Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei (Indonesia):Volume 4 Chapter 11

perayaan kedua event dari divisi pemula dan dilakukan di saat yang sama.

3 pemain pengganti yang mendapatkan juara pertama dan secara langsung bertanggungjawab atas kemenangan divisi pemula, semuanya cedera di final, jadi ini bukan waktunya hura-hura. meski begitu, meski sebagian besar kemenangan sudah dipastikan, persiapan masih harus dilakukan untuk event mirage bat besok, jadi mereka tidak punya waktu untuk merayakan.

berkat kemenangan fist high, perbedaan skor antara first high dan third high semakin lebar.

sekarang saja perbedaannya 140 poin.

untuk event mirage bat besok, juara pertama akan mendapat 50 poin, juara ke-2 mendapat 30 poin, juara ke-3 mendapat 20 poin, ke-4 mendapat 10 ppoin.

untuk babak awal besok dan final untuk monolith code, juara pertama mendapat 100 poin, ke-2 60 poin, ketiga dan keempat mendapat 40 poin.

Based on tomorrow's result, First High's overall victory might become a certainty before reaching the final day. berdasarkan hasil besok, seluruh kemenangan first high sudah dipastikan sebelum hari akhir.

pemain dan teknisi sedang sibuk mempersiapkan keperluan (seragam, CAD, dll.), jadi anggota lainnya yang punya waktu luang akan ikut sibuk.

Tatsuya sengaja tidak menggunakan "Regrowth" pada gendang telinganya yang pecah dan menerima perawatan medis dari infirmary. seletah itu, dia menggunakan "regrowth" untuk memperbaiki semua kerusakan fisiknya dan menutupinya dengan perban.sekarang, dia sedang bersama miyuki memperiapkan untuk besok.

tidak satupun anggota timnya, khususnya kakak kelasnya, yang tahu dia sudah sepenuhnya pulih, jadi mereka masih khawatir. sementara tatsuya merasa sedikit bersalah karena menipu mereka, dia punya alasan melakukan itu. sebagai penebusan dosa, dia memilih menahan rasa tidak nyaman menggunakan pelindung telinga di tengah panasnya musim panas - dia juga tahu bahwa hal sesederhana itu tidak bisa disebut penebusan dosa.

namun, meski mereka "sibuk bekerja". ini tidak bisa sebanding dengan kegilaan kemarin.

coret itu, mendekati saja tidak.

kemaren malam, dia harus mempersiapkan dua orang secara total dari dasar - tiga, termasuk dirinya - CAD termasuk, yang menciptakan ketekunan gila-gilaan dalam bidang ini.

meski miyuki pindah dari divisi pemula ke divisi official, dia tadinya didaftarkan untuk mirage bat, jadi persiapannya di laksanakan dengan cepat. event yang berada diluar kontrol mereka memakan waktu sehari, tapi itu tidak akan banyak mempengaruhi hasilnya.

Mayumi : "jangan paksakan dirimu, tatsuya-kun, istirahat saja. kau sudah memaksakan dirimu terlalu keras kemaren."

Suzune : "Miyuki-chan, kamu juga. kalau kamu selalu bekerja begitu keras, kita tidak akan bisa berhenti menimbulkan cedera."

Tatsuya dengan ahlinya menyelesaikan pengetest-an CAD. juga Miyuki, dia secara langsung dipaksa berhenti oleh Mayumi dan Suzune, yang menutup aktifitas hari ini.

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disatu tempat, dimalam hari pada waktu ini, grup lainnya yang terkena insomnia sedang dalam posisi terpojok.

"kalo terus begini, kemenangan first high sudah dapat dipastikan........."

"persetan dengan itu! apa kau mau menyerah? kau mau diam saja dan mati?!"

"kalo 1st high menang terus, kita akan kehilangan miliaran dolar!"

"kita lebih baik mati daripada kehilangan uang sebanyak itu! markas tidak pernah tertarik dengan rencana ini, karena kalo gagal, uang yang hilang akan terlalu banyak. kita yang memaksakan rencana ini berjalan. sekarang, mungkin kita masih beruntung kalo hanya diubah menjadi 'generator', dan siapapun yang tidak berguna akan dirubah menjadi 'booster' dan diperbudak sampai mati."

orang-orang yang duduk disekitar meja memandang penuh kebencian pada orang yang berdiri terpaku di sudut ruangan.

"tanpa rencana ini, kita mungkin tidak akan memenuhi quota kita.... tapi aku rasa kita sudah kebablasan."

