Friday, July 12, 2097, 7:00. A secret meeting of the top brass from the National Self-Defense Forces Intelligence Department began with one simple announcement.
This meeting wasn’t on schedule and even more so it was not official. Such informal meetings are held only when necessary. The Army Intelligence Department Command meets only in response to situations that require discussion. This indicated the Intelligence Department realized there had been some kind of emergency.
“Although we were not able to capture specific agents undercover, it was determined that an illegal squad of assassin magicians of the USNA Army had infiltrated the metropolitan area.”
“Illegal MAP …?”
The activity of the killer squad who even inside the USNA Army is called “illegal”
was a problem, known as an “emergency.”
“What is the basis of the belief that someone has infiltrated our country, even though no agents have been found?”
The question was asked by the Deputy Director, whose existence was not known outside the Intelligence Department…
“Information about people, most likely members of Illegal MAP, were found in the Arrival Records dated 10 July.”
… answered Chief Inukai from the 10th Counterintelligence Division of Intelligence Department in the capital region without getting up from his chair.
By the way, the name “10th Division” did not mean that it was “tenth in order.”
There was a meaning hidden in this name, that the Tooyama family from the 18
Assistant Houses, who is from the numbered families of 10, was secretly cooperating with the military.
“July 10th …? That means they seized the moment.”
No one asked the Deputy Director to explain the meaning of his words. Following the withdrawal of the NSU fleet, the government announced the normalization of sea and air traffic at 9:30 on July 10th. The fact that foreign agents could take advantage of that time period when control is weakened was quite predictable, therefore the vigilance of the Security Services was increased at airports and seaports.
But at that time a stream of guests poured into Japan, who have been waiting to visit this country for a long time, thus it was impossible to thoroughly check each and every person in such an environment.
…All department heads present at the meeting shared this regret.
“What is the size of the infiltrated squad?”
Chief Onda asked Inukai from the 1st Special Issues Department.
“They went through the border checkpoints of the country, so it’s no longer entered into the country but illegal entry… A total of ten people were counted, presumably all of them are agents. We know that Illegal MAP consists of three squads. This means that one of these squads has been sent in its entirety. Take a look at this.”
Inukai said and typed a command on a console. The last phrase was addressed to all present.
Passport data was displayed on desktop displays installed in front of each meeting participant. It was a ten-page file, a page per person. Some of those present took out
“smart glasses” from holders mounted on the table.
Inukai continued his speech after waiting for the attendees to finish reading the data.
“You can’t trust these passports too much, but judging by the distinctive features in appearance and names it is assumed that the infiltrated squad is 'Horsehead.'”
“A squad of assassins manned by magicians with an East Asian appearance, who were meant to be used in missions against the GAU?”
The Intelligence Department didn’t have the personal data of Illegal MAP members.
But they managed to find out what squad it is. Distinctive features described by one
of those present corresponded to what they saw in the photos.
“Did you find out their purpose?”
To the question asked from the seat next to the Deputy Director …
“No, unfortunately. But given the current situation, the most likely assumption is the murder of Shiba Tatsuya.”
…Inukai replied that it was an assumption, but his voice was confident enough.
“It is clear. I think so too.”
After Chef Onda supported Inukai’s opinion…
“We’ve already failed recently when we tried to fix this guy. But what are we going to do this time?”
… he asked the Deputy Director what to do with Illegal MAP.
“Chief Onda. What do you suggest?”
The Deputy Director asked Onda’s opinion instead of answering his question.
Onda exchanged glances with Inukai before answering. In less than a second, they came to a mutual agreement.
“Regardless of this guy’s line of thinking, he's an asset for our country. I believe that even if he doesn’t obey us directly, it will still be possible to make deals with him.”
“His name is also widely known throughout society, on Tuesday the media referred to him as a co-developer of the Strategic-Class Magic, which pushed back the NSU
fleet. If the situation gets to the point where he is killed or wounded by foreign terrorists, the government will be criticized by our citizens.”
Continuing after Chief Onda, Chief Inukai addressed an indirect hint to the Deputy Director.
