Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I)

by Sato Tsutomu

  Erika came from the Chiba Family, which was one of the primary families within the "Numbered Family System".

  The Chiba Family was renowned for using personal Speed and Weight Magic in close quarters combat. The Chiba Family's strength lay not in the fact they could adeptly use spells, but in the new system they pioneered for the training and development of close combat Magicians.

  Presently, of the Magicians serving as policemen or infantry in the military, it was rumored that half of them were directly trained under the Chiba Family's system. This was the case for the navy and air force as well. Any unit that could encounter close combat situations often petitioned the Chiba Family for training.

  If solely dependent on connections within active duty troops, the Chiba Family's influence may eclipse that of the Ten Master Clans.

  "But is that OK? I thought Erika loathed using the family as backup......"

  "I dislike other people simply seeing me as a 'daughter of the Chiba Family'. Connections are made to be used, it's your loss if you ignore it."

  If this was anyone else, this answer could cause a combative atmosphere, but because the two others were Miyuki and Mizuki, they didn't take it to heart.

  "Hehe, you're right. Now, I should go organize my luggage. I don't know how you guys are a part of this, but I'll see you at dinner."

  Miyuki walked towards the elevator with Erika waving at her and Mizuki looking on.

  "Hey, Erika, can't you carry your own bags?"

  "Shibata-san, I have your baggage over here. I apologize for bringing it without permission, but there were too many people at the counter."

  Halfway there, Miyuki heard two young men call out to Erika and Mizuki.

  One of the voices was familiar, but the other was completely foreign.

  So it wasn't two girls, but two pairs of men and women.

  Miyuki secretly smiled without stopping or turning her head.

  ◇◇◇

  Speaking of which, why is it that Miyuki's bus arrived two days before the competition begins?

  That was because of the banquet being held in the evening.

  Since this was a high school event after all, no alcoholic beverages were served. The buffet-style banquet without any prearranged seating for the contestants about to battle it out was almost like a miniature opening ceremony. Compared to the festive aura of the previous years, anxiety reigned supreme this year.

  "In reality, I really didn't want to attend......"

  As the Student Council President, this was something that Mayumi couldn't and shouldn't say, so Tatsuya politely struck that from the record.

  Technician teams were auxiliary members, but counted as official members for the purposes of actual on site activities, so they were also obligated to attend. Tatsuya, who was ill at ease with reception events like banquets, privately agreed with Mayumi's sentiment.

  The dress code for the banquet was each school's uniforms, so they didn't have to worry on that account. That being said, the borrowed suit didn't fit him very well, which raised his resistance towards attending.

  "Should we have purchased a new one......?"

  His fidgeting had been noticed after all.

  Miyuki furrowed her brows in concern as she watched Tatsuya.

  "It's nothing, don't worry about it. Sorry for making you worry."

  This sequence thoroughly shamed Tatsuya, as it was getting difficult to tell who the older sibling was. In addition, this was an official event with mandatory attendance, so one shouldn't complain that they were uncomfortable or displeased.

  "No, Onii-sama, please don't say that."

  She probably noticed the minute adjustments to Tatsuya's expression and realized that he had wiped out his depressed mood.

  Miyuki smiled happily.

  "OK, those siblings over there can stop flirting."

  The slightly teasing words caused Tatsuya to glance aside — strictly speaking, he had to glance downwards — to see Mayumi stifling her smile as she watched them.

  "I can't believe you said flirting...... What's this?"

  On the Internet, Tatsuya had read that some young women have been afflicted with a malady that causes them to see all interactions between different genders as romantic interactions. Truth be told, Tatsuya had several people around him suffering from the same illness, so he really didn't want to broach that subject.

  However, Mayumi seemed to be up to her old tricks and only wanted to needle him a little.

  Tatsuya had long since accustomed himself to not receiving a straight answer, but still used his eyes to prompt Mayumi to respond.

  But Mayumi's gaze wasn't resting on Tatsuya, rather on someone beside him.

  At the sight of her trying not to burst out into laughter, Tatsuya followed her line of sight and......

  "Miyuki...... Why are you so embarrassed all of a sudden?"

  His sister ducked her head in shame.

  "Everyone, let's go."

  Mayumi retracted her teasing attitude and urged everyone onward, her mood excellent for some unknown reason.

  On some level, Tatsuya was irritated that he had turned into a device for mood improvement, but upon seeing Mayumi's retreating figure move away with lighthearted footsteps, he suddenly thought "Ah, forget it".

  ◇◇◇

  Of the people participating in the Nine Schools Competition, there were 360 contestants alone and over 400 members if the auxiliaries were added in.

  On the surface, the attendance of all members is mandatory, but there were many who found some reason to decline.

  Even so, this was still a large scale fellowship event that well exceeded 300 people.

  The meeting area had to be large enough to accommodate the large number of guests and servants.

  As expected, just the hotel's employees and the support from the local base were not sufficient to cover everything. There were also many temporary employees that were obviously teenagers specifically hired for this event walking around in servant uniforms, which was not surprising in the least.

