To put it simply, the girl's amnesia was successfully resolved. Fortunately, recovering her memories didn't trigger any erratic behavior—a result, I suspect, of her own composed attitude toward her past.
After thirty minutes of observation, the girl knelt in a formal seiza position and bowed her head, adhering to the customs of this country.
"Thank you," she said. "It is because of you that I have regained my memories."
"During the treatment, I caught glimpses of your mind," I replied. "You're associated with the USNA, aren't you?"
"Yes. Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Laura Curtis."
The name "Curtis" rang a bell. Among the "original knowledge" I had received from Celia was a man named Wyatt Curtis, a member of the USNA Senate. Suspecting a connection, I pressed further.
"By any chance, are you related to Wyatt Curtis?"
"I am. He is my great-uncle. Though, given that no missing persons report was ever filed, they likely assume I am already dead."
"Yugen, who is that?" Maimoto asked.
"A USNA Senator. I'd only heard the name from an acquaintance a while back."
Initially, I had pegged her as British-Japanese from Hong Kong based on her appearance. As it turned out, she was American—and the relative of a high-ranking politician to boot. The revelation left both Maimoto and Miyuki wearing wry smiles.
Laura then explained the circumstances that had led her, a talented magician, to this point.
She and her parents had been visiting Hong Kong as tourists. When they attempted to travel to Japan via Taiwan, the Great Asian Alliance government suspended all civilian flights—a clear precursor to their invasion of Japan. With communication lines cut, the family was forced to board a private high-speed cargo ship bound for Japan, hoping that as an allied nation, they could eventually find a way home. However, during the voyage, a massive wave swept her overboard. The next thing she knew, she had washed up on a beach.
That day coincided with the Defense of Okinawa—the day Tatsuya unleashed Material Burst and I used Mirror Dispersion. Since the defensive measures had only protected the main island of Okinawa from the resulting tsunami, the aftershocks had struck the cargo ship instead.
"Under normal circumstances, one would expect a search party to have been dispatched," I mused.
"It was in the middle of a war, after all," Maimoto noted. "Yugen, you didn't hear anything about this back then?"
"Nothing. I imagine they lodged a formal protest with the Great Asian Alliance, though."
The Great Asian Alliance had engaged in hostilities without a formal declaration of war to mask their invasion. While they had ostensibly been ordered to avoid civilian targets, the reality was a trail of civilian casualties. The National Defense Force had conducted a search of the surrounding waters after the war ended, but no bodies or missing persons were found. While military personnel were lost, no civilian or foreign fatalities were recorded in the Okinawa region at the time, thanks to early evacuations to shelters.
At that point, I was already a Special Officer in the National Defense Army, but to maintain the secrecy of Strategic-Class Magic, I hadn't participated in the post-war search operations.
...It occurred to me that her existence might be deeply intertwined with the hidden side of this world's Yokohama Incident. While Zhou Gongjin's involvement was a fact, it was possible he had used her as leverage to blackmail the Great Asian Alliance.
"I understand the situation for now," I said. "This isn't something we can settle immediately, so please stay out of sight for a while."
"I understand. To be honest, I expected to be found much sooner."
It was a reasonable expectation for someone in her position. Later, records would confirm that the cargo ship she had been on eventually docked at Sasebo Port. However, because the Curtis family's travel had been unofficial, they never appeared on the passenger manifests. As for her parents, her mother had withered away from the shock of losing Laura and passed the following year. Her father, consumed by the loss of his family, had taken his own life.
On a side note, while Laura's romantic feelings toward Maimoto had vanished, she intended to stay with him for a while to repay the debt of saving her life. I noticed Maimoto looking remarkably relieved at this arrangement.
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