Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (14 page)

It's just a high school intramural competition.
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Tatsuya was about to say this aloud, before switching to another tack.

Even if they were high school students, this country's elite young Magicians were about to publicly compete against one another.

For example, if there was a major terrorist attack using explosives during the awards ceremony, that would severely impact this country's talented personnel.

"You mentioned an international crime syndicate?"

This was not the same type of organization as Blanche (pretending to be an anti-magic political organization) that Tatsuya encountered in April.
If this was a criminal syndicate, then they shouldn't have any interest in causing unnecessary harm.
Terrorism was another thing altogether.
Kazama was a soldier, so he shouldn't have had any experience dealing with international crime syndicates.

How did he figure out their identity?

"I asked Mibu to give me a hand.
You probably know him."

"The father of First High’s Year 2 student Mibu Sayaka?"

"Exactly.
After retiring from the military, Mibu transferred to Internal Affairs (Cabinet Agency of Data Supervision).
He's currently Chief of Foreign Affairs, specifically international crime syndicates."

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I'm surprised."

Tatsuya wasn't merely parroting back, he was honestly surprised.

Tatsuya was astounded that the Major would reveal the identity of one of his sources of intelligence over the telephone so easily; the Cabinet Agency of Data Supervision generally remained neutral between politics and the military so they weren't particularly friendly with the military, yet the Major simply asked them for assistance in a clear-cut manner, which also amazed Tatsuya.
However, what floored Tatsuya the most was that the daughter of a foreign intelligence expert actually became the accomplice to a terrorist organization affiliated with foreign countries and the father who was the chief of foreign affairs merely turned a blind eye to the situation.
Salutary neglect, much?

"Criminal syndicates and underground terrorist cells are handled by different departments.
Tunnel vision on their own affairs is a common fallacy in government agencies."

The reason why Kazama was able to accurately mirror Tatsuya's thoughts, rather than due to their long friendship, was more because Kazama could also read between the lines and thus resonate with Tatsuya.

"However, information from areas within his expertise is trustworthy.
According to Mibu's calculations, these might be members from the criminal syndicate based out of Hong Kong called 'No Head Dragon'.
Currently, their objective remains unknown and we will let you know as soon as this changes."

"Thank you, Major."

"I won't see you tomorrow, but we may meet up at Fuji."

"I look forward to that meeting."

"Likewise.
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Ho, we talked too long.
The new rookie is starting to panic, so it's about time for me to hang up."

The web police probably detected traces of the network invasion.
Based on this assumption, it was too ambiguous for Tatsuya to tell whether he should praise the skills of the web police or lament over the skills of Kazama's subordinates.

"Make sure to greet your sensei for me."

"Understood."

"Goodbye."

Tatsuya wasn't able to reply before the screen turned blank.

"That was probably a broad hint that I should make contact with sensei.
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Then, how much was he supposed to reveal?
The face of his sensei who owned the title of head monk, but was more appropriately described as "imposter" floated into Tatsuya's mind as he slightly sighed.

"Onii-sama, if you don't mind, would you like some tea.
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Sometime after closing the door leading to the living room, Miyuki's voice came floating in.

She appeared to be trying to avoid eavesdropping on the conversation, so she waited in the kitchen until Tatsuya finished his conversation.

Originally, Miyuki occupied a much more privileged position than Tatsuya and possessed the right to listen in on any military or foreign secrets, but the little sister never exercised that right before her elder brother.

Tatsuya silently padded towards the kitchen and opened the door before Miyuki could ask again.

As expected, Miyuki stood there stiffly with her eyes wide open, with a tray that had a tea kettle and some silverware and snacks perched on top.

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Onii-sama, please don't scare me like that, you could've said something.
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I can't believe you moved silently just to laugh at Miyuki's terrified expression.
Onii-sama is bullying me."

"Sorry, sorry."

Miyuki turned her head aside with a huff.
Tatsuya smiled as he took the tray from her hands while apologizing every step of the way.

"But I wasn't trying to bully you, I just thought that you were carrying something heavy so I rushed over.
I certainly don't want my cute little sister to haul around heavy objects."

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I know very well that this is a fabrication.
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But I'll just let Onii-sama mislead me this one time."

Even if she maintained her displeased expression, the corners of her mouth relaxed slightly.

It only took one word from Onii-sama to calm her down.

But Miyuki was perfectly willing.

"Black tea today?"

"Yes, I bought some excellent summer extract and I thought occasionally having tea would be nice."

Tatsuya nodded in response to Miyuki and returned to the table before sampling the tea cup.

"Muscatel, quite rare.
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It must've taken you some time and effort to get this, right?"

"No, it was really a coincidence.
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As long as Onii-sama is happy, then that is the highest praise for Miyuki."

