Over at the Juumonji estate, Tatsuya was finalizing the details for the upcoming investigation. Because the Saegusa Clan had been relegated to monitoring the Tokyo and Chiba sectors, the primary focus on the Kanagawa and Izu regions fell to the Juumonji, supplemented by the Mitsuya Clan. Mika Mitsuya, who shared a deep personal acquaintance with Katsuto, attended as their representative.
"I believe you are both aware of yesterday's terrorist incident," Katsuto began. "I would like to borrow your strength."
Tatsuya glanced at Mika. Her expression was uncharacteristically solemn.
"Regarding that matter, I have already received a request from both Mother and Yugen," Tatsuya replied. "Of course, I will cooperate."
"That is a relief. I've received a similar message from the Mutsuzuka family via Touya; they've given their consent."
Touya was currently in a meeting with the clan head, Atsuko, and thus couldn't attend the Juumonji briefing. For Katsuto, simply securing Touya's cooperation was more than enough; he had told the younger boy to prioritize his family's internal affairs first.
Katsuto then turned his gaze toward Mika.
"Mika-senpai. Due to the irregular nature of this mission's structure, I would like to ask you to serve as our liaison with Lord Mitsuya."
"Well, that's the most logical choice," Mika said with a shrug. "So, I take it we're keeping Mayumi out of this entirely?"
"That would be for the best," Katsuto answered firmly.
Mika had already sensed the atmosphere of the Master Clan Conference from Katsuto's expression. The fact that the Saegusa weren't taking a leadership role made it clear that Yugen was pulling the strings. Katsuto was the commander; Tatsuya, Touya, and Masaki were the field units; the Mitsuya and Shippou families provided backup.
I can't exactly tell Tatsuya or Mika that the reason for this 'Saegusa-free' investigation is a series of scandals involving the Saegusa and Kudo families, Katsuto thought as he continued.
"However, there may be information that cannot be shared through standard channels due to secret intelligence networks. In those cases, I will leave the final call to your judgment, Mika-senpai."
"Katchan, you're so strict! No mercy even for your future wife?"
"…Mika-senpai," Tatsuya interjected, "this is the first I've heard of this."
"Oh? I thought 'Takkun' would have known… well, the official announcement was pushed back because of the terror attack, but Katchan and I are officially engaged."
Tatsuya felt a twitch of a wry smile at the corners of his mouth—he had never expected to be called "Takkun" by anyone other than his late mother. He couldn't help but think that between Yugen and the rest of the Mitsuya family, they were truly an outlier among the Ten Master Clans.
"So, what's the plan?" Mika asked, turning serious again. "Setting me aside, you boys can't exactly skip university and high school, can you? Plus, now that the enemy knows where the Master Clan Conference meets, we need to be incredibly careful about wiretapping."
"That is precisely why I called you here," Katsuto said. "Shiba, until we find a solid lead, I want everyone to be able to act independently, but we need a secure way to exchange progress and information."
Given the rise of the Humanists and the recent bombings, standard communication was deemed too risky. It was safer to meet in person, despite the logistical hurdles. Tatsuya found the proposal sound.
"I have no objections."
"Good. Regarding Mutsuzuka… if I recall, he is in the same Magic Engineering course as you, Shiba. Can you relay this to him?"
"Understood."
Tatsuya agreed, noting that it was the most rational way to keep Touya in the loop without drawing attention. Mika also gave her assent.
"No problems here. It might be best to meet near the Magic University. I can't be there every day, but if things get busy, I'll ask Sister Kana to step in."
Due to a paper on magical medicine she had submitted the previous year, Mika had been appointed as a part-time lecturer at the National Magic Medical University starting after the summer break. Because she had a specialized medical license (granted as an exception due to her sister Shizuru's influence), the professors at the university had essentially turned her teaching duties into course credits—a move intended to pad their own department's prestige.
When Mika heard this, she had dryly noted that their methods were "no different from Principal Momoyama."
"Understood," Katsuto concluded. "I need to make arrangements. We will hold our first information exchange the day after tomorrow at 18:00 in front of the Magic University's main gate."
