Chapter 4

Chapter 8

The next day was Sunday, October 21. As planned, they split into two teams to investigate. But now that their companions knew the true objective, they were even more motivated than yesterday, especially Mikihiko.

Tatsuya, Miyuki, Minami, Minoru, and Masaki were to go to Arashiyama, while Mikihiko, Erika, and Leo headed toward Takaragaike and Matsugasaki, where the thesis competition venue was located. All eight had planned to leave the hotel early that morning.

But the unexpected happened.

"...Sorry, Tatsuya."

Minoru apologized from under the covers, his voice on the verge of tears. He had suddenly developed a fever that morning and was in no condition to go out investigating.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault, Minoru."

"But... I'm just so useless."

Rather than taking comfort in Tatsuya's words, Minoru's face twisted in distress.

"Minoru, don't blame yourself. You've already done more than enough."

Only Tatsuya and Minoru were in the room now. Everyone else, save one person, was waiting in the lobby.

"I'd heard you got sick easily. It's not your fault. I asked for your help knowing this was a possibility."

Minoru looked away from Tatsuya.

"You've already helped me a lot. If Minoru hadn't been there yesterday, I probably couldn't have reached that sorcerer."

"...Is that really true?"

Still looking away, Minoru asked in a timid voice.

"I mean it."

Minoru timidly turned his gaze back to Tatsuya.

Tatsuya's expression was as expressionless as ever. Even as flattery, no one could have called it a loving smile. But there was no false politeness on his face, either. If honesty meant earnestness without a trace of falsehood, then Tatsuya's gaze was honesty itself.

"You've already helped me a great deal, and if something happens, I'll probably need your strength again. So don't push yourself now. Save it for then."

"Am I still... your companion, Tatsuya?"

"We won't be able to find Zhou Gongjin today anyway. Your strength will be essential when the time comes. So get some rest today."

"...I understand."

Minoru smiled weakly. He was still dejected, but his self-reproach had faded.

"I'll have Minami stay here. She might not look it, but she can handle any household chore. And just like you, Minoru, she'll be happy to be relied on. So don't hesitate to ask her for anything, however small."

Minoru looked embarrassed. His face had turned red for a reason other than his fever. He was probably embarrassed that Tatsuya had seen through him and realized he was the kind of person who was happy to be relied on.

"I'll leave my luggage here, so I'm counting on you to watch it."

That meant he would return here after the investigation rather than heading straight back to Tokyo.

"Leave it to me."

Understanding Tatsuya's clumsy kindness, Minoru smiled.

After leaving the room, Tatsuya spoke to Minami, who was alone in the hallway.

"Sorry for leaving this to you, but I'm counting on you to look after him."

"You aren't leaving anything to me that you shouldn't. I understand this is part of my duty. Please leave Master Minoru's care to me."

Tatsuya nodded to Minami as she bowed, then headed for the lobby where Miyuki and his friends were waiting.

Minami watched until Tatsuya was out of sight, then knocked on the door of the room where Minoru was resting.

Without waiting for an answer, Minami unlocked it with the electronic key Tatsuya had given her. She deliberately did so to avoid waking the sleeping patient.

After closing the door and opening the inner sliding partition, she found Minoru trying to sit up in bed. Minami silently hurried to his side and sat down, gently pressing his shoulders to ease him back into his original position.

"Master Minoru, please don't stand on ceremony with me. If you do, there will be no point in my staying behind to care for you."

She had deliberately phrased it as a reprimand, playing the villain so he wouldn't push himself. But no matter how hard Minami tried, she could never play a villain well, and regardless of that, Minoru hadn't misunderstood her intentions.

"I understand. Then I'll be good and go to sleep."

That left Minami looking disappointed.

She sat properly at the head of the bed with her knees together, watching Minoru with only her eyes, her body motionless.

About thirty minutes later, Minoru opened his eyes and gave an uncomfortable, wry smile.

"Sakurai, when you stare at me like that, even I get embarrassed as a man."

With Minoru's looks, he ought to have been used to being stared at. But apparently, being watched from the front at such close range while he slept was another matter.

"My apologies!"

Still seated, Minami deftly scooted back more than a meter and bowed so deeply that her head nearly touched her knees, apologizing in a flustered voice.

Her bowed face, directed at the floor, had turned bright red, though Minoru couldn't see it.

As far as Minami was concerned, she hadn't meant to become absorbed in gazing at Minoru's face. There was no one else in the room to talk to, and watching videos or reading beside a patient seemed improper, so she had simply been spacing out without thinking about anything.

But after hearing Minoru's words, Minami began to question her own behavior. Was that really all it was?

If it really was, then why?

Minami's already red face grew redder and redder.

Even lying down, Minoru could see that her ears had turned red. Rather than feeling uncomfortable about her nearly prostrating herself, he was more concerned about her condition.

"Um... are you all right?"

Minoru sat up.

"I'm fine! Please keep resting!"

Rather than pushing him back down with her hands as before, Minami stopped him in a forceful voice that was almost a shriek. Then she stood with her back to Minoru and hurried out of the room.

She closed the sliding partition with considerable force. But a small gap remained.

There was no sound of the outer door closing.

Minoru remained frozen for a while, his hand outstretched toward Minami, who was no longer there.

Tatsuya's group had originally planned to move as five, but with Minoru sick and Minami staying behind to care for him, they had become a group of three, just like Mikihiko's.

Cars were generally four-seaters, so Masaki had originally been scheduled to follow on his motorcycle. But now that there were only three of them, they all rode in the same car. Masaki honestly wanted to sit beside Miyuki, while Miyuki honestly wanted to sit beside Tatsuya, but both put common sense and etiquette first.

Tatsuya had set the destination. From yesterday's discussion, Masaki had assumed they were going to Arashiyama, so when the car stopped and Tatsuya got straight out, he couldn't help calling after him.

"Shiba, aren't we going to Arashiyama?"

"Before that, I intend to look at something that might be a clue."

After answering Masaki's question with his back still turned, Tatsuya reached outside the car and looked back.

"From here on, I'd rather you didn't mention Zhou Gongjin's name."

"...Are we keeping it secret?"

"If possible, I don't want to involve that person."

Masaki gave Tatsuya a probing look. Tatsuya thought he had misunderstood something, but Tatsuya himself had given him that impression. So there was no need to make excuses.

The person they were waiting for arrived three minutes after Tatsuya and the others reached the place.

"Tatsuya, I'm sorry I'm late."

"You're right on time."

Tatsuya offered those reassuring words to the college student who stepped out of a car and ran gracefully toward them.

"Oh? Miyuki?"

"Good morning, Saegusa. We weren't able to meet the other day, so I suppose I should say it's been a while."

Miyuki smiled at Mayumi, whose eyes had widened.

"I didn't hear that you were coming too, Miyuki."

As she said, Tatsuya hadn't told Mayumi he was coming alone.

But Mayumi noticed the other person accompanying them, so she couldn't complain in her usual manner.

"You're Ichijou Masaki, aren't you? This isn't our first meeting, but please allow me to introduce myself anyway. I'm Saegusa Mayumi."

In place of the uninhibited manner she showed Tatsuya, she put on the mask of a young lady of the Saegusa Family, one of the Ten Master Clans.

"I remember meeting you too. I'm Ichijou Masaki."

Masaki gave his name, a little nervously. As they had both said, this was indeed not the first time Mayumi and Masaki had met. But it had been nearly four years since they had spoken, and this was only the second time they had met face to face like this. Both were famous in the world of magicians, so they naturally knew who the other was. But if not for that, they wouldn't have remembered each other, making this a curious connection.

"Excuse me, Ichijou... Tatsuya, come here a moment."

After greeting Masaki with a perfectly demure smile, Mayumi left his side and hooked her right arm around Tatsuya's left-there was no hint of flirtation in it, no matter how one looked at it-and pulled him away. Once they were two meters away, Mayumi began questioning him in a low voice.

"Tatsuya, why didn't you tell me Miyuki was coming too?"

Tatsuya put on an exaggerated look of surprise.

"Because I didn't think there was any need to mention it. Did you think I'd leave Miyuki behind?"

Faced with that question, Mayumi looked resigned.

"I suppose so... There's no way Miyuki would let Tatsuya come alone."

Shaking her head as if to say good grief, Mayumi stopped abruptly and put on a serious expression. Her gaze settled on Masaki.

"Then why is Ichijou here with you?"

"That was just a coincidence. Yesterday, Yoshida and the others came to investigate the area around the thesis competition venue and happened to meet Ichijou, who had come to Kyoto for the same purpose. He planned to patrol areas beyond the venue to see if any other suspicious people were wandering around, so I brought him along as a bodyguard."

"Yoshida and the others came too... Ah, come to think of it, he's the head of the disciplinary committee, isn't he?"

"I'm impressed you knew that."

Tatsuya wasn't trying to change the subject; he was genuinely impressed that she knew so much even after graduating. But Mayumi gave him a look that said she wouldn't be taken in. That showed just how much trust Tatsuya's usual behavior had earned him in Mayumi's eyes.

"Then, does Ichijou know about my circumstances?"

"I wouldn't tell him without your permission."

The concern in Mayumi's eyes grew stronger.

Tatsuya noticed the look she was giving him, but it hardly counted as a threat to him.

"In that case, may I explain the situation to Ichijou? I think we can rely on him."

Tatsuya gave Mayumi a con artist's smile.

Mayumi let out a great sigh.

"Are you really sure... about ordering around the son who'll inherit the Ichijou Family like this?"

"I'm not ordering him around. Besides, he's not that cute."

Mayumi laughed with amusement at Tatsuya's astonished reply.

"All right. It would be best if he's willing to help."

Mayumi might have been thinking that she had finally scored a point. Her mood improved, and she gave Tatsuya permission to explain what had happened to Masaki.

Following the detective leading the way, the four entered the evidence storage room at the police station.

When he heard they were looking for Nagura's killer, Masaki showed a surprisingly positive attitude. Apparently, he strongly sympathized with Mayumi's investigation to clear away the regrets of her bodyguard, who had died unmarried-that was how he interpreted it. It seemed that, as a member of the main branch of one of the Ten Master Clans, Masaki had been touched by the sight of someone who did not treat a subordinate as a tool, but instead cared so deeply-that was how he interpreted it.

Tatsuya did not normally like dividing his attention between objectives. As the old saying went, "He who chases two rabbits catches neither," and it was an adage that often proved true. But Tatsuya had a feeling. It wasn't an inference based on evidence, but a baseless guess, so it was a "feeling."

Zhou Gongjin was the one who killed Nagura Saburou.

That was what Tatsuya believed. So even if Masaki's chivalrous spirit toward Mayumi had been stirred, it did not conflict with Tatsuya's objective. Thus, it posed no inconvenience.

As he was thinking about this, the detective had already placed Nagura's belongings on the table.

"These are the clothes Mr. Nagura was wearing. Unfortunately, as for his CAD..."

"I understand. Sorry for the trouble."

At Kouichi's direction, Nagura's CAD was being kept in the Saegusa Family's vault. A CAD was not only packed with the techniques of the magic engineer responsible for tuning it; analyzing one could even provide excellent instructional material on how its magician user employed magic. Magicians generally did not want to hand one over to anyone outside their family.

