Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 30 - Rescue - Chapter 9.3

Major Antares and First Lieutenant Sargas were summoned to the combat information post of the destroyer.

“It seems like... an aircraft driven by the magic of flight.”

Sargas answered in a rather confident tone to the question of the captain, the commander of the operation, not from the bridge, but from this BEEP. The monitor just finished playing a short video sent from one of the Shangri-La fighters.

“Lieutenant. Is something like that already applied in practice?“

“As far as I know, this is not yet applied by our army in practice.“

“What do you think, Major Antares?”

The captain looked from Sargas to Antares.

“I have nothing to add, captain.”

“In that case, is this UFO from Japan?”

“I think so.“

The magic of flight was invented by the Japanese company FLT. In this case, it is quite reasonable to consider that this unidentified aircraft using magic of flight is a kind of Japanese experimental prototype.

“But why would the Japanese army attack a USNA owned base...?”

“The enemy is not necessarily related to the Japanese army.”

Antares objected, in response to the mutter of the captain.

“The inventor of flight magic is Taurus Silver... Shiba Tatsuya. He is one of the central figures of the same "Yotsuba." I think, with a high probability, this may be the apparatus of the original development of the Yotsuba.”

“All sent F-141's have stopped responding.“

In the oppressive silence that followed, the voice of the AI assistant was heard, responsible for observing the sky.

“The radars still don't record the enemy aircraft's position.“

“Increase the sensitivity of observation in the visible light range!“

The captain in an irritated voice gave the order to the AI.

All sensors were already trying to detect UFOs with maximum sensitivity. The captain’s order meant exceeding the maximum permissible load on the observation equipment in the visible light range. But the warning didn’t come back, like "there is a risk of sensors burning." Still, the military AI was trained to obey orders.

“... UFO detected. Distance 2 nautical miles.“

“What!?“

Distance 2 nautical miles. Approximately 3.7 kilometers. Immediately after the captain's scream, the piercing wail of a siren sounded.

The screen displays the damage status. All guns located from the bow to the center of the ship were destroyed. The automatic guns, anti-aircraft laser guns, and anti-aircraft/anti-submarine rocket launchers.

“Display the image from the forward deck!“

The cameras didn't seem to be affected, as a large window appeared on the main screen with a view from the center towards the bow of the ship.

There was no visible fire engulfing the guns and launchers.

The automatic and laser guns simply disappeared without a trace, and the rocket launchers disappeared as if they were uprooted.

“What is it...“

As if interrupting the captain, the siren sounded again.

“The ship has completely lost its ability to engage in air defense.“

The voice of the onboard AI responsible for counting the damage sounded out.

A report on the screen reported that all stationary guns mounted on the deck and sides of the ship were lost.

“Impossible... In an instant, to completely neutralize the whole ship...!?“

At the moment, they only have torpedoes left for armament. So the shout of the captain wasn't an exaggeration.

As if responding to his cry, the image of the deck disappeared from the screen.

“What happened!?“

“Signs of destruction of optical surveillance equipment are recorded.“

The onboard AI said in an unemotional voice.

The AI is just a program. The emotions of its voice are programmed so as not to undermine the psychological state of the crew. But in this situation, such a calm tone, on the contrary, only got on the nerves of the captain.

“Someone! Get on deck and report on the situation!“

Such an order made it clear that the captain was mad.

“Captain, we can go.“

Antares responded to the order.

“... May I ask you this?”

The captain asked Antares in a slightly calmed tone.

“Yes, sir.“

Antares and Sargas saluted the captain with a gesture accepted from the sailors.

The first ship Tatsuya discovered was the Chevalier destroyer. At first he wanted to flood it with one attack.

But this ship is most likely followed by an aircraft carrier and its escort ships. If you spend time on each of them, then the likelihood that Minami will be taken away again will only increase.

Minami's information was still marked with a marker, so there was no fear of losing sight of it, even if they escaped again. However, through the information dimension, Tatsuya already knew that Minami's health condition had worsened. True, recently, when he checked her condition before re-departing from Virginia, it suddenly for some reason improved. But vigilance still shouldn't be relaxed. Because the condition can worsen if she is dragged along by force. It was necessary to hurry.

However, Tatsuya changed his plans. Instead of sinking the ship, he neutralized all the ways in which this ship could harm his air-car.

