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Southern Sea Riot Chapter is the 20th volume in the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Light Novel series.

Synopsis[]

In AD 2097. Azusa, Isori, Kanon, Hattori, Kirihara and Sayaka, all First High Magic High School graduates had been planning a graduation trip to Okinawa. At the same time, Shizuku and Honoka invited Miyuki and Tatsuya to an anniversary party of a man-made island which is also held there. In addition, Miyuki and Tatsuya were given a mission to accompany them to stop a terrorist attack by specialized magician defected from Great Asian Union.

Just to be on the safe side, Tatsuya met up with the 101 IMEB but an unexpected magician who had once opposed him appeared instead. While Tatsuya handling the terrorist attack in a calm and calculated manner. The two couples of Mibu, Kirihara, Kanon and Isori are enjoying the graduation trip but Azusa and Hattori? Furthermore, Honoka's crush on Tatsuya explodes!?. Magic High School graduation trip and spring break holiday turned into a troublesome uncertain trip.

Chapter 1[]

Spoiler
Australia, Darwin Air Force Base.

This place was once an international airport, but after the World War Australia established an isolation policy, leading to the international airport was closed.

Instead, a new magical research facility was built with cooperation from the UK.

In general, even if an isolation policy is established, it doesn’t mean that they completely stopped interacting with foreign countries. Even if they are blocking diplomacy as a state, they can disguise themselves in the form of private trade - or between private citizens to maintain limited connection with foreign countries.

By the end of World War 3, Australia is an isolated fortress, keeping few diplomatic interactions with other nations. While the Australian government claims this is to prevent terrorism, leaving the country is well-nigh impossible for civilians. All diplomatic exchanges are conducted in secret to maintain a facade of strict diplomatic neutrality.

Australia terraforming transforms their desert regions, making the nation highly self-sustaining.

They maintain a secret alliance with the British mostly for the sake of obtaining cutting-edge magic technology. The UK is ranked the same as the USNA in terms of magic advancement.

At Australia's Darwin Base, a prototype hyper-sonic jet (Mach 6) lands with a VIP passenger. This VIP is not a politician or military officer, but a civilian researcher known as William McCloud, the 13th Apostle of the United Kingdom. (On a side note, the Great Asian Union does not acknowledge the demise of their own apostle Liu Yunde).

William (60 years old, with silver hair) gives the impression his status rivals or even surpasses the UK prime minister. He is driven in a Rolls-Royce to an Australian military research facility for developing magicians. He helped develop magicians here once upon a time. The people who greet William are a 30 year old man, and a girl who appears 12-13 years old. They discuss if Japan is allowed to expand their forces, this would tip the balance of world powers and negatively impact the British Commonwealth.

The British Commonwealth appeared to dissolve after WW3, but its former members maintain a secret network of contact.

The young girl is actually 29 years old and a very experienced magician, she carries the “William family” genes as a modified magician.

Their plan is to sabotage the Japanese artificial island (right next to Okinawa) built to extract resources from the sea bed.

◇ ◇ ◇

2097-3-10 Sunday

After sending Masaki off, Tatsuya and Miyuki meet with Maya, the head of the Yotsuba family, at the Kanto branch of the Magic Association.

Tatsuya calls Maya "Oka-sama" here at the Magic Association. Maya apologizes ahead of time because she knows that the mission with the Hakone terrorist was just settled. Tatsuya has mixed feelings about this, because while the matter has been settled it cannot be said that it has been finished. The police continue to search for the terrorist. It was also settled in a manner that was undesirable, so Tatsuya had apologized to Maya.

Maya says she has another mission for Tatsuya. Tatsuya points out they could have visited her back at Yotsuba village. Maya replies she has other business to handle as well, so he need not worry about her making a trip to come out.

The Yotsuba village, once a secret military base, is built to protect their research results by severing external communications in case of an emergency. In such an emergency the village can sustain itself in all aspects. However, the Yotsuba family still have their own enterprise, trade and sponsors to maintain outside of their village. So the head of the family occasionally leaves the village in person.

Maya tells Tatsuya and Miyuki to go to Okinawa and attend a ceremony in memory of those who died in the Okinawa invasion by the Great Asian Union in August 2092, this is only their cover though. Although Miyuki has some painful memories associated with this incident she says that they aren't family to any of the victims. Maya goes on to say that while that is true, this is official business for the Ten Master Clans and that they are directly related to this matter.

Maya gives Tatsuya a letter containing the objective of the real mission. Maya has Tatsuya read and then decompose the letter on the spot, but she permits Tatsuya to tell Miyuki the real mission. Maya says that she hopes that Tatsuya and Miyuki will work together to solve this matter and that she is leaving responsibility of it Tatsuya. Maya did not say it directly but it was implied that failure this time would not be acceptable.

◇ ◇ ◇

2097-3-11 Monday

Shizuku asks Miyuki if she wants to go to Okinawa. Miyuki is surprised by the coincidence, and reminds herself that Shizuku can't possibly know about her mission. Shizuku mentions how her father sponsored the construction of the artificial island. She wants to invite Miyuki and Tatsuya to the ceremony celebrating the finish of the construction of the artificial island.

Miyuki declines as the dates clash with her mission. She explains to Shizuku and Honoka only about their cover mission to attend the Okinawa memorial service. Hearing that Tatsuya would be going with Miyuki to Okinawa, Honoka expectations for the trip greatly increased. Shizuku asks if they can meet up if they have any free time. Miyuki says that they won't always be working and that she will contact them when they have some free time. Shizuku could tell Honoka was very excited.

◇ ◇ ◇

2097-3-15

After the First High graduation ceremony.

Miyuki calls Tatsuya “Onii-sama” but then switches to “Tatsuya-sama”. Recently she has been trying to not call him Onii-sama in public, but trying to call him Tatsuya-sama is also difficult for her. At first she tried calling him Tatsuya-san but it brought her great discomfort to think of him as "equal to her". And everyone around her accepted this without any complaints.

Tatsuya works at the computer station in the student council room when Minami serves him a cup of coffee. Eating and drinking is forbidden at the computer station but no one calls Tatsuya out for it. Saegusa Izumi is annoyed with him but doesn't dare voice a complaint since Tatsuya services and maintains all the student council equipment.

Regardless of this matter—or Miyuki’s extraordinary leadership charisma—the democracy of First High is in a very dangerous spot.

Tatsuya is at the computer station because he has no place to work; the student council table is occupied by Nakajou, Isori, Kanon, Hattori, Kirihara and Mibu Sayaka who are planning their graduation trip to Okinawa.

The graduates are going there partially because the Isori family provided magic support in the construction and on-going defense of the artificial island. Isori engraving magic can exponentially increase the strength of the artificial island for short periods of time.

With all these coincidences occurring around Tatsuya (mainly all these events involving the artificial island), he considers warning his friends of the possible sabotage but decides to give priority to secrecy to keep them from getting involved.

