Chapter 3

September reached its final week.

Most days were hot with the lingering heat of summertime, but slowly and surely, more and more days felt remarkably like autumn.

“Even so, I think it’s also strange how cool the atmosphere at school is.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Mayumi, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes just a little bit at Tatsuya.

“The student council elections.”

The school assembly and council elections would at last be held tomorrow. It was Mayumi’s second-to-last day she’d be spending time in this room as student council president, but she didn’t look to be at all emotional.

At the same time, he couldn’t see any signs of debates or public appeal contests being waged for the seat of the next student council president.

“…Well, they are just student council elections. Maybe they’re nothing to get so excited about, but…”

There wouldn’t be much need for zeal if this were an honorary position with no reward other than maybe raising the marks on your student record. Even still, Tatsuya knew there were other reasons to be enthusiastic. Only one candidate would be running—no need to be excited about a simple vote of confidence. Plus, there was a near-zero chance she wouldn’t have the confidence of the voters.

This hadn’t happened because the position of student council president wasn’t attractive enough to bat an eyelash at. Sure, even the student council president of a magic high school was no more than the leader of an autonomous student body from society’s point of view. An honorary position, close to no authority or influence at all. In that respect, it was no different than a high school for the sciences or one for the arts.

However, that “honor” was on a different level. It made sense if you thought about it a little. Only nine magic high schools—high schools affiliated with the National Magic University—existed in this country. That wasn’t a count of national high schools but of high schools that could give students a higher education in magic. Even if they wanted more, they wouldn’t be able to get enough teachers for them.

Just nine magicians per year would have the ability to say they were student council president of a magic high school. It was no exaggeration that such a title would follow them their whole lives as long as they continued along the path of magicians. Some even said the honor was on par with a third-degree decoration, though that was unofficial.

Of course, those at the top of the magicians’ world frequently earned second-or first-degree awards. But if you achieved such lifelong honor as early as high school, you’d think everyone would bat their eyelashes. You’d think, anyway.

In actuality, no shortage of—or, bluntly, many—students secretly hoped for the position of student council president.

Then why was there only one candidate?

The reason at work was, of course, an artificial power.

Tatsuya was still looking at the current student council president, who was tilting her head in a (seemingly) guiltless expression of confusion. How on earth had she “persuaded” the other latent opposing candidates and gotten them to give up on running? Had she coaxed them with that smile of hers?

That was a scary thought in its own right.

“Hmm, well, unfortunately Ah-chan is the only one this year…but we’ll still have the speeches before the vote of confidence, so I think things will be more exciting tomorrow.”

It wouldn’t be speeches, plural, with only one candidate, but Tatsuya wasn’t interested in making such dull comments. He looked over to the corner of the room to see Azusa, expression serious, staring down at her speech as she gobbled up her lunch, mumbling to herself.

She did seem into this. Rather than use a terminal screen, she’d printed the speech out on paper to read it.

Incidentally, he’d already given her the “trophy” flight device as soon as she’d announced her candidacy. It was all the result of him thinking about how she would react. People like her tended to keep their spirits up from the pressure of having been given a reward preemptively, rather than from exerting themselves for a reward upon their success.

And, just as his scheme had intended, Azusa was now captive to a strange sense of obligation, spurring herself on to do her very best despite there being no candidates to oppose her. She’d probably maintain her spirits until her speech was over. It didn’t look like she was the one to be worried about right now.

“If I had to say, the bigger problem will be the general assembly,” said Suzune. She hadn’t been reading his mind, but she had been thinking about the same thing.

She’d been looking at her desk terminal screen for a while now. (She seemed to be going without lunch today.) Her eyes traveled up and down, as though she were scrolling through a document to read, or maybe reread, and revise.

Mari closed her lunch box. “The special assembly in spring was incredibly impressive, after all. Nobody will be brushing it off at this point,” she remarked.

“Not that I’m trying to draw them in at all,” added Mayumi.

“I was concerned we might have people acting rashly this time, but it seems I was worried for nothing,” said Miyuki with a joking smile as she poured tea for everyone.