He landed the air-car on a deck which there were no guns or launchers, and left it.

Two figures approached Tatsuya standing under the night sky.

“I was waiting for you, Parasites.”

The reason Tatsuya changed his plans was the Parasites "seen" by him on this destroyer.

If he sank the destroyer, then their discovery would take extra time. And that was undesirable.

Tatsuya's words made his purpose clear - the destruction of the Parasites.

Antares suddenly and without warning released magic.

When a person becomes a Parasite, then he has a decrease in the variety of magic used, but this is offset by a sharp jump in the speed of activation of the magic that he has left.

The “Nyx” of Antares was activated earlier than Tatsuya’s counter-magic, covering him with a thick layer of mental interference that impedes magical perception.

However, the next moment...

The darkness of Nyx silently shattered into pieces.

“...How!?“

Antares's voice complained about the absurdity of what was happening.

When magical perception is blocked, it is impossible to "see" neither the sequence of activation, nor the sequence of magic. If you cannot “discover” the magic that you need to resist, then you cannot aim with counter-magic.

"Nyx. Pretty problematic magic."

Tatsuya didn't answer Antares's question. But mentally, he acknowledged that Antares's magic was quite dangerous.

"Even if I don’t see the target visually, then I can "decompose" it, if I know what I'm dealing with."

The activated Nyx really interfered with the formation of visual images. But the processes that were carried out before the activation of Nyx could be "seen." Tatsuya can get current “information” from “information” seen in the past. And he can

decompose this information with "Gram Dispersion".

If you try to seal Tatsuya’s powers with Nyx, you shouldn’t even let him suspect the activation of magic. In other words, “Nyx” will work on Tatsuya only if it will be a complete surprise.

The destruction of Antares's magic served as this incentive, or so it was planned, but Sargas just now launched a magical attack at Tatsuya.

And again, Sargas' magic attacked Tatsuya's mind faster than he could neutralize it.

It was a pack of wolves that looked like shadows, with no details. More precisely, these were not wolves, but coyotes.

Countless all-black coyotes turned their fangs to Tatsuya's heart.

It was the magic “Ikel," classified as the mental interference magic in which Sargas was strong.

In Greek mythology, the children of the night goddess Nyx were called “Oneiroi,” the deities that control dreams. The name of this magic is "Ikel" - it was another (real) name of the so-called "Phobetor", one of such deities, which takes the images of animals in dreams. This magic damages the mind of the enemy with the help of animal illusions. An illusion in which nightmare fangs bite the victim’s heart leads to a weakening of the opponent’s mind.

But unfortunately for Sargas, Ikel was waiting for the same end as Nyx.

In terms of speed of completion of magic, Sargas was ahead of Tatsuya. But before Sargas' Ikel's effects could work, this magic was neutralized by Tatsuya's “Gram Dispersion” erasure.

Tatsuya pulled "Trident" out of his holster with his right hand.

Antares and Sargas, not giving up, continued to try to attack Tatsuya with magic of mental interference, but Tatsuya neutralized each of these attacks by decomposing their magic sequences.

Tatsuya continued to activate “Gram Dispersion” using the built-in CAD in his combat suit.

“It's impossible!“

“How!?“

There were lamentations and anger in the voices of the Parasites. What was happening caused a mess in their heads, and as a result a small gap formed in their ongoing magical attacks.

Tatsuya didn't miss this moment, and pulled the trigger of "Trident."

""Mist dispersion,” activation."

The bodies of Antares and Sargas trembled and began to blur.

The sea breeze picked up the remnants of their bodies and scattered them across the sky and the surface of the sea.

All that remains of them is two "Parasites."

The true bodies of the "demons" that turn people into Parasites.

"Recognition of the structure supporting pushion information bodies."

The true body of the Parasite is a Pushion informational body wrapped in a psionic cocoon. Or is it better to call jelly not a cocoon?

The psionic mass itself, which protects the "core" (the Pushion informational body), is formless, and besides it there is another psionic informational body - a kind of foundational support that ensures the existence of the Pushionic informational body in this world.

This psionic informational body, which has become a supporting pillar, must first be found among all this formless mass of psions.

Having set the search condition as the “Pushion informational body existing in this world” as a search condition, Tatsuya indirectly considered the desired structure.

