March 19, 2096
Chichijima, Ogasawara Islands
Mayumi Saegusa stirred at her terminal's ringtone, groggily reaching for it. Surely her father wouldn't meddle in her graduation trip, she thought—perhaps a souvenir request from her sisters. But the encrypted email jolted her awake.
"An encrypted email!?" she gasped.
Leaping from bed, Mayumi brewed black coffee via the server and booted her foldable terminal. Decrypting the message with her device's program, she was stunned by its contents and shook Mari awake.
"Mayumi, it's too early…" Mari groaned.
"It's morning already. Look at this," Mayumi urged.
Sipping the bitter coffee, Mari's senses sharpened. Reading the email on Mayumi's terminal, her expression turned grave.
"We need to tell Ami and Toya," Mari said.
"Agreed," Mayumi replied.
The sender was a mentor close to Mayumi's family, requesting they help a genetically modified girl escape harsh treatment at the Defense Navy's Minami-Tatejima magic research facility and bring her to Tokyo. Their carefree graduation trip had turned into a serious mission, a thought they kept unspoken.
The day after Tatsuya was tasked with handling "Sieg," the group visited Minami-Tatejima, a Defense Navy base with a shopping mall built from surplus supply capacity—a place to unwind. Miyuki lamented Tatsuya's absence, but his words, "Enjoy yourself for me," left her no retort.
With three boys and seven girls, the commuter to the airport and mall held only five. Ceria and Sana volunteered to ride with the boys, earning sidelong glances from Miyuki and Shizuku.
"I'd heard about this place, but it's impressive," Shizuku said.
"We're stuck chaperoning the girls' shopping," Yugen said. "Leo, Mikihiko, take it easy."
"I might relax, but Erika won't let Leo off," Mikihiko teased.
"Give me a break," Leo grumbled. "Mikihiko, you've got Sana."
"I won't be too demanding," Sana said, her words hinting at a caveat.
Erika would likely drag Leo along regardless. Though they hid it, on White Day, Leo gave Erika a return gift in an empty classroom, only for her to blindfold and kiss him. Yugen witnessed it by chance while passing for student council duties, slipping away with full concealment magic to avoid confrontation or teasing.
"Last night was fun, huh?" Ceria teased.
"You're one to talk," Yugen shot back.
The previous night, Miyuki, Shizuku, and Ceria had roped Yugen into sleeping together. Mindful of today's plans, he kept things tame, but whether not crossing the final line was enough remained questionable. Yugen hadn't expected Ceria to bring it up, forcing a calm retort.
Meeting Ms. Kurosawa that morning, her knowing smile as she prepared clothes left Yugen torn between gratitude and embarrassment. He changed, convincing himself to accept her understanding.
"I've got recommended spots from yesterday," Yugen said. "Let me know if you need data sent… What's up?"
"Your natural thoughtfulness makes you popular, big bro," Ceria said.
"It's just habit from dealing with people," Yugen replied.
His eight years as Yuto Nagano weren't wasted. Navigating the magic world's underbelly, often tied to Gozo Ueyama, shaped him. Domestically, he dealt with the Defense Forces and Ten Master Clans; abroad, with magic associations and strategic-class mages. Over half the "Thirteen Apostles" knew him personally, including Liu Yunde of the Great Asian Alliance, who once suggested Yugen as a son-in-law—a proposal Yugen firmly declined. Liu's death ended that talk.
Ceria's "big bro" address, explained to Tatsuya's group as inspired by Izumi and Akane, would likely persist even if they married.
The girls shopped alone, likely relying on Erika and Ceria for trouble. Yugen, Leo, and Mikihiko played escorts, lounging at a drink bar until spotted by the girls, who made them pay. Yugen offered to cover all, but Erika forced Leo, and Mikihiko, reading the room, paid for Sana and Mizuki.
"Impressive for a military facility," Mikihiko said.
"Islands lack mainland entertainment," Yugen replied.
Despite advanced networks, logistics constraints limited island entertainment. Terminal games leaned heavily on magic simulations, making malls a vital distraction. After shopping, they rested at the mall's edge, near a fence overlooking the Navy's Southern Islands Arsenal.
"Navy facility…" Ceria said. "Big bro, know anything?"
"It focuses on mass transfer magic, unlike Abyss," Yugen said. "I heard a bit while in the Army's weapons division."
