Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 4 - Chapter 4.2

Up next is a boys match, the first match for First High’s boys pair, so Mei and Koharu moved from the tent to the cheering stands. Alisa and Hiyori stayed to wait for the next match and Marika chose to stay at Alisa’s side.

“Alisa, should we get going?”

When the fourth set ended and the set counts were tied, Hiyori urged Alisa.

Alisa nodded and stood up.

“Can I help with something?”

It was not ‘Can I help’, but ‘I want to help’ that was written on Marika’s face.

Alisa couldn’t refuse it, and she had no reason to refuse it either.

Marika helped Alisa and a senpai helped Hiyori warm their bodies up for about 5 minutes. When they returned to the tent Mei and Koharu were making the final checks on the CAD.

“You could have just waited for me to go to the waiting room...”

Alisa talked to them, feeling that it must have been annoying for them to make the round trip.

“It’s not that far. I was brought here as a technician so that has priority over cheering.”

Koharu shook her head with a smile.

“I was more worried about this, it isn’t the time to be cheering. Besides, the match was making my stomach hurt.”

Mei was watching Koharu work and just turned her face back to respond.

“Was it a close match?”

At the same time Alisa said that, the inside of the tent was filled with sighs.

Together with her friends, Alisa shifted her attention to the monitor.

Shown there was the sight of the First High pair hanging their heads in defeat.

“So they lost in the end, huh...”

Mei also let out a sigh.

“This will make it hard for the boys to win...”

“Don’t be too hasty, Koharu. If they win the next one, they’ll be at one win and one loss, there is still a chance.”

Hiyori rebuked Koharu for giving up early.

But the likelihood of the three teams each having one win and one loss are quite low.

Alisa felt the pressure from the gazes of her seniors aimed at her and Hiyori.

◇ ◇ ◇

Finally the time came for the start of the match with the Alisa and Hiyori pair.

“Asha, do your best. But don’t overdo it, okay?”

As Alisa headed to the court, Marika cheered her on with a slightly worried smile.

She wasn’t just encouraging her because students in other schools are withdrawing and returning home due to poor health one after another.

“It’s fine. I won’t.”

Alisa responded with a smile that was saying ‘don’t worry’.

“There’s no need to worry, Marika. Alisa isn’t the hot-blooded type.”

Hiyori, who was facing the court, turned around and reassured Marika.

As they headed from the waiting room to the court after being told that the post-match equipment inspection was concluded, Koharu whispered “I have a message from Mei-san” to Alisa and Hiyori.

Alisa and Hiyori asked “Uh, what is it?” in unison.

“Don’t worry about losing some points, just don’t use ‘Pelta’ in the next match, she said.”

“Eh, why?” “Got it.”

As Alisa asked for the reason, Hiyori’s voice interrupted her.

“Alisa, let’s go with the strategy we were told.”

“S-sure...”

Getting overwhelmed by the pressure, Alisa replaced the specialized CAD for ‘Pelta’ with a generalized CAD while still not being able to understand the plan.

Women’s final league second match.

The pair of Alisa and Hiyori conceded slightly more points than normal but scored a lot more than they conceded and took the win with no sets lost.

As Mei instructed her to, Alisa did not use ‘Pelta’.

◇ ◇ ◇

After the girls’ second match with Alisa and Hiyori came the boy’s second match. It is First High against Second High. It’s the second match in a row for First High, and for Second High it will be the first.

For the First High pair who lost against Fourth High in their previous match, this was a match they could not afford to lose, but the result was a loss. Third place was confirmed for the First High boys.

“— And so, First High is probably thinking that they absolutely cannot lose in the next match.”

The one who said that was Third High’s Ichijou Akane, and the place was the waiting room for the Crowd Ball competitors waiting for their next match. And her conversation partners were Third High’s girl pair.

“We are the same, we mustn’t lose. Well, in this situation, we can say that we’re the ones getting cornered harder.”

Hiiro Hiromi replied as such. The Third High boy pair in the newcomers competition couldn’t go through the qualification round. Which means that the points the First High boys secured with third place are points the Third High boys could not get.

Also, in the men’s and women’s Ice Pillars Break which are being held at the same time, the girls lost to First High and the boys lost to Eight High. The results are yet to be finalized, but Third High is in an unfavorable position. Even if it’s only for women’s Crowd Ball, there is no mistaking that they want to secure the points for first place.

