Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Volume 19 - Ch 17

This chapter is updated by Novels.pl

February 10th, 2097 (Sunday)

Im currently writing this diary entry in Tokyo. Im not at a hotel, but at the secondary residence of the Ichijou Family.

Dad had this house built for the pointless reason that a member of the Ten Master Clans needed to have a house in Tokyo. I was only a child back then, but I remember thinking that it was a waste, and indeed, it turned out to be. Although we owned it, it was almost never used. Besides, it was not hard to travel to Tokyo and be back in a single day these days, and there was rarely any work that would require staying overnight in Tokyo.

Ever since the invasion at Sado five years ago, Dad rarely went any long distance away from home. Mom and Dad were never absent from the house at the same time anymore. If Dad were to travel to Tokyo alone, a hotel is far more convenient. If he goes through the Magic Association, I think the security measures would be better that way as well.

Thats why I once suggested that it might be better to sell the house in Tokyo. He replied saying that, Even if we sold the house, there are a lot of items that needed to be removed from the premises and disposed of, thats too much work. Geez, not thinking before you act is the reason you struggle so much afterwards.

But one cannot always predict the future. I never thought that I would end up staying in the house in Tokyo for some time.

I dont feel uncomfortable about having to live in Tokyo though.

This might be inappropriate considering my reason for being here, but Im a little excited.

The reason why Im going to be living alone for some time is because I was given a mission from the Ten Master Clans, as the eldest son of the Ichijou Family.

That mission is to capture the leader behind the cowardly terrorist attack.

The terror incident that was carried out on the first of this month, at the hotel in Hakone during the Master Clans Conference. Because of that incident, there were 22 casualties and 34 injured people. A heinous crime that lead to many innocent people being involved in an attack on the Ten Master Clans. I will never forgive the culprit. Even if I hadnt been ordered, I wouldnt have been able to overlook this. In fact, Im thankful that I was given the mission to find the mastermind behind the crime, and I am honored that I was chosen for the task by the Master Clans Conference. I will focus my efforts and see this mission through.

I was given the mission on the same day the attack was carried out, but now that it has started, I can feel myself getting tense.

It is undisciplined to think of such things before such an important mission. That is why, I will at least be honest with myself here. I can never show this side of myself in front of anyone else.

I will be attending First High School from tomorrow. This is thanks to Headmistress Maeda making a request to the Principal of First High.

I will study in the same school campus as that person.

Even though it is a short period of just one month, I cant help but look forward to it.

February 11th, 2097 (Monday)

Is this a dream?

Im actually in the same class as that person!

Calm down. Calm down, me.

Now then.

Today was my first day at First High school.

My circumstances are a little special, as Im not transferring or being admitted into this school.

At first, Father only intended to ask Principal Maeda to treat my absence due to my mission as an approved leave. Since the search area was expected to be around south Kanto, I would not be able to attend Third High. If it was only for a couple of days, that would not have been a problem, but that was not possible as I would be absent for several weeks.

My father still went to ask the Principal in person. However, things didnt go so well.

That was only natural. After all, the title of the Ten Master Clans was not a governmental office. Therefore, the mission given to me by the Master Clans Conference wasnt an official duty either. If leave of absence was approved for people even though it wasnt an official duty, people related to the Ten Master Clans could go on leave as much as they wanted.

Theres no way the Principal would allow something like that.

However, Principal Maeda is not just a strict person. Although this might seem disrespectful, we students of Third High know that she is strict as well as compassionate. Although she tends to treat high school students like new army recruits, she is still very good at taking care of people. She even takes the time to teach Course 2 students, who are unable to receive personal training due to the lack of teaching staff, by giving excuses such as recreation or outdoor activity.

Even now, she has gone to a lot of trouble for the sake of a single student, me. The fact that I am a direct descendant of the Ten Master Clans, and the fact that she is a close friend of my father probably played no role in the matter. Principal Maeda must have understood that the task given to me was important, and to avoid adding to my worries, she had bowed her head to Principal Momoyama of First High.

As an exception, I am allowed to take the lessons of Third High from a First High classroom. The education system nowadays doesnt have a single teacher teaching an entire class; instead, each student can progress at their own pace using individual terminals. Even though there is leeway in the curriculum, there are limits. If the student unable to progress to a specified level in one year, they will fail that subject.

Even in a magical high school, lectures for both magic-related studies and regular subjects are taken through the personal terminal. So, while it would be impossible for practical classes and experiments, classroom lectures can still be taken without going to school. In theory.

However, the problem with this is that there are portions of the magic curriculum that are access restricted. Hence, there is a strict limit on how much a student can take home as reference material, and it is built so that information cannot be copied over a network. George once tried to break through the protection just to check, and not only was he unable to break through, he was identified and got a sound scolding from the vice- principal, so its probably not something that can be bypassed by a high school student.

That is why Principal Maeda paid attention to the closed network shared by the Magic High Schools and the National Magic University. The National Magic University and Magic High Schools exchange data over a network that is not accessible to outsiders. This system is the reason why Magic High Schools are able to view documents from the National Magic University.

Principal Maeda met with Principal Momoyama and made arrangements to access the Third High school server from the terminals meant for First High school use. Thanks to this, I was able to take the lectures of Third High from a First High classroom.

I will be taking remedial classes for the practicals and experiments over spring break. The fact that I wont get any vacation time is, well, it cant be helped. This is a special arrangement to keep me from failing a year so I cant ask for much more.

Come to think of it, Ive been allowed to take part in First Highs practical classes and experiments, thanks to the kindness of Momoyama- sensei. Although they wont count towards the completion of my course, but its a rare and valuable opportunity to take part in the lessons of another school. Not just Maeda-sensei, I also cant thank Momoyama- sensei enough.

Due to these circumstances, Ive- Well, I cant call it transferred, perhaps enrolled is a better word? - into First High.

Ah, this is getting complicated, so I suppose transferred will suffice.

There might not be anyone else who retorts to himself in a private diary.

In the morning, when I went to the staff room to greet the teachers, the vice-principal personally guided me to the Principals office. After that, instead of my class teacher, the vice-principal once again guided me to my classroom. I heard about this afterwards, but it seems there is no practice of conducting a morning assembly by the class teacher at First High. Even at Third High, the general curriculum students dont have a morning assembly, but for the specialized course, the class teacher comes without fail every morning to encourage the students. Despite both being Magic High Schools, I guess things vary from school to school after all.

I was led to the classroom of Class-2A. There I was startled to see that person was also in this class.

Shiba Miyuki-san.

She is a beautiful and intelligent woman who was just recently appointed as the next head of the Yotsuba Family. She is a beauty and a magician, and also my goddess.

My friends at Third High will definitely laugh if I tell them this, but I truly think of that person as a goddess who has descended to Earth. Beauty? Although I said it myself, she cannot be described by a sullied word like that. If only I had a talent for poetry, I would spend my entire life trying to find a phrase elegant enough to describe her, but I am vexed at my boorish nature.

If anyone comes to know that I feel this way, they might say something like this:

If shes a goddess, and not just a pretty girl, how can you not feel anxious at the thought of dating her? or something like that.

That is indeed the truth. I used to think so too.

But I am a healthy high school boy. I want a girlfriend, but I can never settle for another girl after laying my eyes on her.

Besides, turning a goddess into your girlfriend, doesnt that give you a delicious sense of immorality? I can understand the feelings of the man who hid the mantle of the celestial nymph now.

Woah, I seem to have gotten a bit too excited.

In any case, I was startled after seeing her when I entered the classroom. Even I was able to tell that my face was red from excitement and nervousness.

However, I could not allow myself to do something as pathetic as blush and mumble during my introduction. No matter what happens, I will not expose such an embarrassing side of me in front of her.

That is why, I cheated a little.

The magicians from the former First Laboratory, whom the Ichijou Family are descended from, were given magic that disabled opponents by directly affecting their bodies.

The Isshiki Family uses magic that directly affects the nervous system. However, since there is the case where the Ichihana Family were demoted to extras, magic that controls the nervous system to control people is treated as taboo.

The Ichinokura Family uses magic that affects the body temperature.

And the Ichijou Family that I belong to, uses magic that affects that liquids inside the body. The fact that Rupture could be used to destroy machinery was an unexpected side effect, that magic was initially developed to vaporize the liquids inside an enemys body.

Being able to vaporize bodily fluids was not the only variation of the magic that affects body fluids. There is also a magic that can control the blood flow. I used that magic to ensure that excessive blood did not flow into the area under the skin of my face. The color of my face should not have changed.

Despite that, it didnt mean that my excitement had decreased, or I was any less nervous. It was difficult to make sure that I didn't fumble over the pronunciation of my words and kept from biting my tongue. Since I was focusing so focused on that, I cant recall exactly what I said.

I hope I didn't blurt and say anything strange.

Since nobody looked at me strangely after that, I assume it went well.

In fact, people were friendly and welcoming. First High and Third High are supposed to be rivals. I was prepared to be subjected to criticism, but Im glad that my predictions didn't come true.

It was a shame that I didn't get to talk to that person much. But I suppose thats only to be expected, since I didn't try and talk to her myself.

Its because I was lacking courage. I just thought it would leave a bad impression to be chasing after girls right after transferring in, so I held myself back. If I was in her place, I wouldn't want to go out with a skirt chaser either.

Due to that, I mingled with the boys of Class-A today.

