Chapter 1

It was October of 2095. In order to achieve 'round-the-clock operation,

harbor facilities have already been upraded to auto!atic services, so
there was essentially no one present. "he vast !a#ority of the
personnel clocked in durin the dayti!e, and, aside fro! a few
security personnel, only !achines were active at niht processin the
inco!in and outbound ships as well as unloadin caro.
$ith the reduction in personnel, each harbor was bein redeveloped to
prevent illeal i!!iration, and was set at a prudent distance fro! the
duty-free areas and city streets, thus prohibitin the sailors fro!
co!in ashore in those areas.
%urin the niht, when only the auto!atic services were in operation,
the areas forbidden to all ships e&tended beyond the shoreline for the
duty-free 'one. (asseners who wished to dise!bark had to wait until
the !ornin when the dock personnel arrived. "herefore, there should
have been no one present durin the !iddle of the niht.
)owever, around !idniht, a roup of people concealin their
presence appeared at the *okoha!a $harf.
+$e have illeal aliens of unknown nationality co!in ashore fro!
the s!all caro ship in ,aro (ier 5. -ll personnel, convere on ,aro
(ier 5 i!!ediately.+
Once the directions ca!e over the interco!, two plain-clothed
detectives lanced at one another and broke into a run. *et, their
e&pressions were dia!etrically opposed.
+-h ha, so they were there.+
+"his isn't the ti!e to co!plain, Inspector.+
+/ut, Inaaki-kun.+
+0hut up and run.+
+I'! your superior.+
+/ut I'! older than you.+
+-h ah.+
$hile returnin an appropriate response to his older subordinate,
Inspector ,hiba "oshika'u 1uickened his footsteps. "here were 200
!eters between (ier 5 and (ier 3, where they were stationed at. 4o
!atter how hard they tried, this was still a two !inute #ourney at least.
%espite their banterin, Inspector ,hiba and -ssistant Inspector
Inaaki arrived in 30 seconds.
"his wasn't a nor!al hu!an's speed.
4either of the! were nor!al hu!ans. "hey were both 5aicians.
+$e are really under!anned.+
+4othin we can do. Only police officers who are 5aicians can
handle cri!inals who wield !aic.+
+In reality, it's not, entirely, like that.+
-s he said these un!otivated words, Inspector ,hiba spran into the
air.
)e was holdin a bokken that was appro&i!ately one !eter in lenth.
In !idair, Inspector ,hiba waved his bokken like a leaf soarin
throuh the wind, and passed cleanly over the crowd of illeal aliens
who were firin three round bursts fro! assault rifles with silencers
attached. 0ettin aside his le strenth, no one would be able to
achieve this sort of tra#ectory throuh the air without the aid of !aic.
"hat irreular tra#ectory threw off the ai! of all the illeal aliens who
were tryin to provide coverin fire.
"owards the three 5aicians standin in the back of the crowd
hurtlin lon rane !aic attacks, Inspector ,hiba slashed a spiralin
attack.
6sin 5ove-"ype 5aic that blatantly inored ravity and inertia to
avoid the ai! of ene!y !aic attacks, ,hiba used his bokken to
knock the! all out in turn.
On the other side of the crowd, Inaaki was usin his handun to take
out the unners.
Once ,hiba #oined the fray fro! the flank, over ten foreiners were
suppressed within the blink of an eye.
$hile other s!all-scale conflicts broke out in other areas, they were
1uickly handled before the two could et there and offer assistance.
+Inspector, take the hel!.+
+7h8, !e9+
+0top dilly dallyin.+
0eein these partners, it was obviously the subordinate who was !ore
proactive on the #ob. :5ore like his superior was too lackin in
professionalis!.; 7ven so, it's not like he could bail on the scene riht
now.
+O<, O<. "hen, Inaaki-kun, stop the boat for !e.+
+...If I do that, I !iht sink this thin.+
+4o worries. "he captain will take full responsibility.+
+...$ow, he's not takin the responsibility hi!self...+
)e shrued in disappoint!ent while continuin to load bullets into
his handun.
)is left hand pressed the switch on the handle and the taretin scope
attached to the barrel of the handun lit up.
I!!ediately afterwards, he used the $eaponi'ed Interated ,-% = a
revolver-shaped weaponi'ed calculation device in the handle = and a
0peciali'ed ,-% in the actual body bean the -ctivation 0e1uence.
-t the sa!e ti!e as he s1uee'ed the trier, the 5aic 0e1uence
kicked in.
6sin 5ove and $eiht ,o!pound 5aic to stabili'e the tra#ectory
and increase penetration, a !etallic bullet traced the tra#ectory set by
the 5aic 0e1uence and pierced throuh the stern of the s!all ship
!oored off the coast.
- second and third unshot ran throuh the niht. "he foa!
sproutin fro! the stern weakened. /ased on the ship's e&ternal
appearance, the shots had successfully penetrated the accelerator on
board.
+4icely done.+
>eisurely praisin his subordinate, a sound ca!e fro! ,hiba's hand
like a lock bein undone.
-pparently, the bokken he was carryin was actually a sword cane.
$ith a brilliant blade of cold steel in hand, ,hiba dashed towards the
floatin ship with an aility that !atched *oshitsune hi!self as he
skipped over ? ships in a row.
)e swun his blade at the parked ship and rent the !etallic caro door
in two.
"he secret sword techni1ue +Iron /reaker+ fro! the )undred
@a!ilies' ,hiba @a!ily.
"his techni1ue did not view the sword to be cast fro! iron and steel,
but identified the +sword+ itself as a concept and applied 5ove-"ype
5aic to the slashin !otion with the aid of the 5aic 0e1uence.
- +sword+ identified as a sinular concept turned into a !olecular
blade that couldn't be shattered, blunted, or broken as it cut throuh all
resistance alon the slashin a&is.
Once !ore swinin his blade to clear a path, the ,hiba @a!ily's heir,
,hiba "oshika'u, pressed on alone.
+4ice work, Inspector.+
+0eriously, this is what they call wastin your ti!e and enery.+
"he sky was already turnin lihter as Inspector ,hiba roused
co!plaints as if the situation had nothin to do with hi!. >ikewise, he
didn't berate his subordinate who was obviously tryin to hold back
ales of lauhter.
-fter bravely charin into the ship, he found that there was no one on
board.
It appeared that the illeal aliens had already evacuated fro! the
botto! of the ship, leavin the ate open to allow water to flood in.
"he leisurely pace the boat was sinkin at was e&acerbated by the
openin ,hiba left behind for the wind to flow throuh, increasin the
rate the boat sank at, and it was currently co!pletely sub!ered in
water.
+>ooks like we don't have any clues to which direction the !iscreants
fled.+
+)owever, their final destination is blatantly obvious.+
"he youn !an who al!ost went down with the ship shrued his
shoulders at what his older subordinate wanted to say and a'ed
eastward towards the risin sun.
A A A
%irectly before Inspector ,hiba's eyes was the wharf, which wasn't far
away, alon with the renowned streets of *okoha!a known
throuhout the nation.
- lare well was situated in the backyard of one of the na!eless
restaurants alon the streets. %espite the early hours, three well-
dressed !en were standin around it.
One of the! was appro&i!ately in his twenties.
One of the! appeared particularly handso!e. Of course, this wasn't in
a fe!inine !anner, but because he ca!e fro! a line of breedin and
prosperity. "he well with an attached pulley he was watchin was not
!eant for consu!ption but for firefihtin instead.
"he wall of the well directly below the pulley suddenly cru!bled
without warnin. - soaked !an s1uir!ed out of the apin hole
followed by B5 others.
"he !iddle-aed !an who e!ered last fro! the well bowed to the
youn !an in reetin with a hu!ble s!ile on his face. "he youn
!an put his riht hand over his left breast and returned a sliht bow.
+7veryone, please o et chaned. /reakfast has already been
prepared.+
In reards to the youn !an's words,
+"hank you for your assistance, 5r. Chou.+
"he !iddle-aed !an replied in a tone devoid of ratitude.
0till, the youn !an s!iled reardless of the other side's rude tone,
and led the BD !en into the buildin.
A A A
"he first new 0tudent ,ouncil for the 4ational 5aic 6niversity
affiliated @irst )ih had started rouhly a week ao.
,urrently, "atsuya and his peers fro! ,lass 7 arrived at the cafeteria
for their lunch break.
)e had dined in the 0tudent ,ouncil Eoo! before, but that was
5ayu!i :larely; abusin her power.
In addition, he didn't plan on !akin it a habit to eat lunch in the
0tudent ,ouncil Eoo! every day. $ith the new 0tudent ,ouncil in
session, "atsuya also ca!e to the cafeteria to eat.
)owever, a natural result of this was that 5iyuki also started dinin in
the cafeteria. -dd in their !utual friends, and a lively luncheon had
beco!e a reular event since the start of October.
"hat bein said, since "atsuya, 7rika, >eo, 5i'uki, and 5ikihiko were
in a different class than 5iyuki, )onoka, and 0hi'uku, the first roup
that arrived would reserve a table. "oday, "atsuya and co!pany
see!ed to be waitin for 5iyuki's roup.
+0orry for the wait, everyone.+
+4o worriesF ood work today.+
"hey waited for appro&i!ately ten !inutes after 5iyuki sent word
ahead of ti!e to "atsuya that she would be delayed due to 0tudent
,ouncil business. 0eein 5iyuki intentionally bow in apoloy in front
of hi!, "atsuya s!iled as he reassured her as was well. ,o!pletely
heedless of this eye-catchin behavior, )onoka see!ed to receive
so!e sort of sinal and also huddled down as she spoke to "atsuya.
+5y apoloies, "atsuya-kun. "hey were late because of !e.+
-fter the niht of confession at Oasawara durin their su!!er
vacation, )onoka's responses and facial e&pressions towards "atsuya
had only intensified. 4aturally, "atsuya was aware of this, but he
chose not to !ention this. 4ow, if he wanted to be !ore proactive
about this, he should probably s!ile a little = even a wry one would
do = but )onoka's frail and oversensitive reactions !iht !ake it
see! like "atsuya was intentionally abusin her, which wasn't ood
for her !ental state anyway. )ence, he didn't have a ood solution at
this !o!ent. It's not like he could e&plain every ti!e that this was
born out of a !isunderstandin, so "atsuya si!ply ave up on the
current situation and took a co!pletely passive stance.
+(lease don't be concerned on that account. -nyone who #ust started a
new #ob usually encounters a few difficulties.+
In "atsuya's eyes, )onoka believed that her personal !istake led to
everyone's disappoint!ent, and that was why she see!ed so down.
%id she really believe she was incapable9 $hile "atsuya didn't believe
that for a second, he still diliently tried to reassure )onoka with
co!fortin words.
+*eah, no need to worry about that.+
+It's only been a week.+
7rika and >eo une&pectedly :9; displayed their sensitive sides and
chi!ed in alon with "atsuya.
0eein everyone wearin a +%on't worry about it+ s!ile, )onoka sat
down with trepidation.
+)owever, today really wasn't )onoka's fault, Onii-sa!a. "he @aculty
Office suddenly asked to see 'all the records fro! two years ao,' so
we had to brin up all the data fro! the 0tudent ,ouncil Eoo! before
third period ended. $e even ot 0hi'uku to help us.+
5iyuki s!iled as she also provided support, but, for so!e reason, this
!ade )onoka shrink even !ore on her chair.
+/ut...didn't 5iyuki find it very 1uicklyF !eanin I'! the one who's
lackin...+
+5e too. If )onoka's a turtle, then I'! a snail.+
0hi'uku's co!!ent didn't have any ulterior !eanin.
+...-fter all, 5iyuki had been usin this syste! since -pril. )onoka
#ust #oined the 0tudent ,ouncil, and 0hi'uku is an outsider... 5iyuki
has a iant head start on you in ter!s of e&perience. It can't be helped
if you take so!e ti!e to et used to the syste!.+
0o "atsuya directed his co!!ent towards )onoka's non!alicious
description as a +turtle,+ and once aain reassured )onoka and
0hi'uku.
0till, based on the afore!entioned co!!ent, with the election of the
new 0tudent ,ouncil, )onoka had also #oined the e&ecutives on the
council.
"he new 0tudent ,ouncil consisted of (resident 4aka#ou -'usa, Gice
(resident 0hiba 5iyuki, 0ecretary 5itsui )onoka, and -ccountant
Isori <ei. :@irst )ih's -ccountant also co!prised the +supervisor+
role and was traditionally appointed by the (resident.;
In reality, -'usa privately offered "atsuya the role of Gice (resident.
Of course, "atsuya i!!ediately turned her down, but the one who
fouht aainst this even !ore fiercely than hi!self was the new
,hairperson for the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee, <anon.
)er words were, +If 0hiba-kun left, then the board's paperwork si!ply
can't be finished+.
<anon directly pronounced this declaration in front of -'usa and
"atsuya, but when he heard this, "atsuya was +flabberasted.+
/y all rihts, he was on active duty and not a pencil pusher.
0cratch that, technically, all !e!bers of the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee
were on active duty, and were all responsible for doin paperwork.
"hat was how 5ari wrote it on the transfer papers she handed to
<anon.
"atsuya personally recorded the docu!entation, so there could have
been no !istake.
)owever, -'usa nodded seriously at <anon's announce!ent.
"atsuya had a headache brewin at the +!isunderstandin+ of these
two upperclass!en. 0till, even without "atsuya's thouhts on the
!atter, -'usa pressed for "atsuya to #oin the 0tudent ,ouncil despite
<anon's resistance. "o state it plainly, she didn't have the confidence
to hold 5iyuki at bay without "atsuya, but it wasn't like 5iyuki could
leave the 0tudent ,ouncil either.
"atsuya's head was seriously startin to hurt now.
In the end, they co!pletely disrearded the person in 1uestion as
-'usa and <anon ha!!ered out a co!pro!ise. "atsuya would re!ain
with the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee until the end of the year, and would
transfer to the 0tudent ,ouncil in Hanuary. "o the end, they never
souht "atsuya's opinion...
:...5y head hurts #ust thinkin about that.;
"he !o!ent he said, +...#ust #oined the 0tudent ,ouncil,+ he
re!e!bered what happened a year ao and the headache associated
with it.
Instinctively, he followed the a'e on hi! and found 5iyuki watchin
hi! with concerned eyes.
5entally sihin at his sister's sensitivity, "atsuya visually sinaled
for her not to worry and !oved his chopsticks aain.
A A A
+Onii-sa!a, are you here9+
-fter school, "atsuya visited the reference roo! in the base!ent of the
library. )earin his sister call out to hi!, he pulled hi!self out of the
world of nu!bers and data and returned to reality.
+5iyuki, I'! over here.+
"atsuya raised his head fro! the ter!inal he was readin and waved
5iyuki over.
$ireless co!!unication was i!possible in this reference roo!. 4ot
only would the walls absorb the !a#ority of the electronic waves,
there were also sinal da!peners in place.
"he oal, of course, was to prevent data theft.
"his reference roo! contained infor!ation dee!ed unsuitable to be
published, hihly danerous !aterials, or papers containin ideas and
concepts that went aainst !ainstrea! beliefs and could easily
influence students neatively. "hese docu!ents were physically stored
in the !aic universities before transportin diital copies here and
stored in independent databases separated fro! the outside world. In
theory, the files could be freely accessed, but re!ovin the! was
absolutely forbidden. Of course, !akin private copies of these
protected files was also forbidden.
Iiven the nature of the !aterials in 1uestion, the overwhel!in
!a#ority was not pertinent to class, very few individuals actually used
this resource. It was !ore appropriate to say that the usual volu!e of
traffic was 'ero. )owever, in the past half a !onth, "atsuya had set a
new record for visitin the reference roo!.
7ven thouh he waved 5iyuki over, "atsuya didn't leave the ter!inal.
5iyuki understood why, so she walked over to "atsuya's side.
+$hat are you lookin at9+
-rrivin at "atsuya's side, 5iyuki was drawn towards the screen he
was a'in at and couldn't help but ask.
+%ata records on -le&andrite.+
In reards to 5iyuki's 1uestion, "atsuya replied without hesitation #ust
as usual. 4o !atter how he treated others, "atsuya had nothin to hide
fro! 5iyuki. "he sub#ect of this investiation was also so!ethin that
5iyuki was well versed in.
+)ave you been lookin for alche!ical docu!ents this entire ti!e...9+
Eiht now, he hadn't divuled the connection between that topic and
the purpose behind it to 5iyuki, hence her current state of confusion.
+I want to understand the basis behind alche!y, but #ust the nature and
creation process of the '(hilosopher's 0tone.' Of course, there are
plenty of docu!ents citin the creation of a (hilosopher's 0tone as the
definitive oal in alche!y.+
+"rans!utation... *ou're not thinkin of challenin this area, are
you.+
@or !odern !aic, trans!utation currently re!ains an i!possible
task. $hile @lyin-"ype 5aic was also once thouht to be
i!possible, the actuali'ation of trans!utation e&ists on a co!pletely
different level of difficulty. 5iyuki once heard "atsuya say, +"here is a
very low possibility of actually achievin true trans!utation.+
+Of course not.+
-t 5iyuki's 1uestion, "atsuya lauhed lihtly in denial.
+In the narrowest sense, the (hilosopher's 0tone differs fro! the
!edicinal field and is the catalyst that trans!utes poor !etals to
precious !etals. Eiht now, what !aterial the catalyst is created fro!
is secondary to its purpose as the tool to activate spells.+
+If the (hilosopher's 0tone is a catalyst si!ilar to the catalysts we use
on a daily basis, then......+
+-ccordin to leend, trans!utin poor !etals to precious !etals is
only possible with the (hilosopher's 0tone. If no other !aical process
is re1uired to achieve trans!utation beyond possessin the stone, then
the conclusion !ust be that the (hilosopher's 0tone possesses the
ability to store 5aic 0e1uences.+
+0torin 5aic 0e1uences9+
0eein 5iyuki stare at hi! wide-eyed in shock, the s!ile had lon
since faded fro! "atsuya's face.
+0ince !any 5aicians were invited to test @lyin-"ype 5aic before
it hit the !arket, even if there were so!e ad#ust!ents, the
actuali'ation of @lyin-"ype 5aic already established the key for the
continuous activation of Iravity ,ontrol-"ype 5aic.+
"atsuya released the -ctivation 0e1uence for @lyin-"ype 5aic at no
chare precisely to take advantae of this point. Ieneral consensus
stated that once a party obtained access to a spell, they would
i!!ediately put it to use. 7specially for devices already e1uipped
with this -ctivation 0e1uence, the sooner it could be obtained the
better. /esides the re1uests to @>" for @lyin-"ype e1uip!ent fro!
corporations within the country, countries with friendly relations like
the 604-, also !ade si!ilar petitions. @ro! the observation data,
@>" received copious research data fro! !any hih class 5aicians
usin Iravity-"ype !aic, which eventually fell into "atsuya's hands.
+Iravity ,ontrol-"ype 5aic is a viable solution to sustainable
nuclear fusion, but that beco!es !eaninless if a 5aician is re1uired
to constantly supply !aic. "his would be like sayin a 5aician is a
co!ponent of the nuclear fusion reactor and si!ply a weapon
co!ponent.+
0ustained Iravity ,ontrol-"ype 5aic was one of the three reat
hurdles in Iravity-"ype 5aic leadin up to the develop!ent of a
ther!onuclear fusion reactor. )ere, "atsuya was raisin one possible
solution to this proble!.
"his was too deep for 5iyuki to co!prehend co!pletely, but she ot
the overall ist of what her brother was suestin.
+5aicians are essential for the initial activation, but, at the sa!e
ti!e, the syste! doesn't co!pletely bind the 5aician in place. "o
achieve this, !aic needs to be sustained at a rate that can be
calculated by days as a unit, which re1uires a !ethod of storin the
5aic 0e1uence that can sustain !aic without havin a 5aician
present. $hile both options are worth pursuin, fro! a safety
perspective the latter is the !ore viable proposal.+
+0o that's why you are researchin the (hilosopher's 0tone.+
"he eneral consensus that "atsuya spoke of wasn't #ust a pipe drea!,
a point that he was perfectly well aware of. "hus, he felt slihtly
awkward when 5iyuki adopted an utterly trustin e&pression as she
nodded deeply at his words. $ith that feelin, "atsuya chaned topics.
+0peakin of which, 5iyuki, did you need !e for so!ethin9+
7ven thouh this 1uestion was phrased to cover his own disco!fiture,
his re!ark was dead on the !oney.
+-h. "hat's it. Onii-sa!a, Ichihara-senpai was lookin for you. 0he
wanted to talk to you about ne&t !onth's thesis co!petition.+
+$here is she9+
"atsuya didn't ask for any specifics as he shut down the readin
ter!inal. "hat bein said, he bore so!e part of the responsibility for
leadin the conversation into another direction, so he was in no
position to ask that, especially iven their lack of ti!e.
+0he's in the preparation roo! for 5aic Ieo!etry. 0he said she
would wait for you near "su'ura-sensei's desk.+
+Iot it. 0orry about this, 5iyuki, but please return the keys for !e.+
+(lease leave that to !e.+
"atsuya rose fro! the chair and handed the keycard to 5iyuki. 5iyuki
happily took the keycard fro! her Onii-sa!a like a delihted puppy
that was bestowed a pri'e.
0eein his sister reveal that sort of e&pression without a hint of sha!e,
"atsuya didn't choose to repri!and or co!plain as his face softened.
Ob#ectively speakin, he was forced to ad!it that he spoiled his sister
too !uch.
A A A
"su'ura <a'uo, the 5aic Ieo!etry instructor for the 4ational 5aic
6niversity affiliated @irst )ih, was responsible for technical skills
instruction for *ear 2 ,lass /. )e was a visitin professor lent to @irst
)ih fro! the 4ational 5aic 6niversity.
-s a prodiy who obtained the rank of professor in the 5aic
6niversity at a youn ae, he drew considerable spite for his overly
free attitude towards research, and was forcibly relocated to the school
to +earn so!e e&perience as an educator.+
0till, the !an in 1uestion didn't !ind in the slihtest and was even
over#oyed that he could now +pursue research, unfettered, and without
further concerns.+ (recisely because of his personality, not only did he
adopt a cold attitude to the friction between ,ourse B and 2 students,
he even wished for the students to co!pletely abandon this
differentiation altoether = e&cept he !ay have nelected the
students' own opinions.
)is fa!ily hailed fro! one of the )undred @a!ilies, and was ranted
the riht to use a nu!ber in the "su'ura na!e :"su refers to twenty;.
"he "su'ura and Isori @a!ilies both produced !any e&ceptional
researchers who freely e&chaned research findins and re!ained
national authorities in the field. 7ven )attori's favored ,o!pound
5aic bore fruit after tutelae under "su'ura-sensei.
..."hat was "atsuya's i!pression of "su'ura-sensei.
/y the nu!bers, "su'ura-sensei was undoubtedly an oddball.
Eeardless of whether this was true or false = "atsuya was 1uickly
about to e&perience the !an's true face.
/y the ti!e "atsuya reached the preparation roo! for 5aic
Ieo!etry, "su'ura-sensei was the only instructor present.
5ost likely because they felt ill at ease in this roo!, "atsuya thouht.
"he instructors hired by this school were all e&ceptionally talented.
Of course these people also took reat pride in their personal abilities,
but when co!pared to a prodiy who earned his position as the
assistant professor in the 5aic 6niversity durin his twenties,
anyone's confidence would take a hit. "he !ore so!eone relied on
their personal talent, the !ore they felt pressured by so!eone who
displayed an even reater talent and ability.
)e could sy!pathi'e with that feelinF e&cept this feelin !anifested
in areas other than !aic.
0ettin aside whether "atsuya's speculation was correct, it re!ained
an undeniable truth that there were no other instructors present save
"su'ura.
"he three people waitin for hi! in the 5aic Ieo!etry preparation
roo! were "su'ura, 0u'une, and Isori.
+*ou know about the thesis co!petition hosted by the 5aic
-ssociation held at the end of the !onth, correct9+
-fter e&chanin reetins, "su'ura cut to the chase.
+I a! unfa!iliar with the details.+
-t this conservative answer that held so!ethin back, "su'ura nodded
slihtly.
+"he "hesis ,o!petition isn't as conspicuous as the 4ine 0chools
,o!petition, so it's not surprisin that a *ear B student like yourself
re!ains inorant of the details. >ikewise, in ter!s of nu!bers, the
4ine 0chools ,o!petition re1uires a lare body of 52 !e!bers to
participate, while the "hesis ,o!petition only needs a s!all tea! of
three.+
"he sheer difference in nu!bers !ay be shockin, but after cal!ly
takin into account this only involved writin a thesis and its
subse1uent presentation, they si!ply didn't need very !any people for
this task. If all they needed was e&tra hands to help develop the props
for the report, anyone on ca!pus would do, so they wouldn't be
specifically invited to #oin the tea!. "oo !any chiefs in one buildin
would actually !ake it harder to et thins done.
"he fact that only three students fro! the entire school were selected
ca!e as a s!all surprise, but was well within the li!its of co!!on
sense, "atsuya ru!inated.
+4ow, then onto the !ain sub#ect. 0hiba-kun, can we count on you to
represent @irst )ih in this year's "hesis ,o!petition9+
4aturally, "atsuya wasn't able to respond i!!ediately. -fter all, this
1uestion !ore or less ca!e out of the blue.
+...*ou want !e to #oin9+
7ven thouh "su'ura's words left little roo! for !istake, "atsuya
couldn't help but ask back on refle&.
"he +4ational )ih 0chool 5aic "heory "hesis ,o!petition,+
hosted by the Hapanese 5aic -ssociation.
%espite the na!e i!plyin all hih schools in the country, in reality
the only hih schools providin official education in !aic theory
were the nine hih schools affiliated with the !aic university, so this
was really a co!petition between those nine schools. If the 4ine
0chools ,o!petition was a +practical+ contest, then the "hesis
,o!petition was undoubtedly the +literary+ co!ple!ent.
+7&actly, you.+
"his slihtly polite tone was probably his personality co!in into
play. "su'ura adopted a dra!atic pose as he nodded in reply.
+Oriinally, we planned to have Ichihara-san and Isori-kun, as well as
)irakawa-san fro! *ear 3 ,lass ,... 6nfortunately, )irakawa-san has
hit a rouh patch recently, and even sub!itted a withdraw petition last
week. "he ood news is that we !anaed to persuade her otherwise,
but she's still in no condition to co!pete now. "hus, we ca!e to you.+
"atsuya was vauely fa!iliar with the na!e )irakawa fro! *ear 3
,lass ,.
"he technician responsible for ,-% calibration in the sabotaed
5irae /at event of the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition for <obayakawa
see!ed to be a *ear 3 fe!ale student na!ed )irakawa.
+/ut why pick a *ear B student like !yself9 -ren't the representatives
decided by the "hesis 0election ,o!!ittee9+
"atsuya finally recalled the ru!or spreadin around the start of Hune
reardin the selection of the thesis tea!.
0ince that was durin the last staes leadin up to the develop!ent of
@lyin-"ype 5aic, he didn't have the spare ti!e to devote to other
details, especially scenarios that !iht dra hi! into the li!eliht, so
he 1uickly forot about it.
+-fter takin into consideration that the report preparations need to be
finished si!ultaneously, you are the best candidate. Ichihara-san will
share the details.+
-fter supplyin a si!plistic answer to "atsuya's 1uestion, "su'ura
swiftly left the roo!.
-t the ti!e, "atsuya never areed to this proposal. -pparently, the
ru!ors that he didn't care about students' opinions were true.
4evertheless, "atsuya didn't appear to possess the power to veto this
decision. Oriinally, he thouht he was only bein called in to help
collect data, but that appeared to be a !iscalculation. 0till, no !atter
how he co!plained, that wasn't oin to help his current situation. In
order to understand the situation, "atsuya turned back to 0u'une.
+I was the one who reco!!ended 0hiba-kun. I re#ected all the other
substitutes.+
:6h, re#ected !eans...;
In response to "atsuya's in1uirin lance, 0u'une dropped this
bo!bshell.
+...0urely every applicant spent considerable ti!e and effort in their
respective proposals, so I i!aine a lot of people would be put out that
so!eone like !e, who didn't even sub!it an application, was selected.
"hink about the people who were slihtly behind Ichihara-senpai,
Isori-senpai, and )irakawa-senpai, and what they would think.+
+0eki!oto-kun is out of the 1uestion. )e's not suited for this task.+
"atsuya didn't have anyone in !ind as he voiced his ob#ection, but
0u'une i!!ediately launched into co!!ent that bordered on a
personal attack.
+0peakin of 0eki!oto, are you referrin to 0eki!oto Isao-senpai
fro! the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee9+
In order to prevent this fro! actually descendin to that level, "atsuya
intentionally verified his identity.
+)!, yeah... )e and I co!e fro! radically different directions.+
-s e&pected, 0u'une si!ply felt that she went too far and reined
herself in, as "atsuya had hoped.
-t this ti!e, Isori inter#ected into their conversation.
+-s sensei said, thouh the thesis co!position and report preparation
are done by a tea! of threeF if all three are split by differin opinions,
then they would never aree on the thesis's direction, so it is interal
that the task is split between one pri!ary writer and two assistants. On
this point, our school has decided that Ichihara-senpai will be the
pri!ary writer.+
-t Isori's e&planation, "atsuya nodded his head in aree!ent on two
points. %ifferentiatin between pri!ary and supportin parties was
!andatory, #ust as appointin the *ear 3 student 0u'une to be the
pri!ary also !ade sense.
+In other words... I a! !ore suitable for the topic that Ichihara-senpai
has in !ind9+
"hat was the !ost likely possibility, iven their current conversation,
but what e&actly allowed her to !ake that call9 (lainly, "atsuya had
yet to attach his na!e to any thesis or dissertation.
+5y thesis topic is the 'possibility of developin a Iravity ,ontrol-
"ype 5aic ther!onuclear fusion reactor'.+
"atsuya's eyes widened at 0u'une's words.
+Indeed, this is the sa!e as 0hiba-kun's research topic.+
$hile he felt that a hih school student usin +research topic+ was a
little overkill, it was true that sustained Iravity ,ontrol-"ype 5aic
ther!onuclear fusion reactor was also one of the ob#ectives "atsuya
was pursuin. On top of that, he was still playin this close to the
chest, so he shouldn't have raised this with anyone else yet...
+...I see. "he one spyin on us at the ti!e was Ichihara-senpai.+
+I dislike the ter! spyin. (lease refer to this as watchin with
interest.+
"his far surpassed !ere observation and bordered on outriht
eavesdroppin, but "atsuya didn't !ake an issue of it.
%urin the incident with the anti-!aic terrorist cell in -pril, "atsuya
had detected so!eone watchin his two interactions with 5ibu
0ayaka, but he didn't seek to identify the observer. 0ince the results
spoke for the!selves, there was no point !akin a fuss over this now.
+"here are less than three weeks until the official co!!ence!ent of
the "hesis ,o!petition. I believe that the only one who can provide
ade1uate assistance now would be 0hiba-kun, who also has a vested
interest on the topic.+
+%id you ever entertain the possibility...that I was #ust usin that as an
e&a!ple with 5ibu-senpai9+
+I believe I a! a sufficient #ude of character to think otherwise.+
"atsuya !entally and physically s!iled in a wry !anner at how hihly
he was estee!ed.
+I understand. 0ince I stand to benefit as well, allow !e to render !y
assistance.+
On one hand, "atsuya wasn't #okin about the benefits on his end. On
the other hand, "atsuya was intriued by whether 0u'une's proposal
could actually solve one of the "hree Ireat (u''les, which would be
all the better if his own desin could be of use in so!e way.
+"hen, what should I do now9+
+@irst, I would like to e&plain the "hesis ,o!petition in detail. I hope
Isori-kun has no ob#ections, seein as you've already heard all this.+
+4o proble!. *ou o ahead, Ichihara-senpai.+
6sin her eyes to thank Isori, who had nodded slihtly in assent,
0u'une re!oved three portable blackboards fro! the retractable shelf
and handed each of the! one, keepin one for herself.
(ortable blackboards were electric papers with wireless
co!!unication that allowed the user to view !anified presentation
!aterials fro! the si'e of a nor!al piece of paper with one hand,
without resortin to pro#ectors in s!all conference roo!s. 4aturally,
the fra!es contained color, but the display for te&ts and docu!ents
often utili'ed white letters on a black backround, which was why the
ter! +blackboard+ was used.
0u'une attached her own data ter!inal to the blackboard and brouht
up the handbook for the "hesis ,o!petition.
+-s 0hiba-kun sur!ised, the "hesis ,o!petition is a platfor! to
disse!inate the research findins fro! 5aic "heory and 5aic
7nineerin at the hih school level. 4ot only does this publici'e the
fruits of hih school education, so!e of the students will also et the
opportunity to present their research findins to the world at lare. In
addition, representatives fro! the %epart!ent of 5aic Eesearch will
be on hand, and any thesis recorded into the 5aic 7ncyclopedia will
be adopted by the universities and corporations as well.+
"atsuya observed the data strea!in fro! the screen as he listened to
0u'une's voice.
+6sually, the date is set for the last 0unday each October. "he location
switches between <yoto and *okoha!a. "he reason is, supposedly,
because the !ain )J for the Hapanese 5aic -ssociation is located in
<yoto, while its pri!ary branch in the <antou reion is in *okoha!a.
"his year, the event will be held in the *okoha!a International
,onference ,enter.+
"atsuya !entally ran throuh the calendar. "hankfully, he had nothin
planned for the last 0unday in October, which was October 30th.
+Only individuals who were reco!!ended by the !aic hih schools
affiliated with the 4ational 5aic 6niversity or passed the thesis
preli!inaries in each school are allowed to attend. ,urrently, there is
no precedent for so!eone to present their findins without bein
reco!!ended. $hile the rules open the 5aic "heory "hesis
,o!petition to all hih school students in the nation, this is the reason
why so far this has been e&clusively for !aic hih schools.+
)earin 0u'une's e&planation, "atsuya couldn't help but add in a few
words of surprise.
+0o there's no precedent for a tea! to advance without receivin a
school reco!!endation9+
+...0hiba-kun. I think it's harder for nor!al hih school students to
co!pose a thesis that can be delivered in 30 !inutes than it is for
the! to appear in 5onolith ,ode or 5irae /at.+
+Isori-kun is correct. 7ven fro! our perspective, without the aid fro!
the 0tudent ,ouncil and ,lub Iroups, there's no way we can do it
with #ust the three of us.+
"atsuya, who was used to writin technical uides, !entally
!ur!ured +Is that so9+, but didn't verbali'e his disaree!ent.
+"he topic is up to us, but under the obvious condition that it shall not
run counter to the public ood and !orality. "wo years ao, a student
proposed the theoretical develop!ent of a !aic that could replace
weapons of !ass destruction, and was 1uickly censored by inspectors
ahead of ti!e.+
+$as so!eone seriously that audacious...+
Isori's eyes widened as he roaned at that. "his !ust be the first ti!e
he heard of such a thin.
"atsuya understood what he !eant. -t the sa!e ti!e, he who was
capable of wieldin !aic that surpassed weapons of !ass destruction
was in no position to point finers at that particular student. )owever,
#ust as he was inwardly !ockin hi!self, another 1uestion floated into
his head.
+...,ensored ahead of ti!e by the inspectors i!plies that particular
thesis wasn't publici'ed, correct9 0ince that paper re!ained under
wraps, how did Ichihara-senpai learn about this9+
"atsuya didn't even think twice before askin that 1uestion, which for
so!e reason cast an awkward silence over the roup.
0u'une unconsciously turned away with a co!ple& and !iserable
e&pression on her face.
4o, if you don't want to answerF these words were on "atsuya's lips
when she sihed and replied back.
+..."he one who wrote that paper was our school's 0tudent ,ouncil
(resident fro! three ter!s ao.+
:)oly... %id our school have that kind of character...;
)earin 0u'une's e&planation, "atsuya could only !arvel in silence.
0ince the "hesis ,o!petition was held riht after the new 0tudent
,ouncil session bean, and 0u'une #oined the brass durin the latter
half of her first year, it was hardly surprisin that she was privy to
these details. Iiven 0u'une's current facial e&pression, evidently this
previous 0tudent ,ouncil (resident had !any other +leendary+
deeds.
+K-he!...L Owin to that precedent, all final drafts, !aterials, reports,
and blueprints !ust be turned over to the 5aic -ssociation ahead of
ti!e.+
4e&t to 0u'une who had intentionally cleared her throat, Isori see!ed
to co!prehend so!ethin as he nodded, possibly because this was the
first ti!e he heard all the details.
+"he deadline is the 0unday two weeks fro! now. "houh the
!aterials have to be sub!itted to the <antou branch of the 5aic
-ssociation, the school will take responsibility for that. "akin into
account the ti!e "su'ura-sensei needs to e&a!ine the contents, ideally
we should have everythin done by ne&t week $ednesday.+
7ven if they could finish the report preparation after turnin in their
!aterials, that left only ten days to co!pose the thesis itself. Iiven the
re!ainin ti!e, this was indeed a tiht schedule. 0till, why did they
need "su'ura to look it over9 "here should be !any instructors on
ca!pus with a wealth of e&perience who were old hands at devisin
te&tbooks for !aic education.
-t this 1uestion that could not be verbali'ed :as insultin as it was to
"su'ura-sensei;, Isori shrewdly answered aloud.
+"su'ura-sensei is the instructor responsible for this year's
co!petition. 4ot only does he have to help out with the preparations
for the "hesis ,o!petition, he also has to deal with troubleso!e tasks
like preparations for !aic e&peri!ents. Ienerally, these thins are
left for youner teachers to do.+
+%espite his youth, "su'ura-sensei is an e&tre!ely capable individual.
$e are very fortunate that we are able to receive instruction that far
surpasses what we would nor!ally receive in class.+
%oubly so for a ,ourse 2 student, like hi!self, that nor!ally has no
chance of bein personally instructed by the faculty. 4ot that "atsuya
actually said this.
0ince the two of the! = foret surpass, half the student body wasn't
1ualified for actual instruction = had conveniently failed to notice
this, there was no need to re!ind the! aain.
-fter detailin a few specific areas that de!anded special attention,
0u'une's e&planation drew to a close.
Chapter 2
5odern short distance public transportation was developed alon the
lines of carpoolin, with lare scale public transportation bein
replaced by s!aller syste!s that acco!!odated fewer individuals.
"hirty years ao, this plan started spreadin a!on the lare
!etropolises as well as ?0M of the !ediu! si'ed cities and suburbs.
"he re!ainin 20M utili'ed private cars and had no need for public
transportation.
In ter!s of oin to school or work, lare buses and cable cars that
could transport lare a!ounts of people had one out of style, so the
scene where hih school students took the bus to and fro! school has
al!ost beco!e non-e&istent.
$hile "atsuya really only went to school acco!panied by 5iyuki, he
still shared the walk fro! the bus stop to the school with his friends.
7ven thouh he arrived later than usual to school, the usual crowd was
still on hand waitin for hi!.
"he predo!inant itinerary involved a si!ple walk to school, but
so!eti!es they would !ake a 1uick detour to a cafe or fast food
restaurant. -lon the appro&i!ately one kilo!eter path to school,
there were countless stores that boasted dinin, books, school
supplies, clothes, and especially !aterials related to !aic education.
0tudents and teachers fro! @irst )ih were not the only ones to
fre1uent this area, since !any custo!ers took the tra! fro! far away
to co!e and shop here.
$ithin one of the !ore orthodo& cafes where they were fre1uent
fliers, eiht people were sittin toether.
+7h9 "atsuya's been selected as one of the representatives for the
"hesis ,o!petition9+
"oday's detour was because 5ikihiko asked why "atsuya was
su!!oned to the 5aic Ieo!etry lab. 0eein 5ikihiko burnin with
1uestions while they were waitin for the waitress, "atsuya couldn't
help but notice a side to his friend as he briefly elaborated on the
details.
)ence 5ikihiko's reaction was e!bodied by the previous co!!ent.
0ince he had already told 5iyuki and )onoka when he picked the!
up fro! the 0tudent ,ouncil Eoo! yesterday, there were five people
includin 5ikihiko who sat there with stunned e&pressions.
+$ait, I thouht we only send three representatives fro! the entire
school to the "hesis ,o!petition.+
+*ep.+
-t 5i'uki's wide-eyed 1uestion, "atsuya cal!ly replied with a
decisive answer. "heir two e&pressions were like niht and day.
+Hust a 'yep'...... "atsuya-kun is co!pletely lackadaisical about this.+
5i'uki was struck speechless while 7rika stared blankly. On the other
side, >eo supplied an a!used s!ile.
+@or "atsuya, that would be only natural.+
+"here's never been a case where we sent a *ear B student out for the
"hesis ,o!petition.+
+4ot like it's i!possible either, eh9 7ven the faculty can't inore the
enius who invented a brand new !aic a!on us.+
)earin 0hi'uku's counter aru!ent, >eo s!iled and added a rebuttal
of his own.
+>et's stop it there with the enius talk.+
Eather than bein e!barrassed by that title, "atsuya felt an irritation
like so!eone pokin hi! with a needle.
+"atsuya really dislikes people callin hi! a enius......+
+/ecause that ter! is too casual.+
-t )onoka's a!a'ed co!!ent that was neither !ockin nor filled
with ulterior !eanins, 5iyuki replied in place of "atsuya.
"atsuya could only chuckle wryly at his sister's reply, thouh he had to
ad!it she was riht on the !oney.
+4o, that's still incredible.+
>ikely noticin the !ood takin a turn for the worse, 5ikihiko
1uickly chi!ed in to restore the balance.
+"he winnin thesis fro! the co!petition will be published annually
in '0uper 4ature', while a considerable a!ount of attention is still
directed towards 0econd (lace and below.+
+0uper 4ature+ is a /ritish research #ournal that is held to be the
hihest authority on !odern !aic. 6nfortunately, the #ournal also
contained the!es on dictatorship that were inappropriate for hih
school students. @ortunately, everyone here who had read the #ournal,
includin 5ikihiko, "atsuya, and 5iyuki, were all 1uite fa!iliar with
the na!e.
+-h, but...... "here isn't a whole lot of ti!e left.+
5ikihiko's euphoric !ood swiftly turned to worry as he stated this.
0houldn't 5ikihiko also pay attention to these sudden !ood swins9
"atsuya thouht in surprise. Eeardless, he kept these thouhts to
hi!self as he nodded at 5ikihiko's 1uestion.
+$e have e&actly 9 days until the school turns in our paper.+
+"hat's it.9 "hat's riht around the corner.+
+"here's no proble! at all. -t the end of the day, I'! only in a
supportin role. "he lead writer has been workin on this since before
su!!er vacation.+
0eein )onoka's electrified e&pression, "atsuya reassured her with a
s!ile as he waved his hand a little. -t "atsuya's answer, )onoka
rela&ed into a +*ou're riht+ e&pression and heaved a sih of relief.
+7ven so, the fact re!ains that this is a pressin deadline. %id
so!ethin une&pected happen9+
+One of the supportin upperclass!en's physical condition suddenly
worsened.+
5iyuki wrinkled her brows as she 1ueried "atsuya, who !aintained
his earlier s!ile as he replied with a si!ple answer. 7ven thouh he
didn't cut into the heart of the !atter, there really was nothin to hide
even if pressed.
*et, 5iyuki didn't see! wholly satisfied with "atsuya's overly
si!plistic answer.
+"hat's 1uite unfortunate, but even so this is certainly a last !inute
chane.+
"he reason apparently wasn't why this situation occurred, but a !ood
issue.
+Indeed, even if the entire thesis had to be done fro! scratch, Onii-
sa!a would still be the best candidate.+
4onetheless, iven that "atsuya's situation had already turned into
reality, 5iyuki was only lookin for a reason to convince herself,
which was perfectly in tune with her character. In "atsuya's eyes, even
thouh 5iyuki's co!!ent was fairly accurate, she was still thinkin
too hihly of herself with this unconditional acceptance.
+"hat's not entirely the case. $e would have 1uite the conundru! on
our hands if I was utterly unfa!iliar with the field of Ichihara-senpai's
topic, but fortunately that isn't the case.+
"hus, "atsuya adopted a +s!ile and deny+ tactic, but 5iyuki didn't
see! very happy with her brother's stance. Hust as she was thinkin of
an appropriate re#oinder, a new 1uestion sprouted out fro! beside her.
+)ey, so what is the topic9+
,urious, >eo leaned forward as he asked this 1uestion. %espite the
fact that all the youn ladies watched hi! coldly with eyes that clearly
said +$ould you understand even if he told you9+, the !an askin the
1uestion and the one answerin hi! both inored the!.
+"echnical %ifficulties and 0olutions to 0ustained Iravity ,ontrol-
"ype 5aic 0e1uence "her!onuclear @usion Eeactor.+
+......I can't even i!aine that.+
"he 1uestioner i!!ediately retorted back, a pro!pt reflection of his
current predica!ent.
+......"hat's 1uite the randiose topic. Isn't that one of the '"hree Ireat
(u''les in $eiht 0yste!atic 5aic'9+ 5ikihiko roaned with a
co!ple& e&pression. "o his side,
+0ince "atsuya was asked to #oin, I thouht the thesis would be related
to ,-% processes.+
5i'uki e&pressed her thouhts on the !atter.
+-h, I thouht so too.+
+<ei-senpai is also a !e!ber...... I think that this topic !ay be si!ply
too difficult to have a chance at victory.+
0hi'uku and 7rika shared 5i'uki's opinion. -pparently, his friends
were concerned on his behalf that this topic would prove too
challenin for "atsuya and hih school students in eneral.
$hich !ade perfect sense, since the Iravity ,ontrol-"ype 5aic
0e1uence "her!onuclear @usion Eeactor was not labeled one of the
"hree Ireat (u''les #ust for nothin. In this situation, "atsuya could
only s!ile and !uddle throuh.
)owever, a!on all the s!ilin faces, only 5iyuki wasn't really
s!ilin.
)er s!ile didn't reach her eyes.
Only she, who understood the sinificance of 0ustained Iravity
,ontrol-"ype 5aic 0e1uence "her!onuclear @usion Eeactors, could
truly appreciate how serious her brother was.
A A A
"he siblins split fro! their friends at the station. "hey returned ho!e
to find a s!all li!ousine parked in their parkin spot, which pro!pted
the two of the! to e&chane a lance.
"atsuya stepped forward and opened the door.
0eein the rare desiner label hih heels in the threshold, "atsuya
ently cradled 5iyuki's shoulders as she stood there in utter silence
with a stiff e&pression on her face.
-s he supported 5iyuki and stepped throuh the door, a liht tappin
of slippers rapidly approachin could be heard.
+=$elco!e back. "he two of you are always on such ood ter!s.+
)earin these !ockin tones, "atsuya swiftly narrowed his eyes as his
hand that was holdin his sister's shakin shoulders tihtened their
rip a fraction.
+It's been 1uite a while, 0ayuri-san.+
"atsuya's chilly voice was a perfect !atch for his cool a'e.
"his ti!e, it was the petite wo!an who welco!ed the! who shook a
little.
+)!, h!. $ell, that's because I always wanted to be close to the
office.+
+Is that so.+
"atsuya nodded curtly at their step!other who hadn't stepped foot in
this house for 9 !onths = in the siblins' eyes, she was +their father's
second wife+ = 0hiba 0ayuri.
%espite co!in ho!e, this household did not possess her roo! or
beddin since after her !arriae to their father, she had settled down
with hi! in a suite in an upscale apart!ent co!ple& five !inutes fro!
@>" head1uarters and dwelt in !arried bliss toether. "atsuya only
intended to slihtly needle 0ayuri for the fact that she had never lived
here after !arryin their father and her usae of this location as ho!e.
0eein their father's second wife's e&pression darken at the sarcas!,
5iyuki actually co!posed herself. $ith her brother's ar! still around
her, she slihtly shifted around, utterly inorin any other a'es on her
as she pressed closer to "atsuya's slihtly lowered face.
4or!ally, even with #ust the two of the!, 5iyuki would never
co!!it such an e!barrassin action that was wholly inco!patible
with her i!ae. -t this point, 5iyuki had co!pletely entered a state
where bystanders held no !eanin.
+I shall bein preparations for dinner i!!ediately, Onii-sa!a.
-nythin in particular you would like9+
+-nythin you !ake will be fine. "here's no need to hurry, so you best
et chaned first.+
"atsuya didn't even bother to lance at 0ayuri, instead devotin his
entire attention to 5iyuki. -t her brother's response, 5iyuki revealed
an ecstatic s!ile.
+I understand, thouh I wonder if there's so!ethin you had in !ind.
0o lon as it's Onii-sa!a's wish, 5iyuki is willin to do anythin.+
+)ey, don't et too worked up.+
"atsuya lihtly poked her forehead before 5iyuki shrued her head
down and lihtly spran up to the second floor.
+0o, what !ay I do for you today9+
Once 5iyuki's fiure disappeared, "atsuya reopened the conversation
with 0ayuri, who see!ed stuck between a rock and a hard place.
-fterwards, he stepped 1uickly into the livin roo! and took a seat on
a nearby sofa, and once aain called out to the hesitant 0ayuri.
+,ould we et a !ove on, since I would like to finish before !y sister
returns.+
0ayuri creased her brows at these curt words, but she still took a seat
opposite "atsuya.
+>ooks like you two still aren't very welco!in towards !e.+
-s if reali'in that further actin was pointless, 0ayuri's attitude
abruptly chaned when she sat down.
,o!pletely heedless of "atsuya's a'e, she set one le over another
and leaned back on the sofa.
)er casual clothes devoid of any !akeup was likely her researcher's
callin showin throuh, so "atsuya didn't have to worry about where
to leave his eyes. Of course, even if 0ayuri was wearin a tiht
!iniskirt, "atsuya likely wouldn't bat an eyelid.
+5iyuki !ay think that way. -fter all, it's only natural for her to be
so!ewhat resentful if her father re!arried less than half a year after
her !other died. 7ven thouh she !ay act like an adult, she's really
#ust a B5 year old youn irl.+
+......-nd you9+
+I a! incapable of such an e!otional reaction. "hat was the way I was
fored.+
+......$ell, foret it, reardless of whether that's true or not, that's no
loner in !y hands. 7ven so, if we were to talk about that, I hope that
you can seriously listen to hi!, since it was only half a year for you
two, but a whole BD years for !e.+
%espite her youthful appearance, she was actually the sa!e ae as
their father. "atsuya was conte!platin these rude concepts like the
public ene!y of wo!en.
0he, 0hiba 0ayuri, was oriinally known as @uruha 0ayuri and was
0hiba "atsurou's lover before his !arriae with *otsuba 5iya. Eu!or
had it that the *otsuba interposed to sei'e a pri'ed enetic advantae
and forcibly cut the! apart. "atsuya could read between the lines of
her hatred even if she didn't verbali'e the!.
0till, that was an issue between her and their birth parents and was
unrelated to the siblins. 0ince she had !aintained an affair with their
father while 5iya was still alive, she would receive no pity fro! hi!.
+0o, what's the occasion that brouht you all the way out here9+
0ayuri oriinally intended to naturally drift into the !ain sub#ect, so
"atsuya's direct in1uiry cauht her off uard and finally shook off the
unnatural vibes around their conversation.
