Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 06 - Yokohama Disturbance Chapter (I)

by Sato Tsutomu

  Although Leo understood this very well, he still shrugged his shoulders and answered in his usual cursory manner.

  "Compared to everyone here I'm definitely rated as a newcomer. Even if I haven't swung a sword, normal club activities often use ice picks and clamps."

  "Ice picks I understand, but clamps? ......What the heck is the Mountaineering Club doing?"

  "On that point, I don't find anything particularly odd....... From an endurance perspective, I suppose both sides are equal."

  Just as he said, Erika wasn't just standing there watching Leo swing a sword. She stood opposite Leo and swung a sword to demonstrate the motion. Leo was watching Erika's motions and doing his best to replicate hers.

  "My bokken is lighter, and I would quickly give up if I was swinging the same thing you are."

  Erika tossed the bokken she was using to Leo as she said this.

  Frantically catching the bokken Erika suddenly tossed to him, Leo used one hand to lightly swing the blade to check its weight. A befuddled expression spread across his face.

  "It really is light...... However, being too light makes it difficult to wield with two hands."

  "There's a method behind the madness."

  Erika's response was neither humble nor cute as she used a hand to wipe away at the sweat on her face. Owing to the heat, she tugged the collar of her kendo uniform to fan some air. Even though her undergarments and flesh weren't visible, Leo still turned his face in another direction.

  Since he paid extra heed to avoid Erika's detection, even if she saw Leo's suspicious behavior, she wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. The two of them had been classmates for over half a year, so Erika knew that although Leo was a youth with a brusque appearance, he actually had a surprisingly innocent and stubborn streak. In Erika's estimation, even if the women's changing room hadn't been latched completely and left a crack, Leo was the type that wouldn't take a peek even if he was alone. That being said, Erika was still irked by Leo's attitude when he obviously averted his gaze.

  "......Where the heck are you looking!?"

  "Ah?!"

  Leo faltered at Erika's displeased gaze and question.

  "Ah, n-nothing, I didn't see anything!"

  Leo's panicky state only served to compound Erika's embarrassment. She was still a pure maiden at heart.

  "I know you didn't see anything! What I'm telling you is to not glance all over the place with no reason!"

  "Oh, err, sorry."

  An awkward silence occupied the space between the two of them. Nevertheless, Erika wasn't the kind of person to be hesitant with words.

  "......Let's start the next training phase."

  Under Erika's hawkish gaze, Leo didn't look overly harried and managed to relax.

  "It's about time to practice slashing the straw dummies."

  "Correct, come over here."

  Erika led him to the next room where a network of straw bundles awaited them. This room was set up to accurately reflect the impact of the blade depending on stabbing or how the blade made connection. In order to maximize the realism behind each swing, there was no way to bring out its full potential without this setup. These conditions were integral in order to teach Leo the technique "Usuba Kagerou".

  "Here, this is a real sword, so be careful."

  This time there was no way she was going to toss it, so Erika held the center of the hilt and handed the drawn sword to Leo.

  Using his right hand to clasp the bottom of the guard and the left hand to clasp the end of the blade, Leo received the sword with two hands.

  "You remember the steps?"

  "Yeah. First I horizontally slice the top of the stalk, then I need to stop in order to make the second slash. Then execute the second slash, and the third. After five slashes I move to the next one from the left side to the right side."

  "Correct. I'm going to take a break inside. Let me know when you reach the one on the far right."

  "What do I do with the sword?"

  "The scabbard is by the door."

  Erika said so as she pointed at the door.

  Since Leo just saw her draw the blade, there was no reason to actually verify this once more. Still, as if to placate Erika, he still directed his gaze in the direction she was pointing.

  Given that the scabbard could maintain the sword, the scabbard must possess the function to clean off the grit and apply oil. Upon hearing Leo's confirmation, Erika lightly waved and left the room.

  Full of spirit, the sword slashed downwards.

  In the beginning, there were occasions where the blade was caught because he didn't apply enough force, but near the end he was able to split them apart in one blow. With the last one done, the task Erika left for him had been completed. He probably took around 10 minutes to accomplish this, which caused Leo some confusion.

  That was almost too easy — this was where Leo felt something was awry. Erika said to get her once he was done and left the room, saying she wanted to take a break. In other words, in Erika's estimation, this assignment was supposed to take a considerable amount of time. Yet, he only took enough time to finish a cup of tea to finish this. In that case, Leo came to the conclusion that he must have made an error somewhere.

  Nonetheless, he wasn't clear exactly where he went wrong. Did this happen because Erika miscalculated Leo's abilities? After some thought on the matter, he still didn't have a viable answer. Fortunately, Leo wasn't the type to waste time and energy on something like this. Since he didn't have all the information to arrive at an answer, any further consideration was a waste of time. Erika had said to "call her when he finished", so even though he "finished" outside of her calculations, Leo ultimately decided to go get Erika anyways.

  As instructed, he replaced the sword back in the scabbard and left the room into the adjoining corridor, only to realize that he never asked where Erika currently was. Even he was surprised at this silly turn of events. As he quietly ridiculed himself, he glanced around looking for a HAR terminal, but couldn't see anything like that. Still, even if he did locate one, he didn't have the authority to request information and might even be seen as a suspicious individual, a thought that prompted Leo to abandon looking for a terminal.

