Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (35 page)

"Speed Shooting" involves using magic to destroy flying targets from 30 meters out within a limited period of time.
The key lies in how accurate and how fast one could fire magic outwards, hence the name "Speed Shooting".

The contest was divided into two portions.

In the preliminary round, contestants advanced on individual merit based on the number of targets destroyed within five minutes.

The preliminary round simultaneously used four shooting galleries to conduct six contests, with the top eight advancing to the Elite Eight.

Also, only 24 contestants were allowed to participate.

If all nine schools sent three contestants, there would be a total of 27, but three of the nine lost their right to participate due to their performance from the previous year and were only able to dispatch two contestants.

Besides "Monolith Code", all events shared this rule.

After the Elite Eight, the event turned into a duel format.

There were 100 red and 100 white targets in the arena, with the total number of corresponding targets destroyed determining the victor.

"Highly destructive magics can be used during the preliminaries to swiftly destroy a large number of targets in one go, but after the Elite Eight, precision targeting is far more important."

Shizuku nodded at Tatsuya's words, as Shizuku was the only one among them to participate in the Speed Shooting portion of the Newcomers Division.

"Generally speaking, most people use different magics during the preliminary and elimination rounds.
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"But President Saegusa is renowned for using the same magic during these two rounds."

In the middle of Tatsuya's explanation, a young lady behind them cut in.

"Erika."

"Hey, Tatsuya-kun."

"Yo."

"Morning."

"Tatsuya-kun, Miyuki-san, Honoka-san, Shizuku-san, good morning everyone."

Seated behind Tatsuya and company, from right to left, were Leo, Erika, Mizuki, and Mikihiko (but the speaking order was Erika, Leo, Mikihiko, and Mizuki).

The reason why the four of them found these spots was that they were sitting in the back row.

"Aren't there more spots up front?"

"That's because I saw Tatsuya-kun's group sitting here, and it's easier to see everything from the back, right?"

"True."

The stands were built like a series of rising stairs, with the higher levels in the back.

This is an event involving shooting targets at high speed, so the spectators in the front rows have to possess the same eyesight as the contestants.

Even so, the spectators still crowded forward, because—

"Because there are an amazing amount of stupid boys."

Erika disdainfully declared in a way that wasn't altogether joking.

"Looks like there are more than teenager boys mixed in."

Tatsuya replied in a sarcastic tone.

In other words, for this reason, there were no spare seats in the front rows.

"Is this what is called 'Onee-sama~'?
How depressing."

"Don't be like that, there might be considerable value up front.
Even for someone like me who sees the President on a daily basis, she seems like a completely different person now."

"Whoa!
Miyuki, what shall we do?
Your Onii-sama has fallen for someone else!"

At Erika's ridiculous words, Tatsuya and Miyuki could only wryly smile.

The subject of their conversation was.
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"The 'Elven Sniper', quite the suitable title."

"The President dislikes the term, so make sure not to bring it up in front of her."

Tatsuya's admonishment caused Honoka to shrug in her neck.

The teenage boys and girls squeezed into the front rows to admire Mayumi, who was waiting in the first shooting gallery for the contest to begin.

Mayumi wore a pair of mufflers over her luminous locks of hair, a pair of transparent goggles, an elastic pair of uniform pants and an upturned tunic that could be easily mistaken for a mini-suit.
Paired with a rifle-shaped CAD that was mandatory for all Speed Shooting events, this created the perfect combination of cuteness and heroism as if she was the female lead in an upcoming movie.

"There are actually people who use the President as the subject for doujins.
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Mizuki softly said this probably because this getup jolted something in her memory.

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That's the first I've heard of that."

However, this came so far out of left field that even Erika was barely able to manage a response in time.

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Mizuki, exactly under what context did you come by this knowledge?
If your 'interests' lie in that direction, I may have to re-examine our friendship."

Looks like Miyuki and Erika were thinking of the same thing.
This outwardly serious voice contained roughly 10% earnestness.

"Eh?
No, I don't have those kinds of interests!"

Still, Mizuki was undoubtedly the most shaken.

"It's starting."

Mizuki was in a full state of panic at realizing what they were hinting at, but managed to snap out of it and quiet down at Tatsuya's words.

The spectator stands were deathly quiet.

The participants were wearing ear muffs, so no amount of audience noise would affect them, but this was a matter of principle.

The participants raised their slender, elongated rifles that almost looked like cane-shaped competition-use CADs, while their poise and concentration caused the silenced audience to grip the edge of their seats.

The flashing light signaled for them to begin.

Targets flew through the sky accompanied by soft firing sounds.

"They're fast.
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Were the soft words that burst out of Shizuku referring to the flight velocity of the targets?

—Or was she referring to Mayumi's magic that was busy smashing targets left and right?

Mayumi didn't raise her head and stood stock still with her CAD aimed forward.

