Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Volume 4 - Ch 11

This chapter is updated by Novels.pl

The celebrations for both the Newcomers Division and overall victories happened at the same time.

The three replacements who took First Place and were directly responsible for the triumph in the Newcomers Division were all injured in the finals, so this wasn't exactly the time for reckless celebration. Even with that in mind, the real reason was even though overall victory was assured, preparations still needed to be made for tomorrow's Mirage Bat event, hence they didn't have time to really celebrate.

Thanks to First High's newcomers turning the table, the difference in score between First and Third High grew even further.

Currently, the difference was 140 points.

For tomorrow's Mirage Bat event, First Place earned 50 points, Second Place received 30 points, Third Place gets 20 points, and Fourth Place nabbed 10 points.

For tomorrow's preliminary round and the finals for Monolith Code, First Place obtained 100 points, Second Place received 60 points, with Third and Fourth Place each receiving 40 points.

Based on tomorrow's result, First High's overall victory might become a certainty before reaching the final day.

The players and technicians were overwhelmed with work trying to procure the essentials (such as the uniforms and CADs for the Monolith Code players), so any member with time on their hands was also thrown into the fray.

Tatsuya intentionally avoided using "Restoration" on his ruptured right eardrum and received the usual medical treatment from the infirmary. Afterwards, he used Self Restoration to fully repair the damage and covered it up with the medical patch issued to him. Currently, he was alone with Miyuki and busy preparing for tomorrow.

None of the other team members, especially the upperclassmen, knew that he had fully recovered, so they were still in the throes of worry. While Tatsuya felt slightly guilty about deceiving them, he had his reasons as well. In atonement, he chose to silently endure the discomfort caused by wearing the ear protector in the scorching heat of summer. He was quite aware that such a trivial matter did not constitute as atonement.

Still, even though they were "overwhelmed with work", this could not compare to the sheer madness from the day before.

Scratch that, maybe it wasn't even close.

Yesterday evening, he had to fully equip two people from scratch three, including himself CADs included, which created a level of frantic industry rarely seen in this field.

Although Miyuki had switched from the Newcomers Division to the Official Division, she was originally slated for Mirage Bat anyway, so her preparations proceeded apace. Events outside of their control had cost them a day, but that wouldn't affect the outcome by much.

"Don't force yourself, Tatsuya-kun, take a break. You already pushed yourself too hard yesterday."

"Miyuki-chan, you too. If you always work so hard, we'll never stop incurring injuries."

Tatsuya expertly completed the CAD examination. Along with Miyuki, he was practically forcibly expelled by Mayumi and Suzune, drawing today's activities to a close.

Elsewhere, at this time during the same night, another group of people were plagued by insomnia as they were backed into a corner.

"At this point, First High's victory is practically written on the wall..."

"Fuck that! Do you want to give up? Do you want to sit down and die?!"

"If First High wins like this, we're going to lose over a billion. In U.S. dollars!"

"We'd be better off dead in the face of that kind of loss! HQ was never interested in this plan because upon failure, the loss in capital would be enormous. We were the ones who forced this plan through. Now, if we're lucky we would be turned into 'Generators', and anyone unworthy would become 'Boosters' to slave away for the organization until the day we die."

The men sitting around the table turned fearful gazes on the four frozen men standing in the four corners of the room.

"Without this plan, we might not be able to meet our quotas... but I think we overreached ourselves."

"This isn't the time to say that! ...In that case, let's do it, by any means possible!"

"He's right! We already spent considerable energy forcing the favored candidates to lose their matches. By now, we shouldn't hesitate to adopt more brutal tactics. Even if our customers are suspicious, so long as we don't leave any evidence behind, those are only empty accusations at the end. Now, we go all the way or bust!"

"Send agents to the assistants. For tomorrow's Mirage Bat, force all of First High's players to withdraw by any means possible!"

"They won't die if they're lucky. Otherwise, I guess they weren't lucky."

The men looked at one another with maniacal smiles on their faces, their thoughts in accord.

The ninth day of the Nine Schools Competition. The pleasant weather that lasted until yesterday took a turn for the worse, with thick clouds that hinted of rain covering the skies. It was a dark and overcast day.

Still, there was no blinding sunlight with the dark clouds in the sky, creating perfect conditions for Mirage Bat. For the players, Miyuki included, this forecast was undoubtedly "excellent weather".

"While this is an ideal condition for Mirage Bat... Yet I somehow feel that this is the harbinger of conflict."

Hearing Tatsuya murmuring to himself as he watched the skies,

Miyuki creased her brows.

"Is something else going to happen...?"

"Since their goal remains a mystery... No evidence of something afoot does not guarantee that nothing will occur. Regardless, Miyuki doesn't need to worry. No matter what happens, only you, I will protect to the absolute end."

Tatsuya's words had no superfluous meaning.

For Tatsuya, his sole purpose was to safeguard Miyuki.

To be brutally honest, in Tatsuya's mind, sacrificing the other players was nothing more than a method to the madness.

However Tatsuya probably gave thanks that no one was around to overhear their conversation.

If a third party was present... If someone saw Tatsuya watching the sky and, out of his sight range, Miyuki drooping her head in embarrassment while wearing a thoroughly delighted smile as she drifted towards him, they might report the siblings for the crime of "homicide by headaches".

Miyuki was set to appear in the second match.

Actually, appearing in the first match with the maximum amount of rest was the best case. But now that Tatsuya thought about it, not everything goes their way, so they should be thankful that she wasn't scheduled for the third match.

The two of them chose to observe the first match from the auxiliary observation deck on the side.

While there was a 45 minute break between the first and second matches, moving from the main audience stands to the competition arena was a waste of time.

The players from the other schools apparently thought the same, given the way they were congregated around one side of the arena.

"Kobayakawa-senpai looks pretty fired up!"

That was Miyuki's assessment of their senpai, who was one of the players waiting on one of the upraised circular pillars in the middle of the lake for the starting signal.

That was Tatsuya's opinion as well.

However, Mari once complained that Kobayakawa was an unstable individual. Now that he thought about it, since this might be the decisive match that clinched First High's overall victory, it was probably impossible to tell her to relax.

Still, the bottom line was that victory or defeat was entirely up to her, but there didn't seem to be any problems, Tatsuya thought.

Under the combined gaze of the audience, related personnel, and fellow teammates, the starting signal rang out.

The first match turned into flurry of activity to decide the standings, but Kobayakawa maintained a slim lead.

Breathless, Erika could finally let out a sigh of relief and turned to speak to her neighbor Mizuki only to find her friend staring at the scene with widened eyes thoroughly unlike her.

"Mizuki... Is it OK for you to take off your glasses?"

Magicians who were oversensitive to pushion light wore special glasses to inhibit the effects of pushion light as well as to avoid becoming emotionally stimulated by active pushions. In the current situation, taking off her glasses in such a furious event surely brought incredible stress on her spirit.

"In truth... It's a little uncomfortable."

Erika noticed that Mizuki's hands that were holding her glasses on her thighs shook from time to time.

"But, I don't think that always evading the issue is the answer."

"...I don't think Mizuki is evading the issue at all."

Erika had heard Mizuki's reason for attending magic high school numerous times.

Of course, the chief reason was to be able to take advantage of this rare talent. Specifically, she hoped to enroll in the magic universities as a Magic Artificer.

Yet at the same time, she also wished to learn how to control this pair of "eyes" that often saw simply too much. Within the limits set for Course 2 students, she wished to receive the fullest amount of training.

While still immature, but precisely because she saw this as her "strength", this certainly did not qualify as running away. And precisely because it wasn't fully developed yet, Erika believed that using supporting tools and equipment was the right approach.

Precisely because of this.

"Rome wasn't built in one day. Likewise, you won't fully control your abilities in one shot and, though I shouldn't be the one to say this, doing so usually ruins your body as well. Mizuki, this could cause irreparable damage!"

That's why she chose such a stern lecture.

"Yeah... But, if I avert my eyes at a time something that I must see is visible, I think that's also incorrect..."

In spite of this, Mizuki still kept her glasses on her lap.

"When Watanabe-senpai was injured, if I was watching carefully, I might have provided some assistance to Tatsuya-kun and the others."

"...So this time, you're keeping watch in case another incident occurs?"

"Exactly. You know...... I think Miyuki will be perfectly fine. That's because if something was wrong with Miyuki, there's no way that could escape Tatsuya-kun's eyes. However, he's simply unable to handle all the other players today. In addition, he was overworked yesterday. So if..."

