Chapter 114

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The siblings' home was within the zone of automated control, but Honoka's apartment was just outside the area for automatic vehicular control. After using the information terminal to summon the automatic car, there was no way to take Honoka home. In the end, the four of them got on the light rail at the station.

Even with their rather shocking attire, thankfully they did not receive any undue attention in the city.

At least, not any more than anticipated (when accompanied by Miyuki, being completely inconspicuous was frankly impossible).

Tatsuya's group got into a section with four seats on the train. "Um, Tatsuya-kun..."

Since the act of boarding the train was so very natural, it wasn't until after the train departed that Honoka had a question. Even if they were going in the same direction, they couldn't get off halfway between stops...

"I'll take you home."

Upon hearing him utter the words she earnestly wished him to say but was unable to ask him do so, even the multiple instances of Honoka trying to be polite were unable to hide her radiant expression.

There was no way to alter seating arrangements in the cabin that the four of them sat in.

Miyuki sat next to Tatsuya, with Honoka sitting directly across from him.

Tatsuya glanced over at Pixie sitting diagonally across from him (for some reason, she was being treated as a customer rather than cargo), before turning his eyes back to Honoka since she had fallen quiet from the beginning.

"…...Onii-sama, it's probably about time to say something, otherwise

I don't think Honoka can hold it in any longer?"

Seeing Honoka's anxiety spike after Tatsuya looked at her, Miyuki spoke up from his side.

"Ah, my apologies."

Tatsuya appeared to be unaware. After being pushed into a tight spot by his sister, Tatsuya acknowledged his error with an apologetic look on his face.

"Thank you for all of your hard work tonight, you three."

The words of praise were only the icebreakers, and proof of this was that Pixie had been included within. Still, this may be because he taken into consideration that Pixie had also contributed quite a bit, but given that Tatsuya didn't differentiate between humans and robots, this sentence clearly wasn't given too much thought.

"So, Honoka. How should I put this...? Are you feeling a little strung out?"

There was no need to say this, but the next line was obviously an inquiry. Though somewhat confused at the sudden question, Honoka still shook her head.

"Really... Pixie, if you are exhausted... That phrase seems a little out of place. Do you notice any of the psions or energy reserves that make up your body being consumed?"

((Consumption is within naturally recoverable parameters, Master.)) "I see..."

"Onii-sama, is something lingering on your mind?" "Not to the point of lingering..."

After shaking his head at his sister, Honoka once more looked towards Honoka.

"Earlier, when Pixie released that powerful burst of psychokinesis... Honoka, do you have any idea what happened?"

"...No, what are you referring to?"

Honoka's eyes were filled with unease as she asked this.

True, the inferences behind this line of questioning was anxiety inducing.

That being said, of course Tatsuya had no intention of fanning the flames of uneasiness.

"I would like you to calm down and listen to me carefully."

The fact that this had descended to the point where an intentional icebreaker was required troubled Tatsuya himself to no end.

"The instant Pixie released that burst of psychokinesis, psions were provided for Pixie from Honoka."

"Eh?"

Honoka's jaw dropped at Tatsuya's words.

"...So Honoka was providing energy for Pixie?"

"No, it didn't feel like that."

In a rare showing, the voice Tatsuya used to answer Miyuki's question was not filled with confidence.

"This is similar to the process where psions are inputted into the CAD in order to deploy the Activation Sequence. Might have been something like priming... Or maybe even resonance."

Honoka darted a fearful look at Pixie.

Pixie – the 3H-P94 unit with a Parasite on board, paid little heed to that. That being said, there was no way to tell the real situation since there was no change in expression.

A Magician transferred psions to a machine.

This phenomenon itself was perfectly familiar to Tatsuya, no, to modern magic users as a whole. However, that was a phenomenon that occurred with machinery constructed according to the systems developed by magic engineering "to do it this way". That function was not installed on the 3H.

Robots do not have powers beyond those granted to them by humans. By themselves, they were unable to learn new functions.

This phenomenon... Must have not have been caused by Pixie's

"mechanical body", but by her "real body" instead. Any other explanation was too outlandish.

It was perfectly natural for Honoka to feel uneasy and afraid.

"Mizuki did say this before... That there is some sort of connection between Honoka and Pixie. Furthermore..."

Suddenly, Tatsuya stopped speaking.

Faced with her hesitant older brother wearing a bitter expression on his face, Miyuki responded with an alarmed look.

As if needled by an unspoken question, Tatsuya's face seemed to give up the struggle and continued speaking.

"...Furthermore, the medium involved appears to be Honoka's hair decorations."

"Huh?"

Honoka was wavering between surprise and fear earlier, but now she was entirely astounded.

Astonishment was not restricted to her alone.

Miyuki was also scrutinizing the rubber bands holding Honoka's hair with great attention.

"To be precise, it should be the crystal within. As to how this occurred, I have no idea..."

Honoka caressed the crystals in hair decorations with both hands.

This was an unconscious reaction that didn't have any ulterior motive involved.

However, Tatsuya's hypothesis was immediately proven by the ensuing reaction.

On Pixie, in the middle of the torso area, a spiritual light emerged.

The light was not blinding. From a visual perspective, the strength was about the same as a lantern.

Still, given the suspicion about their mutual connection, this coincidence was a little too perfect.

Tatsuya and Miyuki's eyes both fell upon those hair decorations. Honoka covered her hair decorations with both of her hands.

This was as if she was terrified that they would be taken away from her.

"The cause can be set aside for now... A method to control that needs to be found first."

Tatsuya spoke in a tone that one used to comfort wary little animals. Wariness turned into surprise as Honoka returned his look. Tatsuya's eyes drifted from Honoka to Pixie.

"At any rate, bringing Pixie back looks to be the right idea."

