It was a fairly rough way to be pulled, but neither Mayumi nor Lena protested.

  "Way to go!"

  Mari commended Ryousuke's handiwork in a coarse tone.

  "I'll leave them to you!'

  Mari then entrusted Ryousuke with watching over them while handling a two-man offensive.

  "Sure, leave them to us."

  It was Charlotte who responded. She stood across from Ryousuke, facing the remaining one of the four assailants.

  She is unarmed. She is facing the man with the stun baton with her bare hands. Despite this, they were deadlocked in the standoff. Was that because Charlotte had no openings?

  Or was there more to the situation?

  Meanwhile, Ryousuke's side was easy to define.

  68

  "Shit. Son of a-!"

  It was one of the assailants who was breathing hard and swearing. There wasn't a stun baton in his hand — Ryousuke had already knocked it out of his hand — and now he had a small-sized knife in hand.

  Ryousuke was not in a hurry to "go back up Mari" since he was dealing with his opponent's attacks. He didn't feel at a disadvantage in fighting against armed opponents barehanded. He was also surely racking up damage on his opponent.

  As expected, the one who seemed to be having the hardest time was Mari, who was dealing with two opponents by herself. That said, she wasn't fighting dangerously either.

  A clear indication of this was the growing frustration on part of her opponents.

  The FBI is supporting them. Nevertheless, during this illegal operation, they are the ones who want to avoid having the police get involved. The longer this drags on, the more advantageous it would be for Mari and the others.

  The two men who had been up against Mari took a wide step back. Seeing this, the other two men also backed away. Maybe they realized that the situation was not in their favor and decided to retreat.

  "Hey!

  "Right!"

  The two in the front signaled some sort of cue.

  The two on both sides nodded silently.

  All four of them took out a thin, elongated device from their back pockets in unison.

  Psion light emanated from the hands gripping the devices.

  "CADs!?"

  "Are these guys magicians!?"

  Mayumi and Mari shouted almost simultaneously.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  The illegal operatives loaded the Activation Sequence from their CADs.

  Caught by surprise, both Mayumi and Mari lagged behind in their responses.

  "I won't let you!"

  69

  But the first to activate their magic was Lina, who shouted from inside the self-propelled car she was monitoring from.

  A Zone Interference was deployed to an explosive effect, enveloping Mayumi's group of five as well as all the illegal operatives, preventing anyone from activating magic.

  Lina is not as good at Zone Interference as Miyuki, but she originally outperforms Miyuki when it comes to generating explosive, instantaneous power. She could generate a Zone Interference as strong as Miyuki's as long as the duration is limited to a few seconds.

  The Zone Interference vanished after three seconds, just long enough for Mayumi and her team to regain their bearings.

  Still, neither Mayumi nor Mari needed to use magic.

  Throwing knives akin to thin needles flew out of nowhere, piercing the four operatives one after the other. Despite the wounds being limited to non-lethal spots, such as the upper arms and thighs, from the screams raised by all of them, it appeared that the damage was more than meets the eye.

  Those knives were manipulated via Movement Magic by Sophia, who was sneaking around just outside the parking lot. The technique of guiding knives with magic is widely popular among Stars. Countless members are proficient in it, which ultimately resulted in the development of advanced magics, such as "Dancing Blades."

  The throwing knives that struck the operatives were of a variation of this magical technique, known as "Hornet Dagger." A knife is electrically charged via Release-Type Magic, and then manipulated via Movement-Type Magic and thrust into the enemy. The magic harms the enemy by inflicting a puncture wound from a knife and by delivering an electric shock. The primary intended purpose of this magic is to incapacitate the target's limbs without killing him or her.

  In many cases, it is used to capture an enemy alive, but in this case, the objective was not to capture them.

  "—Retreat!"

  That man must have been the leader. With a single word from him, all four of them, including himself, ran back to the vehicle they used for their assault with knives still very much lodged in them.

  As the self-propelled car sped off, neither Mari, Ryousuke, Charlotte, nor Sophia, who was hiding outside the parking lot, made a move to stop it.

  70

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  "Where did those knives come from…?"

  "Not a clue."

  Mayumi muttered and Mari sincerely, albeit ruefully, replied. As to why she's in a foul mood,

  "It must have been magic, but I couldn't pick up any sign of activation nor any trace left of it."

  This was the reason.

  "If those knives had been aimed at us I don't think I could have blocked them," Mari thought, angry at herself for her ineptitude.

  "Yes. Whoever the caster at the beginning, the one that used Zone Interference, they were pretty powerful."

  The subsequent line from Lena, in a voice still fraught with tension, was not exactly a follow-up, but it did have some measure of effect in calming Mari's mind.

  "The caster at the beginning?"

  It was Ryousuke interjecting at Lena's words.

  "Milady, was the Zone Interference and throwing knives from different casters?"

  Though he was "interjecting," not "questioning" or "judging," he noticed something suspicious and asked her about it.

  "Yes, it looks like it was different people."

  Lena's answer was clear. It must have been evident to her.

  "The technical control of the throwing knives was also quite advanced, but the magician who launched the Zone Interference probably surpasses me in terms of power."