"If the other players ran into trouble, Tatsuya-kun wouldn't just sit there twiddling his thumbs either. That's most likely the case... He looks cold on the outside, but he's a good guy inside."

"Tatsuya-kun's warmth comes from looking after his friends...!"

"Yes, yes, I got it!"

(If not towards his "friends", he would definitely be the sort to make the coldest, most objective decisions.)

Erika kept that thought to herself. She pressed both palms together in front of her and sought to comfort the slightly annoyed Mizuki.

Mikihiko, who was sitting on Mizuki's other side, interjected upon hearing their conversation.

"I understand Erika's concerns towards Shibata-san and share the same belief that Tatsuya has. Shibata-san's 'eyes' are undeniably the most reliable tool to prevent someone using Spiritual Magic to hinder the competition. Since we have a barrier erected around us to dampen the effects of pushion light, I don't think any residual after effects will linger."

Hearing the unnatural eagerness within Mikihiko's words (according to Erika), Erika revealed a mischievous smirk.

"Hm~...? So Miki will protect Mizuki now?

If something happens to Mizuki, Miki will take full responsibility now?

Of course, that's the type of responsibility men will take for women, right?"

"Wha, this isn't the time to talk about that!"

Beet red, Mikihiko's furious rebuttal wholly ignored his usual objection to his nickname.

Speaking of Mizuki, she was also blushing a deep red and seemed to be at a loss for words.

"...You truly are an evil woman!"

On the other hand, Erika utterly ignored the sighs and annoyed scoldings coming from the other side of her seat.

Between Leo, who was currently being ignored, and Erika, who was feigning ignorance, the usual lively conversation started. At this time, the bell for the second round started.

Both of them wore an "unsatisfied" expression and used their facial expressions to convey their meaning while shutting their mouths to avoid distracting the players and the other members of the audience.

Afterwards, shortly after the second round began, that incident happened.

Both Kobayakawa and another player leaped at the same time towards a green orb in the sky.

Unfortunately, the other player reached the target first. Kobayakawa used magic to stop her leaping momentum. Her body came to a stop in the air.

Next, she sought to use magic to return to her starting location, but found another player had already landed at that location.

Unruffled, she decided on the closest landing spot and switched the Magic Sequence to land there.

However, her body that was supposed to move in a diagonal pattern

fell directly downwards through gravity's influence.

Even the spectators in the audience could see Kobayakawa's expression falter as she began to fall.

Shock.

Panic.

Terror.

The magic that was supposed to support her failed to activate.

Magic had supported her life to this day, yet suddenly betrayed her at this critical moment. She forgot to even struggle as she plummeted towards the surface of the lake.

Even though it was the water's surface, this was still a 10 meter fall. If the landing was poor, this might be fatal.

Nor did Kobayakawa appear to take any stance to prepare for landing.

Fortunately, this was an athletic competition with two or three layers of safeguards in place. There were emergency responses in place if a player suddenly lost control of their magic and began to fall.

The staff on hand immediately released Speed-Type Magic.

From the moment Kobayakawa started to fall until the staff used magic to catch her body, probably less than a second had elapsed.

Still, she was less than half way from the water's surface.

This was more than enough to completely crush her confidence.

With pitying eyes, Tatsuya watched them carry away his unconscious senpai on a stretcher.

The greatest reason why young men and women lost their ability to use magic was because of hazardous situations caused by magic failure and the subsequent distrust towards magic in general.

Magic is a power that deceives the world.

Magic itself exists outside the truth of the world, hence the deception.

Even so, if everyone could use their "eyes" to see magic like Tatsuya, then they could easily believe this deceptive yet truthful power.

Nevertheless, for most Magicians (especially the chicks and saplings), magic was an immutable, invisible existence. Even if they could see the psions, they couldn't see how magic was interacting with their world. In short, they were clueless beyond theoretical knowledge.

When I'm using magic, is this really my own power

Every Magician-in-training came across this question during their education. No, this suspicion. Once magic failed to materialize, resulting in danger that relied on magic to avert, this suspicion rapidly turned into belief.

See, magic doesn't exist This belief.

Once this idea was implanted into a Magician, magic would forever be out of their reach.

Magic was such a fragile existence that balanced on the tips of the mental scales.

(...Kobayakawa-senpai is likely broken for life.)

As if to comfort the utterly pale Miyuki, Tatsuya cradled her shoulders into his chest as he murmured to himself.

When in gravity's grasp and at the moment of inception, Kobayakawa's expression was covered with terror.

It was someone else. Even if he made that distinction, realizing that someone had forever lost their precious abilities certainly left a bitter after taste.

As if pressing a burning brand to the gaping wound, his messaging terminal in the chest pocket started vibrating and arrested his melancholy.

Miyuki, who was pressed tightly against him, turned a shocked expression towards Tatsuya. He calmly removed the fold up device and pressed it to his ear.

"Tatsuya, it's me, Mikihiko. Got a moment?"

"...Ah, no problem."

Even though the lights clearly showed that the sound wave interference module on the device was working, Tatsuya still lowered his volume.

"Unfortunately, during the earlier incident, I was unable to detect any magic at work."

"Is that so..."

"Sorry for disappointing you..."

"Please don't worry on that account, I failed to notice anything either."

"However, Shibata-san has something she wants to say to you."

"Mizuki? You mean, her glasses were off?"

Tatsuya's tone contained a level of astonishment that wasn't feigned. Yet, Mikihiko didn't immediately reply,

"Tatsuya-kun, this is Mizuki."

Because someone else had taken hold of the phone. "Mizuki, did you see anything?"

Are you OK? Those words were stuck in Tatsuya's throat.

Still, Tatsuya believed that this would be trampling over Mizuki's good intentions.

As someone affiliated with magic, she made the conscious decision to use her "vision".

Then, inquiring about the results was what a member of the magic world like him should respond with, Tatsuya thought.

"Yes, well... On Kobayakawa-senpai's right arm... maybe near where she was wearing her CAD, I saw a light, no, more like a 'spirit' bursting apart."

"Really... You saw that. So, you said this 'spirit' burst apart?"

"Uh......

Yes, that's the feeling I got. Like a really old electronic scattering sparks everywhere, something like that......"

"I see. So that's it, I get it now... So that's how they did it."

Tatsuya got a muddled image of what snare their "enemies" laid for them.

"Uh, Tatsuya-kun...?"

Apparently, his nodding movement could be detected through his voice over the phone.

A somewhat hesitant, but very hopeful voice (from Mizuki) traveled across the other end of the line.

"Excellent find, Mizuki. This is an invaluable piece of information!"

"Thank you, you are very welcome!"

Before Mizuki could ask her burning questions, Tatsuya replied first. Afterwards, Mizuki's anxious voice came back over the line.

Unfortunately, in the first match, First High was forced to withdraw in the middle.

Tatsuya departed First High's pavilion that was currently suffused in a gloomy aura and made his way to the CAD examination pavilion staffed by the board.

He left Miyuki in the player's resting area even in the pavilion, it still counted as a "room".

Based on the modus operandi, it seemed highly unlikely that they would strike in two consecutive matches, and they hadn't directly assaulted the players themselves. On the other hand, players usually focused all their attention on the upcoming match rather than worrying about details like mechanical inspections and the sort. Tatsuya adopted a similar line of reasoning with his companions.

CAD examination was a procedure that had been repeated numerous times in the past few days and should be the area of least hassle or concern. However, his optimism died the moment he plugged the CAD into the examination device.

This behavior was completely impulsive.

The moment the board member took the CAD from his hands and connected it to the examination device and started operating the controls,

Instantly, he detected the anomaly, and by the time he realized this...

His hand had already dragged the man across the table and thrown him violently to the floor.

A pained shriek rang out.

Immediately afterward, an angry roar to be precise, it was the guard who let out this angry roar rapidly approached.

But, even hearing this sound was insufficient to halt his intentions.

A suffocating aura of killing intent stopped the footsteps in their tracks and draped the scene in silence.

This was the manifestation of the last remaining remnant of his "sincerity" (emotion-wise).

"...You've severely underestimated me!"

The painful groan was likely a biological reaction because of the increased force from the kneecap pressed down on his chest.

The board member that was thrown to the floor was so terrified of Tatsuya's demonic aura that his teeth weren't even chattering and could only lay there with spasms breaking out over his face.

"Did you seriously think that you could tamper with Miyuki's personal effects and not rouse my ire?"

