Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 09 - Visitor Chapter (I) Read online

  That "relationship" materialized faster than expected.

  Nay, more like among the myriad possibilities, the earliest opportunity mercilessly manifested itself.

  In the student cafeteria, the late arrivals were Miyuki, Honoka, and the young girl with blond hair and blue eyes. Upon seeing the young girl, although Tatsuya was not overly amazed, he still felt a little surprised.

  The hair and eye color he had already heard about along with the rumors of great beauty. And if her beauty was all there was to it, then Tatsuya's nerves had already been honed by Miyuki. The source of his surprise was not this, but that this was the same girl he saw at the shrine — or more appropriately, the young girl he noticed at the shrine.

  "Excuse me, may I sit with you?"

  The young girl spoke fluent Japanese. Her heavy accent couldn't be helped, as expected of a transfer student studying abroad in Japan — or an infiltrator disguised as a transfer student.

  "Of course, please go ahead."

  Her gaze swept over Tatsuya. Still, there was no need to put on any airs, so Tatsuya quickly acquiesced.

  "Lina, let's go get a tray first."

  "Tray... Ah, you mean edibles. Understood."

  Tatsuya's group had already obtained their food.

  Under Miyuki's urging, the three of them walked towards the cafeteria counter.

  And because of this, the ruckus surrounding the counter was greater than usual.

  Overawed by that formation, the other students seemed to scamper out of the way faster than usual as well.

  "Those two together are certainly a force to be reckoned with~"

  As a beautiful girl in her own right, but certainly not commanding such presence, Erika couldn't help but sigh in appreciation.

  "They look like they're getting along quite well..."

  Didn't they meet for the first time today, that was probably what Mizuki really wanted to say.

  "Hey, Tatsuya... I think I've seen her somewhere."

  "Wow, old school, much?"

  As soon as Leo opened his mouth to speak, Erika immediately broke in. Although she knew Leo was saying this because of the young girl's features, Erika still interposed because Leo's phrasing was too direct.

  "...Now that you mention it, indeed."

  "Eh, Shibata-san as well? Unless she's an artist or model... But that's rather unlikely, right?"

  As apparent from Mizuki's supporting comment, Mikihiko's words were pure speculation.

  Of course, Tatsuya knew exactly what the truth of the matter was. Rather, the inability to recall such a conspicuously dressed young lady was even more astonishing. Just as Tatsuya hesitated whether to dispel his friends' bewilderment, the topic of their conversation had already returned with Miyuki.

  Tatsuya felt a massive amount of eyes turned this way. While pretending to go about their business yet unable to contain their curiosity, gazes were resting on them from all four directions. Though Miyuki still drew the usual amount of stares, the number of surreptitious looks had increased substantially compared to usual.

  "Sorry for the wait, Onii-sama."

  As if wholly ignorant of these details, Miyuki sat next to Tatsuya as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

  "Tatsuya-kun, allow me to make a few introductions."

  Naturally, Honoka sat directly across from Tatsuya and spoke towards the young girl by her side.

  "Angelina Kudou Shields. You might have heard about this already, but she is the transfer student that will be joining us in Class A starting today."

  Hearing Honoka's introduction, not only Tatsuya, but the other three also revealed bemused expressions.

  "Honoka, don't just face me; shouldn't you introduce everyone else?"

  As the person in question, the transfer student espoused everyone's sentiments.

  "Eh, ah, s-sorry!"

  "...Well, that's our Honoka."

  "Indeed, that's quite like Honoka."

  Faced with Erika and Mizuki's commentary, which were more like barbs landing right on target, Honoka flushed red and was unable to speak a single word.

  "Then, allow me to make introductions. This is Angelina Kudou Shields from America."

  After Miyuki made the second round of introductions, the transfer student's hair swayed slightly as she bowed slightly in her seat.

  "Please call me Lina."

  As she said this, her eyes slightly squinted as she revealed a dazzling smile.