But Mayumi felt guilty about Kouichi retrieving Nagura's CAD. Analyzing it could reveal his fighting style to some extent, and if he had fought at close range, it could also suggest what magic he had used. Knowing that could reveal what had happened during the incident and allow them to infer what kind of injuries the culprit had sustained. If so, investigating which patients had visited hospitals for treatment of those injuries might allow them to narrow down the culprit. Kouichi's attitude might have been natural for a magician, but it could hardly be called cooperative toward the police-no, it could decisively be called uncooperative.

"Excuse me, detective. What about this blood?"

At Tatsuya's question, the detective shook his head regretfully.

"Unfortunately, all the bloodstains belong to the victim."

Testing the DNA of all the blood on the clothes was not easy, but modern forensic technology made it possible. Checking whether any of the culprit's bodily fluids remained on the victim's clothing was a basic, indispensable step in a murder investigation.

"Mr. Nagura's body was pierced through the abdomen from behind. The skin and muscle on his chest burst outward from the inside, and his heart ruptured as well."

It was a strange corpse, just as the reports had said.

The news, however, had not reported it in such detail. Tatsuya had learned this information from Mayumi.

"Burst from the inside...?"

Masaki murmured in a voice full of deep suspicion.

"Almost like Rupture."

"No, Shiba! The Ichijou Family definitely had nothing to do with it!"

His unspoken suspicion easily seen through, Masaki reacted excessively.

The loud outburst in the enclosed room made Mayumi frown slightly.

Tatsuya did not actually suspect the Ichijou Family's involvement, either.

"But it's not a natural phenomenon for a chest to burst from the inside. And I don't think magicians who can manipulate the bodily fluids of a living person-a magician, no less-with enough force to burst out of the body are exactly common."

He said it to sort out the situation.

"That's..."

Still, those words really were pointed.

"The Ichijou Family's Rupture isn't something so cheap, is it?"

"Of course not! Ah, no, but..."

"Calm down. All I said was that it was almost like Rupture. I didn't actually say Rupture was used, much less that I thought a magician from the Ichijou Family was involved."

Masaki's face reddened slightly, perhaps because he had realized how flustered he had become and felt embarrassed. Seeing this, Tatsuya thought, Maybe he's the type who doesn't handle surprises or unexpected situations well.

"Magic that interferes with another person's body is difficult. But if it's your own body, it's not nearly as difficult. Self-acceleration, for example, is a relatively familiar technique."

Mayumi cut in.

"Tatsuya, do you think Nagura blew himself up-committed suicide?"

Tatsuya shook his head at Mayumi, who had asked the question hesitantly.

"Even if he blew himself up, I don't think it was suicide."

"Do you think Mr. Nagura blew himself up because he realized he had been mortally wounded, Brother?"

Tatsuya nodded to Miyuki, who stood beside him.

Then he turned his gaze back to Mayumi.

"His heart ruptured. He must have used some kind of attack magic."

"Are you saying the victim realized the wound that pierced his abdomen from behind was fatal and used magic to take his attacker down with him?"

"Senpai, was Mr. Nagura skilled at magic that used bodily fluids as weapons?"

Instead of answering Masaki's question, Tatsuya asked Mayumi this.

But Mayumi couldn't answer the question.

"I see."

There was a note of disappointment in Tatsuya's voice.

But hearing his answer, Mayumi looked anxious.

"Oh, but I think I heard him say something about it when we first met. Give me a moment."

Mayumi folded her arms and murmured to herself as she thought.

How should I put it...? She's like someone out of a manga.

As Tatsuya entertained that potentially rude thought, Mayumi clapped her hands.

"That's right, that's right! I remember now! Mr. Nagura said he was good at magic that used water needles to stab opponents."

Masaki frowned.

"Water needles...? How does that work? And what effect would they even have?"

"I don't know how he does it, but if they're needles, they'd pierce things. Even water needles can be guaranteed to have practical piercing power as weapons if used with a convergence-type technique."

Having blurted out his question only to receive a dull answer, Masaki looked disappointed. But before that, he remembered that Miyuki was watching.

"...In that case, did the victim turn his own blood into needles and fire them?"

"It really was a counterattack made at the cost of his life..."

Tatsuya used Elemental Sight to examine Nagura's blood on the clothing among his effects and memorized its information.

"Shiba, what are you doing?"

"I'm wondering whether there are any magical traces left around the wound on the abdomen."

"I see..."

Masaki wasn't the only one taken in by Tatsuya's most plausible lie. Mayumi also imitated Tatsuya and stared at the clothing. In fact, it was a magical sense rather than one of the five senses, but the act of observing with the eyes gave the most direction to magical perception.

"Hmm... no good."

Mayumi shrugged and voiced her disappointment, while Masaki heaved a great sigh upward.

"You're right. I can sense something like a trace, but it's too vague to gather any meaningful data... Shiba, did you find anything?"

"I couldn't identify the opponent and read the associated information either. But this wound was probably caused by a Phantasmal Beast."

"A Phantasmal Beast?"

"Brother, what is a Phantasmal Beast?"

Mayumi and Miyuki asked for an explanation of the unfamiliar term. The detective guiding them from behind the two women poised himself to take notes.

Tatsuya intended to hand the explanation over to Masaki, but Masaki quietly looked away. Did he not know, or was explaining too much trouble?

Miyuki had asked, after all, so if he knew, he would probably have been eager to explain. Tatsuya concluded that Masaki simply happened not to know.

"A Phantasmal Beast is a type of Materialized Body. A Materialized Body is a technique that uses magic to reflect light and exert pressure on whatever it touches, making something insubstantial appear substantial. But a Phantasmal Beast doesn't merely create an appearance by reflecting light; it also uses illusions to show its shape to the enemy. Like a Materialized Body, it acts on physical objects in accordance with the shape created."

"Anyone can see a Materialized Body because its reflection of light is physical. A Phantasmal Beast appears through mental interference magic, so only the people the caster intends to show it to can see it. Is that right?"

Tatsuya nodded with a satisfied expression at Miyuki's understanding.

"That's right. You understood it well. One thing to add is that the illusions shown to the opponent aren't limited to visual ones. An auditory illusion can also form a Phantasmal Beast technique."

"Wait a moment, Tatsuya. From what you just said, does that mean a Phantasmal Beast can only take effect if the opponent perceives it?"

"The biggest difference between a Phantasmal Beast and a Materialized Body is that the technique's strength is increased by making the opponent believe something is there."

Still unable to accept it, Mayumi continued to object.

"Then isn't it strange that he was attacked from behind? If there had been a sound, Mr. Nagura would have turned around. Whether it was a figure or a sound, if he'd known it was behind him, he shouldn't have ended up being pierced through the back."

"There's no need to make him aware of where it is."

"What do you mean...?"

"With a Phantasmal Beast, it's actually better if the perception isn't clear. A Phantasmal Beast doesn't exist in the first place. If the opponent perceives it clearly, they may wonder whether it really exists. The uneasy, uncertain perception that something is there but they don't know where firmly anchors the originally nonexistent Phantasmal Beast as a phenomenon."

"...I don't understand."

"Sorry. Was I being too roundabout? Simply put, the caster first lets the opponent see a disposable decoy, imprinting on them the awareness that they can be attacked by a beast-shaped magical force field. They then use that as a stepping stone to cast a more powerful technique. The initial decoy can even be a Materialized Body."

"So being on guard against the opponent's magic makes the opponent stronger...?"

"If we understand the method, the effect should be halved. Coming to see his effects seems to have been the right decision."

Mayumi was at a loss, unsure how to respond.

The four of them got into the same car and headed for Arashiyama. (The car Mayumi had taken was released from its rental. Since it was driverless, it had presumably gone to its next user.)

Tatsuya and Masaki sat in front, with Miyuki and Mayumi in the back.

After the car set off, Masaki spoke to Tatsuya.

"Shiba, about that Phantasmal Beast we were just talking about—" Tatsuya and Miyuki had no trouble telling which of them Masaki was addressing. Masaki always called Tatsuya simply "Shiba," while he addressed Miyuki as "Shiba-san."

"Is that different from the Puppet Shiki I encountered yesterday?"

Although Tatsuya was sitting on the right side of the front seat, the car was driving itself, so he didn't have to drive. There was no problem with him turning to the side.

"The name Golem is more common. You should be able to tell the difference from that name, shouldn't you?"

"Ichijou, Brother, may I say something?"

Miyuki leaned forward slightly from the back seat. She didn't, however, do anything so rude as grab the seatback and stick her face out from behind it.

"Brother, I hardly know anything about Golems beyond the name myself. Could I ask you to give me a brief explanation?"

Tatsuya looked surprised for an instant. Golems were a familiar means of attack for ancient magic practitioners in Christian and Jewish circles. Miyuki, who had likewise been trained with the expectation of fighting foreign magicians, couldn't possibly "only know the name."

But when he saw his sister sneak a glance at Masaki, Tatsuya realized what she really meant. He did think she was being overly considerate, but he didn't consider it a wasted effort. More for Masaki's sake than Miyuki's, Tatsuya began a somewhat detailed lesson on Golems.

"A Golem is a magical robot made by joining several parts into a living creature, or a doll modeled after a legendary monster. It reproduces the movements of the creature it imitates by changing its behavior patterns."

"For example, a giant soldier Golem made of stone. At a glance, this Golem's hard stone appears to move like a human despite having no joints. But in reality, the parts corresponding to joints aren't connected. Using the same principle as hardening magic, their relative positions are merely fixed; the body parts are simply stacked together."

"A Golem has physical material. It can be organic, like wood, inorganic, like stone, or an amorphous substance like water. But Materialized Bodies and Phantasmal Beasts produce this effect with force fields alone and have no physical substance. The presence or absence of substance is the decisive difference."

"To move a Golem, its behavior patterns must be programmed and embedded in an independent information body. For that reason, the Golem won't move unless the magic sequence is continuously projected. Once the magic sequence loses its effect, the Golem is no longer a Golem. If it's made of an amorphous substance like water, it collapses instantly."

"When wood or stone is used, engraving magic is usually employed to fix the magic sequence in place. On the other hand, when an amorphous substance like water is used, something that acts as a magical transmitter is mixed into it. The magician targets that and continually renews the projected magic sequence. In yesterday's case, I believe the small Golems made at first were disposable decoys whose magic sequences weren't renewed. The blood they took from the ninjutsu user acted as the transmitter."

"Even before modern magic was established, blood had great magical significance. In ancient magic, blood is an effective offering, and there are many spells that use it as a medium. From the perspective of modern magic, blood circulates through the entire body, including the brain, and is tied to sustaining life. Even a single drop of its Eidos is a high-density Psion Information Body containing a detailed record of its owner's attributes. So you could say it's an ideal target when projecting a magic sequence."

"...In short, the difference between a Phantasmal Beast or Materialized Body and a Golem is whether it has physical substance?"

Apparently finding it troublesome by then, Mayumi summed up Tatsuya's explanation in a single sentence.

"From what you just said, it sounds like Golems would be easier to deal with because they have physical substance."

Hearing Masaki's opinion, Tatsuya gently shook his head.

"Whether it's a Materialized Body or a Phantasmal Beast, deliberately taking the extra step of giving it a creature's form is an inefficient use of magic. If no cursed object is used as a core, you can concentrate magic power in a small area and eliminate it with Zone Interference. If a cursed object reinforces the illusion, you only need to destroy its core. Or you can simply destroy the force field creating the illusion. If it's a force field that acts physically, it should be possible to destroy it through physical means."

While they were talking about this-Tatsuya doing most of the talking-the car had nearly reached its destination.

Minami quietly read beside the sleeping Minoru.

