Chapter 26

◊ ◊ ◊

It was the seventh day of the Nine Schools Competition and the fourth day of the Newcomers Division.

Today was the preliminaries of the Newcomers Division Monolith Code event, which was widely regarded as the most important event within the Nine Schools Competition. Yet, the audience's attention was completely concentrated on Mirage Bat.

Since this was an event that only young ladies participated in, their uniforms consisted of colorful spandex that was covered by flowing miniskirts and sleeveless vests or jackets. When compared to the fashion show (cosplay contest?) that Women's Icicle Destruction presented, this was another feast for the eyes of a different caliber.

Rather, the young women in these uniforms were dancing through the skies.

In terms of sheer beauty, this event was undoubtedly first among all magic competitions.

Thus, it was perfectly natural to receive massive attention (and scrutiny) from the male fans.

That being said — if this wasn't Tatsuya's mental reaction, he felt that he was also the subject of many a curious gaze.

This was no lustful gaze that he was fighting against, but the collective (prickly) hostile gazes filled with enmity.

"...You're certainly dimwitted when it comes to your own affairs."

The player that completed her preparations for the first match spoke to Tatsuya in a teasing manner.

"While I don't deny that I'm a little slow in some regards...

You have some idea, Satomi?"

"Of course!"

She was Satomi Subaru from First High 1st Year Class D, and, of course, a Course 1 student. Satomi was actually her surname, as the two of them were not close enough for Tatsuya to call her by her actual name.

"Everyone came to see Shiba-kun."

She was a young lady that was somewhat similar to Mari. To be precise, they were both more popular among their own gender than with those of the opposite gender.

However, at the end of the day, they were only "somewhat" similar. Also, if the two of them stood side by side, they would still give off different impressions to others.

Let's assume both were dressed in swallowtail suits.

Mari would give off a "beautiful lady dressed in men's clothes" vibe.

While Subaru would definitely categorize as a "beautiful young man from the troupers".

Regretfully, that was probably their defining difference.

It remained a mystery as to whether Subaru was conscious of this point, but it was true that her tone and mannerisms had a masculine tinge to them.

Even so, this was hardly a "rude" impression, but as her previous words implied, she was an extremely perceptive young lady.

"In both Speed Shooting and the subsequent Icicle Destruction, we seized all three of the top spots. I think anyone watching could see that highly efficient CAD software played an integral part in that. That's why everyone wants to know who the technician responsible is."

"...But, anyone can find out who the technician on duty is without much research."

"That's true. Shiba-kun, the other schools are now very wary of you."

If what Subaru said was true — and there was no reason to think otherwise — then things were rapidly progressing in the direction that Tatsuya wanted to see the least.

Generally, people are forced to act in conditions where they are not fully prepared. That's just "how life works".

Despite that, he was woefully unprepared for this situation.

According to the plan, "Shiba Tatsuya" was only supposed to be revealed post graduation.

"Then... It's my turn to take this by storm. Honestly, with this CAD in hand, there's no reason I can be defeated in the preliminaries."

As she paced continuously towards the entrance, Subaru raised her right arm with a "bracelet" that seemed to flash in the sunlight. Over one shoulder, she revealed a daring smile.

Tatsuya gave her a thumbs up and watched her depart.

As she said herself, Subaru was practically guaranteed to triumph in the preliminaries.

Using the CAD he calibrated.

While he didn't want to be in the public eye so much, he couldn't exactly just mail it in either.

As a Course 2 student — as a Weed in the system, nobody save for one person placed high expectations on him, but now he was out of options.

Now, he had Mayumi and Mari who nominated him for the Nine Schools Competition, Katsuto who supported this decision, Hattori who backed him despite his own personal feelings and Kirihara who was willing to be a guinea pig despite the danger. Then there were Honoka, Shizuku, and all the other female players who were depending on him as well as — and Miyuki, who unconditionally believed and supported him.

Once entwined, these social links could not be so easily "dissolved", even by him.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mirage Bat involved four people at a time in the preliminary round, with the six victors from each round advancing to the next round.

Even though this was the event in the Nine Schools Competition with the least amount of matches, this did not imply that this was an easier task for the players.

Taking into consideration that there were three rounds, each lasting 15 minutes at a time, this was the longest event in the Nine Schools Competition. Including the five minute breaks spaced between, the event could last approximately one hour. Compared to Icicle Destruction and Monolith Code that had no time restrictions, this was an especially long duration.

Also, during the match itself, the players had to use sustainable magic and continuously leap into the air. The stress placed on the players themselves easily rivaled that of a marathon.

And to top it all off, there were two matches in one day alone.

In terms of physical stamina, this was a more punishing event than Crowd Ball or Monolith Code.

With the players' exhaustion in mind, there was a large interval for resting between the preliminary and elimination rounds, which could be said to be a unique feature of this event.

The first match was set at 8 AM. With two arenas going at the same time, the preliminaries would be finished around noon.

The elimination round would start at 7 PM. This was the only night time event in the entire Nine Schools Competition.

Some may question why the Nine Schools Competition forced the preliminary and elimination rounds into one day rather than splitting them across two days. There was, of course, a method to the madness.

Mirage Bat was an event that involved swinging a bat towards the orb- shaped holograms (Strictly speaking, they were three dimensional orb images. Modern imaging techniques technically possessed fundamental differences with holograms). In other words, the player had to identify the illusion floating ten meters off the ground while still grounded, otherwise there was no way to complete the event. This event was not suited to be conducted under the burning sun. Hence an airship was deployed during the third match to avoid letting the sun interfere with the event.

Mirage Bat was designed to be conducted during night time.

In order to avoid letting the players' bodies cover the projecting lights, the 3D projector was set atop the cylindrical light towers that surrounded the arena. From this alone, one could fully understand this was intended to be a night event.

◊ ◊ ◊

After the end of the second match — as expected, both Honoka and Subaru advanced — Tatsuya was headed back to his room to take a quick nap.

The two players had already returned to their rooms and were sound asleep.

In this event, restoring lost stamina was absolutely critical.

As the technician, Tatsuya didn't need to rest physically, but this was a good opportunity to relax his nerves. He toyed with the idea of using the Sleeping Docks, but elected to yield that to the players first and returned to his room, pulled the curtains, and lay on the bed.

Right now, the third match of Mirage Bat was progressing. He was very fortunate to be assigned the first and second matches. Even though it was only one more hour, this hour had a huge impact on refreshing himself mentally and physically.

He also wished that Miyuki's Official Division preliminary was early as well, but that was out of his hands. Tatsuya abandoned that thought after taking into account how meaningless that consideration was.

His physical body wasn't tired, so he didn't have to force himself to sleep, but allowed his mind to wander.

As he lay on the bed with his eyes closed, Tatsuya thought back to the scene from yesterday morning.

Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkurou — while they were of the same age as he was, they were both prodigies that were renowned in the world of magic.

Ichijou Masaki — Three years ago, when the Great Asian Alliance invaded Okinawa, the New Soviet Union also took military action on Sado, where the young man of a mere 13 years volunteered for the front lines and, alongside the current head of the Ichijou Family, Ichijou Gouki, used "Rupture" to annihilate many enemy soldiers. He was a Magician who possessed live combat experience.

While the scale of the battle was quite small (to this day, the New Soviet Union denies their connection with the militants that invaded Sado), he was awarded the title "the Crimson Prince of the Ichijou Family" for his exploits. (Here, "Crimson" praised him for the fact that "he was bathed in blood and fought to the last" rather than being a derogatory "bloodthirsty" label.)

