Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 04 - Nine Schools Competition (II) Page 7

  The first subject in the high school standardized exam was a simple technique involving ten processes. (Only someone of Honoka's caliber would be able to call "ten processes" as simple.)

  There was no real stress from the technique and Morisaki only seized the advantage because of his superior speed. If this was a more complex technique with additional processes, Honoka was adamant that she would have outperformed him.

  Yet Miyuki was an "exception".

  She possessed the overwhelming ability and strength that made jealousy itself ludicrous.

  Even if someone claimed she was from the Ten Master Clans, Honoka would undoubtedly hold that to be true.

  But that was only natural.

  —That was what Honoka thought when she first beheld Miyuki's magic in the entrance examination area.

  Honoka was completely unaware how close she was to the truth, proving beyond doubt how utterly Miyuki's magic astounded and overwhelmed her.

  This impression followed her for the next four months in school and, rather than being diluted, only intensified even more.

  Honoka felt that even the solitary Shizuku would not be able to calmly manipulate her magic normally if Miyuki stood before her.

  When she learned that Miyuki was being switched to Mirage Bat for the Official Division, and thus avoided meeting her on the field, Honoka let out a huge sigh of relief.

  As she thought back to the time of the entrance exam, Honoka was naturally reminded of the first time she saw "him".

  In reality, Honoka's first encounter with Tatsuya was not the incident that occurred shortly after the day of enrollment. It was not the time when Erika and company were arrayed against them, with Honoka casting magics against school rules that would have landed her in a world of trouble with the Public Morals Committee Chief had Tatsuya not intervened. Honoka had encountered Tatsuya long before this incident.

  Coincidentally on the day of the entrance examination, not just Miyuki, but Tatsuya was also in the same testing group as Honoka.

  This pair of siblings was not outwardly similar.

  Honoka didn't possess the excess mental finesse to remember everyone's names.

  The reason Tatsuya left a lasting impression on Honoka wasn't because he was Miyuki's older brother.

  His technical scores were only so-so.

  Regardless of speed, strength, scale, every subject was thoroughly mundane and unappealing, to the point that they could be labeled as below average.

  However, his magic was so beautiful it was breathtaking!

  Honoka was incapable of analyzing Magic Sequences like Tatsuya.

  Neither was she like Mizuki in her sensitivity towards psions and pushions.

  When compared to normal Magicians, Honoka, who specialized in light wave oscillation magic, was only acutely sensitive towards the magical side effects that created light wave background noise.

  An overabundance of interference or remnants of Magic Sequences would all form into surplus psion surges and oscillate in the empty air. When photons interact with these responses, the ensuing result is light wave noise.

  But this cacophony was wholly undetectable in his magic.

  In other words, there were no excess materials in his Magic Sequence. His Magic Power was expanded to its limit and entirely devoted towards phenomenon rewriting, making for a magic that was calculated down to the last detail.

  Honoka thought that it was a work of pure art.

  Hitherto, she had never seen such a beautiful piece of magic.

  Afterwards, even though she bore witness to Miyuki's dominating magic, she still couldn't forget that magic.

  That's why Honoka felt deeply betrayed when she saw the lack of the eight petal flower on Tatsuya's breast during the student orientation.

  This was the reason why Honoka nursed an overly antagonistic attitude towards Tatsuya's group that day.

  —Why are you on that side (Course 2)!?

  —Why aren't you on this one (Course 1)!?

  Honoka's eyes were blurred by this illogical fury.

  True, in terms of speed, strength and scale, every category clearly set him far from the standards (of a Course 1 student).

  Yet, the fact that "he" who could weave such wondrous magic had to be satisfied with being a mere "substitute (Weed)", Honoka felt that this was utterly unforgivable.

  "......Honoka, what's wrong?'

  Shocked, Honoka turned to her side to find Miyuki watching her in confusion.

  She must have noticed that Honoka had fallen into an odd state of silence in the middle of their conversation.

  "S-Sorry, it's nothing."

  Even she would suspect herself if something of that sort had happened. When she considered her actions as well as her misdirected "anger displacement" and the reason why she consciously noticed "him", Honoka blushed to the roots of her hair and drooped her head.

  ◇◇◇

  "It's finally Kitayama's match."

  "Looks like she's carrying a Generalized CAD."

  Two ladies from the Women's Team brass were hunched shoulder to shoulder in front of a screen at the pavilion. Suzune, who was overloaded with work from the unending stream of results, sighed as she beheld this sight.

  Yet, the two of them blatantly ignored this obvious sign of displeasure.

  "I wonder what trick he's got up his sleeve this time."

  "Hard to say. Maybe he's intentionally playing mind games with us and will launch a full frontal assault precisely because we're thinking that way."

  Mayumi and Mari were congregated in front of the widescreen monitor just like two young children sharing their favorite television show.

  Suzune had long since given up. Sighing once more, she accepted the inevitability of working alone.

  Neither Mayumi nor Mari batted an eyelid at Shizuku's choice of wardrobe.

  For three time Nine Schools Competition veterans like them, this didn't qualify as anything outlandish.