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The high school force led by Tatsuya and company were not the only ones active tonight. The Saegusa and Juumonji force were inactive since Tatsuya had neglected to inform Mayumi and Katsuto about this action, but the many people in the Chiba force were activated on Erika's orders. In spite of this, the sole reason that Erika's group was the only one to arrive was because they were the strongest unit of those mobilized tonight. Erika, Leo, Mikihiko. Though their individual assessment was not spectacular, their combat capabilities towered over their peers. This was not just restricted to high school students, but adults as well. Even excluding techniques associated with weapons, their individual prowess was still in the top tier.

However, since this was an independent action, they were stuck in a situation where they had to guard the bound Parasites while awaiting evacuation... Except unwanted guests found them before their getaway vehicle.

"Hey, what are you guys doing!?"

Two young men wearing police uniforms parked an automatic vehicle (equipped with a motor) near the streetlight before running over and shouting out a question.

Seeing these two, Mikihiko revealed a harried expression and Leo pouted in irritation, whereas Erika remained silent but retaliated with a belligerent gaze.

"What is this!? You guys should be high school students. What the heck is going on here!?"

Seeing the two men lying on the ground with their wrists bound behind their backs, the taller one shouted shrilly. In truth, this was probably a policeman's natural reaction upon finding citizens bound at night while lying on the ground.

"No, that's just..."

Feeling that this was a legitimate question, Mikihiko was frantically looking for excuses.

"Aren't you guys the ones who should be saying who you are?" However, Erika's riposte bulled right over that question. "What did you say!?"

"Hey, Erika!"

Faced with unexpected resistance, the men's rage seemed to intensify while Mikihiko turned an "unbelievable" look at her.

"Mikihiko."

A hand reached out to grab his shoulder.

When Mikihiko turned his head, he found Leo standing there with a highly entertained smile.

"Didn't you hear me? I will ask again. Who are you?"

Erika snorted at the intimidating glares shooting out from beneath the police caps.

"Don't you know? There shouldn't be any policemen in this area because such an order was given. That idiot older brother of mine can't possibly slip up at this juncture."

There was no evidence to support Erika's words.

If faced with real policemen, this wasn't a joke that should be bandied around.

In spite of this, the young men in front of her blatantly faltered. "What nonsense is this?"

The faltering was wiped clean in an instant, but Erika didn't miss that brief second. It wouldn't have mattered even if there hadn't been a reaction.

That's because her words were not just bravado.

"If you wanted to disguise yourself, you should have chosen to be plainclothes detectives. In that case, hearing you out wouldn't have been an issue."

Erika was highly exaggerating about the hearing you out part.

The taller young man was about to explode at her, but his colleague stopped him. They switched places and the slightly shorter man stepped forward. Of the two, this one was shorter but far bulkier, and the intimidation factor was a lot higher.

"Looking for an excuse to flee is useless. You are suspected of assault. Let's take a walk."

"Hey~. So you're playing it out to the end."

Nonetheless, Erika was completely fearless. She continued to level a dismissive, challenging glare at them.

"Alas, I captured these two on the spot during an attempted rape. I believe this constitutes a citizen's arrest. Thus I am waiting for the real police to show up. There is no room for counterfeit policemen to appear here, un-der-stand?"

Mikihiko could only watch in admiration at his childhood friend reply so flippantly with a very logical argument. Even someone knowing this was a con would be misled. –Which was why he was a beat slow in detecting the hidden presence around him.

"Miki!" "Mikihiko!"

Without a sand – that was not an exaggeration, there literally was no sound – a black shadow attacked from above his head. The attack came from the wall surrounding the cemetery, and by the time Mikihiko realized this, it was already too late to meet the attack.

Mikihiko felt the blow land on his shoulder.

After being knocked flying the sudden attack, he subconsciously took action to recover himself.

Leo raised his arm to the level of his head and to meet the oncoming downward swing of a rod. Just the sound alone was enough to tell the might behind this strike and a normal person would undoubtedly suffer broken bones from this, but Leo took the blow as if it was nothing. Not only that, as his opponent touched the ground, he immediately retaliated with an iron fist of his own that fairly severed the air around him.

"Tch!"

Unfortunately, his fist barely brushed against the ambusher's body before being retracted.

In the flickering street light, Mikihiko say an arc of lightning.

That man was apparently wearing a coat that shocked an opponent with high voltage electricity on contact.

Pressing his fist, Leo leaped back a step.

He saw the man wielding the rod prepare to pursue. "Leo, get out of there!"

Mikihiko took the opportunity to swing his left wrist down. He used his customary hand to grab the fan-shaped CAD that fell out of his sleeve.

Just as Mikihiko was about to release magic to support Leo against the man attacking him, an object came flying from the flank to strike his CAD.

Though the CAD didn't fall, the spell had still been interrupted.

The object that had interfered with Mikihiko's spell traced a loop before returning to its original position.

He finally realized that it was a boomerang of some sort, which would then automatically return to the hand of the thrower. Of course, it that was just a simple boomerang, there would be no way for it to return once it came into contact with the target. This must be some sort of magical weapon.

After taking an unexpected jolt of electricity, Leo rolled back on the street to avoid the downward blow of the rod before pulling back and resetting his posture.

Mikihiko didn't have the leisurely time to worry about Leo. There was more than one enemy.

He heard the "Psh" sound of compressed air being released and two connected cannonballs that looked like soda cans from a while ago came flying towards him from the street.

Mikihiko used the seal of the wind to meet the cannonballs.

The cannonballs stopped in mid-air. However, in the next instant, a net was deployed from the cannonballs and rushed towards Mikihiko. On the eight points of the octagon, there were miniature rockets to replace the arrested momentum.

What the hell is that!? Those were Mikihiko's undisguised feelings.

The speed wasn't all that impressive, but he had no idea what trickery lay within that net. Mikihiko used a "Leaping" spell to dodge the net.

Unfortunately, there were shadows waiting for him in the sky. The human silhouettes hurtled round throwing weapons. Like a game of chess, this was the perfect arrangement.

