(A/N): Changes between the events, characters and world mechanics in this fic from the canon are largely intentional. Otherwise, I try to keep things working the same as they do in canon Mahouka.

Even if you don't have an account, reviews would be and are much appreciated! They keep me motivated to write and to do so better~

Chapter 5: 9SC Part 1

(July, Shiba Residence Basement Lab, nighttime)

Although he hadn't forgotten Major Kazama's warning about the activity of a criminal syndicate near the site of the upcoming Nine Schools Competition, Tatsuya hadn't let that dampen his excitement at the fruits of his efforts.

For quite some time he had been working towards fulfilling his dream, one which he was somewhat embarrassed to even mention to others. He made the first steps towards realizing this dream when he burst onto the CAD development scene. As Taurus Silver, he developed the hypothesized Loop Cast system, allowing a magician to continuously invoke a desired spell.

After inspecting his code for errors and inefficiencies again, he believed he had finally managed to utilize Loop Casting to create a Generalized Flying-Type Magic. By aiming to create an extremely small Activation Sequence, the specialized CAD he created for the magic should be able to input the necessary variables into the Flying-Type Magic Sequence with precise timing needed to maintain flight without requiring increasingly higher Interference Strength. Such precise calculation wasn't possible for humans but for a machine it would be trivial. By reducing the Activation Sequence to the bare essentials, minimizing the Psion consumption and letting the device handle the bulk of the calculations, the Flying-Type magic should be usable for most magicians.

"Onii-san?"

Tatsuya had been distracted from his excitement by his sister's entrance. Turning to look at Miyuki, he almost had to catch his breath. She was dressed in a colorful outfit which resembled a figure skater's, but with a translucent, multicolored miniskirt around the waist.

Miyuki seemed pleased by his reaction to the attire she'd be wearing in the "Mirage Bat" event of the Nine Schools Competition.

"How do I look?" she asked playfully as she clasped her hands together in front of her.

Smiling wryly, he responded "Rather cute I'd say, it's suits you well. That aside, you have good timing."

Miyuki looked a bit put off that he rushed through his compliments so quickly, so she turned around and pouted.

Tatsuya ascended from his chair and poked her shoulder from behind her. When she didn't respond, Tatsuya continued poking her shoulder and said "Miyuki, would you like to help me test this out?"

As she turned around, she asked "Test wha-". She looked at Tatsuya with a surprised expression.

Not that Tatsuya was surprised by her shock, he was showing off a bit on purpose. Hovering in front of Miyuki's face, Tatsuya was seated on nothing but air complete with a slight smirk.

"Onii-san, did you…"

"I did."

"So Sustained Gravity-Control-type Magic has been achieved? Congratulations, Onii-san!" In her glee, Miyuki hugged Tatsuya as he landed on the ground, a hug Tatsuya returned affectionately and ran a hand through her hair. When she finished, she was blushing slightly, confusing Tatsuya.

"Well as I said, would you like to help me test it out, Miyuki?" He threw in another smile, hoping to get her to relax.

"I would be delighted, Onii-san!" He handed the specialized CAD to Miyuki, who seemed eager to take part in the momentous occasion.

As Tatsuya ran the Flying-Type magic through its paces with Miyuki's help, he could barely mask his excitement. The Loop Cast system was a perfect match to solve this longstanding puzzle in Weight-Type magic. Although it was too soon to call it a total success since he still needed to test it with magicians bearing average Psion reserves, Tatsuya was satisfied FLT would be able to announce the results within a few days. Once again, Taurus Silver would make history, boosting his already high regard in the magic community (not that Tatsuya cared about such notoriety for himself).

With yet another step made toward his goal, Tatsuya couldn't help but feel warm inside.

"Perhaps it won't be too much longer until I can help her as she helped me…" he mused to himself as he thought about the woman in question.

As he was lost in thought for a few moments, he failed to notice Miyuki's slightly annoyed expression when she saw him staring off into space instead of watching her midair performance. He took a deep breath and exhaled noisily through his nose as he closed his eyes. Although Tatsuya was unaware of it, the almost imperceptible smile on his face was unmistakable to her.

(First High Auditorium, a few days later)

As Miyuki was handing out the badges to the individuals who would be competing in the Nine Schools Competition, she grew elated as she she neared her brother.

