The next day, Tatsuya and the girls checked out of the hotel early in the morning and went to the Kudou residence. They sent their luggage straight to Nara Station to increase their mobility.
Speaking about mobility, Miyuki was wearing skinny jeans which was a rare look on her. Furthermore, it was of resistant fabric more suitable for hiking than for walking around town. In addition to her pants, her top had long-knitted autumn clothing instead of a blouse. However, that didn't mean she looked plain at all. Both her top and bottom were body-fit apparel which emphasized not only her face but overall beauty, without intensely focusing on her body appeal.
Minami also matched Miyuki in that department, dressed in a knitted sweater and pants. Still, Miyuki won in both girlish cuteness as well as feminine charm. Also, she was taller than Minami.
Just past 7 o'clock at the Kudou Residence, Minoru was waiting for the three with a face that didn’t hold a trace of tiredness or fatigue.
He didn’t seem to be pretending and it can be said that his condition was fine.
“Good morning. Did you already have breakfast?”
“Good morning, Minoru-kun.”
“We’re fine, thank you. We already had one.”
Tatsuya and Minami replied in succession. As Miyuki anxiously asked a question, a small regretful look surfaced on Minoru’s face.
“Have you not eaten yet, Minoru-kun? Could it be that you were waiting for us?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Minoru hastily shook his head.
“I was thinking of inviting you to help yourselves if you hadn't had breakfast. In any case, I've finished preparations.”
“I see.”
A relieved smile spread on Miyuki’s face. Minoru timidly flustered, yet he wasn’t charmed by Miyuki’s smile.
“Anyway, come this way. I have a car prepared.”
The Kudou family’s prepared car was a limousine. This must undoubtedly be very common for them.
Though Tatsuya couldn't entirely discard the possibility of it being some form of harassment.
The driver was an elderly man. Somewhat similar to the bodyguard that Mayumi introduced to them some time ago.
Mayumi's bodyguard was certainly an extra number. Tatsuya glanced at the driver and wondered if he was the same.
Tatsuya considered the possibility of Fujibayashi driving for them. But as expected she was not available to do so.
It was unreasonable to count on her support. At that point, he also wasn’t working for the military.
So Tatsuya immediately changed his mind.
It didn’t seem to be an exaggeration or a lie to say preparations were complete. Minoru stepped into the limousine, followed by Tatsuya who sat across him and Minami who sat next to Minoru. Even though Tatsuya and Minoru sat face to face, they had plenty of space for their feet. That is to say, this was indeed a true limousine.
When Minoru boarded the limousine, Miyuki saw a partially exposed general-purpose model CAD bracelet on his right wrist, because his jacket was fit to his body and the sleeve rolled up casually letting her see it. It was unusual to wear a bracelet CAD on the dominant arm (during dinner the day before, they confirmed that he was right-handed). Minoru noticed Miyuki being anxious about it, as if needing to ask him.
“What is that?”
On Miyuki’s question, Minoru rolled up his left sleeve, showing that he didn’t have anything on his left wrist. When he uncovered his right wrist, the CAD was revealed. Minoru then wrapped the CAD with both hands.
“99 activation sequences just isn’t enough… I haven’t found an engineer good enough at making adjustments suited to my style.”
A generalized CAD can store 99 activation sequences. However, it could not fully cater to his ability.
“Although it’s hard operating a CAD with both hands, it became easier thanks to the FLT developed thought operated auxiliary device.”
“Minoru-kun, are you using FLT’s fully thought operated type CAD?”
“Yeah.”
Announcing that, this time he showed Miyuki a medal type CAD by pulling a chain that was hanging from his neck.
“This auxiliary device is a wonderful product. This development of Taurus Silver is no doubt genius!”
Minoru showed his longing with a dazzling voice. Miyuki nodded and expressed an “I agree” while concealing her smile. She was delighted to discuss the praises of her brother while hiding the secret of Tatsuya being Silver.
“Everyone, how much do you know about the traditionalists?”
Minoru asked the other three as soon as the limousine started moving.
A transparent shielding divided the limousine’s cabin and the driver seat. Also, voice communication could be exchanged via microphone.
