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1魔法科高校の劣等生
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3Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
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5Nine Schools Competition Chapter (II)
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11Satou Tsutomu
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13Illustrations by Ishida Kana
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19ASCII Media Works / Dengeki Bunko • Tokyo, Japan
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25Copyright © 2011 by Satou Tsutomu
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28Illustration © 2011 by Ishida Kana
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31All rights reserved.
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34Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei / Satou Tsutomu ; [illustrations by Ishida Kana] — digital ed.
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37ISBN: 978-4-04-870999-6
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40Summary: The story follows Tatsuya Shiba, a bodyguard to his sister Miyuki Shiba who is also a candidate to succeed the master clan, Yotsuba. They enroll into First High School which segregates its students based on their magical abilities. Miyuki is enlisted as a first course student and is viewed as one of the best students, while Tatsuya is in the second course and considered to be magically inept. However, Tatsuya’s technical knowledge, combat abilities, and unique magic techniques causes people to view him as an irregular to the school’s standardized rankings.
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43[1. Romance-Magic—Fiction. 2. Magic-Engineer—Fiction. 3. School—Fiction.] I. Title. II. Series: Tsutomu, Satou. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.
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49ePub meticulously crafted by hand by Roah Nosh.
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52Translation by Baka-Tsuki.
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58[Translator: Dreyakis, Sashiko, Joay, Seitsuki, Setsuna86, larethian / Checker: larethian / Editor: Arczyx, ColdFront, Zeru, Genesis, nukie, Wakusie, Chancs, Cliff]
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64All materials’ copyright reserved by their respective authors and the associated publishers. Please respect their rights.
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69Works will be deleted upon request by copyright holders.
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72Visit the disclaimer page for more details.
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78If you like the book buy it once localized in your area. Support the author.
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84v1.5.5
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90Title
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92Copyright
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94Modern Magic
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96Nine-Schools Competition
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98Chapter 8
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100Chapter 9
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102Chapter 10
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104Chapter 11
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106Chapter 12
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108Chapter 13
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110Chapter 14
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112Afterword
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114Illustrations
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116Notes
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122Modern Magic
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127Hell of Fire and Water (Inferno): A magic which reverses the heat energy within a set area. Areas of bitter cold and scorching heat occur concurrently in adjacent regions.
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131Niflheim: A Wide Area Deceleration-Attribute Oscillation-System Magic. The specific heat of the material within the area, regardless of attribute (Phase) is cooled evenly. As a result, a large mass of cold air which contains a fog of liquid nitrogen, Diamond Dust (Ice Needles), and dry ice particles is formed.
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135Dry Blizzard: A magic which collects the carbon dioxide in the air to produce particles of dry ice. The dry ice flies at high speed by converting the thermal energy produced by the freezing process into kinetic energy.
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139Thunder Snake Path (Slithering Thunders): Like [Dry Blizzard], stones of dry ice are produced and water vapor is condensed. This combination magic utilizes Oscillation-System and Dispersion-System Magic to melt the ice, creating a fog of carbon dioxide which has a high electrical conductivity through which a static charge is run through.
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143Rupture: A Dissipation-System magic which evaporates all liquid within an object. In the case of living organisms, body fluids will evaporate and the body will explode. All fuel will vaporize in internal combustion engines or fuel cells. Since nearly all machines have a fluid of some kind, such as lubricants, coolants, hydraulic fluids, oils, or battery fluids, they will instantly be destroyed by [Explosion] or simply stop working.
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147Flight Magic: A magic to move through the air via gravity control. It was once thought to be impossible, using a very short duration (a default of 0.5 seconds) of magic invoked in rapid succession, the difficulty caused by an increasing Interference Strength was cleared. It is possible to continue flying so long as the operator’s Magic Power is in supply.
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151Vanishing Clouds, Fog Dispersal (Mist Dispersion): By interfering with the structural information, this magic decomposes substances into molecules such as ions and the basic elements. Direct interference into the structural information of an object is a form of magic of the highest difficulty.
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155Magic Dissolution (Gram Dispersion): This magic takes a Magic Ritual and decomposes it into a group of Psion particles without a meaningful structure. Due to the nature of a Magic Ritual acting on the information of an object accompanying a phenomenon, if the information has not been exposed, it is impossible to interfere with the magic. On the other hand, if the Magic Ritual is decomposed, the phenomenon will not occur. To analyze the magic before the magic is activated in the present age where invocation takes a fraction of a second requires the ability to [See] and analyze the magic structure. Since the user is typically required to understand the magic being used beforehand, it is thought utilization of this magic is impossible.
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159Magic Dismantling (Gram Demolition): A mass of compressed Psion particles are thrown directly at an object and explode. Any Activation Sequence or Magic Ritual recorded into the Psion Information Body is blown away. Though it is called magic, it is simply a cannonball of Psions that has neither structure nor a Magic Ritual to modify an event, so it is not affected by Zone Interference. Furthermore, the pressure of the cannonball also repels the effects of Cast Jamming. It has no physical effects and cannot be hindered by any obstacle.
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165Nine-Schools Competition
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170Official Name: [Nationwide Magic High School Athletics Competition]. As its name suggests, students from First to Ninth High School gather from all around the country. It is a team competition with fierce magic games.
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172Unique events include [Speed Shooting], [Crowd Ball], [Battle Board], [Ice Pillars Break], [Mirage Bat], [Monolith Code], six in total. [Monolith Code] is men’s only, [Mirage Bat] is women’s only.
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174The number of people participating in each event is three per school, and each player can participate in two events. The competition is held over a period of ten days. There is also a set of games in which only freshman play in, the [Rookie Division] (the Official Division has no grade restriction). The [Rookie Games] will be held from the fourth to the eighth day. Victory or defeat of the school is determined by the total points. First Place receives fifty points, Second Place receives thirty points, and Third Place receives twenty points. Speed Shooting, Battle Board, and Mirage Bat award ten points to Fourth Place. Accel Ball and Ice Pillars Break reward five points for each victory of any team who makes it to the third round. The primary game of the Nine-Schools Competition, Monolith Code, grants one-hundred points for First Place, sixty points for Second Place, and forty points for Third Place due to it being a team game, thus giving it the most weight (The Rookie Games are worth half the points and are added to the overall ranking).
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180Day Date Division
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1821 8/3 (Wed) Official [Speed Shooting] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals Tournament
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184[Battle Board] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries
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1902 8/4 (Thu) Official [Crowd Ball] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals
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192[Ice Pillars Break] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries
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1983 8/5 (Fri) Official [Battle Board] Men’s/Women’s Semi-finals ~ Finals
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200[Ice Pillars Break] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals League
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2064 8/6 (Sat) Newcomer [Speed Shooting] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals
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208[Battle Board] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries
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2145 8/7 (Sun) Newcomer [Crowd Ball] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals
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216[Ice Pillars Break] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries
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2226 8/8 (Mon) Newcomer [Battle Board] Men’s/Women’s Semi-finals ~ Finals
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224[Ice Pillars Break] Men’s/Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals League
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2307 8/9 (Tue) Newcomer [Mirage Bat] Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals
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232[Monolith Code] Men’s Preliminaries League
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2388 8/10 (Wed) Newcomer [Monolith Code] Men’s Finals Tournament
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2449 8/11 (Thu) Official [Mirage Bat] Women’s Preliminaries ~ Finals
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246[Monolith Code] Men’s Preliminaries League
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25210 8/12 (Fri) Official [Monolith Code] Men’s Finals Tournament
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258Speed Shooting: Amongst the Players, this game is called [Quick Draw]. A clay target is shot into the designated space and destroyed by magic. One-hundred red and white targets are released and the Players compete by destroying their colored targets. In the Preliminaries, Players only compete to destroy as many targets as possible within a five minute time limit. Beginning at the Quarter-finals, the scoring system is put into place as contestants compete against each other.
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264Crowd Ball: Amongst the Players, this game is called [Crowd]. A 6 centimeter diameter foam ball is shot into the competition area using compressed air. Players compete by using a racket or magic to force the ball to hit the opponent’s court. 1 set lasts 3 minutes, and a ball is shot into the court, covered in a transparent box, every 20 seconds, leading to 9 balls being on the court simultaneously. Women have 3 sets per match while Men have 5 sets.
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270Battle Board: Amongst Players, this game is called [Surfing]. This game originated as a method for training the naval forces. Players receive a board similar to a surfing board and must complete three laps on an artificial channel three kilometers in length by making full use of magic to propel them forward. Players compete for victory. According to the rules, use of magic to interfere with other players is forbidden. The Preliminaries consists of six races, four players each. Two Semi-finals games are held with three contestants each. A playoff will be held to determine third place, while the top Players from each Semi-finals race will compete one-on-one in the Finals.
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276Ice Pillars Break: Amongst Players, this game is called [Pillars Break] Each Player stands on a tower four meters in height, defending twelve pillars contained in a twelve meter square area while attacking twelve pillars in the opposition’s field. Players compete to destroy the opponent’s pillars before their own are broken. There is no need to use the body, since Players compete remotely with magic, so Players may wear whatever they wish, with the only restriction being that [It Must Not Offend Public Order or Morals]. It is said the Women’s Pillars Break had become a Fashion Show in recent years.
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282Mirage Bat: Amongst Players, this game is called [Mirage]. It is a women’s only game. A holographic sphere is projected in the air, and Players must compete by using magic to rise into the air and hitting the orbs with their sticks. Though this competition has the fewest number of games of all in the Nine-Schools Competition, the play time is typically the longest. During the game, Players must continuously invoke magic to leap into the air. It is said the burden is similar to running a full marathon. The Nine-Schools Competition Mirage Bat is an event held only amongst women. With their elaborate costumes and how they fly around, they are often likened to fairies.
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288Monolith Code: Amongst Players, this game is called [Monolith]. It is a men’s only game. At the competition site, called a [Stage], magic is used to fight over the [Monolith], with each team having three players. The outcome is determined by splitting the monolith in the enemy encampment and transmitting a concealed code. Any attacks other than magic are forbidden. Breaking the monolith requires that it be struck with a special Non-Systemic Magic. Due to the nature of the event, this game is the most popular amongst the Nine-Schools Competition.
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294Chapter 8
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299It’s the fourth day of the tournament.
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301There’s a break before the finals, five days from now, and the fight between the 1st Years in the Newcomer’s Battle will take place in the meanwhile.
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303So far the results stand with First High being at number one with 320 points, Third High being at number two with 225 points, and the positions of third place and below being a wild free-for-all between the other schools. The difference between first and second place is a massive 95 points. However, the battle is such that even that point difference could potentially be reversed if Third High is able to win the Newcomer’s Battle by a large margin, which for them is not impossible. Conversely, even if First High doesn’t manage to win, yet they avoid a huge difference in points, final victory would still be theirs.
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305The aim for every school is overall victory, but in this case, as only half the points gained from the Newcomer’s Battle will be added to the overall ranking, to the competing 1st Years what they are fighting for in the Newcomer’s Battle is their own glory. The spirit in these matches is in no way inferior to the finals themselves.
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307The order is the same as the finals.
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309Today’s events are Speed Shooting (Qualifier, Finals) and Battle Board (Qualifier).
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311They differ from the finals in that the schedule for Speed Shooting includes the women’s event in the morning and men’s in the afternoon, with everything being finished in one stretch (the reason being that the Speed Shooting finals is carried out straight after the opening ceremony, and there’s no way to finish everything by the morning.)
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313Not just Speed Shooting, but CAD adjustment cannot be carried out in the middle of any event, so the major work of fine tuning whilst listening to the contestants’ specifications is done by the engineers in between matches.
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315That’s why engineers are basically always around the players they’re responsible for during the match. In order to ensure as much as possible that contestants from the same school in the same competition are not competing at the same time, the Convention Committee have made numerous adjustments to the timetable.
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317However, in events like Crowd Ball where many matches would occur in a day, overlaps can’t be helped, and engineers would often be paired as a duo of main and sub.
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319This can occur even in the same competition, and one engineer cannot be responsible for another match occurring at the same time.
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321Even if that match ostensibly occurs at an unrelated time.
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327“Honoka is in the last race huh……”
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329“Yes! It’s in the afternoon, so it doesn’t clash with the women’s Speed Shooting!”
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331Honoka, grinning earnestly while subtly emitting an overbearing pressure, made Tatsuya relive the heat of being popular.
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333Tatsuya was responsible for the women’s Speed Shooting, women’s Icicle Destruction, and Mirage Bat.
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335He didn’t get himself assigned to that host of women’s events because he was a womanizer, but because there was a strong backlash against him from the men’s 1st Year division.
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337Not only that, but he was in high demand amongst some of the women’s 1st Year contingent.
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339For example Miyuki, Honoka, Miyuki and Honoka, Miyuki and……in other words, those two had appealed rather earnestly.
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341But here lay a problem.
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343Miyuki’s sheer magic power was most suited for the competition Icicle Destruction.
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345Both her classmates and the council knew full well her proficiency in slowing down vibrations. When all is said and done, cooling magic is pretty much second nature to her.
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347Miyuki’s participation in Icicle Destruction was decided, as well as in Mirage Bat as the star athlete and ace of the women’s team — the problem was what Honoka would participate in.
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349In terms of First High’s practical results, in first place was Shiba Miyuki, second was Kitayama Shizuku, third was Morisaki Shun, and fourth was Mitsui Honoka. Therefore amongst the 1st Year female students Honoka ranked right alongside both Miyuki and Shizuku in practical excellence, but in truth her skills were not particularly suited for a sporting magic competition.
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351Her specialization in magical illusions involving manipulating light was impressive, but Shizuku’s ability in high output vibration and acceleration was more suitable for Icicle Destruction.
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353It was a given from the start that Tatsuya would be responsible for Miyuki. Not even the seniors were foolish enough to try and challenge that.
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355So in order to be looked after by Tatsuya, it’s most reliable to get into the same competitions as Miyuki, but for the number one, number two and number three top players to appear in the same competition is not a very sound strategy. ……or rather, it’s impossible.
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357Therefore it would fall to a competition which does not overlap, but unfortunately, Shizuku was also more suited for Speed Shooting. The competition had initially called for contestants to enter in their field of expertise, so you could say she had little hope of being considered from the start.
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359Following that train of thought, it was decided that Honoka would compete in Battle Board and Mirage Bat. (The organizers had at first floated the idea of Battle Board and Crowd Ball, but due to her own wishes and the vocal support of her friends, she was able to get into one event with Miyuki.) ……In a situation like this, with her line “the events won’t clash”, just what is Honoka really trying to say, Tatsuya wondered.
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361But even if the time was compatible, from a team perspective, changing the engineer responsible at this late stage was impossible.
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363And even if today was alright, on the sixth day — the third day in terms of the Newcomer’s Battle — no one could guarantee that there wouldn’t be an overlap between Icicle Destruction and Battle Board.
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365Honoka too should have been well aware of that, but……
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367It seemed that Miyuki was not about to come to his rescue today. Faced with Honoka on one side and his sister on the other, each with a different motive, Tatsuya sighed and came out with a bifurcated response.
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369“……I’d like to maintain your CAD in truth, but that’s not possible, so I’ll watch your race at the least.”
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371“Really? It’s a promise!”
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373Someone gave a small ominous laugh. Tatsuya knew more than well whose voice that was, but his consciousness chose to pretend he didn’t.
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375From an outsider’s perspective, maybe he really was a “womanizer”…… probably.
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381Although the parties involved would never think of it as “trivial”, from the perspective of the main story, this was just a side episode.
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383When the curtains rise, one must be absolutely focused.
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385With the final checks complete, Tatsuya handed over the dedicated Speed Shooting CAD shaped like an elongated rifle, and confirmed its condition with Shizuku.
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387The CAD absorbs psions from the magician, which the Psion Information Aide transmits into the Activation Sequence. If a problem occurs in this process, no matter how well the other parts are serviced, it’s pointless.
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389If the problem occurs with the hardware it has to be replaced with a spare device, and if the problem lies in the software it has to be reworked on the fly.
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391“Nn…… perfect. It feels better than my own.”
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393As both her face and voice were rather deadpan, after initially being paired with Shizuku, Tatsuya had sometimes been confused as to whether she was serious or not; but now he was pretty much used to it.
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395Basically, she doesn’t lie.
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397In the worst case, she would simply remain silent.
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399“Tatsuya-san, you won’t consider being hired?”
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401However, in cases like these, he still can’t get used to whether she’s serious or joking.
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403“If you’re in a position to joke like this right before the match, you’ll be just fine.”
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405“It wasn’t a joke.”
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407“……”
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409By the way, what she was saying had the meaning of “formally signing on a contract to perform CAD maintenance”.
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411Shizuku had asked him “won’t you be hired” more than 10 times already. Considering her personality, Tatsuya had thought it a long running gag, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
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413“It won’t be an exclusive contract so you don’t have to worry.”
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415In order to make references for CAD arrangements, Tatsuya had taken her CAD in hand and adjusted it.
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417Before that, the one who had maintained Shizuku’s CAD was a famous engineer who could be ranked amongst the top five in the country.
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419Or rather than Shizuku, it would be more accurate to say the Kitayama house.
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421When Tatsuya had first heard he was not surprised, but then again Shizuku’s family were “extremely rich” after all.
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423In the first place, the mages of the Kitayama house did not hold the same prestige as the Ten Master Houses or the 100 Families.
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425Shizuku’s mother, a magician, had fallen in love with her millionaire father at first sight, and after much strife they were finally married, at which, the paternal lineage turned up no mages — her young brother having some measure of practical ability but not enough for true magic.
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427Whether because of those circumstances, in contrast there was Shizuku — her raw magic potential being extraordinary.
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429Shizuku’s addiction to Monolith Code could be said to stem from her father’s financial prowess, being able to tour the country seeing magic competitions every year.
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431“……I think I’ve said this numerous times, but that would require me to have a license wouldn’t it?”
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433When Tatsuya did not respond, Shizuku had presented him with a down payment and contract fees which even considering his position as part of Taurus Silver and the considerable income that came with it, was an unprecedented sum.
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435If he had been just a normal student, that dazzling amount would have made his eyes water.
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437But although doing this as part of a school event meant he received no compensation, it would have been different if he took it as a real job with remuneration. It’s not illegal to work without a license, but in the eyes of the world, he would be seen as a “fake”.
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439“I understand.”
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441As always, Shizuku gave a dutiful nod.
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443But whether she truly understood was doubtful.
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445What it was for Shizuku only she herself knew, but for Tatsuya it was a conversation that significantly lowered tension in the moments before the match.
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447Well, whatever the effect, as long as nothing adverse happened it’d be nice.
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449They had gone through strategic meetings many times before.
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451For Shizuku, Tatsuya had devised a CAD and a secret plan to go along with it. (The début of the “plan” was meant to be in the finals of the tournament, but still.)
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453“You’re up, Shizuku.”
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455“Yeah.”
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457There was only one thing to say in this moment before her time.
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459“Alright, do your best!”
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461“Yeah, I will!”
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463It was simple, but that was also a strategy of last resort.
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469“Is this seat available?”
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471“Ah, Miyuki. It’s fine. Go right ahead.”
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473In truth that question had been asked to the sitting girls by various people for a while, but unlike the one asking now all had various ulterior motives (if you don’t mind sitting between Leo and Mikihiko!). In this rather menacing way, Erika had scared off countless lying chick cruisers and kept the seat vacant.
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475The order in which they sat was Mikihiko, Mizuki, Honoka, vacant, Erika, Leo. They had left Miyuki’s seat in the middle because if they were not on guard some unknown shady character might approach from either side. At first Erika had been reluctant to sit next to Leo, but at Mizuki’s subtle argument that Leo and Honoka were not only in different classes but hardly knew each other, she had been finally persuaded. That incident almost but not quite resembled the nowadays rare event called a catfight.
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477Before Miyuki had come, the four excluding Honoka had been looking over the schedule of the Newcomer’s Battle, and were holding a pamphlet intended for the audience (Honoka was a contestant so she had no need to recheck at this point).
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479After looking up to greet Miyuki, Mizuki returned to looking at the pamphlet, but not before noticing Honoka’s faint expression.
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481“……Honoka-san, are you prepared?”
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483“It’s fine. My race is in the afternoon.”
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485Honoka answered Mizuki with a slightly forced smile.
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487Miyuki replied to that in an incredulous tone.
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489“Ho-no-ka. If you’re this nervous before the match, you’ll be in big trouble later you know?”
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491“Uu, I know but……”
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493“You’ll be fine, Honoka. Onii-sama said so as well didn’t he?”
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495“Ye, yeah……”
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497“You came to see this to take your mind off your race didn’t you? For now, let’s cheer Shizuku on.”
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499“……yeah, you’re right.”
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501From her rather exaggerated nod, it was evident she wasn’t totally relaxed. That serious-to-a-fault way of thinking was a strong point of her personality, so you could almost say it was unavoidable tension.
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503“……um, did I say something unnecessary?”
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505At Mizuki’s follow-up, devoid of malice, Honoka simply lowered her face.
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511A bit away from those 1st Years, or rather their boisterous play, the 3rd Year trio Student Council and Public Morals Committee chiefs were gathered.
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513“Mari, is it alright for you not to sleep?”
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515“I’m not sick. As long as I don’t have to fight I’ll be fine. More than that, Mayumi, is it alright for you to be away from your duties?”
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517“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m kilometers away, and if anything comes up I can be informed instantly.”
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519Saying so, Mayumi brushed away the hair hanging over her cheek.
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521That act revealed the receiver in her ear for voice communications.
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523“Still, if it were just Mayumi it would be business as usual, but for Ichihara to be away as well makes me wonder.”
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525“No problem. It seems I’ve been forced off duty today.”
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527“……your jokes are hard to understand as ever, Ichihara.”
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529At that tongue in cheek answer, Mari was suspicious for a moment if there was any dissatisfaction at that supplanting of their staff role.
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531Of course, she knew full well that wasn’t the case.
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533Suzune bore overall responsibility for the operations staff (although there are only four people in that capacity), but individual strategic planning followed division of labor. The greatest responsibility was divided, with male staff going over strategies for the men’s matches and female staff going over strategies for the women’s matches.
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535Today’s competition was the women’s Speed Shooting contest, under the charge of Suzune.
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537—But, this was an event which didn’t allow for fine strategies in the first place, being largely dependent on technical ability. It wouldn’t be far off the mark to even say brute force. Any staff involvement would merely detail the selection of magic to match the characteristics of the competitor, and the setting of the CAD to suit, but…
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539…this was a region which overlapped the work of the technical staff.
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541Furthermore for the 1st Year women’s Speed Shooting, the CAD magic selection, settings and all, Tatsuya handled everything from planning to execution.
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543That being said, Suzune had been aware of the plan and approved it from the start.
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545She wasn’t the type to be put on the back foot by something of this level.
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547“Now then…… come to think of it, this will be the first time I see something he’s engineered used in a combat capacity.”
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549At Mari’s words brimming with curiosity, Mayumi also looked over at the arena with interest.
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551“That’s true. During my time, he was a great help. I’m looking forward to seeing how a CAD he’s adjusted from the start will perform.”
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553“Starting with Kitayama-san, it seems he’s become very popular with the team.”
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555Suzune’s words held no exaggeration.
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557Initially amongst First High’s 1st Year women’s team, with the exception of Miyuki, Honoka and Shizuku, Tatsuya being in the same year, and furthermore a Course 2 student, seemed to provoke an almost allergic reaction from the other members when it came to giving him their CAD for adjustment.
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559But after a few practices with the CADs he calibrated, any such negative feelings completely vanished.
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561Perhaps it’d be more suitable to call that change of heart “being blown away”.
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563“It seems that today there are also a few contestants who have brought their own CADs.”
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565At Suzune’s words, Mari made a sound of surprise.
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567“Hey hey…… wouldn’t that cause problems in the match?”
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569“That’s just another sign of Shiba-kun’s amazing control. It seems he’ll service them after the match is over.”
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571Service refers to the adjustment of the CAD.
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573The contestants using Tatsuya’s competition adjusted CADs were even bringing him their personal CADs to adjust. Furthermore, rather than just one or two, it was more like the entire female 1st Year team.
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575“His fans seem to be steadily increasing.”
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577“The good natures of people come out in the strangest of places.”
578
579Both Mayumi and Mari, exchanging a glance, shared a small chuckle.
580
581
582
583
584
585If Tatsuya himself had been faced with Mayumi’s remark “his fans are increasing”, he would have vehemently denied it.
586
587In fact, during social events, he went out of his way to avoid women (or so he felt).
588
589Needless to say however, he didn’t possess any such “divine ears”.
590
591His attention was focused solely on the shooting range Shizuku now stood at.
592
593He did not possess “eyes” like Mizuki.
594
595He did however have the power to analyze data structures.
596
597The data structures he himself had written and programmed into the CAD were all in his head.
598
599If she put her hands even slightly together, while he could not perceive the “hand” he could predict the “result”.
600
601Shizuku took her stance.
602
603The lights on the start ramp began to light up.
604
605(It seems this time it’s alright.)
606
607There was no evidence of the tampering which had caused problems such as in Mari’s case, Tatsuya thought, yet he didn’t divert his “eye”.
608
609
610
611
612
613The moment all the lights came on, a clay target flew into the air.
614
615And the moment it entered the scoring area, it was blown apart.
616
617The next target was shattered in the middle of the area.
618
619Next, two were simultaneously destroyed at either end.
620
621A sigh rose from the audience. If one looked closely, Miyuki and the others were also sighing in relief at this brilliantly smooth start, letting out the breath they had been holding.
622
623Shizuku’s eyes didn’t deviate for a second.
624
625She simply gazed straight ahead, almost as if not looking at the targets.
626
627“Uwah, amazing!”
628
629In contrast to Erika’s simple admiration,
630
631“……is the Magic Activation Zone set for the entire area?”
632
633Mizuki asked Miyuki and Honoka rather doubtfully.
634
635“That’s correct. Shizuku is able to tag all solids that enter the area with magic vibratory waves, destroying the target. By generating compression waves inside the target, it undergoes repeated partial expansion and contraction. If this rapid heating and cooling is repeated, it’s only logical that even solid rock would weaken and collapse.”
636
637“To be precise, she sets numerous epicenters within the scoring area, which generate the virtual waves that give rise to the vibratory waves within the targets. Rather than directly applying the waves to the targets with magic, she has set up an area which causes the phenomena of applying such waves to the targets. The moment the waves from the epicenter come into contact with such a target, the virtual waves become real waves within the target and affect it in reality.”
638
639As Honoka and Miyuki carried out their polite commentary whilst their eyes remained fixed on the shooting range, Mizuki simply nodded.
640
641
642
643
644
645“……is the mechanism involved.”
646
647Whether by chance or necessity, the 3rd Year trio was also having the same conversation at the same time.
648
649“As you know, the effective scoring area in Speed Shooting is a cube of 15 meter proportions set in the air. Shiba-kun’s Activation Sequence sets another cube within this which is 10 meters on each side, with the vertices and the center, nine points in total, being designated as epicenters.”
650
651The one who had first made that explanation was Tatsuya. Suzune had been shown the plan.
652
653“Each point is labeled with a number, and when that number is entered into the live Activation Sequence, virtual waves spread from that point.
654
655The reach of the waves is six meters. In other words the moment the magic is activated, all targets within a six meter radius from the epicenter will be destroyed.”
656
657“……it rather feels like it’s using unnecessary force…… is Kitayama alright with those settings?”
658
659“Although it has to be said that Kitayama-san is better known for her power than her precision……”
660
661At Mari’s pause, Suzune was wearing her typical cool poker face. But within her eyes, the shadow of a sympathetic laugh could be found.
662
663“The aim of this magic is not to compensate for accuracy, but rather to increase speed at the expense of accuracy.”
664
665“……In other words, you’re implying that a more pinpoint aiming solution is possible right? Please elaborate?”
666
667“The feature of this magic is that it is coordinated by numbers.”
668
669Returning her gaze to the 1st Year before them, Suzune began her explanation to Mayumi’s question. Her fluent reply was probably because she had gotten an answer after earlier asking the exact same thing.
670
671“In Speed Shooting, the position of the contestants and the distance, direction and size of the scoring area is always the same. In other words the focal points necessary in this magic to set the virtual cube in relation to the distance, and viewing angle of the player, are constants.
672
673Therefore there is no need to enter variable coordinates separately each time, but instead you can simply input into the Activation Sequence the number you desire and instantly invoke the magic. For this rough degree of aim, using the auxiliary aiming systems built into the CAD, it’s possible for the optimal point to be automatically picked out.
674
675Furthermore, this magic doesn’t require changes in duration or power either. There isn’t any need. In truth, they’re treated as constants by the Activation Sequence. The contestant, just by selecting a point with the aid of the CAD without needing to think of any other variables, can simply pull the virtual trigger and end up destroying the target.”
676
677The shoot was approaching the end.
678
679Not a single target had been missed.
680
681“Since there’s no need to physically interface with the controls, merely invoking the magic will fully realize the potential of effect. I do believe the continuous Activation utilizes Multicast as well.”
682
683The shoot drew to a close.
684
685Final result, perfect.
686
687“The proper name of the magic is ‘Active Air Mine’. It seems to be a Shiba-kun original. Well, all the numerous elements jammed in make the final Activation Sequence quite a beast, but Kitayama-san’s formidable magic power makes up for it.”
688
689“……it’s pretty much the exact opposite of Mayumi’s magic isn’t it?”
690
691“……coming up with a sequence like this is quite something.”
692
693Mayumi’s voice held not so much admiration as outright amazement.
694
695“Still…… it’s rather intriguing.”
696
697On the other hand, Mari’s voice was filled with interest.
698
699“In battle the relative position between you and your opponents will by no means remain the same, so from the view of marksman magic it’s not quite combat worthy, but…… if instead of setting the cube in the air, you center it as a sphere around yourself, wouldn’t it serve very admirably in all directions as an active shield?”
700
701“The problem is activation duration. If you set it too short the timing will be difficult, but too long and you risk yourself being caught in the area of effect.”
702
703Despite these issues presented by Mayumi, Mari’s enthusiasm didn’t dampen in the slightest.
704
705“That will be up to the operator’s skill. As you said, if you’re able to gauge the timing you can set the duration to be short no problem. ……alright, immediately after this I’m going to nab him and install it by tonight.”
706
707“……try not to cause any problems for the competitors.”
708
709Mayumi’s voice as she responded was now 100% amazement.
710
711
712
713
714
715“Good work.”
716
717As Shizuku returned from the shooting range, Tatsuya offered up words of praise along with a towel. The engineer isn’t the manager so there’s no need for him to have a towel handy, but he wasn’t one to fall for such petty pride.
718
719“It was somewhat anticlimactic.”
720
721She wasn’t blustering in any way — it seemed she really felt so.
722
723Whilst wiping the sweat from her brow, Shizuku had a slightly dissatisfied look.
724
725Still at the same time, her joy was plain to see (it wasn’t like she was trying to hide it or anything anyway.)
726
727The qualifying score needed for the Newcomer’s Battle was around 80% each year.
728
729Because it was impossible to score any higher than what she had gotten, regardless of the borderline she would obviously advance to the finals.
730
731“I don’t think anything went through the blind spots, as expected; they didn’t try such obstinate unsporting things.”
732
733The magic Shizuku had used did not cover the entire scoring area. The area around the outer edges could be considered blind spots.
734
735However, as seen from the performance of the machine launching the clay targets, there were no last minute changes to the trajectory of the targets. If a target had not passed right through the scoring area, the entire shoot would have to be redone out of issues of fairness, a blunder on the part of the tournament committee. Due to the nature of the competition, that was a risk they didn’t need.
736
737They had made a strategy covering even that eventuality so it wasn’t particularly a big concern, but not having to rely on that backup was something to be relieved about after all.
738
739“Tatsuya-san, you worry too much. To try for that they’d have to deliberately probe for the blind spots, something too high level for the Newcomer’s Battle.”
740
741Shizuku’s words were only right.
742
743Tatsuya put such things out of his mind, and switched to Shizuku’s perspective.
744
745“At first we’ll go according to plan. But from the quarterfinals on will be match format. I’ll service your CAD in the morning, so be sure to let me take a look.”
746
747“Got it.”
748
749The format between the qualifier and finals is different. The qualifier is to see how many of the 100 clay targets you can destroy in five minutes, a test of the speed and reliability of your magic. In the finals however, it’s a test to see which player can destroy the most targets being fired into the same area. The factors of speed and reliability are joined by raw power and the ability to overcome interference from your opponents. As per the nature of this competition, the magic you normally use will also change accordingly.
750
751Depending on the type of magic to be used, it’s not uncommon to change the specialized CADs used for the competition themselves.
752
753Tatsuya was now making preparations for the next contestants — for the next match that would follow, and the one after that.
