Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 02 - Enrollment Chapter (II)

by Sato Tsutomu

"... The labs and library!"

  "So, the attack over here is a diversion? But the scale is far greater than we imagined. Unless the secret meetings to organize the protests during the forum was in itself the diversion."

  Regarding Miyuki's questions, Tatsuya shook his head.

  "No, I think they're all real. Someone may be using the Alliance for their own purposes."

  How pitiful, Tatsuya thought but kept that to himself. If they were accused of this without being given any chance to defend themselves, it would probably be gravely insulting to the ones who truly wanted to change the system for the better.

  "Let's table this for now. So, what should we do next?"

  There were 3 choices.

  Their first option would be to split their forces.

  Alternately, they could all head for the Science Building.

  Or, head for the library.

  "Their target is the library."

  This newly acquired intelligence decided their strategy.

  "Ono-sensei?"

  She was wearing a pair of low-heeled boots with a long pair of jeans, with a gleaming sweater tucked inside her jacket.

  Today's wardrobe, a getup that emphasized mobility, was quite different from the one she wore several days before.

  The luster denoted that the fabric was probably a fiber strengthened with bulletproof and anti-blade qualities.

  Her expression was tense and nervous, giving off an air as if she wasn't entirely herself.

  "The enemy's main force has already penetrated the library.

  Mibu-san is also in there."

  Three gazes focused on Tatsuya.

  However, Tatsuya's eyes were fixed on Haruka.

  Less than a second passed before he spoke.

  "I'll explain everything after this is all over, is that acceptable?"

  "Rejected. Despite me saying that, since I know you're going in there anyway, may I ask you a favor instead?"

  "What is it?"

  Although Haruka had a hesitant expression, she wasn't stumbling over her words, nor doing anything else that wasted valuable time.

  "I would like to make a request as Counselor Ono Haruka. Please give Mibu-san a chance. Since last year began, she has been burdened by the dissonance that comes from her status as a valued kendo athlete versus the value assigned to Course 2 students. Even though she's asked to see me several times... I was incapable of offering her comfort. In the end, that created the opportunity for those guys to get to her."

  "Do not spoil her."

  Haruka's request probably came from her sense of professional duty.

  However, Tatsuya ruthlessly rejected this request.

  "Come, Miyuki."

  "Yes."

  "Wait, Tatsuya."

  Following that, toward his friends who did not have the heart to refuse her, Tatsuya offered this honest warning.

  "Being overly sentimental will only bring harm to yourself."

  Time was of the essence, so he couldn't elaborate.

  Tatsuya delivered this ominous warning as he walked ahead, his back to his friends.

  ◇◇◇

  In front of the library, small knots of people were still fighting.

  Beside CADs, the aggressors also carried daggers and other projectile weaponry. While there was a small group of students mixed in, the majority were from the outside — in other words, invaders.

  The 3rd Year students that anchored the defensive line didn't have CADs, but possessed an overwhelming advantage in Magic Power.

  Even without CADs, they could still use magic and handheld weapons to deny the enemy. With this level of skill, no wonder they were the young birds that aimed to become Magicians. (It might be more appropriate to call them young tigers than birds.)

  Seeing this, Leo was the first to charge in.

  "Panzer!"

  With a roar, he plunged into the melee.

  There was a reason behind that roar.

  "I guess it takes a rare specimen to differentiate between sounds..."

  "Onii-sama, just then, did his magic design and spread occur at the same time?"

  "Hm, they spread out gradually in succession. That is a technique that was popular 10 years ago."

  "That guy, even his magic is old school..."

  Erika snarled furtively, pretending to be ignorant of the fact that her Engravement Magic was also a type of magic prevalent in the past. Thankfully, Leo didn't catch these words while he was locked in combat.

  Using a hefty, bracer-shaped CAD worn on his forearm, he blocked the incoming staff and retaliated with his own attack.

  Originally, a defensive type CAD would have no need to expose any movable parts or sensors on the outside, hence the voice recognition system.

  That being said...

  "Considering how he uses it, it's a miracle that it's still in one piece!"

  "The CAD itself must have been enhanced with Fortify Magic.

  Fortify Magic stabilizes the relative coordinates of molecules within a narrow area.

  No matter how powerful the force, so long as the relative coordinates are spot on and the outer shell isn't broken, there's no chance of the CAD breaking."

  "Something that can hold together no matter how violent you are. That type of magic suits him perfectly."

  Completely ignoring Erika and company standing off to the side as well as their comments or insults, Leo recklessly charged into battle as if he was venting all of his frustration.

  His hands, wrapped in a pair of black gloves, shattered stone, rubble, and ice alike, while staves forged of metal and carbon-based resin crumpled before him.

  Occasionally, contact with a concealed stun baton would emit a small shower of sparks.

  Daggers that couldn't be avoided and darts fired from spring mechanisms cunningly worn in the sleeves all bounced off Leo's white and green school uniform.

  "So he's hardened every inch of clothing on him. It's as if he's striding around in a full suit of armor."

