From Jasmine and James's perspective, they had been making a break for the port, yet they had somehow emerged into this room. Naturally, they attempted to cast their spells, but their expressions quickly twisted into shock when the magic failed to manifest.
"You… why won't our magic activate?"
"What is this?! Did you do something to us?!"
Yugen leaned back slightly. "Even if I did, do you honestly think I'd be kind enough to explain it to you?"
Ozone Circle—and indeed every other spell in their repertoires—was completely dead. James lunged toward the door behind them, throwing a heavy kick to force it open, but it didn't so much as rattle. He pivoted, turning his raw hostility toward Yugen, but the moment he did, both Australians were frozen in place by a sudden, suffocating wave of killing intent radiating from the boy.
"To think that even mages of the Australian Army can be paralyzed by this much…" Yugen remarked coolly. "Captain Jasmine Williams, Captain James J. Johnson. I have no intention of harming you."
"And you expect us to believe that?" Jasmine spat.
"Regardless of what you believe, there is no guarantee you'll be safe even if you return to your homeland as you are. Am I wrong? Now, sit. We have things to discuss."
Yugen snapped his fingers. The invisible weight holding them vanished, and the two could finally move. Realizing that escape and resistance were equally impossible, they had no choice but to take the seats at the negotiation table he had prepared.
"...Jaz."
"For now, we have to do as he says."
Jasmine understood all too well that if the facts James had stated earlier were true, there was no guarantee of a quiet homecoming. If the mission was a failure, the fallout wouldn't just hit them; it would reach their employer in the UK as well.
Since a table for negotiation had been provided, their only remaining options were to sit, attempt to mitigate their disadvantageous position, and—if a gap appeared—strike down the person in front of them to complete their sabotage.
Once they were seated, Yugen tossed a single photograph onto the table. The image left them reeling.
"This… how!?"
"It's something akin to what they used to call 'thoughtography,' though my method is a bit more refined," Yugen said.
In truth, it was a projection of information pulled directly from Jasmine's memories. This was made possible by Trace Vision, an electrical signal conversion spell Yugen had developed by tinkering with the 'Memory Clock' he'd acquired previously.
Tatsuya had assisted in its testing. When Yugen had successfully projected a scene from Tatsuya's childhood training, even the stoic Tatsuya had remarked, "If you can pull information this clearly, I feel like throwing in the towel."
Yugen had suspected UK involvement, but extracting Jasmine's memories had provided the confirmation. Naturally, the two captains tried to protest.
"This is nonsense! You're trying to insult us!"
"Exactly! There is no record of us meeting Sir Macleod, as this photo suggests!"
"I expected you to say that," Yugen countered. "But if you call yourselves military mages, didn't it ever strike you as odd? This entire operation?"
"...What?"
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