Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Wiki

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Appendix (2) (魔法科高校の劣等生 Appendix (2)) is the 2nd appendix volume of the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Light Novel series and a long awaited Dengeki Bunko compilation of ‘Mahouka Kokou no Rettousei’ short stories!

This volume has yet to release.

Synopsis[]

Summer Holiday ——Another——
In the summer of 2095, Tatsuya and the others receive an invitation from Shizuku to go to her family's villa. Tatsuya and the others enjoy the fullest, but Honoka and Shizuku seem to have a hidden agenda.

Halloween Party in November
After the conclusion of the Yokohama Incident, First High's Student Council organise a Halloween party at Mayumi's behest.

Beautiful Magical Guardian Girl Plasma Lina
Lina, who is a member of the Starlight cadets, is given a mission as a graduation assignment. And it's for her to become a magical girl!?!

IF
Tatsuya is hypothesising possible scenarios to improve the status quo for magicians. So what if? What if Miyuki and Mayumi sing and dance and become idols?

Continuation Reminiscence Arc - Frozen Island
December 2092. Middle school students Tatsuya and Miyuki visit a small island called Miyakishima so that Miyuki undertake special training and master the spell Niflheim.

Melancholic​ Birthday
March 24th, 2096. It's the eve of Miyuki's sixteenth birthday. What are the thoughts and feelings of these two siblings on Miyuki reaching the age when she can get married?

Summaries[]

Summer Holiday ——Another——[]

Spoiler

Miyuki informs Tatsuya that they were invited to join Honoka and Shizuku at the Kitayama villa in Kitakaruizawa. Tatsuya is surprised it’s not the sea they are going to.

Miyuki asks Tatsuya to invite Leo and Mikihiko since they are boys.

Tatsuya is always busy in the summer, but they try to pick a date when Tatsuya will be free.

Miyuki turns on the videophone to talk to Honoka who was listening in, commenting that this whole thing is a breach of manners.

The four then confirm the date for the trip.

After the call, Tatsuya wonders what is wrong with Miyuki as something seems a little off.

◇ ◇ ◇

Everyone is free and because the villa cannot be reached using public transport, they all meet up beforehand in the city. And because they would be shopping on the trip, there was no need to go shopping beforehand.

The eight head to the roof of the high rise they met at to board Shizuku’s family helicopter.

There, Shizuku’s father comes over to introduce himself to Tatsuya. Assessing Tatsuya as someone who seems dependable, Ushio then greets the others in turn before excusing himself.

The eight then boarded the helicopter with Kurosawa, who was both the pilot and Shizuku’s attendant for the trip

◇ ◇ ◇

Miyuki casually asks if Shizuku’s family will be joining them and Shizuku informs her that her father might stop by, but her mother won’t.

The journey is over within the hour, and they land on the villa’s private helipad.

Erika is surprised by how humble the villa is, and how close the neighbours are. But Shizuku quickly points out that all five villas are part of the property and that they have five smaller buildings because they let their business partners use them but want to keep strangers out of their own living space at the same time. She closes by pointing out that they are the only ones here this weekend.

They all head inside.

Unlike a seaside villa, where they would all head to the beach, this villa has a wealth of activities to choose from including pool and tennis court. The group spend the morning indoors making plans with Shizuku and Miyuki planning to go shopping while Mikihiko and Leo look at the local mountain trails.

After lunch Tatsuya and company ae going to play tennis. Honoka is depressed as she wanted to go out shopping with Tatsuya, but they had all agreed to pick activities by lottery, and tennis had been the winner.

Miyuki checks there are appropriate clothes available, and Kurosawa confirms there are some in the changing tooms.

The boys change quickly and as they head to the courts, Mikihiko asks Tatsuya if he has played before. Tatsuya states he has never played but has seen it before so knows how to play. Mikihiko doesn’t either, but Leo has played before.

They decide to start straight away rather than waiting for the girls, with Leo and Tatsuya heading in first, and Mikihiko as referee.

The girls hear the match begin as they finish getting changed. They head out in order of Erika, Miyuki, Honoka and Shizuku to be faced with an intense match underway with Leo and Tatsuya engaging in a fierce match. Erika as Miki for an explanation, and he explains that the loser was supposed to get the juice but nether made any mistakes and Leo got excited and things escalated.

Suddenly Mikihiko hunches over, loses his balance and tumbles to the ground. The unexpected accident sees all the girls run over to check on him whilst Tatsuya and Leo stop their match.

After assuring the others he is fine, Mikihiko glares at Leo who has almost collapsed.

Leo and Erika start arguing when Leo asks if that is really tennis wear. Tatsuya stays quiet but agrees with Leo to some extent with a 60-40 split.

Miyuki, Mizuki and Shizuku are all wearing pretty normal attire for tennis match. However, Erika and Honoka are wearing some rather risqué clothing with Honoka wearing a skin-tight skimpy crop top while Erika is wearing a V-necked crop top that leaves not just her cleavage, but also her bra on show with really skimpy bottoms.

Having clearly picked it deliberately for effect, Erika tries to tease Tatsuya.

Tatsuya is not fool enough to say anything and is quickly asked for his opinion on their attire by the other girls but realising this could end badly if it continued, he changes the subject and asks Honoka if she has played tennis before.

Shizuku confirms they have played before and then asks Miyuki to help her with some pre-match warmups. Honoka then asks Tatsuya to help with hers.

The eight of them play a number of matches while enjoying refreshments.

After a while they switch to doubles and pick partners by lottery. Mikihiko and Mizuki decline, so the final three pairs are the Shiba siblings, Erika and Shizuku and finally Leo and Honoka.

The first match is the Shiba siblings against Leo and Honoka. Tatsuya scores a point on the first serve. On the second serve, Honoka tries to get the ball, but her body cannot keep up with her enthusiasm and she ends up hurting herself.

Tatsuya examines Honoka as Erika props her up. Honoka has hurt her legs and ankle, but Tatsuya and Erika agree it’s just a sprain and tell Honoka to head back inside to rest it as a precaution.

Shizuku suddenly asks Tatsuya to help carry Honoka inside. He is about to refuse based on common sense since he is neither a lover nor family, but Erika agrees with Shizuku leaving him cornered and unable to refuse.

Tatsuya carried Honoka inside, but Honoka’s womanly features are making themselves known. That in itself doesn’t bother Tatsuya but the fact Erika, Shizuku and Miyuki are watching is making him uncomfortable.

After getting changed, they all meet up in the living room to discuss the next activity.

Miyuki doesn’t want to stay cooped up inside and wants to go either cycling or for a walk. After some discussion the decide to go cycling since Honoka would not be able to hike but can use a two-seater bike.

The head to the bicycle garage and pick four two-seater bikes. The pairs were decided by lottery with Miyuki pairing with Tatsuya, Leo with Honoka, Mikihiko with Shizuku and finally Erika with Mizuki. and will be changed every so often.

As they ride, Miyuki and Tatsuya chat. Miyuki complains about how far away Tatsuya’s back is compared to riding on his motorcycle and then asks how it was carrying Honoka. Tatsuya is dismissive, saying it was unavoidable and he lacks the necessary perverted skills to assess anything from just carrying her on his back. The conversation then turns to idle chatter for the rest of the trip.

◇ ◇ ◇

The pairs were changed three times with Erika pairing with Tatsuya second, Mizuki third and finally Miyuki again for the last part of the trip. Honoka never got paired with him, much to her lament.

They have a barbeque for dinner and Honoka begins to compete with Miyuki to wait on Tatsuya.

The group then decide to have an early night and retire to their respective rooms.

A little later, Shizuku visits Miyuki’s room and asks for some time to talk. The pair then go for a walk. Outside, under the night’s sky, Shizuku asks Miyuki if she is in love with Tatsuya.

Miyuki says no, she loves Tatsuya, but is not in love with her brother, explaining that their relationship is complicated. Shizuku outright asks if they are really siblings and Miyuki states that they are blood related, and no DNA test has come back saying otherwise. Miyuki then goes on to explain their feelings go beyond that of siblings because she died three years ago, and was saved by Tatsuya, so all of her belongs to him. Miyuki then goes on to state that these aren’t feelings of romantic love because she does not yearn for anything form Tatsuya because she has already received everything from him.

Shizuku is left at a loss and Miyuki admits she’s a little distorted.

The conversation over, Miyuki invites Shizuku to go shopping with her tomorrow, suggesting that the four girls go shopping and take Leo and Mikihiko to carry the bags whilst leaving Tatsuya at the villa to keep the injured Honoka company.

◇ ◇ ◇

The next day everyone gathers after breakfast to plan out their days.

Miyuki and Shizuku take the lead and declare that they want to go shopping. Mizuki and Erika quickly agree but when Honoka asks to join them, Shizuku tells her to stay behind because of her injury.

Honoka initially objects but Miyuki suggests that Tatsuya should stays with her to keep her company.

Mikihiko is quickly talked into joining the other girls, and though Leo tries to escape into the mountains, Erika will brook no argument and he is forced to join them too.

◇ ◇ ◇

Kurosawa drives the group to a shopping mall located south of the villa. After the war, this shopping area had been expanded and has become one of the most well-known shopping areas in Japan. Because of all the rare items available there, shoppers from all across Japan travel to shop here.

Erika is impressed when she sees the centre which is so large that it doesn’t feel crowded at all, despite being packed with shopper.

Upon hearing it’s Erika’s first time visiting, the other girls are shocked. Shizuku informs Kurosawa that she’ll call her when they are ready. Kurosawa informs Shizuku that she’ll have to arrange someone else, much to Shizuku’s displeasure.

Miyuki dressed down to try to hide her face and figure, but her efforts were not as successful as she would have liked and draws a lot of attention while she shops.

After a while, Erika is forced to deal with four young men, likely university students, who try to invite the four to lunch citing that their numbers match. The other girls have no intention to get involved, leaving it to Erika who calls over Leo as she loudly tells the boys it’s not just the four of them and asks for them to let her through.

With Leo coming over and Erika’s hostility, the boys quickly relent.

As they pass by, Miyuki spares them not a glance and Mikihiko, taking up the rear comforts them by commenting that they simply picked the wrong opponent.

After they turned the corner and were a short distance away, Erika rounds on the boys to scold them, demanding to know why they had fallen so far behind. However, because the reason they had fallen behind was because they’d only being visiting fashion stores the girls were interested in, Miyuki defends the boys by pointing out that they are also to blame.

Miyuki then suggests breaking for lunch and they all agree to take a break.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back at the villa, Tatsuya is reading in the living room. Honoka had been in there reading a magazine, but when Kurosawa returned to the villa, Honoka went with her into the kitchen.

It’s been thirty minutes since Honoka left.

Honoka returns, informing Tatsuya she has tried to bake some scones. Kurosawa is carrying a tray with a teapot and some accompaniments for the scones.

It’s about the right time for morning teatime so Tatsuya joins Honoka for tea and scones.

The scones had turned out fine, and Tatsuya compliments her cooking skills while wondering if lunch would also be like this.

◇ ◇ ◇

Miyuki is taking a break from shopping on the open terrace of a popular café chain. She had suggested the terrace so she could keep her hat on and minimise the attention she was drawing. However, all six of them had long given up on not drawing attention from the crowd at this point due to both Miyuki’s inability to hide her beauty despite her best efforts, and Erika simply not bothering to try.

However, because all the attention was on those two, all six were unaware of the malicious gaze that had fallen upon Shizuku.

The group of five young men, who all appear to be in their early twenties, had only noticed Shizuku due to Erika intimidating the students earlier. One of them has recognised her as the daughter of the Kitayama Family.

They discuss the possibility of taking action as they cannot see a CAD on Shizuku and she appears to have no bodyguards present, only school friends, making it a golden opportunity. They decide to inform their leader and get instructions on what to do and so one of them heads out of the store to ask.

◇ ◇ ◇

Honoka had eaten too many scones, so tea became an early lunch.

They’d chatted about the Nine School Games and once they’d cleaned up, Honoka brings up their plans for the afternoon and asks if they can go in a boat in the lake out back. Tatsuya agrees.

The pair head out to the lake and Tatsuya rows the boat out onto the lake while Honoka looks at the fish.

Honoka is feeling a little awkward because Shizuku had told her about what Miyuki had said the night before and had realised that it wasn’t that Miyuki wasn’t in love with Tatsuya, she’s just in denial and making excuses.

Noticing Honoka seems distracted, Tatsuya suggests they head back but Honoka wants to stay so he slows his rowing so they can return at a leisurely pace.

