ded.

Presumably, the man had been the one to start constructing a spell first. However, Miyuki was actually the one to first activate a spell.

The man activated a spell. Tatsuya’s ability to observe information bodies caught the projection of the magic sequence aimed one meter over Miyuki’s head. And he also ‘saw’ that magic sequence fall apart without doing anything.

“Onii‐sama. Was that recorded just now?”

Miyuki’s question referred to whether their foe’s magic had been recorded by the psion wave sensors installed with the street cameras; in short, she was asking whether the excuse of legitimate self‐defense had been established.

“Maybe, anyway even if it wasn’t recorded, it’s fine since there are witnesses.”

Tatsuya’s answer signaled his approval of Miyuki’s attack. He was in front of the station and there were at least 4 spectators that had been aware of the psion wave of the development of the first magic sequence. Their faces were recorded in his memory. Because they were magicians, they should have been able to see the exchange of blows.

As the siblings made their verbal exchange, the man released a spell for the third time.

All of it was blocked by Miyuki’s interference zone.

The man begun to construct a spell for the fifth time. Not for the purpose of attacking, the spell was for escape. Their male opponent turned on his heel.

“Do not flee.”

The quiet proclamation was from Miyuki. Instantly, the man faded from sight; immediately, the color returned and like a puppet whose spring was cut, he collapsed before he could move.

Tatsuya squatted by the man’s flank and checked his pulse. Next, he placed his hand in front of the nose, for now he was continuing to breathe albeit weakly.

“Looks like, there won’t be any after effects. Your skills have improved, Miyuki.”

What she had used was a spell that lowered her opponent’s body temperature and took away the ability to move one’s body. Lowering body temperature by only a few degrees without inflicting after effects was a very difficult technique but this time she skillfully spread it out over the area to keep it from being excessive. Miyuki replied to her brother’s praise with red stained cheeks that said ‘thank you very much’. His mind had been in such a state of confusion, he had not even assumed a defensive posture; the man’s face though was horrible. The beautiful girl was getting flustered and blushing in front of the man she had left grazed, bruised and with a bleeding nose. From the bystanders’ point of view, it was an extremely surreal scene.

Of course, the injuries Tatsuya had inflicted on the small man with his flying kicks were more serious. After binding his arms and legs so he wouldn’t escape, Tatsuya left him on the road, hence in terms of ‘brutality’, Tatsuya was unmistakably in the winner’s circle.

“Tatsuya‐niisama.”

There was no way Tatsuya would administer first aid to a person who attacked them, he quickly arose from the man’s side at Minami’s call.

“Please, look at this.”

“I expect it is a sacred purifying arrow.”

Tatsuya calmly muttered this while looking at the crossbow dart that Minami was holding in her hand and proffering up to him to see.

“...do you know?”

He did not display the slightest sign of surprise but this was probably a curiosity to Minami. The reflexive question was essentially incomplete.

“No, I just got a look at it when I sent him flying.”

Minami did not go ‘In that second!?’ in surprise. She had been raised by the Yotsuba as a maid who was a Guardian candidate. She had seen many aberrant people in the Yotsuba training course. Rather her scale of normal was set close to abnormal. For her, Tatsuya’s physical prowess was pretty much in the normal category.

Tatsuya had only glanced at it once but Miyuki examined the ‘Sacred Arrow’ closely.

“It’s used in Ancient Magic; as a tool to prevent the usage of magic?”

“To be exact, it is a tool to prevent the using of magic as an intermediary to SBs. It doesn’t have much effect on types of magic that infuse the magic sequence as a target directly.”

Hearing Tatsuya’s explanation, Miyuki canted her head

“Could they think we are Ancient magicians?”

“Unlike a genuine sacred arrow, this arrow has the ability to wound or kill when it strikes but....”

Tatsuya muttered cynically while looking at the sharpened arrowhead. The shaft and arrowhead were formed as a single object with the only distinctive trait visible the genuine bird feather used in the sacred arrow; all the other features appeared to be normal for a quarrel to be used in a crossbow. However, from looking at the sheer compression of wood in the shaft, charms (Shingon, invocations) had been written on shaved wood, rolled up like a thin paper scroll, and made into a compressed material.

