ith a sour face as if pained by a bug bite.

“They invited a magician with a high potential of becoming their enemy to the faction, instilled him with fear to do their covert operations, and now they let him escape... Additionally, he was an accomplice to attack civilians, on top of that, minors. I wonder what the hell was the Kudou Clan thinking of for doing this.”

“Even if we put aside the attack on the minors, attacking civilians is unheard of. Anyway, Minoru‐kun was also attacked in the 9SC race, so at least I don't intend to put the blame solely on Kudou Clan.”

“Well, you’re right.. It can’t be helped now.”

Fujibayashi somewhat shook her neck with her comment. Also, with the intent of changing the mood she also hand‐combed her slightly flustered hair.

“I wanted you to call me because I had to apologize for another matter.”

“Apologize to me, you say?”

“Yes. The thing is that I should have called you before you did, but I didn’t know when you were going to do it.”

“I don’t mind about it. By the way, you were saying something about an apology?”

Tatsuya did not feign ignorance; he really had no idea about it. In contrast, interestingly in its own way, Fujibayashi was wearing a very uncomfortable face, as if she was expecting Tatsuya’s remark.

“Actually, it’s a matter about today’s attack incident.. This matter has become competency of the unit in charge of the information gathering.”

Suddenly, Fujibayashi’s tone changed to a more formal one from a military officer.

“Is that so? Lieutenant, then how that would concern me?”

By making an effort to make a “poker face” expression, Fujibayashi prepared to answer Tatsuya’s question.

“In sum up, the 101 unit cannot intervene on this case. Needless to say, the Independent Magic Battalion cannot provide you any help”.

Unfortunately, the ‘poker face’ did not come up until the statement was said. “Sorry about that, Tatsuya‐kun”

Fujibayashi apologized to Tatsuya with a truly pitiable expression.

“We have only taken advantage of you when we needed you, but we cannot provide the help you need at critical times.”

However, Tatsuya didn’t quite understand to satisfaction what was what she was worrying about.

“Lieutenant, I think you shouldn’t worry about this matter this much. For the concern that you say that you have taken advantage of me, on the contrary, I think that you have lent me your hand in many ways.”

“Except that the situation is different from before. This time Tatsuya‐kun himself has been completely marked.”

“It’s neither the fault of you Lieutenant, nor the fault of the Major. Even if there existed any reason, I wouldn’t put any inconvenience to the unit.”

Anxiety emerged in Fujibayashi’s face. She could feel Tatsuya’s thoughts of his own personal safety didn’t matter to him.

“Hey..”

Her tone returned from “Fujibayashi the Lieutenant” to “Fujibayashi the informal individual”. “Couldn’t you ask Yakumo‐sensei for his help?”

Tatsuya faced Fujibayashi’s questioning expression on the screen.

“I have already asked Master for his help. Particularly, I have asked to secretly watch my school friends’ surroundings.”

“I wasn’t referring to that.”

Apart from impatient, Fujibayashi seemed to start to feel a bit irritated.

“What about asking for your own personal protection? If not, even if you don’t want protection for your own, at least for Miyuki‐san and Minami‐chan.”

In fact, Fujibayashi was a little frustrated with Tatsuya who didn’t follow the real meaning of her concern.

“Lieutenant Fujibayashi might forget, but Miyuki is already well protected because Minami and I are her official guardians.”

Whatever Fujibayashi reflexively started expressing; Tatsuya was ready to scrutinize it over the screen “Moreover, I’m not going to involve Master in this affair for any other matter.”

"Why?"

Fujibayashi asked with a tone embracing regained usual composure.

“The relationship of the Kudou, the Traditionalists, and Master is very deep. The more Master is involved, there’s a possibility that Master’s Ninjitsu disciples could cause a mishap. With this, most probably, the ones at the Hieizan temple will move. If that happens, a civil war will come to life. Probably, the Master Clans might not have control over this.”

Tatsuya probably did not consider all these possibilities. He designed them as an insurance to prevent any refuting counter‐argument from Fujibayashi.

“If anything like this happens, it will needlessly give the chance to act to those that are sponsoring the runaway Zhou Gongjin.”

“...Did you say that there is a mastermind?”

“That would be very likely.”

After Tatsuya’s remark, Fujibayashi remained lost in thought on the other side of the screen.

“Well, whether the maneuver achieves that the top brass of Zhou Gongjin’s organization marches into the field for the final stage, or pushes them into a critical situation.. Tatsuya‐kun you really think this Zhou Gongjin is not the ‘Mastermind’?”

“The talk about if he’s the ‘Mastermind’ is easy. I should locate his whereabouts and then take care of him. The problem lies with the outcome of this because it’s like increasing the overall risk in an attempt to reduce the risk associated with his capture, which I think from my point of view it’s a foolish plan..”

“..And of course, I think it’s of priority to think about the safety of oneself..”

“..Lieutenant Fujibayashi”

Fujibayashi lowered her eyes upon Tatsuya’s criticizing.

“Ok I understand. However, if you feel that the things get really dangerous, contact me immediately without doubt. This is because taking action for securing the life of a member in a military unit is allowed by the military discipline.”

“Roger that.”

Tatsuya responded with a hand salute. It has to be noted, that this wasn’t done as sarcasm, but rather to make his declaration of intention as a member of a military unit and also to make Fujibayashi reassured of this intent.