◇ ◇ ◇

After leaving the café, the girls have enthusiastically resumed their shopping while looking for somewhere to have lunch. They stop at a Japanese restaurant but the realise they’ll have to split up into two groups as the tables only seat four people.

They head inside and the girls head for a private room so Miyuki can have some privacy. And issue the male duo don’t need to concern themselves with.

Mikihiko and Leo have noticed something is off and have Erika join them in their room next door. Erika has also noticed, and they hope that nothing is going to happen.

Suddenly, Mizuki comes to the room and with her is Shizuku’s father, Ushio.

◇ ◇ ◇

Alone on the lake together, Honoka nervously works up her nerve and confesses to Tatsuya.

However, Tatsuya turns her down, explaining he has lost some of his emotions and can never love her back as he lacks the capacity and because it would end up hurting her when he can never reciprocate no matter how hard she tries, they cannot be together.

The wind begins to pick up and Tatsuya starts rowing back to shore in earnest.

Honoka sits in silence, having given no reply.

◇ ◇ ◇

As they leave the restaurant, Leo, Erika and Mikihiko discuss Shizuku’s father who, as one of its major shareholders, is inspecting the shopping complex. That said, they expect it is in part as an excuse to spend time with Shizuku.

The conversation is abruptly ended by Miyuki, whose voice makes it clear the conversation is over.

Later, after getting some more shopping done, there is a sudden buzz of activity with the plain clothed security guards starting to move around at a brisk pace.

Miyuki notices immediately and decides it’s something the matter.

The six discuss options, realising something bad is going to happen and wondering if Shizuku’s dad is involved. Erika is all gung-ho about getting involved, but the boys are concerned for Mizuki. Their discussion is cut short when Shizuku gets a call from her dad who is going to pick them up.

◇ ◇ ◇

Three of the men from earlier have determined that Shizuku will be heading north to be picked up.

One heads to the leader to get reinforcements while the others head north to intercept Shizuku.

◇ ◇ ◇

Less than ten minutes later, Shizuku’s group have met up with four guards who had shadowing Shizuku discretely and are on route to the pick-up point when they realise that it’s time.

The group quickly take formation with the guards, with Mikihiko taking on the specific role to protect Mizuki while the guards take points around Shizuku, their primary charge.

Miyuki, Mikihiko, Shizuku and Erika all prepare their concealed CADs. All ten people break into a run, casting acceleration magic on the slower members so they can maintain formation.

Five people give chase.

They run into the underground parking garage and there the four guards turn upon their pursuers.

Leo and Erika are about to join them but quickly turn back around.

Someone shouts, “Ambush!”

But a thunderous roar drowns out the shouting as the parking garage is flooded with dazzling light.

◇ ◇ ◇

After the failed confession, Honoka had retreated to her room.

Tatsuya decided to return to his room and was reading when he suddenly picks up his Sliver Horn Trident based on more of a premonition than a thought.

Staring into space and pointing the CAD towards the south window, Tatsuya pulls the trigger.

◇ ◇ ◇

The flashbang has incapacitated all ten members of Shizuku’s party, Miyuki included. Even a magicians cannot defend themselves from surprise attacks.

The sound of people running towards then from both in front and behind can be heard.

Suddenly, the attackers start calling out.

Miyuki’s quickly applies healing magic to herself to restore her senses.

Around them, all ten attackers are lying on the ground having been shot in the arms and legs by an unknown source which she quickly realises was Tatsuya.

She then heals the others, unconcerned with the sensors are she is adept at hiding such simple magic from them and there is no risk of Tatsuya getting caught by the sensors either, due to the extreme range of the attacks.

Erika is the first to get up and is left wondering what happened.

Miyuki, amused, doesn’t reveal the truth.

◇ ◇ ◇

Everyone was exhausted from the day’s events and quickly began to retire to their rooms after dinner. Honoka was no exception, though it was more to avoid the awkwardness of being around Tatsuya than not.

Shizuku takes Honoka back to her room and there they discuss the failed confession. In tears, Honoka explains that Tatsuya told her that he lost his emotions in a magic experiment. However, she doesn’t explain it well and Shizuku, misunderstanding, reassures and encourages Honoka by pointing out that it’s not all over yet because his response that he doesn’t have romantic feelings for any woman means he doesn’t have romantic feelings for Miyuki. Therefore, she just needs to make him fall in love with her.

Motivated once more, Honoka resolves not to give up.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya has also returned to his room where he is soon visited by Miyuki.

Miyuki thanks him for saving them earlier, though Tatsuya considers it just is duty.

Miyuki, however, considers it to have been a deserved punishment. Miyuki explains how Shizuku asked if she had romantic feelings for Tatsuya, and how she helped set up some alone time with Honoka to prove she didn’t, despite wanting to spend the time with Tatsuya.

As such, it was punishment for helping to entrap Tatsuya into spending time with Honoka.

Tatsuya closes in on Miyuki and reassures her that it wasn’t punishment because it was for the sake of helping a friend. And then tells her she doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t like anymore.

With Miyuki cheered up, Tatsuya suggests the bath and rest for the evening.

As she leaves, Miyuki asks to hear what Tatsuya’s response to Honoka was when they get home.

◇ ◇ ◇

It’s the third day of the trip.

Tatsuya, Honoka and Miyuki have been acting strange all morning, to the point everyone has noticed.

When Honoka approaches Tatsuya, she walks away with a troubled look on her face.

Miyuki, meanwhile, is clinging to Tatsuya to make up for the time lost yesterday and practically challenging Honoka who won’t even try to get close.

This weirdness between the three would continue until the group returned to Tokyo.

Halloween Party in November[]

Spoiler

The second Friday of November, after the Yokohama incident. Things have calmed down and Miyuki informs Tatsuya about a Halloween party being held for all students. It is Mayumi who brought up this idea “as plans for Thesis Competition have been ruined, will hold an event for the whole school as compensation”. Tatsuya asks Miyuki that why is Halloween, which is celebrated on 31st October, being considered, as it's almost halfway through November (the current date is the 11th of November). Miyuki tells him that the permission for partying on 31st October was not granted.

Due to “Emergency Measures Act on the National Level”, one of the policies that has been introduced after the 3rd world war, nightlife is prohibited including vehicular traffic. Even the use of public transport after sunset has limitations. Tatsuya again asks about the reason for celebrating Halloween now, to which Miyuki replies that it is due to lack of activities in November. Also students are not allowed to celebrate Shichigosan.

The Halloween party becomes a big topic for discussion in school the next day. Most students are, as expected, happy about the decision by the Student Council. The major reason for that is, there are no events for entertainment planned from the University of Magic, the event that stands out is the farewell party held after graduation, and there are no Cultural, Sports of Excursion Festivals.

For the Farewell party, First Year and Second Year students perform together, but for the Halloween party only the First Years are preparing, without distinction between Course 1 and Course 2, so any of them can participate. This can be considered as an advantage. Usually two locations are prepared for the events but this time only one location is being prepared suggesting that Blooms and Weeds will celebrate it together.

It is a costume party, Tatsuya and his friends discuss where to get costumes for the event as the students will not be wearing school uniforms and will hide their faces with a masks. Miyuki is dissatisfied with the costume party but Tatsuya thinks that it will be less problematic that way.

Erika forgets to give her sarcastic remark and tease Leo. Tatsuya and Erika are not the only ones thinking of having the masks handmade. Mizuki suggests to Mikihiko that she can make his mask as well when she makes her own. Tatsuya watches the four while thinking about what he should do for himself.

The Halloween Party is scheduled for Saturday, 19th November. It is the Sunday before the party and Tatsuya reviews online catalogues to shop. He is using the online catalogue not because he has a visit to FLT scheduled but because he is not interested to go in person. After checking articles from five stores he gets tired and decides on using a blanket as a cape and a black mask. But before he can confirm the purchase, Miyuki enters carrying a lot of fabric and asks him to wait before ordering. She tells him that she will be choosing his costume for the party.

Seeing Tatsuya unenthusiastic, as he doesn't comprehend the reason for such activity, she asks him if he thinks it's a bad idea. Seeing such a face made by his sister, Tatsuya agrees to her plans. Miyuki tells him to remove his clothes. When he asks to confirm, she blushes and tells him to remove the clothes except his underwear so that she can take his measurements. Tatsuya considers whether Miyuki had been drinking; as alcoholic drinks aren't in the house, it could have been the sake used for cooking.

After taking Tatsuya's measurements, Miyuki goes alone to a known boutique. The store she goes to is itself under the patronage of the Yotsuba family. She is guided by the store manager to the tailoring machines.

Saturday, 19th November, 18:00 hours, Auditorium. During the Halloween Party, students can be seen in their various costumes - Gothic style, Sci-fi style, Hunter masks, Eastern style and Western style. But most wore tunics and coats with hats and casually dressed as Western Wizards.

Miyuki initially helps, as a member of the Student Council, with the distribution of drinks, reception of students, but she is to later change into her costume and enjoy the party. Soon the students begin to dance and those that do not are either eating or chatting and with the pleasant atmosphere the party seems to be a success.

Mayumi approaches Tatsuya, who is standing near a food table wearing a Rococo style classic dress with rainbow butterfly wings and a mask, and asks him "Trick or Treat" in a funny voice. Tatsuya, though identifies Mayumi through her voice, thinks that Mayumi's disguise is very good but it fails to hide her true nature. When Tatsuya answers "Treat", she asks if his disguise is "Odin" as it looks strange. Tatsuya, wearing an eye patch looks at Mayumi and says, he is not having any beard.

Even though the size of his costume is good the design is not. He is wearing a wide-brimmed hat and long silver hair wig, which does not suit Tatsuya's image and the combination of tunic and trousers don't give the image of Norse mythology. Mayumi guesses the designer of Tatsuya's outfit as Miyuki and says that he is too complacent with his sister. Tatsuya replies that it is only a disguise even though it is not perfect. Such a defensive response makes Mayumi burst into laughter.

Tatsuya sees Leo's pumpkin costume, which is very striking in the party. Approaching Tatsuya, Leo ask "Trick or Treat" to which Tatsuya while taking out candies from inside his robes comments that he did not expect Leo in such a costume. When Leo turns and looks around them, a number of students look away from them. As they are discussing their costumes, Erika disguised as Peter Pan with a green mask over her eyes, approaches them and asking Tatsuya "Trick or Treat", Tatsuya treats her and asks - how even she recognize him, even though his costume may not be the best. Erika replies that it was pure coincidence as only he could reply so calmly to Leo. So Tatsuya naturally thinks that Leo's costume must be devised by Erika. But then ponders over how Leo recognized him.

As Tatsuya along with Leo and Erika moves towards the Food table, they are approached by a couple in Tyrolean country dress and a Swiss hunter style dress, Mizuki wearing a rabbit mask asks Tatsuya "Trick or Treat". Tatsuya gives heart shaped cookies to the distressed looking Mizuki and cylindrical pretzel with a pierced date to Mikihiko who has the image of a wolf. To Mikihiko, Tatsuya jokes that he should gamble a 'trick', but notices an unexpected reaction from both Mizuki and Mikihiko and he can see even through the mask that Mizuki looks scared. Tatsuya changing the subject asks if Mizuki made Mikihiko's mask by hand and compliments it, while thinking that their relationship is progressing well, but after again seeing the change in their expressions over his guess Mizuki making the mask, thinks that they still have a long way to go.

While Tatsuya chats with his friends, Miyuki and Azusa disappear from their position, seemingly finished with their Student Council work. Then, he sees a pair of loving pirates near the emergency exit coming towards them. Kanon asks him "Trick or Treat" with a defiant attitude. Although Tatsuya sarcastically thinks that the Public Morals Committee Chief is walking around while others are doing her work, but decides to let them enjoy as it is a party night. While being treating Isori asks if it is Tatsuya, saying that he recognized the large size of Tatsuya's hand. When Isori comments that Tatsuya's candies are really sweets, Tatsuya responds "I really thought I could have exalted students who might try to play me a trick". The 'tricks' of students in this school are not something to joke about." Tatsuya, during April, as a new member of the Public Moral Committee experienced some of these tricks. With this Kanon and Isori leave them and go to dance.

Tatsuya looking around finds all Committee members enjoying themselves neglecting their duties with the exception being Tatsuya and Morisaki. Tatsuya also slowly loses the motivation after seeing that everyone else has left their areas in charge.

