Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 09 - Visitor Chapter (I) Read online

  This type of conversation could only be achieved through video calls.

  "I see, so that’s why Tatsuya-kun wants to know about anything related to this."

  Tatsuya once again gave the affirmative to Shizuku’s words that were not phrased as a question.

  "However, that doesn’t mean you have to investigate too much."

  Before all that, he absolutely had to remind her about this.

  "If you could tell me anything you are aware of, that would be more than enough."

  "But you believe there are clues in America, right?"

  "More like hunting for clues. To be honest, I believe that the perpetrator of the vampire incident came from America."

  Shizuku was not the only one to betray her astonishment.

  He hadn’t even informed Honoka or even Miyuki about this leap in logic.

  "That's why I don’t want you to do anything dangerous, Shizuku. Definitely avoid doing anything that would put you at risk. Information from your end is not absolutely critical."

  "...Got it, I won’t act rashly. So, please wait for me without any high expectations."

  "I wanted to ask just in case, you are telling me not to have high hopes about collecting information and not about doing anything reckless, did I get that correct?"

  "Of course."

  Though Shizuku was neither an idiot nor a bumbling fool, he still didn’t feel completely at ease even after reminding her one more time.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Based on Erika’s knowledge, currently there were three organized groups taking action against the serial vampire incidents in the city.

  The first group was headed by the police, with the police department’s special investigative unit (basically the Japanese version of the FBI) leading various public safety divisions on the hunt.

  The second investigative group consisted of members from the Ten Master Clans, with the Saegusa Family leading the way and the Juumonji Family right behind them. They had the backing of the Internal Affairs (Cabinet Department of Information Control) and assisted the police in a half official, half civilian role. The only difference was that, contrary to normal, the "civilian" half held the advantage.

  The third group was the private vigilante team assembled by the Chiba Family with the famous authority on Ancient Magic, the Yoshida Family, in support.

  In short, this was Erika’s group.

  "Wouldn’t it be better if we joined forces with our senpais...?"

  The nature of the request from the Chiba Family to the Yoshida Family might not be official business, but the request for aid itself was completely by the book. In response, Mikihiko was immediately appointed as a liaison, to which he voiced the same question that he asked for at least the 10th time since yesterday.

  Needless to say, the target for his words was his partner in this operation, Erika.

  "I believe that we would be much more efficient if we had access to the Anti-Crime System provided by the street cameras."

  "No worries. Even the police, who have the greatest access to the surveillance systems, have yet to sniff out a trail."

  "Then in terms of manpower, I think that cooperating would be much better than trying to solo this."

  "Which is why I asked you for help, right?"

  "No, not just the two of us...."

  Mikihiko gave up trying to convince the rapidly advancing Erika and quickly sprinted to catch up until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with her.

  "We won’t find anything by just meandering around pointlessly...."

  He was talking to himself, but also grumbling at the same time. This wasn’t a volume that Erika could hear, but she would probably ignore this even if she heard him. If pressed for a reason, this was the real reason why Mikihiko was selected as Erika’s companion.

  The Yoshida Family was a clan that passed on Ancient Magic in the Shinto style. While not completely the same as families specializing as Onmyoshi, their combat prowess was still outstanding. Originally, this country traditionally allowed easy access to techniques among religious groups. Based on the fact that a Shinto style group was using talismans as a medium, they were not a stickler for the rules.

  After hearing from Toshikazu that a scientific approach to the investigation yielded little results, the commanding officer from the Chiba Family (Toshikazu and Erika’s father), decided to rely on the skills that Ancient Magic users excelled in and formally requested cooperation from the head of the Yoshida Family, which was their closest friend among the Ancient Magic families. Since the head of the Chiba Family was a "mysterious eccentric" who personally believed that he was "useless without magic abilities", he probably felt that "the occult could only be combatted with supernatural powers".

  Based on that, Mikihiko wasn’t accompanying Erika as a guide, but as a "fortune teller".

  "Miki, which way?"

  Coming to a stop at the intersection, Erika turned her head to ask.

  I really wish you could be a little more polite, Mikihiko mentally sighed to himself as he placed the less than meter long, more like three feet long, wooden staff on the road. As a side note, after Lina decided to jump on the bandwagon for "Miki", he officially gave up trying to change it.

  Rather than calling it a wooden staff, it was more like a thin, long wooden cane covered in tiny characters written in black ink. The tip of the cane was almost perfectly round.

  He put a hand on one end to make sure it stood straight and then lightly removed his hand.

  While it was perpendicular to the ground, the ground beneath was pavement, so a simple wooden cane would not be able to pierce through.

  Yet, without any supporting struts, Mikihiko’s wooden cane was standing upright on the ground.

  Mikihiko fell back three steps and swiftly turned around. The moment his body turned around, the wooden cane lost its unseen support and clattered to the ground.

  With a sorrowful sound, it rolled across the ground and finally pointed towards the right of the intersection.

  "This way...."