Mayumi was calling out the names of those drafted into the competition and her brother had already been selected to join the Technician Team who oversee and manage the CADs for those participating in the events, such as Miyuki herself.

"Tatsuya Shiba!" Mayumi announced into the microphone.

Miyuki managed to prevent her irritation from showing on her face at the council President emphasizing her brother's name. She needed to maintain her image as a proper Ojou-sama to him, especially in their current setting.

As she placed his badge on his jacket, she gave Tatsuya an exquisite smile that would K.O. any lesser man. Although her brother appreciated her affection, he - true to form - accepted his badge with the grace befitting a member of the 10 Master Clans.

At the announcement of Tatsuya's name, his class (1-E) erupted into applause and congratulatory cheers that one of their own defied convention and made the cut for the NSC. Conversely, many of Miyuki's fellow Course 1 students directed derisive and dismissive looks at her brother. Miyuki eyed several of them with cold glares, causing them to look away in embarrassment; Morisaki Shun wisely did nothing to draw her ire this time.

(2 weeks later)

It had been 2 weeks since First High had begun training for the Nine Schools Competition. Miyuki. The contestants were working on improving their physical aptitude as well as their skill in the event they were to participate in.

Because of her exceptional talent at magic, Miyuki would be participating in 2 events: Mirage Bat and Ice Pillars Break. In addition to her training at school, Miyuki had continued practicing with Yakumo. His illusion magic allowed her to train at a high level for the Newcomer Division's Mirage Bat event.

As she had just finished physical regimen with Shizuku and Honoka, Miyuki was strolling through First High's campus alone as school ended for the day. Tatsuya was currently working on optimizing the CADs of some of the other female contestants, so he had to step away for a few hours.

At the thought of CADs, Miyuki began to feel excited for her brother. Just last week, Four-Leaves Technology revealed Taurus Silver's success at producing a functioning generalization of Flying-Type magic, much to the shock of FLT's competitors and the magic community at large. While FLT wasn't directly profiting from the magic itself - they released the Activation Sequence to the public - they were making a killing off the sales of the specialized CAD the magic required. Not to mention the increased interest it generated in FLT's other products such as the Sagittarius Series.

While Miyuki made her way toward the CAD maintenance room, her thoughts turned to the night Tatsuya had made the impossible a reality. While she had worked up the nerve to put on a bit of a show for her brother in the air, she felt mortified when he seemed unaffected by it save for a brief compliment. And worse he zoned out while smiling about something else…

"About someone else?" Miyuki wondered.

She couldn't help but picture that slight smile of his, reminding her of the look he had given their twin second cousins a few years prior. It was a look of honest satisfaction, or as near such an expression as Tatsuya was capable of making. Miyuki wasn't upset that Tatsuya was happy, but that he wasn't directing such an expression her way. Because of the "Pledge" magic connecting them, Miyuki knew the emotion he showed was genuine and directed at someone else.

"Just what… or rather, who, was he thinking about? Who could make him smile that way?" she thought conspiratorially. Her mind flashed back to the scene after the Blanche incident back in April when she saw Mayumi all over her brother. The image of Tatsuya patting Mayumi's head the way he had reserved for Miyuki caused her to exhale in frustration.

"It can't be… he can't have been thinking about Mayumi-senpai, could he? He shouldn't be able to feel anything like that for her!" she said abruptly.

Shocked at her own behavior, Miyuki knew she needed to calm down before she brought a blizzard to the campus in the middle of summer. She glanced around nervously. Luckily there was no one around to hear her slip up, given how late in the day it was. She sighed in relief.

She wanted to confront her brother about his odd reaction but she was also afraid of what the truth of the matter would be…

(August 1st, First High)

Mayumi finally arrived at First High. It was the day they were to leave for the site of the Nine Schools Competition. Their departure time was actually an hour and a half earlier, but Mayumi had to deal with unexpected "family business" that delayed her.

Her father, Koichi Saegusa, was in the process of finding the appropriate partner to marry Mayumi off to. Because of the tendency of magicians of the next generation to be born with stronger magic aptitude than the previous one, marriage in prestigious magic families was very much like horse trading. It also allowed families to build up their relationship with other prominent families and trade for favors and financial benefits.