Kichijouji Shinkurou — A genius Magician that identified the "Cardinal Code", which had only existed in theory, at age 13. Based on his surname Kichijouji and the "Cardinal Code" he discovered, he was given the title "Cardinal George" and was held to be one of the rising stars behind theoretical Magic Sequences who were known throughout the field.

The fact that both of them registered at the same school in the same cohort was a coincidence that bordered on criminal.

For the two of them to team up during Monolith Code was already an invincible combination, at least for the Newcomers Division.

Morisaki and company deserved to be pitied. Tatsuya viewed things that were not connected to him more mercifully.

If only there was some way to close the gap.

("Rupture" is a magic that possesses A-Rank destructive power...

Maybe.)

The Ichijou Family's far-famed ability "Rupture" was a Dispersal- Systematic Magic that vaporized all fluids within the target's body.

Once the fluids from a biological target were vaporized, the body would tear apart.

For internal combustible machines, once the fuel evaporated, the car would immediately explode. This was also the case for battery liquid. Even if there were no flammable liquids on board, there was still engine oil, lubricants, coolant. There was practically no machine that didn't use some sort of fluid. Thus, as long as "Rupture" was activated, the Ichijous could destroy any machine at will.

This was the perfect magic for both anti-personnel and anti-armor combat. "Rupture" was designed solely for military use, so naturally it infringed upon the rules for Monolith Code.

(That being said, he is still the next head of house for one of the Ten Master Clans and possesses the proud title "Crimson Prince", so he wouldn't just rely on "Rupture" as his trump card... Speaking of which...)

He shifted his thoughts from two people who signed up for Monolith Code and declared war in front of him to the Monolith Code event itself.

He didn't have to devote all his energy into creating countermeasures for Third High yet.

Right now, First High's second match was about to start.

(They already took the first match and the second match is against the lowly Fourth High. Even they can't screw this up that bad...

)

Tatsuya's eyes remained closed as he surrendered to his drowsiness and drifted off to sleep.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya woke up shortly after noon and headed for the competition area, only to find the area covered by a rattled atmosphere.

Scratch that, it was a complete state of panic that enveloped the pavilions.

First High's pavilion was the center of it all. "Onii-sama!"

The moment he stepped into the pavilion, Miyuki ran over to him as if this was a predetermined event. Shizuku was right alongside her.

"Miyuki...

Shizuku too, weren't you two with Erika's group?"

According to the plan, before Honoka got up — she had to prepare for the finals around 5 PM — Miyuki and Shizuku should have been watching Monolith Code with Erika and the others.

Yet, the two of them were here, which implied that...

"What's going on? Did something happen during Monolith Code?"

Without waiting for an answer, Tatsuya immediately followed up with another question.

There was no reason to ask if something had occurred, the very mood testified that an incident occurred.

Tatsuya had an inkling that this was likely worse than he had feared. "Yes, there was an accident, but..."

"Miyuki, that was no accident!"

As Miyuki hesitated to speak, Shizuku forcefully overrode her words as she interrupted.

"That was intentionally overkill. It was blatantly against the rules."

Although she kept a tight rein on her tone, Shizuku's eyes betrayed her fury.

"Shizuku... This is not the best time to make wild accusations. We don't have proof that Fourth High intentionally did this."

"Indeed, Kitayama-san."

Behind them, Mayumi interjected into the conversation.

"It is hard to imagine that this was purely an accident... Even so, we cannot jump to the conclusion that this was premeditated. If we hurtle suspicions around blindly, some people who do not know any better may assume that's the truth."

This may be a little impolite, but that was certainly a worthy argument from the upperclassman leadership.

As he saw Shizuku reflect upon that gentle reprimand, Tatsuya also thought, "The President does have a few tricks up her sleeve".

...Unfortunately, Mayumi immediately squinted at him from the side.

"...Is there a problem?"

"...You were just thinking something impolite, weren't you?"

(H-how sharp...!)

Tatsuya faltered slightly at how adeptly she saw through him.

Still, when he stood there, his life experiences belied his actual physical appearance.

"No, I was just thinking, as expected of the Student Council President..."

He wore a mask of honesty and feigned that he was being unjustly suspected in order to carefully gauge her reaction.

"...Is that so?"

While her eyes remained suspicious, Mayumi reined herself in at least. Not only was she unable to find any chinks in Tatsuya's acting, she also felt this wasn't the right time to pursue this issue.

"Then, what's our injury situation?"

"So you realized from the conversation alone that Morisaki-kun and the others are injured..."

Mayumi sighed, her expression had "what a troublesome issue" written all over her face.

"...They are seriously injured. The event was held in an urban setting and they were crushed beneath the rubble from a ruined building that crumbled when the attacks from 'Battering Ram' struck."

"...If used against people in closed environments, the magic

"Battering Ram" rates as A-rank in destructive power. This is on a completely different level than the danger encountered during Battle Board and is a blatant violation of the rules."

The "Battering Ram" that the two were speaking of was also known as "Point Burst", which was a magic developed through PK research. This magic functions by rewriting the Eidos of the target object and applying a massive Weight-Type Magic on a single point. When used against buildings, the target requirement was usually a wall or the ceiling, or at least a "single surface" that was separated from any pillars and also required a colossal magic capacity as well as high interference strength.

If simply destroying a building was the goal, it was more efficient to use Move-Type Magic and sling a hammer around. In comparison, "Battering Ram" was a highly demanding magic that, besides BS Magicians, was not something that could be casually treated like a toy.

"Agreed... Even if they were wearing military-use protective equipment, that's not going to help against tons of rocks and dirt falling on top of you. Thanks to the protective helmets and the observers casting Light Weight Magic in time, disaster was averted...

The three of them have undergone magic healing, but even then this will take two weeks. They are confined to bed for the next three days."

Still, Mayumi avoided making a judgment on whether the accident was truly intentional and subtly altered the direction of the conversation.

"...It's more serious than I imagined."

Tatsuya could sympathize with Mayumi's stance on not voicing an opinion and thus avoiding the need to pursue the issue.

"Indeed. This may be a little rash, but once I saw the magic healers going, that was a horrible sight."

Just as she said, this was a somewhat harsh opinion regarding the injured members.

At any rate, the fact that Mayumi faltered so badly was also a clear indication that she was probably not on guard against Tatsuya.

"Wait, I'm still unclear on this point. Were all three in the same building?"

This may not have been a matter Tatsuya needed to worry about, but in Monolith Code, the typical strategy called for either one person on the attack and two on the defense or vice versa. Tatsuya had a hard time figuring out what situation would call for all three members of the team to be struck down by the same attack.

"They immediately suffered a surprise attack once the match was under way. It wasn't that they couldn't find anyone before the start signal, but it was that they didn't have a chance to. Setting aside 'Battering Ram' for now, there's no question that jumping the gun is a clear violation of the rules."

The one who answered was the fuming Shizuku.

"I see...

In that case, then the board will be busy too."

"Because they weren't able to prevent it...

Right?"

Seeing Tatsuya grin evilly, Miyuki tilted her head as she asked in confusion.

Miyuki was too sincere and honest to comprehend Tatsuya's twisted line of logic.

"This isn't anything too important. Rather, setting an easily destructible ruin as the starting location was one of the key causes of this accident — we'll call it an accident for now. The board may elect to scrap Monolith Code from the Newcomers Division altogether."