“Surprise attacks? Well, no student of our school in their right mind would challenge this woman,” said Mari, shooting the suggestion down.

“Wow, excuse me. Don’t you think it’s rude to call a girl ‘this woman’?” said Mayumi, directing the question to Tatsuya. She was grinning, clearly messing around. She must have been just as confident that nobody would challenge her in a contest of magic—and even if there were someone strong enough, they wouldn’t pull a cowardly move like a surprise attack.

“I suppose…though I don’t think you can be too cautious.”

His response, though, was in a slightly different direction than what she’d expected.

“Huh?”

“Our president is a girl. And a beautiful one, at that.”

“Y-you think?” As his elder, Mayumi tried to play it off and stay relaxed, but he couldn’t say she did it very well. Her unrest showed in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Miyuki gave him a strong, sullen glare, suspicious of her brother’s intentions in suddenly saying that.

“Why the sudden compliment?”

Miyuki wasn’t the only one to be suspicious—Mari also came at him, with an even more straightforward question.

“Was it sudden? I only suggested it based on the reality that certain students were plotting to thwart the president’s plans, and they haven’t shown many results.”

“I guess I have heard rumors like that, but…” answered Mari, a little perplexed.

Tatsuya also saw the opposition faction conducting themselves with skill and tact. He had a more accurate grip on the situation than Mari, thanks to his own dishonest information gathering from a certain member of the faculty.

“The opposition only has today and tomorrow left. President…I believe you should make sure you’re not alone today.”

“Ah-ha-ha. Please, Tatsuya. Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a little?” Mayumi took his statement as a joke and tried to laugh it off. It didn’t go well, and he didn’t go along with it.

Mari frowned. “Do you know something…?”

“Unfortunately, no. If I did, it would actually be more of a relief.”

“Maybe you’re overthinking it a bit,” said Suzune, in belief that his fears were unwarranted.

Tatsuya laughed a little as well. “Ha-ha. Well, maybe,” he said, nodding.

But it was clear to everyone he was only pretending.

“Tatsuya?”

As Tatsuya was about to go back to his classroom, with only a few moments left in lunch break, he was stopped by Mari. They were in the hallway, right after leaving the student council room.

Tatsuya and Miyuki turned in tandem, and for some reason Mari gave a pained smile. Perhaps she had thought overly friendly siblings, but if he worried about every single thing like that, he’d be worrying forever.

“What is it?” said Tatsuya, urging Mari on, wanting to settle whatever it was in a quick fashion.

“There’s something I want to talk about. Could you come to HQ?” He didn’t have to ask what “HQ” meant. Whenever she said it, she meant the main disciplinary committee office.

“Right now?”

“It won’t take long. Oh, right. Could Shiba come with you, too?”

Tatsuya and Miyuki exchanged surprised looks. As far as they remembered, this was the first time Mari had come to Miyuki saying she needed something or wanted to talk.

“Miyuki, do you have enough time?”

“Yes. Fourth period is general, so it won’t matter if I’m somewhat late.”

General was an abbreviation for general subject. It referred to subjects outside magic science and magic practice, like mathematics and language study. Each student used his or her own terminal and learned separately. It was almost self-study, so she was right—being somewhat late wouldn’t be a problem.

“What about you, Tatsuya?” she asked.

For his part, he had a practical skills test coming up called “ability measurement.” Course 1 students would have a teacher using the measuring device (and giving advice, of course), but Course 2 students would each use the device freely. If they achieved passing marks within the given period of time, they would complete the course.

“…I’m fine,” he said to Mari, nodding to Miyuki. Mari gave a short apology and walked past them, toward the staircase.

…Despite it being faster to go through the student council room to get to HQ.

It was like a different person—well, different room—compared to half a year ago. Now, it was nicely kept and orderly. Mari sat down at the lounge set, which also wasn’t around six months ago, and faced the siblings. (Incidentally, the lounge set had been stored away because the room had so much stuff in it. Now it was used for interrogations—er, rather, questionings.)

“…Given who you are, I’m sure you have an idea of what this is about.”