"ini bukan waktunya mengakatan ha itu! ...kalau begini, mari kita lakukan dengan cara apapun!"

"dia benar! kita sudah menghabiskan energi memaksa kandidat yang potensial kalah dalam pertandingannya. sekarang, kita tidak boleh ragu melakukan taktik yang lebih brutal. meski pelanggan kita akan curiga, selama kita tidak meninggalkan jejak, itu hanya akan menjadi sekedar dugaan saja. kita lakukan atau mati!"

"kirim agen pada asisten. untuk mirage bat besok, paksa semua pemain 1st high untuk mengundurkan diri - dengan cara apapun!"

"kalo mereka beruntung mereka tidak akan mati"

orang-orang itu melihat satu sama lain dengan senyum maniak di wajahnya, pikiran mereka sejalan.

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hari ke-9 kompetisi 9 sekolah. cuaca yang nyaman berakhir sampai kemarin, dan sekarang mulai memburuk, dengan awan yang tebal menandakan datangnya hujan.

namun, tidak ada matahari yang menyilaukan dengan adanya awan hitam di angkasa, menciptakan kondisi yang sempurna untuk mirage bat. untuk para pemain, termasuk miyuki, tanpa diragukan lagi ini adalah "cuaca yang sempurna".

Tatsuya :" sementara ini adalah kondisi yang sempurna untuk mirage bat.... entah kenapa aku meraasa ini adalah pertanda datangnya konflik."

mendengar tatsuya bergumam sendiri selagi menatap kelangit, miyuki mendecitkan alisnya.

Miyuki : "apa akan ada yang terjadi...?"

Tatsuya : "sejak tujuan mereka masih merupakan misteri.... tidak ada bukti kejanggalan tidak berarti menjamin tidak akan terjadi apa-apa. meski begitu, miyuki tak perlu khawatir. apapun yang terjadi, hanya kamu, yang akan aku lindungi sampai batas penghabisan."

kata-kata tatsuya tidak melebih-lebihkan

bagi tatsuya, tujuan hidupnya adalah melindungi Miyuki.

jujur saja, di pikiran tatsuya, mengorbankan pemain lain tidak lebih dari kegilaan.

namun - tatsuya mungkin bersyukur tidak ada orang lain yang mendengar perbincangan mereka.

kalo ada orang lain yang mendengar.... kalo seseorang melihat tatsuya memandang ke langit dan , diluar jangkauannya, miyuki menurunkan kepalanya selagi tersipu malu sementara tersenyum, mereka mungkin akan melaporkan kakak-beradik itu atas tuduhan "homicide by headacches"

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Miyuki dipersiapkan untuk tampir di babak kedua.

sebenarnya, tampil di babak pertama dengan istirahat yang cukup adalah yang terbaik. namun tatsuya berpikir, semua hal tidak selalu berjalan sesuai rencananya, jadi mereka akan bersyukur kalo miyuki tidak dijadwalkan untuk pertandingan ke-3.

mereka berdua memilih untuk mengamati pertandingan pertama dari bangku penonton tambahan.

sementara ada waktu istirahat selama 45 menit antara pertandingan pertama dan kedua, pindah dari bangku penonton ke arena pertandingan hanyalah membuang-buang waktu.

pemain dari sekolah lain tampaknya berpikiran sama, melihat cara mereka berkumpul di satu sisi arena.

Miyuki : "Kobayakawa-senpai terlihat bersemangat!"

itu adalah penilaian miyuki mengenai kakak kelas mereka, yang sedang menunggu sinyal mulai pada salah satu pilar di tengah danau.

tatsuya juga berpikir seperti itu.

namun, mari pernah mengeluh bahwa kobayakawa adalah orang yang labil. tatsuya berpikir, karena ini adalah babak penentuan yang menentukan keseluruhan kemenangan 1st high, mustahil untuk memintanya untuk tenang.

namun, menang atau kalah masih ditentukan oleh dia, tapi tampaknya tidak ada masalah, tatsuya pikir.

dibawah tatapan penonton, pegawai terkait, teman satu tim, sinyal dimulainya pertandingan berbunyi.

pertandingan pertama menjadi aktivitas membingungkan yang menentukan kedudukan, kobayakawa mempertahankan posisinya.

tegang, Erika akhirnya bernapas lega dan berbicara pada tetangganya Mizuki - hanya untuk menemukan temannya menonton pertandingan dengan mata telanjang.

