Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 5 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2 – First Day of Training Camp

Early in the morning of the first day of the hastily arranged four-day summer training camp for First High’s Martial Magic Arts Club.

“Good morning, Asha.”

Carrying a duffel bag on her back, Marika gave her morning greeting while rushing to Alisa’s side, who had been waiting outside the ticket gate of the station closest to their home.

“Did I keep you waiting?”

“Good morning. I didn’t wait for long, don’t worry about it.”

Alisa replied with a smile and picked up the bag that she had  placed on the ground by its handle. It was a duffle bag with wheels, matching nicely with Marika. She did not carry it on her back like Marika, instead wheeling the carry bag (or trolley bag) on the brick-tiled floor, and she passed through the ticket gate.

Marika followed right after her. Her bag is more packed than Alisa’s, but her movements show no signs that it is heavy at all, despite carrying it on her back.

It isn’t 7am yet, and this is the Obon season, but there was no lack of people on the platform. Still, the platform is never as full of people as it was a hundred years ago. The two got on the Cabinet after waiting for three other groups.

There are Cabinet carriages for groups of two and four and the fee is calculated according to how many people they carry. And if two people or less use a carriage for four, there is an extra fee.

In order to increase the efficiency of transport, the size of the Cabinets is kept to the minimum necessary. If two people use a Cabinet for two people, there is no space to put the luggage in. For that reason it is common to either pay the extra fee or intentionally using separate vehicles when traveling with large luggage.

But the girls didn’t take the option of separate vehicles. Nor did they choose to pay the extra fee.

Inside the Cabinet, they were carrying the large duffle bags on their laps. Inside them were primarily clothes, but they were surprisingly heavy and, above all else, bulky. Neither of them is overweight nor are they particularly large for women, but they were still undeniably cramped.

As such, it was only natural that right after Alisa and Marika got off the Cabinet in the station closest to the training camp site, they stretched themselves out while letting out a “Hnng” at the same time from the feeling of liberation.

“Asha, you’re beginning to cry.”

Marika said while reaching for Alisa’s face with her hand.

“You too, Mina.”

Not rejecting that hand, Alisa likewise extended her hand and wiped Marika’s tears with her finger.

“Let’s go?”

Taking the duffle bag onto her back, Marika looked towards the outside of the ticket gate.

Koharu was waiting there.

“Yeah.”

Alisa also took her bag and return a small wave of her hand to Koharu, who was waving hers.

It wasn’t just the participants of the Magic Arts Club’s training camp that were gathered in front of the station. As the boarding house is right next to it, it had been decided that the members of the Mountaineering Club would also ride on the bus owned by Touhou Tech, the company co-managed by Koharu’s father.

“Koharu, everyone on our side is here.”

Joui told Koharu the status of the Mountaineering Club’s meetup. He was given this responsibility because, within the Mountaineering Club, he is recognized as Koharu’s ‘childhood friend’. There was also the reason that Koharu was the one who arranged the bus.

“Joey, is the person greeting your Club President the alumnus?”

Koharu was looking at the Mountaineering Club President bowing very respectfully to a well-built man around 20 years of age.

Joui followed her gaze and muttered “Yeah...”.

“That’s Saijou-senpai. He’s a second-year at ‘Disaster Relief University’, he’s going to instruct us at this training camp, and he was the Club President two years ago.”

“...‘Disaster Relief University’, that’s the ‘Rescue University’, right?”

“Ooh, you know your stuff, just as usual.”

“If I remember correctly, isn’t that where they teach about disaster relief without the use of magic?”

“I understand what you’re trying to say.”

Joui said, nodding at Koharu, who looked suspicious.

“But if there is a job you want to do outside of being a magician, wouldn’t choosing a university that will help with that be another possible path?”

“I guess that’s true... Is Saijou-senpai aiming to become a firefighter?”

“I don’t know any more details. I’ll ask him if I get a chance.”

With that said, Joui turned around to leave.

“You don’t have to force yourself ask him, okay?”

Koharu shouted at his back.

Joui raised his hand, still with his back turned, as if saying ‘Got it’.

