(October 9th — London — The White Palace)
The White Palace was a building made in 2080. It was a building for when the leaders of countries would visit England. It was rarely in use.
This meeting would be the second time of its use.
"Welcome, Priestess, President."
The men at the gate welcomed a woman and a man inside. The man appeared middle-aged. He had short hazel hair and a scruffy beard.
The man's name was Andy Brandon—he was the president of the United States of America. The woman beside him was his wife.
She was donned in pure white. Almost as if she were the Yukionna from Japanese folklore. Her hair was like ice, a transparent blue and white. Her skin was as pale as a vampire.
The president held an umbrella above the woman. Her eyelashes were long and white. She had her eyes closed.
This woman was America's strongest World Magician—The Magician of Niflheim, Haukea Crystal.
"Thank you for greeting us. Now, let us to the meeting room."
They were escorted by the two men. When they reached the meeting room, they opened the door for the two of them.
"Please come in."
It was a grand room. It was probably the same size as a mansion's living room. There were multiple statues in the corners of the room. They caught Haukea's eyes.
They were statues of knights, holding their swords in front of them in a rigid stance. It was how a knight would swear loyalty to the Queen of England.
They walked on the red card toward the table. It was a modern marble table with cups of tea in front of each seat. At the head of the table was a different seat—a throne.
A blonde-haired woman, sat on that chair, sipping her tea. It was Alice Ilistria, the Queen of England. She had a magician by her side, a witch, to be precise. That witch was known as the Witch of Despair, Morgan Le Fay. Despite her title, she helped the Queen wholeheartedly.
There were others at the table.
"With that, it's all of us here, isn't it?"
There were two other representatives from Europe and two from Asia.
The leader of the main branch of the Mage Association in Europe. The person who inherited the role of Overseer—Eugene Zarian. He was a man in his mid-twenties who had just inherited the Association from his father.
He wasn't a naive man. He was sensible, calm and collected. The man by his side was his younger brother, Gera Zarian.
The other representative was a woman. Unlike the others, who had a regard for their appearances, this woman had her legs on the table.
"Why don't we just fucking start this meeting then?"
The woman had earlier asked for a cola instead of tea. She was a muscular woman—she was the tallest in the room, standing at around 191cm tall.
She is Arcadia Arcana. A famous magician known as Joker. The reason she was called that was because she did whatever she desired as a World Magician.
For example, she is here at the White Palace. When she was visiting London, the meeting was conveniently happening. It was lucky for her. The others rejected it at first but Alice allowed it.
She often had pleasant and liberated chats with Arcadia.
The woman with a disappointed expression by her side was Rosie Marchel, the trusted secretary of Joker. She also hated it when Arcadia did whatever she desired, yet she stayed as her secretary before if not, the woman would be even more liberated.
"We can now, can we not?"
From the Asia side was a major enforcer of Anti-Magic. The man acted conceited, even in a room of important people. He had a woman on his lap, pressing her body against his.
The man was Mao Zhao of the Anti-Magic Corps.
"It would be better if you wouldn't bring a whore in here?"
"She's not a whore. Her name is Yu. Say hello, Yu."
"Hi~!"
She blew a kiss at the black-haired woman. She flinched.
"Tch... Well, everyone is ready now, Queen Alice. If you may do the honours."
The final representative was sent from the Japanese Council, Akari Chiori. Now that everyone had assembled, it was time.
"Yes,"
The Queen elegantly placed her cup of tea down on the table.
"Let us begin this meeting."
As soon as she said that, Andy Brandon raised his hand to talk about an issue.
This room was filled with the world's greatest powers. America's president, head of the Mage Association, Joker, a commander of Anti-Magic, a Council member, and the Queen of England.
"We've come here to talk about the future of the world. Although this isn't some sort of official meeting like the UN, I would like to talk about the world's current affairs."
"Brandon, are you talking about the boy over there?"
Mao Zhao asked. Everyone in the room glanced over toward Akari Chiori's direction. To be precise, they weren't looking at her, but the boy behind her.
He was standing straight with a relaxed facial expression. His hair was black-blue and his eyes shone clear blue.
It was Ayato Kyouya.
"Yes, that boy is Japan's fourth World Magician. What's more, you seem to have an ability that's unique."
