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

by Sato Tsutomu

  "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 spoke 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 sto
od 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 enjoyin
g 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.