Any normal Magician would have been "checkmated" right there.

Yet, the current Mikihiko was a far cry from normal. He had already recovered the strength that earned him a reputation as a child genius and had even progressed further.

In mid-air, Mikihiko used the air as a jumping board to "Leap" again and avoid the attacks of the three round projectiles and their master.

Still in the air, Mikihiko looked down upon the head of the man wielding a thin, long object – most likely a whip of some sort.

Finally, it was Mikihiko's turn. He extended his bent leg.

His foot came into contact with the man's forehead. The action itself became the "seal" to activate magic.

Through the point of contact between foot and forehead, a web of lighting spread out and encapsulated the man's body.

Once more stepping off the wind, Mikihiko landed on top of the wall. There, he looked for Leo and Erika's figures.

Leo had recovered from that early surprise attack. Facing the opponent wielding the rod, he was engaged in a fierce battle using his bare hands. The reason why he had not suffered any injury from the electric attack was probably because he wrapped himself with something. The other man also had a certain degree of skill, but in terms of speed and power, Leo was superior.

The problem was Erika.

The two who first struck up a conversation weren't very adept at acting, but their fighting skills were quite capable.

No matter how he put it, Erika actually had to defend against their attacks. They must be wearing special armor beneath their uniforms, though the uniforms themselves may also be custom made.

Still, durability alone was insufficient to stand against Erika's sword strikes. Each time they came into contact with Erika's sword blows, something would flitter off the surface of the clothes. Warily, Erika continued to slowly press her attack forward.

If the weapon she held was any longer, then she probably wouldn't need so much time. Unfortunately, the weapon she had today was a short rod that could morph into a wakazashi. Erika was avoiding dust that was most likely some sort of poison, so there was no chance she could close into close quarters.

Thanks to him seizing a higher vantage point, Mikihiko finally noticed something.

The three of them were being slowly pulled away from the bound Parasites.

In addition, the distance between the three of them was also growing. If this continued, the captives may be taken away before support arrived.

Even if this was pushing it a little, they had to take care of this quickly.

The next instant after he made up his mind, no, it was likely their enemy had also judged that they couldn't hold out much longer.

In terms of timing, Mikihiko's assessment and their opponents' judgment were of an accord.

The enemy was one step ahead.

They heard the sound of something falling to the ground.

Leo kicked aside his opponent while Erika unleashed a chain of razor sharp blows to pull away from her opponent.

"Get down!"

The same time that call rang out, a cocoon of air wrapped around Erika and Leo.

That was the defensive barrier Mikihiko had devised.

The explosive that had fallen from above detonated before coming into contact with the ground and unleashed a thick smoke that obscured the street lights.

The sound of heavy metallic objects falling continued.

Mikihiko called the wind to blow apart the smoke. They immediately found out what had happened.

Metallic arms trailing down from the sky grabbed the Parasites' bodies and swiftly retracted. The source of the lines came from a pitch black flying ship hiding in the night sky that had appeared at some point in time.

The silence of it all was astounding, and there was no sign of magic being used. Without a sound and any sign of magic waves, none of them had noticed the unidentified flying ship flying overhead.

The body of the captives vanished into the ship.

Mikihiko saw Erika ready herself to slash upwards. Though her slashes were not the same level as Strateigc-Class Magic, she might be able to shatter the fuel compartment and cause a crash.

"Erika, stop!"

However, thanks to Mikihiko's intervention, Erika reluctantly stood down. She also knew very well that it would be a catastrophe if the flying ship crashed here.

While their attention had been drawn away by the flying ship, their ambushers' shadows also disappeared. Needless to say, the counterfeit policemen's party were of the same affiliation with the flying ship.

"What a headache..."

Mikihiko nodded as if in complete agreement, to which Erika responded with a particularly brilliant smile.

"So what are we going to tell Tatsuya-kun?" Mikihiko was asking Leo for help.

Leo shrugged when Mikihiko looked at him.

"It's already so late, I don't think we should trouble him, right?" Leo shrugged again at Mikihiko's gaze.

"Ha, you're right. At this hour, might as well tell him tomorrow."

Their hollow laughter was mixed into the slight wind that blew towards the center of the city at night.

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"We have captured the specimen."

This was the headquarters of the JSDF Intelligence Department 3rd Division located in the basement of one of the buildings in Ichigaya.

Upon hearing the report from the deployed stealth airship, the assistant director in charge of this entire operation – this department did not employ the JSDF's ranking system and used entirely falsified ranks – nodded as his expression seemed to sigh in relief.

"Though there were a few surprises, we still accomplished our objective."

When the agents disguised as policemen had been knocked unconscious by mere high school students and a HAR, the first thing that flashed across his mind was "demotion". Now that he may have avoided ruining his superior's mood, the assistant director could relax.

He knew very well that the "specimen" they had captured was the "vampire" that disturbed the peace, but he was unaware that the real identity of the vampires were actually Magicians who had been possessed by monsters called Parasites. Nor was he aware that one of the captured vampires was a retired soldier from the USNA born in Mexico and that the reason for his retirement was that he lost his magic due to an injury suffered during training. The assistant director had simply been ordered to capture a specimen of the vampires.

The reason why they were observing Tatsuya was because the higher ups told him there was a higher probability they would come into contact with the vampires if they shadowed Tatsuya's group. Though as to why a high school student, despite being known as Magician larvae, would have a link to vampires, that reason was beyond him. His subordinates being instantly nullified immediately dispelled the preconception that they were just high school students, but the mystery in regards to why high school students were so strong only deepened. Still, it looked like they would no longer have to trouble themselves with ridiculously strong high school students. That was the reason why the assistant director could breathe a sigh of relief.

Their task was only to temporarily "safeguard" the specimen. Any procedures beyond that were done by his superior, the director. One of the tricks to the organization's continual survival was not questioning their superior's tasks. The request for obtaining the specimen didn't come from the government but from their sponsors, and the assistant director was somewhat aware that the real client was that particular family from behind their sponsor, but he really didn't want to know.

