January 4, 2097 AD.
The day after the "Shinkai" conference, Yugen was clad in the uniform of the National Defense Army—garb he rarely had occasion to wear. In truth, it was his dress uniform, the only military attire he actually owned. To make matters worse, it was a brand-new uniform pre-fitted with the insignia of a Lieutenant General. He decided, with a sigh of resignation, that making a fuss about it would be a waste of energy.
Under normal circumstances, a promotion to Lieutenant General—even for a non-regular officer—would warrant a formal ceremony. Yet, skipping all such pomp, Yugen was currently in a meeting with General Soga, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. The setting was the General Headquarters of the National Defense Army, located within the Ministry of Defense.
"Special Major General Kamijo Tatsuzo. As of today, you are appointed as Special Lieutenant General and Special Staff Officer directly under the Army Commander-in-Chief."
"Sir. I will devote my humble efforts to the mission."
"Mm... Honestly, I am the one who should be bowing to you, but please forgive the rigid formalities required by protocol."
"No, please. It puts me in a difficult spot when you say that immediately after issuing orders..."
Although there was a significant age gap and a difference in rank between Yugen and Soga, their friendly rapport stemmed from their shared background as disciples of the Shinkage-ryu style of swordsmanship. From Soga's perspective, Yugen was a junior disciple; however, while Soga had reached the high Dan ranks, Yugen possessed the Menkyo Kaiden—the certificate of full mastery. When combined with the complex standing of the Kagurazaka family, a peculiar dynamic emerged: outside of strict protocol, Soga treated Yugen as a superior, prompting Yugen to constantly admonish him for it. Consequently, their relationship had settled into one where only the language used adhered to seniority.
This dynamic was an open secret within General Headquarters. The fact that many officers were sympathizers of Gozo, combined with the high number of acquaintances Yugen had there, made his entry into Headquarters smooth. Furthermore, while Yugen's true identity was known to some due to the Nine Schools Competition, and one could never be too sure who was listening, he generally went by the alias "Kamijo Tatsuzo." However, when speaking alone with Soga, he was often addressed as Kagurazaka Yugen.
"So, do you intend to greet Kazama and his team?"
"If I go directly, it will invite unnecessary scrutiny. I intend to visit on another day."
The surveillance by the USNA had quieted down for a time, but recently, intelligence agents from the New Soviet Union and the UK had begun prowling around. As a result, Yugen had been casually knocking them unconscious and extracting the bulk of their information. It wasn't a struggle to gather intelligence; rather, it was simply a method to identify them and thoroughly map out the human networks operating behind them.
Regarding the US and UK national bonds mentioned at the Shinkai, Yugen had utilized methods far more formal than standard purchasing procedures. For the British bonds, he had gone through Gozo to inquire with the British Royal Family—a connection solidified when Yugen was forced to receive a knighthood from the King after cleaning up the Goldie family incident—and purchased them only after receiving a permit from the British head of state. As for the USNA, he had sent a direct questionnaire to the President and bought the bonds only after obtaining a purchase permit signed by the President himself.
It seemed neither nation expected a private individual to purchase on a scale of trillions of yen. Both governments put a stop to it once the amount reached 100 trillion, so Yugen halted there. When this information reached the Japanese government, the Minister of Finance visited the Kagurazaka estate and immediately prostrated himself in a dogeza, a sight that made Yugen tilt his head in genuine confusion.
When the British intelligence agency (the one often heard of in spy movies) came sniffing around, Yugen knocked them all out and handed them over to Yakumo. He heard later that the face of one of the Four Great Elders turned pale upon hearing the news, but that was hardly Yugen's concern.
But, to return to the topic at hand.
"Unnecessary scrutiny... Does that include the Intelligence Department?"
"Yes, well. Though if they lay a hand on my family, I will respond fiercely. If they don't learn their lesson after facing genuine pain, I will use every means at my disposal to eliminate them, including those who instigated them... My apologies."
"There is no need for you to apologize, Yugen-kun. Between the Okinawa incident, the Sado incident, and the Yokohama Disturbance, your achievements are more than sufficient. In fact, I feel inclined to recommend you for General right now. Chief of Staff Otomo has even said he would vacate his chair if you desired it."
"No, that would cause a whole different set of problems, wouldn't it?"
Soga knew the truth: the detection of the Great Asian Alliance's invasion in the Okinawa Defense Battle, the destruction of their fleet, the advance intelligence on the New Soviet Union's invasion of Sado, and the minimal civilian casualties during the Yokohama Disturbance coupled with the devastating blow dealt to the enemy—all of these were accomplished thanks to Yugen. Soga knew this, which was why he hinted at a promotion to General, a suggestion Yugen firmly declined, joke or not.
The Head of the Kagurazaka family was granted authority and power by the current Emperor himself. Being of a higher station than the Prime Minister, in terms of military rank, Yugen would technically be positioned as the "Supreme Commander of the Entire National Defense Force." With such a status already in place, climbing the ranks within the Army would only invite petty jealousy. Ideally, Yugen had hoped to settle matters at the field officer class at most.
However, Saeki's maneuvers had made that impossible. While a summons for combat power wasn't included in his contract, Saeki had forcibly moved him via a summons for a Technical Officer, something Yugen couldn't simply overlook. There was also the matter of the carved wooden bear—a spirit token created out of spite.
As a side note, that wooden bear, named 'Harunobu,' had been placed in the worship hall of the Mt. Fuji Shrine. Rumor had it that whispering wishes to it brought blessings, turning it into a sort of "power spot." Yugen wanted to have as little to do with it as possible, so he pretended he hadn't heard about it.
