Chapter 41

Third day of the Nine Schools Competition.

The Female's Official Division for Battle Board, where those who had passed the qualifiers would be competing in, was about to start.

Under the clear blue sky, excitement and tenseness permeated throughout the entire Battle Board venue as the match between two heated rivals, Watanabe Mari from First High School and Kuroki Risa from Seventh High School, was about to begin.

But, within First High School's bench, a different kind of excitement and tenseness filled the air as Yuuji stood awkwardly in front of a redly blushing Mari, stared at by all the staff members of his school and the spectators behind him.

"Y-You prepared all of this… for me?"

Mari said with a trembling voice, referring to the presence of security staff lining the perimeter of the course she was about to compete in.

Although Mari was supposedly in charge of the security personnel lent to the First High School by the board members of the event, she had completely left everything for Yuuji to handle and chose to focus on her match. It wasn't until she entered the venue that she found out and saw just how many security staff were stationed along the course.

"Yes… While major accidents were rare, I don't feel comfortable in simply taking the risk that would harm you or any members of our team. So I prepared this."

And it was difficult to do so. At first, the board member in charge of security was perplexed by Yuuji's request and rejected it. But after Yuuji explained to them that this year's match might be especially intense due to the rivalry between Watanabe and the athlete representing the Seventh High School, they finally agreed to a discussion.

It was only after some compromises that Yuuji managed to get 30 security staff members for this and station one every 100 meters along the entire 3km long course. And of course, he placed 1 security staff right at the turn where he knew the incident would happen.

He prepared these security measures to hopefully make sure Mari and the Seventh High School athlete wouldn't suffer from any major injuries. But since he couldn't say that, he made it seem like he's doing this for the safety of all the athletes that would be competing in this event.

But judging from Mari's reaction, Yuuji had a feeling that his intention wasn't completely delivered to her.

"I-I see. G-Good job on convincing the board member in charge of security to do this. I heard you were having a hard time dealing with some of them, but… I-I didn't know it was for this… Thank you."

"...You're very welcome."

"T-Then, I'll be going now!"

With her surfboard held under her arm, Mari quickly walked away in her skin tight swimsuit uniform for the race. Her face still blushing up a storm.

And without even looking, he could already guess the questions everyone around him had from their gazes.

There were a lot of women who had crowded around him on the spectators' seats, and his interaction with Mari seemed to have roused their thirst for juicy gossips.

…I hope they won't misunderstand. Mari-senpai already has a lover. I wouldn't want to come in between her and Erika's half-brother…

A sigh escaped his lips. The last thing he'd want is to destroy the relationships of someone he's close with.

With his [Divine Physique], he had long since given up in the belief that he won't cause problems with someone else's romantic relationship. It may have sounded narcissistic, but it was a painful lesson he learned when Aika told him that some girls had broken up with their boyfriend because they fell in love with him.

So, at the very least, he didn't want to destroy his friend's romantic relationship. He'll make sure to keep an arm's length of distance between him and the couple and try his best to not ruin his friends' romance.

Stop thinking about other things. I need to focus on this now.

He shook his head and shifted his gaze towards the starting line where Mari had readied herself on the board.

Silence filled the entire venue as everyone sat on the edge of their seats, bated in anticipation for the intense match they'd expect to happen between Mari and the athlete of the Seventh High School.

And a few moments later, the gunshot from the starting pistol broke the silence and all four athletes burst into speed on their surfboards.

Mari, as expected, took the lead in a flash with her superior casting time, speed, and strength. But, she wasn't without a rival.

As everyone had expected, the athlete from the Seventh Highschool managed to keep up with her, just like the year before.

Yuuji's expression tensed as he moved his hand to his earpiece, activating it, while keeping his gaze on the match.

With a confident smile, Mari maneuvered her board into a drift, lifting up the front side of her board and turning it close to ninety degrees to the right, and continued to cruise the straight course with her board perpendicular to it, anticipating the coming turn while maintaining her speed.

The Seventh School Athlete, surfing close behind, also began to make adjustments for the coming sharp turn. However, instead of decelerating to take the inner course, she accelerated, and at tremendous speed, straight towards Mari.

"Over acceleration! Security, prepare to catch the two athletes in the lead!"

Yuuji shouted as Mari raised her hand towards the charging girl and cast a spell, causing her to be flung forward away from her board, and prepared to catch her.

But in that moment, she felt an unexpected dip on the water surface right beneath her pivoting feet.

Eh?

Her body began to fall backwards, losing her balance. And the moment she caught the seventh high school girl, the impact propelled the two off the course.

