Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 15 - Ancient City Insurrection Chapter (II) Read online

  Synopsis of the Previous Volume

  Sunday, late September of 2096 AD, the National Magic High Schools will hold the Thesis

  Competition. The Kuroba twins paid a visit to Tatsuya's place. They brought a letter from the Yotsuba Family Head, Yotsuba Maya. The content of the letter was a request of cooperation for the pursuit of Zhou Gongjin, the mastermind of the Yokohama Incident. It wasn’t an order, but a request. In order to chase the traditionalists who hid in Nara, Tatsuya visited the Kudou family manor in Nara. Over there, Tatsuya and company met with a boy who was as beautiful as Miyuki named, Kudou Minoru.

  With his guidance Tatsuya explored the territory of Zhou Gongjin's traditionalists and of the magicians from the continent with Taoist backgrounds. Meanwhile, the Saegusa family head, Saegusa Kouichi, felt that he'd been betrayed and sent Nakura to assassinate Zhou. Nakura went to Kyoto, and had engaged in combat against Zhou. He was defeated and died.

  After receiving the news that her bodyguard suddenly died, Mayumi began to move in order to search for the truth.

  Chapter 6

  October 15th, 2096, after school, two weeks before the Thesis Competition, First High School was full of commotion due to the preparations. Despite that, the current buzz was due to something else entirely different.

  They were talking about a sudden visitor. The students from second and third years’ were familiar with this visitor; even the freshmen could hardly miss the presence of the popular OG[1]

  The person in question, Saegusa Mayumi, was walking towards the guest room. The school seemed to have decided to treat her as a member of the 10MC instead of as the former Student Council President; a daughter of the Saegusa family. Mayumi requested to see Tatsuya alone. This was due to the nature of her request.

  "I'm sorry, Tatsuya-kun. I thought it was best to come to First High to talk to you..."

  Mayumi expressed her thoughts and bowed; probably, because she noticed the commotion she had caused. Most likely not because she heard the rumors, since her skill of perception was through sight, not by hearing. While walking to the guest room the commotion from everyone in sight could be heard. By now, they've become the subject of curiosity and speculation. It's hardly possible for her to not be aware of the situation.

  "No, please don't worry."

  Tatsuya had his share of being gossiped about due to his position and ability. But, his answer was not meant to be consolation for Mayumi. Certainly, the fact that she came to visit the school meant that there would be rumors going on for 75 days[2]. Still, it's better than to be disturbed at home. There was a mountain of things that he didn’t want to show to a member of the 10MC in his house. Of course, he said it casually but he couldn’t ignore the risks of Mayumi ever seeing them.

  It is more convenient for Tatsuya that Mayumi chose to come to school rather than his house. It would be quite easy for her to obtain his address, but she blatantly chose to be gossiped about. Though Tatsuya could hardly care about such baseless rumors. And yet, she chose to come to school; she must have been considerate of Tatsuya. —He reached this conclusion based on her actions.

  "How do you do?"

  Mayumi seemed to be quite tense, unbefitting of her character.

  Tatsuya thought, despite being tense, she didn't forget to start with words of greeting. It's hard to say that such an extent was required.

  At this rate, there's a chance of wasting time. With that in mind, Tatsuya decided to take the lead.

  "This year, I won't be as busy, since I'm only in charge of the security for the event day itself."

  "Is-is that so? It's surprising for you to not join the competition team.”

  "That's why, depending on your request, I might be able to assist you."

  Tatsuya didn't think that Mayumi came just to see him. They don’t have that sort of 'intimate relationship' where the other party could be convinced with words like "I came to meet you because I wanted to see you. This is not to say that they have a normal Senpai-kouhai relationship, but for her to come to meet Tatsuya there must be something that she wanted to ask for.

  "...You're right. You can't help it even if it's a waste of time."

  Mayumi's eyes were still hesitating. But as he had said, at this rate they will only waste their time. Both Mayumi and Tatsuya couldn't possibly have an unlimited amount of free time. Since she visited Tatsuya with something on her mind, there's no way she would leave First High dejectedly without even delivering her request.