The leader of the group of boys was Morisaki Shun. Hes the eldest son of the Morisaki Family, known for their Quick Draw. His results in the Nine Schools Competition were average, but he looked like hed be fairly capable in a fight. I heard that he fought against members of the Cabinet Offices Information division and drove them off during summer in the year before last.

Apparently, he did that to protect an American woman who was being abducted due to some internal issues. I remember thinking that This guy has got guts when I heard about that incident. I also wondered why he wasnt arrested on charges of interfering with public affairs.

His friends were proudly boasting that he had been a member of the Public Morals Committee since his first year. Morisaki seemed to have a faint sense of distaste about the matter, I wonder what that was about? The system of the Public Morals Committee is the same as that in Third High and actually, even I have been a member since my first year. Although not to the same extent as a seat in the Student Council, being selected as a member of the Public Morals Committee is something to be proud of.

Speaking of which, Ive heard that the representative of the new first- year students would normally be invited to join the Student Council. In Third High, they are invited into the Public Morals Committee. Perhaps the Public Morals Committee in First High doesn't have the same level of prestige within the school as that of Third High.

Third High does have a lot of troublemakers. If the Public Morals Committee wasnt strong, the school grounds would turn into a mess. In that regard, maybe the Public Morals Committee is an exception.

I had lunch with Morisaki and the others, and they told me a lot of things about First High. It appears that the female students are ranked higher at First High right now. That trend seems to be especially prevalent in the second-year students, as I was told, Dont do anything that would make the girls target you in a half-jesting manner.

During this time, I also came to know who the strongest second-year students are.

As expected, the Student Council President, Shiba-san is in a class of her own. Other than her, theres Kitayama-san who is also from Class-A, known as the Shadow Public Morals Committee Chief. The annoying troubleshooter, Akechi-san from Class-B. Satomi-san from Class-D, Chiba-san from Class-F. These were some of the other names that came up.

Theyre all female, as expected. Ive heard about a lot of them during the Nine Schools Competition. Chiba-san is the only exception, but she is one to watch out for. We only worked together at Kyoto on the second day, but that was enough for me to realize that she was highly skilled. She has a frightening air where you dont know what will happen to you if you let your guard down.

However, I wonder what the Actual head of the Public Morals Committee-thing meant? The actual head should be Yoshida. The fact that Yoshida was competent should be clear from both the Nine Schools Competition and the incident at Kyoto. That Yoshida has been supplanted by someone as an actual head of the Public Morals Committee. Maybe Kitayama-san was the person I should be the wariest of. It was a bit surprising, considering her child-like appearance.

Speaking of surprising, I was shocked when I was told that the Shiba guy was a Course 2 student during his first year. Course 2 refers to what we call general studies at Third High, right? Which means that he entered the Nine Schools Competition during his first year in an environment where he didnt have any teacher to guide him, and made us taste defeat.

After entering high school, having a teacher to guide you makes a big difference. Even a mere three months is enough to make a difference.

But he alone, was able to proceed far ahead of us. At least in the field of practical application of magic, he was far ahead of George as well.

Just what kind of education did he receive from the Yotsuba? Although it was galling to admit, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

I also attended the first meeting regarding the mission today. Even though I called it a first meeting, we all knew each other. It was just the first time we had gathered to talk about the mission.

For this mission, the new head of the Juumonji Family, Juumonji Katsuto-san will be the leader, and the eldest son of the Saegusa Family, Saegusa Tomokazu-san will be the sub-leader. The plan was for the Juumonji Family and the Saegusa Family to coordinate in the search effort. I will be working under the command of Juumonji-san.

However, there is a risk that working in this fashion would lead to duplicating effort or something might get missed out due to the Juumonji and Saegusa Families carrying out their individual investigations. To be honest, I was worried about that. Though it seemed that everyone had already understood this.

There were arrangements made for Juumonji-san and the eldest daughter of the Saegusa Family, Mayumi-san to meet in Tokyo and exchange information regarding each others progress. It appears that Shiba was participating in those meetings as a representative of the Yotsuba Family as well. Hence why Shiba invited me to participate in the meetings from today onwards.

Although receiving help from him gave me a strange feeling, I couldnt refuse. I replied that I would be attending. What do you think he replied after hearing that? He said, Ill send you the map, so take out your terminal!

I felt like an idiot since I was prepared to be told, lets go then, but such a thing wouldnt happen normally. This guy told me, a person who was new to the city, that he would give me a map, and that I should come there by myself. Of course, Id be fine by myself because I have my navigation application. But whats up with his sense of empathy?

As expected, I dont like that about him. I probably shouldnt think this way, but I was able to relax when he said that he would decline the meal after the meeting was over.

For such a guy to be the elder brother, no, a cousin and fiance of that person is wrong, no matter how you look at it.

February 12th, 2097 (Tuesday)

For the first period today, Class-2A had practical magic class. The assignment was Defining the ending point of a magic.

The goal is to define the active time of the magic as a variable, and change the color of a white plastic ball from red, green and blue in order, and repeat this for process for ten sets within thirty seconds. If you make a mistake on the settings for even one iteration, you will either run out of time towards the end or end up with extra time.

Hearing that, I thought this should be easy. Making a mistake with the ending condition of a magic will result in not being able to produce the desired effect during combinations of multiple attacks, and defending against an opponents attack. I thought that already I understood the importance of defining the ending conditions of magic.

On the other hand, the fact that properly defining the ending conditions is essential is a fundamental idea in the continuous invocation of multiple magic, and is beaten into us within the first year at Third High. Certainly, we weren't asked to do anything so detailed, but I thought that this was actually too detailed to be of use in live combat.

The last practical assignment I undertook at Third High before transferring here was to hit a target placed behind a wall with magic. It is obviously training for magical attacks against opponents who are hiding behind obstacles.

Compared to that, I could only think of the assignment at First High as a superficial contest of dexterity.

This was a major mistake.

The practical class was carried out in pairs. When the teacher in charge asked us to pick the teams ourselves, I wanted to pair up with that person.

However, Im an outsider here. There are an even number of students in Class-2A after including me. I should pair up with the last person who is left after the others finish pairing up.

As I thought that and looked around, for some reason nobody asked that person to pair up with them.

Was this okay?

Its okay, right?

Thinking that way, I hesitantly went up to that person and asked, would you like to pair up with me?

That person smiled and nodded.

So far so good.

On her initial attempt, that person completed her ten sets in exactly thirty seconds. She wasnt even off by 0.1 seconds. I cannot deny that I saw this assignment as even more simple due to that fact.

I enthusiastically began the assignment while hearing that person do the countdown, and ended up finishing a whole 0.7 seconds too early.

The condition to clear this assignment is to finish within the allotted time with a margin of 1 second. 0.7 seconds might be within that limit, but the idea is to complete the assignment without any help such as a countdown of the seconds. Shiba-san actually completed the task in exactly thirty seconds without any sort of aid.

From the side, I heard a voice saying, Exactly thirty seconds. Nice work, Honoka.

Along with getting even more depressed, I felt a strong sense of panic.

I somehow managed clear the requirements of complete the task with an error margin of 1 second without any external aid, within the first period, but it took me until afternoon to recover from the shock. Even so, its not like I forgot about it. Even now, I still feel the self-loathing that arose due to naively assuming that Third High was more advanced than First High.

Something nice happened today as well. that is why I was able to get away with only this level of depression.

That person actually invited me to have lunch together. It was Mitsui- san who actually invited me, but that person said please join us, as well!

Although I feel that she was forced to say that, I dont care. That person looked at me and said Yes, please join us, while smiling! Its a pity I couldnt record that moment.

After I followed that person to the cafeteria, people I was familiar with greeted me while looking suspicious. They are the people I worked with together at Kyoto last year.

Yoshida, Saijou and Chiba-san. Although we spent only a short while together, I still remember them well. Especially Chiba-san, who left a strong impression.

Chiba-san was the first person to speak, saying Huh? Is it that strange to see me together with Shiba-san?

But that guy who should be feeling the most uncomfortable with me with regards to Shiba-san approved of my sharing their table without a second thought, and dispelled the uncomfortable atmosphere.

It wasnt strange that he didnt object to me sharing their table. I dont think there is any male who can go against that person when she asks for something. What was strange was the fact that Yoshida and Saijou, the quiet-looking young girl who was wearing glasses rarely seen in this age, and even Chiba-san, made an expression like it was okay because he said so.

I thought he was the type of guy who would be shunned by his classmates.

I was sitting in front of that person. It took a lot of control to put on a normal face, as I could feel my heart racing, which was unlike me.

This group probably always has lunch together. I thought that since I am a stranger here, I should go out of my way to make conversation to keep the mood from turning unpleasant.

However, I felt that I would not be able to stay calm if I saw that persons face, while another side of me was thinking that I didnt want to waste even a single moment where I could look at her directly, so I didnt have the composure to start a conversation by myself.

While I was in that predicament, Chiba-san asked me about the progress of the mission.

I almost spit out my Miso soup. No, theres no way I can make a mistake like that while sitting in front of that person. I desperately swallowed what was inside my mouth.

Seriously, though, shes such an unreserved woman, asking about that in a place where anyone can overhear us. Does she not realize how important this is? She didnt appear to be that careless.

However, I also felt that this was a good chance. The fact that neither Shiba-san nor that guy tried to stop Chiba-san probably means that it is okay to talk about the mission with these people as long as I didn't go into the details. It was a good chance for me to begin a conversation with these people, since I had just transferred in and we didnt share any topics of interest.

