Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 1 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – April 18th

Saturday, April 18th, 2099.

The assembly at the end of the school day in the classroom of class 1-B at the National Magic University-affiliated Third High School just ended.

“Juumonji, stay here for a minute.”

As the students were starting to head home, or maybe to the cafeteria for lunch, the homeroom teacher Maeda Keito stopped Juumonji Tatsuki from leaving.

Juumonji Tatsuki already earned a reputation as an honor student at Third High (Third High’s class system is not based on grades like First High’s). The other students were very interested when they heard Tatsuki being called to stay behind by their homeroom teacher.

But there were few exceptions among the students who fancied wasting their valuable time on a Saturday after school just to feed their curiosity. And those few exceptions immediately left the classroom when Keito ordered them “Everyone else, leave”. — Keito’s a woman, but she is rumored to be the most violent[24] among the teachers at Third High. It has been just under two weeks since their enrolment and the students of class 1-B have already seen or experienced this themselves.

Keito walked up to Tatsuki, who stayed in his seat as she had told him to. She sat sideways on the seat in front of him.

Keito is currently twenty-six years old. She has a well-trained body with no flabbiness and radiates a charm appropriate for her age. As is normal for magicians, she is also a beautiful woman.

But despite her sex appeal, Tatsuki has never shown a hint of sexual desire towards her. This was due the combination of his own serious temperament and the results Keito showed off during her guidance every day.

“Sensei, what is this about?”

He didn’t stand up to make sure his posture was proper, but he placed his hands on his knees and straightened his back before asking her.

“Juumonji.”

Keito on the other hand, continued sitting sideways, and left out all useless expressions like introductions and interjections.

“I’m appointing you to the Public Morals Committee.”

Not ‘You have to join the Public Morals Committee’, nor ‘Join the Public Morals Committee’, just a straight appointment without warning. She obviously had no intention of allowing a refusal from Tatsuki.

“Please tell me why.”

But Tatsuki wasn’t going to blindly follow his homeroom teacher’s orders.

“Why did you choose me for the Public Morals Committee?”

No, he just wasn’t going to leave this question unanswered.

“In this school, it’s tradition to appoint the top student at the admission exams to the Public Morals Committee. And that isn’t me.”

At First High, the tradition is that the newcomer with best results is invited into the Student Council.

But like Tatsuki said, at Third High the best newcomer is appointed to the Public Morals Committee. Officially, it’s an invitation, but in reality it is an appointment. It wasn’t uncommon to not bother keeping up the façade, just as she’s doing now. That was the tradition in this school.

“Your question is reasonable.”

Keito acknowledged what Tatsuki said. She seemed to have no choice but to admit it was true, but the truth is she also had the option of not listening to him. Considering that, Keito may be violent, but she’s no tyrant.

“The student who was admitted with the highest grades this year was Ichijou Akane. Not you. If we follow the tradition, Ichijou should be appointed to the Public Morals Committee. You are right about that too.”

Tatsuki silently nodded to show he was following.

“However, Ichijou has circumstances that prevent her from joining the Committee. For the past ten days we’ve tried to coordinate with all the involved parties, but it still couldn’t be done. That’s why the second place was selected.”

In other words, he was a substitute for Ichijou Akane.— That’s how Tatsuki understood it.

“Could you tell me about Ichijou-san’s situation?”

Tatsuki asked this because he thought that if he’s going to server as her substitute, he should at least hear the reason.

“No.”

The answer was, however, an irreversible rejection.

“Juumonji, I don’t think you’re misunderstanding me.”

Keito directed a suggestive look to Tatsuki.

Tatsuki was not foolish enough to purposefully give the wrong answer here.

“I accept my appointment to the Public Morals Committee.”

He was also not obtuse to the point of not understanding he had no choice.

“Should I go show myself at the Committee Headquarters now?”

“No need, you can do that Monday. You may go home for today.”

“Yes. Please excuse me.”

Tatsuki joined the Cross Field Club. This is the same competition as the club Katsuto was in when he was in First High. He bears some animosity towards him because of the matter with Alisa, but he is still unconsciously following in Katsuto’s footsteps.

Today is Saturday. If he doesn’t finish lunch before his club activities, he won’t have enough strength.

Tatsuki left ahead of Keito and went to the cafeteria.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the cafeteria, his classmate and neighbor, Ikura Samon, was still having his lunch. The time Tatsuki spent talking with Keito was not short and the cafeteria already had a few empty seats here and there.

