Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume SS - Chapter 2

Kana Ishida Art Works 2: Kaleidoscope

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei SS

血と涙の絆

Bond of Tears and Blood

A soldier, wearing nothing to confirm their identify or affiliation, turns the muzzle of their gun towards a young boy. 

The boy, whose face still appears suited to being called that of a ‘child’, pulls his own trigger faster than that of the gun that has settled upon himself. 

But it’s not for a gun. 

That deep crimson object that the boy turns towards the soldier, though it has the shape of a gun, has no muzzle. The tip of the gun barrel has a completely smooth surface. 

Called a CAD (Casting Assistant Device), this is a tool to support the use of magic. As a substitute for reciting lengthy incantations or drawing complex symbols, the device will prepare the magic with just the flip of a switch. 

The young boy is a magician. 

The CAD’s gun barrel is an aiming device. The trigger is the switch for a CAD with the shape of a pistol.  

Pulling the trigger and pointing the tip of the gun barrel. These actions establish the aim and release the magic. 

The soldier pointing a gun at the young boy explodes before they can pull the trigger. 

Blood erupts from the soldier’s eyes, ears and mouth. 

For a moment their field clothes appear to expand like a balloon, and then a red mist spurts out of the neck and from the ends of the sleeves. 

Immediately following that, the soldier’s upper body appeared to become bloodstained. 

The name of the magic the boy used is ‘Rupture’. 

It is a secret technique of the ‘Ichijou Family’ from the Ten Master Clans which instantly vaporises the body fluids of a human being. 

The boy’s complexion is poor. His face appears to be holding back nausea. 

However, despite that, he didn’t avert his eyes from the grotesque corpse that he had created. 

It had not captured his gaze. 

It was obvious at a glance that the soldier was dead. Even so, the boy attentively surveyed his surroundings with a pale face once he had confirmed that there was to be no counterattack. “Masaki.” 

“——Father.” 

The boy looks over his shoulder. There stands a fearless man with sunburnt skin. That look, with attitude oozing from his whole body, makes you think it more appropriate to call him a samurai, or maybe a bandit, rather than a soldier or any form of military personnel. 

The man’s name is Ichijou Gouki. 

As you can tell from the boy’s response, he is the boy’s father. 

Thus, the boy’s name is Ichijou Masaki. And it is only natural that he has yet to lose his childish visage because he only welcomed his thirteenth birthday the other day. 

Masaki, who has only been in middle school for four months or so, is standing upon this savage battlefield where people are killing each other because he is a member of the Ten Master Clans. 

The Ten Master Clans are the ten families which are positioned to bear the burden of leadership of this country’s magician society. 

Masaki, as the eldest son of the Ichijou Family, was driven by his self-awareness and pride of the Ten Master Clans and volunteered to fight when they mobilised to fight the invaders. 

Today is Monday the Eleventh of August 2092. 

The eyes of the Japanese people have been turned towards Okinawa since this morning. 

The attention of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces in the Tōhoku and Hokuriku regions have also been directed towards Okinawa. 

It would be harsh to accuse them of dereliction of their duties. The bad news that had come from Okinawa was so shocking that there was no one who could ignore it. 

A sudden invasion by the forces of the Great Asian Union. This news had come in at 7am in the morning. At this point in time, control of Okinawa’s coastal waters had been lost, and by 8am in the morning they had landed on Okinawa’s main island. 

Japan was at a disadvantaged position in the battle, and the possibility that Okinawa could be occupied could not be denied. 

And while Japan was within the throws of confusion, the forces of the New Soviet Union suddenly attacked Sado Island. 

With the attention of the entirety of Japan focused upon Okinawa, the NSU decided to take advantage of the current situation. 

Though the truth is unknown, it could well be the case that the Great Asian Union and the New Soviet Union were in collusion from the beginning. 

It happened when the invasion of Okinawa’s main island began in earnest, at around 8:30am.  

A military ship disguised as a cargo vessel docked at Ryoutsu Harbour on Sado Island, and a force of more than one hundred combatants disembarked. 