Oh? thought Tatsuya. It was a somewhat pretentious opening line. He could sense that she was subtly nervous. It couldn’t possibly have been Miyuki’s presence. They saw each other every day in the student council room. Despite them somehow having few chances to exchange words, there was no reason Mari, as her upperclassman, should have felt nervous about her.

“…I wanted to talk about Mayumi. I’ve actually been having the same doubts you pointed out before.”

Still not sure about Mari’s reason for being nervous, he decided to speak up. “About the opposition to the plan to abolish the Course 1 restriction on student council members?”

“Yeah,” she said. “You’re not the only one who thinks the opposition faction has been too quiet. We didn’t see any outright rebels at the spring assembly. Maybe they were affected by the mood in the room at the time. But there’s no lack of kids feeling emotionally resistant to Mayumi’s plan…or at least, there shouldn’t be. I don’t want to think about this as a fellow student at First High, but if peaceful attempts at monkey business haven’t gone well, then I think we should be very careful about kids coming out with more violent approaches.”

Tatsuya didn’t feel any hesitation or distaste in thinking that way. He nodded easily to her dark expression. “I could see that happening,” he said.

“Mayumi, well…whether you want to call her softhearted or a properly raised young lady, she tends to be unfamiliar with the evil intentions others can have. Cornered rats can bite a cat, and I don’t know if she understands how that feels.”

Mm. He inwardly agreed.

Mari seemed to be acting awkwardly about this. The two of them could only say things like that about Mayumi because they were such good friends. Anyone watching would have been able to tell. From Tatsuya’s point of view, it was only natural Mari would be worried about her friend. Mari, however, didn’t seem to think so.

“And…she didn’t really take your caution seriously, either. With her special Multiscope skill, nobody would be able to surprise her if she was paying attention to her surroundings. But it’s an active scan, not a passive perception ability, so it’s a waste if she’s not alert.”

“…Right.” So what do you want with us? he thought.

“Oh, uh…sorry. This is going all over the place…” Fortunately, he didn’t have to say anything, since Mari brought the conversation back on topic herself. “That’s where you two come in… I wanted to know if you would go home from school with Mayumi today.”

“…You mean escort her to her house?”

“You don’t have to go that far…” She paused. “Though, actually, if you could, that would be great. I don’t think we have anything to worry about in school. She’s surrounded by a bunch of followers in the classroom, and we have Ichihara and Hattori in the student council room. But for some reason, the girl doesn’t try to stay close to her followers outside school.”

“Isn’t that because she’s in the direct line of one of the Ten Master Clans?” asked Tatsuya casually.

But Mari’s expression told him she hadn’t thought about that until now. “…Is that how it is?”

“Who knows? I’m not part of one of them myself, so I’m only guessing.”

“Well, you might be right… Anyway, she usually goes home by herself. It’s easier to make things look like an accident outside school. If all this stuff wasn’t going on I’d ask Hattori, but I think he’ll have a lot to prepare when he moves to the club committee…which is why I’m asking you, Tatsuya. You have the strongest anti-magic spell, Program Demolition, so I’m sure you wouldn’t fall for any surprise attacks, right?”

Tatsuya had one question about what Mari was saying, but he couldn’t get it out. Before he opened his mouth, Miyuki answered on his behalf: “Please leave it to him. You won’t regret asking my brother.”

Mari’s last sentence had technically been a question, but it had actually been a challenge, or maybe an incitement. Because of Miyuki’s oddly enthusiastic—competitive—agreement, the mean question Tatsuya was sitting on, about why Mari wasn’t going herself, ended in naught.

Instead—though maybe that wasn’t the right word—he made an evil smirk as he looked at his classmate.

“Wh-what? Something you want to say?”

“No, nothing.”

“I don’t have any ulterior motives. If she were to get hurt now, we’d have a mess on our hands. She knows that, too, but I mean, she’s still being reckless… It’s not really like I’m worried about her.”

As he watched Mari try her best to make excuses, Tatsuya thought, What a tsundere.

…Or perhaps he didn’t. The world may never know.

“…Good work. We’re all set for tomorrow, right?” asked Mayumi, as though giving a closing address.

