Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 01 - Enrollment Chapter (I)

by Sato Tsutomu

  The number of activation sequences that could be used with a Specialized CAD was limited. In contrast to the Generalized CAD which could store up to ninety-nine types of Activation Sequences without regard to the systems of magic, the Specialized CAD could only store nine types of Activation Sequences of a single system of magic. To remedy this disadvantage, CAD devices that could store alternate, exchangeable Activation Sequences were developed, but since Specialized CADs were originally intended for Magicians who are strong in specific Magic Sequences, the need for an increased arsenal of magic is not too high. More often than not, even when multiple storage were carried, most still relied on using one type of magic.

  However, from Tatsuya's answer to Mari's curiosity, it would be safe to assume he belongs to the minority.

  "Yes, I am unable to smoothly operate the Generalized CAD as I can't cope well with them."

  Hattori, who was standing across from him, sneered slightly upon hearing this, but this did not impact Tatsuya's mindset in the slightest.

  "Alright, allow me to explain the rules. In terms of either direct or indirect attacks, lethal attacks are forbidden. Techniques that deal permanent disabilities to the opponent are also forbidden.

  Abilities that cause direct harm to the physical body are forbidden. However, direct attacks that do not result in anything greater than bone fractures are permitted.

  No weapons at any time. Unarmed combat is allowed. If you plan on using kicking techniques, please remove your shoes and change into the school's soft boots.

  The defeat condition is when the judge has determined one side is unable to continue the battle.

  Both sides please move behind your respective starting lines, and do not activate your CAD until I give the signal.

  Breaking the rules results in an automatic defeat. I will use my full strength to stop it, so remember that. That is all."

  Both Tatsuya and Hattori nodded at this, walked towards the starting lines that were five meters apart, and stood facing one another.

  Hattori's expression was more solemn than mocking or challenging, but his face still betrayed an easy-going demeanor.

  The initial position was out of physical reaching distance. Even if the opponent possessed the charging power of a professional soccer player, magic was still faster at this distance. Because this was a magic-based contest, the side with the superior magical attack would naturally have the advantage.

  In this situation, the one who invoked their magic first would usually win. Even if the initial attack did not completely defeat the opponent, but some degree of damage was unavoidable. There were very few people that had the mental discipline to absorb magical damage and could still calmly work their magic. Since sustaining magical damage also disrupted the magic creation process, so long as he continued to attack, victory was assured.

  Also, under the condition that both sides activated their CADs at the same time, Hattori firmly believed that he, a Course 1 student, had no chance of losing against an upstart Course 2 student. CAD was a tool that minimized casting time. Even if someone tried to secretly use a non-CAD based magical ability before the starting signal, it would still be no match against the CAD's speed. On top of that, how quickly one could invoke their magic using a CAD made up the bulk of an individual's magic technical score. This was the defining difference between Course 1 and Course 2 students.

  Tatsuya held a handgun-shaped Specialized CAD.

  Hattori wore a traditional bracelet-shaped Generalized CAD.

  Specialized CADs had the advantage in speed, while Generalized CADs had the advantage in versatility.

  Nonetheless, even if Specialized CADs had a speed advantage over Generalized CADs, that alone could not overcome the difference between Course 1 and Course 2 students. And the opponent was a new student. Hattori's conclusion was that there was absolutely no way that he could lose, a consideration that was neither conceited nor overconfident.

  Tatsuya pointed the CAD he held in his right hand towards the floor,

  And waited for Mari's signal.

  The simulation room returned to complete silence.

  Just as that silence was about to fill every corner of the room.

  "Begin!"

  The "formal match" between Tatsuya and Hattori officially began.

  Hattori slid his right hand over the CAD.

  While the action only consisted of tapping three key points, not a single spare movement was wasted.

  Originally, his specialization was in medium-ranged wide area attack magic.

  When it comes to one on one close quarter matches, if anything, it is not his forte.

