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

by Sato Tsutomu

  Suzune supported Mayumi's decision but Mari looked reluctant. Her protest was born of the profound understanding of the importance of CAD maintenance and not disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing, but bringing up a valid argument for debate. Assigning shorthanded personnel was just such a difficult task.

  "Why don't we pull the Men's assistant technician, Ishida, over to double as the Women's assistant technician?"

  The Women's competition was in the morning while the Men's competition was in the afternoon, so Suzune's suggestion was valid from a scheduling point of view, but Mayumi vetoed it.

  "If he had to perform maintenance during the morning and afternoon, that's too heavy of a workload for Ishida-kun. 'Crowd Ball' is the event with the highest number of rounds on that day."

  "Then, can we call on Shiba-kun, who has no players scheduled for events for the next two days?"

  After a brief moment of consideration, Mayumi nodded in agreement towards Suzune's proposal.

  "......That might be for the best. Then, Miyuki-chan, can you alert Tatsuya-kun for us?"

  "Of course."

  Miyuki smiled as she nodded her head to accept Mayumi's request.

  For Miyuki, any opportunity for her Onii-sama to shine was more than welcome.

  ◇◇◇

  "......No wonder you visited at this hour."

  Although they were siblings, this wasn't the time for young ladies to visit rooms belonging to those of the opposite gender.

  Tatsuya waved Miyuki to sit on the bed and helplessly murmured.

  "......Did I inconvenience you, Onii-sama?"

  Miyuki fidgeted as she watched Tatsuya nervously.

  "No, thank you for notifying me, but......"

  Until now, so long as Miyuki had that particular look in her eyes, Tatsuya never took a hard line with her.

  "Even at a hotel, this isn't the time for young women to leave their rooms by themselves, right? Also, there's been a few incidents lately, so suspicious individuals may be lurking in the corridors."

  At the very least, this was a military facility, so the security was much more intense than first class civilian hotels.

  Miyuki felt that this was an exaggeration, but was very pleased that Tatsuya was worried about her.

  "Yes, Onii-sama, I apologize."

  "I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with smiling and apologizing at the same time......"

  Tatsuya complained as he also smiled. Rather than calling his earlier words a scolding, they didn't even qualify as complaints. On top of that, Tatsuya dearly loved Miyuki, so he would never harshly reprimand his little sister.

  "At any rate, thank you for letting me know, I'll escort you back to your room."

  Tatsuya rose from his chair but Miyuki frantically stood up and waved her hands.

  "No, I can go back by myself. Isn't Onii-sama busy right now? I've already interrupted your work, so I shouldn't take up any more of your time......"

  "While I was in the middle of something, this was more for leisure than anything else, so don't worry about it."

  Tatsuya closed the lid of the notepad terminal as if he wanted to avoid letting his sister see it.

  "But, wasn't that a CAD code?"

  Miyuki wasn't fluent with hardware, but under Tatsuya's influence, she had a decent grasp of software specifications.

  She was unable to fully decipher the meaning with just one glance, but based on the serial numbers and coding language, she could identify the code for Activation Sequences.

  "This little thing isn't related to the competition itself, so there's no problem if I set it aside for now. Also, the code itself is more like a toy than anything else."

  "A...... toy?"

  "I came up with a new idea for a close combat weapon, but there's almost no practical value in it besides shocking the opponent a little. Even if I completed it, there's no market for it."

  "If that's the case, it still qualifies as pioneering new magic, right? I don't think Onii-sama's inventions are pointless."

  "Probably reserved for entertainment purposes...... Anyways, this isn't particularly important, so there's no rush to finish. You are, of course, 'first priority'."

  "Oh dear...... Really, Onii-sama, you actually said that I'm 'more important'......"

  (Wha?)

  Seeing his sister clasp her face in both hands and lower her head, Tatsuya plainly felt something odd had occurred.

  Apparently, his earlier words had gone in a completely mystifying direction.

