by Sato Tsutomu
No matter what, the situation was utterly depressing.
At times like these, people tended to retreat into areas they excel in.
Even if he had an outside chance to be nominated, he still took the time to reflect on what he could do, what areas he excelled at, and re-examined his own sense of worth to properly restore his internal balance as a means of self compensation.
Possibly due to the build up of considerable stress, it was rare for Tatsuya to fall into this sort of self compensatory trap.
Two-thirds of the lunch period had already passed. Miyuki was engrossed in dealing with the piles of documents and homework, while Tatsuya, who was currently idle while waiting for Miyuki, removed the silver CAD from the shoulder holster and started examining the modules in the cartridge, the buttons for switching Activation Sequences, and other movable parts.
"Ah, you brought the Silver Horn today as well."
Until now, Azusa was completely focused on her homework, but her sharp eyes caught Tatsuya's movement as she inched forward.
Tatsuya slowly shifted his gaze, not towards Mayumi or Mari, but Suzune.
Suzune accurately interpreted Tatsuya's silent inquiry as she adeptly used her brows and the shrugging of her shoulders to express a helpless emotion. In other words, the current Azusa had completely lost interest in her homework.
"Yes, I purchased a new holster, so I would like to get used to it as soon as possible."
Is this what they meant by "being furious after receiving three in the morning, then happy when receiving four in the evening"? Tatsuya was mentally considering this somewhat objective but also very rude train of thought as he shifted his gaze back onto Azusa and responded in a gentle manner (To supplement, Tatsuya was thinking of what it meant to play fast and loose).
Azusa's eyes shone brilliantly as she approached him. It seemed that she was not only interested in the CAD itself, but the supplementary equipment as well.
"Eh, is it okay if I took a look?"
Truthfully speaking, Azusa generally avoided — more like was terrified of Tatsuya. Precisely because of this impression, Tatsuya wanted to smile wryly. However, given the way Azusa was bouncing around like a small animal and unable to calm down, he probably shouldn't treat her too poorly.
This may be a form of popularity — Tatsuya thought as he removed the jacket he wore even in the heat of summer — with built-in cooling systems, of course — and took off the shoulder holster before handing it to Azusa.
"Wow~ It's an original model for the Silver series.
Such an amazing trim would draw incredible lines when drawing and firing.
Something that didn't just cater to high technical skills but also a design that also took the user's skill into account.
Ah, I worship your genius, Silver-sama......"
After she received the holster, Azusa was happy enough to almost rub her face against it.
Tatsuya was barely able to maintain his poker face.
After Azusa meticulously went over every centimeter of the holster — or maybe finally satisfied herself— she returned it to Tatsuya with a pleased smile on her face.
"Shiba-kun is also a fan of the Silver series? If based only on price and specs, the Maximilian Speed Shooter, Russ Type-F, or even Sagittarius series developed by FLT (Four Leaves Technology) are better deals, but the individual customization of the Silver series is so good that no one cares about the price!"
Tatsuya recalled that Mari once described Azusa as a "Device-taku".
At the time, he was considerate enough to consider this an exaggeration, but after witnessing her behavior today, he reflected that such a nickname was probably inevitable.
From Tatsuya's perspective, if the contrast between price and performance — efficiency, in other words, was too low, then satisfaction would also drop. Even if that was the case, true performance may differ from official documentation. Simply put, qualitative performance that could not be converted into numerical format was also very important. If one could be "satisfied" without making this sort of analysis, Tatsuya considered that to be nothing more than brand loyalty.
That being said, that was a matter of personal values, so if she said she was satisfied, he had no reason to rain on her parade.
"No, I actually have a few connections, so I can buy Silver Series at a discount thanks to my work as a beta tester."
The moment Tatsuya said this, Miyuki's shoulders visibly shook a little as she faced the other way towards the terminal, but no one noticed.
"Eh~! Really?"
The word "envy" was stamped all over Azusa's face.
This time, even Tatsuya's expression revealed a little spasm.
"......Next time I test the new model, would you like me to get you one as well?"
"Eh?
Really?
Like, really, really?
Thanks!"
There was no way for him to fit in a response.
After Tatsuya was finally able to nod in assent, Azusa grabbed his empty left hand with both of her own and shook it up and down.
"......A-chan, relax a little bit."
Mayumi couldn't watch any longer, temporarily stopping her work on the pile of documents to speak to Azusa.
Azusa suddenly stopped.
Filled with trepidation, she looked at her hands.
Her hands were tightly wound around Tatsuya's hand. Azusa felt this not only with her sense of touch, but confirmed it visually as well.
She slowly raised her head towards Tatsuya, then quickly dodged Tatsuya's expressionless gaze and looked back at her hands.
Azusa let go and jumped back as if her hands had grasped fire.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry......!"
"Flushed face" wasn't sufficient to describe Azusa's current state, since her face was red to the root of her ears. She repeatedly bowed towards Tatsuya in apology.
Tatsuya was starting to get really worried that Azusa would keep bowing until she was dizzy, and glanced towards Mayumi for help.
"......A-chan, you can stop now. Tatsuya-kun is a little overwhelmed right now."