  Her blue pupils, not the color of water or ice, but reminding people of the sapphire of the sky — azure.

  The two wavy tresses on the sides of her head were secured by ribbons and, if released, would likely trail to waist length. They might be even longer than Miyuki's hair.

  For a high school freshman, such a mature gaze didn't go very well with that childish hair style, but this perfectly coincided with that perfect blend of shock and beauty, with a degree of familiarity to go along with it.

  Looks like the majority of the stares were definitely because of her. Upon hearing Miyuki's second introduction, Tatsuya led the way with the introductions in place of his friends who were a little overcome by that dazzling smile (especially the 2 boys) and wore an "Oh?" expression of shock.

  "Class E, Shiba Tatsuya. In order to differentiate from Miyuki, please call me 'Tatsuya'."

  "Thank you. And please call me Lina. Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you don't use honorifics."

  "I understand, Lina."

  "Nice to meet you, Tatsuya."

  Likely out of habit, Lina extended her hand across the table, which Tatsuya lightly grasped from beneath.

  This was just a handshake, and not something ridiculous like a lady extending her hand for a kiss.

  "Is Tatsuya by any chance Miyuki's brother?"

  Her azure eyes betrayed a hint of wavering, but Lina pretended nothing had happened and pressed on.

  She doesn't seem to be able to hide her expressions, Tatsuya thought as he paid heed not to accidentally laugh and just smiled and nodded his head. —Just now, Miyuki clearly referred to Tatsuya as "Onii-sama", which clearly hinted at their relationship.

  "I am Chiba Erika. Please call me Erika, Lina."

  One of Erika's strong points was not cowering during these situations.

  "My name is Shibata Mizuki. Please call me Mizuki."

  "Saijou Leonhart, but Leo is fine. I'm a little rough and speak like this, so please don't take offense."

  His tone was coarser than usual, but not enough to notice.

  "Yoshida Mikihiko, please refer to me as Mikihiko."

  Buoyed by her courage, Mizuki, Leo, and Mikihiko all presented themselves.

  "Erika, Mizuki, Leo, Mikihiko. Nice to meet you."

  Without asking anyone to repeat themselves, Lina remembered all their names on the first try. This was only the beginning, but she succeeded in attaining a favorable impression at this first crucial step.

  However, upon hearing Mikihiko pronounce his name as "Mikhiko", this purely Japanese name seemed to have stumped her as an American.

  "It's a little hard to pronounce, so if you can't say Mikihiko, go ahead and use Miki."

  If the person in question had given permission, then everything should be fine. Yet, coming from someone else, and especially out of Erika's mouth, there was no sense of cordiality. At least, that was how Mikihiko felt as he prepared to reject Erika's proposal.

  "Ah, is that so? Then allow me to do so. Miki, is that OK?"

  Nonetheless, when that charming smile stole his thunder with "is that OK", Mikihiko could only capitulate.

  Lina, who intentionally selected buckwheat from the menu, was busy dueling her chopsticks while trying to contain her frustration and answer the occasional question. Of course, everyone was very courteous and didn't ask any impolite questions. Just as everyone was about to finish eating, Lina finally appeared to master her chopsticks. Seeing this, the questions bubbling up from the Class E members were finally voiced by their representative, Tat
suya.

  "Speaking of which, is Lina a blood relative to Elder Kudou?"

  The typical term among Japanese Magicians was "sensei", but Tatsuya personally did not prefer this title. Instead, he used the general catch-all term "elder", which was an honored title for retired officers when phrasing the question to Lina.

  "I remember that the elder's younger brother went to America and started a family there."

  That was an age when Magicians were encouraged to marry across international boundaries. At the time, the news that the younger brother of Kudou Retsu, the "wiliest" among the world's Magicians, had headed for America and started a family with an American Magician was a topic of heated debate.

  "Ara, I'm amazed you heard about that, Tatsuya. That's definitely news from a long time ago."

  Tatsuya's conjecture appeared to be right on the money.

