Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 3 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Exams Over, Onwards to the Next Battle

The first term’s final exams that began on the 29th of June concluded today, on the 3rd of July, a Friday. The students of First High didn’t raise their voices in cheer, they immersed in their feelings of freedom, looking listless and exhausted. This is not just because they were relaxing now the exams are over, the biggest cause seems to simply be that they are tired from the practice exams.

They may be tired, but they are still teenagers. It was not a reason to hesitate in cutting loose. They each moved to relieve their stress in their own way.

“Well, I’m going now.”

Marika’s body was starting to overflow with an uncontrollable eagerness. She raised her hand to Alisa, telling her that, and energetically broke into a run.

“Okay, see you later.”

Alisa replied to her back as she sent her off. Though it is unlikely Marika could hear, and Alisa herself didn’t think her voice had reached her. A reserved smile appeared on Alisa’s face, indicating ‘I guess it can’t be helped’.

“Alisa, did Marika go to her club?”

“Yeah. Enthusiastically.”

Even when called out suddenly from behind her — to be exact, diagonally right behind her, she didn’t get overly surprised. Alisa replied to Mei as she turned around.

“She really is energetic...”

Mei muttered, somewhat amazed.

“She must be tired, but... I think the happiness that she can go to club activities surpasses that. Besides, she has the competition with Third High the day after tomorrow, you see.”

“Understandable.”

Mei looked satisfied with the answer and nodded deeply. As a member of the Student Council, she also understood that the Martial Magic Arts Club is going to travel to Third High in two days, a Sunday, for a competition.

“Alisa, aren’t you going to your club?”

This time, Mei asked Alisa about her plans.

“The Crowd Ball Club is on break today. And I don’t think I have that kind of energy, either.”

Alisa showed her a shrug of the shoulders, though not in an exaggerated way.

“Ahahah. Well, that’s normal, isn’t it? Me too, maybe it’s not that bad if I’m just running or jumping, but I think I’ll refrain from using magic for now.”

“Mei, are you going to the Student Council?”

Alisa asked Mei, partly as backchanneling.

“Yeah, I am. Honestly, I want to move around at the club, but we have to get the preparations for the Nine Schools Competition going.”

After replying to Alisa’s question, Mei exclaimed “Ah, right!” and lightly brought her hands together. A flat ‘clap’ sound overlapped with Mei’s voice.

“Alisa. That matter, it’s been settled.”

“That matter...?”

Alisa, having no clue at all, slightly tilted her neck, confused.

“Come on, I’m talking about the possibility of making temporary Crowd Ball courts because of the Nine School Competition.”

“Ah, that... Eh, no way. You’re really going to make them!?”

Alisa stared in wonder, one hand over her mouth.

“We are. The temporary court that was used until four years ago we left in the warehouse, so we decided to use it. We’re going to check if it has any abnormalities today, and if it is fine, it looks like it’ll be set up by Sunday.”

“I see...”

By her murmuring tone and expression, she can Alisa doesn’t feel it’s real. It wasn’t such an outlandish story for the school in general, but for Alisa, who had the image that ‘Crowd Ball is minor’ beaten into her in the past three months, it was something hard to believe so suddenly.

“I got a mail just a bit ago saying that we’re going to meet in the warehouse, instead of the Student Council room.”

“Well then, I’m going.”, Mei said after turning her back, and Alisa stopped her with “Ah, wait”.

“Can I go with you?”

“I don’t really mind, but...”

Due to Alisa’s request, Mei looked at her a bit confused.

“The checking itself will be done by the manufacturer, so we’re just going to look at it?”

“I was lost on what to do while waiting for Mina’s club activities to end.”

“In that case, sure.”

Following after Mei, Alisa left the classroom of class 1-A behind.

Even looking at the grounds of First High from the sky, you wouldn’t find a building that looks like a warehouse. Apart from a small storehouse the size of a shed, Alisa didn’t know where a warehouse large enough to store a temporary court was until today either.

“So there was a warehouse in a place like this...”

The large warehouse is under the road between two rows of cherry trees that went from the school gate to the main school building. The track and field and baseball grounds are adjacent to a slope on this street. The entrance to the warehouse is in a part of this slope.

“I thought this tunnel was for work vehicles to pass through.”

This warehouse is not hidden from the eyes of the students, but it is not used frequently so, especially among first year students, it is not very known.

