Volume 11, Chapter 14

When she opened her eyes, the scene that filled her vision was a ceiling – a ceiling that she seemed to recall belonged to the large cargo truck that served as their mobile base.

The dank, stale air caused her skin to feel clammy.

Still, if placed under the bitter cold, this would probably result in a cold, though complaining about the canned air right now would be pure decadence.... Lina thought.

Only half awake, Lina surveyed her surroundings.

Though there wasn’t any particular intent behind her actions.... In her heart, the sense of unease was growing. This wasn’t normal.

The moment that crossed her mind, her sleepiness vanished. “There’s no one here....”

Given that she was now fully awake, it was unbelievable that she couldn’t recall how this came about.

Though the vehicle was a large cargo truck that boasted the utility of “something that can be driven on a camping trip”, they weren’t here for fun and games.

An incident must have occurred to prompt them all to leave.

The very fact that Lina had been defeated was stunning. Personnel could easily have been mobilized for observation as well as a search and rescue mission.

Still, it was plainly impossible for everyone to be absent. (What is the reason for this?)

Based on her perspective, abandoning the mobile base was unthinkable.

In that case, who could possibly cause them to—

Suddenly struck by a thought, Lina hustled to the control panel that operated the observation cameras. She remembered that the interior of the vehicle was monitored 24 hours a day. While she felt that this setting was a little out of date, this was still a viable method to recover her memory. At any rate, she turned back the record 10 minutes.

--Only to be greeted by a blank monitor. (Eh?)

Lina’s jaw dropped at the unexpected result and immediately fell into a sheepish smile since no one was watching her. She assumed that she had made a mistake manipulating the controls.

Once again, she carefully adjusted the record for 10 minutes ago. --As expected, there was nothing.

She commanded the machine to rewind at 4 times the speed. She even swapped the speed. The rewound time changed to 1 hour ago, then two hours, even three hours.

No matter what she did, the end result was the same. The recording had been erased.

Lina frantically examined the data that was not attached to the monitor, only to find the cache had been wiped.

With a furious expression, Lina hammered at the keys before suddenly laying her hands on the keyboard. Though her fingers and palms stung, her inner agitation far outweighed these trivial matters.

(Right, I need to report this to Control....)

Unfortunately, Lina was once more thrust into a pit of frustration.

The entire communication console had been damaged by a clever technique that could not be identified from the outside.

She hit the console twice, then thrice before slumping powerlessly into the chair.

Her hands had grown numb and were slightly heated. Lina carefully raised her hands to check for any injuries. Luckily, she wasn’t bleeding anywhere.

How childish would it be for her to injure herself in the throes of a tantrum? The fact that her display of anger wasn’t recorded allowed Lina a small sight of relief.

Once she calmed down – she realized another detail that made her even more uneasy.

“There’s no sign of any.... Pain, wounds?”

She ran her hands over both legs, then crossed her arms to check the shoulders and wrists.

But, the wound that brought her hideous pain and caused her to lose consciousness had vanished.

Not only was the injury gone, her clothing remained unblemished, nor was there any trace of blood.

“What is going on here....?”

All of a sudden, Lina’s mind was starting to lose touch with reality. --Which one was the truth?

--Had she truly been injured?

--Were they trying to make me unable to tell the difference? --Maybe, they were....

(Could this be, Non-Systematic Magic.... Mental Assault?)

(Could it be.... That we have made a terrible mistake?)

(Tatsuya isn’t a Magician who employs matter to energy conversion magic, but a Magician with outstanding compatibility with Mental Interference Systematic Magic.... An “Illusionist”?)

(....If that’s true, then much can be explained.)

(The truth behind the charred arm reverting to its original form could be explained if I saw the illusion of “an arm being burnt”.)

(Likewise, he might have broken through “Parade” because he has a higher degree of compatibility with illusions.)

(If purely in terms of direct application of Mental Interference Systematic Magic, then the nullification of “Muspelheim” also makes sense.)

