid to accurately predict.

Neither of them quite believed that the current prevailing view would become the reality.

Once Tatsuya and Miyuki left the Mitsuya house, the current and next heads of the Mitsuya family continued the conversation together.

“Father, should we inform the self-defense forces that the Yotsuba plan to attack the prison on Midway Island?”

Motoharu was the first to speak.

“But we should also consider the possibility of information leaking to America...”

Gen said. “No, this goes against the loyalty of magicians. I can’t betray one of the Ten Master Clans to the army or America.”

Gen rejected his son's offer, but not without hesitation. His uncertain tone betrayed his true thoughts.

“But if you keep silent now, the Mitsuya family could be seen as an accomplice of the Yotsuba.”

“We did not ask for compensation solely to avoid such thoughts.”

“I don't think that would be convincing,” Motoharu responded.

Gen fell silent at his son’s statement. Gen understood that not asking for compensation for the release of information was too weak of a defense.

“…Leaking this to America is unacceptable. We won't be able to explain ourselves at the Ten Master Clans conference. “

After a bit of silence, Gen said this while shaking his head.

“Still, we should at least notify the self-defense forces about Shiba-dono’s plan.

“...Alright.”

Gen couldn’t disagree this time.

“But we must choose the recipient of the information carefully. If the anti-magic movement finds out about this, we will have repeated the mistake of the Saegusa and Kudou families.”

Motoharu nodded in response to Gen’s words.

“We should talk to Lieutenant General Saeki from the 101 brigade, as she is associated with Shiba Tatsuya-dono,” Gen said, now that they were in agreement.

“Yea, Lieutenant General Saeki should be able settle this without conflict.”

“Then I will take care of it immediately,” Gen responded and Motoharu stood up.

The conversation done, they prepared to leave, but neither Gen nor Motoharu paid attention to the hurriedly receding footsteps outside the door.

"I heard something terrible..."

Shiina ran into her room and sat on the carpet on the floor, still holding the tray she had used to bring the cups earlier.

Shiina’s ears were exceedingly sensitive. She could hear tiny vibrations ordinary people could not, but this also made the everyday sounds feel like an attack of intolerable noise to Shiina. Her body was completely normal, so doctors hypothesized that she subconsciously activates magic to increase hearing. This is supported by the fact that her hypersensitive ears become normal as she sleeps.

However, despite knowing the cause, nothing can be done to affect the magic as it can’t be observed from outside information bodies. Since the magic exists entirely inside Shiina, no outside measures can be taken to detect the magic. The only treatment was the usage of soundproof headphones with a microphone on the outside and speakers inside to control the volume of noise. The sounds coming into the microphone are played at a volume harmless to Shiina through the speaker inside the cup.

Shiina usually only took off her headphones while swimming or sleeping, so she had them on when she went to pick up the empty tray she had brought cups on.

Her headphones were only designed to lower the volume of loud sounds to a volume Shiina could withstand, so while they did not amplify weak sounds, they also did not block sounds that were originally harmless. Shiina’s headphones were able to detect and recreate sounds to incredibly low volumes. This allowed Shiina’s oversensitive hearing to hear her brother and father’s conversation even though she did not intend to eavesdrop.

“When they said Shiba-dono, did they mean Shiba-senpai? Will they tell the army about Shiba-senpai?”

Shiina had heard the conversation from when Motoharu and Gen were still discussing

"leaks to America," so while she didn’t know Tatsuya’s plan, from phrases like

"antimagic movement", "mistake of the Saegusa and Kudou families", and "settle this without conflict", she understood that this was a rather suspicious conversation.

"What to do..."

Shiina had heard enough of the conversation to realize that her father and brother were plotting treachery against Tatsuya. Though she was much more loyal to her family than to Tatsuya, Shiina felt that treachery was evil. In her system of values, she felt that bullying like this was Tatsuya - she felt it would be wrong if she allowed the current atrocity to go on just because it was her family.

"Should I tell Shiba-senpai about this...?"

But if she did that, she herself would have committed treachery.

So at that, Shiina was trapped in her reasoning.