"This concludes the report on the Hakone Terror Incident. I believe it is
necessary, even for the National Defense Forces, to take the matter in
which the USNA Military was easily permitted to intervene in domestic
affairs seriously."
"...Is that the opinion of the Ten Master Clans?"
"No. That is my own opinion, Lieutenant Colonel."
"Understood. I believe your statements are quite correct, Special Officer,
and they match my own. We shall propose this to the Brigade
Commander."
"Yes sir. Then, if you'll excuse me."
Remaining seated at his desk, the National Defense Army 101
Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion Commanding Officer,
Lieutenant Colonel Kazama Harunobu, dismissed his subordinate, the
unregistered Strategic-Class Magician, Special Officer Ooguro Ryuuya,
real name, Shiba Tatsuya. He then crossed his fingers together, shutting
his eyes.
Tatsuya, who was normally supposed to be at school on a day like this,
had come to the Headquarters of the Independent Magic-Equipped
Battalion, regarding the incident that occurred the night before last,
when the mastermind's death brought a temporary end to the incident
── not an absolute total resolution ── in order to provide a report
regarding the details of the Hakone Terror Incident.
When the terrorist mastermind was holed up in a hospital near Zama
Base, Tatsuya had come to handle it on behalf of the National Defense
Forces. Because of the circumstances in which he had requested
permission from Kazama to utilize magic that was designated a military
secret, he had thought a report was necessary. Capturing terrorists was
not the job of the military, so it was fine, even without a report, but
Kazama was thankful to be able to hear the full details of the event from
the person in question.
For Tatsuya, this mission was unrelated to the military. Despite this, it
wasn't quite the case that the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion
was uninvolved in the incident. Kazama and the company were secretly
involved with police investigations designed to flush out supporters of
foreign opposition forces that were lurking within the country.
Kazama and his comrades were also aware of the intervention of the
USNA Military. Tatsuya had warned that a battle would occur in Zama,
so it had been only natural to put that area under surveillance. That had
been the only time the USNA regular troops had been active. But
afterwards, it had been grasped to a certain extent that irregular covert