  In fact, they may be thinking "Huh, there are actually less of them this year!"

  Also owing to this reason, Shizuku was someone who came to watch the Nine Schools Competition every year, so she wasn't embarrassed by her dress either.

  "Ho, we're starting."

  The two of them edged closer to the screen.

  ◇◇◇

  The lights next to the flanks of the arena flashed red.

  The lights advanced to yellow, and the moment when the lights turned green—

  Shizuku's ring started dancing along the command console.

  Toward her own 12 icicles.

  She set all of them as targets and fired the Magic Sequence.

  Immediately afterward, her opponent's magic came rushing towards Shizuku's field.

  This was a popular tactic involving Move-Type Magic to blitzkrieg the opponent's field.

  Except Shizuku's icicles stood rock solid against her opponent's magic and didn't shift at all.

  ◇◇◇

  "Ho, Data Fortification."

  Every HQ was equipped with a widescreen monitor that could analyze the magic being used as well as the type of magic used and its strength. Much like a heat display, the various displays were expressed through various shades of color.

  Using this function, it was a simple matter to determine the offensive and defensive positions.

  Data Fortification.

  Eidos was a record of the current status of an information body. Through this information body, parts of the information or even the entire whole could be replicated and projected back into the target to protect the Eidos from being altered any further. This was known as Data Fortification within the Counter Magic field. The copied portions from Data Fortification possess the ability to prevent magic from affecting the target.

  Shizuku used Data Fortification to emphasize the target's location "right there". As the screen plainly displayed, her opponent's Move-Type Magic was nullified by Shizuku's magic.

  "Quite the direct confrontation."

&nbs
p; "Wasn't this precisely how Mari predicted?"

  Suzune, who overheard the conversation, couldn't help but think: "Not really, I hardly think that this strategy was created solely to play with your heads......" Of course, this thought couldn't be passed to the mesmerized observers.

  "Still, I think that for Magicians with high interference strength like Kitayama-san, rather than using Data Fortification, she should use wide area interference as a 'frontal assault'."

  "Based on yesterday's results, Kitayama also has high magic capacity that is hard to find. She shouldn't feel any stress from copying the Eidos. Also, for Interference-Type Magic, Data Fortification is more efficient compared to wide area interference."

  On the screen, her opponent once again tried to use Move-Type Magic to attack, but was nullified just as before.

  Simultaneously, just as the attacking magic faded away—

  Three of the icicles in the opponent's field shattered.

  "......What just happened right now? Mayumi, did you catch that?"

  Mari asked in confusion, but Mayumi turned around without any confidence in her expression.

  "I can only guess based on the data from the screen......"

  Obviously, observing the analysis was vastly different from feeling the magic from the front lines.

  "I think, that may have been the application of 'Resonance'."

  The monitor was unable to keep up with the effects of indirect magic on the target, so the only way to narrow down what magic was used was through the surrounding environment.

  "She shifted the irregular frequency from the Oscillation Magic into her opponent's field and locked the frequency just as it started to resonate with the icicles and raised the output at the same time, thus creating resonance. I think that's how it was."

  "So that's how she did it...... To avoid Counter Magic, she didn't directly attack the icicles using magic attacks, but used the ground as a medium. While they both used the ground as a medium, when compared to Kanon's 'Mine Genesis' that relied purely on physical power, this is a much higher level technique. Sometimes I really can't tell who the upperclassman is."

  "Precisely because finding the resonance point takes some time, she used Data Fortification to buy time. She looks very adept with manipulating the oscillation frequency."

  "Indeed."

  Mayumi and Mari were both thinking about the Non-Systematic Magic Tatsuya used to crush Hattori. It also utilized precisely manipulated psion surges to create overlapping oscillations.

  What was being displayed on the monitor wasn't just Shizuku's artistic ability, but the hand of Tatsuya working from behind the scenes. On that point, neither of them disagreed.

  ◇◇◇

  (As expected of Shizuku, she's doing admirably......)

  Tatsuya quietly nodded as he surveyed the players from the opposite side of the screen.

  Four icicles had already fallen in the opposing field.

  All 12 icicles were still standing in the allied field.

  The biological displays on the screen revealed only minor exhaustion, so there was no impact on the ability to maintain magic invocation.

  There was no trace of any symptoms that could exhaust a player like the ones Eimi displayed. And regardless of whether it was "Data Fortification" or "Resonance", her performance was just as expected. Nay, her performance surpassed what she could do in training.

  Half of Mayumi and Mari's hypothesis was spot on, but the other half was incorrect. Shizuku's mother was the one who specialized in "Resonance". Before teaming up with Tatsuya, Shizuku was already well versed in that technique (by a high school student's standards).

  By using magic that raised the oscillation frequency at irregular levels and directly projecting that on the target while synchronizing the frequencies, this destroyed the target using precise oscillation frequencies at the exact moment when resistance was the weakest. Originally, "Resonance" was this type of two-stage process. When applying oscillation-type magic onto the target object, a Magician can feel out the resonance point based on the Eidos' resistance to the interfering Magic Sequence; if using regular intervals, then an alternate method would have to be used to identify the target's resonance.