They were riding more than twenty small military vehicles, none of which bare a national flag or military colours, nor any rank or unit insignias. Their identity was completely concealed. 

However, it was easily understood that they were a force from the New Soviet Union. In truth, they weren’t really trying to hide it. It was simply a form of manoeuvring to create an alibi, as to provide an excuse afterwards. 

There is a magic research facility on Sado Island which utilises the remains of an old mining tunnel. From the movements of the New Soviet Union’s force, it was possible to conjecture that this facility was their objective. 

And now the time is almost 4pm in the afternoon. 

The militia lead by the Ichijou Family have reached the innermost section of the partially destroyed research facility.  

“That was dangerous just now.” 

There was a nuance of a reprimand in Gouki’s voice as he spoke to Masaki. 

“Did you see?” 

Masaki nods his head with the answer, “Naturally,” as Gouki’s severe tone continues.  

That timing was the very last moment. If the enemy’s timing had been any faster, then you would have been the one who was struck.” 

The term ‘struck’ has the double meaning of been ‘shot’ and ‘defeated’.  Gouki was pointing out to his son that he would have been ‘shot dead’. 

“You were negligent because you thought we’d won. Did you already assume there were no more enemies?” 

“Th, that’s different……! I wasn’t being negligent.” 

Masaki’s pale face becomes tinged with red. The fragility from the shock of seeing the corpse that he himself had made was swept from the young boy’s attitude. 

However, though the words in the reply sounded confident because the person himself regarded them as his true feelings, to the ears of a third party they sounded like he was trying to bluff. 

“Then why didn’t you react to an enemy you could see until he pointed the gun at you?” 

“That’s……” 

Unable to find any words of refutation, Masaki purses his lips. He understands that it is the truth. 

That really had been dangerous just now. 

Masaki resolves himself for further reprimands and disparagement. 

“You’re fatigued, and if that’s true then you can’t be negligent.” 

But what came out of Gouki’s mouth was unexpectedly tender. 

“Masaki, don’t overestimate yourself. Always keep an objective grasp of your condition.” 

It was no different from a reprimand. However, at the same time he was only being considerate of his son’s first battle. 

“……Understood. I’ll bear that in mind.” 

Masaki accepted it obediently because he understood that the sentiment wasn’t just based on reason, but also because Gouki was genuinely concerned. 

“You should fall back for the time being and search for survivors.” 

“Understood.” 

And for that reason, he obediently abided these orders.  

◇ ◇ ◇ 

With several of his father’s subordinates, Masaki traces his steps back along their original route. The adults advised him to return to the ship they had used to reach Sado Island and clean himself up, but he continued to search for survivors as is. 

Masaki, who hasn’t wiped his face sufficiently, has been dyed the colour of blood all over his body and at a glance he looks like an ogre that has come from a scene of carnage. However, here in this place there was no one who would grimace and turn their eyes away from him. 

At present, all the adults around Masaki are relatives and subordinates of the Ichijou Family. 

Everyone present knows what kind of magic the Ichijou Family’s trump card ‘Rupture’ is. Masaki’s current state, where he is coated in the blood of his enemies, is being received favourably as a gallant figure that is most appropriate for the eldest son of the Ichijou Family as a result of fighting in a strenuous battle. 

Naturally, Masaki himself had not intended to look like that. As a result of the exhaustion of his mind and body from his first battle, he simply didn’t have anything left to feel anything other than, ‘it’s unpleasant being all sticky’. However, had he realised that this would be the origin of an embarrassing nickname in the future, he’d have proceeded to wash himself immediately. That he had at least wiped his face made no difference. 

In any case, Masaki, completely covered all over in blood, begins to search the research facility for survivors while receiving gazes of admiration directed at him from the adults. 

The enemy were in the middle of cleaning up, so they hadn’t seen any bodies. The New Soviet Union’s soldiers had been so thorough that they hadn’t even seen any injured either. 

The aim was likely to stop them calling for help. In fact, the delay in realising that this invasion was happening was because there had been no notifications received from the island’s inhabitants or the facility’s staff. The National Self-Defence Forces only noticed the invasion because the HAPS camera (a stratospheric platform camera )  surveillance system observed an unnatural explosion. 

