Eventually, the Heads of the Ten Master Clans were released by the police, and they travelled back to the Kant? Branch Magic Association Building in the helicopter that Masaki was riding. Of course, Katsuto was together with them, as well as the ones who were expected to be with them. This included Kasumi, Izumi, their brother, Kouichi's first son, Tomokazu, and Takuma.
When they arrived at the Magic Association, the Heads of the Ten Master Clans went to a conference room, while Masaki, Kasumi, Izumi, Tomokazu, and Takuma were waiting in a separate room in the building.
Despite the fact that it was a sudden announcement, the Magic Association managed to arrange a round table for the Heads of the Ten Master Clans to sit at. They looked at each other's faces, before the eldest of them broke the silence.
"Let's stop wasting time with meaningless prelude. Everybody please voice out ideas, if you have any, on how to deal with this emergency."
Futatsugi Mai, who was the focus of the other nine, stared back at each of them one by one.
After a glance around the table, she held her gaze on Kouichi who was sitting directly across from her.
"It will be difficult to control the mass media."
Kouichi, who had the most influence in the media industry, said that with a gloomy face.
"As of now, there are 16 casualties, but that number might soar above a couple dozen. Just the number of casualties is more than enough to throw the public opinion into a frenzy."
"Even so, it doesn't mean that we can afford to do nothing."
From his seat, Itsuwa Isami stated his opinion. His voice, however, did not carry any strength.
"No, it's probably best to wait for now. An overly controlled public opinion might backfire if done hastily. It might even carry heavier consequences for us."
Mitsuya Gen cast his opinion reluctantly.
"That's right. In the first place, we are also victims, and there's nothing we have done that requires justification. If we react rashly now, there's no guarantee that we wouldn't hurt ourselves."
Yatsushiro Raizou consented.
"However, standing still without taking any action also wouldn't be a wise decision. This isn't our only problem. The whole population of Magicians is also under scrutiny."
"I agree with Ichijou-dono. We shouldn't overdo our countermeasure, but we definitely cannot stay still. If we do not resist, we will end up being cornered by our enemy."
Gouki and Mutsuzuka Atsuko insisted that they should take aggressive measures. The meeting had barely started, but the mood had started to break down early on. Mai furrowed her eyebrows in concern, and she urged those who had yet to comment to join the discussion.
"Juumonji-dono, how about you? Please don't hold back, and feel free to speak your mind."
Katsuto lowered his head to the others before he started to talk.
"It's probably impossible to try to control the mass media. I agree with Saegusa-dono on that."
Unexpectedly, he started with such a flat statement.
"Then, is it better for us to do nothing?"
Interestingly enough, Raizou showed a rather surprised expression.
"No."
Katsuto focused his eyes at Raizou, without even moving his neck.
"Let's not resort to such tricks, I believe we should openly declare our position. Particularly, in condemning the terrorist attacks against the Magic Association."
"I see."
Raizou nodded, he was clearly caught unprepared. He was so focused on what was in his hand that he had overlooked the straightforward approach.
"I believe that Juumonji-dono's suggestion is the most realistic countermeasure we can take as of this moment."
Shippou Takumi gave consent to Katsuto's proposal.
"Ah, I also think that making a statement through the Magic Association is a good solution."
Raizou said so while slightly raising his hand.
"Yatsushiro-dono, isn't that only an excuse to escape from giving your idea?"
Atsuko brewed some tea.
The unscrupulous Gouki frowned at the remark, yet the object of the remark, Raizou, was laughing in a carefree manner.
"Yotsuba-dono, what do you say."
As a gesture of goodwill to Raizou, and to divert the attention from himself, Atsuko swiftly directed a question to Maya.
Maya, rather than focusing on answering Atsuko, opened her mouth towards Kouichi who was sitting by her side.
"I don't think we have much choice here. Am I right, Saegusa-dono?"
"That's true."
Kouichi nodded with a straight face towards Maya's statement, even though it sounded like a provocation.
