Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 10 - Visitor Chapter (II) Page 2

  "Y-Yes. That’s true……"

  "The data files from intelligence only mentioned that 'a ninja serves as Shiba Tatsuya’s trainer'! How was I to know that ninja was Master caliber!"

  "……Where did that intelligence come from?"

  "I heard the man mention it himself. If I knew there was the possibility of such a tricky opponent interfering, I would have devised another location for this engagement. This is plainly a mistake on part of the intelligence unit. I originally wasn’t someone with an intelligence background, so it would be very difficult for me if I don’t receive accurate intelligence. Right, Silvie!?"

  Just as Silvia planned, Lina had successfully escaped from that vicious cycle of negativity. As a price, Silvia was forced to listen to Lina’s tantrum and complaints.

  "Silvie, sorry about earlier……"

  Thanks to a thorough rant of her displeasure, Lina had completely reverted to her usual self. By the time she mastered herself, the first thing that crept up on her was a personal loathing for her display.

  "No worries. It’s unhealthy if you don’t vent once in a while."

  Seeing Lina slightly dip her head, Silvia smiled and shook her head before refilling the mug of honey milk. Those words only flattened Lina’s self-esteem even more, but Silvia meant nothing by that. At her young age, she had already learned that sitting through a superior’s complaints was one of the duties of a subordinate.

  "Though we have no new orders from HQ, there’s still a few reports I need you to go through. Ah, no, you’re fine just like that."

  Lina probably wanted to "freshen up a little". Silvia waved her hand at her superior, still dressed in her night clothes, as if requesting her to remain seated.

  "First, the four who were injured last night…… Titan and Enceladus avoided major injury, so we’ll observe them for one day and if there are no lingering issues, they should be able to return to active duty. Mimas and Iapetus are as I said earlier and I doubt that they will be able to return to the mission."

  "……If the two who have suffered serious injury can recover to a mobile state, arrange for them to return home."

  "Then there’s just me. Next from Commander Canopus, it doesn’t seem likely that we will be able to mobilize more people from Stars to Japan."

  "……I see."

  "The Joint Chiefs appear to want Stardust as support, at least that’s the rumor."

  "Do they plan on adding pursuit units?"

  When compared to the practical magic systems developed by the Four Systems and Eight Major Types, the research in regards to utilizing special abilities in the Sensory System as magic was slightly behind. Even within a specialized group like Stardust, Magicians who specialized in search and pursuit were hard to come by. Even in the entire USNA military, it was hard to say that they had enough personnel. Now, with this already limited resource invested in Japan, the Joint Chiefs simply didn’t have any more troops at their disposal to supply additional pursuers.

  "No, they’re sending special ops."

  As expected, Silvia’s response denied Lina’s question.

  "While I agree that Stardust’s firepower would probably be insufficient to handle the situation at hand…… There’s nothing we can do."

  The difference in capabilities between the Satellite Class and Stardust was not significant. The disparity was that Stardust troops were unable to sustain the augments and could break down at any moment. After augmentation, they displayed prowess on par with Stars members. Still, the Satellite Class units mobilized for this mission to Japan were also picked more for martial abilities, and when compared to them, Stardust’s firepower was noticeably inferior. This was the reason why Lina heaved a sigh.

  "This is a report from the other side, but the mobile units don’t have anything worth reporting."

  Silvia also concurred with Lina’s assessment, but since there was nothing they could do about the situation no matter how long they thought about it, she progressed to the next report.

  "Since we are placed in a situation where we must take care of the deserters first, we’ll just have to leave the other side to other teams. Still, why haven’t we fished up anything?"

  The other side referred to the investigation behind the "titanic explosion" caused by Strategic-Class Magic, tasked with identifying the user of what the USNA diplomats and military personnel named the "Great Boom". The mobile units were the intelligence units that had infiltrated Japan ahead of time in universities and high schools under the guise of transfer students or within the major power in the magical devices industry, Maximilian Devices.

  "Speaking of which, we haven’t had a chance to speak with Mia in a while."

  The name that passed across Lina’s recollection and lips was the other individual from the mobile unit who lived next door by the name of Michaela Honda. Although she was also of Japanese descent like Lina, her appearance differed in that she looked completely Japanese. Currently, she infiltrated Maximilian Devices as a salesperson under the alias Aya Honda.

  "Over the last couple of days, she looked like she’s been out late in the evening. Today is probably work related as well."

  "We’re the same as well when it comes to being about at late hours…… Plainly, she’s quite diligent even on a Sunday."

  Lina and Silvia exchanged smiles. While her job as a salesperson for Maximilian Devices was only a disguise, she appeared to be quite popular among the college crowd as the two of them recalled the last time Mia was grousing about her situation.

  "She appears to be headed for First High tomorrow. Something about tagging along when they return the CAD maintenance equipment."

  "Eh?"

  However, Lina’s smile stiffened when she heard of Mia’s itinerary for tomorrow from Silvia. As Stars’ High Commander, Lina disliked anyone seeing her current disguise as a normal high school student, much like how an elementary child mentally resists any parental visit to school.

  "Since she’s scheduled to visit during lunch, would you be able to catch her during lunch break?"

