Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (37 page)

Thanks to his habits as an engineering prodigy, Tatsuya fell into a deep thought that would not be out of place for a mad scientist.

"Onii-sama?"

Miyuki's voice roused him from his contemplation.

During the brief moment where Tatsuya averted his gaze, Mari's figure had already disappeared around the blind spot and was lost to sight.

Tatsuya vaguely replied with "It's nothing" and focused his attention back onto the large screen.

Mari was gliding up the waterways against the current.

"Speed Magic."

From her movements, she must have used a technique that reversed the vectors for acceleration.

"And also used Oscillation-Type Magic, right?"

At the same time, she employed magic to create reverse waves to lessen the water resistance.

"Nicely played, she's juggling three to four magics together during re-calculation."

Tatsuya's praise burst from his mouth.

None of the magics were particularly powerful.

Yet, the combined effect was unimaginably powerful.

Compared to Mayumi, who had raised high speed precision magic to an art form to stun the audience, Mari relied on lightning fast decision making and wide variety of tools to paint a veritable rainbow of overlapping magics to delight the audience.

The two of them had already far exceeded high school quality.

After Mari reached the peak, she leaped down the waterfall.

The moment Mari splashed down, an obvious tidal wave splashed outwards.

The tidal wave generated by Mari not only propelled her forward, but also nearly upset the player in second place who was behind her.

"What a strategist.
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"That's just a devious personality revealing itself."

Erika replied with an angry retort to Tatsuya's whispering.
Tatsuya half agreed, so he didn't make any particular rebuttal.
That being said, "a devious personality" was high praise for a strategist.

Before the first lap was even finished, Mari's victory was all but certain.

Battle Board’s preliminary stage was slated for today and after lunch — only the fourth through sixth rounds were left.
After deciding to watch the semifinals and finals for Speed Shooting, Tatsuya bid farewell to his friends.

He returned to the hotel and walked towards the rooms reserved for higher-ranking officers.
This is to fulfill the promise he made to Kazama last night.

Kazama held the rank of major, but his experiences and the unique nature of the troops under his command granted him treatment above his official rank.
In this suite that was normally restricted to colonels and higher, Kazama was enjoying a quick break with the officer cadre while enjoying the tea and snacks ordered from room service.

"So you're here, come, sit."

Tatsuya was brought into the room by the soldiers on duty (not soldiers from this base, but under Kazama's direct command) and even though Kazama extended a cordial invitation for him to be seated, Tatsuya hesitated upon seeing who the officers were.

Tatsuya's rank "Special Lieutenant" was not a "commissioned officer" but "a non-commissioned officer recognized as a soldier by international standards" (presently, this country's battalions no longer possessed the "associate officer" system).
Soldiers that were not restricted by the military's ranking system but still maintained the right to participate on the front lines could only be found in the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion's command structure during active duty.
However, even without a built-in ranking system, everyone present was still a superior officer and, more importantly, an elder, so he couldn't casually accept such an invitation.

"Tatsuya, today we're not treating you as 'Strategic-Class Magician Special Lieutenant Ooguro Ryuuya', but as our good friend 'Shiba Tatsuya', so being too formal would only be inconvenient."

"It's also difficult to converse with you standing all the time, so why don't you take a seat?"

At this time, the two officers at the table also motioned for Tatsuya to sit.

"Captain Sanada, Captain Yanagi.
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Understood, pardon my interruption."

Friendship that transcended age prompted Tatsuya to abandon his overly formal attitude to avoid being impolite.
After a round of greetings, he sat directly across from Kazama.

They were seated at a round table.

The afternoon tea time for the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was for them to relax and unwind.

Even though Tatsuya's seat was closest to the door, the adults still welcomed him as one of them.

"First of all, long time no see.
I know we shouldn't use tea cups for this, but cheers."

"Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi, thank you."

The female officer serving as Kazama's adjutant — more like secretary — handed him a tea cup, which Tatsuya accepted on a small plate while signaling with his eyes.

Today, she was in casual clothes rather than in uniform, which gave off the aura of "a young secretary from a major corporation".

Not just her, but everyone was in suits or casual garb where the shirts didn't match the jacket.

"In reality, we met earlier, but let's cut Fujibayashi some slack."

"Dr.
Yamanaka, you don't need to force yourself."

"No, I'm not that unsociable to ruin the moment when we raise cups to celebrate our reunion."

".
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The doctor's just looking for a reason to pour some brandy into the teacups, right?"

"The situation demands alcohol."

