On paper, "Angelina Sirius" would be discharged and naturalized, but the military registration of the "Thirteenth Apostle" Strategic-Class Magician "Angie Sirius" would remain tied to the Commander of Stars.
Balance herself, however, held no expectation that Lina could uncover the Yotsuba's secrets. In the first place, as long as her twin sister "Polaris"—Celia—was in that country, such schemes would be seen through instantly.
Previously, when Balance assigned a task to measure Celia's ability, Celia had perfectly deduced the background connections without using any information terminals. Hearing this, even Balance had felt a chill run down her spine.
Returning to the topic, since Lina didn't own many personal belongings, she could pack her things in the dorm within a few hours (thanks to Sylvie, who had boldly cleaned up the considerable amount of luggage she originally had). If she started now, she would be ready to depart by tonight.
"Can you be ready to leave the base by tomorrow night?"
"No problem."
"Understood. Furthermore, I will have Captain Mercury accompany you as support. We are arranging her procedures and logistics as well, so do not worry."
"Understood. I would like to begin preparations immediately; may I be dismissed?"
"Yes, that is all for you, Major Sirius. Major Canopus, the previous matter remains, so please stay."
"Ma'am! Then, if you will excuse me."
Ending the conversation with a salute to Balance and Canopus, Lina left the command room. Her steps toward her dorm room were incredibly light. After all, the prospect of meeting the person she pined for filled her with such joy that she couldn't help but wear the expression of a maiden in love.
(Tatsuya... wait for me. I'm not soft enough to let prey escape once I've set my sights on it.)
Strategic-Class Magician "Angie Sirius," Commander of the strongest unit, Stars. Lina was so completely floating on air that she didn't show a shred of that formidable atmosphere. Waiting for such a Lina in front of her room was her support, Sylvia.
"Oh, Sylvie? Is something wrong?"
"Lina, I have already heard the story from the Colonel. Now, let's get this packed up quickly."
"Eh, what? Why do you have that smile? Did I do something wro—"
Before she knew it, her consciousness faded rapidly. The last thing Lina saw was Sylvia, wearing a beaming smile, offering an apology: "I'm sorry, Lina."
Unaware of Lina's fate, Balance and Canopus faced each other in the Base Command Room. In truth, Canopus had been informed beforehand of what would happen to Lina.
"Regarding Major Sirius... did you find it objectionable, Major Canopus?"
"No. However, I do wonder if there was another way, without resorting to such elaborate measures."
"Indeed. But this time, we simply didn't have the time."
Lina was put to sleep. Officially, she was ordered to redeploy to Japan under the pretense of "monitoring the East Asian region in light of the confusion in the New Soviet territory." Sylvie would smuggle out several pieces of equipment belonging to Angie Sirius—including Brionac.
Canopus thought there was no need to knock her out, but Balance explained there was meaning in doing so.
"As you know, the rank structure within Stars is effectively frozen. Considering normal military hierarchy, it wouldn't be strange for you, the Captain of the First Corps, to be promoted to Colonel class."
"...Do you imply the Joint Chiefs of Staff wanted the Commander-in-Chief herself?"
"Don't be foolish, Major. If that were to happen, the President would fire the entire upper brass in a massive purge. Or rather, they might physically blow up before that."
"That is true. My apologies."
Originally, the USNA military, including Stars, generally required enlistment from age 18, a remnant of the USA military tradition. However, Lina, possessing the qualities of a Strategic-Class Magician, enlisted in Stars as a special exception and sat in the seat of Commander-in-Chief due to her prowess.
Placing someone in the Commander's chair without going through formal enlistment channels naturally caused friction within the unit. However, the Joint Chiefs, desperate to fill the hole left by "Sirius" and craving the power of Strategic-Class Magic, forced her into the rigid military structure. This resulted in discord.
"The General Staff still refuses to let go of the power of the Strategic-Class Magician 'Angie Sirius.' At this rate, not only Major Sirius but we as well will be dragged down on a mud boat of useless pride... but let us save that discussion for a later date."
Balance exhaled, then conveyed the intelligence brought by the "Seven Sages" to Canopus: obsolete portable anti-air missiles scheduled for disposal by the USNA military had been stolen, and there was a plan to use them for terrorism in Japan. Alongside this, information on the ringleader, Gu Jie, was presented.
"That is the detail of the situation. Do you have questions?"
"No, I do not."
"I see. Then I have a question for you, Major Benjamin Canopus—no, allow me to call you Major Benjamin Rose."
Balance daring to correct Canopus's name—speaking his true surname rather than the stellar code name used to hide his identity—made Canopus's expression tighten. Canopus's family had a history of producing many soldiers and politicians, and he himself had once aimed to be a regular soldier. However, due to his magical aptitude, he was selected for Stars.
Canopus internally predicted she suspected he was related to the Rose family. Balance's question confirmed his prediction.
"You are a blood relative of Deputy Chief of Staff Kane Rose, correct?"
"Ma'am. As I am sure the Colonel knows, the Deputy Chief and my father are cousins, making our mothers second cousins."
"...Actually, what the 'Seven Sages' brought was not just information regarding the terror plot, but content alleging Deputy Chief Rose facilitated it."
The information from the "Seven Sages" claimed that Kane Rose had not only handed the weapons to Gu Jie but also permitted their removal from the country and aided in Gu Jie's escape.
"Do you believe the Deputy Chief has been bought by terrorists, Colonel?"
"Rather, that would be the better scenario. I suspect not that the Deputy Chief was bought, but that he and influential congressional members connected to him are attempting to use Gu Jie."