  If he returned to the dojo, someone might be able to point him in the right direction, Leo thought as he retraced his footsteps and ran across a young woman who came from the main house. She was approximately in her mid twenties and dressed in a kimono (Leo wasn't familiar with this type of clothing), hence Leo wasn't able to tell if she was single or married based on her wardrobe. Her features weren't particularly distinctive, but her stern attitude would be out of place on a servant. Not that this household had any female servant her age.

  "Ara, an unfamiliar visage."

  That domineering gaze solidified the idea in Leo's mind that she was from the Chiba Family. Although she didn't look like Erika, if Erika's features came from her mother, then this woman's features must come from their father.

  "Ah...... You must be Erika's classmate."

  In spite of the amiable words, Leo's ears didn't detect a trace of kindness in them. Their sibling relationship — Leo assumed that the woman before him was Erika's older sister — appeared to be quite hostile, he thought.

  "Saijou Leonhart."

  Regardless, even if it's the Onee-sama whom she was on a bad footing with, Leo's attitude wouldn't change. Leo knew that putting on an act would only reflect poorly on him.

  "Actually, Erika-chan asked me to call her after I finished my assignment."

  The only reason he said this was because "calling her by name would be bad", except his tone changed entirely due to his anxiety. Nevertheless, Erika's sister didn't seem to reveal that special brand of interest unique to most women.

  "Did Erika-chan say where she was staying?"

  It appeared that she was more concerned about the topic in question than those details. Was she the serious type? Still, this didn't feel like that was the only reason, Leo thought. —Not t
hat he had any basis for that statement.

  "She just said she wanted to take a break."

  "Oh...... In that case, she must be in the lounge."

  Erika's sister (for now) said this as she pulled out a small terminal from her sleeve pouch. After tapping the board a few times, she handed it to Leo with a "I'll lend this to you for now".

  "Follow the displayed instructions and use this to open the door."

  "......Is it OK for me to hold onto this?"

  "Erika was the one who told you to get her, correct?"

  "Yeah......"

  Although there were still a few things that eluded him, this truly provided much needed assistance in his search for Erika. Thus, he accepted the terminal and said something vague like "As you please" to Erika's sister (for now), and headed towards the dojo.

  "Now that I think about it, this house is huge......"

  Just now, he had hesitated briefly over borrowing the terminal, but now Leo believed that "it was a stroke of good fortune that he did borrow it". —Of course, this was referring to the terminal Erika's sister (for now) lent him.

  The reason he thought so was because the route to the lounge was quite difficult to find. It was almost as if he had taken a longer detour, but Leo felt that this was probably just the layout of Erika's house. Regardless, Leo finally stood before the door leading to the lounge after a five minute walk.

  Even though all he had to do was enter, Leo still had some concerns. Erika was neither his kin nor lover and would likely only rate as close ("close" in terms of acquaintances, but words were insufficient to convey that here) classmates.

  He should still knock.

  "Hey, Erika, are you inside?"

  He let out a shout when no one answered the knock, but still no one responded.

  Is she really here? Despite his misgivings, if this was an empty room then he had nothing to worry about. Leo placed the terminal in his hand alongside the reading device.

  After a brief electric sound, the lock disengaged.

  A sound rang out from within the room.

  What now, was she inside all along? Leo thought as he opened the heavy door that didn't have a door knob.

  Immediately, he heard someone shout "Wait! Wait a second!"

  "Eh—!?"

  A ridiculous sound erupted from Leo's throat.

  Not that he was aware of it. The current Leo had no leisure time to worry about something like that. His entire body was frozen to the point that he didn't even realize he should shut his eyes at this point.

  Of course, his opposite number across from him was the same.

  Directly before Leo's gaze, Erika maintained a posture that was about to turn around.

  This was the scene before Leo's eyes.

  Erika's modesty was only covered by a single bathing towel. Not only was her posture thoroughly unnatural, the knot in front of her chest was also loose.

  Next to her was a reclining massage chair. Erika was probably lying there up until the moment he came in.

  Behind Erika, there was plainly another door with a door knob on it. It was only now that Leo finally realized that he had come through the emergency fire escape.

  The towel around Erika's chest chose this moment to come undone.

  The flow of time swiftly slowed down to a crawl. Nay, more like his consciousness became many times more focused.

  Erika grabbed the slowly drooping towel.

  Meanwhile, Leo's body finally broke free of its confinement.

  "Ah."

  "Don't just stand there and drool like some sort of Peeping Tom, you idiot!"

  Far swifter than Leo's apology, her barbed tongue sent a hurricane of feminine fury broke over Leo.

  "That devious woman...... I must have been a moron to think that she was the older sister......"

  On one side, there was Erika muttering swear words under her breath while kicking the massage chair, while on the other side, Leo was sporting a bright red hand print on his face. This was the result of Leo fully accepting Erika's request that "No matter what, I still need to hit you". The reason she used the palm instead of the fist was because Leo was also a victim of fraud here, and definitely not because Erika disliked a stinging pain in her hand.

