Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
After dinner, Tatsu'a was sittin! on the sofa in the li%in! room
loo$in! at a lar!e screen mounted on the wall
=i'u$i was snu!!led up beside him
The screen was di%ided into three The main section depicted a real
time %ideo feed of To$'o seen throu!h stratospheric sur%eillance
cameras as well as three !lowin! dots mo%in! throu!h it The top
subsection had roads and maps o%erla'in! the same three dots, while
on the bottom, text scrolled b' in "# second inter%als
The reason he had access to the stratospheric platform cameras was
than$s to Sanada
The reason he had access to and could monitor the tracer si!nals of the
Sae!usaW<uumon)i search parties was not because =a'umi had
pro%ided the authentication codes, but because of the unparalleled
hac$er *u)iba'ashi ,'ou$o
&e trac$ed the si!nal of the Ahiba search part' at the same time
The spots of li!ht were apparentl' interference stren!th, the wa%es of
which were detected b' transcei%er interceptors mounted on the
stratospheric platforms and processed b' the supercomputer belon!in!
to the (ndependent =a!ic -attalion
-ein! an experimental ma!ic force, and as far as Tatsu'a %a!uel'
$new, bein! e1uipped with state/of/the/art technolo!' (the' wouldn9t
ha%e the =obile suits otherwise), he was reminded a!ain of their
peculiar abilities
And spea$in! of technolo!'
2(t seems li$e the Stars ha%e better technolo!' for detectin! Parasites
than us2
0atchin! the StarsK mo%ements as the' fixed on a spot of interference
stren!th, Tatsu'a muttered in an impressed %oice
Althou!h it9s impossible to trac$ the mo%ements of Parasites directl',
b' anal'sin! the pathwa' of the ener!' the three Parasites the' were
trac$in! left, it was possible to trace them And despite not ha%in! the
benefit of street camera sensors nor stratospheric platform obser%ation
e1uipment, the ones Tatsu'a estimated to be the Stars were tracin! the
mo%ements of the Parasites the fastest Tatsu'a didnKt $now whether
that was due to some special abilit' or ad%anced technolo!' &e also
didnKt $now whether it was specific to trac$in! the Parasites, or if it
was capable of detectin! other ma!ical si!nals All he $new was that
the USNA was ahead of <apan in this field
Tatsu'a had ne%er considered <apanKs ma!ic technolo!' to be in the
forefront of the world &e didnKt consider himself to ha%e an
exhausti%e $nowled!e of current technolo!' either 5et e%en so, he
couldnKt help feelin! some pan!s of re!ret and a desire to $now
TNowKs not the time for that thou!hU
Sa'in! so and cuttin! off unnecessar' thou!hts, Tatsu'a strai!htened
T4nii/sama, are 'ou !oin!>U
As Tatsu'a rose, =i'u$i spo$e while loo$in! up from the sofa
T5ouKre a !ood !irl, so )ust wait here alri!ht>U
Tatsu'a stro$ed her chee$
=i'u$i raised her hand and pressed Tatsu'aKs palm a!ainst her chee$
(t was as if she were imprintin! his warmth onto her
T(Kll be waitin! for 'ouU
T5eah 0ithout a doubt, sometime soon, 'our stren!th will be needed
0hen that time comesST
T5es Then, to!etherSitKs a promise, 4nii/samaU
TL0ell, ( donKt thin$ this situation will turn out as dan!erous as
5o$ohamaU
0hile Tatsu'a )o$ed, =i'u$i, also smilin!, released Tatsu'aKs hand
=i'u$i saw Tatsu'a off at the doorwa', e1uipped with his fa%ourite
AAD and other e1uipment as he went to battle
She continued starin! at the closed door until her brotherKs presence
faded
Then the moment she could no lon!er ma$e sense of his whereabouts,
she turned around with a snap
There was no trace of sadness 0ithin her determined expression, her
e'es burned with a bri!ht li!ht
=i'u$i returned to the li%in! room, and hit the switch of the dimmed
