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Volume 2 Chapter 1 - Before the Storm Part 4

"Amasaki Mio will fall into rank B for sure if she keeps this up."

When the first school day after Golden Week ended—— Kazuki was called to the staff room. There, the home-room teacher, Liz Liza Westwood, spouted a shocking sentence out of the blue.

"Eh?" Liz Liza-sensei who had a figure that looked like a child\'s, continued with her strict words toward Kazuki, who leaked out an idiotic voice.

"Losing to an E rank like you was already fatal. Then, after that, she failed a quest, so her evaluation has dropped drastically. If she keeps this up she will be demoted to rank B."

"Ple——please wait a second! Certainly she hasn\'t shown results yet, but it\'s obvious her true power is one of the best compared to her surroundings, right!?"

"There are also other students who grew by a remarkable amount. Chances must be given equally."

First year students who were evaluated as [rank A] at the academy could stay in the dedicated dormitory for the student council, [Witch\'s Mansion], as a privilege. There, they could receive an introduction to magic from the senpais in the student council.

Being demoted from rank A to rank B means eviction from the Witch\'s Mansion.

Kazuki was rank E, but because of the special circumstance of being contracted with a mysterious Diva, he could live in the Witch\'s Mansion so the student council president could safeguard (while monitoring) him.

Mio wouldn\'t be in Witch\'s Mansion anymore even though they were finally getting along again like in the old times.

"Right now with Loki acting violently, the situation is that the students have to quickly complete quests. Real ability that cannot produce any results cannot be valued. Even if she is an A rank, if she is slacking off, being demoted might fire her up."

Loki attacked the branches of the Knight Order in the whole country every few days, but before any real counterattack began, they only fought a little and escaped immediately. It was as though they were just ridiculing the opponent.

It seems there was still nothing that resulted in death, but it became so that the Knight Order needed to be constantly vigilant against attacks. At the same time, the investigation for Loki\'s hiding location must also be done.

Like that, the duties that were neglected by the knights were distributed to the students as quests.

Originally the quest system was intended for the students\' personal learning experience, however in the current emergency situation, they were completely regarded as precious war potential.

Because there was strong opposition from society regarding the coercion of students into actual battle, the quests even now was formally a practical class that students accepted voluntarily, but—— rank A students like Mio were constantly under untold amounts of heavy pressure and expectations to produce results.

"…But Mio is not slacking off at all!"

Every morning since forming a party with Kazuki, Mio had always stealthily performed magic training as if to hide it from him——though Kazuki, who was very sensitive towards any magic power outbreak, noticed it immediately.

"It\'s because an E rank like me dragged her down."

"Fuhn, my eyes are not so blind that I still think your real ability is the same as your current rank."

"…Why was this matter not spoken of to the person herself, but instead, to me?"

"Both of you are in a two-man party, aren\'t you? If you think that girl\'s evaluation is undeserved then you have to support your team mate."

If I could support her then I wanted to do so. I really wanted to do that, but for that to happen…

"The quickest and easiest way for me is to add Hiakari Koyuki to your party, I also thought that if you can use that chance to become closer with her, then it will be two birds with one stone."

A glint of light appeared in Liz Liza-sensei\'s eyes. Liz Liza-sensei also knew about Leme\'s special characteristics.

Maybe that\'s the real reason she called me here.

"…Neither Mio nor Hiakari-san will agree to form a party together though."

"Fuhn, it\'s evident that your sense of danger is not enough that you\'re being so particular about this. …By the way, this is a completely different topic, but in the case that you became friendly with a magician that has a contract with a Diva other than Solomon\'s 72 Pillars, what would happen? Can you also draw the ability from that Diva?"

Liz Liza sensei asked about a topic that really had no relation at all with the topic until now.

Lemegeton materialized besides Kazuki.

She was a completely nude little girl the first time she appeared in front of Kazuki, but as her power returned little by little, her stature has already grew to about an elementary student\'s size, and a one-piece tunic covered her body.

With Leme regaining her power due to Kazuki\'s friendlier relations with various girls, her original form was also slowly returning. It was a wonder what kind of form her original appearance was as a Diva.