"The magic of decomposition of the structure supporting Psionic informational bodies,

"Astral Dispersion,” activation.”

The destruction of the support necessary for the existence in this world the pushion information body - the Parasite.

Having lost the "foundation of existence", the Pushion informational bodies leave this world.

Expelled from this world.

Two Parasites disappeared, leaving for the "other world."

After destroying the Parasites, Tatsuya no longer took any action against the destroyer, Chevalier.

Not wanting to waste extra time, he lost all interest in them.

Climbing into the air-car, he took off from the deck of the Chevalier.

On the way, he found an aircraft carrier and two escort ships, but he was going to ignore them.

But unfortunately, the enemy wasn't going to let him through just like that.

Mobile rocket launchers on the decks of the escort destroyers aimed at the air-car. The direction of their aiming was slightly shifted, as the radars were useless. Short-range laser guns were not used, probably for the same reason.

If you just fly by at full speed, you can avoid the attacks from the destroyers. Although it could not accelerate above the speed of sound, aiming in the visible light range at a high-speed flying object would still be extremely problematic.

However, new fighter aircrafts were preparing to take off from the aircraft carrier. This time, there was obviously more than the last ten. If this turns into an air battle again, then we can safely say that the probability of this fight coming to an end in a short time is extremely small.

Performing various erratic (left, right, up, down) maneuvers, Tatsuya directed his "sight"

at the escort destroyer, which was going in front of the aircraft carrier. These movements, by the way, really created the impression that this is a real "alien ship,"

which is usually meant when they say "UFO."

"The name of the ship is Mila Davis."

"No parasites on board detected."

"ABC weapons* on board not found."

[Special abbreviation for weapons that fall under all kinds of prohibitions. A (atomic), B

(biological), C (chemical).]

To begin with, he was convinced that sinking it wouldn't cause any problems.

"The goal is Mila Davis."

The target was the entire ship called Mila Davis. Instead of recognizing the destroyer as a set of separate parts, he recognized the entire ship as a whole, using the name of the ship as a key.

"Obtaining information on the materials forming "Mila Davis."

He didn't read the structure of the object associated with this name, but information about its materials, or rather information about the chemical elements that form these materials.

""Mist Dispersion"- activation."

Tatsuya activated "Mist Dispersion," aiming only at the general concept of the Mila Davis ship, that is, at the ship’s hull, its internal equipment, and the fuel it uses.

The magic that breaks down substances at the level of chemical elements has been activated.

The shape of the destroyer blurred and swam.

And its majestic image disappeared, turning into dust and smoke.

Only crew members who fell into the sea remained.

Having fallen into the sea with strong splashes, they hastily surfaced one by one. There was no longer any difference in rank between them. And the senior and junior officers, and the captain, and sailors - all in desperation looked around with faces expressing a complete incomprehension on what had happened.

Tatsuya turned on the transmitter, taken from the Virginia nuclear submarine carrier.

“This is the UFO pilot.“

Tatsuya involuntarily grinned at such a "title." However, these were serious negotiations. If the enemy thinks he’s fooling them, then he won’t be able to turn everything as smoothly as he wanted.

“We do not wish to continue military operations.”

Having made the most serious voice, Tatsuya said into the microphone of the transmitter.

“This is the USNA Navy aircraft carrier, "Shangri-La."“

They answered him. Although it was known in advance that this transmitter could provide communication, he was relieved when it was actually confirmed in practice.

Even Tatsuya was embarrassed by the realization that his “solo performance” could go unanswered, unnoticed.

“UFO pilot. State your demands.“

“My aircraft is currently heading toward Pearl & Hermes Base. I am not going to cause damage to the base until I myself am attacked. My enemies are Parasites.“

“...So, what is next?“

This was probably a question from the captain of the aircraft carrier. Tatsuya decided that this man was apparently aware of the Parasites.

“Focus on saving your comrades who have fallen in the water. Pilots of aircrafts sent earlier are also now in the water. I repeat, for my part there is no longer any intention to attack. I promise not to interfere with the rescue operation.“

“Accepted.“

The captain of the aircraft carrier quickly agreed.

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to focus on the rescue operation.”

“Thank you for understanding.“

“... If you destroy the Parasites, then I will only be glad. True, this is just my personal opinion...“

“... Was it worth saying now something like that?“

This communication channel has not been encrypted. Both the crew of the aircraft carrier and the crew of the second destroyer could easily hear this conversation.