But that bastard. He suddenly cut in on the conversation. He even called me a very gifted magician! What did he hope to gain by giving such obvious flattery?

But after that, the conversation took a weird turn. That person actually said she was jealous of me, and I became almost incapable of thinking about anything else. Was she praising me? Or was she just being polite? Was she really jealous of me? Even after all this time, I still dont know what she meant.

Besides, Mitsui-san was energetically talking to that guy, and I didn't have a chance to get a word in.

Does Mitsui-san like him?

I know that love isnt based on logic, but isnt it better for her sake to stop her?

But thanks to that, I was able to talk to that person a lot without him interfering. Unfortunately, I can't really remember what we talked about, but I should have managed to reduce the distance between us a little.

Maybe I should be thanking that guy.

Or should I be boastful and say, Serves you right?

I feel that neither is the correct answer.

February 13th, 2097 (Wednesday)

Perhaps I was too excited at being able to attend the same class as that person.

Although I had no intention of neglecting my mission, I am reflecting on the fact that perhaps I wasnt being serious enough.

In the meeting that was convened that evening, I was forced to consider this after hearing that guys report.

It seems that he was only a step away from capturing our target last night.

Since he didn't manage to capture him after all, nothing came out of it. I probably thought that way because I was a third-party who didnt participate in the investigation of the terrorist attack.

But compared to me who hadnt managed to find a single lead regarding the terrorist, that guy actually managed to reach the hideout of the terrorist. I cant use the excuse that it has only been three days since I came to Tokyo. Or rather, I dont want to. Thats because I dont even know where to start.

I had fun at school today as well. I felt happy that I was able to see that persons smile. I realized that I was elated due to such a thing, and felt like I had cold water poured over me.

I felt like running out of the house that instant, and searching for the target. But running around randomly is useless, and will only serve to make me tired. I retained enough common sense to understand that much.

To begin with, I should think about what I can do. Dad said I could use the resources of the Ichijou Family as I saw fit. Even though he needed people to keep watch over our home territory, he assigned a non-trivial number of people over here as well.

Ill go to take a look at the site of the incident tomorrow. The Saegusa, Juumonji and Yotsuba Families have probably already done a detailed investigation, and whats more, the police have also probably scoured the area for clues.

Even so, maybe I can think of something if I go to the scene of the incident.

I thought that this was no time to be attending school.

But that would be equivalent to betraying Principal Maeda, who went to so much effort to get me transferred to First High.

Ill stay quiet until after school tomorrow. Once school is over, Ill start investigating at once.

I came to Tokyo because I was entrusted with this mission, after all.

February 14th, 2097 (Thursday)

True to my resolve from last night, I also intended to have lunch alone. Since I knew that my determination would weaken if that person called out to me, I stood up immediately after the third period ended to go to the cafeteria before she had the chance.

As planned, I would leave the classroom before Shiba-san could talk to me.

If not for that hindrance.

I got as far as the first row of seats in the classroom, when two girls suddenly blocked my way and called out, Ichijou-kun.

Even before I had the chance to recall who they were, each of them pushed a small box decorated with a ribbon onto me. Along with the sentence, Please accept this!.

Before I could reply, the two of them left the classroom in high spirits while saying kyaa~ kyaa~

I must have had a dumb look on my face. At that moment, I really had no idea what just happened. The small boxes were neatly wrapped and carefully decorated with a ribbon, so I could only guess that they were presents of some sort, it was impossible to mistake them for anything else. But what were the presents for? In my dumbfounded state, I wasn't able to realize.

While I was in a state of shock, the number of presents in my arms increased to seven. All of them were given to me by girls. They were all saying stuff like not fair for only you to do it and me too, but I still couldnt understand what it was about.

That persons voice brought me back to normal.

When she said I was very popular with a voice that seemed amused, as she stood behind me, I felt an intense sense of guilt.

I turned around hesitantly.

Her smile was dazzling today as well.

Even so, my heart was filled with impatience. Even now, I don't know what I was so impatient about.

It appears that I had said something. Perhaps a single word like What or Why.

That is probably why Kitayama-san looked at me with an expression of surprise.

She then told me, Today is Valentines Day.

To me, that sounded like judgement from Enma.

After thinking about it, I realized that today is February 14th.

I didn't realize it because my head was full of thoughts about the mission, but today is indeed Valentines Day.

In that case, I belatedly realized, the boxes which were wrapped in a variety of colors could only contain Valentines Day chocolate.

I wonder how people saw me, standing with my arms full of them? How did that person see me?

I must have been sweating a lot from shame at that time.

When she said that it looked like the quantity would still increase, her words sounded like the trumpet of an angel announcing the end.

After that, in spite of my resolve from yesterday, I accompanied Shiba- san and the others to the cafeteria. No, was it Mitsui-san who forcefully dragged me there? Though that was no consolation.

Of course, I left the Valentines Day chocolates in the classroom.

As a boy, I would be sad if I didn't get a single chocolate from a girl on Valentines Day. Even if it was only obligatory, receiving chocolate will make me feel relieved.

But this year is different. Having other girls forcefully give me chocolates in front of the girl I had a crush on felt I was lying on a bed of nails. I wanted to forget that as soon as possible.

However, Chiba-san reopened my wounds as soon as we reached the table.

How many chocolates did I receive? Huh?

Thats none of her business.

Talking about chocolates today can only mean Valentine's Day chocolates, right? Really?

Yeah, thats right, goddamn it.

Im betting the number is in double-digits. Really?

Considering the circumstances, I think I would be forgiven even if I harbored some ill intent towards Chiba-san.

I understand. She is only partially to blame. To the boys, the chocolates we receive are kind of like medals. Having someone say that I probably received a lot would usually not make me feel bad.

But today was an exception. Replying, Why does it matter how many I received after she incessantly kept asking was without a doubt my true feelings. I silently prayed for her to move away from that topic.

If only I was that fortunate.

Kitayama-san and Mitsui-san told everyone the number of chocolates I had received.

Ah, I know that Im only imagining the slight. Im probably too self- conscious.

But at that time, I was scared to look at the face of that person.

To forget the unpleasant memories related to Valentines Day, I ran around until nearly midnight looking for the terrorists after the meeting had ended.

In the end, it was a fruitless exercise. The search was fruitless as well. Huh.

I guess Ill definitely be lacking sleep tomorrow.

February 15th, 2097 (Friday)

The thing we had Magicians feared ever since the terrorist incident, finally happened.

Or perhaps I should say it has starting to happen. A group of demonstrators clashed with the police.

There was stone-throwing and fighting. If the police had failed to contain them, it was easy to predict that the target of the mob would have changed from the police to ordinary magicians. It is not unreasonable to imagine that students of the magic schools might be attacked as well. I began to worry for my friends from Third High.

To distract myself from this bad premonition, I started a conversation regarding the large number of arrests that were made, that had just been reported on the news. The news that twenty-four people were arrested, I am unsure if that is too many or too few. Ever since the invasion at Sado, demonstrators and right-wing activists in Western Japan against the national army have completely gone to ground, so I havent heard of any arrests taking place in recent times.

He replied, There has been a lot of them lately.

So the issue is getting worse as I thought.

Shiba estimated that the number of demonstrators shown on television was around two hundred. Indeed, it was around that many. Then the total count might be twice that number, or maybe even more. Perhaps there were as many as five hundred demonstrators.

First High was enveloped in a dark mood this afternoon. It makes the cheerful atmosphere of yesterday seem unreal.

If this was Third High, I could have encouraged my classmates. Even if I dont say anything, I can think of many people who would say things like If the demonstrators attack us, lets send them packing!. However, it seems that First High doesnt have many characters like that.

After coming home from the usual meeting, I made a phone call to George. I was worried about the state of affairs at Third High.

As expected, it seems that the mood at Third High was pretty belligerent. George was laughing about how more people were injured during club practice than usual.

Those guys are all hot-blooded. But it seemed that Third High was still the same as usual, so I was a little relieved.

If anything, George was worried about me. He asked me if the mission was not going well as if he had realized it already. At times like this, the visi-phone with its video call capability is inconvenient. Its not possible to hide anything.

But this might be a blessing in disguise. Even though it had been less than a week since I came to the capital, I was indeed at a dead end. I dont know what I was supposed to do.

I summoned my courage and told George everything about the current situation. After thinking for a while, George gave me a piece of advice that I didn't even think of.

Its better to stop trying to compete at searching for the enemy. Indeed, its impossible for me to equal the Saegusa and Juumonji Families at a search in the Kanto area which is their home ground. Its not that Im trying to make excuses, the difference in available resources is too great.

I seem to have become impatient after seeing Shibas accomplishment of getting within striking distance of the target at Zama. I must have really lost my composure, to not even notice that. Although I dont want to use it as an excuse, perhaps I had been thrown off balance by the unfamiliar environment.

George told me that my turn would come once the enemy had been found. Since the search effort requires manpower and connections, I can leave that to the Saegusa and Juumonji Families to some extent. Once the terrorist has been found, pursuing and taking him into custody is my job.

George thought that I needed to understand my role in this way.

If I dont do anything until the target is discovered, there is no point in me living alone in Tokyo. Even though I cannot accept Georges advice fully, it made me feel better.

George must have told me to stop competing for this reason. Geez, hes such a dependable friend.

February 16th, 2097 (Saturday)

I learned about the incident at Second High during the meeting in the evening.

