Chapter 47 ~ Rampage
<span style="font-weight:400">Entering therge, military base tent of the First High School, Yuuji looked around for a moment and quickly found the person he was looking for. She was fiddling with herptop that was currently connected with a bracelet type CAD.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ah, Hirakawa-senpai?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hm? Ah, T-T-Tsubakihara-kun? W-What’s wrong?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji smiled softly at the flustered, light brown haired, third-year girl. It was the first time he had ever met her. Well, at least in person.
<span style="font-weight:400">He had seen her briefly in the anime. She was the engineer in charge of Kobayakawa Keiko in the Mirage Bat event, which would start in just a few hours. The girl who was traumatized by the “ident” that befell Keiko.
<span style="font-weight:400">Although it might change some things, Yuuji, Aika, and Tatsuya had decided to not let the ident that befell Kobayakawa Keiko to happen and save both the athlete and the engineer from their trauma. If saving them changes things, then they will deal with the change.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I was told to assist you with the final checks of Kobayakawa Keiko-senpai’s CAD for her Mirage Bat Event. If it is not a bother to you, may I be of any help?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Seeing her blushing expression, Yuuji felt a pang of guilt in his heart lying and taking advantage of his senpai’s gullibility with his looks. But this was for her sake… If she found out about his lie and demanded an apology, then he would bow his head.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Eh?! A-Are you sure? Y-You just finished your Monolith Code match, didn’t you? Ah! C-Congrattions on winning!!! I was watching you! You were amazing!!! I can’t believe you used the flying magic that had just been released a few months ago to such a degree!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you very much for yourpliment, senpai. I tried my best to bring the best result for our school. And knowing I would be against the Crimson Prince and Cardinal George, I just know I can’t hold back anything.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uhn uhn!!! You were amazing!!! Ah, you said you wanted to help me, right? But unfortunately, I’ve already checked it with the tournamentmittee. I’m just here to recheck everything to make sure it’s fine, so there isn’t really anything you can help me with…”
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Dammit… So I was already toote…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji cursed in his mind. If he could, he wanted to join her when she was going to themittee to check Kobayakawa Keiko’s CAD because he knew that would be when they would tamper with it, and caught the staff in the act. But now, he was toote…
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait, no… it’s not toote. Maybe I can destroy it…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s fine. Then may I take over for the final checking? At the very least, I would like to see the CAD that one of the greatest engineers in our school had calibrated from scratch and learn from it, senpai.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“G-Greate- I-I’m not that great!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">She waved her hands back and forth, her face blushing extremely redly as she averted her face away from him.
<span style="font-weight:400">She had 0 defense against him!!!
<span style="font-weight:400">For a girl who had been focusing all her time and attention on studies, this was her first time experiencing spring, and with such a handsome guy at that!!!
<span style="font-weight:400">B-But… he’s still a first year student. H-How could a in girl who’s two years older than him catch his eyes?!
<i><span style="font-weight:400">B-But maybe…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">She stole a nce at Yuuji, who was still looking at her with his unfair smile and trying his best to conceal his sense of guilt.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">It’s okay to dream, right…? A-And I’ll just be showing him the CAD I calibrated! T-There’s nothing wrong with a senpai helping her kouhai!!!</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Overwhelmed by her desire to get closer to him, Koharu made her decision. If she let go of this, who knows when she could get the chance to be this close with the most popr boy in school again!!!
<span style="font-weight:400">“T-Then, please take a seat. H-Here you go, you can do the final checkings. You can even restart it if you want!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Eh? Would it be fine? Will we make it in time if we restart it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“U-Uhn! It’ll be fine! It’ll just take an extra few minutes!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then, I’ll take you up on your offer.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji nodded gratefully and sat down on the bench beside Koharu as she scooted over. Looking at the bracelet-shaped CAD, Yuuji used his Elemental Sight to examine it.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Ah… As expected. It’s already there.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Although he doesn’t know the exact structure of the Golden Electron Silkworms’ magic sequence, he could easily identify a foreign presence in the system. And now, in the fraction of a second he took to examine the CAD, he grasped its magic sequence, structure, and purpose.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">What a nasty virus…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">The “Golden Electron Silkworms” was a magic spell that disables precision weaponry and was capable of passing across connections to invade electronic devices. It doesn’t rewrite the process itself, but instead, it interferes with the output signal and may even alter the signal, dying the spell activation by hampering the electronic mechanism without triggering the OS or anti-virus programs.
<span style="font-weight:400">This was what caused Kobayakawa Keiko’s CAD to malfunction while she was in mid air during her Mirage Bat match and made her fall. Although she was saved just in the nick of time before plunging into the water by a security member, the trauma and distrust she had towards magic and her CAD left a deep scar in her and destroyed her career as a magician.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hiding his disgust by putting up a neutral and focused expression, Yuuji waved his hand above Keiko’s CAD and cast Gram Demolition to reduce the magic sequence of the Golden Electron Silkworms into a group of Psion particles without any meaningful structure.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then, he quickly began checking the system from beginning to end with theptop to see if there were any remnants of the virus or not and to make sure he didn’t mess anything Koharu had made.
