The day after Tatsuya's unplanned nighttime excursion.
The Nine Schools Competition began without further incident.
In the next ten days, the number of spectators alone exceeded 100,000 people. Even though the location was inconvenient, at least 10,000 spectators came every day to watch the contests, and the number of online viewers easily surpassed 100 times this number.
While it couldn't draw the same numbers as popular professional sports games, there was still a large number of people who paid attention to this event. That being said, very few people knew about the details regarding last night's incident.
The participants all possessed first class Magic Power but were still high school students.
The malefactors' attack ended without any meaningful accomplishment, so the military judged that it would not negatively impact the participants. As such, they elected to keep the secret.
Rather than calling the opening ceremony glamorous, an orderly impression was more obvious. The magic contests were gaudy enough in their own right, so there was no need for any additional ceremony to embellish the issue, and neither were there tedious speeches from dignitaries. After the school songs from the nine schools were played in succession, the events officially began.
The curtains were drawn for the next ten days, where men and women each competed in 5 events for the Official Division as well as the 5 events for men and women in the Newcomers Division for a total of 20 events.
The 1st day's events were the preliminaries and elimination rounds for "Speed Shooting" and the preliminaries for "Battle Board".
The difference in scheduling reflected the time needed for each event. "Onii-sama, the President is about to take the field."
"So our main strength is taking the stage for the first event, though I recall Watanabe-senpai's preliminary round is the third one?"
"Yes."
Tatsuya and company headed towards the Speed Shooting stands to watch Mayumi's event. From the left, the order was Shizuku, Honoka, Tatsuya, and Miyuki. They were not seated in the participants' area in the arena proper, but in the regular audience stands.
"Speed Shooting" involves using magic to destroy flying targets from 30 meters out within a limited period of time. The key lies in how accurate and how fast one could fire magic outwards, hence the name "Speed Shooting".
The contest was divided into two portions.
In the preliminary round, contestants advanced on individual merit based on the number of targets destroyed within five minutes.
The preliminary round simultaneously used four shooting galleries to conduct six contests, with the top eight advancing to the Elite Eight.
Also, only 24 contestants were allowed to participate.
If all nine schools sent three contestants, there would be a total of 27, but three of the nine lost their right to participate due to their performance from the previous year and were only able to dispatch two contestants.
Besides "Monolith Code", all events shared this rule. After the Elite Eight, the event turned into a duel format.
There were 100 red and 100 white targets in the arena, with the total number of corresponding targets destroyed determining the victor.
"Highly destructive magics can be used during the preliminaries to swiftly destroy a large number of targets in one go, but after the Elite Eight, precision targeting is far more important."
Shizuku nodded at Tatsuya's words, as Shizuku was the only one among them to participate in the Speed Shooting portion of the Newcomers Division.
"Generally speaking, most people use different magics during the preliminary and elimination rounds......"
"But President Saegusa is renowned for using the same magic during these two rounds."
In the middle of Tatsuya's explanation, a young lady behind them cut in.
"Erika."
"Hey, Tatsuya-kun."
"Yo."
"Morning."
"Tatsuya-kun, Miyuki-san, Honoka-san, Shizuku-san, good morning everyone."
Seated behind Tatsuya and company, from right to left, were Leo, Erika, Mizuki, and Mikihiko (but the speaking order was Erika, Leo, Mikihiko, and Mizuki).
The reason why the four of them found these spots was that they were sitting in the back row.
"Aren't there more spots up front?"
"That's because I saw Tatsuya-kun's group sitting here, and it's easier to see everything from the back, right?"
"True."
The stands were built like a series of rising stairs, with the higher levels in the back.
This is an event involving shooting targets at high speed, so the spectators in the front rows have to possess the same eyesight as the contestants.
Even so, the spectators still crowded forward, because— "Because there are an amazing amount of stupid boys."
Erika disdainfully declared in a way that wasn't altogether joking. "Looks like there are more than teenager boys mixed in." Tatsuya replied in a sarcastic tone.
In other words, for this reason, there were no spare seats in the front rows.
"Is this what is called 'Onee-sama~'? How depressing."
"Don't be like that, there might be considerable value up front. Even for someone like me who sees the President on a daily basis, she seems like a completely different person now."
"Whoa! Miyuki, what shall we do? Your Onii-sama has fallen for someone else!"
At Erika's ridiculous words, Tatsuya and Miyuki could only wryly smile.
The subject of their conversation was......
"The 'Elven Sniper', quite the suitable title."
"The President dislikes the term, so make sure not to bring it up in front of her."
Tatsuya's admonishment caused Honoka to shrug in her neck.
The teenage boys and girls squeezed into the front rows to admire Mayumi, who was waiting in the first shooting gallery for the contest to begin.
Mayumi wore a pair of mufflers over her luminous locks of hair, a pair of transparent goggles, an elastic pair of uniform pants and an upturned tunic that could be easily mistaken for a mini-suit. Paired with a rifle-shaped CAD that was mandatory for all Speed Shooting events, this created the perfect combination of cuteness and heroism as if she was the female lead in an upcoming movie.
"There are actually people who use the President as the subject for doujins......"
Mizuki softly said this probably because this getup jolted something in her memory.
"......That's the first I've heard of that."
However, this came so far out of left field that even Erika was barely able to manage a response in time.
"......Mizuki, exactly under what context did you come by this knowledge? If your 'interests' lie in that direction, I may have to re- examine our friendship."
Looks like Miyuki and Erika were thinking of the same thing. This outwardly serious voice contained roughly 10% earnestness.
"Eh? No, I don't have those kinds of interests!"
Still, Mizuki was undoubtedly the most shaken. "It's starting."
Mizuki was in a full state of panic at realizing what they were hinting at, but managed to snap out of it and quiet down at Tatsuya's words.
The spectator stands were deathly quiet.
The participants were wearing ear muffs, so no amount of audience noise would affect them, but this was a matter of principle.
The participants raised their slender, elongated rifles that almost looked like cane-shaped competition-use CADs, while their poise and concentration caused the silenced audience to grip the edge of their seats.
The flashing light signaled for them to begin.
Targets flew through the sky accompanied by soft firing sounds.
"They're fast......
!"
Were the soft words that burst out of Shizuku referring to the flight velocity of the targets?
—Or was she referring to Mayumi's magic that was busy smashing targets left and right?
Mayumi didn't raise her head and stood stock still with her CAD aimed forward.
This event never relied on using the rifle to shoot bullets, so there was no need to visually line up with the target and the CAD never possessed a muzzle or scope.
Rather than presenting arms, her stance was more akin to drawing a bow.
The targets shot forth at irregular intervals. A total of a hundred targets in five minutes.
On the average, that was one target every 3 seconds.
Compared to normal shooting, this was a ridiculously fast pace. Complicating the matter was that sometimes multiple targets shot forth within a tight interval and sometimes, five or six would fly out after a 10 second interval.
Mayumi shot down every "individual" target without missing a beat. The five minute contest was over in the blink of an eye.
"......She was perfect."
Mayumi removed her protective goggles and ear mufflers as she smiled in response to the spectators' applause. Seeing her, Tatsuya murmured as if he could think of nothing else to say.
"She was using sub-sonic bullets formed from ice particles, correct?"
Miyuki asked as she was applauding, prompting Tatsuya to smile and nod.
"Correct, I'm surprised you could tell."
"......
That was trivial enough that even I could see that......"
Erika retorted in a huff, causing Tatsuya to chuckle wryly.
"That's true, seeing the same magic a hundred times certainly makes it easier."
Someone averted their eyes in shame (probably because they couldn't see it), but Tatsuya elected to pretend he didn't see them.
"One hundred? She didn't miss once?"
Honoka asked Tatsuya in honest surprise, likely brought about by her direct personality.
"Correct, the amazing aspect is not the speed of magic invocation or number of times activated, but the precision entailed. Even using Sensory Magic at the same time, the individual still needs to use their brain to process the data. I don't know if it's because she's accumulated enough experience in repeated calculations or is simply that talented...... She is truly worthy of being one of the direct descendants of the Ten Master Clans."
"Did the President use Sensory Magic?"
Mizuki exclaimed in surprise, but the difference was that many people mirrored her expression this time.
"Long Range Visual Systematic Sensory Magic 'Multi-Observation' is not meant to examine non-material bodies or information bodies, but observe a physical object from multiple angles like a visual radar. The
President often uses this sort of magic."
Tatsuya's gaze asked "Didn't you notice?" to which Mizuki shook her head.
"During the school assembly, she would use this magic to 'watch' every corner, which is a very rare ability...... Don't you think that this level of shooting is impossible for the naked eye?"
"That's true."
Shizuku immediately replied. During the competition, she was putting herself in Mayumi's shoes and considering her options in the shooting gallery.
"Still, the President is using Speed-Type Magic to turn air molecules into ice particles then applying acceleration to sub-sonic levels and using Sensory Magic at the same time, right? With Sensory Magic running, and then using deceleration and acceleration back and forth a hundred times, the President has amazing Magic Power."
At this point, the "Magic Power" Leo was talking about did not refer to the "Magic Power" from the technical skills assessment, but the more generic context of having the physical capacity of repeatedly casting spells.
A common misunderstanding is that magic is an activity that consumes energy.
Phenomena are not rewritten by burning physical energy, but by editing the data surrounding the phenomena.
In order to edit the data, a Magic Sequence formed from psions is required, so the number of times magic can be invoked is limited by the difference in the scale of Magic Sequences. The "Magic Power" Leo is talking about here, if likened to an actual concept, would be similar to the mental strain exerted on the body.
"The President is using a variant of 'Hale Particles'. The original 'Hale Particles' is already a highly efficient form of magic and with the President's ability, she could probably cast this 1000 times rather than a paltry 100 times."
Tatsuya's endless praise towards Mayumi elicited complex expressions from Miyuki and the others.
They also acknowledged that Mayumi's Magic Power was incredible, but hearing Tatsuya, who was usually very critical on all things magic, give such unrestrained praise could not help but arouse some jealousy.
On the other hand, Leo was concerned about something else entirely.
"Eh, but to create ice in the heat of summer and then accelerate to subsonic levels should require a lot of power. Even if conservation of energy doesn't wholly apply to magic, I still find it hard to believe Tatsuya's assessment that you can use such a small amount of magic to achieve such a level of phenomena rewriting."
"While it may not wholly apply, that does not mean they are unrelated."
Tatsuya rose and headed towards the "Battle Board" spectator stands while responding with this mysterious answer.
"What do you mean?"
Leo chased after Tatsuya and asked again.