  Erika walked in the direction that the cane pointed in. Forget waiting for her companion, she didn’t even bother to turn her head.

  Mikihiko chuckled wryly and picked up his cane before hurrying after Erika. Just before catching up to her, he suddenly seemed to recall something and pulled out an information terminal from his inside pocket. The terminal was set on broadcast. After verifying that the terminal was still broadcasting his position to the information network that he registered at beforehand, he put it back into his pocket.

  The wry grin vanished from Mikihiko’s face. He had a premonition that they were getting closer to their target.

  He slowed down after closing to one step behind Erika and pulled out the terminal again while maintaining the same distance.

  He called out a list of location names. After dragging another new entry into the list, Mikihiko replaced his terminal and walked alongside Erika as they advanced.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  He wore a large overcoat and a hat pulled down by the brim. Beneath the hat, there was a gray cloth with a pattern of black bats that covered the entire face. Charles Sullivan, he who had been bestowed the name of Demus Second with Stars, was currently using all of his strength to flee for his life.

  However, no matter how he tried, he could not escape the pursuit. The hunter chasing him was not from Stardust, but an executioner bearing the name of the brightest star in the night sky.

  A Magician with flaming red hair and golden eyes chased after Sullivan. After transforming into Angie Sirius, Lina had already been immersed in psion noise several times. Every time, she felt that she was going to lose Sullivan’s trail,

  "High Commander, take the next right."

  But Sullivan’s location was completely locked on by the psion radar that was emanating from the mobile base disguised as a news van. In this regard, the USNA was a step ahead of Japan. With a radar that could identify psion wave signatures, it was practically impossible t
o escape from within the radar’s sensitivity range. Furthermore, so long as Lina had that miniature, hand held radar signal broadcaster, fleeing out of radar range was out of the question.

  "Clara, Rachel, switch to Sullivan’s forefront."

  Lina called out into her transmitter. Clara and Rachel were the nicknames for Hunter Q and R, respectively. Lina, who hated referring to people as letters, was the one who gave them those names, as they were not their true names. Of course, "Clara" was spelled with a "C" and not a "Q", but Lina didn’t really care since they were only nicknames.

  Twenty to thirty meters ahead, the aura of magic combat intensified. The two of them were currently stalling Sullivan’s progress. For Lina, this was the simple matter of a single step. She was now completely in control of Sullivan’s position.

  Despite the late hour, the streets were not entirely void of people. Still, this failed to warrant any concern when they were engaged in pursuit that rivaled the speed of a motorcycle. Completely ignoring the possibility of police intervention, Lina pulled out a small blade – a dagger.

  Maybe it was because their movements were too fast, but the scattered pedestrians failed to take notice of the dagger. Also, the non-reflective dark coloring would have been inconspicuous even in broad daylight. Without bothering to hide her intention, Lina threw the dagger forward.

  This dagger was a Weaponized Integrated CAD. Just the act of throwing was enough to activate Move-Type Magic, allowing the user to manipulate its thrown trajectory towards the target. The dagger Lina hurled changed directions several times in the air before flying towards Sullivan’s back.

  An instant before the dagger began its flight, Sullivan was aware that even a vampire’s physical ability wasn’t enough to dodge the dagger in time. However, if it was himself with his mental powers restored, then he should be able to cast Trajectory Alteration in time.

  With this in mind, Sullivan concentrated on the dagger and willed it to fly towards one of the hunters closing in on his turned back. Friendly fire indeed, Sullivan thought mentally. Now, the dagger en route should have altered its flight path towards the hunter’s back.

  A soundless scream of terror slipped from Sullivan’s lips.

  His Trajectory Alteration ability completely failed to affect Lina’s Move-Type Magic.

  The difference in interference strength was simply too great.

  Knowing that his ability was ineffective, Sullivan hurriedly raised his right arm, where Lina’s dagger sank deeply upon impact.

  Sullivan’s body stiffened.

  His back was slashed to ribbons by R’s combat knife.

  Those would have been fatal injuries on a normal person.

  Yet Sullivan swept his arms around and sent R and her combat knife flying.

  At this time, the masked Magician appeared. Those golden pupils peeking out from behind the mask beheld Sullivan’s eyes.

  Lina halted and unholstered a pistol.

  All of a sudden, the shadows in the street released an electrical attack towards Lina.

  Q, R, and Lina were completely unable to detect this surprise attack before it sprang.

  Nonetheless, the electric shock merely gave off a flash and faded away before coming into contact with Lina’s body.

  Lina had activated Wide Area Disruption on reflex and nullified the vampire’s magic.

  During this time, Lina’s arm remained in its aiming position.

  The muzzle was directly pointed at Sullivan’s heart.

  Lina’s finger tightened on the trigger.

  The bullet, reinforced by Data Fortification, ignored every semblance of defense and destroyed Sullivan’s heart.

  Lina did not dwell on this success for very long and began moving again.