Yugen avoided meddling unless threats were clear. During his Army tenure, the Arsenal's experiments weren't large-scale. Anticipating Army rivalry, he'd proposed and secured Gozo's approval for Zuikaku's deployment. But traces of strategic-class magic from the Arsenal, felt by Yugen and Ceria, were too significant to ignore.
"Human greed feels ugly," Ceria said. "I didn't notice in my past life, but reincarnation makes it clear. Ironic."
"Yeah," Yugen said. "Lunchtime. Let's go."
The wheels of fate were turning. An encounter with a girl loomed, a certainty Yugen and Ceria felt deeply.
After lunch at a pre-scouted mall restaurant, they discussed next year over drinks and coffee. Yugen and Leo sensed an odd atmosphere.
Probing subtly, Yugen detected fewer than ten presences, far from peaceful. Trouble was brewing.
"Something's off," Leo said.
"Too much tension," Yugen replied. "Military police are everywhere. Act unaware to avoid attention."
"This feels bad," Ceria said. "We should leave early."
Originally planning to stay longer, they agreed to return to the villa to avoid escalation, feigning ignorance of the search teams. At the airport, the Kitayama VTOL's ramp was open, with no hostile intent inside—one presence in the cockpit, another under the tail. Voices suggested pilot Date left the hatch open.
(Someone's inside. Fine.)
Yugen boarded last, intending to close the hatch, when a jeep's engine approached. Two marines disembarked, faces Yugen recognized.
"We're inspecting the craft!" one said, then faltered. "Gozo-dono's!?"
"We're about to leave," Yugen said. "What's this attitude about?"
"A patient escaped the hospital…" the marine stammered.
From the Chiba dojo, they were tense—half from Gozo's influence, half from Yugen's presence.
"Speak clearly," Yugen said. "I haven't seen this 'patient' within visible range. Leave promptly."
"But, just a look—"
"Are you saying a Kagurazaka's word isn't trustworthy?" Yugen interrupted. "Shall I protest to the Prime Minister?"
"Sorry!" the marine said, bowing and retreating.
Yugen hadn't lied—he hadn't seen the patient. His glare sent the marines off. Closing the hatch, the VTOL headed for Izu. Once stable, Erika approached.
"My dojo folks caused trouble," she said. "Rare for you to flex authority, Yugen."
"She's definitely their target," Yugen said. "I didn't lie."
"True," Erika said. "Come out. We won't harm you."
At Erika's call, a rear cabin door opened, revealing a girl of elementary school age, hair unkempt, bangs hiding her eyes. Yugen handed her a pendant.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Wear it," Yugen said. "It's safe, I promise. What's your name?"
"Watasumi Series, Unit 22, designation: Kokoa," she said.
Her words stunned the group. A genetically modified being, Kokoa's presence darkened Leo's expression. Yugen regained composure first, activating his foldable terminal as Kokoa wore the pendant. Channeling psions, the pendant glowed with his silver light, and Kokoa relaxed, closing her eyes. Ceria, sensing his actions, asked.
"Big bro, how is she?"
"Near ego collapse from magical experiments," Yugen said. "Her wavelengths show it."
The terminal's wavelength system, built on Mitsuya and Yotsuba psion data, detailed mage conditions, refined through Fourth Lab's reckless experiments. It enabled early disease detection and treatment. Yugen's Reinforce and Floral Wind—exceptional magics—leveraged this data, perfected with clan support.
Kokoa's mental state was exhausted, likely from forced mental links during large-scale magic, a practice Gozo had mentioned.
"That's awful," Ceria said.
"Can you help?" Erika asked.
"She should avoid magic for now," Yugen said. "This level of depletion suggests massive magical use."
He avoided saying it, but the Arsenal was testing Meteorite Fall, a strategic-class magic pulling large masses to specific points. Reading Kokoa's activation sequence history via his "reincarnation perk," Yugen reconstructed the spell.
"She couldn't have cast it alone," Yugen said. "Likely a multi-mage mental link."
"Is that possible?" Mikihiko asked.
"Yes," Yugen said. "Some CADs allow passive spell construction."
Forced mental links burdened mages, risking mental collapse. Banned during World War III by Guardians, this research treated mages as tools. Two strategic-class magics—Starlight Breaker and Material Burst—had revived it. The latter, an Army operation, was officially their strategic magic. The Navy's reckless revival horrified Yugen, who felt a pang of guilt for indirectly enabling it through his own power's influence.
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