Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 30 - Rescue - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Saturday, July 20th. It was the last day of the first semester, but Tatsuya wasn't going to go to school today. However, this didn't mean that he was going to indulge in laziness all morning.

6:30 a.m. Tatsuya had breakfast with the already familiar company of Miyuki, as well as Lina, who had recently begun her normal everyday life.

“Onii-sama, here you are.”

Despite the fact that Miyuki soon needed to go to school, she managed to make sure that Tatsuya finished breakfast with her own brewed coffee.

“Thanks.”

Tatsuya said, took the cup and immediately brought it to his lips.

“Pleasant taste. It’s sad that for some time I won’t be able to enjoy coffee made by Miyuki.“

Hearing Tatsuya's words, Miyuki, who had returned to her seat, drooped sadly.

Lina, on the contrary, in anticipation of Tatsuya's next words straightened up unconsciously.

“Today, as planned, I will go to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands from Miyakijima.”

Senator Wyatt Curtis promised that the destroyer would approach Miyakijima this afternoon. Since then, Tatsuya no longer communicated with Curtis, but if the schedule he sent was valid, then tonight he will head towards Midway Island and Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

“...Yes.“

There was a hint of bitterness in Miyuki's voice. But it wasn't the sadness of their separation that was responsible for it, but concern for Tatsuya.

“Lina. I entrust Miyuki to you during my absence.“

If we talk about anxiety, then Tatsuya could say the same thing.

“Yeah, you can rely on me. And in return, take care of Ben.“

Tatsuya entrusted Lina with Miyuki's guard, and Lina asked Tatsuya to save Canopus.

They have exchanged these promises many times. Now they have confirmed them one more time, because Tatsuya will leave for Miyakijima in the first half of the day, which will be before they return from school.

“I'll take care. And about Major Canopus, and about Minami.“

“Yes... Thanks, Onii-sama.”

Miyakijima, 2 p.m.

Tatsuya stood on a pier in the port, recently built on the northeast coast of the island, and looked at the sea. The USS destroyer “Matthew C. Perry,” although not visible beyond the horizon, was supposed to anchor in adjacent waters in the direction Tatsuya was looking. Tatsuya heard about this from the members of the island’s defense detachment (and they, in turn, learned about it from the captain of the destroyer by radio), and therefore went to the pier.

The Matthew C. Perry is the destroyer promised three days ago to Tatsuya by Wyatt Curtis. Who knows if there was any secret intention that the ship sent was named after the admiral who headed the so-called Black Ships, which made Japan open to international relations in the mid-19th century.

Tatsuya didn't stand on the pier to try to see a ship that could not be seen from here. To his right, a small ship was preparing to be dispatched. On it, he was going to go out to the destroyer.

“Shiba-san, the preparation is complete.”

The captain of this ship said to Tatsuya after a little more than five minutes of waiting under the rays of the summer sun. The small ship wasn't a pleasure boat 10-20 meters long, but a ship with a total length of 50 meters and a crew of 20 people, originally built as a patrol ship. The fact that in the presence of 20 crew members, the captain personally came up to report, reflected the status of Tatsuya on this island.

And the reason wasn't only that he was from the direct line of the Yotsuba family and was the bridegroom of the next head of the family. It was that he was a key figure in the construction of the plant under construction on this island with a Stellar Furnace. In addition, people who were on the island during the attack of the Parasite squad at the beginning of the month also knew about his real abilities, which allowed him to easily deal with the main enemy forces. Not everyone respected him yet, but no one else could ignore him.

“It will be a dangerous journey, thank you in advance.”

Tatsuya turned to the captain and bowed with a nod.

“I agree. All crew members are instructed to remain vigilant as we approach.“

The captain saluted Tatsuya. However, he probably didn’t fully understand what Tatsuya

called "a dangerous journey." Most likely, he considered this a common danger arising from the approach of an unarmed ship with a warship of another country.

