Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 05 - Summer Holiday Chapter Read online

  The youth let out a foolish bray of laughter to which Morisaki returned a merciless smile up at him.

  “You who face extinction, dare you put that to the test?”

  “……What did you say?”

  “I said, do you want to test whether we Magicians are nothing more than wooden dolls without our magic, you pretentious scoundrel.”

  “Ha…… Hey, none of you interfere.”

  The leader of the endangered species who styled themselves the “Fight Club” turned his face back from a jigsaw mess to his normal expression (as ugly as it was). He raised his fists before spreading his legs to lower his center of gravity, hereby adopting a fighting stance.

  Seeing this, Morisaki also wiped away the derisive smirk on his face and allowed his backpack to slide off one shoulder. He raised both fists in front of his face and lightly starting hopping in place.

  “Wooden doll, let’s dance.”

  “I accept, superficial scum. However, you touch her at your own peril. I will make you all regret being born into this world.”

  “You’re just a little man, but that mouth of yours…… Has spunk!”

  That sentence served as a declaration of hostilities.

  Like a whip, an upward kick was sent hurtling towards Morisaki’s face.

  In order to protect Lin right behind him, Morisaki could not evade to the back.

  Instead, he lowered his head to duck beneath the swirling kick.

  “Takashi” adroitly pulled back the upward kick and sent the leg pummeling downwards to Morisaki’s head.

  Rather than calling this a hook kick, this was more like an ax kick.

  Morisaki rose in the direction of his kick and narrowly avoided the blow.

  The other man’s face changed.

  The moment the leg touched the ground, he immediately let fly a lightning fast punch.

  Morisaki deflected it with one hand.

  Forward kick, mid punch, low kick, mid kick, sweeping kick, revolving elbow…… A swift combination of attacks showed that this young man was not just shooting his mouth and his moves were not just cheap imitations. Based on these movements, he had probably undergone the entire training regime for karate under special tutelage.

  Yet, all of his blows were being entirely dodged or neutralized by Morisaki.

  Frustration was starting to mount on “Takashi’s” face.

  He sought to decide the fight in one blow and telegraphed a long range hook punch towards Morisaki’s chin.

  Morisaki was not going to let this opening pass by.

  Stepping forward, he directed a left jab towards “Takashi’s” face.

  No, the force behind the punch was a direct punch rather than a jab.

  If his fists have not been thoroughly trained, the force of the punch might readily damage his own hand, but Morisaki never wavered and sent a well-trained right palm strike inside the enemy’s guard.

  “Takashi” wavered and fell rear first onto the ground.

  He was utterly astounded at being taken to the floor in two blows by someone who was an entire head shorter than he was.

  Morisaki sent a mocking smile at the older man looking up at him with “disbelief” written all over his face.

  “Damn, that was slow. That sort of speed might get you through a street brawl, but you don’t have a chance against us combat Magicians.”

  The other young man probably could not grasp the meaning behind Morisaki’s declaration.

  The young man was unable to accept a reality where a Magician who relied entirely on a cheating ability like “magic” somehow possessed greater physical prowess than someone like him who had undergone rigorous training.

  In systematic magic, there were the Four Great Systems and Eight Major Types, one of which was Acceleration-Type Magic.

  This sort of magic was not just used to accelerate or decelerate an object, but could also be used on the caster.

  A Magician who cast personal acceleration magic would normally become accustomed to operating at the upper speed limits of what the senses can handle. This was a speed that could not be comprehended by people without magic.

  In truth, the speed that professional racers experienced on the race track was a velocity that they frequently encountered at school, on the practice field outside of school, during competitions, and in combat.

  Blows that professional fights would deem “fast” were practically slow motion in their consciousness.

  Morisaki picked up his backpack and grasped Lin’s hand.

  He had no inclination to continue dealing with the “endangered species” who refused to accept reality.

  Furthermore, even though they hadn’t wasted too much time, there was no denying that this was the longer route.

  Nonetheless – Lin quickly thrusted away Morisaki’s hand.

  Before Morisaki’s shocked gaze stood Lin as she seemed to stare in surprise at her own actions.

  The mind ground to a halt as their limbs seemed to be frozen in time.

  Seeing Morisaki freeze, the young men reached out their hands towards Lin instead of taking action against him.

  Grab ahold of her hand, pull her entire body over, and then press a knife against her face – that was probably their plan of action. Yet, this desperation ploy was rendered obsolete before they even reached the phase of pulling Lin over to them.

  Behavior patterns that had been deeply engrained into his subconscious overcame his brain’s rigidity and spurred Morisaki’s body into action on reflex.

  In a smooth motion like flowing water, Morisaki drew the CAD from his bosom.

  By the time the “muzzle” was aimed correctly, the standby phase for the CAD had already been disabled.

  The time Morisaki spent hesitating over using magic could be measured in milliseconds.

  The young men were all struck in the head and keeled over on the ground.

  Some of them fell on soft parts of the body and started to bleed, but Morisaki’s “reflex” never stopped.

