They both understood that Koutarou wasn’t suited to fighting a war for years. He was too kindhearted for that. But since the people he was close to were all important, he often ended up in battles for political reasons. He couldn’t be heartless against an enemy unless they were particularly horrible. Because of that, many people wanted him to win, and he wanted to live up to their expectations. But secretly, his heart was being worn down with each battle. So the girls wanted him to be able to live without that stress and agreed that he was better off not fighting. That was the reason they would take the risk instead. If they could shorten the war, that was more than enough reason for them to accept the risk.
“Satomi Koutarou is already shouldering so much,” Kiriha noted.
“He is doing what the royal families are meant to do,” Clan added.
“If we can return Master to an ordinary life even a second faster, that is enough for us to stake our lives on,” Ruth said.
“Now is our only chance. Once they get used to handling magic and spiritual energy, we will never have one like this again. Think it through thoroughly before making your choice,” Kiriha pressed them.
Much of the girls’ happiness lay in Koutarou’s ordinary daily life, so they had no reason not to go through with their plan. Kiriha, Clan, and Ruth were determined.
Seeing that glow in their eyes, Yurika made her decision. “I understand. I’ll help.” She casually accepted. She didn’t understand the difficult stuff, but she could see the girls’ love and courage glowing. She had to protect that as the guardian of love and courage.
“Yes, I will help too,” Maki agreed. “We have no choice but to fight for that reason.”
Yurika didn’t say much, but Maki could feel her sincerity. She was also a magical girl of love and courage now. The way that they put it into practice differed, but they strove for the same goal.
“What about you, Sakuraba-senpai?” Yurika asked Harumi in a casual tone. The gleam in her eyes was strong and kind. She was neither coercing her nor pulling back.
Harumi had been thinking about all sorts of problems, but she’d come to her conclusion already. “Satomi-kun is a hero because of the burden we placed on him...and ending the war quickly will help the people of Forthorthe too. I understand. I will help.”
Not even Harumi knew if these were her emotions or somebody else’s, but it didn’t matter. Her wish was the same as that certain someone’s.
As Kiriha’s group descended in the landing craft, Harumi’s group was in orbit. Their cover story was that they were there as part of an exercise, but they were actually on Nefilforan’s Hidden Leaves to gather information on mana, with the Nefilforan Unit gathering other intel.
“How are the others?!” Harumi asked.
“They’re fine. They have been safely shot down as expected,” Nefilforan reported.
Harumi was in the process of getting an update on the situation. Fortunately, the first phase of the plan had gone as expected, as the landing craft pretended to be shot down.
“Thank God,” Yurika said in relief.
“I wouldn’t call being shot down safe, though,” Maki disagreed.
The first stage was the biggest point of concern for them. Once it was safely over, they felt deep relief.
“Well then, please take it away,” Nefilforan said.
“Yes, we will get right to it,” Harumi answered.
Once their call with Nefilforan was over, they got to work. Preparations had already been completed. Harumi’s group borrowed the Hidden Leaves’s hangar for a large-scale ritual spell for mana detection. The three worked together to cast it so that they could detect when Grevanas used magic. There wasn’t much of a chance of Grevanas using a spell when the landing craft was being attacked due to the distance and lack of accuracy, so their job began now.
“Please begin, Yurika,” Maki said. “I will match you.”
“Okay.” Yurika nodded. “I’m beginning the chant for the ritual version of Detect Magic!”
Maki and Yurika stood on top of a magical circle and began chanting together. The two users of modern magic language would be in charge of the spell. Harumi used the ancient language, so she wasn’t involved in casting that spell. Instead she was in charge of gathering and amplifying mana. Using magic in space was slightly different from using it on the surface. Harumi would be assisting in that part.
“I think this should be fine,” Yurika said.
“Sakuraba-san, can you increase the mana a little?” Maki requested.
“Okay...how about this?” Harumi replied.
“Thank you. I can confirm that the ritual worked and it’s operating normally.”
Mana was usually generated by life and objects. So aside from a few exceptions, there was next to no mana in space. Because of that, magicians couldn’t use the mana around them, causing the cost of spells to increase. But that also meant that mana in space went much further. Without any obstacles, it didn’t decrease like normal. That was why the effective range of magic detection was far wider there than on the surface. By using a ritualized version of the spell, they could ensure it had an even longer reach and could cover the area around Alaia.
“And now we wait.” Harumi nodded, then checked a crystal that had been charged with mana ahead of time. Using the mana within the large crystal, they could maintain the ritual for a full day. If Grevanas used magic during that time, they should be able to determine his location.
“Do you think he’ll use magic?” Yurika asked.
“Only God knows. But it will be big if we detect something. We would be able to pinpoint his location, after all,” Maki answered.
The Nefilforan Unit and intelligence department under Clan were tracking enemy communications. Since they were looking for random enemies, chances were high that they would find something. But it was just as likely that it wouldn’t lead anywhere. When looking for magic, chances were high that Grevanas wouldn’t use a spell, leading to them finding nothing. But like Maki said, if he did, they would know his location, which meant finding Maxfern’s location as well. It was a low chance but too valuable to overlook.
“Do you think Kiriha-san and the others are okay?” Yurika asked, worried.
“I hope so,” Maki answered.
“They’re fine. In this case, no news is good news,” Harumi stated.
For several hours, nothing happened. It wasn’t until five hours after the landing craft was shot down that a bell-like tone rang out in the hangar. That was the sign that the ritual magic had detected something. When Maki heard that, she hurriedly stood in the center of the magic circle.