<span style="font-weight:400">All the while, Koharu was staring at him in a daze.
<span style="font-weight:400">His focused gaze. His brilliance. His prodigious skill with the CAD. He’s… amazing in all regards.
<span style="font-weight:400">She had heard plenty of rumors about him from word of mouth, and now that she witnessed his brilliance in person, even the rumors failed to do him justice.
<span style="font-weight:400">He was far more handsome, far more brilliant, far more skilled, and far more powerful than she expected.
<span style="font-weight:400">He was beyond perfect in her eyes…
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Ah… If only I was cuter… Maybe I could’ve caught his attention…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">A gloomy thought entered her mind as she recalled seeing a particr girl who was often near Yuuji.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kiryuu Aika. No one in the entire First High School would not know the name of the most beautiful first year girl in the school. Her appearance and figure alone had enchanted many males and females alike. And she was also a prodigious magician who could rival, no, surpass the famous freshman representative Shiba Miyuki in magic.
<span style="font-weight:400">Her performance in the Pirs Break match had caught the eyes of many and her poprity just rocketed even further.
<span style="font-weight:400">Compared to her, a in girl who was only slightly more skilled than average in engineering, the difference was like heaven and earth.
<span style="font-weight:400">After seeing her being so close to the boy she was interested in, there’s no way she wouldn’t lose her confidence…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. I’m done, senpai. Thank you very much for letting me have this opportunity. I have learned a lot from just seeing your work.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Eh?! A-Ah, you’re done?! U-Uhn, you’re wee!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. Then, I wish you and Kobayakawa-senpai good luck in the match. I will be watching along with my friends and support you two.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“U-Uhn… Thank you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Please excuse me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji raised from his seat, bowed, and walked away as Koharu kept her lingering gaze on his back.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Ah… He left…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Before she noticed, her hand reached out for him. But it froze just before she held onto the hem of his zer uniform.
<span style="font-weight:400">A sense of loss, regret, and fear filled her heart. Lost from watching his back recede into the distance. Regret for not having the courage to stop him. And fear at the thought of never being able to be that near to him ever again.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">No… Wait. It’s not the end… I can still be near him.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes began to regain its light.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">The Thesis Competition… That’s right, I can have him be my bodyguard!</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">--------------------------------X--------------------------------
<span style="font-weight:400">Without the virus in her CAD, Kobayakawa Keiko managed to win her first main event Mirage Bat match.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was challenging, but her skill and Koharu’s engineering managed to let her triumph over the others.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Congrattions, Hirakawa-senpai.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uhn! Congrattions!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“As expected of Hirakawa-senpai. The performance of the CAD you calibrated is amazing.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. Congrattions.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“T-Thank you very much, everyone. B-But I really didn’t do much. It was Keiko’s efforts and skills that made her win.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t be like that, senpai~! You are chosen to represent our school as our engineer~ That means you’re amazingly skilled at what you do~!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mm. Please take pride in your skill more, senpai.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“U-Uhn… T-Thank you, you two.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Koharu fidgeted in embarrassment as she stood beside the two greatest beauties of the school. Kiryuu Aika and Shiba Miyuki. Although she had only seen them from afar, she had heard numerous rumors about their beauty, talent, and character. They were individuals beyond anyone’s reach except for those like Yuuji. Flowers on a high peak.
<span style="font-weight:400">But now that she talked to them in person, they seemed very close. They were… kind and friendly. Although she was still a bit overwhelmed by their brilliance, they didn’t feel so far anymore.
<span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps, being friends wouldn’t be so out of reach like everyone made it seem to be, Koharu thought.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, after congratting Koharu, Yuuji and Tatsuya redirect their gaze towards Kobayakawa Keiko, who was still receiving a resounding apuse as she waved her hands to the spectators on the Mirage Bat columns.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good work. You’ve erased the viruspletely.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you. It was the first time I’ve ever tried using Gram Demolition like that. I’m d it worked out.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji shook his head and let out a sigh of relief.
<span style="font-weight:400">He knew that it would work, in theory. And he had learned extensively about Gram Demolition and Gram Dispersion from Tatsuya, and even started developing a third type of magic dismantling spell that would work more like an armor.
<span style="font-weight:400">But dispelling a magic spell that had alreadytched itself into a CAD was a first for him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You did very well on your first try.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Tatsuya ced a hand on his shoulder. His lips curled into a small, yet still present, proud smile for his “student”.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks, Tatsuya. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I believe you could’ve figured it out with your proficiencies. Well, enough about that. You should go and prepare for Aika’s match.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. I’ll see youter.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji nodded to Tatsuya before making his way to the girls.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Aika, <span style="font-weight:400">I’ll be taking your CAD for checking now. Wait for me in the tent.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Okay~!!! I’ll reserve a private room in the tent~!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Aika winked, earning her a helpless smile from Yuuji. She looked so excited and could barely wait for it.