"Magic is a technique that involves changing phenomena and is not limited by conservation of energy. However, the object being rewritten remains bound by the law of conservation of energy. For example, if you apply Speed Magic to an object, without using magic to maintain its condition, the accelerated object will turn cold, since the objects own heat is being converted to energy of motion; if you cast Heat Magic on a speeding object, without using magic to maintain its velocity, then the target object will slow down, since the object’s energy of motion is being converted to heat. Generally, magic strives to avoid changing unrelated aspects by adding in measures to maintain the status quo, so there's rarely an opportunity to observe this in action.
The laws of physics are very difficult to circumvent and, even when altered by illogical forces like magic, it will attempt to revert back to a logical outcome. Thus, magic that does not break the law of conservation of energy remains a 'natural' phenomenon and from a magic perspective, it does not require high interference strength.
You should understand by now, right? The magic used to accelerate the ice particles is based on taking the heat that is removed from the frozen particles and converting it into the energy of projectile motion, thus scamming the laws of physics. While this runs counter to the law of entropy and is something that would never occur in nature, it’s a more logical explanation than simply constructing ice particles, accelerating the ice particles with magic, then applying thermodynamics."
"......I get the feeling that I've just been conned."
"Leo, magic is an ability used to 'deftly deceive the world', remember that."
"In other words, we Magicians are con artists out to ruin the world?"
"The stronger the Magician, the more likely he’s a crook."
Tatsuya was utterly serious as he explained all of this, but at Erika and Shizuku's added commentary, he could only smile in response.
◊ ◊ ◊
"Battle Board" was a contest where the participant used a spindle- shaped surf board that was 285 cm long and 51 cm wide to navigate an artificial waterway. The surf board had no propulsion of its own, so the participants needed to use magic to arrive at the finish line. During the course, attacks on other players themselves or their boards were forbidden, but magic was allowed to be cast on the water's surface.
There was no unified set of rules for this event. This contest was originally designed by the navy to train Magicians, so with magic as a prerequisite, it was impossible for this event to be popularized enough to warrant a unified set of rules.
The Battle Board portion of the Nine Schools Competition involved completing three laps around a 3 km long waterway. The waterway possessed straight courses and sharp turns as well as uphill and waterfall portions.
Men and women each raced on a separate track, but there were no notable differences in difficulty.
The preliminary stage contained six rounds with four contestants each, while the elimination stage contained two rounds with three contestants each, with the four eliminated players competing for third place. The finals were held in a duel format.
The average duration of each round was 15 minutes.
The highest speed may exceed 30 knots — which is roughly 55~60 km per hour. Atop the surf board, the players had no cover against the incoming wind. Unlike other nautical races that could benefit from being downwind, Battle Board was entirely against the wind. Just dealing with the air resistance alone quickly sapped the players' endurance.
"Female contestants usually have a hard time in this event. Honoka, how are you physically?"
"No problems. On Tatsuya-kun's advice, I've been undergoing physical training. After being selected, I've also lengthened my hours of sleep."
Unrelated to the Nine Schools Competition, Tatsuya was concerned about Honoka's physical stamina from the first moment they met and thus advised her to not just undergo magic training, but also physical training as well. Tatsuya merely mentioned this out of hand, but Honoka surprisingly took it to heart.
"Honoka really put on some muscle."
"Ew, Miyuki, don't be like that. I don't want to be a female body builder."
Hearing this two-sided conversation, even Tatsuya laughed aloud.
"You see......
Even Tatsuya-kun laughed."
"He's only laughing because Honoka's spoken in an odd manner."
"Now even Shizuku is saying so...... Fine, I know when I'm being excluded. I'm not like the two of you — Tatsuya-kun isn’t willing to take care of my event."
Honoka's sudden tantrum mystified Tatsuya so much that he couldn't laugh any more.
Exactly why was she gunning for him now?
"......I'm responsible for Honoka's support and maintenance during
'Mirage Bat'."
At any rate, Tatsuya only responded to her literal complaint. However......
"So 'Battle Board' isn't included? Plainly, both of Miyuki and Shizuku's events are within Tatsuya-kun's purview......"
This seemed to have achieved the opposite effect.
"......
Instead, I've helped you train and strategize, so it's not like I'm excluding you......"
While trying to justify himself, Tatsuya felt himself falling into a sticky predicament and started to stutter.
"Tatsuya-kun, Honoka-san isn't referring to that."
Upon seeing this, Mizuki interrupted, but it didn't sound like she couldn't stand this scene any longer.
"Onii-sama......
I think you're being a little too slow."
Following Mizuki, it was Miyuki's turn.
"We've discovered Tatsuya-kun's unexpected weakness." And Erika next.
"Blockhead?"
Shizuku also joined in on the attack.
Under siege from the women, Tatsuya was struck speechless. He felt that they were being ridiculously illogical, but at the same time he felt that resistance was futile.
Not that he got any support from the guys.
Until the contest began, Tatsuya could only patiently endure this situation.
◊ ◊ ◊
With the waterway ready and the contestants assuming ready positions, Tatsuya finally escaped.
On route, he understood what Miyuki and the others were driving at.
That being said, understanding another's proposal was entirely different from being able to act on it.
In the future, he needed to be more prudent and keep his mouth shut
—Tatsuya inwardly promised himself as he watched the four contestants float towards the starting line.
Being that this is on water, there's no way to draw lines (not that anyone could even if they wanted to).
Four people lined up along the passage, with Mari standing in the middle.
The other contestants were kneeling on one knee or both to prepare to charge, only Mari stood straight.
This scene primarily reflected the difference in balance between the participants, but from another perspective, Her Majesty the Queen was lording over the other participants (not just the queen, "Her Majesty" the Queen).
"Whoa, that woman is just as arrogant as usual......"
Hearing Erika's whisper, Tatsuya felt that she was displaying her enmity "as usual".
Still, he had just vowed to "keep his mouth shut", so he refrained from commenting.
Leo and Mizuki, who were seated at Erika's sides, also seemed oblivious.
The giant screen hanging from the airship in the sky displayed all four of the contestants' names.
Only Mari revealed a fearless grin.
She truly is the perfect type to play the antagonist's role, Tatsuya thought.
However, many among the female high school students would disagree with him.
When the announcer responsible for identifying the participants proclaimed Mari's name, the stands — especially the front rows — fairly shook from feminine shrieks.
Mari waved in response, which only intensified the screams.
"......Looks like our senpai has a crowd of diehard fans."
Compared to the young men who supported Mayumi, the insanity of this group was several times more intense.
"Watanabe-senpai cuts a dashing figure, so I can sympathize somewhat."
Miyuki agreed from a bystander's perspective. Ironically, after the Nine Schools Competition, Miyuki would possess eternally loyal fans from either gender that far outnumbered Mayumi's male fans and Mari's female fans. If she could foretell her own future, Miyuki may resonate with the same feeling lurking beneath Mari's mask as she smiled at her fans, but right now she couldn't care less.
"Battle Board" was a contest held at the height of summer, but the contestants did not wear swimsuits.
The bodysuits that tightly covered the entire body bore the emblems of each school.
As Mari stood above the water, her hair fluttered as it hung from the hair band keeping it in place, painting a picture that would not be out of place on the cover of a novel about young cavaliers.
Erika should have heard Miyuki's words, but she didn't immediately respond.
"Get set......"
The loudspeaker sent out the signal. At the crack of a gun, the race was on. "Self-detonation tactics?"
Erika murmured in disbelief.
Tatsuya was similarly struck speechless.
When the race started, the contestant from Fourth High detonated the water behind them.
She probably intended to create waves to disrupt the other players while riding the waves for further propulsion, but......
"Ah, she stabilized."
Creating a giant tidal wave was useless if it disrupted your own balance.
Mari had successfully charged in the beginning, so she wasn't affected by the chaos caused by the contestant from Fourth High and was now completely in the lead.
Mari's surf board was sliding over the water's surface.
She probably wasn't using Move-Type Magic to steer, but treated the board and her physical body as one entity, or even casting magic on two objects simultaneously — her body itself and the board.
Regardless of which it was, this required precise target selection for magic.
The board clung to the water's surface and deftly rounded a sharp corner.
Her stability was so complete it was like her feet were glued to the board.
"So she's re-calculating Application-Type Fortifying Magic along with Move-Type Magic."
Tatsuya didn't need to dissect the Magic Sequence. He saw through the mechanism based on Mari's posture and methods for maintaining balance as she coursed through the water.
"Fortifying Magic?"
Leo's ears pricked up at those words and immediately asked.
This was an area that Leo specialized in, so there was no way he wasn’t interested.
"What's the target for fortification?"
"Senpai stabilized the connection between herself and the board to avoid falling off."
Leo adopted a questioning look probably because he couldn't follow Tatsuya's meaning.
Naturally, Tatsuya never demanded that he catch on so adroitly.
"Fortifying Magic isn't only used for strengthening an object's durability, but to stabilize an object's corresponding location, do you understand so far?"
"Of course, because I use it myself."
"Watanabe-senpai cast magic to stabilize her position and connected herself to the board to form one object, then applied Move Magic to this now uniform 'body' that consists of herself and the board. In addition, this isn't a sustained-type magic but alternating between Fortifying Magic and Move Magic at appropriate intervals based on the changes in the terrain to deftly avoid magic overlap."
Owing to the fact this was a magic he specialized in, Leo could understand this was an extremely complex technique.
"Wow......"
Leo sighed in amazement.
On the other hand......
"Yet, this method seems to be lacking something......
True, the target of Fortifying Magic isn't restricted to objects formed from the same material. Hm, given that......"
Thanks to his habits as an engineering prodigy, Tatsuya fell into a deep thought that would not be out of place for a mad scientist.
"Onii-sama?"
Miyuki's voice roused him from his contemplation.
During the brief moment where Tatsuya averted his gaze, Mari's figure had already disappeared around the blind spot and was lost to sight.
Tatsuya vaguely replied with "It's nothing" and focused his attention back onto the large screen.
Mari was gliding up the waterways against the current. "Speed Magic."
From her movements, she must have used a technique that reversed the vectors for acceleration.
"And also used Oscillation-Type Magic, right?"
At the same time, she employed magic to create reverse waves to lessen the water resistance.
"Nicely played, she's juggling three to four magics together during re- calculation."
Tatsuya's praise burst from his mouth.
None of the magics were particularly powerful.
Yet, the combined effect was unimaginably powerful.
Compared to Mayumi, who had raised high speed precision magic to an art form to stun the audience, Mari relied on lightning fast decision making and wide variety of tools to paint a veritable rainbow of overlapping magics to delight the audience.
The two of them had already far exceeded high school quality. After Mari reached the peak, she leaped down the waterfall.
The moment Mari splashed down, an obvious tidal wave splashed outwards.
The tidal wave generated by Mari not only propelled her forward, but also nearly upset the player in second place who was behind her.
"What a strategist......"