◇ ◇ ◇

2097-3-17

Tatsuya meets up with Kazama and the 101st. For his new mission, he is to assist the 101st in thwarting the sabotage efforts of Great Asian Union renegade division and the Australians. For this mission, Tatsuya is providing assistance from the Yotsuba family to the 101st, so he is not serving as a Special Officer for this mission.

Kazama is very accommodating to Tatsuya. Tatsuya believes that Kazama is acting this way because he didn't assist Tatsuya in the search for Gu Jie and may be regretting that.

When Tatsuya asks if Kazama will be commanding the unit locally, he responds by saying that he isn't only commanding but will also participate in the fighting force. Tatsuya goes on to say they might need a larger force to deal with this. While Kazama agrees with him, it is better to use a smaller elite force for the time being to make sure they don't cause a commotion. If the enemy ends up using a larger force than theirs, they will have the local military forces along with local police to cope.

The enemy's tactical purpose is to try and destroy the new construction work on the artificial island, or to assassinate important figures that participate at the commemoration party. However, the secondary goal could be to encourage Japanese hostility towards the Great Asian Union and to abolish the peace treaty.

Chapter 2[]

Spoiler
After the "Scorched Halloween" incident, which took place at the southern end of the Korean Peninsula at the end of October, the Great Asian Union lost their navy, naval base and a large number of warships.

On top of that, in order to achieve a decisive victory in the war with the Great Asian Union, the Japanese defense navy in mid-November assembled a fleet at Sasebo. Japan had also assembled their recognized strategic class magician, one of the "Thirteen Apostles", Itsuwa Mio and she left with the fleet at Sasebo at the same time. For Japan, it can be said that it was going to be all-out warfare.

Fortunately, the attack fleet was never fired upon by the Great Asian Union. So the Strategic-Class Magic “Abyss” was never used, and Japan didn’t lose a valuable strategic class magician. A ceasefire was settled by an offer from the Great Asian Union, which was mediated by the South-East Asian Alliance.

And then in March 2096, a peace treaty was concluded with the Great Asian Union. One of the reasons why the peace treaty was so quickly accepted was that the terms issued by the Japanese were very modest. But the main reason is that the damage suffered by the Great Asian Union was so great. However, not everyone approved of the peace treaty. It would be the same for any nation, and any army, there will be some that are against the peace treaty.

Both in Japan, and the Great Asian Union, there were many people who expressed opposition to the treaty. Not only this, but there are some more antagonistic people trying to destroy the state of peace and restore a warlike state.

2097-3-21

A big fellow lands at the Okinawa airport. He tries to catch a taxi as he exits the airport, but there is not a single person around. Lu Ganghu attacks the big fellow. Lu Ganghu calls the big fellow "traitor" and his name is revealed to be “Bradly Zhang”.

There is no one around because Lu Ganghu is using his Ghost Walker spell.

Although Bradly Zhang is bigger than Lu Ganghu, he's the one feeling nervous. Bradley can also use Steel Qigong. Lu Ganghu had the advantage in the fight and was pressuring Zhang with close combat.

In the midst of their fight, someone wearing a hat and sunglasses intrudes Lu's Ghost Walker field and throws a dagger at him stopping his momentum in the fight with Zhang. Lu Ganghu is told to retreat on his com-link.

◇◇◇

The intruder is revealed to be James Jackson, a 30 year old Australian magician. When he hears that he is an Australian magician he remarks that it is very rare to see an Australian due to their "Isolation Policy". Kazama orders the Intelligence Department to preform an investigation into James' activities.

As Lu Ganghu retreats, Chen Xiangshan sits across from Kazama. They are working together to capture Bradly Zhang, the 2nd leader of the Great Asian Union renegade division.

Chen Xiangshan and Lu Ganghu were captured during the Yokohama Incident and then imprisoned as war criminals who were guilty of unlawfully destruction, but were released just after the peace treaty between Japan and the Great Asian Union was established.

To be exact, the exchange of war criminals was conducted informally. Although war criminals are not subject to prisoners exchanges, there were Japanese operatives that were captured by the Great Asian Union in the Yokohama Incident as well, so they were used as bargaining chips for the Japanese operatives.

Japan obviously does not want an attack on their own island, the Great Asian Union does not want their renegade faction to instigate a war between Great Asian Union and Japan.

After Chen Xiangshan leaves, Yanagi entered the conference room. Fujibayashi, who had just left the meeting room was now with Kazama, Sanada, Yanagi. All the officers of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion have gathered here in Okinawa excluding Yamanaka.

Yanagi watches the recording of the fight between Lu Ganghu and Bradly Zhang. Yanagi observes that Bradly is serious but Lu Ganghu is not. Even so, Yanagi believes this incident proves the renegade division is not working together with Great Asian Union to deceive Japan.

Sanada brings up Tatsuya and calls him "special lieutenant". Fujibayashi reminds him that Tatsuya is participating as a Yotsuba magician this time and that he shouldn't be calling him that.

Kazama's only concern at the moment is coordination with Chen Xiangshan's forces. Kazama was ordered to form a joint operation with this team from the Great Asian Union by Saeki, this happened a day before Kazama spoke with Tatsuya. But in Kazama’s meeting on the 17th, he did not tell Tatsuya about the operation.

The deserters intend to carry out sabotage in Japan, so they are hoping to catch them before-hand. The Great Asian Union wanting to cooperate is not particularly unnatural. They are rather troubled that the peace agreement with Japan is at risk.

The control of the army was the highest priority for the Central Government of the Great Asian Union, which had often spared the signs of division. If you let the deserters of the army leave arbitrarily, there is a fear that the rebellion will spread like falling dominoes. For the officials of the Central Government, it is definitely too much of a risk to ignore.

Kazama decides to trust Chen Xiangshan "this time", after listening to the results of today's observations along with the report from Yanagi. Sanada repeats "this time" in an ironic tone, but no one here thinks that this partnership is going to last.

◇ ◇ ◇

2097-3-23

Right after the graduation ceremony, Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami were leaving for Okinawa. Originally they wanted to take day off from school, but since Miyuki is the student council president she cannot miss the graduation ceremony. It would have been better to wait until the following day to leave, but the ceremony for the Okinawa victims was to be held in the afternoon on the 24th.

Incidentally, Honoka and Shizuku were to fly to Okinawa on the afternoon of the 25th. Shizuku’s father is also flying in for the completion of the construction project on the artificial island and the commemoration party, along with Shizuku's mother and her younger brother. Also, Azusa and her group of graduates should have arrived in Okinawa yesterday.

On the airplane five years ago, Tatsuya sat in a normal seat in coach. But this time Tatsuya and Miyuki sat together in first class seats. Minami was not sitting in coach on this flight either like most servants would and was placed in first class seating. Minami was very uncomfortable with the extravagant first-class seat.