"So, we will put out a statement via the Magic Association that condemns this attack, and we will also state our intent to fully cooperate in catching the perpetrator."
After he made sure that nobody was against his statement, Kouichi opened his mouth again.
"Of course, this will involve control of the mass media."
"However, didn't you say yourself that exerting such control would be difficult, Saegusa-dono?"
Being reminded by Gen about what he said, Kouichi nodded and faked a smile.
"Yes, we will be unable to do anything about those who claim the responsibility is purely on us Magicians, but we can't afford being passive about this. In the end, the bad guys are the terrorists, and I believe continually inducing this impression while controlling the media is the optimal solution."
Gen didn't give any reply to Kouichi.
"I wonder if things would go so smoothly. Once public opinion goes against Magicians, it won't be easy to overturn it."
"The hostile atmosphere towards Magicians has existed for a long time.
However, by diverting attention to the terrorist, we can at least ease the increasing negative opinion towards Magicians. If we also cooperate in catching the criminal, the terrorist becomes the scapegoat, and the hostility aimed at us for this incident should vanish."
"Capturing the terrorist with our own hands? Wouldn't that impose a greater risk for us?"
Gouki interrupted the discussion between Kouichi and Gen.
"In order for us, the Heads of the Ten Master Clans to move, we need military approval. Although that's only a verbal agreement and not a written rule, we should not disregard the procedures that have been given to us in order to maintain a relationship with the government."
"Ichijou-dono, you do know that such a permit from the military has a very low chance of being accepted, right?"
Gouki shook his head in reply to Kouichi's question. He also implied ‘that's not all'.
"If we allow for a second and third attack to be carried out during our search, the public opinion of the Ten Master Clans, no, of Magicians will suffer even more."
"However, that doesn't mean we'll just idly sit around while the terrorist attacks us."
Maya's intervention, was met with surprises. Since she directly replied to Gouki, with her eyes fixed on him.
"In order to catch the criminal, and to prevent a copycat attack, I think we must dispose of our mask and mobilize our strength. The Ten Master Clans have the power to catch the criminal."
If this statement hadn't been made by Maya, who openly supported Kouichi, people might have had an easier time accepting it.
"However, I can understand Ichijou-dono's concern."
"…What do you mean?"
Gouki wasn't the only one who stared at Maya with a puzzled look.
Kouichi also reflected a quizzical expression towards Maya in his eyes.
"I don't think it's a good idea for us to be directly involved in the search of this attacker. Although letting the perpetrator remain at large is a problem in itself, I still think it's a necessity for us to be on the lookout for another terrorist attack for now."
"So we should focus on preventing another attack from being carried out?"
Maya nodded, to answer Mai's question.
"Then, should we assign someone to keep an eye out for the terrorist?"
Atsuko's question wasn't meant for only Maya, but also towards the other members who were in the meeting.
"I'm sending Tatsuya from my family."
Maya, however, seemed to misunderstand the question as something aimed at the Yotsuba Family.
"Let's give the responsibility to Masaki."
As if to compete, Gouki quickly threw in Masaki's name.
"Yotsuba-dono, Ichijou-dono, please wait a minute."
However, in exchange of the nominations from their own families, Mai seemed to be unsatisfied.
"The nominees you have both put forward are still in high school. To be on the lookout for a hidden criminal will take a lot of time and effort.
Even if they are a part of the Ten Master Clans, ultimately, they're still students. I don't think it's wise to sacrifice their academics for this matter."
Gouki's hot-bloodedness was rebutted by the common sense that came from Mai.
"It's heartwarming to hear your concern, Futatsugi-dono. However, you need not worry."
However, Maya returned a calm smile to Mai.
"You are correct in saying that locating a terrorist and his colleagues may take a long time, but if Tatsuya receives backup from the Yotsuba family, he won't even need a month to remove the terrorists. That wouldn't be enough to disrupt his schooling."
She replied with a strong degree of confidence, as if she could foresee the future. Mai was taken aback by Maya's statement.
"…But still."
