Friday, October 12: With only half a month left until the Thesis Competition on October 28, the hustle and bustle in school abruptly intensified. It was anticipated they’d have less work than the major operation last year, since Kyoto’s competition was mainly theoretical, but all hell was still breaking loose.

Isori was heading up the preparations for the presentation itself, which had reached the final stages. The security team had Hattori at the helm, and he was working hard at his training. Meanwhile, Honoka and Izumi were putting their heads together to make arrangements for transportation to Kyoto.

Of course, Tatsuya and Miyuki weren’t goofing off, either. As student council president, Miyuki was keeping a watchful eye over everyone’s progress, sending helpers to places falling behind schedule. In most cases, that helper ended up being Tatsuya. He’d already helped work on the presentation, taken part in the security team’s training, cleaned up some student council work that Miyuki, Honoka, and Izumi couldn’t get to, and on top of all that, he was flitting about to assist Miyuki with odds and ends.

Once Mikihiko arrived in the student council room, it was right before the gates closed after school, and Tatsuya had just managed to wring out a few spare moments between the pressing work.

“Hey, I’m here…”

Mikihiko seemed like he still wasn’t used to taking the direct stairs connecting the student council room and the disciplinary committee HQ. It was in stark contrast to Shizuku, who casually came and went between both rooms (and who was currently serving as a bodyguard for Azusa).

“You’re right on time.”

Even Tatsuya’s lighthearted greeting failed to take away Mikihiko’s tension. “Well… After seeing how busy you’ve been, I can’t exactly turn up late, can I?”

Upon hearing that, Miyuki offered a weak smile, with just a little resignation creeping into it. “It would be nice if everyone else shared your punctuality, Yoshida.”

Sensing that was a calm before the storm, Tatsuya urged Mikihiko to get down to business. “Mikihiko, why don’t we start right away?”

“Right, sure thing.”

Perhaps getting the same impression, Mikihiko unfurled the large-sized electronic paper he’d been holding rolled up onto the conference desk. It almost covered the entire desk, and on it emerged a map of the city of Kyoto.

“The reason I asked for a meeting today is to discuss our preliminary examinations regarding on-site security,” he began to explain, his tone businesslike. “Former club committee chairman Hattori is handling the preparations for security on the day of. He’s also handling the meetings with other schools on his own, and we can keep relying on him for these things.”

“Is it okay to not invite Hattori here?” Honoka asked.

It wasn’t Mikihiko but Tatsuya who nodded. “We have an understanding that we’ll just report the results of this meeting to him. Right, Chairman Yoshida?”

“Executive Secretary Shiba is correct.”

Mikihiko seemed to have trouble saying the title executive secretary. But he didn’t have the guts to ignore his job title in front of Miyuki.

“Former Chairman Hattori told me he didn’t need to be part of today’s meeting. All we’re trying to do is gather information. I guess he’s all right if we just give him the results.”

Finally, unable to ignore the strange feeling of speaking formally any further, by his last sentence, his tone had changed into a familiar one.

“Why don’t we get straight to it, then?” asked Tatsuya, immediately going along with it, maybe finding it easier to speak this way as well.

“Sure thing. Please look at this,” Mikihiko said. Despite his friendly tone, he still remembered his please and thank-yous to Miyuki. “This is the venue, the New International Conference Hall.”

“It’s quite far from the city center,” offered Izumi when she saw the map.

“Apparently, the locals were insistent they not have big conferences in the middle of the city,” Mikihiko answered with a wry grin, before drawing back his expression. “Unlike last year, there won’t be much traffic nearby. It would seem that criminals and saboteurs have few angles of entry, but if there’s a lot of nature around, that would give them plenty of places where they could hide and prepare their schemes.”

He reverted the map, which he’d magnified on the venue’s surroundings before, to the map of all of Kyoto.

“And if there isn’t anywhere to hide nearby, I think it’s possible they’ll set up their base of operations a short distance away.”

Then, as they’d decided in advance, Miyuki interjected, “Then you believe we should investigate a broader area than just the vicinity of the conference hall?”

“Yes. I’d rather not have a repeat of last year.”