The three of them are going to stay at a luxury hotel near the airport. The villa that they spent with their late mother was still there. Even if the owner is still the Shiba family, they did not want to stay there with Minami.

2097-3-24

Hayama has already made all the arrangements. Miyuki who was wearing a pure black dress, without the usual hair ornaments, and her hair bundled up was very eye-catching in the ceremony.

After the end of the ceremony, they first returned to the hotel to change their clothes, and then went out again together, and now is the official start of this trip for Tatsuya.

The hotel where Tatsuya was staying at is very close to Naha Airport, and their destination was next to the airport.

It is a two story restaurant in front of the defense base of Naha. It is not an Okinawa restaurant. It is a steakhouse known as the “Left Behind Bloodline”. The second floor that was reserved was Tatsuya’s destination.

◇ ◇ ◇

As he entered the restaurant, Tatsuya was called out by a large man with black skin and a shaved head. And his physique is relative to his energy, it was a loud and cheerful voice.

It's Joseph (from vol.8) in a restaurant called “Left Behind Bloodline”. He has not retired, he has been promoted to Sergeant but is only helping at this restaurant due to his retired friends. Five years ago, Joseph and his fellow colleagues were often criticized by the locals.

The Okinawa incident brought about a lot of casualties, but because of their brave fighting the prejudice began to ease. When you look at his appearance, you know it is true to some extent.

In that incident, some of the “Left Bloods” turned into enemies. This matter was concealed by the JDF, Tatsuya agreed with this, and now that he sees how Joe is, he is convinced again that it was the right choice.

Tatsuya brought Miyuki and Minami up to the second floor. Knocking on the door, he was greeted by Sanada.

Sanada secretly looked at Minami, probably because this is his first time meeting her. But he should have been aware that Minami was coming here today. He should not be surprised by the appearance of three people.

It was Tatsuya and Miyuki who were surprised by the present company. In the room was Kazama, Sanada and an unexpected person. Tatsuya maintained his poker face, but Miyuki had to cover her mouth with her hands to avoid showing her surprise. Chen Xiangshan is there with Kazama.

They discuss the personnel on the sabotage team. James and young girl called Jasmine often work together by pretending to be father and daughter.

Kazama is calling Tatsuya by name and not calling him “special lieutenant", or “Ooguro Ryuuya" but as Shiba Tatsuya of the Yotsuba family. This is probably because Colonel Chen is present. Chen Xiangshan does not know that Tatsuya is the strategic level magician “Ooguro Ryuuya”, but on the other hand, in the Yokohama incident he confirmed Tatsuya's and Miyuki’s fighting ability.

However, Kazama does not hide the fact that Tatsuya has a cooperative relationship with the military from Chen Xiangshan, which is due to another reason.

Due to foreign magician forces planning to sabotage the work of Japan. It’s natural that that the Ten Master Clans, Yotsuba Family would move to prevent it. Tatsuya was also announced as a member of the Yotsuba at the same time, by doing so it can be said that the reason for the existence of “Ooguro Ryuuya” is only to protect the secret of the strategic class magician.

Tatsuya is also very clear about their duties.

His thoughts turn to himself and Miyuki, ever since Tatsuya and Miyuki became known members of the Yotsuba family they are way too conspicuous. At today's ceremony they attracted a lot of attention, and it wasn’t all because of the beauty of Miyuki. It is proof that their identity is well known and spreading quickly.

Just before Kazama was about to ask them to stay for dinner Tatsuya says that they plan to return to the hotel, stating that Miyuki is tired from the ceremony today. This is an excuse to no longer stay in this place. Chen Xiangshan may be collaborating with the National Defense Force this time, but he isn’t someone that Tatsuya and Miyuki want to act friendly towards by having dinner with.

Fujibayashi is not at the meeting because she feigns exhaustion but the real reason is that she is avoiding meeting with Tatsuya.

◇ ◇ ◇

On the graduates team side, Sawaki Midori asks if it is really okay that he came along. It's already the third day of their graduation trip. He observes if not for him, the pairings would be perfect (Isori & Kanon, Kirihara & Mibu, Hattori & Nakajou) and how he feels like a seventh wheel. Nakajou, mortified, insists she is not on such a relationship with Hattori. Hattori is not embarrassed and says he's thankful for Sawaki being here to neutralize the couples vibe in the team. The other two couples wear matching clothes.

Isori asks if Sawaki is being overly concerned because he saw the Shiba siblings/couple. Sawaki says he doesn't think too much of it, but mentions that Isori might be right. They say the Shiba siblings match very well. Mibu says Miyuki is so beautiful any handsome fellow would still look inferior in Miyuki’s presence; but Tatsuya gives off such a strong aura that completely matches Miyuki’s beauty. They say Tatsuya gives the vibe of a up-front warrior even when compared to any magician, or even the Yotsuba clan. (Translator: how could they know [and] compare him to any Yotsuba member when no one even knows who or where they are).

Kanon remarks how Sawaki gives the impression of a warrior, too. Sawaki is stunned.

Mibu notices Jasmine is about to be captured by several big fellows. Jasmine has chestnut-colored hair. Unaware Jasmine is Australian Spec-ops, the graduate team fights off the big fellows and carry Jasmine away. When questioned, Jasmine lies that she is waiting for her father. During the fight it was Sawaki, Kirihara and Sayaka fighting at close range with Hattori and Azusa backing them up from a distance (Kanon and Isori's magic isn't well suited for the location).

Mibu takes off her belt which forms a sword similar to Erica’s baton. It was a coincidence that Mibu had this belt on her, Isori gave this belt to Mibu for her to try out because neither Isori nor Kanon had sword skills.

When James is reunited with Jasmine, he speaks in mangled Japanese to convince the graduate team he is a foreigner. The graduate team is suspicious, but say nothing.

Hattori asks Sawaki why they didn't hand Jasmine over to the police. Sawaki explains the big fellows spoke Chinese and their fighting style was very similar to military combat. Sawaki and Hattori wonder if this is similar to the Yokohama incident. Mibu asks whether or not something like that would happen again, to which everyone is silent.

◇ ◇ ◇

Jasmine and James return back to their hotel.

Jasmine and James are both Captains of the Australian Army Magician Unit. After confirming that there was no eavesdropping devices around Jasmine berates James for using faulty Japanese and arousing suspicion. Jasmine says maybe she should switch partners. James replies their superiors won't permit that.

Jasmine Williams is a modified magician. She was born with the intended magic skills as planned, but had a genetic abnormality that was considered a side effect of the augmentation. Her body will not grow. It was at the age of 20 that she was augmented and now looks like she is 12 years old. And, after nine years, there was no growth at all. It is a reverse form of Progeria Syndrome.

Captain James J. Johnson is 180 centimeters tall, 75 kilograms of weight, with brown hair and brown eyes. As a Caucasian male, he has a less noticeable appearance. However, James is Jasmine’s partner, because of his ability as a combat magician.

