While Tatsuya listened to Miyuki and Lina talking about how things were going on at the university while passing the time, the mention of an unexpected topic brought a frown to his face.

  "I can't say much about her acting superficial, but I've been getting a similar vibe like what you're saying, Lina. How should I put it, there seems to be no real feeling in what she says or what she does…"

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  Perhaps this could be something more than just a passing worry. Although this is what Tatsuya thought,

  "Tatsuya-sama. I believe it's about time."

  He didn’t have any time left to think about it right now. He gave a nod to Hyougo, who informed him of the advent of the appointed time, and then Tatsuya briskly stood up.

  "Tatsuya-sama, I'm terribly sorry! I shouldn't have brought these troublesome topics to your attention just before an important moment…"

  Miyuki apologized to Tatsuya in a fluster.

  "Not at all. I'd like it if you could tell me about it again later."

  But Tatsuya's mind was already completely focused. He had completely disconnected himself from Honoka's topic and was now fully and utterly focused on the demonstration he was about to carry out. ──This might be heartless, but for better or worse, this was who Shiba Tatsuya is.

  After receiving the dedicated CAD "Third Eye II" for Material Burst from Hyougo, Tatsuya stopped in the middle of the room and adopted the appropriate stance.

  The time is 3:43 A.M.

  Now that the physical distance to the target comet was of the order of 300 million kilometers, or 1,000 light seconds, in about 16 minutes and 40 seconds, any alterations brought on the comet will be observable on Earth.

  Therefore, the time of the operation was set to be at 3:43:20 A.M. so that the observation would be possible at 4 A.M.

  "Tatsuya-sama. Shall we proceed with a countdown?"

  Hyougo asked as Tatsuya held the CAD high in the air.

  "At the ten second mark, please."

  Once he replied, Tatsuya peered into the sighting attachment that resembled an optical scope.

  The "muzzle" of the CAD moved with a resounding rustle before coming to a complete stop.

  It remained in that position for a couple of seconds.

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  Tatsuya stood motionless as if he were a statue.

  "Ten, nine, eight, seven…"

  And the countdown started.

  Tatsuya didn’t move a muscle.

  "…three, two, one."

  At "one," Tatsuya pulled the trigger.

  The trigger of the CAD in the shape of a gun was a switch that outputs an Activation Sequence. It’s not as if by pulling the trigger, magic would shoot out.

  A magic of mass-energy conversion that yields a super-destructive power at a target 300

  million kilometers away.

  Deliberately taking a second to construct the Magic Sequence for Material Burst, Tatsuya unleashed it upon the surface of the target comet.

  Unrestricted by physical distance, the magic activated instantaneously. In the strictest parlance of magical theory, magic works outside of the confines of time.

  The Material Burst Tatsuya unleashed was faster than light, nay, it transcended the concept of velocity and converted 10% of the surface area of the "tar" at a depth of 10

  meters on the distorted spherical shaped comet with an approximate diameter of 20 km’s into pure energy.

  There was no emission of light. In the case of an antimatter reaction, regular matter and antimatter are converted into photons and neutrinos. The energy generated in antimatter reactions comes in the form of high-energy photons, namely gamma rays.

  By contrast, Tatsuya's Material Burst converts matter into nothing but energy. The energy created by the conversion of mass is imparted to the adjacent matter, breaking the intermolecular bonds of the adjacent matter and splitting the molecules into atoms, the atoms into electrons and nuclei, resulting in a plasma of massive kinetic energy. That in turn, partially causes the decomposition of the nucleus, to the point of inducing neutron decay.

  The destructive force brought by Material Burst is mainly derived from the kinetic energy of the adjacent matter being converted into plasma. The surrounding matter comes into contact with this plasma, which is then heated up, causing further destruction. Thus causing an enormous explosion to emerge.

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  And what happens if this phenomenon occurs on the surface of a celestial body?

  As a direct reaction to the explosion, the celestial body is subjected to a large acceleration in the opposite direction to that of the surface of impact. Which would, in turn, change its orbit significantly. If the celestial body cannot endure the explosion, the shattered fragments will be scattered in the opposite direction of the surface of impact.

  Upon the influence of the Material Burst, the celestial body is blown away, ejected from its former orbit.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  At the Ministry of Defense, despite it still being before sunrise, the Administrative Vice-Minister, the Chief of the Joint Military Command, and other senior officials both uniformed officers and bureaucrats of less importance had gathered in a conference room equipped with large monitors. ──Furusawa, the Minister of Defense, had yet to arrive.

  The monitor was linked to the largest astronomical observatory in Japan, displaying the starry sky at 60° ecliptic latitude and 122° ecliptic longitude in real-time at maximum magnification.

  Every member in attendance stared at the large monitor in complete silence.

  As the time on the corner digital display neared 4 A.M., the air in the room grew increasingly strained.

  "What on earth is going to happen…"

  Perhaps unable to endure the suffocating atmosphere, the Administrative Vice-Minister, the top bureaucrat, let out a mutter.

  "Not long now, Vice-Minister."

  The Chief of the Joint Military Command, the top uniformed officer, responded to that soliloquy, perhaps because he too wanted to relieve some of the tension.

