Chapter 63

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The products in First High's student store had far surpassed the level of "high school student stores".

Still, each of the nine magic high schools was like this, so as to provide materials related to magic studies not sold in normal stores to reduce student stress and raise necessary supplies to meet the rising demand.

In the end, this was still a small student store on campus, so if there was an item that simply couldn't be obtained on campus, then students still had to go off campus to obtain them.

In this area, all nine magic high schools were also the same, as stores had sprouted along the nearby streets leading to the high schools to provide materials, notebooks, books, and miscellaneous items that could not be purchased in the student store.

As mentioned above, the stores lined along the streets near First High had a plethora of selections available.

Tatsuya and Isori were purchasing slides for the 3-D projector in one of the shops in front of the station. The deadline for the project was tomorrow, so they couldn't afford to wait for the student store to get new merchandise.

"Plainly, we would be fine without the senpais accompanying us..."

The reason that Tatsuya still said this halfway through the trip was partially because he was apologetic that the upperclassmen had to tag along the entire time, and partially to suppress Kanon, who latched onto her lover heedless of other people watching them.

Clearly, the grass was greener on the other side, while the reverse was also true. Possibly, the bystanders had a more objective view of the situation.

Since Kanon was the only one flirting whereas Isori seemed entirely at a loss what to do, the pair was not completely hopeless yet.

Speaking of which, Miyuki was still on campus. Kanon had a legitimate reason in serving as Isori's protection, but even if this was a temporary jaunt, Miyuki didn't have the luxury of abandoning her responsibilities in the Student Council and following her brother. Currently, precisely because she was well aware that Kanon was with them, she was hammering away at the terminal with great irritation.

"No, leaving everything to Shiba-kun would be bad form. Also, I want to verify the products as well."

Basically, the overly diligent Isori's reply was only to be expected.

At this point, Tatsuya didn't think he could just send the two of them packing either. His earlier comment was both a mild complaint and also an attempt to clear out the slightly feminine laughter that needled the ears. He could relax after making the conscious decision to block all this out, which was one area that Tatsuya excelled in.

Afterwards, using an incredibly slow pace that wasted another 5 minutes, they finally arrived at the shop.

Tatsuya swiftly made all the necessary purchases and let Isori know that "I'm waiting outside", before stepping out of the store.

Finally able to catch some peace and quiet, Tatsuya noticed that someone was spying on him.

There was no sign that someone was shadowing him. Even if he had been harassed by sweet whispers expected (?) from a high school couple, he didn't lower his guard.

However, even if they weren't Tatsuya, anyone would notice such an obvious gaze.

This store was along the shortest route from the school to the station and was almost on the station's doorstep. If someone was waiting in ambush at the front of the station, it would be a simple task to identify students on their way home, so he estimated that they must have been camping here since much earlier. Although their figure remained hidden, their rampant hostility signified that they were up to some deviltry. On the other hand, in terms of sheer wariness, this level was altogether childish compared to the sniping attack Tatsuya weathered two days ago.

As he debated over what action to take, Isori and Kanon came out with their purchases.

"Sorry for the wait...

What happened?"

Tatsuya could only sigh in appreciation at Isori's ability to sense something was off the moment he stepped out of the store and ask him the cause of it.

He wasn't wearing such an opaque expression.

As evidenced by Kanon tilting her head to one side with a "Huh?" expression on her face.

Isori was an expert on magic utilizing delayed activation conditions, but these observation skills probably coincided more with sensory systematic magic.

"Nothing, we're being observed, so I was thinking of how to respond."

There was no need to hide this detail, so Tatsuya directly answered Isori's question.

Still, he wasn't able to finish that answer. "Observed? By spies!?"

Tatsuya remained thinking, because Kanon interjected before he could say "how to respond".

And very loudly too.

That was like telling their opponent to "bail now" and, as expected, the observation was cut short as whoever was responsible quickly departed.

Yet, Kanon was worthy of being Mari's chosen successor.

After a simple "where?" to Tatsuya, she immediately sped off in the direction Tatsuya's eyes pointed towards.

"Kanon, magic!"

"I know! Have faith in me, Kei."

He reminded her precisely because he didn't completely believe her, but Isori was half a beat slower than Kanon, so he could only stand there with her emergency replacement, Tatsuya, and helplessly watch her rapidly departing figure.

As well as being in the top tier of Magicians around the world, Kanon was also a member of the cross country club.

She didn't have the same leg strength as a top flight athlete who didn't know magic, but she was a match for any ordinary high school student, even the boys as well.

With her skirt flying, Kanon immediately noticed the petite figure fleeing the area from the corner of her eye.

That young girl was wearing the same school uniform she was wearing.