754
755Shizuku went alone to the storage tent to fetch the CADs used for the tournament finals.
756
757
758
759
760
761“All three of them qualified huh……”
762
763Back in the tent which served as the headquarters of First High, Mayumi went over the results of the Speed Shooting preliminaries.
764
765Whilst looking, Mayumi gave a small soliloquy.
766
767“Maybe the 1st Year girls this year are just of a special level?”
768
769Eight names had qualified for the finals from a preliminary of twenty four.
770
771Three of those eight names were from the same school, having made it through to the finals of the Newcomer’s Battle, an unprecedented number.
772
773“Mari, won’t you give up your pretense?”
774
775Mayumi’s remarks were normally followed by a tsukkomi by Mari, but this time she simply shrugged in silence.
776
777Her pose seemed to suggest futility.
778
779“I wonder how the Battle Board will turn out.”
780
781At Mayumi’s question, Suzune deliberately took out her terminal and checked. (“Deliberately” in the sense that she knew in her head already.)
782
783“The men’s team missed the cut even after the second race, while the women’s qualified after the first.”
784
785“The men are down to one last guy huh. On the girls’ side, Mitsui-san’s in the last race and is certain to make it through the prelims…… it seems A-chan has been working hard.”
786
787As Mayumi muttered to herself,
788
789“We may want to devote a bit more time to technical skills on our side as well.”
790
791Looking over the same report card from his own terminal, Katsuto responded in disgust.
792
793
794
795
796
797The quarterfinals of Speed Shooting took place on four shooting ranges.
798
799If the eight who had advanced to the tournament proper were all from different schools the semis could have been resolved in four simultaneous games, but at the presence of competitors from the same school, the games had to be adjusted so as to not overlap (there is no competition between entrants of the same school during the semis.)
800
801That being said, compared to conducting the semis one by one on a single range, the interval between each game was rather short. As three of First High’s women’s team had advanced to the semis, the engineers were kept very busy.
802
803“……Tatsuya-san, is everything alright?”
804
805Being last in turn, Shizuku reflexively spoke up when Tatsuya rushed in as she sat in the waiting room (although since she was in a tent, it couldn’t strictly be called a “room”).
806
807Maybe it was a trick of the mind, but it seemed to her that he was also slightly out of breath.
808
809“It’s fine.”
810
811With that short answer, Tatsuya began a final check of the CAD.
812
813As Shizuku looked on — or rather stared — he rapidly scrolled through the monitor of the adjustment device ensuring there were no abnormalities, before finally meeting Shizuku’s eye.
814
815“I think you already know, but this is a totally different model from the ones used in the preliminaries. There’s almost no time now, but if there’s even the slightest discomfort, I’ll re-adjust it as much as possible so please feel free to tell me anything.”
816
817Taking the CAD from Tatsuya, Shizuku took a stance and after repeatedly pulling the trigger with her finger two, three times, she put the CAD down.
818
819“There’s nothing of the sort. Rather, it fits so well it’s almost frightening.”
820
821“I see.”
822
823
824
825
826
827She didn’t thump her chest or anything, but at Tatsuya’s relieved look, Shizuku’s expression filled with fighting spirit.
828
829“The other two won didn’t they?”
830
831“Yeah.”
832
833The other two, referred to her teammates who had already gone.
834
835Those two, who had along with Shizuku advanced to the finals tournament, seemed to have clinched a win in the semi finals as well.
836
837“It’s fine.”
838
839Once again, Tatsuya used the same words, but with a different meaning.
840
841“If Shizuku performs as usual, you’ll definitely win.”
842
843“Of course.”
844
845At that, Shizuku gave a brief yet far more vigorous than usual nod.
846
847“Tatsuya-san has already made all the arrangements I need for victory, so all that’s left is for me to take it.”
848
849“That’s the spirit.”
850
851Without challenging her early declaration of success, Tatsuya saw her off with a smile.
852
853
854
855
856
857“It’s finally Shizuku-san’s turn.”
858
859“Hey hey, if even Mizuki is nervous how should I cope?”
860
861“But aren’t you all excited as well Erika-chan? If Shizuku-san wins here, three of the final best four will be from our school!”
862
863“Aren’t you a bit too nervous regardless? Shizuku is definitely going to win after all.”
864
865At that confident affirmation, mingled with a teasing remark from Miyuki to “take a deep breath and calm down”, Mizuki obediently cleared her mind and inhaled.
866
867“……I wonder if this also counts as a sort of promise.”
868
869“……I guess even Mizuki-san can be playful at times.”
870
871Rather than as a result of the deep breathing, but more from not wanting to cause Miyuki and Honoka any more worry, Mizuki finally regained her composure.
872
873“I wonder what kind of twist we’ll see this time.”
874
875Hearing Mikihiko’s voice bearing a hint of excitement, Erika made a “huh?” expression.
876
877“Good point. What will jump out this time, I can’t even begin to guess.”
878
879The one who actually responded aloud was Leo.
880
881“His mind is almost like a jack-in-the-box.”
882
883“You can talk.”
884
885For Mikihiko to look forward to and show interest in magic was something Erika hadn’t seen for a long time.
886
887Whether this change had been brought about simply by watching the competition with others, she couldn’t say. Perhaps without her knowing, something had happened between Tatsuya and Mikihiko…… without voicing anything aloud, Erika pondered such things.
888
889“Eh? That’s……”
890
891Breaking her out of her train of thought and back to reality was a querulous voice.
892
893“What is it?”
894
895“That CAD……?”
896
897Mikihiko’s gaze was fixed on the CAD Shizuku held under her arm by a strap.
898
899That rifle shaped CAD at first glance, with the exception of the strap, was no different from the CAD the other contestants were using. But the area of the gun where ammunition would normally be stored was thicker than the others.
900
901Mikihiko’s school traditionally didn’t place much emphasis on CADs. They still mainly utilized magic activated by charms. But ever since the accident last year, Mikihiko had obsessively been studying up on modern magic technology.
902
903To compensate for what he had lost.
904
905The result of that had been evident in his test results.
906
907Mikihiko had considerably more confidence in CADs than comparable modern mages.
908
909If his eyes weren’t mistaken.
910
911“Is that…… a general purpose CAD?”
912
913“Eh, you’re kidding?”
914
915“Yeah, well, it is.”
916
917“I’ve never heard of a general CAD shaped like a rifle before. Firstly, isn’t combining auxiliary sighting systems into a general system technically impossible?”
918
919It was only natural that Leo, Mizuki, and Erika would ask one question after another.
920
921But Mikihiko simply shook his head with confidence.
922
923“The arrangement of the body portion just above the trigger of the CAD is without a doubt FLT’s general purpose ‘Centaur’ series. The Centaur series is a type which doesn’t have any interfaces on the main body and can be used without any external input devices, but the connector has had a grip and auxiliary aim assist system attached.”
924
925“You really know your stuff.”
926
927Miyuki’s words as she turned around and grinned confirmed Mikihiko’s observations.
928
929“Eh? Then, that is?”
930
931“You’re right Erika. That’s specially handcrafted by Onii-sama. It was specifically made to incorporate auxiliary aiming systems into a general purpose CAD.”
932
933At Miyuki’s proud words, the knowledge that the CAD was a special made-to-order model, Erika was rendered speechless at the amount of effort that must have taken.
934
935“I don’t think I could feel any more surprised but…… just what is it all for?”
936
937“Of course, for the match.”
938
939Honoka’s brief answer was not near enough to satisfy Leo’s, and the other three’s questions.
940
941But no subsequent explanation followed through.
942
943As if by common consent, the six of them faced forwards. The signal for the start of the match began to light up.
944
945
946
947
948
949Red and white clay targets danced in the sky.
950
951Shizuku’s targets were the red ones.
952
953The three red targets that twisted through the air and entered the scoring zone, flew together towards the center and shattered.
954
955“Movement system…… no, that’s wrong. Convergence system?”
956
957In the tent used by each school as a headquarters, large monitors covering every aspect of the competitions gave full view of the matches underway.
958
959Both Suzune and Mayumi were watching Shizuku’s match on the monitor with their full attention.
960
961“Correct.”
962
963This time, all red targets which entered the scoring area were being drawn into the middle and destroyed.
964
965“That’s the magic used in the qualifiers isn’t it?”
966
967“Yes. It’s a continuous invocation of convergence magic and vibration magic.”
968
969Two of the white targets collided and broke apart.
970
971The opponent from Second High was using an orthodox tactic of targeting the clay itself using movement magic, and turning it into a bullet to hit other targets.
972
973Although orthodox, its effectiveness had been amply demonstrated by past performances.
974
975But from the outset, the majority of the targets being removed from around the outer area were white.
976
977Since most of those had been hit around the outer edge, the problem lay not in the technical ability of the contestant but rather…
978
979“I get that the area of effect is able to recognize the targets on a macro level and enhance the density of red targets in the center via convergence, whilst displacing the white targets from that center but……”
980
981The basic form of Convergence Magic works by defining existing space via the Magic Ritual, then taking that defined “data” and selectively manipulating it via designated coordinates using that same Magic Ritual.
982
983For example, Mayumi’s magic which utilizes dry ice to make bullets and send them flying, in order to create a sufficient number of bullets, initially also uses Convergence Magic to gather carbon dioxide.
984
985In this case, carbon dioxide is collected in one place while other gases are pushed aside, but this does not mean a high density mass of carbon dioxide is made, as the CO2 rather flows through designated coordinates whilst other gases are drawn out.
986
987In the same manner, Shizuku’s magic replaced carbon dioxide with red targets.
988
989A special zone — in this case, the center of the scoring area — was set up as a “space where red targets are gathered” by that Systematic Convergence Magic.
990
991More specifically a square space 20 meters per side, comfortably covering the entire scoring area and more, was magically altered to become a “space with a high density of red clay targets in the center.”
992
993The volume of that area is huge, but as the total number of clay targets at any one time is small, there isn’t a large burden on the operator. What is modified isn’t the space itself, but rather the distribution of clay targets within that space.
994
995The modification of data via the Magic Ritual results in red targets being drawn to the center of the area, while white targets are repelled. The targets the Second High contestant directly controlled weren’t affected by such minor interference, but the targets the Second High student tried to hit, due to not receiving any magic from her, had their trajectories changed by Shizuku’s magic and as a result, white targets began to be missed.
996
997The rules of the Speed Shooting tournament finals state that as long as you do not directly attack your opponent, interference is allowed. But as the clay targets fly for only short irregular periods, it’s very hard to block your opponent and shoot your own targets at the same time. There were many cases when vacillating between sniping and interfering resulted in self destruction, but as Shizuku’s Systematic Convergence Magic flawlessly linked disturbing the opponent and destroying one’s own targets, it was a very skillful strategy.
998
999While few, there are some examples of this strategy being used in the past, all of which shared one effect. As strong interference strength is needed, the strategy involves the selection of an appropriate contestant. Therefore while the window of opportunity is small, Mayumi had also firmly studied this tactic.
1000
1001So what Mayumi was asking concerning this magic was not that in itself.
1002
1003“But then, how is she able to turn on and off the Systematic Vibration Magic at the end?”
1004
1005If multiple targets flew together, they would shatter as is.
1006
1007If a red target was alone however, vibration magic was used to destroy it.
1008
1009It had been configured as a single magic, so for her to be able to independently trigger the Systematic Vibration Magic to destroy targets was peculiar.
1010
1011“I wonder if it’s been scheduled that multiple targets would fly together before the Vibration Magic has a chance to trigger?”
1012
1013Mayumi’s tone as she reasoned to herself said that not even she believed it.
1014
1015There’s no merit to applying such a time difference.
1016
1017“Pres, I did say it was ‘continuous invocation of Systematic Convergence Magic and Systematic Vibration Magic’ didn’t I?”
1018
1019With a sly smile, Suzune corrected Mayumi’s misunderstanding.
1020
1021Mayumi immediately understood the meaning of those words.
1022
1023And upon reflection, immediately cried a rebuttal.
1024
1025“No way! The systems in a specialized CAD should only be able to store one single Activation Sequence!?”
1026
1027“Your doubts are well founded, except that’s not a specialized CAD, but a general one.”
1028
1029Suzune’s answer only brought Mayumi still more confusion.
1030
1031“That’s impossible! The hardware, OS and architecture between specialized and general CADs are totally different.
1032
1033And auxiliary aiming devices are subsystems which only fit within the architecture of a specialized CAD.
1034
1035Connecting an auxiliary aiming device to the body of a general CAD is technically impossible isn’t it?”
1036
1037Mayumi’s stressful speech gradually settled down, but from the blush of her cheeks it was still possible to glimpse her raw excitement.
1038
1039Suzune’s smile, now calm and mature, turned into something to soothe her companion.
1040
1041“I thought so too. But, I guess it really is possible. This isn’t something original to Shiba-kun, but was announced in Germany a year ago.”
1042
1043“……one year ago, isn’t that pretty much state of the art?”
1044
1045“It’s best if you’re not surprised simply by this much, Pres. He’s being real coy about it, but Shiba-kun has something even more cutting edge in store.”
1046
1047“Hahh…… Well, if it’s confidential it can’t be helped. But for him to tell Rin-chan about it and not me is a bit of a shock.”
1048
1049“The Pres is a contestant. I’m sure he simply didn’t want to upset you.”
1050
1051“I guess…… if I had known about a technique like this in advance, I certainly might have become a bit agitated.”
1052
1053As their eyes returned to the monitor, the scores of both players and the remaining time were displayed onscreen.
1054
1055With the clock ticking down, victory had already been decided.
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061(30 seconds remaining)
1062
1063Having been repeatedly training these past two weeks, practicing over and over, she was now able to measure exactly the flow of the 5 minutes of the competition.
1064
1065The moment red clay flew into the blue sphere projected by her goggles, Shizuku triggered her CAD.
1066
1067The target shattered.
1068
1069The competition allows the use of the protective goggles to double as a sighting aid. In fact, the number of competitors who don’t do so are rare. (The case of players like Mayumi who have their own sights aside.) However, rather than aiming directly at the target, Shizuku’s functioned as a HMD (head mount display) in order to distinguish space. Or rather, it should be called Tatsuya’s.
1070
1071As with all the unorthodox techniques Tatsuya had proposed, Shizuku had also been puzzled with this at first. However, possibly because she had no actual competition experience, she fortunately didn’t take any time to get used to it. Once she was comfortable, it matched her more perfectly than any other equipment or techniques than she would have believed.
1072
1073Anyway, it was easy.
1074
1075There was almost no stress associated with the normal use of magic.
1076
1077Shizuku herself was aware that her weakness was fine control.
1078
1079That was why she had requested her CAD engineers to add features that assist in the smoothing of detailed settings.
1080
1081Even at the expense of speed, her aim was to ensure that her CAD would be able to output power at a reliable level.
1082
1083She was confident her own ability could compensate for the speed of processing.
1084
1085However Tatsuya’s Sequences made detailed settings unnecessary.
1086
1087Rather than making up for her shortcomings, the concept was to maximize her advantages.
1088
1089The intent capitalized on her processing power to continuously trigger a Sequence at high speeds, and her capacity to build large Magic Rituals.
1090
1091The result was the CAD she now held in her hand.
1092
1093She had been surprised at him being able to connect an auxiliary aiming system to a general type CAD, but she had been even more surprised at the Activation Sequence speed.
1094
1095In terms of processing speed, general CADs lose out to specialized ones.
1096
1097This was not so much common sense, but rather a matter of structure.
1098
1099General and specialized CADs differ both in their hardware and software.
1100
1101The difference between them, between a dedicated processor and general processor, is similar to the difference between a dedicated supercomputer and a general one.
1102
1103Comparing CPU performance in terms of speed, a generic type will never be the equal of a specialized type. This difference in level can usually be felt clearly.
1104
1105And yet — this CAD demonstrated speed no less to that of a specialized CAD.
1106
1107(5 more seconds)
1108
1109—A target came flying.
1110
1111—She pulled the trigger.
1112
1113—Magic activated.
1114
1115—And the target shattered.
1116
1117This processing speed, even when compared with the specialized CAD used during the preliminaries, showed almost no difference.
1118
1119Tatsuya had said the trick was because “it was limited to only two Sequences”.
1120
1121Since it had been designed exclusively for the competition, he was able to use a trick that would not be viable for daily use.
1122
1123Shizuku could not understand the detailed theory.
1124
1125She didn’t think it necessary.
1126
1127Magic was a tool.
1128
1129The CAD was also a tool.
1130
1131A tool just needs to be usable.
1132
1133Any more than that, could be left to the experts.
1134
1135The last two targets weren’t shattered by the “Air Mine”, but by Loop Cast Convergence magic.
1136
1137“Perfect.”
1138
1139Confirming her performance aloud, Shizuku gave a smile of triumph.
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145Noon.
1146
1147Inside First High School’s tent, a jubilant atmosphere filled the air.
1148
1149“That was brilliant, Tatsuya-kun! What an amazing achievement!”
1150
1151Having been patted and slapped on the back countless times, Tatsuya was growing tired. Just as Mayumi’s slender figure suggested there was no actual pain involved, but her persistence was certainly wearying.
1152
1153“……Pres, please calm down a little.”
1154
1155Making eye contact with Suzune in a plea for assistance, she immediately began to remonstrate with Mayumi.
1156
1157Quite the dependable senpai — if not for the fact that she had gone along until being asked for help, making her feel rather more like a “partner in crime”.
1158
1159“Ah, I’m sorry.”
1160
1161Perhaps having too much fun and finally coming to her senses, Mayumi immediately stopped the slapping. ……but it didn’t seem like she intended to let him go anytime soon.
1162
1163“Still, that was truly astounding! We took all first, second and third places!”
1164
1165“……the winner, runner-up and third place are all contestants, not me.”
1166
1167“Of course Kitayama-san, Akechi-san, and Takigawa-san were also amazing! Everyone did so well!”
1168
1169At the Student Council President’s broad smile, the 1st Year women’s Speed Shooting team bowed in unison with a happy “thank you”.
1170
1171“But at the same time, your own achievements are no less. They were without a doubt spectacular.”
1172
1173Although without Mayumi’s sheer energy, Mari also joined in the praise with a good natured face.
1174
1175“Uh, thank you very much.”
1176
1177“It’s not like this is a contest. As the engineer who significantly contributed to our contestants’ monopoly of all the placings, you should have your share of the recognition.”
1178
1179At Mari’s words, Shizuku and the others nodded deeply.
1180
1181“I couldn’t believe it myself.”
1182
1183“My magic suddenly became so good, it was like an illusion.”
1184
1185Unlike Shizuku, the other two added their own comments.
1186
1187Shizuku simply nodded as if everything was a matter of course.
1188
1189“Especially concerning the magic Kitayama-san used, there has been an approach from the Universities to officially adopt it into the ‘Index’.”
1190
1191However, at Suzune’s words Mayumi’s eyes widened, Mari was lost for words and Shizuku stiffened.
1192
1193The official name of the Index is the “National Magic University Compiled・Magic Encyclopedia・Index of True Names”.
1194
1195For a magic to have its proper name recorded in the encyclopedia the National Magic Universities are creating, in this context, means the magic would not be considered a subset of any existing magic, but officially recognized by the Universities as an entirely new branch of magic.
1196
1197To researchers engaged in the development of magic in Japan, this was the one single honor they all strove for.
1198
1199However—
1200
1201“I see. Then, please submit Kitayama-san as the developer’s name.”
1202
1203“What!? No way!”
1204
1205At Tatsuya’s utter lack of interest, Shizuku drew close in a hurry.
1206
1207“That was Tatsuya-san’s original magic!”
1208
1209“……It’s normal for the developer name of a new magic to be registered as the name of the first user is it not?”
1210
1211Distancing himself from Shizuku’s pleas, Tatsuya replied with no tension.
1212
1213“Hm……excessive humility is also unpleasant you know?”
1214
1215At Mari’s chiding, accompanied by a slightly chilling glance, Tatsuya simply shook his head reluctantly.
1216
1217“It’s not humility.”
1218
1219“Then what is it?”
1220
1221“I just don’t want the shame of having my name registered as the developer of a magic I can’t even use.”
1222
1223Certainly, if one is known as the developer of a new type of magic, they are often asked for demonstrations.
1224
1225If one is “unable to use” a magic they developed themselves, suspicions would arise that maybe the magic was actually developed by others.
1226
1227Tatsuya’s reason was not unjustifiable, but……
1228
1229“……Just how then did you manage to confirm the operative readiness of a magic you can’t use?”
1230
1231Building up a magic by theory alone is surpassingly non-standard but, even if it were possible, to let another use a magic that was not tested and verified as functional was the work of a mad scientist who ignored all the risks, and it was extremely immoral.
1232
1233“It’s not like I can’t use it at all. It’s just that it would take me far too much time to set up, to the point it’s not really at the level you could say I can truly ‘use’ it.”
1234
1235“Well well, Mari, Tatsuya-kun, let’s not quarrel over such a thing now.”
1236
1237Seeing Mari preparing more ammunition to throw at Tatsuya’s comeback, Mayumi intervened between the two.
1238
1239“We’re finally back to a good start. Tatsuya-kun, please help the other competitors just as much.”
1240
1241As Mayumi tapped his shoulder with a smile, Tatsuya gave a modest bow.
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247The performance of First High School’s women’s Speed Shooting team had created a stir in the other schools.
1248
1249There was an enthusiastic feeling of “we can win this year” throughout the Nine Schools Tournament, especially Third High School, who thought of the accident in the women’s Battle Board “we feel bad for them, but this is a chance!” — While such thoughts may seem excessive, they were shared amongst the others.
1250
1251“So Masaki, First High’s performance, you don’t think it was due to the personal skill of those girls themselves?”
1252
1253Of the twenty people gathered — all the 1st Years of the Third High School Newcomer’s Battle contestants —
1254
1255“It has to be said, the magical power of the winner, that Kitayama girl, is astounding. I’m sure she would have won either way. But the other two, I don’t feel were anything special. If the results had been decided by magical power alone, I’m sure they wouldn’t have gone so far as to claim second and third place as well.”
1256
1257“Not to mention that the advantage in Battle Board lies with us this year, seeing how I think First High only has one 1st Year in it with a particularly high level.”
1258
1259The results of the Battle Board so far had seen the two guys from Third High School both qualify, and of the two girls they sent forth one had qualified. By contrast only one of the men from the three First High School sent qualified, and the one girl they sent qualified too.
1260
1261“It’s as George says. We don’t lose out in terms of the quality of our contestants. If that’s so, there must be some other factor.”
1262
1263“Ichijou-kun, Kichijouji-kun……what do you think it is?”
1264
1265At the question from the girl who had lost to First High in the semifinals of the Speed Shooting, both Ichijou and Kichijouji made eye contact, confirming their suspicions.
1266
1267“It’s probably, their engineer.”
1268
1269Kichijouji responded out loud.
1270
1271“The engineer for their women’s Speed Shooting team is probably quite the ace.”
1272
1273“I concur. George, the device that winner girl used……did you notice?”
1274
1275“Yeah……that was a general purpose wasn’t it.”
1276
1277Kichijouji’s answer, aside from the two of them, made a considerable impact on the other Third High 1st Years.
1278
1279“No way……I mean, it had auxiliary sights attached right?”
1280
1281“That’s right! I’ve never heard of a general purpose device shaped like a rifle either!”
1282
1283“That’s true. Whichever maker’s catalogue you look through, you’d never find anything like that would you?”
1284
1285At the objections being raised, Ichijou remained somber.
1286
1287“……certainly, something like that has never commercially appeared. However, examples of general devices with integrated sighting aids do indeed exist.”
1288
1289“You gotta be kidding……”
1290
1291At Ichijou’s words, stunned voices floated through the air.
1292
1293In fact a strong air of disbelief permeated throughout, until Kichijouji came out with his own support.
1294
1295“It’s new technology, only just announced in Dusseldorf last summer.”
1296
1297“Just last summer!? That’s freakin’ state of the art!”
1298
1299“Yeah, I didn’t know either until I looked into it for this thing.”
1300
1301“Not even Ichijou knew, there’s no way we would……”
1302
1303An uncomfortable silence followed. Surprise, anxiety, doubt……and awe.
1304
1305“……Kichijouji-kun sure knows a lot though. As expected of our brain.”
1306
1307The words of that female competitor were intended to loosen up the heavy atmosphere.
1308
1309But Kichijouji remained unmoved.
1310
1311“Sure……but, the prototype unveiled in Dusseldorf was not meant to be a practical model. The operation was sluggish, accuracy was low — from a technical standpoint it was simply an experiment that had been cast aside.”
1312
1313Kichijouji knotted his brow as he replied, his voice bitter.
1314
1315“The device the winner First High’s Kitayama-san used however fully combined the strengths of the speed and accuracy of a specialized type with the versatility of a general type. If that was all the work of one engineer……that’s not the level of a high school student anymore. It’s almost monstrous.”
1316
1317“Masaki, for you to describe someone that far……”
1318
1319“It’s physically impossible for a single engineer to be responsible for every competitor though……”
1320
1321“Competitions that guy is responsible for in the future are likely to be beastly. It’s very likely our devices will be handicapped by at least two or three generations.”
1322
1323At Kichijouji’s ominous speculation, silence reigned amongst the gathered teammates.
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329Tatsuya, who was at this moment receiving such unjust treatment from the athletes in their rival schools without any knowledge (obviously) after finishing a late lunch proceeded to the girls’ Battle Board course.
1330
1331Planned for the afternoon were the fourth to sixth races.
1332
1333Honoka would appear in the sixth. If he only needed to keep his appointment with her, there should be no need to come so early.
1334
1335“Ah, Shiba-kun, what’s the matter?”
1336
1337At the sight of him accompanied by Miyuki and Shizuku, Azusa tilted her head. Her posture was so similar to a squirrel holding a nut that despite his melancholic mood, he couldn’t help but twitch a smile.
1338
1339At his careless chuckle he consciously tried to tighten his lips, but there wasn’t enough tension. In resignation, he relaxed.
1340
1341“……You were making fun of me just now weren’t you?”
1342
1343“Not at all. I was just impressed by Nakajou-senpai’s diligence.”
1344
1345“……You really are making fun of me aren’t you?”
1346
1347Being glared at with those half-lidded eyes so much like a child sulking forced Tatsuya to look away to hold back his laughter.
1348
1349“……It’s fine, I don’t care.”
1350
1351Azusa kept glaring at him for a while, then with a sigh, muttered to herself.
1352
1353This was probably something she went through every day.
1354
1355Somehow, her figure also exuded an air of melancholy.
1356
1357Leaving her like that would make one feel terrible.
1358
1359“—I really wasn’t making fun of you.”
1360
1361“……Really?”
1362
1363“Really.”
1364
1365“Really really?”
1366
1367“Really.”
1368
1369Being looked at with suspicion — due to the height difference, straight up — by Azusa, Tatsuya showed a strong front.
1370
1371Seeing that proud bearing, Azusa finally seemed to relent (was she fooled?) and smiled.
1372
1373“Alright. Because I believe in Tatsuya-kun.”
1374
1375Saying so as she laughed at him, she drifted over to his side.
1376
1377Tatsuya knew without even looking.
1378
1379The image of Miyuki’s eyebrows rising floated into his mind.
1380
1381(Ooh boy……)
1382
1383It seemed his sister would be in a pretty bad mood tonight as well, he sighed to himself — although he couldn’t resent her for it, it did pain him a little inside.
1384
1385—That aside.
1386
1387“So, what’s the matter? There’s still two more hours before Mitsui-san’s match.”
1388
1389“I felt rather uncomfortable outside, so I came here for some shelter.”
1390
1391As Azusa tilted her head again, next to Tatsuya, Miyuki laughed.
1392
1393“……Onii-sama is too concerned.”
1394
1395At those questioning eyes, Miyuki’s tone suggested “it can’t be helped”.
1396
1397“They’ve become very motivated, so I’m sure the end result will be just fine.”
1398
1399On his other side, Shizuku reassured him.
1400
1401“Ah, ahhh, is that what it is……”
1402
1403Guessing the circumstances immediately, Azusa was pretty sharp too.
1404
1405The monopoly of Shizuku and the others had been the subject of praise even throughout lunch.
1406
1407Not just the executives, but the seniors who had the day off and had been watching that day went to compliment the three, yet the number of people who also went on to mention Tatsuya’s achievements were not inconsiderable.
1408
1409At that, the men’s Speed Shooting team had begun burning with an extraordinary rivalry.
1410
1411That in itself, as Shizuku said, was not undesirable.
1412
1413If they become fired up and increase their desire for victory, as long as they aren’t idle, it works as a plus.
1414
1415However, being stared at with eyes that seemed to burn with vengeance for their dead father, made you want to tell them to get a life.
1416
1417Of course, to say such a thing out loud would lead to a fight. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he had come to the competition venue as early as possible.
1418
1419The location of the Nine Schools Tournament was the southeast area of the Fuji Armed Forces Training Grounds. While it’s called an area, the Fuji training grounds were huge to begin with, and simply moving between venues would end up being a considerable hike. Without that much land, it would be impossible to prepare for areas such as the Battle Board course and the Monolith Code battlefield.
1420
1421The Battle Board course was a winding flume circuit of approximately three kilometers.
1422
1423With two sets for the two genders, as well as the spectator stands meant that quite a bit of land was needed just to make this course.
1424
1425When considering moving around the venue, the Battle Board course had been constructed right at the edge of the area provided for the Nine Schools Tournament in order to avoid having to bypass that large course on the way to other venues, and it can safely be said that there were no competitors from other events around such as those participating in the concurrent men’s Speed Shooting.
1426
1427“I could also have gone back to the dorm, but I decided since I’ll be coming here anyway I might as well see if there’s anything I could help with.”
1428
1429“Really!?”
1430
1431It wasn’t just Azusa who raised a cry.
1432
1433Perhaps overhearing from somewhere, Honoka suddenly came flying out from the competitor’s area.
1434
1435“Then please, by all means! Have a look at my CAD!”
1436
1437Recently, under the influence of Tatsuya, Honoka had also began calling her device not “Assistance” but “CAD”. At Honoka’s momentous leap Tatsuya had almost laughed out loud again. Tightening his face against the impulse, he scolded Honoka.
1438
1439“Hey, come on Honoka. That way of speaking is kinda rude to Nakajou-senpai you know?”
1440
1441Honoka’s attitude, and her words just now, couldn’t help but be taken as some level of dissatisfaction at Azusa’s work.
1442
1443“Eh, ah, I’m very sorry!”
1444
1445Honoka lowered her head in a hurry.
1446
1447“Don’t worry about it. I know you didn’t mean it in that way.”
1448
1449Azusa shook her head with a dry smile.
1450
1451Her tone was almost sisterly.
1452
1453Resisting his urge to laugh this time was a difficult task.
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459The average time for a Battle Board round was about 15 minutes.
1460
1461However, the loading and unloading of the boards as well as the inspection of the waterway, as well as the repair of areas damaged by magic meant more time was needed to prepare for each race.
1462
1463Allowing for that, as well as extra time to give leeway, meant the competition schedule for Battle Board had been organized into blocks of one hour.
1464
1465The final race would begin at 3:30 in the afternoon. Already, players were moving to the starting positions. The too long wait time was not good for tense nerves, and there were many instances of competitors ending up being unable to utilize their full strength (every year, such examples would occur for both genders in both the “real” finals and the Newcomers division), but possibly because of the chatter Honoka had shared with Miyuki and Shizuku before the match, she seemed in great condition as she stood poised upon her board.
1466
1467The sight of Honoka constantly sticking to Tatsuya had gradually stirred up Miyuki’s mood, but instead of separating them she had gone along and entered into their chat, the result of which seemed to have been a positive diversion for Honoka.
1468
1469The heavy swim shoes and thick wet suit that covered the wrists and ankles were meant to protect the competitor’s body from the friction of impacts and falling. But the pressurized uniform stuck fast to the wearer, and sharply emphasized the curves of the body even more than usual.
1470
1471Over the thigh, in large letters, was the logo “ICHIKO”. With her stimulating proportions unbefitting a 1st Year highlighted by her colorful wet suit, Honoka crouched with one knee upon the board awaiting the start.
1472
1473The CAD over her forearm was thinner and wider than usual, increasing its area and allowing for larger buttons. As he had said earlier, Tatsuya did not tamper with Honoka’s CAD.
1474
1475After looking over the system, he found nothing which absolutely needed work.
1476
1477Being asked for advice by both Honoka and Azusa, he had just one thing to offer.
1478
1479The dark goggles that Honoka now wore had been brought by him.
1480
1481To be sure, the midsummer sunshine was inclining in from the west to the extent that facing that way directly would be uncomfortably dazzling.
1482
1483Due to water splashing on the glass and blocking their view, however, few competitors opted to use goggles or sunglasses.