(Since magic requires fine control, even if I didn’t notice, once the mind has been sent off kilter then the magic would fizzle as well. This is much easier than destroying the magic itself.)

(After all, Tatsuya is the disciple of a “ninja” renowned for his skill in Illusion Magic. That Tatsuya himself is also a “ninja” is much more probable.)

All of this ran across Lina’s muddled mind.

? ? ?

Tatsuya had no way of knowing whether Lina persisted in her misguided way of interpreting the clues (not that it made much of a deal, since he only fixed her limbs and clothes) in a way that benefitted him.

Compared to that, he had other pressing matters to handle. There was still 20 minutes until he had to pick up Miyuki.

If possible, he wanted to ensure all the arrangements were in place.

Inside the automatic car, Tatsuya activated the heavily encrypted communication line.

“Ho, if it isn’t Tatsuya-dono. Has something happened?” “Hayama-san, my apologies for calling at such an hour.”

The one who answered was the Yotsuba Family’s butler, Hayama, though he was more of Yotsuba Maya’s personal butler.

This line was a hotline that led directly to Maya.

“It is not too late in the evening, but unfortunately the madam has other urgent business and cannot come to the phone.”

“Forgive my discourtesy.”

Based on the time, she must be bathing. A definite miscalculation.

“This isn’t something that requires repentance. According to my recollection, this must be the first time you have called in from your side. Things must be grave.”

Just as the old butler pointed out, this was the first time Tatsuya activated this hotline.

In truth, asking the Yotsuba for help riled Tatsuya and was something he tried to avoid at all costs, but this wasn’t the time to be stubborn.

This was a situation wholly unlike No Head Dragon or the invasion of the Great Asian Alliance, where strength alone was enough to carry the day.

Hayama, who stood at the core of the Yotsuba Family, undoubtedly had access to more information and clues than Tatsuya did. However, in order to tap into that power, tradition dictated that Tatsuya personally explain the situation at hand.

“In reality, we were just under attack from a USNA squad. The first attack was beaten back thanks to intercession from the second son of the Chiba Family, Chiba Naotsugu, but damage from Stars’ High Commander Angelina Sirius rendered him unable to continue. Afterwards, I engaged Sirius—“

--After striking down Lina, Tatsuya couldn't even afford wasting time on restraining her as he walked towards the parking lot at the park’s edge. Not that there was any need for him to do so. Even if Lina recovered consciousness, movement was impossible. Assuming she could block out the pain, under her current state with the nerves responsible for movement severed, standing or crawling were both out of the question. He had attacked Lina’s limbs precisely for this reason.

Furthermore, if she had been trained in the very beginning to feel no pain, then she wouldn’t have fallen unconscious in the first place, thus Tatsuya concluded that Lina wasn’t likely to awaken any time soon.

Thus, his first priority was the enemy’s reserves.

Currently, the Light (light wave oscillation type) Magic overhead that was blocking any “sight” was still in effect. This was the obvious approach since there were no worries about recording Lina’s real visage. Yet, at the same time, this implied that the reserves were forced to come here directly.

Because the USNA military would never abandon “Sirius”.

In order for them to retreat, they must dispatch a unit to recover Lina. This time frame was precisely the opening for Tatsuya to slip through.

The enemy should be expecting Tatsuya to strike at this time and be appropriately on guard. After all, they had witnessed him striking down Sirius. Nevertheless, leaving the reserve force alone was not an option for Tatsuya.

It wasn’t like he could execute Lina.

Though he could not kill her, at the very least he could still restrain her.

Still, killing or capturing her posed major issues of their own.

Tatsuya had already buried one of the international Strategic-Class Magicians known as the “13 Apostles”. Though it was not Tatsuya’s intent to do so, he had already fundamentally upset the world’s balance. The aftershocks of him wiping out another Strategic-Class Magician that balanced the international balance of power were simply unimaginable.

However, the support personnel were another story altogether.

In regards to those who plainly bore him enmity – they were possibly an organization that sought to capture him for use as an experimental subject. These people sought nothing less than his destruction.