screen Althou!h b' no means mechanicall' incompetent, in terms of
stren!ths and wea$nesses, what she now had at hand was definitel'
not her area of expertise
&owe%er she was blessed with extraordinar' memor' Althou!h not as
!reat as Tatsu'a, who had %ast memor' capacit' as a side effect of his
mental remodellin!, reproducin! the operatin! procedures she had )ust
seen earlier was not a problem
She brou!ht up the displa' she had been watchin! a while bac$ with
her brother The scroll speed of the text data was a little too fast for
her, but she didnKt $now how to chan!e it so she bore with it
She desperatel' tried to calculate her brotherKs whereabouts from the
points of li!ht mo%in! around She had been told to )ust QwaitK, but
this time she didnKt intend to Q)ust waitK +%en if it meant !oin! a!ainst
her brotherKs orders, e%en if it meant she would be scolded when he
!ot bac$, it was still far more preferable to doin! nothin! as her
brother was hurt
Aertainl', there was little chance of a lar!e scale conflict brea$in! out
(n that sense, the dan!er was indeed less than 5o$ohama
-ut e%en thou!h the scale was small
+%en thou!h the situation would !reatl' limit the use of force
&is opponent, in all probabilit', would end up bein! those Stars
SThou!h ha%in! said that, there was nothin! =i'u$i could do
As an indi%idual, at .8 'ears of a!e, she possessed one of the hi!hest
le%els of power in the countr' (t mi!ht easil' be one of the hi!hest
le%els of power in the world
-ut her power la' not in farsi!ht or clair%o'ance
Nor did she ha%e the authorit' 'et to mobilise the 5otsuba
Unli$e her brother, she did not ha%e a personall' built/up networ$
None of the hac$in! s$ills of *u)iba'ashi either
0ith no specialised ma!ic to find Tatsu'a, neither contacts nor
expertise, =i'u$i could onl' hu! her chest as she stared at the screen
(t was an unconscious action
(n her chest was her heart And althou!h her clothes were in the wa'
and she couldnKt feel it beat, she could feel somethin! else in its stead
0ithin her chest, in her heart,
She could feel her connection to Tatsu'a
Abhorrent, latchin! on to her brother
The reconfi!ured Limiter
The loc$ and chains were none other than she herself
She herself was also the $e'
-indin! her to bind her brother, it was nothin! short of a curse
5et for all that, it was still a definite connection which lin$ed her and
her brother
//(f onl' ( could see too//
=i'u$i thou!ht
&owe%er far Tatsu'a was from =i'u$i, he was able to $now her
situation She had heard that his Q%isionK could anal'se existential
information, and thin!s such as her whereabouts and condition were
alwa's $nown to him in the form of data
(n a sense that meant she had absolutel' no pri%ac' whatsoe%er, but
that didnKt bother =i'u$i in the least
She didnKt ha%e a sin!le secret she had to $eep a!ainst her brother (f
there e%er was somethin! she could not sa' hidden in her heart, she
would want him to $now of it throu!h his power She thou!ht so e%en
as she $new his Q%isionK didnKt extend to the mental realm
4n the other hand, =i'u$i had no wa' to QseeK her partner from a
distance
(nstead, for =i'u$i who was born with =ental (nterference ma!ic, she
could QsenseK the QlocationK of the QmindK -' releasin! the Limiter on
Tatsu'a and thereb' freein! her own abilities, =i'u$i could QtouchK
the minds of others She mi!ht e%en be able to touch the spirits
driftin! in the world
&owe%er, she couldnKt feel the Qbein!K of one far awa' She couldnKt
transmit li$e her brother in the dimension of information, where
ph'sical distance had no meanin!
That was the difference between si!ht and touch +%en if she could
touch somethin! which Qis thereK, she couldnKt use it to find somethin!