  "They surpass you, Milady? For someone to be able to do that, could they be from Stars!?"

  Upon hearing Ryousuke's remark, both Mayumi and Mari thought it was an exaggeration. The way he said it, it sounded as if Lena has magical power comparable to those from Stars.

  Both of them vaguely sensed that Lena was not an ordinary person.

  But at this point, they were still underestimating Lena's abilities.

  71

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  Lina, who is in the driver's seat of the self-propelled car, unlocked the car doors when she saw Sophia approaching. Lina had shrewdly taken the spot in front of the steering wheel just after Sophia got out of the car.

  "Good work, Fifi."

  "Thanks."

  Sophia replied to Lina's words of appreciation in a casual tone as she climbed into the passenger seat. She had already relaxed from being in a combat mindset.

  "Their response was not as good as I thought it would be."

  Sophia shook her head lightly at Lina's comment.

  "Yeah, their magical skills were poor, but their execution was unexpectedly skillful. They didn't go down when the 'Hornet Daggers' hit them, and I think they escaped without even pulling out the knives to avoid leaving behind anything identifiable, like blood or skin tissue or anything like that."

  "Really? They had guts."

  "Yeah. I don't think your average amount of training would get you that far."

  "This makes me more and more curious about their backgrounds… Like, what they used to do before they were hired by the FBI."

  "We'll find out when we catch them."

  Sophia brought Lina back to reality after she was lost in thought.

  "…You think they'll make another attempt?"

  "No, no, if they still plan to make another attempt, they will certainly need to change out members."

  "?"

  Seeing Lina tilting her head, Sophia gave a sly smile.

  "Lina, did you forget? It's not just the two of us over here."

  "Ah."

  Lina reflexively raised her voice at the thought of having a separate team give chase, for this had never crossed her mind before. Sophia began to "giggle" at her.

  72

  "Didn't you specialize in direct combat, Lina?"

  "…Let's get back to the hotel."

  Lina started the car and drove away.

  Sophia continued to giggle as she watched Lina, who was focused on looking forward, refuse to glance back at the passenger side.

  The cab Mayumi's group had called had yet to arrive. Sophia didn't bother to mention the guards she stationed behind them in the shadows.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  By the time Mayumi, Mari and Ryousuke reached their hotel it was almost midnight.

  "Aah. Finally, sleep at last."

  Mayumi threw herself onto her bed, clothes and all. She lay on her back, mumbling to herself "I'm so tired," while extending every last syllable in emphasis.

  "Mayumi, come on, get it together."

  Mari scolded her, but even her own tiredness showed in her voice as she spoke.

  Although not necessarily lying down, she herself was sitting languidly on her bed.

  "Go on, take a shower first and get a fresh change of clothes before bed. You're going to get your clothes all wrinkled if you are sloppy like that."

  "Ehh…"

  "Don't 'Ehh' me. Are you sure you want to go straight to bed without taking a shower?

  Don't be so quick as to stop taking care of yourself."

  The last sentence was what sealed the deal, causing Mayumi to sigh as she started to sit up.

  Only to immediately fall back onto her bed again.

  "Oh no. I can't. You can go first, Mari."

  "Haaah…"

  Mari heaved a sigh as she stood up, the expression on her face saying, "You're helpless."

  "Don't fall asleep. After I'm done, you're going to get in."

  "Okaaay."

  73

  Mayumi replied lazily, lifting one hand and fluttering it in the air.

  74

  75

  Once she confirmed that Mari had disappeared into the bathroom, Mayumi then lazily sat up. Believing that she would fall asleep if she didn't.

  Mayumi had been joking around and acting like a child with Mari, it wasn't really her intention to sleep without a shower. Like most adult women, she takes her appearance seriously, and she would also feel uncomfortable having her body be somewhat sticky all over.

  She didn't engage in any intense exercise that would have caused her to sweat so much.

  …Though, it's possible that she could have been sweating due to the tension she was feeling, or even from cold sweats.

  The reasons for why they made it back to the hotel so late and for their tiredness, is because they were being questioned by the police.

  It wasn't the FBI. It was the Vancouver municipal police. Not surprisingly, the restaurant had reported the assault against Mayumi's group in the parking lot.

  Being the victims of the incident, the police weren't particularly harsh with their questions. And having a lawyer, that is Charlotte, along with them had the added benefit of easing the police's scrutiny about the incident.

  But since they were all magicians — though Charlotte would technically qualify as a psychic, not a magician — the proceedings took longer than usual, as they had to confirm that the traces of magic left at the scene were not theirs and that they had not used their magic improperly.

  The FBI staff who had given the orders to the operatives probably wanted for Mayumi's group to be arrested, or at least detained for the misuse of magic, in the event that the kidnapping did not succeed. Without a doubt, they had planned this so as to create a scandal by association between Tatsuya, who sent Mayumi's group over, and the opposing presidential candidate, Secretary of Defense Spencer.

  This attempt might have succeeded if Lena had not stopped them from using magic. If Mayumi's group had been alone, it is likely that they would have been accused of having used magic just like how Mayumi and Ryousuke themselves had been accused back in Japan.