Erika : "Mizuki.... apa tidak apa-apa kalau kau melepaskan kacamatamu?"

penyihir yang sangat sensitif pada cahaya pushion memakai kacamata khusus untuk menghalangi efek cahaya pushion juga untuk menghindari terstimulasi secara emosional oleh pushion aktif. pada situasi sekarang, melepaskan kacamatanya pada event gila seperti ini pastinya akan menekan kesehatan jiwanya.

Mizuki : "sebenarnya... agak kurang nyaman."

Erika menyadari tangan mizuki yang memegang kacamatanya gemetaran dari waktu kewaktu.

Mizuki : "tapi aku pikir selalu mencoba menghindari masalah bukanlah jawabannya."

Erika : "...aku tidak berpikir Mizuki sedang mencoba menghindari masalah."

Erika sudah mendengar alasan Mizuki masuk ke sekolah sihir beberapa kali.

Of course, the predominant reason was to be able to take advantage of this rare talent. Specifically, she hoped to enroll in the magic universities as a Magic Artificer.

Yet at the same time, she also wished to learn how to control this pair of "eyes" that often saw simply too much. Within the limits set for Course 2 students, she wished to receive the fullest amount of training.

While still immature, but precisely because she saw this as her "strength", this certainly did not qualify as running away. And precisely because it wasn't fully developed yet, Erika believed that using supporting tools and equipment was the right approach.

Precisely because of this.

"Rome wasn't built in one day. Likewise, you won't fully control your abilities in one shot and, though I shouldn't be the one to say this, doing so usually ruins your body as well. Mizuki, this could cause irreparable damage!"

That's why she chose such a stern lecture.

"Yeah... But, if I avert my eyes at a time something that I must see is visible, I think that's also incorrect..."

In spite of this, Mizuki still kept her glasses on her lap.

"When Watanabe-senpai was injured, if I was watching carefully, I might have provided some assistance to Tatsuya-kun and the others."

"...So this time, you're keeping watch in case another incident occurs?"

"Exactly. You know...... I think Miyuki will be perfectly fine. That's because if something was wrong with Miyuki, there's no way that could escape Tatsuya-kun's eyes. However, he's simply unable to handle all the other players today. In addition, he was overworked yesterday. So if..."

"If the other players ran into trouble, Tatsuya-kun wouldn't just sit there twiddling his thumbs either. That's most likely the case... He looks cold on the outside, but he's a good guy on the inside."

"Tatsuya-kun's warmth comes from looking after his friends...!"

"Yes, yes, I got it!"

(If not towards his "friends", he would definitely be the sort to make the coldest, most objective decisions.)

Erika kept that thought to herself. She pressed both palms together in front of her and sought to comfort the slightly annoyed Mizuki.

Mikihiko, who was sitting on Mizuki's other side, interjected upon hearing their conversation.

"I understand Erika's concerns towards Shibata-san and share the same belief that Tatsuya has. Shibata-san's 'eyes' are undeniably the most reliable tool to prevent someone using Spiritual Magic to hinder the competition. Since we have a barrier erected around us to dampen the effects of pushion light, I don't think any residual after effects will linger."

Hearing the unnatural eagerness within Mikihiko's words (according to Erika), Erika revealed a mischievous smirk.

"Hm~...? So Miki will protect Mizuki now?

If something happens to Mizuki, Miki will take full responsibility now?

Of course, that's the type of responsibility men will take for women, right?"

"Wha, this isn't the time to talk about that!"

Beet red, Mikihiko's furious rebuttal wholly ignored his usual objection to his nickname.

Speaking of Mizuki, she was also blushing a deep red and seemed to be at a loss for words.

"...You truly are an evil woman!"

On the other hand, Erika utterly ignored the sighs and annoyed scoldings coming from the other side of her seat.

Between Leo, who was currently being ignored, and Erika, who was feigning ignorance, the usual lively conversation started. At this time, the bell for the second round started.

Both of them wore an "unsatisfied" expression and used their facial expressions to convey their meaning while shutting their mouths to avoid distracting the players and the other members of the audience.

Afterwards, shortly after the second round began, that incident happened.

Both Kobayakawa and another player leaped at the same time towards a green orb in the sky.

Unfortunately, the other player reached the target first.

Kobayakawa used magic to stop her leaping momentum.

Her body came to a stop in the air.

Next, she sought to use magic to return to her starting location, but found another player had already landed at that location.

Unruffled, she decided on the closest landing spot and switched the Magic Sequence to land there.

However, her body that was supposed to move in a diagonal pattern — fell directly downwards through gravity's influence.