"That's just a devious personality revealing itself."
Erika replied with an angry retort to Tatsuya's whispering. Tatsuya half agreed, so he didn't make any particular rebuttal. That being said, "a devious personality" was high praise for a strategist.
Before the first lap was even finished, Mari's victory was all but certain.
◊ ◊ ◊
Battle Board’s preliminary stage was slated for today and after lunch
—only the fourth through sixth rounds were left. After deciding to watch the semifinals and finals for Speed Shooting, Tatsuya bid farewell to his friends.
He returned to the hotel and walked towards the rooms reserved for higher-ranking officers. This is to fulfill the promise he made to Kazama last night.
Kazama held the rank of major, but his experiences and the unique nature of the troops under his command granted him treatment above his official rank. In this suite that was normally restricted to colonels and higher, Kazama was enjoying a quick break with the officer cadre while enjoying the tea and snacks ordered from room service.
"So you're here, come, sit."
Tatsuya was brought into the room by the soldiers on duty (not soldiers from this base, but under Kazama's direct command) and even though Kazama extended a cordial invitation for him to be seated, Tatsuya hesitated upon seeing who the officers were.
Tatsuya's rank "Special Lieutenant" was not a "commissioned officer" but "a non-commissioned officer recognized as a soldier by international standards" (presently, this country's battalions no longer possessed the "associate officer" system). Soldiers that were not restricted by the military's ranking system but still maintained the right to participate on the front lines could only be found in the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion's command structure during active duty. However, even without a built-in ranking system, everyone present was still a superior officer and, more importantly, an elder, so he couldn't casually accept such an invitation.
"Tatsuya, today we're not treating you as 'Strategic-Class Magician Special Lieutenant Ooguro Ryuuya', but as our good friend 'Shiba Tatsuya', so being too formal would only be inconvenient."
"It's also difficult to converse with you standing all the time, so why don't you take a seat?"
At this time, the two officers at the table also motioned for Tatsuya to sit.
"Captain Sanada, Captain Yanagi......
Understood, pardon my interruption."
Friendship that transcended age prompted Tatsuya to abandon his overly formal attitude to avoid being impolite. After a round of greetings, he sat directly across from Kazama.
They were seated at a round table.
The afternoon tea time for the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was for them to relax and unwind.
Even though Tatsuya's seat was closest to the door, the adults still welcomed him as one of them.
"First of all, long time no see. I know we shouldn't use tea cups for this, but cheers."
"Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi, thank you."
The female officer serving as Kazama's adjutant — more like secretary — handed him a tea cup, which Tatsuya accepted on a small plate while signaling with his eyes.
Today, she was in casual clothes rather than in uniform, which gave off the aura of "a young secretary from a major corporation".
Not just her, but everyone was in suits or casual garb where the shirts didn't match the jacket.
"In reality, we met earlier, but let's cut Fujibayashi some slack."
"Dr. Yamanaka, you don't need to force yourself."
"No, I'm not that unsociable to ruin the moment when we raise cups to celebrate our reunion."
"......
The doctor's just looking for a reason to pour some brandy into the teacups, right?"
"The situation demands alcohol."
"Really......
I thought 'doctors not treating themselves' meant something else entirely......"
The one who leisurely replied to Captain Yanagi's confusion was doctor and first class healer — Combat Medic Yamanaka.
Including Kazama, there were 5 people in total who shook their heads in exasperation, which were all the officers from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion who greeted Tatsuya.
"Captain Yanagi, Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi, it's been a while. Captain Sanada, thanks for your recent support."
Tatsuya started off with greeting the two he hadn't seen for some time, then finished with thanking Captain Sanada who assisted him at the base last month.
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you. Only you are capable of handling 'Third Eye's' long range precision targeting system."
"That's because that CAD was originally designed for this one to use...... Speaking of which, Doctor Yamanaka, I haven't received the examination results from last time."
"......Tatsuya, am I the only one being treated differently?"
"Doctor...... I don't think anyone could view a doctor who directly asked for permission to conduct human experimentation in a positive light."
Fujibayashi retorted at Yamanaka's words. Yamanaka deliberately turned his head to one side. Laughter suffused the round table.
Though they claimed that it had been a while, in reality it's not like they haven't seen each other for years.
Yanagi was the one who had been absent the longest at approximately six months, while Sanada and Yamanaka were last seen about a month ago.
The topic naturally turned to a sit rep where they conversed about the criminal organization that may seek to act during the Nine Schools Competition.
Just as they had discussed over the phone, the malefactors from last night were part of "No-Head Dragon". Unfortunately, they still had no information regarding the group's intent and goals. That being said, any one of the five people here (especially Yamanaka) could easily obtain results if they were in charge of interrogations, but currently they didn't want to proactively join the investigation.
"Still, that was quite the show you put on last night, or were you prepared ahead of time?"
"The Major overestimates this one's abilities, this one only caught wind of their presence while out on a stroll."
"That late?"
"Because CAD maintenance ran over time."
Owing to their similar age, the one Tatsuya spoke with the most in this group was of course Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi. Thanks to her military training, she possessed a magnificent figure that most people dared not to look at too openly, yet her amicable attitude and mundane wardrobe and make up allowed Tatsuya to comfortably converse with her.
"No wonder you're participating as a member of the technician team. Do your teammates know about 'Silver'?"
"Negative, that remains a secret."
Tatsuya shook his head as he replied to Yamanaka's question.
"Given the class difference, am I the only one who thinks that you serving as a CAD engineer in a high school contest constitutes cheating?"
"Captain Sanada, Tatsuya is a bona fide high school student."
Sanada grinned as he brought up a legitimate complaint. Fujibayashi smiled as well as she deflected Sanada's comment and turned back to Tatsuya.
"Why didn't you enter as a participant? I think that you would enjoy considerable success with your flash cast abilities. If necessary, even excluding 'Material Burst', you at least have 'Mist Dispersal' to fall back on."
"No, not only are both 'Material Burst' and 'Mist Dispersal' classified, their destructive power also exceeds the limits set by the competition. In addition, 'Material Burst' is only accessible with 'Third Eye'."
"But you brought the 'Trident' along, right?"
"That's also against the rules, specifically the ones regarding competition-use CADs. Furthermore, flash cast is one of the Yotsuba Family's secret techniques."
Tatsuya smiled wryly as he refuted Fujibayashi's suggestion. Immediately afterwards, Yanagi continued in a helpless tone:
"Fujibayashi...... You're actually suggesting we use Strategic-level
'Disintegration' Magic — 'Material Burst' in a high school competition. I'm calling shenanigans."
"I also don't believe that there will be an opportunity to use 'Material Burst' in the Nine Schools Competition. However, in last year's competition, the scion of the Juumonji Family used 'Phalanx' and the young lady from the Saegusa Family cast 'Magic Shooter', so I don't think using 'Mist Dispersal' is out of bounds."
"Fujibayashi-san, the Juumonji Family's 'Phalanx' ability is defensive magic, so there's no destructive power involved. Likewise, the greatest advantage in the Saegusa Family's 'Magic Shooter' is its sheer flexibility in force applied, so its destructive power also varies. On the other hand, 'Mist Dispersal' is indisputably an A-rank magic in destructive power that is able to reduce an object down to its molecular level, so they cannot be compared side by side."
"Aha, Captain Sanada, didn't you know? Destructive power is only measured in the events of the Nine Schools Competition that could affect the players themselves, so Speed Shooting and Icicle Destruction are not within its jurisdiction. Interestingly enough, the handbook that emphasizes safety first glosses over this point."
The Nine Schools Competition was changed to the current format 10 years ago. Of all the people present who had participated in the Nine Schools Competition, the only who had fought under the current rules was Fujibayashi, who assisted Second High in claiming the crown in her year.
Just as the two of them were about to embark upon a heated debate regarding their specialties, Kazama halted them in their tracks.
"Regardless, we cannot reveal any magic that constitutes a military secret before so many witnesses, so there's no point in discussing this, is there?"
Kazama intervened in his subordinates' debate like a man fighting off a headache.
Suddenly, his face assumed an emotionless mask as he turned on Tatsuya in a voice like cold steel:
"Speaking of which, Tatsuya, you understand that if you are called upon to serve as a participant......"
"Major, this one understands. If forced into a situation where 'Mist Dispersal' must be deployed, this one will choose to forfeit and accept his defeat."
Even with the sword still in its scabbard, Tatsuya could still tell the difference between real blades and bokkens. At any rate, seeing Kazama's serious attitude with a merciless blade lurking behind him, there was no way Tatsuya could misread Kazama's intention.
Kazama and Tatsuya both learned from the same master and there was a definite bond of friendship between the two. Yet, their mutual apprenticeship and friendship were not the first priority in Kazama's mind. If necessary, Kazama would abandon Tatsuya without any hesitation, and Tatsuya would do likewise.
"......However, this one cannot imagine any situation where he would be forced to participate as a player."
"That's a mental block. So long as you understand the situation."
Among everyone else's laughter, Kazama and Tatsuya fixed each other with an intense look and ended the conversation.
As the saying goes, "only God knows", but even with this in mind, Tatsuya's perspective was the more logical possibility. Both of them were of one mind on that point.
Nevertheless, neither Kazama nor Tatsuya were completely confident in Tatsuya's assessment of his own predicament.
◊ ◊ ◊
"Tatsuya-kun, over here, over here!"
This was the competition location for the Women's Speed Shooting event. After bidding farewell to Kazama's group and leaving their tea break, Tatsuya returned to find the stands bereft of spare seats. As he searched through the crowd for his friends, Erika found him first and called out to him.
"The Elite Eight must be that popular."
Tatsuya waded through the crowds and sat down next to Erika.
"That's because the President is on next — the other rounds don't have nearly as many spectators."
Tatsuya's words were only his private thoughts murmured aloud, but Miyuki, who was comfortably installed on Tatsuya's other side, politely responded.
This time, the sitting order was like this: Miyuki sat behind Leo, Mizuki was behind Erika, Honoka behind Tatsuya, and Shizuku behind Miyuki.
"Honoka, am I in your way?"
Tatsuya had hit a growth spurt since entering high school and was now nearly 180 cm (178 cm to be precise), and even with the difference in seating height, he was still worried that he was completely eclipsing Honoka's view.
However, Honoka grinned as she shook her head at Tatsuya, who had turned around to ask.
"Is that so......
By the way, where's Mikihiko?"
"He said he wasn't feeling well, so went back to his room to rest."
As Erika replied to Tatsuya's inquiry, her expression clearly added a "how useless" afterthought.
"He's likely affected by anxiety. I would probably faint if I wasn't wearing my glasses."
Mizuki spoke on Mikihiko's behalf.
No wonder, Tatsuya thought, this was a natural side effect for those who with acute senses.
