Kamijou and Tsuchimikado couldn't do anything for Stiyl, who was lying on the ground. If possible, they didn't want to leak this out before everything gets chaotic. Tsuchimikado was again beside Stiyl, setting up the colored paper and the magic array of the 'all-around reality array' that was used to seek out Oriana. Tsuchimikado mentioned that at the same time they broke the counter spell, he'd contact Stiyl through the phone to activate the 'all-around reality array'.
Stiyl, who was lying on the ground, nodded his head slightly. Just this expression alone was enough to tell others that 'he was still alive'. Kamijou finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Tsuchimikado seemed to have expected that he would get injured, as he pulled out some bandages from the pockets of his sportswear, and cleanly stopped the bleeding on his flank. However, it was impossible to hide the blood stain on the clothes, and it'd cause a ruckus if he walked out like this.
"I'll think about how to deal with my clothes, you better hurry up," Tsuchimikado said. Besides, there was nothing the two of them could do just standing around there, so Kamijou first ran out towards the problematic school.
That was why, right now, Kamijou was running on the boardwalk in this clear autumn day at full speed. People were staring at him, from an old man holding the hand of a child, to the people carrying the tour guidebooks in their hands.
However, he didn't have time to look back at them. Passing by the windmills, of which the rotor blades were spinning slowly, Kamijou picked up the pace as he held the cell phone in his hand.
It was Tsuchimikado who was calling.
"To be able to seal off Stiyl's magic, and be able to set up a clever spell to counter an individual seeking spell, that Oriana should have a certain grasp on our side nya. To set up this spell at the arena where everything's visible, she's such an annoying person."
"But, even if it's before the competition, can she really do this in the middle of school? Did that Oriana use some spell that can turn her invisible?"
"If she could really do that, it'd have shown up during our initial attempt. Oh yeah, Kami-yan. How much time till the next match?"
"7 minutes. It should be shown on that electronic bulletin near you guys."
Kamijou stared at the gigantic display on the wall of the department store as he continued to run down the straight path.
"If so, the preparations for the match should be over. The spectators and the camera crew should be inside as well, right? Seems like it'd be very difficult to sneak into the school and take care of Oriana's Shorthand."
The time taken for a match would depend on the activities done. Normally, it'd last thirty minutes, but sometimes, it might take around an hour.
Considering that the range of the 'all-around reality array' was only 3 kilometers, if they were to wait till the match was over, even if Oriana was to walk away slowly, she'd escape.
"Then what should we do? We can't just leave the counterspell in the school."
"Of course, Kami-yan. What's the match in that school?"
"What? Lemme see—"
Turning around the corner, Kamijou started to look around for an electronic bulletin. A circular security robot was moving forward slowly, and was using audio speakers to report about the nearby arenas and the latest news. As he listened, Kamijou said,
"—Seems like...a 'ball tossing contest'. That's a school based contest, and seems like all the students are taking part in it."
"I see. Ah, I just saw the introductions on the flying ship as well. Although I have no idea what the Shorthand looks like, it's definitely there. If so, there's only one way, Kami-yan...take part in that match as a player."
Upon hearing this, Kamijou tripped and nearly fell to the ground.
"Are you serious?"
"In this situation, it's the only way to get into school without looking suspicious nya. In an inter-school match, there should be a three digit number of people there, so there should be no problem sneaking in one or two people."
"But we are high school students, it's improbable that we could blend in with a group of junior high students, right? Do you have any countermeasure for this?"
"Kami-yan, it's the sense of youth. Once you give off this young sense of youth, you won't be suspected."
From the looks of it, wasn't it improbable? Kamijou couldn't help but sigh dejectedly. There were television cameras broadcasting during the match, and one slight mistake would really embarrass him on television.
At this moment, Tsuchimikado spoke in a tone that was softer than normal.
"No, Kami-yan. We can't stop here. Besides searching for Oriana, there's a much worse reason."
"Eh?"
Kamijou continued to run as he listened to the phone.
"That counterspell may not be just used to target Stiyl's magic. Once the conditions are met, ordinary people other than us will be endangered."
"...What did you say?"
Maybe because the arena was nearby, there were a lot more people around him. If it was an actual competition, they'd have finished the admission formalities 10 minutes ago. But this was just a 'sports meet', and because the admission conditions were a lot more relaxed, there were many more security guards around.
"Listen carefully, Kami-yan, listen calmly and carefully. What Oriana's counterspell does is that it 'reads the preparations to cast the magic, identify the lifeforce of a caster, and prevent the caster from using it.' Up till now, do you understand?"
"Un, I do."
Actually, Kamijou didn't really understand.
Basically, what he knew was that the Shorthand that Oriana had set up could identify Stiyl through some means, and prevent him from using magic.
"But so what?"
"Which means nya...here's the problem. 'The preparations to cast the magic,' do you know what that means?"
"...Ah? About that, I guess...it's just mumbling about some strange chants, and drawing some magic arrays that no one can understand?"
Even if Kamijou was asked about the process of preparation, as he couldn't fully grasp 'what kind of thing magic was,' he couldn't answer this clearly.