Because the Saegusa family - alongside the Yotsuba family - was considered to be the most powerful and well-connected family of magicians, prospective marriage partners were virtually exclusive to others of the 10 Master Clans. One such potential arranged partner was the unexpected guest who delayed Mayumi's arrival for so long.

The arrival of Hirofumi Itsuwa at the Saegusa residence threw her morning into disarray. Hirofumi had learned that his competition for Mayumi's hand in marriage, Katsuto, had stayed for dinner at the Saegusa household a few nights previous and didn't want to fall behind. Throughout their breakfast chit chat, Hirofumi would repeatedly claim to agree with Mayumi on all sorts of things.

"Hirofumi-san… is way too… agreeable," Mayumi thought awkwardly.

Mayumi found the idea of arranged marriages repulsive. She certainly wasn't the first magician to feel this way, but it also went against her personality and values. She had no problem doing her duty to her family, but this responsibility never sat well with her. It wasn't the sort of relationship she could ever be happy with, whether it was with Katsuto, Hirofumi or anyone else.

Despite having told her team to leave without her, her popularity was such that they agreed to wait on her.

As Mayumi ran towards the bus for the NSC contestants, she noticed her friend Mari was standing outside the bus door along with a certain male student she had grown fond of.

"Sorry~" she exclaimed as she arrived at the bus.

As Mayumi was catching her breath and smoothing out the summer dress she wore, Mari responded "Jeez, we wondered when you were going to show up Mayumi."

Mayumi was about to apologize again when Mari eyed her and Tatsuya with a gleam in her eyes. "Don't stay out here and keep us waiting too much longer Mayumi" she said, giggling as she go onto the bus.

Mayumi shot an embarrassed look at Tatsuya who simply said matter-of-factly, "There's no need to apologize, President. As you sent word ahead 3 hours ago, we knew you'd be late. But as everyone wished to wait for you there's no need to say 'sorry'."

Shooting him a bashful look, Mayumi asked cutely "Oh, did you wish to wait on me as well, Ta-kun~?"

Although it could have just been the summer heat, Mayumi noticed Tatsuya's began to sweat a little at her question; it looked quite funny given he still retained his usual expressionlessness.

"Well, uh, since you told us to go ahead without you I was actually in favor of leaving on time."

"Eh?"

…

Mayumi pouted and crossed her arms. "Hmph. And here I was going to ask you to sit next to me on the bus, Tatsuya. I even picked out this nice dress and hat for the occasion."

"Well, they suit you quite well Mayumi," he said in a placating tone.

Despite that, Mayumi left him outside alone, annoyed that he didn't wish to wait for her. Unknowingly to her, Tatsuya sighed in relief at dodging that bullet. After settling into her seat on the bus, Mayumi observed him hurry over to the separate bus the Technician Team were being transported in.

As the bus made it's way to the southeast portion of the Fuji Exercise Grounds, Mayumi was grumbling to herself quietly as she at the passing scenery out the window.

"That guy… I thought he would be interested in being around me… he told me about his secret magic after all…"

"What was that President?" asked Suzune.

Mayumi gulped. In her frustration, she had forgotten that Suzune was sitting next to her.

Stuttering a bit, she responded "U-uh, I was just mad that Ta-kun was so inconsiderate earlier. He didn't care if I came with the team at all so I refused to ask him to sit next to me…"

Suzune didn't seem very convinced by her response but decided to let it slide.

"Hm, I think you're overreacting a tad, President. Besides, it was probably for the best," she said in a thoughtful tone.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean Rin-chan?" She fixed Suzune with annoyed expression.

Suzune's serious expression remained as she explained "Well, not many men can resist your beauty. There are even rumors that you unconsciously cast a 'Bewitching Face' magic to entrance all the men at school."

Given Suzune's Tatsuya-like expressions, Mayumi couldn't tell if the whole thing was a joke, which only hastened her descent into a tantrum.

"But even if he had come aboard, I hear Shiba-kun excels at canceling others's magic, so you might not have a chance if you only rely on that."

At this point, Mayumi knew she was receiving a rare bit of teasing from Suzune.

With tears in her eyes, Mayumi sat up on her seat and moved to grip the sleeves of Suzune's shirt and said "Rin-chan, how could you?"

"Now now President, you need to relax. This is no time to lose you head."

