her opponent's field.

Probably because she wasn't fixated on her opponent for some bizarre reason. She was fighting in a manner that put anyone watching her at ease.

Her opponent, who had expended all her energy, did not put up any futile resistance.

The three icicles in the enemy's territory shattered apart like a sand castle standing against the incoming tide.

? ? ?

Miyuki's match was the last one in the first round.

This was a long wait from early morning, but since lunch time was also figured into the time, this didn't feel that long for her.

Speaking of Tatsuya, he was also up since morning and this was his third match, so he was hardly "waiting".

Miyuki and Tatsuya were the only ones in the resting area for players. Honoka and Shizuku were nowhere in sight.

They had mentioned during lunch that they would be cheering her on during the match. Now, they probably already met up with Erika's crew.

In recompense, which was hardly the issue at hand, Isori and Kanon as well as Mayumi and Mari came to support her.

(It's a huge cheerleading party......)

Tatsuya wore a helpless look on his face as he murmured in the privacy of his mind. Of course, he actually said something else.

"I'm glad that you all came to cheer on Miyuki, but......

Chief, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"What, even you're treating me like an invalid? It's not like I have to hop around and dance, so there's no problem."

Yet, it was still a serious injury. Tatsuya swallowed those words and directed the conversation towards Mayumi.

"Oh...... Then shouldn't the President be at the pavilion? I thought the

Men's Team is still in the middle of their event."

"No problem. I left that to Hanzou-kun. I'm also stepping down two months from now, so it's not a good idea to rely on me for everything."

This was a valid argument, but smacked of someone feigning silliness.

Still, their presence wasn't going to negatively affect the match, so continuing this conversation would do more harm than good.

"Miyuki, we have so many reliable senpais here to cheer you on, make sure you're not more anxious than usual."

Pfft, someone was snickering in the back, but Tatsuya chose to ignore that.

Apparently, he was doting on Miyuki too much. But for Tatsuya, his sister was always (logically) going to be his sister.

"Please do not concern yourself. Because Onii-sama is by my side."

Following that, Miyuki raised her head and gazed at her brother whom she had complete faith in. In her ears, all other sounds became inaudible.

? ? ?

Miyuki's appearance on the platform threw the crowd into pandemonium.

"That, incredibly, that is......"

"But suits her quite well. What do you think, Kanon?"

"I say, that's simply gorgeous."

Tatsuya tuned out Kanon and Isori's conversation like it was a BGM and focused on preparations to monitor Miyuki's status. In the blink of an eye, the preparations were complete. Tatsuya peered towards Miyuki and suddenly realized: "Right, that's what everyone is staring at."

Miyuki was dressed in a fine white hakui paired with a crimson hakama. Her hair was held back by a white strap.

True, the hairstyle was slightly different and if in place of a CAD she held bells or a sakai, she would be even more stunning. It was that kind of garb.

Originally, she was already gorgeous and now paired with this wardrobe, she gave off an almost divine aura.

No, perhaps she had already surpassed divine possession and was now approaching the realms of the gods themselves.

"Ouch, her opponent seems to have been submerged."

"Nothing they can do about that. Even I must admit that I can't hold a candle to that. ......

Ah, unless that was the goal all along?"

Mayumi and Mari's voices from behind him were plainly directed towards himself. Tatsuya turned around and replied.

"By goal, you mean what? There's nothing particularly astounding about using that attire for magic ceremonies."

Still, his answer was literally the answer to a literal question, but there was clearly a mismatch in what both sides wanted to communicate.

"......Tatsuya-kun's family follows the Shinto system?"

This time the question was even more off the mark. After Mayumi's unrelenting pursuit, Tatsuya didn't hesitate as he shook his head.

"Hardly, it's simply because we're Japanese."

"......Really, maybe, fine."

Mayumi reluctantly nodded. Tatsuya left with a "Let's end the conversation here" and turned back towards the monitors.

Tatsuya's words themselves were hard to deny and were fairly logical.