"In truth, the rank of Colonel was the absolute limit of what I could tolerate... but thanks to Major General Saeki, I've been forced to accept this."
"Still, I never expected Saeki to go that far... I doubted my ears when I heard the report from the National Defense Academy."
"The cause is likely the Ten Master Clans Conference—or rather, the agreements between the Clan Heads and the government heavily influenced it."
Addressing the power struggles not just within the Army but the entire National Defense Force, Yugen, standing before the Joint Staff Office as the Head of the Kagurazaka family, had delivered a scathing critique: "With domestic and international situations in such tension, you soldiers are neglecting your primary duties to indulge in factional warfare. Can you truly face the Prime Minister, the Supreme Commander, and the Minister of Defense with your heads held high?"
"Judging by that tone... no, politics is not my domain. Asking would be boorish."
"I merely intend to steer the Defense Force back to its true form. It is not a discussion that will bring direct harm to you, General."
"No, the war with the Great Asian Alliance and the subsequent peace treaty have forced me to revise my own thinking. We need to build a system that allows us to focus on the Defense Force's original mission. This is an urgent task for me as Commander-in-Chief. By the way, is it correct to assume the handling of your Strategic Class Magic remains status quo?"
The overwhelming aura Yugen released silenced everyone; no one dared oppose him. It was terrifying precisely because it wasn't an overt act of intimidation. Soga mused that the only other person capable of killing a human purely through the shock of their presence might be his own master, Gozo.
Yugen held the Menkyo Kaiden of the Shinkage-ryu. That this title was not merely decorative was proven when he single-handedly dismantled the soldiers of the Okinawa Area Force—reputed to be the elite of the Defense Force—without leaving a man standing.
"It has been decided by consultation between the Kamiizumi family and the previous head of the Kagurazaka family that I will personally manage the triggers for my Strategic Class Magics: Mirror Dispersion, Starlight Breaker... and the recently completed antiparticle convergence magic, Cosmo Nova (Grand Ultimate Eight Trigrams Array)."
"...Good heavens. To think you wield three Strategic Class Magics yourself. I can do nothing but raise the white flag."
Strictly speaking, Yugen not only possessed knowledge of the 'Thirteen Apostles' Strategic Class Magics—such as the USNA's Heavy Metal Burst and Leviathan, the New Soviet Union's Tuman Bomba and Simlya Armiya, the Great Asian Alliance's Thunder Tower, and the former EU's Ozone Circle—but he had already completed magics to neutralize them. That was the new Strategic Class Magic Yugen had just mentioned: Cosmo Nova.
This magic utilized special scripts found in Ancient Civilization Magic. By reading the Activation Sequence as is—"Technique Forward Rotation"—it rewrote all the prerequisite descriptions required for the activation of a Strategic Class Magic incorporated into the Magic Sequence. This was the Strategic Class Magic that nullified other Strategic Class Magics: Taiji Junten: Sokyu (Grand Ultimate Forward Rotation: Blue Sky).
Conversely, by reading the Activation Sequence in reverse—"Technique Reverse Rotation"—it not only swapped the target and origin of the opponent's Magic Sequence but also inherited all activation conditions, reflecting the attack back. It was a type of "Curse Reversal" Strategic Class Magic: Taiji Hanten: Kousei (Grand Ultimate Reverse Rotation: Brilliant Star).
One couldn't exactly call it a "Anti-Strategic-Class-Magic Type Strategic Class Magic," but since deploying both the Forward and Reverse rotations simultaneously and fusing them created the antiparticle attack magic Cosmo Nova, he wasn't lying. Furthermore, the ability to alter the reading procedure of an Activation Sequence was largely due to the Elemental Magitechs Yugen had mastered, so it wasn't something he could easily teach others.
This was also why the development of the new CAD models, Seraphim and Ragnarok, had been necessary to activate this Strategic Class Magic without difficulty.
"At this stage, it is merely a concern, but Major General Saeki may plot to suppress me, as a Battalion Technical Officer, in addition to Special Lieutenant Oaguro Tatsuya, a Strategic Class Magician belonging to the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. Therefore, I may need to request your assistance when the time comes, General Soga."
"Understood. I am aware that the recent domestic and international situations allow for no optimism. Including how we engage with the Ten Master Clans Conference, I intend to advise the Minister of Defense as a member of the Joint Staff Office."
"You have my gratitude."
With that, Yugen conducted a detailed meeting with Soga regarding chains of command during emergencies before returning to the Kagurazaka estate.
Yugen's decision to reschedule his greeting to the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was partly because he intended to accompany Tatsuya, who was going tomorrow (today, Tatsuya was visiting Yakumo again, with Miyuki accompanying him), and partly because what he told Soga was true. But if he were to add one more reason, it was the result of prioritizing a promise to his fiancée.
As the Head of the Kagurazaka family, New Year's greetings were indispensable. Yet, Yugen was still a high school student. And he never neglected his follow-up duties to his fiancées. However, since the First High members, Yuka, and his exclusive servants had many opportunities to see him, his focus naturally narrowed to the Third High members and the middle school group.
The new semester for Magic High Schools started on January 8th. Until then, he was balancing New Year's greetings with spending time with them. Today, because Arisa had said she "wanted to go out somewhere," he had come to Yokohama Bay Hills Tower with her. Marika had been with them until the entrance, but she had gone ahead inside with Airi and Toko, who had also come along.
Looking at Arisa, she seemed somewhat shy. It was likely due to something Marika had whispered to her just before they parted ways.
"Asha, are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Jeez, Mina really..."
"Anyway, I feel like leisurely window shopping might be nice... Hmm?"
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