Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (31 page)

After the various VIPs finished encouraging or lecturing the crowd, it was finally Elder Kudou's turn.

He must be over 90 years old now.

How much of that once astonishing Magic Power still remained?

Did he possess a physical body still capable of wielding magic?

As Tatsuya considered this, the master of ceremonies formally introduced the elder's name.

Not just Tatsuya, every high school student held their breath as they waited for Elder Kudou to take the stage.

The appearance of this famous figure made Tatsuya forget to breathe out.

The person who appeared beneath the congregated lights was a young, blonde woman wearing a formal gown.

This immediately threw the audience into an uproar.

Tatsuya was not the only one shocked by this.

This incredibly unexpected turnout caused discussions to break out throughout the audience.

Wasn't Elder Kudou supposed to take the stage?

Why was a young woman appearing in his place?

Did something happen, forcing her to speak in his place?

(—No, that's not it.
)

Tatsuya finally realized the truth.

The woman wasn't the only person on stage.

An elderly man stood behind her.

Everyone's attention was only drawn towards the outwardly captivating young lady.

(—Sensory Interference Magic.
)

The elder likely invoked a large scale magic that covered the entire meeting place.

By using an obvious distraction to capture everyone's attention, this sort of "change" doesn't qualify as phenomenon rewriting, as it was a "phenomenon" that occurred naturally.

The magic's scale was large enough to impact everyone present at the same time, yet subtle enough to escape detection.

(So this was the man once called the strongest.
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No, the "Sly Warlock" hailed as the "pinnacle" and "craftiest" — the magic of Kudou Retsu.
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)

He must have noticed Tatsuya's gaze.

The elder behind the young woman cracked a smile.

A smile that would not be out of place on a mischievous young man.

The woman in the formal gown stepped aside after receiving the elder's quiet instructions.

As the spotlight fell upon the elder, a huge commotion spread throughout the crowd.

Almost everyone believed Elder Kudou materialized out of thin air.

The elder's eyes once more locked onto Tatsuya.

Tatsuya subtly returned the greeting with his eyes.

The elder's eyes displayed a very satisfied smile.

"First of all, allow me to express my sincere apologies for creating this subterfuge."

Even discounting the microphone's presence, his voice remained loud and clear — in definite contrast to his advanced age.

"This was just a small sideshow that was more like a magic trick than true magic, but based on my observations, only five people detected the truth behind the facade.
In other words.
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."

Many high school students were deeply drawn into the elder's words and intent behind his words.

"If I was a terrorist planning to destroy you all and smuggled chemical weapons or explosives under the guise of a visitor, only five people would be able to reach out and deny me.
That's just how it is."

The elder's words did not possess any particular emphasis or reprimand.

However, a different sort of stillness enveloped the meeting area.

"To our youth studying magic.

Magic is a means, magic itself is not the end goal.

I created this little game hoping to remind everyone of this very point.

The magic I just used was on a large scale, but low in strength.

By Magic Power standards, this belongs to lower level magic.

Yet, everyone succumbed to this weak magic and could not discover my presence, despite knowing that I would appear.

It is vital that you continue to train in magic.

You must diligently raise your Magic Power without relent.

Still, just this is insufficient.
I pray that everyone here carves that into their hearts.

An inappropriately used large magic cannot compare to a meticulously prepared and executed small magic.

Remember, everyone, the Nine Schools Competition that begins two days from now is a battlefield that is fought with magic, as well as a battlefield where the use of magic is equally important.

To our youth studying magic.

I highly anticipate what brilliant schemes you will display in this competition."

The audience burst into applause.

Unfortunately, this applause didn't spread throughout the audience.

Among the bemused but clapping teenagers, Tatsuya was also applauding.
Except, he differed from other youths in that he wore a quiet smile.

To propose that the use of magic was more important than the level of magic ran counter to everything the upper strata of modern magic society was espousing.
The value of magic comes from its proper use, which hinted that magic should only be seen as an independent tool.

This old Magician stood near the pinnacle of magical society within the country, but still advised everyone to go against the norms established by modern magic society.
From another perspective, this attitude was very irresponsible, because his influence was enough to shake the foundations of modern magic society.

If Kudou Retsu's speech was only empty words, Tatsuya would have balked, yet this elder used a simple and easy to understand method to demonstrate his point.
He used a superlative technique far beyond Tatsuya's means to use magic as a flexible and agile tool.

—So this is the "Patriarch".
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Kokonoe Yakumo, Kazama Harunobu, as well as this Kudou Retsu, this country still contained many Magicians that Tatsuya needed to learn from.
Surely there were many other subjects worthy of study, except Tatsuya didn't know of them yet.
This was something he couldn't learn in the FLT research labs.

And he thought high school would be boring.

Tatsuya ruminated on this at the same time.

The banquet was held two days before the main event to preserve one day for the contestants to properly rest and relax.

The technician team and the tactical advisors were busy with the final leg of the preparations, just as the contestants were using their own methods to mentally and physically prepare themselves for the start of the competition tomorrow.