Despite hearing this, any third party unaware of his family situation could not comprehend his meaning.

At the same time, even if that was the case, no one would fail to understand

The sinister smile on his lips.

The board member who was on the receiving end of this violence had touched that which cannot be touched the scales of the dragon.

Completely ignoring the crowd around him, Tatsuya coldly spoke to the man crumpled on the floor.

"What did you plant inside Miyuki's CAD during the examination? That's not a typical virus!"

The man's face shook even harder now. This level of terror and despair went beyond someone looking Death in the eye. This was the face of the condemned being read their sins in the depths of hell.

"So, this is how you tamper with the CAD software. Owing to the rules of the competition, no CAD can avoid coming through this bottleneck."

In the crowd of security personnel who arrived to subdue Tatsuya, the foremost one overheard Tatsuya's muttering and sucked in a breath. He turned his gaze on the man responsible for CAD examination who was currently subdued by Tatsuya. The officer's eyes gradually switched from watching a victim to gazing at a potential suspect.

"Still, you aren't the only one responsible for all the shenanigans during this competition, are you?"

Under Tatsuya's knees, tears trickled out of the corner of the man's eyes as he weakly shook his head.

"Oh? You choose silence?"

Tatsuya expressively formed the fingers of his right into a karate chop before the man's eyes.

The finger tips approached the man like the fangs of a snake. Tatsuya's right hand slowly stalked towards the fallen man's throat.

Seeing this, everyone present was mesmerized by the sight and, for some reason, they were all thinking about the same thing.

They were visualizing the same event.

The young man's fingers would easily tear through this piteous sinner's skin, gouge out the throat, and pass merciless judgment amid a sea of blood...

"What is going on here?"

Just before this tragedy could play out to its inevitable conclusion, an elder's composed voice released everyone from their stasis.

There was no sense of intimidation or majesty; instead, the voice passed over them like a spring breeze as it swallowed the towering murderous intent and neutralized it.

"Kudou-sama!"

His demons exorcised, Tatsuya reined in his demonic aura, retracted his hand and knees before rising to bow towards Elder Kudou.

"My terrible apologies. I have disturbed you with an unsightly display."

"You are First High's Shiba-kun. Yesterday's match left an indelible impression. So, what's going on here?"

Feeling Tatsuya retract his fangs, someone sought to arrest the young man responsible for this chaos, but a colleague in the front ranks who overheard Tatsuya's words restrained him.

"Due to the illegal activities directed towards our school's CADs, I am currently interrogating the apprehended suspect."

"Is that so."

Anyone who had been held in place by his demonic aura and murderous intent knew this was a lie.

Interrogate wasn't going to cut it.

However, Elder Kudou chose not to pursue that issue and merely inclined his head at Tatsuya's words.

"This is the CAD that was tampered with?"

"Correct."

The old Magician once known as the "wiliest" removed the CAD from the examination device and held it before his eyes before nodding in agreement.

"...Indeed, an abnormality is present. I've seen this before. While I was still in the service, during the battles in the East China Seas, the Magicians in the Guangdong Army used this sort of Golden Electron Silkworms."

As he said this, he directed a chilling gaze towards the man on the ground.

This cold voice sent the man crawling backwards.

"Golden Electron Silkworms pass across connections to invade electronic devices. It's a SB magic that disables precision weaponry."

SB Magic was the name given to magic that used self-regulated immaterial existences, also known as "spirits", as a medium. Elder Kudou briefly recalled his experiences and slowly unmasked this magic.

"The silkworms don't rewrite the process itself. Instead, they interfere with the output signal and may even alter the signal. This delays the spell activation by hampering the electronic mechanism without triggering the OS or anti-virus programs. Prior to identifying the Golden Electron Silkworms, our forces suffered terribly under its effects... Were you aware of this?"

"No."

At Elder Kudou's inquiry, Tatsuya avoided any unnecessary movement and maintained an "at-ease" stance as he replied verbally.

"This is the first I've heard of the term Golden Electron Silkworms. However, I immediately detected a foreign element intruding on the system I designed."

"I see."

Hearing Tatsuya's words, Elder Kudou revealed a delighted smile.

Still, by the time he turned his gaze on the perpetrator, this smile had morphed into a predatory smile that a veteran Magician of a hundred battles turned on a hapless foe.

"Now, where did you come across the spell for Golden Electron Silkworms...?"

With a screech, the spy attempted to flee the scene, but was quickly brought down by the guards who originally came to arrest Tatsuya.

"Well, Shiba-kun. It's about time for you to return to the stadium. Just use the backup CADs for now. Since this kind of situation has occurred, there's no need for further examinations. Speaking of which, board chairman?"

At these sudden summons, one of the older gentlemen behind him that being said, he was still a dozen years younger than Elder Kudou

hurriedly nodded his head.

"For such an unsavory individual to infiltrate the staff is a scandal of unprecedented proportions. Afterwards, I would like to hear your explanation."

The chairman looked ready to faint, but still managed to reply in the affirmative. Elder Kudou turned from his band of followers and once more turned a delighted gaze towards Tatsuya.

"Shiba Tatsuya-kun, I would like to speak with you sooner or later."

"Definitely, if the opportunity beckons"

"Indeed, allow me to look forward to this 'opportunity'."

This was the first encounter between Tatsuya and Kudou Retsu.

Upon returning to First High's pavilion, Tatsuya was acutely aware that the looks sent his way had developed minute, yet definitive, changes.

Maybe, he should say they have "reverted to their original state".

The reason he said minute was because they were trying, but failed, to hide their subtle glances. They felt guilty about seeing him in a different light, yet could not suppress the wavering in their hearts.

Tatsuya was no fool.

His emotions were merely skewed in a certain direction, with one particular half becoming especially sensitive.

Hence, he was slow to accept good intentions. Yet very adept at picking up hostility.

Currently, he was very accustomed to reading the glances thrown his way. It was the bewilderment, terror, and avoidance one experienced when encountering an unidentified outlier.

"Onii-sama..."

Among them, one young lady did not shun him and approached him with subdued voice and expression.

"Sorry, I made you worry."

That was the only gaze that plucked his heartstrings.

"How can that be! Wasn't Onii-sama enraged on my behalf?"

At the same time as she shook her head vigorously, her brushed hair parted slightly.

"That was fast. Have you heard the details?"

Tatsuya gently adjusted the loose strands and caressed his sister's head. Shyly, Miyuki dipped her head, but still answered her brother's question clearly.

"No. That's because, whenever Onii-sama is actually furious... It's always because of me..."

Her clear answer trailed off into a sob. Tatsuya used one hand to stroke his sister's face and gently raised her head.

"...Exactly. I will only anger for your sake.

But, Miyuki. It is perfectly natural for an older brother to be furious for a young sister.

In my heart, that is the last scrap of something 'perfectly natural'. So, Miyuki, you don't have to be so sad."

Tatsuya released his right hand and pulled out a handkerchief, which he used to dab at the tear corners of his sister's eyes.

"Besides... Wouldn't it be a shame for your tears to ruin such a beautiful make up job? Today is an auspicious day when you will ascend to the stage."

"Don't say that... Seriously, Onii-sama. I'm not the only one competing today. This is called blatant favoritism!"

In spite of the wry smile, the brilliancy of Miyuki's smile was second to none.

At least, that's how Tatsuya saw it.

Seeing his sister's smile restored, Tatsuya was satisfied and at ease. His hands dropped from his sister's face to her shoulder as he directed them inside. When he lifted his head to look at the pavilion, he suddenly felt another subtle change in looks he was receiving. This time, the change was in a more interesting direction.

Hidden within the secret glances in their direction,

Was a lukewarm gaze that was both irritated but unable to take their eyes off of them.

"Ah, Tatsuya-kun."

Presently, as if the Student Council President spoke on behalf of all the students present, Mayumi used an especially cold voice and gaze to welcome Tatsuya.

"When I heard from the board that 'one of the students from your school abruptly assaulted someone', I was at wit's end trying to figure out what happened... So, apparently a certain sis-con brother flew into a rage when someone attempted to act against his beloved little sister!"

While this wasn't a very flattering way to describe the circumstances, Tatsuya got the distinct feeling of someone in the path of a tornado and feeling the cold wind nipping at him. Realizing that he was in a completely inferior situation, Tatsuya helplessly chose to make a tactical retreat.

Thus, he quickly retreated into the work room allotted for technicians.

This way, Tatsuya finally managed to avoid being ostracized within First High, though whether this result was brought about by his own will... Even he was not able to say.