"With Divas other than Solomon\'s 72 Pillars, as long as the other party has the will to cooperate with Leme, then Leme can draw that Diva\'s characteristic magic you know-. However, it\'s a considerably rare case for such Divas of other mythologies to cooperate with Leme though-. Fundamentally, the relations between mythologies are running counter with each other."

"Hmm, is that so?"

While looking down, Liz Liza-sensei whispered \'Is there any worth in testing this…\'

Testing? …In Japan, contracting with Divas other than Solomon\'s 72 Pillars was illegal. There should be no chance of getting along with illegal magicians, but…

"Understood. It\'s okay for you to go back now." Liz Liza-sensei waved her hand like she was chasing Kazuki out.

An unexpected character was waiting for Kazuki when he came out of the staff room.

"Kazuki, did you mess up something that required you getting called by sensei? …mugu."

Because of her small build, Kazuki didn\'t see her, and that character\'s face collided with Kazuki\'s chest and leaked that \'mugu\' voice. Even though that kind of voice was still said coolly…

"Hiakari-san!? …Are you okay?"

Kazuki supported the girl\'s shoulder in panic, though the girl said "I\'m fine" and shook off his hand.

"Rather than that, please don\'t ignore my question. Why were you called?"

"Aaa——that was… Because of the failed quest yesterday, Liz Liza-sensei came to give a warning that if our evaluation keeps declining like this, it will be serious trouble. It\'s because I\'m an E rank you see."

Kazuki immediately explained while avoiding Mio\'s matter. Koyuki\'s expression \'mu\' became stiff hearing that.

"…It\'s unreasonable isn\'t it? Kazuki had won in a duel against an A rank, so failing a quest just once shouldn\'t make your evaluation drop."

"Is Hiakari-san worried about my problem?"

When Kazuki started heading to the Witch\'s Mansion, the girl also walked alongside him.

"It\'s not that. It\'s not worry or anything. I don\'t care whatever happened to you. It\'s just, I wanted to give my thanks where there is nobody else… If it\'s not now, whether it be Amasaki-san, or the president, or little sister-san, somebody will be around you."

The girl said thank you and bowed her head.

"…By any chance, is it about the slime\'s attribute during yesterday\'s quest?"

"Yes. Thanks to that I could successfully complete the quest. If not for Kazuki\'s advice, I\'d have lost my composure when I found out about the blue slime\'s resistance to cold and might have fallen into a predicament."

Yesterday\'s quest was about holding back the encroachment of the Haunting Ground in western Tokyo\'s forest.

Koyuki annihilating all the Demon Beasts that lived in that Haunted Ground——did not happen, it seems exterminating one area of the Demon Beasts and liberating the area part by part was already considered as a success.

If there were no Demon Beasts in the Haunted Ground, then the plot of land would return to how it was originally. Poisonous plants grew densely and that Haunted Ground became marshland, but if the Demon Beasts were all gone then it should return back to the original forest.

"But how did Hiakari-san defeat the slime that had strong resistance against ice Summoning Magic?"

"My contracted Diva, Vepar, rules over cold and water. I suffocated it to death by water magic."

"…Eh? Do slimes need to breath? Was it foaming inside the water?"

"I tested it while half in doubt… but it died. I don\'t think it had an organ for breathing like a mouth or lung, so perhaps it breathes by using the surface of the cell. And then it was a living thing that resided on land, so I thought that it didn\'t have any structure to take oxygen from the water. Just like an earthworm that can breath through its skin inside the earth, but it died by suffocation on the asphalt."

If you think about it, as long as it was a living thing, except in a few cases, then it should need oxygen for its activity. Even though the Demon Beasts were the residents of a fantasy world, there were many things that had similar motif with the real world, like dragons that closely resembled a lizard.

Demon Beasts\' ecology and traits were still not understood.

But when we challenge quests from now on, there was no doubt that we would need to observe unknown Demon Beasts calmly and experiment with various elements, magic, and fighting styles.

Mio and I couldn\'t do that——the girl in front of me could.

"…As I thought Hiakari-san, won\'t you join our party?"

Koyuki sullenly knitted her eyebrows toward Kazuki\'s proposal.

"Because you failed the quest and fell into a pinch, you want me to lend you some help?"