Honoka dressed as a servant, with lots of laces, approaches Tatsuya. Her costume instead of intending to hide her identity seems to prioritize and maximize her cuteness. Tatsuya treats her with a white chocolate the size of a hand. He finds that Honoka's gaze is very passionate and Shizuku standing besides Honoka dressed as a butler nudges her and tries to bring her back to reality after calling her name repeatedly. Seeing that it is not working, she approaches Tatsuya and whispers "Trick or Treat". Tatsuya offers her another white chocolate. Shizuku, to bring back Honoka, resorts to shock therapy and says that if Honoka doesn't want Tatsuya's treat then she will take both of them herself. Suddenly brought back to reality by Shizuku trying to take away her treat given to her by Tatsuya, she stops Shizuku and gets embarrassed and her face becomes red. To change the subject, Tatsuya says that he is amazed that Honoka was able to recognize him, to which she responds that, it is impossible for her not to recognize him. Shizuku elbowing her friend comments that, by the way, distinguishing is one of Honoka's qualities. Honoka then asks Tatsuya for a dance. Tatsuya while replying that he still has work to do as a committee member points around, but the place/atmosphere seems to cry out that, you are an idiot if you keep working. Shizuku, however, offers to help. And so Tatsuya escorts Honoka to the dance floor.

Miyuki thinking "That's... Honoka. Again taking the lead" finds her brother with Honoka among the crowd. Miyuki also wanted to join Tatsuya as soon as she finished with her work. She entered the room and was quickly surrounded by guys that were seeking partners. Tatsuya had been here 4 minutes ago but is dancing with Honoka now. Miyuki even though, better disguised compared to Mayumi and Honoka is unable to hide her beauty even after concealing her identity. She gets surrounded by boys trying to woo her and praising her with passionate expressions. Miyuki in this situation wishes for Tatsuya to come over and rescue her. But as she had told to Shizuku on that one night in summer that "she won't stand in the way of Tatsuya and Honoka". Miyuki seems to endure all the bad intentions from the boys around her and is trying her best to not become anxious and freeze everyone around her. Just when it becomes very difficult for her to hold back, the music stops and changes, Tatsuya and Honoka move away.

Tatsuya then removes his hat and mask and hands it over to Honoka. He's looking like one of those military generals, he wears the band of Public Morals Committee and heads towards Miyuki. Although, most of the boys surrounding Miyuki are seniors, Tatsuya has no obstruction while reaching Miyuki. After telling the boys surrounding Miyuki that "being pushy towards someone will only have the opposite effect", he turns away towards the exit, but is stopped by Miyuki's call. Tatsuya answers her by telling her he is going to go and change his costume since revealing his identity seems to violate the rules). Miyuki had already prepared properly and so he still has extra clothes prepared kept in the locker. Miyuki informs that she will come to help him, and Tatsuya gets shocked on hearing her offer. Realizing that his thoughts were read before he put on his poker face, Miyuki hurriedly clarifies that she would be helping him with the final details.

After leaving the auditorium, Miyuki takes Tatsuya's hand asks him to walk with her for some time. They walk through the trees in the darkness, while holding hands. When they reach a small clearing among the trees, Tatsuya notices that Miyuki is still wearing mask. Walking in the dark wearing a mask without tripping is very difficult but it is due to Miyuki's trust in Tatsuya.

Brimmed hat and black coat. Knee-length skirt, lace sleeves and neck with silver ribbon, dark thigh-high stockings and low-heeled shoes. This is the costume that Miyuki is wearing, the perfect image of "Halloween Witch".

Miyuki asks Tatsuya "Trick or Treat". Tatsuya realizes Mayumi's influence over Miyuki here. Tatsuya decides to play a trick on Miyuki. While being unusually motivated Tatsuya think about the trick, when Miyuki takes one step - two steps towards him, and standing on tiptoes puts her arms around his neck, bringing their faces close that just their noses touch. Miyuki says (with a slight stutter) that this is Tatsuya's punishment. Tatsuya shocked recalls something that he did a month ago - to pinch Miyuki's nose. This is Miyuki's revenge and Miyuki's trick goes smoothly while Tatsuya remains shocked, although this has far greater effect on Miyuki than Tatsuya and her face becomes red with embarrassment.

They end up being late for the closing ceremony and find themselves in a difficult situation when Erika asks them repeatedly "What were you two doing?" Leo looks on with approval, Mikihiko looks away, Mizuki is completely red, Honoka is pouting and Shizuku watches with a cold stare. It takes Tatsuya a week to clear away the misunderstandings of his friends.

Beautiful Magical Guardian Girl Plasma Lina[]

Spoiler

Angelina Kudou Shields. She was called Angie when she was a child. She is a quarter Japanese due to her sharing blood ties with her grandfather. Her middle name “Kudou” is derived from her grandfather, and her grandfather’s older brother is an elder in the Japanese magic world.

She is not ashamed of this connection, she has a fame that surpasses her grandfather’s brother who is known as “the world’s craftiest magician”. She is a part of the world’s strongest army corps in the world, as well as Head-Captain of this unit called “Stars” which is directly under the USNA military chief headquarters.

She is also one of the USNA’s recognized Strategic-Class Magicians, one of the “Thirteen Apostles”, Angie Sirius. However, she is also code-named “Sirius” which is the title given to the Head-Captain of “Stars”.

It’s not that she had been selected as a member of Stars from the beginning. She was found as a rare and talented magician and has been educated in the military since childhood. But she was first selected to be in the unit designated “Starlight”, this is a unit that has potential “Stars” members.

Angelina’s current rank is warrant officer, and she is meeting with Second-Lieutenant Yuma Polaris at the USNA’s North American Continental military training facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

This training facility is for military units directly under the military staff headquarters, and for their strongest unit “Stars”.

Angelina walks in and salutes Polaris and another superior officer. After being told to relax, Angelina begins to wonder why this other superior officer is here. It is Captain Benjamin Canopus who is currently the “temporary leader” for Stars. Stars is made up of the top 12 soldiers in the USNA army, and with the current seat of Sirius being vacant Canopus is the highest ranking member of Stars at the moment.

Captain Canopus should be at the Roswell’s headquarters base. Angelina is uneasy, because she thinks that he could only be here for one reason. Polaris goes on to say that her magical training evaluation was excellent and that she has the capability of first class. She tries to hide her tension and how proud she is, but it is simple for them to see. She is only 12 years old, but regardless she can control her emotions well for her age.

Polaris goes on to explain that there is a large vacancy in Stars at the moment, including the position of Sirius. There are currently six positions vacant in the Stars unit.

Two years ago, the USNA and the New Soviet Union had armed conflicts in the Bering Strait area, due to the fear of a recurrence of another World War both nations didn’t commit large numbers of troops. The conflict consisted of a large number of small scale battles, and for that reason it was called The Arctic Hidden War, or simply the Hidden War.

This “Hidden War” greatly hurt the USNA and New Soviet Union’s magician force potential. The magician strength in the Far East of the New Soviet Union was greatly decreased. This decrease in power become a great incentive for the invasion of Okinawa by the Great Asian Union, having not to worry about the threat to the North.

Meanwhile, the USNA had lost William Sirius, the former leader of STARS, in addition to four other members of his unit. In addition, the Strategic-Class Magician Eliot Mil er was transferred from STARS to the Alaska Army under the command of the US Northern Army, and has to remain there for the defense of Alaska and its surrounding waters.

After that, the USNA was attempting to quickly refill the vacant spots, but it isn’t so easy to just replace the strongest soldiers they have, even for the powerful USNA.

He then says that they will have Angelina join Stars immediately, but that her age is the only problem right now. Polaris explains that her abilities as a magician and her age aren’t linked directly but that a military personnel’s ability to carry out their duty could be an issue for someone her age. Angelina didn’t like this explanation and was irritated but before she could say anything, it is suggested that she is tested with a tactical mission.

Polaris says that an unregistered magician has become involved in magic research that was entrusted to the military. So it isn’t something that can be dealt with by the local police, since it deals with military secrets. Angelina’s mission is to search for the criminal magician and detain them.

Angelina is then introduced to Second-Lieutenant Angelina Mizar in the USNA military. She is to help assist and examine her in this mission, Mizar is now 22 years old. Mizar addresses Polaris by his first name Yuma, soldiers of the same star level tend to act more casual to each other.

Due to the similarity in their names, Mizar says that both of them being called “Angie” will complicate things, so Mizar says that for this mission she will cal her “Lina Shields”.

Lina is still a little nervous about the situation and asks Mizar for more detail about her new mission. Mizar with a bitter smile hands Lina a tablet type terminal and goes over the details of the mission again with Lina. Although on the surface this looks like a routine mission, Lina can’t help but feel that it isn’t as simple as it seems. Mizar takes a liking to Lina and asks her to call her Angie, and tel s her that they are apart of the same unit and will be friends who are years apart.

Lina and Mizar arrive in Houston the next day, and head to the magic lab in the district which is called the Shawmut Magic Research Institute. Lina’s cover in this mission is a magician who is cooperating with magic experiments. Even though there are experiments using magicians, it is no longer as bad as it used to be. During the wartime era magicians were treated like experimental animals and after it was found out there were severe punishments.

After arriving they run into a young woman. Mizar cal s out to her, the young women’s nickname appears to be Abby. She has short red hair and is wearing a white lab coat, Lina had a hard time telling if she was a boy or girl until she heard her voice. Mizar introduces Lina to Abby, and says to Lina that this girl is Abigail Stuart. She also adds that although she looks like a handsome boy, Abigail is a woman and that she shouldn’t fall in love with her. Abigail ignores Mizar and asks Lina to call her Abby. This is the first time that Lina has been to the Shawmut Institute.

Abigail Stuart is highly valued at this institute, she started out here as a graduate student. Mizar goes on to explain that Abby is the leader of the CPBM laboratory and that she will cooperate with her research here. When Lina asks what CPBM is, Abby says that it means Charged Particle Beam Magic weapons. Abby has heard that Lina excels at release type magic, and asks her to help with her research to which Lina agrees.

The following day, Lina is moving through the city. During the day she spent most of her time at the laboratory.

It is prohibited by law to use magic in public unless it is for self-defense, it is the same in Japan and the USNA. However it is even more strict in certain areas of the USNA, in Massachusetts even if you build up a magic sequence it is considered a crime, regardless if you activate it or not.

While Lina is walking around she is suddenly told through her earpiece that the criminal that she is looking for is near the magic shops around her. As she continues to walk around she thinks about how these shops in Houston are known for its magic engineering shops.

Lina is dressed in a mini skirt with frills, it is something that a girl her age would normally wear and even though she is wearing a mask she is still embarrassed by this look. Normally she would never wear anything like this, but since it was an order from a superior officer she couldn’t say no.

The thief she is looking for is supposedly armed with a gun, while the USA is now known as the USNA the right to own a gun is still a right for the people in this country. And regular guns do not pose a threat to high-level magicians who have been trained properly. The only issue would be if they were using bullets with increased power that is used against magicians.

Lina hears someone call out, and finds that the thief has stolen something and is trying to escape. Lina creates a barrier in front of the thief and he runs into it and falls back onto his back.

The passerby look at the scene as if it was a comedy movie.

From her earpiece Mizar starts to speak very loudly, it was loud enough for the people near Lina to be able to hear as well. Lina is supposed to start building up her name in this area as part of her mission, and argues with Mizar about what her name should be. She then shouts out that she is Lina... Magic Guardian Lina.

Another person begins to scream out and when Lina looks over, another man is there pointing a gun in their direction. It must be the snatcher’s accomplice, but before he could take action Lina aims her release type magic “Spark” and incapacitates the man. Lina believes in an aggressive approach and would rather react first rather than standing back and defending.

The man on the street begins to convulse due to the effect of plasma discharge. Lina didn’t intend to use that much power but due to her impatience and her rush to get away from the people around her while she is wearing this outfit, she used a little too much power.

Lina is told to return to her driver and return home and that the crime scene will be left to another team.

The next day, Lina is resting her head on the table during breakfast. Sitting with her is Mizar and Abigail, Abigail asks Lina what’s wrong and she ignores her. Lina knows that this is rude behavior to a superior officer, but she is still very embarrassed that she is all over the news networks.

They try to comfort her by saying that the mission is going great, and that she will eventually get over all the attention. The scene she caused last night should be more than enough to attract the attention of the enemy magician that they are looking for. Lina hardly endured the encouragement. They go on to joke with her some more and say that the “magical girl” might be very popular with otakus. Lina wants to try and argue but it seems that although Abigail Stuart is an important researcher for the USNA she may be right about that.