Tsuchimikado's tone became even more bitter.
"However, it's still okay if it's just like this...Kami-yan. For example, there's some spell called a...'spiritual talk'. It's a spell which uses the significance of speech to determine its power. If it's this kind of magic preparation, wouldn't making a sound be enough to activate it?"
Kamijou was terrified.
But, as he was about to reach the problematic middle school, he didn't stop.
"This is just a complete guess of mine, but if it can really react to this, we have a rather troublesome problem on our hands. Once Oriana is to speak near that Shorthand, she'll be able to input additional commands into the counterspell, and the other party will fall like Stiyl...if it's just making a sound, do you think there are any differences between a magician and an ordinary person? It's dangerous to these ordinary students as well, you know."
"But is that possible? While Stiyl was down, we were still talking like usual."
Kamijou rushed past the spectators heading towards the arena, and reached the entrance of the school.
As they had paid the entrance fee when they first arrived in Academy City, there was no need for them to have an entrance pass to enter the arena.
"You're right nya. There's an order for the spiritual talk, and there's a limit to the number of words to be used, like a ballad and a haiku. So just making a sound shouldn't garner a response...if so, do you know what's the easiest magic ritual in the world??"
"Eh???"
At the main entrance of the arena, or the school, there were groups crowding the entrances, trying to get in. Kamijou thought, I have to somehow cleverly get past them.
"It's 'touch'. The significance of 'touching with a hand' is especially large. In many religions, the values of the left hand and the right hand are different, because the left hand and the right hand have their own uses. In the New Testament, the Son of God, who's especially prominent, is able to heal the sick or revive the dead just by touching them with his right hand. What if Oriana's Shorthand can react to that?"
"Wait...wait a sec."
Kamijou stopped.
Tsuchimikado continued,
"We would say that if it was a real magician, just 'touching' alone isn't going to cause anything to happen. 'Touching' is a magical action that several religious sects will use, and not just Christianity. Just like this, the 'analytical conditions' that uses the caster's lifeforce may be a little ambiguous. If it's a professional magician who has some form of defense, they can still reflect the invading attack of the Shorthand—but,"
He paused.
"To any novice who completely doesn't have any defense, even if there's a degree of ambiguity, it'll still be forced to analyze the lifeforce and carry out the attack. Also, without the defense of a magician, the symptoms will be much worse than Stiyl. Like how someone with severe heatstroke can die, they'll end up endangering their own lives."
"But...but the spell used to attack Stiyl is a spell that prevents magic, right? Will that react to any non-magicians or espers?"
Running off after he stopped, Kamijou's movements were slower than before. This was to prevent his legs from tripping due to nervousness.
"Strictly speaking, the target for any response is the 'lifeforce' of anyone who is preparing to use magic, so even ordinary people are in danger. This isn't related to whether it can seal up magic, and it's likely that it doesn't matter whether the person has any knowledge of magic. Didn't the searching spell 'all-around reality array' that Stiyl used receive what I drew?"
Kamijou thought, this was the worst case scenario.
From the front of the entrance, one could see the school with a soil ground.
In that school, it seemed that something like a land mine was buried somewhere. As they didn't know that there was a land mine buried there, many unsuspecting people were heading to the arena where a match was about to occur. This ball tossing match wasn't going have a fixed route like a 100 meters race, but rather, they were going to use the entire place. Thus, the chance of getting the jackpot was rather large.
"Anyway, Kami-yan, we have to settle this before sacrifices are made. It'll be bad if there're signs of magic in front of the camera — either way, I don't want to hurt any ordinary people."
The conversation ended.
Kamijou placed the phone into his pocket and left the main entrance. He wouldn't make it in time if he was going to queue up. He walked along the wired fence that separated him from the school. The fence was about two meters tall, and if he tried to climb over it, the unmanned reconnaissance helicopter in the sky would begin to take action. Once this trouble was stirred up, combat helicopters may fly over from other places.
He walked around the school, and reached the back of the school compound, finding the backdoor to the school in the process.
There were Anti-Skill members at the back. It'd be alright if he had the PE attire and ID of this middle school, but if he was going in like this, he was going to be stopped even if he was just an ordinary resident of Academy City.
(Now what...)
Kamijou leaned on the fruit juice vending machine as he thought. There were five minutes before the match started, and there was no time to look for any other entrances.
Suddenly, there were some movements near the backdoor. A female student was carrying an ice tub that was filled with sports drinks into the compound. There was a thin jacket over her short-sleeved PE shirt, and below her shirt, one could see her butt covered with shorts.
It was the committee member, Fukiyose Seiri.
"No way!?"
From the front of the vending machine, Kamijou frantically moved to the side in order to conceal himself.
"...?"
Fukiyose, who was carrying the ice tub, suddenly turned around and stared in this direction. She then tilted her head and vanished into the school compound.
I guess I wasn't spotted...Kamijou thought. If she found out, she'd be angrily yelling, "WHY DIDN'T YOU GO CHEER FOR OUR SCHOOLMATES!? WHY ARE YOU SLACKING OFF HERE!? KAMIJOU TOUMA!! IF YOUR BRAIN ISN'T DEVELOPED ENOUGH, GO GET SOME DHA!! GO EAT SOME TUNA FISH EYEBALLS!!"