"Really.
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I thought 'doctors not treating themselves' meant something else entirely.
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The one who leisurely replied to Captain Yanagi's confusion was doctor and first class healer — Combat Medic Yamanaka.

Including Kazama, there were 5 people in total who shook their heads in exasperation, which were all the officers from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion who greeted Tatsuya.

"Captain Yanagi, Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi, it's been a while.
Captain Sanada, thanks for your recent support."

Tatsuya started off with greeting the two he hadn't seen for some time, then finished with thanking Captain Sanada who assisted him at the base last month.

"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you.
Only you are capable of handling 'Third Eye's' long range precision targeting system."

"That's because that CAD was originally designed for this one to use.
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Speaking of which, Doctor Yamanaka, I haven't received the examination results from last time."

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Tatsuya, am I the only one being treated differently?"

"Doctor.
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I don't think anyone could view a doctor who directly asked for permission to conduct human experimentation in a positive light."

Fujibayashi retorted at Yamanaka's words.

Yamanaka deliberately turned his head to one side.

Laughter suffused the round table.

Though they claimed that it had been a while, in reality it's not like they haven't seen each other for years.

Yanagi was the one who had been absent the longest at approximately six months, while Sanada and Yamanaka were last seen about a month ago.

The topic naturally turned to a sit rep where they conversed about the criminal organization that may seek to act during the Nine Schools Competition.

Just as they had discussed over the phone, the malefactors from last night were part of "No-Head Dragon".
Unfortunately, they still had no information regarding the group's intent and goals.
That being said, any one of the five people here (especially Yamanaka) could easily obtain results if they were in charge of interrogations, but currently they didn't want to proactively join the investigation.

"Still, that was quite the show you put on last night, or were you prepared ahead of time?"

"The Major overestimates this one's abilities, this one only caught wind of their presence while out on a stroll."

"That late?"

"Because CAD maintenance ran over time."

Owing to their similar age, the one Tatsuya spoke with the most in this group was of course Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi.
Thanks to her military training, she possessed a magnificent figure that most people dared not to look at too openly, yet her amicable attitude and mundane wardrobe and make up allowed Tatsuya to comfortably converse with her.

"No wonder you're participating as a member of the technician team.
Do your teammates know about 'Silver'?"

"Negative, that remains a secret."

Tatsuya shook his head as he replied to Yamanaka's question.

"Given the class difference, am I the only one who thinks that you serving as a CAD engineer in a high school contest constitutes cheating?"

"Captain Sanada, Tatsuya is a bona fide high school student."

Sanada grinned as he brought up a legitimate complaint.
Fujibayashi smiled as well as she deflected Sanada's comment and turned back to Tatsuya.

"Why didn't you enter as a participant?
I think that you would enjoy considerable success with your flash cast abilities.
If necessary, even excluding 'Material Burst', you at least have 'Mist Dispersal' to fall back on."

"No, not only are both 'Material Burst' and 'Mist Dispersal' classified, their destructive power also exceeds the limits set by the competition.
In addition, 'Material Burst' is only accessible with 'Third Eye'."

"But you brought the 'Trident' along, right?"

"That's also against the rules, specifically the ones regarding competition-use CADs.
Furthermore, flash cast is one of the Yotsuba Family's secret techniques."

Tatsuya smiled wryly as he refuted Fujibayashi's suggestion.

Immediately afterwards, Yanagi continued in a helpless tone:

"Fujibayashi.
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You're actually suggesting we use Strategic-level 'Disintegration' Magic — 'Material Burst' in a high school competition.
I'm calling shenanigans."

"I also don't believe that there will be an opportunity to use 'Material Burst' in the Nine Schools Competition.
However, in last year's competition, the scion of the Juumonji Family used 'Phalanx' and the young lady from the Saegusa Family cast 'Magic Shooter', so I don't think using 'Mist Dispersal' is out of bounds."

"Fujibayashi-san, the Juumonji Family's 'Phalanx' ability is defensive magic, so there's no destructive power involved.
Likewise, the greatest advantage in the Saegusa Family's 'Magic Shooter' is its sheer flexibility in force applied, so its destructive power also varies.
On the other hand, 'Mist Dispersal' is indisputably an A-rank magic in destructive power that is able to reduce an object down to its molecular level, so they cannot be compared side by side."

"Aha, Captain Sanada, didn't you know?
Destructive power is only measured in the events of the Nine Schools Competition that could affect the players themselves, so Speed Shooting and Icicle Destruction are not within its jurisdiction.
Interestingly enough, the handbook that emphasizes safety first glosses over this point."