“I don't care. The fleet won't bow to these non-human monsters.“

“I see.“

This captain, one way or another, turned out to be to Tatsuya's liking. If not for this situation, he would want to meet him face to face.

“Then, all the best.“

However, Tatsuya was now a terrorist who attacked the regular army. His voice was changed by the function built into the suit, as it was undesirable for anyone to hear his real voice.

“May God's blessing be with you.”

Tatsuya abruptly said goodbye in a slightly rude manner, and the captain answered him with words that made it difficult to understand whether he said this seriously, or with sarcasm.

After avoiding a battle with the aircraft carrier, Tatsuya now secured for himself an unhindered path to the base of Pearl and Hermes.

As the Mitsuya family told him, he saw a semi-floating artificial island. Based on its shape and size, it could be concluded that a floating pontoon mega-platform, originally intended for a surface airport, was converted into this base.

"But how is this to be understood...?"

Circling in the sky above the base, Tatsuya bowed his head inquiringly.

At first he thought that he hadn’t been attacked from the base because he received a warning from the captain of the Shangri-La aircraft carrier. But when Tatsuya approached the base, a sense of the demeanor of what was happening began to arise

in him.

... There were no signs of people at the base.

Even after reaching normal viewing distance, he didn't find human figures.

"There is only one person at the base - Minami...?"

The search with "Elemental Sight" yielded a shocking result.

Of the people there was only one, Minami. There were no signs of parasites.

"Are they using some kind of advanced concealment magic...?"

Tatsuya suspected the existence of magic unknown to him, capable of completely hiding the target from his "Elemental Sight".

He thought that Minoru had created concealment magic that completely hid even traces of the use of magic, or that the Stars had a user of such magic.

However, his intuition denied this. Tatsuya could not explain what this opinion was based on, but he came to the conclusion that there was nobody using magic on this base except him. Apart from Minami, this base really was completely deserted.

"The captain of the aircraft carrier clearly didn't know that such an unusual situation was at this base."

Despite the fact that the conversation with him took place on the radio, one could find out about such an abnormal situation by a nervous or excited voice. But Tatsuya didn't feel anything like that in his voice.

"... Anyone would be baffled."

If you land and see for yourself, you may be able to understand what is happening there. Or happened there.

"And even if nothing is clear, then you can just pick up Minami and get out of there."

Tatsuya came to this decision when he was already making his third round around the base.

Landing at the Pearl & Hermes base, Tatsuya stepped out of the air-car.

Standing on the surface of the artificial island, he discovered traces of magic that he didn't notice from the air.

"About 30... no, 40 minutes ago?"

In dozens, not, probably, even in more than a hundred different places at this base were the remains of a raging powerful magic.

"These traces... there can be no mistake. This is Minoru's "Jintai Hakka" magic."

This residual “smell” of magic, drifting in the air of the base, didn't differ from the same

“Jintai Hakka” of Minoru, with which he once attacked Tatsuya himself. This is deadly magic that destroys the human body at the molecular level by forcing the extraction of electrons from the cells that make up this body. The fact that this magic was used more than a hundred times meant that Minoru had committed the massacre of more than a hundred people.

"Minoru... what happened?"

He didn't think that the Parasite swallowed the mind of Minoru. But not because he

“didn’t want to believe it,” but only because he praised Minoru for his strength.

Including the power of his mind.

And given his obsession with Minami, it was very strange that he left her alone.

"Anyway... you need to get to Minami first."

When Tatsuya landed the air-car, he did it right near the building where the medical center was located. Of course, this wasn't an accident. He entered this deserted building to pick up Minami and take her back home.

Minami was found in a room on the third floor of this three-story building.

She wasn't in hospital clothes, but in a simple shirt with short sleeves and in trousers up to her ankles. Obviously, it was clothing intended for female soldiers of the USNA army.

“Minami.“

Sitting on the bed and looking out the window, Minami got up and looked back at Tatsuya's voice.

“Tatsuya-sama...“

From Minami's confused face, it was clear that her consciousness was only half awake.

When she saw Tatsuya, a smile and tears appeared on her face at the same time.

“I AM...“

A stream of tears flowed from her left eye.

