Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Vol. 30 Page 10
At first he reached out to shake her shoulder, but at the last moment he thought better of it.
Minami's smile appeared on her face, distorted by pain.
- I'm fine.
Minami's intermittent voice said that she, on the contrary, was far from okay.
“Everything... happened... too... suddenly.” I... just... didn't... manage... to adjust...
power.
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- Enough! Say nothing more!
Minoru unconsciously hugged Minami with both hands.
His face was as pale as that of Minami.
Minoru once again remembered that using magic shortens Minami's lifespan.
He abducted her precisely for this reason.
He did not want Minami to die, so he abandoned his humanity himself and suggested that Minami do the same.
And despite all this...
Due to his carelessness...
He admitted that Minami had to use magic.
Now he was not interested in the attacks of the newly arrived enemies, nor in Raymond's mental connection. He rejected all this and hugged Minami tightly.
The battle ended after 20 minutes.
After Minoru neutralized the exorcists, this allowed Zoe Spica to demonstrate her true fighting abilities. And she, after all, belonged to the class of the First stellar magnitude -
the highest in "Stars", the strongest division of magicians in the USNA. She alone neutralized almost half of the assault squad.
When the fanatical commander was killed, the remaining half of the enemies lost their desire to continue the battle. The Coral crew also did not begin to avenge the dead comrades, and accepted the surrender of the enemy, so in the end the battle did not end with the total destruction of one of the parties.
However.
Minoru and Minami received help only an hour after the end of the battle.
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-... to Minoru. How is your girlfriend?
- The pain has passed, and she is sleeping peacefully. The medicine she was given seems to work.
Immediately after the battle was over, the ban on disembarking the Coral crew on shore was lifted. Minoru was also allowed to get off the ship, and Minami was transferred to the medical center of the base. Minoru spent some time near Minami, and now sat on the pier and looked at the evening sea.
- I see...
Raymond said only that, and could not pick up the following words.
-... It's my fault.
Minoru sat with his arms around his knees and his head bowed.
“I should not have allowed her to use magic...”
“No... it's not your fault.” Who would have thought that at an American base, American soldiers would attack each other... this is impossible to predict.
“Lieutenant Spica has already apologized for this.” "We will do everything in our power to cure Minami-san, who suffered from the internal conflict of our country," she said.
Minoru's face showed a faint, self-deprecating smile.
- But I only know that there is only one way to cure her...
- So...!
Raymond raised his voice.
“In such a situation, it's time to stop being so indecisive!” Minoru, you can do it!
Minoru raised his head and looked into the eyes of Raymond standing next to him.
Raymond involuntarily tensed, and his breath caught.
In Minoru's eyes, he saw a feeling of helplessness bordering on despair.
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- I will not force. Until she herself desires, she will not be the same as us.
- But after all... just you...!
- I promised. That I will not force. - Mumbled to Minoru in a voice like that of an old man who had lost the desire to continue living.
Raymond could only stand silently, not knowing what to answer.
◊ ◊ ◊
July 18, 20:55.
Leaving Miyuki at home, and Lina with her as a guard, Tatsuya alone visited the Kyūji Temple.
And he did not suddenly rush in there without an invitation. Tatsuya had already been there today at 10 a.m. and asked Yakumo to arrange a meeting with Toudou Aoba. The two fought seriously almost a week ago, but in the end they parted as if nothing had happened. At about noon, Yakumo called Tatsuya home and said that the meeting was scheduled for 9 pm today.
Apprentice Yakumo led Tatsuya to the far side room. He waited there for about five minutes. Exactly at 21:00 Yakumo brought Toudou Aoba, and he took the main place *.
[They say "at the head of the table", but the Japanese are sitting on the floor, and the
"main place" is about the same, only without a table...]
“I sincerely apologize for inviting you today.”
“Forget the greetings.” Yotsuba Tatsuya, raise your head.
Tatsuya obediently raised his head bowed. Despite the middle of summer, Toudou wore a high-quality suit similar to the one he had in their previous meeting.
“It seems like today you want to ask me for something.” Do not be shy, speak.
- Thank you, I will take advantage of your proposal and immediately get down to business. My question is also related to your Excellency's obligation to be a deterrent.
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1-0-1 brigade and lose the status of special officer?
Truly unashamed, Tatsuya immediately voiced his request to Toudou.
Toudou did not get angry, but, on the contrary, grinned with interest.
“And I thought the question would be about Wyatt Curtis’s request.”
“It seems to me that it would be better if the head of the family talks to you on this issue, and not me.”
- Hm...
Toudou was still looking at Tatsuya with a grin.
“Yes, she did consult me.” And with regards to the matter of requesting cooperation from Asha Chandrasekhar, too.