"...That's also true."

Miyuki nodded in profound agreement to Tatsuya's reasoning. At this time, Mayumi jumped back in.

"There are indeed calls for a halt to this. However, the ending result is that the preliminaries are still going on for all the schools besides us and Fourth High. The worst case scenario is that our school will be treated as withdrawn from the second round of the preliminaries."

Hearing Mayumi's words, it was Tatsuya's turn to turn his head.

"What do you mean worst case scenario? The players are unable to compete any longer, so aside from withdrawing, I don't see any other options..."

"On this point, Juumonji-kun is currently negotiating with the board."

"Really..."

After the commencement of the Nine Schools Competition, changing players was forbidden. In other words, since the other side violated the rules, they were going to request an exception?

Even so, the Monolith Code team members consisted of the 1st Year male students with the top three magic technical scores. Even if they found replacements, victory remained elusive. Rather than looking for replacements, a better option would be an unorthodox request to remove the scores from Monolith Code from the aggregate score. Behind these vague responses, Tatsuya made this consideration.

Naturally, Mayumi had no idea what dark plots were running through

Tatsuya's mind.

"—Tatsuya-kun, I wish to speak with you."

Mayumi's voice contained coquettish overtones. She must be thoroughly unnerved by this chain of accidents and was subconsciously looking for something or someone to rely on.

At practically the same time, his sister fixed a burning gaze on Tatsuya. He really wanted to dig a hole and hide as he thought "I didn't do it, don't glare at me, why aren't you glaring at Mayumi?". But there was no way he would be caught dead saying that.

"Can you come with me for a moment?"

Does this mean she was worried about other people overhearing their private conversation?

The burning gaze doubled in intensity, but Tatsuya feigned ignorance as he followed right behind Mayumi.

◊ ◊ ◊

Although they were inside the pavilion with a wall separating them from the outside, it was only made of cloth after all. From this perspective, this served as a poor sound barrier.

Yet, this was the realm of magic that reversed the laws of reality. Mayumi slowly built up a magical barrier that prevented their voices from traveling outside.

"Quite the perfect sound barrier."

"Really...? Hm hm, thank you."

Mayumi sat down with a slightly embarrassed expression while Tatsuya also pulled up a chair and sat.

"Then, let's cut to the chase..."

"Very well."

"..."

Even though Mayumi claimed time was of the essence, she refrained from speaking. Since the two of them alone would arouse all sorts of problems, Tatsuya finally opened up.

"You suspect that this accident is also related to the previous sabotage incident?"

"...Yes. On that topic, I would like to hear Tatsuya-kun's opinion.

Tatsuya-kun mentioned before that Mari's incident had a high probability of the CAD being tampered with, right?"

Mayumi finally worked up the courage to ask, to which Tatsuya nodded and replied: "Yes."

"If they were using the same tactic this time, that would fully explain Fourth High's actions... How do you think we should go about proving this?"

"Our only option is to catch them red handed, all other options are not viable."

"Can't we... Borrow Fourth High's CADs and look them over?"

"This would be fine if traces of the rewritten Activation Sequence remained

... But given the ominous silence from the already disqualified Seventh High, this seems unlikely."

"Really..."

Mayumi's gaze dropped down to her ten interlaced fingers on the table top.

Tatsuya watched her pose and considered that he caused her some disappointment here. Mayumi didn't raise her eyes and continued asking.

"...If this played out according to Tatsuya-kun's assumptions and our school is the subject of sabotage... What do you think the motive is?

Vengeance? Revenge for the incident in spring?"

So that's the real item that Mayumi was concerned about, Tatsuya thought.

Tatsuya possessed the intelligence in his hands to dispel this concern. He knew that this situation was not caused by remnants of "Blanche", the terrorist organization that they shattered, or any related organizations. If he revealed everything that he knew, he would be able to alleviate Mayumi's anxiety.

Yet, whether revealing everything was truly the best choice, he hesitated briefly over this decision.

"...This is unrelated to the incident in spring."

Finally, Tatsuya elected to play one card from his hand. "Eh? What makes you say that?"

Mayumi quickly raised her head and asked back, her voice betraying her hopes and prayers that he had some basis for saying so.

Tatsuya possessed the power to realize that hope. At the same time, he was denied the option of laying everything out on the table.

"The day before commencement... No, the date had already changed. At any rate, the night before the opening ceremony, several miscreants sought to infiltrate the dorms. There were a total of three, each equipped with firearms."

"...That's the first I've heard of this!"

"That's because a gag order has been issued. By pure coincidence, I was on station when this occurred and may have supplied some assistance... I also have some passing familiarity with their background. The ones who struck at this year's Nine Schools Competition appear to be a criminal organization out of Hong Kong."

The classified portions were filled in with a few white lies.

Mayumi didn't suspect his words at all.

"This time may have been coincidental...

But please refrain from such dangerous behavior in the future."

"If pressed for an answer, I feel that I'm always getting dragged into things."

Mayumi gazed suspiciously at Tatsuya shrugging his shoulders. But, as she quickly realized, this wasn't the time for that.

"OK... Haven't you been asked to keep this under wraps? Thank you for telling me."

"In return, please don't let this spread."

"I know. I promise."

Mayumi raised her right hand as if she were solemnly swearing a vow.

At this perfectly natural yet mischievous action, Tatsuya almost burst into laughter.

"...Even though I know I shouldn't say this but I still want to say, I feel a lot more relaxed."

"...Indeed, those words cannot be heard anywhere else."

"No worries. I only say that in front of Tatsuya."

Keh, how should he interpret that? Tatsuya agonized over that point.

Don't tell me that she was linking this back to the "trustworthy little brother" line from several days ago?

As usual, Mayumi's thought pattern remained a complete mystery to Tatsuya.

◊ ◊ ◊

"What's the situation?"

"Just as planned. First High will have to withdraw from Monolith Code."

Yokohama, China Street, the highest floor in some hotel. Five men were seated around a round table with tea sets in a large room chiefly decorated in red and gold.

On the wall, there were images of a dragon in flight sewn with gold thread.

"Monolith Code is the single most valuable event. Even though the Newcomers Division is only worth half the points from the Official Division, this is still a major blow."

The men nodded with smiles plastered on their faces. However, their pallor was terrible and every one of their smiles was forced.

◊ ◊ ◊

Afterwards, Mayumi requested: "In order to avoid panic from spreading throughout the 1st Year female students, I'm counting on your support." Tatsuya remained in the pavilion... Except he had no clue how to accomplish this.

He felt that it was the duty of the female upperclassmen to care for the mental status of their female underclassmen.

He deeply regretted his lackadaisical acceptance of this charge, so while he wore an expression that claimed "nothing had happened", he devoted himself thoroughly to CAD calibration for the upcoming events.

That was all he did, but for some reason, he became surrounded by the 1st Year female players.

This may simply be because Miyuki, who was one of the leaders of the 1st Year female players, stuck to him like glue. Initially, Tatsuya thought this was the case but unfortunately, he was not dull enough to believe this without question.

Their eyes were actually focused entirely on him.

These were not flirtatious looks. He was not narcissistic enough to misinterpret that, nor was he wilted enough to be able to not notice them.

At the same time, he was slightly bemused as to the exact meaning behind them — that was the only area where he was slow in.

Completely besieged by these silent gazes, this was an irritating condition to work under, but it's not like he could shoo them away either.