Tatsuya did a quick mental calculation. That would give him enough time to finish his Student Council duties and stop by home before the meeting. He nodded in agreement.
Naturally, the Ten Master Clans weren't the only ones hunting for the terrorists.
The bombing, occurring right under the nose of the capital, had severely wounded the pride of the police. The high command was beyond furious. Consequently, the case was handed not to the local Kanagawa or Shizuoka prefectural police, but to the Wide-Area Special Investigation Team of the National Police Agency—often referred to as the "Japanese FBI."
Inspector Toshikazu Chiba had been investigating a tip about suspicious individuals in Yokosuka heading toward Hakone when he witnessed the attack on the Kamisaka Group's hotel. As a police officer who was also a magician, he had been drafted to coordinate with the Ten Master Clans.
But the investigation was already hitting a wall, and Toshikazu's stress levels were rising.
"…What do you mean the culprits were all already dead?"
The perpetrators who had been strapped with bombs were found after the devices were removed. (Toshikazu didn't know the exact identity of the people calling themselves the "Shinshokai," but he'd heard they were an organization within the Imperial Guard, so he had left the bomb disposal to them). However, there were no signs that they had died inside the hotel.
Assistant Inspector Inagaki, who was driving, tried to soothe his superior. "In the case of suicide bombings, that isn't entirely unheard of, is it?"
"Even so. Their skin tone... they've clearly been dead for far too long. Even the bodies that didn't explode were already corpses before they entered the building."
The autopsy results were chilling: the estimated time of death for the "culprits" was over twenty-four hours prior, with some dating back nearly ten days. Even Toshikazu couldn't help but scowl.
"If I could just laugh this off as a B-list occult movie, my life would be so much easier."
"Inspector… are you suggesting there's a magic that can manipulate the dead?" Inagaki asked.
Toshikazu sighed and nodded. He didn't want Inagaki to take his eyes off the road, so he just muttered, "Yes… unfortunately, that's the most logical conclusion."
The days when magic was dismissed as a fictional factor in investigations were long gone. Now that magic was a systematized technology, it was an unavoidable element of modern police work. Still, as a user of modern magic himself, Toshikazu found the idea of necromancy to be deeply unsettling.
"Perhaps we should ask an expert?"
"Is there such a thing as an expert in necromancy? I'm a complete amateur here. I'd be grateful for anyone who can give me a lecture on the subject."
"…What about asking him?"
Toshikazu massaged his temples at the suggestion. He knew exactly who Inagaki meant. He had an acquaintance who was a master of ancient magic—someone whose skills were recognized as world-class.
But Toshikazu immediately rejected the idea.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Why not, Inspector? He's the only person you're close to who knows ancient magic in such depth."
"…Because of the mess with Erika and Sanae, my old man went and screwed everything up."
"Wait… Miss Erika is dating Saijou-kun, isn't she? And wasn't that marriage proposal already rejected once?"
Among the disciples of the Chiba's "Thousand-Blade Ryu," Leo—Erika's boyfriend—was watched with a protective, almost fatherly strictness. But after showing his mettle in the Nine Schools Competition, their relationship was officially recognized by the dojo.
If anyone dared speak ill of Leo, Erika would beat them into the floor with her terrifying skill—a skill so great that neither Toshikazu nor Shuji could beat her anymore. Because she accurately pointed out her opponents' flaws while thrashing them, it didn't feel like a simple tantrum, which ironically made some disciples want to be beaten by her just for the lesson.
The rumor of Sanae's failed engagement was well-known in the dojo, mainly because Erika had complained about it so loudly that everyone accepted it as fact.
"In the past, things might have stayed civil," Toshikazu muttered. "But he is now the Head of the Kagurazaka Clan. That makes him my father's equal in status. My old man is lucky he hasn't been told to retire yet."
"I think he has more common sense than that, surely," Inagaki noted.
Toshikazu groaned, explaining the current state of the Chiba household. "On top of everything, Erika has moved into Saijou-kun's place, and Shuji has fled to the Watanabe residence."
