Chapter 19
SAEGUSA MAYUMI
Mayumi watched in horror as the ambulances drove away with the injured students while many continued to be treated in a few ambulances that were still present as the burning remains of the first-year contestant bus were pushed to the side.
"How could this happen?" she gasped out.
"There was a bomb," answered Tatsuya-kun as he stepped forward alongside his sister.
"What?" she asked, trying to make sense of those words. That this was not an accident but a deliberate attack on their school and students.
"I said that this was not an accident but the work of an explosive," he answered as he pointed towards a section of the road.
"Look here," he knelt down and pointed towards the hole in the concrete.
"This is not a natural crater. This was created by a highly concentrated explosive. They buried it deep inside the concrete so that it may remain hidden and detonated it when the bus passed over it," Tatsuya explained, and she gasped, realizing the sheer planning that went behind this.
"He is right," Inei-kun cut in as he examined the hole with a scrutinizing gaze.
"And whoever did this, they were smart enough not to use any magic. This was all designed using traditional technology. A remote trigger and plain old simple dynamite," he said as he stood up.
"But who would do such a thing?" she gasped out. The hate against magicians in the society was not uncommon, but this—this went beyond hate. Many students were injured, students barely into their adulthood who had just entered high school.
She doubted anyone would garner any sympathy through these types of actions.
And she did not miss how Inei-kun's eyes shifted at her question as he bit his lip.
Mayumi was not oblivious to violence. It was a consequence of being a Saegusa and a prodigy. Yet this, attacking children went beyond anything she had ever seen or considered warfare to be.
"Saegusa, Shiba," she looked up and found Katsuto walking towards her. Her yearmate and colleague did not seem like it, but she could tell from the stiffness of his shoulders and a small scowl on his face just how angry he was about all this.
"Katsuto, why are you here?" she asked, for their bus had gone ahead.
"I rushed back when I heard about the accident. Teams from the Competition's administration are coming as well since it was their duty to provide security to all the contestants," he said.
"It was not an accident, Jumonji-kun," she said, seeing him stiffen at her words.
"Are you certain?" he asked her, and she looked towards Shiba, Inei-kun, and Jumonji-san, who did the same.
"Yes," Shiba-kun replied, and Jumonji-san nodded.
"Well, the investigators will be here soon. Tell them of your findings and suspicions. I will stay here until then, Mayumi. You need to get to the main avenue," he continued, turning towards her.
"Bu..."
"The students are in panic back there, and only you can calm them down. Mari and Azusa are holding down the fort for the time being, but they need your presence to calm them down," Katusto added, and she nodded; she could hardly imagine what it must feel like for the students with having their own schoolmates attacked like that.
"I will go," she said.
"I will join her. Tatsuya will be able to report our own findings to the police," Inei-kun added as he stepped forward, and Katsuto nodded.
"Good. I will stay here until the matter is resolved. The competition's council is also set to meet today to decide on the impact of all this on the competition. I will leave it to you to handle that," he said, and she nodded as Inei-kun began to lead her to his car once more.
And soon enough, they were on their way once more, and as she tried to calm herself, she found her eyes continuously turning back towards him.
"Back then, when you were examining the crater, and I asked about just who would do such a thing," she began as the car raced towards the main hotel room where all the lodgings were arranged for the students.
"Your expression shifted for a second," she continued as she saw him raise a brow.
"You have an idea about just who may be behind this," she asked, and he did not answer immediately.
"I am not sure, but yes, I do have an idea about just who might be behind this," he said, and she frowned.
"Who?" she asked forcefully.
"I am afraid I cannot answer that yet," he said, and he frowned.
"Why? Why do you protect them? They need to pay for this. Tell me their name, and I will bring down upon them the might of the Saegusa clan." She did not like using her family's powers like this, but this was a rarity, and she would not hesitate to do so.
"Just give me some time. And I promise you that I will find the people responsible for this and give them revenge that will be ten times worse than what they have done to our classmates," he promised, and she was surprised by the sheer vehemence in his tone.
"But you say that you do not care about your classmates," she asked.
"But you do," he replied as he looked her in the eye. The car rounded off and entered the hotel premises, and she was taken aback by the intensity of that gaze.
So, she nodded as she backed off, but she would not let this go. She picked up her phone and sent a message to her butler and her father's aide to come and meet her in the hotel where they were staying.
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INEI YOTSUBA
The whole day had been quite hectic, from the breaking of the school buses to the delay of the President, and then the terrorist attack on the bus had simply sent things absolutely haywire.
Mayumi had spent nearly an hour trying to calm down the students, many of whom had been devasted by the attack even though none had died, something which did not make sense to him.