1484
1485Azusa had felt that narrowing the field of view would only be a disadvantage, but Honoka had taken the goggles without hesitation.
1486
1487“……come to think of it, why has Mitsui-san prepared so many optical Activation Sequences?”
1488
1489It’s rare for an engineer to issue Activation Sequences.
1490
1491With the exception of Tatsuya, who plans out the Activation Sequence lineup himself, normally engineers install Sequences based on the wish of the competitors.
1492
1493Azusa had known too that Honoka was adept with illusionary magic of the light wave system from her profile, but due to the nature of the competition, Azusa had honestly believed there was no place for illusionary magic.
1494
1495“The rules of Battle Board state that interfering with other players via magic is prohibited. However, interfering with the water and thus indirectly interfering with other players is not.”
1496
1497“……what does that mean?”
1498
1499Despite being asked repeatedly by Azusa, Tatsuya had only returned an evil smile.
1500
1501The signal for the start of the sixth qualifying race of the Newcomer’s women’s Battle Board came on.
1502
1503Immediately after.
1504
1505The audience in near unison turned away from the waterway. As if lit up by a flash, the water surface poured out light.
1506
1507One competitor fell overboard.
1508
1509The others had their balance disrupted whilst in the midst of accelerating, and one lone figure dashed to the front.
1510
1511As if expecting the situation — although it has to be said that she was the one who created the situation — wearing dark goggles, that lone figure was Honoka.
1512
1513“Alright.”
1514
1515Looking up at Tatsuya, who gave a voice of affirmation, Azusa’s face was full of amazement.
1516
1517“……Was this Onii-sama’s strategy?”
1518
1519Miyuki’s voice as she removed her sunglasses was also filled with wonder. (By the way the sunglasses the three of them wore had been issued beforehand. Miyuki and the others had been mystified as to their purpose, but put them on anyway.)
1520
1521“To be sure, it’s not prohibited by the rules but……”
1522
1523Shizuku’s voice had a hint of reproach in it.
1524
1525One couldn’t help feeling that this was rather against the spirit of fair play.
1526
1527However the yellow flag which would indicate any significant unfair play remained unwaved, and the match continued. The red flag that signaled a player’s disqualification for rules violations likewise remained unused.
1528
1529It meant that the tournament committee deemed Honoka’s magic, and Tatsuya’s strategy, a legal move.
1530
1531“……Performing optical magic on the water’s surface, I didn’t expect that at all.”
1532
1533Her personality straightforward at all times, Azusa muttered in admiration.
1534
1535“Interfering with the water surface, whether to generate waves or vortexes, affects the consciousness and orientation of other competitors yet it is allowed since it complies with the rule that ‘you may affect another competitor via magically targeting the water surface’. Doing something like freezing the water solid or boiling it would certainly be too dangerous, but I did find it strange that no one until now had used it to cause dizziness.”
1536
1537If one is suddenly blinded without any warning, it takes a while to restore vision.
1538
1539Meandering slowly along the course, unable to sprint due to their obscured vision, the difference between Honoka and the other players was already decisive.
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545“……It’s in the bag.”
1546
1547“……Who thought of this strategy?”
1548
1549Mayumi who was watching through the monitor did not experience any discomfort as the monitor automatically adjusted the amount of light displayed, yet now while she was calmly assessing the originality of that tactic she remembered her initial surprise (although calm surprise is a bit of an oxymoron).
1550
1551Following behind Mari’s mutter and Mayumi’s question, Suzune answered.
1552
1553“It was Shiba-kun.”
1554
1555“Eh, but I thought Tatsuya-kun wasn’t involved in this match?”
1556
1557Hearing that answer, Mayumi tilted her head as if going “huh?”
1558
1559Suzune’s reply was possibly a bit too polite.
1560
1561“The one who submitted the plan in the first place was Mitsui-san. But the one who decided the Activation Sequence lineup and brushed up the finer details of the strategy was Shiba-kun, or so I’m told.”
1562
1563Suzune’s deliberate mention of him “deciding the Activation Sequence lineup” was because of the perception that doing so was the exception, not the rule.
1564
1565“……it really is one thing after another with him, isn’t it.”
1566
1567A touch of reproach could be heard in Mari’s voice.
1568
1569“What’s the matter? You seem somewhat dissatisfied.”
1570
1571Mari didn’t answer Mayumi’s question.
1572
1573However, her silence itself spoke volumes on what was on her mind,
1574
1575“……Planning is very important. As the masters say.”
1576
1577From what Mayumi could tell, Mari was cranky at being shown a tactic she hadn’t thought of. For Mari who prided herself on being a strategist, it decidedly wasn’t very fun.
1578
1579“It’s a tactic no one has thought of for nine years, so this is the point where you should be nice and impressed.”
1580
1581“……I am impressed. That’s why I’m so annoyed.”
1582
1583Being cut into by Suzune, reluctantly, Mari admitted her jealousy.
1584
1585Mari was magnanimous enough to accept it, so Suzune let her off for now.
1586
1587“Still, this is a one-off strategy isn’t it? I wonder what he’ll do for the finals?”
1588
1589Mari didn’t come up with a follow through, so Mayumi responded instead.
1590
1591“No worries. There’s no way that man hasn’t thought that far ahead.”
1592
1593“That’s true. This is also just a strategic move for the next match.”
1594
1595Seems like it was a needless anxiety.
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601“Yeah……seems like I’ve done something bad to Honoka.”
1602
1603Watching Honoka take the lead from her earlier move, and maintain it all the way until the finish, Tatsuya muttered in a bitter voice. Next to him, Miyuki looked up at her brother’s clouded face.
1604
1605“……What’s the matter?”
1606
1607Their appearance was noticed by others, and Azusa spoke up to Tatsuya.
1608
1609“Ah, nothing……”
1610
1611His answer was evasive, or in other words an excuse.
1612
1613Still, he didn’t become silent.
1614
1615“She could have won this race easily based on her speed alone……there was no need for the confusion.”
1616
1617“Well……even so, she did take the lead thanks to her initial dazzle, so couldn’t you still call it a successful strategy?”
1618
1619Azusa, not knowing the nature of Tatsuya’s regret, tilted her head.
1620
1621“When you stand out so much, it’s going to mean you’ll be marked by the other contestants……”
1622
1623“The semis are a race between three people……it’s a possibility that in the next match, the other two will pair up.”
1624
1625Miyuki complemented Tatsuya’s words.
1626
1627Finally, Azusa understood what they were worried about.
1628
1629“Oh, is that what it was.”
1630
1631And laughed at their concerns.
1632
1633“Something like that……I’m pretty sure it’d be a disadvantage right?”
1634
1635At Miyuki’s countering hesitance, Azusa merely shook her head happily.
1636
1637“That won’t happen, since we’ve been marked from the start.”
1638
1639“Haahh……”
1640
1641She had said it so cheerfully that for a moment Tatsuya wondered if she was actually proud of that.
1642
1643—Well, just for a moment.
1644
1645However insensitive he was, he wasn’t so far gone as to not realize she was just comforting them.
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651“I won! I won, Tatsuya-san!”
1652
1653As soon as she rose from the waterway, Honoka immediately hurried over to where Tatsuya and the others were without even changing from her wetsuit, hopping all the way.
1654
1655“Ah, yeah. We saw. Well done.”
1656
1657Aware of the other staff who had come down to greet their teammates, Tatsuya hastily put both hands out in front of him while congratulating her in an attempt to calm her down.
1658
1659But it had the opposite effect.
1660
1661“Thank you so much!”
1662
1663Perhaps misunderstanding, Honoka clasped the hands Tatsuya held out and stared up at his face, tears of joy threatening to spill out from her eyes. Even Miyuki didn’t expect her to show her emotions so straightforwardly.
1664
1665While Tatsuya stood frozen from a lack of experience with such things, Honoka really did start to cry.
1666
1667“Whenever it comes to competitions, I become so weak……I hardly ever win competitions in athletic meets or tournaments like these.”
1668
1669It was the first time he heard of this. If that were true, then maybe using the strategy in the Newcomer’s division wasn’t such a miscalculation after all.
1670
1671But as Tatsuya stood helplessly looking left and right, behind Honoka the figure of Shizuku waving her hands flew into view.
1672
1673From her appearance, it seemed she was saying “that’s not the case, not at all.”
1674
1675With his hands still firmly grasped by Honoka, and establishing line of sight with Shizuku, she began to mouth words to him. Her lip movements read “she’s・talking・about・during・primary・school”.
1676
1677(A story from their primary school days, huh……)
1678
1679Tatsuya sighed whilst looking towards heaven.
1680
1681She probably didn’t intend to lie or anything……but her conviction was just a little too intense.
1682
1683Despite the icicle glare Miyuki directed at him (that is to say icy cold, and very sharp), he still required some time to regain his composure.
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689Both in athletics and on the board, if one does not have the will then victory will be uncertain.
1690
1691It’s the same with magic competitions.
1692
1693Looking at the success of one’s teammates and thinking “now it’s my turn” is a system which raises the willpower of the team, and is like a magic bullet which boosts morale.
1694
1695“Willpower” is linked with “fighting spirit”, but “fighting spirit” also easily links to “futility”.
1696
1697Before the girls’ eyes, such an event was occurring.
1698
1699“Morisaki-kun was the runner-up, but……”
1700
1701Mayumi’s words were wrapped in disappointment.
1702
1703“The other two missed the cut huh……”
1704
1705Mari’s words continued the disappointed trend.
1706
1707At the close of the first day of the Newcomer’s Division, in the meeting room, the 3rd Year executives stood before the results of the men’s Speed Shooting rankings and let out a collective sigh.
1708
1709“The results of the men’s and women’s are reversed……”
1710
1711“I wouldn’t say that. Third High took first and fourth place, so the girls still give us a positive balance.
1712
1713You’re being just a little too pessimistic.”
1714
1715Suzune’s sober analysis countered Mayumi’s gloomy remarks. It was all in an effort to dispel the stagnant mood.
1716
1717“……Right. As Ichihara said, it’s not good to be too negative. In the first place, the results of those girls are far more than we could have expected. We must be positive about the lead they have given us today.
1718
1719“But the slump with the guys isn’t just in ‘quickdraw’. In ‘surfing’ as well, only one guy qualified compared to two girls.”
1720
1721At Mari’s remarks, in a tone as if reminding herself, Katsuto agreed with a grim look. (By the way “quickdraw” is a nickname for Speed Shooting, as “surfing” is for Battle Board.)
1722
1723“If their poor performance continues like this, even if we do well this year it’s possible we’ll be disadvantaged in the years to come.”
1724
1725“That losing would become a habit?”
1726
1727“It is a possibility.”
1728
1729At Katsuto’s point, both Mari and Mayumi bitterly fell silent.
1730
1731Being leaders of a Magic High School, especially the executives of First High who prided themselves upon victory, they were unable to live with the easy thought “we did good enough this year”.
1732
1733“The mens’ side may require some support.”
1734
1735“Still Juumonji, even if you say support what can we do at this late hour?”
1736
1737Mari’s rebuttal to Katsuto’s murmur was bitter.
1738
1739It was certainly a “late hour”.
1740
1741The Newcomer’s Division had already begun. It wasn’t possible to change the staff or competitors anymore.
1742
1743Even when she glanced at him, Katsuto had no reply.
1744
1745That atmosphere however, rather than being at a loss, gave the impression not of mere silence but that a plan was forming.
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751At last tomorrow, or rather “today” already, was Miyuki’s turn.
1752
1753There had been no move from the organized crime related sabotage warned of by Kazama since the incident involving Mari, but Tatsuya couldn’t put it out of his mind.
1754
1755If his hypotheses were correct, the “enemy” had tampered with the CADs just prior to the competition. It was a low possibility for more sabotage to be carried out overnight, but it never hurt to double check.
1756
1757For the enemy’s actions to be immediately undetectable by him, they held very high skill.
1758
1759Finishing the final adjustments, he systematically tightly locked the CAD, then further added a triple lock before finally stopping work.
1760
1761There isn’t a trace of any other person.
1762
1763Not just humans, but no other life signs could be detected at all.
1764
1765In regards to the enemy, it would be expected that security here is much higher.
1766
1767Kazama and his subordinates, the elites of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion were secretly helping behind the scenes, so even if there was an attempt, a direct attack was unlikely to succeed.
1768
1769Without wandering around unnecessarily, he proceeded through the entrance of the hotel (of course, requiring bio-metric identification), and went straight to his room.
1770
1771Before he entered, he noticed at the door.
1772
1773His only roommates were non-breathing machines.
1774
1775At this time of night, when he was confident the minute hand of the clock should be announcing a date change any time now, there shouldn’t be any sign of life aside from him in the hallway — but he turned the key and walked inside regardless.
1776
1777“Hey now, just what time do you think it is?”
1778
1779Unlike usual, his slightly stern voice seized the initiative.
1780
1781Unlike usual, his posture suggested this wasn’t something that could be let off with a smile.
1782
1783Unlike usual, the one on the receiving end of all this must have realized that as well.
1784
1785Her shoulders trembling, Miyuki hastily got up off the bed she had been sitting on, and fearfully looked up at her brother.
1786
1787“A lack of sleep will reduce your ability to concentrate. Even if it’s you, where careless mistakes may not necessarily lead to defeat, that won’t always be the case.”
1788
1789“I’m very sorry!”
1790
1791Being scolded by Tatsuya in earnest, Miyuki bowed deeply in a voice verging on tears. Hearing his sister like this, seeing her like this, Tatsuya was simply unable to keep up his tough stance for any longer.
1792
1793“……It’s good you understand. Now come on, let’s go back to your room. I’ll escort you there.”
1794
1795Perhaps his voice was a little too forceful, as when Miyuki timidly looked up, she refused to look at her brother’s face.
1796
1797“Miyuki?”
1798
1799“……Onii-sama, for a bit, just a bit, could I have a little of your time?”
1800
1801“……Just a little.”
1802
1803A competition in obstinacy would be a waste of time.
1804
1805Tatsuya knew from prior experience that his sister was rather passively aggressive in this way.
1806
1807“I heard from Shizuku. Onii-sama, you turned down the honor of having your name added to the ‘Index’.”
1808
1809“Not formally at least.”
1810
1811“Rather than formally or anything, you were prohibited weren’t you?”
1812
1813“Yeah.”
1814
1815At Tatsuya’s brief affirmation, Miyuki, as if struggling with something, stood whilst biting her lip a while.
1816
1817“……Was that, upon the orders of our Aunt?”
1818
1819“Yeah.”
1820
1821Another brief affirmation.
1822
1823Miyuki, once again teary eyed, looked down.
1824
1825“The investigative powers of the Magic Universities are very high. The gossip sites masquerading as news sites of normal media organizations can’t even begin to come close. They’re almost comparable to military or intelligence agencies.
1826
1827Developers of new magic in addition to being given access to the resources of the Universities are also granted various privileges, but their identity is also examined in detail. It’s in order to root out national spies and terrorists. It’s an investigation on a totally different level to high school admission. It’s not unlikely they’ll discover not only my identity as ‘Silver’, but ‘Shiba Tatsuya’s’ identity as a Yotsuba which the Yotsuba themselves have been blocking so carefully.”
1828
1829Faced with his sister’s tears, Tatsuya explained in a slightly cool voice.
1830
1831It was not only because he had to be uncompromising in the face of her tears, but because he had to convince himself.
1832
1833“……”
1834
1835For a while, her head bowed, Miyuki said nothing.
1836
1837Tatsuya felt relief at not hearing her sob anymore.
1838
1839“To be sure, just entering the Nine Schools Competition carried some risk of my identity coming under scrutiny. However, leaving my name in the Magic Encyclopedia is far different from being in a high school competition. The ‘Guardian’ of the Yotsuba exists as a shadow. Do you think for such an outcast to be in the limelight would be acceptable to our Aunt?”
1840
1841Miyuki kept silent. She didn’t even mouth any words of comfort.
1842
1843That was her answer to his question.
1844
1845“For now, I still don’t have enough power. In a head on situation, there is a possibility I could defeat the ‘Queen of Night’ Yotsuba Maya. My ‘Decomposition’ has good compatibility as a counter to her ‘Night’ after all.
1846
1847But the me as of now, even if I could beat our Aunt, I can’t do anything about the Yotsuba. Force of arms alone, the threat of violence alone is not enough. If I displace our Aunt, another worse manipulator would simply show up in her place. At this moment, I can only follow.”
1848
1849Those words weren’t so much to convince his sister, as for himself.
1850
1851As he tried to satisfy himself that way,
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857Miyuki, moving from the front,
1858
1859embraced him.
1860
1861Her face shining with tears buried itself into his chest.
1862
1863Such an appearance might be better described as “clinging”, yet that was somehow inappropriate.
1864
1865“……I’m on your side.”
1866
1867“Miyuki……”
1868
1869“I will always no matter what, come what may, be on your side.
1870
1871That time will definitely come. Without a doubt, it will come.
1872
1873Until then, and forever after, I will always be on Onii-sama’s side.”
1874
1875“……”
1876
1877The hands of the clock accused them of far exceeding the realms of “just a little”.
1878
1879But let’s go along with her “just a little more”…… Tatsuya thought as he gently wrapped his arms around Miyuki’s back.
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885Chapter 9
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890It was the fifth day of the Nine Schools Competition and the second morning of the Newcomers Division.
1891
1892Tatsuya arrived in front of the arena that was busy preparing for the Newcomers Division’s Icicle Destruction.
1893
1894Several large cranes were unloading 1 meter x 1 meter x 2 meter icicles from large battlefield vehicles specially modified for this purpose. Seeing this would naturally cause people to believe that the days where super robot anime became reality were not too far off.
1895
1896“……If we could completely ignore energy efficiency, that is.”
1897
1898“Onii-sama? What are you talking about?”
1899
1900As if to reject this outrageous line of thinking, Tatsuya involuntarily started muttering to himself.
1901
1902“No, it’s nothing.”
1903
1904She did not pursue this vague answer.
1905
1906“Let’s go quickly.”
1907
1908“Yes.”
1909
1910Originally, this was only a stopping point along their route to the competition location.
1911
1912Tatsuya urged Miyuki onward towards the resting area located on the top floor of the Arrow Tower.
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918There was still 30 minutes until the start of the first round in the morning.
1919
1920When Tatsuya entered the arena, there was still plenty of spare time.
1921
1922“Good morning!”
1923
1924……Still, the players for the first round were already there.
1925
1926“Good morning…… Sorry for making you wait so long.”
1927
1928“Oh please, I was the one who came too early.”
1929
1930The player for the first round of Icicle Destruction, Akechi Eimi, smiled as she shook her head and swept a lock of her ruby red hair back from her face.
1931
1932“Good morning, Eimi. How early did you get up?”
1933
1934“Good morning, Miyuki. For some reason, I woke up before the alarm went off. It’s like I haven’t recovered from yesterday’s excitement.”
1935
1936Her other name was Emilia Goldie. Her full name was Akechi Emilia Goldie Eimi. Eimi was a quarter British stock. Her nickname “Emmy”, rather than originating from her Japanese name “Eimi”, probably came from her British name “Emilia”.
1937
1938A Magician’s ability was heavily influenced by genetics.
1939
1940Due to the connection between magic and national power, each country jealously guarded its magic bloodlines and either officially or unofficially forbade international marriages between Magicians. (This country that superficially allowed freedom of marriage belonged in the “unofficial” category.)
1941
1942Yet, in the generation of Tatsuya’s grandparents, allied countries actively encouraged international marriages between Magicians. The goal was to “cross” “excellent stock” to “develop” superior Magicians.
1943
1944The ensuing result was that over half of the current students at magic high schools boasted bloodlines from Western Europe or India.
1945
1946Leo was one of them, and the female student known as Akechi Eimi was another.
1947
1948As could be inferred from her words, she also appeared in yesterday’s Speed Shooting competition. This was the second day in a row she was working alongside Tatsuya. Besides Miyuki and the two others, Eimi was the first one on the Women’s Team to jell with Tatsuya. For Tatsuya, she was also the most relaxed young lady on the team.
1949
1950After the two of them exchanged greetings, they delved into girl talk as Tatsuya smoothly removed the CAD from the case he was carrying, performed a cursory examination, and handed it to Eimi.
1951
1952This was a clumsy looking, shotgun-shaped Specialized CAD that measured 50 cm in length and completely dwarfed a young lady’s hand.
1953
1954The weapon looked quite heavy, but because recoil wasn’t an issue, the weight was significantly lower than a normal firearm thanks to its lightweight materials. Yet Eimi’s movements were like something straight out of a Western as she swung the gun around and took aim out the window.
1955
1956“……Eimi, you’re not British, but American, aren’t you?”
1957
1958“How many times do I have to say this, no. Now even Miyuki is saying this too? My grandmother’s family was knighted by the Tudors themselves.”
1959
1960Contrary to the content of her words, her tone remained unperturbed.
1961
1962She maintained her current posture and started to supply the CAD with psions. Somewhere along the way, the safety was removed. Just like Morisaki’s Quick Draw, this was an entirely different type of pristine CAD drawing.
1963
1964“How is it?”
1965
1966“Hm…… Now I know how Shizuku feels.”
1967
1968Everyone in the 1st Year Women’s Team knew about the fact that the Ojou-sama from the wealthy Kitayama Family wanted to “reserve” Tatsuya.
1969
1970“Are there any problems?”
1971
1972“Yep, it’s perfect!”
1973
1974Eimi relaxed her posture and smiled in delight.
1975
1976Apart from her ruby hair and moss green pupils, her outward appearance was thoroughly Japanese. Even among her peers, she was the one who had the most childish impression. Rather than calling her earlier smile “delightful”, a more innocent “teehee” was probably closer to the mark.
1977
1978“I have no idea what you’re talking about……”
1979
1980Eimi tilted her head at Tatsuya’s muttering, but her smile didn’t fade in the slightest. One of the chief reasons was likely because she had no idea what he was talking about.
1981
1982“At least let me run a few calibrations. Can you put on the ear set?”
1983
1984“Eh? Why?”
1985
1986“Eimi…… In truth, you didn’t get up early, but didn’t sleep at all, right?”
1987
1988At being asked this sudden question, Eimi’s smile grew a tad forced.
1989
1990“……How could you tell?”
1991
1992Seeing Eimi’s widened eyes, Tatsuya silently nodded and, in response, took the CAD from her hands and restarted the calibration process.
1993
1994“……You’re sharper than my parents.”
1995
1996Eimi obediently put on the headphones used for measurement while nagging with an “I can’t believe you” and placing her hands on the measuring pads.
1997
1998Seeing the numbers scrolling down the screen, Tatsuya’s expression darkened.
1999
2000With Tatsuya’s minute facial changes, Eimi’s body also started to curl up. This scene didn’t escape Miyuki’s eyes.
2001
2002“Well, Onii-sama?”
2003
2004There was no reprimand hidden in her words, but when Tatsuya heard her words, he raised his head in realization and smiled as he rubbed the space between his brows with two fingers.
2005
2006“Unless Eimi also forgoes Sound Sleep?”
2007
2008“Also? You mean Shiba-kun does that too?”
2009
2010Eimi’s reaction prompted Tatsuya’s expression to soften somewhat as he nodded.
2011
2012“Wow, I discovered a comrade. How should I put this, doesn’t that give you an uncomfortable feeling? Especially those weird sound waves.”
2013
2014“There’s no actual health risk…… But I do agree that it is quite uncomfortable. I do make an exception for sleepless nights though. Especially if I have a competition the next day.”
2015
2016“OK~.”
2017
2018Eimi’s response was perfect for a child that had just been scolded by a parent. Tatsuya could only smile wryly at this.
2019
2020“Then, I’ll raise the feedback loop a little higher…… This might be a little irritating, so bear with it for a little bit. Certainly you wouldn’t want to be accused of ‘losing the contest owing to lack of sleep’, right?”
2021
2022“I’ll bear with it, please! If that really happened, they’ll never let me live this down.”
2023
2024There was nothing worthy of note in her tone. Eimi blushed as she pressed her hands against several interesting points on her pants. Tatsuya paused and was frozen for a solid second.
2025
2026“I really didn’t want to bring this up, but, Miyuki…… What do you people do in your rooms?”
2027
2028“N, nothing, Onii-sama, Miyuki hasn’t done anything shameful!”
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034“Oh, really~? Miyuki’s room is a complete safe house.”
2035
2036“Eimi! Do not speak of such strange nonsense in front of Onii-sama!”
2037
2038An awkward silence covered the resting area. To break this stalemate, an abrupt change in the conversation was inevitable. He wasn’t entirely sure who this excuse was directed to, Tatsuya thought to himself.
2039
2040“……Fortunately, the first round is in the early morning so you can take a nap before the second round begins. Sorry, Miyuki, but could I trouble you to prepare the ‘Sleeping Dock’ for immediate use?”
2041
2042“I understand. I will be right back.”
2043
2044After Miyuki departed to setup the sensory inhibitory dock (soundproof, shockproof, light-shielded, sealed single bed), Tatsuya started CAD calibration.
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050Although the first round got a little tense at one point, victory was finally achieved with three icicles still left in allied territory.
2051
2052Speaking of which, the ending result was that Eimi was currently deep in dream land without any opportunity to complain that “It’s too dark~” or “It’s too cramped~”.
2053
2054This was the fifth event, which was the second event for the female students from First High. They were currently in the resting area before the match began.
2055
2056(I seem to recall saying something very similar recently.)
2057
2058Tatsuya thought of this, but was still forced to say it aloud.
2059
2060“Shizuku…… Are you really wearing that uniform during the competition?”
2061
2062“Yeah?”
2063
2064When Shizuku replied with an “Is something wrong?” expression on her face, Tatsuya really wanted to cover his head and was completely at a loss.
2065
2066Icicle Destruction involved the players standing on four meter tall platforms and defending the 12 icicles in their own territory that measured 12 square meters while simultaneously knocking down or destroying all their opponent’s 12 icicles.
2067
2068The players were strictly using long range magic, so there was no need to move their physical bodies.
2069
2070In other words, the player’s wardrobe played no role in this event. (Besides the uniforms that hinder the grip on their CADs.)
2071
2072The only criterion for wardrobe was that it “must be decent”.
2073
2074And the ensuing result was that — while unintentional — at some point Women’s Icicle Destruction became a fashion show.
2075
2076In addition, when Kanon appeared for the Official Division on the second and third days, she was wearing a fairly normal sports uniform. She wore tights, a mini jacket, an adequate shirt, as well as long socks and tennis shoes.
2077
2078On the other hand, Eimi was dressed like a jockey, complete with a white collared shirt, red riding jacket on the upper body, tight women’s pants and black riding boots below, along with a black duck-billed hat.
2079
2080Still, those still fell within normal boundaries and didn’t qualify as anything particularly gaudy.
2081
2082Then, there was Shizuku……
2083
2084“Uh, Shizuku……”
2085
2086“Yes?”
2087
2088“Wouldn’t the tamoto…… Get in the way?”
2089
2090Yes.
2091
2092No need to flog the dead horse, but that was a “tamoto” from a kimono.
2093
2094“There’s no problem. The sleeves are short enough, and I also have the obi.”
2095
2096Speaking of which, Shizuku deftly tied the obi in front of Tatsuya.
2097
2098Such a fluid motion clearly showed that she had plentiful experience in a kimono.
2099
2100Yet—
2101
2102(If you needed to use the obi to keep the tamoto in check, wouldn’t you be better off forgoing the kimono in the first place?)
2103
2104Tatsuya thought of this, but managed to hold his retort in.
2105
2106There wasn’t much time before the next round, so Tatsuya quickly gave up on persuading her otherwise — after all, this was the “official garb” for boosting one’s spirits. In that case, he’ll just have to turn a blind eye.
2107
2108Shizuku chose — correction, the CAD that Tatsuya chose for her was a Generalized CAD.
2109
2110This implied that the event demanded a careful energy allocation that possessed a balanced strategy.
2111
2112It wasn’t like Tatsuya could keep pulling rabbits out of a hat. To be precise, Tatsuya himself had no interest in creating devious tactics.
2113
2114For him, it was all about providing the players with the most appropriate tools and the strategy that could bring about their maximum potential, and nothing more. In light of this, if direct assault was the most effective strategy, he would ruthlessly adopt that as his course of action.
2115
2116Just like this match.
2117
2118The moment Shizuku appeared on the platform, the audience raised a clamor likely due to her outfit.
2119
2120However, the person in question was steady even if a light breeze had grazed her face as she lifted her left arm before her chest, the tamoto held firmly in place by the obi.
2121
2122Shizuku’s CAD was just like the one she normally used, with the command console facing the inside of her arm.
2123
2124In the recent age, most female Magicians used CADs with command consoles facing towards the outside. Despite the height of fashion, Shizuku still preferred to use the feminine inward facing console, which befitted her status as an Ojou-sama. Still, given her usual taciturn and emotionless nature as well as the occasional merciless snarking, this honestly gave people an incompatible feeling.
2125
2126If voiced aloud in front of aforementioned young lady, this would undoubtedly end with a beating. Tatsuya adjusted the focal point on the monitoring device and set these thoughts aside.
2127
2128In the following time period,
2129
2130Shizuku’s mission was to focus entirely on this match.
2131
2132Tatsuya’s mission was to gather his attention entirely on her.
2133
2134
2135
2136
2137
2138“Miyuki…… Aren’t you going where Tatsuya-kun is?”
2139
2140Honoka piped up from beside her. At this time, Miyuki was sitting in a different section of the stands reserved for players and auxiliaries that was not part of the normal audience stands and was patiently waiting for the match to begin.
2141
2142Just as she did during Eimi’s match in the first round, the moment Tatsuya entered the monitoring room, Miyuki split apart from him.
2143
2144It was perfectly natural for players from the same school to cheer on their teammates from the monitoring room, but—
2145
2146“Icicle Destruction is a solo performance. Sooner or later, Shizuku and I will meet on the field, so wouldn’t it be unfair for me to sneak a peek at her trump card?”
2147
2148In terms of trump cards, there were certainly opportunities during practice to see them. Even First High wasn’t extravagant enough to prepare several large scale practice facilities for the Nine Schools Competition.
2149
2150So, what Miyuki was actually referring to was something else.
2151
2152They were fated to be opponents. Miyuki didn’t want to see Tatsuya, who was serving as their mutual technician, worry needlessly about such trivialities. This was probably Miyuki’s real concern.
2153
2154At the same time, she didn’t want Shizuku to be distracted by her presence.
2155
2156Honoka and Shizuku were close friends and rivals since elementary school. Until middle school, Honoka saw Shizuku as her strongest opponent and conversely, Shizuku also saw Honoka as her most formidable opponent.
2157
2158In their cohort and circle of friends, no one could match them in terms of magical talent.
2159
2160Upon entering high school and receiving official magic training, both Honoka and Shizuku yearned to meet someone — other than each other — who could push them to their limits. Yet, somewhere in the depths of their hearts, a stubborn belief that could not be eradicated told them that they would never meet someone who mirrored their talents.
2161
2162In the same school, in the same tutoring class, there were no children from the Ten Master Clans, but several children from the “Numbers System”. Still, none of them was worthy of being a new rival.
2163
2164However, upon entering the high school entrance examination, their “conceit” was thoroughly annihilated.
2165
2166By this divinely crafted young lady sitting next to her.
2167
2168Based on their grades on the standardized magic tests, Honoka was fourth place behind Miyuki, Shizuku, and Morisaki. In Honoka’s opinion, even if Shizuku didn’t count, she didn’t feel that she was any weaker than Morisaki.
2169
2170The first subject in the high school standardized exam was a simple technique involving ten processes. (Only someone of Honoka’s caliber would be able to call “ten processes” as simple.)
2171
2172There was no real stress from the technique and Morisaki only seized the advantage because of his superior speed. If this was a more complex technique with additional processes, Honoka was adamant that she would have outperformed him.
2173
2174Yet Miyuki was an “exception”.
2175
2176She possessed the overwhelming ability and strength that made jealousy itself ludicrous.
2177
2178Even if someone claimed she was from the Ten Master Clans, Honoka would undoubtedly hold that to be true.
2179
2180But that was only natural.
2181
2182—That was what Honoka thought when she first beheld Miyuki’s magic in the entrance examination area.
2183
2184Honoka was completely unaware how close she was to the truth, proving beyond doubt how utterly Miyuki’s magic astounded and overwhelmed her.
2185
2186This impression followed her for the next four months in school and, rather than being diluted, only intensified even more.
2187
2188Honoka felt that even the solitary Shizuku would not be able to calmly manipulate her magic normally if Miyuki stood before her.
2189
2190When she learned that Miyuki was being switched to Mirage Bat for the Official Division, and thus avoided meeting her on the field, Honoka let out a huge sigh of relief.