Therefore, because of these circumstances, it is highly unlikely that there will be any survivors at the research facility which was the invading army’s main target. It appears that the enemy knew the location of all the shelters in advance, and all the shelters discovered by the volunteer army so far have been filled with nothing but corpses. 

Even so, Masaki and his companions have not given up, believing in the existence of a hidden shelter which would not be jotted down on the blueprints. It was more of a desire than a conviction, but if everyone didn’t cling to that single ray of hope, they’d end up breaking and stop. 

Hatred rose up inside their hearts alongside the despair. Masaki continued to walk around looking for survivors while forcibly resisting the urge to give in to desire and kill all the enemy soldiers, including those who had surrendered. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

The young boy was holding his knees in the darkness and trying to conceal his breath. He was holding himself tight to repress the trembling of his body in order to avoid making even the slightest of sounds. 

However, the tears which are oozing from both his eyes cannot be stopped. To avoid any sound leaking out his throat, the boy is clenching his teeth and pressing his face into both of his knees with all his might. 

He is alone. The boy is hiding in a personal shelter. Originally, the space had been constructed as a storage space for miscellaneous goods. The space had been remodelled by the person in charge of this researcher area at their own convenience because, ‘this room is too far away from the shelter’. But unfortunately, because of its origin as a storage space for odds and ends, it is unusually small. Would it be impossible for two adults to squeeze into it? You could say it was wide enough. But in that situation, it would become difficult to move around at all. Which would make it impossible to endure taking refuge for a long time. 

But if it were a small boy and a woman with an average physique then they could feasibly hide for about a day. And yet the young boy’s parents shoved him into the shelter alone after he came to the research facility by chance. 

The young boy understood the reason. Both of his parents were part of the research facility’s upper management. It was necessary for them to take measures to ensure that the research results were not misused, as well as issuing evacuation orders. Because he understood that it was important, the young boy didn’t say anything about his own situation. 

However, understanding doesn’t erase the anxiety. The boy never stopped trembling in that gloomy narrow space. He was scared that he would never get to see either of his parents ever again. 

Am I the one who will be gone? Or my parents? That is a terrifying future to even have to consider. Therefore, the young boy didn’t think about anything and simply held his body close as he trembled frantically. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Masaki’s search party discovered a small-scale shelter that did not appear on the blueprints of the facility. No, it would be more appropriate to call it a safe room. It had originally been a storeroom for small items which had later been remodelled. 

There were other small rooms that weren’t in use here and there in other places within the research facility. Were they planning to expand in the future? Or else was it the opposite and the rooms were not in use due to the facility’s work reducing? Many of the rooms have walls as sturdy as those of the average radiation facilities, in which case it might be that the facility was planned with this margin to avoid the adjacent rooms sharing walls with one another. 

Masaki thought about asking the adults accompanying him but decided not to ask in the end. It was knowledge he didn’t need at the present time, and he wasn’t that particularly interested to begin with. Once the mission was over, if he still had doubts then it would be fine to ask then. That is what he thought. 

Moreover, in this situation where they have not been able to find any survivors, an unknown shelter would be welcomed. They have already finished confirming all the shelters on the blueprints. And there were no survivors in them. 

If there are any survivors, then they must be in a shelter of safe room that cannot be put on a blueprint like this and therefore were unknown to the invading forces. 

Masaki and his companions took position and crouched down by the sides of a side door. It is possible that there are enemies lurking within. Though the walls should be strong enough, they don’t know if the enemy possesses firearms powerful enough to piece through it. 

On the battlefield, no matter how careful you are, you can never be too careful. Masaki imitates the adults who understand that. 

And just as they thought, a gun muzzle was the first thing that came out when they used the master code to force open the electronic lock. 

Simultaneously with the enemy soldier rushing out of the safe room, Masaki operates the CAD on his left wrist. He was not using the CAD shaped like a red pistol from before.  This CAD was a bracelet type. 

The enemy soldier drops his assault rifle. His right arm is quivering, and it is obvious that he has lost his freedom. Masaki’s magic has paralysed the functions of his left arm. 

