Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) by Sato Tsutomu

the target's Information Body.
    Both Magic Sequences A and B are still acting on the target's Information Body, it's just that only the effects of Magic Sequence B are visible. Just as Ichihara-senpai said, Magic Sequences can only affect the Information Body and are unable to affect one another. This is true even in Zone Interference. Unless the original Magic Sequence is itself nullified, using Counter Magic would yield the same result."
    ". . . . . . So the English experiment used unnecessary magic that was not part of Flying-Type Magic?"
    Tatsuya nodded his assent to Mayumi's question, then continued his explanation.
    "In other words, every time you make adjustments in flight, you would rewrite the Magic Sequence again. In order to maintain flight, the extra rewrites would pile on, so of course you would rapidly hit the upper limit for phenomenon interference ability. The English scholar who designed this experiment must have been mistaken on the nature of Counter Magic."
    The portable terminal that Tatsuya wore in his breast pocket chose this moment to start vibrating, signaling the first warning bell for the end of the lunch period.
    "Miyuki, let's return to class."
    "Yes, Onii-sama."
    Miyuki, whose back was to them the entire time, rose immediately upon being called.
    Her voice, expression and movements were just as gentle and graceful as usual.
    Hence Mayumi, Suzune, Mari, and Azusa hadn't noticed.
    Couldn't have noticed.
    When Miyuki had been seated before the workstation, her back was ramrod straight with pride, and her fingers fairly danced across the keyboard in pleasure.

◇◇◇

    The preparation meeting for the Nine Schools Competition held in the Club Management Headquarters was suffused with a nervous aura from the onset.
    Students with outstanding performance in the events would receive extra credit for their classes. Just for being one of the official participants, students would receive no homework, extra days off and guaranteed straight A's.
    Not only did this apply to participants, but to the students selected as engineers as well.
    Thanks to the school putting such a high emphasis on the Nine Schools Competition, the students selected as the representatives for the Nine Schools Competition received such incredible rewards. Thus, it was unsurprising that the competition was particularly fierce for the last few slots on the official roster during this meeting.
    —If Tatsuya had been merely a bystander, he would probably have viewed the mixed feelings of the surrounding students in a compassionate light. However, he was there as a candidate with a giant target on his back, so he could only depressingly keep himself from sighing aloud while praying for this circus to end quickly.
    It was not that he was wholly uninterested in the Nine Schools Competition.
    The desire to measure one's personal skills against other Magicians (saplings) of similar age was markedly different from the hunger he experienced while staying in his father's lab and the subsequent desire to bring about practical upgrades to CADs, but Tatsuya still had that much left in him.
    Tatsuya was "constructed" to have less emotion than the average person, but he was still at that headstrong age, so no matter what value his peers assigned him, he wasn't shriveled enough to completely not care.
    However, at the same time he had to deal with the pride, jealousy, vanity, disgust, and other related emotions in this meeting. That was what truly filled him with melancholy.
    Separate from his thoughts — of course — the seats in the conference room were gradually filled. When the last seat was occupied, Mayumi stood before the chairman's podium.
    "Then, let's start the selection meeting for the Nine Schools Competition roster."
    The meeting for upperclassmen, club leaders for the various participating clubs, Student Council members (Miyuki remained on station in the Student Council Room) and the Club Management Group members who received the