Mayumi was probably thinking along the same lines as Tatsuya, so she didn't add to the mayhem (not without cause) and focused on comforting Azusa.
Azusa took a deep breath as she was instructed and finally managed to settle down.
Mayumi let out a helpless sigh before turning back to her work.
Azusa turned an embarrassed smile towards Tatsuya and quickly turned solemn.
"Then, Shiba-kun wouldn't happen to know Taurus Silver in person?"
She asked in this manner.
—It went without saying that she was doing so to cover her embarrassment.
Unfortunately, this question was a very difficult one to answer for Tatsuya.
"......No, I'm not entirely certain."
Electric clamors rang out from near the wall.
The workstation that Miyuki was using activated the alarm by accident.
Everyone hits a typo every once in a while, but it was extremely rare for Miyuki to erroneously activate the alarm.
Both Mayumi and Suzune wore an "Eh?" expression while looking at Miyuki who was facing the wall, but Miyuki soldiered onward as if nothing had happened, so the two of them didn't ask any further and returned to their respective piles.
"......Miyuki-chan actually made a mistake, how strange."
"Occasionally, yes."
In comparison, Tatsuya's response was overly level, but Azusa didn't notice as she returned to the original — the recent conversation.
"No matter how much he hides himself, the people in the same lab should know something, right? Unless, he invented everything by himself?"
"......No, I'm certain that would be impossible."
"I think so too. Oh yeah, Shiba-kun, can't you use your 'connections' at the lab to get some more information?"
"......No, the connections I spoke of aren't in that category...... Also, FLT keeps most of their corporate secrets un
der wrap, so I think it's highly unlikely to get anything out of the lab technicians."
"Oh~ that's true......"
"......I'm sure senpai already knows, but using Informational Manipulative Outersystematic-type magic to uncover secrets is a felony."
"Ah? Nah...... No way, why would I think...... about that kind of thing......"
Tatsuya looked at Azusa with his eyes half closed, causing Azusa's already petite body to shrink even further.
"......It's okay, as long as senpai is clear on that point, I just wanted to remind you."
"Don't...... don't worry about it, of course I know about something like that, Ah, ha ha ha......"
Seeing that Azusa wasn't making a metaphor and actually breaking out into a cold sweat, Tatsuya took his foot off the gas.
"Speaking of which, why is Nakajou-senpai so interested in Taurus Silver's real identity?"
The CAD Azusa used wasn't FLT's brand either. Even though she obviously wasn't a Silver Series user, why did she care so much about the identity of the developer?
For Tatsuya, this was a perfectly natural question.
"Ah?"
From Azusa's expression, she was completely dumbfounded that Tatsuya even asked this question.
"Of course I care, Tatsuya-kun, I mean, do you not?
This is Taurus Silver.
The first person in the world to develop the 'Loop Cast System', raising the speed of Activation Sequences for Specialized CADs by twenty percent, he also reduced the variability of wireless models from 3 percent to less than 1 percent. Taurus Silver is just that amazing.
Also, rather than guarding his secrets for personal profit, he openly publicizes his findings for the betterment of the magical community as a whole, which makes Taurus Silver even more incredible.
He is called the genius engineer that advanced CAD software technology by ten years within one short year, so I think that no one who aims to be a Magic Artificer would be uninterested in him."
This overbearing pressure that was almost synonymous to scolding forced Tatsuya to shrink back. He was completely caught off guard by how much the world had built up "Taurus Silver".
"Excuse my ignorance. As a user, I'm not dissatisfied with the Silver series, I just wasn't aware that it had such glowing reviews......"
"Ah...... That makes sense, Shiba-kun is a tester, so for you, Silver series isn't all that rare...... Hence why you have a different outlook than I do."
Azusa didn't completely understand, but allowed herself to be convinced.
"Hey, hey, Shiba-kun, let me ask you, what do you think Taurus Silver is like?"
A purely inquisitive gaze.
Wanting to change the subject, Tatsuya replied back trying to stall for time.
"Well...... I wonder how shocking would it be if he turned out to be a Japanese teenager like us."
Once again, electric clamors rang out from near the wall.
Miyuki continued to sit in a posture with her back completely straight as she toiled away.
—But she didn't allow anyone to see her current expression.
"Speaking of which, A-chan."
"Yes, President, what is it?"
In the end, Mayumi finally extended a helping hand towards Tatsuya, who was almost unable to handle Azusa. This might be a little biased, but this was the first time Tatsuya felt like Mayumi was someone dependable. At any rate, Mayumi's stance was that she wanted Azusa to hurry back to her work on the Student Council.
"Weren't you supposed to finish your homework before the end of lunch?"
However, even if this was lending a hand to Tatsuya, this was undoubtedly the knell of doom for Azusa...... That description might be a hyperbole, but Azusa's expression was just so. The very fact that she was engrossed in talking about Taurus Silver was likely a way for her to escape from reality.
"President~"
From the way Azusa tearfully implored Mayumi for help, she was likely doomed.
"Don't make such an embarrassing sound."
