A+A-

Chapter 11

Although the NSU had withdrawn its fleet, it was impossible to say for sure that the military threat had already passed. It will take several weeks for everyday life to return to normal.

Classes at all high schools of the National University of Magic have already resumed, but extracurricular activities were limited to 4:30 p.m. Classes in schools of magic ended at 3:20 p.m., so extracurricular activities were reduced to about 1 hour.

Of course, First High School was no exception. The Student Council and the Disciplinary Committee involved in supervising extra-curricular activities also completed their work before 5 p.m.

Shortly before 4:30 p.m.

Erika, Leo, Mizuki and Mikihiko were waiting for individual Cabinets on the platform of the station closest to First High School. Miyuki and Lina have been leaving the school separately from everyone lately, and today they left a little earlier than the rest.

It was Shizuku's and Honoka's turn first, they already got into separate Cabinets and left. The others were now waiting for the next Cabinet to arrive.

“Ah, there she goes.”

The individual Cabinets didn’t have an arrival schedule, but during the busy hours the next free Cabinet appeared within five minutes. This station was mainly used only by students to come to school and go home. At the moment, the rush of passengers has already passed, and only these four remained, but still the next Cabinet arrived at the station just five minutes after the departure of Honoka's Cabinet.

“Ok, I'm next.”

Mizuki went to the opened door. The order in which they sat down was strictly defined. Apart from Honoka, who needed to go in the opposite direction, on the days when Miyuki and Tatsuya weren’t with them, their order was this: Shizuku, Mizuki, Erika, Mikihiko, Leo.

But today there are also some differences from the usual order.

“Miki, show her out.”

Erika didn’t suddenly just ask, but ordered Mikihiko to escort Mizuki.

“Uh!?”

“Come on, hurry up. Even if there are no other passengers, your slowness is annoying.”

“Well, if she doesn't mind...”

Although Erika's demand was completely unreasonable, Mikihiko somehow agreed too quickly. On the contrary, he looked like he wanted to do it.

“Um, but... it doesn't feel right.”

Mizuki looked shyly at Mikihiko, but even without her confirmation it was obvious that she didn’t like this idea.

“No, Mizuki. After all, the danger isn't over yet.”

But regardless of Mizuki's opinion, Erika was adamant.

“Come on, hurry up.”

“Uh-huh...”

As a result, Mizuki and Mikihiko surrendered under the pressure from Erika and sat in the same Cabinet.

The Cabinet with Mizuki and Mikihiko inside left the platform. Seeing them off with his eyes, Leo briefly asked Erika:

“... What are you up to?”

“What are you talking about?”

Erica replied without turning to face Leo.

“I’m talking about the reason you told Mikihiko to accompany Mizuki.”

“I already said, didn't I? Because of the danger.”

Erika was still staring in the direction of Mizuki's retreating Cabinet.

Leo frowned at the tense atmosphere.

“You didn't say anything about any danger yesterday. Is something bothering you now?”

Erika finally turned to Leo.

“... I wish, but it was a wasted experience.”

Immediately after these words, the next Cabinet arrived at the platform.

Erika walked over to him and looked around.

“Leo, let's go for a little ride together.”

“What are you doing so suddenly?”

“If you're going, then let's go. I'll tell you inside.”

Erika said, and sat down in the Cabinet transportation system.

Leo scratched his head nervously, then he crossed the road on the sliding bridge blocking the front of the Cabinet, went into the Cabinet through the opposite door and sat down on the seat next to Erika.

It had been more than 10 minutes since Tatsuya got on “Wingless,” the electric motorcycle, and started the pursuit.

At the entrance to Lake Saiko, Tatsuya saw the car with the carriers of Minami's and Minoru's Eidos with the naked eye.

As he accelerated, he caught up with the car on the right side. In the driver's seat, he saw a man with the face of Minoru holding the steering wheel. Although persons under the age of 18 can obtain a license to drive a four-wheeled vehicle under special conditions, but Minoru unlikely met these conditions.

But that wasn’t the problem now.

Using his psion waves, he activated the built-in CAD in his suit with full mental control, and considered the activation sequence he devised.

