Azusa, still buzzing from the Taurus Silver talk, snaps back to reality at Mayumi's words. "Weren't you supposed to finish your assignment during lunch, Azusa?"
"President…" Azusa's voice trembles, eyes teary, clinging to Mayumi. Tatsuya senses her stress.
"Don't sound so pitiful. I'll help a bit. What's the assignment?" Mayumi asks.
Mari shoots a "you're spoiling her" glance, which Mayumi ignores.
"It's… a report on the three major technical issues of Weight-Type Magic," Azusa mumbles, head down.
Suzune, Mari, and Tatsuya's gazes lock on her, making Azusa flinch. "W-What?"
Suzune and Tatsuya look away, guilty, but Mari grins. "Top-five regular Azusa, stumped?"
"It's a standard topic, asked every year," Mayumi adds.
"What's the specific question?" Mayumi prompts.
"It's about why the three issues persist. I got two, but I can't explain why general-purpose flight magic isn't working…" Azusa admits.
Suzune nods. "You're not satisfied with the usual answers."
"Exactly! Levitating the body against gravity was achieved early in modern magic. So why can't we freely fly?" Azusa asks.
"More precisely, why no standardized flight magic for all? Some ancient magic users can fly, but it's near-unique," Suzune clarifies.
"Right, those are like BS mage skills. Not shareable, not technology. We've standardized jumping and bouncing magic, so why not flight?" Azusa presses.
"Most advanced textbooks cover this," Mari points out.
Azusa recites the textbook answer, but Mayumi asks, "If you know it, why the struggle?"
"It's about magic interfering with active magic, right? Why not cancel the active magic before casting anew?" Azusa suggests.
Suzune calmly refutes, "Interesting, but flawed." Azusa deflates.
Mayumi muses, "Hasn't someone tried that?"
Suzune checks. "Two years ago, a UK experiment tested post-interference flight magic."
"Results?" Mayumi asks eagerly.
"Total failure. Reports noted a sharp spike in interference strength," Suzune replies.
"Reasons?" Mayumi presses.
"None given. What do you think, President?"
Mayumi ponders, then turns to Tatsuya. "What about you, Tatsuya-kun?"
She's buying time, not expecting a real answer, but Tatsuya's response stuns her. "The UK experiment's premise was flawed."
"How?" Mayumi asks.
"Magic formulas linger on the target Eidos until their termination conditions are met or they fade. Countering a prior formula with a new one only appears to negate it. Say formula A is active, and formula B counters it. A loses effect but remains on the Eidos, with B layered over it. Both act simultaneously; B's effect just dominates. Magic formulas can't directly affect other formulas, even with interference. No magic can erase another directly, counter-magic included."
"So, they're casting unnecessary magic for flight?" Mayumi ventures.
Tatsuya nods. "Each flight adjustment overwrites an extra formula, piling up interference until the limit's hit. The UK scientists misjudged counter-magic's nature."
Mayumi, Suzune, Azusa, and Mari stare, captivated, as Tatsuya finishes, unfazed. His phone alarm signals the end of lunch. "Miyuki, back to class?"
"Yes, Onii-sama," Miyuki replies, having worked at her terminal throughout, her fingers dancing joyfully—noticed only by Tatsuya.
"Clear now, Nakajou-senpai?" Tatsuya asks.
"Y-Yes… Thanks, Shiba-kun," Azusa stammers.
"No problem. See you after school. Also, President, propping your chin isn't very proper," Tatsuya adds.
"Huh? …Right," Mayumi says, embarrassed, lowering her arm.
After school, Tatsuya attends the Nine Schools Competition prep meeting at the club headquarters, as instructed. Miyuki's absence, due to student council duties, leaves a tense atmosphere. Half the boys, irked at missing Miyuki, redirect their frustration toward Tatsuya's presence as a first-year Course 2 student. The other half calms down, ignoring him. Nearly half the room—mostly girls—views him favorably.
"Why's a first-year Course 2 kid here?" one grumbles.