"You can't say that after working me up Rin!"

Having noticed her behavior, Hattori walked to the front of the bus to see if Mayumi was OK.

Little did he expect to be on the receiving end of her childish tantrum…

After chastising Kanon for her own childish fit at not getting to sit with her betrothed, Mari had Miyuki sit next to Kanon after the younger Shiba had also calmed down about her own desire that her brother was relegated to the Technician Team's bus.

As she glanced around the bus, she noticed Mayumi had finished teasing Hattori and was now staring out the window with a contemplative look on her face.

Suddenly, Kanon shouted "Look out!"

On the opposite side of the road, a car was swerving dangerously due to a blown out tire. However when the car slammed into the median it unexpectedly vaulted over the median onto their side of the road, causing several students to yell in fear.

With a flaming car now headed right for their bus, the bus driver slammed on the brakes desperately. Miraculously, the bus was able to stop in only a few seconds.

Mari was about to quickly issue instructions when several younger students each took it upon themselves to handle the situation. The first was Kanon, followed by Shizuku and Morisaki.

Because they each tried to apply rewrite the phenomenon of the same object, their magics were interfering with each other, preventing any of the magics from working. Worse, the excess Psions they produced would make it difficult for anyone else to cast magic to correct their mistake.

"Don't be stupid, cancel those Activation Sequences!" she barked.

As they recalled their uncompleted magics, Mari knew they required someone to apply a magic with an even higher Interference Strength in order to overcome the numerous Magic Sequences around the flaming wreckage headed their way.

"Juumonji!"

Katsuto seemed quite nervous. Despite his enormous ability with barrier magics, the storm of Psion around them might interfere with even his ability to erect a barrier to stop the oncoming threat and the flames that came with it.

"I will handle the fire!" the younger Shiba affirmed.

Katsuto nodded as the Miyuki began to invoke her magic. Mari wasn't sure if even Miyuki could cast a magic with all of the Magic Sequences in play.

But then Mari was thrown for a loop. The haphazardly cast sequences were suddenly blown away, allowing Miyuki to put out the flames with her Oscillation-Type magic, "Freeze Flame". With the flames and Psions taken care of, Katsuto was able to repel the car with a Movement-Type Magic barrier before the car could get within 20 feet of the bus.

All in all, it only took the students a mere 8 seconds to plan and execute their response to the sudden danger.

Mari couldn't understand what happened. Sure, she noticed that the Magic Sequences had all disappeared, but the cause was unknown to her. Given the mess of Magic Sequences, the only candidate was some sort of Non-Systematic Counter Magic. But the only person on the bus she knew with such a magic was Mayumi.

Looking toward their possible savior, Mari immediately knew she wasn't the culprit. Mayumi looked shocked, not as if she had been prepared to deal with such an obstacle in time. Further, Mari knew that Mayumi's "Psion Bullet" counter magic wasn't sufficient to deal with this threat. It was a precision-use counter magic, whereas this one was able to completely overwhelm and destroy multiple Magic Sequences like a wrecking ball.

Suddenly, Mayumi threw a brief look of gratitude at the Technician Team's bus behind theirs. That look, in addition to Miyuki's apparent foreknowledge of the elimination of the interference, caused Mari to conclude that the culprit could only have been Tatsuya Shiba. He was known to have cast some kind of idiosyncratic Counter Magic, but adding more Psion waves to the mix would have only worsened the situation.

"Hmm. Whatever that was, it seems he bears some looking into…" Mari mused. "Still, how did Mayumi know it was him?" Not that she minded, but Mari was certain Mayumi had learned of some of Tatsuya's secrets. While they were good friends, Mari felt it might be overstepping things to ask her to violate Tatsuya's confidence.

Now it was time to scold her juniors who acted so recklessly and escalated the danger...

(Ballroom, later that evening)

After serving drinks to some of the surrounding students, Erika walked around to see if she could spot a familiar face.

Although she had told Miyuki that she called on the Chiba family's connections to attend the NSC, the truth of the matter is that her family forced her to attend the event. Her "connections" went as far as being allowed to work at the event as a servant in exchange for attending the competition.

Sighing, she looked down at her maid outfit and was reminded of Mikihiko squealing "C-cosplay?!" when he saw what she would be wearing. Her vengeance had been swift; Miki and Leo had to work at the venue as well, although not in the same position as Erika.

