Although Saegusa Mayumi called the juniors she knew fairly well by their first names, no junior had ever called her by hers before.
That alone made it hard for her to shake off her suspicions.
But both of them looked so calm that they didn't seem like they were up to anything.
"Um, I'm enjoying chatting with you two, but there's something I'd like to go check out."
Kudo Mitsunobu spoke up, interrupting the two of them as they looked ready to lean against the doorway and chat for a long time.
He'd glanced at his watch just now. Morisaki and his friends had been gone for nearly twenty minutes. If he waited any longer, he was afraid he'd miss even the aftermath.
"Do you have something urgent to attend to? If so, that's fine. Don't worry about us," Watanabe Mari said.
Kudo Mitsunobu glanced at his watch again, then sighed. "If you two are free, would you like to come with me?"
"This should fall under your jurisdiction, Senior Watanabe."
There was no way he could make it in time now, no matter how much he accelerated. He might as well take the two of them along and resolve the matter!
As for observing Shiba Miyuki's abilities, he could wait for another opportunity.
"Oh? Tell me what happened," Watanabe Mari said, intrigued by Kudo Mitsunobu's words.
"What is it?" Saegusa Mayumi's expression turned serious as well. If Kudo Mitsunobu said it fell under Watanabe Mari's jurisdiction,
then it definitely wasn't a minor matter.
"You two don't have to look so serious. Let's pick up the pace, and I'll explain as we run!"
And so, the three of them started running.
Though "running" only really described Kudo Mitsunobu. Saegusa Mayumi and Watanabe Mari looked more like they were gliding.
Their movements were like those of skaters dancing across an ice rink.
Pale blue psion waves swirled around the three of them.
Kudo Mitsunobu was using a simple body-enhancement spell, a type well suited to long-distance marches by magicians.
It required relatively little psion energy and offered a decent burst of speed. Along with strengthening the body, it could also ward off certain unexpected attacks.
Because they were wearing skirts, Saegusa Mayumi and Watanabe Mari couldn't use the same spell as Kudo Mitsunobu.
Instead, they used a spell that reduced friction.
By lowering the friction between the soles of their shoes and the ground, they could move as though they were skating on ice.
This was a fairly advanced spell. The Self-Acceleration Sorcerer was another advanced application of the same type of magic.
Although the spell consumed a great deal of psion energy, both women were exceptionally talented, with large reserves. Besides, they didn't have far to go.
So they had no qualms about using it to hurry along.
"I see them."
Moving at tremendous speed, Kudo Mitsunobu had already spotted two groups facing off ahead.
"What a miscalculation."
Kudo Mitsunobu had assumed that after all this time, the two groups would have finished fighting, so he'd called Watanabe Mari over to handle the cleanup.
Who could have guessed they'd drag things out this long? If he'd known, he wouldn't have brought Watanabe Mari along; he could've just come to take a look himself.
But now that things had come to this, Kudo Mitsunobu couldn't just do nothing.
The general-purpose, earring-style CAD he'd made himself activated at his earlobe. He casually flung out a hand, sending a clump of red psion energy hurtling toward the center of the standoff.
"Who was that?"
It was Shun Morisaki, who had just aimed his gun at the group across from him.
He'd been absolutely certain that one shot would teach that hulking Course 2 student a lesson.
But just as he was about to pull the trigger, a clump of psion energy interrupted his spell. How could he not be furious?
"Whoa, that was close. I almost got blasted."
The big guy looked shaken. He wasn't like Shun Morisaki; he'd charged straight forward. As a result, when the psion bullet exploded, it had been only a centimeter from his foot.
With his physique, that kind of psion bullet wouldn't have caused him any serious harm, but who wanted to get hurt for no reason?
### "Stop! Using magic to attack others when it isn't self-defense isn't just a violation of school rules. It's a crime."
"I'm Watanabe Mari, head of the Disciplinary Committee."
"I'm going to find out exactly what happened. Everyone is coming with me."
Watanabe Mari and Saegusa Mayumi walked over slowly, both of them now resting their hands on their CADs.
If anyone there tried to resist, they would activate their spells without hesitation and subdue everyone present.
The whole area had fallen silent. Even the usually arrogant Morisaki Shun had no interest in finding the person who'd thrown the psion bullet at him.
In his mind, the ones who'd stopped them were obviously these two. There was no need to look.
Meanwhile, the instigator, Kudo Mitsunobu, was now watching something else that interested him even more.
"So that must be Shiba Miyuki's older brother. He doesn't seem at all as ordinary as the rumors say?"
Before you continue