Nine Schools Competition IV is the eleventh episode of the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei anime.
Summary[]
The Nine Schools Competition begins and Tatsuya puts his CAD tuning skills into practice in order to help his friends performance, while staying on watch for further disturbances.
Plot[]
As Tatsuya is leaving First High’s engineering trailer he senses intruders and Mikihiko closing in on them so Tatsuya hastens to act. Mikihiko launches his spell but it’s not going to activate fast enough so Tatsuya uses magic to disarm the intruders before they can open fire. Mikihiko is left confused as Tatsuya makes his appearance. Tatsuya checks the unconscious men and compliments Mikihiko on his skilful magic use. Mikihiko objects saying he would have been shot had Tatsuya not been present but Tatsuya scolds him, saying all that matters is the result and that of he’s expecting to be able to deal with any situation alone he’s being foolish and shouldn’t discredit himself. Mikihiko isn’t convinced so Tatsuya brings up Mikihiko’s casting speed, saying the issue is that the spells are convoluted, not his talent. Mikihiko takes offence to the criticism of his family techniques but Tatusya is firm in his resolve, stating he can analyse the structure by ‘seeing’ it. The conversation over Tatsuya sends Mikihiko to fetch the guards whilst he stands guard.
After Mikihiko leaves, Kazama arrives. Kazama comments Tatsuya didn’t hold back on his advice and wonders if Mikihiko’s issues strung a cord with Tatsuya due to their similarities with his own. Tatsuya states he’s already graduated that level of issue.
The opening ceremony gets underway the next day without and issues and the announcer explains the competition will be over ten days with all eyes on First High, who are going for their third consecutive win, and Third High who are looking to end the streak.
Mikihiko is introduced to the girls from Class 1-A and the Shiba siblings and company settle down to watch the Battle Board qualifiers. While waiting Tatsuya asks Honoka who she is physically and she says she’s fine, having kept up her stamina training. Miyuki comments Honoka is getting quite muscular, which Honoka refutes. Honoka expresses her disappointment that she only has Tatsuya engineering for her in one event unlike Shizuku and Miyuki. Tatsuya misunderstands and says he is engineering for her in Mirage Bat and he did work with her for Battle Board, so she hasn’t been left out. Mizuki points out that’s not what Honoka is trying to say, leading to Tatsuya getting teased.
The match is about to start, with Mari participating for First High and a favourite with the audience, though Erika’s disapproval of Mari is quite apparent. The signal is given and the match gets underway and one of the contestants tries to create a wave to hamper the other contestants but it backfires leaving her and the two other contestants unbalanced whilst Mari storms into the lead, having escapes the impact. Mari applies Fortification Magic while multicasting movement magic to extend her lead, her technique impressing Tatsuya as he explains it to his friends in the audience. As Tatsuya finishes the explanation Mari jumps down a waterfall and blasts the opposition with water on landing, cementing her lead and victory.
Later on, Tatsuya visits Kazama’s room, where other members of Tatsuya’s unit are meeting. Tatsuya is instructed to take a seat by Sanada Shigeru as they didn’t call him as the units Strategic-Class Magician, but as their comrade. Fujibayashi Kyouko gives Tatsuya a drink and Kazama states the men arrested were from the No Head Dragon syndicate he mentioned previously, but they are still investigating their motive. Kyouko asks if Tatsuya was keeping watch for them, but Tatsuya explains he was working on the team’s CADs until that time so just happened to be there. Yamanaka Kousuke asks if Tatsuya’s teammates know that he’s Taurus Silver, and Tatsuya states they don’t as it’s confidential. Kyouko asks if Tatsuya is competing as his skills, such as Flash Cast and Mist Dispersion, would give him a solid advantage. Kazama says using magic considered a military secret won’t be allowed and warns Tatsuya to be weary if he does compete. Tatsuya agrees, though as an engineer the chances of him competing are very low.
Tatsuya re-joins his friends at the Speed Shooting Qualifier for the quarter final. Tatsuya is impressed by how packed it is and Miyuki explains it’s because Mayumi is competing. Tatsuya asks where Mikihiko is and Erika tells him Mikihiko is resting. Mizuki explains it’s the ‘heat’ from the crowd, which would have impacted her if she didn’t have her glasses.
Mayumi takes the stage and is greeted by the roar of the crowd. The match beings and Mayumi overwhelms her opponent from Fifth High, racking up the points at breakneck speed and scoring a perfect score.
The Student Council from First High gathers in Mayumi’s room to celebrate the days results, with Mayumi winning Speed Shooting and Mari qualifying for the finals in Battle Board for the girls. Mayumi adds the boys also won Speed Shooting and Hattori made it through to the finals in Battle Board, though he was having CAD issues. Suzune tells the others he’s been working with Kinoshita all day to fix the issue. Mayumi says Hattori is off the next day so it’s not an issue for them to work on the issue, but it could cause an issue with the Girl’s Crowd Ball event as Kinoshita was set to be a sub-engineer, but Suzune says it shouldn’t be an issue. Mari is concerned to leave it all to Izumi, so they decide to have Tatsuya fill in and ask Miyuki to inform him.
Miyuki visits Tatsuya’s room to inform him, though Tatsuya is less than impressed at her visiting at such a late hour as he’s concerned for her safety. The message received; Tatsuya decides to walk Miyuki back to her room. She initially objects as she doesn’t want to disrupt his work, but Tatsuya explains it’s a side project and little more than a toy, plus her safety is more important, a fact that elates her greatly when she hears it. As they leave Miyuki tells Tatsuya he is the most important thing to her too.
Just before Mayumi’s Crowd Ball match, Tatsuya is checking her CAD when she comes over to chat. After getting a compliment on her outfit, Mayumi asks Tatsuya to help her stretch ready for the match. Afterwards, Tatsuya helps her back up and Mayumi comments the lack of special treatment she gets from him, nor does he get flustered by her, makes her wonder if it’s what having a little brother would be like. Tatsuya comments he only has a sister so can’t comment. Tatsuya tries to take his leave to check the other athletes, but the main engineer, Izumi, affirms she’s finished so he should just focus on Mayumi.
Mayumi’s match against Seventh High gets underway and Mayumi’s opponent is overwhelmed and completely locked out of the match.
Back at First High’s headquarters, Ichihara looks at the results so far and is pleased by the girl’s performance.
In the Girl’s Ice Pillar Break, Kanon is starting her second round. Shizuku, Kei and the Shiba Siblings are watching on from the team’s booth. There they discuss Kanon and Tatsuya comments she won in the fastest time in the first round. The match starts and Kanon uses the Chiyoda family’s speciality Mine Origin to destroy the enemy’s pillars with vibrations. The opponent’s defences are overwhelmed so they switch to an offensive strategy but it’s too late and Chiyoda finishes off their pillars, winning the match.
The Tatsuya, Shizuku, Kanon and Kei return to First High’s headquarters to find the staff their looking sombre. Kei asks Suzune for the cause and she explains the results for the Men’s Crowd Ball were lower than expected so they are revising their projections. As it stands First High needs to win four of the remaining six events to maintain a safe margin for victory. Suzune states the results of the rookie events may decide on who wins the competition overall.
That evening, Tatsuya has received a package when Miyuki and their friends all visit him in his room. Erika spots the CAD in the package and he passes it over to Leo and asks if he wants to try it out. Leo takes a look and agrees.
