Chapter 1

March 8, 2098.

The graduation ceremony is only a week away. These days, an unsettling atmosphere filled the First High School Affiliated to the National Magic University High School.

Within the third year students that graduated two years prior there were three talented individuals, who were called the "Three Giants" during their enrolment. The current graduating third years have a wide reputation of being even more outstanding.

In the beginning, the former Student Council President Shiba Miyuki showed outstanding magical abilities that kept even the third year students at the time at bay, and during the course of her enrollment, it was revealed that she was a direct descendant of the Yotsuba family.

And while Shiba Tatsuya, the Secretarial Chief of the previous Student Council, enrolled as a second division student, in the summer of his first school year he demonstrated magic engineering skills unmatched by the other high school students at the Nine-Schools Competition. On the transition of the second to the third year, he was revealed as also being a direct descendent of the Yotsuba family. Later, on his third year, it was revealed his identity as Taurus Silver

The two of them are so powerful that it's easy to get hazy, but there are also other talented aspiring magicians, and more importantly, there are a number of young magicians who are high school students, but are highly regarded in certain circles as having abilities comparable to those of magicians in leading fields.

For example, Angelina Kudou Shields, an, extremely rare in modern times, foreign student that has no particular achievements during her time at school. But her power is regarded as being on par with Shiba Miyuki's.

Like Shiba Tatsuya, Yoshida Mikihiko, entered as a second division student, but rose to prominence in the Nine-Schools Competition, became a first course student when he transitioned to his second year, and even won the position of chief of the Public Morals Committee. Although he is an Ancient magic user, he is also well versed in modern magic, and is expected to be the prodigy child who will revolutionize the Ancient Magic techniques.

In the Monolithic Code Inter-School Matches, held in place of the cancelled 2097 year Nine-Schools Competition, Chiba Erika was one of the representatives of the First High School. And, despite being a girl, she became the leading force behind the victory in the Inter-School Matches. Also, as an unofficial record for her, she also holds the most number of defeated opponents in the Inter-School Matches.

There is also Tomitsuka Hagane, also known as "Range Zero", the fourth best in the High School Magic Martial Arts open tournament. Mitsui Honoka, who has already been praised by professors at the University of Magic and other magicians as one of the best in Japan in regards to her ability in light manipulation. Other students, such as Kitayama Shizuku, Igarashi Yousuke, Akechi Eimi, Satomi Subaru, and Morisaki Shun, are also highly regarded in their respective fields of expertise.

This year's third years are the true golden age of the school. So much that some of the school's staff are worried about what will happen next year, after they graduate. Staff and students alike are trying to congratulate them as best they can, while feeling sad and anxious.

This is the true nature of the unstable and unsettling atmosphere that pervades the school.

On the school route, between the station to the gate of First High.

"Oh, it's Tatsuya. When did you return to Tokyo?"

A high pitched voice flew to Tatsuya, who was coming to school after a long absence. There are only a few girls who talked to him so casually when Miyuki, even more so when with Lina, is next to him.

"Erika, that's not how you greet people in the morning, is it?"

It wasn't Tatsuya who responded, but Miyuki, who frowned her eyebrows.

"Sorry, sorry. Good morning Tatsuya-kun, Miyuki, Lina."

Erika quietly starts over the greeting. It was an unwritten rule among First High's girls, as well as common sense not to disobey Miyuki.

"Good morning, Erika."

Following Tatsuya, Miyuki and Lina returned the "good morning".

After the exchange of greetings, Tatsuya was the first one to speak.

"It's been almost a month since I've met you, Erika, hasn't it?"

"I didn't know it was that long. Oh, that's right. I wasn't at school the last time Tatsuya-kun came to see me."

Erika was invited to take the test, not only by the Magic University, but also by a standard university, which is known to have many alumni in the police force, asking "Why don't you come to ours?". It was extremely rare for a student from a Magic high school to be scouted by a standard university.

"That happened, didn't. So, what did you decide?"

At this point, Lina asks Erika which university she will go to.

"After all, I'm thinking of going to Magic University."

"Really?"

Miyuki asked, because Erika's path for the future had been changed back and forth.

"This time it's true. But it still didn't sink in that I'm going to be attending the Magic University."

Originally, Erika did not intend to go to a University.