Apart from a slightly high fever, Minoru's condition had stabilized. At the hotel, there were no household chores she had to take care of, nor any need to rush to prepare meals or tea. Minami was enjoying a leisurely atmosphere for the first time in a while.

She was alone with a young man she had only just met-or rather, a boy in the same grade. And he was exceptionally handsome. There was nothing to complain about in his personality, either. Minami suddenly wondered why she was so calm.

It probably wasn't because she was used to looking at Miyuki. She was a girl, and Miyuki was also-though Minami sometimes thought otherwise-a woman. Minoru was the opposite sex. She ought to feel differently.

Besides, when they had gone to Nara before, and again yesterday, her heart had raced whenever Minoru walked nearby. She had been aware of how nervous she was. It definitely wasn't "because he was the Kudou Family's son." It was probably because Minoru was a member of the opposite sex her own age. Unlike Tatsuya, he was a "boy."

His magic was so powerful that calling it outstanding wasn't enough. It might even rival Miyuki, the Yotsuba's greatest masterpiece.

His exceptional looks went without saying.

Despite all that, why did she feel close to him? She felt that somewhere, he had something in common with her. She was aware that she was attracted to him, conscious of Minoru. That was why she got nervous.

Minami pressed both hands to her burning cheeks. It was too embarrassing to blush over her own imaginings. To cool her head, she stood up, intending to wash her face.

But she immediately returned to her original position. Not to reading, but to the place beside Minoru's pillow. His breathing had suddenly grown rapid.

His pained breaths were faint and short. When she pressed a hand to his forehead, she immediately felt the high fever. Minami hurried to contact the front desk and call a doctor, but her hand stopped in midair.

Minoru was a direct descendant of the Kudou Family. Someone whose blood directly inherited the work of the Old Ninth Research Institute. Was it really all right to have an ordinary doctor examine him?

Minami hesitated. Minoru's condition wasn't something that could be left to an amateur like her to nurse. But even so, she couldn't judge whether it was safe to call a doctor.

A solution suddenly flashed through Minami's mind.

She could just ask Tatsuya.

Minami hurriedly took out her information terminal and activated its voice communication function.

Tatsuya received Minami's call shortly after getting out of the car.

"Minoru's condition?... I see. You were right not to contact the front desk. I'll contact Ms. Fujibayashi... Yes, it's all right. Actually, she told me from the start to contact her if Minoru felt unwell. I think she'll go to the hotel, so just keep looking after him as usual, Minami... No, don't give him any medicine... Yes, that'll do. It must be hard on you alone, but I'm counting on you... Yes, I'll leave him to you."

When Tatsuya finished the call, Miyuki looked at him worriedly from beside him.

After stopping her with a glance, Tatsuya called a number registered in his terminal.

"Ms. Fujibayashi? This is Shiba. Minoru is feeling unwell, and Minami, who's looking after him, says his breathing is very labored... Room XXX at the CR Hotel... I'll leave it to you, then."

"Was that Ms. Kyouko just now?"

Beside them, Mayumi also spoke in a worried voice.

"Is Minoru unwell?"

Tatsuya nodded silently at his sister's question.

"Shiba, is it all right for us not to go back?"

Masaki asked with a serious expression. Though they had only met the night before, he was genuinely worried about Minoru.

"I've already contacted his family. It seems she'll be at the hotel in about an hour."

"Suddenly ill? Is he related to Ms. Kyouko?"

But Mayumi had never met Minoru.

"He's the Kudou Family's youngest son. We have a bit of a connection, and he showed us around Kyoto."

"The Kudou Family's youngest son? You mean that Minoru? I thought he was very frail."

It was a little unexpected that Mayumi knew about Minoru. As expected of the eldest daughter of the Saegusa Family, the most sociable of the Ten Master Clans.

But it seemed she didn't know about Minoru's constitution either. From the information that he was sickly, she appeared to have imagined a constitution like Itsuwa Mio's. Mayumi was close to Mio, so it was understandable that hearing the word "sickly" would bring Mio to mind.

"He's sickly, but not frail. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know for certain, but it feels as though his magic power is so strong that it puts too much strain on his body."

"...Can that happen?"

Mayumi tilted her head, half skeptical, while Miyuki looked as though she had remembered something.

"In any case, since Ms. Fujibayashi is already on her way, let's proceed with the investigation as planned."

Mayumi knew Fujibayashi. Their families had been acquainted since before the events in Yokohama the previous year. Naturally, she also knew of Fujibayashi Kyouko's relationship with the Kudou Family.

Masaki, on the other hand, didn't know Fujibayashi. But he seemed to understand that he shouldn't press too far and said nothing.

Nagura's body had been found on the banks of the Katsura River, spanned by Togetsukyo Bridge, in the Arashiyama Park Nakanoshima Area. It was a region scattered with sandbars, just before the Katsura River curved south.

The police appeared to have already investigated the scene, and Tatsuya and the others reached it without hindrance. Naturally, no bloodstains remained. He might have found traces by comparing them with the information he'd just acquired using Elemental Sight, but Tatsuya had no intention of making that futile effort.

"Here?"

"Yes."

Mayumi nodded in answer to Masaki's question. Masaki was quite keen on the investigation.

"At this rate, it doesn't look like he was washed down from upstream."

Miyuki said this while looking at Tatsuya. It seemed his sister wasn't suited to being a detective or investigator, Tatsuya thought.

"Yes, that's probably not possible."

That was all Tatsuya said. He didn't voice the reason: blood appeared to have been spilled all over the ground nearby.

"Shiba, what do you think happened? Was the victim, Mr. Nagura, standing here when the culprit approached, or did the culprit arrive first and Mr. Nagura approach afterward?"

"I don't know."

Tatsuya answered Masaki's question immediately.

"No matter how much we think about it, we won't reach a conclusion. Besides, we don't even know whether Mr. Nagura arranged to meet the culprit or the culprit attacked Mr. Nagura on their own initiative."

"...True."

Masaki agreed with Tatsuya without offering a pointless rebuttal.

"Brother, what shall we do next?"

When Miyuki asked him, Tatsuya looked at Mayumi.

"I'm planning to investigate the area. Is that all right?"

Mayumi was a little surprised by the abrupt request.

"Yes. I'm the one who asked for your help, so if you have an idea, I'll follow your lead, Tatsuya."

Mayumi nodded as she said this.

Tatsuya didn't head toward the Katsura River. Instead, he crossed Togetsukyo Bridge and went upstream. That said, he didn't go as far upstream as Hozukyo Gorge, but to the closer Arashiyama Park Kameyama Area, climbing into the hills on Mount Ogura's southeastern side.

Tatsuya was heading for the place indicated by a clue he had received from an ancient magic practitioner he had met at a tofu restaurant on the approach to Kiyomizu-dera: the place where Zhou Gongjin was hiding. He hadn't told Mayumi about it, but she followed him obediently without a word of complaint.

It was already late autumn, and Mayumi was dressed fairly warmly and wasn't wearing sandals. But unlike Miyuki, who wore athletic pants and light sneakers, Mayumi wore a long skirt and heeled leather shoes. Her shoes were practical enough to suggest she understood what she would be doing, but her outfit still wasn't suited to a hilly mountain path.

Inevitably, the four of them moved rather slowly.

After climbing the park's slope, they came to a sign for the "Bamboo Grove Path." Tatsuya headed that way without hesitation. Seeing how unhesitating he was, Mayumi seemed to feel that something was slightly off.

"Hey, Tatsuya."

"What is it? Am I walking too fast?"

Tatsuya stopped when Mayumi spoke to him. Masaki and Miyuki stopped with him.

"That's not what I meant."

When he said that, Mayumi realized she was a little short of breath. Leaving Tatsuya and Masaki aside, even Miyuki wasn't out of breath, and Mayumi felt an indescribable sense of unfairness. But she put on a relaxed manner and didn't show what she was thinking. Mayumi could be stubborn about things like that.

"Tatsuya, are you headed somewhere in particular? You haven't hesitated at all this whole time."

Only when she pointed it out did Tatsuya realize his behavior was somewhat unnatural. It was exactly as Mayumi had said.

Because he had done something suspicious, continuing to bluff his way through was not a good idea. Even so, he hesitated to drag Mayumi into it. Though Minoru was also a direct descendant of the Ten Master Clans, he had been involved from the start. Tatsuya had little contact with Masaki normally, so he had no need to hesitate over involving him. But Mayumi was someone he was only somewhat close to. If he dragged her into his affairs and she got hurt, it felt like things would become extremely troublesome. He didn't think it would happen, but if she told him, "Take responsibility," it might develop into a situation where he had to rely on someone he didn't want to owe a favor. Tatsuya didn't want to change the situation, where he was always the one helping Mayumi.

What could he say to bluff his way out of this?

He pondered it briefly.

It was only brief because he no longer needed to ponder it.

"Brother!"

Miyuki deployed Zone Interference.

The Demon Fire flying toward him was swallowed up by Miyuki's counter-magic and vanished. The ancient magic Demon Fire was not physical flame, but visualized magic that set whatever it touched alight. It could not break through Miyuki's Zone Interference.

Whether the attackers understood that or not, blades of wind came next. But the result was the same. Whether they were blades of vacuum or compressed air, magic was needed to maintain their state, and under powerful Zone Interference, they dispersed.

"Ichijo!"

"Leave it to me!"

Tatsuya took the front and Masaki the rear. They immediately formed a defensive formation with Miyuki and Mayumi between them.

Thin cords aimed at Miyuki extended from the left and right sides of the bamboo grove. They were braided from five colors: blue, red, white, black, and yellow.

But Tatsuya caught them before they reached Miyuki.

Noise similar to Jamming Cast came from the cords.

Silk cords used by Esoteric Buddhist ancient magicians!

Rather than scattering psion noise through the air to hinder the activation of magic, as Jamming Cast did, this technique bound an opponent with the cords and transmitted noise directly through them, efficiently sealing the opponent's ability to activate magic.

Tatsuya did not decompose the silk cords, only the noise transmitted through them. Then he grabbed the cords with both hands and pulled hard.

Tatsuya was strong, but he did not possess inhuman strength. Normally, he would not have had the arm strength to pull out two people at once with one hand. But they were stunned that Tatsuya had broken their magic in a way they could not imagine. Taking advantage of that moment, Tatsuya pulled them from their hiding places.

But Tatsuya had let his guard down too. Only now did he notice that everyone else had disappeared. They had probably erected a barrier to keep anyone else from getting involved. Rather than enclosing Tatsuya and the others, they had made barriers at both ends of the road to prevent entry and disperse the crowd.

But not having to worry about onlookers was more convenient for Tatsuya and the others too.

Masaki whipped up a gale and pushed back the silk cords reaching for him and Mayumi.

The wind itself was the result of magic, so it was unaffected by the silk cords that hindered the activation of magic sequences.

The bamboo grove shook violently, and the wind swept up its leaves.

Then Mayumi used magic. It was the prototype of her specialty, Magic Bullet Shooter: a spell that rained down dry ice, Dry Blizzard.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air was approximately 350 to 400 ppm, or three to four parts in ten thousand. It seemed to fill the atmosphere, but there was actually very little of it. Moreover, even limiting the measurement to ten thousand meters of the troposphere, the carbon dioxide alone would form a layer only around two meters thick at one atmosphere of pressure.

The components of air were evenly distributed throughout the atmosphere. If magic caused a deviation in that distribution, the world-or nature, one might say-would act to correct it. In a small area, a particular gaseous component, carbon dioxide in this case, was gathered, lowering the concentration in the surrounding area. To correct this, the world caused a chain reaction of gas molecules replacing one another, delivering carbon dioxide molecules to the area of low concentration without producing an air current.