Jasmine is a magician who is good at long range attack magic. Due to her physique, her physical ability is relatively low, so she isn’t good at close combat. On the other hand, James is an avant-garde magician who is good at self-accelerating magic, and has great physical strength. In short, their abilities compliment each other well.

Jasmine and James discuss the identities of the attackers and they know that they are from the Great Asian Union. They understand that Japan and the Great Asian Union must be working together to prevent the sabotage. They continue to discuss the current relationship between the Great Asian Union and Japan.

As they finish packing they know that Jasmine has been targeted, and of course this hotel must be marked. Even if they try to sneakily go out the backdoor it would be the same as if they left the front lobby. The two decided to adopt a slightly rough method in order to get rid of the people tracking them.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya’s mission given from Maya is to prevent a terrorist attack at the artificial island completion party. The search for the terrorists is not in the scope of his mission this time.

It seemed that this was also conveyed to the 101st Brigade, and it was the conclusion in the meeting with Kazama that they would contact him when they locate the terrorists. This may be because Kazama does not to want to expose Tatsuya as a strategic level magician and plans to keep Tatsuya’s exposure to the Great Asian Union to a minimum while under this joint operation, or it could be Major General Saeki judgement.

Minami is surprised when she contacts the taxi center for a cab and gets no response. Miyuki asks if the terrorists have begun to make a move, and Tatsuya says no and explains that the connection should be reestablished in a minute.

Military communication relay stations were secretly installed in the form of being attached to a normal mobile communication network for smoother communication in urban areas, and with many obstacles it smoothly performs large volume data communications. Even if the base station is destroyed for each consumer relay unit, it switches to another relay point, and if it is a military communication unit without a suitable relay unit, stratospheric platform line and satellite line can be used directly. So even if the relay base station is destroyed, it will only temporarily disturb the collaboration between the forces, and only a maximum of one minute, or less.

Tatsuya deduces from this members of the Sabotage team were nearby. The team has probably already escaped, so there’s no point thinking about it. He has Minami call for a taxi again and they leave back to the hotel.

◇ ◇ ◇

Members of the capture team sent by Kazama are all paralyzed from Jasmine's Ozone Circle attack. Sanada is the one who guesses about what magic was used.

Ozone Circle is famous as a strategic-class magic that is used by William McCloud in Britain or Carla Schmidt in Germany, but it was originally a magic that began development as a countermeasure against ozone holes in the pre-cleft European Union.

According to the pre-split agreement, the magic Ozone Circle and the related information was shared by all the countries in the Old European Union. The Australian military, which was a member of the British Commonwealth, should have received this information.

Fujibayashi also determines the people who hampered the Great Asian Union capture are the First High graduates. She informs Kazama that Jasmine and James are already caught on the surveillance cameras and they have nowhere to hide. Kazama leaves the search for the Australians to Fujibayashi while Sanada is responsible for searching for main enemy unit.

Chapter 3[]

Spoiler
The Australian SpecOps duo met up with Daniel Liu, the 1st leader of the Great Asian Union renegade division. They said the next Yotsuba head and her fiancé were at the ceremony. They think it is reasonable for members of the Ten Master Clans to show up at the ceremony for those who fell in Okinawa.

Daniel Liu said they could potentially be an obstacle. Jasmine said they are only high school students. Daniel Liu said not to underestimate them since the current head of the Juumonji family Juumonji Katsuto, a then high school student dealt great damage to them in Yokohama.

Even though Daniel warned the Australian SpecOps duo, even he had no idea how terrifying the Shiba siblings are, not that he could not comprehend, he simply had no experience.

◇ ◇ ◇

2097-3-25

The siblings were actively carrying out their anti-sabotage mission- that never happened.

They were simply killing time and enjoying breakfast. They lived in the highest class room and again Minami was uncomfortable and kept saying she wanted to move to a cheaper room herself. Tatsuya had his own room while Minami roomed with Miyuki. The sibling dismissed her request by saying “what kind of guardian would leave their subject of protection”

They were having breakfast in their own balcony and as compensation, Minami sent away the waiter and took on the waitress roll herself until Miyuki told her to sit down and eat.

Tatsuya asked how Miyuki was feeling and used Elemental sight to make doubly sure that Miyuki was not acting tough. She replies that she is doing much better today, and when Tatsuya says "that's good" and smiles at her she turns red and shyly looks away for a moment. He then asks her if she would like to go out for a little bit today, and says they are going to go on a boat trip today.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya arrived at the port and headed towards a yacht capable of ocean navigation with Miyuki and Minami. Joe was there waiting for them. When Miyuki asks Tatsuya about it he says that he was planning on taking them on a plane but that he was offered to sail on this ship.

Evidently, the military higher-ups were in a frantic when they learned they were meant to provide a Yotsuba VIP with escort since they could not ignore their existence, that was until Kazama said that an officer, named Joseph, had previous encounter with the next Yotsuba head.

Tatsuya had made some arrangements before hand and told Joe that today he would like to go to Ishigaki Island.

The boat was stable and felt comfortable. It is about three hours to Ishigaki Island, about 400 kilometers. When they arrived there was a car waiting for them to take them around sight-seeing.

Tatsuya and co went inside a store while Joseph stayed outside.

It was a jewelry store. Tatsuya had made previous arrangements.

Tatsuya: “I’m Shiba Tatsuya”

Store staff: “I’ve been anticipating your arrival, this way please”

Evidently Tatsuya had made previous arrangements. While shocked, Miyuki’s hopes grew. The staff brought back a jewelry box for necklaces.

Miyuki: “This is……”

What was inside, was a multi-colored pearl necklace which made even Miyuki exclaim in awe.

White, black and gold pearls arranged in pattern, it was a multi-layered necklace of standard length. Each and every pearl had perfect curvature and was completely flawless. The color was vivid and the sheen was incomparable. Even an amateur could tell it was a product of very high class.

Tatsuya: “Can we see if the length fits?”

Staff: “I understand”

The staff bowed and said to Miyuki: “Shall I help you?”

Miyuki: “That…, is that for … me?”

Even though there could be no other explanation, Miyuki still couldn’t help but ask Tatsuya.

Tatsuya: “Of course. Happy Birthday!”

Miyuki placed both hand over her mouth.

Tatsuya: “Someday, in the near future, I’ll prepare a ring…. Please put up with a necklace for now”

As always, Tatsuya gave a calm vibe. But other than his expression and words, for some reason, he looked a bit embarrassed.

Miyuki: “That can’t be called ‘putting up’. I’m very happy, thank you very much, Tatsuya-sama”

Probably because she was too touched, her eyes began to water. She had managed to say “Tatsuya-sama” with no hesitation instead of “Onii-sama”; this was something only Minami noticed.

