Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 5 - Chapter 8.1

Chapter 8 – The National Tournament

August 30th, Sunday morning.

Everyone from the First High Martial Magic Arts Club was gathering in front of the Nippon Budokan[14].

“Ooh~”, Marika raised her voice in admiration.

Immediately, Chika retorted “Quite the different attitude compared to the preliminaries, huh?” with a teasing tone.

“President. I mean, it’s the Nippon Budokan! Doesn’t it get you all hyped?”

“Marika... How many months has it been since you came to Tokyo?”

“Only five months! It’s my first time at the Nippon Budokan!”

At Chika’s exasperated voice, Marika replied with absolutely no embarrassment.

All the surrounding club members smiled bitterly.

Shaking her head with a face saying ‘she’s hopeless’, Chika turned her eyes to Marika once again.

Then, noticing the empty space next to her, Chika knit her brows.

“...Marika. About Juumonji’s condition, is she still unwell?”

“No, she seems okay. It wasn’t just her saying this, the doctor also said she was fine.”

Marika didn’t particularly seem to be bluffing.

“It looks like Asha will come with Juumonji-senpai in time for the start of the tournament.”

“With the Vice President?”

A sense of surprise was loaded into Chika’s voice and expression as she asked back.

Marika, who had been the target of bitter smiles earlier, made her own wry smile at that question.

“Even since the day before yesterday, Juumonji-senpai seems to have entered a, what to call it, pampering mode? Overprotective mode? Doting mode?...”

Chika wasn’t the only one who burst into laughter after hearing that.

Once the time for the reception to start arrived, Marika and the other members of the First High Magic Arts Club automatically formed a line so as to not disturb the other participants and headed to the entrance.

Halfway there, Marika heard someone raising their voice in admiration, “Ooh~” a little behind her. Thinking ‘She’s doing the same thing I did’, Marika was unable to not turn around.

After turning around, she met eyes with the girl who raised her voice. Both exclaiming “Ah!” at the same time was not due to the awkwardness of being seen doing/seeing the embarrassing scene.

“Ichijou-san.” “Tookami-san.”

Those lines were also emitted by both girls at the same time.

“Are you going to the reception now?”

Akane walked up to Marika with a shy smile and asked her that. Being seen acting like a country bumpkin visiting the big city must have been embarrassing.

“Yeah, you too?”

Marika also walked towards Akane, replying in the form of a question. The fact that she did the same thing as Akane, she did not mention. Advanced psychological tactics — it was not. Marika wasn’t aware that she had done something embarrassing, so she didn’t feel the need to back her up.

“I’m looking forward to fighting you.”

Akane said, and...

“I really want to fight you as soon as possible.”

Marika replied as such.

Both of them even seemed to want to fight each other more than they wanted to win the tournament.

“I’ll be the first to draw the lot, so it’s all up to your draw, Tookami-san.”

“That’s not good. I’m not too confident in my luck at lotteries.”

Marika replied to Akane’s comment with a wry smile.

Neither of them doubted that they would be able to face each other in the tournament.

Both of them were convinced, with no reason to be, that they would be able to fight in the finals at worst.

◇ ◇ ◇

The girls’ and boys’ 18 and under divisions are being held today at the Nippon Budokan. Due to the number of bouts, the division with no age restrictions will be held next week at the Ariake Arena.

The tournament has 36 boys and 36 girls. Competitors with unlucky draws will need to win six bouts for the overall win, while the others need five. — The first round has four bouts. Those with unlucky draws will be less than a quarter of the total competitors.

Unlike the regional preliminaries, the tournament matchups are drawn from lots by the competitors. The order for drawing lots is based on distance from Tokyo, a standard that leaves no room for arbitrariness. Since lottery fraud, including clairvoyance, are strictly regulated, there is no advantage or disadvantage in this order, in theory.

The tournament table was completed at 9 o’clock. Just as scheduled.

Luckily, none of the First High competitors, male or female, fell into the unlucky quarter. If they keep advancing through the tournament properly, Marika will face Chika in the semifinal. Seeing that, Marika felt nervous, similar to a sense of imminent crisis.

Marika and Akane are in separate blocks. They will be able to fight in the final. In order to fight with Akane, Marika must defeat Chika.

Marika’s nervousness was immediately replaced with fighting spirit.

At the same time, Akane was feeling disappointed as she looked at the tournament table.

“Akane, you and Tookami-san ended up in a different block, huh.”

Sensing Akane’s feelings, Reira spoke to her in a comforting tone.

“— Well, I’ll just save the fun for the final.”

Perhaps thinking she shouldn’t make Reira any more concerned, Akane answered back with a cheerful voice. It was a comment and tone that, to third parties, sounded like ‘it’s going to be a cakewalk until the final’.