Then Tatsuya immediately launched a second volley of support fire. “Agreed. We may only be high school students, but we still need to do what we can.”

Gazes brimming with surprise gathered on Tatsuya. Honoka and Izumi aside, he would rather have Minami—who already knew the circumstances—not look at him like that, but it was important for Honoka and Izumi, who would presumably be staying behind this time, not to harbor any suspicions toward her. He pretended not to be aware of the three sets of eyes.

“Anyway, Mikihiko, who will be in the group going to look at things in advance?”

“I’ll go,” replied Mikihiko.

“Will the school be all right without its disciplinary committee chairman?”

“I’m thinking of having Kitayama, currently acting as a bodyguard, look after the school. And I’d like you to come, too, Tatsuya.”

“I don’t mind. We probably need at least one of the security members checking the site out.”

“Brother, if it is all right with you, I’d like to accompany you.”

“You—the student council president?” Tatsuya asked opaquely.

Miyuki was actually better at those sorts of acts in times like these. “I’d like to meet with the manager of the hotel where everyone coming to cheer us on will be staying. I also want to find a shelter we can evacuate to should worse come to worst.”

“Miyuki, in that case, I can—”

“Honoka, you still have work I gave you personally, like transportation and budgeting, right? I’m only overseeing everything, so I haven’t taken on any particular work.”

“I…guess…” Honoka withdrew, looking disappointed.

After hearing Miyuki and Honoka’s exchange, Izumi looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could manage to, Miyuki preempted her. “Izumi, since you’re the vice president, I’d like to leave you here in my place while I’m away in Kyoto. Will you do that for me?”

“Of course. I’ll do my very best.”

Needless to say, Izumi honestly wanted to go with Miyuki to Kyoto, too. But she wasn’t one who could say no when her beloved Miyuki asked her to be her replacement. In fact, she was the type of girl who would get excited over Miyuki asking her to do something for her.

“What will the schedule look like?” asked Tatsuya.

“It’ll be a little tight, but how about a Saturday before the competition, staying over from the twentieth to the twenty-first?” responded Mikihiko.

“Seems like a good idea. Do you already have lodging in mind?”

“No, I figured we’d leave that until we decided.”

“I see. Minami?” Then Tatsuya addressed Minami as the final piece of their preparation.

“Yes?”

He’d explained this scenario to her, so she wasn’t especially surprised—she looked as calm, despite her age, as she always did.

“Sorry to ask this, but could you make a hotel reservation? Preferably the one we’ll stay in the day before the competition. It will be me, Miyuki, Mikihiko, and you, so four of us.”

“I’m going, too?”

“Yeah. I want you to help out Miyuki while we’re there.”

Izumi made a frustrated expression at that remark. She was probably thinking how much she wanted to be the one to support Miyuki. But she’d already accepted the job of being her replacement. If Tatsuya had asked her to do that, she would have easily retracted her previous statement. But she couldn’t even consider for a moment refusing something Miyuki asked her to do.

Once closing time came around, Tatsuya left the student council room with Honoka ahead of everyone else. Their destination was where Shizuku was standing guard for Azusa, who was leading the team making the experimental devices.

On the way, they met up with Mikihiko, who had just finished locking up the disciplinary committee HQ, and the three of them headed for the lab building. Unlike Isori, who was heading up work in the lecture hall, Azusa was using a fixture-type CAD, which was more for use in experiments.

“Shizuku!” Honoka called.

Shizuku turned to look at them, along with Tomoko Chikura, also a bodyguard for Azusa; Sayaka; and Kirihara, supposedly Minakami’s bodyguard, who was here for some reason.

“What’s wrong, Shiba? We put in a request to stay late. I think.”

Even Kirihara had finally stopped calling him my man Shiba. He called him Shiba now and called Miyuki President. One could call those the most appropriate forms of address, even.

“Yes, we received your application, but it’s still not good to keep female students at school so late.”

“…But, I mean…” said Kirihara to Sayaka, tilting his head. It seemed Sayaka was the selfish one here.

“Anyway, what is it?” asked Shizuku to Honoka just as things were getting awkward. She’d tried to read the mood and change the topic, but she was the only one Tatsuya and Mikihiko were here for.

