"Miyuki Shiba, I'm terribly sorry."
With that, Gyoubu Hattori left, fear written all over his face. It was clear that the blow had left a deep shadow in his heart.
"Tatsuya Shiba, could your CAD be the 'Silver Horn'?" Azusa Nakajo asked, looking at the custom CAD he was holding but had not used.
"Silver Horn? You mean the 'Silver-type' developed by the mysterious genius magic engineer Taurus Silver?" Mayumi Saegusa asked, puzzled.
"Yes. He's a genius engineer employed exclusively by Four Leaves Technology. Nobody knows his real name, appearance, or personal details, and he was the first in the world to realize the Loop Cast System. Along with K, the developer of Sakura Country's Innate Magic, he's considered one of the country's two rising stars among magicians."
As Azusa Nakajo spoke, she jumped up and down, trying to get a look at the CAD in Tatsuya Shiba's hand.
But she was so short that, even after jumping for quite a while, she still couldn't reach the Silver Horn Tatsuya held above his head.
When she found she still couldn't reach the Silver Horn in his hand, Azusa turned her attention to the other one in Tatsuya's briefcase.
"K, huh? He really is a genius. I know that firsthand," Tatsuya replied.
He knew K's identity, and they occasionally discussed various subjects together.
"Um... what does Innate Magic mean?" Mari Watanabe was confused. This was the first time she had heard of it.
"It's perfectly normal that you don't know, Mari. Only a few people know about Innate Magic. I only heard about it because I'm from one of the Ten Master Clans.
"Apparently, specific spells are stored in a device similar to a CAD. You can activate the stored spells simply by powering it with psions. That's why it's called Innate Magic."
Mayumi Saegusa explained.
"But what use is that?"
Mari Watanabe said, puzzled.
"Mari, take that mock battle just now, for example. If Vice President Hattori had possessed a physical enhancement Innate Magic spell then, he wouldn't have been knocked out by my brother so easily. And Innate Magic has a very short activation time-almost as fast as one second."
Miyuki Shiba explained.
Mari was shocked. Sparring between magicians depended largely on how quickly they could activate their spells, but Miyuki had just said Innate Magic needed only one second to activate. For a moment, she found it hard to accept.
"Miyuki is right. Innate Magic can not only make up for a person's shortcomings, but its activation time is almost negligible," Mayumi said.
"Yes, and the Innate Magic K developed isn't limited to low-level spells like those. Apparently, he previously developed a spell called Thousand-Li Ice Seal. Once it's cast, everything within a thousand li of the user is frozen solid.
"Of course, it still depends on how many psions the user has stored. If the user isn't strong enough, it won't reach a thousand li at all. And the device that stores the magic is very small-it's just a card. That's also where the name K comes from."
Azusa said excitedly.
Hearing Azusa's explanation, Tatsuya felt helpless.
Can I tell you that K wasn't originally going to call himself K, but King? He only ended up being called K because of a mix-up.
After that was settled, Mari led Tatsuya to the Public Morals Committee's classroom.
"It's a bit messy, but anyway, find somewhere to sit," Mari Watanabe said.
"Chairwoman, let me tidy this place up."
Tatsuya looked at the chaotic classroom before him and spoke helplessly.
"What?" Mari asked, puzzled.
"As someone who wants to become a magic engineer, I can't stand seeing CADs scattered everywhere like this," Tatsuya said helplessly.
"A magic engineer? You have such strong combat skills against people, so why do you want to become a magic engineer?" Mari Watanabe asked.
"Because with my talent, no matter how hard I work, I can only get a C-rank license," Tatsuya explained.
The two of them then began properly organizing the CADs scattered around the classroom.
"The reason I wanted to recruit you..."
"Come to think of it, I already explained most of it earlier," Mari said.
"I remember, but I think the measure involving Course 2 Students will backfire," Tatsuya said.
"Why do you say that?" Mari asked.
"If older Course 2 Students were suddenly disciplined by a junior in the same position as them, they'd probably feel at least a little resentful."
Tatsuya explained.
"But I think first-years like you would welcome it," Mari countered.
"Among Course 1 Students, I expect there would be twice as much resentment as welcome," Tatsuya said.
"It probably would cause resentment, but if it's now, right after enrollment, that sense of difference shouldn't be so deeply ingrained yet."
Mari countered.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Just like yesterday, the whole notion of Blooms and Weeds had already sunk into the bones of a group of newly enrolled students."
Tatsuya said helplessly.
"You mean Morisaki, don't you?" Mari said with a smile.
"Maybe. But you know him?" Tatsuya asked, puzzled.
"He joined us on a faculty recommendation," Mari said.
"What? You mean he's here too?" Tatsuya asked in alarm.
"So you can get flustered too?" Mari teased.
"Of course I can, but after what happened yesterday, from now on we'll have to..."
At the thought, Tatsuya deeply regretted joining the Public Morals Committee.
Just then, someone pushed open the classroom door, and two people entered: the burly Koutarou Tatsumi and the medium-built Midori Sawaki.
"Hey," Koutarou Tatsumi said.
"Good day," Midori Sawaki said.
"Boss, so you're here," Koutarou Tatsumi said.
"Chairwoman, today's patrol is over. We found no students violating school rules," Midori Sawaki reported.
Smack.
Mari struck Tatsumi hard with the stack of papers in her hand.
"I told you not to call me Boss. You make this place sound like a yakuza gang," Mari said displeased.
"Speaking of which, Chairwoman, who's this?" Koutarou Tatsumi asked, suddenly noticing Tatsuya beside her.
"First-year, Class E, Tatsuya Shiba. He joined us on the student council's recommendation," Mari Watanabe introduced him.
"I see. But he doesn't have a badge," Koutarou Tatsumi said, glancing at Tatsuya's badge.
"Senior Tatsumi, I'm afraid that way of describing him may conflict with the rules against prohibited terms. In this situation, I think you should call him a Course 2 Student," Midori Sawaki corrected him.
"If you two keep looking at things so simply, watch out or you'll take a fall. Vice President Hattori just did," Mari said with a smile.
"Uh..."
"Uh..."
Both of them looked shocked.
"You mean this guy beat that Hattori?" Koutarou Tatsumi asked in disbelief.
"That's right, and it was in an official match. He only needed one move, too," Mari said.
"What? Hattori, who hadn't lost a single match since he enrolled, was beaten by him in one move?" Midori Sawaki said in shock.
"In that case, we can count on him," Koutarou Tatsumi said.
"Chairwoman, he's an excellent recruit."
"Surprised?" Mari asked.
"At this school, there are a whole bunch of people who get caught up in those stupid titles, Bloom and Weed, and either bask in their sense of superiority or wallow in inferiority. To be honest, I got sick of it a long time ago.
"Fortunately, Mayumi and Jumonji, the club representative, know what I'm like, so the student council and the Club Activities Group choose people who aren't so hung up on that sort of thing for me.
"I can't say they have no sense of superiority at all, but they can all judge individual ability objectively. I think this should be a good place for you."
Mari said.
"Hello, I'm Koutarou Tatsumi from third-year Class C. Nice to meet you, Shiba," Koutarou said, holding out his hand in greeting.
"I'm very happy to have someone capable join us."
"I'm Midori Sawaki from second-year Class D. Welcome aboard, Shiba," Midori said.