"Sorry, frankly I\'m weak. Besides, this time Hiakari-san was mostly okay, but even so, going solo is dangerous. I think it\'s better to team up with someone even if not with us."

"Weak? You are not weak. Rather isn\'t it Amasaki-san, who lost in a duel against you, that is weak? For example… as it is that girl will be demoted to rank B, won\'t she?"

Koyuki took a deep breath and spoke, which startled Kazuki, like she had seen through everything.

"I think if I join you two because you are the one that is in danger, then Amasaki-san will be able to accept it, but if it\'s because she herself that is in danger then… I think she will reject it resolutely you know. She has a lot of pride, and she also hates me."

"Certainly that girl has a lot of pride, but… she doesn\'t hate you, you know."

"She really hates me though. She opposes me in every single thing."

"That\'s not it, Mio said \'I don\'t want a strange guy added to the party!\'. In short that means, if it\'s not a strange person then it\'s okay to add them to the party, and since Hiakari-san is not a strange person, it\'s all okay!"

"…What the heck was that? That logic you gave was really pushing it. I am a plenty strange girl."

"Hiakari-san is not someone strange at all. You are an extremely kind person, aren\'t you? When I was made fun of during the class introduction because I said that my special skill was swordsmanship, you said that the sword is not worthless and gave me some encouragement. Those few words really saved me. Even when I was friendless in the class, only you were impartial regarding me. you are a girl that is fair and hates discrimination and bullying. I feel respect towards that kindness and strength."

"Wha——what are you saying…"

Koyuki\'s expressionless face became stiff, and Kazuki started to talk passionately while tightly gripping his fist.

"Besides that, you also have calm judgement, and there were already many times when Hiakari-san saved me from a tight spot. Kind, strong, and cool, there is no way a girl this reliable exists."

"That is… my only worth involves magic battles, that\'s why…"

"Hiakari-san is too humble, saying that kind of thing so quickly. But every time I was doing some housework, Hiakari-san always watched me patiently and said \'Thank you\' honestly. Even though Hiakari-san disliked it when I invited you to do the housework together. For me, every time I did some housework, I was thinking that I want to see Hiakari-san\'s delight. Hiakari-san shows a cold attitude, but in truth you are a warm person."

"Tha——that was because of my incompetence, that I gave you some trouble so…"

Hiakari-san blushed red as she looked downward. A heart mark flew from her chest.

"…Certainly Hiakari-san is unsociable, so maybe there are some misunderstandings with the surrounding people. However, I\'m absolutely not overlooking Hiakari-san\'s charms! If Mio doesn\'t notice Hiakari-san\'s charm, then I will keep talking to her to make her understand how good a person Hiakari-san is!! Yosh, I\'ll immediately start the campaign to show Hiakari-san\'s charm from now on!!"

"…Ple——please stop. Don\'t campaign like that!"

Koyuki gripped and pulled back Kazuki\'s sleeve and her voice rose, which was unusual for her. A small skull mark that look like a speck floated from her chest. That was a proof that her positivity level dropped a little.

Koyuki released \'haa\' a long breath, and said "What a person, that can\'t be helped huh."

"Are you an idiot? That talk just now, if you said that to Amasaki-san it would have an opposite effect you know."

"Why? I thought that Mio would properly understand Hiakari-san\'s charm though."

"She wouldn\'t want to hear that kind of thing from your mouth… you really are a person that doesn\'t understand a girl\'s heart. Somehow it makes me angry…"

In the mean time they had arrived at the Witch\'s mansion and stopped in the garden.

The door opened, and Mio came flying out from the living room.

"Kazuki! Welcome home, where did you go just now… eh, Hiakari…!"

When she noticed Koyuki beside Kazuki, Mio quickly stopped and glared at Koyuki.

Toward that look, with a disinterested voice Koyuki announced.

"Amasaki Mio, I challenge you to a duel."

Kazuki and Mio froze because of those unexpected words. They didn\'t understand what that meant.

"You, who lost a duel against a rank E and exposed unsightly, disgraceful behavior during a quest will be demoted to rank B if you keep this up. If that happens then you won\'t be able to stay here."

"I, I will be B rank!? And then… from this place…"

"Hiakari-san! Why are you saying that!?"

Kazuki, whose complexion changed, pressed the question, but Koyuki suddenly glared back at Kazuki.