He refrained from engaging in conversation not because he was hindered by them. Lacking any other options, he elected to ignore them and adopt his usual procedure of silently continuing his work.

An eternally unchanging appearance. An eternally enduring object.

He had no idea what value this possessed.

For someone who had always labored under restrictive conditions and was well aware of the intermittent nature of the world like Tatsuya, few things were truly eternal.

Even so, the young ladies quieted down gradually as they watched him work as if nothing had happened. All of this Miyuki beheld with her own eyes as she nodded in place of her brother and revealed a satisfied smile.

The greatest beneficiary from his normalcy — or even feigned normalcy — and its ensuing effect, was actually Honoka.

Initially, after hearing the "incident" surrounding Morisaki and the others, her face had turned completely pale. Yet, after watching Tatsuya plug away and attend the tactical meeting as if nothing had occurred, she gradually settled down as well.

The change was so complete that now Tatsuya was the uneasy one.

"There are no strategic adjustments from the preliminary round. In the end, Mirage Bat is a test of stamina."

Still, even if he felt uneasy, there was nothing he could do at this point.

The match was about to begin. He was pressed for time at the moment, so he could only table his unease and focus his concentration on the battle ahead.

"Avoid getting into a battle of attrition. The only thing you need to do is calmly make any necessary adjustments."

Under Tatsuya's watching gaze, Subaru nodded in an exaggerated fashion.

"Honoka, don't expend energy on excess techniques. Just as we practiced, there are fakes created from illusion magic that serve to waste your stamina."

Forewarned, it was Honoka's turn to nod.

"The only thing the two of you should be thinking is how to release your specialties to the fullest. Don't worry, know that we already own First and Second place right here."

At Tatsuya's daring proclamation of victory, both of them nodded in delight.

◊ ◊ ◊

While it was the height of summer, the longest days had already passed.

By 7 PM, the sun had long since set and the blue sky had been replaced by the hanging stars.

The surface of the lake reflected the overhanging starlight, causing the entire scene to flash brilliantly.

Among the stars, six young ladies stood on several raised pillars.

The thin uniforms that traced their figures did not include any amazing accessories or designs, but over the shimmering waves, they gave off an almost fey like aura. —That's why there were a lot of male fans flooding the stands.

Mirage Bat used special bats to strike away at the projections that floated 10 meters above the ground, with the highest total determining the victor.

While they said strike, in reality there was no sense of impact nor did the orbs shatter into pieces.

The reason behind this was because the bats in the players' hands would interact with the CAD and release a signal at the same location as the projections. Once they overlapped, the orb projections would automatically terminate upon registering the impacting signal and add the score to the striking player's column.

Winning this event required two skills.

The ability to swiftly leap to the same height as the floating projections.

And the ability to even more hastily locate each and every orb's location.

Of the two, it was the second that could be easily and unexpectedly overlooked. Since nothing was faster than light, immediately taking off after verifying the projection location was usually the swiftest choice. But — there were a few exceptions.

There were a few milliseconds of delay before the projection materialized in the air. If someone could detect the oscillations of the light waves even an instant earlier, they would be able to move towards the location of the light waves before the orb had even formed.

Honoka was extremely adept at reading light waves – strictly speaking, the subtle changes in the Eidos of the light waves. This gave her a tremendous advantage during the elimination round.

The instant before the red orb materialized, Honoka had already activated her magic.

The other players could only watch helplessly as she seized the initiative.

The next orb materialized.

The color was blue. That color was lit for the longest time, so they were the easiest points to score.

Five players started their Activation Sequences. The first into the air was Subaru.

Everyone started their Activation Sequence at the same time, but the first two to finish them were the players from First High.

Compared to the players in the event, it was the technicians on the outer perimeter that were furious at this outcome.

Since the difference was so splendidly displayed before their eyes, they were forced to admit the cause was the differences in CAD performance.

Since every school had an upper ceiling in terms of machinery, there was no significant difference in hardware capability.

Thus, the only difference lay in software performance. In other words, the strength of the technician.

"Damn it! How can he fit such a complicated action into such a tiny Activation Sequence!"

Someone choked out in the back. They were probably using a Kirlian filter (a filter that could bring the psion density and activity into the visible spectrum) to take pictures of Honoka and Subaru activating and processing (from the start of the Activation Sequence to the beginning of the processing phase).

They leaped straight into the air — completely ignoring the effects of gravitational deceleration — towards the projections, stopped at the orbs, then immediately returned along the same axis after scoring the point and landed after expending all inertia.

Throughout this chain of movements, regardless of whether it was Honoka or Subaru, they never manipulated the CAD once. In other words, everything from the player leaping into the sky thanks to the Activation Sequence onward was completely written into the CAD.

The smaller the Activation Sequence, the faster the processing speed.

Likewise, the less Activation Sequences that needed to be processed, the less strain was placed on the player as well.

They were using the minimal Magic Power to accomplish phenomenon rewriting at the fastest possible speed.

"It's as if we're up against Taurus Silver himself out here!" No one knew who made that comment in the ensuing ruckus.

"A-chan, what's wrong...?"

Azusa turned around to find Mayumi studying her strangely. Studying the wide-eyed, petrified her.

"No...

It's nothing."

Seeing Azusa curl into a ball, Mayumi replied with an "Is that so?", and turned back to observing the contest.

Azusa's reaction was well within the normal boundaries of her behavior, so there probably wasn't anything to it.

However, what was different was that something other than her usual embarrassment currently captured her heart.

(...As if, we're up against "Taurus Silver"?)

Somewhere, someone made that complaint.

Mixed into the middle of all the shrieks of delight and dismay, for some reason these particular words wormed their way into Azusa's ears.

(That fully manual Activation Sequence adjustment... Connecting the main systems from the Generalized model to the subsystems of the

Specialized model is the current cutting edge research...

The ability to use Loop Cast on Generalized CADs...

"Inferno"...

"Phonon

Maser"...

"Niflheim"...

Every one of these are high class magics that have never had their Activation Sequences published...

)

For someone who was also aiming to become a Magic Artificer, Azusa started thinking back on each "tour de force" that shocked the crowd time and time again.

(As if? We're up against Taurus Silver?

No, that...

If it wasn't Taurus Silver himself, this is simply impossible...

)

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

Suddenly, his voice rang out through Azusa's memories.

"...

What's the matter? If you're not feeling well, go take a break!"

"No, really, it's nothing..."

Mayumi's anxious and concerned gaze was drawn towards Azusa who had suddenly leapt out of her seat. Yet, Azusa was beyond caring at this point.

The words that clearly rang out from her recollection. Maybe, that wasn't a guess at all...

(How is it possible? How is it possible how is it possible? How is it possible how is it possible how is it possible how is it possible?)

Those words occupied all of Azusa's consciousness.

Far away from those troubled thoughts, two of her underclassmen raced out to a dominating lead to greet the end of the first session.

◊ ◊ ◊

In the end, Mirage Bat for the Newcomers Division turned out just as Tatsuya predicted, with Honoka and Subaru in sole possession of First and Second Place. Immediately after the end of the match, Tatsuya was summoned to the conference room without any opportunity to partake in the fruits of victory.

Inside, the upperclassmen waiting for Tatsuya were wholly unlike his (female) peers who were delirious with joy, upperclassmen who were the utter masters of their emotions and hid them beneath solemn expressions.

Mayumi, Mari, Katsuto, Suzune, Hattori, Azusa. Everyone from high command in First High was present. In addition, Kirihara and Isori were also on the flanks.