The enemy soldier clutched his right arm as both his knees hit the floor. On his face is a look of anguish but it isn’t only due to the pain in his right arm. 

Magic is essentially something that affects an entirety of a singular existence. The necessary technique is required to make it operate only on a specific part. As of yet, Masaki has not attained the skill needed to limit the effects of his magic to an isolated portion of the human body. 

After confirming that the opponent had been incapacitated, one of the members of the search team peers inside the safe room. 

Masaki maintains his stance as he stands by. Not long ago he was taking point when attacking the enemy soldiers, but this time he didn’t go out of his way to do so.  

The team member, who not only peered into the room but also entered it, exits the safe room with a depressed expression. Seeing him shake his head side to side made Masaki feel disappointed too. The sense of hopelessness that ‘there may be no survivors……’ eats at his heart. And it’s not just the young boy Masaki, all the adults around him have similar expressions. 

“——Let’s not give hope just yet. There are still other places that we haven’t searched.” Gouki’s younger brother, who is commanding the search party, revitalised the unit. 

“That’s right!” calls out a voice. 

Masaki was also ashamed of his own weakness and slapped his cheeks. 

It made a splendid sound, and the adults looked at him. Seeing the young boy’s reddened face, some of them burst into laughter. And the pessimism that was seizing the group was driven away. 

The pleasant smiles of the adults made Masaki grin with embarrassment as well. 

Once they reached the research facility’s main entrance, Masaki’s group advanced into the facility once more. 

Gouki, whose group had finished cleaning up the enemy soldiers, asks his younger brother who is leading the search team how the search went. 

Gouki frowned when he heard his younger brother responded with, “Not yet.” But he immediately encouraged his younger brother and everyone else who was present there. 

“Masaki, come with me.” 

And then Gouki ordered his son to accompany him. Masaki, who had been removed from the front line some time ago in order to make him do some introspection, is once again allowed to accompany him. 

Gouki advanced silently into the depths of the facility. Masaki is his only companion. 

Masaki keeps his mouth shut and follows Gouki’s back. 

Gouki stopped in a room located in the deepest section of the research facility. Inside the room there are six corpses lying there. The four bodies which had exploded from the inside must have been enemy soldiers that Gouki had killed. Does that mean that the remaining two were researchers from this facility? “These two had a son the same age as you.” Gouki suddenly uttered these words. 

“……Were you acquainted?” 

Perhaps consumed by the atmosphere, Masaki asked his question using speech that was more polite than usual. 

“We weren’t what you would call friends. But yeah…… you could say we were acquainted.” 

Gouki’s tone was full of sorrow. Considering that, Masaki thought that they were probably more than mere acquaintances. 

“They were excellent people……” 

After unintentionally saying that, Masaki thought ‘shit!’. He felt that the careless way he had phrased it made it sound like Gouki only regretted the loss of the deceased’s abilities. 

However, Gouki only moved his eyebrows a little and didn’t find fault with Masaki. 

“……These two were excellent researchers.” 

Masaki can only see Gouki’s side profile as Gouki mutters to himself. 

Masaki doesn’t say anything else. He also didn’t backchannel anything . He could sense from the atmosphere that his father wouldn’t want him to. 

“I’m not acquainted with their son and only knew of him through gossip, but it seems he had a mind which put adults to shame.” 

Masaki immediately noticed that his father was talking about his acquaintance’s son in the past tense. 

“Is it possible that their son was also in this facility?” 

That question came out of Masaki’s mouth unintentionally. For some reason his brakes didn’t work. 

“I’ve heard that he spends his summer holiday as an assistant for his parent’s research.” 

“Assistant……” 

The standards of this research facility are one of the highest in Japan. Even within the Hokuriku region, you would say it has surpassed the Kanazawa Institute of Magical Science, which was built upon the site of the former First Institute, in its specialised field. 

A boy the same age as him was an assistant for such research. Even if you disregard it as being because he was the son of a researcher, the fact he wasn’t prohibited was astonishing. 

“……Did you find his corpse?” 