"Besides, none of us needs to see Miki in a maid outfit… well, I'm sure someone might enjoy that sight," she mumbled, nearly causing her to chuckle at the thought.

Luckily, she spotted one of her targets leaning against a wall away from the crowd of more than 300 contestants and auxiliary members. Although he had already paid for taking a gander at her accidental cleavage, Erika still enjoyed keeping Tatsuya on his toes. He was a hard guy to unbalance, but he seemed quite… inexperienced dealing with the fairer sex. Then again, Erika wasn't a very typical girl.

Assuming a playful tone of voice, she said "Would you like a drink?"

"Ah, so this is what Miyuki was talking about."

"Surprised, Tatsuya-kun?" she asked as he subtly eyed her outfit.

"Y-yea."

Smiling mischievously, Erika thought she had at least kept him from staying as in control of the conversation as he usually was. The fact that her current appearance had such an effect on him was a nice bonus.

Not having noticed her walking toward them, Erika was surprised by Miyuki jumping into their chitchat after Tatsuya had gotten quiet.

"Oh Erika, that dress is so cute on you. I see what you meant before."

"Thanks Miyuki, I thought so too. But Tatsuya seems pretty set on not mentioning it." She did a quick twirl for good measure, but Tatsuya had already resumed his usual robot impression.

"It's no use Erika. Onii-san doesn't pay attention to that sort of thing…" She then glanced at Tatsuya briefly before muttering "Most of the time..."

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow at Miyuki, who declined to elaborate under Tatsuya's questioning gaze.

"Trouble in paradise?" Erika thought. She figured it probably wasn't good for her health to poke her nose into that bit of business.

"Miki had enough of a reaction for the both of them anyway. That pervert, honestly, " Erika said with sigh.

"Miki?"

"Ah that's right Miyuki, you haven't met Mikihiko yet have you? I'll be right back!"

Before the two siblings could respond, Erika rushed off to find Mikihiko in the crowded ballroom. It took her several minutes to do so, but Erika finally found him as he finished serving the rest of the drinks he had on his tray.

"Miki!"

"It's Mikihiko!"

Ignoring him, Erika grabbed him by the wrist and said "You need to meet Tatsuya's sister. You've had ages to say hello, so you're forcing my hand."

"Huh?"

And with that, Erika pulled Mikihiko across the ballroom towards where she had left Tatsuya and Miyuki. Annoyingly however, the person she brought Mikihiko along to introduce himself to had vanished, leaving Tatsuya by himself with his typical aloof expression. That she saw Mari walking away from Tatsuya didn't help her mood.

"Where did Miyuki go, Tatsuya?"

"What, am I her watchdog now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Haven't you always been that?" she replied with a triumphant smirk.

Tatsuya furrowed his brows at her comeback. It's hard to refute the truth.

Mikihiko seemed relieved however.

"At least I don't have to meet her dressed like this," he muttered, gesturing to his white-collared shirt and vest.

As Erika and Mikihiko went through their usual song and dance again, Tatsuya suddenly interrupted them.

"Where are Leo and Mizuki?"

"Hm~, those two are working behind the scenes in the kitchens. Leo could never be a waiter and Mizuki, well, there are too many good-looking guys here for her to function, hehe."

Tatsuya began to defend Leo and Mizuki halfheartedly when Mikihiko interrupted, "Hey, speaking of which why I am out here and not with them? I was sure I supposed to be on the support staff as well..." His pout and crossed arms were almost cute, but boy was Erika tired of all his complaining.

"It was just a clerical error Miki, so quit complaining!"

"What does that even mean?"

Erika decided to play her trump card so she said, "We're only interning, but we're still on the clock, Miki. There are some empty trays with your name on them!"

Pointing at the trays on question, Erika smiled mischievously at Mikihiko.

"I'll remember this Erika…" Mikihiko grumbled with a dejected expression on his face.

Tatsuya eyed her with a look communicating slight reprimand. "I'm not sure what's going on, but you're being a bit over-the-top, aren't you?"

Sighing, Erika responded "I admit, I'm being a bit too spiteful. I know Miki isn't cut out for this sort of role either."

"Spiteful?"