“So you are already in the know?” - Tatsuya countered Toudou's provocation with an indifferent face.
- Good.
Toudou again did not consider Tatsuya's behavior a problem.
- If your power cannot be used freely, then this will weaken state defense.
Toudou nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.
- My authority in the modern world does not manifest itself so openly. It will be difficult for me to officially grant such special privileges to one person. However...
Toudou removed his hands from his chest.
“... I can arrange that after something that has actually happened, you will not be accused of a crime.”
“May I ask you this?”
- You can.
Tatsuya bowed low, his forehead touching the tatami.
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“But why are you at odds with Saeki?” Toudou asked in a teasing tone, looking down at Tatsuya's back.
“Her Excellency Saeki does not seem to like the fact that our family harbors Angelina Kudou Shields.” - Rising, Tatsuya answered.
“Angie Sirius is hiding you, not the Yotsuba family.”
- I AM...
At that moment, Tatsuya again used the universal self instead of the formal one.
“... I think she will no longer be Angie Sirius.”
- Wow.
- Heh.
Not only Toudou, but even Yakumo, who was silent before that, gave a voice.
- Not “I hope”, but “I think”...? - Grinning, I asked Tatsuya Yakumo.
- Yes. It will be so regardless of my intentions.
- Ha ha. I hope it will be so.
Yakumo was still laughing, but Toudou had regained his serious face.
- After Kudou’s death, Saeki was left with an unpleasant emotional aftertaste. This probably also affected.
An expression flashed across Tatsuya's face, showing that this was a surprise to him. He suggested that Saeki was only calculating in terms of diplomatic gain, but it seemed like digging a lot deeper in this case.
“However, breaking the relationship between you and Saeki will be beneficial for our country.” Your power should not be placed under the control of just one military officer.
Tatsuya did not know how to react to this, so he decided to just make a polite, light bow.
- I understand the situation.
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It seems that Toudou did not care about the reaction of the interlocutor.
- As I said earlier, you can leave a question for me about your right to be a participant in the hostilities. And you will protect our country in the right way at the moment when you decide that you are the one who needs it.
“As you order.”
Tatsuya bowed his forehead to the floor again.
From above, Toudou's words were heard again.
“You can accept Wyatt Curtis’s offer.” Politicians and bureaucrats will not like this, but the release of Benjamin Lowes from prison is well suited to demonstrate your strength to everyone. However, the complete destruction of Midway Prison is ruled out.
Exceeding the dose of the drug turns it into a poison.
Obviously, Toudou kept in mind the need for military containment of the United States Army. Almost certainly, he was very unhappy with the attack on Miyakijima.
Thinking about this, Tatsuya, who continued to sit forehead on the floor, replied:
- I understood you.
“During the salvation of Sakurai Minami, you don’t have to think about the damage that you will inflict on t
he American army until it is very big.” The complete erasure of the Pearl & Hermes base from the face of the earth, nevertheless, will be unnecessary, but I do not mind the damage caused by the sinking of one or two aircraft carriers.
- I would like to finish everything as quietly and peacefully as possible.
“That will do too.” But I have one condition.... you can raise your head.
- What? Tatsuya said and straightened up slowly.
Toudou was not important, but immediately voiced his condition.
“Don't bring Kudou Minoru back to the country.”
“Do you mean that you can not kill him?”
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to allergic reactions to all inhuman evil spirits. Hearing about the "condition", he expected that he would be required to destroy the Parasites.
- This is unnecessary. What is happening in America must be settled by the Americans.
- I understood you.
Tatsuya realized that for Toudou it was enough that demonic creatures simply did not exist in Japan.
Minoru's abilities were also very valuable, but for Tatsuya, returning Minami was a higher priority. And he could not go against the conditions set by Toudou.
“I will also arrange for you to leave the country.” You don’t want to worry about any tedious accusations of secretly leaving the country?
-... Thank you.
Tatsuya did not expect Toudou to show such zeal for cooperation.
If he leaves the self-defense forces, then there really is a chance that he will be much more severely blamed for illegal actions that had previously been turned a blind eye.
And his current business is primarily a secret exit from the country. But Tatsuya was ready for such an inevitable risk.
- Yakumo.
Toudou turned to Yakumo and turned to him.
“Tatsuya-kun, here you go.”
Yakumo moved closer to Tatsuya and took a flat dark blue bundle from his pocket.
Having received this bundle in his hands, Tatsuya with a glance asked Yakumo whether it could be opened.
- You can open and see. - said Toudou.
- Good.
Inside the bundle of dark blue silk was an official passport with a seal authorizing exit from the country.