"I refused your invitation, it was troublesome. Annoying. Besides… Besides if the person herself didn\'t have any real ability and she got dropped into a suitable rank, isn\'t that for her own good? A person without any real strength that keeps insisting she is a rank A is unsightly. I will hand the requiem to such a person."

Koyuki announced to Mio, who was still frozen in shock, with an absolute zero gaze.

"…Amasaki Mio. If you lose to me then you will be demoted to rank B immediately. So, will you accept my duel challenge? …I don\'t mind even if you turn tail and run though."

In a flash, Mio\'s prideful expression turned red with rage.

"There… There is no way that I\'ll run, right!? Before, it was the rank E Kazuki who challenged me to a duel, and now it is you who is challenging me… Bring it on!"

Far from turning tail, Mio pointed her finger at Koyuki with her twintails shaking.

"I\'ll finish you quick and easy, and prove that I am an appropriate A rank for sure!!"

Certainly if Mio fought equally or more against Koyuki whose rank was A, Mio might be able to prove that demotion to rank B is not appropriate for her. However…

"Please wait, calm down! If you lose you won\'t be able to stay here you know!?"

"Shut up, Kazuki!"

"…Then please wait outside. I\'ll call senpai and sensei so that they can become the witnesses needed for the duel."

Koyuki slipped from the side of Mio, whose blood had risen to her head, and climbed the stairs.

"…Kaguya-senpai, why did you acknowledge this kind of duel?"

The students of Knight Academy could perform duels under the presence of the student council.

A duel was a mock battle performed under a safe rule where if each other\'s magic power were shaved until zero then the attacks were stopped. Acknowledgement was needed from the student council president for the execution of the duel.

The student council president of MagikaMagic Division—— Kaguya-senpai, if it was her I thought she would stop this quarrel.

"Nnn… because when I heard the circumstance, I thought this was for the best?"

"So you think that using the principle of strength to decide right and wrong is the best… right?"

Fundamentally senpai was kind, but she also had an aspect where she was a person with a strict principle of strength.

"That\'s not it… maa, let\'s just see what will happen, ok? Come on, it\'s starting."

Kaguya-senpai pointed at the center of the ground. Over there were—— Mio and Koyuki facing each other with a distance of 50 meters between them according to the custom. The referee standing between them was Hoshikaze-senpai.

Kazuki, Liz Liza-sensei, and others were attending in the guest seats that surrounded the ground.

"…Amasaki Mio had made up her mind, huh. But to show whether she has the strength as a rank A or not, certainly this is the easiest setup to understand that."

That was what sensei said. Because this duel was performed so suddenly, there were no other curious students that were watching.

"Shem ha-MephorashI know thy name …Thy name is [Phoenix] …Namely a poet, transform into a magician! Poetic bird toying with logic with its sweet tongue, show thy strength in accordance with my life!"

"Shem ha-MephorashI know thy name …Thy name is [Vepar] …Mermaid singer imparting icy thoughts, shed drops of tears of sadness in this world."

Both of them performed AccessAstrum Connection at the same time. Mio was wrapped with an orange magic power\'s light while the wing stigmata floated up on her back, her figure materialized a red magic dress.

Koyuki was emitting blue light while scale shaped stigmata floated up on both her thighs, her body was wrapped in a white magic dress. Kazuki\'s breath was taken away, he was instinctively pressured by the figures of the two confronting each other.

——Duel of fellow Magika Stigma. If he thought about it, this was the first time Kazuki watched this kind of thing.

Their specialties respectively were, flame magic used by Mio, and ice magic used by Koyuki.

"Well then… Begin!" With that cry, Hoshikaze-senpai pulled the trigger for the start of the duel.

Both Mio and Koyuki emitted their magic power\'s light at the same time and began the chanting of a spell.

The one who finished her chant first was—— Koyuki. An avatar of a mermaid floated on her back.

"Glacier Wind!"

Chilly winds blew across the fifty meter distance. Mio who was concentrating on her spell\'s chant couldn\'t defend against that, but her defensive magic power protected her body from the chill.

Defensive magic power—— the body couldn\'t be inflicted with injury, but in exchange a large amount of magic power was exhausted.