Yet, if someone witnessed the entire process, they would immediately be able to tell that he wasn't being uniform the entire time.

They were both kimonos, but Tatsuya had a conflicted view of Shizuku's tamotos yet didn't question his own sister's miko getup. Tatsuya's sensibilities on this — objectively speaking — were indeed suspicious.

? ? ?

Miyuki was wholly unaware of the drama unfolding on the back stage

—well, that was only to be expected — as she calmly waited for the start signal.

"False starts" were a major violation of the rules.

Being overly enthusiastic could subconsciously activate magic, which was your own fault. Well aware of this fallacy, Miyuki wasn't fired up during the waiting period like all the other players, but was concentrating on restraining herself.

......In the eyes of others, this was a "posture of silence".

The signal lights on both ends of the arena flashed red.

Miyuki opened her faintly closed eyes and gazed directly at the enemy field.

A sigh arose from the audience.

And not just in one area either, but from nearly the entire arena.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the young men, but the young women who were mesmerized by that fiery gaze.

This was no longer the atmosphere expected from mere spectating.

With apologies to the other player, the entire audience was fixated on Miyuki's every move.

The signal light flashed yellow, and just as it turned green—

An intense psion light flooded the entire area without heed to allied or enemy territories.

Yet, the arena — had turned into two different seasons. An absolute chill enshrouded Miyuki's field.

A burning heat wave flooded her opponent's field. The icicles in her opponent's field started to melt.

Her opponent was desperately trying to apply cooling magic with no apparent effect whatsoever.

Her own position had turned into a frozen hell that surpassed the winds of winter.

Her opponent's field transformed into a scorched purgatory that rivaled summer's might.

Still, all of this lasted only the briefest of moments. Swiftly,

Her field was completely enveloped in chilling mist.

While her opponent's field was devoured by the rising steam.

? ? ?

"That can't be......"

"Inferno

......?"

Behind him, Tatsuya could hear Mari and Mayumi's murmurs and groans.

They were certainly spot on, Tatsuya thought, yet he didn't turn around.

Tatsuya's gaze was still locked on the display of Miyuki's back from the monitoring device.

Medium-Scale Oscillation-Type Magic "Inferno".

By dividing the target area into two sections and decreasing the kinetic and rotational energy of all objects within one section, this surplus energy could be released into the other section in the form of heat. This way, conservation of energy was still maintained while applying the principle of reverse entropy from thermodynamics.

Occasionally, this magic served as the test for A-Rank Magicians. Many testers shed bitter tears at their inability to wield this highly difficult magic, but for Miyuki, this was merely a triviality that she could manipulate at will.

Since this was originally an area-of-effect magic, there was no need to worry needlessly about magic leaking outside and breaking the rules. Still, the very definition of magic forced Magicians to be extremely careful even with the simplest of techniques. If an incident were to occur, she would immediately be disqualified from the match, which would prompt him to intervene by any means necessary. This was what was running across Tatsuya's mind as he watched Miyuki.

However, he appeared to be agitated over nothing.

The temperature in the enemy's field rocketed past 200 degrees Celsius.

Flash freeze icicles that were formed in a hurry were nothing more than rough ice cubes with countless pockets of air within. These pockets would rapidly expand when heated, causing the icicle itself to crack despite the icicle becoming more fluid under the heat.

Suddenly, the temperature stopped rising.

Immediately afterwards, a shock wave burst spread across the enemy field.

Miyuki had switched magics.

She was compressing and releasing the air.

Every frail icicle within the enemy field shattered as one.

? ? ?

There were a total of 360 contestants and 72 technicians. While some schools waived their right to tactical advisors, the number of total participants in the Nine Schools Competition still exceeded 450 students. If there was a ball (or even banquet), this number of people could still be managed, but that was practically impossible to achieve on a daily basis during the main event.