“Hmmm... So the rest of us aren’t even on the radar?”

A sarcastic comment with a harsh tone, which was intentionally allowed to be overheard by Akane.

When Akane and Reira turned around, there was a tall female competitor with long limbs standing there.

She came to the venue today to compete, so there is no doubt that she is 18 or less years old. But if she were to put on casual clothes and apply some makeup, she would pass for a university student. She had distinctive facial features and, whether tanned or natural, her somewhat dark skin tone is her charm point.

“Well, I guess for the princess of the Magic Arts world, as a direct descendent of the Ten Master Clans, the small fries that aren’t even Numbers are nothing but mere checkpoints for you to walk through, huh?”

This time it wasn’t allowed to be overheard, the sarcasm was thrown directly at Akane.

“...You seem to know about me, but who are you? I truly am very sorry, but I don’t seem to recall. If it would be okay with you, would you tell me your name?”

With the clear hostile attitude until then, even Akane lost her will to abide by common etiquette towards an opponent she met for the first time. Akane replied rudely, under a layer of politeness, and with a sarcastic tone.

“It’s the first time we’ve met, so it’s natural you have no memory of me. If anything, you knowing who I am would have been quite scaryy~.”

Unfortunately for Akane, her opponent seemed to be superior in sarcastic ability.

“I am Yahata Tomoe. Second-year at Ninth High. My name is written the same way as the Hachiman Family of the 28 Houses, but unfortunately there is no connection. I also have no connection to the Eighth Research Institute nor the Numbers.”[15]

“Thank you for your consideration. It may not be necessary, but I will do it properly. My name is Ichijou Akane.”

As Akane heard she is a second year student, Akane gave her own name, politely, but only on the surface.

“If I’m lucky enough to win, we’ll meet each other in the semifinal. Please take care of me then.”

Tomoe laughed with a “fu” and turned her back to Akane.

“...She talked about lucky, but she looked confident, didn’t she?”

Watching her back as she walks away, Reira whispered to Akane.

“Yeah. It’s just a maybe, but she might be strong.”

A smile that looked like she was having fun appeared in Akane’s face and she agreed with Reira.

◇ ◇ ◇

Once 9:30 arrived, the first round began.

Marika won’t make an appearance on stage here. However, Alisa was punctually in the cheering stands. Next to her was Yuuto, accompanying her just as he said he would.

Noticing her gaze, Alisa turned towards Marika and waved her hand with a smile.

Marika was also about to give a big handwave when she noticed Yuuto’s gaze. It’s not as if he was glaring at her, but somehow feeling like she couldn’t assume a lighthearted attitude, Marika returned a bow at Alisa for her support.

A bow that was deeper than a usual greeting.[16]

Of course, Alisa wasn’t the only one who came for support. Among the spectators, Marika found Erika, and she opened her mouth like she was going to say ‘Ah’.

Their eyes met and she hurriedly gave her a deep bow.

Erika smirked and gave Marika a thumbs up.

In arenas of the distant past, this was a sign of appeal for clemency to the loser, but Erika’s intent was probably the opposite. It appeared to be a cheer of ‘beat down every last one of them’.

Replying to Erika’s thumbs up, Marika made a sign with the index finger and the middle finger stretched out. To third parties, this must have looked like nothing but a peace sign.

But Marika’s intent was different. Erika also interpreted it differently. It was a humble gesture, but it was evidently a victory sign.

In the spectator stands, approximately on the side opposite to Erika, a crowd was forming. A famous person was arriving.

It was not an entertainer. It was not a politician nor a businessman either. In a sense, it was a person more important and rarer than a minister or the owner of a gigantic corporate group.

It is undeniable that the existence of the world’s only demon puts him in the background, but even so, he is one of only two Nationally Recognized Strategic-Class Magicians in Japan, of only 13 in the world, 11 depending on how they are counted.

Ichijou Masaki was in the spectator stands.

He is the older brother of the favorite to win the girl’s division, Ichijou Akane. Currently attending Magic University, and as the summer vacation is also approaching its end, it is not strange for him to be returning to Tokyo at this time. Also, if he’s in Tokyo, it is not strange for him to come support his little sister. Their relationship as siblings is not bad by any means, so if anything, it would be more unnatural for him to not come support her.

But in this arena where many people involved with magic are also in attendance, it was a surprise big enough to cause a crowd.

However, as far as the aforementioned Akane is concerned, the man looking uncomfortable next to her older brother was more important.

“Ah, Shinkurou-kuun!”

Akane brazenly waved her hands.

In the stands, Shinkurou embarrassedly returned a small wave of his hand.

“Akane, it’s time!”

