For Tatsuya and the others, their scouting trip ended fruitlessly. As a detective in a drama once said, incidents happen at the scene, but they're often prepared far from it.
General Soga, the Defense Army's supreme commander, visited an exclusive Tokyo club with just one bodyguard and one secretary—an unusual discretion driven by his upcoming meeting.
Welcoming them in a private room was Hayama Tadanari, head butler of the Godsaka family.
"Thank you for coming, Your Excellency," Hayama said.
"No, I'm grateful for the invitation," Soga replied.
Behind Hayama stood Chikahime Godsaka, the current head. Soga bowed deeply. As commander, he knew of the Godsaka family's guardian role.
Defense matters typically fell to the Uesugi family, but with Mototsugu and Gozo occupied, Chikahime, at Gozo's request, stepped in.
"Thanks for your help with the 101st Brigade. I'm here on behalf of the Uesugi head," Chikahime said.
"I regret allowing the Great Asian Union hardliners to distort the Nine Schools Competition's purpose," Soga said.
"You manage the army, needing periodic venting. My brother-in-law Gozo understands," Chikahime replied.
The competition wasn't just for leveling up or rivalry but to reduce non-magicians' prejudice against magic through sports. Despite the Yokohama Incident, Soga apologized for the hardliners' clumsy approach. Chikahime chose not to dwell on it.
"So, Lady Godsaka, what's the purpose of this meeting?" Soga asked.
"I've learned someone incited the hardliners, and I wished to inform you," Chikahime said.
Yugen had raised questions about why the hardliners targeted the competition now. Post-Yokohama, anti-magic Humanist movements in the USNA's East Coast had calmed, and a truce with the Great Asian Union was in play. Using the competition seemed unnecessary when they could adopt USNA-style magic leagues. Chikahime agreed.
Despite the spring's magician exclusion movement subsiding, non-magicians' biases persisted. The military shouldn't misread this. Adopting Steeplechase Cross-Country for high schoolers was reckless, and Colonel Sakai's approval raised doubts. The likely explanation: a third party, hoping for Japan-Great Asian Union conflict, manipulated the hardliners. Chikahime shared this with Soga.
"In Yokohama's Chinatown, a man named Zhou Gongjin—Shuukoukin in Japanese—seems to have incited them," she said.
"Zhou, the defection broker? Only a few at the top know of him," Soga said.
During the Yokohama Incident, Zhou facilitated Chen Xiangshan and Lu Ganghu's infiltration, then betrayed them to Masaki. Soga couldn't discern his allegiance. Chikahime, smiling, slid a data card across the table.
"Here's evidence. Please review it offline," she said.
"Understood. A foe skilled at interception. Thank you for the information and caution," Soga replied.
She avoided mentioning Echelon III, Frizscalv, or Gu Jie but urged offline review to highlight interception risks. For Soga, facing a war hero and the army's vulnerabilities head-on left little room for rebuttal.
"You've gone to such lengths. Is there something you seek in return?" Soga asked.
"Not immediately, but I ask you to spread His Majesty's 'words' across the Defense Force. I'll also appeal to the Defense Minister," Chikahime said.
"Their true meaning?" Soga asked.
Civilian control was paramount, and the Emperor's words carried weight. Soga, aware of a Juumonji foster daughter he cherished, sensed their intent, especially regarding magicians.
"This small nation, despite magic, risks magicians being seen as 'enemies of peace' by non-magicians, making us easy prey," Chikahime said.
"Great Asian Union, New Soviet Union... and the USNA?" Soga asked.
"And Britain, home of the International Magic Association. Even with its federation collapsed, Australian magicians carry British influence," she replied.
Modern magic, born in the old USA, spread globally, averting nuclear war but spawning magical crime, fueling fear. Non-magicians' sins birthed this fear, a cycle seen in all technological leaps.