He was highly interested in their respective emotional states, but opted to leave it be for now.
The instant Mayumi appeared on the shooting platform, a storm of cheers shook the observation area.
The screens placed around the observation deck flashed the words "Silence Please", causing the cheers to die out immediately.
With the absence of any sound, the anxiety level spiked. Tatsuya pitied her opponent a little.
Regardless of the competition, when facing a superstar, there was always added stress and anxiety.
Maybe he was concerned on the opponent's behalf.
As if completely tuning out the spectators' cheers, Mayumi flicked the safety off for the rifle-shaped CAD and prepared herself for the match. The tournament used lights to signal the start of the match.
From the Elite Eight onwards, the contest format resorted to duels. A hundred red targets and a hundred white targets were fired into the air and the victor was decided by who destroyed more of their designated target.
Actually, so long as no targets were shot forth by the machine, the round hadn't started yet.
Even so, for Speed Shooting players, the five signal lights remained the horn that sounded the commencement.
The first light flashed.
The lights gradually increased. Once they hit the peak, porcelain discs began filling the sky.
The white discs danced through the sky. Mayumi's target color was red.
The red-tinted targets all shattered the moment they entered firing range.
"Impressive......"
Tatsuya privately agreed with the sighs coming from behind him. It was truly impressive.
From a strategic perspective, this wasn't the most efficient method.
By taking down your own targets, your opponent wouldn't have to worry about accidentally gifting you points. The opponent could fire at any target they could see.
However, Mayumi's overwhelming power rendered this tactic moot. "Eh?"
Honoka let out a gasp.
Shizuku made no noise, but from her breathing patterns, she was no less astounded.
"The 'Magic Shooter'......
Is even faster than last year."
Tatsuya's eyes were locked onto the flying discs and nodded at
Miyuki's words.
For red discs obscured by the white discs in the sky, the ice particles shot through them "from below".
They weren't homing projectiles, as no one would test their luck with such inefficient magics.
This long range magic was attacking the red discs with ice particles from locations that were not obstructed by white discs.
She wasn't creating magic bullets, but shooting them — hence the name "Magic Shooter".
There were many magic abilities that could affect targets at long range.
In the Speed Shooting contest, Mayumi's use of bullets to snipe the target was actually the exception. Mainstream tactics involved casting Oscillation-Type Magic on the discs themselves to shatter them, or applying Move-Type Magic to have the discs collide into one another. Magic is not hampered by physical obstacles, so discs that are usually obscured from sight don't actually require a special skill to destroy.
In that case, why was the so-called "Magic Shooter" who specialized in using magic bullets from long distances deployed in this contest? What was her advantage?
The answer was that this magic allowed the user to strike from the blind spots outside of her opponent's casting range.
For example, assume that both players are using Oscillation-Type Magic on the discs in the same Speed Shooting round.
When the red and white discs are in close proximity, the two magics may interfere with one another and cause an unpredictable result – such as fizzling altogether or releasing ultrasonic shock waves.
When casting magic in the same general vicinity as other Magicians on the same long distance targets, one must carefully select the firing position and then apply strong interference.
The duel format for Speed Shooting was originally designed to test magic invocation speed and Magic Power, but with Mayumi sniping the targets from beyond her opponent's firing range, she effectively created a pocket of space where she was casting magic without interference.
Her opponent naturally enjoyed the same advantage.
In that case, the duel was decided solely on speed and precision targeting.
In terms of speed and precision targeting, Mayumi's Magic Power ranked among the foremost in the world.
High school students simply couldn't compare.
◊ ◊ ◊
The first day's round of "Speed Shooting" went as everyone predicted, with Mayumi earning a crushing victory in the Women's Division and the Men's Division also securing First Place.
"Congratulations, President!"
Mayumi smiled widely as she nodded to accept Azusa's praise. "Thank you, Mari also advanced into the semifinals."
She shifted her gaze to the side.
"Currently, everything is going according to plan." In her line of sight, Mari nodded in response.
As the night deepened, after catching a bite and some time in the bath, the only thing left was proper rest to restore what was lost during the day, so the female members (including the Public Morals Committee Chief) all congregated in Mayumi's room.
The first day's events were over and Mayumi still had to compete tomorrow, so they could save the official celebrations until after they seized the crown. Presently, they only raised cups of juice to celebrate.
The reason only women were present was because of time constraints. Still, it wasn't like they were planning on a pajama party, so even if men were present it wouldn't be an issue.
Given that, the reason why only women were present was because – "It got tense for a bit, but Hattori managed to pull through."
Just as Mari's lifeless words implied, victory for the Men's Division was not assured. "Speed Shooting" secured First Place as predicted, but the "Battle Board" preliminaries turned out to be a hard fought contest.
"Seems like the CAD wasn't properly adjusted for him. After the round, Kinosh*ta-senpai and I were both working on it, but......"
"It wasn't finished."
Hearing Azusa's words, Suzune examined the maintenance reports from all members from her terminal.
"Kinosh*ta's skills aren't bad......"
"Alas, they're not exceptional either."
Mayumi stuck up in Kinosh*ta's defense, but could only smile bitterly at Mari's direct analysis. Still, Azusa felt that this assessment was overly critical.
"Well...... I don't think Kinosh*ta-senpai is at fault here. I feel that
Hattori-kun's been out of sorts since arriving here."
"What I'm about to say may be harsh, but it is also up to the technician to take the player's mental status into account."
Yet, Mari swiftly rejected this defense.
"That may be true......
But......"
Mari was right in that this was the technician's duty, but the player also had a responsibility towards their own mental preparation.
Azusa thought of this, but kept it to herself. "OK, Mari. Stop picking on A-chan."
Mari's logic regarding players and Azusa's logic regarding technicians weren't right or wrong, but frankly parallel to one another. This required the leadership to intervene.
"Fortunately, Hattori-kun doesn't have to compete tomorrow, so it's up to the two of them to work it out...... Still, now the question becomes what are we going to do with the players Kinosh*ta-kun is responsible for tomorrow?"
"Kinosh*ta-kun is the secondary technician for the Women's 'Crowd
Ball'. Since he is the backup, I think that we'll still be OK without him."
"Yeah......
With Izumi there, I think we'll be OK......"
"Isn't leaving everything to Izumi too risky? There are six locations for Crowd Ball and two people appearing at the same location in the first round, and three people advance during the first round, then all three are in the second round at the same time. While Mayumi can cover for herself, this scenario naturally assumes the two others require CAD maintenance. Even if there is a larger interval between rounds, we still wouldn't have enough time based on our initial estimates. Wasn't that the whole point for having assistant technicians in the first place?"
Suzune supported Mayumi's decision but Mari looked reluctant. Her protest was born of the profound understanding of the importance of CAD maintenance and not disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing, but bringing up a valid argument for debate. Assigning shorthanded personnel was just such a difficult task.
"Why don't we pull the Men's assistant technician, Ishida, over to double as the Women's assistant technician?"
The Women's competition was in the morning while the Men's competition was in the afternoon, so Suzune's suggestion was valid from a scheduling point of view, but Mayumi vetoed it.
"If he had to perform maintenance during the morning and afternoon, that's too heavy of a workload for Ishida-kun. 'Crowd Ball' is the event with the highest number of rounds on that day."
"Then, can we call on Shiba-kun, who has no players scheduled for events for the next two days?"
After a brief moment of consideration, Mayumi nodded in agreement towards Suzune's proposal.
"......That might be for the best. Then, Miyuki-chan, can you alert
Tatsuya-kun for us?"
"Of course."
Miyuki smiled as she nodded her head to accept Mayumi's request. For Miyuki, any opportunity for her Onii-sama to shine was more than welcome.
◊ ◊ ◊
"......No wonder you visited at this hour."
Although they were siblings, this wasn't the time for young ladies to visit rooms belonging to those of the opposite gender.
Tatsuya waved Miyuki to sit on the bed and helplessly murmured. "......Did I inconvenience you, Onii-sama?"
Miyuki fidgeted as she watched Tatsuya nervously.
"No, thank you for notifying me, but......"
Until now, so long as Miyuki had that particular look in her eyes, Tatsuya never took a hard line with her.
"Even at a hotel, this isn't the time for young women to leave their rooms by themselves, right? Also, there's been a few incidents lately, so suspicious individuals may be lurking in the corridors."
At the very least, this was a military facility, so the security was much more intense than first class civilian hotels.
Miyuki felt that this was an exaggeration, but was very pleased that Tatsuya was worried about her.
"Yes, Onii-sama, I apologize."
"I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with smiling and apologizing at the same time......"
Tatsuya complained as he also smiled. Rather than calling his earlier words a scolding, they didn't even qualify as complaints. On top of that, Tatsuya dearly loved Miyuki, so he would never harshly reprimand his little sister.
"At any rate, thank you for letting me know, I'll escort you back to your room."
Tatsuya rose from his chair but Miyuki frantically stood up and waved her hands.
"No, I can go back by myself. Isn't Onii-sama busy right now? I've already interrupted your work, so I shouldn't take up any more of your time......"
"While I was in the middle of something, this was more for leisure than anything else, so don't worry about it."
Tatsuya closed the lid of the notepad terminal as if he wanted to avoid letting his sister see it.
"But, wasn't that a CAD code?"
Miyuki wasn't fluent with hardware, but under Tatsuya's influence, she had a decent grasp of software specifications.
She was unable to fully decipher the meaning with just one glance, but based on the serial numbers and coding language, she could identify the code for Activation Sequences.
"This little thing isn't related to the competition itself, so there's no problem if I set it aside for now. Also, the code itself is more like a toy than anything else."
"A...... toy?"
"I came up with a new idea for a close combat weapon, but there's almost no practical value in it besides shocking the opponent a little. Even if I completed it, there's no market for it."
"If that's the case, it still qualifies as pioneering new magic, right? I don't think Onii-sama's inventions are pointless."
"Probably reserved for entertainment purposes...... Anyways, this isn't particularly important, so there's no rush to finish. You are, of course, 'first priority'."
"Oh dear...... Really, Onii-sama, you actually said that I'm 'more important'......"
(Wha?)
Seeing his sister clasp her face in both hands and lower her head, Tatsuya plainly felt something odd had occurred.
Apparently, his earlier words had gone in a completely mystifying direction.
(She got the literal meaning right, but somewhere a fatal language error must have occurred......)
This confusion could not be dispelled immediately, but Tatsuya still snapped out of it faster than Miyuki.
"...... Let's head out."
"Yes, Onii-sama...... And...... Miyuki is the same as Onii-sama."
"Meaning......?"
"Miyuki also sees Onii-sama as the most important person."
"............"
Looks like his sister was still out of it — he hoped. Right now, Tatsuya clung onto that belief.