To create dry ice with magic, carbon dioxide had to be gathered. On a microscopic level, the replacement caused by gas molecules moving faster than sound occurred in a chain reaction, but the most interesting thing about this phenomenon was that the magician who caused the initial change in events did not intervene in the atmospheric-scale, macroscopic change in the composition of gas molecules. The carbon dioxide used to make dry ice was gathered unilaterally in an extremely small area, and the world transported the missing material in order to cancel out the effects of the change in events caused by magic.

The bamboo grove was pelted with dry ice made in this way. Its speed was 500 to 600 kilometers per hour, far below the speed of sound. The bullets were also much lighter than lead bullets. But the bullets solidified by magic were fast enough to pierce human skin and flesh.

Six men tumbled out of the bamboo grove in a panic. They had probably escaped serious injury because they had used magic to protect themselves from the dry ice bullets. Even so, blood seeped from several places on their arms and legs.

Meanwhile, the two magicians Tatsuya had pulled out immediately fell victim to a cold wave. Miyuki's magic did not freeze their bodies stiff; it lowered their body temperatures inside and out at the same time, putting them into hibernation. For his younger sister, who was averse to killing, Tatsuya had gone to great lengths to add a power limiter to the activation sequence of this magic.

Then Tatsuya swung the edge of his hand, releasing decomposition magic horizontally in time with the motion. He had not brought the Silver Horn this time. Instead, he wore bracelet-shaped specialized CADs around both wrists. Several aiming-assistance antennas were built into them and linked together to compensate for their shorter length compared to those in a gun-shaped CAD.

He entered commands using a fully thought-controlled CAD hanging below his chest. It was a new style he was testing so he could use magic with his hands free.

At this distance, however, Tatsuya could accurately hit his target with decomposition magic without even using a CAD, let alone aiming assistance. Just as he intended, he cut down the bamboo above the heads of the psion images of the people crouching there. It might be a blow to a tourist attraction, but they would have to turn a blind eye this time.

The Traditionalist magicians could not turn a blind eye to the threatening attack whose nature they could not discern. They understood that the last attack had deliberately missed. Hiding was meaningless in the face of an indiscriminate attack like that.

Whether they had steeled themselves or given up, four people emerged from the bamboo grove. Counting the two taken out first and the six afterward, that made twelve in all, one fewer than Tatsuya had detected when he scanned the area after noticing the attack.

"Ichijo."

"I'll take care of this side!"

Tatsuya knew Masaki's abilities well. He had not been worried in the first place, but sure enough, there was no problem. Tatsuya decided to deal with the four before him first.

Right in front of Masaki, the six magicians began forming hand seals. He knew they were Esoteric Buddhist ancient magicians, so he was not puzzled by this preparatory movement.

Behind Masaki, he sensed an activation sequence being deployed. Mayumi was already in the process of activating magic.

Masaki also understood Mayumi's abilities well.

She was the eldest daughter of the Saegusa Family of the Ten Master Clans. The former student council president of his rival, First High School, she was a genius at long-range precision shooting magic.

Even so, Masaki had no intention of letting Mayumi join the fight.

That Dry Blizzard just now-Masaki could tell from watching that she had deliberately reduced its power.

As a result of holding back, she had failed to incapacitate the opponents. She had succeeded in driving the enemies out, but as Masaki saw it, that was only because they had been foolish.

Or perhaps they were unaccustomed to fighting. An ancient magician exposing himself to a modern magician head-on could only be called a bad move.

Ancient magic was at a disadvantage in speed against modern magic.

That was an unshakable fact.

He had heard that Esoteric Buddhist ancient magicians refused to accept that fact and were desperately developing activation techniques fast enough to rival modern magic. Esoteric Buddhist magic already had a high-speed technique called the Single Character Spell, and he had heard they were developing an advanced form of it.

Even so, it was impossible for them to surpass modern magic in speed. Modern magic was magic made as fast as possible by combining magic and supernatural powers.

That was what Masaki thought.

But.

"Ka!"

Masaki pointed his favored handgun-shaped CAD at them at the same moment the ancient magicians shouted that word.

Immediately,

before Masaki could activate his magic,

the casters' right hands burst into flame in unison.

"What!?"

"What are those!?"

It was hard to imagine it was an illusion. No, it was not an illusion. The loose clothing the men wore was the first thing to burn away. Their right arms from the elbow down had already burned black and carbonized, and the gradually spreading stench of burning made Masaki and Mayumi cover their noses.

"Ugh...!"

Mayumi covered her mouth. Apparently, the smell made her feel more sick than the sight.

Masaki, trapped in astonishment, forgot even to pull his CAD's trigger and kept staring at the sight.

Until swords of flame formed from their continuously burning right hands.

The flames took the form of a straight, double-edged sword wrapped in a vortex of fire like a dragon.

If Mikihiko had been there, he would surely have called the swords by this name.

Kurikara Sword.

Two men raised their swords and charged at them.

Wondering why all four had not attacked together, Masaki tossed the red handgun-shaped specialized CAD in his right hand into the air and used that hand to operate the general-purpose CAD on his left wrist, creating a movement-vector reversal barrier in their path.

But the ancient magicians tore the barrier apart with a casual swing of their flame swords.

The Kurikara Sword was a sharp blade that subdued demons. A sword that cut through "magic." In other words, it was endowed with the ability to cut through events changed by magic.

"That's impossible!"

Feeling the barrier disperse, Masaki could not help shouting.

A sword was already raised before his eyes.

But a gale struck the two casters from the side, throwing them off balance.

"Ichijo, they'll cut through magic!"

Though the sentence was incomplete, Masaki understood Mayumi's warning. The gale just now was a natural phenomenon caused by a change in events. It was not magic itself, but a phenomenon produced as its result. The flame swords would have no effect on it.

Masaki caught the falling red CAD by its grip with his right hand.

He operated the activation sequence selector and pulled the trigger.

By now, their right hands had become unbelievably thin-had they burned away?-and the six casters raised their flame swords and attacked together this time.

Looking closely, he saw expressions of pain on all their faces.

Masaki understood that this technique was not being used of their own will.

These magicians are puppets being controlled too.

Marionettes whose minds are manipulated by magic instead of strings.

Masaki pointed the red CAD at the six flesh puppets charging toward him.

They can cut through magic that acts directly on them?

My Rupture isn't that crude.

Masaki pulled the trigger six times in succession.

The puppets held their flame swords in front of their bodies. It was a stance for magical defense.

Neither Masaki nor Mayumi knew what exactly that was.

Because it was meaningless.

The legs of the ancient magicians who had fallen into flesh puppets

ruptured.

Red flowers bloomed.

The red blood cells contained in the vaporized plasma burst, scattering from their skin and blooming in the air.

Masaki had adjusted the range of Rupture and learned a technique to incapacitate opponents without killing them.

Without a pause, one leg of the next magician ruptured too.

Rupture.

Rupture, Rupture, Rupture.

The six blooming red flowers were immediately scattered by the wind.

One leg of each caster was mercilessly blasted apart, and all six fell to the ground.

Their right arms had been carbonized up to the elbows, leaving almost nothing.

All the blood vessels in one leg had ruptured, and the flesh and skin had burst open, exposing white bone.

Seeing the gruesome sight, Mayumi covered her mouth.

Was it the fortitude of a direct descendant of the Ten Master Clans or her pride as a lady that kept her from throwing up?

On the face of Masaki, who stood with his back to him, there was neither hesitation nor regret.

The same phenomenon occurred before Tatsuya.

The right hands of the four casters burst into flame.

What differed was what happened next.

Their arms were instantly covered in cold air.

The flames resisted the cold, but the cold swallowed the heat and covered their burned skin with ice.

The flames that burned demons to ashes succumbed to the overwhelming power of "magic."

Needless to say, it was Miyuki's magic.

For Miyuki, who could freeze even the mind, freezing an external magic sequence was naturally easy as well.

Then Tatsuya pointed at the men's legs.

Blood spurted from all four men's thighs at once.

The magicians turned and fell, rolling on the ground in pain. The intense pain became noise, making the controlling threads tremble.

The tremors traveled in the opposite direction.

There?

Tatsuya glanced sideways across the bamboo grove, saying it to himself.

The disturbance of spiritons shook the psion threads.

As long as they were psion waves, they could not escape Tatsuya's "eyes."

He pointed his right index finger into the dense grove.

With his left hand, he swatted a spider off his head.

The insubstantial spider dispersed at the same moment a scream rang out from the grove.

"It still feels a little awkward."

Tatsuya was talking to himself about the feel of the combination of the prototype bracelet-shaped specialized CAD, the Silver Torus-torus meaning a ring, not Taurus-replacing the Silver Horn, and a fully thought-controlled CAD.

"But from what I saw, you seemed to be using it quite smoothly."

Miyuki offered the opposite assessment.

Neither of them was at all concerned about the six people rolling on the ground before them or the owner of the screams coming from the dense grove. Tatsuya had detected the "presence" of the sorcerer who had fainted from unbearable pain, and Miyuki was confident she would not let prey she had caught escape.

Tatsuya threw the sorcerer he had pulled from the grove onto the road. The man was old, at least sixty.

The rough way he had been dragged out brought the sorcerer back to consciousness. He had inserted a long needle into his waist, apparently to block the pain from his pierced thigh. It was probably a form of acupuncture.

That was all the sorcerer did, showing no sign of resistance. He seemed to understand that the moment he tried to use magic, he would taste that intense pain again. Whether to call him straightforward or someone who knew when to yield was hard to say.

"Tatsuya, Ichijo, what do we do next?"

Tatsuya and Masaki looked at each other.

Masaki spoke first.

"Normally, we should question this man first."

As he spoke, Masaki looked displeasedly at the old sorcerer sitting there. The old man was the only one among the attackers who had remained conscious.

"But I don't think he'll answer us honestly. And if we knock him out, the barrier the ancient magicians put up will disappear too."

"People will come... is that it?"

"Right. I think we can claim self-defense for everything up to the point they were injured... and they burned their own right hands."

"But if we add questioning to that, it won't be recognized as self-defense. One wrong move and it's torture... we could be arrested by the police on suspicion of unlawful detention, coercion, and assault, right?"

"Right."

"...Do you think so too, Tatsuya?"

"I don't think either of you two would be arrested, but I agree with the rest. And I think it would be wiser to simply hand them over to the police."

Mayumi frowned, the corners of her mouth bent downward. After thinking it over, she exhaled as though giving up.

"Let's call the police."

"Senpai, I'll contact them."

As she said this, Miyuki had already taken out her information terminal.

"Miyuki, sorry for the trouble."

Miyuki called the police, while Mayumi and Masaki looked at her.

Neither of them noticed that Tatsuya was staring intently at the esoteric ancient magician lying on the ground.

Still less could Mayumi and Masaki have noticed that Tatsuya's eyes were not actually on the injured man.

In the end, Tatsuya and the others had to give statements to the police, bringing their search of Arashiyama to a close for the day.

Perhaps it was because the injuries were so severe. Even the Saegusa and Ichijou names apparently did not make dealing with the police easy.

It was another stroke of bad luck that the detective in charge of the case was hostile toward the Ten Master Clans.

Detectives in charge of magical crimes were generally magicians, but not necessarily modern magicians. In regions where modern magic held strong influence, such as the Tokyo area, modern magicians made up an overwhelming majority of police officers. But in regions like Kyoto, where ancient magicians retained a certain amount of influence, the proportions were either equal or tilted toward ancient magicians.