“Yes, everything is in order,” said Azusa.

“We’ve finished checking the location as well,” said Hattori, his voice calm. Not only did he answer her, but he also continued into apologetic words. “…President, I really am sorry about this.”

“Yes, yes, Hanzou. Excellent work today. You may feel free to leave now.” He had to take the reins of the club committee now, and Mayumi understood that.

“I’m sorry, President…”

“Don’t worry! You should get going, too, Ah-chan. Get some rest for tomorrow.”

As Hattori headed for the prep building with an apologetic air and even more regret, Azusa hastily threw her things into her bag and excused herself, leaving the student council room behind her.

“Miyuki, you can go home for today, too.”

Miyuki hadn’t risen from her seat despite the two juniors going home (though only Azusa was actually going home), so Mayumi said something to her, too.

However, she gave an unusual answer: “If it’s all right with you, I would like to stay here a little bit longer.”

“For Tatsuya?”

“Yes. I think he’s somewhere radio waves don’t reach, because I can’t get in touch with him.”

“Somewhere radio waves don’t reach…?” repeated Mayumi, confused.

“Could he be in the document room in the basement?” whispered Suzune into her ear (though loud enough for Miyuki to hear, too).

Mayumi nodded in understanding. “The unexplored regions… If he holed himself up in there, you wouldn’t be able to contact him…but that’s okay. I’ll be leaving after I clean up a bit anyway. Oh, Rin, you can get going. You have something you can’t get out of, right?”

“…Yes. I’m sorry, President.”

“It’s fine. You can make up for it tomorrow.” She let herself smile a little; whether or not her answer was thoughtful was up for debate.

With only the two of them left in the room, Miyuki and Mayumi quietly made their way to the desk.

After a short while, just when Mayumi was stretching her arms, the electronic sound signaling the entrance of an authorized person (someone whose ID card was registered in the exit and entrance management system) went off. Miyuki stood and looked in that direction.

“Sorry I made you wait.”

As she expected, Tatsuya had been the one to enter.

“No, you did nothing of the sort.”

As Miyuki trotted over to him happily, Mayumi grinned, a little embarrassed. “I know it sounds weird at this point…but you two really are friendly with each other.”

“Oh, President. Were you by yourself?”

“Totally ignored… Not that it matters. Yes, today Miyuki and I were the last ones left.” Mayumi, as expected at this point, didn’t lose her cool over Tatsuya’s impudent pace, and switched gears with her usual smoothness.

“Would you like some help?”

That, though, definitely seemed to surprise her. “My, how unusual,” she said. “I suppose you’re about to tell me it’s snowing.”

“Well, I can’t do that…but my sister could do it easily. Miyuki, I believe our president has requested snow.”

“Of course. How much snow should I give her, Tatsuya?”

“Let’s see… I think ten centimeters should be enough, don’t you?”

“Wait! Stop right there! You don’t have to make it snow!”

Mayumi had let it go because she’d taken it as a joke before, but they looked so serious about it that she got worried they might actually do it. So in a mad rush, she stopped them.

“I swear,” she said. “I really can’t joke around with you.”

“But I was joking, of course,” explained Tatsuya without smiling or smirking.

Mayumi shot him the most suspicious (and distrusting) stare she could. But after seeing it have no effect whatsoever, she sighed and shrugged.

She seemed to have gotten used to Tatsuya’s style of doing things—and the feeling was mutual.

“Jokes aside,” he continued as she glared up at him—a gesture he ignored, of course. “It’s going to get dark soon, so if you have work left to do, I can help.”

Calendars showed it was well into autumn. He wasn’t exaggerating when he said it would get dark soon. Understanding—for now, at least—that Tatsuya was trying to be nice (or perhaps misunderstanding) she softened her expression. “Mm…I think I’ll just go home after all. Thanks for the consideration.”

“I see.”

“President, would you like to walk to the station together?”

As soon as Tatsuya readily backed down, Miyuki made her own approach. Strange things really do happen, thought Mayumi, her face naturally breaking out into a smile. “Won’t you be with everyone else?”

“Well, it’s late. I knew my ‘basement exploration’ would take a while anyway, so I had them go home without me.”