The day broke over a darkened sky and showed no signs of turning for the better by the time the second match started around 9:30 AM.

"It's a fine day today... Hopefully, this will continue into the evening."

"Might get sunny around the evening."

"Though starlight presents its own challenges... Oh well, still better than a rainy day."

The siblings' conversation seemed to assume that advancing beyond the preliminaries was a statement of fact. However, Azusa, who was sitting in a nearby chair, seemed completely "indifferent" with this.

Generally, the difference in strength between Year 1 and Year 2 students exceeded the difference between Year 2 and Year 3 students. This was because customized magic education officially began at the high school level.

Thus, if not present during the Newcomers Division, rarely do Year 1 students appear in the Official Division. Usually, players that were suddenly promoted to the Official Division from the Newcomers Division had a tough time getting through the preliminaries, not to mention placing in the standings.

That being said

(That sort of common sense probably doesn't apply to Miyuki... And on top of that, there's Shiba-kun as well.)

Excluding her more timid nature, Azusa was undoubtedly one of the top tier Magicians (chicks) in her cohort. The fact that she was selected as one of the brass within First High despite her weaker personality was a testament to her skills.

Yet in Azusa's eyes, Miyuki possessed the power to challenge for First Place.

Just the sister alone was already a formidable opponent with superlative skills, now there was an older brother who was fully supporting her.

Even Mari, the favored champion, would be hard pressed to defeat her even in peak condition.

While Azusa was contemplating these other details, in reality, she was the technician responsible for the third match, which is why she was here so early to help make any final CAD adjustments and system diagnostics.

The Official Division's Monolith Code and Mirage Bat were the final two gender exclusive events in the Nine Schools Competition, so each school's personnel were busy preparing for the events.

First High chose to pair one player with one technician to handle these two events.

To be brutally honest, as a Technician, Tatsuya was also Azusa's opponent.

However before the first shot was fired, regardless of who won or lost, Azusa's will to compete had completely evaporated.

The earlier incident.

The board sent word that Tatsuya assaulted some of the staff. Upon learning this, she was more "terrified" than shocked.

Rather than being surprised, somewhere in her heart she knew "if it was him".

Even though they were nothing more than recent, casual acquaintances, Azusa believed that "he wasn't the type to act violently without cause". On the other hand, if he did have a reason, he wasn't the sort to hold back.

This readiness to resort to unbridled savagery chilled Azusa to the core.

A considerable proportion of magic usage fell within the purview of the military, both in terms of military strength and active deterrents. Azusa was perfectly clear on this point. But regardless of whether it was the military or public safety, this was still an institutionalized "violence". In order to activate this "violence", the responsibility was divvied between the decision maker, the one who gave the orders, the executors, and the supervisors.

Yet, he was willing to make the decision, execute, and bear the full responsibility.

Perhaps, he wouldn't even bat an eyelid if the man had to die executed with his own hands.

She was absolutely terrified of that ice-cold heart forged of steel.

The shock came afterwards, when he shared the details behind his actions.

He came across illegal CAD modifications and apprehended the culprit on site.

The tear-stricken, tortured expression on Hirakawa, the Year 3 student who served as Kobayakawa's Technician, was deeply imprinted into Azusa's eyes. That sort of harrowing regret was easy to imagine and could resonate with anyone.

She hadn't noticed that the CAD was tampered with. Due to this, a player suffered a major accident, culminating in an exceptional peer possibly bidding farewell to her powers forever and being doomed to a broken life. In the face of that, she... If she was in Hirakawa's shoes, she might have fled the scene and cried herself to sleep in her hotel room, Azusa thought.

It was an undeniable fact that Tatsuya was a Course 2 student and, at the same time, a "dunce".

His technical scores hovered just above passing.

During the skill examinations after school commenced, roughly five students failed every year, so even if his grades were closer to "pretty terrible" instead of "fairly poor", there was nothing to be done.

Yet, the reality was when excluding the "strength" based on artificial conditions like examinations and based solely on the Magician's ability to adapt fluidly to various situations, his assessment was completely inverted.

Regardless of whether it was development, analysis, calibration, or combat.

His strength went "beyond" First-Class.

Even if they didn't exclude his Magic Power and assessed him based on his ability to apply Magic, he was the true "valedictorian" worthy of standing at the top of the pyramid.

Then

(Our "grades"... "Course 1 students", what of these? What's the point of differentiating between "Course 1 students" and "Course 2 students"?)

During the Nine Schools Competition, after watching Tatsuya at a close proximity, Azusa started seriously considering this question.

And remained bewildered.

That was the unease coming from her faltering values system, hitherto unchallenged and held to be truth, which had suddenly become vague and untrustworthy.

Azusa never held herself as an elitist who took pride in her "Bloom" status and derogatorily looked down at the Course 2 students as "Weeds".

At least, she wasn't conscious of it.

Despite this her exceptional magical talent and her identity as a skilled magic high school student she still took "pride" in these labels.

For Magicians groping their way through life, confidence in their own magical abilities was synonymous to the courage that sustained them throughout their journey to blaze a new path as Magicians. Even if Azusa wasn't consciously aware of this point, the fact remained that her confidence as a Magician undeniably supported her throughout her life.

This wasn't restricted to just magic. For youngsters, anyone would be greatly uneasy about such murky concepts like "tomorrow" or the "future" precisely because they lacked the "experience" or "track record", hence they relied on their "self-confidence" and "self- esteem".

For Azusa, those things ("self-confidence" or "self-esteem") originated from her "magic" and ultimately gave her status as a "talented student within the magic high schools". To be precise, her self-confidence and self-esteem were born out of her "magic grades".

That being said, both self-confidence and self-esteem could only wilt before the spectacle that was Tatsuya.

Her test scores as a Year 1 student were plainly superior, but regardless of whether as a combat Magician, Magic Artificer, or even

Magic Researcher, she never got the inkling that she was better in any way. Even her own unique talents, which she privately felt could rival even Mayumi or Mari, paled in front of Tatsuya.

Still, Azusa felt that she didn't need to stress out over this feeling of self-abasement.

She was more than 90% sure that Tatsuya was "him". Against "him", feeling inadequate was only natural. Against "him", feeling diminished was ludicrous.

Azusa used this to convince herself. (But everyone doesn't know yet...)

Precisely because no one knew, this feeling became more prominent, Became more obvious.

Surely the other Year 1 students in his cohort felt the same.

As a Course 1 student who was outshone by a Course 2 student what did their "grades" even signify?

"A-chan, it's best not to dwell on that for too long!"

Azusa was startled when someone suddenly greeted her from behind and swiftly turned around to find Mayumi smiling wryly at her.

"That thing, is special."

Despite referring to her underclassman as a "thing", her tone was quite warm.

"There will be some children who simply cannot accept this...... But as high school students, they must learn to accept things that they do not agree with. Even if it's true that Course 2 students cannot match Course 1 students in technical skills, it is also true that Tatsuya-kun has surpassed our level."

"Eh? But..."

Hearing these shocking words, Azusa was struck speechless.

True, Tatsuya's level was above her, Azusa thought. Even if she was against "him", she was forced to admit she would have some regrets.

But Mayumi's level was also superb, and Azusa didn't think she would lose to Tatsuya in any way.

"It's not like I'm completely out of his league."

Maybe seeing through Azusa's bewilderment, Mayumi smiled wryly once more.

"From an aggregate magic perspective, I should have the edge. If it turned into a shootout, so long as I keep a wide berth, I can still do it."

After downplaying her words, Mayumi's expression eased somewhat.

"However, there are areas where I am unquestionably behind. For CAD related skills, even though I'm not far behind, I'm definitely no match for him. Unfortunately, he also holds all the cards in terms of magic knowledge."

Mayumi added carelessly, as if the upperclassmen's complete loss of face didn't concern her in the slightest.

"Everyone is proficient and lacking in different areas, so there's rarely someone who's superior in every single way. When I say Tatsuya's level is higher, I mean that his knowledge and skills in magic engineering are unrivaled."

Mayumi caught Azusa's eye in order to carefully examine Azusa's gaze.

"On the other hand, regardless of whether it is myself or A-chan, both of us tower over Tatsuya-kun in magic technical ability, so there's no reason to be so depressed. The contents of the magic skills examination each possess their purpose, just as the test scores are not representative of a person's value, test scores are only one part of a person's value."

Azusa wordlessly listened to Mayumi's words. "Then again, heh..."