Tatsuya didn't explain his thoughts in detail, but simply bowed again and boarded the Rakuyoumaru*.

[Literally "The Setting Sun."]

With the help Toudou prepared and official passport received from Yakumo, Tatsuya went through all the necessary procedures for leaving the country. More specifically, all legal procedures were completed at the time of receiving this passport. The reason for leaving was "sending Taurus Silver (aka Shiba Tatsuya) to the USNA for cooperation in the field of magic technology." If Tatsuya was to participate in the Dion Project, then perhaps he would follow the same formalities. Of course, his current trip was completely unrelated to the Dion Project. Therefore, it was understood that his trip was allegedly connected with the need to provide the USNA as a allied state with technologies related to the thermonuclear reactor he's developing.

And the destroyer "Matthew C. Perry" was allegedly sent to guard an engineer delivering valuable technology. According to the directional plan, the small ship Tatsuya was aboard and the USNA destroyer will sail in parallel courses to the east, and upon reaching the Japanese Depression Tatsuya will transfer to the Matthew C. Perry.

Thanks to Toudou Aoba’s help, there were no problems with the documents when Tatsuya left the country. From a legal point of view, the content of these documents was a big problem, since both the purpose and destination were a lie, but this issue could be dealt with even after it was discovered. And at the moment, there is no evidence of an attempt to deceive.

By the way, within the powers of the coast guard patrol ships there is a right to conduct inspections in territorial waters. At first glance, there was nothing strange in the fact that from the patrol ship "Aguni" to "Rakuyoumaru" an order was issued to stop for inspection.

The destroyer "Matthew C. Perry" was anchored just outside the territorial waters off the coast of Miyakijima. The coast guard ordered the Rakuyoumaru to stop when it was already approaching the border of territorial waters. The Aguni patrol ship set off from the west to intercept the Rakuyoumaru, heading for the Matthew C. Perry.

Tatsuya watched the Aguni approach from the Rakuyoumaru deck.

“Shiba-san, staying on deck is dangerous. You better get back to the cabin...”

The captain who approached from behind spoke to Tatsuya. His concern wasn't only in his words, but also in his voice.

The waves at sea were really high. It seems like it was because of a typhoon moving from north to west of the Ogasawara Islands. It wasn’t so strong that it was hard to stand on your feet, but from the captain’s point of view, Tatsuya was a newcomer to the sea. So it was natural for the captain to worry about the possibility of any incident.

“Okay, I understand you.“

There was no need to increase the psychological burden on the captain. Therefore, Tatsuya obediently followed his advice.

The cabin provided to Tatsuya was on the port side. A guard ship was sailing from the west across the Rakuyoumaru's path heading north. In other words, approaching from the port side. Therefore, from the window of the cabin one could observe the situation.

However, Tatsuya wouldn't have had trouble observing, even if his cabin was on the starboard side. He continuously monitored the Aguni's information with his “sight”

from the moment he discovered it while standing on deck.

Both with ordinary eyesight and with his “Elemental Sight”, Tatsuya saw that the patrol ship was about to ram them, not intending to stop.

"... Too much for a simple coincidence. Was there a leak from the main house about the location of my cabin?"

Without any fuss, Tatsuya thought.

The Aguni patrol ship was sent to crash exactly into Tatsuya's cabin.

And he looked at it and did nothing.

The nose of the patrol ship stuck right into the left-side area of the Rakuyoumaru where Tatsuya's cabin was located.

With the development of anti-ship missiles and high-speed torpedoes, there was no longer any sense in installing heavy armor on warships. Warships of this century are equipped with the necessary minimum of armor, and rely more on anti-aircraft artillery, torpedo interception, stealth and mobility.

However, coast guard ships are not designed to confront anti-ship warplanes, submarines or unmanned torpedo bombers, but fleets of illegal immigrants, spy ships and pirates armed with small arms. They do not run much of a risk in running into a strong rebuff, but instead run the risk of being criticized by international human rights organizations if they sink a ship with a preemptive strike.

