Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (34 page)

When Mikihiko landed on the far side of the railing, Tatsuya was already kneeling down next to the fallen intruders.

"Tatsuya?"

This word contained several intermixed questions.

Even Mikihiko himself wasn't sure what he wanted to ask.

"They're not dead.
Well done."

Tatsuya appeared to be answering his question regarding the intruders' status, or he may have seen through Mikihiko's state of panic and elected to answer in the least confusing manner.

"Ah?"

Mikihiko didn't understand why Tatsuya was praising him.

He masochistically thought that he should be the one who was taken out.

"Limited visibility on the targets, precision large ranged attack on multiple targets, even with capture as first priority, no fatal injuries were inflicted and only one blow was sufficient to deprive mobility.
I say this rates as an excellent combat result."

Tatsuya's words were calm enough to be called callous, but just hearing them alone was enough to know that he was just being polite or comforting.

The one Mikihiko couldn't believe was himself, not Tatsuya.

".
.
.
.
.
.
But my magic originally wasn't going to make it in time and, without Tatsuya's backup, I would have been shot."

The words sprouted from Mikihiko's mouth were self-derisively beyond his own control.

"How foolish."

".
.
.
.
.
.
Ah?"

However, Tatsuya's direct reprimand was enough to render Mikihiko unable to continue berating himself.

"'If there was no backup' is only an assumption.
Your magic was successfully able to capture the intruders — that is the only truth."

".
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
."

Tatsuya's merciless scolding and subsequent points astounded Mikihiko.

"In reality, I did provide support, and your magic was successful, so what do you mean 'originally'?
Mikihiko, what exactly did you think was going to happen?"

"That.
.
.
.
.
."

"No matter how many opponents there are and how well-trained they are, a Magician should be able to triumph without any backup.
I sincerely hope you are not operating under these assumptions?"

Mikihiko suddenly felt like the bottom of his stomach was giving out.

He understood very clearly how ridiculous the "assumptions" that Tatsuya referred to were.

Yet, in the inner depths of his heart, did he never truly stop and consider the assumptions Tatsuya was mentioning?

"Seriously.
.
.
.
.
.
I'll intentionally say this again.
Mikihiko, you are very foolish."

"Tatsuya.
.
.
.
.
."

"Why do you reject yourself to this level?

Why do you disparage yourself to this level?

What is it that so dissatisfies you?"

".
.
.
.
.
.
Even if I tried to explain, Tatsuya, you wouldn't understand.
There's no point in talking about it."

"There may be."

Mikihiko reacted by throwing up a high wall and retreating behind it, but Tatsuya's ensuing words smashed the wall to bits.

"Ah.
.
.
.
.
.
?"

This time it was Mikihiko's turn to be speechless, while Tatsuya pierced him with a sharp look.

"Mikihiko, you're concerned about the magic activation speed, correct?"

".
.
.
.
.
.
You heard that from Erika?"

"No."

".
.
.
.
.
.
Then how do you know?"

"Your technique is too verbose."

".
.
.
.
.
.
What did you say?"

"My point is, the problem isn't your capability, but the technique itself.
This is the underlying reason why you cannot wield magic the way you desire."

"How would you know that!"

Mikihiko roared.

Because he was in a state of panic.

Because he was exasperated.

The technique he uses was a product the Yoshida Family had refined over many years by incorporating the aspects of the traditions in Ancient Magic and the results of modern magic.

After seeing it once or twice, Tatsuya immediately tossed it out as a blemished product, which threw Mikihiko into a rage.

He always rejected this line of thinking as a vain attempt to escape from reality, but after hearing Tatsuya bring up this previously ignored topic, Mikihiko panicked.

"I do know.
But you don't need to force yourself to believe me."

Yet, Tatsuya calmly replied to Mikihiko's furious outburst, forcing Mikihiko to respond with an even more wavering statement.

".
.
.
.
.
.
What did you say?"

Mikihiko used the same words as he did before, but this time the tone was vastly different.

"I can comprehend any magic design that I can 'see', which allows me to read the details behind any Activation Sequence and to provide an in-depth analysis of the Magic Sequence."

Tatsuya replied with this outrageous answer.

Mikihiko's panic had hit a peak.

He had never heard of a Magician capable of such a feat and, if someone with this unique ability truly exists, then half the mysteries facing modern magic theory would be solved in an instant.

".
.
.
.
.
.
Again, you don't need to force yourself to believe me."

Tatsuya repeated his earlier words.

Mikihiko felt like he was telling him "what follows next is your own problem".

"Let's table this topic for now.
Ignoring that for the moment, we still need to deal with these guys.
I'll keep watch for the moment, could you call security?
Or do you want me to go?"