While it was called a ‘Sacred Arrow’, it’s users were not limited to magicians connected to Shintoism. ‘Text’ was a commonly used medium for spell tools among ancient magic users.

“Like I thought his hypothesis is that our offensive spells use SB magic. If he did not attack us because he mistook us for someone else then for some reason we’ve been mistaken for ancient magicians.”

At that point, Tatsuya notices a voice saying ‘Police’ nearing them.

“Let’s return to this topic later.”

The incident had occurred in front of the station closest to their home. There were numerous witnesses and the street cameras had also recorded everything. Running away would be idiotic.

Thinking of the time in which he would be held for questioning, Tatsuya let out a huge sigh.

The police released them about one hour later. Even so, that could be said to be rather quick. From the start, their status as victims had not been doubted; as expected, this was due to the data from the street cameras and psion wave sensors.

“Aw nuts, it’s so darn late.”

Looking only at the time, it couldn’t be really called ‘late’ yet. However, the psychological fatigue made it feel like the time was much later.

That was true for more than Tatsuya.

“You are right...I should start preparing dinner immediately.”

Fatigue also coated Miyuki’s voice as she replied.

“Miyuki‐oneesama, that’s my job.”

Minami’s tone of voice was also strangely dull. Even so, she steadfastly proclaimed her kitchen rights, either from stubbornness or from diligence. Probably, from both.

“Really? Then, please do so.”

“Got it.”

While Miyuki easily surrendered with a feeble look, Minami went and stood in the kitchen without changing clothes.

“Onii‐sama, I have to prepare for tomorrow.”

However, she turned around in surprise at the next statement. Minami’s face had a slightly sour cast. Tomorrow was the day they would visit the Kudou house in Ikoma. She was between a rock and a hard place, with regard to her duty: “It was only an overnight stay but, shouldn’t she be helping with that as a maid?”, “However, I have to get started on dinner immediately..”

“You probably don’t need to hurry so much. How about both of you change? It will be alright if you wait until after dinner to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Tatsuya‐niisama. We will do it that way.”

For Minami who was in dire straits, Tatsuya’s words were a lifeline.

“It’s a directive from Tatsuya‐niisama. Let’s do as he says, Miyuki‐neesama.”

She did not give Miyuki time to speak up, Minami shooed her mistress to the second floor.

In the end, Miyuki and Minami only shared the preparations for the trip that were for Tatsuya; the pair took care of themselves afterwards. While he watched the excited pair merrily exchanging opinions in front of his own closets, Tatsuya only made an ‘it’s inevitable’ smile.

Later, Tatsuya begun discussing the recent attack with the pair when they sat for their postponed teatime in the living room.

“Those guys just now were unmistakably ancient magicians. Not just the Sacred Arrow but the spell cast on that guy to let him escape, the transparency transformation spell did not interfere by light reflection or light refraction; it was mental interference magic that made recognition of one’s own existence trivial. It is the same type of magic that Kudou Retsu used at last year’s Nine Schools Competition’s opening ceremony.”

“Then it is someone under the thumb of the Kudou clan?”

Tatsuya shook his head at Miyuki’s question.

“A Kudou clan practitioner would not mistake us for Ancient Magicians. Rather, they are probably underlings of ‘the Traditionalists’ who are fiercely hostile to them.”

“The ‘Traditionalists’ that Fumiya spoke of.. That’s an extremely grandiose name but, what on earth kind of tradition are they advocating?”

Miyuki canted her head in puzzlement. Anyone who did not know of the source of the name of the ‘Traditionalists’ would unmistakably think that.

“There might not be a particular meaning.”

Tatsuya turned his head at the scathing point Minami made with a wry smile and a ‘Oh?” look on his face.

“It seems like Minami knows of the ‘Traditionalists’.”

“Yes. I was taught about all about them since they are one of the Magic Societies the main family has to monitor. The ancient magicians who feel betrayed by the former Lab 9 might be assembling for the purpose of avenging themselves on the Ten Master Clans.”

She displayed no sign of unsurely in her manner, so she definitely knew of them as surmised.

“I think saying their goal is vengeance would be an overstatement but, the rest matches what I know.”

Of course, they differed slightly in their perception but this was due to the difference in how the information was transmitted to them so it could be called inevitable.

“So then, the reason we were mistaken for ancient magicians....Miyuki do you remember the artificial spirit that investigated our house a few days ago?”