Masaki pulls himself together and asks the question that he really wanted to ask. 

“It hasn’t been found.” 

“If that’s the case then it’s possible that he is still alive! Don’t you think so too, father?” 

“That’s right.” 

“I’ll find him!” 

Gouki narrowed his eyes as he looked at his son. Though those eyes were dyed with a sense of surprise, his gaze also gave the impression that he seemed pleased somehow.  

◇ ◇ ◇ 

The trembling boy in the personal shelter looked up at the light that lit up on the wall panel. 

“This is……” 

His voice unintentionally leaks out. Upon hearing his mutter, the young boy hurriedly covers his mouth. 

The light indicates a response to living human bodies. When it is lit it indicates that somebody has entered the lab that is adjacent to, or rather attached to, the shelter.   

It’s not that there hasn’t been a reaction to a human presence until now. Shortly after he hid in here, the light came on in the same way and disappeared shortly afterwards. That was certainly the invaders searching for research materials. And then they must have left after confirming that they weren’t leaving anything behind. 

The invaders shouldn’t have any more business in the lab. If that’s the case, have the research facility’s staff returned? ——Or perhaps, his parents? 

The young boy gets up on his knees and operates the wall console. This shelter has a defect. Both his mother and father may have been first-class researchers, but outside of the field of their speciality they may be a little lacking. The attached people sensor is a high quality one, but there is no camera to confirm the situation outside. It is fair to say that the inability to visually confirm the situation outside of the shelter is a fatal defect. In which case it is possible that they never envisioned a situation where they would actually use this shelter. 

The number shown on the console is the number of people inside the lab that the person sensor is detecting. 

(Four people, no, five people……, this is!?)  

The young boy watches as the number on the console in front of him changes. 

From five people to four. Then then four becomes three.  

For that counter to reach one, it took maybe five minutes. The young boy thought that it was probably less than a minute. 

The sensor detects the number of people who are alive. The reason the number of people decreased was not because they had left the room. The boy instinctively knew that they had been killed. 

Did the invaders bring surviving members of the research facility’s staff to this room to kill them? Or did an ally who came to help chase the invaders to this room and kill them? 

The latter is what he thought. 

However, he wasn’t sure. The young boy has a good head on him. That intelligence didn’t allow him to believe in guesses that were convenient for him. 

It took a while before the counter on the console dropped from one to zero. But the young boy wasn’t ready to open the shelter’s door. 

The young boy settled back down from his knees on the gloomy shelter’s floor. 

How long has it been since then? He has already lost all sense of time. 

The people sensor’s indicator lit up again. 

However, the young boy didn’t get up again and remained sitting on the floor. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

“Father, come here!” 

Masaki, who had been carefully examining the walls and floor on his knees, suddenly calls out to his father in a loud voice. 

When Gouki quickly approached and asked, “What’s wrong?” Masaki pointed to a small sliding door about one meter high. 

“It’s a store for odds and ends. What of it?” 

“There are signs that the door was moved.” 

Masaki, perhaps because of his excitement, had returned to his usual familiar tone. 

“Are you saying someone is hiding in there? Going by the blueprints, it’s not big enough for a person to spend a long time in there.” 

“But maybe it’s possible.” 

“……Understood. I see your point.” 

Gouki uses the master key he acquired from the facility’s control centre to open the sliding door. He prepared the CAD in his right hand just in case there was an enemy concealed inside. He then carefully peered inside. 

“……There is no one. It’s empty inside.” 

“Can I have a look as well?” 

Gouki and Masaki switch places. Masaki then abruptly went inside with a light in hand. 

“Oi, Masaki!” Gouki called from the doorway, confused. 

“……There is plenty of room inside. I think even you could stand up in here.” 

Just as Masaki said, there was enough room for an adult to stand on the other side of the sliding door. 

“Father! Isn’t this a shelter door!?” 

Where Masaki was pointing his light there was a switch which seemed to be a button for opening and closing something. 

“Excellent. Open it.” 

In response to Gouki’s instruction, Masaki pressed the button without hesitation. However, there was no response. 