2191
2192As she thought back to the time of the entrance exam, Honoka was naturally reminded of the first time she saw “him”.
2193
2194In reality, Honoka’s first encounter with Tatsuya was not the incident that occurred shortly after the day of enrollment. It was not the time when Erika and company were arrayed against them, with Honoka casting magics against school rules that would have landed her in a world of trouble with the Public Morals Committee Chief had Tatsuya not intervened. Honoka had encountered Tatsuya long before this incident.
2195
2196Coincidentally on the day of the entrance examination, not just Miyuki, but Tatsuya was also in the same testing group as Honoka.
2197
2198This pair of siblings was not outwardly similar.
2199
2200Honoka didn’t possess the excess mental finesse to remember everyone’s names.
2201
2202The reason Tatsuya left a lasting impression on Honoka wasn’t because he was Miyuki’s older brother.
2203
2204His technical scores were only so-so.
2205
2206Regardless of speed, strength, scale, every subject was thoroughly mundane and unappealing, to the point that they could be labeled as below average.
2207
2208However, his magic was so beautiful it was breathtaking!
2209
2210Honoka was incapable of analyzing Magic Sequences like Tatsuya.
2211
2212Neither was she like Mizuki in her sensitivity towards psions and pushions.
2213
2214When compared to normal Magicians, Honoka, who specialized in light wave oscillation magic, was only acutely sensitive towards the magical side effects that created light wave background noise.
2215
2216An overabundance of interference or remnants of Magic Sequences would all form into surplus psion surges and oscillate in the empty air. When photons interact with these responses, the ensuing result is light wave noise.
2217
2218But this cacophony was wholly undetectable in his magic.
2219
2220In other words, there were no excess materials in his Magic Sequence. His Magic Power was expanded to its limit and entirely devoted towards phenomenon rewriting, making for a magic that was calculated down to the last detail.
2221
2222Honoka thought that it was a work of pure art.
2223
2224Hitherto, she had never seen such a beautiful piece of magic.
2225
2226Afterwards, even though she bore witness to Miyuki’s dominating magic, she still couldn’t forget that magic.
2227
2228That’s why Honoka felt deeply betrayed when she saw the lack of the eight petal flower on Tatsuya’s breast during the student orientation.
2229
2230This was the reason why Honoka nursed an overly antagonistic attitude towards Tatsuya’s group that day.
2231
2232—Why are you on that side (Course 2)!?
2233
2234—Why aren’t you on this one (Course 1)!?
2235
2236Honoka’s eyes were blurred by this illogical fury.
2237
2238True, in terms of speed, strength and scale, every category clearly set him far from the standards (of a Course 1 student).
2239
2240Yet, the fact that “he” who could weave such wondrous magic had to be satisfied with being a mere “substitute (Weed)”, Honoka felt that this was utterly unforgivable.
2241
2242“……Honoka, what’s wrong?”
2243
2244Shocked, Honoka turned to her side to find Miyuki watching her in confusion.
2245
2246She must have noticed that Honoka had fallen into an odd state of silence in the middle of their conversation.
2247
2248“S-Sorry, it’s nothing.”
2249
2250Even she would suspect herself if something of that sort had happened. When she considered her actions as well as her misdirected “anger displacement” and the reason why she consciously noticed “him”, Honoka blushed to the roots of her hair and drooped her head.
2251
2252
2253
2254
2255
2256“It’s finally Kitayama’s match.”
2257
2258“Looks like she’s carrying a Generalized CAD.”
2259
2260Two ladies from the Women’s Team brass were hunched shoulder to shoulder in front of a screen at the pavilion. Suzune, who was overloaded with work from the unending stream of results, sighed as she beheld this sight.
2261
2262Yet, the two of them blatantly ignored this obvious sign of displeasure.
2263
2264“I wonder what trick he’s got up his sleeve this time.”
2265
2266“Hard to say. Maybe he’s intentionally playing mind games with us and will launch a full frontal assault precisely because we’re thinking that way.”
2267
2268Mayumi and Mari were congregated in front of the widescreen monitor just like two young children sharing their favorite television show.
2269
2270Suzune had long since given up. Sighing once more, she accepted the inevitability of working alone.
2271
2272Neither Mayumi nor Mari batted an eyelid at Shizuku’s choice of wardrobe.
2273
2274For three time Nine Schools Competition veterans like them, this didn’t qualify as anything outlandish.
2275
2276In fact, they may be thinking “Huh, there are actually less of them this year!”
2277
2278Also owing to this reason, Shizuku was someone who came to watch the Nine Schools Competition every year, so she wasn’t embarrassed by her dress either.
2279
2280“Ho, we’re starting.”
2281
2282The two of them edged closer to the screen.
2283
2284
2285
2286
2287
2288The lights next to the flanks of the arena flashed red.
2289
2290The lights advanced to yellow, and the moment when the lights turned green—
2291
2292Shizuku’s ring started dancing along the command console.
2293
2294Toward her own 12 icicles.
2295
2296She set all of them as targets and fired the Magic Sequence.
2297
2298Immediately afterward, her opponent’s magic came rushing towards Shizuku’s field.
2299
2300This was a popular tactic involving Move-Type Magic to blitzkrieg the opponent’s field.
2301
2302Except Shizuku’s icicles stood rock solid against her opponent’s magic and didn’t shift at all.
2303
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308“Ho, Data Fortification.”
2309
2310Every HQ was equipped with a widescreen monitor that could analyze the magic being used as well as the type of magic used and its strength. Much like a heat display, the various displays were expressed through various shades of color.
2311
2312Using this function, it was a simple matter to determine the offensive and defensive positions.
2313
2314Data Fortification.
2315
2316Eidos was a record of the current status of an information body. Through this information body, parts of the information or even the entire whole could be replicated and projected back into the target to protect the Eidos from being altered any further. This was known as Data Fortification within the Counter Magic field. The copied portions from Data Fortification possess the ability to prevent magic from affecting the target.
2317
2318Shizuku used Data Fortification to emphasize the target’s location “right there”. As the screen plainly displayed, her opponent’s Move-Type Magic was nullified by Shizuku’s magic.
2319
2320“Quite the direct confrontation.”
2321
2322“Wasn’t this precisely how Mari predicted?”
2323
2324Suzune, who overheard the conversation, couldn’t help but think: “Not really, I hardly think that this strategy was created solely to play with your heads……” Of course, this thought couldn’t be passed to the mesmerized observers.
2325
2326“Still, I think that for Magicians with high interference strength like Kitayama-san, rather than using Data Fortification, she should use wide area interference as a ‘frontal assault’.”
2327
2328“Based on yesterday’s results, Kitayama also has high magic capacity that is hard to find. She shouldn’t feel any stress from copying the Eidos. Also, for Interference-Type Magic, Data Fortification is more efficient compared to wide area interference.”
2329
2330On the screen, her opponent once again tried to use Move-Type Magic to attack, but was nullified just as before.
2331
2332Simultaneously, just as the attacking magic faded away—
2333
2334Three of the icicles in the opponent’s field shattered.
2335
2336“……What just happened right now? Mayumi, did you catch that?”
2337
2338Mari asked in confusion, but Mayumi turned around without any confidence in her expression.
2339
2340“I can only guess based on the data from the screen……”
2341
2342Obviously, observing the analysis was vastly different from feeling the magic from the front lines.
2343
2344“I think, that may have been the application of ‘Resonance’.”
2345
2346The monitor was unable to keep up with the effects of indirect magic on the target, so the only way to narrow down what magic was used was through the surrounding environment.
2347
2348“She shifted the irregular frequency from the Oscillation Magic into her opponent’s field and locked the frequency just as it started to resonate with the icicles and raised the output at the same time, thus creating resonance. I think that’s how it was.”
2349
2350“So that’s how she did it…… To avoid Counter Magic, she didn’t directly attack the icicles using magic attacks, but used the ground as a medium. While they both used the ground as a medium, when compared to Kanon’s ‘Mine Genesis’ that relied purely on physical power, this is a much higher level technique. Sometimes I really can’t tell who the upperclassman is.”
2351
2352“Precisely because finding the resonance point takes some time, she used Data Fortification to buy time. She looks very adept with manipulating the oscillation frequency.”
2353
2354“Indeed.”
2355
2356Mayumi and Mari were both thinking about the Non-Systematic Magic Tatsuya used to crush Hattori. It also utilized precisely manipulated psion surges to create overlapping oscillations.
2357
2358What was being displayed on the monitor wasn’t just Shizuku’s artistic ability, but the hand of Tatsuya working from behind the scenes. On that point, neither of them disagreed.
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364(As expected of Shizuku, she’s doing admirably……)
2365
2366Tatsuya quietly nodded as he surveyed the players from the opposite side of the screen.
2367
2368Four icicles had already fallen in the opposing field.
2369
2370All 12 icicles were still standing in the allied field.
2371
2372The biological displays on the screen revealed only minor exhaustion, so there was no impact on the ability to maintain magic invocation.
2373
2374There was no trace of any symptoms that could exhaust a player like the ones Eimi displayed. And regardless of whether it was “Data Fortification” or “Resonance”, her performance was just as expected. Nay, her performance surpassed what she could do in training.
2375
2376Half of Mayumi and Mari’s hypothesis was spot on, but the other half was incorrect. Shizuku’s mother was the one who specialized in “Resonance”. Before teaming up with Tatsuya, Shizuku was already well versed in that technique (by a high school student’s standards).
2377
2378By using magic that raised the oscillation frequency at irregular levels and directly projecting that on the target while synchronizing the frequencies, this destroyed the target using precise oscillation frequencies at the exact moment when resistance was the weakest. Originally, “Resonance” was this type of two-stage process. When applying oscillation-type magic onto the target object, a Magician can feel out the resonance point based on the Eidos’ resistance to the interfering Magic Sequence; if using regular intervals, then an alternate method would have to be used to identify the target’s resonance.
2379
2380This was not reliant on monitoring devices, but done while compiling Activation Sequences into Magic Sequences. That was the part that Tatsuya was responsible for.
2381
2382This technique was created by adding a new process into the “Resonance” magic that Shizuku was familiar with. Yet, Shizuku was able to wield this at will. Obviously, this level of skill was not obtained by just training in school, but honed through long hours of practice outside of class.
2383
2384As another icicle collapsed in the enemy’s field, one of the allied icicles collapsed as well.
2385
2386However, this was only her opponent’s “last gasp”. Tatsuya could tell with a glance.
2387
2388The opposing player threw everything she had into that last attack. She most likely knew the writing on the wall, but desperately wanted to avoid being defeated without knocking down a single icicle.
2389
2390Tatsuya watched Shizuku’s back with his own eyes and not through the monitor.
2391
2392The psions she was releasing were not ruffled in the slightest.
2393
2394No sense of wavering, no hint of pride. At the same time that she vigorously defended her own territory, she retaliated against her opponent’s field.
2395
2396Probably because she wasn’t fixated on her opponent for some bizarre reason. She was fighting in a manner that put anyone watching her at ease.
2397
2398Her opponent, who had expended all her energy, did not put up any futile resistance.
2399
2400The three icicles in the enemy’s territory shattered apart like a sand castle standing against the incoming tide.
2401
2402
2403
2404
2405
2406Miyuki’s match was the last one in the first round.
2407
2408This was a long wait from early morning, but since lunch time was also figured into the time, this didn’t feel that long for her.
2409
2410Speaking of Tatsuya, he was also up since morning and this was his third match, so he was hardly “waiting”.
2411
2412Miyuki and Tatsuya were the only ones in the resting area for players.
2413
2414Honoka and Shizuku were nowhere in sight.
2415
2416They had mentioned during lunch that they would be cheering her on during the match. Now, they probably already met up with Erika’s crew.
2417
2418In recompense, which was hardly the issue at hand, Isori and Kanon as well as Mayumi and Mari came to support her.
2419
2420(It’s a huge cheerleading party……)
2421
2422Tatsuya wore a helpless look on his face as he murmured in the privacy of his mind. Of course, he actually said something else.
2423
2424“I’m glad that you all came to cheer on Miyuki, but…… Chief, shouldn’t you be in bed?”
2425
2426“What, even you’re treating me like an invalid? It’s not like I have to hop around and dance, so there’s no problem.”
2427
2428Yet, it was still a serious injury. Tatsuya swallowed those words and directed the conversation towards Mayumi.
2429
2430“Oh…… Then shouldn’t the President be at the pavilion? I thought the Men’s Team is still in the middle of their event.”
2431
2432“No problem. I left that to Hanzou-kun. I’m also stepping down two months from now, so it’s not a good idea to rely on me for everything.”
2433
2434This was a valid argument, but smacked of someone feigning silliness.
2435
2436Still, their presence wasn’t going to negatively affect the match, so continuing this conversation would do more harm than good.
2437
2438“Miyuki, we have so many reliable senpais here to cheer you on, make sure you’re not more anxious than usual.”
2439
2440Pfft, someone was snickering in the back, but Tatsuya chose to ignore that.
2441
2442Apparently, he was doting on Miyuki too much. But for Tatsuya, his sister was always (logically) going to be his sister.
2443
2444“Please do not concern yourself. Because Onii-sama is by my side.”
2445
2446Following that, Miyuki raised her head and gazed at her brother whom she had complete faith in. In her ears, all other sounds became inaudible.
2447
2448
2449
2450
2451
2452Miyuki’s appearance on the platform threw the crowd into pandemonium.
2453
2454“That, incredibly, that is……”
2455
2456“But suits her quite well. What do you think, Kanon?”
2457
2458“I say, that’s simply gorgeous.”
2459
2460Tatsuya tuned out Kanon and Isori’s conversation like it was a BGM and focused on preparations to monitor Miyuki’s status. In the blink of an eye, the preparations were complete. Tatsuya peered towards Miyuki and suddenly realized: “Right, that’s what everyone is staring at.”
2461
2462Miyuki was dressed in a fine white hakui paired with a crimson hakama. Her hair was held back by a white strap.
2463
2464True, the hairstyle was slightly different and if in place of a CAD she held bells or a sakai, she would be even more stunning. It was that kind of garb.
2465
2466Originally, she was already gorgeous and now paired with this wardrobe, she gave off an almost divine aura.
2467
2468No, perhaps she had already surpassed divine possession and was now approaching the realms of the gods themselves.
2469
2470“Ouch, her opponent seems to have been submerged.”
2471
2472“Nothing they can do about that. Even I must admit that I can’t hold a candle to that. ……Ah, unless that was the goal all along?”
2473
2474Mayumi and Mari’s voices from behind him were plainly directed towards himself. Tatsuya turned around and replied.
2475
2476“By goal, you mean what? There’s nothing particularly astounding about using that attire for magic ceremonies.”
2477
2478Still, his answer was literally the answer to a literal question, but there was clearly a mismatch in what both sides wanted to communicate.
2479
2480“……Tatsuya-kun’s family follows the Shinto system?”
2481
2482This time the question was even more off the mark. After Mayumi’s unrelenting pursuit, Tatsuya didn’t hesitate as he shook his head.
2483
2484“Hardly, it’s simply because we’re Japanese.”
2485
2486“……Really, maybe, fine.”
2487
2488Mayumi reluctantly nodded. Tatsuya left with a “Let’s end the conversation here” and turned back towards the monitors.
2489
2490Tatsuya’s words themselves were hard to deny and were fairly logical.
2491
2492Yet, if someone witnessed the entire process, they would immediately be able to tell that he wasn’t being uniform the entire time.
2493
2494They were both kimonos, but Tatsuya had a conflicted view of Shizuku’s tamotos yet didn’t question his own sister’s miko getup. Tatsuya’s sensibilities on this — objectively speaking — were indeed suspicious.
2495
2496
2497
2498
2499
2500Miyuki was wholly unaware of the drama unfolding on the back stage — well, that was only to be expected — as she calmly waited for the start signal.
2501
2502“False starts” were a major violation of the rules.
2503
2504Being overly enthusiastic could subconsciously activate magic, which was your own fault. Well aware of this fallacy, Miyuki wasn’t fired up during the waiting period like all the other players, but was concentrating on restraining herself.
2505
2506……In the eyes of others, this was a “posture of silence”.
2507
2508The signal lights on both ends of the arena flashed red.
2509
2510Miyuki opened her faintly closed eyes and gazed directly at the enemy field.
2511
2512A sigh arose from the audience.
2513
2514And not just in one area either, but from nearly the entire arena.
2515
2516Surprisingly, it wasn’t the young men, but the young women who were mesmerized by that fiery gaze.
2517
2518This was no longer the atmosphere expected from mere spectating.
2519
2520With apologies to the other player, the entire audience was fixated on Miyuki’s every move.
2521
2522The signal light flashed yellow, and just as it turned green—
2523
2524An intense psion light flooded the entire area without heed to allied or enemy territories.
2525
2526Yet, the arena — had turned into two different seasons.
2527
2528An absolute chill enshrouded Miyuki’s field.
2529
2530A burning heat wave flooded her opponent’s field.
2531
2532The icicles in her opponent’s field started to melt.
2533
2534Her opponent was desperately trying to apply cooling magic with no apparent effect whatsoever.
2535
2536Her own position had turned into a frozen hell that surpassed the winds of winter.
2537
2538Her opponent’s field transformed into a scorched purgatory that rivaled summer’s might.
2539
2540Still, all of this lasted only the briefest of moments.
2541
2542Swiftly,
2543
2544Her field was completely enveloped in chilling mist.
2545
2546While her opponent’s field was devoured by the rising steam.
2547
2548
2549
2550
2551
2552“That can’t be……”
2553
2554“Inferno……?”
2555
2556Behind him, Tatsuya could hear Mari and Mayumi’s murmurs and groans.
2557
2558They were certainly spot on, Tatsuya thought, yet he didn’t turn around.
2559
2560Tatsuya’s gaze was still locked on the display of Miyuki’s back from the monitoring device.
2561
2562Medium-Scale Oscillation-Type Magic “Inferno”.
2563
2564By dividing the target area into two sections and decreasing the kinetic and rotational energy of all objects within one section, this surplus energy could be released into the other section in the form of heat. This way, conservation of energy was still maintained while applying the principle of reverse entropy from thermodynamics.
2565
2566Occasionally, this magic served as the test for A-Rank Magicians. Many testers shed bitter tears at their inability to wield this highly difficult magic, but for Miyuki, this was merely a triviality that she could manipulate at will.
2567
2568Since this was originally an area-of-effect magic, there was no need to worry needlessly about magic leaking outside and breaking the rules. Still, the very definition of magic forced Magicians to be extremely careful even with the simplest of techniques. If an incident were to occur, she would immediately be disqualified from the match, which would prompt him to intervene by any means necessary. This was what was running across Tatsuya’s mind as he watched Miyuki.
2569
2570However, he appeared to be agitated over nothing.
2571
2572The temperature in the enemy’s field rocketed past 200 degrees Celsius.
2573
2574Flash freeze icicles that were formed in a hurry were nothing more than rough ice cubes with countless pockets of air within. These pockets would rapidly expand when heated, causing the icicle itself to crack despite the icicle becoming more fluid under the heat.
2575
2576Suddenly, the temperature stopped rising.
2577
2578Immediately afterwards, a shock wave burst spread across the enemy field.
2579
2580Miyuki had switched magics.
2581
2582She was compressing and releasing the air.
2583
2584Every frail icicle within the enemy field shattered as one.
2585
2586
2587
2588
2589
2590There were a total of 360 contestants and 72 technicians. While some schools waived their right to tactical advisors, the number of total participants in the Nine Schools Competition still exceeded 450 students. If there was a ball (or even banquet), this number of people could still be managed, but that was practically impossible to achieve on a daily basis during the main event.
2591
2592Breakfast was done buffet style on a first come, first serve basis. Lunch consisted of bentos being delivered to each school’s pavilion or engineering vehicles, though some people chose to take them back to their rooms. Dinner was served in the three dining halls over three separate sessions, with each school getting one hour to dine. (The schools dined separately to avoid their tactics leaking to other schools.)
2593
2594Actually, dinner was the only opportunity for the entire school team to congregate in the dining hall.
2595
2596This one hour of dinner was an invaluable time for sharing the day’s triumphs and regrets.
2597
2598Tonight, at the First High tables, a clear line was drawn between light and darkness.
2599
2600Darkness covered the corner where the 1st Year male players were gathered.
2601
2602Light enshrouded the corner where the 1st Year female players were gathered.
2603
2604And among the dense jungle of female players, the small dash of red (or maybe green is more appropriate in the jungle?) was, of course, Tatsuya.
2605
2606
2607
2608
2609
2610“Miyuki, that was totally awesome.”
2611
2612“So that’s ‘Inferno’? The senpais were completely shocked. It’s said that even A-Rank Magicians have problems with that ability.”
2613
2614“Eimi, nicely done! Your first match was a little tight though.”
2615
2616“Cavalier gear with carbine stance, nice!”
2617
2618“Shizuku was great too! Your kimono with tamoto was simply beautiful, then you forced your opponent steadily into a corner. Cool~!”
2619
2620While the Newcomers Division Crowd Ball only clinched one Second Place and one Sixth Place, yielding a “so-so” result, the dominating performance from the Icicle Destruction players allowed all three to advance to the third round, continuing the triumphant performance from the Speed Shooting event. This caused the female players to bask in a festive mood.
2621
2622The format of the Icicle Destruction event had 24 players in total, with 12 matches in the first round and 6 matches in the second round. With three people advancing to the third round, First High laid claim to fully half of the players still in the field.
2623
2624The three victors from the third round would then engage in a round robin to decide the ultimate victor, though based on the current situation, there was a strong possibility that all three of those positions may be claimed by players from First High. If so, that would truly be an astounding feat. The very fact that this remained a distinct possibility made it “impossible” for them not to be beside themselves with joy.
2625
2626The upperclassmen all wore smiles that said “What are we going to do with you guys” as the underclassmen danced around in joy.
2627
2628“Shiba-kun, Shizuku’s ability was a ‘Resonance’ variant, right?”
2629
2630The 1st Year female student who came over was not one of the players Tatsuya was responsible for. He was aware of who she was, but was not overly familiar. Wholly ill at ease (Miyuki vetoed his request to sit elsewhere) as he dined, Tatsuya was suddenly the center of attention and finally managed a somewhat ordinary reply.
2631
2632“That is correct.”
2633
2634Quite the detached reply but even so, his voice was slightly gentler than usual. While they were peers in the same cohort, the other person was a Course 1 female student that he rarely interacted with normally. Tatsuya was taking precautions not to frighten her off by accident.
2635
2636Unfortunately, this caution brought about a crescendo in response.
2637
2638“So the Activation Sequence was really designed by Shiba-kun?”
2639
2640“I heard that Shiba-kun developed the technique Shizuku used during Speed Shooting, right?”
2641
2642“Shiba-kun also devised the strategy for Inferno too.”
2643
2644“Rumor has it that Shiba-kun was also the mastermind behind Honoka’s flashbang strategy.”
2645
2646The continuous stream of questions gave him no room to maneuver and continuously drained his mental facilities, not that there was anything Tatsuya could do about it. Still, they were currently in a stimulated state which likely used the current festive mood as stress relief for the continuous anxiety from the competition. From another perspective, this exaggerated praise may even be seen as flaunting in order to raise their self-confidence to combat that feeling of unease that couldn’t be easily dispelled. Tatsuya could understand that feeling, so he intentionally avoided dampening their enthusiasm and patiently continued to listen.
2647
2648“That’s great…… If Shiba-kun was my support, I could probably win too.”
2649
2650However, this phrase was still taking things too far and couldn’t be ignored.
2651
2652Despite this, he probably shouldn’t be the one who pointed this out. Tatsuya glanced subtly at Miyuki, who was sitting beside him.
2653
2654“Nanabi, I think there’s something wrong with that sentiment.”
2655
2656Upon being gently reprimanded, this female student immediately realized that her words could be easily mistaken for her dissatisfaction with her supporting technician.
2657
2658Her attitude did a complete 180 as she frantically rose to her feet, babbling the entire time, and searched the upperclassmen for the engineer responsible for her. Upon discovering the engineer smiling and waving at her, she finally let out a deep sigh of relief, bowed deeply in apology, then returned to her seat.
2659
2660“I-I spoke poorly.”
2661
2662“Nana, you can’t place your own inadequacies all on the CAD.”
2663
2664“Teehee…… Reflecting.”
2665
2666The volume level for the young ladies’ conversation had dropped considerably, but didn’t nearly qualify as whispering.
2667
2668“But there is no doubt that thanks to Shiba-kun, I’m performing much better than usual.”
2669
2670This time it was Takigawa, a female student that took Third Place in Speed Shooting, who spoke up. Eimi nodded excessively at this.
2671
2672“On some level, CAD calibration is the same thing as telling your darkest secrets, isn’t it? And towards a male engineer to boot…… While I did think like that in the beginning, but to have Shiba-kun be my engineer is simply incredible! Here’s to the boys who were willing to yield Shiba-kun to us!”
2673
2674Tatsuya could only smile wryly at the massive misunderstanding hidden behind that innocent smile.
2675
2676However, there were also people who couldn’t muster even a wry smile.
2677
2678“Ah, hey!”
2679
2680With a violent “bang”, one of the boys stood up.
2681
2682Heedless of anyone trying to stop him, Morisaki picked up his silverware and headed towards the catering area before leaving the dining hall altogether.
2683
2684
2685
2686
2687
2688Coincidentally at the same time.
2689
2690Though it wasn’t a sumptuous feast, there was an entire array of high class Chinese cuisine — far more lavish than any high school banquet — spread across the table that was surrounded by a crowd of dismal expressions. There was a colossal difference between the luxurious gold and red decorations and the dour faces of the men present.
2691
2692“……Wasn’t Third High supposed to be favored for the Newcomers Division?”
2693
2694They were conversing in English.
2695
2696“We finally managed to force Watanabe to bow out, but…… If this continues, wouldn’t First High triumph again?”
2697
2698However, the people present showed clear signs of mixed European and East Asian heritage.
2699
2700“If the favored candidate wins, the house will be hemorrhaging money!”
2701
2702“There are a lot of VIPs in the casinos this time. Even if we do pay out, this isn’t a small sum for us. We’ll probably be facing a gaping deficient in the beginning of the business quarter. If that’s the case……”
2703
2704The men peered at one another with grave expressions.
2705
2706“……Everyone here will be purged by headquarters. Based on the size of our loss, the head may do the honors himself!”
2707
2708One of the men murmured softly as he peered at the snaking dragon embroidered with gold thread in the middle of the hanging axle.
2709
2710A heavy silence fell over all the men.
2711
2712“Dying might be the best thing that could happen to us……”
2713
2714Someone muttered.
2715
2716In a voice quaking with terror.
2717
2718
2719
2720
2721
2722Unlike magic related sports events, gender differences didn’t really impact magic competitions.
2723
2724Even so, when taking into account that physical abilities still hold the decisive edge in events like Battle Board or Crowd Ball, the Newcomers Division separated the genders from this year forth.
2725
2726In other words, this was the first year that the men and women competed separately in the Newcomers Division.
2727
2728Until last year, there was no separation by gender, so men usually competed in events like Battle Board or Crowd Ball, while women chose to participate in events such as Icicle Destruction or Speed Shooting that were less taxing on the physical body. Thanks to this (the ratio favored male participants due to school differences), the audience was generally split between watching two different types of events.
2729
2730So which was more popular, the Men’s competition or the Women’s competition?
2731
2732Based on the Official Division from previous years, the average spectator usually observed the Women’s events, while the military, police, firefighters, and university related personnel paid closer attention to the Men’s competition.
2733
2734—Then again, speaking of this year’s Newcomers Division.
2735
2736“There are a lot of people here……”
2737
2738“There were plainly more open seats during the Men’s competition.”
2739
2740Two young ladies were sitting in the empty reserved observation area and cast pitying gazes across the spectator stands that were filled to capacity.
2741
2742They were Mayumi and Mari.
2743
2744“Somehow, I feel that there are a lot of people from the universities.”
2745
2746Mayumi said this as she directed her gaze towards the VIP stands.
2747
2748“After seeing that yesterday, they wouldn’t be satisfied with just a recording, would they?”
2749
2750Mari completely agreed.
2751
2752“Exactly. Aren’t we here to watch as well?”
2753
2754To preserve all fairness, the order of the matches was reversed from yesterday.
2755
2756It was the sixth day of the Nine Schools Competition and third day of the Newcomers Division.
2757
2758The first match of the third round in Icicle Destruction was about to take place.
2759
2760Mayumi glanced at the time and waited for Miyuki to take the stage.
2761
2762
2763
2764
2765
2766Turn back the clock for a few moments.
2767
2768As Tatsuya and Miyuki were headed towards the resting area for Icicle Destruction, two students from Third High appeared before them.
2769
2770Both of them were male students.
2771
2772One of them matched Tatsuya’s physique in terms of height and shoulder width, to the point that it was extremely difficult to tell the difference. However, that student had a much more stunning appearance.
2773
2774The other student was significantly shorter. Thanks in part to the school’s reputation for emphasizing martial abilities, this did not give off a weak impression.
2775
2776They appeared to have noticed Tatsuya at the same time and directly walked towards him.
2777
2778“I am Ichijou Masaki, Third High, 1st Year.”
2779
2780The taller one spoke first.
2781
2782For people that have just met for the first time, his tone was slightly overbearing, but amazingly, Tatsuya didn’t seem to mind.
2783
2784While both of them were 1st Year students, Ichijou Masaki naturally fit into a leadership role and seemed to exude the charismatic aura of a true leader.
2785
2786Both his eyes were focused on Tatsuya.
2787
2788“Likewise, Kichijouji Shinkurou, also from Third High’s 1st Year.”
2789
2790The shorter youth spoke politely and identified himself with a more traditional air, though his eyes teemed with a challenging glint.
2791
2792“First High, 1st Year, Shiba Tatsuya. So, the ‘Crimson Prince’ and ‘Cardinal George’ in the flesh, what may I do for you?”
2793
2794No sense of malice.
2795
2796Slightly different from sheer enmity.
2797
2798Still, there was no question that this was not a friendly attitude.
2799
2800Strictly speaking, it was a naked fighting spirit.
2801
2802Just like Masaki, Tatsuya also responded in a tone that would be considered overly rude for first acquaintances in his usual manner.
2803
2804Tatsuya felt that putting on a mask of false friendship would be insulting to these two.
2805
2806“Ho…… So you know of George’s reputation as well as mine? Well that makes this simple.”
2807
2808“Shiba Tatsuya…… A hitherto unknown name, but I shall never forget this name. You are probably the most ingenious technician since the advent of the Nine Schools Competition. I’m afraid we are lacking in manners here, but all we wished for was to meet you once.”
2809
2810“I am honored to be called a ‘genius’ by the prodigy that discovered the Cardinal Code at age 13…… But you are right in that this is against the norm.”
2811
2812As for his own manner of speaking, he replied back in a frank and straightforward fashion.
2813
2814Yet, neither of them appeared irritated. They came with absolute determination and maintained a posture one usually reserves for a serious opponent.
2815
2816“Miyuki, go ahead and prepare.”
2817
2818Tatsuya did not lift his eyes from these two as he gave his instructions to Miyuki. Tatsuya estimated that they would be here for a while.
2819
2820“I understand.”
2821
2822Miyuki bowed towards Tatsuya and departed for the resting area without sparing Masaki a single glance, as if the pair did not exist within her dimension. There wasn’t even a hint that she was intentionally avoiding them — that was how perfectly she rendered them to non-existence.
2823
2824For an instant, Masaki’s eyes followed Miyuki, but swiftly reverted back to Tatsuya.
2825
2826
2827
2828
2829
2830“……‘Prince’, isn’t your side about to begin?”
2831
2832The split second of wavering and reluctance did not escape Tatsuya’s eyes. Inwardly, he let out a small breath.
2833
2834Unwavering, Tatsuya’s eyes forced Masaki to reply.
2835
2836“……We will appear in tomorrow’s Monolith Code.”
2837
2838Yet, the one who replied for him was Kichijouji.
2839
2840Kichijouji was the champion for the Newcomers Division Speed Shooting event, while Masaki was favored to clinch the crown for the Newcomers Division Icicle Destruction event. Naturally, it was expected that each school would commit their aces to the Monolith Code event.
2841
2842“What are your plans?”
2843
2844Although he wanted to ask what he was referring to, there wasn’t enough time left.
2845
2846“I’m not responsible for that.”
2847
2848That being said, he had no obligation to reveal any details, so he went with the abstract answer.
2849
2850“Is that so…… That’s unfortunate. One day, I wish to line up against the players you’re responsible for. Of course, we will triumph.”
2851
2852Kichijouji’s words caused Tatsuya to feel “Are you throwing down now?”. But he quickly thought otherwise, since these guys originally came to challenge him in the first place.
