"Mahiro-kun... that spell you just used—wasn't that 'Gram Dispersion'?"
Mayumi asked quietly.
By now, she had witnessed far too many miracles brought about by Mahiro, so nothing could surprise her anymore.
Even if Mahiro suddenly used a Strategic-Class spell tomorrow and ascended as the Fourteenth Apostle, she wouldn't bat an eye.
It was as if there was no magic he couldn't use.
However, this ti, it was Mahiro's turn to be surprised. He looked at Mayumi in astonishnt and said, "I didn't expect you to know about 'Gram Dispersion,' Senpai!"
Although the structure of "Gram Dispersion" was simple, it was a Non-Systematic Magic, so not many people were familiar with it.
In the school, aside from Juumonji Katsuto, only Tatsuya could use it.
"Unfortunately, what I used wasn't 'Gram Dispersion,' but 'Gram Demolition,'" Mahiro explained with a shrug.
Though the nas of the two spells differed by only a single character and both were Non-Systematic Magic, they were fundantally worlds apart.
"Gram Dispersion" compressed psion clusters into blocks and fired them directly at the target without passing through the information dinsion, "destroying" the psion information bodies attached to the target—including activation sequences and magic formulas used to record spells.
Though classified as magic, it was essentially just a psion projectile, lacking a magic formula that altered events.
"Gram Demolition," on the other hand, exposed the information structure through the activation sequence, allowing the caster to read and erase it by observation—essentially decomposing the magic formula that constructed the spell into aningless psion clusters.
While "Gram Dispersion" was more convenient to use, in terms of effectiveness, it couldn't compare to "Gram Demolition."
After all, the latter was considered a spell that could never reach practical application.
However, after hearing his explanation, Mayumi wanted to take back her previous words.
Her worldview had been overturned once again.
Especially after listening to Mahiro's detailed account.
In other words, in that brief mont just now, Mahiro had read nearly seven magic activation sequences and decomposed them all at once?!
"I can't believe you're capable of sothing like this..." Mayumi couldn't help but smile wryly.
It was terrifying beyond comprehension.
Anyone who beca his opponent in the Nine Schools Competition would have to pray for luck—even Ichijou Masaki from Third High would likely be no exception.
To this, Mahiro rely smiled without responding.
He owed much of this ability to the Fourth Research Institute and Tatsuya.
From them, he had acquired the "Flash Cast" technique and thods to strengthen his magic calculation domain.
His brain was like a grimoire recording all magical formulas and knowledge, allowing him to directly read and skip the ti needed to construct magic sequences, thereby achieving high-speed magic execution.
Combined with the ability of his Spirit Eyes to read information bodies, this was how he could perform such exaggerated feats.
Thus, the crisis was overco without major incident.
Inside the vehicle, apart from a few "injured" individuals with reddened foreheads from bumps, only Watanabe Mari's scolding voice toward her juniors remained.
Chiyoda Kanon, who had been the first to recklessly activate magic, now shrank her neck like a quail.
"Wuu... but I reacted the fastest! I just didn't expect others to reuse the magic..."
Kanon's excuse made Morisaki Shun and others lower their heads in embarrassnt.
Several others also wore awkward expressions.
Katsuto and Mayumi had already stepped out to inspect the accident scene.
Since the vehicle had been decomposed, only a charred, unrecognizable corpse remained on the ground.
Mahiro, still seated in the car, was also staring at the corpse, but his gaze was deeply aningful.
"Feels... this doesn't seem like an accident..."
The police arrived unusually quickly after the incident.
Knowing they were victims and participants in the Nine Schools Competition, the authorities only took about thirty minutes to clear the scene and take statents before letting them go.
However, due to the delayed departure and the accident on the road, they didn't arrive at their lodgings—a military hotel—until the afternoon.
Normally reserved for visiting civilian officials or foreign senior officers attending international conferences and their entourages, the hotel was temporarily made available to students and school staff during the Nine Schools Competition.
That said, the service wasn't exactly ticulous.
Being a military facility, there were no dedicated valets or greeters.
Usually, base personnel managed these tasks, but since the Nine Schools Competition was a high school event, students had to handle their own luggage.
Large machinery on the engineering vehicles would be used directly on-site, so unloading wasn't necessary, but smaller tools and CADs needed to be carried inside for fine-tuning.
Mahiro, though only a temporary and nominal magic engineer, couldn't escape the fate of helping move equipnt.
"Ah, I'm exhausted, exhausted..."
Mahiro complained while stretching.
But as he reached the hotel entrance, he coincidentally ran into Miyuki, who seed to be discussing sothing with Tatsuya.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about? You seem so happy," Mahiro teased as he approached.
"...Not at all."
Though initially pleased to see him, Miyuki's cheeks puffed up slightly in annoyance at his sudden teasing.
"Brother and I were just discussing the accident we encountered earlier on the road."
"Brother said the incident might not have been an accident."
"Oh?"
He glanced at Tatsuya, who nodded in confirmation. "Yes, the way that car bounced was unnatural. Though there are no traces left now, I believe a small-scale magic was used at minimal power instantaneously."
"It's an advanced technique that leaves no residual psions from the magic sequence. The perpetrator was likely a professionally trained covert operative, but it's a sha such a suicide attack would treat them as expendable."
"Oh ho, so you noticed it too."
After hearing this, Mahiro looked at Tatsuya with newfound respect.
"Could it be... Mahiro-nii, you noticed as well?" Miyuki asked in surprise.
"Hard not to notice," Mahiro shrugged. "Using magic that blatantly, no matter how small the scale, is as obvious as lice on a bald man's head."
"But I couldn't guess their identity. Based on what you said, Tatsuya, they're probably terrorists again? Like those from [Blanche]?"
"Different," Tatsuya shook his head. "Probably more advanced than Blanche."
"Tch."
Mahiro clicked his tongue at this.
Trouble after trouble. The Blanche incident hadn't even fully settled down after a few months, and now the Nine Schools Competition was being targeted.
Is First High School cursed or sothing?
Wherever they go, trouble follows.
"...So Mahiro-nii and Brother both noticed already. Only Miyuki knew nothing about this, couldn't do anything..."
Miyuki was dejected at having been unable to help at all.
At the sa ti, her shoulders trembled slightly with anger at the attackers' despicable actions.
What vile people...
"Well, that can't be helped. Miyuki, you can only see [the present]. You can't peer into [the past], so it's normal you didn't notice."
Mahiro placed his large hand on her head, gently stroking it as he comforted her:
"Besides, with and Tatsuya here, there's no need to feel sad over such small matters."
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