  This was not an exaggeration for magic that one excelled in.

  Leo's Fortify Magic simultaneously executes the Activation Sequence as well as the design and invocation stages of the Magic Sequence and spreads out in succession while maintaining a constant state of magic renewal.

  Even with weapons, it was extremely unlikely that these invading terrorists, who were barely a step above complete amateurs in terms of skill, would have any way of penetrating that armor.

  To top it all off, those fists that would normally be restricted by the limits of the human body were instead strengthened by Speed and Move Magics, creating a truly terrifying force of sheer destruction.

  He would easily be accepted as an effective fighting force, even on the front lines of the military, if it was for this type of close quarters combat where the usage of firearms was restricted.

  "Leo, we're going on ahead!"

  "I got it!'

  Tatsuya left this location in Leo's hands.

  ◇◇◇

  Silence greeted them in the library interior.

  If Haruka was correct, this wasn't because the attackers had been repulsed, but because the defenders were subdued.

  Aside from the regular employees, there were also security personnel posted at the library, but they had probably all been eliminated by now.

  Based on this alone, the skill level of the main force must be substantially higher.

  Tatsuya temporarily hid himself in the vestibule, reached out with his searching range and scanned for life signs.

  There were no indications of any life signs.

  Modern magic is capable of interfering with natural phenomena and its accompanying signals, which includes the existence of the phenomena and the eidos.

  All users of modern magic could access the information dimension — the information medium of the universe, the platform that linked all eidos, as defined in the Greek philosophical concept of "information" — in order to identify other eidos.

  That being said,
very few people could clearly identify and differentiate them.

  What radically separated Tatsuya from ordinary magic users was his incredible aptitude in sensory ability, to the point that he could identify each and every eidos encompassed in the information dimension.

  "There are four in the Special Browsing Room on the second floor, two at the foot of the stairs, and two at the top..."

  "Nice. With Tatsuya-kun here, all ambushes become meaningless. In live combat, this is definitely an incredible advantage."

  "What are they doing in the Special Browsing Room?"

  "This is too quiet for their purpose to be destruction. They're probably trying to steal the classified research materials held by the magic universities. If they are in the Special Browsing Room, they can easily access the unpublished materials that are inaccessible in ordinary browsing areas."

  Hearing Tatsuya's explanation to Miyuki's question, Erika's expression turned glum.

  "Erika, your expression seems to say that this isn't what you were expecting."

  Hearing Miyuki's question, Erika shrugged her shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

  "That's because~, this is a high school revolt, a veritable youth revolution. But now you're telling me that the truth of the matter is something as boring as stealing research data... Don't destroy my beautiful dream with such an unpleasant truth! That's how I feel. What do you think?"

  "Don't ask me. By the way, your dream was biased in the first place."

  "Didn't you just answer me?"

  Ugh, Tatsuya couldn't deny that. Miyuki hurriedly interjected:

  "Come on, let's hurry to the Special Browsing Room. I'll handle the ambushers."

  "No, leave that mission to~ me."

  Erika sang out that she would deal with the situation, then charged out of cover before anyone could reply.

  Silently, she glided over to the foot of the stairs.

  The retractable police baton with an embedded CAD was already fully extended.

  The ambushers ended up being ambushed.

  The second that the police baton struck the enemy, Erika had already passed them.

  She felled two opponents instantly.

  In complete contrast to Leo's brutal approach to combat, she finessed the battle.

  The sound of their allies hitting the ground finally alerted the guards on top of the stairs that they were under attack.

  One of them charged straight down, while the other started an Activation Sequence.

  However, just as the Psions started flashing, the Activation Sequence shattered.

  The Magician gaped as his magic was denied.

  The stiffness in his body was very unnatural, and after a second of watching, he lost his balance and toppled down the stairs.

  "Ah..."

  "Don't worry."

  Hearing his sister's cute voice, Tatsuya replied as he returned the pistol-shaped CAD to its holder.

  Humanoids often make minute adjustments to their center of balance in order to stand upright.

  Everything was within reason up to this point, Miyuki was probably caught off guard by the person rolling down the stairs.

  Well, looks like his collarbone isn't fractured, so all he'd get out of that would be a concussion and several broken ribs. That's what he meant by don't worry.

  On the other side, the attacker was equipped with a bona fide short-sword rather than a dagger as he charged towards Erika.

  This seemed familiar.

  It was just like Sayaka's opponent during the kendo demonstration. A green and white ribbon was tied onto the right wrist that stretched forward to deny Erika. It appeared that the kendo club was the first to be corrupted.

  "Tch. Tatsuya-kun, we have to hold back against the students, don't we?"

  Her voice shook a little since she was asking in the heat of combat.

  Given the differences in height and wrist strength, this could heavily influence a deadlocked situation.

  "There's no need to force yourself to be merciful."

  At the same time that he said this, Tatsuya stepped forward,

  "Ha! I don't need your help!"

  Erika stopped him.

