The Irregular at Magic High

Chapter 3

Thinking about that, Tatsuya gave a polite nod. Thank you, the young woman nodded as she took her seat. Beside her, three other young women sat down one after another. I see, Tatsuya acknowledged to himself. It seemed like they were looking for a place that could accommodate all four of them sitting together. They are probably friends, though it's quite rare to see four friends making it into a difficult school like this one and to be in Course 2 together on top of that, thought Tatsuya. It won't be strange even if one of them were a high achiever, he felt —— but it didn't matter to him anyhow. 

"Er..." The voice called out to Tatsuya again, who had turned back to facing the front after having no further interest in the same year student beside him whom he had just met by chance. What on earth does she want? Clearly, she wasn't an acquaintance, and neither did he knock against her on the elbow nor on the foot. If Tatsuya were to say it himself, he was sitting in a good posture. He shouldn't have done anything that would warrant a complaint but — "I'm Shibata Mizuki. Nice to meet you." Unexpectedly, she introduced herself, in a seemingly timid tone, to Tatsuya who cocked his head. Even though it could be dangerous to judge one by appearance, she didn't seem to be the type who was good at impressing others. She probably forced herself to do it, judged Tatsuya. She might have done it with the thought that they would need to help each other since they were both disadvantaged Course 2 students. 

"I'm Shiba Tatsuya. Nice to meet you too." Upon returning a soft introduction as he thought about that, the eyes beyond those large lenses appeared relieved. 

In this era, it was quite rare for girls to wear glasses. Since the middle of the twenty-first century, as a consequence of the vision correction procedure becoming widespread, the ailment known as myopia had become a thing of the past in this country. Unless one was born with a hereditary form of vision abnormality at a serious level or such, one would not need any vision correction tool, and even in the event that one would need it, it was more common for people to affix ten-year long persistently worn contact lenses that were harmless to the body. If she was wearing glasses despite this, it could be because it was her hobby, a fashion accessory, or due to — (Over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission, huh...) Just from a quick look, he could tell that there was no degree in the lenses. At the very least, he knew that they were not used for vision correction. From his impression of this young woman, rather than wearing them for fashion, it was more probable that she was wearing those glasses because of a particular need, Tatsuya thought naturally. "Over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission" refers to a condition of the body where one can see spirit particle emission without conscious effort, and cannot shut them out with conscious effort, in other words, a type of disorder where complete cognizant control cannot be achieved. Thus, it was not really an illness, nor a handicap. It was a disorder where one's senses were excessively sharp. Pushion (Spirit Particles) and Psion (Thought Particles). Both were particles observed in "Para-Psychological Phenomena" — which included magic as well — comprised of non-physical entities that neither corresponded to Fermions, particles that make up the composition of matter, nor were they the same as Bosons, which bring about the interaction between matter. Psion were particle manifestations of intention and thought, while Pushion could be thought of as particle manifestations of the emotions brought about by intention and thought. (A pity that this was still at a hypothetical stage.) Normally, it was Psion that was used in magic, and in the technology systems of modern magic, emphasis was placed on the control of Psion. Magicians first started from learning how to manipulate Psion. People who suffered from "over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission", a hereditary disorder, showed symptoms of being oversensitive to spirit particle emission — non-physical light generated depending on the activity of Pushion. Those who were visually exposed to spirit particle emission would have their emotional state affected. Consequently, Pushion were hypothesized to be particles formed by emotions, and as a result, a person suffering from "over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission" tended to be susceptible to the breakdown of his or her mental stability. Fundamentally, to prevent that, it required the control of Pushion sensitivity, and for those who were unable to do that, they would require a technology aid. One of these aids were glasses made from a special kind of lenses known as "Aura Cut Coating Lenses". In reality, to Magicians, "over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission" was not that rare of a condition. Since a Magician's sensitivity to Pushion and sensitivity to Psion were more or less directly proportional, the number of Magicians who consciously manipulated Psion and were troubled by being oversensitive to the radiation of spirit particles fell on the higher side. One could even say that it was something that could not be helped. However, it would indeed be rare to see a person who had it as a disorder such that he or she needed to constantly block the spirit particle emission with glasses. It would not be much of a concern if it was because of a lesser manipulative ability, but, if it was due to an extremely superior sensitivity, then it would be bad news for Tatsuya. (Though it would be the opposite for the person in question.) Tatsuya had a secret. It was a secret that could not be uncovered from his outward appearance alone, and as such, not of concern, but, if she did have those special eyes that would allow her to sense Pushion and Psion as if they were completely visible to her, his secret might be discovered by random chance. —He would have to be much more alert and act cautiously whenever she was around. 

"I'm Chiba Erika. Nice to meet you, Shiba-kun." 

"Nice to meet you too." The voice of the young woman sitting beside Mizuki cut off Tatsuya's thoughts.

 But that was a welcome interruption. Tatsuya's look had unconsciously turned into a stare, and Mizuki's bashfulness was pretty much approaching its limit, but it had gone unnoticed by Tatsuya. 

"But, can I say that this is an interesting coincidence?" Different from her friend, Erika appeared to be an extrovert and of an unreserved type. Her short, bright hair and her distinct facial features amplified the impression of her being a lively girl. 

"What is?" 

"Well, you know, we are Shiba, Shibata, and Chiba right? Don't they rhyme somehow? Though they are a little different." 

"...I see." He could understand what she meant by that. (But still, Chiba huh... another numbered one? I didn't know that the Chiba House had a daughter by the name of "Erika", but it's possible that she's of collateral descent...) As he thought about that, really interesting, a somewhat out-of-place laugh escaped from him, but it was not to the extent that drew cold looks from those around him. After the remaining two students on the other side of Erika had finished introducing themselves, Tatsuya felt like satisfying his trivial curiosity. 

"Were the four of you from the same middle school?" Erika's reply was an unexpected one. 

"Nope, all of us just met for the first time." Tatsuya's surprised look might have been a strange one, for Erika started giggling as she explained. 

"I didn't know where the place was and I was staring at the information board. That's when Mizuki called out to me." 

"...Information board?" That's strange, thought Tatsuya. The data for the school entrance ceremony included the location of the venue, and had been sent to all the new students. By using the LPS (Local Positioning System), a standard feature in a mobile terminal, even if a new student didn't read the information board, or remember any of the information, one shouldn't lose one's way. 

"The three of us didn't bring our data terminals." 

"Well, the virtual-screen models are banned and I had the school entrance guide stored in mine."

 "We managed to luck into this school after all. It wouldn't make sense to get marked off right at the school entrance ceremony." 

"I forgot mine actually."

 "So that's the reason for you, huh..." He really couldn't accept it. It's your own school entrance ceremony; at least verify the location of the venue before coming, he thought honestly to himself, but didn't say a word. There was no need to stir up any meaningless trouble — thinking about that, Tatsuya restrained himself.