A collective gasp of shock resounded throughout the venue upon witnessing such a fatal incident.

But fortunately, a security staff managed to slow down both athletes, who had lost their consciousness from shock, and set them down at the edge of the course.

Yuuji, along with a few other staff of his school, immediately made their way to the site of the incident with hurried steps.

"Call the medic! Hurry!"

Yuuji ordered the moment he arrived and checked on Mari's condition. He didn't see any major injuries, but with them dressed in a full-body swimsuit, he couldn't be sure.

The security staff, who had saved them, immediately obeyed his words and ran to get the medics as he and the staff from his school began to move both athletes away from the course carefully.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Seeping through the windows of the hospital room, the orange-red light from the afternoon sun basked upon Mayumi's figure as she sat beside a hospital bed.

On it was Mari, laying there unconscious with bandages wrapped around her head and limbs.She had been here for quite a while, waiting patiently and worriedly for her friend to wake up. And after a few hours, Mari began to stir and slowly opened her eyes.

"Mari…?"

Her gaze was unsteady as she slowly came into consciousness, and upon hearing Mayumi's voice, she shifted it towards her side.

"Are you here with us? Do you know who I am?"

"Mayumi…? What are you saying- Uggh…"

Mari flinched and groaned in pain the moment she tried to move her body. The feeling of her muscles tensing and twisting prevented her from moving, so she relaxed it once more and fell back into her bed.

"Is this the hospital…?"

"Yes, it's the hospital on the Susano Base. Thank goodness… There doesn't seem to be any mental damage. Ah, but you shouldn't move yet. Although you don't have any broken bones, there are still bruises and sprains that you suffered from catching the athlete from the Seventh Highschool."

"Hah… How long would it take for this to heal?"

"Three days at the very least. Normal activities won't be a problem for you after a good night's rest. But to be safe, you'll have to abstain from strenuous exercise for a week."

"Eh? But that means…"

"Mm… You'll have to withdraw from Mirage Bat as well. But it can't be helped…"

Mari let out a deep sigh.

Mayumi was right. It couldn't be helped. It was an accident. But it didn't lessen her disappointment. All the hard work and time she had spent for this competition had all turned into waste due to her injuries.

She averted her gaze and turned her face to the side, away from Mayumi.

"How did the race go?"

"Seventh High was disqualified for reckless conduct. Third and Ninth High will go to the finals. I hear that the Seventh High athlete's injuries weren't serious. Your efforts to protect her weren't in vain."

"...Doesn't do us any good if I get injured myself."

"No. If you hadn't decelerated at that moment and protected that girl, she would've been flung much further and faster. In that case, even the security staff there wouldn't be able to catch her in time. She would've suffered tremendous injuries and her career as a magician would've ended. That's what Yuuji thinks as well."

Upon hearing that name, Mari immediately turned bright red as she looked at Mayumi in shock.

"I-I-Is that so…"

"Mm. He praised you for your valiance. Even though there was a security member there, you still chose to help her instinctively at the price of withdrawing from the match. It was something not anybody could do."

"H-He said all that?!"

Mari turned to look at her friend in a fluster.

"Yes~ He's also the one who immediately came to your rescue, carried you here, and stayed with you while you're being treated~"

"What?"

"You should thank him yourself later~"

"..."

Mayumi giggled as she watched her friend tremble in embarrassment at her words.

Just then, a knock came from the door, pulling the two away from their little conversation.

"Hm? Who could it be?"

Mayumi turned towards the door while Mari simply turned her head. And soon after, they could hear a familiar voice coming from it.

"Please excuse me, Mayumi-senpai. May I come in?"

Mari flinched and felt her heart skip a beat the moment she heard the voice. She was unnaturally embarrassed and flustered because of the conversation she just had with Mayumi.

"Ah, of course~ Mari is already awake as well, so you can come in~"

"Is that so? Then please excuse me as well, Mari-senpai."

The sound of the mechanical door sliding open and close resounded and they could slowly hear footsteps approaching until the familiar figure of Yuuji holding a basket of fruits came to sight.

He lowered his head to both of them and his gaze immediately went to Mari.

"I'm glad to see you have awakened, Mari-senpai. How are you feeling?"

"I-I'm fine! I'm feeling better, t-thanks to you…"

Mari cursed herself inwardly for stumbling on her words in front of her close friend and her junior. It was all Mayumi's fault for saying something strange to her right before he came!

"I see. I'm glad. I've brought you some fruits. Please enjoy it."

"A-Ah… Thank you."

He placed the basket of fruit on the bed side table before standing beside Mayumi.

