She had great faith in her Baifeng Uesugi. After all, in her heart, Baifeng Uesugi could do anything.
Dusk.
Inside Juya Base Hospital.
Mari Watanabe slowly opened her eyes.
Mayumi Saegusa, who had been keeping watch beside her, saw her wake and asked worriedly,
"Mari, are you awake? Do you know who I am?"
"Mayumi, what are you talking about? You don't even need to ask that."
Mari Watanabe looked to the side and saw that it was Mayumi Saegusa. After hearing her question, she felt exasperated.
But she was too weak to have the strength to retort.
"Is this a hospital?" Mari Watanabe asked.
"Yes, Juya Base Hospital. Thank goodness, it looks like there's nothing wrong."
At first, Mayumi Saegusa had worried that Mari Watanabe might have suffered some brain damage from the impact, but from their exchange just now, she could tell there was nothing wrong with her head.
Mari Watanabe forced herself to try to sit up, but Mayumi Saegusa quickly spoke up to stop her.
"You can't get up yet. Your ribs were broken, and although they've been joined back together with magic, they haven't stabilized yet. Magical treatment is only first aid, after all."
Hearing that, Mari Watanabe had no choice but to lie back down on the hospital bed.
"How long until they stabilize?"
"It'll take a week to make a full recovery," Mayumi Saegusa said.
"After a day of rest, it won't affect your everyday life, but just in case, you're not allowed to do any strenuous exercise for the next ten days."
"Hey, wait, doesn't that mean..."
Mari Watanabe said, somewhat shocked.
"You'll have to withdraw from Mirage Bat too. There's no helping it. You're injured, and there's no way I'd risk your health for a third consecutive championship."
Mayumi Saegusa tried to persuade her.
"What was the result of the match?" Mari Watanabe asked.
"Seventh High School was disqualified for dangerous conduct, so Third High School and Ninth High School will compete for the championship in the final," Mayumi Saegusa said.
"But the Seventh High School competitor's injuries don't seem too serious. Protecting her wasn't for nothing."
"It doesn't count as helping if I ended up seriously injured myself, does it?" Mari Watanabe said helplessly.
"If you hadn't stopped accelerating to protect her, the Seventh High School competitor would have been badly hurt, and her life as a magician would probably have ended there.
"Bai Feng said the same thing when he arrived at the scene."
Mayumi Saegusa said.
"Wait, why are you bringing him up now?" Mari Watanabe asked, puzzled.
"Because he was the one who brought you here and stayed with you during treatment."
"What?"
Hearing that, Mari Watanabe spoke in surprise, suddenly feeling a little shy.
"What? Are you surprised to hear that I brought you here?"
Baifeng Uesugi pushed open the door and walked in as he spoke.
"Bai Feng, you're back." Seeing that Baifeng Uesugi had returned, Mayumi Saegusa quickly got up, walked over to him, and smiled.
"Yeah. How are you feeling?"
Baifeng Uesugi looked at Mari Watanabe as he asked.
"P-pretty good. Thank you."
Mari Watanabe spoke softly.
"Bai Feng, do you have a way to help heal Mari's injuries?" Mayumi Saegusa had pinned all her hopes on Baifeng Uesugi, and the moment he returned, she couldn't wait to ask.
"Mari, lie down for a little longer. I need to say a few words to Mayumi."
With that, he took Mayumi Saegusa by the hand and led her out of the hospital room.
"Bai Feng, what's wrong?"
Once outside, Mayumi Saegusa looked at Baifeng Uesugi in confusion.
"Mayumi, I have a way to help Watanabe recover from her injuries quickly."
"What is it?"
"Ancient Magic. I can use Ancient Magic for healing, and it would basically take just a day. But I'm the only one who can use that magic, and the competition organizers know about Watanabe's injuries. If she competed the next day, you should know what that would mean."
Baifeng Uesugi explained.
"Yes, I understand. Sorry, Bai Feng, I didn't think it through just now."
Mayumi Saegusa bowed and apologized.
"It's all right. I know you couldn't bear to see Mari hurt, so you lost your composure in the moment."
Baifeng Uesugi reached out and rubbed Mayumi Saegusa's head as he spoke.
"Let's go back in."
"Okay."
"What did you two talk about? Why did you have to leave me out?"
Mari Watanabe asked in confusion when the two returned.
"We were sharing a few secrets. Do you have to know about those too?" Baifeng Uesugi retorted.
"You... Fine, but do you have a way to make my injuries heal faster?" Mari Watanabe still wanted to know whether Baifeng Uesugi had a way to make her recover faster.
Ideally, she would recover completely before the Mirage Bat event began.
"Five days at the very fastest, so don't even think about it." Baifeng Uesugi naturally knew what Mari Watanabe was planning and rolled his eyes at her.
"Speaking of which, did you feel a third party's magic interfering at the time?" Baifeng Uesugi asked.
"What do you mean?" Mari Watanabe asked, puzzled.
"Before you caught the Seventh High School competitor, the water's surface moved in an unusual way. I suspect someone used magic to throw you off balance," Baifeng Uesugi explained.
"Before the pedal sank, I did feel the water around my feet move strangely," Mari Watanabe recalled.
"Could someone really have used magic? But that's impossible, isn't it?"
"I'm not sure about that, and the Seventh High School competitor was acting strangely too. The people taking part in the Nine Schools Competition are supposed to be the elites of their respective schools. A basic mistake like accelerating through that turn yesterday shouldn't have happened."
Baifeng Uesugi said.
"Could someone have used magic on the water around the Seventh High School competitor too?" Mayumi Saegusa asked, puzzled.
"No, I suspect someone tampered with Seventh High School's CAD," Baifeng Uesugi said.
"What? The CADs are inspected by people appointed by the organizers, and they're all collected for inspection before the matches. If someone wanted to tamper with a CAD..."
Mayumi Saegusa left the rest unsaid, because she knew it was possible. If that was what had happened, then the matter wouldn't be so simple.
"It's only a preliminary guess. I've already had Tatsuya start an investigation. For the details, we'll have to wait and see how his investigation progresses."
Baifeng Uesugi said with a wry smile.
(PS: Keep the "power-ups" coming, and the happiness will keep coming too! As a new author, I thank everyone for your support. I hope you'll click to request more updates and send some "power-ups."
Give this new author a little more encouragement and motivation. Wishing everyone happiness and joy in advance!)