Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (10 page)

That being said, that was a matter of personal values, so if she said she was satisfied, he had no reason to rain on her parade.

"No, I actually have a few connections, so I can buy Silver Series at a discount thanks to my work as a beta tester."

The moment Tatsuya said this, Miyuki's shoulders visibly shook a little as she faced the other way towards the terminal, but no one noticed.

"Eh~!
Really?"

The word "envy" was stamped all over Azusa's face.

This time, even Tatsuya's expression revealed a little spasm.

".
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Next time I test the new model, would you like me to get you one as well?"

"Eh?

Really?

Like, really, really?

Thanks!"

There was no way for him to fit in a response.

After Tatsuya was finally able to nod in assent, Azusa grabbed his empty left hand with both of her own and shook it up and down.

".
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A-chan, relax a little bit."

Mayumi couldn't watch any longer, temporarily stopping her work on the pile of documents to speak to Azusa.

Azusa suddenly stopped.

Filled with trepidation, she looked at her hands.

Her hands were tightly wound around Tatsuya's hand.
Azusa felt this not only with her sense of touch, but confirmed it visually as well.

She slowly raised her head towards Tatsuya, then quickly dodged Tatsuya's expressionless gaze and looked back at her hands.

Azusa let go and jumped back as if her hands had grasped fire.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry.
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!"

"Flushed face" wasn't sufficient to describe Azusa's current state, since her face was red to the root of her ears.
She repeatedly bowed towards Tatsuya in apology.

Tatsuya was starting to get really worried that Azusa would keep bowing until she was dizzy, and glanced towards Mayumi for help.

".
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A-chan, you can stop now.
Tatsuya-kun is a little overwhelmed right now."

Mayumi was probably thinking along the same lines as Tatsuya, so she didn't add to the mayhem (not without cause) and focused on comforting Azusa.

Azusa took a deep breath as she was instructed and finally managed to settle down.

Mayumi let out a helpless sigh before turning back to her work.

Azusa turned an embarrassed smile towards Tatsuya and quickly turned solemn.

"Then, Shiba-kun wouldn't happen to know Taurus Silver in person?"

She asked in this manner.

—It went without saying that she was doing so to cover her embarrassment.

Unfortunately, this question was a very difficult one to answer for Tatsuya.

".
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No, I'm not entirely certain."

Electric clamors rang out from near the wall.

The workstation that Miyuki was using activated the alarm by accident.

Everyone hits a typo every once in a while, but it was extremely rare for Miyuki to erroneously activate the alarm.

Both Mayumi and Suzune wore an "Eh?"
expression while looking at Miyuki who was facing the wall, but Miyuki soldiered onward as if nothing had happened, so the two of them didn't ask any further and returned to their respective piles.

".
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Miyuki-chan actually made a mistake, how strange."

"Occasionally, yes."

In comparison, Tatsuya's response was overly level, but Azusa didn't notice as she returned to the original — the recent conversation.

"No matter how much he hides himself, the people in the same lab should know something, right?
Unless, he invented everything by himself?"

".
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No, I'm certain that would be impossible."

"I think so too.
Oh yeah, Shiba-kun, can't you use your 'connections' at the lab to get some more information?"

".
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No, the connections I spoke of aren't in that category.
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Also, FLT keeps most of their corporate secrets under wrap, so I think it's highly unlikely to get anything out of the lab technicians."

"Oh~ that's true.
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".
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I'm sure senpai already knows, but using Informational Manipulative Outersystematic-type magic to uncover secrets is a felony."

"Ah?
Nah.
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No way, why would I think.
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about that kind of thing.
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Tatsuya looked at Azusa with his eyes half closed, causing Azusa's already petite body to shrink even further.

".
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It's okay, as long as senpai is clear on that point, I just wanted to remind you."

"Don't.
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don't worry about it, of course I know about something like that, Ah, ha ha ha.
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."

Seeing that Azusa wasn't making a metaphor and actually breaking out into a cold sweat, Tatsuya took his foot off the gas.

"Speaking of which, why is Nakajou-senpai so interested in Taurus Silver's real identity?"