However, the opponent was someone from the Ten Master Clans as well. Mai was not so easily trusting what Maya said.
"The fact that Tatsuya-dono is still a high school student is undeniable.
No matter the degree to which your family supports him, chasing a terrorist isn't a good idea, right?"
Maya replied to Mai's statement with a slight smile as if seemingly saying, "Well, you're too late."
The terrorist attack that had happened a year ago, in April of 2095, had been covered up well till now. The information had been released to the Ten Master Clans, previously.
They still had no hints about Tatsuya's magic, but it was clear to them that Tatsuya and Katsuto were the ones who defeated the criminals. The record of events that transpired was held by the Juumonji Family, and was given to the Ten Master Clans once the Yotsuba Family announced that Tatsuya was a member of their family.
Although the assassination of the ringleader of No Head Dragon was kept a secret, Tatsuya's involvement in the Yokohama Incident at the International Conference Center was already out of the bag. There was also the Parasite Incident which had been uncovered. Maya even spoke about the matter of Zhou Gongjin last fall. It was plain to see Tatsuya being a high school student hadn't stopped his participation in other dangerous events.
"Shall my eldest son, Tomokazu, lead the operation against the terrorists?"
The one who suddenly threw in his idea into the stalled atmosphere was Kouichi.
"My eldest has already completed his education, and his work hours can be adjusted. We can start looking around Hakone for preliminary clues left by the terrorist. The Kant?-Izu region is, after all, under the jurisdiction of the Saegusa Family."
Kouichi glanced around the table to see the others' reactions.
"If you cannot believe me after my involvement with Zhou Gongjin, Juumonji-dono, you are welcome to take the lead, while Tomokazu can assist you."
Everyone's expressions showed puzzlement, unable to comprehend what Kouichi wanted to achieve with this.
"…Are you, perhaps, trying to pay for your mistake?"
Mai had eye contact with Maya, as well as Gen, to see if they had figured out what Kouichi meant.
Kouichi meekly nodded.
"Of course I don't expect to regain your trust with only this much, but I would like to think that this is the first step to do so."
"Isn't that a fine idea."
Maya looked at Kouichi, and showed her support for him.
"After all, Kant? is Saegusa-dono's and Juumonji-dono's territory. If Saegusa-dono has decided to move, then I will be happy enough to leave it to you."
Maya said so while smiling at Mai.
"If everyone agrees with this plan, then I will take the responsibility upon myself."
The one who responded to that smile was not Mai, but Katsuto.
"If you need any form of help from Tatsuya, please don't hold back."
"Likewise. Regardless of the form, if you ever need a hand from Ichijou-dono, we'll be there."
"Of course, I will not spare any resource. You can also mobilize Masaki as you like."
Lowering his head to Gouki and Maya, Katsuto turned to Kouichi.
"Saegusa-dono. Formally, I will be responsible, however, I plan to leave command to Tomokazu-dono."
"Thank you very much."
Kouichi carefully bowed to Katsuto who is young enough to be his own child.
"However."
But, Katsuto's sentence had yet to end.
"The Yotsuba Family's Tatsuya-dono and the Ichijou Family's Masaki will cooperate under my command."
Kouichi narrowed his eyes sharply for an instant. Nobody noticed this though, as he was wearing his sunglasses even though he was indoors.
"I do not comprehend your reason, but I do not mind it."
Kouichi nodded towards Katsuto.
This time, Katsuto bowed calmly at Kouichi.
"Then, concluding this discussion, we will deliver a message via the Magic Association that condemns the terrorist attack. We will also assign Juumonji-dono and Saegusa-dono to cooperate in apprehending the terrorist."
Mai reconfirmed the conclusion of the discussion to the others.
Even so, Raizou quickly interrupted.
"I'm not against any of that, but I wonder if their base is even in Japan at all."
He decided to point out that the corpse manipulation technique was foreign, "Unmistakably."
Gouki denied flatly.
"The corpse manipulation technique is not one that can be programmed beforehand to activate later on. At the very least, in order to control that many corpses to such a degree, someone nearby must be controlling them."
