Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 11 - Visitor Chapter (III) Read online

  As Aoki bowed again, Tatsuya inclined his head to match. He replied with just that because what Aoki had stated was so obvious, anything he said could end up being construed as sarcasm. In any case, the fact that he didn't consider it a problem anymore seemed to have been conveyed to Aoki, who raised his head without prompting this time.

  "I would just like you to understand this. Madam isn't asking for your 3H because she's taken some fancy to it. It seems she thinks it'd be necessary for some kind of research."

  "I understand."

  "I won't impose on you any further. Again, I realize you must feel the need to keep that near at hand. If at any point you feel like letting go of it however, please consider handing it over to madam. In that case, I will of course provide appropriate compensation."

  It wasn't hard reading the lines behind Aoki's proposal. It seemed whatever the case, his Aunt didn't want Pixie falling into someone else's hands.

  "If you're willing to accept, we will be happy to provide the promised amount, plus an additional 10% of what you spend every year."

  "Every year?"

  He didn't think they'd go this far. It was still only a drop in the bucket for the Yotsuba, but from global rates it was a princely sum.

  "Yes, every year. Specifically, we would like to make a contractual conditional purchase reservation with you which automatically renews every year."

  Not just a verbal promise, but even a contract. Both to Tatsuya, and the Yotsuba, 10% of the purchase amount was peanuts. The purpose of the contract then was more for Tatsuya to keep his end of the bargain.

  In other words, claiming ownership. It was an offer behind which the seriousness of the Yotsuba — of Maya could be glimpsed.

  "As I'm sure you know, I'm still a minor."

  "I will relay things to your father."

  Meaning that Aoki would sort through the legal details himself.

  "Got it. I don't mind."

  There was no disadvantage in Aoki's proposal for Tatsuya. Rather than further harming his image in the view of his obstinate Aunt, it'd be better to make a compromise here, Tatsuya thought.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Having accompanied Aoki all the way to the entrance, Tatsuya went back to the practice rooms. Although half of the two hour class had passed already, he felt that he should still be able to make attendance.

  His feet stopped however before he entered the corridor.

  "Lina."

  The face of the transfer student, whom he hadn't seen for a while, was notably worse for wear. There were no physical cues such as gaunt cheeks or bags under the eyes visible. It was impossible to find any sign of adverse health.

  But her luster was gone. She was holding on to her usual act, and someone who knew little about her would have been fooled yet by her utterly gorgeous looks. But someone who was familiar with her — even if only to Tatsuya's degree — would notice the absence of the overflowing spirit which had truly made her shine, and the difference was palpable.

  It seemed the mental fatigue was stacking up.

  She must be under immense pressure.

  Now however the shadows added a frail transience to her beauty, and increased her charm in a different way from usual. Even Tatsuya who normally took little interest in a girl's appearance — or rather, was utterly accustomed to them, couldn't help but feel admiration.

  "Tatsuya."

  Nonetheless, it wasn't to the point his reactions were delayed.

  At his name being called, he adjusted his gaze to look into those sapphire eyes.

  "Did you hear?"

  "Yeah."

  They were talking about the information obtained from the Sage. The one which said that tomorrow night, the Parasites would be led to the outdoor training grounds in the back. Their words were brief, but the intent was fully received by both of them.

  "Do you know who it was?"

  "No."

  So it appeared he had not shown Lina his face, Tatsuya inferred from that answer. It made sense. If the USNA army became aware of the Sage's identity, they would stop at nothing to hunt down that veritable fount of knowledge.

  "I see, that's a pity."

  "I suppose. Not that it matters."

  Cutting to the chase, Lina looked at Tatsuya with challenging eyes.

  "Tatsuya."

  Firm and bright.

  A gaze with as strong a will as that night they were killing each other.

  "I will not hold back."

  He already knew, but Tatsuya found himself realizing again. Regardless of his own preference, an alliance had not been an option from the very beginning.

  "I know. The worlds we live in are completely separate after all."

  Tatsuya's answer was a classic (old fashioned) line often found in romance novels (or movies), synonymous with a farewell.

  The reason he chose such an easily misunderstood line was because of those secretly listening in.

  Lina visibly swallowed her retort. With just a little delay, she seemed to have noticed Tatsuya's intention.

  Some color however had returned to Lina's pale complexion. Somehow, Tatsuya felt that the red now dying her cheeks held a different meaning from before.

  "Such an idiot!"

  Spitting those words out, she spun around on her heels,

  And it was impossible to tell whether she was simply playing along with Tatsuya's act,

  Or if those had been Lina's true feelings.

  Tatsuya was clear of one thing now however.

  —With a sigh of acceptance, he resigned himself to a detention practical after school.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Yotsuba main house.

  As Hayama served afternoon tea, an electronic sound denoted an incoming call. Seeing Maya's nod, Hayama picked up the classic voice communication terminal and pressed it to his ear.

  "Aoki. ......So, you failed. ......It is a fact it seems you were unable to carry out Madam's orders. Well, such circumstances cannot be helped. ......I do not believe there is any hurry. Tatsuya-dono is unlikely to change his agreement over something of this degree. ......Very well. I shall inform Madam. ......Good work."

