p> By the way, did Class A use the same CAD?"

"Yes."

Miyuki did not hide her disgust as she nodded, prompting Erika's curiosity. "Just for reference, could you tell me how long you took?"

"Eh? Me?"

Miyuki's eyes widened as she pointed at herself and Erika intentionally nodded in an exaggerated motion.

Miyuki glanced at Tatsuya.

"Go ahead." Tatsuya nodded with a wry smile.

"If Onii-sama says so..." Miyuki hesitated, then agreed.

Mizuki, who was closest to the machines, started setting the measuring equipment.

As if she were preparing to play the piano, Miyuki lightly placed her fingers on the board.

Measurement, start.

The remaining psion light flashed across. Mizuki's face froze.

Losing patience at her friend who wasn't announcing the result, Erika urged her on.

"...235 ms..."

"Uh...?"

"That's insane..."

Their stiff expressions started to spread.

"No matter how many times I hear it, it's still an astounding score..."

"Miyuki's technical abilities are nearing the limit for human reaction speeds."

Even the Class A students could not help but sigh. Only her elder brother didn't seem surprised.

He even looked somewhat disappointed as he wrinkled his brow.

"The old models used for education can only do so much. There's nothing you can do, Miyuki."

"There's no other choice, I have to use these maladjusted Activation Sequence filled with background noise... It's really irritating.

As expected, my real strength can only be revealed by the CADs maintained by Onii-sama himself."

Halfway between throwing a tantrum and being coquettish, Miyuki lay her head against Tatsuya's side. Tatsuya gently patted her head like he was comforting a child.

Everyone who was watching this scene did not tease them like they usually would.

The siblings' strength and words were displayed before their very eyes.

Before the difference displayed by the pair, jealousy was something only idiots would feel.

? ? ?

After school, Tatsuya sat in the cafe and stared blankly at the passing students.

The mixed atmosphere in the room was likely the reason why the majority of the students frequented this place.

According to Mari, the cafe saw the highest amount of traffic shortly after the school term began.

After students familiarized themselves with the campus, they begin to seek out places like club rooms, the central quad, or empty classrooms to spend their spare time.

Well, since the cafe wasn't for profit anyways, the loss in traffic was not a major concern.

The coffee atop the table had already turned cold.

The situation was the exact reverse of their previous meeting.

The only detail that was the same was that someone invited the other person.

Tatsuya was waiting for Sayaka in order to hear the results of her "homework".

Although he was irritated by the spying gaze looking at him, Tatsuya did not make any distinctive motions. Although he was confident that he could detect the target no matter how hard they hid, publicly subduing the target in the middle of the cafe was inadvisable, so he chose to avoid any violent action and merely pretend to calmly wait without detecting anything.

Fifteen minutes after the arranged time. She finally appeared.

"I'm sorry! Did you wait very long?"

"No worries, I got your message anyways." That wasn't merely just being polite.

Tatsuya's terminal did receive Sayaka's message saying that she would be about ten minutes late.

Also, by the time he received the message, it was only five minutes before the appointed time. Since it wasn't as if there was a major change in the arrangement, no matter if it was ten or twenty minutes, it was only waiting. The fact that he thought this way was probably because he had considerable patience.

"Is that so? Thank goodness.

I was just thinking what I was going to do if Shiba-kun left." Sayaka patted her chest in an exaggerated fashion.

Looked like today was also the "cute girl" type.

Tatsuya tilted his head and thought, in her mind, exactly what was supposed to draw his interest?

"What is it?"

Sayaka was befuddled.

Looks like he accidentally expressed his mental thoughts.

"It's nothing. Just that when senpai turns into a 'cute girl', this image greatly differs from the time you're holding a sword."

"Really, you meanie... Stop picking on me." She frantically looked elsewhere.

Tatsuya was unable to determine whether this was her honest reaction or more acting on her part.

Unfortunately, the results were announced before he could arrive at any conclusion.

"I'm sorry."

He smiled in apology. This was his acting.

Even though he didn't have too much confidence in it, that is. "Really... Is Tatsuya's real personality that of a flirt?"

"And not of a Magician, at least, not yet."