+......"hen, let's cut riht to the chase. "he co!pany labs re1uire your
assistance. If possible, we hope you will drop out fro! hih school.+
+I!possible. %urin 5iyuki's enroll!ent at @irst )ih, I a! unable to
fulfill !y !ission as a uardian if I a! not a student at @irst )ih.+
- ridiculous de!and warranted a flat refusal fro! "atsuya.
+7ven if you're not a student, other uardians could be !ade
available.+
+"here is a shortae of 5aicians in every field. 7ven the *otsuba
@a!ily would be hard pressed to replace a uardian on such short
notice.+
+In other words, you are the finest candidate9+
+$hen only restricted to 5iyuki's protection, that is indeed the case.+
"his was a conversation that had occurred !ultiple ti!es in the past.
$hew, 0ayuri heaved a reat sih that didn't see! theatrical.
+......I doubt any co!pany has enouh surplus to allow so!eone as
talented as you, to si!ply play around.+
+(lay around9 I do believe I have !ade powerful contributions to the
co!pany as well. - few days ao, the co!pany received an order
fro! the 604- 4avy for a lare 1uantity of @lyin-"ype devices,
which boosted the 1uarterly profits by 20M co!pared to last 1uarter.+
-t "atsuya's co!bative words, 0ayuri couldn't help but reveal a
reretful e&pression.
"hat was because she had no rebuttal for "atsuya's words.
It was public knowlede that @>" oriinally wasn't a !anufacturer for
,-% products, but a provider for spare parts used for 5aic
7nineerin. "heir ascent to the pinnacle of ,-% develop!ent and
production around the lobe was larely in thanks to the 0ilver 0eries
and "atsuya by e&tension. $ith the introduction of @lyin-"ype
%evices, @>" had beco!e the innovator that pioneered the ne&t
paradi! shift in the world of 0peciali'ed ,-%s. @or 0ayuri, who
oriinally entered the co!pany as a researcher and was elevated to
!anae!ent despite havin no !a#or acco!plish!ents to her na!e,
this was a towerin feat that rendered #ealousy !eaninless.
0till, those were 0ayuri's personal feelins on the !atter. -s she
replied with an +-h, is that so,+ she also brouht up the reason why
she couldn't leave #ust yet.
+......-t the very least, can you help analy'e this ite! for !e9+
0ayuri pulled out a lare #ewel bo& fro! her ba and carefully opened
the lid.
"here was a half-translucent cri!son crystal in the !iddle.
+......- relic fro! the 5aata!a class.+
@ro! the perspective of 5aic Eesearchers, +relics+ were OO(arts
that contained a !aical nature that had unidentifiable artificial
co!ponents, yet for!ed naturally under hihly challenin
conditions. @or e&a!ple, +-ntinite+ that contained +,ast Ha!!in+
could be classified as a type of relic.
-lso, true relics = such as a 5aata!a = like this one usually never
fell into the hands of a researcher.
+$here was this unearthed9+
+I do not know.+
+I see, this ca!e fro! the H0%@.+
Iiven its status as the pree!inent do!estic !anufacturer, @>"
received !any contracts fro! the !ilitary.
+In ter!s of analysis, don't tell !e you're askin for so!ethin
preposterous like duplicatin this 5aata!a, are you9+
0eein 0ayuri's stiff e&pression, "atsuya could only sih.
+$ho ca!e up with such a reckless decision9 %on't you have any idea
how ridiculous it is to atte!pt to synthesi'e relics with !odern science
and technoloy9+
OO(arts is short for +Out Of (lace -rtifacts+. 7ssentially, these were
+ite!s that did not belon in this ti!e+ and were +ob#ects that
e&ceeded the level of science fro! when it was unearthed+ and were
si!ply unable to be developed with technoloy at the ti!e.
)owever, precisely because this was so!ethin that surpassed !odern
science, the reatly e&aerated ter! +relic+ was used.
+......"he H0%@ de!anded that we accept the task. Eefusal was not an
option.+
4ot like !anae!ent's decision was i!possible to co!prehend. 4ot
#ust @>", corporations in the !aic industry by nature served in the
public sector and could be broadly painted as a war industry.
Only individuals with practical !aic skills would purchase products
of !aic enineerin like ,-%s, but 5aicians held a !uch s!aller
share of the !arket than other industries.
Iiven the scarcity of 5aicians, this was only to be e&pected.
,urrently, the nu!ber of people in !aic related fields or students
studyin !aic at the hih school and colleiate level totaled rouhly
30,000 people.
In other words, even if every sinle one of the! purchased a new
,-% every year, the total turnover rate would still be 30,000. In
reality, the duration ti!e tended to be on the loner side since it was
co!!on practice for a 5aician to own five or si& ,-%s. Eeardless,
it didn't chane the fact that the !arket re!ained 1uite narrow.
-lso, based on the national policy of pro!otin !aic, !aic support
devices needed to be sold at a low price. In practice, ,-% prices were
li!ited to a level well within the purchasin power of a nor!al
household so they could purchase one for their child that was enterin
hih school as a celebratory present. "his sort of independent industry
was hard to develop scale and desin.
"hus, the nation heavily subsidi'ed the !aic industry.
@or e&a!ple, the nation subsidi'ed 90M of ,-% sales.
"he products sold at the public level were B0M of the price used in
e&chanes between co!panies.
In addition, usin research rants as an e&cuse, the nation paid lare
su!s to private corporations each year for research.
7ven the larest corporations in the field like 5a&i!illian and Eo'en
were unable to deny their respective overn!ents. "hat was the fate of
!aic industries.
+)owever, the H0%@ should be aware of the !eanin behind the relic
label. 0o lon as the ite! has been identified as a relic, they should
know that artificial synthesis is no loner possible, so why !ake this
ludicrous de!and9+
"here was a prenant pause before 0ayuri finally opened her !outh to
respond.
+Eecently, research has discovered that 5aata!a possesses the
ability to store 5aic 0e1uences.+
%espite the hesitant answer, this was enouh to brin a swift chane to
"atsuya's e&pression.
+)as this been proven to be a fact9+
0uppressin the burnin desire in his voice was the li!it of "atsuya's
actin capabilities. @ortunately, 0ayuri see!ed to !iss "atsuya's
profound interest in relics.
+It's still in the theoretical phase. 0till, the !ilitary's !ove!ents have
already produced fairly reliable observation data.+
"atsuya nodded ravely.
+If this is true, then there's no way the !ilitary would leave that alone,
which is co!pletely within reason.+
0torae capacity for 5aic 0e1uences was not restricted to only
"atsuya's oal. If 5aic 0e1uence storae can be spread to the public
level, autono!ous and self-sustainin !aic devices would no loner
be a pipe drea!. 7ven troops without 5aicians could e1uip !aic
weapons. 0ince 5aata!as had the power to store 5aic 0e1uences,
successful !ass replication would provide a !assive supply of !aic
weaponry.
+/ut iven @>"'s recent ains, there shouldn't be a need to take the
road less traveled.+
Iiven the pro#ect's i!portance, once acceptin this task, a si!ple
+cannot be done+ would not suffice.
+"he die has been cast.+
+7ven without any chance for success9+
,onsiderin that the key to relic replication re!ained unknown, this
was a colossal risk.
+$e have a s!all chance. /y usin your !aic, analysis is still
possible.+
"atsuya couldn't help but lauh at 0ayuri finally layin all her cards on
the table. In the end, she wasn't here for his brain, but his uni1ue
ability.
Hust as she always had.
+7ven usin !y power does not uarantee successful replication.
......If you insist, then please send the speci!en to the EN% "hird
%ivision. I drop by there on a reular basis.+
In reality, this didn't really affect "atsuya either way. $hile it was true
that "atsuya re1uired additional insiht on how to preserve 5aic
0e1uences, his oal was only li!ited to raspin the !ethodoloy
behind this. 5aata!a replication was only secondary, so he didn't
want to overly burden the researchers in the office. "he botto! line
was that schedulin was difficult to co!e by on their part, so it's not
like they could do whatever they pleased.
+............+
)owever, this was not a proposal that 0ayuri could sto!ach. )er
position de!anded that she take into account the depart!ental
rivalries within @>". "he EN% "hird %ivision si!ply couldn't win
additional fa!e and reconition. -lso, an infinitely !ore i!portant
and preposterous reason was that neither her nor her husband could
afford to allow +"aurus 0ilver+, "atsuya hi!self, any !ore speakin
power. 0urely the other labs could surpass "atsuya's achieve!ents,
riht9 Iiven "atsuya's lare followin = to the point that a decisive
!a#ority of the "hird %ivision sided with hi!, !aybe their
acco!plish!ents would be put on his tab as well. :"hat was 0ayuri's
private suspicion.;
6nable to accept "atsuya's proposal, 0ayuri clenched her teeth.
+Or, would you prefer to leave the speci!en here9+
"atsuya's words provided a li!!er of hope for the conflicted 0ayuri
and beca!e the i!petus she sei'ed upon to escape this 1uandary.
+"here's no need.+
4onetheless, rather than choosin to co!pro!ise, she chose to break
off entirely. @or her, under no condition would she allow the relic
replication to occur away fro! the office = away fro! her ability to
clai! all credit for the acco!plish!ent. >eavin the speci!en behind
was a ridiculous notion that was synony!ous to allowin "atsuya to
pluck this pri'e fro! her hands. In actuality, she was the one who
oriinally !ade the outraeous re1uest to challene so!ethin that
+had no successful precedent+, but the present 0ayuri had lost all
ob#ectivity.
)er ire fully roused, 0ayuri rose fro! her seat.
+I understand now. 0eekin your assistance was a !istake in the first
place.+
(lacin the #ewel bo& back into her ba, 0ayuri departed in a huff.
-s 0ayuri swiftly walked down the hall, "atsuya was literally riht on
her heels. /y the ti!e she reached the threshold and was puttin on
her shoes, "atsuya adopted a tone typically reserved for custo!er
service.
+0ince you are carryin valuables, would you like !e to acco!pany
you to the station9+
+4o need, I'll drive.+
+-s you wish. %o be careful.+
"atsuya was not displeased by his step!other's barb and courteously
bowed.
+5iyuki.+
"atsuya called out to her fro! the threshold. $earin a sleeveless
!ini-dress, 5iyuki ti!idly descended fro! the stairs.
)er pearly ar!s revealed a liht pink that ran to her shoulders, a
product of her own e!barrass!ent at her attire rather than caused by
cos!etics.
+Onii-sa!a, well...... I sincerely apoloi'e for !y childish behavior.+
%espite her personal avowal of her childish behavior, in reality this
was !ore like so!e sort of display of close affection. 4aturally,
5iyuki was inorant of this point as she stood there with her skin
bared before "atsuya's eyes. 4o !atter what she said, she surely !ust
have put considerable thouht into this char!in display.
"atsuya ently stroked his sister's face thouh she didn't dare to !atch
his a'e before his finertips dipped south towards the chin. 0uddenly,
his inde& finer swiftly tilted her face upwards.
"his si!ple action caused 5iyuki's enchantinly white skin to flush
co!pletely red fro! her shoulders to her boso!. )er silky lon hair
ently swayed as her eyes were filled with a da''lin lu!inescence
for an altoether irresistible packae.
+6h, this......+
"heir posture see!ed to lead up to a kiss, forcin 5iyuki to bashfully
avert her eyes.
*et "atsuya's finers once !ore stretched towards her face.
5es!eri'ed, 5iyuki closed her eyes.
-nd then,
+=-h.9+
- !uffled cry of pain ran out for a short duration.
+$-$hat was that for9+
+(unish!ent.+
0eein his sister blush and fall back a step :a perfectly natural
response to so!eone suddenly pinchin her nose;, "atsuya s!iled as
he replied.
+Oh...... Onii-sa!a is a !eanie.+
5iyuki sulkily pouted and turned her face aside while !aintainin her
char!in posture. -t this, "atsuya's e&pression softened as he
continued to s!ile.
+I'! steppin out for a bit. 5ake sure to lock the doors until I return.+
+Onii-sa!a9+
-t her brother's !ysterious instructions to watch the house, 5iyuki's
e&pression tihtened as she in1uired to the reason.
+I'! oin to pursue a certain wo!an who lacks a sense of daner.+
"atsuya picked up the unifor! coat he #ust took off as 5iyuki frowned
in displeasure.
+......7&actly how !uch trouble is that person plannin on puttin
Onii-sa!a throuh.+
+6nfortunately, I can't #ust leave her to her own devices. 0ayuri is
holdin a relic that !ay hold the key to 5aic 0e1uence storae.+
"atsuya re!oved his tie and handed it to 5iyuki as he elaborated on
the real !otive behind his +pursuit+.
5iyuki see!ed to co!prehend this so!ewhat but still crinkled her
brows afterwards.
+If that's the case then there's nothin for it. (lease be careful, Onii-
sa!a.+
5iyuki recalled their conversation after school in the reference roo!.
0he would not use her dislike of her father's lover to bar her brother's
decisions. 0he did not say +don't o+, nor did she say +there's no need
to o+, but !erely re!oved "atsuya's heavy coat fro! the haner in
silence.
-fter throwin on the coat with 5iyuki's assistance, "atsuya re!oved
a pair of loves and a hel!et fro! the storae co!part!ent in the
threshold and pulled on a pair of ridin boots. "atsuya nodded to
5iyuki, who had put her hands side by side in front of herself and
bowed deeply to send hi! off, and said, +I'! off.+
A A A
In the speedin vehicle that was auto!atically directin itself, 0ayuri
felt an e&haustive pressure pound down on her like twice the weiht of
ravity.
If she had to say so!ethin, it would be a reretful +I still did it......+
-fter reachin the !anaerial level, she thouht that she had already
beco!e accusto!ed to wheelin and dealin. )owever, she still
heaved a depressed sih at her headstron and i!pulsive behavior.
In principle, the youn !an was by all rihts her son, but every ti!e
she was before hi! she found it hard to !aintain her co!posure.
0he was perfectly well aware of the reason behind this.
/ecause he was the son of her rival.
(aired with an enineer's ability and achieve!ents.
,o!plete with unreadable eyes and unfatho!able e!otions.
6nder his eyes, she wasn't seen as a hu!an bein, but si!ply a
speci!en under a !icroscope and releated to the status of an ite!.
Hust the way he viewed his own role as a tool, but 0ayuri was unaware
of that.
$hat she did know was that this contract de!anded his cooperation,
but her own i!patience had !ade this sinificantly !ore difficult.
0ilently, she redirected her a'e out the window and heaved a heavy
sih.
-s she raised her eyes, she noticed that traffic had stranely
decreased.
0he hadn't seen any cars co!in fro! the opposite direction since a
while back,
-nd even thouh this was a residential sector, the hour wasn't too late
yet.
)er inner frustration was sub!ered by a trace of unease.
0he called up the screen for traffic infor!ation. "he display infor!ed
her that other cars had been rerouted alon a different path to avoid a
stalled vehicle on the road.
$hich was a leiti!ate reason in its own riht, lettin 0ayuri let out a
breath of relief.
,hasin 0ayuri's vehicle throuh traffic on a lare electric !otorcycle,
"atsuya also noticed the drop in traffic.
"he !essae he received throuh the headset in his hel!et was the
sa!e infor!ation 0ayuri saw on her display.
4evertheless, "atsuya did not find any benin news within.
"he infor!ation that cars were rerouted due to a stalled vehicle wasn't
suspicious in its own riht.
"atsuya had seen first hand e&actly how difficult it was to infiltrate the
traffic control syste! when he saw 0anada and @u#ibayashi hackin
into the syste! on the scene.
0till, "atsuya wasn't opti!istic enouh to believe every sinle car was
diverted fro! the road that led fro! "atsuya's house to the station.
"hat sort of thin only happened when !ultiple cars were stalled on
the road.
It wasn't particularly difficult to identify vehicle locations within the
control syste!.
7specially since co!!uter vehicles available for public transportation
continuously broadcast sinals to prevent thieves fro! usin the! as
escape tools.
>ikewise, identifyin the sinal wasn't any sort of classified secret.
0ince he left the house, "atsuya was already ho!in in on 0ayuri's
vehicle.
@inally catchin siht of his step!other's car, he also discovered
another !anually operated vehicle independent of traffic control that
was tailin her.
- shrill alar! sounded fro! the vehicle's display.
"he display infor!ed her that a !anually operated vehicle was closin
in.
*et, 0ayuri wasn't overly concerned.
7ven in this ae, there still e&isted people who took pleasure in
drivin the!selves.
-s an enineer, she was aware that drivers could !odify their cars to
be independent of the traffic control syste!'s influence.
"hus, she paid little heed to the car closin in fro! behind.
-s such, 0ayuri leaned back into her seat and switched off the piercin
alar!.
0eein the black !anually operated car pick up speed, "atsuya
stepped on the as as well. In ter!s of acceleration, "atsuya's
!otorcycle had the ede.
0till, based on pro&i!ity and respective speed, the black !anually
operated car would reach 0ayuri's vehicle first.
In reaction to the !anually operated car that suddenly closed in
instead of passin by, 0ayuri's car activated its collision avoidance
syste!.
4ear her car that ca!e to an e!erency stop, two !en descended
fro! the !anually operated car.
"his was an overly bra'en action alon the streets with wireless
surveillance syste!s. )owever, iven the situation, the suspects were
probably illeal aliens, since nor!al citi'ens and i!!irants would
i!!ediately be identified fro! their i!aes.
"atsuya raised the lihts to the !a& and pointed the! at the two !en
tryin to break open the car door.
%escendin fro! the !otorcycle with the lihts still on, "atsuya
rushed towards the !en.
"atsuya pulled out the ,-% in his chest pocket with his riht hand
while the !en covered their faces to avert the liht. - second later,
one !an used a pistol while the other sent his fists flyin towards
"atsuya.
6nder the liht fro! the !otorcycle, the !an's fist wore a bron'e rin
that li!!ered lihtly on one finer.
@ro! the rin, a shrill psionic noise could be heard.
"his was !aic interference waves known as +,ast Ha!!in+ co!in
fro! the +-ntinite+.
One of the! focused on nullifyin ene!y !aic while the other used
the un to finish off the ene!y.
Of course, if their opponent was any run of the !ill 5aician.
"he !u''le was ai!ed at "atsuya. "he taret was the heart, at a rane
where evasion was altoether i!possible, and a clear killin intent
could be felt.
*et the !an failed to s1uee'e the trier.
/efore he could do so, "atsuya already hit the trier on his ,-%.
"he pistol collapsed into pieces in the !an's hands.
One of the !en, or !aybe even both of the!, started yellin in
e&cite!ent, but iven the distance, he wasn't sure what they were
sayin. )e could only hear the ter! +,ast Ha!!in+, which likely
sinified their surprise that +,ast Ha!!in+ had no effect, or !aybe
they were e&pressin their astonish!ent that the pistol was shattered
despite the presence of !aic interference waves.
0till, reardless of how it was, that was no loner "atsuya's concern.
7ven if he was hindered in an une&pected way, his actions would not
chane. "atsuya once !ore pulled the trier.
"he !an who once held the un let out a cry of pain and fell to the
round. )e pressed his thih and bean rollin on the round.
4e&t, the !an with the rin pressed his shoulder. )e couldn't contain
his !oans of pain and doubled over as he broke out into a cold sweat
before losin consciousness. 0ince he was pierced by a force
rese!blin tiny needles that annihilated skin, flesh, blood vessels,
nerves, and bones, the sudden pain !ust have overco!e his ability to
stay conscious.
%eco!position 5aic = 5ist %ispersion could deco!pose any
hu!an body part.
0o where on the hu!an body would a piercin attack enerate enouh
shock to surpass a !an's consciousness9
$here !ust the attack land to cut off feelin fro! the four li!bs9
Indifferent to whether it was his own flesh or that of others, "atsuya
was e&tre!ely knowledeable on the !atter.
)e slipped around the two !en on the round and approached the
black, !anually operated vehicle.
"atsuya kept his ,-% ai!ed at the car, but didn't pull the trier.
)ydroen fueled cars contained the fuel in co!pressed states, so
carelessly attackin would trier a iantic e&plosion. Of course,
nor!ally there are protocols to avoid inition, but it was a fact that
so!e chose to re!ove the safety features to create suicide attacks.
If 5iyuki was present then there was no need to worry about an
e&plosion, but unfortunately she was !indin the house. "he riht
side of the road was covered by a wide e&panse of the river, but the
left side was filled with residential buildins. "akin the nearby
households into account, "atsuya #uded that he couldn't force the
issue.
0trictly speakin, this decision was overly nelient.
0uddenly, killin intent !ushroo!ed forth above hi! fro! the riht.
"atsuya took evasive action on refle&.
"here wasn't even a hint of hesitation in his !otion.
7ven so, he could not avoid the bullet that flew at supersonic speed.
)e felt a burnin pain in his breast,
$here the bullet had pierced throuh his left breast.
"he i!pact fro! the bullet caused his body to fly throuh the air.
"he ene!y's snipin attack was incredibly accurate.
7ven if he avoided a fatal attack, the blow still pierced his lun.
Iiven how late he heard the unshot, the attack !ust have been !ade
fro! an e&tre!e distance. If "atsuya hadn't taken evasive action, the
bullet would have pierced his heart.
,onservatively speakin, this was an incredibly skilled sniper.
"atsuya used the inertia fro! the fallin !otion to roll and take cover
behind 0ayuri's car.
"he wound fro! the attack had already healed itself. 4or!ally, even
fatal in#uries would disappear in a flash so lon as his !aic was
active.
0till, that did not !ean he could not feel pain.
"he e&tre!e pain fro! the i!pact of the bullet as well as the bullet
leavin his body still threw "atsuya into a cold sweat.
)owever, this was not the ti!e to focus on so!ethin like that.
"atsuya needed to pinpoint his attacker's position.
Iiven the direction and anle of the attack as well as the place!ent of
the surroundin buildins that could serve as obstacles, the sniper's
location was probably one of the industrial buildins fro! across the
river.
Eouhly B000 !eters fro! his current position.
"akin into consideration that the bullet could easily penetrate the
hu!an body and open such a tiny hole, the weapon was probably
usin sabot rounds.
"he car's e&terior was !ade of synthetic wood, so this wasn't oin to
last very lon as a cover.
"he trickier part ca!e fro! the fact that the sniper wasn't usin !aic.
4o !atter what sort of !aic was used, there would be a trace of
!aic left behind that "atsuya could use to swiftly ascertain his
opponent's location.
)owever, if his opponent was strictly stickin to shootin, this
distance !ade it !uch harder for hi! to rely on 7le!ental 0iht.
"he two !en who had collapsed on the round lihtly floated in the
air.
"he car door on the black vehicle opened and rudely sucked their
bodies inside.
It was a si!ple act to nullify the 5ove-"ype 5aic that was
recoverin the two !en, but riht now re!ovin the sniper's threat
was hiher priority.
)e re-e&a!ined the data fro! the bullet that went throuh his body.
"atsuya ran data analysis aain and went over the bullet data aain.
/odily fluids.
(hysical resistance.
7ffects fro! the wind.
Iravity.
-ir co!pression at the ti!e of the shot.
"he variables fro! the bullet were co!pressed into a sinle !essae
and returned to "atsuya.
)e identified the taret's infor!ation at the ti!e of attack.
"atsuya turned back the clock and read the bullet's tra#ectory, the
sniper's infor!ation and the very !e!ory of the +world+.
@ro! present into the past.
"hen,
@ro! past into present.
6sin the sniper's firin point as the oriin, he searched the !yriad,
transient data within the +world+ of the infor!ation di!ension for the
desired taret.
$ithin his !ind, "atsuya locked in on the sniper's 7idos = separatin
that particular one fro! the !asses the sa!e way he always did.
)e also knew that his opponent was ai!in here and preparin to fire
aain.
"he second shot hadn't arrived because the sniper was reloadin and
chanin the ar!or penetration rounds used earlier to rounds that
could penetrate ob#ects that the ene!y was takin cover behind, hence
the hue delay.
"atsuya saw throuh this because he held every scrap of data about
this sniper in the pal! of his hand.
)e had to say he was 1uite fortunate.
-s he thouht this, "atsuya activated the !aic to co!pletely
deco!pose the hu!an body.
A A A
"en !inutes after the black car fled, "atsuya #uded that there was no
further daner and stood up fro! behind the car.
(eekin into the car's interior, he found 0ayuri had already fainted.
0ince the car hadn't activated after all this ti!e, which was perfectly
predictable, there was no need for concern.
)er body was surrounded by air bas on all sides, which served as a
buffer all around her. "his was an e&cellent e&a!ple of the safety
features kickin in to prevent the driver's body fro! sufferin physical
in#ury, as this arrane!ent could protect the! fro! any type of shock.
In that case, she likely fainted due to the !ental shock fro! this event.
-t any rate, she was so!eone connected to the *otsuba @a!ily, so she
should be able to endure so!e deree of incidents. *et her current
predica!ent looked #ust like an averae person, riht9 "atsuya
couldn't help but ru!inate on this.
Once the reusable air bas were tucked away, the auto!atic vehicle
restarted itself.
,overin the slowly !ovin vehicle fro! behind, "atsuya followed on
his !otorcycle.
/y the ti!e they reached the station, 0ayuri had already reained
consciousness. )er face was a little pale, but she displayed no sin of
panic. Of course, "atsuya was ridin a !otorcycle behind her durin
the entire trip, so he had no idea what e&pression was on her face
anyway. -fter seein her to the station, 0ayuri forced "atsuya to
accept the bo& that contained the 5aata!a. "atsuya felt that 0ayuri's
stubborn and relentless appearance e&e!plified her personality
perfectly.
-fter 0ayuri left, "atsuya headed directly for the phone after returnin
ho!e. )e didn't use a !obile phone at the station for fear of
eavesdroppers.
+%on't worry about the ca!eras on route. $e've already started takin
steps.+
+"hank you very !uch, 5a#or.+
"he phone was a direct line to the )J of the Independent 5aic-
71uipped /attalion.
-s so!eone who was forced to conceal his identity as one of the
pri!ary co!batants for the *otsuba @a!ily within the "en 5aster
,lans as well as his alias as a 0pecial >ieutenant within the
Independent 5aic-71uipped /attalion, the first order of business for
"atsuya was to ensure that his identity wasn't e&posed by the ca!eras.
"atsuya straihtened and saluted <a'a!a's i!ae on the display.
+0till, I !ust say that our opponents are behavin 1uite recklessly.
7ven thouh this isn't the heart of the city, they still fired within the
city proper.+
+$hile I cannot deny that I was overly careless, I !ust ad!it that our
opponents are 1uite skilled.+
+"hey did not use !aic, correct9+
+-ffir!ative.+
6sin !aic to uide the bullet tra#ectory undoubtedly would cause a
side effect fro! pheno!enon rewritin.
>ikewise, usin sensory enhance!ent !aic would also reveal their
location due to the psion waves.
0o lon as they used !aic, there was no way to hide the!selves fro!
"atsuya.
<a'a!a was well aware of "atsuya's capabilities.
+*es, durin nocturnal conditions and only relyin on a scope, they
still successfully sniped fro! nearly a kilo!eter out.+
<a'a!a was lancin downwards on the screen, likely lookin at the
!ap for the sniper's location. "atsuya didn't co!pletely understand all
the nuances reardin snipinF <a'a!a was !uch !ore fa!iliar with
the details. 0ee!s like <a'a!a had found so!e sort of clue that
"atsuya hadn't discovered, so even thouh he hadn't seen it, he could
rasp the details #ust fro! "atsuya's report.
+"here are a li!ited nu!ber of orani'ations around the world that
can dispatch snipers of this 1uality. $e !iht actually narrow this
down rather 1uickly.+
+"hen we're relyin on you.+
Offense was the reatest defense, referrin to the concept that by
renderin an opponent powerless, one would re!ove the threat of
attack. 0ince they had already crossed blades once, so lon as neither
side presses forward, a peaceful solution was not i!possible for
"atsuya.
+)!9 Iive !e a second. ......"here's a new report co!in in. $e've
found the car.+
7ven thouh the black car had covered its license plate, this deree of
subterfue could not fool the ca!eras alon the streets set for
defensive purposes. 0o lon as they knew when and where the vehicle
passed by, uni1ue features could always be identified.
+0ince the investiation has already beun, how about lettin it start
fro! this end9+
+-s you wish.+
-t <a'a!a's 1uestion of verification, "atsuya i!!ediately nodded in
response.
"atsuya didn't 1uibble over details like whether he had to personally
capture his escaped opponents.
A A A
Owin to the une&pected live action se1uence, dinner was slihtly
later than usual. 0till, 5iyuki didn't see! irritated in the slihtest as
she pranced around in a pink apron with frills as she prepared dinner.
+"hat apron......9+
+*ou noticed9+
)earin the words that slipped fro! his !outh, 5iyuki s!iled and
turned her head.
"he apron 5iyuki was wearin was si!plistic but adult in its desin.
$hile "atsuya didn't know whether this was !erely a youn lady's
interest, this was the first ti!e he beheld such a fantastically adorable
apron.
+"his was what you #ust bouht today9+
/efore splittin at the station, 5iyuki had been pulled into a store
caterin to youn wo!en by 5i'uki and 7rika.
"atsuya louned on the chair as he waited for the!, only to have the!
appear !uch sooner than e&pected. $hen asked what they bouht,
7rika only said that it was a +secret+, so he didn't receive a real
answer.
+5i'uki said she needed a new apron so I bouht one as well. "his
doesn't look strane on !e, does it9+
0ince this was considerably different than her usual fashion, 5iyuki
watched "atsuya with worried eyes.
"houh it was a si!ple !atter to pass on a co!pli!ent, "atsuya took
this opportunity to seriously evaluate his sister's attire.
Iiven that the apron's lenth was the sa!e as her skirt, it ave off the
i!pression that she was wearin a sinle dress.
-nd a !ini-skirt apron to boot.
"he two straps looped over the shoulders and crossed over the back
alon with a wide strap tied around the waist with an adorable
butterfly knot, co!plete with a pair of thihs char!inly e&posed
fro! the botto!.
%efinitely not a etup that can be shown to anyone else, "atsuya
thouht.
+It suits you perfectly. In fact, I plan on puttin you in a lass display
case for personal perusal.+
)e reali'ed that his choice of words was slihtly odd.
+Onii-sa!a's ideas are #ust a s!iden strane.+
Hust listenin to her words !iht sound like she was surprised, but her
e&pression clearly sinified that she was tryin to hide her
e!barrass!ent.
0till, "atsuya didn't point this out to 5iyuki and !erely s!iled as he
picked up the chopsticks.
-fter dinner, the two siblins !oved fro! the dinner table to the
livin roo!. -fter settin down a cup of coffee on the table before the
sofa "atsuya was occupyin, 5iyuki left her cup on the table and sat
beside her brother.
+0peakin of which, why did that person visit us today9 %id she brin
a speci!en for 5aic 0e1uence storae9+
-fter findin a spot to sit, 5iyuki sat with her les closed and placed
her hands on top of one another over the! as she asked "atsuya with
eyes bri!!in with curiosity.
+0he wanted to find out if 5aic 0e1uence storae was possible.+
0ince this was an e&pected 1uestion, "atsuya already prepared an
answer.
+-skin for help, #ust like before.+
4ot like he was relyin on half truths to !uddle throuh this.
+0till, this #ob !ay be a little !ore interestin.+
+)as the contract already been accepted9+
5iyuki's 1uestion was #ust oin throuh the !otions, she had already
understood throuh her brother's earlier words that this task was
unavoidable.
+Iiven that the speci!en is sittin riht here, see!s likely.+
"atsuya's a'e shifted to one corner of the table.
"he #ewel bo& that 0ayuri brouht sat there innocuously.
0ayuri forced "atsuya to hold onto the bo& in fear of further ene!y
attack.
+0o this is the speci!en9 %oes it possess the power to store 5aic
0e1uences9+
$hat is it9 -t the wordless in1uiry, "atsuya opened the bo&.
+- relic of the 5aata!a-class.+
<eepin an eye on 5iyuki, "atsuya unveiled the ite!'s true identity.
)er hands flew to her face as 5iyuki stared wide-eyed at "atsuya.
+$hy does that wo!an have so!ethin like this9+
+It was a re1uest fro! the !ilitary. I believe they asked us to replicate
this.+
+"hat's ridiculous.+
$hile 5iyuki didn't have the sa!e depth of understandin as "atsuya
reardin how outraeous the replication of relics was, she still
understood that this was a preposterous re1uest.
5aic 0e1uences influenced the 7idos of an ob#ect in order to
te!porarily rewrite the infor!ation surroundin the ob#ect based on
the conditions described within the 5aic 0e1uence = this was
!aic. @or e&a!ple, an orb that is outwardly red contains an 7idos
that +pri!arily reflected red liht+ and is +circularly shaped+. If a
5aic 0e1uence containin the condition +pri!arily reflectin blue
liht+ influenced the 7idos, then the orb would turn blue. 0ince the
5aic 0e1uence overwrote the 7idos on the ob#ect, the conditions
within the 5aic 0e1uence would te!porarily replace the
characteristics of the ob#ect. "his effect would persist until the
conditions fro! the 5aic 0e1uence fades away.
"houh the 5aic 0e1uence occupied a central role in the invocation
of !aic, usin !aic to preserve 5aic 0e1uences re!ained
i!possible.
0till, if the ite! itself possessed the ability to replicate the effects fro!
the altered pheno!enon and the 5aic 0e1uence could be replicated,
then the effects fro! !aic would persist ad infinitu!. In other words,
copyin the altered pheno!enon and the 5aic 0e1uence would
beco!e possible.
$hich would preserve the characteristics of the 5aic 0e1uence as
well as the characteristics of the !aical effects.
>oically speakin, if 5aic 0e1uences that chaned the te!perature
could be preserved, then hih te!peratures !easurin in the hundreds
of derees or cold te!peratures that were do'ens of derees below
'ero could be achieved without any input. >ikewise, replication of
0peed 5aic that was preserved could create actual perpetual !otion
!achines.
+Hust possessin the ability to store 5aic 0e1uences alone is
insufficient to replace 5aicians, since the 5aic 0e1uences stored
within these devices can only be activated throuh !aic. $hile I
have little stake in replicatin the 5aata!a itself, if this ite! is truly
able to store 5aic 0e1uences, then understandin that process
beco!es absolutely interal.+
+If it's Onii-sa!a, then anythin is possible.+
-t so!e point, 5iyuki scooted over until she was directly ne&t to
"atsuya and laid her head aainst "atsuya's shoulder. 0he ently
reassured "atsuya, who sat there with a chilly e&pression on his face
as he spoke.
5iyuki's policy de!anded that she did everythin within her power to
cover all the household chores that pertained to "atsuya without
leavin the! to !achinery, but even she wasn't such a stickler that she
washed the dishes herself.
0he was still a student, with her own pile of !andatory assin!ents,
so so!e level of co!pro!ise was unavoidable.
"he plates and utensils fro! dinner were left to the )-E to dispose of
as 5iyuki bean her ho!ework.
%espite bein known as a !aic hih school, all other sub#ects besides
!aic were not !andatory.
"here were no reular tests, but daily ho!ework was hihly
e!phasi'ed.
"oday, her ho!ework assin!ent was !athe!atics. 0trictly speakin,
this was not one of her stron suits.
0tuck on a 1uestion that bedeviled her fro! the beinnin, 5iyuki
allowed her attention to drift fro! the screen before her.
"his was the ae where the !an-!achine interface could easily
process these proble!s, so no one save for !athe!atical researchers
would actually work out proble!s by the!selves. *et, !athe!atical
loic powerfully aided the develop!ent and for!ation of new !aic,
hence her brother had strinent instructions reardin this sub#ect, and
so cuttin corners was not an option.
5iyuki heaved a bored +$hew+.
-t ti!es like these, she envied her o!nipotent brother.
5aybe I should ask Onii-sa!a to teach !e, she idly thouht before
frantically shakin her head furiously.
Eiht now, "atsuya was probably deep into analy'in that relic.
)er very presence alone bound "atsuya's freedo!, so she definitely
couldn't bother hi! any!ore, 5iyuki thouht.
"he sole reason "atsuya entered @irst )ih was because 5iyuki
enrolled in @irst )ih, at least this was how 5iyuki interpreted the
situation.
- diplo!a fro! a !aic hih school was a prere1uisite for attendin
the 4ational 5aic 6niversity, but there were always e&ceptionsF
especially, talented individuals who !iht have discovered a
+,ardinal ,ode+ would i!!ediately 1ualify for the e&a!ination
process even without a !aic hih school diplo!a. 0o lon as "atsuya
wished to do so, he would i!!ediately obtain that riht and si!ply
passin the e&a!ination would not trouble hi! in the slihtest.
5iyuki knew that her brother's oal lay in the raduate level research
prora!s within the !aic universities, so the life of a hih school
student was actually a considerable detour for hi!.
"he reason "atsuya was forced to do so was because he was 5iyuki's
uardian.
"he uardians of the *otsuba @a!ily bore the duty of preservin their
pri!ary's life even at the cost of their own. "his title ca!e fro! the
co!bat slaves that once rescued a youn wo!an fro! the *otsuba
@a!ily fro! ene!y attack and were responsible for preservin the
*otsuba bloodline.
On the surface, this !ission differed little fro! ordinary bodyuards,
but te!porarily hired bodyuards were funda!entally different fro!
uardians. $hile the *otsuba uardians were not selected fro! birth,
once selected, their ter! was for life. "houh they were the sa!e as
bodyuards in that they served for 2O hours a day, 2 days a week,
uardians did not possess the riht to resin fro! their duties. 0ince
uardians were only relieved when their pri!ary was released fro!
protection, to this day, without e&ception, *otsuba uardians had done
their duty until the day they died.
"atsuya possessed a certain deree of freedo! by virtue of the fact
that he could still protect his pri!ary even away fro! the house.
5aic was not restricted by physical distance or obstacles. "here was
no telepathic connection between the two, but "atsuya was able to
unconsciously !onitor 5iyuki's surroundins throuh his +Idea
Identification Gision+. In other words, it !ay be !ore accurate to say
that he had cast !aic to keep an eye on her.
4evertheless, even "atsuya wasn't able to use !aic while sleepin.
7ven if distance was no hindrance, their everyday lives needed to
synchroni'e to so!e deree.
%urin holidays and lon vacations, 5iyuki could still !atch
"atsuya's activities, but in school "atsuya had to link with 5iyuki, so
they had to acco!!odate the hih school schedule. -lso, thouh
!aic wasn't affected by physical distance, a closer pro&i!ity !ade it
far easier to react to possible daner.
)owever, in the end, all of these were only true under the condition
that 5iyuki does not dis!iss "atsuya fro! his duties as a uardian.
Once 5iyuki would dis!iss "atsuya, surely another uardian, likely
of the sa!e ae and ender, would be dispatched to her. 7ven if the
nu!ber of 5aicians was li!ited, 5iyuki was still one of the !ore
pro!isin candidates for the ne&t head of the *otsuba @a!ily.
Of course, 5iyuki hoped to retain "atsuya as her uardian for reasons
that went beyond her own stubbornness.
$ithin the *otsuba @a!ily, a uardian's !ission held the hihest
priority.
$hile servin as 5iyuki's uardian, he wouldn't be assined any
!eaninless tasks. 4or would he receive any dirty #obs.
7ven their father and his new wife couldn't press the issue on the
surface.
"hey could not insist that "atsuya help the! in their work.
7ven with all these considerations in !ind, she still wished for her
brother to attend the sa!e school she did = the botto! line was that
she herself was unable to separate herself fro! that dependence on her
brother, so!ethin that 5iyuki was aware of.
-ain, 5iyuki heaved a deep sih.
)er fra''led !ind was incapable of decipherin the answer, #ust as she
was unable to solve the ho!ework 1uestion before her.
-ctually, even if she didn't need hi! to uide her throuh every step,
all she needed to do was ask her brother for help. /y the ti!e 5iyuki
thouht of this, 30 !inutes had already passed.
Chapter 3
"he ne&t day after school.
In order to ac1uire the docu!ents necessary for their presentation,
"atsuya arrived at the library.
In truth, he really wanted to focus on the analysis of the speci!en
:5aata!a-class relic;, but neither could he !ail it in for the "hesis
,o!petition preparations :assistance;.
%espite its na!e, the library had already been co!pletely diiti'ed,
with actual to!es of paper beco!in the decisive !inority.
@urther!ore, a sinificant portion of the !aterials could be accessed
online, so there was no particular need to visit the library, e&cept that
the !aterials re1uired by the thesis tea! beloned to the restricted
archives that could not be re!oved fro! it. 0earchin for a spare seat
in the depths of the readin area, "atsuya accidentally ran into a
fa!iliar face.
+-ra, if it isn't "atsuya-kun.+
+0aeusa-senpai, are you in the !iddle of the '@all of 0tudyin'9+
"he last ti!e he ran into 5ayu!i was appro&i!ately a week ao, so
he could hardly say +lon ti!e no see+.
-t "atsuya's i!!ediate reply, even thouh 5ayu!i had e&pected the
1uestion, she still pouted in ve&ation.
+I say, "atsuya-kun...... I a! a *ear 3 student after all.+
+"his...... I know.+
"atsuya was bewildered by this perfectly obvious state!ent that was
delivered ravely.
+"he first thin that co!es to !ind for *ear 3 students are collee
entrance e&a!s, correct9 )ow is it that you never considered I need to
prepare for the e&a!s...... %o I look that carefree to you9+
5ayu!i's words only served to confuse "atsuya even !ore.
+......0aeusa-senpai, didn't you receive the reco!!endation9+
7&cellent rades, service as the 0tudent ,ouncil (resident, renowned
for her participation and !any victories in !aic co!petitions.
If she wasn't reco!!ended, then who else could 1ualify for a
reco!!endation.
0till, 5ayu!i's answer surpassed "atsuya's e&pectations.
+-h9 %oesn't "atsuya-kun know9 I declined the reco!!endation. It is
an unwritten tradition for the !e!bers of the 0tudent ,ouncil to
decline the reco!!endation.+
+......@irst I've heard of this.+
+7very year, each school reco!!ends B0 students to the !aic
university, that's how it was decided8. ,o!pared to other schools, our
school has a hiher percentae of students that take the entrance
e&a!s, so in order to !ore efficiently utili'e the reco!!endation
syste!, that's how we decided to o about it.+
+In other words, we let the students on the borderline take first priority
for reco!!endations, did I et that riht9+
+"hat !ay be oin a little too far...... /ut, that's pretty !uch it.+
+"hat's......+
On so!e level this !ade perfect sense, but he still felt that there was
so!ethin wron with this syste!.
%espite these thouhts roa!in throuh "atsuya's head, he decided to
drop the !atter upon seein 5ayu!i sittin there without any
perple&ity on her face.
0eein "atsuya hu! and haw, 5ayu!i tilted her head to one side with
a +)!9+ before her attention was cauht elsewhere.
+0peakin of which, why is "atsuya-kun here9+
"atsuya was slihtly put out by 5ayu!i's surprised tone = at the very
least he fre1uented the library !uch !ore often than 5ayu!i did =
however, there was no need to belabor that point.
+I a! here to ather !aterials for the "hesis ,o!petition.+
+-h, that's riht, you were selected to help Ein-chan.+
:......)elp, eh.;
"hat !ust be the case fro! another person's perspective, "atsuya
thouht.
-lthouh this was also a roup activity, unlike 5onolith ,ode with
the option to put an individual's talents on full display, there was no
way to identify individual contribution in the thesis itself.
It was hardly odd to believe that everyone besides the pri!ary speaker
were only assistants.
+......Oh, standin there and talkin would bother every one else.
,o!e on in.+
-s she said this, 5ayu!i pointed at the readin booth she #ust ca!e
out of.
+-ren't you usin it9+
%espite the fact that retakin the booth after returnin it was aainst
the rules, it's not like he could #ust stand outside the door.
"atsuya nodded without further hesitation.
"he readin booth was oriinally desined for one user and while two
people felt a little tiht, three people would be co!pletely out of the
1uestion. 7ven if 5ayu!i beloned on the petite side of her ender,
"atsuya's physical stature was undoubtedly above averae a!on his
*ear B peers. %espite not bein particularly swarthy, his wide
shoulders still took up considerable seatin space. )ence "atsuya sat
near the end of the seat shoulder to shoulder with 5ayu!i, who took a
seat on the backup stool.
)e was alone in a tiny roo! with a beautiful youn lady.
)owever, even under these conditions, "atsuya was neither overly
e&cited nor filled with trepidation. Owin to past e&periences, he had
already learned how to handle 5ayu!i. :-s for her pride as a
+beautiful wo!an+, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.;
-t "atsuya s!oothly operatin the ter!inal despite their close
pro&i!ity without a care in the world, 5ayu!i didn't beco!e an&ious
or display a disappointed e&pression. @rankly, she continued their
interrupted conversation in a wholly unuarded fashion.
+I know it's a bit sudden for "atsuya-kun, but ood luck, O<9+
+......"rue, it was a little sudden.+
"atsuya was slihtly off kilter at 5ayu!i's see!inly natural words
that ca!e without any pre!onition, but once he connected these
words with their earlier conversation, he was fortunately able to avoid
askin +@or what9+.
+/ut that's not so!ethin that 0aeusa-senpai would worry about,
riht9+
)e replied carelessly while his eyes were focused on the screen.
+"hat !ay be true. 0till, this topic is !ore i!portant to Ein-chan than
takin @irst (lace in the "hesis ,o!petition.+
+4ow that you !ention it, did senpai talk to you about servin as a
substitute9+
+"hat's definitely not a topic I can handle. -lso, I'! not that handy
with sustainin !aic with co!ple& processes.+
"he 1uestion and answer provided didn't entirely !atch up, but
0u'une was likely aware of what areas 5ayu!i e&celled at, hence she
re!oved her na!e fro! the replace!ents roster, "atsuya e&plained to
hi!self.
+It's unfortunate. Ein-chan helped !e out 1uite a bit, but now I can't
ive her a hand.+
)e was unsure whether she was !utterin to herself or towards hi!.
$hile he thouht about reassurin 5ayu!i, who wore a pained
e&pression on her face, ulti!ately he chose to silently plu away and
keep searchin for data.
+0o I really hope "atsuya-kun will try his best, since "atsuya-kun can
definitely provide powerful assistance to Ein-chan.+
+%oes Ichihara-senpai have any particular thouhts about this topic9+
"atsuya asked this 1uestion !ore out of curiosity than because he was
!otivated by her encourae!ent.
+On so!e level, this is the first step to reali'in Ein-chan's drea!.+
"atsuya didn't di deeper into 5ayu!i's for!less words.
7ven if 0u'une had a drea!, surely that had nothin to do with hi!.
Eeardless of "atsuya's thouhts on the !atter, 5ayu!i didn't stop
there.
+Eaisin the social standin for 5aicians. 0he ai!ed not to chane
their social standin throuh political pressure, but throuh econo!ic
necessity. /y turnin !aic into an irreplaceable aspect in the
econo!y, 5aicians would be truly free of their fate as hu!anoid
weapons. -ccordin to Ein-chan, 0ustained Iravity ,ontrol-"ype
5aic 0e1uence "her!onuclear @usion Eeactor is the key step
towards this oal. "his thesis is precisely the first step for that
purpose.+
"atsuya couldn't help but turn his head at this.
6nder his widened eyes, even 5ayu!i shrank back a little.
+)!, what is it9+
+"hat's astoundin. I never thouht that Ichihara-senpai was
conte!platin the e&act sa!e thin.+
+7h9 "atsuya-kun too9+
In all honesty, 0u'une and "atsuya couldn't be credited with the idea
of usin econo!ic utility to raise 5aicians' social standin. %espite
the paltry nu!ber of supporters, this notion had already been around
for at least twenty years. "he only technicality was that there had
hitherto been no sin of success.
,urrently, the pri!ary usae for 5aicians re!ained strictly !ilitary.
$ith the lobal situation radually stabili'in, practical !obili'ation
of weaponry had decreased as well.
0till, innovations for 5aicians = and not the !aic sort = were still
do!inated by !ilitary purposes in the 90M tier.
-t the current proression, all of this had yet to chane.
"he overwhel!in !a#ority of !aic for do!estic purposes could be
replaced by !achinery.
"e!perature control and physical acceleration couldn't !atch the
sa!e superb effect fro! !aic, but if restricted to the level for public
consu!ption, then non-!aic technoloy could still be viable. "here
was no need to use !aic.
4or did advanced auto!atons need to be replaced by 5aicians.
5aic was not re1uired for operation or orani'ation.
0o far, no result that could only be produced by !aic had supplanted
the versatility of !odern science, so +usin econo!ic advantaes to
liberate 5aicians+ re!ained e!pty words fro! idealists.
On the other hand, the concept for 0ustained Iravity ,ontrol-"ype
5aic 0e1uence "her!onuclear @usion Eeactors didn't co!e fro!
"atsuya's roup either.
In this reard, research had beun 50 years ao to use !aic to
actuali'e ther!onuclear fusion reactors.
4evertheless, this research had been forotten in this day and ae.
-fter #udin that repeatedly activatin Iravity ,ontrol-type 5aic to
!aintain a ther!onuclear fusion reactor rated as one of the +"hree
Ireat (u''les for Iravity 5aic+, !ost developed countries already
used solar enery to address their enery proble!s, so presently there
was no sin of enery shortae.
"hose who placed their hopes on usin 0ustained Iravity ,ontrol-
"ype 5aic 0e1uence "her!onuclear Eeactors to raise the social
standin of 5aicians had practically one e&tinct in the latter half of
the 2Bst century.
+I can't believe I found so!eone who shared such radical beliefs.+
0eein "atsuya wear an ad!irin e&pression rather than shock,
5ayu!i stared at hi! for so!e unknown reason.
+......)!, that's wonderful. 0o you share the sa!e interests as Ein-
chan.+
4ot only her eyes, even her tone was irked.
+-h, no, I hardly think that it's a 1uestion of whether Ichihara-senpai
and I share the sa!e interests...... Our !ethodoloy is co!pletely
different.+
$hat is she so upset about, "atsuya thouht as he replied in a fashion
like so!eone pluckin an e&cuse out of nowhere.
+/ut the basic concept is the sa!e, riht9 "atsuya-kun, in reality, Ein-
chan's !ore your type, huh9+
+)a9+
+7ven with such an allurin youn lady ne&t to you, yet you show no
sins of even tryin. $ell, Onee-san is sorry that she has such an
adolescent fiure.+
$hat was this person talkin about9 "hose were "atsuya's unfiltered
feelins.
0peakin of which, even if they shared the sa!e topic, it was hardly a
uarantee that they were co!panions and !ore likely that they were
opponents. %espite her petite fiure, 5ayu!i didn't boast an
adolescent physi1ue at all, !ore like an intriuin fiure filled with
!ature char!.
"here were too !any !isunderstandins that de!anded his i!!ediate
attention, but "atsuya was at a loss as to where to bein.
+I have no e&hibitionist tendencies. I would never do anythin to a
wo!an before all these ca!eras here.+
"atsuya was 1uite befuddled.
"he first answer that ca!e to his !ind after the cobwebs didn't appear
to fit very well.
+7h......9+
-t "atsuya's apparently profound, but actually co!pletely careless
words, 5ayu!i started fidetin in place and her eyes started driftin
around.