“Minoru-sama left me.”

“Did Minoru say anything?”

“No. This happened while I was sleeping...“

Minami's voice was becoming intermittent.

Tears accumulated in the right eye also “broke through the dam” and ran down the stream.

Minoru obviously had a reason. And the reason is irresistible and compelling.

There may have been some major altercation between Minoru and the USNA army. The traces of the massacre at this base may be the result of a serious conflict between Minoru and the USNA army.

But Tatsuya didn't voice this assumption.

And he didn't ask whether she wanted to follow Minoru.

“Minami, come back.“

He told Minami just that.

“Tatsuya-sama...!“

Minami buried her head in Tatsuya's chest.

Clinging to him, she sobbed like a child.

Tatsuya gently stroked Minami's head and patted her on the back, as if soothing his youngest sister. It was these movements that he applied to Miyuki when they were still children.

“Ready?”

Tatsuya asked, a sidelong glance at Minami, who was hunched down in the front passenger seat.

“Yes.”

Minami answered, securely fastened with a four-point seat belt. Her eyes were still downcast, and her cheeks were still reddish. It seemed that she was very ashamed of the fact that she was sobbing, clinging to Tatsuya.... In addition to her cheeks, her forehead was also slightly red, but for another reason - she knocked it on the hard breastplate of Tatsuya's Freed Suit.

Tatsuya directed his sight forward and poured his psions into the flying device for the air-car.

“Come back. In our common home.“

“...Yes.“

This time, Minami nodded confidently in response to Tatsuya's words.

The air-car smoothly came off the surface.

Gradually increasing speed, he moved away from the base.

Minami looked around and looked at Pearl & Hermes Base from the passenger seat window.

And when she turned forward again, a previously noticeable shade of suffering completely disappeared from her eyes.

Aiming directly at Miyakijima, Tatsuya headed a little south from the route he arrived here.

Flying past the Virginia, he told them on the radio that he intended to fly straight home on his own.

Captain Curtis responded by congratulating him on the successful completion of the mission, and Shibata Katsushige said only one word: "Accepted."

About three hours have passed since the departure from the Pearl & Hermes base.

“Tatsuya-sama, um... is everything all right?”

Minami suddenly spoke to Tatsuya in an excited voice.

Tatsuya quickly realized the meaning of this question: "Is it normal to use magic continuously for so long?"

“Even after 10 hours there will be no problems. By the way, we will arrive in four hours.“

Tatsuya honestly answered her. Minami was amazed rather than delighted by this answer.

“Minami, how are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere?“

In response, Tatsuya asked about Minami's well-being.

“No, everything is okay. Sorry for disturbing you.“

“But it looks like you were in the Pearl & Hermes base hospital...?”

He didn't tell Minami that he had been following her “information” for a long time.

Tatsuya directly “sees” the information itself, and these are not images or sounds. In other words, he didn't “spy” on her like a voyeur, however, if Minami finds out about this, she will certainly be ashamed, regardless of any explanation. At least, that was the logic that prompted him.

So Tatsuya pretended not to know that Minami was in critical condition 5 days ago.

“...Yes. But now everything is in order.“

Minami probably dodged the answer because she wanted to hide the fact that she had fainted.

However, Minami's voice lacked confidence.

Tatsuya's “sight” confirmed that her condition was stable. At least, the overheating of the magic calculation area has definitely recovered.

"Did Minoru do something? But there are no signs of parasitization..."

He, of course, was glad to see Minami improve, but something was wrong here.

Moreover, this happened immediately after separating with Minoru, so that cause-and-effect relationship was clearly traceable.

“I see. That's good.“

Out loud, Tatsuya answered only that.

NASA's reconnaissance satellites detected a haze-like shadow heading west across the Pacific Ocean.

At first, the NASA space forces personnel controlling the reconnaissance satellites thought that this shadow was just noise in the image from the surveillance camera.

However, the movement of this object, flying from the Pearl and Hermes atoll in the direction of Japan, was clearly artificial, so it was considered an aircraft with an advanced stealth system, and this was reported to the General Staff in the form of information requiring urgent action.

An aircraft that could not be identified by reconnaissance satellites posed a serious threat to national security. There was nothing strange in the fact that the General Staff issued a decree to order the submarine carrier hiding in Japanese territorial waters to capture or bring down this aircraft.