The detective who took Tatsuya and the others' statements was an ancient magician of the Onmyoudou tradition. Though they felt fortunate that he was not from the esoteric tradition, they could not deny that his dislike of the Ten Master Clans affected the investigation. His persistent suspicion that they had used excessive force in self-defense was mentally exhausting. Neither Mayumi nor Masaki would get angry over something like that, but someone with a shorter fuse might have caused a disaster.

Tatsuya, meanwhile, had also expended considerable effort keeping Miyuki from going berserk at the detective for suspecting her brother of using excessive force.

Finally freed from the police station, Tatsuya returned to the hotel in increasingly low spirits to find Fujibayashi waiting in his room. Masaki, meanwhile, had said he was returning to Kanazawa and ridden his motorcycle to the station. He was taking a long-distance train that could carry his motorcycle as well. Since the hotel still had vacancies, Mayumi had booked a single room.

"Tatsuya, Miyuki, you both look rather tired."

After a brief exchange of greetings, those were Fujibayashi's first substantive words.

"The police kept us."

"The police? What on earth did you do?"

"I'll explain that in a little more detail later. More importantly, how is Minoru?"

Tatsuya asked as he sat down across from Fujibayashi. Miyuki also sat beside her brother and looked at Fujibayashi.

Minoru was already asleep. Judging by his sleeping face, he seemed to have stabilized.

"The medicine took effect, and he fell asleep. Though he was having a hard time just a little while ago."

Fujibayashi answered with a dark expression. From the look on her face, it had clearly been more than just "a little discomfort."

"...Tatsuya, there's something I'd like to ask of you."

"What is it?"

Tatsuya asked Fujibayashi in return.

Fujibayashi looked slightly away and did not answer for a long time.

It was not until the clock's minute hand had made a full circuit that Fujibayashi explained what she was asking.

"It's about Minoru's body."

Tatsuya listened to Fujibayashi in silence.

"Medically speaking, he's healthy. There's nothing wrong with his immune system or his nervous system. Even the doctors can't explain why he gets sick so easily."

"You aren't asking me for medical expertise, are you, Lieutenant?"

"If I were, I'd consult Mr. Nakayama."

"True. Then what is it?"

"I...not just I, but the researchers affiliated with the Fujibayashi Family share the same opinion. Could the reason Minoru gets sick so easily lie in his Psion Body?"

The Psion Body. That was one of many names for the Eidos that recorded the body's information, existing in overlap with the physical body. Some suggested it might be the true nature of what had long been called the astral body, but that was still only a matter of debate.

The Psion Body and the physical body were linked. People trained to control their bodies through consciousness could control their Psion Bodies and move their physical bodies faster than nerve impulses could travel, without using those impulses. They could also control the information components of their internal organs to correct and strengthen their functions. To magicians like Tatsuya and the others, the idea that a problem with the Psion Body could cause physical illness was entirely plausible.

"Then what should I do?"

The Psion Body could affect the physical body. That was a common idea among magicians. Its prevalence also meant many people studied it. The Fujibayashi Family's researchers were probably among them. That being the case, Tatsuya could not understand why she had gone out of her way to ask him.

"...I want you to 'see' Minoru's Psion Body. With your Elemental Sight."

Tatsuya's eyes widened in surprise. Miyuki, who had been listening silently beside him, was just as astonished.

"As far as I know, when it comes to analyzing Psion Information Bodies...Tatsuya, there's no one better than you. I'm not asking you to cure Minoru's condition. But could I ask you to investigate the cause?"

It might be possible to find out. It was hardly strange for her, knowing Tatsuya's abilities, to think so. But...

"Lieutenant Fujibayashi. Do you truly understand what it means to let me 'see' that deeply?"

Tatsuya's eyes could read the information behind how something had come to be.

What materials had been used and how it had been made.

What the cause had been and what result it had produced.

His "eyes" read structural information; they read cause and effect. To let his "eyes" see was tantamount to letting him see the "origin" of the person called Kudou Minoru.

"Please. I'll take responsibility."

"...I understand."

There was no one she could take that kind of responsibility before. Understanding that, Tatsuya nodded.

Fujibayashi should have understood that too. She had promised to take responsibility for something she could not. Tatsuya did not know why she was under such mental strain. But if he looked at Minoru's present condition rather than tracing his past, there would be no disadvantage for him. Fujibayashi had helped him a great deal, and since she wanted this so much, Tatsuya thought he could grant her request.

He turned his "eyes" on the sleeping Minoru. Since he was asleep under the influence of medicine, he probably would not notice the "gaze" directed at him, much less resist it. Just as Tatsuya expected, he connected to Minoru's Psion Body without difficulty.

"Brother!?"

Less than a second had passed. But by the time Miyuki's voice pulled him back to reality, Tatsuya's forehead was covered in sweat.

"I'm all right. There's no need to worry."

With that, he smiled at his sister.

Miyuki looked relieved, then immediately stood and hurried into the bathroom. When she returned, she had a wet towel in her hand.

"I'll do it myself."

"No, Brother. Please let Miyuki do it."

It was not worth arguing over. Tatsuya let Miyuki wipe away his sweat.

"...Tatsuya, how was it?"

Fujibayashi asked after Miyuki had finished wiping his sweat away.

Tatsuya had a great deal he wanted to say to Fujibayashi-or rather, to the Kudou Family-from that brief instant alone. He had seen Minoru's origin and learned the secret of his birth.

But that had completely overwhelmed him, and Tatsuya answered only what he had been asked.

"Just as I expected. After hearing that Minoru was often sick but not physically weak, I looked at his powerful magic. The pressure of the Psions was so intense that I thought my body might not be able to withstand it."

"So his body is affected because his magic is too powerful?"

"The Psion Body is the container for a person's Psions. Like the pressure of a physical gas, Psion pressure is determined by the quantity of Psions in the container and how active they are. In Minoru's case, his Psions are exceptionally active even for a magician."

"So the Psion pressure damages his Psion Body...?"

"It may be a little difficult to picture, but the Psion Body is made of countless branching, narrow tubes gathered, folded, and bent into the same informational form as the physical body. The pressure of the Psions flowing through the conduits damages parts of them, and I believe that damage feeds back to the physical body."

Fujibayashi was about to cry out, but Tatsuya continued before she could.

"Fortunately, perhaps, the damaged conduits and the Psions that cause the damage are made of the same thing. Since the Psions are so active, the Psion Body should also be repairing itself actively. The damage and repair of his Psion Body both take place in short cycles. I believe that's the reason for Minoru's condition."

"So it isn't permanent damage..."

"I think his ability to repair himself is actually greater than that of the average magician."

Relief appeared on Fujibayashi's face, but a shadow soon fell over her beauty again.

"But what can we do...?"

"We could simply suppress the Psions' activity, but that would place a restraint on his abilities as a magician. Neither he nor his family would want his magic to become weaker. In that case, strengthening his Psion Body is the only solution."

"How do we do that?"

"I don't know."

Fujibayashi lowered her head to hide her expression. She probably did not want anyone to see the conflict on her face.

If Minoru's health came first, then his magic would indeed have to be restricted. But magic was where Minoru belonged, and being an outstanding magician was part of his identity.

Tatsuya did not think that restricting Minoru's magic to give him a healthy body would make him happy. But his family, who saw him bedridden for a quarter of every year even more than Minoru himself did, must also have been in pain.

"...Thank you. Knowing this much is already enough. I'll consult the specialists about what to do next."

Fujibayashi spoke with her head still lowered.

Minoru woke up about thirty minutes later. By then, Fujibayashi was back to normal. Or perhaps she had made an effort because she did not want Minoru to see her looking down.

"Minoru, how are you feeling?"

"Sorry for the trouble."

In response to Tatsuya's question, Minoru bowed his head deeply. No, he intended to.

But the movement was interrupted by Tatsuya's palm, held up in front of Minoru.

"You don't need to bow your head. It would be different if you'd been careless, but your condition is just how your body is, isn't it, Minoru? That isn't your fault. I don't approve of bowing your head over something that isn't your responsibility."

Tatsuya's voice was very firm. His tone was less soothing or comforting than admonishing. Tatsuya encouraged Minoru by reproaching him for feeling too guilty.

"Sorry...no, thank you."

Minoru conveyed his gratitude to Tatsuya with a look.

This time, Tatsuya said nothing.

"Well then, Tatsuya."

Just as Fujibayashi was about to ask whether he could tell her about the police matter he had left unexplained earlier,

"We're back~~~. Tatsuya, Miyuki. You're back early. Oh, was it Miss Lieutenant Fujibayashi?"

"Did you say Miss Lieutenant Fujibayashi? Oh, hello. Tatsuya, you got back first."

"I'm back, Tatsuya. Um, Miss Lieutenant Fujibayashi, it's been a while."

Mikihiko and the others had returned from the thesis competition venue at just that moment. They were all surprised to find Fujibayashi there.

"I'm not here on military business today, so there's no need to call me lieutenant. Fujibayashi will do."

Fujibayashi met their surprise with an "adult smile." Erika was naturally unaffected, being a girl herself, and Leo maintained a calm expression as well. The remaining one reacted like an ordinary teenager. It was perhaps fortunate that Mizuki was not present.

Erika sat across from the bed where Minoru had been sleeping. In contrast to Miyuki's graceful air, Erika sat in a proper seiza posture; different as their styles were, she looked just as picturesque.

"Minoru, how are you feeling?"

"I-I'm fine now. Sorry for worrying you."

Erika was certainly a beautiful girl, but objectively speaking, Minoru's features were more refined. Even so, he was flustered when she spoke to him with a friendly smile, a charming reaction befitting his age. Another reason was probably that there were no girls his age around Minoru who behaved like Erika-friendly, to put it nicely, or overly familiar, to put it less kindly.

"I see."

Perhaps Erika understood the time, place, and occasion, for she did not tease Minoru much over his innocent reaction.

Tatsuya moved and sat down facing the center of the room. Miyuki went to his side and followed her brother's example. Fujibayashi moved beside Minoru, while Minami moved beside Miyuki. After Erika moved directly opposite Tatsuya, Leo and Mikihiko sat down as well. They had arranged themselves in the same formation as in the car.

"Let's exchange what we learned today."

"I'll go first."

Agreeing with Tatsuya, Mikihiko began his report.

"That said, there isn't really much to tell. We didn't find anywhere a suspicious person could be hiding. The Shikigami didn't react either. And I don't know if it was because of what happened yesterday, but a whole lot of police magicians were on patrol. With that many around, even a foreign intelligence agency probably won't be able to pull off what happened last year."

"Thanks to you risking your life to investigate, the thesis competition's safety has been secured."

"Risking my life...well, I guess you could put it that way."

Beside Mikihiko, who looked less than convinced, Erika and Leo exchanged "Risking your life is your job, you know" and "What did you say?!" but no one admonished them.

"So, while our inspection for the thesis competition got results, we made no progress in the search for foreign agents."

"Arresting those people yesterday was already more than enough of a result. The police seem to have searched their base too, so we can leave that side to them. Searching for agents is the police's job in the first place."

"Brother, that's rather blunt."

Miyuki's remark provided the cue for Tatsuya to take over the report.

"We were attacked at the foot of Mount Ogura."

"At the foot of Mount Ogura? You mean the Arashiyama Park Kameyama Area?"