"It's just irritating that he'll get mad at my little jabs but just accept why we were sent here…"

"Oh?" he said in monotone.

"We're not here because we want to be. The elders of our families forced us to come here. I might be being a bit much for Miki, but I'm just a bit pissed off."

"Hm, I'll stick with remaining ignorant of the details. There's nothing I can do about it."

Erika was surprised he didn't try to comfort her as would be the normal reaction from a friend. But then again, Tatsuya wasn't the a very normal friend.

"You know Tatsuya-kun, you're pretty a detached person."

His raised an eyebrow at her and then shrugged in defeat at the truth of her words.

"I'm kind of grateful for it, it makes you easy to vent to since you won't say much either way. Still, if you were from a prominent family of magicians, maybe you'd have a bit more sympathy for my situation…"

Although she wanted to admonish him a bit more, she ended up using a more playful tone to make her response come off as teasing between friends.

If Erika had been more attentive, she would have noticed his jaw briefly clench in response to her words. As it stands, she only heard Tatsuya respond in his usual tone of voice.

"As you say, I can't really empathize with you there."

Although she had been mingling with her classmates and the Student Council, Miyuki had kept a keen eye on her brother throughout the evening.

Though she couldn't hear the two of them, Miyuki was annoyed at the close proximity her brother and Erika had during their discussion. The fact that Erika was quite beautiful didn't help matters.

However, she was pleased that her brother's inability to understand or respond to people's goodwill to him seemed to be in working order with Erika. Although Miyuki liked Erika and her spunky personality, it was obvious to her that Erika was romantically interested with her brother, on some level. When Erika walked off, Tatsuya watched her leave. Briefly, Miyuki wondered if her brother was checking out Erika before she got ahold herself.

But those thoughts brought to mind the reason for Tatsuya's poor emotional competence. That their own parents never once showed him love still tore at Miyuki's heart, especially given she was no better until recently. Tatsuya would never accept an apology from her on this account seeing as it was in the past, but this wasn't helpful for her own guilt.

Although mutters and whispers had followed her around the ballroom all evening, Miyuki paid them no mind. She didn't want their attention and the person's attention she did want was her oblivious brother, who seemed to draw in and maybe even return the feelings of beautiful women. She still hadn't worked up the courage to directly ask him about it.

After groaning in frustration, she muttered "Why is this so hard?"

The younger Shiba wasn't the only one eyeing Tatsuya. Although she was engaged in a bit of spying on First High's competition to get a leg up in the events, Mayumi found herself using her Visual Sensory Magic, 'Multi-Scope', to surreptitiously look at Tatsuya more often as the evening progressed.

She was a little annoyed at how close Tatsuya was to the beautiful redhead, although she couldn't make out their conversation with a magic like 'Multi-Scope'. She was surprised at her luck in not being discovered using her magic like this; many would regard it as immature, maybe a bit creepy.

Just as she was thinking this, the person she feared discovering her observation smirked. Because 'Multi-Scope' allowed her to get a visual from multiple angles, she could clearly see what he was doing.

Tatsuya looked up and mouthed slowly, "Stalker."

"Eep!" Mayumi squealed aloud, startling some of her friends.

"President?" Suzune asked with a concerned tone.

"Are you OK President?!" Hattori asked a little too excitedly.

Embarrassed at being caught and at her reaction, she waved off everyone's concerns.

"Uh, it was nothing guys. I just thought I saw… something."

Giving her confused looks, those nearby went back to what the were doing, allowing her to get control of her blushing before she was overcome with further attention from other attendees.

Several minutes later, a number of well-known magicians in the Japanese magical community began to show up and proceeded to give speeches. Unexpectedly however, a beautiful young woman suddenly appeared onstage, with the stage lights bearing down upon her slender figure as the lights dimmed.

Murmurs began to break out among the students about the unexpected interruption. Mayumi was still a bit frazzled at getting caught that she didn't notice the simple deception before her. She glanced at Tatsuya, who was now smirking in the direction of the stage.

The woman then walked off the stage and the ballroom lighting was returned to normal, revealing the actual speaker as if he appeared out of thin air. At his appearance, whispers broke out again unsurprisingly.

The one who stood above the rest in terms of importance and prestige among Japanese magicians: the "Patriarch", Retsu Kudou.

