Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Magian Company - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.2

September 27th was a Monday. As such, there were university classes to go to. Tatsuya, Miyuki, and Lina left the house at the same time. But Tatsuya in a separate car from Miyuki and Lina, with separate destinations

"Well then, Tatsuya-sama. We'll be leaving for university, please take care in your travel," Miyuki coldly said her goodbyes and stepped into their car.

"And you better pick out some good souvenirs this time, heh?" Then came Lina, jumping on Miyuki's bandwagon with a less than amiable note of advice.

As it seems, they were not quite happy about being asked to stay at home.

Tatsuya was left understandably astonished by Miyuki's and Lina's curt attitude.

Hyougo opened the car door for Tatsuya, without making any comment about the scene he just witnessed.

They arrived at Zama Air Base ten minutes ahead of the appointed time by Canopus.

Meeting Tatsuya at the gate was a non-commissioned officer of the Independent Magic Regiment instead of a USNA officer. He was an old colleague from the Battalion days, with whom Tatsuya had fought side by side during the Yokohama Incident five years ago. 

With said NCO military vehicle leading the way, Tatsuya passed straight through the gates of the base without a single inspection stop. He was then guided, not to the agreed military transport plane, but to a reception room at the base.

"Good morning, Shiba-san."

"Good morning for you as well, Director-General." Tatsuya couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in legitimate surprise to see Akiyama there with Kazama in tow. Though, the display only lasted for an instant. "If you informed me of your intention in advance, I would have arrived at a more reasonable time," Tatsuya stated in a solemn tone, implying he had no time to spare at this occasion.

"No need. We won't impose on your time." It was obvious that Akiyama wouldn't back down just like that. 

"May I ask in what capacity you came for?"

If he wanted to get this over with, better to sit quietly and listen for a moment. With that in mind, Tatsuya urged him to cut right to the chase.

"I would like you to have this," with these words, Akiyama gestured to Kazama, who was standing behind him.

Kazama opened a small attaché case on the side table and took out a large envelope. He delivered it to Akiyama, who passed it along to Tatsuya.

"May I take a look inside?"

"By all means."

"Is this… a diplomatic passport?" Inside the envelope was a passport with a dark brown cover, issued to diplomatic personnel. More precisely, it is provided to fit a passport issued to figures who travel abroad on official business. It was even a multiple-use rather than a one-time-only. Tatsuya knew those existed from video material, but this was the first time he had seen one in person.

"Indeed. We took the liberty of issuing one after you took over our request regarding Tibet. We took the liberty of creating it when we accepted the Tibetan case. Unfortunately, it wasn't delivered in time for the civilian observer delegation, but I'm sure this will prove useful in the future. On the subject, agrément was also obtained for the USNA."

An agrément is a grant of diplomatic privileges granted to the head of a diplomatic mission by the host country. In the case of a military attaché, a mere recognition is not enough to obtain diplomatic immunity, an agrément is required as well.

"Is this a declaration that I am being sent as a military attaché?"

"This is just a formality to allow you to have diplomatic immunity. The government will not impose any kind of duty on you, Shiba-san." Tatsuya stared back at Akiyama, not quite grasping his meaning. "To put it bluntly, the government is against the idea of your person in foreign custody," Akiyama replied to that unspoken question with a frank and straightforward attitude.

An individual with diplomatic immunity may be temporarily detained under local law, but cannot be imprisoned for any lengthy period of time. Nor, for that matter, be prosecuted. 

The primary reason for the restricted international travel of magicians was to prevent the unavailability of a national defense asset in the event of need.

By granting Tatsuya diplomatic immunity the Japanese government and certain powerful authorities behind the scenes would ensure that he would not be held in a foreign country as a result of political intrigue.

The USNA, on the other hand, would prefer to keep Tatsuya from being employed in domestic political disputes.

The presidential election is practically right around the corner, in the month after next. Right now, the country is right in the middle of the electoral campaigns. Polls show Spencer, the current Secretary of Defense, leading his opponent by a wide margin.

At the State level, many citizens view the current San Francisco riots as exclusively a California issue. Since California has traditionally been a support state for the opposing candidate, no damage has been done to Spencer.

That would change if the riots keep spreading. If it comes to the point where other states are affected, and the federal military is mobilized to quell them, which likely would result in civilian casualties, it would be a major point of attack against Spencer, the Secretary of Defense in the current administration. Manufacturing a political or diplomatic scandal is also another effective way of having one.

As a matter of fact, Spencer was not keen on deploying the STARS to help quell the riot. Nor was he more pleased about inviting Tatsuya to investigate the cause.

Even if he were to successfully quell the riots at the early stages, he wouldn't get the support of California. Nor would it have much of an effect on his approval ratings in competing states.

If anything, mobilizing the STARS, in other words, the military to settle riots would likely tank his current approval ratings.

For Spencer, it was just not worth it. It was the current president, worried about his reputation after he left office, and the vehement encouragement of his aides to both mobilize the STARS and extend an invitation to Tatsuya.

The agrément was an insurance policy suggested by Spencer's confidant, Jeffrey James, should the opposition rig a case to get Tatsuya arrested, to be used as fuel in a smear campaign against Spencer.

The USNA federal government colluding with this move by the Japanese government was also, in a way, a pragmatic resignation that Tatsuya was not a person who could be securely imprisoned.

Federal officials still feel the bitter memories of the quick and easy fall of the military prison at Midway, effectively at the hands of one man, Tatsuya.

A nightmare they couldn't forget, even if they wanted to. For much as it remains a secret from the public and foreign nations, a single individual being responsible for the Midway prison attack was, in ways, a greater defeat for the USNA than the Miyakishima battle.

As such, Tatsuya being granted diplomatic immunity, while retaining his civilian status, was not so much a recognition of his accomplishments as it was the product of political compromise.

For the Japanese government, it was not a matter of giving him freedom but of putting him on a leash, and for the USNA, it was a setup to get him out of the country before he became an inconvenience.

The presence of Akiyama and Kazama at the base wasn't known to Canopus, as it was evident in the confusion of the USNA personnel standing by to handle Tatsuya's departure procedures under his direction.

Even so, takeoff proceeded without further incident.

At 10:00 A.M., Japan Standard Time, Tatsuya departed for USNA, with a lavish send-off from two high-ranking national military officers, the Chief of Staff General Akiyama and Regiment Commander Kazama.