"She's his twin sister now. Have a little faith."
Honestly, between Tatsuya, the current third-year members who had been strengthened by Yugen's involvement, and the officers of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, the power level was already absurd. Adding "Angie Sirius" to the mix felt like overkill, but Yugen had a ulterior motive.
He wanted to shake the cooperative foundation between the USNA and the UK.
"The high-speed cargo ship Gu Jie tried to use was bound for Sydney, according to the flight plan. Given the current state of Australia, the UK is undoubtedly involved."
"William Macleod of the Thirteen Apostles..." Seria muttered. "Does he have a 'Panjandrum' mentality stuck in his head?"
"What kind of mentality is that?"
"British double-dealing diplomacy."
Yugen's investigations had already revealed that the UK was inciting soldiers within the Great Asian Alliance who were dissatisfied with the Japan-Asia Peace Treaty. It was also confirmed that William Macleod would be traveling to Australia personally in the coming days. Their target was Japan's artificial islands. Seeing them stir the flames of war so casually made Yugen feel like the "Thirteen Apostles" were little more than warmongers.
Most of the Apostles who would take the world stage soon were prone to extreme actions. No matter how special a Strategic-Class Magician was, they shouldn't be allowed to do whatever they pleased. Even if it served national interests, using such power was nothing short of a unilateral preemptive strike without a declaration of war.
Though I suppose I'm one to talk, Yugen thought dryly.
"By the way," Seria said, "the Ten Master Clans—the Clan Conference system is changing significantly, right?"
"To be precise, it's a total overhaul of the surveillance and protection territories."
To avoid fragmented jurisdictions, the system was being streamlined. As part of this, the active Third Institute (formerly part of the Magic Technician Development Institutes) would be heavily renovated into the Central Research Institute of the National Magic Science and Technology Institute (NMSTI), under the Ministry of Education. Other active branches, like the Kanazawa Magic Physics Laboratory on the site of the old First Institute and the Ninth Magic Development Institute on the old Ninth site, would become branches of the NMSTI. They would be moved out of the control of the Clan Conference and become government agencies.
Closed institutes would remain under government control, with the Clan Conference commissioned to manage magic-related secrets.
The territorial shifts were as follows:
Ichijo Family: They moved away from the San'in region. They would now manage the Sea of Japan side of Tohoku and the Hokuriku region (Akita, Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui). This was to centralize monitoring of the Sea of Japan and Sado area.
Isshiki Family: Selected from the Eighteen Assistant Houses to take over the San'in region (Shimane, Tottori, Northern Hyogo) and Yamaguchi. This was a smooth transition given their close ties to the Ichijo.
Mutsuzuka Family: Concentrating on the Pacific side—Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki. Focusing their resources was deemed more efficient than spreading them thin.
Mitsuya Family: With the Saegusa family removed, the Mitsuya would take over surveillance and protection of the Kanto region. The logic was simple: the current head's daughter was marrying into the Juumonji and Yotsuba families, allowing for seamless cooperation between the three houses. This finally gave the Mitsuya a territory equal to the other clans.
Yatsushiro & Itsuwa Families: No changes to current status.
Yotsuba Family: Relinquishing Mie, they would focus on the Chubu and Tokai regions (Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, Nagano, and Yamanashi).
Futatsugi Family: Managing Hiroshima, Okayama, Southern Hyogo (including Awaji Island), Osaka, and Western Wakayama.
Saegusa Family: Reassigned to the Amami Oshima and Okinawa regions—a punitive reassignment.
Shippo Family: Taking over Hokkaido. This was a proposal from the head himself; by establishing a firm position on the front lines of national defense, the family's future would be secured.
Finally, there was the matter of Eastern Wakayama, Mie, Nara, Kyoto, and Shiga. These areas contained elements that modern magic houses couldn't fully manage. Yugen had no intention of involving the "Kudou" (Nine) family here.
Instead, the Kagurazaka and Uwaizumi families, the Guardians, would take direct responsibility.