2853
2854“Sorry for taking your time. We look forward to meeting on the field of battle.”
2855
2856Before Tatsuya could respond to Kichijouji, Masaki made this declaration and walked past Tatsuya with Kichijouji.
2857
2858—So they’re still a rude bunch in the end. Tatsuya thought as he headed towards the resting area where Miyuki was waiting for him without turning his head in the slightest.
2859
2860
2861
2862
2863
2864“What were they up to?”
2865
2866The first thing Miyuki asked when she came out of the changing room was about the earlier scene.
2867
2868“Scouting, I think? Still felt pointless though.”
2869
2870Tatsuya tilted his head and chose to reply in neutral terms and handed Miyuki the CAD he had prepared for her while she was changing.
2871
2872If there were any extraneous distractions before the match, this would only negatively impact the match itself, so Tatsuya moved to curtail the conversation with haste. Yet, after Miyuki heard Tatsuya’s reply, she burst into laughter as if finding some profound meaning in his words.
2873
2874“I think that’s their declaration of war, Onii-sama.”
2875
2876He wasn’t ignorant of what his sister was referring to. He himself felt those two came to specifically challenge him.
2877
2878But in Tatsuya’s eyes, this was a pointless gesture.
2879
2880“……You don’t believe me?”
2881
2882Even though Miyuki rolled her eyes upward and pouted sulkily, this wasn’t something he was going to let slide so easily.
2883
2884“No, well…… I’m not a contestant, right? I don’t believe these two renowned individuals who have extended their reputations beyond the scope of magic high school students would view a nameless person like myself a rival.”
2885
2886“Rival” was based on the assumption that they acknowledged that both sides were equal.
2887
2888Objectively speaking, from outward appearances, he wasn’t even in the same strata as those two. Superficially, comparing themselves with him was a ridiculous notion. Furthermore, they didn’t appear to have discovered his secrets either.
2889
2890Ordinarily, it was frankly impossible for the “Crimson Prince” or “Cardinal George” to see him as an opponent — Tatsuya thought.
2891
2892Upon seeing her older brother actually thinking this way and not out of humility, the sister sighed deeply.
2893
2894“……Onii-sama, underestimating your own abilities would be fatal in battle. Exactly how highly you are valued, how greatly you are watched, even how much other schools view Onii-sama — how fiercely their antagonism burns because of Onii-sama’s skills and strategies — I think Onii-sama should consider all of this objectively once more.”
2895
2896For Miyuki, this was an exceedingly rare, and blunt, counsel.
2897
2898This was a completely unexpected boldness and unimaginable reproach. Tatsuya could only stand there and watch her blankly.
2899
2900This was the third time Miyuki used her mysterious beauty to captivate the hearts of the audience at the same time that she wielded her terrible might to vanquish the enemy.
2901
2902
2903
2904
2905
2906On the waves where Battle Board would be decided, the first round of the Women’s semifinals was about to begin.
2907
2908The players were already at their starting positions.
2909
2910Honoka’s figure was among them.
2911
2912“Hm~”
2913
2914“…………”
2915
2916“That’s a little……”
2917
2918“…………”
2919
2920“OK, that, uh……”
2921
2922“…………”
2923
2924“What the heck are you two doing?”
2925
2926All three players were side by side at the starting line. In the stands, Erika was humming in frustration while Mizuki was utterly silent by her side. Finally caving, Leo asked reluctantly.
2927
2928“Isn’t that just~, a little strange? All the players are wearing sunglasses.”
2929
2930“Erika-chan, those are called ‘goggles’……”
2931
2932Indeed, just as Erika and Miyuki said, not just Honoka, but the other two were wearing dark protective goggles as well.
2933
2934“Isn’t that obvious? This is the most reliable countermeasure to Honoka-san’s light magic.”
2935
2936Mikihiko’s analysis was grounded in common sense, causing Erika to adopt a “How boring~” expression as she laughed mirthlessly.
2937
2938“……What’s wrong with that?”
2939
2940“But~, doesn’t that mean they fell for Tatsuya-kun’s strategy? Battle Board players don’t use goggles because the water droplets may interfere with their sight. This is a key reason. Yet they quickly adopted goggles after being flashed once…… There should be other ways to counter light magic……”
2941
2942“Is Honoka-san planning on using the water to obscure their vision?”
2943
2944Erika nodded in disinterest.
2945
2946However.
2947
2948“That’s hard to say…… I doubt that Tatsuya will rely on such a mundane tactic.”
2949
2950“……Possibly.”
2951
2952Mikihiko’s words seemed to rouse some of Erika’s interest.
2953
2954
2955
2956
2957
2958This time, no flash occurred immediately after the start.
2959
2960“She’s slow out the gate!?”
2961
2962“No, she’s right behind!”
2963
2964As they navigated the snaking tunnel in front of the observation deck, Honoka was in second place entering the first sharp curve.
2965
2966“Eh?”
2967
2968At this location, the player in first place took an odd route.
2969
2970Not only did she massively reduce speed, she even drew close to the middle of the route.
2971
2972Honoka also decelerated, but took a steeper angle that just barely cleared the bend and snatched first place from the player who took the roundabout route.
2973
2974“What, just happened?”
2975
2976Normally, players either reduced speed drastically and hugged the inside route, or took a wider angle but controlled their deceleration.
2977
2978The route taken by the other player could be described as amateurish. Not only did she drastically reduce speed, she also left a huge passing lane.
2979
2980“……There seem to be shadows floating in the waterways.”
2981
2982Following Leo’s observation, Erika squinted and shouted out.
2983
2984“Ah, there it is again!”
2985
2986This time it was a wide arc way.
2987
2988The player that Honoka passed once again left a huge gap between her and the wall and slowed down more than necessary to pass the angle. The ensuing result left her farther and farther behind Honoka.
2989
2990“……No wonder, so that’s how it is.”
2991
2992“Eh, what?”
2993
2994Erika asked Mikihiko, who was nodding in appreciation.
2995
2996“Tatsuya’s intent was to have the other players don goggles that are shaded against light. This point coincided with Erika’s guess.”
2997
2998Mikihiko spoke with animation, as if completely abandoning his usual irrational stubbornness.
2999
3000“However, this isn’t for using the water spray to occlude their sight, but to make the dark areas harder to perceive.”
3001
3002“So that’s why! Illusions can also be used like this……!”
3003
3004“Indeed. By turning the lit areas darker, you are able to manipulate your opponent’s moves. Ultimately, magic depends on application……”
3005
3006“……Would the two of you care to enlighten me as well instead of amusing yourselves.”
3007
3008At Leo’s displeased voice, Mikihiko finally stirred from his daydream.
3009
3010“Sorry, sorry. In other words, Tatsuya’s strategy is……”
3011
3012
3013
3014
3015
3016“Shiba-kun’s strategy is very simple.
3017
3018He used light wave oscillation magic to control the light along the water route.
3019
3020The protective goggles already restricted vision considerably. This is now compounded by the darkened route, causing people to misjudge the distance to the edge, hereby forcing the opposing players away from the darkness…… In summation, he narrowed the area the players dared to navigate through.”
3021
3022Hattori, with Kirihara in tow, was holding the fort in place of Katsuto, who had gone to observe the Men’s Icicle Destruction event. They were currently listening to every word of Suzune’s explanation.
3023
3024“Even if the mind says otherwise and claims that the water’s surface shoulder is wider, it remains a difficult task to override physical perception. At the same time, regardless of who the player is, anyone would have a harder time raising their speed along a narrow corridor. Thus, this strategy is grounded in denying the other players from bringing out their full potential.”
3025
3026“……But, wouldn’t Honoka-san be affected herself?”
3027
3028“That’s why she has repeatedly trained under similar conditions.”
3029
3030Hattori’s question prompted a simplistic answer.
3031
3032“……Generally, the user remains unaffected by the magic itself, so no worries.”
3033
3034“Don’t relax just yet. Shiba-kun said that ‘the width of the water way is fixed, so use your body rather than your eyes to memorize it’.”
3035
3036Hearing Suzune’s reply, Kirihara muttered.
3037
3038“……So rather than being a clever strategy, it turned out to be a full frontal assault anyway…… This could only come from someone with one hell of a mean streak.”
3039
3040Kirihara’s impression caused Suzune to burst into laughter.
3041
3042
3043
3044
3045
3046After the morning matches, the pavilion reserved for First High turned into an ocean of festivities.
3047
3048All three participants in the Newcomers Division Women’s Icicle Destruction third round won.
3049
3050In the round robin portion of the event during the afternoon, every player came from First High.
3051
3052Honoka also advanced to the finals for Battle Board. This was a result that could only be described as “dominating”.
3053
3054The only people who couldn’t join in the fun were the ten players from the 1st Year Men’s team.
3055
3056If they competed normally, the male members would surely achieve similarly impressive results. That being said, their blind animosity led to repeated mental errors that only increased as their numbers dwindled and their frustration mounted, throwing them into a vicious cycle of self-destruction.
3057
3058Among them, the three players from Icicle Destruction — Miyuki, Shizuku, and Eimi, as well as Tatsuya, the technician responsible, were not present because they were summoned to one of the hotel’s conference rooms.
3059
3060“We’re pressed for time, so I’ll keep this short.”
3061
3062Mayumi was the one who called them here. She was the only one waiting for them.
3063
3064“Until now, no school has ever monopolized the round robin portion of this event. Shiba-san, Kitayama-san, Akechi-san, your performances have been exemplary.”
3065
3066Politely, calmly, and frantically, the three of them displayed three different attitudes as they bowed in thanks to Mayumi’s praise.
3067
3068“In recognition of this feat, the board has a proposal. They say that regardless of what the standings for the round robin are, our school will receive all the points anyway, so there’s no need to play this out. All three of you will share First Place collectively.”
3069
3070The three of them looked at one another, with Tatsuya smiling sardonically in the back.
3071
3072No matter how they tried to disguise this, the board was obviously trying to lighten his workload.
3073
3074“It is up to all of you whether to accept the board’s proposal. The only criterion is that you don’t have much time to consider this. Please make a decision here and now.”
3075
3076Upon hearing Mayumi’s words, Eimi started fidgeting as her eyes roamed around.
3077
3078With her skill level, she was well aware that she had no chance against either Miyuki or Shizuku.
3079
3080Up until this point, she was satisfied with Third Place, but it was simply human nature for people to desire First Place. It was too much of a stretch for her not to want this to happen.
3081
3082Miyuki glanced at Tatsuya.
3083
3084Shizuku also looked towards Tatsuya.
3085
3086“Tatsuya-kun, what is your opinion? If all three were to fight it out, you would have a hard time managing all three.”
3087
3088So, Mayumi wished for the three of them to share First Place together, Tatsuya thought.
3089
3090In truth, this was the most desirable outcome from the leadership’s perspective.
3091
3092“To be honest, based on Akechi-san’s current condition, she would be better off avoiding the next round. The third round was too heated and it’s hard to imagine that she can recover in one or two hours.”
3093
3094From Tatsuya’s perspective, he didn’t feel that he has to worry on this account. He was just speaking candidly.
3095
3096“Is that so…… Akechi-san, do you agree with what Tatsuya-kun said?”
3097
3098“Well, that…… Before I heard what you said, I was already ready to give up anyway. It is true that I’m not in optimal condition, so I was planning on bowing out after talking it over with Shiba-kun anyway…… Because Shiba-kun knows me better than I know myself.”
3099
3100Her tone was diffident, likely because she felt that she was shirking her responsibilities by accepting the board’s proposal.
3101
3102“Really.”
3103
3104Mayumi smiled to console her and nodded before turning to Miyuki and Shizuku.
3105
3106“I……”
3107
3108Shizuku spoke up first.
3109
3110“Want to compete.”
3111
3112Her eyes burned with fiery determination as she looked Mayumi in the eye.
3113
3114“After this, how many opportunities will I have to go all out against Miyuki…… I don’t want to miss this chance.”
3115
3116“How unfortunate……”
3117
3118Mayumi dropped her gaze to the ground and sighed.
3119
3120“What does Miyuki-chan think?”
3121
3122“If Kitayama-san wishes to compete against me, I have no reason to refuse.”
3123
3124Mayumi knew very well that Miyuki was made of sterner stuff that belied her appearance, so she was completely unsurprised by this response.
3125
3126“I understand…… Then, I will report to the board that Akechi-san has withdrawn whereas Shiba-san and Kitayama-san will engage in a duel to decide the final round. The match should be the first one of the afternoon, so you had best take this opportunity to prepare.”
3127
3128After Mayumi finished speaking, the first one to bow was Tatsuya.
3129
3130As he left the conference room, Miyuki and Shizuku immediately bowed to Mayumi and left right behind him. Eimi frantically bowed as well and said: “I’ll take my leave.”
3131
3132
3133
3134
3135
3136The stands were overflowing with spectators.
3137
3138The changes in the Newcomers Division Women’s Icicle Destruction event were quickly announced and intentionally set as the first match of the afternoon to avoid conflicting with other events.
3139
3140Not just the normal stands, but even the reserved seating area for members was quickly filled.
3141
3142There, Tatsuya could be seen sandwiched between Mayumi and Mari.
3143
3144After finishing the calibrations for both their CADs, Tatsuya didn’t accompany either Miyuki or Shizuku, but sat in the last row of the reserved seating area.
3145
3146Before leaving, he left the two of them with these words.
3147
3148The words, “Do your best”.
3149
3150“But in reality, you wanted to stay by Miyuki’s side, didn’t you?”
3151
3152Alas, the rare “well meaning words” took on a different connotation when delivered from her lips as Mayumi revealed an evil smirk. For some reason, whenever she was with Tatsuya, her fiendish side seemed to rise dramatically.
3153
3154“Yeah.”
3155
3156Undoubtedly because she was annoyed by Tatsuya’s wooden reaction.
3157
3158“……You sure admitted that easily.”
3159
3160Although she gave pretense to being mean, Mari’s real nature was — perhaps — much kinder than Mayumi as she interjected with her almost signature retort.
3161
3162“Do you know what Sister Complex means?”
3163
3164“I don’t think I follow. How does cheering on your own kin constitute being a sis-con?”
3165
3166His direct rebuttal while feigning ignorance had long since become customary.
3167
3168Except Mayumi and Mari had wised up to his tactics.
3169
3170“Wow, did you hear that Mari? This child is actually confident in his own cause!”
3171
3172“Looks seriously ill to me. Is it hopeless?”
3173
3174Isn’t it pointless to loudly gossip about the person stuck between them? Tatsuya thought. He was thoroughly helpless against this special way of “bullying the underclassman”.
3175
3176
3177
3178
3179
3180This short skit was nothing more than the appetizer before the curtains were drawn.
3181
3182As if to prove this, when both players took the stage, the entire audience fell into complete silence.
3183
3184In the arena, two young women stood facing one another.
3185
3186On one side, her white hakui and crimson hakama filled the eyes.
3187
3188On the other side, tamotos the color of water flooded the vision.
3189
3190Miyuki didn’t bind her hair; Shizuku didn’t bring an obi.
3191
3192The long, wavy hair and silk tamotos fluttered in the slight winds of summer.
3193
3194The two young women were suffused with a suffocating silence.
3195
3196This was the chilling “fighting spirit” that shared the name of this purely magical contest and was far removed from its burning counterpart.
3197
3198The preparation signal light lit up.
3199
3200The colors changed, and at the moment the beacon responsible for starting the match went off—
3201
3202Magic flooded outward at the same moment.
3203
3204A heat wave rushed towards Shizuku’s field.
3205
3206Yet, the icicles stubbornly resisted the incursion.
3207
3208The wide area heat wave from “Inferno” was denied by the “Data Fortification” magic that stopped the changes in the icicles’ temperature.
3209
3210The earth groaned as magic rushed towards Miyuki’s field.
3211
3212But the oscillations were stamped out the moment they tried to resonate.
3213
3214Wide area magic prevented oscillations and movement within her own field and extended across the earth’s surface and below it as well.
3215
3216
3217
3218
3219
3220The two of them went back and forth, taking turns using phenomenon rewriting on the other’s icicles. This was a perfect stalemate, worthy of the praise from all the pundits and experts — on the outside.
3221
3222But the combatants involved didn’t think so.
3223
3224(I can’t get in……! As expected of Miyuki!)
3225
3226Shizuku’s “Resonance” was completely rejected by the enemy field.
3227
3228In comparison, Miyuki’s heat wave was enveloping Shizuku’s field.
3229
3230“Data Fortification” is a counter magic used to prevent magic from passing through and altering the Eidos.
3231
3232It was unable to prevent the physical effects from magic.
3233
3234Even if the magic couldn’t directly influence the icicles’ temperature, the heated air would cause the icicles to melt. It was only a matter of time.
3235
3236(In that case!)
3237
3238Shizuku stuck her left wrist with the CAD attached into her right sleeve.
3239
3240She pulled out a pistol-shaped Specialized CAD in her hand.
3241
3242This was the final trump card that Tatsuya had prepared for Shizuku.
3243
3244Shizuku pointed the muzzle towards the front row of icicles in Miyuki’s field and pulled the CAD’s trigger.
3245
3246
3247
3248
3249
3250(Dual-wielding CADs!? Shizuku, you managed to accomplish that?)
3251
3252Seeing Shizuku’s left hand also holding a pistol-shaped CAD, Miyuki inwardly wavered.
3253
3254Wielding multiple CADs simultaneously was her brother’s trademark ability. It was an extremely difficult technique that was almost “unique”.
3255
3256Miyuki believed that, for someone who could so easily lose control of magic like herself, it was far too soon for her to challenge that ability that demanded absolute control of her psions. At the same time, she was terrified of infringing upon her brother’s favored technique.
3257
3258However, at the current moment, Shizuku was wielding a second CAD before her very eyes.
3259
3260Without arousing interference from the psion signal waves, the second CAD completed its Activation Sequence.
3261
3262Instantly, Miyuki’s magic stopped.
3263
3264The sustained magic was curtailed in mid translation.
3265
3266Now, Shizuku’s new magic stormed forward.
3267
3268
3269
3270
3271
3272“Phonon Maser!?”
3273
3274Hearing Mayumi’s gasp, Tatsuya privately applauded as if this new magic had nothing to do with him: “She certainly is well versed in magic!”
3275
3276The front row of icicles in Miyuki’s field started to give off white steam.
3277
3278For three rounds, Miyuki’s icicles were untouched — at the magical level — by her opponents, and were now damaged for the first time by enemy attack.
3279
3280Oscillation-Systematic Magic “Phonon Maser” — a high level magic that raises the number of supersonic oscillations to form a quantum heat ray.
3281
3282Even if this was the tactic that Tatsuya gave Shizuku to defeat Miyuki…… His expression remained oddly dark.
3283
3284Not because Miyuki was in danger of being defeated.
3285
3286But because he knew better than anyone else that relying on this level of strength to surpass that sister of his was nothing more than a pipe dream.
3287
3288
3289
3290
3291
3292She faltered for all of one second.
3293
3294Acting in concert with Shizuku’s newly sustainable magic, Miyuki also switched magics.
3295
3296The rising steam from the icicles — the sublimation of ice halted.
3297
3298Not because she blocked the heat ray formed by the shooting supersonic waves, but because an absolute chill that surpassed the heat of “Phonon Maser” had materialized itself.
3299
3300Miyuki’s field was instantly enshrouded in a sublime, white mist.
3301
3302The mist gradually drifted towards Shizuku’s field.
3303
3304Miyuki knew that Shizuku would raise the inference strength on “Data Fortification”.
3305
3306Despite this. Regardless.
3307
3308(……Alas, you are too naive, Shizuku!)
3309
3310The flowing mist was “cold air”. Temperature change — magic that prevented melting had no effect on this magic.
3311
3312“……‘Niflheim’ ……That’s impossible, right? What magical dimension are we in here……”
3313
3314Mari said in amazement.
3315
3316Tatsuya shared that sentiment, but remained silent on the issue.
3317
3318Wide Area Freezing Magic “Niflheim”.
3319
3320At the basic level, this technique ignored heat and appearance, using magic to uniformly cool down all the objects within a set area. Even so, in terms of practicality, this magic could be used to create Diamond Dust, Dry Ice Particles, or even large clouds of nitrogen gas in a pinch that could be advanced towards the target.
3321
3322Likewise, its strength was building towards the strongest level.
3323
3324The nitrogen mist passed through Shizuku’s field and vanished near the other end of the arena.
3325
3326On one side of Shizuku’s icicles — the side facing Miyuki that is, nitrogen was coated on its surface, creating “dynamite” on the icicles.
3327
3328Miyuki disabled “Niflheim” and once again activated “Inferno”.
3329
3330Shizuku’s “Data Fortification” could only affect objects that originally existed within the area and thus had no impact on newly applied materials.
3331
3332Lowering the temperature of nitrogen gas produced a cooling effect. Likewise, rapidly heating nitrogen liquid at temperatures far exceeding normal room temperature would instantly evaporate the nitrogen.
3333
3334Expanding it to 700 times its size.
3335
3336With a huge roar, Shizuku’s icicles collapsed as one. It was unknown whether the roar came from the icicles hitting the earth or the roar itself caused the icicles to fall, or even if it was caused by the gas explosion.
3337
3338The very fact that the icicles were shattered into tiny pieces testified to the ferocity of the explosion.
3339
3340The judges were probably stunned by this scene unfolding before their eyes.
3341
3342Hence they hesitated briefly before announcing the end of the match.
3343
3344
3345
3346
3347
3348“Congratulations on your victory, Honoka.”
3349
3350Shizuku, who had returned to their room first, congratulated Honoka, who was fresh from her post-event medical examination.
3351
3352“Thank you…… It was a nice try, Shizuku.”
3353
3354“Yeah…… But I can’t accept it.”
3355
3356Her soft words would likely prompt some people to suspect: “Is that true?” But Honoka was her close friend from childhood, and there was no way she could misinterpret Shizuku’s meaning.
3357
3358“Shizuku……”
3359
3360Honoka wrapped her arms around the slightly shorter Shizuku and pulled her into a hug.
3361
3362Arms dangling, Shizuku dove into Honoka’s embrace.
3363
3364“Even though I never thought I had a chance from the beginning.”
3365
3366“Really……”
3367
3368“But, there was nothing I could do.”
3369
3370“…………”
3371
3372“I still can’t let it go, Honoka……”
3373
3374“……You gave it your all.”
3375
3376This persisted for some time.
3377
3378“……Thanks. I’m OK now.”
3379
3380Shizuku said as she separated from Honoka.
3381
3382There were no tear tracks on her face.
3383
3384“Is that so……? Shizuku, want to grab some tea? I’m a little hungry.”
3385
3386“……OK.”
3387
3388“Give me a second to change, alright?”
3389
3390Shizuku smiled in embarrassment and nodded as she watched Honoka’s sunny attitude.
3391
3392
3393
3394
3395
3396The moment Honoka stepped into the cafeteria, she was immediately caught between a rock and a hard place and struck immobile.
3397
3398She locked gazes with Miyuki, who had arrived beforehand.
3399
3400They couldn’t just retreat like this, but even so, it’s not like they could just nonchalantly sit down next to her. This terrible situation almost caused Honoka to burst into tears.
3401
3402“Congratulations on your victory, Honoka.”
3403
3404While Miyuki’s warm smile was no less brilliant than usual, there was still a little stiffness in her upper lip. They were unable to “act normally” and, while there were some degrees of difference, Miyuki was no exception to this either.
3405
3406“Honoka, congratulations.”
3407
3408If Honoka hesitated now or put on a stilted smile, this would only worsen the mood. In order to deny her that opportunity, Tatsuya immediately addressed her in his usual tone and simultaneously dispelled the awkward atmosphere around them. However, by doing so he also cut off Honoka’s path of egress.
3409
3410“Ah, err, thank you very much……”
3411
3412“Tatsuya-kun, may we sit with you?”
3413
3414Shizuku broke the ice here.
3415
3416“Of course, please do.”
3417
3418Tatsuya said as he rose and stepped behind an empty chair. Miyuki picked up the teacups and moved the tray before sitting down in an adjacent seat from her previous position opposite Tatsuya.
3419
3420“Please.”
3421
3422“Thank you.”
3423
3424Shizuku didn’t hesitate and sat down in the chair Tatsuya pulled out for her — directly across from Miyuki.
3425
3426Honoka blushed as Tatsuya did the same for her and sat down.
3427
3428After Honoka and Shizuku ordered a cake set from the waitress that just happened to pass by, Tatsuya once again looked over the two of them.
3429
3430“This one’s on me. Let’s call this the celebration for taking First and Second Place.”
3431
3432“Eh, really?”
3433
3434“……Then, I’ll do just that.”
3435
3436While Honoka hesitated briefly, Shizuku merely nodded in acceptance. She seemed to comprehend that Tatsuya’s real intention was to console her, so there was no reason to refuse.
3437
3438Seeing her friend rebound faster than she expected, Honoka breathed a sigh of relief and finally focused her attention on her own situation.
3439
3440“Um, well……”
3441
3442“Hm?”
3443
3444“Well, I was able to win all thanks to Tatsuya-kun! Thank you so much!”
3445
3446After all the attention was drawn back to herself, Honoka faltered even more than earlier when she realized that she hadn’t thanked Tatsuya for everything yet. She was finally able to deftly do so after great personal difficulty.
3447
3448Seeing her like this, Tatsuya smiled and nodded his head.
3449
3450“Just a little.”
3451
3452He wasn’t being humble nor was he denying her words, he just didn’t want to blow it out of proportion. Honoka didn’t take issue with the words “just a little” probably because she understood the meaning behind his smile.
3453
3454After verifying this, Tatsuya wiped away his smile and turned his gaze on Shizuku.
3455
3456“However, I do need to apologize to Shizuku.”
3457
3458“Eh?”
3459
3460Shizuku stared at Tatsuya with a “I have no idea what you’re talking about” expression.
3461
3462“Disregarding the final outcome, this could have turned into a more even contest…… My estimation was too naive. It was too strenuous a demand for you to completely master ‘Phonon Maser’ in two short weeks.”
3463
3464“Ah, that…… No, that’s not Tatsuya-kun’s fault at all. Also, without that, I would have had no chance to retaliate at all.”
3465
3466Fully comprehending why Tatsuya was apologizing, Shizuku vigorously shook her head.
3467
3468“It was my fault I couldn’t control it. I should be the one apologizing. If I could wield it at will, that would have made for a much better match. As an inept opponent, I also extend my apologies to Miyuki as well.”
3469
3470“Please don’t be like that. At the time, I was very surprised. You were able to use such an advanced magic ability while dual-wielding CADs at the same time.”
3471
3472Miyuki smiled and shook her head. Afterwards, she teasingly glared at Tatsuya.
3473
3474“Onii-sama, were you really trying to make me lose?”
3475
3476At this fairly complex to answer question, Tatsuya immediately responded.
3477
3478“……I just wanted the both of you to bring out your maximum potential.”
3479
3480And the result was this dignified but brilliant rejoinder.
3481
3482Pompous, but it was no lie.
3483
3484Miyuki knew this very well, but understanding this was one thing, being satisfied with this answer was another thing altogether.
3485
3486“Seriously…… Does this person not care about his own sister?”
3487
3488“I do believe you would be truly indignant if I went easy on you.”
3489
3490Anyone could encounter their friend teasing an older sibling, but this was an extremely rare occurrence for Miyuki. Her words not only brought about Tatsuya’s rebuttal, they also caused Honoka and Shizuku to burst into laughter.
3491
3492
3493
3494
3495
3496It was the seventh day of the Nine Schools Competition and the fourth day of the Newcomers Division.
3497
3498Today was the preliminaries of the Newcomers Division Monolith Code event, which was widely regarded as the most important event within the Nine Schools Competition. Yet, the audience’s attention was completely concentrated on Mirage Bat.
3499
3500Since this was an event that only young ladies participated in, their uniforms consisted of colorful spandex that was covered by flowing miniskirts and sleeveless vests or jackets. When compared to the fashion show (cosplay contest?) that Women’s Icicle Destruction presented, this was another feast for the eyes of a different caliber.
3501
3502Rather, the young women in these uniforms were dancing through the skies.
3503
3504In terms of sheer beauty, this event was undoubtedly first among all magic competitions.
3505
3506Thus, it was perfectly natural to receive massive attention (and scrutiny) from the male fans.
3507
3508That being said — if this wasn’t Tatsuya’s mental reaction, he felt that he was also the subject of many a curious gaze.
3509
3510This was no lustful gaze that he was fighting against, but the collective (prickly) hostile gazes filled with enmity.
3511
3512“……You’re certainly dimwitted when it comes to your own affairs.”
3513
3514The player that completed her preparations for the first match spoke to Tatsuya in a teasing manner.
3515
3516“While I don’t deny that I’m a little slow in some regards…… You have some idea, Satomi?”
3517
3518“Of course!”
3519
3520She was Satomi Subaru from First High 1st Year Class D, and, of course, a Course 1 student. Satomi was actually her surname, as the two of them were not close enough for Tatsuya to call her by her actual name.
3521
3522“Everyone came to see Shiba-kun.”
3523
3524She was a young lady that was somewhat similar to Mari. To be precise, they were both more popular among their own gender than with those of the opposite gender.
3525
3526However, at the end of the day, they were only “somewhat” similar. Also, if the two of them stood side by side, they would still give off different impressions to others.
3527
3528Let’s assume both were dressed in swallowtail suits.
3529
3530Mari would give off a “beautiful lady dressed in men’s clothes” vibe.
3531
3532While Subaru would definitely categorize as a “beautiful young man from the troupers”.
3533
3534Regretfully, that was probably their defining difference.
3535
3536It remained a mystery as to whether Subaru was conscious of this point, but it was true that her tone and mannerisms had a masculine tinge to them.
3537
3538Even so, this was hardly a “rude” impression, but as her previous words implied, she was an extremely perceptive young lady.
3539
3540“In both Speed Shooting and the subsequent Icicle Destruction, we seized all three of the top spots. I think anyone watching could see that highly efficient CAD software played an integral part in that. That’s why everyone wants to know who the technician responsible is.”
3541
3542“……But, anyone can find out who the technician on duty is without much research.”
3543
3544“That’s true. Shiba-kun, the other schools are now very wary of you.”
3545
3546If what Subaru said was true — and there was no reason to think otherwise — then things were rapidly progressing in the direction that Tatsuya wanted to see the least.
3547
3548Generally, people are forced to act in conditions where they are not fully prepared. That’s just “how life works”.
3549
3550Despite that, he was woefully unprepared for this situation.
3551
3552According to the plan, “Shiba Tatsuya” was only supposed to be revealed post graduation.
3553
3554“Then…… It’s my turn to take this by storm. Honestly, with this CAD in hand, there’s no reason I can be defeated in the preliminaries.”
3555
3556As she paced continuously towards the entrance, Subaru raised her right arm with a “bracelet” that seemed to flash in the sunlight. Over one shoulder, she revealed a daring smile.
3557
3558Tatsuya gave her a thumbs up and watched her depart.
3559
3560As she said herself, Subaru was practically guaranteed to triumph in the preliminaries.
3561
3562Using the CAD he calibrated.
3563
3564While he didn’t want to be in the public eye so much, he couldn’t exactly just mail it in either.
3565
3566As a Course 2 student — as a Weed in the system, nobody save for one person placed high expectations on him, but now he was out of options.
3567
3568Now, he had Mayumi and Mari who nominated him for the Nine Schools Competition, Katsuto who supported this decision, Hattori who backed him despite his own personal feelings and Kirihara who was willing to be a guinea pig despite the danger. Then there were Honoka, Shizuku, and all the other female players who were depending on him as well as — and Miyuki, who unconditionally believed and supported him.
3569
3570Once entwined, these social links could not be so easily “dissolved”, even by him.
3571
3572
3573
3574
3575
3576Mirage Bat involved four people at a time in the preliminary round, with the six victors from each round advancing to the next round.
3577
3578Even though this was the event in the Nine Schools Competition with the least amount of matches, this did not imply that this was an easier task for the players.
3579
3580Taking into consideration that there were three rounds, each lasting 15 minutes at a time, this was the longest event in the Nine Schools Competition. Including the five minute breaks spaced between, the event could last approximately one hour. Compared to Icicle Destruction and Monolith Code that had no time restrictions, this was an especially long duration.
3581
3582Also, during the match itself, the players had to use sustainable magic and continuously leap into the air. The stress placed on the players themselves easily rivaled that of a marathon.
3583
3584And to top it all off, there were two matches in one day alone.
3585
3586In terms of physical stamina, this was a more punishing event than Crowd Ball or Monolith Code.
3587
3588With the players’ exhaustion in mind, there was a large interval for resting between the preliminary and elimination rounds, which could be said to be a unique feature of this event.