  (She got the literal meaning right, but somewhere a fatal language error must have occurred......)

  This confusion could not be dispelled immediately, but Tatsuya still snapped out of it faster than Miyuki.

  "......Let's head out."

  "Yes, Onii-sama...... And...... Miyuki is the same as Onii-sama."

  "Meaning......?"

  "Miyuki also sees Onii-sama as the most important person."

  "............"

  Looks like his sister was still out of it — he hoped.

  Right now, Tatsuya clung onto that belief.

  Chapter 6

  The second day of the Nine Schools Competition.

  Wearing the jacket of the technician team, Tatsuya stood near First High's pavilion in the competition area.

  Since the colors ceremony, this was the second time he wore this jacket (only participants were present for the opening ceremony).

  Including the suit he wore for the meet and greet, and this jacket, he was unable to dispel that uncomfortable feeling.

  Still, Tatsuya knew that this was mandatory, so he had to get accustomed to this.

  "What is it? In a bad mood?"

  "No, it's nothing. Why would you think so, President?"

  Tatsuya solemnly replied to Mayumi's question, but was inwardly flustered.

  Tatsuya believed that his poker face was flawless, but was he really so easy to read?

  "Hm~ I wonder why?"

  "Hold on, you shouldn't be asking such a vague question either......"

  Tatsuya felt powerless, but only mentally.

  Looks like the reason wasn't because he was telegraphing his feelings or that his breathing patterns gave him away.

  However, Mayumi being able to pinpoint Tatsuya's thoughts without any warning was far more terrifying and almost threatening.

  "Ignoring that for the moment, is there anything you need, President?"

  Tatsuya set aside this matter for now — not like he could do anything even if he was concerned — and inquired why Mayumi sought him out before the contest began.

  "Just checking on your status...... Did you memorize all the data?"

  The decision to appoint Tatsuya as the assistant technician for the Women's "Crowd Ball" was made on the spot last night, so in order for Tatsuya to adequately adjust the players' CADs, he had to hurriedly memorize every player's psion specifications.

  "Yes, I did."

  "Everyone's?"

  "Yes, I did."

  After Tatsuya repeated the exact same, brief statement twice, Mayumi stared at him with her eyes wide in shock.

  "This might seem like hindsight...... But Tatsuya-kun is amazing. You don't happen to have instantaneous recall or photographic memory, do you?"

  "Compared to you, I rather have a more typical Magic Power."

  "From a student's perspective, that's an impossible luxury."

  Obviously, Mayumi was guaranteed a spot in the magic universities without taking the entrance exams, but she still said this.

  —Accompanied by her using both hands to rub her puffed up cheeks.

  "............"

  "Hm? What's wrong?"

  Tatsuya started massaging his temples using his thumb and index finger while Mayumi slightly tilted her head to one side.

  "President, are you...... Never mind."

  "?"

  Tatsuya originally wanted to say "Are you actually this way and not acting?", but forcibly swallowed those words — which was a wise decisi
on.

  "......Isn't the contest about to start?"

  "Indeed, let's go."

  "Ah?"

  "I said, let's go?"

  "......Yeah, you're right."

  CAD calibration was forbidden while the contest was ongoing, but calibration might be necessary immediately after the round was over.

  That's why it was perfectly natural for the technician to follow the contestant around rather than waiting by the pavilion — even so, there was no need to proceed into the court at the same time, but Tatsuya walked alongside Mayumi the entire way.

  "Miyuki-chan is at the observation deck?"

  This was the first thing she said as they walked together.

  "She went to watch 'Icicle Destruction'."

  Mayumi's question didn't cause Tatsuya to think "Why do you ask?", but rather "It’s this question again?".

  "So...... The two of you actually act independently sometimes."

  Tatsuya was careful to keep his expression neutral and not allow his displeasure to show at this answer, whereas Mayumi nodded in an expressive manner.

  Tatsuya felt somewhat miserable.

