Tatsuya Shiba could not help finding Hattori Gyoubu's embarrassed fury somewhat amusing.
"What's so funny!"
Seeing the smile on Tatsuya Shiba's face, Hattori Gyoubu felt that Tatsuya was mocking him.
"Didn't you just say yourself that a magician must remain calm?"
Tatsuya Shiba looked at Hattori Gyoubu helplessly.
Tatsuya Shiba found it rather speechless-making that Hattori could not follow the advice he gave others.
At Tatsuya Shiba's words, Hattori Gyoubu's expression stiffened before quickly returning to normal.
"Although I don't want to join the Public Morals Committee, if this is what it takes to prove my sister wasn't letting her feelings cloud her judgment, then so be it."
Tatsuya Shiba's air of having no other choice made Hattori Gyoubu's newly composed expression twist once again.
"Same here. I'm not interested in the Public Morals Committee or anything, but I really can't stand you!"
Erika Chiba's look of distaste made Hattori Gyoubu's expression grow even darker.
"Fine. Allow me to teach you to recognize your own limitations."
Hattori Gyoubu spoke with a dark expression.
Practical simulation room three.
"Have you got your CAD ready?"
Chiba Yeyou looked at Erika Chiba and asked.
"Here!"
Erika Chiba flicked her hand, and a telescopic-baton-shaped CVD slid out of her sleeve.
"It certainly suits a violent person like you."
Seeing the CAD, Chiba Yeyou could not help offering his assessment.
"What did you say?"
"Since when have I been violent!"
"You'd better explain yourself!"
Erika Chiba looked furious, but with that little baton propped on her shoulder, she looked every bit a new-century hooligan-a female hooligan, at that.
"Um, you should stop posing like that and hold your CAD properly."
"Why?"
"Don't you think you look exactly like a gang boss from a movie from the last century?"
"A female hooligan, too."
Chiba Yeyou chuckled.
"Tch!"
Although Erika Chiba acted unconcerned, she stopped holding that pose.
"Bzz..."
"Oh, you're here."
Tatsuya Shiba walked into the simulation room carrying a silver briefcase.
"Sorry for the wait, everyone."
As Tatsuya Shiba spoke, he opened the case and took out his two pistol-shaped CADs.
"Huh?"
"Why do I feel like I've seen that CAD somewhere before?"
"Where was it?"
"That's strange!"
Erika Chiba kept feeling that the CAD looked familiar, as though it belonged to some series or other.
"Do you always carry a certain number of processors with you?"
Mari Watanabe asked curiously.
"Yes. My processing capacity isn't sufficient for using general-purpose magic."
As Tatsuya Shiba spoke, he slid the magazine-shaped processor in his hand into the pistol-shaped CAD.
Once the two had taken their positions, Mari Watanabe stood to one side and began announcing the rules.
"I'll now explain the rules."
"Spells that can kill your opponent or inflict injuries they cannot recover from are forbidden!"
"When attacking directly, do not inflict excessive damage on your opponent. Bladed weapons and firearms are forbidden, but unarmed attacks are permitted. Victory will be decided when one side surrenders or the referee determines they cannot continue. If anyone breaks the rules, I will do everything in my power to stop them. That is all!"
"Are you ready?"
"Begin!"
While Hattori Gyoubu was still manually operating the CAD on his arm, Tatsuya Shiba darted forward and instantly reached his back.
He raised his gun.
Fired.
It was over.
"Bang!"
Clean and decisive.
"..."
"!!!"
"That was amazing, Tatsuya!"
The speechless one was Chiba Yeyou. It seemed Hattori Gyoubu had not improved much at all!
Chiba Yeyou could not help thinking.
Apart from Erika Chiba, the other girls all looked as though they had expected this. Although they were surprised too, Chiba Yeyou had already told them Tatsuya Shiba would win. They were simply still surprised by how quickly Hattori Gyoubu had fallen.
"The winner is Tatsuya Shiba!"
After recovering from her surprise, Mari Watanabe hurriedly announced the result.
[Not bad. Wave superposition, causing vibrations in the cranial nerves to create the illusion of seasickness. Well, you could call it real, too.]
Tatsuya Shiba walked expressionlessly toward his briefcase, looking as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"Wait, that movement just now-did you deploy a Self-Acceleration Spell beforehand?"
Mari Watanabe found Tatsuya Shiba's speed somewhat strange. It was not a speed a normal person could achieve, yet she had not detected any trace of a Self-Acceleration Spell being deployed.
"That wasn't magic..."
"It was purely martial arts! He didn't break any rules."
Chiba Yeyou answered Mari Watanabe's question directly.
Tatsuya Shiba gave Chiba Yeyou an unexpected glance, somewhat surprised that he could recognize his martial arts. After all, everyone who had not seen them before assumed it was a Self-Acceleration Spell.
"My brother receives instruction from the ninjutsu master, Yakumo Kokonoe."
Miyuki Shiba was not surprised that Chiba Yeyou could recognize the martial arts. Instead, she proudly showed off her brother to everyone in the room.
"That Yakumo Kokonoe?"
