Chapter 96

There was still one month left in the year 2095 AD.

Thinking back, this was quite the chaotic year. As he thought over the past year, even Tatsuya couldn't help but fall into a reverie. The terrorists in April, the international criminal organization in August, then came the foreign invaders during October. Even the word "turbulent" should have a limit.

Still, Tatsuya did not possess the leisure to ruminate and reflect over the year gone by. This was hardly because he bore any pessimistic outlook like "there's still one month left, who knows what could happen". Rather, he had a more practical reason before him.

"...Wah-! I still don't understand no matter how many times it's been said!"

"Keep it to yourself! There's no need to holler! Just suck it up!"

"Relax, Leo-kun, Erika-chan..."

No matter if one was a middle school student, high school student, or college student, so long as they were students, this was undoubtedly their most loathed nemesis. The unavoidable obstacle that they were forced to overcome. -- The inevitable final exams that were just around the corner.

The usual crowd was currently gathered in Shizuku's house -- more like a mansion, to be precise.

Tatsuya, Miyuki, Erika, Leo, Mizuki, Mikihiko, Honoka, Shizuku, everyone was here and engaged in the study session in preparation for the upcoming final exams.

Despite calling this a study session, the group assembled here were largely quite capable on the written portion of the exam. The only exception here was Leo, whose grades were only so-so, but who was still in no danger of failing. The area of grave concern was actually the technical skills portion, but that was not being covered in the study session.

Besides from the odd squawk here and there, the mood of the study session closely mirrored that of a colloquial tea party. -- That is, until Shizuku dropped the bombshell.

"Eh? Shizuku, can you repeat that one more time?"

"I'm actually preparing to study overseas in America."

Honoka asked in a frantic manner while Shizuku replied in her usual bland tone.

"But I never heard about that!?"

"Sorry, I was forbidden from disclosing that until yesterday."

Seeing the completely pale Honoka press on with more questions, Shizuku's head dropped in a clear sign of guilt. Plainly, Shizuku wanted to tell them from long ago, so in that light, Honoka didn't push her any further.

"However, are you seriously able to study overseas?" Honoka's question was not questioning Shizuku's ability.

In the modern age, in order to prevent high-class Magicians, and especially their genetics as well as military capabilities, from drifting overseas, various governments heavily restricted unofficial international travel.

The USNA remained allies on the surface, but in reality they were one of the country's direct competitors in the western Pacific. Hence the typical request to study abroad in America was usually denied.

In other words, saying that she was studying abroad in America hinted at tacit approval.

"Ah, well, we've already received approval. Father said that this was because this was a foreign exchange, or something like that."

"So foreign exchange students are automatically qualified?"

"Who knows?"

Although Mizuki's question seemed reasonable, any hope of a positive response died when Shizuku tilted her head and replied back. Even Tatsuya was unable to follow any logic that granted special exceptions to foreign exchange students.

"For how long? When do you leave?"

While he wanted to properly analyze the situation, there was simply too little information on hand. Tatsuya frankly gave up on any meaningless pondering and focused back on the situation before him.

"I leave after the end of the term. The duration is three months."

"So it's only three months...

Don't scare us like that."

Honoka heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Shizuku's words. It looked like she was expecting this to be a long-term arrangement.

However, according to Tatsuya's "common knowledge", even three months was quite a long duration (was there some backroom dealing that led to government ratification).

Nonetheless, that was important right now.

"Then we need to prepare a proper farewell party."

So, Tatsuya proposed "something that had to be done" to his friends.

◊ ◊ ◊

The final exams came and went without any disturbance. Today was Saturday, December 24th. Today was the last day of the second semester and also Christmas Eve.

Since the Third World War until now, the Japanese citizenry remained indifferent towards religion. This was hardly because this was a country of atheists, but more because they subconsciously attributed the one true god that others believed in to be one of the myriad spirits in the world. Thus, there were always preparations for celebratory events, regardless of whether it was the lunar new year or Christmas.

The streets were filled with Christmas cheer.

Every shop was engaged in the annual Christmas mercantile warfare, although even if this was the true topic of the season, simply shopping around by oneself definitely rated as a foolish decision. Setting aside the people who hadn't found someone yet, if someone decided to throw a hissy fit because they weren't surrounded by cute girls at this time and ruined the mood for their friends who were enjoying the atmosphere, a beating would likely be unavoidable. (Of course, that's only the masculine side of things. Young ladies probably want to be "surrounded by strapping young lads".)