  Additionally, for an American Magician, saying that Kudou Retsu's younger brother went to America "a long time ago" made sense.

  "My mother's grandfather is Shogun Kudou's younger brother."

  She used the word "Shogun" for General. Tatsuya didn't hear her incorrectly.

  That was the term the Magicians from Europe and America used when referring to Kudou Retsu, who spent many years in a leadership position among the Japanese Magicians. Even if she had a quarter of the ancestry, no matter how fluently she spoke Japanese, she was still an American Magician through and through.

  "Thanks to that, I am able to come here to study abroad."

  "So Lina didn't come here out of her own volition?"

  Erika inadvertently asked.

  The nervousness and anxiety that Lina revealed didn't appear to be Tatsuya's misconception either.

  Chapter 3

  Those that prowl in the dark of night are not restricted to those from sinister backgrounds.

  That citizens could move about freely without the threat of hoodlums — and completely free at that, was thanks to the tireless efforts on part of the "apostles of order". Tonight, a young man who was (supposedly) one of these pillars of order was grousing to his male companion.

  "Seriously, one trouble after another......"

  "............"

  "Hasn't our crappy luck from last year already come to a close?"

  "............"

  "Something must have happened. This way, it's really easy to tell if they're illegal aliens or foreign invaders."

  "......Investigating them is our job. We're employed because of this rash of incidents, so quit your yapping!"

  At the same time as he used his clear and capable voice to advise his superior, who was still softly muttering "Things like this shouldn't be happening at all......", he also sucked in a breath.

  "Yes, this is Inagaki."

  Hearing a short burst from his ear set, Inagaki immediately replied back in a terse tone.

  "......Acknowledged. We'll be at the scene shortly."

  After turning off the transmission device, Inagaki swept a severe gaze over his superior, who wore a languid look on his face as he surveyed his surroundings.

  "Inspector, 5 bodies. Cause of death is the same as the ones from before. Just as before, there are no external injuries."

  Hearing Sergeant Inagaki's report, Inspector Chiba Toshikazu sighed as his eyes drifted to the skies.

  "And all their blood must also be gone. ......Seriously, 5 weird corpses every month. There should be a limit to trying to draw media attention."

  Without alluding to the victims or murderer, Inspector Chiba Toshikazu was only sighing to elucidate how troublesome this all was. Still, amid the inconvenienced expression on his face, his pupils flashed with the razor sharp gaze of a hunter.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  Angelina Shields was currently putting on a performance worthy of being called an exhilarating entrance.

  On the first day of her transfer, her appearance alone was such that no one on campus was unaware of her.

  Before this, the throne of the most beautiful girl in school belonged solely to Miyuki. This was the combined consensus of the upperclassmen and female student body as well.

  However, with the addition of Lina, the title of "Queen" had morphed into "Twin Beauties". Add in the fact that the two of them often moved together, this only served to deepen the impression that "her beauty rivaled that of Miyuki".

  The blonde hair that shone luminously beneath the sun and the azure pupils that put even sapphires to shame.

  The dark tresses deeper than the night itself and the brilliant eyes that surpassed the luminescence of black pearls.

  Miyuki and Lina, equal in beauty, yet diametrically opposed in appearance. Light fairly shone from the school campus that housed the both of them.

  Just having that level of beauty was enough to send tongues wagging—

  "Miyuki, I'm starting."

  "Feel free to begin whenever, I will leave the countdown to you, Lina."

  The two of them stood facing each other across a distance of 30 meters.

  Between them, a small metal ball with a diameter of 30 cm was placed on a thin rod.

  Although there were many similar instruments in the Practical Skills Room, all of their peers abandoned what they were doing and concentrated all their attention on Miyuki and Lina.

  No, not just their peers. In the observation stands on the second floor, there were quite a few Year 3 students who possessed the freedom to select their course schedule.

  Mayumi and Mari were included among them.