◇ ◇ ◇

As they arrived at the hotel they were staying at, Miyuki noticed that Tatsuya was staring at the building across the street and Minami went on full-alert. She noticed Tatsuya was staring at a window with blinds shut but they couldn’t pinpoint focus on what he was looking at. Tatsuya says there is no need to panic and he decided to ignore the person behind the blinds and said they probably won’t be able to sound anything out of the agent since he’s probably just hired.

◇ ◇ ◇

Behind the blinds, James was heavily sweating. Within the ranks of SpecOps, he was at the very front of the front-lines. Needless to say, he had always been walking in front of the gates of death, yet he was afraid.

Piercing through his consciousness, Tatsuya had been staring at him like a grim reaper/Shinigami. The name "Untouchables" was not for nothing.

The name "Untouchables" started to spread 30 years ago after the destruction of the Dahan. "Do not touch the Japan's Yotsuba. If you lay your hands on them, you will be destroyed."

James recollected all the incidents caused by the Yotsuba. Rumors had spread that it was due to the Yotsuba that the Great Asian Union were forced into peace negotiations with Japan. Also the strategic class magic that was used on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula was rumored to have been developed by the Yotsuba.

It sounded so exaggerated that he decided not to fully believe them. He thought a wielder of material burst couldn’t possibly be affiliated with a civilian organization; it had to be something developed by the military, otherwise the power balance inside the country would be tipped but such an enormous might.

The Yotsuba family isn't the only major power for Japan. The world's first military magician force that used flying magic was critical in repelling the Great Asian Union attack. And James' enemy this time around is the man made famous during the conflict in the Indochina Peninsula the "Great Tengu" Kazama Harunobu.

Nevertheless, the Yotsuba are not an opponent that should be underestimated.

◇ ◇ ◇

It wasn't just a present that Tatsuya had planned for Miyuki's birthday, he had also arranged a full course dinner at the hotel's fine dining restaurant. Where they had a dinner saturated with a sweet atmosphere. Minami decided to leave them alone. Miyuki wanted alcoholic cocktail but being reminded by Mayumi’s drunk behavior, Tatsuya adamantly refused. Even though elemental sight confirmed she took no alcohol, the atmosphere was already enough to make her seem a bit drunk.

As they left back to their room Miyuki wrapped her arm around Tatsuya and leaned up against him as they walked with a very pleased look in her eyes. If they were still siblings he would have gently scolded her and released her arm. But considering their current position he didn't see it as unnatural.

Tatsuya returned to his room, and sat at the desk. Using his "eyes" he decided to take a look at the information he gathered today. Through the experiences that occurred during his search for Gu Jie he had further developed his Elemental Sight and gained a new ability. He confirmed the psion marker he implanted in James this afternoon and read some of his data from the eidos. Tatsuya was only able to read his personal data, he had still not perfected his use of the psion marker to widen his elemental sight range. After checking his personal data and his current location he sent this new information over to Kazama.

After Tatsuya finished with his bath he found Miyuki wearing pajamas and sitting on his bed. Miyuki wasn't wearing any inappropriate but Tatsuya could tell that she wasn't wearing anything underneath and wasn't sure where to look. Tatsuya checks Miyuki again to see if she has consumed any alcohol but she just seems to be caught up in the moment. Miyuki is embarrassed at being stared at and asks Tatsuya if he is going to bed. To which he says he is, Miyuki switches off the light and tucked Tatsuya in bed. Tatsuya didn’t even bother sending her out. However, she herself fell asleep and ran off by midnight.

Chapter 4[]

Spoiler
2097-3-25

The next morning, Miyuki was still embarrassed from the night before. Tatsuya announced their schedule for today and said that they will be going to Kume Island as planned. This has no direct relationship with his mission, his purpose today is to sight-see and to comfortably kill time. Since it is the Defense Forces job to locate the main enemy force he has nothing else to do until then.

They have a scheduled flight to take them to Kume Island, and an explanation is given about how they are allowed to bring their CADs in the cabin but that it can only be used in emergencies, similar to police and military personnel.

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami arrive at the airport and coincidentally meet Shizuku and Honoka in the airport.

Tatsuya was not surprised by the presence of both women. Tatsuya had heard from Miyuki that the two had invited her here. Of course, including the destination and purpose had overlapped with their mission.

The seven graduates were also there and Azusa asks Miyuki if they would like to join them on their sightseeing trip.

They all traveled together and went boating on a glass-bottom boat. To land on the shore, they used 2 rubber boats. Isori, Hatori, Tatsuya and Minami all had license but Tatsuya and Minami had more advanced ones.

Minami and Sawaki decide on their own to watch the rubber boat implying the couples are giving off too much couple atmosphere. Nakajou took it that Sawaki was teasing her and Hatori again and started yelling again.

Back to Honoka, she took off her shirt which revealed her revealing bikini. Although Kumejima Island is located in the subtropical region, it is still a bit early for a bathing suit in March. There are very few tourists who are going in to the sea to swim and snorkel. Honoka’s bold swimwear not only attracted her peers, but even the eyes of other tourists. But Honoka ignored the wicked gazes that she was exposed to (on the surface), and then wrapped herself around Tatsuya arm. It seems to be deliberate, but she pushed her chest tightly against his arm.

Miyuki’s eyes widened and she was surprised. However, it seems that Miyuki is not acting like her usual self either, she isn’t jealous but seems to be more worried than anything. Maybe it was because of yesterday's gift, it gave Miyuki more self-confidence, and it didn’t appear that she was blaming Tatsuya for this.

Of course, there was some background for why Honoka decided to act so boldly.

The bikini business all started before the trip when Honoka consulted Eimi and Subaru on swimsuit choices for appealing to Tatsuya. Honoka was too embarrassed by their choice of bikini and Eimi and Subaru lectured her on her plan of attack. They said both Miyuki and Honoka are the type to be very devoted and offer their entirety and sometimes even go berserk.

However, Miyuki is already way in the lead and Honoka must change her tactics to close the gap. They suggested Honoka to take a different route and make good use of her body figure to seduce Tatsuya.

Honoka concealed her semi-shameful act with a devilish smile which was trying to appeal to Tatsuya. Miyuki finally reacted and rushed next to Tatsuya on the opposite side, but Honoka continued to hug Tatsuya's arm and didn't let go.

There was a middle aged man on the beach holding a hand-held device, he was secretly watching the group. Tatsuya could sense the mans gaze, but didn't draw any attention to himself.

◇ ◇ ◇

Even after returning to the boat Honoka stuck to Tatsuya in her swimsuit. The female upperclassmen Kanon and Sayaka couldn’t help but send disapproving looks towards Tatsuya even though they know that he isn’t doing this intentionally. Honoka is planning temptation, and Miyuki is trying to restrain it.

Tatsuya suddenly tells Honoka that he needs to go, and headed towards the captains quarters without answering her. Hattori who could tell that something was going on followed after with Sawaki and Kirihara following after him.