For such opponents, mercy was not required.

They required a reminder of the cost when it came down to tangling with Tatsuya in the shadows.

Though he was unable to concentrate on the reserve force during his standoff with Lina, now that he reached out with his senses once more, he found that they were still in their original positions and hadn’t moved yet. After the shocking turnaround with their trump card taken out, they were probably still waiting for orders from command. There was no other explanation for their delayed reaction.

Although this was perfectly plausible, Tatsuya felt that this was too na?ve.

In the event of a tactical retreat, forming a combat squad was of utmost priority.

He should say they had too much hubris. Of course,

(This was the time that he should be thankful for their oversight.)

If the enemy had launched an all-out frontal assault, it was plain that he might have succumbed before the force of numbers. After intentionally creating a situation where Lina would square off against Tatsuya 1-on-1, he could only say that they had too much hubris on their side.

On the other hand, the enemy might have also taken into consideration that they couldn’t cause a spectacle in another nation’s capital.

Regardless, for Tatsuya, this was an excellent opportunity to take advantage of.

Skipping the time needed for proper aim, Tatsuya used his own ability to lock on before clicking the trigger on his CAD.

The targets were the electronic equipment in the cargo truck.

The first shot struck the communication line, the second fell on the power supply leading to the camera systems on the outside, and the third landed on the power supply feeding the cameras in the interior.

Originally, magic wasn’t a technique that could be properly employed against electrical equipment. For that, he had to thank Fujibayashi and Sanada’s influence.

Though any personal communication devices were still operable, Tatsuya had no time for such things as he laid a hand on the cargo truck’s door. The door wasn’t locked.

Nor was there any biological verification for anti-theft prevention. Instead, he was greeted by a hailstorm of bullets.

Maybe it was thanks to high quality silencers or special ammunition, but there were practically no sounds of gunshots. For Tatsuya, who stood in the doorway’s shadow, it was more like the dulled open and release of an assault rifle.

However, the gunshots quickly stilled.

That was because the decomposition of weapons was one of the magics he was most well versed in.

Men leaped out from the car door brandishing knives. Activation Sequence filled the car’s interior.

Close quarters combat from the front followed by Flying-Type equipment support in the rear – the situation looked to be a magical assault. Slightly traditional, but undoubtedly an effective tactic.

Naturally, that was under the assumption that Tatsuya was unable to discern his opponents’ Activation Sequences.

So long as he acted during the deployment phase of the Activation Sequence, psion bullets would be sufficient even if he didn’t use decomposition.

Tatsuya reached out with his empty left hand.

In his left hand, he created the basic form of the compressed psion bullet, Far Strike, that he had been furiously training. Not only did he target the developing Activation Sequence, but mercilessly included the caster as well.

Tatsuya saw the Activation Sequence shatter into pieces.

Though the enemy Magicians were able to deflect the psion backlash, the damage suffered from the psion bullet rendered them unable to prepare the next spell.

Of the three combat personnel who leaped forward, two were already staggering.

Far Strike affected the astral form rather than the physical form, the soul to be specific. While it was more effective against human beings trained to use their willpower to control the physical body, experts in “chi” utilization would be able to deflect or avoid the attacking psion bullets.

In other words, it was super effective against half-assed Magicians who failed to properly learn how to control their physical flesh.

The aforementioned half-assed Magicians were hanging on because they didn’t want to lose face in front of Tatsuya. The last remaining Magician appeared to be a believer in the Asian arts of discipline.

A simple, straight forward fight actually made it more difficult. Tatsuya seized the initiative first.

He exchanged the CAD in his right hand for the dagger-shaped equipment that belonged to Lina and tightened his grip.

He swung his right arm from the left shoulder forward and hurtled the blade towards the center of the chest belonging to the enemy who had not been affected by Far Strike.

The unexpected throwing attack was launched at extremely close range.

The trajectory of the dagger was such that injuries could not be avoided even if blocked.

