Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 02 - Enrollment Chapter (II) Page 14

  The momentum reversed in an instant.

  The attacker and defender roles were swapped.

  Erika sidestepped her opponent's final blow, then immediately retaliated against Sayaka's motionless stun baton.

  The stun baton, which was by design more fragile than bokkens or staves, snapped upon impact to its base.

  "..."

  Sayaka stared weakly at the police baton pointed at her.

  Her eyes still burned with her fighting spirit.

  "Please pick it up."

  Erika said without moving her weapon.

  "..."

  Unable to comprehend her words, Sayaka made no response.

  "Pick up the short-sword on the ground and show me your true strength.

  I will shatter the feminine illusion that binds you."

  Sayaka ignored the police baton before her eyes and bent her knees.

  She picked up the short-sword that Erika discarded, then once again fell into a stance.

  Afterwards, Sayaka remembered something, fell out of her stance and put her left hand atop her right.

  She removed the flashing bronze ring on her right hand.

  And threw it to the floor.

  "I don't need to rely on that.

  I will use my own strength to break your technique."

  Sayaka removed her uniform jacket.

  At First High, female students wore sleeveless gowns beneath their uniform jackets.

  Sayaka's arms were exposed from the shoulder down, which guaranteed her complete freedom of movement.

  Sayaka turned the edge of the blade skywards.

  Slashing with the back of the blade was a method that completely disregarded the structural properties of the weapon, and only served to increase the risk of the blade breaking.

  Even with this disadvantage, Sayaka was unwilling to allow her hesitation towards murder to dull the speed of the blade's tip, hence she assumed this position.

  "I understand."

  They stood in the ready position facing one another,

  "Your techniques seem to come from the same style as Watanabe-senpai."

  "Do not speak of my blade in the same sentence as that woman's sword. We are on completely different levels."

  Each side exchanged one sentence, heralding the start of the verbal spar.

  Thereafter, silence dominated the scene.

  Silence turned into anxiety, and anxiety turned to urgency.

  Just as the urgency reached a crescendo, Erika's figure vanished.

  The exchange was over in an instant.

  The crisp sound of metallic contact rang out.

  It was practically impossible for the naked eye to discern, but Sayaka truly managed to defend herself against one of Erika's magically accelerated attacks.

  She managed to hold off the "longsword's" first attack.

  The short-sword slid from Sayaka's nerveless hands.

  Subsequently, Sayaka pressed her right arm and fell to one knee.

  "My apologies, senpai.

  That's probably a fracture."

  "... The bone cracked.

  It's fine. I don't think you were holding back."

  "Yes, senpai, you can hold your head up high.

  That's because you forced a woman of the Chiba Family to go all out."

  "I see... So, you're a member of the Chiba family."

  "That's the truth of the matter.

  By the way, Watanabe Mari is a disciple of our family as well.

  I was the one who oversaw her certification.

  In terms of pure swordsmanship, I am the superior one."

  Hearing this, Sayaka finally smiled.

  It was a brief, carefree smile.

  "Is that so...

  I say, although the loser has no right to ask for a boon, could you call a stretcher for me?

  I feel like, my consciousness, is fading, ah..."

  Sayaka crumpled to the ground.

  Erika carefully scooped her up.

  She softly whispered into the ears of the unconscious Sayaka.

  "Don't worry, senpai.

  Because your gentle kohai will take senpai away from here."

  ◇◇◇

  "So, you want me to carry Mibu-senpai out of here?"

  Regarding Tatsuya's natural question, Erika nodded her head as if she couldn't care less.

  "It's OK, she's not that heavy."

  "No, that's not the issue."

  "Now you can legitimately hug a cute girl to yourself, so why don't you just happily accept already."

  "I have no interest in being happy about such a trivial matter... No, that's still not the issue."

  "... You know, I just had an inkling about this. Is Tatsuya-kun uninterested in women?

  Like, do you swing in that direction?"

  "What do you mean by that direction?"

  "Gay!"

  "Don't be ridiculous!

  That's why I said this isn't the issue. We can easily call for a stretcher, so why must I be the one to carry her?"

  Miyuki laughed merrily at this scene.

  Tatsuya was simultaneously dealing with his mounting exhaustion while trying to decipher Erika's logic at the same time. —At this point, he had already half-given up on the inside.

  "It would obviously make Mibu-senpai very happy!"

  At some point, Tatsuya stopped replying.

  While he still felt that the proposal was illogical, he was also resigned to the fact that using logic to convince Erika was going to be an extremely challenging task.

  The conversation had reached its conclusion, so to speak.

  "Isn't this wonderful, Onii-sama.

  Although her injury isn't dire, it is true that the earlier she can be treated the better.

  I think that the most efficient method would probably be for Onii-sama to carry her.

  At any rate, there's no use trying to explain it further.

  Your opponent is Erika, after all."

  "Wait, Miyuki, what's that supposed to mean?"

  "Yeah, that's true. Oh, well."

  "Wait, Tatsuya-kun, what the heck is this, hitting people when they're down?

  Don't you guys think that going two on one is a little treacherous?"

  "Ara, I'm obviously Erika's ally here!"