The bus stopped in front of Touhou Tech’s training institute that the Magic Arts Club will use. Everyone got off from the bus and headed to their respective boarding houses. Note that the Mountaineering Club’s boarding house is so close that they are essentially neighbors.

The training institute owned by Touhou Tech where the Magic Arts Club and Alisa’s group will stay in has Japanese-style rooms. It feels unusual for a company-owned training institute (boarding house) in the current age to be Japanese-style, but it may be reasonable when the fact that it can easily be adjusted according to the number of people is considered.

As for the Japanese-style rooms, six of them were prepared. Three for the men’s division of the Magic Arts Club and two for the women’s division. In addition, there’s a room for Alisa, Mei, Hiyori and Koharu. It was not unfortunate but a matter of course that Marika was sharing her room with the Magic Arts Club members instead of using Alisa’s separate room.

They put their luggage in their rooms and after the club members changed into their training clothes — Alisa’s group also, just in case, changed into their First High gym uniform — they went to have lunch.

Meals are not self-made by the club members, they are provided by the training institute’s cafeteria. This is a free service, not due to deference to the manager’s daughter, but because it would be damaging to the company if they rented out the kitchen and people got food poisoning.

Many of the members taking part in the training camp live alone. Also, the kitchen has a complete set of machines for automatic food preparation. So even if they had to cook for themselves they would be able to do so without inconvenience, though it is more relaxing when the meals are ready when the time comes. Since they could freely devote themselves to training, the club members were even more grateful for the meals being provided.

“Are you going to train right after lunch?”

Alisa asked to Marika, who was sitting next to her. Marika had rushed over to Alisa’s side the moment she entered the cafeteria. Her whole body expressed the feeling of ‘I can’t do anything about the separate room, so at least during meals...’. As a result, she got the spot next to Alisa like that... Everyone thought ‘The seat next to Alisa is Marika’s’ from the start, so in truth there was no need to rush over like that. But nobody insensitively pointed that out and everyone watched Marika fighting windmills intently with warm eyes.

“I heard the Mountaineering Club is jogging together on a mountain trail.”

“A mountain trail!? Isn’t that dangerous?”

It was Mei, sitting on the other side, who asked.

“I said mountain trail, but it’s just some tough ups and downs so there’s no danger.”

“So they’re considerate about their safety... Well, I guess that’s obvious.”

Mei appeared to be satisfied with Marika’s answer.

Though it is in the outskirts to the west, they are in the former Tokyo metropolitan area in the Kanto region. It’s not just the Magic University and Magic High Schools, even ordinary universities and companies use this area for training camps. There isn’t an absence of dangerous areas, but the trekking course for training was maintained.

“Then maybe I should go run too.”

Mei is in the Track and Field Club. She specializes in the high jump, but she still likes to run.

“There’s no limit to the number of people, so it should be fine. I know, Asha, we should go run too.”

Marika simple-mindedly invited Alisa.

“Hmm...”

Alisa’s appearance is that of a girl from a well-off family raised in isolation and she doesn’t look like she would like to exercise. However, she actually likes being physical active and her athletic abilities are also properly developed. She has an unusual amount of stamina as well.

“...I’ll go with you.”

Alisa had hesitated for only a short period of time.

Marika happily nodded, saying “Yeah!”, to which Alisa averted her eyes.

“Hiyori, Koharu, how about you?”

“I’ll stay here.”

“I don’t think so...”

Hiyori shook her head, looking like she found it bothersome, while Koharu shook hers as if she was saying ‘No way’.

◇ ◇ ◇

After lunch, Hiyori was shown around the training institute where they are staying by Koharu.

The training institute doesn’t only have facilities for lodging, it also has a data room, where various large and small models of machines are kept in display cases. And not just models, there were also some that appeared to be real antiquated engines.

“This one looks very old.”

Hiyori pointed to a machine that appeared to be a real engine that was in display at the very back of a case.

“It’s a two-stroke from the latter half of the 20th century. It’s not a model, it’s real.”

“Two-stroke?”

“It’s short for two-stroke gasoline engine. It was also called two-stroke cycle engine.”

Koharu gladly explained. The joy of talking about the things she likes was apparent in not just her tone, but also expression and gestures.

“Ehh, a gasoline engine...”