"How close would that be?"
Gouki stopped to think for a while before answering Isami.
"Depending on the Magician's skill, the furthest would be 10
kilometers."
Then, he added on.
"We should assume the Magician in question does not have a very high degree of skill."
"We can't help but hope that's the case, can we?"
From his side, Katsuto stated so plainly.
"If our opponent is really that skilled, we probably wouldn't be able to capture him anyway."
"That's right. I think it's better to form a general strategy to capture him."
Raizou expressed his support to Mai's plan about forming a strategy.
As if a trigger was pulled, the others were voicing out their support one after another.
After the meeting concluded, the unscheduled conference room was emptied.
Each of the Family Heads went home immediately. They needed to strengthen their vigilance in their own regions in order to prevent another terrorist attack.
Even though they were 'in charge' of the region, it wasn't as if the Ichijou Family, whose stronghold was in the Hokuriku-San'in, could perform a thorough monitoring. They couldn't prevent any high-level magic crime happening in the T?hoku Region either. The Ten Master Clans, in their respective regions, have their own worries to deal with regarding the aftermath of the attack.
The ones who were responsible for preventing terrorist attacks were the police, while the Ten Master Clans were only supposed to cooperate.
However, in order to ensure proper cooperation, the role of the Family Head was indispensable. ——As for the Yotsuba Family, even when the help they could provide was unknown, it would be a pain to actually mobilize without the Family Head coordinating it.
Due to that reason, each Family Head was rushing back to their own homes.
Not even Ichijou Gouki and Masaki were exempt, as they were rushing back to Kanazawa on a helicopter.
"Masaki."
After taking off from the Magic Association heliport, they went North-West, and Gouki started a conversation with his son.
"Yes."
From his tone, Masaki understood that he was talking as a Family Head, and not in a parent-child relationship, thus, Masaki replied formally.
"The meeting we just concluded was regarding how we will handle the terrorist attack."
"Yes."
"The Ten Master Clans will issue a statement condemning this act of terrorism, and we will also be searching for the mastermind. Juumonji-dono has been put in charge, and Saegusa's eldest son, Saegusa Tomokazu-dono will be assisting him."
"What will the Ichijou Family's role be?"
"The Ten Master Clans is led by Juumonji-dono to prevent another terrorist attack. Masaki, you'll be assisting Juumonji-dono in this."
"Yes."
Masaki straightened his back and answered. His face was filled with excitement instead of nervousness. For Masaki, the role of catching the terrorist mastermind was an honorable one.
"Of course, you'll need to take a little time off from school, this includes the upcoming public holiday. I will settle this with the principal."
"Understood."
Masaki had quite an attachment to his school life. The truth was, he didn't want to take time off. However, his responsibility towards the Ten Master Clans weighed greater on him.
Masaki's face was already stiff, but it froze as soon as he heard Gouki's next words.
"Shiba Tatsuya of the Yotsuba Family will join the group under Juumonji-dono. Masaki, make me proud."
"Yes."
Masaki nodded with a strong fighting spirit.
The events of February 5th, 2097 were coming to an end.
After rushing to the site of the terrorist attack, Tatsuya and Miyuki (and Minami), were taking a break at home.
Tatsuya was relieved that Maya was safe, but tomorrow's criticism would be harsher than ever. Yet, he couldn't deny that it was driven by the mood of the people.
He also felt an average amount of anger towards the terrorist.
Tatsuya also learned how to show condolence towards the victims and survivors.
His true relief came from the fact that Miyuki was not targeted this time.
Regarding this incident, Tatsuya had no desire to be involved. As expected from him, so long as Miyuki was not in harm's way, he would be content. Also, the worries he had for Maya were from considering Miyuki's feelings.
Lower on his priority list was First High. If it ever got attacked though, even Tatsuya may not be able to ignore it.
Apart from things like that though, such as the attack targeting the Master Clans Conference, Tatsuya had no reason to voluntarily move.
Well, as long as he was not ordered to.
