Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

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Chapter Five

July 9, 2097.

The New Soviet Union fleet remained at Noto Peninsula. The threat had not yet passed.

All 12 warships sunk yesterday were relatively small ships. The main fleet was still a significant threat. Despite this, the result inspired the Japanese people. While the main enemy forces remained including enemy air craft carriers and the people were still tense, the overall feeling around the country was that they didnt need to fear the NSU

even though the mood was far from optimistic.

The people wanted to know what happened, and the media, seeing an opportunity to make profits, obliged.

The military and government didnt try to hide the information, either. If the citizens knew that this wasnt a fluke or an accident, the anxiety of the citizens would lessen and people would be able to go about their daily lives, livening the country again.

Coming to this conclusion, the government officially recognized reports about the fact that the enemy fleet was sunk by Strategic Class magic, giving credibility to peoples assumptions.

As a result, the government decided to approve Ichijou Masaki as an officially recognized Strategic Class magician.

***

July 9, 2097, 10:00 AM.

The Ministry of Defense used a hall to hold a press conference. There, they officially announced the existence of Ocean Blast of which one attack sunk a group of small NSU ships in addition to the name of the magician who used the magic.

Speaking of Ichijou Masaki-san, do you mean Ichijou-san from the Third High School of the National University of Magic?

A female reporter with a fanatical look asked the minister this. Masakis visual appearance was not as pronounced as Minorus, but he was still well known prior to this as a handsome magician. He was more popular than Tatsuya, and in narrow circles, he was known as the young, handsome magician.

Ichijou Masaki-kun is currently in his third year at the Third High School of the National University of Magic. He is the second officially recognized Strategic Class magician of our country.

The Minister of Defense affirmed the reporters guess with a positive expression.

July 9, 2097, 10:15 AM.

Media employees already found Ichijou Masakis location and crowded around Komatsu base.

Why should I have to, too

Dont say that! Arent you my friend? George, youre already used to press conferences, arent you?

Masaki pleaded to his friend Kichijouji behind the scenes of the conference room. He didnt want to face the sea of reporters alone.

The reporters came to interview you, Masaki. I dont think theyll call me.

Thats not true. You developed Ocean Blast. Theyll definitely want to hear the developer talk.

Ah

Kichijouji sighed, but he accepted Masaki arguments. Masaki put his arm around Kichijoujis shoulder, and when a female employee told them it was time, Kichijouji erased his previous expression and followed Masaki out.

Masaki stepped into the center of the stage and stood in front of the microphone, towering over the rest of the stage.

The two came out in their Third High uniforms and bowed. As they did this, the hall was filled with flashes.

Modern cameras were sensitive enough to not need additional lighting equipment, but the flashing was considered an integral part of press conferences so flash shots were used anyway.

Masaki face distorted at the abundant light, but Kichijouji remained stoic. Masaki wasnt mistaken when he said that Kichijouji was used to press conferences, but that was probably why Kichijouji was so reluctant to go out.

After the pair sat on the chairs provided to them, the press conference began.

This is a great feat, Ichijou-san. Take your time. People are inspired by your achievement.

A staff member advised Masaki to take it slowly and keep his head before Masaki spoke to start the questions.

I am honored to serve all of you.

As soon as Masaki said this, the press started their questioning.

Did you volunteer yourself to fight the New Soviet Union? one reporter asked.

Yes. I volunteered for the Self-Defense force after gaining the consent of my father.

Was it because you were sure that the new magic would destroy the enemy fleet?

Yes. It was precisely because of the power of Ocean Blast, created by Kichijouji, who is setting next to me now.

Masaki shifted the focus of the conference to Kichijouji with this comment the press wanted to know more about the magic, and who better to ask than the developer?

Kichijouji-san. Is it true that you developed the new Strategic Class magic, Ocean Blast? a new reporter asked.

Yes.

Kichijouji-san, since you also work at the Kanazawa Institute of Natural and Magical Sciences in addition to your studying at Third High School, did you develop this magic as an initiative of the institute?

No. The Kanazawa Institute of Natural and Magical Sciences does not conduct military research.

That is, you developed Ocean Blast independent of the institute?

Yes.

Was this due to your expectation of the New Soviet Union invasion?