  "......What news from Aoki-san?"

  After Hayama set down the terminal, Maya asked. With a look of not wishing to have to convey unpleasant news, Hayama bowed to Maya.

  "Apologies, Madam. We were unable to procure the 3H."

  The failure had been Aoki's. But as the head butler, Hayama could be said to be Aoki's superior. Aoki's bungle was his shame to bear.

  Maya's answer held neither forgiveness nor reproach.

  "Tatsuya-san's name had come up."

  What she took interest in was this point.

  "Tatsuya-dono had purchased the 3H."

  As Hayama answered, a wry smile appeared on his face.

  "Apparently Tatsuya-dono did not wish for it to fall into the hands of others. He has entered into an ownership lend-lease agreement with First High."

  Still, that had been the next best alternative had Maya not been able to get ahold of Pixie itself.

  "......I wonder if he knew. Or was it just coincidence?"

  "I do not know."

  Maya's expression was slightly puzzled. But she immediately cleared her mind.

  "......Well, if Tatsuya-san can take good care of it I don't mind."

  "Aoki has said that if Tatsuya-dono ever decides to let go of it, we are contracted to purchase it."

  "Yes, that would be good."

  Hayama faced Maya and bowed lightly. Although Maya had not blamed Aoki, much less Hayama from the beginning, he nonetheless showed his gratitude for her leniency towards the mismanagement.

  "Still, it really would have been nice to have a sample on hand......"

  At Maya's mutter Hayama, with a look suggesting 'we should just leave things be' spoke up.

  "Madam, I'm sure there is no need for me to say this, but it's best to have as little as possible to do with those creatures."

  Maya's ironic smile was a remind
er she was lovely still.

  "Because they're rather distasteful?"

  "As you will."

  "They're very important sponsors after all."

  At Maya's sly smile, Hayama frowned.

  "I know what you want to say, Hayama-san. I have no intention of causing discord. I only do this because I believe that obtaining a 'Parasite' is necessary for the Yotsuba."

  "Does Madam believe then that studying the Parasite will bring us closer to the mysteries of Mental Interference?"

  "Yes. 'Just what exactly is the mind' is a question the Yotsuba have been endlessly pursuing. It's said that the Parasites are individual mental information bodies. Information on substance, structure, location......even if only a little, it should give us hints as to the true nature of the mind."

  Understanding Maya's reasoning, Hayama bowed.

  Maya returned to the original topic.

  "By the way, what are the movements of the other spirits?"

  "According to the report from Kuroba-dono earlier, the spirits which were purged yesterday night have already been resurrected."

  "Already? That's quite early."

  "There must have been a reason for the rush. Kuroba reported it seemed the spirits were preparing for battle."

  "I see......any idea about whom against?"

  Floating on Maya's face as she queried Hayama was a barely repressed smile.

  "Judging from their modus operandi, they will be aiming for their compatriot trapped in the doll."

  "At this point it's not so much that trouble finds him, but almost as though he goes after trouble himself."

  Needless to say, Maya's words referred to her nephew. The person in question would no doubt violently protest that, but here there was no one who voiced dissent.

  "Do you know when it will happen?"

  "Kuroba-dono anticipates it will be tomorrow night, around First High school."

  "It would still be prudent to keep an eye on the surroundings then......all right, please organise a group. The leader can be......Ayako-chan should be fine. The goal isn't a fight after all."

  "Certainly."

  Hayama clapped his hands, calling for a maid to serve Maya in his place, before heading towards the communications room to relay Maya's orders.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Although it was not a relatively late hour, Saegusa Mayumi was an examinee.

  Today was February 18th, Saturday. One more week until the entrance exams for magic university. Her chances of not making it were practically zero, yet nonetheless it was a fact she had little time for much else.

  That the 'vampire incidents' had seemingly subsided for now was good news for her mental state.

  Making up on her weak areas in the school library, by the time she returned home the day had almost passed.

  Being welcomed back by a slightly timid young servant, Mayumi immediately noticed.

  "Is Father back?"

  "Yes, m'lady."

  Being well trained the maid didn't fumble her words or the like, but Mayumi could perceive that what had frightened her was her father.

  (To scare a young girl like this......Father, just what are you doing?)

  Although she felt irritation in her heart, to display it would only disturb the staff more.

  "Alright."

  Mayumi smiled at the maid, then proceeded to her own room.

  At that time in his study, the household head Saegusa Koichi turned a face filled with ill-concerned frustration to his confidant Nakura.

  "......So you're saying the one who invaded and killed the Parasite the Third Counterintel division had captured was the Stars' Sirius?"

  "There is little doubt."

  In the face of his master's anger, there was no trace of fear in Nakura's face. While he was courteous, unlike the interactions between Hayama and Maya, there was a business-like aspect to be found. Nakura was not a family member of the Saegusa, and would be more aptly described as a mercenary. He was not inextricably bound to Koichi's side.