  Her eyes were locked onto the gradually disappearing image of the vampire who released the electric attack.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Afterwards, they used divination to point the way two more times. After walking for approximately ten minutes, the two of them heard the light sound of running footsteps. They were the sounds of rubber heeled shoes, with one set of footsteps fleeing and the other steps in pursuit.

  One of them was probably a runaway, the other likely the pursuer.

  The two of them exchanged a glance.

  Then, without exchanging any further signal, the two of them rushed out.

  With different methods, they had arrived at the same conclusion.

  —They found it.

  Erika was slightly ahead, with Mikihiko right on her heels.

  As she ran, Erika reached into the thin, long box she wore over her back and pulled out a naked sword that was not sheathed. As a replacement for the blade, the entire body of the sword was covered in engravings, given that it was a weapon forged by the Isori Family. This was a gift from Isori Kei to Erika as a replacement for the overly conspicuous Orochimaru. While unable to achieve the same power as Orochimaru, it was still equipped with the ability to execute Inertia Cancel.

  On the other side, Mikihiko held a wooden cane in his right hand while his left, about two fist lengths away from his right, was quickly flung outwards. Shooting out of his sleeve, a fan like object was now clasped in his left hand.

  The object that appeared to be an iron fan contained thin, paper-like strips of metal linked together at a single point. Each strip of metal was covered in engravings of various incantations and formations. These strips combined to form the iron fan that was the conduit for psions favored by practitioners. The tassel extending from the fan went all the way into the sleeve, where it was connected to the device containing the Activation Sequence that replaced any need for incantation.

  This was also a type of CAD. Based on Tatsuya’s suggestion and Mikihiko’s own ideas, this new type of Ancient Magic supplemental CAD was designed to streamline the process where Ancient Magic utilized both incantations and talismans.

  The two of them prepared for immediate combat and closed in on the footsteps. Occasionally, their rhythm was greatly disrupted because both of them were prepared for battle.

  Even considering this, Erika's and Mikihiko's pace was still faster. Taking a shortcut along the small alley between the neat row of buildings and entering the small park used for evacuation purposes (actually, more like the temporary evacuation location during disasters), the two of them finally caught sight of their target.

  There were two humanoid figures clashing against one another. One wore a large overcoat and a hat to obscure any hint of facial and physical features and the other wore a mask to cover everything around the eyes.

  Both of them appeared to be feminine.

  "Miki, you take care of the one in the coat. I’ll handle the one in the mask!"

  Based on Leo’s testimony, the one in the coat and hat was more likely, but someone walking around in the dark of night and wearing a mask to hide their features was also highly suspicious. Most importantly, even from afar, the large blade in the woman’s hand as well as her expert handling of said weapon caused Erika’s sense of wariness to spike.

  Without resorting to Personal-Acceleration Magic and only relying on the Engraving Magic that increased the blade’s strength, Erika slashed towards the masked woman. Even though magic was not used to accelerate the blade, this was still a degree of speed that was extremely difficult to avoid on physical abilities alone except by a small portion of people who were masters in martial arts.

  That woman’s handling of the blade was certainly first rate, but not high enough to be rated as a master.

  Hence even if she was able to take one of Erika’s blows, there should have been no way for her to dodge it. –If she was just a normal human being, that is.

  A flash of light.

  Erika’s blade touched nothing but air while her target had already moved three meters away from her.

  The light wasn’t a physical manifestation, but the psion light that accompanied the activation of magic. After taking notice of that, Erika was entirely unfazed that her attack had
been dodged.

  The only detail worthy of shock was the magic’s speed.

  Erika was confident that her opponent had not detected her attack until the instant before the blow was struck. In short, during the short instant when she raised her sword and struck, her opponent was able to select a magical response, activate it, and successfully avoid the attack.

  The masked Magician shifted to a spot directly beneath the street lamp. There was no way to tell, nor was there a need to, whether the person in question actually cared that someone witnessed her presence.

  That picture was deeply engraved in Erika’s eyes and consciousness.

  What drew her attention was not the alluring feminine features that mocked the mask’s ability to hide them, nor the well-toned physical body that could be seen in spite of the heavy clothing, but the color of her hair that was illuminated by the street lights. It was a color that one could not associate with human beings, an unholy color.

  Dark enough to mistake as black, a hair of the darkest red.

  Along with the golden pupils that seemed to draw one in, peeking through the gaps of the mask.

  "—Attacking!"

  Her swordsmanship training activated as if on reflex and broke free from that draw. Erika rallied and broadened her vision, taking the entire body of the masked Magician into view. Erika reduced the preparation work down to a minimum and sprinted towards that woman.

  She chose not to use any Reinforcement Magic. Against this type of opponent, magical assistance would only achieve the opposite effect, so she relied on her instincts and ability to read her opponent.

  Without using magic, Erika used a speed that was positively magic-like to close in on that woman.

  On the masked Magician’s side, traces of wavering could be seen.

  Without any hesitation, Erika raised her sword.

  The masked Magician released another magic light. This wasn’t Personal Acceleration Magic, but a Personal Move-Type Magic.