"…So the reason you're stubbornly refusing to go home is to avoid the fallout?"
"Exactly."
The fact that his father had tried to force an engagement between Yugen and Erika was a massive headache. Toshikazu had been living in a monthly apartment for over a month to avoid the main house. Inagaki cast a sympathetic look toward his superior; it was the Chiba patriarch's fault, yet Toshikazu was the one paying the price.
"Regardless, we can't move without information. Inagaki, take us to Rotter Bart."
"That information broker? Understood."
Rotter Bart was a quiet cafe nestled in the hills of Yamate, Yokohama. Toshikazu had stumbled upon it years ago and discovered the master was a broker. He often stopped by for the coffee even when he didn't need to buy intel. As he walked in, he noticed a woman at the counter—Kyoko Fujibayashi. She spotted Toshikazu and Inagaki immediately.
"My, Inspector. Taking a break?"
"Yes, Fujibayashi-san."
Kyoko knew the master of the cafe well, but she kept her response casual. "I'm off-duty today." Toshikazu handed a note to the master while ordering coffee; the man accepted it without a flicker of emotion and began brewing the drinks.
In another life, Kyoko would have been the one to approach Toshikazu to move the Chiba family. In this world, however, the "Shinshokai" and the Mitsuya were the center of the action. The Chiba family had only been involved in guiding the evacuation of the students. Toshikazu and Kyoko had only met briefly to exchange notes on the mysterious units that had attacked.
However, Toshikazu knew Kyoko was of the Fujibayashi family—experts in ancient magic. Just as he was about to ask her for insight, the master slid over the coffee and a return note. Toshikazu read it, then handed it back. He paid for the coffee and the information fee, finished his drink, and left.
Once outside, Toshikazu followed Kyoko to her car, with Inagaki following in their unmarked patrol car.
"—So, Inspector. I assume you want to talk about the recent terror attack?"
As an intelligence officer, Kyoko knew the details. But even she was shocked by the variety of magic deployed. While civilians had been injured, there were no reported fatalities among the non-involved (strictly speaking, deaths had occurred, but Yugen's resurrection had erased them from the record). She suspected Toshikazu wanted to talk about the culprits.
"There's a strange point about the attack," Toshikazu said. "There were no survivors among the perpetrators."
"They didn't die in the explosions?"
"No."
Even though every perpetrator had been caught on street cameras, they hadn't triggered a single explosive detector. Footage showed them entering the hotel, but never leaving.
"The only stroke of luck was that the hotel was already scheduled for demolition. All the guests who were supposed to stay there had been moved to other resorts by the Kamisaka Group."
…Yugen-kun probably predicted all of this and lured the terrorists there, Kyoko thought.
"But here is the most important part," Toshikazu continued. "We believe the perpetrators died at least a day before the attack."
"I see… So that's why you're going to see the 'Puppeteer.'"
"The Puppeteer?"
Toshikazu had been referred by the master of Rotter Bart to a magic researcher specializing in "Spirit Return" (necromancy). He hadn't expected the name 'Puppeteer,' and he looked at Kyoko in confusion.
"The person you're looking for is not just a researcher. He's an ancient magic user nicknamed the 'Puppeteer.' There are rumors he uses forbidden magic to turn corpses into marionettes. The Magic Association has him flagged as a person of interest."
"That's..."
"He'll certainly be able to tell you about corpse manipulation," Kyoko warned. "He poses as a researcher, but be careful, Inspector. Kazukiyo Omi is said to have deep ties with magicians from Dahan (Old China)."
Toshikazu nodded grimly. Kyoko then voiced one more concern.
"To be honest, Inspector… your sister has friends in the Kagurazaka, Kamizumi, and Yoshida families—all experts in ancient magic. Why didn't you ask them?"
"…Because my father tried to force my sister into an engagement with the Kagurazaka head. She's so furious she's effectively run away from home. My brother and I can't even step foot in the house without being caught in the crossfire."
Toshikazu saw no reason to hide it. Kyoko couldn't help but feel it was a miracle the Fujibayashi family hadn't devolved into similar drama.