The shock I experienced during Valentines Day was replaced by the bad news yesterday, and after speaking to George last night, I calmed down enough to once again be capable of enjoying my daily life with that person. I think I managed to get rid of the awkwardness in my speech while speaking to that person and my other classmates.

After spending the relatively enjoyable life of a transfer student, I put together the information concerning the mission gathered by fathers subordinates instead of running around, and headed to the meeting.

Once there I heard the news that students of Second High had been assaulted by Humanists.

I dont think I was taking the situation lightly. However, the circumstances were getting worse a lot faster than I had imagined.

I didnt imagine that the people who were against magicians would directly attack them without even trying to make it look like an accident.

No, even if such an incident was to occur, I expected it would be much further ahead in the future.

The students of Second High who were assaulted by the anti-magic faction seem to have taken pretty serious wounds.

It would be fortunate if they didnt suffer any lasting effects due to this incident.

Saegusa-san was pretty worried. Since she is the former Student Council President of First High, she was worried about the students of First High being targeted by people who preached Humanism.

I am also worried about that as well.

If the anti-magic faction wants to target someone, First High would be a better choice than Third High. Even though it is removed from the center of the city, attacking First High in Tokyo would leave a stronger impression.

No matter how strong the magician, they are physically just ordinary humans. If they are taken by surprise and attacked, the worst case may also happen.

Although I am worried about that person, I am also worried about my home. Although I don't think anything serious will happen since my father is on the lookout.

February 17th, 2097 (Sunday)

Today, I stayed at home all morning and analyzed the data brought in by my fathers subordinates who were helping with the search. Since a lot of it was obtained when I wasn't around, listening to the explanations again would help me understand if I had any misconceptions, so it was useful to do so.

The main point of the discussion was regarding the estimated route taken by the terrorist to make his escape.

We already knew that the freighter used by the terrorist to sneak into the country was anchored at Numazu Harbor. However, this is probably a decoy. I don't think hell really use it if he tries to escape from Japan. Everyone else was of the same opinion.

Even so, he probably didn't intend to remain hidden in Japan. At some point, he would definitely try to escape. Everyone agreed on this point as well.

In that case, did he intend to leave by air, or by sea? If he planned to leave by air, he could disguise himself and board a plane. Or he might have prepared a small plane for himself. Sagami Bay, or the Bs Peninsula? It was also possible that he was secretly travelling north to some place like Niigata from where he could escape to the continent.

Although we were able to think of several routes, we didn't have the manpower to cover all of them. As expected, the consensus was that we should be cautious and keep ourselves for when the Saegusa and Juumonji Families find the target.

Even though that was probably the best choice, I found it hard to just keep waiting, maybe because Im young.

In the afternoon, I travelled all the way along the coastline from Irouzaki to Inubousaki by bike. Although I was just passing through, I thought it helped me become familiar with the lay of the land. More than anything else, it was refreshing and was a good change of pace.

However, even though it helped my mood, I still had nothing that I could do. Although I dont really want to get him caught up in the affairs of our house, I called George again after dinner. George is the best person to talk to about matters like this after all.

George is of the opinion that making the terrorist reveal himself is the best way to break out of this situation. In short, we need to lure him out. Just like the terrorist is using the freighter at Numazu as bait, we too need to prepare a bait that will let us reel him in.

The problem is, who to use as bait. George said, Although I think youll disagree, and mentioned the names of Shiba-san, Saegusa-san and Saegusa-sans younger sisters.

I can understand the logic behind using women as bait. However, I would definitely not agree to expose that person to danger on purpose.

In return, George was against the idea of me acting as the bait. George said it was too dangerous, but there is always an element of risk when carrying out a sting operation. After hearing me reply in that manner, George reluctantly said that he would put together a more concrete plan.

Im counting on you, Strategist.

February 18th, 2097 (Monday)

To think that person would actually be attacked!

Im not exaggerating, when I heard the news I thought that my heart would stop.

Saegusa-san is the one who informed me that Shiba-san had been attacked. She contacted me to let me know that she would be inviting Shiba-san to todays meeting as well, to discuss that issue.

Saegusa-sans sister had been attacked as well, but I heard that neither of them had been injured. Even so, until I saw her unharmed at the French restaurant where we held our meetings, I remained anxious.

When I saw Shiba-san show up there with him as an escort, I felt relieved as well as a prick of pain in my chest.

I was immediately aware of what that was. It was jealousy.

Intending to wipe away that pitiful emotion, I asked Shiba-san if she was okay.

Although I felt jealous, I think my concern regarding her safety was more important. When she said that nothing serious had happened, I felt all the tension leave my body.

When the incident took place, I was already on my way back from school. One of my fathers subordinates said he was going to visit an informant who worked under Zhou Gongjin, so I was headed there. I didnt expect to gain any leads. I just thought that moving around in an overt fashion would cause the mastermind of the terrorist incident to take notice of me.

I have nothing else to write here regarding that issue. Its just that, when Shiba-san was being attacked, I was not in a place where I could save her. It must have been the same for that guy as well. Shiba must have left school even earlier than me to work on the search effort.

Even so, Shiba appeared to save that person when she was being attacked by ruffians.

I didn't ask him how that was possible.

I was very interested in how he managed it, but I was hesitant to hear the reason.

Instead, I asked about the identity of the attackers.

The opponents were a national-level anti-magic group, and not just Antinite, they had guns and even used magic.

Actually, regarding the magic, the person who attacked Shiba-san and the others, it was just used as a relay by an ancient magician who took control of him. If what he said was true.

When I asked about the person who was doing the controlling, he replied that he had recorded the magic, and was having it examined.

Is such a thing possible?

Do the Yotsuba possess such techniques?

Along with being shocked, at some level, I was also reassured.

The reason why he is ahead of me when it comes to working on the mission is due to the secret techniques of the Yotsuba Family. If I think that way, I don't have to feel like I am losing to him. I don't need to worry if I am inferior to him.

I was thinking in such an underhanded way.

When I asked him how he managed to make a recording of the magic, he didnt reply.

That was obvious. The Ten Master Clans are competitors as much as they are collaborators. If a family makes a technique public so that other magicians can use it as well, their value will increase. Their influence in the magic society will also increase. If they are hiding it, that means they have good reason for doing so, and there is no way they would reveal it just because someone asked.

However, I felt that it was not the only reason why he didnt reply. I felt like he had seen through my thoughts.

Maybe Im just thinking too much. Im sure thats all there is to it. However, I apologized in advance to keep him from saying anything.

It was entirely unlike me. To prevent myself from showing such a shameful side of myself again, I resolved to remain as a listener.

However, he asked if we intended to use that person as bait, when Saegusa-san proposed to give her an escort.

He asked that question to me.

No! I wont let anyone make her do something like that! If someone needs to act as bait, then Ill do it!

I rejected his suggestion loudly.

Since we had discussed the plan of me acting as bait to lure the terrorist out before Shibas arrival, Juumonji-san came to my defense.

It seems he didnt really suspect me in the first place, but having him say something like that is enough to get on my nerves.

Even if it was a joke, I felt shame for having such a suspicion cast upon me.

All of this is because the mission is not progressing.

I resolved to go ahead with the sting operation, even if the Ichijou Family had to carry it out themselves.

Because I spent my time thinking of such things, it is unfortunate that I wasnt able to enjoy the dinner with that person. However, the mission takes priority right now.

Ill start making up a plan with George tomorrow, right after school.

I actually want to call him this instant, but its already late today.

February 19th, 2097 (Tuesday)

At any rate, Im tired.

Since the date has already changed, Ill leave writing the diary for tomorrow.

February 20th, 2097 (Wednesday)

School is temporarily closed until Saturday. The First High that I transferred to was closed since yesterday, but Third High is also closed from today so I was at home since morning.

The mission had been finished for the most part by yesterday. Its unfortunate that I cant say that it has been completed or taken care of completely, but I don't have to stay in Tokyo any longer.

I have been attending First High for a little more than a week. I have been able to attend the same class as that person for just less than ten days. Although I feel very regretful, I came to live alone in Tokyo for the sake of the mission as a member of the Ten Master Clans. Its obvious that I will have to return to Kanazawa once my mission is complete.

Im sure my father will send word for me by today to return home. In the meanwhile, Ill summarize the things that happened yesterday.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting at my terminal in Class-2A of First High, and was working on my studies.

Alone.

Although First High was temporarily closed since yesterday, I was still considered a Third High student. I was just using a terminal at First High. So logically, I should be attending the lessons.

Im sure the school building will be closed. It would be nice if it was closed. As I went to school while praying for it to be closed, the teacher in charge of 2-A came to meet me. It seemed that even though the school was closed to students, the same was not true for the teachers.

Thanks to the teacher, I was attending the lecture all alone in the classroom. Although there is an often-used phrase that says Small acts of kindness can bring discomfort to others, I felt that this was more in the category of Great acts of kindness can bring great discomfort to others.

I was happy when I got to meet that person in the middle of my lesson when she came by to pick up something she had forgotten, though.

In the afternoon, it was confirmed that Third High would be temporarily closing as well. When I received that notification on my terminal, I decided to immediately return to my temporary residence, and tried to get in touch with George who should have also gone home after lessons were cut off in the afternoon.

However, George was unfortunately not at home. The matter is not something that could be discussed when the other person wasnt at home either. I decided to leave a message and wait for his call.

I received a call after 2:00 PM.

However, the caller wasnt George.