  By the time Morisaki recovered his wits, the only people standing at the scene were her and himself.

  And one other person.

  The young man who had his seat glued to the ground was spared being knocked unconscious.

  Morisaki turned an emotionless eye, one that had not reawakened his feelings, on the young man.

  “Y…… You damnable monster! Don’t come over here! Don’t come over here!”

  The youth remained prone on the round and reached a hand into one of his pockets before plucking something out and throwing it.

  Seeing that the opened switch knife harmlessly flew off into an inconsequential direction, Morisaki once more reached out a hand to Lin.

  This time – Lin grasped his hand.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  And so, the two of them silently ran hand-in-hand all the way to the appointed place where the boat should be waiting.

  There were no further obstacles along the way. As befitting the waterside square in a park, many couples were about. Many spared a glance at the two people that had a carried a different air about them before turning their eyes away as it was none of their business.

  Lin stood on the small pier where the ferries docked and looked out towards the sea. The hands that connected the two of them naturally parted here.

  “……Shun.”

  After a lengthy silence, Lin softly called out to Morisaki.

  “What is it, Lin?”

  Lin kept her eyes on the sea and did not turn her head.

  “Do Magicians…… have a thirst for battle?”

  Lin did not look at Morisaki’s face and made sure that he could see her face as she asked this question.

  “Lin?”

  “Do Magicians…… have a thirst for battle? Do they like hurting others? Do they hunger for danger? Do they desire to display abilities that normal people do not possess?”

  Lin’s volume was slightly elevated, giving Morisaki the impression she was reprimanding him.
>
  “……Are you upset?”

  “I’m not upset! I’m furious!”

  In short, she’s upset, right? This thought ran across Morisaki’s mind, but he wasn’t calm enough to actually retort.

  When Lin turned to face him, her eyes were brimming with tears.

  “……It is not because Magicians thirst for battle. At the very least, I dislike hurting others.”

  Lin’s expression and the tears threatening to burst from her eyes put enormous pressure on Morisaki.

  “Then why did you aggravate him?”

  “Because that wasn’t someone you can talk down!”

  Yet, Morisaki had his own reasons. He did not believe he made the wrong decision. Perhaps there was an even better solution, but Morisaki believed that he had also handled the situation fairly well.

  “In that case, we can still flee! There was no need to defeat everyone, all we had to do was use magic to escape! We also had the option of calling for help. I don’t think that fighting was the only option we had.”

  “That……”

  Morisaki was unable to say anything because he knew Lin’s words made sense.

  But –

  “Maybe we could have ran away at the time. However, those guys might have called in more companions. Also, there is no way of knowing if the earlier crowd was going to show up either. There was no need to take on unnecessary risk, so if the opportunity presented itself to crush the enemy then it should be taken.”

  --Even so, he was not going to back down.

  “Why is fighting the only thing you think about! Why is it that everyone who isn’t with us is against us!?”

  “Magicians are not superheroes! It’s not like in the TV dramas, where there’s a logical solution for everything!”

  This principle, along with the fundamentals of the bodyguard business, was drilled into Morisaki by the uncle that was closest to him in age.

  Magicians are not superheroes.

  Magicians did not possess the power to do whatever they pleased.

  Thus, do not hesitate when pulling the trigger.

  Calmly differentiate between enemy and ally.

  The techniques of the Morisaki Family and Morisaki Shun the person, neither was strong enough that they were still able to safeguard their target of protection after an enemy had launched their attack.

  “—I am unable to show mercy to my enemies. I’m not incredible.”

  “Shun……”

  When Lin saw Morisaki gritting his teeth with a pained expression his face, the tumultuous emotion in her eyes faded.

  With a warm expression on her face, she reached out and took hold of Morisaki’s hand.

  “Lin……”

  Morisaki allowed Lin to grasp his hand, but didn’t match her gaze as he murmured to himself.

  “Do you also think…… that Magicians are monsters? Do you believe that Magicians are monsters that wield powers beyond human limits? That Magicians are able to grant any wish like Deus ex machina?”

  “Shun……”

  “Magicians…… are also human beings.”

  “Shun…… are you afraid of fighting?”

  “……I’m terrified. Regardless of whether its guns, blades, fists, magic…… I’m scared of them all.”

  “Then why do you fight? You are obviously a high school student, why do you take on a dangerous job like being a bodyguard?”

  “That’s because…… I possess a power that I was born to carry……”

  “Shun, I don’t think that you have to do dangerous things simply because you’re a Magician or because you possess magic. Since you’re terrified, then why don’t you just stop……? Magicians are human beings too, right?”

  Morisaki’s face was clearly faltering.

  Terror and hope were stirred together among the maze of confusion.

  With a protective smile, Lin continued to watch over Morisaki.

  Amid all the couples at this location, their actions were not particularly conspicuous.

  Still, based on what was about to ensue, the two of them were overly focused on the conversation.

  Lin was the one who noticed that something was awry.

  “Shun…… Isn’t this strange?”

  “Lin?”