  "......Magic Power that can rival Miyuki, do you think that's possible?"

  "On some level, she's the American representative to Japan, so this isn't impossible. Nonetheless, it's still hard to believe that someone in the same age bracket as Miyuki can stand up to her Magic Power."

  "I agree. Well, seeing is believing. I'll only believe it when I see it with my own eyes."

  "We are here precisely to verify the truth of the matter."

  The goal of the practical exercise was for both sides to activate their CADs simultaneously, with the winner seizing control of the metal ball in the middle. Not only was this practical exercise easy to manipulate, there was a high competitive feel to it as well.

  Precisely because of its simplicity, this was a simple way to determine the difference in power between the two sides.

  Since starting this exercise last month, Miyuki had already reached a level that her peers could not hope to reach. The difference between her and the rest of her peers was so great that the instructors had deemed that continued practice against other students had already become meaningless.

  It was an open secret that not even the newly returned Student Council members (and Public Moral Committee members) who came to challenge Miyuki upon catching wind of this were her match.

  Yet, this Miyuki was about to pit her might against a transfer student.

  Given that the upperclassmen completely lost face despite wholeheartedly accepting the outcome (of course, Miyuki wasn't the type to aggrandize her accomplishment and was rather embarrassed over the whole ordeal), Mayumi and Mari had to attend this exercise.

  "Three, two, one......"

  The moment Lina called out "one", both of them put their hands on the dash board.

  "Go!"

  The last signal erupted from both of them.

  Miyuki tapped the board with her fingertips, while Lina pressed her whole hand onto the board.

  Stillness and action, their true colors were reflected in their opening motions. However, this only reflected the physical side of things.

  Dazzling arrays of psions were combining and exploding on the Eidos of the metal ball that served as the target. Since it was a light that could not be seen by the naked eye, closing one's eyes served no purpose.

  Some of the observers who had not mastered the suppression magic interference techniques pressed their temples and couldn't stop shaking their heads.

  The light faded after a brief moment as the metal ball slowly rolled towards Lina's
direction.

  "Ah, I lost again."

  "Fufu, I'm ahead by two rounds now, Lina."

  Lina loudly proclaimed her unwillingness to accept defeat while Miyuki smiled slightly while secretly heaving a sigh of relief.

  Based on their reactions, it was blatantly obvious that the victor of this contest (not that this was a real contest) was Miyuki. Despite saying "ahead by two rounds", this phrase that was normally reserved for the victor didn't leave an indelible impression of an overwhelming victory, more like—

  "......They're truly neck to neck."

  "In terms of Activation Speed, the transfer student is actually faster, isn't she?"

  "Hm, but Miyuki wins in interference strength, so she seized control before her opponent's magic was finished. Initiative versus power...... Rather than calling this a pure contest of strength, this is more like a tactical victory."

  In Mayumi and Mari's eyes, in terms of single systematic processes, the two of them possessed equal Magic Power.

  —Afterwards, the same exercise was repeated four times, with both sides splitting the result 2-2, so the day ended with Miyuki still ahead by two rounds.

  Noon in the neighboring cafeteria.

  Since Lina was sitting with them today, it couldn't be described as their usual arrangement. Since transferring a week ago, she had been tugged this way and that and sat with a different group each time for lunch.

  By maximizing her networking possibilities, she could be said to be a model transfer student. In terms of eating with Tatsuya's group, this was actually the first time since the first day of her transfer.

  "You're quite popular, Lina."

  "Thank you. I'm glad that everyone is so nice."

  At Erika's undisguised praise, Lina opted against replying with meaningless, embarrassed humility and came back with an uncaring attitude.

  There was no way to tell if this attitude was her personality talking or simply her cultural background, but Tatsuya and company (Erika excluded) found this to be a refreshing change of pace.

  "Still, Lina was surprisingly capable. Though I knew that anyone selected to study abroad definitely has the skills to back it up, I seriously can't believe you can match Miyuki to that degree."