“Kitayama, there’s something I’d like to ask you to do.”

“Me?” Shizuku perked her head to the side in a doll-like motion.

After a short chuckle, Mikihiko got to the point: “We actually decided to go to Kyoto to scout things out before the competition.”

“In case something like last year happens?” The words scout things out were enough for Shizuku to understand the official reasoning.

“Yeah. We plan to stay over from the twentieth to the twenty-first to check on some things. Would you mind doing the chairperson’s job for those two days?”

Shizuku, for some reason, looked over at Honoka rather than the bowing Mikihiko. “What about you, Honoka?”

“Huh? I’m…staying here.”

“Hmm…” Shizuku’s focus shifted to Tatsuya. “Are you going, Tatsuya?”

“Yeah.”

After thinking for a moment, she gave an agreement to Mikihiko.

“Thanks,” he stated in return. “That’s a big help.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, once again not looking at Mikihiko as he lowered his head, but at Honoka, who was averting her eyes from Tatsuya.

In the cabinet on the way home, Tatsuya was reading the news. He suddenly looked slightly surprised.

“Brother, is something the matter?” his sister asked instantly from next to him.

“Yeah—it’s this news article.”

He turned his information terminal toward her. A local article from the Kyoto area was displayed on it. He seemed to have started his information gathering and found a detailed account of a murdered corpse discovered in a famous sightseeing spot.

“The body was discovered this morning, and the victim’s name was Saburou Nakura… Ah! Isn’t that…?!” Right away, she’d figured out the reason behind his reaction.

“Is it someone you know?” asked Minami—reasonable, considering she’d never heard the name before.

“Unless he has the same name,” Tatsuya began carefully, “this is the magician serving as Saegusa’s bodyguard.”

Minami’s eyes widened. “Is it truly him?”

“Hard to say—there’s no photograph,” he explained—though he had a gut feeling this victim was indeed the older man guarding Mayumi.

“If it was…is there any chance it could be a coincidence?” Miyuki asked. Tatsuya and Minami both had the same question.

A Saegusa family magician had been killed in Kyoto, where chances were high that Gongjin Zhou was hiding. And in what the press was calling an unnatural death.

The article said the corpse was in a normally unthinkable state. Probably the result of defeat in magical combat.

To kill a magician with such skills as to be entrusted with the Saegusa’s eldest daughter’s safety, and one who was highly likely to have been an Extra—only so many people had that kind of skill. The man who had dealt a major wound to Mitsugu Kuroba, then broken out of a Kuroba squad’s encirclement and escaped, for example…

This certainly didn’t seem like a coincidence to Tatsuya.

She was, without a doubt, the most surprised upon seeing the news that Nakura had been killed.

“Father, please explain this!”

As soon as she was informed of Kouichi’s return, she’d barged into her father’s study.

“What’s going on? Why was Nakura killed?!”

She slammed her hands down on the thick desk and pressed her father, sitting behind it, for answers.

“How do you know that Nakura was killed?”

“Because the police station called me to confirm his identity!”

“And you accepted? What about university?”

“They couldn’t get in touch with you or my brothers, so they came to me!”

“What the hell are they doing…?” murmured Kouichi about his sons.

Upon hearing that, Mayumi’s emotions started boiling even more. “Does any of that really matter right now?!” She honestly couldn’t care less about her father or oldest brother disappearing, or her second-oldest brother pretending to be out—that was par for the course. “Stop trying to change the subject, please! What do they mean Nakura was killed?!”

“They mean just that. Nakura has been killed. We’ve lost a valuable man.”

“That isn’t what I’m asking you right now! Why was Nakura killed in Kyoto?!”

“That isn’t for you to know,” he snapped to brush her off.

But Mayumi wasn’t a weakhearted, pampered girl—that wasn’t enough to scare her. “Nakura is my bodyguard. I have a right to know the truth.”

Her tone had calmed, but her emotions were raging all the more intensely within. Anyone could tell that, not only Kouichi. He knew his daughter’s personality and sensed he’d need to compromise to a degree.

“I had dispatched Nakura to Kyoto for a certain job. He must have run into some trouble there.”