The day after Tatsuya's unplanned nighttime excursion.
The Nine Schools Competition began without further incident.
In the next ten days, the number of spectators alone exceeded 100,000 people. Even though the location was inconvenient, at least 10,000 spectators came every day to watch the contests, and the number of online viewers easily surpassed 100 times this number.
While it couldn't draw the same numbers as popular professional sports games, there was still a large number of people who paid attention to this event. That being said, very few people knew about the details regarding last night's incident.
The participants all possessed first class Magic Power but were still high school students.
The malefactors' attack ended without any meaningful accomplishment, so the military judged that it would not negatively impact the participants. As such, they elected to keep the secret.
Rather than calling the opening ceremony glamorous, an orderly impression was more obvious. The magic contests were gaudy enough in their own right, so there was no need for any additional ceremony to embellish the issue, and neither were there tedious speeches from dignitaries. After the school songs from the nine schools were played in succession, the events officially began.
The curtains were drawn for the next ten days, where men and women each competed in 5 events for the Official Division as well as the 5 events for men and women in the Newcomers Division for a total of 20 events.
The 1st day's events were the preliminaries and elimination rounds for "Speed Shooting" and the preliminaries for "Battle Board".
The difference in scheduling reflected the time needed for each event. "Onii-sama, the President is about to take the field."
"So our main strength is taking the stage for the first event, though I recall Watanabe-senpai's preliminary round is the third one?"
"Yes."
Tatsuya and company headed towards the Speed Shooting stands to watch Mayumi's event. From the left, the order was Shizuku, Honoka, Tatsuya, and Miyuki. They were not seated in the participants' area in the arena proper, but in the regular audience stands.
"Speed Shooting" involves using magic to destroy flying targets from 30 meters out within a limited period of time. The key lies in how accurate and how fast one could fire magic outwards, hence the name "Speed Shooting".
The contest was divided into two portions.
In the preliminary round, contestants advanced on individual merit based on the number of targets destroyed within five minutes.
The preliminary round simultaneously used four shooting galleries to conduct six contests, with the top eight advancing to the Elite Eight.
Also, only 24 contestants were allowed to participate.
If all nine schools sent three contestants, there would be a total of 27, but three of the nine lost their right to participate due to their performance from the previous year and were only able to dispatch two contestants.
Besides "Monolith Code", all events shared this rule. After the Elite Eight, the event turned into a duel format.
There were 100 red and 100 white targets in the arena, with the total number of corresponding targets destroyed determining the victor.
"Highly destructive magics can be used during the preliminaries to swiftly destroy a large number of targets in one go, but after the Elite Eight, precision targeting is far more important."
Shizuku nodded at Tatsuya's words, as Shizuku was the only one among them to participate in the Speed Shooting portion of the Newcomers Division.
"Generally speaking, most people use different magics during the preliminary and elimination rounds......"
"But President Saegusa is renowned for using the same magic during these two rounds."
In the middle of Tatsuya's explanation, a young lady behind them cut in.
"Erika."
"Hey, Tatsuya-kun."
"Yo."
"Morning."
"Tatsuya-kun, Miyuki-san, Honoka-san, Shizuku-san, good morning everyone."
Seated behind Tatsuya and company, from right to left, were Leo, Erika, Mizuki, and Mikihiko (but the speaking order was Erika, Leo, Mikihiko, and Mizuki).
The reason why the four of them found these spots was that they were sitting in the back row.
"Aren't there more spots up front?"
"That's because I saw Tatsuya-kun's group sitting here, and it's easier to see everything from the back, right?"
"True."
The stands were built like a series of rising stairs, with the higher levels in the back.
This is an event involving shooting targets at high speed, so the spectators in the front rows have to possess the same eyesight as the contestants.
Even so, the spectators still crowded forward, because— "Because there are an amazing amount of stupid boys."
Erika disdainfully declared in a way that wasn't altogether joking. "Looks like there are more than teenager boys mixed in." Tatsuya replied in a sarcastic tone.
In other words, for this reason, there were no spare seats in the front rows.
"Is this what is called 'Onee-sama~'? How depressing."
"Don't be like that, there might be considerable value up front. Even for someone like me who sees the President on a daily basis, she seems like a completely different person now."
"Whoa! Miyuki, what shall we do? Your Onii-sama has fallen for someone else!"
At Erika's ridiculous words, Tatsuya and Miyuki could only wryly smile.
The subject of their conversation was......
"The 'Elven Sniper', quite the suitable title."
"The President dislikes the term, so make sure not to bring it up in front of her."
Tatsuya's admonishment caused Honoka to shrug in her neck.
The teenage boys and girls squeezed into the front rows to admire Mayumi, who was waiting in the first shooting gallery for the contest to begin.
Mayumi wore a pair of mufflers over her luminous locks of hair, a pair of transparent goggles, an elastic pair of uniform pants and an upturned tunic that could be easily mistaken for a mini-suit. Paired with a rifle-shaped CAD that was mandatory for all Speed Shooting events, this created the perfect combination of cuteness and heroism as if she was the female lead in an upcoming movie.
"There are actually people who use the President as the subject for doujins......"
Mizuki softly said this probably because this getup jolted something in her memory.
"......That's the first I've heard of that."
However, this came so far out of left field that even Erika was barely able to manage a response in time.
"......Mizuki, exactly under what context did you come by this knowledge? If your 'interests' lie in that direction, I may have to re- examine our friendship."
Looks like Miyuki and Erika were thinking of the same thing. This outwardly serious voice contained roughly 10% earnestness.
"Eh? No, I don't have those kinds of interests!"
Still, Mizuki was undoubtedly the most shaken. "It's starting."
Mizuki was in a full state of panic at realizing what they were hinting at, but managed to snap out of it and quiet down at Tatsuya's words.
The spectator stands were deathly quiet.
The participants were wearing ear muffs, so no amount of audience noise would affect them, but this was a matter of principle.
The participants raised their slender, elongated rifles that almost looked like cane-shaped competition-use CADs, while their poise and concentration caused the silenced audience to grip the edge of their seats.
The flashing light signaled for them to begin.
Targets flew through the sky accompanied by soft firing sounds.
"They're fast......
!"
Were the soft words that burst out of Shizuku referring to the flight velocity of the targets?
—Or was she referring to Mayumi's magic that was busy smashing targets left and right?
Mayumi didn't raise her head and stood stock still with her CAD aimed forward.
This event never relied on using the rifle to shoot bullets, so there was no need to visually line up with the target and the CAD never possessed a muzzle or scope.
Rather than presenting arms, her stance was more akin to drawing a bow.
The targets shot forth at irregular intervals. A total of a hundred targets in five minutes.
On the average, that was one target every 3 seconds.
Compared to normal shooting, this was a ridiculously fast pace. Complicating the matter was that sometimes multiple targets shot forth within a tight interval and sometimes, five or six would fly out after a 10 second interval.
Mayumi shot down every "individual" target without missing a beat. The five minute contest was over in the blink of an eye.
"......She was perfect."
Mayumi removed her protective goggles and ear mufflers as she smiled in response to the spectators' applause. Seeing her, Tatsuya murmured as if he could think of nothing else to say.
"She was using sub-sonic bullets formed from ice particles, correct?"
Miyuki asked as she was applauding, prompting Tatsuya to smile and nod.
"Correct, I'm surprised you could tell."
"......
That was trivial enough that even I could see that......"
Erika retorted in a huff, causing Tatsuya to chuckle wryly.
"That's true, seeing the same magic a hundred times certainly makes it easier."
Someone averted their eyes in shame (probably because they couldn't see it), but Tatsuya elected to pretend he didn't see them.
"One hundred? She didn't miss once?"
Honoka asked Tatsuya in honest surprise, likely brought about by her direct personality.
"Correct, the amazing aspect is not the speed of magic invocation or number of times activated, but the precision entailed. Even using Sensory Magic at the same time, the individual still needs to use their brain to process the data. I don't know if it's because she's accumulated enough experience in repeated calculations or is simply that talented...... She is truly worthy of being one of the direct descendants of the Ten Master Clans."
"Did the President use Sensory Magic?"
Mizuki exclaimed in surprise, but the difference was that many people mirrored her expression this time.
"Long Range Visual Systematic Sensory Magic 'Multi-Observation' is not meant to examine non-material bodies or information bodies, but observe a physical object from multiple angles like a visual radar. The
President often uses this sort of magic."
Tatsuya's gaze asked "Didn't you notice?" to which Mizuki shook her head.
"During the school assembly, she would use this magic to 'watch' every corner, which is a very rare ability...... Don't you think that this level of shooting is impossible for the naked eye?"
"That's true."
Shizuku immediately replied. During the competition, she was putting herself in Mayumi's shoes and considering her options in the shooting gallery.
"Still, the President is using Speed-Type Magic to turn air molecules into ice particles then applying acceleration to sub-sonic levels and using Sensory Magic at the same time, right? With Sensory Magic running, and then using deceleration and acceleration back and forth a hundred times, the President has amazing Magic Power."
At this point, the "Magic Power" Leo was talking about did not refer to the "Magic Power" from the technical skills assessment, but the more generic context of having the physical capacity of repeatedly casting spells.
A common misunderstanding is that magic is an activity that consumes energy.
Phenomena are not rewritten by burning physical energy, but by editing the data surrounding the phenomena.
In order to edit the data, a Magic Sequence formed from psions is required, so the number of times magic can be invoked is limited by the difference in the scale of Magic Sequences. The "Magic Power" Leo is talking about here, if likened to an actual concept, would be similar to the mental strain exerted on the body.
"The President is using a variant of 'Hale Particles'. The original 'Hale Particles' is already a highly efficient form of magic and with the President's ability, she could probably cast this 1000 times rather than a paltry 100 times."
Tatsuya's endless praise towards Mayumi elicited complex expressions from Miyuki and the others.
They also acknowledged that Mayumi's Magic Power was incredible, but hearing Tatsuya, who was usually very critical on all things magic, give such unrestrained praise could not help but arouse some jealousy.
On the other hand, Leo was concerned about something else entirely.
"Eh, but to create ice in the heat of summer and then accelerate to subsonic levels should require a lot of power. Even if conservation of energy doesn't wholly apply to magic, I still find it hard to believe Tatsuya's assessment that you can use such a small amount of magic to achieve such a level of phenomena rewriting."
"While it may not wholly apply, that does not mean they are unrelated."
Tatsuya rose and headed towards the "Battle Board" spectator stands while responding with this mysterious answer.
"What do you mean?"
Leo chased after Tatsuya and asked again.