This event never relied on using the rifle to shoot bullets, so there was no need to visually line up with the target and the CAD never possessed a muzzle or scope.

Rather than presenting arms, her stance was more akin to drawing a bow.

The targets shot forth at irregular intervals.

A total of a hundred targets in five minutes.

On the average, that was one target every 3 seconds.

Compared to normal shooting, this was a ridiculously fast pace.
Complicating the matter was that sometimes multiple targets shot forth within a tight interval and sometimes, five or six would fly out after a 10 second interval.

Mayumi shot down every "individual" target without missing a beat.

The five minute contest was over in the blink of an eye.

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She was perfect."

Mayumi removed her protective goggles and ear mufflers as she smiled in response to the spectators' applause.
Seeing her, Tatsuya murmured as if he could think of nothing else to say.

"She was using sub-sonic bullets formed from ice particles, correct?"

Miyuki asked as she was applauding, prompting Tatsuya to smile and nod.

"Correct, I'm surprised you could tell."

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That was trivial enough that even I could see that.
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Erika retorted in a huff, causing Tatsuya to chuckle wryly.

"That's true, seeing the same magic a hundred times certainly makes it easier."

Someone averted their eyes in shame (probably because they couldn't see it), but Tatsuya elected to pretend he didn't see them.

"One hundred?
She didn't miss once?"

Honoka asked Tatsuya in honest surprise, likely brought about by her direct personality.

"Correct, the amazing aspect is not the speed of magic invocation or number of times activated, but the precision entailed.
Even using Sensory Magic at the same time, the individual still needs to use their brain to process the data.
I don't know if it's because she's accumulated enough experience in repeated calculations or is simply that talented.
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She is truly worthy of being one of the direct descendants of the Ten Master Clans."

"Did the President use Sensory Magic?"

Mizuki exclaimed in surprise, but the difference was that many people mirrored her expression this time.

"Long Range Visual Systematic Sensory Magic 'Multi-Observation' is not meant to examine non-material bodies or information bodies, but observe a physical object from multiple angles like a visual radar.
The President often uses this sort of magic."

Tatsuya's gaze asked "Didn't you notice?"
to which Mizuki shook her head.

"During the school assembly, she would use this magic to 'watch' every corner, which is a very rare ability.
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Don't you think that this level of shooting is impossible for the naked eye?"

"That's true."

Shizuku immediately replied.
During the competition, she was putting herself in Mayumi's shoes and considering her options in the shooting gallery.

"Still, the President is using Speed-Type Magic to turn air molecules into ice particles then applying acceleration to sub-sonic levels and using Sensory Magic at the same time, right?
With Sensory Magic running, and then using deceleration and acceleration back and forth a hundred times, the President has amazing Magic Power."

At this point, the "Magic Power" Leo was talking about did not refer to the "Magic Power" from the technical skills assessment, but the more generic context of having the physical capacity of repeatedly casting spells.

A common misunderstanding is that magic is an activity that consumes energy.

Phenomena are not rewritten by burning physical energy, but by editing the data surrounding the phenomena.

In order to edit the data, a Magic Sequence formed from psions is required, so the number of times magic can be invoked is limited by the difference in the scale of Magic Sequences.
The "Magic Power" Leo is talking about here, if likened to an actual concept, would be similar to the mental strain exerted on the body.

"The President is using a variant of 'Hale Particles'.
The original 'Hale Particles' is already a highly efficient form of magic and with the President's ability, she could probably cast this 1000 times rather than a paltry 100 times."

Tatsuya's endless praise towards Mayumi elicited complex expressions from Miyuki and the others.

They also acknowledged that Mayumi's Magic Power was incredible, but hearing Tatsuya, who was usually very critical on all things magic, give such unrestrained praise could not help but arouse some jealousy.

On the other hand, Leo was concerned about something else entirely.

"Eh, but to create ice in the heat of summer and then accelerate to subsonic levels should require a lot of power.
Even if conservation of energy doesn't wholly apply to magic, I still find it hard to believe Tatsuya's assessment that you can use such a small amount of magic to achieve such a level of phenomena rewriting."

"While it may not wholly apply, that does not mean they are unrelated."

Tatsuya rose and headed towards the "Battle Board" spectator stands while responding with this mysterious answer.

"What do you mean?"

Leo chased after Tatsuya and asked again.

"Magic is a technique that involves changing phenomena and is not limited by conservation of energy.
However, the object being rewritten remains bound by the law of conservation of energy.
For example, if you apply Speed Magic to an object, without using magic to maintain its condition, the accelerated object will turn cold, since the objects own heat is being converted to energy of motion; if you cast Heat Magic on a speeding object, without using magic to maintain its velocity, then the target object will slow down, since the object’s energy of motion is being converted to heat.
Generally, magic strives to avoid changing unrelated aspects by adding in measures to maintain the status quo, so there's rarely an opportunity to observe this in action.