“Yes, you mean Sunday?”

“It seems that Master’s disciples caught the culprits for us.”

“I see...so you mean it’s because we have been mistaken for Yakumo‐sensei’s underlings.”

Miyuki nodded with a look of understanding. However, on the other hand, Minami looked unconvinced.

“What is it, Minami‐chan? You know of Yakumo‐sensei of course?”

Miyuki’s perceptive skills were not sharp but she noticed and ‘Don’t hold back to be polite, if there’s something you want to ask’ was implicit in her prompting.

“Yes, I know of him.. but, why would Yakumo‐sensei detain the magicians who were searching the house?”

The light in Minami’s eyes showed her doubt went beyond simple puzzlement and into suspicion. Miyuki did not comprehend what was weighing on her mind but Tatsuya understood.

“No, Minami you are mistaken. Neither I nor Miyuki have accepted Master’s patronage.”

Minami would probably consider not just being taught martial arts by Yakumo‐sensei but being under his patronage to be a form of betrayal of the Yotsuba clan.

“One of Master’s favorite things to do is to proclaim himself more a shinobi than a monk. I dare say that as a ‘Shinobi’ he probably can’t ignore anyone sniffing around his garden and the like. Even if he wasn’t looking for them.”

“It’s that kind of thing?”

Apparently, she finally understood the explanation. Suspicion vanished from Minami’s eyes.

“Thanks to today’s attack, I know two things.”

They had cleared up the odd suspicions; they were now on to the main topic.

“First, I know that we have clearly become a target of the traditionalists.”

Tension ran through Miyuki and Minami’s faces.

“The other thing, I know is that our enemy is unaware of our background.”

Miyuki successfully suppressed her surprise but, Minami let out a small ‘ah!?’.

“It’s fairly certain that Fumiya and Ayako were tailed. If they know Fumiya and Ayako are ‘Kuroba’ then they would know that, the Kuroba clan is connected to the Yotsuba clan. At the very least, Zhou Gongjin would seem to know that the Kuroba are in charge of the Yotsuba’s covert operations.”

Tatsuya seemed to find something amusing about this point; he made a small smile.

“Onii‐sama?”

“Oh, sorry. I said ‘Yotsuba’s covert operations’, the expression implied that the Yotsuba undertook non‐ covert operations and that made me smile. Pay it no mind.”

Tatsuya shook away his idle thought and returned to the main subject.

“In short, while they know that our house was visited by people related to the Yotsuba clan; they don’t know that we are related to the Yotsuba clan. So, they think we are nothing more than magician subordinates of the Yotsuba. Since if they thought we were Yotsuba magicians then, they would not expect us to have the charms and tools of ancient magicians.”

“In short.. they believe that we are ancient magicians employed by the Kuroba who are Yotsuba subordinates, right?”

This question burst out of Minami. Although it was faint, she sensed danger.

“That is the way it is. Even though they know of our existence, they don’t know who we really are. They don’t know why the Kuroba chose us as accomplices.”

“So that...means that there is a possibility that they’ll attack people other than us?”

Miyuki’s eyes widened slightly at Minami’s pronouncement and Tatsuya’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Right, we cannot ignore the possibility that Erika, Mikihiko or the others might become targets. There’s even the possibility that Honoka or Mizuki might become hostages.”

“Shouldn’t we request protection for them from Obasama or Kuroba‐san?”

Miyuki was relatively calm because Tatsuya was unflustered. Even so, it was understood that it was an emergency situation. That the suggestion that they might rely on Maya was proffered without hesitation was proof.

“We shan’t rely on Obaue. We might intend to ask for protection but, end up using them as bait”

“Then Sensei.”

“I get the feeling it would be costly but.. we might have to.”

Tatsuya drained the contents of his cup and stood up.

“I’m going to Master’s place.”

He might have intended to go there anyway to practice his new magic, Tatsuya seemed about to leave immediately. His attaché case with his experimental CAD inside was already to go in the vestibule.

“Please go to bed before me. Shut the doors tightly”

He took his CAD Trident out of the vestibule storage cubby and put it on, and as Miyuki and Minami watched him put on a thin sweater, they called out.

“Understood.”

Seen off by the pair speaking and bowing as one, Tatsuya opened the vestibule door.