  However — finding a familiar face among these temporary employees definitely constituted a surprise.

  After a short keynote speech — thankfully this speech was short enough not to induce boredom — Tatsuya immediately headed for the dining area when a familiar voice rang out behind him.

  When a familiar voice asked "Would you like a drink?", Tatsuya turned around to find Erika holding a serving tray carrying drinks with one hand.

  "So that's what you meant by having it covered......"

  "Ah, you heard from Miyuki? So, surprised?"

  "......Very."

  Erika flashed a pleased smile while Tatsuya had no excess processing power to come up with a witty retort, so he merely nodded in response.

  "I can't believe you actually infiltrated here...... Belay that, it's just like you to do this."

  After all, that's just what this kind of place is.

  Even if they hired hourly interns, they wouldn't easily hire high school students.

  Other than that, there's an age restriction as well. Even with a banquet where alcoholic beverages are forbidden, they wouldn't relax the restrictions either. Actually, most of the servants and waitresses circulating the area looked to be in their twenties.

  He should probably say "as expected of the Chiba Family".

  But she appeared to have used her connections in the wrong place.

  "By the way......"

  "Hm? What's up?"

  "Never mind......"

  Tatsuya's tone was muddled, which was entirely unlike him.

  After all, it's probably impolite to say "By the way, you've changed a lot" in front of the person in question.

  Erika should also be aware that her age was a little different.

  Her makeup was considerably more mature.

  Even at close range, she looked to be the same age as the other waitresses.

  Usually, Erika gave off the impression that she was a lively and beautiful y
oung lady that matched her age perfectly, but her slim figure was also perfectly suited for a more mature look.

  (And only her......?)

  Tatsuya noticed to his dismay that his thoughts were slightly uncoordinated.

  Erika didn't come alone.

  Mizuki should also be here.

  Mizuki disliked places with too many people so it was hard to say that she was suited for dealing with customers, so would she be able to serve in this type of situation?

  "Hey, Erika, your dress is adorable. I see what you meant by you had it handled."

  Miyuki joined the conversation and conveniently covered for the lull in the conversation due to Tatsuya's silence.

  "That's how it is. Well, isn't this cute? But Tatsuya-kun seems unwilling to comment on it."

  Erika twirled left and right, causing the Victorian-style servant uniform with a miniskirt to lightly dance back and forth with an unhappy tone in her voice.

  With Tatsuya suddenly under siege, his naturally agile mind immediately began to formulate a retaliation, but Miyuki beat him to it.

  "Erika, it's useless to ask Onii-sama for these things."

  Miyuki smiled and shook her head and, compared to Tatsuya, it was Erika who was taken aback as she watched Miyuki.

  Miyuki's comment was not covering for Tatsuya nor denying her words, which completely surprised Erika.

  —However, that was only Erika jumping to conclusions too early.

  "Onii-sama wouldn't be affected by external appearances like a woman's clothes, but admires our innate qualities, so in this type of situation special uniforms hold no interest to him whatsoever."

  Tatsuya believed that Miyuki's assessment was both overly high and overly low.

  In this case, Tatsuya was concerned about his other friends — especially Mizuki, so he wasn't paying attention to Erika's garb. Of course, he is also capable of praising women's fashion and, if the wardrobe was overly risqué, he certainly wouldn't know where to look.

  —No, in this situation, the problem isn't the clothes themselves, but the personality that lay beneath the clothes.

  "Oh, so that's how it is, Tatsuya-kun isn't interested in cosplay."

  "This is cosplay?"

  "I don't think so, but I think the guys see me this way."

  The two young maidens left the reticent Tatsuya by the wayside and kept going.

  "By guys you mean Saijou-kun?"

  "That guy isn't even capable of voicing such an opinion. Miki was the one who said this was cosplay, but I have already sternly chastised him for that."

  The last sentence that hinted of danger was clearly imprinted in Tatsuya's ears.

  Yet Miyuki didn't seem to understand.

  "Miki?"

  When the person one is speaking with suddenly sprouts a stranger's nickname, it was only natural for Miyuki to fixate on that.

  "......Who is that?"

  At Miyuki's question, Erika let out an "Ah" expression.

  "That's right, Miyuki wouldn't know."

  Erika softly said and bailed before anyone could stop her.

  "Nice moves, looks like she has a great sense of balance......"

  Seeing Erika weave through the crowd with tray in hand and without spilling a drop, Tatsuya was honestly impressed.

  Miyuki thought this comment was a little off topic, but she continued regardless.

  "What is going on?"

  Actually, Miyuki didn't expect a straight answer.

  It was only because she was out of the loop that she actually asked.

  However, her brother actually provided her with a clear answer.

  "She's going to look for Mikihiko.

  You've probably heard the name Yoshida Mikihiko?"

  "That's Onii-sama's classmate, correct?"

  Miyuki recalled that this name created huge controversy during the announcement for the finals' scores.

  "He grew up with Erika. Miyuki probably hasn't met Mikihiko, so she likely wanted to introduce the two of you?"

