Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (47 page)

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It doesn't really count as helping if I'm seriously injured myself."

Mari scowled as she was complaining, though her "pretense" at negativity drew a light laugh from Mayumi.

Mayumi averted her head and feigned ignorance.

"On the Men's Team, Hattori-kun advanced to the finals, but Murakami-kun just barely missed out.
Juumonji-kun and Kanon-san both advanced to the single elimination portion of 'Icicle Destruction' on their respective sides."

"So I'm the only one who couldn't fulfill her end of the bargain.
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"It's not your fault.
Mari, you made the right decision.
If you didn't halt your acceleration, you might have been able to narrowly avoid the collision and advance to the finals, but.
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The player from Seventh High would likely have suffered serious injury to the point that her life as a Magician might be over, that's how dangerous her situation was.
Tatsuya-kun also concurs."

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Hey, why are you bringing up this guy's name now?"

"Because he was the one who escorted you here and stayed on station while you were undergoing treatment."

"What?"

"Well, of course we didn't leave it all to Tatsuya-kun himself.
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Shocked?"

Mayumi sported a grin while Mari turned around with a miserable expression on her face.

It was precisely because she felt a tight knot unraveling inside her that Mayumi's grin irked her even more.

"Naturally, men wouldn't be present while ladies are changing, so he obediently waited in the corridor while treatment was ongoing.
But you better thank him later on.
He arrived practically at the same time as the emergency response teams and helped bring you to shore.
He also spotted your fractures in one glance and gave the orders for treatment."

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Who the devil is this guy?"

Mari's eyes were wide with amazement while Mayumi nodded deeply.

"How should I put this, he seems very adept at dealing with accidents and victims.
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Speaking of which, what's your status?"

"Why are you asking this now.
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I have a small headache, but that's a strictly physical injury, and my head is clear."

"Looks like there's no trauma.
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In that case, let me get this over with now."

"?"

Mayumi pinned the still befuddled Mari with a serious look.

"What's with the sudden serious attitude?"

"Mari.
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At that time, were you hindered by an outsider's magic?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just as Mari was about to catch the player from Seventh High, did you lose your balance because a third party maliciously used magic to disrupt the water's surface?
This is what I want to express."

Upon comprehending the intent behind Mayumi's words, Mari's eyes glinted with alertness.

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Just before the board started sinking, I did feel an odd vibration near my feet, but I have no idea if that was caused by magic and even less of an idea if it was malicious.
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Why would you think that?"

"When you lost your balance, the water movements were very unnatural, to the point that there is suspicion that this was caused through illogical means like phenomenon rewriting magic.
Yet, neither player from the other schools used this magic, so the only remaining possibility is that an outside third party cast this magic.
Tatsuya-kun also concurs.
I heard that he's requesting the recording from the committee in order to analyze the fluctuations on the water's surface.
At least we can find out if this was actually caused by unnatural, foreign forces."

"I would like to call into question why a high school freshman is capable of such an analysis, but let's table that for now.
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Since the other players and I were all using magic, why are we investigating if there were unnatural, foreign forces at work?
I for one think this is pointless.
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"Tatsuya-kun said that the players' magic effects could be taken into account as well to determine if outside forces were acting on the situation.
Isori-kun also said that he would go help him after the contests were over today, so I think between the two of them, we can find some meaningful answers.
Mari, if you can think of anything else, please let me know.
This doesn't just concern us — the overall standings for First High, this may impact the entire Nine Schools Competition and all the magic high schools combined."

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As Mari silently digested this from the bed, Mayumi said "I should go" and departed from the room.

Now alone, Mari directed a solemn gaze towards the ceiling.

Upon hearing the knocking sounds, Miyuki went to open the door and found a pair of 2nd Year students waiting outside.

"Please come in.
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Onii-sama, Isori-senpai, and Chiyoda-senpai are here."

Miyuki's words prompted Tatsuya to stop typing and rise from his chair.

"Sorry for calling you here."

"No problem, please don't worry about that.
After all, I was the one who volunteered and couldn't bring the still active terminal device over here."

Tatsuya nodded slightly in agreement whereas Isori casually waved a hand.

After thanking him again, Tatsuya turned towards Kanon.

"Chiyoda-senpai, congratulations on winning the gold."

"Thank you.
Since Mari-senpai got caught up in that incident, the rest of us have to work harder on her behalf!"