“It’ll be fine. We have Hiromi, after all.”

That statement was from Hiromi’s partner. Considering Hiromi’s past accomplishments, it isn’t baseless confidence.

“You’re right. By the way...”

Akane didn’t say anything that might kill their motivation ahead of the match.

“First High’s Juumonji-san, looks like she didn’t use that magic in her previous match.”

“You’re right. Maybe the plan is to hide her cards?”

“No, there’s basically no point in doing that and she should know that too.”

Akane and her friends heard about the ‘Pelta’ Alisa uses from Juumonji Tatsuki of the same year.

Of course, Tatsuki didn’t talk about the parts he must keep secret. But he gave them a lecture on the nature of the magic and the situations it is appropriate for, and the different uses compared to Phalanx.

“Has she been unable to overcome the weakness regarding stamina, or something?”

“That feels like wishful thinking but... It’s not impossible.”

Hiromi reservedly accepted Akane’s conjecture. In truth, Hiromi had been thinking the same thing as Akane.

“If that’s the case, won’t forcing her to run out of steam be a good strategy?”

“Yeah. Let’s try to pile the balls up on Juumonji-san.”

Nodding at her partner’s proposal, Hiromi presented a concrete plan.

◇ ◇ ◇

At the same time, a strategy meeting was being held in the waiting room assigned to the First High pair.

“— I understand it’s highly likely that Third High will target Alisa-san. I think it’s an accurate analysis of the situation.”

Mei made a prediction that Third High’s pair will aim to exhaust Alisa’s stamina, to which Shiina, who is also at the meeting, agreed. — The matter of Mei performing the duties of a technician as she pleases has already become partly officially recognized.

“Then, what should I do?”

Alisa asked Mei for concrete advice on how to handle it.

“Go full power on ‘Pelta’ from the start of the first set.”

There was no hesitation in Mei’s answer.

“You mean pretend to fall for their trap?”

“No matter what kind of strategy Third High goes with, you should go full power in the first set.”

Confusion appeared on Alisa’s face when she heard Mei’s answer.

“Then give up on the second set and use the third set to win, right?”

Hiyori said, and Mei replied with “Exactly” while nodding.

Alisa, Shiina, and also Koharu, the other person present, had no objections to Mei’s strategy.

“What about me?”

Hiyori questioned Mei about her own role.

“Attack has hard as you can. Essentially, leave defense to Alisa.”

“Got it.”

Mei’s instructions were just what Hiyori wished for. A daring smile appeared on Hiyori’s face.

◇ ◇ ◇

The third match of the final league of newcomers competition women’s Crowd Ball began.

First High against Third High. Each school has won one match until now. The winner of this match will win the event. For both of them, it’s a match they cannot lose.

There are differences between singles and doubles, but Hiiro Hiromi is in Third High’s pair. For Alisa this is a revenge match for May’s interschool competition, and for Hiyori this is a long-awaited confrontation with Hiromi.

The match became intense from the start.

As soon as the first set started, Alisa activated the multi-spot shield generation magic, a variant of ‘defensive Phalanx’, ‘Pelta’.

Meanwhile, Hiromi’s plan was to break through Alisa’s magic shields using the Isshiki Family’s magic ‘Lightning’. In contrast with self-acceleration magic where the movement is pre-determined at the time of activation, Lightning is a magic that manipulates the bioelectricity in her own body to increase perception and reaction speed.

At first glance, ‘Pelta’ looks like an impregnable defense, but a process is necessary to actualize shields in standby with specific coordinates in space. The actualization is incorporated into the technique so it is executed partly automatically, but Alisa must be aware of the coordinate specification. Whether unconsciously or reflexively, in practice, she has to perceive and make a decision on the location to generate the shield.

This magic was originally for supporting moving allies. In the point that it gives shields to allies it is similar to the magic of the Tooyama Family of the Former Tenth Research Institute, but while the magic of the Tooyama Family is connected to the individual specified at the time of activation, ‘Pelta’ designates coordinates. Pelta can protect not just individuals but also groups and vehicles, and it also has the flexibility to switch the defense targets in an instant.

But, as a consequence of that flexibility, it is highly dependent on the user’s perception abilities. If the user’s perception is not good enough, there will be holes in the defensive formation.