"As ordered, transport the target to the "icebox". Just in case, up the dosage."

After ordering his subordinate to use low temperature anesthesia used to induce hibernation on Magicians to nullify the Parasites before moving them to the facility, the assistant director returned to his seat to report to his superiors the result of his mission.

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"That damnable Koichi, still so enamored with intrigue. It's practically part of his personality now."

Just listening to the words may give the impression that this was a complaint, but after hearing her grandfather utter this phrase in a highly entertained voice, Fujibayashi pretended not to hear anything.

The sudden intrusion of the 3rd Division's stealth craft shocked Fujibayashi, but she dealt with the after effects as swiftly as usual. She immediately used the flying ship's wireless signal to pinpoint the organization it was affiliated with.

Likewise, infiltrating the connection to the basement in Ichigaya was just business as usual. As expected of someone whose talents earned her the name "Electron Sorceress".

"Sir, what is Saegusa-san's goal here?"

She chose to the word "sir" and not "grandfather" here to observe protocol while on the job. Kudou Retsu understood this, so he didn't make a point over the formal reference of "sir".

"I'm not privy to what Koichi is thinking. Though I do have a few guesses on worst possible scenarios."

That being said, he had no intention of playing along with his granddaughter's speech pattern as Elder Kudou continued to speak as if addressing kin.

"Worst, eh...?"

"Hm. Kouchi knows that Maya is interested in the Parasites, so he may have wanted to seize control of it."

"The lady from the Yotsuba Family has expressed interest?"

"In the Yotsuba Family, the side branch Kuroba Family is responsible for gathering intelligence. Furthermore, the Kurobas apparently adopted assassination against the Parasites and investigated quite a few things afterwards."

"A side branch responsible for gathering intelligence... The Yotsuba

Family is certainly unique."

"Well, the 28 families were originally just like side branches for the development and research of Magicians. Indeed, no other family besides the Yotsuba Family has adopted the side branch system."

Elder Kudou wore a self-depreciating smile as he probably recalled his own origins. Fujibayashi made no attempt at any third rate words of comfort and merely waited for her grandfather's next words.

"Setting that aside... Knowing that the Yotsuba have an interest in the Parasites, Koichi would then act. That guy will want to surpass the Yotsuba by any means possible. How tragic it is that the demon from 30 years ago has still not been exorcised yet..."

In Fujibayashi's eyes, the way Elder Kudou said this was as if he himself was revisiting the past. Knowing that wasn't a very pleasant recollection, she used a slightly stronger tone to recall her grandfather from his memories. "So what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean by going to do?"

"I believe that allowing the Intelligence Department 3rd Division to go rogue isn't a wise course of action."

"That's true... If they were able to handle it any better, leaving them alone wouldn't be a problem."

As Fujibayashi predicted, Elder Kudou had returned from the world of his memories and his mind was fully focused on the present.

"Kyouko, can you anonymously leak some intelligence to the Yotsuba?"

"I think I can."

"Then that should be enough. Maya will think of what to do from here on out."

Saegusa Koichi's plot would be foiled by the Yotsuba. Knowing the backstory, Fujibayashi felt that this was a cruel punishment. Still, Fujibayashi had no intention of disagreeing with her grandfather's proposal as she immediately turned back to the controls.

◊ ◊ ◊

After seeing Honoka home and returning Pixie to the original garage, by the time Tatsuya and Miyuki arrived home, it was already late into the night even though the date hadn't changed yet.

That being said, for the siblings' age, this wasn't a particularly late hour. Though they had not engaged in full scale combat, the nerves were still stimulated that there was no sign of sleepiness.

"Onii-sama, it's Miyuki, can I bother you for a moment...?"

It was a rare occurrence indeed for Tatsuya to be in his own room studying a subject other than magic instead of being in the lab in the basement after eating dinner and taking a bath. The primary reason why he let Miyuki into his room was because neither of them could sleep.

At this time, Tatsuya appeared to be trying to use the books to lull him to sleep. Though it wasn't entirely appropriate for siblings to visit the bedroom (pretty much a private room) at this hour, Tatsuya felt that speaking with Miyuki might improve his mood a little.

"Sure, come in." "Then, I'm coming in."

Tatsuya naturally leaned over the monitor that served as the table's surface as he heard the sound of a door closing coming from the entry way.

"...So, what is it?"

The voice was neither high nor low and was just a simple question being voiced.

In spite of this, an unnatural lull still manifested.

Miyuki didn't immediately reply to her brother's question as she obediently sat on the bed.

Even so... A series of questions started churning through Tatsuya's brain.

--Not too long ago, his sister still favored pajamas.

--Was her current appearance the result of Shizuku's recent appearance taking root?

Right now, the pressing issue was the style of Miyuki's pajamas. Objectively speaking, she was currently wearing a nightgown.

Technically, she had a small jacket draped over the outside and the gown was neatly fastened.

However, from the chest to the knees, the barest hints of snowy white flesh could be seen through the thin layer of silk, filled with mesmerizing temptation.

(Thankfully I'm the only one who saw that... Isn't she a little lacking in the self-consciousness that young ladies usually possess?)

As her brother, Tatsuya was highly concerned about his sister's lack of wariness, --yet whether this was truly right or wrong, there was unfortunately no judge present to determine the outcome.

On the other side, Miyuki appeared to be highly pleased with her brother's blank stare and an embarrassed smile graced her face. Still, that visage swiftly altered to one of seriousness.

"Have I interrupted Onii-sama from studying...?"

"Hardly. Miyuki, you know that such things are not necessary for me."

Anyone else would have felt a surge of disgust at those words, but there was no sign of envy, amazement or praise from Miyuki as she took those words as perfectly natural.