The magic was “Gram Dispersion,” specifically configured for use against Parade. It was a sequence of Decomposition magic corresponding to the Kudou family's spell.

It will decompose the magic sequence that builds a visible illusion, even if Minoru himself can’t be seen with the naked eye.

Tatsuya released the magic.

A visual noise ran across Minoru's face, and the outline of his entire body became blurred.

This doesn’t mean that the body of the carrier with the image of Minoru was destroyed.

The magic sequence that formed the image of Minoru, stripped of its information body structure, began to dissipate.

After the haze of psionic particles cleared...

“Kudou Soushi! After all, it's a fake!”

Tatsuya didn’t even bother to look at "something with the image of Minami" sitting in the passenger seat.

The “Minoru” turned out to be a fake. So, Minami shouldn’t be real either.

Tatsuya slammed on the brakes, deciding to go back to the hideout located in the center of the Sea of Trees.

At the same time, Soushi turned the steering wheel to the right.

Tires squealing, the large passenger car made a sharp approach towards Tatsuya.

Which made the car spin.

As if knocked down, the electric motorcycle flew off the road.

Guided by Tatsuya, “Wingless” flew to the side along an arc.

But in fact, the motorcycle wasn’t hit by the car.

He took off by himself, with the help of flight magic.

Tatsuya turned “Wingless,” the flying electric motorcycle, 180 degrees in the air and brought it back to the road.

Then he looked in the rear-view mirror. There he saw that the car had stopped, turning sideways.

Furthermore, the car driven by Soushi began to turn around, apparently in order to pursue Tatsuya's motorcycle.

Using his psion waves, Tatsuya activated the suit's built-in CAD.

At the same moment when the magic was activated, two wheels fell off one side of the car, and that side slammed onto the road with a crash.

Moreover, this car will no longer be able to prevent Tatsuya.

But Tatsuya remained vigilant, realizing that instead, Soushi himself could attack him with some kind of restraining magic.

The tilted car without two wheels was getting smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror.

Some time had already passed, but Soushi hadn't released any attacking magic.

Tatsuya arrived at the hideout Minoru used at about 5:45 pm Before entering the Sea of Trees, through the suit's communicator he informed Hyougo about Soushi as he was directly on the move. At the moment, one of Hyougo's father's subordinates, Hanabishi Tajima, has already been sent there for insurance.

Tatsuya left the motorcycle on the side of the road. But it turned out that this was no longer necessary. Unlike last time, the barrier no longer interfered with him.

The barrier itself, distorting the sense of direction, still existed. But its functions have significantly weakened.

This could happen due to the lack of a “master” who needs to be hidden. Either that, or the mechanism that continuously maintains the magic could've weakened due to several breakthroughs of the barrier.

But that wasn't what he needed to think about now. Tatsuya stopped in front of the entrance to this exotic one-story wooden house, and opened the door.

Tatsuya's expectation that this house would be completely abandoned turned out to be wrong.

Immediately after opening the door, his perception caught subtle signs of a presence.

These signs of a presence were very similar to human ones, but the life energy in them wasn’t felt. Tatsuya didn’t have the so-called “ability to sense otherworldly

phenomena," but it seemed to him that if you encounter a ghost, you will experience exactly the same impression as now.

It was impossible to ignore this creature. Tatsuya simply had no other choice.

The ghost-like thing turned its attention to Tatsuya. Tatsuya realized that it was waiting for him.

He couldn’t afford the unnecessary battles, right now.

And at the same time, he shouldn’t lose sight of the slightest clue.

In addition, if the owner of this presence is an enemy, then it will be faster not to wait for him to prepare a trap, but immediately rushed over to him.

Tatsuya went deep into the mansion, in the direction from which the signs of presence were felt.

Honoka returned home around the same time that Tatsuya entered the hideout that Minoru used.

She lived alone. Her parents were alive and well, but ever since Honoka went to elementary school, they were often away from home, almost living at work.

Honoka's and Shizuku's mothers were close friends from a young age, and Honoka's mother often left her off at Shizuku's home. And during her high school years, she almost lived at Shizuku's house when her parents were away for work for long periods of time.