"I see… Understood. I'll make the introductions. But after you visit him, please go to the Kagurazaka villa in Tokyo."
"Do you have a connection with the Kagurazaka house, Fujibayashi-san?"
"We met through work. He gave me his contact info and told me to call if I ever needed help," Kyoko lied smoothly.
In reality, she and Yugen had exchanged private numbers due to their military cooperation. She wanted to tell him not to take the risk, but given the Chiba family's internal mess, she couldn't stop him. She decided to leave him in the hands of Yugen, whose knowledge of ancient magic far surpassed her own.
After parting ways with Toshikazu, Kyoko immediately called Yugen's private number. Yugen appeared on the video call, and Kyoko instantly recognized the background of the Shiba residence.
"Good evening, Yugen-kun. Do you have a moment?"
"Yes… I've secured the line on this end. What's the matter? Is this about equipment for the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion?"
"No, it's about the investigation. I ran into Toshikazu Chiba and Inagaki. They were referred to the 'Puppeteer,' Kazukiyo Omi, to learn about corpse manipulation."
Yugen visibly massaged his temples.
"…I have no personal grudge against Toshikazu-san, and given the Parasite incident, I actually quite like him… but why on earth would that master introduce a modern magic user to that man?"
"Is there a concern?"
"The terrorist mastermind, Jiedhe Heigu—Gu Jie—is an ancient magic user from Dahan. Omi has deep ties there. If the 'Puppeteer' is connected to him, the Inspector is walking into a trap."
Kyoko felt a chill. She had warned Toshikazu about Omi's ties to Dahan, but she hadn't known the terrorist was also from there.
"I told him to visit the Kagurazaka villa after he sees him," Kyoko said.
"Then I can still handle it. Understood. I'll take care of it."
"Let me come along. It's my responsibility for not stopping him."
Yugen, who usually never turned down her help, had a completely different look in his eyes this time.
"I'm sorry, Kyoko-san. This time, I must ask you to stay out of it."
"Why? Does this have to do with the conditions for Minoru-kun's treatment?"
"No. But… Lieutenant Kyoko Fujibayashi, Aide to the 101st Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion of the National Defense Army. As Special Service Lieutenant General of the National Defense Army, I cannot permit your further involvement in this matter at this time."
Kyoko gasped. It wasn't a family matter; he was invoking military protocol.
Yugen used his "Tatsuzo Kamijo" persona for a reason. The Kagurazaka house was now ruling the Master Clan Conference from the shadows. While he had issued a "voluntary request for support" to the military, the 101st Brigade—of which Kyoko was a member—had yet to show its colors. Involving her now would be problematic for both sides.
Furthermore, because she was Retsu Kudo's granddaughter, there was a risk the Kudo family would try to use her to get closer to the investigation. The Fujibayashi family had already been complicit by remaining silent during the Parasite Doll incident. Yugen had been lenient for the sake of the Kudo family's reconstruction, but he had drawn the line: the only people from that lineage allowed to be involved were Lina and Celia.
"As long as your unit remains non-committal to our request for cooperation, I must treat you as non-cooperative. This has the approval of the Joint Staff Office. If you intervene as an individual and this comes to light, the Kudo family will undoubtedly try to lean on you. Therefore, I cannot accept your help. Do you understand, Kyoko-san?"
Kyoko bowed her head deeply. She recognized the shift in his voice back to his normal tone at the very end. "I understand, Yugen-kun. I'm sorry. Please… take care of it."
After the call ended, Kyoko stared at the dark screen, her expression troubled.
…What is he thinking?
She held doubts not just about her superiors, but about Major General Saeki herself. She understood the founding principles of the 101st Brigade, but the logic fell apart when they relied on people like her (Retsu's blood), Tatsuya (Yotsuba blood), and Yugen within their ranks.
They claimed to be a magical force that didn't rely on the Ten Master Clans, yet their most decisive assets were deeply tied to them. With so many strategic-class magicians related to the clans, the military was at a stalemate. Kyoko couldn't help but wonder what her commanders were trying to achieve by severing the personal ties that barely kept the peace.
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