  Without any real life experiences at school, Lina wasn’t sure why she was so nervous about this, but Silvia knew much better than Lina herself why this was case when she made this proposal. Seeing Lina avert her eyes in confusion, Silvia smirked in secret.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  "Tear!"

  Amid the ruckus, a call from behind her prompted Shizuku to turn her head. On the American West Coast, it was Saturday evening on January 28th. At the moment, Shizuku was at a house party being thrown in her dorms.

  "Ray."

  After verifying the male (more like "boy") waving his arms in an exaggerated manner, Shizuku slightly raised her hand.

  His name was Raymond S. Clark.

  After Shizuku transferred from abroad, he was the first among the male students to strike up a conversation with Shizuku. Since then, he was the white (Anglo-Saxon was a rare sight on the West Coast) classmate who always stuck with Shizuku for some unexplained reason.

  Shizuku thought he was properly gesturing with his hand to come over. Since he surprisingly knew how to keep his distance and wasn’t particularly irritating, Shizuku’s perception of him wasn’t overly negative.

  On another note, the nickname "Tear" also started with Raymond. When asked what "Shizuku" meant during her self-introduction, Shizuku had explained that her name referred to the "drop" in either a "teardrop" or "dewdrop", to which the nickname "Tear" was supplied for her. Shizuku wasn’t particularly fond of this nickname, but when she asked her female classmates "Do I look like a crybaby?" and their answer turned out to be "Because you really fit a pearl’s description" she wasn’t really in a position to decline any further. Because she was embarrassed. As a result, since she didn’t dislike the name "Tear", she resolved to leave it be. Somewhere along the way, Shizuku’s nickname settled on "Tear".

  Her internal monologue ended there.

  "That dress looks amazing, Tear. You’re even more dazzling than usual."


  "Really?"

  Faced with Ray’s unfazed smile and compliment, Shizuku kept her usual stoic expression. Actually, it was more like she was tilting her head to one side out of amazement.

  A mushroom head of black hair that was allowed to grow long waved lightly back and forth.

  Ignoring Ray’s eyes that were growing warmer by the second, Shizuku glanced at her own clothes.

  The dress was long enough to brush along the floor.

  Her back, shoulders, and both arms were revealed.

  She also wore a long pair of gloves that seemed a little out of date.

  While Shizuku had heard of shops in the USNA that carried the latest fashion, she was surprised to find them more antiquated than she imagined. There were also dresses found all over the place today that mandated a corset, but fortunately Shizuku’s dress was not like that.

  "Your suit matches you well, Ray."

  Although she heeded the store attendant’s recommendation and bought the dress, Shizuku still didn’t understand which part of her dress stood out, so she replied back with customary phrases. To her, Raymond’s tuxedo was a little out of style (it would have been outrageous on someone from her country), but perfectly matched his appearances that wouldn’t have been out of place on a young noble, so her words of etiquette weren’t forced.

  "Thank you! It is my honor to be complimented by Tear."

  In addition, Shizuku wasn’t going to object to his obvious pleasure at those simple words. For some reason, Raymond’s honest display of his emotions reminded Shizuku of her younger brother. In terms of race, teenage Europeans should look more mature than Asians of the same age, so even though Raymond was of the same age, he was still a little immature in Shizuku’s eyes.

  (……No, it’s not that Ray is immature, it’s because Tatsuya is wiser than his years.)

  After turning that over in her head, Shizuku once again looked at Raymond.

  "Are you alone?"

  "I don’t plan on accompanying any woman besides Tear."

  Speaking of which, tonight’s party wasn’t the type where those without a date couldn’t attend.

  "I wasn’t referring to girls."

  At the moment, Shizuku followed her own curiosity and clarified Raymond’s misunderstanding.

  And thus, Raymond became flustered in a very interesting way.

  "Eh? Uh, yeah, if you mean by myself then I am alone…… I think?"

  Shizuku really wanted to tell him not to ask her, but managed to bite her tongue.

  Seeing the boys behind Raymond making all sorts of elaborate hand gestures (Shizuku was unaware of this, but they were urging Raymond on), there was no need to state that he was blatantly lying. In spite of this, Shizuku didn’t have the heart to berate him.

  "Um…… Tear, in regards to the thing you asked me about before."

  Maybe it was because he detected that the atmosphere was rapidly turning for the worse, Raymond made an obvious attempt to change the subject.

  "Ray."

  This was exactly what Shizuku wanted, but she felt that this wasn’t the right place to have that conversation.

  "Let’s move somewhere else."

  Hearing Shizuku forcefully call out his name, Raymond could only shut his mouth and repeatedly nod his head at her proposal.

  Even though this was a house party, this was the place selected as a residence for the young lady of the Kitayama Family. In comparison to the typical house party that could be found anywhere, it was much more luxurious. The party extended beyond indoors all way into the yard, but given the hour, most of the attendees had already departed.

  Shizuku wore a knit overcoat over her dress as she walked beneath the wintry sky filled with stars. For a Japanese female, her height wasn’t overly short, but by American standards she was positively "petite". The American coat she wore extended from her shoulders all the way to the waist, but there was still a small, sneaking suspicion whether it could block the cold.