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The reason for leaving indicated in the passport was cooperation with the USNA in the field of technology. That is, Tatsuya allegedly temporarily went to the USNA as a technical specialist in magical engineering.
Tatsuya could not hide his surprise. Seeing his face, Toudou and Yakumo smiled with satisfaction.
“That was suggested by Yakumo.” You can take this as an apology for the fact that he recently interfered with you.
- Although I disturbed you not at my discretion... Well, that was, that was.
Regardless of the intervention and apology for him, regardless of the details of this act and its reasons, for Tatsuya it was definitely a useful thing.
Tatsuya politely bowed in gratitude for the help.
Chapter 5
Japanese time: July 19, noon. Local time: July 18, 4:00 p.m.
A small transport aircraft arrived at the Pearl & Hermes base. This base was built outside the atoll, on an artificial base and a floating pontoon mega platform, so the base itself did not have an airstrip. The role of the runway was performed by the aircraft carrier assigned to this base. Therefore, when the aircraft carrier was absent (was on a mission), the base could only accept aircraft capable of landing on water. This aircraft was also supposed to arrive yesterday, but due to the lack of an aircraft carrier, the schedule was shifted by one day.
This plane flew here from New Mexico, from the base of stars. Three days ago, the first Lieutenant Spica asked the Stars base to resolve the unusual situation that arose, namely, the Coral’s crew was forbidden to go ashore immediately after entering the port. Yesterday, while this request was still under consideration, a sudden attack occurred, committed by their own allies, the same American soldiers. After receiving a request for help from the first lieutenant of Spica, the commander of the base Walker immediately decided to send Major Kevin Antares and the first lieutenant Eliya * Sargas (both Parasites) from the eleventh detachment. However, the plane, which was supposed to deliver these two, could not leave, because the “runway” was absent at Page 101
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the base.
[Japanese transliteration is very harsh. This name has quite a few varieties (Ilya, Elia, (I) Elijah, Elijah), I just chose one of them, since it is completely impossible to understand which one the author intended.]
“Lieutenant Spica. Sorry, we're late.”
First of all, he said Antares Spica, who came to meet him on the deck of the aircraft carrier. At the same time, base soldiers bypassed them at a great distance.
“No, I'm glad you arrived, sir.”
Spica understood that Antares also had unexpected obstacles, and did not blame him.
In addition, Spica herself was not one of the victims.
“By the way, regarding Commander Vega and Lieutenant Deneb...”
“The commander and lieutenant fell in battle.”
“... I see. Sorry.”
Antares was not particularly familiar with them, but the death of his colleagues is always shocking news. Even for parasites.
He spoke again only after about five seconds.
“So what is the situation?”
“Almost half of Coral’s team has been lost, but the remaining half have become better treated. Care for the wounded is also up to standard.”
Spica almost did not change her face at the moment when she talked about the fact that almost 60 people were victims of this incident. Did she have such a character initially, or did she lose humanity only after becoming a Parasite?
“Okay.“
Antares also did not show on his face emotions about the killed members of the Coral crew.
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“Lieutenant Spica. I understand that the problems at this base have been resolved?“
At this moment, the first lieutenant Sargas joined the conversation.
“No, there are still unsolved problems.“
“Are you talking about the punishment for the surrendered assault squad?”
“This issue will be resolved in accordance with military legislation.“
“Then what are we talking about?“
Antares returned to the conversation, forcing Spike to give an answer.
“Here is our relative who is not connected to our network.“
“Do you mean that a relative refuses to share consciousness?“
Sargas did not hide his surprise.... Of course, he and Spica by "congeners" meant Parasites. And no misunderstanding between them arose.
“Is something like that possible?”
Sargas was also a Parasite, so he could not immediately believe that the "relative" could deliberately disconnect from the network of divided consciousness.
“...It is a fact. I don’t know why this behavior is possible.“
However, no matter how hard it was to believe it, it turned out to be true.
“And who is he?”
Asked Spica Antares with a stern expression.
“This is our relative of Japanese descent named Kudou Minoru. Raymond Clark took him to Coral. Now he is at this base.“
Spica's voice was a little tense.
All Parasites are separate individuals. Possessing individual consciousnesses, they are also connected at a deep level of consciousness, that is, they share one whole consciousness. This is a feature of the species of living creatures called the Parasite.
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It was not known what damage could entail the existence of an individual separated from this common connection. Parasites have only recently recognized themselves as a
“species” and have a very short history. Or you could even say that they "have no history." Before that, they had not encountered a Parasite capable of isolating itself from their "network", so they simply could not ignore the study of this danger.
Spica felt this intuitively. Antares and Sargas now, too, only having listened to her, intuitively understood. That an individual who refuses to be included in their network of consciousness threatens their existence.