The Infinite Dimensions Starting from The Irregular at Magic High School

Miyuki gradually relaxed, and little by little, her eyes drifted shut.

"Thank you, Mahiro-niisama... You're so warm."

"To the excellent results all of you have achieved through your hard work—cheers!"

"Cheers!!!"

The glasses clinked together with a clear, ringing sound.

Night had fallen, and while the competitors from the other schools were conserving their strength for the matches ahead...

In one certain room belonging to First High School, bursts of cheerful laughter rang out.

Yotsuba Mahiro and Shiba Tatsuya sat in the only two chairs in the room.

Nakajo Azusa, Ichihara Suzune, Mari Watanabe, Kitayama Shizuku, Mitsui Honoka, Miyuki Shiba, and Mayumi Saegusa, seven girls in all, sat gathered around the two large beds.

Since the third day of the rookie division, in the remaining two days, First High School had only taken the championship in the girls' Mirage Bat, and the boys' Monolith Code had even stopped at the semifinals.

Even so, First High School still held first place by an unprecedented margin.

Even if they failed to place in the official division over the next two days, First High School's total score would still be enough to secure the overall championship!

And so, Mayumi had decided to hold a small victory party in her and Mari's room.

It would also make up a little for their earlier regrets.

However, the number of people originally invited had not been this small; they had even invited Erika, Sayaka, Mizuki, and the others.

But when Sayaka and Mizuki heard it was their victory party, they declined on the grounds that they were not competitors.

The only one who could have come was Erika, but when she heard Mari would also be there, she refused on the spot.

No one knew what kind of conflict those two had between them.

"Now then, for the second toast, let us thank our juniors Mahiro and Tatsuya! Thank you for your full support during the Nine Schools Competition! Cheers!"

"Cheers!!!"

Everyone clinked glasses once again.

Since what they were drinking was all juice and contained no fermented ingredients, there was no problem no matter how much they drank.

"Speaking of which, Mayumi, I heard the boys' team lost all morale this time because their results weren't what they'd hoped. Is that true?" Mari suddenly asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

The moment this topic came up, Mayumi could not help but sigh, feeling a headache coming on.

This year's Nine Schools Competition was completely different from last year.

Last year, the boys' team had achieved excellent results, while the girls' team had not performed quite as brilliantly.

But this year, it had been completely reversed.

In the boys' events, aside from Yotsuba Mahiro taking two championships, only Hattori Hanzo had won the Speed Shooting championship.

As for the others, the best result was Kirihara Takeaki taking fourth place.

The rest had even had quite a few people stopped at the semifinals, especially the rookies—none of them had made it to the finals.

Their morale had therefore taken a severe blow.

For that reason, Katsuto Jumonji planned to stage a battle in the Monolith Code tomorrow and the day after that would shock the entire venue, using it to boost the boys' team's spirits.

"I see... But Mayumi, won't what Jumonji is doing damage their morale even more?"

"After all, their failures aren't entirely their own responsibility. The engineers share part of the blame too."

"Look, the two best technicians in this competition were both assigned to our girls' team."

Naturally, the two Mari was talking about were Yotsuba Mahiro and Shiba Tatsuya.

"Well..."

Mayumi's gaze drifted a little.

As the saying went, success and failure both depended on the technician.

It was true that the girls' events Shiba Tatsuya was responsible for had basically all produced very good results.

And Yotsuba Mahiro was even more ridiculous. He had directly named three people, and among those three, aside from Mari, who had met with an accident, the others had all performed extraordinarily well and easily taken two championships.

It was indeed unavoidable that people would start thinking that way.

"I think there's a problem with what you said, Watanabe-senpai," Yotsuba Mahiro suddenly said.

Mari looked at him and asked in puzzlement, "What problem?"

Mahiro explained, "It's true that in the Nine Schools Competition, magic engineers can indeed be part of the factors that determine victory, but they are by no means everything."

"After all, magic engineers aren't gods. We can't freely control the flow of battle. All we do is work hard to draw out the competitors' potential, but overall, it still comes down to the competitors' own efforts."

"Putting Mayumi-senpai aside, just take Shizuku, whom I was responsible for. It was precisely because Shizuku herself was already outstanding enough that she could use the tactics I designed for her."

That was the truth, and everyone had no choice but to acknowledge it.

After all, whether it was the vibration-type magic in "Speed Shooting" that resembled "Bala," or the Phonon Maser and Cast Jamming used in "Monolith Code"...

Without immense processing power and a massive quantity of psions, they simply could not be used.

Not to mention operating two CADs.

At that moment, Mahiro spoke again.

"If that explanation still isn't enough, then take me as an example."

"In the matches a while back, I not only had to tune CADs for Senior Mayumi, Shizuku, and Senior Mari, and work out tactics, I also had to make adjustments for myself and accept the unfair rules imposed by the Nine Schools Competition committee. Didn't I still end up taking two championships?"

"And take Senior Hattori Hanzo, for example. His engineering skills weren't that strong, but didn't Senior Hattori overcome that and win the championship anyway?"