Akane was one of the unlucky eight girls, but with Kichijouji Shinkurou’s support, her tank was full of motivation and she went up to the ring for the first round.

◇ ◇ ◇

Marika safely advanced through the second and third rounds.

And now, her opponent for the quarterfinal is Kuki Suzuka.

“This Kuki-san, is she a daughter of the 18 Assistant Houses?“

In the spectator stands, Alisa asked Yuuto, who appears to not want to leave her side.

“She’s not a direct descendent, she was adopted from a distant relative.”

The answer came from Souma, who had been sitting next to Yuuto before they were aware of him.

“Ah, so that’s why she’s going to a high school in her hometown instead of Second High.”

Attached to the competitor list are profiles that include information approved to be made public by the competitors themselves. The information available varies, and while there are competitors who publicize even their own style, like Hada who Marika fought in the regional preliminaries, there are also competitors who refuse to disclose any information other than their name, age, height and weight — those are required.

Outside of the required items, Kuki also disclosed the name of the school she is currently attending. The name of that school is completely unknown in magician society, it was a general public school in Kuki Family’s hometown.

“To think you had insider information like her being an adopted daughter... Surely you know even more.”

Yuuto shifted his eyes to Souma, pressing for an answer, saying ‘Spit it out already’ not with his words, but with his look.

“Strictly speaking, Kuki Suzuka is not a magician who originates from the Former Ninth Research Institute.”

Souma quickly released the information he holds.

“What do you mean?”

“She is the granddaughter of a ‘ninjutsu user’ the Former Ninth Research Institute used to get their hands on ancient magicians. She has a genetic relation to the Kuki Family, but there is no blood relation.”

“Parts for genetic manipulation, huh...”

Yuuto’s voice oozed disgust.

“To get the magic factors of ancient magicians, they didn’t do a marriage or artificial insemination, but a chimera!?“

Alisa put one hand on her mouth and opened her eyes wide.

“Though in the end, normal modern magicians were born. Well, I guess in the sense that the magic factors appeared, it was a success, wasn’t it?”

“Souma, is this the reason so many in the Kuki Family suffer from cancer...”

In the Kuki Family, one of the 28 Houses, the number of members who get symptoms of cancer exceed what can be properly explained as random chance.

Among the 28 Houses that were successful cases from the Magician Research and Development Institutes, whose genetic combinations were carefully scrutinized, the other 27 Houses have less tendency to develop genetic illnesses — there are many examples of health problems whose main cause is not physical — so the theory that only the Kuki Family underwent a special genetic manipulation has been going around in the corners of magician society for some time.

“In her case, she is a descendent from the side that provided the genetic samples. She shouldn’t have any effects of chimerafication.”

Souma didn’t pick up on where Yuuto let off, instead he shrugged his shoulders and brought the discussion about the Kuki Family to an end.

Kuki jumped around beneath the Nippon Budokan ceiling. Marika was being forced into a close fight by her aerial fighting style.

But if her opponent was only jumping around, it wouldn’t be that hard for Marika to deal with it. The experience of competing against an opponent that ‘flies’ rather than ‘jumps around’ at the Nine Schools Competition’s Mirage Bat has been stored inside Marika.

Kuki’s movements are three-dimensional, but what she’s doing is simply hit and run. The way to handle it is to close the distance and bring her to a battle of strikes or into a submission, or to match her timing and hit her with a counter.

At the start, Marika opted for a strategy of hardening her defenses and going for counters. Not repelling her strikes with ‘Reactive Armor’ or fortification magic, but a fighting style that defends against the opponent’s attacks with parries and blocks that don’t allow her to land telling blows and aiming for a counter.

But when Marika entered a countering stance, it was like Kuki was reading that and always accelerated rapidly to not allow Marika to hit the counter. It wasn’t just after hitting her attacks, she would even interrupt her attacks and prioritize dodging.

It’s a fighting style that, if Magic Arts had a point system for ‘assertiveness’, could lead to a loss by points. Or if there was a rule where minor infringements were given for ‘passivity’, it may also possibly result in a loss by rule violation.

However, there are no factors for rulings outside the ‘telling blows’ connected to technical KOs in Magic Arts. As there is no time limit in bouts, there was no need to introduce ‘wins by judge decision’.

Since there is no need to worry about judgements of superiority or inferiority, tactics based on avoidance can be employed.

To begin with, there are also situations where you ‘win by running away’ in real combat, by denying them with ‘losses by points’ can be said to be, in a certain sense, unrealistic.

Perhaps because ‘ninjutsu’ was originally a system of techniques that emphasize escape, Kiku’s evasion techniques were extraordinary. At the very least, it was hard to capture her with Marika’s countering techniques.

Marika found a clear solution to turn the situation around.