“So Alisa came as well?”

In front of the warehouse was Yuuto, along with several service people sent by the manufacturer. Beyond that was a female administration employee talking with a man that looks like the leader of the service members.

Apparently, the school dispatched the administration employee, and assisting her are the Student Council representatives, Vice President Yuuto and Secretary Mei.

“Yes. Umm, is that bad?”

“Well... No, there’s no problem. I can just see it as you coming to watch as a representative of the Crowd Ball Club.”

Suddenly being imposed the role of club representative, Alisa internally screamed ‘Heeh!?’, but on her face was just an ambiguous smile. Though not a thing only done by women, there are many times that smiles are used with a purpose similar to a poker face in daily life.

The door opened and the administrative employee and service staff went into the warehouse, followed by Yuuto, Mei and finally Alisa in sequence.

Contrary to the expected, the interior wasn’t dusty. Was it ventilated beforehand or is the air conditioning always running? Both seemed likely.

The inside was properly organized so they didn’t need to look for where the temporary equipment they were searching for was. The court parts, the floor, walls and ceiling, were fitted vertically in a giant movable shelf. The smaller devices, like the shooters that launch the service balls, were also stored in the same shelf.

The parts were taken out as they were, in a vertical position, and the manufacturers examined them for bad wires and other things.

The inspection took about 20 minutes in total. Alisa was just watching, but she wasn’t bored. It’s not entirely the same because it’s for temporary use, but Alisa observed, deeply interested, wondering if the courts they usually use have the same structure.

In the slang of many decades in the past, she is probably a ‘STEM girl’, a ‘girl interested in science’. Before she was taken in by the Juumonji Family she was aiming to be a veterinarian, but it appears she wasn’t only able to adapt herself to biology and medicine, but also engineering.

Yuuto was called by the manufacturer and school employees.

“Looks like it’s over, huh.”

Standing next to Alisa, Mei talked to her.

Yuuto returned to where the two are and announced, “There doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.”

“We’ll set it up after classes tomorrow afternoon and you’ll be able to use it starting Sunday.”

Then he added that.

“Alisa.”

“Yes.”

Yuuto called Alisa’s name with a timing that can be described as ‘sudden’, but Alisa wasn’t surprised, as she assumed the atmosphere was such that she could be called for some reason.

“Until the players for the Nine Schools Competition are decided, we expect there won’t be any problem with the Crowd Ball Club being given priority to use the temporary court. Can you convey that to your Club President?”

“...Does that mean the day of the week doesn’t matter?”

“Of course. Otherwise, wouldn’t the benefits diminish?”

The external courts the Crowd Ball Club uses are rented and reserved on a monthly basis. The activity days for next month should already have been paid. Even if said they can use it freely, if it was only in their traditional club activity days of Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, there certainly wouldn’t be much to be thankful for.

Conversely, if they can practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays as well, Alisa and Hatsune, who are scheduled to participate in the Nine School Competition, would appreciate it considerably.

(In that case, it looks like things are going to get intense...)

Alisa thought that for a short time, then as she bowed, she told Yuuto “I’ll tell her”.

◇ ◇ ◇

Alisa’s club activities are on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Marika’s club activities, with all members, are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On other days it’s independent training, but almost everyone assembles every Sunday too.

That is to say, the days they both have free schedules after school are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. They are assigned to Public Morals Committee duty in one of these days.

There are nine members in the Public Morals Committee, counting Alisa and Marika as one person, and excepting special times, the patrols are also done by one person in rotation. If the duty rotated between nine people on six days, those who patrol on Saturday would have their next duty on Wednesday which would overlap with that day’s club activities, but the actual procedure is different.

The duties of the Public Morals Committee are adjusted to match the circumstances of each member. This does not necessarily follow the order of a rotation, and it’s arranged so the schedules are decided every two weeks.

4th of July, the Saturday immediately following the end-of-term exams. Alisa is patrolling for the Public Morals Committee alone.

Alisa is doing the job she always does with Marika alone because tomorrow is the day of the Martial Magic Arts competition.

Today is the day the Kenjutsu and Kendo Clubs use the small gymnasium together, but the Magic Arts Club hurriedly exchanged their turn on Monday with them to carry out final adjustments for the competition with Third High.