The microphone light was off, but the car belonged to the Kudou family.
It seemed unlikely that someone else wouldn’t hear their conversation.
“Minami-chan and I don’t know much. What Onii-sama already told you before is the extent of it.”
In the end Miyuki thoughtfully returned a prudent answer. Retsu may have been aware of their relationship with the Yotsuba, but that didn’t mean the rest of the family knew as well.
Miyuki intuitively thought that Retsu still held a certain degree of power within the Kudou family. It was not rare for people to recognize him rather than Makoto the current head, despite being the previous head of the family.
If that's the case, it wasn't a good thing to see Minoru asking for Minami's source of knowledge.
“I heard a few things from Master Kokonoe Yakumo. Ancient magicians couldn't obtain results without depending on the participation of the former Ninth Magician Development Research Institute. Afterwards, -probably based on a misunderstanding a group of unjustifiably resentful ancient magicians irrationally united after the Institute closed.”
After Tatsuya’s words, Minoru revealed a bitter smile coated with spite and topped with a sarcastic condescending attitude. Just laughing not even raising an eyebrow of surprise. Minoru may be an owner of a “severe mentality” or possibly of cynicism matching his outward appearance.
“That is about right.”
Cutting off the conversation here would only make him an accomplice of Tatsuya.
“They claim to be 'Traditionalists', but instead of magicians who inherited genuine traditions, they should be called 'Unorthodox'. Or if putting it bluntly you could call them ‘Outsiders’”
It wasn’t the first time that Tatsuya heard this information, but he merely listened to it without chiming in.
“There are some who say that Ancient magic hid in the shadows from society until the study of Modern magic got into full swing. The reason was maybe that talented magicians chose to avoid persecution, but there were circumstances where people in power didn’t want ancient magic to become public. Also, magic that left no material evidence was a strong weapon in the struggle for power.”
“A deadly curse, a tradition from the ancient times of the Heian period [13] ? It’s a common view that appears in history books now, but is there evidence of it being true?"
“At least, there’s a record left of ancient magicians that participated in the former Ninth Magician Development Research Institute. Anyhow, it wasn’t a literal deadly curse directly stopping life activity, but there’s record of a material remote control technique to drive a target into a hallucination to commit suicide with a knife.”
“Was the killing effective?”
Minami was the one who asked the question with an unyielding voice. In Yotsuba training, she hadn’t experienced a long distance killing where no counterattack or resistance was possible, however she faced an incident where a partner was killed in the training process. Likewise, Miyuki had a feeling of disgust but she didn’t reveal it in her expression. The only one who remained calm to Minoru’s words was Tatsuya.
“The records weren’t forged.”
“Minami, Minoru-kun didn’t explicitly answer your question, but to some extent you should have understood his answer.”
Tatsuya lectured Minami but did not blame the former ninth research.
Minami had an “Oh no!” expression written on her face. Shaken, she immediately turned towards Minoru and bowed.
“I’m sorry, Minoru-sama!”
“No, I was insensitive. There wasn’t a need to mention this story. “
Remembering the feeling of guilt from the inhumane acts that his relatives were involved in still made his voice stiff.
However, Minoru had enough mental fortitude to not be taken by such sentiments.
Back to the main topic, the previous generation did such dirty work due to the requests from the authorities before the establishment of modern magic, it did not mean that everyone was involved. In fact, the ones involved in those jobs were considered a minority, and the magicians who practiced magic as an ascetic practice were also separated from those who worked for the authorities.
Instead of raising a question for the sake of advancing the conversation Tatsuya asked if there was any truth behind this.
“Yes. Famous warrior monks from Koufuku-ji and Enryaku-ji. Tatsuya as you say, after the Edo shogunate was established the violent aspects of the religious orthodox school organization were removed.”
“As you can see “sword hunts” were implemented. Strong political forces were not permitted to have armed religious forces. Of course this was obvious.”
“At the same time, although it was necessary to have an established military power and political system, we still couldn’t turn a blind eye to the use of unnecessary force.”