As expected of an expert, the man elected to choose to “avoid” the blow.

Yet, the man’s evasive maneuver fell along Tatsuya’s calculations. Precisely because the action was too logical, planning for it also became easier.

The man raised his left shoulder and leg while the right arm holding the dagger swung outwards from the inside, causing the hurtled dagger to fly past his flank.

Based on his posture with the right arm extended outwards swung down toward his left flank, the next attack was not going to come from the blind spot at his right back, but from lower below.

Tatsuya kicked out with his right leg.

Seeing the pivot foot during the throwing motion make such an irregular movement, the man was unable to hide his shocked expression. The man’s right hand that was warily held in a tight fist and had just returned due to the centrifugal force of his movement took Tatsuya’s kick dead on.

The man didn’t lose the dagger in his grip.

Biting back the sudden pain from the kick on his wrist, he planned on striking down Tatsuya’s kick.

If the pivot foot provided the blow, then that foot must have been used to jump. In reality, Tatsuya was currently in a state with both feet off the ground. If the force of his blow had been blocked, then no matter how agile Tatsuya was, his sense of balance would be compromised. – If this fight was going to be decided on pure physical blows alone.

This time, Tatsuya activated the Gravity Control-Type Magic lurking ahead of time in the magical calculation area. For a continuous 3 seconds, the axis would alter over ten times during the Flying-Type Magic. After his right leg had been blocked, Tatsuya continued to rise in the air without touching the ground and delivered a roundhouse kick with his left leg.

This time, the man didn’t even have time to react.

The left heel struck the back of the man’s neck directly.

A heavy sound came from the impact as well as the feeling of a solid hit.

This was a sound Tatsuya was well familiar with, the sound of bones breaking under a kick.

The man’s body flew sideways.

Dictated by inertia, Tatsuya’s body slid towards the left.

A blade pierced his afterimage. The weapon was thrown by one of the two companions accompanying the man who had successfully defended against Far Strike.

Though he was still under the influence of Flying-Type Magic, Tatsuya’s feet still touched the ground.

He used magic to lessen the force of contact.

At a speed beyond the human body – at least a speed that Tatsuya could not achieve, Tatsuya rushed towards the two of them.

The CAD he held in his right hand had already been returned to its holster when he whipped out the dagger.

Afterwards, he didn’t use magic to slow himself down but used the forward leaping movement to harness the kinetic energy. At the same time he launched off the ground, he sent his right arm that was fueled by inertia and the kinetic energy straight into the enemy’s chest.

This was not a fist, but a palm strike directed towards the enemy’s heart position.

Upon being struck, the man was lifted bodily from the ground and went flying.

Tatsuya lowered his height slightly and once more made contact with the ground on his feet.

Flying-Type Magic was still active for another second.

After he jumped two meters into the air, the sound of oncoming bullets could be heard from behind him as they fell where he stood earlier.

The shots came from within the vehicle. The assailant must have picked up another firearm to replace the deconstructed assault rifle. Nonetheless, adopting that tactic at this stage was far too late.

Tatsuya pulled out a gun from his waist.

This was not the handgun-shaped CAD he usually held, but a real gun that he also took off of Lina.

He turned in mid-air and returned a gift of lead towards the shooter poking out from the window. After Tatsuya’s bullets pierced his chest, the man’s body slid from the window back into the car.

Immediately, Tatsuya landed atop the third man.

His right foot stamped on the shoulder while his left foot snapped the collarbone as it landed.

His body, free of any more magical influences, landed behind the third man just like that.

The ensuing rain of bullets that splashed around his body was a clear sign of how panicked the opposing shooter was.

Though it was difficult to hit the enemy taking cover in the car, there was thankfully only one opponent left.

After using gunfire to suppress the enemy and charge into the car, Tatsuya surveyed the situation and couldn’t help but feel a little let down.

Besides the two who had been shot and killed, there were two other men knocked unconscious on the floor.

Based on the CADs on their wrists, both of them should be supporting Magicians.

