Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 4 - Chapter 7.3

After the match ended, Alisa was rising to her feet as she asked Marika “What do you want for lunch?”. “Something that doesn’t hit my stomach too hard”, Marika replied while standing up.

At the front of the line that began walking to the exit, Mei turned around and intervened with “Yeah, how about something like udon?”.

“How about zaru udon? Since it’s hot out here”, Hiyori said from the back of the row.

Marika immediately replied “I want curry”.

“Curry, is that kind to the stomach...? Though if it’s authentic it’s probably good for digestion.”

Hiyori wasn’t the only one who thought that way.

“There might be something like that if we go back to the hotel, but it’ll be expensive?”

Alisa reacted like that.

While having a lively conversation about how it isn’t like this and how it isn’t like that, someone called out to the girls from behind after they left the stands.

“Marika-chan.”

Correction, someone called out to Marika from behind.

“What is it, Ichika?”

Marika wasn’t surprised. She had known since the first match that she had come here to support her.

“Umm, congrats on making it through the qualification.”

“Thank you. What’s wrong, are you still not feeling well?”

Though she has recovered from her illness, Ichika is still lacking color.

“No, I’m fine now.”

She was exhausted because she had a fight with her father — there was no violence, but she was persistently criticized — but Ichika didn’t say anything about that.

“Okay then... Don’t overdo it, okay?”

Ichika shook her head slightly as she apologized with “Sorry to make you worry”.

“I’ll be cheering for you in the finals too, so do your best. I just wanted to say that. Well, see you.”

Ichika waved her hand as she separated from Marika’s group.

“I’d really prefer if you didn’t push yourself...”

Marika murmured while watching her leave from behind.

Alisa’s group settled down at the food court stall they also used three days before. Since clouds suddenly increased during the third match, the sky had become completely overcast, though the heat and humidity increased. 

“It looks like rain is coming...”

Alisa muttered as she looked up at the sky that had become cloudy.

“It’ll be fine if it’s just a shower.”

Mei responded to Alisa’s murmur.

“I wonder if Ichika is okay...”

Though Marika was more concerned about Ichika than the weather having an influence on the match.

“It looked like she’s getting somehow less and less energetic.”

Maybe Marika’s words evoked sympathy in Hiyori, as she said that and knit her brows.

“It’s probably a family problem, I think it would be difficult to console her.”

By the meaning of the words Mei seemed calm, but looking at her expression it can be understood that she was also concerned about her.

“Family problem?”

Marika swallowed the curry in her mouth and asked. In the end, she chose a curry filled with hard to digest oil from the lunch menu.

“Ichika is a part of the Hundred Families’s Numbers. Maybe the family had big expectations of her at this Nine Schools Competition.”

Mei said that and then slurped her udon.

“Is this about the ‘national defense reserve squad’ you talked about before summer break?”

Mei nodded at Marika’s question with udon in her mouth. At first it looked like she swallowed what was in her mouth along with the nod, but now it seemed it was probably just a movement to confirm what Marika asked.

“Now that you mentioned it, it looks like a lot of people in high positions are coming to watch today too.”

Alisa was recalling what she heard from Yuuto and Souma in this same place.

“There was even someone I recognized. Really annoying...”

Mei grimaced.

“Aren’t there also a lot of people who want to be seen by people in high positions?”

To Hiyori’s question,

“I know. But it’s annoying.”

Mei, still frowning, repeated ‘annoying’ with a slightly childish tone, unusual for her.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Mina, it’s almost time.”

“Hnn...ng. What time is it...?”

Marika asked Alisa with a half-asleep voice.

“It’s past 5pm.”

“...Then, I have to get up.”

After Alisa’s reply, Marika raised herself on top of the bed. They are in the hotel room. After lunch, Marika decided to rest in the room. Alisa had accompanied her.

The Mirage Bat finals start at 7pm. There are still close to 2 hours until the start, but Marika requested to be woken up at this time.

“How’s the weather?”

“It rained. It was a shower.”

“I see, that’s good.”

Marika, as she said that, began stretching.

“Shall I give you a hand?”

“Nah, it’s fine. More importantly, it’s dangerous so step away a little.”

Alisa moved into a corner of the room as she was told.

