Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 4 - Chapter 5.2

The time to start each event arrived.

Alisa and Marika were sitting in the men’s Speed Shooting stands.

Joui is participating in Monolith Code, but that event is one where competitors throw magic directly at each other. Alisa hates ‘fights’, so they came to support in Speed Shooting.

And when it comes to the why the boys over the girls, it’s because the boy’s round is held first.

Four shooting ranges were prepared for Speed Shooting matches. Counting boys and girls, a total of 18 matches will be played in turns in those four ranges. The First High girls have their matches starting with the second round.

Also, Mamoru is participating in the boys matches. For both Alisa and Marika, he was someone they studied for the exams with. There was no option to not go support him. — Though Marika’s true feelings were that she didn’t want Alisa to cheer for Mamoru.

In Pairs Speed Shooting, both schools perform offense and defense in turns, once each. Who goes on offense first and second is decided with a coin flip.

Just before the start of the match, Tawara Hideki, who is paired with Mamoru, stood in the shooter box. First High is the first on the offense.

Following Hideki, First High’s arranger Mamoru entered the box on the right side, while the arranger from the opposing school entered the one on the left.

As both the offensive and defensive side have ‘arrangers’, descriptions would be confusing, so the attacker side is called ‘supporter’ while the defensive side is called ‘defender’, different names for the different roles.

The shooter, Hideki, held up the launcher. Not in a posture for preparing to shoot, in a posture for shooting. Moreover, he wasn’t standing, which is the usual in Speed Shooting , he was kneeling on one knee. Murmurs came from the audience due to the posture.

This is understandable if he is aiming for targets at long distances. But the average distance of the targets in Speed Shooting is no more than 30 meters. It’s double that of clay target shooting, but it is not a distance where you have to stabilize your posture by kneeling. In this event, where aiming quickly is needed, it appears to be nothing but a disadvantage.

Before the noise from the stands disappeared, the event began.

This edition’s Speed Shooting has introduced many elements of the magic sport ‘Guided Shooting’. Shooting physical bullets with magic, no gunpowder, no gas, no electricity. That is the sport form of Guided Shooting.

In Guided Shooting, not only are physical bullets shot with magic, it is also permitted to guide them to the targets by activating magic on the shot bullets. This element was also introduced in Solo Speed Shooting events.

To guide a bullet, you have to be able to perceive it. You don’t necessarily need to see it with your physical eyes, but you have to perceive it magically, at the very least. Because of that, many Guided Shooting players keep the speed of the bullets low.

But the speed of the bullets shot from Hideki’s launcher was clearly different compared to the other competitors.

The length of Speed Shooting’s match venue — the shooting range — is 50 meters. At the back, a very fine bulletproof net was put up. It is strong enough to be able to endure rapid-fire from a 7.62mm gatling gun. That net was greatly undulating due to Hideki’s shooting.

Two targets were launched. The two disks were slightly to the right side of the range, in the same firing line.

At that moment, the targets shattered. Faster than the defender could move the targets, the shooter’s bullets went through the two targets.

Multiple points from one unguided bullet.

The stands went wild.

The supporter, Mamoru, had been using his ‘eyes’ and ‘brain’ in full power from the start.

The shooter, Hideki, shooting targets without moving the muzzle much and succeeding in hitting two targets many times is, in truth, largely dependent on Mamoru’s contributions.

Mamoru’s superpower ‘Multi-Scope’. This superpower that the First High Student Council President from 4 years before was also proficient at is classified as Perception-Type Magic in modern magic literature. Its nature is a visual radar that perceives physical objects from multiple angles.

He repeatedly traces the trajectory of the targets right after they’re launched with this ability, calculates how much power should be added to guide the targets near the center of the range, and corrects the trajectories right after any interference by the defender.

“...Tawara-kun is quite flashy, huh?”

Sitting in the stands, Marika muttered with a tone that wasn’t particularly enthusiastic.

