The short hand on the clock had already reached 12. On the next calendar day, the "National High School Magic Thesis Competition" would officially begin in Yokohama. Of course, even if that was the case, there was no sign of festivities in the streets. The Thesis Competition held significant value for magic high school students, especially for the students who had been selected as representatives, to the point that it could impact future major events, but for the average plebeian who had no connection to magic, this event was no different than the dozens of gatherings that were held annually.
On China Street, which remained one of Yokohama's primary entertainment venues even in this age, the overwhelming majority of the stores still opened and closed at their usual times.
Among these stores, one of the larger restaurants appeared to be closed for the evening on the outside. Yet within, there was a suite that could not be seen from the exterior. Inside, two men sat there facing one another.
There were two cups on the table. Filled to the brim with matured wine, the cups were worthy of being called luxuries, but neither of the men took a sip. The young man who brought out the wine considered this to be a waste, but since the older man across from him suffered his cup to remain untouched, he could only mirror that gesture.
"Mr. Zhou, thank you for your considerable assistance."
"You honor me, my lord."
Chen's words were at odds with his arrogant tone, whereas Zhou respectfully bowed from his seat with a slight smile on his face.
"I have already linked up with the fleet dispatched from the homeland. We can now proceed to our next mission."
"It is my pleasure to be of service."
Neither Chen nor Zhou showed any change in facial expression.
"However, there is still one unresolved issue."
"Oh? What is this problem, Lord Chen?"
Superficially, "there was no change", but both were surreptitiously sounding out one another.
"I'm not aware if you already know, but my assistant has run afoul of the fortunes of war and has been captured."
Their expressions subtly changed. Chen adopted a crestfallen expression as he continued.
"This I already know. What a terrible run of luck, I can't believe Mr. Lu would......"
With a gloomy expression, Zhou replied back in a voice filled with heartfelt concern.
"Yet, even though this misstep happened to him, he remains an absolutely integral asset of our country."
Zhou wordlessly nodded his head, signifying his agreement to Chen's words. —Because there was no point in making a promise now.
Zhou remained silent in order to force Chen to lower himself and beg for assistance.
"Can you lend me your aid one more time?"
Chen lowered his head and made his request, to which Zhou responded with a shocked expression followed by a smile.
"Oh, of course, my lord. Even I cannot just stand by and watch my countryman suffer."
Zhou smiled as he rose from the table.
"Actually, two days from now, nay, should be tomorrow based on the hour, Mr. Lu will be transferred to the International Prison in Yokohama."
A truly astounded expression made its way across Chen's face when Zhou dropped this bombshell.
"Truly?"
"Indeed, what a heaven sent opportunity. I already have the transportation route."
Zhou didn't tell Chen that he pulled a few strings to change the transportation date to tomorrow morning. Still, Zhou related all the other details in his comprehensive explanation.
"In return, I wonder if my lord would consider, during the battle on the morrow, to allow this street to......"
"Of course."
After finishing his explanation, Zhou raised his own request with some misgivings, but Chen accepted his proposal before he could even finish.
"The primary objective for tomorrow's battle will be the Kantou branch for the Magic Association. Although combat is inevitable, I will remind my officers in the field to do their best to avoid letting the carnage spread to China Street."
"Thank you very much!"
Zhou knew precisely what Chen meant with that careless promise as he bowed deeply.
—There was still one day until the commencement of the Thesis Competition. In regards to the oncoming storm, Tatsuya remained in the dark.
Afterword
The reason I am able to present you the 6th volume of "Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei" so quickly is all because of your support, the readers.
Therefore I would like to thank you all sincerely from the bottom of my heart.
With the point of view that it is not necessarily good to finish the story in a single volume, this time's "Yokohama Disturbance Chapter" is therefore split into 2 volumes.
Of course, I will not be splitting it into 3 volumes, so you guys can take that load off your minds and just relax. ——Although it shouldn't be something that is worthy of being satisfied about.
I'm sure that everyone knows already, but this light novel originally started off as a web novel, and therefore it is no surprise that most of the content is similar, though some parts have been improved, making it into the "full version" that I am presenting to you right now.
After this "full version" is released, there shouldn't be anymore "New* full version", "Real* full version", "Final* full version" or even "Ultimate* full version" appearing.
——Jokes aside, due to the time constraints faced when publishing the web version, quite a bit of content was left out. However, that has been solved with the release of the light novels, and is the main priority of the publishers.
This time, volume 6 and the soon to be published volume 7 are mostly about filling up all the content that I have left out.
For example, revealing the yet to be seen true characteristics of a certain character, or the up to date being mentioned only in name person's current activities, and also about how a certain someone in the next volume is in a certain kind of relationship with another person due to certain reasons, all these will be in the light novel.
As to what the people involved in the Thesis Competition will soon face during their unlucky (?) and calamity filled presentation, although I have yet to solidify the scenes that will occur in my head, soon I will be able to present them to you, so please wait patiently for them.
Volume 7 will either be published next month or the month after. At the same time, when volume 7 will be out on the latest by September, the media team will also disclose data estimates to everyone.
Next, let us meet in the gloriously and magnificently battle filled "Yokohama Disturbance Chapter (II)".
(Satou Tsutomu)
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