  “I get the feeling that no one has been looking at us for a while……”

  If this phrase had originated from one of Morisaki’s peers, he would have explained it as being “overly self-aware”. Yet, these words coming from someone as beautiful as Lin carried an entirely different context.

  “Lin, you aren’t using that necklace, are you?”

  “Ah? Yeah…… That’s why it’s so strange. I’m plainly not using that, but I feel just like as if I’m using it……”

  “Lin, sorry.”

  “Ah!”

  Morisaki suddenly clasped Lin to his chest.

  At the same time, he swiftly surveyed their surroundings.

  Even after performing such an outrageous (in his eyes) motion, no one paid them the slightest heed.

  No one even glanced at them.

  Morisaki let go of Lin and began hunting for the hint of magic.

  Although there was no way to be sure, there was definitely a vague aura enveloping them.

  “What is it? What’s going on?”

  “Quiet!”

  Morisaki dropped his backpack and pulled out a thick bracelet from within before wearing it on his left wrist.

  Then, he removed an empty holster and hung that from the pocket around the right side of his waist.

  Completely abandoning the “low-key” approach, he was preparing for battle.

  As if on cue, men dressed in pitch black and wearing dark sunglasses materialized all around them and half surrounded Morisaki and Lin. This was practically straight out of the urban legends surrounding the MIB.

  Morisaki gritted his teeth.

  He should have known ahead of time that the enemy would use mental interference magic.

  (……The time for regret is later!)

  Morisaki told himself in encouragement.

  One of the men in black stepped in front of the two of them.

  The gaze hidden behind those dark shades was not directed at Lin, but at Morisaki instead.

  “……We are from the Intelligence Control Agency.”

  The man pulled out a black card holder with those words.

  He opened it to show Morisaki.

  There was indeed the mark of the Department of the Interior’s Intelligence Control Agency inside, as proven by the special print that changed color and shape depending on the light’s refraction. Morisaki was aware that the changing shape carried a hypnotic effect so he immediately averted his gaze after verifying its authenticity.

  The corners of the man’s mouth twitched upwards as he stored the document in his breast pocket.

  “We will take responsibility for protecting Miss Richardson. What happens beyond here is official business, so please leave immediately.”

  Morisaki was on the verge of nodding in reply when he realized Lin behind him had a white-knuckled grip on his vest.

  “Lin, are you going with them?”

  Lin furiously shook her head in response to Morisaki’s inquiry.

  Morisaki turned his eyes forward and gazed into the eyes of the man in black – or more like his sunglasses.

  “Permit me to refuse.”

  His conveyance left little room for misinterpretation.

  “I’ve already said this was official business……”

  “This is a mission of protection, isn't it? In that case, you have no right to override the decision of the person in question and enforce your own will on the matter. Or do you all have a warrant? Not that “Internal Affairs” has the right to make arrests, of course.”

  The man in black revealed a smile that said “you’ve forced my hand” and turned to look to his side.

  That was the signal.

  Gun muzzles appeared from the men’s sleeves.<
br />
  Throwing his left arm around Lin’s waist, Morisaki used his right hand to operate the bracelet and jumped for the water’s surface.

  Lin gave out a shriek.

  The sounds of compressed air being fired and short needles shredding through the air were covered by her cries.

  The darts from the tranquilizer rifles passed above the two figures who had leaped to one side.

  Morisaki activated Move-Type Magic while in mid-air.

  They stopped falling as they approached sea level and bounded to the next pier.

  At the same time that he moved Lin to a kneeling position, Morisaki also dropped his own stance and set his bracelet to standby mode.

  In the next instant, he had pulled out the handgun-shaped CAD from his breast.

  He had confirmed 8 enemies when they had been surrounded.

  Of which 2 were Magicians.

  The enemies’ identities were extinguished from his mind.

  The sole idea that occupied his thoughts was to protect the young woman behind him.

  The notion of “escape” never crossed his mind.

  His fear of battle had already faded.

  Nor was he afraid of being watched by terrifying eyes.

  He will strike down the enemy to protect others.

  That was the only option in his mind.

  First, Morisaki acted to disable the enemy Magicians and clicked the trigger twice.

  Following that, one deep groan could be heard.

  Confirming results. One down and the other warded it off.

  Morisaki saw the enemy Magician operating a CAD with his fingers.

  He also saw the muzzle of tranquilizer rifles pointed towards him.

  With the speed of a stage magician employing his tricks, Morisaki returned the handgun-shaped CAD to the holster around his waist and disabled the standby mode on the bracelet-shaped CAD he wore.

  He could feel that the enemy’s Acceleration-Type Magic was beginning to have an effect on him.

  However, Morisaki ignored that magic.

  He was calling the Activation Sequence for Area of Effect Move-Type Magic.

  Morisaki used “Stillness” Magic to catch the incoming needles fired by compressed air.

  Horizontal Acceleration-Type Magic rushed towards Morisaki’s body.

  His feet left the ground and fell towards the water.

  Lin stretched out her upper torso and called for Morisaki.