Shiba Tatsuya. That guy.

I think the reason why I wasnt surprised by what he told me was because I had an inkling as to what he wanted to say.

He told me that he had discovered the location of the terrorist, so he wanted to begin the operation of capturing him.

He didn't say Do you want to participate? or even Please participate.

He just told me the time and place to meet. I felt that was enough as well.

Regardless, just how on Earth did the Yotsuba Family manage to obtain that information? I understood that I shouldnt ask about that, so I refrained from asking him. I felt that I had come to understand the threat of the Yotsuba Family who were said to be in a different class, Untouchable, even within the Ten Master Clans.

The mission began at 6:00 P.M. in the evening.

At first, I was told to take the troops from the Ichijou Family and block off the escape route towards the north.

However, I wanted to pursue the target.

In the end, as if they were humoring my selfish request, I was put into a detached unit of the Juumonji Family.

That guy was also in the same unit.

That just served to fire me up all the more.

The car that contained the ancient magician who was our target came towards the place where we were waiting, as planned.

However, instead of turning towards the harbor, the driver turned the car towards the west.

We began pursuit, but as soon as we left the harbor, we ran into an ambush laid by a subordinate of the terrorist.

I was impatiently thinking that our target would get away while we were fighting against this guy, but Shiba said that he would deal with him and we should go ahead.

I cant say that I was not conflicted. Was it really okay to leave him to deal with this alone, while I took all the credit for taking out our target?

But it was also true that we needed to hurry. I left Shiba to deal with the attacker and set out to pursue our target.

Although it was that guys magic that enabled us to find the location of the terrorist, we were luckily able to find the targets car immediately. There can be no doubt, since he saw us in pursuit and increased his speed.

At one point, the car carrying terrorist took a turn and drove into a sandy area.

Over here, we were once again ambushed.

We took a fierce attack from behind with high-powered rifles meant to be used against magicians. This was beyond the means of a regular terrorist. At this point, I started to wonder if the terrorist attack in Hakone was planned by the Great Asian Union.

It was a fierce fight, but thanks to Juumonji-san rushing over to help, we were able to suppress the enemy.

Or so we thought, but then the enemy self-destructed.

We were completely held up by them and I was half-ready to give up on the chase.

No, I was willing to pursue the enemy until the last of my strength, but the target had already escaped into the ocean.

I started to think that we could no longer reach him.

I didn't expect that Saegusa-san, who had been excluded from the operation because it was dangerous, would show up on a high-speed patrol boat.

It was the kind of plot twist you see in movies.

But it would be the height of arrogance to criticize her, because this was convenient for us.

We boarded the patrol boat and chased the target down until we were just another step away from capturing the target.

However, we were unable to capture the terrorist.

The ship carrying the target was sunk in front of our eyes. It was cut in two by a large magical blade.

Was that, Molecular Divider?

Why did the USNA magician units trump card appear now of all times?

At the time, I was completely unable to understand the situation.

No, even now, I don't understand the situation.

At any rate, we failed our mission in the final moments.

Although I believed that the target had definitely perished, since we couldnt find his body, we could not report the same to the mass media through the police.

In the end, the Hakone terrorist incident has drawn to a close on the surface.

The main offender has died.

However, the incident has not been resolved.

Now that I think about it, even though I had participated in the chase, I have no idea what the target looked like. His name was Gu Jie, he was an ancient magician formerly affiliated with Dahan, and he specialized in using magic that controlled corpses. I only know such fragmented details about him, and cant put together the whole picture of the opponent.

If I was asked if an ancient magician called Gu Jie really existed, and if he was really the mastermind behind the terrorist incident, I cannot confidently answer in the affirmative.

It would be very difficult to satisfy the mass media at this rate. I was assailed by an extraordinary sense of resignation

Even though I spoiled myself by being lazy until after 9:00 A.M., I still cant get rid of this feeling of having wasted my efforts.

Its good that I don't have to go to school.

Ill spend this one day to relax.

In the evening, I received a phone call from my father.

Against my expectations, he told me to not come back home yet. Since there might be some clean-up to do regarding the incident, he asked me to take care of it should the need arise.

Don't be ridiculous!

For something like that, Dad can just come to the capital when needed. Its not like we live on the other side of the world.

Besides, school is closed only for this week. When I asked him what to do about school, he told me to continue attending First High as planned until the beginning of March.

Just what is he thinking?

Just what does Dad want to make me do?

I don't understand. I feel like my brain is not working properly due to fatigue.

Ill talk to my father again tomorrow.

February 21st, 2097 (Thursday)

Since I was tired yesterday, I postponed complaining to my father. That was a mistake.

When I called him today, he persistently said that the discussion was settled yesterday.

So its like that. Rather than him plotting something, he doesnt feel like taking care of the clean-up. Using the excuse that I was already in Tokyo, he didnt intend to leave Kanagawa.

True, no one would want to deal with the consequences of a failed mission like this time. But its the same for me! Geez, he just says what he wants.

Whats more, Dad dropped a massive bomb on my lap.

Akane would come to stay over on Saturday, so I was supposed to show her around Tokyo on Sunday?

I don't know any of the tourist spots here, either!

February 22nd, 2097 (Friday)

Although I feel like there is no point writing this in my diary after all this time, I have two younger sisters.

The older of the two is called Akane, and the younger one is called Ruri. As per the custom of my mothers family, it was decided to give girl children names based on colors.

I don't think we siblings get along well.

Although George would say that they are very close, I personally don't feel that way.

They were cute in the past. Even now, I would definitely protect them if something were to happen.

But those two, even though they appear cute, they don't act like it at all.

Ruri doesnt talk to me at all. Although she has always had that tendency, recently she ignores me even when I talk to her. Once in a while, when she opens her mouth, she says horrible things that make me feel like asking her to shut up. Theres no way we can have a proper conversation.

In contrast, Akane talks too much. She just talks too much. She insults me every time we see each other. She also barges into my room with tea, coffee or snacks even though I never ask her to bring any, and says abusive things like perverted, so gross and untidy until shes satisfied, before leaving.

A friend of mine from Third High said So tsundere with a happy expression, but he can only laugh about it because hes not on the receiving end. In the first place, Akane never showed me her dere side, and Im not the kind of person who would be happy because their younger sister showed them a dere side either.

That noisy sister of mine will be coming to this house tomorrow.

Thanks to that, I had to look up all the tourist spots in this area in detail.

If Im not properly prepared, Akane will definitely make a fuss.

Im not delicate enough to feel hurt by Akanes abusive language, but Id rather not have things become depressing.

Once you start looking into tourist spots, it really doesnt end.

Even the recommended course has a number of destinations that cannot be counted on both hands.

In such a situation, it would be good to get advice from a local person. I also thought about calling that person to ask for advice.

However, I lacked the courage to do so. I couldnt dare to disturb her over something so trivial.

Feel free to laugh. Courage and recklessness are different things.

Asking that guy is out of the question. I dont want to feel indebted to him over something like this.

Yoshida and Saijou are easy to talk to, but would either of them know tourist spots that a female middle schooler would enjoy?

After thinking about it for a while, I decided to rely on Saegusa-san. Not the eldest son, Tomokazu-san, but Mayumi-san. I had been meeting with her every day until a couple of days ago, and I thought that she might know of some places that Akane would enjoy.

Saegusa-san indeed gave me the information I needed.

But right now, Im regretting relying on her a little.

Since it felt like calling her out of the blue would seem too familiar, I sent my query to her over mail.

My younger sister has suddenly decided to come to Tokyo. I have to show her around this place the day after tomorrow, so please give me some advice on where I should take her. The contents of the mail were something to that effect, in a suitably polite language.

Her reply arrived within thirty minutes. Im glad she replied so quickly, but I belatedly realized that the National Magic University must be operating as usual, unlike the affiliated High schools.

My guess was not off the mark.

Her reply mail said, I didn't go to college in the morning because I had to deal with a lot of people regarding the clean-up of the incident. I was free from the afternoon since I finished all the work, so Im glad you sent me a mail. I copy pasted her reply so theres no mistake.

Was Saegusa-san someone I was that close to? I wondered, tilting my head.

Her message continued on to say that she definitely wanted to help me out, and wanted to hear about it in more detail, so could we meet now, preferably at her house? That was the gist of her message.

Me, go over to the Saegusas house?

Although I felt that this was pretty sudden, I immediately reconsidered.

Come to think of it, I havent gone to greet the Saegusa Family or the Juumonji Family even though I came all the way to Tokyo.

As the eldest son of the Ichijou Family, this is not acceptable. Since it seemed like Dad intended to have Akanes husband take over as head of the family, I was not in a position of a successor, but it is also true that I am here as a representative of the Ichijou Family. We are all from the Ten Master Clans, and whats more, Im intruding upon their territory. Besides, although it ended in failure, we had co-operated during an important mission.

I decided to take advantage of her invitation to go make my greetings to the Saegusa Family.

I did consider wearing a suit, but in the end I changed into my Third High school uniform and went to the Saegusa Family House using public transport, instead of my bike. On the way, I purchased an appropriately expensive gift as well. Since it was a formality, I didn't put too much thought into the appearance of the gift. My mother said that the price is often just as important as the appearance.

Maybe because I had sent her a mail about when I would be arriving, Saegusa-san was waiting to receive me when I arrived at the mansion.

Since the head of the family, Mr. Kouichi was present at home, I decided to greet him first. He certainly gave the impression that you couldnt let down your guard around him.