she couldnKt locate
*eelin! her brother in her chest, which onl' hei!htened her sense of
frustration, =i'u$i thou!ht hard
Dri%en b' an unexplained ominous sense of forebodin!, she wished
she could rush to his side
She didnKt $now how lon! she had continued to feel so, as she stared
at the screen
Awa$enin! her was the chime rin!in!, announcin! an unexpected
%isitor
0ith a start, she !lanced at the cloc$
Alri!ht, let them lea%e, =i'u$i thou!ht There was no fault in not
e%en pretendin! to not be at home, since it was far too late an hour to
be %isitin! others an'wa'
She had a loo$ at the intercom monitor :eco!nisin! the %isitor,
=i'u$i immediatel' modified her plans 0hile considerin! what to
chan!e into, she also calculated how lon! it would ta$e
TPlease wait a moment, SenseiU
Standin! there was 5a$umo
Tatsu'a watched the fi!ht between the Parasite and the mas$ed
ma!ician from the shadow of a tree
&e had !otten to the par$ three minutes before the battle bro$e out
0hen the' had reached the predicted point of capture he had let out a
sound despite himself, but now he concealed his breathin! and erased
his presence, awaitin! an opportunit' to inter%ene
Accordin! to the information from =a'umi there were multiple
%ampires and multiple hunters after them, but seein! the two before
him he was certain the' were the same two from 'esterda' &e had
merel' loo$ed at the mo%ement of the !roups and predicted where the
first contact would occur, but he hadnKt identified the indi%iduals
(LThis is a coincidence, ri!ht>)
A shi%er ran down Tatsu'aKs spine and he almost inad%ertentl'
re%ealed his position Somehow holdin! it bac$, he complained in his
mind RSomethin! alon! the lines of Qif this is fate, itKs far too
disa!reeableK
&e loo$ed bac$ to the state of the battle The momentum was clearl'
on the side of the mas$ed ma!ician -' comparison, the white mas$ed
%ampire was attemptin! to !et awa' And the net to bloc$ that escape
was 'et incomplete
(*our people As ( thou!ht, itKs not enou!h)
As three forces S if 'ou include the police who werenKt wor$in! with
the Sae!usa, itKd be four S ran to!ether and !ot in each others wa',
four ma!icians were con%er!in! here from four different directions
The' were the awa' team, without an' street monitorin! e1uipment,
'et had impressi%el' mana!ed to call in four other people unnoticed
b' the others, is what he would ha%e thou!ht, but at the end of the da'
it was safe to sa' such numbers could not hope to cut off all the escape
routes in this three/dimensional cit'
0hich was wh' this situation would soon become not 9hide and see$9
but 9ta!9
(5our enem'9s enem' is, in the end, )ust another part' That one fact
alone doesn9t automaticall' ma$e them an all', huh)
(f all the forces pursuin! the Parasites were to wor$ to!ether, each
team had onl' to send this man' people out and then herdin! them in
would be a simple matter -ut due to the differences in intent, it
wouldn9t wor$ out +%en his own !oals did not completel' match with
that of =a'umi or +ri$a
-ut for the moment, the %ampire was more of an enem'
(Now then, how to ma$e m' entrance)
0hilst predictin! the %arious reactions the mas$ed character could
ma$e, Tatsu'a pulled from his waist not his AAD but a !un 4f course
it was ille!al, but that was about the furthest thin! on his mind at this
point &e pointed the !un at the %ampire which had )ust made a hu!e
leap to a%oid a $nife stro$e with complete calm, aimed at around the
bell', and casuall' pulled the tri!!er
The a%era!e effecti%e ran!e of a hand!un is 8# metres, while in real
combat the effecti%e ran!e is said to be more within 6#m This had
chan!ed little from the last centur', and the reason was because
hand!uns were a weapon made with those needs in mind
The distance between the shaded tree under which Tatsu'a was hidin!