However, at the stage when this decision had to be transferred to the headquarters of the Navy, there was a certain “delay.” Departing from the principles of civilian control, the National Security Council didn't miss this decree because of the risk of a war with Japan, an allied state. As a result, this decision was returned to the General Staff.

The General Staff tried to defend its position, arguing that the goal would be missed if not to respond immediately. Their position was that the threat of national defense

should not be neglected.

Perhaps, from a military point of view, this was reasonable and correct. But in the end, they could not convince the politicians. The tragedy that happened on Midway Island and the Pearl & Hermes base has not yet been reported to the General Staff. Perhaps for this reason, they didn't have enough materials to convince others to agree with them.

No one in the entire federal army or the Department of Defense knew that Senator Wyatt Curtis was behind this interference.

July 24, just after midnight.

Touching the Kii Peninsula slightly, the typhoon accelerated and at the moment headed east. This meant that it was heading straight to Miyakijima.

“Miyuki... are you going to go to bed?”

Lina asked Miyuki, who was standing by the window and looking out of the room in a residential building in the western part of the island.

Mayumi, Honoka and the rest stayed only for one night and returned yesterday to the main Japanese island. And only Miyuki with Lina remained on Miyakijima.

“No. According to the message from the main house, Onii-sama should be back soon.“

There was a beaming smile on Miyuki's face. It even seemed to Lina that Miyuki radiates joy not only with her face, but with her whole body.

“In such a storm?“

This “aura of happiness” seemed to cover Lina, as her voice read simply doubt, not amazement.

“Just because there is such a storm.”

“Ah... I got it, of course.“

Lina quickly realized what Miyuki meant.

“He will return, hiding in the typhoon clouds.“

“Exactly.“

Miyuki confirmed that Lina’s guess is correct. By the way, Lina was able to stop saying

“hurricane”, but instead of “typhoon” [in Japanese] she said “typhoon”. It seemed like it was incurable.

There was heavy rain outside. The main part of the typhoon has not yet reached here, however, the night sky was densely covered with rain clouds moving east. Infrared cameras on reconnaissance satellites and stratospheric platforms were useless. The air-car didn't emit any electromagnetic waves, except for visible light, so it wasn't possible to detect it.

And in this darkness, Miyuki saw a “light."

“Onii-sama!“

“Uh?“

Hearing Miyuki's scream, Lina narrowed her eyes doubtfully.

But she saw nothing but raindrops glistening from the light from the window.

Lina wanted to ask Miyuki: “Where?”.

But before she could ask this, Miyuki turned around and headed for the exit.

“Hey! Wait, Miyuki!“

“Faster, Lina, keep up!“

Not listening to Lina's call to wait, Miyuki put on her shoes and left the room.

“Oh, okay!“

Lina was Miyuki's "acting bodyguard." She followed Miyuki, trying to maintain her composure.

Miyuki, of course, didn't run out in the rain.

She was waiting for Lina at the elevator.

Miyuki leaned the ID card against the reader and opened the panel, located just below the floor buttons.

Under it was hidden another button, labeled as "B".

Miyuki pressed the button without hesitation.

The elevator that smoothly went down brought them to a railed trailer, which looked a bit like a public transport electric booth.

Miyuki and Lina got into this four-seater car.

“Are we going to the airport?“

“Yes, please.”

Miyuki answered Lina's question. Hearing the answer, Lina pressed one of the buttons on the dashboard.

This button was labeled "Airport".

Using this metro, designed exclusively for important people, they got right to the airport terminal building.

It was already after midnight, but unlike ordinary civilian airports, the staff of this airport still worked.

Miyuki thought it was natural that everyone was waiting for Tatsuya to return.

“Miyuki-sama. Welcome.“

“Thanks for your work.“

Answering a courteously bowed employee, Miyuki headed for the door leading to the runway.

Lina followed her.

The double entry doors swung open inward.

“We have returned.“

“Welcome back, Onii-sama.”

Miyuki greeted Tatsuya with a very low bow, who was holding his helmet from the Freed suit under his arm.

Lina's eyes were not directed to this ceremony, which she had already seen several times, but to the girl standing behind Tatsuya.

Lina fled to Japan after Minami was hospitalized.

And when she came to Japan last winter, Minami wasn't yet assigned to Miyuki.