"As far as the Ancient Magic houses are concerned, the friction with the 'Nine' hasn't fully vanished. There's still a risk of the 'Traditionalists' reforming," Yugen explained. "To ease those fears, the Guardian houses will manage those areas—or rather, the Guardians will commission traditional houses to handle the day-to-day."
"Like Himeri's family?"
"Centered around the Ise family, we'll ask several Ancient Magic houses to handle the management."
The "Traditionalist" faction had only arisen because of the botched magic experiments conducted by the "Numbered" houses under government lead. Despite their pride, their priority on utility had led to disaster. With the Japan Magic Association headquartered in Kyoto, it was only right to entrust the defense to the Ancient practitioners rooted there.
"Speaking of which," Seria asked softly, "how are things with your grandmother—Kaname-san? Was everything okay?"
"...The past life is the past life. There's no profit in clinging to it."
Yugen had already told Kaname as much. He felt that since he had suffered an absurd death in his previous life, he was grateful to spend this life in freedom. He couldn't say he felt "no resentment," but clinging to it brought no benefit. He accepted their relationship based on the blood ties of this world.
Kaname had kept Musou Tensei active because the negative distortions caused by the Global War had almost punched a hole in the gravitational wall. To prevent a catastrophe, she had used herself as a medium for the spell. When Yugen dispelled Musou Tensei, he reinforced the wall with barrier magic he'd learned from the Kagurazaka records. It would hold for several centuries without issue.
As for the matter of lifespan, Yugen had discovered something startling. If one used Musou Tensei to maintain their ego while being saturated with magical energy—as Kaname had—the body stopped aging as long as the ego remained clear. In fact, it "rejuvenated." Usually, no human could survive being bathed in such massive amounts of Psions, but the results of his investigation left even Yugen scratching his head.
"I went with her to the Uwaizumi estate. My grandfather was overjoyed," Yugen said. "I finally understand why my parents' marriage was a love match."
Gozo had never truly believed Kaname was dead. Because her magical talent exceeded his, he believed she was simply away performing some vital task for the country. He had only claimed she was dead as an external excuse. The fact that her room had never been cleared and was cleaned regularly was proof he was waiting for her return.
Even with her return, the succession of the Uwaizumi family would remain with Mototsugu. If anything, Kaname was already causing a stir by telling everyone, "I'd like to see great-grandchildren as soon as possible."
"You're not exempt from that, Big Brother," Seria teased, leaning in. "I'm always 'welcome' to the idea."
"My spirit might be an adult, but socially we're high schoolers. We're still minors."
"Even though we're in this situation?"
"Do you want me to make you cry?"
"Eek! Make me cry with your 'big brother energy,' please!"
Just when Yugen thought the Gu Jie matter was settled, he was met with an offensive by his fiancées and mistresses. He tried his best not to be drowned in their affections, but the sheer aggressiveness of the women left him somewhere between exasperated and impressed.
To be fair, Yugen and Seria were currently in the bed Seria usually used. He had visited for a serious talk, but Seria had taken advantage of Lina and Sylvia's absence to seduce him, leading to this.
"I'm not trying to neglect anyone, and I try to support everyone as much as I can," Yugen sighed. "But do people think I have no self-control?"
"It's a reaction to how well-behaved they are when they don't want to trouble you, my dear Watson," Seria laughed.
"I'm supposed to be the one maintaining public morals at school. I can't afford to be careless."
Yugen's final list of fiancées was to be made official on the 11th of next month, a message relayed by Chihiro. In addition to the current members, the list would include Mio Itsuwa, Akane Ichijo, Efia Mensah, and... Mayumi Saegusa. That would be the end of it.
The news had only spurred his current fiancées to be more proactive. Since school was out, Airi and Toko were staying at the Kagurazaka villa, and he had spent all of yesterday attending to them.
As for Mayumi, it had been decided she would be moved from the Saegusa registry to the Futatsugi family registry. This was a result of Mai Futatsugi accepting a consultation from the Mitsuya and Saegusa families—a move to maintain the strength of the Ten Master Clans by establishing an indirect link to the Kagurazaka family. From a territorial perspective, it was a sound political move.
Honestly, Yugen thought, I feel like I'm being jerked around by the legacy of an enemy's crimes.
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