Tatsuya tells the captain that he should be able to detect a sub near the sea floor about 500 meters ahead of their ship. They say that the sub appears to be 80 meters long. Kanon asks why a sub would be here in the first place, she had followed behind Isori when everyone went to see the captain. Sawaki asks if it is the Defense Forces, and while he says that he is aware that the possibility of it is close to zero. Hattori says that it shouldn’t be a problem if the sub belongs to the Defense Forces but that they should proceed as if it isn’t just to be safe.

The captain orders the ship the change course, and as it starts to turn the submarine starts to move as well, which tells everyone there that this isn’t a submarine belonging to the Defense Forces. The man in charge of the sonar says that he has picked up a certain noise that indicates that the submarine is preparing to launch torpedoes. Tatsuya says that if he can tell that it must be an older type of submarine, and Hattori is annoyed by Tatsuya’s statement.

Tatsuya orders Minami to prepare a barrier in front of the ship 30 meters from the port side with a radius of 10 meters. Minami stops the two torpedoes that were heading towards them, but there wasn’t an impact at all which indicated that it was foam torpedoes. Minami released the barrier and the foam bubbles from the torpedoes began to spread across the surface of the water, and Isori stepped forward to deal with the foam and dispersed it .

Tatsuya says that a second wave is coming and that it is torpedo-type manned boats. Hattori uses his magic to stop the manned boats from moving, but they opened up and four men started heading towards their boat. Sawaki is the first to strike by jumping into the air and landing on one of the men in the water, he then leaps into the air again to strike a second enemy. Sawaki isn’t flying but using air vectors to create a platform from which to jump from.

The remaining two enemies boarding the boat, Kirihara quickly jumped into action with his Sonic Blade technique using a fishing pole. Kirihara struck down his first opponent but his cut didn’t go very deep due to his weapon, and the second enemy raised a gun in Kirihara’s direction but was struck by a block of ice. This was cast by Hattori who was using a magic similar to Mayumi’s, it was certainly an imitation he learned from observation.

Sawaki wonders who these men are, after looking at the ones that Hattori and Kirihara knocked out. Tatsuya says that they are most likely pirates, and throws them into the sea. Tatsuya says that if they keep them on the ship here the pirates will continue to pursue them, and Hattori guesses that they would pursue in order to make sure their identities weren’t figured out.

Kirihara, Sawaki and Hatori all seem very eager to fight, however, even they fretted about the way Tatsuya wrapped things up was too ruthless.

Kirihara shuddered while saying Tatsuya is more and more scary.

◇ ◇ ◇

The submarine didn't pursue the high school students. Tatsuya knew that they wouldn't considering their background and the secrecy they needed to maintain before the attack on the artificial island.

The interior of the submarine was filled with a tense atmosphere, James was very upset with Daniel Lau’s subordinates for attacking the boat since that exposed that fact that their main forces resided in a submarine.

Jasmine was not on the submarine at the time. Not because she was a women, but because her appearance and position is an important weapon. She has an adult's experience and judgement while having the appearance of a twelve or thirteen year old girl, as well as advanced magic skills. Only Daniel knew of Jasmine's identity among the renegade GAU members.

Johnson asks what Daniel Liu plans to do next, and he says that they will narrow down the targets that are involved in the ceremony on the 28th. While the plan originally didn't involve messing the Yotsuba, the renegade GAU members were looking to kidnap the daughter of the Kitayama family, along with the other former high school students. Johnson agrees with his decision, but still doesn't like it himself.

Daniel Lau did not like the plan either but he’s still responsible for what his lackeys did. While they pondered on how they were found out in the first place since civilian sonars usually don’t aim that deep unless deliberately looking for something that deep.

Johnson wonders if it some sort of unique magic from the Yotsuba.

◇ ◇ ◇

Johnson's thoughts were half correct and half incorrect.

Tatsuya, Miyuki, and Minami were returning to their hotel in Okinawa. While the rest of the students were moving to the hotel on Kumejima today. Shizuku had tried to offer Tatsuya a room at the same hotel but he declined.

When he returned to his room, Tatsuya confirmed that the psion marker he placed on Johnson is still in effect. Tatsuya had been able to detect the attack due to this. His psion marker was still active but it does wear out little by little so he canceled his previous one and added a new one during his exchange yesterday.

Apparently the Australian magician had yet to realize what he did, and while they may think Tatsuya is ignorant to the situation. They have yet to realize that they are the ones that will be cornered very soon.

Chapter 5[]

Spoiler
The next day Tatsuya meets with Fujibayashi at the hotel the 101 Independent Magic Equipped Battalion is using. Her attitude towards him has changed since New Year's Day. Tatsuya realizes that she is a valuable cooperator and wants to keep a friendly relationship with her.

Fujibayashi asks Tatsuya if he should be here right now and not at the memorial service. Maya had sent Butler Shirakawa to accompany Miyuki to the ceremony and due to Shirakawa being there for her, Tatsuya says that doesn't need to be by her side today.

Tatsuya trusts Shirakawa's abilities and since there isn't likely to be any competition involving magic power or physical strength, Shirakawa will do a better job than Tatsuya in this situation.

Fujibayashi asks Tatsuya if he has anything to report, and he says that he knows where the enemy submarine is and that he wants to destroy it.

Fujibayashi says that she needs to inform the captain first and asks Tatsuya to wait a moment.

◇ ◇ ◇

The waiting time was unexpectedly long, but Tatsuya and Fujibayashi found out the reason why. In addition to Kazama, Sanada, and Yanagi, Chen Xiangshan and Lu Ganghu were in attendance.

Tatsuya and Lu Ganghu had only faced off against each other once at the Hachioji detainment center, but since it had been Mayumi and Mari that had repelled him. Lu didn't have anything against Tatsuya but at the same time both Lu and Chen clearly saw Tatsuya as an enemy.

The conversation starts with the fact that the GAU renegades are on board of a submarine. Tatsuya adds that there are Australian magicians that are collaborating with the deserters. When asked how he knows this by Chen, Tatsuya says that he can't tell him that.

When asked if Kazama had contacted the Australians about this matter, he says that he can't honestly answer that either. Chen understands what he means by that and drops the subject.

Tatsuya breaks the silence by saying that he can sink the submarine right now if they wish. Chen asks if it is special magic of the Yotsuba family and he replies with a yes. Kazama says that they will use that an insurance measure if it is needed.

They decide to make a move against the submarine and will attempt to board it, Chen tells Lu to go prepare. Chen and Lu will be participating in this part of the mission, same with Kazama and Yanagi. They invite Tatsuya along as well and he agrees.

◇ ◇ ◇

The submarines that the Renegade GAU members had were just normal submarines, it would be impossible for them to procure a nuclear submarine. And at present the use of nuclear weapons is prohibited by international treaties.

The International Magic Association is monitoring the situation the best they can, and if they discover the use of nuclear powered vessels they will set out to disable it. Nonetheless, the International Magic Association doesn't have the authority to check the weapons of every nation in the world. If a nation were to take very certain measures of secrecy, they could keep it hidden.

