The head of the Saegusa Clan secluded himself for a while in the study, looking at the desk, when the small sound of a knock on the door caused him to look up.
"Enter."
The door to the study was different from the door to the reception room; it didn’t have a speaker built into it. According to common sense, a quiet sound like a whisper shouldn’t pass through the massive door and walls from the hallway.
However, the knock didn’t repeat and the door opened without a sound.
The one who entered was an elderly man with carefully brushed white hair, Nakura the butler.
"Your report?"
The question was a little too fragmentary, but Nakura walked closer as his master indicated and respectfully offered a memory card.
Koichi set the paper card with the data printed in a detailed pattern on the micrometer level into the scanner and called up the decoded document to the wide display on the desk.
"The 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion... bothersome. Certainly, this is the unit the Yotsuba are zealously approaching?"
"It seems they are in frequent contact, but their goal is unknown."
"I think there is only one reason we would have for contacting the military?"
When Koichi said ‘we,’ he wasn’t limiting himself to the Saegusa Clan or the Ten Master Clans — he meant all the magicians in the country in general.
The magicians of this nation did not want status. The Ten Master Clans endorsed by the nation were prohibited from acquiring ’formal’ political power.
Instead, there was administration, the military, the police and the financial world; in various aspects, the ones who held political power needed the sponsorship of magical skills to continue their personal power base. To not be treated as disposable tools, to be tools that continued to be used, they had made themselves indispensable tools and had risen to the position of servants who manipulated their masters. For this purpose, ‘to be able to continually be used’ by them, it was necessary ‘to become necessary’ and temporary alliances were needed.
In order to gain that, ability was not enough.
A sharp sword produced a fear in the wielder that its blade would be turned against him. The temporary alliances were relationships of mutual trust that they would not be betrayed.
If a magician had contact with the military, then it was to acquire and maintain that trust; less with the aim of constructing that relationship than to solidify it. Such thinking was, for someone who understood the position of magicians, common sense.
However, Nakura did not nod agreement with his master’s words.
"The commander in chief, Major General Saeki, established the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion with the aim of having a magic-equipped military force independent from the Ten Master Clans. The commanding officer, Major Kazama, was known as a person who disapproved of the Ten Master Clans when commander-in-chief Kudou retired from military service. However heretical the Yotsuba Clan is, I think that it would be difficult to win over his battalion."
Koichi raised his brows at Nakura’s words.
"...That’s the first I’ve heard of this."
"That’s because the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion did not touch the Saegusa Clan’s interests."
The question of 'so why do you know about this' was not drawn out of Koichi’s mouth.
'For the sake of this investigation' was the only excuse he would receive. Besides, even though the man had served him for a long time, Koichi did not think of Nakura as a member of the Saegusa. And that was surely the same for that man as well.
"...So then, why do the Yotsuba remain in contact with the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion?"
His question was on a different matter. And immediately after he asked it, Koichi had an answer from himself.
"Perhaps it is as Danna-sama thinks."
Nakura did not have any mind reading skills. Koichi didn’t have any such skill either. Nevertheless, without making certain, Nakura was confident that Koichi had made the same conjecture he himself had.
Koichi took the card released from the scanner between his index and middle fingers and lightly flicked his hand. The paper card he let fly flared with light before instantly burning up.
Before he disposed of the ashes in the wastebasket, Nakura bowed and turned his back.
At the edge of the Saegusa mansion’s extensive grounds, there was a long, narrow, rectangular, cube-shaped building. This simple but not rustic building was the Saegusa family’s private shooting range.
Even if it’s called the Saegusa family’s, the range was actually built for Mayumi. Five years before, when Mayumi took her first trophy in a national level tournament, it had been built in commemoration of that.
Mayumi, who had been piled with mentally draining things from the morning onward, immediately after lunch came to this shooting range and had already been at it for three hours. Determinedly, she shot targets with a long, narrow, cane-shaped specialized CAD with a handle.
Pierce.
Destroy.
Unlike using an actual gun, firing with magic did not cause a recoil that would hurt her hands, but the mental fatigue was naturally harsh.
Nevertheless, to the extremely gloomy Mayumi, this fatigue warmed her heart.
Without worrying about the pace, she earnestly fired, and before she knew it, she had depleted the stock of targets. She cast her eye at her watch and was surprised by how much time had passed; she placed her CAD on the rack and started to put everything else away. —After she started.
"Onee-chan, I'm back!"
However, when she took off her information blocking goggles, she received an embrace from behind that she was unprepared for — a change of plans was unavoidable.
"Kasumi-chan, don’t cause problems for Onee-sama by jumping at her suddenly."
"Geez, Izumi, you are such a nag."
"That’s because Kasumi-chan is so ill-mannered."
The problem was only a simple stumble and she was immediately released (Kasumi was torn off of Mayumi) for which she was, to be frank, grateful for.
"Kasumi-chan, Izumi-chan, welcome home."
During the twins' usual spat — that is to say playful bickering — Mayumi restored her posture and came to them.
"I'm back, Onee-sama."
The girl who politely bowed with her hands together was the younger twin, Saegusa Izumi. A feminine girl with hair in a straight bob that went to her shoulders.
The one who had embraced Mayumi was the elder of the twins, Mayumi’s younger sister and Izumi’s elder sister, Saegusa Kasumi. She was the opposite of Izumi, a tomboyish girl with short hair.
They were monozygotic [14] twins, but because their tastes and manners were completely opposite, ordinarily you wouldn’t mistake one for the other.
"What are you practicing? It’s not an actual physical bullet Movement magic. Virtual Field magic?"
"Virtual Area Expansion Penetration magic, right? Onee-sama has been practicing this magic often, lately."