Whew, this time Mayumi actually let out a sigh.

"Those that fully believe in 'their own superiority' tend to be unwilling to accept that they cannot surpass someone in every way. They even forgot that the actual difference between Course 1 and 2 students originally arose because they needed to differentiate the grades for those who passed the entrance exam and who could receive instruction."

Somewhere, somehow, Azusa's eyes widened. Her mind had gone completely blank at Mayumi's unexpected words.

What did she mean forget? This was the first time she had ever heard that the difference between Course 1 and 2 students was caused by educational differences.

"In the end, it was still a uniform issue... In the beginning, it was simply because the number of students exceeded expectations and they couldn't change all the embroidery in time......"

"Eh, really?"

"Huh? You didn't know?"

Hearing the real story for the first time, Azusa received a wholly different shock than before and remained silent. Hearing Mayumi murmur, "Really, it appears that not many people know......", Azusa could only keep nodding.

"Did you know that First High used to accept 100 students each year? They had to accept more Magicians to follow international standards, so First High increased their student body size. The government at the time must have wanted immediate results. Adding new students at the beginning of the next school year would have been fine, but in reality, they added more students in the middle of the term.

However, the school was unable to increase the number of educators in the middle of the term. So, their temporary solution was to teach the theoretical knowledge to the students who joined in the middle of the term, then begin technical instruction during the second year. This became the Course 2 student system.

However, once the Course 2 students enrolled, there was an error in the orders for school uniforms. Because of this, the Year 1 students who were temporarily set as Course 2 students had to suffer the indignity of wearing uniforms without the school emblems. This led to an unexpected misunderstanding...... The Course 2 student system was meant to be a placeholder until they could enter the next level. They were simply students who were enrolled after the original spots were already filled. Yet, they were gradually seen as replacements. Also, the plan that called for increased students ultimately failed to provide the adequate instructors, resulting in the misinterpreted 'replacement treatment' eventually becoming reality. This is the true face of the Course 2 student system.

The uniforms also suffered the same fate. In order to cover up the error, no one bothered to correct the issue after the original plan was scrapped. This is the truth behind the matter. In hindsight, creating two different uniforms was a complete waste...... Since everything is done automatically until the school emblems are affixed, it would be cheaper to have one uniform design even if the measurements differ."

Once she started, the words just wouldn't stop.

Azusa's sincere opinion after hearing Mayumi's explanation changed drastically.

The deep antagonism between "Blooms" and "Weeds" that had caused numerous instances of friction actually originated from such a trivial matter.

These words definitely must be kept from Miyuki, Azusa thought the outcome was too terrifying to imagine.

"...Please, don't tell Miyuki-chan?"

Mayumi seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. Azusa nodded in agreement without another word.

Miyuki was wholly unaware of the fact that she was seen as a dangerous individual by two senpais on the Student Council. She was standing in the arena and happily waiting for Mirage Bat to begin.

That was because this was the first time in the Nine Schools Competition that her brother's time and energy were solely devoted to her.

Normally, by the time they returned home, their lives were restricted to each other.

There was limitless time for the two of them to be alone.

Yet in the dorms of the Nine Schools Competition, this was impossible.

Not that her unfulfilled desire was bursting from the seams (at least, that's what she thought), but after spending such a long time in a suppressed state, her joy was magnified in this instance.

In the box reserved for related personnel, her brother was watching her.

And watching only her.

Somehow, she felt that she could soar into the skies without the aid of magic.

She rendered the naked, lustful gazes directed towards her uniform that left none of her curves to imagination into oblivion. There was no reason to care, because all stares other than Tatsuya's own were nothing more than trash. Turning the audience into beans or even onions and carrots was a widely known tactic that was rather useless to people who suffered from stage fright (anyone capable of turning people into beans wouldn't have stage fright in the first place). Yet for Miyuki, she honestly believed that all gazes, save for Tatsuya alone, were utterly meaningless.

She knew very well that her brother admired well-taught and cultured individuals regardless of gender as she adopted a truly impeccable posture.

With such an incredibly beautiful young lady falling into a dancer's pose, many young men within the audience alternated sighs as their emotions ran rampant. At this rate, they were going to have to call for the stretchers before the match even began.

Possibly under the influence of the audience's warm reception, despite the sheer impossibility of this, the signal for the commencement of the match did go off a few seconds early.

Miyuki's frame lightly soared into the sky.

Every player for Mirage Bat prepared two uniforms.

One was a brightly colored uniform that could be seen beneath the brightest rays of the sun.

The other was a colorful uniform that glowed beneath the night sky.

The reason behind the designs was to prevent midair collisions between players and it became an unwritten rule based on previous experience.

The primary color that covered Miyuki was a deep magenta.

A tiny shade off and this would be a helplessly coarse color, but Miyuki wore this with an aura of nobility.

Neither did the cosmetics with UV protection take away from her elegance.

Her fair and graceful form was still developing, but when she extended her slim limbs, this painted a glorious vision of her beautifully curved bosom and slender waist, all of this combining to give off intimate charm of a blooming flower rather than a sheer animal desire.

No two ways about it, her beauty was breathtaking.

No one was going to second anyone anything as they all leaped towards the targets. Among them all, only one person could be worthy of the term "floating".

Miyuki captured everyone's gaze once more.

If this match was judged by the beauty of dance alone, she was unquestionably First Place.

Yet, as expected of the Official Division with its numerous aces, the Nine Schools Competition could not be underestimated.

"Someone is actually leading against Miyuki-chan..."

When the signal sounded to end the first round, Mizuki held her breath and seemed to expel out a series of "disbelieving" words.

"The player from Second High who is first place... Even if she isn't a BS Magician, but plainly, she has refined the 'Leaping' spell into a specialized magic spell..."

"Not just that. She also takes her trajectory into account and neatly obstructs Miyuki's path. Rather than calling her an expert in 'Leaping', she's more like an expert in 'Mirage Bat', right?"

Mikihiko and Erika both shared Mizuki's shock while they offered their own opinions.

"That's because the player from Second High was another favored candidate to take the crown alongside Watanabe-senpai..."

"Can't say anything about being noticed after that conspicuous display. Also, the pride of the Year 3 students is on the line."

Honoka and Shizuku, who were in the normal audience stands today, each expressed their agreement from different perspectives.

"However, this is not the end."

Leo's bright declaration seemed to blow the depressed air around them to the four corners of the earth.

In the next round, Miyuki managed to make up for lost ground and exited the second round in First Place.

However, her lead was slim. Miyuki still had strength within her, but her opponent appeared to be making adjustments for the third round as well.

Victory was still uncertain.

While it has been said that magic has become more constrained due to a limited number of combinations, for someone to be able to fight Miyuki to a standstill at the high school level surprised Tatsuya to no end.

"This country is so small yet so broad at the same time..."

Tatsuya muttered to himself in front of Miyuki, who was busy regulating her breathing.

Instead of watching his sister, he directed his gaze towards Second High's box.

...Just then, someone suddenly yanked his sleeve.

Looking down, he found Miyuki standing from her chair and watching him with eyes that shone with a brilliant glint.

"Onii-sama, may I use that?"

Her eyes, her voice, and her slim fingers that clung to his sleeve sent the message, "I don't want to lose".

She wasn't just a beautiful, adorable "doll". Tatsuya delighted in seeing her expression that carried such a powerful will.

Her mouth naturally parted and her eyes narrowed slightly. "...Of course. All is as you will."

He originally prepared that as the ace in the hole for the finals.

Still, Tatsuya abandoned his original game plan and nodded his assent.

"Eh? Miyuki's CAD has changed."

Seeing Miyuki standing on the field of the final round, Erika was the first to notice the change.

Until now, Miyuki held her usual smartphone-shaped CAD, yet now she wore a bracelet-shaped CAD on her right wrist.

"But, she looks like she's holding a CAD in her left hand too..."

Mikihiko also took a look. In their group of friends who were mystified by this turn of events, Honoka was the only one who nodded emphatically.

"Yes... Miyuki wanted to try that long ago..."

"That?"

Hearing Shizuku's question, Honoka replied back with a longing expression that was mixed with frustration.

"The secret weapon Tatsuya-kun prepared only for Miyuki. A secret weapon that Tatsuya-kun devised that only Miyuki can control. This will be a shocker... Definitely! Everyone present here, without a single exception!"

What exactly is it before Shizuku could make her inquiry, the signal sounded for the start of the third round.

The bracelet on her right wrist was only the back up. The real one was the smartphone-shaped Specialized CAD held in her left hand.