"Magic is a technique that involves changing phenomena and is not limited by conservation of energy. However, the object being rewritten remains bound by the law of conservation of energy. For example, if you apply Speed Magic to an object, without using magic to maintain its condition, the accelerated object will turn cold, since the objects own heat is being converted to energy of motion; if you cast Heat Magic on a speeding object, without using magic to maintain its velocity, then the target object will slow down, since the object’s energy of motion is being converted to heat. Generally, magic strives to avoid changing unrelated aspects by adding in measures to maintain the status quo, so there's rarely an opportunity to observe this in action.
The laws of physics are very difficult to circumvent and, even when altered by illogical forces like magic, it will attempt to revert back to a logical outcome. Thus, magic that does not break the law of conservation of energy remains a 'natural' phenomenon and from a magic perspective, it does not require high interference strength.
You should understand by now, right? The magic used to accelerate the ice particles is based on taking the heat that is removed from the frozen particles and converting it into the energy of projectile motion, thus scamming the laws of physics. While this runs counter to the law of entropy and is something that would never occur in nature, it’s a more logical explanation than simply constructing ice particles, accelerating the ice particles with magic, then applying thermodynamics."
"......I get the feeling that I've just been conned."
"Leo, magic is an ability used to 'deftly deceive the world', remember that."
"In other words, we Magicians are con artists out to ruin the world?"
"The stronger the Magician, the more likely he’s a crook."
Tatsuya was utterly serious as he explained all of this, but at Erika and Shizuku's added commentary, he could only smile in response.
◊ ◊ ◊
"Battle Board" was a contest where the participant used a spindle- shaped surf board that was 285 cm long and 51 cm wide to navigate an artificial waterway. The surf board had no propulsion of its own, so the participants needed to use magic to arrive at the finish line. During the course, attacks on other players themselves or their boards were forbidden, but magic was allowed to be cast on the water's surface.
There was no unified set of rules for this event. This contest was originally designed by the navy to train Magicians, so with magic as a prerequisite, it was impossible for this event to be popularized enough to warrant a unified set of rules.
The Battle Board portion of the Nine Schools Competition involved completing three laps around a 3 km long waterway. The waterway possessed straight courses and sharp turns as well as uphill and waterfall portions.
Men and women each raced on a separate track, but there were no notable differences in difficulty.
The preliminary stage contained six rounds with four contestants each, while the elimination stage contained two rounds with three contestants each, with the four eliminated players competing for third place. The finals were held in a duel format.
The average duration of each round was 15 minutes.
The highest speed may exceed 30 knots — which is roughly 55~60 km per hour. Atop the surf board, the players had no cover against the incoming wind. Unlike other nautical races that could benefit from being downwind, Battle Board was entirely against the wind. Just dealing with the air resistance alone quickly sapped the players' endurance.
"Female contestants usually have a hard time in this event. Honoka, how are you physically?"
"No problems. On Tatsuya-kun's advice, I've been undergoing physical training. After being selected, I've also lengthened my hours of sleep."
Unrelated to the Nine Schools Competition, Tatsuya was concerned about Honoka's physical stamina from the first moment they met and thus advised her to not just undergo magic training, but also physical training as well. Tatsuya merely mentioned this out of hand, but Honoka surprisingly took it to heart.
"Honoka really put on some muscle."
"Ew, Miyuki, don't be like that. I don't want to be a female body builder."
Hearing this two-sided conversation, even Tatsuya laughed aloud.
"You see......
Even Tatsuya-kun laughed."
"He's only laughing because Honoka's spoken in an odd manner."
"Now even Shizuku is saying so...... Fine, I know when I'm being excluded. I'm not like the two of you — Tatsuya-kun isn’t willing to take care of my event."
Honoka's sudden tantrum mystified Tatsuya so much that he couldn't laugh any more.
Exactly why was she gunning for him now?
"......I'm responsible for Honoka's support and maintenance during
'Mirage Bat'."
At any rate, Tatsuya only responded to her literal complaint. However......
"So 'Battle Board' isn't included? Plainly, both of Miyuki and Shizuku's events are within Tatsuya-kun's purview......"
This seemed to have achieved the opposite effect.
"......
Instead, I've helped you train and strategize, so it's not like I'm excluding you......"
While trying to justify himself, Tatsuya felt himself falling into a sticky predicament and started to stutter.
"Tatsuya-kun, Honoka-san isn't referring to that."
Upon seeing this, Mizuki interrupted, but it didn't sound like she couldn't stand this scene any longer.
"Onii-sama......
I think you're being a little too slow."
Following Mizuki, it was Miyuki's turn.
"We've discovered Tatsuya-kun's unexpected weakness." And Erika next.
"Blockhead?"
Shizuku also joined in on the attack.
Under siege from the women, Tatsuya was struck speechless. He felt that they were being ridiculously illogical, but at the same time he felt that resistance was futile.
Not that he got any support from the guys.
Until the contest began, Tatsuya could only patiently endure this situation.
◊ ◊ ◊
With the waterway ready and the contestants assuming ready positions, Tatsuya finally escaped.
On route, he understood what Miyuki and the others were driving at.
That being said, understanding another's proposal was entirely different from being able to act on it.
In the future, he needed to be more prudent and keep his mouth shut
—Tatsuya inwardly promised himself as he watched the four contestants float towards the starting line.
Being that this is on water, there's no way to draw lines (not that anyone could even if they wanted to).
Four people lined up along the passage, with Mari standing in the middle.
The other contestants were kneeling on one knee or both to prepare to charge, only Mari stood straight.
This scene primarily reflected the difference in balance between the participants, but from another perspective, Her Majesty the Queen was lording over the other participants (not just the queen, "Her Majesty" the Queen).
"Whoa, that woman is just as arrogant as usual......"
Hearing Erika's whisper, Tatsuya felt that she was displaying her enmity "as usual".
Still, he had just vowed to "keep his mouth shut", so he refrained from commenting.
Leo and Mizuki, who were seated at Erika's sides, also seemed oblivious.
The giant screen hanging from the airship in the sky displayed all four of the contestants' names.
Only Mari revealed a fearless grin.
She truly is the perfect type to play the antagonist's role, Tatsuya thought.
However, many among the female high school students would disagree with him.
When the announcer responsible for identifying the participants proclaimed Mari's name, the stands — especially the front rows — fairly shook from feminine shrieks.
Mari waved in response, which only intensified the screams.
"......Looks like our senpai has a crowd of diehard fans."
Compared to the young men who supported Mayumi, the insanity of this group was several times more intense.
"Watanabe-senpai cuts a dashing figure, so I can sympathize somewhat."
Miyuki agreed from a bystander's perspective. Ironically, after the Nine Schools Competition, Miyuki would possess eternally loyal fans from either gender that far outnumbered Mayumi's male fans and Mari's female fans. If she could foretell her own future, Miyuki may resonate with the same feeling lurking beneath Mari's mask as she smiled at her fans, but right now she couldn't care less.
"Battle Board" was a contest held at the height of summer, but the contestants did not wear swimsuits.
The bodysuits that tightly covered the entire body bore the emblems of each school.
As Mari stood above the water, her hair fluttered as it hung from the hair band keeping it in place, painting a picture that would not be out of place on the cover of a novel about young cavaliers.
Erika should have heard Miyuki's words, but she didn't immediately respond.
"Get set......"
The loudspeaker sent out the signal. At the crack of a gun, the race was on. "Self-detonation tactics?"
Erika murmured in disbelief.
Tatsuya was similarly struck speechless.
When the race started, the contestant from Fourth High detonated the water behind them.
She probably intended to create waves to disrupt the other players while riding the waves for further propulsion, but......
"Ah, she stabilized."
Creating a giant tidal wave was useless if it disrupted your own balance.
Mari had successfully charged in the beginning, so she wasn't affected by the chaos caused by the contestant from Fourth High and was now completely in the lead.
Mari's surf board was sliding over the water's surface.
She probably wasn't using Move-Type Magic to steer, but treated the board and her physical body as one entity, or even casting magic on two objects simultaneously — her body itself and the board.
Regardless of which it was, this required precise target selection for magic.
The board clung to the water's surface and deftly rounded a sharp corner.
Her stability was so complete it was like her feet were glued to the board.
"So she's re-calculating Application-Type Fortifying Magic along with Move-Type Magic."
Tatsuya didn't need to dissect the Magic Sequence. He saw through the mechanism based on Mari's posture and methods for maintaining balance as she coursed through the water.
"Fortifying Magic?"
Leo's ears pricked up at those words and immediately asked.
This was an area that Leo specialized in, so there was no way he wasn’t interested.
"What's the target for fortification?"
"Senpai stabilized the connection between herself and the board to avoid falling off."
Leo adopted a questioning look probably because he couldn't follow Tatsuya's meaning.
Naturally, Tatsuya never demanded that he catch on so adroitly.
"Fortifying Magic isn't only used for strengthening an object's durability, but to stabilize an object's corresponding location, do you understand so far?"
"Of course, because I use it myself."
"Watanabe-senpai cast magic to stabilize her position and connected herself to the board to form one object, then applied Move Magic to this now uniform 'body' that consists of herself and the board. In addition, this isn't a sustained-type magic but alternating between Fortifying Magic and Move Magic at appropriate intervals based on the changes in the terrain to deftly avoid magic overlap."
Owing to the fact this was a magic he specialized in, Leo could understand this was an extremely complex technique.
"Wow......"
Leo sighed in amazement.
On the other hand......
"Yet, this method seems to be lacking something......
True, the target of Fortifying Magic isn't restricted to objects formed from the same material. Hm, given that......"
Thanks to his habits as an engineering prodigy, Tatsuya fell into a deep thought that would not be out of place for a mad scientist.
"Onii-sama?"
Miyuki's voice roused him from his contemplation.
During the brief moment where Tatsuya averted his gaze, Mari's figure had already disappeared around the blind spot and was lost to sight.
Tatsuya vaguely replied with "It's nothing" and focused his attention back onto the large screen.
Mari was gliding up the waterways against the current. "Speed Magic."
From her movements, she must have used a technique that reversed the vectors for acceleration.
"And also used Oscillation-Type Magic, right?"
At the same time, she employed magic to create reverse waves to lessen the water resistance.
"Nicely played, she's juggling three to four magics together during re- calculation."
Tatsuya's praise burst from his mouth.
None of the magics were particularly powerful.
Yet, the combined effect was unimaginably powerful.
Compared to Mayumi, who had raised high speed precision magic to an art form to stun the audience, Mari relied on lightning fast decision making and wide variety of tools to paint a veritable rainbow of overlapping magics to delight the audience.
The two of them had already far exceeded high school quality. After Mari reached the peak, she leaped down the waterfall.
The moment Mari splashed down, an obvious tidal wave splashed outwards.
The tidal wave generated by Mari not only propelled her forward, but also nearly upset the player in second place who was behind her.
"What a strategist......"