However, they shared a similar sharp sensitivity toward magic. Anyone would say that Mayumi's sensitivity towards the practical was superior to her ability with theory, but the twins were the type of magician that had the same orientation as her. Their ability to discern the identity of invoked sequences might be even greater than Mayumi’s own. Just now, they had perceived the magic she had used correctly from the ‘bullet hole’ that remained on the target.
Mayumi spoiled the twins too much because they were adorable, and the pair adored Mayumi in return. However, lately — perhaps due to their ages — she had noticed them being a little insolent.
"Nevertheless, Onee-sama has certainly been pounding away a lot."
Izumi’s sharp eyes perceived the lack of remains of the targets, causing her to speak out in a slightly astonished tone.
"Then, Hirofumi-san came?"
Kasumi answered in a smirking voice.
"Onee-chan, you definitely get in a bad mood when Hirofumi-san comes."
Her unwavering expression disappeared; Mayumi had not thought anyone could see what she was trying to hide.
At any rate, these two were quite perceptive.
Or perhaps I am more easy to read than I believed, thought Mayumi, becoming a little depressed.
"I don’t think Hirofumi is all that bad a person."
"He isn’t a bad person, but that’s all he is. Such an unreliable person is not suitable for Onee-sama."
"Izumi, your scoring is too harsh. Okay, what kind of person would be all right, how about Katsuto-kun?"
"Hey, Kasumi-chan, Juumonji-kun and I aren’t particularly—"
"That’s right, he’s not deficient in good looks but the unfortunate point about him is that he wouldn't exactly try to understand a maiden's heart."
Why did — Mayumi sincerely thought this — Katsuto’s name come up; Mayumi hurriedly tried to fix her younger sister’s ‘misunderstanding,’ but neither Izumi nor Kasumi was listening.
"Let’s see, how would I go about making the right guy for her… Anyway, I thinks it's only natural that a guy wouldn’t understand a maiden’s heart since we don’t understand what guys are thinking."
"Kind! You’re being too kind, Kasumi-chan! It’s enough that a maiden understands a man’s heart after they become lovers! In order to make a maiden’s heart his, first the man must understand the maiden’s heart."
"A maiden’s heart... fine. So, what would be necessary other than good looks?"
"Love, absolutely... If there’s a sudden hurdle that’s too high, a fierce true love should awaken, right."
"We’ve been together since birth, but I didn’t know you were this much of a romanticist (spelled as person with the mindset of a little girl), Izumi. I thought you were only being rigid."
"I feel like you meant something else when you said ‘romanticist’... well, enough about that. Besides, I am not a romanticist, Kasumi-chan; you just don’t care enough about this stuff."
"Whatever, I'm not very girlish anyway. So, after all, who is allowed to be loved by Onee-chan? Someone like Hattori-san?"
"Kasumi-chan! How do you know Hanzou-kun’s name!?"
Appearing out of nowhere (actually she’d been there from the start), Mayumi was between them because she couldn’t just silently listen to these words. Mayumi had absolutely no recollection of introducing Hattori to her younger sisters.
"Of course, we would know about any annoying bugs buzzing around Onee-sama"
"Izumi-chan, I don’t believe it, you two haven’t been spying on me, have you!? It doesn’t... it’s none of your business who I date or anything else!"
"Wrong, Onee-chan. Izumi and I have school, so there’s no way we can go around spying on you, so there!"
(You’ve been using other people to do it!?)
She was only screaming in her mind, so of course it could not be heard by other people. However, perhaps the twins could hear it somehow, but Mayumi couldn’t see them acting like they did from their behavior.
"Besides, Kasumi-chan and I worry about Onee-sama? In spite of Onee-sama being so beautiful, you’ve never had a boyfriend and you’re already eighteen... You’re even about to graduate high school."
"It’s not that I can’t, my social standing..."
She was aware that saying she just hadn’t made one sounded very much like an excuse. Even worse, a fairly ‘wretched’ excuse or perhaps a ‘pathetic’ kind of excuse.
"Hey, aren’t you two in the same boat; after all, you two haven’t dated anyone either."
So she tried to rapidly change the subject; however, Mayumi was not aware that this was also a pretty pitiful comment. —Until her sisters’ counterattack.
"So what, Izumi and I are still fifteen."
"As for love confessions, I received two today. They were politely refused. ‘This experience’ is not all that uncommon."
"You’re rigid, Izumi. Wouldn’t it be all right to try dating them for a little while."
"Kasumi-chan is too cruel. Undoubtedly, all of Kasumi-chan’s boy friends don’t think of Kasumi-chan as ‘a mere friend’... If you keep up with that lax behavior, sooner or later something bad will happen."
Well aware of her own patheticness, Mayumi fell into a depression to the BGM of her sisters' conversation.
November 4th.
At last, it was the noon break of the first day of restarted classes.
"President — I mean, Mayumi-san. You seem a little tired."
Worried looks were being directed at Mayumi, who was visiting the student council room to help deal with the follow-ups, by Azusa.
"Hmm, a bit. But I’m fine."
"Wouldn’t it be better if you waited till next week..."
Today was Friday. There was lessons on Saturday as well, but third years didn’t actually have to attend school, and the number of them doing self-study at home today and tomorrow was not small.
"I thought I could not endure becoming even more worn out."
"I see. So you left and came to school?"
Azusa tilted her head, staring in puzzlement at Mayumi's reply.
Well, coming to school because staying home was even more exhausting was probably something other people could not understand.
She felt explaining would be somewhat embarrassing.
Thus, Mayumi did not answer Azusa’s question and yawned a small ‘aah’ with one hand covering her mouth.
She folded both arms on the table.
Then, rested her cheek on them.
She felt that Azusa’s eyes widened when she suddenly laid down and began to doze, but Mayumi paid her no mind and began breathing as though she was soundly asleep.
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