“Really. Shiba Tatsuya’s murder at the hands of Illegal MAP must be prevented. In general, the arbitrariness of foreign agents on our land is unacceptable. We must not
deviate from these principles.”
The Deputy Director understood him despite giving his proposal in the form of an indirect hint.
“Chef Inukai.”
“Yes?”
Inukai stood up when the Deputy Director spoke to him in a changed tone.
“Give Sergeant Toyama a chance to regain her honor.”
The Deputy Director ordered Inukai who was standing at attention.
It was 7:30. Miyuki and Lina arrived at First High School’s Student Council room about 30 minutes before class began.
There they were met by Izumi. She had already seen Miyuki’s disguise yesterday, so she wasn’t confused. Instead, a large question mark popped over the head of another underclassman girl who was present. Today, in addition to Izumi, Shiina also came to the Student Council room early in the morning.
“Shiina-chan. You are pretty early, has something happened? Or are you worried about something?”
Miyuki who regained her original appearance, asked Shiina who had round eyes after seeing this transformation.
Miyuki didn’t force the Student Council members to work in the morning. She herself usually went straight to her classroom in the morning. Lately, Izumi has often started coming early and doing work (it seems she has some reason not to linger at home). Unlike her, Shiina rarely appears in the Student Council room before the start of working hours.
“Yes, no, this is …”
Shiina hesitated and couldn't answer clearly. Doubt and hesitation were clearly visible on her face.
“…President, to tell the truth, I’d like to tell you something…”
In the end, Shiina found strength in herself and spoke after a short pause.
“To me? So should we move somewhere else?”
It seems that Shiina hasn't made up her mind yet. So, Miyuki invited her to talk in private after reading the hesitation on her face.
“Miyuki-senpai, perhaps I should just leave you alone this morning.”
Izumi stood up at ease and bowed to Miyuki.
“Yes, thank you. See you after class.”
Miyuki noticed Izumi’s intentions and answered her in a relaxed tone.
“Yeah, see you later.”
Izumi left the Student Council room.
“Miyuki, I’ll go to class too.”
At that moment, Lina noticed why Izumi left the room, and also headed for the door in a slightly unnatural manner.
With a smile, Miyuki followed Lina with her eyes, and turned to Shiina at the same time as she heard the sound of the door closing.
“Shiina-chan, let’s sit down? Pixie, make us some drinks.”
“At your service.”
Pixie, who settled in the Student Council room on Tatsuya’s orders, started the process for making drinks. After placing iced coffee with milk in front of Miyuki and cold cocoa (with a high syrup ratio) in front of Shiina, Pixie returned to her place in the corner of the room.
Shiina was wearing a tense look on her face, and grabbed the glass of cocoa. Even when she took a couple of sips, the tension didn’t disappear from her face. She still couldn’t begin talking.
Miyuki didn’t rush Shiina. In a relaxed manner, she raised the glass of coffee with milk in it from the table. Red lips wrapped around the translucent drinking straw. Her snow-white throat moved slightly, showing that she had taken a sip. Then, she returned the glass to the table while exhaling slightly.
Looking up from her glass, Miyuki noticed Shiina was staring at her with devouring eyes.
“…What is it?”
There was still time before lessons began, and Miyuki was going to wait for Shiina to speak herself. But eventually, she could not help asking after feeling the suspicion from such a look.
“Ah! This, no, uh … It’s about my father and brother!”
Shiina couldn’t answer honestly that she was simply fascinated while staring at her, so with a blushing face, she hurriedly went straight to the main topic of the conversation.
Miyuki, of course, noticed Shiina's unnatural behavior. For Miyuki, this scene was very familiar (although she couldn't understand the reason). So, she knew from her own experience that the best way to deal with this situation would be to leave everything as it is. Therefore, Miyuki silently waited for Shiina to continue her story.
“…Father and brother are going to r..report to the Self-Defense Forces… about Shiba-senpai's plan…”
Shiina’s voice became very quiet toward the end of the sentence.
But the volume was loud enough for Miyuki who was sitting across from her to hear everything.