Over half of the double room is occupied by the beds. It’s about right to call it ‘narrow’.

In that small empty space, Marika undressed to her underwear and began brandishing her limbs.

It was different from karate or wushu ‘stance’. The impression it brought was of ‘gymnastics’ or ‘dance’.

Sweat soaked her and dropped before long. When her plain sports bra and shorts started becoming see-through from the sweat, Marika finally stopped moving.

“—I’m going to take a shower.”

Marika let out a big sigh and headed to the bathroom.

The clock indicated that it had been over 30 minutes since she woke up.

When the two showed their face at the First High tent, the clock was showing 6pm.

“You’re here already?”

“Mei, aren’t you here even earlier than me?”

Marika retorted to what Mei asked her.

“I don’t think it’s too early.”

Alisa mediated between the two.

It’s not like Marika and Mei were arguing. They didn’t continue the unproductive conversation any further.

“What is happening now?”

Instead of fruitless comments, Marika asked about First High’s situation.

“Something like this.”

Instead of replying verbally, Mei took an electronic paper terminal placed on a nearby table and gave it to Marika.

“We won everything today, huh?”

What Marika put into words was the results for Monolith Code.

First High won all four games today. However, Third High also didn’t suffer any unexpected defeat and won all their games.

As a result, First High settled in second place in the newcomers competition Monolith Code.

“—Which means a one-two finish would get us the win. Even first and third would win the newcomers competition, huh?”

Marika calculated Mirage Bat points to see the rankings required for the overall win.

“Even with second and third we’d win with a tie.”

Seeing that Mei added that right away, she too must have calculated the points.

Only First High had two students advance to the finals. Even Third High only has one: Akane. It’s not easy for two to get into the top 3, but it’s not that unlikely either.

Both Marika and Mei passed the qualifications in first place. If you were to make a prediction based on the qualification rankings staying as they are, both of them should be in the top 3.

“That negative way of thinking isn’t good. Everyone will surely bring out everything they have for the finals, even more than the qualifications.”

However, Marika warned against negligence.

“If you think that second or lower is fine, you won’t even get fourth. That’s how it works!”

The same-year students and upperclassmen around them nodded several times.

Marika’s argument had an odd persuasive power. — Note that of the students that showed their agreement, more were boys than girls.

“...Is that how it works?”

“It is!”

“Okay. Maybe it is.”

Mei has also been in a sports club ever since middle school. She is familiar with sports-like ways of thinking like this.

“Then we shall not aim for a one-two finish, but a first-place finish. Marika is my rival, right?”

Mei doesn’t have her glasses-style AR terminal on. Despite that, her eyes appeared to reflect light with intensity.

“Of course! I won’t lose!”

Marika replied with vigor.

Was it the fighting spirit she’s spreading, or was it the positive mood overwhelming them? Inside First High’s tent, there were shouts of “Yeah!” that could not be distinguished between a commotion, a cheer, or a war cry.

They’re fledgling magicians, but high schoolers are high schoolers. It seems they couldn’t go against the mood in that situation.

◇ ◇ ◇

To avoid collisions between fellow competitors, it is an established practice to wear brighter costumes for nighttime Mirage Bat than the daytime matches. It is not a rule, but a convention, so there are no penalties for not following it. But there were no competitors who would oppose it either.

“I hate it. This color.”

But it wasn’t the case that there was absolutely no dissatisfaction. Actually, there was one competitor complaining right here. Marika.

“It makes my legs look fat.”

Marika has a complex about her legs being thick (which she is absolutely convinced of). Even right now, she was concerned about the vicinity of her thighs.

“But Marika-san, I avoided pink and yellow like you said.”

Koharu said with a baffled smile. Looking at it from her side, it’s probably ‘Isn’t it too late now?’. Naturally, today is not the first time Marika has worn this costume.

“You look like Peter Pan, it’s cute, Mina.”

Alisa calmed Marika with a face that made it seem she wasn’t just flattering her. The costume Marika is wearing has green as its basic color, darker in the lower part and lighter in the upper part. Even looking at it objectively, it gives no impression that she has gotten fat.

“Peter Pan... Well, I don’t have Tinker Bell’s figure.”