Knowing the situation, Public Moral Committee Chief Urabe Aki suggested the shifts to be moved, including Alisa’s. However, because it’s Alisa’s and Marika’s first end-of-term exams, they were also exempt from the duties for a week before the exams. Feeling sorry for that, Alisa accepted doing the patrols alone.

Aki gave her the OK, with a sense of ‘Give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be fine’, but Marika was pretty concerned.

Marika had even asked her “Should I take the day off from club activities?”, but that was too painful for Alisa to bear. Instead, like she pushed Marika’s back away, Alisa was on her first solo patrol experience.

(Uugh, I knew it, I’m hopeless...)

It is not the first time she has walked alone in the school. There are normally other students around as well. There aren’t many places with nobody around, but even in those places, the sounds of the tumult made by boys and girls of the same age could be heard from somewhere.

What was slowly eating away at Alisa may be close to the feeling of unease of a haunted house.

From the past three months of experience, she knows that even if she cracks down on those who violate the rules of the school, she knows there will be no real danger. She has never gone through anything dangerous while working as a member of the Public Morals Committee. It’s not that no student ever showed a defiant attitude, but they didn’t want it to turn into a big incident from the start. If she deals with it firmly, they’ll lay down their arms immediately.

Even so, she was reluctant to be in situations where she had to keep people under control as a member of the Public Morals Committee. Even if she knows they’re fake, she doesn’t want to see ghosts or youkai, so Alisa doesn’t like haunted houses. But if she refuses, she will cause offense, so she will unwillingly go if she is invited. This is the same.

For Alisa, it isn’t just a matter of not wanting to be in dangerous situations.

Of course, she doesn’t want violence turned towards her nor being threatened by those with a hostile attitude.

But before all that, she has a big mental resistance towards the acts of ‘regulating’ and ‘warning’ themselves. Fundamentally, Alisa doesn’t want to meddle in other people’s business.

From the viewpoint of a Public Morals Committee member, if she finds a student breaking the rules regarding the restricted use of magic, she can’t leave it be. That’s why she doesn’t want to be confronted with such a scene. The thought of it made her tremble.

Luckily, all the classrooms in the practice building, where she is currently patrolling, were empty. Maybe it’s because the exams just ended? If that was the case, there would be some students using them for club activities, but in reality it is as mentioned before.

Alisa, who was looking around in order starting with the top floor, peered into the last room at the end of the first floor.

There was someone there.

They must have noticed the sound of the door opening. A student, who was using the pistol-shaped specialized CAD provided in the practice room for free shooting training, stopped and turned around.

“Juumonji-san. On patrol for the Public Morals Committee?”

“Yeah. Karatachibana-kun, are you practicing in your spare time?”

The practice room with enough equipment for four people was being used by a single person, Mamoru.

“And the exams just finished too. You really work hard.”

Alisa praised him, and Mamoru smiled, embarrassed.

“My weak point is practical skills, after all. I don’t think I was born with a disadvantage, but that’s why I have to work hard.”

That he was not being strangely modest or giving up is a virtue, Alisa felt.

What Mamoru called a disadvantage is probably that he can’t get guidance from his family and relatives. He is a ‘first generation’. A magician who appeared unexpectedly in a bloodline where no magic factor could be seen.

Magic education can be given once you become a high school student. That is the system in modern Japan. The official start line, admission into a magic high school, is the same, which means there is no handicap for ‘first generations’. However, many magicians are given the basics of magic by their family and relatives before they are admitted into high school. That is the reality of the situation. Strictly speaking, this is a violation of the law, but in practice it is tolerated.

Mamoru’s words are not an escape from reality, they are to encourage himself not to make excuses for being a ‘first generation’. At least, that is what Alisa felt.

“But what are you practicing? It doesn’t look like you’re reviewing the first term or preparing for the second term either.”

The practical skills assignments for the first term of the first year are in Weight/Acceleration and Movement/Oscillation, and combinations among them. For the second term, the assignments are in Convergence/Dispersion, Release/Absorption, and combinations.

The current curriculum at First High is such that once the fundamental system is properly done in the first and second terms, they put it to practical use in the third term. Before starting to put it in practice, they learn the definition of magic parameters and termination conditions associated with the fundamental system, but just from looking at the settings of the practice equipment that Mamoru is using in his training, it didn’t seem like any of that was applicable.

“Yeah, it’s not an assignment. I’m practicing my aim.”

“Aim? Are you bad at it?”

After Alisa’s question, Mamoru averted his eyes.