Breakfast was done buffet style on a first come, first serve basis. Lunch consisted of bentos being delivered to each school's pavilion or engineering vehicles, though some people chose to take them back to their rooms. Dinner was served in the three dining halls over three separate sessions, with each school getting one hour to dine. (The schools dined separately to avoid their tactics leaking to other schools.)

Actually, dinner was the only opportunity for the entire school team to congregate in the dining hall.

This one hour of dinner was an invaluable time for sharing the day's triumphs and regrets.

Tonight, at the First High tables, a clear line was drawn between light and darkness.

Darkness covered the corner where the 1st Year male players were gathered.

Light enshrouded the corner where the 1st Year female players were gathered.

And among the dense jungle of female players, the small dash of red (or maybe green is more appropriate in the jungle?) was, of course,

Tatsuya.

"Miyuki, that was totally awesome."

"So that's 'Inferno'? The senpais were completely shocked. It's said that even A-Rank Magicians have problems with that ability."

"Eimi, nicely done! Your first match was a little tight though."

"Cavalier gear with carbine stance, nice!"

"Shizuku was great too! Your kimono with tamoto was simply beautiful, then you forced your opponent steadily into a corner. Cool~!"

While the Newcomers Division Crowd Ball only clinched one Second Place and one Sixth Place, yielding a "so-so" result, the dominating performance from the Icicle Destruction players allowed all three to advance to the third round, continuing the triumphant performance from the Speed Shooting event. This caused the female players to bask in a festive mood.

The format of the Icicle Destruction event had 24 players in total, with 12 matches in the first round and 6 matches in the second round. With three people advancing to the third round, First High laid claim to fully half of the players still in the field.

The three victors from the third round would then engage in a round robin to decide the ultimate victor, though based on the current situation, there was a strong possibility that all three of those positions may be claimed by players from First High. If so, that would truly be an astounding feat. The very fact that this remained a distinct possibility made it "impossible" for them not to be beside themselves with joy.

The upperclassmen all wore smiles that said "What are we going to do with you guys" as the underclassmen danced around in joy.

"Shiba-kun, Shizuku's ability was a 'Resonance' variant, right?"

The 1st Year female student who came over was not one of the players Tatsuya was responsible for. He was aware of who she was, but was not overly familiar. Wholly ill at ease (Miyuki vetoed his request to sit elsewhere) as he dined, Tatsuya was suddenly the center of attention and finally managed a somewhat ordinary reply. "That is correct."

Quite the detached reply but even so, his voice was slightly gentler than usual. While they were peers in the same cohort, the other person was a Course 1 female student that he rarely interacted with normally. Tatsuya was taking precautions not to frighten her off by accident.

Unfortunately, this caution brought about a crescendo in response. "So the Activation Sequence was really designed by Shiba-kun?"

"I heard that Shiba-kun developed the technique Shizuku used during Speed Shooting, right?"

"Shiba-kun also devised the strategy for Inferno too."

"Rumor has it that Shiba-kun was also the mastermind behind Honoka's flashbang strategy."

The continuous stream of questions gave him no room to maneuver and continuously drained his mental facilities, not that there was anything Tatsuya could do about it. Still, they were currently in a stimulated state which likely used the current festive mood as stress relief for the continuous anxiety from the competition. From another perspective, this exaggerated praise may even be seen as flaunting in order to raise their self-confidence to combat that feeling of unease that couldn't be easily dispelled. Tatsuya could understand that feeling, so he intentionally avoided dampening their enthusiasm and patiently continued to listen.

"That's great......

If Shiba-kun was my support, I could probably win too."

However, this phrase was still taking things too far and couldn't be ignored.

Despite this, he probably shouldn't be the one who pointed this out. Tatsuya glanced subtly at Miyuki, who was sitting beside him.

"Nanabi, I think there's something wrong with that sentiment."

Upon being gently reprimanded, this female student immediately realized that her words could be easily mistaken for her dissatisfaction with her supporting technician.