In cases where it turns out that the adversary was disguised as a refugee spy vessel of a military organization, such criticism is in itself a reputational risk. And often it also brings damage that cannot be ignored diplomatically. After all, you can’t start an attack until you get evidence that the opponents are not refugees.

Therefore, at some point, the coast guard ships went the opposite way from the warships - they began to be equipped with armor capable of withstanding both a preventive attack from machine guns or anti-personnel missile launchers, and a desperate blow from the hull of the pursued suspicious vessel. In other words, they were equipped with a hull capable of sinking other ships with its impact. Of course, they were not equipped with such an archaic thing as a ram on the nose. Yes, and the style of work of modern border ships was to block the escape route of a suspicious ship, getting in his way and not allowing him to move on.

However, the “Rakuyoumaru” had already stopped. The guard ship shouldn't have rammed the stopped vessel instead of blocking its escape path.

The “Rakuyoumaru” initially also started to be built as a patrol ship, but at some stage of construction it was decided to reassign it to a civilian vessel, so the amount of installed armor was noticeably reduced. Its hull wasn't able to withstand the collision with the sturdy armor of the patrol ship.

On the port side, starting from the place where the Aguni’s nose hit, a crack began to spread. The original site of damage was above the waterline, but now the crack has spread below it. It immediately became clear to everyone that the “Rakuyoumaru”

would inevitably sink. And not just sink, but it seemed that it was only a matter of time, until the ship's hull would break in half.

The USNA destroyer, waiting about 500-600 meters ahead, lifted their anchor. It was about to come in to save the team on the Rakuyoumaru. The ships of the maritime police also left Miyakijima one by one.

The “Aguni”, which caused fatal damage to the “Rakuyoumaru”, also backed up to move away from the “Rakuyoumaru”. The eighty-meter “Aguni” wasn't only an armored vessel, but it was superior in size to the fifty-meter “Rakuyoumaru”. Its internal structures were also made of thicker and stronger components. On a surface inspection on the Aguni, no visible damage was visible.

From the point of view of common sense, having gained some distance, the “Aguni”

also had to join the rescue of the crew.

But only if the collision was indeed an accident.

However, being the closest to people floating in life jackets, the Aguni didn't even try to save them. It didn't start braking even when the distance to the “Rakuyoumaru”

exceeded 50 meters. On the contrary, the Aguni's small-caliber ship’s gun was aimed at the “Rakuyoumaru”.

But this gun, although it was called small-caliber, but its caliber was somewhat larger than, for example, on fighter jets. Its destructive power was excessive for such a small civilian ship as the Rakuyoumaru. For those who have not yet managed to escape from the sinking ship, this action was like a control finishing shot.

Flames erupted.... Not only from the gun’s barrel, but from its foundation too.

At the same time the loaded ammunition exploded.

A young man leaned out of an approaching helicopter.

His clothes and hairstyle were disheveled in the wind. In order to not fall out, he held on to the top of the doorway with his left hand. He held out his right hand with what looked like a pistol.

?

This young man was called Tsutsumi Kanata. He was a representative of the second generation of improved Bard series magicians, as well as a guardian of Shibata Katsushige, the next head of the Shibata family, a side branch of the Yotsuba family.

Kanata pulled the trigger of the pistol-shaped CAD in his right hand. From a point which was thirty centimeters from the tip of the gun (where the pistols had their muzzles), a beam of quantized ultrasound stretched toward the patrol ship.

The magic was from the oscillation system, "Phonon Maser." It was this magic that, using a shot of heating ultrasound, led to the ignition and explosion of ammunition.

The just released second Phonon Maser, from the helicopter flying up from the other side, destroyed the second gun.

The patrol ship began to turn around. It refused to inflict the finishing blow on the

“Rakuyoumaru” and decided to run away.