  "I wonder if Tatsuya-kun remembers Nakura-san."

  "Yes, my condolences."

  "Please don't be concerned. Tatsuya-kun, you know about what happened to him?"

  "I saw the local news."

  "Did you collect such information for the Thesis Competition security preparation?"

  "Well, something along those lines."

  "…Then."

  Mayumi paused for a split second, not to avoid the main issue, but to shake the last bit of hesitation.

  "Do you know about his cause of death?"

  "Only that he was murdered."

  "I guess that's the extent of the published information."

  A bitter smile floated on Mayumi's lips, unexpectedly letting out her feelings. "You're right. Nakura-san was murdered, and I don't know who the culprit is." Tatsuya showed slight confusion at her words.

  "You're not looking into it?"

  "My father…"

  Mayumi stopped briefly, but she decided to discard her hesitation.

  "My father knows who killed Nakura-san."

  Tatsuya didn’t hide his astonishment.

  "Did your father admit this?"

  "No. But I'm sure he knows; at the very least he has an idea. Nakura-san had been ordered by my father to go on a secret mission in Kyoto."

  "A secret mission in Kyoto, huh..."

  If you used the familiar expression "undercover work" to Tatsuya, that will be referred to as illegal work.

  "I didn't get to hear this directly either. My father didn’t say anything besides 'a certain work'. I was told that 'I don't need to know'."

  "I see."

  That was the same as saying 'let him do the dirty work'. Tatsuya thought that perhaps Saegusa Kouichi has no intention to hide it.

  "So then Senpai, what do you want to do?"

  Mayumi had hoped that this question would never arise. However, Tatsuya immediately asked it and stared into her eyes, making her wince her eyes for a little while.

  Yet, Mayumi didn't want to silently face down. She was empowered by her sense of duty and righteousness and spoke to Tatsuya face to face.

  "I want to know the truth."

  "Do you want to identify the culprit?"

  "Yes."

  There was a slight delay before she answered. But that didn’t mean that Mayumi was hesitating, she was just trying to calm her heart down before it started beating faster.

  "I'll say it upfront. My relationship with Nakura-san was never a close one."

  Hearing Mayumi's confession, Tatsuya was amazed. However, he quickly suppressed his mouth so as to urge her to continue.

  "My relationship with Nakura-san was strictly business-based. I never thought of him as more than a bodyguard."

  "Even so, you still want to search for the culprit? Even though the risk is hardly small." Tatsuya tried tolightly provoke Mayumi.

  He received a piercing stare in reply.

  "Don't take me wrong. I'm not doing this out of sympathy."

  "Then why?"

  "My bodyguard was killed in one
of the Saegusa Family's missions. Though I know that he was not ordered to die, it was a job with a high risk of death so the result is the same. I don't want to avert my eyes from the truth. As a member of the Saegusa Family, at the very least I want to know the truth." "How commendable." Tatsuya sighed.

  Mayumi lifted her eyebrows.

  "But."

  Even when she raised her voice, Tatsuya continued with a cold tone.

  "In the end, it's only for your own self-satisfaction, Senpai you should understand this as well."

  "Hmph, that's right. But, there's nothing wrong with self-satisfaction, right?”

  That was not a voice of desperation, but one filled with strong will, even Tatsuya couldn't immediately think of words of rebuttal.

  "In my current state, I can't do anything. I'm not satisfied with myself. I can't proudly bear myself as the eldest daughter of the Saegusa Family."

  "As the eldest daughter of the Saegusa... is it."

  "Yes, for better or for worse, it is my position. I don't want to run away from my responsibility.

  That's why I'd like to confirm the doubt in my heart. I wonder if this is weird." "No, I don't think it's weird."

  Mayumi's words were both enviable and repulsive to Tatsuya.