"That's just a devious personality revealing itself."
Erika replied with an angry retort to Tatsuya's whispering. Tatsuya half agreed, so he didn't make any particular rebuttal. That being said, "a devious personality" was high praise for a strategist.
Before the first lap was even finished, Mari's victory was all but certain.
◊ ◊ ◊
Battle Board’s preliminary stage was slated for today and after lunch
—only the fourth through sixth rounds were left. After deciding to watch the semifinals and finals for Speed Shooting, Tatsuya bid farewell to his friends.
He returned to the hotel and walked towards the rooms reserved for higher-ranking officers. This is to fulfill the promise he made to Kazama last night.
Kazama held the rank of major, but his experiences and the unique nature of the troops under his command granted him treatment above his official rank. In this suite that was normally restricted to colonels and higher, Kazama was enjoying a quick break with the officer cadre while enjoying the tea and snacks ordered from room service.
"So you're here, come, sit."
Tatsuya was brought into the room by the soldiers on duty (not soldiers from this base, but under Kazama's direct command) and even though Kazama extended a cordial invitation for him to be seated, Tatsuya hesitated upon seeing who the officers were.
Tatsuya's rank "Special Lieutenant" was not a "commissioned officer" but "a non-commissioned officer recognized as a soldier by international standards" (presently, this country's battalions no longer possessed the "associate officer" system). Soldiers that were not restricted by the military's ranking system but still maintained the right to participate on the front lines could only be found in the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion's command structure during active duty. However, even without a built-in ranking system, everyone present was still a superior officer and, more importantly, an elder, so he couldn't casually accept such an invitation.
"Tatsuya, today we're not treating you as 'Strategic-Class Magician Special Lieutenant Ooguro Ryuuya', but as our good friend 'Shiba Tatsuya', so being too formal would only be inconvenient."
"It's also difficult to converse with you standing all the time, so why don't you take a seat?"
At this time, the two officers at the table also motioned for Tatsuya to sit.
"Captain Sanada, Captain Yanagi......
Understood, pardon my interruption."
Friendship that transcended age prompted Tatsuya to abandon his overly formal attitude to avoid being impolite. After a round of greetings, he sat directly across from Kazama.
They were seated at a round table.
The afternoon tea time for the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was for them to relax and unwind.
Even though Tatsuya's seat was closest to the door, the adults still welcomed him as one of them.
"First of all, long time no see. I know we shouldn't use tea cups for this, but cheers."
"Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi, thank you."
The female officer serving as Kazama's adjutant — more like secretary — handed him a tea cup, which Tatsuya accepted on a small plate while signaling with his eyes.
Today, she was in casual clothes rather than in uniform, which gave off the aura of "a young secretary from a major corporation".
Not just her, but everyone was in suits or casual garb where the shirts didn't match the jacket.
"In reality, we met earlier, but let's cut Fujibayashi some slack."
"Dr. Yamanaka, you don't need to force yourself."
"No, I'm not that unsociable to ruin the moment when we raise cups to celebrate our reunion."
"......
The doctor's just looking for a reason to pour some brandy into the teacups, right?"
"The situation demands alcohol."
"Really......
I thought 'doctors not treating themselves' meant something else entirely......"
The one who leisurely replied to Captain Yanagi's confusion was doctor and first class healer — Combat Medic Yamanaka.
Including Kazama, there were 5 people in total who shook their heads in exasperation, which were all the officers from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion who greeted Tatsuya.
"Captain Yanagi, Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi, it's been a while. Captain Sanada, thanks for your recent support."
Tatsuya started off with greeting the two he hadn't seen for some time, then finished with thanking Captain Sanada who assisted him at the base last month.
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you. Only you are capable of handling 'Third Eye's' long range precision targeting system."
"That's because that CAD was originally designed for this one to use...... Speaking of which, Doctor Yamanaka, I haven't received the examination results from last time."
"......Tatsuya, am I the only one being treated differently?"
"Doctor...... I don't think anyone could view a doctor who directly asked for permission to conduct human experimentation in a positive light."
Fujibayashi retorted at Yamanaka's words. Yamanaka deliberately turned his head to one side. Laughter suffused the round table.
Though they claimed that it had been a while, in reality it's not like they haven't seen each other for years.
Yanagi was the one who had been absent the longest at approximately six months, while Sanada and Yamanaka were last seen about a month ago.
The topic naturally turned to a sit rep where they conversed about the criminal organization that may seek to act during the Nine Schools Competition.
Just as they had discussed over the phone, the malefactors from last night were part of "No-Head Dragon". Unfortunately, they still had no information regarding the group's intent and goals. That being said, any one of the five people here (especially Yamanaka) could easily obtain results if they were in charge of interrogations, but currently they didn't want to proactively join the investigation.
"Still, that was quite the show you put on last night, or were you prepared ahead of time?"
"The Major overestimates this one's abilities, this one only caught wind of their presence while out on a stroll."
"That late?"
"Because CAD maintenance ran over time."
Owing to their similar age, the one Tatsuya spoke with the most in this group was of course Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi. Thanks to her military training, she possessed a magnificent figure that most people dared not to look at too openly, yet her amicable attitude and mundane wardrobe and make up allowed Tatsuya to comfortably converse with her.
"No wonder you're participating as a member of the technician team. Do your teammates know about 'Silver'?"
"Negative, that remains a secret."
Tatsuya shook his head as he replied to Yamanaka's question.
"Given the class difference, am I the only one who thinks that you serving as a CAD engineer in a high school contest constitutes cheating?"
"Captain Sanada, Tatsuya is a bona fide high school student."
Sanada grinned as he brought up a legitimate complaint. Fujibayashi smiled as well as she deflected Sanada's comment and turned back to Tatsuya.
"Why didn't you enter as a participant? I think that you would enjoy considerable success with your flash cast abilities. If necessary, even excluding 'Material Burst', you at least have 'Mist Dispersal' to fall back on."
"No, not only are both 'Material Burst' and 'Mist Dispersal' classified, their destructive power also exceeds the limits set by the competition. In addition, 'Material Burst' is only accessible with 'Third Eye'."
"But you brought the 'Trident' along, right?"
"That's also against the rules, specifically the ones regarding competition-use CADs. Furthermore, flash cast is one of the Yotsuba Family's secret techniques."
Tatsuya smiled wryly as he refuted Fujibayashi's suggestion. Immediately afterwards, Yanagi continued in a helpless tone:
"Fujibayashi...... You're actually suggesting we use Strategic-level
'Disintegration' Magic — 'Material Burst' in a high school competition. I'm calling shenanigans."
"I also don't believe that there will be an opportunity to use 'Material Burst' in the Nine Schools Competition. However, in last year's competition, the scion of the Juumonji Family used 'Phalanx' and the young lady from the Saegusa Family cast 'Magic Shooter', so I don't think using 'Mist Dispersal' is out of bounds."
"Fujibayashi-san, the Juumonji Family's 'Phalanx' ability is defensive magic, so there's no destructive power involved. Likewise, the greatest advantage in the Saegusa Family's 'Magic Shooter' is its sheer flexibility in force applied, so its destructive power also varies. On the other hand, 'Mist Dispersal' is indisputably an A-rank magic in destructive power that is able to reduce an object down to its molecular level, so they cannot be compared side by side."
"Aha, Captain Sanada, didn't you know? Destructive power is only measured in the events of the Nine Schools Competition that could affect the players themselves, so Speed Shooting and Icicle Destruction are not within its jurisdiction. Interestingly enough, the handbook that emphasizes safety first glosses over this point."
The Nine Schools Competition was changed to the current format 10 years ago. Of all the people present who had participated in the Nine Schools Competition, the only who had fought under the current rules was Fujibayashi, who assisted Second High in claiming the crown in her year.
Just as the two of them were about to embark upon a heated debate regarding their specialties, Kazama halted them in their tracks.
"Regardless, we cannot reveal any magic that constitutes a military secret before so many witnesses, so there's no point in discussing this, is there?"
Kazama intervened in his subordinates' debate like a man fighting off a headache.
Suddenly, his face assumed an emotionless mask as he turned on Tatsuya in a voice like cold steel:
"Speaking of which, Tatsuya, you understand that if you are called upon to serve as a participant......"
"Major, this one understands. If forced into a situation where 'Mist Dispersal' must be deployed, this one will choose to forfeit and accept his defeat."
Even with the sword still in its scabbard, Tatsuya could still tell the difference between real blades and bokkens. At any rate, seeing Kazama's serious attitude with a merciless blade lurking behind him, there was no way Tatsuya could misread Kazama's intention.
Kazama and Tatsuya both learned from the same master and there was a definite bond of friendship between the two. Yet, their mutual apprenticeship and friendship were not the first priority in Kazama's mind. If necessary, Kazama would abandon Tatsuya without any hesitation, and Tatsuya would do likewise.
"......However, this one cannot imagine any situation where he would be forced to participate as a player."
"That's a mental block. So long as you understand the situation."
Among everyone else's laughter, Kazama and Tatsuya fixed each other with an intense look and ended the conversation.
As the saying goes, "only God knows", but even with this in mind, Tatsuya's perspective was the more logical possibility. Both of them were of one mind on that point.
Nevertheless, neither Kazama nor Tatsuya were completely confident in Tatsuya's assessment of his own predicament.
◊ ◊ ◊
"Tatsuya-kun, over here, over here!"
This was the competition location for the Women's Speed Shooting event. After bidding farewell to Kazama's group and leaving their tea break, Tatsuya returned to find the stands bereft of spare seats. As he searched through the crowd for his friends, Erika found him first and called out to him.
"The Elite Eight must be that popular."
Tatsuya waded through the crowds and sat down next to Erika.
"That's because the President is on next — the other rounds don't have nearly as many spectators."
Tatsuya's words were only his private thoughts murmured aloud, but Miyuki, who was comfortably installed on Tatsuya's other side, politely responded.
This time, the sitting order was like this: Miyuki sat behind Leo, Mizuki was behind Erika, Honoka behind Tatsuya, and Shizuku behind Miyuki.
"Honoka, am I in your way?"
Tatsuya had hit a growth spurt since entering high school and was now nearly 180 cm (178 cm to be precise), and even with the difference in seating height, he was still worried that he was completely eclipsing Honoka's view.
However, Honoka grinned as she shook her head at Tatsuya, who had turned around to ask.
"Is that so......
By the way, where's Mikihiko?"
"He said he wasn't feeling well, so went back to his room to rest."
As Erika replied to Tatsuya's inquiry, her expression clearly added a "how useless" afterthought.
"He's likely affected by anxiety. I would probably faint if I wasn't wearing my glasses."
Mizuki spoke on Mikihiko's behalf.
No wonder, Tatsuya thought, this was a natural side effect for those who with acute senses.