The Kitayama couple treated Honoka like Shizuku's sister. In particular, the care of Shizuku's father, Kitayama Ushio, manifested itself in such a way that Honoka began to feel shy about this when she grew up. Honoka began to live alone when she entered First High School, no doubt, mostly due to the fact that she decided that she couldn’t use the good nature of Shizuku's parents forever.

When Honoka finally decided to live in a separate apartment, this caused a slight disagreement.

The first thing Kitayama Ushio said was, “I'll buy you an apartment.”

When she refused, he offered to arrange for her a luxurious apartment, which he described as follows: “it has a reliable security system, and the management company is apart of my group of companies.” That is, he tried to “buy” Honoka an apartment not an apartment room, but a whole apartment complex.

She refused this too. “Then at least live in a securely guarded apartment,” said Ushio, and ordered his subordinates to find suitable apartments. They found more than a dozen options.

After discussion with her parents, Honoka chose one of these options, and now she lived in this apartment. This apartment had a huge rent and was too spacious for one person to live in. The security system in it, although it wasn’t the latest in technology, but it was enough to protect the girl living alone. This apartment was also conveniently located for visiting the school.

Therefore, she had no fear of anyone getting in, while she wasn’t at home.

Besides, even though she was a sorceress, in terms of perception and way of thinking, she was closer to an ordinary girl. When she came home, she didn’t even think about being wary of suspicious people.

A shadow crept up to Honoka from her blind spot, silently and unnoticed, and grabbed her from behind

“Kya (mm-m-m)...”

Her mouth was covered with a rag, and she didn't have time to scream clearly.

She didn’t even have time to think about holding her breath, and she inhaled the substance applied to the rag, which deprived her of her freedom of thought.

Miyuki, who left school a little earlier than her friends, was already at home and had changed into her home clothes.

She had learned about Tatsuya's absence at home even earlier from the message he left her. There was a longing in her heart to hear his voice, at least through audio communications, but the strong feeling “I shouldn’t bother Onii-sama” somehow held her back.

At that moment, Miyuki heard the sound of an incoming call.

Miyuki rushed to the desktop terminal with hope.

However, the monitor on the small terminal installed on the desk in her room didn’t display Tatsuya's name.

“Pixie, what's wrong?”

The caller was Pixie, who currently “lived” in the Student Council room at First High School.

“Miyuki-sama.”

Tatsuya ordered Pixie in his absence to obey Miyuki's orders. At the moment, Miyuki was considered a temporary mistress for Pixie, but Pixie didn’t call Miyuki

“mistress.” Pixie... more precisely, the Parasite inside Pixie considered only Tatsuya to be her exclusive master.

She simply followed the orders of Tatsuya, and when the need arose, it was Miyuki who she reported to.

“Mitsui-sama was ? kidnapped.”

The same was true for this emergency alert.

“What!?”

Miyuki involuntarily switched to a high tone of voice.

Miyuki didn't lack any experience with getting into various unusual situations, but the abduction of her classmate was completely unexpected for her.

In itself, kidnapping isn’t really a rare crime. Their number has significantly decreased after the installation of outdoor cameras, but so far there are about 60-80

cases per year. And last year, for example, there was a major human trafficking incident by a major gang, and the total number of victims exceeded 200 people.

But Miyuki couldn’t even think that her friend would be the victim of criminals.

They lived in a world in which life was far from calm, but at least in their country public safety was not at a level where living in fear of criminals for people is everyday.

“Pixie, do you know what the situation is now?”

However, Miyuki quickly regained her composure. Miyuki was born only 17 years and 4 months ago, but her life, to put it mildly, was already filled with all sorts of events. And such a “career" wasn’t an empty boast.

“Mitsui-sama ? deprived of ? freedom ? of will ? with the help of ? narcotic ?

substance. Two ? abductors ? removed ? her ? from the building. At the moment, ?

they ? are moving ? on foot.”

The parasite living inside pixie has awakened and got its “personality” based on the

“thoughts” of Honoka. Therefore, Pixie and Honoka were spiritually connected. For her part, Honoka couldn’t watch Pixie due to a lack of computational abilities, but Pixie was able to track the experiences that Honoka was experiencing in real time.