Hideki’s bullets are high-speed to give no time to the defender to interfere with the targets. The kneeling position was for ensuring he has the magic power needed for the bullet speed and for minimizing the magic power assigned to fixing the gun barrel in place.

“I think the one contributing more for scoring is Karatachibana-kun as a supporter, though.”

Alisa muttered to argue back.

“Me too, I think Karatachibana-kun is contributing more.”

Marika didn’t deny Alisa’s opinion.

Compared to standing, it is more difficult to track the targets moving at high speeds while kneeling.

What makes up for that is Mamoru’s ‘Multi-Scope’ and his judgement.

Hideki’s shooting was flashier compared to other competitors, attracting the attention of many spectators.

It looks like his objective — the Tawara Family’s objective of being high profile was achieved.

But the visiting experts whose goal is scouting combat magicians were of the same opinion as Alisa. They were observing Mamoru’s magic more attentively than Hideki’s shooting.

Ten minutes passed and First High’s offense was over. 100 bullets were shot and 97 points scored.

He got double hits many times, but the number of misses were higher than that. Still, it is a fairly high score, even comparing with the score of the main competition pair. Sure enough, with the format of the Pairs event, it was impossible to completely escape the interference of the defender. 

Hideki, the shooter, left the box in the center and the opposing school’s shooter went in. The supporter chose the left box, so Mamoru, whose role changed to that of a defender, stayed in the right box and waited for the second part’s ten minutes to start.

The second part, with the opposing school in offense, began.

The shooter’s bullet missed the target.

Mamoru skillfully removed the target from the bullet’s trajectory.

Leaving all other factors aside, if phenomenon interference power is compared, Mamoru is inferior to the opposing school’s supporter.

Mamoru himself is aware that his magic power is no more than ordinary.

Even comparing his abilities with the supporter from the opposing school, he is most likely not a match. So Mamoru thought to use the opponent’s magic.

What becomes key here is the rule of Pairs Speed Shooting. Arrangers, that is, supporters and defenders can interfere with targets as many times as they want, but the magic that can be used is limited to Acceleration-Type with one process. Also, they must not continuously interfere with the same target. If they want to interfere with the same target again, they have to wait until the other schooler’s arranger uses magic.

Basically, they can only make it move in one direction at once: up, down, left, right, forwards or backwards, amplify its current movement, or work on the target with Acceleration-Type Magic in the same direction as the opponent’s magic.

The requirement of increased phenomenon interference power when overlapping magic only applies when you try to change the phenomenon alteration currently in effect. When overlapping the same phenomenon alteration, the phenomenon interference power required does not increase.

Magic that reaccelerates an object in the same direction it is being accelerated will activate without being destroyed even if the phenomenon interference power is inferior to the previous magic. But the target accelerated in a greater way than the expected will fly to a position away from where the shooter is aiming. The theory is the same as trying to make the target still. Deceleration, that is, magic that accelerates in the opposite direction of its current vector movement, becomes magic that makes the target move backwards by accelerating in the same direction.

This isn’t a particularly advanced idea, it’s actually a tactic everyone can come up with. However, putting it in practice requires the ability to quickly perceive and determine what magic the opponent is using. For Mamoru, who is used to examining objects at the same time and from several angles with ‘Multi-Scope’, this is possible.

The opposing school’s points didn’t increase considerably. The shooter looked annoyed at the numerous missed shots.

“He’s doing well.”

Marika praised Mamoru’s playing, sounding like she did so involuntarily.

“Hopefully he doesn’t push it too far, though.”

Alisa seemed a little worried.

The ten minutes of the second part ended. The opposing school scored 69 points.

The First High pair got the win in their first match. 

◇ ◇ ◇

Alisa and Marika, rather than supporting in the girl’s match after that, temporarily returned to the tent. They were worried about the results of Monolith Code.

“President, what’s the situation like?”

Marika asked Chika, who remained in the tent, about the present state of affairs.