Internal combustion engines, even in the present year of 2099, are widely used. But nearly all of them are hydrogen combustion engines or ethanol/methanol engines, so it’s fair to say that there are no examples of gasoline engines being used in the city.

Hiyori can use magic, but other than that, she is an ordinary high school girl. This is the first time she has seen a real gasoline engine.

“There was a time when our company’s race bike loaded up with this engine was the best in the world.”

Koharu proudly said ‘our company’. These words came not because her father is a major shareholder of Touhou Tech, but rather because of a sense of fellowship and kinship.

“The best in the world in races?”

“Yeah. In the MotoGP World Championship, during the time it was called the World Grand Prix.”[2]

“By chance, is this the reason you joined the Bike Club, Koharu? Do you want to become the best at motorcycle racing once again, or something?”

To Hiyori’s question, Koharu replied “N-not at all”, denying it in a panic.

But it was clear that that wasn’t how she truly felt.

“You don’t have to be so embarrassed... I don’t think it’s particularly strange for a girl to like racing. There’s even some who want to be grid girls.”

Motor racing events still happen nowadays, albeit with internal combustion engines instead of gasoline engines. Also, the freedom to choose the occupation of a grid girl, which was once suppressed by the doctrine of cultural regulation called political correctness, as well as the undemocratic enforcement of values, has already been recovered.

“...Seriously, racing isn’t the only goal. I just like machinery, plain and simple.”

Koharu shily refuted. But when she said ‘racing isn’t the only goal’, it was obvious what she really thinks.

Hiyori thought that, at the very least, racing was for sure one of her incentives. But she isn’t inconsiderate enough to put it into words and point it out.

“That one looks new.”

With the intent of changing the subject by herself, Hiyori shifted her attention to a different display case.

“Y-Yeah, that one is...”

Though confused by the sudden change of topic, Koharu gave thorough explanations for the display items Hiyori pointed at.

◇ ◇ ◇

Around half of the Magic Arts Club, 18 people, are participating in this training camp. All 19 members of the Mountaineering Club are participating. Adding Alisa and Mei, as well as the two alumni acting as coaches, a male and a female, makes a total of 41 people running as a group on the mountain trail.

It is not a race so their pace is not that fast. However, in order to keep everyone’s speed uniform, no less than half of them attached weights to their feet or are carrying a frame sack (a rucksack with a frame) on their back.

Alisa and Mei, last-minute entrants, were exempted from the weights with no regard to their running abilities. Their position within the group is close to the back. And next to Alisa, with weights wrapped around on only both hands and feet, but also her waist, was Marika.

“Marika, isn’t it too heavy with all of those?”

Mei asked Marika from the opposite side of Alisa who was sandwiched between them. She was breathing a little heavily. Even if she is already accustomed to running from Track and Field Club activities, a course with many ups and downs must be different from what she’s used to.

“This much is fine.”

Just as Marika said, there was not even a little distress on her face, and there was barely any disturbance in her breathing.

“You seem to be having more trouble than me though, Mei.”

“I’m used to about this much.”

Mei gave a firm answer to Marika’s observation. Perhaps she was putting on a brave front, but pointing that out wouldn’t make anything happen. 

“By the way, are you okay, Asha? Is the sunlight too strong?”

Marika didn’t get into the unproductive argument and shifted to Alisa instead.

“I’m doing alright.”

It wasn’t just Alisa’s words that were cool in her reply, even her tone was cool.

However, Marika knows that Alisa doesn’t do well with ultraviolet rays.

“But...”

Marika tried to ask ‘Are you really okay?’.

“Alisa.”

But Mei interrupted her question.

“You’re using magic, aren’t you?”

Her tone was not of a question, but an assertion.

“Yeah.”

Alisa, with no shame at all, confirmed Mei’s conclusion.

“Eh, I didn’t realize. Can you possibly be using magic to block ultraviolet rays?”

Marika nimbly did small jumps as she ran, expressing her surprise.

“Not just ultraviolet rays, right?”

Mei interrupted the conversation yet again.

“You saw through everything, huh?”

This time it was Alisa who showed her surprise with her expression and tone. However, her running pace was undisturbed.