She was not kidding when she told them last May that she wanted to go on a warrior training trip after graduating high school. Until summer vacation, she was pretty serious about going on the trip. Much so that she had been seriously researching about the arrangements for leaving the country and looking for a part-time job that would pay for the trip at a good rate.

But things changed when she participated in the Monolithic Code Inter-School Matches.

Erika's abilities had been known to the police and the Defense Force for some time through the students of the Chiba Dojo. But the higher up in the organization, progressively discounted the points of rumors from their own people, the more they heard about it. Or, to put it another way, the more they viewed it through "reverse colored glasses".

However, with the success of the Inter-School Matches, it became clear that her true ability was even more than in the rumors. In particular, the Non-Systematic magic to neutralize the opponent without hurting him [Phantom Edge] - the slash version of the [Phantom Blow], and the non-systematic counter magic that is considered a variant of the [Gram Demolition], [Gram Slash], which shoot a blade made of psions against the opponent's magic. A senior member of the Metropolitan Police Department noted that the magical slashing technique is most suitable for subduing criminal magicians.

Many of them are employed by the police from the Magic University. Immediately after the summer vacation ended, Erika was recruited by an alumnus of a standard university whose martial skills produced many police officers and by an alumnus of Magic University who became a police bureaucrat, and the two sides were in a tug of war.

From such a state as Erika was, it appeared that she finally decided on where to go just before graduation.

"I'm glad to hear that. Then, we'll be together again in April."

"Yes.."

At Miyuki's words, Erika gave a small laugh, as if embarrassed. Probably it was true that she didn't expect to be able to go to Magic University.

"Me too, I look forward to working with you."

"Lina, you really aren't going back to the States, right? I look forward to working with you too."

Lina had previously stated that "At this rate, I plan to enter a Japanese magic university". However, Erika knows that Lina was the USNA's National recognised Strategic Class magician "Angie Sirius". That's why she didn't believe those words by more than half.

Tatsuya's Magic Engineering class is in Class E.

Miyuki and Lina are in Class A.

And Erika is in Class F.

The four of them would be divided into Miyuki and Lina, Tatsuya and Erika at the entrance.

Classroom E and Class F are next to each other. So, Tatsuya and Erika went up to their respective classrooms shoulder to shoulder.

"By the way. What are you going to do about that, Tatsuya-kun?"

"It will be as I said. It won't change my plans to attend Magic University."

In response to Erika's question, Tatsuya replied with a look on his face like "Why are you asking me that now?".

"I know you're going to Magic University., but that's not the only thing you're going to do, right, Tatsuya-kun?

"Oh, that's what you mean."

Tatsuya's changes to an understanding expression at Erika's answer.

"Yeah, that's what I meant. Are you going to prioritize your stellar reactor research? Or will it be military work?"

Erika doesn't know that Tatsuya has quit the National Defense Force. He was not a regular officer to begin with, but the impression she got on the Yokohama Incident in the fall of the first year was so strong that she couldn't shake off the belief that Tatsuya was a member of the Defense Forces.

"I'm going to be researching for a while. There are too many issues that need implementation."

"Heh.. So you don't need to go through the university too?"

"I have a lot to learn, so I intend to attend as much as possible."

"You're serious, right? No, you are just being greedy."

"I guess it's normal."

Erika's astonishment is because Tatsuya's attitude was not unusual from a young man from this era. The speed of the changes in the society also needs to hasten in order to adapt to the advancements in technology. That's not limited to magical universities, university students of these days have no time to be idle.

—It's the university students of today who spend their spare time endeavoring a social life.

"Hey, Tatsuya. Haven't seen you for a while."

Leo, who was chatting with another student in the hallway next to the Class F classroom, calls out.

"Good morning, Leo."

When Tatsuya returned the greeting to Leo, Erika, who was walking beside him, said in a low voice "See you later", waved her hand and walked into the classroom. It's a huge improvement from before when they would quarrel if they met face to face.

The female student who was talking to Leo also greeted Tatsuya and moved away. She headed for the stairs, so she might be an underclassman.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"What do you mean? I was the one who called out to you, you know."

Tatsuya wondered if that was the case. He was concerned about the fact that his conversation partner was a female student, he had heard that Leo was popular with the juniors. Surely it wasn't an regrettable opportunity.

"Well, it's been, what, two weeks?"

"It's been exactly ten days."

Tatsuya corrected Leo's line in detail. Somehow, it wasn't out of malice.