  Sometimes he was assigned as a guard for children, such as with Mayumi, or sometimes sent to accomplish missions which lay outside the law such as intel gathering. That was how he was treated by Koichi, as an Extra number.

  "But even for the Stars' Sirius, for them to simply waltz in and kill the prisoner so easily is too much. The Intel division wasn't slacking off either. Could your source have been mistaken?"

  As Koichi spoke with disgust, Nakura calmly rebutted.

  "The Intel division of the defence forces is by no means incompetent. Had we been the ones to attempt an infiltration of the Third Counterintel division's building, we would not have found the security to be lacking. Rather, it's simply that the Stars are just that good. There's a reason they're known as the most powerful force of magicians in the world to date."

  Being spoken to as if being chided as a child, Koichi's expression became increasingly sullen. Not to the point of losing it and yelling at Nakura however.

  "Sir, if I may be so bold, I believe it's time we cut our losses. The benefits of the Saegusa's continued involvement in this diminish by the day."

  "......You're right."

  Koichi calmly considered Nakura's calm advice.

  "It seems the Kudou are also moving in this matter. I had considered asking them to supplement our depleted forces, but pulling out may be for the best."

  "As you say."

  "Tell our dispatched members to return to their normal duties. Nakura, dismissed."

  "Excuse me."

  As Koichi began operating an encrypted communication terminal by himself, Nakura left the study.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  AD 2096, February 19th, Sunday.

  Eight Parasites would be moving. Tatsuya did not unilaterally trust this information from across the sea.

  He had endlessly researched regarding a boy named Raymond Clark amongst the students in Shizuku's exchange school.

  The face on the photo stored in the school server was the same as that which had appeared in the video.

  But that alone did not guarantee Raymond Clark was telling the truth. Just as you would not dismiss all anonymously supplied information as false, you wouldn't trust all information just because it had been supplied by someone who gave their true identity.

  Nonetheless Tatsuya had gone over to the specified location--the outdoor training field of First High. This was because he had no other significant leads.

  He waited, leaving things in the hands of chance. Even if it ended up being false and he wasted the day, it wasn't a big deal.

  In the exceptionally large grounds behind the school was an artificial forest. Technically it was also part of First High, but it was difficult to tell where the artificial forest came to an end and the natural forest began. Especially so at night.

  The time was nearly 7pm. Maybe it didn't quite qualify as night yet.

  Unlike in the inner city however where bright lights eclipsed the darkness, in this forest with no street lamps in sight it wouldn't be wrong to think it was nearing nightfall.

  To prevent trespassers entering by mistake, a high fence surrounded the training grounds. If a normal citizen wandered in and was hit by magic shot during training, it would be all kinds of problematic.

  However, even without the fence, it was unlikely any locals would enter. It was well known in the neighbourhood that this was the practice field of First High.

  Besides, there were no households around unrelated to the magic high school. When First High had been established here, the government had offered compensation for residence transfer to all those who were unrelated to magic, who couldn't use magic, or who wanted nothing to do with magic. All those who remained knew very well the risk of setting foot in that field.

  That was also why there was no particular security system. There was nothing to steal considering it was just an artificial forest, so there was no pressing need to keep out intruders.

  "Can you get over it?"

  Looking up a
t the three meter high fence, Tatsuya asked his companions. The only direct entrance in was a back gate from First High, so having exited the school the only way in was scaling the fence. Entering from outside was simple, but entering from inside would require dealing with the school's difficult to deceive monitoring system. While systems were of course in place to detect thieves entering from the training grounds, if suspicious people entered not only from outside but inside as well there would be far more cause to investigate.

  "Of course, Onii-sama."

  "No problem."

  "Something like this'll be a piece of cake!"

  At Tatsuya's words Miyuki, Erika and Leo replied in the affirmative.

  "It is possible."

  Last of all, the one to whom the question had originally been posed to, Pixie, answered.

  Tatsuya's companions tonight were these three, and one doll. —Originally, Tatsuya had not planned on bringing Miyuki. Erika as well, since she had been involved thus far, had only been supposed to be informed of events.

  But he knew that knowing about such events, there was no way they'd simply wait quietly at home. When leaving, Miyuki had tagged along as if it were only natural, and at the specified time Erika had casually just turned up; at both these times Tatsuya had not protested. He knew that resistance would only be a pointless exercise in futility. Rather he had given up, and immediately set about incorporating his friends into his strategy.

  Turning his focus to the training grounds again, he felt the air of the forest stir. The other players seemed to have ascended to the stage already.

  Whilst pretending to operate his CAD — he didn't forget to maintain confidentiality at this stage — he pulled the sequence for 'Leap' from his memory and jumped over the fence.

  Amongst the shadows of the forest, the four + one moved as a single entity. They did not spread out to search for the target. In an area of this size, in this darkness, separating would have little benefit and only run the risk of them being defeated individually.

  Even if that hadn't been the case, it had been proven in Aoyama that regrouping under such circumstances would be an arduous task. It wasn't impossible that the opponents wouldn't be coming out on alert, but even so there was no sense risking it. If they couldn't find the Parasites like this, they would simply come back tomorrow and search steadily again.