Andy Brandon narrowed his eyes.
"He can recreate and destroy. If the public found out about that ability of yours, they would say that it's unfair."
Morgan said with a placid smile on her face. Ayato didn't answer. There wasn't a single change in expression.
"Can he not understand English?"
The President muttered to himself.
"Instead of talking about such matters, can we talk about the strange attacks happening all over the world? I feel like that would be far more interesting."
Akari Chiori interjected.
"Me too. I can't stand idle chatter that's boring."
Arcadia said, gulping the remnants of the cola.
"Who would've thought that the world was made of something more than just its core?"
Mao blurted out, rather sarcastically. The reason for the tone was probably because he was focused on cuddling with Yu.
"There have been seven incidents as a whole since July. One in each continent. A disaster that befalls everyone if let loose."
Eugene explained.
"We call them Azure Eruptions due to the unique properties of the lava. The fact that it's made of aether doesn't help."
The man winced.
"But, do you not all think that this is some sort of man-made incident?"
"...!"
They all turned to the witch who had opened her mouth. Most of them had a scowl on their faces. They already had a suspicion that it was. Arcadia smiled.
"Yeah, it's pretty obvious. I mean, seven different continents? That's not a coincidence. There's also the fact that it seems like an experiment if anything. The targets started small but then almost engulfed half of New York."
She said.
"I'm afraid that I fear that it may happen in England too."
Queen Alice announced. They all looked at her with widened eyes.
Alice Ilistria was a special being. Her Magic Seal allowed her to see glimpses of the future. Every single one has come true so far.
"Where?"
Haukea asked with a single word. She knew that Alice knew so asking if she knew about it would be a waste of words. It did sound awfully cocky, however.
"I had a glimpse. A woman singing the song, 'London Bridge is falling down.' In that glimpse, I saw the same blue flames from the Azure Eruptions."
"London Bridge? But, London Bridge itself is over the River Thames. Unless the eruption starts before the bridge on either side, I have no idea how it will fall."
Eugene muttered.
"When?"
Haukea asked once more. Alice nodded.
"On the night of the 31st—Halloween—London Bridge will fall."
"We may be able to find the perpetrators if we can scout any suspicious activity between now and then."
Mao Zhao suggested. They all nodded.
"On Halloween, in London, we float will o'wisps into the sky as soon as it gets dark. Our will o'wisps are pigmented yellow to signify a pure flame. They float in the sky from sundown until sunrise. It will be easier to spot them then. But, first, as Mister Zhao said, we should investigate."
Alice concurred.
Haukea's eyes opened. With a calm look, she glanced over at Ayato.
"Do you want to say something, boy?"
The woman asked in a nonchalant tone. For the first time, Ayato moved his glance over from the vacant wall to Haukea.
"Haukea, he can't speak—"
"Yes, I do."
Ayato answered simply in English. He knew English due to his travels around the world.
"What do you think the motive of the perpetrators is? With the scale and locations of each eruption, I doubt that the sole purpose would be to test an experiment."
"You mean to think that they have a bigger goal?"
Akari asked him. The boy nodded.
"Even if we don't know anything about the perpetrators, I think it's safe to assume that a possible goal of theirs is either world domination or destruction. That way—"
"That's idiotic."
Andy Brandon cut in. As Ayato stopped speaking, he looked over at Andy Brandon, who was glaring at the boy.
"May I ask why?"
"You need to collect facts before you can start predicting. Without a single clue, we can't do anything. Which is why we're investigating."
Ayato sighed as if the President had said something stupid.
"I never was against investigating. But, how long will it take for you to investigate?"
"We don't know, that's why there's an order to things."
"You don't know. Perhaps it would take a month? Unless it's deliberate, why would the perpetrators reveal themselves now? In my opinion, if I were the perpetrator, I wouldn't reveal myself until I was sure that my plan would succeed."
With a sharp click of his tongue, Andy Brandon scowled at Ayato. His expression didn't change. It was like he was completely used to arguing like this with others.
The table shook slightly. The cups of tea barely spilt. Arcadia grinned at Ayato.
"Oi, boy, I like you! You don't waver even in the face of the greatest world powers. You're going to grow up to be great!"