+$ell, then, what if there weren't any ca!eras or people here9 >et's
say, for e&a!ple, if it was #ust the two of us alone in a hotel roo!9+
+If that's senpai's invitation to dine, then I shall ladly 'di in' without
hesitation.+
$ith a clatter, 5ayu!i spran away fro! her stool, blushin furiously
and pressed aainst the wall to pull as far back as possible fro!
"atsuya in the narrow roo!. 0eein this, "atsuya suddenly reali'ed the
double entendre in his words.
0till, sayin anythin else would #ust di hi!self deeper, so "atsuya
took it as a fortunate sin that he !anaed to stop there. )e turned his
a'e fro! 5ayu!i and concentrated on atherin the necessary data
for the pro#ect.
On the other hand, 5ayu!i, who should have felt threatened by
"atsuya's response, chose to re!ain in the readin booth for so!e
!ysterious reason.
A A A
%urin the evenin three days before the thesis was due, "atsuya was
oin over the nu!bers at his private work station when he noticed
that the ho!e server was under attack.
"here were si!ultaneous attacks fro! !ultiple channels, sinifyin
that this hackin atte!pt was not done by an a!ateur.
"his was done by specialists specifically to data !ine the construct.
"here was a hih possibility that this was not by chance, but a specific
attack on this household's I( address.
4o !atter how !any ti!es they were beaten back, they continued
pressin forward.
Juite the deter!ined bunch indeed.
>ooks like we have to switch to another I( address, "atsuya roaned
to hi!self as he sihed while activatin the tracer.
%urin lunch break the ne&t day.
"atsuya stopped by the ,ounselin Eoo!.
)is taret was obviously )aruka.
Of course, the sub#ect of this conversation wasn't so!ethin trivial
like teenae worries or fancies.
+......6nfortunately, the link was cut in the !iddle. )ence the source of
the attack was not uncovered.+
)aruka did nothin to hide her unwillinness to help = !ore like
intentionally put that on full display = despite the fact that this wasn't
an attitude a counselor should display. 4onetheless, after takin into
account that "atsuya's business had nothin to do with counselin and
their history, this was hardly )aruka's fault.
+......-nd then9 I'll say this ahead of ti!e, I'! not capable of tracin
the! over the web.+
)earin that hihly e&asperated voice, "atsuya al!ost burst into
lauhter. 0till, doin so would undoubtedly rouse her ire, so he !ade
sure to wipe that off his face.
+4aturally, I'! aware of sensei's strenths, nor do I plan to venture
into such troubleso!e territory.+
+"hen what do you want9+
- wary e&pression spread across )aruka's face.
$henever "atsuya looked like he was about to cut into a serious
conversation, she had to suspect that he had so!e ulterior !otive up
his sleeve. "hat was a lesson she had already learned by now.
+Eeardin orani'ations that have recently been secretly traffickin
in !aic intel, could you elaborate on anythin within your purview9+
0eein "atsuya adopt a +friendly+ s!ile with a placatin attitude,
)aruka furrowed her brows in displeasure.
+......I say, 0hiba-kun. *ou do know I have to !aintain confidentiality,
correct9+
+4aturally.+
+............+
)aruka's !outh pressed into a thin line and stopped.
0he probably wanted to say +/ra'en little......+, "atsuya thouht.
-s to why, he hi!self thouht this way.
"hat bein said, it's not like that co!!ent stun hi!.
+......@ro! the end of last !onth to the first days of this one, several
illeal aliens !anaed to infiltrate *okoha!a and the surroundin
environs.+
In a tone that one could al!ost hear her sihin in, )aruka bean
anew.
Once enthralled by sweet te!ptation, escapin its rasp beca!e
difficult. @or people workin in the intellience field, this was one of
the rudi!entary lessons.
,an't believe she fell for that...... )aruka's heart was filled with reret.
+%espite the county police and coast uard co!binin their efforts,
they don't have !uch to show for it. -t the sa!e ti!e, both
'5a&i5ilian' and 'Eoa'en' suffered thefts.+
5a&5ilian and Eoa'en were the top of the line in lobal ,-%
production. In other words, their oal lay in the production facilities
for !aic devices.
+)ard to think this is a sheer coincidence.+
+Eiht now there is no confir!ation that this was done by the sa!e
roup. 0hiba-kun, I advise you to avoid sub!ittin the thesis online
and brin a hard copy instead.+
Only her last words were spoken with any sincerity.
)aruka diverted her a'e to her desk as "atsuya souht to verify her
intentions.
"his was a sin that she didn't wish to continue the conversation.
"atsuya knew better than to push onward.
-fter school at the )J for the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee, "atsuya was
conveyin last niht's events to Isori.
+......0o, there was no loss9+
+4othin really happened.+
"atsuya raised a hand to stop Isori, who had risen in concern, as he
s!iled wryly and shook his head.
Isori was so!eone who could instantly transfor! into a +neutral,
beautiful youn lady+ si!ply by chanin a set of unifor!s, so havin
hi! approach unnecessarily was still an unco!fortable e&perience.
Of course, since these opinions couldn't be e&pressed, he had to ensure
that he didn't unconsciously tilt backwards.
+,o!pared to that, anythin happen at your residence, Isori-senpai9+
Isori started before furrowin his brows and lowerin his voice.
+*ou !ean that the hacker's oal was......+
)is soft voice oddly contained a hint of fe!inine char!.
Eu!or had it that the !an once despaired over the s!all nu!ber of
!ale friends, but apparently that wasn't because they disliked hi! and
was !ore likely they kept hi! at ar!'s lenth for a reason......
,ontrary to the words he spoke, these thouhts were runnin throuh
"atsuya's !ind.
+Iiven the hacker's !odus operandi, their taret is likely the research
files associated with a !aic thesis. /ased on the ti!in, we cannot
rule out that this is related to the co!petition itself.+
-ctually, based on the ti!e fra!e, another reason boasted a hiher
probability, but that infor!ation was too sensitive for hi! to be that
open about it.
-lso, prudence har!ed no one.
"atsuya's words caused Isori's brows to bunch toether, displayin an
e&pression that he was considerin whether there were any
pre!onitions lyin down that path.
+Eiht now, there aren't any clues on the table...... 0till, I think we
should infor! Ichihara-senpai about what happened.+
+*ou're riht.+
"atsuya oriinally planned to do #ust that, so he i!!ediately nodded
in assent at Isori's proposal.
+<ei, sorry for the wait8.+
- delihted voice that ended with a trill interrupted their conversation.
4eedless to say, the one who sat beside Isori with a flourish without
waitin for a response and latched onto his ar! before flirtin with
hi! was <anon.
+"atsuya-kun, lon ti!e no see.+
$ith a wry s!ile that said, what a! I oin to do with her, 5ari also
arrived and reeted "atsuya.
$hile 1uestionin whether B0 days constitutes +lon ti!e no see+,
after considerin that they used to !eet every school day up until last
!onth, this did ive off the i!pression that they hadn't seen each other
for so!e ti!e.
+Indeed. >on ti!e no see.+
"atsuya rose and ave 5ari his seat.
+Oh, thank you.+
5ari didn't bother to decline and sat with a s!ile.
-s usual, she was still a vibrant, handso!e wo!an, "atsuya thouht as
he said +*ou're welco!e+, and pulled up another chair to sit ne&t to
5ari.
+0o, "atsuya-kun, how is <anon handlin her new responsibilities9+
-nd 5ari pro!ptly dropped this bo!bshell.
$ell, the for!er ,hief in1uirin on the effectiveness of the actin
,hief was still within e&pectations, but if she and Isori were present,
this conversation topic beca!e a little awkward.
+5ari nee-san.9+
"hen aain, the siht of <anon panickin swiftly illu!inated the
reasonin behind that 1uestion.
Juite the pleasant upperclass!an-underclass!an relationship, no9
+0ince we don't run patrols toether, I'! not fa!iliar with the
particulars, but......+
Iiven the hilarious potential, "atsuya decided to put on an act.
+0he is very well orani'ed and speciali'es in throwin out
unnecessary #unk. -t ti!es, she see!s overly decisive.+
"atsuya finished speakin with a perfectly serious e&pression and a
tone with no voice inflections whatsoever, pro!ptin both 5ari and
<anon to s1uir! in their seats. 5ari did so because she was well
aware of her own deficiencies in orani'ational skills, while <anon
was reflectin on the nu!erous ti!es she tossed so!ethin that
shouldn't have been thrown away and had been forced to retrieve
the!.
"atsuya's co!!ents weren't #ust directed to <anon since 5ari plainly
read between the lines of his words, but Isori was hopelessly lost.
Isori directed an outwardly sole!n :9;, but actually entle re!inder to
<anon.
+......%espite 0hiba-kun's words, doesn't <anon have a lot of thins on
her plate too9 Eelyin on !e is one thin, but everythin else has been
handed over to 0hiba-kun.+
+......0o I'! not ood at those thins. I'! a fir! believer in division of
labor.+
)er tantru! and flirtatious behavior were a world of difference fro!
her usual = whenever Isori was not around = fiery attitude. 0eein
this, both "atsuya and 5ari chuckled wryly.
+O<, we can talk about everythin else so!e other ti!e......+
"hat's about enouh of that, "atsuya thouht as he turned over a new
leaf as he ured 5ari to +cut to the chase+.
+O<, let's leave it at that. -ctually, I ca!e to discuss security for the
"hesis ,o!petition.+
+0ecurity9 Is the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee on duty9+
+7&actly.+
)avin students serve as +security+ for e&tracurricular activities was
odd to say the least, but "atsuya see!ed to be the only one ill at ease.
"hat was probably because this was the case every year.
+7ven thouh we're called security, we don't actually provide uards
for the site itself. "he 5aic -ssociation will dispatch specialists for
that purpose.+
Eather than dodin the 1uestion, 5ari provided an e&planation
before the 1uestion could be asked.
+"he topic I want to discuss would be personal bodyuards for the
tea! !e!bers as well as uards to watch over the report !aterials and
supplies. -fter all, the "hesis ,o!petition contains restricted
infor!ation that '!ay not be publici'ed to personnel unrelated to the
!aic universities'. "his is public knowlede. Owin to these reasons,
participants for the "hesis ,o!petition are often the taret of
industrial spies.+
"atsuya was slihtly surprised by this oddly appropriate topic. 7ven
thouh this fell within his pro#ected predictions, he still couldn't
contain his astonish!ent.
+......0uch as breakin into household servers9+
+......4o, this is at the hih school level after all...... %espite callin
the! spies, they are only s!all ti!ers tryin to !ake so!e !oney off
this event. "here's no precedent for so!eone hackin in to steal
infor!ation......+
"hat !akes perfect sense, "atsuya thouht as he heard 5ari's answer.
In !odern ae, network intrusion was a serious felony. 0tealin
infor!ation throuh the network warranted heavier punish!ent than
nor!al theft and beloned in the sa!e cateory as ho!icide. -t the
sa!e ti!e, network protection had also i!proved substantially,
!akin this an unprofitable venture for professional cri!inals.
"hen the hackers fro! last niht were indeed fro!....... -s "atsuya
drifted into his thouhts, 5ari's words picked up stea!.
+Instead, we should say that security is re1uired to prevent theft and
burlary. @our years ao, there was a precedent where one of the
speakers was attacked en route. @ollowin that, each school arraned
for uards to acco!pany key personnel in the weeks approachin the
event.+
>uckily, "atsuya was able to focus in ti!e before the conversation
concluded.
+Of course, our school also follows this practice every year. "he
uards are selected fro! the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee and the ,lub
-ctivities Iroup, thouh each principal will pick fro! this roup.+
+I will be responsible for <ei.+
Of course. <anon interrupted.
Juite the a!usin reaction, "atsuya thouht, but this ti!e he didn't
break into a wry s!ile or break into lauhter.
+......$ell, looks like Isori has no co!plaints, so let's o with that. Of
course, that includes an assistant...... <anon, don't kick aside your
tea!!ates, O<9+
+)ey. 4o one is oin to do so!ethin like that. I'! not that childish.+
0eein that pout and puffed up cheeks, <anon's words +not that
childish+ were a little hard to take at face value, but three war! a'es
chose to overlook the words +not that childish+.
+Ichihara decided to take )attori and <irihara as her uards.+
+"he ,lub -ctivities Iroup >eader hi!self, eh9+
+I thouht )attori couldn't even look Ichihara in the eye9+
5ari replied to "atsuya's blandly voiced 1uestion with a !ischievous
s!irk.
+4e&t...... Is what are we oin to do with you.+
+"here's no need.+
5ari !aintained her devilish s!irk as she spoke, to which "atsuya
replied i!!ediately in the neative.
+5eh, that's also true.+
>ikewise, 5ari didn't have any intention of convincin "atsuya
otherwise.
+"here's no point in surroundin you with uards, since there's a
hiher chance of the! ettin in the way. I understand, so I'll pass that
alon to )attori.+
-t 5ari's response, "atsuya finally asked a 1uestion.
+0peakin of which, why is $atanabe-senpai here9+
"here was no particular reason behind this 1uestion. "atsuya was
curious as to why the current ,hief <anon wasn't coordinatin this,
but the previous ,hief 5ari was coordinatin between the (ublic
5oral ,o!!ittee and ,lub -ctivities Iroup.
+......6h, there's no real reason......+
-t 5ari's vaue !u!blin, "atsuya face colored in ire.
)e clearly received the sinal at how !uch they were overly protected
as 5ari twisted to one side in e!barrass!ent.
A A A
"he products in @irst )ih's student store had far surpassed the level
of +hih school student stores+.
0till, each of the nine !aic hih schools was like this, so as to
provide !aterials related to !aic studies not sold in nor!al stores to
reduce student stress and raise necessary supplies to !eet the risin
de!and.
In the end, this was still a s!all student store on ca!pus, so if there
was an ite! that si!ply couldn't be obtained on ca!pus, then students
still had to o off ca!pus to obtain the!.
In this area, all nine !aic hih schools were also the sa!e, as stores
had sprouted alon the nearby streets leadin to the hih schools to
provide !aterials, notebooks, books, and !iscellaneous ite!s that
could not be purchased in the student store.
-s !entioned above, the stores lined alon the streets near @irst )ih
had a plethora of selections available.
"atsuya and Isori were purchasin slides for the 3-% pro#ector in one
of the shops in front of the station. "he deadline for the pro#ect was
to!orrow, so they couldn't afford to wait for the student store to et
new !erchandise.
+(lainly, we would be fine without the senpais acco!panyin us......+
"he reason that "atsuya still said this halfway throuh the trip was
partially because he was apoloetic that the upperclass!en had to ta
alon the entire ti!e, and partially to suppress <anon, who latched
onto her lover heedless of other people watchin the!.
,learly, the rass was reener on the other side, while the reverse was
also true. (ossibly, the bystanders had a !ore ob#ective view of the
situation.
0ince <anon was the only one flirtin whereas Isori see!ed entirely at
a loss what to do, the pair was not co!pletely hopeless yet.
0peakin of which, 5iyuki was still on ca!pus. <anon had a
leiti!ate reason in servin as Isori's protection, but even if this was a
te!porary #aunt, 5iyuki didn't have the lu&ury of abandonin her
responsibilities in the 0tudent ,ouncil and followin her brother.
,urrently, precisely because she was well aware that <anon was with
the!, she was ha!!erin away at the ter!inal with reat irritation.
+4o, leavin everythin to 0hiba-kun would be bad for!. -lso, I want
to verify the products as well.+
/asically, the overly dilient Isori's reply was only to be e&pected.
-t this point, "atsuya didn't think he could #ust send the two of the!
packin either. )is earlier co!!ent was both a !ild co!plaint and
also an atte!pt to clear out the slihtly fe!inine lauhter that needled
the ears. )e could rela& after !akin the conscious decision to block
all this out, which was one area that "atsuya e&celled in.
-fterwards, usin an incredibly slow pace that wasted another 5
!inutes, they finally arrived at the shop.
"atsuya swiftly !ade all the necessary purchases and let Isori know
that +I'! waitin outside+, before steppin out of the store.
@inally able to catch so!e peace and 1uiet, "atsuya noticed that
so!eone was spyin on hi!.
"here was no sin that so!eone was shadowin hi!. 7ven if he had
been harassed by sweet whispers e&pected :9; fro! a hih school
couple, he didn't lower his uard.
)owever, even if they weren't "atsuya, anyone would notice such an
obvious a'e.
"his store was alon the shortest route fro! the school to the station
and was al!ost on the station's doorstep. If so!eone was waitin in
a!bush at the front of the station, it would be a si!ple task to identify
students on their way ho!e, so he esti!ated that they !ust have been
ca!pin here since !uch earlier. -lthouh their fiure re!ained
hidden, their ra!pant hostility sinified that they were up to so!e
deviltry. On the other hand, in ter!s of sheer wariness, this level was
altoether childish co!pared to the snipin attack "atsuya weathered
two days ao.
-s he debated over what action to take, Isori and <anon ca!e out
with their purchases.
+0orry for the wait...... $hat happened9+
"atsuya could only sih in appreciation at Isori's ability to sense
so!ethin was off the !o!ent he stepped out of the store and ask hi!
the cause of it.
)e wasn't wearin such an opa1ue e&pression.
-s evidenced by <anon tiltin her head to one side with a +)uh9+
e&pression on her face.
Isori was an e&pert on !aic utili'in delayed activation conditions,
but these observation skills probably coincided !ore with sensory
syste!atic !aic.
+4othin, we're bein observed, so I was thinkin of how to respond.+
"here was no need to hide this detail, so "atsuya directly answered
Isori's 1uestion.
0till, he wasn't able to finish that answer.
+Observed9 /y spies.9+
"atsuya re!ained thinkin, because <anon inter#ected before he could
say +how to respond+.
-nd very loudly too.
"hat was like tellin their opponent to +bail now+ and, as e&pected,
the observation was cut short as whoever was responsible 1uickly
departed.
*et, <anon was worthy of bein 5ari's chosen successor.
-fter a si!ple +where9+ to "atsuya, she i!!ediately sped off in the
direction "atsuya's eyes pointed towards.
+<anon, !aic.+
+I know. )ave faith in !e, <ei.+
)e re!inded her precisely because he didn't co!pletely believe her,
but Isori was half a beat slower than <anon, so he could only stand
there with her e!erency replace!ent, "atsuya, and helplessly watch
her rapidly departin fiure.
-s well as bein in the top tier of 5aicians around the world, <anon
was also a !e!ber of the cross country club.
0he didn't have the sa!e le strenth as a top fliht athlete who didn't
know !aic, but she was a !atch for any ordinary hih school
student, even the boys as well.
$ith her skirt flyin, <anon i!!ediately noticed the petite fiure
fleein the area fro! the corner of her eye.
"hat youn irl was wearin the sa!e school unifor! she was
wearin.
0he was surprised by this turnout, but actin was always her stroner
suit and <anon's philosophy was always decisive action without
wafflin over the details. -lthouh she didn't hear any convincin
evidence on "atsuya's part that this was her culprit, <anon never let up
on her pursuit.
"he distance was rapidly shrinkin. /y the ti!e there were B0 !eters
between the!, the fleein youn irl turned to look.
Eevealin a face not covered by a !ask nor wearin dark shades to
disuise her features.
"he youn irl didn't intend to catch <anon's eyes, but that was the
result fored throuh chance.
/y the ti!e <anon noticed that the youn irl had drawn a s!all
device, the youn irl turned towards a new direction and held the
device between the two of the!.
4ot ood, <anon thouht.
On refle&, she halted her footsteps and shut her eyes.
%espite raisin her hands to protect her face, she knew that this was a
futile esture.
"hrouh the cracks in her ar!s, a burnin, violent flash could be seen
throuh the eyelids.
0everal curious bystanders who were watchin the two of the!
screa!ed in pain.
<anon closed her left eye that couldn't be fully protected fro! the
flash and opened her riht eye that !anaed to avoid any da!ae.
"he youn irl was fleein on a scooter.
<anon e&tended her riht ar! to the left wrist.
"he bracelet around her wrist bean to absorb psions and bean
spreadin the -ctivation 0e1uence accordin to the instructions she
was inputtin into the ,-%.
)owever, before <anon could co!plete the -ctivation 0e1uence,
psion pellets that !ateriali'ed suddenly behind her shattered it.
+$hat are you doin.9+
+<anon, don't.+
/oth occurred at the e&act sa!e ti!e.
-s <anon whirled around and Isori rushed forward, their words
overlapped with one another.
/ehind Isori, "atsuya stood there with a handun-shaped ,-% raised.
Isori arrived where <anon, who stood there stiffly in shock at her
lover's shout, was standin.
$hile runnin towards her, Isori had already finished constructin the
5aic 0e1uence.
"owards the fleein scooter that continued forward, he invoked the
Eelease 0yste!atic 5aic +Eoad 7&tension+.
"he wheels on the scooter, which had #ust started to eress fro! the
scene, suddenly started skiddin.
4o !atter how hard the enine pushed, there was no way to advance.
%espite the open path before her, she was unable to escape this linear
!a'e.
"he secret lay in ,oulo!b's >aw. /y alterin the electrons between
the tires and road, he had reduced the friction to nearly 'ero. "he !ere
description of the !aic was si!ple enouh, but the calculations
necessary to actually reali'e this 5aic 0e1uence were absolutely
terrifyin.
-t the sa!e ti!e, he used !aic to increase the yroscopic effect to
prevent the vehicle fro! fallin over and any early acceleration had
been devoured by ,oulo!b's >aw, so the scooter the youn irl was
ridin was effectively stranded.
"here was no way for her to escape.
Isori, <anon, and "atsuya all thouht this was a foreone conclusion,
which was a perfectly natural and e&pected #ud!ent. @ro! a
co!!on sense perspective, there was no way to escape this trap.
/ut they didn't know one thin.
"his youn lady was a co!plete a!ateur when it ca!e down to
reckless behavior.
Once an a!ateur was forced into desperate straits, they often decide
upon a ridiculous course of action.
If an act of desperation was all she had left, then surely the endin was
already written, e&cept desperate !easures had a habit of succeedin
in desperate ti!es.
"he youn irl thu!bed the button on the end of the left side of the
handle that was covered by a plastic lid.
4or!al scooters don't have a button there.
"he button was covered by a lid like the ones seen on a fire alar! that
could only be used once. "his button !arried the +one use only+
function to the +abandon after use+ function.
-bruptly, the back of the seat e&ploded.
"he back of the seat went flyin, revealin two twin-linked rockets
that bean spewin fla!e.
"he scooter spran forward with a kick.
"he youn irl ridin the scooter frantically clun to the handle when
her body started tiltin backwards.
0peechless, "atsuya could only watch the rapidly di!inishin fiure.
0he never let o of the handle possibly because so!e sort of function
was built into the love. 0o she had planned ahead to this point,
"atsuya thouht.
0till, your averae person wouldn't choose to attach rockets propelled
by rocket fuel beneath their seat.
"he fuel a!ount could be esti!ated based on the a!ount of ti!e the
rocket was lit, so if the scooter tipped over and inited, the ensuin
e&plosion would undoubtedly kill any innocent bystanders nearby.
It was a veritable !iracle that the scooter didn't fall over and kept
!ovin forward after the rockets were inited.
6sually, sudden acceleration would lead to an abrupt loss of control
and the subse1uent crash.
If not for the !aics that increased yroscopic force and also reduced
tire friction to practically 'ero, that was the !ost likely result.
If they had used <anon's !aic instead of Isori's !aic to stop her, the
scooter would definitely have fallen over and caused a traedy.
+......$hat was that child thinkin......+
+......I think we should say that we're both pretty lucky......+
It appeared that both his senpais were thinkin alon the sa!e lines
"atsuya was.
A A A
-fter abandonin the !odified scooter, the youn irl sucked in reat
asps of air as she s1uir!ed into the van prepared by her collaborator
ahead of ti!e.
0he never i!ained that havin fla!es sprout out fro! a close
pro&i!ity would be such a terrifyin event.
$hile drivin the scooter, she had the i!pression that her skirt, the
back of her shirt and her hair were burnin the entire ti!e.
"he driver of the van re!ained silent.
"here were no words of co!fort for her.
$hich was only to be e&pected.
"hey weren't co!panions. "hey were !erely collaborators.
"he youn irl tihtly hued her ar!s.
On top of the seat painted a dull ray by the tinted windows, the
youn irl sat there !otionlessly.
0hortly afterward, her terror radually faded until only reret nawed
at her heart.
0he had been overco!e by her fliht instinct, but coldly e&a!inin
the facts told her that this was not necessary.
-fter all, the only thin she had done was watchin that !an.
)er uilty conscience stole her ability to think ob#ectively. -s she
beca!e aware of this, the youn irl was consu!ed with an
irresistible fury at her own failins.
0he also beca!e aware that she was not suited for this line of work.
0he was publicly acknowleded to be the indoor type and she didn't
feel any need to chane any of that.
)er dear older sister was also like that.
)er scholarly older sister was her role !odel, but since she wasn't as
talented as her sister, she chose a path that suited her interest in
workin with !achinery.
0o what was she doin with these suspicious individuals, she asked
herself.
0he i!!ediately reached an answer.
@ro! the depths of her heart.
It was all because she could never forive that !an.
0he cared not for the rewards of her labor.
0o lon as she could see a reretful e&pression pass over that !an's
face, that alone would be sufficient.
"he youn irl suddenly broke into lauhter.
"hat was because she re!e!bered that she had sei'ed the initiative
today.
7ven thouh she didn't have the lu&ury to watch the rear view !irror,
he !ust have sat there stunned as he could only watch her successfully
et away......
"he youn irl's lauhter was as dark as it was !asochistic, with a
trace of obsession tucked within.
$ith each breath of lauhter, the youn irl's heart fractured a little
!ore.
4ot like there was anyone on board who was oin to stop her.
Inside one of the old buildins sittin in the outskirts of "okyo, several
older display screens were set up in a roo! within an office that
appeared to be an office of co!!erce on the outside. 0everal !en
arbed in different attires stood before these screens and were intently
watchin the display.
One !iddle-aed !an with a dark cloud over his face estured at the
youn irl lauhin !adly on the screen that linked to the interior of
the van and spoke up.
+Is that irl oin to be O<9+
"he !an cared little for her well-bein. )e was only wonderin if the
youn irl's idiocy would be traced back to the!.
+5r. Chou arraned for the driver, so we would be above suspicion
even if so!ethin did occur.+
+$hy e&actly are we trustin this youn !iddle !an aain9+
"he youn !an's face floated across his !ind as another !an spoke
up in displeasure.
=4ot only was he an irritatin factor, he was also co!pletely
untrustworthy.
"hat was this !an's undisuised feelins.
+$hat of the relic9+
"o sweep aside the #ittery at!osphere, the !an chaned the topic. One
of his subordinates before the !onitor displays i!!ediately replied
back.
+$e have discovered no sins that it has left the @>" office. ,urrent
location is unknown.+
+)!...... @our >eaves, eh9 $hat an irkso!e na!e, is it connected to
the *otsuba @a!ily in any way9+
+*es, but after e&tensive investiation, no link was discovered. -lso,
this country likes to use *otsuba or *atsuha in their co!pany na!es.+
+"hat !akes this a little difficult.+
"he !an's words were infused with disust, hatred and irritation, but
at the sa!e ti!e, the voice could not hide his fear.
"he *atsuha na!e was associated with the @our Ireat 0yste!s and
7iht 5a#or "ypes in !odern !aic as well as the Iarbhako'sa-%hatu
5andala, so !odern corporations delihted in usin that na!e. 0till,
there was another !eanin behind the *otsuba na!e. 6sin the na!e
of the *otsuba @a!ily fro! the "en 5aster ,lans was considered a
taboo by individuals affiliated with !aic. If Hapanese corporations
used the *otsuba na!e, both intellience and cri!inal orani'ations
feared to rouse the *otsuba @a!ily's wrath by har!in their assets.
0ince the *otsuba @a!ily hadn't declared otherwise, there were !any
corporations who +pretended+ to be affiliated with the *otsuba @a!ily.
7ven thouh this was but a cheap parlor trick, that did not !ean there
were no effects. ,urrently, their side had already e&pended
considerable ti!e and enery to uard aainst the *otsuba @a!ily's
detection, a fact that brouht a bitter e&pression to the !an's face
when he re!e!bered this.
+%on't rela& the surveillance on 0ayuri. %o we have any intel on the
fa!ily she visited two nihts ao9+
-t the !an's 1uestion, another subordinate spoke up.
+)er husband's son and dauhter fro! his first !arriae reside there.+
+$as it #ust to placate her stepchildren9+
-fter adoptin a +)ow borin+ e&pression at his subordinate's
response, the !an resu!ed askin in a businesslike !anner.
+$hat's their backround9+
+/oth of the! are *ear B students at the 5aic 6niversity-affiliated
@irst )ih.+
)owever, that answer roused the !an's interest.
+4a!es9+
+"he older brother is called 0hiba "atsuya, the sister is called 0hiba
5iyuki.+
+0hiba "atsuya9+
Hust as the !an was searchin his !e!ory for this fa!iliar na!e, the
subordinate !onitorin the van spoke up.
+)e is the taret of our collaborator's vendetta.+
+I see, !aic university affiliated hih school9 ......$hat a
coincidence.+
-fter considerin this for a few seconds, the !an couldn't help but
break into a s!irk as he ave new orders.
+-dd the 5aic 6niversity-affiliated @irst )ih to the list of
observation tarets. If necessary, pull !en fro! other pro#ects. -lso,
provide additional reinforce!ents for that irl and tell her the easiest
path to veneance lays throuh leakin critical infor!ation. -nd ive
that child a weapon as well.+
"he orders were fired off one at a ti!e.
+,aptain >u.+
+*es, sir.+
+*ou are in co!!and. -ny !eddleso!e interlopers are to
i!!ediately be disposed of.+
-fter ivin his last orders to a bulky youth, the !an departed fro!
the roo!.
Chapter 4
"oday was the deadline to turn in the thesis, presentation draft, and
!aterials to the school.
0u'une, Isori, and "atsuya had no interest in tryin to slapdash the #ob
the day before the deadline, so they had produced the data disc the day
before.
%urin the lunch break, they athered to o over the final checklist
that was not directed towards the contents within, but e&a!inin the
conte&t and !anner of presentation of the !a#or points. -fter passin
their inspection, they accepted )aruka's suestion and 0u'une
personally handed the data disc to "sud'ura.
+%oes Ono-sensei's advice to not turn in the thesis online have
anythin to do with yesterday's incident9+
-fter finishin the portion he was responsible for, Isori asked in a
blank !anner.
+(ossibly.+
-fter finishin his task :even the burden allotted to a *ear B student
was by no !eans liht;, "atsuya replied in a whisper to avoid
distractin 0u'une.
+It would be far si!pler to hack fro! on ca!pus to et a li!pse of
the network.+
+7ven then that's 1uite challenin.+
Isori shrued at "atsuya's point.
-t the sa!e ti!e, acco!panied by the typin sounds on a traditional
keyboard = the sound fro! 0u'une's favored traditional keyboard =
0u'une turned back this way.
+$as it really a student fro! our school9+
-fter finishin her inspection, 0u'une orani'ed the !aterials and
#oined the conversation.
+4o, that re!ains a '!aybe'.+
+7ven the unifor! wouldn't be that difficult to obtain if they tried.+
)earin "atsuya and Isori's replies, 0u'une fell into thouht.
+Isori-kun and ,hiyoda-san should have access to the student roster.+
Isori was a !e!ber of the 0tudent ,ouncil and <anon was the ,hief
of the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee, so they had the power to review the
student roster. Of course, the a!ount of private infor!ation available
was 'ero, so they could only !ake a cursory inspection of !u shots
and full photos.
+<anon was the only one who ot a partial li!pse fro! the side of
the face, so we have to be careful we don't e&clude the suspect. -lso,
with nearly 300 fe!ale students on ca!pus, there's no way to identify
our taret if we can't narrow it down to a !anaeable nu!ber.+
Isori wasn't referrin to this as a hypothetical situation.
In reality, these were <anon's words after atte!ptin that this
!ornin.
+*esterday, the only thin we could say is that one side was chasin
the other. 7ven if we know who the culprit was, the only thin we
could do is put her under surveillance, which is the sa!e thin as
doin nothin.+
0u'une and Isori were aware of what "atsuya was sayin.
5onitorin students that haven't broken any rules = technically, usin
a flashban while escapin could constitute a proble! = !ay lead to
accusations of stalkin.
-t this stae, there was nothin they could do e&cept be on their
uard.
A A A
/y the ti!e "atsuya returned to class, 7rika already took over his seat.
+-h, you're really early today.+
0he 1uickly discovered "atsuya's presence and rose fro! the chair.
0he wasn't i!pudent enouh to keep sittin there. -fter "atsuya sat
down, she sat on the ede of the desk itself, which was e&ercisin
considerable restraint on her part.
+$hat were you uys talkin about9+
0till, #ust as 7rika observed, he was 1uite early today.
)e didn't i!!ediately face towards the ter!inal, but struck up a
conversation with 5i'uki, who sat ne&t to hi!.
"he conversation taret was 5i'uki because she wore an uneasy
e&pression on her face.
+0he said she felt so!eone watchin her.+
)owever, the one who answered was 7rika.
+$atchin her9+
-t his renewed 1uestion, 5i'uki hesitantly nodded.
+7arly in the day, I felt an annoyin a'e on !e. - nauseatin a'e
that's lurkin in the darkness so!ewhere.+
+- stalker perhaps9+
+"hat is i!possible. I'! not a worthwhile taret to be pursued.+
"he likeliest possibility was presented first, but 5i'uki shot that one
down by repeatedly shakin her head as if to dispel a ridiculous
notion.
+I'! not the taret. I think I'! #ust part of a !uch larer web bein
cast out.+
)er vaue words were likely because she wasn't able to e&press
herself very well.
On the other hand, "atsuya knew perfectly what she was tryin to
convey.
+In other words, the taret isn't a sinle student, but !any students and
professors or even the school at lare. Is that what you !ean9+
+-h, uh...... "hat !ay be !y !istake too.+
"he uncertain attitude was also one facet of her personality. 0ince they
had no evidence, there was nothin for it.
+4o, I think 0hibata-san is onto so!ethin.+
*et, as if to shore up 5i'uki's flain confidence, 5ikihiko arrived
and spoke in the affir!ative.
+0ince yesterday !ornin, the spirits on ca!pus have been thrown
into an unnatural uproar. I think so!eone !ust have thrown down a
0hiki.+
0ince 7rika occupied "atsuya's seat, >eo didn't keep turnin around
like he usually did. )owever, he whirled around after hearin
5ikihiko's words.
+0hiki, as in a shikia!i fro! 0/ 5aic9+
5ikihiko nodded at >eo's in1uiry.
+It's a little difficult to tell since they used a different type than we do,
but there's definitely a 5aician of unknown oriin snoopin around
here.+
+It's not that rare of an occurrence, is it9+
7rika's skepticis! also held !erit.
7ven thouh this was a hih school, they were still affiliated with the
!aic universities and had access to !any i!portant docu!ents. $ith
so !any talented 5aicians in its faculty, @irst )ih was often the
taret of individuals who ho!ed in on !aic abilities.
+Ienerally speakin, if they are blocked by the defensive !aics hun
on the walls, they usually don't co!e back the sa!e day. /ut this
opponent continues his assault no !atter how !any ti!es they've been
beaten back. "he fact that they're searchin for so!ethin isn't
surprisin, but this is the first ti!e I've seen such sheer obstinacy since
co!in to school here.+
5ikihiko responded to 7rika's rather tactful ob#ection with a confident
re#oinder of his own.
+......5ikihiko, #ust then, you said they used a different sort of !aic
than we did, correct9+
+Indeed I did.+
5ikihiko was 1uite concerned by "atsuya's choice of words and
nervously confir!ed "atsuya's 1uestion.
+-re you sayin a shikia!i fro! a different branch of the 0hinto
0yste!9 Or are you sayin that it's funda!entally different fro! this
country's -ncient 5aic9+
)e had no idea that the contents of such a carelessly phrased sentence
could be !ined fro! another directionF 5ikihiko's e&pression rew
sole!n.
+I think that's not a !aic spell fro! our country.+
+)ey, are you talkin about forein spies9+
+Isn't that the e&act point he's !akin9+
>eo's wide-eyed stare co!pletely contrasted aainst 7rika's liht
words, but in reality both of the! were on the sa!e wavelenth.
+0uch conspicuous behavior.+
+"hey're doin whatever they please. $hat the heck are the police
doin9+
"hanks to "atsuya's words, 7rika directed her ire towards the law
enforce!ent.
Eather than bein outraed at public officials slackin on the #ob, she
appeared to be scoldin her fa!ily !e!bers instead, which pro!pted
an +-h9+ thouht fro! both "atsuya and 5ikihiko.
A A A
5eanwhile, Inspector ,hiba of the <anaawa (refecture (olice =
!ore like e&iled fro! the !ain office to the <anaawa (refecture
(olice %epart!ent = snee'ed as if on cue.
+......$hat's wron, Inspector9 *ou suddenly look aitated.+
0ereant Inaaki, who was currently investiatin the illeal entry
incident at the *okoha!a )arbor, directed a look at his i!!ediate
superior's suspicious action.
+-h, for so!e reason I feel cold all of a sudden.+
+-re you O<9 $e're busy enouh as it is, don't even try to pretend to
be ill.+
+$hat do you !ean pretend to be ill, you......+
Inspector ,hiba's voice had a tine of a repri!and !i&ed in, which
Inaaki pro!ptly inored.
+Inaaki-kun, you should at least respect the chain of co!!and.+
-t ,hiba's words, Inaaki ave hi! a skeptical look.
+*ou're in no position to say that+ was written all over his face, but the
words that ca!e out of his !outh were entirely different.
+,o!pared to that, do we need to continue takin testi!onials9 I
doubt we'll find any !ore witnesses even if we o further.+
Inaaki had a point there. -fter !any days of recordin testi!onies,
they received no new infor!ation on those who penetrated the border.
,hiba wore a self-depreciatin rin as he looked at Inaaki, who! he
saw !ore as a partner than a subordinate.
+Of course there are witnesses, it's #ust that they choose to re!ain
silent.+
+Inspector, you !ean......+
Inaaki see!ed to pick out so!ethin fro! his superior's delicate tone
as his eyes sharpened.
+)ey, don't scare anybody.+
+I think the Inspector is the terrifyin one. %id you notice so!ethin9+
+Eela&, I didn't do anythin off the book. $ell, they say snakes o
throuh snake paths, so let's take a look at the snake's den.+
)earin ,hiba's proposal, Inaaki wore an unwillin e&pression.
+/ackdoor dealins are still aainst the law......+
+I think this still falls within acceptable para!eters, riht9 4ot like
this is the ti!e to worry over s!all details like that.+
+6h...... Is that so9+
-s Inaaki was noddin and lookin for a counter aru!ent, ,hiba
had already taken a seat in the driver's seat of the plainclothes police
car parked in the free parkin area. -fter verifyin that his partner had
cli!bed on board, ,hiba took the car towards the hih class
residential sector do!inated by foreiners.
A A A
"he destination for the plainclothes patrol car carryin Inspector
,hiba and 0ereant Inaaki was the parkin lot for a cafe located in
the *okoha!a )ills area. -fter ,hiba turned off the enine, Inaaki
turned a sour face on hi!.
+Inspector, I have nothin aainst takin a break here and there, but
weren't we headed for the 'snake's den'9+
-t his subordinate who was levelin a hard look at hi! that blatantly
accused hi! of bein la'y, Inspector ,hiba responded with a reretful
e&pression.
+"his is the 'snake's den'.+
+-h9+
-fter hurriedly catchin up to his superior who had already
dise!barked and was lockin the door with a re!ote, Inaaki looked
over the cafe once !ore as he stood ne&t to ,hiba.
-t first lance, this was a 1uiet, peaceful cafe. "he 1uaint windows
!odeled after a cabin in the !ountains had a pair of shutters that were
currently open and not tryin to hide anythin at all.
+-h, callin hi! a snake would be disrespectful to the owner. "he
owner's intellience network is 1uite sophisticated and he doesn't have
a cri!inal record either.+
+-re you sayin he's a bi fish that we haven't pinned anythin on
yet9+
+I think he would prefer the ter! professional business!an over a bi
fish.+
Inspector ,hiba lihtly shrued and opened the +Eotterbart+ doors.
"hanks to its pro&i!ity to tourist locations, there were 1uite a few
custo!ers present, even thouh it was already past the ti!e for usual
luncheon.
0till, the place wasn't very rowdy.
"he !ood within the cafe see!ed to reflect the owner's personality as
each of the custo!ers sat there 1uietly en#oyin their drinks. -ll
present beloned to a slihtly older eneration. -ny assu!ption that
they were all tourists would be incorrect, as the !a#ority of the!
appeared to be reular patrons who favored this establish!ent in
particular.
,hiba sat in the second chair in one corner of the counter :Inaaki
occupied the first; and ordered two cups of coffee fro! the owner.
"he owner appeared to be a business!an on the outside, but ,hiba
knew very well that he hadn't abandoned his other trade either. 0till,
the conversation was stillborn before the coffee arrived and #ust sittin
there see!ed to be a waste of ti!e, so he took this opportunity to
lance around the place.
Off to the side of the counter, a coffee !u that had #ust been used sat
there likely because the custo!er had #ust left in a hurry so the owner
didn't have ti!e to recover the !u. $hat a sha!e that such a
wonderful coffee was #ust wasted like that. -s he ru!inated over this
idea in boredo!, ,hiba suddenly discovered that while he was fi&ated
on the coffee !u, the custo!er he thouht had departed in a hurry
had returned.
"he one who sat down ne&t to the counter was a youn wo!an
rouhly ,hiba's ae.
)e kept his face forward while surreptitiously lancin at the wo!an's
features.
-t first lance, she didn't possess incredible beauty. 0he wore a plain
tunic and skirt, but upon closer inspection, she possessed delicate
facial features and an outstandin fiure.
"his ave ,hiba the feelin that she intentionally applied a s!all
a!ount of !akeup.
-fter drinkin in these details, he wordlessly shifted his a'e forward.
)e should be callin hi!self out on his idiocy.
)is e&cuse for not askin a few 1uestions in a professional capacity
was because of her inconspicuous appearance, but his actions #ust now
were practically outriht flirtin.
Inaaki's suspicious a'e was startin to hurt.
"he owner behaved as his cool appearance suested and continued to
silently prepare the coffee.
,hiba could only sit there and wait for the coffee to be served.
-t this ti!e, an une&pected lauhter broke the silence.
)e could only use his eyes to verify this, but #ust as he e&pected, her
shoulders were shakin as she bowed her head forward.
+......I apoloi'e. I was still thinkin of how to handle a conversation,
then you #ust went ahead and sat there. 0o it's true that you're not
adept at handlin wo!en, O heir of the ,hiba @a!ily9+
Inspector ,hiba was astounded, and not because she was dead on
reardin his personality.
4or was it a !a#or secret that he was the heir of the ,hiba @a!ily.
0till, he never tried to proactively publici'e his identity or picture
throuh public relations.
In ter!s of publici'ed infor!ation, his brother 4aotsuu far surpassed
hi!.
/esides cri!inals or those affiliated with the police, anyone able to
tell that he was ,hiba "oshika'u on siht would have to hail fro! a
select roup of the world's population.
4a!ely, people who wielded !aic in live co!bat.
+*ou are......+
+(leased to !eet you, Inspector ,hiba. *ou !ay call !e @u#ibayashi
<youko.+
"his ti!e ,hiba was truly struck speechless.
"he dauhter of the @u#ibayashi @a!ily renowned for their prowess in
-ncient 5aic and randdauhter of <udou Eetsu, one of the elders
in the Hapanese !aic co!!unity, stood before hi! s!ilin without
reserve.
A A A
It had been a lon ti!e since "atsuya's party of eiht had passed
throuh the school ates toether.
+"atsuya-kun, have you finished all the preparations for the "hesis
,o!petition9+
7ven thouh the eiht of the! hadn't conreated recently, the one
who first asked this 1uestion for so!e unknown reason was )onoka,
who attended the 0tudent ,ouncil with 5iyuki and departed with
"atsuya on a daily basis.
+I can only say we've finished this stae. Eiht now, we still have to
worry about the !inute details like preparin the !odels for the
presentation and assorted ad#ust!ents.+
+0ounds touh. 0peakin of which, 5i'uki's helpin out with the
!odel production, riht9+
7rika didn't belon to either the 0tudent ,ouncil or the ,lub -ctivities
Iroup, yet was still curiously well infor!ed as she shook her ponytail
back and forth as she looked towards 5i'uki.
+-h, yes. I'! helpin out a *ear 2 senpai. 7ven thouh I'! not really
doin anythin.+
+$e left the !odel entirely to Isori-senpai, so it !akes sense that *ear
2 students !ake up the bulk of the production personnel.+
+)!8, so what does "atsuya do9+
>eo took this opportunity to ask "atsuya, who had voiced his support
for 5i'uki.
+I perfor! calibration for the !aic techni1ues used durin the
presentation.+
+......Isn't it usually the other way around9+
+Eeally9 In ter!s of producin ob#ects, I think Isori-senpai's several
leaues ahead of !e.+
+$ell, <ei-senpai does fit the 'alche!ist' i!pression !ore than a
'!aister'. I uess this is the riht tool for the #ob.+
0eein "atsuya tilt his head, 7rika wryly s!iled and e&pressed her
aree!ent.
+-lche!ist9 E(I9+
0hi'uku continued to keep her head tilted to one side.
+6sin that as an analoy, what class would "atsuya be9+
0uddenly, 5i'uki sprouted this 1uestion.
+)e would be a !ad scientist of course.+ K7rikaL +"hat's not fro! an
E(I.+ K0hi'ukuL +"hen, !aybe a sae dwellin in the re!ote lands
far re!oved fro! civili'ation that i!parts a secret techni1ue.+ K7rikaL
+- !artial sae then.+ K>eoL +-n evil wi'ard sche!in to con1uer the
world9+ K7rikaL +I think a %e!on <in would be !ore suitable.+
K5ikihikoL +4o, no, no, after defeatin the %e!on <in, turns out I'!
the real !an behind the !an8. %oesn't he fit bein the @inal /oss who
bars the !ain character's way9+ K>eoL +)ow co!e everyone doesn't
think he fits the hero9+ K)onokaL +@oret it, )onoka. I do ive off an
evil vibe after all.+ K"atsuyaL +Onii-sa!a, strenth alone is the true
#ustice.+ K5iyukiL +Oh snap, as e&pected of the %e!on <in's sister.+
K7rikaL
......-nd thus, a vibrant discussion bean.
7ven thouh they were walkin alon and bickerin as students do,
"atsuya never let down his uard.
-fter reachin the intersection that leads to a few s!all stores, "atsuya
turned to face the direction where he felt so!eone watchin hi!.
+$ant to head over there9+
In response to "atsuya's suestion to take a detour and incur !ore
ti!e spent to handle the pursuit,
+-reed.+
+"atsuya will probably be very busy startin to!orrow.+
+Indeed. >et's rab a cup of tea.+
7rika, >eo, and 5ikihiko's responses see!ed a little too eaer. "hey
likely each had their own aenda in !ind.
"atsuya feined inorance and pushed open the door that led to the
-nneliese ,afe.
6nfortunately, their usual two tables that seated four people each
weren't available to be #oined toether, so the eiht of the! crowded
around the counter and the table that stood closest.
"he ones ne&t to the counter were "atsuya, 5iyuki, )onoka, and
5i'uki :In order of seatin, there was 5i'uki, 5iyuki, "atsuya, and
)onoka;.
-t the table, 7rika sat with 0hi'uku while >eo and 5ikihiko shared
the other side.
@ro! an outsider's perspective, "atsuya would undoubtedly be the
scoundrel with a hare! of several beauties servin hi!.
+-h8, welco!e, welco!e. 0ee!s you're #ust as popular as usual,
"atsuya-kun.+
7h, foret outsiders, even the owner of the establish!ent who was
fa!iliar with their roup cast a cold a'e fro! the other side of the
counter.
+I'! sure the owner would be #ust as popular if you would #ust shave
off that beard.+
"atsuya intentionally retaliated with the taboo :9; word popular.
+"hat's true, Owner. "hat beard is a darn waste and !akes you look
rather old.+
"hanks to 5i'uki's innocent :9; nature, she naturally provided
supportin fire.
+Old, eh...... 5i'uki-chan certainly doesn't hold anythin back.+
)is beard definitely 1ualified as a !ess. "he owner sihed deeply
while ently brushin his beard in order.
%espite the ray colorin, the owner wasn't nearly as ancient as
5i'uki !ade hi! out to be.
5ore like he was 1uite youn actually. ,ertainly he wasn't yet 30
years of ae.
)is hair color and beard were both ray, likely due to enetics. -fter
all, the owner was a 1uarter Ier!an :-nneliese !eant +sliht wind+
in Ier!an, which war!ed >eo's heart enouh to !ake hi! a fre1uent
patron;.
0till, the only feature that !arked his forein lineae was his hair
color, as his pupils were black and his face was thin and anular in the
-sian fashion. 7ven thouh he had the entle aura of a handso!e
!ale, the owner see!ed to be very particular about his appearance and
took reat pains to cultivate his beard and hair to create a !ore
!asculine i!ae.
4evertheless, "atsuya and co!pany felt that the beard didn't suit hi!
very well, but the scent of coffee !ore than co!pensated for that. Of
course, all eiht of the! ordered coffee.
+7h...... 0o you're appearin in the "hesis ,o!petition.+
$hile the water was on the broil, the owner in1uired the reason why
they hadn't fre1uented here recently and responded with an
appropriately e&aerated nod.
+*ou're 1uite capable despite your *ear B student status.+
"he owner's feelins weren't #ust idle talk to pass the ti!e. 0peakin
of which, even thouh the owner didn't have any !aic talent of his
own, the very fact that he opened a store on the road to the !aic hih
school i!plied that he knew a few details reardin the world of
5aicians. Occasionally durin their idle conversations, he could
surprise "atsuya and the others with news or trivia that they didn't
know about before.
+It's *okoha!a's turn to host the event this year, riht9 5y old house
is in *okoha!a. "he settin will be in the International ,onference
,enter like usual, eh9 "hat's 1uite close to !y house.+
"he owner continued to speak as he used this opportunity to pour the
coffee fro! the kettle into the !us.
+$here's your old house in *okoha!a9+
5i'uki asked this 1uestion as she took the coffee for four people fro!
the owner on a tray in place of a waitress.
+"here's a cafe called 'Eotterbart' halfway up the *okoha!a )ills.+
+0o your old house is also a cafe.+
+Indeed. If you et a chance, !ake sure you stop by. I would love to
hear an unreserved opinion on who serves a better cup of coffee
between !y father and I.+
+Owner, you're a heck of a sales!an.+
0hi'uku returned the tray in place of 5i'uki and offered a direct retort
that caused both sides of the counter to burst into lauhter.
/y the ti!e "atsuya's !u was down to its last third, 7rika had
already drained her cup in one ulp and silently placed the !u back
:a sin of e&cellent upbrinin on her part; and rose to her feet.
+7rika-chan9+
+I need to use the restroo!.+
-fter replyin to 5i'uki, who had raised her head in 1uestion, she
lihtly walked towards the back of the store.