After answering Minoru's question with a nod, Tatsuya continued.

"There were thirteen attackers: twelve ancient magicians of the esoteric tradition and one fugitive fangshi. We've handed them all over to the police."

"With Tatsuya, Miyuki, and the Ichijou Family's heir there, that was only natural. Even ten times as many wouldn't have stood a chance."

"They weren't quite that easy to deal with."

Tatsuya gave a wry smile at Erika's remark, then suddenly remembered a question he had been wondering about.

"Mikihiko, one of the attackers made a straight, double-edged sword out of flames, with a snake-or perhaps a dragon-coiled around it. Do you know what technique that is?"

The sudden question caught Mikihiko off guard, but he came up with an answer after about ten seconds.

"...That's the Kurikara Sword."

"The sword Fudou Myouou carries?"

"That's right. It's a technique that imitates Fudou Myouou's demon-subduing sword and borrows its power. Its symbolic power is to sever 'demons.' In modern magic terms, it's a counter-magic that destroys a magic sequence by touching a target on which magic is being activated and rewriting its Eidos."

"Huh...there's magic like that? Ancient magic isn't bad either."

Mikihiko frowned at Erika's casual remark. Her words made him feel that modern magicians looked down on ancient magicians. But Erika often said insensitive things without any ill intent, and there was no point getting angry about it now.

"Still, I'm surprised there's a magician who can use such a difficult spell. By its nature, the Kurikara Sword nullifies the caster's own magic too, so it's hard to maintain."

"What if someone forced themselves to use it?"

"That's impossible. The starting point for the magic's activation is the caster's hand, and the Kurikara Sword technique nullifies all magic its flames touch. It's not enough just to avoid touching the blade. You have to keep an extremely narrow gap between your hand and the materialized sword of flame at all times. A magician without that level of skill absolutely can't use it...well, it's another matter if another magician activates the technique and forces someone to wield it."

"What would happen to the person forced to use it?"

"Their hand would burn off."

"What?!"

Erika shouted in surprise. Miyuki, meanwhile, frowned in displeasure.

"Even though they're formed by magic, the Kurikara Sword's flames are real, materialized fire. If you kept holding it, your hand would naturally burn off, right? There are rumors of an inhumane technique that deliberately burns the wielder's hand and uses it as material for the sword, but then it wouldn't be a demon-subduing blade. It would be an evil demon sword."

Tatsuya and Miyuki exchanged a discreet glance. With their eyes, they agreed not to go into the details.

"I see. It seems they were quite skilled."

"You were amazing to beat an opponent like that without getting hurt, Tatsuya."

"The credit goes to Miyuki and Ichijou. Now, about what we do next."

"Huh? Aren't we checking out and going back to Tokyo today?"

As Erika said, although it was a little irregular, they had originally planned to check out that evening and return to Tokyo.

"Everyone else should return to Tokyo as planned. I'm staying another night. Tomorrow, I intend to go to the police station again and question the people we caught today."

"Brother, in that case, I'll stay too."

"Miyuki."

Tatsuya interrupted Miyuki.

"You're the student council president. It wouldn't be good for you to take two days off in a row at a time like this."

For Miyuki, Tatsuya was more important than school, but when he ordered her in a firm tone, she had no words with which to resist.

"...I understand."

"Then I'll come with you! The police can find as many helpers as they need."

"Erika... skipping school isn't good."

"Skipping school!? That's too much!"

Turning away from Erika, Tatsuya looked at Mikihiko.

"Of course, the same goes for the head of the disciplinary committee being absent two days in a row."

"Is it all right for you, Tatsuya?"

"Given my position, there are some things I have to investigate a little further."

Both Mikihiko and Leo knew about Tatsuya's "position." But Erika had picked up on more of the details. Once he put it that way, they could only back down.

After seeing Miyuki and the others to the station, Tatsuya returned to the hotel. Getting Miyuki onto the train had taken considerable effort, but he had finally sent them back to Tokyo. When Miyuki had enclosed his right hand in both of hers and looked at him with eyes on the verge of tears, saying, "Brother, please be careful...," he had even been prepared to change his plans, but he had been overthinking it.

Minoru's condition had stabilized, so Fujibayashi took him back to her home. Minoru himself had intended to accompany them on tomorrow's search, but he had already missed a great deal of school. After Fujibayashi, whom he looked up to as an older sister, firmly scolded him, he agreed to go home.

Fortunately, there was still a vacant room at the hotel. Having moved from a Japanese-style room too spacious for one person into a single Western-style room, Tatsuya now sat facing Mayumi in the lounge.

"Tatsuya, is everything all right with school?... Though I suppose I'm in no position to ask."

"No, I also need to investigate things in a little more detail."

"Is that... your work?"

There was no one else in the lounge. Even so, they couldn't put up a soundproofing barrier in a place like this. Mayumi had therefore chosen to put it vaguely.

"Yes. So you don't need to worry about it, senpai."

"To be honest, I'm really grateful you can say that. I caused you a lot of trouble today, too."

Tatsuya shook his head and changed the subject.

"Now, about tomorrow's arrangements, I'd like you to stay here, senpai."

"Stay here... you mean at the hotel!?"

When Tatsuya nodded, Mayumi was visibly displeased.

"Am I really holding you back that much? Of course, I didn't do much today."

"That's not it."

Tatsuya smiled and shook his head.

"I have a very high opinion of your abilities, senpai."

Tatsuya said this while looking straight into Mayumi's eyes.

Mayumi blushed slightly and looked away.

"Then why are you telling me to stay here?"

"It's not because it's dangerous."

Mayumi must have thought Tatsuya would say it was because it was dangerous. She looked back at him with an expression that seemed to say, "Huh?"

"At today's pace, we'll never finish, so tomorrow I plan to use a somewhat rougher method of searching. I don't want women to see it, especially a lady like you, senpai."

Mayumi averted her eyes from Tatsuya again.

"I-it's fine. I may not look it, but I'm used to violent incidents."

She had indeed experienced the battlefield in Yokohama and had fought Lü Ganghu, the Man-Eating Tiger. She might well have been accustomed to violence, but her tone was a little strange.

"Even so, I don't want you to see it."

Tatsuya's voice was tinged with resignation. Still looking away, Mayumi began to fidget, rubbing her fingers together.

"If that's how it is, then I suppose it can't be helped."

After saying that with her face turned completely away, Mayumi gave a little shiver, as though she had realized something.

"...That was close, too close."

Mayumi looked back at him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"I almost fell for your usual tricks."

Tatsuya raised both hands and shook his head from side to side with a feigned expression as Mayumi glared at him with half-lidded eyes.

Tatsuya had no recollection of deceiving Mayumi or playing tricks on her, but for some reason she seemed to bear an inexplicable grudge.

He was being entirely sincere when he said he didn't want women to see it.

So she wouldn't get anything out of him by glaring.

"...I understand. In return, please don't faint, no matter what you see, all right?"

Tatsuya tried to intimidate her, but for some reason Mayumi smiled happily.

"No problem. I may not look it, but I'm an adult."

Not reassuring at all, Tatsuya thought, though of course he couldn't say it aloud.

"Ah, good. Did you arrive safely?"

"I was worried because you weren't here with me, Brother."

"It's all right. I'm always watching you. My 'eyes' won't leave you."

"That's right. Forgive me."

"You don't need to apologize. If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry. I'll definitely be back tomorrow, so lock up and get some rest tonight."

"Honestly, Brother. Do you think I'm three years old?"

"No matter how old you are, you're still my little sister."

"...I think that's something a father says to his daughter."

"You wouldn't want that father saying that to you, would you?"

"That's true... In that case, I'll do as you say, Brother, and be especially careful to lock up before resting tonight. Good night, Brother."

"It's a little early, but good night, Miyuki."

Just after Tatsuya ended his call with Miyuki, there was a knock on his hotel room door.

He put his hand in front of the door and switched on the built-in monitor. Mayumi appeared on the screen, dressed up for an evening out.

"What is it, at this hour?"

Tatsuya asked Mayumi as he opened the door. Although he called it that hour, it was only eight in the evening, but it still wasn't a time for a young woman to visit the room of a man who wasn't her lover by herself.

At least, that was what Tatsuya thought, but Mayumi apparently felt differently.

"Tatsuya, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Would you like to eat together?"

Tatsuya indeed hadn't eaten yet, but he had planned to have a simple meal at a nearby diner. He hadn't intended to use the hotel's high-end restaurant.

"At the restaurant here?"

"Yes, the French restaurant downstairs. I asked the front desk just now, and they had a table available, so I made a reservation."

It seemed his serving as her escort was already a settled matter.

He had to be careful not to let his displeasure show on his face.

"All right. I need to change, so could you wait for me in the lobby?"

"You'd be fine just as you are."

"I don't think I would."

Although Mayumi wasn't dressed formally enough for it to be called a ball gown, she wore an elegant, gorgeous outfit: a black A-line dress layered with a dress gown of the same color, with matching adornments on her shoes. Sitting with her in ordinary clothes was absolutely out of the question.

Tatsuya closed the door with a wry smile.

"Wow! Tatsuya, that really suits you."

"Not as well as your outfit suits you, senpai."

Tatsuya wasn't being modest; he meant it. He was wearing clothes he had brought just in case, a suit and tie he had put on merely to meet the minimum dress requirement.

"Well then, let's take our seats."

The restaurant wasn't as formal as Tatsuya had imagined. There were no male servers; only a waitress showed them to their table.

"Please."

Tatsuya went behind Mayumi and pulled out her chair.

"Oh, thank you."

Mayumi leaned back against the chair, smiled happily, and sat down.

Tatsuya sat opposite her and, after waiting for Mayumi to pick up her menu, opened his own. It was printed on paper, something rather rare these days.

"Tatsuya, what are you ordering?"

"Let's see. I'll have the set menu."

"I see~~~. Ordering à la carte can be fun too, but a set menu is probably the safer choice at a restaurant you're visiting for the first time."

After talking it over, they both chose the set menu.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the meal.

They didn't know who might be listening nearby, so they couldn't talk about the case.

At one point, Mayumi complained, "It's so inconvenient not being able to use a soundproofing barrier." That was the only time Tatsuya used a look to warn her to be careful.

Over the past two days, they had learned that the people of Kyoto were unfriendly toward magicians. Tatsuya had thought that, with the Magic Association headquartered here, they would be friendly toward magicians, or at least neutral, but his actual experience had been the complete opposite.

Could the association be in conflict with the local residents?

He had even begun to think that. So he had also moved his CAD a little higher on his wrist and hidden it completely beneath his sleeve. Tatsuya thought he should avoid saying or doing anything that would make people think he was a magician.

Mayumi, meanwhile, hadn't brought her CAD. Whether that was to avoid provoking the feelings of the people around them or simply because it didn't go with her outfit was unclear.

Trouble arose while they were enjoying their after-dinner coffee after dessert. Mayumi suggested they go to the bar together afterward.

"...I don't think I need to emphasize this, but I'm a high school student."

"Oh, stop it. No one would think you were a high school student, Tatsuya. You don't even look much like one in uniform."

Mayumi's remark was utterly innocent. Precisely because of that, Tatsuya took it as a straightforward blow.

Perhaps the blow had been too effective, because Mayumi firmly led Tatsuya all the way to the bar.

Before going in, Mayumi turned back and brought her mouth close to Tatsuya's ear.

"You're not allowed to call me 'senpai' in here. Call me Mayumi, all right?"

"...Why is that?"