She was surprised by this turnout, but acting was always her stronger suit and Kanon's philosophy was always decisive action without waffling over the details. Although she didn't hear any convincing evidence on Tatsuya's part that this was her culprit, Kanon never let up on her pursuit.

The distance was rapidly shrinking. By the time there were 10 meters between them, the fleeing young girl turned to look.

Revealing a face not covered by a mask nor wearing dark shades to disguise her features.

The young girl didn't intend to catch Kanon's eyes, but that was the result forged through chance.

By the time Kanon noticed that the young girl had drawn a small device, the young girl turned towards a new direction and held the device between the two of them.

Not good, Kanon thought.

On reflex, she halted her footsteps and shut her eyes.

Despite raising her hands to protect her face, she knew that this was a futile gesture.

Through the cracks in her arms, a burning, violent flash could be seen through the eyelids.

Several curious bystanders who were watching the two of them screamed in pain.

Kanon closed her left eye that couldn't be fully protected from the flash and opened her right eye that managed to avoid any damage.

The young girl was fleeing on a scooter. Kanon extended her right arm to the left wrist.

The bracelet around her wrist began to absorb psions and began spreading the Activation Sequence according to the instructions she was inputting into the CAD.

However, before Kanon could complete the Activation Sequence, psion pellets that materialized suddenly behind her shattered it.

"What are you doing!?"

"Kanon, don't!"

Both occurred at the exact same time.

As Kanon whirled around and Isori rushed forward, their words overlapped with one another.

Behind Isori, Tatsuya stood there with a handgun-shaped CAD raised.

Isori arrived where Kanon, who stood there stiffly in shock at her lover's shout, was standing.

While running towards her, Isori had already finished constructing the Magic Sequence.

Towards the fleeing scooter that continued forward, he invoked the Release Systematic Magic "Road Extension".

The wheels on the scooter, which had just started to egress from the scene, suddenly started skidding.

No matter how hard the engine pushed, there was no way to advance.

Despite the open path before her, she was unable to escape this linear maze.

The secret lay in Coulomb's Law. By altering the electrons between the tires and road, he had reduced the friction to nearly zero. The mere description of the magic was simple enough, but the calculations necessary to actually realize this Magic Sequence were absolutely terrifying.

At the same time, he used magic to increase the gyroscopic effect to prevent the vehicle from falling over and any early acceleration had been devoured by Coulomb's Law, so the scooter the young girl was riding was effectively stranded.

There was no way for her to escape.

Isori, Kanon, and Tatsuya all thought this was a foregone conclusion, which was a perfectly natural and expected judgment. From a common sense perspective, there was no way to escape this trap.

But they didn't know one thing.

This young lady was a complete amateur when it came down to reckless behavior.

Once an amateur was forced into desperate straits, they often decide upon a ridiculous course of action.

If an act of desperation was all she had left, then surely the ending was already written, except desperate measures had a habit of succeeding in desperate times.

The young girl thumbed the button on the end of the left side of the handle that was covered by a plastic lid.

Normal scooters don't have a button there.

The button was covered by a lid like the ones seen on a fire alarm that could only be used once. This button married the "one use only" function to the "abandon after use" function.

Abruptly, the back of the seat exploded.

The back of the seat went flying, revealing two twin-linked rockets that began spewing flame.

The scooter sprang forward with a kick.

The young girl riding the scooter frantically clung to the handle when her body started tilting backwards.

Speechless, Tatsuya could only watch the rapidly diminishing figure.

She never let go of the handle possibly because some sort of function was built into the glove. So she had planned ahead to this point, Tatsuya thought.

Still, your average person wouldn't choose to attach rockets propelled by rocket fuel beneath their seat.

The fuel amount could be estimated based on the amount of time the rocket was lit, so if the scooter tipped over and ignited, the ensuing explosion would undoubtedly kill any innocent bystanders nearby.

It was a veritable miracle that the scooter didn't fall over and kept moving forward after the rockets were ignited.

Usually, sudden acceleration would lead to an abrupt loss of control and the subsequent crash.

If not for the magics that increased gyroscopic force and also reduced tire friction to practically zero, that was the most likely result.

If they had used Kanon's magic instead of Isori's magic to stop her, the scooter would definitely have fallen over and caused a tragedy.

"...

What was that child thinking..."

"...

I think we should say that we're both pretty lucky..."

It appeared that both his senpais were thinking along the same lines Tatsuya was.

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After abandoning the modified scooter, the young girl sucked in great gasps of air as she squirmed into the van prepared by her collaborator ahead of time.

She never imagined that having flames sprout out from a close proximity would be such a terrifying event.

While driving the scooter, she had the impression that her skirt, the back of her shirt and her hair were burning the entire time.

The driver of the van remained silent. There were no words of comfort for her. Which was only to be expected.

They weren't companions. They were merely collaborators. The young girl tightly hugged her arms.