Mayumi smiled wryly and turned her gaze from the completed inventory invoice towards Azusa.
"I can help a little bit, so what's your assignment?"
Mari directed a "You're pampering her too much" gaze towards Mayumi, who promptly ignored it — more like pretended not to see it as she smiled towards Azusa.
"I'm sorry...... It's a report on the 'Three Great Puzzles of Weight Systemic Magic'......"
At this, Suzune, Mari, and Tatsuya immediately turned their gazes on the glum Azusa.
"......W-what?"
Like a deer in the headlights, Azusa shrank into a ball in terror. Her tearful eyes and terrified movements gave the impression that everyone was bullying her, at which Tatsuya turned his eyes away, with Suzune mirroring his thoughts and actions.
Only Mari still stared at Azusa.
"Ho ho......"
Mari watched Azusa with deep interest, though she was more focused on the flat screen terminal in Azusa's hands.
"I was wondering what was puzzling the annual top 5 honor student Nakajou and it turned out to be this."
"Isn't this the topic they ask every year?"
After Mari spoke, Mayumi continued with an uncomprehending expression.
"A-chan, what's this year's prompt?"
Because the prompts were routine, there were already enough prompts that the school was incapable of creating new ideas. This wasn't just homework, it was also one of the primary essay topics for magic university entrance exams. A cursory search would reveal a bountiful harvest of model answers to this prompt.
"The subject of the homework involves how to solve the bottlenecks of the 'Three Great Puzzles'. The first two I get, but I am unable to explain the reason why Generalized Flying-Type Magic hasn't been successfully developed......"
Hearing this, Suzune nodded with an "I understand" expression on her face.
"In other words, Azusa-kun is unable to accept the currently proposed concepts."
"Exactly!"
With Suzune able to express her inner thoughts for her, Azusa nodded vigorously.
"The foundation for magic that can defy gravity and allow the physical body to float into the air has already been laid down by the Four Great Systemic and the Eight Major Types of Modern Magic and has already entered the practical phase."
"Yes, though injury caused by free fall remains one of the major dangers for Magicians."
Azusa shifted her gaze to Mayumi, who supported her argument.
"Magicians adept in Speed and Weight Magics are already capable of leaping dozens of yards at a time, and the world record is held by a Magician who leapt over 100 yards in one try. The record for landing is even greater, with some Magicians able to drop 2000 meters successfully without any equipment."
"If that's the case, why is Flying-Type Magic...... Free movement in the sky still elusive...... Right?"
"To be precise, Generalized Flying-Type Magic that anyone can use remains elusive. There are a handful of Ancient Magic users that can freely fly through the sky."
Suzune added a few details to Mayumi's explanation.
Hearing this, Azusa shook her head, though this was probably an involuntary action.
"That type of magic approaches the unique abilities of BS Magicians. Since it can't be shared, it can't really be called a technique.
Theoretically, you can use Speed and Weight Systemic Magic to nullify the effect of gravity and soar into the sky. In reality, long jump and floating magic have already been developed, so why can't we fly......"
"Wouldn't higher level reference tomes contain the answer to this question?"
Mayumi visually interrogated Azusa as to why she couldn't accept the answer chronicled in the books.
"Magic Sequences must include an end point, as the effect of overwriting reality is sustained until the ending conditions are met. While a target object is under the effect of magic, if you want to cause a different type of magic to manifest on the target, you need to use magic that has s
uperior phenomena interference ability.
When using Flying-Type Magic, every time you adjust speed or height, you aren't just overwriting the original magic with a new one, you also need a stronger phenomena interference ability. A single Magician is only able to separate the phenomena rewriting ability into ten segments, so he or she can only adjust the flying status ten times before hitting their limit.
......This is the publicly acknowledged hurdle to why there's no practical solution to Flying-Type Magic, right?"
Mayumi didn't ruminate very long before nodding her assent to Azusa's long-winded explanation.
"What, A-chan, you've done your research. You've organized all your arguments, so what's the problem?"
"According to this line of thinking, the problem lies in the fact that new magic needs to constantly overwrite the currently active magic, correct? If that's the case, I think that it would be easier to cancel the current magic than activate the new magic."
By now, Azusa had completely shaken off the earlier tearful expression, and was now plunging ahead at a feverish pace. Suzune calmly asked Azusa the next question:
"The theory is sound, but from a practical standpoint how would you cancel the active magic?"
"Why don't you insert a condition for ending the magic during the design of the Magic Sequence? In other words, by preemptively entering a small Magic Sequence into the active Magic Sequence, this can be turned into the ending condition for the magic."
Azusa was immersed in her theory while, conversely, Suzune was calmly stating her counter argument.
"Unfortunately, Magic Sequences are unable to affect other Magic Sequences. Magic Sequences can only be used to affect the Information Body, even if two types of magic are both trying to influence the same Information Body, only the one with the stronger interference strength would actually manifest, as Magic Sequences don't possess a strong versus weak relationship.
Counter magic that can dissolve Magic Sequences do exist, but that's high level magic that directly influences the Information Body. This would be okay at the experimental level, currently there are no Magicians who can freely wield practical levels of Counter Magic."