It appeared that Far Strike had a few unintended effects. This also reinforced that Yakumo’s training was particularly effective.

As insurance, Tatsuya stomped on every man’s chest to check for any reaction before hurtling the bodies of the slain and unconscious out the car.

Since Lina’s gun had a small muzzle, the bodies luckily didn’t show any major wounds. Though everyone had a few holes on their bodies, not a whole lot of blood escaped.

After making a copy of all the records on board, Tatsuya set about wiping all the onboard machines.

After taking into consideration that the next group of guests would clean up after him, Tatsuya did a cursory job wiping away the blood and exited the vehicle.

Throughout this entire sequence, Tatsuya pretended that he was oblivious to the mysterious individual spying on him.

“—When I carried Angie Sirius over to the vehicle, there was no trace of the subjugated reserve force.”

“Were they taken by the observer?”

“I assume they decided that this outweighed my continued observation, since by the time I returned, the immobile Chiba Naotsugu had also disappeared.”

After listening to Tatsuya’s situation report, Hayama adopted a contemplative posture. Given that there was no way to see if he was putting on an act, this could only be chalked up as an older man’s extensive experience.

“Looks like our observer is closely connected to the Saegusa Family.” “The Saegusa Family? Are you sure it’s not the Chiba Family?”

“Tokyo belongs to the Saegusa Family’s jurisdiction. We have also caught wind of Koichi-sama’s subordinates taking certain actions.”

Koichi-sama was the head of the Saegusa Family, so Tatsuya naturally understood that this was referring to Saegusa Koichi. The names of the various heads within the Ten Master Clans were common knowledge among Japanese Magicians.

“Limiting the usage of magic to a minimum and primarily relying on close quarters combat to settle the issue are both born of the fact that you are aware that of the surveillance, but ultimately this was something to be avoided if possible given the observer.”

None of the string of events that started since April were instigated by

Tatsuya. He had always become embroiled in the events because he had been dragged in. Regardless, Tatsuya was very cognizant that a guardian like him being so conspicuous was not a wise course of action, so he demurred.

“Still, we are also aware that Tatsuya-dono has not done anything worthy of blame. Although protecting one of the candidates for the next head of house, Miyuki-dono, is your mission, you are definitely not the only one assigned to this task. Even if she is not yet by Maya- sama’s side, it is far too early for the other families to be aware of Miyuki-dono’s position. Of course, given that this is Koichi-sama, he may already have caught on....”

Caught on must refer to the idea that Tatsuya was someone affiliated with the Yotsuba Family. Tatsuya was inwardly impressed that this was still “caught on” and not a “growing concern”.

“In spite of this, we cannot allow them to seize any evidence that would move beyond speculation. Tatsuya-dono, please transfer the copied data over to me. I will begin handling the USNA military side.”

The light words that dropped from Hayama’s mouth sounded like a proud boast to Tatsuya’s ears.

In terms of numbers, the Yotsuba Family were plainly outnumbered by the Saegusa and Ichijou Families. Yet, their combat prowess were comparable. In 1-on-1 confrontations, the Yotsuba would have the advantage. Despite their limited numbers, they were more than capable of becoming the counterterrorism trump card and carrying out actions that went beyond the reach of the law that the government needed. In terms of black ops and assassinations, none among the “Numbered Families” could match the Yotsuba Family.

“So long as we don’t leave an opening for the JSDF to intervene, Koichi-sama shouldn’t be able to intercede directly.”

The other agents were another story altogether, but at least Hayama’s words were trustworthy.

At the same time he hit the switch for the communication line, Tatsuya bowed deeply before the camera.

? ? ?

The instant she saw Tatsuya’s face as he arrived to pick her up, Miyuki’s eyes widened in shock.

“Did something happen?” “No, nothing’s the matter.”

Though the response was immediate, Miyuki understood very well that those were only superficial words meant to cover the situation.

“Onii-sama, you aren’t hurt right?”

All of a sudden, Miyuki hugged Tatsuya tightly. This actually threw Tatsuya for a loop.