Tatsuki knows Samon is not a slow eater. He is most likely on his second plate.

“Hey, Tatsuki.”

Samon called out to Tatsuki.

Tatsuki nodded after hearing the sign and placed the tray with his daily special in front of Samon. He was planning to sit here from the start, even if Samon hadn’t called him.

“What did sensei talk to you about?”

As expected, Samon appeared to be interested too, as he was the first to bring it up.

“I got appointed to the Public Morals Committee.”

Tatsuki saw no need to hide it, nor did he think of hiding it before. Every student will know about it Monday anyway.

“Hahaa. I knew it, Ichijou couldn’t join the Public Morals Committee.”

Everyone involved with Third High knows that Ichijou Akane was this year’s top newcomer. She was the one who read the newcomer’s representative speech at the entrance ceremony, and even if she didn’t participate in the ceremony, she was still a topic of conversation as the eldest daughter of the Ichijou Family of the Ten Master Clans. Newcomers, older students, faculty staff and other staff, there was nobody who wasn’t interested in her.

“Samon, do you know anything about it?”

The way Samon spoke implied that he did know. Keito didn’t tell him, so he asked Samon without hesitating, thinking he might understand why he had to replace her.

“Tatsuki, did you know there’s a student in the same year as us who is Ichijou Akane’s cousin?”

“Cousin? I didn’t think she had any cousins. The siblings of the Head of the family should only have sons.”

“She’s said to be a cousin, but she’s more of an in-law. Her name is Ichijou Reira.”

“The Ichijou Family adopted her...? So there’s something special about her situation, right?”

The Ichijou Family of the Ten Master Clans took someone in despite them not being related to the main family. It seems likely that there have to be special circumstances. For example, a daughter made outside the family. — Tatsuki’s thinking came from his own family’s situation.

“This is only a rumor.”

Samon lowered his voice.

Tatsuki stayed on his seat, leaning over the table to bring his ears closer.

“Ichijou Reira is probably the Great Asian Union’s Liú Lìlěi.”

Tatsuki barely stopped himself from shouting out.

“That’s just a rumor, right? We know what the real one looks like.”

The appearance of the Great Asian Union’s Nationally Recognized Strategic-Class Magician Liú Lìlěi was revealed two years ago in a Chinese propaganda broadcast that was also shown on Japanese TV.

“A military uniform and a school uniform give off different vibes, don’t they? Besides, two years have passed since that footage was made public. It’s not impossible that her face has changed.”

“...I see. Let’s assume that the Great Asian Union’s Liú Lìlěi is attending our school for now.”

No matter how much they discuss this, speculation won’t reveal the truth.

“So, what’s the connection between Ichijou Akane and Liú Lìlěi?”

Tatsuki decided to shelf that conclusion for now and continued the conversation.

“Surveillance?”

“That’s probably what it is. I heard the Ichijou were told by the National Defense Forces to keep an eye on Liú Lìlěi and deal with her if the need arises.”

If that is true, it can be understood why she couldn’t become a member of the Public Morals Committee.

But...

“Isn’t that story a little strange? I believe Ichijou Akane joined the Martial Magic Arts Club. If she’s busy with a surveillance mission on a Strategic-Class Magician, she shouldn’t have time for club activities.”

“I heard Ichijou Reira also joined the Magic Arts Club.”

“If they’re in the same club, then surveillance is not a problem...”

“That said, it’s just a rumor.”

Samon brought the discussion to an end this way. Truthfully, he didn’t seem to believe the ‘rumor’ much himself. That was the impression he gave off as he quickly vacuumed his rice bowl.

Unlike him though, Tatsuki found the story of Liú Lìlěi attending Third High and Ichijou Akane monitoring her highly likely. Above all else, if that is the reason he had to assume the duties of the Public Morals Committee, he saw it as an acceptable explanation.

Should he tell his brother Katsuto about this matter?

No, if this is the truth, his brother must know about it. In that case, what were Katsuto’s goals when he sent Tatsuki here, while knowing about this situation?

What does his brother want him to do?

How should he respond to his expectations?

Forgetting his animosity towards Katsuto which had led him to leave Tokyo, Tatsuki worried about what he should do.

◇ ◇ ◇

In First High’s cafeteria, Alisa and Marika were about to finish their late lunch.

This wasn’t because their classes dragged on. The cafeteria was very crowded at the end of classes for the day, so they left for a while and came back later.

“Alisa, are you going your club after this?”

The one who asked Alisa was Mei.