Tatsuya ordered Pixie not to spy indiscriminately on Honoka's personal life. Through the “path” connecting Pixie and Honoka, Pixie saw the state of Honoka, even without having the intention to do so. Therefore, Tatsuya placed a restriction on it.

But now Honoka was in danger, it was an emergency.

Pixie's body was a machine that couldn’t produce psions. The Parasite living inside Pixie couldn’t sustain its activities without the supply of psions from the outside. And the largest source of psions for Pixie was Honoka.

If the activity of the Parasite stops, then it will “reset” the personality. For a living being, such a suspension of activity is tantamount to death.

In other words, Honoka's security was a vital issue for Pixie. In order to ensure the safety of Honoka, Tatsuya allowed Pixie to monitor Honoka's activities to a minimum extent.

“Amendment. They ? just ? got in ? the car. ? With the addition of ? the driver, ? the number of ? abductors ? increases ? to three.”

“Okay. If they try to do any harm to Honoka, stop them with telekinesis.”

“Yes, I will obey. The terms of ? lifting the ban on use are ? accepted.”

“Check the map to track the exact location of Honoka. If you think that the kidnappers have arrived at their hideout, then let me know about this place.”

“Yes, I will obey.”

Miyuki ended the conversation with Pixie and phoned Hanabishi Hyougo, Tatsuya's personal butler.

Minoru' s hideout was a one-story house, but this house was quite extensive and had many rooms.

Tatsuya temporarily left the house, walked around, made sure that he didn’t have a back entrance, and re-entered the front entrance.

He didn’t take off his shoes. The floor was clean, but Tatsuya didn’t care that he could have trampled on dirt. For him, this house was a “target for search” and not a

“place of residence.”

Tatsuya spent about five minutes inspecting the outside of the mansion, but that didn't bother him either. Not because he followed the proverb “slow down - you will continue," but because this detour was useful in the form of knowledge that no one will run away through some secret exit while he is inspecting the house from the inside.

The owner of the previously detected signs of presence was found relatively quickly.

“Fujibayashi-dono?”

In the back of the house, in a windowless room that looked like a storeroom, Tatsuya was waiting for Fujibayashi Nagamasa, head of the famous Fujibayashi family, magicians of ancient magic and “ninjutsu users," father of Senior Lieutenant Fujibayashi Kyouko from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. Tatsuya took off his helmet, which he was still wearing, put it under his arm, and spoke to the creature that looked like Nagamasa.

“Shiba-dono. You came too?”

There wasn't an accusatory tone in Nagamasa's voice.

“I detected an anomaly in the barrier.”

But even if Tatsuya was accused, he wouldn’t have experienced any feelings of guilt.

“Fujibayashi-dono, are you here for the same reason?”

Tatsuya asked in a friendly tone, but his eyes burned with a bright fire.

“No. I'm here according to plan.”

The fire in Tatsuya's eyes flared up even brighter, while his eyes narrowed to a stern, sharp look.

“Does this mean that from the very beginning you planned to deal with this without me?”

Tatsuya's manner of speech had lost respect for his elder. However, Nagamasa showed no concern over this.

“Sort out...? Hmm, in a way, this is the correct expression. I came here to deal with the situation that led to this mess.”

“Your goal isn’t to capture Minoru, but to let him escape?”

Tatsuya asked a question that wasn't directly related to Nagamasa's words.

“It was our Fujibayashi family who gave the former Ninth Laboratory the spell, which later became the basis of Parade.”

Nagamasa also spoke on a topic unrelated to Tatsuya's question.

“The indisputable fact is that it is based on the “Matoi” spell, created by Kokonoe Yakumo's predecessor, however it is “Shadow Twins” of the Fujibayashi family that connects it with modern magic. We also transferred many other techniques to the former Ninth Laboratory.”

“So what? I have no desire to listen to these complaints.”

Tatsuya listened to everything his opponent said.

“This is in no way a complaint. We don’t cling to gross profits, like the traditionalists.”

“You want to say that you have such a lofty goal as the search for truth?”