“…By the way, what were you looking for in the document room?”

“Literature on old magic related to the philosopher’s stone. I didn’t find anything notable in the documents that have been converted and put into the database.”

“…That’s a pretty outlandish—err, technical thing to look up.”

“Just wondering if I could compensate for my lack of ability with tools.”

“R-really…?” The unexpectedly serious motive made Mayumi wince. But a moment later, her cheeks puffed out in discouragement. “…Wait, what are you talking about? You can use Program Demolition. Just that probably makes you in high demand with the police and National Defense Force.”

She knew Tatsuya’s feelings toward his own magical talent were warped. It was a bit different from a regular old inferiority complex, though. She was aware that the social system that limited his opportunities by labeling him an inferior student was something he put off as a minor annoyance.

Unintentionally forgetting that and feeling naturally sympathetic toward him made her feel like she was being led around by the nose, and it gave her just an inkling of irritation.

He might not have been able to hope for a high magician rank based on international standards, but given the needs of society (and the professional world), people with outstanding skills in specific fields, like him, were in extremely high demand.

“You know, Tatsuya, I think you should stop highlighting how you’re an inferior student so much. You’ve already done enough to put high achievers to shame, so…if you keep going, both Course 1 and Course 2 kids might start getting jealous.”

“I hadn’t been intending to highlight it.”

Tatsuya neither thought he possessed enough masochistic inclination to call himself an inferior student, nor did he want to exhibit such inclination. He’d only answered her question (albeit indirectly) of why he’d been looking that up—though the bits about “talent” had been a lie to cover up the truth. His real reason for researching the philosopher’s stone was related to thermonuclear reactors equipped with an always-ready magic program that controlled gravity.

Leaving that aside, he hadn’t emphasized his “inferiority” on purpose.

Still, in the end, he answered, “…No, I’ll be more careful.”

He was adult enough to know she was worried about him.

Mayumi and the siblings walked down the straight road from the school gates to the station, the same road the siblings would usually travel with Leo, Erika, and the others. Miyuki seemed a little on edge—and while he could understand that, Mayumi seeming nervous was more smile inducing than anything. She held her bag in front of her with both hands, her eyes downcast. Her posture made him want to joke about which school for young ladies she’d graduated from.

Of course, she actually was one of those proper young ladies.

Tatsuya wasn’t the sort to offer a topic of conversation. Small talk in particular was not really in his field. Plus, they were on alert for surprise attacks from the opposition faction. All that meant the three had gone down almost 70 percent of the road without saying much at all.

“…Hey, Tatsuya?”

“What is it?”

So when Mayumi suddenly tried to talk to him, he accidentally braced himself, thinking something was going on.

“You two were waiting for me to go home, weren’t you?”

But even though he’d braced himself, the remark still surprised him, and he couldn’t immediately respond.

Unconcerned with him, she continued to talk, almost to herself. “Mari asked you to, didn’t she? To escort me to my house because someone from the opposition faction could attack?”

“…You’re very perceptive, President.”

The honest answer came not from Tatsuya but Miyuki. She’d realized she couldn’t fool the bull’s-eye assumption, and at least tried to give Tatsuya an alibi (?) so he didn’t have to say he was the one to fess up.

“It’s okay,” said Mayumi, looking at Miyuki and giggling a little. “I won’t tell Mari I got the truth out of you.”

Miyuki looked down in embarrassment. She’d seen through everything about this.

Tatsuya didn’t show any awkwardness, though. That wasn’t to say he had turned defiant, either. Instead, he just asked, his face puzzled, “But why would you…?”

“To get you to understand that you don’t need to come all the way to my house. Oh, please don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean you’re a bother or anything.”

Tatsuya nodded silently, a gesture for her to continue.

“Mari told you I’m careless for going home alone most of the time, didn’t she? The reason for it is to prevent anyone else from getting mixed up in things if something were to happen.”

“You’re…not just referring to this time, are you?”

“No. It may sound odd coming from me, but I’m your classic high-class lady, so in terms of money and politics, people tend to go for me.”