"Right. What happened today. Did you get called by the principal again?"

Leo didn't seem to care about Tatsuya's curt response, so he asked.

Tatsuya scowled his face lightly at Leo's question.

"Not the principal. I was called in by the office manager. He said he apparently needed my signature."

"I wonder if there is such a thing..? Well, Tatsuya's case is very special."

—Speaking of special, Leo's chosen career path is also special. In the end, he will not go to Magic University.

The school he chose to go to was the "Academy of Disaster Rescue training" commonly known as "Rescuer University".

After World War III, in order to concentrate Japan's national defense forces to the country defense, a rescue unit specializing in rescue activities in the event of a large-scale disaster, which was previously carried out by the military, was established separately from the fire and police rescue units. Its name is the "Kokusai Rescue Team". Commonly known as "Japan Rescue Core". Or simply "Rescue Core".

Over the years, the Rescue Core has expanded its scope to include sea and mountain rescue, and has now grown to shoulder part of the work of the fire and police departments.

As the name suggests, the Academy of Disaster Rescue training is an educational institution that aims to train highly-skilled personnel for the "Disaster Rescue Team", also known as Rescue Core. Its position is close to that of the National Defense Academy.

However, unlike the National Defense Academy, it is rare for high school students to go on there to study magic. While magicians also play an active role in rescue activities, in the event of a disaster, at Rescue Academy, they practice rescue activities that do not rely on magic skills, utilizing technological tools. And being able to use magic gives no advantage in the entrance exams.

Leo originally thought of the mountain guard as a career path. It was also because of this career aspiration that he joined the mountain club. He didn't intend to go on to higher education, but to join the police directly.

However, when he started to consider taking the entrance exam for a magical college, he looked at various other places to go to besides the magical college. As a result, he decided on Rescue Academy as his first choice.

The fact that magic couldn't be used in the entrance exam was not a problem for Leo at all. Even now, he is not good at magic other than hardening magic. The fact that the parameters of the entrance exam at the University of Rescue consisted of physical testing and athletic skills, was very advantageous for Leo.

"For some reason, you have a different procedure from us?"

Leo was immensely curious on what on earth was the business the manager had to call Tatsuya upon,

"I don't know the details."

Tatsuya replied with a blunt response.

"And.., the last time they called you up wasn't the principal. It was the vice principal."

Then he adds.

"It's not much different."

Leo says so, but the call from the principal, who is the final decision maker, and the guidance of the vice principal have very different implications. In particular, the vice principal's business the other day was to receive a request from the magic university to hear what Tatsuya wanted to learn. It is quite different in nature from the so-called "call".

When he was about to object to Leo, they were in front of class F.

"Well, I'll see you later."

"Yeah."

Given that it was not enough to keep him back. Tatsuya left Leo and went into Class E's classroom.

About 60% of the students of Class E were in the classroom.

"Good morning, Tatsuya-san."

Mizuki honestly greets Tatsuya from her seat next to his.

"Good morning, Mizuki. I see that quite a bit of the people of this class came to school."

Just after returning the greeting, Tatsuya said something that he had been wondering about earlier.

The third year students have been free from attending school for a while now. It's a time when their career paths have already been pretty much decided. Not many students, like Tatsuya himself, have paperwork left to do until this close to graduation. There is no such thing as a rehearsal for the graduation ceremony. The only thing third-year students do in advance is to be briefed on the arrangements for the ceremony by video.

In other words, third years shouldn't have to come to school, but there were quite a few of them, not only in Class E, but in other classes as well. Tatsuya wondered about that oddness.

"There's a lot of things we can only do in school. And besides, I'm concerned about the clubs."

"I see", Tatsuya thinks. He did not notice that possibility. now that she mentioned it, that's just the way it is.

Living in a kind of extraterritorial territory like Miyaki Island, it's easy to forget that the use of magic in urban areas is strictly limited. Since the Miyaki Island is practically controlled by the Yotsuba family, he would not be blamed for using magic. Rather, using magic on a daily basis became natural to him. But normally, using magic without permission would be subject to police enforcement.

The premises of the magic university and its affiliated high schools are an exception to the rule, where the use of magic is allowed. However, unlike Miyakijima, if you exceed the permitted range, you will be arrested by the police.

