Plan to Assassinate Tatsuya Shiba (II)

Release Date

February 9^th, 2019

ISBN

On Cover

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Plan to Assassinate Tatsuya Shiba Volume 2 is the second light novel adapted from the web novel spin-off of the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei series.

Synopsis[]

A young girl appears to study under Yuki as an apprentice assassin. A failed magician? Or?

May 2096AD, approximately two years have passed since Hashibami Yuki was defeated by Tatsuya. She has been working on a daily basis as a professional assassin under the direct control of Kuroba Fumiya.

During that time, the Yotsuba dispatch Ouzaki Nao, ‘a young apprentice assassin,’ to train under Yuki. Yuki’s personality complex is reflected like a mirror by Nao’s girlish disposition and appearance, and so their strange life together begins.

And now, a new target is decided.

Fanning the flames of the ‘Humanist cause’, a certain cult schemes to assassinate Shiba Tatsuya. Nao takes action to put her abilities to the test——

A failure? Or? On her own, will Nao’s Flash Casting be strong enough!?

Chapter 1[]

Spoiler
On the twenty-fifth of April 2096AD, a historic experiment took place at First High School. Regarded in posterity as both ‘the embers of catastrophe’ and ‘the dawn of change’, an experimental resident-type gravity control magic-type thermonuclear reactor, more commonly known as the ‘Stellar Furnace’ experiment, was successfully implemented by a high school student still in his teens. In the Yamashita District of Yokohama City, Zhou Gongjin is hosting an elderly businessman in his restaurant in China Town. The meeting, held at the start of May, was triggered by the Stellar Furnace experiment, which Zhou has invited Iwakiri-sama to discuss. They discuss Konishi, the leader of an Anti-Magic Doctrine Organisation, and the dubious rumours of violence surrounding the group. Zhou denies the rumours saying the police have found no links between the group and the members arrested by the police. Zhou suggests the group might be the chess piece that Iwakiri has been searching for, since he and the group desire the same thing. Iwakiri admits that if the Stellar Furnace technology is realised, his industry will take a heavy blow. Simply put, the Stellar Furnace could cause Iwakiri’s energy business to collapse in the long run. Realising that he cannot ignore Shiba Tatsuya, Iwakiri agrees to meet with Konishi. ◇　◇　◇ After Iwakiri leaves, Zhou calls Konishi and arranged the meeting. ◇　◇　◇ May eleventh, Friday night. Hashibami Yuki complains to Wanizuka that they’ve had too much work recently, feeling that more than one assassination a week is too much. Yuki still works for Abousha, but also has a second employer whose jobs cannot be ignored. Wondering if she can pull off the dress she is wearing for the job, Yuki heads out. Saturday the twelfth. The papers reported that a bureaucrat from the energy administration and three employees from a power company were found dead in a members-only club used for engaging in prostitution services. All the focus was on the bureaucrat, wondering why he was there and what he was doing. The other three were practically ignored, especially Iwakiri since he had no family. Only his name was mentioned. ◇　◇　◇ Two years ago, Yuki was living in a small two room apartment, but now she has an 3DK apartment. Though on paper she works for Abousha, she really works for the Kuroba Family. And they had her relocate. Just before noon on Sunday, Wanizuka visits the apartment. Wanizuka informs her that the tablet she secured was hacked and they’ve acquired data on who is being forced into prostitution and their buyers. They move onto the main topic, which is any recordings of the assassination the men were planning. Since it involves ‘him’, she doesn’t want to be involved but listens to the recordings anyway. ◇　◇　◇ Upon the revelation from Yuki’s intel, Fumiya reports the intended assassination of Tatsuya to the main house immediately. Yotsuba Maya is amused but decides that it would be better if Tatsuya wasn’t forced to resort to violence publicly, even if it is legitimate self-defence, so she asks Fumiya to take care of it. Maya reminds Fumiya to conceal his identity and tells him to use Yuki since Fourth High is too far away. The conversation moves on to a member of the Sakura Series, fifteen years old Ouzaki Nao, whose magic isn’t suited for escort jobs. She is to be sent to Yuki’s apartment as Yuki’s live in housekeeper. ◇　◇　◇ Ouzaki Nao arrives at Yuki’s apartment and introduces herself to Yuki, explaining she was sent as a live-in housekeeper by Fumiya. Just looking at the petite girl Yuki can tell. This tiny girl is just like her, a herbivore on the outside but a vicious carnivore on the inside. Knowing she cannot refuse, Yuki agrees to let Nao stay. ◇　◇　◇ Within an hour, Nao’s belongings have been moved in, furthering Yuki’s belief that she didn’t have a choice. Once she was settled in, Nao started cleaning the house until it was spotless. This left Yuki stupefied as she did use the automation to clean, but Nao did a better job in half the time manually. It is just past 8pm. Yuki had reported the intel to Fumiya just after noon, and Nao had arrived by 5pm. Things were clearly advancing quickly. Nao makes the pair dinner, and upon receiving permission, the pair eat dinner (Nao had served Yuki but didn’t join her until she had permission). Suddenly, Nao asks who she is supposed to kill, which shocks Yuki and reminds her how dangerous this girl is. Yuki asks for clarification and Nao explains she is both a housekeeper and apprentice assassin. She goes on to point out that she isn’t qualified to be an escort as was her original purpose, so she was reassigned as an assassin rather than being disposed of. Nao closes by stating that her assistance on this mission will serve as her graduation exam. The discussion over, the pair settle on how Nao will address Yuki.