"So, if you're bad, practice more. There's no need to keep stressing objective reasons. A loss is a loss. Forcing yourself to find a way to save face just looks far too ugly."

His words were harsh, and there was a bit of self-bragging mixed in, but they were unquestionably true.

Besides, winning the championship while being targeted by the committee really was something worth bragging about.

If it had been anyone else, they probably would have been telling everyone they met about it every day.

"That's right. Brother Mahiro is completely correct. If they themselves didn't work hard enough, then even giving them engineers like my elder brother and Brother Mahiro wouldn't help," Miyuki Shiba was the first to speak up.

And her evaluation was even sharper than Mahiro's.

Next was Ichihara Suzune. "I also agree with Junior Yotsuba. The boys' division really should reflect on themselves properly, rather than emphasizing other excuses."

"Um, well... I think so too." Nakajo Azusa, giving off the air of a small animal, timidly raised her hand and said.

Kitayama Shizuku also chimed in. "Mahiro is right. If you're bad, practice more. Just like idiot Honoka had Senior Nakajo in charge of her 'Mirage Bat' event, and she still won the championship in the end."

"Ehh? Why did this suddenly become about me?!"

Hearing Shizuku suddenly comment on her, Honoka could not help blushing as she gripped her cup tightly.

"Oh~ I didn't expect so many people to speak up for you."

Mari's tone was subtle, and she looked ambiguously at the girls present.

Ichihara Suzune and Nakajo Azusa were impossible. After working together for so long, she knew their personalities very well.

As for Miyuki Shiba and Kitayama Shizuku...

In the end, she locked her target onto Shizuku.

"Speaking of which, Junior Kitayama, I heard you've been trying to recruit Junior Yotsuba lately, planning to make him your exclusive engineer?"

"Mm, that's right," Kitayama Shizuku said frankly. "At first, I did indeed have that idea, but now it's fine even if he doesn't become my exclusive engineer."

Fortunately, this time she did not use an ambiguous way of putting things and say anything terrible.

"Oh? Then what do you say, Junior Yotsuba?"

As if teasing him, Mari's dark-gold eyes turned toward his side.

Kitayama Shizuku: (???)

Stare—

Shizuku's sharp gaze also silently fixed on him.

Mahiro helplessly raised his hands in surrender. "Please spare me. I can't accept it."

"Can you tell me the reason?" Kitayama Shizuku asked.

Although she had expected this result from the start, she still could not help feeling a little disappointed inside.

"Sigh, don't look at me with those eyes. I'll give just one reason, and you'll understand. If one day I were to return to the Yotsuba main house, what then?"

"Ah..."

Kitayama Shizuku could not help letting out a tiny cry of surprise.

Aside from the Shiba siblings, everyone else also looked at him in great astonishment.

Mayumi was just about to ask, "Is that even possible?" when she remembered that the head of the Yotsuba Family had specifically come to the Nine Schools Competition venue to watch Mahiro's match, and she swallowed the words back down.

It really was possible.

"So, it's not that I don't want to accept. It's that I can't."

If he really accepted the job of being Kitayama Shizuku's exclusive technician, then the moment he turned around, Maya Yotsuba would probably be able to use her connections to devour the Kitayama Family whole.

He could not do something that CS.

But that did not mean he could let Senior Watanabe, who had deliberately stirred things up, off the hook.

"W-What...?"

His half-smiling gaze made Mari feel a little creeped out.

"Nothing. I'm just curious about something. Speaking of which, Senior Watanabe, where's your boyfriend? You were injured during the Nine Schools Competition, but he didn't even come over to check on you."

"Instead, you're the one always coming here to freeload food and drinks every day."

"That's a bit unqualified..."

Freeloading food and drinks was one thing, but every time, she also played the third wheel with an absurdly high wattage.

Because of that, Sayaka ended up discussing swordsmanship with her every time. Only at night did Sayaka belong to him alone, giving him a brief moment of warmth.

"Um... Mahiro, don't tell me you didn't know?"

"Know what?"

Faced with Mayumi's question, Mahiro cast her a puzzled look.

"I mean, Mari doesn't have a boyfriend at all."

"Huh???"

This time, it was Mahiro's turn to be shocked.

Senior Watanabe didn't have a boyfriend? Seriously?

But that was the truth.

Someone had once pursued Mari Watanabe.

It was back when she was training at the Chiba Family dojo. She had been pursued by the Chiba Family's second son—Erika's older brother, Shuji Chiba, known as the "Kirin Child of the Chiba Family."

But Mari had rejected him at the time, leaving Shuji Chiba deeply hurt and dejected.

And since Erika greatly admired her older brothers, she began to see Mari Watanabe as an enemy.

The next day, the matches went ahead as scheduled.

With only the final two days of the official tournament remaining, every school pulled out all the stops.

Although First High School's overall championship could no longer be changed, the other schools still threw themselves wholeheartedly into the matches to come.