"Oh...oh no...that Tsuchimikado wants me to sneak into the competitive arena, but if Fukiyose is to act as the referee, she'll find out immediately...bastard, is this plan impossible from the beginning?"
"...What's impossible nya?"
Hearing the low tone of a man behind him, Kamijou jumped in shivers.
"I've already caught up with you yo!?"
Kamijou frantically turned around, and in front of him was Tsuchimikado, now in a brand new PE attire. The wound seemed to be completely healed now, and there was no sign of injuries anywhere.
"You...do you still intend to go in from the back door?"
"Yeah. At least it's easier to go in from here than the front door."
Tsuchimikado said casually. Kamijou looked at the back door again. There were three fully armed Anti-Skill members, and there were unmanned reconnaissance helicopters in the sky. How on earth were they going to sneak in?
Seeing Kamijou's thinking and surprised look, Tsuchimikado smiled,
"It's simple. Look there, Kami-yan, there's a puddle of water. There's no rain recently, so it seems like the committee members just sprayed some water around."
"Hm. Then...what next?"
"Like this!"
After he finished speaking, Tsuchimikado suddenly tripped Kamijou.
"Wa!?"
As Kamijou shouted, his body rolled into the puddle.
Tsuchimikado laughed, "To think that we can have a mud battle at this age nya!!" as he did a flying swoop at Kamijou.
Pa thong! With a sound that's never heard in a cartoon movie, Kamijou's body sunk even lower. The Anti-Skill members at the backdoor were staring at them suspiciously.
"Eh...WAAAHHHHH...! You...what are you doing all of a sudden...!?"
Kamijou was being pressed down by Tsuchimikado's mass. To Kamijou, Tsuchimikado, who donned a pair of blue sunglasses, softly said,
"(...Kami-yan, are your clothes fully stained with mud? We have to mess it up such that they can't tell which school we belong to from the design.)"
What?
Just as Kamijou was about to raise his doubts, Tsuchimikado, who was drenched in mud, stood up. He extended his hand towards Kamijou, or should I say, he grabbed Kamijou's arm as if he was going to pull Kamijou up forcefully, and said to the male Anti-Skill member nearby, who was on his guard,
"Wa, I'm sorry! How are we going to take part in the match! Must we take part in the match like this? There are still cameramen around to interview us, you know!"
Hearing this request, the Anti-Skill member seemed to be shocked.
He stared at Kamijou and Tsuchimikado's clothes, which were stained with mud all around, from the top to the bottom. It was impossible to tell which school they belonged to, as the original characteristics of the uniforms were completely covered in mud.
"Wha...what? I have to really hand it to you. Did you guys prepare any extra clothes?"
"Ah, yes. However, it's in our clubroom."
"Then why don't you hurry up and get there? There's only four minutes to the match. Ah sorry, let us check your IDs, proper procedures, you know. It'll be over soon."
Kamijou was inadvertently shocked.
The Anti-Skill member pulled out a round cylinder that was like a ball-point pen. By pressing the button on top of the cylinder, a transparent sheet would extend out from the side of the cylinder like a scroll being unraveled. It was around 15cm long, and by placing the palm on it, one could read the fingerprints, veins, electric signals to read the state of the body, etc. It was an easy ID identifier in Academy City.
(...Wait...oi, Tsuchimikado, how are we going to get past this...!?)
Kamijou was so tense that he was about to shout it out, but Tsuchimikado merely extended out that palm of his that was covered in mud.
"Alright, stick onto it right...eh!? Seems like there's some wrong signals here!!"
"What! You didn't wipe your hand clean before pressing on it!!"
The Anti-Skill member frantically operated the identifier, but there was no response from the part that had absorbed mud. He turned to look at his colleagues, but they both shook their heads. Seemed like he was the only one who had brought the identifier.
"Damn it, now we have to send someone to get another one from the front gate."
"There's no time! Don't we have to go to the clubroom to change and get into the arena ya!?"
Hearing Tsuchimikado's frantic tone, the Anti-Skill member again turned towards his colleagues. Of the remaining two, one of them beckoned them to move on, while the other one waved a hand in front of the face, signaling that they shouldn't.
After considering about it for a while, the Anti-Skill member nodded. With a 2 vs 1 decision, Anti-Skill allowed them to move in.
"If you want to get in, hurry up! You're not allowed to take part in the match if you don't get there on time!"
"Thank you—"
Tsuchimikado pulled Kamijou's hand and walked through the back door in an upright manner. Kamijou felt that this couldn't be helped, but he didn't forget to get to the main point,
"Oi, Tsuchimikado! Where's our spare clothes!? Isn't it hard to 'mix' in with all the mud on us?"
"What are you saying, they have those in the health room! In order to save the injured, that place should be opened today nya! Hurry up and change, we'll sneak in after that!!"
Kamijou and Tsuchimikado continued to converse among each other as they dashed into the school with a dirt ground, towards the cement covered campus.
There were three minutes before the match began.