Zoku Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

  Magian Company Vol.05

  By: Satou Tsutomu

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  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

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  Credits

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  List of Illustrations

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  Keywords

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  Colored Illustrations

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  Chapter 1

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  Chapter 2

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  Chapter 3

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  Chapter 4

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  Chapter 5

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  Chapter 6

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  Chapter 7

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  Afterword

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  Credits

  Original Work

  Author: Satou Tsutomu

  Illustrations: Kana Ishida

  English Translation Team

  Translation: Aehein

  Edit: Lord_Odin

  Format: Blakegriffin89; theVoidzero

  Proofreading: Khuma2; Blakegriffin89

  Special Thanks: HiroYoshida

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  List of Illustrations

  ● Front Cover

  ● Glossary #6

  ● Cover Page

  ● Glossary #7

  ● Title Page

  ● Glossary #8

  ● Character Introduction #1

  ● The International Situation

  ● Character Introduction #2

  ● Keywords

  ● Character Introduction #3

  ● Colored Illustration #1

  ● Character Introduction #4

  ● Colored Illustration #2

  ● Character Introduction #5

  ● "Road to Shambhala" Map #1

  ● Glossary #1

  ● B&W Illustration #1

  ● Glossary #2

  ● B&W Illustration #2

  ● Glossary #3

  ● B&W Illustration #3

  ● Glossary #4

  ● B&W Illustration #4

  ● Glossary #5

  ● B&W Illustration #5

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  ● B&W Illustration #6

  ● Back Cover Chibi Characters

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  Colored Illustrations

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  Chapter 1

  [Whereabouts of the Ruins]

  July 19th, 2100, in San Francisco.

  The local police conducted a raid on the headquarters of radical magic supremacist organization FAIR.

  The raid resulted in the arrest of countless members that refused to cooperate, as well as the seizing of several items of supposed illicit origin unlawfully obtained. Although the leader, Rocky Dean, and the sub-leader, Laura Simon, managed to escape, enough evidence was assembled to indicate the organization's engagement with organized crime. As such, the San Francisco judicial authorities have since issued arrest warrants for both Dean and Laura.

  With the police's attention now turned to catching the two suspects, the apprehended items, once their origin was established, were taken and stored as evidence to be used in their prosecution.

  When the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) stepped in on July 20th and asked to borrow the "white stone tablet," neither the police, the prosecutors, nor the court had any reason to refuse their request.

  DIA, an intelligence agency affiliated with USNA's Department of Defense, tasked specifically with handling affairs pertaining to military intelligence. With that in mind, it would be fair to ask why such an organization would take interest in an unearthed object of unknown archaeological value. They had information suggesting that said artifacts were likely to be magical artifacts.

  The current existing modern magic has its roots of development as a military tool. And as far as contemporary society is concerned, magic is still deeply associated with its military usefulness. View that was only reinforced with recent international disputes spanning from 2095 to 2097, and magic became increasingly more indispensable as a military resource.

  Added the emergence of the Artificial Relic, a replica of a magical relic, as the core of a promising new energy source, the Stellar Reactor (a stationary type Gravity Control 25

  Magic Sequence Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor), the value of magic and associated relics has increased even further. Magic had its value amplified further beyond a direct equivalent to conventional military power, and is now being regarded as a possibly significant component in the underlying social infrastructure that supports it.

  With this in mind, it would come as no surprise any respectable military intelligence service would take notice of said artifacts, particularly when its product of an illegal digging, by a terrorist group with magician supremacist ideals no less. It was only natural the DIA would want to examine these "White Tablets" in detail once they came into custody of the city police as evidence.

  Their aim was to determine the validity or otherwise of magical effects in the unearthed artifacts. And while the DIA has access to substantial magical expertise from its staff, to ensure a thorough analysis, they enlisted the help of the USNA's premier magician corps, the one reporting directly to the USNA Joint Chiefs of Staff, the STARS.

  16 stone tablets in total, 15 of which were seized by the San Francisco Police Department along with one previously submitted by FEHR as evidence, were temporarily loaned to Stars.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  The afternoon of July 21st, on Miyakishima. Tatsuya was meeting with Minoru as he had done the night before. The venue this time was the apartment Tatsuya used as his home on Miyakishima.

  The topic of conversation remained the same as the night before. It pertains to the White Tablet that was unearthed at Mt. Shasta in northern California, USNA, which is assumed to conceal a map that shows the whereabouts to where the mythical city of "Shambhala" resides.

  If one were to interpret it from a modern perspective, where magic has evolved into a field of science, then it's fairly plausible to believe that Shambhala may very well have been a city where an advanced magical civilization flourished. However, it's hard to imagine a thriving city that has remained as nothing but a legend to this day, especially as the world has become so crowded. Even if Shambhala did in fact exist, it's most likely that only ruins remain.

