Miyuki ushers in visitors to Tatsuya's room after a knock.
"Onii-sama, Isori-senpai and Chiyoda-senpai are here."
Tatsuya pauses his terminal work, stands, and bows. "Sorry for the trouble, Isori-senpai."
"No worries, I offered to help. Couldn't exactly bring your terminal to me," Isori replies with a smile.
Tatsuya turns to Kanon. "Congratulations on your win, Chiyoda-senpai."
"Thanks! With Mori out, I had to step up!" Kanon clenches her fist, radiating determination. Miyuki notes her fiery spirit, but Tatsuya and Isori remain unfazed.
"Any findings?" Isori asks.
"I've analyzed it. Third-party interference is likely," Tatsuya replies.
"Let's see… Impressive work, Shiba-kun. Fast as always," Isori praises, grinning. Kanon pouts briefly but quickly composes herself as Tatsuya remains expressionless.
"It's unnatural," Isori agrees. "But how could a third party interfere? The stands can't cast magic, and hiding in the water's impossible."
"Is your analysis off, Shiba-kun?" Kanon questions.
Miyuki bristles, but Isori cuts in. "His analysis is flawless. I couldn't match it, nor could most engineers. Even if they could, it'd take too long—plenty of time for the culprit to slip away."
"Wow, Shiba-kun's amazing," Kanon concedes, impressed. Miyuki beams at the praise, unnoticed by all but Tatsuya.
"More visitors?" Miyuki says as another knock sounds.
"Handle it, Miyuki," Tatsuya instructs.
"Yes… Mizuki and Yoshida-kun? Why are you here?"
"Tatsuya-san called us," Mizuki says.
"Same here," Mikihiko adds.
"Onii-sama?" Miyuki looks to Tatsuya.
"Yeah, I called them. Let them in."
Miyuki, trusting Tatsuya implicitly, ushers Mizuki and Mikihiko inside without question.
"Sorry for the late hour," Tatsuya says.
"N-No problem," Mizuki stammers.
"It's fine," Mikihiko adds.
"These are my classmates, Mikihiko Yoshida and Mizuki Shibata," Tatsuya introduces. "You know Isori-senpai and Chiyoda-senpai, second-years."
"Hi!" Kanon says brightly, patting Mizuki's shoulder. Mizuki tenses, and Mikihiko flinches as Isori sighs at Kanon's enthusiasm.
"I called them to unravel the mystery of the underwater saboteur," Tatsuya explains.
He continues, "We're investigating possible interference against Watanabe-senpai. The water surface dipped unnaturally, disrupting her inertia-neutralizing magic, causing the crash. This was magical interference from within the water. Casting unnoticed from outside the course is impossible, and delayed magic is unlikely. Isori-senpai and I believe someone—or something—in the water caused it."
He pauses, checking with Mikihiko and Mizuki, who nod in understanding.
"But a human hiding in the waterway is absurd," Tatsuya adds. "No modern or ancient magic can perfectly conceal someone."
Isori and Kanon nod in agreement.
"That leaves a non-human entity," Tatsuya concludes.
"Spirit magic?" Isori asks.
Tatsuya nods. "Yoshida specializes in spirit magic, and Shibata has keen sensitivity to psion light."
"Got it," Isori says.
Tatsuya turns to Mikihiko. "As an expert, is it possible to use spirit magic to trigger a delayed water surface dip under specific conditions?"
"Possible," Mikihiko confirms.
"Could you do it?"
"With a few days to prep and study the terrain, yes."
"Need to be on-site?"
"No. But such magic wouldn't pack much punch."
Everyone but Tatsuya tilts their heads.
"It could dip the water but not force Watanabe-senpai to withdraw. Without the Seventh High runner's crash, it'd be inconsequential," Mikihiko explains.
"Unless that wasn't an accident," Tatsuya counters.
"What do you mean?" Mikihiko asks.
Tatsuya pulls up footage. "Here, the Seventh High runner should've slowed but accelerated instead."
Kanon frowns. "A mistake like that from a Nine Schools competitor? Unlikely."
Everyone but Tatsuya nods, but he presses on. "I suspect tampering with their CAD. This corner's the first requiring deceleration. If the deceleration sequence was swapped for acceleration, this would happen."
"But when could they tamper?" Isori asks. "CADs are tightly secured."
"A traitor on Seventh High's tech team?" Kanon suggests.
"Possible, but I think the organizers are more likely," Tatsuya says.
Shock ripples through the room. Kanon's idea was bold, but Tatsuya's is staggering for high schoolers to process.
"Onii-sama, as Isori-senpai said, CADs are heavily guarded. When could the organizers tamper?" Miyuki asks.
"CADs leave team control for the organizers' device checks," Tatsuya replies.
Miyuki gasps, realizing the oversight. The others fall silent.
"Still, we don't know how they tampered," Tatsuya admits. "Isori-senpai, caution is wise, but let's not stir unnecessary panic."
"Y-Yeah, could be a false alarm," Isori agrees, though his voice lacks conviction, struck by the precision of Tatsuya's theory.
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