+Oh.+
-fterwards, >eo i!!ediately pressed a hand to his pocket and stood
up.
+0orry, phone call.+
>eo stepped outside after droppin that line.
+5ikihiko, what are you doin9+
"atsuya's a'e returned fro! >eo's oddly polite behavior to rest on the
notebook :!ore like a s!all #ournal; that lay open ne&t to 5ikihiko's
hand.
+6h, well, there's a few thins I have to write down so I don't foret
the!.+
-s 5ikihiko replied back, the hand holdin a pen never stopped
!ovin.
+*ou'll be discovered if your !ove!ent is too obvious, so !ake sure
to dial it down.+
-fter "atsuya said this and swept a ra'or sharp lance behind
5ikihiko's back = and not his surroundins = he kept his back to the
counter and continued sippin his coffee like nothin happened.
A A A
+Old !an, want to have so!e fun9+
7ven thouh this was an alley with sparse traffic, the !an al!ost
dropped the drink in his hand upon hearin these words before the sun
had even set.
"urnin around, he found a youn irl with a ponytail that could be
described as +beautiful+ in a heartbeat standin at the intersection
where he was keepin an eye on the cafe's backdoor. 0he kept both
hands held behind her back as she s!iled happily.
)owever, upon reconi'in her face, the !an beca!e an&ious for a
wholly different reason.
+$hat are you talkin about9 *ou should be !ore careful with
yourself.+
+-h9 I #ust said 'have so!e fun'. $hat e&actly did you take that for9+
"he youn irl continued to wear an innocent s!ile as she tilted her
head to one side. "here was no doubt about it, she was one of the
people close to his surveillance taret.
+%on't !ock adults. 4ow stop !essin around and o ho!e.+
)e was !entally sweatin buckets, so all he could do was put on his
a!e face and continue to act like +an adult annoyed by a child's
antics and about to leave+.
+"he sun is about to set. If you stay in a place with little traffic like
this, you risk runnin into the phanto! killer.+
-s he said this, the !an turned his back on the youn irl.
Only to stop dead in his tracks.
+....../y phanto! killer, you !ean so!eone like !e9+
%irectly in front of hi!, a bulky youth chuckled while s!ackin his
fist that was covered with a black love into his other hand that also
wore a black love.
+%idn't you know9 (hanto! killers refer to '5aicians who #ust
happen to be +passin throuh+ '.+
$ithin the youn irl's happy reply to the youn !an, the !an bean
to feel increasinly uneasy and turned around aain.
"he youn irl wielded a retractable police baton and fell into a
co!bat stance.
0he s!oothly raised the police baton in her hand, but that si!plistic
!otion caused an overpowerin pressure to resonate fro! the youn
wo!an in an instant.
If he had lowered his uard, that +pressure+ would have sent the !an
to his knees...... @ro! this, he knew what that was.
"hat was her fihtin spirit.
4ot killin intent, the wish to crush the life fro! one's opponent, but a
pure desire to seek co!bat.
+0cary...... 0o you're the type of wo!an who only reveals her true
nature in these kinds of places.+
)e heard a voice !errily co!!entin on the situation.
%espite his inability to verify the conditions behind hi!, he believed
that the youn !an !ust have !ade this re!ark with a rin on his
face.
+)elp. "hieves.+
"here was no way for hi! to escape. If that was the case, the !an
decided he !iht as well call for help.
)e possessed a !odicu! of ability.
7ven if he wasn't the !ost talented individual, he didn't believe that he
could be van1uished by fifteen or si&teen year olds.
Eeardless, he was currently in the !iddle of an assin!ent, so he
chose to avoid confrontations if possible, iven that s1uarin off
aainst the! served no benefit towards his !ission para!eters.
+$ow8, how weak......+
+4o, no, I think you should praise his decisive #ud!ent, riht9+
"he action the !an chose see!ed to ravely disappoint the youn irl.
/ut the youn irl didn't let o of the police baton, nor did the youn
!an drop his raised fists.
=-fterward, nobody ca!e to answer the !an's calls for help.
+Oh yeah, I forot to !ention that it's useless for you to call for help,
O<9 -fter all, no one drops by this area.+
+5ore like no one can even approach. $e've already set up a barrier
around here with our 'understandin' as the foundation, so you're not
leavin here without knockin us out, ot it9+
)earin the irl's words, the !an finally reali'ed that nobody had
passed by since the start of their confrontation.
"hey found out.
)e was out of options.
"he !an retrieved the cup he dropped earlier and drew to his full
heiht.
$earin a thin #acket, he raised his hands like he was protectin his
head = which was what they thouht until he suddenly turned
towards >eo and dropped his left ar! to a 90 deree anle at the
heiht of his sto!ach.
+)!ph...... "he bo&in stance known as the )it!an 0tyle9 I thouht
you actually carried weapons of so!e sort......+
+*ou idiot, #ust because he didn't pull one out doesn't !ean he's not
carryin one.+
)earin the warnin :9; 7rika threw out, the !an clucked his tonue.
0till, beyond that, he didn't appear to be overly an&ious.
)e didn't have any need to keep up pretenses.
"here was no ti!e for that.
"he cowardly !iddle-aed !an who was #ust screa!in had warped
into an e&perienced fihter who was closin in on >eo.
)is lowered ar! whipped towards >eo and landed blows like rain
fallin to the earth.
"he bullet-like punches ca!e crashin towards >eo's face.
"he continuous chain of attacks persisted without pause, which ave
proof to the fact that this !an was a wolf and not a sheep.
)owever, neither >eo nor 7rika was surprised by this turnout.
"hrouh 7rika's insiht developed throuh lon years of trainin and
>eo's natural instincts, they already detected that the !an's real nature
was that of a wolf, no, a hihly-trained huntin hound.
$ith astonishin speed.
5atched with incredible power.
-nd !ost i!portantly, the ability to !ove at a speed that surpassed
hu!an physical abilities without a trace of !aic usae.
)e had launched do'ens of punches in less than B0 seconds without
leavin any roo! for retaliation, so >eo could only !ove his ar!s left
and riht to defend hi!self.
@inally, there was a chink in >eo's defenses and a fist bypassed >eo's
defenses and crashed straiht into his face.
(ow, with a sound of a rubber balloon burstin, >eo went flyin
backwards.
$ithout wastin any ti!e to verify the result, the !an i!!ediately
swiftly whirled around.
6sin the centripetal force when turnin around, he flun a flyin
daer towards 7rika.
,lan, the crisp sound of !etallic i!pact.
7rika used her police baton to deflect the daer.
0ince she swun her police baton fro! inside to out, there was an
openin in her forward defenses.
$ithout !issin a beat, the !an's left fist swun towards 7rika's face.
)owever, the police baton pulled back to defend at a speed that
surpassed the !an's fist, so he pulled back.
4ot only did he pull back the punch, the !an's entire body #u!ped
backwards. =*et, in the ne&t instant.
+Iah.+
"he !an's back took a direct hit fro! a powerful shoulder tackle and
he went face first into the round.
+......Ouch, that hurt. "his uy isn't a nor!al hu!an bein. 0till, I
didn't feel any !achinery durin contact...... 5aybe he's usin
!edicinal enhance!ents9+
-fter applyin a tackle fro! behind, >eo rubbed his chin where he
took the hit and !ur!ured at the !an stretched out on the round
without lettin down his uard.
+......*ou're in no position to talk. Hust then, you definitely took a solid
blow to the face.+
,o!pared to the roanin !an who was tryin to find purchase with
his hands, 7rika see!ed to be !ore wary of >eo as she said this.
+Of course. -fter all, as a 5aician, a fourth of !e is thanks to the
research labs. I have no inclination to say that this is entirely due to
!y natural enes.+
>eo chuckled wryly at 7rika's piercin a'e and ruthlessly kicked at
the prone !an's li!bs.
+Ooph.+
+0tay down. $e don't want your life. $e #ust want to know why
you're followin us around.+
>eo spared a lance at 7rika to find her utterly shocked at his barbaric
behavior wholly unlike that of a nor!al person before raisin a foot
off the round.
"he i!plication was obvious.
+......$ait a second...... I ot it, I surrender...... Oriinally, I never......
was your ene!y...... It's not worth...... ettin killed over......+
+"hat's true. If it wasn't the two of us here, your attack would have
killed us for sure.+
+-ren't you...... the sa!e......+
,ouhin in between his words, the !an sat up.
+If I hadn't strenthened !y flesh, that hit would've ruptured !y
internal orans.+
"he pain !ust have larely passed, seein as how the !an still sat on
the round but was able to speak !ore fluently.
+If I didn't think you were enhanced, I wouldn't have done that in the
first place.+
>eo's tone wasn't concerned in the slihtest.
+Eeardless, since you're not our ene!y, then ive us the low down.
*ou can't e&pect us to keep this barrier up forever.+
+O<. It's not !y intent to draw attention to !yself anyways.+
"he !an see!ed to look past all this and sihed in relief.
+0tart with your na!e, since you already know ours at this point.+
+Hiro 5arshall.+
"he !an answered >eo's 1uestion, but there was no way to tell if this
was his true na!e or not.
+I a! unable to reveal any details reardin !y identity, but I can say
that I a! not affiliated with any overn!ent orani'ation. "hat is all.+
+0o you're black ops.+
-ain, the !an didn't affir! nor deny.
+......-nd then9 0ince you won't tell the truth even if we asked, then
why don't you talk about your purpose as well as the current
situation9+
+5y task is to !onitor the !aic hih school students and prevent
cuttin ede !aic technoloy fro! fallin into the hands of the 7ast.
I a! to take action in the event that !aic technoloy that could
constitute a !ilitary threat is leaked to the 7ast.+
-t >eo's i!patient urin, the !an who called hi!self Hiro replied
back in a business-like !anner.
"he 7ast was a ter! favored by 604- intellience aents and
!ilitary personnel after the last reat war. 7ven >eo and 7rika were
fa!iliar with knowlede on that level.
"hat bein said, this did not prove the !an's connection with the
604- intellience co!!unity. In order to confuse his affiliation, he
!ay have intentionally used ter!s specific to a certain reion.
+-t the very least, your e!ployer isn't so!eone in this country, riht9
$hy bother with all this9+
)earin the skeptical i!plication behind >eo's words, the !an shook
his head like he was sayin +0eriously......+.
+-nd here I thouht this country's peaceful naivetP had been cured,
thouh I uess I can't apply the sa!e standard to teenaers......
5ilitary balance across the lobe isn't #ust one country's proble!. If
this country's technical e&pertise was handed to the 7ast, then the
$est's technoloical advantae !ay be lost. Eeardless of whether it's
the 4ew 0oviet 6nion whose interest lies in i!provin e&istin 5aic
0e1uences or the (an -sian -lliance who e!phasi'es restoration of
old !aics over advancin !odern !aic, everyone is searchin for
new practical applications of technoloy in !aic enineerin for
!ilitary purposes. 4ot #ust this country, but the 604- and the nations
of $estern 7urope have seen lare increases in spies that taret !aic
enineerin. 7ven your school has beco!e the taret of the 7ast as
well.+
+(eaceful naivetP is an old ter! fro! decades ao, and if you really
wanted to creepy peeper then you should be !ore cautious. %idn't we
easily discover that you were followin us9+
Irritated by the !an's s!u attitude, 7rika ruthlessly attacked the !an,
but she didn't ob#ect to the actual contents of the !an's !essae.
+7&actly. I'! not a spy, I'! #ust tasked with stoppin their activities.
0ince I'! not your ene!y, there's no conflict of interest here.+
"he !an stood up and !ade a show of brushin off the dirt.
5ockinly = in reality, sarcas! probably !ade up 30M = the !an
delicately brushed his pant le before straihtenin up.
In his hand was a pistol that could easily be hidden in the pal! of his
hand. "he !u''le was pointed at 7rika.
+"ch.+
+*ou.+
+"he fact that I didn't pull this out earlier is proof that I'! not an
ene!y.+
+......"hins !iht et a little hairy if you used a un. >ots of evidence
will be left behind.+
-t 7rika's furious words, the !an s!iled !eaninfully.
+"hat's true as well. 4e&t, I've said everythin that needs to be said, so
allow !e to bid adieu. 5ay I trouble you to alert your co!panions to
take down the barrier9+
%espite his banterin tone and attitude, there were no weaknesses to
e&ploit in his stance. It would be suicidal for 7rika and >eo to press
the issue here.
$ith the advance!ents in ,-%s, !odern !aic could achieve speeds
that rivaled firear!s on so!e level. 0till, this didn't !ean that they
were +faster than uns+, nor were they even +as fast as uns+. $hen
co!pared to firear!s that could fire bullets that pass throuh the
hu!an body with the click of a trier, !odern !aic still had to o
throuh the process of readin the -ctivation 0e1uence and
constructin the 5aic 0e1uence. "houh !aic had !ore versatility
than firear!s, possessed superior firepower and could even provide
cover aainst bullets, that was only under the condition that the speed
differential wasn't a proble!. $hen faced with the situation that one
bullet could be fatal or render so!eone unable to keep fihtin, +a
speed differential on so!e level+ beca!e the difference between
victory and defeat. -nd that was the situation they were faced with
riht now.
5ikihiko was probably !onitorin the situation here with !aic the
entire ti!e. /efore 7rika and >eo could reply, 5ikihiko already
disabled the barrier.
+=-nd thus I bid you farewell. Oh yes. -llow !e to ive you two one
final suestion. (lease convey to your co!panions to be wary of
their surroundins at all ti!es. 7ven on ca!pus, don't let down your
uard.+
-s he said this, the !an re!oved a s!all canister fro! his coat
pocket.
-fter pressin a button on the canister, he threw it into the !iddle of
the trianle that the three of the! for!ed.
7rika and >eo both leaped backwards at the sa!e ti!e.
$ith a s!all e&plosion, a dense, white s!oke rapidly spread
outwards.
"he two of the! closed their eyes and covered their !ouths and only
opened the! after #udin that there was no poison involved. /y that
ti!e, the !an who called hi!self Hiro 5arshall had lon one.
A A A
-t the Eotterbart ,afe in the *okoha!a )ills, Inspector ,hiba and
@u#ibayashi were still deep in their conversation. 0o!ethin had
pi1ued @u#ibayashi's fancy, causin her to chatter on to the point that
,hiba never had an opportunity to et down to business with the
owner. 0till, owin to @u#ibayashi's skillful verbati!, ,hiba was
hihly invested in the conversation as well. On so!e level, ,hiba
didn't feel that speakin with her interfered with the investiation, but
his partner Inaaki certainly didn't see! nearly as interested.
Hust as ,hiba was about to co!pletely foret the reason why he ca!e
here, @u#ibayashi's cellphone ran. %espite the sound not bein loud
enouh to disrupt anyone else, ,hiba still heard it fro! his seat ne&t to
her.
@u#ibayashi pulled a s!artphone fro! her ba and lanced at the
sub#ect headin. -fter perusin the !essae, she turned around and
flashed ,hiba a secret s!ile. "hat s!ile perfectly displayed her
da''lin features that si!ply put her ordinary !akeup to sha!e.
,hiba's pulse spiked to a rate wholly unbefittin of his ae.
+5y apoloies, Inspector, !ay I take !y leave for a !o!ent9+
7ven thouh @u#ibayashi's eyes never hinted at any ulterior !otive or
hidden !eanin, ,hiba was i!!ediately able to rasp that
@u#ibayashi had work to attend to.
+=Oh, of course, by all !eans.+
0he rose fro! her seat and nodded in reetin to ,hiba, passed her
credit card to the owner and left for her electric car that was in the
parkin lot.
"akin a seat behind the wheel, @u#ibayashi switched the s!artphone
display over to the dashboard screen.
,ars that had adopted the pal! pilot control sche!atic had no need for
steerin wheels. "his was a natural course of events for a syste! that
incorporated acceleration, deceleration, and directional control
entirely. "he pal! pilot control sche!atic was used to create a !ore
direct drivin e&perience and especially to avoid blind spots by
switchin the traditional dashboard for a varied control panel :such as
a larer display !onitor with !ultiple functions;. $ith a few e&tra
!odifications in place, technoloical prowess in the car could !atch
that of a workstation at ho!e.
)owever, @u#ibayashi's personal vehicle was e1uipped with a syste! a
level, !aybe several levels hiher. -lthouh this was a s!all two seat
sports car, it had the sa!e processin power as that of a co!bat
co!!and vehicle. 71uipped with a hihly sensitive and powerful
co!!unication device, whenever @u#ibayashi added her !aic to the
!i&, the sheer electronic warfare capabilities at its disposal certainly
deserved the title +7lectronic ,o!bat Gehicle+.
+>ooks like "atsuya's friends ran into a little bit of trouble.+
0he wasn't unconsciously !ur!urin to herself, but usin that specific
ter! to taret her !aic. /y usin "atsuya's +connections+ as !arkers,
she was overlappin the infor!ation di!ension with the electronic
intellience network.
+*oshida 5ikihiko, the one-ti!e prodiy of the *oshida @a!ily. 7ven
thouh there's so!e deree of i!prove!ent since his adolescent years,
I still wish he would pay !ore attention on the streets.+
4a!es are a sy!bol of the actual body, so once the na!e was spoken,
then one could ho!e in on the actual body. ,losely related
individuals, essentially people who are closer on a !ental scale, can
be used as !arkers for !aic by settin their !ove!ent, status, and
na!es as specific variables.
+7ven -ncient 5aic will leave traces in the observation syste!.+
,o!pared to !odern !aic, -ncient 5aic, especially 0/ 5aic,
was !uch !ore difficult to capture by the ca!eras of the observation
syste!. "he difficulty wasn't that it was harder to catch the !aic
bein invoked since the ca!eras would still record it, but deter!inin
who was the one wieldin the !aic in the first place. "he e!erency
!ission that @u#ibayashi was currently tasked with was to overwrite
the areas where the !aic was recorded.
7ven thouh erasin recordins for the i!proper use of !aic wasn't
within @u#ibayashi's #ob description, she knew very well that it was
interal that the people surroundin "atsuya didn't stand out too !uch.
If there were too !any flas bein raised, the prey would be on uard
and no loner continue its pursuit. In other words, <a'a!a and
co!pany were usin "atsuya as bait=
:=On that point, I doubt you would !ind.;
$ith these words in !ind, the +7lectron 0orceress+ activated her
uni1ue ability.
A A A
"he operative fro! an unknown country called Hiro 5arshall stopped
runnin after usin his enhanced les to run the distance between bus
stops. )e stopped runnin at such a danerous speed that would draw
attention to hi!self not because he #uded it to be safe.
-ctually, it was the e&act opposite.
7ven thouh he was runnin at a pace that no one could !atch no
!atter how hard they trained, so!ethin was continuously followin
behind hi!. )e hadn't verified what that +so!ethin+ was, but Hiro
5arshall was stronly suspicious whether that +so!ethin+ was even
hu!an.
"here was no need to check whether it was the pair of teenaers fro!
before. )e was not a !oron who allowed his opponents who he was in
a standoff with to follow hi! without his knowlede. Eeardless of
whether his pursuer was a 5aician or an enhanced hu!an bein, the
likeliest possibility was that this was an ene!y. -s a solo operative,
5arshall didn't have a tea! for this !ission. 7ven if he received
une&pected reinforce!ents, he would still receive a !essae ahead of
ti!e to avoid friendly fire. )owever, since the start of this !ission, he
never received any intel of this sort.
:=$here are you hidin9;
5arshall slihtly lowered his head to concentrate on listenin and,
usin his e&tensive e&pertise, searched for the +aura+ that was the
!ost critical aspect of three di!ensional sound. "here was no way he
could fail to detect the !an followin, no, pursuin hi!. 7ven if that
uy was hidden, he should still be able to find hi!, 5arshall thouht.
6nfortunately, his prediction was entirely incorrect.
0uddenly detectin an une&pected +aura+, Hiro 5arshall abruptly
raised his head.
%irectly in front of hi!, a youn !an stood there in silence.
Hust now, he reali'ed that any noise in front of hi! had been entirely
!uffled. 5arshall was only able to physically detect the daner thanks
to his instincts.
"he !an was e&ceptionally tall and well built, but his fiure was 7ast
-sian. )e wore a plain rab that consisted of a pair of ray sports
pants and a ray #acket with a black #ersey beneath. )is features were
not particularly eye-catchin or uly. @ro! appearances, he was
undoubtedly hu!an = but 5arshall had the inklin he was s1uarin
off aainst a !an eatin beast.
0eein the youn !an's face, 5arshall suddenly recalled where he
knew hi!.
+"he %evourin "ier.+
In reality, it wasn't that they had !et before, since this was the first
ti!e he saw the !an face to face.
+>u Ionhu......+
"he na!e of his opponent that unconsciously slipped fro! his lips
headed the list of tarets that he had to watch out for durin his
!ission briefin. Eu!ored to be the one credited with the hihest
nu!ber of kills in !elee co!bat fro! the (an -sian -lliance, he was
an 0-ranked individual fro! the (an -sian -lliance special Ops.
/y the ti!e 5arshall recovered his wits, he had already raised his
riht hand to ai! the un at >u Ionhu. /orn of refle& honed by
countless hours of trainin, 5arshall's body had lon since surpassed
his !ental facilities.
)owever, 5arshall's finer never clicked the trier.
@aster than even his refle&es, >u Ionhu's finers already pierced
5arshall's wrist. "he inside of his wrist pierced by the other !an's
thu!b, the handun slipped fro! 5arshall's hand to the round.
5arshall could only blankly watch his handun fall to the earth.
$hen was his wrist pierced9 4o, speakin of which, when did >u
Ionhu stand riht ne&t to hi!9
5arshall never cauht a li!pse of >u Ionhu's !ove!ent.
-s 5arshall's consciousness was wallowin in the pain that
overwhel!ed his surprise, his life had already fallen into eternal
darkness.
>u Ionhu swiftly retracted his riht hand fro! where it was
e!bedded in 5arshall's throat.
7ven thouh his finers were stained blood red, very little blood
escaped fro! the wound.
6sin his left hand that was free of any blood, >u Ionhu re!oved a
stack of paper fro! his chest pocket and carefully wiped away the
bloodstains on his riht hand.
-fterwards, he flun the papers soaked in 5arshall's blood onto the
corpse. %urin the descent, the paper spread out to a handkerchief's
si'e and fell onto 5arshall's corpse.
"he blood soaked paper suddenly inited into fla!es that were redder
than blood. "he fla!es started fro! the center of the paper and spread
outwards in a circular fashion.
4othin e&isted within the inside of the circle. 4o !atter if it was the
ashes fro! the burnt paper, the clothes that covered the corpse, or
even flesh, nothin re!ained.
-fter the fla!es consu!ed the paper, they bean spreadin across the
corpse.
-nd so, the circular fla!es co!pletely devoured the corpse.
0eein the corpse vanish, >u Ionhu turned to leave.
"here was nary a hu!an presence at the scene. Eeardless of whether
it was voices or footsteps, there was no trace that so!eone had ever
been there.
"he only thin that witnessed this scene was the broken ca!era that
swayed near the intersection.
Chapter 5
5iyuki was so!ewhat surprised to see the uly look that 7rika wore
when everyone showed up for the arraned lunch !eetin in the
cafeteria.
+7rika, is yesterday's incident still weihin on your !ind9+
6ntil the !o!ent they separated at the bus station, 7rika was
e&tre!ely irritated that the suspected special aent fro! 604-
intellience ot the last lauh durin the final !o!ents. 7ven thouh
she didn't verbali'e her displeasure, her attitude was apparent fro! a
lance.
"his was already an incredibly frank ad!ission on her part
considerin her usual antics where she used a !ischievous s!ile to
hide her true feelins. It was si!ply unheard of for her to brood on
this until the second day.
-t 5iyuki's 1uestion, 7rika's answer was half confir!in and half
dissentin.
+It's not si!ply because we could only watch as he ot away.+
"he words, watch as he ot away, see!ed to denote her frustration,
but apparently that wasn't the full story.
+"hat uy's words were really worriso!e...... %on't let down your
uard even on ca!pus, doesn't that !ean that so!e of the
students......+
5ikihiko and )onoka didn't participate in the incident back in -pril
so they weren't able to follow, but "atsuya and 5iyuki i!!ediately
rasped what was on 7rika's !ind.
-t the ti!e, 0ayaka had been an unwittin pawn for forein aents
posin as terrorists.
7ven now, 0ayaka was unable to put that behind her.
+If we're puttin on an encore for that unpleasant business, please
count !e out......+
"atsuya was both in the know and understood those feelins, so he
!ade a co!!ent that ran counter to his personality in an effort to take
care of 7rika's !ood.
+0till, it's not like we can arrest the! if they haven't even done
anythin yet.+
+"hat !ay be true......+
)er sulky tone hinted that she hadn't fully accepted this, but at least he
successfully defused her intent to do so!e snoopin around on her
own, "atsuya thouht.
0peakin of which, thouh 7rika wasn't a +oody two shoes+ by any
stretch, when so!ethin pertainin to one of her close friends arose,
she would +chane the sub#ect+ even when there wasn't a direct
connection.
+*et, isn't it to our disadvantae to always be reactin9 "hat's not a
proble! if it's a head-on assault, but theft would be......+
+4ot like we can always worry about so!ethin like that......+
"atsuya s!iled and shook his head at >eo and 5ikihiko's concerns.
+0ince we don't carry that data in a ter!inal on us, there's no daner of
physical theft. Oriinally, it would be strane to worry about theft or
burlary on ca!pus, no9 $ell, discreet photoraphs aren't out of the
1uestion, but that issue wouldn't be restricted to this co!petition only.
"o steal data fro! on ca!pus, it would be !ore convenient to o after
the docu!ents hidden behind lower safeuards, but we're not that
silly. Is it possible that we have been !isinfor!ed by a suspicious
individual9+
+Is that so...... /ut we still need to uard aainst the other person
directly spyin on you yesterday, so be careful.+
+I know.+
7ven thouh 5ikihiko's words were larely buckin aainst "atsuya's
e&planation, he looked like he was satisfied with that answer.
0till, in "atsuya's eyes, 7rika and >eo both ave hi! the i!pression
that they re!ained silent because they wanted to say so!ethin !ore,
but were unable to co!e up with any aru!ents of their own.
A A A
,o!pared to the 52 representatives selected for the 4ine 0chools
,o!petition, the "hesis ,o!petition only had three. ="he difference
in scale was so reat that the event al!ost see!ed pointless. 7ven so,
the "hesis ,o!petition was seen as an i!portant event that rivaled the
4ine 0chools ,o!petition itself.
One of the reasons was that this event was actually another stae for
the nine !aic hih schools to deter!ine a victor. 7specially for
schools that obtained undesirable results in the 4ine 0chools
,o!petition, the desire to erase their old sha!e beca!e a powerful
!otivator.
-nother reason was that !any students were able to participate
beyond the selected three representatives.
"he reatest difference between the debate and research co!petitions
for non-!aic hih schools and the +4ational )ih 0chool 0tudents
5aic "hesis ,o!petition+ was that a live de!onstration was
incorporated into the presentation.
In addition to the thesis presentation, a fully functional !aic device
was re1uired to display the actual !anifestation of the !aic. 7ven
thouh the presentation only re1uired a !odel, this was no si!ple
child's toy that could be stuck toether with lue and papers. "he
device needed to run reliably, or at least !i!ic reality = this was the
"hesis ,o!petition for !aic hih schools.
@or this, the desin of the !aic device and the support syste!s
involved, the controllin software, outer fra!e, re1uired conditions
and taret production, testin personnel and supportin testers,
individuals in chare of safety...... 4ear the actual deadline for the
co!petition, the "echnical ,lub and -rts ,lub would naturally #oin in.
7ven clubs that work on purely theoretical ideas and students with
outstandin rades would be !obili'ed for the success of the official
co!petition.
"he total nu!ber of participants for the report preparation e&ceeded
that of the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition.
0ince the official co!petition was set for the 0unday two weeks fro!
now, not only was the ca!pus filled with sounds of !achinery and
!aic activatin, +0elf %esin+ and +0elf 0tudy+ sprouted up to
s1uee'e !ore ti!e in. "he open area in the 1uad was swiftly filled to
capacity by prototypes, calculation devices, and other !achinery.
7ven consolation s1uads for!ed by fe!ale volunteers loaded with
drinks and snacks entered the fray. In order to support these
consolation s1uads, the Eobotics Eesearch ,lub chipped in the
)u!anoid )o!e )elpers as well.
+-h, there they are.+
"he person 7rika was lookin for stood a!id the ruckus.
+)ey=, "atsuya-kun=+
4e&t to 7rika, who was shoutin while wavin her ar!s back and
forth, >eo turned his body in another direction. 5ikihiko chose to
si!ply !ove two !eters behind 7rika to a safe distance. "he two of
the! were probably pretendin not to know her.
+7rika-chan, please don't bother everyone.......+
5i'uki wasn't as bra'en as >eo, so she still tued at her friend's
sleeve despite knowin this would do nothin. =-s e&pected, there
was no effect.
0eein 7rika walt' over, "atsuya stopped his hands and s!iled wryly
as if to say +what can I do+, but there were of course people who were
visibly displeased by the interruption to the e&peri!ent.
+,hiba...... *ou, should probably take a look at your surroundins.+
-s one of the uards on station, <irihara was one of the unhappy
ones.
+7h8, 0ayaka is observin too9+
)owever, 7rika's response, or !ore like her conversation taret, was
directed to 0ayaka, who was standin ne&t to <irihara.
+$hat do I even say......+
+7rika......+
<irihara spoke weakly while 0ayaka had a wry s!ile of her own.
Iiven that he didn't fly into a rae, <irihara !ust have !atured
so!ewhat.
+*ou don't look like you're #ust here to observe, 7rika. $hat's up9+
0till, seein that the other upperclass!en besides <irihara were about
to burst out, "atsuya 1uickly sei'ed the initiative.
+5i'uki ot called in to help, so I taed alon.+
7rika was always so!eone who did thins her way, but that does not
i!ply she was slow in any way. 4oticin the warnin, she didn't waste
any ti!e with her response.
0o that's why, "atsuya thouht as he shifted his a'e to 5i'uki, who
was frantically apoloi'in to her senpais fro! the -rts ,lub.
+7rika, over here.+
6sin this opportunity, as strane as it sounds, 5iyuki reached out and
pulled 7rika into the crowd of observers.
0ayaka also left <irihara's side and sidled alon 7rika, while the
interrupted activation of the !aic device was restarted on Isori's
sinal.
+$hat e&peri!ent are they doin9 It looks like a iant liht bulb.+
- transparent lobe with a B20 !! dia!eter was supported on a stand
with four les, which did ive the i!pression of bein a iant liht
bulb. Of course, in this ae, +liht bulbs+ had lon since been retired
fro! household use, so 5i'uki tilted her head in confusion at 7rika's
opinion.
+"hat is the >ow "e!perature Ionic Ienerator we're usin for the
presentation.+
5iyuki obviously knew what a +liht bulb+ was, but she didn't pay
attention to 7rika's #oke and directly answered her 1uestion.
+>ow te!perature9 $eren't we oin for ther!onuclear fusion9+
5ikihiko, who had also adopted >eo's approach of pretendin not to
know one another, heard an une&pected ter! that forced hi! to
abandon this pretense. :0peakin of which, 5ikihiko still used for!al
speech when addressin 5iyuki.;
7rika also see!ed to re!e!ber her physics lessons and a 1uestion
!ark !ushroo!ed over her head after a beat.
+"her!onuclear fusion is a type of reaction, so hih te!perature is
re1uired for the entire process.+
+............+
+......5y apoloies, *oshida-kun. I a! unfa!iliar with the details as
well, please consult Onii-sa!a for a !ore in depth e&planation.+
0eein 5ikihiko's blank look, 5iyuki added on that last sentence,
pro!ptin 5ikihiko to say +please don't bother+ and furiously shake
his head back and forth, sendin his hair flyin.
$ith a di!inutive look at 5ikihiko, 7rika and 0ayaka whispered
1uietly to one another. "hey frantically shut their traps when 5iyuki
leveled a s!ile in their direction :which didn't reach her eyes;.
@ro! the start, >eo's eyes bla'ed with curiosity as he silently stared at
the e&peri!ental device.
In the !idst of the unconscious silence, Isori sent 0u'une a sinal.
0u'une started supplyin psions to the lare, control board-shaped
,-% that "atsuya was operatin.
"he ,-% functioned at a !uch hiher strenth and speed than the
nor!al s!aller ,-%s that were carried around and !ultiple co!ple&
5aic 0e1uences were bein activated.
6nder hih pressure, hydroen broke down into ions and the separated
ions struck aainst the lass to e!it liht. -lthouh this was only the
si!ple effect of electricity caused by hih pressure, they had already
achieved electron separation without providin enery. In addition, in
order to allow the electrons to break away fro! ato!ic attraction and
!ove towards the outer peri!eter, a hihly co!ple& spell had to be
constantly sustained to chane the 7idos.
+......0o it really is a liht bulb9+
7rika's rude co!!ent that slipped fro! her lips was fortunately
covered by the cheers of +7&cellent.+, +@irst phase successful.+ and
other related celebratory words. "he others were the sa!e, with
5iyuki s!ilin 1uietly as if success was the only possible result,
while >eo had two fists tihtly clenched before his chest, 5ikihiko
ripped his ar!s and nodded, and 0ayaka clapped as she #u!ped with
#oy.
"he lass container continued to ive off liht for B0 seconds.
/y the ti!e the liht faded, the e&cite!ent also wore off.
"hat was because they only finished with the larest piece and !any
!ore co!ponents still needed to be put toether. "he helpers that
conreated for the e&peri!ent dispersed back to their stations, but
7rika noticed 0ayaka was starin in a certain corner.
+0aya, what's up9+
+"hat child......+
0he didn't reply and !ur!ured to herself.
+)ey, what's oin on.9+
+)ey, 5ibu.9+
In order to catch up to 0ayaka, who suddenly burst into a run, both
7rika and <irihara also started sprintin.
>eo was only a half a step behind the!.
$ide-eyed with shock, 5iyuki could only watch the! leave until she
noticed the fe!ale student with twin ponytails that 0ayaka was
chasin.
A A A
+)old it riht there.+
)earin so!eone call out for her to stop fro! behind, or !aybe
because she reali'ed she couldn't outrun the pursuit, the fe!ale
student opted to co!e to a halt on the rass in the courtyard.
+$hat is it9+
"urnin around, the 1uestion in response was a little stiff. In a sense,
her tone ave off a fearless i!pression.
+*ou are, a *ear B student, correct9+
"here were no distinctions for rade level on @irst )ih's unifor!s.
0ayaka's 1uestion was based off the other student's face and physical
for!.
+Indeed. 5ibu 0ayaka fro! *ear 2 ,lass 7. I a! also a ,ourse 2
student like yourself.+
"he only difference was the lack of the school e!ble!, the distinction
between ,ourse B and 2 students.
+......*ear B ,lass I, )irakawa ,hiaki.+
6pon bein asked by an upperclass!an to identify herself, the fe!ale
student unwillinly ave her na!e.
0he could hear !ore footsteps co!in to a stop behind her.
7rika and the others cauht up.
-nd heard that earlier self-introduction.
I!!ediately, she heard <irihara !ur!ur +)irakawa9+
0ayaka was not fa!iliar with that surna!e, but <irihara had heard of
it.
0till, the reason why 0ayaka couldn't let this *ear B student o wasn't
because of her na!e, so she didn't !ind even if she had never heard of
this na!e before.
0ayaka didn't have the leisure to worry about thins like that.
+)irakawa-san, the device you're carryin...... "hat's a wireless
password decoder, isn't it9+
)earin 0ayaka's accusation, )irakawa ,hiaki turned pale and
hurriedly hid the ter!inal in her hand behind her back.
+I know even if you don't ad!it it. "hat's because I've used the sa!e
!odel before.+
,hiaki's eyes widened in astonish!ent at 0ayaka's words.
(assword decoders were !alware devices used to steal passwords and,
unlike the literal !eanin, were also !achines used to auto!atically
break into verification syste!s and steal infor!ation. "here were no
leal uses for that ite!. In other words, used the sa!e !odel before
i!plied......
+......"hat's riht. I was also the cat's paw for spies.+
- !iserable e&pression spread across 0ayaka's face, but even then she
continued to press onward as she stared at ,hiaki.
+"hat's why I !ust warn you. 0top now. "he loner you're with the!,
the !ore painful it will beco!e.+
+......4o !atter how !uch I suffer, that's none of senpai's business.+
,hiaki turned her face to one side and replied in a cold tone.
-n obvious re#ection.
)owever, 0ayaka did not shrink back at ,hiaki's cold reception.
+"here's no way I can #ust watch and do nothin.+
0ayaka's tone hardened and her eyes turned fiery as she suddenly
roared at ,hiaki.
+7ven thouh it's been half a year, I still can't stop !yself fro!
shakin at ti!es. I don't even reali'e that I've bit !y lip open, or
pierced !y pal! with !y nails.+
0ayaka was actually shakin as she said this.
+7ven thouh I don't know who you're !i&ed in with, this I know for
sure. "hey will never take your needs into consideration. "hey will
only use you, then pro!ptly abandon you.+
0ayaka's voice was filled with sincerity. 0he was not bein
hypocritical, these were her true feelins laid bare.
4evertheless, the hatred that dwelt in ,hiaki's heart ran !uch deeper
than 0ayaka i!ained.
+Of course I know that.+
"hat self-destructive voice and hate-filled eyes !ade 0ayaka stop
cold.
+It's obvious that the !afia and terrorists don't ive a darn about the
people they're usin. 0enpai linked up with these people even without
fully understandin that9 5y apoloies for !y rudeness, but senpai is
so very childish.+
"hose bitter words clearly conveyed to 0ayaka that this *ear B student
was co!pletely different than she was.
0ayaka had a oal she was ai!in for, but was taken advantae of
when she wasn't sure what path to take.
It was true that she was hopelessly naive. 0ayaka never planned to
deny that point.
0till, 0ayaka didn't believe that this *ear B student was any !ore
!ature than she was.
7ven if she could achieve her heart's desire after #oinin up with
cri!inals, what would she do afterwards9 $hat then9 $ould she
return to hih school as if nothin had happened, or actually continue
actin as a !e!ber of a cri!inal orani'ation9 0ayaka knew that this
*ear B student never even took her future into consideration.
Eiht now, she was only stubbornly refusin to listen to anyone else's
words.
+7ven if you continue on this self-destructive path you will obtain
absolutely nothin. 4othin will re!ain behind.9+
)owever, 0ayaka wasn't oin to back down. "here were so!e thins
that needed to be stopped, by force if necessary. "his was so!ethin
she learned first hand.
+0enpai wouldn't understand. I'! not tea!in up with those uys
because I want to et so!ethin.+
Eeardless, the answer she received was al!ost naturally a powerful
re#ection.
0he's refusin to be persuaded, 0ayaka faintly reali'ed. "hat's because
she too was once like that.
(ersuasion can be saved for later. If they let her escape now, this child
will never be able to return to +this side+ aain. $ith this in !ind, a
slihtly forceful approach couldn't be avoided. =0ayaka !ade her
decision.
+<irihara-kun.+
+-h.+
<irihara i!!ediately rasped 0ayaka's intention.
6nfortunately, neither of the! were carryin heat, but they weren't
particularly worried.
"his *ear B student had no e&perience in !artial arts or close co!bat.
/oth of the! possessed the ability to tell this at a lance.
If they both attacked at the sa!e ti!e, the takedown should be fairly
si!ple.
Ob#ectively speakin, 0ayaka and <irihara's #ude!ent would be
correct. =6nder the condition that their opponent was unar!ed.
"he instant 0ayaka and <irihara advanced toether, ,hiaki hurtled a
s!all container.
+Iet down.+
7rika was the first one to notice.
/oth of the! flun their ar!s up on refle&.
- furious flash passed throuh the aps in the ar!s to scour the eyes
throuh the eyelids.
If anyone could still keep their vision throuh the bla'in liht, they
would notice that ,hiaki's eyelids were painted black.
0he used liht screen paint disuised as !ascara and eyeliner to blunt
the effects of the flash ban.
,hiaki pointed her riht ar! at 0ayaka. - sprin-loaded dart ca!e
flyin fro! her sleeve.
7rika successfully blocked the flash and !anaed to deflect the
fusifor! dart with a tree branch she rabbed so!ewhere.
- liht purple s!oke e!itted fro! the broken dart.
"he second after 7rika threw the tree branch, she 1uickly flun away
0ayaka and used her shirt sleeve to cover her !outh. <irihara, who
hadn't entirely recovered fro! the flash ban's effects, directly
breathed in the spreadin s!oke that was rapidly turnin transparent.
)e swayed briefly, then collapsed to the floor in a boneless heap.
:4erve as.9;
7rika didn't verbali'e this as she !entally clucked her tonue.
"heir opponents were better prepared than they thouht.
0ince they were forbidden fro! carryin ,-%s on ca!pus, personal
speed buffin wasn't oin to be very efficient.
%espite their nu!erical advantae, the difference between weapons
and no weapons was insur!ountable. 6nder the situation where the
ene!y weapons re!ained unknown, they couldn't strike recklessly=
=)owever, there was a !an present who didn't subscribe to that
theory. ,rouched in the rass :the result of 7rika warnin to et
down;, >eo suddenly rushed at ,hiaki.
@aced with that sort of pressure, ,hiaki couldn't suppress a screa!.
0he frantically pointed her riht ar! at >eo.
5aybe the darts were a repeatin !odel, or !aybe there were other
weapons prepared.
"here was no way to tell at this stae.
0uddenly, >eo's fiure disappeared fro! ,hiaki's vision.
,hiaki stood there transfi&ed for a !o!ent before her waist was
sub#ected to a powerful i!pact, causin her to helplessly fall
backwards and cul!inatin in her losin consciousness when the back
of her head hit the round.
+......%id I overdo it9+
>eo had used both ar!s to tackle ,hiaki to the round, then rose
slihtly and turned his head to ask.
+*eah. ......0peakin of which, hurry up and et up this instant. *ou
look like you're oin to rape her.+
+Idi....... %on't even #oke about that.+
+*es, yes, I know.+
7rika's a'e was dead serious as she watched >eo look up at her in
shock.
"hat a'e was the sa!e as a professional a!bler auin the !erits
of a thorouhbred at the derby.
A A A
)earin that an incident broke out, <anon :as the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee ,hief; hurried to the infir!ary and sihed when she found
an unconscious *ear B student in bed and a pair of *ear 2 students
seekin treat!ent.
+*ou uys went too far......+
)earin 0ayaka's e&planations of the proceedins, <anon sihed once
!ore.
It wasn't <irihara and 0ayaka's intention to be told +oin too far+ by
<anon, who was prone to doin so herself, but since the person in
1uestion was unconscious due to a blow to the back of the head, they
weren't in any position to refute that.
+0o what did she do9 /ased on your earlier words, the only thin she
was doin was holdin an illeal electronic device, so I don't think she
broke any laws or school rules.+
"his was also an indefensible point.
On one hand, there was the earnest 0ayaka and on the other hand,
there was <irihara who couldn't co!e up with a defense.
0till, there was so!eone present who wasn't so easily cowed by these
stron words.
+Isn't holdin an illeal hackin tool enouh rounds for an arrest9+
@aced with 7rika's provocative words, <anon watched her with
piercin eyes.
+......I'! sayin that oin overboard is the issue here. ,ri!e and
punish!ent need to be carefully balanced.+
+"hat's nothin8, not like we cauht her because she needed to be
punished. I #ust wanted to protect a peer that's bein used by filthy
adults.+
+0o you protected your peer by knockin her out. 0he was struck in
the head.+
+"here's nothin we can do if she pulls out a concealed weapon and
resists. I'! not naive enouh to help other people even at the cost of
personal in#ury.+
<anon and 7rika lared furiously at one another.
0eein this e&plosive situation unfold, 0ayaka started to panic slihtly.
)owever, since the doctor on duty who should have interposed chose
not to, she couldn't #ust #u!p in.
+-nyways, ,hief ,hiyoda, we'll leave everythin to you.+
"he one who inter#ected was >eo, who was leanin aainst the wall.
+>et's o.+
+)ey, what's with you all of a sudden9+
7rika, who was bein tued away by the collar, directed her ire
towards >eo.
0till, she wasn't larin at hi! this ti!e.
@or an instant, >eo wore an irked e&pression, then swiftly turned
around.
+7verythin afterwards is a #ob for the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee
!e!bers. I don't care how you uys take care of it, I can only try to
prevent any proble!s fro! spillin over to "atsuya, 5i'uki, and
5ikihiko.+
+Hust wait a second.+
7rika shouted as she chased after the departin >eo as she too left
fro! the infir!ary.
-fter the sounds of the noisy *ear B students :which included a
particularly irkso!e *ear B student; faded, <anon finally cal!ed
down.
0he once aain studied the face of the *ear B student lyin on the bed.
7ven thouh the face poked so!ethin in <anon's !e!ory, she was
still unconscious and unable to verify any of her suspicions. Hust like
that, <anon turned to the doctor.
+0ensei, what is this child's status9+
)earin <anon's 1uestion, %r. *asuyado 0ato!i s!iled ently.
+%on't worry. "here are no abnor!alities in the brain or skull. 0he'll
wake up in ti!e.+
*asuyado was a doctor with uni1ue abilities who could see the
abnor!alities within the body throuh physical radiation. 0he could
!ake a !ore accurate dianosis than hih tech e1uip!ent at nor!al
hospitals by si!ply lookin at the sub#ect.
If she said there was no proble!, then it was safe to rela&.
+0orry for botherin you, but could you please let !e know when this
child reains consciousness.+
+Of course9 -h, but don't co!plain if this child runs away, O<9 I have
no co!bat ability whatsoever.+
0eein *asuyado's half #okin answer, <anon s!iled and nodded.
+0ensei surely wouldn't allow an in#ured student to #ust run around.+
-nd so, <anon led 0ayaka and <irihara, who had already finished
treat!ent, and departed fro! the infir!ary.
A A A
<anon was both the ,hief of the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee and Isori's
uard at the sa!e ti!e.
0ince the "hesis ,o!petition adopted a for!at where one principal
was uarded by several bodyuards, Isori's uards also included
another *ear 2 !ale student besides <anon, but <anon showed no
sins of allowin anyone else in.
)ence her oal was to return to the courtyard where the e&peri!ent
was onoin while she waited for the *ear B student, whose testi!ony
they re1uired, to wake up.
"here, she found the sa!e irkso!e *ear B student = in other words,
7rika = e!broiled in another incident. - dark faced youn !an was
re!indin 7rika to pay attention, whereas 7rika was heedlessly
whistlin with a carefree attitude.
%espite the onco!in headache, she couldn't pretend to not see this
either, so <anon called a nearby ,o!!ittee !e!ber to verify what
happened.
+0o, 0hiba-kun, what the heck happened here9+
$hile "atsuya was one of <anon's subordinates in the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee, currently he served as one of the tea! representatives in
chare of the e&peri!ent.
$hether she was a bodyuard or not, <anon shouldn't have suddenly
asked a 1uestion of "atsuya, who was busily typin away at the
keyboard, but <anon didn't reali'e that riht now.
-s e&pected, 5iyuki arched a fine eyebrow fro! her position behind
"atsuya, but "atsuya didn't display a troubled e&pression and !erely
halted the scrollin fra!es and turned his head around.
+7rika and >eo loiterin around see!s to have incurred 0eki!oto-
senpai's displeasure.+
-fter hearin this and verifyin the situation once !ore, she found
that indeed !ore disapprovin a'es were sent towards 0eki!oto
rather than 7rika.
,o!pletely fed up, <anon approached the bickerin duo.
+......0eki!oto-senpai, what's the !atter9+
(ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee !e!bers didn't have a ter! of office, so they
kept their positions unless they personally resined. 6sin the
chanin of the uard in the 0tudent ,ouncil as a reason, both 5ari
and "atsu!i had handed in their resinations while 0eki!oto
re!ained with the co!!ittee.
,urrently, he was the only *ear 3 student in the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee.
+,hiyoda...... 4o, it's nothin in particular. "hey're neither (ublic
5oral ,o!!ittee !e!bers nor helpers sent by clubs and si!ply
loiterin around, so I want the! to !ake sure not to obstruct the
bodyuards.+
7ven thouh this wasn't her personality, <anon really wanted to hu
her head and heave a lon sih. $hy was this senpai rockin the
surface like this, those were her unadulterated feelins.
+......In preparation for ne&t year or even the year after, there is no
reason to prevent *ear B students fro! learnin fro! this e&perience.
If they are causin proble!s for the uards, we as the uards will
!ake sure to take note of that. 0eki!oto-senpai, since you haven't
been selected as one of the substitute uards this year, please leave
this area to us.+
-t <anon's words, 0eki!oto's eyes sharpened, but <anon never ave
hi! a chance to respond and turned over to 7rika.
+,an you two leave now9 @ro! another perspective, your earlier
actions could be constituted as violence fro! four people aainst one
person.+
0eein <anon tryin to use the earlier incident to keep this one under
wraps at an early stae, 7rika s!irked coldly.
Eeali'in that she was scra!blin for a reason, <anon felt the blood
rush to her head at 7rika's s!ile.
0till, the situation would only worsen if she cut loose riht now.
/efore <anon, who was clenchin her teeth, 7rika frankly turned
around.
+I uess it's about ti!e to o. "atsuya-kun, 5iyuki, see you
to!orrow.+
+......I should o too. 0ee ya, "atsuya.+
0eein both *ear B students obediently depart, <anon let out a sih of
relief.
-t this ti!e, her ter!inal vibrated to let her know a new !essae had
arrived.
-fter e&a!inin the contents, she co!pletely inored what 0eki!oto
was about to say and doubled back to the infir!ary.
+-h, <anon, wait up.+
Isori, who was currently collectin the data results into an infor!ation
ter!inal, frantically chased after her. -lthouh this was plainly
abandonin his duties for the e&peri!ent, no one present could fault
hi! for that.
0eki!oto peered with interest at the ter!inal !onitor that Isori
abandoned. *et, a hand reached over fro! the side and pressed the
power switch for the !onitor.
+Ichihara.+
+-nd here I thouht 0eki!oto-kun had little interest in practical
research.+
@acin 0eki!oto's anry e&pression, 0u'une replied with a cold poker
face.
+......I always believed that it was i!portant to e!phasi'e the basic
theories such as ,ardinal ,odes and spell i!prove!ent, which is not
to say I'! not interested in practical skills.+
+I never intended to sliht the basic theories. I feel that in order to
reduce the risk acco!panyin practical use, careful validation of the
basic theories is far !ore i!portant than theoretical research.+
+Galidation and research is funda!entally different. Eesearch is
creation itself. Galidation will not push the envelope.+
+Eesearch that has no !eanin to hu!anity has no value. Only
theories that are of practical use can be called theories.+
+7ven if they appear to be pointless, researchin basic theories will
undoubtedly lead to incredible results.+
+"here is no point in re#ectin the s!all advance!ents of today to
look at the fruits of to!orrow. "he future is built on the foundation
fored by incre!ental, practical advances.+
0eein the two of the! that were outwardly cal!, but actually
e&tre!ely stubborn as they continued to bicker, "atsuya suddenly
re!e!bered so!ethin fro! the other side of the screen.