  Miyuki had not yet been introduced as a direct descendant of the Yotsuba. Instead, she was forced to hide her identity. But, Tatsuya also never thought that being a Yotsuba was a good thing or something to be proud of to begin with, yet to be unable to reveal your true self is a sad situation. These were all Tatsuya's thoughts, instead of feelings.

  His sister was forced to hide the pride of her birth. Tatsuya envied Mayumi for her presence, in the light of Miyuki's own existence.

  "I see, then what's the connection with me? Even if you ask me to find the culprit, I don't have the 'know-how' to become a detective, nor have I helped in the investigation previously.

  Unfortunately, I think I can't be of service to you."

  However, despite his demeanor, Tatsuya truly wished that he could help her. But it was an impossible task, even for him. He didn't have any means of finding out the whereabouts of the killer whose name was unknown. Even the idea of doing that tired him.

  "Wait!"

  Despite the frank rejection from Tatsuya, Mayumi stopped him when he was about to leave his seat.

  "There's a high chance that the culprit was involved in the Yokohama Incident!" Those uttered words, made Tatsuya fail to leave the sofa. "The same culprit as in the Yokohama Incident, you said?" Tatsuya shouldn't have worn a surprised face.

  But what Mayumi thought had little to do with his amazement.

  "Seems like Nakura-san had done some research on the mastermind of the Yokohama Incident in Chinatown recently."

  She probably thought that she was able to draw Tatsuya's attention. Her reasoning was flawed, since Tatsuya unmistakably had no interest in the topic.

  "You're well-informed."

  "That person never left my side when on bodyguard duty. Lately, he'd been bringing many souvenirs from Chinatown. I wonder if he was mistaken about my age... I was wondering if Nakura-san wanted to give me hints about the mission, so now I'm intrigued by them." "I see."

  Mayumi might not have realized, but that remark was thought-provoking.

  Nakura's employer was Saegusa Kouichi, and his relationship with Mayumi was strictly business-based so he's basically an outsider.

  To leave the dirty work to the bodyguard of his eldest daughter, a subordinate that had been trusted to such an extent had left hints to another party about what he had been forced to do.

  Seems like Saegusa Kouichi didn't have full control over his subordinate.

  Or, in a truer sense, there are no subordinates that could be called loyal confidants of the Saegusa Family.

  ——This might bring about a bigger meaning in the future.

  Tatsuya stopped thinking about the internal conditions of the Saegusa Family.

  "It might be as you've said. Nakura-san's work was related to the Chinatown in Yokohama. But to deduce that from such weak evidence, I think there might be a chance that it was completely unrelated to the Yokohama Incident."

  At this point Tatsuya thought that he could actually use Mayumi's help for his problem. Even though she didn't possess physical prowess, her combat ability had been proven on the battlefield at Yokohama. Moreover, she is much more mobile as a college student when compared to Miyuki and Minami who were still attending high school.

  His objection was intended to cool Mayumi's head. It was possible that Mayumi was influenced by her feelings too much to consider the possibility of her own misconception. If she still insisted in asking for Tatsuya's cooperation based on those conclusions, Tatsuya would have just proceeded from her assumption.

  "Well, that might be true…"

  Apparently she was thinking about the thing that Tatsuya pointed out. Mayumi timidly took a peek at Tatsuya.

  "Then... Tatsuya-kun thinks that ‘the culprit being related to the Yokohama Incident’ was my misunderstanding!?"

  But it was only for a few seconds, before Mayumi took a stronger stance against Tatsuya's 'so what' attitude.

  "I didn't mean that."

  Tatsuya appeased Mayumi with a fake smile.

  "It was only because I'm afraid that your preconception of the truth is being clouded by your strong feelings."

  Mayumi puffed up her cheeks... Despite becoming a college student, this expression still had its own deadweight.

  "Preconception and perception are two different things."

  These glaring words from Mayumi were delivered to Tatsuya's ears just fine. However, Tatsuya chose to treat them as self-monologue. Hence, he paid no further attention to them.