The simplistic command interface only contained the on and off buttons. Once the starting signal went off, Miyuki swiftly tapped the on switch.

A tiny Activation Sequence started spreading out.

The sequence never halted nor paused as it repeatedly began processing automatically.

Following that, Miyuki's body started floating into the air. The player from Second High was directly in her path. Her trajectory would place her to Miyuki's lower left.

Owing to her opponent's faster rising speed, Miyuki would end up crashing into her if she continued forward.

Miyuki used her accelerated flying speed to avoid the collision.

The audience raised a clamor after Miyuki eliminated the orb and slightly turned in place as she became still in midair.

During her leap, she had applied additional Magic Power to accelerate again.

The gasps from the audience only reflected their cursory understanding of the basics of magic.

However, Miyuki paused briefly in the air then immediately proceeded towards the next target without landing. Once this scene was imprinted into their eyes, the cheers were shocked into silence.

Two, three, four...

The other players who had to continuously jump back and forth across the 10 meter height had no way of competing against Miyuki, who only had to move parallel to the earth.

After she had seized the fifth point, the audience's frozen vocal cords finally started to thaw.

"Flying-Type Magic...?"

Some unidentified individual murmured aloud.

Even the players could only stare in amazement as they gaped at the skies.

With the players not even making any jumping or landing sounds, this soft grumble reverberated throughout the silent arena.

With bat in hand, Miyuki's appearance took on that of an avenging angel of heaven, but never lost her grace and beauty.

"Taurus Silver's...?"

The whispering started a chain reaction, "Bullsh*t, how can that be..."

"That was just released last month..." And quickly rippled through the crowd. "But that..."

"No doubt about it, that's Flying-Type Magic..."

Without a single exception, everyone's eyes were glued to the young lady dancing through the skies.

In the skies, a fairy was waltzing over the lake.

Her arms spread out to maintain her balance and her lovely legs swayed lightly to change her stance as if the spring breeze itself was her dancing partner.

Actually flying through the skies was nothing short of revolutionizing modern magic, and no one was more appropriate to perform this miraculous feat said to be "impossible" than this beautiful young lady before them... Surpassing age, gender, and even the enmity, all were mesmerized by the young girl dancing through the sky.

They were all touched by this magic that simply went beyond modern or ancient magic.

By the time the ending signal sounded, this spellbinding magic wasn't dispelled until the young lady landed before them.

In Mirage Bat's preliminary round, first arena, second match, Miyuki stormed into the finals by a dominating lead.

The audience finally recovered their wits when the players started leaving the arena.

The players did not depart in sequence.

At the end of the match, the players closest to the exit left first.

Miyuki, who landed in the center of the lake, was the third out of the four people to leave.

After extending a deep bow towards First High's supporters in the stands, Miyuki lightly leaped into the air and flew across the sky towards the exit like a figure skater gliding across the ice.

Her graceful motions prompted a thunderous applause from the audience.

In the stands, numerous individuals could be seen frantically typing away on their portable messaging terminals.

Some were overly excited to the point that they sent scattered spittle as they shouted into the microphone; others had to repeatedly shout the same words over and over into the phone, yet still wound up with a headache because of the speaker on the other line; still others furiously ran their fingers through their hair as if mad while their fingers danced across the keyboard; there were others who jotted down their thoughts on erasable boards... All sorts of people used a myriad ways to convey their amazing experience to others who were not present.

Among them, one strange, expressionless man was staring at the messages from the HMD. However, no one seemed to remark on his presence.

"Number 17 has reported in. The target from the second match has passed the preliminary round."

"...It's the opponent who saw through Golden Electron Silkworms. This is the expected result... But things are looking grim."

"Not just that. The target also used Flying-Type Magic!"

"Bullsh*t, how can that be possible!?"

"If the target is exhausted then we lucked out... Was that too optimistic?"

"I don't think this is the time to quibble over the methods, right?"

"I agree. One hundred deaths or so would be enough. The competition would be forced to end prematurely."

"Once the competition ends, we would have to return the original bets. While there will be some loss, that's well within our limits."

"Won't our customers balk at this? Setting aside the guys from our line of work, those weapon merchants will be a hassle. Those guys maintain close relationships with various governments around the globe."

"It doesn't matter what excuse we give to the customers. Currently, rather than worrying about the merchants of death, we should be more concerned about the organization's purging."

"Exactly... Will it be OK just leaving this to Number 17?"

"People with only a modicum of ability are no match for a 'Generator'. Unfortunately, no weapons could be brought in, but Number 17 is a high speed model. Once the limiter is removed, that thing can easily kill anywhere between 100 and 200 people with its bare hands."

"So we are all in accord...? Then remove the limiter."

Once the tide of enthusiasm ebbed, the man removed the CAD and slowly rose in a crowd that was slowly departing for other matches.

The exposed eyes give off an "emotionless" impression.

No, this wasn't a blank expression, wasn't this like he lacked emotions in the first place?

It was an utterly lifeless "expression". Suddenly, the man's body started shaking.

In a flash, he activated personal Speed-Type Magic.

Before the Magicians around him could detect the charged magic aura, the man pounced towards the man who just passed by him.

His outstretched fingers plunged downwards like claws towards the unprotected back.

Afterwards, the stage switched to the exterior of the observation deck without anyone being the wiser.

By the time that man, "Generator" Number 17, had grasped the situation, he was only three meters off the ground.

The first target he chose after receiving the kill order had managed to avoid his attack even though his back was facing him. Even if this was a full frontal assault, this reaction speed was not something mere human cognition could accomplish.

Through personal Speed-Type Magic, Magicians could surpass the physical movement limits of flesh.

Yet magical acceleration ultimately was only physical and not directly accelerating biological reactions, signal relay for the nervous system, the brain's processing ability the mental processing speed itself.

Human senses surpassed physical motion, so it was possible to mentally control physical movements that have been accelerated beyond normal limits. However, the reverse was not true. In other words, Magicians were still biological organisms with upper limits. While magical acceleration had no glass ceiling in terms of magic, there was still a finite amount that the brain could command.

In that case, his accelerated movements coupled with chemically enhanced mental processing abilities shouldn't be something that normal humans even humans who could wield magic were ultimately mortal should be able to handle.

Yet the reality was that his stabbing forearm was caught and used as a fulcrum to throw Number 17 into the air using his downward force as added momentum.

Just like he was doing a somersault over a horse, he went heads over heels in the air. During the instant he was upside down, a powerful force smashed Number 17 past the railing of the observation deck and sent him hurtling out of the arena.

This was Move-Type Magic that intentionally omitted the accelerated processes.

He was almost knocked unconscious by the blow and by the time he recovered his senses, he had nearly reached the end of the trajectory and was about to collide with the ground from a height of 20 meters.

Normally, this situation called for an individual to huddle into a ball or flail about in a panic as they helplessly plummeted to the earth, but this man was a "Generator".

He was a reconstructed individual created through a combination of surgery and magically crafted medicinal herbs, hereby eradicating free will and emotions and completely controlling all thoughts and flushing all unnecessary thoughts that might obstruct magic activation.

A biological weapon forged to wield magic in the heat of battle.

A Magician re-purposed to be a tool for using magic, a "Generator". Terror and panic held no meaning to tools.

Number 17 calmly more like coldly applied Inertia Neutralization Magic.

Casting deceleration right now would be like hitting the emergency brakes, but injuries would be unavoidable. Compared to that, reducing inertia could help mitigate some of the damage caused by the severe shock upon contact. This was the result of almost instantaneous calculation.

The magical herb's effects not only adjusted personal consciousness, emotions and perception, they also improved physical mobility. By using the elasticity within his feet as well as the muscles within his thighs and arms, he completely absorbed the shock from his fall.

"You were able to make it in time even under those conditions. You do have a few tricks up your sleeve."

On all four limbs, Number 17 raised his face towards the source of the voice and found the man who had thrown him into the air.

"Who are you? ...No, never mind. Not like you can answer anyways." Captain Yanagi of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion let out a dismissive smile and peered down at Number 17, who was still crouched on the ground.

"Your physical abilities can't be from magic alone. Are you an augmented human?"

Seeing his opponent adopt a combat stance even after being flung over the railings from the height of a medium sized building, Yanagi's tone was laced with mockery and amazement alike.

"Yanagi-kun was the one who said there's no need to answer. Also, the other guy probably doesn't want to talk to a guy who also jumped from the same height but didn't need to use his hands to cushion himself, right?"