“A job? What sort of job?”

“A job of the utmost importance for the Saegusa family—one of the Ten Master Clans.”

“You didn’t answer me! What was it about?!”

“Something you don’t need to know.”

But he wouldn’t admit to there being a need to compromise any further than that.

That got through to Mayumi, too. She realized pressing him any more wouldn’t get her anywhere.

“…Fine. If you’ll excuse me.”

Harboring deep suspicions about her father, Mayumi left the study.

But Mayumi hadn’t given up on getting to the bottom of all this.

She and Nakura hadn’t actually been that close. He’d always been polite and civil with her, only ever attending to her as a servant. She’d always sensed something other, something eerie about him.

Nevertheless, she had known him and been with him for a period of time that was by no means short. And now, because of a job her own father had ordered him to do…

Mayumi didn’t believe it one bit when Kouichi said that he’d run into trouble. She was confident he hadn’t been wrapped up in something—he’d been killed during and because of his work.

Still, that was nothing more than her intuition speaking. She didn’t have any proof at the moment, and she understood that.

“What’s wrong, Mayumi? You keep sighing. And you don’t seem like yourself. Are you sick or something?”

“Huh? No, it’s nothing, Mari.”

“Certainly doesn’t look like nothing… If it isn’t, then you need to pull yourself together. Everyone’s been staring for a while.”

“Wait, really?!”

Mayumi hastily straightened and reseated herself, fixing her wide-open collar and deeply slit hem.

They were in the Magic University cafeteria, and it was lunchtime, the period between morning and afternoon lectures. A lot of the students got together at this time after eating, and when the noble daughter of the Saegusa of the Ten Master Clans was looking languid and slightly indecent, obviously they’d be looking at her.

Incidentally, Mari wasn’t here because she was skipping out on drills at the Defense Academy. The Magic University had a system of accepting an occasional student from the Defense Academy’s special combat graduate course—broadly speaking, lessons to foster magician commanders—and a student chosen by the academy would visit once per week to attend lectures. Mari had been chosen as that occasional student, and today was the day of those lectures.

At first, Mayumi pretended nothing was going on, but that didn’t last long. She was probably relieved, too, at a friend she hadn’t seen in a long time being in front of her. Realizing she was about to heave another sigh, she decided to stop playing tough.

“Mari, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Mayumi put her elbows on the table, covered her mouth with a hand, and spoke to Mari. It wasn’t very good manners, but this was the easiest position to take so that nobody would be able to read her lips. They allowed students to use soundproofing fields in the cafeteria but not spells that would block light so you couldn’t see inside.

“What is it?”

Mari assumed the same pose. From afar, they almost had their foreheads touching, adding to the feeling of secrecy.

“Mari, you know Nakura, right?”

“Your bodyguard? What about him?”

“Well, he’s been killed.”

“Killed—wait, what? …When did that happen?”

Mari was about to wonder aloud how she said that with a straight face, but seeing the swirl of combined sadness, annoyance, and rage in Mayumi’s eyes, she switched to a question midway through.

“It happened the day before yesterday, probably late at night. The Kyoto police called me yesterday.”

“Kyoto? You weren’t the one they were after, then?”

“Yes.”

“I see…”

Mari nearly let out a sigh of relief but managed to stop herself. She was pretending to be calm, but in her mind, she was rattled and on the verge of panic. She’d been frantically wondering what she would do if Mayumi was being targeted. When it turned out to be a needless fear for the moment, she finally regained enough mental leeway to lament the dead.

“I’m so sorry for your loss…”

“Thanks.”

A subdued air drifted between them. Perhaps, during that wordless time, they offered a silent prayer for the dead.

“Do they know what happened? Was it an accident?”

“Homicide.”

Mari expected that answer, too. That was always a risk when you were a bodyguard for the Ten Master Clans.

“But they don’t know why.”

Her friend across from her was desperately holding in her emotions, lest they explode out of her. Mari didn’t have to ask her or observe her to know that.

“My father only said he’d made him go to Kyoto for a job. He wouldn’t tell me anything about what the work was for or what kind it was. Obviously it was something shady, but for it to be something he could lose his life to…”

She heard a noise from Mayumi’s throat that sounded like a swallow. It was, without a doubt, a sob.