Mizar and Abigail continue to talk about Lina’s new nickname, and they also mention that her “Eastern” features might be prominent. Lina says that she was wearing a mask so it shouldn’t be a problem, but the other girls say that such a beautiful face can’t be hidden by such a small mask, which makes Lina embarrassed again. Abigail says that the nickname “Beautiful Girl Magic Guardian Plasma Lina” would be a suitable name for the heroine. Mizar agrees that Plasma Lina is a good addition. Lina completely gives up trying to stop these two.

Lina’s new nickname started to spread very quickly, so they decided to halt her daytime activities, even though she has magic that can hide her appearance, it wasn’t a good idea to go out today.

There were other responsibilities for Lina even if she couldn’t go outside today, so she headed to Abigail’s lab to participate in military experiments. Lina has grown to like Abigail and is cooperating with her to help develop new magic. Abigail asks if Lina knows about the magic called “Muspelheim” and Lina responds that she does and that she can activate it in ten seconds.

Abigail says that the new magic she is working to develop is an improved version of Muspelheim for military use.

Abigail explains that Muspelheim has a limited effect, range, and space that it can be used in.

Abigail was ecstatic while explaining this, she is the type of person that loves to teach others.

Abigail explains that the current Muspelheim starts to weaken as the magic spreads across a wider area and that if its radius can be contained that it could be turned into a high energy plasma beam.

Lina had a look as if she was thinking about something different, and Abigail asked her what was wrong. Lina asks her opinion about magic being used as a weapon, and Abigail asks Lina if she thinks they should be using magic in a more peaceful manner. Abigail continues to say that she doesn’t think it is a good thing to use magic as a weapon, but that it is a good thing to use as a deterrence. Abigail says that most magic can only be prevented by magic itself, and that it is currently most useful for combat purposes.

Lina asks if she is trying to develop a Strategic-Class Magic, and with a bitter smile Abigail says that “Yes” ultimately that is what they are working towards. Abigail asks Lina if she knows what the definition of Strategic-Class Magic is, and Lina says that it is magic that can destroy a city with a population of more than 50,000 people in a single invocation or to destroy an entire fleet.

Abigail goes on to say that there are some cases in which you don’t want to use such a large-scale attack, and that it would be better to have a way to concentrate a high amount of power within certain restrictions.

Lina had an expression of understanding, and Abigail says that in the conflict with the New Soviet Union during The Arctic Hidden War near the Bering Strait, there was no way for them to use the Strategic-Class Magic “Leviathan”. Leviathan is fundamentally a magic to be used against a fleet, and that if it was used on land that it would be far too destructive, both the USNA and the New Soviet Union wanted to keep the scale of this battle as limited as possible.

Lina says that this must be the reason why they are trying to create a Strategic-Class Magic that has a smaller effective range but still has great power. Abigail says that if another small conflict occurs like The Arctic Hidden War, that this magic could be used as a deterrent. Abigail asks Lina to fol ow her to the back of her laboratory, and there is a long metal cylinder that looks similar to a missile launcher but it is completely hollow.

Abigail says that this is a prototype for the new magic weapon called “Brionac” which is currently under development, and she hands the prototype to Lina. Lina was surprised at how light it was compared to how it actually appeared, Abigail says that there is compacted metallic powder inside the cylinder and that it acts as a mechanism for this prototype. She also says that it would take more time to explain and that Lina should try it out to get a better understanding of how this new weapon is going to work. Abigail leads Lina into another room which is surrounded by bomb/heat resistant walls.

Abigail is speaking to Lina remotely from outside of the room, and tel s Lina that she can use that prototype without any problems as long as she aims it towards the target. There is no trigger on this weapon, so Lina begins to activate her magic and she could tell that the formula used was extremely complex but it isn’t an issue for her since a magician can process it unconsciously. While it was extremely complex magic, it was executed very quickly, however Lina could tel that this magic wasn’t going to be executed properly and was about to stop the invocation but Abigail told her to continue. Lina continued and when she activated the magic there was a magical field that covered her which protects the magician when using this new version of Muspelheim.

Immediately after the defensive shield was erected, a violent flash appeared at the tip of the prototype weapon, it was an explosion of plasma energy and it destroyed the barrel of the prototype. Lina threw the weapon down on the ground and was protected by the shield that was deployed beforehand. After a few seconds Lina could hear Abigail frantically asking if she was okay, the effects of the electromagnetic magic interfered with the communication device and Abigail was relieved when she could talk to Lina again.

Abigail tel s Lina that it’s okay to break the shield now, and Lina apologizes for destroying the new prototype weapon. Abigail says that it is okay and that she was able to acquire some valuable data regardless. But with the prototype being broken, and there being no replacement, Abigail says that it was enough for today and Lina leaves the laboratory.

Even though Lina is apart of the USNA military, she still has to work on her educational studies from a remote terminal on base. After her studies, Lina headed back to her room and took a look at her costume. She still doesn’t like it but changes into it regardless and heads out on her mission. While she was driving around she noticed that the number of people out at night had increased.

Lina is driving around with Mizar when they are informed that a robbery is taking place at a jewelry store nearby. When they ask for information about the situation they are informed that the thief has had his escape routes blocked off and he has taken a hostage with an automatic rifle.

Lina asks Mizar to roll back the sunroof of the car and jumps out of the car, she uses optical camouflage magic to hide herself for the time being. She thinks about Parade and that if she could use it all the time then she wouldn’t have to disguise herself like this.

Parade is a technique that rewrites the Eidos of her appearance and position, this magic has been passed down through the Kudou family, and was passed down to Lina. At Lina’s current state she can only maintain Parade for five minutes. She decides that after this mission she is going to put some serious practice time into Parade. She hadn’t put much effort into Parade because she believed that it was useless in combat until now.

Lina looks at the jewelry store surrounded by police officers, and is waiting for the right time to jump into the store.

The next day, Lina is heading for Abigail’s Laboratory again, Mizar went out independently to gather information. Without Mizar around she can’t talk about her mission from last night, but it ended up with Lina successfully taking down the gunmen with only a few photographs of her being taken.

Lina enters the same test room before when she first tested out the prototype Brionac, however things are set up a little different from her previous test. Since the prototype weapon still isn’t ready yet, she is going to be using a specialized CAD in the form of a rifle.

Abigail mentions that this new magic is going to be called “Metal Burst” but that unfortunately no magician has been able to activate it, they had tried to make it easier for Lina to use by lowering the magic power required to activate the magic but that had failed as well and the magic power required for it can’t be lowered. Abigail says that Lina should be able to activate “Metal Burst” if she uses more magic power than she did during the test with the prototype weapon.

Lina normally uses general purpose type CAD, but she is still very familiar with specialized CADs. Lina directed the CAD towards the target in the middle of the room, and Abigail tel s her to start. As Lina starts up the activation sequence she can tell this was a complex sequence and that the amount of power required for it was much greater than in her first test.

The combination of metals in the room formed into a plasma and scattered horizontally in all directions and resulted in a high temperature shock wave. The explosion shook the walls, floors and ceiling, but quickly settled down, Lina once again was protected by the shield that appeared in front of her. The laboratory was in bad shape, the support columns were bent, and many of the heat resistant items were slightly melted.

Abigail praised Lina and was very excited, she says that the power exceeded her expectations and that “Metal Burst” doesn’t quite describe this correctly and says that she is going to call this new magic “Heavy Metal Burst”.

Three hours had passed since the successful experiment involving “Heavy Metal Burst” when Mizar returned and Abigail had yet to calm down from the excitement.

Mizar asked Lina what happened but before she could finish her answer Abigail said that it was nothing. Abigail goes on to say that Mizar is back earlier than expected and asks about things on her end, and Mizar says that the magician they are tracking is trying to escape on a small passenger boat out of the Boston Harbor tonight. This magician seems to be in communication with the New Soviet Union.

Abigail says that Plasma Lina has only been sent out twice and that this seems a little earlier than expected. Mizar confirms and says that the appearance of the unknown masked magician is most likely the cause. Mizar goes on to say that there is a capture team in place and they will be ready to go soon, and Lina asks if she can join the mission. Mizar says that this isn’t a type of mission that Lina is suited for and that it would be better if they left it to the agents in place.

Abigail asks what is going to happen to the ship after they capture the magician, and Mizar says that they will blow it up. Blowing up a ship in the Boston Harbor will bring little damage to the area and the military is already ready to prioritize the confidentiality of this mission. Abigail asks if it’s okay for her to use this ship for her experiment, and Mizar asks if this an experimental new magic. Abigail confirms and says that Lina’s “Heavy Metal Burst” is complete and if this test goes well that Stars will have a powerful tactical-grade magic.

Mizar says that she will contact headquarters for permission. Once she heard that it was new tactical-grade magic, it wasn’t something that she could ignore.

Lina was looking over the wharf waiting for the small passenger ship that should be coming soon. She is standing on the deck of a small cruiser, and she is not dressed up in her “Magic Girl” outfit this time, but she is wearing a special type of goggles. Abigail’s voice sounds in her ears, asking her if she is ready and Lina says she is ready to go at any time. Lina is holding the rifle shaped specialized CAD that she had used during the last experiment, this CAD is specifically used for “Heavy Metal Burst”. Mizar had asked the higher-ups about destroying the ship as an experiment with the new tactical-grade magic, and they gave Mizar permission. Mizar guessed that they must be in a hurry to replenish their fighting force after “The Arctic Hidden War”, currently they are missing al of their first-grade level Stars. She doesn’t want to see a girl like Lina dragged to the battlefield but she also doesn’t let her personal feelings get in the way.

Back on the ship Mizar says that she is sending over the data on the small passenger ship over to Abigail and Lina. Abigail makes a smart comment about how Mizar’s work is as perfect as ever, and that this is expected of a former member of the USNA’s Intelligence Department, but immediately stops talking after she realized that Lina was listening in as well.

This specialized CAD has an auxiliary sighting function that helps locate the target in the information dimension. Lina has heard that there are some magicians with different kinds of “Elemental Sight” and that they can read the details in the Eidos as if they were browsing, but that they need some sort of assistance tool. Lina is able to grasp the existence of objects that are far away by using a specialized CAD, and she was able to see several people jumping aboard the ship she is watching.

After a short time Lina notices that there is no longer anyone aboard the ship, and Abigail says that Mizar has completed her mission. Lina is told to be ready and that in five minutes the ship will be in position. Lina sets up her specialized CAD into a firing position, and confirms that there are no abnormalities and her goggles are a Head Mounted Display device.

Abigail tells Lina to prepare to fire “Heavy Metal Burst”, and tel s her to activate it. The distance between her and the cruiser is approximately two kilometers and in the next moment, a plasma cloud that looks like a lightning storm appeared on the sea. The thunder drowned out the explosive sound from the ship, and the cloud of light started to scatter plasma violently, on reflex Lina activated the anti-electromagnetic shield to protect herself and the ship.

After the plasma cloud cleared, lots of dead fish were seen rising to the surface. Abigail says to Lina that her initial assessment of the tactical-grade magic “Heavy Metal Burst” was wrong, the radius of Lina’s magic was more than two kilometers and that this a “Strategic-Class Magic”.

Lina was completely confused.

(Strategic class magic? I am a Strategic-Class Magician…?)

Currently, there are twelve strategic class magicians that have been announced and nationally recognized. The “Twelve Apostles” soon became the “Thirteen Apostles” and in this moment the newest and most powerful nationally recognized Strategic-Class Magician was born.

After this unexpected situation with strategic-class magic, Lina’s mission as the “Magical Girl” was suddenly suspended. The fol ow up to the mission was handled by Mizar.

Lina and Abigail were called to the "Stars" headquarters, where Abigail was strongly requested to complete this strategic-class magic along with the "Brionac".

Lina was to be promoted to Lieutenant, and a first-class star however while this change was being made she was to train at the Stars headquarters under her "Starlight" status. She didn’t participate in any missions for a while and was sent to work with the current Captain of Stars, Canopus. With her personality and looks she was quickly labeled as a "mascot" for the Stars unit.

“Plasma Lina, will you bring me some coffee”

“It’s not Plasma Lina!”

“Beautiful Girl Magic Guardian Plasma Lina, then….”

“Please just call me Lina for now!”

It was in this way that Angelina Shields became “Lina”.

IF[]

Chapter 1[]

Spoiler
March Tenth, 2097.

After seeing off Ichijou Masaki, the Shiba couple head to the Magic Association to meet with Yotsuba Maya. Maya is being unusually friendly, which make the pair a little uncomfortable, as they take their seats.

Maya mentions the hunt for Gu Jie and tells Tatsuya that she has another mission for them. Tatsuya realises Maya must have other business to be in Tokyo personally, likely related to one of their affiliated companies. Maya then comments that being too feared has issues of its own, such as being blamed for more or less anything bad that happens in Asia’s world of magic, and tells them Miyuki has the main role for this mission.