“The Edo shogunate government was filled with various problems from a modernistic point of view. Because certainly for a time there were lots of large scale rebellions.”
“And thus the people who lost their work and went underground are excluded."
“That is so. There weren’t many people who held the “power of Buddhism” used for combat among them.”
“Combat magicians soon went underground not casting away any of the military power they held. The previous generation’s ‘traditionalists’ gathered and challenged the authorities.”
Minoru let out a big sigh. Releasing his disdain while showing his fatigue.
“The same way the ancient magic magicians participated in the former ninth research Institute. Everyone from ninjutsu users and various onmyoji from Tsuchimikado were dispatched. Expectedly not relying on disgraceful imitations.”
“What’s the difference?”
“I think the difference is that you train to control your selfishness.”
Repeatedly blinking, Minoru replied back immediately to the question which came out as if he was speaking to himself.
In this case you would think he’d get bewildered by this, yet his appearance was a bit more normal.
“…Sorry. I didn’t mean to stray off the discussion. It appears I still hunger for conversations with people in my age group.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it was idle chat.”
“Thanks. Umm, now where were we? …Ahh about the birth of the Traditionalists.”
Seeing Tatsuya nod in confirmation, Minoru continued on with the main subject.
“Because of the sort of background they had, they established the traditionalist school base near where they originally came from. Rather than saying near, maybe it’s better to say in the rearguard.”
“As in near famous temples and shrines.”
“Yes, and that would be troublesome to anyone who is seriously religious.”
Tatsuya and Minoru looked at each other and briefly smiled. However, although they were similar, Minoru's striking smile that was beyond the distinction of gender couldn't be compared to that of the manlier Tatsuya’s. An atmosphere of mystery remained about the similarities between the two.
“Everyone, I think we should head back to Nara Station.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Miyuki returned a simple reply, up until now Tatsuya was focusing his attention on Minoru.
“Actually, the main base of these traditionalists is at Nara, a little further than Kasuga Shrine, since it’s close to Nara station we’ll go there last. First, we will visit Katsuragi to gather information. However, the southern part of Nara is the traditionalists’ stronghold…”
“That’s right, I’m relying on you.”
“Leave everything to me.”
Minoru took the three to a walking road called “Katsuragi Kod?” [14] located at the Imperial Palace City (Goseshi), to the southwest of the Nara Basin. The most probable reason for taking this path in the middle of Ikaruga [15] was that there was no Traditionalist hideout around here.
“Katsuragi Kodo” has a boardwalk that takes approximately 6 to 7 hours to walk around with a leisurely pace, but this time they didn’t have that much time. Minoru indicated that he had a limousine waiting for them at the boardwalk exit, so he proposed that they borrowed a standup-type electric robot scooter as a way to get there.
Although it’s an automatic type, to ride a 1-seater robot scooter, one needs a motorcycle license (this designation hasn’t changed since the last century), and a two-seat motorcycle license for driving the 2-seater type. Unfortunately, neither Miyuki nor Minami had this type of license.
No, for Miyuki it was certainly “fortunately” rather than “unfortunately”, since they inevitably had to borrow two-seaters, because Tatsuya had a large two-seat motorcycle license and Minoru also had a normal two-seat motorcycle license, so the pairings would turn out to be Tatsuya and Miyuki plus Minoru and Minami.
“I apologize, Minoru-sama.”
“Don’t worry about it. Because I’ll be the one driving”.
Minoru didn’t care at all that Minami wasn’t as apologetic as before. Well, normal high school male students could have an impression of benefit for these situations. But without a doubt, even though not to the level of Miyuki’s “pretty girl” category, boys not considering Minami as a pretty girl should be a minority. Anyhow, no matter how super, super pretty boy Minoru was, he just wasn’t the unkind type.
Then, speaking of the other pair.
A two-passenger robot motor scooter is a vehicle where two passengers line up standing beside each other, the driver holds the steering wheel for maneuvering, and the fellow passenger grabs a safety bar attached to the vehicle frame.
However, Miyuki didn’t hold on to the safety bar.
She circled her arms around Tatsuya’s waist clinging to him.