"President, chairwoman, there is something I wish to ask of you…"

"Hm?"

Seeing his expression turn serious, Mayumi and Mari both focused their eyes on him with a solemn and slightly surprised expression.

"What is it?"

"Is it possible for us to make a request to the organizers of the event to inspect and investigate the board members in charge of checking our CADs before the match?"

Their eyes widened in unison. The words he said… the implications of it wasn't something they could take easily.

"What? Are you ser-"

"Are you suspecting that the ones who sent those armed forces had planted their operatives amongst the board members and the event committee?"

"Mayumi?!"

"Yes. Although we are still in the process of investigation, Tatsuya and I noticed an unnatural sway on the water surface below Mari-senpai's feet that would only be present in a phenomenon rewriting spell after reviewing the video caught by the security staff at the site of the accident."

In truth, Tatsuya was currently reviewing the tape along with Isori-senpai, Mikihiko and Mizuki. But, knowing it would take a while to get this request passed on to the committee, Yuuji and Tatsuya agreed to let him tell Mayumi and Mari the result of their investigation he knew of from the anime.

"Ah… I can confirm that I felt it that time…"

Mari's frown deepened, recalling the exact moment she felt a sway under her pivoting foot when she was trying to catch the Seventh High School's athlete when she fell.

"Moreover, I don't think someone who would mistake a deceleration spell for an acceleration spell would be chosen as the athlete and engineer to represent their school, the Seventh High School, in this Nine Schools Competition. I suspect that their CAD had been tampered with. And the only time our school's CAD that we used for competition was held in the hands of another party would be…"

"When it is checked by a board member of the event committee…"

"..."

The two fell into silence as the notion they first thought was absurd starting to make sense.

If the ones behind the intruders and the bus "accident" had truly planted their agents into the committee, then they'd certainly be able to sabotage the matches in more ways than one… Even tampering with the athletes' CADs.

"Alright. I'll talk about this with Juumonji-kun as well and we'll try what we can."

"Ah, I'll try to do what I can as well. Though I won't be able to do much if it concerns a board member of the event committee, especially when I'm in this state."

"Thank you very much. Then, I shall excuse myself now. I wish you a speedy recovery, Mari-senpai. Please excuse me."

Yuuji bowed, but as he was about to turn and head out, Mayumi called out to him.

"Yuuji-kun."

He turned around and faced Mayumi.

"Yes?"

"Will you and Aika-san come to the meeting I'll be having later on with Juumonji-kun and the rest?"

Yuuji looked at her for a moment, surprised.

Is it about my request? I guess we'll discuss it further later on…

As he expected, questioning the board members and event committee who run the Nine Schools' Competition would be quite difficult without proper evidence even for a member for the ten master clans despite there already being an "accident". They must tread carefully.

"Of course."

"Thank you. I'll message you which meeting room it is later on, okay?"

"Yes. Is there anything else?"

"No. Please go ahead."

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Night time.

Every night, leaders of the First High School team gathered for a meeting with the team's Strategic Advisors to discuss their strategy for the competition as a whole.

Mayumi sat at the center of the long U-shaped table with her assistants, Mari and Juumonji Kaito, by her side. A bit further down the table on the right side was Hattori Hanzou, and standing before the white board and representing the strategic advisor team was Ichihara Shizune.

And after Shizune finished her presentation, all four of them let out a simultaneous sigh.

"The official matches still left to be played are Mirage bat and Monolith Code. And to assure ourselves of an overall victory, we'll have to take first place in both, huh?"

"Not only that, but with the added perk of having to watch out for interference by… an unknown entity."

Mari added, crossing her arms, and frowned.

Just then, a knocking came from the door and Yuuji announced his and Aika's arrival, asking for permission to enter.

And as soon as it was granted by Mayumi, the electronic door opened and they entered.

"Excuse us."

"Please excuse us~"

"Mm. Welcome. Please take a seat."

They bowed and took a seat right next to each other on the left side of the U-shaped table.

"I've brought you here because there's something important to consult you on. Rin-chan, would you mind giving them the rundown?"

Shizune nodded to Mayumi and turned towards the two.

"I think you're both aware of today's results."

The large screen behind her, previously displaying the emblem of their First High School, changed to display a graph representing the scores and current placements of the schools in the competition and their scores.

"Although we did suffer an accident, our school's scores are more or less in line with our projections. However, since the Third High School has been making greater gains than we'd anticipated, our lead is less comfortable than projected."

Currently, the First Highschool held the first place with 320 points, while Third High held the second place with 225 points. The lead might seem large at first, but it was still not enough to ensure victory.