Tatsuya's answer came a beat late. Mayumi had probably thrown him off his stride.

"When you say 'senpai,' it sounds like we're schoolmates, doesn't it? I'll call you 'Mr. Tatsuya,' too."

Perhaps Mayumi wanted to role-play.

"It would be troublesome if they realized you were a student."

Adding a reason she'd thought up on the spot, Mayumi took Tatsuya's arm and pulled him into the bar.

It was a small, neat establishment with only counter seating.

The only other customers were a couple sitting at the far end.

The bartender gave the two newcomers a brief glance, then continued shaking a cocktail shaker, gently mixing the ingredients for a cocktail.

Tatsuya seated Mayumi at the other end of the counter and sat down beside her.

"Bartender, an Alexander, please. What would you like, Mr. Tatsuya?"

"A Summer Delight."

The tanned bartender stared at Tatsuya. But he said nothing and picked up a measuring cup.

On closer inspection, the bartender wasn't merely tanned; his muscles were taut, and he had a well-trained body. His movements were fluid, too, giving the impression that he had received specialized combat training in the past. What on earth has this man done...? Tatsuya wondered, somewhat curious for no particular reason.

"Why did you order something nonalcoholic?"

What concerned Mayumi, however, was Tatsuya's order. A Summer Delight contained only orange juice, syrup, and soda water. As she had said, it was a nonalcoholic cocktail.

"Please spare me, Lady Mayumi."

"Huh?"

"As your bodyguard, I can't let my body fail me at a critical moment, even if the chances are one in ten thousand."

"Huh? Huh?"

Mayumi was probably enjoying a game of pretending they were lovers. But Tatsuya didn't believe in letting himself be controlled.

The bartender shook the cocktail shaker vigorously, poured the brown-and-cream-colored liquid into a cocktail glass, and set it in front of Mayumi.

But the person he addressed wasn't Mayumi, but Tatsuya.

"Are you a bodyguard, sir? You're young, but you look quite strong."

"I'm still in training."

"You're too modest."

The bartender took out a fresh cocktail shaker, poured in orange juice and grenadine, and added a little syrup.

He shook it more gently than before, then placed the glass, topped with soda water, in front of Tatsuya.

"Sir, if I may ask..."

After that preface, the bartender leaned across the counter, bringing his face close to Tatsuya's.

The couple at the other end of the counter were absorbed in their own world and didn't appear to be listening in on the conversation.

"You're a magician, aren't you, sir?"

Tatsuya didn't let his surprise show on his face.

"Since you know that, you must be a magician too, bartender?"

The couple at the other end stood up just then. The bartender saw them off with a polite bow.

As he washed up, the bartender resumed their interrupted conversation.

"That was a long time ago. I lost my powers as a magician in an accident during training."

"I see. I'm sorry."

Hearing Tatsuya's apology, the bartender raised his head and shook it.

"As I said, it was a long time ago. Besides, I'm the one who brought it up."

Just then, Mayumi cut in angrily.

"Boss, another drink."

"Miss, if you drink too fast..."

"It's fine. Don't butt in, Mr. Hopeless Tatsuya, who can't even drink."

Apparently, she was annoyed that Tatsuya kept chatting with the bartender. Or perhaps she disliked their assigned roles of bodyguard and young lady.

"My apologies."

Taking this as his own fault, the bartender bowed in apology and returned to washing things with a wry smile.

Tatsuya, however, had no intention of ending their conversation.

"Boss, there's something I'd like you to tell me."

The bartender asked with a glance whether it was all right to leave her alone, but Tatsuya saw no need to placate Mayumi.

"What exactly happened between the Magic Association and the people of Kyoto?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It may just be my imagination, but people around here don't seem to have a very good impression of magicians."

"Ah, so you're concerned that the people of Kyoto aren't very friendly toward magicians."

The bartender wiped his hands on a towel. Once they were dry, he began polishing a glass. Watching him, Tatsuya felt that the whole act of doing it without a machine was part of his performance as a "bartender," a piece of the bar's stage setting.

"There hasn't been any particularly big dispute. It's just a buildup of little frictions, the sort of things outsiders tend to do. But because the people involved are magicians, the locals have overreacted a little."

Seeing that Tatsuya wasn't convinced, the bartender placed a piece of chocolate on a small plate and handed it over.

"For the young lady."

"Thank you."

Tatsuya took the plate and set it in front of Mayumi.

Mayumi picked up the chocolate and put it in her mouth, then turned her head away with a motion that seemed to come with a "Hmph!"

Tatsuya and the bartender exchanged wry smiles.

The bartender's eyes and the corners of his mouth were smiling as he continued.

"It probably doesn't help that the Magic Association has its headquarters here. The people of Kyoto may feel that magicians have taken over the place."

"It's not a matter of taking over. If they live here, magicians are Kyoto citizens too."

"I only realized it after I lost my magic, but to people who can't use magic, magicians are frightening. If a magician uses magic on someone who can't use it, that person has no way to resist. They could suffer internal injuries without even noticing, have something precious taken from them, or, in the worst case, be killed. No, I understand what you're going to say."

The bartender stopped Tatsuya as he was about to speak.

"They'd be just as helpless against someone with a gun. But please look at it the other way. To local residents who aren't magicians, magicians are outsiders of unknown identity carrying invisible guns. The people of Kyoto aren't special. It could happen anywhere."

When they came out of the bar, Mayumi's steps were very unsteady.

That's why I said three drinks were too many.

Tatsuya complained inwardly, but it was too late for regrets. He hadn't known the cocktails were over twenty percent alcohol, either.

"Senpai, we're at your room. Please pull yourself together."

"Mm... thanks, Tatsuya."

Mayumi looked ready to fall asleep on the spot. Since they had reached her room, Tatsuya could consider his job done.

"Mm..."

But when he saw Mayumi slowly sink down in front of the door, he couldn't bring himself to say, "Well, I'll be going."

"Senpai, where's the key?"

"Here."

Mayumi took out the key card and waved it around. Just as he wondered what she was going to do, she started to stuff it down the front of her dress, and Tatsuya swiftly snatched it away before she could.

...What exactly is she trying to make me do?

Feeling a slight shudder, Tatsuya unlocked the door and went inside.

Fortunately, there was no scene straight out of a popular novel, with underwear lying around the room.

"Saegusa-senpai, if you're going to sleep, please sleep in the bed."

"Mm, I know."

Tatsuya learned something: Mayumi was the type to regress to a childlike state when drunk. It felt as though there were a lot of people like that around him. It might have been much better than having them get clingy when drunk, but they still needed looking after.

Tatsuya hurriedly caught Mayumi as she started toward the bed and nearly fell.

Then he took her straight to the bedside.

"Senpai, we're at the bed. You should take your clothes off. Your beautiful dress will get wrinkled otherwise."

Mayumi raised both hands in front of Tatsuya.

"...What is it?"

"Take them off for me."

Hearing the answer he had expected, Tatsuya really did feel a headache coming on.

Monday, October 22. Tatsuya had come to Arashiyama-Sagano again. It was where the ancient magicians had attacked him the day before yesterday.

Mayumi had said she wasn't feeling well and gone to sleep at the hotel. Needless to say, she was hungover. Tatsuya considered that the only positive result of what had happened the previous night.

There were no police in sight. At least, there was no sign of an investigation into yesterday's incident. The detective who hated the Ten Master Clans apparently had no intention of investigating it at all. Or perhaps some other emergency had come up. Either way, it was good news for Tatsuya, who was concerned about police attention.

Standing at the scene, Tatsuya recalled the information he had read yesterday. He had read the answer to "Where did they come from?" from the information source that had suffered the least damage while in hibernation-in other words, whose Eidos had no missing parts-and whose emission of the psion waves that interfered with reading had been suppressed to a minimum by its unconsciousness. It was the coordinates of the hideout belonging to the group that ancient magician was part of.

Walking straight through the bamboo grove would have been too conspicuous. Tatsuya took out his information terminal, opened a map, and walked along the path while comparing it with the record in his memory.

He found his destination easily.

It was an ordinary house with nothing remarkable about it except its size. No, perhaps something this spacious couldn't be called ordinary.

At a glance, it was the kind of building that might still exist depending on the area, much like a village meeting hall.

Tatsuya scanned it from outside with Elemental Sight without revealing himself. There didn't seem to be any particular traps set to prevent intrusion. So he passed through the gate without hesitation.

Even after entering the property, he sensed no trace of magic. However, he had already checked from outside and confirmed that it wasn't empty.

Tatsuya put his hand on the sliding door. Naturally, it was locked, with both an electronic and a physical lock. Unfortunately, Tatsuya couldn't open either of them. He had no magic that convenient. So he decided to open the door with the magic he had at hand.

The door's locks were smashed.

Just as when he had passed through the gate, he opened the door and walked in without hesitation. Immediately afterward, a wheel-shaped weapon came flying at him. It was a circular blade with eight spokes radiating from its center. It was an esoteric Buddhist ritual implement called a dharma wheel, but they were using it as a projectile.

After Tatsuya dodged it, the dharma wheel stopped in midair before it could burst through the door and fly outside, then flew back along the same path. Dharma wheels that came flying from other directions did the same, flying back in the same manner. Looking closely, he saw thin psion threads attached to them.

A yo-yo?

They moved just like yo-yos. So dealing with them was simple. Tatsuya dodged the dharma wheels, now four in number, and decomposed the psion threads.

A stir came from beside the wall. After decomposing all four threads, Tatsuya closed the distance to the caster hiding under optical camouflage in a single leap.

The transparent figure, wavering like a heat haze, took a stance with a weapon resembling a short sword, with blades at both ends of its handle. This too was an esoteric Buddhist ritual implement, called a single-pronged vajra. Like the "yo-yo dharma wheels," it had been modified into a weapon.

Tatsuya knew that magic sequences for releasing lightning had been projected onto both ends of the single-pronged vajra. They had been projected, but the rewriting of Eidos was not complete. Ignoring the magic before it could activate, Tatsuya used Flash Cast to activate vibration magic one millimeter in front of his palm and struck the figure in the chest.

Using the pseudo-wave motion also employed in Active Air Mine, which imparted vibration waves to solid objects, he violently vibrated the body tissue from the point where his palm made contact to one millimeter beneath the skin. The vibrations traveled through bodily fluids to the upper body, and the man collapsed. Once his optical camouflage came undone, the man was dressed just like yesterday's attackers.

Tatsuya crouched and swept the legs out from under a transparent man approaching from behind-his body hadn't become transparent; optical camouflage only made him appear so. Rather than making a sweeping motion to knock the man's legs away as in Chinese martial arts, he used his foot to trip the foot the man had stepped forward with.

The transparent man lost his balance. Through the wavering heat haze, Tatsuya saw the man's back.

He struck with his palm using vibration magic. The second man fell to the floor.

"I know you're there even when you're transparent. So why not give up the pointless effort and show yourselves?"

At Tatsuya's provocation, men of various ages stepped out of the heat haze. There were ten of them. Fortunately, none were women. Tatsuya wasn't the type to hold back against women, but he still found them harder to attack.

"Why didn't Marishiten Practice work...?!"

It was because their magic wasn't developed enough, but Tatsuya didn't say so. Their lack of proficiency was indeed the reason. If Yakumo used the same technique, even Tatsuya would have trouble pinpointing his location.

"Tie him up with ropes!"

One of the men shouted the order. Although he didn't look like the oldest, he definitely seemed to possess the strongest magic power. Tatsuya made the apparent leader his target.