So... Even if this was the "farewell party", they still chose to hold it on December 24th. Right now, there was a giant cream cake in front of them with a chocolate plaque that had the words "Merry X'mas" on it. No matter what, this gave off an odd feeling. ...To top it off, according to this restaurant's style, Christmas should be spelled with "Weihnachten" rather than "X'mas". Still, this was perfectly charming in its own way.

"Onii-sama, what's on your mind?"

Eyeing his sister, who managed to bloom like a flower despite being garbed in her school uniform, Tatsuya shook his head to signify that "it was nothing".

Indeed, in reality he couldn't simply write it off as nothing. Still, he was being invited as a participant, so he couldn't ruin the mood for the main act.

"Has everyone gotten their drinks? Then, although this is slightly off kilter from the main theme of a farewell party, but since we rarely get such an exquisitely prepared cake, bottoms up everyone... Merry

Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

Using the clinking of the cups to join the well wishers, Tatsuya responded to his friends' cries and raised his glass along with everyone else.

In front of the Cafe "Eine Breeze", a "Reserved" sign hung from the entrance.

◊ ◊ ◊

In central North America on the other side of the Pacific, this was still the day before Christmas Eve. The time was almost about to turn to the 24th.

Compared to the majority of Japanese who viewed Christmas as a simple celebratory event, those that went through the 20 year long way, or more like the Americans who survived that catastrophe and especially for the new "Americans" after the war, these people embraced Christmas with sincerity, devotion, and gratitude. In order to prepare for Christmas Eve on the morrow, everyone went to bed early. -- At least, that's how it was supposed to be.

In the deepest night before Christmas Eve, several figures were flashing across the street corners of one of the great cities in southern America, Dallas, Texas.

Several more figures leaped across the rooftops from one building to another.

Additionally, several more formed a containment net in the air used against suspicious individuals. Given that they were equipped with Specialized CADs loaded with Flying-Type Magic that hadn't even hit the market yet, they were probably law enforcement or combat Magicians.

"Halt, Lieutenant Alfred Fomalhaut! You know you have nowhere to flee!"

Standing in front of the fleeing individual, a petite figure wearing a mask that covered the eyes barred their path.

It was the tinkling voice of a young girl that called for surrender. The fugitive, Alfred Fomalhaut, immediately came to a halt upon seeing that tiny figure.

"...What happened? Fred, you are someone who has received the

First Class Star of Honor, so why are you deserting?"

The earlier arrogant tone altered. This time, the masked young girl's voice contained the unease, bewilderment, and childish tones that were expected of her image.

"......"

Yet, the other side gave no reply.

"There was a series of arson and homicides along this street said to be caused by your Pyrokinesis. That must be a joke, right?"

"......"

"Answer me, Freddy!"

However, the response the other side gave came not in the form of words.

The young girl quickly leaped backwards.

The only thing she left behind was the cloak she wore on her shoulders.

Without any warning, the cloak that covered the young girl's body erupted into flames and was burned to ash.

Pryokinesis -- the fire starter ability.

This was not modern magic from any system, but a special power that was once known as a Superpower.

The cloak that the young girl wore over her purple uniform and the easily removable windbreakers and cloaks that the surrounding men wore were not to defend against the cold, but to block their physical bodies from the man's direct line of sight and magic.

The second the flames vanished, every light in the man's surroundings winked out.

Setting the target as the origin, every light source within a certain radius was reversed so that no outside light could penetrate this prison of pitch darkness. This was the area of effect magic "Miller Cage".

One of the surrounding individuals activated this defensive ability to deny the target any visuals.

"Lieutenant Fomalhaut, in accordance with the special provision granted under federal military law and under my own authority as the commanding officer of Stars, I hereby enact your punishment!"

This declaration was made as if in lamentation.

The masked young girl, Major Angie Sirius, commanding officer of the Stars, raised the automatic pistol equipped with a silencer and aimed at Lieutenant Fomalhaut, who was still imprisoned within the magically created cell of darkness.

Empowered by Data Fortification to ignore all magic interference, the bullet pierced through Lieutenant Fomalhaut's heart as he stood trapped within the dark barrier.

