Chapter 402: The Loki Plan

"Look! My Hliolskjalf is being conquered! We're going to lose the only clue that we have to the Yotsuba Family! We have to do something! Or else... the status of our country as the number one in this world will be threatened!"

The creator and administrator of Hliolskjalf, Edward Clark, made his words be heard by all the important people of USNA, from the president, ministers, and many others, as the loss of the Hliolskjalf, the most powerful information interception network in this world, could threaten the safety of their country.

USNA, or the United States of the North American Continent, is one of the new nations in the Mahouka universe created following World War III.

Due to the loss of the population of this world from World War III, which started from the radical drop in temperature, and the world's overall food supply deteriorated on a massive scale, several new countries began to form one after another.

Among them were four known as the four great military powers, and those countries consisted of the USNA, the New Soviet Union, the Indo-Persian, and the Great Asian Union.

While there might be four of the greatest military powers in the world, there is no doubt the richest among them is the USNA, so it might not be wrong to say that this was the strongest country in the world.

Moreover, its territories are aggregated from the territories of the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, along with the Latin American countries spanning down to Panama, showing how enormous this country was.

Yet, at this moment, the domination of this country was under great threat, especially since the Hliolskjalf and Low Orbit Psion Signature Tracker were hijacked.

Those two technologies were the trump cards of this country and were also the reason why it could maintain its superiority against the others.

Yes, the New Soviet Union, the Indo-Persian, and the Great Asian Union might have similar military power, but in terms of information gathering, no one could match the USNA!

With those two trump cards, it could maintain its superiority toward others, so when those two technologies were lost, it brought panic, especially to its creator, Edward Clark.

There was no doubt that it was the president, the ministers, or others who also understood the severity of this problem, yet war wasn't something that could be determined so easily.

While this country was known as the richest, its consumption was also high, and each organization tried its best to compete to take more budgets than others!

More importantly, if they made the wrong move, then they would be taken down by their competitors!

At this moment, the people in this place might have taken the highest position within this country, but it didn't mean their position was stable, and they had many enemies who were ready to take their places like disgusting vultures!

If this decision was correct, everything would be good, but what if this decision was wrong?

"How could you be so sure that Yotsuba did this, Edward? There should be more members within the Hliolskjalf, right?"

Seven Sages.

This was the name of those people who were chosen to gain access to the Hliolskjalf.

While the title might be cool, those who were chosen were dangerous individuals who could threaten the stability of their country, so among all of those seven people, why was Yotsuba?

"It is because this family is the most suspicious one!" Edward also didn't come up with this answer randomly. He made this conclusion after a long thought, and he knew that it was only the Yotsuba who was suspicious, especially when Maya Yotsuba was also one among the Seven Sages.

"More importantly, many things have happened in Japan lately, and don't you think that this country was weird when it could defend against the Great Asian Union during the Okinawa incident? This country must be hiding from us something that can threaten our superiority!"

Among all of those Seven Sages, only Maya was living in Japan, and there was no doubt that this country was the most suspicious, especially when it could defend itself against the sudden attack of the Great Asian Union.

Yet—

"I think that this is too hasty to make such a decision, especially when it might affect our diplomatic issue along with our influence on the Pacific."

Diplomatic issues with Japan aside, no one wished for their country's influence on the Pacific to be lost!

Yes, while Edward's words might have cornered them about the Yotsuba, there was no concrete evidence, and if they had made a false alarm, then they might have lost their position on the Pacific due to their hasty decision.

By then, all they could do was say goodbye from their positions.

After all, unlike in the past before World War III, the USNA no longer had an air force based in Okinawa and other parts of Japan. Their influence wasn't as strong as before, and Japan wasn't such a weak country that they could bully anymore, especially when it had a "strategic class magician," a magician whose power was comparable to a nuclear bomb.

More importantly, the magic that was mastered by the "Strategic Class Magician" of Japan was "Abyss," which was a magic that was related to water.

Japan is an island country surrounded by water.

If they wanted to get close, naturally, a ship was necessary, but if they were hit by the "Abyss" first, they could imagine how much loss their country would bear as a ship wasn't cheap.

More importantly, unlike the Air Force, the number of navies in the USNA wasn't that high, and losing a single one meant a gigantic loss for the country.

In other words, the cost of this war didn't match with the profit that would be gained from the war.

"Then, what if I said that we could make an attack on this country without paying much money and even return our influence on this country again."

Edward took out his trump cards that he had hidden well.

"Oh?"

This time, everyone became interested and looked at Edward curiously.

"I have heard that the New Soviet Union plans to attack Sado island. More importantly, I am sure that the Great Asian Union will be more than happy to have a chance for revenge for its failure on the Okinawa attack."

Edward smiled brightly, and at that moment, he imagined himself as the new generation of Douglas MacArthur.

"Lastly, I heard the wedding of the head of the Yotsuba family, Yotsuba Maya, will be held in Hokkaido. While I am not sure where it is, I am sure that we can use this chance to gain our previous influence on the Asia Pacific."

Edward raised his fist high as he imagined himself as the new president of the USNA in the next term after the success of this plan.

"Gentleman, we can't hesitate! There is only one chance! This is our chance to make USNA great once again! With minimal cost, we can have the greatest benefit!"

When those words fell, no one hesitated anymore, and they started this plan, which was known as the "Loki Plan," a Norse God who was responsible for the greatest war in the Norse Myth, Ragnarok.

"Virginia Balance, for the great cause of our motherland, you don't mind sacrificing your life, right?"

Under the stares of everyone in this meeting room, Virginia Balance, the only person who had a good relationship and was even invited by Maya to her wedding, could only feel the deepest despair.