There wasn’t a shard of boastfulness in the word high-class , just a hint of self-deprecation.

“Because the Saegusa family is famous for never falling out of the Ten Master Clans since its inception.”

Mayumi smiled painfully, knowing that Tatsuya was implying that she couldn’t help it. “…Well, that’s how it is. I’ve been taught never to let my guard down, and always be prepared to activate magic if needed.”

She raised her left hand and pulled her sleeve back to reveal her CAD, which was not in sleep mode but standby mode.

“And I have a bodyguard, too.”

“Wait, you do?” Miyuki’s eyes flitted about their surroundings, but she couldn’t find anyone that looked like a bodyguard.

“…I had him wait at the station.” She looked away a little. “It would be embarrassing to bring a bodyguard on the road to school.”

As she said, it was indeed embarrassing. “Ah, which is why you said we don’t have to accompany you to your house… Because you have a bodyguard waiting at the station.” At that point, Tatsuya nodded, finally understanding.

“That’s right.”

But his understanding made him more curious. “But why would you tell us something like that?”

He knew the question wouldn’t avail him, but he couldn’t suppress his curiosity. If that was true (though he couldn’t see a reason she’d be lying), then it was something so personal even Mari wouldn’t know.

“Hmm…maybe just because I wanted to go home with you and Miyuki?”

But when he saw her slightly embarrassed expression as she answered, he was stricken with a thought. I think I failed…

“Me too?”

Miyuki, tilting her head in confusion, didn’t share his premonition.

Mayumi gave her a very big sister–like smile. “Yes. After I became student council president last fall, those first six months were fulfilling in their own way. But these last six months have been really fulfilling for me.” She looked over at Tatsuya. “And I’m pretty sure that’s thanks to the two of you.”

“…I feel like you’re thinking too highly of me,” he argued, face impassive.

Mayumi giggled, completely relaxed. “I mean, I knew this before…but you’re actually pretty shy, Tatsuya.” Then, as he stared dumbfounded with a face as stony as a theater mask, she began to laugh as though she couldn’t take it anymore. “I…I guess that part of you is right for your age. A lot of times I feel like you could be ten years older and lying about it.”

He’d been faced with similar suspicions related to age fraud from acquaintances other than Mayumi in the past. He couldn’t do anything but stay silent, a little astonished.

She wiped her eyes with her index finger—the tears were from laughing too hard—and looked at the siblings, refreshed. “…Ah-chan and Hanzou are really good kids, but I think you two are wonderful underclassmen. You’ll probably be my most vivid memory of my high school days.”

Her beaming face put even Miyuki at a loss for words.

Unlike her older brother, though, she was red all the way to her ears.

Their father stayed around his second wife, so the Shiba residence, for all intents and purposes, belonged only Tatsuya and Miyuki. It was pretty large for a private house. Still, compared to the palatial mansions of the Kitayama or Saegusa (not that the siblings had actually seen either of those yet) it was only on the level of a private house.

Of course, you couldn’t call it just any private house.

The basement was taken up by a university-level magic engineering research facility. (It sounds like a secret base when it’s put that way, but the facility had the same surface area as the first floor, just completely renovated into a laboratory.)

Tatsuya, who had just come up to the living room out of the basement lab, sank down onto the sofa, seeming unusually exhausted.

He firmly rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger, bringing them around a couple of times. As he did, he looked at the ceiling, freeing his mind from his thoughts.

His mind then wandered to his memories of what had happened this evening. About how they’d brought Mayumi to the station, and about the bodyguard she’d introduced to them. Her escort had been male, which Tatsuya hadn’t expected.

He’d always figured a girl her age would need to have a female bodyguard, so he was honestly quite surprised. He’d been an aging gentleman in his mid-fifties or so, though, so maybe he didn’t have any need to worry about their appearance from society’s perspective.

The middle-aged man looked more like a butler than a bodyguard—and honestly, more like her grandfather than a butler. However, he kept his back straight and was lean despite his slender build. It only took one look for Tatsuya to know he was fully fit for the job. His characteristic bearing was very polite, to use a roundabout expression. It gave Tatsuya the sense that the man had military experience, and was in the military for quite a long period of time as uniformed personnel.