  This was not reliant on monitoring devices, but done while compiling Activation Sequences into Magic Sequences. That was the part that Tatsuya was responsible for.

  This technique was created by adding a new process into the "Resonance" magic that Shizuku was familiar with. Yet, Shizuku was able to wield this at will. Obviously, this level of skill was not obtained by just training in school, but honed through long hours of practice outside of class.

  As another icicle collapsed in the enemy's field, one of the allied icicles collapsed as well.

  However, this was only her opponent's "last gasp". Tatsuya could tell with a glance.

  The opposing player threw everything she had into that last attack. She most likely knew the writing on the wall, but desperately wanted to avoid being defeated without knocking down a single icicle.

  Tatsuya watched Shizuku's back with his own eyes and not through the monitor.

  The psions she was releasing were not ruffled in the slightest.

  No sense of wavering, no hint of pride. At the same time that she vigorously defended her own territory, she retaliated against her opponent's field.

  Probably because she wasn't fixated on her opponent for some bizarre reason. She was fighting in a manner that put anyone watching her at ease.

  Her opponent, who had expended all her energy, did not put up any futile resistance.

  The three icicles in the enemy's territory shattered apart like a sand castle standing against the incoming tide.

  ◇◇◇

  Miyuki's match was the last one in the first round.

  This was a long wait from early morning, but since lunch time was also figured into the time, this didn't feel that long for her.

  Speaking of Tatsuya, he was also up since morning and this was his third match, so he was hardly "waiting".

  Miyuki and Tatsuya were the only ones in the resting area for players.

  Honoka and Shizuku were nowhere in sight.

  They had mentioned during lunch that they would be cheering her on during the match. Now, they probably already met up with Erika's crew.

  In recompense, which was hardly the issue at hand, Isori and Kanon as well as Mayumi and Mari came to support her.

  (It's a huge cheerleading party......)

  Tatsuya wore a helpless look on his face as he murmured in the privacy of his mind. Of course, he actually said something else.

  "I'm glad that you all came to cheer on Miyuki, but...... Chief, shouldn't you be in bed?"

  "What, even you're treating me like an invalid? It's not like I have to hop around and dance, so there's no problem."

  Yet, it was still a serious injury. Tatsuya swallowed those words and directed the conversation towards Mayumi.

  "Oh...... Then shouldn't the President be at the pavilion? I thought the Men's Team is still in the middle of their event."

  "No problem. I left that to Hanzou-kun. I'm also stepping down two months from now, so it's not a good idea to rely on me for everything."

  This was a valid argument, but smacked of someone feigning silliness.

  Still, their presence wasn't going to negatively affect the match, so continuing this conversation would do more harm than good.

  "Miyuki, we have so many reliable senpais here to cheer you on, make sure you're not more anxious than usual."

  Pfft, someone was snickering in the back, but Tatsuya chose to ignore that.

  Apparently, he was doting on Miyuki too much. But for Tatsuya, his sister was always (logically) going to be his sister.

  "Please do not concern yourself. Because Onii-sama is by my side."

  Following that, Miyuki raised her head and gazed at her brother whom she had complete faith in. In her ears, all other sounds became inaudible.

  ◇◇◇


  Miyuki's appearance on the platform threw the crowd into pandemonium.

  "That, incredibly, that is......"

  "But suits her quite well. What do you think, Kanon?"

  "I say, that's simply gorgeous."

  Tatsuya tuned out Kanon and Isori's conversation like it was a BGM and focused on preparations to monitor Miyuki's status. In the blink of an eye, the preparations were complete. Tatsuya peered towards Miyuki and suddenly realized: "Right, that's what everyone is staring at."

  Miyuki was dressed in a fine white hakui paired with a crimson hakama. Her hair was held back by a white strap.

  True, the hairstyle was slightly different and if in place of a CAD she held bells or a sakai, she would be even more stunning. It was that kind of garb.

  Originally, she was already gorgeous and now paired with this wardrobe, she gave off an almost divine aura.

  No, perhaps she had already surpassed divine possession and was now approaching the realms of the gods themselves.

  "Ouch, her opponent seems to have been submerged."

  "Nothing they can do about that. Even I must admit that I can't hold a candle to that. ......Ah, unless that was the goal all along?"

  Mayumi and Mari's voices from behind him were plainly directed towards himself. Tatsuya turned around and replied.

  "By goal, you mean what? There's nothing particularly astounding about using that attire for magic ceremonies."

  Still, his answer was literally the answer to a literal question, but there was clearly a mismatch in what both sides wanted to communicate.

  "......Tatsuya-kun's family follows the Shinto system?"

  This time the question was even more off the mark. After Mayumi's unrelenting pursuit, Tatsuya didn't hesitate as he shook his head.

  "Hardly, it's simply because we're Japanese."

  "......Really, maybe, fine."

  Mayumi reluctantly nodded. Tatsuya left with a "Let's end the conversation here" and turned back towards the monitors.