Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (49 page)

"Although we ran into some unforeseen accidents, our school's running score is roughly the same as our predictions.
Unfortunately, Third High's score is vastly greater than we anticipated, so the difference between us is a lot less than we had hoped."

At this point, both of the siblings nodded to show that they understood.

"That being said, we still possess enough of a lead.
Even if we aren't the overall winner for the Newcomers Division, we can still claim the overall victory so long as we claim First Place for the last 'Monolith Code' and the score differential isn't too large.
However, if we fall too far behind Third High, then it may come down to the 'Mirage Bat' event from the Official Division."

Everything that Suzune detailed were all assumptions, so was she telling them to perform well during the Newcomers Division?

If that's all it was, there should be no need to call them at this hour.
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Tatsuya was quite confused beneath his poker face.

"The point total from the Official Division is worth twice as much as the Newcomers Division, so our school's tactical advisors have arrived at the conclusion that we should make some sacrifices in the Newcomers Division and channel our firepower into the Official Division's 'Mirage Bat'."

Tatsuya's brow twitched.
He quickly read between the lines of "some sacrifices in the Newcomers Division", thus producing minute changes in his poker face.

"Yes, Tatsuya-kun, it is exactly as you surmised."

Mayumi adroitly read the fractional changes on Tatsuya's face and preemptively responded.

"Miyuki-san, we ask you to replace Mari in 'Mirage Bat' for the Official Division.
Tatsuya-kun will continue to serve as Miyuki-san's technician and compete on the ninth day."

Mayumi's words clashed with her earlier words, this was no discussion.

This was a declaration of what will be done.

"But there are other senpais that are only participating in one event, so why was I chosen as a replacement knowing that this would imperil the Newcomers Division?"

Miyuki's voice was steady, not overjoyed that she was suddenly promoted but staying cool and calm as she raised her next question.

Her reaction prompted an "Oh?"
expression from Mari, even Katsuto was caught slightly off guard.

"We believe this way we can maximize our gains."

Suzune's voice was even calmer as she replied.

"The biggest reason is that we did not prepare a backup for 'Mirage Bat'."

Mari, who was originally the attending player, also joined the ranks of the persuaders.

"Even for our school's representative players, asking them to suddenly compete in the air during the Official Division's 'Mirage Bat' is still a stretch.
Compared to this, we have a better chance sending a 1st Year student that has already trained for this.
On top of that—"

Mari paused here for emphasis.

She was a young lady that loved to indulge in histrionics.

"Tatsuya-kun, your sister will triumph even in the Official Division, correct?"

And struck the weak spot for massive damage.

Tatsuya felt that this argument was being a little crafty, but he had no reason to be humble.

"Of course."

"Onii-sama.
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Tatsuya's certain answer was given as if he was stating a fact, causing Mari to break into a grin, Katsuto to nod kindly, Mayumi to widen her eyes, Suzune to shift her brows slightly, and Miyuki to duck her head in embarrassment.

"Since everyone has esteemed us so highly, I will put forth my all as an engineer.
Miyuki, are you willing?"

"Y.
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Yes!"

Miyuki's beautiful back was straighter than ever as she replied to Tatsuya in an elevated voice.

This perfectly conveyed her willingness to charge into the breach.

Firstly, allow me to deeply thank all those who actually choose to pick this book up to read.

It has been 3 months since we last met, however I am sure that there are also those [who are meeting me for the first time today], however [these kinds] of words are overly used, therefore please forgive me for using them as well.

Now that 《Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei》 volume 3 has been released into the market, and in terms of arcs its the of the second arc, I must apologise for ending it at such a delicate stage, though its because I have tentatively set the beginning of volume 4 to be the moment when the first years (that's the protagonist group) really start to liven things up.

The next volume will be the second arc's , rest assured that there won't be an , however, conversely the thickness of the volume will be rather spectacular.

Although Dengeki Bunko (ASCII Media Works) are willing to accept any level of thicknesses, however it would not be good to do this everytime and that is why from the next next volume onwards I will conduct myself better—— I simply cannot make such a promise, as it may be too much for me to endure.

If you are someone who only reads the afterword after actually finishing the volume, you will know that this arc's main stage is the inter-school tournament.

Using invented magic to compete to decide a winner, to use magic skills to differentiate from each other.

Rather, other than just the representatives abilities, the technician team's skills also largely affects the chances of victory for the whole team.

For this, perhaps even more so than ball sports or track and field meets, it is more akin to the relationship found in racing, though unfortunately the wonderful atmosphere that is usually found in World Motorcycle Championship (MotoGP) or Formula One racing (F1) is not present here.

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It's really kind of pitiful that only now do I think of such things, however I guess I can only content with adding racing elements into the next Nine Schools Competition then.

For example, using sponsors or ○○ girls and et cetera, maybe the editor will use this as the type of reference materials to focus their research on (There is no such thing)

I will stop the jokes here.
Perhaps some of the readers may have already realised, the story line visualised this time is really similar to a certain popular world-class novel's fourth entry.

However, the difference lies in the fact that that popular world-class novel's fourth entry is about an individual's competition, whereas my story is about a team competition, in addition to that the forms of magic are completely different, therefore the competition's circumstances is in no way similar to each other.

Speaking of similarities, I cracked my brains over (how to properly create the settings of a fictional competition), and just like a certain popular world-class novel's.
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fourth entry, maybe I should say that the whole thing is similar to Quidditch.

There are not many changes——wrong, I should say that it has already become a modern day type of a Quidditch competition.

Weirdly, the Author-sama of a certain (story) seems to not have cracked her mind about how to create such a scene, however I certainly had a headache over this.
What I did manage to create is not nearly engaging and appealing enough, perhaps this is my limits as a writer.

Each of the competitions rules and regulations aren't that difficult (there shouldn't be any.
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), I hope that all of you will use a light and relaxed mood to [appreciate] the vigorous actions of the students from the Magic High Schools.

In the next volume "Nine Schools Competition (II)", the main protagonist will finally distinguish himself in the competition.
And not just in the arena, the protagonist will also have the opportunity to fully showcase his dark hero's abilities wantonly in the outside world.

This kind of (abnormal conduct) may lead to a bipolar disposition, however I hope that you will continue to accompany me onwards in my story.

Next, this time I would also like to extend my thanks to all those who were involved in the creation of this light novel.

M-sama, thank you giving me so many precise suggestions, especially [When on a trip, of course you need to go to an onsen].
Without this suggestion, the colored illustration as well as the normal novel illustration will not be able to depict such a wonderful scene.

Ishida-sama, Stone-sama, I am sorry that I made so many demands.
The two of you patiently handled all my complicated and difficult requests, and designed such beautiful and wonderful illustrations for me, and for that I really don't know how I should thank you guys.

Especially the female protaganist's softening smile (M-sama's name) which caused me to sprout forbidden feelings for my own creation's character.

Furthermore, I would also like to thank the person in charge of the illustrations' color schemes, Suenaga-sama, as well as all the other helpers.
It is all thanks to the assistance provided by everyone that an even better form of my light novel could be published.

And most importantly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the readers who have picked up this book.
It is all thanks to your support that the following volumes should also be able to be successfully published.

With that, I hope that I will be able to meet you all again in the next volume, "Nine Schools Competition (II)".

(Satou Tsutomu)