Tatsuki didn’t reveal the secrets of the Juumonji Family’s magic that far. But just by getting an overview lecture on ‘Pelta’, the Third High technicians found the way to defeat the magic.

Hitting Alisa with attacks in waves that exceed Alisa’s perception speed.

This is what Hiromi and her partner were trying to do.

But neither Alisa nor First High was lacking in countermeasures.

Alisa understood the weak point of her own magic.

If this were Alisa against the Third High pair, Third High’s strategy would probably be successful. But Alisa also has a partner in Hiyori. Hiyori has gotten plenty of practice on how to back Alisa up in situations where Alisa‘s perception abilities have reached the limit. The First High pair of girls spent the most time on this combination.

Hiyori covered for the balls Alisa’s shields weren’t in time for. Even if they couldn’t prevent conceding points completely, the bleeding was controlled to a minimum. The combination worked just as practiced.

As a result, once the first set was over, it was an overwhelming victory for First High.

“Nice fight!”

As Hiromi’s pair returned to the bench, Akane, who came to support in place of the technicians, welcomed them with a smile.

A comeback of ‘I told you, this isn’t martial arts!’ could be heard from somewhere, but neither Akane who mentioned fights, nor Hiromi who she talked to, cared about those details.

“The set was taken from us.”

As she said that, Hiromi didn’t appear disheartened.

“Don’t worry. It’s going according to the strategy.”

“Yeah, it is.”

To the smiling Akane, Hiromi too responded with a smile.

Neither of them was putting on a brave front. The first set being lost was already taken into consideration.

“We made her use that magic to that extent right from the start. She doesn’t have any stamina left, right?”

“At least I don’t think she will be able to use it in the second set. We’ll take the next set and bring it to the last set without fail.”

Hiromi’s partner completely agreed with her.

“First things first, it went just as we calculated.”

As Alisa and Hiyori returned to the bench, Koharu welcomed them with those words.

“Alisa-san, good work. Hiyori-san too, nice backup.”

“What do we do in the second set?”

Hiyori asked Koharu while receiving a towel from her.

“Do as previously planned. Please play conservatively to conserve stamina.”

“Got it.”

Hiyori nodded with a face that showed ‘no objections’.

Koharu turned her face to Alisa.

“Alisa-san, let’s swap your CAD.”

“This is according to plan too, right?”

As Alisa spoke, she slid the wristband on her right wrist and removed the CAD wrapped underneath.

Koharu took it and gave her a similar bracelet-type CAD in return.

This scene could be seen from the Third High bench.

Perhaps sensing their looks, Alisa wiped her forehead with the wristband on her left hand, which is holding a racket, while turning her face towards the Third High girls.

The Third High students, including Akane and Hiromi, reflexively turned their eyes away.

The second set, completely different to the previous set, started slow. Even as 30 seconds, 1 minute passed, the match progressed slowly and the point increase was slow.

The effects of Hiyori’s frequent use of slow balls must be not small. Hiromi, as expected, was not baited by it, but her partner often got dragged into Hiyori’s rhythm and returned balls with similar lack of force.

One reason for that is because, to accomplish their objective of forcing Alisa use ‘Pelta’ in the first set, Third High’s pair also moved around and used magic at a high pace. The recoil from that was unavoidable.

Since starting the second set, Alisa hasn’t used ‘Pelta’.

Third High could see their strategy was working out.

But the price was that the first set was taken from them. They cannot drop the second set just because they’re still tired.

Because Hiromi had to compensate for when her partner’s movements were slow, she had to use ‘Lightning’ frequently in this set too.

Three minutes passed. Third High took the second set, the points for both teams being lower than the previous set and the point difference also being small.

“Hiromi, it is okay for you to use ‘Lightning’ at that pace?”

Akane asked, looking worried. The smile had disappeared from her face.

“I’m fine. I know my own limits.”

“Really?”

Akane peered directly into Hiromi’s eyes.

Hiromi didn’t avert her eyes. Though she didn’t glare back either, she just quietly accepted Akane’s gaze.

“Seriously, don’t force yourself.”

The first to pull out was Akane.

“I know. I don’t want to be a nuisance to everyone.”

“Thin... No.”

Akane was about to say ‘Think about yourself!’ when,

“That’s right. If you collapse, the senpai will be blamed.”

— She changed her argument. She considered this to be more effective for Hiromi who has a strong sense of responsibility.

“That would be bad...”

