depending on the character that precedes it.

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  "There's no point in pretending, I'll be honest with you. At the moment, there is no hope of reproducing it."

  "Is that so…"

  "Kudou Minoru did give us some know-how, but the method behind its process is just too different from Modern Magic."

  Minoru is much like a family member to Tatsuya's inner circle, but for the Yotsuba Family as a whole, he is regarded as a "former adversary." This is especially true for magists who specialize in Mental-Interference Type Magic, such as Yuuka, since they tend to be distant towards Minoru. Even Fumiya's unfriendly attitude towards Minoru may be due not only to the fact that they are rivals of the same gender and the same age, but also because, as with Yuuka, he is a magister who specializes in Mental-Interference Type Magic. As for Miyuki, since she does not have such a contentious tendency, it means that such a thing does not hold true for everyone.

  "But it is possible to develop a magic with similar effects. Though it'll be completely different from that of [Kimon Tonkou].

  "That's great."

  Tatsuya commended with open arms.

  Developing a new magic is worth it in itself. Even more so, if it means creating a magic that has effects that have never existed before in Modern Magic. It could be said to be a greater accomplishment than simply adapting Ancient Magic into Modern Magic. In both academic and practical terms.

  If Yuuka was elated by Tatsuya's praise, she didn't show.

  "…I appreciate the praise, but it's not finished yet. To be more accurate, I feel like we're a step away from being able to develop it."

  "May I see the data?"

  "Of course. Just give me a moment."

  Moving from the long desk where she was facing Tatsuya over to a desk by the wall, Yuuka returned with a notebook-type terminal.

  It was a dual-screen device with a touch display and a touch console. Yuuka ran her fingers over the console screen. Immediately thereafter, a mathematical expression mixed with alphabets and symbols appeared on the display, which until then had been a white geometric pattern wallpaper. It's the data representing the structure of a Magic Sequence. When processed, it would become an Activation Sequence.

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  Tatsuya placed his hand on the display and scrolled through the mathematical expression. The speed at which he was scrolling through was quite fast, but Yuuka wasn't shocked nor surprised by this. She understood that Tatsuya was fully capable of this level of processing.

  "…Does this magic have a name?"

  "Huh? …No. It is not even finished yet."

  "Please think of a name. I think I know where you are stuck."

  The act of naming it is like claiming a patent on the magic. Unfortunately, there is no system in place to register or claim royalties, but one could at least indulge their desire for any honor by doing so.

  "No, I don't want to. I told you, It is not even finished yet. I also don't want to take credit for someone else's work."

  When Tatsuya requested for Yuuka to name it, he meant, "I will complete this magic myself, and you will be registered as the developer." With a perfect understanding of this, Yuuka asserted her pride as a researcher.

  "If so, then how about we come up with a name for it together after it is successfully completed?"

  Tatsuya could understand this kind of pride. Therefore, he offered a compromise.

  "…Well, then."

  "I'll mess around with it a little bit. I think I'll be able to come up with something in three or four days."

  "Why don't you just take it back to Tokyo or Miyaki-shima? I haven't made any progress in a while anyway."

  "Is that okay?"

  "Yeah. Right now I'm focused on a way to defeat [Kimon Tonkou]. It will probably take another month or two, and I was planning to suspend development of the new magic for the time being. So, Tatsuya-san, if you want to take it over, that's fine with me."

  "Then, I'll take you up on it."

  "Okay, just hold on a moment, I'll put it on a card for you right now."

  Yuuka returned to the desk again, this time operating the console furnished there.

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  After about ten seconds, a card-shaped storage device popped halfway out from the edge of the desk. Yuuka pulled it out, and put it in a case, and handed it to Tatsuya.

  "I'll take care of it."

  Tatsuya slipped the case containing the card-shaped storage device into the inside pocket of his summer jacket and left the research institute.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  From the day after his visit to the Yotsuba Main House, Tatsuya devoted himself to the development of the new magic at the laboratory on Miyaki-shima. It was a rare occurrence, but he literally forgot to eat and sleep as he worked on it.