<span style="font-weight:400">He then turned towards Miyuki and Koharu.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll see youter as well, Miyuki. And Kobayakawa-senpai, congrattions once again.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. See youter, Yuuji.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“T-Thank you very much! I-I’ll see youter as well, Tsubakihara-kun.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes.”
<span style="font-weight:400">--------------------------------X--------------------------------
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji queued up along with the other participants who were here to have their CAD checked for the tournament and received plenty of attention as usual.
<span style="font-weight:400">In his hand was Aika’s bracelet-type CAD, but it wasn’t the one she’ll use for her Mirage Bat match. Since Yuuji knew that they’ll tamper with her CAD, he brought along the backup CAD so they won’t harm her personal one.
<span style="font-weight:400">After a few minutes of waiting, Yuuji finally arrived at the front of the line.
<span style="font-weight:400">Before him was arge, pure white table with a device to scan CAD and monitor disy to the right. And sitting behind it was the same staff who tampered with Miyuki’s CAD in the anime.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji ced the bracelet on the scanning area, keeping his eyes fixed on the staff and the bracelet.
<span style="font-weight:400">He began typing on hisputer and a screen popped up on the monitor, disying Aika’s school picture and her information.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then, the scanning process began as a line of light began scanning through the bracelet type CAD.
<span style="font-weight:400">With his elemental sight activated, Yuuji kept his eyes on Aika’s bracelet. And as he expected, the staff injected the Golden Electron Silkworms into the CAD he calibrated.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">The audacity… I’llpliment his poker face, at the very least.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji grabbed his cor, lifted him up into the air with one hand, and mmed him down to the ground.
<span style="font-weight:400">“W-Whoa- Kuhaahhkk!!! Gghhkkh!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">And unlike Tatsuya, who held him down with his knee, Yuuji ced his legs on his upper chest and leaned forward, making it difficult for him to breathe. He grabbed onto Yuuji’s leg and tried to move it, but it wouldn''t budge.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji’s action caused somemotion and a few members of security came to see what happened as Yuuji continued to look down on the scum.
<span style="font-weight:400">“How sneaky. But not sneaky enough. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice if you tamper with the CAD I calibrated from scratch?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji pressed down on his chest even more as he struggled under his feet.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Gggghhkkkh!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What did you inject into this CAD with that examination device? I’m sure it’s not just a virus.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Witnessing themotion, the security staff were about to separate Yuuji from the examination staff. But upon hearing his words, they froze and began looking at each other in shock and uncertainty.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Aah… I see. It seems like it was as I expected. All of the idents that urred during this tournament, to me, must’ve been your crafty work, huh?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Despite the pain he was suffering from, the staff’s eyes widened in shock at his words and averted his eyes away.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see… So you’re not going to talk? Well then… perhaps you’ll learn how crushing winds could be with your body.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“H-Hiiiih!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What is going on here?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Just then, the charismatic voice of an old man resounded and snapped Yuuji out of his focus on the scummy staff.
<span style="font-weight:400">He nced towards the entrance of the tent and saw the Patriarch himself, Kudou Retsu, approaching him with two of the tournament’s boardmittee members in tow.
<span style="font-weight:400">With a gesture of his chin, one of them approached the scummy staff that Yuuji had let go, and held him down along with a member of security.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I apologize for showing such an unseemly disy.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji bowed and apologized as Kudou Retsu began to walk closer with his hands behind his back. .
<span style="font-weight:400">“You are Tsubakihara Yuuji of First High, am I right? You managed to astound me in your match yesterday. Well done.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you very much for your praise.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Umu. So, what happened here?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The CADs used by my school have been tampered with before my eyes. Upon noticing it, I apprehended the culprit and was about to interrogate him for information regarding his patron and the mastermind.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see.”
<span style="font-weight:400">A staff then brought over Aika’s bracelet CAD and handed it to the Patriarch, who began looking at it for a moment.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It is true. A foreign element has been injected into this. Back when I’m still active, the magicians of the Guangdong Army used this during the battle of the East China Seas; the Golden Electron Silkworms.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The examination staff’s eyes widened in horror and shock as Kudou Retsu began exining the very virus he was injecting into the First High school’s CADs. Everything was out of the bag now.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Until we were able to identify this, our forces suffered severely… Did you know about this?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No… I was unaware of its name until now. However, I recognize at once when something simr to a virus has been injected into the system I designed myself.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see… So tell me, where on Earth did you acquire this magic sequence?”