Her attitude did a complete 180 as she frantically rose to her feet, babbling the entire time, and searched the upperclassmen for the engineer responsible for her. Upon discovering the engineer smiling and waving at her, she finally let out a deep sigh of relief, bowed deeply in apology, then returned to her seat.

"I-I spoke poorly."

"Nana, you can't place your own inadequacies all on the CAD."

"Teehee...... Reflecting."

The volume level for the young ladies' conversation had dropped considerably, but didn't nearly qualify as whispering.

"But there is no doubt that thanks to Shiba-kun, I'm performing much better than usual."

This time it was Takigawa, a female student that took Third Place in Speed Shooting, who spoke up. Eimi nodded excessively at this.

"On some level, CAD calibration is the same thing as telling your darkest secrets, isn't it? And towards a male engineer to boot......

While I did think like that in the beginning, but to have Shiba-kun be my engineer is simply incredible! Here's to the boys who were willing to yield Shiba-kun to us!"

Tatsuya could only smile wryly at the massive misunderstanding hidden behind that innocent smile.

However, there were also people who couldn't muster even a wry smile.

"Ah, hey!"

With a violent "bang", one of the boys stood up.

Heedless of anyone trying to stop him, Morisaki picked up his silverware and headed towards the catering area before leaving the dining hall altogether.

? ? ?

Coincidentally at the same time.

Though it wasn't a sumptuous feast, there was an entire array of high class Chinese cuisine — far more lavish than any high school banquet

—spread across the table that was surrounded by a crowd of dismal expressions. There was a colossal difference between the luxurious gold and red decorations and the dour faces of the men present.

"......Wasn't Third High supposed to be favored for the Newcomers

Division?"

They were conversing in English.

"We finally managed to force Watanabe to bow out, but...... If this continues, wouldn't First High triumph again?"

However, the people present showed clear signs of mixed European and East Asian heritage.

"If the favored candidate wins, the house will be hemorrhaging money!"

"There are a lot of VIPs in the casinos this time. Even if we do pay out, this isn't a small sum for us. We'll probably be facing a gaping deficient in the beginning of the business quarter. If that's the case......"

The men peered at one another with grave expressions.

"......Everyone here will be purged by headquarters. Based on the size of our loss, the head may do the honors himself!"

One of the men murmured softly as he peered at the snaking dragon embroidered with gold thread in the middle of the hanging axle.

A heavy silence fell over all the men.

"Dying might be the best thing that could happen to us......"

Someone muttered.

In a voice quaking with terror.

? ? ?

Unlike magic related sports events, gender differences didn't really impact magic competitions.

Even so, when taking into account that physical abilities still hold the decisive edge in events like Battle Board or Crowd Ball, the Newcomers Division separated the genders from this year forth.

In other words, this was the first year that the men and women competed separately in the Newcomers Division.

Until last year, there was no separation by gender, so men usually competed in events like Battle Board or Crowd Ball, while women chose to participate in events such as Icicle Destruction or Speed Shooting that were less taxing on the physical body. Thanks to this (the ratio favored male participants due to school differences), the audience was generally split between watching two different types of events.

So which was more popular, the Men's competition or the Women's competition?

Based on the Official Division from previous years, the average spectator usually observed the Women's events, while the military, police, firefighters, and university related personnel paid closer attention to the Men's competition.

—Then again, speaking of this year's Newcomers Division.

"There are a lot of people here......"

"There were plainly more open seats during the Men's competition."

Two young ladies were sitting in the empty reserved observation area and cast pitying gazes across the spectator stands that were filled to capacity.

They were Mayumi and Mari.

"Somehow, I feel that there are a lot of people from the universities." Mayumi said this as she directed her gaze towards the VIP stands.

"After seeing that yesterday, they wouldn't be satisfied with just a recording, would they?"

Mari completely agreed.

"Exactly. Aren't we here to watch as well?"

To preserve all fairness, the order of the matches was reversed from yesterday.

It was the sixth day of the Nine Schools Competition and third day of the Newcomers Division.

The first match of the third round in Icicle Destruction was about to take place.