)e see!ed to recall a ru!or that 0eki!oto didn't place fourth in the
school's internal assess!ent for the "hesis ,o!petition, but second
place riht behind 0u'une. -t the ti!e, he felt that 0u'une plainly
re#ected hi! out of a sense of en!ity.
/ack then, he was confounded as to why 0u'une resolutely refused to
allow 0eki!oto to #oin the "hesis ,o!petition, but seein the two of
the! oin at it like this solved that !ystery. In "atsuya's eyes,
0eki!oto see!ed to be the !ore co!bative one, as if 0eki!oto
hi!self believed that he should be the representative for the "hesis
,o!petition.
/ein overly proud fre1uently caused one to lose their senses.
,urrently, it looked like they couldn't suavely persuade 0eki!oto. -t
the current rate, they would never finish in ti!e. 4e&t ti!e, he !iht
even take direct action. 0till, that didn't uarantee that this action
would be peaceful or even leal.
= )opefully, nothin troubleso!e would ensue =
-lthouh "atsuya had a stron pre!onition that such a wish would
never happen, he still earnestly desired that such a thin would never
co!e to pass.
A A A
-fter leavin the school ates, >eo silently followed behind 7rika.
7ven so, he didn't intend to walk ho!e with her.
"here was only one route fro! the school to the bus station.
It was only he had no pressin business that forced hi! to !ove ahead
of her.
>eo believed that 7rika was the sa!e way.
It was pure coincidence that they were walkin in the sa!e direction
at the sa!e pace.
+>eo.+
)ence he ca!e to a surprised stop when she called out his na!e.
7rika also halted her footsteps.
+%o you have so!e ti!e today9+
@or a !o!ent, >eo was unable to co!prehend the !eanin behind
those words as he stood there in blank surprise.
-t this, 7rika suddenly whirled around.
Owin to her physical action, her skirt was raised slihtly, but >eo's
eyes were lued to 7rika's own.
"here was no trace of innocence.
"here was no trace of !ischievousness.
"hat was a steely a'e that would have cut hi! in two whenever she
pleased.
+%o you have ti!e or not9+
7rika asked once !ore in a cursory !anner.
@inally, >eo re!oved his shackles.
+......I have nothin i!portant.+
+"hen spare so!e ti!e for !e.+
"urnin around once aain, 7rika slowly plodded forward.
On the other hand, >eo adopted the sa!e pace and silently followed
behind.
"hey looked to be the sa!e as before.
/ut now, the !eanin was entirely different.
A A A
"he !o!ent <anon entered the infir!ary, %octor *asuyado sent her
an a!iable reetin. )owever, when she saw ,hiaki tied down to the
bed, that +a!iable+ i!pression fled fro! <anon's brain.
+0ensei...... I thouht 'you had no co!bat ability'9+
"his wasn't the first ti!e she unconsciously asked a 1uestion
reardin so!ethin she si!ply didn't understand.
+Oh, you. "his is 'nursin', not 'co!bat', O<9+
+............+ +............+
<anon was not the only one who silently e&chaned a a'e with
so!eone else, nor was she the only one to resist a retort.
+"hen...... I would like to ask that child a few 1uestions, so can you
please let her o and allow her to sit down9+
+0ure.+
-s if e&pressin she knew when to chane the topic, *asuyado s!iled
pleasantly and released ,hiaki. =$hat would have happened if the
conversation kept oin, <anon thouht with a chill.
In order to dispel that notion, <anon ently shook her head and
redirected her a'e to ,hiaki.
+*ou O< fro! two days ao9+
)earin <anon ask, ,hiaki's eyes widened in shock and she hurriedly
tried to hide this by duckin her head. 0he had only #ust reali'ed that
<anon was the one chasin her two days ao in front of the station.
+Eeardless of whether it was the day before or today, you were really
pushin it. -ny !istake would have led to a serious in#ury.+
<anon's words were kind and entle rather than scoldin.
+0till, I can't #ust stand by and watch thins advance to the ne&t level.
(recisely because nothin has happened yet, I had to stop you now.+
"his was the farthest <anon could step back. -s the ,hief of the
(ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee, it was because of this position that she felt
that there was a special duty towards reclai!in underclass!en. If not
for that, based on her personality, she would have lon since forotten
this.
+-ccordin to what you said to 5ibu earlier, your words were that
you didn't want to receive anythin. 0o why did you want to steal the
research data9+
7ven thouh she was personally searchin for the !ost appropriate
words, her opponent was not !oved by this.
+......5y oal wasn't to steal the research data. I #ust wanted to chane
the activation syste!s for the !aic device used for the de!onstration
so that it wouldn't function. I borrowed the password decoder for this
purpose.+
+0o you wanted our school's de!onstration to fail9+
<anon barely !anaed to suppress her e!otions, but beneath her
concerned e&pression, the fla!es of fury were buildin. 0he dared to
choose Isori's perfor!ance stae = <anon's pri!ary !otivation = to
ta!per with. 0he looked to be especially patient today.
+4o. I never wanted it to be #ust a si!ple failure. ......7ven thouh I
don't want to ad!it it, that uy could probably repair this kind of
da!ae. "hat !an has that kind of ability. /ut if he noticed that the
device was inoperable #ust before the !atch bean, surely he would
panic. -ll I wanted was for hi! to stew over this for a few nihts. I
#ust wanted to see his troubled e&pression.+
+%oesn't that constitute as harass!ent9 ......@ortunately nothin
happened, otherwise you !iht face e&pulsion.+
+"hat doesn't !atter. -s lon as I can totally surprise that uy.
/ecause I refuse to allow that uy to have thins o his way.......+
,hiaki screa!ed as she started sobbin on the bed.
<anon helplessly lanced towards Isori.
Isori nodded at <anon fro! his position near the bed where he was
listenin to the conversation and sat on the stool near the bedside.
+)irakawa ,hiaki-san...... *ou are )irakawa <oharu-senpai's youner
sister, riht9+
)er head bowed in tears, ,hiaki's shoulders shook fro! an altoether
different reason.
-s a !e!ber of the "echnician "ea! for the 4ine 0chools
,o!petition, Isori once !et <oharu when servin on the sa!e tea!.
+*ou believe it's 0hiba-kun's fault that your older sister turned out that
way9+
Isori had been present durin the incident and knew the real reason
why <oharu withdrew fro! school, so he i!!ediately knew who
,hiaki was referrin to with +that uy+, +that !an+.
+......$hat other reason could there be.......+
)earin Isori's 1uestion, ,hiaki spoke in a low voice like a curse.
+"hat uy didn't protect <obayakawa-senpai fro! her accident.
(recisely because that !an sat there and watched <obayakawa-senpai
fall, !y sister had to bear the responsibility.......+
Isori wanted to put a hand on ,hiaki's shoulder, but ,hiaki violently
shook hi! off.
>ookin at his re#ected hand, Isori replied with a bitter voice.
+If that incident was 0hiba-kun's responsibility, then I share the bla!e
as well. I did not detect that trap, so includin !e, the entire tea!
would be to bla!e and not #ust 0hiba-kun alone.+
Isori did not say this to defend "atsuya. %urin the 5irae /at event
for the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition, *ear 3 student <obayakawa
suffered an accident and still hadn't recovered her ability to use !aic.
On this point, Isori felt especially uilty for bein one of the
"echnicians present at the ti!e.
+%on't be ridiculous......+
)owever, ,hiaki kept her head bowed as she ridiculed Isori.
<anon spran to her feet, but Isori raised a hand to stop her.
+7ven !y sister didn't know, so it's not Isori-senpai's fault that he
didn't know. /ut that uy has the ability to detect this. '"hat !an' said
so. /ut that uy wouldn't lift a finer to help if it does not pertain to
hi!self or his sister.+
"his ti!e, <anon turned a confused e&pression towards Isori, who
!irrored the e&pression. "he two of the! were co!pletely unable to
co!prehend ,hiaki's words and attitude. /ased on her words, ,hiaki
was al!ost praisin "atsuya's ability, al!ost to the point of adoration
or obsession. "he two of the! were so befuddled that the two of the!
didn't even notice the words +that uy+ in her words.
+7ven thouh he can do anythin he chooses to do nothin...... "hat
!ust be it, he !ust be lauhin at the fallacy of others.+
0eein <anon's eyes that hesitated to speak up, Isori wordlessly shook
his head in reply. Isori !ore or less ot ,hiaki's !eanin. $hen
betrayed by so!eone who! one had co!plete faith in, hu!an beins
would develop a deeper hatred towards the! than to their ene!ies.
7specially like this sort of blind faith.
+In reality, he !ust be able to freely wield !aic, but intentionally
tanked his scores to be a ,ourse 2 student, so he could tra!ple the
pride of ,ourse B and 2 students and ridicule the!. "hat !ust be it.
"hat uy is #ust like that.+
+*es, yes, that's enouh.+
<anon and Isori were both struck speechless by these hateful and
delusional accusations when a co!pletely carefree voice covered
,hiaki's speech.
+I said that's enouh. ,hiyoda, let's continue to!orrow.+
+*asuyoda-sensei......+
+0he'll spend the niht at the university hospital. I'll e&plain to the
parents, so you two can o ho!e. "here's not !uch ti!e left today,
riht9+
<anon wanted to say so!ethin in reards to *asuyoda's suestion,
but Isori stopped her in ti!e. Instead, the two of the! left the
infir!ary.
A A A
In the twin seat bus co!part!ent, >eo sat ne&t to 7rika.
"he feelin of sittin in such a cra!ped situation ne&t to a fe!ale
peer, even so!eone like >eo who favored food over fe!ale co!pany
and action over stillness, wasn't entirely i!!une to this.
7ven knowin the other person was 7rika, he still felt a little
unco!fortable.
4o, he was unco!fortable precisely because this was 7rika.
Ob#ectively speakin, 7rika was also a rare beauty. 5aybe it was her
natural fiure or the result of !artial trainin, but her rouh sittin
posture with one elbow braced on the window sill had a beauty all of
its own.
-dditionally, he could s!ell the faint, sweet s!ell uni1ue to youn
!aidens that ca!e waftin over.
0he was sittin riht there lookin outwards, but he couldn't #ust
inore her, so >eo found his a'e periodically driftin back to 7rika.
>eo was startin to reret cli!bin on board without askin for the
destination.
@ortunately, this awkward silence didn't last for !uch loner.
+......%on't you think it's too si!ple9+
+$hat do you !ean9+
>eo privately sihed in relief when he was able to respond nor!ally to
this sudden 1uestion.
+*esterday, we received intel fro! an unidentified foreiner clai!in
we were infiltrated by spies. "oday, we found a student holdin spyin
e1uip!ent. - student enaed in blatant, clu!sy antics that #ust
screa!ed 'co!e and find !e'.+
+,lu!sy...... I think we spent a lot of ti!e and effort.+
+Idiot. $e spent that catchin her. 4or!ally speakin, she was si!ply
too reckless walkin around with that kind of hackin tool in broad
dayliht.+
+0he is an a!ateur after all.+
+Eeally......+
In reards to the words >eo spoke without thinkin throuh, 7rika
vauely nodded her head but didn't look entirely convinced.
+0o what is it.+
>eo finally noticed that 7rika's stranely obsessive attitude wasn't
so!ethin that could si!ply be treated as a #oke.
+It's not over yet...... "hat child is only the sacrificial pawn.+
+0o she was a decoy to put us off our uard while the real culprit is
so!eone else9+
"his ti!e, silence was assent.
+......"hen, you wanted !e to co!e alon so I could hunt down the
real culprit like a detective9+
+"hat's ludicrous.+
-fter throwin out these shockin words, 7rika finally returned to her
usual self, which was why >eo rela&ed rather than beco!in anry. If
they were to continue as they were in this cra!ped co!part!ent, >eo
would undoubtedly suffer a !ental breakdown.
+I never had that kind of e&pectation for your conitive ability.+
+$hat did you say9+
Eeardless, he wasn't oin to #ust endure those rude words.
+4either of us are think tanks. >eave that kind of stuff to "atsuya.+
/ut she was even referrin to herself as the +knucklehead+, so there
was no re#oinder for that.
+,o!pared to thins we're not suited for, there are other !issions that
we're !ore suitable for.+
"hey both thouht of it with a +(in.+ as both of the! appeared to
have the sa!e loic pattern. =4o !atter how !uch they wanted to
deny it.
+/odyuards, eh.+
=0ince their opponents have already taken ai! at the "hesis
,o!petition, there's no need to chase after the!. $hen the
co!petition is about to take place, their opponents will naturally
reveal the!selves.
+Eather than playin defense, this is !ore like counterattackin.+
=$e #ust have to wait for an opportunity.
+"errifyin wo!an...... *ou're usin "atsuya as bait.+
=0o lon as nothin !a#or happens.
+"atsuya can't be killed even if they tried.+
=4o !atter what they try, "atsuya won't o down that easily.
+)ah, that's true.+
=$e #ust have to focus on catchin the spies.
>eo and 7rika reached an accord throuh the unspoken words between
the lines.
7vil lauhter e!itted fro! the cra!ped co!part!ent.
If "atsuya heard this he would undoubtedly cut off all relations with
the!, but fortunately :9; the !an of the hour wasn't present.
0till, the lauhter 1uickly faded.
+)owever, there's still so!ethin !issin.+
In an instant, 7rika's e&pression rew sole!n as she spoke.
+0o!ethin !issin9+
4oticin the serious nature of the topic, >eo honestly parroted back.
+>eo, you're first class !aterial for infantry. If e1uipped with a short
spear or blade in co!bat, you !ay surpass even )attori-senpai and
<irihara-senpai.+
Eather than bein pleased by such hih praise, >eo was !ore shocked
or even flabberasted.
+*ou possess superior innate 1uality, so you would probably triu!ph
in close 1uarters co!bat within siht rane.+
*et, there was only a few seconds paused for consideration.
+......"hen9 0ince you said innate 1ualities, then you !ust be talkin
about ability now.+
-t >eo's piercin answer, 7rika nodded without betrayin a hint of
surprise.
+I said there's so!ethin !issin, riht9 *ou lack the ability to take
out your opponent in one blow.+
+-n ability to take out !y opponent9+
+-ttacks that can knock out an opponent in one attack, also known as
finishin blows. - techni1ue that will definitely defeat an opponent
and which your ene!y fears above all others. - techni1ue that ives
you a decisive advantae even if you don't use it. ,urrently, you don't
have one.+
+......%o you9+
+Of course. I have a secret sword techni1ue that does not rely on
specific tools and can be used to take out an opponent so lon as I still
have !y hands.+
+7h8......+
+*ou don't have a techni1ue that can definitely kill your opponent,
riht9 "he '5ini-,o!!unicator' "atsuya !ade could be turned into a
lethal weapon after a few !odifications, but even then that's not a
finishin blow.+
"he vehicle turned into a slow lane, which !eant they were
approachin their destination.
+......"hat's true. I don't have the ability to kill !y opponent outriht.+
%urin the incident in -pril, >eo was only providin support in the
back and didn't actually clash with /lanche's !e!bers. )e didn't have
<irihara and 7rika's e&periences in violently rendin flesh and bone.
+%o you have the will to learn such a techni1ue9+
7rika's fir! a'e see!ed to see riht throuh >eo.
+%o you have the resolution to stain your hands with hu!an blood9
"his ti!e, our ene!y will be #ust like that. If we don't have to do
anythin, then all is well and ood. Eeardless of whether it's the
teachers or our senpais, even "atsuya would be on hand to take care of
this. If you don't plan on bein a bystander and want to partake in the
daner, then you need to be ready to kill our ene!y.+
+$hat a ridiculous 1uestion.+
>eo didn't even atte!pt to avoid 7rika's a'e and ave a si!ple,
concise answer.
"he vehicle decelerated and slid to a stop at the bus station.
7rika opened the doors and stepped onto the platfor!.
4e&t ca!e >eo, only to be reeted by the scent of the tides.
<anaawa is very close to the sea, >eo thouht before he could verify
the station na!e.
/efore hi!, 7rika ca!e to halt and turned around.
+"hen, allow !e to teach you.+
/ehind her, the sun's rays passed over 7rika's shoulders.
+0ecret "echni1ue - 6suba <aerou...... I uarantee that this will fit
you perfectly.+
7rika declared.
A A A
"he sun had already set on the road ho!e leadin to the bus station
that was illu!inated by streetlihts.
"oday, instead of >eo and 7rika, it was <anon and Isori who walked
with the!.
+......0o that's the !otive.+
-fter hearin the details fro! the hesitant <anon, "atsuya nodded in
co!prehension.
+$hat is that. "hat's co!pletely tra!plin over your ood intentions.+
+0trictly speakin, she was pro#ectin her rae onto you9+
4e&t to the enraed )onoka was 0hi'uku, who was tiltin her head in
confusion. @or the two of the!, ,hiaki's words were utterly
nonsensical.
+0he couldn't live with herself if she didn't do that......+
+0he !ust dearly love her sister...... 7ven thouh I cannot condone
what )irakawa-san did, I can so!ewhat understand her feelins.+
On the other hand, 5ikihiko and 5i'uki responded with al!ost
co!passionate words.
"atsuya observed the interestin dichoto!y between the opinions
fro! the ,ourse B and 2 students, but naturally he couldn't let anyone
know he found this fascinatin.
+7ven if that's the case, there shouldn't be a proble! if we #ust let her
be, riht9+
"atsuya's words weren't directed at this particular incident, but what to
do afterwards.
)earin "atsuya's opinion, <anon and Isori both nodded.
+7ven thouh you were the taret9+
<anon's 1uestion was inter!i&ed with concern and a!a'e!ent.
@or so!e reason, "atsuya looked apoloetic as he shook his head.
+,orrect...... 7veryone was pulled into this because I was the taret.
0till, this won't constitute a proble! since !y safeuards can't be
broken by the password decoder's brute force !ethods.+
+4o, I'! not talkin about the operational safety of the device since I
also asked the "echnical Eesearch ,lub to look it over, so I'! not
worried on that account...... /ut once they know they can't break
throuh, they'll take !ore desperate options. 0ince )irakawa-senpai is
the root cause, if she can persuade her sister then I think that would be
for the best......+
$ith his brows knit = !ost people would be struck speechless at this
:char!in9; e&pression that !ushroo!ed needless worries = Isori
provided the !ost effective counter!easure, but "atsuya still shook
his head.
+>et's end )irakawa-senpai's involve!ent riht here. 7ven thouh
they are siblins, she has no direct connection or responsibility for
what occurred.+
0trictly speakin, the older )irakawa wasn't entirely unrelated to the
reason why her sister went off the deep end.
"hat's why Isori was so !oved by "atsuya's words to +let the issue
drop+.
+7h8, so you are a entle person.+
"his wasn't a #oke on <anon's part. 0he was sincerely astonished.
0eein the slihtly !iffed 5iyuki duck off where the upperclass!en
couldn't see her without a word, "atsuya shook his head for the third
ti!e.
+I #ust feel that this could beco!e even !ore troubleso!e. -lso, our
recent lurkers are not restricted to only the youner sister of the
)irakawa siblins.+
-lthouh they didn't detect any suspicious individuals, Isori and
5ikihiko both felt a sliht enery fluctuation = an une&pected psion
wave.
+......0houldn't you take bodyuards after all9+
)e wasn't shakin because of the dilation in the air but because Isori's
face let slip his falterin, which ave proof to the fact that "atsuya's
hint wasn't directed to the obtuse <anon, as he asked back.
+"here's no use. $ithout so!eone with 0aeusa-senpai's sensory
abilities, it will be very difficult to catch the one shadowin us.+
"atsuya shook his head for the fourth ti!e to subtly hint that there was
no one they could call on for assistance.
A A A
In a certain Hapanese restaurant located in the 0hinaawa %istrict that
was neither in the city outskirts nor a hih class restaurant in
*okoha!a, a certain !an in his forties and a youth in his !id-twenties
!et up with another youn !an in his early twenties.
+5y apoloies, have you been waitin lon9+
"he youn !an see!ed to have #ust arrived. /ased on his earlier
words, he appeared to be 1uite e!barrassed. 7ven so, there was no
sin he was kowtowin to his uests and was !ore like a dinified
heir of a well-to-do fa!ily e&chanin polite reetins.
+-h, no, we've #ust arrived as well.+
"he older !an replied back. Eeardless of whether his words were
appropriate, his attitude was arroant in the e&tre!e. 7ven if this
wasn't entirely coarse, this would still 1ualify as incredibly rude, but
the !an in 1uestion would have taken any accusations of boorishness
or i!petuosity in stride. Hust like that, the last and hihly capable
youn !an in his !id twenties also sat down without a word.
+>et's keep this short, 5r. Chou.+
"he older !an spoke to the youner !an.
+Is that youn lady reliable9+
+I can perfectly understand 5aster ,hen's concerns.+
Chou s!oothly defused the !an's forceful 1uestion.
+)owever, that irl is entirely inorant of us, so there's no daner of
any leaks.+
+Oh9+
-t Chou's une&pectedly confident answer, ,hen watched hi! with
#udicious eyes.
+In that case, then that collaborator did 1uite well.+
+"hat's the ae when they are ruled by passion. "hey are in a sensitive
phase where they wish to display their own value, so in order to !ake
the!selves !ore conspicuous, they rather tell others than be told and
wish others to understand the! rather than the other way around.+
-nd that was why they tauht her this and that, but Chou didn't
!ention this as he s!iled thinly with a hint of self loathin in his
e&pression. )owever, his voice never ave a hint of this.
+0ince 5r. Chou said so, then there shouldn't be any proble!s. 0till,
I'! still concerned that so!ethin should happen on the off chance.+
+I understand. I will personally e&a!ine the situation soon.+
Chou respectfully bowed, an attitude that pleased ,hen very !uch.
@ollowin that, ,hen pressed the rintone button to !ake his order.
Chou had lon since noticed the sharp a'e fro! the youn !an to his
side, >u Ionhu, but the only thin that appeared on his face was a
sliht s!ile while his countenance never slipped for a !o!ent.
Chapter 6
%urin lunch break, the student cafeteria at !aic hih school differed
a little fro! a nor!al hih school or even a !iddle school :which !ay
be because institutions for upper class education for children were all
the sa!e;.
It was filled with disorderly chaos and noise.
*et, there was a pocket of order within this chaos.
"he area around the entrance of the cafeteria suddenly stilled, an
at!osphere centered entirely around one person.
In the open student cafeteria, the one who possessed the ability to
influence the at!osphere of a sinle area = or the ability to do!inate
= was none other than 5iyuki, who was puttin her beauty on
display !ore often these days.
,o!pletely heedless of the a'es tossed her way by those she passed
by, 5iyuki directly advanced towards the table where "atsuya was
waitin.
+Onii-sa!a, I apoloi'e for !akin you wait so lon.+
"atsuya s!iled and waved his hand at 5iyuki's i!peccable eti1uette.
/ehind 5iyuki, )onoka nervously dipped her head in reetin while
0hi'uku ave an i!perceptible nod that would easily have been
!issed if he hadn't been payin attention.
"atsuya's roup would et the table first, followed by 5iyuki's roup
!eetin up with the!. "his for!at wasn't so!ethin decided ahead of
ti!e, as the reverse was also a fre1uent occurrence at a rouhly DQO
ratio.
)owever, 5iyuki al!ost never failed to #oin "atsuya wherever he
was.
+-h, 5iyuki. *ou're here.+
+*es, we #ust arrived, 5i'uki.+
-s if on cue, 5i'uki and 5ikihiko returned with their !eals.
+"hen, I'll o et !ine.+
0witchin places with 5i'uki and 5ikihiko, "atsuya stood up and
visually ured the! +let's o+.
>eadin three beautiful youn ladies towards the buffet area, "atsuya
was sub#ected to an entirely different sort of stare than 5iyuki
received.
/y the ti!e the four of the! returned, the only two people to reet
the! were 5i'uki and 5ikihiko.
+7rika and 0ai#ou are still practicin9+
0ince she didn't see the two of the!, )onoka asked with concern.
0till, she wasn't particularly worried, since it's not like everyone was
always present durin lunch. @or e&a!ple, these past couple of days
"atsuya was busy workin on the stae devices :!akin syste!
ad#ust!ents would be !ore accurate;, so he didn't fre1uent the
cafeteria :5iyuki naturally followed "atsuya;.
On so!e level, based on the rela&ed for!at of !odern education, it
was 1uite nor!al for students to have individual plans after instruction
was over.
)onoka's 1uestion was synony!ous to sayin +we have fine weather
today+, and was only !eant to be a conversation starter. =)owever.
+-h, those two are probably restin today.+
"atsuya's thorouhly une&pected answer caused a flash of e&cite!ent
to spark in )onoka's eyes.
+-h, the two of the! toether9+
+"he two of the! toether.+
)onoka's e&pectant eyes 1uickly discerned "atsuya see!ed to
!isunderstand her words at so!e point.
@ollowin that, she revealed a !ischievous s!ile and intentionally
!odified her speakin pattern with a lofty air.
+It !iht not be an accident, riht9+
0hi'uku tilted her head and !ur!ured to herself. %espite her easy-
oin tone, her eyes were also very e&cited.
+7h, is that how it is.9+
+5i'uki, even if you asked !e, there is no way I would know.+
-t 5i'uki's wide-eyed 1uestion, 5iyuki could only reply with a wry
s!ile. -s 5i'uki was in the sa!e class and 5iyuki wasn't, 5iyuki's
response was only to be e&pected.
+-h, you're riht.+
- be!used 5i'uki used her eyes to search for a taret who would
have the answer.
+............+ +............+ +............+
+7h9 4o, I don't think there's anythin special about that.+
"he four wo!en see!ed to be in cahoots as all their eyes fell on
5ikihiko, who frantically replied back.
+0peakin of which, the two of the! went ho!e toether yesterday.+
-nd then, "atsuya threw even !ore fuel onto the fire.
$ow, Eeally, -h, a!id the fren'y their friends went into, 5iyuki
watched her brother with a entle a'e.
%id you accu!ulate too !uch stress9 "hat a'e see!ed to ask, but
"atsuya pretended not to see her and turned his head.
+/ut why would 7rika-chan and >eo-kun suddenly need to rest9+
+Indeed. 0ince it's these two we're talkin about, they wouldn't #ust
suddenly fall sick.+
-fter everyone finished eatin their !eals and proceeded to the after
!eal tea ti!e, +the two of the! restin toether+ once !ore inited
their passions.
+I think we're ettin worked up over nothin. 0till, at least until
yesterday, the two of the! showed no sins of any abnor!alities.+
5ikihiko and "atsuya both arrived at the conclusion that +it's not an
illness+.
+Of course, there is still an outside chance that is true.+
"houh )onoka was the one who spoke to "atsuya, the one who
answered her was 0hi'uku.
+"here's also the chance that this isn't a coincidence.+
+"hat's also true.+
(robability bounced off probability and )onoka's conversation partner
chaned fro! "atsuya to 0hi'uku.
+4ow that you !ention it, if 'not coincidental', would the two of the!
be enaed in such close behavior9+
+I don't think that's strane even if it did happen, but......+
+)!, yeah, I think so too.+
0hi'uku's a'e in1uired +what do you think+ fro! 5i'uki, hence she
hurriedly e&pressed her aree!ent.
+/ut, if the two of the! are toether riht now, what are they doin9+
)earin 5iyuki say this with a entle tilt of her head, 5i'uki and
5ikihiko blushed one after the other.
+*ou two, what are you thinkin of9+
+4o, no, nothin at all.+
+*-*es. 4othin at all.+
+$ell, foret it.+
-t their blatantly obvious reactions, 5iyuki sihed and turned her
eyes back to her brother.
+$ell, looks like both of the! are thinkin of the sa!e thin. 7ven
thouh there's no evidence in this area, but !aybe >eo has his sihts
on 7rika.+
"atsuya #oked with a wink.
+)aha, that !iht be possible.+
5iyuki's lips also curled into a s!ile.
A A A
"atsuya's abilities did not include the +-ll 0eein 7ye+.
0till, he was capable of si!ilar feats.
Hust as !aic isn't affected by physical distance, sensory abilities
throuh the infor!ation di!ension are not affected by physical
pro&i!ity either. 0o lon as the taret has been locked on throuh the
infor!ation di!ension, one could +see+ the taret no !atter how far
away they were. @or e&a!ple, a powerful telescope could see the
!oon's surface, and if it could ho!e onto a lunar landin vehicle, then
one would be able to see the status of that vehicle on the !oon's
surface :in reality, such a powerful telescope does not e&ist;.
)owever, at this !o!ent, it was pure coincidence that he wasn't
secretly watchin what 7rika and >eo were doin.
+)ey, you're distracted aain.+
7rika scolded her opponent who knelt at her feet holdin his head.
+88"hat hurt...... I've said this enouh ti!es. 6se your !outh before
usin your hand. $hat do you think lanuae is used for.+
+"hat's because you wouldn't understand even if I said it.+
+%on't think for a second that sockin !e would !ake it sink in.+
-nd so, >eo's ob#ection slowly lost stea! until he finally ave up.
"his was partially because he was bein tauht and had no basis for
resistance, but the !ain reason was the defeatist air surroundin his
repeated failures.
+"hat's true. >et's take a break.+
*et 7rika never felt that >eo was inco!petent. 0he likely knew very
well how hard it was to learn a new techni1ue.
+)ere.+
+Oh, thanks.+
7rika ave a lukewar! bottle of water to >eo, who had #ust flopped
down on the do#o floor, before standin before hi! in her kendo
unifor!.
+*ou were able to do this when wearin that cloak...... 0o the situation
is that different9+
7rika unconsciously !entioned this aloud, but >eo frowned in
displeasure upon hearin this.
+*ou !ean durin the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition9+
4o !atter the result, his outward appearance was so!ethin that >eo
desperately wanted to foret. 0till, since this had so!ethin to do with
the techni1ue he was learnin, he couldn't #ust pretend to have
forotten.
+-t the ti!e, the cloak wasn't straiht like a !etal plate, nor did the
creases affect its ability to serve as a shield. >ooks like so!e sort of
assistance !aic was incorporated into the fabric.+
7rika !aintained her sittin position and rubbed her chin with her
finers.
+)!8, while we can also add assistance !aic spells, it would still be
far faster to ask "atsuya.+
+4o, don't do that.+
>eo shook his head at the words that slipped fro! 7rika's !outh.
+"his ti!e, if we bothered "atsuya then the entire thin beco!es
pointless. If castin assistance !aic is all that's necessary, then let !e
invoke that spell.+
+)ow !anly.+
7rika chuckled.
"his une&pectedly brilliant s!ile forced >eo to avert his a'e.
A A A
"oday was 0aturday, but school was still in session. 5aic hih
schools haven't adopted the two days off per week for!at.
7ven thouh he still had to attend class :includin practical skills;
today, "atsuya still visited *aku!o's te!ple. )e even had 5iyuki in
tow today.
-ctually, he had been invited by *aku!o to test the renovated +lon
rane ki attack+ trainin rounds.
"here were very few locations to train !aic shootin with live
a!!unition. 7specially for so!eone who couldn't use trainin
facilities on ca!pus like "atsuya :+5ist %ispersal+ was definitely out
of the 1uestion on ca!pus;, it would be opti!al if he found a local
area for shootin practice without headin all the way out to
"suchiura.
"houh 5iyuki was different than her brother in that she didn't have
to hide her abilities, the ca!pus practice facilities for students and
clubs didn't allow her to brin her full !iht to bear. In addition, the
!aic she e&celled in was closer to wide-area !aic rather than
tareted snipin. 0ince she usually lacked a venue or ti!e for shootin
practice, "atsuya pulled her alon sayin that +this is an e&cellent
opportunity+.
"he trainin area was set underround, beneath the !ain hall for the
te!ple, and occupied 1uite a lare area.
+=<ya. =*ou.+
"hey should say as e&pected of *aku!o's te!ple, as the secret
trainin area used by nin#as was vastly different than their school's
facilities.
Eefusin to ad!it defeat, sweat strea!ed down 5iyuki's face as she
was breathin hoarsely.
)avin rolled several ti!es, her neat hair had beco!e unke!pt.
"his was a s1uare-shaped area.
"hree of the four walls and the ceilin had nu!erous holes where
tarets ca!e out. :"hey weren't on all four walls because there were
very few actual conditions where one was co!pletely surrounded by
the ene!y. In an actual fiht, one should have retreated lon before
this occurred.;
7ach ti!e, do'ens of tarets would appear, only to hide the!selves
after one second.
Hust tryin to take all of the! out was a chore by itself, and there was
even a devious condition that any re!ainin tarets would retaliate
with shots of their own.
-lthouh 5iyuki !anaed to block all the !erciless retaliatory shots,
there were still !ultiple instances where she fell down tryin to switch
between offense and defense.
+O<, let's stop there.+
-t the ti!e *aku!o ave the sinal to stop the trainin device,
5iyuki couldn't help but powerlessly sit on the floor. "he trainin
difficulty appeared to be set a tad too hih.
+Iood work.+
+-h, Onii-sa!a, I'! sorry.+
5iyuki hurriedly took the towel "atsuya handed to her.
-fter handin her the towel, "atsuya used his other hand to clasp his
sister's hand and ently pulled her raceful fiure to her feet.
+-h, thank you very !uch.+
+*ou appear unin#ured.+
-fter takin a look at his sister standin there in a thin trainin shirt
and pants that fell to her knees, "atsuya s!iled as he spoke to his
sister, who was ettin her breathin back under control.
5iyuki's flushed visae wasn't entirely caused by her recent strenuous
activity, thouh did "atsuya !anae to notice that9
Of course, there was no answer to that 1uestion.
4oddin his head at his sister's concise answer of +I'! fine+, "atsuya
walked towards the center of the platfor!.
5iyuki wasn't displeased by this aloof attitude.
"hey didn't co!e here to play around.
If she caused her brother to be unduly worried on her behalf, then she
was doin hi! a disservice.
Of course, such a thin would never happen.
-s "atsuya lihtly paced forward, he drew his favored ,-% before his
chest.
)e bent his elbow and adopted a ready position.
$ithout waitin for 5iyuki to leave the platfor!, the trainin session
bean without any sinal iven.
"hree of the walls sent out orb-shaped tarets.
"hey were i!!ediately disinterated the !o!ent they appeared.
"atsuya reached out his riht ar! and adopted a shootin position.
)e only s1uee'ed the trier = pressed down on the ,-% button
only once.
"welve tarets were deco!posed #ust like that.
4ot !issin a beat, tarets shot out of the ceilin and the walls.
"his ti!e there were twenty four.
"atsuya didn't ai! at any individual taret and !erely s1uee'ed the
,-%'s trier. "hen, he dashed aside to avoid the powdery debris.
-s he turned, he raised his riht ar! upwards and pressed the trier.
>ike they were tryin to replace the aps for!ed by the ruined orbs,
swar!s of orbs repeatedly !ateriali'ed.
"wice, thrice, he continued to s1uee'e the trier ti!e and aain.
)owever, even when all the tarets had been e&hausted, not a sinle
retaliatory shot was fired.
+Onii-sa!a, that was a!a'in.+
-fter the device ca!e to a halt, 5iyuki fairly flew towards where
"atsuya lowered his ,-%.
+0eriously, a co!plete victory. Is even that level of difficulty not
enouh9+
*aku!o followed behind with a bitter e&pression on his face.
"atsuya s!iled in response to 5iyuki and !oved towards *aku!o.
+"his is !y area of e&pertise after all, but even then it was still a
stretch. $ho ca!e up with this devious layout that takes advantae of
the blind spots9+
+I ot the desin fro! <a'a!a-kun.+
+I see, so this is 0anada's work.+
"hinkin of the technoloy officer with the candid s!ile who was one
of the wiliest within the Independent 5aic-71uipped /attalion,
"atsuya !ur!ured 1uietly.
-s *aku!o's face rela&ed to hide his +so you know+ reaction, 5iyuki
stepped between the two.
+0peakin of which, Onii-sa!a, when could you handle 3D tarets at
the sa!e ti!e9+
"hese words weren't out of concern for her brother but !ore because
she couldn't contain her e&cite!ent.
+I re!e!ber that 2O was your li!it three !onths ao.+
5iyuki was referrin to the nu!ber of tarets that could be sniped by
!aic at the sa!e ti!e. 7ven thouh the 0peciali'ed ,-% was shaped
like a handun, that did not !ean the !aic was fired fro! the
!u''le. If this was a Ienerali'ed ,-%, it !iht not even be in the
shape of a un.
5odern !aic in the for! of the @our Ireat 0yste!s and 7iht 5a#or
"ypes relied on 7idos !anipulation of the chosen taret rather than
usin !aic bullets to shoot at a taret. "hus, so lon as one could
focus on the tareted pheno!enon, it was possible to taret !ultiple
instances of the sa!e pheno!enon.
"o acco!plish this, each of the replicated tarets needed to be defined
and considered si!ultaneously.
Eather than lu!pin all the tarets toether and identifyin all the
pheno!ena toether and chanin the! at once, !aic needed to be
applied to each individual taret, so it was necessary to identify the
subtle differences between each of the!.
If the nu!ber of the tarets was only one diit, then anyone could
acco!plish this with sufficient trainin. -nythin above that was the
real! where 1ualities other than !aic were re1uired, as even addin
one taret beca!e incredibly difficult.
5iyuki's eyes shone brilliantly. 4eedless to say, this was her bro-con
personality on full throttle.
)owever, "atsuya only lauhed and shook his head at his sister's
1uestion.
+4o, althouh this opponent does actually retaliate, it is !ore like they
were set to wait to retaliate. In live co!bat without any breaks in
between, currently 2O is already !y li!it.+
+(lease don't be so hu!ble. 7ven if that's the case, even with the
trainin set towards waitin to retaliate, I can only !anae BD at a
ti!e. Onii-sa!a is truly a!a'in.+
+)ey, flattery won't et anythin fro! !e. *ou are capable of usin
!aic at a wider scale than I can, and if you weren't constantly
keepin an eye on !e, you would be able to do this too. In ter!s of
defense, you are far ahead of !e, aren't you9+
+In that case, can't Onii-sa!a reach even farther than I can by
increasin the level of interference9+
*aku!o's wry lauhter cut throuh their eni!atic conversation.
+)ey, you two re!e!ber that the walls have ears, riht9+
"he two of the! shared e!barrassed e&pressions, then e&chaned
knowin s!iles.
-fterwards, the siblins left the trainin rounds in the base!ent and
ca!e to the corridor where *aku!o's roo! was.
*aku!o was undoubtedly the one who led the! here. 7ven thouh
*aku!o clai!ed that he would brin the! tea after trainin, the very
fact that they were in his private 1uarters rather than the !ain hall
hinted that this odd esture entailed so!ethin special, "atsuya
thouht.
+*ou two still have to o to school, so I'll keep this short.+
-fter brinin tea for three, *aku!o sat ne&t to "atsuya and cut to the
heart of the !atter.
+It appears you have received 1uite a special ite!.+
$hile there was no way to confir! that the +special ite!+ *aku!o
spoke of was the 5aata!a, he wasn't overly surprised or astonished.
"here was no way one could associate with *aku!o if they were
shocked by co!!ents on such a level.
+-re you talkin about the ite! placed in !y care9+
"atsuya frankly and directly confir!ed that he possessed the ite!
*aku!o spoke of. "here was no point in tryin to play fast and loose
with *aku!o, so!ethin that "atsuya had learned throuh lon
e&perience. >ikewise, "atsuya also knew that *aku!o did not favor
individuals who enaed in pointless conversation to discover other
people's secrets.
+If that is the case, I advise you to return that as 1uickly as possible. If
you !ust hold onto it, store it so!ewhere other than your ho!e.+
-lthouh "atsuya knew that *aku!o would warn hi!, the seriousness
in *aku!o's voice surpassed his e&pectations. 0urprise and an&iety
welled up inside his body and he couldn't help but straihten his body
in front of *aku!o.
+"here's no sin that so!eone is on to us.+
"atsuya's co!!ent contained the subtle in1uiry +Is so!eone spyin
on us9+. 0ince he received a painful :physical; lesson durin the
0ayuri incident, he had beun to prudently !onitor the auras around
hi! recently. )owever, e&cludin a few !inor incidents, at least no
!a#or threat like *aku!o hinted at had !ateriali'ed yet.
+"hat's because they're bein very cautious and not because they're
lackin in talent.+
*aku!o's reply not only served as a warnin to their opponent's
capabilities, it also hinted that he was on their trail.
+$ho are they...... I suppose it would be pointless for !e to even ask.+
+4ot entirely pointless.+
*aku!o's response was entirely theatrical, but "atsuya did not fret.
On the other side, *aku!o saw that "atsuya didn't take the bait, so he
slowly went with the hook +)!, in that case......+
+I'll ive you another piece of advice, if the ene!y appears before you,
be very wary of their bearin.+
+/earin...... Is it9+
"he one who asked in surprise was 5iyuki.
"atsuya was also curious as to the answer of that 1uestion, so he
wordlessly lanced at *aku!o.
+"he price will be considerably hiher if you want to ask !ore
1uestions.+
*et *aku!o didn't answer 5iyuki's 1uestion.
A A A
"here were ? days until the "hesis ,o!petition.
"he support level for the live de!onstration on stae had practically
reached full !obili'ation for the school.
"here were people in chare of creatin the co!ponents for the
device, people actin out the stae perfor!ance, people servin as the
audience, people who directed transportation and handed out
lunchbo&es, anyone in the indoor ca!p who couldn't appear in the
4ine 0chools ,o!petition was there puttin their talents to full use.
On the other hand, athletic students also had their own !ission to
acco!plish and were also ivin it their all. 7ven the core !e!bers
who usually didn't have to prepare were sweatin it out in practice #ust
in case they were needed.
"here was an outdoor trainin facility standin on the re!odeled hill
ne&t to the school. 5aic hih schools were not !ilitary or police
trainin acade!ies, but there was still a considerable a!ount of people
who proressed in that direction, hence the need for both indoor and
outdoor facilities.
$ithin this artificial forest, 5ikihiko hid his presence and watched the
upperclass!an who was his trainin partner.
)e was hidden within the shadows of the trees, but his opponent stood
e&posed in the !iddle of open terrain. Hust and honorable, that
description fit hi! perfectly. )e was able to inti!idate 5ikihiko
without even lookin in this direction.
)is trainin opponent was the ,lub -ctivities Iroup >eader, Huu!on#i
<atsuto.
%urin this "hesis ,o!petition, <atsuto served as the supre!e
co!!ander for all security personnel fro! the nine schools. 0ince he
was to work alonside representatives fro! other schools, he needed
to practice leadin fro! the front in order to inspire the other students
selected as security personnel and bolster their !orale.
5ikihiko was selected as his opponent larely due to his outstandin
perfor!ance durin the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition.
)owever, he wasn't <atsuto's only trainin opponent.
In the beinnin, there were ten aainst one. "hirty !inutes later,
seven had already been defeated.
5ikihiko had already launched several lon rane attacks, but even
thouh he hadn't received a sinle attack yet, he was already covered
in sweat.
-nd cold sweat to boot.
:"oo an&ious, eh.;
$hen he heard that he had been selected as a trainin opponent, he
al!ost leaped for #oy. - *ear B student, and a ,ourse 2 student too,
who had not #oined any !aic co!petition club would have found it
nearly i!possible to be for the opportunity to serve as the trainin
partner for the Huu!on#i @a!ily's ne&t heir.
4ot only did he nod in thanks to 0awaki, who brouht the news, he
also viorously bowed.
Of course, he knew very well that he couldn't stand on an e1ual
footin with <atsuto. "hus, he planned to ive this his all and learn
fro! this e&perience.
)owever=
:Eela&. "his is !ock co!bat.;
@ro! the very start, 5ikihiko constantly re!inded hi!self of that.
<atsuto was holdin back. 4one of the seven defeated individuals
suffered serious in#ury. 7ven with that in !ind, 5ikihiko was al!ost
crushed by the pressure <atsuto was e&ertin.
"his wasn't because 5ikihiko felt that he was weak, but because he
felt the overwhel!in pressure radiatin fro! <atsuto. "hree !inutes
ao, a *ear B student fro! the )undred @a!ilies panicked in the face
of that pressure and was defeated after recklessly attackin.
$ithout noticin it, 5ikihiko's breath beca!e raed. "he sound of
his breathin had risen in volu!e until it was easily discernible.
)e 1uickly noticed this proble! and hurriedly hushed hi!self.
Only two or three sounds escaped durin that interval.
7ven indoors, this was a volu!e that would not travel !ore than B
!eter out.
%espite that, <atsuto's eyes truly drifted towards the trees where
5ikihiko was hidin hi!self.
,old sweat ran down 5ikihiko's back aain. 0lowin !odulatin his
breathin, 5ikihiko concentrated everythin on his siht and hearin.
)e didn't have the courae to use !aic to find out. 7ven if his
opponent knew where he was, he didn't have audacity to announce
hi!self unless his opponent directly saw his face.
)e used his ears to carefully discern the air flow.
"hrouh the fabric of his pants, he could feel the sliht vibrations in
the earth throuh his knees, but this wasn't enouh.
)e used his eyes to read the sliht fluctuations that wouldn't disrupt
the air flow, his nose and tonue to taste the chanes in the che!ical
ratio within the air itself.
5ikihiko raised his five senses and co!bined that with his si&th sense
to et an accurate readin of the situation.
/etrayin neither a hint of an&iety nor e&tre!e caution, <atsuto
steadily advanced to 5ikihiko's location.
:"hree, two, one, now.;
5entally countin down, 5ikihiko pressed his riht hand into the
earth.
)e trans!itted the sinal down the line and pu!ped psions into the
!aic for!ation.
"he conditionally activated !aic that he planted before hidin in the
shade activated upon receivin the psion sure fro! the caster.
In order to hold <atsuto, four pillars of earth erupted around hi!.
"hese pillars were to his southeast, southwest, northwest, and
northeastF they were the perfect positions for the four ates of earth,
!an, heaven, and de!on.
In the ne&t instant, the circular area where <atsuto was standin
suddenly sank into the round.
-ncient 5aic +7arth (it+.
"his was not a techni1ue that concealed hi!self within the e!brace of
the earth, but a spell that plu!!eted the ene!y into an earthen tunnel,
disruptin the senses and ha!perin !ove!ent to buy ti!e to escape.
-ainst an inferior opponent, this would be sufficient to co!pletely
restrict their !ove!ent and capture the!. )owever, 5ikihiko wasn't
opti!istic enouh to believe that he could achieve anythin beyond
buyin ti!e with Huu!on#i as his opponent. 5ikihiko wasn't self-
delusional about his own abilities.
$ithout wastin ti!e to verify the effects of the invoked !aic,
5ikihiko fled at full speed.
$hich was the correct #ud!ent.
-fter the dust cloud passed, a pile of dirt stood within the round
chas! in the earth, and <atsuto could be seen standin there without a
speck of dust on hi!.
)is barrier had co!pletely blocked the attack that used the earth as a
!ediu!.
0till, it was also true that he lost visual on his fleein opponent.
<atsuto s!iled slihtly and used his barrier's reverse reaction to
slihtly float up and return to the surface.
In order to prevent accidents and provide !edical assistance, there
were people !annin the indoor and outdoor observation ca!eras
durin !aic !ock battles.
+)eh8......+
$atchin the !onitor, 5ari sihed.
"he fact that he could survive this lon as a *ear B student was a
testa!ent to 5ikihiko's abilities.
)is superlative ability that surpassed the boundary between ,ourse B
and 2 students had already been proven durin the 4ine 0chools
,o!petition.
*et, seein hi! in live co!bat aain, it was easy to see that the effects
of his uni1ue way of applyin !aic far e&ceeded e&pectations.
+)e possesses a different caliber of talent than "atsuya-kun. $e have a
lot of interestin students in this year's batch.+
5ari's lips curled upwards at 5ayu!i's words.
+If we had to separate the! out, how ironic that the !ore interestin
ones are ,ourse 2 students.+
)earin this, 5ayu!i revealed a sour s!ile.
+"hat's incorrect, 5ari. In ter!s of co!bined skills, the nu!ber of
talented ,ourse B students is still hiher. $e're ettin this i!pression
only because there are several uni1ue ability users who are
particularly conspicuous.+
5ayu!i's e&planation was riht on the dot, pro!ptin 5ari's nod with
an air of +I see+. "hen she once !ore directed her a'e to the !onitor.
+0till, that uy is undeniably !ore 'useful' than the other *ear B
students. 4icely put, birds of a feather flock toether.+
+$ith the e&periences fro! the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition under his
belt, even the teachers have re!arked on *oshida-kun's !assive
i!prove!ent. I wish that sort of positive influence continues to
spread.+
+"hat uy isn't the type to e&hibit leadership 1ualities.+
+If I had to say, he's the type that !ass produces ene!ies.+
On the !onitor ne&t to where 5ari and 5ayu!i were e&chanin wry
s!iles, 5ikihiko had been forced into a corner and was !akin his
last stand.
A A A
In the do#o that beloned to the )undred @a!ily's +5aic
0words!an+ ,hiba @a!ily, >eo also directly ca!e here today instead
of oin to school. Includin the s!all break for lunch, >eo spent si&
hours sweatin and swinin a bokken. "he bokken he was swinin
had a !etal core and even the usual swords!an could only use it for
three continuous hours. 7ven 7rika, who was usually hihly critical
towards hi!, could e&press her a!a'e!ent at >eo's incredible
physical sta!ina and !ental concentration.
+O<, let's stop.+
>eo halted his hands at 7rika's sinal and let out a deep breath.
)e accepted the towel 7rika offered hi! and !opped at his sweat.
+*ou're really oin at it despite havin no e&perience with
swords!anship.+
)er words were not entle, but 7rika's tone didn't carry her usual
teasin tone and was purely an e&pression of her opinion.
-lthouh >eo understood this very well, he still shrued his
shoulders and answered in his usual cursory !anner.
+,o!pared to everyone here I'! definitely rated as a newco!er. 7ven
if I haven't swun a sword, nor!al club activities often use ice picks
and cla!ps.+
+Ice picks I understand, but cla!ps9 ......$hat the heck is the
5ountaineerin ,lub doin9+
+On that point, I don't find anythin particularly odd....... @ro! an
endurance perspective, I suppose both sides are e1ual.+
Hust as he said, 7rika wasn't #ust standin there watchin >eo swin a
sword. 0he stood opposite >eo and swun a sword to de!onstrate the
!otion. >eo was watchin 7rika's !otions and doin his best to
replicate hers.
+5y bokken is lihter, and I would 1uickly ive up if I was swinin
the sa!e thin you are.+
7rika tossed the bokken she was usin to >eo as she said this.
@rantically catchin the bokken 7rika suddenly tossed to hi!, >eo
used one hand to lihtly swin the blade to check its weiht. -
befuddled e&pression spread across his face.
+It really is liht...... )owever, bein too liht !akes it difficult to
wield with two hands.+
+"here's a !ethod behind the !adness.+
7rika's response was neither hu!ble nor cute as she used a hand to
wipe away at the sweat on her face. Owin to the heat, she tued the
collar of her kendo unifor! to fan so!e air. 7ven thouh her
underar!ents and flesh weren't visible, >eo still turned his face in
another direction.