  More than a full day had passed, shortly before noon on July 9th, when he was struck by inspiration.

  [Excuse me, Tatsuya-sama.]

  Hanabishi Hyogo, his personal butler, spoke apologetically over the extension line.

  "Did something happen?"

  He had been instructed to only contact him in case of an urgent matter.

  [Yes.]

  A trace of unusual apprehension could be heard in Hyougo's voice.

  Sensing that it was genuinely an "urgent matter," Tatsuya switched gears.

  [Sir, Jeffrey James-sama of the USNA has contacted us and urgently needs to see you.]

  Jeffrey James is the secretary to Liam Spencer, the USNA Secretary of Defense, the leading candidate in the next presidential race. He has made numerous visits to Miyaki-shima to meet Tatsuya as Spencer's liaison.

  "Is he on the line right now?"

  [Yes.]

  "Tell him I'll be five minutes."

  [Understood.]

  At once, Tatsuya hung up the call through the extension line and hurriedly checked his appearance.

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  He then went to the conference room and dialed Hyougo on the videophone. Four minutes and fifty seconds had passed since he hung up the call.

  "Please connect us."

  On the display, Hyougo bowed, and then it was replaced by the face of a friendly-looking caucasian man.

  "JJ, it's been almost a month."

  Tatsuya addressed Jeffrey James by "JJ," at his own request. He asked so three years ago, when they first met, and Tatsuya has since then used the nickname without qualms.

  [Yes, Tatsuya. It's been a while.]

  "I was told this is an urgent matter, where would you like us to meet?"

  Tatsuya wasn't going to ask him about the matter over the phone. This is why he asked,

  "where would you like us to meet." He knew It must be a request, a consultation, a complaint, or about something else that cannot be discussed over the phone. It would be a waste of time for him to ask if it could be discussed over the phone instead of meeting in person.

  [Actually, I'm about a hundred and twenty miles from… uh, I mean, about two hundred kilometers east of you, out at sea.]

  "…Are you aboard the aircraft carrier?"

  [That's right. I see you're well informed.]

  Tatsuya knew from the news that the USNA Navy's massive aircraft carrier, the

  [Independence], was coming to the Western Pacific for a joint training exercise with Japan.

  Being Spencer's secretary and with the presidential election on the horizon, JJ certainly is a busy man. It is quite unlikely that he boarded the aircraft carrier from Hawaii. It is most likely the case that he was flown aboard a small-sized transport plane to the warship in the Pacific Ocean.

  [So, if you have the time to spare, I'd appreciate it if you could come over here.]

  "Right now? It must be about something quite urgent."

  [The matter I would like to consult about with you is quite urgent.]

  He says it's a consultation, but from the sound of this call, it's probably a favor. And it sounds like it is a tricky one at that.

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  "Okay, I understand. I'll be waiting for you."

  The Secretary of Defense's staff appeared to be at their wits' end. If he were to leave things as is, then there is no denying the possibility of it blowing up and spiraling out of control. With this in mind, Tatsuya accepted having JJ visit him to meet up.

  Due to the technical exchange regarding the Stellar Reactor, the staff on Miyaki-shima are accustomed to receiving American visitors. Notably, JJ, for one, is a frequent visitor to Miyaki-shima for short stays.

  Given the technical exchange program regarding the Stellar Reactor, the staff at Miyaki-shima is accustomed to receiving american visitors. JJ, in particular, frequently visits and stays for short periods of time. Nowadays, the airport staff no longer feel overly nervous about welcoming him.

  Today, however, the airport staff were a bit nervous about JJ's tense mood when he landed at the northeast airport, which is exclusively used by members of the Yotsuba Family, instead of the southeast airport that is open to the public. At this point, all of them, except for Tatsuya, shared the same feeling that the situation is different from usual.