It wasn't Mayumi's first time meeting the man, despite his renown as having been one of the strongest and cleverest magicians of the century. Her father had once been a student of the man, so his appearance at the Saegusa household in person or by video call was not unheard of.

Still, she was confused by his intentions with tricking everyone. Before the elder began to speak, he glanced at something in the back of the room with a satisfied smile. Projecting a commanding voice at odds with his advanced age, Retsu spoke into the microphone, "I must ask your forgiveness for the trickery. While my little act before was more sleight of hand than magic, my eyes could only see five of you see through deception. So consider this..."

Everyone was hanging on the Patriarch's next words, almost leaning forward surreptitiously to ensure they didn't miss a thing. Even Mayumi had been drawn in by the spectacle and sage words of the elder magician.

"...If I had been a terrorist seeking to annihilate you with bombs or a chemical attack, only five of you could have done anything in to try and save the situation."

Everyone was shocked by the elder's words. Although Retsu's tone didn't hold condemnation, Mayumi felt a little ashamed for falling for something so simple. As a member of the 10 Master Clans, being fooled by such a simple magic was a bit humbling.

Glancing at Katusto, Mayumi noticed that he too seemed slightly annoyed at failing to detect the hidden Kudou elder.

"Magic is a tool, it is not an end in itself. You all knew I'd be showing up and yet a mere handful of you were able to perceive my presence. As with any tool, a well-prepared weaker magic can exceed the results of a poorly used powerful magic. I hope my stunt here has helped to drive that point home."

As Mayumi watched the aged figure survey the student-filled ballroom, he proceeded to finish his speech. "In just a two days, you will engage in a competition where magic use is equally as important as what magic you use. I implore you, show me just how clever you can be!"

With the consummation of the speech, many in the audience broke into applause at the elder's words. Others, Mayumi noticed, wore skeptical or confused looks after hearing the man's words. It wasn't surprising; he contradicted the prevailing view among prominent magical families that the level of the magic employed was paramount. This was especially ground into the minds of the 28 Families, including Mayumi's own. Even the various political marriages between magician families were motivated by the notion of producing offspring capable of greater levels of magic.

She recalled seeing the elder smiling at something at the back of the ballroom. Looking in that direction, she noticed Tatsuya was there, bearing a quiet smile as he clapped.

"I wonder if he finds elder Kudou's words so agreeable since he's incapable of performing powerful magics?" she wondered to herself. Then she recalled his astounding ability to disassemble the Information Bodies of macroscopic objects(1).

"Well, he's an irregular alright." she thought in amusement. "Most powerful magics are beyond his ability to execute, so the elder's words hold meaning for him. Yet he can pull of an amazing feat like that as well." She was close to giggling, so she calmed herself before she drew anymore unwanted attention from her peers.

As the evening began to wrap up, Mayumi began to wonder if she would be able to have Tatsuya be her engineer for one of her events. She was confident he'd do well enough, but given her talent the team probably wouldn't see any reason to give her a greater edge as opposed to those on the cusp of victory or defeat.

Little did Mayumi know just how well Tatsuya would perform in two days time…

(1) Note: this is Mayumi's assumption about Tatsuya's magic. She doesn't realize he can decompose ANY information body he wants, because she assumes the required Interference Strength is impossible for a magician to have (Tatsuya can do it because he was born a Superpower user). Otherwise she'd realize Tatsuya can cast a matter-to-energy conversion magic, that is, Material Burst. Just wanted to make that clear; I didn't feel exposition on this point would fit in so I stuffed it down here. xD

(A/N): Hello all, I'm really sorry for being late on this. It was the usual, life was busy. Annoyingly, this chapter was supposed to beat published like 5 days ago, but life decided to keep screwing with me during those days. This chapter was going to be about 7k words long as compensation, but I couldn't find a decent ending point without blowing through too much material or stopping abruptly. Where I ended here felt like a decent place to wrap up, hehe.

PLEASE review, I enjoy seeing them. The review doesn't have to be positive (although I like those of course); constructive critiques are also appreciated. Also, I don't know if anyone else likes her, but sorry there was no Honami this chapter. She's my favorite character to write in this fic, as I enjoy developing/exploring her relationship with Tatsuya. She will be in the next chapter. Anyway, have a good day and I hope you enjoyed this chapter~