Chapter 2[]

Spoiler
Konishi Ran is the leader of an unspecified organisation that is known as the ‘Association for Realising a More Human Life and Society than it is Now’. However, this is a front. It is actually an organisation for the more radical members of the ‘Humanist’ movement. Konishi is also a subordinate of Gu Jie and a former collaborator of the No-Head Dragon Syndicate. Konishi is on the phone with Zhou Gongjin, a fellow subordinate of Gu Jie though Konishi is unaware of this. They discuss Iwakiri’s death and Konishi assures Zhou that he will continue the work. The work is the assassination of Shiba Tatsuya. Konishi’s investigation has confirmed that Tatsuya has no backing from anyone, and that Kokonoe Yakumo will not intervene because Tatsuya is not his disciple. Plus, since Tatsuya’s combat power is low since he was in the second course, Konishi’s organisation can handle it. ◇　◇　◇ The evening of Sunday the Thirteenth of May. Nao is washing up after dinner while Yuki is drinking an especially sweet, iced latte. The conversation turns to the assassination plot against Tatsuya and the name Konishi comes up. Hearing the name makes Yuki immediately think of the Association for Realising a More Human Life and Society than it is Now and concludes it is probably them. Nao is unconvinced, as many groups hide their hostility towards magicians. The conversation turns to codenames, with Nao confirming Yuki’s is Nuts (no honorific). Nao doesn’t have one yet because she is only a trainee, but they will need one when working. They decide on ‘Shell’ because it is related to a magic she uses. ◇　◇　◇ Monday the Fourteenth of May. Konishi’s group isn’t religious. What they offer is a form of justice. And that righteousness is a pleasure onto itself. This is why ‘social justice’ is valued over that of the justice of the law. And those that join the group risk their lives to defend the ‘good’ that Konishi demonstrates and destroy the ‘evil’ she lists. Despite the suspected brainwashing, the authorities can find no evidence. Konishi isn’t using drugs to do it. As such, Konishi does not fear the police as her people won’t betray her and there is no evidence they can use. And so, she found no issues recruiting people to assassinate the ‘evil magician’ Shiba Tatsuya. ◇　◇　◇ Yuki was woken up by Nao at 10am. Yuki is unimpressed, but Nao is insistent on Yuki getting up, making it clear she thinks that a healthy lifestyle is important. Yuki tries to debate it, but Nao’s rebuttals force Yuki to relent. ◇　◇　◇ Yuki was watching TV when Wanizuka arrived, leaving Wanizuka shocked that she is already up and eating breakfast. Yuki introduces Nao, whom Wanizuka quickly realises is more than a housekeeper. After a quick explanation of Nao’s situation, the conversation turns to the matter at hand. Wanizuka confirms that the ‘Association for Realising a More Human Life and Society than it is Now’, also known as the Konishi Order, is taking action. They discuss that it is likely that brainwashing is being used to get the members to kill for her, but no one knows how it is being done. Nao suggests infiltrating the cult, but the idea is quickly turned down by Yuki. Nao tried to debate the issue and it ends with Yuki deciding to test Nao’s non-magical combat abilities.