At this question, Kichijouji paused for a moment, slightly confused, but answered as best he could.

As you said, Ocean Blast was prepared to counter the invasion of the NSU.

Kichijouji affirmed that the magic was prepared to fight against the NSU, but he didnt answer that he knew that invasion was coming in advance.

To develop a new Strategic Class magic alone as expected from Cardinal George, a genius that brings our country pride.

After this comment, Kichijoujis face visibly dropped and he understood their misunderstanding.

In response, he honestly stated the situation, but his words only meant trouble and inconveniences for the person mentioned.

No, I didnt develop Ocean Blast alone. The basis of this magic was provided to me by Shiba Tatsuya-kun from First High School.

That wasnt necessary

Tatsuya sighed and scrunched up his face after hearing Kichijoujis comment at the press conference. He was watching the event on television and saw an event he had hoped wouldnt occur.

Miyuki, sitting next to him, didnt object to his words. Usually, she would have said something like I am glad that Onii-samas achievements are being assessed properly,

but this time she understood that Kichijoujis confession had directly gone against Tatsuyas plans in sending him the information in the first place.

Tatsuya could have finished the magic himself without issue. However, he instead gave the necessary data to Kichijouji to finish for two reasons.

The first was that he felt Masaki would receive the magic more kindly from Kichijouji than from himself. Masaki would almost definitely have accepted the magic anyway, but giving the magic to Kichijouji to finish and pass on would make the event smoother.

The second, more important reason, was that Tatsuya wanted to pass on the glory.

This wasnt out of any kindness towards Kichijouji.

He just didnt want the attention.

Being honest and open isnt always the best in life

Tatsuya continued to complain, making a comment going against the English proverb,

honesty is the best policy. He wasnt thinking about an overused statement like the ends justify the means, however. The idea words are silver, silence is gold more accurately describes his thinking.

Kichijouji-kun probably didnt want to remain in Onii-samas debt.

Miyuki calmly restrained him and offered him an iced coffee.

yeah, youre right. I mistook his character when coming up with my plan.

Realizing it was useless to describe his grievances to a television, Tatsuya ended his complaints with this comment.

Miyuki carefully turned off the TV, and Tatsuya averted his eyes from the terminal on the wall on which the news was coming.

Onii-sama, do you want a bun?

Tatsuya put his glass down after taking only a single sip, and Miyuki offered a bun from those that were prepared for their afternoon tea. They had actually been planned to be served along with a more suitable summer dessert ice cream but there wasnt any currently.

Sure. We can have a little snack, Tatsuya answered.

Absolutely.

It was still too early to have lunch, but the battle with Minoru had exhausted Tatsuya and he accepted Miyukis thoughtfulness with gratitude.

Masaki and Kichijoujis press conference was being broadcast on Japanese domestic television, but these were public channels, so it could be watched from essentially anywhere.

The country with which the war was being waged would obviously have an interest in the Strategic Class magic used.

While the highest officials in the government and military werent watching the news with subtitles in real time, an information gathering department carried out data collection for later use.

However, while most of the top officials didnt bother watching, Bezobrazoff, who could be considered to be at the top of the NSU, watched the conference from the beginning on a monitor in a posh hotel in Khabarovsk in real time.

It cant be

He, again ?

He stole my magic ?

It took his entire strength to restrain his anger and not shout out loud.

Minami arbitrarily decided to watch the news during a break between housework chores, but she shut it off immediately after Kichijouji mentioned Tatsuya.

The small TV screen in the dining room turned off.

Minami didnt hate Tatsuya, of course, but at least for now, it was painful for Minami to even hear his or Miyukis name. She was reminded of her guilt every time she thought of them, so she didnt even want to hear them mentioned.

Minami had stopped trying to resist or deny her guilt meaninglessly. She had skipped to the end of the five stages of grief from denial straight to acceptance. She told herself she had to accept her heartache and deal with it.

Despite this, she still didnt turn on the TV again. While she was willing to accept her guilt, she didnt want to needlessly be reminded of it when she was thinking about other things.

Minami decided to leave the house.

Minoru hadnt forbid her from doing so. She felt that he would even let her leave the barrier without doing anything to stop her. She intuitively trusted his words claiming that he wasnt forcing her.