Either way, it was undeniably a government scandal. However, Balance suspected they aimed to use Gu Jie to redirect the hostility of the Humanists in this country toward Japan.
"Using terrorists...? Do you mean to turn the target of the Humanist anti-magician movement in this country toward Japan?"
"You are sharp, Major. I believe Deputy Chief Rose, seeking a means to suppress Humanism in this country quickly, plotted to utilize Gu Jie's terrorism. You are well aware of the nature of bomb terrorism, correct?"
Bomb terrorism involves indiscriminate attacks without specific targets. Even the Ten Master Clans cannot protect everyone. Even if magicians remain unharmed due to multi-directional defenses, it is obvious that non-magician civilians present at the scene will suffer casualties.
"Indiscriminate attacks without fixed targets... Don't tell me the Deputy Chief's goal is..."
"Exactly that 'don't tell me.' The 'Seven Sages' also included a scenario hypothesizing this."
The scenario provided by the "Seven Sages" was to frame the event as magicians "leaving people to die," thereby strengthening the anti-magician movement within Japan while weakening the movement within the USNA.
"Colonel. Was sending the Commander—no, Lina—to Japan so hurriedly also for this reason?"
"This time, it is merely a result of circumstance, Major. I am not such a demon that I cannot understand Major Sirius's feelings."
Although Japan and the Great Asian Alliance are in a state of peace, no one knows how long it will last. The New Soviet Union is also seeing unrest near its capital, Moscow, due to Humanists and anti-government organizations, and the outlook there is unclear. Additionally, there is anxiety that the sparks of Humanism concentrated in Eastern Europe might blow back to Northern and Western Europe, and eventually the USNA.
Balance desired extraordinary power in this emergency. Feeling she had no choice, she decided there was no other way but to borrow the power of Celia, who was in Japan, and Yugen Kagurazaka.
For that purpose, she decided to send their trump card, "Angie Sirius," to Japan through the formal procedure of a Presidential Special Order. This had already been approved not only by the President but also by the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and Balance's direct superior, the Director of the Internal Affairs Bureau.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff would be notified of the special mission details by the President, the Commander-in-Chief of the USNA Armed Forces, via the Secretary of Defense, as soon as Lina arrived in Japan.
Even Balance possessed enough sentiment to wish for Lina's happiness as a fellow woman. The suffering of being of Japanese descent, the friction caused by being too young, and the "assassination" attempts during the recent desertion incident—these were burdens Lina should never have had to bear.
But because she had power, Lina had inherited the name "Sirius." Aside from the President who issued the order, only Balance knew that this Presidential Special Order included an apology for that reality.
Furthermore, the reason for putting Lina to sleep was to physically block communication with her family and friends in Japan, avoiding any chance of those communications being intercepted and used to spread baseless rumors that "Angie Sirius is colluding with Japan and showing signs of treason against the military."
"I anticipate the mission given to you will be quite severe. For the time being, it will take the form of a mission from the Joint Chiefs, but the special notes mention that Gu Jie is a survivor of Kunlun Fangyuan. If that is the case, there is an extremely high probability that the sole living witness of the Yotsuba's revenge drama—Kozo Kamiizumi—will take the field."
"The profile from the Joint Chiefs reported that he has deteriorated to the point where he cannot release Strategic-Class Magic."
"Do not rely on reports from people who haven't seen the man in person. It is true he is the same age as General Kudou's brother, who was once hailed as the 'World's Cleverest,' but I believe his current ability surpasses even the successive generations of 'Sirius,' including the current one, and likely rivals 'Polaris'."
Every report regarding Kozo within the USNA defied common sense. Balance, who had confronted Kozo during the incident where Lina was defeated by Yugen, felt that if she so much as directed killing intent at him, she would be "killed" in the next instant.
Even the ability of the boy she met then—who would later name himself Yugen Kagurazaka and had presumably received Kozo's teachings—had made her break out in a cold sweat. When it came to Kozo's hidden strength, even Balance had to judge that "his depths are invisible."
"Additionally, with 'Black Night's Peacock' (Artemisia), the naturalized 'Polaris,' Yugen Kagurazaka, and the Strategic-Class Magician of [Great Bomb] who has yet to be found all present, if you judge the mission cannot be fulfilled, I authorize you to abort immediately and return home. What happens after is the job of politicians; we will likely have our hands full just showing a posture of providing information as necessary."
The Joint Chiefs might be eager, but frankly, against a Japan that possessed higher-ranking magicians than this country, Balance thought that only Lina and barely Canopus would stand a chance... providing, of course, that Japan's Strategic-Class Magicians did not come out to play.
To execute the mission with that power disparity, increasing Stars personnel would be necessary. But if they moved as flamboyantly as they did last year, the Japanese government and National Defense Force would catch wind of Stars' movements. Therefore, Lina, her support Sylvie, and Canopus were the minimum personnel they could move at this moment.
"Ma'am, understood."
"I am sorry, Major. It pains me to push such dirty work onto you, but as long as the terrorist is predicted to be a high-ranking magician, a magician with corresponding ability is required."
For Canopus, this mission was like being forced into the role of "executioner"—dealing resolutely with the criminal acts of a relative and condemning them. Seeing Balance feel apologetic, Canopus wore an expression close to relief and spoke.
"I appreciate your consideration, Colonel. But please, do not worry about me. Rather, I am grateful for your selection. Like Celia who has already left the military, I... want to keep Lina from doing such gloomy work like assassination as much as possible."
Because he had a daughter close to her age, he did not want Lina to walk that path if it could be helped. Exuding emotions almost like a father, Canopus saluted Balance to show his acceptance of the mission.
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