  No wonder, that does seem like something Erika would do.

  Including taking off without saying another word.

  "Miyuki, there you are."

  "Tatsuya-kun is also here."

  As the siblings glanced towards the direction Erika vanished off to, a pair of female students struck up a conversation.

  "Shizuku, were you looking for me?"

  "Honoka, Shizuku...... You two are always together?"

  Speaking of which, Tatsuya had always seen the two of them moving in concert, so this question was only out of curiosity and had no intent of probing deeper.

  "That's because we're friends, so we have no reason to be apart."

  "That's right."

  Shizuku answered without any sense of shame, which caused Tatsuya to chuckle wryly at his foolish question.

  Starting last month, Tatsuya started to refer to the two of them by name.

  The one who "demanded" he do so was Honoka, but from Tatsuya's perspective, he was pressured into accepting by Shizuku's overpowering silence.

  "And the others?"

  Miyuki was the one who asked.

  But her tone was slightly odd.

  "Over there."

  In the direction that Honoka pointed, a crowd of male students quickly looked elsewhere.

  The 1st Year female students in the representation team also stood frozen in the same place.

  "They probably want to approach Miyuki, but won’t dare with Tatsuya-kun lurking nearby."

  "What is this, am I a watchdog now......?"

  Shizuku's speculation elicited a helpless sigh from Tatsuya.

  There was a high chance she was correct, so he couldn't just laugh it off.

  "Everyone must be in the dark about how to approach Tatsuya-kun."

  Honoka's words were meant to be comforting, but Tatsuya knew this was highly possible.

  He was self-conscious of the fact that he was an "outlier".

  Usually, he was the one who should initiate contact with others, but......

  "Bullshit, everyone here is a student of First High and also on the same team......"

  This bombshell was dropped by a new voice.

  "Chiyoda-senpai."

  Kanon joined Tatsuya's group with a glass (without alcohol of course) held in one hand.

  Also holding a glass, Isori was following right behind her.

  "Kanon, even though they know better, the body still refuses to obey, that's just human nature."

  "Kei, that kind of obstinacy is only allowed in certain venues."

  Kanon and Isori referred to each other directly by name.

  After all, since they were already engaged, doing so was perfectly natural.

  "Both of you raise good points, but currently there is an even easier solution."

  Tatsuya suspected that both of them were also busybodies, but if he got dragged into a debate over such a trivial subject, he would be quite unhappy with himself.

  Unwilling to interfere with the couple's conversation, Tatsuya sought to deal with this as soon as possible.

  "Miyuki, you should meet up with the rest, teamwork is very important."

  "But Onii-sama......"

  "See me in the evening, the only roommate I have is a machine."

  Basically, contestants and auxiliaries are assigned double rooms, but Tatsuya is the only 1st Year student and a Course 2 student to boot, therefore Mayumi made this decision so "there would be no cause for concern" and where he’d be "responsible for watching the machinery", and assigned a two bed, double room (one person in a double room) for Tatsuya to stay.

  "Honoka and Shizuku too, drop by if you have the time."

  Miyuki was still somewhat peeved, but she knew very clearly why Tatsuya said this.

  "......I understand. Then, Onii-sama, see you in the evening."

  "We'll call upon you a little later."

  "See you later."

  Miyuki, Honoka, and Shizuku answered in sequence. Tatsuya felt a displeased ga
ze sweep over him as he smiled and waved goodbye to the three of them, forcing him to turn around.

  "What a mature interaction, but I think that's only delaying the issue."

  Tatsuya and Kanon's relationship did not exceed that of casual acquaintances.

  Kanon had no reason to comment on Tatsuya's personal relationships, but Tatsuya knew Kanon spoke up out of chivalry, so he opted to face this directly.

  "Delaying is fine. That's because this question doesn't need to be solved immediately, and time is the best solution to some problems."

  "That......"

  Kanon wasn't able to reply, but given her unwilling expression, this young lady was not the type to give up easily.

  "Kanon, Shiba-kun is right, speed is not the best solution to everything in the world."

  "Still, you are definitely lacking some youthful airs."

  Isori's comment was meant to break the ice rather than directly help Tatsuya, but was ruined by someone else cutting into the conversation.

  "Mari-senpai."

  Towards Mari, who had just entered the conversation, Tatsuya didn't refute her words and merely nodded.

  "Isori, Nakajou is looking for you."

  Yet, Mari seemed to have taken Tatsuya's reaction in account ahead of time and quickly got to the heart of the matter. Looks like she wasn't here just to mess around with him.

  "Excuse me, where is Nakajou-san?"

  "Storage vehicle #1. The VIPs are about to speak, so quickly finish what you need to do and drag Nakajou back here. The unimportant VIPs are one thing, but it would be terrible for the school's reputation if we missed the Patriarch's words."

  "That's true, I understand."

  "Mari-senpai, we're heading out."

  Isori followed his orders and quickly departed the premises with Kanon naturally on his heels. Seeing the two of them leave, Mari turned around to face Tatsuya.