On top of the seat painted a dull gray by the tinted windows, the young girl sat there motionlessly.

Shortly afterward, her terror gradually faded until only regret gnawed at her heart.

She had been overcome by her flight instinct, but coldly examining the facts told her that this was not necessary.

After all, the only thing she had done was watching that man.

Her guilty conscience stole her ability to think objectively. As she became aware of this, the young girl was consumed with an irresistible fury at her own failings.

She also became aware that she was not suited for this line of work.

She was publicly acknowledged to be the indoor type and she didn't feel any need to change any of that.

Her dear older sister was also like that.

Her scholarly older sister was her role model, but since she wasn't as talented as her sister, she chose a path that suited her interest in working with machinery.

So what was she doing with these suspicious individuals, she asked herself.

She immediately reached an answer. From the depths of her heart.

It was all because she could never forgive that man. She cared not for the rewards of her labor.

So long as she could see a regretful expression pass over that man's face, that alone would be sufficient.

The young girl suddenly broke into laughter.

That was because she remembered that she had seized the initiative today.

Even though she didn't have the luxury to watch the rear view mirror, he must have sat there stunned as he could only watch her successfully get away...

The young girl's laughter was as dark as it was masochistic, with a trace of obsession tucked within.

With each breath of laughter, the young girl's heart fractured a little more.

Not like there was anyone on board who was going to stop her.

Inside one of the old buildings sitting in the outskirts of Tokyo, several older display screens were set up in a room within an office that appeared to be an office of commerce on the outside. Several men garbed in different attires stood before these screens and were intently watching the display.

One middle-aged man with a dark cloud over his face gestured at the young girl laughing madly on the screen that linked to the interior of the van and spoke up.

"Is that girl going to be OK?"

The man cared little for her well-being. He was only wondering if the young girl's idiocy would be traced back to them.

"Mr. Zhou arranged for the driver, so we would be above suspicion even if something did occur."

"Why exactly are we trusting this young middle man again?"

The young man's face floated across his mind as another man spoke up in displeasure.

—Not only was he an irritating factor, he was also completely untrustworthy.

That was this man's undisguised feelings. "What of the relic?"

To sweep aside the jittery atmosphere, the man changed the topic. One of his subordinates before the monitor displays immediately replied back.

"We have discovered no signs that it has left the FLT office. Current location is unknown."

"Hm... Four Leaves, eh? What an irksome name, is it connected to the Yotsuba Family in any way?"

"Yes, but after extensive investigation, no link was discovered. Also, this country likes to use Yotsuba or Yatsuha in their company names."

"That makes this a little difficult."

The man's words were infused with disgust, hatred and irritation, but at the same time, the voice could not hide his fear.

The Yatsuha name was associated with the Four Great Systems and Eight Major Types in modern magic as well as the Garbhako'sa-Dhatu Mandala, so modern corporations delighted in using that name. Still, there was another meaning behind the Yotsuba name. Using the name of the Yotsuba Family from the Ten Master Clans was considered a taboo by individuals affiliated with magic. If Japanese corporations used the Yotsuba name, both intelligence and criminal organizations feared to rouse the Yotsuba Family's wrath by harming their assets. Since the Yotsuba Family hadn't declared otherwise, there were many corporations who "pretended" to be affiliated with the Yotsuba Family.

Even though this was but a cheap parlor trick, that did not mean there were no effects. Currently, their side had already expended considerable time and energy to guard against the Yotsuba Family's detection, a fact that brought a bitter expression to the man's face when he remembered this.

"Don't relax the surveillance on Sayuri. Do we have any intel on the family she visited two nights ago?"

At the man's question, another subordinate spoke up.

"Her husband's son and daughter from his first marriage reside there."

"Was it just to placate her stepchildren?"

After adopting a "How boring" expression at his subordinate's response, the man resumed asking in a businesslike manner.

"What's their background?"

"Both of them are Year 1 students at the Magic University-affiliated First High."

However, that answer roused the man's interest. "Names?"

"The older brother is called Shiba Tatsuya, the sister is called Shiba Miyuki."

"Shiba Tatsuya?"

Just as the man was searching his memory for this familiar name, the subordinate monitoring the van spoke up.

"He is the target of our collaborator's vendetta."

"I see, magic university affiliated high school? ...

What a coincidence."

After considering this for a few seconds, the man couldn't help but break into a smirk as he gave new orders.

"Add the Magic University-affiliated First High to the list of observation targets. If necessary, pull men from other projects. Also, provide additional reinforcements for that girl and tell her the easiest path to vengeance lays through leaking critical information. And give that child a weapon as well."

The orders were fired off one at a time. "Captain Lu!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You are in command. Any meddlesome interlopers are to immediately be disposed of!"

After giving his last orders to a bulky youth, the man departed from the room.