The Irregular at Magic High

Chapter 17

The "formal match" between Tatsuya and Hattori officially began. Hattori slid his right hand over the CAD. While the action only consisted of tapping three key points, not a single spare movement was wasted. Originally, his specialization was in medium-ranged wide area attack magic. If anything, when it came to one-on-one close quarter matches, they were not his forte. But even when we say that "they were not his forte", since entering high school the year before, Hattori still stood undefeated in battle. While he might have yielded before the Big Three which consisted of Mari, a specialist in both individual and group anti-personnel combat, Mayumi, who could freely employ astounding, high-speed, high precision shooting magic, and Juumonji, a club captain who had gained a peculiar title known as "Iron Wall", Hattori had the confidence that he could hold his own against other students or even groups of teachers. That pride did not come from overconfidence. 

The simplistic Activation Sequence that heavily relied on speed was already complete, and in a flash, Hattori had already entered the Magic Invocation stage. At this moment, he almost let out a cry of surprise. His opponent, that arrogant 1st Year student, was somehow close enough to fill his entire vision. He hurriedly changed his target, and prepared to unleash his magic. Basic Single System Movement-Type Magic. Any opponent caught by this magic would be flung back over a dozen meters and knocked unconscious by the impact, ending the battle. But, the magic ended without invoking. There should have been no problems with the Activation Sequence. His opponent had vanished. While the target of Magic Sequences did not have to be very specific, if the target that was originally in the line of sight suddenly disappeared, spell failure was inevitable. 

The Psion Information Aide that was supposed to keep track of his opponent's status and location vanished without any effect, just as a powerful "wave motion" approached Hattori from the flank, who was too busy looking left and right for his opponent. (!) Three consecutive wave motions. Each wave motion overlapped with one another inside Hattori's body, causing massive swaying to break out that ultimately resulted in Hattori losing consciousness. Victory was decided in an instant. The entire match lasted less than 5 seconds, and could be appropriately described as an instant win. In front of Tatsuya's CAD, Hattori keeled over. 

"...Winner, Shiba Tatsuya." 

Mari cautiously announced the name of the winner. There was not a trace of joy on the winner's face. That expression was appropriate for someone who had merely arrived at the expected result. He gave a short bow, then walked towards the table that held the CAD cases. It wasn't just his posture; he was wholly uninterested in his victory. "Wait." Mari called out from behind him. 

"That movement right there... Did you preemptively input a Speed Ability?" Hearing this, Mayumi, Suzune, and Azusa all began reflecting on the match. At the moment the start signal was given, Tatsuya had moved in front of Hattori. At the next instant, he was several meters behind Hattori's right flank. Anyone would mistake that speed for Flash Step. A normal human body is incapable of that sort of motion.

"The fact that that is impossible...I think Senpai is more aware of that than anyone." It was just as Tatsuya said. As the judge, Mari was closely observing whether CADs were being activated. Not just the obvious CADs, but even for hidden CADs, the flow of psions would have been obvious to her. 

"But, that?" 

"That wasn't magic, that was a bona fide physical technique." 

"I can testify to that as well. That is my brother's physical technique. My dear brother was mentored by Kokonoe Yakumo-sensei." Mari held her breath. For someone as versed in combat as she was, the name Kokonoe Yakumo was quite familiar. Mayumi and Suzune did not know of Kokonoe like Mari, but they too could not hide their surprise that someone could accomplish such a feat that was normally written off as something that could only be accomplished through the aid of magic.