She didn’t deny it.

“Being the hero suits your better than a supporting role, Mina.”

Alisa said, flattering Marika.

“Is that so?”

An embarrassed smile appeared on Marika.

“It is. Do your best, my hero.”

“Yeah, I’m going!”

Marika left the waiting room and headed to the entrance gate.

“Alisa-san, you really understand Marika-san well...”

Koharu’s voice gave the feeling she was more ‘afraid’ than ‘amazed’.

◇ ◇ ◇

7pm. The match start buzzer rang.

The first to rush into the night sky, wearing an orange vest on top of a unitard that has white as its color, with a fluttering miniskirt, also orange, and a ponytail, was Ichijou Akane.

Side to side with her, a lime green gale rushed up.

Akane and Marika took their first points at the same time.

Akane continued flying in the sky.

Marika looked up at the sky from the foothold, eagerly looked for her next prey.

The next light ball was projected. It’s exactly on the side opposite to where Akane is floating. She made a sharp turn and headed to the target.

However, the light ball was devoured by a ‘green beast’ attacking from the ground.

That is, of course, an illusion, and its true form was Marika.

Mirage Bat is also called ‘Fairy Dance’. This is because the image of cute girls dancing in the sky evokes the idea of a ‘fairy dance’.

Though Marika’s jump had a feeling more of ferociousness than elegance or cuteness. Even comparing between beasts, it wasn’t the movements of a tiger or lion, it was the figure of a leopard or jaguar rushing up a tree or on ground.

Despite being in the match, Akane’s eyes were stolen in midair. When she saw it in the qualification round, she also felt her movements were sharp. But it wasn’t something that attracted her attention until now.

Expressing in a single word, it was ‘striking’.

Rushing straight toward its prey, killing it in one blow, and returning. There is no wandering aimlessly for prey to hunt, not knowing when to give up on it.

Perhaps it can be called the purity of the one-blow certain kill.

Her fighting style during a confrontation at a Magic Arts mat was different. To put it nicely, she is tenacious. To put it poorly, she’s unable to give up. No matter the situation, she avariciously hunts victory—.

(—No, it’s exactly the same.)

In a short time, that could be called a single moment, Akane realized her own misunderatanding.

Tookami Marika’s way of being was a straight line from the start. Just single-mindedly aim for the victory. It’s just that in this event, it is easy to see through her playstyle.

Akane changed direction to the remaining light ball in the air.

Straight ahead, she aimed for the win.

Without looking to the sides, she reached her arm out to what she wants most.

That is Akane’s own way of being, that ought to not change.

Akane also got her second point, beating out the other competitors.

First period, 10 minutes have passed. The fight had already assumed the appearance of a one-on-one fight between Marika and Akane.

Akane, who dances magnificently in the sky, scoring points with a time limit of 1 minute.

Marika, incessantly jumping up, scoring points each time she does.

Although, these two were not keeping all the points to themselves.

By being conscious of each other, opportunities for other competitors to score may also be born.

While Akane and Marika accumulated points, other competitors were also, little by little, taking points. That kind of match progression continued until the end of the period. 

“Marika-san, are you feeling well? Do you have an headache or anything?”

Technician Koharu checked Marika’s physical condition. Though she didn’t look seriously concerned. Marika, when she returned from the stage, was overflowing with energy all over her body, obvious at single a glance.

“I’m okay and in perfect shape! I think I can jump until the day changes!”

“There’s 30 minutes left to the match.”

She involuntarily smiled at Marika’s response.

“Mina, you might not realize it yourself because you’re excited. It is at times like this that you have to confront yourself properly.”

Unlike Koharu, Alisa sounded seriously worried.

“Hmm... ‘When things go well, there are traps in unexpected places’?”

“No, that’s not it. I’m not saying there will be interference from somewhere, I’m talking about you self-destructing from negligence.”

Mei let out a ‘Pfft’.

“Mei-san. Don’t laugh, what about yourself? Do you feel you can still fly?”

Koharu, now looking a little dumbfounded, asked Mei.

“There’s no sense of tension here...”, who was it that muttered that?

Koharu happened to overhear those words and, in her mind, gave her complete agreement.

