"Yugen-kun, is it okay to say that in front of Saijo-kun?" Toshikazu asked.
"Leo knows from the Yokohama incident," Yugen replied.
"Yeah, I knew Yugen was a big deal since April," Leo added.
Leo was aware Yugen was part of the Divine Assembly from the Yokohama incident. Despite occasional slips, Leo's loyalty was trustworthy, prompting his comment during Toshikazu's talk. Inagaki turned to Yugen.
"What about the Ten Master Clans?" Inagaki asked.
"Let them do what they want. My family's involved, but only cooperatively, through the Clan Conference," Yugen said.
The clans forming independent teams was expected, especially with a Saegusa mage victimized. The Saegusa acting alone was predictable. The Mitsuya were aligning with them but limiting shared intel, influenced by the Saegusa head's feelings toward the Yotsuba.
"I informed your family, Toshikazu-san. Seems they pushed Erika onto you," Yugen said.
"That old man… he knows there's no romance between you and Erika," Toshikazu grumbled.
"Inspector…" Inagaki muttered.
The Kagurazaka could act alone, but revealing their scale now, with the Stars' deserters likely involved, was unwise. Multiple investigation lines weren't inconvenient, but coordination was needed. The Kagurazaka and Juumonji, with the Divine Assembly and police, plus the Chiba (and planned Yoshida involvement), formed the team. The Mitsuya were excluded due to Parasite ties and Saegusa-Kudou connections.
The Chiba head hadn't given up on marrying Erika to Yugen, prompting Toshikazu's exasperated sigh. Despite strategic mage marriages, without mutual intent, it was doomed. Inagaki showed rare concern for Toshikazu.
"Better than them jumping in recklessly. Leo, let's go," Yugen said.
"Right," Leo replied.
Yugen single-handedly turned the heavy lock Inagaki struggled with, and Leo followed him out. At a quiet park, Yugen faced Leo.
"I didn't want you involved, but the situation demands it. This isn't Yokohama's scale," Yugen said.
The enemy was tough for modern magic alone. Leo had grown through Moto and Gousan's training, but only in modern magic. Among close allies, only Miyuki and Mikihiko could handle it. The Mitsuya were sidelined due to concerns. Modern magic wasn't useless—direct spirit interference was rare but possible, though superpower-level counters were hard.
"Sounds occult, but when you say it, it feels real. Can we handle it?" Leo asked.
"Gotta make it work. Here, take this wristband CAD," Yugen said, tossing it.
It looked like a black wristband. Leo equipped it, noticing no immediate change. Yugen cast a barrier to fool surveillance and prompted Leo.
"Try your best magic," Yugen said.
"This is a CAD? Panzer!" Leo activated.
Leo's psions triggered glowing circuit-like patterns on the band, instantly hardening his body and clothes. After testing and canceling, the band returned to black.
"Way better than my old one," Leo said.
"Good. It's a next-gen prototype from a magic engineer friend. Too restrictive for me, so I need you to test it," Yugen said.
The device was a Parallel Thought-Operated CAD, advancing thought-operated CADs with refined response stones, enabling parallel, high-speed spell processing. It delayed counter-magic by routing activation sequences through special circuits—glowing as a virtual magic area sign. This tech, used in Valkyrie and Odin, was top military secret, built in a private FLT room to avoid attention. Non-registered psion patterns or tampering triggered a million-volt surge.
"Risky, huh?" Leo said.
"High-performance CADs are like that," Yugen replied.
"Gotta keep it safe," Leo said.
The program, stripped from Valkyrie and Odin, was near-recycled. Tatsuya's brilliance as Mr. Silver shone, outpacing generations. Yugen's own oddity went without saying.
The CAD passed durability tests, enduring elephant-level stress over 100,000 times, using high-density carbon nanotubes from Phase Shift Armor failures—a secret.
"It's a prototype," Yugen added.
"When you say it, it feels too real," Leo said.
Sadly, it was true. A patchwork device, Yugen chose Leo to test it, balancing things out after giving Erika a new CAD.
January 15, 2096, 1:30 AM. Lina and Celia, roused by Sylvia, were used to such emergencies as soldiers. Clearing their minds, they questioned her.
"What's up?" Lina asked.
"Urgent message from Major Canopus," Sylvia said.
Benjamin Canopus, a rare sensible figure among the Stars' eccentrics, contacted them despite time differences, signaling urgency. As Lina took the communicator, Celia asked Sylvia.
"At this hour, likely the deserters, right?" Celia said.
"Probably. Any concerns?" Sylvia asked.
"After Lina dealt with Lieutenant Fomalhaut, the remaining deserters' traces vanished cleanly. Someone military-savvy is aiding them," Celia said.
Fomalhaut's desertion, post-Angie Sirius's defeat at Area 51, shocked the Stars. Only a few witnessed the strategic magic test, ensuring a smooth gag order. Seven other mages, including Satellite-class, deserted simultaneously, escalating the issue. Lina's mission under Canopus was to track and eliminate them.
"Lina's shocked. Serious, huh?" Celia said.
"You seem calm," Sylvia noted.
"No way. They evaded my detection. Their aider is at least Stars- or Pentagon-level, maybe one of the rumored 'Seven Sages,'" Celia said.
Sylvia knew Celia's top-tier detection. Evading it suggested the deserters' transformation and a world-class aider. Before Sylvia responded, Lina, done communicating, looked serious yet confused.
"What'd Canopus say?" Celia asked.
"Well…" Lina hesitated.
Canopus reported deserters in Japan, with the Joint Chiefs dispatching another team, reprioritizing Lina's mission to focus on them. No explanation was given to Japan's government. Sylvia listened silently, but Celia pressed the key point.
"Who's the source, Sis?" Celia asked.
"Canopus didn't know either," Lina replied.
Celia frowned. Even Canopus, a Stars leader, being uninformed was odd, despite covert military sources. Sylvia noticed.
"Concerning?" Sylvia asked.
"The Joint Chiefs likely know, but not sharing is fishy," Celia said.
Lina, despite occasional lapses, was Sirius. Undisclosed intel bothered Celia, who added, "Before coming, I met the President. He said, 'It's as Mr. Gousan warned. I can't face him.'"
The Dallas micro black hole experiment was highly classified. Celia, stunned by the President's revelation, knew deserters matched Stars present that day. She couldn't divulge all but suspected a connection.
"What's that mean?" Sylvia asked.
"The President implied we broke a taboo. Just a guess, but this complicates things," Celia said.
"When you say it, it sounds too real," Lina groaned.
Soldiers faced strict secrecy. Lina sweated at Celia's words, who exploded, "Get some urgency, dumb Sis! Strategic magic's bad enough, but deserters here is a mess!" She chopped Lina's head.
"Ouch! Why the chop!?" Lina yelped.
Celia, scolding softly but firmly, showed her soldier's restraint. Sylvia chuckled.
"Ease up, Celia. Lina might sulk before her mission," Sylvia said.
"Right. We don't need another two-year lock-in," Celia teased.
"Whose side are you on, Sylvia!?" Lina snapped.
During a Heavy Metal Burst control test, a masked intruder—around their age—confronted them. As Lina prepared the spell, synchronized with Celia, a forced definition collapse made their interference "devoured," knocking them out. Celia moved on, but Lina sulked for a week until Celia forced her out.
"I'm the older sister!" Lina wailed.
Sylvia, comparing Celia's composure to Lina's whining, smirked, unsure who the real elder was.
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