Of course, the Yotsuba magicians flying up from Miyakijima should not be able to miss them.

A twin-screw transport helicopter approached the Aguni from the west and fighters began landing on it. Stepping on to the Aguni deck, the magicians of the Shibata family, a side branch of the Yotsuba family, began the assault on the ship’s interior.

However, this didn't stop the flooding of Rakuyoumaru.

Rescue operations around the sinking ship were carried out by the efforts of the approaching ships of the maritime police and boats launched from the destroyer

"Matthew C. Perry".

Tatsuya has recently become widely known as a magic engineer. The news that he was the victim of maritime terrorists was covered by many media outlets.

An investigation by the maritime police, conducted in collaboration with the Miyakijima defense squad, found that the Aguni patrol ship which attacked the Rakuyoumaru was captured by radical anti-magic movement soldiers and officers of the Japanese Navy Self-Defense Forces. The news reported that the anti-magicians from the Aguni patrol

ship confessed to trying to kill Tatsuya along with the entire Rakuyoumaru crew.

Tatsuya was pulled out of the water five minutes after the flooding of the Rakuyoumaru. All his clothes were covered in blood. He was immediately taken to the resuscitation and intensive care unit (ICU) of the Miyakijima hospital.

After learning of Tatsuya's injury, Miyuki arrived at the hospital within an hour of the incident. Tears welled up in people's eyes as they watched the video shot through the ICU window, which showed Miyuki collapsing to her knees in tears after seeing Tatsuya lying in a medical capsule.

It also caused a wave of criticism and outrage aimed at the media for filming such a dramatic moment on a hidden camera and shamelessly showing it on the news.

July 20, 9 p.m.

There was a secret facility in the ground underneath Miyakijima, which could be called an “underground port”, through which you could go to sea, unnoticed by reconnaissance satellites and surveillance systems on a stratospheric platform.

Now at the water's edge of this port stood Tatsuya, dressed in a “Freed Suit”, without a single wound.

For those who knew the true abilities of Tatsuya, there was nothing surprising about it.

“Restoration,” one of two magics he was gifted with at birth, can undo all damage. For both himself and others. Both living beings and inanimate objects. It doesn't heal wounds. It literally rolls back time to the state before being injured and implements a state in which time from that moment passed without being injured.

This magic doesn't just create an “injury free” state. It implements the "current image"

of the object with a reference point at any time within the last 24 hours. For example, you can do such a trick as returning to a condition that was in the middle of a long-term serious injury, and thereby get only a small part of the original injury.

Tatsuya was really seriously injured during the collision with the patrol ship. First, he rewrote his injuries to such an extent that they were non-fatal, and went into the water along with the ship. And then he completely rolled back all his injuries after receiving

help at the hospital.

“Onii-sama.“

“Tatsuya.“

Two girls, Miyuki and Lina, approached Tatsuya and simultaneously called out to him.

For today, Lina has changed the color of her skin to light brown, and the color of her hair and eyes to black, but now she's already returned to her actual appearance.

“Miyuki, that was a great performance. Thanks to you, all suspicions will become unfounded, and no one will bother me.“

In the hospital lay a doll, which is an exact copy of Tatsuya. If you look at it from the outside of the ICU capsule, it will be impossible to distinguish it from the original.

People who know about Tatsuya's “Restoration” will doubt this truth, that he’s supposedly still in the hospital, but there are hardly any daredevils who want to invade the ICU ward, where they showed Miyuki sobbing.

“It wasn't a performance.“

In response to Tatsuya's praise, Miyuki pouted and turned away. On the contrary, Lina was surprised at her unusual behavior, not Tatsuya.

“I really was in shock. Although all this was planned, it was a big mistake to think that I could remain calm when I saw your bloody figure.“

By the time Miyuki arrived at the hospital, Tatsuya had already taken off his bloodied clothes, replacing them with a hospital gown and bandages. Miyuki wasn't supposed to see a "bloodied figure."