Taking a sip of cold coffee, Tatsuya turned around. He wasn't avoiding Sayaka's gaze, but instead, was looking towards the silhouette hidden amongst the plants. "Watanabe-senpai..."

Sayaka sucked in a breath and noticed that figure. But her sound was very light and insufficient to travel to that person.

"Oh, Tatsuya-kun."

The first one to respond was Mari. However, it was obvious that her gaze was reprimanding Tatsuya. If he had not specifically directed his gaze over, then she could have approached without drawing notice — since this was the only way she could have erased her own presence.

"I'm not being lazy here."

Mari forced a smile at Tatsuya's reply. It was hard to tell whether Tatsuya's line meant "he was off duty today" or purely a joke.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm reminding you as a committee member since I'm just passing through."

Now that Tatsuya mentioned it this way, Mari's appearance would seem unnatural. Mari, who did not miss this opportunity to cover this, was quite suave about this as well.

"I apologize if I was bothering the two of you. Mibu, sorry."

"No, it's nothing like that..."

Sayaka's reply to Mari was slightly stiff. Was it because she was nervous responding to an upperclassman, or because of negative feelings towards the Public Moral Committee.

Tatsuya felt that (n)either one was incorrect.

This impression was only strengthened by the powerful gaze Sayaka directed at Mari's retreating figure.

"So regarding what we talked about last time..."

After Mari's silhouette left the cafe, Sayaka finally started talking about the main subject.

Tatsuya was thinking about "Didn't she say that it's in my hands now..." or "She specifically came to observe because..." and "Monitoring would be another thing altogether", but he did not mention them aloud.

"In the beginning, merely expressing our ideas to the school was sufficient."

Her arm shook as she clasped her hands into fists beneath the table. "But, as expected, just this is not enough.

We want the school to improve the way we are treated."

She's in quite deep, Tatsuya thought.

Was she earnest? Or just saying so because he perked her interest? If this created a ruckus, it may lead to the reverse effect.

"In terms of improvement, do you have any concrete changes in mind?"

"That is... Everything in terms of treatment."

"Everything, like actual lessons?"

"...That's also one of them."

"The primary difference between Course 1 and 2 would be the presence of instructors, so is senpai suggesting the school increase the number of faculty members?"

Such a thing was impossible.

Originally, the policy was created precisely because there weren't enough people capable of effectively using magic.

The Course 2 system was a necessary evil to help ensure the number of Magicians and Magic Artificers.

"I didn't plan on taking it so far..."

As expected, the returning comment was a lackluster denial. "Then, are you referring to club activities?

I recall that the Kendo and Kenjutsu clubs have equal access and privileges to the gymnasium?"

According to Tatsuya's investigation yesterday, the surprising result was that the Kendo and Kenjutsu clubs had an equal amount of days in the gym.

"Or, is it problems with the budget?

While it is true that clubs affiliated with magic contests receive a higher amount of funding, based on the results of the budget division, this is something commonly seen in normal high schools as well."

"That... Maybe that is...

Then, Shiba-kun doesn't feel dissatisfied?

Asides from magic technical skills, no matter if it's magic theory, ordinary subjects, physical capabilities, or actual combat ability, even if you surpass the Course 1 students in all of these areas, but are labeled a Weed solely on your poor technical score, are you truly able to resign yourself to that?"

As he watched Sayaka desperately trying to find words to shore up her argument, Tatsuya felt that he was too harsh.

His resignation and regret were completely unrelated to her thoughts.

If you want to change, why don't you use your own thoughts to persuade others?

"Of course I'm not resigned." Then he should,

"In that case!"

"However, I have no reason to change the school." Speak of his own thoughts.

"What?"

"I do not have that many expectations on this state-sponsored school." These were his true thoughts, without a single hint of hypocrisy.

"The only things I want are access to the undisclosed data files stored within the magic universities and related organizations and to graduate from magic high school. Beyond that, I have no further desires."

Sayaka was dumbfounded at Tatsuya's retaliatory response.

"Not to mention that I have no intention of putting the blame for 'using banned words on campus to hurt others' or the immaturity of our peers on the school itself."

From the surface, this comment appearred to critique the incorrect ideology leading Course 1 students to refer to Course 2 students as "Weeds", but in reality, this was a reprimand aimed at those who could not meet their own expectations and sought the easy way out by blaming others for their weakness. Tatsuya let Sayaka clearly understand that.

