Chapter 19: Possibility

I was alone in the office, lost in thought.

If the “mana” really is changing human abilities… could that be a clue for fighting those monsters? …We’re doomed if we stay like this.

"Captain Sakamaki. About 140 refugees have arrived from Nagano."

Reports from refugees are coming in. Civilians who escaped the disaster are fleeing from the Kanto region, barely alive. Especially in the last few days—more and more of them.

There was a refugee camp set up here at the base too, so we were letting them rest a while and helping them move toward Osaka and the Kansai region.

"And uh... there's someone among the refugees saying something weird... something that's been bugging me..."

"Something on your mind? What is it?"

There are a few people who say they were saved by someone using "magic" in Nagano... The topic of magic is all anyone's talking about in the Self-Defense Force right now. I thought I'd better report it just in case.

"Magic...?"

Magic again...? If that's true, then there must be someone who can actually control it...

I want to hear it myself! Take me straight to those refugees!

At a shelter with a few tents lined up, I talked to a few refugees who’d come from Nagano.

So, was the person using that magic an ordinary civilian? Not a Self-Defense Force member?

Just an ordinary person. I don’t think they were in the Self-Defense Force...

What was she like?

Hmm... just a regular older sister, really. Late twenties, maybe...

No way—was awesome! Throwing around fire and lightning, blasting those monsters left and right... I mean, seriously, looked so cool!

I guess I really just saw a human using magic. From what I gathered, some random guy showed up at a refugee shelter in Nagano—got caught in a monster attack—and took down dozens of them with “magic.”

Could that be why there were so few casualties in Nagano? Doesn’t seem possible for one person alone… Maybe there are others who can do it too.

That thought hit me. I headed straight for the General Staff HQ at the Gifu Base.

If real magic users exist, they’d be a massive asset. I’d love to contact the Self-Defense Force in Nagano and have them search—but right now, we’ve lost all communication with Nagano.

So we’ve got no choice but to send out a search team ourselves. To do that, though…

I knocked on the old, creaky door of the office.

“Come in.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

He paused his paperwork, looked up from the desk.

“Something wrong, Sakaki?”

I had no choice but to ask for permission from the Gifu Base Joint HQ’s Chief, Lieutenant Colonel Yamamoto Sora.