Chapter 3[]

Spoiler
Assassin training requires specialised facilities due to the skillsets involved. Both Abousha and the Yotsuba have such facilities but due to their affiliations, Yuki cannot use the Yotsuba’s facilities whilst Nao cannot use Abousha’s. As such they had to make do with a satellite facility owned by the Kuroba Family specifically. The training is to take place on the top and fourth floors, so Yuki and Nao split on the landing of the third floor. Yuki is moving stealthily and is impressed by Nao’s stealth abilities when she struggles to sense Nao’s presence despite being highly regarded at Abousha for her ability to detect enemies. Yuki releases killing intent to lure Nao out. Nao doesn’t reveal her location in response but cannot help but react to the killing intent. Throwing a door open as a distraction, Nao rushes into close range. The pair have a fierce exchange, but Nao loses to Yuki. ◇　◇　◇ After getting washed up after the match, Yuki informs the disappointed Nao that she won’t be infiltrating. Yuki then states she will be the one doing it. Wanizuka is perplexed by the sudden declaration, and Yuki explains that there is too much they don’t know and because of that they cannot simply sit idly by. ◇　◇　◇ It’s the evening of Tuesday the Fifteenth of May. Despite wanting to be miles away from him, Yuki is shadowing Tatsuya in hopes of identifying a potential assassin being sent at him. The Konishi cultists have already murdered several people and used suicide bombs in their attacks. The don’t care about getting caught or dying, such is the way of the fanatic. And in Yuki’s experience, that makes them dangerous. As a professional, Yuki cannot really comprehend the mindset and wonders if they are using drugs to induce such fanaticism. Abousha doesn’t use such means, but there are other companies that do. Tatsuya is waiting for a commuter at the station with Minami and Miyuki when eight men approach them. Sensing violence in the air, the others in the queue, though trying to be subtle about it, quickly leave. Though she has been recruited as an ally now, Yuki is still afraid to show her face to Tatsuya and risk being erased. Seven of the eight rush Tatsuya, but they are taken out immediately with the first counter each time. Seven back-to-back perfect counters. Seeing his allies downed, the eighth doesn’t even hesitate and rushes at Tatsuya with a small detonator in hand for a suicide bombing. But as he charges, the components of the bomb all start falling out of his clothes and when he reaches Tatsuya, Tatsuya palm strikes him and sends him flying. The man is left shocked that the bomb failed to go off. Watching it, Yuki is reminded of what Fumiya said about Tatsuya. How guns and bombs simply won’t work on him. That knives have a better chance, though it’s still next to zero. Yuki has more understanding of magic than the average person and knows it’s supposed to operate on logic, but Tatsuya’s magic still just looks as mysterious as something that belongs in a fairy tale. Yuki also knows what happens when the magic is used on a human. She saw it first hand when it was used on someone in front of her just recently. The unreasonableness that is Shiba Tatsuya restokes the fear in her heart, the one implanted two years ago. ◇　◇　◇ Konishi receives the report of the failure at around 7pm. She sits alone in her room to mull over the situation. The report came as no surprise as the job had come from Zhou Gongjin, so she expected that it wouldn’t be a simple one. Until last summer, Konishi had worked for the No Head Dragon syndicate. Not as a member of the family but as a collaborator. After it’s fall, she was lucky not to get caught in the clean-up by the authorities and turned to Gu Jie for help. Gu Jie introduced her to a number of people who would be useful in starting up the cult. It was Gu Jie who introduced Zhou to her. Zhou was the one who had brought the assassination of Tatsuya to her, but she just didn’t trust Zhou, largely because he seemed to have some hidden agenda behind all his actions. The death of Tatsuya today didn’t matter to Konishi. The main goal had been to have a magician targeted in a suicide bombing so people would start avoiding magicians. The reason being that the cult’s goal was to promote the anti-magic movement. Jobs like the assassination were just a side gig. But because it failed, the plan will backfire as people won’t be afraid, rather they could become more sympathetic to the victim. The most annoying thing however was that Konishi didn’t understand why it failed. Magic must have been used to stop the bomb, but Tatsuya was only seen to be hitting the men, he never used a CAD. Konishi ponders who cast the magic. Wondering if it was one of the girls or maybe a secret bodyguard. Either way, the assassination might be too much for an amateur. Konishi wonders if they’ll need to bring in a professional from outside since that is something the cult does not have, leaving Konishi sighing at the prospect of running a deficit.

Chapter 4[]