After some discussion, leading Maya to surprisingly comment that they need to do something for magicians as a whole, commenting that their achievements have been kept too low-key as to avoid causing unnecessary wariness in non-magicians. But since the fear is already there thanks to the anti-magic movement, they should promote the social contributions of magicians to counter it.

Tatsuya and Miyuki are unsure how they could make people ‘like’ magicians, and Maya’s reply makes them wish they hadn’t asked. With a sinister smile lacking any malice, she simply states that Miyuki is beautiful, and asks what kind of man dislikes beautiful women.

◊ ◊ ◊

After the pair return home, they feel utterly defeated, especially Miyuki, to the point even Minami wants to ask what happened.

Miyuki is at a loss and is really concerned about the things they’ll make her wear and do going forwards. Tatsuya tries to reassure her, saying that he will step in and oppose Maya should he need to, so Miyuki should just be honest if something asked is too much for her.

Miyuki accepts this, but all three are sceptical that Tatsuya can follow through.

Chapter 2[]

Spoiler
The next day.

The Shiba couple come home to find a ‘gift’ from Maya, confirming that she was serious. It was a costume for Miyuki, a military-style long-sleeved mini one-piece dress with slim pants, gloves, and stretch boots. Though reserved enough for everyday use, it was clearly designed to attract attention if worn by someone with a womanly figure.

Hoping it was the wrong size so she could send it back, Miyuki tries on her new outfit.

Upon trying it, Tatsuya mentally confirms it is conservative, not sexy, so would be safe to use. Begrudgingly, Tatsuya confirms Maya has a good eye as he confirms that it suits her.

Tatsuya wonders how Miyuki is expected to be wearing this outfit all the time, pondering if they’ll be expected to remain on standby at home, when Miyuki says there is an alternative outfit in a mobile base they will be using.

◊ ◊ ◊

Saturday, March Sixteenth. The graduation ceremony has just ended, and Tatsuya is working hard to finish up as they have a meeting with Maya later. He pauses and notices something is wrong with Izumi. He asks why, and when Izumi doesn’t elaborate, Miyuki takes over. After some coaxing, Izumi reveals Mayumi is being made to participate in some publicity stunts by their father. She goes on to explain that though initially just reporting on the achievements of magicians, he is talking to the entertainment agencies and media so it appears he may have Mayumi acting as an idol on TV. She also worries she will be dragged into it as well.

◊ ◊ ◊

Later, the Shibas find that Mayumi is also present for the meeting, and the three start to discuss this farce of a plan until the trailer containing the mobile changing room is ready for them.

The pair emerge in idol outfits. In a time when CG idols were the main source of entertainment, having CG-free idols would be a bit of a novelty. Tatsuya compliments them both before asking what the plan is for today. He is answered by Fujibayashi Kyouko, who is on loan from the military and Kudou family to help, who explains that today is just a meet and greet.

Kyouko gets a message, and the plan is changed. There is a large-scale fire in a skyscraper in Nagoya City which is getting out of control of the fire suppression system has been cracked (similar to hacking). Fujibayashi leads them to the Intendant Magic Battalion’s new four-seater vehicle, the ‘Air Car’, which uses a form of flight magic to fly at subsonic speeds. This will allow them to arrive in about twenty minutes.

Fujibayashi then tells Tatsuya he is piloting. Tatsuya is confused, since he lacks a licence, but Fujibayashi explains he doesn’t need one as the military has made arrangements. The four get in, with the girls in the back and Fujibayashi navigating in the passenger’s seat, and they set off. They arrive on scene to see media helicopters flying around as the fire department battle the blaze. As Fujibayashi coordinates with the authorities, Tatsuya brings the air car to a halt close by and Miyuki flies out and carefully puts out the blaze with a variation of the magic, Freeze Flame. All the while, the media’s cameras on her.

In thirty seconds, the fires within the building are entirely extinguished. Tatsuya lands the car on the roof, Miyuki landing besides them, as Mayumi uses Multi-Scope to search for people in need of rescue.

Chapter 3[]

Spoiler

Though there is some resistance to Miyuki for being a magician, she is a hit with the media overall for extinguishing the fire. As such, the project it going to plan but Tatsuya is not too happy about it.

Fortunately, Miyuki’s age means her privacy is being protected by law. However, Mayumi is not so lucky and is having to appear on a string of television shows. Today, she is on an occult show and Mayumi is clearly struggling with the horror theme. The Shiba siblings discuss the matter, and realise it is to increase their exposure because of the fortunate rarity of incidents they can deploy to.

◊ ◊ ◊

The next deployment is early in the spring holiday, to rescue people caught in the worst flood in years. The pair leave Minami at home and head to the trailer for Miyuki to get changed.

While he waits, Tatsuya does a safety check of the aircar while internally noting how much of a target the paint scheme would make it on the battlefield.

Once changed, the pair, along with Kyouko, head to the Saegusa mansion to collect Mayumi. Upon retrieving her, and getting some stern warnings from the twins, the four speed to the disaster site.


Upon arriving, Tatsuya confirms Mayumi will keep his magic secret and they plan to use Regrowth to restore the embankment. Tatsuya and Miyuki take position above the embankment whilst Mayumi liaises and assists the members of the rescue operation. Once they confirm no one will get caught up in the magic, Miyuki freezes the water, allowing Tatsuya, whose mind had been wandering to the change in their relationship, to use Regrowth and repair the embankment.

However, this is only to its damaged, pre-collapse state, so Miyuki has to reinforce it with her magic. Even if the wall of ice she created is not a permanent solution, it can be maintained by normal magicians and the JSDF magicians present were already taking over maintaining it.

Chapter 4[]

Spoiler

The second dispatch was more successful than the first and Mayumi is back on the news, though Miyuki is using her high school student status to avoid going on air.

Five days later Tatsuya calls Maya after they are summoned to a studio to argue out Miyuki being used as an Idol, not caring that Mayumi, her sisters and the staff from the entertainment agency are present. The pair debate the issue, but Maya won’t budge so the stalemate continues until Miyuki interjects.

Asking Maya what they should do, Miyuki is told they will be singing and dancing. Both she and Tatsuya object and even Mayumi is pulled into the debate, but once again Maya refuses to budge, and when it is revealed that First High’s principle is already permitting it, they are forced to concede.

As the girls take singing lessons the agency staff member praises them, meaning they are already close to being able to perform.


Tatsuya is summoned after the dance lesson started, the girls embarrassed to be seen in their outfits, until he is summoned. Tatsuya talks to the instructor who seems to have mistaken him for their manager, who informs him the lesson is over and they will all be ready to perform soon.

Mayumi appears and as they chat, she mentions that the twins will debut as a duo as well, to Tatsuya’s surprise. Miyuki appears as the twins head to the shower and she apologises for kicking Tatsuya out, but he says it was the right thing to do as the outfits they were wearing were too much for him, which earns him an embarrassed thump to the chest.

◊ ◊ ◊

The lessons last for a week until it is time for everyone’s debut.

The fact that they were real and not CG would be novelty enough to get attention, but the event was also timed the recording for the first day before the new school term. The plan was to record a promotional song and music video. Tatsuya waits in the lobby, knowing very little of what is going on and being both curious and afraid to ask.

Kasumi appears in the lobby, having been looking for a drink not found in the one in the dressing room. Kasumi asks if he isn’t coming inside, and Tatsuya responds that he doesn’t want to distract them. Kasumi points out this will be seen globally so it’s not an issue, before heading back inside.

As she leaves, Tatsuya mulls over the thought of it going global and the risks it entailed as their images will make accessing the EIDOS easier. This reinforces his belief that the plan as more detriments than benefits. The desire to march downstairs and destroy everything trips Tatsuya’s limiters and plummet into the void of his mind.

As he reflects on this, Tatsuya ponders on who losing oneself to emotion is a human trait, leaving him wondering if he has truly become a monster.

◊ ◊ ◊

The video was only on air for three days, though Miyuki has already attained a rabid fanbase in that time. There was simply too much content to drown it out.

However, that only lasted until the next disaster where one of the video’s fans happened to be taking shelter in the school gymnasium and begged them to sing for them and a TV crew covering the incident recorded it.

After the Saegusa twins put on their performance, Miyuki takes the stage, having changed, and her song, beauty and loose choreography more akin to a traditional Japanese folk dance gets the crowd so excited it’s like there are ten times as many people present. And that euphoria was broadcast on television.

◊ ◊ ◊

Because it was standard shoulder mounted equipment filming the impromptu concert, it gave the footage a real live feel to it and with that added that to the novelty value of the situation resulted in giving it it’s news value, resulting in it being repeatedly broadcast and things kicked off.

Tatsuya found himself promoted to manager and due to the momentum, he was struggling to coordinate all the requests for TV appearances for the four who are unable to attend school and college.

And so, this momentum would claim more victims, with Honoka and Erika now dragged into the fray and having to record their debut music video. Minami and Miyuki are with Tatsuya waiting in the lobby, the Saegusa sisters attending class for the first time in ages. Tatsuya is still adjusting to Miyuki saying, “Tatsuya-sama,” as she tells him that it would be okay to watch Honoka and Erika inside. Tatsuya asks about her not calling him ‘Onii-sama’, and Miyuki clearly states she will do anything his asks of her, but that she honestly does not want to call him that anymore because she wants to be his wife, and not his sister.

This leaves Tatsuya both conflicted and joyous and the pair have a moment, but before things can escalate, they are interrupted by Mizuki coughing. Mizuki is accompanied by Leo, Mikihiko and Shizuku. Miyuki looks down in embarrassment as the group awkwardly deny seeing anything.

Honoka appears a little later and after a brief exchange with Shizuku she invites everyone into the studio, though only the girls enter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Honoka and Erika’s video is a hit, riding on the momentum that was already built. The novelty of doing things the old way with real girls, combined with the quality of the material, made it all an absolute hit.

They are currently doing an interview for a magazine, with Mayumi doing most of the talking. But, as they were idols, the photographer appeared to take pictures.

All six are in cute outfits, and Tatsuya uses a device from the military to check that the camera has no illegal modifications to taking nude shots. In the clear, Shiro takes the shoot without issue.

Tatsuya and the girls then head to the next location for a cable TV show.

◊ ◊ ◊

June.

The whole situation is dragging on and Tatsuya is very stressed. There have been no disasters recently, so all the work has been entertainment based.

They are at a TV studio to rehearse for a dedicated music channel. There were other idol-like singers present who also danced live, one of which joking thanked Tatsuya for their group selling so well making them more popular too as a side-effect. However, their increased popularity means the CG Idol agencies were unhappy and the manager of a band had warned Tatsuya of hosts trying to cause sex scandals.

The industry tends to make flashy clothes and makeup more common and even the girls were being affected, Miyuki the least but she was wearing more colourful clothing of late. Honoka is the most affected and is wearing flashy clothes even casually, but nothing vulgar as all her clothes are checked when she goes to Shizuku’s house, but they are clearly less like a normal person’s clothes. Honoka’s personality had also changed, making her more brazen.

Honoka asks Tatsuya what’s up and he says he’s just wondering how much longer all this will drag on for. Honoka is surprised and asks if he dislikes it. Tatsuya says he’ll tag along if the others don’t mind, and Honoka comments it’s embarrassing but at least it’s not dangerous.

Tatsuya reflects that it certainly is a much safer career choice than being a magician. The conversation turns to using magic on stage, a peaceful use of magic, with Honoka saying magic should be making people smile.

Tatsuya couldn’t agree to the sentiment. His power only brings fear, sorrow, hatred and resentment.

Chapter 5[]

Spoiler

Tatsuya meets with Kouichi, who is leading the project, and Mayumi. Kouichi tells them he believes it to be the time for them to do a concert in order to get the masses on their side. Tatsuya is initially worried they intend to make Miyuki use MI but relaxes upon hearing that all the girls will be preforming. Though realising the decision is already made, Tatsuya agrees for Miyuki to participate.

Two days later, they are informed by Kouichi that the date has been set. Two weeks on Saturday, at the Tokyo Dome.

The couple are surprised by the venue’s size, but it seems they intend an outdoor concert. The Shiba couple are relieved by this because if the venue were closed, the psion and pushion emissions would be overwhelming for the magicians on stage. Plus keeping it closed would make it easier to manipulate the crowd with magic, so opening the dome reduced the risks of anything happening.

◊ ◊ ◊

Everyone is really busy during the run up to the concert and the time flies by.