The robot scooter of Tatsuya and Miyuki followed Minoru’s. They didn’t advance side by side, because Minoru was guiding, it was the natural formation and also because there’s some space that had to be left between the vehicles and the sidewalk to not disturb pedestrians. Also, you can say that in this formation, Minoru and Minami didn’t have to see the siblings clinging to each other. However, every time Minami looked back and checked on them, she sighed with an exhausted expression. In turn, Minoru who for the first time saw the siblings’ physical contact looked undisturbed.
As such, Minami was forced to push away the mental fatigue by observing the scenery throughout the road-way.
On the other hand, if we talk about results, the search in Katsuragi-Kod? was in vain in the end. Although we say “in vain”, Minoru mentioned about the high possibility that it would happen like this so there shouldn’t be any disappointment. And of course, there was some time for sightseeing historic and venerable shrines with a touching aura such as Kuhonji, Hitokotonushi, and Takamahiko [16] which refreshed their souls (the reason it wasn’t a search was that they explored magic from the exterior of the shrines).
Also, there was an unexpected meeting.
“Shiba-kun……?”
A young man apparently a priest apprentice who cleaned the precincts of the Takakamo shrine [17] called out to Tatsuya. The young man had a white hakama [18] and wasn’t wearing glasses. Other than that, it was a face Tatsuya remembered.
“Tsukasa-senpai, it’s been a long time.”
It was Tsukasa Kinoe, student and those days former captain of the Kendo Club at First High School who in April last year suffered brainwashing magic by hand of the Anti-Magic Organization in the "Blanche incident".
“You remembered me… No, I caused you trouble that time. I haven’t been able to properly say sorry. I sincerely apologize for that time.”
He replied and genuinely lowered his head. It was a refreshing mood compared to those days.
“No, Tsukasa-senpai was also a victim…”
In reply to Tatsuya’s conciliatory words, Kinoe shook his head in disapproval.
“It's because I was weak that I allowed my path to be misled. However, I can say that I feel grateful for your kindness.”
Then, as if suddenly remembering he added the next fact in a tone without contempt.
“Also, I’m not ‘Tsukasa’ anymore. My mother divorced and took back her maiden name, so I’m Kamono Kinoe now.”
“Is that so? By any chance, is that the reason why you’ve come here?”
"I didn't get to know you so deeply, but you're really sharp [19] . Because of these eyes."
Saying so, Kinoe pointed to both of his eyes.
“You see, I didn’t know the main branch of my family until they contacted me. Later on, some complications happened, but, in the end I was able to study here.”
It wasn’t such an unexpected talk for Tatsuya if he listened to the circumstances. First, Tatsuya recalled that Yakumo mentioned before that Kinoe had an affiliation with the Kamo clan [20] . Also, the Takakamo shrine is the headquarters of the Kamo shrines [21] in Japan and also home of the patron deity of the Kamo clan. Furthermore, the case of the Kamo Clan is particularly mysterious in the world of Magic, where the main branch can take advantage of blood relatives of a non-main branch, -even branches at the far end of the main-branch, and take care of their exceptional born talent in the Takakamo shrine.
“I’m studying here as a means for expiation, to wash away all the impurity that my body got.”
“Is it like that? Kamono-senpai, please don’t say such harsh things, don’t lose yourself.”
“Thanks. Once more allow me to apologize again.”
After saying so, Kinoe bowed deeply once again and returned to cleaning the precinct.
Tatsuya left the precincts with the intention of not disturbing him any longer. He returned to the place where the robot scooter was without saying anything about what just happened, but Miyuki was the first to talk.
“Onii-sama, I’m glad you’re ok.”
"Yeah…"
Honestly, Tatsuya wasn’t too concerned about Kinoe and hadn’t remembered about him until they met in the shrine. However, Tatsuya, who suffered the curse of magic, felt a breath of fresh air with the manifestation of this young man’s effort to try to return to the right path without having to break his relationship with magic, since he could have had his life distorted because of magic.