Spoiler
Yuki tails Tatsuya until he gets home and then heads home herself. It’s nearly 9pm. Nao greets Yuki on arrival and serves Yuki her dinner. While eating, Yuki notices the meal includes ingredients she didn’t buy and asks if Nao went shopping. Nao confirms it and explains she received a gold card from the Yotsuba which is to be used for their living expenses. Yuki notices that Nao still seems a little off from her failure in their match but doesn’t say anything. After dinner they receive a call from Wanizuka who had gone to Abousha to meet with the president for another matter. Both are tired, but despite the Kuroba being demanding, yet rewarding employers, when Tatsuya comes into the picture, Fumiya changes. Yuki is aware of Tatsuya’s recent exploits to an extent, including the defeat of Blanche, the assassination of the No Head Dragon executives, the incident at the Thesis Competition in Yokohama (not the part about the Independent Magic Battalion) and even rumours he was involved with the recent vampire incident. And she is horrified about all the high-level events he gets caught up in which no number of extra lives should allow you to keep surviving. Yuki tells Wanizuka that there is no point trying to guard Tatsuya as there is nothing she could do there, so will switch to the offensive. She then asks Wanizuka to research the cult and find something they can use. They decide to also look into Iwakiri and the people he was meeting with to look for other clues. Wanizuka sent Yuki a list of six people involved with Iwakiri's shady dealing within minutes. ◇　◇　◇ Fumiya and Ayako have been living together, separate from their parents, since they started at Fourth High back in April. Despite being at an age where their differing sexes can cause a sense of alienation between siblings, the twins are as close as ever. Tuesday, May Fifteenth. Less than an hour after the date changed. Ayako has gotten out of the bath and come into the living room where she notices Fumiya has something on his mind. Fumiya explains that he got a report about the situation with Tatsuya and that there was an attempted suicide bombing. For non-magicians to target combat magicians, the best two attack methods are bombings or sniping. Fumiya explains that the real issue is that the bomb contained plastic explosives, something forbidden to the private sector. Because of the post-war crackdowns on explosives, the fact the cult can access such explosives means they are more than simple thugs. Though unsure of who is backing them, one thing is certain. The cult is not just a group of Humanist extremists, they are a full-blown criminal organisation. Ayako asks if they can’t just leave it to Yuki. Fumiya points out that he was ordered to use her, but not that he couldn’t get involved personally. Ayako points out that is just a technicality but doesn’t object. ◇　◇　◇ Yuki is awoken at 9am by an alarm set by Nao. When Yuki heads into the living room to complain, she finds a note from Nao saying she has gone to work, and that breakfast is in the microwave. ◇　◇　◇ Akaishi Joule is a man in his fifties who works for a Japanese power company and his job involves keeping things in line in shady ways that you wouldn’t advertise during university recruitment. Joule had been rattled by the assassination of Iwakiri, who he had a professional relationship with. The reason being that he believed the assassination wasn’t due to their questionable taste in women, but the recent job they had all discussed shortly before. Especially with the timing aligning with Iwakiri finding someone to undertake the assassination for them. With Iwakiri dead, Joule is the next point of contact for the group undertaking the assassination, meaning he is likely the next target. To destress from the situation, Joule heads out to a specialised venue where he can find women of looser morals to unwind without standing out. The staff are about fifty percent amateurs, and the way it works is that the customer is directed by the clerk to a partner, and they pay ten times the price of the woman’s drink as a fee. When he entered, Joule spotted a young girl who seemed different from the others, wearing a dress and with her brown hair in twin tails. She looks young, early teens, to the point he wonders if she’s a runaway. Joule sits at the bar where the girl is and asks for an intermediary. Nao was in a panic. She’d only planned to investigate today, and her plan had been to shadow the target when he picked up another girl. Yet here was the first of her targets, making contact himself. Joule strikes up conversation and Nao decides to play along while acting as a naïve young girl. This is extremely risky as Nao is a petite young woman and as such is very vulnerable to violence, even as a magician. The pair chat using false names, with Nao giving her elder sister’s name, Chiho, as a form of passive harassment directed at set sister, until the pair leave together. Joule takes Nao shopping and buys her things, before taking her to a restaurant in a fancy hotel for lunch. Nao has been dressed up on the trip but still looks no older than a high schooler. After the meal, in which Nao’s drinks had been spiked with alcohol, Joule takes the drunk Nao up to a hotel room. Though unlikely that the entire hotel was implicit, for a clearly drunk and underage girl to be taken up to a hotel room by a man in his fifties, some of the staff were clearly cooperating. Joule lays Nao down on the bed while the staff member closes the door without a word. As Joule is about the remove Nao’s dress, Nao asks to take a shower first. This can be taken as consent, so Joule readily agrees since he wasn’t one who enjoyed using force in a situation like this. He asks if she can walk, and she tells him to go first. Since she cannot leave without the keycard, Joule heads into the shower first. Nao realised what would happen and took measures against drugs and alcohol beforehand. She was just acting drunk. Nao decides to perform the assassination, however, because she had just planned to scout the place out today, she had no equipment for the job with her, so she’d have to improvise. Heading into the shower, Nao uses a code phrase to Flash Cast the formula for a spell without a CAD. Joule turns and smiles at Nao as she enters. A droplet of hot water falls from the shower, is encased with a miniature magical shield, and turned into a bullet which shoots straight into Joule’s ear and into his brain. Joule drops dead instantly. The event modification had been so small that the hotel’s sensors had not detected the magic at all. Nao then gets dressed, does up her hair, puts on her makeup and leaves the hotel.