However, Mio\'s concentration was not interrupted, and she retaliated with her magic one move later.

"…Barrett!!"

This time Koyuki was hit by the familiar bullet of flame. The blue light of the defensive magic power scattered around Koyuki as well.

"First was confirming each other\'s chanting speed using the level 1 offense summoning magic. If it were swordsmen, then it\'s like confirming each other\'s range. …The fight will start from here."

Kaguya-senpai whispered from Kazuki\'s side.

Koyuki\'s side was faster in spell chanting speed. In other words—— the receiver side would be Mio.

"Kuh. …Burn out all that were touched. …No person to depend on, scorching heat of denial! Repelling Flame ArmorSelf Burning!"

Mio first solidified her defense and chanted defense magic. Her whole body was covered with a flame armor.

To activate a spell, first the magician needed to request for the magic phenomenon from the Diva in Astrum using Programmingimperative statement.

Because the target of defense magic like Self Burning was their own body, the time needed to transmit the Targetingcoordinate designation to the Diva could be omitted, thus, the spell could be invoked quickly.

"…Divine protection of mermaid, halt the advance of the hateful enemy, expedite the advance of the chosen person… Run oh ice blade! Skating Rink Grand DancingMoves in the Field!"

Koyuki also finished chanting her spell—— cold air was starting to spread from under the girl\'s foot and, in the blink of an eye, the ground had been frozen. Mio carelessly tried to move and her foot slipped.

On the other hand, by using cold air Koyuki created ice shoes with edges attached on both her feet similar to skating shoes, she sped up and slid across the fifty meter distance in one go.

"Does Hiakari-san plan to enter close combat!?"

As might be expected from someone who fights solo, it seems her Vepar was an all-purpose Diva.

Koyuki approached Mio who couldn\'t move her body and performed a dance-like jump. ——Her visible white leotard coupled with her magic dress, it was as though the performance of a figure skater had begun.

And then while Koyuki spun in the air, a sharp kick using the edges of the ice shoes visited Mio. The slash of the sharp ice managed to pierce the flame armor.

However the instant Koyuki\'s kick landed, Mio concentrated the fire that enveloped her whole body to one spot using psychokinesis. Koyuki\'s kick was unexpectedly swallowed inside the fiercely growing fire.

The ice shoes evaporated inside the highly concentrated flames, making Koyuki\'s kick powerless.

"——!?" Koyuki\'s eyes opened in surprise because of the practical skill Mio had shown using common magic.

And then the moment Koyuki put icing on her foot again——Mio read that timing and shifted to attack.

"Flame Emperor FoundingFire Wall!"

Fissures ran along the ground that Koyuki froze under her feet, and from there flames blew up.

"Singing voice of mermaid, manifest the frozen thought! Sorrow turn into ice flower, solitude turn into light snow… cover the world in cold nothingness!! Silent Pure WhiteWhite Album!!"

However, Koyuki too was already chanting a different large-scale spell as she skated on the iced surface.

Koyuki\'s and Mio\'s surroundings were repainted with a different kind of space. It became the world of a winter blizzard.

In the area covered with the cold——the flame wall that blew up from under Koyuki, the flame armor covering Mio\'s whole body, everything was banished by the cold.

The alternate space that Koyuki produced had also used up its energy, and the surrounding returned to the normal space.

But an ice shoe was still on one of Koyuki\'s feet.

"Fuh!" Using a surprisingly beautiful form, Koyuki released a high kick that hunted for the neck. Drawing a silver line resembling an Iai\'s slash, the ice edge ripped apart Mio\'s magic power.

A splendid arching kick pursued Mio who staggered powerlessly from the impact of her smashed magic power.

"Miooo!!"

"Otouto-kun, so you lost your cool if it was about Mio-chan, huh… I might be a little jealous."

Kaguya-senpai smiled bitterly beside Kazuki.

"You see, even while Mio-chan was taking damage, she still continued to chant a different spell."

Kazuki sharpened his senses and finally saw. Mio, who looked like she was at her wit\'s end from the kick… from her, waves of magic power could certainly be felt. And then—— an explosion happened all of sudden.