Besides, she didnt plan to run away from Minoru. While she hadnt yet decided that she wanted to stay with Minoru, her thoughts went along the lines of: Even if I run, I have nowhere to go.

She felt that she, who betrayed Miyuki, cant just nonchalantly come back. She had no way to know how Tatsuya and Miyuki felt about her now, and she was currently too scared to find out.

If shed had a problem earlier, she would have gone out. She wasnt afraid to stumble upon Minoru. They were at least temporarily living in the same house and sleeping under the same roof, so they couldnt really avoid each other, and Minami didnt particularly want to do that, either.

However, at the moment, she didnt want to face Minoru.

More accurately, she didnt want Minoru to face her.

While she spent the night sleeping in the same house as Minoru, all her thoughts had been about Tatsuya and Miyuki, or more precisely, Miyuki and the person accompanying her.

Some of her First High Classmates had misunderstood her, thinking she was interested in Tatsuya as a man, but she had long since learned to ignore that. Minami only saw Tatsuya formerly as an elder brother and now as the bridegroom of her Mistress.

In other words, Minami was currently most interested in Tatsuya because of his relationship with Miyuki. To Minami, Miyuki was everything, and that was why she couldnt get rid of her guilt for her treachery at a cost less than her life.

Minami didnt know it, but her mind had been designed to be completely devoted to her mistress. While there was no gene manipulation or medication involved in doing this probably no such thing currently existed one didnt need to resort to such exceptional methods to change a persons value system.

All they needed was an isolated environment and a carefully organized upbringing and training.

Minami, who had been raised in the main Yotsuba household since birth, didnt consider her sense of devotion unusual people naturally assumed they were normal, and Minamis assumption hadnt yet been proven wrong to her.

Minamis mentality was that betraying a person appointed as her master was impossible, so Tatsuyas speculation about Minamis choice to interfere with Miyukis magic was probably somewhat correct. However, Minami still hadnt figured out exactly why she had acted as she did, and even if she did figure it out, her guilt was for her action.

Not for her reason.

She probably would have felt guilt anyway it was her personality. So, despite the fact that she had no way out of her situation, she insisted on torturing and reproaching herself repeatedly.

Her current reluctance for Minoru to face her resulted from her self-reproving, She didnt want to face a man from such a family in her current ugly appearance which had arisen because of the fact that she, a treacherous traitor, couldnt be punished. Her girlish but guilty heart built a wall between herself and Minoru.

But I should go check on him now. Almost 2 hours have passed since he said he was going outside to check the barrier.

Minoru should have returned to his room by now at least, she desired this. She really had no idea how long it would take to check the barrier, but she felt that she should at least check on him. However, as soon as she opened the front door, this desire fell apart.

As she had wanted, Minoru didnt see her.

Because he was lying on the ground.

Minami hurriedly rushed to him.

Minoru-sama?

She got no answer, and he looked faint. She only froze for a moment before she realized what she had to do.

Minami took a CAD from her apron pocket and activated weight loss magic before lifting him and carrying him to his room.

She assumed the weak pain arising from the depths of her consciousness was only her imagination, dismissing the true cause of her despair.

The second developer of the new Strategic Class magic which had stopped the New Soviet Unions invasion Ocean Blast was Shiba Tatsuya, who had only recently begun to disappear from the news after his identity was revealed as half of Taurus Silver.

There was no way the media would ignore this information. This material would grab viewers attention and could boost their ratings, so the media jumped right into trying to talk to Tatsuya.

They want you to comment on this, Tatsuya-san. The media is crowding FLT headquarters and the former house in Fuchu, Maya commented.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Making a humble face, Tatsuya bowed to Maya, who was smiling into the videophone screen.

Maya was clearly amused at the situation. She wouldnt have called personally about something so insignificant if she werent.

Im truly impressed by your maneuvering around this. I guess I have to commend the persistence of the gentlemen from the media. Still, intrusive interviews are annoying.

They are always trouble.

Tatsuya felt the same, but he was afraid to agree with that, as in a sense, he was guilty of the problems sweeping the FLT office and the neighborhood around his former home.

Regardless, it seems that His Excellency is pleased with the current situation. I received compliments from him.

Please thank him for me.