After leaving Katsuragi Kod?, Minoru guided the group by the Kashihara shrine [22] towards the Ishibutai Kofun tomb [23] of the Amanokaguyama mountain [24] . The idea was to lead them to the Traditionalists’ base, supposedly around this place, but the search ended in failure and turned out to be only sightseeing.
Then, four people arrived to the Nara Park at 3 p.m.
“Is there a magic association base in this town?”
“They say that inside the Mikasayama [25] mountain there is a large-scale base that could be one of the traditionalists’ bases”
“Mikasayama is a sanctuary, -better yet, a worship object, wasn't entering forbidden except for sightseeing through the limited scenic route?”
“The Traditionalists might think that this place is suitable for them because it’s a holy place and people don’t approach it. But, don't you think that one who properly conveys magic has the qualifications to receive God’s blessing?”
“Understood. A tree is best hidden in a forest, I think… Please continue your guidance.”
Always led by Minoru, the four got off the limousine and begun to walk towards the intersection of the ways to Todaiji [26] and Kasuga-taisha [27] through the Kasugayama boardwalk. Until the 21st century, there was a driveway through this mountain path, but in this era, there was only a sidewalk. This was because with the development of science and magic, the "fear" for holy objects began to revive. Is it possible that there was something left out of the scientific resolution that might have existed to help regain the piety of the heart? As an ancient greek philosopher said: “I do not think I know what I do not know" [28] .
The four walking in order, first, Minoru, leading, next, Tatsuya and Miyuki, behind Minoru, and Minami in the rear, one-step behind the others. But it was only when they passed the Ukigumo Shrine [29] , a subordinate shrine of Kasuga-taisha, that Tatsuya and Miyuki began the mentioned formation.
For no particular reason. Also, it can be daringly said that Minoru started paying regard to Minami.
“Ara, what a lovely shrine.”
"It can’t be said at all that size does not matter, since when having the necessary appearance to deify a god, size is a great asset. It's because God has already decided the height and the weight."
“Heh, the things you say Onii-sama. Isn’t that a bit disrespectful?”
“Is that so? Anyway, I'm not going to lie to myself to please God.”
“Fu fu, let's leave it at this.”
The siblings conversed playfully while they walked. Additionally, the sister’s arm held the brother’s arm firmly, and the distance between the two was approximately zero. If Minami was watching in the back, this would have made her very much say profanities.
It was embarrassing to look. It wasn’t that they appeared immoral or unsightly, but just watching caused blood to rush up her face, and her body got hot. Still, she couldn’t just separate from them. She looked down and endured the penance.
Minoru noticed Minami’s troubled appearance, and moved to walk beside her.
"Is here also Edanomiya [30] of Kasuga-taisha?"
Whether they knew of Minami’s condition or not-- the possibility being high they did and had left her alone for that reason-- the siblings cheerfully continued their conversation.
Yes. There are two shrines [31] where deities are worshipped in Edanomiya, the Atago Shrine where the deity is Kagutsuchi [32] who will protect with outstanding virtue for fire, and the HijiriAkira Shrine, well known because copper were first extracted here in Japan.
“Deities in Kasuga-taisha include: Takemikazuchi no Mikoto-sama [33] , Futsunushi-sama [34] , Ame-no-Koyane no Mikoto-sama [35] , Himegami-sama [36] , right? That reminds me… Aren’t these four deities the same as Yoshida-kun’s parents' house, too?
"No, I think the one you’re talking about is the Yoshida shrine, but it’s because its name is the same as Mikihiko’s family name, right?, But they’re unrelated. Also, his house isn't a shrine.”
“Oh. Is it like that?”
"Yes. It also isn't a religious corporation. Mikihiko’s parents' home is a private school for the study of magic."
“…Oh, this is embarrassing. I was wrong this whole time. Onii-sama, next time please hurry and teach me sooner.”
Miyuki sulked with a pampered voice.
Even with some reproaching glares around, the distance between Tatsuya and Miyuki didn't change.
Minami kept her gaze to the ground so she wouldn’t have to face the demeanor of those two, and also endured her desperate desire to block her ears.
Next to them, Minoru watched Tatsuya and Miyuki and their aspect seemed to be heartwarming.
