After the banquet, there was still one day of free time left. The technical teams busied themselves with final preparations, pushing hard to the finish line.
Meanwhile, the competitors each found their own ways to rest and recharge, preparing to face the coming matches in their best condition.
The next day, the Nine Schools Competition commenced as scheduled.
The competition venue, capable of seating a full 100,000 spectators, was completely packed. While many students had deliberately given up their summer vacation to cheer for their schools, the majority of attendees were actually members of the public who had come specifically to watch the matches!
Though this was merely a high school competition, the participants were essentially elite students from various magic high schools.
Any student selected to compete would undoubtedly become a pillar of either the military or magic corporations in the future, provided they didn't meet an untimely end.
However, perhaps because magical competitions themselves were already quite flashy, there was no need for extravagant opening ceremonies or lengthy guest speeches. The competition began promptly at 9:00 AM.
Starting today and lasting ten days, the tournament would feature five events each for male and female competitors in the main division (all grades), plus five events each for male and female newcomers (first-years only)—twenty magical athletic events in total.
The first day's events included the preliminaries and finals for the main division's "Speed Shooting," along with the preliminaries for "Battle Board."
Normally, magic engineers would be assigned to events, with competitors then selecting their preferred engineers for adjustments.
But Mahiro did the exact opposite.
This led to one problem—
Mayumi-senpai and Mari's events overlapped.
Mayumi had entered "Speed Shooting" and "Crowd Ball," while Watanabe was competing in "Battle Board" and "Mirage Bat."
As a result, Mahiro had been busy since early morning.
Fortunately, "Battle Board" was just the preliminaries, and Mari herself was a top contender for the championship, so he didn't need to devote too much attention there.
After preparing the CAD and handing it to Mari, he focused all his efforts on Mayumi-senpai.
"Is this pressure okay?"
"Mmm~ You can press a little harder, it's fine."
Following Mayumi's request, he increased the pressure, pushing down firmly.
Mayumi's body folded under his pressure like a piece of paper.
Don't misunderstand—this wasn't some strange position.
It was just simple pre-match stretching.
However...
"Senpai, your flexibility is really impressive," Mahiro remarked in admiration.
She could spread her legs and bend forward to touch her toes, her posture resembling a closing clamshell.
In his experience, even professional dancers would struggle with such extreme stretching.
Let alone performing it as effortlessly as Mayumi.
At the very least, Sayaka, who practiced kendo, definitely couldn't do it—after all, they'd tried many positions that night...
"Okay, that's enough."
After stretching left and right four times each, Mayumi ended with these words, pulling his wandering thoughts back to reality.
Grasping her small, delicate hand, he gently pulled Mayumi up from the floor.
"Thank you~"
"Don't mention it."
Now standing, Mayumi stretched her waist, a bright smile on her face—especially when she looked at him.
"By the way, Mahiro-kun, were you thinking something rude while helping me stretch earlier?"
!!!
Had she actually noticed?
"Of course, you were clearly distracted just now. Even when you're with a beautiful girl like me, you're still thinking about other things."
As if complaining, Mayumi's mischievous side showed again, even puffing up one cheek in annoyance.
She looked incredibly cute.
"No, I was just thinking that Mayumi-senpai looked a bit like a seashell earlier," Mahiro confessed his initial thought.
"A seashell?"
"Yeah, seashells. Opening and closing—they look just like that."
Mahiro even mimicked the motion with his hands.
But for some reason, Mayumi's face suddenly turned red.
Seeing that opening-and-closing gesture, she seemed to associate it with something else. Flustered, she widened her eyes, tightly pressed her legs together, tugged down her hem, and instinctively took a few steps back.
"Mahiro-kun, you—!"
???
Mahiro couldn't help but type out a few question marks in his mind.
Wait, I didn't do anything, did I? Are you misunderstanding something?
He wanted to explain, but it was already too late—the announcement had begun.
In five minutes, the competitors for "Speed Shooting" would enter the arena.
So, he handed the adjusted competition-grade long-rifle CAD to Mayumi and asked:
"Mayumi-senpai, are you sure you don't want to test it? I slightly simplified the activation sequences for 'Multi-Scope' and 'Dry Blizzard,' so the casting speed should be faster than before."
"I trust you, Mahiro-kun. And thank you~"
Simplifying the activation sequences for the two spells that composed "Magic Bullet Shooter"—even the "Seventh Laboratory" struggled with that.
Though there was a risk of failure, she chose to trust Mahiro.
"No need to be so polite. After all, I'm your dedicated technician—it's my job."
"Hmph, if Mari heard that, she'd definitely be heartbroken, you know."
"It's fine. As compensation, I've already prepared a gift for Watanabe-senpai, so she won't get mad."
"A gift?"
Hearing this, Mayumi tilted her head curiously.
"Yeah, it's a passive defensive activation sequence. If something unexpected happens, the defensive magic will activate automatically."
"Eh~ I didn't expect Mahiro-kun to be so nice to Mari~" Mayumi's tone carried a mix of teasing and envy.
"Don't worry, I've prepared a gift for you too, Mayumi-senpai. It should be ready by the finals."
"Really? Then I'll look forward to it!"
"Mm, so don't worry. Just make sure to show me the full glory of the 'Elven Sniper,' okay?"
He'd heard that nickname from Miyuki.
Apparently, it was the title Mayumi-senpai earned during her first year when she competed in "Speed Shooting."
However, Mayumi herself didn't seem to like it.
Puffing up her cheeks like a pufferfish, she glared at him and enunciated each word:
"Do. Not. Call. Me. That. Name!"
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