When Maya said His Excellency, she was referring to Toudou Aoba the largest sponsor of the Yotsuba family.

He was most likely pleased with Tatsuyas fame in developing a Strategic Class magic.

This would only help his role as a military deterrent, and while Tatsuya didnt want to deal with it, Toudou probably wanted him to anyway. In exchange for his support of project ESCAPES, Tatsuya agreed to become a military deterrent, and this could be considered part of Tatsuyas agreement.

If Tatsuya had followed the agreement exactly, he would have personally dealt with the invasion of the New Soviet Union rather than through a third party. However, Toudou didnt seem to object to Tatsuyas indirect participation by providing another magician with Strategic Class magic.

The only thing to worry about is Miyuki-sans safety everything will be fine as long as First High is closed, but it might not be a good thing for her to return back to school until this situation calms down.

youre right.

Tatsuya didnt argue with Maya on this point.

The media currently restrained themselves somewhat compared to the pre-war days possibly because they are afraid of the authorities, nowadays, nobody pokes a microphone into strangers faces.

However, the media would be able to find out that Miyuki was both Tatsuyas cousin and fiance by studying the publicly available data, and they definitely would scour the information available to them for clues. This would put her under the onslaught of those looking for interviews. She would cease to be a random person and would become involved in unfortunate and annoying scenarios.

While Tatsuya already considered the media bothering Miyuki to be unforgiveable, what was worse was the possibility of murderers or kidnappers appearing under the guise of journalists willing to interview.

In the current situation, there were probably numerous people trying to capture Miyuki in order to neutralize Tatsuya. Tatsuya found it completely unacceptable that Miyuki would be put at risk through faults of his own.

Tatsuya-san, Miyuki-san, I have a suggestion.

Maya was primarily speaking to Tatsuya, but Miyuki appeared standing in front of the camera next to Tatsuya, so Maya mentioned her as she was the main party in this matter.

How about having a new girl act as Miyuki-sans bodyguard and accompany her at school?

Bodyguard? Miyuki asked. Her tone indicated her desire to refuse.

Minami had only been abducted by Minoru yesterday. She felt it was wrong to simply appoint a new guard the next day. Miyuki felt that was ignoring Minamis humanity and simply treating her as a tool to be thrown away after use.

This would only be a temporary measure until the situation calmed down, Maya clarified.

Her additional words were enough to reassure Miyuki, and her heart calmed down.

Thank you, she responded.

Thus, Tatsuya also didnt object to Mayas proposal. Miyuki gave a surprised reaction to his silent affirmation, causing Tatsuya to quickly glance at her before asking about the specifics of the plan.

However, can you prepare a competent person quickly enough? Tatsuya asked.

I was planning on transferring Ayako-chan to First High.

Thats not a bad idea, Tatsuya thought, but

Ayakos magic would be able to fool the media and enemies mixed in with them, allowing Miyuki to slip past unnoticed, but Tatsuya was more worried about the plan from Ayakos side.

I dont think you should do that for Ayakos sake.

Tatsuya couldnt quite agree with Mayas plan for his stated reason. Miyuki was the most important person to him, but Ayako was also an important ally. He didnt have any desire to force allies to become victims when Miyuki could almost definitely handle herself. In addition, he had his own ideas. Maya realized this in her next question.

Araso you have your own thoughts on this?

Tatsuya was ready for Mayas question and answered without hesitation.

I do. What about putting Miyuki under the protection of Angelina Kudou Shields, who is currently under the protection of our family?

Angelina-san, you say

Mayas lips curled upwards slightly, and she took on a thoughtful look, pondering his suggestion.

She does have Parade. While she is no Kudou Minoru, her skills should at least be enough to fool the eyes of assassins.

Tatsuya had been considering using Lina as a bodyguard for Miyuki even before Maya brought up the topic of protecting her.

He had thought about it right after Kichijouji finished his interview.

He felt that Linas potential usefulness was being wasted without work. While she might have to return to the USNA in the future, he at least wanted to use her effectively while she was in Japan.

Linas combat potential was comparable to Miyukis, and her ability to use Parade could fool even high-level magicians. He would be able to entrust Miyuki to such a talented person with a calm heart. While on the surface, her personality didnt suit that of a guard, since Miyuki was the escort party, it was fine.