and the lon!coat wearin! phantom was about .#m Althou!h Tatsu'a
had exceeded the minimum necessar' trainin! time, he b' no means
practiced with a hand!un e%er' da', and it was a still a fairl' difficult
distance
The !un in his hand was a sin!le shot chambered !un desi!ned for a
special bullet There were no second chances &e would ha%e
preferred to aim for an area of exposed s$in, but he had to !i%e up on
what he couldn9t do
-esides, as the tar!et was wearin! a hat o%er the e'es as well as a
lon!coat which stretched down to the an$les in addition to a white
mas$ which completel' co%ered the face, it was a fair bet that there
was no exposed s$in in an' case There was nothin! to fret o%er
The low speed hea%' bullet absorbed more of the dischar!e than a
suppressor would ha%e, 'et as aimed, the bullet hit the abdomen of the
coat 0hile the wei!ht of the bullet was twice that of a standard 7mm,
the lac$ of speed was compensated b' the fact the %ampire had been
fallin! bac$ towards the bullet
The mas$ed ma!ician turned towards Tatsu'a Colden pupils !linted
with a harsh li!ht as the' watched him
Discernible within them was unmista$able hostilit'
She abandoned her $nife at the same time Tatsu'a released his !un
&er hand shot to her waist, as Tatsu'a9s went to his breast
Tatsu'a9s hand reached his destination first
-ut his fin!er fro3e midwa' throu!h pullin! the tri!!er of his AAD
(n his opponents hand was a medium si3ed automatic pistol Tatsu'a9s
%ision discerned a ma!ic formula alread' formed within its barrel
The acti%ation speed was comparable to Tatsu'a9s Decomposition (t
was a specialised de%ice which be!an an acti%ation se1uence the
moment it was !ripped, cuttin! out the time and effort needed to
operate the switch and thus sei3in! the initiati%e
The ma!ic tri!!ered was Data *ortification A ma!ic which
stren!thened an' bullets passin! throu!h the barrel
Tatsu'a flic$ed the selector of his AAD, switched from a ma!ic for
decomposin! +idos to one for decomposin! entities and be!an
acti%ation
&is tar!et was the chamber of the !un the mas$ed ma!ician held
=ore precisel', the bullets which would be fired from therein
Time seemed to slow durin! that moment of hi!h/densit' information
processin! as ma!ic was acti%ated, as Tatsu'a watched the mas$ed
ma!ician pull bac$ the tri!!er of her automatic pistol while Tatsu'a
did the same with his AAD
The distance between the mas$ed ma!ician and Tatsu'a was
approximatel' .8m The subsonic bullets fired from that suppressed
!un, which emphasised stealth, would ta$e ##8s to reach him
That was almost the same as instantaneousl'
&owe%er, the time after bein! enhanced with Data *ortification would
be e%en less
As the speed enhanced bullets sped throu!h the air, the' disinte!rated
to dust
A )olt was e%ident from behind the mas$
She certainl' had reason for her confidence, Tatsu'a thou!ht
=ere 9suspension9 or 9%ector modification9 would not ha%e been
sufficient to stop those bullets (f one had sufficient abilit' such as
,atsuto it would be a different stor', but the a%era!e ma!ician
wouldn9t stand a chance +%en a ma!ician of the combat class from the
Ten =aster Alans would be hard/pressed
(n Tatsu'a9s case, 9Decomposition9 was a stron! counter to 9Data
*ortification9 so he was able to cope, but if that hadn9t been the case he
would ha%e definitel' been in trouble with no countermeasures
That was all, howe%er, mere con)ecture And now, the mas$ed
ma!ician had exposed a !ap before Tatsu'a
&e fired off ma!ic the instant he became aware of that !ap
The ma!ic he had failed to fire off initiall', now hit the mas$ed
ma!ician head/on
:eflected in Tatsu'a9s %ision, thin!s such as 9colour9, 9shape9, 9sound9,
9heat9 and 9position9 were written as information &e tar!eted not the
ma!ician herself, but rather loc$in! on to her dis!uise ma!ic he
released the anti/ma!ic Cram Dispersion
Decomposin! the ma!ic formula itself, it stripped her insubstantial
outer co%erin! and scattered it awa'
S(n that instant,
Sthe demon was reborn as an an!el
The ni!ht s$' was filled with stars 0ithin the inside of the motor