Tatsuya rose from his position before the table and walked to the bedside before taking seat beside Miyuki. Of course, there was a definite distance between them. Yet, from the side and not the front came a look that clearly said "Did you have something to say?" that urged Miyuki onward to voice her hesitant, stuttering question.

"Onii-sama... Miyuki is really conflicted right now."

"Conflicted?"

Despite knowing that something was on Miyuki's mind, this was still a sudden question.

Tatsuya repeated part of Miyuki's sentence and kept his eyes fastened on her, yet she failed to raise her eyes to her brother.

"Right now, I completely don't understand, what magic is….. What we Magicians are..."

Bemusement covered Tatsuya's face.

He was completely not expecting such a profound question. Rather than belonging to the field of magic studies, it may be more appropriate to say this came from the realm of psychology.

While he didn't feel that he was unable to question, Tatsuya didn't have an option that was appropriate enough to answer Miyuki's question.

"What makes you think that?"

Regardless, Tatsuya prompted her to continue speaking.

"From a fundamental perspective, magic and super powers are one and the same. Onii-sama knows this better than anyone else when it comes down to theory or practical application."

"I think knowing that better than anyone else may be a stretch...

But go on."

"Parasites – demons also know how to use magic. When comparing the magic they use with the ones we cast, there is nothing different besides the procedure."

"True."

Miyuki's hands were tightly clasped on top of her knees, but she suddenly twisted around towards Tatsuya. Placing her hands in the space between Tatsuya and herself, she leaned forward towards Tatsuya.

Her eyes were filled with unease.

"I have been wondering whether that's... the result of demons possessing Magicians. Was the demon using the Magician's mind to cast magic?"

Terror lay in the depths of that unease.

"Yet, after seeing the power Pixie used and Onii-sama's ensuing explanation, I have found that I am in error."

"Are you referring to the psychokinesis from that time?" "Yes."

There was another lull until the conversation resumed. Miyuki was afraid of verbalizing the rest. She was terrified of the idea that her theory would be reinforced if she transformed her speculation into words. That was the feeling Tatsuya got from her.

"Telepathy is the ability to communicate from one consciousness to another. The original Parasite that is akin to a spirit form was capable of this, so that's nothing surprising. When I heard that she used psychokinesis to create facial expressions, I also thought nothing of that matter."

Tatsuya felt that Miyuki's face was getting closer.

The wavering emotions in her eyes were becoming more obvious.

"Yet, that burst of psychokinesis... While rough in design that definitely still was Move-Type Magic. And that magic was activated after resonating with Honoka, right?"

"...Yes."

Tatsuya answered with some hesitation. Though that answer was a little dubious, Tatsuya was practically certain that the phenomenon between Honoka and Pixie was nearly as those who with close blood ties, much like the "resonance" rarely observed in Magicians who are identical twins – a phenomenon that occurred when the magic calculation area of one of them is stimulated, the other one's magic calculation area becomes more active as well.

"3H... As a machine, it does not have the power to wield magic.

However, Pixie's psychokinesis was not the power of the host, but a power that came from the monster, the Parasite."

Miyuki lowered her head when she finished. Immediately, she brought her eyes back to him as if she was about to break into tears.

"Since magic is practically the same as psychokinesis, does that mean demons have the same power that we Magicians do?"

Tatsuya finally understood the root of his sister's unease.

"Why is magic called magic? ...Could it be that our power originated from them?" Miyuki's face drew even closer.

She was close enough that he could feel her breathing. At this time, Tatsuya stood up from the bed.

Superficially, he looked to be avoiding Miyuki, but the reality was far different.

Kneeling in front of Miyuki, Tatsuya caught Miyuki's eyes. "Miyuki….. You're overthinking this."

Miyuki rotated her soft, flexible body and used her arms to support her leaning body. She took in Tatsuya's gaze – and stored it within her heart.

Gently taking hold of his sister's shoulders, Tatsuya gradually shifted his sister's leaning body to the proper position bit by bit.

"While magic is referred to as the "law of demons" in Japan, the word magic in English contains the connotation for "ability of sages"."

Miyuki gave a small "ah" sound.

"As to where the power of magic came from, that is currently unknown. Magic Sequences rewrite other information bodies to bring about phenomenon alteration, and though we understand this system, exactly why is this change possible and why the magic calculation area in the human subconscious is able to do so are still enigmas."

Tatsuya wore the confused expression of a master berating a student making a mental error despite being more talented than himself as he smiled.

"For that matter, we cannot even guarantee that magic is something created by Magicians. It would be too great a leap in logic to say that since demons can use magic, then there must be a connection between Magicians and demons."

"That's true..."

"Furthermore, the real identity of the Parasite could be said to be independent information bodies that originated from the human psyche. Since they came from the human consciousness, then its power should come from humans. It would be far more appropriate to say the power of demons come from humans instead of saying that the power of Magicians come from demons."

"I see... Onii-sama is completely right."

The anxiety in Miyuki's eyes faded away into nothing.

Tatsuya got the impression that Miyuki seemed to have understood a tad too quickly, but this was still more constructive than doubt, so there was no reason to ruin her mood.

"You were thinking that you are kin to demons and not humans, and that is why you couldn't sleep, right?"

Tatsuya's words did carry any inflection that poked fun at his sister.

However, as if a button had been pressed, Miyuki blushed even more furiously than usual. Frozen to the point that she forgot to even cover her face, Miyuki rebooted and swiftly turned to face the wall.

Splayed out over the bed in an odd position, she faced the wall without budging an inch.

There's no need to be that embarrassed... Tatsuya thought to himself, but he did acknowledge that his sister's current state was adorable.

"In that case..."

He stealthily moved his lips next to Miyuki's earlobe as he spoke softly.

"Until you fall asleep."

She was so adorable that it roused Tatsuya's mischievousness. As expected, Miyuki's body gave a huge start.

It was as if she was ready to fly to the ceiling. "Should I stay by your side?"