  But even when we say that "it's not his forte", since entering high school one year ago, Hattori still stands undefeated in battle.

  While he might yield before the Big Three which consist of Mari, a specialist in both individual and group anti-personnel combat, Mayumi, who can freely employ astounding, high-speed, high precision shooting magic, and Juumonji, a club captain who has gained a peculiar title known as "Iron Wall", Hattori has the confidence that he can hold his own against other students or even groups of teachers.

  That pride did not come from overconfidence.

  The simplistic Activation Sequence that heavily relied on speed was already complete, and in a flash, Hattori had already entered the Magic Invocation stage.

  At this moment, he almost let out a cry of surprise.

  His opponent, that arrogant 1st Year student, was somehow close enough to fill his entire vision.

  He hurriedly changed his target, and prepared to unleash his magic.

  Basic Single System Movement-Type Magic.

  Any opponent caught by this magic would be flung back over a dozen meters and knocked unconscious by the impact, ending the battle.

  But, the magic ended without invoking.

  There should have been no problems with the Activation Sequence.

  His opponent had vanished.

  While the target of Magic Sequences did not have to be very specific, if the target that was originally in the line of sight suddenly disappeared, spell failure was inevitable.

  The Psion Information Aide that was supposed to keep track of his opponent's status and location vanished without any effect, just as a powerful "wave motion" approached Hattori from the flank, who was too busy looking left and right for his opponent. (!)

  Three consecutive wave motions.

  Each wave motion overlapped with one another inside Hattori's body, causing massive swaying to break out that ultimately resulted in Hattori losing consciousness.

  Victory was decided in an instant.

  The entire match lasted less than 5 seconds, and could be appropriately described as an instant win.

  In front of Tatsuya's CAD, Hattori keeled over.

  "...Winner, Shiba Tatsuya."

  Mari cautiously announced the name of the winner.

  There was not a trace of joy on the winner's face.

  That expression was appropriate for someone who merely arrived at the expected result.

  He gave a short bow, then walked towards the table that held the CAD cases.

  Not just his posture, he was wholly uninterested in his victory.

  "Wait."

  Mari called out from behind him.

  "That movement right there... Did you preemptively input a Speed Ability?"

  Hearing this, Mayumi, Suzune, and Azusa all began reflecting on the match.

  At the moment the start signal was given, Tatsuya had moved in front of Hattori.

  At the next instant, he was several meters behind Hattori's right flank.

  Anyone would mistake that speed for Flash Step.

  A normal human body is incapable of that sort of motion.

  "The fact that that is impossible, I think Senpai is more aware of that than anyone."

  It was just as Tatsuya said. As the judge, Mari was closely observing whether CADs were being activated. Not just the obvious CADs, but even for the hidden CADs, th
e flow of psions would have been obvious to her.

  "But, that."

  "That wasn't magic, that was a bona fide physical technique."

  "I can testify to that as well. That is Onii-sama's physical technique. Onii-sama was mentored by Kokonoe Yakumo-sensei."

  Mari held her breath. For someone as versed in combat as she was, the name Kokonoe Yakumo was quite familiar. Mayumi and Suzune did not know of Kokonoe like Mari, but they too could not hide their surprise that someone could accomplish such a feat that was normally written off as something that could only be accomplished through the aid of magic.

  Mayumi recovered from her astonishment. From the perspective of someone who had studied magic, she also had her own question.

  "Was that attack also Ninjutsu? I thought I saw the release of Psion wave motions."

  That being said, her voice and word selection had both stiffened, probably because she still hadn't completely overcome her shock.

  Generally, inquiring about another Magician's unreleased abilities, or even to ask how the ability works, was against the rules. But, for someone such as Mayumi who uses Psion Bullets, for Tatsuya to use Psions that have no physical manifestation as weapons, and exactly how he managed to damage Hattori, these burning questions could not be suppressed.