Knowing this, Chikahime's Godsaka Group hired non-magicians and sub-par magicians, reviving ancient techniques through Yugen, offering hope. The army benefited, but strategic-class triggers were withheld.
"Like wartime suspicions against our nation. Understood. I'll report to the Defense Minister, covering all branches," Soga said.
"One more thing: I'd like your help improving the Defense Force's image," Chikahime added.
She refused to tolerate warmongers. Yugen shared this resolve, inspiring her to recruit him after the competition. Not aiming for world dominance, she sought friendly ties. Their four-hour talk was fervent.
No less fervent was the scene at the hotel courtyard the day before the Nine Schools Competition. Leo trained, shielded by Yugen's warding barrier. Mikihiko, fresh from a run, stumbled upon them, recognizing the spirit-magic-like barrier due to his own growth.
"Yugen... am I intruding?" Mikihiko asked.
"You saw through my barrier? My skills slipping?" Yugen teased.
"No, just a fluke. Is Leo training spatial awareness?" Mikihiko asked.
Before them, Leo used Panzer on twelve one-meter iron rods spaced evenly a few meters away, honing distance perception—a weak point for his close-combat and self-centered magic.
"Attached CADs and a device to the rods for testing," Yugen said.
"What device?" Mikihiko asked.
"Psion electrical converter," Yugen replied.
"Planning to upend the world?" Mikihiko said.
Even Tatsuya's Elemental Sight couldn't see psion generation or recovery. If sleep restored psions, Yugen's device mimicked brain wavelengths to absorb ambient psions, paired with a CAD for a single spell, replicating ice-pillar psion structures.
"Single-spell use, good for psion barriers in security. No military applications," Yugen said.
"Because non-magicians could use magic?" Mikihiko asked.
"Partly," Yugen replied.
The Third Lab's 'Multi-Type Multi-Magic Control' explored two methods: Mitsuya's parallel processing, like Nine Loader or Lightning Order, and synchronization with other magicians' spells, reducing strain but halted as mental interference magic.
Yugen referenced the Third Lab because the converter used abandoned synchronization research. He'd accessed this data covertly, finding an organ called the "Linker Core"—a term from his past life's anime, unexpectedly real here.
"Can't reveal its development. I told Mother, but no one expected completion," Yugen said.
"Completing it is shocking enough," Mikihiko said.
Modern magic lacked descriptions of the path from conscious to unconscious magic calculation areas. Even with startup sequences, loss occurred. Misrouting to the conscious brain risked collapse, yet magicians showed no such issues.
The Gate—between conscious and unconscious, projecting spells to Idea—was known. But if Gatekeeper, a mental interference spell, destroyed spells post-Gate, spell construction could fail. Jasmine Jackson, hit by Gatekeeper in the original, recognized but couldn't activate spells, suggesting startup signals bypassed the Gate.
Spells and startup sequences, both psion-based, differed only in timing. Gram Dispersion nullified specific spells, but Gram Demolition destroyed all spells, unlike Gatekeeper. If a unique magician organ sent psion signals from conscious to unconscious, it made sense. Through reincarnation experiments and Osiris Sight, Yugen found a psion-only organ: the Linker Core. It converted ambient psions, emitted them for spells, and sustained Eidos Skin. This enabled Konoha and Tenjin Reiso.
"It's for magic visualization—holographic projection, limited use," Yugen said.
"A safety device?" Mikihiko asked.
"Exactly," Yugen replied.
A secret: modern and ancient magic deliberately used the Gate to project to Idea, risking paralysis if sealed and consuming more psions. Eidos Skin protected the body, but open mental states were reckless. Yugen rewrote his spells to use the Linker Core, reducing psion use and boosting power by bypassing the Gate.
"With directional psion lasers for airports, weather-proof auto-landing is possible, though human oversight's needed," Yugen said.
Magic was technique and skill. Yugen protected it from military misuse, ready to erase any attempts. Enabling magicians and non-magicians to coexist through magic's benefits was his vision.
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