I wonder if its save for Angelina-san in Tokyo.

Maya phrased her question as a statement the opposite of subordinates tendency to phrase statements as questions. One could say this only made sense, however, as Maya was superior to Miyuki and Tatsuya in this situation.

It should be just as safe as leaving her on Miyako-jima. The USNA should have noticed her presence after she helped repel the attack. On the contrary, I think its riskier to leave her on the island.

Tatsuya didnt mean that Linas safety would be in danger. He had concluded that Miyako-jimas safety was the one in jeopardy if Lina remained there.

Fufu, really.

Mayas short laugh seemed to indicate that she understood the point that Tatsuya had left slightly ambiguous.

Alright. I authorize Angelina-sans appointment as Miyuki-sans bodyguard.

Thank you very much.

Regarding her enrollment at First High, I will talk with the right people. However, it would make things easier if you, Tatsuya-san, personally go lower your head to Momoyama-sensei.

The Momoyama-sensei mentioned by Maya was the director of First High, Momoyama Azuma. He wasnt the kind of man to bow to power, even if the speaker had the whole power of the Yotsuba family.

I understand. Ill take Lina and go to him with a request.

We will transport Angelina-san to you tomorrow. Are you satisfied if we put her on the same floor as you?

The top floor of the building in which Tatsuya and Miyuki lived had three residential premises for servants separate from the apartment they lived in. One was Minamis room, but the other two were still empty.

Of course.

Then I will arrange for house cleaning.

Tatsuya and Maya discussed the exact schedule of affairs.

Miyuki, however, just stood next to Tatsuya, surprised.

Things were settled peacefully between the aunt, niece, and nephew from the Yotsuba family, but Kichijoujis confession hadnt only caused tension in Tatsuyas life and the New Soviet Union.

At the base of Stars - the highest and most elite branch of USNA military magicians located in Roswell, New Mexico, the top brass faced a dilemma.

In addition to being the headquarters of Stars, this base was also the headquarters of the regular army, and the commander of the base was neither a magician nor even an officer in Stars.

According to the original system of subordination, the base commander didnt have the authority to give orders to Stars, but since the post of commander-in-chief was held by the inexperienced Lina, the base commander Colonel Paul Walker went beyond simple assistance and was able to begin to manage Stars outside of command directly in battle.

And now, with Major Canopus absence the acting commander-in-chief Walker took the post of commander of Stars.

The cause of this situation was the appearance of many Parasites on the base, but Colonel Walker was not infected himself, and the spread of Parasites had stopped for the moment. The White House and the Pentagon also didnt observe any signs of continued spread.

Walker was now sitting at his desk, staring at the ceiling. Before that, he had been clutching his head in his hands, refusing to think further, since no matter how much he worried, he couldnt solve the current problem.

He was at a loss. He was in a sorry state after receiving an order from General Staff.

Since he was a military man, when he was assigned to carry out operations, he always acted on the order, and he usually just sent subordinates to complete the task.

However, this time the order he received didnt include any strategic planning just an objective. He had to throw something together himself.

The command of the US Army was currently conflicted. The faction in the military and government advocating for reconciliation with Japan and the faction aiming for a hard line were seriously conflicted. Specifically, the former advocated the use of the Strategic Class magician Shiba Tatsuya in Americas global strategy, while the held the position that he should be considered a threat, and therefore should be eliminated.

Walker wasnt neutral in this dispute. Since he fell under the influence of the Parasites, he believed that Tatsuya needed to be eliminated, putting him in the latter group. In addition, more significantly than the influence from the Parasites was his opinion as a non-magician warrior supervising Stars. He felt threated by the existence of a Strategic Class magician whos strength was equal to an entire army.

He felt that Tatsuya was too dangerous, so while Walker didnt have any feelings of dislike towards Tatsuya, he thought that Tatsuya was too dangerous of an existence to be left alone.

His view was the same towards Lina, who had distanced herself from the American Army, and Bezobrazoff, who they were currently cooperating with. In general, he saw Strategic Class magicians as too big of threats.

Therefore, Walker was able to sympathize with the faction antagonizing Tatsuya.