  The legend is just mere fiction. This is what most people believe it to be. As someone involved with magic, and as a researcher of magic, the ruins of an unknown magical civilization is something that cannot be ignored. Now that clues to the ruins have been found, it's a straightforward decision that what follows is a search for them. And for that 26

  purpose; to discuss the investigation of the ruins of Shambhala, Tatsuya invited Minoru to his home.

  There they sat across from each other at the dining table instead of the sofa set in the living room. They were both served a drink in glass teacups by Minami, dressed in her usual style, the same old black one-piece dress with a white apron combination. She accompanied Minoru in his descent from satellite orbit about an hour ago.

  In mind of the season, her one-piece dress was of a short-sleeved variant, along with a slightly shorter skirt. The cups were filled with Iced coffee. It's cold-brewed coffee that Minami had magically manipulated the osmotic pressure of in order to shorten the brewing time, and used to also cool it down.

  "…So you think that the ruins of 'Shambhala' are in Uzbekistan, Tatsuya-san?"

  Minoru asked, and Tatsuya replied with a "That's right" and a nod.

  "The 'Sita River' is neither the 'Tarim River' nor the 'Syr Darya1,' but the 'Amu Darya', then?"

  Minoru reiterated the question.

  According to the Tibetan Buddhist scripture "Kalachakra Tantra," the utopic mythical city of "Shambhala" resides "on the northern bank" of the Sita River, which springs from Lake Mansarovar at the foot of Mount Kailash. The question was, which of the rivers actually corresponds with the 'Sita River?'

  The following three rivers are the most likely candidates. First is the "Tarim River," which flows through the Uighur region. Another is the "Syr Darya," which flows through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. And the other is the "Amu Darya,"

  which flows through the borders of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (the Indo-Persian Federation2 is, as the name implies, a federal state, with the former states being constituent states of said federation). Among them, the "river that flows north" of Uzbekistan would be the "Amu Darya."

  Tatsuya shook his head from side to side and replied with, "I'm still not sure about that."

  "However, if you were to extend the direction from which the 'Small Tablet Compass'

  moved in both California and Tokyo, the two directions end up intersecting near Uzbekistan. The Small Stone Tablet only moved a couple of centimeters, so I can't tell much more precisely than that, assuming that this is actually a 'compass' at all."

  1 The word (darya) means "lake" or "sea" in Persian and "river" in Central-Asian Persian.

  2 (IPU): Indo-Persian Union = インド・ペルシア連邦:.
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  He added, pointing to a small octagonal stone slab on the table. Although it is called a

  "stone tablet," its thickness isn't even a quarter of its total width. Tatsuya and the others took to describing it as a "Small Tablet Compass" or simply a "compass," although it would be more appropriate to call it a "flat, smooth stone" rather than a "tablet."

  This "Small Tablet Compass," which Tatsuya unearthed in the same cave on Mt. Shasta, where the other stone tablets had been excavated, moves ever so slightly in a particular direction when placed on the palm and infused with a special type of Psion. Unlike a regular compass, it seems to point toward a specific point, rather than a specific direction.

  Considering the fact that they excavated it from the same location as the White Tablets, it would be fair to assume that it is indeed a map to Shambhala, thus Tatsuya and the others believe that this "specific point" would be the location of Shambhala.

  "I see. Indeed, if we insist on just what's written in legends, it may prevent us from seeing the correct answer. The legends have many unclear elements themselves, so sticking with the clues we have in hand should be better for now."

  Minoru agreed with a broad nod to Tatsuya's answer to his question.

  Minoru was earnestly impressed, but Tatsuya seemed to take it as a mere back-channeling.

  "No, we simply do not have enough information to work with."

  Tatsuya added without pretension.

  Minoru smiled slightly at Tatsuya's typical lack of affability.

  Seeing Tatsuya bring his teacup to his mouth, Minoru also reached for his.

  "Excuse me, Tatsuya-sama."

  On the occasion that both Tatsuya and Minoru's mouths were occupied at the same time, Minami, who had been sitting quietly beside Minoru until then, spoke up.

  "If we were to use the 'compass' to observe from several more points, wouldn't it be possible to narrow down the probable candidates?"

  "─In fact, it would."

  After returning his cup slowly to the table, Tatsuya readily agreed with Minami's input.

  Minami blushed. Tatsuya's nonchalant tone sounded to her as if to say she was "stating the obvious." ─Which was, of course, overthinking on her part.

  "In that case, shall I drop in and observe from a couple of locations in Central Asia?"