He was highly interested in their respective emotional states, but opted to leave it be for now.
The instant Mayumi appeared on the shooting platform, a storm of cheers shook the observation area.
The screens placed around the observation deck flashed the words "Silence Please", causing the cheers to die out immediately.
With the absence of any sound, the anxiety level spiked. Tatsuya pitied her opponent a little.
Regardless of the competition, when facing a superstar, there was always added stress and anxiety.
Maybe he was concerned on the opponent's behalf.
As if completely tuning out the spectators' cheers, Mayumi flicked the safety off for the rifle-shaped CAD and prepared herself for the match. The tournament used lights to signal the start of the match.
From the Elite Eight onwards, the contest format resorted to duels. A hundred red targets and a hundred white targets were fired into the air and the victor was decided by who destroyed more of their designated target.
Actually, so long as no targets were shot forth by the machine, the round hadn't started yet.
Even so, for Speed Shooting players, the five signal lights remained the horn that sounded the commencement.
The first light flashed.
The lights gradually increased. Once they hit the peak, porcelain discs began filling the sky.
The white discs danced through the sky. Mayumi's target color was red.
The red-tinted targets all shattered the moment they entered firing range.
"Impressive......"
Tatsuya privately agreed with the sighs coming from behind him. It was truly impressive.
From a strategic perspective, this wasn't the most efficient method.
By taking down your own targets, your opponent wouldn't have to worry about accidentally gifting you points. The opponent could fire at any target they could see.
However, Mayumi's overwhelming power rendered this tactic moot. "Eh?"
Honoka let out a gasp.
Shizuku made no noise, but from her breathing patterns, she was no less astounded.
"The 'Magic Shooter'......
Is even faster than last year."
Tatsuya's eyes were locked onto the flying discs and nodded at
Miyuki's words.
For red discs obscured by the white discs in the sky, the ice particles shot through them "from below".
They weren't homing projectiles, as no one would test their luck with such inefficient magics.
This long range magic was attacking the red discs with ice particles from locations that were not obstructed by white discs.
She wasn't creating magic bullets, but shooting them — hence the name "Magic Shooter".
There were many magic abilities that could affect targets at long range.
In the Speed Shooting contest, Mayumi's use of bullets to snipe the target was actually the exception. Mainstream tactics involved casting Oscillation-Type Magic on the discs themselves to shatter them, or applying Move-Type Magic to have the discs collide into one another. Magic is not hampered by physical obstacles, so discs that are usually obscured from sight don't actually require a special skill to destroy.
In that case, why was the so-called "Magic Shooter" who specialized in using magic bullets from long distances deployed in this contest? What was her advantage?
The answer was that this magic allowed the user to strike from the blind spots outside of her opponent's casting range.
For example, assume that both players are using Oscillation-Type Magic on the discs in the same Speed Shooting round.
When the red and white discs are in close proximity, the two magics may interfere with one another and cause an unpredictable result – such as fizzling altogether or releasing ultrasonic shock waves.
When casting magic in the same general vicinity as other Magicians on the same long distance targets, one must carefully select the firing position and then apply strong interference.
The duel format for Speed Shooting was originally designed to test magic invocation speed and Magic Power, but with Mayumi sniping the targets from beyond her opponent's firing range, she effectively created a pocket of space where she was casting magic without interference.
Her opponent naturally enjoyed the same advantage.
In that case, the duel was decided solely on speed and precision targeting.
In terms of speed and precision targeting, Mayumi's Magic Power ranked among the foremost in the world.
High school students simply couldn't compare.
◊ ◊ ◊
The first day's round of "Speed Shooting" went as everyone predicted, with Mayumi earning a crushing victory in the Women's Division and the Men's Division also securing First Place.
"Congratulations, President!"
Mayumi smiled widely as she nodded to accept Azusa's praise. "Thank you, Mari also advanced into the semifinals."
She shifted her gaze to the side.
"Currently, everything is going according to plan." In her line of sight, Mari nodded in response.
As the night deepened, after catching a bite and some time in the bath, the only thing left was proper rest to restore what was lost during the day, so the female members (including the Public Morals Committee Chief) all congregated in Mayumi's room.
The first day's events were over and Mayumi still had to compete tomorrow, so they could save the official celebrations until after they seized the crown. Presently, they only raised cups of juice to celebrate.
The reason only women were present was because of time constraints. Still, it wasn't like they were planning on a pajama party, so even if men were present it wouldn't be an issue.
Given that, the reason why only women were present was because – "It got tense for a bit, but Hattori managed to pull through."
Just as Mari's lifeless words implied, victory for the Men's Division was not assured. "Speed Shooting" secured First Place as predicted, but the "Battle Board" preliminaries turned out to be a hard fought contest.
"Seems like the CAD wasn't properly adjusted for him. After the round, Kinosh*ta-senpai and I were both working on it, but......"
"It wasn't finished."
Hearing Azusa's words, Suzune examined the maintenance reports from all members from her terminal.
"Kinosh*ta's skills aren't bad......"
"Alas, they're not exceptional either."
Mayumi stuck up in Kinosh*ta's defense, but could only smile bitterly at Mari's direct analysis. Still, Azusa felt that this assessment was overly critical.
"Well...... I don't think Kinosh*ta-senpai is at fault here. I feel that
Hattori-kun's been out of sorts since arriving here."
"What I'm about to say may be harsh, but it is also up to the technician to take the player's mental status into account."
Yet, Mari swiftly rejected this defense.
"That may be true......
But......"
Mari was right in that this was the technician's duty, but the player also had a responsibility towards their own mental preparation.
Azusa thought of this, but kept it to herself. "OK, Mari. Stop picking on A-chan."
Mari's logic regarding players and Azusa's logic regarding technicians weren't right or wrong, but frankly parallel to one another. This required the leadership to intervene.
"Fortunately, Hattori-kun doesn't have to compete tomorrow, so it's up to the two of them to work it out...... Still, now the question becomes what are we going to do with the players Kinosh*ta-kun is responsible for tomorrow?"
"Kinosh*ta-kun is the secondary technician for the Women's 'Crowd
Ball'. Since he is the backup, I think that we'll still be OK without him."
"Yeah......
With Izumi there, I think we'll be OK......"
"Isn't leaving everything to Izumi too risky? There are six locations for Crowd Ball and two people appearing at the same location in the first round, and three people advance during the first round, then all three are in the second round at the same time. While Mayumi can cover for herself, this scenario naturally assumes the two others require CAD maintenance. Even if there is a larger interval between rounds, we still wouldn't have enough time based on our initial estimates. Wasn't that the whole point for having assistant technicians in the first place?"
Suzune supported Mayumi's decision but Mari looked reluctant. Her protest was born of the profound understanding of the importance of CAD maintenance and not disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing, but bringing up a valid argument for debate. Assigning shorthanded personnel was just such a difficult task.
"Why don't we pull the Men's assistant technician, Ishida, over to double as the Women's assistant technician?"
The Women's competition was in the morning while the Men's competition was in the afternoon, so Suzune's suggestion was valid from a scheduling point of view, but Mayumi vetoed it.
"If he had to perform maintenance during the morning and afternoon, that's too heavy of a workload for Ishida-kun. 'Crowd Ball' is the event with the highest number of rounds on that day."
"Then, can we call on Shiba-kun, who has no players scheduled for events for the next two days?"
After a brief moment of consideration, Mayumi nodded in agreement towards Suzune's proposal.
"......That might be for the best. Then, Miyuki-chan, can you alert
Tatsuya-kun for us?"
"Of course."
Miyuki smiled as she nodded her head to accept Mayumi's request. For Miyuki, any opportunity for her Onii-sama to shine was more than welcome.
◊ ◊ ◊
"......No wonder you visited at this hour."
Although they were siblings, this wasn't the time for young ladies to visit rooms belonging to those of the opposite gender.
Tatsuya waved Miyuki to sit on the bed and helplessly murmured. "......Did I inconvenience you, Onii-sama?"
Miyuki fidgeted as she watched Tatsuya nervously.
"No, thank you for notifying me, but......"
Until now, so long as Miyuki had that particular look in her eyes, Tatsuya never took a hard line with her.
"Even at a hotel, this isn't the time for young women to leave their rooms by themselves, right? Also, there's been a few incidents lately, so suspicious individuals may be lurking in the corridors."
At the very least, this was a military facility, so the security was much more intense than first class civilian hotels.
Miyuki felt that this was an exaggeration, but was very pleased that Tatsuya was worried about her.
"Yes, Onii-sama, I apologize."
"I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with smiling and apologizing at the same time......"
Tatsuya complained as he also smiled. Rather than calling his earlier words a scolding, they didn't even qualify as complaints. On top of that, Tatsuya dearly loved Miyuki, so he would never harshly reprimand his little sister.
"At any rate, thank you for letting me know, I'll escort you back to your room."
Tatsuya rose from his chair but Miyuki frantically stood up and waved her hands.
"No, I can go back by myself. Isn't Onii-sama busy right now? I've already interrupted your work, so I shouldn't take up any more of your time......"
"While I was in the middle of something, this was more for leisure than anything else, so don't worry about it."
Tatsuya closed the lid of the notepad terminal as if he wanted to avoid letting his sister see it.
"But, wasn't that a CAD code?"
Miyuki wasn't fluent with hardware, but under Tatsuya's influence, she had a decent grasp of software specifications.
She was unable to fully decipher the meaning with just one glance, but based on the serial numbers and coding language, she could identify the code for Activation Sequences.
"This little thing isn't related to the competition itself, so there's no problem if I set it aside for now. Also, the code itself is more like a toy than anything else."
"A...... toy?"
"I came up with a new idea for a close combat weapon, but there's almost no practical value in it besides shocking the opponent a little. Even if I completed it, there's no market for it."
"If that's the case, it still qualifies as pioneering new magic, right? I don't think Onii-sama's inventions are pointless."
"Probably reserved for entertainment purposes...... Anyways, this isn't particularly important, so there's no rush to finish. You are, of course, 'first priority'."
"Oh dear...... Really, Onii-sama, you actually said that I'm 'more important'......"
(Wha?)
Seeing his sister clasp her face in both hands and lower her head, Tatsuya plainly felt something odd had occurred.
Apparently, his earlier words had gone in a completely mystifying direction.
(She got the literal meaning right, but somewhere a fatal language error must have occurred......)
This confusion could not be dispelled immediately, but Tatsuya still snapped out of it faster than Miyuki.
"...... Let's head out."
"Yes, Onii-sama...... And...... Miyuki is the same as Onii-sama."
"Meaning......?"
"Miyuki also sees Onii-sama as the most important person."
"............"
Looks like his sister was still out of it — he hoped. Right now, Tatsuya clung onto that belief.