Miyuki slowly turned her head around, blushing the entire time. As she watched Tatsuya with abashed and tender eyes, she spoke in a feathery tone.

"...Can you hold my hand?"

Overdid it, Tatsuya thought.

Tatsuya had no authority to deny her.

Until Miyuki fell asleep, Tatsuya sat on the bed tightly clasping Miyuki's pearly white hand.

Fortunately, Miyuki immediately departed for dreamland.

His sister's happy, slumbering face was Tatsuya's greatest reward. Even so, it was hard to hide his mental exhaustion.

Carefully walking away and turning off the light, Tatsuya left Miyuki's bedside.

Silently closing the door, he walked towards his own room. Halfway back, Tatsuya realized something.

Even Miyuki, who had received higher education as a Magician, had thought that there was a connection between Magicians and demons instead of focusing on magic alone.

She took Magicians for something inhuman.

If someone well versed in magic like Miyuki thought so, then those who were unfamiliar with magic and were not Magicians themselves could hardly be faulted for seeing Magicians as demonic.

It would hardly be surprising if they thought Magicians were not quite human, or frankly "something inhuman" altogether...

◊ ◊ ◊

The next morning.

When Tatsuya got to school, he immediately dragged Erika, Leo, and Mikihiko out of the classroom. Though he saw that Mizuki watched them with nervous eyes, he never gave her an opportunity to rescue them.

Their destination was the roof.

Not only was it the coldest time in the morning, not a single person was on the wind-exposed rooftop. Tatsuya didn't want to stay too long himself.

"You guys have something to tell me."

The three people on the rooftop weren't intentionally keeping quiet. However, seeing that their friend had specifically called them up here and spared them the small talk, no one could knock Tatsuya for losing his patience even if his tone was a little anxious.

The three of them glanced at each other and all wore resigned expressions. As their expressions clearly showed that they had given up, they wordlessly determined who was going to be their spokesperson with high speed.

"Tatsuya, um, actually..."

The one who spoke with trepidation, or maybe in a self-defeating manner, was Mikihiko.

"Are you saying that you guys let the Parasite get away?"

Though Tatsuya jumped the gun because he wanted to get this over with quickly, he couldn't help but sight when he saw Mikihiko raise his head in shock as if he had heard of something impossible.

"I'm not going to be upset if that's all it is. Although it's going to be a little difficult to recapture….. But there's nothing to be done if it already got away."

Though he didn't hide his disappointment, this wasn't a completely unsalvageable situation. Just as Tatsuya expressed his stance and was about to return to the warm classroom,

"No, that's not it, Tatsuya!"

Mikihiko frantically grabbed a hold of him.

"Yeah, it's not like they got away….. Well, technically they did get away..."

Based on those mutually exclusive words, his friends hadn't gotten to the important part, so Tatsuya turned his gaze on to Leo.

"They were taken by someone else." "Were they that strong?"

Tatsuya's reaction to Leo's answer was a little different than the usual approach to this situation.

However, the detail that Tatsuya cared about the most was precisely this one.

They had been in the same close for almost a year. In Tatsuya's eyes, the three of them had the power now to match any frontline combat Magician and maybe even the members of the Independent Magic- Equipped Battalion.

Of course, they still couldn't take on Kazama or Yanagi (without "Trident", even Tatsuya couldn't defeat them), but they could definitely hold their own against the rank and file.

"While it was unfortunate that we failed, but from a strength perspective, they weren't particularly capable opponents."

"They did have exceptional gear. That's the first time I ran into someone wearing a jacket that could numb an enemy on contact."

"They also had durable armor that scattered dust on impact. If only I had a longer weapon yesterday."

"No wonder."

That sort of equipment was certainly unique, but then again, that made it easier to identify the enemy.

"In the end, they even got on a black airship and fled. That was frustrating."

"OK, we should be thankful that nothing more serious happened." Hearing Tatsuya's words, or more like after hearing Tatsuya's words,

Erika couldn't help but turn a "Hm?" look on Tatsuya. "Tatsuya-kun, don't tell me you already know who they are?"

"Sort of. I never made direct contact with them before, but I think I can guess."

"Who are they?"

After considering the nature of the answer, it wouldn't be strange that saying something and not saying something both held merit.

"JSDF Intelligence Department Counterintelligence 3rd Division. With that sort of interesting equipment and even a stealth airship for transport, it must be the 3rd Division."

Tatsuya's answer was very direct. Nor did there appear to be any sign he was holding back. It may be that not only Erika, but even Leo and Mikihiko had become embroiled in his affairs.

"Does... Tatsuya know that because he's a member of the

Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion?" "Ah?"

Even so,

"I don't recall telling Erika the unit I belong to..."

At someone pointing out something they didn't remember, Erika shook her head.

"...I see, you heard from Miyuki."

"After seeing something like that, there's no way I wouldn't ask."

The item Erika was referring to was probably the Movable Suit. Despite uncovering Tatsuya's identity, Erika still hadn't connected Tatsuya to the "Scorched Halloween" yet.

"Since we were engaged in full blown combat with the invading force, a clearly differentiated chain of command couldn't be avoided. Still, I do hope you will keep that a secret."

"I know. I don't want to be arrested for espionage."

Compromising the National Secrecy Act was synonymous to being suspected of spying. The majority of the citizens protested that this invasion of privacy in the latter half of the previous century, so Japan had since returned to being a normal country.

"Hey, since you know who our opponents are, you wouldn't happen to know where they carted those guys off to, right?"

Erika's mood rebounded quickly as she asked in a hopeful voice. Unfortunately,

"Without knowing their objective even I can't be sure." Tatsuya frankly shook his head. That was how reality was.

"True... Our opponent is a government organization, so they must have multiple hideouts."

"That's because there's a budget, though it's not inexhaustible. Still, they're probably like a wily rabbit that has three different hiding holes."