By accepting that she would receive ‘telling blows’, she deployed ‘Reactive Armor’.

She received her opponent’s kick to the face, without defending, then cancelled ‘Reactive Armor’ immediately after and caught her foot. She pulled Kuki into a pin as she was struggling to escape, forced her to the ground with a stranglehold from there, and obtained the win. 

Marika’s winning method being bad for her heart, Alisa pressed down her chest and breathed out a sigh. For now, she was relieved that she was able to win, but the other First High students that came to support couldn’t be any more than simply pleased.

The four bouts of the quarterfinals were held simultaneously and the other three had already finished. Chika won hers and the confrontation with Marika in the semifinals was confirmed. However, the other First High student, Yokoyama Emi, lost to Ichijou Akane, being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

The semifinals will be held after the boy’s semifinals. The bouts will begin at 15 o’clock. The waiting time is no less than 40 minutes. Each competitor moved to a waiting room assigned to the remaining winners to rest their bodies and minds.

“Aren’t you going?”

From the other side of Yuuto, Souma asked Alisa a question.

“You mean to the waiting room?”

Alisa asked back, to which Souma nodded with “Yeah, there”.

“...I’ll give it a pass this time. The upcoming semifinal is against the President, after all.”

“You don’t know what to say to her?”

That was asked by Yuuto.

“That may be it. It would be easy to tell her to ‘win it’, but I don’t think she would be satisfied with something that simple.”

“Wouldn’t it be fine to just tell her to do her best?”

“Izayoi-senpai... you think so?”

“A cheer from none other than her best friend, right? I think that alone would make a big difference.”

“...”

Alisa pondered, reflecting upon what Souma said, and then suddenly stood up.

“Yuuto-san. I’m going after all.”

“I’m going too.”

Yuuto stood up after her.

“Then, me too.”

At the same time as Souma stood up, Alisa and Yuuto put their gazes on him, seemingly saying ‘You don’t have to come...’.

“You two, please wait right here.”

Turning her back to the door of the waiting room, Alisa told that to Yuuto and Souma.

“Alisa, why—”

“Hey, hey, Yuuto. It’s the girl’s waiting room.”

Yuuto tried to ask why they’re being made to wait, to which Souma retorted.

“Ah, aah, that’s right.”

Leaving behind Yuuto, who had an awkward expression, Alisa entered the waiting room assigned to Marika. 

“Asha, you came too.”

Inside the waiting room was, perhaps naturally, not only Marika.

“How surprising. I would have thought Alisa would come here immediately.”

That line came from Mei. It wasn’t only the Magic Arts Club girls in the waiting room, Alisa’s and Marika’s friends, who were sitting in a group with the club members while cheering, also came running here.

“Alisa-san, are you still feeling unwell?”

“Alisa, swap with me. Sit down.”

Koharu expressed her concern over Alisa’s condition, and Hiyori stood up and offered her the chair she was sitting on.

“Thank you, Hiyori. I’m okay.”

Alisa declined the chair and kneeled down in front of Marika.

“Mina, about the next bout...”

“I’m going to win.”

Before Alisa could choose her next words, Marika frankly conveyed her intentions to her.

“Sorry to the President, but I will win the semifinal. I will win, no matter the cost. And then I’m going to fight Ichijou-san.”

Marika showed off her will once again, overwhelming Alisa with her strong desire for a bout with Akane.

“...You want to fight her that much? You won’t be satisfied unless you get revenge for last time?”

Alisa couldn’t understand why she could be so fixated on competing with someone for a win or a loss.

“It’s not for something like revenge.”

Marika’s smile didn’t look like she was pretending.

“It’s because I promised her. I’m just going to fulfill that promise.”

“Promise... I believe you said ‘I will get my revenge’, though?”

“Ahaha, I said that, didn’t I?”

Right after declaring that ‘it’s not for revenge’, Marika smiled embarrassedly as her own past words contradicting that were dug up.

“But really, it’s not about winning or losing. Though yeah, since I’m doing it, I want to win.”

“...So which is it?”

“No, I mean. If she entered the general women’s unrestricted age division, she might have been able to win, and despite that, she came to the girl’s 18 and under division to face me. I have to repay her for that. Winning or losing is the step after that.”

Apparently, Marika is trying to say ‘I have to fulfill my duty’. Though Alisa, as expected, was unable to comprehend.

“In that case, you have to do your best in the next bout, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll do my best and win.”

Marika insisted that she’s going to ‘win’ in the next bout against an opponent that is in First High like her. This may be natural for a competitor going into a match.

“Setting winning and losing aside, do your best so that you won’t have any regrets.”

However, to the end, Alisa couldn’t tell her ‘win it’.