  "Lies! Blatant lies!"

  When faced with Erika's shouting, Miyuki merely smiled pleasantly in acceptance. With this conversation as the BGM, Tatsuya carefully picked up Sayaka.

  This action wasn't an abrupt one, nor did he waver when doing so.

  It was more like he had no idea where to place his strength to perform this action.

  "Hm, just as expected, Tatsuya-kun is quite capable."

  For some reason, Erika expressed this opinion as she nodded several times. Since responding to her words would only waste more time, Tatsuya decided to start walking.

  Sayaka's unconscious face looked like she was in a deep slumber.

  ◇◇◇

  After learning of the capture of the library infiltrators through the screen of his portable terminal, Tsukasa of the Men's Kendo Division knew that he had to link up with his older brother, the current head of Blanche's Japan branch, and seek further instructions. This had to be accomplished in the shortest time frame possible.

  While technically his older brother, he was only a stepbrother from his father's second marriage at the end of the day. However, Tsukasa always trusted his older brother as if they were directly related by blood. There was no sense of awkwardness between the two of them after the marriage initially, so how did they get to this point? He just couldn't recall how.

  Whenever he thought of this mystery, it was immediately buried beneath other thoughts. The moment Tsukasa thought of this, he shook his head, because now wasn't the time to consider it. It was too dangerous to use the wireless network for contact. He wasn't worried about being overheard; he just didn't want to use such a normal method of communication, but this was a critical situation. Any inbound message, whether w
ired or wireless, ran the risk of being intercepted, so thinking like this was only natural.

  Tsukasa wasn't expecting any problems by leaving campus. Even though this was a critical situation, it was not war time nor was it a period of civil war. There was no way a gunfight would break out on campus. Although people unaffiliated with clubs had to undergo strenuous examination, this generally did not affect students.

  Tsukasa made his decision based on this assumption, but unfortunately for him, fate had other ideas.

  "If it isn't Tsukasa from the kendo club. Are you headed home?"

  Just as Tsukasa was about to waltz out the main gate, someone called out to him from behind.

  It wasn't a friend. He did not know that voice.

  When he turned around, what stood before him was a swarthy individual of medium height that could be comfortably described as boorish. Like Tsukasa, he was a large, robust 3rd Year student. He wore the emblem of the Public Morals Committee on his wrist.

  "Tatsumi... Uh, aren't club activities canceled because of the riots? That's why I decided to head home!"

  Faltering due to poor acting would be troublesome. Consciously ordering his body to cooperate, Tsukasa replied back in an even tone.

  "Is that so. Well, that's OK. Club activities are probably canceled all around campus."

  "Ah, that's it. So."

  Goodbye. The word was on the tip of his tongue, but Tsukasa never got the chance to say it.

  "Wait a second. There's something I wanted to ask you."

  His heart raced.

  "Ask me?"

  Barely managing to contain his wavering, Tsukasa managed to fake an astonished expression.

  "Yeah, I need to ask you specifically, Tsukasa."

  Tatsumi's voice seemed to fan the flames of Tsukasa's agitation. Tsukasa felt as if that tone knew everything he was up to.

  "My Chief has an amazing special technique."

  All of a sudden, the conversation changed entirely — at least that's what it sounded like — but the same sense of wariness from the beginning did not diminish in the slightest.

  "By manipulating the air currents and adding some enhancements, we can create truth serums without resorting to illegal drugs."

  A scream was about to force its way out of his throat, but Tsukasa fought it down.

  However, he was only wasting his time.

  "You don't have to fake any ambivalence, Tsukasa. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

  We already have proof, evidence that you ordered them to do these things."

  Tsukasa didn't reply.

  While he was a Course 2 student weak in technical skills, thanks to his extensive training in kendo he had plenty of confidence in his own Speed Magics. Both of them looked fairly swarthy and Tatsumi was one of the few 3rd Year students capable of putting out some speed, but Tsukasa was confident he had the edge in a pure footrace.

  All of this was in Tsukasa's calculations, but his plans were dashed before they came to fruition.

  "Tsukasa-senpai! Please come with us for a moment!"

  A somber but powerful voice rang out. To be precise, the owner of this voice was standing directly in his path.

  "Sawaki... Why the hell are you two here?"

  Tsukasa hoarsely shouted. When the riots broke out, both of them should have been at the library. Why the heck were two members of the active combat division stationed all the way out here? It was only natural for Tsukasa to wonder about that.

  "You haven't noticed yet? Our job is solely to keep an eye on you today, with some support from long range Sensory System personnel. We would've wasted our time if you didn't cave in the end, but we finally figured out your escape route."

  As Tatsumi was happily explaining behind him, Tsukasa made the conscious decision to forcibly break through here.

  The breakthrough would have to occur in Sawaki's direction. In this situation, returning to campus was suicide.

  That being said, even though Sawaki was a 2nd Year student, he specialized in a form of magic close combat called Magic Martial Arts. Unarmed, Tsukasa had no chance — in a straight up fight, that is.

  Tsukasa removed the scarf tied around his right arm.

  Inside, there was a bronze colored bracelet. The Antinite Bracelet.