Just as Mikihiko said, this time their opponent was a government organization. In terms of fighting assets at their disposal, they were on a fundamentally different level than foreign forces that had illegally invaded their soil. They had always enjoyed home field advantage, but this time that was transferred to the other side.

"Meh, it's not like we have to worry too much. This wouldn't have ended even if you guys had taken care of the interlopers from last night. We also know that the Parasites are onto Pixie. We just have to lay a snare that cannot be stolen from us next time."

Tatsuya wore an evil smile as he reassured the three of them. –Despite the kind words, Erika, Leo, and Mikihiko all backed away fearfully from that expression, but Tatsuya seemed not to care.

"Let's table this here. Hurry back to the classroom before we freeze here."

Though no one present would feel that this chill would be anything serious, at the end of the day, cold was cold.

None of the three raised any objection as they followed behind Tatsuya going indoors.

◊ ◊ ◊

Coincidentally at the same time that Tatsuya and Erika's group were having a chat on the rooftop, Colonel Balance also received a phone call on her end.

"I'm terribly sorry for bothering you so early in the morning, Ms. Virginia."

"It's you again."

The image that appeared on the screen was the face she saw yesterday. The 15-year old young lady who claimed to be the spokesperson of the Yotsuba, Kuroba Ayako. This morning, she was still wrapped in silk and lace.

"School... No, excuse me."

Except while she was fulfilling her duties, Colonel Balance was pretty much a moralist. That was why she was on the verge of telling off a young girl who plainly was of the age that she should be in school but was evidently engaged in non-school related activities this morning.

"Thank you for caring."

Keenly discerning what Virginia was thinking, Ayako revealed a perfectly polite smile.

"Still, Ms. Virginia need not worry. I have long since obtained the necessary credits to graduate."

Since Virginia was not aware of the Japanese middle school system, there was no way for her to judge if Ayako was lying.

"No, I was the one who said something pointless. So do you have news on your end?"

Colonel Balance was only observing the forms by asking this question. She honestly was not expecting to receive any worthy intelligence on the first day.

"Indeed. Actually last night, the JSDF Intelligence Department Counterintelligence 3rd Division captured a Parasite. Right now, we have confirmed that one of them was a former Magician of the USNA military. The head told me that I should bring this to Ms. Virginia of this and I have done so."

"Bring this" via phone was a slight problem. Still, Balance wasn't planning on wasting breath on that, since the information that was just provided to her far outweighed that.

"Are the Parasites on the move again?"

"Family members have reported that Parasites who have lost their vessels found new hosts. These should be the people who captured one."

At the same time she said this, Ayako transferred encrypted documents to Colonel Balance's terminal. After reading the table of contents for the documents that automatically decrypted themselves, she verified that one of the contained personal information with a picture attached.

"There are 3 captured Parasites. Among them, this is the only one we have currently identified. If you wish, I can also inform you of the location they are being held captive."

Just looking at the table of contents was not sufficient to clarify why this retired Magician was so important, but leaving him alone was not an option for Colonel Balance.

"Please do so, Ms. Kuroba." "Understood."

The young lady in the picture bowed as the information was sent over. Without losing decorum, Colonel Balance gave a simple thank you before hanging up and immediately examined the documents.

Colonel Balance's expression turned dark.

She turned towards an encrypted line specifically prepared for her and swiftly sent out a message.

The message contained orders to prepare for mobilization tonight. The recipient of that message was Major Angelina Sirius.

◊ ◊ ◊

The first subject of the day was General Studies. Students were allowed to read and work on problems, though some students chose to listen to music in order to enhance their studying.

Tatsuya had always allowed the text to scroll on its own, so today he brought his earphones. He would listen to the synthesized music while thinking about questions that had nothing to do with school.

It was true that he heard about the Counterintelligence 3rd Division's name and unique features from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.

Yet, this wasn't like it was incomprehensible for a branch of the Intelligence Department.

Within the Intelligence Department, they were the division that had the closest relationship with the Saegusa Family. They were a detachment that had participated in this action as the hands and feet of the Saegusa Family. To be precise, they should be a unit that had mobilized with the Saegusa Family's support in the background, which was how Tatsuya speculated this opposing force to be.

Still, this turnout felt rather surreal to Tatsuya.

He was working under the assumption that this incident happened under the Saegusa Family's orders.

Using a stealth airship as the centerpiece to forcibly take the Parasites seemed a little too violent.

Tatsuya wasn't that familiar with the modus operandus of the head of the Saegusa Family, Saegusa Koichi, hence why he was unable to discern the Saegusa Family's motives. However, if this sort of high stakes gambling was the Saegusa Family's style, they would have conflicted with the Yotsuba Family a long time ago.

So in the end, who was it that plotted this sequence of events?

There was also the possibility that this wasn't the will of the Saegusa Family and simply the Counterintelligence 3rd Division going rogue.

(Given that the army has disobeyed their hidden backer and acted on their own... Then his motive must lie around some goal that is connected with the army's existence.) Then what is the army after?

As the violent organization dedicated to protecting the country, the army's sole purpose was to directly meet another country's direct overture of violence.

The nature was too complex to explain in one or two sentences. However, from the surface, the army's intent was glaringly obvious. The army's sole goal is victory. All other goals were secondary to that.

There were many paths to victory, and failing where they were supposed to fail was also a form of victory.

No matter what, everything was fine as long as they won.

Anything after winning was the business of politicians. The army only had to worry about how to seize victory.

Thus, the army would pursue power.

An intelligence unit that believed itself a cut above the norm and going rogue would undoubtedly pursue strength as its goal.

Thinking along those lines, a chill ran down Tatsuya's spine.

It couldn't be that the 3rd Division was trying to harness the Parasites

– the demons for military purposes?

That was far too dangerous, Tatsuya couldn't help but think.

One of the key indictments that painted Magicians in a negative light within the USNA was the accusation that Magicians summoned demons to this world. Though the agitators blamed military ambition as the reason behind summoning the demons, the slander here was obvious. However, using Parasites for martial purposes would only give more ammunition to the anti-Magician faction.