Number 17 whirled around like a four legged carnivore.

Having appeared sometime during this exchange, Captain Sanada Shigeru of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion stood there as if to cut off his retreat.

Despite this, if he actually chose to flee, Number 17 could still probably accomplish this with ease.

In terms of sheer speed, "Generator" Number 17 surpassed the two men from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.

However, the order Number 17 received was "massacre the spectators". For a "Generator" with no emotions and thoughts, the only thing that determined his actions were orders from the organization.

In accordance with these orders, Number 17 once again pounced towards the "spectator" Yanagi.

Before Number 17 could touch him, Yanagi raised his right hand.

Even though Number 17 had the edge in speed, he chose to not avoid this hand.

Number 17 lowered his center of gravity and charged as if being led, sending his head crashing into Yanagi's palm.

Yanagi and Number 17 passed each other by a hair.

Number 17 was flung back to his starting position without even touching a hair on Yanagi's body.

"That was a rhetorical question. I was just talking to myself." Yanagi nonchalantly replied to Sanada.

"Let's just leave it at that. However, that amazes me every time. Was that the application of 'Revolution' right there?"

By predicting an opponent's application of force and combining physical techniques with magic to lure, amplify, and flip. That's how Yanagi used his favored technique to send Number 17 flying.

"I've said this a lot of times, this isn't 'Revolution'. This is 'Return'. 'Revolution' is the spell, 'Return' relies on internal ki. There are also a few differences in practice. Originally, my approach was nothing more than an imitation anyways. A true 'Return' requires no magic."

"Well, that's starting to infringe on the meaning of our existence. Should I inform the major?"

"...Cut the chitchat, we need to take this guy down, lend me a hand!"

"Yeah... Then, let's have a go at it. Even though I want to say that, Fujibayashi-san already has this guy locked down with 'Thunder Needle'."

"...You two are on such good terms with one another!"

The sound of high heels tapping the ground accompanied Sanada's words as the figure of Lieutenant Fujibayashi Kyouko from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion appeared. She was wearing a skintight military uniform reserved for supporting personnel that was wholly unsuited for combat. She was literally the ideal prey, the perfect point to break through the ring of hunters.

Yet, Number 17 could only quiver and shake as he shook uncontrollably, giving no sign that he was capable of further resistance.

That was because his entire body was peppered with numerous hair- like needles and it was through there that the electric current flowed through him.

Needless to say, it was Fujibayashi's magic that fired out the needles and released the electricity.

"Fujibayashi, your eyesight should be pretty good."

"Rather than her eyesight, I think it's a matter of sensitivity. Do you need me to recommend a good life counselor?"

"See, aren't you two simply birds of a feather?"

Separated by Number 17, Yanagi and Sanada glanced at one another. They both frowned almost simultaneously.

Completely unaware of the dangerous situation behind the scenes, Tatsuya leisurely returned to his hotel room and ate an early lunch.

After the match, while Miyuki was showering, the board requested to inspect the CAD with Flying-Type Magic installed upon it with nary a guilty look in his direction. For a brief instant, he toyed with the idea using Elder Kudou's name to terrorize the poor fellow, but such mischievous behavior like pretending to know a higher authority to pick on the weak was a pastime unbecoming of him, so he discarded that idea and obediently handed over the CAD.

Other than that, he wasn't party to any strange circumstances.

While he was conscious of the vast amount of stares directed towards his sister and himself, so long as the vermin posed no direct threat, the best approach was to leave them alone.

After handing the CAD over, Tatsuya opted to return to his personal area.

Even if he knew about Sanada and Yanagi's surreptitious intervention to avoid a massacre, Tatsuya's actions likely wouldn't differ by much. To be blunt, even if dozens of foreign spectators were slain, Tatsuya probably couldn't care less.

To be precise, even if a senpai from the same school was sacrificed, his emotional reaction would not surpass that of slight "regret". Thus, it was hard to imagine he would choose to act.

Miyuki's slightly sorrowful expression expressed that which could not be said through her voice or attitude.

Needless to say, he was in the middle of it.

Long story short, Miyuki, who was always meticulously looking after him, was currently standing before Tatsuya.

"While always being neat and tidy is one of Onii-sama's merits, I still wish that you occasionally leave a small mess to bring out the value of looking after you."

Today, Miyuki's mood was buoyant. Currently, she was humming a light tune and wearing a delighted smile as she merrily wiped down the table with a cloth. This was the direct consequence of being unable to look after her brother for nearly a week.

"Miyuki, is there anything you would like me to do for you?"

There was no deeper meaning to this question after lunch. He was only doing so out of a sense of obligation.

"Something I want Onii-sama to do?"

Nevertheless, Miyuki's eyes widened as she fell into deep contemplation with a joyous expression on her face. Seeing this unexpectedly intense reaction, Tatsuya sensed he may have made a grave error.

Miyuki tapped her fingers against her chin and tilted her head this way and that in thought until, having thought of something, she blushed furiously as she peeked up at Tatsuya's face from the chair to his side.

"...Go ahead and tell me."

Even though there were traces of a wry smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Tatsuya still gently urged her on. Filled with trepidation, Miyuki opened her mouth.

"You said earlier that I should take a nap after lunch until the finals..."

"Indeed, while not absolutely critical, you should sleep for a little bit if you can. Even if you cannot fall asleep, just lying there would be fine.

Don't tell me you don't want to take a nap? Giving your body time to rest is integral."

"Yes, of course I will listen to Onii-sama's instructions... But, that..."

"Hm?"

"Um... If possible, can you stay with me... Please..."

In the end, she was highly embarrassed. Completely red, Miyuki's head drooped. "...Miyuki is such a spoiled child."

"...Can't I? Miyuki just wants to be spoiled by Onii-sama!"

"...Of course. However, I will draw the line at singing a lullaby, OK?"

Miyuki slowly raised her eyes to Tatsuya while she used her hand to try and quell her violently beating heart.

Her pearly skin was a deep red from the gaps between her dark hair to the roots of her ears.

Despite their sibling relationship, they were still young adults in the spring of their lives, so using the same bed was totally out of the question.

Fortunately, even though the room had only one official occupant, this was originally a double room. The machinery that took up the majority of the space had been shifted to the competition grounds.

Tatsuya unfolded the bed from the wall and swiftly arranged it for Miyuki's use. This was almost entirely automatic, so there was no need to call room service. (Given that this was no normal hotel, the question remained whether they would show up even if summoned.)

Once Miyuki dove under the covers, Tatsuya pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed.

Miyuki shyly smiled as she watched him. In return, Tatsuya also smiled as he gently caressed his sister's silken hair.

Less than a minute later, Miyuki was well on her way to the Garden of Hypnos.

Four hours passed after Miyuki fell asleep, but Tatsuya did not budge from the bedside. It was as if he was loyally fulfilling Miyuki's expectations for him to remain by her side, yet Tatsuya never felt this was a trial.

Miyuki was sound asleep, her sleeping face expressing her overwhelming relief. Upon realizing that this was an expression of the complete trust she had in him, his heart grew a little warmer along with his embarrassment.

Even if they were siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki only started living together three years ago. In other words, they became bona fide siblings only three years ago. Before that fateful summer three years ago, even if they were living under the same roof, they practically never interacted with one another. Their current proximity was something strictly forbidden by their mother just as she denied any normal sibling interaction. Still, that may have been something decided by the Yotsuba Family.

Tatsuya had no intention of sprouting any complaints on that regard. It's not like that function remained within his mental landscape. However, losing all his childhood memories about being treated like a family member was still galling, so saying that he was displeased would be right on the mark.

The adolescent years were accompanied by impulsive anger, tears, falls, mistakes and other embarrassing memories if known by other family members. Yet for Tatsuya, who never enjoyed the luxury of these memories, Miyuki became a "beautiful girl one year younger than he was" by default. Since he was forced to see her in an impartial light from the onset, Tatsuya was well aware that she was a classy, beautiful young girl from the start.

In spite of this, the affection that sprouted forth from the depths of his heart only identified Miyuki as a young sister. The only true emotion that dwelt in the realm of his consciousness was the familial love he bore for his sister.

No memories, only affection. Occasionally, Tatsuya would ruminate that memory loss probably felt akin to this. Of course, he was also aware that he didn't qualify for that condition.

It was an unconditional affection unfettered by memories of any sort.