"Maybe Otouto-kun values Mio-chan so much that you underestimate her. You consider her as someone you have to protect at all costs… certainly, Koyuki-chan is superior with the amount of her innate magic power, but even with that, both of them are—— equal."

"Immortal bird soaring from dusk to dawn, grant that wing of hope on my back! Destruction for the sake of rebirth, here! Ash Ember Ending in Crimson WingBlazing Wings!"

Mio chanted the spell in a dignified voice. …Phoenix\'s level 5 summoning magic!

An enormous flame sprouted from Mio\'s back, and transformed into wings of flame with a width of ten-odd meters.

Mio slammed those wings toward Koyuki, as this time it was her turn to attack.

However, while her body received the impact of the enormous amount of fire, Koyuki also carried out a spell chant of a high level magic.

"…Sinking hundred of ships, the menace of sea, lurking inside the depths of the sea! Rising to the surface guided by my singing voice… show that whole tale! …Pierce through, oh fangs! Iceberg Grand WavesIce Buster!!"

Koyuki slammed her palm onto the ground—— from there a great number of icebergs flew out.

The emerging icebergs soared fiercely into the sky towards the flying Mio in order to skewer her. Mio slammed her flame wings to oppose one of the icebergs assaulting her.

Large scale destruction magics crashed into each other, flame and ice offseted each other mutually.

"Mio-chan is really skilled at manipulating magic power from Astrum you know. If she falls into a pinch she is able to draw out a large amount of magic from Astrum."

The alternate world connected from the depth of the mental world—— Astrum. Enormous magic power at the root of a human\'s mind rolled in a whirlpool inside that world.

When a human\'s magic power reached the bottom, the person\'s mind could access Astrum and draw magic power from there. However if someone carelessly drew magic power from Astrum, that human\'s mind would be the one that was pulled into Astrum, and there would be a risk of fainting. That state was called <Magic Intoxication>.

"In a pinch, Mio-chan can unconsciously pull and use a large amount of magic power that will make normal people faint into magic intoxication. When she is cornered to the brink she becomes strong, using abnormal, utter gutsiness. This is one kind of talent that won\'t even lose to Koyuki-chan, see."

"Now that senpai mentioned it… I\'ve never seen her faint because of magic intoxication."

"Koyuki-chan\'s Ice Buster is a level 6 magic. Mio-chan should lose if she clashed from the front. However even now… Mio-chan is still chanting her spell!"

Mio\'s flame wings kept weakening because it was losing to the glaciers that kept coming one after another.

"Blazing… Wings!"

However with a strained voice, Mio chanted the spell once more. Two consecutive level 5 magics!

The regenerated wings of flame were tiding over against the glaciers, and on the contrary it even pushed back the glaciers.

Even against an elf like Koyuki, who should have extraordinary magic power, gradually the bottom was starting to become visible, finally——

"It\'s over!" The referee, Hoshikaze-senpai, stopped the battle.

For the safety in the duel, the duel would be stopped when the magic power was depleted to the point where it reached critical section.

Both of them had used up all of their energy and willpower at the same time. Koyuki sat on the ground, and Mio too fell down and squatted from the exhaustion. Both of their magic dresses released light and returned back to their uniforms.

"It won\'t have any persuasion power if she is demoted after showing such a high level battle to this point, huh."

Liz Liza-sensei, who was spectating silently until now, whispered with a sigh.

"In the case of a draw, the evaluation of the side with the lower rank will be upped slightly. Hiakari Koyuki is the top of her grade, so in this case Amasaki Mio\'s evaluation will be upped. …Hiakari, you didn\'t go easy on your opponent deliberately right?"

"…With Amasaki-san as the opponent… there wouldn\'t be any room for that…"

Koyuki, who was sitting down, said that looking completely exhausted.

"…Everyone… overestimated me too much because I\'m an elf…"

"Fun. With this Amasaki will keep her rank for a while, but as long she can\'t clear a quest, this is no more than a stopgap measure."

Leaving those words behind, Liz Liza-sensei went back in the direction of the school building.

"Mio!" Kazuki, who heard Liz Liza-sensei\'s words, rushed over to Mio who was crouching down and breathing roughly, looking like she had just finished a marathon.

Even while totally exhausted, Mio fought to the bitter end to put on a smiling face and showed a V-sign to Kazuki.