Given that team members just suffered serious injuries, it was only natural that they could not appear delighted, but even so their expressions were a little stiff — as if dreading what was coming next. Especially Hattori, who apparently was at wit's end about what expression to adopt, so he chose to form a mask with his own face, with a thoroughly ill at ease expression.

This could not turn out well, so Tatsuya mentally fortified himself.

"Good work. Thanks to you, we obtained a far better result than any we could've hoped for."

Mayumi used a normal — more like official — choice of words.

Before she said this, Tatsuya's keen senses picked up how she and Katsuto exchanged a glance in a blink of an eye.

"That's all thanks to the players' diligence."

Tatsuya also replied back in a vague fashion. He hadn't felt this sort of tense atmosphere since he first enrolled here.

"Of course, credit is due to Mitsui-san and Satomi-san as well as all the other students who tirelessly trained to achieve this result.

However, everyone acknowledges that Tatsuya-kun's contribution is nothing short of outstanding.

We didn't suffer a single setback in any of the three events you were responsible for... In terms of points, the fact that we are guaranteed at least Second Place in the Newcomers Division is all thanks to Tatsuya-kun."

"...Thank you very much."

Tatsuya executed a short and prudent bow.

They kept their eyes from matching as they waited for the other person to speak. Yet, Mayumi didn't cut to the chase.

Tatsuya slowly raised his eyes to find Mayumi using her eyes to stop Katsuto.

There appeared to be something difficult to speak of that Katsuto wanted to clarify.

What was it that warranted such a level of indecision?

Finally noticing that Tatsuya was intently watching her, Mayumi seemed to cave and briefly shut her eyes.

"As I said earlier, even if we withdrew from Monolith Code, we are still guaranteed Second Place in the Newcomers Division. Right now, there's a 50 point difference between First High and Third High. If Third High takes Second Place or higher in Monolith Code, they would take First Place overall in the Newcomers Division. We would retain First Place if they only achieve Third Place or below."

This way, there wouldn't be a huge gap in the rankings for the Newcomers Division, which was Tatsuya's objective all along for the combined score.

So what were they so anxious about?

Also, why was he summoned in the first place? Tatsuya was also starting to fret now.

"Before the Newcomers Division, didn't we assume this would be enough..."

Mayumi could already detect his growing displeasure from his voice. In the midst of her suppressed expression, there were hints of a slightly harried look. What came out was an anxious, frantic voice.

"Since we've come so far,"

Even so, she wasn't settling down to re-examine the situation, but rushing for the finish line.

At this point, Tatsuya finally realized what they were going to ask of him.

"We wish to charge for First Place overall in the Newcomers Division."

At some point, Mayumi's tone had reverted to her normal level.

"Are you aware that Third High is dispatching Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkurou for Monolith Code?"

At Mayumi's question, Tatsuya replied with a succinct "Yes".

"Exactly... Setting aside Ichijou-kun for the moment, Tatsuya-kun may know more about the details surrounding Kichijouji-kun. With those two teaming up, the chances of them being upset in the elimination round is extremely remote. If we withdraw from Monolith Code, our chances of triumphing in the Newcomers Division vanish as well."

So, they wanted him—

"So Tatsuya-kun... May we rely on you to replace Morisaki-kun and the others in Monolith Code?"

—The "thing" that Mayumi wanted him to do coincided exactly with what Tatsuya surmised.

"...May I ask two questions?"

"Of course, what is it?"

He was already 90% certain, but this was a good opportunity to verify things, Tatsuya thought.

"There are still two matches in the preliminary round that have been extended until tomorrow, correct?"

"Yes, you're right. Owing to this, tomorrow's schedule will change as well."

"I thought that replacing players are forbidden even if the starters suffered injuries?"

"After carefully considering the situation, a special exception was made."

What an unsurprising answer.

Still, even if all these answers were anticipated, accepting them was an entirely different story. "...Why me?"

This was no question, but a subtle rejection in and of itself. It was just that he was facing upperclassmen, so he had to at least observe the forms and could not simply say "No".

Mayumi probably predicted that Tatsuya would answer this way and still hadn't come up with a method to persuade him, hence she kept beating around the bush. Currently, she wore a forced smile pasted on her miserable expression.

"I just thought that Tatsuya-kun was the strongest candidate..."

"Disregarding your grade in technical skills, in live combat ability alone you are undoubtedly the mightiest among the 1st Year male students."

Mari, who until this moment had left the negotiations to Mayumi, noticed that the situation was turning bleak from Mayumi's vague response, and threw her weight behind the "persuading" side.

"Monolith Code is not 'live combat' — it is a 'magic competition' where hand to hand combat is forbidden. I'm sure everyone is well aware of this without me pointing it out."

Despite this, Tatsuya still didn't capitulate.

"On magical fighting strength, I think you are also in the highest tier as well."

Mari glanced at Hattori, who knitted his brows with a thoroughly miserable expression.

This was a merciless, but effective angle of attack, so Tatsuya was forced to abandon his excuse of being "incapable". However, he still had another card up his sleeve.

"But I'm not a player. In terms of replacements, we should still have other players that have only competed in one event."

Now, even Mari was at a loss.

"Even if we ignored the pride from the Course 1 students, by grabbing a replacement 'player' from the ranks of the 'auxiliaries', you would damage the confidence of future participants as well."

This was probably the issue that was causing them the most headaches and also the one they didn't want to address.

The Newcomers Division did wonders for educating new students. Even if they triumphed this year, they could not guarantee that this would not negatively impact the Official Division in the ensuing years, which was essentially putting the cart in front of the horse.

If the replacement for one of the primary players turned out to be an auxiliary, and a Course 2 student to boot, this would have a shattering impact on not just the other players, but also the pride of the collective body of Course 1 students.

Mayumi and the others had no rejoinder for this.

He was the master of the field, Tatsuya judged. Now was the time for him to tactfully decline and bow out, and—

"Don't be naive, Shiba!" Katsuto's booming voice rang out.

For a time, Tatsuya was unable to respond.

He was temporarily unable to discern exactly why he was being scolded.

While it was true that his words were sophistry laden with logic, it was logic nonetheless.

If they deployed him, even if victory over Third High wasn't attainable, Second Place in Monolith Code was still possible.

The difference between gold and silver in Monolith Code was a paltry 40 points. If they captured Second Place, then they would likely carry the Newcomers Division.

But in that case, no matter how you sliced it, Tatsuya would become the key contributor that made the Newcomers Division victory possible.

This would be an absolutely unacceptable result to the Course 1 students still dwelling in their elitist world. Even if he was eliminated during the preliminary round, they would not suffer a Course 2 student like him to represent them in Monolith Code.

"You are already a member of the representative team."

However, Katsuto's words fell precisely on the weakest point of Tatsuya's defense.

"Regardless of whether you are a player or auxiliary, that is not important. You are one of the 20 representatives selected out of the 200 1st Year students."

Katsuto's alternate meaning.

In other words, Tatsuya's presence had already dealt a huge blow to the Course 1 students and brought about severe shock and panic.

"In light of this emergency, our leader Saegusa has selected you as the replacement.

As a member of the team, once you have accepted this responsibility, you also have the obligation to fulfill your duty as a member."

"But..."

Even so, he still had to respond. Otherwise, they...

"As a member, you should not go against your leader's decisions.

If the judgment was erroneous, then we who aid the leadership will bring it to a halt.