“I’m not. I’d say the opposite... If I have something I can call a selling point, maybe I will become more confident with practical skills...”

“I see. I don’t think that’s wrong.”

Alisa immediately replied, her tone seeming to say it was obvious.

Feeling a conviction he doesn’t have himself, Mamoru became bashful and a smile appeared on his face.

“Hearing you say that is encouraging.”

“I wasn’t just trying to reassure you, okay? I really believe that having a special skill raises your self-confidence.”

“I get it, don’t worry.”

Alisa got a little too serious and Mamoru said that to calm her down.

“What kind of practice is it? Can you show me?”

Alisa pulled herself together and suddenly made that request.

“Sure. It’s a little embarrassing though.”

As he said that, Mamoru resumed his training with Alisa watching.

A baseball-sized light ball appeared deep inside the oblong practice booth. It is using the same aerial projection technique as Mirage Bat.

Mamoru aimed his CAD at the light ball and pulled the trigger-shaped switch with his finger.

On the light ball, a flash of a mid-air electrical discharge appeared.

The light ball disappeared.

The electrical discharge was weak. It wasn’t its energy that caused the aerial projection to disappear.

To begin with, the projection device is in a different spot, so even if the projection is temporarily disturbed, it will go back to how it originally was once the electrical discharge dissipates. It was set to observe the three-dimensional coordinates of the electrical discharge and make the projection of the light ball disappear if it overlaps with the position of the projection.

With the exception of the aiming, the mid-air electrical discharge magic is completely automated. Its difficulty is at a level where if you have enough magic power to be admitted into First High, you can activated it as many times as you want. The goal of this practice program is to train aiming speed and accuracy.

“...Karatachibana-kun. Maybe I’m meddling too much, but...”

Alisa, who was watching him carry out his free practice from behind, hesitantly spoke to him in a gap between light ball projections.

“What is it?”

Mamoru turned back with an expression that didn’t seem disturbed in the slightest.

Alisa didn’t pointlessly hold back anymore.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you raised the difficulty a little?”

“Huh, you think so?”

Mamoru showed his surprise at Alisa’s comment.

“I didn’t intend to make it easy, though...”

“Maybe you didn’t intend to make it easy consciously, but... At your current level, it looks like you have potential for much more.”

Mamoru pondered.

“Specifically, what do you think I should do?”

Mamoru felt that there had to be some basis for her assertions so far that he didn’t quite understand.

“I think you should increase the number of targets projected at the same time.”

“...But I can’t multicast yet?”

It is assumed that the program to project several light balls at the same time is to be used for practicing multicast — several activations of magic simultaneously.

“If you use that CAD’s electrical discharge technique, it won’t be a problem to continuously activate it, right?”

As mentioned before, the goal of this practice program is to improve aiming speed and accuracy, and because of that the magic to use is simple to activate. Firing it in succession won’t put excessive burden on the Magic Calculation Area.

“You mean shooting down the light balls reflected at the same time, one by one?”

“You can do that, right?”

He could feel the conviction in Alisa’s question. With that tone and expression, Mamoru wondered ‘Is it possible that she knows?’.

While it might be true, he wasn’t disturbed. He doesn’t especially hide that ability, nor does he think it should be hidden. He just didn’t mention it because it’s not a skill that is directly related to magic. If she noticed an ability he didn’t even consciously use in that short time, perhaps it’s just that she has an exceedingly good perception. ‘Impressive as always’, thought Mamoru, who could only be impressed.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Mamoru replied to Alisa and operated the controls of the training equipment.

Once her finished setting it up, he put himself in shooting position.

At the same time as the training start signal, two light balls were projected.

The mid-air electrical discharges that appeared in sequence (seemingly) made them disappear.

Next, there were suddenly four balls.

But those two, in the same short time as when there were two balls, they were shot and disappeared.

Mamoru successfully completed the program.

“Just as I thought!”

Alisa clasped her hands together and said so with a lively voice.

At the end of the program, the machine’s evaluation was ‘B’. It was the second highest rank out of five.

“What was just as you thought?”

Mamoru asked, genuinely curious.

“Karatachibana-kun, you can see multiple targets at the same time, am I right?”

Alisa answered in a decisive tone.

Mamoru thought ‘Figures, huh?’.

“How did you know?”