“But I don’t want to go on a hunt for vengeance,” continued Mayumi, managing to calm her emotions, making her voice sound even more willful. “I don’t, but— I don’t know, I feel like this is something I can’t ignore. Something I can’t leave alone.”

“Is it? Is anything backing you up on that?” pointed out Mari calmly despite being overwhelmed by her will.

“Not yet. I just have a gut feeling I have to do something. But I can’t ignore it. It’s driving me crazy.”

“I can’t…make much more time, by the way.”

The Magic University and the Defense Academy weren’t too far away—more specifically, the Magic University and the special combat graduate course’s separate building weren’t far from each other. Additionally, magician students were exempted from living in dorms out of recognition for the necessity to keep family or school magic information and personal spells a secret, so it wasn’t hard for the two of them to meet.

But like Mari said, the Defense Academy curriculum didn’t give much freedom compared to the Magic University. In fact, they had so many other things to do in their first year besides their mandatory drills that they basically had no free time at all. Mari personally wanted to do something for her distressed close friend, but schedule-wise, it was impossible.

“…Why not ask Juumonji or Tatsuya about it?”

Mayumi’s eyes widened at the sudden and unexpected—for her, at least—names being dropped. She blinked several times in a fluster. “Juumonji I would understand, but…why Tatsuya?”

“The Thesis Competition this year is in Kyoto, right?”

Mayumi felt Mari’s answer wasn’t good enough. “They’ll only be staying two days and one night for the competition, won’t they? And they’ll be so busy with other things, they won’t have any time to spare.”

“You know what happened last year. Won’t they at least go to check the place out beforehand?”

“Well, maybe. But knowing Tatsuya, he’ll probably be helping with the presentation and doing student council work. He’s so busy, and if I went through the trouble of going there myself… What’s that look for?” Mayumi asked Mari, noticing the fed-up look she was being given.

“There’s no point in either of us thinking about all that. Can’t you just ask him?”

It was such an obvious thing that Mayumi couldn’t even grasp a fragment of an argument.

“And why are you so worried about bothering him anyway?” Mari continued. “If you want help, wouldn’t you go to Juumonji first? He’s in university, too, and way more accommodating than Tatsuya. If I had to say who was more reliable, I’d say Juumonji.”

“Well, I, er… I guess I don’t want to bother the Juumonji family with Saegusa issues, since we’re both part of the Ten Master Clans…”

Mari wasn’t listening to those excuses. She heard them as sound, but she was completely ignoring the words they made. “Mayumi, don’t tell me.”

“Tell…you what?”

The expression Mari gave her was not the mean kind of someone teasing their good friend, but an oddly serious one that seemed sincerely worried about her.

“You’re not actually in love with him, are you?”

It took a few seconds before her words sank fully into Mayumi’s mind.

“With him…? You mean with Tatsuya?!”

“Don’t yell, you moron!”

Mayumi had a soundproofing field up, so their voices would never leak outside, but her sudden outburst was enough to make Mari forget that.

“That would be impossible! Yes—impossible! Tatsuya? I would never seriously con…consider…”

Mari watched her stammering friend coolly. “Mayumi, considering what you look like right now, can you say for certain it’s out of the question?”

“Well, I…”

Her voice, lacking confidence, faded out.

But she wasn’t finished yet. Determined, she looked up and stuck out her chest.

“No, no, that’s definitely impossible. Impossible—just not possible.”

“…You seem awfully confident about that, but the way you say it isn’t the least bit convincing.”

“Tatsuya is a reliable boy. Like a younger brother. Yes, a little brother!”

“Well, uh, he’s not, though. You don’t have any blood relation, which I’m pretty sure you know?”

“Yes—and it’s the right of a big sister to make her little brother help her! Okay, time to make Tatsuya help me get to the bottom of this. First, I’ll check his schedule for going to Kyoto.”

“Listen to me, you…”

With Mayumi forcibly bringing things to a strange conclusion, Mari buried her face on the table, her expression utterly exhausted.

Sunday, October 14. Tatsuya was visiting the Magic Association’s Kanto branch in Yokohama.

