Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (29 page)

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

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

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

Usually, he was the one who should initiate contact with others, but.
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"Bullshit, everyone here is a student of First High and also on the same team.
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This bombshell was dropped by a new voice.

"Chiyoda-senpai."

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

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

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

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

Kanon and Isori referred to each other directly by name.

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

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

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

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

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

"But Onii-sama.
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"See me in the evening, the only roommate I have is a machine."

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

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

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

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

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

"See you later."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Mari-senpai."

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

"Isori, Nakajou is looking for you."

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

"Excuse me, where is Nakajou-san?"

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

"That's true, I understand."

"Mari-senpai, we're heading out."

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

"Looks like the measurements are perfect."

"Just a little tight under the arms."

Mari commented as she took in the suit that Tatsuya was wearing and Tatsuya responded while looking down at himself.

"Nothing we can do about that, since this is a backup.
Even if the measurements are the same, there's no way to take all the individual differences into consideration.
If you wore a larger size, the waist would look terribly large."

"That's true, so there is nothing I can do."

Mari's words sounded like she was smiling wryly while her tone sounded like she was shrugging — although she didn't actually make those motions — so Tatsuya mirrored her as well.

"Wouldn't it be better to purchase a new one?"

There was no ill intent behind Mari's words.

"It's too wasteful to buy a new suit only to wear it twice.
If this was a cloth emblem that could be removed when worn then it would be fine, but this.
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As he said this, Tatsuya glanced downwards at his left breast.

At the emblem with the eight petals.

This was a meeting with other schools, so it was integral to identify one another based on school emblem — hence why Tatsuya was forced to wear this uniform.

"Might not just be twice.
There's the thesis competition in the fall, so there's no way of guaranteeing that you won't get promoted to Course 1."

Mari was smiling as she said this, but her eyes were dead serious.

Tatsuya scowled as he replied:

"Even if I am selected for the thesis competition, wearing my own uniform shouldn't be a problem.
Furthermore, there's no way I can get promoted to Course 1, because to this day there's no precedent or even a rule for it."

Tatsuya's words drew a laugh out of Mari.

"Precedent?
I think your current status is already unprecedented, right?
History has never seen a Course 2 student like you, so you cannot deny the possibility by saying there's no precedent for it.
Rather than saying unprecedented, you should aim to become that 'precedent' and pave the way for future underclassmen like you."

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Seeing Tatsuya's pained expression, Mari once more burst into delighted laughter.

"Well, I'm off to find the brass from the other schools, want to join me?"

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No thanks, Erika should be looking for me."

The moment Tatsuya brought up Erika, a flicker of doubt flashed across Mari's eyes.

This should probably be saved for future ammunition, eh?
Such a thought crossed Tatsuya's mind, but the two of them shared a considerable history, so this was probably inappropriate for joking.

Tatsuya silently watched Mari depart.

"Eh?
Where's Miyuki?"

Just as Tatsuya predicted, Erika returned with Mikihiko in tow.

"I sent her back to the other students.
She'll drop by my room later this evening, so introductions can be made there."

"Ah, OK."

The first half of Tatsuya’s words was directed towards Erika, the latter to Mikihiko.

Rather than being one of regret, Mikihiko's reaction was more like a sigh of relief.

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No need to force yourself."

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Ah?"

He wasn't immediately aware that Tatsuya was speaking to him.

Hence why Mikihiko's reaction was half a beat slow.

"Hold on, it's not like that!
It's true I'm a little nervous, but.
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"Ew~ Guys just love to show off in front of cute girls."

"Erika is just as beautiful, especially today."

"Eh?
Wait a minute, stop that.
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"So?"

Towards the teasing Erika, Tatsuya struck first by using her own tactics against her, then urged Mikihiko onward.

"Tatsuya, you.
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No, I'm just embarrassed to be wearing this at my first meeting."

Mikihiko stuttered to a stop then adopted an exhausted expression as he shook his head.

Hearing this, Tatsuya carefully scrutinized Mikihiko and Erika's uniforms again.

Mikihiko was wearing a white collared shirt paired with a black bowtie and vest.

Erika was wearing a black dress that swished back and forth with her white apron and headdress.

Simply put, they weren't butler and serving girl, they were servant and serving girl.

"I don't think that's strange, don't all the employees wear that?"

All the servants in the room were wearing similar clothes as Mikihiko.

"See, Miki is too self-conscious."

"My name is Mikihiko."

It was blatantly obvious from their tone and expressions that they had been down this road before.

Mikihiko seemed very uncomfortable in his current suit.
This was probably because he came from a traditional family and detested dressing up as a servant.

"Speaking of which, where are the other two?"

Tatsuya really wanted to know why they were working here, but ultimately decided against it.

"Do you really think Leo would be a good waiter?"

"He should at least know how to control himself.
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Tatsuya tried to subtly defend his friend, but Erika's laughing expression didn't falter.

"Mizuki said she didn't like this uniform, maybe she's like Miki in this regard?"

"My name is Mikihiko!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah~"

Rather peeved, Mikihiko voiced his protest, to which Erika casually agreed before turning back to Tatsuya.

"Owing to these reasons, the two of them are working behind the scenes.
Leo is doing manual labor in the kitchen and Mizuki is in charge of the dishes."

Tatsuya didn't know "which reasons" those were, but was able to follow Erika's meaning.
Probably.

"Because both of them are good with machinery."

"Yeah, their appearances are very deceiving."

In the modern age, no matter if it was dock work or dish washing, manpower was very rarely directly applied.

Including all the details, machines could replace all manual labor.

Simply put, the two of them were responsible for operating the automatic systems in the kitchen.

"I was originally on support as well, so why did you call me out here?"

Possibly because Mikihiko was unlike Tatsuya in this regard, as the person in question he was unable to understand why and also unwilling to accept as well.

"Didn't I explain many times that it must've been a clerical error?"

"That's not an explanation!"

"OK, OK, stop fussing.
We're only interns, but we're still on the clock.
Look, the tray over there is empty."

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Erika, I'll get you for this later."

Mikihiko left that behind as he walked over to the tables, but in Tatsuya's ears, those words weren't "serious" at all.

"Plainly, it was Mikihiko who forgot in the first place.
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