“Alisa, you’re not sweating much at all. You’re blocking infrared rays too, right?”

Marika brought her face close to Alisa’s after Mei pointed that out.

“Ah, it’s true. Then, are you using two magics, one to block ultraviolet rays and the other to block infrared rays?”

“No, just one.”

Alisa’s reply turned Marika’s face into a ‘?’.

“Is it ‘Invisible Ray Filter’, then? It blocks both at the same time.”

Blended in Mei’s voice as she asked was equal amounts of surprise and wonder.

“That’s right.”

Alisa’s answer was simple. There were no bragging components to be found in it.

“Eh~,  that’s quite something.”

Right then, from behind them, a bold voice intruded.

The tone was bold and informal, but it didn’t give a crude impression.

“Aah, don’t turn around. I’m the one who talked to you, but you’ll be in danger if you don’t pay attention.”

Taking the warning, Marika, who had turned around, quickly faced forward.

“I’m a graduate of the Mountaineering Club, Saijou Leonhard. My bad for disturbing you while you’re running in earnest.“

“No, we’re the ones at fault for chitchatting.” 

Still turned forward, Marika loudly conveyed she was reflecting on it.

“It’s promising that you have the leeway to do so, but make sure to watch your step.”

Saijou Leonhard — Leo responded with a wry smile. During this exchange, they continued running at the same pace.

“Yes!”

Marika, the most sports-minded among the three girls, replied energetically.

“Okay. Be careful until the end.”

Right after Marika heard that response, a well-built man – Leo passed her side and overtook her.

He was easily carrying a frame sack that was double the size of the other club members’.

Leo arrived at the front of the group, had a brief exchange of words with the alumna who had been leading the way until then and then swapped their duties.

“Joey, don’t you go getting worn out, you hear?”

He then encouraged Joey, who was running at the front of group as ordered by his Club President.

“Yes!”

Joui replied loudly, but his breathing seemed a little rough. The frame sack he is carrying is half the size of Leo’s, but it’s the same weight that the other third-year boys are using. In contradiction with his lanky appearance, Joui is the best among the first-years in the Mountaineering Club in both strength and stamina, but he is no match for the third-years who have trained a lot in the last two years.

Though there were also first-year students without weights who were completely out of breath, so when considering them, it can’t be said this training is outrageous. Rather, giving him an extra load in the form of this conversation may be just right.

“By the way, Joey. I got something to ask you.”

“What is it, Leo-senpai?”

Today is only the third time Joui and Leo have met. That said, they have gotten close enough to naturally call each other ‘Joey’ and ‘Leo-senpai’.

“There’s a pale blonde-haired girl running in the back, I don’t remember her. Is she with the Magic Arts Club? Though she didn’t give me the impression she was a fighting girl.”

“Blonde-haired girl... Aah, Juumonji-san? She’s not with the Magic Arts Club. She’s a guest.”

“Juumonji? Of the Ten Master Clans?”

The nuance in Leo’s voice, for some reason, had a higher ratio of doubt than surprise or amazement.

“Yeah.”

“She looks nothing alike!”

“...True, I can’t say they look at all similar.”

The difference in their attitude is due to a discrepancy in the comparison targets that came to their minds. Leo recalled the Head of the Juumonji Family, Katsuto, while Joui was thinking of First High’s Vice President Yuuto.

“...But if she’s a daughter of the Juumonji Family, I can understand.”

But Leo’s voice completely changed, gaining a sense of acceptance.

“Did... something happen?”

Joui’s breath became genuinely shaky.

“That girl was keeping an ‘Invisible Ray Filter’ up to block both ultraviolet and infrared rays simultaneously while running. And she was doing it without CAD assistance.”

“Amazing... isn’t she?”

As Joui struggled to keep the conversation going, his replies became messier.

“She really is.”

On the other hand, Leo, carrying no less than the double of Joui’s burden, was nonchalant.

He also didn’t think anything of his kouhai’s perfunctory responses other than ‘You out of breath already?’ and ‘You’re getting sloppy’.

“Speaking of amazing, that bob cut girl that was running with her was also very good. Not just arms and legs, but even her belt, and her breath was completely under control.”

“Aah... that is... a first-year... from the Magic Arts Club.”