To keep the thoughts about the terrorist out of his mind, Tatsuya taught Miyuki the challenges of magic science application in her room. Before long, he was interrupted by the sound of the telephone. However, before Miyuki could pick up the phone, the 'answer' button changed. Either Minami had picked up the phone, or the current call wasn't intended for Miyuki. It could also have been the contact number for the house being changed.
Just as Tatsuya moved his attention away from the phone, it rang again.
This time it was the sound of a forwarded call.
"Yes."
Miyuki pressed the receiver button and talked through the mic.
"Miyuki-sama, the Family Head wants to talk to Tatsuya-sama."
Minami said so from the other end.
"Understood. We'll go to the living room."
After giving instructions to Minami, Tatsuya rose and proceeded to the living room without any hint of surprise on his face. Miyuki followed right behind him.
"Sorry to make you wait, Oba-ue."
Tatsuya immediately bowed while saying so in front of the screen, even with Minami in the room. In front of others, Tatsuya might have needed to address Maya as ‘Haha-ue', but if he was with an insider, then he'd call her ‘Oba-ue'. He had noted that Minami hadn't announced to anyone that Tatsuya and Maya are not parent and child, but rather aunt and nephew. However, since it was a secret from everyone else, it was better not to say too much.
"I, too, am sorry for calling at such a late hour."
"No, I was still in the middle of studying."
Against Tatsuya's honest answer, Maya was laughing.
"Even Tatsuya-san needs to study, huh."
It was not a fake laugh. Maya seemed to be earnestly happy.
"Despite what I do, I'm still a high school student, so I can't neglect my studies."
Tatsuya answered seriously, hinting to Maya that she should get to the point.
"…Certainly, as a student, your first priority should be studying. It's a pity that I can't let you be devoted to such an activity."
Maya changed her expression from laughing happily to a smirk from the other side of the screen, as Tatsuya observed.
Tatsuya automatically straightened up, prepared to listen to her order.
"Tatsuya-san, I need you to arrest the mastermind of today's terrorist attack."
"Arrest? Not to kill?"
"Ah, the way I phrased myself wasn't very clear. The terrorist's life doesn't matter. Find him, and make him harmless."
"Understood, Oba-ue."
Tatsuya immediately bowed. He didn't give a military salute as he was facing a civilian. He replied with ‘understood', instead of ‘mission accepted', but as expected, the influence of the Independent Magic Battalion was visible.
In the first place, even if he had given a military salute, Maya wouldn't have cared.
"It was the Master Clans Conference's conclusion. The leader will be Juumonji-dono, but the main force will come from the Saegusa Family."
"Then, am I also going to be under command of the Saegusa Family?"
"No. Juumonji-dono has requested that Tatsuya-san is to cooperate directly with him."
Maya casually dropped a bombshell.
"When I say Juumonji-dono, I am talking about Katsuto-san. He has become the new head as of the Master Clans Conference."
However, it didn't seem to detonate as expected.
"I see."
"Oh dear, you don't seem to be surprised."
"The Independent Magic Battalion had heard two years ago that Juumonji-senpai was going to inherit the title of Head."
"Hmm… seems like I must be alert of the military's intelligence network. Or, is it because of that lady's power?"
Maya was referring to Fujibayashi Kyouko. Maya was well acquainted with Kyouko's power as the ‘Electron Sorceress'.
Suddenly, Maya focused her eyes.
"Ichijou Masaki-san will join Tatsuya-san in cooperating under Juumonji-dono's command to capture the terrorist."
"Ichijou-san!?"
That bomb was about the size of a firecracker, but it was still quite a nuisance for Miyuki, who stood beside Tatsuya.
"Pardon my rudeness."
After raising her voice, Miyuki asked for forgiveness with a meek voice and blushing face.
"I don't mind. It was unavoidable that you'd be surprised."
Maya gave her forgiveness through the screen.
Not to say that she was proceeding at her own pace, but Miyuki voiced out a question that she had in mind for Maya.