As Alisa pointed out, Mamoru could see several light balls projected as separate images at the same time. In his mind, the visual processing was as if the target light balls were being projected one in each of multiple monitors.

“I haven’t even told my parents about it.”

The ability he manifested is classified as extrasensory perception, rather than magic. It is a superpower allows him to see multiple targets from several angles across obstacles.

“Maybe it’s a different kind, but I have a similar superpower.”

Alisa also has a remote vision superpower. She first noticed it in the winter of her first year of middle school, when Marika picked a fight with Katsuto. Her ability isn’t one that allows her to see from multiple sides simultaneously, but it is the same in the point that she can see without using her physical eyes. That’s why when she saw Mamoru practicing, she understood he was using a visual superpower.

“You too, Juumonji-san? Is that so...”

“Hey, Karatachibana-kun, in what way can you see?” 

“My ability doesn’t work unless I do it consciously. Normally I only use my own eyes to see.”

Mamoru said, pointing at his eyes.

“Me too. And when you’re consciously using it?”

As a precaution, Mamoru said “I don’t use it for peeping or cheating or anything like that”, but Alisa wasn’t thinking about that from the start. As such, the two were not really on the same wavelength in the conversation.

Realizing he was tilting at windmills, Mamoru decided to stop reading way too much into things. Answering Alisa’s request, he explained the field of view that his superpower brings about.

“...Isn’t that ‘Multi-Scope’?”

Alisa said, with an excited voice.

“Multi-Scope? So that’s what it’s called.”

Mamoru didn’t know the name of his own superpower. He didn’t wish to actively use it, so he was never interested in actively researching it.

“Yeah. There are rumors that the Student Council President from four years ago, Saegusa Mayumi-senpai, has Multi-Scope. The fact you have it as well, isn’t it amazing?”

“I wonder...”

By Mamoru’s tone, he didn’t really understand it. He too knows Mayumi’s name. She is a famous former Student Council President of First High, and the eldest daughter of one of the Ten Master Clans who represent Japanese magic society, the Saegusa Family.

But Mamoru didn’t know any more details. He grew up in an environment unconnected with magic, so he is completely unaware of things like what way the Saegusa Family is remarkable, or what kind of magician Mayumi is, or what kind of magic she is good at. Obviously, he doesn’t know in what way Mayumi may have made use of Multi-Scope.

So even though he was told it’s ‘amazing’, he didn’t really feel it was true.

“Karatachibana-kun, you might do well if you participate in Speed Shooting, you know. You might be able to go for the win in the newcomers competition.“

Mamoru didn’t even understand how Multi-Scope and Speed Shooting were related.

He couldn’t keep up with Alisa’s enthusiasm at all.

Alisa used her unplanned time talking with Mamoru and then resumed her patrol.

That time wasn’t a complete waste. After splitting from Mamoru, she was rather lost in the hopelessness of being by herself.

After finishing her patrol of the practice building, Alisa made her way to the sports grounds. Perhaps the rainy season is already over, as the sky has been clear for three days straight. There were no traces of rain on the sports grounds that were built to drain well.

It seems today is practice day for the Track and Field Club. Long distance runners were silently running on the track. On the inside, there were members practicing their starting dash repeatedly, others were checking each other’s forms in throwing events, and others were worrying over high jump and long jump records.

The female student who is raising her leg over and over in front of the high jump bar while talking to other members looks to be receiving advice for clearing the bar.

Looking at her properly, it was Mei.

She should have gone to work at the Student Council, so why?, Alisa thought while tilting her head, as in front of her eyes Mei took her position for the run-up.

Her first two steps were slow, then she immediately increased her speed and vigorously jumped in front of the bar.

Above the bar, her slim body drew an arc.

At the same time as her body fell onto the mat, the bar began to shake.

A second later, or perhaps even less, the shaking bar fell.

Looking frustrated, Mei slammed both hands on the mat.

Maybe she was satisfied after hitting it three times, Mei then got off the mat.

She bowed to the female student who had given her advice and moved towards the front yard, which means she walked towards Alisa.

It was probably not a hallucination of Alisa’s that she could see her dejected and dropping her shoulders.

Mei raised her head, maybe noticing Alisa’s gaze in front of the stairs leading up to the front yard from the sports grounds.

Her smart, beautiful face was colored with panic.