At last, Joui’s replies became intermittent.

“Hoh, a fighting girl, huh? The type she’d probably like.”

“She...?”

Joui reflexively asked back, but his murmurs got mixed with his breath and no longer came out as words.

Leo didn’t hear the question so he couldn’t answer and kept running while grinning. Who knows what he was finding fun or entertaining.

◇ ◇ ◇

Once they finished running on the mountain trail, the Mountaineering Club and the Magic Arts Club split up for their respective training. It was not a time that could be called evening yet, but neither Alisa nor Mei participated in either of them and returned to the training institute before the rest.

There is a tennis court right beside the training institute. Hiyori and Koharu were having a match there.

“Oh, they look like they’re having fun.”

Like Mei said, they were having a friendly rally. Not a game about winning or losing, but simply for fun.

Hiyori has experience in tennis. Not from middle school club activities, she was in a player nurturing class at a tennis school. She had said that ‘I was forced into it by my parents to build stamina’, but it appears she continued until she started preparing for the entrance exams. Worth noting that there are many examples of magician families whose children train in ball sports. If someone wants to work as a magician in the future, without a doubt they will need more physical strength than a white-collar worker, and it is also training for quick decision making.

With a background like that, it could be said that Hiyori being good at it is natural.

“She’s surprisingly good...”

And that’s why when Alisa murmured her impressions, she wasn’t talking about Hiyori’s skills, she was talking about Koharu’s.

“She must have had lessons, right? Despite how she looks, Koharu is from a high-class family.”

Alisa’s voice had been low, appropriate for someone speaking to themselves, but Mei picked up on what she said.

“’Despite how she looks’...”

Alisa’s amazed voice had a nuance of criticism like ‘Isn’t that rude to Koharu?’.

But right after, she let out a chuckle, betraying her own thoughts.

When Alisa and Mei got close to the court, Hiyori noticed them and stopped the rally.

“Do you two want to join?”

Then, raising the racket she held in her right hand, she talked to them.

“Can we borrow rackets?”

Mei replied, visibly enthused.

“Of course.”

Koharu approached from the other side of the court and answered with a smile.

“But my shoes are like this, so...”

Looking down on the hard-sole running shoes she had chosen for the mountain trail, she smiled with a troubled expression.

Surprisingly, the training institute’s court has grass — a natural grass court. As a matter of fact, the purpose of this court is not for playing tennis, it is for operational tests on automatic machines that take care of the lawn.

This tennis court is one of the samples for collecting operational data on maintenance robots on lawns of various conditions. It was made with the primary objective of maintaining lawn that has become damaged, but there is a limit to that. Damage that would not normally be caused by playing tennis would result in abnormal samples. Even if irregular data is allowed, it is athlete etiquette that they should avoid playing with shoes they know will damage the lawn.

“It’s okay. We have shoes of every size. We even have clothes if you want them.”

However, there were no oversights at training institutes of large companies. No, rather than ‘of large companies’, it should be ‘of Touhou Tech’.

“Oh, that will be great.”

Perhaps surprisingly, or perhaps unlike her looks would suggest, Mei was taken by the ‘tennis clothes’.

“I’m really sweaty so I guess I’ll have a change of clothes. Alisa, you should do the same.”

That said, no signs of abnormal state of mind, such as rough nasal breathing or bloodshot eyes could be spotted on her.

So Alisa didn’t come up with an excuse to refuse either.

Railroaded into changing into tennis clothes, Alisa faced Hiyori with the net between them.

The ball came and went between the two. The ball had some momentum, but it was not a serious match. Their feet were stopped as they continued the rally.

The ones restlessly running around were Mei and Koharu. Mei seemed as if she had no experience with tennis, as her swings were clumsy. She made up for her lack of experience with her athletic ability, but many times she didn’t accurately hit the ball back to Koharu’s proximities. On the other side, though Koharu is not at the level of a beginner, she didn’t have the technique required to accurately return a ball while running around.

“Shall we wrap up soon?”

Alisa caught the ball instead of hitting it back — to be accurate, she killed its momentum by bouncing it on the racket once and then catching it — and talked to the rest at a point when both Mei and Koharu were completely out of breath.