Even so, the freedom to use magic within the school's grounds cannot be compared to outside the school. For many students, if they want to use magic properly, they have to come to school. This means that the only place where you can practice magic is at school, with a few exceptions like Tatsuya and the others

In Mizuki's case, however, she probably has another reason to still come to school so close to graduation. She's a member of the art club. So, does she have some work left to finish, or is she enthusiastic about teaching her underclassmen?

According to her own words, she didn't start seriously painting until she entered high school. When it is said "seriously", it means that it is at a level of a high school club activity. But still is a good fit for her. The school she chose to go to is also related to painting.

She will not go to Magic University. Originally, Mizuki entered the first high school with the purpose of being able to control her eyes —that suffer from Hypersensitivity to Pushion Particles Emission. Although she had a rare talent as a magician, Mizuki herself was not that concerned about her magical skills and had little conscious desire to become a magician.

If she didn't achieve satisfactory results in high school, Mizuki was looking to go to a magical college, even if it was a bit overwhelming. But she exceeded her own expectations and gained almost complete control over her 'sight'. She still wears glasses that block out the Pushion Light, but she has already reached the level of having a normal daily life without them. As far as Hypersensitivity to Pushion Particles Emission is concerned, as of last September, there was no longer any sense in attending Magic University.

Another thing in terms of higher education was that as of the second semester of his third year, the chances of Mitsuki being able to pass the magic college were low. She had the ability to exceed the passing mark in the written exam, but her practical skills wouldn't reach the passing line. Even so, it was at a level where she might be able to get by if she pushed herself, but her parents, rather than Mizuki herself, were opposed to her taking the entrance exam for the college of magic.

As a result, Mizuki chose a vocational school of design as her career path. Among them, she chose a course to major in CG (computer graphics). In this era, there is no superiority between universities and vocational schools in people's consciousness. Universities themselves are becoming more and more specialized, and the ratio of education directly related to occupations is increasing. There are even companies that profess that they do not hire college graduates in some industries.

However, Mizuki didn't intend to cut off magic completely. She is supposed to continue her magical studies outside of college.

These days, the study of magic is inclined to place more emphasis on the engineering of the operation system than the techniques of the perception system. The curriculum of the Magic University also follows this trend, with a focus on the engineering of the action system. The knowledge of perceptual techniques, in which Mizuki excels, has been accumulated among Ancient style magicians rather than experts in modern magic. It's just not as well theorized as it should be.

Mikihiko, who is set to attend the magic university, intends to work on theorizing and systematizing Ancient style magic apart from his studies at the university. Mizuki was supposed to help her with that. One of the reasons she chose CG design instead of watercolor or oil painting was because she wanted to document the symbols used in ancient magic, such as spells and magic circles, by drawing them instead of using photographs.

Perhaps Mizuki will no doubt continue to walk with Mikihiko on a three-legged race even after graduating from vocational school..

"Um, Tatsuya-san.. Is there something on my face..?"

Mizuki asks Tatsuya with an uneasy look on her face.

It seemed that he was looking at Mizuki with an unintentionally cheerful mood.

"No,I was just thinking about how considerate you are for your juniors , by coming to school close to graduation just for the sake of your club"

"No, it's not like that! I just, I just don't hate doing it."

The flustered Mizuki blushed and waved her hands.

Tatsuya's gaze grew increasingly lukewarm at the reaction, as if he didn't entirely doubt her words.

Naturally, both the Student Council and the Public Morals Committee have already been replaced.

Miyuki, Honoka, and of course Tatsuya are no longer Student Council officers, and Mikihiko and Shizuku are no longer members of the Public Morals Committee.

Without being bothered to work until lunchtime, Tatsuya and the others were all enjoying their lunch in the cafeteria.

"Did you know, Tatsuya-san? I heard that the graduation ceremonies of the Third and Sixth High have been postponed."

It was Honoka who brought this information to the table. She is supposed to go to the magic university in April. Naturally, Shizuku will be with her.

"Oh, I heard about it too."

The one who followed was Mikihiko. He will also be a student at the magic university starting next month, but he happily complained that he's going to be living a life of going to the college during the day and participating in his parents' ceremony at night for a while. It seems that this is an important ceremony for Ancient style magicians, that is considered the first step to be recognized as full-fledged magician.

"Is it because of the New Soviet Union?"

Tatsuya returns to Honoka and Mikihiko's words in the form of a question.