  Leo had no complaints regarding that slap. The fault for this incident was entirely on him. Although Erika was only in such an unguarded state and relaxing on the massage chair because she miscalculated the time Leo needed to complete his assignment, that was an entirely different issue than the undeniable fact that he was the one who had opened the emergency exit. Although he barely avoided seeing any critical pieces, that certainly didn't relieve him of any responsibility. Looks like he better head back for today, Leo thought as he decided to apologize to Erika one more time.

  "Erika." "Leo."

  In the end, both of them called out each other's name at the same time.

  "Leo."

  The moment Leo wilted a little at Erika's piercing stare, Erika once again called out his name.

  "Immediately forget what you just saw!"

  No matter how much that request made sense, Leo still found that to be a tall order. One couldn't simply white wash one's memory that easily.

  "—Even though I know that's quite unreasonable."

  However, despite the easily understood meaning behind these words, Leo couldn't dispel the trepidation that refused to allow him to relax.

  Also, his premonition swiftly became reality.

  "How about, in order to prevent you from having any spare time to think of those unnecessary things, I need to seriously train you from this point forward. I'm going to go over basic swordsmanship as well as Usuba Kagerou."

  Even though this was important enough to warrant Erika repeating this one more time, Leo was terrified of Erika's chilly aura and didn't dare to open his mouth.

  "Starting today, why don't you just sleep over here."

  "......I didn't bring a change of clothes."

  Leo had mustered everything he had into those last words.

  "We can prepare undergarments over here. Money isn't an issue."

  Still not having vented all her displeasure, Erika gave Leo another hearty kick after speaking.

  ◇◇◇

  Even in the evening, First High's campus was still filled with the vibrancy of student activity. The noise nearly rivaled the level when the school festival comes around. Magic high schools incorporate a format that not only demands high quality secondary education but also includes magic education as well, hence the lack of a school festival. This is primarily because there is simply not enough time to allocate towards that during the school year. Generally speaking, intramural competitions do exist, but there is nothing that surpasses school clubs or individual classes that can unite the entire student body to work together towards one overarching goal. For a magic high school like this, unlike the Nine Schools Competition dominated by talented students during the preparation and competition phases, Course 2 students had many opportunities to shine during the Thesis Competition preparation phase, which was why the school campus approached a level of frenzy that could only be seen at a school festival.

  The Year 1 female students from the Literature Club volunteered to be the compensatory team for the primary workers that were toiling away together at the last leg of the project. Although this was almost the end of the school day, the young girls were still occupied preparing the bentos for dinner. Mizuki, from the Arts Club, could also be seen among them.

  As the saying goes, the sun sets earlier in fall, so right now in second half of October, night was descending earlier as well. Earlier, the western sky was still a dash of purple as if someone had splashed a layer of paint over the sky; now the faint purple had turned dark blue. The scene outside had taken on that of the night itself. "It is quite late", Mikihiko couldn't help but think at this time.

  Today, he had been called in to serve as Club Activities Group Leader Juumonji Katsuto's training partner. Of course, it wasn't a on
e on one. This was a ten on one mock battle, with Mikihiko being one of the ten.

  Even though he didn't feel there would be only one mock battle, Mikihiko wasn't holding too much hope in that regard. Unrelated to the Ten Master Clans and the identity as a Course 1 student, Katsuto's strength gave him a deep impression during the Nine Schools Competition. Even during the mock battle, the chance for him to challenge such a powerful opponent was not something one could simply ask for. This time, he had the valuable opportunity to experience exactly how strong Katsuto really was. Likewise, he brought an incredible desire to learn how to fight modern magic users into this mock battle.

  As Mikihiko hoped, there were a total of 5 mock battles. He was also defeated by Katsuto 5 times. As he panted raggedly while falling to the ground (wasn't he supposed to be knocked down?), he was thoroughly satisfied with the use of his time. Since they started shortly after the half day classes on Saturday, by the time he was finished being Katsuto's training opponent it was already 4 in the afternoon. In order to prevent himself from shamefully vomiting during the training, he had only dined lightly during lunch, a point that his stomach was crying about right now. He squinted his eyes at the setting sun and thought "OK, let's go" as he stood up, only to suddenly hear the order "halt preparations".

  Since Katsuto was serving as the supreme commander for all security personnel from the nine schools at the event, Sawaki was responsible for leading First High's security detail in Katsuto's place. He was also the one who gave that earlier signal. On reflex, Mikihiko stood up and was promptly cowed by Sawaki's force of personality (more like overwhelmed), and was promptly roped into combined training as a perpetrator. One hour later, though the security personnel continued training, the Year 1 students called in as opponents had been spared (The Year 2 students were not allowed to leave).

  After exchanging the dirty training uniform for his school uniform, Mikihiko walked towards the second gym (known as the combat center) where the security team was training. On the surface, he was the one who provided assistance, but in reality Mikihiko was the one who took away more from the experience, which naturally warranted some thanks on his part. Since he didn't want to interrupt their current training, he was only planning on dropping a single greeting and then departing.