0ince he paid e&tra heed to avoid 7rika's detection, even if she saw
>eo's suspicious behavior, she wasn't e!barrassed in the slihtest. "he
two of the! had been class!ates for over half a year, so 7rika knew
that althouh >eo was a youth with a brus1ue appearance, he actually
had a surprisinly innocent and stubborn streak. In 7rika's esti!ation,
even if the wo!en's chanin roo! hadn't been latched co!pletely
and left a crack, >eo was the type that wouldn't take a peek even if he
was alone. "hat bein said, 7rika was still irked by >eo's attitude
when he obviously averted his a'e.
+......$here the heck are you lookin.9+
+-h9.+
>eo faltered at 7rika's displeased a'e and 1uestion.
+-h, n-nothin, I didn't see anythin.+
>eo's panicky state only served to co!pound 7rika's e!barrass!ent.
0he was still a pure !aiden at heart.
+I know you didn't see anythin. $hat I'! tellin you is to not lance
all over the place with no reason.+
+Oh, err, sorry.+
-n awkward silence occupied the space between the two of the!.
4evertheless, 7rika wasn't the kind of person to be hesitant with
words.
+......>et's start the ne&t trainin phase.+
6nder 7rika's hawkish a'e, >eo didn't look overly harried and
!anaed to rela&.
+It's about ti!e to practice slashin the straw du!!ies.+
+,orrect, co!e over here.+
7rika led hi! to the ne&t roo! where a network of straw bundles
awaited the!. "his roo! was set up to accurately reflect the i!pact of
the blade dependin on stabbin or how the blade !ade connection. In
order to !a&i!i'e the realis! behind each swin, there was no way to
brin out its full potential without this setup. "hese conditions were
interal in order to teach >eo the techni1ue +6suba <aerou+.
+)ere, this is a real sword, so be careful.+
"his ti!e there was no way she was oin to toss it, so 7rika held the
center of the hilt and handed the drawn sword to >eo.
6sin his riht hand to clasp the botto! of the uard and the left hand
to clasp the end of the blade, >eo received the sword with two hands.
+*ou re!e!ber the steps9+
+*eah. @irst I hori'ontally slice the top of the stalk, then I need to stop
in order to !ake the second slash. "hen e&ecute the second slash, and
the third. -fter five slashes I !ove to the ne&t one fro! the left side to
the riht side.+
+,orrect. I'! oin to take a break inside. >et !e know when you
reach the one on the far riht.+
+$hat do I do with the sword9+
+"he scabbard is by the door.+
7rika said so as she pointed at the door.
0ince >eo #ust saw her draw the blade, there was no reason to actually
verify this once !ore. 0till, as if to placate 7rika, he still directed his
a'e in the direction she was pointin.
Iiven that the scabbard could !aintain the sword, the scabbard !ust
possess the function to clean off the rit and apply oil. 6pon hearin
>eo's confir!ation, 7rika lihtly waved and left the roo!.
@ull of spirit, the sword slashed downwards.
In the beinnin, there were occasions where the blade was cauht
because he didn't apply enouh force, but near the end he was able to
split the! apart in one blow. $ith the last one done, the task 7rika left
for hi! had been co!pleted. )e probably took around B0 !inutes to
acco!plish this, which caused >eo so!e confusion.
"hat was al!ost too easy = this was where >eo felt so!ethin was
awry. 7rika said to et her once he was done and left the roo!, sayin
she wanted to take a break. In other words, in 7rika's esti!ation, this
assin!ent was supposed to take a considerable a!ount of ti!e. *et,
he only took enouh ti!e to finish a cup of tea to finish this. In that
case, >eo ca!e to the conclusion that he !ust have !ade an error
so!ewhere.
4onetheless, he wasn't clear e&actly where he went wron. %id this
happen because 7rika !iscalculated >eo's abilities9 -fter so!e
thouht on the !atter, he still didn't have a viable answer. @ortunately,
>eo wasn't the type to waste ti!e and enery on so!ethin like this.
0ince he didn't have all the infor!ation to arrive at an answer, any
further consideration was a waste of ti!e. 7rika had said to +call her
when he finished+, so even thouh he +finished+ outside of her
calculations, >eo ulti!ately decided to o et 7rika anyways.
-s instructed, he replaced the sword back in the scabbard and left the
roo! into the ad#oinin corridor, only to reali'e that he never asked
where 7rika currently was. 7ven he was surprised at this silly turn of
events. -s he 1uietly ridiculed hi!self, he lanced around lookin for
a )-E ter!inal, but couldn't see anythin like that. 0till, even if he
did locate one, he didn't have the authority to re1uest infor!ation and
!iht even be seen as a suspicious individual, a thouht that pro!pted
>eo to abandon lookin for a ter!inal.
If he returned to the do#o, so!eone !iht be able to point hi! in the
riht direction, >eo thouht as he retraced his footsteps and ran across
a youn wo!an who ca!e fro! the !ain house. 0he was
appro&i!ately in her !id twenties and dressed in a ki!ono :>eo
wasn't fa!iliar with this type of clothin;, hence >eo wasn't able to
tell if she was sinle or !arried based on her wardrobe. )er features
weren't particularly distinctive, but her stern attitude would be out of
place on a servant. 4ot that this household had any fe!ale servant her
ae.
+-ra, an unfa!iliar visae.+
"hat do!ineerin a'e solidified the idea in >eo's !ind that she was
fro! the ,hiba @a!ily. -lthouh she didn't look like 7rika, if 7rika's
features ca!e fro! her !other, then this wo!an's features !ust co!e
fro! their father.
+-h...... *ou !ust be 7rika's class!ate.+
In spite of the a!iable words, >eo's ears didn't detect a trace of
kindness in the!. "heir siblin relationship = >eo assu!ed that the
wo!an before hi! was 7rika's older sister = appeared to be 1uite
hostile, he thouht.
+0ai#ou >eonhart.+
Eeardless, even if it's the Onee-sa!a who! she was on a bad footin
with, >eo's attitude wouldn't chane. >eo knew that puttin on an act
would only reflect poorly on hi!.
+-ctually, 7rika-chan asked !e to call her after I finished !y
assin!ent.+
"he only reason he said this was because +callin her by na!e would
be bad+, e&cept his tone chaned entirely due to his an&iety.
4evertheless, 7rika's sister didn't see! to reveal that special brand of
interest uni1ue to !ost wo!en.
+%id 7rika-chan say where she was stayin9+
It appeared that she was !ore concerned about the topic in 1uestion
than those details. $as she the serious type9 0till, this didn't feel like
that was the only reason, >eo thouht. =4ot that he had any basis for
that state!ent.
+0he #ust said she wanted to take a break.+
+Oh...... In that case, she !ust be in the loune.+
7rika's sister :for now; said this as she pulled out a s!all ter!inal
fro! her sleeve pouch. -fter tappin the board a few ti!es, she
handed it to >eo with a +I'll lend this to you for now+.
+@ollow the displayed instructions and use this to open the door.+
+......Is it O< for !e to hold onto this9+
+7rika was the one who told you to et her, correct9+
+*eah......+
-lthouh there were still a few thins that eluded hi!, this truly
provided !uch needed assistance in his search for 7rika. "hus, he
accepted the ter!inal and said so!ethin vaue like +-s you please+
to 7rika's sister :for now;, and headed towards the do#o.
+4ow that I think about it, this house is hue......+
Hust now, he had hesitated briefly over borrowin the ter!inal, but
now >eo believed that +it was a stroke of ood fortune that he did
borrow it+. =Of course, this was referrin to the ter!inal 7rika's
sister :for now; lent hi!.
"he reason he thouht so was because the route to the loune was
1uite difficult to find. It was al!ost as if he had taken a loner detour,
but >eo felt that this was probably #ust the layout of 7rika's house.
Eeardless, >eo finally stood before the door leadin to the loune
after a five !inute walk.
7ven thouh all he had to do was enter, >eo still had so!e concerns.
7rika was neither his kin nor lover and would likely only rate as close
:+close+ in ter!s of ac1uaintances, but words were insufficient to
convey that here; class!ates.
)e should still knock.
+)ey, 7rika, are you inside9+
)e let out a shout when no one answered the knock, but still no one
responded.
Is she really here9 %espite his !isivins, if this was an e!pty roo!
then he had nothin to worry about. >eo placed the ter!inal in his
hand alonside the readin device.
-fter a brief electric sound, the lock disenaed.
- sound ran out fro! within the roo!.
$hat now, was she inside all alon9 >eo thouht as he opened the
heavy door that didn't have a door knob.
I!!ediately, he heard so!eone shout +$ait. $ait a second.+
+7h=.9+
- ridiculous sound erupted fro! >eo's throat.
4ot that he was aware of it. "he current >eo had no leisure ti!e to
worry about so!ethin like that. )is entire body was fro'en to the
point that he didn't even reali'e he should shut his eyes at this point.
Of course, his opposite nu!ber across fro! hi! was the sa!e.
%irectly before >eo's a'e, 7rika !aintained a posture that was about
to turn around.
"his was the scene before >eo's eyes.
7rika's !odesty was only covered by a sinle bathin towel. 4ot only
was her posture thorouhly unnatural, the knot in front of her chest
was also loose.
4e&t to her was a reclinin !assae chair. 7rika was probably lyin
there up until the !o!ent he ca!e in.
/ehind 7rika, there was plainly another door with a door knob on it. It
was only now that >eo finally reali'ed that he had co!e throuh the
e!erency fire escape.
"he towel around 7rika's chest chose this !o!ent to co!e undone.
"he flow of ti!e swiftly slowed down to a crawl. 4ay, !ore like his
consciousness beca!e !any ti!es !ore focused.
7rika rabbed the slowly droopin towel.
5eanwhile, >eo's body finally broke free of its confine!ent.
+-h.+
+%on't #ust stand there and drool like so!e sort of (eepin "o!, you
idiot.+
@ar swifter than >eo's apoloy, her barbed tonue sent a hurricane of
fe!inine fury broke over >eo.
+"hat devious wo!an...... I !ust have been a !oron to think that she
was the older sister......+
On one side, there was 7rika !utterin swear words under her breath
while kickin the !assae chair, while on the other side, >eo was
sportin a briht red hand print on his face. "his was the result of >eo
fully acceptin 7rika's re1uest that +4o !atter what, I still need to hit
you+. "he reason she used the pal! instead of the fist was because
>eo was also a victi! of fraud here, and definitely not because 7rika
disliked a stinin pain in her hand.
>eo had no co!plaints reardin that slap. "he fault for this incident
was entirely on hi!. -lthouh 7rika was only in such an unuarded
state and rela&in on the !assae chair because she !iscalculated the
ti!e >eo needed to co!plete his assin!ent, that was an entirely
different issue than the undeniable fact that he was the one who had
opened the e!erency e&it. -lthouh he barely avoided seein any
critical pieces, that certainly didn't relieve hi! of any responsibility.
>ooks like he better head back for today, >eo thouht as he decided to
apoloi'e to 7rika one !ore ti!e.
+7rika.+ +>eo.+
In the end, both of the! called out each other's na!e at the sa!e ti!e.
+>eo.+
"he !o!ent >eo wilted a little at 7rika's piercin stare, 7rika once
aain called out his na!e.
+I!!ediately foret what you #ust saw.+
4o !atter how !uch that re1uest !ade sense, >eo still found that to
be a tall order. One couldn't si!ply white wash one's !e!ory that
easily.
+=7ven thouh I know that's 1uite unreasonable.+
)owever, despite the easily understood !eanin behind these words,
>eo couldn't dispel the trepidation that refused to allow hi! to rela&.
-lso, his pre!onition swiftly beca!e reality.
+)ow about, in order to prevent you fro! havin any spare ti!e to
think of those unnecessary thins, I need to seriously train you fro!
this point forward. I'! oin to o over basic swords!anship as well
as 6suba <aerou.+
7ven thouh this was i!portant enouh to warrant 7rika repeatin this
one !ore ti!e, >eo was terrified of 7rika's chilly aura and didn't dare
to open his !outh.
+0tartin today, why don't you #ust sleep over here.+
+......I didn't brin a chane of clothes.+
>eo had !ustered everythin he had into those last words.
+$e can prepare underar!ents over here. 5oney isn't an issue.+
0till not havin vented all her displeasure, 7rika ave >eo another
hearty kick after speakin.
A A A
7ven in the evenin, @irst )ih's ca!pus was still filled with the
vibrancy of student activity. "he noise nearly rivaled the level when
the school festival co!es around. 5aic hih schools incorporate a
for!at that not only de!ands hih 1uality secondary education but
also includes !aic education as well, hence the lack of a school
festival. "his is pri!arily because there is si!ply not enouh ti!e to
allocate towards that durin the school year. Ienerally speakin,
intra!ural co!petitions do e&ist, but there is nothin that surpasses
school clubs or individual classes that can unite the entire student
body to work toether towards one overarchin oal. @or a !aic hih
school like this, unlike the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition do!inated by
talented students durin the preparation and co!petition phases,
,ourse 2 students had !any opportunities to shine durin the "hesis
,o!petition preparation phase, which was why the school ca!pus
approached a level of fren'y that could only be seen at a school
festival.
"he *ear B fe!ale students fro! the >iterature ,lub volunteered to be
the co!pensatory tea! for the pri!ary workers that were toilin away
toether at the last le of the pro#ect. -lthouh this was al!ost the end
of the school day, the youn irls were still occupied preparin the
bentos for dinner. 5i'uki, fro! the -rts ,lub, could also be seen
a!on the!.
-s the sayin oes, the sun sets earlier in fall, so riht now in second
half of October, niht was descendin earlier as well. 7arlier, the
western sky was still a dash of purple as if so!eone had splashed a
layer of paint over the skyF now the faint purple had turned dark blue.
"he scene outside had taken on that of the niht itself. +It is 1uite
late+, 5ikihiko couldn't help but think at this ti!e.
"oday, he had been called in to serve as ,lub -ctivities Iroup >eader
Huu!on#i <atsuto's trainin partner. Of course, it wasn't a one on one.
"his was a ten on one !ock battle, with 5ikihiko bein one of the ten.
7ven thouh he didn't feel there would be only one !ock battle,
5ikihiko wasn't holdin too !uch hope in that reard. 6nrelated to
the "en 5aster ,lans and the identity as a ,ourse B student, <atsuto's
strenth ave hi! a deep i!pression durin the 4ine 0chools
,o!petition. 7ven durin the !ock battle, the chance for hi! to
challene such a powerful opponent was not so!ethin one could
si!ply ask for. "his ti!e, he had the valuable opportunity to
e&perience e&actly how stron <atsuto really was. >ikewise, he
brouht an incredible desire to learn how to fiht !odern !aic users
into this !ock battle.
-s 5ikihiko hoped, there were a total of 5 !ock battles. )e was also
defeated by <atsuto 5 ti!es. -s he panted raedly while fallin to
the round :wasn't he supposed to be knocked down9;, he was
thorouhly satisfied with the use of his ti!e. 0ince they started shortly
after the half day classes on 0aturday, by the ti!e he was finished
bein <atsuto's trainin opponent it was already O in the afternoon. In
order to prevent hi!self fro! sha!efully vo!itin durin the trainin,
he had only dined lihtly durin lunch, a point that his sto!ach was
cryin about riht now. )e s1uinted his eyes at the settin sun and
thouht +O<, let's o+ as he stood up, only to suddenly hear the order
+halt preparations+.
0ince <atsuto was servin as the supre!e co!!ander for all security
personnel fro! the nine schools at the event, 0awaki was responsible
for leadin @irst )ih's security detail in <atsuto's place. )e was also
the one who ave that earlier sinal. On refle&, 5ikihiko stood up and
was pro!ptly cowed by 0awaki's force of personality :!ore like
overwhel!ed;, and was pro!ptly roped into co!bined trainin as a
perpetrator. One hour later, thouh the security personnel continued
trainin, the *ear B students called in as opponents had been spared
:"he *ear 2 students were not allowed to leave;.
-fter e&chanin the dirty trainin unifor! for his school unifor!,
5ikihiko walked towards the second y! :known as the co!bat
center; where the security tea! was trainin. On the surface, he was
the one who provided assistance, but in reality 5ikihiko was the one
who took away !ore fro! the e&perience, which naturally warranted
so!e thanks on his part. 0ince he didn't want to interrupt their current
trainin, he was only plannin on droppin a sinle reetin and then
departin.
+*oshida-kun, let !e treat you to a !eal as well.+
5ikihiko was once aain followin 0awaki only to find hi!self
!eetin with the leader for the co!pensatory tea!. $hat terrible
ti!in, 5ikihiko thouht. 4ow, the only people left in the co!bat
center were larely *ear 2 students. "here were so!e *ear B students
selected as part of the security detach!ent, but unfortunately, he #ust
!et !ost of the! for the first ti!e today. -ctually, since he was
fa!ished riht now, his ti!in should be perfect. )owever, eatin
with these people would turn the food to ashes in his !outh, 5ikihiko
thouht.
Eeardless, he should still decline, 5ikihiko thouht. Hust as he was
considerin this, he felt an odd a'e filled with unease and hopeful
rela&ation fall upon hi!. 4or!ally, +hopeful+ and +unease+ are
opposite one another, but that earlier a'e plainly had a +rela&ed+
feelin. Juite concerned about that, 5ikihiko couldn't help but follow
that a'e. $hen their eyes !et, a fa!iliar :of course; irl's face leaped
into his eyes.
-t 5ikihiko's surprise, 5i'uki hurriedly turned her face and revealed
a war! s!ile.
"hanks to 5i'uki, now 5ikihiko didn't have any way to escape =
that was probably true no !atter which e&cuse he spun = so 5ikihiko
could only sit in the outer circle of boys.
"his appeared to be the last station for deliverin !eals. "he youn
ladies fro! the co!pensatory s1uad sat pri!ly with the sandwiches
for the bentos on their lap :there were sandwiches and rice balls with
!eat for the boys;. (robably pityin the hopeful stares fro! the
bachelors in the security roup, the evidence was that the fe!ale
students were preoccupied with handin out towels and pourin tea
before sittin down on the !ats in the y!.
/y the ti!e 5ikihiko took a seat, the co!pensatory s1uad was
practically finished with their duties. "he forcibly conscripted
5ikihiko also sat on the !at, but his upbrinin i!!ediately
pro!pted hi! to ad#ust his seatin posture before acceptin a bento
bo& fro! the youn lady sittin across fro! hi!. "here was no need
to identify this youn wo!an because he had been followin her fro!
the corner of his eye whenever he had a chance.
+"hank you, 0hibata-san.+
-n e!barrassed look flooded 5i'uki's face at 5ikihiko's for!al reply.
$hile there were 1uite a few upperclass!en :!ainly wo!en; who
secretly lauhed at this scene, no one was rude enouh to actually
bother the!. "he students of the far fa!ed @irst )ih were better than
that. )ow would they be able to witness such a hilarious scene if
so!eone openly !ocked the!9
=5i'uki and 5ikihiko were unaware of the devious thouhts of
those surroundin the!. 4either of the! had the spare ti!e to do that.
$hile she had plotted ahead of ti!e to sit ne&t to hi!, even thouh
they were class!ates, 5i'uki didn't have the courae to initiate a
conversation with a boy while surrounded by so !any upperclass!en.
On the other hand, 5ikihiko's fa!ily had a lot of wo!en studyin
their style :the 0hinto 0yste! and -ncient 5aic shared this
distinction;, so it wasn't like he was inept at carryin a conversation
with a wo!an, but 5i'uki's co!pletely flushed and e!barrassed
e&pression caused hi! to be overly self-conscious and unable to
broach any sub#ect.
"he end result was = in the eyes of their innocent observers, this was
the bittersweet at!osphere of +first love+. 4ot only were the youn
wo!en usin war! eyes to offer support, even the co!bat-orientated
boys that had no connection with ro!ance had noticed the peculiar
at!osphere between 5ikihiko and 5i'uki. $henever 5i'uki poured
tea for 5ikihiko, her hands would frantically retreat whenever their
finertips occasionally touched. $henever this sort of theatrics
usually reserved for clandestine !eetins on a bride occurred, a flood
of wordless killin intent and cheers would sprin forth fro! their
watchers.
6ntil now, the clueless duo had no idea that they were providin
entertain!ent for dinner, but they were aware that +so!ethin see!s
to be off :really;9+ "he two of the! possessed this deree of
sensitivity and were ettin slihtly unco!fortable in the !iddle of
the stares they had unknowinly enendered, especially 5i'uki. )er
fidety appearance was beco!in !ore and !ore obvious. @inally,
she said so!ethin vaue alon the lines of +-h, I, uh+ and erratically
stood up = rather, tried to stand.
0peakin of which, !odern Hapanese culture no loner called for
kneelin on cushions. 0ittin on chairs had already beco!e the nor!
and the only people who still knelt were those enaed in !artial arts,
paired instruction, or reliious practice. 7ssentially, they were all
individuals enaed in special trainin. 4onetheless, society still held
the stereotype that +wo!en should kneel+, so !ost of the youn ladies
in the co!pensatory s1uad were kneelin. 0till, upperclass!en often
secretly used $eiht-"ype 5aic to lihten the load. 7ven *ear 2
students in ,ourse 2 knew how to use this sort of !aic that didn't
rely on speed without a ,-%. Of course, the effect would only kick in
ten to thirty seconds later, so whenever these ladies fell into brief lull
of silence, they were secretly invokin $eiht-"ype 5aic. "he boys
were all well aware of this point, so no one was oin to start a
conversation with one of the irls who suddenly fell 1uiet.
)owever, for *ear B students and especially 5i'uki, who was in
,ourse 2, this was so!ethin beyond the! at this point. 0trictly
speakin, she wasn't even aware that there was a trick to +reduce her
weiht usin !aic while kneelin+. In addition, she never really
practiced kneelin on a !at=
+-h.9+
=0o naturally, her feet went nu!b.
0eein 5i'uki wobblin on her feet and lettin out a s!all shriek as
she fell, 5ikihiko i!!ediately reached out a helpin hand, but he still
wasn't oin to !ake it in ti!e. )e !aintained a kneelin position and
cauht 5i'uki's upper body. 0ince all his concentration was focused
on not fallin down toether, 5ikihiko never consciously noticed
e&actly where he was puttin his hands.
-fter haltin their !o!entu!, 5ikihiko let out a lon sih. It was
then he noticed that he was facin the back of 5i'uki's head. In other
words, he was !ore or less in a posture that was huin 5i'uki fro!
behind. )e also noticed e&actly what that fir!, soft feelin was in his
two hands......
5ikihiko's !ental facilities round to a dead halt. /ut his thouht
betrayed his intention, he reconi'ed the true identity of what was
rabbed by his hands. -t this ti!e, 5i'uki's consciousness finally
rebooted and accurately deciphered what her current situation was.
+===.9+
+0-0-0orry.+
5i'uki let out a soundless screa! of despair and started shakin. -t
this, 5ikihiko frantically let o of both hands. $ithout any support,
5i'uki's body started tiltin forward as she fell forward, usin her
hands to support herself on the !at, placin all four li!bs on the
round and her rear towards 5ikihiko, a result that terrified 5i'uki
even !ore. -s she stu!bled to her feet, her nu!b feet caused her fall
back on her rear once !ore. Owin to her sudden chain of surprisin
!otions, her skirt had flipped upwards, revealin a sinificant
proportion of her sock clad feet, shins, and even her thihs. "his ti!e,
5i'uki used a bla'in speed that nor!ally wouldn't be attributed to
her to swiftly restore herself to a kneelin position that +wo!en were
supposed to be+ with her two hands tihtly claspin the he! of her
skirt. )er already flushed face was now co!pletely burnin red. )er
eyes laced with tears, she strove back to her feet and didn't fall over
this ti!e before fleein fro! the y!.
+$hat the heck are you starin for. Io after her, *oshida-kun.+
5ikihiko was #ust standin there and starin blankly at 5i'uki's back
when he was roused by a na!eless fe!ale upperclass!an scoldin
hi! and hurriedly leaped to his feet. -fter runnin out of the buildin,
he doubled back inside and rabbed his shoes fro! the rack. -fter
rabbin a pair of slippers for 5i'uki, who had fled without ettin
her shoes, he once aain chased after the fiure who had already
disappeared out of siht.
Chapter 7
7ven thouh today was 0unday, "atsuya still had to o to school.
4ot for re!edial classes. "here was still one week until the "hesis
,o!petition, so of course he still had to !ake preparations.
/ut riht now, he was headed in an entirely different direction than
school on board his beloved electric !otorcycle. )is sister's pristine
ar!s were wrapped tihtly around his waist, her soft boso! was
pressed aainst his back.
"his wasn't a date.
4or was it a si!ple trip.
"heir destination was the @>" research labs. )eedin *aku!o's
suestion, they were oin to return the relic speci!en. )e wasn't
oin to return it to the co!pany, but 3rd Eesearch %ivision that
served as "aurus 0ilver's operational head1uarters. $hile there weren't
any plans yet to bein the analysis there, 0ayuri had already e&pressed
her consent when he ot the speci!en, so there wouldn't be a proble!
if the speci!en was stolen fro! there. :0houldn't be.;
"hey forewent public transit because they were worried about another
attack.
-t full speed, it would take rouhly an hour to reach the research lab.
(ublic transit took a loner detour, so it was far !ore e&pedient to take
the !otorcycle. @or "atsuya, who had riorously trained his physical
body, and 5iyuki, who was capable of usin inertial resistance !aic,
there was nor!ally no need to take a break for a trip of this distance.
)owever, shortly after leavin the city proper, "atsuya pulled over the
!otorcycle ne&t to a cafe that opened in the !ornin.
-fter urin the confused 5iyuki indoors and takin a seat by the
windows, "atsuya finally answered his sister's 1uestions after orderin
two drinks :they already ate breakfast at ho!e;.
+$e're bein pursued.+
Eestin both elbows on the table, "atsuya covered his !outh with his
interlaced finers and whispered to 5iyuki.
+7h.9+
5iyuki was barely able to suppress her volu!e.
+I didn't notice it at all...... Is it a car9 Or a !otorcycle like us9+
0he leaned her head forward and whispered in her brother's ear.
"he blushin waitress !iht have turned her head aside, but iven her
fre1uent, sly lances this way, she was only pretendin not to see
the!. Of course, 5iyuki wouldn't bother conte!platin what the
servers would think. :0peakin of which, she probably hadn't noticed
her actions would easily lead to a !isunderstandin.;
+It's a crow.+
"atsuya's concise answer pro!pted a +)a9+ fro! 5iyuki as her eyes
widened while she briefly turned the idea over in her head.
+......- fa!iliar, is it......9+
+*eah. -nd with a che!ical conreation, too.+
"here were observation syste!s that were avian !achines disuised as
ani!als, devices buried within ani!als, usin -ncient 5aic on
ani!als, or a che!ical conreation in the shape of a bird.
,he!ical conreations are ob#ects that have !ateriali'ed due to
pushion enery.
"he physical for! was only for appearances' sake and was created by
usin psion particles as a foundation and applyin life-refractin
illusion !aic to create the fiure, then applyin $eiht, 0peed,
5ove-"ype 5aics or a field with si!ilar effects so as to ive off the
i!pression of a physical body.
On the surface, creatin a che!ical conreation see!ed like a
pointless e&ercise, but applyin a few si!ple !aics to the !ediu!
would allow the user to see and feel throuh the !ediu!, !akin it a
si!ple task to issue orders to the !ediu! with a few si!ple chanes.
-t the sa!e ti!e, creatin one of the! was a fairly si!ple process.
+......%oesn't appear to be a 5aician fro! this country. $here did this
5aician co!e fro!9+
Only -ncient 5aic possessed the !aic to create che!ical
conreations. "he na!e +che!ical conreation+ was applied by
!odern !aic researchers when they were researchin -ncient 5aic.
$hat 5iyuki !eant was that it had been a lon ti!e since this country
used che!ical conreations as fa!iliars. "oday, !ost -ncient 5aic
users used fa!iliars that didn't possess a physical body.
-fter the waitress brouht the coffee and !ilk tea, "atsuya spoke
aain.
-lthouh he was wordlessly !atchin 5iyuki's a'e while waitin for
their drinks, this only deepened the !isunderstandin. )owever, the
two of the! were either slow on the draw or #ust that thick since they
didn't betray any reaction at the surroundin stares sent their way.
+"heir identity re!ains unknown. If 5ikihiko were here, he !iht be
able to tell us.+
"atsuya set their cups aside and took hold of 5iyuki's hand.
- ruckus broke out around the!, causin the two of the! to notice
how conspicuous they were. 0till, retracin their hands in
e!barrass!ent would only be ad!ittin defeat, and there was a
pressin need for the! to hold hands. )is sister wore an e&pression
that conveyed her helplessness at the !isunderstandin, while "atsuya
continued onward with a serious e&pression on his face = that only
served to fuel the fla!es.
+It would be unwise to lead it all the way to the research labs.+
+............+
+5iyuki9+
+7h, ah, yes, you're riht.+
"atsuya wanted to cover his head and sih at the siht of his sister's
wanderin eyes and !ystified e&pression, but !anaed to throttle that
ure.
+"he che!ical conreation's location is here.+
"atsuya transfor!ed the i!ae of the che!ical conreation as a
taret into psion sinals and passed it across their #oined hands into
5iyuki's unconscious !aic calculation area in her nervous syste!.
"he !o!ent !aic is invoked, 5aicians need to plu in the taret's
data into the !aic calculation area. "his data is every 5aician's
perception in diiti'ed for! and was so!ethin that enerally couldn't
be shared. "atsuya and 5iyuki were usin !aic uni1ue to the
*otsuba @a!ily and thus were able to transfer psion sinals throuh
physical contact.
+5iyuki, take it down.+
- si!ple order.
-t this ti!e, 5iyuki returned to a !ore serious e&pression.
+......6nderstood.+
-fter a brief hesitation, 5iyuki nodded.
5iyuki wasn't oin to disobey "atsuya's order.
"he cause of her hesitation ca!e fro! her understandin that !aic
snipin was her brother's area of e&pertise and that she was far less
capable than her brother in this reard.
+Eiht now, I don't want to reveal !y hand yet. "he taret will flee in
the ti!e I take to brin up the ,-%. 5iyuki, it's up to you.+
+*es.+
7&cite!ent suffused 5iyuki's face as there was no way she wouldn't
ive it her all once her brother asked it of her.
-nd so, with the finers of her riht hand interlaced with "atsuya's
left, she slihtly dipped her head and lowered her eyelashes = her
e!barrassed posture was certainly ironic for these siblins. /eneath
the table, her concealed left hand swiftly brouht out a ,-% and
started operatin it.
"here was practically no delay for her !aic invocation.
"atsuya's +siht+ beheld the fa!iliar's body instantly free'in alon
with the !aic that was sustainin that fake body, causin the
che!ical conreation of psion particles to scatter.
+0ee!ed like an a!ateur......+
+7h9 $hat9+
5iyuki piped up fro! the back seat after hearin "atsuya's
!ur!urin. )er posture hadn't chaned fro! before, with both ar!s
wrapped around her brother's waist and her chest and face pressed
tihtly aainst her brother's back.
0he was still in an ebullient !ood after flawlessly destroyin the
fa!iliar in the cafe and her brother's subse1uent praise, so even her
voice was filled with #oy.
In this situation, ob#ectively speakin she was bein careless, but no
one would repri!and her here. )er conversation partner did not do so
and !erely answered her 1uestion.
+$e only had one pursuer usin lon distance !aic who attacked
0ayuri first and then tried to follow us. In other words, their taret is
undoubtedly the 5aata!a. Of the suspicious crowd recently lurkin
around us, a portion of the! !ust be here for the relic. /ut if that's the
case, their deter!ination wasn't enouh.+
+$asn't it because Onii-sa!a's airtiht defenses9 "here's a hue risk
pickin a bone with Onii-sa!a over a second-rate relic after all.+
5iyuki's answers always auto!atically triered her bro-con
concerns, actions of refle& born of powerful thouhts and feelins.
:0o, that's #ust risk and reward, is it......9;
)owever, within 5iyuki's perfectly natural answer, "atsuya felt that
he had cauht a li!pse of the true nature behind this se1uence of
events.
A A A
"hey lost the!. $hen ,hen heard this report, he clenched his teeth as
a bitter e&pression crossed his face. Oriinally, he was unhappy with
such a passive stance like re!ote observation in areas he couldn't
reach :where neither he nor his opponents could reach;. On top of that,
their opponents had reali'ed this in B5 !inutes and taken out their
observer. "his traic turnout of events only deepened his displeasure.
:-ll this did was raise our opponent's hackles.;
7ven if he tore the! a new one, his inco!petent !inions would only
shrink back even !ore, so ,hen chose not to say anythin. *et, a
burnin fury was plainly spreadin fro! his body.
+%o we know where 0hiba "atsuya is headin9+
+"hey should be headin for the @>" research labs of the EN% 3rd
%ivision.+
"he subordinate who answered ,hen's 1uestion was overly nervous.
In order to avoid anerin his superior, he had chosen the !ost li!ited
answer that was least likely to rouse his wrath.
+7"-9+
+-ppro&i!ately O0 !inutes fro! now.+
>ooks like he couldn't #ust keep askin one 1uestion at a ti!e.
+-s soon as they arrive at the esti!ated ti!e, order the network tea!
to i!!ediately attack the @>" research labs.+
$ithout waitin for his subordinate's reply, ,hen already ave out the
ne&t set of orders for the !ission.
A A A
"his !ornin, the research lab inhabited by the individuals who! the
workers at the @>" !ain branch derided as +,aptain "aurus and his
co!panions+, the EN% 3rd %ivision, was consu!ed by chaos that was
co!pletely abnor!al.
+=)urry up and cut all the lines before wastin ti!e worryin about
it. ,opy9 5ake as !any as you can and that's it.+
+4u!ber B0, disconnect co!plete. ,o!!ence reconnect.+
+Idiot. $hat kind of buffoon reconnects the syste! when bein
hacked.+
+O<, hackin path deter!ined.+
+"racin prora! co!!ence.+
/y the ti!e he heard all the roars co!in fro! inside the entrance,
"atsuya had a pretty decent rasp of the situation.
+-h, it's the youn !aster.+
-fter standin there for a !inute, "atsuya's outstandin assistant
6shiya!a finally noticed the siblins. :In ter!s of how outstandin,
6shiya!a was able to produce the hardware pieces that "atsuya
wanted for @lyin-"ype 5aic as well as finish the +5ini
,o!!unicator+ in half a day based on a rouh blueprint and have it
delivered to "atsuya. )e was that kind of a person.;
-nywhere else would be a different story, but this had to be the first
ti!e that "atsuya had been left unannounced for at least ten seconds.
In other words, the situation was very serious.
+5y terrible apoloies. I can't believe I inored your arrival...... )ey.
$ho's the la'y bu! who nelected to announce the youn !aster's
arrival.+
6shiya!a's anry roar was the loudest to date. It was a piercin sound
wholly inco!patible with his weak, frail appearance.
"hat voice caused over half of the workers battlin it out with the
ter!inals in the office to free'e in terror.
0eein this, "atsuya colored in displeasure.
+%on't stop. <eep an eye on the !onitors.+
+-h, yes.+
"atsuya's order rivaled 6shiya!a in intensity and i!!ediately
received a reply.
0eein everyone once aain enter a life or death strule with their
!achines, "atsuya rela&ed and turned his a'e away only to find
6shiya!a in a state of e&tre!e an&iety.
+)ackers9+
)e didn't know if 6shiya!a's thouhts still dwelt on the electronics in
front of hi!, but this was an unpleasant topic for "atsuya and
especially 6shiya!a.
"atsuya cut to the chase in order to avoid stayin on this topic for too
lon.
+)a, well......+
%espite the indecisive nature of 6shiya!a's words, he wasn't upset in
front of "atsuya. $hile "atsuya was still conte!platin the co!ins
and oins, 6shiya!a started e&plainin.
+It's hackers for sure...... /ut it still feels strane. "he infiltration
techni1ue itself is superb, but they don't appear to be lookin for
anythin in particular. It's like they have no specific ob#ective and are
#ust roa!in around based on luck.+
+Individual interest9+
+4ot the work of one person. /ased on the 5O, this isn't possible
without a si'able tea!, even if our opponents were overn!ent
orani'ations.+
+7ven then, they still don't have an ob#ective, eh...... 5ay I take a look
at the stolen data9+
"atsuya asked this 1uestion because since their ene!y was runnin on
blind luck, they !iht have stu!bled onto so!ethin valuable.
+$ell, they haven't taken anythin yet.+
0till, 6shiya!a's answer was still within "atsuya's e&pectations.
+......)ow lon has it been since the hackin started9+
+-ppro&i!ately ten !inutes.+
In other words, the !o!ent "atsuya and 5iyuki arrived here. =
-l!ost as if they predicted when they would arrive. /y choosin to
attack the servers at this particular ti!e, "atsuya felt the situation to be
hihly unusual.
+"he infiltration atte!pt has stopped.+
+%on't let down your uard. 7veryone re!ain on full alert
today. ......-h, !y apoloies. 0o, what !ay I do for you today9+
"atsuya briefly e&plained the chain of events reardin the relic, the
co!pany's contract, and his personal ob#ectives. -t the sa!e ti!e, in a
separate area of his consciousness, he was chroniclin the recent
atte!pted thefts that were croppin up around hi!.
A A A
+$e're under attack fro! @>" servers.+
+%isconnectin as planned.+
-ccordin to ,hen's orders, the hackers cut the line. 0eein this, ,hen
spoke to >u Ionhu standin ne&t to hi!.
+$hat do you think9+
+......0tatus unknown.+
>u's attitude was slihtly inappropriate when addressin a superior
officer, but ,hen didn't hold it aainst hi! and continued to speak.
+-fter bein hacked for over ten !inutes without any interruption,
0hiba "atsuya would undoubtedly 1uestion the security of the labs.+
,hen valued his second officer not for his decoru!, but for his cal!
ob#ectivity and overwhel!in co!bat power. Gerbosity was not
necessary.
+7ven if 0hiba "atsuya is related to @>", he wouldn't easily hand over
the relic to an insecure research lab.+
+>oically, that would be the case.+
+I know what you're sayin. 0hiba "atsuya is a hih school student.
)e wouldn't leave such a hot ite! on hi!self. In this situation, we
!ust consider how to obtain the data fro! the lab.+
>u wordlessly e&pressed his aree!ent to ,hen's words.
+$e will probably need you to act.+
+>eave it to !e.+
,hen nodded broadly at his second officer's answer. 0uddenly, his face
darkened as he see!ed to recall so!ethin.
+0peakin of which, Chou is about to see how that little irl is doin.+
,hen's voice was not positive. It even contained an insultin
i!pression, with !any !i&ed e!otions buried within. It was fairly
easy to uess e&actly how ,hen viewed Chou.
0till, >u didn't ob#ect to his superior's tone and kept his eyes forward
as he waited for the ne&t order.
+5ake the little irl disappear before he visits.+
"his was not the order >u was e&pectin. 4ot only would this o
poorly with Chou, ,hen would also lose a valuable collaborator.
4onetheless, >u Ionhu's e&pression did not 1uestion anythin as he
silently accepted this order.
A A A
7ven thouh today was 0unday, since they had to o to school, they
couldn't #ust wear casual clothes either.
0o!e nor!al hih schools :the eneral ter! applied to hih schools of
letters and science; did per!it their students to wear casual clothes to
school, but they were the decisive !inority within nor!al hih
schools.
5aic hih schools re1uired unifor!s reardless of whether class was
in session.
"he siblins dropped by the house for a chane of clothes.
-t this ti!e, the personal line in the house ran. "his was a call that
could not be transferred. Eestrictin the !essae fro! bein sent to
portable ter!inals was to prevent other people fro! pryin. "he fact
that this settin was activated indicated that the sender believed the
contents to be hihly confidential.
+Onii-sa!a, what is it9+
5iyuki, who took slihtly loner to chane, arrived to where "atsuya
was standin by the phone and discreetly lanced at the display.
+- !essae is it9 @ro! who...... 7h9 )irakawa-senpai.9+
Of course, 5iyuki knew all about the atte!pted sabotae incident.
-fter hearin this, she did not bear a very sy!pathetic view of the
)irakawa siblins.
+-pparently she hopes we will return the call.+
-fter perusin the contents of the !essae, "atsuya hit the redial
button before 5iyuki could say anythin.
"he other side picked up the line after one rin.
+)ello, 0hiba-kun9 5y apoloies for askin you to call !e back......+
-!on the representatives for the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition,
)irakawa <oharu was one of those who openly displayed a friendly
welco!e to "atsuya fro! the et o. 0till, they were only !ere
ac1uaintances. 0he was so!eone who disliked conflict and was
typically courteous to anyone other than herself. In fact, she stood out
for her ti!id nature that was co!pletely different than -'usa.
*et, fro! another perspective, ti!idness could also be seen as
+entleness+ or +acco!!odatin+. -ctually, it was hihly possible
!ore people believed that was the case.
+)ardly, we were the ones who were late. $e #ust stepped out for a
bit.+
"he hour riht now would be 1uite tardy for nor!al classes.
It was hardly surprisin that they weren't ho!e durin the weekend,
but <oharu !ust have been waitin an&iously for "atsuya to return her
call. "he fact that she picked up the phone after one rin was clear
evidence of this.
"he video trans!ission was now very co!!on. 7ven thouh video
ca!s had beco!e practically universal, this was only a chane in
technoloy.
)u!an e!otions had not proressed to the point where they were
willin to allow their peaceful ho!es to be e&posed before another's
eyes, or let so!eone watch the! chane without hesitation.
"here were households with dedicated phone roo!s, but the
overwhel!in !a#ority placed their phones in the livin roo! and
alerted the other side about openin the video ca!.
<oharu's face did not appear on the display and the !onitor re!ained
black.
+(lease don't worry about that, I was the one who re1uested to talk
over the phone.+
0till, it was apparent fro! her voice that she had lowered her head
with a dark cloud over her face.
+"hese past few days, well...... 5y sister has caused you considerable
trouble.+
4ay, rather than sayin a +dark cloud+, perhaps her face was +utterly
pale+.
+It was only an atte!pt after all. -s nothin happened, please do not
worry too !uch. I don't !ind either.+
"his wasn't #ust a line to help the other person rela&, these were
"atsuya's true feelins.
+/ut, she still caused a lot of trouble...... Oriinally, it was already
enouh of a bother that 0hiba-kun had to replace !e. It is !y
ineptitude that caused this child to di herself into such a deep hole.
,ausin you such difficulties durin this critical period cannot be
si!ply written off as a !ere atte!pt. -lthouh I can only
apoloi'e...... /ut I a! really, really sorry.+
On the other side of the unconnected video screen, <oharu
undoubtedly bowed deeply in apoloy.
)er voice naturally ave off that i!pression.
)owever, "atsuya's honest feelins were +7ven if you apoloi'e like
this......+
)e didn't wish for an apoloy, and hearin these depressin and self-
de!eanin words only served to sour his !ood.
)onestly, he never took ,hiaki's actions, or !ore like +what she
wanted to do+, to heart.
)e never really even thouht about it.
+I understand. On )irakawa-senpai's behalf, we'll #ust write the whole
thin off.+
)opin to 1uickly brin this call to an end, he halfheartedly co!forted
:9; her.
+"hank you very !uch. I hoped that 0hiba-kun would say that.+
0he was i!pressive indeed if she could discern "atsuya's real intent
throuh those words. >ooks like there was a serious
!isunderstandin.
+)ardly...... "hen, oodbye.+
+-h, wait.+
"atsuya's atte!pt to han up while )irakawa was soothed appeared to
be pre!ature.
+$hat is it9+
"here were !any thins de!andin his attention. In other words, he
si!ply didn't have ti!e.
"atsuya had to take e&tra care not to let his i!patience bleed into his
words.
+$ell, I know a si!ple apoloy isn't sufficient.+
Is it this aain, "atsuya thouht. "atsuya honestly wanted to ive up
on this endlessly loopin conversation.
+I don't know if this can help 0hiba-kun.+
@ortunately, he was worryin needlessly.
+I found phone los between ,hiaki and the cri!inal orani'ation.
-lthouh this contains that child's personal data...... /ut I still want to
ive it to 0hiba-kun. (lease use it as you see fit, 0hiba-kun. -nyways,
I'! sorry for botherin you while you're so busy. "hank you for
listenin to !e for so lon. Ioodbye.+
"he call ended.
$ithout waitin for "atsuya to reply.
+7ven if they're siblins, hackin is a cri!e......+
"atsuya !ur!ured these words as if speakin to <oharu as he a'ed
at the data lo icon in the ad#acent fra!e.
+Onii-sa!a, what is it9+
0he probably heard "atsuya !utterin to hi!self.
5iyuki approached aain with a slihtly concerned look on her face.
+0o, what are we oin to do.+
-fter ivin a subtle, vaue answer, "atsuya considered <oharu's
intentions.
0he was tryin to use this to !ake a!ends. -lthouh she didn't co!e
out and say it, there was no other plausible e&planation besides this
one. )irakawa hacked her sister's personal co!!unications because
she wanted to know who led her sister astray. *et, her actions didn't
paint her in a better liht. Iivin "atsuya this infor!ation, she was
hopin that he would avene her, "atsuya speculated.
:I wonder if this constitutes as cunnin......;
"he fact that he would use a ter! like a wo!an's cunnin definitely
pointed towards his insufficient life e&periences.
+......Oh well. -llow !e to !ake use of what I have.+
0ettin aside 5iyuki with a co!pletely perple&ed look on her face,
"atsuya dialed another nu!ber.
7ven with the data lo that provided an abandoned access point in
hand, he wasn't confident he could sniff out his 1uarry on the net.
/ut he knew so!eone who could.
"he sky was rainin when the two of the! reached school. -lthouh
neither "atsuya nor 5iyuki brouht an u!brella, fortunately they
avoided bein drenched.
-lso, 5iyuki was a !e!ber the 0tudent ,ouncil who held the
privilee of brinin ,-%s to school :thouh "atsuya also held that
distinction;.
$et clothes were swiftly dealt with by 5iyuki's !aic, leavin no
trace behind.
)owever=
+Iiven the rain, looks like our field activity will be i!possible......+
+"here's nothin we can do about that.+
"atsuya shrued his shoulders as 5iyuki frowned at the dark clouds
overhead.
0o far, the preparations had been oin accordin to schedule.
$orkin indoors would be a little cra!ped, but then it's not like they
wouldn't hit their deadline if they didn't do anythin.
(ersonally speakin, he was oriinally oin to do calibrations in the
repair roo! for the Eobotics ,lub, so weather really didn't bother hi!.
+"hen, I'! off.+
+*es, please do your best, Onii-sa!a.+
5iyuki still had 0tudent ,ouncil business waitin for her as she
reretfully bid farewell to "atsuya.
A A A
"he Eobotics ,lub was short for the +Eobot Eesearch Iroup+. "he
repair roo! was a s!all lab where they conducted all sorts of robot
construction and electric testin.
%urin the preparation period, there was a lare co!puter here used
for debuin purposes that helped to !odify the -ctivation 0e1uence
for the !odel device used durin the "hesis ,o!petition.
)is assin!ent today was to calibrate the -ctivation 0e1uence. 0ince
0u'une and Isori already finished the testin the !ainfra!e's run ti!e,
"atsuya was the only one with anythin left to do today. "he !ain
focus of the de!onstration, the ther!onuclear reactor !odel, had
already been connected to the co!puter. "he Eobotics ,lub !e!bers
responsible for settin up the device had already left to help other
tea!s put their co!ponents toether. Eiht now, "atsuya was the only
person in the repair roo!.
:-! I a little late9;
7ven thouh this was a day off with no classes, they certainly helped
hi! a reat bundle, "atsuya chuckled wryly.
+$elco!e back.+
)e was the only +hu!an+ in the repair roo!, but a second after he
entered the roo!, a +hu!anoid+ ca!e to welco!e hi!.
It was wearin a white apron with white frills above a black skirt that
e&tended B0 centi!eters below the knee. /eneath, there was a pair of
white, knee hih socks and black shoes. "here was also a white
headband with frills on the head.
:0eriously, so that's where their interests lie......;
+*ear B ,lass 7, 0hiba "atsuya.+
"atsuya chuckled and si!ply announced his na!e.
"he welco!in +youn lady+ straihtened and paused for half a
second before bowin deeply.
"he !ove!ents stopped to verify his voice.
0atisfied that the facial and vocal e&a!ination !atched the records,
"atsuya finally bypassed the security features in this roo!.
+(reparin, coffee.+
-n awkward tone paired with an e1ually awkward !ove!ent.
0till, this +awkwardness+ wasn't noticeable unless carefully observed.
)er na!e was +3) "ype (9O+ :3) (ersonal-"ype '9O;. "he Eobotics
,lub nickna!ed her +(i&ie+.
"his was the )u!anoid )o!e )elper, also known as the 3) personal
chore robot, owned by the Eobotics ,lub. "hat was the identity of this
+irl+. -pparently, so!eone a!on the *ear 3 students in the Eobotics
,lub had connections with the )-E's pri!ary distributors and were
able to borrow an updated -I device.
Ienerally, the 3)'s appearance was set to that of a wo!an in her
twenties, but in order to reduce the inco!patibility on ca!pus, she
was specifically set to be so!eone in her late teens.
"ruly, if she wore the school unifor! fro! @irst )ih and !anaed to
sneak into class, she would be an e&e!plary +e!otionless fe!ale
student+ if she could #ust sit down and not !ake a sound. 0he !iht
even 1ualify for the ter! +cool beauty+. =-n effect co!pletely lost
when she was wearin a !aid unifor!.
7ven "atsuya was cauht by surprise upon bein served by a +!aid
robot+ while preparin for the "hesis ,o!petition in this roo! for the
first ti!e. 0till, he was !ore or less accusto!ed to this arb now.
Hust as "atsuya sat down in front of the controls and faced the
ter!inal, a cup of coffee was set on the table beside hi! with a s!all
sound.
:>ooks like there's still roo! for i!prove!ent in the control
software......;
-fter ponderin for a bit, he picked up the cup and took a sip. It was a
fair cup, he nodded.
"he newest 3) !odel +(i&ie+ possessed auto!atic, custo!i'ed
features that could identify the tastes of over fifty users based on facial
structure. 7ven thouh "atsuya didn't say anythin, it was this
function that enabled her to prepare a cup of coffee to suit hi!.
+(i&ie, re!ain on standby.+
-fter replacin the coffee on the table, "atsuya ave this order to
(i&ie. %espite knowin she was a !achine, havin such a life-like
robot standin behind hi! still felt unnatural.
+6nderstood.+
"he pronunciation for such a specific ter! was 1uite fluid.
"he (9O bowed in a fluid !otion that !atched any live hu!an and
walked towards the seat near the entrance.
-fter takin a seat, she beca!e !otionless.
"he power source for the 3) was a !ethanol fuel cell.
"here was an option to refuel !ethanol = literally drinkin it in this
case, so the user didn't have to worry about e&haustin the fuel.
)owever, there was no need to waste fuel needlessly, since the act of
standin was rather ta&in on the power :standin on both les was a
rather challenin e&ercise;, so the !odel re!ained sittin when not
in use.
"atsuya !oved his head around :no ulterior !otive i!plied; and
placed his finertips on the keyboard.
"he sound of lihtly tappin the keys ran out.