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  Minoru didn't see that as Tatsuya mocking Minami, but his quick proposal was clearly a follow-up to support Minami's idea.

  "All right. I'll leave it to you, then."

  Tatsuya answered with the same casual tone of voice as he had before. He followed by pushing the "Small Tablet Compass" toward Minoru's side of the table The surface of the small stone tablet was as smooth as glass. The translucent black resembled obsidian with a polished or (glassy) glazed finish. With its small size and octagonal shape, the stone tablet slid smoothly across the tablecloth from Tatsuya's hand until it came to rest in Minoru's.

  "I'll take care of it."

  Now in his hands, Minoru picked up the "compass" and put it in his shirt pocket. The parasitized Minoru experimented before and can also use this magical relic. Minoru didn’t falter, despite the fact that Tatsuya had entrusted him with such a precious relic without a second thought. The level of mutual trust between the both of them is unquestionable.

  Noticing that the teacups were empty, Minami hurriedly stood up.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  At a research institute affiliated with the Stars headquarters, there was a battery of experiments being conducted on the White Tablets on loan from the San Francisco Police Department.

  At the center of it is a young 22-year-old woman. Her name is Evelyn Taylor. A prodigy who graduated from a prestigious engineering college at the age of 17, then commissioned as a technical officer by the federal army.

  She is a unique case in that she applied for admission to the United States Air Force Academy after a gap year following her graduation from college, only to be scouted as a technical officer during the screening process. Further to her qualifications, she was found to have a high aptitude as a combat magician based on an examination that was held immediately after her commissioning, resulting in her being assigned as a staff member to a research institute affiliated with Stars. There she would concurrently receive the unique distinction of undergoing training to be a member of the Stars unit.

  Once Canopus took over as Commander-in-Chief of Stars, he saw an example in Tatsuya and sought to have a combat magician with expertise in magical engineering under his 29

  command in Stars. It was his conviction that not only should staff in the rear be highly educated in magic and technology, but so should those on the front lines.

  Evelyn was just what Canopus was looking for. She caught his eye and he immediately had her educated as a star-class member candidate in the Stars, without even having to go through the "Starlight" Stars cadet stage. That was two years ago.

  And now she is an assistant to the head researcher of Stars, Abigail Stuart, as well as the most promising candidate to be "Vega," a First-Magnitude Star-Class member of Stars.

  Initially Stuart wanted to be the one to get her hands on the "White Tablets" in order to analyze them. However, her hands have been full with analyzing [Babel], a magic from a prehistoric civilization, which had afflicted so many people on the West Coast and nearly caused social unrest. The next logical choice was Evelyn, her assistant who possesses not only advanced magical engineering knowledge but also high-level magical skills.

  The analysis team led by Evelyn was able to immediately determine that a map-like pattern would surface when "achromatic Psions" are poured into a "White Tablet."

  "Evelyn, we finished deciphering the text."

  "Thank you," Evelyn replied amiably to the report from a researcher of the analysis team.

  She is the team leader, while also being the youngest on the team. She knows that, despite the organization's commitment to meritocracy, she still is in a position that makes others envious. As such, she knows it is in her best interest not to ruffle everyone’s feathers. A bit of self-deprecation is nothing to her compared to any decline in the team's performance that could come from emotional friction.

  There is the underlying perception that Canopus and Stuart are partial toward her that has allowed for her to keep her assertiveness in check without worrying that her subordinates would try to take the credit for her work.

  This strategy has proved effective so far.

  "The writing on the stone tablet reads in an archaic Indian script."

  This male researcher's specialty is not magical engineering. If anything he possesses little to no magic aptitude. He is an AI specialist. He isn't an engineer who creates AI's, but is an expert in using them.

  Since magic is not his specialty, he held little interest in the magical gimmicks of the

  "White Tablets." He concentrated on analyzing the information he had at hand without expecting any additional leads to appear through magical means.

  "If this 'map' is anything to go by, it seems to point to the location of Shambhala."

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  "Shambhala? The Tibetan Buddhist paradise that Germany's dictator from the last century was so obsessed with?"

  "I've heard that not only was Germany's dictator obsessed, but so was the dictator of the old Soviet Union."

  "That aside, it is about that Shambhala, correct?"

  The researcher nodded in response to Evelyn's question.

  "The map marks an area between Samarkand and Bukhara in central Uzbekistan in the Indo-Persian Federation. Unfortunately, we could not determine the location any further."

  He managed to narrow down the location without the help of the "Compass" by means of a state-of-the-art supercomputer.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  The satellite orbital residence facility, "Takachiho," orbits at an altitude of about 6,400

  kilometers. It was originally a large-sized NSU3 submarine that was sunk then converted into a habitation satellite.