◊ ◊ ◊

Despite calling this a farewell party, since they knew that they would be reunited in the spring after the trip and that this kind of study abroad sessions weren't usually approved, rather than being lonely, it would be more appropriate to say that there were more expectations in the air.

"Hey, where are you going for your study abroad program?"

"Berkeley."

At Erika's question, Shizuku only replied back with a single word. This was not because Shizuku was in a dark mood, but because that's how her personality was.

"So it's not Boston."

Among Japanese Magicians, the belief that the center of America's modern magic research facilities was Boston ran deep. Miyuki's comment came from this particular background.

"That's because the East Coast isn't very stable right now."

"Ah, the "Human Ideologists" are rampaging over there. We see them on the news quite often these days."

Mikihiko agreed wholeheartedly with Shizuku's reply.

"So the witch hunts have now turned into "Magician hunts". Even if you say history repeats itself, this is simply ridiculous."

Leo coldly retorted.

"It's not a perfect replication of history. Although we have no idea of the background of the 17th century's witch hunts, the recent "Magician hunts" and new white supremacist movement are fundamentally two different things."

Tatsuya chimed in with a more conciliatory tone. "Still, it may be best to avoid the East Coast."

Not that Tatsuya's words were meant to defend the "Magician hunts" in any way.

"I didn't know about that."

Miyuki interjected while visually prompting her brother to continue. Catching his sister's request, Tatsuya continued onward.

"This is because the rosters for both organizations shared quite a few members. However, the member rosters are not something open to the public, so it's only natural to be ignorant of this detail."

"I smell criminal activity in Tatsuya-kun's words...

Let's table this disturbing conversation here."

Seeing Erika intentionally crack a joke and shake her head, both Tatsuya and Miyuki chuckled wryly and nodded.

The two of them both knew that this was not the right time and place for that conversation topic.

"Do you know any details about the exchange student?"

Possibly because she wanted to quickly alter the atmosphere, Miyuki's change in subject was a little abrupt.

"Exchange?"

"The child that will be the exchange student at our school."

As expected, Shizuku initially missed the meaning behind Miyuki's words until Miyuki repeated herself before letting out an "Ah" along with an comprehending expression. -- But, as usual, it was difficult to discern her change in expression.

"I believe it's a girl of the same age."

"So you don't know anything else?"

"Yeah."

Is that it? Everyone looked at one another blankly. Tatsuya chuckled as he asked this question while Shizuku nodded her head as if this was perfectly natural.

"...That's true. No matter how much you cared, it's not like they would tell you who was going to cross over in your place." With Mizuki's comment, this topic came to a close.

Based on the fact that they selected today for their farewell party, the eight people gathered here didn't seem to have any special plans for

Christmas Eve. Still, it was a little surprising to see that Shizuku, Erika, and Mikihiko were not obligated to attend any family gatherings, which hinted that the Kitayama, Chiba, and Yoshida Families probably held galas for the adults, events where high school freshmen were not required to attend. -- And not because their parents made specific arrangements.

Faced with the temptation of unrestrained freedom, they would have liked to party late into the night and deepen their friendship, but since they were all wearing their school uniforms, they wouldn't be able to stay out too late.

"I think the owner will get a little sour if we stay any longer."

Such an innocent, but at the same time slightly wicked, phrase stumped the owner of the cafe. (Who said this aloud was irrelevant.) The eight of them packed up their things and prepared to head home.

Honoka and Shizuku took the same bus, so she must be staying over at Shizuku's place. At any rate, this wasn't any new headline at magic high schools, though the primary reason was because Honoka wasn't very close with her parents.

Erika, Leo, Mizuki, and Mikihiko each got onto a train. There was expectation of some theatrics on their part, but plainly these four were a long ways off from that point.

Finally, Tatsuya and Miyuki climbed onto another train without any further concern and happily enjoyed their ride home together. While modern cabins had been designed into private compartments after request, Tatsuya never forgot the ancient maxim "the walls have ears". Furthermore, Miyuki didn't have anything to say either as they wordlessly returned home. The real conversation could only begin when the two of them were able to relax in their own home.

"I somehow feel that something is awry with Shizuku's study abroad program."

After changing clothes in their respective rooms, Miyuki poured two cups of coffee and the two of them sat side by side on the sofa before Miyuki finally broached her own thoughts.

"Awry...

You do have a point."

Tatsuya shifted his coffee mug from his lips and, under her brother's silent urging, Miyuki hesitantly listed her skepticism.