Even the spectators in the audience could see Kobayakawa's expression falter as she began to fall.

Shock.

Panic.

Terror.

The magic that was supposed to support her failed to activate.

Magic had supported her life to this day, yet suddenly betrayed her at this critical moment. She forgot to even struggle as she plummeted towards the surface of the lake.

Even though it was the water's surface, this was still a 10 meter fall.

If the landing was poor, this might be fatal.

Nor did Kobayakawa appear to take any stance to prepare for landing.

Fortunately, this was an athletic competition with two or three layers of safeguards in place. There were emergency responses in place if a player suddenly lost control of their magic and began to fall.

The staff on hand immediately released Speed-Type Magic.

From the moment Kobayakawa started to fall until the staff used magic to catch her body, probably less than a second had elapsed.

Still, she was less than half way from the water's surface.

This was more than enough to completely crush her confidence.

With pitying eyes, Tatsuya watched them carry away his unconscious senpai on a stretcher.

The greatest reason why young men and women lost their ability to use magic was because of hazardous situations caused by magic failure and the subsequent distrust towards magic in general.

Magic is a power that deceives the world.

Magic itself exists outside the truth of the world, hence the deception.

Even so, if everyone could use their "eyes" to see magic like Tatsuya, then they could easily believe this deceptive yet truthful power.

Nevertheless, for most Magicians (especially the chicks and saplings), magic was an immutable, invisible existence. Even if they could see the psions, they couldn't see how magic was interacting with their world. In short, they were clueless beyond theoretical knowledge.

— When I'm using magic, is this really my own power —

Every Magician-in-training came across this question during their education. No, this suspicion. Once magic failed to materialize, resulting in danger that relied on magic to avert, this suspicion rapidly turned into belief.

— See, magic doesn't exist —

This belief.

Once this idea was implanted into a Magician, magic would forever be out of their reach.

Magic was such a fragile existence that balanced on the tips of the mental scales.

(...Kobayakawa-senpai is likely broken for life.)

As if to comfort the utterly pale Miyuki, Tatsuya cradled her shoulders into his chest as he murmured to himself.

When in gravity's grasp and at the moment of inception, Kobayakawa's expression was covered with terror.

It was someone else. Even if he made that distinction, realizing that someone had forever lost their precious abilities certainly left a bitter after taste.

As if pressing a burning brand to the gaping wound, his messaging terminal in the chest pocket started vibrating and arrested his melancholy.

Miyuki, who was pressed tightly against him, turned a shocked expression towards Tatsuya. He calmly removed the fold up device and pressed it to his ear.

"Tatsuya, it's me, Mikihiko. Got a moment?"

"...Ah, no problem."

Even though the lights clearly showed that the sound wave interference module on the device was working, Tatsuya still lowered his volume.

"Unfortunately, during the earlier incident, I was unable to detect any magic at work."

"Is that so..."

"Sorry for disappointing you..."

"Please don't worry on that account, I failed to notice anything either."

"However, Shibata-san has something she wants to say to you."

"Mizuki? You mean, her glasses were off?"

Tatsuya's tone contained a level of astonishment that wasn't feigned.

Yet, Mikihiko didn't immediately reply,

"Tatsuya-kun, this is Mizuki."

Because someone else had taken hold of the phone.

"Mizuki, did you see anything?"

Are you OK? Those words were stuck in Tatsuya's throat.

Still, Tatsuya believed that this would be trampling over Mizuki's good intentions.

As someone affiliated with magic, she made the conscious decision to use her "vision".

Then, inquiring about the results was what a member of the magic world like him should respond with, Tatsuya thought.

"Yes, well... On Kobayakawa-senpai's right arm... maybe near where she was wearing her CAD, I saw a light, no, more like a 'spirit' bursting apart."

"Really... You saw that. So, you said this 'spirit' burst apart?"

"Uh...... Yes, that's the feeling I got. Like a really old electronic scattering sparks everywhere, something like that......"

"I see. So that's it, I get it now... So that's how they did it."

Tatsuya got a muddled image of what snare their "enemies" laid for them.

"Uh, Tatsuya-kun...?"

Apparently, his nodding movement could be detected through his voice over the phone.

A somewhat hesitant, but very hopeful voice (from Mizuki) traveled across the other end of the line.

"Excellent find, Mizuki. This is an invaluable piece of information!"

"Thank you, you are very welcome!"

Before Mizuki could ask her burning questions, Tatsuya replied first. Afterwards, Mizuki's anxious voice came back over the line.