Alisa only now noticed that she wasn’t wearing her glasses(-shaped information terminal). It could be because of that that she looks cuter than usual. Normally Mei looks mature, but right now she looked maybe more like her age, giving an impression of a student around middle school.

She was visibly shaken for just a moment. Mei adopted a confident expression right after. Mei, who had been slightly hanging her head, straightened her back, put on a smile, and walked directly to Alisa.

“Are you on patrol for the Public Morals Committee?”

Mei started a conversation with Alisa.

“Yes. Mei, you didn’t go to the Student Council?”

Alisa didn’t touch on Mei’s vexed appearance.

“The President gave me just an hour. Since I won’t be able to come to the club for a while, she said.”

“Because the Student Council will become busy with preparations for the Nine Schools Competition?”

Alisa remembered Mei saying yesterday that the preparations for the nine Schools Competition were in full swing.

“You’re not wrong when you say it is for the Nine School Competition preparations, but...”

Mei replied to Alisa’s question with an unusually unclear tone for her.

“It’s because the sports grounds won’t be usable for a while.”

“Huh, why?”

Alisa asked back with a vacant look.

Mei breathed a small sigh.

“It’s not just the Crowd Ball court that is being set up on the sports grounds.”

“But wasn’t the practice forest used for practicing Rowgun and Pillars Break?”

The ‘Rowgun’ Alisa mentioned is the abbreviation for ‘Rower and Gunner, and ‘Pillars Break’ is ‘Ice Pillars Break’. Both of these competitions were scheduled to be in the Nine Schools Competition this year, just like last year.

“Do you remember that Speed Shooting was included over Shield Down this year?”

“Yeah, I remember. It’s an event that was revived after four years, like Crowd Ball, wasn’t it?”

“It might not be right to say it was revived... The name is the same, but half of it is a different event now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Doubles is being introduced, like the other events, but it’s a completely different form of event. If that was all it would be fine, but singles will be carried out in the traditional form, so we have to use a lot of space for practice.”

“I see...”

“You know that we’re constructing the temporary Crowd Ball court tomorrow, right? At the same time, we’re going to be setting up the practice arena for Speed Shooting as well. So, for a while, not just the Track and Field Club, all the other clubs that use the sports grounds won’t be able to use it.”

Once she heard the explanation, guilt appeared on Alisa’s face. While the clubs unrelated to the Nine Schools Competition have their activities reduced, the Crowd Ball Club is, albeit for a limited time, being given a new court. This may be inevitable, as this is a magic high school, and the Nine Schools Competition is a school-wide event. But still, Alisa couldn’t be so easily convinced. 

“You don’t need to feel guilty about it, Alisa. The Nine Schools Competition is something the whole school tackles as a team.”

“...You’re right.”

Mei tried to cheer her up and Alisa gave her weak smile.

After parting with Mei, Alisa headed towards the practice forest.

It’s her usual pattern to go patrol the practice forest, but the reason she cut her inspection of the sports grounds short was, sure enough, that she was uncomfortable. Mei told her that she didn’t have to worry, and Alisa herself understands, in theory, that she doesn’t need to feel guilty. Still, her emotions didn’t agree.

Holding incomprehensible gloomy feelings in her heart, Alisa walked deeper into the practice forest on the promenade, which is also a running course, that had been built there. On the way, ahead of branches on the promenade are facilities for each club. She advanced towards one of those branches.

Ahead were the Mountaineering Club’s activities. She avoided approaching last time she patrolled because rumors of something she had no recollection of doing were being circulated, but that was because Marika was more worried about it than Alisa.

Alisa was also worried about that rumor. She still is worried, even now. But she wondered whether avoiding the Mountaineering Club meant she was losing to it.

She doesn’t like competing with other people. If she can avoid conflict for her own convenience, she will choose loss by default, and if she can stop halfway, she thinks it’s fine to take the loss.

But even if she wouldn’t bat an eye to losing to other people, she didn’t agree with losing to an absurdity. She reacted hysterically to Mamoru when he took the baseless rumor seriously because, though she wasn’t clearly aware of it herself, she couldn’t stand the absurdity of being influenced by irresponsible rumors.

The not-at-all-needed detour to the Mountaineering Club was a reflection of her stubbornness of ‘I will not be influenced by things like rumors’.

After the end-of-term exams, the rumors about Alisa going out with Joui had already quieted down.

Alisa was unconscious of it as well. But it was still suck deep in her heart.