After telling his name to the receptionist, he let them know he had a prior appointment.

The one whom he had it with was already waiting in the meeting room.

“It’s good to see you again, Hayama. Did I make you wait?”

“Not at all—you’re right on time, Mr. Tatsuya. I was the one who called you, so it is only natural I’d arrive first. Please don’t worry yourself any further in that regard.”

Tatsuya bowed, then went across from Hayama.

They both sat down at the same time as though they’d arranged it beforehand. Of the sofas here, Tatsuya felt like the cushions were a little firm, but it would help him keep his edge nicely.

He was the one to get things rolling. “You wanted to talk about something regarding this job, right?”

“Yes. I hear you were attacked in Nara the other day. I trust you were not injured?”

“I’m fine. Miyuki and the others didn’t suffer so much as a scratch, either. I’m grateful for your concern.”

“That’s good to hear. Well, even in the worst case, you would never be defeated by people such as those. Incidentally, do you know who your assailants were?”

“I don’t know anything for certain. The army’s intelligence department intervened, and I haven’t been able to look into the details.”

“I see—the intelligence department.”

An exchange of jabs, of truth mixed with falsehood. Just as Tatsuya wasn’t telling him everything he knew, Hayama was probably hiding certain things, too. Actually, in this particular conversation, Hayama had said essentially nothing.

“I apologize. That’s why I haven’t gotten any results that I can report.”

“Not at all. Simply having acquired the Kudou family’s help is enough fruit to sate the mistress.”

Tatsuya studied Hayama’s face in a way that wouldn’t be rude. Unfortunately, his powers of insight couldn’t discern whether his suggestion that Maya would be happy with that was true or just lip service.

“In that case, I’d like to continue with my current direction.”

“That will be fine.”

In any case, Tatsuya could only accept having secured freedom of movement. “Has there been any new information on the Kuroba’s end?”

“No, there’s been no progress there, either.”

Was he giving minimal answers so as not to grant Tatsuya any means of deduction? Even a distrustful thought such as that flashed through his mind.

“In any case, Mr. Tatsuya. I had you come here today in order to convey a message from the mistress and to hear your opinion.”

“All right.” Of course he had. He wouldn’t have been done after only asking about the search progress.

“The mistress wishes to ask if you require any additional aid.”

“Additional aid…?”

Tatsuya couldn’t immediately respond to the unexpected words. He’d never even considered Maya would dispatch any reinforcements.

But this was a good opportunity, he thought. He’d actually planned to make use of Hayama or Mitsugu and keep it secret from Maya, but if Maya wanted to send him reinforcements, accepting them would leave the least bad taste in his mouth.

“Hayama. You instructed Fumiya and Ayako to purposely ignore the ones tailing them when you had them deliver the letter containing my mission, didn’t you?”

Hayama tilted his head, his face straight, at Tatsuya’s words. “Oh? No, I never gave them any such instructions…”

He didn’t look like he was feigning ignorance. But looking at the situation after that, it was clear such instructions had existed.

“Oh—now that you mention it, Hanabishi was talking to Mr. Fumiya about something.”

“Did he?”

Hanabishi ranked second-highest among the Yotsuba servants. He was an outsider magician whom the Yotsuba had scouted, and while his magic power was average, he was a retired soldier with plenty of combat experience. In the Yotsuba family, he was in charge of schedule adjustments and providing equipment for their shadier magic-related jobs. In a sense, the butler was the Yotsuba’s control tower.

“Hanabishi would never give such instructions at his own discretion, would he?”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I honestly don’t know any more than that.”

That was a lie. There was no way Maya’s confidant wouldn’t know something as important as a leak of information regarding Tatsuya and Miyuki. Tatsuya aside, Miyuki was a candidate for the next head of the family.

But if Hayama told him he didn’t know, Tatsuya didn’t have any way to pursue further. He decided to change his angle of attack. “I see. But it seems certain that Fumiya was tailed. We also had a synthetic spirit spying on our house, and we were attacked in front of the nearest station.”

“I was not aware… Mr. Tatsuya, I do apologize. I will be sure to ask Hanabishi for all the details.”