Over the past three months, Shiina began calling Tatsuya "Shiba-senpai," and Miyuki
- "President." Miyuki knew this, so she understood who Shiina was talking about.
"Tatsuya-sama's plan?" Is this by any chance about the case we bothered you with the other day?
“Yes … that same case.”
Shiina cringe with fear and answered in a thin voice, even though Miyuki didn't ask her in a strict tone.
When Miyuki said “the other day,” she was referring to the day when Tatsuya visited the Mitsuya family to get information about the defenses on Midway Island. When Mitsuya Gen asked Tatsuya why he needed to know about it, he replied: “in order to decide whether it is possible to organize an escape for one of the magicians imprisoned in Midway Prison.” That is, Shiina meant her father and brother are going to tell the Self-Defense Forces just that.
“I understand …Well, nothing can be done. Shiina-chan’s father is in this position after all.”
Miyuki didn’t ask for details, deciding not to torment Shiina anymore. But in reality, she was very interested in who exactly in the Self-Defense Forces the Mitsuya family reported to. But Shiina hardly knew that much. Miyuki decided it was better to investigate this matter on her own instead of interrogating her kohai from the Student Council.
“My brother said he was going to report to “Lieutenant General Saeki from the 101
Battalion.”
But the worry was unnecessary. Even without a question from Miyuki, Shiina herself betrayed the person to whom the information was reported to.
Hearing an unexpectedly familiar name, Miyuki was not shocked. Shiina spoke only about the information leak from the Mitsuya family to Saeki. There was no talk about Saeki betraying Tatsuya. But even if that were the case, Miyuki wouldn't have been all that surprised.
From the beginning, Miyuki wasn’t very friendly towards Saeki and Kazama, who gave Tatsuya dangerous work. If Saeki takes a position unfavorable to Tatsuya, then Miyuki will not hesitate to recognize the 101 Battalion as his enemy.
However, Miyuki thought that she should at least inform Tatsuya about this.
“Thank you, Shiina-chan. I'll pass this on to Tatsuya-sama.”
Fujibayashi, who took the day off yesterday to become her family’s envoy, was already back on duty today at 8 AM. as usual. She was the assistant commander of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, and her duty station was battalion headquarters. In addition to the time she spent on missions and operations, her actual duty station was the commander's office at Kasumigaura base.
The owner of that office, Kazama, came on duty at different times. Sometimes he showed up at the office far after noon, and sometimes he would get there before Fujibayashi.
Kazama didn’t say anything if Fujibayashi came later than him. First of all, it is worth noting that the door to the office was arranged in such a way that it wouldn't open before 8 o'clock in the morning. Fujibayashi didn’t know how Kazama got through this door. She was very curious about this, but she followed an intuition that suggested that it was better not to ask about it.
Today, Kazama appeared about ten minutes after Fujibayashi began work.
Fujibayashi immediately rose from her seat, stood in front of Kazama’s desk, where he had already seated himself, and bowed.
They exchanged polite greetings, then checked the schedule for today and clarified the battalion’s orders. After the usual morning routine ended, Kazama asked about the results of yesterday.
“Regarding Shiba Tatsuya-shi…” (-shi is an overly formal way of referring to someone)
Fujibayashi began her report calling Tatsuya not her usual “Tatsuya-kun” or “Special Officer Ooguro.”
“In response to a request from the Fujibayashi family head, that we should have caught Kudou Minoru on our own, he asked to be taken for a capturing operation.
The head of the Fujibayashi family gave his consent.”
It wasn't an army operation, and she was not obligated to report it. However, both Kazama and Fujibayashi looked as if it was naturally something to report.
“What about time and place?”
“The meeting is tomorrow at noon on the state highway northwest of Fuji Fuketsu Cave.”
“Okay. Thank you, at ease.”
“Understood.”
Fujibayashi bowed and returned to her seat.
Kazama leaned back in his chair without opening his workstation terminal. He leaned back so much that in his posture, when his face was pointed up at the ceiling, one would have thought that he decided to take a nap.
Fujibayashi peaked over to take a look at Kazama. But she couldn’t understand what the commander was thinking about.
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