(No, the end result would be the same if the Ten Master Clans were plotting behind the scenes.)

Regardless of whether the Counterintelligence 3rd Division went rogue or were operating under orders from the Saegusa Family, Tatsuya's renewed consideration placed them both at the same degree of risk.

A mere pup like him may have no business doing so, but a warning shot needed to be fired across the Saegusa Family's bow.

Though this was definitely going to inconvenience Mayumi as she was preparing for a test, he really needed to find some time to talk. The moment the thought crossed his mind, he used his personal terminal to send set up a meeting with Mayumi.

--Though his brain may say that this would inconvenience her, Tatsuya really didn't care that this would make it tough for Mayumi.

After sending a message to Mayumi in the middle of class, he got a reply back within one minute. Although the message was flagged as "urgent"...

(Isn't that person supposed to be a test taker?)

There wasn't too much time until the test began. Though there was no danger of her failing, he still couldn't help but think "Is this really a good idea for a test taker?". Oh well... Any further thought on this matter was minding someone else's business. Since she could reply to urgent messages immediately, she must have no complaints on the matter.

After ruminating over this, Tatsuya opened the mail.

The message Tatsuya sent over was "Can I see you within the next two days to talk about something?"

Mayumi's reply was "Come immediately to the Student Council Room."

Even though she was able to freely come and go from school, she still came to school often.

Furthermore, her current location was not the classroom or the library, but the Student Council Room.

...Is this really a good idea? Test taker? Tatsuya thought from the bottom of his heart.

Since Tatsuya was the one who reached out for a meeting, of course he was the one who wanted to handle the situation as soon as possible, hence why Tatsuya was walking directly for the Student Council Room.

Though this was bona fide ditching school, cheating the monitoring system was difficult but hardly impossible.

Tatsuya used the ID card that someone he didn't now set up for full access and opened the door. Probably because this was still class time, Mayumi was the only one in the room.

After exchanging greetings – Mayumi thought that was enough whereas Tatsuya had to consider for a moment about the right attitude

–Tatsuya sat down across from Mayumi and immediately conveyed what had happened.

"...This is the situation. I think that airship belongs to the

Intelligence Department Counterintelligence 3rd Division that is rumored to be connected with the Saegusa Family. As to exactly why they wanted to capture a Parasite, I have no idea. However, it is extremely dangerous if they plan to use the Parasite for military purposes. Though I do not know if they can be completely destroyed, sealing them would probably be the best bet."

"Counterintelligence 3rd Division? Though not an adult, even I as a member of the Saegusa Family do not know about this. Tatsuya-kun, I'm amazed that you are in the know for something like this."

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would not ask me for my sources."

"...Well, Tatsuya-kun seems to have a lot on his plate so I won't ask. Compared to that, can you tell me why you went after the Parasite alone?"

"I felt that if senpai's side also sent men, they would be too wary to come."

"Is that all there is?"

Mayumi watched Tatsuya playing dumb with a highly displeased expression on her face.

"I'll let it go for now..."

Yet, before the completely unperturbed Tatsuya, she was about to shrug her shoulders but stopped the motion halfway.

"Tatsuya-kun wants me to try and persuade my father, correct? So that the Parasite captured by the Intelligence Department can be returned to Erika-chan and her group."

Though this hardly mattered, at some point Mayumi started to refer to Erika as "Erika-chan", something that would have prompted a highly unwilling look on Erika herself is she were present (Mizuki was allowed to do so, but no one else). Then again, he could never get used to Mikihiko being called "Miki", so this must be what it means by "what goes around, comes around".

...Tatsuya shook his head to dispel the random thoughts and replied with "I didn't ask you guys to return it" in response to Mayumi's question.

"I'll be blunt. If the reason for keeping the Parasites turns out to be something other than experimentation and that their usage as military tools is discovered, hereby having a negative effect on Magicians, I will ensure that the organization responsible pays dearly for this."

"Quite the terrifying declaration."

Though the voice contained some degree of surprise, her gaze seemed to signify an unspeakable hatred that sort of talk.

"After taking into the consideration what is happening in the USNA, such a threat is necessary."

Mayumi also knew that discrimination against Magicians was growing worse day by day over there. If a similar situation broke out in the much smaller Japan, things might turn into bloodshed at a much faster rate.

"...I understand. I will talk to my father, but I cannot guarantee anything, so please don't be too hopeful. After all, unlike Juumonji- kun, I'm not the heir to the Saegusa Family."

Mayumi's last words threw Tatsuya for a loop. "...What?"

"No... It's just that it's surprising that the Saegusa Family turned out to be so patriarchal."

"What is Tatsuya-kun's family like?"

This may be because she was shy or simply being sulky. Tatsuya was a little unclear about the meaning behind Mayumi's reaction.

Still, there was no reason to answer. After reflecting briefly, Tatsuya approached Mayumi's question in a state of mind much like someone playing a penalty game.

"Our father's influence isn't something that is a part of our lives, since he currently moved into his second wife's condo."

Mayumi's eyes started drift all over the place.

Seeing such an innocent side of Mayumi that was so easily flustered by something like this, Tatsuya couldn't help but think that she's not that much older than we are. Though she often acts like an adult, she definitely couldn't be called a "mature woman".

"The only difference is that she's not a lover but a second wife now." "How mature."

"That's just giving up. And if being an adult means "giving up"...

Then I don't even want to think about it."

Tatsuya answered Mayumi with a completely defeated tone.

Even a bad premonition will occasionally miscalculate.

In regards to Tatsuya's theory about the JSDF Intelligence Department using the Parasite, that was sadly not going to happen.

Still, it was hard to say whether this constituted being "fortunate". The next morning.

"The Counterintelligence 3rd Division's espionage detention center was raided. The captured Parasites have been executed."

That was what was written on the message Mayumi passed along.