  "You're correct; the attack was not Ninjutsu, but based on Psion wave motions. The foundation of that Psion motion wave came from Oscillation-type Basic Single System Magic."

  "Given that, I still don't understand how you knocked out Hanzou."

  "Causing him to faint was enough."

  "Faint? How did that happen?"

  As he watched Mayumi tilt her head, Tatsuya's expression did not become more troubled as he continued to explain.

  "For Magicians, Psions can be discernible just like visible light and sound waves. This is a mandatory skill for magic, but the side effect is that when Magicians are exposed to unexpected Psion wave motions, they frequently misinterpret that their bodies are swaying. This misunderstanding directly affects the physical body. The reasoning behind this is very similar to hypnotic suggestion, where people under hypnosis are induced into thinking they suffered 'burn injuries', then find out that the physical symptoms reflect their thinking. During the match, I used this illusion of 'swaying motions', causing him to feel an extreme case of seasickness."

  "I can't believe it... Magicians are usually exposed to Psion wave motions, and thus become accustomed to these surges. For External Systemic Magic, both Activation Sequences and Magic Sequences are types of Psion wave motions. And yet despite this, to be able to disable a Magician through Psion surge alone, and to cause such a strong effect, exactly how..."

  The one who answered Mayumi's question was Suzune.

  "Compound waves."

  "Rin-chan?"

  Just this short sentence was not sufficient for the intelligent Mayumi to understand. Naturally, Suzune's explanation wasn't finished.

  "By consecutively creating three varied vibrations, then have their intersection point at Hattori-kun's location, thus creating an equilateral surge through these powerful wave motions. To think you were capable of making such precise calculations."

  "Quite the explanation, Ichihara-senpai."

  Although Suzune was also quite shocked at Tatsuya's calculation abilities, she also deserves considerable credit for comprehending the mechanics after seeing it only once, Tatsuya thought.

  However, Suzune's real question was in another area.

  "Speaking of this, how were you able to consecutively invoke vibration magic 3 times? If your technical speed was so high, how come your technical score is this low?"

  At such a direct reference to his low scores, Tatsuya could only force a small smile.

  Ever since laying eyes on Tatsuya's CAD, Azusa could not calm down in the slightest and now tentatively offered a question.

  "Tatsuya-kun, is that CAD the 'Silver Horn'?"

  "Silver Horn? Silver, as in the Silver from that mysterious genius Magic Designer Taurus Silver?"

  At Mayumi's question, Azusa visibly brightened.

  At times described as a "Device Geek", Azusa happily explained away.

  "That's him! The miraculous CAD engineer associated with Four Leaves Technology, whose name, appearance, and data all remain a mystery!

  The genius programmer who was the first in the world to make the Loop Cast System a reality.

  Ah, Loop Cast System is the Activation Sequence that skips the step of restarting each Activation Sequence. If the Magic Sequence is the same, then the CAD no longer has to restart the Activation Sequence each time. This is done by adding a copying power to the Magic Calculation Area's execution mode, adding a copy of the Activation Sequence's last parts to the Activation Sequence itself, so Magicians can endlessly invoke magics within their ability. Although the theory existed in the past, but to calculate the Invocation Sequence and copy the Activation Sequence separately at the same time, no one could do it until now..."

  "Stop! I know what Loop Cast is."

  "In that case...

  In that case, Silver Horn is the name of the Fully Customizable Specialized CAD developed by Taurus Silver!

  Naturally, it has the best adjustments for the Loop Cast System, is able to invoke magic stably using the least amount of Magic Power, is critically acclaimed, and is especially popular among the law enforcement population.

  Although it's sold on the market, but that requires a special procedure and fee! And yours must be a limited edition model, from the way the barrel is longer than the traditional model? Where did you get that?"

  "A-chan, calm down a little."