However, he didn't seem like the type of person who would betray his allies on a whim, unlike what Dad said. Rather than a person without honor, he seemed to be the type of man who had his own rules and gave them the highest priority. Or maybe I am just not capable of judging people yet.

The eldest son, Tomokazu-san, was not at home. According to Saegusa- san- since it will be confusing here, Ill refer to her as Mayumi-san for now- both of her elder siblings lived in separate houses.

After finishing my greetings to Mr. Kouichi, I was taken to a different drawing room. Although my own house is big, the Saegusa mansion might be even bigger. Although it seemed like our house had more floor space, it probably lost when it came to overall size.

The drawing room where I met with Mr. Kouichi had a sofa set, but the drawing room that Mayumi-san took me to had an elegant table and chairs arranged in a manner to allow people to dine there. Perhaps she intended to have a formal tea party. I wonder if my sisters will want to do things like this at some point as well.

The tea table had been fully set in the time while I was making my greetings to Mr. Kouichi. Mayumi-san offered me black tea and tea cakes in a natural manner, and enthusiastically asked me questions about Akanes age and interests.

In the beginning, I thought she was a kind person. But as time progressed, I understood the truth. Wasnt she just bored? Did she call me over just to stave off her boredom?

This drawing room had a large display screen. When I had entered the room, it was displaying famous landscape paintings. if Im not wrong, it was a Renoir. I don't remember the name of the artwork, but it depicted a boat upon a river.

I was taken on something called a Virtual Date using that display. Using a handheld terminal, you could choose the routes, and could select the conversation and actions from an available list, and displayed imagery to make it seem like you were actually walking through the city, apparently it was such a service.

I felt like preparing in advance for your date with something like this would only make the real experience boring, but it seemed to be popular among females.

Well, since it displayed all the tourist spots in CG that was close to the original, you wouldnt run into a situation where you felt Its different from what I expected. However, its not necessary to make decisions when I just want to do a preliminary check of the area. Im just accompanying my sister on her sightseeing trip, and not actually going on a date. I wasnt looking for advice on how to go on a date.

Even so, I had many of my decisions rejected.

No matter how I look at it, she was playing around with me. Looking back, Mayumi-san had written I was bored, so Im glad you contacted me in her mail. No doubt, she was using me to alleviate her boredom.

Mayumi-sans sisters joined in at some point, and the number of rejections I had to endure increased.

I thought I would lose heart. No, in fact, I might have lost it three or four times.

However, thanks to that, I was able to decide on a route to guide Akane.

After giving my thanks, I left the Saegusa mansion, but I was mentally in pieces.

For some reason I felt like letting loose once in a while.

However, Mayumi-sans younger sisters; were they called Kasumi-chan and Izumi-chan? What was with the appraising look they gave me?

February 23rd, 2097 (Saturday)

Today, I received a pleasant surprise.

It was not just Akane who came to Tokyo. George came to stay over as well.

Although it has been less than two weeks, I felt like it had been a long time since I saw him.

Akane was pretty angry with us who were celebrating our reunion, but friendship is more important than sibling relationships, dumb sister.

Akane was saying meaningless things like impure and pervert, but I ignored her.

If it was just Akane, I intended to take her to an appropriate restaurant and prevaricate (ignore her), but I cant treat my best friend who came all this way in such a rough manner.

I took George, and while we were at it, Akane as well, to a well- established sukiyaki restaurant that said it was established in the year 1869.

The food was as good as expected. George was happy. Akane was the only person who was complaining saying that, I wanted to eat something prepared by hand, but dont you usually eat stuff at home that is made by the automatic cooking machine?

Even after we returned to this house, there was a mountain of things we needed to talk about.

I cant write all of that here, and nor do I have the time to do so.

February 24th, 2097 (Sunday)

Since it was an order from my father, I intended to show Akane around using the route that Mayumi-san helped me pick.

However, that plan was cancelled due to Akane herself.

That sister of mine said Today, were definitely having hand-made food and shut herself in the kitchen since morning while being strangely enthusiastic.

From morning, you know? Since we couldnt use the kitchen, our breakfast today was just buttered toast.

Akanes hand-made cooking was finally completed just before noon. Thankfully, I wasnt used as a gofer to fetch ingredients as the overseer of this house kept it stocked with items such as spices.

It tasted okay. It wasnt bad, but I didn't think it was good either.

I mean, what Akane made was curry rice. Whats more, she used a commercial roux.

Saying that it will taste like a pros cooking with a little tweaking only applies to people who can actually cook.

There is a saying that anything can be eaten if you put curry powder on top, but the taste of the curry was so strong that it overwhelmed any other subtle flavors.

George said it was delicious, maybe out of politeness to my sister. She seemed happy with that, so I guess its okay.

Akanes cooking took up pretty much all morning, so I had to cut down on the places that we would visit. The plan that I constructed after going through the trial of being toyed around by the Saegusa sisters went to waste.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided that we would just go around the places in order, and go back to the station when we ran out of time.

When I asked Akane and George to pack up their luggage, that foolish sister of mine asked me why? in a dissatisfied voice. Of course, thats because Ill be sending the luggage over separately after the two of you go back. In fact, I was the one who wanted to ask why she asked such a question.

However, Akane didn't intend to go sightseeing in the first place. She said, If Im going to have fun, then Ill do it with my friends over summer break or spring break. Apparently, the reason she came over this time was to see the house and confirm whether it was suitable for inviting her friends over.

Dad.

Thanks to your misunderstanding, I was treated like a toy at the Saegusa mansion.

While I was quietly boiling in anger, Akane said that there was someone she wanted to meet.

If thats the case, tell me earlier. The other party might have plans of their own, after all.

I was only able to maintain such a state of composure until I heard the name of the person that Akane wanted to meet.

The person Akane wanted to meet was Shiba-san.

I rejected that idea many times. I told her to give up because it was impossible.

However, I was not able to convince Akane. She scolded me saying that I should at least try to call her. My sister started to insult me saying that I couldnt even make a phone call because I was a loser.

Fine, then. If you must insist, Ill make the phone call.

I replied that way only because I was caught up in the heat of the moment and responded to her provocation.

With my means of retreat cut off, I made a phone call to Shiba-san while Akane and George were watching.

The person who answered the phone was a young girl dressed in a maid outfit.

I felt like I had seen her before. If I remember correctly, she was a first- year student on the Student Council at First High. Dont tell me, did I dial the wrong number?

While I was flustered, she replied saying, Yes, this is the Shiba residence.

I was relieved that I hadnt made a mistake, and introduced myself saying My name is Ichijou while I was overtaken with a different sense of doubt.

Don't tell me, is that guy playing around with a junior and making her cosplay as a maid, even though he has Shiba-san?

Thinking about it calmly, there was something wrong with me back then. Anyone observing that scene would think that the person who even thought of such an idea was the one who had dangerous interests.

Shiba-san is the next head of the Yotsuba Family. Its not strange for her to have a maid at home. Its more appropriate to think that this is her real occupation, and she was not cosplaying.

When I said that I wanted to talk to that person, the maid girl transferred the call without even asking me for a reason.

Her voice came from the speakers saying, This is Shiba. Ichijou-san, its been five days since we last met, hasnt it?

I was uncharacteristically drunk on the sense of joyfulness. That person remembers the day when she last met me!

It was unfortunate that the display was blacked out, but thats not unusual when speaking from a personal residence. Women especially tend have a dislike being seen in their loungewear by people of the other sex.

Despite that, just her voice alone was charming enough. I did my best to avoid having my mind taken away by it.

When I told her that my sister who had arrived in Tokyo wanted to see her, and asked if she could spare some time while apologizing for the short notice, that person cheerfully agreed. That guy also being present was a condition, but I thought that it couldnt be helped. Even despite our special circumstances, I would find it strange if a young woman agreed to meet a man alone after being called out by him.

We decided to meet at a cafe near First High, instead of either of our residences. It was a shop called Einebrise. Considering the speed of modern public transportation, it was possible to predict how long it would take to reach any place within Tokyo with a negligible margin of error.

That person, who I had met for the first time in five days, seemed to be shining. I felt that only the atmosphere around her was different. Even Akane was struck dumb and was bedazzled by her. She was almost incoherent when she introduced herself, but I didn't feel like laughing at her. The charms of that person go beyond the boundaries of gender.

George started talking to Shiba in a lively manner. Maybe it was my imagination, but I felt like that guy enjoyed talking to George as well. They were talking about complicated stuff like similar phenomena from different systems and modularization of the activation sequence, but since George seems happy, thats okay.

Also, I was able to talk to that person because George kept that guy busy.

We parted ways with her after about an hour, and after showing them around the Shibuya-Harajuku area a bit, we temporarily returned to the secondary residence. I told them that I would send the luggage separately, but they wanted to carry it along with them.

They also said that I didnt need to see them off, so I left Akane to George and parted from them at the doorway of the house.

That was when I heard Akanes impression of the meeting, but her reaction was a little strange.

She said that it was a bit scary. When I asked her if she was talking about Shiba-san, she shook her head. It appears that she was talking about that guy.

As far as I saw, he behaved as a proper gentleman towards Akane. Sure, his appearance may give an air of uneasiness, but there are plenty of people with much scarier faces back at home. Shibas face shouldn't have been stern enough for Akane to feel scared.

I asked her what she felt was scary.

Akane shook her head while saying she didn't know. She didn't know, but it was scary.