3589
3590The first match was set at 8 AM. With two arenas going at the same time, the preliminaries would be finished around noon.
3591
3592The elimination round would start at 7 PM. This was the only night time event in the entire Nine Schools Competition.
3593
3594Some may question why the Nine Schools Competition forced the preliminary and elimination rounds into one day rather than splitting them across two days. There was, of course, a method to the madness.
3595
3596Mirage Bat was an event that involved swinging a bat towards the orb-shaped holograms (Strictly speaking, they were three dimensional orb images. Modern imaging techniques technically possessed fundamental differences with holograms). In other words, the player had to identify the illusion floating ten meters off the ground while still grounded, otherwise there was no way to complete the event. This event was not suited to be conducted under the burning sun. Hence an airship was deployed during the third match to avoid letting the sun interfere with the event.
3597
3598Mirage Bat was designed to be conducted during night time.
3599
3600In order to avoid letting the players’ bodies cover the projecting lights, the 3D projector was set atop the cylindrical light towers that surrounded the arena. From this alone, one could fully understand this was intended to be a night event.
3601
3602
3603
3604
3605
3606After the end of the second match — as expected, both Honoka and Subaru advanced — Tatsuya was headed back to his room to take a quick nap.
3607
3608The two players had already returned to their rooms and were sound asleep.
3609
3610In this event, restoring lost stamina was absolutely critical.
3611
3612As the technician, Tatsuya didn’t need to rest physically, but this was a good opportunity to relax his nerves. He toyed with the idea of using the Sleeping Docks, but elected to yield that to the players first and returned to his room, pulled the curtains, and lay on the bed.
3613
3614Right now, the third match of Mirage Bat was progressing. He was very fortunate to be assigned the first and second matches. Even though it was only one more hour, this hour had a huge impact on refreshing himself mentally and physically.
3615
3616He also wished that Miyuki’s Official Division preliminary was early as well, but that was out of his hands. Tatsuya abandoned that thought after taking into account how meaningless that consideration was.
3617
3618His physical body wasn’t tired, so he didn’t have to force himself to sleep, but allowed his mind to wander.
3619
3620As he lay on the bed with his eyes closed, Tatsuya thought back to the scene from yesterday morning.
3621
3622Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkurou — while they were of the same age as he was, they were both prodigies that were renowned in the world of magic.
3623
3624Ichijou Masaki — Three years ago, when the Great Asian Alliance invaded Okinawa, the New Soviet Union also took military action on Sado, where the young man of a mere 13 years volunteered for the front lines and, alongside the current head of the Ichijou Family, Ichijou Tsuyoshi, used “Rupture” to annihilate many enemy soldiers. He was a Magician who possessed live combat experience.
3625
3626While the scale of the battle was quite small (to this day, the New Soviet Union denies their connection with the militants that invaded Sado), he was awarded the title “the Crimson Prince of the Ichijou Family” for his exploits. (Here, “Crimson” praised him for the fact that “he was bathed in blood and fought to the last” rather than being a derogatory “bloodthirsty” label.)
3627
3628Kichijouji Shinkurou — A genius Magician that identified the “Cardinal Code”, which had only existed in theory, at age 13. Based on his surname Kichijouji and the “Cardinal Code” he discovered, he was given the title “Cardinal George” and was held to be one of the rising stars behind theoretical Magic Sequences who were known throughout the field.
3629
3630The fact that both of them registered at the same school in the same cohort was a coincidence that bordered on criminal.
3631
3632For the two of them to team up during Monolith Code was already an invincible combination, at least for the Newcomers Division.
3633
3634Morisaki and company deserved to be pitied. Tatsuya viewed things that were not connected to him more mercifully.
3635
3636If only there was some way to close the gap.
3637
3638(“Rupture” is a magic that possesses A-Rank destructive power…… Maybe.)
3639
3640The Ichijou Family’s far-famed ability “Rupture” was a Dispersal-Systematic Magic that vaporized all fluids within the target’s body.
3641
3642Once the fluids from a biological target were vaporized, the body would tear apart.
3643
3644For internal combustible machines, once the fuel evaporated, the car would immediately explode. This was also the case for battery liquid. Even if there were no flammable liquids on board, there was still engine oil, lubricants, coolant. There was practically no machine that didn’t use some sort of fluid. Thus, as long as “Rupture” was activated, the Ichijous could destroy any machine at will.
3645
3646This was the perfect magic for both anti-personnel and anti-armor combat. “Rupture” was designed solely for military use, so naturally it infringed upon the rules for Monolith Code.
3647
3648(That being said, he is still the next head of house for one of the Ten Master Clans and possesses the proud title “Crimson Prince”, so he wouldn’t just rely on “Rupture” as his trump card…… Speaking of which…)
3649
3650He shifted his thoughts from two people who signed up for Monolith Code and declared war in front of him to the Monolith Code event itself.
3651
3652He didn’t have to devote all his energy into creating countermeasures for Third High yet.
3653
3654Right now, First High’s second match was about to start.
3655
3656(They already took the first match and the second match is against the lowly Fourth High. Even they can’t screw this up that bad……)
3657
3658Tatsuya’s eyes remained closed as he surrendered to his drowsiness and drifted off to sleep.
3659
3660
3661
3662
3663
3664Tatsuya woke up shortly after noon and headed for the competition area, only to find the area covered by a rattled atmosphere.
3665
3666Scratch that, it was a complete state of panic that enveloped the pavilions.
3667
3668First High’s pavilion was the center of it all.
3669
3670“Onii-sama!”
3671
3672The moment he stepped into the pavilion, Miyuki ran over to him as if this was a predetermined event. Shizuku was right alongside her.
3673
3674“Miyuki…… Shizuku too, weren’t you two with Erika’s group?”
3675
3676According to the plan, before Honoka got up — she had to prepare for the finals around 5 PM — Miyuki and Shizuku should have been watching Monolith Code with Erika and the others.
3677
3678Yet, the two of them were here, which implied that……
3679
3680“What’s going on? Did something happen during Monolith Code?”
3681
3682Without waiting for an answer, Tatsuya immediately followed up with another question.
3683
3684There was no reason to ask if something had occurred, the very mood testified that an incident occurred.
3685
3686Tatsuya had an inkling that this was likely worse than he had feared.
3687
3688“Yes, there was an accident, but……”
3689
3690“Miyuki, that was no accident!”
3691
3692As Miyuki hesitated to speak, Shizuku forcefully overrode her words as she interrupted.
3693
3694“That was intentionally overkill. It was blatantly against the rules.”
3695
3696Although she kept a tight rein on her tone, Shizuku’s eyes betrayed her fury.
3697
3698“Shizuku…… This is not the best time to make wild accusations. We don’t have proof that Fourth High intentionally did this.”
3699
3700“Indeed, Kitayama-san.”
3701
3702Behind them, Mayumi interjected into the conversation.
3703
3704“It is hard to imagine that this was purely an accident…… Even so, we cannot jump to the conclusion that this was premeditated. If we hurtle suspicions around blindly, some people who do not know any better may assume that’s the truth.”
3705
3706This may be a little impolite, but that was certainly a worthy argument from the upperclassman leadership.
3707
3708As he saw Shizuku reflect upon that gentle reprimand, Tatsuya also thought, “The President does have a few tricks up her sleeve”. ……Unfortunately, Mayumi immediately squinted at him from the side.
3709
3710“……Is there a problem?”
3711
3712“……You were just thinking something impolite, weren’t you?”
3713
3714(H-how sharp……!)
3715
3716Tatsuya faltered slightly at how adeptly she saw through him.
3717
3718Still, when he stood there, his life experiences belied his actual physical appearance.
3719
3720“No, I was just thinking, as expected of the Student Council President……”
3721
3722He wore a mask of honesty and feigned that he was being unjustly suspected in order to carefully gauge her reaction.
3723
3724“……Is that so?”
3725
3726While her eyes remained suspicious, Mayumi reined herself in at least. Not only was she unable to find any chinks in Tatsuya’s acting, she also felt this wasn’t the right time to pursue this issue.
3727
3728“Then, what’s our injury situation?”
3729
3730“So you realized from the conversation alone that Morisaki-kun and the others are injured……”
3731
3732Mayumi sighed, her expression had “what a troublesome issue” written all over her face.
3733
3734“……They are seriously injured. The event was held in an urban setting and they were crushed beneath the rubble from a ruined building that crumbled when the attacks from ‘Battering Ram’ struck.”
3735
3736“……If used against people in closed environments, the magic ‘Battering Ram’ rates as A-rank in destructive power. This is on a completely different level than the danger encountered during Battle Board and is a blatant violation of the rules.”
3737
3738The “Battering Ram” that the two were speaking of was also known as “Point Burst”, which was a magic developed through PK research. This magic functions by rewriting the Eidos of the target object and applying a massive Weight-Type Magic on a single point. When used against buildings, the target requirement was usually a wall or the ceiling, or at least a “single surface” that was separated from any pillars and also required a colossal magic capacity as well as high interference strength.
3739
3740If simply destroying a building was the goal, it was more efficient to use Move-Type Magic and sling a hammer around. In comparison, “Battering Ram” was a highly demanding magic that, besides BS Magicians, was not something that could be casually treated like a toy.
3741
3742“Agreed…… Even if they were wearing military-use protective equipment, that’s not going to help against tons of rocks and dirt falling on top of you. Thanks to the protective helmets and the observers casting Light Weight Magic in time, disaster was averted…… The three of them have undergone magic healing, but even then this will take two weeks. They are confined to bed for the next three days.”
3743
3744Still, Mayumi avoided making a judgment on whether the accident was truly intentional and subtly altered the direction of the conversation.
3745
3746“……It’s more serious than I imagined.”
3747
3748Tatsuya could sympathize with Mayumi’s stance on not voicing an opinion and thus avoiding the need to pursue the issue.
3749
3750“Indeed. This may be a little rash, but once I saw the magic healers going, that was a horrible sight.”
3751
3752Just as she said, this was a somewhat harsh opinion regarding the injured members.
3753
3754At any rate, the fact that Mayumi faltered so badly was also a clear indication that she was probably not on guard against Tatsuya.
3755
3756“Wait, I’m still unclear on this point. Were all three in the same building?”
3757
3758This may not have been a matter Tatsuya needed to worry about, but in Monolith Code, the typical strategy called for either one person on the attack and two on the defense or vice versa. Tatsuya had a hard time figuring out what situation would call for all three members of the team to be struck down by the same attack.
3759
3760“They immediately suffered a surprise attack once the match was under way. It wasn’t that they couldn’t find anyone before the start signal, but it was that they didn’t have a chance to. Setting aside ‘Battering Ram’ for now, there’s no question that jumping the gun is a clear violation of the rules.”
3761
3762The one who answered was the fuming Shizuku.
3763
3764“I see…… In that case, then the board will be busy too.”
3765
3766“Because they weren’t able to prevent it…… Right?”
3767
3768Seeing Tatsuya grin evilly, Miyuki tilted her head as she asked in confusion.
3769
3770Miyuki was too sincere and honest to comprehend Tatsuya’s twisted line of logic.
3771
3772“This isn’t anything too important. Rather, setting an easily destructible ruin as the starting location was one of the key causes of this accident — we’ll call it an accident for now. The board may elect to scrap Monolith Code from the Newcomers Division altogether.”
3773
3774“……That’s also true.”
3775
3776Miyuki nodded in profound agreement to Tatsuya’s reasoning. At this time, Mayumi jumped back in.
3777
3778“There are indeed calls for a halt to this. However, the ending result is that the preliminaries are still going on for all the schools besides us and Fourth High. The worst case scenario is that our school will be treated as withdrawn from the second round of the preliminaries.”
3779
3780Hearing Mayumi’s words, it was Tatsuya’s turn to turn his head.
3781
3782“What do you mean worst case scenario? The players are unable to compete any longer, so aside from withdrawing, I don’t see any other options……”
3783
3784“On this point, Juumonji-kun is currently negotiating with the board.”
3785
3786“Really……”
3787
3788After the commencement of the Nine Schools Competition, changing players was forbidden. In other words, since the other side violated the rules, they were going to request an exception?
3789
3790Even so, the Monolith Code team members consisted of the 1st Year male students with the top three magic technical scores. Even if they found replacements, victory remained elusive. Rather than looking for replacements, a better option would be an unorthodox request to remove the scores from Monolith Code from the aggregate score. Behind these vague responses, Tatsuya made this consideration.
3791
3792Naturally, Mayumi had no idea what dark plots were running through Tatsuya’s mind.
3793
3794“—Tatsuya-kun, I wish to speak with you.”
3795
3796Mayumi’s voice contained coquettish overtones. She must be thoroughly unnerved by this chain of accidents and was subconsciously looking for something or someone to rely on.
3797
3798At practically the same time, his sister fixed a burning gaze on Tatsuya. He really wanted to dig a hole and hide as he thought “I didn’t do it, don’t glare at me, why aren’t you glaring at Mayumi?”. But there was no way he would be caught dead saying that.
3799
3800“Can you come with me for a moment?”
3801
3802Does this mean she was worried about other people overhearing their private conversation?
3803
3804The burning gaze doubled in intensity, but Tatsuya feigned ignorance as he followed right behind Mayumi.
3805
3806
3807
3808
3809
3810Although they were inside the pavilion with a wall separating them from the outside, it was only made of cloth after all. From this perspective, this served as a poor sound barrier.
3811
3812Yet, this was the realm of magic that reversed the laws of reality. Mayumi slowly built up a magical barrier that prevented their voices from traveling outside.
3813
3814“Quite the perfect sound barrier.”
3815
3816“Really……? Hm hm, thank you.”
3817
3818Mayumi sat down with a slightly embarrassed expression while Tatsuya also pulled up a chair and sat.
3819
3820“Then, let’s cut to the chase……”
3821
3822“Very well.”
3823
3824“…………”
3825
3826Even though Mayumi claimed time was of the essence, she refrained from speaking. Since the two of them alone would arouse all sorts of problems, Tatsuya finally opened up.
3827
3828“You suspect that this accident is also related to the previous sabotage incident?”
3829
3830“……Yes. On that topic, I would like to hear Tatsuya-kun’s opinion. Tatsuya-kun mentioned before that Mari’s incident had a high probability of the CAD being tampered with, right?”
3831
3832Mayumi finally worked up the courage to ask, to which Tatsuya nodded and replied: “Yes.”
3833
3834“If they were using the same tactic this time, that would fully explain Fourth High’s actions…… How do you think we should go about proving this?”
3835
3836“Our only option is to catch them red handed, all other options are not viable.”
3837
3838“Can’t we…… Borrow Fourth High’s CADs and look them over?”
3839
3840“This would be fine if traces of the rewritten Activation Sequence remained…… But given the ominous silence from the already disqualified Seventh High, this seems unlikely.”
3841
3842“Really……”
3843
3844Mayumi’s gaze dropped down to her ten interlaced fingers on the table top.
3845
3846Tatsuya watched her pose and considered that he caused her some disappointment here. Mayumi didn’t raise her eyes and continued asking.
3847
3848“……If this played out according to Tatsuya-kun’s assumptions and our school is the subject of sabotage…… What do you think the motive is? Vengeance? Revenge for the incident in spring?”
3849
3850So that’s the real item that Mayumi was concerned about, Tatsuya thought.
3851
3852Tatsuya possessed the intelligence in his hands to dispel this concern. He knew that this situation was not caused by remnants of “Blanche”, the terrorist organization that they shattered, or any related organizations. If he revealed everything that he knew, he would be able to alleviate Mayumi’s anxiety.
3853
3854Yet, whether revealing everything was truly the best choice, he hesitated briefly over this decision.
3855
3856“……This is unrelated to the incident in spring.”
3857
3858Finally, Tatsuya elected to play one card from his hand.
3859
3860“Eh? What makes you say that?”
3861
3862Mayumi quickly raised her head and asked back, her voice betraying her hopes and prayers that he had some basis for saying so.
3863
3864Tatsuya possessed the power to realize that hope. At the same time, he was denied the option of laying everything out on the table.
3865
3866“The day before commencement…… No, the date had already changed. At any rate, the night before the opening ceremony, several miscreants sought to infiltrate the dorms. There were a total of three, each equipped with firearms.”
3867
3868“……That’s the first I’ve heard of this!”
3869
3870“That’s because a gag order has been issued. By pure coincidence, I was on station when this occurred and may have supplied some assistance…… I also have some passing familiarity with their background. The ones who struck at this year’s Nine Schools Competition appear to be a criminal organization out of Hong Kong.”
3871
3872The classified portions were filled in with a few white lies.
3873
3874Mayumi didn’t suspect his words at all.
3875
3876“This time may have been coincidental…… But please refrain from such dangerous behavior in the future.”
3877
3878“If pressed for an answer, I feel that I’m always getting dragged into things.”
3879
3880Mayumi gazed suspiciously at Tatsuya shrugging his shoulders. But, as she quickly realized, this wasn’t the time for that.
3881
3882“OK…… Haven’t you been asked to keep this under wraps? Thank you for telling me.”
3883
3884“In return, please don’t let this spread.”
3885
3886“I know. I promise.”
3887
3888Mayumi raised her right hand as if she were solemnly swearing a vow.
3889
3890At this perfectly natural yet mischievous action, Tatsuya almost burst into laughter.
3891
3892“……Even though I know I shouldn’t say this but I still want to say, I feel a lot more relaxed.”
3893
3894“……Indeed, those words cannot be heard anywhere else.”
3895
3896“No worries. I only say that in front of Tatsuya.”
3897
3898Keh, how should he interpret that? Tatsuya agonized over that point.
3899
3900Don’t tell me that she was linking this back to the “trustworthy little brother” line from several days ago?
3901
3902As usual, Mayumi’s thought pattern remained a complete mystery to Tatsuya.
3903
3904
3905
3906
3907
3908“What’s the situation?”
3909
3910“Just as planned. First High will have to withdraw from Monolith Code.”
3911
3912Yokohama, China Street, the highest floor in some hotel. Five men were seated around a round table with tea sets in a large room chiefly decorated in red and gold.
3913
3914On the wall, there were images of a dragon in flight sewn with gold thread.
3915
3916“Monolith Code is the single most valuable event. Even though the Newcomers Division is only worth half the points from the Official Division, this is still a major blow.”
3917
3918The men nodded with smiles plastered on their faces. However, their pallor was terrible and every one of their smiles was forced.
3919
3920
3921
3922
3923
3924Afterwards, Mayumi requested: “In order to avoid panic from spreading throughout the 1st Year female students, I’m counting on your support.” Tatsuya remained in the pavilion…… Except he had no clue how to accomplish this.
3925
3926He felt that it was the duty of the female upperclassmen to care for the mental status of their female underclassmen.
3927
3928He deeply regretted his lackadaisical acceptance of this charge, so while he wore an expression that claimed “nothing had happened”, he devoted himself thoroughly to CAD calibration for the upcoming events.
3929
3930That was all he did, but for some reason, he became surrounded by the 1st Year female players.
3931
3932This may simply be because Miyuki, who was one of the leaders of the 1st Year female players, stuck to him like glue. Initially, Tatsuya thought this was the case but unfortunately, he was not dull enough to believe this without question.
3933
3934Their eyes were actually focused entirely on him.
3935
3936These were not flirtatious looks. He was not narcissistic enough to misinterpret that, nor was he wilted enough to be able to not notice them.
3937
3938At the same time, he was slightly bemused as to the exact meaning behind them — that was the only area where he was slow in.
3939
3940Completely besieged by these silent gazes, this was an irritating condition to work under, but it’s not like he could shoo them away either.
3941
3942He refrained from engaging in conversation not because he was hindered by them. Lacking any other options, he elected to ignore them and adopt his usual procedure of silently continuing his work.
3943
3944An eternally unchanging appearance.
3945
3946An eternally enduring object.
3947
3948He had no idea what value this possessed.
3949
3950For someone who had always labored under restrictive conditions and was well aware of the intermittent nature of the world like Tatsuya, few things were truly eternal.
3951
3952Even so, the young ladies quieted down gradually as they watched him work as if nothing had happened. All of this Miyuki beheld with her own eyes as she nodded in place of her brother and revealed a satisfied smile.
3953
3954The greatest beneficiary from his normalcy — or even feigned normalcy — and its ensuing effect, was actually Honoka.
3955
3956Initially, after hearing the “incident” surrounding Morisaki and the others, her face had turned completely pale. Yet, after watching Tatsuya plug away and attend the tactical meeting as if nothing had occurred, she gradually settled down as well.
3957
3958The change was so complete that now Tatsuya was the uneasy one.
3959
3960“There are no strategic adjustments from the preliminary round. In the end, Mirage Bat is a test of stamina.”
3961
3962Still, even if he felt uneasy, there was nothing he could do at this point.
3963
3964The match was about to begin. He was pressed for time at the moment, so he could only table his unease and focus his concentration on the battle ahead.
3965
3966“Avoid getting into a battle of attrition. The only thing you need to do is calmly make any necessary adjustments.”
3967
3968Under Tatsuya’s watching gaze, Subaru nodded in an exaggerated fashion.
3969
3970“Honoka, don’t expend energy on excess techniques. Just as we practiced, there are fakes created from illusion magic that serve to waste your stamina.”
3971
3972Forewarned, it was Honoka’s turn to nod.
3973
3974“The only thing the two of you should be thinking is how to release your specialties to the fullest. Don’t worry, know that we already own First and Second place right here.”
3975
3976At Tatsuya’s daring proclamation of victory, both of them nodded in delight.
3977
3978
3979
3980
3981
3982While it was the height of summer, the longest days had already passed.
3983
3984By 7 PM, the sun had long since set and the blue sky had been replaced by the hanging stars.
3985
3986The surface of the lake reflected the overhanging starlight, causing the entire scene to flash brilliantly.
3987
3988Among the stars, six young ladies stood on several raised pillars.
3989
3990The thin uniforms that traced their figures did not include any amazing accessories or designs, but over the shimmering waves, they gave off an almost fey like aura. —That’s why there were a lot of male fans flooding the stands.
3991
3992Mirage Bat used special bats to strike away at the projections that floated 10 meters above the ground, with the highest total determining the victor.
3993
3994While they said strike, in reality there was no sense of impact nor did the orbs shatter into pieces.
3995
3996The reason behind this was because the bats in the players’ hands would interact with the CAD and release a signal at the same location as the projections. Once they overlapped, the orb projections would automatically terminate upon registering the impacting signal and add the score to the striking player’s column.
3997
3998Winning this event required two skills.
3999
4000The ability to swiftly leap to the same height as the floating projections.
4001
4002And the ability to even more hastily locate each and every orb’s location.
4003
4004Of the two, it was the second that could be easily and unexpectedly overlooked. Since nothing was faster than light, immediately taking off after verifying the projection location was usually the swiftest choice. But — there were a few exceptions.
4005
4006There were a few milliseconds of delay before the projection materialized in the air. If someone could detect the oscillations of the light waves even an instant earlier, they would be able to move towards the location of the light waves before the orb had even formed.
4007
4008Honoka was extremely adept at reading light waves – strictly speaking, the subtle changes in the Eidos of the light waves. This gave her a tremendous advantage during the elimination round.
4009
4010The instant before the red orb materialized, Honoka had already activated her magic.
4011
4012The other players could only watch helplessly as she seized the initiative.
4013
4014The next orb materialized.
4015
4016The color was blue. That color was lit for the longest time, so they were the easiest points to score.
4017
4018Five players started their Activation Sequences.
4019
4020The first into the air was Subaru.
4021
4022Everyone started their Activation Sequence at the same time, but the first two to finish them were the players from First High.
4023
4024Compared to the players in the event, it was the technicians on the outer perimeter that were furious at this outcome.
4025
4026Since the difference was so splendidly displayed before their eyes, they were forced to admit the cause was the differences in CAD performance.
4027
4028Since every school had an upper ceiling in terms of machinery, there was no significant difference in hardware capability.
4029
4030Thus, the only difference lay in software performance.
4031
4032In other words, the strength of the technician.
4033
4034“Damn it! How can he fit such a complicated action into such a tiny Activation Sequence!”
4035
4036Someone choked out in the back. They were probably using a Kirlian filter (a filter that could bring the psion density and activity into the visible spectrum) to take pictures of Honoka and Subaru activating and processing (from the start of the Activation Sequence to the beginning of the processing phase).
4037
4038They leaped straight into the air — completely ignoring the effects of gravitational deceleration — towards the projections, stopped at the orbs, then immediately returned along the same axis after scoring the point and landed after expending all inertia.
4039
4040Throughout this chain of movements, regardless of whether it was Honoka or Subaru, they never manipulated the CAD once. In other words, everything from the player leaping into the sky thanks to the Activation Sequence onward was completely written into the CAD.
4041
4042The smaller the Activation Sequence, the faster the processing speed.
4043
4044Likewise, the less Activation Sequences that needed to be processed, the less strain was placed on the player as well.
4045
4046They were using the minimal Magic Power to accomplish phenomenon rewriting at the fastest possible speed.
4047
4048“It’s as if we’re up against Taurus Silver himself out here!”
4049
4050No one knew who made that comment in the ensuing ruckus.
4051
4052
4053
4054
4055
4056“A-chan, what’s wrong……?”
4057
4058Azusa turned around to find Mayumi studying her strangely. Studying the wide-eyed, petrified her.
4059
4060“No…… It’s nothing.”
4061
4062Seeing Azusa curl into a ball, Mayumi replied with an “Is that so?”, and turned back to observing the contest.
4063
4064Azusa’s reaction was well within the normal boundaries of her behavior, so there probably wasn’t anything to it.
4065
4066However, what was different was that something other than her usual embarrassment currently captured her heart.
4067
4068(……As if, we’re up against “Taurus Silver”?)
4069
4070Somewhere, someone made that complaint.
4071
4072Mixed into the middle of all the shrieks of delight and dismay, for some reason these particular words wormed their way into Azusa’s ears.
4073
4074(That fully manual Activation Sequence adjustment…… Connecting the main systems from the Generalized model to the subsystems of the Specialized model is the current cutting edge research…… The ability to use Loop Cast on Generalized CADs…… “Inferno”…… “Phonon Maser”…… “Niflheim”…… Every one of these are high class magics that have never had their Activation Sequences published……)
4075
4076For someone who was also aiming to become a Magic Artificer, Azusa started thinking back on each “tour de force” that shocked the crowd time and time again.
4077
4078(As if? We’re up against Taurus Silver?
4079
4080No, that…… If it wasn’t Taurus Silver himself, this is simply impossible……)
4081
4082
4083
4084
4085
4086— I wonder how shocking it would be if he turned out to be a Japanese teenager like us —
4087
4088Suddenly, his voice rang out through Azusa’s memories.
4089
4090“……What’s the matter? If you’re not feeling well, go take a break!”
4091
4092“No, really, it’s nothing……”
4093
4094Mayumi’s anxious and concerned gaze was drawn towards Azusa who had suddenly leapt out of her seat. Yet, Azusa was beyond caring at this point.
4095
4096The words that clearly rang out from her recollection. Maybe, that wasn’t a guess at all……
4097
4098(How is it possible? How is it possible how is it possible? How is it possible how is it possible how is it possible how is it possible?)
4099
4100Those words occupied all of Azusa’s consciousness.
4101
4102Far away from those troubled thoughts, two of her underclassmen raced out to a dominating lead to greet the end of the first session.
4103
4104
4105
4106
4107
4108In the end, Mirage Bat for the Newcomers Division turned out just as Tatsuya predicted, with Honoka and Subaru in sole possession of First and Second Place. Immediately after the end of the match, Tatsuya was summoned to the conference room without any opportunity to partake in the fruits of victory.
4109
4110Inside, the upperclassmen waiting for Tatsuya were wholly unlike his (female) peers who were delirious with joy, upperclassmen who were the utter masters of their emotions and hid them beneath solemn expressions.
4111
4112Mayumi, Mari, Katsuto, Suzune, Hattori, Azusa.
4113
4114Everyone from high command in First High was present.
4115
4116In addition, Kirihara and Isori were also on the flanks.
4117
4118Given that team members just suffered serious injuries, it was only natural that they could not appear delighted, but even so their expressions were a little stiff — as if dreading what was coming next. Especially Hattori, who apparently was at wit’s end about what expression to adopt, so he chose to form a mask with his own face, with a thoroughly ill at ease expression.
4119
4120This could not turn out well, so Tatsuya mentally fortified himself.
4121
4122“Good work. Thanks to you, we obtained a far better result than any we could’ve hoped for.”
4123
4124Mayumi used a normal — more like official — choice of words.
4125
4126Before she said this, Tatsuya’s keen senses picked up how she and Katsuto exchanged a glance in a blink of an eye.
4127
4128“That’s all thanks to the players’ diligence.”
4129
4130Tatsuya also replied back in a vague fashion. He hadn’t felt this sort of tense atmosphere since he first enrolled here.
4131
4132“Of course, credit is due to Mitsui-san and Satomi-san as well as all the other students who tirelessly trained to achieve this result.
4133
4134However, everyone acknowledges that Tatsuya-kun’s contribution is nothing short of outstanding.
4135
4136We didn’t suffer a single setback in any of the three events you were responsible for…… In terms of points, the fact that we are guaranteed at least Second Place in the Newcomers Division is all thanks to Tatsuya-kun.”
4137
4138“……Thank you very much.”
4139
4140Tatsuya executed a short and prudent bow.
4141
4142They kept their eyes from matching as they waited for the other person to speak. Yet, Mayumi didn’t cut to the chase.
4143
4144Tatsuya slowly raised his eyes to find Mayumi using her eyes to stop Katsuto.
4145
4146There appeared to be something difficult to speak of that Katsuto wanted to clarify.
4147
4148What was it that warranted such a level of indecision?
4149
4150Finally noticing that Tatsuya was intently watching her, Mayumi seemed to cave and briefly shut her eyes.
4151
4152“As I said earlier, even if we withdrew from Monolith Code, we are still guaranteed Second Place in the Newcomers Division. Right now, there’s a 50 point difference between First High and Third High. If Third High takes Second Place or higher in Monolith Code, they would take First Place overall in the Newcomers Division. We would retain First Place if they only achieve Third Place or below.”
4153
4154This way, there wouldn’t be a huge gap in the rankings for the Newcomers Division, which was Tatsuya’s objective all along for the combined score.
4155
4156So what were they so anxious about?
4157
4158Also, why was he summoned in the first place?
4159
4160Tatsuya was also starting to fret now.
4161
4162“Before the Newcomers Division, didn’t we assume this would be enough……”
4163
4164Mayumi could already detect his growing displeasure from his voice. In the midst of her suppressed expression, there were hints of a slightly harried look. What came out was an anxious, frantic voice.
4165
4166“Since we’ve come so far,”
4167
4168Even so, she wasn’t settling down to re-examine the situation, but rushing for the finish line.
4169
4170At this point, Tatsuya finally realized what they were going to ask of him.
4171
4172“We wish to charge for First Place overall in the Newcomers Division.”
4173
4174At some point, Mayumi’s tone had reverted to her normal level.
4175
4176“Are you aware that Third High is dispatching Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkurou for Monolith Code?”
4177
4178At Mayumi’s question, Tatsuya replied with a succinct “Yes”.
4179
4180“Exactly…… Setting aside Ichijou-kun for the moment, Tatsuya-kun may know more about the details surrounding Kichijouji-kun. With those two teaming up, the chances of them being upset in the elimination round is extremely remote. If we withdraw from Monolith Code, our chances of triumphing in the Newcomers Division vanish as well.”
4181
4182So, they wanted him—
4183
4184“So Tatsuya-kun…… May we rely on you to replace Morisaki-kun and the others in Monolith Code?”
4185
4186—The “thing” that Mayumi wanted him to do coincided exactly with what Tatsuya surmised.
4187
4188“……May I ask two questions?”
4189
4190“Of course, what is it?”
4191
4192He was already 90% certain, but this was a good opportunity to verify things, Tatsuya thought.
4193
4194“There are still two matches in the preliminary round that have been extended until tomorrow, correct?”
4195
4196“Yes, you’re right. Owing to this, tomorrow’s schedule will change as well.”
4197
4198“I thought that replacing players are forbidden even if the starters suffered injuries?”
4199
4200“After carefully considering the situation, a special exception was made.”
4201
4202What an unsurprising answer.
4203
4204Still, even if all these answers were anticipated, accepting them was an entirely different story.
4205
4206“……Why me?”
4207
4208This was no question, but a subtle rejection in and of itself. It was just that he was facing upperclassmen, so he had to at least observe the forms and could not simply say “No”.
4209
4210Mayumi probably predicted that Tatsuya would answer this way and still hadn’t come up with a method to persuade him, hence she kept beating around the bush. Currently, she wore a forced smile pasted on her miserable expression.