Members other than ourselves have no place to object.

Indeed...

Regardless of whether it's myself, the person in question, whoever!"

Tatsuya stared at him blankly and dropped what he was going to say. Tatsuya finally comprehended what Katsuto really wanted to express.

The message Katsuto was driving across was that regardless of who objected and regardless of what the outcome was, the brass would take full responsibility for the fallout.

"Do not cower, Shiba. Do not worry that you are a substitute. Since you have been selected, go out there and do your duty."

These words were not just restricted to the Nine Schools Competition. The Nine Schools Competition never had a replacement policy in the first place.

—Do not use your status as a Course 2 student as an escape route. —Do not look for excuses.

—Do not put yourself in a position of weakness and wallow in despair.

Do not worry that you are a substitute — that's what this meant. Do not concern yourself with your substitute (Weed, Course 2 student) status, these are what those words entailed.

All his egress routes had been denied.

Also — since they've already gotten to this point, he had no plans to back down.

"...Understood. I shall do my best."

Mayumi and Mari both relaxed. Katsuto solemnly nodded.

"Then, who are my teammates?"

In front of the upperclassmen, his tone was noticeably softer.

To be precise, he was intentionally using a firmer tone than usual up until now.

"That's up to you."

"Ah...?"

Tatsuya was not feigning ignorance. He was once again unable to comprehend what was being said.

"The last two members will be decided by you."

The same instructions were repeated in a different manner. Katsuto added a few words as if he had just thought of something.

"It would be best if you could decide now, but if you need some more time to consider, then come back an hour from now."

Hearing Katsuto's words, Tatsuya almost blurted out, "You're just the same."

This was the case in April when they sacked "Blanche's" base. He gave full authority to an underclassman as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

If he could avoid taking full responsibility, then this would only be a tactic to preserve himself. Yet for Katsuto, the only thing he had was responsibility here, so there's no reason he could treat this so cavalierly. Rather than calling this a byproduct of his leadership training, it may be more appropriate to say this was his nature...

Abandoning these useless thoughts, Tatsuya focused back on the topic at hand.

"No, if I just need to choose, I don't need any time..."

Tatsuya had already selected two replacements in his head from the roster.

"I just don't know if they will agree."

"Let us handle that."

...Again, refusing was not an option.

Today was the first time Tatsuya learned that the eldest son of the Juumonji Family had such a forceful personality.

"Is anyone alright? Even if I choose people from outside the team?"

Tatsuya's mood lightened considerably as if he was allowed to be as frivolous as possible.

"Eh? That's a little..."

"That's fine. This is already an unprecedented exception, so by now, no one will care if two more are added."

"Juumonji-kun..."

Mayumi helplessly glanced at Katsuto. On his part, Katsuto was wholly unperturbed by this.

"Then, I choose Yoshida Mikihiko from Class 1-E and Saijou Leonhart, also from Class 1-E."

"Hey, Shiba!?"

Hattori quickly tried to interject, but was held back by Suzune's raised hand.

"That's fine. Nakajou."

"Yes, present!"

Katsuto didn't bat an eyelid at Azusa's exaggerated response. "Please call Yoshida Mikihiko and Saijou Leonhart here. The two of them should be at this hotel, though not with the normal cheering squads."

At first glance, he was bold and unconstrained — while this was also true, he was also someone who paid attention to the minute details. That being said, it was true that unofficial members and students that weren't part of the cheering squads and were also residing in this hotel did count as oddities. For people doing their due diligence, this was something worthy of devoting some attention to, so it was hardly surprising that he knew. Even so, Tatsuya was still impressed with Katsuto's knowledge.

"...Tatsuya-kun. Can you tell us why you chose them?"

Since she abandoned the responsibility for persuading Tatsuya to Katsuto, Mari was in no position to object at this point.

Nevertheless, she was still unable to accept this answer, maybe even suspicious that something was afoot as she asked this.

"Of course. A big reason is that I have practically not trained or interacted with any of the male team members."

Tatsuya was only responsible for calibrating the Women's team, so it was true that he had never observed any of the men practicing.

"I am utterly unfamiliar with their proficiency and weaknesses. The competition is tomorrow. It is by far too late to start investigating, devising strategies, or doing calibration."

"...Do you know these two very well?"

"Yes. We're not just in the same class — we also understand each other very well."

"Hm... You have a point. Since we can rely on other technicians for calibration, if teammates don't understand each others' strengths and weaknesses, teamwork would become a serious issue."

As Mari considered this, she suddenly revealed a completely unexpected, mischievous expression.

"Then, that's not the biggest reason, so what is it?"

At Mari's curious question, Tatsuya didn't hesitate and immediately made a stand.

"Ability."

"Wha?"

This intrepid answer caused Mari, Mayumi, Katsuto, and Suzune to look upon Tatsuya with profound interest.

◊ ◊ ◊

"Hey, Tatsuya...

Is it true?"

Rather than being confused, Leo wore a forlorn expression as he repeated this question for the umpteenth time.

"Setting aside President Saegusa for the moment, do you think Group Leader Juumonji would spin such a complicated lie?"

Tatsuya was getting ready to give up answering this question. "Even if you said setting aside the President, I still don't understand...

Oh, so it's really true."

Until now, Leo was still skeptical as he heaved a deep sigh.

To his side, Mikihiko was highly distracted as his eyes drifted, evidently unsure where to look.

"Miki, settle down a bit."

"My name is Mikihiko."

After conversing with Erika as if prearranged, a disgruntled Mikihiko sat down on the bed.

They were in Tatsuya's double room. The entire brass went and persuaded the two of them to accept — more like coerced — and Tatsuya called them over to make plans for the future.

With Erika and Mizuki following along, this does seem a little "prearranged".

Miyuki, Honoka, Shizuku were tied up by Eimi, Subaru, and their teammates and were currently locked in a spiral of "madness".

"But...

Haven't Mikihiko and I made no preparations whatsoever?"

"Exactly...

Forget about the CAD, I don't think we even have uniforms?"

Mikihiko's face was a little pale. Owing to his sudden selection, he was a little timid and mystified at his completely unexpected elevation as a Course 2 student to starter for the Newcomers Division. Not that Mikihiko would ever be caught dead admitting that.

Leo's coloring was normal, but he had shaken off his usual joking expression. He didn't look particularly energetic.

Besides Mikihiko, Tatsuya was surprised to find that even Leo was a little daunted, but he didn't choose to alter the plan of attack. Don't even dream of throwing everything to me, Tatsuya thought.

"Relax. They didn't prepare a uniform for me either."

"Wait, that's hardly a comforting thought."

Tatsuya waved his hand at Leo's ready retort.

"It'll be OK. Even if there's nothing we can do about it, just relax."

"No, that's not what I meant."

This time it was Erika's turn to snark.

Those two certainly share the same interests, Tatsuya thought.

"Fine, you're right. Honestly, that's all I can say. Don't worry about it. We've already put Nakajou-senpai in charge of the protective gear and tunics. Appearances can be pretty deceiving and she's quite a competent person. I'm sure she'll have the perfect uniforms for us."

Nobody had any comment for that. Not that anyone was going to call into question whether her competence belied her appearance.

"I'll handle the CADs. I guarantee that I'll only need an hour per person."

Completely calibrating a CAD from scratch to the point that it was customized for a Magician usually required triple the amount of the time.

Yet, neither Leo nor Mikihiko seemed particularly astounded.