  By all accounts, in Japan, Mayumi has benefitted from being a daughter of the Saegusa Family, even if she herself is unaware of it. One could say that she has been "taken into account." So far, her use of magic throughout the city has been largely overlooked by the judicial authorities.

  Vancouver has particularly strict restrictions on the use of magic in public spaces.

  Mayumi had taken this information carefully into consideration prior to her trip.

  76

  Even so, due to the virtual prohibition against even short-term travel abroad for magicians, she hasn't had any experience visiting a foreign country until now. She had no concrete notion of the differences between domestic and international travel.

  Consequently, she didn't have the lesson in mind about keeping an eye on the differences between countries. Mayumi almost fell into such a pitfall this evening.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  Lina had returned to the hotel much earlier than Mayumi. She had already taken a bath and was now relaxing.

  "Lina, Captain Mirfak reportedly captured the operatives in question."

  It was at this point that Sophia, who had gone out to assess the situation, returned.

  "Hardy, not the DIA?"

  "Of course, we'll have to hand them over once we're done with our interrogation. Since they used some reasonably good magicians, it seems they decided to have Stars do the preliminary work before turning them over."

  "Were they brainwashed?"

  In this case, by "preliminary work" it generally means getting them to a state where they could ask questions. It's commonly believed in Japan that "brainwashing" is detrimental to magical skills, whereas the same doesn't apply in America. It is believed that even low-level magicians can greatly benefit from it by having their magical skills become more directional at the expense of versatility.

  "That's something being looked into now, but it's not unlikely. Those guys used to belong to the 'Wiz Guard.'"

  The "Wiz Guard" are a domestic security force composed of low-level combat magicians who wouldn't even otherwise be considered for Stars. Even being at a low-level, they are still capable of performing at a practical level as magicians and as soldiers.

  "Hmm."

  Lina didn't even react after hearing that they are former Wiz Guards. For Lina, while in her early teens, she had been in the Starlight elite course before advancing to Stars, so she didn't even feel it necessary to learn about the Wiz Guard career path.

  "From the sounds of it, the FBI pulled them out of jail after they were court-martialed and convicted."

  "What the hell did they do to get convicted at a court-martial?"

  77

  This question was partially just a prompt for Sophia to continue speaking, especially since she herself doesn't have much interest in the matter.

  "Remember the riot in Northern Mexico three years ago?"

  The former Mexican territory was annexed by the USNA and reorganized into three states. Of those, the state of Northern Mexico encompasses the area north of the Tropic of Cancer including the Baja California Peninsula.

  "They were charged with assaulting the local population at that time. The sentence was imposed on the grounds that they had encouraged the rebellion of some of the state troops and caused them to turn against the federal military. According to the official records, that's what happened."

  Upon hearing this, however, Lina could no longer remain indifferent. This is because after the clash between the Wiz Guard and the state troops, Lina had been deployed to Northern Mexico as "Angie Sirius" along with her subordinates from Stars. At that time, they had a very difficult time getting the situation under control, and the trouble with the Anti-Magic Movement left her with some bitter memories of the incident.

  "…But is that how it actually happened?"

  Lina asked, catching on to Sophia's "according to the official records."

  "I'll have to do more digging to be sure, but… It looks like the charges were forced upon them from the top."

  "You mean they were made into scapegoats!?"

  "Well… it sure looks that way."

  Sophia vaguely acknowledged Lina's wide-eyed words.

  "Oh…"

  Sophia muttered shortly thereafter, realizing now from Lina's reaction that she had been deployed as "Angie Sirius" to quell the riots in Northern Mexico.

  "It's not like you're at fault for anything, Lina."

  Sophia hastily added.

  "I don't know the details, but it must have been awfully hard just to get things under control, right? The Wiz Guard is a completely different organization, even though it's a part of the federal military. Even as 'Sirius,' there's no way that you could've completely known what was going on."

  78

  "—I know. I'm not someone who likes to beat myself up over things like that, so don't worry."

  Lina smiled back.

  However, her expression betrayed what she was feeling in her heart since things aren't as clear-cut as she says they are.

  Thus, the FBI's attempt to use illegal operatives ended in complete failure.

  But, even though it had been thwarted, it left a bad aftertaste in Lina's mouth.

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  Chapter 4

  [The Two Stone Tablets]

  Thwarting the FBI's attempted kidnapping plot against Mayumi was not a very difficult mission for Lina. But it was quite time-consuming and laborious, leaving Lina with little to no time to focus on what was taking place on Mt. Shasta.

  If it had not been for the unnecessary meddling of the FBI, which had been playing under the strings by the staff of the opposition party's presidential candidate, then the ensuing turmoil on the West Coast could have been prevented.

  The evening of June 29th. Despite it being evening time, it is still bright outside. With the summer solstice having just passed, sunset is still a long way off.

  During their surveillance of FAIR, Haruka and Louis Roux witnessed members of a digging team come out from behind a waterfall with excited faces while carrying what appeared to be stone tablets in hand.