"..."
Although Mayumi Saegusa and the others had already believed in Erika Chiba's ability when Tatsuya Shiba defeated Hattori Gyoubu, they hadn't expected her to win almost entirely through her own prowess, using only a single self-acceleration spell.
"Ah!"
"Poor kid."
"Your big brother will have to take care of you."
Chiba Yeyou sighed over Hattori Gyoubu's misfortune, then walked over. The same procedure, the same vacant stare, and even less light in his eyes.
This time, Hattori Gyoubu simply didn't get up. He lay on the floor staring at the ceiling, his eyes brimming with wisdom and his face wearing an expression that said he had been thoroughly broken.
He was probably contemplating life right now.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Life's three great questions.
"Hattori, are you all right?"
Mayumi Saegusa looked at Hattori Gyoubu with some concern.
She really was scared. Two people had taken turns thrashing him within a dozen or so minutes. She wouldn't have been able to take it either.
"No, I'm fine!"
Hearing Mayumi Saegusa's voice, Hattori Gyoubu immediately snapped out of his contemplation of life and sprang to his feet, his face still flushed.
"???"
This damn script isn't right, is it?
Women really are a wonderful medicine.
What the hell is a medical miracle?
This!
This is a medical miracle!
"Ah!"
"Spring has come, all things have awakened, and once again, it's the season for animals to ma-fill in the blank."
Chiba Yeyou supplied a mischievous narration from the sidelines.
"Uh..."
Suzune Ichihara's analytically gifted brain promptly crashed.
"Enough!"
"Stop fooling around!"
Mayumi Saegusa pressed a hand to her forehead helplessly.
Still, she was rather relieved. At least Hattori Gyoubu hadn't been beaten into shutting himself away this time.
Uh...
Could it be that misery didn't seem so miserable after being compared with even worse misery?
Mayumi Saegusa felt that Hattori Gyoubu had probably become more resilient.
Looking at it that way, Chiba Yeyou had done a good deed too!
This was valuable experience, a rare experience he might not even get once he went to university.
"Thank you!"
At that thought, Mayumi Saegusa couldn't help thanking Chiba Yeyou.
What a good junior!
"???"
Chiba Yeyou froze for a moment, then caught on. She was probably thanking him for recommending two reliable talents to the Public Morals Committee. In that case, she really should thank him.
"No problem."
"It's only right."
Chiba Yeyou cheerfully accepted Mayumi Saegusa's thanks.
Everyone around them was bewildered, however, completely unable to understand what was going on with these two. How had they suddenly reached an understanding?
"Ahem!"
"Then I hereby announce that Tatsuya Shiba and Erika Chiba are officially appointed to the Public Morals Committee!"
"No objections?"
As she spoke, Mari Watanabe looked at Hattori Gyoubu.
"No objections."
Although Hattori Gyoubu had lost to them, he wasn't so petty that he would refuse to acknowledge it.
"Why do I feel like I've seen you somewhere before?"
Mari Watanabe looked at Erika Chiba, walked over, and circled her, feeling that she looked familiar.
"You wicked woman!"
"You stole my brother, and now you're saying you don't know me!"
"I'll fight you!"
Mari Watanabe's remark sent Erika Chiba into an instant rage, and she charged at her with her hands flailing.
"So you're Shu's little sister!"
The moment Mari Watanabe heard herself called a "wicked woman," she knew who the girl was. No wonder she was so skilled.
"All right, all right, stop it."
Mayumi Saegusa hurriedly put herself between the two girls.
"I didn't expect you to come to First High School too."
Mari Watanabe sighed.
The sight of the girl reminded him of Shu.
Mari Watanabe shook her head, driving all those thoughts of longing away. Now wasn't the time for that.
"Um, could Shiba's CAD be a Silver Horn?"
The babyish voice that suddenly rang out drew everyone's attention. Azusa Nakajo was staring at Tatsuya Shiba's CAD with shining eyes, as though she had discovered a rare treasure.
"Silver Horn?"
Mayumi Saegusa looked a little puzzled.
"Do you mean the Silver Model developed by that mysterious genius magic engineer, Taurus Silver?"
Only after thinking it over carefully did she remember that this was the Silver Model developed by Taurus Silver.
"Yes!"
Seeing the adoration on Azusa Nakajo's face, Chiba Yeyou found it rather funny.
If she learned that this genius magic engineer was standing right in front of her, wouldn't this turn straight into a fan meet-and-greet?
"Specially recruited by Four Leaves Technology!"
"A miraculous CAD developer whose real name, appearance, and personal information are all unknown!"
As she spoke, she reached out to touch it. Tatsuya Shiba raised the CAD above his head, and because Azusa Nakajo was far too short, she could only keep jumping up, trying to touch the object she held sacred. Unfortunately, she couldn't jump high enough.
After all, one Tatsuya Shiba was as tall as two Azusa Nakajos.
"He's also the genius engineer who was the first in the world to implement the Loop Cast System!"