The pavement disappeared partway through the branch road and the ground became merely levelled.

Twigs were sticking out over her head, and since it is July, the leafage is dense. Thanks to that, the sunlight was being blocked, and Alisa, who isn’t very resistant to ultraviolet radiation, was grateful for it.

But the road made by pressuring and hardening the bare soil was slightly soft due to the long rainy season. Alisa proceeded while paying attention to her feet, so as to not get tripped by unexpected mud.

With her conscious aimed at her feet, her upward vigilance disappeared. Well, even if this was a paved road, normal people wouldn’t direct their attention above their head. For humans who live normally, there is a blind spot above them.

“Kyaa!”

— That’s why it was a natural reaction for Alisa to scream when a figure of a person suddenly came down.

“Augh!”

What can’t be established whether it was natural or normal, however, was Alisa deploying an object shield by reflex and sending that figure flying.

“...Kagari-kun? Are you okay!?”

Alisa turned her face to her friend and nervously opened her reflexively shut eyes, and recognizing the figure rolling over on the bare red clay ground was Joui, she hurried to cancel the shield and ran to his side.

“Ouch...”

Thankfully, Joui didn’t get a concussion, and he didn’t need Alisa to help him either, as he stood up in front of her as she was running.

“I’m so sorry! Are you injured?”

“I’m fine. I won’t get injured from just a light bruise.”

“I’m really sorry...”

“No, it’s my fault for scaring you. I didn’t consider there could be someone under me. It was my fault for jumping down without making sure.”

Alisa didn’t apologize any more, but her expression was filled with guilt.

Joui thought she was feeling bad for him for no reason and couldn’t stand that Alisa was looking like that at him.

“...Even so, it truly is impressive.”

He changed the topic with a frank tone.

“Huh, what is?”

That unexpected comment overwrote Alisa’s senses with a feeling of surprise.

“You formed such a perfect magic shield, despite doing it on the spur of the moment. I don’t think there was enough time for any CAD to output the Activation Sequence, no matter which thought-operated CAD you use, though.”

Joui deliberately changed the topic when he saw Alisa’s face, but his tone of admiration was not intentional.

“Juumonji-san, are you also training to be able to activate magic without the support of devices?”

Joui had once told her that, in preparation for potential sudden accidents while climbing mountains or walls, he is training to be able to use magic at any moment. Situations where he can’t use a CAD are included in these hypothetical emergencies.

“I’m not really doing that...”

Alisa didn’t speak ambiguously because she is hiding her skills and training. She, somehow, was always able to deploy shield magic reflexively. The reason is still unclear.

In the Juumonji Family, this peculiar ability that can be called a special skill is not a weapon for Alisa, but a flaw that should be corrected. The reason for this is that activating magic reflexively also means she also can’t control the magic.

This isn’t limited to magic, powers that are not controlled consciously can easily exceed the limits. If it’s the physical body, there is muscle strain, bone fracture and vein rupture. If it’s magic, there is overheating the Magical Calculation Area.

As far as Alisa is concerned, even if she was praised for it, she could think nothing but ‘I did it again...’.

“That aside, what are you doing, Kagari-kun? Tree climbing?”

Alisa blatantly changed the topic.

Joui guessed that she was avoiding the subject and didn’t try dragging it out.

“It’s true I was climbing a tree, but that’s not the goal.”

He replied to Alisa’s question with a wry smile.

“It’s not officially decided yet but I was chosen as a player for the newcomers’ Monolith Code.”

“That’s amazing! Congratulations.”

Monolith Code is the competition where each school invests their aces, both in the main and in the newcomers competition. That’s what it means to be selected as a team member in this competition.

“Thank you. And because of that, I thought I would put in some practice by myself before training with the team.”

Joui seemed self-conscious, as expected, and got embarrassed from praised by a beautiful girl like Alisa.

“You’re fully motivated, huh? I have to follow your example too... But still, why were you climbing a tree?”

Not comprehending the relation between Monolith Code and tree climbing, Alisa tilted her head slightly.

“There are five stages in Monolith Code, and among those is the forest stage.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

Monolith Code can be held in five kinds of stages: rocky area, grasslands, canyon, city and forest. This is a common rule adopted not only by the Nine Schools Competition but also university competitions and open tournaments. Monolith Code is a popular event in magic competitions, so it is almost obvious that Alisa, who became a member of the Ten Master Clans, would know about it.