They had heard of Yakumo Kokonoe's reputation too, and Mari Watanabe could not help being a little startled.
"Honestly, what a heartless bunch. Only your big brother here takes pity on you and remembers you're still lying here."
Chiba Yeyou walked over to Hattori Gyoubu and spoke pityingly.
"..."
Although Chiba Yeyou had not spoken particularly loudly, he had used a normal conversational volume. There were only a few people in the room, so those gathered around Tatsuya Shiba asking questions naturally heard him and felt somewhat embarrassed.
Mayumi Saegusa also jogged over.
"Was this caused by martial arts too?"
Mayumi Saegusa murmured.
"Wave superposition. The sensation of seasickness."
Chiba Yeyou gave a brief explanation.
"No wonder it only looked like he was releasing Psions."
Mayumi Saegusa nodded.
Quantum Remembrance activated.
[Target: Hattori Gyoubu. Neuron correction!]
"That's right. It's basic single-system vibration magic. All I did was create Psion waves and..."
Tatsuya Shiba abruptly fell silent, staring fixedly at the blue ring around Chiba Yeyou's wrist.
Normally, when magicians activated magic, whether through a CAD or their own calculation abilities, multicolored rings would appear. Within those rings were vast amounts of complex magical script-the so-called Activation Sequence.
But what had Tatsuya Shiba seen?
The inside of Chiba Yeyou's magic ring was actually empty!
How was that possible?
Tatsuya Shiba felt that the system of magical theory he had studied was starting to crumble again.
Wasn't this equivalent to generating power or energy out of thin air without consuming any energy?
Was that scientific?
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Tatsuya Shiba's expression, Mayumi Saegusa was somewhat puzzled.
"Empty. It's actually empty!"
Although Tatsuya Shiba had recovered his senses, he still found it somewhat unbelievable.
"What's empty?"
Mayumi Saegusa was puzzled. Why had Tatsuya Shiba suddenly become like this?
Then she glanced at Chiba Yeyou again.
"It's nothing. He saw that there wasn't any information inside my magic ring, so his worldview is falling apart a little. No big deal."
Chiba Yeyou stood up and dusted off his hands, speaking nonchalantly.
By then, Hattori Gyoubu had also regained consciousness.
"Mm..."
After opening his eyes, Hattori Gyoubu's eyes lost their light once more.
"All right!"
"It's normal that you can't beat him. Don't be so down. You've still got another beating coming!"
"How about now? Still sad?"
"..."
At Chiba Yeyou's words, everyone fell silent.
Oh, and someone had also suffered an emotional breakdown.
"Wonderful consolation. Never console anyone again."
Mayumi Saegusa pressed a hand to her forehead with a headache as she looked at the somewhat dispirited Hattori Gyoubu, then shot Chiba Yeyou an exasperated look.
"What's going on with you?"
Mayumi Saegusa and the others were secretly shocked as well. Even Suzune Ichihara, who had always loved research, had fallen silent.
A magician had activated a magic sequence without any magical script!
How was she supposed to ask about that?
She did not even know where to begin.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Go on and finish explaining it to them!"
Chiba Yeyou spoke as he looked at Tatsuya Shiba.
"To magicians, Psions can be sensed just like light and sound. When a magician is exposed to unexpected Psion fluctuations, they develop the illusion that their body really is swaying. It was precisely this illusion that caused his severe seasickness."
Tatsuya Shiba explained while staring at Chiba Yeyou.
"Fluctuations that intense... how exactly did you manage it...?"
Mayumi Saegusa also stared at Chiba Yeyou, murmuring to herself.
"It was wave synthesis, correct?"
Suzune Ichihara instinctively began analyzing it.
"You created three Psion waves of different frequencies in succession, then adjusted where the three waves overlapped to Hattori's location, thereby producing intense fluctuations resembling a triangular wave. Is that right?"
"An excellent analysis, Suzune Ichihara."
Tatsuya Shiba praised his upperclassman, Suzune Ichihara, while still staring at Chiba Yeyou.
"But how did you manage it in such a short time...?"
"Whatever the method, could you all stop staring at me!"
Chiba Yeyou was at his wits' end.
"Do you know how shocking your method of activating magic is?"
Mari Watanabe still looked astonished and spoke slowly, sounding as though she had yet to recover.
"Stop dwelling on that. Let those two finish their match first."
Only upon hearing Chiba Yeyou's words did Mayumi Saegusa and Mari Watanabe snap out of it.
"You two, go ahead."
The two then took their positions, and Mari Watanabe raised her arm again.
"Begin!"
Erika Chiba chose the same approach as Tatsuya Shiba, casting a Self-Acceleration Spell on herself before dodging a blast from Hattori Gyoubu. Relying on her Self-Acceleration Spell, Erika Chiba rapidly closed in on Hattori Gyoubu, forcing him to dodge all over the place. Left with no choice, he began casting a Self-Acceleration Spell on himself, but before he could finish activating his magic, a black baton struck his neck.
"Thump!"
The great vice president Hattori Gyoubu, who burned himself to light the way for others, fell once again.