<span style="font-weight:400">The examination staff flinched at the pressure exerted by the Patriarch himself, and soon, any courage to fight or escape left him as he dropped his shoulders.
<span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the security staff apprehended him and began taking him elsewhere, most likely for questioning before locking him up somewhere.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I am impressed that you caught it, Tsubakihara Yuuji.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you very much. But in truth… members of my school’s team and I have been suspecting foul y done by… <i><span style="font-weight:400">some </i><span style="font-weight:400">of the staff within themittee ever since the first incident that befell our athlete. We have requested themittee to do an internal investigation on the credibility and trustworthiness of their staff. However… it seemed like some still managed to slip through their <i><span style="font-weight:400">keen</i><span style="font-weight:400"> eyes.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">The staff members, including the boardmittee, all flinched at the re and pressure Yuuji emanated through his presence and eyes alone.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mm. It seems so. To think that someone among the tournament staff was involved in tampering… It''s a scandal without precedent. You can exin yourself to meter.”
<span style="font-weight:400">They flinched once again, this time from Kudou Retsu, before he turned towards Yuuji with a kind smile.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You should be getting back to the stadium. I would use a backup CAD if I were you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The CAD that I submitted for examinations is actually the back up CAD I have prepared in case the examination staff tried to tamper with it. The original CAD I have prepared is still in my athlete’s possession. Shall I… bring it here for examination again?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji nced at the boardmittee members as they began panicking, looking back and forth at each other and the Patriarch who was standing before them.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No. Under these circumstances, there is no need to have it checked pre-match.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Kudour Retsu shook his head and turned towards the boardmittee members.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Do you have anyints?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...No.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He turned towards Yuuji once again.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Tsubakihara Yuuji?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, sir?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I would like to hear from you as well, sometime. “
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. Should the opportunity arise, it would be my honor.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mm. I suppose I shall be looking forward to that opportunity, then.”
<span style="font-weight:400">--------------------------------X--------------------------------
<span style="font-weight:400">Upon returning to the First High School’s tent, Yuuji could immediately feel the heavy and tense atmosphere that had filled the room.
<span style="font-weight:400">The people in the tent immediately turned their heads and looked at him with shock in their eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">And Mayumi, who was already waiting for him since she heard about the incident, immediately approached him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yuuji-kun! What happened? I was informed by the tournamentmittee that one of our students had gone on a rampage… Was it you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">She was surprised, unable to believe that Yuuji would go on a rampage against a member of the tournamentmittee. She knew he wasn’t the type of man who would use force against someone undeserving.
<span style="font-weight:400">But from what she heard, the student was definitely Yuuji from the way they described it. No, there was no doubt in that. With how famous Yuuji had be after his matches, it was obvious who they would refer to even if they didn’t explicitly say his name.
<span style="font-weight:400">She needed to know why. Why would Yuuji do such a thing? She knew there must be a reasonable exnation behind it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Please calm down, president. I can exin.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mayumi snapped out of her daze when Yuuji held her shoulders firmly, and he began exining what had happened in the CAD examination tent.
<span style="font-weight:400">And as he exined the situation, Mayumi and everyone else in the room slowly came to an understanding of the whole situation.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ah… I see. So you caught them in the act.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. And since I might not have another chance, I apprehended him right then and there.”
<span style="font-weight:400">A helpless smile appeared across Mayumi’s face.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Aren’t you a bit rash?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“If they were to do their job properly and investigate their own ranks more credibly, then I wouldn’t have resorted to such means.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji shrugged. After all, he had given them plenty of chances to conduct their own internal investigations. But, the tournamentmittee either didn’t do it or were just that ipetent, so there was no other choice but do what Tatsuya did.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was a more straightforward means of outing the rat. Especially since he knew that the patriarch woulde. His presence and words alone made it extremely easy for him to get the scummy staff out of the picture.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see… Well, it can’t be helped this time. But please be more careful next time.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, president. Then, will you please excuse me? I’ve promised to meet with Aika privately for a final rundown of our strategy for her Mirage Bat match.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. Aika-san had reserved a room in the back. She’s already waiting for you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you very much. Then, please excuse me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji bowed and made his way to the very back of the tent, a separate ce from where everyone normally gathered in, and knocked on the door of the room he sensed Aika in.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Aika, it’s me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Come in~”
<span style="font-weight:400">Her sultry voice resounded from within, causing his lips to curl into a helpless smile.
<span style="font-weight:400">He opened the door, and within, he saw Aika standing before him in her mirage bat outfit. A pure white, shoulderless, short dress,ce gloves that stretched up to her elbow, and a pair of tight, white, thigh highs that squeezed her milky thighs perfectly with just the right amount of absolute territory between it and her skirt.
<span style="font-weight:400">This… was the R-18 version of her mirage bat outfit she had prepared for this moment.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hi, darling~ Are you ready~?”