  Guided to the reception room by Tatsuya, where they sat opposite each other, JJ

  exchanged a few brief words of greeting, and then immediately began to address his business there.

  "Actually, there have been a series of mysterious incidents in Oakland, a city on the West Coast, where a number of people have suddenly lost the ability to speak."

  "Lost the ability to speak? Are their tongues and throats paralyzed?"

  Tatsuya first suspected that it could be due to the effects of a toxic gas.

  "No. The reports from third parties indicate that they can pronounce normally. Rather, the phenomenon is that a person who was speaking normally before has now suddenly lost the ability to make sense of words."

  "Is it something causing brain dysfunction?"

  "It's certainly similar to the symptoms of Wernicke's aphasia."

  Wernicke's aphasia is a form of speech impairment caused by damage to one of the language centers of the cerebrum18 called Wernicke's area19, resulting in the difficulty in 18 Cerebrum - Wikipedia

  19 Wernicke's area - Wikipedia

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  grasping the meaning of words. Not only is the affected individual less able to comprehend others' speech, but they themselves also have difficulty articulating meaningful sentences. They are able to correctly pronounce the words themselves, but are sometimes unable to adopt the right ones and make correct use of them, resulting in often disjointed sentences. This affects not only speech, but also the ability to read and write.

  "—However, no matter how many tests we ran, we could not find any abnormality in the cerebrum. If that wasn't enough, there have been cases of symptoms being reflected in others with a time lag of a few hours to about a day."

  "Is there a possibility that it's an illness caused by an unknown virus?"

  "We conducted thorough examinations and found nothing but known viruses."

  Tatsuya expected this answer. With such an outbreak of an illness, the logical course of action would be to conduct a thorough virological examination.

  "Besides, the patients — we are calling them 'patients' for now — have not been appearing in any specific spot, and there have been no cases of simultaneous outbreaks in areas near ground zero where the outbreak occurred."

  "So the aphasia is not the result of toxic gasses or viruses, then."

  "That's what we believe."

  Indeed, it certainly is a puzzling case.

  "…If you're coming to consult with me, you must suspect that this phenomenon may have been caused by magic, right?"

  "Yes. We suspect that it may have been an act of terrorism using magic."

  This was a far more serious matter than Tatsuya assumed prior to this meeting.

  A terrorist act using magic.

  Even if it ends up being a false accusation, it's easily a catalyst for a "witch-hunt". A

  "witch-hunt" that could be perpetuated not only by extremists such as the "Humanists,"

  but also by institutions with political power.

  If true, there is a danger of war between those who possess the gift of magic20 and those who don't possess the gift of magic.21 Rather, if it were to come to that, not only would it be Magians vs. the Majority, but a blood feud could break out between fellow Magians.

  20 Magians

  21 the Majority

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  Whether it be a false accusation or the truth, it's something that needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

  "Tatsuya. Could you travel to the West Coast?"

  "To your country, is that right…?"

  "We would like for you to come and see the site as well as the patients, in order to help us determine the cause of the illness."

  "……"

  "We've already tasked a number of magicians, including star-class members of Stars, to investigate, but they have had no success. You are our last hope."

  "Tell me one thing. When did the outbreak of the illness begin?"

  "The first case appeared seven days ago."

  Tatsuya intuitively thought that this matter could be connected to the black stone tablet that was excavated from Mt. Shasta.

  "—I understand. I will gladly cooperate."

  "Ooh!"

  JJ leaned forward and grasped Tatsuya's hand, saying "thank you" repeatedly with a vigorous handshake.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  The Yotsuba Tokyo headquarters building in Chofu, Tokyo, consists of apartments from the fourth floor up.

  The apartment where Tatsuya and Miyuki live is situated on the uppermost floor.

  After the meeting with JJ, Tatsuya finished the new magic earlier than scheduled and returned home.

