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Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 31 - Future Arc - Chapter 10




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Chapter 10 
On the same day of August 4 th, in the afternoon,  the media have flocked onto Miyakijima. 
Of course, they came to Tatsuya. 
Anomalous (in terms of season, place, and scale) ice fields, which appeared all of a sudden in the coastal waters of Miyakijima and just as suddenly disappeared, were observed not only by the national meteorological observatory, but also by civilians. Nevertheless,  none of the reporters even tried to pry the truth about that unnatural phenomena, which would be the top story in normal circumstances. 
Reporters from  TV, newspapers, and online news sites - everyone was shoving microphones at Tatsuya, hoping to catch any sensational comments. 
Tatsuya didn’t turn down interviews, although he didn’t answer all of the questions from the media. If he tried to satisfy every request from the media, he would have no time to eat or sleep. 
Among the reporters, there were also those who asserted in a provocative manner that  Tatsuya’s actions were nothing more than terrorism, and his proclamation was in defiance of the international community. Moreover, they didn’t stop at mere provocations: one newspaper wrote an article, branding him as a criminal; there was also a TV station, condemning Tatsuya in every way possible on one of its programmes… All of them were companies belonging to a certain media group that had long since been creating journalistic content by depicting  magicians as enemies. 
However, the government immediately stated that the acts committed by Tatsuya were legal, both in terms of domestic and international l aw. Therefore,  such comments from some of the media outlets  failed to change public opinion in any way . 
The goal of such a quick reaction from the government, seemingly, was to negate suspicion and criticisms as to why the Self-Defense Forces didn’t respond to the missile, which targeted the Japanese territory, or even the possibility  that they couldn’t detect the missile altogether . 
The Ministry of Defense countered that they detected the hyper-sonic missile at the moment of its launch and asserted that Tatsuya was entrusted with the interception of the missile under the Defense Cooperation Memorandum, which had long since been established between the government and the Magic Association. 
Many people got the impression that such an answer was an attempt to evade the essence of the question. But since the memorandum itself had been published a long time ago, their suspicions didn’t become a widespread opinion. 
However, the comments of the Japanese government alone couldn’t have influenced public opinion so much. It was p robably the American military experts, together with  diplomatic commentators and international law experts, who spoke out  in Tatsuya’s defense one after another, that had a much greater i mpact. 
One might even say that American commentators were more proactive about this issue than the Japanese. Each and every American expert (at least those who publicly expressed their opinions), although having different [legal] grounds, claimed that attacking the Birobidzhan base and killing Bezobrazov was self-defense by Tatsuya, and it was lawful .  The New Soviet Union, meanwhile, stubbornly  denied the death of Bezobrazov. 
Such enthusiasm from the Americans  even generated speculations that the White House might be pulling the strings behind the scenes. 
Stories about the dominating positive public opinion hold little interest for  the media. The belief that journalism’s raison d’être [31] is criticism remained deeply-rooted  even at the end of the 21 st  century. 
Only three days after the incident occurred, the media left Miyakijima en masse (all at once), attracted by another fresh story. 
August 7 th , three days after the event later called the «Miyakijima Incident». 
The USNA Secretary of Defense, Liam Spencer, made an urgent visit to Japan. The event was reported with great surprise by both Japanese and American media. 
After World War III, the American president stopped leaving the country, so the overseas trips of the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense symbolised  the USNA’s diplomacy at the highest level .  Moreover, Liam Spencer was a well-known politician who had even been called the strongest presidential candidate in the next election. 
Furthermore, this visit from Secretary of Defense Spencer was made without prior notice to Japan. There was no body from the political world, business community, or the media industry who couldn’t see the great significance of this visit . 
Therefore, the loss of interest in Tatsuya was a natural course of events. 
The public waited with bated breath  for the press conference, which should have started after the meeting between Secretary of Defense Spencer and the Prime Minister of Japan. 
 
On the same day, a secret special envoy of the USNA visited Miyakijima , which seemingly returned to tranquility after the media had left the island . 
And it didn’t cause a big fuss. 
Unfortunately, it was rainy on the Izu Islands that day. 
“ Miyuki, I’m back!” ? A vigorous and very cheerful voice rang out,  as if to dispel the clouds. ? “ It’s been about ten days, no? Yeah, exactly! …Wait, you don’t seem surprised.” 
Her voice in the last phrase  quickly got slightly dissatisfied, as if she wanted to say that «it’s not what she expected». 
“ Welcome back, Lina. You’ve returned faster than I expected. I’m glad.” 
Lina was going to pout her lips, but parted them into an embarrassed smile after Miyuki’s last words. 