"First of all, the idea that such a magically talented individual like Shizuku could obtain permission to study abroad is already unnatural. That being said, this might fly if she was studying abroad as the daughter of a major entrepreneur and not as a Magician-in-training, but our complete lack of knowledge on the transfer student is too suspicious. Furthermore, specifically selecting this moment to suddenly spring an exchange program smacks of an ulterior purpose. It's almost as if..."

"As if they're trying to secretly sound us out? According to Oba-san, we are under suspicion."

Tatsuya smirked slightly and continued on as if he was talking about someone else's business.

"Material Burst. Looks like we can't just leave this situation alone."

Once she heard the heavy subject that she was unable to utter spring forth from her brother's lips, Miyuki's eyes widened in shock but, at the same time, she seemed to relax into a smile.

"Is that so... Looks like Onii-sama already took this into consideration."

"Setting aside the student exchange situation for the moment, after taking into account Oba-san's warnings, this is most definitely not a simple coincidence."

Tatsuya already disclosed the conversation between himself and Maya to Miyuki the day it happened. Exactly why he was under suspicion and who was targeting him.

"Then, is it really Stars...

?"

"In that case, being forbidden from making contact with the Major makes this a little difficult."

As punishment for Tatsuya activating Strategic-class magic without obtaining permission before hand, Maya forbade him from making contact with the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. Although he didn't plan on obediently following orders to the letter, but in order to avoid undue risk, following orders was the smarter move at the moment.

"Even if we asked Oba-san... She probably wouldn't tell us anything."

"And given that the exchange program has already been ratified, this signifies that Oba-san has already agreed to this arrangement."

The Yotsuba Family currently matched the Saegusa Family, who led the Ten Master Clans, so there was no way they would be in the dark about talented Magicians undergoing the foreign exchange program.

"On the other hand, this isn't a completely negative turnout for us. Even if the opponent they sent was just to sound us out, Oba-san wouldn't underestimate them. Rather, there might have been some troublesome turn of events on the American side. Oba-san's intent is likely to have us catch them by the tail instead."

Rather than being a wry grin, Tatsuya's smile was closer to that of a helpless smile.

"We cannot be certain that is how the situation will unfold...

It will do us no good to overthink this."

"That's true. You're absolutely right, Miyuki."

No matter what was said, both the comforting side and the comforted side knew that these words were enough to truly let them relax.

◊ ◊ ◊

After taking the Stars exclusive VTOL aircraft back to base and making her report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff via encrypted communications, Major Angelina Sirius, also known as Angie Sirius, was still in her uniform as she rolled back and forth on the bed in her room.

She flipped over and buried her face into the pillow.

No matter how many times she performed them, she still couldn't get used to Search and Destroy missions. While she didn't vomit like she did after first completing this mission, that was only because her physical body had become accustomed to her mental pain.

Yet her mental suffering only worsened.

An American Magician, a Stars member under the direct command of the USNA Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was her comrade on multiple levels, had just been executed by her own hands.

When she heard that this was the duty of the High Commander, the one who was bestowed the title Sirius, she didn't have any real feelings on the matter.

Even if this was a high honor, she still didn't comprehend. She still didn't comprehend the meaning behind killing her own comrades.

She turned over once again and used her hand to cover her eyes from the piercing light. It was only then she realized she forgot to turn off the lights.

At this moment, the doorbell rang. Major Sirius's lips curled into a wry smile.

Looks like tonight, her meddlesome subordinate was checking in on her.

Stars consisted of twelve units, each led by a captain and then the High Commander. Her subordinate was exactly one such captain responsible for taking care of their own unit.

Originally, he should have no time to interfere with her business -- "Come in."

Getting up from the bed, Major Sirius keyed the mic leading to the door and made a simple reply before hitting the remote to open the door.

"Sorry for disturbing you, High Commander." The one who came in was the expected individual.

Major Benjamin Canopus, call sign "Two" within Stars, captain of the first unit and de facto High Commander when she was absent.

Positions within Stars did not necessarily correlate with military rank, which was a rather odd arrangement for a military unit. It was unheard of for a captain to outrank the High Commander, but it was quite common to see the High Commander and the captains to share the same rank.

Currently, besides the six who held the rank of captain, the other six shared the same rank of major with the High Commander.