Now, with the new threat of Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkuro, as well as the increased threat of Shiba Tatsuya, the faction antagonizing Tatsuya grew impatient at all of the new problems. Walker felt this same impatience, but despite that, he couldnt agree with the order he was given.

Within a month, develop and execute a plan to eliminate Shiba Tatsuya.

Walker felt that this order was an excessive reaction to Shiba Tatsuyas part in stopping the NSU fleets invasion. He didnt just have to develop a plan with a month the order said to execute a plan within a month.

Though, Walker didnt complain about having a deadline.

Unfortunately, the sabotage of the Stellar Furnace had ended in failure, but the next operation was already planned. Even if he hadnt received an order from the hardliners in General Staff, Walker would still be making progress towards eliminating Shiba Tatsuya.

Walker steeled his confidence in his plan to get rid of his anxiety from the order.

A whole month isnt necessary.

Shiba Tatsuya must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Colonel Walker had already intended to eliminate Tatsuya in the shortest time he could, even before receiving todays order.

Tatsuya had promised Miyuki he was done searching for Minami for today, but he had only ended his search through the information dimension. He didnt intend to stop searching for her physically.

In the afternoon, after Miyuki, worried about his health, finally stopped holding him, Tatsuya headed for the Sea of Trees at the western foot of Mount Fuji, He arrived at the place where the pursuing squad from the Juumonji family had lost track of Minoru the day before.

Tatsuya was wearing his Freed Suit today, but he wasnt flying with it. He was riding on the ground on Wingless, his black electric motorcycle. He didnt want to attract unnecessary attention by flying.

At the end of the battle that took place in the information dimension this morning, Minorus Parade hiding Minamis location was destroyed.

Tatsuyas attacks had been unsuccessful. Had Minoru turned Parade off himself? Or was he unable to use magic?

In any case, he had narrowed Minamis location to an area with a radius of 100 meters.

The last obstacle is Ghost Walker?

This wasnt encouraging. Tatsuya could only bypass Ghost Walker by shooting marks in the information dimension. Whether the radius was 100 meters or 1 meter, if he didnt know the coordinates of his target, he couldnt hit the target with a psion projectile in the information dimension.

I guess I cant do anything except a thorough search of the area

The Ghost Walker barrier was a magical maze distorting his sense of direction using high quality amulets. In addition, the area was covered with an illusion that couldnt be seen by reconnaissance satellites.

Its a semi-permanent il usion? Thats the problem here.

The illusion was most likely supported using Relic class amulets. They could be considered an improved version of the method used to store sequences of magic in the Stellar Furnace, so Tatsuya was very interested in the principle on which they functioned

In any case, I wont be able to recreate these things.

The shelter here had almost certainly been built by Zhou Gongjin. The technology used here was probably the same as the technology in Generators and Magic Amplifiers. Since these technologies use people as material, they were unacceptable for ethical reasons, and Tatsuyas personal feelings prevented him from using them.

Regardless of the ethics on whether he could use them, though, Tatsuya was still curious

The effect of the magic was powerful, and it couldnt be bypassed even by using electromagnetic waves or sound waves. As a result, Tatsuya had nothing left to do but get close enough to feel the traces of the barrier.

Tatsuya rode Wingless through the wall of illusory trees.

Minoru was awoken by an alarm of sorts that went off as Tatsuya approached the barrier.

Minoru-sama! Are you awake? Do you recognize me?

Minami-san? What are you

Oh, thank god!

Minami smiled with tears in her eyes and god up from her chair, which was leaning against the bed due to the way she was sitting on it.

I will prepare some tea now. Please wait a bit.

Minami-san?

Minoru tried to stop Minami, but she had already run out of the bedroom by the time he could say anything.

bedroom?

Minoru finally noticed the inconsistency with his memories.

Shouldnt I have been in the yard?

Right Parade nearly broke down under Tatsuyas attacked.

I barely managed to withstand Tatsuya-sans attacks

I remember now. I lost consciousness there.

Minoru quickly looked at the clock, ready to panic.

Antique-looking wall clocks in this house had been installed in every corridor and every room, but despite their age, they always showed the correct time. This was achieved using the help of magic.

The current time was 1:58 PM. He didnt know when he had lost consciousness, but more than three hours had already passed since then.

How about the barrier ?