“In the forest stage, effective use of treetops is a strategy that has given good results.“

Moving above the trees to secure an advantageous position is a fighting style due to which First High alumnus Shiba Tatsuya and Fourth High alumnus Kuroba Fumiya became subjects of research for each of the schools as a representative example.

“So that’s why you were climbing trees.”

“I wasn’t just climbing them, I was practicing jumping from branch to branch too.”

“Heh... Kind of like a ninja, huh?”

“The fighting style of Kuroba Fumiya, a Fourth High graduate, was described exactly as ‘ninja tactics’.”

After saying that, Joui forced a smile.

“...That before was me messing up and falling, though.”

“Is that so? Well... Be careful, okay?”

Alisa’s personality was apparent when she said ‘be careful’ instead of ‘do your best’.

“Thanks, I will. By the way, Juumonji-san, are you on patrol for the Public Morals Committee? The Mountaineering Club members are scattered everywhere around the practice forest right now, doing whatever they want to, so there isn’t anyone at the usual place.”

Was that comment Joui’s way of being considerate to Alisa, or was he protecting someone who is up to no good?

“Hmm, okay.”

Saying that, Alisa turned back to where she came from, making a face that was saying, really, either of them is fine.

◇ ◇ ◇

After giving the patrol report at the Public Morals Committee Headquarters, Alisa headed to the small gymnasium.

Tomorrow the Magic Arts Club has a competition, so Marika and the other members should avoid practicing until the school gates close, as that would leave them tired. With some luck, Marika had already changed clothes and is waiting for Alisa to pick her up.

— Alisa thought that, and her expectations were completely wrong.

“One more, please!”

At the same time as Alisa opened the door, Marika’s voice leaped into her ears.

So that she won’t be in the way, Alisa moved up to the spectating gallery instead of staying on the floor.

On the floor, Marika was in an exchange of blows with Club President Chika.

They got closer, separated, and exchanged positions hectically.

Right after the kicks simultaneously connected, Chika jumped into Marika’s reach.

In a stance with her head lowered, Chika sent a body hook.

Alisa saw the signs of magic emission that appeared in her fist.

She almost involuntarily shouted ‘Look out!’.

But before those words could come out, she could see Marika’s body caught Chika’s punch.

(...Amazing. She’s defending properly.)

Alisa saw.

Marika’s magic shield prevented Chika’s electric shock magic. As far as she can see now, Marika had mastered the countermeasure against electric shocks she practiced in the Former Tenth Research Institute.

“Okay, let’s stop here.”

It hadn’t reached a conclusion, but the Club President of the men’s division Chigusa put an end to it.

Neither Marika nor Chika looked dissatisfied.

Apparently, it was a practice spar just for the measures against the electric shock magic.

(Of course...)

No matter the circumstances, she wouldn’t spar endlessly the day before a bout. Thinking like that, Alisa was embarrassed by her own misunderstanding.

“Asha!”

Marika noticed Alisa as she was sinking into slight self-loathing. Marika waved her hand, and Alisa waved hers back. Then, with a gesture that conveyed ‘I’m going there’, Alisa headed to the stairs to descend from the gallery.

◇ ◇ ◇

Afterwards, with no unexpected plot twists such as continuing to spar even harder, Alisa and Marika returned home in a Cabinet, riding it side-by-side as usual.

“...By the way, Mina, what time are you leaving your apartment tomorrow?”

After calming her best friend, who was dead worried over whether she was okay from doing the Public Morals Committee patrol by herself, Alisa asked about Marika’s plans for tomorrow.

“We’re meeting at school at 9am, so I’m planning to ride the Cabinet at about 8am to give me a little leeway.”

“8am, huh? Hey, can we go together?”

“Eh, you’re coming to cheer for me?”

Marika exaggeratedly opened her eyes wide. Alisa was pretty surprised by that reaction.

“...Maybe I shouldn’t?”

“No, you can come!”

Marika shook her head left and right so energetically it appeared to make noise.

“But don’t you have Crowd Ball practice?”

Alisa was selected as a team member for the Nine Schools Competition. She ought to go to practice.

“It’ll be fine if I do my best starting Monday. It’s for that reason that they’re giving us more courts.”

Other clubs are patiently waiting, so she should work hard in their place. — There was also that kind of feeling inside Alisa. But deep inside, her top priority was to go support Marika.