Above the button, Masaki noticed a lens for what he thought was a camera, and a row of slits that looked like a speaker and another button slightly smaller than the first. 

(Is that an intercom……?) 

Pressing the small button did not return a response. But he did hear noise from the speaker. 

Masaki decided that this was proof that it was connected to inside. 

“——I am Ichijou Masaki from the Ichijou Family’s volunteer army. If you are taking refuge inside, please respond. We have finished sweeping up the invaders. It is safe to come out……” 

Masaki continued to patiently call out towards the intercom. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

The voice he heard on the shelter’s speaker gave the young boy a shock. 

It wasn’t the voice of his parents. Thoughts raced through his mind, and he quickly understood the significance of that. 

The sound of the weeping that he had being holding back leaked out. The realisation that he would not be able to see his parents, combined with the news that he didn’t have to worry about the enemy anymore, broke the dam that was holding the tears back. 

The young boy held his knees and cried aloud. 

And he called out for his mother and father many times. 

But no matter how many times he calls out, no response comes. What reaches his ears, is the same voice of a young boy that he does not recognise. 

(……That isn’t an adult’s voice, is it? It’s like mine……isn’t it?) 

The young boy roughly wiped his tears with his sleeve and got up off the floor. 

Put his breathing in order as to conceal his unseemly tearful voice. 

And then, talked into the microphone. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

“Are you a rescuer?” 

After calling into the intercom for no less than five minutes, a response is finally returned. 

“That’s right. There are no more invaders. It’s safe to come out.” 

In response to Masaki’s words comes the small sound of a lock being unlocked. And the small door opened outwards. And at the same time, the ceiling light came on. Masaki hadn’t noticed, but this room disguised as a miscellaneous goods store was equipped with a light and the switch was just above the door. 

A young boy with a small build quickly made his way out from inside of the shelter. The young boy opened his eyes wide when he saw Masaki. 

Hearing him mutter “Blood……” Masaki recalled his own atrocious state. 

“Ah, no, this is the blood of the invaders……” 

As Masaki tried to explain, he wondered if it was really just an excuse. And coincident with that thought he felt a wave of relief crossed over him as he thought, ‘thank goodness that he’s not a girl.’ 

“——Thank you very much.” 

Masaki was at a loss when the other party suddenly thanked him. 

“For taking revenge for my parents.” 

However, the next remark left him at a loss for words for a different reason to what had caused his prior confusion. 

The young boy’s tears poured from both his eyes. 

Masaki, though it might be considered inappropriate, once again thought ‘thank goodness it’s not a girl.’ 

The young boy grasped Masaki’s right hand, which was still holding the pistol shaped CAD, with both his hands. 

Understanding that it was a show of gratitude, Masaki placed his left hand on top of the boy’s right hand. 

“Thank you……” 

In a tearful voice the boy repeated his thanks. 

Masaki didn’t think it was unseemly. Rather, he was surprised that instead of been scolded with, ‘why didn’t you come sooner?’ the boy simply expressed nothing but the gratitude that he felt from the depths of his heart. 

“……My name is Ichijou Masaki. Could you tell me your name?” The boy looked up at Masaki with wide eyes. 

“It’s Kichijouji, Shinkurou.” 

With tears pouring down his face, he answered Masaki’s question. 

“I’m a first year in middle school, you?” “I’m also in the first year of middle school.” Masaki asks, Kichijouji answers. 

In response to Kichijouji’s reply, Masaki nods an ‘is that so?’ 

“Kichijouji-kun. I know this is sudden, but won’t you become my friend?” 

A sudden proposal. Even Masaki himself didn’t understand what he was thinking. If I dare to say, it might be like falling in love at first sight. It was his first battle, and he may have been excited to have his achievement recognised for the first time, the people from his family excluded. 

And just as one would expect, Kichijouji has a blank look on his face. His tears had stopped. Was it because he was so dumbfounded that he forgot his sorrow? 

However, Kichijouji was only left stunned for a short time. 

“——It is me who should be saying so, I’ll be in your care.” 

Kichijouji gave a slightly embarrassed smile and put strength into his hands which were clasping Masaki’s hand. 

{Fin}