"Alas, it looks like senpai and I have fundamentally different ideologies." After saying this, Tatsuya rose from his seat.

"Wait... Wait a minute!"

He turned around and glanced at the still sitting — or maybe, unable to stand — Sayaka, whose face had lost all color, whose eyes searched for support, and raised her head to look at him.

This was definitely not a glare, but an earnest, desperate gaze. "How... can you be so calm?

What is it that supports Shiba-kun?"

"My dream is to develop a Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor.

Learning magic is nothing more than a single stepping stone along the way."

Sayaka's face turned blank.

Most likely, she was utterly unable to comprehend Tatsuya's words.

The realization of a Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Reactor, along with the "actualization of Generalized Flying-Type Magic", and the "development of a perpetual motion device based on the model of unlimited inertial expansion" are known collectively as the "Three Great Puzzles of Weight Systematic Magic."

For the future goal of a Course 2 student, this was simply too grandiose of a concept.

Tatsuya did not anticipate a mutual understanding, so he said nothing.

He no longer paid any attention to Sayaka and, once again, turned and left.

? ? ?

A week of peace and quiet passed by.

As he went on patrol as a Public Moral Committee member, he no longer encountered the ambushes that cropped up during the recruitment week. It was a peaceful time, just as Mizuki predicted (?).

Finally, Tatsuya obtained a stable high school life — at least, that was how it looked from the surface.

This was nothing more than the calm before the storm.

One day after class.

At this time, students that participated in clubs were heading for the storage compartments to retrieve their uniforms and store their other school equipment, while those that were heading home prepared to leisurely depart.

"Attention, fellow students!"

A roar came across the loudspeakers. "What the hell is going on!"

"Dude, relax. You're annoying enough as it is, don't start yelling too."

"....I think Erika-chan needs to calm down too."

Just when many students were milling about in confusion, "—Apologies, fellow students!"

The same speech started again from the loudspeakers. "They probably messed up on the volume the first time."

"No, I'm pretty sure now's not the time to comment on that."

Erika's keen ears picked up on Tatsuya's soft muttering, and immediately retorted.

Erika-chan is the same too, Mizuki thought, but did not verbalize.

"We are, the Aspirants Alliance who wish to abolish the differences within the school."

"Aspirants..."

Tatsuya softly repeated the words he heard delivered by a masculine voice over the loudspeakers. Based on the conversation in the cafe last week, this broadcast was most likely what Sayaka referred to as "an attempt to improve treatment". However, was there a precedent where members of a political club or organization labeled themselves as "aspirants", Tatsuya's thoughts unintentionally went on a tangent.

"Towards the Student Council and Club Management Group, we demand to negotiate on an even footing."

"I say, don't you need to be somewhere?"

Although she didn't hear his unpleasant mumbling, Erika's exuberant voice nagged at the still seated Tatsuya who was staring at the loudspeaker.

"That's true."

While Erika's attitude was, in a way, prudent, Tatsuya didn't say anything because what she said was correct.

"Inappropriate use of the Public Announcement Room is without question. There should be committee members on their way there right now."

Just as Tatsuya said this, a message arrived at the personal terminal he carried in his pocket, and not the data terminal in the classroom.

"Heh, speak of the devil. Then, I'm off."

"Ah, yes, please be careful."

Mizuki rose from her chair and spoke to Tatsuya in a voice filled with unease. Suddenly mindful of his surroundings, Tatsuya took a cursory look around the class. While there were students both in and out of their chairs, very few of them opted to leave the classroom. There were very few students who found the situation interesting like Erika, or, were infected by Leo's curiosity. The majority of the students wore expressions of restlessness and were contemplating if it was appropriate to leave.

? ? ?

"Ah, Onii-sama."

"Miyuki, you've been summoned as well?"

"Yes, the President said to meet in front of the Public Announcement Room."

Tatsuya met up with Miyuki along the way, and headed towards the Public Announcement Room.

However, their pace was not particularly fast. "Is this Blanche's work?"

"Not sure if it's the organization itself, but it matches their modus operandi."

The two of them continued their conversation until they reached the door to the Public Announcement Room together.