As Akane thought, Hiromi started worrying, with an expression more serious than before.

“—Hiromi, did you notice?”

Thinking of something to give a final push, Akane found a different material for persuasion.

“Noticed what?”

“First High’s Juumonji-san isn’t switching CADs.”

Hiromi turned to Alisa. Alisa was carefully wiping the area around her left wrist with the towel she used to wipe the sweat on her face.

“...Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Hiromi also saw Alisa replace the CAD on her right wrist with a different one after the first set.

And in the second set, she didn’t use that magic of the Juumonji Family.

“Maybe she hasn’t recovered enough to be able to use that?”

The bracelet-type CAD she had attached in the first set was for Pelta, and the one she replaced it with during the break was a CAD with the Activation Sequence for ordinary ‘Wall Bounce’ and ‘Vector Reversal’ stored in it.

That was what both Akane and Hiromi thought from seeing Alisa’s plays in the second set.

Ahead in their line of sight, Alisa returned the towel to Koharu and gently pulled the wristband on her right wrist. However, ultimately, it didn’t look like the CAD underneath was touched.

“She is also being cautious about malfunctions, isn’t she?”

The ‘malfunction’ she talked about is not the malfunction of a machine. It’s a ‘malfunction’ of the body, a ‘malfunction’ of the mind.

“She must be. If she doesn’t have that magic, we can win playing normally. So go without pushing too hard.”

“Understood. We’ll go steady and win.”

The signal announcing the end of the break rang out.

Hiromi stood up from the bench and headed to the court with her partner.

The third set began.

The match progressed at a slow pace, continuing from the second set. Points also continued to be scored and conceded.

After about one minute passed, Hiromi thought ‘Should be about time for the final spurt’.

Her partner is getting quite tired.

But more importantly, exhaustion has started to show on First High’s side, in Alisa’s partner.

This kind of development where not many points are scored is rare in Crowd Ball. In these kinds of matches, those who relax even just one bit will lose. Hiromi understood that from experience.

Hiromi, when alone, is confident she won’t lose her focus until the end. She has no worries about relaxing her tension. However, this is doubles.

One of them is showing signs of fatigue, isn’t this my opportunity?, Hiromi thought.

“90 seconds left!”

A voice flew in from First High’s bench.

Hiromi didn’t care about it.

In Crowd Ball, even if you give instructions from the bench during the match, it is not a violation of the rules nor a breach of etiquette.

But as if waiting for that voice, the change that occurred in the next instant caught Hiromi by surprise.

As a result, a gap was exposed for nearly 10 valuable seconds where the conceded points accumulated.

She had allowed First High to gain a big lead they couldn’t have gotten without rushing.

At the signal of ’90 seconds left!’, Alisa activated ‘Pelta’.

She used the specialized CAD on her left wrist. It had been attached under the wristband since before the first set.

When she heard the strategy from Mei, Alisa wasn’t very enthusiastic about it.

Because it felt like she would be doing too many cheap tricks.

The strategy Mei came up with wasn’t that intricate. Wear the specialized CAD for ‘Pelta’ on the left wrist and the generalized CAD on the right wrist. The switch of the generalized CAD would be turned off before the first set, and after replacing the CAD on the right wrist during the break, turn off the CAD on the left wrist while pretending to wipe the sweat with the wristband.

And then, during the break at the end of the second set, turn the CAD on the left wrist on and the CAD on the right wrist off while hiding it under a towel. As a result, Alisa would make Third High incorrectly believe she also can’t use ‘Pelta’ in the third set.

In the first half of the third set, Alisa fought only with simple object reflection barrier magic. Specialized CADs can store nine varieties of Activation Sequences of the same system. ‘Pelta’, when looking at its components, is one kind of object reflection barrier magic. It can be activated with a specialized CAD. If anything, its activation speed increases.

Hiyori was extra exhausted because she was buying time for Alisa to activate ‘Pelta’.

If Alisa were to push herself a little, she could also maintain ‘Pelta’ constantly for the three minutes of the third set after using it in the first set. But in the real event, with the audience watching and the outcome of the match at stake, she might get more tired than in practice. Taking that into consideration, it was decided that she would use ‘Pelta’ when half of the set had passed.

Regaining herself, Hiromi immediately activated ‘Lightning’ and tried to score points with all her power. Prioritizing scoring points over preventing conceding them is, considering Crowd Ball’s nature, an unorthodox playing style, or rather, improper may be a more appropriate expression.