  Maybe it was because of asthma, but Azusa's chest was heaving as her eyes were glued onto the item held in Tatsuya's hand. If Mayumi, who was well aware of Azusa's interests, wasn't on hand to stop her, she probably would be admiring it from a very close proximity.

  On the other hand, Mayumi still had another question.

  "But, Rin-chan. Isn't that strange? No matter how capable the Loop Cast CAD is, Loop Cast still can't..."

  After the talking stopped, Suzune nodded as she tilted her head like Mayumi.

  "That is strange.

  Loop Cast is designed for consecutively casting one type of magic. Even if it is the same vibration magic, if the wavelength and number of vibrations set by the Magician changes, these would cause differences to occur within the Activation Sequence. If the Loop Cast automatically copies the original Activation Sequence, then it would be impossible to account for the differences in order to achieve 'Compounding Waves'.

  If you set the number of vibrations as another variable, then it may be possible to use the same Activation Sequence to achieve 'Compounding Waves' while still accounting for all the differences. But if target, strength, time of duration are all variables, and you include number of vibrations as another variable... Don't tell me you managed to calculate all of that?"

  This time even Suzune was stunned to the point of speechlessness, and under her gaze Tatsuya merely shrugged.

  "It doesn't matter if it's multi-variable quantitative processing speed, calculation scale, or even interference strength. None of these are subjects that are assigned a grade."

  Before Mayumi and Mari's gaze, Tatsuya remained ambivalent as he said that aloud.

  "...The evaluation of magic technical skills only includes Invocation Speed, the scale of the Magic Sequence, and phenomena rewriting ability.

  I see now, so the test is not capable of completely measuring a person's ability..."

  With a groan, Hattori sat up and answered Tatsuya's ironic statement.

  "Hanzou-kun, are you alright?"

  "I'm fine!"

  Mayumi bent at the waist and looked over Hattori. In response, Hattori quickly dodged the incoming face and hurriedly got to his feet.

  "I see, so you were all worried about this from the beginning."

  Hattori could not have said this if he had not overheard their earlier conversation.
r />   Mayumi straightened herself, then nodded with a look of understanding on her face. Hattori was directly facing her.

  "No, in the beginning I really didn't realize!"

  Still flushed in the face, he hurriedly searched for an argument.

  "After I lost consciousness I was still in a hazy state... I only regained movement just now!"

  Put it this way... It looks as if it's very easy to understand the underlying emotions.

  "Is that so... Then what we just said, you must understand completely?"

  "...Eh, yes! Even if still hazy, my ears could still hear the words..."

  It seems like Mayumi perfectly understands the feelings Hattori holds towards her.

  Evil woman? Even if there is this impression, but the connotations behind those words do not adequately fit her surroundings, Tatsuya decided to stop pursuing this line of thought.

  Whatever the reality is, there is also the possibility that he simply misread the situation.

  Tatsuya continued the work that was interrupted by Mari's shout.

  ...Putting it like that would be overly pretentious, since all he was doing was returning the CAD to the case.

  Tatsuya pretended not to see Azusa, who was staring at the object in his hands with an expression that clearly said "Do Want".

  Tatsuya also ignored his sister's gaze that suggested she wanted to help. That was because Miyuki wasn't very adept with machines. Mechanical dunce, or high tech allergies would not be an inappropriate description, especially since Tatsuya's CAD was customized to the point that a normal high school student would not be able to handle them (on the other hand, because the school's CADs only received limited adjustments, Tatsuya could not use them to the full extent of his abilities). The truth was, if Miyuki came to help, it would only increase the workload.

  He replaced the storage device, reset the safety; the sound of footsteps approached Tatsuya from behind.

  Looks like the explanations were at an end.

  What followed next did not concern him, so Tatsuya did not turn around.

  "Shiba-san."

  "Yes."

  Miyuki replied in a displeased tone.

  Including Tatsuya, there were only two males in the room, so even if the tone was completely different from before, there was no mistaking who the speaker was.