  He activated Cast Jamming.

  Tsukasa knew that by spreading the Cast Jamming waves, he was alerting their allies to his location. However, this wasn't the time to worry about that. The most important thing was to break out of the current trap and establish a link with his older brother — this powerful thought dominated Tsukasa's actions.

  Tsukasa charged towards Sawaki, who furrowed his brows. At the end of the day, Magic Martial Arts was a technique that used magic to reinforce the physical body, to enable the usage of powerful combat abilities. In a scenario where no magic was used, even if he was unarmed, Sawaki should have no chance of overcoming a kendoist such as himself without the aid of magic. With this in mind, Tsukasa struck out at Sawaki.

  Sawaki easily dodged his chop.

  His flank suffered a furious blow. Sawaki's elbow dug deeply into Tsukasa's abdomen.

  "Tsukasa, you moron, I don't think you understand."

  As Tsukasa collapsed to the ground, Tatsumi said this in a sympathetic manner.

  "Sawaki is a tough opponent even without magic. There are a lot of people who misunderstand me, though those guys are incapable of doing anything without magic, and are unable to move freely without an unnecessary thing like magic."

  Moaning in pain, Tsukasa couldn't reply. Sawaki silently bound Tsukasa securely.

  ◇◇◇

  In the Nurse's Room, they were listening to Sayaka's side of the story.

  Her right arm needed treatment, so it was best not to upset her too much. While the school doctor forbade this, it was currently Sayaka who wanted to tell her story.

  Mayumi, Mari, and Katsuto were all gathered to hear this. The mastermind Tsukasa Kinoe had been captured, and the riot had been suppressed on the surface, but the exact details behind the attack were still unknown. The off-campus invaders that had been captured had already been handed over to the police by the faculty, though thanks to the efforts of the School Council, Club Activities Group and Public Morals Committee, no students were affected.

  Currently, Tsukasa was in no condition to be interrogated. Taking this into consideration, Sayaka's confession became the only source of information, so it wasn't odd for Mayumi and the others to be present.

  The tale began when Sayaka was first introduced to her other companions.

  Last year, shortly after Sayaka entered the school, she struck up a conversation with Tsukasa. At that time, there were a lot of sympathizers in the kendo club. Not just the kendo club, students were also forming magic training clubs with similar philosophies. It came as a huge shock to discover that the time and scale of the operations far exceeded Mayumi and co.'s expectations. The one who took it hardest was probably Mari. Mayumi, Mari, and Katsuto were all struck differently by this revelation in the beginning.

  "I'm sorry, I never imagined this could happen, but..."

  Erika stared intently at the blinking Mari.

  However, Mari had no time to care about this gaze.

  "Mibu, is what you said true?"

  Hearing Mari's faltering question, Sayaka lowered her head for less than a second.

  Raising her head, Sayaka nodded calmly, and replied in the same calm manner.

  "Now that I think about it, I might have been too proud of being called 'kendo belle' in middle school.

  Therefore, shortly after I came to school, I saw Watanabe-sempai's incredible magic swordsmanship during the club recruitment week. I petitioned for personal lessons from you, but was coldly rebuffed, and that one cut really deep...

  I couldn't be your opponent probably because I was a Course 2 student. Once I thought of this, I lost all my motivation."

  "Wait... Just a second.

  Last year's recruitment week, w
hen I went overboard during the kenjutsu lessons?

  I remember that incident.

  I didn't forget that you petitioned to be my opponent.

  But, I don't recall harshly rejecting you?"

  "It's common for people to have difficulty understanding the feelings of the rejected."

  Erika reprimanded Mari in an ironic tone, who stood there with a solemn expression and head lowered.

  "Erika, be quiet for a bit."

  But she was stopped by Tatsuya.

  "What? Is Tatsuya-kun on Watanabe-senpai's side as well?"

  "I just want you to finish listening to her. You can chew people out or debate about this after you hear everything."

  Hearing this rebuke, Erika revealed a displeased expression, but quieted down regardless.

  After a short period of silence, Sayaka painfully continued.

  "Senpai, you said that I couldn't be your opponent, so I shouldn't waste my time and go seek someone who could match me... To hear this from my respected senpai just after coming to school..."

  "Wait... No, wait a minute.

  That's a misunderstanding, Mibu."

  "Eh?"

  "It's true that I said that.

  — I'm sorry, but my swordsmanship can't compete against yours, so it's a waste of your time. So that's why you should go search for a worthy opponent for yourself — that's all.

  Wasn't that how it was?"

  "Eh, that... Then, if that's the case..."

  "In other words, this is why I said 'I can't be your opponent'.

  It's because you are much stronger than me in swordsmanship."

  Sayaka wore a slack-jawed expression as Mayumi turned to ask Mari.

  "Just a moment, Mari.

  You mean that you turned down Mibu's request because she was much stronger than you, did I get that right?"

  "That's exactly it.

  While it is true that I have the edge after you add magic into it...

  The techniques that I've learned are all meant to be used in conjunction with magic. I underwent physical and weapons training in order to better grasp how to use my magic more effectively.

  There's no way I could be able to stand up to Mibu in terms of pure swordsmanship."