On one hand, they weren't wholly aware how impressive "one hour" actually was, and on the other hand, they had already seen so many "shockers" in the past four days that they already thought "Tatsuya's omnipotent".

"Is that OK? Isn't it already 9 PM? You still need time for your gear, right?"

Erika was the only one of the four who was aware how time- consuming CAD calibration was. Thus, she was the only one looking on with concerned eyes.

"That'll be fine. I only need 10 minutes."

Looks like their worries were groundless. Once more experiencing first-hand how ridiculous he was, Erika heavily sighed.

"Ten minutes, eh, ten...

Why do I even bother worrying about you."

"Unfortunately, in reality, we don't have that much time."

"Eh?"

Erika comically portrayed a carefree expression, but upon hearing Tatsuya's bleak words, she quickly became anxious again.

"Regardless of how you describe this, we are an impromptu lineup with no tactical planning.

We have no time to practice, so we must do our fine tuning in battle.

Charging into the fray with only a rough battle plan is like heading in there blind.

For me, this is simply the last resort."

Rather than saying that Tatsuya was discouraged, it was more like he was ranting.

Erika relaxed somewhat and nodded.

"...So that's how it is. Trickery is Tatsuya-kun's specialty."

"That's going a little too far."

Tatsuya could only droop his shoulders and smile at Erika's overblown description of his shortcomings.

"Well... It's pointless to complain any further about something that has already been decided. While Ichihara-senpai and Nakajou-senpai are scrounging up the necessary materials, let's go over our strategy."

"You were the one who said we couldn't come up with a plan."

Seeing Erika nitpicking Tatsuya's words, Mizuki barred her path with a vexed expression on her face. (She was just standing in front of her.)

"Erika-chan... At the very least, please don't hinder Tatsuya-kun."

"Ouch! Mizuki, I was just trying to liven up this totally deadbeat~ atmosphere..."

"Yes, yes, as this deadbeat~ atmosphere is fading away, please be quiet. He already said we're running out of time, Erika."

Recently, Mizuki had finally figured out the key to dealing with her friend, so she wasn't being pulled this way and that like she was in the past.

"Hm..."

Erika puffed her cheeks at being scolded, but mercifully remained silent. No matter what she said or what attitude she adopted, she stayed because she was sincerely worried about Tatsuya, Leo, and Mikihiko.

"Our first topic is the formation itself."

Tatsuya completely ignored the interruption and kept going.

"I'm on offense, Leo is on defense, while Mikihiko will use guerrilla tactics."

"OK. But what am I supposed to do on defense?"

"I want to know too. What do you mean by guerrilla?"

At this point, Leo and Mikihiko had either accepted their fate or were earnestly getting excited. The highest probability was that they were just trying to muddle through it. Regardless of the reason behind their completely different and proactive attitude, Tatsuya continued his fluid explanation.

"The defense's job is to protect allied territory from enemy assault. Everyone knows the victory conditions for Monolith Code, right?" At this question, Leo answered without much confidence.

"To render the opposing team unable to continue, or transfer the code hidden within the monolith into the terminal, right?"

"That is correct. In order to transfer the code hidden within the monolith, a special Nonsystematic Magic must be inputted into the monolith. The special Magic Sequence serves as a key and splits the monolith in two. Once the monolith has been split, the team is forbidden from using magic to reseal the break. However, using magic to prevent the monolith from splitting is valid. Also, there is a requirement stating that the special Magic Sequence must be used within 10 meters of the monolith and would immediately stop upon leaving that range."

"...In other words, the defense's job is to prevent the enemy from getting within 10 meters of the monolith, and even if the special (key) Magic Sequence has been inputted, their goal then becomes preventing the monolith from opening or disrupting the enemy from reading the code, these three points?"

"Full marks."

Tatsuya nodded in satisfaction at Leo's answer.

"Generally, Counter Magic can be used to prevent the 'key' from activating, but even without that ability, Fortifying Magic is sufficient to prevent the monolith from opening. Strictly speaking, even if the monolith has been split, but if the two halves are still stuck together, this status can be maintained indefinitely. This way, because the monolith wasn't reattached after separation, this is not a violation of the rules."

Leo revealed a powerless expression swiftly followed by a suspicious glance towards Tatsuya.

"I really don't want to say this, Tatsuya, but isn't this the standard definition of 'trickery'...

?"

Still, Tatsuya wasn't going to surrender to this level of sarcasm (even if it was only joking among friends).

"Leo and Erika say the exact same thing." The first one to waver and shout out was Leo. "Who do you take me for!"

"What are you talking about!"

Erika immediately set off a chain reaction.

"OK, OK, Erika-chan, relax a little. Leo-kun, please don't get too excited."

Thanks to Mizuki's intercession, the two of them avoided a head on conflict.

"...So I understand the 'key' portion. But how do we go about denying the enemy?"

Leo recovered his composure and asked a new question.

"Is kicking and punching off limits as well? I'm not exaggerating here, but long range magic is not my strong point."

"Then use this."

As he said this, Tatsuya pulled out that "sword".

"...Wait, I thought direct contact was forbidden?"

When Leo said this, Tatsuya handed him a thin little booklet. "A manual?"

Why are you handing me this? Just as he was about to ask, Leo noticed a dog leaf on one of the pages and abandoned his question to flip open that page.

"Rules for Monolith Code, eh

...?"

The printed rules for Monolith Code were all over the page, ranging from a simple explanation to newcomers without any preconceived notions to a more detailed play-by-play of an actual competition.

"It's enumerated here that attacks caused by objects under the effect of magic are not against the rules."

"So...

If an object is in flight due to magic...

Isn't that...

I got it."

The basic setup of this "sword" involved separating the blade in the middle, with half of the blade maintaining a set distance from the other half and flying through the air at will. From a magic systems perspective, it may be more appropriate to describe this as the blade extending through the air. From outward appearances, this was half of a broken sword flying to and fro through the sky. Since there was no physical connection between the two halves, this fulfilled the condition for "objects in flight due to magic".

"Tatsuya, did you create this thing because you knew about this ahead of time?"

At Leo's sincere query, Tatsuya could only chuckle wryly and shake his head.

"You overestimate me too much... This was made purely on a whim.

I'm not in the habit of creating malicious tricks day and night."

It seemed that neither Leo nor Erika was wholly satisfied with Tatsuya's explanation, but time was of the essence, so he chose to ignore it.

"This Weaponized Integrated CAD — 'Mini Communicator' has already been calibrated for Leo's personal use. I've already adjusted the variability of the distance and duration like we spoke of earlier, so don't mess up the controls."

"Eh? You mean we're doing a live test in combat!?"

"Everything tomorrow would be the same thing as live combat."

Tatsuya switched his tone and paused before adopting an enigmatic smile.

"Besides, I guarantee that this time it'll be far easier to use than last time."

"Fine, hopefully this won't be a problem."

Facing Tatsuya's evil smirk, Leo fearlessly took the "Mini Communicator" from him.

"Next is Mikihiko's role..."

"Yep, Tatsuya, what should I do?"

Mikihiko rose from the bed. Although he was initially indecisive, he was now very proactive, or maybe he was simply motivated now. Being roused to action was infinitely preferable to how he was before, but Tatsuya didn't touch on this and focused on his mission briefing.

"Guerrilla tactics will entail providing support to either the offense or the defense."

After delivering this simplistic answer, Tatsuya continued to ask. "You are capable of other long range magic like the earlier lightning- based magic, correct?"