On the day, everyone is overwhelmed by the number of people in attendance, with the maximum capacity allowed under the directorial restrictions. Seeing this, Tatsuya is once again assailed with a feeling that things have been too convenient.

Kasumi and Izumi head up first as the opening act, using flight magic to entertain the crowd as they sing four songs.

As the twins leave, Erika takes their place using roller-skates and magic to whizz around the stage whilst singing, going so fast she leaves multiple afterimages.

After her three songs, Honoka takes the stage. Unlike the first two lively acts, hers is more relaxed as she sings and uses her magic to create a light show, with flower petals of light falling from the sky.

After Honoka is done, Mayumi takes the stage, and does a single song, acting very mature. Then she starts to speak, acting as a representative of the clans.

Or rather, she was supposed to.

Instead, and to Tatsuya’s surprise, her costume changes and she gets really lively as she interacts with the audience, telling them all that everyone on stage is a magical girl who, just like the ones in anime, what to make people’s hopes and dreams come true.

She then introduces Lina as a magical girl from overseas. Lina appears on stage via a screen, live from the USNA, and performs a song.

As Mayumi leaves the stage, Tatsuya expresses his confusion, and she explains her act was cut to make time for Lina, so she’s done until the end. Tatsuya goes over to Miyuki and informs her that her timeslot has moved forwards. Miyuki’s nerves are starting to get to her so Tatsuya reassures her, there interaction receiving quite the reaction from Honoka and Izumi.

Mayumi head back out as Lina finishes and then introduces Miyuki to the stage. Using only her magic to amplify her voice, Miyuki gives of the air of a holy maiden clad in light, dancing in a much more traditional manner and using flight magic to fly as a fairy across the stage. The audience was so enraptured by her, they were silent. The applause erupting at the end of the song.

At the end of the set, Miyuki leaves the stage, but the audience is left completely enthralled. Everyone returns to the stage and thank the audience, but no one has yet stirred. As no magic was used, there is nothing they can do but leave them all to come around naturally. The group head out and leave it to the staff.

Chapter 6[]

Spoiler
The next day.

Tatsuya and Miyuki discover that they had definitely gone overboard.

The whole entrancement of the audience had been caught live on camera across the country and the media were calling it the ‘Black Mass’. Though a success in winning over the audience, it not only failed to deal with the anti-magic sentiment, it provided clear ammunition.

Miyuki fears she did something accidentally, but Tatsuya assures her he magic wasn’t leaking, it wasn’t magic, so she wasn’t at fault.

Realising Miyuki might not be able to go out for a while, and with the mission appearing to be over, all they can do is wait for the call from Maya to scold them.

However, when Maya calls it is to congratulate them. She comments some scandal coverage was to be expected but the public are on their side and won’t allow something they like to be slandered. Tatsuya likens it to fanaticism, which Maya objects to, but does say there is some risk if someone gets to that stage

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya’s concern came true.

The media used the incident to attack them, since there was no other material to cause a scandal.

They refute, using the police recordings from sensors set up in advance as evidence to show no magic was used, but it is ignored by the major media. However, this triggers a huge influx of support from the fans on social media, which is countered by those believing the media, with both sides being accused of fanaticism and the situation with the online debate getting out of control.

Against Tatsuya’s wishes, another event is to be held despite the situation online. And when the fans arrive, the protesters try to stop them, and it devolves into a riot and the police had to intervene.

At this point Tatsuya concludes this scenario isn’t a viable option for securing a happy future for Miyuki and ends the thought experiment with the ‘Time Tree’. It is March twenty-eighth and Tatsuya is heading to Saikashintou, an artificial island off Kume Island to stop a terrorist plot orchestrated by GAU deserters who are supported by Australian agents.

Continuation Reminiscence Arc - Frozen Island[]

Spoiler
December 2092. Christmas is getting closer, and the city is full of lively music and voices.

However, inside the suburban hospital, it was wrapped up in a quiet silence.

Miyuki is wearing her middle school uniform and is passing through the hallways of the hospital. She is described as being a young beautiful girl but has a very depressing look on her face. She is thinking about her mother who is currently hospitalized here.

Miyuki knocks on the door and tells her mother that it is her. After hearing her mother tell her to come in she enters the room to see Shiba Miya sitting in the hospital bed. Miya seems to be in a better mood than yesterday, after returning home from Okinawa her condition worsened.

Miyuki believes the primary reason for her current condition is the loss of Sakurai Honami, although Miya would never admit to it. Honami was a servant in the eyes of the Yotsuba but they had been together for awhile, and Miya found her to be a trustworthy subordinate.

However that might not be the only reason for Miya’s depression. Miyuki has continued to call Tatsuya, “Onii-sama”, regardless of their being a third party person or not. Miyuki finds her own behavior to be somewhat rebellious, but since that day she felt that the treatment of her brother is unfair. She finds him to be superior to her and an excellent magician, even after four months have passed her attitude towards Tatsuya hasn’t changed. She feels a little guilty about it since Miya is sitting in a hospital bed, but this issue involving Tatsuya is not something she wants to compromise on.

After the closing ceremony at her middle school, winter break has begun and Miyuki is spending as much time with Miya and Tatsuya as possible.

Miya asks how her magic exercises are progressing. Miyuki says that she has mastered all of the magic she has been practicing besides Niflheim. Miya used to be Miyuki’s teacher when it came to her magic exercises but since she tends to get sick from the overuse of magic and it has become a much heavier burden on her body. So another tutor was sent by the Yotsuba to help Miyuki train.

Miya stresses the importance of mastering Niflheim as being crucial for Miyuki to establish herself as a Yotsuba magician. She says that Cocytus is a trump card and that it shouldn’t be used lightly. Miya asks Miyuki what she thinks is the issue is and she responds by saying that she is hesitant because she doesn’t have complete control over the radius of the magic.

Miya then tells Miyuki that she will need to practice Niflheim during the holiday in order to master it. Niflheim is one of the highest ranked magics, the sequence itself isn’t very complicated but it requires interference strength of a large magnitude or the control becomes much more difficult. Miyuki thinks that it isn’t something that she will be able to master in two weeks, but she was raised to be an excellent magician and saying that she “can’t do it”, is not something that she can tell her mother.

◇ ◇ ◇

The next morning Miyuki is departing from her home in Tokyo with Tatsuya and their father.

Shiba Tatsurou is sitting in the drivers seat of the company sedan and tells Miyuki to not push herself too hard after pulling up to the airport. Normally Miyuki would decline using a private car to get to the airport, especially since they are taking a private plane, and along with the fact that Tatsuya will be handling all the luggage. But with it being a private plane it isn’t possible to miss, it can be scheduled for a later take off time if need be.

Miyuki accepted this favor by the person who is trying to act like an actual father.

Tatsurou turns to Tatsuya and tells him that his is responsible for watching over Miyuki, to which he replies in a voice devoid of emotion. When Tatsurou tries to scold Tatsuya, he asks him if something is wrong. Tatsurou has an irritated look on face. In the Yotsuba Family, Tatsuya is considered Miyuki’s Guardian, but even still this means that Tatsuya is apart of the Main Family. Which is higher than Tatsurou’s own position in the Yotsuba Family.

Tatsuya is not mad at his father. Since his emotions for parental attachment have been erased, he doesn’t feel it necessary to have any contact with Tatsurou.

Miyuki cuts in and says that it’s time to go and asks Tatsuya to come with her. For her Tatsuya was already more important to her than her father, especially after she found out that her father was still seeing Furuha Sayuri.

Tatsuya bows and starts to push the cart with their luggage, with Miyuki following right behind him.

◇ ◇ ◇

The private aircraft carrying Miyuki and Tatsuya landed on an island about 190 kilometers from Tokyo and about 50 kilometers from the Tokai region, it is a small island called Miyaki Island. This island was formed by submarine volcanic activity in the year 2001. It is also called the “21st Century New Island” because it was made in the first year of the 21st century.

The island, formed from cooled lava, is about seven square kilometers. At the time of World War III, the Defense Forces established a base on the island, but it was abandoned due to repeated eruptions in the 2050’s, and the facilities that are used to imprison criminal magicians have be placed at the western end of the island.

This is the place that has been chosen as a practice range for Miyuki because this island is the private property of the Yotsuba. In name the Defense Forces are responsible for the management of the magician prison but in actuality it is entrusted by the Yotsuba Family. This is not a known fact among the Ten Master Clans.

Even though this prison is under the jurisdiction of the Defense Forces, it is a remnant of the era where magicians are treated as weapons, there are also certain circumstances that have led to a large number of foreign operatives to be sent here. These foreign operatives are illegal agents that aren’t protected by the law and therefore pretty much don’t exist. If they are killed nobody can complain about it, due to this fact the prisoners are always looking for a way to escape.

The magicians sent to this island are strong men who must be isolated from civilians with the barrier of the ocean. To prevent them from escaping and to suppress those who resist the guards must also be fairly skilled. This is one of the reasons that the Defense Forces struck a deal with Yotsuba Family.

On the Yotsuba side, dealing with criminal magicians who try to escape is valuable practice for their combat training.

The situation of the world is still far from stable, even in Japan. A few months ago, Okinawa and Sado had become a battlefield. Nonetheless, there aren’t always battles happening in Japan. These rare occasions are a great way to acquire battle experience where you are put into life and death situations. This island is a precious stage for that.

Miyuki calls out to Tatsuya in the airport lobby. Her tone is still a bit awkward when she calls Tatsuya “Onii-sama”. It has been only four months since this change occurred, before that they haven’t had a single conversation as a brother and sister. On that day, foreign forces had invaded Okinawa. And from that day on Miyuki has been treating Tatsuya as an older brother. Miyuki is still analyzing his emotions, and still feels embarrassed about certain things. She believes this embarrassment is temporary and that it is integrated with the nature of having affection towards your immediate family. Until she gets used to this new feeling it can’t be helped, because her relationship with Tatsuya has only just started. Miyuki has convinced herself of this.

Tatsuya: “What is it, Miyuki?”

Tatsuya’s voice while responding to her is normal, however she can tell there is a gentle tone to it and she can sense some affection as well. This confuses her and causes her heart to tremble.

She asks Tatsuya if he has been to this island before. He replies that it is his third time. Miyuki knew the reason why Tatsuya has been to this island before, not in detail but she knows the general outline.

This island is a prison for criminal magicians, and with the majority of the staff being dispatched from the Yotsuba Family. There are different rules that apply here that you won’t find in most places.

Tatsuya’s training here on this island involves homicides. There are specific facilities located here in the base which focus on removing hesitations when it comes to homicides. If you hesitate when it comes to hurting and killing people, it may result in exposing your escort to danger. This training is done by all the Guardians of the Yotsuba.

Fortunately, Tatsuya doesn’t feel anything when it comes to murder due to his stronger emotions being removed. He has completed this training two times, with a total of seven magicians being “dismissed”. Compared to the battle he was involved in this summer it isn’t a big deal, in the Yotsuba Family anyway. The general public would probably have a different view on the subject. However, this time around Tatsuya isn’t here for this training.

This time he is here to help Miyuki with her wide area cooling magic Niflheim. There is no need to purposely jailbreak prisoners in order to hunt them. Miyuki feels sorry for Tatsuya, she still doesn’t know that Tatsuya doesn’t avoid murder.

◇ ◇ ◇

The official name of the prison on this island isn’t “Miyaki Island Military Prison” because it also accommodates Japanese criminal magicians. It is mostly used for criminals that are considered powerful magicians. There is also a reason that formal prisoners of war are not housed here even if they are magicians.

Miyuki is greeted by the director, who is the chief executive of the prison. They are guided to their room by a women officer who is serving as a secretary. In this dormitory, there are rooms in a separate building from the prison, it is clearly used for the higher ups. The room is very familiar to Miyuki, and she is surprised. With this facility being under the influence of the Yotsuba, and since she is also a candidate to be the next head of the Yotsuba, Miyuki suspects that either her aunt had something to do with the arrangements.

The women officer leaves the room and is returning to the prison, leaving Tatsuya and Miyuki alone in the room. Miyuki stares at the closed door awkwardly, and when she tries to talk to Tatsuya she can’t quite speak clearly.

Tatsuya answers for Miyuki since she has fallen into a state of confusion. He says that since he is her Guardian that he will be staying in the same room as Miyuki. Miyuki is a little embarrassed about this arrangement, even though they are middle school students and are brother and sister.

After getting settled in and eating lunch Miyuki started practicing Niflheim immediately. The area she is practicing at is on the east half of the island. Tatsuya is the only one to accompany Miyuki, and drove her to this location.