The CAD Azusa used wasn't FLT's brand either.
Even though she obviously wasn't a Silver Series user, why did she care so much about the identity of the developer?

For Tatsuya, this was a perfectly natural question.

"Ah?"

From Azusa's expression, she was completely dumbfounded that Tatsuya even asked this question.

"Of course I care, Tatsuya-kun, I mean, do you not?

This is Taurus Silver.

The first person in the world to develop the 'Loop Cast System', raising the speed of Activation Sequences for Specialized CADs by twenty percent, he also reduced the variability of wireless models from 3 percent to less than 1 percent.
Taurus Silver is just that amazing.

Also, rather than guarding his secrets for personal profit, he openly publicizes his findings for the betterment of the magical community as a whole, which makes Taurus Silver even more incredible.

He is called the genius engineer that advanced CAD software technology by ten years within one short year, so I think that no one who aims to be a Magic Artificer would be uninterested in him."

This overbearing pressure that was almost synonymous to scolding forced Tatsuya to shrink back.
He was completely caught off guard by how much the world had built up "Taurus Silver".

"Excuse my ignorance.
As a user, I'm not dissatisfied with the Silver series, I just wasn't aware that it had such glowing reviews.
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"Ah.
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That makes sense, Shiba-kun is a tester, so for you, Silver series isn't all that rare.
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Hence why you have a different outlook than I do."

Azusa didn't completely understand, but allowed herself to be convinced.

"Hey, hey, Shiba-kun, let me ask you, what do you think Taurus Silver is like?"

A purely inquisitive gaze.

Wanting to change the subject, Tatsuya replied back trying to stall for time.

"Well.
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I wonder how shocking would it be if he turned out to be a Japanese teenager like us."

Once again, electric clamors rang out from near the wall.

Miyuki continued to sit in a posture with her back completely straight as she toiled away.

—But she didn't allow anyone to see her current expression.

"Speaking of which, A-chan."

"Yes, President, what is it?"

In the end, Mayumi finally extended a helping hand towards Tatsuya, who was almost unable to handle Azusa.
This might be a little biased, but this was the first time Tatsuya felt like Mayumi was someone dependable.
At any rate, Mayumi's stance was that she wanted Azusa to hurry back to her work on the Student Council.

"Weren't you supposed to finish your homework before the end of lunch?"

However, even if this was lending a hand to Tatsuya, this was undoubtedly the knell of doom for Azusa.
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That description might be a hyperbole, but Azusa's expression was just so.
The very fact that she was engrossed in talking about Taurus Silver was likely a way for her to escape from reality.

"President~"

From the way Azusa tearfully implored Mayumi for help, she was likely doomed.

"Don't make such an embarrassing sound."

Mayumi smiled wryly and turned her gaze from the completed inventory invoice towards Azusa.

"I can help a little bit, so what's your assignment?"

Mari directed a "You're pampering her too much" gaze towards Mayumi, who promptly ignored it — more like pretended not to see it as she smiled towards Azusa.

"I'm sorry.
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It's a report on the 'Three Great Puzzles of Weight Systemic Magic'.
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At this, Suzune, Mari, and Tatsuya immediately turned their gazes on the glum Azusa.

".
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W-what?"

Like a deer in the headlights, Azusa shrank into a ball in terror.
Her tearful eyes and terrified movements gave the impression that everyone was bullying her, at which Tatsuya turned his eyes away, with Suzune mirroring his thoughts and actions.

Only Mari still stared at Azusa.

"Ho ho.
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Mari watched Azusa with deep interest, though she was more focused on the flat screen terminal in Azusa's hands.

"I was wondering what was puzzling the annual top 5 honor student Nakajou and it turned out to be this."

"Isn't this the topic they ask every year?"

After Mari spoke, Mayumi continued with an uncomprehending expression.

"A-chan, what's this year's prompt?"

Because the prompts were routine, there were already enough prompts that the school was incapable of creating new ideas.
This wasn't just homework, it was also one of the primary essay topics for magic university entrance exams.
A cursory search would reveal a bountiful harvest of model answers to this prompt.