  There were no further exchanges beyond that.

  Once again, a heavy silence and tense atmosphere filled the conference room.

  And then, it was 4 A.M.

  "What the…? What's going on?"

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  Prior to even trying to figure out who said those words, everyone present shared the same feeling.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  After activating Material Burst, the four of them (Tatsuya, Miyuki, Lina and Hyougo) moved to the Command Control Room.

  There, they awaited to observe the results.

  It was four o’clock in the morning. It was there that an operator exclaimed excitedly.

  "Confirmed high-energy reaction on the surface of the target comet! Please hold for a moment until the confirmation of the change in orbit."

  And 15 minutes later.

  "Confirmed disintegration of the target comet as well as change in the orbit of the debris.

  All of the comet's debris has drifted out of the solar system. The probable cause of the disintegration is due to the evaporation of most of the ice that constituted the comet."

  The operator's tempered report was met with a "Good work" from Tatsuya.

  Then, turning around to face Miyuki and the others,

  "It’s as you heard. It went almost exactly as we calculated."

  As he said this, his mouth relaxed.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  ──What happened?

  It wasn’t until thirty minutes later that an answer came for this question raised by the Chief of the Joint Military Command.

  "Excuse me, sir. We have completed the verification of the data kindly provided by the Japan Spaceguard."

  "Continue."

  Receiving the prompt from the Administrative Vice-Minister, with a written report in hand, Section Chief Onda proceeded to read it aloud.

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  "A 20-kilometer-diameter celestial body, presumed to be a comet with an undetermined orbit, which was on an approaching course to the Earth, has disintegrated due to the evaporation of most of its mass caused by the intense heat generated on its surface. As for the debris, it appears to have scattered towards the outer edges of the solar system."

  "Intense heat…? From where, exactly?"

  "No speculation has been given as to its nature nor the cause thereof. At present it has been labeled as unknown. That's all I have to report."

  "──Section Chief Onda."

  Seeing that neither the Administrative Vice-Minister nor the Chief of the Joint Military Command seemed inclined to speak for the time being, Akiyama7, the Chief of the Staff Headquarters, addressed Onda.

  "In conclusion, is it correct to say that, with the destruction of the comet-like object that had the potential to cause severe damage to the Earth, the risks of a catastrophic event of an impact have been eliminated?"

  "Yes, Director-General. That seems to me to be the most reasonable conclusion."

  "And the aforementioned Shiba Tatsuya is implicated in this matter. …No, let's stop trying to be roundabout and say it directly. Does this mean that Shiba Tatsuya used his Strategic-Class Magic to blow a celestial body out of the solar system?"

  "Based on the information I have gathered so far, I think that is the most likely explanation."

  Onda's answer became slurred all of a sudden. His tone showed that he, too, found it difficult to believe, nay, to even accept, what he had just said.

  "Breaking up a celestial body 20 kilometers in diameter, 300 million kilometers away? Just blew it up?"

  The voice that rang out was that of the Director of the Policy Bureau, one of the top bureaucrats present.

  "…This was almost like the work of a god or a devil. Was this magician really a human being?"

  7We're inclined to believe that Director-General Akiyama is also the Chief of the Staff Headquarters.

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  There was no answer. The conference room fell completely silent.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  After blowing up the comet, Tatsuya took a nap.

  Waking up before the alarm went off, he reached for the clock on his bedside table.

  The time was 8:40 A.M. He planned to take a nap, but it seems he slept for three hours.

  Well, he took care not to oversleep, but the alarm he set the time for hadn’t gone off since he had already woken up, so there was no issue.

  Perhaps he was tired, maybe he was relaxed. Either way, Tatsuya let out a faint chuckle at his own human nature.

  The reason he didn't get up straight away was because he couldn't quite free his left arm.

  Tilting his head, he looked to his left.

  There he found Miyuki cradling his left arm in her chest with both hands, sound asleep, seemingly blissful.

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  94

  It wasn’t unusual to see them sleeping in the same bed together like this. The reason as to why they had yet to spend the night together was probably due to the fact that they had spent so much time together as brother and sister.

  I guess I could let her sleep until the alarm goes off. ──After looking at the faint smile on Miyuki's delighted sleeping face, Tatsuya decided.

  "Hmm… mmm."

  However, even if she was sleeping, there was no way that Miyuki wouldn’t notice Tatsuya's gaze on her.

  As soon as he thought about "letting her sleep," Miyuki's long eyelashes quivered and her eyelids opened in a smooth motion.

  "Good morning, Tatsuya-sama."

  With Tatsuya's arm still being hugged, Miyuki produced a joyous smile.

  And, with lingering regret of having to part, she let go of Tatsuya's left arm and got up before him.

  "Would you like breakfast?"

  They didn’t spend the rest of the night awake after the comet was blown up before dawn.

  They went to bed the night before at 9 P.M. and woke up at 2 A.M. It was from there on that they went forward with the mission.

  As soon as they woke up, they had a light evening meal, as opposed to breakfast. But, being late at night, it was modest in quantity.

  "A light one, please."