Minoru jumped out of bed before suddenly grabbing his head with one hand. The blood had rushed out of his head and he was incredibly dizzy. He vision was dark and it was all he could do to stand up.

Minoru grabbed onto the bedside table to keep himself from falling, but it didnt support him and he fell anyway.

Fortunately, there wasnt anything on the table, but it made a rather loud sound as it hit the wooden floor.

Minoru-sama, what happened? Are you okay?

Minami had heard the table fall from behind the closed door, and Minoru heard Minamis yells through it as well.

All is well! I only dropped the table!

Minoru tried not to cause and undue anxiety, but his response had the opposite effect and only served to increase Minamis concern.

Excuse me, Im entering!

She open the door and entered with a panicked expression on her face. Despite this, she hadnt made any excessive noise, and she held a tray with a cup with one hand without spilling a single drop. She hadnt forgotten her skills as a professional maid in her panic.

Minami calmed herself and looked at Minorus erratic appearance. She put they tray on the desk and then went to Minoru.

Are you really okay, or do you feel bad again?

Im fine. Just wait a bit, Minoru responded.

Minoru stopped Minamis hand with which she tried to help him up. He quickly got up on his own, and they sat back to back on the bed.

Then, Minoru closed his eyes and concentrated on the barrier protecting the house.

Several magicians walked back and forth next to the barrier. Minoru finally noticed the army searching in the Sea of Trees.

Still, he wasnt very concerned with them. He had expected this, as before they had disappeared into the hiding barrier, they were being pursued by the Juumonji family.

They had tracked him down to the path leading to his hideout, so it was obvious that the Sea of Trees would become the main point of the search. He had chosen this place as a shelter because he didnt think it would be detected, even during a large scale search.

He was far more worried about something else.

Ahh. Thank goodness. Ghost Walker is still functioning.

His main worry had been whether Ghost Walker had been broken or not. He had been scared that Tatsuya had already neutralized the barrier.

He was certain that Tatsuya would come near to search. The battle between them in the information dimension had ended in his temporary victory, but that was just barely, and he only won because Tatsuya had failed to achieve his objective.

Looking at it from another view, one could say Minoru had lost since he held every advantage and had only barely managed to win.

Minoru knew that Tatsuya wouldnt back down from his temporary loss. He would definitely come search with the information he found during the battle.

Minoru had been suppressing the desire to look at Tatsuya from the moment he had woken up. Using his Elemental Sight to find Tatsuya was risky. If Tatsuya detected the look, he would be able to find the way back along the look and find the location of the house.

Minoru had set up a barrier that would alarm him the moment one of the sixteen layers of the concealment spell had been destroyed.

Minoru was certain that the only magician who could pass through the barrier was Tatsuya. Objectively speaking, this was a limited outlook, but regardless, Minoru believed that since someone broke the barrier, Tatsuya was close.

So far, only the outermost layer of the spell had been broken, and this layer was already quickly healing itself.

So far so good.

Minoru finally had some free time to calm Minami.

While Minoru felt like he was making some progress with his free time, Tatsuya felt like he had run into a dead end.

The network of Ghost Walker stretching across the land ended up far exceeding his expectations.

He believed that when he approached the place Minami was hiding, he would be able to feel the signs that the phenomena had been modified with magic. However, he had already crossed the circular area with a 100-meter radius he had detected this morning several times, and he could barely sense the illusions presence. He didnt have anywhere near enough clues to disperse the magic.

He realized that he hadnt prepared enough, admitting that he had underestimated continental East Asian magic.

While ancient magic followed the same principles as modern magic, they used completely different technological systems and had very different purposes and styles.

Beyond that, ancient Japanese magic and ancient continental East Asian magic worked completely different despite both being classified as ancient magic.

I could have spent my time deepening my understanding of this topic, but instead, I come here without any preparation, thinking that I could cancel a high-level hiding spel of a system completely unknown to me.

No matter how you look at it, I was excessively self-confident.

Tatsuya smiled bitterly at his thoughts.

I should have studied Zhou Gongjins and Gu Jies magic.

Despite this thought, Tatsuya didnt ever have time for that. All his free time had been dedicated to the ESCAPES project.

Tatsuya should have realized that he didnt ever have any opportunity to do this, but it didnt matter.