That, by itself, was nothing unusual. At the end of the twenty-first century, which had experienced just as much warfare as the previous one, anyone foolish enough to discriminate based on military experience alone was shunned by society. A former soldier-magician offering his experience and talents as a bodyguard to a respectable family wasn’t in any way something to be concerned about.

What was getting to Tatsuya, though, was the bodyguard’s name—specifically, his last one.

“Tatsuya, are you not going to sleep yet?”

He looked over to the voice and saw Miyuki standing there in the living room entrance, sporting pink pajamas.

“Miyuki, I didn’t know you were still awake. Tomorrow…or, wait, today, I guess…you’ll be the hostess, right?”

Miyuki had been given the role of facilitating the campaign speeches today, a job given to the freshman student council officer every year.

“I was a little thirsty, so…” she said timidly in her defense, her head down as she looked at her brother, feeling that he’d implicitly scolded her to go to sleep.

“Well, I guess that’s fine.” Tatsuya, ever a soft one for his sister, smiled painfully and nodded.

Her face immediately lit up and she came over to him almost at a trot. She asked with her eyes, and he nodded with his. Smiling happily, she sat down next to him.

The mornings and evenings were starting to get colder this time of year, but the pajamas she wore were still cool ones for summer. With her short sleeves and three-quarter-length pants, the thin fabric gently brought out her body lines. It wasn’t the sort of outfit to be alone with a man this late at night in, but Tatsuya purposely didn’t say anything—if he did, he was pretty sure he’d be digging his own grave for her to bury him in. Or to bury himself in.

“What were you thinking about?”

Whether or not she knew how Tatsuya felt about it, Miyuki playfully brought her face closer and asked him a question.

He knew the topic was unfittingly serious for such an innocent smile, but because he was considerably tired, he accidentally told her the truth. “Well…I was just thinking about Saegusa’s bodyguard a little.”

Before he could think oops to himself, the smile vanished from Miyuki’s lips. “His name was Nakura, wasn’t it?”

Mayumi had introduced the old gentleman as Saburou Nakura.

“Tatsuya, are you possibly thinking about…him being an Extra?”

He grinned painfully. She’d seen right through him just from that. She didn’t need to think about the possibility; it would have been better if she hadn’t noticed. But she had, so he knew he wouldn’t be able to pass it off with vagaries. “I’m not sure about that… The Ten Master Clans always hire bodyguards for children of direct lineage, even if they’re not the heir or heiress to the family. If he was given a false last name like we were… I don’t think we can deny the possibility that he is one.”

“I didn’t think any families other than the Yotsuba gave members false last names…”

“We don’t know that, though. Nobody knows about Yotsuba’s practices, so there might be other families Yotsuba doesn’t know the customs of the other nine families, or in the remaining eighteen.”

“But…our aunt is one thing, but the Saegusa always keep up appearances. Would they employ someone from one of the Extras in a place so close to the main family—to protect their eldest child?”

“Well, they do want to keep up appearances. They may be trying not to act discriminatory in doing so.”

“I see… I didn’t think about it like that…”

The Extra Numbers, or Extras for short: families of magicians that had their numbers stripped from them. There were various reasons for a family to be stripped of its number—sometimes the crime of rebellion, sometimes the failure of a serious mission, and sometimes because they were just not very good. When magicians were once weapons and test subjects, the “success cases” would be granted numbers. If they couldn’t produce results befitting success cases, then they were stripped of their numbers and labeled as Extras.

Today, the term extras was officially forbidden from use. It was seen as a serious criminal act to discriminate against a person based on the fact that they were an Extra.

But just as the Course 2 discrimination in magic high schools had continued to this day, discrimination against Extras still quietly existed in a more widespread and serious manner in magical society. In Tatsuya’s generation, most would probably not know that their family was one of the Extras at all. Their parents would keep it from them. That was how deep the prejudice, how they were labeled “failures” or “undesirables,” ran in a magician’s unconsciousness.

