“The appointed time has come. The guidelines for this council meeting are outlined in the provided documents, so I will omit them here. Now, I will hand over the proceedings to Admiral Tachibana from the Secretariat. Admiral, please.”

With these words, the officer from the Secretariat takes his seat.

“Let’s begin this council meeting. First, I’d like to thank everyone for gathering here despite your busy schedules. It’s truly spectacular to have all the members of the Special Strategic Forces gathered in one place like this.”

Admiral Tachibana says, looking around the conference room with deep emotion. This seems to be an honest impression from the Admiral, not scripted by the Secretariat. The Secretariat staff respond quickly, busily taking notes on the Admiral’s remarks.

“Admiral Tachibana, this is my first time attending this meeting in person, so please allow me to introduce myself. Also, since we have some new faces, why don’t we all introduce ourselves? Oh, but it looks like the Second Seat is absent again. I used to miss these meetings all the time too.”

“Major General Kamiya… we have an agenda to follow.”

Admiral Tachibana frowns, trying to steer the meeting back to the script, but I intentionally ignore this and start introducing myself.

“First Seat of the Special Strategic Forces, Kamiya Yuusuke, rank of Major General. I’ve been a member since the council’s inception, but this is my first actual participation as I only received the results and minutes of the meetings until now. Nice to meet you all!”

My candidness causes the faces of the Secretariat to darken further. I’m here to stir things up from the get-go.

“Well then, it’s my turn! Third Seat of the Special Strategic Forces, Dr. Kirigaya Touko, rank of Colonel, and Director of the National Okinawa Soul Equipment Research Institute. Now, I’ve powered up with my new partner, Hinoura Kotomi! Nice to meet you all!”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Hinoura Kotomi, Special Lieutenant Colonel.”

Dr. Kirigaya’s over-the-top manner, whether to follow my lead or if this is her usual demeanor, is just as annoying as always. She’s also hijacked Kotomi’s introduction…

Kotomi starts as a Special Lieutenant Colonel, quite a leap from Private Second Class.

“Oh ho, the young ones are full of energy.”

“Sorry, senior… for the commotion…”

Admiral Tachibana apologizes to the oldest person in the room, feeling guilty.

“Oh ho, you are now at the top of the military as an Admiral. Using honorifics with a reappointed Lieutenant Colonel like me would disrupt military discipline, Admiral Tachibana.”

“My apologies, Fourth Seat Azana.”

It seems that Admiral Tachibana and this old man Azana were once senior and junior colleagues.

“The Azana family is the pinnacle of defense soul armor techniques, responsible for national defense…”

“Oh, you know a lot, young lady. Isn’t the next head of the Nase family attending the Special Soul Equipment Academy?”

“Yes! Vice President Nase has been very helpful to me at the academy.”

“If that fellow causes any trouble, let me know, young lady. I’m retired, but I still have some influence in the military.”

“Y-yes…”

Azana jovially jokes with Kotomi as if she were his granddaughter.

“Be careful, Kotomi! Azana-sama may look like this, but he was a formidable military man back in his active days.”

“That’s because you, Kirigaya, always acted foolishly. If it weren’t for your unique abilities, you would have been kicked out of the military long ago.”

Azana snorts.

“Even though you’re still active at your age, you were already old when I was a kid.”

“Well, thanks to the emergence of the first seat Kamiya, the importance of my defense role has lessened, allowing me to step down. I appreciate it.”

“Since I started rampaging globally, there haven’t been any homeland defense battles.”

“Even so, I still have to manage the national defense formation, so I’m a re-employed silver workforce. I hope to fully retire once the younger generation steps up.”

Azana laughs, patting his back.

“Amazing… It’s like listening to legends who’ve protected this country. Can I, who was just a Private Second Class until recently, really be here?”

Kotomi feels overwhelmed by the conversation between me and Azana. Our achievements are not publicly known, but with her access to classified information, Kotomi has been diligently studying.

“Young lady, even if you are paired with that fool Kirigaya, you are the Third Seat. You need to contribute more to this country than I do.”

“Eek… yes!”

“Azana-sama, please don’t bully my partner Kotomi. Also, I’m not a fool.”

Dr. Kirigaya steps in between Azana and Kotomi.

“When I heard about a new information-type soul armor user, I was thrilled and planned to remove you from the Special Strategic Forces.”

Azana leans back in his chair, genuinely disappointed.

“Better luck next time!”

“Your instincts are sharp as always, Kirigaya. So, this new girl is acquainted with the First Seat Kamiya?”

Azana shifts the conversation towards me for an introduction.

“Yes, this is the Fifth Seat, Suo Marin. Be careful, she’s quite cunning.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Marin Suou, the newly appointed Fifth Seat of the Special Strategic Forces, rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I look forward to working with you all.”

Marin-chan stands and greets everyone politely, ignoring my introduction.

“Oh, I’m glad Marin is here! We’re classmates. When I heard she had incredible intelligence abilities and would take the vacant Fifth Seat, I was shocked.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Hinoura, for keeping it a secret.”

Kotomi and Marin-chan joyfully embrace.

“It seems like the Special Strategic Forces are all within my close circle.”

“Yu… Strong individuals are drawn to each other. Our meeting was destined.”

“You were so prickly in the student council when we first met.”

“That was a long time ago! Besides, what will our school life be like after summer break…”

“Ahem! Now that introductions are over, let’s move on to the agenda.”

Admiral Tachibana forcefully brings the meeting back on track.

“First agenda item: Lowering the legal marriage age for soul armor users and legalizing polygamy.”

Here we go. Time to disrupt the planned proceedings!

“Objection! I’m against this because it clearly forces early marriage on minors!”

“Of course, marriage and procreation are entirely up to the individuals, with no pressure from the government.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“The situation is stable now, unlike when the First Seat Kamiya was forcibly conscripted. The government isn’t foolish enough to propose such extreme measures.”

Well, that’s a relief… But why are they being so straightforward about this? Is there something more?

[No worries, Kamiya-senpai.]

[Marin? Did you exert some pressure behind the scenes?]

Through Marin-chan’s soul armor ability, Espio, she communicates with me telepathically.

[Pressure sounds so negative. The original proposal was extreme, but after I ‘persuaded’ the relevant parties with some compromising photos, they gladly agreed to soften the content.]

[Scary…]

I can imagine Marin with a pasted-on smile, holding incriminating photos to threaten people. Their pride must be shattered.

[I was personally against the original proposal. It initially allowed soul equipment users to marry even close relatives unless they were two generations removed.]

[Ugh… what happened to bioethics? But isn’t this a golden opportunity for you, Marin, to be with your brother?]

[I’ve always said, my goal is to break the taboo of sibling love. If the law changes to make it socially acceptable, it lowers the psychological barrier. I won’t accept such an outcome.]

She’s unwavering…

[However, compared to the next agenda item, this is minor. They probably want to move on quickly.]

[Next agenda item?]

[You should have read the materials if you arrived early, Kamiya-senpai.]

[I was helping Kotomi with her concerns, so I only read the first agenda. Isn’t the second agenda just a report?]

I pick up the materials and start reading agenda item two.

[Good grief… The second agenda item is about the recent Okinawa invasion, but it will likely lead to a significant direction.]

[A significant direction?]

[A new war will begin.]

My hand freezes mid-turn.

[Again, huh…]

As I mutter internally, Admiral Tachibana summarizes the first agenda and moves on to the second, steering the proceedings.