However, Tatsuya wasn't so stupid as to point out this inaccuracy now.

“... I'm sorry.“

“I understand that this was an effective way to show injuries. And I realize that lying in a hospital is in many respects a convenient state of affairs for you. But still...“

“I understood. I will never use this method again.“

Seeing the tears appearing in Miyuki’s eyes, Tatsuya hastened to make such a promise.

Miyuki clung to Tatsuya, burying her face in his chest. Tatsuya didn't resist, but instead put his arm around Miyuki.

Lina shyly turned away, while after some time, as if she lost her patience and without turning her head, she asked:

“... hey. Are you okay?“

“Do not worry.”

Tatsuya answered, and Miyuki pulled away from his chest at the same time.

Miyuki's face looked refreshing.

While Lina's face, on the other hand, looked as if she couldn't bear to look at them. Lina knew that both Tatsuya and Miyuki were completely honest with each other, but she still felt the falsehood of the planned harmony performance she had seen.

“... So you're going?”

Therefore, her manner of speaking seemed a little unfriendly. However, she came here to see Tatsuya off not just to accompany Miyuki.

“Yes, as planned.“

“I see... I don’t think you have to worry, but be careful anyway.”

In contrast to Lina's words, her voice was filled with undisguised uneasiness.

“Onii-sama. I will look forward to your safe return.“

Following her, Miyuki spoke, putting all her feelings into her words.

“I promise that I will be back safe and sound, so that you can meet me with a smile.”

Tatsuya swore an oath in response to Miyuki's plea.

“...What about me?“

Complained Lina who felt like she was ignored.

“But you yourself just said that you don’t have to worry about me?”

“But I'm not... worried!”

Lina objected, with her face flushed, as Tatsuya grinned.

Tatsuya and Miyuki giggled at the same time.

Lina hardly had deliberately created this situation, but she managed to get rid of the bitterness of a temporary separation precisely thanks to them.

“Okay, I'm leaving.“

Tatsuya got into a large air-car, the construction of which was completed just the other day. It was a car in the form of an “SUV” (SUV), which differed from the previous version, not only did this one increase to four seats, but also the presence of a large number of military equipment was installed.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Tatsuya took off in this large car that looks like a low SUV.

Accompanied by the views of Miyuki and Lina, the air-car sailed about ten meters along the surface of the water, after which it began to slowly dive into the water.

After passing under water about 50 kilometers to the east, the air-car driven by Tatsuya surfaced. Then Tatsuya switched it to flying at low altitude.

A distinctive feature of this new type of air-car wasn't its increased capacity and load capacity, but improved stealth efficiency. Thanks to the artificial Relic (also used in the Stellar Furnace), and more precisely, its function of storing magic sequences, this low-power but highly effective magic of hiding electromagnetic waves and isolating sound waves can be continuously activated for up to 12 hours in a row, regardless of the abilities of the magicians who are on board.

It has a low output power because the required result was achieved even with a weak interference power in the phenomenon. And it also meant that such magic was harder to detect. The new air-car had characteristics that made it difficult to detect by not only sound, light, heat, radio and magnetic waves, but also psionic sensors.

However, even this air-car wasn't all-powerful. The possibility of space flight and underwater diving were only additional functions, and remained the same as in the first

model. Even with the stealth of the air-car, the risk of being detected under water was lower than when flying through the air. But Tatsuya still switched the mode to flying at low altitude, because it wasn't clearly known what negative consequences a long stay under water would have on the air-car.

After about five minutes of flight, he arrived at the meeting point. There he saw this giant emerge from under the water. The secret pride of the USNA Navy, the nuclear-powered submarine carrier, Virginia. The reason for it being "secret" was because this submarine warship was equipped with a nuclear reactor prohibited by international agreements.

The upper part of the outer shell of the Virginia moved apart, exposing the flight deck.