Honestly, with Mikihiko's mental state right now, he was unable to consider whether Tatsuya's "confession" was true or not, so he desperately clung to the life line thrown at him.

"Ah, I'll go."

"Understood, I'll wait here."

Mikihiko once more activated his "Leaping" technique and vanished over the railing.

On the other hand, Tatsuya briefly considered how to restrict the intruders' freedom of movement, and ultimately elected to bury them.
He could use "Dissolution" to remove the excess dirt, so he needed to use both "Separate" and "Move" magics.
Doing so without a CAD was truly a tiresome task, but just like the earlier "Leaping", Tatsuya had already memorized such a simple Magic Sequence and, as long as he performed them sequentially and not simultaneously, this really didn't pose a problem.

Ironically, this was one advantage gleaned from the artificial virtual Magic Calculation Area currently residing in his consciousness, which was the ability to recall any Magic Sequence stored in his memory.

(I'm a devious man.
)

He held onto the victim's perspective, but viewed the byproduct as an efficient tool to use.

Tatsuya smirked at his unprincipled self and prepared to invoke his magic.

—But there appeared to be no need for that.

A familiar presence approached, prompting Tatsuya to cancel his magic.

Shortly after, the other person initiated the conversation.

"Special Lieutenant, your earlier suggestion was truly merciless."

"Major, you heard all that?"

Tatsuya didn't detect Kazama eavesdropping.

Which was honestly not that surprising.

Kazama had studied under Kokonoe Yakumo longer than Tatsuya had and was considered to be Yakumo's second best student.
Without linking to the information dimension, Tatsuya found it very difficult to trace Kazama's presence.

Tatsuya saluted in greeting, to which Kazama smirked in response.

"Isn't it rare for the usually completely indifferent Special Lieutenant to do such a thing?"

"Labeling this one 'completely indifferent' is uncalled for."

"Or maybe you sympathize with his plight?
That young man shares similar problems as you do."

"This one has long since graduated from that level of concern."

"In other words, you're someone who's been around the block?"

".
.
.
.
.
.
Could you deal with these people?"

Kazama revealed a foxy smile as he mercilessly pressed the attack and Tatsuya, who had lost all avenues of retreat, finally managed to change the topic.

"Leave that to me, I'll explain everything to the base CO."

Still, Kazama realized that continuing to pursue this line of questioning served no purpose.

He retracted his smile and solemnly nodded towards Tatsuya.

"Sorry for troubling you."

"No worries, looks like many unexpected things were added to your plate as well."

"True.
But I wonder what these guys were trying to do?"

"God knows, handling criminals isn't in our job description.
.
.
.
.
.
Yet they are surprisingly capable and proactive.
Tatsuya, be wary."

"Yes, thank you for your concern."

"We'll talk in detail tomorrow at noon."

"Yes, sir, then allow this one to depart."

"Yeah, goodbye."

The two of them changed from superior and subordinate to two friendly disciples bidding each other farewell.

The day after Tatsuya's unplanned nighttime excursion.

The Nine Schools Competition began without further incident.

In the next ten days, the number of spectators alone exceeded 100,000 people.
Even though the location was inconvenient, at least 10,000 spectators came every day to watch the contests, and the number of online viewers easily surpassed 100 times this number.

While it couldn't draw the same numbers as popular professional sports games, there was still a large number of people who paid attention to this event.
That being said, very few people knew about the details regarding last night's incident.

The participants all possessed first class Magic Power but were still high school students.

The malefactors' attack ended without any meaningful accomplishment, so the military judged that it would not negatively impact the participants.
As such, they elected to keep the secret.

Rather than calling the opening ceremony glamorous, an orderly impression was more obvious.
The magic contests were gaudy enough in their own right, so there was no need for any additional ceremony to embellish the issue, and neither were there tedious speeches from dignitaries.
After the school songs from the nine schools were played in succession, the events officially began.

The curtains were drawn for the next ten days, where men and women each competed in 5 events for the Official Division as well as the 5 events for men and women in the Newcomers Division for a total of 20 events.

The 1st day's events were the preliminaries and elimination rounds for "Speed Shooting" and the preliminaries for "Battle Board".

The difference in scheduling reflected the time needed for each event.

"Onii-sama, the President is about to take the field."

"So our main strength is taking the stage for the first event, though I recall Watanabe-senpai's preliminary round is the third one?"

"Yes."

Tatsuya and company headed towards the Speed Shooting stands to watch Mayumi's event.
From the left, the order was Shizuku, Honoka, Tatsuya, and Miyuki.
They were not seated in the participants' area in the arena proper, but in the regular audience stands.