Precisely because of this, Tatsuya blindly, fiercely and desperately loved Miyuki. His other emotional impulses could not be expressed through fury or hatred. Only his love for Miyuki was truly spontaneous and absolute.

Tatsuya was wholly unaware of this. It wasn't that he forgot himself, but because this was the result of cold, hard calculations that his actions became unstoppable. Once he determined something was necessary, he wouldn't even stop to contemplate "Is this necessary". Even if he would weigh the cost and benefits, social norms wouldn't even break his stride.

Tatsuya picked up the smartphone placed on the coffee table. Since Miyuki fell asleep, he once more went over the coded message that Fujibayashi sent him. Within the message, there were details concerning the truth behind the interference during Mirage Bat as well as the mass murder attempt on the spectators after the end of the second match.

For Tatsuya, this was simply unforgivable. Those who plotted Miyuki's fall deserved to die a thousand times over.

Tatsuya stored the smartphone in his breast pocket, rose from his chair, and peered over the edge of the bed.

He softly caressed Miyuki's hair.

Miyuki placed her hand over Tatsuya's own. "Miyuki?"

No response. She wasn't awake yet.

Miyuki turned on her side and naturally slid Tatsuya's hand onto her face.

Seeing that sleeping face flushed with happiness, Tatsuya also smiled.

Behind that smile, he made the conscious decision to defend this peaceful, sleeping face no matter what the cost.

This was not determination, but a conscious decision.

By the time the finals rolled around, the morning weather had given way to a clear night sky.

The light of the hanging moon outshone the stars' brilliance.

For those who had to identify lit orbs from below, these were not ideal circumstances.

"How is your condition?"

"Flawless, Onii-sama. My energy is completely restored, so I would like to use Flying-Type Magic from the get go."

"As you wish. Fly to your heart's content!"

"Yes!"

Tatsuya gave her a thumb's up as he watched Miyuki bound towards the competition arena.

"Miyuki-chan's in a good mood!"

Azusa, who had entered the box as an auxiliary member, commented to Tatsuya as she watched Miyuki standing on one of the landing platforms in the lake.

Unfortunately, the player Azusa was responsible for had fallen short.

First High, Second High, Third High, Fifth High, Sixth High, and Ninth High each contributed one contestant to the finals.

No school had multiple players in the final round.

As the final women's competition, each school was ready to give it their all.

Excluding Mari, who was still in the hospital, every heavyweight in the women's division was present on stage.

Since Third High only advanced one player into the finals, so long as Miyuki placed within the top three, First High's overall victory was a foregone conclusion. Even the supporters were going all out.

"Pleasantly facing a competition is a good thing. Looks like Tatsuya- kun made doubly sure of that."

On the other side, Mayumi spoke up with a smile on her face. Her words shouldn't have any deeper meaning, but that smile seemed to signify something that she didn't want Tatsuya to know about.

"I hear that Miyuki-chan didn't use the 'Sleep Dock'. Did she get enough rest?"

At Suzune's innocuous question, Tatsuya fought to keep his poker face.

"Five hours should be enough."

"Really, must have been a deep sleep then. Did she sleep on a bed in the hotel?"

Tatsuya was speechless. One couldn't help but suspect that the speaker knew all along as she intentionally made this piercing query.

"Ah, it's starting!"

Fortunately, before the silence turned awkward, everyone's attention was drawn towards the arena.

At this point, he should seriously give thanks for Azusa's innocent personality.

The lightly colored uniforms were brilliantly lit up by the wavering reflections of light from the lake's surface.

Among them, Miyuki's choice of a uniform fashioned after the shade of sakura blossoms was particularly eye-catching, and not only because she stunned everyone by casting "Flying-Type Magic" in the preliminary round.

In the faltering light, the audience closely followed her with their eyes in fear that her figure would vanish into the shadows if they blinked.

Mirage Bat, also known as Fairy Dance.

The term "fairy" has been overused when applied to young ladies, but probably no one would claim that describing Miyuki as "fey-like" was too cliche.

The ruckus died down like the ebbing tide.

There was no need for the event personnel to wave their messages to signal the crowd to quiet.

Before everyone's breathless gaze, the finals for Mirage Bat commenced.

When the start signal went off, six young women flew into the sky together.

They did not leap off the ground. None of them bothered to look for a landing spot.

"Flying-Type Magic!? All the other schools!?"

"As expected of the Nine Schools Competition. They figured out the Activation Sequence for Flying-Type Magic within a mere six to seven hours."

On the heels of Azusa's surprised shriek, Tatsuya murmured words of admiration.

That being said, Tatsuya actually wasn't really astounded.

The board likely chose to leak the spell details to the other schools.

Probably as retaliation for Tatsuya's assertion that the board was guilty of illegal activities.

Since the CAD was stored there, he had taken this possibility into account.

"Seems like each school is following Taurus Silver's publicized details to the letter."

Suzune wrinkled her brows as she watched the sky.

"......How ludicrous. This isn't a technique that can be mastered the first time you activate this. Compared to player safety, victory seems to be more important......"

Mayumi said with a disgusted expression.

"That's no problem at all. If they used that technique directly, even if something went sideways, the 'safety device' should kick in."

Tatsuya's voice was quite relaxed as if he was saying: "Wait and see!"

Six young ladies danced in the air.

This was a Fairy Dance befitting its name.

The audience was deeply drawn to the lines crossing in the sky as they watched, mesmerized.

However, as the audience gradually calmed, they were shocked by an unexpected wrinkle in the match.

They were all flying through the night sky.

From a magic perspective, it was difficult to tell the difference in skill with Flying-Type Magic.

Yet, the only one scoring was the player from First High. None of her opponents could keep up with her pace. Speed, fluidity, grace.

She turned in air, drifted parallel to the ground, dove and rose.

Before that free and lovable dancing, the others alternated between trailing behind her or simply getting out of her way.

At some point, the dancing fairies had fallen into clearly defined roles, with one leading ballerina and five supporting dancers.

Miyuki was honestly caught off guard by her competitors using Flying-Type Magic.

Well, only a little.

The Flying-Type Magic that her brother developed could only reach its full potential if it was a spell that "anyone could use". On this point, Miyuki knew this better than anyone.

Still, something that anyone could use was inherently different from something that everyone could use in the same way.

Before the match, her brother had already warned her about the possibility of other schools also using Flying-Type Magic.

Her brother warned her with a smile on his lips.

At the time, that must have been because he had faith that no one surpassed her in terms of knowing the intricacies of this magic, Miyuki thought.

Buoyed by that faith, Miyuki danced through the skies at will. Below her, the exhausted players fell one by one.

When the first player lost their balance and wavered in the sky, the audience shrieked in terror.

Yet, seeing the player gradually descend to the ground, the spectators breathed a sigh of relief. They just witnessed a crash landing in the preliminaries. Compared to the audience, the board was probably even more relieved.

Of course, this was because there was a "safety device" built into Flying-Type Magic.

When the influx of psions from the spell caster dipped below half, the "Variable" portion of the Activation Sequence automatically switched to a soft landing at 1/10 of g.

In First High's box, Tatsuya finally relaxed as he thought, "Thank goodness they didn't add any oddities to the program".

He couldn't believe that they were proving the safety values of Flying- Type Magic at the Nine Schools Competition with so many witnesses.

Might as well use this for this month's promotional purposes. Internally, Tatsuya reveled in an evil smile. Before his eyes, another player had dropped off the stage.

In the end, two people bowed out of the first round. These two also withdrew from the match.

During the second round, another person withdrew. There were only three individuals in the final round.

By this stage, so long as Miyuki didn't withdraw, First High's overall victory was guaranteed.

The most reliable tactic was to stand somewhere and simply not do anything.

Still, within First High's box, no one advised her to take the "reliable" route.

Currently, the score was a complete landslide. Needless to say, it was in Miyuki's favor.

Though the overall victory was extremely important, no one in First High felt that they needed to sacrifice personal victories either.

Supported by faith and cheers, Miyuki danced through the sky in the final round.

Even if she couldn't see it, she could clearly feel her brother's protective eyes on her.

Miyuki understood that so long as that existed, her wings shall not fail.

Her unpinned wings spread out and blended together with the other lights.

Soon afterwards,

Two players sucked in ragged breaths as they knelt on the landing spots in the lake.

The sole actor left in the night sky, Miyuki continued to perform the Fairy Dance.

Before her outstretched hand, the last orb vanished into oblivion. One beat of silence.

One frame of stillness.

The bell signaling the end of the match was drowned beneath a storm of applause.