There were faint signs of ridicule in Tatsuya's voice.

“The search for truth. Exactly.”

But Nagamasa agreed, becoming absolutely serious.

“Shiba-dono. Do you know what the art of shinobi is for?”

“I don’t know.”

Tatsuya answered dryly and briefly. The thought read in his voice: “I didn’t come here to answer questions."

“In an era when electronic equipment wasn’t yet invented, the art of shinobi represented a technology for intelligence and assassination. Spies and killers were both shinobi using “ninjutsu” and not using it. And they did nothing else.”

“Even if they were unhappy about it?”

“The shinobi who lived at that time may have been pleased with such a life. Despite the attitude towards them, their skills were considered important and necessary.”

“The art of “ninjutsu" is of great importance in our time.”

“Do you really think so? With the spread of electronic equipment, the number of places where shinobi can actively operate has significantly decreased. And with the development of modern magic, capable of activating quickly and reliably, “ninjutsu"

was forced out, even from the sphere of intelligence.”

“Ancient magic is excellent for surprise attacks, so it still plays an active role in assassinations.”

“We wouldn’t be able to live a normal life if we were only killers.”

“If you aren’t here to buy more time, then tell me what you're getting at.”

In response to Tatsuya's demand, voiced with undisguised annoyance, Nagamasa didn't make a displeased face, but merely nodded, saying "good."

“According to its usefulness, “ninjutsu” can’t defeat modern magic. Useless techniques are considered obsolete, and their fate is to disappear without a trace.

Before that happens, we will incorporate “ninjutsu" into modern magic, developing it into a technology that meets modern needs. Our predecessor believed that it was the duty of our family, the Fujibayashi, as followers of the supreme shinobi of the Iga clan. The development of “ninjutsu." That is our goal.”

“What does all of this have to do with Minoru?”

“Kudou Minoru is the completed form of the magicians from “nine,” whose goal was to create new techniques by introducing ancient magic into modern magic. At the same time, he's a member of the Fujibayashi family, possessing secret knowledge in modern magic. We can’t allow him to fall into the hands of the Ten Master Clans or the Self-Defense Forces.”

“But Minoru shouldn’t have a direct relationship with the Fujibayashi family.”

“For a shinobi, blood connection isn’t important.”

In his own words, Tatsuya didn’t try to convince Nagamasa. He was just trying to extract useful information from him. Hearing his answer, Tatsuya decided that further attempts would be hopeless, after which he turned his back on Nagamasa and walked away.

He wasn’t wary of an attack from behind. From the very beginning, Tatsuya saw that Nagamasa didn’t have a physical body, and therefore couldn’t attack him.

The image of Nagamasa, which was left behind by Tatsuya, vanished into thin air.

As Tatsuya expected, there was no attack from behind.

Tatsuya rounded his eyes in surprise, quickly put on his helmet and rushed towards the entrance of the house.

That's when he had heard the sound of an explosion and an intense fire blocked his way.

6 o'clock in the evening is the time when dusk will soon come. Although the summer solstice was quite recent, and the days were still long, but now the lighting was bad due to the fact that the sky was covered with clouds.

“Perhaps it will rain heavily.”

“If you want, take an umbrella from my house.”

Mizuki and Mikihiko talked as they walked side by side along the road leading to Mizuki's house and ran along the riverbank.

?

“Or you can wait at my house. Father isn’t supposed to be home yet.”

Mizuki said, and giggled involuntarily. This isn't the first time Mikihiko has accompanied Mizuki home, and has already managed to "get acquainted" with her parents.

The attitude of Mizuki's father towards Mikihiko at that time was rather severe.

Mizuki's mother had even reproached him for his “childishness” later. Mikihiko reacted to this with understanding. “Shibata-san is a girl, so this is a father's natural behavior,” he thought with a wry smile. However, he couldn’t deny that this incident left him with the realization that it would be difficult for him to cope with this again.

“N-no, it's too late. I'll just escort you to the entrance of your home.”

“Okay.”

Mizuki' s face appeared to be regretful, but she immediately smiled again.

Mikihiko froze for a moment at Mizuki's smile. However, he quickly came to his senses and smiled back shyly in response.