Tatsuya landed the air-car on it.

The destroyer, "Matthew C. Perry" was a distraction.

And Wyatt Curtis's promised means of reaching the Northwest Hawaiian Islands was this nuclear-powered submarine aircraft carrier.

The sliding doors of the outer shell closed. Following the instructions from the deck crew, Tatsuya led the air-car into the hangar. When the crew showed Tatsuya the OK

sign, he stepped out of the air-car. Two people approached him.

“Tatsuya-kun, it looks like you managed to slip away without a problem.”

The person who spoke to Tatsuya was Shibata Katsushige, and his companion was Tsutsumi Kanata. After catching the terrorists who captured the Aguni patrol ship, they mingled with the crew of the USNA destroyer, which joined the rescue operation, and thus boarded the Matthew C. Perry. From there, they were transported to the Virginia by a destroyer helicopter.

“Katsushige-san. With you here I feel calmer.“

“We couldn’t let you go alone on a foreign warship. And it is not a matter of whether we trust our allies or not, but that you are a valuable fighting force of the Yotsuba family.“

“I understand.“

The fact that Katsushige together with the combat magicians of the Shibata family will be aboard the USNA warship delivering Tatsuya to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands was

originally planned. As Katsushige said, their presence here was to ensure that, in the worst-case scenario, Tatsuya didn't fall into anyone's hands except the Yotsuba. The list of what should be prevented included even his voluntary escape abroad.

Tatsuya wouldn't flee to another country while Miyuki remained in Japan, but there were still people in the family who didn't understand this. Katsushige was sent not to defend Tatsuya, but simply to silence those who were against this operation.

However, this didn't mean that he could not be “reinforcements”. The task of Katsushige and his people was "to prevent Tatsuya from falling into the hands of someone outside the Yotsuba." If it suddenly happens that on the island of Midway or the Pearl & Hermes atoll, Tatsuya falls into the hands of the USNA army, then a detachment of magicians of the Shibata family led by Katsushige will go to his rescue.

Here, the fact that he was "not isolated" was of great importance.

“I will be glad to work with you during this operation.“

“Mutually.“

In response to Tatsuya's bow, Katsushige also made a slight nod.

A little later than 10 pm, Yotsuba's main house.

Throwing a bathrobe over her nightwear, Maya listened to Hayama's report in her private room.

“Tatsuya-sama safely met with Katsushige-sama.“

Hayama, even in mid-summer, dressed in an impeccably seated three-piece suit, informed Maya of information obtained through mental telepathic communication.

“I see. I wonder if we managed to fool the self-defense forces with this trick.“

“I suppose this should at least prevent open interference.”

“If so, then the performance was worth it.“

Having taken a sip of black tea with an aroma of brandy, muttered Maya, the organizer of today's incident.

Planting anti-magicians on the Aguni, ramming them into the Rakuyoumaru - all this was ordered by Maya to the Yotsuba magicians specializing in manipulating consciousness. Both Tatsuya's hospitalization, and reporters with a hidden camera filming the sobbing Miyuki - the whole “plot” of this farce was written by Maya.

“By the way, what did they do with the anti-magician soldiers from the Aguni?“

“Self-defense forces demanded their extradition. The police are resisting as best they can, but after a few days the transfer will take place.“

“And then the soldiers who committed the attack, before they fall into the hands of military investigators, commit suicide in order to show everyone their determination.”

“That's exactly what is planned.“

“I wonder if Her Excellency Saeki will intervene?”

“This scandal occurred in the Navy. And Her Excellency is in the army. So, even if she tries to get involved in this matter, the necessary bureaucratic procedures should take some time.“

“And yet, let's speed up the schedule. So... to begin with, let the criminals quickly "part"

with the police.“

“As you order. I will organize it.“

“Yes, thank you.“

Smiling gracefully, Maya nodded to the courteous Hayama who bowed.