Akane went back home after saying Nii-san, be careful.

February 25th, 2097 (Monday)

School resumed from today.

The activities of the anti-magic faction had gradually increased in intensity. Even though the person who had incited it, the terrorist, was dead, that fact was meaningless to the people who were making a fuss. During the period when the school was closed, small riots broke out all over the country.

However, my classmates whom I met after a long time were no longer as uneasy as they were before the school was temporarily closed.

They probably got used to it. When a state of alert persists, people will get used to it. The situation is still dangerous, its just that their sense of alertness has gone down, but if they were to stay on their toes all the time their minds would not last. Perhaps numbing oneself to fear is unavoidable for the mind to protect itself.

In any case, Class-2A was once again lively like it had been before.

In my case, I no longer had to leave school early because my mission had ended. Its unhealthy to stay alone at home anyways. Since I was going to be staying here for a while yet, I had to think of a way to use my time after school.

For today, I asked to observe the activities of the Public Morals Committee. Im also on the Public Morals Committee in Third High, after all. I had wanted to observe them once before going back to Kanazawa.

When I asked for permission to observe while we were having lunch in the afternoon, the Committee Head Yoshida immediately agreed.

After Yoshida, Kitayama-san asked, Do you want to go on the rounds with me, then?

I remembered Morisakis words from the day I had transferred in.

The people to watch out for amongst the second-year girls.

The first name on that list was The actual Head of the Public Morals Committee Kitayama Shizuku.

Kitayama-san looks like a quiet and obedient girl. She occasionally makes retorts that dig into your vitals, but she doesnt seem to be the kind of person who would hurt others.

I felt curious about just what part of her made Morisaki and the others be so vigilant of her. At the same time, the alarm bells of my instincts were going off in my head.

Maybe he sensed my indecision, Yoshida told Kitayama-san that he would take over showing me around, and suggested that they switch shifts for today.

Kitayama-san readily agreed. Maybe her intention was to get Yoshida to say that all along? Im probably just overthinking it, but if that is indeed the case, then her nickname of actual head of the Public Morals Committee makes sense.

It was then that I noticed that there was one person missing from the group of people who usually have lunch together.

I casually asked if Chiba-san was on leave today.

I could tell that the six people at the table except for Shiba immediately turned somber.

While I was worried that I asked something inappropriate, Shiba gave me a short explanation saying, Shes not attending school today because of the Shonanoka (post-funeral) ceremony.

I had thoughtlessly forgotten that the eldest son of the Chiba Family had died in the line of duty during the search for the terrorist.

After school, Yoshida showed me around the duties of the First High Public Morals Committee. The first thing that surprised me was that the logs of the activities were properly maintained. When I asked about it, I was told that the head of the Committee, Yoshida, was maintaining the records himself. I was also told that Yoshida also took notes during meetings. Apparently, Yoshida is good at speed writing.

When I asked him if he used shorthand, he gave me a demonstration on the spot. He started writing characters on a large notebook with a brush pen at a fast pace. I couldnt read it, but I somehow understood that it was cursive script.

I was really shocked to see someone who practices calligraphy in this day and age. I was so surprised that I couldn't control myself. I asked him why he had such a skill.

With a slightly distressed expression, Yoshida replied that it was necessary for making talismans. Come to think of it, this guy was a practitioner of ancient magic. So he still uses magic that utilizes talismans? I remember that he used a strange-shaped CAD during the Nine Schools Competition.

My wish to see Yoshida use magic in his original style was soon granted. A fight had broken out behind the small gymnasium.

It seems the students of First High are hot-blooded as well. There is a big difference between what you hear and see for yourself.

It seemed to be a usual occurrence. Yoshidas warning to halt was just a formality. He probably understood that these people wouldnt stop just from being told to.

Yoshida did not take out any talismans. Instead, he took out what appeared to be a folding fan from his left sleeve. Looking closely, it appeared to be a set of metal cards set in the appearance of a folding fan using a metallic frame.

Yoshida unfolded one of the cards of the fan-like item using his left hand, extended the index and middle fingers of his right hand together and touched that card.

I felt something move through the air. I felt a cool and pleasant mist brushed upon my cheeks, and suddenly, the students who were fighting were enveloped in a thick fog.

I heard screams saying it was cold from within the fog. Well, its still February, so its like the middle of winter after all.

But that was not the only reason. I think that fog also included a dense layer of Psions.

That would make it difficult to read any activation sequences. It was not as perfect an interference as cast jamming, but I thought that it would be difficult to cast any magic using a CAD unless you used a much larger quantity of Psions than usual.

Yoshida gave another warning. Along with a threat that he would use electricity on them next time.

The brawl immediately subsided.

It was a very interesting thing to observe.

Towards the end of the patrol, I asked Yoshida why there were some boys who called him by his first name and some who called him by his last name.

It was something that I had been curious about, but Yoshida explained it to me politely.

Since its a matter of Yoshidas privacy, I wont write it down here.

I was just surprised to see that he had a side to him that cared for his friends.

February 26th, 2097 (Tuesday)

Today after school, the student council work was shown to me. She and that guy worked together in the Student Council.

That gave me a somewhat complicated feeling.

In the Student Council Room, besides Mitsui-san from my class, a first- year student wearing a maid dress and Mayumi-sans little sister were present.

The name of the first-year student with the maid dress is Sakurai-san. Mayumi-sans little sister is Izumi-chan.

Shiba-san is a given, but that guy takes his work seriously as well. Actually, what the heck is up with his typing? It looked like he was only using the keyboard, but his fingers were moving so fast while typing that my eyes couldn't keep up. Don't tell me there's something like a "Typing speed increasing self-acceleration magic".

Apart from their usual clerical work, they were also preparing for the graduation ceremony and the after party. It should be the same at Third High. As that guy seemed to be taking care of the administrative work all by himself, Shiba-san, Mitsui-san, and Izumi-chan were discussing ideas related to the plan for the party.

Because I was asked by Shiba-san for my opinion, I shared my information about the progress and planning at Third High. I was good that I could be of service to her.

In the midst of the discussion, it felt like Izumi-chan was appraising me again.

Am I being too self-conscious? But I am not being a narcissist.

It was getting gradually darker outside. Kasumi-chan, who is another little sister of Mayumi-san, appeared from the door inside the Student Council Room. I also thought of the time when I visited the Saegusa Family before. These two girls nevertheless are monozygotic twins. I couldn't be sure because they had different hairstyles and gave off different vibes, but I could easily tell that their faces were identical when they were wearing the same uniform.

Kasumi-chan also sometimes gazes at me appraisingly. What on earth is that?

After that, we met with Yoshida, Saijou, Kitayama-san and Chiba-san. We went to the coffee shop Einebrise where I had spent time with Shiba- san last Sunday. It seemed like they were regular customer at the shop.

I am lost whether to say my condolences to Chiba-san or not, which I couldnt do during lunch break.

In the end, I decided not to say anything. That was because Chiba-san was giving off an aura that said it was a touchy subject.

In our current situation, I thought that saying condolences would be difficult.

February 27th, 2097 (Wednesday)

My school transfer period will last until Saturday of next week. Only next Sunday is a holiday.

Is this okay?

The mission had ended. As for the cleanup mentioned by my old man, it felt like there was no longer any need for that. Normally it should have been fine to return to Kanazawa right away.

That made me wonder all the more if I would not regret ending it like this, having done nothing.

At todays lunch time, the topic amongst the girls was the question what they want to do for the holiday.

She responded with Recently it has been exclusively shopping. However, we went to see a movie on occasion. There seems to have been an Onee-san who likes movies.

Now, on the left side of the monitor where I am writing my diary, the ticket site is displayed. The schedule of movies that would be screening or premiering next week was displayed as a list there.

Well, what should I do?

Ive been asking myself that since a little while ago.

Is it okay not to do anything like this? And will I not regret this?

I may never get this opportunity again.

That's right. I won't get anywhere if I just keep being indecisive.

If Im rejected, Ill just give up.

I touched the monitor and pressed enter.

A message was displayed saying that the ticket was downloaded to my inbox.

It's a little late to be thinking this after having submitted an engagement request, although it was my father who actually did it. I can no longer turn back now.

I really don't want to risk everything on this, though.

February 28th, 2097 (Thursday)

The last class for today is over.

As usual that guy came to pick up Shiba-san.

I called out to that person to stop her as she started to go towards the Student Council Room.

There were many students in the corridor. Next to her, that guy was there.

However I chose to not try and be alone with her on purpose. I felt like I would lose if I hid from him and did things in secret.

I displayed the ticket on my mobile terminal and invited her to go see a movie with me this Sunday.

Her eyes were wide open. She looked up at Shibas face with a slightly troubled expression.

Shiba-san asked me Is that an invitation to a date? directly. I stubbornly answered Indeed.

That guys response was I cant let her go alone.

He had made his position known.

But the next line was surprising.

That guy gave his permission as long as I dont mind taking Sakurai-san to the movie as well.

Nevertheless, I certainly dont mind. So I hurriedly invited Shiba-san once more.

After showing a little embarrassment, she smiled brightly and nodded. With a beaming smile, she accepted the proposal for a date!

To tell the truth, I expected that that guy would not stop Shiba-san. That guy has a side to him that does not want to restrain Shiba-san.

But I knew that Id never be alone with Shiba-san. There is no guy whod let his fiance be alone together with a bastard who has his eyes set on her.

What was surprising, was that he didn't say that he wanted to come along as well.