Miyuki led Lina to a research facility on the east coast. Tatsuya, who got free from the media interviews, was working there on the mass production of the key component of the Stellar Furnace ? artificial relics, which can store copies of Magic Sequences. 
“ Lina, welcome back.” 
“I’m back” ? Lina responded shyly to Tatsuya, who took the initiative and talked  as soon as they saw each other. After which she promptly raised her voice in resentment: 
“ - Hey! Why are you both acting like it’s a given!?” 
“What are you talking about?” 
“What else could this be about!? What’s with your ‹Welcome back›? You haven’t even thought that it’s strange, have you?” 
Perhaps, Lina was correct from an objective point of view. 
However, for Lina it was better not to say such a ‘careless’ statement. 
“Ara, wasn’t it Lina who declared ‹I’m back› first?” 
“Ugh…” 
Lina had nothing to say toward Miyuki’s ‘counterattack’. 
“That’s because Miyuki and I believed that Lina would definitely return.” 
Next, Tatsuya stated «definitely» and «believed» in such a tone without even the slightest trace of a joke. 
“Why do you guys embarrass me like that!” 
Miyuki’s smile and Tatsuya’s expressionless face remained unchanged even after Lina’s sharp comment . 
“ ? Baka.” 
It took five minutes for Lina, whose face got bright red, to pull herself together. 
“Ahem.” 
Five minutes later, Lina, with a residual blush on her face, deliberately cleared her throat to get their attention . 
Tatsuya wondered if it would be appropriate to smile now, but in the end he decided to  wait for Lina’s next words with a serious face. 
“The White House entrusted me with a letter for Tatsuya.” 
“A letter from the White House!? From the President!?” 
Miyuki rounded her eyes, while Tatsuya just frowned quizzically. 
“Not to the Japanese government, but to me…?” 
After checking that the addressee’s name on the envelope was unmistakably his, he asked: 
“Lina, is it alright if I open it here?” 
“Rather, it’s better this way. I don’t know the contents, so I would be pleased if you told me.” 
Nodding to Lina, who looked at him with anticipation, Tatsuya picked up a craft knife as a substitute for a letter opener. 
From a sealed envelope, which at present is used only for official formal correspondence, Tatsuya took out a sheet of  thick writing paper, which was rare nowadays, and unfolded the paper  so that it could also be seen by Miyuki and Lina. 
However, both girls weren’t so rude as to peek from both sides of the letter, addressed to Tatsuya. 
The letter was purposely written in English and Japanese with the same content . It was quite long and detailed writing, but Tatsuya read through both the English and Japanese text  all at once and raised his face. 
“In short, it’s a reconciliation offer.” 
Tatsuya’s words were quite predictable, so neither Miyuki nor Lina showed any surprise, but rather nodded with understanding. 
“ It’s  written that they want to build friendly relations to maintain peace in the Pacific region.” 
Miyuki and Lina’s reactions to these words varied greatly. 
A faint reaction from Miyuki clearly showed that she didn’t feel any particular emotions about this . In contrast, Lina had a wry smile with a hint of disgust. The latter was an USNA high-ranking officer, so she immediately saw it as an intention to limit Tatsuya to the «Pacific region». 
In other words, it meant «Stay away from the Atlantic Ocean». 
Tatsuya also understood this, but from the very beginning, he didn’t intend to plunge into the troubles of the Atlantic region, so he didn’t have any negative feelings in this regard. 
More than that, he was more interested in another matter. 

“Lina.” 
Tatsuya looked at Lina and smirked faintly. 
“W-what?” 
Lina’s face twitched slightly out of an ominous premonition. 
“ Here is written: ‹ In proof that the intention of cooperation is not a lie, Lieutenant Colonel Angelina Shields is indefinitely lent to you as an ally for free›.” 
“What did you say!?” 
Lina shouted that, and then froze. 
“Amazing. Lina got promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, didn’t she?” 
“ Hey, hang on !” 
But she quickly regained her senses and began to object with a panicking face. 
“I’ve quit the Stars! They’ve got my resignation notice!” 
“Probably, that’s why it’s written as  ‹Lieutenant Colonel Angelina Shields› and not ‹Major Angie Sirius›.” 
“It’s… some scam!” 
Looking at Lina, who was left  speechless and dumbfounded, even Tatsuya couldn’t resist a slight laugh. 
“…Anyway, it’s purposely written here as ‹ indefinitely ›. They probably don’t expect Lina to return to the USNA military. However, they don’t want it to look like a defection, so they decided to present it more like ‘loaning’ you out.” 
“If that’s so… wait, I’m not a thing to them!” 
Whether it was relief or anger, strong emotions  occupied Lina ’s mind . 