Tatsuya deliberately walked to the center of the hall. The wood-floored room resembled a kendo dojo and had nothing that could serve as cover. Tatsuya found himself wondering, quite inappropriately for the situation, whether it was a dojo rather than a meeting hall.

The ten magicians surrounded Tatsuya at equal intervals.

A regular decagon. Rotate it thirty-six degrees to overlap, and it became a regular pentagon, or an interlocking pentagram.

Every other magician threw a silk cord at the same time, five in all.

They threw them not at Tatsuya, but toward their companions diagonally ahead.

Each person who threw a cord caught one thrown by another.

A pentagram formation made of five-colored silk cords.

And Tatsuya looked down on it from above.

It was probably a technique that would lift the person at the center of the pentagram with pressure from five directions.

But Tatsuya had no obligation to stand dumbly in the middle of his enemies and wait for them to complete the formation.

The moment the cords were thrown, he leaped straight up.

Before reaching the ceiling, Tatsuya kicked off in midair and headed for one of the pentagram's points.

It was a flying kick, something almost never used in a match. But in a surprise attack, it was a surprisingly practical technique.

He created a foothold with magic and used its rebound to accelerate his kick, sending the caster flying with a strike to the face backed by his full weight and speed.

The caster went down dramatically. Though the force of it made Tatsuya worry about lasting injuries, he had no leisure to worry about such things.

The pentagram formation collapsed. But that couldn't have been their only trump card.

Before reaching the ground, Tatsuya landed and delivered a flying kick to the magician beside him.

It was magic activated only when he made a foothold. Only the speed of Flash Cast made it usable as a magic combat technique.

The esoteric Buddhist ancient magicians gathered here were by no means physically weak. They valued martial prowess and were first-rate fighters as well. But that only applied to normal combat. They simply couldn't keep up with Tatsuya's acrobatic movements.

The enemy ancient magicians were able to respond to Tatsuya's surprise attacks only when five remained.

Before the sixth man-or the eighth, counting the first two-could be attacked by Tatsuya, a caster behind him unleashed an electric shock at Tatsuya.

With modern magic, an electric current would be generated directly in the target.

But, as was characteristic of ancient magic, the shock was fired at the target from the caster or a point in the air.

When it came to electric shock magic, this difference wasn't a problem. The shock traveled toward its target at a hundred thousand kilometers per second. It arrived in an instant. It was impossible to recognize it and then dodge.

Before the electric shock magic activated, Tatsuya broke off his attack and made a great leap to the side.

The caster preparing to unleash the shock lost sight of Tatsuya. But it was already too late to stop the magic.

The lightning released from the ritual implement, the single-pronged vajra, caused them to strike one of their own.

That made the casters hesitate to use magic.

The opening that created gave Tatsuya more than enough time.

Using a repulsion field as a foothold to give himself speed equivalent to self-acceleration magic, Tatsuya knocked every last ancient magician unconscious.

The ancient magician who led this base woke to intense pain in his body.

The pain kept his brain from working.

All he could do was remain conscious.

"Are you awake? Nod if you understand me. I'll ease your pain a little."

The man registered only that the pain would lessen, and nodded desperately.

As promised, the pain eased.

The vision blurred by agony regained a little definition.

It was a young man.

The man, his face hidden by a motorcycle helmet, was sitting on top of him.

The leader tried to use a hand-seal technique.

But in an instant, a pain fierce enough to blank his mind struck him.

"Don't do anything unnecessary. Just answer my questions."

The leader nodded desperately to show that he would obey the voice.

The agony then eased a little.

This time it receded enough for him to think a little, but his vision remained blurry.

"Is Zhou Gongjin here? The overseas Chinese Taoist who fled Yokohama's Chinatown."

The leader had no intention of lying and nodded honestly.

"That man was still here on Friday the twelfth. Is that right?"

The twelfth, the twelfth... The leader desperately worked his brain, which could barely think. Then he remembered that Zhou Gongjin had indeed left on Friday, and nodded repeatedly.

"Did Zhou Gongjin say where he was going?"

A fresh burst of agony struck the leader. But strangely, only his thoughts were clear.

His vision was blurred, and he couldn't move his limbs or even his fingers. Yet despite that, his mouth could move freely.

"Uji... He said he was going there. He said there was a good hiding place at Futagozuka Kofun... He didn't say anything beyond that... Whether it was a lie or the truth... I don't know."

"Your subordinates were being controlled like puppets by continental sorcerers. Did you permit that?"

"I... no, their master... wasn't in a position... to order them."

"You're the leader, aren't you?"

"They're comrades... our equals... They don't take orders from anyone..."

"I see. Thank you for your cooperation."

Tatsuya emailed Fujibayashi, telling her the location and that the Traditionalist magicians were unconscious. At the end, he asked her to come collect the ancient magicians, though he later thought that had been unnecessary. Even if he hadn't written it, Fujibayashi would surely have arranged for someone to collect them.

Tatsuya weighed the credibility of the information he had obtained from the leader of the base. It was hard to believe there was no clear chain of command within the group. A group couldn't fight in coordination based on a shared sense of purpose alone.

However, the information about Zhou Gongjin's hiding place matched what he had learned from the curse caster at Kiyomizu-dera. He couldn't rule out the possibility that the former esoteric Buddhist monks here and the curse caster there had conspired to make him believe this false information, but such suspicions could go on forever. He needed to draw the line somewhere.

Tatsuya decided that when he returned home today, he would report to Hayama that Zhou Gongjin was very likely hiding somewhere around Futagozuka Kofun in Uji.

When Tatsuya returned to the hotel after finishing his business, Mayumi greeted him with puffed cheeks, looking away in slight embarrassment. Though she kept complaining that he was "heartless" and that this "wasn't what they'd agreed on," she blushed and refused to meet his eyes.

Tatsuya had an idea why she was embarrassed.

Last night, Tatsuya had complied with a young woman's-Mayumi's-unreasonable demand that he take off her clothes. Feeling that everything had become too much trouble, he had briskly removed Mayumi's dress, tossed her onto the bed in her underwear, and left the room without looking back.

Even he thought he had been too rough. But he had his own argument: in that situation, she should have been grateful she hadn't been assaulted in the sexual sense. Of course, there was no way he could say that aloud.

"A-anyway..."

Mayumi, who had nevertheless been standing beside him and complaining forcefully, suddenly stammered.

"Um, there's something I wanted to ask you, Tatsuya."

Refusing to answer, invoking his right to remain silent-Tatsuya wished from the bottom of his heart that he could do that. He could tell from Mayumi's manner what she was going to ask.

"I..."

Even though they were alone in Mayumi's room, she nervously looked left and right, then brought her lips close to Tatsuya's face, as if afraid someone might overhear.

"...Why did I fall asleep in my underwear?"

Because you told me to undress you. As much as he wanted to say it, he couldn't possibly say it aloud.

"Didn't you take it off yourself, senpai? Even drunk, you must have had enough judgment left to know not to sleep in a formal dress."

Tatsuya pulled away from Mayumi's lips just before they touched and answered as though he knew nothing.

"Can a drunk person really think things through that thoroughly?"

"Who knows? It was you, senpai. How could I know something you don't?"

"...Tatsuya, I..."

For the first time since Tatsuya had returned, Mayumi looked at him, her eyes so full of embarrassment that even their outer corners had turned red.

"I can't hold my liquor very well, but I do remember things clearly."

Tatsuya wanted to leave, to escape. Unfortunately, he understood that, as a man, this was not a situation he could run away from.

"...I don't think you had to be quite so rough."

He had indeed tossed Mayumi roughly onto the bed.

But was that what she should be taking him to task for? The question troubled him. Still, asking, "Is that more important than being stripped down to your underwear?" would have been courting death on a strategic level.

Mayumi continued to look at Tatsuya, her face red.

In the midst of this excruciatingly awkward atmosphere, the mentally arduous task of escorting Mayumi to the station closest to her home still awaited Tatsuya at the end.

The moment Tatsuya put his hand on the door, the front door opened.

"Welcome home, brother."

As always, it was Miyuki who greeted Tatsuya when he came home.

"I'm back. I'm really sorry about this." Miyuki's expression showed worry and relief she couldn't entirely hide. Even if she knew no one could hurt Tatsuya, worrying was another matter. Tatsuya's apology was for that as well.

"No. As long as I can see that you're safe, brother, I'm content."

Miyuki shook her head at his apology.

As soon as Tatsuya got home, he found himself seated in the living room. Minami took his suitcase full of clothes, and Miyuki led him to the sofa.

There was no point resisting at a time like this. Rather than accepting their service, it was more like being made to accept it. He decided to behave himself and let the girls do as they pleased.

Miyuki sat beside him, happily watching him drink his coffee. But when he set his cup on the table, she suddenly lost her composure. She kept looking at Tatsuya, then looking away when he caught her eye.

"It's all right. The work I was asked to do is going smoothly. At this stage, I can say I've already achieved results worthy of our aunt."

Miyuki probably wanted to ask about today's progress. Thinking that, Tatsuya spoke first and told her it was going well.

"No, I knew it would, if you were the one handling it, brother..."

But it seemed Miyuki wanted to ask something else.

"Go ahead. What do you want to ask?"

When Tatsuya prompted her, Miyuki hesitated a little longer, then cast aside her reservations and asked:

"Brother, what caused Minoru's condition?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Tatsuya couldn't answer immediately.

"...It's just as I said yesterday. Minoru's magic power is too strong for his body to bear."

A cloud passed over Miyuki's face, and her brows knitted with worry.

"That's his current condition, isn't it? You saw what caused it, didn't you, brother?"

"...Why do you say that?"

"The way you were then was out of the ordinary, brother. What was it that concerned you so much?"

Tatsuya was struck speechless. It was as good as admitting there was something.

"Please, brother. Please tell me what's troubling you. Let me share your burden."

Miyuki looked up at Tatsuya with desperate eyes. He knew his sister wanted from the bottom of her heart to ease the burden on his mind.

"You're better off not knowing."

That was all the more reason for Tatsuya to hesitate to tell Miyuki the secret he knew. Incidentally, he had hardly any reservations about infringing on Minoru's and Kudou's privacy.

"Please. Don't suffer alone, brother."

But when she pleaded with tears in her eyes, Tatsuya ultimately couldn't keep it to himself.

"All right. What I'm about to tell you is quite shocking, so I want you to brace yourself."

Miyuki held her breath. Seeing that his sister was ready, Tatsuya went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Minoru and Miss Fujibayashi are half-siblings. They have different fathers."

Miyuki didn't react for a while.

As she understood what her brother had said, she covered her face with both hands.

"How could that be? But Miss Fujibayashi's mother is Minoru's father's sister..."

"Minoru is an Adjusted Body. He was probably born through artificial insemination. So, strictly speaking, it wasn't incest, but he is the child of a brother and sister."

Miyuki's face was filled with shock. It took quite some time before she could speak.

"Then... was Minoru's condition caused by the ill effects of incest...?"

Tatsuya shook his head. But that wasn't an outright denial.

"I can't say. His Psion Body, which is the problem, is indeed unbalanced, and his physical body is healthy. Something may have gone wrong during the adjustment process."

Tatsuya held back a sigh.

"But we can't rule out the possibility that the cause was genetic material from relatives who were too closely related. Even the Magician Development Research Institute avoided using genetic material from parents and children or siblings. We still know far too little about how genetic material affects the Psion Body and the mind."

The color drained from Miyuki's face.

She was deeply shaken, almost as if it concerned her personally.