  "...I understand such a thing."

  However, she returned these words to Tatsuya with firm eyes.

  "Do you understand the danger?"

  Tatsuya has been waiting for the chance to drop this line.

  "Yes. Even so, I still want to do something."

  From her answer just now, the uncertain feeling had completely disappeared.

  "That's why, Tatsuya. Please lend me your strength."

  However, it didn't seem to affect Tatsuya. It was convenient for him if he took up this matter as a response to the strong request of Mayumi’s.

  "——I understand."

  Mayumi showed a relieved expression with a smile.

  Tatsuya was feeling the same, despite not showing it on his face.

  "Specifically, what do you want me to do?"

  "Tatsuya-kun, are you going to Kyoto for a preliminary inspection with the guard?"

  "Yes, this upcoming weekend."

  "I'd like to ask for you to accompany me for a while on that day. Let's go to the scene where Nakura-san was killed."

  After delivering her last request, Mayumi returned a question.

  "Will that suffice?"

  Depending on the situation, Tatsuya could spare a little time to accompany her. However, that question was a set up to know her full intention.

  "Even I understand, you know…"

  Although Tatsuya couldn't care less about others so long as it didn't interfere with his priority, he wouldn't go so far as to ignore others' feelings. It was not a pleasant feeling to see his close friend fall for his words.

  "As a daughter of the Saegusa Family, I still don't have the ability to support myself. I have no means to move people regardless of my talent as a magician, I couldn't ask you to do the work of the police by looking for the criminal, either."

  Her remarks about her powerless self were right on the spot so Tatsuya didn’t offer a single word of comfort. He was able to retaliate when the No Head Dragon messed with him with the help of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. He was able to intervene with the Parasite Doll plan by the help of Kokonoe Yakumo, and the Mobile Suits from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.

  Which also shows that, by no means was Tatsuya's individual power able to ta
ckle all the problems he had. He never forgot this fact. When he learnt the limit of an individual's power, he couldn't think of any rebuttal.

  "Just as Tatsuya-kun said in the beginning. At the end, this is for my own self-satisfaction. It might be foolish to run into danger for such a thing. Yet..."

  "Understood."

  Tatsuya repeated the same words, blocking Mayumi's words.

  "Then, Sunday the 21st. Please select the exact timing and location to fit your schedule."

  "…Thanks, Tatsuya-kun."

  Mayumi bowed her head low while sitting on the sofa.

  "Then, I will email the details for the time and venue tomorrow.

  "Can I ask one more thing?"

  Mayumi was about to leave her seat when Tatsuya said this.

  "Has Nakura-san's body been cremated?"

  "Uh, yeah."

  "Do you have anything left from what he was wearing at the time he passed away? For example, his clothes."

  "The police requested those, since they want to store them as evidence. Furthermore, Nakura-san has no relatives, so I thought it might help to catch the criminal even a little if I handed them over."

  "Is it possible to have short access to those materials?"

  "…I can try to ask the detective who gave me his contact information." Tatsuya slightly lowered his head as response to Mayumi's answer.

  Because she looked like she had something to say, Tatsuya urged her to speak with his eyes.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't think that I would get so sensitive."

  "I will cooperate as much as possible, so long as it's possible."

  After saying so, Tatsuya stood up in order to prevent Mayumi from repeating her 'thank you' gesture.

  During this short period, he had considered that Nakura might have been killed by Zhou. It was not so absurd to hypothesize that Saegusa Kouichi had Nakura Saburou investigate Zhou. And there was even a possibility where the Head of the Saegusa Family had a collusion planned with Zhou.

  He did think that Nakura's death was connected to Zhou Gongjin so there might be a lead to his whereabouts there. Therefore, he did not need Mayumi's words of gratitude.

  After sending Mayumi up to the gate, Tatsuya went to the Student Council room.

  For some reason, the current Public Morals Committee Chief was there with the Student Council Officers, there was even the presence of the previous Club Leader.