"Hm? Why would I waver? I may not be sitting down at the table but you're discussing as equals, right? As long as I pitch in with relevant opinions and logic, it's fine."
Surprised by his statement, everyone looked over at Ayato. For the first time, Ayato seemed slightly flustered.
"Uhm... Did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's just that you thought about something no attendant would think of."
The witch said.
"Equals is a good way of thinking about it. I've never thought about it myself."
Queen Alice smiled innocently in response to Ayato. She cleared her throat.
"Well, we'll have to talk about countermeasures later. I'm sure that you came here with a request, Mao Zhao."
Alice spoke to the Chinese man, ending the previous topic. Mao Zhao flinched, remembering why he came here in the first place.
"Right, I wanted to talk about a runaway group of magicians."
"Runaway? Who?"
Akari asked the man. The woman on his lap, Yu, turned and spoke.
"Eunithus, Janet and Marinus."
"Aren't they all special-first class magicians?"
Gera asked while biting his lip in distress.
There were ranks for magicians. The one that every magician started from naturally was fifth-class. It then went all the way to second-class before semi-first class and first-class. The rank before World Magician was a special-first class magician.
"Yes, they are and ones with very difficult Magic Seals."
"We believe that they came to London to look for someone. That person was a witch. I'd like to check up on them."
Mao Zhao told the Queen. She nodded.
"That's fine. If such dangerous people are in our country, we can handle it. Right, Morgan?"
"Of course,"
The witch behind her answered as if it wasn't worth a thought.
"Actually, Queen, do you mind if we handle it?"
"What?"
"Why?"
"Japan wants to get involved?"
"Oh...?"
Akari Chiori raised her hand with a smile on her face. Ayato behind her stared at her. Although he appeared composed, on the inside, he was cursing the Japanese Councilwoman.
"We came here to this meeting without anything important to discuss. To be honest, we have no purpose in staying here. But after hearing about the incident that will happen, I want to stay here and help you, Queen Ilistria."
The young woman smiled at Akari. The Queen gave Ayato a cursory glance before making her decision.
"Yes, that's fine. After the meeting ends, I'll give you the address of the witch in question."
"Thank you, Queen Ilistria."
Akari looked back at Ayato with a calculative smile. Ayato did his best to smile but he looked troubled.
·———·
After the meeting ended, all of the people at the meetings went their separate ways. Since the White Palace was near Buckingham Palace, Akari and Ayato got into a black cab.
"This address, please."
In the cab, there was a machine with a camera. Akari showed the camera the address that she had written down.
[Address confirmed. The price will be £32.]
"Hah, that's pricey but oh well."
The woman inserted the money into the machine. It gave £3 change back. The cab closed the door itself and drove off.
"That was interesting, wasn't it? Being in the room with some of the greatest world powers?"
Ayato exhaled.
"Even for me, that was too much. It took me a lot just to keep a poker face. The American President didn't seem intimidating but the Magician of Niflheim was practically glaring at me. I was on edge the entire time."
"Oh, is it too much for Ayato Kyouya?"
Akari asked with a teasing smile.
"Why did I even come to London? A lot happened after I woke up, hm?"
"You don't say."
·———·
(September 7th — After school — Auralia)
"Ayato, you're fine!"
A boy came running over to Ayato as he walked into the corridor.
"Oh, Kobayashi. Those should be my words."
This boy was Kai Kobayashi. He was the boy who had randomly exploded near Ayato. He was a victim.
"I heard that you fought the Mage Killer. I was... I was kind of worried that you'd die to be honest."
Kai nervously laughed while scratching the back of his neck. Ayato didn't laugh.
"..."
"What's wrong?"
Ayato narrowed his eyes.
"Do you want to be found out that badly...?"
"Huh?"
"Kai Kobayashi. Is that even your real name?"
He asked him, glowering. Kai looked around, seeing if Ayato was talking to someone else but he was staring right at him.
Kai pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"How long have you been hiding, Pride?"
Kai Kobayashi shivered before smiling insidiously.
"Ah, those eyes of yours are so troublesome."
"I only realised it now. Something bugged me when I saw you. It was pure instinct."
The brown-haired boy dropped the good student act. He smirked and turned his chin up. The usual act of the Jester known as Pride.
"So, what do you need?"
"You're quick on the uptake. Let's go get some food."