After indulging herself with Tatsuya for quite some time, Maya waited until he had left the audience chamber before addressing Butler Hayama.
"We'll change locations. Prepare tea in the sunroom, and guide Miyuki and the others there."
"Understood."
Hayama bowed, swiftly clearing the used cups without meeting his master's gaze. Just as he was about to leave to carry out Maya's instructions, she called out to him.
"Wait a moment. Hayama-san, isn't there something you wish to ask me?"
Turning his gaze to his mistress, Hayama bowed respectfully.
"My apologies for presuming. Then, if I may take advantage of your kindness..."
Hayama was a senior figure within the Yotsuba family, having served Maya after the previous family head. Though he appeared to be in his early sixties, his true age exceeded seventy. There was an unspoken understanding in this mansion that he was permitted to voice matters that others would deem too presumptuous.
"Are you truly content to leave Tatsuya-dono as he is?"
Unlike others, Hayama did not dismiss Tatsuya as a "counterfeit." While his own magical ability was not exceptional, his extensive experience observing countless magicians had led him to hold Tatsuya in high regard.
"It's fine. Oh, I believe I fully understand your concerns, Hayama-san. Indeed, that child would betray the Yotsuba at any moment."
"...My apologies for my impertinence."
"And as I said earlier, my magic has poor compatibility with his unique abilities. If we fought seriously, there's a high probability I would lose. However, the chance of Takkun killing me isn't that high. Besides, Takkun might be able to betray the Yotsuba, but he can never betray Miyuki. And Miyuki will never oppose the Yotsuba."
"However, Miyuki-sama appears deeply dependent on Tatsuya-dono. Should Tatsuya-dono rebel against our family, I cannot imagine her acting against his will."
Hayama furrowed his brows in deep concern, rebutting his mistress's words. Yet, Maya showed no sign of being perturbed.
"It's alright. Even without brainwashing, guiding the direction of a person's spirit isn't that difficult. You, Hayama-san, wouldn't need me to explain that, would you? Miyuki can never escape the responsibilities placed upon her. That's how my sister raised her. And Takkun is absolutely incapable of doing anything that would cause Miyuki suffering."
"...However, for that to happen..."
"Yes. I feel bad for the other candidates, but Miyuki is definitively the next Head. Also, to create a place for Takkun within the Yotsuba family."
"For that, we must ensure Miyuki-sama accepts the position of Head by any means necessary."
"No need to worry, Hayama-san. I have a plan for that too. Though it's a bit complicated."
Maya said this, smiling with abundant confidence. Hayama bowed deeply, with the utmost respect, and this time, truly left the reception room.
Tatsuya, who had accompanied the Onna Airborne Unit commanded by Kazama, was driving the invading forces back to the water's edge. Ordinarily, one might say, "the Onna Airborne Unit accompanied by Tatsuya."
However, it was clear to both friend and foe present on the battlefield that a small magician, completely concealed by a full-face helmet and armored suit, leading a mere platoon-sized infantry group, was single-handedly routing the invading army.
It was a slaughter too one-sided to be called a battle. Yet, at the same time, it lacked the gruesome horror to be called a massacre.
There was no blood. No flesh flew. Not even the smell of burning flesh, or the thunderous roar of bodies being torn apart. A strange silence dominated the battlefield.
Bullets, grenades, and portable missiles fired by the invading forces dissolved into the air and vanished before reaching the defending lines. Ammunition, bombs, and missiles of the same make disappeared in clusters.
One by one, invading soldiers who had still been holding their ground, frantically pulling their triggers, blurred, distorted, and vanished.
The defending soldiers following behind Tatsuya had now forgotten to even pull their own triggers, mesmerized by the unreal spectacle. Despite their comrades vanishing one after another, the invading soldiers too found it hard to grasp the reality of the situation. Because the instinctive terror that should be triggered by bloodshed and gruesome corpses was not stimulated, the invading forces, consumed by an unknown anxiety, were slow to surrender.
This, too, was precisely what Tatsuya wanted.
If high-level magicians had accompanied the invading forces, the situation would not have been so one-sided. It could be said that there was complacency not only on the Japanese side, which had allowed the advance, but also on the invading side, which seemed to have succeeded in its surprise attack.
Even so, it was no reason for Tatsuya to hold back. His mind was currently in a state of frenzy. A kind of restraint on destruction and slaughter had come undone. He felt no taboo against killing. He destroyed and killed as if walking. No, he erased.
It wasn't that he was unfamiliar with agitation. Of course, he was far from an unshakeable mind unaffected by any shock. Seeing his sister nearly killed had deeply shocked him.
Even Tatsuya, after all, could not resurrect the dead. He had barely made it in time to regenerate her, but if he hadn't... that fear was enough to throw him into a panic.
For Tatsuya, who otherwise held no "true fear"—or rather, had that emotion taken from him—including fear for his own death, the terror of losing Miyuki, precisely because he knew no other fear, shook his heart with greater intensity, depth, and magnitude. No matter how calm he appeared, he was now in a furious reaction to that shock.
Because other emotions were dysfunctional, he retaliated calmly, efficiently, and without any hesitation. It was, in a sense, a rational frenzy. A madness controlled by a single purpose.
With his opponents refusing to surrender, his madness greedily devoured their lives.
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