So this was their first meeting.

First, Lina wanted to ask Tatsuya to introduce them.

But when she saw how Minami looked at Miyuki, Lina decided to keep silent.

Tatsuya turned to Minami.

Minami hesitantly took a step forward.

“Welcome back, Minami-chan.”

Miyuki was the first to speak.

“Miyuki-sama, I...“

“I'm not going to demand an apology. Understood, Minami-chan.”

From these words, Minami trembled with her whole body.

“So... I still have no forgiveness?”

“From the very beginning, I had nothing to forgive you for. So what is customary to say when you return?”

“Can I... can I come back?”

“I already said that. Welcome back".

Miyuki smiled and spread her arms to the sides.

“So be it, I'll repeat myself. Minami-chan, “Welcome back.””

Minami stopped trembling.

She ran briskly towards Miyuki, fell to her knees in front of her and grabbed her legs wrapped in a skirt.

“Excuse me! Miyuki-sama, please forgive me, please, ah...!”

Crying with tears streaming down her face, Minami continued in a teary voice and continued to apologize mixed with sobs.

“Oh... I already said that there is no need to apologize?”

Looking at Minami with a smile filled with love on her face, Miyuki gently stroked her head.

Although Miyuki smiled, tears glittered in her eyes.

(End of Rescue Arc)

(Edited by /u/blakegriffin89, light edits made by englishmuffins10) Afterword

You reading the 30th volume of the series “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei”. Did you like it?

In this 30th volume, several new supporting characters appeared at once. But don’t worry. Even if you don't remember their names, it won't cause you any inconvenience with reading the series to the end. It will be enough for you to remember that Tatsuya and Miyuki get strong allies in America, and that the world famous Indo-Persian scientist suggested organizing the autonomy of the "race of magicians."

I think readers will remember that at the very end of the story of the Yokohama Invasion Arc, it was mentioned that “it was the day when the story of the glory and tribulations of the magician race begins”. The terms "magian" and "magist", as well as the path to becoming a global autonomy of the "magian" are nothing more than the same "story of glory and tribulations" mentioned in the Yokohama Invasion Arc. After

23 volumes (excluding SS), a return to this hidden in words hint took place. And unfortunately, in “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” you won't be able to fully unfold this hidden storyline. After all, this issue won't have time to be resolved before Tatsuya and Miyuki graduate from high school.

And now we move on to some behind-the-scenes moments in writing this story.

It goes without saying that all the names of ships and aircrafts mentioned in this volume are "completely fictitious and have nothing to do with the real ones." “Shangri-La” is another matter (it’s okay, it didn’t sink, right?), But I just couldn’t give it another name. I apologize if any historical parallels coincided.

Horned Owl is a member of the Strigidae family. Although, people with some English skills know that. Owls (striges) are also birds of prey, so they can be used for fighter names.

F-141 is a play on words from "one for one" (1x1). This phrase carries the meaning of

"one plane - one goal of destruction." This means that it won't lose in a one-on-one air battle. I hope that in the real future there won't be such a model number.

The “Crowned Hawk” is short for “Crowned Hawk-Eagle.” The “Crowned Hawk-Eagle,” is the largest bird of prey in Africa. Please do not pay attention to the fact that the American army uses the name of a bird that is not indigenous to the American continent.

I think many expected (hoped?) That this time the confrontation between Tatsuya and Minoru would end. However, as I once mentioned, Minoru is the "final boss." “Final”

means its storyline will hold out until the final volume. As to whether attention will be paid to him in the next volume, it is yet to be decided.

... But even though I called him the “final boss,” many probably have the feeling that it wasn’t Minoru who got in the way of Tatsuya, but, on the contrary, Tatsuya became an obstacle for Minoru.

Further more, I plan to take a break from the main series for one volume and release the third volume of the Shiba Tatsuya Assassination Plan. Afterwards, it is planned to release the next volume of the main series, which will be called "The Future".

And as a small preview of the Future Arc: the issue with Bezobrazov will finally be resolved in this arc. Besides Bezobrazov, other Strategic-Class Magicians will also act as enemies. The world will face the crisis of the Fourth World War and the First Magical

War, which will flare up around Japan. Do not miss it.

I'll meet you again in the next, 31st volume of “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei .”

(Satou Tsutomu)