“Also, it says that they want to be a sponsor of the Stellar Furnace Project.” 
Having decided to leave Lina in that state of  high emotion for now, Tatsuya moved on to the next not insignificant  point. 
“To be a sponsor?” ? Miyuki immediately responded to the new  topic of conversation . ? “Do they want you to… provide them with technology in return for financing?” 
“You’re probably right.” 
Although he said «probably», that couldn’t be interpreted in any other way. 
“I actually planned to provide this technology from the start.” 
Tatsuya’s goal is to spread the technology of non-military use of magic , thus freeing magicians from the fate of becoming weapons . 
He also wanted to r eplace the future where Miyuki is used as a weapon with other possibilities. 
Hence,  the USNA didn’t need to voice their request [to Tatsuya]. 
“Well, you can never have enough money. If they want to invest, I will gladly accept it .” 
Tatsuya stopped ignoring Lina and turned to her. 
“By the way, Lina, how should I send the reply?” 
Lina blinked a few times and returned from her world of inner struggle with an imaginary adversary [32] . 
“…Umm, the reply right? If possible, I’d like to ask you to write  it today. So that tomorrow I can deliver it to the Secretary of Defense while he’s in Tokyo.” 
“Okay. There’s no need to consult with the head of the family regarding this matter. I’ll go ahead and write it now.” 
Tatsuya took out a classic fountain pen from a drawer and began to write his answer on a blank sheet of paper, which was specially enclosed in the same letter. 
While Tatsuya was busy,  Miyuki stood next to him and spoke to Lina in a low voice so as to not disturb him. 
“Even so, Lina, you’re pretty bold.” 
Miyuki was thinking about what happened last winter after the destruction of the disembodied Parasites’ aggregation . 
Back then, Tatsuya offered a helping hand to Lina , saying : «If you ever wish to quit being a soldier, I think I could help» . Lina, however, refused Tatsuya’s offer by saying : «It’s not that I particularly want to quit the Stars» . 
“Bold? Do you mean my exit from the military?” 
Lina answered rather quickly, which meant that she hadn’t forgotten that conversation either . 
“Well… Since then, I’ve thought about a lot of things… Although I’m still a teenager, somewhere deep down in my heart there’s these thoughts that ‘I don’t want to do’ what I don’t want to do . B ut now  I realized turning away from my true thoughts and forcing myself to continue doing something is wrong.” 
Lina, although embarrassed, still confessed in a firm tone about the change in her mental attitude. 
“I was able to realize it because of you guys. Thank you.” 
Smiling softly, Miyuki shook her head. 
“It was you who made the decision, Lina. Even if it’s only psychologically, it must be hard to free yourself from the obligations of the Stars’ head-captain. In my opinion, you’re  really amazing.” 
“That’s enough about me.” ? Turning her gaze away, Lina uttered in a tone, obviously trying to hide her embarrassment. ? “If anyone here is brave and decisive, it’s Tatsuya.” 
After those last words, Miyuki’s smile disappeared from her face. 
Lina was still looking away from Miyuki and didn’t notice the change. 
“After making such a declaration, Tatsuya will have a hard time. The world is now aware of Tatsuya. It can’t be undone. The attention that Tatsuya has attracted is undoubtedly even higher than that of Sirius.” 
Miyuki’s face turned pale and she even trembled slightly. 
“Miyuki? Hey, what’s with you!?” ? Lina asked in a dismayed voice, finally noticing that something was wrong with Miyuki. 
“It’s no…” 
Miyuki wanted to say «It’s nothing», but Tatsuya interrupted her with his words: 
“I decided it by myself.” 
Raising his face while still moving the fountain pen, he continued in an indifferent tone: 
“So you don’t have to worry about that, Miyuki.” 
“…Yes.” 
Miyuki was about to object, but stopped. 
She forced herself to smile. 
She understood that grieving over it is wrong because it’s tantamount to insulting and despising Tatsuya’s determination. 
With his message to the whole world, Tatsuya was able to obscure (make uncertain)  the existence of Miyuki’s Strategic-Class Magic, ‘Glacial Age’. 
For now, he has managed to postpone the future where Miyuki would be assigned the role of being a Strategic-Class Magician… where she is forced to become a weapon. 
But the price was great. For the entire world, Tatsuya ceased to be simply one magician or just one person. He became the deterrence power itself. 
The future where Tatsuya is not required to act as a military force , 
a future where he is not forced to be a weapon… 
was hopelessly pushed further away. 
The future, which people take for granted. 
Perfect for both ? Tatsuya and Miyuki, 
It’s still not visible. 
The future hasn’t come yet, it has still yet to come… 
(End of the «Future» Chapter ) 
 





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