  "......In your eyes, are we attached at the hip?"

  His expression was probably thoroughly miserable.

  Mayumi hurriedly shook her hands in denial.

  "Ah, no, I know that's not the case. I know that you two are apart while running errands for the Student Council and during class, so, how do I put it...... Perception, it's all a matter of perception!"

  "President...... For Magicians, perception is reality."

  The increasingly humid and heavy gaze prompted Mayumi to break out into an invisible sweat.

  The heavy atmosphere persisted until the two of them reached the courts.

  Once they reached the arena, Tatsuya felt that this would negatively impact morale, so he forcibly reined in his expressions.

  Yet, when Mayumi took off her cooling jacket (a sports jacket with a built-in cooling system based on thermodynamics), Tatsuya's poker face almost slipped.

  "......Are you wearing that in the competition?"

  "Yes."

  Mayumi's matter of fact nod caused Tatsuya to feel a headache incoming.

  "Are you really wearing that uniform during the competition?"

  "Eh, is it strange? ......Does it not suit me?"

  "............It suits you perfectly."

  "Is that so......? Tee hee, thank you for your compliment."

  Mayumi happily started stretching, while Tatsuya carefully scrutinized her one more time for verification.

  No matter how he looked at it, his eyes didn't deceive him.

  Polo shirt paired with miniskirt could only be described as a tennis uniform, which was more attentive to the latest fashions than competitive practicality.

  Leaning slightly would cause the skirt to sway and reveal the petticoat beneath.

  "Crowd Ball" was a physically demanding sport.

  The shooting device uses compressed air to shoot a 6 cm diameter ball with low elasticity which players used rackets or magic to send towards the opposing courts, with the number of goals determining the victor. Each round lasted three minutes in a court encased within a transparent box. Every twenty seconds, another ball would be introduced to the mix with a total of 9 balls in play in the end, leaving the players no time to catch their breath.

  Players usually wore T-shirts and shorts, though some opted to wear elbow and knee protectors to help with diving.

  If wielding magic alone, there would be no need for running or wearing protective gear, though players that forgo the racket usually wear more protective gear on the court.

  Usually, no one would wear clothing that would leave their limbs exposed.

  (Then again, given who this is, her dictionary probably doesn't contain the word "impossible".)

  Tatsuya arrived at this conclusion after a moment of observation and accepted this facet of reality.

  "Tatsuya-kun...... Are you contemplating something impolite?"

  "I wouldn't dare. You don't need a racket?"

  This piercing accusation forced Tatsuya to sidestep quickly and adopt a more formal tone to change the topic.

  "Yeah, this is my usual style."

  For a moment, Tatsuya thought she was referring to the "tennis uniform" style, but Mayumi obviously meant a style that "only relied on magic".

  "Which CAD are you using?"

  "This one."

  After Mayumi spoke, she pulled out a handgun-shaped Specialized CAD.

  The gun barrel was fairly short, hence it was commonly known as the "short model" while a select minority referred to them as the "civilian model" (Tatsuya's CAD was a "long barrel", which the select minority referred to as the "carbine model").

  Handgun and rifle-type CADs were both equipped with aim modifiers in the gun barrel. The "gun barrel" was actually the location of the targeting reticle for magic calculation (the relative coordinates for the Eidos within the information dimension) that functioned like a motion sensor.

  The longer the gun barrel of the CAD, the greater the emphasis placed on the aim modifier.

  On the other hand, for Magicians that only cared about the activation speed of Specialized CADs and didn't require any aim modification, the short model provided everything they could possibly want.

  "I recall that the President usually ran Generalized CADs?"

  "That's usually the case, but I'm only using one this time."

  Mayumi's comment was very abstract, but Tatsuya correctly interpreted this to mean "Since this contest only requires one magic, I chose a Specialized model".

  "Move-Type Magic? Or Reverse Speed Magic?"

  "Correct, it's 'Multiple Bounce'."