Before the doorway, Mari, Katsuto, Suzune, and members of the Public Moral Committee and Club Management Group could be seen.

"You're late."

"My apologies."

Both sides went through the motions for reprimanding and apologies, then started to verify the current situation.

The broadcast was probably curtailed by cutting the power.

Given that they hadn't charged in, the door was likely locked. It appeared that their opponents somehow managed to obtain the Master Key.

"Isn't this blatant criminal activity?"

Using the ends to justify the means, this type of thinking clearly showed that these guys were model "activists".

"Just so.

Thus, we have to be prudent here, so we don't force them into doing something drastic."

Although Tatsuya was speaking to himself, Suzune still replied.

"Even if we approach this prudently, there's no guarantee that they will back down.

I believe that we should take the rougher approach, with the intent of ending this as soon as possible."

Immediately, Mari interrupted.

It looks like we're deadlocked by two competing approaches. For crisis management, this is the worst possible situation.

"What does Club Leader Juumonji think?" Tatsuya's question drew quite a few surprised looks.

Tatsuya himself felt that this question did bring a "who're you to ask questions" feeling, but even then, this was preferable to remaining at an impasse.

It's not like he was an adult.

And he didn't plan on asking adults for assistance in this matter.

"I believe that there's no harm in agreeing to their demands to negotiate.

This is only a more radical attempt at what we've seen in the past. As long as we calmly refute their claims, we should be able to quell this without further concerns."

"So, we just sit here and wait?"

"There's not enough information to make a call at this point.

Although we can't just ignore illegal activity, on the other hand, unless this is a dire condition, damaging school facilities is also a criminal activity.

We've petitioned the faculty to use the security system override to open the door, but they've refused."

In other words, they didn't want to forcibly end the issue. Katsuto's idea ended up paralleling Suzune's proposal.

In that case, there's nothing else they could do except stay there and wait.

At Tatsuya, who saluted briefly before backing away, Mari directed a displeased gaze.

While he was not coerced into action by this gaze, he still took out the portable terminal from his pocket and changed it to calling mode.

The circumstances forced them to wait, but just waiting in perpetuity was no solution.

After five attempts...

"Is this Mibu-senpai? This is Shiba." Whoosh, quite a few looks turned this way. "...So, where are you senpai?"

The number of gazes directed towards Tatsuya increased.

"Ah, so you're in the Public Announcement Room, that's quite... Thank you for your hard work."

Next, Tatsuya furrowed his brows, because a large sound that defied any attempts towards volume control came across the speaker.

Because the voice from the other side was almost entirely covered from the other listeners, they could only guess at the conversation.

"No, I'm not treating senpai like a fool.

Senpai as well, can you please stay calm about the situation... Ah, I'm sorry.

Then, shall we cut to the chase?"

Mari and Suzune, as well as a few others, perked up their ears in order to catch every one of Tatsuya's words.

"Club Leader Juumonji has agreed to negotiate.

As for the opinion of the Student Council President, we haven't confirmed... no, the President has also agreed."

Seeing Suzune's hand signal, Tatsuya immediately made the correction.

"Speaking of which, I would like to first discuss the negotiation site. Details like date and time... Hm, now. Before the school intercedes... No, I will guarantee senpai's freedom. We're not the police, so we have no authority to confine students... Then, that's all."

Tatsuya pulled out the earplugs and replaced the portable terminal into his pocket before turning to Mari.

"Looks like they're going to come out right away."

"Was that Mibu Sayaka just now?"

"Yeah. Earlier, she passed me her personal number to set up a meeting, not guessing that it would come in handy in this situation."

Behind Tatsuya, Miyuki dipped her head slowly. Although it wasn't obvious enough to make anyone think it as unnatural, but Tatsuya immediately understood that his sister was using her long hair to cover her facial expression.

"You do move quickly, do you..."

"You misunderstand."

Tatsuya couldn't tell if Mari's words were going to end in fortune or misfortune. At any rate, Miyuki wasn't someone who couldn't read the mood and would immediately attack Tatsuya's back in a fit of jealousy.

"Compared to that, I think we should prepare a bit."

Tatsuya didn't turn around (to Miyuki), but focused his attention on urging Mari, Suzune, and Katsuto to action.