Although Tatsuya is aware of what Miyuki is trying to do, he doesn’t know why and wasn’t given any information about how he should help her in the training. Miyuki keeps stealing glances at him to as if she is looking for advice. He takes the hint and asks her to show him what she is capable of doing right now.

Tatsuya uses his “eyes” to view the magic invocation process. He can tell that this is a very strong technique that involves vibration magic. Miyuki’s face shows disappointment and shame as Niflheim fails to activate, she turns to Tatsuya as he starts to explain why the magic failed. He explains to her that the reason Niflheim didn’t work was because the boundaries for the event modification weren’t clearly defined.

Miyuki is surprised at such a precise answer, although she doesn’t doubt what Tatsuya is saying she is still very confused. Tatsuya notices that he hasn’t fully explained his magic abilities yet. He tells Miyuki about his special sight, and how it is more of a “super power” than a magic ability and also tells her that he can only use two magics, Decomposition and Regrowth. Miyuki is really surprised to hear about this ability, Tatsuya decides that they should take a quick break and talk. They sit down in the car that they drove out here.

Tatsuya gives an explanation about modern magic with the use of CADs. He goes on to explain that depending on the magician, there is a limit to the number of magics that can be maintained at the same time. For ordinary magicians they have a system built in that allows them to use multiple types of magic. But for Tatsuya his Magic Calculation Area is dominated by his two types of magic, he is a BS magician and because of his two specialized magics he can’t use other types of magic.

Miyuki reminds him that she has seen him use self-acceleration magic before along with a few other types of magic. Tatsuya says that it is due to his artificial Magic Calculation Area that he can use those magics. Miyuki is reminded of the conversation she had in Okinawa with Miya, where she said that Tatsuya is a defective magician.

Miyuki apologizes to Tatsuya after turning towards him and lowering her head. Tatsuya reaches out to Miyuki and puts his hand on her cheek and gently raises her head, Miyuki’s face turns red but she didn’t try to escape from Tatsuya’s hand. After he removes his hand from her cheek, Miyuki seemed to not want it to be over so soon and turned even more red. But Tatsuya at this time hasn’t reached the point where he can guess the reason why Miyuki is acting so shy.

Tatsuya returns to his explanation and says that he doesn’t rely on his artificial Magic Calculation Area, and uses his Decomposition and Regrowth to directly interfere within the Information Dimension. Miyuki is once again surprised and amazed at this revelation. Tatsuya goes on to say that he can decompose physical structures and in addition he can disassemble and invalidate Magic Sequences through the Information Dimension.

Miyuki knew that Tatsuya could cancel magic through Gram Demolition, but it cancels magic by using his psions to blow away the Magic Sequence but there are ways to get around that. However to be able to directly decompose magic in the Information Dimension, there is no way to prevent that from happening. Miyuki is once again amazed by this information.

Tatsuya goes on to explain Regrowth next. Going back 24 hours in time he can confirm any specific point in the Eidos and overwrite it as well, he can make any changes without any external factor trying to interfere and revert it back to its previous stage. Miyuki doesn’t seem to fully understand this explanation at first but she says that it was this magic that saved her and Miya. Tatsuya praises Miyuki for understanding his explanation, Miyuki believes that this ability is a miracle and that it is almost god-like.

Tatsuya explains that in order to master Decomposition and Regrowth, he had to first be able to identify the Magic Sequences and information that is in the Information Dimension with his Elemental Sight. When he says “Elemental Sight” Miyuki isn’t familiar with this term and asks if it is a type of perceptual magic. Tatsuya explains that while it is magic, it isn’t magical in a sense, it allows him read and understand the information in the Eidos at a more advanced level than other magicians, most magicians can only recognize changes in the Eidos. He says that by using Elemental Sight he was about to see why Niflheim failed and that she could trust him.

Miyuki says: “Of course I trust you Onii-sama.”

◇ ◇ ◇

After the first day, while there had been some progress in mastering Niflheim, it wasn’t anything outstanding.

Tatsuya and Miyuki are eating in the dining room, Tatsuya is giving Miyuki some encouragement. After finishing up their meal Tatsuya goes to clean up but Miyuki stops him and says that she will do it. Tatsuya tries to make tea next but was once again stopped by Miyuki so that she could make it herself. Next they debate over who is going to take a bath first, Tatsuya thought that Miyuki would want to go first so that she could go to bed right away but she insisted that he go first. Tatsuya is slowly learning that it is meaningless to argue with Miyuki.

After Tatsuya shuts the door to the bathroom Miyuki breathed out a sigh of relief, her expression was stiff because practice today didn’t go that well. But also tonight, she is going to be staying in the same room as Tatsuya alone, she starts to get tense and her heart starts to beat violently this time.

After Miyuki finishes bathing, Tatsuya is getting ready to sleep on the sofa, Miyuki wants to argue about this arrangement but Tatsuya says that surely he isn’t going to sleep in the same bed as her. He meant it as a joke but he mainly wanted to persuade her to drop this argument. Even if they are middle school students and siblings she can’t help but be aware of their genders.

After finishing brushing her teeth, and combing her hair Miyuki heads to bed. However she can’t fall asleep, her body is tired but her heart is still racing. Even though they are separated by being in different rooms she is still too excited to sleep. She keeps turning over again and again, she is suddenly thirsty but realizes that she would have to pass through the living room in order to get to the kitchen, in other words she would have to pass by Tatsuya. She turns over one more time and starts to count sheep and finally falls asleep after exceeding a thousand sheep.

◇ ◇ ◇

On the morning on the second day, Miyuki is working on some of her middle school homework. Tatsuya hands her a headset device, when Miyuki asks what it is Tatsuya says that it is a virtual terminal device. It has large lenses showing images that overlap with the real landscape. Tatsuya tells her to try it out, Miyuki is a little confused but puts on the headset. Tatsuya then tells her to try aiming inside of the cube that is shown through the device. Miyuki is hesitant to use the virtual device because it is known to adversely affect magicians, but she believes that Tatsuya would never try to intentionally cause her harm.

Miyuki started the invocation for Niflheim and aimed using her consciousness, she was able to successfully invoke Niflheim over a wide area with much better control. Tatsuya says that it was a success and that brought Miyuki back to reality, there is a cold mist drifting in the air still. Her success rate is now about 70 percent, however compared to yesterday it has raised by 20 percent which is a big step. Miyuki finally believes that she can actually master Niflheim during this winter vacation. The anxiety she feels when she is around Tatsuya is slowly disappearing.

◇ ◇ ◇

The practice continues the next day, with Miyuki practicing Niflheim once every 5 minutes for 3 hours a day. So about 30-40 times a day depending on the situation, normally this would be impossible for an average magician. However Miyuki is full of enthusiasm after the previous day, she can now control it up to about 90 percent while using the virtual terminal device. Tatsuya asks Miyuki to see how stable it is without any assistance, Miyuki is still a little bit nervous but in order to reassure her mother who is still bedridden in the hospital she had to master Niflheim.

With her continuous training in this area, the lava field has been cooled down to create a large area of surface that is colored black. Tatsuya tells her to designate an area and to concentrate on it. Miyuki uses her CAD and begins the Magic Sequence, and a box filled with white ice begins to manifest but then suddenly failed.

Miyuki asks Tatsuya what went wrong and what should she do to improve it. Tatsuya tells her that she is doing well, while she is happy that he is trying to support her but she can tell by the tone of his voice that he isn’t satisfied with the result. She asks him with a sad voice for his honest opinion and Tatsuya was taken back by this development. He then tells her that she is too conscious about precisely defining the area in which her event interference power is being used. The lowest temperature that she has achieved so far has been about 30 degrees below zero, but once she gets the event interference power back to normal she could reach temperatures around 200 degrees below zero.

Tatsuya frankly points out the missing points of the technique. He feels that Miyuki has lost sight of Niflheim’s true purpose.

Tatsuya was unsure of how to respond at first because he wasn’t sure how this would affect Miyuki. He then tells Miyuki to try again in the same spot and to make it the same size.

As Miyuki is activating the magic she unconsciously says “Freezing”, this time she activates Niflheim almost perfectly, the area designation and cooling were correct but she was unable to control the power unleashed this time. Gusts of cold air start to rush towards Miyuki, Tatsuya calls out to Miyuki and hugs her while shielding her from the cold air. Miyuki immediately erected barrier magic to block them from the cold air, it would normally be very difficult to control a barrier like this but she was able to do so.

The atmospheric pressure dropped greatly due to the temperature lowering drastically, along with liquid nitrogen being created. The violent winds began to die down, but the surrounding air didn’t return to normal temperature right away. It is about 10 degrees lower than what it should normally be, the cold air begins to spread out but Miyuki maintains the barrier. Except for the two meters around them, the black sandy beach is covered in a white frost.

◇ ◇ ◇

Practice was cut off early due to that incident. Tatsuya and Miyuki returned to their lodging and were warming themselves up with some drinks. Tatsuya is trying to comfort Miyuki, but she is depressed by what happened, but he isn’t really sure what to do to make her feel better.

Her last attempt can’t be called a complete success but the only issue was the power used was too much for her to control. Also they learned about a secondary effect of Niflheim that wasn’t apparent during the earlier practices. Tatsuya goes on to say that Miyuki protected him so there isn’t anything to worry about, when he says this Miyuki reacted strongly and brought her face close to Tatsuya’s. Although it wasn’t close enough to touch, Tatsuya still fixed his posture to sit upright in order to move his face further away. Miyuki asks for confirmation that she really did help him out, and when he confirms she grabs his hands and holds them in front of her chest and smiles.

This behavior is still very new to Tatsuya, it isn’t possible for him at age 13 to be able to tell what is going on in his sister’s heart. Tatsuya loves his sister, it is the only real feeling left within him, all of his other emotions seem empty to him unless it involves Miyuki. There is an awkward silence that follows afterwards, but seeing Miyuki’s mood change for the better is good enough for Tatsuya.

Miyuki once again realizes that it’s just the two of them here, with her mother in the hospital and her father busy with work and entertainment during the holidays. It isn’t very often that she is alone with him but she is very pleased with this new environment.

But just when the atmosphere started to become comfortable again an alarm started to ring out through the facilities. Miyuki asks if this alarm is due to a volcanic eruption, Tatsuya heads over to the communication device and dials in a number. On the other line is Yanagi, who is currently stationed on this island. He is a Lieutenant in the Defense Forces who fought alongside Tatsuya in Okinawa, he was transferred here just after the battle of Okinawa.

Tatsuya asks what they should do, and Yanagi says that there is a danger of a major eruption and that they should evacuate immediately. Tatsuya asks for a prediction of when the eruption is going to occur, and Yanagi says that at the earliest it will be an hour from now. Tatsuya glances at Miyuki real quick and sees that she has covered her mouth to hold in a scream. He then says that it will be difficult to evacuate in time, Yanagi confirms and says that it will be difficult and that it will be even worse for the prisoners. In other words the prisoners will probably be left behind, it is unavoidable with only an hour to act.

Tatsuya asks Yanagi to give him 20 minutes, to which Yanagi says that he can afford to give him 20 minutes but asks what Tatsuya plans to do with that time. Tatsuya replies that there are certain experiments that can be achieved with this opportunity and that he won’t interfere with the evacuation. Yanagi asks if he will need to have a car prepared for them, to which Tatsuya says no and that he will be conducting the experiment from the vicinity of their lodgings.

After hanging up with Yanagi, Miyuki asks Tatsuya if it is was her fault that the volcano has started to erupt. Tatsuya says that he has never seen any theory that a rapid decrease in temperature on the surface to lead to a rise in underground magma. Miyuki was relieved to hear this, however Tatsuya had thought of another possibility without it being shown on his face. He can’t rule out the fact that magic may have affected this outcome by affecting the law of energy conservation. (There is an explanation about the effects of thermal energy and kinetic energy that can be affected by magic). But Tatsuya believes that this eruption was not caused by Miyuki’s practice.

Tatsuya tells Miyuki again that this wasn’t due to her, but that with her power they can stop the eruption for happening. Tatsuya doesn’t say that it is a guarantee but that it’s worth a try. Miyuki nods with confidence that she wants to try.

◇ ◇ ◇

It has been five minutes since the alarm started to ring out.

While Miyuki’s cooling magic was never intended to interfere with underground magma, along with the possibility that it might have an adverse reaction, Tatsuya would normally advise against using it. However, Tatsuya believes that he can help Miyuki by adjusting the Magic Sequence while she is casting it. It is a technique that should be tested beforehand but with only an hour to spare there is no time to do a test run.