If Nakura was from a family that had fallen from the Nanakura—with nana meaning “seven”—then he had to wonder about the intentions of the Saegusa’s leader for choosing him as a bodyguard for their daughter.

A fair bit earlier.

When there was still a good three hours before the date changed, in the Saegusa residence—which had to be described as a mansion, and not in an overstatement—Mayumi slipped into a gorgeous bathtub in a gorgeous bathroom that would just be a tad foreign to regular people, looked down at herself, and sighed lightly.

Even I don’t think my proportions are bad.

I ended up not growing any more after my senior year of middle school, but my younger sisters are just as petite as me, so I have to accept it’s genetic.

With a splish, Mayumi stuck one arm and one leg out of the water.

Boutiques and beauty salons often say I have long limbs for my height.

She brought her arm and leg back in and softly put a hand to her breasts.

They say my chest is large for my height, too, and I never have trouble fitting into any clothing with my waistline.

I know I’m relatively hot.

But her… No matter how much I tell myself not to care, it makes my confidence waver.

The pronoun her, spoken in her mind, was converted into the proper noun Miyuki Shiba in her unconscious regions.

I’d never seen such a beautiful girl until I met her.

Her arms and legs are both so thin and long, but just barely big enough that she doesn’t look unhealthy.

Her waist is tight and firm, and her chest and hips are already curved with enough femininity.

And most amazingly of all, her body is symmetric down to the last detail. I mean, people’s organs are on different sides of their bodies, so they can’t be perfectly symmetrical, even on the outside.

Still, magicians, when compared to non-magicians, frequently had highly symmetrical bodies. Mayumi knew that it went beyond people being beautiful or ugly. Those with high magic talent tended to have more symmetrical skeletal structures.

Sometimes I can’t even see her as a living person.

It’s enough to put me in a trance, even though I’m a girl.

It makes me think how ordinary other girls look to the boy who has her as a little sister.

And her brother…

Once again, she sighed, still not aware that she’d done so.

He’s so normal-looking that it’s hard to even believe they’re actually blood related.

He’s not ugly.

But it’s at the level of “just okay.”

Mayumi’s face sunk into the water up to her nose. Her breath caused bubbles to form and pop on the surface. Whether the bubbles came from a weary sigh or one of contentment, not even she knew.

But inside, he’s far from average.

He’s excellent. No, he’s abnormal.

Our magician rating standards were devised by the combined wisdom of scholars from throughout the world, who were given plenty of time and labor.

His very existence is a challenge to that system.

No matter how highly you think of him, on the international standard he’d be C rank at best.

And yet the actual things we’ve seen him do surpass those of A-rank magicians.

She brought her face above the bathwater and inhaled deeply. After taking a few breaths, she giggled.

I bet he’s really worrying the faculty.

I hear the plan to replace the fundamental system that’s been here for decades and create a new magic department and magic engineering department is very realistic.

She smiled painfully and shook her head.

But even that won’t be enough to support him.

Because if intellect and knowledge were all he was good at, he wouldn’t be causing all this disorder in the first place.

A freshman with mastery over the strongest forms of anti-magic, which almost nobody can use.

He takes critical magic hits and goes on fighting like it’s nothing.

I’ve been hearing that, in reality, it was his strength alone that defeated the terrorists.

The unbalance between his magic power and magical combat power.

And even in just knowledge, I’m not sure a simple curriculum change could support him.

The water was plenty warm. Nevertheless, she shivered. She knew it wasn’t from cold on her skin, but she sank deep into the bathtub anyway.

He stayed quiet while I introduced him to Nakura today, but that was a test.

A test to see if he reacted to the name Nakura or his appearance.

When I introduced him, there was a fraction of a moment when I saw agitation in his eyes. I was paying absolute attention to him, so I didn’t let it slip.

He knew what Nakura meant.

That means he’s as deeply connected to the “darkness” of modern magic as Juumonji and I are.

He’s no ordinary magician.

He’s no magician from some nameless family.

Tatsuya “Shiba.” Shiba. Shi. Four. It’s a different character, but…

Maybe he is another one of the Extras…

That was what Mayumi thought as the blood rushed to her head.