If Major Sirius had to voice her displeasure, it was that Canopus was plainly much older than she was yet held the same rank, which actually served to make her uneasy.

"Consolation prize."

Major Benjamin Canopus looked every inch the high ranking officer. A tough but vigorous man in his forties, the atmosphere around him was completely unlike the soldiers or civilian industrialists who clawed their way through the ranks.

"Ben, thanks."

There was a steaming cup of honey milk on the table next to the bed. Major Sirius easily accepted the condolences from her subordinate, who was the same age as her father.

This wasn't one of those glasses used as munitions during combat operations, but a beautiful mug with warm milk with honey that came straight from a hot water bottle. Major Sirius lightly raised the mug and took a sip.

The warm sweetness gradually spread across her taste buds, and the pain in her heart seemed to lessen with it.

"You're welcome. High Commander, are you finished preparing?"

Major Canopus glanced at the personal luggage lumped together in one corner of the room and asked.

"Yes, pretty much."

"You cleaned up quite nicely."

"I am a girl, after all."

Major Canopus shrugged as he exchanged words with someone who would be the same age as her daughter. He actually had a daughter who was two years younger than her.

"The fact that you care about something inconsequential like your gender...

Is that because of your Japanese ancestry?"

"The idea that politeness and decorum is expected of Japanese people is completely outdated."

When the other person mentioned her quarter Japanese ancestry, this time it was Major Sirius's turn to shrug.

Not out of irritation.

Someone who quibbled over trivial matters like this wasn't going to last in Stars.

"You have a point, though let's set that aside for now... Right now, just forget about your mission for a moment and get some quality R&R!" (*R&R : rest & relaxation )

"This isn't a furlough, but a secret mission..."

Major Sirius pouted when faced with Major Canopus's merry lecture. That expression perfectly befitted the mood of a young girl her age.

"I should say it's rather depressing instead. Sending me to investigate whether the suspected target is the Strategic-class Magician. It's one thing if one of the two was the person in question, but there's a sizable possibility that both of them are not who we're looking for. Why are they sending me to undertake infiltration that isn't my specialty...

Even if we have to consider age as a requirement, there should be lots of people with specialist training for this."

The mission given to Major Sirius was to investigate the culprit behind the titanic explosion observed in the Far East sector at end of October that was suspected to be caused by Strategic-class magic, which was essentially the true identity of the Magician. Intel tried their best and narrowed down the list of suspects to 51 targets, and among them were two students attending high school in Tokyo. In light of this, Major Sirius was ordered to go undercover because of their similar age (which was purely coincidental).

"Hey, don't be like that."

In order to comfort his sighing superior officer, Major Canopus waved his hand back and forth.

"I suspect the Joint Chiefs expect this opponent to be extremely difficult. If the target is truly an existence along the lines our predictions, then that would make them a dangerous opponent with the firepower to exceed a tactical nuke. Furthermore, we are still in the dark regarding their identity. This way, it's not hard to sympathize with the Joint Chiefs using pure combat ability rather than training as a criterion when selecting the intelligence officer for this op."

"I get that."

"Since our suspected target is a high school student, establishing contact as a student from the same school would be much easier, so the only person who could possibly accomplish this investigation would be you, High Commander."

Although this was a matter of fact, in reality, there was a host of support personnel working in the shadows to help Major Sirius make contact with the target. Stars was also sending a planet-class Magician to support the major. There was no way that she could be oblivious to all that.

"I understand that as well."

Hence Major Sirius's response took this all in stride.

"Why don't you think about it like this. The High Commander's mission is to make contact with the suspicious target and cause him or her to waver."

"Hm... That's a much better way to approach this. After all, I'm completely inept at intel work."

"In that case, go ahead and relax a little. There's nothing wrong in being a little more cheerful. This will likely make it easier to find our opponent's weakness as well."

"Ha...

That's true. Hopefully it'll turn out just like you say, Ben."

After letting out a heavy sigh, Major Sirius set the mug back onto the table and stood up in front of Major Canopus.

"Ben, I will leave the defenses up to you. The rest of the deserters haven't been dealt with yet, so the task that was originally my responsibility will have to fall to you... However, the only person I can count on is you."

"Be at ease, High Commander. This is a little early, but I wish you godspeed."

At Major Canopus's affectionate smile and salute, the young lady returned a heartfelt smile of gratitude.