The Third High waiting room had a more serious atmosphere than First High’s.

“It’s only the first period, but the lead...”

Her expression was calm, but her voice was oozing some frustration.

“There’s barely any difference in points. There is no need to fret over it, Akane-san.”

Hiromi encouraged her, her voice also not sounding optimistic.

Certainly, just like Hiromi said, there’s only three points of difference. Thinking about Mirage Bat’s nature, where first place tends to get 120 to 150 points, this could be called nothing more than a calculation error.

“Of course I have no intention of letting it end like this. I’ll turn it around next period.”

Akane declared, as if trying to convince herself.

“Akane, I noticed something while watching Tookami-san play...”

Then, Reira inserted herself in the discussion.

“Hm, what is it?”

“I think you realized too, but she always flies in a straight line to the target.”

“That is right.”

“When it looks like other competitors are going to enter that straight line, she interrupts the jump and looks for the next light ball.”

“Is that so?”

After blinking many times, Akane looked into Reira’s eyes again. Akane’s eyes were filled with surprise.

“Her jump is quite powerful. If she hits someone, it will deal a lot of damage to her opponent, don’t you think?”

“...And she’s afraid of that?”

Reira nodded to Akane’s question, saying “Yeah”.

“The rules forbid contact, so it is natural to keep it in mind and try to avoid it. But I feel that she’s overly cautious about contact, no, about crashing into someone.”

Then she added that.

“Maybe it’s just a precaution, or maybe an accident happened during practice...”

Akane sorted her thoughts out loud.

“What we can say for sure is that if she concludes that another competitor may cross her path, Tookami-san will give up on that point...”

“Indeed. Which is why...”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Before Reira could tell her, Akane returned a nod as a sign she understood.

“Let’s give it a try. My scoring pace will also drop as a result but... it should hurt her more.”

“Yeah. Marika-san is on a roll right now. I think there is worth even in just disturbing her rhythm.”

Akane nodded one more time, and Reira also nodded back.

The second period began. Continuing from the first period, Akane danced in the sky and Marika rushed up the sky.

However, instead of stopping in the air and waiting for the next ball, Akane began flying around in the air above the stage at a speed of a long-distance race.

The next light ball was projected. But Marika just showed a jumping posture and didn’t move from the foothold pillar. In front of Marika’s gaze is Akane, dodging the competitors from other schools as she heads to a light ball. And right next to the path she’s taking was a straight line to the light ball.

In the stands, Alisa put her hand on her mouth.

“No way, how could she do something so unfair?”

Under that hand, she let out those words.

“What do you mean?”

Hiyori asked, puzzled, but no response came from Alisa.

Alisa just has her eyes wide open, not looking at Marika, looking at Akane.

(I can go this time.)

Marika jumped towards a light ball. Though she continued accumulating points in the second period, her pace had dropped compared to the previous period.

That is because the number of times other competitors look like they’re interrupting the path to the light balls has increased. She has abandoned one out of every three jumps.

The number of times Marika suspected that ‘something is odd about this’ atop of the foothold pillars were increasing as time passed.

It isn’t particularly odd that the flight and jump paths of other competitors will intersect. It was because that possibility can’t be ignored that the rule ‘’obstruction and contact are forbidden’ was established. It is not especially strange that as the number of competitors obstructing the path that Marika happens to be trying to jump to increases, her scoring pace also decreases.

But it is unnatural that Akane’s scoring pace also decreases along with hers. Akane is competing mainly with flying magic. The probability of route intersection should be lower than if she mainly used jumps.

(...Could it be that Ichijou-san is intentionally blocking my path?)

It’s a possibility that she really didn’t want to think about. This is of a different nature than the tactics she used in Martial Magic Arts, it’s a cheap trick that ought be called an abuse of the rules. Marika couldn’t believe Akane was using such underhanded methods.

Those doubts dulled Marika’s performance.

As a result, by the time the second period ended, the lead had reversed. She had been leading by 3 points, but now she was behind by 9.

But as an effect of Akane’s scoring pace also going down, the points increased for other competitors. The point difference between Mei in third place and the Second High competitor in fourth place, compared to Akane in first place and Marika in second place, has also narrowed to the point it can be reversed in the final period.