He didnt have the opportunity to regret it, either.

As a result of his lack of preparation, Tatsuya was not able to find the shelter in which Minami was hidden in the circle with a 100 meter radius.

The Sword Corps spent the whole day searching a wide area with far more people than Tatsuya, but also failed to find any clues about Minorus hideouts.

Following their search, they mistakenly concluded that Kudou Minoru is not hiding in the Sea of Trees.

17 hours had already passed since the search party sent by the self-defense forces left the Sea of Trees. Minoru still hadnt dared search for Tatsuya in the information dimension and didnt know anything about his movements, but he had at least stopped interfering with the barrier after the 15th hour.

Minoru sighed with relief once he was certain that had avoided detection for the second day.

He was currently in a room Zhou Gongjin had prepared for personal use. It was a combined bedroom and study, including both work equipment and communication devices Zhou Gongjin used while he was alive, so they still worked.

The media didnt ever report Zhou Gongjins death. He wasnt a celebrity, and he had been hiding for so long anyway in order to hide his ageless bodys secret. They might have found him if the store he managed in Yokohama had stopped functioning, but there was a system in place for it to function even without an owner.

In addition, conventional authorities had concealed Zhou Gongjins death in order to reveal routes for illegal entry into the country. Zhou Gongjin had mediated the entry of illegal migrants from the Great Asian Alliance, so they could catch some migrants who sought Zhou out not knowing he was dead.

Because of the circumstances around his death, the people Zhou Gongjin worked with and conducted transactions with never found out about his death.

Therefore, even now, requests addressed to Zhou Gongjin came to his email, and the room Minoru was now in allowed him to receive and decrypt these emails.

A message came to Zhou Gongjins terminal while Minoru was sitting at the table, resting from the busy day. He read the decrypted letter without much enthusiasm, but his lack of zeal was fairly natural. He read the letter out of boredom and curiosity rather than any desire to take on Zhous work.

However, after reading the message, Minoru turned serious. This wasnt from any desire to make a profit the letter wasnt a simple request for illegal migration.

The letter was a request from the Great Asian Alliance for assistance for a secret agent in entering the country.

This agent wants help with penetrating the country ? It looks like this signature belongs to the Chen Xiangshan, and the agent who is supposed to penetrate the country is the Man-Eating Tiger, Lu Ganghu ?

Minoru was interested in this message since it revealed a secret plan that could cause serious damage to Japan. From the view of national interests, Minoru thought that he couldnt ignore this.

However, he quickly changed his thinking. He had ceased to be human and had become an enemy of the motherland. He couldnt let his love for his motherland put his own situation at risk. Instead, he decided to use this secret plan to gain a little time for himself.

Before he became a Parasite, he may have chosen to go with his original thinking

defending his enemy because it was his motherland. But now, he was a Parasite, and his thinking had become more practical.

His personality hadnt changed much, and Minoru hadnt even realized hed changed

after all, does anyone realize theyve changed?

However, his personality changes were definitely there, and now Minoru put more emphasis on benefitting himself.

The letter was from Chen Xiangshan the commander of the Great Asian Alliances special forces. He was requesting assistance in penetrating Komatsu base. Someone without details might know that Liu Li Lei currently the Great Asian Alliances only state-recognized strategic class magician had escaped to Japan, and assume that the current operation was related to that. While Japan hadnt officially acknowledged it, that fact had already spread around the world as sensational news. This specific information on this operation all but confirmed that thought Liu Li Lei was currently under the protection of the army at Komatsu base.

The goal of this operation was either to retrieve or to kill Liu Li Lei.

Minoru thought that the probability of it being the second option was high, but whatever Chen Xiangshans plans were, Minoru was confident that the self-defense forces would try to stop it, resulting in a battle that would attract peoples attention.

In the past, Tatsuya had interacted with Chen Xiangshan and Lu Ganghu. He wouldnt ignore their hostile activity, so if all they did was distract Tatsuyas attention from Minoru, he might get a chance to move to a new shelter.

Minoru had already concluded that it would be difficult to continue hiding in this place. Minoru was worried that neither Parade nor Ghost Walker would stop Tatsuya for long.

Minoru sent Chen Xiangshan a reply with consent, putting on the signature of Zhou Gongjin.

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