Mayumi glanced at the time and waited for Miyuki to take the stage.

? ? ?

Turn back the clock for a few moments.

As Tatsuya and Miyuki were headed towards the resting area for Icicle Destruction, two students from Third High appeared before them.

Both of them were male students.

One of them matched Tatsuya's physique in terms of height and shoulder width, to the point that it was extremely difficult to tell the difference. However, that student had a much more stunning appearance.

The other student was significantly shorter. Thanks in part to the school's reputation for emphasizing martial abilities, this did not give off a weak impression.

They appeared to have noticed Tatsuya at the same time and directly walked towards him.

"I am Ichijou Masaki, Third High, 1st Year." The taller one spoke first.

For people that have just met for the first time, his tone was slightly overbearing, but amazingly, Tatsuya didn't seem to mind.

While both of them were 1st Year students, Ichijou Masaki naturally fit into a leadership role and seemed to exude the charismatic aura of a true leader.

Both his eyes were focused on Tatsuya.

"Likewise, Kichijouji Shinkurou, also from Third High’s 1st Year."

The shorter youth spoke politely and identified himself with a more traditional air, though his eyes teemed with a challenging glint.

"First High, 1st Year, Shiba Tatsuya. So, the 'Crimson Prince' and 'Cardinal George' in the flesh, what may I do for you?"

No sense of malice.

Slightly different from sheer enmity.

Still, there was no question that this was not a friendly attitude. Strictly speaking, it was a naked fighting spirit.

Just like Masaki, Tatsuya also responded in a tone that would be considered overly rude for first acquaintances in his usual manner.

Tatsuya felt that putting on a mask of false friendship would be insulting to these two.

"Ho...... So you know of George's reputation as well as mine? Well that makes this simple."

"Shiba Tatsuya...... A hitherto unknown name, but I shall never forget this name. You are probably the most ingenious technician since the advent of the Nine Schools Competition. I'm afraid we are lacking in manners here, but all we wished for was to meet you once."

"I am honored to be called a 'genius' by the prodigy that discovered the Cardinal Code at age 13...... But you are right in that this is against the norm."

As for his own manner of speaking, he replied back in a frank and straightforward fashion.

Yet, neither of them appeared irritated. They came with absolute determination and maintained a posture one usually reserves for a serious opponent.

"Miyuki, go ahead and prepare."

Tatsuya did not lift his eyes from these two as he gave his instructions to Miyuki. Tatsuya estimated that they would be here for a while.

"I understand."

Miyuki bowed towards Tatsuya and departed for the resting area without sparing Masaki a single glance, as if the pair did not exist within her dimension. There wasn't even a hint that she was intentionally avoiding them — that was how perfectly she rendered them to non-existence.

For an instant, Masaki's eyes followed Miyuki, but swiftly reverted back to Tatsuya.

"......'Prince', isn't your side about to begin?"

The split second of wavering and reluctance did not escape Tatsuya's eyes. Inwardly, he let out a small breath.

Unwavering, Tatsuya's eyes forced Masaki to reply. "......We will appear in tomorrow's Monolith Code."

Yet, the one who replied for him was Kichijouji.

Kichijouji was the champion for the Newcomers Division Speed Shooting event, while Masaki was favored to clinch the crown for the Newcomers Division Icicle Destruction event. Naturally, it was expected that each school would commit their aces to the Monolith Code event.

"What are your plans?"

Although he wanted to ask what he was referring to, there wasn't enough time left.

"I'm not responsible for that."

That being said, he had no obligation to reveal any details, so he went with the abstract answer.

"Is that so...... That's unfortunate. One day, I wish to line up against the players you're responsible for. Of course, we will triumph."

Kichijouji's words caused Tatsuya to feel "Are you throwing down now?". But he quickly thought otherwise, since these guys originally came to challenge him in the first place.

"Sorry for taking your time. We look forward to meeting on the field of battle."