Patience time was over for Minami in front of the boardwalk entrance.
Suddenly, Tatsuya stopped and lightly shook his left arm which Miyuki was leaning on and she released it immediately.
Tatsuya wasn’t the only one who sensed an impact.
Minoru was slightly late in detecting it, openly looked around to the right and left with wariness and with eyes dyed by a tender color, embracing a penetrating light.
The day was Sunday. A large number of tourists were also besides Tatsuya’s group in the vicinity of a branching point that lead to the Kasuga-taisha Shrine.
But now, Tatsuya’s group were the only ones left there, and little by little a silhouette was drawn from the boardwalk up to the entrance.
“It’s… a Barrier of Mental Interference Magic”
Tatsuya muttered,
“Is it an enemy?”
Miyuki perceptively asked back Tatsuya while carefully watching the surroundings. Minami imitated that next to Minoru.
Tatsuya noticed that Minoru also seemed to have sensed some abnormality.
Odd thing that neither Miyuki nor Minami questioned why the silhouette was unnaturally disappearing. Particularly, Miyuki who had solid tolerance to mind attacks due to possessing Outer Systematic Mental Interference magic of the strongest class.
Minoru had the answer to that question.
“The casters of the barrier appear to be of high-level. They seem to have narrowed the magic output down to a minimum to make them barely unnoticed.”
In the modern magic era where magic is used only for short moments, activating magic unconsciously showed a poor control of magic. With the development of activation sequence that specifically promoted the control of magic, the activation timing had been reduced much.
But magic technology to hide magic activation entirely exists only as an individual skill.
Even If the magic power of the opponent was high, Miyuki had a higher power to invalidate phenomenon interference. However, without noticing, this time she was being gradually led to have some weak judgement due to circumstances where she actually got played into the opponent’s resistance.
“It looks like this kind of technique is pretty common in Ancient Magic.”
“Because we modern magicians give great importance to the ability to properly use various methods to support various situations, unlike ancient magicians who tend to maximize the value of magicians with special and unusual techniques."
“It seems the reason for this is the development of the use of special magic combined with secondary techniques.”
Minoru’s knowledge was helpful for Tatsuya in various ways. Especially, concerning knowledge about the Ninth Magician Development Research Institute on Ancient Magic, it was refreshing to hear a somewhat different perspective than the orthodox magic knowledge from Yakumo or Mikihiko. Tatsuya wanted to have an exchange of arguments in some more ways to draw knowledge, but unfortunately, this wasn't the time to do this.
“However, for Tatsuya-san to have noticed this technique so quickly, it has been a huge miscalculation from them, hasn’t it?”
Immediately after Minoru said that, there was a sound of leaves shaking in the forest close to them. [37]
“It looks like they are very confident about their ‘Invisibility’.”
The hostility that had been concealed until now revealed itself as a shape of four people surrounded them.
“I know where they are, I’m going to commence my attack.”
Minoru daringly voiced aloud this declaration, as a provocation for the enemies that surrounded them.
It was a question of whether the opponent was short-tempered or if it was meaningless to hide any further.
“Minami!”
“Yes!”
At the same time Tatsuya ordered Minami to build a barrier, a silver light emerged to the surface.
The source of the silver light that bordered outside the defense wall was either a thick needle or a tiny arrow like a metal dart bullet emitted by magic (a Flechette bullet) [38] .
After doing preparations to generate defense magic at any moment, Miyuki looked for the position of the archer. However, when she found out the location, Tatsuya was already on the other side of the trees.
Subsequently, a scream broke out. It was a cry of pain due to a hole drilled in the body by Tatsuya’s Partial Decomposition.
Miyuki thought that it was all right to leave that side to her elder brother and set up magic in the opposite direction.
Psion fluctuation, that is, signs of magic activation occurred right over the heads of Miyuki and Minami. Miyuki remembered seeing this many times, since it was like Mikihiko’s speciality of lightning SB magic. However, it disappeared instantly because of Tatsuya’s speciality of Combat Magic Information Body Decomposition: Gram Dispersion.
“Onii-sama, everything is alright here!”