That being said, the 1st Year students would compete on the fourth day of the event, so at this stage excitement and resounding feelings far outweighed anxiety.
From an age perspective, they were the ones who usually departed on trips with their peers.

After dinner, Miyuki, Honoka, and Shizuku also visited Tatsuya's room, but since Tatsuya was engaged in adjusting the Activation Sequences, they quickly called it a night and returned to their own rooms.
The itinerary for the Official and Newcomers Divisions differed, so two 1st Year students usually shared a room.
Honoka and Shizuku were roommates, while Miyuki shared a room with a young lady named Takigawa Kazumi from Class C.
However, since Kazumi's personality was geared towards athletic club activities and she usually spent her days with the sempais from her club, Miyuki spent most of her time with Honoka and Shizuku in their room.

The hour hand on the clock (for some reason, all the clocks in the hotel were this type) pointed towards the Roman numeral "X", and the majority of the high school contestants who were waiting for tomorrow to begin had already turned in.
Precisely because they understood this, not just Miyuki and company, but all their teammates and 1st Year students from the other schools knew to remain quiet and not cause a ruckus.
Even so, their overabundant energies rendered them unable to sleep peacefully like their older peers.

The only thing that three girls would do while burning the midnight oil would be talking to one another.

There are of course exceptions to this rule.
From outward appearances, Miyuki and Shizuku should belong to the "exceptions" category, but were unexpectedly "ordinary".

The recent topics were all related to the Nine Schools Competition, and not all girl talk revolved around fashion and romance, but since these topics frequently cut into the conversation, it was all but inevitable.

As mentioned earlier, the time was approaching 10 o'clock, but it wasn't lights out in the hotel yet.
Hence why when someone knocked on the door, there was no cause for alarm or suspicion.

"Ah, I'll get that."

The knocking caused all three to rise and Honoka, who was closest to the door, halted the other two.

"Good evening!"

"Hey, Eimi, everyone, what's up?"

The person behind the door was a captivating petite girl with red hair that shone with a ruby-like luster.
She was Akechi Eimi, one of Miyuki's teammates, with four other students behind her.
In other words, First High's Newcomers Division Women's Team was almost all gathered here.

"Uh, you know, there's an onsen here."

".
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Sorry, you need to speak plainly."

Honoka didn't understand why Eimi was so happy as she said this.

"Now that you mention it, this hotel has an artificial onsen beneath it."

But Miyuki quickly grasped Eimi's meaning.

"Yes, as expected of Miyuki, you're brilliant!"

".
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I'm sorry, but hearing you say that hardly fills me with joy."

Eimi meant no harm, but after being praised so leisurely (?
), Miyuki felt a headache oncoming.

As Miyuki pressed her temple, Eimi made an "Eh?"
expression as she tilted her head to one side.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it.
So what about this onsen?"

At Miyuki's urging, Eimi broke into an innocent smile.

"So, let's go to the onsen!"

Eimi's sudden — at least in Miyuki's ears — words caused Miyuki and Honoka to glance at one another.

Honoka seemed to share Miyuki's misgivings.

"Is that OK?
This is a military facility."

Yet, the person who represented the three of them and asked Eimi was Shizuku situated in the rear.

This wasn't an ordinary hotel — it was one of the facilities attached to the SDF's exercise grounds.
Besides the facilities arranged ahead of time, most of the other areas should have restricted access.

"I tried asking for permission and received it.
We're OK until 11."

Eimi easily alleviated Shizuku's concerns.

"As expected of Eimi."

Honoka couldn't refrain from saying softly.

"You should say, thanks for the opportunity, right!"

Alas, such words had no effect on the ecstatic Eimi.

"Wait, I remember that swimsuits are required in the onsen.
I didn't bring one."

"That's also no problem, as the hotel will lend us bathing robes as well as towels."

Eimi easily fielded Miyuki's practical concerns.

Given this level of preparation, Miyuki and company had no further reasons to refuse.
Honestly, all three of them were slightly interested in the — albeit artificial — onsen.

"Then allow us to accompany you.
Let me get some clothes, you guys go ahead."

Hearing Miyuki's reply, Eimi nodded happily.

"OK, take your time, no need to hurry."

Miyuki lightly raised a hand and temporarily bid adieu to her teammates.

The underground bathhouse (artificial onsen) was completely monopolized by First High's female 1st Year students.

It's not like they reserved the entire area, more like there weren't any other guests, so they were in complete control from 10 to 11.

The large bathhouse was similar to public bathhouses in that they were intended for similar purposes.

However, while this underground artificial onsen was called a large bathhouse, in reality it could only hold 10 people or so.
The onsen was originally designed to help treat muscle and joint pain from extensive exercise and heated the salty reisen that ran beneath the hotel to form this medical facility.
The primary users were usually higher ranking officers (and middle-aged to boot), and it was never intended to be open to the public.
Owing to the fact that only those under the doctor's orders could visit during specified hours, anyone entering had to rinse themselves off in the shower area and don a swimsuit or bathing robe before entering.