A magician is very vulnerable when they input a Magic Sequence into a CAD, if the sequence isn’t done correctly it can be harmful and the magician can lose their sense of sanity after a mistake. Of course Tatsuya has no intention to let Miyuki be harmed in any way, if he needs to he will eliminate this threat with his full power. But at the same time the best option is to assist Miyuki with a newly created Magic Sequence.

Tatsuya asks for Miyuki’s hands, she is slightly confused but Tatsuya takes her hand and raises it to about shoulder length. Tatsuya looks directly into Miyuki’s eyes and tells her to start her Magic Sequence in her mind, and to build up the sequence to use on the underground magma.

Since Tatsuya’s Magic Calculation Area is occupied by two magics, he can’t use any other type of magic. To overcome this his mother and aunt planted an artificial Magic Calculation Area within him, although it’s power is inferior to an average magicians it still allows him to use other magics. With his artificial Magic Calculation Area being implanted in his subconscious he can read Magic Sequences instantly and also acquired Flash Cast. Flash Cast allows him to bypass the normal process for assembling Magic Sequences which allows him to activate magic faster.

Tatsuya’s evaluation in the Yotsuba Family is that he is a great SB magician, but at the same time a third-rate magician since he doesn’t fulfill the definition of an actual magician. Although he was labeled as unqualified, he still received training from the Yotsuba Family so that he could fulfill the role of a Guardian.

By using his Elemental Sight, he was able to master his unique magics as well as develop other unique abilities and acquire intelligence that labeled him as a master magician at the age of 13 years old. Normally it would be impossible to assist another person with their Magic Sequence directly, but Tatsuya and Miyuki have a very unique connection.

Miyuki didn’t question Tatsuya’s method, but she was blushing and only nodded to Tatsuya. Using the unique magic from the Yotsuba Family, Tatsuya is able to modify Miyuki’s Magic Sequence for Niflheim directly. It is a very risky process since Miyuki’s mind is in vulnerable state, if Tatsuya messes up it could cause permanent damage to Miyuki. Tatsuya asks if Miyuki is okay, to which she says that she is surprised but that she is fine. Miyuki is surprised at what she is currently seeing, through this connection she is able to see what Tatsuya sees when using Elemental Sight. Tatsuya is amazed that Miyuki isn’t overwhelmed by this, which shows amazing composure and talent.

Miyuki can see that Tatsuya is adjusting the Magic Sequence for Niflheim, as soon as it is completed Tatsuya tells Miyuki to “go”. Even though Tatsuya is the one assembling the magic, Miyuki still needs to be the one to cast it. There is no way to completely stop the eruption, but when the magic designed by Tatsuya is released underground by Miyuki, the uppermost part of the lava was instantly cooled and turned into a new mass of rock. It was also applied in a way that forces the eruption and lava to the east side of the island, and away from the prison. As the lava flows into the sea it evaporates the sea water to create a lot of white steam as it cools down.

Tatsuya thanks Miyuki for her hard work and suggests that they return back to their room. While they are heading back into their room, a large number of soldiers are coming out of their rooms to see what had happened.

◇ ◇ ◇

The eruption was nearly an hour earlier than what the predictions had said, and the eruption of lava occurred at an unexpected point on the eastern side of the island. Therefore, damages to the existing facilities were limited, but just to be sure Tatsuya still decided to evacuate with Miyuki.

Tatsuya and Miyuki boarded a helicopter. Tatsuya is greeted by Yanagi, and he asks Tatsuya about what happened, and also adds that it’s purely for his own curiosity and that he won’t spread this information to his disadvantage. Tatsuya says “Is that so”, to which Yanagi asks if their magic experiment was the reason why the eruption was accelerated. Tatsuya answers no, which is a lie but at the same time not a lie. Tatsuya had known that the eruption was going to happen, but he used Miyuki’s magic to stop the eruption from harming anyone and to keep damages to the existing facilities to a minimum.

Yanagi asks what kind of magic they were experimenting with, and Tatsuya answers that it was magic to cool underground bedrock. Yanagi asks again if this was the cause of the eruption, Tatsuya answers that the other two volcanoes on the island are silent. Yanagi seems to notice what Tatsuya is trying to say and his intentions, which makes Yanagi laugh. Yanagi then asks if Tatsuya had predicted this situation, to which Tatsuya says that if he knew this was going to happen then he never would have come here in the first place. Yanagi nods with a happy expression, it was as if he had just heard a funny joke.

◇ ◇ ◇

The evacuation order having been lifted within the day, Tatsuya and Miyuki stayed overnight at the airport lounge where their treatment was better than what soldiers and prisoners would receive.

In the meantime Tatsuya rewrote the Magic Sequence on his terminal, meanwhile Miyuki was watching while waiting for some tea.

After resuming practice two days later, Miyuki would never fail using Niflheim again. She thought it was thanks to Tatsuya having rewritten the Magic Sequence, but Tatsuya decided not to burst her bubble of confidence since he had a different view of things.

Tatsuya created a mechanism to alleviate the imbalance in the energy balance by adding a description of the process for restoring the velocity of gas molecules to their original state at the end of using Niflheim. Regardless is a fact that Miyuki finally got better at using Niflheim. Both the Magic Sequence and another Magic Sequence are what causes an intense air current to form by leaving an imbalance in the energy balance.

Due to Miyuki practicing Niflheim on the eastern end of the island where new lava was erupting, the land became quickly usable. At this point the eruptions increased the area of the island to 8 square kilometers, thus increasing the area of the island by one square kilometer.

Thus Miyuki is safe and sound before the beginning of her third semester in middle school during her first year; having acquired the wide area cooling magic Niflheim.

---End---

It was confirmed that there would be no impact to the safety of the prisoners after the eruption on the eastern region of the island, thus that night the prisoners were returned to their prisons.

A small lifeboat is floating south of the island at sea. Not a rubber boat, but a boat made of fiberglass.

Inside the boat are two magicians speaking Cantonese, whom were captured agents from the Great Asian Union. The two talk about informing the media about the situation pertaining to conditions at the prison, thus leading the world to condemn Japan for the treatment of abusing prisoners.

Soon enough a small submarine starts to surface. Behind the two men in the opposite direction from the submarine, a voice speaking Japanese is heard.

As the submarine was generating small amount of air bubbles from its ballast tanks in order to dive as the hatch is opened. Without looking behind them the two men jump into the ocean out from the unstable boat. As they moved towards the submarine it was suddenly decomposed, causing the two men to feel fear. While the overturned boat is on the ocean, the two men are decomposed leaving no bodies behind.

Only the figures of two people could be seen. First-Lieutenant Yanagi thanks Tatsuya for his cooperation in disposing of the prisoners.

Tatsuya asks if it was okay to erase them, when Yanagi with a bitter smile tells him that it was better to dispose of them since it would be undesirable if bodies remained.

(Yanagi feels that it's unbelievable that a 13 year-old from the Yotsuba Family could kill so many people.)

In 2093 A.D., First-Lieutenant Yanagi joins the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion of the 101st Brigade as an executive, along with being promoted to Captain.

Not long afterwards a Special Officer named Ooguro Ryuuya joins the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion at the strong recommendation of Major Kazama and Captain Yanagi.

Melancholic​ Birthday[]

Spoiler

It is the evening of the day before Shiba Miyuki, a candidate to be the next head of the Yotsuba Family, will turn sixteen-years-old and be of an age where it is possible to marry.

◆ ◆ ◆

Shiba Tatsuya is a Guardian of the Yotsuba Family and the person who defends Miyuki, who is my younger sister.

As a side effect of the Artificial Magician Experiment, Tatsuya perfectly recalls everything since he was six years old.

Because the Artificial Magician operation was unable to produce the desired results he was reduced to a mere servant.

He considers the command to make the safety of Miyuki my top priority a blessing. And that his feelings for Miyuki are true and not a side effect of the experiment. And she is the only person he is able to love.

Tatsuya's earliest memory is of two women looking down at him. My mother Shiba Miya and my aunt Yotsuba Maya. And neither was pregnant.

But Miyuki is definitely his sister. His 'Elemental Sight' confirms that he and Miyuki are born of the same parents.

◇ ◇ ◇

Because she is a magician from the Ten Master Clans, her coming of marital age is a source of concern for Miyuki.

Female magicians are required to marry young and bear children because magic is something inherited by lineage.

And magic is power, so the state wants excellent magicians and the magicians need the protection of the state.

For male magicians, it's best to have as many children as possible even if it means being unfaithful.

Not marrying early is an impossible dream.

And her partner will be chosen for her. And even now, just like her mother and aunt, Miyuki does not question this way of life for the members of the Yotsuba Family.

And had that summer day not happened. Had Miyuki done as he was told and continued hideously treating Tatsuya as a servant she well might have welcomed what tomorrow brings and the chosen fiancée.

◆ ◆ ◆

It's the fourth time Tatsuya has been able to openly celebrate Miyuki's birthday.

It's the most special day of the year for Tatsuya.

Tatsuya cannot imagine a world without Miyuki and would not suffer such a world to exist. He has made a few friends over this past year but if Miyuki died before him one day he could never accept a world that would arrange such a fate.

And he would reduce the entire world to nothing.

The madness where one person is the equivalent to him of everything in the entire world.

And that because Miyuki is alive and well, he is happy.

◇ ◇ ◇

Miyuki regrets the wasted years before she reconciled with Tatsuya and wishes they could be regained.

And the implications of turning sixteen are depressing and plague her. The only saving grace is that her partner has not been chosen.

But it is not unusual for a marriage to a much older man to be announced on a female magician's sixteenth birthday. And even if their opinion is respected, saying no to one's kin is not easy for a child. Even if they find the partner chosen detestable.

And the odds of a fiancée being selected and Miyuki being married within the month are not low.

But in truth, Miyuki does not want to get married. Because she cannot marry the person she wants too.

◆ ◆ ◆

It's 11pm and in one hour Miyuki will turn sixteen-years-old and can legally marry.

Tatsuya laments that once Miyuki is married they will have to spend less time together and the thought makes him feel lonely.

But even from far away, Tatsuya can still protect Miyuki. And he always will.

Tatsuya has no right to oppose Miyuki’s marriage partner when chosen by the Yotsuba Family. But as her brother, he wants the chosen man to be able to defeat Tatsuya, not with magic, but as a man.

If he can defeat Tatsuya when they just use their arms then he'll give the man Miyuki gracefully.

◇ ◇ ◇

Miyuki laments being Tatsuya's sister and being unable to marry him.

She don’t want to be embraced by any man other than Tatsuya, nor even touched at all by any other man. Because all of her, belongs to Tatsuya alone and she exists solely for his benefit.

Miyuki decides that her obligatory descendants will be made via artificial insemination using eggs extracted from her ovaries. And an artificial womb will be used, even if it might not be approved by those around her.

Miyuki laments that Tatsuya will never see her as more than a sister, no matter how she feels.

◆ ◆ ◆

Tatsuya ponders on who will be chosen as Miyuki's husband when she has no equal in his eyes.

He thinks on Miyuki's faults. Her hot temper, her tendency to be blind to her surroundings when she gets absorbed in something, and the fact that hidden within her personality exist places with violent preferences.

But even the gods are flawed, so it's fine.

All Tatsuya cares about is that the man chosen is suitable for Miyuki and can hold her in his heart and build a home as an equal married couple.

Especially in light of his father, who could not accept the marriage because he already loved another. And unable to make the marriage work despite Miya's best efforts, he ran away to a mistress.

And Tatsuya believes this resulted in both his parents becoming unhappy.

Tatsuya does not want Miyuki to experience her mother's fate in a sour life devoid of happiness.


Even if I’ll always love her as a brother, it is impossible for me to be a husband.

In the same way, it is impossible for Miyuki to persist as an unmarried woman for the rest of her life.

Because my aunt could not marry due to rare extraneous circumstances, it is even more important for Miyuki to welcome her husband and make a child.

However at the very least, I would like for the man chosen to Miyuki’s husband to be a man suitable for her.

So Tatsuya prays that the man standing next to Miyuki is at least suitable for her.

◇ ◇ ◇

Miyuki goes to sleep just before the date changes.


◆ ◆ ◆

Just past midnight, Tatsuya goes to sleep.

◇ ◆ ◇

Sunday, March 25th. Miyuki’s sixteenth birthday.

Tatsuya returns from his training and greets Miyuki. The pair then go for a day out to celebrate.

But their everyday lives will change in nine months’ time, on the last day of the year.

Gallery[]

Click on the images to enlargen them.


Advertisement