  "Very well."

  Lowering her feet to the floor, Miyuki made a polite curtsy to Tatsuya as he rose from the bed.

  It was 11 o'clock when Tatsuya made his next move. This was the time he decided on, as he figured that the person he had kept up until dawn would have started work by now.

  "Please connect me."

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  He ordered Fujibayashi, and a call was made to the direct line of the Chief of the General Staff.

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  National Defense Force Joint Military Command Staff Headquarters, Director-General's Office.

  The occupant of the room, Director-General Akiyama, frowned doubtfully at the call sign that appeared on the direct line of his telephone.

  He hadn’t gotten a single moment of shut-eye since before dawn.

  He had been holed up in his office, trying to gather his thoughts on how to evaluate, and possibly, how to respond to that unsettling comet explosion. Not wanting to be disturbed, he had instructed his second-in-command, who was acting as his adjutant, to turn away any and all visitors and to stay off the telephone.

  While still filled with suspicion, Akiyama pressed the pick-up button on the phone.

  He didn’t speak, just curiously listened to the speaker. Naturally, there was a full security measure against hypnotic suggestion sounds in place. As soon as a sign of its composition was detected, the connection was automatically cut off.

  "Excuse me, Your Excellency Akiyama. My name is Shiba Tatsuya."

  But when he heard that voice, Akiyama nearly jumped out of his chair, struck by a completely different sense of urgency.

  [May I please have a moment of your time?]

  "Ri-Right, I don't mind."

  Akiyama forcefully suppressed his agitation and answered the voice on the phone. He was tempted to inquire how on earth he had connected to this direct line, but he decided to leave that matter alone for now. After all, the person who had been creating so many headaches for him was making contact from their end. There were other things he wanted to ask.

  [Thank you very much. Did you have a chance to observe the experiment this morning?]

  "──Yes, I saw."

  Akiyama was aware that his voice sounded hoarse.

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  Before he continued, he cleared his throat.

  "…What on earth are you trying to do?"

  [What is it that I’m trying to do?]

  "What are your intentions?"

  [Right. I suppose the main purpose was to demonstrate the prevention of disasters caused by celestial collisions. As you could have witnessed, catastrophic disasters brought about by the collision of near-Earth objects can be avoided by means of magic.]

  "So you're saying it was a demonstration of the beneficial uses of magic?"

  [Not exactly. It's a bit of a lengthy subject, if you don't mind.]

  "I don't mind. Feel free to elaborate."

  While saying this, Akiyama checked the light of the recording lamp with his eyes, to make sure it was still working properly up until now.

  [In conclusion, it was about the cooperation between magic technology and scientific technology. This experiment was designed to show the validity of that.]

  "Scientific technology?"

  [I believe it would be more accurate to say natural scientific technology. In this case, astronomy. I believe that Your Excellency is familiar with the field of magic technology, so I will spare you the theoretical details regarding the magic activation process.]

  That wasn’t a flattering remark on Tatsuya's part. Although Akiyama himself lacks magical skills, he was known for being the most senior soldier of the pro-magician faction among the top brass of the National Defense Force.

  [The point I’m trying to convey here is that any magic will be of no use if you cannot recognize the target's existence.]

  Akiyama stopped short of saying, "Isn't that obvious?"

  "…Like, if we can't detect a potentially dangerous celestial body, we have no means of dealing with it?"

  [Precisely. This particular comet would have been very difficult to detect if it were not for the equipment and facilities offered by a very competent observatory. Once it got close 97

  enough to be spotted by commercial telescopes, it may have been impossible to avoid any of its debris.]

  "…So?"

  [If, hypothetically, the dangerous object was one that approached from the southern sky, from a point unobservable from Japan, as like now, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with it.]

  "Why not? If you have the astronomical coordinates and image data, can't you target it?"

  [If it’s on Earth, no, even as far as lunar orbit goes, it’s possible to strike anywhere with just the coordinates and a visual…]

  Akiyama felt a shiver run down his spine. With data alone, he was able to strike anywhere on the planet. Akiyama was aware of this information. Still, hearing it from the man himself, he was unable to shake off the shudder that crawled through his body.

  [If it's millions or tens of millions of kilometers away, then it would be necessary for me to personally go to the observatory and observe it myself in order to be completely sure.]

  There was a degree of exaggeration in Tatsuya's statement. It was, in fact, possible to establish an informational path using data alone. But it was not a lie to say that direct observation was more reliable.

  [Since magic depends on the perception of the Magister, I would say that this represents not only a limit for me, but also a constraint for magic in the future.]

  The word "Magister" was unfamiliar to Akiyama, but just before he inquired about it, he managed to recall from his memories that it was a new term being used by Tatsuya to refer to a "Magician."

  [So, to put it simply, you're trying to say that if we want to avoid catastrophic collisions with celestial bodies in the foreseeable future, magicians must have free access to observatories around the world?]

  [It's not just about avoiding celestial collisions. Magic is a craft in which each magister has their own distinct area of expertise. If we want to be able to mitigate the potential risks and impact of a wide range of disasters with magic, then magisters must be able to move freely to the places where they are most needed.]