"Shiba's got a record as a disciplinary committee member. Not weird he's chosen," another counters.
"Doesn't change he's Course 2!" the first snaps.
They don't care he's here as an engineer, not an athlete—just that a Course 2 student was picked.
Katsuto steps in, his heavy voice silencing the room. "You want proof of Shiba's skill. Show them, Shiba."
"Understood. Whose CAD do I tune?" Tatsuya asks.
Without Miyuki's CAD to demonstrate on, he needs a volunteer.
"I'll do it," Katsuto offers.
"I recommended Tatsuya-kun, so I should—" Mayumi starts.
"No, I'll do it," interrupts Misono Mitsuno, a second-year Course 1 student.
"Mitsuno!?" a voice exclaims.
"Back off, Mitsuno. I've got this," says Kirihara, from the kendo club.
"No, Kirihara, step down. I'm the test subject," Mitsuno insists.
"You're underestimating Shiba. That attitude'll get you burned," Kirihara warns.
Tatsuya sighs inwardly at another troublesome figure. Katsuto cuts in, "Kirihara, Mitsuno, stop arguing. I'll do it."
"No, Chief, I'll handle it," Kirihara insists.
"…Fine, I'll yield to Kirihara," Mitsuno relents, clearly displeased.
(Test subject, huh…) Tatsuya realizes they doubt his skill as a Course 2 student, hiding a wry smile.
"The task: copy Kirihara-senpai's usual CAD settings to a competition CAD, ready for immediate use, without touching the activation sequence. Correct?" Tatsuya confirms.
Mayumi nods with a smile. "Yep, that's it."
Tatsuya shakes his head. "Copying settings across different-spec CADs isn't ideal, but… safety first."
Mayumi and others tilt their heads, puzzled, as copying settings is routine. Engineers in the room nod or smirk, intrigued.
"Kirihara-senpai, place your hand for measurement," Tatsuya says.
"Got it," Kirihara complies.
Instead of directly copying Kirihara's CAD data to the competition model, Tatsuya saves it to a workspace on the tuning machine. Engineers frown at the unusual step. Normally, psion measurement feeds data automatically, but the real skill lies in manual precision tuning.
"Thanks. You can remove your hand," Tatsuya says.
Kirihara's psion wave measurement is done, but Tatsuya doesn't start tuning. He stares at the monitor's raw data—not a graph, but streaming numbers. Whispers speculate he forgot the process, but Azusa sees focus, not panic, in his intense gaze.
Curiosity overtaking her, Azusa peeks over his shoulder. "Huh!?"
Her unladylike yelp draws Mayumi, Mari, Katsuto, Suzune, Kirihara, and Mitsuno to the monitor. They gasp. Instead of a graph, numbers flood the screen—Kirihara's raw psion data, recognized only by Azusa.
As the scroll ends, Tatsuya hammers the keyboard, windows opening and closing rapidly. Azusa is awestruck. (Full manual tuning… reflecting all measurement data within the device's capacity. Shiba-kun's skill surpasses everyone here. Even prioritizing safety, he's matching Kirihara's usual CAD performance.)
Others are captivated by the rare keyboard-only tuning and its speed. "Done," Tatsuya announces.
Kirihara activates the CAD, testing it. "How is it?" Katsuto asks.
"No difference from my usual one," Kirihara confirms.
"It's skilled, but we could do the same," skeptics grumble, nitpicking the time or lack of novelty.
Katsuto shuts them down. "Do it then. Shiba tuned raw data, not graphs—a feat I can't match."
"I agree," Kirihara adds. "Forget Course 2 or precedent. Shiba's results prove he's competition-worthy. Matching a high-spec personal CAD to a competition model without issues is enough."
"Exactly," Mayumi says. "Tatsuya-kun's tuning rivals high-spec CADs. His skill's undeniable."
"I'm in," Mari agrees.
"I know Kirihara's CAD's specs. A competition model matching it is usable in the event," Mitsuno adds.
With First High's leaders and Mitsuno backing him, opposition fades. Tatsuya is officially selected for the Nine Schools team.