Chapter 5
July 30 th night.
At the moment, neither the Japanese government nor the Self-Defense Forces were aware of the purpose of the amphibious assault ship ‘Guam’ that departed from Hawaii. If they knew of the imminent threat impending, maybe they wouldn’t lose time on internal strife .
To be precise, there still existed the authority struggle inside the Self-Defense Forces, but they tried to avoid any serious ‘secret feud’ and the violent means involved. In reality, however, the procedure of setting up garrison on Miyakijima was continuing without the consent of the private company who owned that island.
This activity, led by Major General Saeki, had even been put into question within the Self-Defense Forces. Her [Saeki’s] arguments were that the military can use private land without taking legal measures coercively and with only administrative procedures. But those arguments had been questioned in the feasibility of deploying ground forces on a small 8 square kilometers island and in the army officers’ antipathy for the island’s defense squads. They also feared it could cause a confrontation with the Yotsuba family ? the actual island’s owners.
But in spite of that opposition, stationing a garrison on Miyakijima had already been scheduled.
In particular, troops selection for the garrison had been completed and the private company, which was also the owner of this island, was planned to be notified post factum ? on August 1 st .
At the time when all preparations were completed, the Yotsuba mounted a counterattack.
July 30 th , 2097 at 7:00 PM.
Supreme commander [15] of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, General Soga, visited a private membership club in the Tokyo metropolitan area escorted only by 2 people — a bodyguard and his secretary. Such a small escort was allegedly saying that he tried to avoid unnecessary attention. Soga didn’t know it was also the same club where Tatsuya and Wyatt Curtis had met two weeks ago.
“Your Excellency, thank you for coming here in spite of your busy schedule.”
As if repeating the events of two week before, it was Butler Hayama of the Yotsuba who welcomed Soga and his group, who were brought [by the club’s clerk] to the same private room that was used two weeks ago.
“It’s been a while Your Excellency. I’m honored to meet you again.”
However, unlike that time, now behind Hayama was Yotsuba Maya.
“I’m too. Thank you for your invitation today.” ? General Soga responded to Maya’s greeting with a smile.
Contrary to his expression, he was now filled with a sense of caution. It’s Major General Saeki who was taking action and leading the case of deploying troops on Miyakijima , a private island that the Yotsuba owned, and Chief of Staff Ootomo was the one who backed Saeki. Soga himself didn’t express any opinion about the case.
He didn’t agree nor disagree.
However, the one ultimately responsible for deployment of the ground forces is the JSDF supreme commander ? Soga. Inactivity does not relieve him from the responsibility.
In the first place, what Soga wanted was to prevent Saeki’s rebellion .
Certainly, it cannot be denied that a garrison should be stationed at a place that has just been attacked by a foreign power. But it should be done in accordance with the law and he did not recognize the urgency of having to resort to extrajudicial measures.
Whatever it is, the Yotsuba themselves have the power to defend Miyakijima . It’s also true that the top-brass of the JSDF weren’t happy that the national land’s defense is entrusted to civilian forces . However, Soga thought that what is more important is preventing the invasion of foreign powers, so there’s no need to touch the well-functioning defense system in order to avoid unnecessary frictions. As currently the allied relations with the USNA had been shaken and the threat of another invasion from the New Soviet Union remained, there should be no place for an authority struggle in the Self-Defense Forces.
However, it was hard to dispute the fact that he, as a man from the top military brass, was guided by the reasoning «it’s jeopardizing the military’s honor». Because the logic telling «legal order is more important» is usually inherent to civilians and bureaucrats. While the military brass should avoid words capable of undermining the morality of their subordinates.
As a result, Soga was forced to take the approval position regarding this issue .
But he never thought that reasoning can convince the Yotsuba family.
As Soga arrived at the same table as Maya, he lifted a glass of water to his lips while trapped in thoughts of how to get out of this situation.
(If only there’s something for which I can punish Saeki, the mastermind of this, I could stop her plan to deploy troops…)
At the same time as Soga was thinking about the problem with annoyance.
“By the way, Your Excellency, do you know that there are some rumors circulating? They are related to the smuggling of the Great Asian Union magician, Lu Gonghu, into our country earlier this month…”
“What kind of rumors are they?”
Soga’s reaction was close to a mechanical one.
“It may not be a pleasant story for Your Excellency.”
“Hoo… Now it makes me want to hear more about the content of these rumors . Because I shouldn’t turn away from painful conversations.”
“As expected, Your Excellency. That’s very honorable.”
Soga’s face relaxed because of Maya’s praise. Even if the woman in front of him was known as a monster that could easily take his life if she wanted to, she also had an exceptionally rare beauty. Supreme commander General Soga was also a man. So he didn’t feel bad because of the praise from a beautiful woman.
“The content of the rumor is that some military General knew in advance about the smuggling of Lu Gonghu… but that person just overlooked it.”
“What!?”
However, Soga’s loose expression immediately disappeared after Maya’s words. If that rumor proves true, it’s nothing other than an act of aiding a foreign power by some General .
“Just who did such a thing?”
“It’s just a rumor… Even so, do you want to hear it?”
“I’m talking not with a random someone, but with the head of the Yotsuba family. Your allegations will unlikely be completely baseless.”
“Well… I’ve asked a family member to investigate it…”
Maya deliberately used vague words, that’s why Soga made an agitated face and leaned forward.
“By all means, please tell me.”
“It’s Her Excellency General Major Saeki.”
Maya this time didn’t play around the issue.
“Saeki…?”
Upon hearing that Maya said Saeki’s name, who took a hostile position against the Yotsuba family, Soga’s first suspicious thought was «Is this slander?»
However, he immediately reconsidered and decided that happened «right because of the hostile position». Soga decided that the Yotsuba had investigated the scandal, which became the basis for criticism , because the opposite side started showing open hostility.
“As I said, there is no evidence. But we know about one witness.”
“…Who is that?”
“It’s First-Lieutenant Fujibayashi-san of the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. Actually, this rumor also came from her.”
Here, Maya mixed in a lie. She knew about the Lu Gonghu case even before obtaining Fujibayashi’s testimony. The testimony only confirmed it . However for Soga, it obviously didn’t make any difference.
“First-Lieutenant Fujibayashi-san was deeply distressed by the act of betrayal by Her Excellency Saeki… and during our chance encounter at the funeral of His Excellency Kudou, she reached out to me for consultation.”
“So, that’s how it was.”
Soga knew that Maya was attending the funeral of Kudou Retsu. For him, this information gave credibility to what Maya said.
“Actually, I have heard another thing from the Lieutenant.”
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