“About Monolith Code?”

Today’s Chika is in ‘manly mode’, with short hair.

“We won the first round. The match between Third High and Ninth High hasn’t finished yet.”

Chika then said “Look here” while pointing at the reserve monitor.

During Monolith Code matches, all the stages are distributed by cabled broadcast inside the venue, but the video on the reserve monitor was fixed on the match between Third High and Ninth High.

The battleground is the valley stage.

The footage on the monitor is divided left and right, showing ahead of each monolith on it.

In Ninth High’s camp there is one person of the offense and one on the defense.

In Third High camp there is also one person on offense and one on defense.

“Tatsuki-san...”

Alisa reflexively muttered when she saw Third High’s defense.

“Did one get knocked out on both sides?”

Chika nodded and said “Correct” to Marika’s question.

“It’s an exciting battle. Third High and Ninth High were more evenly matched than I expected.”

The competitor on the offense is fiercely attacking the competitor on the defense in front of Ninth High’s monolith. It feels like their aiming to completely incapacitate their opponents, rather than inputting the code hidden in the monolith.

On the other hand, in front of Third High’s monolith, it feels like the Ninth High competitor is at a loss over how to get past Tatsuki. The attacks are being blocked completely by Tatsuki’s solid shield magic.

“Isn’t that your younger brother, Juumonji?”

Alisa nodded to Chika’s question while saying “Half-brother, yes”.

“Maybe you don’t like hearing this, but the ‘Iron Wall’ Juumonji really are impressive. That shield looks like it would give even me trouble.”

Marika turned her eyes to Chika, looking surprised.

“—What is it, Marika?”

Chika noticed that look and urged her to send the question.

“President, even if it would be hard I’m sure you’d break through.”

But what Marika said was not a question, it was an assertion.

“I won’t know until I actually try fighting it, but I think I could probably beat it.”

While saying she didn’t know, Chika had a self-confident tone.

“Multiple barrier magic ‘Phalanx’. Magic that immediately reconstructs broken barriers. If that’s the case, I just have to beat them up again and again until it can’t rebuild anymore. Once you look at it closely, the way to beat it is the same as Marika’s ‘Reactive Armor’.”

Certainly, once simplified, that’s about right. And the essence of things, surprisingly, is what remains after simplification.

If she continues to attack without breaks, sooner or later the limit will come. No matter the kind of defense, it is only effective with a counterattack. If you don’t counterattack, you can’t defend yourself either.

Right then, Alisa, who is running away from fights, felt as if she was being told her own fate.

In Third High vs Ninth High, Tatsuki knocked out Ninth High’s attacker, then attacked the opponent’s camp, knocked out Ninth High’s defender and achieved victory. Though victory was attained, Tatsuki was the only one from Third High who was left standing in the end.

◇ ◇ ◇

By the time the Third High vs Ninth High match ended, Joui’s team, who finished their match before them, had returned to the tent.

“Third High won, huh... Things won’t go well like this.”

Seeing the match results, Joui murmured, sounding disappointed. As it stands, there is no doubt Ninth High will come to the next match burning with the feeling of ‘we absolutely cannot lose’. For First High, it would have been more convenient for Third High to lose to Ninth High.

Monolith Code matches, though long, don’t last over 30 minutes. The outcome is usually decided in approximately 20 minutes. In the first round, First High got the win in roughly 15 minutes and Third High won in the range of the early half of the 20s.

Monolith Code’s scheduled match start times are 9:00, 10:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 16:00. A long break between matches is guaranteed. This is for competitors to recover from damage received during the matches.

Which means that there is a medical care system prepared here that heals injuries and recovers stamina within an hour. Even though all the Ninth High members were incapacitated during the match just now, it can’t be expected that their abilities will decline substantially in the next match.

“Looks like it’s going to be a tough fight.”

Joui spoke to himself, and nobody, not even Koharu, could give him any words to console him.