"atsuya's left hand left the keyboard and !oved towards the pearl-
colored display. "his was the access point for users to directly interact
with the lare ,-% plued into the display. "he user could supply
psions needed by the -ctivation 0e1uence throuh this display, where
the ,-% would then read the -ctivation 0e1uence.
)e was currently pro#ectin the !ove!ents of the 5aic 0e1uence.
4or!ally, the se1uence involved breakin down the 5aic 0e1uence
into steps and re!ovin individual steps before they ca!e to fruition
in order to test whether the desired result was brouht about by the
processes.
On the surface, he was followin this procedure, but in reality he was
usin his +eye+ to directly observe each aspect of the 5aic 0e1uence.
)is superlative talent in developin !aic was larely thanks to this
hidden ability :7le!ental 0iht;, althouh other !aic pioneers !iht
label this as cheatin = he was not the sort of person to 1uibble over
thins like that.
)is physical eye was watchin the screen while his !ental eye was
lued on the infor!ation di!ension.
)is work continued for rouhly an hour.
0uddenly, he felt an unco!fortable feelin within his body.
%rowsiness suddenly sneaked up on hi!.
:%id I overdo it......;
$ishin to take a break outside, "atsuya !oved to et up, but=
)is li!bs were heavy.
>ike his body hadn't woken up yet.
)ihly trained individuals could use their will to control the physical
body's desire for sleep.
(ullin several all-nihters in a row was another story, but he didn't
recall that he led such an unprincipled lifestyle.
- daner sinal flashed across his brain.
)is physical body plainly was behavin abnor!ally.
K(hysical functionin droppin abnor!allyL
0leepiness itself is not so!ethin that poses an obstruction to co!bat
ability.
)owever, when unable to awaken based on one's own consciousness,
then this drowsiness beca!e an i!pair!ent to co!bat ability.
[Personal Restoration: Semi-Automatic Activation]
)is (ersonal Eestoration ability reconi'ed the necessity.
[Magic Sequence: Loaded]
[Core/Eidos Data: Retrieving rom !ac"u#]
/ein activation.
[Restoration: Commence$$$$$$ Com#lete]
In an instant, his body returned to +a state before drowsiness ca!e
upon hi!+.
/ut the pri!ary proble! still hadn't been addressed.
"he only thin that he had consu!ed since leavin the house for the
lab was the coffee fro! the cafe and the cup (i&ie prepared for hi!.
4either of the two ite!s contained ha'ardous !aterials. "hat was
because he already used his +eye+ to verify this before partakin in
the!. "hus, the only direction where che!icals could co!e fro! was
=
:Ias.;
"he circulation syste! !ust have been ta!pered with.
-fter takin a 1uick inventory of the infor!ation in the roo!, he
confir!ed that a fast-actin sleepin as had been introduced into the
air for a short period of ti!e.
0o what should he do now.
It was a si!ple !atter for hi! to +deco!pose+ the as.
)owever, there were !aic !onitors all around the ca!pus, so if he
used +%eco!position+ in a lare, open space like this repair roo! to
re!ove all the as, the !aic he kept hidden all this ti!e would be
revealed. "hat was not a desirable outco!e.
5iyuki, )onoka, or 0hi'uku would be able to identify which as
particles were har!ful and e&pel the! fro! the roo!, but that sort of
!aic was a little too difficult for hi!.
-t any rate, holdin his breath also had its li!itations.
Eiht now, the only thin he could do was leave. )e could #ust leave
the device behind without a proble!. -fter lockin the co!puter,
"atsuya turned towards the entrance.
*et = before hi!, a sli! fiure halted hi! in his tracks.
"he fiure standin before "atsuya stretched out a hand towards
"atsuya's !outh.
0ince the !ove!ent wasn't particularly swift, "atsuya wasn't clear
what the fiure was tryin to do.
+)er+ hand stopped shortly in front of "atsuya's face.
+"here is an abnor!ality in the circulation syste!. (lease wear a
!ask.+
3) :)u!anoid )o!e )elper; "ype (9O, the fe!inine robot na!ed
(i&ie offered hi! a si!ple !ask.
-t first lance, this appeared to be disposable cloth dust !ask, but this
was a hih 1uality el filter sufficient to block anythin larer than
carbon dio&ide particles. -pplied to the face, the filter was able to
block al!ost all poisonous ases while not ha!perin breathin in
any way.
"hey even have these, "atsuya thouht as he put on the !ask and
closed his eyes.
+,orneas in daner of conta!ination. 4eed to be directed outside, by
hand.+
%espite the clear need for linuistic i!prove!ent, "atsuya ot the
!eanin she was tryin to convey perfectly. "he newest 3) !odel
(9O appeared to have crisis !anae!ent protocols installed, or !aybe
this was si!ply the Eobotics ,lub's +education+.
"atsuya knew that sleepin as did not contain ele!ents that har!ed
the eyes.
"hat was because she said so only after he closed his eyes.
0till, he !ade no !otion to walk outside.
+(i&ie, override and activate the ventilation syste!. "o prevent
secondary ha'ards, I will re!ain here. Ee!ain in 5onitorin 0tatus.
In order to allow assistance, do not prevent others fro! enterin. *ou
are forbidden fro! obstructin the!.+
"he (9O accepted the chain of co!!ands fro! "atsuya.
+-voidance of secondary ha'ards, loical and confir!ed. Overridin
ventilation syste!.+
"he air conditionin syste! and the ventilation syste! that was on a
separate syste! had been activated.
"he 3) itself was only a voice-!achine interface for the auto!atic
household syste!.
"he s!all fuel cell that served as its power source and upriht fra!e
that stood on two les were not suitable for physical labor.
Owin to its hu!anoid desin, the nu!ber of sensors installed was
also li!ited, so it wasn't suited for precision tasks either.
/ased on the 3)'s desin, individual activity did not need to !atch the
strenth or precision of actual hu!ans and was desined to facilitate
the usae of the auto!atic household syste!.
-fter oin throuh voice reconition, they were able to receive
verbal orders. "his was like re!otely controllin the )-E that shared
the sa!e outward appearance as hu!ans. "he )-E was oriinally
intended to be an add-on and never !eant to cover all the bases for
household !anae!ent.
0till, the add-on functions were so well done that !ost people forot
the )-E's oriinal purpose as an interface.
4ot #ust everyone else. 7ven "atsuya actually forot today.
:/ein overly accessible has its pros and cons......;
"atsuya ru!inated whether he had that e!barrassin thouht only
because he refused to ad!it defeat as he waited for the sleepin as to
be e&pelled.
"akin the 3)'s operations into account, the air conditionin syste!
was bein restored at the sa!e ti!e.
"atsuya sat down in front of the ter!inal aain and re!oved the as
!ask. In order to refrain fro! scarin the person checkin to see if he
had fallen asleep, he closed his eyes and rela&ed the tension in his
body.
"he person he was waitin for 1uickly arrived.
-fter the as was re!oved, "atsuya sat there with closed eyes,
concentrated, and 1uickly detected so!eone creepin into the roo!.
)e pree!ptively ordered the (9O to refrain fro! searchin each
individual before enterin because he considered the possibility that
so!eone would enter riht now, which fell perfectly within "atsuya's
calculations.
+0hiba9+
"he fa!iliar voice of an upperclass!an.
"he state!ent was !ade to check if "atsuya was actually asleep and
would i!!ediately offer a false offer of worry if he rose. )owever,
based on the terrible alibi due to his awkward choice of ti!in to enter
the roo! now, he was a co!plete a!ateur.
4aturally, "atsuya continued to fein sleep.
+0hiba, are you asleep9+
Once aain !akin sure that there was no answer, the invader lanced
around as if lookin for so!ethin, but his eyes 1uickly focused on
the device. )e abandoned the ter!inal as a taret because he saw that
"atsuya already locked the co!puter. Or, !aybe he never wanted the
data in the first place.
"he invader had no idea that "atsuya was watchin with narrowed
eyes, nor was he aware that (i&ie was sittin there in 5onitorin
5ode and recordin the entire se1uence. -nd so, the invader plued
the hackin tool he used on the recordin ca!eras into the device and
started tryin to re!ove the -ctivation 0e1uence data.
+0eki!oto, what are you doin9+
"he sudden 1uery caused the invader to #u!p in friht and frantically
whirl around.
:"hat's a wrap......;
"oo bad the !erry solo act ended so soon, "atsuya thouht to hi!self.
Of course, the people in 1uestion, both the person bein interrupted
and the one providin the interruption = were entirely unaware of his
terrible interest in entertain!ent.
+,hiyoda, why are you here9+
+$hy9 I ca!e here because I received word fro! the security syste!
that there was an error fla fro! the air conditionin syste!.
0eki!oto, why are you here and what are you holdin in your hand9+
+I!possible...... "he alar! should have been disconnected......+
)is panicky state, or !aybe the presence of this une&pected surprise,
caused 0eki!oto to !isspeak, pro!ptin <anon's eyes to o hard.
+Indeed. "he alar! was sent !anually and not auto!atically.+
(i&ie was the one who raised the alar! instead of "atsuya.
"he robot deter!ined this was the proper action and followed throuh,
which was another type of +auto!atic+, but <anon had no way of
knowin. ,o!pared to that=
+)owever, your earlier words can't si!ply be seen as words in the
wind.+
"he !ost i!portant thin was 0eki!oto's accidental confession.
+$hat do you !ean, the alar! should have been disconnected.+
,ri!inals didn't always adopt loical paths of action. 0till, there is a
heihtened deree of an&iety durin the act itself, which was why they
fell for traps that they would be able to avoid durin nor!al
circu!stances. "his was one of the key clues that enabled
investiators to deter!ine a suspect no !atter how lon ao the cri!e
occurred. ,urrently, 0eki!oto succu!bed to the sa!e conitive trap
that cri!inals often fell for.
+0eki!oto, re!ainin silent now is the sa!e as ad!ittin you did the
deed.+
<anon's tone was fairly restrained, but she was clearly very sincere.
<anon !oved her left hand before her chest.
- runnin ,-% was held in her hand.
It was already filled with psions to uarantee that the -ctivation
0e1uence would work.
"his was not a contest, trainin session, or practical #oke. "his was a
direct descendant of the ,hiyoda @a!ily fro! the )undred @a!ilies
preparin for live co!bat=
+)aha, ,hiyoda, don't be ridiculous. I'! the cri!inal9 ,ri!inal for
what9+
0eki!oto was tryin to use false bravado to cover for hi!self, but this
would only work when a lare nu!ber of co!panions was with hi!
and definitely not in a one-on-one confrontation.
+"he cri!inal who ta!pered with the air conditioner by !i&in in
sleepin as. In other words, the red-handed cri!inal enaed in
industrial spyin.+
+)ow rude, ,hiyoda. I was #ust !akin a backup because I was
worried that we !ay lose data due to the syste! !alfunction.+
+6sin hackin tools9 "hat's frankly i!possible. Isn't that riht,
0hiba-kun.+
0eki!oto whirled around with shock to find "atsuya s!ilin wryly
with both eyes open.
<anon had seen throuh "atsuya's feined sleep at a sinle lance.
+I!possible, the as had no effect9+
+)e's not a little cutie pie that can be undone by sleepin as.+
"atsuya's wry s!ile deepened at <anon's blatantly unfavorable tone.
+4o way to deny that I'! not cute...... "he rest is #ust as the ,hief said.
"here is si!ply no way to directly prepare a backup for the device.
7ven if you tried, there would be no need.+
"he ,-% plued into the display device only recorded the -ctivation
0e1uence spreadin out, and there was no way for an internal function
to co!pile the -ctivation 0e1uence. 5odification of -ctivation
0e1uences are often directly done on the co!puter, with a copy of
contents included as well.
+0eki!oto, don't even try to think I'! that stupid. 7ven if !y technical
ability isn't all that reat, I at least know that !uch.+
0eki!oto clenched his teeth before <anon's displeased lare.
)e bore the appearance of a cornered rat that had been stripped of any
e&cuse.
+0eki!oto Isao, re!ove your ,-% and set it on the floor.+
<anon's tone chaned.
0he was now advisin a cri!inal to surrender.
)owever, 0eki!oto's response was,
+,hiyoda.+
"he -ctivation 0e1uence spread out.
0eki!oto was a powerful !e!ber of the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee
after #oinin in the second se!ester of *ear 2.
"here was no delay in his !aic invocation, fro! readin the
-ctivation 0e1uence to the construction of the 5aic 0e1uence. )is
speed rivaled any representative fro! the 4ine 0chools ,o!petition.
*et=
+......,ut the bull, 0eki!oto-kun.+
0eki!oto's !aic dissipated. )e reali'ed an instant later that was
because of <anon's oscillatory-type !aic usin the floorboards as a
!ediu!.
$hen invokin !aic, there was absolutely no need to recite the na!e
of the !aic used.
-t the sa!e ti!e, callin out the na!e of the taret was also
!eaninless.
,o!bat involvin !odern !aic was decided in an instant.
<anon had prepared her ,-% first.
7ven perfor!in a pointless a esture like callin out <anon's na!e,
there was si!ply no way for 0eki!oto to sei'e the initiative fro!
<anon.
-fter <anon called out, reinforce!ents fro! the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee and ,lub -ctivities Iroup burst into the roo! and
0eki!oto was brouht to the 0tudent Iuidance ,enter :aka
+Interroation Eoo!+;.
%urin this ti!e, "atsuya never !ade a !ove.
0eein <anon's roup leave, "atsuya ave new orders to the waitin
(9O.
+(i&ie, cancel 5onitorin 5ode, copy the visual and auditory
recordin startin fro! the !o!ent the order was iven into the
!e!ory cube and delete all files fro! the reistry.+
+6nderstood. ,opyin data files to !e!ory cube...... ,o!plete.
......%eletin records. ,o!plete.+
(i&ie beloned to the Eobotics ,lub, so "atsuya didn't actually have
that level of clearance. 0till, since "atsuya ave the order to !ake that
recordin, "atsuya possessed the ownership power over the recorded
files.
-fter placin the !e!ory cube containin the evidence that even
<anon didn't know about into his shirt pocket, "atsuya ordered the
fe!inine robot to stand down aain.
A A A
Gisitin hours for the hospital affiliated with the national !aic
university lasted fro! noon until 2 in the evenin. Eiht now, the hour
was #ust past O, hence no one thouht it was strane that a youn !an
in a business suit with a bou1uet of flowers in his hand would appear
in the hospital halls. -lso, there wasn't a sense of wronness with a
!an holdin a bou1uet, since the youth was clearly fro! a well-to-do
fa!ily.
0till, his uni1ue features should have been particularly !e!orable, but
none of the other visitors or nurses paid hi! any heed. "hat certainly
constituted an a!a'in situation.
5aybe because he was a fre1uent visitor or for so!e other reason, the
youn !an was 1uite fa!iliar with the hospital layout and didn't even
hesitate before headin up the floors without even consultin the
display board. -fter takin the elevator to the fourth floor, the youn
!an ca!e to a halt in the corridors.
In front of hi!, there was the fiure of a bulky !an which sparked the
youn !an's recollection. "his !an, who was slihtly older than hi!
but still rated as a youn !an, was standin before the door leadin to
a certain hospital roo!.
Chou once re!arked to the youn !an's superior officer, ,hen, that he
would be visitin today. -t the ti!e, ,hen didn't ob#ect to his visit to
the youn lady, nor did he !ake any co!!ent.
0o this was ,hen's plan, Chou could only rationali'e it as such. "hus,
so!eone bein here to prevent his visit and even ha!per his business
was the real reason why ,hen didn't ob#ect to his activities.
4ot even hesitatin for a second, the youn Chou pressed the alar! on
the wall as if nothin had happened.
-s the youn !an headed to the fourth floor fro! the third floor, a
youn couple ca!e fro! the In (atient $in. "he !an's na!e was
,hiba 4aotsuu and the wo!an was $atanabe 5ari. "he for!er was
the second son of the ,hiba @a!ily bearin the proud title the Ienius
0words!an while the latter was the for!er (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee
,hief fro! the !aic university affiliated @irst )ih. "he two of the!
were in the !iddle of a date.
+4ao.+
In the eyes of her underclass!en, 5ari was the heroic and valiant
older sister, but before her lover she was a perfectly fe!inine, entle
youn lady. 0till, not only was this because she naturally wore an
e!barrassed e&pression while with her lover, there were a few
apoloetic traces in her e&pression as well.
+$ell...... I'! sorry that I asked you to acco!pany !e while you're so
busy.+
5ari's intent was to interroate )irakawa ,hiaki under the prete&t of
visitin her at the hospital. -t the end of the day, this was @irst )ih's
issue, which was precisely the reason why 5ari was +apoloetic+ to
4aotsuu.
)owever, hearin 5ari's words, 4aotsuu wore a +$ho do you take
!e for9+ e&pression and lowered his head to look at 5ari.
+$hat are you sayin that for, I don't !ind at all.+
+/ut, don't you have to !ake preparations to ship out to!orrow9+
+$hile it is a naval e&ercise, this is pri!arily for the hel!s!en and
unners. Our !ission involves overseas trainin. "here is so!e
!anual labor, but I'! already used to that.+
)earin 4aotsuu's #okin words, 5ari's brows rela&ed so!ewhat.
+Is it co!bined a!phibious trainin at Iua!9+
+-h, yes. Our !ission is slihtly different than last ti!e, this ti!e it'll
be a short trainin session lastin appro&i!ately B0 days. "he burden
isn't too heavy, so 5ari, you don't have to worry about it so !uch.+
4aotsuu s!iled slihtly after he answered 5ari's 1uestion.
+......Is so!ethin still botherin you9+
4aotsuu saw a color of hesitation still re!ained in the s!ile 5ari
returned, thus he asked.
+....../ut, 7rika.+
5ari's tone was slihtly hesitant because she wasn't sure whether to
brin this up.
+7rika9+
On the other hand, 4aotsuu's voice was filled with a +co!pletely
une&pected+ bewilder!ent.
+......4ao was one for a lon ti!e last ti!e, and don't you usually
train with 7rika at ho!e9 Is it O< to ask you out today9+
-t 5ari's co!!ent, a loo!y e&pression !i&ed with traces of aner
floated across 4aotsuu's face.
+7rika is currently trainin with one of her class!ates as a sparrin
opponent. -pparently he's 1uite the interestin fellow, and 7rika
see!s 1uite happy.+
+,lass!ate9 )e9+
5ari's slihtly concerned 1uestion brouht about 1uite a stron
answer.
+)!, #ust a friend, I believe.+
+............+
5ari didn't say anythin. 0he #ust stared blankly at 4aotsuu's face.
0o!ewhat uneasy, 4aotsuu pretended to couh.
+4ao9+
+%on't worry about 7rika riht now. "he i!portant thin is that I want
to be with 5ari. 0o 5ari, you really don't have to worry so !uch.+
+%-%on't say such e-e!barrassin thins.+
"he offensive and defensive roles 1uickly reversed. "he one who
usually retorted at others was often susceptible to the sa!e tactics.
5ari, who had relentlessly tried to throw "atsuya off balance by
#okin hi! up until she resined as ,hair of the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee, was sunk by one earnest co!!ent fro! 4aotsuu.
4aotsuu was finally able to breathe a sih a relief at disar!in his
lover's suspicions, but his rela&ed nerves 1uickly tihtened with
an&iety.
"hat was because the alar! ran out.
+4ao.+
5ari's e&pression tihtened despite how she was waverin a !o!ent
ao and looked towards 4aotsuu.
+"hat's no fire alar!, that's the riot alar!.+
"he riot alar! was desined to prevent innocent bystanders fro!
bein draed into cri!inal incidents, but also served as a sinal that
called for assistance in restorin order.
+It's on the fourth floor.+
4aotsuu looked at the !onitor on the wall that displayed the alar!
details.
+"he fourth floor9+
+Is it the sa!e floor that 5ari's kouhai is in9+
5ari's sole!n e&pression i!!ediately conveyed to 4aotsuu the
severity of the situation.
+>et's o.+
4oddin her head, 5ari didn't hesitate for a second after an incident
broke out. In fact, it would be !ore appropriate to say that she was the
one pullin 4aotsuu up the stairs.
In the !idst of the alar!, >u Ionhu put his hands on the door handle
leadin to the sick roo!. )e had already investiated the details of the
roo! that his taret was residin in. "here was only one youn irl
inside. >u Ionhu was confident that he could et rid of her before
security showed up.
)owever, a shocked e&pression !ade its way across his face when he
tried to pull the door handle only to find that the door was locked.
-ccordin to his eneral knowlede, doors were usually opened
durin a fire alar! to help facilitate evacuation. $as there a
!alfunction in the lock9 >u considered this because he was unaware
of the riot alar!.
"here was a s!all ti!e la due to the cultural shock. Oriinally, >u
planned to destroy the lock and enter the roo!. *et because of the
alar!, he !istakenly believed that the lock would auto!atically
disenae, hence his bewilder!ent when he found the door still
locked. -lthouh >u i!!ediately chaned his !ind and opted to
destroy the lock, this sort of une&pected ti!e loss was critical in his
!ission.
Hust as he was about to twist the door handle open,
+$ho are you.9+
-cross fro! >u's position, so!eone called out to hi!.
"hanks to the ,hiba @a!ily's special techni1ues, 4aotsuu used
personal acceleration !aic to sprint to the fourth floor and ran across
a youn !an several years older than hi!self tryin to break the door
lock.
On refle&, he called out +$ho are you.9+, but #ust as he vocali'ed this,
his !e!ory had already supplied the answer.
"his !an surrounded by a terrifyin aura that raised every hair on
one's back=
+"he %evourin "ier...... >u Ionhu. $hy are you here9.+
-s a !e!ber of the ,hiba @a!ily who were the authorities in close-
co!bat !aic, 4aotsuu was well aware of this !an's na!e and facial
features. )e was one of the top ten close co!bat specialists across the
lobe and was a close-co!bat 5aician who hailed fro! the Ireat
-sian -lliance. %ue to the si!ilarity in ae, the debate reardin
which one was stroner between hi! and 4aotsuu continued to rae,
but the !a#ority believed that the !ore brutal one = >u Ionhu with
his terrifyin +na!e+ that caused people to cower in fear, was stroner
than 4aotsuu.
+Ihost of the (hanto! /lade - ,hiba 4aotsuu.+
@acin this direction, a s!all sound passed across >u Ionhu's lips.
+Ihost of the (hanto! /lade+ was undoubtedly 4aotsuu's oriinal
nickna!e.
"he !o!ent their eyes cauht one another, a battle for supre!acy
bean.
4aotsuu pulled out a 20 c! baton fro! his chest pocket. -fter
pressin a button near one end, a B5 c! lon blade slid out with a
+clan+.
On the other side, >u Ionhu only had his bare hands, but he
fearlessly chared towards where 4aotsuu stood with the short sword
in his hand.
$hen their distance shrank to the lenth of a lon sword, 4aotsuu's
riht hand scythed downwards.
"he short sword was still out of rane, but >u Ionhu still raised his
left hand over his head.
$hen the invisible line e&tendin fro! the short sword intersected
with the left hand, a furious +clan+ ran out.
$eiht-"ype 5aic +(ressure 0lash+. "his was a !aic that used the
!etal coil that e&tended fro! the tip of the rod to for! a thin
repulsion field that sliced throuh anythin it touched.
"his was why 4aotsuu was wavin around a short sword out of the
weapon's rane.
If 4aotsuu's techni1ue rated as astoundin, then >u Ionhu's ability
to block an ene!y blade with his bare hands was even !ore
incredible.
0teel Jion, so na!ed by the users fro! 4orthern ,hina that favored
this techni1ue, was developed fro! Jion. Jion was a physical
ability rather than a !aical one, but usin Jion to apply a layer of
steel ar!or eventually beca!e the !aic now known as 0teel Jion.
>u Ionhu was the !an responsible for brinin that to fruition.
-fter the repulsion field blade was blocked by the barrier surroundin
the body, 4aotsuu's riht hand continued to swin downwards. Once
the !aic was nullified, (ressure 0lash beca!e #ust an e!pty swin of
the short sword, but 4aotsuu !anaed to turn the downward swin
into an upward slash when the blade reached waist heiht.
In order to defend aainst the attack, >u Ionhu applied 0teel Jion
on his riht hand and blocked towards the riht side of his hip.
)owever, his riht hand didn't encounter any resistance as the
repulsion field blade disappeared half way.
It wasn't anythin particularly special to halt an invoked !aic before
the spell reaches co!pletion. In conflicts between !aic co!batants,
in co!parison to re#ectin interference strenth, usin replicated
!aic on the 7idos to render previous !aic i!potent was absolutely
interal to cooperative use of !aic.
)owever, the difficulty was entirely different when suddenly applyin
another spell when invokin the previous one. If the 7idos is not
altered in the beinnin and #ust the 5aic 0e1uence is utili'ed, once
the 5aic 0e1uence passes the ate = the connectin ate between
the hu!an !ental landscape and the infor!ation di!ension that
resides between the lowest layer of consciousness and the top layer of
subconsciousness = the 5aic 0e1uence would dissipate into
nothin. "here would be no way to !isdirect one's opponent without
any traces of !aic invocation. In order to consciously halt !aic in
the !iddle, one needed to actually pro#ect a 5aic 0e1uence the sa!e
way !aic is invoked, then cancelin the invocation before it finishes.
"hus, switchin consciousness and focus in an instant was absolutely
interal.
>u's body was already ready to receive the inco!in slash, but
because the repulsion field blade suddenly disappeared he was off
balance as his body tilted towards the riht. 4aotsuu sei'ed this
opportunity to once aain deploy +(ressure 0lash+. "he invisible blade
slashed down towards the riht side of >u's neck.
-nother +clan+ sound went off, but there was no blood. -t the last
second, >u used the 5etal /ride techni1ue to drastically lean
backwards and take this opportunity to twist his body to !eet
4aotsuu's blow. 6sin his fallin back as a fulcru!, he whirled and
sent a flyin kick at 4aotsuu. 4aotsuu was forced to leap back and
>u Ionhu took this opportunity to reset his balance.
"here was no way their contest could start over fro! the beinnin.
%urin that e&chane, it was obvious that 4aotsuu could have
clinched the advantae if he was able to take advantae of the ti!in.
4aturally, >u Ionhu wasn't foolish enouh to let his opponent
dictate the pacin. -fter rihtin hi!self, he reached out with his riht
wrist and took lare steps forward.
4aotsuu swun his short sword at >u's outstretched riht wrist, but
the B5 c! lon blade was re#ected by the spiralin forces swirlin
around the wrist. "his was also a !ove fro! traditional ,hinese
!artial arts, a !aic techni1ue that used the entire nervous syste! to
create a spiralin force at the point of i!pact that served as both
offense and defense called +,oiled 0ilk @orce+.
4aotsuu's body shook like a leaf cauht in the river current after he
sustained the force fro! the coiled nerves. In order to avoid >u's
advance, 4aotsuu was forced to leap backwards.
4aotsuu's !assive retreat caused >u's furiously advancin finertips
to !iss their !ark. )owever, >u didn't ive 4aotsuu any opportunity
to reset his posture. @ist, pal!, bear claw, the blows ca!e flyin
forward inter!i&ed with attacks with the elbow, shoulder, and even a
tackle as a furious tide of attacks pressed 4aotsuu relentlessly and
co!pletely denied hi! any opportunity to use (ressure 0lash.
4aotsuu was forced to retreat each ti!e, but even so, none of >u's
attacks !anaed to land on 4aotsuu's body. -lthouh there was no
trace of any e!otion save for fihtin intent on >u's face, internally he
was startin to fret a little. )e raised his attack speed, but at the sa!e
ti!e, the offensive output of each of his blows shrank.
@inally, 4aotsuu's back was aainst a wall and he had nowhere left to
run. >u's fists swun forward like a wind!ill. )owever, his riht
hay!aker was blocked by 4aotsuu's riht hand in the for! of a
karate chop. "he short sword that was oriinally held in 4aotsuu's
riht hand had vanished. @or the first ti!e, tur!oil warred across >u's
face.
-fter nullifyin the attack fro! >u's riht hand, 4aotsuu !anaed to
divert >u's attack strenth. Off balance, >u's body tilted forward.
5eanwhile, the short sword oriinally in 4aotsuu's riht hand
!ateriali'ed in his left hand.
4aotsuu's sword wasn't ai!ed at >u's e&posed back of the head, but
slashed towards the side of his waist. "iltin forward, >u's body was
perfectly in line to receive the blade co!in for his abdo!en. 7ven at
this disadvantae, >u still tried his ut!ost to twist and avoid the blade
oin into his vitals. "he short sword swept across >u's side and left a
deep cut.
Inverted, >u sent his feet kickin towards 4aotsuu's head. 4aotsuu
took one step back to avoid the blow. @ollowin that >u's body flipped
sideways instead of forward and his feet were pressed aainst the wall
rather than the floor. In the ne&t instant, he kicked off the wall and
pounced ferociously towards 4aotsuu.
"he pair of outstretched hands were like the claws of a tier, its
strenth in no way inferior to a feral beast and capable of shreddin
flesh and bone alike.
-n overpowerin sense of daner pro!pted 4aotsuu to flee in spite
of his terrible posture. >u kept his leapin posture as he brushed past
4aotsuu and landed two !eters away. >andin with both hands on
the round, he 1uickly turned around and pounced on 4aotsuu aain.
%espite >u Ionhu's in#ury, the ferocity and pressure of his attack
see!ed to be even stroner than prior to his in#ury. "his ti!e, it was
4aotsuu's turn to fret.
-fter the fourth chare, >u Ionhu's attack was interrupted by an
attack fro! the flank. On refle&, he took evasive action.
"wo burnin blades ca!e rushin towards >u. Its true for! was
tihtly co!pressed air caused by hih te!perature differences. >u saw
the openin between the two blades and doded between the!. *et
i!!ediately afterward, the concentrated co!pressed air e&ploded in
fury, strikin >u's body fro! both sides with their co!bined
e&plosion.
>u runted in pain and spran towards the stairs at one end of the
corridor. 4aotsuu hurried in pursuit, but >u's fiure had disappeared
in the blink of an eye.
+5ari...... "hanks for the assistance.+
It was 5ari's !aic that enabled 4aotsuu to escape fro! har!, but
this was not a pre!editated attack. -fter seein 4aotsuu locked in
co!bat with >u, 5ari i!!ediately #oined in the attack. "he reason
why 5ari finally interposed in the conflict was because until now, the
battle between 4aotsuu and >u was too intense and close to risk
launchin her attack.
+4ao...... *ou're hurt.......9+
-lthouh 4aotsuu's words were !eant to co!fort 5ari as she ca!e
rushin forward = plainly, 5ari didn't even hear hi! = because her
astonish!ent suffused her face. /efore her eyes, 4atosuu's riht hand
was flushed into an anry red.
"he outco!e of 4aotsuu and >u's battle could be deciphered fro!
the pain each side suffered. $hen deflectin >u's attack, 4aotsuu's
riht hand also suffered considerable da!ae. @lank versus riht hand,
fro! a lon ter! perspective 4aotsuu had the upper hand, but if the
battle was to be decided 1uickly, then 4aotsuu would undoubtedly
fall after losin his pri!ary hand.
+%on't worry, althouh I need to see a speciali'ed doctor in the
beinnin, I can handle the rest. @ortunately, we're currently in a
hospital.+
+/ut you ship out to!orrow......+
+"hat's O<. 5y superiors would understand. -fter all, this is a work
related in#ury.+
4aotsuu's tone was no different than nor!al, which allowed 5ari to
radually rela&. )owever, after shakin off her tur!oil, her brain
sprouted another 1uestion.
+"hat !an...... $ho was he9 "o be able to !atch 4ao in close
1uarters.+
4aotsuu hesitated briefly, but still answered the 1uestion.
+"hat uy is called >u Ionhu. - 5aician fro! the Ireat -sian
-lliance's 0pecial Ops.+
+>u Ionhu...... 0o that's hi!......+
5ari was lon aware of >u Ionhu's na!e that was #ust as fa!ous as
4aotsuu's own.
+5ari.+
4aotsuu suddenly rabbed 5ari's shoulders and turned her to face
hi!self.
+4ao, why are you doin this all of a sudden9+
0ha!e faced, 5ari turned aside.
+5ari.+
4evertheless, after hearin 4aotsuu call out her na!e aain in a
decisively odd tone, 5ari turned back around.
+I !ust leave to!orrow. %urin this ti!e, I a! very worried since I
won't be by your side......+
+I understand, 4ao. "hen, is there anythin you need to tell !e9+
+>u Ionhu saw your face before disappearin. )e will definitely see
you as an ene!y.+
5ari nodded at 4aotsuu's words. )er eyes didn't contain a hint of
fear, which only deepened 4aotsuu's concern.
+"hat !an is a barbaric 5aician bearin the na!e +%evourin
"ier+. *ou saw his power today. %urin this ti!e, please don't be by
yourself.+
5ari's felt that 4aotsuu's words were an e&aeration, but she
swallowed those words at the serious lint in 4aotsuu's eyes.
>u Ionhu, who had been forced to retreat fro! his duel with
4aotsuu at 5ari's interference, was currently sittin in the passener
seat of the lu&ury car that Chou was drivin.
+5y apoloies if I stole your thunder there.+
-fter leavin the ates of the hospital, Chou struck up a conversation
fro! the driver's seat.
>u said nothin as he kept his eyes forward.
Chou kept oin despite seein that >u's attitude wasn't very
welco!in.
+0peakin of which, I a! 1uite surprised that 5aster >u was in#ured.+
7ven thouh he was aware that the topic at hand was discussin his
own !ishap, >u didn't bat an eyelid.
+%id you use 7arth 5over9+
"he 1uestion he opened his !outh to ask was reardin the ability
Chou used to facilitate his escape.
+0urely you #est. ,o!pared to 5aster ,hen, !y level is !erely cheap
parlor tricks and definitely unworthy of any notice.+
-nd so, Chou s!iled without a care as he responded to >u's
accusation that he was hidin so!ethin up his sleeve.
A A A
-fter returnin ho!e fro! school, "atsuya i!!ediately walked
towards the conference phone.
"he first nu!ber he dialed was one he called earlier today.
+)ello.+
"he voice ca!e fro! a youn wo!an :not a youn irl; and used
words that see!ed two centuries out of date.
4ot only the i!ae, but even the volu!e 1uality had been boosted, but
he could tell that the slihtly !urky i!ae ca!e fro! the phone on a
!obile ter!inal.
+It's 0hiba.+
+-ya, it's 1uite rare for you to call twice in one day.+
- clear, frank voice acco!panied the i!ae of a s!ilin wo!an
wearin a suit like a youn secretary fro! a lare corporation that was
displayed on the !onitor.
0he intentionally disuised herself inconspicuously, but her !undane
cos!etics and ordinary wardrobe only served to intensify her !ovin
features.
+5y apoloies, are you in the !iddle of a date9+
+)aha.+
@u#ibayashi, wearin clothes that perfectly suited that sort of nihtly
encounters, let out a professional, da''lin s!ile.
+-las, this is work. /esides, the ,asanovas are only welco!e at this
ti!e. 0ince there aren't any ood !en around, oh wells.+
)er tone was 1uite different than usual, which i!plied that she drank
so!ethin containin alcohol. Of course, "atsuya :on the other side;
was never oin to be cauht dead sayin so!ethin !oronic like
+you're in the !iddle of drinkin+.
7ven thouh cars were now controlled by the central control syste! in
the city proper, drinkin and drivin was still a punishable cri!e. "o
be precise, sittin in the driver's seat after i!bibin constituted a
cri!e. 0ocial nor!s dictated that one !ust be able to !aintain
accurate #ud!ent and nor!al !obility while operatin a !otor
vehicle.
On the other hand, @u#ibayashi's work wouldn't involve a nor!al car.
-s usual, she would be drivin her !odified car with boosted
intellience atherin functions. 0o, she was on her own car and was
drunk. In other words, so!eone else besides @u#ibayashi was currently
in the driver's seat.
+-h8...... I wonder where there's another handso!e !an like "atsuya-
kun.+
5aybe she reali'ed that "atsuya was thinkin about pointless thins,
@u#ibayashi started flirtin with "atsuya in a sultry tone. 7ven after
she spoke, she !ischievously sent a!orous a'es at "atsuya.
+Is that so. I actually had a few thins I wanted to talk about, so I
uess I'll call back to!orrow.+
"atsuya only said this because he was absolutely certain that
@u#ibayashi was #okin around with hi!. On the other side of the
screen, @u#ibayashi's co1uettish e&pression was e&chaned with an
elated s!ile.
+)ow cal! of you...... $ell, that !akes you worthy of the title '!an
with !ost free ti!e'.+
+0o!ehow I feel that callin !e the one with the !ost free ti!e see!s
a little overboard...... /y the way,+
+Eela&, I'! alone riht now.+
@u#ibayashi cut off "atsuya before he could sinify that he was
concerned about infor!ation security.
+0o, you can say anythin you want.+
"hen, she ured "atsuya to cut to the chase.
+"hank you.+
7ven "atsuya, who was a proponent of stickin to his own uns,
would be pulled alon at another's pace if his opponent was
@u#ibayashi.
"atsuya waved the white fla at so!eone who see!ed to be able to
switch between e&pressions like an actress before cuttin to the heart
of the !atter.
+-ctually, there was a burlary on ca!pus today.+
+/urlary9 *ou !ean the incident you !entioned this !ornin9 "hey
actually went throuh with it9+
+*es, and they used sleepin as as well.+
On the other side of the screen, @u#ibayashi wore an astounded
e&pression that said +0o they actually dared+.
+@ortunately, it ended in an atte!pt.+
+0orry, I know we've restricted your side on our end......+
+"his result isn't entirely because of !y duty to the !ilitary.+
@u#ibayashi bowed her head in apoloy because "atsuya was restricted
to certain !aics because of classified !ilitary secrets, so @u#ibayashi
was apoloi'in because "atsuya had to unnecessarily o the e&tra
!ile.
7ven if @u#ibayashi's words were true and "atsuya's words were only
an e&cuse, repeatin the! was necessary to rease the wheels of this
conversation.
4either the apoloi'in side nor the receivin side truly !eant what
they said.
+I have a video recordin at the scene of the atte!pted robbery.+
+7h...... )ow did you !anae that9+
$hen plannin to steal infor!ation, cuttin the video feeds was the
basic of the basics. -lso, there was no way he could be #ust sittin in
that roo! waitin for the cri!e to occur.
+It was recorded by an independently runnin robot.+
+Oh, the 3), so you have that kind of interests.+
+4eative, the location is the roo! belonin to the Eobot Eesearch
,lub and the 3) was an accessory within.+
0ince the 3) boasted refined features, so!e people believed that
individuals who utili'ed the 3) had a certain sort of fetish.
<nowin this, "atsuya tried to use +independently runnin robot+ to
!uddle throuh, but it looked like that didn't work on @u#ibayashi.
+"hat recordin,+
"here was no way "atsuya could clear his na!e if it ot stuck here, so
he forcibly !oved the conversation forward.
+I !anaed to save it, so can you investiate9+
+$hat did you et9+
)onestly answerin at this point was likely one of positive sides of
@u#iybayashi's personality.
-lthouh this deree of interaction was nor!al, there was still an
e1uivalent ratin syste!. -t any rate, in "atsuya's social circle, this
was already a +pleasant personality+.
+"he tool used durin the atte!pted robbery includes the loo for the
,-% containin the hackin processes.+
+I see. "atsuya-kun, looks like you've ot the fo& by the tail.+
+"hat would be an e&aeration, but that would be the ist of it.+
+4o worries.+
-t "atsuya's e&pressionless face, @u#ibayashi intentionally replied
with a robust voice. "ruly a pleasant personality, indeed.
+"he captain said it's about ti!e to et started, so we've already been
keepin tabs on loos. $e should be able to narrow it down in the
ne&t day or two, so #ust sit tiht and wait for the ood news.+
5ysteriously, @u#ibayashi !ade this prediction.
4othin !ore needed to be said after "atsuya thanked her. -fterwards,
he passed the data to @u#ibayashi's ter!inal.
A A A
-fter finishin the call with "atsuya, @u#ibayashi let Inspector ,hiba
"oshika'u and his sereant back onto the car. =-lthouh she did
drink wine, @u#ibayashi was still sittin in the driver's seat, which
!ore or less coincided with "atsuya's esti!ation. -nyway, @u#ibayashi
was one of the individuals in the Independent 5aic-71uipped
/attalion that fell outside the nor!.
0till, fro! "oshika'u's perspective, this !ove!ent was filled with an
interestin aura. In order to continue the case where the trail had one
cold, he wanted to purchase infor!ation fro! the intellience vendor
who knew everythin across the world, +the owner of Eothbart+.
"his was why he was actin in concert with the beautiful youn
wo!an he ran across in the ,afe Eothbart.
)e oriinally wanted to borrow her strenth, but now it looked like he
was doin volunteer work. 7ven thouh he privately asked hi!self
+)ow did it et to this9+, he still hadn't arrived at a satisfactory
answer. 7arlier, he had believed that he was i!!une to her wo!anly
char!s, but upon repeated reflection, he was no loner so confident in
hi!self.
+5y apoloies, 5r. ,hiba, that was a private call.+
+4o, that's 1uite alriht.+
"oshika'u was wearin a hih-class casual suit that !atched
@u#ibayashi very well, thouh the fact that police!en still received a
paltry pay fro! past to present was a headache for !any people.
)owever, fro! his perspective, he received an e&tra stipend fro! his
fa!ily in addition to his police!an's wae, so his wallet was
considerably !ore corpulent.
+0o, what clues did your private infor!er ive you9+
In order to avoid breakin the rela&ed at!osphere, "oshika'u stepped
lihtly into the issue. In response, @u#ibayashi's face lihted up with a
delihted s!ile the sa!e way she s!iled at "atsuya earlier.
7!phatic !en were always welco!e. @u#ibayashi was hihly irritated
by slow-witted opponents, so she appeared to think hihly of
"oshika'u's 1uick wit.
+- poor !ouse that was used by the fo&, as well as the picture of the
tail lent to the !ouse.+
+......0o it's a recordin of the collaborator and the hackin tool9+
-t Inspector ,hiba's so!ewhat bewildered uess, @u#ibayashi s!iled
and said +,orrect+ as she nodded.
+Inspector, do you know the first step to huntin fo&es9+
-fterward, she watched the !an in the passener's seat with serious
eyes.
+I don't know...... 6nfortunately, althouh I carry a un...... I've never
been a hunter.+
6nable to keep up with the swift chane in topic, the youn inspector
was unable to fluidly answer the 1uestion. "he s!ile that !asked his
identity as an elite lieutenant fell away as he !ur!ured with a sole!n
e&pression.
+)untin fo&es starts with findin the fo&hole. Once the den has been
destroyed, the hounds can be let loose to shoo the fo& fro! the
bushes.+
+......0o we should look for the den9+
+I'll leave the recordin of the hih school collaborator to you. 0tart by
investiatin this person's !ove!ents throuh the street ca!eras. If
there was hardware that cannot be obtained nor!ally, then it would
!ean that the student !ust have !ade contact so!ewhere.+
Investiatin the ca!era recordins without a warrant was
un1uestionably illeal. In addition, since the taret was an adolescent,
a search warrant wouldn't be ranted easily. 0till, "oshika'u had
another 1uestion in !ind.
+,o!pared to location, how lon will we have to look9 It would not
be an e&aeration to say that there are nearly unli!ited locations for
one person to visit within a short one to two !onths. "ryin to find a
suspicious contact within this ti!e fra!e is......+
+"here are 32 locations within "okyo proper. -!on these locations,
pick out the locations where the collaborator has visited in the past
!onth.+
@u#ibayashi's answer nearly forced "oshika'u's !outh to drop open in
shock.
+......"hirty two locations...... *ou've already narrowed it down so
!uch.+
+"hat's because the inspector isn't aware of data for other
collaborators. $hile you're still thinkin +$ow, now I'! oin to be
busy+ and are at your wit's end, we ot our hands on additional
infor!ation.+
+......Other collaborators9 $hy wasn't the police infor!ed9+
+4aturally, that's because the other collaborator is a irl.+
"oshika'u was struck speechless at this concise answer.
+I cannot leave a irl with her future ahead of her on the police's
blacklist.+
+......0o it's O< if it's a boy9+
+"hat's their own responsibility.+
"oshika'u had no words for @u#ibayashi's declaration.
+I believe in a patriarchal ideoloy, so I believe that !en are supposed
to work harder than wo!en. "hus, !en !ust learn to discipline
the!selves and take responsibility for their own actions.+
-t @u#ibayashi suddenly usin these archaic principles to stuff the
conversation, "oshika'u could only continue to stare at her for a lon
ti!e.
A A A
It was already the second day when the wounded tier returned to its
lair after bein wounded aainst the fo&es. :Of course, they believed
the!selves to be the hunter.;
0eein >u's in#ury, surprise flooded ,hen's face, but he didn't ask how
the !an suffered his in#uries. )e had already !ade his report on the
!ission. /efore returnin, >u proposed another surprise attack, but
,hen re#ected that approach. >u was supposed to be responsible for
the failed assassination atte!pt on )irakawa ,hiaki, but ,hen chose
not to do so. "he cause of the failure and especially Chou's activities
durin this ti!e weihed heavily on ,hen's !ind. "hey !iht fall into
Chou's snare if he prosecuted >u's responsibility now. In addition......
+"he situation has chaned.+
-nother e!erency had occurred. In order to handle this situation,
>u's strenth was i!perative.
+Our allied collaborator, 0eki!oto Isao's !ission in @irst )ih has
ended in failure. )e has been arrested and is now bein held in the
)achiR#i 0pecial %etention ,enter.+
@oret the hospital, there was no way to breach a special detention
facility desined to hold :or protect; !aical adolescents without
serious firepower. -dditionally, 0eki!oto had personally !ade contact
with ,hen and co!pany, so he naturally stood at a hiher priority than
,hiaki, who only !et throuh Chou.
+0et aside )irakawa ,hiaki's !ission for now. ,oncentrate on
eli!inatin 0eki!oto first.+
+*es, sir.+
-lthouh the !ission difficulty had spiked several levels, >u still
blandly accepted his orders. It was i!possible to tell fro! his
e&pression that he had been in#ured.
A A A
5onday.
$hile waitin for 5iyuki to descend fro! the bus, "atsuya found a
pair of class!ates sittin toether in the back.
"hey !ust have felt his a'e. "he !an and wo!an sittin ne&t to one
another both for!ed an +-h+ with their !ouths.
+Onii-sa!a, did you find so!ethin interestin9+
Iracefully descendin fro! the bus, 5iyuki asked when she noticed
her brother's e&pression. 6pon followin the direction of her brother's
a'e, she covered her !outh with one hand with an +-h.+.
/efore the siblins' a'e and across the windows for two rows of
seats, 7rika and >eo stiffly s!iled back in welco!e.
"oday, there were four co!panions oin to school toether fro! the
station. -lthouh it was rare that all eiht of the! were toether, it
was e1ually infre1uent for four people to be toether.
"he reason for this was obvious.
+......)ey, why are you uys so early today.+
>eo asked in displeasure.
)owever, althouh >eo appeared to be ventin his ire, "atsuya wasn't
so!eone who walked on e shells in fear of others.
+0ince there's only one week left until the co!petition, there are all
sorts of arrane!ents startin fro! the !ornin.+
Eiht now, they were an hour earlier than usual.
+>eo too, why are you here so early9+
"atsuya had a leiti!ate reason in ne&t 0unday's "hesis ,o!petition.
Ob#ectively speakin, it was !ore perple&in for >eo to show up at
this ti!e than "atsuya.
+7rika see!ed to have otten up really early today too9+
"atsuya wanted to continue askin >eo, who see!ed to be at a loss for
words, but 5iyuki beat hi! to the punch and asked 7rika instead.
+......I usually et up really early.+
7rika's answer see!ed a little uilty as she replied back to 5iyuki's
innocent, refreshin s!ile with her pace noticeably pickin up
towards school.
+Is that so9 0o that's why 0ai#ou-kun ot up so early today.+
0till, hearin 5iyuki !ur!urin to herself, 7rika finally stopped in
her tracks. "here was no way she would be able to stand aside and let
a co!!ent like that pass by.
+)old on, 5iyuki. If you say it like that, doesn't that sound like I et
up every !ornin to wake this uy up9+
+*eah. 0eriously, I should be the one who ot up earlier.+
*et, 7rika's counterattack was horribly derailed by >eo.
+............+
+............+
+............+
7rika, "atsuya, and 5iyuki wordlessly lared at >eo. :"o be precise,
only 7rika was larin, the other two wore innocent e&pressions;
+......7h9 $hat's with this !ood9+
>eo was the only one who could not co!prehend the situation :that he
caused;.
+......$hy isn't anyone sayin anythin9+
-lthouh 7rika's tone re!ained bitin, her face was co!pletely
flushed and tears appeared in her eyes.
+Oh well...... "he early bird ets the wor!.+
"atsuya was no scoundrel, so there was no need to continue askin at
this stae.
In truth, "atsuya wasn't very capable at chanin the conversation.
/y his side, 5iyuki's bewildered s!ile and >eo's confused tilt of the
head were, on so!e level, a perfect co!parison.
"atsuya arrived at the classroo! #ust before class to find 5i'uki
frantically tryin to co!fort the sulkin 7rika in the roo!.
+-h, "atsuya.+
"he one who struck up a conversation was 5ikihiko.
-s usual, >eo sat with his back to hi! and a scowl on his face.
5i'uki !ust have stepped on a land!ine, with 5ikihiko pourin oil
on the fire.
"atsuya i!!ediately rasped the situation.
+7rika, it's about ti!e to let it o.+
"atsuya said as he brouht up the soft drink can and lihtly tapped
7rika's face.
+-h.9+
7rika #u!ped out of her seat in surprise.
+$hat are you doin9+
+,atch.+
"atsuya put the can of cola into the hands of 7rika, who was 50M
!ore aressive than usual.
+)ot.+
7rika said this in an odd tone like so!eone catchin a hot potato while
directin a confused look at "atsuya.
+%rink so!ethin sweet to chane the !ood.+
+......)!ph, don't think you can et back into !y ood races with
this.+
7rika said this as she popped the cap, thouh her face had rela&ed
so!ewhat. "atsuya's s!ile reached her eyes.
+......$hat9+
6pon seein "atsuya's e&pression, 7rika was forced to ask. 0till,
thouh there was still so!e resent!ent, her overall tone had softened.
+*ou borrowed the ,hiba @a!ily's power to train >eo and teach hi!
new !aic, riht9 I didn't intend to tease you uys, so rela&.+
"hese words were oriinally intended to soothe 7rika, but they
brouht an entirely une&pected result. (ure astonish!ent suffused
7rika's face.
+......Is "atsuya-kun really clairvoyant9+
+4o, I a! not clairvoyant. I speculated that was the case after auin
>eo's enery consu!ption and, in con#unction, the fluidity of his
!aic.+
"he !aic that "atsuya spoke of was so!ethin that co!bined psion
fluidity and pheno!enon rewritin in order to invoke !aic.
@luidity of psions i!pacted 5aic 0e1uence construction speed,
precision, and scale. *et, #ust this alone was unable to affect the 7idos.
-ll of these had to be co!bined with the power to rewrite pheno!ena
in order to constitute !aic.