"Prepare?"

What are you talking about? Mari used this expression to look at Tatsuya. What are you asking about? Tatsuya blankly stared back at Mari.

"I am, of course, alluding to preparations to arrest all the occupants inside.

Given that they managed to steal the keys, it is well within reason that they are also equipped with CADs or other weapons."

"...I say, didn't you say you would guarantee their freedom?"

"I said I would guarantee the freedom of one, Mibu-senpai.

Also, I never mentioned that I was negotiating on behalf of the Public Moral Committee."

Not just Mari, but even Suzune and Katsuto were astounded at Tatsuya's words.

Naturally, there was one exception who lightly scolded Tatsuya. "Onii-sama, you're evil."

"It's a little too late to say that, Miyuki."

"Ho ho, that's true."

However, Miyuki's scolding was delivered with a delighted tone.

"That being said, Onii-sama? Regarding the fact that you specifically saved Mibu-senpai's personal number to your terminal, it's still not too late now for you to tell me every last detail, is it?"

Her face illuminated with by her smile, Miyuki's pleased voice added this onto the end.

? ? ?

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Whether it was just as expected or only a matter of course, Tatsuya was being interrogated by Sayaka.

Including her, there were five people that had taken control of the Public Announcement Room.

As Tatsuya surmised, they all had CADs, but did not prepare any firearms or blades.

From Tatsuya's point of view, despite their determination, the fact that none of them even considered he could be lying, thus ultimately causing them to be treated like amateur wannabes, was a foregone result.

Aside from Sayaka, the four others were all arrested by Public Moral Committee members while she was relieved of her CAD.

This was because Mari took Tatsuya's reputation into account.

Even though Tatsuya himself felt that verbal agreements were hardly binding in the first place.

Sayaka reached out to grab Tatsuya's collar, but her wrists were intercepted by Tatsuya's hands.

After easily countering the hands that were directed towards his collar,

Tatsuya blankly watched Sayaka vent her feelings. "How dare you lie to us!"

Watching the furiously struggling Sayaka, Tatsuya simply relaxed his hands.

Behind Sayaka, who was menacingly approaching Tatsuya, a voice called out.

"Shiba did not lie to you."

Sayaka flinched at the heavy, forceful voice. "Club Leader Juumonji..."

"I have heard your demands. I have agreed to negotiate.

However, listening to your petition and agreeing with your methods, are two different things."

Sayaka's fighting spirit disappeared.

In front of one responsible for managing all extracurricular activities, Katsuto, and his resolve, Sayaka could only swallow her resentment.

"While that's the case, can't we just release them?"

But at the same time, accompanying the above comment, a petite figure imposed herself between Tatsuya and Sayaka.

Her back was to Tatsuya as if to protect him. "Saegusa?"

Katsuto asked in astonishment. "However, Mayumi."

Mari disagreed.

Nonetheless, Mayumi cut right through them. "I understand what you're trying to say, Mari.

But, if we're only speaking to Mibu-san alone, there's no way we can negotiate.

As long as they're still students of the school, there should be no chance that they would run away."

"We definitely won't run!"

At Mayumi's words, Sayaka reflexively responded back.

"I've already spoken with the supervising teachers.

The Student Council will take responsibility for the theft of the keys as well as the unauthorized use of the loudspeakers."

Mayumi lightly sketched out the reason for her tardiness as well as their current situation.

Despite this, Sayaka and her companions did not betray a trace of fear, though if anyone were to weigh the pros and cons, they would come out vastly ahead, Tatsuya thought.

"Mibu-san, regarding the topics that we will be negotiating about, I would like to speak with you in private. Could you follow me, please?"

"...Yeah, no problem."

"Juumonji-kun, I'll take my leave."

"I understand."

"Sorry, Mari, I somehow feel that I stole your thunder."

"Mentally, no, I never felt that way. But in reality, this is how it's supposed to be,

So don't worry about it."

"That's great.

Then, Tatsuya-kun, Miyuki, the two of you can go home now."

"...Then, President, we'll take our leave."

After a short period of time.

The first one to recover was Miyuki.

Following his sister's solemn bow, Tatsuya wordlessly bowed, then left the scene.