They will live. Yes, they were injured and would have to spend some time in the hospital, but they were alive. What was the big issue? Most students did not share his sentiment, and thankfully, Miyuki had been strict enough to stop him from voicing it out.
However, he was concerned because of another matter entirely. That was the aim of the attack and the aforementioned breaking of the buses; it was simply too coincidental.
And nothing was ever coincidental. And he had a very good explanation about the perpetrator behind the attack and which vessel he was employing now.
"You think you were the target of the attack?" Shiba Tatsuya asked him as they walked towards the conference room in the hall, where the student council and the sports committee were set to gather to discuss the competitions that were set to begin in a day.
"I suspect so. Of course, I could be wrong as well, but the methods employed in the attack were designed very specifically. The explosives and how the bus was attacked it would have made the first years rush to use magic, theoretically influencing my own magic. It was a setup.
"He has grown bold," he said as he rubbed his chin.
"This could be a retaliation as well," Tatsuya added, making him raise a brow.
"By whom?" he asked.
"By No Head Dragon," he said, making him smirk.
"So, you know about my little wager," he asked with a smile.
"You have bet heavily on First High's victory. I have reason to suspect that they may have been behind the attack to rig the competition." Tatsuya had a point, and he did know that.
"No Head Dragon is another pet project of Gu Jie, or at least I suspect so. He could be using them as a tool as he did for Blanche," he guessed, which would make things interesting.
"Shall I try and find out the whereabouts of this organization," Tatsuya offered, and he shook his head, knowing that asking that of him would lead to him involving either the military or that monk-sensei of his, both of whom he was rather wary of.
"No, I have already messaged the clan to look into it. I have been assured that they are looking into it and will get back to me soon enough," and at that, they reached the conference room and, after a small knock, entered the room.
And immediately were assaulted by the shout of one of the seniors.
"This is preposterous!" Chiyoda-senpai roared as both Katsuto Jumonji and Mayumi sat there with grim expressions on their faces.
Miyuki walked up to them as they closed off the door.
"What is going on?" he asked her.
"The Competition Committee has made its judgment and ruled that since the accident took place outside of the Competition premises, they will not allow the school to call forth replacements. We have lost two of our competitors for the First-Year competitions, and Hattori-san from the seniors is also injured and is still doubtful about his own events," she explained, and he nodded, understanding Mayumi's dilemma.
because this meant that they would lose. The ruling was cruel, and they could try to protest against it, but the competition was set to begin tomorrow, and they were already wasting precious time sitting here and discussing this.
He looked at the names of the two freshmen who had been forced to withdraw and was surprised to find out that both of them were his teammates for Monolith Code. He raised a brow as he scanned the other event each of them was participating in.
Morisaki was in Speed Shooting, a sensible choice given the nature of his family's specialty, and the other guy was in Crowd Ball.
"The Committee has stipulated that if we wish to replace the two injured students, we must give them the names by tonight and that they must be a part of the school team already," Katsuto-san added. He watched as many people in the Hall grit their teeth at the sheer injustice.
There was absolute silence in the room. The competition was already going to be tough this year, given that another member of the Ten Master Clans, Ichijou Masaki, was representing Third High alongside Cardinal George. Still, now their chances for victory were hampered in five events.
Things were bad.
Or at least they seemed so at first.
"Why the sad faces?" he began as he stepped forward towards the board where all the brackets were drawn. He watched as everyone's gaze focused on him as he picked up the marker.
"I cannot speak for the Main Competitions given that the freshmen are not allowed to participate in them, but I promise you this that First High will win the freshman's part of the competition," and his declaration was met with silence until Mayumi stood up.
"Inei-kun. I know you are strong, but we are basically unable to compete in three of the competitions and with the Ichijou heir and Cardinal George partici...."
"Maa, Maa, you underestimate our class quite a bit, Mayumi-san," he said as he smiled at her and spun the marker.
"I had hoped you would have learned your lesson about doubting me by now," he added with a mocking expression.
"So, why don't we make another wager?" he asked as he stepped forward.
"Just like last time," he elaborated and saw her face flush slightly as he put forward his hand.
"Leave the freshman division to me, and I will make sure that we are the victors there. You just rest and do your own part," he said, and his confidence shifted the mood in the room.
Where there was once doom and gloom, there was now anger and focus and a bit of excitement. And she must have sensed that as well, as she smiled.
"Are you calling us, your seniors, incompetent?" she asked tauntingly, with a huff as he raised a brow.
"I was not the one acting all scared moments ago," he retorted as she shook his offered hand.
"Then we have a deal. I will show you how we seniors handle business."
"I will be watching."
And at the start of this little competition, many gathered in the room cheered, in much contrast to the doomed atmosphere from before.
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