After the commemorative photo session, as the experiment team's backs faded from view, Jennifer spoke to Nijuura.
"Kagurazaka-kun being a former Ten Master Clans member, I heard from his sister… but is he really a high schooler?"
"Indeed, he surpasses even the extraordinary."
Last year, Nijuura witnessed Yugen's rejected thesis at a competition. Its radical topic warned of magicians' conscription as weapons while emphasizing magic's importance in global affairs, even sounding an alarm to his former family. Today, as acting principal, he overwhelmed a lawmaker and journalists with commanding presence and logic. Few peers could match that gravitas. Nijuura pulled a paper from his pocket.
"What's that?"
"Yugen called it a 'failed' magic geometry assignment. This small size holds a 26-step vibration magic, a gift he gave me."
"A 26-step failure…"
The paper, roughly 5 cm square with a 3 cm magic circle, could execute 26 steps with reduced psion consumption. Complex magic typically requires larger circles, but Yugen kept shattering that convention, Jennifer recalled, murmuring.
"Last year's seminar, his sisters were my students. Their standards defy modern magic."
"They were my students too. They said, 'Because our brother never gave up, we stopped giving up.' Magic's systematization isn't reaching 100 years—it's only been 100 years."
Fields like philosophy refined over centuries or millennia. Modern magic, still nascent, has room for growth, Nijuura thought, eyeing the circle.
"It's just a hunch, but he'll surpass our imaginations. No one will ignore him. We'll never meet another like him."
"…Perhaps."
Nijuura, a rationalist, shunned "hunches," but Yugen's undeniable presence made Jennifer gaze at the departing team.
◇ ◇ ◇
In the student council room, Yugen proposed a modest party to celebrate the experiment's success at their usual café, Eine Brise.
"A-chan, lead the toast."
"Wait, Kana-senpai! Not A-chan…"
"No good?"
"Ugh… Fine."
Even as student council president, Azusa yielded to her mentor Kana's nickname, drawing wry smiles.
"Ahem. To the experiment's success… Cheers!"
It was less a party, more a lavish tea gathering. Mostly women, the group split by gender. Tatsuya, checking his terminal, raised an eyebrow.
"Massive articles… The 'Stellar Furnace' experiment, protests against anti-magician media, the Emperor's 'words,' and Kagurazaka Group's massive domestic media buyout."
"Feels like something big moved fast. What do you think, Kagurazaka-kun?"
"No idea whose conspiracy this is… Oh, USNA media buyout news—anti-magician giants, $2 trillion States Dollars, about 25 trillion yen."
Yugen played coy, but Tatsuya knew he orchestrated it, crushing anti-magician movements domestically and abroad. His mastery of magic, politics, and economics made him a formidable ally, a fearsome foe.
Tatsuya considered countering media with public opinion manipulation, but Yugen transformed the landscape, strengthening Kagurazaka influence and halting anti-magician trends. Only immense wealth enabled such brute force, proving Yugen transcended the Ten Master Clans.
Later, with Miyuki and Izumi flanking Yugen, their smiling glares drew a mix of fond and wry looks from others.
◇ ◇ ◇
After the party, back at the Shiba household post-dinner, Tatsuya asked Yugen.
"Those articles part of your plan?"
"Correct. Major outlets would've whitewashed or skewed it. I knew their identities, so I orchestrated buyouts targeting their companies. Most of their headquarters are on Kagurazaka-owned land, so I balanced stock buyouts with rent hikes."
This was possible due to World War III's lingering effects. Tokyo's airstrikes left unclaimed land, which the Kagurazaka family took over for urban redevelopment. As businesses rebuilt, Kagurazaka profited from land leases. Many Ten Master Clans' company lands, including FLT's, are Kagurazaka-owned.
"Not just USNA—European and major nations' anti-magician media buyouts too. No overseas land, but I used Mother's, Grandpa's, and my connections. Total cost: at least 40 trillion yen."
"You moved that much money?"
"Mostly hidden assets and accounts from crushed anti-magician groups like 'Blanche' and 'No-Head Dragon.'"
Yugen mentioned to Gouzou taking credit for most feats during their world tour, but he received all rewards, including assets from anti-magician groups Gouzou crushed as "obstacles." Whether government-sanctioned or not, Gouzou obliterated any who targeted him or Yugen, likely fueled by the Yotsuba's past kidnapping revenge. Those underestimating him paid dearly—condolences.
The tour crushed over 100 groups (Yugen stopped counting). Seized assets and accounts exceeded 500 trillion yen, meant for national treasuries but stored in the Uesugi's secret vault via Mirror Gate at Gouzou's insistence. Too vast for one person, Yugen entrusted management to Gouzou, now handled by Chikage as his "personal assets" since joining the Kagurazaka.