Tatsuya slowly took a sip and let out a satisfied smile.
Seeing this, Miyuki smiled with a happiness that welled from the bottom of her heart.

"Hm, the tea is excellent and the butter biscuits look delicious.
Did Miyuki bake these?"

"Yes, though.
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They don't look very nice."

"Nonsense, I don't mind at all, they taste wonderful."

Miyuki ducked her head in embarrassment, but the sight of her Onii-sama raising the butter biscuits and enjoying them was enough to prompt her to raise her head and smile in happiness.

Tatsuya didn't bring up the topic of Kazama's conversation, and Miyuki didn't ask.

Tatsuya was busy sampling his little sister's exquisitely prepared snacks and meticulously purchased tea.
For Miyuki, just the sight of her Onii-sama's satisfied expression was more than enough compensation for any arduous task.

There's no need to repeat this, but Miyuki was the publicly acknowledged honor student.

Not only was she talented beyond all belief, but she also was extremely diligent.

Besides taking care of her Onii-sama's day-to-day life, she also studied until late in the night.

Today also, she studied until near midnight before shutting off the electric monitor and storing it in the table.

She wasn't exhausted yet.

According to her experience, it was hard to fall asleep when going to bed in this stimulated state.
This could be quickly remedied with the sleeping device, but Onii-sama frowned upon using the technology that nearly 70% of the country uses.
Since Tatsuya objected to this technology, Miyuki would have no reason to use it.

Then let's make another cup of tea to change the mood, Miyuki thought.

It was totally worth it for her to hunt down the best quality Muscatel, as evidenced by her Onii-sama's delight with the tea.
Simply reflecting on Onii-sama's smile was more than enough for her to have a wonderful dream, but if she could see it one more time, and maybe even have Onii-sama rub her head, then that would be even better.

Miyuki was just heading to the kitchen, when a sudden thought crossed her mind when she stopped in front of the mirror.

Miyuki nodded slightly, then a slightly mischievous smirk formed on her face.

"Onii-sama, this is Miyuki, I'm coming in with tea."

"Perfect, come in."

Miyuki would bring tea or coffee around this time every night and her brother would usually thank her in an apologetic manner, but tonight he seemed to be waiting for her to appear, which slightly bewildered Miyuki.

Regardless, if Onii-sama was waiting for her, that was definitely something that pleased her.

"I was just about to go get you—"

—He got only that far before silence forcibly swallowed the next word.

When she saw her Onii-sama turn around on the chair and stare fixatedly at her, Miyuki felt a small shiver of satisfaction run through her.
She carried the tray with one hand while the other lightly clutched the hem of the skirt as she playfully curtseyed.

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Ah, is this the uniform for 'Fairy Dance'?"

"Indeed, Onii-sama knows very well."

The miniskirt was formed by layers upon layers of dazzling colors that floated together and perfectly matched the tights that covered her beautiful legs along with the bright, leather boots.

The outer garment was open down on the back, made of a translucent material whose thickness was hard to tell.
The lines were not embroidered, but naturally created by the fabric itself, allowing it to perfectly complement the bosom.

Beneath the outer garment was a shirt in the same vein as the leggings.
No, maybe it wasn't a shirt and pair of leggings, but an entire long-sleeved spandex.
If there wasn't the outer covering, it could very well have been mistaken for a figure skater's uniform.

A pair of hair decorations with wings sprouting out the sides held her long silky hair in place, connected by a long thick band seen on most earmuffs.

Considering air resistance and chest protection, this gorgeous uniform was undoubtedly the uniform used for "Mirage Bat" — also known as "Fairy Dance", one of the most anticipated magical events in the Nine Schools Competition.

"How does it look?"

Miyuki placed the tray on a nearby table before spinning around with a smile.

Even though the softly flowing miniskirt was very short, when matched with the fluttering hair dancing in the air it created an aura of impossible grace.

"Devastatingly cute, suits you perfectly, and your timing is excellent."

Miyuki stopped twirling when she faced Tatsuya and grabbed with both hands the hem of her skirt in a deep curtsey as Tatsuya complimented her.

"Thank you Onii-sama for your praise.
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Miyuki was 100% certain that her elder brother would praise her, so she only prepared one response, as one response was all that was needed.

However, she was unable to comprehend what Tatsuya's last words referred to, so she altered her response to include a question mark at the end.

Miyuki straightened her legs and waist before "looking up" to the seated Tatsuya.

Just as she was about to direct her gaze towards the usual height to inquire the meaning of "your timing is perfect", Miyuki quickly realized something was wrong.

She just as quickly grasped the reason.

Even though Tatsuya was seated, his gaze was still level to his normal standing height.