  Mayumi was carefully stretching, so she didn't play coy with Tatsuya before answering his question.

  "Tatsuya-kun, could you give me a hand?"

  "No problem."

  Mayumi sat on the ground with both legs spread and Tatsuya gently pushed her back.

  With practically no resistance, her chest was pressed against the ground.

  "Using multiple bounces to take advantage of the kinetic energy vectors...... But wouldn't relying only on this magic pose a considerable risk? If the inelastic balls lose momentum along the floor or walls, you would have no way of sending them back to the other side."

  Tatsuya could feel some body heat flowing across his palm as he softly whispered a warning.

  "Hm! Hm hm hm...... Whew, I also prepared a few other Speed-Type Magics, but I never resorted to them last year."

  She spoke nonchalantly, but this required a significant difference in strength to fuel this confidence.

  Once again, Tatsuya realized how incredibly powerful Mayumi was compared to everyone else.

  "That's fine."

  Mayumi stretched to the left and right four times then informed Tatsuya to let go.

  Tatsuya straightened and backed off a few steps whereas Mayumi closed her legs and raised a hand towards him as she looked at him.

  Initially, Tatsuya wasn't certain what Mayumi wanted, but once he noticed her watching him intently with an increasingly displeased expression, he quickly got the message.

  Tatsuya came around to her front and grasped her outstretched hand.

  A dainty, delicate hand.

  With a soft tug, Mayumi rolled handily to her feet.

  "Thank you."

  "No, you're welcome."

  Tatsuya personally felt that his response was very cordial, but for some reason Mayumi was very happy.

  "Hm~ What a novel feeling."

  "Ah?"

  That comment came out of the blue.

  Tatsuya replied on reflex and Mayumi smiled in response.

  "I have older brothers and young sisters, but no younger brother."

  "Hm......"

  Tatsuya was aware of this.

  Unlike the Yotsuba Family that was shrouded in secrecy, the Saegusa Family was always in the public eye.

  Every birthda
y for the children drew crowds of guests to celebrate in grandiose fashion.

  This only required a cursory investigation of the members of the Saegusa Family, so it wasn't very difficult.

  If he remembered correctly, besides two older brothers, she also had a pair of twin sisters in 8th grade.

  "Tatsuya-kun never treated me differently, right?"

  "I personally don't believe I'm pretending to be overly familiar with the President......"

  Wary of falling into a trap, Tatsuya replied cautiously, but Mayumi laughed lightly.

  "That's not what I meant. You wouldn't be on guard against me, flustered, or uneasy, right?"

  Ignoring the first one for now, wouldn't the latter two only occur under conditions that Mayumi had created herself? Tatsuya thought but didn't verbalize.

  "You address me with the proper honorifics, but in reality you're not being overly polite either. I thought you were a cold person, but you still go along with my selfish requests, so I think this is what it would be like to have a younger brother."

  Tatsuya involuntarily widened his eyes at Mayumi.

  Indeed, excluding her height, Mayumi had a well-rounded personality, a surprisingly feminine side and, while it was hard to notice, she did care about others in her own way so she fit the bill for an "older sister" perfectly.

  Yet, in all honesty, having an older sister like that would probably mean a lifetime of stress.

  "......Heaven knows, I only have a little sister after all."

  "That's true."

  Mayumi smiled serenely as she gazed at Tatsuya. This smile was enough to cause people to suspect she had forgotten the contest altogether.

  Acutely uncomfortable, Tatsuya looked for an opportunity to escape.

  "Excuse me, I think I should check on the other players' status."

  "There's no need."

  Unfortunately, with the intercession from a third party, his plan of egress was dashed.

  "Ara, Izumin."

  "Saegusa...... You're still up to your usual name-calling."

  The person who looked like she was fighting off a migraine was a female student wearing the same type of jacket as Tatsuya. She was a 3rd Year student in the technician team — Rika Izumi.