Hot-blooded would be the perfect way to describe Kanon with her fists clenched, causing Tatsuya to reevaluate her as dazzling.

"So, did we find anything?"

"I've gone through the recording once and arrived at the conclusion that this is definitely the work of an outside party.
Isori-senpai, would you mind verifying this one more time?"

"Got it.
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As expected of Shiba-kun, that was fast."

Isori accepted the invitation and sat down while using a hand gesture to express his admiration.

There was a modest monitor (standard size, 20 inches) on the table that was split into two screens, one displaying the actual recording itself while the other was strictly the outline of what happened.

Isori picked up the visual pointer shaped like a monocle with a brain wave supplementary add-on and smoothly unfurled the thin, long C-type metal frame around his head, adjusted the monocle over his right eye, and placed his finger on the buttons near the bottom center of the keyboard.

The brain wave supplementary add-on and the visual pointers were originally intended for users to input data without the need to remove their hands from the keyboard, but have since progressed to the point that direct input on the keyboard has become unnecessary.

However, Isori chose to use the original function, which was a pure supplement to keyboard input.

The actual recording and the model images both started moving under Isori's direction.

He quickly fast forwarded to the moment the incident occurred, then proceeded to play the sequence in slow motion.

Above the model images, lines of data described the changes in the water's surface.

Within the scene in question, which was when the water's surface dipped downward, an unknown quantity arose, signifying that the "power" released could not be explained by magic interference from the three players.

Isori paused the image and turned around.

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This is even more troublesome than we imagined."

"Kei, what happened?"

"Kanon, you know that in order to prevent outsiders illegally using magic to interfere with the competition, the Nine Schools Competition hired highly skilled counter magic Magicians and stationed them as committee members all over the various arenas, then placed cameras all over the place to observe the situation.
Since the network didn't catch this, I suspected that the culprit acted from a high altitude that exceeds the security network and fired a compressed block of air downwards to cause the dip in the water's surface.
But if that were the case, there's no way Watanabe-senpai could have missed it and I also realize this is an outrageous hypothesis.

Yet, based on Shiba-kun's analysis, the dip in the water's surface originated from within the water itself.
If someone utilized a Magic Sequence from outside the aqueduct, the security network would immediately pick up on it.
The only natural way for the water's surface to dip downwards would be a leak, so that possibility can also be ruled out.
The only possibility remaining is that someone was hiding in the water for this precise moment.
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But that's almost impossible.
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"Could Shiba-kun's analysis be incorrect?"

Kanon's blunt question caused Miyuki to stiffen.

"No."

However, before Miyuki could speak, Isori denied Kanon's assertion.

"Shiba-kun's analysis is flawless, at least it is not within my capability to discern any errors."

Isori and Kanon both lapsed into silence.

The silence lasted around two minutes before it was broken by more knocking.

Miyuki visually interrogated her brother and only moved to open the door after her brother nodded in agreement.

She quickly returned.

With two classmates in tow.

"Mizuki said that Onii-sama wanted them to come over.
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"Sorry for calling the two of you all the way over here."

Tatsuya verified his sister's question and turned to the two upperclassmen.

"Allow me to introduce you:
These two are my classmates Yoshida and Shibata.
I think you two know these two are Isori-senpai and Chiyoda-senpai from 2nd Year."

Mikihiko and Mizuki were both a little tense and, after a quick round of self introductions from Isori and Kanon, Tatsuya used a concise answer to respond to the five questioning looks sent his way.

"I asked the two of them to come and identify our culprit."

This sentence alone was a little too vague for anyone to understand.

Tatsuya knew from the get go, so he kept explaining without pausing.

"We are now examining the possibility that Watanabe-senpai's incident was caused by malicious interference from an outside party."

This was for Mikihiko and Mizuki's benefit.

Mikihiko knit his brows while Mizuki revealed an astounded expression.

"As Watanabe-senpai was losing her balance, an unnatural dip appeared on the water's surface, which disrupted the timing for her Inertial Neutralization Magic and forced her to collide with the railing.
The change on the water's surface was almost certainly caused by magic cast from within the water."

Mizuki still hadn't shaken off her astonishment.

Yet, upon hearing Tatsuya's words, Mikihiko's eyes took on a hard look.

"It is strictly impossible to cast magic on the water from outside the stadium without detection.
The possibility that this is caused by delayed magic is also low.
Because if that was the case, Kobayakawa-senpai would have detected this in the first race."