That's right. The Japan Sea coast is still on high alert.

As Honoka notes, a state of emergency has now been declared in the coastal areas of Hokkaido and Tohoku on the Sea of Japan, as well as in the coastal cities of Hokuriku and Sanin. This is in measure against the New Soviet Union's gathering of a large army in Vladivostok.

The government of the new Soviet Union claims that it is doing so "for exercises purposes", but this excuse cannot be taken for granted. It would be fine if it was merely a demonstration, but the possibility that it was preparations for a full-scale invasion cannot be ruled out.

The new Soviet Union, which was hit by Tatsuya's counterattack in August, remained quiet for the rest of last year without retaliating afterwards. But, after all, they had no intention of backing down as it was. Since the beginning of the year they have repeatedly carried out large-scale exercises in the Far East region, which are often seen as threats. And at last, the massive mobilization of the army and navy that began five days ago.

Tatsuya was also aware of the movements of the new Soviet army. He was probably more familiar with the movements of the new Soviet army than anyone else present here. He received information from the USNA's secretary of defense's aide that the purpose of the new Soviet army was not to invade, but only to intimidate. He probably had a more accurate grasp of the situation than the Japan's Defense Force and Defense Ministry officials.

So Tatsuya isn't too worried about the current situation. The only concern is of the frontline soldiers behaving recklessly, which could happen at any time. If it developed into a large-scale attack against Japan, based on the secret contract with Toudou Aoba, Tatsuya would not hesitate to intervene.

"I heard that the Third and Sixth High are planning to postpone their graduation ceremonies until the twenty-fourth."

Mikihiko adds more information.

"A postponement of nine days.. They're being very cautious."

That was the honest opinion of Tatsuya, who knew there was no imminent crisis.

"It sounds like they are extending it as much as possible, rather than having to reschedule it again because of a prolonged high alert."

"I would like to think about extending it as much as possible, rather than having to postpone it again due to a prolonged strict alert."

But this makes sense, too. It's nothing more than a nuisance to the people involved to have their plans changed two or three times due loose predictions.

"I see. It's not easy for Ichijou and the others."

They were familiar with Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkurou from Third High.

They are also going to the Magic University. Masaki's thoughts were leaning towards the National Defense Academy in the summer, but he ended up deciding on the magic university. He also asked for advice from Tatsuya on this matter, but he doesn't know whether his advice affected Masaki's career path or not.

Kichijouji, who seemed to have no need to worry about his career path at all, actually had some twists and turns. There was some voices from a while ago before that was not a minority group view saying that, Kichijouji, the discoverer of the "Cardinal Code'' and a researcher at the Kanazawa Magical Research Institute —that was built on the site of the former First Research Institute. He had thoughts for some time saying that he should stay in Kanazawa and continue his research at the institute rather than go to university, but that was just a minor opinion.

However, this intrusive and self-righteous thoughts became so strong that it could not be ignored with the advent of the strategic magic "Ocean Blast". A large number of people have emerged who are wondering if it is okay to let engineers who can develop strategic magic play around at the university under this difficult international situation.

In the first place, Magic University is not a place to play, and there is no reason why Kichijouji must sacrifice academic freedom. Such an irresponsible sense of justice should have been ignored from the top of his head, but the serious Kichijouji was worried of being called a "national disaster".

The reason why Kichijouji shook off his doubts and decided to go on to higher education was because of Masaki's words, "I'm going to go to Magic University after all". And then, Masaki and Kichijouji will go to the same place (the university) in peace, starting from April as before.

If they are going to attend a magic college in Tokyo next month, they will naturally have to find a place to live in Tokyo or the surrounding area. There are a lot of preparations to be made for a new life. And, if the graduation ceremony is delayed, there will be even less time for preparations. But, since it's the heir to the Ichijou family and his friend. Finding a new house might not be a hardship, but the time to move to Tokyo in advance and get used to the new living environment would inevitably be shortened.

Did Miyuki have the same thought?

''Maybe Ichijou-san and the others will be here before the graduation ceremony.

She made such a prediction.

Certainly, the option of starting a new life in Tokyo and returning to Kanazawa for the graduation ceremony is realistic enough, considering the distance between Tokyo and Kanazawa.

''Yeah, that's likely.''

So, Tatsuya responded to Miyuki.

There were no objections among his friends.