“No, it’s over and done with now, so I don’t really mind.”

“Then…?”

“To tell the truth, it seems Traditionalist agents are making frequent appearances around our classmates.”

“Hmm… That must be a concern for both of you.”

“Yes. At the moment, I’m handling things with the goodwill of the Kitayama family and the Ninefold Temple. Would you mind recommending to Maya that she assist them?”

“I see. Allaying future anxiety is the foundation of tactics. And Lady Maya would never leave an obstacle untouched.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to bother Master any more than I already have.”

Behind this remark was a veiled threat—allow Yakumo’s intervention any more, and they would not be falsely accused but correctly accused of things they would rather not be known. But did Hayama understand that? Tatsuya hoped he did, for the sake of both the Yotsuba and Yakumo, but he didn’t say it outright.

“By the way, Mr. Tatsuya, speaking of the Ninefold Temple…”

Maybe Hayama’s sudden change of topic was an indication that he didn’t wish to proceed with this line of conversation any further, either.

“I hear you have been working on development of a new spell at the Ninefold Temple.”

“You knew about that?” The surprise on Tatsuya’s face wasn’t an act. He really had no idea when or how they’d learned about it.

“It was simply a guess. We are quite aware of the things below the temple.”

“I see—that was a clever trick just now.”

Tatsuya faked a frustrated expression, but that was an act. He was relieved, first and foremost, that there wasn’t an obvious a hole in information control, and the new magic development itself was basically ready to go public anyway. It was actually good timing for someone to give him a pickoff throw.

“As you say, I’ve been borrowing the Ninefold Temple basement to develop a new attack spell.”

“May I ask what sort of spell it is?”

“Of course. I don’t have anything I need to keep from Aunt Maya.” Prefacing it with a blank face and a complete lie, he answered Hayama’s question. “The magic I’m currently developing is a close-range physical attack spell. I believe you’ve read over the report concerning the Brionac, which Angie Sirius of the Stars used.”

“Are you attempting to reproduce the Brionac, then?”

“The logic is subtly different, but the base concept is the same. To tell the truth, I had an opponent at First High in April against whom Mist Dispersion wouldn’t work.”

“The Tomitsuka family’s Range Zero?”

“So you were aware. It was a wake-up slap at the time. As Miyuki’s Guardian, I decided I needed to prioritize developing a spell that could fend off opponents whom Dismantle isn’t effective on.”

Hayama nodded deeply to Tatsuya’s words, whether sincerely or not. “I admire your dedication.”

“Once this spell is complete, it will not only be able to penetrate Range Zero’s psionic armor, but likely the Juumonji family’s Phalanx as well. I should be able to unveil it by the New Year.”

For a moment, a dangerous look flashed across Hayama’s face. But it reverted to his gentle butler face so quickly, it seemed like an illusion. “Have you decided on a name for the spell yet?”

“It’s not finished yet, so it’s a temporary name, but…”

“Go ahead, if you will.”

“When it is complete, I plan to name it Baryon Lance.”

“…That sounds quite promising. I look forward to seeing it alongside Lady Miyuki when the New Year arrives,” said Hayama, standing up.

Tatsuya felt like it was time to wrap things up as well. “Thank you for talking to Maya about my school friends’ safety.”

“Yes—all so that you may devote yourself to the mission, Mr. Tatsuya.”

Tatsuya bowed to Hayama, then left the meeting room.

They shared no handshake between them.

Monday, October 15.

Amid the hustle and bustle of its Thesis Competition preparations, First High was today wrapped up in a new stir.

Mayumi Saegusa, formerly student council president, had come wielding her position as eldest daughter of the Saegusa of the Ten Master Clans to seek a meeting with Tatsuya Shiba. News of the event quickly captured the students’ interest.

As the student body traded excited gossip, there were several specific students who couldn’t remain lighthearted at such ominous tidings.

Gyoubu Hattori, previous club committee chairman.

Honoka Mitsui, student council treasurer.

And Miyuki, current student council president and Tatsuya’s younger sister, felt an unspeakable disquiet when Tatsuya and Mayumi disappeared into the reception room together.

(Continued in Part II)