4211
4212“I just thought that Tatsuya-kun was the strongest candidate……”
4213
4214“Disregarding your grade in technical skills, in live combat ability alone you are undoubtedly the mightiest among the 1st Year male students.”
4215
4216Mari, who until this moment had left the negotiations to Mayumi, noticed that the situation was turning bleak from Mayumi’s vague response, and threw her weight behind the “persuading” side.
4217
4218“Monolith Code is not ‘live combat’ — it is a ‘magic competition’ where hand to hand combat is forbidden. I’m sure everyone is well aware of this without me pointing it out.”
4219
4220Despite this, Tatsuya still didn’t capitulate.
4221
4222“On magical fighting strength, I think you are also in the highest tier as well.”
4223
4224Mari glanced at Hattori, who knitted his brows with a thoroughly miserable expression.
4225
4226This was a merciless, but effective angle of attack, so Tatsuya was forced to abandon his excuse of being “incapable”. However, he still had another card up his sleeve.
4227
4228“But I’m not a player. In terms of replacements, we should still have other players that have only competed in one event.”
4229
4230Now, even Mari was at a loss.
4231
4232“Even if we ignored the pride from the Course 1 students, by grabbing a replacement ‘player’ from the ranks of the ‘auxiliaries’, you would damage the confidence of future participants as well.”
4233
4234This was probably the issue that was causing them the most headaches and also the one they didn’t want to address.
4235
4236The Newcomers Division did wonders for educating new students. Even if they triumphed this year, they could not guarantee that this would not negatively impact the Official Division in the ensuing years, which was essentially putting the cart in front of the horse.
4237
4238If the replacement for one of the primary players turned out to be an auxiliary, and a Course 2 student to boot, this would have a shattering impact on not just the other players, but also the pride of the collective body of Course 1 students.
4239
4240Mayumi and the others had no rejoinder for this.
4241
4242He was the master of the field, Tatsuya judged. Now was the time for him to tactfully decline and bow out, and—
4243
4244“Don’t be naive, Shiba!”
4245
4246Katsuto’s booming voice rang out.
4247
4248For a time, Tatsuya was unable to respond.
4249
4250He was temporarily unable to discern exactly why he was being scolded.
4251
4252While it was true that his words were sophistry laden with logic, it was logic nonetheless.
4253
4254If they deployed him, even if victory over Third High wasn’t attainable, Second Place in Monolith Code was still possible.
4255
4256The difference between gold and silver in Monolith Code was a paltry 40 points. If they captured Second Place, then they would likely carry the Newcomers Division.
4257
4258But in that case, no matter how you sliced it, Tatsuya would become the key contributor that made the Newcomers Division victory possible.
4259
4260This would be an absolutely unacceptable result to the Course 1 students still dwelling in their elitist world. Even if he was eliminated during the preliminary round, they would not suffer a Course 2 student like him to represent them in Monolith Code.
4261
4262“You are already a member of the representative team.”
4263
4264However, Katsuto’s words fell precisely on the weakest point of Tatsuya’s defense.
4265
4266“Regardless of whether you are a player or auxiliary, that is not important. You are one of the 20 representatives selected out of the 200 1st Year students.”
4267
4268Katsuto’s alternate meaning.
4269
4270In other words, Tatsuya’s presence had already dealt a huge blow to the Course 1 students and brought about severe shock and panic.
4271
4272“In light of this emergency, our leader Saegusa has selected you as the replacement.
4273
4274As a member of the team, once you have accepted this responsibility, you also have the obligation to fulfill your duty as a member.”
4275
4276“But……”
4277
4278Even so, he still had to respond. Otherwise, they……
4279
4280“As a member, you should not go against your leader’s decisions.
4281
4282If the judgment was erroneous, then we who aid the leadership will bring it to a halt.
4283
4284Members other than ourselves have no place to object.
4285
4286Indeed…… Regardless of whether it’s myself, the person in question, whoever!”
4287
4288Tatsuya stared at him blankly and dropped what he was going to say.
4289
4290Tatsuya finally comprehended what Katsuto really wanted to express.
4291
4292The message Katsuto was driving across was that regardless of who objected and regardless of what the outcome was, the brass would take full responsibility for the fallout.
4293
4294“Do not cower, Shiba. Do not worry that you are a substitute. Since you have been selected, go out there and do your duty.”
4295
4296These words were not just restricted to the Nine Schools Competition. The Nine Schools Competition never had a replacement policy in the first place.
4297
4298—Do not use your status as a Course 2 student as an escape route.
4299
4300—Do not look for excuses.
4301
4302—Do not put yourself in a position of weakness and wallow in despair.
4303
4304Do not worry that you are a substitute — that’s what this meant. Do not concern yourself with your substitute (Weed, Course 2 student) status, these are what those words entailed.
4305
4306All his egress routes had been denied.
4307
4308Also — since they’ve already gotten to this point, he had no plans to back down.
4309
4310“……Understood. I shall do my best.”
4311
4312Mayumi and Mari both relaxed.
4313
4314Katsuto solemnly nodded.
4315
4316
4317
4318
4319
4320“Then, who are my teammates?”
4321
4322In front of the upperclassmen, his tone was noticeably softer.
4323
4324To be precise, he was intentionally using a firmer tone than usual up until now.
4325
4326“That’s up to you.”
4327
4328“Ah……?”
4329
4330Tatsuya was not feigning ignorance. He was once again unable to comprehend what was being said.
4331
4332“The last two members will be decided by you.”
4333
4334The same instructions were repeated in a different manner. Katsuto added a few words as if he had just thought of something.
4335
4336“It would be best if you could decide now, but if you need some more time to consider, then come back an hour from now.”
4337
4338Hearing Katsuto’s words, Tatsuya almost blurted out, “You’re just the same.”
4339
4340This was the case in April when they sacked “Blanche’s” base. He gave full authority to an underclassman as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
4341
4342If he could avoid taking full responsibility, then this would only be a tactic to preserve himself. Yet for Katsuto, the only thing he had was responsibility here, so there’s no reason he could treat this so cavalierly. Rather than calling this a byproduct of his leadership training, it may be more appropriate to say this was his nature…… Abandoning these useless thoughts, Tatsuya focused back on the topic at hand.
4343
4344“No, if I just need to choose, I don’t need any time……”
4345
4346Tatsuya had already selected two replacements in his head from the roster.
4347
4348“I just don’t know if they will agree.”
4349
4350“Let us handle that.”
4351
4352……Again, refusing was not an option.
4353
4354Today was the first time Tatsuya learned that the eldest son of the Juumonji Family had such a forceful personality.
4355
4356“Is anyone alright? Even if I choose people from outside the team?”
4357
4358Tatsuya’s mood lightened considerably as if he was allowed to be as frivolous as possible.
4359
4360“Eh? That’s a little……”
4361
4362“That’s fine. This is already an unprecedented exception, so by now, no one will care if two more are added.”
4363
4364“Juumonji-kun……”
4365
4366Mayumi helplessly glanced at Katsuto. On his part, Katsuto was wholly unperturbed by this.
4367
4368“Then, I choose Yoshida Mikihiko from Class 1-E and Saijou Leonhart, also from Class 1-E.”
4369
4370“Hey, Shiba!?”
4371
4372Hattori quickly tried to interject, but was held back by Suzune’s raised hand.
4373
4374“That’s fine. Nakajou.”
4375
4376“Yes, present!”
4377
4378Katsuto didn’t bat an eyelid at Azusa’s exaggerated response.
4379
4380“Please call Yoshida Mikihiko and Saijou Leonhart here. The two of them should be at this hotel, though not with the normal cheering squads.”
4381
4382At first glance, he was bold and unconstrained — while this was also true, he was also someone who paid attention to the minute details. That being said, it was true that unofficial members and students that weren’t part of the cheering squads and were also residing in this hotel did count as oddities. For people doing their due diligence, this was something worthy of devoting some attention to, so it was hardly surprising that he knew. Even so, Tatsuya was still impressed with Katsuto’s knowledge.
4383
4384“……Tatsuya-kun. Can you tell us why you chose them?”
4385
4386Since she abandoned the responsibility for persuading Tatsuya to Katsuto, Mari was in no position to object at this point.
4387
4388Nevertheless, she was still unable to accept this answer, maybe even suspicious that something was afoot as she asked this.
4389
4390“Of course. A big reason is that I have practically not trained or interacted with any of the male team members.”
4391
4392Tatsuya was only responsible for calibrating the Women’s team, so it was true that he had never observed any of the men practicing.
4393
4394“I am utterly unfamiliar with their proficiency and weaknesses. The competition is tomorrow. It is by far too late to start investigating, devising strategies, or doing calibration.”
4395
4396“……Do you know these two very well?”
4397
4398“Yes. We’re not just in the same class — we also understand each other very well.”
4399
4400“Hm…… You have a point. Since we can rely on other technicians for calibration, if teammates don’t understand each others’ strengths and weaknesses, teamwork would become a serious issue.”
4401
4402As Mari considered this, she suddenly revealed a completely unexpected, mischievous expression.
4403
4404“Then, that’s not the biggest reason, so what is it?”
4405
4406At Mari’s curious question, Tatsuya didn’t hesitate and immediately made a stand.
4407
4408“Ability.”
4409
4410“Wha?”
4411
4412This intrepid answer caused Mari, Mayumi, Katsuto, and Suzune to look upon Tatsuya with profound interest.
4413
4414
4415
4416
4417
4418“Hey, Tatsuya…… Is it true?”
4419
4420Rather than being confused, Leo wore a forlorn expression as he repeated this question for the umpteenth time.
4421
4422“Setting aside President Saegusa for the moment, do you think Group Leader Juumonji would spin such a complicated lie?”
4423
4424Tatsuya was getting ready to give up answering this question.
4425
4426“Even if you said setting aside the President, I still don’t understand…… Oh, so it’s really true.”
4427
4428Until now, Leo was still skeptical as he heaved a deep sigh.
4429
4430To his side, Mikihiko was highly distracted as his eyes drifted, evidently unsure where to look.
4431
4432“Miki, settle down a bit.”
4433
4434“My name is Mikihiko.”
4435
4436After conversing with Erika as if prearranged, a disgruntled Mikihiko sat down on the bed.
4437
4438They were in Tatsuya’s double room. The entire brass went and persuaded the two of them to accept — more like coerced — and Tatsuya called them over to make plans for the future.
4439
4440With Erika and Mizuki following along, this does seem a little “prearranged”.
4441
4442Miyuki, Honoka, Shizuku were tied up by Eimi, Subaru, and their teammates and were currently locked in a spiral of “madness”.
4443
4444“But…… Haven’t Mikihiko and I made no preparations whatsoever?”
4445
4446“Exactly…… Forget about the CAD, I don’t think we even have uniforms?”
4447
4448Mikihiko’s face was a little pale. Owing to his sudden selection, he was a little timid and mystified at his completely unexpected elevation as a Course 2 student to starter for the Newcomers Division. Not that Mikihiko would ever be caught dead admitting that.
4449
4450Leo’s coloring was normal, but he had shaken off his usual joking expression. He didn’t look particularly energetic.
4451
4452Besides Mikihiko, Tatsuya was surprised to find that even Leo was a little daunted, but he didn’t choose to alter the plan of attack. Don’t even dream of throwing everything to me, Tatsuya thought.
4453
4454“Relax. They didn’t prepare a uniform for me either.”
4455
4456“Wait, that’s hardly a comforting thought.”
4457
4458Tatsuya waved his hand at Leo’s ready retort.
4459
4460“It’ll be OK. Even if there’s nothing we can do about it, just relax.”
4461
4462“No, that’s not what I meant.”
4463
4464This time it was Erika’s turn to snark.
4465
4466Those two certainly share the same interests, Tatsuya thought.
4467
4468“Fine, you’re right. Honestly, that’s all I can say. Don’t worry about it. We’ve already put Nakajou-senpai in charge of the protective gear and tunics. Appearances can be pretty deceiving and she’s quite a competent person. I’m sure she’ll have the perfect uniforms for us.”
4469
4470Nobody had any comment for that. Not that anyone was going to call into question whether her competence belied her appearance.
4471
4472“I’ll handle the CADs. I guarantee that I’ll only need an hour per person.”
4473
4474Completely calibrating a CAD from scratch to the point that it was customized for a Magician usually required triple the amount of the time.
4475
4476Yet, neither Leo nor Mikihiko seemed particularly astounded.
4477
4478On one hand, they weren’t wholly aware how impressive “one hour” actually was, and on the other hand, they had already seen so many “shockers” in the past four days that they already thought “Tatsuya’s omnipotent”.
4479
4480“Is that OK? Isn’t it already 9 PM? You still need time for your gear, right?”
4481
4482Erika was the only one of the four who was aware how time-consuming CAD calibration was. Thus, she was the only one looking on with concerned eyes.
4483
4484“That’ll be fine. I only need 10 minutes.”
4485
4486Looks like their worries were groundless. Once more experiencing first-hand how ridiculous he was, Erika heavily sighed.
4487
4488“Ten minutes, eh, ten…… Why do I even bother worrying about you.”
4489
4490“Unfortunately, in reality, we don’t have that much time.”
4491
4492“Eh?”
4493
4494Erika comically portrayed a carefree expression, but upon hearing Tatsuya’s bleak words, she quickly became anxious again.
4495
4496“Regardless of how you describe this, we are an impromptu lineup with no tactical planning.
4497
4498We have no time to practice, so we must do our fine tuning in battle.
4499
4500Charging into the fray with only a rough battle plan is like heading in there blind.
4501
4502For me, this is simply the last resort.”
4503
4504Rather than saying that Tatsuya was discouraged, it was more like he was ranting.
4505
4506Erika relaxed somewhat and nodded.
4507
4508“……So that’s how it is. Trickery is Tatsuya-kun’s specialty.”
4509
4510“That’s going a little too far.”
4511
4512Tatsuya could only droop his shoulders and smile at Erika’s overblown description of his shortcomings.
4513
4514“Well…… It’s pointless to complain any further about something that has already been decided. While Ichihara-senpai and Nakajou-senpai are scrounging up the necessary materials, let’s go over our strategy.”
4515
4516“You were the one who said we couldn’t come up with a plan.”
4517
4518Seeing Erika nitpicking Tatsuya’s words, Mizuki barred her path with a vexed expression on her face. (She was just standing in front of her.)
4519
4520“Erika-chan…… At the very least, please don’t hinder Tatsuya-kun.”
4521
4522“Ouch! Mizuki, I was just trying to liven up this totally deadbeat~ atmosphere……”
4523
4524“Yes, yes, as this deadbeat~ atmosphere is fading away, please be quiet. He already said we’re running out of time, Erika.”
4525
4526Recently, Mizuki had finally figured out the key to dealing with her friend, so she wasn’t being pulled this way and that like she was in the past.
4527
4528“Hm……”
4529
4530Erika puffed her cheeks at being scolded, but mercifully remained silent. No matter what she said or what attitude she adopted, she stayed because she was sincerely worried about Tatsuya, Leo, and Mikihiko.
4531
4532“Our first topic is the formation itself.”
4533
4534Tatsuya completely ignored the interruption and kept going.
4535
4536“I’m on offense, Leo is on defense, while Mikihiko will use guerrilla tactics.”
4537
4538“OK. But what am I supposed to do on defense?”
4539
4540“I want to know too. What do you mean by guerrilla?”
4541
4542At this point, Leo and Mikihiko had either accepted their fate or were earnestly getting excited. The highest probability was that they were just trying to muddle through it. Regardless of the reason behind their completely different and proactive attitude, Tatsuya continued his fluid explanation.
4543
4544“The defense’s job is to protect allied territory from enemy assault.
4545
4546Everyone knows the victory conditions for Monolith Code, right?”
4547
4548At this question, Leo answered without much confidence.
4549
4550“To render the opposing team unable to continue, or transfer the code hidden within the monolith into the terminal, right?”
4551
4552“That is correct. In order to transfer the code hidden within the monolith, a special Nonsystematic Magic must be inputted into the monolith. The special Magic Sequence serves as a key and splits the monolith in two. Once the monolith has been split, the team is forbidden from using magic to reseal the break. However, using magic to prevent the monolith from splitting is valid. Also, there is a requirement stating that the special Magic Sequence must be used within 10 meters of the monolith and would immediately stop upon leaving that range.”
4553
4554“……In other words, the defense’s job is to prevent the enemy from getting within 10 meters of the monolith, and even if the special (key) Magic Sequence has been inputted, their goal then becomes preventing the monolith from opening or disrupting the enemy from reading the code, these three points?”
4555
4556“Full marks.”
4557
4558Tatsuya nodded in satisfaction at Leo’s answer.
4559
4560“Generally, Counter Magic can be used to prevent the ‘key’ from activating, but even without that ability, Fortifying Magic is sufficient to prevent the monolith from opening. Strictly speaking, even if the monolith has been split, but if the two halves are still stuck together, this status can be maintained indefinitely. This way, because the monolith wasn’t reattached after separation, this is not a violation of the rules.”
4561
4562Leo revealed a powerless expression swiftly followed by a suspicious glance towards Tatsuya.
4563
4564“I really don’t want to say this, Tatsuya, but isn’t this the standard definition of ‘trickery’……?”
4565
4566Still, Tatsuya wasn’t going to surrender to this level of sarcasm (even if it was only joking among friends).
4567
4568“Leo and Erika say the exact same thing.”
4569
4570The first one to waver and shout out was Leo.
4571
4572“Who do you take me for!”
4573
4574“What are you talking about!”
4575
4576Erika immediately set off a chain reaction.
4577
4578“OK, OK, Erika-chan, relax a little. Leo-kun, please don’t get too excited.”
4579
4580Thanks to Mizuki’s intercession, the two of them avoided a head on conflict.
4581
4582“……So I understand the ‘key’ portion. But how do we go about denying the enemy?”
4583
4584Leo recovered his composure and asked a new question.
4585
4586“Is kicking and punching off limits as well? I’m not exaggerating here, but long range magic is not my strong point.”
4587
4588“Then use this.”
4589
4590As he said this, Tatsuya pulled out that “sword”.
4591
4592“……Wait, I thought direct contact was forbidden?”
4593
4594When Leo said this, Tatsuya handed him a thin little booklet.
4595
4596“A manual?”
4597
4598Why are you handing me this? Just as he was about to ask, Leo noticed a dog leaf on one of the pages and abandoned his question to flip open that page.
4599
4600“Rules for Monolith Code, eh……?”
4601
4602The printed rules for Monolith Code were all over the page, ranging from a simple explanation to newcomers without any preconceived notions to a more detailed play-by-play of an actual competition.
4603
4604“It’s enumerated here that attacks caused by objects under the effect of magic are not against the rules.”
4605
4606“So…… If an object is in flight due to magic…… Isn’t that…… I got it.”
4607
4608The basic setup of this “sword” involved separating the blade in the middle, with half of the blade maintaining a set distance from the other half and flying through the air at will. From a magic systems perspective, it may be more appropriate to describe this as the blade extending through the air. From outward appearances, this was half of a broken sword flying to and fro through the sky. Since there was no physical connection between the two halves, this fulfilled the condition for “objects in flight due to magic”.
4609
4610“Tatsuya, did you create this thing because you knew about this ahead of time?”
4611
4612At Leo’s sincere query, Tatsuya could only chuckle wryly and shake his head.
4613
4614“You overestimate me too much…… This was made purely on a whim. I’m not in the habit of creating malicious tricks day and night.”
4615
4616It seemed that neither Leo nor Erika was wholly satisfied with Tatsuya’s explanation, but time was of the essence, so he chose to ignore it.
4617
4618“This Weaponized Integrated CAD — ‘Mini Communicator’ has already been calibrated for Leo’s personal use. I’ve already adjusted the variability of the distance and duration like we spoke of earlier, so don’t mess up the controls.”
4619
4620“Eh? You mean we’re doing a live test in combat!?”
4621
4622“Everything tomorrow would be the same thing as live combat.”
4623
4624Tatsuya switched his tone and paused before adopting an enigmatic smile.
4625
4626“Besides, I guarantee that this time it’ll be far easier to use than last time.”
4627
4628“Fine, hopefully this won’t be a problem.”
4629
4630Facing Tatsuya’s evil smirk, Leo fearlessly took the “Mini Communicator” from him.
4631
4632“Next is Mikihiko’s role……”
4633
4634“Yep, Tatsuya, what should I do?”
4635
4636Mikihiko rose from the bed. Although he was initially indecisive, he was now very proactive, or maybe he was simply motivated now. Being roused to action was infinitely preferable to how he was before, but Tatsuya didn’t touch on this and focused on his mission briefing.
4637
4638“Guerrilla tactics will entail providing support to either the offense or the defense.”
4639
4640After delivering this simplistic answer, Tatsuya continued to ask.
4641
4642“You are capable of other long range magic like the earlier lightning-based magic, correct?”
4643
4644“Well, yeah……”
4645
4646Mikihiko vaguely replied.
4647
4648Families that had inherited Ancient Magic had a strong tendency to hide their own magic abilities.
4649
4650In modern magic, thanks to the categorization and systems approach to magic, with a notable exception for a few BS Magicians, confidentiality has become a mere formality. However, due to the ingrained values system, this could still be seen at the subconscious level.
4651
4652Nonetheless, they were headed into battle tomorrow, so if they couldn’t be honest with one another now, they would be in dire straits.
4653
4654“The destructive power for lightning magic is C-Rank, right?”
4655
4656“……That’s a magic that was only meant to disable the target, so it only rates as C-Rank. Since it hasn’t been publicized yet, there is no actual record in the rankings.”
4657
4658“Unpublished, huh…… Wouldn’t that be a huge problem if we used that tomorrow?”
4659
4660“No…… There should be no problem. The theory behind it is not secret, but the Activation process is. If I avoid talismans and only use a CAD, we should be OK. ……Tatsuya.”
4661
4662“What’s up?”
4663
4664“Tatsuya…… You said this before, right? My…… The Yoshida Family’s technique is too verbose, so I cannot wield magic in the way I desire.”
4665
4666“That is correct.”
4667
4668Erika stared at them with widened eyes. Next to her, Tatsuya decisively — more like ruthlessly — nodded.
4669
4670Mizuki covered her mouth with both hands.
4671
4672Even Leo was struck speechless.
4673
4674The technique that the famous line of Ancient Magic users had laboriously developed over many generations had just been judged to be a “blemished product!” Without a certain degree of confidence, no one dared to make that assessment.
4675
4676Otherwise, they were fools of the highest order that believed solely in the superiority of their own techniques.
4677
4678Obviously, Tatsuya did not belong in the latter category.
4679
4680“……Then Tatsuya, can you tell me a more efficient technique?”
4681
4682“I won’t tell you, I will configure one.”
4683
4684“……I’m sorry, the difference escapes me.”
4685
4686“The magic you used was likely a variant of ‘Thunder Child’. What I can do is remove the unnecessary portions within the technique and reduce the number of computations while maintaining the phenomenon rewriting ability and alter the Activation Sequence to make that Magic Sequence possible, that’s all. At the end of the day, this is still the magic that Mikihiko is comfortable with.”
4687
4688“……So you weren’t joking when you said you can comprehend anything you see. It is a variant of ‘Thunder Child’. In order to hide the weakness of the technique, additional layers were added on to disguise the original ability. However, this may tie into the unnecessary portions that Tatsuya spoke of.”
4689
4690“There was a time when longer casting times required certain defenses to avoid interference. Nevertheless, with the advent of CADs and the rise in casting speed for modern magic, individual counter spells have become obsolete since the magic that is being activated remains unknown. Thus, the real counter to modern magic doesn’t lie in the type of magic, but counter magic that can eradicate its effectiveness in the first place.”
4691
4692Mikihiko made a small noise.
4693
4694Amazingly, his smile was in no way self derogatory.
4695
4696“Haha, so that’s how it is…… Ancient Magic was supposed to possess superior firepower, but now they cannot stand against modern magic.”
4697
4698“That’s incorrect, Mikihiko.”
4699
4700“Eh?”
4701
4702“Ancient Magic and modern magic are not separated by superiority or inferiority, but by their individual strengths and weaknesses.
4703
4704In a head-to-head match-up, modern magic commands a devastating advantage in casting speed, but from the perspective of surprise attacks, Ancient Magic boasts superior firepower and secrecy.
4705
4706Didn’t Elder Kudou also say this? The key is how you use magic. The reason I recommended you was because I thought that your magic would serve as an incredible ambushing tool.”
4707
4708“Ambushing tool, eh…… That’s the first time I’ve heard of that.”
4709
4710Mikihiko closed his eyes and ruefully murmured. Afterwards, as if dispelling all his doubts, he opened his eyes again.
4711
4712“I understand. I will use this technique without the talismans, so I’ll rely on the CAD instead. Tatsuya, we’ll go with your suggestion. I believe in you.”
4713
4714“Thanks, Mikihiko. Since you said that, there’s one other thing I wanted to ask of you.”
4715
4716“Sure. This can’t be helped, right? Not that I planned to keep it a secret anyway. My father was the one who brought me here, so even if our secret got out, it’s not like they have the right to complain.”
4717
4718“Don’t worry on that account, my lips are sealed.”
4719
4720“Ah~ ……Me too. I promise that I’ll never let this spread.”
4721
4722“Likewise.”
4723
4724“I’m good for that too, as you know.”
4725
4726Besides Tatsuya, everyone present who had been silent until now affirmed their intent to keep his secret.
4727
4728After viewing the last person (Erika) with considerable suspicion, logic finally trumped emotion as Mikihiko nodded towards Tatsuya.
4729
4730“I’ll keep this short. Can you use ‘Visual Tuning’?”
4731
4732Mikihiko replied after a short pause not because he was unwilling, but because he was totally shocked.
4733
4734“……You know about that too? Did Kokonoe-sensei tell you that as well?”
4735
4736“Maybe.”
4737
4738“……You certainly gave me a scare there, Tatsuya. Well, the answer is a definite yes. While I’m incapable of performing ‘Five Sense Tuning’, if it’s only two at a time, I can still use ‘Sense Tuning’.”
4739
4740“Visual is good enough, Mikihiko. In that case, our plan of attack is……”
4741
4742Tatsuya didn’t noticeably change his volume, but Mikihiko seemed to naturally crouch closer.
4743
4744
4745
4746
4747
4748As promised, the calibration of Leo’s CAD took less than an hour to finish.
4749
4750After receiving his personal CAD and weaponized calculation device from Tatsuya, Leo opted to do some training to get used to the new model. Erika volunteered to be his sparring partner as they headed for the outdoor training facility.
4751
4752The hour was late, but Erika said that with Leo around, nothing would happen to her or otherwise. So Tatsuya compromised.
4753
4754Presently, Tatsuya was calibrating Mikihiko’s CAD at lightning speed. Next to him, Azusa was staring at him in shock. As the user, Mikihiko was also present as he stared wide eyed at Tatsuya’s unique calibration method and typing speed. Yet, the subject that astounded Azusa was not so superficial.
4755
4756Right now, Tatsuya was assembling an Activation Sequence that took into account the traditional requirements for Ancient Magic and adapting them for use in modern magic. “Translating” the technique itself wasn’t a particularly daunting task. Much like using a clumsy machine translation, awkward details and minor errors would be scattered all over the place.
4757
4758Even Azusa was able to fix errors like those.
4759
4760Yet the calibration being displayed before her eyes was nothing short of a complete rewriting of the Activation Sequence.
4761
4762By fully comprehending the transformation process from Activation Sequence to Magic Sequence, he was rewriting the Activation Sequence without sacrificing any efficiency from the Magic Sequence.
4763
4764The Activation Sequence is the blue print for the Magic Sequence. Rewriting the Activation Sequence implied that the Magic Sequence was also being rewritten. Not only did the magic have to be finely tuned to the individual Magician, the excess details in the Magic Sequence also had to be pruned to increase efficiency. That level of rewriting had long surpassed “revision” or “configuration” and had ascended to the realm of “innovation”, which was the same thing as improving the very magic itself.
4765
4766Before he began, Azusa honestly wondered whether this was even possible when she learned from Tatsuya what he was attempting to accomplish. Yet before Azusa’s own eyes, he bypassed any experimental verification or live testing and proceeded directly to extracting the very essence of magic from the Activation Sequence and began cutting away at the unnecessary portions and redesigning the Activation Sequence. This was precisely what was unfolding on the editing machine.
4767
4768Even Azusa, who had volunteered as Tatsuya’s aide in place of the usual technician responsible for the Newcomers Division’s Monolith Code event, felt powerless before this insane industry. Right now, the only thing she could do was examine the coding language for the freshly minted Activation Sequence as her gnawing doubts steadily solidified into conviction.
4769
4770
4771
4772
4773
4774He — Shiba Tatsuya — had exceeded the standards of a high school Magic Artificer.
4775
4776Scratch that, he had long since surpassed the boundaries of what it meant to be a Magic Artificer.
4777
4778He must be—
4779
4780Leaving Azusa milling in confusion behind him, Tatsuya used one full hour to completely rewrite Mikihiko’s personal Activation Sequence.
4781
4782
4783
4784
4785
4786Chapter 10
4787
4788
4789
4790
4791The fifth day of the Newcomers Division dawned with a bewildering atmosphere.
4792
4793An unprecedented malicious act had occurred during Monolith Code yesterday, seriously injuring the players from First High to the point that they were unable to compete. Usually, the remaining two matches would end in their capitulation, but thanks to the board’s intercession, a replacement team was allowed to compete on the following day.
4794
4795Monolith Code used a variable rotation format with each school competing in four matches and the four schools with the most victories advancing to the elimination round.
4796
4797In the event of a tie, totals were recalculated with uncontested victories excluded. In the event of a tie, there has been a precedent where two schools fought it out to determine who advanced. If there was no direct contest, then the school with the smaller amount of time needed for victory would advance.
4798
4799The current standings were Third High with four victories, Eighth High with three, First, Second, and Ninth High each with two victories. Ninth High took less time to achieve two victories than Second High. One of First High’s victories included Fourth High being disqualified, so they couldn’t simply advance with two victories.
4800
4801In today’s special matches, if First High defeated Second and Eighth High, then the schools that advance would be First, Third, Eighth, and Ninth High.
4802
4803If they beat Second High but lost to Eighth High, then First, Third, Eighth, and Ninth High would advance.
4804
4805If they lost to Second High but were able to beat Eighth High, then First, Second, Third, and Eighth High would advance.
4806
4807If they lost to both, then First High would not advance to the elimination round. Second, Third, Eighth, and Ninth High would advance instead.
4808
4809…That was how this event was going to play out.
4810
4811Regardless, if First High defeated Second High, then Second High would be eliminated rather than advancing without a win, hence Second High vigorously protested this arrangement. On the other hand, if they beat Eighth High and went easy on Second High, then the Nine Schools Competition would be accused of cutting inside deals.
4812
4813“In other words, to please both sides, we just have to lose both matches…”
4814
4815“If we’re heading out, we’re going out to win it. If we lose, then making the exception becomes pointless.”
4816
4817“Looks like I don’t need to worry on that account.”
4818
4819The fact that First High’s replacements were not registered players was the source of much confusion and gossip.
4820
4821Rather than selecting their substitutes from the top ten representatives of their cohort, they went with a member of the technician team as well as two newly recruited members.
4822
4823Some wondered, did First High hold back another expert on Monolith Code? In that case, why wasn’t this person put forth as a starter for Monolith Code in the first place? Each of the schools was mystified by First High’s intentions.
4824
4825And now, the three of them who walked onto the arena only aroused more curiosity.
4826
4827
4828
4829
4830
4831“…Don’t you think we’re a little too conspicuous?”
4832
4833Mikihiko seemed unable to settle down. Hearing this, Tatsuya resolutely curtailed his words.
4834
4835“It is only natural for players on the field to draw the eyes of the spectators.”
4836
4837“Well, that’s not what I’m talking about…”
4838
4839Mikihiko shook his head at Tatsuya pretending to be ignorant, despite knowing full well what he was talking about and cautiously peered at Leo.
4840
4841“That’s really eye-catching…”
4842
4843Leo knew what that look implied and dropped his own gaze to waist level.
4844
4845The ruckus from the stands vindicated Leo’s suspicion. (That being said, it’s not like they could tell what was being said.)
4846
4847Their protective gear and helmets were the same as the other schools.
4848
4849“A sword? Isn’t direct contact against the rules?”
4850
4851But the presence of the Mini Communicator threw the crowd into an uproar.
4852
4853Leo’s “sword” was actually a Weaponized-Integrated CAD. However, less than 10% of the crowd was actually able to discern that detail. Very few people, even among the players and engineers, knew of the existence of Weaponized-Integrated CADs, which was hardly surprising in and of itself.