"About the earlier topic, what about school? Juumonji-sama's operation to catch the terrorist will be conducted in Kant?, right? I don't think it's something that can be settled within a week's time."
Maya laughed and smiled widely on the other side of the screen, after hearing Miyuki's question.
"It won't take that much time. Since we already know the name of the culprit, the opponent must be quite powerless."
Tatsuya was surprised by this news. For Maya to already know something like this was a big deal. She knew who the mastermind was, while Tatsuya didn't even know the reason behind the attack.
"The name of the mastermind is Gu Jie. His english name is Jiedo Heigu. He was the former leader of the Kunlunfang Institute of Dahan.
When the Kunlunfang Institute was destroyed, he seemed to have escaped death. His appearance is of a man in his 50s with a dark/black body and white hair. Well, appearances can always be changed."
The image that Maya gave was consistent with Lina's information.
Perhaps, they have the same source, Tatsuya thought.
"Do you know his face?"
"I don't know that much."
Even so, it was still a lead, such was Tatsuya's thought. Maya said that she knew the name of the perpetrator, but names could be changed anytime. It was very optimistic of her to think that the search could be ended soon.
Tatsuya didn't express this, but Miyuki was confused instead.
"You don't have to be that worried, Miyuki-san. At any rate, we can get a hold of a rough location by foretelling here."
Apparently, there were Magicians of the Yotsuba Family that Tatsuya didn't know about. Someone with time regression (post-cognition) or a residual mind-tracking (psychometry) ability seemed to exist in their ranks. Tatsuya interpreted the magic ‘fortune-telling' as such. The Kuroba Family already had such an unusual intelligence capability, and now throwing that kind of magic into the mix… Tatsuya was reminded again that he still didn't know much about the Yotsuba Family.
However, now was not the time to think of such things.
"Tatsuya-san's role comes into play here. Once you meet him, he can't escape your eyes, right?"
"Zhou Gongjin almost slipped through… but I will do my best with my limited ability."
Tatsuya focused himself on the task given by Maya from the other side of the screen and reverently bowed.
After concluding her call with Tatsuya, Maya put down the phone with an expressionless look.
Hayama was standing behind her as he usually did.
Maya opened her mouth to talk to her butler, despite not looking at his face.
"Hayama-san, have you found any leads?"
"Nothing as of now, my lady."
"I see."
Maya showed vague signs of irritation to Hayama's answer. She hadn't shown this side of her when she called Tatsuya, nor during meeting in front of the other Heads of the Ten Master Clans.
Realizing this, Hayama didn't say 'don't be rash'. The memory of all those casualties wouldn't be washed away within 3-4 days, and Maya would also be aware of that.
"My lady, do you regret that you didn't act upon the information which Colonel Balance provided?"
Instead of calming his master down, Hayama asked about the reason behind Maya's anxiety.
Maya responded with a long and rough sigh reflexively.
"…There's no escaping you, Hayama-san."
Maya showed a small, tired smile, instead of irritation.
"Despite receiving a warning ahead of time, the enemy still managed to score an attack."
It was expected for her to be exhausted. On top of the evacuation after the terrorist attack, followed by the unscheduled Master Clans Conference, she was also held for questioning by the police in the process.
Maya was an excellent Magician, but her body was just like any other woman's. She didn't only look young on the outside, she had maintained her youth for her whole body. However, even a 30-year-old lady has her own limit in the level of activity she can withstand.
"My lady, I understand your feelings, but even if you are irritated or become anxious like this, the Yotsuba Family isn't invincible."
Physical fatigue reduces mental vitality, but it's also a sign that one's body needs rest. If she didn't realize this herself, then there was a need for other people to point this out to help her.
"…You're right. Although we can find them in no time, it's not as if we can find them today or tomorrow, so let's rest for the night."
Fortunately, Maya's mental state wasn't so bad as to forsake the need for rest.
"If something happens, please update me tomorrow morning."
"Please leave it to me, my lady."
Hayama bowed reverently, and left Maya in her study.
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