The International Magic Association Charter was recognized by the majority of the countries and while governments might not be afraid of nuclear warfare, the people are afraid. And the government can't ignore the will of the people and magicians that could turn into their enemies.

Johnson is still frustrated about yesterdays attempted attack, it was apparent in his attitude and demeanor, so it created an awkward atmosphere on the submarine. But just then it's announced that a boat has arrived to take him back to the mainland. He quickly left the submarine before he starts a confrontation with his "allies".

◇ ◇ ◇

Tatsuya noticed that Johnson was leaving the submarine five minutes before their operation begun, but he decided to not tell Kazama. Tatsuya didn't want to distract them with unnecessary information.

The position of the submarine is marked by Sanada and they are getting ready for their descent. Chen and Lu are ready to go with eight more of their own soldiers, while it is Kazama, Yanagi and Tatsuya who will be participating in this operation.

They parachute down at a much lower altitude than usual but that is only because they can slow down their descent with magic to make it practical. This tactic has been put to use by the USNA, NSU, India/Persian Federation, and Japan twenty years ago. It was also used five years ago to help repel the Okinawa invasion troops.

Tatsuya and Yanagi are wearing mobile suits but it isn't the same mobile suits they used during the Yokohama incident. They couldn't afford to expose their military technology to the Great Asian Union troops. However, the military suits they are wearing are bulletproof and have high defensive capabilities, and the Great Asian Union troops are wearing similar outfits as well.

Lu isn't wearing his White Tiger armor either, but is still using his Steel Qigong magic armor. Lu and Yanagi lead the assault with Tatsuya and Kazama in the rear for support. Tatsuya takes out the interception and surveillance systems.

The Renegade Great Asian Union forces are confused by this sudden attack, Daniel asks about their surveillance systems and is told that it isn't responding. He then says to use chemical gases, and Daniel is warned that this will affect his allies as well. But his aim is to delay the invading troops first, but even that fails when Tatsuya disables the devices that would have released the gas.

The efficiency of his magic may be worse than Fujibayashi or Sanada if they were to disable it but his advantage is that it can't be restored either. Kazama tells Tatsuya that what he did was fine, and that Yanagi and Chen seemed to have arrived at the ship so he doesn't need to take the risk of them finding out about his magic.

Tatsuya disassembles the propeller of the submarine to keep it from moving.

Yanagi and Lu arrive at the submarine at the same time. The enemies that emerge from the various entrances are all soldiers equipped with normal automatic rifles with bayonets. They are not as well equipped as when the Yokohama incident occurred. Even if the bulletproof equipment they are wearing can stand up to the current weapons the enemy is using, both Lu and Yanagi don't plan on testing it out.

Yanagi accelerates towards the group closest to him and engages in hand to hand combat and easily starts to take out the troops. He has seven subordinates with him to help out attack and detain the enemy.

Lu and Chen were divided into two groups with Lu and five soldiers in one group and Chen with four escorts.

They soon report that they have taken control of the deck of the submarine. And they begin to search for the leaders Daniel and Bradley.

◇ ◇ ◇

Johnson was at sea when the submarine used by the saboteurs were captured and he is greeted by his partner Jasmine at an anchored ship disguised as a private yacht who was supposed to be waiting at the shelter in Kuma Island. Jasmine informs Johnson that the main forces for their operation are captured by the Japanese Army and wants to hold a meeting and reorganize.

At the dining hall, Jasmine, Johnson and Bradley discuss how the submarine was captured in international waters which angers Johnson that the Japanese army would resort to piracy and they also consider that the Great Asian Union is also cooperating with Japan in search of the saboteurs.

Bradley wants the operation to continue as defeat and being captured would result to him being brain washed and turned to a puppet, deprived of free will which for him is equivalent to death penalty or worse. Despite Jasmine pointing out that the submarine is lost which is the main force of the operation, Bradley insists and confidently mentions that his troops are well versed in underwater activities. Johnson informs him that he needs to get in contact with Australia for permission to continue with the operation to which Bradley accepts and expects a good answer.

◇ ◇ ◇

Johnson contacts his senior officer via wireless communication of the British military but the message is intercepted by Kyouko then Sanada decrypts it. The message is asking if they are allowed to continue with the operation tomorrow but the Australian army postponed the response. Kazama was hoping that they will allow them to continue while Sanada considers slipping a fake answer but he deems it impossible in the end since it is difficult to block from reading the real answer despite the technical possibility.

The Australian army sent their response and it is also intercepted and decrypted which allows the operation to continue so Kazama orders Yanagi to inform Chen that the operation will continue and pair up with him. Sanada believes that the Australian army's seemingly self-confident attitude stems from the possibility that they have some new weapons but Kazama's believes that the Australian army thinks that everything is in order which surprises Sanada.

Their discussion shifts to the possibility that they are just throwing their magician agents away to which Kazama believes so as they look at the photograph of Johnson and Jasmine. They also discuss the appearance of Jasmine which Kazama believes could be from medications or a genetic anomaly that appeared as a side effect from adjustments to augmented magicians which Sanada concludes the likelihood that Australia is conducting that kind of research is high and thus they are considered expendable any time.


Chapter 6[]

Spoiler

Yotsuba Trio met up with 2nd fiddle duo right before the man-made island opening ceremony and Shizuku invited Miyuki to a make-up session. Tatsuya sent Minami to go along with Miyuki while he made preparations for the final battle.

Miyuki caught Tatsuya napping on the Yotsuba boat butler Shirakawa brought along. Miyuki decided to kiss Tatsuya and made sure she does not slip again like the night before Yokohama incident. She was paper thin distance away from kissing Tatsuya before she ran away in embarrassment. Tatsuya never woke up.

Right before the opening ceremony, Tatsuya made contact with James and Jasmine who totally changed their appearance. Tatsuya pretended not to know them while they tried their best to remain calm. they couldn’t help but suspect Tatsuya already knows them even with the appearance modification and they felt a noose tightening around their neck. They never knew Tatsuya also placed a psion marker on Jasmine through that encounter as well.

During the opening ceremony, the Yotsuba trio greeted the Kitayama couple. Benio implied that she was pissed about Tatsuya deceiving her on their previous encounter; Ushio sent them to talk to Shizuku instead.

Tatsuya warned Isori that he might be targeted since he can activate the shield on the island. Isori was nervous but Tatsuya placed a officer next to him as a bodyguard.

Fujibayashi met up with Tatsuya in the ceremony and she called Isori cute, saying a dress was more suitable for him.

Fujibayashi also commented how he’s not shaken at all given someone close to him died here 5 years ago by the hands of similar people. She said she’s not as strong as him and couldn’t stay as calm.

Tatsuya said there is only one actually real important existence to him.

Fujibayashi asked if everything is alright as long as Miyuki is unharmed.