In order to prove her own words, Miyuki expanded her Zone Interference. At first, she set up a field [39] around her merely as a thin cylindrical layer, to not affect the magic of Minami and Minoru. Then, she stretched the force field pillar to the top and little by little widened it laterally and into a height that continued not disrupting those two. Then, she solidified the circular force field immediately under the surface level towards the bottom of the pillar. Thus, in less than a second, she built a Zone Interference field in the shape of a huge cocktail glass where offensive magic wasn’t allowed at all from either the sky or the underground.
“Amazing! It’s like the Holy Grail.”
Minoru revealed an exclamation, better yet, an impression of amazement. However, he wasn’t only appreciating Miyuki’s magic. He was walking apart from the side of Miyuki and Minami towards an opposite direction from where he heard a scream of an assailant who was shot by Tatsuya.
But before anything else, Minami tried to stop Minoru’s reckless independent action. She thought something like courteously telling him to do it as Tatsuya, who at least quickly moved to the enemy’s side instead of walking slowly to the front as he was doing it.
Except that Miyuki prevented her from trying to stop Minoru. She held Minami’s arm who was going to raise her voice, and with an unexpectedly gentle rejecting gesture with her head signaled Minami that it was unnecessary.
Minami knew the reason immediately.
There seemed to be two types of enemy magicians. Ancient magicians not concerned with sticking to tradition who adopted the concept of an armed built-in modern magic CAD that fires a physical weapon called “Flechette” bullet. And traditional ancient magicians who set up attacks with SB Magic enslaving Independent Information Bodies using Consciousness-Induced Outer Systematic Mental Interference Magic.
Tatsuya countered the former type of magician and Minoru headed towards the side of the hiding traditional magicians. The enemy didn't understand Minoru's aim and got momentarily confused, but recovered immediately and concentrated intense attacks on him. Maybe they noticed the hateful lineage of the Kudous, whatever it was, Miyuki and Minami were completely forgotten.
However, all enemy magic was unsuccessful. Wind, fire and sound magic went through Minoru and dispersed without exception leaving no damage at all. Also magic that could cause direct injury or inner wounds all failed due to the absence of a target.
“Is it an illusion? I can’t believe it…”
Minami’s mutter was by no means exaggerated. A magician doesn’t have to be Tatsuya to be able to perceive psions like physical light and sound. The body of Minoru which got reflected into Minami's line of sight had the exact same psion pattern as the real body which was walking next to her until now.
In other words, according to magical senses the person was certainly there.
“Parade. The technique of the Kudou Family that incorporates elements of Ninjutsu.”
With her comment, a shiver beyond praise dwelled in Miyuki’s voice.
“Even so, this is amazing… This precision is better than Lina’s.”
“When you say Lina, you mean USNA Stars High Commander, Angie Sirius?”
“Yes. That Angie Sirius. Angelina Kudou Shields. We call her Lina. She’s a gentle and lenient child a bit inappropriate for military personnel, but her magic capacity didn’t shame the name of a Stars High Commander. However, Minoru-kun is technically superior to her, at least with respects to Parade. I have to say that the Kudou Family is the home of such powerful descendants.”
How would Minoru feel once he heard Miyuki’s last remark? Maybe he’d feel praised with “honor”, or he’d be embarrassed and say “I’m still far from it”, or he’d express modesty and say “Powerful descendants, that's really out of the question”. Or rather he’d be shocked that he was being watched. Anyway, he volunteered to be the guide out of pure courtesy, so he wouldn’t do anything against Miyuki or the others.
Fortunately, Minoru didn't hear Miyuki’s last remark. His consciousness was 100% focused on enemy neutralization.
An activation sequence started on Minoru's right hand and it was absorbed in a moment. Due to the use of a perfect thought-operated type CAD, no buttons were pressed, which shouldn’t give any surprise once that is known. There should be a special mention of the activation sequence reading speed, which even if it’s estimated conservatively, it should be comparable to the speed of First High School former student council president Saegusa Mayumi.
However, it was still early to be surprised.
Without leaving an interval to be shocked about the activation sequence processing speed, Minoru released his magic.
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