The adorable little upperclassman finally remembered that Tatsuya Shiba had another CAD in his other hand.
"And the so-called Silver Horn is a specialized CAD model that Taurus Silver was involved in designing from start to finish, with optimally tuned settings for the Loop Cast System too!"
Thank you for that wonderful commentary.
Chiba Yeyou silently quipped to himself.
"Rin, analyze it."
After witnessing the bizarre sight of Chiba Yeyou using magic without running magic characters, Mayumi Saegusa felt that her understanding had been broadened-or shattered-so Tatsuya Shiba's oddities no longer seemed quite so odd.
She couldn't be bothered to waste any brainpower either. She already knew the result, anyway, and there was an expert analyst right beside her. Why the hell wouldn't she use her?
"Yes, it certainly is strange. Ultimately, the Loop Cast System is only used to cast the same magic repeatedly. Producing multiple waves with different vibration frequencies should be impossible. Although it might be possible if the frequency were set as a variable, setting not just the coordinates, strength, and duration, but even the frequency as variables..."
At that point, Suzune Ichihara suddenly thought of something, and her eyes widened.
"Could it be that you've implemented all of that?"
Suzune Ichihara looked at Tatsuya Shiba in surprise.
"Unfortunately, when it comes to multivariable processing, neither processing speed, calculation methods, nor interference strength counts toward your grades at this school."
Tatsuya Shiba looked indifferent. Of course, he really was indifferent.
"Practical test scores depend on the speed of the magic, the scale of the magic sequence, and the strength with which it rewrites the target object."
"I see. You mean the exams can't measure someone's true ability?"
Hattori Gyoubu nodded thoughtfully, then looked enlightened.
"Shiba."
"Yes?"
"I said something rude earlier... about your judgment being clouded. I'm truly sorry."
"I was the one whose judgment was clouded."
"Please forgive me."
Hattori Gyoubu lowered his head and bowed to Miyuki Shiba in apology.
"I was a little overbearing earlier too."
"My apologies."
"All right, all right, are you two exchanging wedding bows here?"
The perfectly good atmosphere of mutual understanding vanished instantly with that one remark from Chiba Yeyou.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Her little face flushed, Miyuki Shiba ran over and kicked Chiba Yeyou.
"Fuck!"
"You two were taking forever, so I sped things up! Once we're done, we can all go home to our moms!"
"I'm hungry."
Chiba Yeyou rubbed his stomach and complained aggrievedly.
"Well, although quite a few unexpected things happened, let's head to the Public Morals Committee headquarters as originally planned!"
Mari Watanabe's delight was written all over her smiling face.
"See you!"
Chiba Yeyou waved and prepared to leave, but Mayumi Saegusa reached out with her small hand and caught his before he could finish waving.
"Come take a look too. You'll be helping out in a few days, you know!"
As she spoke, she held up an index finger in front of herself, looking so playful and cute that even Chiba Yeyou was momentarily dazed.
"Ah!"
"Fine, fine!"
"I'm destined to toil!"
Chiba Yeyou caught up with the three people ahead and headed toward the Public Morals Committee.
Click!
"It's a little messy, but feel free to sit wherever you like."
"..."
Looking at the Public Morals Committee office, which resembled a storage room, Chiba Yeyou's mouth twitched furiously.
"Hey, are you sure you didn't call us here to clean your room for you?"
Chiba Yeyou sighed.
Beside him, Erika Chiba and Tatsuya Shiba couldn't help nodding, wholeheartedly agreeing with Chiba Yeyou's opinion.
"Ahahaha..."
Mari Watanabe laughed awkwardly.
"What a slob of a woman!"
Erika Chiba went straight for a personal attack. Even if she had become a subordinate of this hateful, wicked woman who had stolen her brother, she, Erika Chiba, would never submit!
"Would you mind if we tidied this place up?"
"As someone who wants to become a magic engineer, I really can't stand looking at this."
Tatsuya Shiba was finding the surroundings unbearable.
"Uh, well, go ahead."
Was that a joke? Would she turn down free labor?
"But you said you wanted to become a magic engineer?"
"Even though you have such impressive skills in combat against people?"
Mari Watanabe couldn't quite understand Tatsuya Shiba's thinking.
"With my talent, no matter how hard I work, I could only get a Class C license."
Thud!
"Fuck!"
"Madam Chairwoman, dinner has to be on you!"
Chiba Yeyou set a large box on the floor and spoke indignantly.
"There's a nutrient dispenser."
"..."
"Heartless merchant! Vile capitalist!"
"No, even they would cry at this!"
Chiba Yeyou said bitterly.
"All right, all right, I'll treat you all to a meal."
Mari Watanabe waved a hand, looking every bit the rich landowner with money to spare.
Uh, she really didn't seem short of money!
No, wait, look at the backgrounds of everyone here. It seemed everyone who got into this high school had a teensy billion-bit of status.
So I was the only broke bastard?