Tatsuya said that is an inconsequential hypothesis since as long as he is alive, nothing will happen to her.

Tatsuya told his friend he needs to step out for Yotsuba mission. Just as Tatsuya, Great Asian Union capture team and 101 started their attack on the renegade division, Kirihara, Hatori and Sawaki jumped in and started fighting as well. After a flying kick, Sawaki landed on Tatsuya’s jetski. Sawaki commented on how Tatsuya is not surprised and Tatsuya said he recognised his flying kick. Sawaki was surprised since it was dark but Tatsyta said there’s plenty moonlight. Tatsuya was not pleased with the trio arriving and started complaining to Kazama but to no avail. Obviously, this was sort of an unofficial tryout for the trio since they have no affiliation to the numbered families and has potential to join 101 which in name opposes the 10 master clan. Needless to say, the trio was have the time of their life fighting even though they were struggling every now and then.

Deep down inside, Kirihara and Sawaki respected Hatori as their leader and his all-roundedness, nicknaming his “General” even though Hatori doesn’t like it. Even Tatsuya also agrees that Hatori is the best example student of modern magic education which emphasizes on all-roundedness.

Tatsuya was interested in Lu Ganghu’s magic of creating a runway on the sea surface rather than the conventional stepping point. However, he decided he would not let his curiosity cause a failure again.

Tatsuya considered the opponents who were giving the graduate trio an even fight a hard time to be a trash level; that’s considering he’s comparing them to people like the Yotsubas, Yakumo and 101.

Back at the ceremony, Isori was concerning when Kanon was trying to go somewhere. Kanon said she was going to pick flowers and invited Isori along but the other girls’ reaction implied she was simply going to the toilet. Isori was only worried because of Tatsuya’s warning.

Miyuki was also supposed to help guard Isori but she can’t split up to look after Kanon as well; needless to say, Minami was not about to ditch Miyuki for Kanon.

Jasmine ambushed Kanon and demanded her get Isori to come as well. Kanon considered that to be a betrayal to Isori so she refused. Isori noticed drama anyway and come over. Kanon managed to escape after Nakajou used her mental interference magic and the Australian SpecOps duo bailed.

Kanon cried non-stop.

SpecOps duo ran away and tried to use Ozone cycle on the ceremony but it didn’t work. Miyuki, Minami and Chen Xiangshan showed up and told them they first used Ghost Walker on them so they were never where they thought they were and even if ozone cycle activated, the coordinates would be wrong.

Miyuki also explained they were the victims of Yotsuba magic (actually Tatsuya) “Gatekeeper”. She said, magic sequence constructed in the subconsciousness is transmitted from the highest level of subconsciousness to the lowest level and then projected on the object while going through the “Gate” located between the subconsciousness and consciousness. The “Gate” is exposed in the information dimension and “Gatekeeper” scrambles all magic sequence coming out of the gate. So long as “Gatekeeper” is not removed, a magician is rendered powerless, just like normal human beings.

As Miyuki freezes the SpecOps duo, Jasmine lamented how they were on Yotsuba’s palmtop all along.

Chapter 7[]

Spoiler
Tatsuya Came back to the ceremony slightly past halfway.

Mibu Sayaka was very upset with Kirihara and co coming back all wet.

Nakajou dried them up with magic.

Lu Ganghu celebrated their mission’s success with Chen Xiangshan. They are convinced they will face off Japan again. They think they have assessed the strength of 101 and thinks Yanagi is very strong. They also think letting the Yotsuba continue to grow will be troublesome.

Maya is very interested in “Gatekeeper”. Tatsuya says with modification, people other than him can use it. Maya says Great Asian Union magic is quite interesting and tells Tatsuya to hear a more detailed report on that in April.

Both Miyuki and Tatsuya say this was a very enjoyable trip. Miyuki says they should go on a missionless trip next time.

Miyuki still can’t decide whether “Onii-sama” or “Tatsuya-sama” is better. Tatsuya there is still time to decide. But he cannot what Miyuki was really thinking.

Epilogue[]

Spoiler
Graduate team is very happy with the trip. Sayaka is picking on Kirihara for getting so wet. She says: “Kirihara must be very happy. Just like a child, fooling around until he was completely soaked.”

Kirihara, Hattori and Sawaki are satisfied with gaining actual combat experience where they could use full strength.

They say they want to come back in summer. Hattori says chances for combat are everywhere.

Yotsuba trio and Shizuku-Honoka duo goes on another glass boat trip.

They discuss about the upcoming new school year. The new student rep is a girl, the youngest daughter of the Mitsuya family from the Ten Master Clans.

◇ ◇ ◇

UK intelligence is not impressed with news that Jasmine and James have been caught by the Japanese. Although the cover for the incident was Australia helping Great Asian Union, in reality the mastermind was the UK. Something had to be done to hide the fact that UK was involved in the sabotage attempt.

William is currently at the "White Hall", it's the Defense Intelligence Staff Headquarters for the UK. He was brought there to explain why his operation failed. However he did not really care about it, his position as one of the Thirteen Apostles and his connections make him invaluable to the UK. He has a very aristocratic attitude.

McCloud left the DIS headquarters building and then entered the old building next to it. This building is the government communications headquarters (formerly MI1) that is responsible for communication intelligence (intervention, eavesdropping, interfering with radar or wireless signals). This building is completely unknown to outsiders and they don’t know what it’s used for, here is McCloud's workplace. Strictly speaking, in one of the sub-rooms in this building, McCloud has a fully allocated personal office.

William calls Edward Clark in the USNA. They talk about Jasmine being a “Trojan” and that she is currently being held by Kazama. They think the Yotsuba would be interested in Jasmine and would take her. That way William could use a network exclusive to those with “Williams bloodline” to spy on the Yotsuba and study their magic.

Clark: "What is necessary to control the world is information. Mr. William, the USNA thanks you for your cooperation, regardless of the success or failure of the strategy."

◇ ◇ ◇

Maya visited “The Sponsor” Aoba. It is revealed that their relationship is not either party absolutely relying on the other. Aoba was the previous owner of 4th Research Institute until the National Defense Force robbed the facility from Aoba. Yotsuba rebelling and taking over at least indicates they are on good terms. While Yotsuba from time to time rely on Aoba’s privileges, Aoba sometimes rely on Yotsuba’s strength. Basically they rely on each other. Yotsuba is not the only family produced by the 4th Institute. Before it was called the 4th, they magician development and mating were already ongoing. Even now, Aoba sometimes provide Yotsuba with “blood”. The previous version of 4th institute basically existed long before all other numbered research institutes.

Aoba warned Maya that Yotsuba must never make contact with Jasmine. Maya questioned if Jasmine is a bomb, Aoba said she’s “ears”. Maya never doubted Aoba nor question how he knew.

Maya said she would tell Saeki to dispose of Jasmine while Aoba agreed that Saeki would more likely listen to Maya instead of himself.

Gallery[]

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