Monday, the day after the entrance ceremony. Although a few first-years could be seen looking lost and struggling to find their way around, it was generally a peaceful day. That being said, given that Yugen had spent the entrance ceremony and the following day on a training field filled with artillery fire, gunsmoke, and intertwined magic, it felt overwhelmingly peaceful in comparison.
As a side note, because Yugen had gone wild, the demonstration combat that was originally scheduled to last two days was shortened to just one. His childhood friend Erika informed him that during the chaos, he had unwittingly sent Shuji flying without even realizing it. When Yugen mentioned it to her, she remarked, "As expected, Yugen, you really are beyond all reason." He shot right back that he didn't want to hear that from someone who moved hyper-fast like it was nothing.
Putting that past—which was rapidly becoming a piece of cringeworthy history—aside, Yugen naturally noticed the glances from the visiting first-years directed at him and Miyuki, but caring about every single look would only be exhausting, so he simply ignored them.
"As expected, or rather as predicted... there are quite a lot of them." "Indeed."
Beside Yugen stood Miyuki, Shizuku, and Himeri. As for what the four of them were doing, it was a mixture of simple supervision—to make sure the new first-years didn't try anything dangerous—and observing the classes. The two days following the entrance ceremony featured a special timetable centered primarily around class observations for the new students.
Starting this year, observations for the Magic Engineering Department classes were integrated, making a substantial change from previous years when standard classes were held as normal. The primary catalyst for this shift was the presence of Tatsuya, who belonged to the Magic Engineering Department.
"So the task is to write an Activation Sequence in the editor to shape a tin sample into a perfect sphere and complete it within ten minutes, is it? Yugen, how many minutes would it take you?" "Hmm, if I write the Activation Sequence normally, I'm slower than Tatsuya. But if I use a 'trick,' I can wrap it up within two minutes."
The "trick" involved making a pseudo-'connection' to the editor's electronic circuit to stream the mental image of the Activation Sequence directly into it. This was accomplished via Memory Rise, but there was no rule stating one couldn't use magic to construct an Activation Sequence.
As a side note, when Instructor Jennifer Smith had asked him to build a perfect tin sphere using this method as part of an equipment calibration check, she broke into a cold sweat. Tatsuya, who happened to be present at the time, had also commented, "As expected of a genius beyond reason."
"...Yugen really is a playboy beyond reason." "Shizuku-san. Even if I accept being 'beyond reason,' being a playboy has absolutely nothing to do with this setting, does it?"
Since other students couldn't replicate such a method—and Tatsuya himself muttered that he couldn't copy it either—Jennifer didn't particularly consider changing the rules. Word was that she had already been warned by Saegusa about Yugen's extraordinary nature.
Responding to Shizuku's quiet grumble, Yugen cast his gaze down toward the lab.
"Yugen-san, how many minutes do you think Onii-sama will take to complete it?" "Hmm... considering his magical power, probably around six and a half minutes. Tatsuya won't just stop at free-fall; he'll likely construct a deceleration fall procedure as well."
If the goal were merely to make a tin sphere, letting a fully cooled, perfect sphere drop under natural gravity would suffice. However, Tatsuya didn't possess the mindset to cut corners anywhere. If the impact of a natural fall caused scratches or dents on the sphere, the score evaluating precision would drop. Thus, he would undoubtedly input an Activation Sequence that included gravity control magic used in flight spells.
While they were discussing this, Tatsuya's turn arrived. The Activation Sequence data was projected onto a large monitor, drawing gasps of awe from the incoming freshmen. Glancing at them out of the corner of her eye, Shizuku muttered softly.
"Figures it'd end up like this." "That kind of reaction is only natural... He completed the Activation Sequence construction in just three minutes."
From an outsider's perspective, people who could look at a screen full of numerical sequences and actually comprehend it could be counted on one hand. As Tatsuya activated his CAD and the magic took effect, the floating cubic sample of tin melted, lost its sharp edges, and was smoothly molded into a spherical shape.
The evaluation criteria for magical power at First High (for classes other than Magic Engineering) prioritized the output and speed of Modern Magic. However, this task—like most tasks in the Magic Engineering Department—focused on accurately constructing complex Activation Sequences.
Of course, that isn't to say capacity and interference strength were completely unnecessary, but if needed, one could simply add a boost clause to the magic formula. Though, with current magic construction methods, most people remained unaware that the outputted information volume became excessively "bulky."
Under Tatsuya's magic formula, the completely cooled tin sample was set onto the sample stand without making a sound. The time was six minutes and thirty-four seconds—completing it fastest not just within his group, but across the entire third-year Magic Engineering class.
"Almost right on target, wasn't it?" "You predicted that quite accurately." "I figured that if he aimed for a smooth, natural molding process, he'd estimate a margin of around three and a half minutes."
Even so, perhaps influenced by the 'Stellar Reactor' experiment last spring, quite a few visitors were aiming for the Magic Engineering Department. While not everyone visiting could be said to aspire to become a magic engineer, this too was likely one of Tatsuya's achievements.
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The influx of new members was not limited to the Student Council. The Disciplinary Committee and the Club Federation were also actively recruiting among the first-years. Top scorers on the entrance exams were especially sought after for their immediate capability and future potential. In the past, there had been cases where the Student Council, Disciplinary Committee, and Club Federation clashed so fiercely over candidates that it escalated into physical fights.
In the past, there were the "Big Three"—former Student Council President Mayumi Saegusa, former Disciplinary Committee Head Mari Watanabe, and former Club Federation Head Katsuto Juumonji, all currently second-years at the National Magic University. The current leaders included Student Council President Miyuki Shiba, Disciplinary Committee Head Mikihiko Yoshida, and Club Federation Head Yugen Kagurazaka. Having a continuous string of direct descendants of the Ten Master Clans and children of famous magicians fill these roles was nothing short of a miracle.
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