Alisa was sitting by Marika’s side. In front of Alisa was Mei, and in front of Marika was Koharu. The others were having lunch at this time for the same reason.

“No. Public Morals Committee.”

“Alisa-san, you joined the Public Morals Committee?”

Alisa responded with Mei’s question by shaking her head, to which Koharu expressed her mild surprise with her words and on her expression.

“I didn’t want to, but I joined too.”

Though what Koharu said was in the form of the question, it was not really a question, but Marika replied anyway. She said she ‘didn’t want to’, but Marika didn’t look like she hated it.

“Did you join yesterday? So today is your first day on the job?”

Mei asked, to which Alisa replied “Yes” and Marika “Yeah” at the same time.

“We had club activities yesterday.”

“Alisa, you joined the Crowd Ball Club, right? I think they had practice three days a week, on the Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.”

“Yeah, that’s right. You know it well, uh?”

“I just happened to see it during the course of my Student Council work.”

“Marika-san, don’t you have club activities today too?”

Marika was asked by Koharu, who was listening to the conversation between Alisa and Mei.

“Yeah, but apparently the Club President and the Committee Chief came to an agreement. The president told me to participate in the Public Morals Committee at least once a week.”

Koharu said “I don’t really understand why that is the case”. In fact, Marika had the same doubts too.

“I’ve heard that the Public Morals Committee Chief Urabe and the Magic Arts Club president Kitahata are actually very close.”

Mei offered a hint to unravel the mystery.

“Eh, is that so? That’s surprising... actually, not really.”

Marika cocked her head, but then nodded instead.

“Really? They seem very different though.”

Alisa tilted her head sideways, looking surprised.

“You say that, but you two are also pretty different, you know?”

Mei quickly followed Alisa’s statement with a retort.

“Are we?” “Are wee?”

This time, both Alisa and Marika tilted their heads. And with that, the suspicions about the relationship between Urabe and Kitahata were put to rest for the time being.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Mina, going back to what we were talking about.”

“What we were talking about?”

“You didn’t think it was weird that Urabe-senpai and Kitahata-senpai were close.”

The two finished their meal and were on the way to the Public Morals Committee Headquarters when Alisa recalled her suspicions from before.

“Ah, that? I don’t really have a reason. It was just a feeling I got.”

“That’s still fine, so just say it.”

“Really...? Well, do you remember when the President and I got taken in?”

“Of course I remember. It was on the 9th, right?”

“...I’m surprised you remembered the day that quickly.”

Marika opened her eyes more than usual, exposing her shock.

“What happened with the Club Activities Group?”

Alisa didn’t react to her amazement and urged her to continue.

“It’s not that anything happened. It’s just the behavior the Committee Chief had towards the Club President.”

“Her behavior?”

“By what she said, it felt like she was blaming the president, but her tone and the way she looked at her felt gentle. It felt like she was saying ‘there’s nothing we can do about this’.”

“Hmm... So that’s the kind of relationship they have.”

Marika’s explanation was, as she said, mere intuition, but it seems it was enough for Alisa to understand.

“But it’s good that it won’t affect your club activities, since it was approved by the Club President.”

“Though it felt more like an order from a superior than an approval.”

Perhaps Marika’s way of saying it was amusing, as Alisa let out a giggle.

And like she was being drawn into it, Marika started laughing as well.

“What’s up? You look like you’re having fun.”

Someone called out to them from behind.

The girls were not too surprised by this.

“Izayoi-senpai, you sure like to suddenly talk to people from behind, uh?”

Marika turned back, putting some light criticism in her voice. Neither of them felt disturbed because they were getting used to Souma’s surprise appearances.

“Ah, sorry, sorry.”

Souma apologized to them, showing no signs of remorse.

“So, what were you talking about?”

Like it really was just an insincere apology, he immediately followed up with that question.

“It’s girl talk, senpai.”

But Alisa easily repelled the curious Souma.

The Public Morals Committee Headquarters was right in front of them.

Souma reflexively stopped walking, Alisa and Marika leaving him behind as they promptly entered the Headquarters.

“...Good grief, she’s a tough one. Doesn’t look easy to become her friend, even when it’s for her own good.”

Watching Alisa’s back before she left his line of sight, Souma murmured something significant. That monologue came out of his mouth unintentionally.

He must have noticed it himself right after. Souma grimaced for an instant, as if saying ‘I was careless’.

And yet he immediately put on a gentle, sociable smile on his face, stopping just short of looking superficial, and opened the door to the Public Morals Committee Headquarters.