That guy chose Sakurai-san as her companion.

Of course, I definitely prefer this arrangement. Although I would not be able to be alone together with her, it's far better than having an annoying male accompanying us like a third wheel.

Is he trying to show off that he has nothing to worry about? Can you afford that?

If that's how he wants to be, then I'll steal her away from him without holding back.

Don't come crying to me later on!

March 1st, 2097 (Friday)

Today it was March. One month left until I become a third-year high school student.

Todays lunchtime topic became our future paths.

Im planning to go to the National Magic University. Everyone else was hoping to be admitted to the National Magic University, too. I thought Saijou had plans to attend the National Defense Academy but it seems that he wants to be a member of the riot police.

Objectively speaking, unless I lost my magic power by accident I will not fail the exam for the National Magic University. That is even more certain for her than me.

If I become a university student, I can be at the same campus as she is for four years this time.

That could turn into a difficult time for me. The current situation is that she is the fiance of another man.

But for now Im looking forward to my campus life with her.

March 2nd, 2097 (Saturday)

Honestly speaking.

I did not get anything done since this morning. Tomorrow is finally the day, you know?

To this day I had not realized that I was so inexperienced.

I never imagined that Id be worried about what to wear tomorrow.

For now, I have the ticket. I arranged the purchase for Sakurai-sans already.

There are enough war funds.

I also set the GPS. Although I don't think it is necessary as I made sure to beat the map of the meeting place and the movie theatre into my head.

I set my alarm clock as well.

All preparations are done, everything is okay.

Alright, lets sleep.

Ill become even more anxious if I stay awake.

March 3rd, 2097 (Sunday)

I would never make a cliched mistake like being late for the appointment because I overslept.

My head was sharp and clear after having a good nights rest. Am I actually more resilient than I thought?

I washed myself thoroughly in the bath. I shaved my beard while I checked myself 10 times in the mirror. I dried my hair diligently with a hair dryer. I put on the clothes I had selected after agonizingly trying on different clothes for 3 hours yesterday. After all that I left for the meeting place.

I wasnt this anxious even during the Yokohama incident.

I arrived 40 minutes before the appointed time at the meeting place. Well, that's only natural.

The waiting time was not as painful. As I imagined her in various casual clothes, the appointed time came before you could say movie date.

She appeared three minutes before the appointed time. The instant I laid my eyes on her, the world changed. Through my eyes, it was undoubtedly changed.

The scenery became gorgeously colored. She was the center of the world.

I even forgot to breathe while I was staring at her.

The hem of an elegant gray skirt was peeking out under the hem of a beige long coat.

Her legs were wrapped in thick tights and the heels of her pumps made rhythmic sounds.

The color of her cashmere muffler and her coat was matching her beige gloves. In her overall mature fashion coordination, her fluffy earmuffs became a cute accent.

She came before me who was standing in place and asked: Did I keep you waiting long?

I shook my head so vigorously, just short of tearing it off entirely. She leaked out a slight chuckle.

I thought I was being childish.

But I dont regret it. Because it made her laugh.

For the sake of her smile I will do anything, even act like a clown.

After my nervousness subsided, I noticed Sakurai-san standing diagonally behind her.

Sakurai-san was wearing a short coat, a turtleneck sweater, slim fit jeans, high cut sneakers, fake leather gloves and a knit hat. Her fashion coordination was a bit tomboyish, in contrast to Shiba-san.

It looked like a battle-oriented style to me. Or is that just my imagination?

Because it was precisely the right time, we headed to the cinema without any further delay.

There is no need to be in a hurry because we have reserved seats. After we bought only drinks we entered the screening space.

But naturally, the inside was heated. Sakurai-san and I just opened the front of our coats while Shiba-san took off her coat gracefully.

Below the coat was an elegant gray one-piece.

I stopped breathing. How many times did that happen today. I fixed my eyes on her. She smiled at me a with a troubled expression while sitting down elegantly.

The seat order was me, then Shiba-san, then Sakurai-san.

In the cinemas 100 years ago, it was so narrow that the shoulders of people sitting next to each other would touch. Lovers would hold hand on the armrest while watching the movie. I'm not sure if this is the truth, or a lie, but that was supposedly a common occurrence.

But in the cinemas these days it didnt happen that the bodies of people next to each other would touch.

The enveloping bucket seat conveys vibrations and inclination as an important feature. Naturally one can turn off this feature by choice, but that does not change the fact that the seat surrounds the entire body.

Therefore it wont happen that Shiba-sans and my shoulder or our fingertips touch by accident. I envied the people from back then.

The movie I picked advertised itself as a typical love story. I had no interest in movies at all, so I chose the currently best-selling title in the love story category for safety.

The distributor is a famous Hollywood studio. The setting was the New York of the 1990s. In this era the existence of super powers, let alone magic, was not public. A girl who was hiding her powerful psychokinesis all her life meets an ordinary boy and falls in love with him. Thats about the rough outline of the story.

The lights were turned off in the hall. The 180-degree half-cylindrical shaped screen was lit. The audience is supposed to watch the front screen while within 30 degrees left and right only auxiliary images were reflected to deepen the feeling of immersion. I was impressed since this was my first time watching a movie in a long time and said Ahhhh!.

Before watching it, I expected that it would be an ordinary setting with no plot twists, but it certainly lived up to its reputation as a worldwide hit. It does not rely on flashy special effects. A girl who suffers from her secret and a pinch of forbidden love. The boy is frustrated that the girl will not show her feelings easily. Each emotion was drawn carefully with deep 3D images. Despite the tragic ending, I felt refreshed after watching it.

Shiba-san also seemed to be satisfied. Because this was the most important thing for me, I felt relieved that she said That was interesting and laughed.

It went well so far.

But at the exit of the cinema, that guy was there.

That guy wasnt alone. In addition to the usual faces of the lunch group Mayumi-sans little twin sisters were waiting for us.

Shiba-san mutters Onii-sama with a surprised expression. She still seems to have the unconscious habit of calling that guy Onii-sama. Perhaps because she calls Shiba Onii-sama internally I thought that I still had a chance. However at that time I didn't have the presence of mind to think of such things.

Despite Shiba-san standing beside me I yelled at them spontaneously You guys, what are you doing!. Their reactions were not likeable at all, only Mitsui-san and Shibata-san looked frightened while the rest was composed. Chiba-san was smirking extremely pleased.

That guy shamelessly gave me a reply I came to pick up Miyuki! That guy seems to have given his permission only for watching the movie.

Are you kidding me! Of course I had invited her with Would you like to go watch a movie? but what followed in such situations after the movie was finished wasnt thanks and goodbye! Afterwards there would be various options like drinking tea or walking around in the streets!

From there we decided to spend the time together with everyone. After seeing the apologetic smile she directed at me, it was impossible for me to object.

Even with such a smile, she was dazzling.

To be honest, it was kind of fun, you know? But this wasn't what I wanted, was it?

That guy is not the only one with a bad personality. Everyone including the girls around that guy have personalities too.

I was convinced of that today.

March 9th, 2097 (Saturday)

Today my time at First High had come to an end.

Even if I read back the diary of this week, from Monday to Friday there is nothing of great importance written down.

The feeling of fatigue from Sunday continued throughout the week. I am ashamed even if I do say so myself.

Today the lunchtime group members will give me a little farewell party.

I was told to go home first and change my clothes, so I did as instructed and changed to casual clothes. The place they took me to was an establishment for a retro game called bowling.

I tried bowling for the first time in my life, under the rule that magic was absolutely forbidden, which was obvious even without being said.

Because it was my first time my results were awful. It saved me that I wasnt the only one.

Shiba-sans rough clothing today was a long knitwear sweater and woolen tights. She often had gutter balls (when the ball goes off the bowling and into the trench) and let out an embarrassed laughter every time. That appearance was insanely cute. It was hard to suppress my impulse to secretly taking a picture of it.

Chiba-san seemed to be experienced and she had the leading score amongst the girls.

And that guy, I never hated him more.

Even though he said it was his second time, whats up with that high score! Its my farewell party so why cant you hold back a little is what I wanted to say.

He set such a high score all by himself that not only Saijou and Chiba- san, even Yoshida and Kitayama-san seemed to be weirded out by him, so I wanted to say, "Serves you right!"

After that I was taken to another retro game called karaoke.

Shiba-sans singing voice was wonderful.

That guy is worse in singing than I was. I was a little relieved because of that.

March 10th, 2097 (Sunday)

Today, I decided to return home after making a stop at the Kanto branch of the Magic Association.

However I hadnt told anyone of that plan.

Still, she was waiting at the closest station to the Magic Association.

Because I found it surprising, the first thing I was asked was a mumbled Are you alone?.

Shiba-san laughed for a moment and turned her eyes towards her rear.

Following that gaze at a little distance away was that guy, leaning against a pillar.

Geez! Just posing there!

But if he is sending me a lifeline, Ill use it. Is what I thought.

After exchanging some casual chatter I brought out my courage and squeezed out some words.

I told her that I was happy to be in the same class for this month.

She widened her eyes. Then a beautiful smile stretched across her face.

This mightve been her reply.

I also enjoyed it. If there is another opportunity I will keep you company again.

I do not mind if thats just lip service.

At that time, I didn't care about what the relationship between her and me was, or what the relationship between her and that guy was.

I vowed in my heart that I will absolutely attend the same college and the same campus as her.

[This will be continued on another occasion.]