"You're personally that rich?"
"Unintentionally. It's the price of those who provoked Grandpa's wrath, thinking his revenge was a jest."
"Is your grandfather human?"
"No idea. He might say he ate a demon from hunger, and it wouldn't sound like a lie."
Like an action manga, Gouzou threw a log, rode it, and crossed from Japan to America without touching water. Yugen knew because he was forced to practice it, creating Invincible Cannon. Even Minami gave a wry smile.
"Personal matters aside, the groundwork's laid. Things will get busy."
Not a flag, but a certainty from his involvement. This would fully thwart Zhou Gongjin's media schemes. Yugen noted a key difference in the original story: Zhou Gongjin tried possessing Minoru, unlike Gu Jie. Initially thought to be zombie arts, but Gu Jie, his master, didn't use it. The answer: "Parasite." If Zhou was a Parasite, body possession and transferring to new hosts made sense. Given Minoru controlled Zhou in Parasidoll, it's likely. Last spring, monitoring Zhou showed no psion wavelengths typical of Parasite possession, suggesting counter-magic altered its nature, preventing psychic abilities.
Gu Jie's pitying view of Zhou, not quite master-disciple, was odd. Yugen lacked such a disposition to call his master a "ghost," but Zhou likely lived far beyond a human lifespan. Live long if you want, but don't cause trouble, Yugen thought.
Digression aside.
As part of media operations, FLT will publish a paper on the feasibility of Resident Gravity Control Magic Sustained Thermonuclear Fusion Power Generation. Small-scale experiments succeeded, but large-scale facilities are needed—Nantou Island's northwest research ruins, cleared by Tatsuya's Mist Dispersion, are ideal. Rebuilding isn't hard, and the defense array will feature advanced weaponry, including Yugen's Aegis Claymore, designed for hypersonic missile interception. Aegis Claymore uses 1-meter iron balls with metal fragments and special explosives, scattering 1 cm fragments at Mach 6 within a 300-meter radius. Launching 100 simultaneously creates a field to destroy passing missiles, controlled by magic for minimal psion use. Hopefully unneeded, but with uncertain foes, Yugen prepares thoroughly, knowing the Defense Forces follow government logic, making self-reliance key.
◇ ◇ ◇
Foreign anti-magician media buyouts made headlines. The Kagurazaka Group's industry giant acquisitions raised eyebrows, including in the USNA. Even business hesitated, but top management was swiftly replaced, and pro-magician articles surged. Sponsors were baffled, but politicians, especially at the White House, were most shaken. Lina and Colonel Balance faced the President's summons.
"Colonel Balance, Major Sirius, sorry for the sudden call."
"No, we've heard the gist. Why summon us?"
"Here's footage from three hours ago—a Japanese magic high school experiment."
The President activated a monitor showing the experiment. Though filmed from a distance for safety, Lina recognized faces.
Colonel Balance asked, "Major, you know them?"
"Yes. Friends from First High, where I studied abroad. And… Seria's there."
"As I thought…"
The Gravity Control Magic Nuclear Fusion Reaction was stunning, but a former Stars member's involvement was shocking. Seria's electromagnetic magic expertise made her participation plausible, but her trust with Tatsuya and Miyuki was astonishing.
"What's the USNA government's response?"
"Nothing… or rather, we can't do anything. Bought-out media covered FLT's paper on the experiment. The Pentagon's review suggests Gravity Control Magic Nuclear Fusion Power Generation is nearing reality."
"Is that true?"
The Stellar Furnace's potential would revolutionize energy and other sectors, achieved solely by Japan, causing government turmoil, the President said wearily.
"The media buyouts might be their response to our recent discourtesy. Colonel, ensure the military doesn't pressure Japan, especially Colonel Walker, an ambitious one."
"Understood… And their strategic magic?"
"Same. I don't want to be killed by Gouzou-dono."
After Balance left, the President faced Lina, not as a leader but as family.
"Lina, your study abroad seems to have impacted you."
"President… Grandfather, I still don't understand much."
She questioned what she truly wanted from joining the military. Parting with her twin, losing to her on Nantou, and seeing Seria's brighter expression post-military puzzled Lina. Touching Seria's hobbies broadened her perspective, but she wondered why Seria could smile so freely.
"We'll need Sirius's strength for now, with the New Soviet Union. But if you wish to step down, I'll accept. Seria likely wants you to pursue what you truly desire."
"…"
Lina hadn't understood her sister. Why could she abandon their homeland? She knew—Seria chose love over country, resolute even if it meant leaving. "I still don't know, but something nags at me. Let me find my answer."
"If that's your choice, I've nothing to say. Good luck!"
"Yes, sir!"
Lina saluted, her expression not as a soldier but as a woman.
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