"Well, yeah..."

Mikihiko vaguely replied.

Families that had inherited Ancient Magic had a strong tendency to hide their own magic abilities.

In modern magic, thanks to the categorization and systems approach to magic, with a notable exception for a few BS Magicians, confidentiality has become a mere formality. However, due to the ingrained values system, this could still be seen at the subconscious level.

Nonetheless, they were headed into battle tomorrow, so if they couldn't be honest with one another now, they would be in dire straits.

"The destructive power for lightning magic is C-Rank, right?"

"...That's a magic that was only meant to disable the target, so it only rates as C-Rank. Since it hasn't been publicized yet, there is no actual record in the rankings."

"Unpublished, huh...

Wouldn't that be a huge problem if we used that tomorrow?"

"No...

There should be no problem. The theory behind it is not secret, but the Activation process is. If I avoid talismans and only use a CAD, we should be OK. ...Tatsuya."

"What's up?"

"Tatsuya...

You said this before, right? My...

The Yoshida Family's technique is too verbose, so I cannot wield magic in the way I desire."

"That is correct."

Erika stared at them with widened eyes. Next to her, Tatsuya decisively — more like ruthlessly — nodded.

Mizuki covered her mouth with both hands. Even Leo was struck speechless.

The technique that the famous line of Ancient Magic users had laboriously developed over many generations had just been judged to be a "blemished product!" Without a certain degree of confidence, no one dared to make that assessment.

Otherwise, they were fools of the highest order that believed solely in the superiority of their own techniques.

Obviously, Tatsuya did not belong in the latter category.

"...Then Tatsuya, can you tell me a more efficient technique?"

"I won't tell you, I will configure one."

"...I'm sorry, the difference escapes me."

"The magic you used was likely a variant of 'Thunder Child'. What I can do is remove the unnecessary portions within the technique and reduce the number of computations while maintaining the phenomenon rewriting ability and alter the Activation Sequence to make that Magic Sequence possible, that's all. At the end of the day, this is still the magic that Mikihiko is comfortable with."

"...So you weren't joking when you said you can comprehend anything you see. It is a variant of 'Thunder Child'. In order to hide the weakness of the technique, additional layers were added on to disguise the original ability. However, this may tie into the unnecessary portions that Tatsuya spoke of."

"There was a time when longer casting times required certain defenses to avoid interference. Nevertheless, with the advent of CADs and the rise in casting speed for modern magic, individual counter spells have become obsolete since the magic that is being activated remains unknown. Thus, the real counter to modern magic doesn't lie in the type of magic, but counter magic that can eradicate its effectiveness in the first place."

Mikihiko made a small noise.

Amazingly, his smile was in no way self derogatory.

"Haha, so that's how it is... Ancient Magic was supposed to possess superior firepower, but now they cannot stand against modern magic."

"That's incorrect, Mikihiko."

"Eh?"

"Ancient Magic and modern magic are not separated by superiority or inferiority, but by their individual strengths and weaknesses.

In a head-to-head match-up, modern magic commands a devastating advantage in casting speed, but from the perspective of surprise attacks, Ancient Magic boasts superior firepower and secrecy.

Didn't Elder Kudou also say this? The key is how you use magic. The reason I recommended you was because I thought that your magic would serve as an incredible ambushing tool."

"Ambushing tool, eh...

That's the first time I've heard of that."

Mikihiko closed his eyes and ruefully murmured. Afterwards, as if dispelling all his doubts, he opened his eyes again.

"I understand. I will use this technique without the talismans, so I'll rely on the CAD instead. Tatsuya, we'll go with your suggestion. I believe in you."

"Thanks, Mikihiko. Since you said that, there's one other thing I wanted to ask of you."

"Sure. This can't be helped, right? Not that I planned to keep it a secret anyway. My father was the one who brought me here, so even if our secret got out, it's not like they have the right to complain."

"Don't worry on that account, my lips are sealed."

"Ah~ ...

Me too. I promise that I'll never let this spread."

"Likewise."

"I'm good for that too, as you know."

Besides Tatsuya, everyone present who had been silent until now affirmed their intent to keep his secret.

After viewing the last person (Erika) with considerable suspicion, logic finally trumped emotion as Mikihiko nodded towards Tatsuya.

"I'll keep this short. Can you use 'Visual Tuning'?"

Mikihiko replied after a short pause not because he was unwilling, but because he was totally shocked.

"...You know about that too? Did Kokonoe-sensei tell you that as well?"

"Maybe."

"...You certainly gave me a scare there, Tatsuya. Well, the answer is a definite yes. While I'm incapable of performing 'Five Sense Tuning', if it's only two at a time, I can still use 'Sense Tuning'."

"Visual is good enough, Mikihiko. In that case, our plan of attack is..."

Tatsuya didn't noticeably change his volume, but Mikihiko seemed to naturally crouch closer.

As promised, the calibration of Leo's CAD took less than an hour to finish.

After receiving his personal CAD and weaponized calculation device from Tatsuya, Leo opted to do some training to get used to the new model. Erika volunteered to be his sparring partner as they headed for the outdoor training facility.

The hour was late, but Erika said that with Leo around, nothing would happen to her or otherwise. So Tatsuya compromised.

Presently, Tatsuya was calibrating Mikihiko's CAD at lightning speed. Next to him, Azusa was staring at him in shock. As the user, Mikihiko was also present as he stared wide eyed at Tatsuya's unique calibration method and typing speed. Yet, the subject that astounded Azusa was not so superficial.

Right now, Tatsuya was assembling an Activation Sequence that took into account the traditional requirements for Ancient Magic and adapting them for use in modern magic. "Translating" the technique itself wasn't a particularly daunting task. Much like using a clumsy machine translation, awkward details and minor errors would be scattered all over the place.

Even Azusa was able to fix errors like those.

Yet the calibration being displayed before her eyes was nothing short of a complete rewriting of the Activation Sequence.

By fully comprehending the transformation process from Activation Sequence to Magic Sequence, he was rewriting the Activation Sequence without sacrificing any efficiency from the Magic Sequence.

The Activation Sequence is the blue print for the Magic Sequence. Rewriting the Activation Sequence implied that the Magic Sequence was also being rewritten. Not only did the magic have to be finely tuned to the individual Magician, the excess details in the Magic Sequence also had to be pruned to increase efficiency. That level of rewriting had long surpassed "revision" or "configuration" and had ascended to the realm of "innovation", which was the same thing as improving the very magic itself.

Before he began, Azusa honestly wondered whether this was even possible when she learned from Tatsuya what he was attempting to accomplish. Yet before Azusa's own eyes, he bypassed any experimental verification or live testing and proceeded directly to extracting the very essence of magic from the Activation Sequence and began cutting away at the unnecessary portions and redesigning the Activation Sequence. This was precisely what was unfolding on the editing machine.

Even Azusa, who had volunteered as Tatsuya's aide in place of the usual technician responsible for the Newcomers Division's Monolith Code event, felt powerless before this insane industry. Right now, the only thing she could do was examine the coding language for the freshly minted Activation Sequence as her gnawing doubts steadily solidified into conviction.

He — Shiba Tatsuya — had exceeded the standards of a high school Magic Artificer.

Scratch that, he had long since surpassed the boundaries of what it meant to be a Magic Artificer.

He must be—

Leaving Azusa milling in confusion behind him, Tatsuya used one full hour to completely rewrite Mikihiko's personal Activation Sequence.