"Should we fall drastically behind Third High in the Rookie Events that start tomorrow, then depending on our score in the Official Mirage Bat event, it's possible that we'd be overtaken. Official match points are worth twice as much as Rookie match points. And although I personally don't think we'll fall drastically behind in the Rookie Events… Countermeasures to assure victory must be taken. Therefore, we, the team's strategic advisors, have decided to pour our resources into the Official Mirage Bat event, even if it's somewhat at the expense of the Rookie event."

During that little pause, Shizune shifted her gaze slightly at Yuuji, along with everyone else in the room. If there was one factor they're confident in regarding the rookie events, it would be the fact that Yuuji was there.

Even if he would need to defeat the Crimson Prince, Ichijou Masaki, and Cardinal George, Kichijouji Shinkurou to obtain first place in the Rookie's Monolith Code event, it was… difficult to see how he would lose after everything he had shown them.

As a member of the Disciplinary Committee, he had shown his dominance over every student in the school, even the third year students. Moreover, he had also shown an incredible skill of using two CADs at once when he stopped the car from crashing into their bus.

And apart from his magical skills, he had also shown an incredible talent and skill with strategic planning and management with his recent role of managing the First High School's security detail.

With all those put into consideration, it was only natural to put their trust and confidence in him.

But, to ensure victory, they still needed more assurance especially when their school seemed to be… targeted by unknown entities. Thus, this was their decision.

Upon hearing her words, Yuuji turned his gaze to Aika, who was now blinking in surprise, as everyone shifted their gazes from Yuuji to her.

"Eh? Does that mean…"

"That's right, Aika-san. We're going to have you take Mari's place and compete in the Official Mirage Bat event. Yuuji-kun will continue to serve as your engineer and come to the arena on Day 9."

"Eh?!"

Aika slightly slammed the table in shock as she sprang up to her feet.

"B-But is this fine? There are older students participating in just one event. Not to mention, there's also Miyuki-chan who had practiced even more than me for her Mirage Bat event. Why would you choose me as a replacement?"

"We never had a back up for Mirage Bat aside from you and Miyuki-san. And since both of you are skilled and talented, we decided to split the two of you and win both the official and rookie Mirage Bat events. As for why we chose you…"

Mari snorted before her lips curled into a grin.

"It's because I've seen you use your magic for the Disciplinary Committee. Moreover, Juumonji-kun has also seen it during last spring's incident and he recommended you as well."

Juumonji nodded solemnly.

"Watanabe is correct. From what I've seen, you have the talent and skill to wind the Official Mirage Bat event. That is why I recommended you."

"Chairman…"

"Call it nepotism, I don't care. I believe you can do better, and these two agreed."

"Chairwoman…"

Glancing from her side, Yuuji couldn't help but let out a smile.

She knew Aika didn't care to show off and simply wanted to have fun by going against Miyuki in the event. She was excited about Pillars' Break since she could compete against her friend. But she knew she wouldn't be able to go against Miyuki in the Mirage Bat event since Miyuki would be competing in the Official event to replace Mari.

But she didn't expect it to be her that would be competing in the official event.

From the looks of her face, Yuuji could somewhat guess why she was hesitant to accept it.

In the anime, Miyuki was the one chosen to compete in the official Mirage Bat event. But now, she was the one chosen. She must feel like she stole her place.

But that's not how it is. She didn't steal anything. This world is not the same as the anime. It's real, and in this world, she is the one chosen for the role.

But… If she declines and still wants Miyuki to be the one to take Mari's place, then he will support her. Though, truth be told, as her boyfriend, he still wishes to see her compete in the official match, have fun, and show off her prowess.

After all, just as much as she loves making Yuuji show off, he also loves to see her show off and show everyone how amazing the woman he fell in love with was.

As Aika hesitated, Mari turned his gaze towards Yuuji.

"Besides, you're also confident in her ability right, Yuuji?"

"Of course."

Yuuji answered immediately, causing Aika to blush and the rest to smile wryly.

"But, I will respect her decision. If she wishes to compete in the official Mirage Bat event, then I will support her with everything I have as her engineer. But if she doesn't, then I will also support her as her friend."

"I see. Well, you heard him. What's your decision?"

"Geez… So that's why you called Yuuji here as well… You're all so sly…"

Aika pouted her lips as the blush on her cheeks persisted. There's no way she could reject it if Yuuji was this confident in her. All she could do was proof that he's right and show everyone that his girlfriend/personal slut was the best!!!

"Alright! I'll do it! Please let me compete in the Official Mirage Bat event!"

"Ufufufu~ We'll be counting on you, Aika-san~"