  "I can easily handle this kind of opponent when I'm serious."

  She temporarily raised the pressure, then quickly slid to one side.

  Having switched places with her off-balanced opponent, Erika hurriedly urged Tatsuya onwards.

  "Leave this place to me!"

  "Got it!"

  The boy was wary of being assaulted from both sides, so he dropped to a half crouch.

  However, in the eyes of Tatsuya and Miyuki, this student had already ceased to exist.

  Tatsuya forcefully launched off the ground.

  Miyuki lightly stepped off the floor.

  Tatsuya leapt onto the walls,

  While Miyuki flew into the air.

  Both of them quickly landed on the second floor.

  "Whew~"

  Erika whistled in admiration and the Alliance student gaped in shock as Tatsuya and Miyuki charged towards the Special Browsing Room.

  ◇◇◇

  Sayaka's mind was a blur as she watched what was going on in front of her.

  In front of the only terminal that could access the highest level of research — restricted research — in this country, her companions — members of "Blanche" — were currently hacking into the system.

  Half a year ago, they were introduced by Tsukasa, the ace of the men's kendo team. For some reason, Tsukasa did not bring Sayaka to Egalite, to which he was affiliated, but to Blanche instead.

  Originally, Sayaka had no intention of bringing their activities outside of campus, nor did she have any wish to participate in any lawbreaking activity. The only reason she saw them was out of consideration for Tsukasa, who often took care of her. Tsukasa's older brother, who was the head of Blanche's Japan branch, told her many things, such as how the differences on campus caused by magical talent could not be resolved. Despite knowing this, Sayaka's foremost worry remained how Course 2 students were treated differently on campus.

  In truth, Sayaka really wanted to attend the forum. Not only did she want to attend, she dreamt of expressing her opinions. It was only because she was familiar with the details of this mission that she allowed Tsukasa to persuade her otherwise.

  What the heck was she doing, Sayaka thought. Taking the keys without permission, being the accomplice to a break-in... Was this really what she should be doing?

  Her thoughts were headed in an uncomfortable direction. Realizing this, Sayaka quickly gathered herself back onto the mission in front of her.

  However, our goal is to abolish the differential treatment brought on by magic, so why do we need the most cutting edge magical research?

  Tsukasa's older brother said that publicizing the research results was the first step to abolishment.

  (That being said, wouldn't it be meaningless to publicize magic theories to people who can't use magic...)

  The questions that were chasing each other around in her mind once more came to the forefront.

  For people who couldn't use magic, magic theory had no point whatsoever.

  On some level, magic theory was grounded in scientific theory, thus separating it from other mind-based disciplines like theology.

  If people who wanted the most advanced magic research data truly did exist, wouldn't they be the ones who could use magic...?

  (No, research data that can benefit people who can't use magic must exist, and it is hidden here...)

  This is the reason she must follow. This reason allowed her to continue on the path she was currently on.

  However, no matter how many times she repeated it in her heart, she still couldn't fully accept those words.

  "... OK, it's open."

  Someone chattered softly.

  He hurriedly brought out a Solid Cube used for storage.

  Her companions — Sayaka detected a strong sense of "desire" imprinted on their faces, causing her to
avert her eyes.

  Towards the door.

  So, she was the first one to notice.

  "The door!"

  Hearing her outburst, the other members turned to look.

  Before their very eyes, the square doors broke apart and collapsed into the room.

  "Impossible!"

  The dismayed gasps that they let out were, based on the situation at hand, actually quite conservative.

  Objects that have been fortified have eidos that are much harder to manipulate. Even dual reinforced doors that could withstand a krak missile could be destroyed by magic.

  However, to accomplish that it usually required a complicated Magic Sequence that repeatedly used Mass and Vibrate Magics to dissolve the door. No one could accept that a dual reinforced armor door could be silently destroyed like this.

  The men froze at this sight that so thoroughly impugned their general understanding of the world. At this moment, the recording Solid Cube shattered in their hands.

  Immediately afterwards, the hacking terminal dissolved as if caught in a time warp that swiftly returned it into its component parts.

  Following that, the signal from the Device also halted, rendering the Browsing Room into a dormant state.

  "I suppose it's more appropriate to refer to you as industrial spies? Your plans end here."

  A familiar figure casually declared this as he strode forward with pistol-shaped Specialized CAD in his right hand that flashed silver with every step.

  Behind him, a slim figure gracefully followed him with a terminal-shaped CAD held in one hand.

  Neither sibling allowed a trace of excitement to grace their features, causing them to forget that they were in the middle of a crime.

  "Shiba-kun..."

  Sayaka softly whispered while someone raised a right hand.

  It wasn't a gesture of surrender. It was a male companion pointing a gun at her kohai.

  This man wasn't a student from First High.

  He wasn't a student at all.

  He was someone who came along on behalf of Tsukasa's older brother — their leader.

  This companion who had been specifically recommended by their leader was obviously intent on committing murder.

  Sayaka let out a soundless scream of terror.