  The time was 8:00 P.M. Miyuki was waiting at the rooftop helipad where Tatsuya had arrived using a small-sized VTOL.

  "I'm home, Miyuki. Thanks for welcoming me back. "

  Tatsuya thanked Miyuki for expressly coming to the rooftop to welcome him.

  "Welcome home, Tatsuya-sama."

  Miyuki responded to Tatsuya with a smile tinged with unblemished affection.

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  Lina was standing inside the kitchen. She was taking a plate out of the microwave oven just as Tatsuya and Miyuki entered. Rather than cooking, it is more appropriate to say that she was watching over the cooking appliance. This isn't something unique to just Lina, but is rather a common sight in the kitchens of contemporary Japan.

  She must have been waiting for Tatsuya. Dinner tends to start a tad later in his home.

  "Tatsuya-sama, the urgent matter that held you up, do you mind if I ask what it was about?"

  "Tatsuya, what got you holed up on Miyaki-shima?"

  Miyuki and Lina, respectively, asked in rapid succession about the reason why he did not return home last night. Their tone of voice wasn't very inquisitive, but neither of them seemed to be able to suppress their doubts about the reason behind his lateness.

  "I have been working on a new magic."

  "Was it a request from the main house? Is that the reason for your visit the day before yesterday, they called you there?"

  Miyuki's voice was laced with condemnation against the main house.

  "No, it wasn't that."

  To which Tatsuya dismissed without any particular fluster. In the past, these circumstances would result in frost covering the entire room, but since such occurrences no longer happen these days, there was no need to feel flustered.

  "Remember the request from Lena Fehr?"

  "Yes. Was it for that…?"

  Tatsuya nodded in response to Miyuki's remark.

  "Wait, you've been working on a magic to sneak into the States?!"

  And then, Lina exclaimed in surprise. The matter of Lena wanting Tatsuya to come to America had also been shared with her.

  "Yes. Aside from Lena Fehr's request, I have another matter that requires me to go to the West Coast of the USNA. It's no exaggeration to say that it's likely an emergency situation. Lena Fehr's call for me to visit couldn't have been at a better time."

  "…What in the world is going on in the States?"

  Miyuki also joined Lina in giving Tatsuya a serious look.

  138

  "Actually, I got an unscheduled visit from Jeffrey James today."

  Tatsuya proceeded to recount to them the matter that JJ had brought to his attention.

  "That kind of thing happened in Oakland…"

  "Tatsuya-sama. It's quite suspicious since magic is involved, but considering the timing of this incident, you don't think…"

  "You think so too?"

  Tatsuya and Miyuki shared an understanding glance with each other.

  "Hey!"

  They turned their attention to Lina in response.

  "You two aren't alone here, don't keep to yourselves!"

  Tatsuya and Miyuki exchanged looks once more.

  "Remember when we talked about FAIR taking stone tablets they dug up at Mt. Shasta?"

  "Yeah, I remember."

  Lina didn't have access to this information during her time in America. It was only when Tatsuya told her about it, that she came to learn about what had happened.

  "FAIR brought back a stone tablet that is presumed to be a magical artifact. And less than a week later, the first in a series of unusual cases occurred where magic is suspected in being involved."

  "…You two think the stone tablet is responsible?"

  "I'm concerned that FAIR is the one responsible for causing the illness through the use of the stone tablet artifact."

  "…This is really bad!"

  Lina raised her voice because she, too, had thought of the possibility of a "witch-hunt."

  "Yes, I agree. It requires urgent attention. Even if it turns out that we are overthinking this and it's a waste of time, it would still be worth the trip."

  "Let's leave right away. I'll get myself ready."

  Lina was about to start preparing for the trip, as if she didn't care about what Tatsuya's last few words "meant."

  "No, Lina, you need to remain here in Japan."

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  "Why!?"

  "It was a request from JJ to go to the United States this time. In other words, this is a request from the Pentagon. If you accompany me, they may inadvertently try to keep you from coming back to Japan."