+4o, enery this and !aic that, you said it so naturally...... 4o, at this
point.+
5aicians were adept at perceivin psions and #udin interference
strenth. )owever, 7rika was ettin tired of bein constantly
surprised by the depth of "atsuya's knowlede. =0peakin of ettin
tired, 7rika definitely wasn't the only one.
+4ow that you !ention it, "atsuya, how bad was it yesterday9+
0eein the stor! pass, 5ikihiko spoke with a !uch !ore rela&ed
e&pression on his face.
+*esterday9 -h...... "he news spread 1uite 1uickly.+
"atsuya paused for a !o!ent not because he was playin du!b.
Eeardless of whether it was )irakawa ,hiaki or 0eki!oto Isao, he
had handled both incidents yesterday, so it was hard to use +how bad+
to describe the!.
Iiven that @u#ibayashi said +one or two days+, the hackers would be
captured today or to!orrow. "his was as ood as a fact for "atsuya.
"he 7lectron 0orceress = +7lectric $itch+.
@u#ibayashi <youko's two titles not only sinified her talent in
electronic interference !aic as a 5aician, but also her ability to see
infor!ation atherin on the 4et as child's play.
,o!pared to !anipulatin the pheno!ena of the world, she was !ore
adept at alterin infor!ation on the network.
Hust as "atsuya could read the infor!ation that was written into an
ite! in the past, so too could @u#ibayashi <youko retrieve and
reconstruct infor!ation that had been copied over fro! !anetic and
optic !e!ory units. -nd, unlike "atsuya, she had no ti!e restriction.
In place of that, she had a li!it where she couldn't retrieve the data if
it had been physically deleted, but in an ae where co!puters had
linked the entire lobe, co!pletely eradicatin data that had been
recorded was practically i!possible.
In other words, for her, so lon as any trace of the electronic sinal
re!ained, she would be able to find it no !atter where it hid.
@u#ibayashi was the one who tauht "atsuya how to work the network,
but in this field he had no chance of catchin her in this lifeti!e. In
"atsuya's esti!ation, there were only a handful of network specialists
who could rival her ability.
+-h, the perpetrator has already been arrested, so there's nothin to
worry about.+
)ence "atsuya answered 5ikihiko in this !anner.
0till, 7rika and 5ikihiko were unable to rela& because they re!ained
in the dark reardin @u#ibayashi's !ove!ents.
+Hust because we cauht the perpetrator red-handed doesn't !ean
we're in the clear.+
7rika said.
+"his doesn't sound like a solo act, !aybe there's so!e sort of
orani'ation behind this......+
5ikihiko also had si!ilar concerns.
+)ow about we o interroate hi!9+
"hen, >eo abandoned his role of 1uietly listenin to everyone and
inter#ected with his nor!al overly opti!istic tone.
It wasn't that si!ple. 0ettin ,hiaki aside, 0eki!oto was in the special
detention facility. 4onetheless, this ti!e >eo's co!!ent didn't invite
the usual retorts and backlash.
+*ou're riht...... $e should seriously pursue the individual's
responsibility.+
7ven 7rika, the one who usually retorted the !ost, e&pressed her
co!plete assent.
+Eeally9 /ut 7rika-chan, 0eki!oto-senpai is currently at......+
+)e's probably held at the special detention facility. $e can't #ust
si!ply walk in there and !eet hi!.+
5i'uki's hesitant words were 1uickly supple!ented by 7rika's own.
Of course, she wasn't oin to chane her !ind si!ply because
5i'uki was aainst it.
+It's not that we're co!pletely out of ideas. /arrin further options, we
could #ust sneak in.+
+)ey8 )ey8.+
)earin this, "atsuya finally couldn't hold back any loner.
+7ven if we don't do that, we can see hi! so lon as we have a
per!ission slip fro! the school. ,urrently, 0eki!oto-senpai is still a
student at @irst )ih.+
-ccidents were unavoidable durin the course of !aic trainin.
7very year, several !aic hih school students would withdraw fro!
school owin to accidents in trainin that led to the co!plete loss of
!aic. In a si!ilar vein, so lon as the perpetrator did not co!!it a
heinous cri!e, e&pulsion was not a punish!ent ranted often. $hile
the cri!e 0eki!oto co!!itted was !alicious in nature, it still
re!ained at the atte!pted phase. "hus, 0eki!oto's punish!ent was
dependent on how repentant he was. (arole officers keep !e!bers of
society with uni1ue skills in the special detention centers to evaluate
their proress, but students are still able to visit the!.
+7h8.+
"here was no way 7rika was inorant of this.
+"hat per!ission slip rests in the hands of the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee, I believe.+
It was because 7rika didn't want to use the leal !ethods that she
proposed an alternate !ethod that s!acked of cri!inal activity.
+Eeardless of how you put it, it's easier than tryin to sneak into the
detention facility.+
)owever, "atsuya frankly vetoed 7rika's proposal.
"hus, after school in the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee )J.
+4o.+
<anon si!ply and clearly re#ected the proposal to visit 0eki!oto.
+......,an you ive a reason9+
0ince <anon's reply was too concise, "atsuya wasn't even sure where
to bein.
+4o is no.+
<anon stubbornly stuck with the word +4o+. 5aybe this was her
bein e!otional, but she appeared to be afraid that if they ot into a
debate she would be persuaded in the end.
+$hat I want to know is, why not9 "he per!ission slips for visitin
the detention center are evaluated by the ,hair of the (ublic 5oral
,o!!ittee or 0tudent ,ouncil (resident, but the ulti!ate decision
rests with the school. "here's hardly any persuasive strenth in #ust
handin down a unilateral no.+
)earin "atsuya's reply, <anon furrowed her brows, a clear sin of her
irritation. )er chilly attitude until this !o!ent was blatant enouh to
cause people to wonder +if so!ethin had ticked her off+ or so!e
other ulterior reason. *et, she couldn't #ust si!ply back down before
"atsuya, so <anon's stratey see!ed doo!ed fro! the onset.
+....../ecause this is oin to be very troubleso!e.+
0eein no possible way to continue, <anon reluctantly replied.
+/ased on what...... @irst, what would be troubleso!e9+
Of course, this e&cuse wouldn't fly with "atsuya. It was only natural
that he would ask <anon.
+,an you uarantee that nothin will happen with you uys #ust
runnin around.9+
@or so!e reason, <anon's reply was a shrill 1uestion of its own.
+0eein as you uys are all inorant, allow !e to put it bluntly. 0hiba-
kun, this sort of trouble always appears in your surroundins, yet you
are either unaware or believe that you are bla!eless, but trouble still
finds you on its own. $ith how busy we are riht now, please stop
creatin trouble for everyone riht now.+
%espite the stretch in loic, <anon's words bore an indo!itable force.
=-lso, "atsuya was aware that <anon's words weren't entirely wron.
+<anon, sayin that about "atsuya is oin too far.+
-t this ti!e, 5ari, who had rarely popped into )J due to her hectic
schedule, arrived to break up the dispute.
+-t any rate, "atsuya-kun is still involved with the issue at hand. It
stands to reason that he would want to understand the co!ins and
oins.+
+/ut, 5ari-senpai.+
+$ell, O<, <anon, it's not like I don't understand what you're drivin
at.+
%o you really understand9 "atsuya thouht. 4onetheless, since 5ari
was helpin hi! out, he wasn't oin to actually co!plain.
+@ortunately, 5ayu!i and I planned to visit 0eki!oto to!orrow, so
we can have hi! acco!pany us.+
+$ell...... If it's with 5ari-senpai.+
>ooks like <anon isn't so!eone that is overly stubborn as she
reluctantly areed with 5ari's proposal.
+Is that O<, "atsuya-kun9 ,o!in alon with your senpais, that is.+
"ruth be told, he wasn't satisfied co!pletely, but seein as this was
<anon !ore or less backin down, "atsuya e&pressed his aree!ent in
the end.
A A A
In a roo! with no windows, ,hiaki sihed.
)onestly, she was 1uite bored.
%espite her status as an invalid, she wasn't in#ured. 4o, thouh she did
suffer in#ury, it wasn't to the e&tent that warranted a stay in the
hospital. $ithin the e&tent of her own feelins, she didn't feel that she
was in#ured to the point that re1uired bed rest.
0he was stuck in this sickroo! not because she was in#ured or ill, but
for other reasons.
@or her, this was like a lu&urious prison.
Of course, she knew that her presence here was entirely her fault,
hence she didn't co!plain about her loss of freedo!. /ut this was
si!ply too borin. 4aturally, she wasn't de!andin television,
wireless ter!inals, !odels or other lu&ury ite!s, even unconnected
cheap e-books would do. 7ven if entertain!ent was out of the
1uestion, even physical activity would do. -nyway, she couldn't #ust
sit here doin nothin.
7arlier, about two hours ao, the nurse who checked in on her said
+visitin hours are canceled today+. 0upposedly, this was because
so!eone atte!pted to break in yesterday. >ikewise, it wasn't the fire
alar! but the riot alar! linked to the police that ran out yesterday, so
it !ust have happened.
Eeardless, it wasn't like anyone was oin to visit her = her older
sister !ust hate her because of this = so cancelin visitin hours
didn't affect her !uch, so there was no need to worry. In reality,
,hiaki sur!ised that the taret of the +break-in+ was herself because
the door to this sickroo! had been da!aed. Obviously, she wasn't
asleep durin that ti!e, so she knew this even if she didn't like it. In
,hiaki's eyes, +those uys+ were tryin to silence her. )owever, there
was nothin she could do about that and ,hiaki had already iven up.
0he was only their collaborator and not one of their co!panions.
0ince ,hiaki understood this, the other side !ust think so too. It was
perfectly understandable that they would silence her in order to
prevent a leak.
In truth, her !ood had already reached a +do as you will+ phase. Eiht
now, she wasn't even sure why she bore such intense en!ity towards
+that uy+. 5aybe rottin away in this e!pty, white sickroo! was the
best endin for her, ,hiaki ridiculed herself.
-t this ti!e, so!eone knocked on the door. In spite of ,hiaki's
!uddled state, she still had a rasp of her !ental facilities. "he
afternoon check up was already over and she hadn't pressed the button
for a nurse. "here shouldn't be anyone co!in to see her, and didn't
the nurse say today's visitin hours were canceled9
"he knockin continued despite her a!a'e!ent, so ,hiaki frantically
= without thinkin !uch = pressed the re!ote door control.
+)ow are you feelin9 5iss )irakawa9+
"he one who ca!e in was thorouhly une&pected = but she had a
pre!onition, if so!eone was to co!e see her, it definitely would be
this person.
+5r. Chou.+
Once, ,hiaki was unable to keep watchin her sister wallow away in
pain and despair, thus forcin her to flee onto the streets one niht. -t
that ti!e, it was this person who co!forted her with kind and entle
words. "he person who told her that they shouldn't have suffered like
this and reinforced her dark thouhts. "he person who prodded her to
veneance, not throuh !urder, but to riht a wron. "he person who
allowed her to vent those pent up feelins. "he person who ave her
the tools of her veneance.
"he savior who saved ,hiaki's fraile heart stood before her with a
bou1uet of flowers in hand.
+$hy...... did you co!e9 Gisitin hours are canceled today......+
Iifts were no loner necessary, as there were a !ountain of thins she
needed to apoloi'e for. ,hiaki utterly loathed how she was bound by
these tedious e!otions. 7specially after sayin those words, she
wished she could slap herself.
+I used a few tricks.+
0ayin this, Chou winked in a childish fashion, but his action wasn't
particularly irritatin.
+"ricks...... -s in !aic9+
+4o, no, it's a little different than !aic.+
/ased on her own understandin, ,hiaki interpreted trick to !ean
!aic.
*et, Chou shook his head at ,hiaki's 1uestion.
+7ven without !aic, hu!ans are still able to pull off a few !iracles.
$ell, callin it a !iracle is a bit of a stretch.+
Chou s!iled once !ore and ,hiaki finally !anaed to recover her
wits :accordin to her;.
+"hen, 5r. Chou, I...... *ou helped !e so !uch, but I couldn't do
anythin.+
/efore ,hiaki could et started with her apoloy, Chou dropped the
bou1uet before her.
@or so!e reason, the bou1uet was filled with a !es!eri'in beauty
that !anaed to capture her attention with its brilliant luster.
+-ll of that is uni!portant.+
Chou's voice see!ed to co!e fro! far away.
,hiaki stared blankly at the bou1uet and lent her ears to Chou's words.
+If you feel reret.+
,hiaki's eyes were la'ed.
+If you feel the burden is too heavy.+
)er consciousness was entirely do!inated by Chou's voice.
+"hen #ust foret about !e.+
[email protected]+
,hiaki involuntarily spoke these wordsF she wasn't even aware what
she was sayin.
+*es, #ust foret about !e.+
+@oret...... Is it O< to foret......9+
6nder Chou's uidance, ,hiaki allowed herself to foret.
+*es, all you have to do is foret.+
+6nderstood...... I will foret......+
,hiaki ave herself the order to foret.
A A A
October 25th, the "uesday after school. "atsuya, 5ari, and 5ayu!i
went to the )achiR#i 0pecial %etention ,enter where 0eki!oto was
held. "here were only five days until the "hesis ,o!petition, so this
was really the busiest last le of the preparation phase, but since
"atsuya's tasks were proceedin s!oothly, he was able to spare two or
three hours away fro! preparations.
In reality, 7rika, >eo, and 5ikihiko also wanted to ta alon, but that
was a little inconvenient for the upperclass!en. 5ari only had
reservations reardin 7rika alone, but it was a little too challenin
for innocent hih school boys to associate with unfa!iliar fe!ale
upperclass!en. =-ctually, the per!ission slip that "atsuya handed in
only had three spots anyway. 0peakin of which, 5iyuki was
co!pletely tied down with 0tudent ,ouncil business, so she could
only send the three of the! off with an uns!ilin +beautiful s!ile+.
$hile there were all sorts of procedures at the door, there wasn't any
hassle beyond the door. -fter handin the! a >(0 ter!inal as a uide,
there wasn't even a staff !e!ber to acco!pany the!, which was !ost
likely the result of 5ayu!i leanin on the +0aeusa+ na!e. Of course,
"atsuya wasn't certain of the veracity of that, nor did he wish to
co!prehend the reason behind their special treat!ent.
"he roo! 0eki!oto was held in wasn't a +cell+ and there wasn't
anythin like !etal windows or so!ethin like that. It was actually
!ore like a second-class roo! in a hotel. 7ven then, there was a
hidden roo! that could observe the contents of that roo!.
5ayu!i and "atsuya both entered the hidden roo!. 5ari would be the
only one to face off aainst 0eki!oto. -lthouh 5ari was the one who
proposed this arrane!ent, neither 5ayu!i nor "atsuya voiced any
disaree!ent. "atsuya knew very well that even if 0eki!oto proved to
be violent, 5ayu!i was confident she could control hi! fro! the
other roo!, althouh 0eki!oto's talent was but a tiny fraction of
5ari's own.
@ro! the hidden roo!, they saw 0eki!oto without any restrictive
shackles. Of course, he was forbidden fro! leavin the roo!. 0ittin
obediently on the side of the bed, he was wearin si!ple clothes not
out of place durin a hospital check up. )e probably had underone a
thorouh full body search, so the chances he carried hidden weapons
or a ,-% was absolutely 'ero.
6nder "atsuya and 5ayu!i's watchful a'e in the other roo!, the
door leadin to that roo! opened. 4eedless to say, this was 5ari.
0eki!oto, nonplussed at the openin door, revealed his astonish!ent
at this. )owever, in the ne&t instant, his eyes were wary and
suspicious. 0eki!oto detected a hint of daner when 5ari appeared by
herself.
+$atanabe...... $hy are you here9+
0ubconsciously, 0eki!oto rubbed at his left wrist fro! his seat on the
bed, probably involuntarily lookin for his confiscated ,-%.
-lthouh his voice did not waver, it was filled with a na!eless dread.
+Obviously, I'! here to understand the situation.+
>ikely due to his service as a (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee !e!ber,
0eki!oto knew what 5ari was capable of. )e !ust be downriht
terrified of 5ari's ruthlessness.
+0o...... 7ven you can't use !aic here.+
0eki!oto's accusation was correct. "his was the place to detain
adolescent 5aicians who broke the law. "houh there were no
auto!atic anti-!aic devices like +,ast Ha!!in+ installed here, there
were still devices that could detect !aic invocation. Once !aic
usae was confir!ed, disar!in as would be released alon with
rubber bullets fro! !achine uns, followed by security burstin in
wearin full protective ear.
+Is that so9+
=On the condition that the surveillance syste! was workin properly.
0eki!oto finally co!prehended the reason why 5ari couldn't help but
s!ile.
+$e don't have !uch ti!e. Hust tell !e the i!portant details.+
0eein 5ari's teasin rin :in 0eki!oto's eyes;, 0eki!oto frantically
stopped breathin. =/ut it was already too late, haltin his breathin
was insufficient to avoid !aic.
0eki!oto's consciousness suddenly dipped into the fo. )e wasn't
even aware that he had succu!bed to 5ari's attack before startin to
answer 5ari's 1uestion.
+Is she usin scents to control his !ind9+
"atsuya was perfectly clear on what 5ari did after watchin fro! the
hidden roo!.
0he was usin various scents to directly provoke e!otions and
!e!ory. "his theory had already been !edically proven in the
previous century. ,o!!ercial aro!atherapy relied on the powerful
effects on e!otions caused by s!ells.
6sin the ventilation syste!, 5ari sent perfu!e waftin throuh the
nose into the olfactory cells, hereby co!binin a scent that lowered
!ental resistance and another which controlled the consciousness to
create a literal truth seru!.
+"atsuya-kun, is this the first ti!e you've seen this9+
5ayu!i was not surprised that "atsuya could see throuh 5ari's
techni1ue. "akin "atsuya's diverse knowlede in !aic, 5ayu!i felt
that this was perfectly natural. 0he was likely !ore a!a'ed that he
had served in the (ublic 5oral ,o!!ittee for half a year and had
never witnessed 5ari used this techni1ue.
+"his is truly the first ti!e. $ouldn't blatantly usin this sort of !aic
land her in a heap of trouble9+
5ayu!i nodded at "atsuya's words. +Hust as you say.+ 5aic usae
has been heavily restricted by the law, not to !ention this sort of
brainwashin ability. If used recklessly surely this would co!e under
fire fro! +collective reasonin+ and +civic duty+.
%espite his onoin conversation with 5ayu!i, "atsuya never lost
siht of 0eki!oto's +confession+ for a second. $hat aroused his
interest was 0eki!oto confessin that +after obtainin the data fro!
the presentation device, he planned to investiate 0hiba's private
possessions+. $hen 5ari asked for why, 0eki!oto answered with +the
5aata!a relic+.
+......"atsuya-kun, do you have so!ethin like that9+
5ayu!i asked hi! with wide eyes.
+4o, I do not have such a thin.+
$hile 5ayu!i's 1uestion hinted at all sorts of underlyin 1uestions,
honestly answerin the 1uestion would only create !ore proble!s for
"atsuya.
+/ut......+
+(robably because recently I was researchin thins related to the
+(hilosopher's 0tone+. 5aybe this is where he ot !i&ed up9+
5ayu!i also knew that he did use this e&cuse a few days before the
election for the 0tudent ,ouncil (resident, hence she didn't pursue the
issue. 0till, this wasn't because she entirely believed "atsuya's words,
but !ore because this wasn't the riht ti!e to do so.
Hust as "atsuya was let off fro! this easily debunked lie, the alar!
sounded for the )achiR#i 0pecial %etention @acility ran out.
"he reactions fro! all three of the! upon hearin the alar! were
incredibly swift. -fter pressin the still befuddled 0eki!oto down
onto the bed :not to let hi! rest;, 5ari chared out of the roo!. -t the
sa!e ti!e, "atsuya and 5ayu!i also e&ited fro! their cha!ber.
+>ooks like we have illeal intruders.+
5ari's voice tre!bled slihtly in surprise. "hanks to the assault on the
hospital affiliated with the !aic university yesterday, the police in
western "okyo were on hih alert. -lthouh the !obile defense force
:4ational Iuard; that were the hihest for! of security hadn't been
!obili'ed, the nu!ber of patrols today had increased by fifty percent.
>ikewise, this )achiR#i 0pecial %etention ,enter was also twice as
alert as usual. Only so!eone who truly had so!e skills or was a
co!plete !oron would chare in now. =5ari's ut leaned towards
the for!er.
+"atsuya-kun, do you know where they are co!in in fro!9+
)earin 5ayu!i's 1uestion, "atsuya re!oved the >(0 ter!inal and
fiddled with it. "he flip open display showed a 3% !ap for the
evacuation route. "hey could esti!ate the intruder's point of entry
based on the route.
+"hey see! to have co!e in throuh the roof. "hey !iht have used a
flier or a sprin loaded !echanis!. ,urrently they are near the east
win of the third floor.+
-t "atsuya's words, 5ayu!i's a'e drifted towards an unknown
location. 0he had activated her 0ensory 0yste!atic 5aic +5ulti
0cope+ to its larest e&tent and looked in the direction "atsuya
indicated.
+......@ound the!. 4ice work, "atsuya-kun. "here are four intruders,
each ar!ed with hih power assault rifles.+
)ih power rifles were !andatory weapons aainst 5aicians. "he
e&plosiveness and flyin speed of their rounds were three to four ti!es
hiher than nor!al rifles and could even penetrate defensive !aic.
"he surplus in strenth could only be produced by hihly skillful
!anufacturin. "here was no way the averae anster or terrorist
could et their hands on one.
+0ecurity is settin up a defense line near the platfor! of the stairs
usin the terrain.+
+"he entrance to the corridor has been blocked by blast doors.+
-s 5ayu!i was reportin the current situation, "atsuya pulled up the
3% pro#ection for the buildin !ap. "he three of the! were on the
first floor in the central buildin. -lthouh there was no cause for
alar! based on the current situation......
+"heir taret is here.+
)alf a beat after "atsuya twisted his head to look towards the upper
levels, 5ari also watched the entrance warily.
+$hat9 -h.+
5ayu!i had no idea what put the two of the! on uard, but in the
ne&t instant.
%irectly before their eyes, the fiure of a lare !an appeared. )e was
taller than "atsuya by a head and approached nearly B?5 c!. )is
!uscular physi1ue didn't betray a hint of sluishness, like a lare
carnivore advancin forward. 0till, the !an appeared to be usin so!e
sort of techni1ue, since his aura and appearance were both faint.
%espite his appearance before the!, he see!ed to disappear if they
stopped payin attention, so he !ust have arrived here usin so!e sort
of invisibility spell. Of course, 5ari had a deep i!pression of this
!an.
+>u Ionhu.+
5ayu!i didn't see! to co!prehend 5ari's soft whisper, so her facial
e&pression didn't chane !uch. On the other hand, "atsuya kept a
ri! visae on his face. -lthouh he had heard of this individual, after
5ari callin out his na!e, this was the first ti!e he had !et the !an
face to face. =Of course, he was well aware of the !an's reputation.
-dvancin forward, >u's eyes stopped on "atsuya and co!pany.
0pecifically, his eyes rested on 5ari.
+I believe we should be beatin a retreat at this ti!e, but looks like it's
too late for that.+
"atsuya said in a liht tone as he stepped in front of the other two.
-s he prepared to walk towards >u, 5ari rabbed his shoulders.
+I'll take hi! on. "atsuya, you protect 5ayu!i.+
@ro! "atsuya's perspective, this was a ridiculous arrane!ent. "rue,
5ari boasted first class !aic co!bat ability as a *ear 3 !aic hih
school student. )owever, >u Ionhu's close co!bat !aic level was
+beyond first class+. 0he had no chance of victory in a head to head
confrontation. "heir chances of victory were definitely hiher if a
+reular+ like hi!self took the field.
+5ari, be careful.+
6ne&pectedly, 5ayu!i voiced her support for 5ari's tactical
assess!ent. 0till, this wasn't the ti!e to continue this conversation, so
"atsuya obeyed.
+I know he's no s!all fry.+
5ari stretched her left hand slihtly forward and, as if to pat her dress,
swatted downwards before raisin her hand aain. $ith a sound, the
nor!ally straiht pleat dress !ade fro! ultra thin fabric was
!assively raised, revealin a pair of tihts that outlined delicious
curves alon with the leather holder alon one thih. - 20 c! lon rod
was re!oved fro! this leather holder.
"he he! of her dress fell back down to obscure 5ari's pair of
!es!eri'in les. 5aybe he had been cauht up by the siht, but >u
didn't fall into a co!bat stance until 5ari raised her left hand.
>u Ionhu tilted his upper body forward with both hands danlin in
front of hi!. )is finers were slihtly curved, ivin his body the
i!pression that it was ready to pounce at any iven !o!ent.
*et, the first to act here was neither 5ari nor >u Ionhu, but 5ayu!i
standin off to one side.
"he instant !ist see!ed to cover the walls to the left and riht and the
ceilin, countless white pellets swar!ed towards >u Ionhu. >u
Ionhu pounced forward, but over half of the ice pellets still struck
his body.
)owever, >u was not har!ed by this barrae. )is entire body was
covered by 0teel Jion and !anaed to repel the inco!in ice
pellets. )is !o!entu! didn't decrease in the slihtest as he chared
towards 5ari. 5ari raised her 20 c! blade to !eet hi!.
- dull !etallic sound ran out as 5ari stopped >u's outstretched riht
ar!. -fterwards, >u's head !assively tilted backwards as a 20 c!
eded leaflet sheared by his face. "he weapons in 5ari's hand
included a 20 c! lon handle, two 20 c! lon short blades, and
another s!all short blade attached to a strin.
-t this ti!e, 5ayu!i's second attack descended. >u leaped backwards
to a safe distance. )is instincts were correct. "he floor and
neihborin wall where he #ust stood were peppered with nu!erous
pellet !arks. 5ayu!i's second attack was harder and even !ore
precise than the first one, with superior speed and penetratin power.
@or the first ti!e, a hu!an e&pression ca!e across >u's face, an
e&pression called !ystification. )e knew that he wasn't at full power
due to the in#ury in his side. 0till, that a few students, and fe!ale hih
school students at that, were able to hold hi! off rather beed
disbelief. 4onetheless, >u's bewilder!ent only lasted a second. )e
canceled the !aic that suppressed his aura and focused entirely on
the battle at hand.
>u erected several layers of psion infor!ation bodies around his entire
body. "atsuya could see that both his layers of infor!ation bodies and
physical barrier !aic were of the sa!e nature. 7arlier, his entire skin
was covered by a hih density of psions, which was the sa!e as
fortifyin the 7idos of the skin. )owever, now he switched over to
barrier !aic. -fter 5ayu!i released her third shot, this attack was
blocked by >u's physical barrier. -fterwards, he closed in on 5ari
with lihtnin speed, to which 5ari raised her dual-eded blades to
counter, but it didn't see! likely that she could hold hi! with that pair
of blades aainst the strenth of that barrier !aic.
-t the point of i!pact with 5ari, >u's fiure disappeared.
5ari frantically pivoted to the riht, an action that was entirely based
on her instinct, but fortunately this was the riht choice.
6nfortunately, she wasn't oin to !ake it in ti!e.
>u Ionhu had passed by 5ari's short sword and ot behind her.
5ari !entally called out +5ayu!i.+, but there was no ti!e for her to
actually verbali'e this.
Hust as >u ca!e face to face with "atsuya, who was standin directly
in front of 5ayu!i = a stor! of psions devoured hi!.
Ira! %e!olition.
0eein that >u Ionhu had transferred his %ata @ortification !aic to
a physical barrier, "atsuya used a continuous strea! of co!pressed
psion particles to shred >u's ar!or.
>u's eyes were filled with shock.
4ow, 5ayu!i's shootin !aic activated once !ore.
>u's reaction sustained his hih reputation as +beyond first class+.
)e swiftly recovered fro! the shock that ca!e fro! the destruction of
his barrier 0teel Jion, and i!!ediately erected 0teel Jion for
%ata @ortification. )owever, while 5ayu!i lowered the nu!ber of
shots, she had raised the strenth of each shot accordinly. 4ow, >u
Ionhu's hastily erected 0teel Jion was no loner able to
co!pletely deflect 5ayu!i's shootin !aic.
"akin hits fro! the pellets, >u was forced to halt his footsteps due to
the i!pact fro! the lare nu!ber of psions disruptin his senses.
4ow, even 5ari was closin in fro! behind.
"he twin blades in her left hand released a s!all short blade that flew
towards >u's head.
5ari's riht hand suddenly hurtled so!e sort of black dust towards >u
Ionhu.
>u i!!ediately covered his eyes and ears.
"he black dust see!ed to cover his head and 1uickly dissipated after
e!ittin a faint liht.
>u's lare fra!e started to rock back and forth. 6nder the effect of
5ari's -bsorption-"ype 5aic, the rapidly +burnin+ carbon particles
were restricted fro! interactin with heat and liht, but 1uickly
interacted with o&yen. "he result was that !uch of the o&yen was
converted into carbon dio&ide. In a flash, the air beca!e thin around
>u Ionhu's position.
5ari wielded the thin strin in her left hand like a weapon. -lon the
direction of the swin, the strin e!itted the repulsion ede +(ressure
0lash+. -lso, there was !ore than one. "he twin blades fallin upon
the head also e!itted +(ressure 0lash+ alon the edes of the blades.
"he thin strin in 5ari's hand had e&ceeded the speed of her twin
blades thanks to the application of Iravity-"ype acceleration !aic.
7ven "atsuya wouldn't be able to dode all three attacks at the sa!e
ti!e, and the +%evourin "ier+ >u Ionhu was no e&ception.
-lthouh >u !anaed to evade the repulsion blade in 5ari's hand, the
other two struck hi! in the shoulder and back. 7ven with 0teel
Jion sustainin hi!, he was in a state of o&yen deprivation after
sustainin 5ayu!i's !aic shootin, and the barrier wasn't operatin
at full strenth. "hus, the two blades landed direct hits to his body.
-lthouh he was able to avoid !a#or bone fractures, the blades still
sank into his flesh, leavin two lon cuts. 6nder the i!pact of 5ari's
direct attacks, >u keeled over.
,avalry was a role that always arrived late to the party. Only in
!ovies do they appear in the nick of ti!e.
"hus, reinforce!ents fro! security only arrived after >u had been
subdued. "he four security officers beheld the scene where a youn
!an was knocked down by twin blades and revealed astonished
e&pressions, but upon closer e&a!ination of the unifor!s the three
students wore, they 1uickly bound >u Ionhu tihtly. ,hances were
hih that these people knew of 5ayu!i as well.
Eunnin counter to "atsuya's esti!ation, they were not 1uestioned by
the authorities. -ain, this !iht have been caused by the power
co!in fro! the na!e +0aeusa+, thouh "atsuya wasn't oin to
co!plain. )e was already incredibly thankful that he didn't have to
waste any !ore ti!e, a thouht that 5ayu!i and 5ari !ust also
share. /y the ti!e the three of the! were conversin, they had already
left the pre!ises.
-fter leavin throuh the front door of the detention center, 5ari
so!ewhat hesitantly approached "atsuya.
+"atsuya-kun, uh, althouh you !ay know now, but please don't speak
of what you #ust saw.+
4aturally, "atsuya had no way of !akin heads or tails of what she
!eant with #ust those words.
+In reards to not speakin of this, are you referrin to senpai's
weapon9 Or the fact that senpai can wield '%o#iiri'9+
"atsuya asked this to verify the conversation topic, but when 5ayu!i
and 5ari heard his 1uestion, they both sihed in unison.
+0o you really do know about it......+
+"atsuya-kun, so you are o!niscient after all......+
/ased on the ladies' indecisive appearance, "atsuya inferred that they
!ust be talkin about the +%o#iiri+.
+It's not that I know everythin...... Isn't the Ien#i '%o#iiri' 1uite
fa!ous9+
5ari's final attack used three si!ultaneous attacks fro! different
directions. 5uch like nin#utsu, in order to hide the identity of the
attack, the na!e +5ultiple 0lash+ was replaced with +%o#iiri+ and
passed on e&clusively by Ien#i swords!en. )owever, in the ae
where !aic had beco!e public knowlede, +%o#iiri+ had suddenly
vanished, beco!in an ability that researchers are aware of but have
not witnessed with their own eyes.
+%on't worry, senpai, I will not disclose the details of your techni1ue.+
)earin "atsuya's reply, 5ari's e&pression was both tentative and
e!barrassed.
+Of course I believe you...... /ut also, please don't tell anyone that I
can use '%o#iiri'.+
-fter receivin "atsuya's confir!ation even thouh he didn't ask for a
reason, 5ari still continued on for so!e reason.
+-h, of course.+
4aturally, he co!plied. -nd he didn't really want to know the reason
either. /ut, for so!e reason 5ari started to talk about it.
+"hanks for your help. In reality, I didn't actually for!ally receive
trainin in this techni1ue. I stu!bled across this after perusin the
contents of ancient te&ts left at ho!e and havin 4ao assist !e in
trainin and so!ehow ended up learnin it.+
-fter listenin to 5ari's e&planation, "atsuya #uded that the +4ao+
she spoke of !ust refer to ,hiba 4aotsuu. 0peakin of which, that
earlier +%o#iiri+ included ele!ents fro! the +Ienius of 5aic ,lose
,o!bat+.
+I see, so that's why your attack included '(ressure 0lash'.+
+7&actly. -lso, !y house lies on the tail end of the $atanabe @a!ily. I
a! of the Ien#i style, but !y house's position isn't very hih. If the
$atanabe @a!ily knows that I can use the 0ecret 0word of the Ien#i,
then so!e trouble !ay arise......+
+0till, iven your status as a co!bat 5aician, I doubt you can keep
that a secret for lon.+
In the end, this point was unavoidable. 5ari's face darkened as
"atsuya pointed this out.
+I know that, but I hope to keep this a secret while I'! still a student.+
0eein 5ari pout, 5ayu!i burst into lauhter.
+6nderstood, I'll keep that to !yself.+
-t any rate, "atsuya had no intention of interferin with !undane
!atters of such level, especially because they had nothin to do with
hi!. )andlin so!ethin like this was a piece of cake for so!eone
like hi!.
A A A
On the @riday evenin that was two days before the official
co!!ence!ent of the +4ational )ih 0chool 5aic "hesis
,o!petition+, he received a phone call fro! @u#ibayashi after eatin
dinner and takin a bath.
+......In other words, the !obile forces for spies have all been
apprehended in the past two or three days.+
-fter speakin these words clearly in an official capacity, @u#ibayashi
finally rela&ed on the other side of the !onitor.
+"he intel "atsuya-kun provided was a hue help. "hanks.+
+)ardly, I was the one who !ade the re1uest in the first place.+
+"hat !ay be so, but the !aic hih school and @>" were not the only
victi!s. Industrial spies are a headache not only for the se!iconductor
industry and !aic acade!ies, they also pose trouble for
!anufacturers as well. Intellience and counter intellience are not
under our purview, but based on the nature of our unit, we cannot
si!ply turn a blind eye to spies usin !aic to acco!plish their
ob#ectives. 0o we planned to !ove out soon even without your
co!!unication, which !erely hastened the operation ti!e and really
helped !e out a lot.+
+Is that so. 4ow that you !entioned it, where did the news fro! the
relic leak fro!9+
+"his is a little e!barrassin, but the !ilitary's operational data was
leaked out. In the end, based on the !ilitary's allocations for !aic
research and rants, they went down their list of tarets.+
0o that's how it was, "atsuya thouht. 4o wonder their !ethods
see!ed so unprofessional.
0o they were literally fu!blin around in the dark. "he intrinsic value
of this !iht be low, but intel wasn't so!ethin that had unifor!
1uality in the first place. 7ven the really valuable pieces of
infor!ation that were !ined fro! patent databases were one in a
thousand, which !ay be why the spies adopted this plan of action.
+$hile the !a#ority of those we cauht were of 7ast -sian
nationalities, we !ay have been able to catch wind of our 1uarry.+
+*ou see! 1uite pleased.+
+Eestraint isn't a bad thin, and I'! a cautious person after all. 0till,
since the ene!y has the all to walt' into our backyard, there's no
need to suffer that. $e !ay need to call on your support at that ti!e,
so take care.+
+If there's a !ission at stake, I have no ob#ections. "hank you for the
notification.+
+*ou're welco!e. Iood luck on 0unday. I'll be there to cheer you on.+
-fter encourain "atsuya, >ieutenant @u#ibayashi hun up the phone.
(lainly, she hadn't put !uch thouht into the !anipulator pullin the
strins in the dark and saw this incident as the typical !aic industry
spyin incident. -ctually, even "atsuya had no idea that +their
opponent+ was on such a scale.
-las, they took their ene!y too lihtly.
A A A
)avin returned to the livin roo!, "atsuya collapsed onto the couch.
"ruthfully, it was very rare for hi! to show fatiue such as this. In
ter!s of pure sta!ina, si!ply keepin viil all niht for a week
straiht would nor!ally not wear hi! out to this e&tent. )owever not
only did he have to work on a thesis dealin with one of the +"hree
Ireat (u''les for Iravity 5aic+, a 0ustained Iravity ,ontrol-"ype
5aic 0e1uence "her!onuclear @usion Eeactor, he also had to use his
uni1ue ability in analy'in structures to investiate a relic which
!odern technoloy could not hope to replicate, on top of lookin out
for spies. )e was !entally e&hausted as well.
7!ptyin his head for the !o!ent, "atsuya closed his eyes as he
leaned back into the one seat sofa, curvin his neck and restin his
head on the backrest. "here was no particular !eanin to this position,
si!ply his !ood.
0ittin ne&t to her brother as always, 5iyuki was not irritated at all
that "atsuya had suddenly retreated into his own world. >eavin
hi!self defenseless to this e&tent was so!ethin he reserved for her
presence alone. 5iyuki was over#oyed that "atsuya would leave
hi!self in her care so.
5iyuki did not wish for her brother to concern hi!self with her all the
ti!e. Hust bein able to be by his side, even if only for a while, was
enouh happiness for her. "hese words by no !eans !eant that
5iyuki was a door!at, but rather convey praise. It can safely be said
that there is no one who would say such thins about her.
Eather than bein frustrated, 5iyuki was !uch !ore worried about
her brother. )owever !uch he insisted otherwise, not even 5iyuki
could recall the last ti!e "atsuya so honestly let his weariness show.
"akin care not to !ake a sound, 5iyuki rose fro! her seat. 0tandin
before hi!, she softly leaned closer to his face with their eyes closed.
7nsurin that her lon hair wouldn't brush aainst hi!, she pressed
down on it with her left hand. 7nsurin that she wouldn't end up
accidentally touchin hi!, her riht hand pressed onto the sofa
supportin her weiht.
$hen the he! of her pleat skirt al!ost fell onto his les, 5iyuki's
heart thundered in her chest, but "atsuya didn't stir. %arinly wearin
such a short skirt see!s to have une&pectedly paid off, she thouht.
0eein fro! up close, her brotherSs co!ple&ion wasnSt as bad as she
had feared. In her relief, she continued observin his face for sins of
anythin awry. $atchin hi! at this distance, 5iyukiSs consciousness
radually clouded. -s her !ind went blank she bean to foret what
she was thinkin and doin, as her face slowly crept closer to his.
)er heart poundin, blood rushin to her head, she couldnSt think of
anythin at all. 5iyuki obliviously stared at her brotherSs face.
/reathless, she didnSt even notice that she was holdin her breath.
I!!ediately beco!in aware of that situation, "atsuya snapped open
his eyes.
"atsuya and 5iyukiSs eyes !et.
"i!e stopped. 4ot #ust "atsuya, 5iyuki also stood absolutely fro'en
as if paraly'ed.
/oth "atsuya and 5iyuki si!ply stared at each other, their respective
e&pressions full of surprise.
0uddenly, no loner able to sustain her unnatural position, 5iyuki fell
forward.
)er face closin in on his, 5iyukiSs lips rapidly approached "atsuyaSs
own.
Eeardless of intention, #ust before the two of the! crossed a line
which absolutely should not be crossed.
="atsuyaSs body ca!e back online.
+$atch out.+
@aster than his voice traveled, his hands whipped out and supported
his sisterSs shoulders.
+<ya.+
6nable to forcibly keep herself up, or perhaps #ust out of enery,
5iyukiSs feet staered and she sank to her knees onto the couch. Or
rather, she sank into "atsuyaSs lap who was sittin on the couch.
"he two fro'e aain.
Once aain close enouh to kiss, 5iyuki and "atsuya stared at each
other.
"atsuyaSs hands were wrapped fir!ly around 5iyukiSs shoulders,
and 5iyuki was straddlin "atsuya on her knees.
"his ti!e, the ice !elted 1uicker.
"akin care their near !istake didnSt beco!e reality, "atsuya brouht
his head back to its oriinal position.
"atsuyaSs eyes dropped fro! her face to her chest, then further down.
@ollowin her brotherSs a'e, 5iyuki inerly looked down at her
own body. 0he did so 'inerly' because she was already well aware of
her own state without even seein.
0ure enouh, not only was she kneelin on her brother, her les were
spread beyond the oriinal allowance of her short pleat skirt such that
her underwear was al!ost visible.
+I a! so sorry..+
$ith a!a'in speed 5iyuki leapt off "atsuya, then faster than the
wind :yet still dinified enouh as to ensure that when her feet hit the
round nothin indecent was e&posed; she flew out of the livin roo!
straiht upstairs.
%ivin into her own roo!, she sla!!ed it shut, locked it, then finally
fell back aainst the door pantin. 0he couldnSt !uster the enery to
stand. (erhaps due to the refined upbrinin instilled within her she
subconsciously tried to alin her knees and sit up straiht, but after
fleein into her roo! she was utterly drained and si!ply collapsed
down to the round.
0he flattened her skirt where she sat, straihtened up a bit then #ust
spaced out for a while. )er feverish head refused to think at all. -s
ti!e passed, her e!erency evacuated thouht processes returned
little by little.
$here she was.
$hat she was doin.
$hy she was alone in her roo! riht now=
5iyuki i!!ediately buried her head in her hands. )er pal!s felt hot.
7ven without lookin in a !irror, 5iyuki knew that her face !ust
have been burnin red.
:I, #ust what was I doin to Onii-sa!aTT.;
0he couldnSt even bein to understand what she was thinkin at the
ti!e. -ll she could think of was that she !ust have co!pletely lost it.
:Onii-sa!a and I, al!ost ki, ki, kiTT;
)er consciousness bean to overheat aain, and she was forced to
free'e her thouhts.
>eft alone, 5iyuki would likely have re!ained like this until !ornin.
-n infinite loop of restartin and free'in.
)owever, there was no way "atsuya would leave 5iyuki alone,
+5iyuki9+
+*es.+
-nd at the sound of "atsuyaSs voice callin her na!e fro! the other
side of the door, 5iyuki responded in a panic fro! the floor.
0he steadied herself by pressin hands that had been held aainst her
flushed hot face onto her thihs. )er eyes were so !oist that tears
threatened to spill out any !o!ent. )er ar!s were straihtened out
with such force, as were her shoulders and back, that her entire body
tre!bled slihtly. It was al!ost as if she was scared.
+5ay I co!e in9+
+Hust wait a !o!ent.+
7ven so, within 5iyuki, any thouht of resistin her brother si!ply
did not e&ist. 0he rose rapidly, defyin belief that her les had been
powerless until now, and fir!ly unlocked the door with hands that had
been tre!blin #ust a while ao.
+(lease, co!e on in.+
0hiftin sideways as she opened the door, 5iyuki !ade a space for
her brother to enter. )owever, "atsuya didnSt set a foot inside.
)e #ust watchedTT
6nable to !eet her brotherSs a'e 5iyuki tried to casually look away,
but she could feel still feel his eyes on her.
0he bean to heat up aain.
It wasnSt a superficial heat fro! so!e childish sense of wrondoin,
but rather ca!e fro! deep within her. "hat heat continued to rise, not
her body te!perature but rather perceived te!perature=until finally
she could bear it no loner, and turned her averted face to !eet her
brotherSs eyes.
5iyuki looked up fro! a heiht difference of B5 c!. @ro! that
distance, the tears athered in the corner of her eyes were plainly
visible. In a hurry, 5iyuki tried to raise her hands and dry herself.
)owever, before she knew it both "atsuyaSs hands were already
cradlin her cheeks. Iently, he wiped the tears fro! her eyes.
+$ell, u!, how to put this.+
-s 5iyuki stared at hi! wide-eyed and lost for words, "atsuya spoke
bluntly.
+IS! sorry, I !ade you worry about !e. IS! fine, so 5iyuki, donSt be
so concerned any!ore.+
0ayin so with a clu!sy s!ile, he re!oved his hands fro! 5iyukiSs
face.
+ISll clean up downstairs. *ou rest for today.+
Orderin 5iyuki in a so!ewhat e!barrassed tone, "atsuya turned
away without waitin for a reply.
$aitin until her brotherSs back faded fro! view down the stairs,
5iyuki closed the door aain.
$alkin unsteadily to her bed, she slowly took her clothes off, then
slid under the blankets in her underwear.
)avin finally !ade it thus far, 5iyuki bean frantically rollin
around on the bed.
%espite appearin to be in aony all over, her face, unlike before,
see!ed really happy.
A A A
"he short hand on the clock had already reached B2. On the ne&t
calendar day, the +4ational )ih 0chool 5aic "hesis ,o!petition+
would officially bein in *okoha!a. Of course, even if that was the
case, there was no sin of festivities in the streets. "he "hesis
,o!petition held sinificant value for !aic hih school students,
especially for the students who had been selected as representatives, to
the point that it could i!pact future !a#or events, but for the averae
plebeian who had no connection to !aic, this event was no different
than the do'ens of atherins that were held annually.
On ,hina 0treet, which re!ained one of *okoha!a's pri!ary
entertain!ent venues even in this ae, the overwhel!in !a#ority of
the stores still opened and closed at their usual ti!es.
-!on these stores, one of the larer restaurants appeared to be
closed for the evenin on the outside. *et within, there was a suite that
could not be seen fro! the e&terior. Inside, two !en sat there facin
one another.
"here were two cups on the table. @illed to the bri! with !atured
wine, the cups were worthy of bein called lu&uries, but neither of the
!en took a sip. "he youn !an who brouht out the wine considered
this to be a waste, but since the older !an across fro! hi! suffered
his cup to re!ain untouched, he could only !irror that esture.
+5r. Chou, thank you for your considerable assistance.+
+*ou honor !e, !y lord.+
,hen's words were at odds with his arroant tone, whereas Chou
respectfully bowed fro! his seat with a sliht s!ile on his face.
+I have already linked up with the fleet dispatched fro! the ho!eland.
$e can now proceed to our ne&t !ission.+
+It is !y pleasure to be of service.+
4either ,hen nor Chou showed any chane in facial e&pression.
+)owever, there is still one unresolved issue.+
+Oh9 $hat is this proble!, >ord ,hen9+
0uperficially, +there was no chane+, but both were surreptitiously
soundin out one another.
+I'! not aware if you already know, but !y assistant has run afoul of
the fortunes of war and has been captured.+
"heir e&pressions subtly chaned. ,hen adopted a crestfallen
e&pression as he continued.
+"his I already know. $hat a terrible run of luck, I can't believe 5r.
>u would......+
$ith a loo!y e&pression, Chou replied back in a voice filled with
heartfelt concern.
+*et, even thouh this !isstep happened to hi!, he re!ains an
absolutely interal asset of our country.+
Chou wordlessly nodded his head, sinifyin his aree!ent to ,hen's
words. =/ecause there was no point in !akin a pro!ise now.
Chou re!ained silent in order to force ,hen to lower hi!self and be
for assistance.
+,an you lend !e your aid one !ore ti!e9+
,hen lowered his head and !ade his re1uest, to which Chou
responded with a shocked e&pression followed by a s!ile.
+Oh, of course, !y lord. 7ven I cannot #ust stand by and watch !y
country!an suffer.+
Chou s!iled as he rose fro! the table.
+-ctually, two days fro! now, nay, should be to!orrow based on the
hour, 5r. >u will be transferred to the International (rison in
*okoha!a.+
- truly astounded e&pression !ade its way across ,hen's face when
Chou dropped this bo!bshell.
+"ruly9+
+Indeed, what a heaven sent opportunity. I already have the
transportation route.+
Chou didn't tell ,hen that he pulled a few strins to chane the
transportation date to to!orrow !ornin. 0till, Chou related all the
other details in his co!prehensive e&planation.
+In return, I wonder if !y lord would consider, durin the battle on the
!orrow, to allow this street to......+
+Of course.+
-fter finishin his e&planation, Chou raised his own re1uest with
so!e !isivins, but ,hen accepted his proposal before he could even
finish.
+"he pri!ary ob#ective for to!orrow's battle will be the <antou
branch for the 5aic -ssociation. -lthouh co!bat is inevitable, I
will re!ind !y officers in the field to do their best to avoid lettin the
carnae spread to ,hina 0treet.+
+"hank you very !uch.+
Chou knew precisely what ,hen !eant with that careless pro!ise as
he bowed deeply.
="here was still one day until the co!!ence!ent of the "hesis
,o!petition. In reards to the onco!in stor!, "atsuya re!ained in
the dark.
Afterword
"he reason I a! able to present you the Dth volu!e of +5ahouka
<oukou no Eettousei+ so 1uickly is all because of your support, the
readers.
"herefore I would like to thank you all sincerely fro! the botto! of
!y heart.
$ith the point of view that it is not necessarily ood to finish the story
in a sinle volu!e, this ti!e's +*okoha!a %isturbance ,hapter+ is
therefore split into 2 volu!es.
Of course, I will not be splittin it into 3 volu!es, so you uys can
take that load off your !inds and #ust rela&. ==-lthouh it shouldn't
be so!ethin that is worthy of bein satisfied about.
I'! sure that everyone knows already, but this liht novel oriinally
started off as a web novel, and therefore it is no surprise that !ost of
the content is si!ilar, thouh so!e parts have been i!proved, !akin
it into the +full version+ that I a! presentin to you riht now.
-fter this +full version+ is released, there shouldn't be any!ore +4ewU
full version+, +EealU full version+, +@inalU full version+ or even
+6lti!ateU full version+ appearin.
==Hokes aside, due to the ti!e constraints faced when publishin
the web version, 1uite a bit of content was left out. )owever, that has
been solved with the release of the liht novels, and is the !ain
priority of the publishers.
"his ti!e, volu!e D and the soon to be published volu!e 2 are !ostly
about fillin up all the content that I have left out.
@or e&a!ple, revealin the yet to be seen true characteristics of a
certain character, or the up to date bein !entioned only in na!e
person's current activities, and also about how a certain so!eone in
the ne&t volu!e is in a certain kind of relationship with another person
due to certain reasons, all these will be in the liht novel.
-s to what the people involved in the "hesis ,o!petition will soon
face durin their unlucky and cala!ity filled presentation, althouh I
have yet to solidify the scenes that will occur in !y head, soon I will
be able to present the! to you, so please wait patiently for the!.
Golu!e 2 will either be published ne&t !onth or the !onth after. -t
the sa!e ti!e, when volu!e 2 will be out on the latest by 0epte!ber,
the !edia tea! will also disclose data esti!ates to everyone.
4e&t, let us !eet in the loriously and !anificently battle filled
+*okoha!a %isturbance ,hapter :II;+.
:0atou "suto!u;