sedan which was racin! alon! the hi!hwa' in the heart of the cit',
%iews of the outside came as "D ima!er' as neither sound nor
%ibrations transferred throu!h
2Sensei2
Sittin! in the bac$ seat of that 1uiet cabin, =i'u$i hesitantl' opened
her mouth
The person she was addressin! was the Nin)utsu user sittin! next to
her, ,o$onoe 5a$umo
2Nn, what is it>2
5a$umo opened his e'es, and turned to face =i'u$i
20h' at this timeare 'ou helpin!> (f ( remember, 'our rule had
alwa's been to not !et in%ol%ed in the real world2
(t was caution, or rather obser%ance of -uddhist principles The
meanin!s were different, but the results were similar And the
commandments 5a$umo had imposed on himself in%ol%ed both
20ell, there are some circumstances in%ol%ed2
5a$umo9s tone was fri%olous as alwa's, and it was difficult for =i'u$i
to see throu!h to the true intent beneath
2Thou!h ( discarded all earthl' bonds when ( too$ up m' ordination, (
did not discard m' wor$ as a shinobi (t wasn9t m' call alone to ma$e
after all
Not that he couldn9t, but that he Xdidn9tX There was no sense of re!ret,
but rather the feelin! that 5a$umo considered it to be perfectl'
naturalthat was what =i'u$i read
2There are those who call it the responsibilit' or obli!ation of those
who ha%e inherited s$illsit ma' be considered the hei!ht of
worldliness, but e%en in -uddhism, authorit' is not free from tradition
so it should be acceptable ( !uess>2
Althou!h he had technicall' as$ed a 1uestion, =i'u$i had no answer
Ne%ermind =i'u$i, it wasn9t somethin! 'ou9d as$ a .8 'ear old !irl in
!eneral
2&aah2
The best she could do were ambi!uous words of support (t seemed
that 5a$umo9s disciple in the dri%er9s seat was sendin! si!nals
reminiscent of raised e'ebrows, but that ma' ha%e been )ust her
ima!ination
2The thin! is, ( heard from ,a3ama/$un that the enem' Tatsu'a/$un
was facin! ma' ha%e been usin! the ,udou9s 9Parade9 (f that reall' is
the case, we9ll ha%e to !i%e them a warnin! The one who tau!ht the
,udou 9=atoi9, which the' de%eloped into Parade, had been m'
predecessor after all2
The whole thin!9s such a pain, 5a$umo si!hed
That indiscreet remar$ howe%er passed =i'u$i b'
2The precursor to the ,udou9s secret techni1ue 9Parade9, was tau!ht b'
Sensei9s master2
(f it had been Tatsu'a, he would probabl' ha%e )ust said 9ah, so that
sort of thin! happens9 and simpl' accepted it -ut for =i'u$i, it wasn9t
as eas' to swallow
24h> 5ou didn9t $now> The purpose of the Ninth (nstitute had been to
de%elop ma!icians who could implement streamlined and re/
s'stematised Ancient ma!ic into modern ma!ic To that end, the Ninth
(nstitute !athered man' Ancient users =' predecessor was amon!st
them2
Naturall', =i'u$i had no idea
:ather, the idea that a hi!h school !irl would be $nowled!eable about
the dar$ side of modern ma!ic, the sealed miseries which were the
=a!ic Abilit' De%elopment (nstitutes, was more absurd +%en
=i'u$i, an inheritor of the results of the most infamous *ourth
(nstitute, would be clueless as to what the other institutes had been up
to
2Then could it be, Sensei9s famil' nameN.O>2
=i'u$i9s e'es widened as she !asped, and she in1uired with a pale
expression
2No, 'ou9re )ust o%erthin$in! thin!s2
&e probabl' !uessed what =i'u$i was thin$in! immediatel'
Lau!hin! bitterl', 5a$umo shoo$ his hands in denial
2The name ,o$onoe is merel' somethin! ( inherited from m'
predecessor2
The air in the car eased up a little -ut that warmth plun!ed bac$
down almost immediatel'
2An'wa', it was under those circumstances that m' predecessor
tau!ht the ,udou 9=atoi9 and the' de%eloped it into 9Parade9 (t
in%ol%es ori!inal secret techni1ues of our own So if the ma!ician
tan!led with Tatsu'a/$un is trul' usin! 9Parade9, the'9ll ha%e to be
warned not to flash it around an' further And if the'9re not inclined to
listen, well, that9d be most unfortunate2
5a$umo9s tone and expression were as carefree as e%er And 'et,
=i'u$i felt a chill run down her spine Nor was it )ust her Crippin!
the wheel, 5a$umo9s disciple9s hunched shoulders were ri!id as stone