Before Tatsuya could respond to Kichijouji, Masaki made this declaration and walked past Tatsuya with Kichijouji.

—So they're still a rude bunch in the end. Tatsuya thought as he headed towards the resting area where Miyuki was waiting for him without turning his head in the slightest.

"What were they up to?"

The first thing Miyuki asked when she came out of the changing room was about the earlier scene.

"Scouting, I think? Still felt pointless though."

Tatsuya tilted his head and chose to reply in neutral terms and handed Miyuki the CAD he had prepared for her while she was changing.

If there were any extraneous distractions before the match, this would only negatively impact the match itself, so Tatsuya moved to curtail the conversation with haste. Yet, after Miyuki heard Tatsuya's reply, she burst into laughter as if finding some profound meaning in his words.

"I think that's their declaration of war, Onii-sama."

He wasn't ignorant of what his sister was referring to. He himself felt those two came to specifically challenge him.

But in Tatsuya's eyes, this was a pointless gesture. "......You don't believe me?"

Even though Miyuki rolled her eyes upward and pouted sulkily, this wasn't something he was going to let slide so easily.

"No, well...... I'm not a contestant, right? I don't believe these two renowned individuals who have extended their reputations beyond the scope of magic high school students would view a nameless person like myself a rival."

"Rival" was based on the assumption that they acknowledged that both sides were equal.

Objectively speaking, from outward appearances, he wasn't even in the same strata as those two. Superficially, comparing themselves with him was a ridiculous notion. Furthermore, they didn't appear to have discovered his secrets either.

Ordinarily, it was frankly impossible for the "Crimson Prince" or "Cardinal George" to see him as an opponent — Tatsuya thought.

Upon seeing her older brother actually thinking this way and not out of humility, the sister sighed deeply.

"......Onii-sama, underestimating your own abilities would be fatal in battle. Exactly how highly you are valued, how greatly you are watched, even how much other schools view Onii-sama — how fiercely their antagonism burns because of Onii-sama's skills and strategies — I think Onii-sama should consider all of this objectively once more."

For Miyuki, this was an exceedingly rare, and blunt, counsel.

This was a completely unexpected boldness and unimaginable reproach. Tatsuya could only stand there and watch her blankly.

This was the third time Miyuki used her mysterious beauty to captivate the hearts of the audience at the same time that she wielded her terrible might to vanquish the enemy.

? ? ?

On the waves where Battle Board would be decided, the first round of the Women's semifinals was about to begin.

The players were already at their starting positions. Honoka's figure was among them.

"Hm~"

"............"

"That's a little

......"

"............"

"OK, that, uh......"

"............"

"What the heck are you two doing?"

All three players were side by side at the starting line. In the stands, Erika was humming in frustration while Mizuki was utterly silent by her side. Finally caving, Leo asked reluctantly.

"Isn't that just~, a little strange? All the players are wearing sunglasses."

"Erika-chan, those are called 'goggles'......"

Indeed, just as Erika and Miyuki said, not just Honoka, but the other two were wearing dark protective goggles as well.

"Isn't that obvious? This is the most reliable countermeasure to Honoka-san's light magic."

Mikihiko's analysis was grounded in common sense, causing Erika to adopt a "How boring~" expression as she laughed mirthlessly.

"......What's wrong with that?"

"But~, doesn't that mean they fell for Tatsuya-kun's strategy? Battle Board players don't use goggles because the water droplets may interfere with their sight. This is a key reason. Yet they quickly adopted goggles after being flashed once......

There should be other ways to counter light magic......"

"Is Honoka-san planning on using the water to obscure their vision?" Erika nodded in disinterest.

However.

"That's hard to say......

I doubt that Tatsuya will rely on such a mundane tactic."

"......Possibly."

Mikihiko's words seemed to rouse some of Erika's interest.

This time, no flash occurred immediately after the start. "She's slow out the gate!?"

"No, she's right behind!"

As they navigated the snaking tunnel in front of the observation deck, Honoka was in sec-->>

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