4854
4855In addition, magic written into the Weaponized-Integrated CAD usually involved buffing its martial ability — the “weapon’s” ability. “Blades” usually improved cutting power. “Spears” buffed their piercing force. “Rods” strengthened their striking power. “Shields” empowered their defensive abilities.
4856
4857Take “Sonic Blade” for an example, some of the options include “Speed Boost”, “Penetration Boost”, “Fortify”, “Reflect”, but all of these were used to raise (the original weapon’s) martial nature and incorporated into the Weaponized-Integrated CAD.
4858
4859As a “sword”, the typical options include cutting power and armor penetration, so whichever power it was it still directly correlated with the weapon’s physical attack. Anyone familiar with CADs was justified in their reasoning that this was against the rules for Monolith Code.
4860
4861Yet, Leo was not the sole focus of attention.
4862
4863
4864
4865
4866
4867“…There he is.”
4868
4869“Yeah. Never thought he would appear as a player on the field.”
4870
4871“Twin pistols, with a bracelet-model on the right wrist… Simultaneously operating three CADs?”
4872
4873“He’s not your average Joe. I don’t think he’s bluffing here. Doesn’t it look like both are long-barrel model Specialized CADs?”
4874
4875“They don’t look like stealth weapons, so he’s probably dual-wielding two Specialized CADs. But most people choose to use Generalized CADs when operating magic from different systems…”
4876
4877“So you can operate multiple CADs at the same time. Show me what you’re capable of!”
4878
4879Masaki and Kichijouji’s conversation embodied the perception from the majority of the viewers. Each school’s players and auxiliaries were all watching Tatsuya.
4880
4881This was the infernal super technician that won First Place for every event he was responsible for.
4882
4883In contrast to the fervent cheers of support from the Year 1 female players, the Year 1 male players looked on mockingly.
4884
4885They were silently rooting for the opposing team.
4886
4887Curiosity reigned over all other thoughts now.
4888
4889In the midst of this, the match against Eighth High commenced.
4890
4891
4892
4893
4894
4895“So we’re up against Eighth High in a wooded area, eh…”
4896
4897“Generally… That’s to our disadvantage.”
4898
4899Mari murmured with eyes glued to the screen while Mayumi replied as she watched the progression.
4900
4901Monolith Code was an event that placed the players against each other under variable outdoor conditions. The Nine Schools Competition used five scenarios: Woodlands, Boulders, Open Plains, Valley, and Urban Setting.
4902
4903Among the magic high schools, Eighth High placed the most emphasis on outdoor training, so the Woodlands were like their home court. The settings were randomly generated. However, even under these exceptional conditions, the fact that an unfavorable setting was picked for one of the schools that originally possessed an unearned victory definitely raised concerns that someone was manipulating the odds.
4904
4905—Yet, neither Mayumi nor Mari or any of the other members of the brass gathered in the pavilion were particularly worried.
4906
4907It was public knowledge within First High’s command level that Tatsuya trained under the “Ninjutsu Specialist” Kokonoe Yakumo. A woodland setting with lots of visual obstructions was an ideal location to bring out the merits of “ninjutsu” to the fullest. This was also common knowledge.
4908
4909However, for the opposing school that was wholly unaware of this “fact”, this was a titanic miscalculation.
4910
4911Between the starting locations — where the monoliths were erected — there was a distance of approximately 800 meters.
4912
4913In full protective gear and carrying a CAD, players needed at least five minutes to thread through the gaps within the woodlands.
4914
4915When taking into account that they needed to be constantly on guard against enemy movements and assault, the time was easily several times greater.
4916
4917Regardless — less than five minutes into the match, combat broke out near Eighth High’s monolith.
4918
4919The players’ activities were closely monitored by anti-cheating cameras. The recorded images would be displayed on a large screen for the audience. In arenas with large numbers of visual obstructions, the audience was reliant on these images to follow the unfolding match.
4920
4921Currently, the large screen hanging from the sky displayed Tatsuya’s image appearing before the defender from Eighth High.
4922
4923“He’s fast…!”
4924
4925“Personal Acceleration?”
4926
4927At Kichijouji’s murmur, Masaki also asked aloud, his eyes still locked onto the screen.
4928
4929The image appeared briefly before the cameras, and then leaped out of the frame in the next instant.
4930
4931The defender on the other side fell to one knee.
4932
4933The camera switched over to find Tatsuya flanking the defender to the right side and sprinting for the monolith.
4934
4935“No, it doesn’t look like he used Move-Type Magic… Ah!”
4936
4937The defender raised the muzzle of his CAD towards Tatsuya. Tatsuya’s earlier attack appeared to only have temporarily upset the defender’s balance.
4938
4939The Specialized CAD shaped like a short-barrel pistol started its Activation Sequence.
4940
4941Immediately, in the frame specifically designed to show psion motion, a rapidly expanding, non-physical shock wave — a psion explosion — shredded the defender’s Activation Sequence into nothing.
4942
4943Just then, Tatsuya’s left hand was holding a CAD.
4944
4945From the rear, his right hand was empty.
4946
4947But in the image now, Tatsuya was running with the CAD in his right hand pointing towards the defender.
4948
4949“When?”
4950
4951Did he draw? Masaki omitted the last few words.
4952
4953But Kichijouji’s answer wasn’t directly on the money.
4954
4955“Wait, don’t tell me… Gram Demolition!”
4956
4957“Did you say Gram Demolition?”
4958
4959
4960
4961
4962
4963The defender was shocked into immobility by his disintegrated Activation Sequence. Tatsuya kept an eye on his opponent and clicked the trigger in his right hand before the monolith.
4964
4965“Nice! The monolith is opening!”
4966
4967Seeing Tatsuya plug in the special code that served as a key and split the enemy monolith in two, Honoka was fairly dancing with joy.
4968
4969“…Odd.”
4970
4971By her side, Shizuku wrinkled her brows in confusion.
4972
4973“Shizuku, what’s odd?”
4974
4975In the crowd of Year 1 female students, Eimi asked Shizuku.
4976
4977“The monolith has been opened, so why is he retreating?”
4978
4979Just as Shizuku said, Tatsuya didn’t approach to copy the code in the monolith but altered his path and ducked back into the cover of darkness within the forest.
4980
4981“Now that you mention it… Hey, Miyuki, what do you think?”
4982
4983“Even Onii-sama would be hard pressed to input all 512 characters under constant enemy harassment.”
4984
4985The shell-shaped keyboard worn on the left wrist was also the terminal used to input the code. Even if Tatsuya typed at lightning speed, he would still need some time to input all 512 characters on the tiny keyboard.
4986
4987“You’re right… This is the first time I’ve seen someone use the key while the defenders are paralyzed.”
4988
4989Just as Shizuku muttered with dawning comprehension, the frozen defender came around and hustled into the trees after Tatsuya.
4990
4991
4992
4993
4994
4995“Just now… That was…”
4996
4997When Tatsuya used Counter Magic, no one was more astounded than Mari herself.
4998
4999Mari was panting and unable to speak coherently. The surprising thing was that next to her, Mayumi was able to reply blandly.
5000
5001“Gram Demolition… I had an inkling you were capable, Tatsuya-kun… And you didn’t disappoint.”
5002
5003“Mayumi, you know what that was?”
5004
5005Mayumi glanced at Mari, who was itching to approach, and swiftly looked back towards the viewing screen.
5006
5007“Gram Demolition uses compressed psion particles to directly detonate the target by charging forward without using the Information Dimension. This Counter Magic is accomplished by forcibly blowing away all the accompanying Activation and Magic Sequences — anything that has traces of magic psions recorded on it.
5008
5009This is a magic that demolishes the record of magic (Gram), hence the name Gram Demolition.
5010
5011While it is called magic, this is strictly a psion cannon ball that makes no attempt to use Magic Sequences to alter reality. This way, Gram Demolition is not restricted by Data Fortification or wide area interference, and the cannon ball’s own pressure would reject any effects of Cast Jamming.
5012
5013Since there’s no actual physical effect, physical obstructions can do nothing.
5014
5015This way, the magic that your opponent is casting is forcibly blown away by the psions.
5016
5017In order to halt that kind of furious charge, a multi-layered defensive wall of psions might barely hold up.
5018
5019Besides its rather short effective range, there are almost no weaknesses. Along with Gram Dispersion, Gram Demolition is known as one of the strongest Counter Magics within Nonsystematic Magic… But there are very few people capable of performing this feat.
5020
5021I cannot do it either.
5022
5023Since this isn’t an interference ability but a true dispersion, I am unable to create that kind of force with my psion count.
5024
5025In summation, it’s a super heavyweight!”
5026
5027“…In other words, it’s like a huge brute swinging around a giant mace with all his strength, right?”
5028
5029Hearing Mari’s roundabout description, Mayumi burst into laughter.
5030
5031“To be able to say it like that, you’re quite calm about it, Mari! However, you’re largely correct. During the match with Hanzou-kun, I thought Tatsuya-kun was a more delicate, finesse type… I never imagined that he was actually a front line bruiser.”
5032
5033“Then, during the incident on the way here, it was really…”
5034
5035“I believe that’s what happened. I didn’t see it at the time, but didn’t Mari witness it? There were at least ten overlapping Magic Sequences during the incident, but they were all dispelled instantly… Exactly how high is his psion count…”
5036
5037
5038
5039
5040
5041Eighth High’s formation consisted of one defender and two attackers.
5042
5043The two attackers split into two paths. One of them reached First High’s territory.
5044
5045“Ah, Tatsuya-kun, hurry!”
5046
5047“Go, Leo-kun!”
5048
5049First High’s territory, which contained First High’s monolith, was in a setting that allowed the audience to easily pick out all the details.
5050
5051Under Erika and Mizuki’s gaze, Leo dropped into a combat stance before his monolith and drew the “sword” from his waist.
5052
5053The attacker’s figure could be seen in the shade of the trees.
5054
5055He held a Specialized CAD similar to the ones his teammates were carrying.
5056
5057The attacker’s intent was clearly to overwhelm Leo, the defender, then open the monolith in one go.
5058
5059The attacker aimed his CAD at Leo.
5060
5061While Leo swung the Weaponized Integrated CAD “Mini Communicator” horizontally.
5062
5063Both occurred at the same time.
5064
5065“Excellent!”
5066
5067“Damn, that guy’s pretty good!”
5068
5069Both Erika and Mizuki erupted into cheers.
5070
5071A flying metal board traced an arc as it flew through the trees and sent the attacker rolling with a direct blow from the front.
5072
5073Based on the coordinates of the trees, Leo had already calculated his effective range and used the separated blade to strike away at the attacking player.
5074
5075After restoring the “blade” as one, Leo pointed the “sword” towards the sky.
5076
5077The “blade” in his hand shot forward and came to a halt high in the sky.
5078
5079“Oh — Ah —!”
5080
5081With a roar, Leo swung the “blade” downwards with a speed that matched the radial motion and bestowed the final blow to the attacker lying on the ground.
5082
5083
5084
5085
5086
5087“What, was that?”
5088
5089While her question may seem stern, Suzune’s question clearly portrayed that she lost a little of her usual coolness.
5090
5091“That would be the ‘Mini Communicator’ — a Weaponized Integrated CAD and original magic that Shiba-kun pioneered.”
5092
5093Azusa, who was on hand last night during calibration, answered in response.
5094
5095“Both a Weaponized Integrated CAD and an original… I wonder what’s the design?”
5096
5097Hearing Azusa’s concise explanation, Suzune nodded repeatedly.
5098
5099“I see, that is a novel concept. Yet, for Shiba-kun at least, this seems like a coarse system.”
5100
5101“Coarse, is it?”
5102
5103Suzune patiently explained to Azusa, who was tilting her head to one side.
5104
5105“Yes, this magic has obvious limitations regarding the user’s physical specifications and usable environmental situations…”
5106
5107
5108
5109
5110
5111The third player from Eighth High was repeatedly backtracking through the forest.
5112
5113While the setting was the woodlands, this wasn’t the Fuji forests themselves. Parts of the hills in the arena were artificial, with trees and plants transplanted here, and it was only intended for training purposes.
5114
5115Half a century had passed since the transplanting phase, and the forest had naturally grown on its own. Still, this wasn’t a dense jungle where people could easily get lost 800 meters in.
5116
5117But the reality was that the player from Eighth High was hopelessly lost.
5118
5119“Where the hell are you, you SOB! Stop skulking around and get your butt out here!”
5120
5121The player from Eighth High made no attempt to disguise the agitation in his voice as he attempted to use magic to remove the ultrasound waves.
5122
5123The strength of the ultrasound waves was not even worth mentioning.
5124
5125The only noticeable effect was a slight ringing in the ears.
5126
5127That being said, this ringing was irritating to the extreme.
5128
5129While the players were wearing military-grade protective helmets, they were only standard infantry gear intended to protect the head from shock and pressure, so there was no function to block vapors or sound waves. The helmet protected the face, but there were small holes to allow sounds to reach the ears.
5130
5131Under attack from ultrasound waves, the only counter was to use your own magic to defend yourself.
5132
5133The player from Eighth High returned his team CAD to the holster and pulled out a cellphone-shaped Generalized CAD he prepared from his pocket. He planned to use this to defend himself from the ultrasound waves and advance on First High’s position,
5134
5135However, regardless of how long he walked, he never found the enemy field.
5136
5137He never even noticed.
5138
5139Under a constant barrage of high and low frequency sounds, his attention had been entirely drawn to the high frequencies, enabling the low frequencies to wreak havoc in his inner ear.
5140
5141His vision was restricted as he endlessly turned left and right — complicated by the fact that he had no opportunity to reestablish his bearings and his senses were out of whack. This would naturally result in the situation where he was utterly unable to grasp his current location.
5142
5143If someone noticed they were lost, they would immediately consult a compass, but if they were gradually misled by their senses, it was infinitely more difficult to correct the problem without being aware that one was misled in the first place.
5144
5145The player from Eighth High had fallen into the time-honored trap known as “hubris”.
5146
5147Mikihiko was the one responsible for laying this snare.
5148
5149Spirit Magic “Echo Maze”.
5150
5151Even if he wanted to retaliate, thanks to his scrambled senses, he couldn’t even tell where the caster was. Scratch that, even if he was functioning normally, he had no chance of sniffing out Mikihiko’s location.
5152
5153That was because Mikihiko initiated this sound wave attack through the spirits.
5154
5155If he caught the source of the magic, the only thing he would find would be the position of the floating spirits.
5156
5157The power of absolute stealth.
5158
5159This was one of the greatest weapons within “Divine Earth Magic”, the branch of Spirit Magic Mikihiko belonged to.
5160
5161Behind the aimlessly wandering player from Eighth High, Mikihiko calculated that it was about time to execute the next phase of the mission.
5162
5163After luring the defender away from the monolith and deep into the forest, Tatsuya was mulling his options and trying to decide whether he should attack directly or assist in other theaters.
5164
5165If he chose to attack, he must win the necessary time to input the code after swiftly incapacitating his opponent.
5166
5167If he chose to assist, he must continue to draw the defender’s attention, hereby buying time for Mikihiko to input the code.
5168
5169He paused for an instant to consider.
5170
5171Tatsuya elected to attack.
5172
5173He drew the CAD on his left and clicked the trigger after pointing it towards the ground.
5174
5175After activating magic to lighten his weight, he lightly tapped off the ground and sprang along the treetops with the ease of a squirrel.
5176
5177Once he used magic, his opponent should be able to easily pinpoint his location.
5178
5179The use of magic would create unavoidable side effects through the change in Eidos.
5180
5181A skilled Magician could not only identify the caster’s location based on the ripples of magic, but even the magic used as well. However, for such a weakly applied magic like this, could the player from Eighth High even detect that he used Weight-Type Magic? And if so, could he ascertain that Tatsuya was bounding along the treetops?
5182
5183For Tatsuya, that would be the most convenient outcome.
5184
5185As he moved between trees, he didn’t cast magic while leaping.
5186
5187As if his legs had springs attached to them, he didn’t even cause the trees to shake.
5188
5189As expected, the defender had already arrived at the point where he had leaped off the ground.
5190
5191His gaze was scrolling upwards.
5192
5193Behind him, Tatsuya squeezed the trigger in his right hand.
5194
5195
5196
5197
5198
5199On the widescreen that showed psion movements, the image depicted the defender from Eighth High as he was inundated with psions from Nonsystematic magic.
5200
5201The defender staggered briefly, then collapsed.
5202
5203“…‘Resonate’, eh, Nonsystematic Magic.”
5204
5205“So he used biological waves and the psion wave to create resonance in order to incapacitate his opponent?”
5206
5207Hearing Kichijouji’s words, Masaki nodded.
5208
5209“It appears that he’s calibrated the right hand to use Nonsystematic Magic and the left hand to use Weight-Type Magic and is using them interchangeably.”
5210
5211“George… Don’t you think this guy’s Nonsystematic Magic contains traces of Ancient Magic?”
5212
5213“You think so too, Masaki? Is it Shugendo… Or even Ninjutsu? Biological waves — historically known as ‘chi’, is actually quite similar to the magic he’s using.”
5214
5215“I think that even those Ancient Magic users wouldn’t con people with the term ‘chi’ these days.”
5216
5217“Ho? Nitpicking isn’t very becoming of you, Masaki.”
5218
5219The defender hadn’t completely lost his mobility. He was still somewhat conscious. Still, in his current condition, he was no longer able to keep up with Tatsuya.
5220
5221Using a bent tree branch’s potential energy, Tatsuya took a giant leap. As he flew overhead, he clicked the trigger in his left hand and didn’t bother to adopt a landing posture. He arrived in front of the monolith in a blink of an eye.
5222
5223The image of Tatsuya opening the shell and inputting the code was displayed all over the screen.
5224
5225Off in the distance, the wails of the supporters from Eighth High could be heard, but Mayumi turned to look at Mari.
5226
5227Mari also turned to catch Mayumi’s gaze.
5228
5229“…He won.”
5230
5231“…He actually won.”
5232
5233Now, First High was guaranteed to advance to the elimination round.
5234
5235Yet for some reason, neither one of them seemed overjoyed at that thought.
5236
5237
5238
5239
5240
5241After receiving the code, the ending whistle rang out shrilly.
5242
5243As First High’s banner was raised into the air, the stands where First High’s supporters sat turned into a complete bedlam.
5244
5245“We won! We won!!”
5246
5247“Amazing, amazing, amazing! It was a complete victory!”
5248
5249“Congratulations, Miyuki!”
5250
5251“Your brother did it!”
5252
5253The shrill shrieks of joy came from the Year 1 female players.
5254
5255It was as if they had captured the championship already.
5256
5257There were also cheers and congratulations being swapped in the normal stands, but much more subdued.
5258
5259“Whew… My heart almost stopped!”
5260
5261“Why? Weren’t Tatsuya-kun, Leo-kun, and Yoshida-kun all safe and sound?”
5262
5263“Nah, I felt that besides Tatsuya-kun, the others were really tight…”
5264
5265“Eh? How?”
5266
5267“You ask how… Well, in a lot of ways.”
5268
5269Hearing her friend’s abstract and incomprehensible words, Mizuki tilted her head in a comical fashion.
5270
5271“You’re weird, Erika-chan.”
5272
5273At being seen as a weirdo by Mizuki, Erika had dozens of excuses lined up to defend herself, but making her friends anxious wasn’t Erika’s favorite pastime, so she decided to let it slide just this once.
5274
5275
5276
5277
5278
5279The next match, between First High and Second High, was set 30 minutes from now.
5280
5281While he felt that the break was rather short, Masaki didn’t have to worry about this since he was unlikely — (certainly) — not going to meet them in battle today. On the other hand, he should probably welcome the idea of First High’s players exhausting themselves. Yet, the moment he thought of this, he found the idea despicable and immediately erased it from his thoughts.
5282
5283The next setting hadn’t been announced yet.
5284
5285After the match, Masaki was still sitting on the observation deck and couldn’t help but engage Kichijouji in conversation.
5286
5287“So, what do you think of that match?”
5288
5289“Masaki isn’t asking about the team as a whole, but ‘him’, right?”
5290
5291His words corrected for him, Masaki could only smile wryly.
5292
5293“You’re right. George, if it was you, how would you handle him?”
5294
5295“I feel that he’s very accustomed to the battlefield. Combat movement, surveying the battlefield, positioning… Compared to his magical abilities, those are the things we should be watching out for, aren’t they?”
5296
5297“What about his magic?”
5298
5299“Let me think… While I was shocked by ‘Gram Demolition’… But that final ‘Resonance’, even though he got the perfect surprise attack from behind, he wasn’t able to render his opponent completely unconscious. Isn’t that an opening we can exploit?”
5300
5301“Yeah…”
5302
5303“Now that I think about it, at first contact he likely used Weight-Type Magic to disturb his opponent’s balance — but he may have wanted to topple his opponent completely, but was only able to force him to one knee.
5304
5305That was also the case with the Light Weight Magic he used to jump to the trees. Just that alone was not sufficient to hold his weight.
5306
5307To a certain degree, perhaps he’s unable to wield strong magics?
5308
5309This may be a side effect from using high performance CADs for so long, he may be unable to use his full strength with inferior models, but we may never know.”
5310
5311“That’s possible. With that kind of superlative skill, he would naturally use the state-of-the-art hardware. Thanks to his sudden elevation as a substitute, he didn’t have the time to get used to the weaker models.”
5312
5313“We don’t know all the details, but that’s not necessary, is it? At any rate, from a magic perspective, I think ‘Gram Demolition’ is the only thing we need to watch out for. Rather than following the example from the player of Eighth High, we should definitely take heed not to fall into the same strategy.”
5314
5315“So you mean that we do not fear him in a head-to-head confrontation?”
5316
5317“Exactly. If we could only force him to meet you man-to-man… If we could do that, then Masaki’s triumph is assured. For example, if our match is set on the ‘Open Plains’, we would win ten out of ten.”
5318
5319
5320
5321
5322
5323During the resting period for the players of First High, Mikihiko was distracted as he repeatedly sat and rose from his seat.
5324
5325“Mikihiko… Can you settle down?”
5326
5327The calibration for the “Mini Communicator” was just completed. As if reexamining its weight, Leo was waving it around as he said listlessly.
5328
5329“Leo… You’re truly a carefree sort. Well… Even meeting peers from other classes that we’ve never met before.”
5330
5331Those words seemed to be squeezed out of Mikihiko. Under a “What?” gaze from everyone, Miyuki revealed a charming smile.
5332
5333“I never knew that Yoshida-kun was so shy!”
5334
5335Tatsuya shrugged and sat in a relaxed posture. Behind him, Miyuki stood there massaging his shoulders and turned a dazzling smile on Mikihiko.
5336
5337“I think that Mikihiko’s reaction is perfectly normal. He is an innocent youth after all, Miyuki.”
5338
5339“Aya! Really, Onii-sama. Miyuki has never seen a shy Onii-sama before, has she?”
5340
5341Seeing Tatsuya turn his head and gaze at her with narrowed eyes, Miyuki’s smile only widened. During this time, her soft, white fingers never stopped to gently caress and massage her brother’s shoulders.
5342
5343— So I’m shy, damn it! —
5344
5345— But seeing you guys like this only makes me even more mortified! —
5346
5347…Unable to voice this aloud, Mikihiko could only suffer through this in silence.
5348
5349Speaking of which, Mayumi and Azusa passed through the covering (made of the highest quality cloth from the 21st century) and came in.
5350
5351Seeing the siblings like so, both came to a halt, with Azusa’s face turning hotter with each passing second.
5352
5353While Mayumi failed to blush openly, she looked at Tatsuya as if she saw a dirty stray crawling in the filth.
5354
5355“…Somehow, I feel like I’m being mercilessly condemned, or is that disdain?”
5356
5357“You’re thinking too much!”
5358
5359When Tatsuya turned to face her directly, Mayumi ruthlessly bit those words out, then quickly coughed to pretend to clear her throat.
5360
5361By the time she turned around, Tatsuya already rose.
5362
5363(Somehow…This child seems like a soldier…)
5364
5365The tips of his toes were slightly apart, his back ramrod straight, both hands were crossed behind his back, as if this pose was perfectly natural for him. Was this anxiety, prudence, or overconfidence? Nothing seemed out of place on him.
5366
5367Rather, it made her feel like her own actions were undeniably childish.
5368
5369“…Seriously, don’t worry about it.”
5370
5371In the end, Mayumi still defended herself despite her overwhelming reluctance to do so, causing her to slightly despise herself and wish for a swift end to this task.
5372
5373“The setting of the next match has been decided.”
5374
5375“So you’ve come specifically to tell us. Much thanks.”
5376
5377Tatsuya lightly bowed to Mayumi and used his eyes to ask: “Where?”
5378
5379“Urban district.”
5380
5381Mayumi’s words struck Tatsuya speechless.
5382
5383“…This is still the case despite what happened yesterday?”
5384
5385“That’s because the setting was selected randomly. I’m afraid they didn’t even take it into consideration.”
5386
5387“I see…”
5388
5389It was quite impressive that the board was willing to be so candid, Tatsuya thought, but he chose not to voice this.
5390
5391“I’ll hurry over immediately. The CAD calibration is already done.”
5392
5393“Thank you!”
5394
5395Mayumi nodded her acceptance while Leo and Mikihiko immediately started preparing.
5396
5397The preparations only included buckling on the protective jacket, helmet, and CAD they took off earlier.
5398
5399That was all the preparation necessary.
5400
5401They threw on the jacket, closed the zipper and tightened the buttons.
5402
5403“Uh, Shiba-kun…”
5404
5405As Tatsuya adjusted the CAD and holster, Azusa asked him a question.
5406
5407“What is it?”
5408
5409“What are you going to do with… Saijou-kun’s CAD?”
5410
5411“What am I going to do?”
5412
5413“Because… Wouldn’t it be hard to use the ‘Mini Communicator’ in close quarters, such as rooms or stairs? That magic can only cause the blade to float in the air, so its strength is still reliant on the user’s arm strength, right? While the blade does possess the advantage of ‘extension,’ if there isn’t sufficient room to swing the weapon, then there wouldn’t be any advantage in its design… At least, that’s what I heard.”
5414
5415“From Ichihara-senpai, correct?”
5416
5417Tatsuya’s words saw right through her, causing Azusa to blush, but for a wholly different reason than before.
5418
5419“As expected of Ichihara-senpai, that was quite the accurate analysis. However, please don’t worry on that point. There will still be room to swing a sword in the interior. Even if we can’t use a ten meter long sword, one meter will work just as well.”
5420
5421Catching Tatsuya’s signal, Leo nodded with a “Just leave it to me” expression.
5422
5423
5424
5425
5426
5427The match between First and Second High completely ignored the incident yesterday and set their respective monoliths inside two buildings — specifically, the third floor in five floor buildings.
5428
5429This stubborn refusal to accept their own responsibility and error once more reminded everyone that the bureaucracy from the magic universities was quite politically minded.
5430
5431—However, neither the responsibility nor the blame for yesterday’s “accident” would fall in the laps of the management board.
5432
5433For Tatsuya at least, enclosed locations with lots of cover from prying eyes were infinitely preferable to wide open areas, so he wasn’t complaining.
5434
5435Currently, Tatsuya had infiltrated the top floor of Second High’s building. He snuck between the detection of the defenders and looped from the neighboring buildings into this one by hopping along the rooftops without using magic. Precisely because he was engaged in purely physical activities, he eluded the detection of the defenders as he closed in on the target.
5436
5437Due to the fact that he was passing between the shadows of the buildings and maintaining a stealthy profile, Tatsuya spent a considerable duration of time. Even if they lost this match, they would still advance to the elimination round. That being said, the format of the elimination round pitted the first seed against the fourth seed, and the second seed against the third seed. Meeting Third High in the semifinals was completely different than taking them on during the finals. Tatsuya estimated that time was still in short supply even though he left Mikihiko behind to support Leo.
5438
5439“Mikihiko, can you hear me?”
5440
5441“Received, Tatsuya.”
5442
5443While Monolith Code didn’t forbid the players from using wireless communicators, very few schools took advantage of this. That was because, even if the contents of the message couldn’t be deciphered, modern techniques were quite capable of pinpointing the sender’s location.
5444
5445On top of that, a three man team using wireless communicators could easily run into the situation where one or more of the members were out of range. Generally speaking, wireless communicators bore little value in this competition.
5446
5447Despite this, Tatsuya still prudently chose to use this service, undoubtedly for some ulterior motive.
5448
5449“Let’s begin. We’re relying on you to find the monolith’s location.”
5450
5451“We can’t hold out here forever. Hurry up!”
5452
5453“Understood.”
5454
5455The other side appeared to be locked in combat.
5456
5457Tatsuya manipulated the bracelet on his right wrist and brought up summoning magic.
5458
5459
5460
5461
5462
5463Leo swung the “Mini Communicator” horizontally with gusto.
5464
5465The metallic piece was 40 cm long and 12 cm wide — part of the blade flew through the air in an arc and rushed towards the player from Second High. The weapon’s lack of weight was made up for by additional arm strength in the swing. Leo chopped the attacker’s legs from beneath him.
5466
5467The attacker fell to the earth. If this was “live combat” he would immediately step forward and bestow a finishing blow. However, Monolith Code forbade close quarters combat.
5468
5469“Mikihiko!”
5470
5471Even knowing he couldn’t hear him, Leo still signaled Mikihiko, who was “watching” the scene unfold through the spirits.
5472
5473In response, a ball of lightning formed in the air.
5474
5475And struck the prone player from Second High.
5476
5477Yet, Leo didn’t have the spare time to express joy over taking out one person.
5478
5479Noticing that his body was under the effect of Move-Type Magic, Leo hurriedly shouted.
5480
5481“Halt!”
5482
5483The voice activated CAD on his left wrist received his command through the microphone embedded in his helmet. In terms of wielding two CADs simultaneously, so long as the two activated magics were from different systems, no interference would occur between the two.
5484
5485Fortunately — in only a handful of situations — Leo’s personal CAD was a highly durable and reliable CAD that had the processing power from two generations ago, so it fulfilled the conditions for competition-use CADs in the Nine Schools Competition. Even if the dubious nature and slight time delay for the voice recognition system were not up to Tatsuya’s standards, in this situation, personal habits trumped that concern, hence Leo was using his personal CAD after some (massive) adjustments to the Activation Sequence.
5486
5487Just as planned, even though Leo’s CAD was the “latter one”, it still managed to invoke defensive magics before the enemy’s Move-Type Magic launched its attack.
5488
5489From where he was standing — setting the point where his feet contacted the ground, he fortified his body’s connection to the corresponding coordinates. This was the same tactic that Mari used during Battle Board, though on a smaller scale. Mari’s magic allowed the body freedom of movement while stabilizing herself relative to the moving board. Unlike this, Leo’s sole purpose was to solidly “stabilize” himself to the ground without moving a single muscle. This only lasted for a short instant.
5490
5491However, because this was a massively downgraded application, this was still able to counter the magic his opponent was in the process of casting.
5492
5493This building was designed after a school dorm.
5494
5495From the broken windows, their opponent’s figure could be seen passing through the corridors.
5496
5497Leo pulled back his right hand and fell into a lunging position, but his opponent had already fled.
5498
5499Cautiously approaching the prone and convulsing player, he removed his protective helmet.
5500
5501According to the rules, once an opponent lost their protective helmet, they were forbidden from taking any further action during the match.
5502
5503(OK, now we’ve taken out one of them…)
5504
5505Even knowing he had no way of sending this message, Leo still thought this in the privacy of his mind.
5506
5507(It’s all up to you, Tatsuya. It’s getting hairy over here.)
5508
5509
5510
5511
5512
5513Thanks to Tatsuya’s summoning magic, the spirit stuck to him became active.
5514
5515Tatsuya was unable to use Spiritual Magic.
5516
5517Even if he could detect the active SB, he had no way of commanding it. Magicians utilized modern magic to create false signals to manipulate and rewrite the Eidos of a target and not because they could exert their will to control the Eidos itself.
5518
5519Nonetheless, they were still capable of using the most basic summoning magic from Spiritual Magic.
5520
5521He was able to memorize the Magic Sequence within the Activation Sequence because his artificial magic calculation area was stored within his consciousness. No matter what magic it was, once he decoded the Activation Sequence that served as a blueprint for the Magic Sequence, this rudimentary projection of the Magic Sequence was still within his abilities.
5522
5523This wasn’t even on the same level as casting magic since he was merely imitating the processes that led to magic invocation. However, so long as the necessary components were involved, even if it was a simple replication, some degree of effect could be achieved.
5524
5525Mikihiko placed an inactive spirit on Tatsuya, which Tatsuya used magic to reactivate.
5526
5527This way, he immediately established a connection with the “master”, Mikihiko.
5528
5529While Tatsuya was unable to control the spirit, he had no reason to do so in the first place.