Creating a delicate atmosphere around themselves, causing embarrassment to passersby, Mizuki and Mikihiko walked along the waterfront.

And this “good mood” was spoiled not by Mizuki's mother or her father, who returned home earlier than he should have, but by three men, radiating an ominous aura.

The people around them just idly strolled and chatted with each other, and these three purposefully approached them. Simultaneously Mizuki's and Mikihiko's faces changed while they stopped.

Despite their ominous feeling, these men looked quite ordinary. Their age was from 30 to 45 years, in appearance. They didn’t emanate a sense of rudeness. On the contrary. It was the feeling of some subtle, refined deception.

Mikihiko noticed the abnormality of these people by the disguise they were wearing,

and Mizuki, without even taking off her glasses, saw an aura of the color that usually means trouble. All three men's faces showed admiration for the reaction of Mikihiko, who immediately went into a fighting stance, and Mizuki, who hid behind him.

One of the men suddenly flew forward. Not “jumped," but “flew."

To avoid this, Mikihiko hastily jumped to the edge of the road, lightly hitting Mizuki with his back. Mizuki staggered, and Mikihiko held her with one hand. When he raised his head, he saw that the man had blocked the road to the station.

It was such a quick action that he didn’t even notice how the activation sequence was deployed. From this, Mikihiko already realized that these three were strong and dangerous magicians. Mizuki also intuitively sensed their danger.

Two in front, one in back. Squeezed in pincers, Mikihiko turned to them sideways, his back to the river. He covered Mizuki with his back.

“What do you want?”

Two on the right, one on the left. Behind the river, in front of the wasteland.

Mikihiko turned to the two men on the right, who blocked the path to the side of Mizuki's house. He didn’t expect to get an answer or start a conversation. They weren't somewhere in the mountains, distant from civilization, but right inside a residential area, albeit at the very edge of it. He spoke in order to buy time, in the hope that passersby would call the police.

However, the men didn’t answer.

Mikihiko swung his left hand down sharply.

With that same hand he caught the metal fan that had flown out of his sleeve.

Slightly opening this unique CAD with one hand, Mikihiko pressed the index finger of his right hand on one of the metal strips that made up the fan.

The wind began to swirl around Mikihiko and Mizuki. This vortex of wind isolated them from the wind that was blowing on the left side of Mikihiko, which had some

kind of aerosol impurity.

In fact, this aerosol impurity was a drug that paralyzes the victim's free will.

The magic that had isolated them from the attack of the suspicious men, Mikihiko released instinctively.

The men's faces changed. The carefree faces expressing the thought that “they aren’t rivals to us” quickly changed into the facial expressions of people ready for battle.

“Who are you!?”

Mikihiko didn’t know everything about this attack, down to the ingredients of the narcotic substance. But the fact remained that they had been attacked. It was obvious malice, so Mikihiko called out to the opponents in a stern voice.

His shout was made reflexively. He didn’t expect to get an answer.

But contrary to expectations...

“Horsehead.”

The question of Mikihiko was answered by the man on the left, who had previously released the magic that created the poisoned wind.

“Horsehead?”

Mikihiko had no idea what that name meant. This question seized hold of his mind, and his concentration on the enemies weakened.

In other words, it created a gap in his defenses.

The enemy on the right threw a thick needle. More precisely, it was a thin sharpened wooden stake.

Mikihiko knocked down the stake, which was given speed and penetrating power by movement magic, with his right hand.

He wasn’t injured. Through a gap in the torn fabric of his school uniform sleeve, one could notice that his right hand was shimmering with a dull glossy sheen.

Protective magic covering his skin with the “Element of Metal" from the system of the Five Elements. If you look only at the effect, then this form of ancient magic was similar to the strengthening magic in which Leo was good at using, however, they differed in the principle of action.

“Good thing I learned this...!”

Mikihiko learned this “gold armor technique" from his father last month. At the end of May, when Mikihiko went into battle with a detachment of the Self-Defense Forces, which was led by Toyama (Tooyama) Tsukasa, he felt the need for more close combat techniques. He turned to his father for advice and as a result received this magic-->>

next page