“No, Miyuki, please calm down a little.”

“I can’t possibly calm down! This “smell”.... Onii-sama, you fought against Lina, right!? And, it wasn’t one-on-one, right!? You “smell” like you fought against ten people at least!”

Just as Tatsuya could use sight to capture “information”, so too could Miyuki detect “information” through touch. However, Miyuki was more capable than that, as she could also use smell to receive knowledge that was practically instinct. Although Tatsuya carried no traces of physical injuries, he still carried the “scent” of battle.

“Please, I’m asking you to settle down a little.”

Having someone feel concern over him was something worth cheering about, but there was no way to converse if she could not calm down.

“You should know that no one is capable of leaving a mark on me.”

Anyone else might have been bemused by those words, but Miyuki immediately grasped the meaning within.

Gradually, her excitement settled.

Five seconds later, she had entirely calmed. “....Onii-sama, my sincere apologies for my display.”

Not only was she apologizing verbally, but even his sister’s body was huddled together in embarrassment. Tatsuya couldn’t help but smile – maybe he felt a smile was the only proper way to respond – and slightly shook his head.

“No worries. I was the one who caused you to worry.”

“Such a thing.... Of course a sister would be concerned for Onii- sama’s safety.”

Of course? Though that question flashed across Tatsuya’s brain on reflex, he was well aware that voicing that aloud was taboo.

It was nothing more than a thought.

True, feeling concern for others was a matter of course, but Miyuki’s fervor was slightly atypical.

“Naturally, there’s no way Lina could beat you no matter how she challenged you. That’s because there’s no one in the world who can beat Onii-sama.”

As he watched his sister sprout her usual fervent words, Tatsuya self- consciously watched her with slightly colder eyes.

As long as Miyuki believed in him, he had to meet that expectation no matter the cost. This thought truly existed somewhere in his heart, an understanding born of both determination and pride.

Yet, at the same time, his own objectivity that was completely unrelated to this understanding saw that this was far too dangerous.

If not for the fact that his opponent was an emotionally immature young lady of 16 years, if both sides had brought their full might to bear, he might have been the one who fell in the end.

However, even if he wasn’t relieved of his duties, it would be terrible if his principle detected this sort of defeatist thinking.

Which is why, more than ever, he needed to present an indomitable front.

“So long as you are waiting for me, I will bow to no one.” Except, these words seemed a little overkill.

Rather, the presentation was a tad “overkill”. Tears formed at the corners of Miyuki’s eyes.

Seeing the warm gaze Miyuki directed towards him, Tatsuya realized that he had made a tactical error.

Nonetheless, there was no way for him to take back the words he spoke.

Nay, even if he could erase them, this situation was beyond his control.

In addition, Miyuki was in a state that went well beyond any easy means of defusing.

(....Oh well, still better than being mercilessly interrogated.)

Right now, Tatsuya’s mind was filled with escapist thoughts.

? ? ?

By the time Lina returned to her apartment, it was already the second day. Furthermore, it wasn’t immediately afterward but “far later”. At the very least, the sun hadn’t risen when she returned home, so at least she could draw a little comfort from that.

While all of her equipment had been confiscated, for some inexplicable reason Brionac was still with her, so personal safety wasn’t going to be an issue.

Unfortunately, since her communication device had been taken away, there was no way to call a car to pick her up.

Furthermore, since she always used electric currency, she wasn’t carrying her purse. Even more importantly, in order to prevent any investigation on her combat operation, she didn’t bring any personal items either. Thanks to that, even 24 hour public transportation was denied to her, forcing her to walk all the way home.

Since her Specialized and Generalized CAD were both gone, Flying- Type Magic and high speed mobility magic were both inaccessible. By the time she finally arrived at the apartment she lived at thanks to intermittent Leaping techniques, Lina was practically on the verge of tears.

If anyone had been unfortunate enough to witness her state, Lina might have fired with Brionac on reflex out of incredible shame.

Thanks to biological identification, L-->>

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