  She manipulated the CAD in her handbag and created a warm temperature area around her surroundings. Along the way, she also incorporated Ray into the field as well. The warm temperature area would also help contain the sound of their voices.

  "Thanks, Tear…… Magic is certainly a convenient thing."

  "This level of magic isn’t all that rare."

  In terms of compliments, Shizuku felt that it was a little overblown, but Raymond emphatically shook his head.

  "Tear, you just came to this country, so you might not have noticed, but for us, magic isn’t something that can be used like this. It is practically impossible to see magic used in the everyday setting within this country. Magic is used to exemplify one’s power, it’s an object to demonstrate one’s knowledge, and even to exalt one’s status."

  "So you think it would be a waste, right?"

  "Hahaha…… Well, pretty much."

  At Shizuku’s blunt assessment, Raymond laughed so hard he bent at the waist. Still, this uproarious laughter seemed slightly unnatural.

  "Besides military purposes, this country’s magic research is reserved largely for fundamental research. Social services and daily activities are looked down upon as unworthy. If there’s massive profit involved, that might not be the case. Because of this…… No, sorry. We didn’t come to talk about this."

  Although he usually looked to be carefree, he also had his own worries.

  Shizuku wordlessly waited for him to continue.

  "Then, let’s get back on topic."

  Raising his head, Raymond’s expression was so sharp he seemed like another person altogether.

  "First, the 'vampire' incident is indeed true."

  He, Raymond, was the "knowledgeable student" she told Honoka about as well as the source of intelligence she promised to Tatsuya.

  "Although the cause remains unclear, I have uncovered all the related information."

  "Go ahead."

  "Of course. This is highly classified information, but last November in Dallas, they conducted an experiment based on string theory to create and evaporate a miniature black hole."

  "String theory?"

  "Sorry, I don’t know all the details."

  "That’s fine. And then?"

  Surely she could get those details if she asked Tatsuya, right? Shizuku thought as she encouraged him onward.

  "The specifics of the experiment remain unknown, but what is known is that these 'vampires' materialized after the experiment was conducted."

  Shizuku pondered this for 5 seconds before opening her mouth.

  "So Ray, you believe that there is a causal relationship between this experiment and the appearance of the vampires, correct?"

  "Earlier, I said that the cause was unknown."

  Here, Ray stopped momentarily to organize this thoughts.

  "I believe that it was the black hole experiment that summoned the vampires."

  There was no way for Shizuku to divine exactly where Raymond got this information and what was the basis for this belief. Still, within this brief exchange, Shizuku clearly understood he had a special power to uncover the buried truth. Whether this was his personal ability or came from an organization was unimportant to Shizuku at this point.

  "……I see. Thank you."

  The important thing was that his information was trustworthy.

  "You’re welcome. After all, this is Tear’s request. If there’s anything else I can do for you, you are always welcome to discuss it with me."

  In the eyes of a bystander, it was obvious what Raymond was trying to do. As for Shizuku herself, she believed that "he was only curious about her right now". –Whether this dullness was a natural trait or something acquired from her recent friends was anyone’s guess.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  For Tatsuya, this was the rare Sunday that he could spend at his leisure, though it wasn’t like he could go have fun in his uniform. Tatsuya and Miyuki opted against taking a detour to hit the stores and first came home.

  Today, they
weren’t using the motorcycle, but the bus instead. Sitting shoulder to shoulder like they usually did in the bus, Miyuki gloomily watched the side of her brother’s face as he watched the passing scenery.

  In regards to this incident, Tatsuya was also in the throes of a headache. Rather than calling it a headache, he was berating himself to be more careful. Compared to normal, it was very rare for Tatsuya to beat himself up over what-ifs and maybes.

  I wish he could discuss it with me, Miyuki thought.

  She didn’t believe that she could help very much, nor did she believe that she had the power to alleviate her brother’s woes.

  However, she still wanted to hear what concerned him. Even if she could not take away his burdens, at the very least she was capable of lessening his headache, Miyuki thought.

  I wish he would do that, Miyuki prayed as she kept looking at the side of her brother’s face.

  "I’m too naïve……"

  Was this wish passed along to him? Tatsuya lightly murmured.

  "Onii-sama?"

  Keeping a tight grasp on her agitation and hopes, Miyuki pretended to be oblivious and naturally raised a question to Tatsuya. The words "what are you concerned about" were never asked, never stated.

  "I thought the result didn’t concern me, so now I’m stuck in this sorry position. Everything is now reactionary. There are these clues at hand, but the core pieces are unknown."

  While Tatsuya’s speech was rather vague, Miyuki instinctively knew what "clues" Tatsuya was referring to.

  "You mean…… Lina’s situation?"

  Tatsuya couldn’t help but widen his eyes at someone directly pinpointing what he was thinking about.

  "What a pain…… I really have no secrets in front of Miyuki."

  That’s not true! Miyuki furiously stifled the urge to scream from the back of her throat.

  Often, Miyuki had no idea what Tatsuya was thinking. Nevertheless, Miyuki convinced herself not to vent her agitation on her brother and instead work towards understanding him.