Hiromi’s attacks broke through Alisa’s defense many times.

But the points Third High pair conceded were also stacking up.

The pace at which Third High scored points was slightly higher than the pace at which they conceded. But the difference was minimal.

The scores for both schools increased dizzyingly fast, and the time left steadily decreased.

No matter how much she hurried, Hiromi couldn’t increase the pace of the pursuit. Instead, her impatience accelerated the points conceded, destroying the difference in points she tried so hard to reduce.

The only thing Hiromi can do is score points without thinking about anything she doesn’t need to.

The remaining time got smaller and smaller.

The point difference got to the single digits.

She no longer had time to look at the clock, but from experience, there should be less than 10 seconds left

“5 more points”, Akane’s voice reached Hiromi’s ears.

I can catch up, Hiromi thought.

Score points, and prevent conceding them.

“Tied!” “Tied!?”

Cheers and screams rose up at the same time.

Cheers from the Third High side, screams from the First High side.

The court is still bright. The match is not yet over.

“Yaa!”

Hiromi, together with a shout, hit two balls at the same time, one with her racket and another with magic.

Like this, even that magic can’t catch up.

This is the turnaround of the match.

Hiromi was convinced of that, and her shot was bounced back in midair.

One ball fell on First High’s court.

One ball fell on Third High’s court.

Right after, the light on the surface of the court disappeared.

Hiromi enthusiastically turned towards the scoreboard.

181 – 181.

The results indicated by that score of roughly one point per minute are...

A draw, a tied match.

Hiromi barely managed to support her body that looked just about to collapse by putting both hands on her knees.

When the third set ended, Alisa sank down on the court.

As she cancelled ‘Pelta’, which had been in an activated state the entire time, she was set free from a dull headache.

If the match had lasted 10 seconds more, Alisa probably wouldn’t have been able to maintain the magic. The ‘education’ drilled into her by the Juumonji Family would have stopped her magic, regardless of her apparent intentions.

(It really happened...)

Alisa thought when she looked at the scoreboard.

The third set ended with a tie. As per the rules of the Nine Schools Competition, the match won’t go to overtime and this match is a draw.

(To think it would go just as Mei thought...)

According to the Nine Schools Competition rules, in the case the number of wins and losses is the same, the point difference determines the order.

First High took the first set by a larger difference than Third High took the second set.

Even including the matches First High and Third High won against Fourth High, First High had a better point difference.

Which means—

“Alisa, we did it!”

Hiyori jumped on Alisa, who was still sitting on the floor, and hugged her tightly.

“First place! We won the event!”

First High and Third High have one win and one tie each.

Because of the point difference, the winners of the newcomers competition’s women’s Crowd Ball are First High.

“We did it...”

Hiyori buried her face into Alisa’s shoulder.

“...Hiyori. Good work.”

Alisa patted Hiyori’s back.

“They did it, huh...”

Hiromi came out of the court and Akane said that while handing her a towel. From her attitude, Akane looked more frustrated than Hiromi.

“Yeah. we were completely deceived.”

“I never would have thought they would adopt a strategy like that. Aren’t they just nasty?”

“True, I think it was nasty, but I also think the biggest reason for our loss was that we underestimated Juumonji-san.”

Hiromi said, with a refreshed look, in a tone like she’s admonishing herself.

“...Now that you say that, I suppose it’s true. We were deceived because we arbitrarily concluded that she couldn’t use that magic for a long time.”

“Yeah, much to my chagrin.”

Hiromi expressed her disappointment with a slightly old-fashioned expression.

“Anyway, Hiromi. How’s your body? You feeling anything wrong anywhere?”

The topic was suddenly changed. Hiromi replied “No, I’m fine” while confused by Akane’s question.

“I’m glad. I was worried because it looked like you were going too hard with that ‘Lightning’.”

“...My apologies.”

Hiromi was conscious that she pushed herself too. She sincerely apologized for making her worry.

“You’re safe so it’s fine.”

Akane’s expression changed to a smile.

“And there’s nothing we can do about the loss. I don’t believe you were inferior in ability, but the opponent was one step ahead.”

“That is... right.”

“It’s fine. I’ll pay back this debt for you in Mirage Bat.”

Akane’s face, voice, and expression were overflowing with fighting spirit.