Chapter 5[]

Spoiler
Nao returns home after 3pm to find Yuki scoffing down some doughnuts. After a brief exchange, Nao makes them coffee, with added honey at Yuki’s request. After the pair have sat down to drink, Yuki asks if Nao is okay, having noticed she seemed pale. Nao tries to dismiss it, but Yuki can tell she’s just killed someone and asks for details. Nao admits it’s her second time, and that she vomited the first time. Yuki admits she didn’t vomit after her first murder, but she did lose sleep over it. She then reassures Nao that it gets easier over time as she gets used to it. Nao then explains that it was a target of opportunity, rather than premeditated, but she was careful to leave no witnesses and the hotel appeared to have no cameras of microphones, though the street cameras were unavoidable. The street cameras aren’t really an issue unless you are breaking the law in front of them. There is simply too much data to process for the information from them to be used in an investigation otherwise. Nao then explains she used magic without a CAD to kill him using a secret technique. The conversation over, Nao goes to make them both another drink. ◇　◇　◇ Konishi is getting impatient over the assassination. She was supposed to meet with Joule to discuss the details, but he never turned up to the meeting. Despite numerous calls, Konishi cannot get through and because this is a meeting about killing someone, it is highly unlikely that Joules would try to rearrange, meaning he has likely been killed. Theorising it was a counterattack by those protecting Shiba Tatsuya, Konishi decides the best defence would be to complete the assassination as soon as possible and begins to consider hiring outside help. ◇　◇　◇ Joule’s body was discovered by the staff after he failed to check out of the hotel on the morning of May the seventeenth. Both the police and an ambulance were called. Because Nao had washed the blood off, it looked like a stroke or heart attack was the cause at a glance. When someone asked who turned the shower off, a member of staff explained that they turn themselves off after thirty minutes of inactivity. ◇　◇　◇ Shortly after noon on the seventeenth, Wanizuka arrives at Yuki’s apartment. The murder has still not been on the news. They confirm that it was Nao who killed Joule and discuss the details, with Nao explaining she used magic to use water to kill him, and that the murder wouldn’t be detected until the autopsy. Once it was reported as a murder, Wanizuka will keep an eye on the police investigation. The topic shifts to Konishi’s cult. The have a demonstration scheduled which will likely lead to a confrontation with the police, which she might be able to use to infiltrate them as an ally. Nao asks if she should move on to another target in the meantime. Yuki is surprised, having seen her face the day before, but Wanizuka has no issues with it as he sees her as a magician from the Yotsuba Family rather than a fifteen-year-old girl. However, she is told to lay low while they confirm the state of the police investigation. Nao accepted the suggestion they wait as she knew the assassination of Tatsuya would fail. Even if she knows him only by hearsay, the servants know his combat prowess is like that of a demon. ◇　◇　◇ Joule’s murder was reported on the news on the eighteenth, though few details were released. Wanizuka had investigated and fully grasped the internal state of the police’s investigation by the nineteenth. The afternoon of Saturday the Nineteenth of May. Having compiled the results of his research, Wanizuka once again visits Yuki’s apartment. However, this time Fumiya is on a videocall with them to hear the results. Wanizuka reports the police only know Joule was with a woman and have no leads. And though a magician is suspected, the sensors picked nothing up, so they have no proof. Fumiya is in his school uniform, having just gotten home. While Yuki is lost on idle thoughts about high school, Wanizuka and Fumiya confirm their research got the same results, validating the findings. Fumiya turns to Nao and states she is now combat proven as an assassin. Because of this she can return home if she so choses, having completed the task she was dispatched for, which was to prove herself. Fumiya cites the street cameras as a reason as they could potentially track her back to the apartment. Nao turns to Yuki who states she’ll just relocate if that happened and then states to Fumiya that you couldn’t work as an assassin if you feared the cameras. The cameras are in every city of Japan and can also found in towns and villages as well. They are impossible to avoid. But because of privacy laws, the odds of being identified by the street cameras was low, akin to a natural disaster, so if it happens, you just have to accept you were unlucky. Fumiya’s concern came from the knowledge that there are groups, such as the Intelligence Department, who ignore the privacy laws and use the cameras for surveillance. Fumiya confirms that Yuki is focusing on the cult, leaving the other five targets. Nao requests to remain until the entire job was finished to the end, both the clients and cult leader, bolting on that if she leaves now, Yuki will fall back into her slovenly lifestyle. Fumiya, amused, agrees to Nao’s request.